It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (April 8, 2013)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

This week I read five books. All of them were review books! Four of them were young adult books and one was an adult book. It is somewhat unusual that all of the books I read last week were print books–4 ARCs and a finished copy.

Taken by Erin Bowman was a good start to a new dystopian trilogy. A young man from a colony where all the young men disappear at age 18 sets out to find out what happens to them and what is over the wall that surrounds their land. My review will be posted on April 10.

Furious by Jill Wolfson tells the story of three young women who become Furies to right wrongs and how that doesn't work out quite as well as they had hoped. My review will be posted on April 11. 

Stolen Magic by Stephanie Burgis is the end of a trilogy. I loved the main character and the setting. I was so pleased when the author asked if I could fit reading and reviewing it into my schedule. I was even more pleased to get a finished copy of the book so that I can share it with my students. My review will be posted later today at Ms. Martin Teaches Media.

Soldier Dog by Sam Angus was a historical fiction book that I got from Macmillan. I thought it brought light to a little known part of World War I and was a good middle grade story. My review will be posted on April 13.

The only adult book I read this week was Wicked Cravings by Suzanne Wright and it was very adult. If you like werewolves and erotic paranormal romance, this book is for you. I liked the characters and thought the world building was well-done. My review will be posted on April 13.

Currently:

I am currently reading Sharp by Alex Hughes which is the sequel to Clean. I thought Clean was an intriguing urban fantasy with a unique hero. I am glad to be entering that world again. I am on the blog tour, so you can look for my review on April 18.

Next Week:

I am working on my April 23rd releases. 

Young Adult

The Rules by Stacey Kade sounded like a fun science fiction romance when I was browsing NetGalley. So I added it to my stack.

 
manicpixiedreamgirl by Tom Leveen was another NetGalley addition. I got it months ago (June 16) because I was intrigued by the story description (and the title).

Adult Books

The Mystery Woman by Amanda Quick was a LibraryThing win. I love the author and own and have read all of her books. I can't wait to read this one.

Behind the Lies by Robin Perini was a romantic suspense pick from Amazon Vine. 

My Saturday travel was fun. A couple friends and I headed up to the Cities to hear Tamora Pierce speak and get books signed. We had been hoping to see Robin LaFevers too but one of my friends had to be back in Rochester by 5 PM which didn't give us enough time.

This week I am traveling again. A friend and I are attending Spotlight on Books at a resort near Grand Rapids, MN. We'll be leaving after school on Thursday, spending the night at my brother's house in Duluth (and celebrating his birthday), and then attending the conference from Friday noon until Saturday afternoon. We will get a chance to meet Karen Cushman, Susan Marie Swanson, and Scott Nash. There are usually other local (Minnesota) authors in attendance too. I have been going to this conference for years and love that it is small and happens at a resort (even though there is still ice on the lake).

While this will be a fun conference, it will really be cutting into my reading time. What did you read last week? What are your plans for this week?

Stacking the Shelves (April 7, 2013)

Tynga of Tynga's Reviews has a meme to spotlight the books we receive each week. Visit her site to check out the linky and see what everyone gets. I guarantee that your TBR pile will grow.

I added seven books to the TBR mountain this week.

Review Books (both Amazon Vine picks):

To Wed in Scandal by Liana LeFey is a historical romance which will be released on May 7.

Blood and Roses by A. K. Alexander is a mystery centered around horse racing. It won't be released until August 20.

Books I Bought (for my Kindle):

The Bridgertons: Happily Ever After by Julia Quinn is a collection of short stories in the Bridgertons series which I loved.

Feral Sins by Suzanne Wright is the first book in the Phoenix Pack series. I got the second book for review. These are urban fantasy.

I took advantage of some Daily Deals too.

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott is a book I have already read. I am glad to have it on my Kindle now. 

I have also read The Host by Stephenie Meyer but I couldn't pass it up when it was on sale.

To Have and to Code by Deborah Geary was new to me but I thought the description sounded like something I would enjoy.

What did you add to to your stack?

ARC Review: The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig

The Ashford Affair

Author: Lauren Willig

Publication: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (April 9, 2013)

Description: From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig comes The Ashford Affair, a page-turning novel about two women in different eras, and on different continents, who are connected by one deeply buried secret.

As a lawyer in a large Manhattan firm, just shy of making partner, Clementine Evans has finally achieved almost everything she’s been working towards—but now she’s not sure it’s enough. Her long hours have led to a broken engagement and, suddenly single at thirty-four, she feels her messy life crumbling around her. But when the family gathers for her grandmother Addie’s ninety-ninth birthday, a relative lets slip hints about a long-buried family secret, leading Clemmie on a journey into the past that could change everything. . . .

Growing up at Ashford Park in the early twentieth century, Addie has never quite belonged. When her parents passed away, she was taken into the grand English house by her aristocratic aunt and uncle, and raised side-by-side with her beautiful and outgoing cousin, Bea. Though they are as different as night and day, Addie and Bea are closer than sisters, through relationships and challenges, and a war that changes the face of Europe irrevocably. But what happens when something finally comes along that can’t be shared? When the love of sisterhood is tested by a bond that’s even stronger?

From the inner circles of British society to the skyscrapers of Manhattan and the red-dirt hills of Kenya, the never-told secrets of a woman and a family unfurl.

My Thoughts: What an amazing story! I was swept into reading about the lives of two women—grandmother and granddaughter—told in parallel in this sweeping epoch. This is a story with life-changing secrets but, ultimately, lasting love.

Clemmie Evans is a workaholic lawyer whose concentration on her job and her desire to make partner have cost her a fiancé and contact with her family. She was raised by her mother and her grandmother and grandfather after her parents divorced. She has two older brothers who were adult and married before she was born. Her childhood was spent with her Granny Addie and her mother. Her grandmother was her role model in many ways. She had a loving, successful marriage and she and her husband had built a large, successful business on their Kenyan coffee plantation.

When she comes to her beloved Granny Addie's 99th birthday party (an hour late because of work), she is surprised to see how feeble she is. She also runs into Jon Schwartz. 

Jon was one of her Aunt Anna's step-children from one of her many marriages. The two met when they were young children and had a childhood rivalry about just about everything. But when they met in Rome, when Clemmie was 21, things changed and the rivalry turned into a quick romance. However, nothing came of it then, Clemmie went off to law school and into her hectic working life and Jon went on the graduate school and marriage to Caitlin. Now Jon is back in New York and in the middle of a divorce. 

Clemmie has to go to London on some legal business but is called home when her grandmother dies. She learns that Granny Addie was not her grandmother but was her grandfather's second wife. There are all sorts of secrets that have been kept from her. Her world is rocked and then rocked again when she is denied a partnership in the firm by a petty superior. She becomes determined to find out about her grandmother. Jon, being a historian of modern British history, knew about Addie's secret but hadn't told Clemmie either which was still another thing that upsets her equilibrium.

The parallel story is that of Addie. Addie is orphaned as a small child and taken in by her father's aristocratic brother and his wife. She is brought to Ashford and dumped in the nursery with the three daughters of the house. The middle daughter and the one nearest in age to Addie—Bea—befriends her. They become closer than sisters even though they aren't very much alike. Bea is a social butterfly who will be the Debutante of the Decade; Addie is the poor orphaned cousin. Bea will marry a Marquess because he is the best catch of the season; Addie will become friends with Frederick who is back from World War I and looking for a way to block the horrible memories that came home with him. 

Bea and Addie's friendship is almost irretrievably broken when Bea and Frederick have an affair and Bea becomes pregnant. The Marquess, who has been busy having affairs of his own, divorces Bea. In the middle of a major scandal in which Bea's family disowns her and tosses Addie into the street, Bea and Frederick marry and leave England for Kenya and a coffee plantation. 

Addie manages to find a job and start to rebuild her life. Time passes. When Bea sends a letter telling Addie that she needs her, Addie travels to Kenya. When she arrives she finds that Bea and Frederick are at odds. Frederick is happy running his coffee plantation and raising their two girls but Bea is unhappy and discontented. She is drinking too much, partying too much, and having too many affairs. Worst of all, Addie and Frederick fall back in love despite Addie's best intentions. Frederick is more than willing to divorce Bea so that he and Addie can be together. Before he can, though, the group goes on safari and Bea disappears. Did she run off? Was she murdered by her husband or one of her lovers? Was she killed by animals?

Both story-lines were filled with real, well-rounded people who were easy to care about. The writing was engaging. I enjoyed seeing England at the time when so many social standards were changing. I could feel for Bea caught between the mores of her aristocratic past and the realities of the roaring twenties and the aftermath of World War I even though I really didn't like her careless and self-centered actions. I could also identify with Clemmie's sense of betrayal that her beloved grandmother or her mother and aunt had never told her about the tangled past they had lived. 

Readers of family stories and historical fiction will find a lot to enjoy in this title. I recommend it. 

Favorite Quote:

"Is it true that you were raised by heathens?"

It was Addie's first night at Ashford. She lay wide awake, her covers pulled up to her chin, doing her very, very best not to cry.

I received this eARC from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here. 

Friday Memes: The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

This week I am spotlighting The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig. I got this eARC at NetGalley on the strength of the author's name. I have read one other book of hers that I really liked. Here is the description of the April 9 release:

From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig comes The Ashford Affair, a page-turning novel about two women in different eras, and on different continents, who are connected by one deeply buried secret.

As a lawyer in a large Manhattan firm, just shy of making partner, Clementine Evans has finally achieved almost everything she’s been working towards—but now she’s not sure it’s enough. Her long hours have led to a broken engagement and, suddenly single at thirty-four, she feels her messy life crumbling around her. But when the family gathers for her grandmother Addie’s ninety-ninth birthday, a relative lets slip hints about a long-buried family secret, leading Clemmie on a journey into the past that could change everything. . . .

Growing up at Ashford Park in the early twentieth century, Addie has never quite belonged. When her parents passed away, she was taken into the grand English house by her aristocratic aunt and uncle, and raised side-by-side with her beautiful and outgoing cousin, Bea. Though they are as different as night and day, Addie and Bea are closer than sisters, through relationships and challenges, and a war that changes the face of Europe irrevocably. But what happens when something finally comes along that can’t be shared? When the love of sisterhood is tested by a bond that’s even stronger?

From the inner circles of British society to the skyscrapers of Manhattan and the red-dirt hills of Kenya, the never-told secrets of a woman and a family unfurl.

Beginning:

Addie's gloves were streaked with sweat and red dust.

It wasn't just her gloves. Looking down, she winced at the sight of her once pearl-colored suit, now turned gray and rust with smoke and dust.

Friday 56:

Trust Aunt Emma to insist on unnecessary melodrama.

This makes me curious because I can't picture necessary melodrama though it gives an interesting view of Aunt Emma.

Book Review: Always on My Mind by Bella Andre

Always on My Mind
Author: Bella Andre
Publication: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Description: At long last, Lori “Naughty” Sullivan falls in love in ALWAYS ON MY MIND, the new book in Bella Andre’s New York Times and USA Today bestselling series about the Sullivan family.

After a tragic loss three years ago, Grayson Tyler left his life in New York City behind and started over in the rolling hills of the California coast. He's convinced himself that all he'll ever need again is the blue sky, a thousand acres of pasture, and the crashing waves of the ocean. Until one day, Lori Sullivan barges into his life and promptly blows his emotionless and solitary world to shreds, driving him crazy as only a woman nicknamed “Naughty” can. But will Lori be able to convince him that it's safe to love her...and that forever isn't actually out of reach?

My Thoughts: Finally, Bella Andre has given us Lori's story. Lori is the twin her brothers nicknamed Naughty and she was proud to live up to her title. She is stubborn and beautiful and doesn't do anything half-way. When she loves, she loves with all her heart. Now she has learned how unworthy the man she gave her heart to was and is looking for a new life without him and dancing.

An impulsive decision at a car rental company sends her to a small town near San Francisco where she, again impulsively, sees a sign for someone looking for a farmhand and decides to apply. Grayson Tyler had no idea what his ad was going to generate. He left New York after the death of his wife and has started a new life as a farmer. He would be perfectly content to wallow in his grief and guilt and never interact with people again. Lori is just what he needs to have him re-evaluate his decision. But he's stubborn too, and cranky, and hurt—and Lori has her work cut out for her.

Lori surprises Grayson with the way she throws herself into all the farm activities and surprises herself with how much she loves it. Bonding the two together even more is Grayson's cat Mo who is dying of leukemia. Lori gives her whole heart to this helpless cat even though she sneezes every time she is near it. 

Lori and Grayson fall in love despite their perceived differences. Grayson is content with his life on the farm but fears that Lori will miss her high-power career as a dancer and choreographer. Lori knows they can work it out. Lots of her brothers have relationships with unlikely partners too. 

This was a great romance and nicely brings the romances of the eight children of Mary and Jack Sullivan to their happy endings. Of course, Bella Andre has more romances in store. There are lots of Sullivan cousins. And Mary who has been a widow since Lori was two might be ready to find a new romance of her own. 

Favorite Quote:

Grayson honestly couldn't choose which version he liked better—the made-up Lori was just another side of her, yet another one he hadn't been prepared for. All he knew was that she was beautiful...and that, somehow, despite everything he'd done to try to stop it from happening, she'd managed to steal his heart one sassy smile at time.

I received the ebook for review. You can buy your copy here.

Book Excerpt: Prophet of Bones by Ted Kosmatka

I recently received Prophet of Bones by Ted Kosmatka. It was released on April 2 but it isn't going to fit into my review calendar for a while. Here is the description:

Paul Carlson, a brilliant young scientist, is summoned from his laboratory job to the remote Indonesian island of Flores to collect DNA samples from the ancient bones of a strange, new species of tool user unearthed by an archaeological dig. The questions the find raises seem to cast doubt on the very foundations of modern science, which has proven the world to be only 5,800 years old, but before Paul can fully grapple with the implications of his find, the dig is violently shut down by paramilitaries.Paul flees with two of his friends, yet within days one has vanished and the other is murdered in an attack that costs Paul an eye, and very nearly his life. Back in America, Paul tries to resume the comfortable life he left behind, but he can't cast the questions raised by the dig from his mind. Paul begins to piece together a puzzle which seems to threaten the very fabric of society, but world's governments and Martial Johnston, the eccentric billionaire who financed Paul's dig, will stop at nothing to silence him.

Here is an excerpt to tide you over until I have time to read and review this title.

What do you think? Will you be adding this to your TBR stack?

Teaser Tuesday: Always On My Mind by Bella Andre

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week my teaser comes from Always on My Mind by Bella Andre. This ebook continues the stories of the Sullivan brothers and sisters that were featured in seven previous books. This is Lori's story. Here is the description:

At long last, Lori “Naughty” Sullivan falls in love in ALWAYS ON MY MIND, the new book in Bella Andre’s New York Times and USA Today bestselling series about the Sullivan family.

After a tragic loss three years ago, Grayson Tyler left his life in New York City behind and started over in the rolling hills of the California coast. He's convinced himself that all he'll ever need again is the blue sky, a thousand acres of pasture, and the crashing waves of the ocean. Until one day, Lori Sullivan barges into his life and promptly blows his emotionless and solitary world to shreds, driving him crazy as only a woman nicknamed “Naughty” can. But will Lori be able to convince him that it's safe to love her...and that forever isn't actually out of reach?

This is a bit longer than the teasers I usually pick but I think you need all of it to get the flavor:

Only, it didn't matter that he was good looking, did it? Not when she was completely done with men.

Done.

She didn't trust them anymore, not one single man that she wasn't already related to. They were all cheating, manipulative scum. Still, it wasn't exactly easy to remember all of that when she was standing in front of two hundred pounds of muscle, piercing brown eyes, and a square jaw liberally dusted with dark stubble that any woman in her right mind would want to reach out to run her fingertips over right before she leaned in for a ki—