review: get lucky by katherine center

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In a word, Get Lucky is fantastic. There's a great sister dynamic between Sarah and Mackie. Sarah is the younger of the two (by a year) and lives a totally different kind of life in New York until she screws up at work. Sarah ends up back home where her married sister has just given up her dream of having a baby after six years of trying. As Sarah now has nothing going on, she thinks why not have a baby for her sister. And that's how Sarah's new life back home in Houston kicks off.

Over the course of Sarah's surrogacy, she develops one inappropriate crush and another that could just lead to something more. She also tries her hand at a new career, attempts to fix things for someone she worked with in New York, and connects with her widowed dad's new love.

It would've been a great story regardless, but the writing style really makes Get Lucky work. Sarah is reflecting on how the craziness (wonderful craziness) of the year happened. It seemed Sarah was confiding her private thoughts directly to the reader. I came away from Get Lucky feeling Sarah was my best friend.
5/5
ARC Review
Review copy provided by the publisher, Ballantine Books.

giveaway: the host

Now here's a giveaway I'm sure will generate some excitement. Hachette has been generous enough to allow me three giveaway copies of...Stephanie Meyer's The Host! Please note that there is one additional rule with this one. You must leave the title of your favorite science fiction book in your first comment.

Here's a link to the Reading Group Guide. From Publishers Weekly:
"In this tantalizing SF thriller, planet-hopping parasites are inserting their silvery centipede selves into human brains, curing cancer, eliminating war and turning Earth into paradise. But some people want Earth back, warts and all, especially Melanie Stryder, who refuses to surrender, even after being captured in Chicago and becoming a host for a soul called Wanderer. Melanie uses her surviving brain cells to persuade Wanderer to help search for her loved ones in the Arizona desert. When the pair find Melanie's brother and her boyfriend in a hidden rebel cell led by her uncle, Wanderer is at first hated. Once the rebels accept Wanderer, whom they dub Wanda, Wanda's whole perspective on humanity changes. While the straightforward narrative is short on detail about the invasion and its stunning aftermath, it shines with romantic intrigue, especially when a love triangle (or quadrangle?!) develops for Wanda/Melanie."

The rules: Enter by leaving a comment to this post with your email (if I can't contact you, you can't win). This first comment must list the title of your favorite science fiction book. (Vampire and other related subjects count.) You can gain additional entries by leaving separate comments letting me know that you're a follower or have posted a link to the giveaway on your site. The deadline to enter is 11:59pm Pacific on May 22. Winners will be selected at random. Since this is from Hachette the winners must have mailing addresses in the US or Canada; no PO Boxes.

giveaway winners: this one is mine, the autism book, and alexandra, gone

Congratulations to the following winners:

This One Is Mine: Natalie W. and holdenj
The Autism Book: suzie and Marilu
Alexandra, Gone: Teresa

review and tour: the bridegrooms by allison pittman

When the Allenhouse girls were small, their mother took off one night. The girls never knew exactly what happened to their mother, though eventually their father told them she'd died. Years later when the youngest is nearly an adult, a man arrives who has some answers--he had an affair with their mother and might be the father of the youngest daughter! Unfortunately not much more is done with this plot point as the focus of the novel is the love lives of the four girls. I wish the possibility Lissette isn't an Allenhouse had been at the forefront because the romances were unremarkable and rushed. Vada dates a man who won't commit, so she ends up tempted by others including a baseball player. Hazel thinks herself unattractive and simply wishes to marry anyone, probably a stranger in Wyoming, so she can gain the right to vote. Althea, who hasn't said a word since their mother ran off, falls for the man knocked out by a ball hit by Vada's crush. Lissette is a stunning beauty never without a suitor. She doesn't think much of the one pursuing her--a baseball player who feels he would've caught the ball that knocked out the man in the crowd if he hadn't been distracted by Lissette's beauty. By the end of the book, the love lives of all four are wrapped up a little too neatly.

Although there were interesting parts to The Bridegrooms, I found myself distracted by some little inaccuracies. For example, in the first chapter Vada spots the time on the wristwatch of a male newspaper reporter; the chapter heading is "Spring 1898." I immediately put the book down. It seems very unlikely that Dave Voyant would be wearing a wristwatch as they didn't become popular until the 1920s and women were the primary wearers. In 1898, a man would've likely used a pocket watch, but then Vada wouldn't have been able to do her lame "oh look at the time" routine. Although I did continue reading and finish The Bridegrooms, I couldn't help but remain on alert for more mistakes.
2/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, WaterBrook Press.

review and tour: firefly rain by richard dansky

Firefly Rain succeeded at freaking me out (which doesn't happen easily) a few times. Years after his parents have died, Jacob leaves Boston for his small North Carolina hometown. The family friend who took care of the property is none too pleased about Jacob's longtime absence and broken promise to his mother about returning home. Soon it becomes clear that while the townsfolk aren't welcoming, someone or something doesn't want him to leave. His belongings burning on the moving truck didn't seem significant until Jacob's car is stolen--stolen from the driveway without any sign of anyone having been to the isolated property. Further creeping out Jacob (and me) is the fact that the fireflies he chased as a child now avoid the property line. In an experiment, Jacob captures some and forces them to cross; they immediately die.

It gets creepier and creepier. I really shouldn't have read Firefly Rain before going to bed. The beginning was a little slow for me because I kept trying to figure out how the fireflies were going to come into play. That may have led to me missing something very significant in the first chapter. I didn't realize I had until I went back through the book as I wrote this review. So pay attention when you read the beginning instead of being eager to get to the mystery!
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Gallery Books.

The other participating sites:
booknerdextraordinaire.blogspot.com
dreyslibrary.blogspot.com
ziarias.blogspot.com
bookwormygirl.blogspot.com
lindsayphotobook.blogspot.com
bookrevues.blogspot.com
myfoolishwisdom.blogspot.com
thecajunbooklady.blogspot.com
iheartmonster.com
maryinhb.blogspot.com
tweezlereads.blogspot.com
myfriendamysblog.com
moonsanity.blogspot.com
mindingspot.blogspot.com
luckyrosiescreations.blogspot.com
hip2bhomeschooling.blogspot.com
starshadowblog.com
patricias-vampire-notes.blogspot.com
bibliophilicbookblog.com
juniperrbreeeze.blogspot.com
brizmusblogsbooks.blogspot.com
stacievaughansblog.blogspot.com
jeannesramblings.com
ramblingsofacoffeeaddictedwrter.blogspot.com
melissawatercolor.blogspot.com
bridget3420.blogspot.com
booktumbling.com
jensbooktalk.blogspot.com
grumpydan.blogspot.com
tarmyblogspot.blogspot.com
startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com
ajourneyofbooks.halfzero.ne
haleymathiot.blogspot.com
cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com
imbookingit.wordpress.com
mustreadfaster.blogspot.com
reesspace.blogspot.com
gnostalgia.wordpress.com
rundpinne.blogspot.com

giveaway: admission

Two copies of Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz are up for grabs thanks to Hachette!

Here's the Reading Group Guide and the review from Publishers Weekly:
"Portia Nathan, the overly dedicated 38-year-old Princeton admissions officer, narrator of Korelitz's overthought fourth novel, finds purpose in her gatekeeper role. But her career and conscience are challenged after she visits a down-at-the-heels New England town on a scouting trip and meets Jeremiah, a talented but rough-around-the-edges 17-year-old who maybe doesn't measure up as Princeton material. The real rub is how making his acquaintance forces Portia to confront a painful secret from her past that ties into some domestic discord with her professor friend, David, and may lead her into a career-endangering fracas with the admissions board. The narrative is slow out of the gate, though it gets some pep once the Jeremiah-Portia angle comes into focus. And even if Portia tends to ruminate in an precious way, Korelitz makes good use of the sociological issues tied up in elite university admissions."

The rules: Enter by leaving a comment to this post with your email (if I can't contact you, you can't win). You can gain additional entries by leaving separate comments letting me know that you're a follower or have posted a link to the giveaway on your site. The deadline to enter is 11:59pm Pacific on May 8. Winners will be selected at random. Since this is from Hachette the winners must have mailing addresses in the US or Canada; no PO Boxes.

review and tour: necessary heartbreak by michael j. sullivan

I quite liked the way Sullivan told the story of Michael and Elizabeth Stewart and the woman the father/daughter pair meets when they travel through time to Jerusalem just before Palm Sunday. Rather than being in a completely linear fashion, the story gets told in chunks of present time (although present time is ancient time because of the time travel) that lead into a related event from the past. For example, at one point Michael reacts to the water Leah (the Jerusalem woman who helps them) spilled and the next scene is from Michael's childhood when his younger sister got in trouble for spilling water when the two of them were pretending to take Communion. As one might imagine with children playing at Communion and the time travel to Jerusalem, Necessary Heartbreak is much about faith. Michael lost his mother at a young age, struggled to make it on his own, found love, then lost his wife far too soon; he has little use for the church he grew up in. In Jerusalem, he witnesses the betrayal of Jesus and the crucifixion, which lead him back to his faith. Meanwhile, Michael and his daughter finally have the discussion they should've had long ago regarding the loss of Elizabeth's mother; it's just sad they had to leave their world behind in order to come together.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Gallery Books.
Other participating sites:
dreyslibrary.blogspot.com
dragonfliesndaydreams.blogspot.com
myfoolishwisdom.blogspot.com
sumanam.wordpress.com
tweezlereads.blogspot.com
myfriendamysblog.com
startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com
frugalplus.com
brokenteepee.blogspot.com
rundpinne.blogspot.com
bibliophilicbookblog.com
tarmyblogspot.blogspot.com
jeannesramblings.com
blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com
ajourneyofbooks.halfzero.net
sharonsgardenofbookreviews.blogspot.com
stacievaughansblog.blogspot.com
bibliophilesretreat.com
thebooktree.blogspot.com
kballard87.blogspot.com
libslibrary.blogspot.com
booktumbling.com
iheartmonster.com
mindingspot.blogspot.com
hip2bhomeschooling.blogspot.com
writeforareader.blogspot.com
juniperrbreeeze.blogspot.com
thisbookforfree.com
madhattermom.com
buuklvr81.blogspot.com
armsofasister.com
booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com
detweilermom.blogspot.com/
countrybookshelf.blogspot.com
bellasnovella.com
luv-books.blogspot.com
lovingheartmommy.com