Smoke Screen by Terri Blackstock (VBT: Book Review)

In association with Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for Smoke Screen by author Terri Blackstock!

Smoke Screen by Terri Blackstock

Publisher: Thomas Nelson / HarperCollins

Publication Date: November 5, 2019

Format: Hardcover - 352 pages

               Paperback - 352 pages

               Kindle - 352 pages / 3815 KB

               Nook - 352 pages / 3 MB

              Audio Book - 7 Hours 14 Minutes

ISBN (HC): 978-0310332602

ISBN (PB): 978-0310332596

ASIN (Audio Book): B07Q2345BS

ASIN ( Kindle eBook): B07Q79M56P

BNID (Nook eBook): 978-0310332640
Genre: Christian Suspense

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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 Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours. 

Book Description:

One father was murdered, and another convicted of his death. All because their children fell in love.

Nate Beckett has spent his life fighting wildfires instead of the lies and rumors that drove him from his Colorado home town. His mother begs him to come to Carlisle now that his father has been released from prison, but it isn’t until he’s sidelined by an injury that he’s forced to return and face his past. But that means facing Brenna too.

Fourteen years ago, Nate was in love with the preacher’s daughter. When Pastor Strickland discovered Brenna had defied him to sneak out with Nate, the fight between Strickland and Nate’s drunken dad was loud—and very public. Strickland was found murdered later that night, and everyone accused Roy Beckett. When the church burned down, people assumed it was Nate getting even for his father’s conviction. He let the rumors fly and left Carlisle without looking back.

Now, Brenna is stunned to learn that the man convicted of murdering her father has been pardoned. The events of that night set her life on a bad course, and she’s dealing with a brutal custody battle with her ex and his new wife where he’s using lies and his family’s money to sway the judge. She’s barely hanging on, and she’s turned to alcohol to cope. Shame and fear consume her.

As they deal with the present—including new information about that fateful night and a wildfire that’s threatening their town—their past keeps igniting. Nate is the steady force Brenna has so desperately needed. But she’ll have to learn to trust him again first.

Book Excerpt:

I woke up in a blinding bright room, my clothes off and something clamped to my face. I tried to reach it, but I couldn’t bend my right arm, and my hand stung. An IV was taped to my other hand, but I moved carefully and touched the thing over my face.

An oxygen mask. I tried to sit up. “What happened?”

T-bird came to my bedside, a sheen of smoky sweat still soiling his face. “Nate, lie back, man.”

“The fire,” I said. “Need to get back. My men.”

“They’re still there. Making progress. But you’re not going anywhere near a fire for a month or so.”

I took the mask off and coughed a little, but managed to catch my breath. “A month?”

“Yep. Second degree burns on 20 percent of your body. Some of the burns are deep.”

It came back to me, the event that had gotten me here.

“The family. Were they injured?”

“Not a scratch or burn. Turns out it was a U.S. Senator from Kansas. He says you’re a hero.”

“You know I had no choice. They were in the path—”

“Take the praise where you can get it, man. We don’t get that much.”

I looked at my right side. My right arm was bandaged, and so was my side and down my right leg to the point where my boots had stopped the flames. Second degree wasn’t so bad, I told myself. Third degree would have been brutal. I’d be able to leave the hospital soon. I’d heal.

“I won’t need a month,” I said.

“Yes, you will. They can’t let you go back. Doctor’s orders. You’re grounded until he releases you.”

I managed to sit up, but it was a bad idea. The burns pulling on my skin reminded me why I shouldn’t. “I can’t be grounded during fire season. Are you crazy? I need to be there. You don’t have enough men as it is.”

“Sorry, Nate. It is what it is. Why don’t you go home to Carlisle for a while? Take it easy.”

Go home? Pop had just been pardoned, and he and my mom were trying to navigate the reunion. Though she would love to have me home, I didn’t know if I was up to it. My father could be challenging, and fourteen years of prison hadn’t done him any favors.

Required text: Taken from “Smoke Screen” by Terri Blackstock. Copyright © 2019 by Terri Blackstock. Used by permission of http://www.thomasnelson.com/.

My Book Review:


In Smoke Screen, author Terri Blackstock transports the reader to Carlisle, Colorado for an intriguing Christian Suspense story that follows two people who must face the traumas of the past, while trying to find a way to overcome present life struggles with hope, faith, and a second chance of finding love and redemption.

Nate Beckett is a member of the elite smokejumper team, the Rocky Mountain Hotshots. While battling a wildfire in Steamboat Springs, Nate rescues a U.S. Senator and his family, and is subsequently sidelined from duty with second degree burns on his body. Nate returns to his hometown of Carlisle to recover from his injuries and deal with the false misconceptions of his past.

Brenna Strickland-Hertzog's world has fallen apart after a recent divorce, and she struggles with the possiblity of losing her children to her ex-husband in a brutal child custody case. Brenna's struggles has led her down a self-destructive path of depression and alcoholism that could seriously damage her case, and cause her to lose her children.

Fourteen years ago, Nate and Brenna were high school sweethearts, but a tragic event between their fathers changed their lives forever. Nate's father was convicted of murdering Brenna's pastor father spurred on by the unapproved romance between the teenagers. And if that wasn't bad enough, Nate was wrongfully suspected of arson, when the pastor's church burned down after his father's sentencing. The lies and rumors ran rampant and drove Nate to leave his hometown. Recently, Nate's father has been pardoned for the murder and is released from prison, which causes old wounds to reopen between their families. Can Nate and Brenna face the trauma of their past that had torn them apart, get redemption by finding the real murderer and arsonist, overcome their present life struggles, and get a second chance of love?

Author Terri Blackstock weaves a multi-layered and suspenseful tale written in the first person alternating narrative that follows Nate and Brenna as they reunite and use their reconnection to lean on each other as they try to overcome the trauma of their past, while struggling to overcome the obstacles of current life issues, hoping for redemption, love, and a new beginning.

I loved reading this complexed multi-layered story. From the first page, I was intrigued as Nate and Brenna's traumatic past unfolded, and how their reconnection drew together two flawed people who were dealing with current life struggles, in addition to the questions surrounding the mystery of the murder and arson. The reader will be easily drawn into this well written story with its richly descriptive plot that will keep them guessing as secrets, deceit, greed, and dysfunctional family drama are uncovered. I loved the intertwining of Nate and Brenna's life struggles with the undeniable attraction between them, as they searched for forgiveness, redemption, and a second chance at love and a new beginning.

Smoke Screen has enough drama, tension, action, danger, secrets, romance, and unexpected twists and turns that will take the reader on one heck of a thrilling roller coaster ride.

RATING: 5 STARS  

About The Author

Terri Blackstock has sold over seven million books worldwide and is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author. She is the award-winning author of Intervention, Vicious Cycle, and Downfall, as well as such series as Cape Refuge, Newpointe 911, the SunCoast Chronicles, and the Restoration Series.


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Virtual Book Tour Event

Smoke Screen by Terri Blackstock ~ VBT Event Page Link

Tour Schedule:

10/28 Showcase @ Nesies Place

10/28 Showcase @ The Book Divas Reads

10/29 Showcase @ The Bookworm Lodge

10/29 Showcase @ What Is That Book About

10/30 Review @ Wall-to-wall books

10/31 Review @ Lynchburg Mama

11/01 Review @ Just another reader / beaten coffee Barista

11/03 Showcase @ Read and Review

11/04 Showcase @ EienCafe

11/05 Showcase @ BooksChatter

11/06 Showcase @ The Pulp and Mystery Shelf

11/07 showcase @ Reading A Page Turner

11/08 Showcase @ Eclectic Moods

11/09 Review @ Shalinis Books & Reviews

11/10 Review @ Robin Loves Reading

11/11 Review @ Buried Under Books

11/12 Review @ sunny island breezes

11/13 Review @ From the TBR Pile

11/14 Showcase @ Celticladys Reviews

11/18 Showcase @ Quiet Fury Books

11/21 Showcase @ Our Town Book Reviews

11/24 Review @ Brooke Blogs

11/25 Review @ Jersey Girl Book Reviews

11/26 Review @ Blogging with A

11/27 Review @ Mystery Suspense Reviews

11/28 Review @ Forever the Wanderer

11/29 Review @ Avonna Loves Genres

Birth Right by Julian Iragorri and Lou Aronica (VBT: Book Review / Contest Giveaway))

In association with Providence Book Promotions, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for Birth Right by authors Julian Iragorri and Lou Aronica!

Birth Right by Julian Iragorri and Lou Aronica

Publisher: The Story Plant

Publication Date: Hardcover - September 7, 2019 / eBook - October 1, 2019

Format: Hardcover - 240 pages

               Kindle - 4822 KB

               Nook - 7 MB

ISBN: 978-1611882667

ASIN: B07VWC4HVJ
BNID: 2940163716012
Genre: Literary Fiction

Buy The Book:

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the authors / publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Providence Book Promotions.

Book Description:

In the mid-sixties, a young woman and a young man meet and begin the romance that will define their lives throughout the decades.

In the early nineties, two young men meet and forge a friendship that will propel both into newfound worlds.

Today, those same two men face a reality that could change the course of the world . . . and a fantasy that both have only dared to imagine.

How these three stories come together is the driving pulse of BIRTH RIGHT, a novel about despots and rulers, spouses and lovers, friendship and brotherhood. Playing out at once on the most global and the most intimate of stages, it is a story about the power one is born into and the power one earns and, at its very heart, the power of love.

Book Excerpt:

Alex had been to exactly one inaugural ceremony before. His parents had taken him to see President Marcador take the oath of office back when he was thirteen. That president had turned out to be ineffectual, serving only one term and, even at his young age, Alex had the sense that Marcador was going to be a footnote in Legado history. The man projected so little presence, almost as though he didn’t have enough internal energy to put a persona out there. What Alex subsequently learned was that Marcador was a compromise candidate during a period of transition for his country. The story would be decidedly different sixteen years later, when a wildly charismatic candidate – one who happened to be Alex’s cousin – would take the nation by storm and win the election in a landslide.

Alex could hardly believe the ceremony he was watching today had the same function as the one he’d witnessed as a boy. This one had so much pomp, so much music, so much color. Javier Benigno was easily the most popular political figure to rise from Legado since the late, ever-beloved Viviana Emisario, and perhaps the first to inspire the passion from the people that seemed to have been extinguished when Viviana’s helicopter had crashed during a diplomatic mission. Viviana’s death had snuffed the joy from a nation. It had done more than that to Alex, but that was a story he would forever keep to himself.

“Legado was always our most vibrant colony,” said a voice to his right. “This ceremony has more hues than a Joya de la Costa garden.”

Alex turned to look at the speaker. The man seemed to be about his age and height, though he was a bit heftier all around. Maybe this is what I’d look like if I didn’t spend as much time in the gym, Alex thought.

“I assume you’re aware that Legado hasn’t been a colony since your great-great grandfather was a twinkle in his mother’s eye.”

The man flashed a heavy-wattage smile. “Oh, well, of course. But one never stops thinking of their children as children, do they?”

“Well, we’re all grown up. And we’ve been a democracy continuously for more than a century. I don’t believe our ‘father’ can say the same thing.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” the man said, laughing boisterously. “The public elected El General to each of his nine terms. By an overwhelming majority, in fact. Usually more than ninety percent.”

A huge cheer went up at that moment. Looking down from the grandstand, Alex could see that the new president’s motorcade had entered the staging area.

“Yes, ninety percent,” Alex said to his companion. “My cousin should find that humbling, as he only received fifty-nine percent of the vote.”

“Cousin? I assume that makes you a Benigno.”

“Soberano, actually. Javier is a cousin on my mother’s side.” Alex put out his hand. “Alejandro Soberano. My friends call me Alex.”

The man shook. “Fernando Alfonso Trastámara. My friends call me Fernando.”

Alex should have recognized the man. He’d certainly seen the heir to the Léon throne in enough tabloids. “They don’t call you ‘Your Majesty.’”

“God, no. They will hopefully never call me that.”

“I assume that means you’re wishing for a very long life for your father and not that you’re expecting El General to come back from the dead.”

The man beamed again. It was easy to see why women found him so irresistible. Between the smile, the future crown, and the massive fortune, what was there to resist? “No, El General is gone forever. Just to make sure, my father sends an envoy every day to dance on his grave.”

Alex nodded approvingly. The people of Legado did indeed consider Léon to be close family, and the last thing that Alex would have ever wanted was a return to the days when El General dominated Léon so absolutely. Alex was barely in elementary school when the dictator had suddenly stepped down, allowing Fernando’s father, Juan Alfonso Trastámara, to take his rightful place on the throne and to allow for a duly elected prime minister to operate the government, but he could remember his mother spitting invective at the television every time she saw El General speak. And while Alex didn’t truly understand the cause of celebration on the streets of his hometown when El General resigned (and the only slightly-less-raucous celebration that happened when the dictator died eight months later), he would never forget the taste of the pastel con tres leches his mother made that night to mark the occasion.

“Very wise of your father,” Alex said. “Is he here?”

“He wishes he could be. He thinks highly of your cousin. But there’s a gathering of several European heads of state that Léon is hosting, so he of course needed to attend that. He sent me to represent the crown in his stead. He’s accurately deduced that my one statecraft talent is waving and smiling broadly, so I’m the perfect man for this assignment.”

Fernando did some smiling and waving at that point and excused himself. At the inaugural ball that evening, though, Fernando came up to Alex with two glasses of Champagne and offered him one.

“I noticed you didn’t have a drink,” he said.

Alex took the glass and tipped it in Fernando’s direction before taking a sip. “I was pacing myself.”

“I don’t have the remotest idea why anyone would do that.”

Alex grinned at Fernando’s acknowledgment of his excesses. “Lots of family around. And I wouldn’t want to do anything that might embarrass my cousin.”

“Hmm. Interesting perspective.”

“It was nearly time for another drink, though, so I appreciate the Champagne.”

“Happy to be of service. So, I hear you’ve been conscripted to accompany me to Anhelo tomorrow for the hospital ribbon-cutting ceremony.”

Just a few hours earlier, Alex had learned that his cousin, the president, had requested that Alex be part of the prince’s travel party for the opening of a new hospital that Léon had funded. The request had surprised Alex, because he’d never performed any sort of official government function before, and there were surely dozens of people on the presidential staff who could have filled this role. Had someone seen Alex and the prince speaking at the inauguration and decided that Alex would be a good companion? He did notice his mother looking at them a lot during the inauguration and then he saw her talking to the president later. Maybe she wanted him to become friends with the prince? But he doubted she would have such influence on the new president, even though he was her younger cousin. Did President Benigno think this might help groom Alex for some future place in his administration – something Alex had never considered and wouldn’t particularly desire, especially now that his career was kicking into its next gear? Regardless, he wasn’t going to turn down the new leader of his native land, and some pomp and circumstance at the side of the prince of Léon could be entertaining.

“Yes,” Alex said. “It appears they needed to tap the absolute best available talent for this engagement.”

“I’m flattered. I was afraid I was going to get a member of Benigno’s rotund retinue. Is it just me or is everyone in the president’s inner circle at least forty kilos overweight?”

Alex chose not to respond beyond a polite smile.

“No matter,” the prince said. “Tell me: is the Colina after-hours club scene as ribald as its reputation?”

“I wouldn’t really know. I’m down from New York, and I grew up in Anhelo. I’ve never taken much advantage of the clubs when I’ve been to Colina in the past.”

Fernando nodded thoughtfully for several long moments. Then his face brightened. “Care to join me on a bit of a research expedition after this event is over? Purely for cultural reasons, of course.”

Alex lifted an eyebrow. “I believe our plane is scheduled to leave at eight tomorrow morning.”

Fernando shrugged. “We’ll make it an early night, then. In bed no later than four.”

Alex had heard that Fernando could be a bit dangerous when out on the prowl, and Alex not only had his own reputation but the reputation of Legado’s new president to uphold. Still, it was difficult to avoid getting caught up in Fernando’s enthusiasm.

“I’ve heard of a few places that might be ideal for your ‘research.’ And I’m sure they would love a visit from the future king of Léon.”

“Excellent. One condition, though: you really need to stop calling me the future king of Léon. I already get all of the reminders I need about that from my father.”

My Book Review:

Every once in a while a story comes along that is powerfully compelling, poignant, and thought-provoking. In Birth Right, authors Julian Iragorri and Lou Aronica weave an interesting literary tale that takes the reader on a journey as they follow the bonds between two sets of people that spand from the mid-sixties to the present.

Birth Right is a richly descriptive literary tale that follows the soulmate relationship between Sandra and Cayetano, and the brotherly bond between Alex and Fernando.

While on vacation in Cap D'Antibes, South of France in 1965, Sandra meets Cayetano, and a long-distance romantic soulmate bond is formed. They correspond with each other regularly, but in 1966 Sandra's uncle has set up an arranged marriage for her, and while having a wedding gown fitting in Milan, Italy, Susan and Cayetano meet up and decide to continue to see each other at least once a year even though their lives have taken them in different directions. Can Sandra and Cayetano's soulmate relationship withstand the test of time?

While attending the presidential inauguration of his cousin Javier Benigno in his hometown of Colina, Legado, South America in 1992, Alex Soberano, a New York international financial businessman meets Crown Prince of Leon, Fernando Alfonso Trastamara. While Alex is striving to achieve his career goals, Fernando is a reluctant heir to the throne, who chooses to playout his playboy status roaming the globe. A brotherly bond is formed between Alex and Fernando that spans two decades. Fernando and his father, King Alfonso request Alex's financial advice when the country's newly elected Prime Minister, Romeo Olgar is making executive decisions that could adversely affect the country's economic status. Can Alex help the royals stop the Prime Minister's personal dark plans towards attaining a dictatorship over the country?

Birth Right is an interesting tale that is told in alternating storylines / timelines that will keep the readers intrigued and on their toes. The story has a touch of romance, a bond of brotherhood, intrigue, secrets, politics, and a paranormal aspect that will take the reader on a challenging journey as the two sets of relationships eventually intertwine in a surprising and poignant style.



RATING: 5 STARS 

                                      

About The Authors

Julian Iragorri lives in Manhattan. He has worked on Wall Street since the early nineties.


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Lou Aronica is the author of the USA Today bestseller The Forever Year and the national bestseller Blue. He also collaborated on the New York Times nonfiction bestsellers The Element and Finding Your Element (with Ken Robinson) and the national bestsellers The Culture Code (with Clotaire Rapaille) and The Greatest You (with Trent Shelton). Aronica is a long- term book publishing veteran. He is President and Publisher of the independent publishing house The Story Plant. You can reach him at laronica@fictionstudio.com.


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Contest Giveaway

Win An eBook Copy Of

The Edge Of The World

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Providence Book Promotions for The Story Plant, Julian Iragorri, and Lou Aronica. There will be 5 winners of one (1) copy of The Edge Of The World by Julian Iragorri and Lou Aronica (eBook). The giveaway begins on October 1, 2019 and runs through December 1, 2019. Void where prohibited.



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Virtual Book Tour Event

Birth Right by Julian Iragorri and Lou Aronica ~ VBT Event Page Link

Tour Participants:

10/01 Review @ CMash Reads

10/02 Showcase @ What Is That Book About

10/04 Interview @ BooksChatter

10/06 Review @ Book Reviews From an Avid Reader

10/07 Guest post @ Its Raining Books

10/21 Showcase @ Book Reviews & More by Kathy

10/22 Review @ sunny island breezes

10/23 Review @ Reading With Nicole

11/03 Showcase @ Chapters through life

11/11 Guest post @ Mythical Books

11/15 Review @ Jersey Girl Book Reviews

11/17 Review @ Our Town Book Reviews

11/18 Showcase @ Shannon Muir, Author – Infinite House of Books

11/19 Showcase @ Celticladys Reviews

11/28 Review @ The World As I See It

11/29 Review @ JBronder Book Reviews

11/30 Review @ just reviews

12/18 Blog Talk Radio w/Fran Lewis

Eighteen Winters by Joanne DeMaio (VBT: Book Review)

In association with Author Joanne DeMaio, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for Eighteen Winters!

Book Review

Eighteen Winters by Joanne DeMaio

Publisher: Independent Self Publishing

Publication Date: PB - September 5, 2019 / eBook - September 17, 2019 

Format: Paperback - 254 pages

                Audible - 6 Hours 32 Minutes

               Kindle - 5295 KB

               Nook - 860 KB

ISBN: 978-1079270457

ASIN (Audio Book): B07X44X3ZM

ASIN (Kindle): B07W14K8D4
BNID: 2940161492536

Genre: Holiday Romance / Women's Fiction

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Buy The Winter Novels:

Book 1: Snowflakes And Coffee Cakes 

Book 2: Snow Deer And Cocoa Cheer

Book 3: Cardinal Cabin

Book 4: First Flurries

Book 5: Eighteen Winters

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book by the author in exchange for my honest review.

Book Description:

From New York Times bestselling author Joanne DeMaio comes a beautiful novel about a little town you'll want to visit, and a love story you won't soon forget.

Harry Dane lives an ordinary life. From his days working alongside his father at a New England general store, to Harry's endearing and heartbreaking relationships, to sudden snowstorms, to quirky fiascos of found kittens and spilled jam jars, always ... always there is a curious constant.

Through it all, each and every winter, a Christmas card arrives at Harry's Craftsman bungalow from a mysterious woman named Sadie Welles. And when the two of them unexpectedly meet, Harry Dane soon finds himself in an intricate love story spanning Eighteen Winters .

Book Excerpt:

Click on the link to read an excerpt from Eighteen Winters: 

http://a.co/cEgH3Xb

My Book Review:

In Eighteen Winters, author Joanne DeMaio transports the reader to the quaint small New England lakeside town of Addison, Connecticut for a heartwarming Christmas tale of family, friendship, life events and milestones, and finding a chance at unexpected love.

Eighteen Winters is a wonderful Christmas story that will tug at the heartstrings and fill the reader with seasonal joy. Author Joanne DeMaio weaves a spellbinding tale set in the quaint New England town of Addison, Connecticut, that captivates the reader's attention with the latest heartwarming holiday romance from her Winter Novels collection.

This delightful holiday tale is told over eighteen December winters that captures snippets of events and milestones in Harry Dane's life. As the readers visit with Harry each December, he reminisces about his life journey filled with ordinary and unexpected events and changes. Each Christmas season, Harry receives a Christmas card addressed to the previous owners of his bungalow from a Sadie Welles. In the annual Christmas cards, Sadie shares a snippet of what is currently going on in her life, and Harry feels like he is getting to know this mysterious woman from afar. That is until Harry and Sadie unexpectedly meet, can the Eighteen Winters of their life journeys bring these two hearts together?

Eighteen Winters is a wonderful story that has a rich description of the breathtaking holiday decorated small town setting filled with holiday traditions. Harry and Sadie find an unexpected chance at love as their story unfolds in a magical way that will make the reader believe in the power of love, family, friendship, and the joy of the holiday season.

There are not enough words that I can express about the simplicity and beauty in which author Joanne DeMaio weaves her heartwarming and multi-layered stories filled with a mixture of love, friendship, family, and life's milestones and unexpected special moments, it is simply breathtaking. As the reader follows Harry and Sadie's story, the author cleverly interweaves characters and events from the previous books in the collection that provides a seamless continuation of their stories from winter to winter. And that's not all, as Harry receives Sadie's annual Christmas card, it is so much fun to find out what the card's cover picture is from year to year!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how the richly vivid description of the town of Addison is phenomenal, you'll yearn to visit the area and experience the quaint lakeside town's holiday tradition and friendly townspeople. Ms. DeMaio has a special gift for transporting the readers into every story that she weaves while leaving them yearning for more!

Eighteen Winters is an enchanting holiday story full of warmth and comfort that will remind the reader of the magic, joy, cheer, and spirit of Christmas. It is a lovely story that will resonate with the reader for a very long time.

Eighteen Winters is the latest installment in The Winter Novels collection, each book is a stand alone read, but each book does have intertwining snippets from the previous books, so you'll want to read the whole collection!


RATING: 5 STARS 

About The Author

Joanne DeMaio is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary fiction. She enjoys writing about friendship, family, love, and choices while setting her stories in New England towns or by the sea. Eighteen Winters is her newest novel. Currently at work on her next book, Joanne lives with her family in Connecticut.


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One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski (VBT: Book Review / Contest Giveaway)

In association with Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours, Jersey Girl Book Reviews is pleased to host the virtual book tour event for One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski!

Book Review

One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski

Publisher: Graydon House Books / Harlequin

Publication Date: October 1, 2019

Format: Paperback - 352 pages

               Kindle - 917 KB

               Nook - 835 KB

               Audio Book - 10 Hours 22 Minutes

ISBN: 978-1525832192

ASIN (Kindle): B07KN67XBT

ASIN (Audible Audio Book): B07S1XD2YS

BNID: 978-1488053672

Genre: Mystery / Suspense / Thriller

Buy The Book:

Amazon (Paperback / Kindle)

Audible Audiobook

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

Book Description:

“A subtly but relentlessly unsettling novel.” —TANA FRENCH, author of The Witch Elm

It was the perfect place to disappear…

One sultry summer, Maureen Haddaway arrives in the wealthy town of Opal Beach to start her life anew—to achieve her destiny. There, she finds herself lured by the promise of friendship, love, starry skies, and wild parties. But Maureen’s new life just might be too good to be true, and before the summer is up, she vanishes.

Decades later, when Allison Simpson is offered the opportunity to house-sit in Opal Beach during the off-season, it seems like the perfect chance to begin fresh after a messy divorce. But when she becomes drawn into the mysterious disappearance of a girl thirty years before, Allison realizes the gorgeous homes of Opal Beach hide dark secrets. And the truth of that long-ago summer is not even the most shocking part of all…

“A heart-wrenching and suspenseful novel of betrayal and revenge. Stunning!” —Carol Goodman, award-winning author of The Night Visitors

“Featuring a brilliantly executed dual timeline with two unforgettable narrators, One Night Gone is a timely and timeless mystery that will keep you obsessively reading well past your bedtime.” —Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World

Book Excerpt:

Opal Beach was about a two-hour drive without traffic from downtown Philadelphia. It was somewhere halfway between Ocean City and Atlantic City and way less touristy. The beach always reminded me of vacations as a kid, running barefoot on hot sand, creating lopsided sand castles with plastic buckets, breaking crab legs and sucking out the meat. But there was also a sense of slowing down, of taking it all in, and I needed that now. I could feel the air change, the way it clung, coated, opened everything up.
Through the car windows, the Oc¬tober air was shockingly cold but also reviving. The salty air had always bothered my mother and sister, who complained it was too humid and their tongues felt strange, but I loved the way it worked its fingers into my hair and curled around the tendrils. It made me feel a little wild, a little different. Untamed. Like anything could happen.
Was I really doing this? Was I really pressing on this pedal, steering, guiding these four wheels to a stranger’s beach house, where I would live for the next three months alone? It had all happened so fast. A blur, really. Annie’s friend Sharon, with that same nurse-like efficiency that Annie had, set it all up so quickly that I’d barely had time to adjust to the idea before it was actually happening.
But I was used to life messing with me now, used to tripping over a curb or forgetting to eat breakfast or chipping a nail, waking up only to discover that everything I’d known to be true was suddenly different. So in some ways this journey, the picking up and leaving behind, felt like an emerging. Like Rockefeller, the hermit crab I’d bought on our family vacation one year at a boardwalk shack, I was crawling out of a dingy shell and moving into a shinier, larger home. (Unlike Rockefeller, though, I hoped I wouldn’t die from the soap residue that was left inside the new shell when someone tried to clean it too vigorously before setting him inside the cage.)
I drove down a two-lane road just off the ocean, the main drag for all the beachfront houses. I could imagine that on a weekend in July it looked like a parking lot as families navigated in or out of town, canoes and coolers tied up on their roof racks. But now it was eerily vacant, and I had the sense I was the last woman on earth, that in my quiet drive alone the rest of humanity had vanished. I was trying to decide if that was a good thing or not when a giant orange Hummer zoomed into view behind me and passed without slowing down. “Well, so much for that. Asshole,” I said.
The houses were dramatically large and looming, blocking what otherwise would’ve been a magnificent view. You could tell which ones were just rentals—the monstrosities with thirteen bedrooms and a six-car garage that five families could rent out at once. But further down the road, the houses had more style and character. The kind of places—lots of windows, big porches, nice landscaping—that would make your mouth water even without the lush ocean backdrop as icing on the cake.
I slowed as my GPS indicated I was getting close, but even so I almost missed the tiny driveway and its faded, weather-beaten road sign declaring my new mailing address: Piper Sand Road.
I had made it.
The long gravel drive split off halfway up, with one side leading to the Worthington house and the other side to their neighbor’s. When I’d first met the Worthingtons for my “job interview” just a few weeks before, I’d been so nervous about the whole thing that I’d taken the wrong driveway and parked in the neighbor’s lot and stared at it for a good minute before realizing the house number was wrong.
But now, pulling into the correct driveway slowly, it felt like an adventure movie soundtrack should be swelling. And our heroine finds her destiny.
I could imagine Annie’s reaction when she finally saw the house in person. It was stunning. The surrounding homes were propped up on beams, like old ladies hitching up their skirts so they wouldn’t get wet in the surf, but that just gave the Worthingtons’ house an understated effect. It stood confident and modest between them, a beach gingerbread house right out of a fairy tale, with light blue curtains and sweeping eaves.
I parked right at the porch steps and got out, wrapping my cardigan around me to stave off the whipping wind. The front porch was small but quaint, with two wooden rocking chairs and a small white table with flaking paint. I ran my palm along the back of one of the tall chairs, and it creaked from my touch. The chairs seemed to be more for decoration than sitting.
Dolores, Sharon’s sister who lived in town, was supposed to be meeting me to hand over the keys. Yet it seemed I’d arrived first. I’d had to come one week sooner than planned, as Patty and John had been whisked away to her mysterious assignment in Eastern Europe a little earlier than expected. Patty had called me from the airport with the news. I’d pictured her in her white visor and tennis sneakers rushing through the terminals, bags bouncing off her lower back as she breathlessly gave me instructions.
Still, I half expected Patty to appear in the window as I squatted down and peered inside the house. It was hard to see with the bright sun glaring at my back, but I could make out the shadowy silhouette of the large island counter in the middle of the kitchen. Beyond that room, I remembered, was the living room, with doors and stairs leading to all the many nooks of the house.
All empty now, waiting for me. A shiver curled from my spine up to my neck, unwinding inside me. Calm down, you idiot, I told myself. Not everything is a trap. Think positively, and positive things will come.
***
Excerpt from One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski. Copyright © 2019 by Tara Laskowski. Reproduced with permission from Graydon House Books (Harlequin). All rights reserved.

My Book Review:


In her debut novel, One Night Gone, author Tara Laskowski transports the reader to the seaside town of Opal Beach for an intriguing mystery / suspense / thriller story that will keep the reader guessing and turning the pages.

In June of 1985, Maureen Haddaway came to Opal Beach with a travelling carnival looking to start over. Maureen's dreams of a fresh start in this beautiful seaside town comes to an unexpected end when she suddenly disappears without a trace.

Thirty years later in October of 2015, forty year old disgraced meteorologist Allison Simpson is fired for calling out her cheating husband Dennis "Duke" Shetland while on the air. Now divorced, Allison seeks a fresh start in life, and agrees to house-sit in Opal Beach for a couple working abroad. Allison hears about the missing girl from thirty years ago, and becomes interested in the mystery and finding out what happened to the girl. Will Allison solve the mystery of the missing girl, or will someone do just about anything to keep their dirty little secrets hidden?

Author Tara Laskowski weaves a fast-paced and suspenseful tale written in an alternating first person narrative that follows Maureen's story leading up to her disappearance, and Allison's journey to start her life over while investigating Maureen's disappearance.

I loved reading this action-packed story, it had a little bit of everything that immediately drew me in from the start, and kept me intrigued and guessing. You can't help but become engrossed in the story as the alternating dual storylines / timelines revealed dark pasts, hidden secrets, possible motives, danger, and clues that are uncovered as Allison investigates Maureen's mysterious disappearance.

One Night Gone is an intriguing and suspenseful story that has enough drama, tension, action, dark secrets, betrayals, revenge, and unexpected twists and turns that fans of mystery / suspense stories will surely enjoy!


RATING: 5 STARS  

About The Author

TARA LASKOWSKI is the award-winning author of two short story collections, Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons and Bystanders, which was named a best book of 2017 by Jennifer Egan in The Guardian. She has had stories published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Mid-American Review, and the Norton anthology New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction, among others. Her Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine story, “States of Matter,” was selected by Amy Hempel for the 2017 Best Small Fictions anthology, and her short story “The Case of the Vanishing Professor” is a finalist for the 2019 Agatha Award. Tara was the winner of the 2010 Santa Fe Writers Project’s Literary Awards Prize, has been the editor of the popular online flash fiction journal SmokeLong Quarterly since 2010, and is a member of Sisters in Crime. She earned a BA in English with a minor in writing from Susquehanna University and an MFA in creative writing from George Mason University. Tara grew up in Pennsylvania and lives in Virginia. One Night Gone is her first novel.


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Contest Giveaway

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This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Harlequin and Tara Laskowski. There will be 1 winner of one (1) copy of One Night Gone (print). The giveaway begins on September 23, 2019 and runs through October 6, 2019. Open to U.S. and Canada addresses only. Void where prohibited.

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Virtual Book Tour Event

One Night Gone by Tara Laskowski ~ VBT Event Page

Tour Participants:

09/23 Review @ Colloquium

09/23 Review @ The World As I See It

09/24 Review @ Jessica Belmont

09/25 Review @ 5 Minutes for Books

09/25 Showcase @ CMash Reads

09/26 Review @ Novels N Latte

09/26 Showcase @ The Bookworm Lodge

09/27 Review @ Book Club Librarian

09/30 Review @ Booked on a Feeling

10/01 Review @ Cheryls Book Nook

10/01 Review @ Thats What Shes Reading

10/02 Review @ Jersey Girl Book Reviews

10/03 Review @ Brooke Blogs

10/03 Review @ Nesies Place

10/03 Review @ Shalinis Books & Reviews

10/04 Review @ Book Fidelity

10/04 Showcase @ Teatime and Books