This book is the November selection of my library's "Forever YA" book club. I had never heard of this book or Jeff Zentner, and I would probably not have stumbled across this book if it hadn't been a club selection. Now I'm an instant fan of Zentner's.

Lydia, Dill, and Travis are outcasts at their Forrestville, Tennessee high school. Fortunately, they have one another. Lydia writes a fashion blog that has gotten her attention from influential people and secured future roommates for if/when she goes to university in NYC. Dill's father is a disgraced, snake-handling Pentecostal minister who is serving a prison sentence. Dill is expected to work to pay off his father's debts. Travis works in a lumber yard and escapes his physically and emotionally abusive father by losing himself in a book series that sounds very much like George R. R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series.

I love me some quirky, creative teenage characters, especially ones who enjoy "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division. I of course had to go on YouTube and watch/listen to the video.

I don't want to give away this book's secrets. I will only say that this book has so much heart and humor. There are parts that made me cry. I was lying in bed, listening to the audiobook, tearing up, and thinking, "DAMN you, book!"

Thank you, Albany Public Library, for introducing me to this book and author. I will definitely be seeking out more books by Jeff Zentner.

King & Kayla and the Case of the Missing...

There is good interplay between the text and images to aid early readers’ understanding of the story. The mystery is well paced. The use of King as the narrator is an unusual device (but I liked it). King sometimes has difficulty getting Kayla to understand him, a experience most children have had and will related to.

I was not sure what to expect with a Ponzi Wall Street money scheme story.    This is not my normal reading material, usually, I would pass on it but since Randy Susan Meyers wrote the book and I am a fan of hers I gave it a try and love it.    I was in a reading funk and it got me right out of it.   I devoured each page, couldn’t stop reading and felt connected to the characters.     I needed Phoebe to stand up for herself and do what was right for her.   The children were a small part of the story but I love that they were strong, smart, and willing to protect themselves.   I wanted Jake to realize he messed up and admit it.  

Randy Susan Meyers takes the young love of two 15-year-olds and shows how it can grow stronger as they marry, have kids, and grow old together.     Phoebe and Jake wanted it all from a young age.   They wanted true love, successful careers, amazing kids, and a life together.   While they got it all there was also secrets, darkness, and trouble in their relationship.    

This is a love story, the story of a man wanting to have it all and share it all with his family.   But it is also a look at the trouble that money can cause.   Once Jake got a taste of money he just wanted more and more.   He was always thinking he’d catch up, have enough, be happy enough but it just never happen and he got caught.    Jake was portrayed as a guy who didn’t start out to be shady, he wanted to be successful and provide for his family and then it just snowballed on him.    Yet, he never admitted he was wrong.    He never accepted that he messed up and because of that he never let his wife go.   He expected her to stand by him and to go down with him.   

Phoebe was wonderful.   She stood by her man, took the brunt of the world outside of prison, and stayed strong.    I want to believe that was love but I really think it was because she didn’t know who she was without Jake.     She was always Jake’s girlfriend or Jake’s wife.      She didn’t know how to be Phoebe.  I enjoyed seeing her becoming strong, becoming self-sufficient and figuring out how to be without the man who gave her everything.  

The Wall Street Widow is a story about money, greed, love, betrayal and so much more.    I loved the entire story from beginning to end.    Pick up your copy immediately.

Mother's Day is coming up soon and we're celebrating by putting on sale 7 romances featuring amazing moms.

So pick up all 7 steals for just 99¢ each!

An island vacation at a 5-star resort for her brother's wedding should have been relaxing. But for single mom Lena Oserkowski, it's stress-inducing. As long as she stays away from the water, her biggest fear, it'll be okay, right? Except when her son gets into trouble at the pool, Lena ends up needing her own rescue. To her surprise—and mortification—a gorgeous stranger comes to her aid. Suddenly her trip just got a whole lot more interesting. 

Elliot Debusshere is disillusioned with his wealthy playboy lifestyle and wants nothing more than to bring some meaning and purpose to the charity he runs. When he saves a quirky, beautiful woman from a case of heat exhaustion and meets her son, Tyler, he has no idea the answer to his problems might have just fallen in his lap. Literally. But pleasure has a sneaky way of mixing with their business, leaving both dazed and confused. Elliot isn't father material—except the longer he spends with Lena and Tyler, the more he wants to be. Now he just needs to prove it. 

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About the book:

 

Single mom Daisy Sorensen doesn’t believe in fairytale endings—at least not for her. All she wants is to enjoy a much-needed, stress-free family vacation at a friend’s Lake Tahoe home. So of course everything that can go wrong does. Including a gorgeous man and his daughter showing up in the middle of the night.

Soon-to-be Governor Jack Harrison has had a crazy week, but he’s sure nothing can top arriving to find a bathrobe-clad, beautiful stranger in the home he’s staying in for the week. He’s wrong. When things spiral out of control the next morning, Jack makes Daisy an offer she can’t refuse. She’ll pretend to be his fiancée and he’ll help her open the bakery she’s been dreaming about.

But in between late-night campfires and days on the lake, Jake finds himself falling for the strong, stubborn woman for real.

 

Former surgeon and self-professed life-long bachelor Evan Manning has one thing on his mind—to reclaim the career that a car accident stole from him. But when he’s forced to return to his hometown of Red River, Evan comes face-to-face with the gorgeous woman who’s haunted his dreams for the last year—the woman he rescued from the burning car that injured his hand. Now Evan needs her help. In a month, he’ll have the job opportunity of a lifetime…he just needs a wife to get it.

Artist Grace Matheson is down on her luck again…until she walks into Evan Manning’s office. When her sexy former hero hears that she needs work, he offers her a job and a home—if she’ll pretend she’s his fiancée. Grace knows she shouldn’t fall for him. Once the month is up, Evan will be back to his old life. But the more time they spend together, the more real their feelings become—and the more likely heartbreak is.

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About the book:

 

Sam Kercher is every inch a wickedly hot Marine. Tall. Sexy. Lethal. When his best friends call in a favor, Sam is forced to face an entirely new line of duty—playing nanny for their newly divorced sister and her squirming seven-month-old twin boys. If Sam can dissemble an M16 in his sleep, diaper duty should be a cakewalk…right?

Unfortunately, Operation Nanny isn’t quite that simple. Sheridan has sworn off overbearing military men, so Sam must protect her from her dirtbag ex without revealing just how much he has in common with her brothers. Or that he’s been ordered not to touch her. Ever. Problem is, Sheri’s one hell of a gorgeous woman, and Sam wants her bad.

Protect the girl. Care for the babies. Hide his identity. And keep his hands off. But even the most disciplined Marine has weaknesses…and Sheridan is one Sam might not be able to resist.

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About the book:

With her son’s life in the balance, Catherine Fry is forced to locate and steal the priceless Ruby Cross of the Knights Templar. She knows who has it–it’s just a matter of coercing Thomas Glanville, the handsome and incredibly stubborn captain of the ship she’s captured, into telling her the exact location. Fortunately, Catherine knows that there are many ways to get a man to talk…

Captain Thomas Glanville has the cross and he’ll be damned if he’s going to hand it over now that he finally has the means to buy a ship of his own. He’s at the mercy of a fiery woman who will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. But Catherine has no idea who she’s dealing with–and Thomas has his own means of charming a woman into his mercy and his bed…

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About the book:

 

What would you do if your “what if” guy showed up at the lowest point of your life?

(Autumn Cole clocked hers with an encyclopedia.)

After losing her job at a swanky Seattle art gallery and finding out her father has been hospitalized, single mother Autumn Cole reluctantly returns to her tiny hometown of Fairfield, Washington to put the pieces of her life back together.

Her disgruntled twelve-year-old son isn’t thrilled about going from hip to hick, but Autumn’s got it worse. She resumes her role as the daughter of the town drunk, promptly facing a crisis with her father that’s been decades in the making.

Running into Henry Tobler, and nearly breaking his nose, is almost more than she can handle, but can rediscovering love–and herself–with her “what if” guy teach Autumn to forgive before it’s too late?

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About the book:

Single mom Taylor Lawrence just discovered that the hospital sent her home with the wrong infant five years ago. Now the headstrong and handsome biological father wants his child back. But Emily has always been her daughter, and Taylor wont give her up without a fight.

Widower Reece Wallace believed his life was over when a drunk driver killed his wife and daughter. So when he learns of the baby switch, he sees this child as his ultimate salvation. But he never anticipated the fiery woman on the other side of this custody battle or how shed stir feelings in him long dormant.

As the media storm surrounding the hospitals mistake intensifies, Taylor and Reece find theres more to sort out than custody of Emily they must work together to protect her while grappling with their growing attraction. Can they pick up the pieces of two broken families and meld them into something new?

Wow, wow, wow!!!

I absolutely loved this book! 

Phoebe was practically a widow when she married Jake, the man she had been attached to since the tender age of 15. It was always about him. Everything. He was never home and even when he was home, he was only physically there.

Phoebe seemed to be just the eye candy that Jake needed to attract his "investors". Allowing her to attend events when it benefited him only. 

How in the heck did Jake get away with all this and for over a decade? What an arse he turned out to be. He was a horrible dad, as well. 

I was mesmerized by this book. The building of Phoebe and Jake's lives together, the construction of Jake's investing empire and the catastrophic failure of his pipe dream.

I wanted so many times to slap some sense into Phoebe, especially at the end of the book. So many times I screamed "why" at her. Of course, she didn't hear me. Ha!! 

All of my emotions were riled by this magnificent story.

I sped right through this book neglecting everything else around me, except, of course, the beautiful day happening right outside my opened garage door.

An excellent read that should definitely be on everyone's TBR pile.

I have been wanting to read this book since before it came out last year. Alas, it was not to happen. Until I signed up to win a copy of the book from the author a few weeks ago. I was psyched when I won. I was really psyched to discover when I received the book that it was a hardcover and signed by the author!!! Double Psych!!!!

Thanks to the author, (many, many thanks) for providing me with a free signed hard cover!! As I said, I review all books I read and I was delighted to do so for this book.