Monday, September 5, 2022

Book Blitz! Just Like Family by Barbara Casey ~ Excerpt and #Giveaway! #JustLikeFamily @XpressoTours

 

Just Like Family by Barbara Casey
Publication date: July 28th 2022
Genres: Adult, Romance

All in one day, thirty-five-year-old Hallie Marsh learns that the man she loves, works for, and is living with has found someone else-and that she no longer has a job, a place to live, or a car since she crashed it into a hedge. Her feelings of rage and desire for revenge are soon replaced by a fascination with her new neighbors-four peculiar, elderly people who decide to buy an old run-down estate, fix it up, and live in it “just like family.”

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EXCERPT:

Hallie’s heart raced as she walked briskly past the other offices to the executive suite at the end of the corridor. Since Jeff had sent word asking to see her, it must mean that he was finally finished with that project he had been working on day and night for the past several weeks and that he needed her as much as she needed him. She knew his divorce had just been finalized, although he hadn’t told her yet. She had called the courthouse downtown and found out on her own. He was probably just waiting for the right time to tell her. Over a romantic dinner at one of their favorite places. Or maybe he would take her somewhere for the weekend. He enjoyed surprising her. And there was the awards banquet tonight. He hadn’t mentioned that to her either, but naturally he would want her to go with him. In real estate circles, it was the event of the year. Even though it was supposed to be a secret, everyone knew that Jeff was getting the Salesman of the Year Award again. So much to celebrate and what better way than to make love in his office now.

“Mr. Darnell is expecting you, Ms. Marsh.”

Hallie smiled at the secretary, hoping that her demeanor was that of a public relations director going into a meeting with the president of the company and not of a woman who was going to make love to her boss in his office at four o’clock in the afternoon. “Thanks, Mary,” she said shifting her notebook in an exaggerated movement from one hand to the other, feeling slightly self-conscious. She suppressed the urge to giggle, something she frequently did whenever she felt self-conscious, and walked past the secretary’s desk. On the other side of the ornate double doors was Jeff’s office, a large multi-functional room that had both a southern and eastern exposure.

Jeff was standing with his back to her, looking out one of two mullioned, floor-to-ceiling windows, the one facing the intracoastal waterway. Hallie quietly closed the door and locked it. The desire she felt for him was tremendous and had somehow managed to gravitate to an area the size of a baseball between her naval and vulva. Without saying anything she unbuttoned her navy blue coatdress, silently applauding the fact that she had decided to wear it today since it was so easy to take off. Then she walked up behind him, slipped her arms around his waist, and pressed her body into his back. “You can’t imagine how much I have missed you,” she whispered when he turned around. She eagerly sought his lips as she loosened his tie and began unfastening the buttons on his shirt, completely forgetting the self-consciousness she had experienced moments earlier. He did that to her. Things she wouldn’t normally do under any other circumstances, she felt no inhibitions in doing with Jeff.

“Hallie, I need to tell you something.” Jeff held her trembling hands in his but she continued with the buttons, stopping only when she reached the buckle on his belt. She pulled his shirt loose from his trousers and opened it, exposing his bare chest. Then she tenderly kissed his neck, working her way down his chest and stomach with her mouth and tongue.

“Hallie, please. Stop. We have to talk.”

Hallie looked up into Jeff’s face, breathless and flushed with desire. Curiously at that moment she remembered seeing somewhere in a magazine two similar photographs side by side, the caption under one of them reading, “What’s wrong with this picture?”

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About the author


Barbara Casey is the author of several award-winning novels for both adults and young adults, and numerous articles, poems, and short stories. In addition to her own writing, she is an editorial consultant and president of the Barbara Casey Agency, established in 1995, representing authors throughout the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan. In 2014 Barbara became a partner in Strategic Media Books Publishing, an independent publishing house that specializes in true crime and other cutting-edge adult nonfiction. Barbara lives on a mountain in Georgia with her three cats who adopted her.

Website | Goodreads

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? September 5, 2022 #IMWAYR

    

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

What I'm currently reading

The Ways We Hide
by Kristina McMorris
Pub date September 6

Uncharted Waters
by Sally Hepworth
Narrated by Candice Moll

What I recently finished

The Opera Sisters
by Marianne Monson 
Pub date September 6

Tomorrow in Shanghai
The Promise of Christmas
by Steena Holmes
Pub date September 25

Dance of the Winnebagos
by Ann Charles
Narrated by Lisa Larsen 

What I am going to read next

The Lost Girls of Willowbrook
by Ellen Marie Wiseman 

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Saturday, September 3, 2022

This OR That #Giveaway № 72 ~ Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie OR Day of the Dead by Brenda Donelan #IndianKiller #DayOfTheDead

 

I have sooooo many books!

The This or That Giveaway! feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to cull my collection and to share some of the many books I have. I get to clear off some of my shelves to make room for more books and give someone else the chance to enjoy these treasures.

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!

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Indian Killer
by Sherman Alexie
Paperback ~ Published January 1998

A serial murderer is terrorizing Seattle, hunting and scalping white men. And the crimes of the so-called Indian Killer have triggered a wave of violence and racial hatred. Seattle's Native Americans are shaken and confused, none more so than John Smith. 

Born Indian, raised white, Smith desperately yearns for his lost heritage and seeks his elusive true identity. He meets Marie, a stormy Indian activist particularly outraged by people like Jack Wilson, the mystery writer who passes himself as part Indian. As a bigoted radio personality incites whites to seek revenge, tensions mount, Smith fights to slake the anger that engulfs him...and the Indian Killer claims yet another life. 

Lauded as a poet and author of exceptional lyricism and humor, Sherman Alexie now dips his pen in something stronger-and offers a gritty and eye-opening novel of alienation and justice.

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Day of the Dead
(University Mystery Series Book #1)
by Brenda Donelan
Paperback ~ Published May 2014

When a college professor is found dead on campus, rumors and innuendo begin to swirl at Midwestern State University. The police department and the university are mysteriously secretive about the professor's background and the ongoing investigation. Marlee McCabe, a professor of Criminology, is unwittingly pulled into the investigation leading her to question the integrity of the police department and her university. 

Despite warnings, Marlee uncovers information on the professor's death, making her the next target of someone who has nothing left to lose.

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Friday, September 2, 2022

New Release! Tomorrow in Shanghai by May-Lee Chai ~ My Thoughts and a #Giveaway! #TomorrowInShanghai

Congrats May-Lee
on the recent release of
Tomorrow in Shanghai!

Tomorrow in Shanghai by May-Lee Chai
Asian American Literature & Fiction, 166 pages
Published August 30th 2022 by Blair

In a vibrant and illuminating follow-up to her award-winning story collection, Useful Phrases for Immigrants, May-lee Chai explores a complex blend of cultures spanning China, the Chinese diaspora in America, and in the world at large—revealing the complex schisms in the globalized world. Her stories illuminate the divides between rural and urban, male and female, rich and poor, and those in-between—always tracking the nuanced, knotty, and intricate exchanges of interpersonal and institutional power. Chai's stories are essential reading for an increasingly globalized world.


My thoughts about Tomorrow in Shanghai ~~

I think reading short story collections by a single author is the best way to get a feel for the versatility of that author. Tomorrow in Shanghai covers several different topics and gave me insights to a culture I am not familiar with—China—as well as giving me a peek at the Chinese people living within America and what they have to deal with.

The stories are very well written and were enjoyable. Reading this definitely made me want to take a look at the author's other works to expand my knowledge of the Chinese culture. 

I received a copy of Tomorrow in Shanghai from SparkPoint Studio and this is my honest opinion of the book.

About the author


May-lee Chai is the author of eleven books, including the forthcoming (August 2022) collection of short stories, Tomorrow in Shanghai and Other Stories; three novels, My Lucky Face, Dragon Chica, and Tiger Girl; the novella, Training Days; two works of memoir, The Girl from Purple Mountain (co-authored with her father, Winberg Chai) and Hapa Girl, A Memoir; the American Book Award–winning short story collection Useful Phrases for Immigrants; Glamorous Asians, a collection of short stories and essays; a nonfiction book about the culture and history of China, China A to Z (also co-authored with Winberg Chai); and her translation into English of the Chinese author Ba Jin’s 1934 Autobiography (Ba Jin Zi Zhuan). Her own books have been translated into German, Hebrew, and Chinese.

May-lee Chai is a writer and educator. May-lee is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship; 2014 APALA (Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association) Literature Award, Young Adult category for Tiger Girl; Kiriyama Prize 2008 Notable Book for Hapa Girl: A Memoir; Honorable Mention for the 2007 Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights Award for Hapa Girl: A Memoir;  and a nomination for the National Book Award in nonfiction for The Girl from Purple Mountain. Her essay “The Blue Boot” was named a Notable Essay of 2012 in Best American Essays 2013, edited by Cheryl Strayed.

In addition to her books, she has published numerous short stories in journals, magazines and anthologies as well as essays and journalism. Her work has appeared in various publications, including Entropy, The Rumpus, the Los Angeles Times, Paris Review Online, Kenyon Review Online, New England Review, Gulf Coast, North American Review, ZYZZYVA, Missouri Review, Seventeen, Many Mountains Moving, Christian Science Monitor, Dallas Morning News, Denver Post, Jakarta Post Weekender, and numerous anthologies, including Best Small Fictions.

May-lee was born in California but has lived in fourteen states in the U.S. and four countries. She received her B.A. from Grinnell College, where she majored in French and Chinese Studies. She received her first M.A. from Yale University in East Asian Studies and a second M.A. in English-Creative Writing from the University of Colorado-Boulder. She received her M.F.A. from San Francisco State University.

Connect with May-Lee


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Thursday, September 1, 2022

The Goodbye by Joanne DeMaio ~ My Thoughts #TheGoodbye @JoanneDeMaio

The Goodbye

The Goodbye by Joanne DeMaio
Women's Saga, 261 pages
Published August 1, 2022 by Joanne DeMaio

From New York Times bestselling author Joanne DeMaio comes The Goodbye, Book 16 of The Seaside Saga.

How do you know when it's goodbye? When something's over. When it's the last perfect day of the summer. When it's the last time you'll see a face, hear a voice. The last time you'll close a shingled cottage's door. How do you know when you'll never be somewhere again, that you've had your last glimpse of a certain sea?

For the tangled cast of beach friends in Stony Point, it's a question some of them face. Because as the golden late-summer sun shines, goodbyes are due. But to whom?



My thoughts about The Goodbye ~~

(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—"There is no sign of Celia. She's not crossing the yard. Not calling out Shane's name."

The Seaside Saga is such a wonderful series. I have become so comfortable with the inhabitants of Stony Point and consider them my friends now. I love visiting them with each new book! 

The Goodbye did not disappoint. There is plenty of drama going on—along with a good share of friendship, support, forgiveness, and love. I enjoy watching the characters move on with their lives and hopefully find the happiness they are searching for. 

At the end of each book, I am left wanting more—more of the beautiful setting, more of the camaraderie among old friends. That feeling has never been stronger than with the ending of this book. The author leaves the reader with a definite cliffhanger this time. I'm so excited to read the next story to see that cliffhanger resolved. 

I highly recommend the Seaside Saga series and The Goodbye is another great installment in this heartwarming series. 

Book #17, The Barlows, is scheduled to be released on March 1, 2023!

I received a copy of The Goodbye from the author and this is my honest opinion.


About the author


Joanne DeMaio is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary fiction. She enjoys writing about friendship, family, love and choices, while setting her stories in New England towns or by the sea.

Joanne’s books include the New York Times Bestseller Blue Jeans and Coffee Beans, the first in her ongoing and groundbreaking Seaside Saga. These eleven (and counting) novels journey with a group of beach friends, much the way a TV series does, continuing with the same cast of characters and their storylines from book-to-book.

Joanne’s winter novels have also received much acclaim. These heartwarming standalones are set in the same snowy New England town. Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes became a USA Today Bestseller, and has been featured in national magazines and Six Flags theme parks.

In addition, Joanne’s debut novel, Whole Latte Life, won first place in a competition at BookExpo America and was named a Kirkus Reviews Critics’ Pick. Her other novels have appeared in Redbook, First for Women magazine, Southern Living, USA Today and more. ~ Author's website

Connect with Joanne


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