Swimming to Elba

Title: Swimming to Elba
Publisher: Penguin Group
Pub Date: June 14th , 2012
Author: Silvia Avallone
Received From: NetGalley 

A sensually charged debut novel about two girls growing up fast in a failing industrial town on the coast of Italy.

Anna and Francesca are on the brink of everything: high school, adulthood, and the edge of ambition in their provincial town. It's summer in Piombiono, Italy, and in their skimpy bathing suits, flaunting their newly acquired curves, the girls suddenly have everyone in their thrall. This power opens their imagination to a destiny beyond Piombino; the resort town of Elba is just a ferry ride away and yet they've never dared to go. Maybe the future is waiting for them there, or somewhere beyond.

When their friendship suffers a blow, the girls set off on their own only to discover that their budding sexuality takes them further than they expect, though not as far as their dreams. As their choices take them to a painful crossroads, the girls must reconnect if they have any hope of escaping their small town destinies.

Swimming to Elba starts off with a lot of character points of view and a lot of fun and coming of age moments. Set in Italy in a housing development owned by the government. Poverty is a common theme along with the steel mill where many of the characters work. The real theme is summer and friendship! Anna and Francesca are young girls 13-14 and have bodies they are just learning about. In a world where sex and drugs rule the summer you can imagine how they use them. But when Anna enters a relationship with her brother Alessio's good friend Mattia the friendship between the two girls ends.  

The story shows their lives separate but wanting to be together through some trails and tragedies. The one tragedy I never saw coming is what eventually helps the girls see the light. While I enjoyed some of this story I could not get over this last tragedy, I don't understand what happened to some of the key characters involved after it occurred and was left feeling like I was watching a movie and my TIVO cut off the end. Not a feeling I like for sure! 

January First

Title: January First
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
Pub Date:  August 7th , 2012
Author: Michael Schofield
Received From: NetGalley 




A brilliant and harrowingly honest memoir, January First is the extraordinary story of a father's fight to save his child from an extremely severe case of mental illness in the face of overwhelming adversity.

At six years old, Michael Schofield's daughter, January, was diagnosed with one of the most severe cases of child-onset schizophrenia that doctors had ever seen. In January's case, she is hallucinating 95 percent of the time that she is awake. Potent psychiatric drugs that would level most adults barely faze her. January, "Jani" to her family, has literally hundreds of imaginary friends. They go by names like 400-the-Cat, 100 Degrees, and 24 Hours and live on an island called "Calalini," which she describes as existing "on the border of my world and your world." Some of these friends are good, and some of them, such as 400, are very bad. They tell her to jump off buildings, attack her brother, and scream at strangers.

In the middle of these never-ending delusions, hallucinations, and paroxysms of rage are Jani's parents, who have gone to the ends of the earth to keep both of their children alive and unharmed. They live in separate one-bedroom apartments in order to keep her little brother, Bohdi, safe from his big sister--and wage a daily war against a social system that has all but completely failed them. January First is the story of the daily struggles and challenges they face as they do everything they can to help their daughter while trying to keep their family together. It is the inspiring tale of their resolute determination and faith 






I am pretty sure I've mentioned before in my life that being a parent is hard work. But I think that any parent that loves their kids only wants the best for them. January, who has renamed herself Jani is a young girl with schizophrenia. At a time when there was really no known cases at such a young age. She feels the ultimate pressure to do things that hurt herself or others and from birth her parents have know that something was different about her. We all think our babies never sleep. But for Jani from under age one, sleep wasn't a reality. The talk in the book  of stimulating her to help her sleep showed me commitment on the parents part from day one. When Jani's new baby brother enters the picture I see that commitment triple and come with fear. There is division in the family as they deal with one child wanting to hurt the other. I can only imagine how hard, and fearful these parents were on a daily basis! I loved some of the strategies they created in order to make their family work! No family is perfect that's for sure. But the one who admits they cannot control it all and makes those sacrifices sure seems to prevail here!
Sacrifices are made in January First that I cannot even begin to fathom. I have the utmost respect and really awe for Michael and Susan the parents who realized that there was a need for help in their young daughters life and fought both together and individually for her. Honestly fight is a huge part of this book. The family must fight with the system, the doctors, the child, each other and ultimately themselves in how and when and why they do what they can for Jani. I am not a huge memoir fan but this book was worth every moment I poured into it. It truly is a great story and while my heart goes out to the family involved I know that they are teaching by example and showing pillars of true strength!

Forever and a Day

Title: Forever and a Day
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pub Date:  July 31st , 2012
Author: Jill Shalvis
Received From: NetGalley




Grace never thought she’d be starting her life over from scratch. Losing everything has landed her in Lucky Harbor, working as a dog walker for overwhelmed ER doctor Josh Scott. But the day his nanny fails to show up, Grace goes from caring for Josh’s loveable mutt to caring for his rambunctious kids. Soon Grace is playing house with the sexy single dad…

With so many people depending on him, Josh has no time for anything outside of his clinic and family–until Grace arrives in town. Now this brainy blonde is turning his life inside out and giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “good bedside manner.” Josh and Grace don’t know if what they have can last. But in a town like Lucky Harbor, a lifetime of love starts with just one day…




I haven't read this series before and coming in this late was a bit intimidating. I was worried about understanding story lines and caring about characters. But i had nothing to fear at all. from the moment Grace fell into the arms of  Dr. Josh Scott and into his life that let's be honest is a chaotic insanity I was in love. The characters in Josh's life his young son toby and his young adult sister Anna are so well written with issues and places of their own that you feel a part of the family from page 1.  I just couldn't imagine not loving reading about them. 


The friends that Grace has made in her new town Mallory and Amy add just the right amount of girl time and fun to the book. they were probably main characters in past books, or shared more of themselves, but I felt i knew enough of them to get the support and compassion for Grace. Watching people fall in love will always warm my heart, and watching people grow gives me strength. You can only imagine when finishing this book that I felt like a heart 3 sizes to big hulk!

Where the Heart Lies

Title: Where the Heart Lies
Publisher: Carina Press
Pub Date:  July 16th , 2012
Author: Michelle Garren Flye
Received From: NetGalley



All widowed Alicia Galloway has left of her war-hero husband are the flag that draped his coffin and his final wishes: to move to his hometown, take over the family bookstore and enjoy a simple, quiet life with their two small children. When she arrives, her husband's best friend makes that new life anything but simple. How can she be so drawn to Liam Addison?
Liam only intended to help Alicia get settled. But one unexpected kiss awakens his long-held forbidden feelings. Soon, the town busybodies swoop in to warn Alicia away from him. Because no matter the man he's become, he'll never live down his reputation as town troublemaker and wolfish womanizer.
No one wants the war hero's sweet widow and the supposedly former bad boy together. But the more everyone tries to keep them apart, the closer he and Alicia get. And the more determined Liam is to prove he's a changed man. Will it be enough to convince Alicia to let a new love in her life?


By the title of this book I truly expected to find characters lying to one another over and over again, but instead I found some great characters and relationships. Alicia is the widow of a war hero, following through with a plan they had made together to move to his hometown and take over his Father's bookstore. With two young kids and a hard road ahead of her she is greeted by her late husband Ty's high school best friend. Liam has a reputation the precedes him and as it turns out eyes for Alicia. 
Together they must conquer the small town talk, determine their feelings, handle more loss, and some very old secrets. But these things they can and will do. This was a great book with likable characters and a few interesting surprises, all things that kept me engaged. 

One Breath Away

Title: One Breath Away
Publisher: harlequin UK
Pub Date:  July 6th , 2012
Author: Heather Gudenkauf
Received From: NetGalley



‘He has a gun.'
‘Who? Tell me, where are you? Who has a gun?'
‘I love you, Mum.'
An ordinary school day in March, snowflakes falling, classroom freezing, kids squealing with delight, locker-doors slamming.
Then the shooting started. No-one dared take one breath...
He's holding a gun to your child's head. One wrong answer and he says he'll shoot. This morning you waved goodbye to your child. What would you have said if you'd known it might be the last time?

 One Breath Away is a book that took every breath I had away over and over again. We are all aware of violence in schools, you can't say the word Columbine without everyone flashing back to where they were on that day. When I was a freshman in college @ the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley Colorado back in 1996 3 years before the Columbine Shootings we had a gunman on Campus. I had been at school maybe a month and was returning to my dorm room from a morning class. As I walked across the patio an RA yelled at me to get in the building and slammed and locked the door behind me. I asked what was going on and she said to go upstairs and turn on my TV. I returned to my room and switched on the TV with live coverage from Greeley. The dorm across the way from mine had a hostage situation going on. Four girls were being held by one of their ex-boyfriends who wasn't a student at UNC. It was weird, honestly yes it was a bit scary, but I never thought of things like, "is he working alone" or felt in any danger. Really I felt fairly safe. What's sad is that today after we've seen Columbine, and Virginia Tech we don't carry that feeling of safety. 


One Breath Away is a story that takes us through an entire day of  the point of view of the some of the people in town when a gunman takes over a small town in Iowa. This school contains all kids from K-12. It's the last day before Spring Break when a gunman enters the school and one 3rd grade class in particular and takes them hostage. We are greeted with the story from the Teacher in this class Mrs. Oliver , as she works to protect the students and determine the identity of the gunman. We walk through the day with perspectives from our main family the Thwaite's. Holly the mother is in a burn unit in Arizona and has sent her two kids Augie and PJ to stay with her father Will in her small home town of Broken Bend, Iowa. As we move between these characters and what they are learning during this day, we see amazing feats of fear and bravery! There are so many other characters that make up this story and really make it so good. This book moves quickly, keeps you engaged and really is off the charts phenomenal! I couldn't out it down without knowing how each character came out of that day. 

A Promise for Miriam

Title: A Promise for Miriam
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Pub Date:  July 1st , 2012
Author: Vanetta Chapman
Received From: NetGalley

 A Promise for Miriam, the first book in a brand-new romantic series from popular author Vannetta Chapman, introduces the Amish community of Pebble Creek and some of the kind, caring people there. As they face challenges to their community from the English world, they come together to reach out to their non-Amish neighbors while still preserving their cherished Plain ways.

Amish schoolteacher Miriam King loves her students. At 26, most women her age are married with children of their own, but she hasn?t yet met anyone who can convince her to give up the Plain school that sits along the banks of Pebble Creek. Then newcomer Gabriel Yoder steps into her life, bringing his daughter, an air of mystery, and challenges Miriam has never faced before.

Will Gabe be able to let go of the past that haunts him? He thinks he just wants to be left alone, but the loving and warm community he and his daughter have moved to has other plans for him. After a near tragedy is averted, he hesitantly returns offers of help and friendship, and he discovers he can make a difference to the people of Pebble Creek?and maybe find love again.

A promise for Miriam was a fun read. It contained some great characters, like Gabe. the widower who lost his wife Hope three years ago and is raising their daughter Grace. Gabe is  a stubborn self supporting Amish gentleman. he really has the I can do it on my own feeling going on. So after the loss of his wife he moves far away fro family. Spend his days attempting to fix up the mess of buildings and land he purchased and raise Grace. 

Grace has something she is dealing with too, fear from loosing her mother and because of this she doesn't speak.  But luckily for Grace her teacher Miriam is in her life and she knows just when to push and helps young Grace find her voice again. Actually Miriam is just the woman to help both Gabe and Grace, find happiness in life again! This is really a cute fun story with the Amish lifestyle, some gutsy moments of bravery and the overall feeling of happiness and love!

Little Night

Title: Little Night
Publisher: Penguin Group
Pub Date:  June 5th, 2012
Author: Luanne Rice
Received From: NetGalley 

An emotionally gripping family drama from beloved New York Times bestseller Luanne Rice

Clare Burke's life took a devastating turn when she tried to protect her sister, Anne, from an abusive and controlling husband and ended up serving prison time for assault. The verdict largely hinged on Anne's defense of her spouse--all lies--and the sisters have been estranged ever since. Nearly twenty years later, Clare is living a quiet life in Manhattan as an urban birder and nature blogger, when her niece, Grit, turns up on her doorstep.

A riveting story about women and the primal, tangled family ties that bind them together.

From the moment the author begin to describe the sisterhood between Anne and Clare I knew that great love of a family was going to be tested in this book. What I didn't know is how proud I would be of the women in this story. You see when women grow up and begin to find their own lives you cannot really control the path each take. Clare so desperately wants to do that, to take back control of Anne from Frederick her husband. When she finally gets in their home and visits her sister she feels she is doing that, until Frederick arrives and not only pulls back all control but turns her actions into a moment that lands Clare in Jail. 

After working to put her life back together years later, Clare get a visitor that moves herself right in. Her niece Grit. This is Clare's connection to Anne, her chance to try again for some control. But only does it  not come to her as she hopes, but she learns in the process to control her own love life! I did enjoy the growth and change in Clare, the youth and honesty in Grit and the ending of the book while a bit sad was a good one!