Betrayal by Michele Kallio

Michele Kallio’s Betrayal is a haunting novel based both in present day New Brunswick and in Sixteenth Century England.  Modern day Lydia is an intelligent, kind, and beautiful woman that leads a great life with her Physician boyfriend.  Raised by her cold father, Lydia never knew her mother or her mother’s family.  After her father’s untimely death Lydia begins having nightmares that seem all too realistic.  In her dreams, Lydia finds herself in the body of Elisabeth, a lady’s maid to Lady Anne Boleyn. Lady Anne happens to be the mistress (and later wife) of King Henry VIII.  Believing her dreams to be only nightmares, Lydia ignores them for as long as she can.  However, Lydia soon starts experiencing waking dreams and begins having strange sensations of deja vu.  The more she finds herself in Elisabeth’s world the more Lydia realizes that there are more to her dreams than meet the eye.  Could they be trying to tell her something about her past or is Lydia going insane? 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading every bit of Michele Kallio’s Betrayal.  Kallio did a terrific job in creating not one, but two different worlds.  Lydia’s life in modern day New Brunswick is very realistic.  Kallio painted her setting in a way that made it very easy to imagine.  I could visualize the restaurants, buildings, and scenery described.  Reading about Lydia’s adventures in Bar Harbor made me want to research the town.  (It is real and looks just as beautiful as Kallio described!)  It was the infusion of little details (like those mentioned above) that made Betrayal feel complete.  I was especially fond of the historical aspects of the novel.  Kallio’s knowledge of sixteenth century England was definitely noticed and appreciated.  Everything was well researched, from the various Sixteenth Century social stations and popular style, to religion and politics. 

Betrayal opened my eyes to a whole new world of dreams and the meanings behind them.  In the book, Lydia first starts seeing a Psychologist specializing in dreams.  After hearing her speak on a tape recorder about her dreams, the Dr. feels that they are more than typical nightmares.  Fearing that they are occurring because of a repressed memory, the Psychologist requests to hypnotize Lydia.  Lydia must decide if she really wants to know more about her past and if she is ready to deal with the consequences of what remains hidden. 

Betrayal easily switches between the lives of Lydia and Elisabeth.  I was surprised at how flawlessly each new chapter changed gears.  While reading about Elisabeth I found myself speculating on what would happen next with Lydia.  Furthermore, while reading about what Lydia was going through made me think about Elisabeth and her world.  As the book progressed, the story of the two women seemed to converge.  I feel that Kallio did a terrific job in meshing her two story lines together. 

Michele Kallio has a gem in her novel, Betrayal.  Embedded in it you will find a great deal of history, romance, mystery, and suspense.  I recommend Betrayal to anyone looking for a great read!  Good luck putting it down!

iUniverse and BookPleasures.com has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book, Betrayal, for the purpose of review.

Eat, Drink, and Be Married by Rebecca Bloom

Eat, Drink, and Be Married, by Rebecca Bloom, is one of the funniest, most realistic books I have read in ages.  Centered around four best friends that are completely different in lifestyle, personality, and background , Eat, Drink, and Be Married is a book that you eagerly tell your friends about.  Written in a lighthearted and quirky style, I found myself sucked in within the first couple of pages.

In Bloom's Eat, Drink, and Be Married, Hannah has brought her friends together in Lake Tahoe for her dream wedding.  Zoë, her best friend/makeup artist extraordinaire/pink haired bridesmaid has the job of keeping Hannah's panic attacks at bay and making sure Bridezilla doesn't emerge.  Nina and Kate travel from New York to reunite with their college bff's and celebrate Hannah's big day.  However, when the four women get together seams rip apart, truths come out, and closely guarded emotions are unleashed.

Eat, Drink, and Be Married is a book for any modern day woman.  Bloom does a terrific job in creating an entertaining world in which I would love to be a part of.  Her characters seem real and loveable and at times I found myself wishing I could call them my friends.  Just two chapter's into Eat, Drink, and Be Married and I had already called my closest friends and told them that there is a new book out that they MUST read.  The only thing that would have made my reading experience more enjoyable would have been laying on a hot beach instead of wrapped in my snuggie as the snow fell outside my window.   

I believe that Bloom did a great job in creating four women that most readers can identify themselves with.  Hannah is the organized/OCD princess-like bride who is on the verge of a breakdown from wedding stress.  Zoë is the loud, funny, eccentric beauty that has covered herself with tattoos and pink hair to keep people from really seeing her.  Kate, the once full of life beauty, has been beaten down by love and is a shell of her former self.  Finally, Nina is the happily married career women that has just found out that she is expecting.  With a jubilant husband she must battle her inner voice which is filling her head with terror and regret.  It takes the friends coming together to heal wounds and release the hauntings of the past.

I wholeheartedly recommend Eat, Drink, and Be Married, by Rebecca Bloom, to any fan of romance and comical fiction.  It's more rich and profound than your average chick-lit and I guarantee that as you journey through Eat, Drink, and Be Married you will find yourself laughing, getting teary eyed, cringing, and smiling all at once.  Start the New Year off right and pick up a copy of Rebecca Bloom's Eat, Drink, and Be Married, you won't regret it!

iUniverse and BookPleasures.com has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book, Eat, Drink, and Be Married, for the purpose of review.

Lost in Time by Melissa De La Cruz

Lost in Time, by Melissa De La Cruz, is the 6th (and 2nd to last) book in the popular YA Vampire series, Blue Bloods.  Lost in Time starts off where De La Cruz's last Blue Bloods book, Misguided Angel, ends.  I do believe that you need to be familiar with the other books in the series before picking up Lost in Time.  Also, if it has been a good amount of time since you read the last book I recommend picking up Misguided Angel to refresh your memory.  There is so much going on in the Blue Bloods world that it helps if you can recollect everything that has happened.

At the end of Misguided Angel, Schuyler and Jack had decided to have a bonding ceremony (they got married to us Red Bloods.)  Jack's sister/nemesis Mimi, after losing her love Kingsley Martin to the Demons of Hell, had decided to make the journey through the Gates of Hell with Oliver to get him back.  Finally, Charles and Allegra (Jack's father and Schuyler's mother) had disappeared leaving the New York Coven in shambles.

Lost in Time is written from the point of view of 3 characters: Schuyler, Mimi, and Allegra.  Each character is involved in their own individual story.  While the happenings of Schuyler and Mimi take place in current time, the chapters revolving around Allegra go back to before her Comatose state.  De La Cruz allows her readers a closer look at Allegra's relationships with Charles and Ben and how the consequences of her actions unfolded.

In Lost in Time, Schuyler is able to convince Jack to help her find Catherine of Siena and the Gate of Promise before facing his blood trial with Mimi.  They find themselves on a wild goose chase throughout Alexandria and Cairo searching for the Gate Keeper.  After each wrong turn the couple comes closer together as they realize just how important it is to find her secrets in order to save their world from Lucifer.

Mimi, the current Regent of the Coven, looks on as the chaos in the Blue Bloods world grows.  She comes to realize that to be an effective leader she first has to be happy.  She and Oliver decide they have no choice but to enter Hell to save Kingsley.  With determination and many struggles Mimi finds the man she loves.  However, Kingsley has changed due to his time in the Seventh Circle of Hell.  This unexpected realization puts Mimi and Oliver in danger, as well as the New York Coven.   

Melissa De La Cruz does a great job in weaving an entertaining story filled with lust, suspense, and heartache.  She describes Hell in a way that I have never seen done.  Her Hell is not just a place with lakes of fire and demons.  De La Cruz creates a world inhabited by fallen Angels, Demons, Trolls, the dead, and Hellhounds.  Each level of Hell is different and miserable in its own unique way.  Oliver discovers that the clothes are itchy, the buildings are too hot or too cold, the food is too sweet or rotten.  Nothing is right.

I really enjoyed watching Mimi and Oliver's friendship grow.  They started off despising each other in the beginning of the series and grew to truly enjoy each others company.  De La Cruz shows in Lost in Time how they have come to know each other better than almost anyone else.  Mimi no longer just worries about herself and what is going to make her life easier, she now views Oliver as a true friend which as a result changes her and her relationship with Kingsley.

When I found Schuyler and Jack's story start to drag Mimi and her escapades lifted me back up.  De La Cruz really handles the Mimi/Oliver/Kingsley storyline well.  It is witty, quickly moving, and hot (in more ways than one!)

I recommend Melissa De La Cruz's Lost in Time to all YA literature fans.  De La Cruz does a great job of leaving her readers asking for more.  My countdown is on for January 2013 when the final Blue Bloods novel, The Gates of Paradise, is released.  I'm excited to see how the story turns out for Schuyler, Jack, Mimi, Kingsley, Oliver, Allegra, Charles, Bliss and all of my other favorite Blue Bloods characters. 

Hyperion and BookPleasures.com has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book, Lost in Time, for the purpose of review.

The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken by Mari Passananti

The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken, by Mari Passananti, is a funny, chic, and poignant novel about a modern day woman searching for her Prince Charming.  Zoë lives in New York and has a complex job that is nowhere close to what her College degree is in.  Still, things seem mostly perfect in her life.  She is planning the wedding of the year, lives in a terrific apartment, and has two best friends that have been with her since her freshman year in college.  However, Zoë's world is turned upside down when she is dumped by her fiancé.  After a good deal of wallowing in self-pity, her best friends, Angela and Kevin, are determined that Zoë put down the ice cream, take a shower, and not become the deranged Cat Lady everyone knows.  Things start looking up for Zoë when she finds herself with a secret admirer.  On the outside Oscar seems like the perfect man...or is he?

 I thoroughly enjoyed Passananti's, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken.  It is the perfect beach, vacation, or 'I need to escape reality' read.  The 3-diminsional characters felt real, as did their individual situations.  Passananti did a great job in weaving the lives of Angela, Kevin, and Oscar around her main character, Zoë.  Ultra chic Angela has a great job in the fashion world and is on all of the up and coming lists.  Smart and charming Kevin runs the mayoral campaign for a popular candidate.  Oscar, Zoë's rich boyfriend, has a past he keeps hidden, an ex-wife that keeps showing up unexpectedly, and secrets that Zoë finds hard to ingnore.   Top it off with Carol, Zoë's boss from Hell, and you have a hilarious, romantic, and edge of your seat read.

Angela, Kevin, and Carol all went through major changes throughout the book.  However, the character that went through the biggest change was Zoë.  Zoë started out as a woman who found her self worth in men.  She always had a significant other and did not know who she was without one.  When she found herself alone, Zoë became depressed and helpless.  All of the day to day chores seemed pointless and complicated. Throughout the book Zoë starts to transform into an independent women who realizes that she has to be happy with herself before she can be happy with a significant other.  This is a great lesson for all women today.

Passananti did a great job in creating and breathing life into her New York high society world.  Everything felt real from the fashion, restaurants, clubs, parties, and even the New York landscape.  Passananti was also able to create a world for Zoë and her friends to reside in that resonates with what I actually believe New York living to be like.  However, my favorite parts of the book came when Zoë was at her job.  I found myself laughing out loud at the situations Zoë and her colleagues found themselves in.  Furthermore, there were more than a few times that I had to pick my jaw up from the floor after I read about some of Carol's antics.     

Passananti's, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken is a book that I will definitely recommend to all of my girlfriends.  If you are looking for a light, funny, quick read, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken is for you!  

Rutland Square Press and BookPleasures.com has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken, for the purpose of review.

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Dry As Rain by Gina Holmes

Dry As Rain, by Gina Holmes, is a Contemporary Romance novel that dives into real problems that marriages face today.  Eric and Kyra have been married for more than 20 years, 18 of which have been good.  For the last two years Eric and Kyra's marriage has turned stale and been filled with arguments, betrayal, and frigidity.  They find themselves living life as strangers.  However, Eric believes he is given a second chance when Kyra is in a car accident and loses part of her short term memory.  As they begin to reconnect, Eric dreads the day her memory comes back.  Dry As Rain take its readers on a journey that finds Eric and Kyra learning about forgiveness and atonement.

I feel that most married couples can relate to Dry as Rain.  Holmes does an excellent job in describing what can happen in a marriage when the couple finds themselves drifting apart.  Jealousy and coldness can easily destroy trust, which in turn can make a deed that was once unthinkable, doable.  Holmes perfectly describes the feelings both partners feel after a betrayal takes place, and just how hard it is to bridge that gap...if ever.  

Dry As Rain illustrates what can happen when money becomes more important than anything else in life.  Eric works 6 days a week in order to climb the corporate ladder.  His goal is to make more money and win the next promotion.  I think that many marriages suffer when work becomes the number one priority.  The other spouse is forgotten, along with his or her hopes and dreams.

Holmes did a great job in incorporating Christianity into Dry As Rain.  In the midst of his own marital infidelity, Eric discovers that God can and will forgive all sins.  Without being 'preachy,' Dry As Rain is a Christian romance novel that reminds readers of certain biblical truths.

Gina Holmes wrote a novel that pulls at the heart strings.  Dry As Rain is a quick read that shows what happens when true love persists.  I recommend this book to any romance lover.  

 Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book, Dry As Rain, for the purpose of review.

To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal

To Be Sung Underwater, by Tom McNeal, is a moving story about a middle aged women and what has come of her life.  Judith is a wife, mother, but most importantly a career women.  Working in Hollywood as a television show editor, Judy puts in long hours at work and lives what others might call a perfect life.  She has a handsome banker husband, a beautiful and smart daughter, and an impressive Hollywood career.

Unbeknownst to those looking in, Judy has recently come to question her husband's fidelity as well as her detached relationship with her daughter, Camille.  Judy finds herself at a crossroads while renting a storage unit for her childhood furniture.  Instead of giving the storage company her true name Judy writes down an alias.  She then spirals rather quickly into a life where she finds herself retreating to her storage space in order to dwell in the past and relive past regrets, namely regarding her first love, Willy.  When Judy's mother finds out about her secret, she pointedly says, "I think you're trying to run away from home but don't know how to do it."   

As I started reading To Be Sung Underwater it quickly pulled me in and then refused to allow me to put it down.  I really enjoyed how the novel switched back and forth between Judy's teenage life in Nebraska and her present life in L.A.  Tom McNeal effortlessly exhibited how Judy developed and grew into an adult and how she lived as that adult.

I felt that the character of Willy was very realistic and likeable.  From the style that he dressed in, to the way he spoke, Willy was a great 3 dimensional character.  Judy views Willy as the man she never really left behind.  Judy thinks fondly of Willy and comes to realize that not only was he her first love, but quite possibly her one true love.  McNeal shows what can unfold when second chances are presented and the past makes its way into the present.   

McNeal did an excellent job in creating a special relationship between Judy and her father.  A summer trip to visit him in Nebraska turned into a permanent situation when Judy realized that his house and town felt more like home than her childhood home with her mother.  Judy discovered a friend in her quiet father and enjoyed the time spent with him, be it driving around country roads, weeding the garden, reading aloud from novels, or doing homework at the same table that he graded papers. While they may not have spoken much, Judy found comfort and familiarity in their silence.  

I thought that McNeal did a terrific job painting the setting in To Be Sung Underwater.  As the story unfolded I could perfectly visualize Nebraska, along with Judy and Willy's hangouts.  McNeal gave life to the lakes, back roads, little towns, and storage unit.  This helped To Be Sung Underwater feel profoundly realistic.

Tom McNeal's, To Be Sung Underwater, is an excellent novel which I would without a doubt read again.  I definitely recommend this novel to book lovers, both male and female. This complimentary book was received for the purpose of review from the publisher Little, Brown and Company and BookPleasures.com.

BOOK LINK

http://www.amazon.com/Be-Sung-Underwater-Novel/dp/0316127396/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312910831&sr=1-1

AUTHOR SITE

http://mcnealbooks.com/home.aspx

Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

Jennifer Weiner's, Then Came You just found itself a permanent spot on my 'Favorite Books' bookcase.  I'm not referring to my 'Ordinary Books' bookcase that is in our guest bedroom- I am talking about my office bookcase that holds all of my favorite novels.  Not just any book can find its way onto these shelves, but as soon as I started reading Weiner's Then Came You I realized there was something special about it.

Then Came You takes place during current times.  Weiner tells her story from the point of view of 4 different women that at first glance have nothing in common.  Jules is a gorgeous blond, blue eyed Senior at Princeton.  On the outside it seems like she has the perfect life, however she is hiding a hurtful family secret.  Annie is a 24 year old wife and mother of two young boys.  As happy as she is with her life, she can't help but feel discontent with her current situation.  Running her household zaps her energy while the constant struggle for money makes her wish for things she and her family does not have.  Bettina is the daughter of a New York Billionaire.  She does not fit into the party scene, she would much rather spend her time at her job appraising art for an auction house.  She is fairly content in her life until her father shows up with his new bride, India.  India feels that she won the brass ring when she married her wealthy husband.  The struggles she went through as a child, teenager, and adult all seem worth it.  She has finally made it, what more could she want?  

Then Came You has all of the aspects I look for in a great work of fiction.  There are strong female characters that are well written and seem real to me.  I may not like a certain character but Weiner makes sure that I can sympathize with her.  The dialog is witty and there are twists that I did not see coming.  At one moment I found myself laughing while the next moment I was trying not to let the tears fall.  I was also able to escape reality while reading Then Came You...as much as a mother of a two year old can escape reality (during some of my reading my daughter made it her mission to get my attention by splashing me from her baby pool that my feet just happened to be resting in.)

Then Came You tackles many important current issues, one of which is Egg donation and Surrogacy.  Weiner does a fantastic job opening up the door for discussion of this practice.  How does the egg donor feel about the situation?  Will she ever regret her decision or want to know about her biological baby in the future?  Can the Surrogate easily tell herself that the baby she is carrying is not really hers?  How will she feel once the baby is delivered and placed in its Mother's arms?  What about this new Mother, how does she react to the newness of it all?  Can she easily bond with the baby, or will she feel like a babysitter?  All of these crucial feelings and more are covered in Then Came You.

Jennifer Weiner's Then Came You is an excellent novel that I highly recommend.  If you are looking for a book with heart and humor, Then Came You should be your first choice!  This complimentary book was received for the purpose of review from Atria Books and BookPleasures.com.