Waiting on Wednesday: The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

Today, I am waiting on:  

The Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Lindsey Lee Johnson

From Goodreads:

A captivating debut novel for readers of Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You and Curtis Sittenfeld's Prep, The Most Dangerous Place on Earth unleashes an unforgettable cast of characters into a realm known for its cruelty and peril: the American high school.

In an idyllic community of wealthy California families, new teacher Molly Nicoll becomes intrigued by the hidden lives of her privileged students. Unknown to Molly, a middle school tragedy in which they were all complicit continues to reverberate for her kids: Nick, the brilliant scam artist; Emma, the gifted dancer and party girl; Dave, the B student who strives to meet his parents expectations; Calista, the hippie outcast who hides her intelligence for reasons of her own. Theirs is a world in which every action may become public postable, shareable, indelible. With the rare talent that transforms teenage dramas into compelling and urgent fiction, Lindsey Lee Johnson makes vivid a modern adolescence lived in the gleam of the virtual, but rich with the sorrow, passion, and beauty of life in any time, and at any age. 

A comparison to Prep will get me every time!  The Most Dangerous Place on Earth is scheduled to be released on January 3, 2017, and I can't wait to read it!

What books are you waiting on this Wednesday??

Review: The Island House by Nancy Thayer

The Island House by Nancy Thayer

Blurb from Goodreads:

The charms of Nantucket tempt a woman to leave her established life in Kansas City—but with a piece of her heart, and a love interest, in each world, she discovers she must look within to choose the right path.

Every summer since college, twenty-nine-year-old Courtney has traded the familiarity of the Midwest for the allure of Nantucket. Now an established university professor in Kansas City, she finds herself caught between two lifestyles and two very different men. She chooses Nantucket and the glamorous life she associates with it, unaware that the summer will take an unexpected turn, and she will have to let her heart decide what it truly wants.

My Review:

I feel like summer requires books by Elin Hilderbrand, Nancy Thayer, etc . . . probably because they all release a new book every summer and it's usually set in the summer.  How I long to visit Nantucket and see if it really is as amazing as these authors describe.  This book, once again, sets us right in the heart of Nantucket and in the midst of a fun and sprawling family.  The matriarch, Susanna, has always had "summer children," the name she gives to the best friends of her four children that have spent a lot of summers living in the family's huge house on Nantucket.  This summer it's her 60th birthday and all her summer children return for the party, each with their own secrets.  What worked me was the setting and the family but the first half of the book (before the real conflict) was so much better than the second half.  Still an enjoyable read and I'll add it to my beach reads shelf for that particular mood!

Pick this one up if you want a contemporary beach read although I much preferred Nancy's release last summer, The Guest Cottage.  I also always have to recommend Elin Hilderbrand's backlist for  the BEST Nantucket settings.  The Island House is scheduled to be released today May 31, 2016, and you can purchase HERE.

You would think, Courtney, thought, that a woman as versed in literature as Courtney would not be surprised by anything that happened between a man and a woman.   

You would think that any woman, no matter what she did, couldn't be shocked by any man if she had grown up with a father, a brother and a male best friend.   

Top Ten Beach Reads!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the fab ladies at The Broke and the Bookish!

This time, I really picked books that scream SUMMER to me! 

Review: The Weekenders by Mary Kay Andrews

The Weekenders by Mary Kay Andrews

Blurb from Goodreads:

Some people stay all summer long on the idyllic island of Belle Isle, North Carolina. Others come only for the weekends-and the mix between the regulars and “the weekenders” can sometimes make the sparks fly. Riley Griggs has a season of good times with friends and family ahead of her on Belle Isle when things take an unexpected turn. While waiting for her husband to arrive on the ferry one Friday afternoon, Riley is confronted by a process server who thrusts papers into her hand. And her husband is nowhere to be found.

So she turns to her island friends for help and support, but it turns out that each of them has their own secrets, and the clock is ticking as the mystery deepens...in a murderous way. Cocktail parties aside, Riley must find a way to investigate the secrets of Belle Island, the husband she might not really know, and the summer that could change everything.

My Review:

I liked this better than the last two books by this author that I read although it reminded me A LOT of Little Bitty Lies, the first book I read by this author many years ago.  Very similar themes even if the setting was different.  That being said, this was fun and pure chick lit set on an island, which I usually enjoy.  Mary Kay Andrews seems to have a repeated theme in her books of women being seriously beguiled and mislead by men -- this isn't a bad thing but it seems to occur in all of her books, at least the ones I've read.  She also seems to like second chance romance so if you are fan, this one has both!

I would recommend this to anyone wanting a fun and fast contemporary beach read -- this will definitely put you in the mood for a day at the beach and fans of Mary Kay Andrews won't be disappointed.  Add this to your beach bag along with anything and everything by Elin Hilderbrand, Nancy Thayer, and Dorothea Benton Frank!  The Weekenders was released last week on Tuesday, May 17, 2016, and you can purchase HERE.

In times like these, I think it's a good policy to hope for the best, but expect the worst.  

Review: Summer of Supernovas by Darcy Woods

Summer of Supernovas by Darcy Woods

Blurb from Goodreads:

When zodiac-obsessed teen Wilamena Carlisle discovers a planetary alignment that won’t repeat for a decade, she’s forced to tackle her greatest astrological fear: The Fifth House—relationships and love. 

But when Wil falls for a sensitive guitar player hailing from the wrong side of the astrology chart, she must decide whether a cosmically doomed love is worth rejecting her dead mother’s legacy and the very system she’s faithfully followed through a lifetime of unfailing belief.

My Review:
First I've got to warn you that this involves a definite love triangle between Wil and two brothers -- I don't think that's alluded to in the summary but I know it's one of those things some people avoid.  I must also tell you that, although I usually don't go for love triangles, this one didn't bother me.  Putting that information aside, I really liked this one -- it was a cute, funny and quick read.  And Wil's ultimate love match?  He scored MAJOR book boyfriend points in my book -- I just liked him so much (and I won't tell you who he is)!!  There were a few lingering issues for me-- primarily, that both brothers fall for Wil within minutes after meeting her and both become quite a bit obsessed with her seemingly without much reason other than that she's very unique; and secondarily, that a few of the plot points that were supposed to be the reason for certain behaviors of the characters were glossed over despite being rather serious in nature.  Neither of these issues prevented me from enjoying this book, however, and I think you will easily love Wil despite wanting to shake her and impart some sense into her a few times while reading the book. 
I would definitely recommend this to fans of contemporary YA romance!  If you're looking for other YA contemporary romance where the MC is torn between brothers, I would recommend The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines, The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han and one of my all time favorites, Double Clutch by Liz Reinhardt.   Summer of Supernovas came out earlier this month on May 10, 2016, you can purchase HERE, and I really liked it.

You can't force yourself to fall in love with someone! It doesn't work that way! Love can't be measured or quantified like stars.  It's messy and unpredictable.  Hell, sometimes it's even wrong.  And sometimes wrong is right.

Waiting on Wednesday: Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down by Anne Valente

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

Today, I am waiting on:  

Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down by Anne Valente

From Goodreads:

The lives of four teenagers are capsized by a shocking school shooting and its aftermath in this powerful debut novel, a coming of age story with the haunting power of Station Eleven and the bittersweet poignancy of Everything I Never Told You.

As members of the yearbook committee, Nick, Zola, Matt, and Christina struggle to capture all the memorable moments of their junior year at Lewis and Clark High School amid documenting a horrific tragedy—a deadly school shooting by a classmate. But the shooting is only the first inexplicable trauma to rock their small suburban St. Louis town. A series of mysterious house fires have hit the families of the victims one by one, pushing the grieving town to the edge.

Matt, the son of the lead detective investigating the events, plunges into the case on his own, scouring the Internet to uncover what could cause a fire with no evident starting point. As their friend pulls farther away, Nick and Christina battle to save damaged relationships, while Zola fights to keep herself together.

A story of grief, community, and family, of the search for understanding and normalcy in the wake of devastating loss, Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down explores profound questions about resiliency, memory, and recovery that brilliantly illuminate the deepest recesses of the human heart.

I love this title!  This one sounds a bit like Nineteen Minutes but more complex and I like the idea of even more POV.  Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down is scheduled to be released on October 4, 2016, and I can't wait to read it!

What books are you waiting on this Wednesday??

Review: Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe

Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe

Blurb from Goodreads

Lucas and Katya were boarding school seniors when, blindingly in love, they decided to have a baby. Seventeen years later, after years of absence, Lucas is a weekend dad, newly involved in his daughter Vera's life. But after Vera suffers a terrifying psychotic break at a high school party, Lucas takes her to Lithuania, his grandmother's homeland, for the summer. Here, in the city of Vilnius, Lucas hopes to save Vera from the sorrow of her diagnosis. As he uncovers a secret about his grandmother, a Home Army rebel who escaped Stutthof, Vera searches for answers of her own. Why did Lucas abandon her as a baby? What really happened the night of her breakdown? And who can she trust with the truth? 

Skillfully weaving family mythology and Lithuanian history with a story of mental illness, inheritance, young love, and adventure, Rufi Thorpe has written a wildly accomplished, stunningly emotional book. 

My Review:
I am honestly torn between four and a half and five stars for this one -- it's almost like I don't even know what five stars means anymore.  That being, said, this is definitely one of my favorite reads of this year and also completely surprised me.  Not because I wasn't expecting it to be good but because not only was the writing absolutely astounding but the story also hooked me from the beginning.  I loved the way in which this story was told -- each chapter began with a letter from Vera to her boyfriend and then transitioned to a first person POV from Lucas, Vera's father; there was some overlap but it was so interesting to have each scene told from such varied perspectives, none of which was repetitive.  The epistolary format from Vera coupled with the first person POV from Lucas worked so well that I looked forward to the alternating narratives to get a complete picture of what was going on.  Most of the book takes place in Vilnius, Lithuania and it was made to seem so, so magical!  Of course, there was also this very serious undercurrent of history and sorrow to the city from its German occupation during World War II.  Many of the characters in the book are Jewish and American and have come to the city for a history tour and to try and find out more about their relatives that lived in Vilnius before and during the occupation; many of their relatives were in concentration camps or were the only survivors of their family because they somehow escaped.  It may seem like there are a lot of threads to this story but it didn't feel that way when reading it -- everything and everyone seemed interconnected.  I really loved this book; it has its sad and scary moments but it is so beautiful in both.

I highly recommend this to fans of literary fiction; this is a brilliant story and a stunning portrayal of a different side of bi-polarism -- being a semi-absent parent to a bi-polar teenager.  And yet, it is so much more -- it is about our history, our genealogy, our second chances and, yes, a parent's love.  I was reminded of some my other all-time favorites when I finished this one -- not necessarily because of the similarity in the plots, although you can find similar threads in all of these, but because I was just so blown away with awe and beauty --  Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel.  Dear Fang, With Love comes out today, May 24, 2016, you can purchase HERE, and I hope you consider reading this one!

Yet who was anyone to police someone else's thoughts and decide which were sane and which insane? Who were doctors to inspect my daughter's brain, determine that her ideas were delusions, her mind unfit? That was the thing about bipolar--there was no blood test, no brain scan, nothing that went into the diagnosis except one person deciding another person was insane.

Monday Musts: Every Exquisite Thing, Radiohead & Recent Favorite Posts

Monday Musts is a weekly event, started and hosted by Jessica @ Lovin' Los Libros, which asks you to highlight your must read, must listen and must see!

MUST READ!

Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick

From Goodreads:

Nanette O'Hare is an unassuming teen who has played the role of dutiful daughter, hardworking student, and star athlete for as long as she can remember. But when a beloved teacher gives her his worn copy of The Bugglegum Reaper--a mysterious, out-of-print cult classic--the rebel within Nanette awakens. 

As she befriends the reclusive author, falls in love with a young troubled poet, and attempts to insert her true self into the world with wild abandon, Nanette learns the hard way that rebellion sometimes comes at a high price. 

ICYMI, I reviewed this one on Friday -- it's my second five star read of this year (after TRK) and I loved it!!

MUST LISTEN!

Radiohead - Daydreaming

Loving the new Radiohead album and this first video directed by PTA.

MUST SEE!

This space is dedicated to my favorite book blog posts every week since I don't do weekly recaps (I don't have the patience) and there are always posts that I LOVE!

• Love Grace's post re: six moments she remembers best in books
• Quite the Novel Idea is out with latest "best book I ever read" and this week Liza is asking about your favorite Sci-Fi books (mine is included)!
• I am with Nereyda on a lot of the book themes she stays away from
• Cynthia's post re: Things Books Snobs Say made me LOL
• Tanya's post re: her dream literary vacation is everything!!
• I really enjoyed Karina's post on how she organizes her blogging -- so good!
• Found via Tori: 10 things you didn't know about RL Stine
• Even though Eligible was a bit of a miss for me, ♥ this interview with Curtis Sittenfeld
• Liza tells us how she finds new reads
• Nick and Neryeda are the queens of co-blogging!!
• Keionda asks What Type of Blogger are You?
• NPR of the week: Viet Thanh Nguyen Discusses 'The Sympathizer' And His Escape From Vietnam
• Books Every Woman Must Read by the Time She’s 20
• I have a lot of thoughts and opinions on Tonyalee's post re: Community Trends + Blog Growth

What are your Monday Musts??

Review and Giveaway: Good Girl by Lauren Layne

Enter to Win a Kindle Fire Tablet 7" 

GOOD GIRL

Lauren Layne 

May 17th, 2016

Loveswept

In this steamy novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Blurred Lines, country music’s favorite good girl hides away from the world—and finds herself bunking with a guy who makes her want to be a little bad.

Jenny Dawson moved to Nashville to write music, not get famous. But when her latest record goes double platinum, Jenny’s suddenly one of the town’s biggest stars—and the center of a tabloid scandal connecting her with a pop star she’s barely even met. With paparazzi tracking her every move, Jenny flees to a remote mansion in Louisiana to write her next album. The only hiccup is the unexpected presence of a brooding young caretaker named Noah, whose foul mouth and snap judgments lead to constant bickering—and serious heat.

Noah really should tell Jenny that he’s Preston Noah Maxwell Walcott, the owner of the estate where the feisty country singer has made her spoiled self at home. But the charade gives Noah a much-needed break from his own troubles, and before long, their verbal sparring is indistinguishable from foreplay. But as sizzling nights give way to quiet pillow talk, Noah begins to realize that Jenny’s almost as complicated as he is. To fit into each other’s lives, they’ll need the courage to face their problems together—before the outside world catches up to them.

My Review:
   This was such a quick and enjoyable read.  I laughed and swooned throughout the entire book!  Seriously, the perfect mix of fun, sweet and steam!  I immediately liked Jenny and this book was a rare instance in a contemporary romance where I never felt that she did something stupid or there was a miscommunication that led to conflict.  Noah, he did do something stupid but it was refreshing for the entire wrong to be on the guy in this book rather than just one massive miscommunication that resulted in drama.  I would say this was relatively free of drama as well.  I also loved and thought it was kind of cool that this book employed one of my favorite tropes in a unique way -- the "stranded" trope (usually in a cabin in the snow or on an island) but, here, they were both in this dilapidated mansion with only each other for company (largely).  There was definitely a little bit of enemies to lovers in the best possible way.  I'm not a big country music fan but this turned the stereotype on its head and I think you'd love this even more if you were a fan of country music.  Good Girl was my first Lauren Layne but it won't be my last!

Good Girl came out last week on May 17, 2016, and I definitely recommend this to fans of contemporary romance! 

"You're playing with fire, little girl," he says quietly.  "I'm not one of your toys, and I'm not interested in what you're offering."   

"I'm not offering anything," I retort, even though his words sting.  "I like my men more . . . refined."   

His grin calls my bluff.  "You sure about that?"   

I swallow.  lie. "Very." 

Noah steps closer.  "So you haven't been thinking about what I said earlier, about my tongue spending time in some more interesting places?" 

 I swallow but don't say anything.

His eyes rake over me.  "Playing dumb won't change the fact that you'll be thinking about my all night, princess.  You fingers will be a poor stand-in for my tongue, I can promise you that."

BUY NOW

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Lauren Layne is the USA Today Bestselling author of more than a dozen contemporary romance novels.

Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. A year after moving from Seattle to NYC to pursue a writing career, she had a fabulous agent and multiple New York publishing deals.

Lauren currently lives in Manhattan with her husband and plus-sized Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll likely find her running (rarely), reading (sometimes), or at happy hour (often).

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