Lucky Bastard by Deborah Coonts

• Title:  Lucky Bastard
• Author:  Deborah Coonts
• Genre:  Mystery series
• Published:  May 2013 – Forge Books
• Source:   Review copy from publisher via NetGalley

Synopsis (publisher): Lucky O’Toole may have been promoted to Vice President of Customer Relations for the Babylon, Las Vegas’ primo Strip property, but nothing has changed. When Paxton Dane, a former member of the Babylon’s Security detail turned Private Investigator, discovers a young woman dead, sprawled across the hood of a new, bright red Ferrari California in the Babylon’s dealership, a Jimmy Choo stiletto stuck in her carotid, he calls Lucky to handle the problem.

Lucky’s life is already in precarious balance. Her mother, Mona, is pregnant, hormonal, bored, and looking for ways to fill her days. Teddie, Lucky’s former lover, has hit the road on his quest to find international stardom. But, realizing he’s made a mistake, he writes a song for Lucky, then hits the talk shows, pleading his case. Lucky is less than amused with the national spotlight on her personal life. She’s having enough trouble as it is fending off the amorous attentions of Chef Jean-Charles Bouclet, the Babylon’s tasty new dish. Lucky feels mixing business and pleasure with the chef is a sure-fire recipe for disaster.

And the timing could not be worse. The Smack-Down Poker tournament with all the media attention the second-largest poker tournament in the world attracts is holding it’s final table at the Babylon. Hookers, thieves, players, cheaters, media, and hangers-on all descend looking to win or to score.

When one of the major players turns up dead, Lucky starts putting the pieces together with the help of Cole Weston, a hearing-impaired professional poker player. They chase clues and suspects through Vegas to the storm drains underneath the city—where the runoff from a summer monsoonal shower turns deadly.

After a revelation by someone close to her sends her world reeling even further, Lucky struggles to keep her life in balance, and a murderer from killing again as bodies pile up.

Then, just when she’s losing control… life deals another major complication to her personal life….and it’s not going to be pretty.

My take:  Lucky O’Toole is the new VP of Customer Relations at The Babylon resort in Las Vegas. She’s a trouble shooter who seems to be constantly stalked by trouble. This time it finds her in the form of a dead body sprawled on top of a Ferrari in the dealership housed within the resort. You’d think one dead body would be enough but a few more are discovered within hours of each other. To make matters worse it seems someone close to Lucky is a prime suspect.

While trying to figure out why a friend is under suspicion of murder she also has to balance her love life. Things are heating up with the resort’s French chef and her ex continues to beg for forgiveness. When does this girl sleep?

I’ve never been to Las Vegas but I love my visits via the Lucky O’Toole series. On the surface its fun and glamorous but we also glimpse the seedy underside of the city. Lucky is a lovable character who has a knack for attracting trouble and then finds a way to help the LVPD solve the crime.

I find this series thoroughly entertaining and can’t wait to see what happens to Lucky next – in life and love.

For More Information, Please Visit DeborahCoonts.com

Starting Now by Debbie Macomber

• Title:  Starting Now – A Blossom Street Novel
• Author:  Debbie Macomber
• Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
• Published:  April 2013 – Ballantine
• Source:  Publisher via NetGalley

Synopsis (publisher):  For years, Libby Morgan dreamed only of making partner in her high-pressure law firm. She sacrificed everything for her career – friends, marriage, her chance of a family. So nothing can prepare her for the shocking news that she’s been let go and must rebuild her entire life . . . starting now. With no job in sight, she spends her afternoons at A Good Yarn, the local knitting store. There, she forms a close bond with Lydia, the sweet-natured shop owner, Lydia’s spirited daughter, Casey, and Ava, a shy yet troubled teenager. As A Good Yarn becomes a second home – and the women a new kind of family – Libby relishes the different person she’s become. She even finds time for romance with a handsome doctor … But just as everything is coming together, Libby must make a choice that could forever change the life she holds so dear.

My take:  I’ve read a lot of Debbie Macomber’s books but only one from the Blossom Street series (#7, Hannah’s List). Starting Now is #9 but I didn’t feel lost or frustrated by that fact. Macomber tells a good story and she does a good job of catching readers up on characters from previous books. 

Speaking of characters, I enjoyed the ones in this book – particularly Libby and Phillip. This is not a case of “opposites attract”. These two are more alike than different which ended up helping them understand each other for the most part. Meeting Phillip was just one of the positive things that happened to Libby after she was let go from her law firm. Libby started to see the possibilities that lay before her. She got back to knitting – something she’d stopped as a teen when her mother died. She saw a lot of herself in a girl she met at the yarn shop and became a mentor to her. That connection would lead to big changes for Libby.

The pace of Starting Now was perfect as a few surprises in the plot were revealed. I enjoyed this story of people learning to appreciate  what’s really important in life. It’s a quick read that didn’t disappoint. Macomber’s books might be considered predictable but I suspect her fans (me included) like it that way. There’s always a relatable situation and interesting characters, a little romance and an uplifting ending. This would be a good one to toss in the beach bag or do what I did – read it over a weekend and in your favorite chair.

The Humanity Project by Jean Thompson

• Title:  The Humanity Project
• Author:  Jean Thompson
• Genre:  Fiction
• Published:  April 2013 – Blue Rider Press
• Source:  Publisher via NetGalley

Synopsis (publisher):  After surviving a shooting at her high school, Linnea is packed off to live with her estranged father, Art, who doesn’t quite understand how he has suddenly become responsible for raising a sullen adolescent girl. Art’s neighbor, Christie, is a nurse distracted by an eccentric patient, Mrs. Foster, who has given Christie the reins to her Humanity Project, a bizarre and well-endowed charity fund. Just as mysteriously, no one seems to know where Conner, the Fosters’ handyman, goes after work, but he has become the one person Linnea can confide in, perhaps because his own home life is a war zone: his father has suffered an injury and become addicted to painkillers. As these characters and many more hurtle toward their fates, the Humanity Project is born: Can you indeed pay someone to be good? At what price?

My take:  Filled with colorful characters and of-the-moment circumstances and events, The Humanity Project reminded me of a Cat’s Cradle string game. Everyone is connected and their lives seem to be an intricately woven mess. Humanity, right?

Most of the characters have been marginalized by family or society. From a young teen who witnessed a school shooting to the down-on-his-luck divorced father who just can’t seem to catch a break to the wealthy widow whose children seem to be waiting for her to die so they can gain their inheritance – they and several other remarkable characters share the spotlight. Remarkable maybe, but not all that likable.

Can a foundation such as The Humanity Project help those in need? Or will it encourage greed on different levels? And where did that money come from in the first place? Do some people even want to be helped? I had my own little book club discussion in my head as I read. I appreciated the epilogue from one character’s perspective that let me in on what happened to some of the other characters. I wanted some sort of resolution and that was close enough.

 

Five Days by Douglas Kennedy

• Title:  Five Days
• Author:  Douglas Kennedy
• Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
• Published:  April 2013 – Atria Books
• Source:  Publisher via NetGalley

Synopsis (publisher):  Laura works in a small hospital on the Maine coast, scanning and x-raying many a scared patient. In a job where finding nothing is always the best result, she is well versed in the random unfairness of life, a truism that has started to affect her personally. Her husband Dan has become a stranger since losing his job. With a son in college and a daughter set to leave home, she wonders how the upcoming empty nest will affect the disconnected state of her marriage.

Still, Laura jumps at the opportunity to attend a conference in Boston where she meets a man as grey and uninspired as her drab hotel. His name is Richard. He’s a fifty-something salesman, also from Maine, also in Boston for the weekend. When a chance meeting brings them together again, Laura begins to discover a far more complex and thoughtful man behind the flat façade. Like herself, Richard ponders his own life and wonders if the time has come to choose desire over obligation.

My take:  Five Days is really Laura’s story about what happens when she unexpectedly has a chance to find some joy in her life. She’s given that chance when she meets Richard, a man who has bowed to demands and expectations his entire life. He’s in a loveless marriage and his only son is incarcerated in the psychiatric wing of the state prison. Laura’s choices made previously in her life ultimately led to her current situation: married to an out-of-work and angry man who seems to delight in belittling her and then immediately shows regret yet remains remote. Her college age son is recovering from a breakdown and her high school senior daughter loves the superficial things in life. Even Laura’s job is getting to her.

So we have two stressed-out and lonely people who find in each other a shared love of words and books and a need to be unconditionally loved. Boston is worlds away from their real lives and they grab the chance for connection in the few days they have there. They even go so far as to consider the possibility of a future together. About midway through the novel I didn’t like where things were going and couldn’t shake a sense of dread.

I went from not really liking Laura (as well as most of the other characters) to feeling hopeful for her. That said, the book was just ok for me. I thought the writing was fine but I had a hard time with the depressing tone of the story, most of the characters, and the infidelity theme.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

• Title:  Me Before You
• Author:  Jojo Moyes
• Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
• Published:  December 2012 – Pamela Dorman Books
• Source:  Publisher via NetGalley

Synopsis (publisher):  Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

A Love Story for this generation, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?

My take:  This will be brief. I loved this book. It’s a story that made me laugh out loud and brought me to tears. Louisa is a character who lights up the page and I couldn’t help but cheer for her as she started to put herself before the needs of everyone else. That wasn’t an easy thing for her to do because she’d put herself last most of her life. I’d love to read her story about ten years from where the book leaves off.

As sad as this book was it was also quite uplifting. The point to live in the moment and appreciate each moment was a theme throughout the novel. There’s also a highly debatable topic that I’m certain would invite lively discussion for book groups. I’ve only touched the surface here. It’s a wonderful novel that I’m still thinking about weeks after turning the last page.

I highly recommend Me Before You – it’s on my 2013 Favorites list. Now I need to track down Jojo Moyes’ backlist. If you’ve read any of her previous books do you have a recommendation?

Treadmill Reads: What She Wants by Sheila Roberts

• Title:  What She Wants – Life in Icicle Falls #4
• Author:  Sheila Roberts
• Genre:  Contemporary Fiction; series
• Published:  March 2013 – Harlequin MIRA
• Source:  Publisher via NetGalley

Synopsis (publisher): What do women want? Jonathan Templar and his poker buddies can’t figure it out. Take Jonathan, for instance. He’s been in love with Lissa Castle since they were kids but, geek that he is, she’s never seen him as her Mr. Perfect. He has one last shot-their high school reunion. Kyle Long is equally discouraged. The pretty receptionist at his office keeps passing him over for other guys who may be taller but are definitely not superior. And Adam Edwards might be the most successful of Jonathan’s friends, but he isn’t having any success on the home front. His wife’s kicked him out. 

When Jonathan stumbles on a romance novel at the Icicle Falls library sale, he knows he’s found the love expert he’s been seeking-Vanessa Valentine, top-selling romance author. At first his buddies laugh at him for reading romance novels, but soon they, too, realize that these stories are the world’s best textbooks on love. Poker night becomes book club night…and when all is read and done, they’re going to be the kind of men women want!

My take: I think I’ve found the first beach book of 2013 to recommend! Sheila Roberts made me laugh out loud as I read about Jonathan, Kyle, and Adam trying to figure out what women, more specifically the women they want, well, WANT.

The discussions at the weekly poker games were funny yet made the point that men probably go through as much anxiety about finding The One as women do. Vance, who was married once upon a time, and Bernardo, currently happily married, give advice to the three younger men in as few words as humanly possible – they’re such guys!

But what ends up being the most helpful are Romance novels. Jonathan convinces his friends to read one or two. They’re so desperate that they’ll try just about anything. It was fun watching them try out various things learned from the Romance heroes. 

You’ll have to read the book to see if they get their dream girls or if they find they’ve been dreaming of the wrong girl all along! I recommend What She Wants to anyone looking for a light, fun read. Perfect for vacation, stay-cation, or even the treadmill .

Merry Ex-Mas by Sheila Roberts

Title:  Merry Ex-Mas (Icicle Falls #2)

Author:  Sheila Roberts

Genre:  Contemporary Fiction (Light Romance); Christmas

Published:  October 2012 – Harlequin MIRA

Synopsis: (publisher) Christmas in Icicle Falls…

Cass Wilkes, owner of the Gingerbread Haus bakery, was looking forward to her daughter Danielle’s wedding…until Dani announced that she wants her father, Cass’s ex, to walk her down the aisle. Seriously? And, since every B and B is full, it looks as if he, his trophy wife and their yappy little dog will be staying with Cass.

Her friend Charlene Albach arrives at their weekly chick-flick night in shock. She’s just seen the ghost of Christmas past: her ex-husband, Richard, who left her a year ago. He ran off with the hostess from her restaurant, Zelda’s, to start a new life (and restaurant) in Seattle. Now the hostess is history and he wants to kiss and make up. Hide the mistletoe!

And bring out the hot buttered rum, because the holidays aren’t so easy for Ella O’Brien, either. Ella, who’s newly divorced, is still sharing the house with her ex while they wait for the place to sell, and they’re still fighting over all the things they fought over when they were married. The love is gone. Isn’t it?

But Christmas has a way of working its magic. One of these women is about to rediscover love, another is going to remember what’s important in life and the third will find new dreams in the new year. Merry Ex-mas, ladies!

My take:  Sheila Roberts takes us back to Icicle Falls, the picturesque Washington mountain town (and the setting of Better Than Chocolate), home to what I found to be completely relatable characters in relatable circumstances. 

In this book, we find secondary characters from Better Than Chocolate in the lead roles:

Cass, owner of the local bakery, is surprised by her daughter’s post-Thanksgiving engagement announcement and even more surprised that the wedding will take place before Christmas! She’s flabbergasted that her home is the only place with a vacancy for her ex-husband and his much younger second wife. Oh my goodness.

Charley is now the sole owner of a popular local restaurant after her ex ran off with their hostess. She’s surprised to see him back in town. Without the hostess. What is that all about?

Ella runs an upscale boutique (which is owned by her mother) and is newly divorced. How she ever fell for that no-good country singer wannabe is beyond her mother. Ella and Jake are still living under the same roof because, until they sell their house, they can’t afford to live elsewhere. Jake’s mother-in-law did everything in her power to break them up and she won. Or did she? Be careful, mama, or your ex son-in-law may dedicate a song to you! (see video below )

This is a Contemporary Christmas novel so if you imagine the ending will be predictable, you’re right! What isn’t predictable is how the ending is reached. Merry Ex-Mas is filled with typical Sheila Roberts humor and entertaining characters. I found it to be a perfectly fun seasonal read.

Recommended to fans of Sheila Roberts, Contemporary Light Romance, and Christmas novels.

Disclosure:  Review copy from the publisher. I was not compensated for my review.

  ♦  ♦  ♦

About the author:

Sheila Roberts is married and has three children. She lives on a lake in the Pacific Northwest. Her novels have
appeared in Reader’s Digest Condensed Books and have been published in several languages. Her book Angel Lane was an Amazon Top Ten Romance pick for 2009 and her holiday perennial On Strike for Christmas was made into a movie for the Lifetime Movie Network. When she’s not hanging out with her girlfriends or hitting the dance floor with her husband, she can be found writing about those things dear to women’s hearts: family, friends and chocolate.

Links

• Harlequin’s Website

• Sheila Roberts’ Website

My Kind of Christmas by Robyn Carr

Title:  My Kind of Christmas (Virgin River #20)

Author:  Robyn Carr

Genre:  Contemporary Romance series

Published:  October 2012 – Harlequin/MIRA

My take:  Angie LaCroix cannot spend another minute under her parents’ roof. She’s grateful that her mother took care of her after a terrible car crash several months earlier but she can’t take the micromanaging where her future is concerned. She decides to get out of town for a few weeks and heads to Virgin River where her uncle Jack and other relatives live.

Patrick Riordan landed in Virgin River to take some time and figure out if he wants to remain in the Navy or take his life in a new direction. He’s staying at the cabin of one of his brothers – he has four and most live in the area. Patrick is dealing with PTSD after his best friend (and wingman) was shot down in the middle East. He feels responsible and has pledged to look after his friend’s wife and child – maybe even marry her.

What Angie and Patrick don’t count on is meeting each other. It’s an instant attraction that can’t be ignored – even if they tell each other it can’t be permanent.

Well, this is a romance. A Robyn Carr Virgin River romance. You can guess where this story will go and Robyn Carr doesn’t disappoint. It was hard not to smile while watching the love story unfold. It was fun to see appearances of characters from earlier books in the series – most of them relatives of Angie and Patrick who provided a lot of comic relief. There’s also a heart-warming subplot within the love story. It allowed Angie to shine and find a bit of herself she thought was gone.

If you’re a fan of the series I think you’ll enjoy My Kind of Christmas as much as I did. If you like Contemporary Romance but haven’t read a Virgin River book I recommend starting with book one and enjoy getting to know the people of the small California mountain town. It’s my favorite CR series.

Disclosure:  I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not compensated for my review.

Better Than Chocolate by Sheila Roberts

Title:  Better Than Chocolate (Icicle Falls #1)

Author:  Sheila Roberts

Genre:  Contemporary Fiction

Published:  September 2012 – Harlequin MIRA

Paperback 400 pages

Synopsis:  How sweet it isn’t!

Sweet Dreams Chocolate Company has been in the Sterling family for generations, ever since Great-Grandma Rose literally dreamed up her first fabulous recipe. But now it looks as if they’re about to lose Sweet Dreams to the bank—and that would be a disaster, not only for the family but for the town of Icicle Falls, Washington. Can Samantha, the oldest daughter and new head of the company, come up with a way to save it?

After Samantha does some brainstorming with her mother and sisters, inspiration strikes. They’ll have a chocolate festival! Time’s running out, but the Sterling women are determined and the town’s behind them, so everything’s bound to go smoothly….

Or not. Events seem to be conspiring against Samantha, and her mother’s attempts to help aren’t helping. To make matters worse, the fate of her company is in the hands of her archenemy, Blake Preston, the bank manager with the football-hero good looks. It’s enough to drive her to chocolate. But Blake’s also enough to convince her that (believe it or not) there’s something even better than chocolate.

My take:  The synopsis along with the cute cover sold me on Sheila Roberts’ latest novel. Better Than Chocolate is the story of how the Sterling women try to save the family chocolate company despite numerous roadblocks.

Roberts has a knack for incorporating timely issues in her novels. Better Than Chocolate is a cautionary tale about what can happen when women aren’t involved with the financial and legal details in their marriage and/or family business. Sisters and mother pull together to save the business in an unconventional way that could also end up helping their quaint tourist town. Roberts used just the right amounts of humor and tension to pace the story perfectly. If I’d had the time, I would have read it straight through in one sitting.

I thoroughly enjoyed Better Than Chocolate and look forward to the next book in the Life in Icicle Falls series. 

Disclosure:  I received a review e-galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky

Title:  Heads in Beds – A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality

Author:  Jacob Tomsky

Genre:  Memoir

Published:  November 2012 – Doubleday

Synopsis (partial):  In the tradition of Kitchen Confidential and Waiter Rant, a rollicking, eye-opening, fantastically indiscreet memoir of a life spent (and misspent) in the hotel industry.

Jacob Tomsky has worked in hotels for more than a decade, doing everything from valet parking to manning the front desk. He’s checked you in, checked you out, separated your white panties from the white bed sheets, parked your car, tasted your room service, cleaned your toilet, denied you a late check out, given you a wake-up call, eaten M&Ms out of your mini-bar, laughed at your jokes, and taken your money. And in Heads in Beds, he pulls back the curtain on the hospitality business, revealing the crazy yet compelling reality of an industry we think we know. It is an incredibly funny, authentic, and irreverent chronicle of the highs and lows of hotel life and boy, is there a market for it: in 2010, the American lodging industry generated $127.7 billion in revenue.  Prepare to be amused, shocked, and amazed as he spills the unwritten code of the bellhops, the antics that go on the valet parking garage, and the housekeeping department’s dirty little secrets.

My take:  Heads in Beds is an interesting peek into the world of Hospitality. In the beginning I found Jacob Tomsky’s memoir entertaining and edgy but by the time I turned the last page I was ready to be done.

I grew tired of the almost whiny tone and the F-bomb laced stories about how and why the upscale hotel’s guests might receive upgrades or be treated poorly. I understand that he and his co-workers feel underpaid but it just seemed wrong that guests who are already paying high rates must pony up extra cash to ensure good service. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem tipping (and always do) after receiving good service. And the valet parking stories? More like horror stories!

That said, I think people who work in the Hospitality industry will enjoy this memoir. They will probably relate to the tales of working in the various areas of hotels from valet and bellman to housekeeping and laundry to the front desk. Tomsky also shares hints on how to improve your stay at a hotel. My hint: if you ever stay at his hotel, take lots of $20s!

Disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not compensated for my review.