The Book Bag: The Beautiful Strangers

Showing posts with label The Beautiful Strangers. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Release Day! The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Maio #TheBeautifulStrangers #NetGalley

Congrats Camille
on the release today of
The Beautiful Strangers!

The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Maio
Print and e-book, 320 pages
Published March 5th 2019 by Lake Union Publishing

A legendary hotel on the Pacific becomes a haven where dreams, love, and a beguiling mystery come alive.

1958. Kate Morgan, tethered to her family’s failing San Francisco restaurant, is looking for an escape. She gets her chance by honoring a cryptic plea from her grandfather: find the beautiful stranger. The search takes her to Hotel del Coronado, the beachfront landmark on the Southern California coast where filming is underway on the movie Some Like It Hot.

For a movie lover like Kate, it’s a fantasy come true. So is the offer of a position at the glamorous hotel. And a new romance is making her heart beat just as fast. But as sure as she is that the Coronado is her future, Kate discovers it’s also where the ghosts of the past have come to stay. Sixty years ago a guest died tragically, and she still haunts the hotel’s halls.

As the lives of two women—generations apart—intertwine, Kate’s courageous journey could change more than she ever imagined. And with the Coronado wending its way through her soul, she must follow her dreams…wherever they may lead.

I loved this story! You can read my thoughts here. This one has it all. If you love stories with an old Hollywood movie story-line, a bit of a ghost story, and plenty of mystery surrounding the characters, you're going to love The Beautiful Strangers. Oh, and don't forget the love stories. There's plenty of that as well.

About the author

Camille recently left an award-winning real estate career in San Antonio to become a full-time writer. Along with her husband of 21 years, she home schools their four children. She has a bucket list that is never-ending, and uses her adventures to inspire her writing. She's lived in Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and California, and spends enough time in Hawai'i to feel like a local. She's traveled to four continents (so far), and met Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II. She just about fainted when she had a chance to meet her musical idol, Paul McCartney, too.

Camille studied political science in college, but found working on actual campaigns much more fun. She overdoses on goodies at farmers markets (justifying them by her support for local bakeries), and belts out Broadway tunes whenever the moment strikes. There's almost nothing she wouldn't try, so long as it does't involve heights, roller skates, or anything illegal.

The Memory of Us is Camille's debut novel, her second book Before the Rain Falls released in 2017, and her third, The Way of Beauty, came out in 2018. Her next book, The Beautiful Strangers will be available spring 2019.

She appreciates you stopping by, and welcomes you to reach out and share a love of books! ~ Goodreads

Connect with Camille

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Amazon

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Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Friday, March 1, 2019

The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Maio ~ My Thoughts #TheBeautifulStrangers #NetGalley

The Beautiful Strangers

The Beautiful Strangers by Camille Di Maio
Print and e-book, 320 pages
Expected publication: March 5th 2019 by Lake Union Publishing

A legendary hotel on the Pacific becomes a haven where dreams, love, and a beguiling mystery come alive.

1958. Kate Morgan, tethered to her family’s failing San Francisco restaurant, is looking for an escape. She gets her chance by honoring a cryptic plea from her grandfather: find the beautiful stranger. The search takes her to Hotel del Coronado, the beachfront landmark on the Southern California coast where filming is underway on the movie Some Like It Hot.

For a movie lover like Kate, it’s a fantasy come true. So is the offer of a position at the glamorous hotel. And a new romance is making her heart beat just as fast. But as sure as she is that the Coronado is her future, Kate discovers it’s also where the ghosts of the past have come to stay. Sixty years ago a guest died tragically, and she still haunts the hotel’s halls.

As the lives of two women—generations apart—intertwine, Kate’s courageous journey could change more than she ever imagined. And with the Coronado wending its way through her soul, she must follow her dreams…wherever they may lead.

My thoughts about The Beautiful Strangers ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)

First line—"November 28, 1892 Tom disappeared several stations before we arrived in San Diego, which is just as well, since I have papers in my bag that will begin the process of me leaving him for good."

'Find the beautiful stranger.' These are the words that Kate keeps hearing from her grandfather. His memory is fading so she has no more information than that to go one, along with the push that she is getting from him to go to Southern California and live her dream.

This is a beautifully written story of two women who lived decades apart, as Kate digs to discover the story behind the beautiful stranger. As she finds out more about this woman, she feels a deep connection to her. As secrets are revealed, she learns about her grandfather's life and first love, while also finding out what it means for her to live her life and discover her first love.

I found myself totally wrapped up in this wonderful story and can't stop thinking about it. The time periods and the settings that the author set the story-lines in seem to be magical. Who doesn't like stories revolving around Hollywood and it's stars? This is a story of love, loss, heartbreak, and discovery. Such a beautiful, beautiful story.

About the author

Connect with Camille

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Amazon

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Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Monday, February 11, 2019

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? February 11, 2019

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

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I am sooooo ready for winter to be over. It has been so blasted cold here and the snow is endless. We have a huge pile in our parking lot that will be there until July, I'm sure. 😉 Okay, now I'll stop complaining about the weather, for a little while anyway.

On the reading side of my life, I stayed up way too late last night finishing The Beautiful Strangers (pub date 3/5), but I just had to get to the end. It is such a wonderful story! And then it's always exciting to dive into the next book on my list.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading