Tag: women’s fiction

Review: Stardust Summer by Lauren Clark

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Stardust SummerFormat read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: ebook
Genre: women’s fiction
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Booktango
Date Released: February 20, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Single mom Grace Mason doesn’t believe in miracles, magic, or love at first sight. She likes the quiet life, complete with her eight-year-old son, their tiny house, and her teaching job. For Grace, happiness means that nothing much ever changes in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Then, one thousand miles away, tragedy strikes. A massive heart attack leaves Grace’s estranged father comatose in an Upstate New York hospital. While a team of doctors fight to keep Henry Mason alive, Grace and Evan rush to his bedside to say their final goodbyes.

Henry’s passing brings little closure for Grace, but she finds herself inexplicably drawn to her new surroundings. What begins as a short trip results in an entire summer spent with Henry’s second wife, Kathleen, and her next-door neighbor, Ryan Gordon, the town doctor. When a series of unlikely events lead to Evan’s disappearance, Grace must face her worst fears to find her son and bring him back home.

Stardust Summer explores the complexities of forgiveness, what it means to be a family, and the fabulous possibility of falling in love—again.

My Review:

Love. Forgiveness. Parents. Children. Second chances. Life.

Stardust Summer is about all of those things. It’s about thinking that there will always be time to say good-bye, and then discovering that there isn’t.

It’s about being playing it safe, because taking risks involves the risk that you might get hurt.

Again.

And discovering that you get hurt anyway.

Two women’s lives are connected by one remarkable man. Henry Mason was lucky. He loved his first wife, and mourned her when she died. Then he fell in love with her best friend, and happily married her.

His daughter Grace never forgave him for finding happiness with Kathleen. The woman she blamed for her mother’s death. The woman she still blames, over a decade later.

That blame kept her from visiting her father, kept him from having the relationship he could have had with her son, his grandson.

Henry Mason is dead. At 57, of a sudden stroke. Grace can’t go back. Only forward.

Kathleen is lost. She needs Grace. She needs Evan, the only grandson she will ever have. Kathleen loves them both, but can’t find a way to bridge the years, the resentments, the loss.

She wants to. So very much.

And next door, Ryan Gordon. Henry’s doctor. Henry and Kathleen’s friend. A man who came to upstate New York with the intention of building a practice and forgot to build a life. His wife left him. He wants a second chance.

With Grace. But for there to be a future, Grace has to let go of the resentments in her past, and embrace the joys, and even the heartaches, in today.

All in one summer that might just be filled with stardust.

Escape Rating B+: Stardust Summer is a captivating story. It worked best for me when it focused on the stresses and strains of Grace’s and Kathleen’s relationship, because there was so much there to be worked through!

Grace has been so closed off, and she really had a ton of stuff to deal with, not just with Kathleen but the why of what kept her away from her father and from his home in upstate New York. She had frozen herself and her career in a rut after her mother’s death and a disastrous relationship.

I think there could have been even more angst and it would have worked in the story.

The love story between Ryan and Grace could have used a bit more heat, or it didn’t need to be as prominent in the last third of the story. Ryan’s regrets about the breakup of his marriage were portrayed well, and I liked the way his sincere grief over Henry was handled. He definitely needed to be involved with Kathleen and Evan, but the love story either needed to be a LOT more, or to remain as merely potential.

The heart of this story was Grace and Kathleen finally coming together, and Grace moving past the “stuck point” she had been frozen in for so many years. They are remarkable women, and I enjoyed sharing their story.

Stardustbanner

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On MY (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand? 3-10-13

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Giveaways> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Sunday PostDid you set your clocks ahead last night? Half of ours updated themselves automagically, and half didn’t. Tomorrow morning is going to be a bear, I can just tell.

Daylight savings time is a system administrator’s semi-annual nightmare. Galen spent this morning at his computer before he even got a cup of coffee. That’s just pathetic.

Carolyn GoolsbySpeaking of nightmares, the picture at left is our friend Carolyn the librarian. Her hair is not normally pink. Carolyn is the Library Director in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, and she has dyed her hair pink as part of Hair Massacure, an annual event in Canada that raises fund to support children with life-threatening illnesses. Particularly, as you might have guessed from the pink, cancer.

Hair Massacure logoOn Friday, her library staff is going to shave her head as part of the event. (I always knew Carolyn was brave. I’m not sure I’d let non-professionals near my head with sharp implements!) This is a totally amazing event, and it’s a real wow to be able to send some support her way. (I also can’t wait to see the “after” pictures.) If you’re interested in supporting the librarian’s head shaving click here. (You don’t need to be a Canadian!)

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog recap.

Blood and Magick by James R. TuckB+ Review: Million Dollar Mistake by Meg Lacey
B+ Review: Calculated In Death by J.D. Robb
A- Review: Blood and Magick by James R. Tuck
B Review: What’s a Witch to Do? by Jennifer Harlow
Interview with Author Jennifer Harlow + Giveaway
A- Guest Review: Naked Tails by Eden Winters
Stacking the Shelves (37)

There’s still plenty of time to get in on that giveaway!

This week, we have two big events. On Thursday, Lauren Clark will be here with a guest post to celebrate the release of her latest novel, Stardust Summer. I was eager to jump on this tour, because her previous book, Dancing Naked in Dixie, was an absolute hoot! I will say that Stardust Summer did not disappoint, although there’s no naked dancing in this one. Lauren will also have a giveaway of Stardust Summer.

Stardust Summer by Lauren Clark Blog Tour

And the week will end with a bang, as we kick off the Lucky in Love Blog Hop!

Cards and Caravans by Cindy Spencer PapeBut before we get to next weekend, I’ll have reviews of a few other books for you to look forward to, including an early review of Cindy Spencer Pape’s new story in her Gaslight Chronicles series, Cards & Caravans.

A lot to look forward to this week! We’ll just have to keep springing ahead.

Interview with Author Susan Wiggs + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours> Book Giveaway> Giveaways

It is with very great pleasure that I welcome Susan Wiggs to Reading Reality today. She is here to celebrate the release of her new book, Return to Willow Lake. It is indeed a return: this is her first visit back to her bestselling Lakeshore Chronicles series in two years. Susan’s fans have really been waiting for this one.  Now that I’ve made my own trip to Susan’s beautiful creation in the Catskills, I completely understand what the fuss is about. Return to Willow Lake is terrific! (Check out my review for details)

But let’s hear it from Susan…

Marlene: Hello, Susan! Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Who is Susan Wiggs when she isn’t writing? 

SW: Like my readers, I wear lots of hats–wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend. When I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing or feeling guilty about not writing…but I try to stay balanced. You might find me on a paddleboard in the Sound in front of my house, or hiking with husband & dogs, fixing dinner for my sweet old parents, or traveling the world.

Marlene: And now for the fun stuff. I want to hear how kickboxing mixes with butter sculpting? Or maybe it doesn’t?

SW: It would make quite a mess! I do a lot of different things, but not simultaneously!

Marlene: Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

SW: My mom. She also transcribed the stories I dictated to her when I was a tot.

Marlene: Who influenced your decision to become a writer?

SW: All the amazing, wonderful books I read and lived inside as I was growing up. I couldn’t imagine a better calling in life than telling stories.

Marlene: What book do you recommend everyone should read, and why?

SW: I don’t do that. Reading taste is such an individual thing. One person’s favorite book is another person’s snoozer. When I read and love a book, I like telling people about it. I do it all the time on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/susanwiggs

Marlene: What was the writing road like from Kathleen Woodiwiss’ Shanna (I remember that one well) to Willow Lake?

SW: Long! I discovered Shanna while in college, sold my first book in 1986 and the first Lakeshore book was published in 2006.

Marlene: Who is your favorite fictional character who loves books? And why?

SW: Belle, in Disney’s Beauty & the Beast. I don’t know if she was a booklover in the original fairy tale, but she brought the sexy back to books!

Marlene: Now, if you would, introduce us to Sonnet Romano and Zach Alger, the characters in Return to Willow Lake.

SW: Sonnet is a wildly successful, driven career girl with a fabulous life in the city. Zach is a hometown boy with big dreams. They knew each other…once upon a time. They had a little too much fun at Daisy Bellamy’s wedding. Now they’re having to figure out where to go from there.

Marlene: Do you plan everything, or do you just let the story flow?

SW: I plan everything AND let the story flow. Sometimes I stick to the plan and other times, the story wanders away from me. I can never predict. Sonnet and Zach took me completely by surprise when I got into their heads and started writing their story.

Marlene: Speaking of plans, what projects do you have planned for the future?

SW: A new series, starting with The Apple Orchard in 2013. And more Lakeshore books. I just can’t seem to stop!

Marlene: Morning person or night owl?

SW: Both. I get up early and stay up late. Life is just too much fun to spend sleeping.

Life is too much fun to spend sleeping. Mmm…that sounds like something Sonnet might say.

~*~*Giveaway*~*~

As part of her blog tour, Susan Wiggs has generously offered one print copy of Return to Willow Lake to one lucky participant. (US only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Return to Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Return to Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs is a small-town romance that’s not really about the romance. And that’s a very, very good thing. It’s a story about listening to your heart, and finding the path you were meant to be on. Because only when you know who you are and what you want are you ready to love someone else.

Sonnet Romano comes back to Willow Lake, in this ninth book of Susan Wiggs’ Lakeshore Chronicles, for her step-sister Daisy’s wedding. The setting is idyllic. Camp Kioga is a beautiful location, an old summer camp on the lake shore, near the small Catskills town of Avalon where Sonnet grew up.

A place that Sonnet couldn’t wait to leave.

But Daisy’s wedding reminds her of just what she’s given up for her high-powered career as a project director at UNESCO; time with her mother and step-father, time with friends, time to unwind, time to just be herself.

A few precious hours when she doesn’t have to watch everything she says and does for what her biological father, candidate-for-the-Senate General Laurence Jeffries, might think. A man who has only been interested in her since she won a scholarship at a pretigious university and looked like she might be a credit to him after all.

Sonnet is his one mistake. The product of a youthful indiscretion while he was attending West Point and her mother was still underage. But now that he’s a candidate, his campaign is trying to “manage” Sonnet’s existence. They have to; her father’s campaign manager is her boyfriend.

But at Daisy’s wedding Sonnet’s perfect plan for her future starts to slip. Sonnet’s best friend, the person who has always been there for her, is Zach Algers. They were both outsiders in the little community of Avalon. Sonnet because she was not only bi-racial, but because her mom was a young, single mother in a community of two-parent families. And Zach, first because his mom died, so they both were being raised by single parents, but then because his dad embezzled town funds and was spending time in jail for the crime.

Misfits together growing up.

At the wedding, Sonnet discovered something new about Zach. He hadn’t just grown up into his late high school growth spurt, he’d…changed. Zach Alger was the hottest man that Sonnet Romano had ever seen. Way better than her supposedly perfect boyfriend.

And it wasn’t supposed to be like that. Not with Zach. Not with her best friend. Not tipsy, after the wedding, alone on somebody’s boat out in the middle of the lake. Zach wasn’t supposed to be the best she’d ever had. Or thought she ever would.

Because sex with Zach took away their ease with each other. Ruined their friendship.

And then Sonnet had to hear just about the scariest thing a woman can ever hear from her mother. Her mother had breast cancer. And she was pregnant. Which meant that certain forms of treatment were off the table, because they’d harm the baby.

Sonnet threw her perfect life out the window, and came back to Willow Lake, to Avalon. Her plans didn’t matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was being there for her mom, after all the years that her mother had worked two jobs and more just to keep them together. After all the years that it had been just the two of them, before her mom had finally found her own what they hoped would be happily ever after. Until cancer came calling.

Sonnet thought that she was giving up a lot to come home and be with her mother, but that any, absolutely any sacrifice she made would be worth it. What she found out was that she wasn’t sacrificing anything that she shouldn’t have jettisoned a long time ago.

And that sometimes you have to travel far away to appreciate what was right in front of your eyes all along.

Escape Rating A-: Even though this is the latest book in the Lakeshore Chronicles, I’ll confess that I haven’t read the rest of the series, and I didn’t feel left out. A reader could step right in at this point and have enough info to know what’s going on. This is Sonnet’s story and her history with Zack is all on the BFF side up until now.

This is mostly the story of Sonnet waking up and smelling the coffee, so to speak, rather than the love story. Sonnet isn’t ready for a love story for most of the book. She needs to grow up and figure out what she wants. She’s just not ready. She’s a good person, but she’s being manipulated, a lot, by her sperm-donor father.

The parts of the story that really shine are the ones that deal with Nina’s (Sonnet’s mom) cancer treatment, and the hopelessness that the family goes through. And, on a more upbeat note, the job that Sonnet takes in Avalon to work on a reality TV show about a hip-hop star doing her community service at Camp Kioga with a bunch of inner-city kids. Jezebel, the diva of the show, was both hilarious and insightful.

What I didn’t quite get was some of Orlando’s (the campaign boyfriend) motivations for his ultimate betrayal. Sperm-donor dad I understood. I didn’t like him (I doubt the reader is supposed to) but I understood him. Orlando, not so much.

Avalon is a terrific place and I want to go back.

Review: The Memory of Roses by Blair McDowell

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

The Memory of Roses by Blair McDowell is simply an incredibly lovely story. It’s also a love story, and a story about finding yourself, and about closure. The theme running through the book is “all’s well that ends well.” The story goes very well from beginning to end. The life that it tells, that definitely has some rough patches. But it ends very, very well.

Death and discovery. It could be a metaphor for the life of Ian McQuaid. He was, after all, an archaeologist. He was also the father of Britomartis McQuaid, and it’s his death that begins Brit’s journey. Because with her father’s death, Brit discovers that much of what she knew about her father was a lie.

Brit thought her parents’ marriage was a reasonably happy and faithful one. Her mother died of cancer when Brit was eight, and her father never remarried; Brit’s memories are those of a child. Her father’s will leaves her a house on the Greek island of Corfu, one Brit never knew he owned, and a package to deliver to his long-ago lover, a woman he met, loved and left on that island, one long ago summer before Brit was born. The summer just before Brit was born.

His last letter tells her to “Go to Corfu. I hope you will find there the peace, the beauty, the sheer joy in being alive that I found.” 

Brit goes in search of the mystery of her father’s life–the secret of what happened during that missing summer. She has time, and she has the burning need to know the truth. The things Brit doesn’t have are that peace, that joy that her father found on Corfu. She’s never had them, and she doesn’t expect to find them. She doesn’t believe they even exist, at least not for her. All the people she’s ever loved have left or rejected her, and she doesn’t even know why.

But on Corfu, she finds friendship, and in bringing the villa back to life, she finds peace and purpose. Brit starts to write, and finally finds joy in her work, real joy.

Love comes looking for her. And when it finds her, she begins to understand the reasons that her father made the decisions that he did, so long ago.

But there is one secret from that summer still left to be revealed. As Brit finally finds her joy, she discovers she has the power to totally destroy someone else. Or she can keep her father’s last secret.

Escape Rating A: I really loved this story. There were so many circles within circles, and they all came to the absolute perfect conclusions. There’s the mystery about what happened to Ian and Maria in the past, and you absolutely have to find out how their tragic love story ended so badly. Then there’s Brit’s unhappiness. You both want her to have a happy ending, and you want her to deal with her ghosts. Extra points for a particular person getting his just desserts near the end.

This is a story about resolutions. Not New Year’s resolutions, but about things getting resolved appropriately. Brit has to be ready for love before she can even get within shouting distance of happy, and Andreas is not just handsome, but also patient enough to be a friend first and wait for the moment to be right.

One other thing…this was just so good that I was able to forget the absolutely HUGE watermark that Rebel Ink Press puts on every single page of their eARCs. I was so completely immersed in the story and my eyes stopped seeing it.

 

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand? 8-19-12

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

It’s so hard to believe that we’re sliding down towards the end of summer, isn’t it? But we really are.

High temperatures in Atlanta seemed to have finally dropped out of the 90s. Only down into the high 80s, mind you, but out of the 90s. It’s some kind of progress. Less beastly. I love winters in the South, but the summers are probably a foretaste of Hell. (I reviewed one of Eve Langlais‘ Hell books this week, I loved it, but her Hell sounds like the U.S. Deep South for climate)

It’s good to be home. The cats missed us. They’ve mostly forgiven us for leaving them. (If you are owned by cats, you know exactly what I mean!)

 

So what’s happening at Reading Reality this week? Let’s get out the old calendar (actually Google calendar) and take a look…

 

After Monday’s Ebook Review Central feature, which is the June multi-publisher post, this week we have…drumroll please…

Tuesday I’ll be reviewing Only Scandal Will Do by Jenna Jaxon as part of a tour from Sizzling PR. Only Scandal Will Do is a terrific historical romance romp which starts with the absolutely opposite of a “meet cute”. The heroine gets sold to the hero at an auction in a whorehouse! This shouldn’t end well, and it doesn’t in the beginning, but of course it does in the end!

 

Wednesday is for The Memory of Roses. That’s not a commemorative, it’s a book by Blaire McDowell. Ms. McDowell also wrote Delighting In Your Company, a ghost/historical romance that I found, well, absolutely delightful when I reviewed it in June. So I couldn’t resist The Memory of Roses when it popped up on this Bewitching Books Tour.

 

Thursday I’ll be interviewing Gwyn Cready, the author of Timeless Desire. Since I’ve already reviewed Timeless Desire, I’ll be very interested to see what she has to say. The book was very good, a kind of Outlander-lite. And that feels right to me, after all, the subtitle is “An Outlander Love Story”.

 

Speaking of cats (well, we were a few paragraphs ago)…on Friday, I’ll have a guest post from Jacqueline M. Battisti, the author of The Guardian of Bastet as part of a tour from Bewitching. I’ll also be reviewing the book. I couldn’t resist. Bastet is the cat goddess.

And that all makes for one busy week!

But looking ahead to the next week, there’s one big event already on the calendar. Susan Wiggs’ will be here for an interview on Thursday, August 30 to celebrate her new book, Return to Willow Lake. And I’ll be doing a review. Naturally.

And then, and then, and then…it will be Labor Day. And Dragon*Con. Where did the summer go again?

What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand? AKA The Sunday Post 7-29-12

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Mid-summer blog break part deux (a word which totally flummoxed the online dictionary, however flummoxed did not!)

The above only adds to the never-ending stream of anecdotes (anecdata, which is not a word but should be) that online dictionaries are not all they are cracked up to be.

Monday is the day for Ebook Review Central. And the calendar has come back around to Carina Press’ June 2012 titles. Carina always has a lot of candidates for the featured book slots, and this time was certainly no exception. (I will give you a hint about this week’s features. I feel sorry for everyone else if Shannon Stacey ever publishes three titles in a single month!)

On Thursday, August 2, I’ll be interviewing author Jamie Salisbury about her contemporary romance Timeless Sojourn, and, of course, reviewing the book. Ms. Salisbury is coming to Reading Reality as part of Goddess Fish Virtual Book Tour.

 

Now next week I have something really neat coming up. I’ll be interviewing Laurie Frankel, the author of Goodbye for Now, as well as reviewing her new book. Goodbye for Now is both high-tech and a love story. And it’s about letting go. And not letting go. Think of One Day with a touch of A.I. thrown in. I can hardly wait.

 

And I always have new books. I know I’m going to download An Officer’s Duty by Jean Johnson, the second book in her Theirs Not to Reason Why military science fiction series, the minute it’s available. I thought the first book, A Soldier’s Duty, was utterly awesome, so July 31 can’t come soon enough for me.

 

Speaking of fantastic series, the second book in James R. Tuck’s Deacon Chalk series is due out next week. That’s Blood and Silver. The mid-series novella, Spider’s Lullaby, has been out for a while. I’ve read them both, I just need to post reviews, because if you like dark, gritty and snarky urban fantasy, this series is fantastically good. Start with That Thing at the Zoo for background and immediately follow with Blood and Bullets. Rock ’em, sock ’em urban fantasy with guns and attitude instead of spells and attitude.

Something I’m looking forward to reading next week is Julie Ann Walker’s Hell on Wheels. It’s the first of a series about a defense firm posing as Harley mechanics and motorcycle buffs. So all the books are going to have that utterly delicious bodyguard crush thing going on. And they’re set in my favorite home town, Chicago. So you’ve got alpha ex-military males, hot bodyguards, cold city, bad bikes, and the first story is all about breaking the guy code rule dating your best friend’s little sister. The series is Black Knights, Inc. Books 2 and 3 are In Rides Trouble and Rev It Up. If they are as good as they sound, I think I’m going to be glad I already have them all from NetGalley.

What exciting books are you looking forward to in this long, hot summer?

Review: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns by Margaret Dilloway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews

The “rose” who requires rather careful care and handling in this women’s fiction novel by Margaret Dilloway is Gal Garner, and she very definitely has thorns. But just like the flowers that she nurtures so carefully, there are definitely rewards for navigating your way through Gal’s prickly, thorny life.

You can learn a lot about actual rose gardening while reading The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns, or at least, rose breeding and rose gardening in Southern California. Because that’s where this book takes place. There are snippets (how appropriate) from rose care books at the head of each chapter, and they seem totally real.

Gal Garner certainly needs care, and lots of it. Perhaps even more care than the roses she breeds so painstakingly.

Gal is 36. She has been a kidney dialysis patient for ten very long years. She’s had two transplants and both have failed. Her life has been defined by a childhood illness that was not caught in time, one that destroyed both her kidneys. Her world has been defined by the limitations of her disease.

And not just her world, but also her parents, and her older sister Becky. The family drama will play out again, one more summer, against a real rose, not rose-colored, backdrop.

Ten years is a long time for a dialysis patient. Gal is on borrowed time. She needs a kidney. Her mother has already given one. The rest of her family are not an option.

Gal is a biology teacher at a private high school. She is painstaking, smart, witty, acerbic. She suffers no fools because she has no patience and no time. She most explicitly does not grade on the curve. Her students learn or they fail. Their parents want her gone. Her life is closing in.

All she has are the roses she breeds. Her goal is one rose, a rare Hulthemia, that she can get voted into the All-America Rose Selections. A successful test rose would be worth a fortune. She could stop teaching.

But instead of a successful test rose, in the spring she gets her teenage niece as a house guest. Her sister Becky has become irresponsible. Again. Becky has left for Hong Kong. Supposedly for work. And sent Riley to her Aunt Gal for months, with no warning. And with no thought as to whether Gal can handle a 15-year-old girl.

Gal can’t turn her away. Riley is her family, even if she hasn’t seen her since she was three.

And even if she looks just like her mother. Gal’s sister Becky, whom Gal is still angry with. Angry for her irresponsibility. Angry with for just being healthy. Angry with for just being able to have a child, and then for throwing her away.

Riley has raised herself. Becky has never been responsible. Gal feels guilty that she didn’t do more, all those years ago. So she tries now. But they are both set in their ways.

Riley isn’t a child any more. She’s almost a woman. And Gal spends every other night in the hospital having dialysis. But needing each other is more than either of them has ever had.

Roses grow towards the sun.

Escape Rating B+: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns was a little slow to get started. At first, Gal is not a likable character. On the one hand, the reader sympathizes with her because of her illness, but on the other hand, she makes herself as unpleasant as possible to everyone around her. She’s so busy making sure that no one feels sorry for her she acts like a jerk, knowing they can’t retaliate because of her illness.

The women’s intergenerational drama is one that’s been done before. Gal’s illness dominated the family dynamic, so Becky felt left out and acted out. What was interesting, and what makes the story work, was the way that things played out in the next generation. Even though Riley looks like Becky, Gal doesn’t visit her mother’s sins on her. Nor does she treat her like a child after a few false starts. Gal needs her too much.

Their need for each other makes them forge a totally different dynamic, a better one than the sisters had. It works.  There is a happy ending of sorts, but not a huge one. And that’s the way it should be.

***Disclaimer: I was compensated for this BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

If you want to join this month’s discussion of  The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns on the BlogHer Book Club, you can join the discussion by following this link to the Book Club.

Q&A with Lauren Clark, Author of Dancing Naked in Dixie + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Q&A> blog tours> Book Giveaway> Giveaways

I’d like to welcome Lauren Clark, the author of the absolutely terrific (check out my review here) Dancing Naked in Dixie to Reading Reality. I had the chance to cook up a few questions for Lauren, just in time for the release of Dancing Naked. (I love that title! And it fits so perfectly)

Tell us a little bit about Lauren Clark…

I am a mom of two school-aged boys, wife of a medical professional, daughter of a nurse practitioner and a college dean (also avid readers). I have a master’s degree in journalism and worked in TV news on-air for six years before deciding to write fiction. I love yoga, Pure Barre, travel, flavored coffee, the color pink, the ocean, my historic home, friends, laughter, and my family.

Is there a real Eufaula? Or what place, or places, were the inspirations for Eufaula Alabama?

Yes! It is a lovely place about three hours southwest of Atlanta, Georgia. I visited Eufaula and attended the Pilgrimage many times when I lived in Dothan, Alabama. It’s a magical place–the historic homes are marvelous, the people are so friendly, and Eufaula has a real sense of ‘community.’

Dancing Naked in Dixie is a terrific title. Can you tell us what brought that particular line to life?

I wanted a title that expressed unbridled joy and happiness–like the exhilaration of new love, the heady feeling that makes a person want to “dance naked.” I actually came up with the title before I wrote the book. Not something that usually happens, at least for me!

You refer to both Dancing Naked in Dixie and your first book, Stay Tuned, as women’s fiction rather than romance. What do you see as the difference?

The major difference, I believe, is my focus on a strong female protagonist who has a major challenge in her life. The crux of the story is finding a solution to that problem, or making a change in her life. That’s how she eventually finds happiness, not through finding the man of her dreams (although that part is an extra, added bonus if it happens!).

Let’s talk about casting. If Dancing Naked were made into a movie, who would you want to see playing Shug and Julia?

Gosh, I love the thought of Emma Stone playing Julia, though one of my editors had a dream that Dancing Naked was made into a movie and Reese Witherspoon was the lead role!!! My best friend wants me to say Matthew McConaughey for Shug, and although he doesn’t have dark hair, I have to agree that he’d be a great choice.

There are so many strong women in Dancing Naked. Is there one in particular who is your favorite? And why?

I love Julia. She’s me in so many ways (klutzy, coffee-drinker, loves to travel), but I have a great relationship with my parents and I am NOT allergic to bees! I love that she has both a physical and personal journey to go on–and that the two mirror each other and allow her to grow as a career woman, daughter, and person. Julia is terribly unorganized, however, and that’s one of my strong points (or I would never get any writing done)!

Who introduced you to the love of reading?

My parents shut of the family television all summer, every summer. As a result, I spent LOTS of time at the local library and carried stacks of books back and forth every week. I must have read one hundred books a summer. My parents and my grandparents are/were also big readers and bookstore lovers, so I think I was destined to be an avid bookworm.

Who or what influenced you to become a writer?

I’d played around with writing fiction after I got out of TV news, but didn’t get serious about it until about 7 years ago. I hired a freelance editor to help me with two stories I’d written and am forever grateful for her help and encouragement. Stay Tuned was the third novel I finished.

Do you plan your stories out to the nth degree, or do your characters sometimes take over?

I do outline pretty extensively, meaning that I do a sentence or two for each chapter and plan out the entire story beforehand. Yes, sometimes the characters surprise me!! For example, I didn’t plan on Mary Katherine being quite so scheming and deliberate, but I was having so much fun with her that I expanded her role, especially near the end of the story!

What book do you recommend everyone should read, and why?

One of my favorite novels is My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. It’s a fabulous story about how a family disintegrates when one of the children is born with a life-threatening illness. An ending rarely surprises me, but this book did–and made me cry! (Do NOT see the movie version) Other highly recommended reads:  The Green Mile, The Poisonwood Bible, The Secret Life of Bees, and anything by Sophie Kinsella.

Tell us a little bit about what comes next for you after Dancing Naked in Dixie? 

I am working on story about The Pie Lab, which is an actual restaurant in Greensboro, Alabama. It’s a great little place, has wonderful pies (both dessert pies and quiche/taco/lunch-type pies), and provides a place where local folks can get on-the-job training. My protagonist is a young woman who’s vowed never to return to Greensboro (her hometown), but is forced to do so when her husband leaves her for another man.

Since on your website you admit to being a “non-reformed coffee drinker,” I’ll have to ask a different final question. Morning person or night owl? 

Morning. Early morning, much to the chagrin of my husband, who likes to ‘sleep in’ until at least 8 a.m. on the weekends!


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Dancing Naked in Dixie

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Dancing Naked in Dixie by Lauren Clark lives up to its teasing, tantalizing title. Every single bit of it. And it’s marvelous, in more and surprising ways than you might expect from the breezy picture on the cover.

Globe-trotting travel writer Julia Sullivan sputters that she’d rather dance naked for her next assignment than go to Alabama. However, she’s going to Alabama, and there is no way she’s getting out of it.

Julia’s been in kind of a slump recently. Like two years recently, ever since her mother died. She’s used her jet-setting, travel-writing job as a way of avoiding, well, pretty much everything. Especially her own problems.

What she hasn’t been doing is actually connecting with any of those fantastic places that she’s visited. Which means that her travel writing hasn’t been what it used to be. And the new editor of Getaways magazine is just the person to make sure she gets back on track. Or make sure she goes out the door. The new editor is her very much estranged father.

And he’s sending her to Eufaula, Alabama, to cover the Annual Pilgrimage, and do it right, damn it, or get fired.

Even if Julia would rather dance naked than find herself in the Heart of Dixie.

But once she gets there, after leaving her luggage behind and suffering one mishap after another, Julia discovers a few things.

Being forced to slow down a little gives her a chance to do some real travel reporting again, and not just take pictures. Connecting with the people of Eufaula makes her connect with herself again. And even though it hurts, it’s a good hurt.

And about that reporting…there’s some shady dealing going on under the shady porches of sleepy Eufaula. A real estate developer is doing something underhanded with the city council, and against the historic commission.

But the head of the historic commission, well, there’s just something about Shug Jordan that’s touched Julia’s heart in all the right places. It’s too bad he already has a conniving witch of a fiance.

And Julia’s just in Eufaula to write a story, go back to New York and save her career. If her story does its job, it should save the Annual Pilgrimage, too. She’s not supposed to be an investigative journalist. And she’s not planning on falling in love with a small town in Alabama or with a man named after a Football coach. Not a city girl like her. Not going to happen.

Escape Rating A: This is the story of Julia’s journey. She does happen to get the guy at the end, but really, that’s the icing on the cake. Or maybe even the sprinkles on top. For this reader, the real story was in Julia getting her act together all the way across the board and the HEA is the prize.

Julia starts out pretty messed up for really good reasons. And she’s been running away from her problems through travel, which is not a bad way to do it if someone else is footing the bill.

But going to Eufaula makes her face everything, and she does. She also falls in love with the place and almost all the people. And she solves some really, really big puzzles in her own life. She makes some good friends, heals some old wounds, and gets a fantastic reward in a terrific guy.

But reading her journey is what makes the story so good.