Books Reviewed by T @ Traveling With T

The Choices We Make by Karma Brown

the choices we make by karma brown

Photo Credit: Mira July 12th, 2016

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

The Choices We Make

Hannah and Kate- best friends since the 5th grade. These 2 share everything. They have each other’s back. Are 2 peas in a pod. And all that jazz.

However, Hannah longs to be a mother, to have children to play with Kate’s kids- and through life’s unfair ways- Hannah has not been able to get pregnant.

The grief that Hannah feels over this news is heartbreaking. She loves Ben and wants to give him a child- a child of their own making so much she can taste it. Continue reading →

Luck, Love and Lemon Pie by Amy E. Reichert

luck love and lemon pie

Photo Credit: Gallery Books, July 12

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Luck, Love and Lemon Pie

Summary from Goodreads:

When Milwaukee-area wife and mother MJ Boudreaux notices her husband Chris seems more interested in the casino than her, she’s more bothered that she isn’t upset than by her husband’s absence. She picks up poker as a way for them to spend more time together—and reignite their marital flame.

Although the game doesn’t give her the quality time with Chris that she’d hoped, MJ finds she has a knack for it. Increasingly unhappy at home, she turns to the felt top of the poker table for comfort. Intoxicated with newfound freedom, MJ begins spending more time at the gambling tables and less with her family, finally carving out for herself a place outside her role of wife and mother.

After a string of great wins, MJ finds herself in Vegas, attracting the attention of a certain magnetic poker star. But when she’s forced to choose between her family and her new exciting lifestyle, the stakes may be higher than she thought and MJ will have to play her hand carefully…or risk losing it all.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

I absolutey LOVED The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert. It was foodie-licious and so cute. And made me want to visit Milwaukee (like right now!) So, as soon as I saw relentless stalked Netgalley till the e-ARC of Love, Luck and Lemon Pie appeared, I requested and began reading shortly after approval. Continue reading →

The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell

the girls in the garden

Photo Credit: Goodreads

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

The Girls In The Garden

Summary from Goodreads:

Imagine that you live on a picturesque communal garden square, an oasis in urban London where your children run free, in and out of other people’s houses. You’ve known your neighbors for years and you trust them. Implicitly. You think your children are safe. But are they really?

On a midsummer night, as a festive neighborhood party is taking place, preteen Pip discovers her thirteen-year-old sister Grace lying unconscious and bloody in a hidden corner of a lush rose garden. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?

Dark secrets, a devastating mystery, and the games both children and adults play all swirl together in this gripping novel, packed with utterly believable characters and page-turning suspense.

 

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts: Continue reading →

Try Not To Breathe by Holly Seddon

try not to breathe

Photo Credit: Goodreads

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Try Not To Breathe

Summary from Goodreads:

For fans of Lianne Moriarty, Paula Hawkins, and Tana French, an arresting debut novel of psychological suspense: a young journalist struggles to keep the demons of her alcoholism at bay as she finds her purpose again in tackling the mystery of a shocking headline-making crime, still unsolved after fifteen years.

Amy Stevenson was the biggest news story of 1995. Only fifteen years old, Amy disappeared walking home from school one day and was found in a coma three days later. Her attacker was never identified and her angelic face was plastered across every paper and nightly news segment.

Fifteen years later, Amy lies in the hospital, surrounded by 90’s Britpop posters, forgotten by the world until reporter Alex Dale stumbles across her while researching a routine story on vegetative patients.

Remembering Amy’s story like it was yesterday, she feels compelled to solve the long-cold case.

The only problem is, Alex is just as lost as Amy—her alcoholism has cost her everything including her marriage and her professional reputation.

In the hopes that finding Amy’s attacker will be her own salvation as well, Alex embarks on a dangerous investigation, suspecting someone close to Amy.

Told in the present by an increasingly fragile Alex and in dream-like flashbacks by Amy as she floats in a fog of memories, dreams, and music from 1995, Try Not to Breathe unfolds layer by layer to a breathtaking conclusion.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts: Continue reading →

Regrets Only by M.J. Pullen

Regrets Only by M.J. Pullen, #Atlanta, #womensfiction

Photo Credit: St. Martin’s Press

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Regrets Only

Summary from Goodreads:

At thirty-three, Suzanne Hamilton has no regrets. A successful event planner with a swanky condo in a hot Atlanta neighborhood, she’s got a close group of friends and a list of men a mile long who would happily bend over backwards to win her heart. Plus, she’s just landed the event that will take her career to the next level.

Then a freak accident changes everything. Humiliated, with her career in tatters, Suzanne’s lost her business not to mention her self-respect. She’s managed, however, to retain the surprising support of her newest celebrity client: the sexy country music star, Dylan Burke. Against her better judgment, but without any better offers, Suzanne agrees to plan a wedding for one of the Burke sisters. But when she comes to realize her freak accident was anything but, her catalog of past relationships turns into a list of suspects and Suzanne must question everything—her career, her friendships, and most acutely, her own dating rules.

As it turns out she might have quite a bit to regret after all.

Taking place a few years after the events of The Marriage Pact, M. J. Pullen returns to the same captivating group of lovelorn friends, this time following Suzanne as she discovers that her trusty rules no longer apply. Raising the stakes, Pullen delivers an absorbing, romantic novel that shows how someone with a “perfect life” can lose it all—and then find everything.

 

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

I must say that I really enjoyed Regrets Only more than The Marriage Pact (not that The Marriage Pact was bad- I just felt that I had seen the story line before- hello, My Best Friend’s Wedding, etc….) Continue reading →

The Charm Bracelet by Viola Shipman

the charm bracelet 1

Photo Credit: St. Martin’s Press

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

The Charm Bracelet

Summary from Goodreads:

Lose yourself to the magic of The Charm Bracelet.

Through an heirloom charm bracelet, three women will rediscover the importance of family and a passion for living as each charm changes their lives.

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 Lauren 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.

A compelling story of three women and a beautiful reminder of the preciousness of family, The Charm Bracelet is a keepsake you’ll cherish long after the final page.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this family story- it was sweet (maybe a bit sappy at times) but it’s my kind of book. The stories of the family. The little secrets. The traditions.

What I loved:

-The Cover (SO pretty!)

-The stories behind the charms. I did not grow up in a “sentimental” family. I try to keep things like this or purchase things to remind me of places, but my mom is not of that spirit. It was nice to see how the charms brought the family together.

 

As I was reading this, I kept thinking of it as a cross between The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood and Hope Floats. In fact, Lolly had me thinking of the mom from Hope Floats each time I would read a section of hers.

All in all, it was a lovely story!

Recommended for fans of women’s fiction or for people wanting to read a “light” story.

 

*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

 

Happy Reading and Bookishly Yours,

T @ Traveling With T

traveling with t sign off picture

Don’t You Cry by Mary Kubica

don't you cry by mary kubica

Photo Credit: Mira May 17th, 2016

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Don’t You Cry

Quinn Collins wakes up one morning after being out for too long one night. She’s not alone in her bed. And she’s disturbed about the sound of an alarm clock. After her friend leaves, she goes walking through the apartment to see why Esther is letting the alarm beep at a too early to get up hour.

It’s soon apparent that Quinn is the only person in the apartment. So, where is Esther?

Later that day, in a town an hour or so away- a boy named Alex is working at a diner. In walks this woman who he has never seen before- and his life changes. She’s beautiful- and he could watch her for hours. But, she’s content to sit there, drink her coffee and look outside the window. Continue reading →

Sister Dear by Laura McNeill

sister dear

Photo Credit: Thomas Nelson- 4/19

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Sister Dear

Summary from Goodreads:

All Allie Marshall wants is a fresh start. But when dark secrets refuse to stay buried, will her chance at a new life be shattered forever?

Convicted of a crime she didn’t commit, Allie watched a decade of her life vanish time that can never be recovered. Now, out on parole, Allie is determined to clear her name, rebuild her life, and reconnect with the daughter she barely knows.

But Allie’s return home shatters the quaint, coastal community of Brunswick, Georgia. Even her own daughter Caroline, now a teenager, bristles at Allie’s claims of innocence. Refusing defeat, a stronger, smarter Allie launches a battle for the truth, digging deeply into the past even if it threatens her parole status, personal safety, and the already-fragile bond with family.

As her commitment to finding the truth intensifies, what Allie ultimately uncovers is far worse than she imagined. Her own sister has been hiding a dark secret one that holds the key to Allie’s freedom.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

You know how it is when you have a book that is good and you just have to find out what happens next- and who cares if the laundry gets done? That was Sister Dear for me. Continue reading →

Some Women by Emily Liebert

some women

Photo Credit: Berkley/NAL- 4/5/16

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Some Women

Summary from Goodreads:

An engrossing and thought provoking novel that examines the intricacies of marriage, friendship, and the power of unexpected connections…

Annabel Ford has everything under control, devoting her time to her twin five-year-old boys and to keeping her household running seamlessly. So when her husband of a decade announces that he’s leaving her, without warning, she’s blindsided. And suddenly her world begins to unravel.

Single mother Piper Whitley has always done her best to balance it all—raising her daughter Fern by herself and advancing her career as a crime reporter. Only now that she’s finally met the man of her dreams, Fern’s absentee father arrives on the scene and throws everything into a tailspin.

Married to the heir of a thriving media conglomerate, Mackenzie Mead has many reasons to count her blessings. But with an imperious mother-in-law—who’s also her boss—and a husband with whom she can no longer seem to connect, something has to give.

On the surface, these three women may not have much in common. Yet when their lives are thrust together and unlikely friendships are formed—at a time when they all need someone to lean on—Annabel, Piper, and Mackenzie band together to help each navigate their new realities.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

As I was reading this, I thought several times that Some Women would make an excellent movie! Continue reading →

The Total Package by Stephanie Evanovich

the total package

Photo Credit: William Morrow

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

The Total Package

Summary from Goodreads:

The New York Times bestselling author of Big Girl Panties and The Sweet Spot is back with a funny, sweet, and sizzling novel about the game of love, in which a hot quarterback must figure out how to score big with a beautiful and talented media analyst after a heartbreaking fumble.

Star quarterback, first-round draft-pick, and heartthrob Tyson Palmer has made a name for himself with his spectacular moves. When the head coach of the Austin Mavericks refuses to let him waste his million-dollar arm, Tyson makes a Hail Mary pass at redemption and succeeds with everyone . . . except Dani, whose negative comments about his performance draw high ratings and spectacular notices of her own.

Dani can’t forgive Tyson’s transgressions or forget the sizzling history the two of them shared in college, a passionate love Tyson casually threw away. And even more infuriating, he doesn’t realize that the bombshell with huge ratings is the cute girl whose heart he once broke.

But can a woman trying to claw her way to the top and a quarterback who knows all about rock bottom make it to the Super Bowl without destroying each other? And what will happen when Tyson—riding high now that he’s revived his career—realizes he needs to make an even more important comeback with Dani? Can he make some spectacular moves to get past her defenses—or will she sideline him for good?

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

I’m a big fan of Stephanie Evanovich– her books are fun and funny and while Big Girl Panties and The Sweet Spot had a lot going for them- I really think that The Total Package is where she has hit her stride. Continue reading →