The Pub Across The Pond

“Sometimes leaving home is the only way to find where you belong….”

Carlene Rivers is many things. Dutiful, reliable, kind. Lucky? Not so much. At thirty, she’s living a stifling existence in Cleveland, Ohio. Then one day, Carlene buys a raffle ticket. The prize: a pub on the west coast of Ireland. Carlene is stunned when she wins. Everyone else is stunned when she actually goes.

As soon as she arrives in Ballybeog, Carlene is smitten, not just by the town’s beguiling mix of ancient and modern but by the welcome she receives. In this small town near Galway Bay, strife is no stranger, strangers are family, and no one is ever too busy for a cup of tea or a pint. And though her new job presents challenges–from a meddling neighbor to the pub’s colorful regulars–there are compensations galore. Like the freedom to sing, joke, and tell stories and, in doing so, find her own voice. And in her flirtation with Ronan McBride, the pub’s charming, reckless former owner, she just may find the freedom to follow where impulse leads and trust her heart–and her luck–for the very first time.

Author: Mary Carter

Publisher: Kensington Books

ISBN: 978-0-7582-5336-1

Source: Pump Up Your Book Blog Tour

Rating: Must Read, Don't Miss it!

There's just something unique and alluring about the Irish and the notion of a pub.  Whenever I think about an Irish pub, I think about warmth, love, friendship and fun.  It's like watching an episode of Cheers, where everybody knows your name.  The pub is a gathering place for friends, neighbors and family.  No matter the celebration or disappointment, you eventually meet up at the pub.  The Pub Across the Pond solidified this notion for me.  Music, people, conversation, warmth, love and friendship are all part of this novel, the pub and the characters.  It makes you want to be part of it all.

Mary Carter is a delightful and talented writer.  I was immersed in this story from the moment I started reading.  The cover drew me into this book from the moment I saw it.  I wanted to know more about the story.  The author kept me fully entertained with her well-developed characters and storyline.  This novel made me laugh, which I love!  I adored everything about it.  Its unique plot gave me a wonderfully entertaining read, while the characters made me feel at home, as if I were part of them.  I've only read one other novel by Mary Carter, entitled "She'll take it," which was just as wonderful to read.  I will be picking up her other titles after enjoying The Pub Across the Pond, as well.

 MARY CARTER is a freelance writer and novelist.  The Pub Across the Pond is her fifth novel with Kensington. Her other works include:  My Sister’s Voice, Sunnyside Blues,She’ll Take It, and Accidentally Engaged.  In addition to her novels she has written two novellas: A Very Maui Christmas in the best selling anthology Holiday Magic, andThe Honeymoon House in the best selling anthology Almost Home. She is currently working on a new novel for Kensington.



Readers are welcome to visit her at www.marycarterbooks.com.
Visit her at Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Carter-Books/248226365259.

Must Read, Don't Miss it!

J' adore New York

J’ adore New York

Isabelle Lafl`eche

ISBN: 978-0-06-2092-68-4

Publisher: HarperCollins

Source: Book Sparks PR

When Parisian lawyer, Catherine Lambert, is offered the move of her dreams, she quickly accepts and heads to New York City.  However, leaving Paris behind is not what she expects.  When Catherine arrives in New York, her life quickly changes in drastic ways, making her life nothing like what she expected it to be.  The culture differences are evident in her professional life and not entirely welcome.  While Catherine tries to balance her social life with her professional life, she lives up the fashion and style expected of New York.  When a handsome client enters Catherine’s world, the game changes, though the surprises don’t stop there and Catherine’s world remains anything but boring.

If you’re like me, you loved The Devil Wears Prada and titles similar to it.  If you did, you’ll love J’ adore New York.  I fell in love with this story, the characters and great writing style.  This novel hooked me from the first page.  It grabbed my attention easily and kept it.  I loved Lafl`eche’s writing style.  It flows effortlessly and is easy to read.  I got lost in this book, unaware of my surroundings, which, to me, is one of the best qualities in a novel.  I felt the emotions of the characters throughout the novel.  It was if I was there and not reading a book.  I cheered Catherine along, hoping it would all work out for her and I enjoyed the read.  As a bonus, this novel has an awesome cover!  I love how attractive and intriguing it is.  This is a great debut and totally worth the read!

Must read, don’t miss it!

Little Black Dress

Author: Susan McBride
Publisher: William Morrow
ISBN: 978-0062027191
Source: TLC Book Tours
Purchase Link: Little Black Dress: A Novel
Follow the Tour

Synopsis:  Two sisters whose lives seemed forever intertwined are torn apart when a magical little black dress gives each one a glimpse of an unavoidable future

Antonia Ashton has worked hard to build a thriving career and a committed relationship, but she realizes her life has gone off track. Forced to return home to Blue Hills when her mother, Evie, suffers a massive stroke, Toni finds the old Victorian where she grew up as crammed full of secrets as it is with clutter. Now she must put her mother’s house in order—and uncover long-buried truths about Evie and her aunt, Anna, who vanished fifty years earlier on the eve of her wedding. By shedding light on the past, Toni illuminates her own mistakes and learns the most unexpected things about love, magic, and a little black dress with the power to break hearts . . . and mend them.

My Thoughts:

Characters- The characters are a well developed and intriguing group, full of individualism and personality.  Everyone is so different, yet alike in many ways.  This element gave the characters a real life feel.

Setting- It’s perfect!  Author’s should either write what they know about or research.  Susan chose to write what she knows about and Susan knows Missouri!  The setting fit the book perfectly.  I loved that the main characters was a small town girl, escaping to the big city, thinking she can’t have the best of both worlds, but in the end she does.

Writing style- Susan’s writing is great!  The book is laid back and intriguing.  While the book can’t claim to be realistic, Susan enables the reader to discover a little bit of magic to brighten their day.  Little Black Dress reminded me of why I love fiction.  Fiction is any story, and escape, not always meant to be realistic.  This story is sheer fun and mischief while bringing together family and life issues that can be all together real.  I enjoyed the mix of realism and escapism in this book.  It gave the book a unique storyline and set it apart from others that I’ve recently read.

Flow- This novel flowed seamlessly.  It was an easy read.  I didn’t want to put it down.  However, if I did need to break away due to my hectic schedule, the novel stayed with me.  I enjoyed being able to pick it back up at any time and not feel the need to back track or remind myself what happened recently.

Audience - Anyone, most likely women, who enjoy stories about family relationships or dynamics, romance or magic/fortune telling, will like this book.  It’s for anyone willing to read a fun story with a bit of magic.  If you can’t enjoy the idea of a little black dress that enables the wearer to see a glimpse of her future, don’t read it.  I’ll admit I saw reviews via Amazon Vine that disappointed me.  People were discrediting the book for being what it claims to be, a work of fiction.  Nothing inside the novel is misrepresented by the synopsis on the back. 

Overall – This book was wonderfully written, light and full of entertaining characters and a charming fictional story.  I enjoyed being able to sit back, relax, put my feet up and fade away.  I felt as if I was there with the characters as they discovered more about themselves and the family history so deeply rooted in secrets and hurt, yet full of love.  Of course, that little twist of magic was fun as well!  It set it apart from other novels, I recommend reading it!

About Susan:

Susan McBride is the author of Little Black Dress (HarperCollins/William Morrow, August 23, 2011) and The Cougar Club, selected by Target Stores as a Bookmarked Breakout Title and named a Midwest Connections Pick by the Midwest Booksellers Association. Cougar also made MORE Magazine‘s list of “February Books We’re Buzzing About.”  Foreign editions of The Cougar Club will be published in Croatia, France, and Turkey. The Cougar Club centers on three 45-year-old childhood pals from St. Louis who reconnect and discover that you’re never too old to follow your heart.  After Little Black Dress, Susan will pen another women’s fiction novel for HarperCollins and a young adult thriller for Random House (details to come!).

On the personal front, Susan calls herself an “Accidental Cougar” after meeting a younger man in 2005 when she was a St. Louis Magazine Top Single.  They were married in February 2008 and live happily ever after in a suburb of St. Louis.  Susan is a breast cancer survivor and often speaks to women’s groups about her experience.

Additionally, Susan has written five award-winning Debutante Dropout Mysteries (HarperCollins/Avon), including Blue Blood, The Good Girl’s Guide To Murder, The Lone Star Lonely Hearts Club, Night Of The Living Deb, and Too Pretty To Die.  She has authored several YA series books for Random House about debutantes in Houston, the debut in 2008 appropriately titled The Debs and followed by Love, Lies, And Texas Dips in 2009.  Gloves Off, the third book, is in pub date limbo.
Visit Susan at her website, http://www.susanmcbride.com/index.html.

Top Ten Items Every Good PTA Mafia Mom Has Tucked in Her Purse At All Times

I am pleased to welcome Elsie to my blog!  I am thrilled that she chose to write on this topic and loved how entertaining her guest post and interview turned out to be!  Enjoy her top 10 list and then check out our interview!  Of course, don't forget to connect with her on any one of her many websites and check out this wonderful book!  The title below is linked to Amazon.  Feel free to click and find out more about Elise!!

Top Ten Items Every Good PTA Mafia Mom Has Tucked in Her Purse At All Times

by Elsie Love, author of Confessions of a PTA Mafia Mom

1. Bribe money. At least a coupl’a hundo’s broken down into untraceable, smaller denominations.

2. Vamp Red lipstick—matte & shiny varieties. Matte for day to day business. Shiny for extra sex appeal. Either works in a shake down or shoot to kill scenario.

3. A small makeup mirror. Great for checking the ‘do’, it doubles as an over the shoulder spy mirror.

4. Cell phone with the latest picture taking technology. A clear picture, snapped at the right angle (without the subject’s knowledge) can earn you free highlights & waxing for life.

5. An extra pair of thong panties. If you’re going down, you don’t want to be strip searched in your granny pants.

6. Gum, extra strong & sugar free. Martini breath is not widely accepted at school functions.

7. Little black book.  How else can you keep straight who is sleeping with whom?

8. Super Glue. In a pinch, it really can suspend someone from a ten foot construction beam, at least long enough to make a quick escape.

9. Your grandmother’s secret brownie recipe. For those in the PTA flock who still believe it is about box tops & soup labels.

10. Handi- Wipes w/bleach.  The first rule of being a PTA Mafia Mom is: leave no trace.

Interview with Elsie

Confessions of a PTA Mafia Mom is your third book.  What else have you written?

My first book was a suspense thriller titled, Killer on the Key. It follows two women-- both named Maggie-- from two different time periods. Their lives end up intertwined over a “family curse”. I wrote it while on vacation in Longboat Key, Florida. While we were there, our neighbors told us about a small cottage nearby. The owner had passed away, and was found under her bed. That got my creative juices flowing.

My second book, Opals & Rubies, is set in Sevierville, Tn. It has quite a few horror elements in it, but really for me it is a book that questions conventional wisdom about redemption. The characters are dark & gritty. Rough around all the edges. If you choose to take the plunge, consider yourself forewarned…

Both books were written under my alter ego E.B. Loan, with a different publisher. I’m happy to announce my new publisher has agreed to pick up both titles & re-release them (with outstanding new cover art) next spring. Of course, you can always get a first print run copy now.

I suppose I should mention that I write a monthly editorial on different aspects of writing/publishing for The Inspired Quill Publishing House.

And last, but not least, I just sold the digital rights to one of my short stories, Looking Glass Lilly. It will be listed on Amazon.com as part of the Istoria Books LUNCH READS series, shortly. I’m very excited about that!

Where do you find you pull the most inspiration from in regards to new novel ideas?
Everyday life provides so much great material! Having a mind that thinks in circular patterns helps as well. Circles and spirals make more interesting designs than straight lines.

If you could be any super hero, who would you be?
I can’t think of a super hero, but I’d love to have the watch from The Twilight Zone episode that freezes time. If I could add six more hours of productivity to my day and still get eight solid hours of sleep, I’d be unstoppable! Plus, I’m fairly certain I’d age at half the rate of everyone around me—take that wrinkles & cellulite!

If you weren't a writer what occupation would you want to have?
Since I’m still in the ‘starving artist’ phase of my career, I think I’m still striving to call my writing ‘an occupation’. Now, if I could choose anything, I think I’d go with trust fund baby (can that be considered an occupation?). It comes with endless cash and free time, which I could then parlay into more writing—oh and yachting—let’s not forget yachting.

Favorite Book?
Anything by Erma Bombeck. I believe I read The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side of the Septic Tank when I was eleven. Even then, I got it.

Favorite Author?
Erma. The world lost a great comedic writer when she passed. I also love old Stephen King. I’m also a big fan of some of the new Indie works. Indie is so super cool. It is a movement that is changing the art world on every level. 

Last book you read?
I just finished, THE TOWMAN’S DAUGHTERS, by David J. Walker. It will be out in print in early Oct. Great read. A mystery based in Chicago. Funny, well written, impossible to solve before the end…I loved it.

Reading anything now?
MISTAKES, by A.M. Hayward & L.J. Holder. I just started it, so I will withhold any and all comments until my formal review.

Any book you wish you could finish but haven't?
MEIN KAMPF. I keep trying; I just cannot get into it. I want to finish it so I can write a scathing ‘you suck, Hitler’ review…but I don’t think it is in the cards.

Favorite snack food?
Cream Cheese Jalapeno poppers with a side of spicy wings

Favorite drink?
Wine, in any variety, any time, any day…

Favorite Pizza Topping?
I’m a Chicagoan. I go for the classic thin crust, sausage & mushroom.

How can fans connect with you?
I’m all over the web:
http://www.elsielove.com/
http://www.ebloan.com/
http://skirt.com/e-b-loan
http://elsielovesfiction.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @ebloanwrites
Facebook: E B Loan Fiction writer from Chicago

Thanks Elsie!!

Happy Hour

Author: Michele Scott
ISBN: 9781449505578
Publisher: Create Space
Purchase Link: Happy Hour
Source: BookPleasures

What’s better than good food and great wine? The answer is “Friendship, good food and great wine.” Happy Hour is a novel about just that. Four women with careers and messy lives meet every Sunday in their home of Napa Valley for fun, fellowship and of course good food and great wine. Through it all the women discover that sometimes all you need is friendship. Friendship can be the best prescription for happy through the hard times and the good. Here’s a little about each character you’ll meet in this story.

Kat owns a restaurant with her second husband, Christian. They face the challenges of a blended family between her two sons and his daughter. In addition Kat also has her estranged mother to deal with since her parents split.

Alyssa is an artist and owns a gallery. She holds a dark secret that she hasn’t told anyone, including her friends. However, in order to move on with her life she must face this skeleton in her closet before its too late.

Danielle is a divorced vintner, a wine merchant/maker, with two rebellious teenage daughters. Mark, her high school crush reappears in her life just as she receives news that her daughter is pregnant. On top of that, the baby is diagnosed with down syndrome.

Jamie is the editor- in-chief of wine lovers magazine. Her husband, Nathan died of cancer leaving her to raise their daughter Maddie alone. Stuck with financial challenges and a senile mother-in-law is tough on Jamie. When Jamie meets Tyler, her life begins to transform as she removes her cocoon and starts to live again.

Happy Hour is a novel with no real male lead characters. The book focuses on these four strong, independent and unique women as they face the challenges of life together and rely on their friendship to see them through. They have a mutual love of great food and great wine that brings them together once a week and offers them a chance to escape and talk as only women can. Just as in life, the friends get frustrated with one another, but they find the strength to move on together even during the most difficult times. With lots of love, laughter, tears and acceptance these women learn how to overcome the past and look forward to the future.

This novel had a fairly steady pace. The storyline grabbed my attention but parts were slower than others for me. I found my attention wandering occasionally, but overall, found myself rooting for these women in the midst of messy and complicated lives. I easily understood them as mothers and working women. I laughed and cried along with them. The author makes the characters feel real. There were a few flaws in the novel due to typos and grammatical errors. I cannot be sure that these haven’t been fixed since the novel has been published. Overall, I enjoyed the story, the characters and the writing.

The Proper Care And Maintenance of Friendship

Author: Lisa Verge Higgins
Publisher: 5-Spot
ISBN:978-0446563512
Purchase link: The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship
Source: Publisher for Review

When their friend Rachel dies unexpectedly, Kate, Sarah and Jo are left in deep grief. The last thing Rachel says to them is left in a letter with on last request to each of the women. Each woman’s request is different and each sets them on a path of change and self discovery. The letters impact their lives, changing them forever and giving each a new outlook and understanding of life.

The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship was an exquisite read. I was instantly drawn to each character. I loved each of them and felt personally and emotionally connected to them by the end. I couldn’t wait to find out what each friend was asked to do, as well as discover the effects it would have on them. It made me wonder if Rachel knew what could happen of if she simply knew they needed a general push to jump start their transformation.

The writing in this debut novel was smooth and honest. Emotionally Raw, it tugs at your deepest of emotions because each character is so real and genuine. I mourned their loss, felt their discomfort and rejoiced in their triumphs. The story was beautifully told. I would recommend this one. If you love fiction, this is fiction at it’s best. I really enjoyed reading it. It will remain part of my permanent library.

The Art of Saying Goodbye

Author: Ellyn Bache
ISBN: 978-0-06-203368-0
Publisher: HarperCollins
Purchase Link: The Art of Saying Goodbye: A Novel
Source: TLC Book Tours
Follow the Tour

About the Book:
She was the thread that wove their tapestry together.

With a group of women as diverse as the ladies from Brightwood Trace, you might not think them to be close. There’s Julianne, a nurse with an unsettling psychic ability that allows her to literally feel what her patients feel, Andrea, a strong fortress sheltering a faltering core, Ginger, a mother torn between being a stay-at-home mom or following her career aspirations, and Iona, the oldest, whose feisty, no-nonsense attitude disarms even toughest of the tough. Not exactly the ingredients for the most cohesive cocktail . . . Until you add Paisely, the liveliest and friendliest of the clan, who breathed life into them all.

But when their glowing leader falls ill with cancer, it’s up to these women to do what Paisely has done for them since the beginning: lift her up. Overcoming and accepting the inevitability of loss, the women draw closer than ever; finding together the strength to embrace and cherish their lives with acceptance, gratitude and most importantly, love. Finally living with the vigor that Paisely has shown them from the start, they are able to see their lives in a new light, while learning to say goodbye to the brightest star they’ve ever known. Over the course of just three months, these four women will undergo a magnificent transformation that leaves nobody unchanged.

Review:
I absolutely loved this novel! Ellyn Bache captivated me from the moment I started reading. The characters are truly realistic, I was able to relate to each one in various ways. They are well developed in a story is simple yet complex. I couldn’t put this one down. I was very impressed with the authors writing. She keeps the story intriguing, relatable and heart breaking. The novel flows smoothly and is easy to read. At no point while reading this novel was I distracted by other things. I actually couldn’t read it unless my kids were asleep because I was getting frustrated with the constant disruptions. The novel is simply one of the most heartfelt, truly poignant and emotionally captivating books that I have read in a long time. I enjoyed each and every character, I felt as if I knew them by the time I was finished. I will, without hesitation, purchase Ellyn’s two other novels.

While I must apologize for this short review, I really can’t say more. I am still in awe. I totally enjoyed this book and it was a simply wonderful read. As you probably know, I hate spoilers! I don’t feel like I can say much about the actual content in this book aside from the synopsis above because it would spoil it. I hope you’ll add this to your “to be read” list, its most definitely worth it.  Even the cover is great! 


About the Author:

A native of Washington, DC, Ellyn Bache studied English at the Universities of North Carolina and Maryland, but didn’t begin writing seriously until the first two of her four children were born and she knew, for sanity’s sake, she’d better find an “adult” activity to do at home during the children’s naps. She began as a freelance newspaper journalist while teaching herself to write fiction. After nearly six years of rejection slips, her short stories began to be published in both commercial magazines like Good Housekeeping and Seventeen, and literary magazines ranging from Shenandoah to the Carolina Quarterly. A collection of sixteen of her stories, The Value of Kindness, won the Willa Cather Fiction Prize.

After more than twenty years in Wilmington, NC, Ellyn now divides her time between the Carolinas and Pennsylvania. Find out more about Ellyn at her website, and connect with her on Facebook.

Starring in the Movie of My Life

Author: Laurel Osterkamp
ISBN: 978-1-933826-677
Publisher: PMI Books
Purchase Link: Starring in the Movie of My Life
Source: CLP Blog Tours

Twenty – five year old Nathan is caught between two women who are both fighting for his love and attention. Samantha, Nathans thirty-five year old wife, is adjusting to her new marriage. Sam dreams of making her own movies and has recently set her attention on creating a documentary of her surrogate pregnancy. Nathan, who wants children of his own, has a difficult time with Sams pregnancy and lack of interest in being a mother. Sam, who isn't quite ready for a child of her own, struggles with her feelings over ex-boyfriend Collin, who also happens to manage their apartment building. In addition, Sam has secrets she's been hiding from Nathan.

Eighteen year old Melody is cold and manipulative. Her one desire is to make her life better, to change her circumstances, to escape. When Nathan, her teacher, saves her from being raped at a school dance, Melody turns her attention to him. This develops into a dangerous crush, especially since Melody has met Sam and is willing to dig for dirt on Sam in order to gain Nathans affection.

The story, a character study of Samantha and Melody, dives deep into the lives and thoughts of these two vastly different women. Each of them are years apart in age, yet both also have an age difference to Nathan. The story is told in alternating chapters between the two women. The author does a wonderful job giving relevant information from the past to help the reader understand the present. She also does a wonderful job bringing the details of their lives and decisions along with their age into the story to give the reader an understanding of why these characters think the way they do. It also helped me to understand how they arrived at being the person they have become and will become. The story is told in alternating chapters by Sam and Melody. The only thing missing from the story is Nathans perspective. I wondered what he thought and was feeling through all this. Insight is given from the views of the two women, but I would have enjoyed an occasional chapter from Nathan.

Overall, I enjoyed this dramatic tale. It weaves heartache, confusion, deception and self-discovery into one story that is hard to put down! I was sucked into it from the first page. The characters are well developed. Both women have issues and hang ups in their lives. Melody is manipulative and her actions are unlikable, yet I understood where she was coming from and how she became who she is. I wanted her to be happy and rooted for her to find happiness of her own. Sam is a character that is happy with the status quo but she is confused about what she wants because she never gives herself a second thought. She deeply underestimates her potential and doesn't see her own self worth. Though they both have hang ups that make them unique, I wanted the best for both and really rooted for them to find themselves. The story is simply a tale of life. It's one of making the best decision based off what you're given. Both women had plans, both plans fell apart. Both of them had to take a look inward to see what they truly wanted and re-group. The novel is a page turner. The author has a wonderful writing style. It's easy to read and I was instantly drawn to both women and their stories. I would recommend this versatile book to fiction lovers. YA, Chick-lit, women's fiction or general fiction!