Tag: summer

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#BookReview: She’s Up To No Good by Sara Goodman Confino

You’re Gonna Miss This. When I think about this book and everything that happens in it, the thing that keeps coming to my mind is the old Trace Adkins song “You’re Gonna Miss This”. You’ve got all kinds of things going on here – a 3os-ish woman who has just been dumped by her husband for a younger woman and then spends the next six months isolated in her parents’ home, the feisty octogenarian grandmother with lifelong secrets of her own, and a charming small beach town where everyone knows everything and all will be revealed. While the song is all about children growing up too quickly, it is equally applicable to grandparents passing too quickly, and both themes are used superbly here. A very fun book with a lot of heart and a few gut punches, this book has pretty much everything anyone could want in a women’s fiction novel bordering on the romance. Very much recommended.

This review of She’s Up To No Good by Sara Goodman Confino was originally written on August 18, 2022.

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#BlogTour: The Edge of Summer by Viola Shipman

For this blog tour we’re looking at a phenomenal book that really draws the reader into its scenery. For this blog tour we’re looking at The Edge of Summer by Viola Shipman.

Here’s what I had to say on Goodreads:

Solid Look At Family And Secrets. This is a book that instantly transports the reader into its setting, particularly once it gets to the small town Michigan shores of Lake Michigan. But here, things are not always exactly as they seem, and there is a dark family secret lying just beneath the surface. Shipman – a pseudonym using the actual person’s own grandmother’s name – does a phenomenal job here of showing how small town secrets can fester through generations, and that even when not actually knowing one’s own history… history has a way of coming back around. Truly an excellent work, and the only reason for the star deduction is that this book deals pretty heavily with COVID – the reason our main character even travels to the small town is directly due to the insanities of COVID and that idiotic and chaotic period of living in the 21st Century. And, well, I have a personal war going on against any book that mentions COVID because *I DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT COVID*. Period. My only weapon in that one man war is a star deduction in my review of the book, and so I deploy it automatically no matter how strong the book may otherwise be. Still, truly a great book that Shipman’s long time fans will enjoy and a great example of “her” (his) style of writing for anyone who may not be familiar with it. Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, and social media and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Edge of Summer by Viola Shipman”

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#BookReview: Meeting Up With The Mason by Maddie Evans

Light And Fun Will They/ Won’t They. This is a novella length (just 72 pages) light and fun end of summer read where a couple meets up accidentally via a video chat service (the basic premise of this multi-author series) and falls in love over the span of just a few days. The only real tension here is both of the people involved knowing all along that they only have these three days together before they go back to their “real” worlds, and since this is a romance book… well, you already know (roughly) how it ends. 😀 Great for the “clean” crowd, and a great introduction to this author’s general style. For those looking for spicier romance tales… this author, and this series apparently, isn’t that. But for those looking for a short book you can read while the kids are in the pool or at some sports practice or whatever… again, 72 pages. If you have an hour, maybe two, you can easily finish this book. 😀 Very much recommended.

This review of Meeting Up With The Mason by Maddie Evans was originally written on July 24, 2021.

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#BlogTour: The Summer Seekers by Sarah Morgan

For this blog tour we’re looking at a book that is a great summer/ road trip tale with a ton of heart and a lot of laughs. For this blog tour we’re looking at The Summer Seekers by Sarah Morgan.

Fun Summer / Road Trip Tale With Heart And Laughs. This is one of those books that is great escapism, and yet also clicks on so many levels in your “real” world – almost no matter your situation. You’ve got a lot of growth here across three generations of women in a family (80 yr old grandmother who wasn’t always around for her daughter and who has secrets, 40s ish mother who is at the end of her rope, twin teens daughters who are doing usual Zoomer teen girl stuff) – but then you *also* throw in a reasonably well developed husband (not a focus of the tale, and yet not written as an absolute brute either) and a pair of strangers with their own well developed and complicated backstories. Truly a great road trip tale along the classic Route 66, with the usual hilarity and hijinx along the way – and *also* truly a great summer “break from reality” tale of finding yourself and what really matters – both in one (longer, 400+ page) book. Very much recommended.

After the jump, we have the first chapter of the book as an excerpt, followed by the book details from the publisher.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Summer Seekers by Sarah Morgan”

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#BookReview: Beach Town Bad Boy by Maggie Dallen

It’s Gotta Be You. I’ve read a lot of Dallen’s other work, but this was my first time with the characters of the Briarwood High series. Even as an entry point, it didn’t feel disconnected from the rest of the series yet it also didn’t feel weighed down by the series either – in other words, a solid entry point. Which is a good thing since it is also part of a summer collection from several authors teaming together to cross-market with each other – a newish tactic I’ve only really seen crop up this year, but which seems to be a good way to get introduced to a wide range of similar authors.

This particular book does have all the elements one comes to expect from Dallen’s YA/ high school based books, even at novella length. Great book, very much recommended.

This review of Beach Town Bad Boy by Maggie Dallen was originally published on May 22, 2019.