X by Sue Grafton

X

Photo Credit: Putnam Books

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

X

Summary from Goodreads:

X:  The number ten. An unknown quantity. A mistake. A cross. A kiss.

X: 
 The shortest entry in Webster’s Unabridged. Derived from Greek and Latin and commonly found in science, medicine, and religion. The most graphically dramatic letter. Notoriously tricky to pronounce: thinkxylophone.

X:  
The twenty-fourth letter in the English alphabet.

Sue Grafton’s X: Perhaps her darkest and most chilling novel, it features a remorseless serial killer who leaves no trace of his crimes. Once again breaking the rules and establishing new paths, Grafton wastes little time identifying this sociopath. The test is whether Kinsey can prove her case against him before she becomes his next victim.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

Listen, it’s no secret that I LOVE me some Sue Grafton. I may not have been reading her my entire life (actually, I think A IS FOR ALIBI was first printed before I was even born!) but for the past 10 or so years, I have been loving Sue and Kinsey. As we get closer to the end of the alphabet, I grow increasingly nervous about my beloved Kinsey. Will Kinsey just end when we get to Z? Does Sue Grafton have more in store? Can we make a plan to re-write the alphabet and add a few more letters? (Desperate times call for desperate measures!) Continue reading →

Wildest Dreams by Robyn Carr

Photo Credit: Harlequin Aug 25th

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

Wildest Dreams

Blake Smiley- athlete of the century (seriously, the man does triathlete events- and wins them!) He is a walking god. A body that is fine-tuned. But he’s more than just a walking god- he’s got a tortured past. He does good things for children with less advantages in life- he has a charity! Basically, he’s perfection.

Lin Su- Winnie’s (Grace’s mom) private duty nurse. Lin Su has not had it easy. Living in a less desirable area of town- being a single mom to a boy who had multiple health problems and is now wanting to stretch his wings a bit. Lin Su is trying to make her own way in the world- and really does not want charity or pity.  Continue reading →

If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins

If You Only Knew

Photo Credit: Harlequin Aug 25th

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

If You Only Knew

Jenny is a wedding dress designer. She makes the dresses on the days that women dream about as being the “most perfect day of their life”. Recently, Jenny divorced Dr. Wonderful- seriously, the man does Doctors Without Borders, fixes cleft palates for children, and is so nice, it’s almost sickening.

With Jenny being divorced and her ex-husband and his new wife wanting to keep Jenny in their life- it’s time for a relocation for the wedding designer. So, she leaves Manhattan and moves to a nearby area- where her older sister, Rachel, lives. A place that Jenny hopes to grow and live her own life- maybe find a man, be closer to her nieces, and spread her wings. Continue reading →

Blueprints by Barbara Delinsky

blueprints1

Photo Credit: St. Martin’s Press- June 9th

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

Blueprints

The duo of Caroline and Jamie McAfee are super-close. Like two peas in a pod close. Both mother and daughter work on the TV show GUT IT!- and both enjoy the perks and privileges of being a part of the McAfee Construction team- even though Caroline is divorced from Jamie’s dad, Roy.

Life is good for the ladies. The latest season of GUT IT! has wrapped, Jamie has recently become engaged and Caroline is looking forward to continuing hosting GUT IT! next season and some other projects she’s got her eye on.

Then IT hits the fan…… Continue reading →

Three Rivers by Tiffany Quay Tyson

three rivers

Photo Credit: St. Martin’s Press- July 21s

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

Three Rivers

Summary from Goodreads:

When a dangerous storm threatens the Mississippi Delta, two families are put to the test in this Southern literary debut

Melody Mahaffey, trapped into touring for years with a third-rate Christian pop band she can hardly stand, is almost relieved to receive her mother’s distress call. But when she returns home to care for her dying father and brain-damaged brother at the sprawling, defunct Three Rivers Farm, Melody is shocked to discover that her mother has abandoned the family. Sure that her daughter will do the right thing, Geneva has left to seek spiritual guidance and break things off with her long-time lover.

Rain begins to fall and an epic flood threatens the Mississippi Delta. While Melody tries to get a handle on the chaos at home, a man and his little boy are squatting on her land, escaping their own nightmare. Obi is on the run from a horrific mistake, and he’s intent on keeping his son with him at any cost. When the storm arrives, though, they have no choice but to take shelter in Melody’s house. And the waters just keep rising.

A lifetime of lies, misunderstandings and dark secrets bubble to the surface as the flood destroys the land and threatens their lives. Set against the fertile but dangerous landscape of the rural south near the fictional town of White Forest, Mississippi, Three Rivers beautifully weaves together three parallel stories, told over three days, as each character is propelled headlong into the storm.

 

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

When this book just magically showed up in my mailbox one day, I had to grin. A New York City publicist was certainly paying attention to my mailing address and book taste (Thank you SO much, K!)  Continue reading →

Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin

Black eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin

Photo Credit: Ballantine Books- Aug 11

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

Black-Eyed Susans

Summary from Goodreads:

I am the star of screaming headlines and campfire ghost stories.
I am one of the four Black-Eyed Susans.
The lucky one.

As a sixteen-year-old, Tessa Cartwright was found in a Texas field, barely alive amid a scattering of bones, with only fragments of memory as to how she got there. Ever since, the press has pursued her as the lone surviving “Black-Eyed Susan,” the nickname given to the murder victims because of the yellow carpet of wildflowers that flourished above their shared grave. Tessa’s testimony about those tragic hours put a man on death row.

Now, almost two decades later, Tessa is an artist and single mother. In the desolate cold of February, she is shocked to discover a freshly planted patch of black-eyed susans—a summertime bloom—just outside her bedroom window. Terrified at the implications—that she sent the wrong man to prison and the real killer remains at large—Tessa turns to the lawyers working to exonerate the man awaiting execution. But the flowers alone are not proof enough, and the forensic investigation of the still-unidentified bones is progressing too slowly. An innocent life hangs in the balance. The legal team appeals to Tessa to undergo hypnosis to retrieve lost memories—and to share the drawings she produced as part of an experimental therapy shortly after her rescue.

What they don’t know is that Tessa and the scared, fragile girl she was have built a  fortress of secrets. As the clock ticks toward the execution, Tessa fears for her sanity, but even more for the safety of her teenaged daughter. Is a serial killer still roaming free, taunting Tessa with a trail of clues? She has no choice but to confront old ghosts and lingering nightmares to finally discover what really happened that night.

Continue reading →

Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica

Pretty Baby

Photo Credit: Harlequin July 28th

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

Pretty Baby

Heidi Wood- some might call her a tree-hugger. She recycles, she takes in stray cats, she works for a non-profit and cares deeply about providing resources to people who are leaving other countries to come to America. In other words… Heidi personifies the phrase “Be the change you want to see in the world”.

One day, a cold and rainy day- Heidi sees a teenager with a baby. Something about this teenager keeps Heidi looking- maybe it’s because she can tell the girl is homeless. Maybe it’s because Heidi has such a soft spot for babies- and in general wants to help all the people in the world. Continue reading →

Perfect Touch by Elizabeth Lowell

perfect touch by elizabeth lowell

Photo Credit: Goodreads

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

Perfect Touch

Sarah “Sam” Maddox is back in Wyoming for one reason: to help a man she has never me, but talked to countless times, decide the next step for the life of the “Custer” paintings- that is, if her wins them in a court fight against his stepmother. As soon as the paintings are secured and their fate decided, Sam will be headed back to San Francisco- back to her life- far away from the memories of being a daughter on a ranch, never having enough money and their being too many children around.

Or so she thinks….. Continue reading →

Fatal Reservations by Lucy Burdette

fatal reservations

Photo Credit: Goodreads

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

Fatal Reservations

Our adorable Key West food critic, Hayley Snow, is back with another round of amazing sounding recipes, tidbits about the life in Key West and…. murder!

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching the town of Key West- but Hayley is too worried about her job to take (much) notice. With a shake-up at Key Zest, Hayley now reports to her new boss, Palamina, while still dating her other boss Wally. Well, if you can call it dating- because between the work that Hayley does for Key Zest and Wally’s mom being sick- the romance aspect is taking a major snooze. Is this just a temporary bump in the road to Loversville or is it a sign? Continue reading →

A Week at the Lake by Wendy Wax

a week at the lake

Photo Credit: Goodreads

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

A Week at the Lake

Summary from Goodreads:

Twenty years ago, Emma Michaels, Mackenzie Hayes, and Serena Stockton bonded over their New York City dreams. Then, each summer, they solidified their friendship by spending one week at the lake together, solving their problems over bottles of wine and gallons of ice cream. They kept the tradition for years, until jealousy, lies, and life’s disappointments made them drift apart.

It’s been five years since Emma has seen her friends, an absence designed to keep them from discovering a long-ago betrayal. Now she’s in desperate need of their support. The time has come to reveal her secrets—and hopefully rekindle their connection.

But when a terrible accident keeps Emma from saying her piece, Serena and Mackenzie begin to learn about the past on their own. Now, to heal their friendship and their broken lives, the three women will have to return to the lake that once united them, and discover which relationships are worth holding on to . . .

Continue reading →