#MMBBR #Reviews #FirstLine @BetteLeeCrosby #SilverThreads #BeyondTheCarousel @bentpinepublish

Book 5 of 5 in the Memory House Series

WINNER 2017 NEXT GENERATION BOOK AWARD...A family saga about picking up the pieces of a broken life and allowing your heart to love again.

When Drew's wife is killed he is left with a traumatized daughter and an almost impossible work schedule. Trying his best to simply hang onto his sanity and his job, he is at a loss when Brooke claims the man who murdered her mama is coming back for her.

He needs a miracle, the kind of miracle that comes from the silver threads that connect one stranger to another. When a small stone of happiness is dropped onto his scale of life, Drew is offered a job transfer that brings him and his daughter to Burnsville.

During their stay at Memory House, Brooke meets a new friend and learns to overcome her fear. This new friend just might be able to turn Drew's life around, that is if he's willing to make time enough to meet her.

A family saga that touches the heart and brings back some of the Memory House reader's favorite characters.

MY REVIEW:

#FirstLine ~ On the day Jennifer Green was born, a pile of stones was placed alongside her scale of life.

This book was so very good.  Crosby has an amazing way of developing her characters.  You cannot help but be moved by their stories, their struggles and their accomplishments.  You are brought into the lives of characters , some are new and some you have seen before from previous books in this series.  There is nothing but heart in this book.  You are left feeling satisfied by the bits of magic and faith that are sprinkled in the pages.  A great and fulfilling read.

Book 5 of 5 in the Wyattsville Series

From an award-winning USA TODAY Bestselling Author...a soulful Southern saga about a perfect family in an imperfect world...

Laura Wilkes has everything a woman could want when she snaps the picture of her five-year-old daughter on the carousel. Each time the carousel comes around Laura snaps another picture, seven in all. This is a day of unforgettable happiness; one of the few Laura has left.

In the months following the stock market crash the family is beset by tragedy. A homicide that goes unpunished. It's the height of the depression and there are hoards of faceless, nameless men living in train yards and back alleys. The murderer is never caught but the family never gives up hope of finding him.

Now twenty-five years later, Laura's daughter has fallen in love with a policeman. Jack Mahoney is a rookie with little or no power, but he's the one, the only one, who can deliver the justice the family has long awaited.

In a heartwarming family saga that stretches across three generations, and brings back Wyattsville's favorite detective, readers will get to know Jack Mahoney as a young man about to fall in love.

MY REVIEW:

#FirstLine ~ They say that every man has a story to tell, and I believe this to be true.

When somebody you love dies, you are forced to go on living...having to deal with the loss.  This story highlights all the emotions that go along with loss, tragedy and family...all tied up together.  With the tone and pace we come to love Crosby delivers another amazing story that is as much character drive as it is story driven.  Another hit!  

USA Today Bestselling and Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby's books have been southern fiction, historical fiction, and women's fiction bestsellers.

Midwest book review describes her books as "Well-crafted storytelling populated by memorable characters caught up in equally memorable circumstances."

The Seattle Post Intelligencer says Crosby's writing is, "A quirky mix of Southern flair, serious thoughts about important things in life and madcap adventures."

Samantha from Reader's Favorite raves, "Crosby writes the type of book you can't stop thinking about long after you put it down." 

"Storytelling is in my blood," Crosby laughingly admits, My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write.

It is the wit and wisdom of that Southern Mama Crosby brings to her works of fiction; the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away. Her work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. She has since gone on to win over twenty awards for her work including: The Royal Palm Literary Award, the FPA President's Book Award Gold Medal, Reader's Favorite Award Gold Medal, In'DTale RONE Award Winner, and the Reviewer's Choice Award.

Crosby's published works to date are: Beyond the Carousel (2017), Silver Threads (2016), The Regrets of Cyrus Dodd (2016), Baby Girl (2016), What the Heart Remembers (2015), The Loft (2015), Memory House (2015), Passing through Perfect (2015), Wishing for Wonderful (2014), Blueberry Hill (2014), Previously Loved Treasures (2014), Jubilee's Journey (2013), What Matters Most (2013), The Twelfth Child (2012), Life in the Land of IS (2012), Cracks in the Sidewalk (2011), Spare Change (2011).

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#MMBBR #Highlight True Story of the Ugly Duckling by #AditiPatil

With much fanfare an ugly duckling breaks out of her shell only to realize she doesn't quite fit in. Rejected by her family, she is disheartened by her reflection. She starts to believe that she truly is ugly, and doesn't deserve love. What does she do next? How does she embrace herself and the world? This powerful retelling of a classic tells the story of her journey of transformation. Delightfully illustrated, children will love it, and the insightful message will resonate with adults of all ages.

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#MMBBR #Reviews #Highlights #RoundUp #EndOfTheMonth #FirstLine @StMartinsPress @sbkslandmark ‏@AmazonPub #GrandCentralPublishing

The last few weeks we have been enjoying family time before summer ends and school starts.  Even though I have not been posting daily, I am certainly reading daily!  So here are the books that I have enjoyed this month.  When the kids are back in school I will be able to maintain the daily posting.  

Melissa Pimentel delivers smart, funny, and modern retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion, where a young woman comes face-to-face with a lost love, proving that the one that got away is sometimes the one you get back.

Ruby and Ethan were perfect for each other. Until the day they suddenly weren't.

Ten years later, Ruby's single, having spent the last decade focusing on her demanding career and hectic life in Manhattan. There's barely time for a trip to England for her little sister's wedding. And there's certainly not time to think about seeing Ethan there for the first time in years.

But as the family frantically prepare for the big day, Ruby can't help but wonder if she made the right choice all those years ago? Because there's nothing like a wedding for stirring up the past . . .

MY REVIEW:

#FirstLine ~ It was a Monday night.  

This book was an interesting twist on the book Persuasion.  I am not one of those readers that is a Jane Austen fangirl, but I do appreciate the writing, stories and characters.  Pimentel has done a great job taking the classic story and making it modern and applicable to today's time.  It was one of those books that slowly pulled me in and did not let go.  I found myself fully engaged in the story, genuinely wanting to know what was going to happen.  This book asks and explores the million dollar question:  What would have happened if I chose a different path?  

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A #1 international bestseller in the vein of Fredrik Bachman's A Man Called Ove: an irresistible, funny, charming, and tender-hearted tale about friendship, love, and an old man who is young at heart.

"FUNNY AND FRANK...A STORY WITH A GREAT DEAL OF HEART."--Graeme Simsion, New York Times bestselling author of THE ROSIE PROJECT

Technically speaking, Hendrik Groen is....elderly. But at age 83 1/4, this feisty, indomitable curmudgeon has no plans to go out quietly. Bored of weak tea and potted geraniums, exasperated by the indignities of aging, Hendrik has decided to rebel--on his own terms. He begins writing an exposé: secretly recording the antics of day-to-day life in his retirement home, where he refuses to take himself, or his fellow "inmates," too seriously.

With an eccentric group of friends he founds the wickedly anarchic Old-But-Not-Dead Club--"Rule #3: No Whining Allowed"--and he and his best friend, Evert, gleefully stir up trouble, enraging the home's humorless director and turning themselves into unlikely heroes. And when a sweet and sassy widow moves in next door, he polishes his shoes, grooms what's left of his hair, and determines to savor every ounce of joy in the time he has left, with hilarious and tender consequences.

A bestselling phenomenon that has captured imaginations around the world, The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen is inspiring, charming, and laugh-out-loud funny with a deep and poignant core: a page-turning delight for readers of any age.

MY REVIEW:

#FirstLine ~ Tuesday, January 1, 2013  Another year, and I still don't like old people.  

This is one of the BEST books I have ever read.  I adored it cover-to-cover.  I laughed, was moved and was inspired to live life to the fullest.  I was so into reading this diary and was up way too late...I nearly read it in a day.  I loved the friendship, honesty, shenanigans that were highlighted in this book.  There should be a warning though, that this book will both heal your heart and break it a the same time.  There is something very important in this book, the need to focus more money, time and care to the elderly.  There is no doubt that we are failing them in their final years.  This book could change your whole perspective on life...you will certainly not be the same after you read it.   

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Two missing girls. Thirteen years apart.Olivia Shaw has been missing since last Tuesday. She was last seen outside the entrance of her elementary school in Hunts Point wearing a white spring jacket, blue jeans, and pink boots.

I force myself to look at the face in the photo, into her slightly smudged features, and I can't bring myself to move. Olivia Shaw could be my mirror image, rewound to thirteen years ago.

If you have any knowledge of Olivia Shaw's whereabouts or any relevant information, please contact...

I've spent a long time peering into the faces of girls on missing posters, wondering which one replaced me in that basement. But they were never quite the right age, the right look, the right circumstances. Until Olivia Shaw, missing for one week tomorrow.

Whoever stole me was never found. But since I was taken, there hasn't been another girl.

And now there is.

MY REVIEW:

#FirstLine ~ The night is so bright it hurts her eyes.

Wow, just wow.  This book was a complete thrill.  I was never quite sure what was going to happen, which kept my heart pounding and the pages turning.  I could not help, but feel unsettled the whole time I was reading.  Laurin is a master at taking a relevant topic and transforming it into a story that is nail bitingly suspenseful.  This is a book that will stay with me for a long, long time.   

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"Harrigan's novel, part mystery and part coming-of-age, explores the process of healing from tragedies and misunderstandings."―Publishers Weekly

A tender, yet thrilling suspense novel about a young woman who uncovers devastating secrets that will resurrect the people she lost and the lies she buried – perfect for fans of Diane Chamberlain and Ellen Marie Wiseman

Ten years ago, Julie Portland accidentally killed her best friend, Reba. What's worse is she got away with it. Consumed by guilt, she left the small town of Lawrence Mill, Mississippi, and swore nothing would ever drag her back. Now, raising her daughter and struggling to make ends meet in Manhattan, Julie still can't forget the ghost of a girl with golden hair and a dangerous secret.

When August, Reba's first love, begs Julie to come home to find the diary that Reba kept all those years ago, Julie's past comes creeping back to haunt her. That diary could expose the shameful memories Julie has been running from, but it could also unearth the hidden truths that Reba left buried...and reveal that Julie isn't the only one who feels responsible for Reba's death.

MY REVIEW:

#FirstLine ~ She only has lovers in wintertime.

A book that was crafted so perfectly and allowed the reader to get deeply immersed into the time and place that was created by Harrigan.  You cannot help but be part of the story and part of the drama as present and past collide.  Written at a pace that keeps the reader turning pages The Secrets of Southern Girls is not to be missed. 

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MR. RIGHT-SWIPE

A Tale of #LeftSwipes, #NotMyTypes, and #Vodka

Rae Wallace would rather drown in a vat of pinot greezh and be eaten by her own beagle than make another trip down the aisle--even if it is her best friend's wedding. She's too busy molding the minds of first graders and polishing that ol' novel in the drawer to waste time on any man.

But when her best friends stage an intervention, Rae is forced to give in. After all, they've hatched a plan to help her find love the 21st century way: online. She's skeptical of this electronic chlamydia catcher, but she's out to prove she hasn't been too picky with men.

However, when a familiar fella's profile pops up--the dangerously hot substitute teacher from work--Rae swipes herself right into a new problem...

Sarcastic, irreverent, and uproariously funny--the painfully-true, so-insightful-it-hurts kind of funny--Ricki Schultz's wry debut will speak to fans of Bridesmaids or Trainwreck, and to anyone who's ever been on a bad date.

#FirstLine ~ I shoot back the tequila, and it's smooth.

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THE WARDROBE MISTRESS is Meghan Masterson's fascinating and visceral debut, an inside look at Marie Antoinette's luxurious life in Versailles remarkably juxtaposed against life in third estate as the French Revolution gains strength. A propulsive exploration of love, loyalty, danger, and intrigue...not to be missed.

It's Giselle Aubry's first time at court in Versailles. At sixteen, she is one of Marie Antoinette's newest undertirewomen, and in awe of the glamorous queen and her opulent palace life. A budding designer, it's a dream come true to work with the beautiful fabrics and jewels in the queen's wardrobe. But every few weeks she returns home to visit her family in Paris where rumors of revolution are growing stronger.

From her position working in the royal household, Giselle is poised to see both sides of the revolutionary tensions erupting throughout Paris. When her uncle, a retired member of the secret du roi, a spy ring that worked for the old King, Louis XV, suggests that she casually report the Queen’s actions back to him as a game, she leaps at the chance. Spying seems like an adventure and an exciting way to privately support the revolution taking the countryside by storm. She also enjoys using her insight from Versailles in lively debates with Léon Gauvain, the handsome and idealistic revolutionary who courts her.

But as the uprising continues to gain momentum, and Giselle grows closer to the Queen, becoming one of the few trusted servants, she finds herself dangerously torn. Violence is escalating; she must choose where her loyalty truly lies, or risk losing everything...maybe even her head.

#FirstLine ~ No one looks regal or elegant in their underclothes on a cold February morning, no matter how much lace or satin trims the garment, and the queen is no exception.

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#MMBBR #Review #SmallHours by @jenkitses #GrandCentralPublishing @AmazonPub #FirstLine

In the vein of Richard Russo and Tom Perrotta, a gripping, suspenseful, and gorgeous debut novel--told hour-by-hour over the course of a single day--in which a husband and wife try to outrun long-buried secrets, sending their lives spiraling into chaos.

#FirstLine ~ They wanted to go to the playground. 

A gripping story that challenges what you think you know and wondering how far you would go to protect your life.  In a thrilling and hard to put down novel the story unfolds with thrilling details and leaves the reader glued to the page.  This book was an intense and thoughtful story that I will not soon forget. 

Jennifer Kitses earned an MLitt in creative writing from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School. She has worked as a reporter for Bloomberg News, as an editor for Columbia Business School, and as a researcher for magazines. Her writing has appeared in The New York Observer and in Akashic Books’ online series, Mondays Are Murder. She lives with her family in New York.

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#MMBBR #Review #TheDatingBender by @Christin_julian #FirstLine #LimitlessPublishingLLC

Missing the antics and hilarity of Girls?

Meet Samantha Serrano, your new favorite dysfunctional leading lady. In The Dating Bender by debut author and Napa Valley resident Christina Julian (Limitless Publishing; August 22; 978-1640340879; $15.99), Samantha stumbles from one romantic misadventure to the next, while relying all too heavily on relationship advice from glossy mags like Cosmo, Redbook, and O. You’ll laugh (and cringe) as she navigates family drama, exciting career opportunities and, humbling disasters.

Samantha was planning on a happily ever after, courtesy of an early marriage to her best friend, because that’s what good Catholic girls do. When that, quickly and shamefully, falls to pieces, she moves to Colorado where her job at a tech startup flies as high and fast as her sex life. Things look promising until she stumbles out of the boardroom and into the available arms of a colleague—who happens to be her boss.

When that relationship tanks, she ditches her dream (or is it her parents’ pipedream?) of lifelong love for a dating bender that takes her from Colorado to Manhattan and ultimately to Rome. The globetrotting adventure serves up a hefty dose of sex, angst, alcohol, and optimistic yet wrenching dysfunction—all part of the package for Samantha Serrano. There’s Superstar, the brilliant tech geek, Long John Silver, a luscious fireman-turned-soap-star-wannabe, Buff Boy, a taut surfer type, and Justin, a terrorist fighting FBI agent. When the dating bender takes an unexpected turn at the foot of the Vatican, Samantha realizes that she must let go of her family’s wishes and her own personal fears and misguided beliefs to discover who she really is and find true love.

FirstLine ~ Dad was tanked, which was no surprise, yet he stood eager and ready to walk me down the aisle.  

I enjoyed this book.  There is no good way to face your future when your past is one that was not perfect.  It is easy to follow the road that leads to self destruction because that seems like the way we are destined to go, but our future is our own to form and I loved watching Samantha grow and change and create her own path.   I could relate to this book and found it to be a quick and interesting read.  There was something very satisfying about this book.  A great read for the end of summer for early fall.

Christina Julian writes snarky rom-coms that celebrate the underdog and live to make people laugh. She adores dysfunctional leading ladies and the tangled twisty lives they lead. She adamantly believes there is nothing in life that can’t be conquered with a bodacious wine, strong cup of coffee, or a generously iced cupcake. When she is not tapping out her next novel or wrangling her 3-year-old twins, she can be found swilling and swirling in the name of research as a wine and food columnist in Napa Valley. She strives always to live her life to the extreme.

Christina’s work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Wine Enthusiast, Weddings California, California Home + Design, 7x7, Napa Valley Register, Napa Valley Life, Bohemian, Weekly Calistogan, NorthBay Biz and beyond. Connect at christinajulian.com. 

Follow her on Twitter @Christin_julian and on FB at facebook.com/ChristinaJulianAuthor

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#MMBBR #RoundUp #SCR2017 @BookSparks #FirstLine #Reviews #JulyPicks #AugustPicks #GettingCaughtUp #SummerReading

JULY/AUGUST BOOKS:  

I AM STILL WORKING THROUGH THESE AMAZING BOOKS!!  I HAVE LOVED EVERY ONE OF THE BOOKS THAT THIS CHALLENGE HAS OFFERED.  I LOVE THE VARIETY, DEPTH AND ORIGINALITY IN THESE READS.  THEY HAVE KEPT ME FULLY ENGAGED AND ENTERTAINED ALL SUMMER LONG!  HAVE YOU BEEN READING ALONG?  TELL ME WHAT YOU HAVE THOUGHT SO FAR!  WE ARE NOW INTO OUR LAST MONTH, WHICH MAKES ME SAD, BUT FALL READING IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!! 

Letting go after her abrupt break-up with Samson is harder than Julene thought it would be, especially since her ex has wasted no time in burying himself in the local dating scene. But during an extended visit to her parents overseas, Julene rediscovers her love of art, and a burgeoning career develops. Samson, on the other hand, after trying valiantly―and unsuccessfully―to forget Julene, has settled instead on his own new career. 

When Julene returns home to Australia, a coincidental meeting leads to an emotional reunion―but her love and patience will be tested when she finds out just how busy Samson has been in her absence. Yes, they have both made mistakes they can work through and move past―but when a specter from Samson’s past looms, Julene wonders: Can she trust him again?

#FirstLine  The lock disengaged and the door clicked open, squeaking gently.

REVIEW:  I am a believer is love and in second chances and this book highlights both.  A story that beautiful and moving and give all us hopeless romantics hope.

Richard and Michael, both three years sober, have just decided to celebrate their love by moving in together when Richard―driven by the desire to do the right thing for his ten-year-old-daughter, Brady, whom he has never met―impulsively calls his former father-in-law to connect with her. With that phone call, he jeopardizes the one good thing he has―his relationship with Michael―and also threatens the world of the fundamentalist Christian grandparents who love Brady and see her as payback from God for the alcohol-related death of her mother. Unable to reach an agreement, the two parties hire lawyers who have agendas far beyond the interests of the families―and Brady is initially trusted into Richard and Michael’s care. But when the judge learns that the young girl was present when a questionable act took place while in their custody, she returns Brady to her grandparents. Ultimately, it’s not until further tragedy strikes that both families are finally motivated to actually act in the “best interests of the child.”

#FirstLine  Moving in with Michael should have been perfect.

REVIEW:  No family is perfect.  No love is perfect.  This is a story of family dysfunction and the road to recovery and self exploration.  It is heartbreaking and hopeful.  A book not to be missed.

“There was a time I would have called Lisa Ko’s novel beautifully written, ambitious, and moving, and all of that is true, but it’s more than that now: if you want to understand a forgotten and essential part of the world we live in, The Leavers is required reading.” —Ann Patchett,  author of Commonwealth

Lisa Ko’s powerful debut, The Leavers, is the winner of the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Fiction, awarded by Barbara Kingsolver for a novel that addresses issues of social justice.
 
One morning, Deming Guo’s mother, Polly, an undocumented Chinese immigrant, goes to her job at a nail salon—and never comes home. No one can find any trace of her. 
With his mother gone, eleven-year-old Deming is left mystified and bereft. Eventually adopted by a pair of well-meaning white professors, Deming is moved from the Bronx to a small town upstate and renamed Daniel Wilkinson. But far from all he’s ever known, Daniel struggles to reconcile his adoptive parents’ desire that he assimilate with his memories of his mother and the community he left behind. 
Told from the perspective of both Daniel—as he grows into a directionless young man—and Polly, Ko’s novel gives us one of fiction’s most singular mothers. Loving and selfish, determined and frightened, Polly is forced to make one heartwrenching choice after another. 
Set in New York and China, The Leavers is a vivid examination of borders and belonging. It’s a moving story of how a boy comes into his own when everything he loves is taken away, and how a mother learns to live with the mistakes of the past. 
 
Lisa Ko’s fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories 2016, Apogee Journal, Narrative,Copper Nickel, the Asian Pacific American Journal, and elsewhere. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Writers OMI at Ledig House, the Jerome Foundation, and Blue Mountain Center, among others. She was born in New York City, where she now lives. Visit her at lisa-ko.com.

#FirstLine ~ The day before Deming Guo saw his mother for the last time, she surprised him at school.

A story that is important and relevant...The Leavers has impact in both message and characters.  You will be moved by the story and forever changed.

** NATIONAL BESTSELLER **

“From its startling opening line right through to its stunning conclusion, Girl in Snow is a perfectly paced and tautly plotted thriller. Danya Kukafka’s misfit characters are richly drawn, her prose is both elegant and eerie—this is an incredibly accomplished debut.” —Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train and Into the Water 

WHO ARE YOU WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING?

When a beloved high schooler named Lucinda Hayes is found murdered, no one in her sleepy Colorado suburb is untouched—not the boy who loved her too much; not the girl who wanted her perfect life; not the officer assigned to investigate her murder. In the aftermath of the tragedy, these three indelible characters—Cameron, Jade, and Russ—must each confront their darkest secrets in an effort to find solace, the truth, or both. In crystalline prose, Danya Kukafka offers a brilliant exploration of identity and of the razor-sharp line between love and obsession, between watching and seeing, between truth and memory.

Compulsively readable and powerfully moving, Girl in Snow offers an unforgettable reading experience and introduces a singular new talent in Danya Kukafka.

#FirstLine ~ When they told him Lucinda Hayes was dead, Cameron thought of her shoulder blades and how they framed her naked spine, like a pair of static lungs.  

A gripping and thrilling mystery that kept me buzzing through the pages of the book.  I found this book fully engaging and utterly entertaining.  It was one of those reads that was unlike any other book I have read.  There is something so purely human about this story...something that gets to the core of human tragedy and captures the the aftermath.  Such a hard to put down read.

 

A sly debut story collection that conjures the experience of adolescence through the eyes of Chinese American girls growing up in New York City—for readers of Zadie Smith, Helen Oyeyemi, and Junot Díaz

A fresh new voice emerges with the arrival of Sour Heart, establishing Jenny Zhang as a frank and subversive interpreter of the immigrant experience in America. Her stories cut across generations and continents, moving from the fraught halls of a public school in Flushing, Queens, to the tumultuous streets of Shanghai, China, during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. In the absence of grown-ups, latchkey kids experiment on each other until one day the experiments turn violent; an overbearing mother abandons her artistic aspirations to come to America but relives her glory days through karaoke; and a shy loner struggles to master English so she can speak to God.

Narrated by the daughters of Chinese immigrants who fled imperiled lives as artists back home only to struggle to stay afloat—dumpster diving for food and scamming Atlantic City casino buses to make a buck—these seven stories showcase Zhang’s compassion, moral courage, and a perverse sense of humor reminiscent of Portnoy’s Complaint. A darkly funny and intimate rendering of girlhood, Sour Heart examines what it means to belong to a family, to find your home, leave it, reject it, and return again.

#FirstLine ~ Back when my parents and I lived in Bushwick in a building sandwiched between a drug house and another drug house, the only difference being that the dealers in the one drug house were also the users and so more predictable.

From Danielle Paige, the New York Times bestselling author of Dorothy Must Die, comes a re-imagining of "The Snow Queen" fairy tale.

Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent the majority of her life within the walls of the Whittaker Institute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she's not crazy and doesn't belong there. When she meets a mysterious, handsome new orderly and dreams about a strange twisted tree she realizes she must escape and figure out who she really is.

Using her trusting friend Bale as a distraction, Snow breaks free and races into the nearby woods. Suddenly, everything isn't what it seems, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur, and she finds herself in icy Algid--her true home--with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai, none of whom she's sure she can trust. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she's destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change the fate of everything . . . including Snow's return to the world she once knew.

This breathtaking first volume begins the story of how Snow becomes a villain, a queen, and ultimately a hero.

#FirstLine ~ First kisses sometimes wake slumbering princesses, undo spells, and spark happily ever afters.