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7/30/2016

Stacking The Shelves #15


is hosted by Tynga´s Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

After many, many weeks of waiting and looking forward to this moment, I finally hold this beautiful book in my hands: The Angels´ Share by J. R. Ward. And gosh, this book looks beautiful! I am totally in love with the color combination and how it feels in my hands.   After I enjoyed The Bourbon Kings very much, I am eager to see how the story will continue, how the Bradfords will cope with everything. Can´t wait to read it.


Bought Book

The Angels´ Share by J. R. Ward


In Charlemont, Kentucky, the Bradford family is the crème de la crème of high society – just like their exclusive brand of bourbon. And their complicated lives and vast estate are run by a discrete staff who inevitably become embroiled in their affairs. This is especially true now when the apparent suicide of the family patriarch is starting to look more and more like murder …
No one is above suspicion – especially the eldest Bradford son. Edward. The bad blood between his father and him is known far and wide, and he is aware that he could be named a suspect. As the investigation into the death intensifies, he keeps himself busy at the bottom of a bottle – as well as with his former horse trainer´s daughter. Meanwhile, the family´s financial future lies in the perfectly manicured hands of a business rival, a woman who wants Edwards all to herself.
Everything has consequences; everybody has secrets. And few can be trusted. Then, on the very brink of the family´s demise, someone thought lost to them forever returns to the fold. Maxwell Bradford has come home. But is he a savior … or the worst of all the sinners?


Happy reading


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7/30/2016

Enchanted August by Brenda Bowen


I´ve never heard of Brenda Bowen and never read any of her books for certain. This one is the very first and I have to admit, that though it was a nice read it didn´t have that much of an impact on me. And here I have to say, that, although the cover is created in a very simple and naïve way, the German edition looks much better than the original cover does. So advantage here for that. Enchanted August is a soft novel, with very different characters who come together at a house for a few weeks and which come from totally different lives.



Enchanted August*
by Brenda Bowen
Publisher Viking Penguin on June 2, 2015
Genre Novel
Pages 320
Format Softcover
Source Publisher
Goodreads
✶✶✶

Hopewell Cottage; Little Lost Island; Maine; Old, pretty cottage to rent on a small island; Springwater; blueberries; sea glass. August.
So reads an ad on Lottie Wilkes´ and Rose Arbuthnot´s children´s preschool bulletin board.
When the mothers arrive on the island, they are transformed by the salt air; the breathtaking views; the long, lazy days; and the happy routine of lobster, corn, and cocktails on the wraparound porch. By the time of the late-August blue moon, real life and its complications have finally fallen far, far away. For on his idyllic island they gradually begin to open up: to one another and to the possibilities of lives quite different from the ones they´ve been leading. Change can´t be that hard, can it?
Story
Rose and Lottie are both not really happy with their lives – at least not with the current situation they are living. Rose just got informed, that her son isn´t really accepted and that hi´s abnormal aggressiveness towards others is not really appreciated. Lottie feels that her husband is close to being unfaithful if he not already done that step, and she has no clue how to deal with all the uncertainty she´s feeling. 

Style
Brenda Bowen writes very soft, very shallow and it seems that her only strength lies in describing landscapes. In that she is great. You can literally see the view from the house over the island, how the island itself looks, and all those different flowers, trees, and herbs – just fantastic. The rest is nice to read a story with no depth, no claim to the reader.

Enchanted August is a novel I call a-in-between-read. You don´t have to think as a reader, you don´t need to keep in mind what was written a few pages before. It doesn´t matter because the story, as well as the figures, don´t require much of your attention. Everything is handled so simple, so easy to follow, so average. Don´t misinterpret me, I am not saying that this book isn´t worth being read. It is if you are in for such books.

Characters
I can´t help it but all the women in this novel are way too naïve for my taste. I know that not everyone gets the same education (sadly) and that not everyone can know the same things, but here? Good heavens! The women altogether seem only capable of doing things if they have a man at hand who does it and they have a way of seeing life and everything that comes along with it, that frankly said my toenails were rolling up. Nothing said against some naiveté, but here it is way too much.

Rose is kind of frustrated that she put her dreams, her life, and even her work behind the success of her husband. She seems like a woman who has no own head to think, no own will to act, and no own self-assurance at all. With a house all to herself on a beautiful island and enough time to think things over, one would think that at some point she will stand up for herself and say “stop, enough”. Not Rose.


Conclusion
This is the perfect novel for all those who like shallow, naïve novels with little till none figural draft in combination with a beautiful landscape. Enchanted August has, despite being so shallow, beautiful charm and some really nice and warm scenes.



Happy reading










*I read the German edition new release May 25, 2016, by Fischer



Brenda Bowen
©Elisabeth McKay






Brenda Bowen, born in Philadelphia, grew up in England, is a literary agent and Children´s author. She lives in New York and spends her summer holidays on an Island very much like Little Lost Island.



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7/27/2016

News – Twitter And Instagram


I just got my very first Tweet published *yay* and Instagram is in preparation to follow! This is a big step for me since I never ever thought of setting up a Twitter account not to mention one on Instagram! Sure, I noticed my friends´ activities there when they shared it on one of those social media sites where I am, too. Saw and still see other bloggers show off what they Tweet every day right on their blog homepage; but it never felt important to me to be there myself nor did I feel the need to set up those accounts.

And I have to be honest; I kind of get the creeps when I think about all the work that comes along with social media. Since I am running my blog I can barely catch up and stay updated on Facebook or Goodreads, not to mention Pinterest – so why start another one? Didn´t make sense at all to me. It took me quite some weeks to find kind of a routine I could live with to get my blog posts out in the open without having to spend several hours on that in front of my laptop. Sometimes I simply felt and still feel overwhelmed with all the activities needed, the catching up, the staying updated to keep all the followers I gained or to get maybe new ones attracted.

But then I realized two things:

First: Nowadays running a blog without being present at social media (I am talking about the big & most important ones here) seems kind of weird to others and you get asked a lot “What, you are not at …? Why not?"

Second: If I do it the way I feel about it, it is fun and less stressful. Still work, yes, and I need now a calendar to schedule everything, but the fun came back and that´s the most important thing.

And when I finally got what I wanted for a long time for my upcoming blog makeover (stay tuned and see *smile*) I had to be honest with myself and admit that I would have to do two steps at once to avoid any tech trouble. So after quite some time on various social media and other helping platforms to spread my blog activity into the www, I know now that I don´t need to focus on every single one of them every single day. In fact, some of those social media icons could easily vanish from my homepage´s menu without people even noticing it; and still running smoothly. As long as I have the important ones, or at least a few of them showing on my blog, it is enough for my blog friends.

So today is one BIG DAY for me, ´cause I not only set up one - BUT TWO - new social media accounts.

Twitter & Instagram  

Okay, I admit, it took me a few minutes to figure out how things work there, and to set up everything, but I hope my current and future followers will like it and enjoy what I am posting on those accounts from now on. Well, I can´t promise that I will post something hourly on my new accounts, at least not as long as I am using my ancient cell phone, but Rome wasn´t built in a day as well, right?

Now I am curious how things will go for me and my blog with those two additions and I am very excited that I finally made that step. So feel free to follow me if you like on whatever site you prefer and if you leave me a comment here and let me know where I can find you on social media, I will return the favor with pleasure.



Happy reading


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7/27/2016

Command Me by Geneva Lee


When I heard for the very first time of this new saga, I wasn´t very interested. The German cover doesn´t look good (too boring in my eyes) and I saw no reason to read it. But then I got a review request from the publisher and decided why not? So I read it and to my utter surprise, it was actually kind of entertaining. Okay, I have to admit, that on some pages I was wincing a bit about the kitschy parts. But then there were so hot scenes, so deep-going dark things the characters had to face and live with, that it became more and more interesting to read. And after I finished it, I was in a dull mood and had to sleep a night over it before I could write this review.


Command Me*
by Geneva Lee
Royals Saga #1
Publisher Westminster Press on May 13, 2014
Genre Love-Women-Erotica
Pages 364
Format Paperback
Source Publisher
Goodreads
✶✶✶✶

When he kissed me, I was shocked. He was a stranger and still so familiar. It wasn´t until I woke up to my picture splashed on the cover of tabloids that I realized I knew who he was. Prince Alexander of Cambridge. Royal bad boy. Exiled heir to the throne. He isn´t Prince Charming. He´s controlling. He´s demanding. He´s dangerous. And I can´t say no to him. We both have secrets - secrets that could tear us apart or drive us closer together - and as the paparazzi exposes each one. I have to decide just how far I´m willing to go for King and Country.
Story
For Clara means her degree everything. She is looking forward to her new job, her financial independence and her freedom from her family. Especially her mother is anything but good for her. And when she meets Alexander, she finds something even more exciting and frightening at the same time: passion. A passion that is as demanding as satisfying. And when she finally gets to know the royal family she has to face something totally new.

Style
From Clara´s personal point of view the reader gets a glimpse into the royal golden cage and not everything there is as pretty as it seems. Alexander makes it clear from the very beginning, that he isn´t the right guy for romance and a long-term relationship. He wants Clara´s body and the feeling she´s giving him; that´s it.

Geneva Lee uses a clear language and a very simple writing style. Some dialogues are very close to being vulgar and she´s blunt with everything. The words some figures are using towards Clara, the sexual things Alex wants to do with Clara and how some of the figures think about each other. There are some very hot and steamy scenes and if you are not up to that, you better keep your hands off of this book or saga in general.

The royal family not acting as royal as you would expect. A friend who is very assaulting and the own family which is not at all helpful; who needs an enemy with such people around?

Characters
Clara is a strong woman with a dark past. She suffers ever since her teenage years from an eating disorder. Stress, a family that doesn´t provide any hold when it comes to love and warmth and she is about to forget that she needs food. Since she knows Alexander she is not only thrown on the front page of the yellow press but also has to stand against her mother who feels insulted that her own daughter isn´t telling her everything about her love life. And since that contains Alexander involved, her mother is even less bearable. But Clara knows how to handle the situation, she has her tricks and she uses them every day. And that´s what makes her so strong, so likable and a great character.

Alexander is a beast of prey. Underneath his godlike looking body facade doze some dangerous abyss and pitch darkness. Control is the only thing he needs. And since he can´t control his royal life, he does it with his playmates in bed. The years in Iran and Irak have left their marks on him as well as the death of his younger sister. And the relation between him and the king is not good. But when he brings Clara into the royal household and stands up against his father, things become even darker. He is one hell of a fascinating man and character. Dark, dangerous and lost that´s what he is all in one.


Conclusion
A novel that turned out to be a positive surprise for me, that is for sure. Command Me is a book that will polarize its readers. You either love it or hate it – nothing in between. I liked what I´ve read very much and with that in mind, I can for sure recommend it. And I am looking forward to the next part of this saga.



Happy reading













*I read the German edition new release January 18, 2016, by Blanvalet


Geneva Lee
Geneva Lee ©Private






Geneva Lee was since always a hopeless romantic, who prefers fantasy to reality – especially fantasies involving powerful, dangerous, and sexy men. With her Royals Saga, the love-story between the English crown prince Alexander and commoner Clara, she hit into the heart of the reader and took the international bestseller lists by storm. Geneva Lee lives with her family in Kansas City.

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7/23/2016

Stacking The Shelves #14


is hosted by Tynga´s Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

I haven´t even read the first book, but for some reason, I got hooked by The Conspiracy of Us´ cover and when the price was right, I bought them both. The second part arrived, a couple of days ago, and I am really eager to get to read them.

The giveaway, I won during a book launch party in June, has finally arrived and I am very happy to have it now for real in my hands. The author has put quite some effort into wrapping everything up and has even put a handwritten card into it – isn´t that great?. And I can´t tell how excited and happy I am about receiving this wonderful giveaway. I do not know the author yet, nor her work, but that is about to change. One of the German publishers, whom I receive print books for the other literature portal I am writing for, sent me recently All Is Not Forgotten, and I kind of read it overnight. It was sooooooooo brilliant and thrilling! My review to it will be posted soon.


Bought Books

Map of Fates by Maggie Hall


Two weeks. That´s how long it took for Avery West´s ordinary life to change forever. In two weeks, she discovered she was heiress to a powerful secret society known as the Circle, learned her mother was taken hostage by the Circle´s enemies, and fell for a  boy she´s not allowed to love – just as she found out another was her unwelcome destiny.
Now Avery crosses oceans in private jets to hunt for clues that will uncover the truth about the Circle, setting her mom and herself free before it´s too late. By her side are both boys: Jack – steady, loyal, and determined to help her even at the expense of his own duty – and Stellan, whose connection to Avery grows stronger by the day despite her best intentions, making her question what she believes at every turn.
But at the end of a desperate hunt from the islands of Greece to the red carpet at Cannes comes a discovery that not only changes everything, but could bring the while world to its knees. And now Avery is forced to face the truth: In the world of the Circle, no one is who they seem.


Part of a Giveaway I won

The Billionaire´s Dance by Melody Anne


Alex is the middle son in a successful and loving family. He is a confirmed Bachelor, who loves to travel around the globe and romance as many women as possible. That is until he meets Jessica Sanders. One night with her and he´s changing his views on bachelorhood and starting to think that marriage life is the new way for him. Jessica comes from a wealthy family, and has had one too many good-looking men take advantage of her. When she meets confirmed bachelor, and known playboy, Alex Anderson, she´s distrustful of his flirting, and tries to avoid him at all costs. That is until they end up trapped in an elevator, and her fear of the dark, tight space is greater than her fear of the men she´s trapped with.



Reviewer Copy

All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker


It begins in the small, affluent town of Fairview, Connecticut, where everything seems picture perfect. Until one night when young Jenny Kramer is attacked at a local party. In the hours immediately after, she is given a controversial drug to medically erase her memory of the violent assault. But, in the weeks and months that follow, as she heals from her physical wounds, and with no factual recall of the attack, Jenny struggles with her raging emotional memory. Her father, Tom, becomes obsessed with his inability to find her attacker and seek justice while her mother, Charlotte, struggles to pretend this horrific event did not touch her carefully constructed world.
As Tom and Charlotte seek help for their daughter, the fault lines within their marriage and their close-knit community emerge from the shadows where they have been hidden for years, and the relentless quest to find the monster who invaded their town – or perhaps lives among them – drives this psychological thriller to a shocking and unexpected conclusion.


Happy reading







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7/23/2016

Anima by Kim Kestner


This is the first book by the German author that I´ve ever had the pleasure to read. A compelling story, some gorgeous characters, and a wonderful plot give you real reading pleasure. The cover was the first thing, that I fell in love with and I have to say that when I took it out of the delivery box, I discovered that it looks real in my hands much better than the cover picture does on the publisher´s website. White, red, and black - that sometimes seems to be a mix between a dark blue and black – are the colors who build not only the cover itself but the Yin and Yang symbol. This is on the German edition of the book illustrated as two wings combined with a beautiful glittering diamond.


Anima*
by Kim Kestner
Publisher Arena on February 1, 2016
Genre Young Adult
Pages 473
Format Hardcover
Source Publisher
Goodreads
✶✶✶✶

For Abby it´s the best time of the year: Every summer she spends the holidays with her family at the National Park Acadia. But this time the idyll is overshadowed. Engaged for entertainment magician Juspinn fascinated holiday guests not only with his show – he seems to manipulate them. With horror, Abby discovers how her Family and friends change more and more for the worse. Virginia is at once madly. Abby itself feels not only the attraction of the stranger but also the danger that emanates from him. Juspinn seems to be looking – for something that only she can give him.(personal translation ©Vi at Inkvotary)
Story
Abby loves nothing more than the time when she and her family are on vacation at the Acadia National park. Okay, she and her sister are having their difficulties with each other and there are quite the opposites in character, looks, and behavior, but other than that? No complaints. But when the magician Juspinn with the look of an unearthly god shows up, everything changes. Abby is drawn to him like she never experienced before and her sister makes it quite clear to her, that she´s the one who wants him and will get him – not Abby. But Juspinn thinks otherwise and a so a game of rivalry and hate starts to unfold between the two sisters. A game as dangerous and destroying as nothing they have ever experienced.

Style
Kim Kestner has a very clear and impressive language. Her writing style is wonderfully easy to read, very pictographic and foreign languages are part of the story. Okay, those pages where you find the translation of the dialogues for those languages set in the footnotes are not really my thing (I hate being disrupted in my reading fluency) but what can you do? Right - nothing.

The novel is put into two parts. In the first one, you get to know the characters and the story is a great piece of how things can be between two sisters. Life at Acadia isn´t for everyone fun and so in the second part the author kind of makes a complete U-turn. All of a sudden the atmosphere changes, the behavior and tone of both sides turn into a dark and something dangerous and Abby has to learn that not everything is as it seems. Written in the personal point of view by Abby and sometimes Juspinn, the game between good and evil becomes more and more intense. The reader gets very early in the book the feeling, that not everything is at it seems, that some really bad things are happening and that only one thing can either save them or destroy them: Love.

The author brings up some things that are quite surprising. So is the huge ball scene of the movie Eyes Wide Shut one a thing you will never see the same way after you´re read what Juspinn calls the “real” story behind it. Or the impression, that one person seems to kind of laugh about a certain lifestyle which Juspinn´s family shows to the world.

Characters
At first Kim Kestner portraits characters in such an exaggerated way, which makes the reader react in a very emotional way – and creates a picture by doing so, that not every reader will probably like.

Virginia is an ice-cold bitch, wrapped in beauty, which antagonizes the reader to the blood. She is a figure who gives the meaning of “blonde poison” a totally new meaning. At first, I was alienated by her, then nauseated and towards the end of the book, I felt disgusted by her. You end up asking yourself why in the world she feels such jealousy towards her younger sister and why she acts the way she acts. Her hate, her bitch erratic behavior, and her ignorance against her parents are murderous and fantastic described.

Abby is the opposite of her sister. Yes, she is a beauty too and yes, she doesn´t see herself that way, but the rest is absolutely different. She has a heart where Virginia has only ice. But after a few pages, I started hating her for her need to clean up behind every person, that she felt the force to help everyone whether they want it or not and that she never stands up against the bad behavior from Virginia towards her. That was no showing of the differences between Black and White, no this was the ultimate display of purest, blinding White and deepest and blackest black.


Conclusion
After reading the reader is dismissed with an emotional mix first-rate. I felt stunned, flabbergasted, and very astonished. Anima is no novel you just read, finish, and then go to the next book. This novel requires the ultimate attention of its readers and rewards them with an outstanding plot. A clear recommendation by me.



Happy reading







*This title was at the time of review only available in the German language.

Kim Kestner
 ©Kim Kestner






Kim Kestner, born in Gifhorn 1975, studied visual communication and managed a marketing-agency before she started writing. Since then she published successful Young Adult novels. Anima is her first book at Arena. Kim Kestner lives with her family south of Hamburg, Germany.


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7/20/2016

Waiting On Wednesday #13 – Beautiful by Christina Lauren


is a weekly event hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine. This meme is a place that spotlights upcoming releases that we´re eagerly anticipating with pure joy. I was so thrilled when I heard, that there will be one more book coming out in the fantastic Beautiful Series by Christina Lauren. Okay, I admit, I had the most fun with Bennett Ryan as the Beautiful Bastard, and no other character of that series could ever come close to him. But nonetheless, I want to know how this series will be concluded. So this time I picked this book for my WoW and can´t wait to read it.




Beautiful
Author Christina Lauren
Beautiful Series #5
Publishing Date October 4, 2016
Publisher Gallery Books
Format Paperback
Goodreads

After walking on her boyfriend shagging another girl in their place, Pippa Bay Cox ditches London for the States to gon a drunken road trip with Ruby Miller and some of her Beautiful friends. Scaling the career ladder is the default way to deal with heartbreak - and to just deal - for Jensen Bergstrom. Absolutely buried by his drive and workload, he rarely takes time for himself. But when his sister Hanna convinces him to join the gang on a two-week wine tour, he has a rare moment of cutting loose. Of course, it´s only once he´s committed that he realizes the strange girl he met briefly on the plane is coming along, too. She might be too much for him ... or he might realize his life has become too small and needs her to make it bigger, crazier. With this circle of friends, there´s always something going on: from Chloe and Sara´s unexpected personality swaps to Will´s new domestic side to Bennett´s text message barrage and George´s own happily-ever-after. In short, their adventures in love, friendship, and hilarity are simply Beautiful.


And what are you waiting for? Let me know your thoughts about this one or leave me the link to your WoW and I check it out.


Happy reading & waiting on

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7/20/2016

Nuts by Alice Clayton


At first, I was a bit suspicious about this new series. I didn´t know neither what to think of the title nor what to expect from its content. But after I finally read it, I have to say: no matter what title her next books will have, the author is always a guarantor for fantastic stories with the perfect style and language. Oh yes, I am serious about that. Nuts is full of amazing scenes, funny dialogues, and a beautiful landscape. You can actually see the Farmer`s Market, the barn, and all the other places where this novel plays.


Nuts
by Alice Clayton
Hudson Valley #1
Publisher Gallery Books on October 10, 2015
Genre Love-Women-Erotica
Pages 308
Format Paperback
Source Purchased
Goodreads
✶✶✶✶✶

Roxie Callahan is a private chef to some of Hollywood´s wealthiest, and nastiest, calorie-counting wives. Then a dairy disaster implodes her carrer in one fell ploop, and she finds herself back home in upstate New York, bailing out her hippie mother and running the family diner. When local organic farmer Leo Maxwell delivers her a lovely bunch of walnuts, Roxie wonders if a summer back home might not be so bad after all. Because Leo´s heavily involved in the sustainable, slow-food movement, and he likes to take his time. In all things. Roxie´s determined to head back to the West Coast as soon as the summer is over – but can the pull of lazy fireflies and her very own Almanzo be enough to keep her back home for good? 
Story
Roxie grew up in a small town and as soon as she could, she moved as far away from it as possible. Now, a private chef in Hollywood, she not only found finally how she sees her life, but also a way to do what she always loved to do: cooking. No, no ordinary things, and not in a famous restaurant. She has to be on her own. That changes the minute her mother calls and as a result of that, she makes a mistake that costs her almost all of her clients. So she drives all the way back to help her mother out and what she now finds back in the small town is way more than she ever expected.

Style
The entire novel is written from Roxie´s point of view, which makes all those scenes where she is kind of clumsy and bumps on a regular basis right into Leo more fun then you could ever imagine. Alone the scene, with the bee under the walnut tree – priceless. And all those fantastic cakes and meals she is creating, wow!

Alice Clayton digs real deep into the world of food, creating delicious meals and how idyllic country life can be. And OMG all those cakes made my mouth water! I mean literally. And then the perfect mix of different tones. The author used a combination of humor, amusement, and irony in hilarious dialogues and even better scenes. The one, where Leo texts Roxie what he hears is so incredibly fantastic and what he does afterward is even more fantastic. You see, to get the full picture you really have to read it.

Characters
Usually, you don´t expect in such a novel very profound characters. To my very surprise, it turns out, that Leo has quite a past and that he´s not only the handsome and very rich man but also a man with some very strong feelings about how his life and that of his loved ones. And he must be one heck of a fantastic lover – I only say the scene at Roxie´s porch!

Yes, Alice Clayton fascinates the reader with her new characters. And I was very happy when two characters of one of her elder books showed up. Yep, Grace, and Jack from The Unidentified Redhead have their moments in this book; but back to Roxie and Leo. Their first meeting is quite something and nuts are all of a sudden something very special. A kitchen can´t be small enough to be able to cook properly in it, but with Leo and Roxie in one place the space of a kitchen becomes a completely new meaning.

There is no doubt, that Roxie is a fantastic woman. She had an unusual childhood because of her mother being a hippy, yes, but she is adorable, knows what she wants and what she doesn´t want in life, and how she manages the diner during her mother´s absence is one great story.


Conclusion
I AM THRILLED! This was awesome. I laughed tears during some scenes and had a fantastic time reading it. Highly recommended.



Happy reading







Alice Clayton






Alice Clayton worked in the cosmetics industry for over a decade before picking up a pen (read laptop). She enjoys gardening but not weeding, baking but not cleaning up, and finally convinced her long-time boyfriend to marry her. Now, about that Bernese Mountain dog …

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7/16/2016

The Charm Bracelet by Viola Shipman


When I got the first glimpse at the German edition and went on to see how the original cover was looking, I was not very much impressed. Why have the German editions sometimes such awful covers? The original looks so charming and so beautiful, why not just do something like it for the German readers? Thanks to the author´s first name and the interesting sounding content I was convinced enough to give it at least a try. And it was really worth it. Okay, I had to ignore the look of the German edition (bright orange in combination with pink and copper – not really my thing!) but it is the novel itself that matters, right? Right! And so I began to read and after I was finished I have to admit, that it caught me on the last few pages. I had tears in my eyes when I closed it and believe me, not very many books can say that they were able to achieve that.


The Charm Bracelet*
by Viola Shipman
Publisher Thomas Dunne Books on March 22, 2016
Genre Novel
Pages 304
Format Softcover
Source Publisher
Goodreads
✶✶✶✶

On her birthday each year, Lolly´s mother gave her a charm, along with the advice that there is nothing more important than keeping family memories alive, and so Lolly´s charm bracelet would be a constant reminder of that love. Now seventy and starting to forget things, Lolly knows time is running out to reconnect with a daughter and granddaughter whose lives have become too busy for Lolly or her family stories. But when Arden, Lolly´s daughter, receives an unexpected phone call about her mother, she and granddaughter Laura rush home. Over the course of their visit, Lolly reveals the story behind each charm on her bracelet, and one by one the family stories help Lolly, Arden, and Lauren reconnect in a way that brings each woman closer to finding joy, love, and faith.
Story
Arden is one of those women who need years to recover from an ugly divorce. And her daughter Lauren has to pay the price for it – at least when it comes to her future plans and her passion for art. Arden is invincible, a gray mouse who does the work from others but is never part of the actual party. A letter from her mother Lolly, who still lives in the small town of Scoops, starts to change things for Arden and her daughter.

Style
It is at first a novel where family values, tradition, and some rituals are highly valued, even though some of the figures have forgotten them.

Viola Shipman has a nice way to put things in perspective, sometimes a bit kitschy but mostly The Charm Bracelet is a wonderfully written novel. There is a lot of wise saying in the story, charming figures come across – some of them stay, others walk by. The authors’ language is as simple as you can imagine but very touching and moving as well. With very few words she describes a captivating landscape, emotional scenes, and some deep down and long-buried rituals that come to the surface again.

The novel starts from the personal point of view by Arden and switches then to an invisible narrator until the epilog, where it goes back to Arden`s personal point of view again. Viola Shipman used her grandmother’s bracelet as plot and so the book is structured in eleven chapters – each for one of the charms Lolly has on her Bracelet. And what story each of them has!

Characters
You will see mostly women in this novel. Each and every one of them as unique and individual as you can imagine. Some of them will drive you nuts while others will just stun you.

Arden is the typical grey mouse possible. All her life she tried to be different from the way her mother is and now, as a mother of a young woman herself, she does everything to thwart her in every imaginable way. Don´t do this because it will put you in danger, don´t do that because it´s not safe there and you can´t study this because there is no guarantee that you will be able to make you living out of it …
Arden is a woman who has totally forgotten what it feels like to live, how to feel, and to let others make her feel good. And when she figures out, that her mother is sick and that the day will come sooner rather than later where she needs everyday help, she starts to forbid her mother everything that makes fun. Excuse me?

Lolly has a lust for life that is beyond every imagination. She is one heck of an old woman who wears all kinds of silly kitchen aprons, owns more wigs than shoes, and enjoys every day to its fullest. What she does in town at Dolly´s shop is remarkable and something Arden doesn´t approve at all.


Conclusion
The Charm Bracelet is a wonderful moving, charming, and very touching novel full of life, love, and a beautiful birthday ritual. If you´re looking for a book that will inspire you, show you how to do things the best way possible; then this is your book.



Happy reading












*I´ve read the German edition new release by Fischer KRÜGER on May 25, 2016 


Wade Rouse
©John Quirin


Viola Shipman is a pen name for Wade Rouse, a popular, award-winning memoirist. Rouse chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, to honor the woman whose charm bracelet and family stories inspired him to write his debut novel, which is a tribute to all of our elders. Rouse lives in Michigan and writes regularly for People and Coastal Living, among other places, and is a contributor to All Things Considered.

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7/16/2016

Stacking The Shelves #13


is hosted by Tynga´s Reviews and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

I don´t know since how long I´ve been wanting Maggie Hall´s The Conspiracy of Us. I kind of fell in love with the cover a long time ago & now I am holding it in my hands *happy dance*

The second book of Alice Clayton´s The Hudson Valley Series is one, I am waiting for since about June this year. After I´ve read Nuts it was crystal clear to me, that I had to have this second book. And with that cover, who could resist?

The last one in this week´s Stacking The Shelves is a thriller, that was sent to me by the publisher without any notice upfront. I reviewed the first book of the Klara Walldéen Series by Joakim Zander some months ago and this one sounds as promising as the previous book was. It will be the next I am reading, that´s for sure.



Bought Books

The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall

Avery West´s newfound family can shut down Prada when they want to shop in peace, and can just easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. Part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead.
To unravel the mystery putting her life in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle – beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But as the clues expose a stunning conspiracy that might plunge the world into World War 3, she discovers that both boys are hiding secrets of their own. Now she will have to choose not only between freedom and family – but between the boy who might help her save the world, and the one she´s falling in love with.


Cream of the Crop by Alice Clayton
Manhattan´s It Girl, Natalie Grayson, has it all: she´s a hot exec at a leading advertising firm, known industry-wide for her challenging and edgy campaigns. She´s got a large circle of friends, a family that loves her dearly, and her dance card is always full with handsome, eligible bachelors. What else could a modern gal-about-town wish for? The answer, of course, is … cheese.
Natalie´s favorite part of the week is spending Saturday morning at the Union Square Farmer´s Market, where she indulges her love of all things handsome. Oscar Mendoza, owner of the Bailey Falls Creamery and purveyor of the finest artisanal cheeses the Hudson Valley has to offer, is tall, dark, mysterious, and a bit oblivious. Or so she thinks. But that doesn´t stop Natalie from fantasizing about the size of his, ahem, milk can.
Romance is churning, passion is burning, and something incredible is rising to the top. Could it be … love?


Review Copy

The Believer by Joakim Zander*

Yasmine Ajam has fled her past in the rough Stockholm borough Bergort, reinventing herself as a trend spotter in New York City. One day she receives a startling message: there are riots stirring on the streets of Stockholm and they appear to be connected with the disappearance of her brother, Fadi. Following rumors that Fadi was radicalized and died fighting for ISIS in Syria, Yasmine entangled in a dangerous web ob allegiances and violence that stretches far beyond the gangs of her childhood streets.
Meanwhile, in London, Klara Walldéen has landed a job at a human rights research institute working on a report to predict the effects of privatization of police forces. When Klara travels to Stockholm to present her findings to European Union policy makers, her laptop is stolen and one of her colleagues is pushed in front of a subway train. As her path collides with Yasmine´s, Klara begins to realize that she may unwittingly be contributing to the sinister agendas of powerful interests, who will stop at nothing to attain their goals.

*The cover you see, is that of the Swedish original edition. The US edition will be published in 2017. So far, the publisher doesn´t provide a US cover yet. 



Happy reading







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7/13/2016

Waiting On Wednesday #12 – Hunt The Dawn by Abbie Roads


is a weekly event hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine. This meme is a place that spotlights upcoming releases that we´re eagerly anticipating with pure joy. So this time my WoW is - as I mentioned in my post last week -, again about Abbie Roads. Her second book of the Fatal Dreams Series is coming out in December 2016 and though I haven´t even read or gotten her debut novel Race The Darkness yet, I already got hooked by the cover of Hunt The Dawn and pre-ordered it some days ago.

Usually, I am not like that. Not at all!

Yes, I go a lot after the cover design of a book, can´t deny it. If I don´t like what I see, the book has little to no chance to make it into my home library. No matter what the back text says. I have either to be in a very good mood to give a book with a not pleasant cover a chance or, if I can read a few pages - whether from a reading example online or during I´m in an actual book store - and the story catches me immediately, it might end up in my shelves. For me, the summary AND the cover need to be one union. They have to tell me something or at least touch me in some way. Do I know the author and his/her writing style, it can happen that I don´t judge by the cover, I am honest about that. But I had that only a couple of times since I am reviewing books, and believe me, I am reviewing since many, many years *smile*

So, yes, the cover design matters a lot.

But there is something else I connect with Hunt The Dawn and will always remember when I look at its cover. In June I was part of a book launch party (my very first) on FB and Abbie Roads showed during her hosting turn not only the cover again, but also the blurb of it. I read it and thought: Hey, that sounds really good. And in that very same post, she provided a wonderful prize and, guess what - I WON IT!

But more about this fantastic win later, ´cause of course I´ll write about it the moment the package arrives and I can see and feel it with my own eyes and hands. Did I mention that I LOVE to unpack packages, especially those ones that have a book inside?

Now you know.

For the moment I am very happy, agitated, and soooo curious to get to know this debut author and her work. It is always an adventure to meet a new author, to get to know the style, how that person writes, and to see if that style and writing fit my taste and bring me some wonderful reading pleasure.




Hunt The Dawn
Author Abbie Roads
Fatal Dreams Series #2
Publishing Date December 6, 2016
Publisher Sourcebooks
Format Paperback
Goodreads

Scent is the most pervasive of our senses. What if you could smell murder?
Lathan Montgomery was born with a genetic anomaly that enhances his sense of smell. He can smell everything. Everything. Even people’s memories. And that makes it damned near impossible to be around anyone without being bombarded by all their memories. Isolation is his best friend. And jailor.
He uses his nose to solve cold cases for the FBI, but links a group of unsolved murders—by scent alone—and discovers an active serial killer. The mind-hunters at the FBI refuse to open an investigation. Lathan is determined to find the killer, but his search stalls when he rescues Evanee Brown from an attacker. She’s the only person—the only freaking person—he’s ever met who doesn’t have a cloud of memories around her and he only person he can tolerate.
Evanee Brown is trying to escape. Escape her job. Her town. Her rapist. Lathan saves her, but that night her normal nightmares take a twisted turn into the horrific—she dreams of murder victims who hand over macabre clues. Very real clues she brings back to reality. Clues that all point to the killer Lathan’s been hunting.
The more Lathan gets to know Evanee, the more devotion, tenderness, and passion overwhelm him in a way he’s never experienced. But the killer is on the offensive and steals Lathan’s only love.
And he never keeps his victims alive for long…

Abbie Roads



Abbie Roads is a 2014 Golden Heart Finalist with her romantic suspense novel Dangerous Dreams.  Her writing is darkly emotional, but she always gives her damaged characters a happy ending.  During the day, she’s a mental health counselor known for her blunt honest style of therapy and her shoes.  She believes that many of life’s problems can be solved with a kick-ass pair of heels and a chocolate martini—or three.  If that doesn’t work—seek professional help.


And what are you waiting for? Let me know your thoughts about this one or leave me the link to your WoW and I check it out.


Happy reading & waiting on


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I am an avid reader, book blogger, and painter who loves to talk and write about books. A day without one in my hands is a wasted one. Skilled florist with a degree in writing - oh yes, that works! I like many genres, but horror is nothing for me. Here on Inkvotary I will show my love for books, things that move me and what´s going on off the blog - called life. The personal as well as life in general.

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