Announcing The Winner of New Uses For Old Boyfriends by Beth Kendrick

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Beth Kendricks

New Uses For Old Boyfriends

And the winner of NEW USES FOR OLD BOYFRIENDS, by Beth Kendrick, is… Kristen Saada! Congratulations. And thanks go out to those of you who entered my giveaway. Kristen, I will send you an email shortly. I will need you to send me your mailing address so I can get it to the publisher asap.

 

Thanks again to New American Library at Penguin for the giveaway.

Giveaway! New Uses For Old Boyfriends by Beth Kendrick

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Beth Kendricks

New Uses For Old Boyfriends

The first sentence in NEW USES FOR OLD BOYFRIENDS, by Beth Kendrick, goes like this:” The last thing Lila did on her way out of town was sell her wedding rings.” Now that’s a mouthful!  Got my attention.

After growing up in privilege and marrying into money, Lila Alders has gotten used to the good life. but when her happily ever after implodes, Lila must return to Black Dog Bay, the tiny seaside town where she grew up. She’s desperate for a safe haven, but everything has changed over the past ten years. Her family’s fortune is gone–and her mother is in total denial. It’s up to Lila to take care of everything…but she can barely take care of herself.

I’m a sucker for a story by the sea.  NEW USES FOR OLD BOYFRIENDS, by Beth Kendrick, may be just what the doctor ordered for those of you who have had enough winter, enough snow, enough ice. Tuck into this one with a roaring fire and a hot cup of tea, or, a nice glass of red. Nice and light and full of fun.

I have one copy for giveaway. Please leave a comment below. No P.O. boxes, please. And only U.S. addresses. My giveaway is sponsored by the generous people at New American Library, a division of Penguin. Thanks guys!

I will choose my winner on Friday, Feb. 27. Good luck!

Mightier Than The Sword by Jeffrey Archer

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Jeffrey Archer

Mightier Than The Sword

In the publishing world, a new Jeffrey Archer novel, is big news. We’ve all been waiting with bated breath for number five of The Clifton Chronicles. And here it is: MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD! On sale Tuesday, Feb. 24.

In number four of this wildly popular series, we were left hanging in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean not knowing if a bomb was about to go off and kill important characters. Well, you all know that Archer is famous for cliff-hangers. Each book in this great series has left us on a precipice. Knowing that we had a year to wait to discover the outcome,  was like sitting on pins and needles.

Clifton Chronicles

Jeffrey Archer

All the usual suspects are back. The bad guys are all up to no good. The good guys are trying to manage the bad guys.

From finding a forbidden manuscript, to encounters in Russia, to trials full of tribulations in England. This book has it all. You will not be disappointed. Of course, Archer leaves us on the edge of our seats, once again, as we read the last page. Two more books to go. Can’t wait.

 

It Was Me All Along by Andie Mitchell

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Andie Mitchell

It Was Me All Along

Food blogger, Andie Mitchell, has come out with this intriguing memoir that is often harshly frank.  It’s mostly about her lifelong battle with her weight. Beginning with her traumatic childhood and, continuing through her awkward teen years, and on into young adulthood, Mitchell tells it like it is, or I should say, as it was…

Going from her top weight of 300 pounds at the age of twenty, Mitchell takes a journey through weight loss that rids her of over one hundred pounds. Finally, after being unhappy and feeling unloved much of her life, she puts her nose to the grindstone and makes it happen.

Mitchell deals with her father’s loss of jobs and alcoholism by eating.  Meanwhile, we watch her mother go from being a martyr to being someone her daughter does not even like. I could not relate to the mother in this story. My own father suffered from alcoholism. My mother realized early on that she could not “fix” my father. And off we went to make a better life for ourselves. Mitchell’s mother took way more abuse than I believe anyone should have to deal with.  But that is only my opinion.

IT WAS ME ALL ALONG, really grabbed my attention once the story moved to Italy. That’s more than halfway through the book.

I do applaud the author for her honesty. And I applaud her amazing weight loss which was not easy nor a quick fix. She’s been able to keep it off over six years now. Kudos to you, Andie!

My finished hard copy of IT WAS ME ALL ALONG, by Andie Mitchell, came to me from Blogging For Books in exchange for an honest review. Thanks so much!

A Spool Of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

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Anne Tyler

A Spool of Blue Thread

A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD, by Anne Tyler, is quintessential Tyler at her best! I loved it.

No one writes Baltimore like Tyler. She lives and writes this city so well because she genuinely does live there. She paints the streets and the people on a canvas as inviting as a green and yellow summer day, sitting on the porch sipping lemonade with the family dog wagging her tail at your feet.

The Whitshank family is headed by Red and Abby. They are both in their early seventies now, and their four children are banding together to figure out the next step for their parents. With Abby found wondering the streets in the early morning hours  alone in her nightgown, and Red losing his hearing and not himself after a recent heart attack, the family believes it’s time for some inside help.

Anne Tyler is the queen of family.  And she proves this over and over again on every single page of, A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD. This novel is told in third person and it works well here. So many secrets, hard to keep secrets at that. So many lives depending on the keeping of these lies. Not knowing where the story is going. Thinking I did. Storytelling at its best.

Abby Whitshank is a retired social worker. She is famous for dragging home strays, and I am not talking about animals. Her family is never surprised to find a total stranger at the dinner table, again. Red is no nonsense. He’s run a construction company most of his life.  And he’s not as deaf as he leads them all to believe. Most of us know someone who hears what they want to hear. These two fell in love a lifetime ago, and have never thought of not being together.

The four Whitshank children are total opposites. But the one thing they have in common is their concern and love for their parents.  To the point where there may actually be too many kids willing to move back in to help mom and dad in their dotage.

I was a bit taken back to hear this couple was in their early 70’s. Most people I know at that age are living alone and possibly  enjoying life to the hilt. But maybe that is because I am in sunny S.W. Florida. At any rate, the story will hit home to anyone with aging parents, or for people thinking ahead to the time when they may need help.

This story is not candy-coated. But it did make me think. We all need to be prepared for what the future may bring. Accidents will and do happen.  We do not wish our children to have to make decisions for us. God, NO.  So we need to be smart and have a plan.

The entire Whitshank family travel to the same cottage on the Delaware shore each summer. They caravan with kids, dogs, and  beach equipment, and have done so for seemingly ever. This is a great chapter. Tyler has certainly hit the nail on the head when she talks about the same family who rent the cottage nearby. How their family grows over the years and changes, however the Whitshanks do not even know these people’s names. The cottage is not opulent by any means. In fact, shabby chic might be a stretch. But it is where they go to be together and vacation. The sameness of it soothes their souls.

The Whitshank home is really a character, itself. The house has its own story and brings so much life into the novel. Even the original owner has a story with secrets that will have you on the edge of your seat.

A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD

Anne Tyler

Anne Tyler leads us quietly through the story of the Whitshank family. She eases you into their lives, insinuates there is more to the story than there seems to be. Then she packs you with a wallop of a come back!This is the story I’ve been waiting for her to write for years.

Thanks go out to my contact at Knopf! You always come through for me.