REVIEW: Ruthless: Pretty Little Liars (Book 10) by Sara Shepard

Ok, I know that I am 33 years old and I should be reading very sophisticated novels, but I have my "go to" authors and series that I really cannot wait to read, despite the fact that they are not the most sophisticated novels.  Pretty Little Liars is one of those series that I gobble up.  I love that Shepard makes me feel like a teen again when I read the books.  I love the suspense and the twists and turns that the novels are known for.  I am glad that the series was continued after it looked like it may have ended.  I am also happy for the Shepard's success, not only for the books, but also the spin off TV show The Pretty Little Liars airing on ABC Family, which I am also a fan.  I recommend this series if you want to feel like a teen again, want to enjoy a quick read or want to read an enjoyable YA novel.

Book Description

Publication Date: December 6, 2011 | Series: Pretty Little Liars (Book 10

For years scandal has rocked Rosewood, Pennsylvania—and high school seniors Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer have always been at the center of the drama. They’ve lost friends, been targeted by a ruthless stalker named A, and narrowly escaped death. And it’s not over yet.

Aria’s love life is on the fritz. Emily’s exploring her wild side. Hanna’s kissing the enemy. And someone from Spencer’s past—someone she never thought she’d see again—is back to haunt her.

But none of that compares to what happened last spring break. It’s their darkest secret yet and guess who found out? Now A is determined to make them pay for their crime, and the only thing scarier than A is the fear that maybe, just maybe, they deserve what’s coming to them.

NOTE:  This is book 8 for my CLP Reading Challenge

Buy it HERE

A post for my brother: Mother Theresa-DO IT ANYWAY

A while back I was able to donate my stem cells to help cure by brother's cancer.  Today, my brother will receive the stem cells during a stem cell transplant.  Today I want to take a moment to say how much I love my brother.  He is one of the most amazing people you could ever meet.  I admire his strength, courage and positive outlook.  Today I pray that he will find the strength in the upcoming days and weeks to fight and beat this cancer.  I am dedicating this post to my big brother, my hero!!!  This poem captures Chad's personality, no matter what life throws at him he continues to be a person who lives his life with integrity.  

DO IT ANYWAY:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

What's new with New York Times Best Selling Author LESLEY KAGEN

Q.  Can you tell me about what you are working on now?

A. My newest story is called THE MARE'S NEST.   

Q.   How does this book differ from your other books?

A. I have written four books. Three with child narrators, and one told through the eyes of a young woman with brain damage. This time out, I wanted to try my hand at a tale told from an adult point of view. Specifically, a mom's.  Mothers and daughters, their relationship can be complicated.  I wanted to explore the bond I have with my daughter, and also the one I had with my mother.

Q.  What are some of the challenges that you face when you start a new book?

A. Doubt.  It's always the biggest hurdle.  Can I get what's in my head and heart onto the page?  Will I improve as a writer through the telling?  Will readers fall in love with the characters?  The setting?  The story?

Q.  What are some of the challenges you are facing with your newest work?

A. THE MARE'S NEST is based on a true story and primarily set in the horse world. Being a great mom has always been at the top of my list, so coming to terms with some of my past parenting mistakes had me wishing for a do-over.  I've adored horses my whole life, and they're my daughter's passion as well, so remembering the ways our love was batted around by some pretty evil cats---hurt.  And made me see red all over again.  THE MARE'S NEST is a redemptive tale, but also a cautionary one.  As the title suggests, the horse world can be a tangled mess of duplicity and not at all what it seems. The story also gives a behind the scenes look at some of the aspects of the sport, that to the best of my knowledge, haven't been brought to light.  So I'm also wondering what the repercussions will be, if any.

Q.  Can you explain what happens to a manuscript after it is written?

A. I like to send my initial draft to a carefully chosen six or seven first readers. This time round, I needed to get other moms' feedback.  (Like yours:)  I also wanted to hear from a few non-horse people. When you've been involved with these critters as long as I have, it's critical to keep in mind readers who know nothing about the world. It was important to me to make the story appealing to them as well. And my daughter, I needed to hear what she had to say, of course. I can always count on her to give me the whole truth and nothing but.  I wish my mother was still alive. I would've loved to have her take on it as well.  After I consider the first readers criticisms and comments, if I think they're valid, I use them.  I then send the manuscript off to my agent.  She reads and offers suggestions, which I consider, and, once again, if I think they're spot on, will incorporate her thoughts.  When we have something she thinks a publisher would be interested in, she submits the manuscript to a list of editors.  (This is the part of the process during which authors clean their kitchen floors with toothbrushes or eat box after box of chocolate covered cherries.)  If we're lucky, and an editor makes an offer, hopefully, a good one, my agent and I accept. From that point on...the editor and I work on the story together.  When we get it to the point that both of us are mostly happy---there is a lot of compromise---we put it to bed. In around a year, the book will be released.  And then the work of getting the word out begins! 

Q.  What can readers do to help their favorite authors get great books onto the bookshelves in their favorite bookstores?

A. Support books you love. Write reviews on Amazon.com, B&N.com and Goodreads, or wherever you can. Tell your friends!  Word of mouth is the best advertising.  Ask a bookstore owner or manager if they would be able to host an author. I love visiting stores, and attending events at my local bookshop.

Q.  Can you explain to us the importance of book sellers to authors?

A. It's all about the personal touch.  Book sellers share their knowledge, provide a cozy place to learn about new books, and support writers with reviews and events.  It's a community that I love and cannot imagine not being a part of. 

Q.  Anything you want to say to the followers of Mrs. Mommy Booknerd?

A. I'd like to thank them for their support, their encouragement.  Their kind words mean the world to me.  Hugs.

See more on Lesley HERE
Head over to Facebook and "LIKE" her HERE
Buy Lesley's books HERE

Upcoming reads I cannot wait for!

BETWEEN THE LINES:



Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 2012

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult and her teenage daughter present their first-ever novel for teens, filled with romance, adventure, and humor.

What happens when happily ever after…isn’t?

Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.
And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.




SUMMERLAND:



Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 2012

A warm June evening, a local tradition: the students of Nantucket High have gathered for a bonfire on the beach. But what begins as a graduation night celebration ends in tragedy after a horrible car crash leaves the driver of the car, Penny Alistair, dead, and her twin brother in a coma. The other passengers, Penny's boyfriend Jake and her friend Demeter, are physically unhurt - but the emotional damage is overwhelming, and questions linger about what happened before Penny took the wheel.

As summer unfolds, startling truths are revealed about the survivors and their parents - secrets kept, promises broken, hearts betrayed. Elin Hilderbrand explores the power of community, family, and honesty, and proves that even from the ashes of sorrow, new love can still take flight.




NEXT BEST THING:

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2012

Blockbuster #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner returns with an irresistible story about a young woman trying to make it in Hollywood…At twenty-three, Ruth Saunders headed west with her seventy-year-old grandma in tow, hoping to be hired as a television writer. Four years later, she’s hit the jackpot when she gets The Call: the sitcom she wrote, The Next Best Thing, has gotten the green light, and Ruthie’s going to be the show-runner. But her dreams of Hollywood happiness are threatened by demanding actors, number-crunching executives, an unrequited crush on a boss, and her grandmother’s impending nuptials. 

Set against the fascinating backdrop of Los Angeles show business culture, with an insider’s ear and eye for writer’s rooms, bad behavior backstage and set politics, Jennifer Weiner’s new novel is a rollicking ride on the Hollywood rollercoaster and a heartfelt story about what it’s like for a young woman to love, and lose, in the land where dreams come true.


ANOTHER PIECE OF MY HEART:




Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2012

From the New York Times bestselling author of JEMIMA J, and THE BEACH HOUSE, comes Jane Green’s most emotional and powerful novel yet:  a story that explores the complications of a woman marrying into a ready-made family, and the true meaning of motherhood.

Andi has spent much of her adult life looking for the perfect man, and at thirty-seven, she's finally found him.  Ethan--divorced with two daughters, Emily and Sophia--is a devoted father and even better husband.  Always hoping one day she would be a mother, Andi embraces the girls like they were her own. But in Emily’s eyes, Andi is an obstacle to her father’s love, and Emily will do whatever it takes to break her down. When the dynamics between the two escalate, they threaten everything Andi believes about love, family, and motherhood—leaving both women standing at a crossroad in their lives…and in their hearts.

 
ANOTHER PIECE OF MY HEART is a novel that illuminates the nuances and truths about relationships and is Jane Green at her absolute best. 

WHERE WE BELONG:

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2012

The author of five blockbuster novels, Emily Giffin, delivers an unforgettable story of two women, the families that make them who they are, and the longing, loyalty and love that binds them together

Marian Caldwell is a thirty-six year old television producer, living her dream in New York City. With a fulfilling career and satisfying relationship, she has convinced everyone, including herself, that her life is just as she wants it to be. But one night, Marian answers a knock on the door . . . only to find Kirby Rose, an eighteen-year-old girl with a key to a past that Marian thought she had sealed off forever. From the moment Kirby appears on her doorstep, Marian’s perfectly constructed world—and her very identity—will be shaken to its core, resurrecting ghosts and memories of a passionate young love affair that threaten everything that has come to define her.

For the precocious and determined Kirby, the encounter will spur a process of discovery that ushers her across the threshold of adulthood, forcing her to re-evaluate her family and future in a wise and bittersweet light. As the two women embark on a journey to find the one thing missing in their lives, each will come to recognize that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves—a place that we may have willed ourselves to forget, but that the heart remembers forever.




LONE WOLF:

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2012

A life hanging in the balance . . . a family torn apart. The #1 internationally bestselling author Jodi Picoult tells an unforgettable story about family secrets, love, and letting go.

In the wild, when a wolf knows its time is over, when it knows it is of no more use to its pack, it may sometimes choose to slip away. Dying apart from its family, it stays proud and true to its nature. Humans aren’t so lucky.

Luke Warren has spent his life researching wolves. He has written about them, studied their habits intensively, and even lived with them for extended periods of time. In many ways, Luke understands wolf dynamics better than those of his own family. His wife, Georgie, has left him, finally giving up on their lonely marriage. His son, Edward, twenty-four, fled six years ago, leaving behind a shattered relationship with his father. Edward understands that some things cannot be fixed, though memories of his domineering father still inflict pain. Then comes a frantic phone call: Luke has been gravely injured in a car accident with Edward’s younger sister, Cara.

Suddenly everything changes: Edward must return home to face the father he walked out on at age eighteen. He and Cara have to decide their father’s fate together. Though there’s no easy answer, questions abound: What secrets have Edward and his sister kept from each other? What hidden motives inform their need to let their father die . . . or to try to keep him alive? What would Luke himself want? How can any family member make such a decision in the face of guilt, pain, or both? And most importantly, to what extent have they all forgotten what a wolf never forgets: that each member of a pack needs the others, and that sometimes survival means sacrifice?

Another tour de force by Picoult, Lone Wolf brilliantly describes the nature of a family: the love, protection, and strength it can offer—and the price we might have to pay for those gifts. What happens when the hope that should sustain a family is the very thing tearing it apart?

Book Description

Publication Date: April 10, 2012

Lisa Scottoline has delivered taut thrillers with a powerful emotional wallop in her New York Times bestsellers Save Me, Think Twice, and Look Again. Now, with her new novel, Come Home, she ratchets up the suspense with the riveting story of a mother who sacrifices her future for a child from her past.

Jill Farrow is a typical suburban mom who has finally gotten her and her daughter's lives back on track after a divorce. She is about to remarry, her job as a pediatrician fulfills her---though it is stressful---and her daughter, Megan, is a happily over-scheduled thirteen-year-old juggling homework and the swim team.

But Jill’s life is turned upside down when her ex-stepdaughter, Abby, shows up on her doorstep late one night and delivers shocking news: Jill’s ex-husband is dead. Abby insists that he was murdered and pleads with Jill to help find his killer. Jill reluctantly agrees to make a few inquiries and discovers that things don’t add up. As she digs deeper, her actions threaten to rip apart her new family, destroy their hard-earned happiness, and even endanger her own life. Yet Jill can’t turn her back on a child she loves and once called her own.

Come Home reads with the breakneck pacing of a thriller while also exploring the definition of motherhood, asking the questions: Do you ever stop being a mother? Can you ever have an ex-child? What are the limits to love of family?  

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Q&A with author Kate Buckley

Q.  What inspires your writing?

A.    Much of the inspiration for my writing comes from the work I’ve done with children and families over the years. I began writing while living in LA where I developed and wrote screenplays, mostly about women and family issues. While in LA I worked for THAW (Theatre of Hope for Abused Women) and for the Los Angeles Commission’s TAPP (Teen Abuse Prevention Project) program in the middle and high schools. In Santa fe I’ve worked with 3 -5 year olds as a Head Start teacher and administrated a three year behavioral health grant program called Life Skills in the public middle schools. For the last five years I’ve taught PEN in the Classroom writing workshops (sponsored by PEN USA in LA) to eighth and tenth graders in the Santa Fe public schools. I continue to be inspired by the teens I work with and the challenges they face in today’s world.

 

Q.  What is your favorite thing about being an author?

A.    Storytelling!  Creating characters and submerging myself in their worlds ... I love it when the characters come alive for me on the page, when they say or do something I wasn’t expecting them to!  I love it when I am deep into a book and the characters are pretty much hanging around with me all the time.  I do tend to fall in love with my characters a bit. : )

 

Q.  What is the toughest part of being an author?

 

 Being disciplined about sitting down to it every day, even when I am not ‘in the mood’ which, truthfully, I am sometimes not!  Having to ‘promote’ yourself in today’s tough market place, figuring out all the new media ways in which to do that is sometimes a challenge as well.

 

Q.  If you could not be an author, what would you do/be?

 

A. Teaching and/or working with women and children in some way.  If I had gotten a degree in psychology rather than English (which I almost did) I may have enjoyed being a psychologist.  But, I would definitely still have to write on the side!

 

Q.  What would the story of your life be entitled?

 

A.  Tough question!  Hmmm, maybe What’s next?!?

 

Q.  What is your favorite book of all time?

 

A.  Oh, wow. I love books and reading too much and have all my life to narrow it down to just one!  Right now am reading Ann Patchett’s new book, “State of Wonder” and just read “The Tiger’s Wife” by Tea Obreht. Also recently finished a book by Leah Hager Cohen called “House Lights” which I found riveting. So, am just reading all the time. For an author, it’s ‘part of the job’! But, that said, I’ve always loved “To Kill a Mockingbird” and was really affected by it when I read it in my early teens. I also think it is one of a very few books that has been made into a movie which is almost as good as the book!

 

Q.  Which character from any of your books are you most like?

 

A.  I really don’t think I am like any of my characters. 

Q.  What is your favorite season?

 

A  Autumn, if I have to choose one. I grew up on the East coast and especially loved the changing of the leaves in October. Must say that I find all seasons of the year beautiful here in Santa Fe!

 

Q.  Tell me something funny that happened while on a book tour or while promoting your book.

 

A. Nothing funny comes to mind though I have been deeply moved by girls who’ve hugged and thanked me for writing “Choices.” Also, by letters I’ve received from readers telling me how much reading Kara’s story in “Choices” has affected their lives.

 

Q.  Are you working on something new?

 

A.  Yes.  Another YA fiction, this time from the POV of a teen boy. Finished the first draft before the holidays and am gearing up now to work on some revisions.  For me, this is kind of the fun part. After I finish a first draft I put it away for awhile and when I pick it back up, it’s like seeing the story and characters from a new perspective.

 

Q.  Anything you want to say to followers of this blog or those that are just stopping by?

 

A.  I’m glad there are book bloggers like you! I’m glad there are many readers interested enough in books and reading to be followers of their sites, looking for new books to read. I want to say: Keep reading, encourage children of every age to read, keep talking about books and support your local bookstores!!

BOOK:

Buy book HERE

More on Kate HERE

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

I recently finished reading ONE FOR THE MONEY and I have to say I thought it was cute.  I enjoyed Stephanie and thought she was quite funny.  I thought some of the situations Stephanie faced were interesting and fun to read.  I really liked the supporting characters as well.  I like to read book from time to time that you don't have to think too hard about while reading it.  I am not sure I liked the book well enough to continue reading the rest of the series, but it was a cute read.  I am a person that MUST read a book before seeing the movie.  I am excited to have a girls night out planned involving dinner and the movie ONE FOR THE MONEY.  

Book Description

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 2011 | Series: Stephanie Plum

The dynamite blockbuster that started it all—now a major motion picture starring Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum!


ONE FINE MESS
Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to wiseguys, average Joes, and Stephanie Plum, who sports a big attitude and even bigger money problems (since losing her job as a lingerie buyer for a department store). Stephanie needs cash—fast—but times are tough, and soon she’s forced to turn to the last resort of the truly desperate: family...

ONE FALSE MOVE
Stephanie lands a gig at her sleazy cousin Vinnie’s bail bonding company. She’s got no experience. But that doesn’t matter. Neither does the fact that the bail jumper in question is local vice cop Joe Morelli. From the time he first looked up her dress to the time he first got into her pants, to the time Steph hit him with her father’s Buick, M-o-r-e-l-l-i has spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e. And now the hot guy is in hot water—wanted for murder...

ONE FOR THE MONEY
Abject poverty is a great motivator for learning new skills, but being trained in the school of hard knocks by people like psycho prizefighter Benito Ramirez isn’t. Still, if Stephanie can nab Morelli in a week, she’ll make a cool ten grand. All she has to do is become an expert bounty hunter overnight—and keep herself from getting killed before she gets her man...

NOTE:  This is book 7 for my CLP Reading Challenge

Inspirational Quote

Life.  This is for all my friends who are looking for some inspiration right now!