giveaway winner: cloudburst

Mona is the winner of Cloudburst! Hope you enjoy the book.

review: rain falls like mercy by jack todd

Rain Falls Like Mercy is another addition in Jack Todd’s books about the Paint family (it can be read as a standalone), although the focus is on the man who’s in love with Eli Paint’s wife. The events of this book take place during World War II, which interrupts a murder investigation in a small Wyoming town. When Tom Call returns from fighting, he is just as determined to catch the murderer who he suspects is Pardo Bury, the son of a wealthy man. During the war, Pardo went to prison in Texas on charges unrelated to the Wyoming murders, but now Pardo’s out and preying on women (and now men as well) again. At times the descriptions were gratuitous; I could’ve done without details about Pardo’s exploits. But the narrative was gripping as it set a murderous spree against an illicit romance in the time of war.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Touchstone.

review: liesl & po by lauren oliver

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Liesl & Po jumps right into its alternate universe where the sun no longer shines and ghosts from The Other Side are able to communicate with The Living Side. The lack of setup resulted in me feeling frustrated a number of times. I stopped reading for over a month before I was able to get past my annoyance at plot points. The early chapters primarily serve to introduce the various characters, but there’s no real sense of connection until they all come together late in the book. It takes an excruciatingly long time to reach the rising action and climax, but things do start to pick up as the book progresses and the characters start to interact. Once I got through the first few chapters, Liesl & Po developed into a much more enjoyable book.

The book is fairly grim with a stepmother attempting to kill Liesl (after killing the girl’s father) so the evil woman can inherit all the money. The subplots as equally as dark with The Lady Premiere also trying to kill a child, which makes the suggested Middle Grade reading level a little young, in my opinion. Despite all my early hesitations however, I did enjoy Liesl & Po by the end.
3/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.

giveaway: head over heels

Want to read the third book in the Lucky Harbor series? One person will win a copy thanks to Hachette.

My review can be read here; here's the publisher description:
"Free-spirited Chloe lives life on the edge. Unlike her soon-to-be married sisters, she isn't ready to settle into a quiet life running their family's newly renovated inn. But soon her love of trouble--and trouble with love-draws the attention of the very stern, very sexy sheriff who'd like nothing better than to tame her wild ways.

Suddenly Chloe can't take a misstep without the sheriff hot on her heels. His rugged swagger and his enigmatic smile are enough to make a girl beg to be handcuffed. For the first time, instead of avoiding the law, Chloe dreams of surrender. Can this rebel find a way to keep the peace with the straitlaced sheriff? Or will Chloe's colorful past keep her from a love that lasts . . . and the safe haven she truly wants in a town called Lucky Harbor?"

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 (one extra each for the blog and Twitter) or have posted a link to the giveaway on your site. The deadline to enter is 11:59pm Pacific on December 31. Winner will be selected at random. Since this is from Hachette the winner must have mailing addresses in the US or Canada; no PO Boxes.

review: head over heels by jill shalvis

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The third installment of the Lucky Harbor series from Jill Shalvis focuses on the youngest of Phoebe's daughters, wild child Chloe. Although her sisters have found love in their new town where they run a bed and breakfast, Chloe remains unattached although she does have a somewhat contentious relationship with the local sheriff. It's obvious where this one was headed, but unfortunately the romance between Chloe and Sawyer actually borders on creepy. Chloe has asthma and, as she explains to Sawyer, sex makes her have an attack. The first time the scenes get sexy, it all takes a terrible turn when Chloe nearly dies (her inhaler wasn't nearby); after that, the threat of death seemed all to real whenever the pair hooked up.
2/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Forever.

giveaway winners: hot november romances

The winners of the November romance (Too Wicked to Wed and Deliciously Sinful) giveaway are Carol M and kayla. Congrats!

review: the bungalow by sarah jio

This post contains affiliate links.

It was always assumed Anne would marry Gerard, so she said "yes" to the proposal. As the wedding approaches, however, she has doubts. She questions his character because he's not fighting in WWII. So when her best friend announces she's become a military nurse, Anne takes the opportunity to delay the wedding and serve her country in Bora Bora, which is where she meets Westry and everything changes.

Although not fully a WWII story (the time period is more incidental to the plot), it was incredibly interesting to see the war from the perspective of nurses stationed away from the fighting in Europe. The female side of the war (other than the homefront) is frequently not represented in literature, television, etc. so this was a nice change.

With The Bungalow, Sarah Jio creates a world rife with love and heartache that also contrasts the beauty of the island with the ugliness of a terrible crime. It is captivating. The story is exquisitely detailed and made me want to accompany Anne in her return to Bora Bora. Toward the end, Jio had me crying at the loss of love only to turn it all around in a joyous ending.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Plume.