Winner - Lowcountry Summer by Dorthea Benton Frank

I only have one giveaway that was ending this week so I'm going to go ahead and announce it. Also stay tuned, I will put up some new giveaways this week.

Thanks for all the entries and comments, I do enjoy reading your comments.

The winner of Lowcountry Summer by Dorthea Benton Frank is: 

Just Mom 

I have contacted Just Mom by email and will be getting the book out to her this week.

Huge TBR Readathon

I am a huge sucker for read-a-thons so when I saw that Bookworming in the 21st Century was hosting this one I had to join in.  The problem - I do have a huge tbr, but I also have review commitments and library books, so I am modifying slightly, and hoping this doesn't break the spirit of this read-a-thon.  This week I am going to try and read as many books from my library TBR pile as I can.  See it's a TBR pile and they need to get read and this will help me also get further along with my Library Reading Challenge as well.

Go check out Bookworming in the 21st Century's blog for more information, see other participants and join in yourself!
So what does my Library TBR look like?  

Here's what I hope to finish:

• Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham - done - 6/14
• Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin (audiobook)
• Supreme Justice by Phillip Margolin
• Confessions by Kate Brian
• The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd: Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer

And if I can get those finished then I would like to continue with:

• Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Matchev
• Untouchable by Kate Brian
• The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell
• Big Girl by Danielle Steel
• Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

So am I wrong to make the read-a-thon work for me?  I am going to get as much reading as I can done each day, but unfortunately I still have a 40-hour-a-week job and kids and hubby, so we'll see how it goes.  I started by actually taking a lunch hour today and reading, so we'll see if I can keep it up all week.  Good luck all!

What are you Reading Monday - June 14

Come post weekly and see what others are reading too just so you can add to your tbr - I always do! For more information see Sheila at One Persons Journey Through a World of Books and join in!

Books Completed Last Week 

• Don't Look Twice by Andrew Gross - review
• Wayfarer by R.J. Anderson - review
• Sins of the Mother by Victoria Christopher Murray - review 
• The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan - review coming this week
  

Reading Now:

• The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker (review)
• Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin (library, audiobook)
• Dangerous by Diana Palmer (Kindle, review)
• Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer by John Grisham (library)
  

Next:

• I Love This Bar by Carolyn Brown
• The Passage by Justin Cronin

Summary -
Another good week - not as much reading done as we got a puppy.  Thankfully he is an outside dog so there is no training, but we have been spending lots of time playing and taking walks.  The kids are in heaven and I must admit I am smitten as well.  

It's summer here on the coast so I am going into summer reading mode.  I was taking off on Thursday afternoons to pick up my kids early, but I'm now thinking of coming in a few hours late on Monday and getting some sun time in and laying out means reading time.  I love summer! 

This Weeks' Winners

Here's this week's batch of winners:

Dangerous by Diana Palmer (courtesy of Jen Musico and Planned TV Arts )

Misskallie2000

Welcome to Harmony by Jodi Thomas (courtesy of Jodi Thomas blog tour)

Margie

Thanks to all who entered - if you didn't win, be sure and check out these wonderful books.  More giveaways to come in the next few weeks.

The winners have been notified and have 48 hours to contact me with their mailing address before I redraw a winner.  Books I mail will be mailed within three days of receiving address.  Allow 4-6 weeks for books from the publisher or publicists (most will be there sooner, but just in case).

Book Review: Don't Look Twice by Andrew Gross

Don't Look Twice by Andrew Gross

Publisher: HarperAudio

Publish Date: March 1, 2009

Audio CD, 8 discs, 384 pages

My Review:
First since this was an audiobook, let me review that part, and next I will get to the actual book content.  Don't Look Twice was read by Christian Hoff, who I don't believe I have listened to before.  Christian Hoff is a good reader, he used enough different voices/accents so that I could tell the people apart without much thought.  The production is well-done and this audiobook does one thing that I just recently realized is very important to me.  They use music at the beginning and end of each disc, so when it gets to the end, I know to switch to the next disc.  This may sound very simple and obvious when the end of the disc gets there, but I am listening with two children in the van who often are fighting and I may miss that the disc has ended and my cd player goes back to the beginning, so I may go as long as 5 minutes until I realize I have heard what I am listening to before.  Therefore some sort of signal that it's the end of the disc is great for me.

For the actual book - I love Andrew Gross books.  I loved when he was co-writing with James Patterson and made sure I read his first solo effort and then his second shortly after they came out.  Last year his third book and second in the Ty Hauck series came out but it was right after I started my blog so I missed it.  So when Reckless came out this year, I knew I had to read Don't Look Twice first so I requested it from the library.  I'm glad I did.  Though I did get lost a few times, but I think that is more from listening in fits and spurts and with the kids sometimes yelling in the background.  I thoroughly enjoyed the story, thought it was well-paced and enjoyed seeing more of Ty in this book.

I also enjoyed learning about Warren, Ty's brother.  He added a lot to the book at times and was a great contrast to Ty.  The story moved quickly, was a little predictable at times, but that really didn't take away from it at all.  It was a great thrill ride and has me anxious for the latest installment, Reckless to see what happens between Ty and his new love interest and also what will happen next in his life.

As a word of warning - the language is a little rough at times in this book.  That may or may  not matter to you, but if you are listening to the book in your car with kids around, just be warned.  I wish I had known :)  However it was a good teaching experience because if my 5-year-old heard - he would say "Mommy, that man said a bad word".

Overall a very enjoyable book.

My Rating:  4.0/5.0
About the Book:
In this dramatic new novel following the bestselling The Dark Tide, a drive-by shooting rocks the posh suburb of Greenwich, Connecticut, and an innocent bystander is left dead.

Detective Ty Hauck plunges into what seems like a vicious case of retribution and follows the trail to a sinister gambling scheme at an upstate casino. Until Annie Fletcher, a young restaurateur in the midst of rebuilding her life, witnesses something she shouldn't have—and immediately runs to him with what she knows. Suddenly, Hauck is pulled into a rising storm far greater than it first appeared—a storm wide enough to encompass corruption inside Greenwich's circle of wealthy and powerful citizens. And punishing enough to consume Hauck's own family, and tear brothers apart forever . . . if it doesn't kill them first.

Don't Look Twice is a gripping story of profiteering on an international scale and an emotionally resonant domestic thriller from one of the hottest new talents in suspense fiction.

About the Author:
Andrew Gross is the author of New York Times and international bestsellers The Blue Zone, Don't Look Twice, and The Dark Tide, which was nominated for the Best Thriller of the Year award by the International Thriller Writers. He is also coauthor of five number one bestsellers with James Patterson, including Judge & Jury and Lifeguard. He lives in Westchester County, New York, with his wife, Lynn.


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FTC Information: I checked out this audiobook from my wonderful local library to read for fun.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

 

Book Review: Sins of the Mother by Victoria Christopher Murray

Sins of the Mother by Victoria Christopher Murray

Publisher: Touchstone

Publish Date: June 1, 2010

Paperback, 400 pages

My Review:
I'm not sure where to start with this book review, Sins of the Mother is a powerful book that provokes a lot of feelings through the book.  The main thing I had a hard time with was I didn't like Jasmine, but I really liked the book.  I know you might wonder - how do you like a book and not like one of the main characters?  Well, the truth is even though I did not like or truly approve of Jasmine, there were things about her I could relate to.  I can only imagine how it feels to have a child go missing and Jasmine's motherly love shows through even when other moral issues rise up.  I do feel relieved at the end to read the interview questions with the author, Victoria Christopher Murray and find that she doesn't really like the character, Jasmine either. 

This is not Ms. Murray's first book with Jasmine - she is featured in several earlier books.  I can see where reading the earlier books would help the reader understand Jasmine and her past more, I don't feel the books are necessary for you to be able to read Sins of the Mother.  I have checked out the first book, Temptation since I started reading Sins of the Mother.  I may not like Jasmine but I am intrigued by her and after reading Sins of the Mother, I know I like Victoria Christopher Murray's writing.  She tells a story well and will keep you engrossed from the first page to the last.  I also like how real her characters feel.  They are everyday people (even the TV preacher, Hosea, Jasmine's husband) fighting everyday temptations and feelings. 

I liked the side-story of Alexis and Brian, it meshed with the main story very well.  These characters were also in an earlier book and Brian is Jaqueline's father. They played an interesting role and I enjoyed watching their interplay to take away from the tension of what was going on in New York with the missing daughter.

If you are expecting Christian fiction, you will get it in a way, but I don't consider this to be straight Christian fiction.  This is the newer Christian fiction, it's more mainstream. There is a message and it comes through loud and clear, but the story line and some of the situation are a little rawer than straight Christian fiction.  There is no bad language, but there are sexual situations that occur, they are not detailed, but they are there - so be warned if that is something that will offend you.  It fits with the story and doesn't seem gratuitous.

Overall, I thought this was a very good book.  I went through the gamut of emotions with this one and could not stop turning the pages.  I am impressed with my first outing with Victoria Christopher Murray.  Take a chance with this one, I don't think you will be disappointed.

My Rating:  4.5/5.0

About the Book:
Have the sins of the mother come upon the daughter? Jasmine Larson Bush is finally living a drama-free life. She’s left her lying, cheating, stealing stripper days behind and is standing by her husband’s side as the first lady of one of the largest churches in New York City. The Bushes have been blessed with the best of everything—including two lovely children.

But just when Jasmine has committed her life completely to God, her daughter Jacqueline is kidnapped from a mall the day after Thanksgiving. The police and the church community join in the frantic search to find the four-year-old. As the days pass without any sign of her daughter, Jasmine begins to crack under the strain and turns to Brian Lewis, Jacqueline’s biological father, for solace.

Has Jasmine’s past finally caught up to her? Will her daughter be found or will Jasmine pay the ultimate price?

About the Author:
Victoria Christopher Murray is the Essence bestselling author of the novels Truth Be Told, Joy, and Temptation. Visit her at www.victoriachristophermurray.com. She lives with her family in Inglewood, California.

For more information see my FIRST Wild Card Tour post.

FTC Information: I received this book from Mallika Dattatreya and Ashley Hewlett of Touchstone/Fireside Publicity Simon & Schuster, Inc. for FIRST Wild Card Tours for review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

Blog Tour: Sins of the Mother by Victoria Christopher Murray

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Victoria Christopher Murray

and the book:

Sins of the Mother

Touchstone; Original edition (June 1, 2010)

***Special thanks to Mallika Dattatreya and Ashley Hewlett of Touchstone/Fireside Publicity Simon & Schuster, Inc. for sending me a review copy.***

My review will come later today.  Review is now up here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Victoria Christopher Murray always knew she would become an author, even as she was taking an unlikely path to that destination. A native of Queens, Victoria first left New York to attend Hampton University where she majored in Communication Disorders. After graduating, Victoria attended New York University where she received her MBA.

Victoria spent ten years in Corporate America before she tested her entrepreneurial spirit. She opened a Financial Services Agency for Aegon, USA where she managed the number one division for nine consecutive years. However, Victoria never lost the dream to write and when the “bug” hit her again in 1997, she answered the call.

Victoria originally self published Temptation. “I wanted to write a book as entertaining as any book on the market, put God in the middle, and have the book still be a page-turner. I wasn’t writing to any particular genre – I didn’t even know Christian fiction existed. I just wanted to write about people I knew and characters I could relate to.”

In 2000, Time Warner published Temptation. Temptation made numerous best sellers list and remained on the Essence bestsellers list for nine consecutive months. In 2001, Temptation was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Literature.

Since Temptation, Victoria has written six other novels: JOY, Truth Be Told, Grown Folks Business, A Sin and a Shame, The Ex Files, and Too Little, Too Late. She was a contributor to the first Christian fiction anthology, Blessed Assurance and the Contributing Editor for the Aspire Women of Color Bible published by Zondervan. All of her novels have continued to be Essence bestsellers. In addition, Victoria has received numerous awards including the Golden Pen Award for Best Inspirational Fiction and the Phyllis Wheatley Trailblazer Award for being the pioneer in African American Christian Fiction. In 2008, Victoria won the African American Literary Award for best novel (Too Little, Too Late) and Female Author of the Year.

In 2008, Victoria’s first novels in her Christian fiction teen series - The Divine Divas – were published. “I was concerned with what our young ladies were reading. I decided to do something about that – give them stories full of drama, but with a message.” The Divine Divas has already been optioned to become a television series.

Victoria splits her time between Los Angeles and Washington D.C. In Los Angeles, she attends Bible Enrichment Fellowship International Church under the spiritual tutelage of Dr. Beverly “BAM” Crawford and in Washington, D.C., she fellowships at Metropolitan Baptist Church under Dr. H. Beecher Hicks, Jr. She is also a member of the Long Beach Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $15.00
Paperback: 379 pages
Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (June 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 141658918X
ISBN-13: 978-1416589181

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

New York, New York November 2009

“Love Mama!”

Jasmine scooped her toddler into her arms. “You do love your mama, don't you?” She laughed.

Mae Frances rolled her eyes as Jasmine smothered her son's cheeks with kisses.

“Don't make no kind of sense, Jasmine Larson,” her best friend said. “Teaching that baby to say that.”

“What's wrong with him loving his mama?” But before Mae Frances could answer, Jasmine stood straight up and scanned the crowd that packed the new mall. In just seconds, her gaze locked on her daughter, crouched in front of the pet store window. “Jacqueline!”

The girl's brown curls bounced when she jumped up, startled, and skipped back to Jasmine and Mae Frances.

With a firm hand, Jasmine grasped her daughter's wrist. “I told you to stay where Nama and I could see you.”

Jacqueline bowed her head. “But Mama,” she sighed, “I could see you.”

“Well, I couldn't see you, so why don't you sit down for a moment and cool off,” Jasmine said as she wiped the thin line of perspiration that dampened her daughter's hairline.

“I'm not hot,” Jacqueline protested. It was the look on her mother's face that made Jacqueline wiggle onto the bench next to Mae Frances. With her eyes on Jasmine, she buried her head on the shoulder of the woman who, years before, had been nothing more than a friend of the family, but was now so close to the Bushes that Jacqueline thought of her as her grandmother. When Mae Frances put her arms around Jacqueline, the girl glared at Jasmine as if she never planned to love her again.

Jasmine shook her head, then her eyes widened when her rambunctious daughter rolled her eyes.

No, she didn't.

Jacqueline had never done that before, and Jasmine opened her mouth to scold her, then just as quickly changed her mind. When her daughter peeked back at her, Jasmine rolled her eyes. Jacqueline giggled, and Jasmine laughed, too. But when Jacqueline moved to get up again, Jasmine stared her back down.

Jacqueline pouted and bounced hard against the back of the bench, but the silent tantrum didn't faze Jasmine. She planned to let her four-year-old (or fourteen-year-old, depending on the day) sit and think about how she'd run off.

“Are you ready to go home?” Mae Frances grumbled.

As Christmas Muzak piped through speakers above, Jasmine realized this trip to the mall wasn't the best idea she'd ever had. But how could she have missed this day?




The new Harlem mall had been open for only two weeks, and this was the first big shopping day of the season; she had to make her own contribution to Black Friday. Now as she looked at Mae Frances and Jacqueline--a set of ornery twins, with their arms folded and their lips poked out--she wished she had thought this all the way through. Because if she had, she would have come alone.

“I wanna go home, too!” Jacqueline exclaimed, as if she was in charge of something.

Looking at her son, Jasmine shook her head. “You don't want to go home, do you, Zaya?” she asked, calling him by the name that Jacqueline had given to him two years ago when he had been born. Hosea had been too difficult for her to say, and no one wanted to call him Junior.

“No, no, no!” Zaya followed his mother's lead before he toddled over to his sister. “Yaki, Yaki, Yaki!” He called her by his own made-up name.

Mae Frances sucked her teeth and tightened the collar of the thirty-five-year-old mink that she loved. “Don't make no kind of sense, the way you manipulate that boy.”

“He's my baby. He's supposed to be manipulated.”

“Get away from me, Zaya!” Jacqueline exclaimed, and pushed the toddler away.

“Don't do that to your brother,” Jasmine scolded.

Jacqueline stood up, put one hand on her side as if she had hips, and, with the other, squeezed her nose. “He! Stinks!”

Jasmine sniffed, then hoisted her son up into her arms. “Your sister's right.” She grabbed the diaper bag from the stroller and reached for Jacqueline's hand. “Come on, we've got to change Zaya's diaper.”

Jacqueline folded her arms and sat back down next to Mae Frances. “I don't wanna go.” With a pout, she pointed toward the pet store. “I wanna see the puppies.”



“We'll see the puppies after,” Jasmine said, still reaching for her daughter.

“Leave her with me.” Mae Frances put her arms around Jacqueline. “No need for her to have to go with you when I'm here.”

Jasmine's hesitation waned after just a moment. “Stay right there next to Nama,” she demanded sternly. “And then we'll go see the puppies, okay?”

Jacqueline nodded as she scooted back on the bench. With wide eyes and an even wider smile, she blew Jasmine a kiss. “I love you, Mama.”

Jasmine laughed. Her precious little girl--always the drama queen.

Inside the restroom, Jasmine twisted through the long line of waiting women, and as she made her way to the changing station, her cell phone rang. But just as she pulled her phone from her bag, it stopped.

She glanced at the screen. “That was your daddy,” she told her son as she laid him on his back.

He giggled and reached for her cell.

“No,” she said, taking it from his grasp.

His laughter stopped. His bottom lip trembled. His body began to shake. And before the first shriek came, the phone was back in Zaya's hands.

“Love Mama,” Zaya cooed as he pushed buttons.

Jasmine laughed. God had blessed her with a drama queen and a drama king.

That thought made her pause in wonder. Who would have ever thought that she--Jasmine Cox Larson Bush--would end up in this place? She--the ex-stripper, ex-man stealer, ex-liar, cheater, thief. The jealous girl who'd done everything she could to sabotage the success of her best friend, Kyla. The unsatisfied wife who'd badgered her first husband until he'd finally left her.



The lonely woman who lived to tear husbands away from their wives. There was hardly a sin that she hadn't committed. But that life, those abominations, were far behind her.

Today, she was a proud wife and mother--the first lady of one of the most influential churches in the city. Today, her life was filled with leisure--it was difficult to call the work she did as first lady and the time she spent with the Young Adults Ministry a job. Today, each of her needs and every one of her desires were met. And she had a Central Park South apartment, a closet full of endless racks of designer clothes, and an upcoming New Year's family vacation in Cannes to prove it.

This life was God's reward for her having turned away from her transgressions. As she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, her lips spread into a slow smile. Bountiful blessings. All she could say was, “Thank you, Father.”

Seconds later, Zaya was back on her hip, her cell was back in her bag, and she was back in the mall. But then, her steps became measured as she moved toward Mae Frances. Her friend's head was down as she pushed buttons on her cell.

Jasmine's voice was as deep as her frown as she yelled, “Mae Frances?”

She looked up. “Did you just call me?”

Jasmine let the diaper bag slip down her arm. “Where's Jacquie?”

Mae Frances waved her hands. “She's right over there. With the puppies. Did you just call me?”

Before Mae Frances had finished, Jasmine's eyes were searching the crowd. With Zaya still in her arms, she pushed through the mass of men and women, arms filled with packages, children close at their sides.

“Where's Jacquie?” The question trembled from her lips to a young boy in front of the pet store. “The little girl who was here--where is she?”



His face was pressed against the glass as he answered, “She's gone.”

There was no time to question him further. A woman, two giant steps away, grabbed the boy's hand.

“Didn't I tell you not to talk to strangers?” the woman admonished as she dragged the boy from the window.

Jasmine's eyes were wide as she spun around, clutching Zaya to her chest, searching the space around her. It had been only a minute, but terror was already crawling up and down her skin.

“Jacquie!” she screamed through the holiday din.

She tried to keep herself in check as she gripped Zaya and barged through the pet store's doors. The stench of the animals did nothing to cover the fear that was already surging from her pores.

“Jacquie!” she shouted. She kept telling herself that this was nothing: Jacqueline had just wandered off.

Pressing up one aisle, then rushing down the next, she hunted through the crowd.

“Jacquie!” she yelled.

Jasmine grabbed a pink-apron-wearing teenager who was crouched down in front of the cages. “Please,” she said to the young man, obviously one of the store's employees. “Have you seen my daughter?”

The blond spiked-hair boy glanced at Jasmine and then looked around the store, his expression telling Jasmine that her question didn't make much sense to him. “There've been a lot of kids here today,” he answered before he returned to feeding the kittens.

“Jacquie!” she screamed one last time as she rushed back through the doors.

Outside, in the middle of the passing crowd, Jasmine turned slowly, exploring each face, searching every space.


“Jacquie!”
Her distress went unnoticed; the holiday shoppers were
buried under their own cares.
“Jacquie!” Now her heart banged against her chest.



Both she and Zaya were crying by the time she hurried back to the bench. In the eyes of the woman she called her friend, Jasmine saw the same unadulterated horror that was in her heart.

“Where's Jacquie?” she screamed at Mae Frances.

Mae Frances shook her head. “She . . . she was . . . right there,” she cried as she pointed back to the store.

But Jasmine didn't bother to turn around. She didn't need to look at the store or anywhere else in the mall. Because in the space inside of her where truth lay, she knew.

As “Joy to the World” squeaked out from the speakers above, Jasmine knew that her daughter was gone.