Review For THE SUMMER THAT MADE US By Robyn Carr

Title: The Summer That Made Us

Author: Robyn Carr

Genre: Contemporary

Rating: * * * * *

Publishers: Mira

(Sept 5, 2017)

Paperback: 336 pages

ISBN: 978-0778330868

FTC Disclosure: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

Copy provided for the purpose of providing an honest review.

 This does not affect my opinion of this book.

Mothers and daughters, sisters and cousins, they lived for summers at the lake house until a tragic accident changed everything. The Summer That Made Us is an unforgettable story about a family learning to accept the past, to forgive and to love each other again. 

That was then… 

For the Hempsteads, summers were idyllic. Two sisters who married two brothers and had three daughters each, the women would escape the city the moment school was out to gather at the family house on Lake Waseka. The lake was a magical place, a haven where they were happy and carefree. All of their problems drifted away as the days passed in sun-dappled contentment. Until the summer that changed everything.

This is now… 

After an accidental drowning turned the lake house into a site of tragedy and grief, it was closed up. For good. Torn apart, none of the Hempstead women speak of what happened that summer, and relationships between them are uneasy at best, hurtful at worst. But in the face of new challenges, one woman is determined to draw her family together again, and the only way that can happen is to return to the lake and face the truth.

This is definitely my definition of a grand beach read. The Hempstead family was the poster family for dysfunction yet their underlying love  and loyalty is unquestionable. Of the six girl cousins one is dying of cancer, one is fresh from prison, one is covering up her mental illness and the last is deal with a failing relationship and don't even get me started on their mothers. Both families used to spend the summer at their family lake home but something happened that splintered this family into tiny little pieces. The mystery interwoven with the rest of the story makes this the type of book that is very, very hard to put down and while a great beach read it's also one that you will enjoy this winter while bundled up on the couch with a fire and cup of hot chocolate.

Robyn Carr is a RITA® Award-winning, eleven-time #1 New York Times bestselling author of almost sixty novels, including the critically acclaimed Virgin River series. The third novel (THE FAMILY GATHERING) in her fan-favorite new series, Sullivan's Crossing, will be released in April 2018. Robyn is a recipient of the Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award 2016 and in 2017, VIRGIN RIVER was named one of the HarperCollins 200 Iconic Books of the past 200 years. Robyn and her husband live in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can visit Robyn Carr's website at www.RobynCarr.com.

Blog Tour/Guest Post & Giveaway For SPARKED By Helena Echlin & Malena Watrous

Sparked by Helena Echlin and Malena Watrous
Publication Date: October 3, 2017
Publisher: Geek & Sundry

Fifteen-year-old Laurel Goodwin wakes up to find her older sister Ivy missing from their Airstream trailer in the Oregon redwoods. A recurring nightmare convinces her that Ivy was abducted, but no one takes her dream seriously, including her mom. Laurel, a loner, has to learn to ask for help, and Jasper Blake, a mysterious new kid who shares her love of old books, quickly becomes her ally. Together they find their quiet town holds a deep secret and is the epicenter of a dark prophecy.

Laurel soon learns that her worst enemies, mean girls Peyton Andersen and Mei Rosen, are developing powers that she needs to find and save Ivy. With time running out, Laurel realizes that power doesn’t always take the form that you expect. And once she learns to look beyond her snap judgments, she develops an unexpected gift of her own.

Purchase Links:

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GR

Guest Post  

If you could see your series come to life on the screen, 
who do you see in any of the roles?

Book Blitz & Giveaway For THE RANGER By Brooke Sivendra

The Ranger

by Brooke Sivendra

A Deacon Thomas Novel

Publication Date: September 30, 2017

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romantic Thriller

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | iBooks

They say time heals all wounds, but that’s a lie. . .

Seven years ago, Deacon Thomas’s girlfriend was brutally murdered. Every single day, he lives with the crushing truth—they killed her to get to him. Time hasn’t healed his wounds. Not even a little. But he’s found one way to survive: to suppress the memories of her—the good and the bad.

Until now. One image changes everything, and whether he wants to or not, life is going to force him to face his past. But life is also going to give him something else: a second chance at happiness—if he can find the strength to forgive himself.

Brooke Sivendra lives in Adelaide, Australia with her husband and two furry children—Milly, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Lara, a massive Great Dane who is fifty pounds heavier than Brooke and thinks she is a lap dog!

Brooke has a degree in Nuclear Medicine and worked in the field of medical research before launching her first business at the age of twenty-six. This business grew to be Australia’s premier online shopping directory and Brooke recently sold it to focus on her writing.

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Book Blitz & GiveawayFor THE SUBURBS HAVE SECRETS By Barbara Wallace

The Suburbs Have Secrets

by Barbara Wallace

A Sadie McIntyre Mystery

Publication Date: September 11, 2017

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Read for FREE in KindleUnlimited!

Amazon

When Sadie McIntyre gives a drunken Marylou Paretsky a ride home on a rainy night, little does she realize it’s the last time anyone will see Marylou alive.
Tragic accident? Or Murder?
The following morning, Marylou is found dead at the bottom of her staircase. What first appears to be a drunken tumble becomes far more complicated as Sadie discovers Marylou wasn’t as sweet and timid as everyone thought. Turns out Marylou spent her spare time digging up dirt on her neighbors and left behind a list of their secrets. Much to her horror, Sadie’s name is right on top.
Eager to keep her past buried, Sadie, with the help of her best friend Rob and Dan Bartlett, the town’s sexy new chief of detectives, sets out to who on the list was desperate enough to kill. Will she discover the answer before the truth gets out?
Or will the killer find Sadie first?

EXCERPT

Spotlight Post/Excerpt & Giveaway For BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES by Roxanne D Howard

Batten Down the Hatches
Costa Mesa Series #1

Roxanne D Howard

Publisher: Loose Id

Release Date: Oct 25, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-68252-230-1

Genre: Contemporary, Holiday, Halloween
Cover Art by Natalie Duarte
 Design by April Martinez

Piper Goldhirsch is the head reporter for Business Buster, an Undercover Boss-esque tabloid exposé show. While it was never her dream job, it pays the bills. When she attends a masked Halloween Ball and has a passionate affair in the billiard room with a sexy costumed pirate captain who calls himself Captain Jack, what starts out as a few kind words and exchanged kisses soon transforms into the greatest sex of her life, and she’s haunted by the powerful magic between them. Piper parts ways with the mysterious stranger, and assumes she’ll never see him again… until he becomes her job’s next target.Captain Jack Spencer runs his own brand new whale watching company, Ahoy, Matey, on the outskirts of Costa Mesa and Balboa Island. He’s so good at it he’s garnered the attention of rival companies. Piper is called in by Jack’s nemesis to go undercover on an ocean tour to expose him, and reveal his alleged illegal tricks that have made his business so successful in a short amount of time. But when Piper realizes he’s the same sexy man she slept with at the Halloween Ball, she’s emotionally conflicted. Jack is unable to forget the woman from Halloween, and when they do meet up again, they can’t keep their hands off each other. It’s time to Batten Down the Hatches, because the waves are about to get wild!

EXCERPT

A knock rattled her dressing-room door.
“Goldhirsch! Get in the conference room,” Larry Gunn barked.
Piper removed her crossed ankles from the top of her vanity tabletop and glanced at the door, annoyed. She’d been focused on an article in Psychology Today about the pros and cons of one-night stands. Try as she might, she couldn’t get Captain Jack out of her head. Hell, she could still smell him, a whiff of sheer masculinity and sex. Sometimes, it felt like he held her close, like he was a phantom lover.
“Why?” she called out.
“I’ve got one for you.”
She stood up and took her jacket off the back of her chair. “Last guy said that to me got his nuts kicked in. Couldn’t walk for weeks.” She opened the door. Larry worked his gum like a cow chewing cud and looked bored.
“Yeah, look at me. I’m petrified. Get in the conference room, kid. This one should be good.”
“Weeks,” she hissed as she passed him.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Whatever it was must be serious. They had Tim Chidester, Business Buster’s private investigator they brought in for the heavier pieces, already seated, and another middle-aged man she didn’t know was also in attendance. She considered the stranger. He wore khaki shorts and a dark-blue polo shirt. She put him at somewhere in his midforties, with a red, receding hairline and thick glasses.
“Piper Goldhirsch, this is Peter Newman, owner of Newman Whale Watching Tours on Balboa Island.”
She shook the man’s hand across the table. “Nice to meet you, Peter.”
“Same here.”
She took a seat across from him and Tim and crossed her legs. “All right, let’s hear it.” Tim leaned forward and rubbed his hands together with glee, as if someone had handed him the world’s best Christmas present.
“So, to cut to the chase, Peter here says another tour company is stacking the deck.”
“That’s not what I said,” Peter snarled.
Piper leaned back and crossed her arms. “All right, why don’t you tell me what you said, then,” she said neutrally. The guy obviously had a stick up his ass about something.
“Okay. Well, on Balboa Island, there’s about eight of us whale-watching companies. We all have guidelines and laws we have to abide by, you know?”
Piper nodded, not sure where he was going.
“So, our job is to take people out and see as much wildlife in the ocean as we can within the limits of where we go. On a normal day, people will see a pod or two of dolphins, a group of sea lions, and sometimes if the gods smile on us, a whale. Ahoy, Matey is a new company. They started up less than a year ago by this young marine biology flunky.”
Spittle flew out of Peter’s lips as he talked about the man. Did this come down to some sort of personal vendetta? She steered clear of exposé pieces like that, as they were usually masked cat fights.
“Within eight months, the company went from obscurity on the bottom rung to land the best reviews and the most bookings on the island.”
Piper frowned. “So, how is it you think he’s corrupt? What if he’s just a good businessman?”
Peter rubbed his forehead and looked pissed. “Because out there, on the water, it’s not about business politics. It’s how capable you are as a boat captain. They claim they spot whales every single day, on every single outing, which is unheard of. Look, whales, they migrate, okay? You’re lucky to spot one or two a day, on a good day. This guy’s claimed to see blues, minks, and humpbacks, which are an endangered species and rarely come inland. He’s luring them, mark my word. My bet is he’s got buckets of krill he uses—”
Piper furrowed her eyebrows, confused. “What’s krill? I know next to nothing about marine biology.”
“Shrimplike plankton.”
Larry supplied her with the info as Tim slid an 8x10 glossy photo of what looked like cocktail shrimp across the table at her.
“This is krill. Peter thinks the Ahoy, Matey captain has his first and second mates pour buckets of these guys into the water while the boat’s in motion to attract more whales and up the stakes. The California Whale Watching Guidelines state it’s illegal to interfere, feed, or harass marine mammals. If this guy does, or he has a way to get the whales up close to spotlight his business, he could be sued for animal endangerment, and it goes against countless state and federal laws.”
“Yes, exactly,” Peter squeaked. “Exactly. Thank you.”
Piper curled her finger around her chin and contemplated what she’d heard. “Do you have any evidence of this?”
“No, but I’ve been around. Listen, I’ve been a tour guide on Balboa Island for over fifteen years now. No way is this guy that good. If you go out there and record him like you do on your shows, I bet you’ll get something.”
Larry put his hand on the table. “Peter, would you step out of the room for a few minutes? We need to discuss this with Piper. There’s an espresso machine down the hall and some pastries, if you want to help yourself.”
Peter looked between them. “Sure.”
He stood and leered at Piper. She inwardly cringed as he checked her out.
“I love your show, Miss Goldhirsch. I’ve seen every episode.”
“Thank you,” she said thinly.
When he was gone, she looked at Tim across the table. “I don’t think there’s enough of a story here, and I’m getting weird vibes off this guy. This is complete speculation on his part and what amounts to legal hearsay. Most people at least have texts, videos, an audio recording, something. This guy has no evidence other than an obvious massive chip on his shoulder.”
Tim held up a finger with a sharklike grin. “I don’t disagree, Piper, but hear me out. I did some digging, and there’s more to the Ahoy, Matey captain than meets the eye.”
He slid a closed manila folder across the table to her. She opened it, and Larry leaned over her shoulder to peer at it.
“Do you mind?” she sassed. She often had to assert the upper hand with Larry. Thank God for her take-no-prisoners Jewish backbone. “Or does my personal space mean nothing?”
Larry put his hands up and backed off.
“Thank you.” She looked down at a black-and-white photo, a side profile of a very handsome guy in an open-throated denim shirt. He leaned over a metal rail and stared out at the ocean with a soulful look about him. He appeared to be around her age in his midthirties, clean shaven with a strong jawline, straight nose, and short, thick brown hair tousled from the wind. “He’s cute.”
“That’s Captain Jack,” said Tim.
Piper’s imagination went into overdrive as memories of last night crashed over her, the way he’d pounded into her and caressed her. She stared hard at the photo. Was it him? The side profile made it hard to tell. “If you start singing ‘The Princess Pat,’ I might have to join in.” Her voice shook as she tried to decipher from the features if it could be him. The crooked, sexy smile did look familiar. Very familiar. Oh, shit.

Roxanne D. Howard is an author with Loose Id. She has two titles published and one series coming out over the holidays. She is a U.S. Army veteran, and has a bachelor's degree in Psychology and English. She loves to read poetry, classical literature, and Stephen King. She is also an avid Star Wars fan, musical theater nut, and loves everything related to marine biology. She resides in the mid-western United States, and is the proud mother of two beautiful girls, several pets, and loves to spend time with her husband and children when she's not writing. Roxanne loves to hear from her readers, and she can be contacted at author@roxannedhoward.com.

To find out more, please visit her website at www.roxannedhoward.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoxanneDHoward

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010437978489

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29245889-at-the-heart-of-the-stone

Tour giveaway

$10 Amazon gift card