Friday, July 31, 2015

3 Women Walk Into A Bar

3Womenb (2)Idgie Says:
I found Linda's styling of the book to be really interesting in how all the characters became fully fleshed out - even the dead girls.  No one in the book is a flat filler character.  From the bar owner, to his ex-wife, to each of the girls, they all have their own detailed chapters describing their characters, backgrounds and lives.  While some of this might not be integral to the story of the murders itself, it makes you become invested in everyone involved.  Usually the murder victim is a chalk outline and nothing more. 

The dialogue is snappy and sharp, the murders hold a lot of mystery and questions and the story itself makes for a good read. 

A fun way to while away an afternoon. 

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Down & Out Books
June, 2015

Click HERE for an excerpt.

Book Description:
When three women are found shot and killed in an Irish bar in Syracuse, the cops think it’s an open and shut case, pointing the finger at missing bar owner James John Smith, until a mother of one of the victims hires former exotic dancer and karaoke star turned Private Eye, Bill “Free Willy” Tedesco to investigate. Then, the who becomes more important than the why.


Thursday, July 30, 2015

Katrina, Mississippi: Voices from Ground Zero

Idgie Says:
As many of you know, I have always been vocal about the fact that I felt Mississippi was often forgotten by the public in terms of the damage and heartache the state suffered as the star of the Tourist Season, New Orleans, took the limelight. The damage to both was great, and many people suffered in both states.  To this day there are displaced businesses, homes and people who still feel the affects of this storm.  

I am a strong proponent of Mississippi getting a voice in this tragedy also and I'm happy to say that this book does just that.

This is an incredibly detailed account of the beginning, middle, end, and aftermath of Katrina, told by first responders and government workers who were left behind, or stayed there on purpose, to help as they could. 

This is the story of Katrina from the people that watched, warned, waited and did what they could to rescue those that needed rescuing. 

To me, this book tells an important story by some of the most important people that were out there. 

_______________________________________ 

Triton/Nautilus Publishing
July, 2015

Book Description:
The narrative follows the men and women who stayed behind on the Mississippi Coast as Hurricane Katrina — the worst natural disaster in our history — made landfall. These first responders rode out the storm. When they emerged from their bunkers, they realized that nothing would ever be the same again (see attached press release for more info).

NancyKay, an award-winning journalist and a public health expert, brings to life these never-before-told accounts of the men and women who saved thousands of lives and started to rebuild the Mississippi Coast.

________________________________________

 A work of creative nonfiction, Katrina, Mississippi: Voices from Ground Zero showcases heroes and their work from the epicenter of preparedness, response, rescue, recovery, and rebuilding. This account weaves individual stories from first responders and critically important volunteers into a timeline that also reports events simultaneously occurring beyond – the accounts of state and federal governments’ activities and the response of people and organizations from Florida to Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. This book deals with the public health impact of both the natural disaster and the unnatural consequences that emerged through human efforts. The book reveals personal recollections of health and medical aspects, special needs victims and mass care through sheltering, pop-up medical clinics, and the sole hospital that withstood the storm and continued providing services.

The book introduces characters who addressed issues related to food and water, sewers, volunteers, donations, and other emergency support functions. Readers learn of catastrophe and courage through the experiences of a public health physician, Robert Travnicek, MD, in upheaval not of his own making but caught in a quagmire of natural disaster, local and state politics, and moral determination. Harrison County EOC Commander General Joe Spraggins directs with able assistance from Rupert Lacy, a veteran law enforcement officer whose history, knowledge, and respect for the power of the storm enabled him to oversee operations for all emergency support functions and, later, succeed his boss as emergency management director. Paramedic-elected-multiple-terms as coroner Gary Hargrove set aside his own family’s predicament to lead search and rescue, then recovery, and, finally, identification of each person Katrina killed in his county. And Steve Delahousey, veteran EMS leader on local and national levels, made sure special needs people were moved from harm’s way before the storm and that adequate medical care was available after.

On the western edge of ground zero and under the stubborn leadership of Hancock County Emergency Management Director Brian “Hooty” Adam, 35 stalwart citizens risked their lives to stay behind and keep emergency operations going during the storm’s assault on Bay Saint Louis and Waveland. They refused to evacuate, even though state and federal officials demanded they do so. WQRZ Radio operator and founder of the Hancock County Amateur Radio Association, Brice Phillips set up inside the EOC and remained on the air throughout Katrina’s monstrous assault on his community; after her catastrophic devastation, WQRZ staff communicated life-saving information about safety and health, points of distribution for ice, water, and other commodities, and answered questions from listeners. The station took many AMR calls, helped Hancock Countians contact family across the nation, and helped get parts shipped in to bring the Bay Saint Louis water system back up.

 This book documents the players’ personal and professional views as they reveal their alliances and actions, their concerns and issues, their truths and consequences. Theirs are stories about human suffering and survival – often not because of but in spite of assistance from government. The book does not distinguish right from wrong or comment on whether individuals or organizations succeeded or failed. Readers must draw their own conclusions. These stories – the characters’ perspective on the problems they encountered and what they themselves revealed to be their values through the storm of the centuries – can bridge to whatever becomes the United States’ and the Gulf Coast’s next Katrina.

Books Going to the Dogs!

Idgie Says:
Two interesting books out this summer that star our best friend and companion  - dogs.  The first one, Lawyer for the Dog, is a fictional novel sharing the story of a lawyer who learns more about life and what she wants while deciding the fate of Sherman the Schnauzer.  Let the hijinks ensue!  (P.S.  not a nonsensical premise, I have seen people go to court over who gets the family dogs when divorce occurs!)

The second book, Lessons from Tara, is filled with true life stories created from the forming and working with a rescue association for dogs, from the perspective of a man who had never owned a dog before meeting his wife, and her dog....and having his eyes opened to the love an animal can give you. They claim to average a home with 20 dogs at a time now - apparently the rescue is their living room!

I love dogs and always enjoy a good dog story, be it a fictional novel or a true life memoir.  Both books are available now.

________________________________________

LAWYER FOR THE DOG (Thomas Dunne Books; July 7, 2015) is a moving, poignant, and often funny story about people’s battles for love, whether the love of another person or the love of a family pet. Filled with warm and engaging characters and several real-life themes—the canine-human bond, family, divorce, caring for an aging parent, and mid-life dating, it is a fresh and timely novel that will keep readers engaged until the very last page.   

About the LAWYER FOR THE DOG:
One of the sharpest attorneys in Charleston, S.C., Sally Baynard isn’t your typical Southern belle.  She’s certainly not what her mother hoped she’d grow up to be, especially since she divorced her husband, a family court judge with an historic family as well as historic wealth.  Maybe Sally was never going to be a proper society lady, but her success as a public defender and family lawyer have been enough for her.  She’s represented murderers, burglars, and drug dealers and has taken on some of the thorniest divorces, closing all her cases with her special blend of wit, charm and brains.
 One case she’s never successfully closed, though, is her marriage.  And when Judge Joe Baynard assigns her to one of his divorce cases by appointing her as the lawyer for the couple’s dog – Sherman, a miniature schnauzer—she’s forced into close quarters with him again.  As Sally investigates Sherman’s relationship with both the husband and wife, she knows she must ultimately determine who would be the better guardian for the dog—a task she soon finds is far more complicated than one would think. Juggling the needs of the dog, the angry, divorcing couple, her amorous but uncommunicative ex-husband, her aging mother, and the expectations of the court is more than Sally could have imagined.  But as rascally Sherman digs his way into Sally’s heart, he also helps her make some important decisions about her own life.

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Mystery writer David Rosenfelt is the Edgar and Shamus Award-nominated author of eighteen novels, twelve of which feature sleuth Andy Carpenter and his dog, Tara.  Carpenter and Tara are extremely popular with readers, and in Rosenfelt’s non-fiction book, Dogtripping, fans learned that the fictional Tara was actually inspired by Rosenfelt’s first real-life dog of the same name.   Now, they’ll be delighted to learn that Rosenfelt shares his sage and funny recollections of what Tara taught him about life, love, and being a man in his newest book, LESSONS FROM TARA: Life Advice from The World’s Most Brilliant Dog. (July 21, 2015 St. Martin's Press)
 
About the LESSONS FROM TARA:
Rosenfelt first met Tara when he began dating Debbie Myers, who would later become his wife.  As David and Debbie’s relationship grew, they also bonded over their love of Tara.  Tara was David’s first experience with having a pet dog, and he learned about the amazing love and comfort dogs have to offer.  It was because of Tara that the couple began volunteering at animal shelters and eventually founded their own rescue group, which they named The Tara Foundation.  Over the years they found homes for over four thousand dogs, and have adopted hundreds themselves.  At any given time, they have at least twenty dogs of their own; however, there was that one time when they had forty!  In LESSONS FROM TARA, Rosenfelt shares what he learned from Tara and all their rescue dogs about life, love, and happiness, including the importance of overcoming your fears, appreciating the little things in life, that there’s nothing wrong with growing old, and that the world has gotten smaller and we are all connected.  He also includes the small things he’s learned like who gets the pillow when four dogs sleep in your bed with you…it’s not the human!

Infused with David’s trademark wry and self-deprecating sense of humor, LESSONS FROM TARA will move readers to tears and laughter.  

Cancel the Wedding

Idgie Says:
There is nothing I enjoy more in an escape novel than a really witty and somewhat snarky main character.   I hit the jackpot with this novel.  

Olivia has a serious situation on her hands and is contemplating many different actions that will affect her in various ways, but she is never without a wry sense of self.  She doesn't take herself too seriously even in the most trying of situations. 

She senses that perhaps she should be a bit more "adult" while having her 14 year old niece live with her, but not enough to actually change.  She freaks out during phone calls and throws phones in lakes.   She has an addiction to organized desks and nice pens.  In other words, she's normal, she's interesting and I could easily see myself hanging out and having a few glasses of wine with her. That makes her fun to read. 

The story itself is an interesting take on how you never actually know those people who you call Mom and Dad.  You sometimes get to realize that they too were once young people with lives and hopes and dreams. Olivia goes on a physical and mental journey to find out about her Mom's past life, and in the process discovers herself a little bit more too. 

Her niece is a fabulous sidekick to this entire adventure, and let's not forget the town newspaper dude.  We all know newspaper dudes are hot. 

A great book to lose yourself in for a while.

___________________________________

Harper Paperbacks
August, 2014

Book Description: 
On the surface, Olivia has it all: a high-powered career, a loving family, and a handsome fiancĂ©. She even seems to be coming to terms with her mother Janie’s premature death from cancer. But when Janie’s final wish is revealed, Olivia and her elder sister Georgia are mystified. Their mother rarely spoke of her rural Southern hometown, and never went back to visit—so why does she want them to return to Huntley, Georgia, to scatter her ashes?

Janie’s request offers Olivia a temporary escape from the reality she’s long been denying: she hates her “dream” job, and she’s not really sure she wants to marry her groom-to-be. With her fourteen-year-old niece, Logan, riding shotgun, she heads South on a summer road trip looking for answers about her mother.

As Olivia gets to know the town’s inhabitants, she begins to peel back the secrets of her mother’s early life—truths that force her to finally question her own future. But when Olivia is confronted with a tragedy and finds an opportunity to right a terrible wrong, will it give her the courage to accept her mother’s past—and say yes to her own desire to start over?

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Rome in Love

Idgie Says:
I agreed to review this book as it sounded like a fun little romantic romp of a story, with some dash of Audrey Hepburn mystery thrown in.  (Who doesn't love Audrey?)

Unfortunately, by page 10 the constant product placement had driven me insane.  Food, drink, shoes, clothes, barrettes, couches, socks.  Okay, not socks, but perhaps I had not gotten to a sock part yet. Every single sentence seemed to have a label of some sort in it.   It was like talking to the person at the party who constantly makes sure you know what they're wearing.  I could not imagine reading an entire novel that is like Elle magazine without pictures.

Then suddenly it goes into an R rated sex scene!  I found the sex scene startling as I was so distracted by realizing that I was reading nothing but labels that somehow the fact two people were even getting close enough to rip each others clothes off completely eluded me.

It was like watching a racy HBO show and suddenly the commercials pop up. 

This may be a good read.  I will never know.  I simply could not get past the utter distraction of so many names and labels and dinner items being thrown into the story.  The story wasn't even really about vast riches so that the descriptions were needed to remind you of how wealthy they are - Pottery Barn and Adidas were in there too. That much description is simply not needed to tell a story.   

______________________________________________

St. Martin's Griffin
August 4, 2015

Book Description:
When Amelia Tate is cast to play the Audrey Hepburn role in a remake of Roman Holiday, she feels as if all her dreams have come true. She has a handsome boyfriend, is portraying her idol in a major motion picture, and gets to live in beautiful, Italian city of Rome for the next two months.

Once there, she befriends a young woman named Sophie with whom she begins to explore the city. Together, they discover all the amazing riches that Rome has to offer. But when Amelia's boyfriend breaks up with her over her acting career, her perfect world begins to crumble.

While moping in her hotel suite, Amelia discovers a stack of letters written by Audrey Hepburn that start to put her own life into perspective. Then, she meets Philip, a handsome journalist who is under the impression that she is a hotel maid, and it appears as if things are finally looking up. The problem is she can never find the right time to tell Philip her true identity. Not to mention that Philip has a few secrets of his own. Can Amelia finally have both the career and love that she's always wanted, or will she be forced to choose again?

With her sensory descriptions of the beautiful sites, decadent food, and high fashion of Rome, Hughes draws readers into this fast-paced and superbly written novel. Rome in Love will capture the hearts of readers everywhere.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Confessions of a Queen B* - A Shout Out plus Excerpt

Idgie Says:
I love these positive teen novels where they use their "skills/popularity" for good.  But let's see if she takes it too far and turns into someone just as bad as the crowd she's going after.

Were you the #QueenB* in high school? @crista_mchugh wants to know! @rockstarlitprlc http://amzn.to/1OCuqAj
_______________________
Confessions of a Queen B*
Date of Publication:
July 28, 2015
After years of being the subject of ridicule, she revels in her ability to make the in-crowd cower via the exposés on her blog, The Eastline Spy. Now that she's carved out her place in the high school hierarchy, she uses her position to help the unpopular kids walking the hallways.

Saving a freshman from bullies? Check.

Swapping insults with the head cheerleader? Check.

Falling for the star quarterback? So not a part of her plan.

But when Brett offers to help her solve the mystery of who’s posting X-rated videos from the girls’ locker room, she’ll have to swallow her pride and learn to see past the high school stereotypes she’s never questioned—until now.

________________

Excerpt:



Brett texted me to say he’d meet me at my locker for the doll handoff. I drove to school, my stomach doing little flip-flops of glee, anticipating that Brett would look as miserable as I felt yesterday.
No such luck.
If anything, the jerk looked better than normal.
Damn it.
He grinned and started unstrapping the carrier when he saw me. “Made it on time today, eh?”
“How can you be so cheerful after that thing kept screaming all night?”
“I’ve got the diaper-bottle-burp drill down. Once you have it, you’ll see it’s easier with babies.” He held out the carrier with the doll still strapped inside. “Should I help you put it on again?”
“So you can feel me up in the process?” He was so perfect, it was infuriating, so I had to find a flaw in him. In this case, it was turning his offer to help into a dick move.
“If that’s an invitation…”
Sure, if you want to, that traitorous little voice in my head replied.
“It’s not,” I snapped, ignoring the rush of heat that flowed along the surface of my skin while I tried to navigate my arms through the confusing tangle of straps.
He raised both brows. “Are you always this stubborn?”
“I don’t need a man to help me out with something as simple as this.” Except somehow, I’d managed to put the carrier on upside down and was holding the doll by its head to keep it from falling out.
“May I please help you so we don’t both end up with Fs because you dropped the kid?” He came closer, that annoying bemused grin still on his face, and took the doll out of the carrier. “Just unbuckle it here, turn it around, and secure everything before you try to put the baby in.”
His finger brushed the area along my ribs when he pointed out where I should unbuckle it, and a delicious shiver raced up my spine. I hated my hormones sometimes, especially when they overruled my brain concerning Brett Pederson. It was screaming for me to run away before I made a fool of myself by drooling over him, but I ended up inching closer to him. I’d always thought his eyes were plain brown, but the sun streaming in from the skylight above revealed tiny flecks of green and gold in them.
And those eyes were fixed right on me.
“Yo, Pederson, you’re playing a dangerous game getting that close to her without protective equipment on,” Sanchez shouted from down the hall, ruining what had been a “moment.”
As if I was capable of having a moment with Brett.
“I’ve got it under control,” Brett shouted back before dropping his voice to add, “You’re not going to hurt me, right?”
“Depends.”
“On what?” He wasn’t backing away, so neither would I.
“On how pissed off you’re going to make me.”
“And how would I piss you off?”
He was baiting me. I knew he was, and yet I played right along with him. “Your existence pisses me off.”
“Is that all?” His grin widened.
The asshole was mocking me.
“Do I need to make you a list?” I shoved him back and adjusted the carrier, following his instructions.
“Maybe. How long would that list be?”
I snatched the doll back and tucked it away. “Not worth my time.”
I’d barely made it ten feet before Richard fell into step beside me. “Okay, what is going on between you two, because that was some serious tension?”
“The only tension between us is the one in my arm that’s keeping me from slapping that arrogant little smirk off his face.”
Richard pretended to cover his mouth, mimicking a shocked expression. “Oh my God, you’ve progressed to violent thoughts. Do we need to schedule an intervention at the fro-yo place this afternoon so we get all that hostility out over a cup of mocha chocolate chip?”
“No, thank you.” I liked my hostility right where it was. It was the only thing keeping me from admitting that yeah, maybe I was slightly attracted to Brett.
I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see Summer looping her arm through his. The message was as clear as day. He was hers, and I had no chance in hell of ending up with someone like him.
Not that I’d want to. It would mean I’d have to be nice to Sanchez and the rest of the team.
But that didn’t keep me from thinking about how things might be different if we weren’t in this tiny microcosm of hell called high school.




_______________________________
Crista McHugh
Crista McHugh is an award-winning author of fantasy and romance who writes heroines who are smart, sexy and anything but ordinary. She currently lives in the Audi-filled suburbs of Seattle with her husband and two children, maintaining her alter ego of mild-mannered physician by day while she continues to pursue writing on nights and weekends.

She is an active member of the Romance Writers of America (including the Greater Seattle Chapter and the Seattle Eastside Chapters), and Romance Divas.

Just for laughs, here are some of the jobs she’s had in the past to pay the bills: barista, bartender, sommelier, stagehand, actress, morgue attendant, and autopsy assistant.

And she’s also a recovering LARPer. (She blames it on her crazy college days)