Books are food for my soul! Pull up a beach chair and stick your toes in the sand as the Jersey surf rolls in and out, now open your book and let your imagination take you away.

Monday, January 30, 2017

The Healing of Howard Brown by Jeb Stewart Harrison (Book Review)

In association with Premier Virtual Author Book Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for The Healing of Howard Brown by author Jeb Stewart Harrison!







Book Review




The Healing of Howard Brown by Jeb Stewart Harrison
Publisher: Independent Self Publishing
Publication Date: August 16, 2016
Format: Paperback - 336 pages
               Kindle - 1054 KB
ISBN: 978-1530900282
ASIN: B01KNEJ9SQ
BNID: 978-1530900282
Genre: Contemporary Literary Fiction / Family Saga



Buy The Book:
Amazon  - Free on Kindle Unlimited!



Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Premier Virtual Author Book Tours. 



Book Description:

“This is your last chance to do something right, son. Don’t screw it up.”

With these words ringing in his 60-year old ears, Howard Brown, Jr., sets out from Kentfield, California to find his wayward and possibly psychotic sister and return her to their dying father’s bedside. The search leads him to the Brown family’s ancestral home near St. Francisville, Louisiana, where his Southern cousins have apparently conspired with his sister to bilk him out his inherited, potentially oil-rich property. At the same time, he discovers that a long dormant birthmark in his sternum is a portal to the land of the dead. His consciousness is suddenly inundated with terrifying visitations from a rogue’s gallery of twisted ancestors, until he fears that he is just as crazy as his sister and everybody else in their labyrinthine family. Wounded to his core, doped up and strung out, Howard discovers that his salvation is beating loud and clear, within his own weary heart, and that all he has to do is listen.

The Healing of Howard Brown is a capacious and energetic narrative of self-discovery, delivered with an authentic voice that is supple, smart, somber, witty, ironic, self-revealing, self-doubting, and wonderfully lyrical. Themes of family, trust and responsibility to others, the national as well as personal past, and the life of the spirit resound throughout, with a cultural resonance involving class and race, the North and the South, the definition of masculine identity, and, centrally, the nature of mature love in a multitude of relationships-husband-wife, brother-sister, father-son- in the face of a debilitating mental illness that runs like a poison vein through the family tree.


Praise for The Healing of Howard Brown by Jeb Stewart Harrison:

“If you enjoy beautiful prose, complex themes of family and race, and a refreshingly original narrator, this book is for you. Harrison is among the select few contemporary fiction writers who still write for serious readers.” – Jim Heynen, author, best known for The One Room Schoolhouse, The Boys’ House, You Know What is Right, The Man Who Kept Cigars in His Cap and many more.

“This book starts off with a bang and keeps on going. Howard is a character with a specific voice and story. I’m sure you’ll be provoked and entertained.”- Jessica Barksdale Inclan, author of The Believe Trilogy, The Being Trilogy, and many more.

“Jeb Stewart Harrison is an original writer and a multitalented creative person. I enjoy his unique and often innovative narrative structure. His books are thoughtfully written and a pleasure to read and savor. While you turn future pages in your life reread this inspiring story. As time goes by—(when you’re older and hopefully ‘wiser’) you’ll feel new motivation with each visit into Howard’s inimitable life.”- Paul C. Steffy, author, The Good Soldier—based on his Infantry year in Vietnam.

“An ambitious story that navigates themes of family, redemption and even metaphysics, in a thought-provoking, humorous way. Harrison clearly has a deep affection for Howard and the myriad of colorful folk who make up his complex, often crazy life. A book any reader will continue thinking about long after putting it down.”- NW Bookman, Amazon Reviewer


Book Excerpt:



1 Trying To Die

I could tell he was trying to die ­– really trying, as if by the sheer force of his iron will he could command his heart to stop, like he had so often commanded me, my sister, my mother and a great many others to stop, to halt, to shut up, to do this or that. He was in that familiar state of stern, steely concentration, laid out on the rented hospital bed at the foot of great grandmother’s regal plantation four-poster, his knuckly fingers rolled into fists, his jaw clenched, his brow furrowed, and the afternoon sun illuminating his gnarled and knobby toes. What, I wondered, was responsible for their profound disfigurement? Was it the miles of fairways, tees and greens he had trudged across in his 85 years? Or was it the endless hours pacing to and fro in San Francisco courtrooms, trying to command the thoughts of judge and jury?
Whatever it was, I decided then and there it should be avoided. I bent over my massive midriff and studied my own toes in the crusty white shag. Aside from the yellowing, curled nails, they didn’t look unusually bent or knobby, at least not yet, but I feared that like many of the failing factory parts of my six/six, 240-pound frame, they would eventually join in the cacophony of inflamed and screaming joints that had accompanied me into my 60th year.
 My father’s exit had become unreasonably complicated. I could understand why, on a purely emotional level, he felt like dying. So did I, even on that exquisitely lit late summer afternoon. We had, both of us, a rough go of late.
It started with my mother succumbing to the “awful awful” (my father’s term for Alzheimer’s) in a quiet but possibly premature fashion, after which he promptly broke his hip, got pneumonia, and forgot how to swallow. Subsequently, his life quickly became a revolving door of hospitals, rehab centers, surgeries, more hospitals and rehab centers, skilled nursing facilities, and finally home to a house full of caregivers, hospice nurses, pills, purees, and us: me, my ever-patient and long-suffering wife Sandy, my winsome son Tripp, his equally winsome girlfriend Elke and the world’s most prescient, possibly telepathic chocolate lab Mr. Booper. On occasion my mercurial shape-shifting sister, Sisi, might show up, but those visits had become increasingly infrequent.
What made my father’s last days so devilishly complicated was this: my sister had decided she was burned out on care-giving and needed a break, so she informed everybody she was going on a three day backpack trip with her new post-divorce boyfriend, a rotund biker who smelled of Cool Ranch Doritos, with a doo-rag atop his shaved dome – the polar opposite of her hail-fellow-well-met husband of 22 years. Our father was horrified, convinced that this creepy recovering alcoholic was going to rape and murder his daughter, chop her up into bite-sized chunks, pack her up in double-strength trash bag and unload her in a Quincy dumpster. So when she didn’t answer our phone calls at the appointed time on Monday, Hal Brown got a little nervous. Then more than a little nervous. When she wasn’t back by Tuesday morning he was beside himself. Spiked a fever. We all started calling around to see if anyone knew of her whereabouts. By the time I learned from her employer that she had walked off the job in a huff it was too late. The old man’s vision of his daughter as a raccoon midnight snack had sent him into delirium, so he laid down on the rent-a-bed, closed his eyes, and told his broken heart to stop.
There I was, stuck between a father who was so bereaved by his daughter’s apparent abandonment that, like a grief-stricken Dickens character, he could just lay down and die, and a sister that obviously didn’t give a shit.  Where would this leave me, once my father was dead and my sister gone? Would I be a 21st century version of young Rasnolikov, abandoned by humanity, my body in tatters, my mind tortured, twisted and inflamed, and my heart throbbing with a cold, nameless ache; nothing more than a branch broken off the family tree, left to rot on the ground? After thirty years of teaching high school English and coaching basketball, with my remaining years stretched out before me like the last flight of the proverbial stairway to heaven, I felt like I couldn’t take another step.






My Book Review:

In The Healing of Howard Brown, author Jeb Stewart Harrison weaves an intriguing contemporary literary tale that follows sixty year old retired high school English teacher / basketball coach Howard Brown Jr., as he embarks on a personal journey to unravel the intricate dynamics of his dysfunctional family history, and unexpectedly gains a new level of self-discovery.

Set in Kentfield, California and St. Francisville, Louisiana, and told in the first person narrative, the author weaves a fascinating tale that easily engages the reader to follow Howard's journey to find his missing mentally unstable sister Sisi, who disappeared before the the death of their father. Howard takes the reader on a wild ride as his journey into his family's dysfunctional past mixes with the present, leading him from his home in California back to his father's family's old plantation property in Louisiana in search of Sisi, that will unexpectedly lead him on a personal journey of deep soul searching and self-discovery.

The author weaves a well written and fascinating family drama that delves into the complexity of the Brown family dynamic, and the serious issues of alcoholism, drug addiction, mental illness, Alzheimer's Disease, and emotional abuse that plagued the Brown family throughout the years. Through all the crazy mishaps and trials and tribulations that Howard endures while on his journey, he learns to face his demons, the importance of letting go, and the healing power of redemption.

The author provides a wonderful mixture of drama, humor, and seriousness to the story that easily keeps the reader's interest as Howard's journey unfolds. I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much I really enjoyed the author's rich and vividly descriptive style of writing, especially the wonderful descriptions of the California and Louisiana settings.

The Healing of Howard Brown is a thought-provoking contemporary literary tale that will draw you in, touch your soul, and leave a smile on your face.


RATING: 5 STARS 






About The Author




Jeb Stewart Harrison
is a freelance writer, songwriter, musician and painter in Stinson Beach, California. After many years as an ad agency copywriter, writer/producer, creative director, and director of marketing communications, Jeb now writes fiction and creative non-fiction, along with commercial works for hire.

Jeb’s debut novel, Hack, was published by Harper Davis Publishers in August 2012. In 2015 he received his MFA from Pacific Lutheran University at the tender age of 60, and followed up with the publication of The Healing of Howard Brown in August, 2016. He also records and plays electric bass guitar with the popular instrumental combo The Treble Makers, as well as Bay Area favorites Call Me Bwana.

Jeb was born and raised in Kentfield, California, and has lived in Boulder, CO; Missoula, MT; Hollywood, CA; Scottsdale, AZ; Indianapolis, IN and Ridgefield, CT.


Author Website 
Author Blog
Amazon Author Page
Facebook
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Virtual Book Tour




Tour Schedule:

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Jan 17 Kick Off & Giveaway

Christy’s Cozy Corners Jan 18 Guest Post

Jean Amazon Reviewer Jan 19 Review

Jersey Girl Book Reviews Jan 30 Review & Excerpt

Indie Reviews Behind the Scenes Feb 3 Interview Live 9 pm est

Deal Sharing Aunt Feb 7 Review

Nanja Amazon Reviewer Feb 16 Review

JBronder Book Reviews Feb 17 Review & Excerpt

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Feb 23 Review

The Avid Book Collector Feb 24 Excerpt

Thoughts on This ‘n That Feb 27 Review

Angel Amazon Reviewer Feb 28 Review

Mathew Amazon Reviewer Feb 28 Review


Friday, January 27, 2017

Color Me Dead by Teresa Trent (Book Review)

In association with Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for Color Me Dead by author Teresa Trent!






Book Review




Color Me Dead by Teresa Trent
Book 1: Henry Park Mystery Series 
Publisher: Independent Self Publishing
Publication Date: January 5, 2017
Format: eBook - 207 pages
               Kindle - 1171 KB
ISBN: 978-0984041770
ASIN: B01MQK06WP
Genre: Cozy Mystery


Buy The Book:
* The Book is Free During The Tour! *



Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.



Book Description:

Artist Gabby Wolfe has the ability to see not only the beauty of the living, but the despair of the dead. When she returns to her childhood home in Henry Park Colorado, she is forced to bring along her younger brother Mitch. He is on a “break” from college where he was majoring in wine, women and song. If that isn’t enough they also have Mitch’s rambunctious beagle Luigi along who prefers to spend his days wallowing in junk food. When Gabby draws the death of a young woman before it happens, she knows she must tell someone and risk a new job and her professional credibility. Will she reveal her secret in time to save the woman in the water or will it be too late?



My Book Review:

In Color Me Dead, the first book in the Henry Park Mystery Series, author Teresa Trent weaves an intriguing cozy mystery tale that easily draws the reader into following illustrator Gabby Wolfe, as she uses her gift of precognition to solve the murder of local house cleaner Amelia Jones.

Gabby has been hired by children's author Clarence Bradford to create illustrations for his Adventure Kids children's books. Gabby and younger brother Mitch leave Denver to return to their childhood home in Henry Park, Colorado, for the illustration project. Gabby was having visions of a young woman floating in water, and after arriving back in Henry Park, the amount of visions were increasing. When local house cleaner Amelia Jones disappears and is later found dead in Lake Henry, Gabby's brother Mitch becomes a suspect, and Gabby is determined to clear Mitch's name and find the real killer.

Rich in detail and vivid descriptions, the story takes place in the small mountain town of Henry Park, Colorado. This captivating and fast-paced whodunit tale has enough quirky characters, witty humor, drama, a growing list of suspects, and intriguing twists and turns that will keep you engaged and guessing. You can't help but get caught up in the drama and mystery that ensues as Gabby relies on her precognitive gift to solve the murder while trying not to be the next victim. Gabby's story unfolds with a wonderful balance of comedy, drama, suspense, and intriguing twists and turns that easily kept me guessing, and left me wanting more.

Color Me Dead is an entertaining cozy murder mystery that will engage you to join Gabby in solving an intriguing murder mystery.


RATING: 5 STARS 





About The Author




Teresa Trent lives in Houston, Texas and is an award-winning mystery writer. She writes the Pecan Bayou Mystery Series, is a regular contributor to the Happy Homicides Anthologies. Teresa is happy to add her Henry Park Mystery Series to her publishing credits with Color Me Dead, the first book in the series. Teresa has also won awards for her work in short stories where she loves to dabble in tales that are closer to the Twilight Zone than small town cozies. When Teresa isn’t writing, she is a full-time caregiver for her son and teaches preschoolers music part-time. Her favorite things include spending time with family and friends, waiting for brownies to come out of the oven, and of course, a good mystery.


Author Website
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Amazon Author Page
Facebook
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Virtual Book Tour




Tour Schedule:

January 23 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW

January 23 – Books,Dreams,Life – SPOTLIGHT

January 23 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW

January 23 – Readeropolis – INTERVIEW

January 24 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &, Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT

January 24 – Books Direct – GUEST POST

January 24 – Community Bookstop – REVIEW

January 24 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT

January 25 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 25 – Cassidy’s Bookshelves – REVIEW

January 25 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST

January 26 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW

January 26 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

January 26 – A Blue Million Books – INTERVIEW

January 26 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 27 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, INTERVIEW

January 27 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – REVIEW

January 27 – Turning the Pages – REVIEW





Tuesday, January 24, 2017

15 Minutes by Larissa Reinhart (Book Release Day Event)

In association with Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book release day event for 15 Minutes by author Larissa Reinhart!








About The Book




15 Minutes by Larissa Reinhart
Book 1: A Maizie Albright Star Dectective Mystery Series
Publisher: Past Perfect Press
Publication Date: January 24, 2017
Format: Paperback - 400 pages
               Kindle - 1506 KB
               Nook - 928 KB
ISBN: 978-0997885323
ASIN: B01N77ZK94
BNID: 2940156736126
Genre: Southern Women's Mystery



Buy The Book:



Book Description:

When ex-teen star Maizie Albright returns to her Southern hometown of Black Pine, Georgia, she hoped to rid herself of Hollywood tabloid and reality show hell for a new career as a private investigator. Instead, Hollyweird follows her home. Maizie’s costar crushing, but now for her gumshoe boss. Her stage-monster mother still demands screen time. Her latest rival wants her kicked off the set, preferably back to a California prison.

By entangling herself in a missing person's case, she must reprise her most famous role. The job will demand a performance of a lifetime. But this time, the stakes are real and may prove deadly.




About The Author




A 2015 Georgia Author of the Year Best Mystery finalist, Larissa Reinhart writes the Cherry Tucker Mystery and Maizie Albright Star Detective series. The first in the Cherry Tucker series, Portrait of a Dead Guy, is a 2012 Daphne du Maurier finalist, 2012 The Emily finalist, and 2011 Dixie Kane Memorial winner. She loves books, food, and travel in any and all combinations.

Her family and Cairn Terrier, Biscuit, live in Nagoya, Japan, but they still call Georgia home. You can see them on HGTV’s House Hunters International “Living for the Weekend in Nagoya” episode. Visit her website, find her chatting on Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads, and sign up for her newsletter at http://smarturl.it/larissanewsletter.

If you enjoy her books, please leave a review. She sends you virtual hugs and undying gratitude for your support! http://larissareinhart.com/ Newsletter signup: http://smarturl.it/larissanewsletter


Author Website
Amazon Author Page
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Link to our House Hunters International episode: http://www.hgtv.com/shows/house-hunters-international/episodes/living-for-the-weekend-in-nagoya-japan#episode-tunein





Book Release Day Event



Event Participants:

Jersey Girl Book Reviews
Granny Loves to Read
Authors and Readers Book Corner
Books Dreams Life
The Book Sirens
Book Lover in Florida
The Book Bag
T’s Stuff
DE Haggerty
Brooke Blogs
Rae Reads
Nerdy Dirty and Flirty
Adventures in Writing
Chick Lit Plus




Monday, January 23, 2017

Scheduled To Death by Mary Feliz (Book Review / Contest Giveaway)

In association with Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for Scheduled To Death by author Mary Feliz!








Book Review




Scheduled To Death by Mary Feliz
Book 2: A Maggie McDonald Mystery Series
Publisher: Lyrical Underground / Penguin Random House Publisher Service
Publication Date: January 17, 2017
Format: Paperback - 236 pages
               Kindle - 1035 KB
               Nook - 800 KB
ISBN: 978-1601836663
ASIN: B01EQ2N1QM
BNID: 978-1601836656
Genre: Cozy Mystery


Buy The Book:


Buy The Series: A Maggie McDonald Mystery Series
Book 1: Address To Die For
Book 2: Scheduled To Death
Book 3: Dead Storage (Pub Date: July 18, 2017)


Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.


Book Description:

Professional organizer Maggie McDonald has a knack for cleaning up other people’s messes. So when the fiancée of her latest client turns up dead, it’s up to her to sort through the untidy list of suspects and identify the real killer.

Maggie McDonald is hoping to raise the profile of her new Orchard View organizing business via her first high-profile client. Professor Lincoln Sinclair may be up for a Nobel Prize, but he’s hopeless when it comes to organizing anything other than his thoughts. For an academic, he’s also amassed more than his share of enemies. When Sinclair’s fiancée is found dead on the floor of his home laboratory—electrocuted in a puddle of water—Maggie takes on the added task of finding the woman’s murderer. To do so, she’ll have to outmaneuver the suspicious, obnoxious police investigator she’s nicknamed “Detective Awful” before a shadowy figure can check off the first item on their personal to-do list—Kill Maggie McDonald.


Book Excerpt:



“Hi, Linc,” I said. “Are you settling in at the lab? Dodging reporters?”
He didn’t answer immediately and I grew alarmed. “What’s wrong? Are you there?” As I said the words, I felt sheepish. I’d overreacted. It was probably just a bad connection with a long delay.
“I’m fine, Maggie. I’ve had a little trouble with my bicycle, I’m afraid. I took a tumble and Newton's hurt. I’m reluctant to ask for another favor, but would you be willing to pick us up at the house and take us back to campus? My vet isn’t far from here, but I don’t think Newton will be comfortable walking.”
 “I’ll be right there,” I said, knowing from experience with the kids that it was more important for me to arrive quickly in a crisis than it was to have answers to all my immediate questions.
“Don’t hang up, Maggie. Are you still there?”
“Still here,” I said as I scrambled for my keys and my backpack.
“Do you have an old sheet or a beach towel we can put on the seat for Newt? I don’t want him to stain your car.”
“I’ll find something.” I hung up the phone and tore down the basement steps to the laundry room. I’d cleared out our oldest and most worn sheets before we’d moved, not thinking that moving often requires painting, and painting requires tarps and cleaning rags. But the kids had changed their beds over the weekend, and I’d thrown the clean ones in the dryer this morning. I reached in and grabbed an armful of red and blue plaid cotton and raced back up the stairs. I wasn’t too worried about my car’s upholstery—I knew a million ways to remove bloodstains.
Fresh, clean sheets would be better than old rags or towels at sopping up blood without introducing foreign material into Newton’s wounds. I tried not to worry as I drove as carefully as I could, repeating a police driving-course mantra that Jason Mueller had once told my boys: “Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”  The phrase had originated in the armed services, he'd told them, and referred to aiming and shooting a firearm. But it applied equally well to driving.

            What he didn’t say was that slow is also really difficult.



My Book Review:

In Scheduled To Death, the second book in the Maggie McDonald Mystery series, author Mary Feliz weaves an intriguing cozy mystery tale that easily draws the reader into following the trials and tribulations of professional organizer Maggie McDonald's latest amateur sleuth adventures. Maggie has been hired by Stanford Professor Lincoln Sinclair to organize his old Victorian home that he is selling, and when she walks through the house, she finds his fiancee, school librarian Sarah Palmer, dead on the floor of his home laboratory.

Rich in detail and vivid descriptions, the story takes place in the small town of Orchard View, California, in the hills above Silicon Valley. This captivating and fast-paced whodunit tale has enough quirky characters, witty humor, drama, a growing list of suspects, intriguing twists and turns, and conspiracy theories that will keep you guessing.

This entertaining cozy mystery tale will keep you engaged as you turn the pages following along with Maggie's latest investigative adventure. You can't help but get caught up in the drama and calamity that ensues as she tries to solve the murder while trying to get her fledgling business Simply Itself Organizing Services started. Maggie's story unfolds with a wonderful balance of comedy, drama, suspense, and intriguing twists and turns that easily kept me guessing, and left me wanting more.

Scheduled To Death is an entertaining cozy murder mystery that will engage you to join in the crazy adventures and trials and tribulations that occur, while providing you with an intriguing mystery to solve.



RATING: 4 STARS 





About The Author




Mary Feliz
 has lived in five states and two countries but calls Silicon Valley home. Traveling to other areas of the United States, she’s frequently reminded that what seems normal in the high-tech heartland can seem decidedly odd to the rest of the country. A big fan of irony, serendipity, diversity, and quirky intelligence tempered with gentle humor, Mary strives to bring these elements into her writing, although her characters tend to take these elements to a whole new level. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and National Association of Professional Organizers. Mary is a Smith College graduate with a degree in Sociology. She lives in Northern California with her husband, near the homes of their two adult offspring.

Author Website
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Contest Giveaway


On February 10, the author will be giving away five ebook editions of both books to randomly selected names on a newsletter list.

Sign up for the newsletter - http://www.maryfeliz.com/newsletter/



Virtual Book Tour



Tour Schedule:

January 17 – Book Babble – REVIEW

January 18 – View from the Birdhouse – SPOTLIGHT

January 19 – Sleuth Cafe – REVIEW, EXCERPT

January 19 – Books,Dreams,Life – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT

January 20 – Classy Cheapskate – REVIEW

January 21 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

January 22 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT

January 23 – Queen of All She Reads – REVIEW

January 23 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – REVIEW

January 24 – The Power of Words – REVIEW

January 25 – Girl with Book Lungs – REVIEW

January 25 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – INTERVIEW

January 26 – A Holland Reads – GUEST POST

January 27 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW

January 28 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT

January 29 – Lori’s Reading Corner – SPOTLIGHT

January 30 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW

January 30 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT




Friday, January 20, 2017

Towhee Get Your Gun by J.R. Ripley (Book Review / Contest Giveaway)

In association with Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for Towhee Get Your Gun by author J.R. Ripley!








Book Review




Towhee Get Your Gun by J.R. Ripley
Book 2: A Bird Lover's Mystery Series
Publisher: Lyrical Underground / Kensington / Penguin Random House
Publication Date: January 3, 2017
Format: Paperback - 230 pages
               Kindle - 1021 KB
               Nook - 815 KB
ISBN: 978-1601838339
ASIN: B01E2H1NQG
BNID: 978-1601838322
Genre: Cozy Mystery


Buy The Book:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Google+
Kobo
Goodreads


Buy The Series: A Bird Lover's Mystery Series
Book 1: Die, Die Birdie
Book 2: Towhee Get Your Gun 
Book 3: The Woodpecker Always Pecks Twice (Pub Date: May 16, 2017)
Book 4: To Kill A Hummingbird (Pub Date: July 11, 2017)
Book 5: Chickadee Chickadee Bang Bang (Pub Date: Sept 12, 2017)
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Google+
Kobo
Goodreads


Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.


Book Description:

When Birds & Bees owner Amy Simms volunteers to act in a local production of Annie, Get Your Gun, she finds herself upstaged by a killer waiting in the wings . . .

Who’s got time for birdwatching? Amy has enough to do running her shop, fighting attempts by the town planning commission to demolish her old Victorian house, and rescuing an injured towhee. Yet somehow she allows herself to get roped into performing in the Ruby Lake, North Carolina, community theater’s new musical after some cast members get injured by mysterious mishaps. The production seems plagued by bad luck, but events turn tragic when a member of the company is found murdered in a locked dressing room.

Trading in her binoculars for a magnifying glass, Amy steps into the role of amateur sleuth and soon discovers the victim ruffled a lot of feathers. With a flock of suspects, Amy will need to beat the bushes before the cagey killer takes flight. After all, the show must go on . . .


My Book Review:

In Towhee Get Your Gun, the second book in the Bird Lover's Mystery series, author J.R. Ripley weaves an intriguing cozy mystery tale that follows the latest amateur sleuth adventures of Bird & Bees shop owner Amy Simms. Amy unexpectedly finds herself embroiled in the mysterious mishaps that plague the local community theater, Ruby Lake Theater On The Square (TOTS), and solving the murder of theater crew member Patsy Klein.

Set in the southern town of Ruby Lake, North Carolina, Amy is busy with running Birds & Bees, a birding supply store in an old three story Victorian home with her best friend and business partner Kim Christy. But when mysterious mishaps sideline some of the cast of the theater's production of Annie Get Your Gun, Amy unwillingly finds herself substituting for the wounded actress in the production, which turns tragic with the mysterious death of crew member Patsy Klein, and Amy's cousin Rhonda is implicated as a suspect in the murder. And if that isn't enough, Amy continues to have problems with the town wanting to demolish her Victorian house / shop; rescues a injured Eastern Towhee; and has neighbor issues with Paul Anderson, who is opening a new beer garden next door with partner Craig Bigelow, who happens to be Amy's ex-boyfriend!

Towhee Get Your Gun is an entertaining whodunit tale that has enough quirky characters, witty banter and humor, drama, secrets, clues, frenemies, romance, a growing list of suspects, and intriguing twists and turns that will keep you guessing the identity of the murderer. You can't help but get caught up in the drama and calamity that ensues as Amy tries to balance solving the murder while trying to save her Victorian home/shop from having a date with the wrecking ball. Amy's amateur investigative adventure unfolds with a wonderful balance of comedy, drama, and suspense that easily kept me guessing, and left me wanting more.

Towhee Get Your Gun is an entertaining southern cozy murder mystery that will engage you to join in the crazy adventures and trials and tribulations that occur in Ruby Lake, while providing you with a dose of good ol' southern charm and humor. I really enjoyed the author's rich description of the charming western North Carolina small town of Ruby Lake and it's colorful townsfolk, and his impressive knowledge of birds and flowers. So pull up a rocking chair and set down for a spell with some sweet tea while Amy takes you on her latest madcap adventure!


RATING: 4 STARS 




About The Author




J.R. Ripley
 is the pen name of Glenn Meganck, the critically acclaimed author of the Tony Kozol mystery series. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, he has chaired the Edgar committee for Best Original Paperback novel and served on the Best Short Story Committee. As a member of the International Association of Crime Writers, he has served on the Hammett Award committee for Best Novel. When not writing books, Glenn is writing songs, often singing them to the consternation of his audience and neighbors, or involved in one of his many passions, none of which have involved any of the dead bodies that seem to keep cropping up in his mysteries. For more information about him, visit glennmeganck.com.


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Virtual Book Tour




Tour Schedule:


January 9 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW

January 10 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 11 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

January 12 – Books,Dreams,Life – SPOTLIGHT

January 13 – Cozy Up With Kathy – SPOTLIGHT

January 14 – Girl with Book Lungs – SPOTLIGHT

January 15 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, &. Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT

January 16 – A Date with a Book – REVIEW

January 17 – Turning the Pages – SPOTLIGHT

January 18 – Varietats – REVIEW

January 19 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT

January 20 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – REVIEW

January 21 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW

January 22 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT




Tuesday, January 17, 2017

The Next Best Thing by Wendi Nunnery (Book Review / Contest Giveaway)

In association with Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for The Next Best Thing by author Wendi Nunnery!







Book Review



The Next Best Thing by Wendi Nunnery
Book 2: The Best Kept Secret Series
Publisher: Independent Self Publishing
Publication Date: January 3, 2017
Format: Paperback - 185 pages
               Kindle - 780 KB
               Nook - 256 KB
ISBN: 978-1539017028
ASIN: B01M6VFCU1
BNID: 2940153139159
Genre: YA Romance



Buy The Book:


Buy The Series: The Best Kept Secret Series
Book 1: The Best Kept Secret
Book 2: The Next Best Thing


Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.



Book Description:

Four years ago, Emma Fraser’s first love took his own life. Now, twenty years old and in college, Emma and her best friend, Andy, are still mourning the loss of a friend and brother. Nothing is the same as it once was…and things are about to change even more.

Too heartbroken to even consider falling in love again, Emma stays distracted by school and work. Until she meets Landon and, for the first time ever, finds herself believing she might actually have a future with someone. But when Deegan Burke—the man responsible for all of Emma’s heartache—gets out of prison early, Emma is suddenly confronted by her worst fears. And when faced with choices she never thought she’d have to make, Emma discovers that the only person she really wants by her side is the last person she ever expected.


My Book Review:

The Next Best Thing is a compelling story that will pull at the heartstrings and stir the soul.

In The Next Best Thing, author Wendi Nunnery continues the emotional story of Emma Fraser, whose traumatic coming of age story was introduced in The Best Kept Secret. Set in Georgia, it is four years later, and Emma and best friend Andy are now in college, each struggling to move forward in their lives after the death of Jesse, Emma's first love and Andy's brother.

The story has a mixture of rawness, tenderness, and painful reality that will captivate the reader as Emma and Andy's journey into adulthood unfolds. The author takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster ride as they follow Emma and Andy as they navigate the slippery slope of life's experiences, and come to terms with their shared traumatic past, so that they could move forward with their lives.

While The Next Best Thing has its share of heartbreaking moments, it is a powerful and beautifully written story in which the author thoughtfully delves into the importance and reality of heartbreak, grief, guilt, forgiveness, strength, maturity, growth, hope, and love.

The Next Best Thing is a realistic, down to earth, and emotional story that will stay with you for a very long time.


RATING: 5 STARS 





About The Author




Wendi Nunnery is the author of The Mayfield Family Story, The Best Kept Secret, and The Next Best Thing. She is also the founding editor of Lady Literary Magazine and her work has appeared in The Huffington Post, The Simply Beloved, and Introvert, Dear. Wendi is a proud Georgia Southern University alum and believes colorful language is good for the soul. She lives, loves, and mothers in Atlanta, Georgia.


Author Website
Amazon Author Page
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Contest Giveaway

Win A $20 Amazon Gift Card




a Rafflecopter giveaway




Virtual Book Tour



Tour Schedule:

January 3 – Chick Lit Plus – Review
January 4 – T’s Stuff – Excerpt
January 4 – Books, Dreams, Life – Excerpt
January 5 – Book Lover in Florida – Excerpt
January 10 – Coffeholic Bookworm – Review
January 12 – Rae Reads – Review
January 14 – Dandelions Inspired – Review
January 16 – A Page To Turn – Review
January 16 – Chick Lit Goddess – Review
January 17 – Kendra Loves Books - Review
January 17 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review