Tag: blog tour

Home or Away by Kathleen West {Publication Day Blog Tour!}

~ Genevieve

{Berkley Publishing #Partner. Thank you for my gifted copy of Home or Away and for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour. }

Home or Away Kathleen West

Home or Away by Kathleen West

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫⁣

I was first introduced to author Kathleen West’s writing style when I read her 2020 novel Minor Dramas and Catastrophes. One of the sub-genres of #ContemporaryFiction I have come to so enjoy is #ParentingFiction. 🙌⁣

Maybe it is because I am smack dab in this stage, but I love books that take on the intricacies to a season of life. The worries, the relationships and the daily struggles that we all can relate to, even if our stories look really different from the outside. And this book takes on competitive youth sports, in particular, hockey! 🏒⁣

Home or Away

Book Synopsis:

Two friends, one Olympic dream, and the choice that stood in the way.

Once Leigh and Susy were close friends and teammates bound for Olympic hockey gold, but when Leigh’s sure-fire plan to make the final roster backfired, she left everything behind to start over, including the one person who knew her secret.

Two decades later, Leigh’s a successful investment banker, happily married, and the mom of a hockey prodigy, so when a career opportunity lands the family back in Minnesota, Leigh takes the shot for her kid. Back in the ultra-competitive world she left behind, the move puts her in Susy’s orbit, a daily reminder of how Leigh watched from the sidelines as her former teammate went on to Olympic glory. 

Despite the coldness between them, Susy can’t help but hope that Leigh might lace up her skates and join her in the coaches’ box – after all Leigh knows better than anyone how hard it is to be a woman in this world.  Susy knows soon her daughter, Georgie, will be seen as a “girl athlete,” relegated to the B team, with less support and opportunity to advance. 

But Leigh believes keeping Susy at arms’ length is the only way to hide her history with her former coach Jeff Carlson. When he hints of new favors in exchange for her son’s ice time, Leigh is caught in the ultimate bind: Come clean about what happened when she was an Olympic hopeful and risk her marriage or play Jeff’s game. In a moment of desperation, Leigh realizes the one person she thought was her biggest competitor – her former teammate – might turn out to be her biggest ally.”

You can purchase your copy HERE. (affiliate link)

Growing up, I was on the swim team, played field hockey and participated in track and field. And while I was not particularly great at any of them (and also, you didn’t have to be then…🙃) I do have the best memories of being a part of these teams. 👯‍♀️⁣

⁣And one of the most unexpected joys of this stage of parenting is being a part of these communities once again…I may just be counting down the days until baseball season officially begins! But as we have progressed further into these sports (our oldest is in middle school) there also comes the very real competitive edge, and the lengths families (parents?) go to to be “the best”…🏆🤯⁣

⁣”Told with Kathleen West’s trademark wit and compassion, Home or Away is a story about overcoming our pasts, confronting our futures, and the sustaining bonds of female friendship.”

Book Club Recommendation!

⁣West shines at character building and sharing the gray areas of life..which also means this book would make for a great #BookClubRead! This book packs a punch and also kept me turning the pages until the very end. This title hits book store shelves today (3.29.22!) and highly recommend adding this book to your spring reading list!

Disclosure: Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!

Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer {Publication Week Blog Book Tour}

~ Genevieve ~ Leave a comment

blog tour

Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer

Published April 14th, 2020

Amazon LinkAmazon Link | LibroFM Bookstore Link

Today is my stop on the publication week blog book tour for the Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer! I read an advanced copy of this book back in January and I am still thinking about it today.

The Things We Cannot Say

Kelly Rimmer

Last year I was introduced to author Kelly Rimmer by one of my book reviewing friends. I devoured The Things We Cannot Say and was blown away by Rimmer’ ability to share multi-faceted characters that felt so real and raw while also diving into a heartbreaking part of our not so distant history. When I saw that Rimmer was publishing a new book in 2020 I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

My Thoughts:

Truths I Never Told You captivated me from the very beginning. The topics in this book were something I could personally relate to. While this might not be the case for all readers, I think this is a powerful and important read either way. In the age of new parenthood being portrayed in such a polished (and often super unrelatable or not totally honest manner) on social media, this book was just so spot-on and important.

I was super impressed with Rimmer’s ability to write about the struggles of new motherhood when dealing with some of the mental health issues and general ambivalence that can arise and are often not talked about. This is something that is starting to be more common in nonfiction writing about motherhood but not in such a readable fiction format.

More About the Book:

historical fiction

Truths I Never Told You alternates between Beth, a new mother in the mid-1990s and her mother Grace who was struggling immensely in the 1950s with raising her four young children. Just like in The Things We Cannot Say, there is a family mystery element that keeps us guessing until the very end. This part of the book is woven so beautifully between the layers of family dynamics and the important complexities of her carefully crafted and multifaceted characters.

Author Kelly Rimmer…

Kelly Rimmer is absolutely amazing at writing stories that are both compelling and nuanced. She doesn’t shy away from interweaving thought-provoking and sometimes very challenging topics while also being absolute page-turners.

Book Summary:

genthebookworm-1-31

After finding disturbing journal pages that suggest her late mother didn’t die in a car accident as her father had always maintained, Beth Walsh begins a search for answers to the question — what really happened to their mother? With the power and relevance of Jodi Picoult and Lisa Jewell, Rimmer pens a provocative novel told by two women a generation apart, the struggles they unwittingly shared, and a family mystery that may unravel everything they believed to be true.

With her father recently moved to a care facility because of worsening signs of dementia, Beth Walsh volunteers to clear out the family home to prepare it for sale. Why shouldn’t she be the one, after all? Her three siblings are all busy with their families and successful careers, and Beth is on maternity leave after giving birth to Noah, their miracle baby. It took her and her husband Hunter years to get pregnant, but now that they have Noah, Beth can only feel panic. And leaving Noah with her in-laws while she pokes about in their father’s house gives her a perfect excuse not to have to deal with motherhood.

Beth is surprised to discover the door to their old attic playroom padlocked, and even more shocked to see what’s behind it – a hoarder’s mess of her father’s paintings, mounds of discarded papers, and miscellaneous junk. Her father was the most fastidious, everything-in-its-place man, and this chaos makes no sense. As she picks through the clutter, she finds a handwritten note attached to one of the paintings, in what appears to be in her late mother’s handwriting. Beth and her siblings grew up believing Grace Walsh died in a car accident when they were little more than toddlers, but this note suggests something much darker may be true. A frantic search uncovers more notes, seemingly a series of loose journal entries that paint a very disturbing portrait of a woman in profound distress, and of a husband that bears very little resemblance to the father Beth and her siblings know.

A fast-paced, harrowing look at the fault in memories and the lies that can bond families together – or tear them apart.

All in all, this is a must-read and I already know it will be one of my top books of 2020.

Thank you to HarperCollins and Graydon House Books for an advanced copy and for including me on this blog tour. All opinions are my own.

Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. In addition, whenever possible, I will be including the LibroFM bookstore link alongside any other referral links. This allows you to purchase the book from your choice of independent bookstores. 

 

You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley | Berkley Publishing | Blog Tour & Book Giveaway! {Gen The Bookworm Book Review}

~ Genevieve ~ Leave a comment

Colleen Oakley

You Were There Too by Colleen Oakley

Book Summary:

Acclaimed author Colleen Oakley delivers a heart-wrenching and unforgettable love story about a woman who must choose between the man she loves and the man fate has chosen for her, in a novel that reminds us that the best life is one led by the heart.

Mia Graydon’s life looks picket-fence perfect; she has the house, her loving husband, and dreams of starting a family. But she has other dreams too—unexplained, recurring ones starring the same man. Still, she doesn’t think much of it, until a relocation to small-town Pennsylvania brings her face to face with the stranger she has been dreaming about for years. And this man harbors a jaw-dropping secret of his own—he’s been dreaming of her too. 

Determined to understand, Mia and this not-so-stranger search for answers. But when diving into their pasts begins to unravel her life in the present, Mia emerges with a single question—what if?

Publication Date:

January 7th, 2020

Genre:

Family Life Fiction/Romance

My Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣

My Review:

You Were There too Colleen Oakley

You Were There Too 

You Were There Too is a unique take on the regular contemporary romance novel and I was very excited when Berkley asked me to be a part of the Blog Tour this past fall.

It was one of those books that when I saw that it included elements of dreams I wasn’t sure exactly where it was going to go. Anything that takes on a more fantastical side can sometimes lose me quickly as a reader. I am so glad I hung on though!

This book was so much more emotional and the characters had a depth that made this book one of those ones I felt super connected to. The dream elements added so much to the storyline, I think because there were so many “real life” issues and situations that pulled it into reality for me.

This book was a lot more emotional than I was expecting and wasn’t always an easy read. The storyline was full of smaller twists and turns that kept me guessing and I just loved the uniqueness of this one. If you are looking for a book to get swept away with and is also super thought-provoking at the same time, this is it!

Book Giveaway!

Gen The Bookworm book giveaway

You Were There Too will be published tomorrow, Tuesday, January 7th, 2020 and I am partnering with Berkley Publishing to share a copy of You Were There Too with one of my readers. You can enter my BOOK GIVEAWAY over on my Gen The Bookworm Facebook Page right now!

Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!

 

 

 

 

The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey | Thomas Dunne Books {Gen The Bookworm Book Review}

~ Genevieve ~ 1 Comment

 

The Glittering Hour

The Glittering Hour by Iona Grey

Book Summary:

Award-winning author Iona Grey’s next unforgettable historical about true love found and lost and the secrets we keep from one another

Selina Lennox is a Bright Young Thing. Her life is a whirl of parties and drinking, pursued by the press and staying on just the right side of scandal, all while running from the life her parents would choose for her.

Lawrence Weston is a penniless painter who stumbles into Selina’s orbit one night and can never let her go even while knowing someone of her stature could never end up with someone of his. Except Selina falls hard for Lawrence, envisioning a life of true happiness. But when tragedy strikes, Selina finds herself choosing what’s safe over what’s right.

Spanning two decades and a seismic shift in British history as World War II approaches, Iona Grey’s The Glittering Hour is an epic novel of passion, heartache, and loss.

About the Author:

Iona Grey is the author of the award-winning Letters to the Lost. She has a degree in English Literature and Language from Manchester University, an obsession with history and an enduring fascination with the lives of women in the twentieth century. She lives in rural Cheshire with her husband and three daughters.

Publication Date:

December 10th, 2019

Genre:

Historical Fiction/Romance

My Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫⁣

My Review:

Iona Grey

The Glittering Hour 

This past fall I was invited to participate in the St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books Blog Tour for the upcoming December release, The Glittering Hour. One of the wonderful things about reading advanced copies of books is that a lot of times I get to read books before they have been super hyped up, which means I go into it without a lot of expectations either way!

I went into this book not really knowing anything about the plotline or author’s previous writing (Letters to The Lost in 2015). I was immediately entranced by the vividly detailed characters and storyline and loved being immersed in the mid-1920s and 1930s.

Told in a dual storyline, we meet the main characters Selina, and her daughter Alice. I love getting the backstory to themes and storylines and so this back and forth really worked for me.  I so enjoyed following along on this treasure hunt of secrets alongside Alice. This book was not only beautifully written but totally engaging from the very beginning. 

The Glittering Hour has an “unlikely love story” that skews this one more towards the romance genre than just historical fiction and it was one of my favorite parts of this book. All the characters were well developed and multifaceted which made me feel like I was a part of this journey with them.  I loved the themes of hidden secrets, family dynamics, love and loss that made this book and characters so memorable. The ending was emotional and super satisfying and I can’t wait to hear other people’s thoughts now that it is out in the world!

Book Giveaway!

I will be sharing a social media post later today with a chance to enter my BOOK GIVEAWAY for The Glittering Hour, so stay tuned!

Glittering Hour Blog Tour - Facebook

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for inviting me to be a part of this Blog Tour and for providing me with an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!

 

 

 

Floating in the Neversink by Andrea Simon | Blog Book Tour {Book Review}

~ Genevieve ~ Leave a comment

Floating in the Neversink by Andrea Simon

Floating in the Neversink by Andrea Simon

Book Summary:

In the summer of 1955, nine-year-old Amanda Gerber tearfully leaves her best friend, Francine, and their adventurous life on her block in Brooklyn’s Flatbush. She joins her cantankerous family on the long, hot drive to her grandmother’s home in the Catskill Mountains among the city’s Jews who flock to countless hotels and bungalow colonies in the heyday of the Borscht Belt. In the idyllic mountains, Amanda becomes ensconced in the tumult of her extended family and their friends, often seeking solace in the woods with her beloved cousin Laura.

Through the following summers, interspersed with the heightened drama of her emotionally charged city life, Mandy faces severe tests to her survival mechanisms, including the pain of loss, abuse, and betrayal, while family secrets threaten to disrupt her life even further. A novel-in-stories, Floating in the Neversink is a testament to the power of survival, friendship, and love.

Publication Date:

October 2nd, 2019

Genre:

Historical Fiction/Coming of Age Fiction

My Rating:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My Review:

Gen The Bookworm

Floating in the Neversink

I am always drawn to coming of age books and was intrigued when I read that Floating in the Neversink was a novel told through a collection of “coming of age” stories. The narrator is a pre-teen living in the mid-1950s. Nine-year-old Mandy travels to the Catskills with her family and is mourning the loss of her best friend Francine and life back at home in Brooklyn.

While I have never been to the Catskills, author Andrea Simon’s detailed writing helped me imagine what daily life looked like during this time. The 1950s Borscht Belt was detailed so beautifully that I felt transported there myself. Simon’s writing also brought back memories of my own summer adventures at a child.

While many of the stories include light-hearted moments and observations, there are heavier topics interspersed that give this book a level of depth and introspection. I especially loved how mental health and abuse were covered in a thoughtful yet powerful manner. The stories weaved together childhood friendship, loyalty, secrets, betrayal and finding your true self and voice.

I found that the “story format” worked well with Mandy narrating a snapshot of her life. These stories included many things that a preteen would be focusing on while also incorporating the darker parts of her daily life. In a time when many more complicated issues were often “swept under the rug” and not discussed, this was a fascinating way of sharing this story.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy and Rachel from Over The River PR for inviting me to be a part of this blog book tour. You can see the other stops on this tour HERE.