Release Day: The Bookshop at Water's End by Patti Callahan Henry ~ My Thoughts

Happy Release Day!!

The Bookshop at Water's End

The Bookshop at Water's End by Patti Callahan Henry
Print and ebook, 352 pages
Published: July 11th 2017 by Berkley

The women who spent their childhood summers in a small southern town discover it harbors secrets as lush as the marshes that surround it...

Bonny Blankenship’s most treasured memories are of idyllic summers spent in Watersend, South Carolina, with her best friend, Lainey McKay. Amid the sand dunes and oak trees draped with Spanish moss, they swam and wished for happy-ever-afters, then escaped to the local bookshop to read and whisper in the glorious cool silence. Until the night that changed everything, the night that Lainey’s mother disappeared.

Now, in her early fifties, Bonny is desperate to clear her head after a tragic mistake threatens her career as an emergency room doctor, and her marriage crumbles around her. With her troubled teenage daughter, Piper, in tow, she goes back to the beloved river house, where she is soon joined by Lainey and her two young children. During lazy summer days and magical nights, they reunite with bookshop owner Mimi, who is tangled with the past and its mysteries. As the three women cling to a fragile peace, buried secrets and long ago loves return like the tide.

Congratulations Patti

on the release today of

The Bookshop at Water's End

My thoughts about The Bookshop at Water's End ~~

(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—"We are defined by the moods and whims of a wild tidal river surrounding our small town, cradling us in its curved basin. We don't shape it; it shapes us."

The Bookshop at Water's End is a wonderful story of women and families who return to Watersend to try to make sense of their lives, lives that are starting to spin out of control. 

Bonny and Lainey were best friends and they come together that summer to support each other. They are both looking for answers and direction. They want to make changes in their lives and along the way they learn about themselves, and each other.

"We were all doing the very best we could: as women, as mothers and as daughters. We hurt each other; we heal each other; we mend and we break and we try again, until we can't and the headstone has its final say. And yet still our hearts reach out for both love and forgiveness, granted and accepted."

I love this kind of story where women friends are there for each other, supporting and loving, no matter what. The Bookshop at Water's End is an engaging, beautiful story full of memorable characters that I just savored to the end.

I received a copy of The Bookshop at Water's End  in exchange for my honest opinion.

About the author

Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels, including the upcoming The Bookshop at Water’s End (July 2017).  A finalist in the Townsend Prize for Fiction, an Indie Next Pick an OKRA pick, and a multiple nominee for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Novel of the Year, Patti is a frequent speaker and luncheons, book clubs and women’s groups. The mother of three children, she now lives in both Mountain Brook, Alabama and Bluffton, South Carolina with her husband.

Connect with Patti

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

*********************

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? July 10, 2017

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!

**************************************

Another busy week and weekend. Summer has definitely arrived with temps in the 90's. I shouldn't complain, with other parts of the country above 100 for long stretches. We traveled to Nebraska on Friday to spend the weekend with my 86 year old mother-in-law. We had a good time, which sometimes isn't the case, depending on how the she is feeling. Got back late Sunday night and had to head into work this morning. Days like this make me a little envious of hubby, who is retired. Oh well, my time will come, right? 

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

What I'm currently reading/listening to

Hello, Sunshine
by Laura Dave

A Wild Fright in Deadwood (Deadwood #7)
by Ann Charles
Such a fun series! If you haven't tried it yet, you really should.

What I recently finished

The Bookshop at Water's End
by Patti Callahan Henry
My thoughts will be posted tomorrow.


Say Goodbye for Now
by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Love this author! My thoughts will be posted soon.

Everything We Left Behind 

(Everything We Keep #2)

by Kerry Lonsdale
Love this series! Read my thoughts here.

What I am going to read next


The Breakdown
by B.A. Paris

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

*************************

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

Book Spotlight Giveaway! Twisted Tree by Kent Meyers

I have sooooo many books! The Book Spotlight Giveaway feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to clear my shelves and to share some of the many books I have. This feature is a way for my to cull my collection and to give someone else the opportunity to enjoy these treasures.

****************************

This is another book club read for me. I absolutely loved a previous book by this author, The Work of Wolves but I had a little bit harder time connecting with this book. Some of the gals in the group loved this one so to each her own. Some books click and some don't. I hope you love it!

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!



Twisted Tree

Twisted Tree by Kent Meyers
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published September 24th 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Hayley Jo Zimmerman is gone. Taken. And the people of small-town Twisted Tree must come to terms with this terrible event—their loss, their place in it, and the secrets they all carry.

In this brilliantly written novel, one girl’s story unfolds through the stories of those who knew her. A supermarket clerk recalls an encounter with a disturbingly thin Hayley Jo. Sophie, Twisted Tree’s resident but secretly not-so-altruistic saint, is shaken by a single, passing moment during Hayley Jo’s adolescence. Dark memories paralyze Richard Mattingly as he as he struggles to help his son, Clay, cope with their new loss. An ex-priest remembers baptizing Hayley Jo and seeing her with her best friend, Laura, whose mother the priest once loved. And Laura berates herself for all the running they did, how it fed her friend’s withdrawal, and how there were so many secrets she didn’t see. And so, Hayley Jo’s absence recasts the lives of others and connects them, her death rooting itself into the community in astonishingly violent and tender ways.

Twisted Tree is a tribute to the powerful effect one person's life can have on everyone she knew. Solidly in the company of Aryn Kyle, Kent Haruf, and Peter Matthiessen, Kent Meyers is one of the best contemporary writers on the American West. Here he also takes us into the complexity of community regardless of landscape. Readers will be entranced by Twisted Tree. 

  

About the author

Kent Meyers is the author of The Work of Wolves, Light in the Crossing, The River Warren, and The Witness of Combines. A finalist for the PEN/West Award, he is a recipient of an ALA Alex Award, two Minnesota Book Awards, and a Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association Award. He lives in Spearfish, South Dakota, where he teaches at Black Hills State University.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

******************************

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

Everything We Left Behind by Kerry Lonsdale ~ My Thoughts

Everything We Left Behind

Everything We Left Behind  by Kerry Lonsdale
Series: Everything We Keep #2
Print and ebook, 348 pages
Published July 4th 2017 by Lake Union Publishing

From the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Everything We Keep comes the highly anticipated sequel. Told from one man’s two perspectives, Everything We Left Behind effortlessly blends suspense, mystery, and romance in an exploration of loss, resilience, and the compelling need to protect the ones we love at all cost.

Two months before his wedding, financial executive James Donato chased his trade-laundering brother Phil to Mexico, only to be lost at sea and presumed dead. Six and a half years later, he emerges from a dissociative fugue state to find he’s been living in Oaxaca as artist Carlos Dominguez, widower and father of two sons, with his sister-in-law Natalya Hayes, a retired professional surfer, helping to keep his life afloat. But his fiancée, Aimee Tierney, the love of his life, has moved on. She’s married and has a child of her own.

Devastated, James and his sons return to California. But Phil is scheduled for release from prison, and he’s determined to find James, who witnessed something in Mexico that could land Phil back in confinement. Under mounting family pressure, James flees with his sons to Kauai, seeking refuge with Natalya. As James begins to unravel the mystery of his fractured identity, danger is never far behind, and Natalya may be the only person he can trust.

My thoughts about Everything We Left Behind ~~

(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—"He dreamed about her again. Blue eyes so bright and hot they branded his soul."

I recently read, and loved, Kerry's first book Everything We Keep and immediately jumped into this one. The first book is from the perspective of Aimee, the women who buries her fiancé on their wedding day. She is heartbroken but tries to carry on with her life, never forgetting the love of her life.

Everything We Left Behind is a continuation of this beautiful but heartbreaking love story, this time told from the perspective of James, the man who was buried all those years ago. I read these two books back to back and loved every minute of them. I was totally drawn into the character's lives and love and devoured both books.

Kerry is a new-to-me author but has now been added to my must-read list. I love these stories! And it looks like Everything We Give is coming in July 2018. Yay!! I am so excited to continue this series.

I received an ARC of Everything We Left Behind in exchange for my honest opinion.

About the author



Connect with Kerry

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

*********************

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Southern Comfort Boxed Set by Bette Lee Crosby

Southern Comfort

Southern Comfort by Bette Lee Crosby
Kindle e-book, 681 pages 
Published June 24, 2017 by Bent Pine Publishing

From a USA Today Bestselling Author of Women’s Fiction comes a value-packed box set of three Award-Winning Novels

There’s plenty to enjoy in this trio of heartwarming Southern sagas… they are family dramas that will have you reading long past bedtime as you discover characters that take up residence in your heart and small towns that make you want to live there.

In these full-length novels you’ll meet three amazing women; women who rise up to meet life’s challenges and stand ready to defend those they love. As Abigail, Olivia and Ophelia know, bad things can sometimes happen to good people, but faith, friendship, and love have a way of righting the world’s wrongs.

Southern Comfort…fiction with a down home flavor.

*************************

This boxed set of some of Bette’s best books would be a wonderful addition to anyone’s library. All three of these are the first in three of her series. They are all wonderful, magical, thought-provoking stories that will not only give the reader a taste of her work, but they will draw you in and make you want more. Bette creates such memorable characters and writes with such wisdom. Each book could serve as a life lesson for us all.

The Twelfth Child is the story of a beautiful relationship between an older woman and young women who befriends her. And the greedy people who want to get their hands on what doesn't belong to them.

Memory House is a story about memories and being able to find someone to carry on those memories so they don’t get lost. Bette poses an interesting idea; that memories are stored, but sometimes are forgotten, and that there is a memory keeper who finds and cares for those memories.

Spare Change is actually the first book of Bette’s that I read. She has been one of my must-read authors ever since. It is a delightful, homey story, with murder and mayhem thrown in, told with a little southern flavor that put a smile on my face as I was reading.

The Twelfth Child

Book One of The Serendipity Series

To escape an arranged marriage, Abigail leaves the Shenandoah Valley of the early 1900’s behind and discovers a world of untruthful lovers, joblessness and speakeasy’s. Now that she is at the end of her years, her best friend is accused of a crime and Abigail is helpless to save her. She knows the truth of what happened, but will never have the chance to tell.

Read my thoughts here

Spare Change

Book One of The Wyattsville Series

In this USA Today Bestseller a widow comes to grips with her loss and makes room in her heart for a young boy who is running for his life. Alone she can’t save him, but when a detective and the neighbors step in to help, miracles happen. A heartwarming tale of love, loss and unexpected gifts, featuring a woman you'd like to call friend, a boy you will ache to hug, and a town you wish you could call home.

Read my thoughts here

Memory House

Book One of The Memory House Series

A magical love story set in a place where friendship turns to love, love lasts forever, and memories outlive their owner. Ophelia Browne is the keeper of those forgotten memories, but now she's nearing ninety and needs to find a successor - soon. When Annie Cross shows up on the doorstep of The Memory House Bed and Breakfast, Ophelia knows she is the one.

Read my thoughts here

About the author

USA Today Bestselling and Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby's books are "Well-crafted storytelling populated by memorable characters caught up in equally memorable circumstances." - Midwest Book Review

The Seattle Post Intelligencer says Crosby's writing is, "A quirky mix of Southern flair, serious thoughts about important things in life and madcap adventures."

Samantha from Reader's Favorite raves, "Crosby writes the type of book you can't stop thinking about long after you put it down."

"Storytelling is in my blood," Crosby laughingly admits, "My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write."

It is the wit and wisdom of that Southern Mama Crosby brings to her works of fiction; the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away. Her work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. She has since gone on to win nineteen awards for her work; these include: The Royal Palm Literary Award, the FPA President's Book Award Gold Medal, Reader's Favorite Award Gold Medal, and the Reviewer's Choice Award.

Connect with Bette
Website | Facebook |Twitter | Goodreads

*********************

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!