Goodbye To You
Release Date: 07/01/14
Swoon Romance
New Adult
Summary from Goodreads:
Europe? Nope. Mexico? Nope. Key West?
Not me. This summer, I'm playing nursemaid to my sister. Yeah, I know. Relatively good looking twenty-two-year-olds don't spend the summer bedside in the cancer ward, but that's the plan - until my sister threatens me with bodily harm unless I get on the plane.
That's when I met him. He likes me. Really likes me. But more than that, he loves my boobs -- like can't get enough. I have no idea how to tell him that they'll be gone soon. Courtesy of a preventative double mastectomy. Yep. That's what testing positive for the breast cancer gene mutation will do to a girl.
But don't feel sorry for me. I'm enjoying him, holding on until the last possible minute, while I muster up the strength to tell him, and watch him walk away.
Not me. This summer, I'm playing nursemaid to my sister. Yeah, I know. Relatively good looking twenty-two-year-olds don't spend the summer bedside in the cancer ward, but that's the plan - until my sister threatens me with bodily harm unless I get on the plane.
That's when I met him. He likes me. Really likes me. But more than that, he loves my boobs -- like can't get enough. I have no idea how to tell him that they'll be gone soon. Courtesy of a preventative double mastectomy. Yep. That's what testing positive for the breast cancer gene mutation will do to a girl.
But don't feel sorry for me. I'm enjoying him, holding on until the last possible minute, while I muster up the strength to tell him, and watch him walk away.
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Guest Post
The Best Books Ever! (Or, I Had to Pick Five and These are the Ones That Came to Mind)
Being limited to choosing five favorite books is like picking which of my children are my favorites. Wait, that’s not right, because I only have three kids so I don’t have to make a “top five favorite kids” list. Still, picking five is really difficult, because I read across so many genres that I could make a “top five” list for just about any type of book I’ve read. Instead, I’m going to pick a recent read, or a memorable one, from five distinct types of fiction.
Historical Romance
Though my favorite historical romance writer is, bar none, Amanda Quick, my choice here is from an author I just discovered last year.
THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE
by Jennifer Ashley
I’ve developed an interest in Scottish historicals set in the Victorian era, and that’s how I discovered this book. I was fascinated by the blurb, which described the hero thus: “The youngest brother, Ian, known as the Mad Mackenzie, spent most of his young life in an asylum, and everyone agrees he is decidedly odd. He's also hard and handsome and has a penchant for Ming pottery and beautiful women.”
Penchant for the pottery? More like an obsession, y’all, the level of which I’d seen from someone in my own life over a singular thing for years. Ian Mackenzie spent time in a madhouse, but not because he’s mentally ill in the traditional sense, the way we understand it now, but because he has a…you know what, I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who may be interested in reading this. But I will say that Ms. Ashley handles the subject with a delicate hand. Though Ian’s differences are well-detailed, he’s never made to seem less in the eyes of his family or the woman who loves him, even if he doesn’t believe the same of himself. Give this one a try! It’s passionate, heartbreaking, and uplifting, especially if you have an exceptional someone in your life who sees the world in a different way.
Fantasy
I confess I don’t read much fantasy anymore, but this book still stands out to me. I recently found all six of the books in this series (technically two trilogies, but with the same protagonist in all of them) at a used bookstore and added them back to my collection after they went missing in a move years ago.
THE RUBY KNIGHT
by David Eddings
This is the second book in Eddings’ ELINIUM series, and some reviewers feel it suffers from “middle child syndrome,” but I loved it. The queen of Elinia has been poisoned, and knight Sparhawk sets out on a rollicking quest to find the antidote. I enjoyed the first book of the series, but this one had me hooked. The world-building was spectacular, the character development spot-on, and the action pulse-pounding. I actually called in sick to work to finish this book. If fantasy is your thing, or if you want to give it a try, start with THE DIAMOND THRONE, and then quickly move on to this one.
Mystery
…AND THEN THERE WERE NONE
by Agatha Christie
There’s no Miss Marple or Poirot here, but this is my favorite Christie book. Ten people are lured to a remote island, and proceed to die-or more accurately, are murdered-in methods that mirror a children’s rhyme, in an attempt to administer justice for past wrongs committed by each of the visitors. It’s an interesting look at the idea of justice, or what may be the machinations of a madman. The plot’s been used repeatedly throughout the history of literature, and now television and film, because it’s so darn fascinating. Who do you trust? You know you’re not the murderer, but who then? And what do you? This device was used a few years ago on the mini-series HARPER’S ISLAND to great effect. If you’re familiar with this device but haven’t read Christie’s take on it, read it now.
Literary Fiction
HOUSEKEEPING
Marilynne Robinson
I’ve labeled this “literary” because it’s one of those books I never would have picked up had it not been required reading for a college course in contemporary women’s literature. It’s a challenging read, for sure. The material is tough, with loss and emotional coldness and mental illness at the forefront of the story. The narrator is not the most sympathetic, which is a difficult aspect of the story, since Ruthie is a child, and one who has experienced her fair share of death in her limited time in the world. Though Ruthie and her sister Lucille were raised by the same people, and have the same biological parents, their desires in life stand in stark contrast. The return of their eccentric aunt Sylvie, a transient, drives the story and redefines, at least for me, what family is, and that home is not necessarily how we have traditionally viewed it.
New Adult
FAKING IT
Cora Carmack
I’ve read lots of New Adult, since I realized this was a thing, and then I started writing them. There are so many good books, but this is my favorite because CADE. I love nice guys, and Cade is an amazingly sweet one. But he’s passionate, too, about the theater and his work and about Max. She’s been through some heavy stuff and has been working through it with varying levels of success. I adore that Cora (can I call her by her first name? We met briefly last year and the most prized possession in my office is a poster autographed by her at an RWA book signing) turned the traditional good girl/bad boy trope on its head, and instead had a tough-girl, tattooed rocker chick and the “Golden Boy” nice guy. And it gave me so many feels. All the feels. FAKING IT is the second book in the LOSING IT series, but can be read as a stand-alone. Excuse me while I go hug my Kindle and start re-reading this book...
What are your favorite books? Do they tend to be all of one type, or across different genres? Do you have as much trouble as I do deciding? Do you wish you didn’t need to sleep so you could read all the things and keep adding to your favorites shelf?
About the Author
I wrote my first book at six. A retelling of The Three Little Pigs, illustrated by my grandmother, the book was never picked up and was self-published instead, glued to cardboard with a cover fashioned from wallpaper scraps.
Today, I write stories featuring nice guys (or nice guys in-the-making) in between my other jobs writing research reports for a commercial real estate company, refereeing two young daughters, navigating the teen waters with a too-cute-for-his-own-good son, spoiling a neurotic cat, and making my darling, patient husband shake his head. I'm also an autism mom, chocolate enthusiast, sports-watcher, nacho-eater, and beer-drinker.
A Maryland native, I live in North Carolina now, but dreams of the beach fuel my fantasties, and my characters can often be found strolling in the sand or sailing along a coast.
A Maryland native, I live in North Carolina now, but dreams of the beach fuel my fantasties, and my characters can often be found strolling in the sand or sailing along a coast.
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GIVEAWAY!
Blog Tour Organized by:
Looks like an emotional read! Thanks for the introduction!
ReplyDeleteLooks great! Thanks for the giveaway! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting me on my tour! If one of you win the book, I really hope you enjoy it. :)
ReplyDeleteLooks great! I love the cover!
ReplyDeleteDian - I was giddy when I got the cover from the publisher. I was all 'LOOK AT THE PRETTY' and wanted to send to everyone. It was misery not being able to share until my official cover reveal. :)
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