WWW Wednesday | August 19

August 19, 2015August 17, 2015 ~ Danielle Olson ~ 4 Comments

It’s that time of the week again when I participate in WWW Wednesdays hosted by Should Be Reading. Feel free to leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments.

To participate in WWW Wednesday, you need to answer three questions.

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

CURRENTLY READING

TITLE: Eight Hundred Grapes

AUTHOR: Laura Dave

PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster

PUBLICATION DATE: June 2, 2015

GENRE: Women’s Fiction

BUY LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | BAM! | INDIEBOUND

A breakout novel from an author who “positively shines with wisdom and intelligence” (Jonathan Tropper, This Is Where I leave You). “Laura Dave writes with humor and insight about relationships in all their complexity, whether she’s describing siblings or fiancés or a couple long-married. Eight Hundred Grapes is a captivating story about the power of family, the limitations of love, and what becomes of a life’s work” (J. Courtney Sullivan, Maine).

There are secrets you share, and secrets you hide…

Growing up on her family’s Sonoma vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her mother’s lasagna: chocolate. The secret behind ending a fight: hold hands.

But just a week before her wedding, thirty-year-old Georgia discovers her beloved fiancé has been keeping a secret so explosive, it will change their lives forever.

Georgia does what she’s always done: she returns to the family vineyard, expecting the comfort of her long-married parents, and her brothers, and everything familiar. But it turns out her fiancé is not the only one who’s been keeping secrets…

Bestselling author Laura Dave has been dubbed “a wry observer of modern love” (USA TODAY), a “decadent storyteller” (Marie Claire), and “compulsively readable” (Woman’s Day). Set in the lush backdrop of Sonoma’s wine country, Eight Hundred Grapes is a heartbreaking, funny, and deeply evocative novel about love, marriage, family, wine, and the treacherous terrain in which they all intersect. (Description found on NetGalley.com)

RECENTLY FINISHED READING

TITLE: What You Left Behind

AUTHOR: Samantha Hayes

PUBLISHER: Crown Publishing

RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2015

GENRE: Suspense & Thriller

Two years after a terrifying spate of teenage suicides, the remote village of Radcote has just begun to heal. Then a young man is killed in a freak motorcycle accident and a suicide note is found among his belongings. When a second boy is found dead shortly thereafter, the nightmare of repeat suicides once again threatens the community.

Desperate for a vacation, Detective Inspector Lorraine Fisher has just come to Radcote for a stay with her sister, Jo, but the atmosphere of the country house is unusually tense. Freddie, Jo’s son, seems troubled and uncommunicative, and Jo is struggling to reach out to him. Meanwhile, Lorraine becomes determined to discover the truth behind these deaths. Are they suicides, or is there something more sinister at work? Finding answers might help Freddie, but they’ll also lead to a shocking truth: whatever it is–or whoever it is–that’s killing these young people is far more disturbing than she ever could have imagined, and unraveling the secret is just as dangerous as the secret itself.

Wicked, intense, and utterly compulsive, What You Left Behind confirms Samantha Hayes as a top thriller writer. (Description from NetGalley.com)

WHAT I MIGHT READ NEXT

TITLE: Stir

AUTHOR: Jessica Fechtor

PUBLISHER: Penguin Group Avery

PUBLICATION DATE: June 23, 2015

GENRE: Memoir

An exquisite memoir about how food connects us to ourselves, our lives, and each other.

At 28, Jessica Fechtor was happily immersed in graduate school and her young marriage, and thinking about starting a family. Then one day, she went for a run and an aneurysm burst in her brain. She nearly died. She lost her sense of smell, the sight in her left eye, and was forced to the sidelines of the life she loved.

Jessica’s journey to recovery began in the kitchen as soon as she was able to stand at the stovetop and stir. There, she drew strength from the restorative power of cooking and baking. Written with intelligence, humor, and warmth, Stir is a heartfelt examination of what it means to nourish and be nourished.”

Woven throughout the narrative are 27 recipes for dishes that comfort and delight. For readers of M.F.K.Fisher, Molly Wizenberg, and Tamar Adler, as well as Oliver Sacks, Jill Bolte Taylor, and Susannah Cahalan, Stir is sure to inspire, and send you straight to the kitchen. (Description found on NetGalley.com)

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Teaser Tuesdays | Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

August 18, 2015August 17, 2015 ~ Danielle Olson ~ 2 Comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jenn of A Daily Rhythm. It’s easy to participate. 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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

ABOUT CURRENT READ

TITLE: Eight Hundred Grapes

AUTHOR: Laura Dave

PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster

RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2015

GENRE: Women’s Fiction

BUY LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | BAM! | INDIEBOUND

A breakout novel from an author who “positively shines with wisdom and intelligence” (Jonathan Tropper, This Is Where I leave You). “Laura Dave writes with humor and insight about relationships in all their complexity, whether she’s describing siblings or fiancés or a couple long-married. Eight Hundred Grapes is a captivating story about the power of family, the limitations of love, and what becomes of a life’s work” (J. Courtney Sullivan, Maine).

There are secrets you share, and secrets you hide…

But just a week before her wedding, thirty-year-old Georgia discovers her beloved fiancé has been keeping a secret so explosive, it will change their lives forever.

TEASER SENTENCES

“I understood the thousand steps between where he’d started and where he’d ended up. And, more than that, I understood the versions of him he contended with along the way: the version of him that was proud of what he’d built and the version buried far beneath that still felt like an outsider. Which might have been why all the versions of me I’d ever been – all the versions of me that I hoped to be – made sense when I was with him.”

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Book Review | Carry Me Home by Lia Riley

August 17, 2015 ~ Danielle Olson ~ 2 Comments

BOOK REVIEW | CARRY ME HOME

TITLE: Carry Me Home (Off the Map #3.1)

AUTHOR: Lia Riley

PUBLISHER: Forever Yours

RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2015

GENRE: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary

BUY LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | KOBO | IBOOKS | GOOGLEPLAY

Love doesn’t have to be perfect to be true…

Years ago, Tanner Green loved Sunny Letman. She was meant to be his first kiss, first love, first everything. Then their world spun upside-down and out of control.

Free-spirited Sunny doesn’t do commitment. Sure, guys are great for a night or a week, but she always leaves first. That is, until professional skateboarder and town golden boy, Tanner Green, unexpectedly walks back into her life.

Despite their broken history, a fragile and undeniably electric connection still holds them together. Now Tanner has to convince Sunny that even though love isn’t always perfect, it’s worth sticking around for…(this stand alone novella is part of the Off the Map series) (Description found on Amazon.com)

MY THOUGHTS

I’m a huge fan of Lia Riley. Over the last year she has become one of my favorite authors, so I’m always up for reading anything new of hers. Carry Me Home is a novella focused on a few side characters in her Off the Map series.

Tanner and Sunny’s story started years ago when they were children. They understood each other and what their situations were, but drama between their mother’s pulled them apart. As they got older they grew even further apart. It’s not until later that they finally start developing that relationship again. That’s where their story begins in Carry Me Home.

I enjoyed reading the story that Lia Riley developed for these two characters from the Off the Map series, especially Tanner. They both had difficult back stories that, in the end, brought them closer together. Sunny was one of the more frustrating characters. I kept saying to myself, “Ugh Sunny! Why don’t you just give in already. You know you like him”. Her noncommittal and stubborn attitude kept pushing Tanner away, but thankfully he wouldn’t let her. I liked Tanner because he knew exactly what he wanted and was fighting to obtain it. I believe their differing personalities balanced each other out and they eventually gave into their feelings.

The only thing I didn’t enjoy was how short it was, but that’s the nature of a novella. I definitely wanted more. I wonder how the story would have developed if Riley wrote it as a full novel. I guess I’m just going to have to ask her.

Overall, I would highly recommend Carry Me Home especially if you’re a fan of the Off the Map series. Even in it’s short length it showed you how love can develop no matter how different people are or how dire their circumstances might be.

If you’re interested in reading the Off the Map series, you can check out my reviews below.

Upside Down (Book #1)

Sideswiped (Book #2)

Inside Out (Book #3)

FAVORITE QUOTES

“We’ll never be the same again. We each carry a piece of the other. The way he watches me, I know he’s in this for a long time, not just a good time. And that idea doesn’t seem so scary anyone. In fact, I can’t wait.”

“Sunny is like her name. you can’t hope to hold sunshine. You can only bask in it for as long as it’s there. But weather changes. There are storms. Night always follows day. I know what I want can’t happen, but who ever said wanting needs to be reasonable or even sane?”

OVERALL RATING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS | TWITTER

After studying at the University of Montana-Missoula, Lia Riley scoured the world armed only with a backpack, overconfidence and a terrible sense of direction. When not torturing heroes (because c’mon, who doesn’t love a good tortured hero?), Lia herds unruly chickens, camps, beach combs, daydreams about as-of-yet unwritten books, wades through a mile-high TBR pile and schemes yet another trip. She and her family live mostly in Northern California.

Thank you to Lia Riley, Forever Yours publishing, and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Sunday Quotes

August 16, 2015August 11, 2015 ~ Danielle Olson ~ Leave a comment

Book Review | What You Left Behind by Samantha Hayes

August 12, 2015 ~ Danielle Olson ~ 2 Comments

BOOK REVIEW | WHAT YOU LEFT BEHIND

TITLE: What You Left Behind

AUTHOR: Samantha Hayes

PUBLISHER: Crown Publishing

RELEASE DATE: April 14, 2015

GENRE: Suspense & Thriller

A mesmerizing new thriller from the author of Until You’re Mine

Wicked, intense, and utterly compulsive, What You Left Behind confirms Samantha Hayes as a top thriller writer. (Description from NetGalley.com)

MY THOUGHTS

At times, I feel I need a little bit more adventure, suspense, and mystery in my life so I wander away from my usual Women’s Fiction genre books and go towards a book like What You Left Behind by Samantha Hayes. Its books like this that keeps be wanting more suspense and thriller type novels to read.

There were many twists and turns throughout the book and Hayes did a great job tying up the loose ends. This is what kept me engaged and is what I loved most about the book. I was surprised by the plot twists. At times, I can predict what twists will be, but with this book many of the twists were a mystery. That’s not to say I didn’t guess a few of them, but for the most part I was like “oh my gosh” when something was revealed.

The characters, including the minor ones, were well developed and their stories were perfectly intertwined. The way Hayes created the characters made you believe they were different than they turned out to be. I think this created a much more impactful thriller and made me second guess my predictions (commence the applause).

What You Left Behind is a riveting psychological thriller riddled with secrets and lies and is well worth staying up until 1am to finish it.

I was generously provided a copy of this book for an honest review from NetGalley. Thank you Samantha Hayes and Crown Publishing.

OVERALL RATING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

WEBSITE | BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

Throughout the years, I always strived to improve my writing. In 2003 I won a short story competition and subsequently had a novel published by a small independent press. It’s out of print now. Since 2007 I have had four novels published by Headline under the name Sam Hayes—BLOOD TIES, UNSPOKEN, TELL TALE and SOMEONE ELSE’S SON.

I am now represented by Oli Munson at A M Heath Ltd and my books are published by Century and Arrow. I have written three novels in a new detective series – set in and around Birmingham, featuring my married DIs Lorraine Fisher and Adam Scott. The first is UNTIL YOU’RE MINE, followed by BEFORE YOU DIE, and finally YOU BELONG TO ME. These are all written as Samantha Hayes. You can find details of all my recent novels by visiting the bookspage. Meantime, I’m busy working on my next novel!

About the author was found on her website and you can click here to find out more.

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Book Update | Submitted My Emerging Voices Fellowship Application

August 10, 2015 ~ Danielle Olson ~ Leave a comment

I did it! I submitted my PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Fellowship application last Monday. It was an exciting feeling putting everything together and sending it off. The post office employee actually asked me if I was sending a book and I sort of was. It was only the first 20 pages of my memoir, but I had to put together 5 copies of the entire application which included the 20 pages, short answer questions, professional CV, 2014 tax summary, (2) letters of recommendation, and a $10 application fee. It was a thick piece of mail that’s for sure.

My husband has been my sounding board for all my nervous energy. He listens to me talk about how difficult it is writing this personal story and tells me not to get discouraged if I don’t get the Fellowship (he’s completely right and completely amazing). This is the first time I’ve ever submitted my work to be judged. Whoever looks at my submission will be the first to read a large portion of my memoir. It’s actually quite scary when I think about it. A person I don’t know will be judging what I’ve written. Their opinions will determine if I get to participate in this Fellowship.

If I don’t get it this year, there’s always next year or the year after. Now that I know about this great program I’m going to keep applying until I get it.

Now I just have to wait until October when they inform the finalists. I really hope I get this Fellowship because I think it will help me develop a clearer picture of my memoir and help me finish a first draft.

August New Releases

August 4, 2015 ~ Danielle Olson ~ Leave a comment

AUGUST NEW RELEASES

Each month I plan on sharing upcoming new releases that I’m excited about reading. Most of the time these books will be from my NetGalley shelf because that’s where I get a lot of my books lately. So here’s a look at what is releasing this month.

TITLE: It Started With Paris

AUTHOR: Cathy Kelly

PUBLISHER: Grand Central Publishing

RELEASE DATE: August 4, 2015 (US Version)

GENRE: Women’s Fiction

BUY LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | GOOGLEPLAY | EBOOKMAIL

The new novel from #1 international bestselling author Cathy Kelly.

It all started with Paris. At the top of the Eiffel Tower, a young man proposes to his girlfriend. In that second, everything changes, not just for the happy couple, but for the family and friends awaiting their return in Ireland.

Leila’s been nursing a broken heart since her husband suddenly left her, but she’s determined to put on a brave face for the bride. Vonnie, a widow, has finally dared to let love back into her life, but a curveball arises that puts another’s safety at risk. And Grace, a school principal, finds that her son’s impending union brings her ex-husband back into her daily life, and starts to ponder past decisions and wonder if her divorce was in fact a mistake.

As these three women gather around the young couple to prepare for the wedding, they’ll each have to address their own demons and find a way to move forward, whatever the cost. (Description from NetGalley.com)

TITLE: We Never Asked for Wings

AUTHOR: Vanessa Diffenbaugh

PUBLISHER: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine Books

RELEASE DATE: August 18, 2015

GENRE: Women’s Fiction

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Language of Flowers comes her much-anticipated new novel about young love, hard choices, and hope against all odds.

For fourteen years, Letty Espinosa has worked three jobs around San Francisco to make ends meet while her mother raised her children—Alex, now fifteen, and Luna, six—in their tiny apartment on a forgotten spit of wetlands near the bay. But now Letty’s parents are returning to Mexico, and Letty must step up and become a mother for the first time in her life.

Navigating this new terrain is challenging for Letty, especially as Luna desperately misses her grandparents and Alex, who is falling in love with a classmate, is unwilling to give his mother a chance. Letty comes up with a plan to help the family escape the dangerous neighborhood and heartbreaking injustice that have marked their lives, but one wrong move could jeopardize everything she’s worked for and her family’s fragile hopes for the future.

Vanessa Diffenbaugh blends gorgeous prose with compelling themes of motherhood, undocumented immigration, and the American Dream in a powerful and prescient story about family. (Description from NetGalley.com)

TITLE: The Sisters Club

AUTHOR: Lauren Baratz-Logsted

PUBLISHER: Diversion Books

RELEASE DATE: August 18, 2015

GENRE: Women’s Fiction

PRE-ORDER LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | IBOOKS | KOBO

Some families you are born into. Some you choose. And some choose you.

Four women have little in common other than where they live and the joyous complications of having sisters. Cindy waits for her own life to begin as she sees her sister going in and out of hospitals. Lise has made the boldest move of her life, even as her sister spends every day putting herself at risk to improve the lives of others. Diana is an ocean apart from her sister, but worries that her marriage is the relationship separated by the most distance. Sylvia has lost her twin sister to breast cancer, a disease that runs in the family, and fears that she will die without having ever really lived.

When Diana places an ad in the local newsletter, Cindy, Lise, and Sylvia show up thinking they are joining a book club, but what they discover is something far deeper and more profound than any of them ever imagined.

With wit, charm, and pathos, this mesmerizing tale of sisters, both born and built, enthralls on every page. (Description from NetGalley.com)

What new releases are your excited about?

Book Update | Excerpt From My Memoir

July 30, 2015July 29, 2015 ~ Danielle Olson ~ 4 Comments

Today I’m going to share with you a few small paragraphs from my memoir. Keep in mind this is very rough and you are the first to see this and no editors have tweaked it. Who knows if this will end up in the book if and when it gets published (I hope it eventually gets published).

I feel certain that the story and journey I had with my mom needs to be told because it might bring comfort to those who may have gone through the same things or something similar.

Excerpt From My Memoir (Title TBD)

I had a mother once and not a day goes by that I don’t think about her. The smallest things remind me of her. The angel teddy bear I keep in my car. A woman at the grocery store with curly brown hair. A television show. For a long time, these little reminders were big stabs in my heart and it would feel like something was pressing down on my lungs. That’s when I couldn’t hold the floodgates and was certain she could feel my sobs from wherever she may have gone. She may have been able to feel the pain I felt. The sorrow I felt. The loneliness I felt. As the years rolled by, these little reminders became less and less heart wrenching. In time they would only make my eyes tear up and I’d wipe it away before they had a chance to roll down my cheek. Sometimes I would even smile when something reminded me of her, but it’s been a long and trying road to get to that point.

Now they are mere acknowledgements that I had a mother. I had a mother who kept an angel teddy bear in her car. I had a mother with curly brown hair and soft blue eyes. I had a mother who’d sit and watch TV with us. I want everyone to know I had a mother who wasn’t perfect, but she was still my mother.

Upcoming Book Review | Carry Me Home by Lia Riley

July 29, 2015 ~ Danielle Olson ~ Leave a comment

UPCOMING BOOK REVIEW

TITLE: Carry Me Home (Off the Map #3.1)

AUTHOR: Lia Riley

PUBLISHER: Forever Yours

RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2015

GENRE: New Adult, Romance, Contemporary

BUY LINKS: AMAZON | B&N | KOBO | IBOOKS | GOOGLEPLAY

Love doesn’t have to be perfect to be true…

Years ago, Tanner Green loved Sunny Letman. She was meant to be his first kiss, first love, first everything. Then their world spun upside-down and out of control.

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Print Release Blitz & Giveaway | Inside Out by Lia Riley

July 27, 2015 ~ Danielle Olson ~ Leave a comment

The third book in Lia Riley’s Off the Map series is out in coming out in print! Inside Out is a great book and I would definitely recommend it and the rest of the series to those who enjoy New Adult novels. As part of the Print Release Blitz I had a chance to ask Lia a few questions. I’m really happy I had this opportunity because she’s easily become one of my favorite authors.

ABOUT THE BOOK

TITLE: Inside Out (Off the Map #3)

AUTHOR: Lia Riley

GENRE: New Adult

PUBLICATION DATE: July 28, 2015

PUBLISHER: Forever (Grand Central Publishing)

Talia Stolfi is deeply in love with the brooding Aussie surfer who stole her heart-but their infrequent letters only get her so far. While she fulfills her dream of being in the Peace Corps, a dangerous condition jeopardizes her life . . . and threatens to shatter her heart.

After nearly losing Talia forever, Bran Lockhart sailed to the stormy seas at the ends of the earth. Deep down, he knows that all roads worth traveling lead back to the beautiful California girl with the sunny smile. There’s no denying that he belongs with her, but to have her by his side means Bran must dare to do something he’s never done before: hope. Everything they’ve fought for has come down to this moment. Can Talia and Bran discover the courage to claim their future and learn that sometimes, in order to earn true love, you need to venture off the map?

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Q: Was it always your intention for Bran to propose to Talia?

Great question and No! Nope! No way! In fact, the first draft had no proposal and for Talia and Bran to be happily living together in San Francisco but it was missing something. This is why a good editor is worth a million billion dollars. She challenged me to go bigger, dig deeper. I scoured the last few chapters and when I had them get lost backpacking, “off the map” all of a sudden I knew what I had to do. The characters were MUCH happier as a result.

Q: Did you have other proposal sites in mind or was it always going to be Yosemite?

Like I said, this was as much of a surprise to me as to the reader, but since I was married in Yosemite, I’m extra special happy that was the location.

Q: How did it feel to submit the final edits on Inside Out?

Surreal! I lived and breathed Talia and Bran for the better part of the year. and still miss them. They were a blast to write and I might have snuck Bran into my upcoming novella “Into You Arms” (out September 8^th) because I wanted to see him again.

Q: How has the blogging community helped you get to the point of printing the series?

The blogging community has been so much fun to get to know and interact with! Writing is such a solitary activity and it’s so wonderful that there is this whole tribe of avid, supportive readers out there. I’m so grateful for these friendships.

GIVEAWAY

Enter here for your chance to win the either the Off the Map set or a copy of Inside Out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS | TWITTER

Check out my reviews of each book in the Off the Map Series:

Upside Down Book Review

Sideswiped Book Review

Inside Out Book Review

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