Book Review and Giveaway for The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

THE WIVES
by TARRYN FISHER

Imagine that your husband has two other wives.
You’ve never met the other wives. None of you know each other, and because of this unconventional arrangement, you can see your husband only one day a week. But you love him so much you don’t care. Or at least that’s what you’ve told yourself.

But one day, while you’re doing laundry, you find a scrap of paper in his pocket—an appointment reminder for a woman named Hannah, and you just know it’s another of the wives.

You thought you were fine with your arrangement, but you can’t help yourself: you track her down, and, under false pretenses, you strike up a friendship. Hannah has no idea who you really are. Then, Hannah starts showing up to your coffee dates with telltale bruises, and you realize she’s being abused by her husband. Who, of course, is also your husband. But you’ve never known him to be violent, ever.

Who exactly is your husband, and how far would you go to find the truth? Would you risk your own life?

And who is his mysterious third wife?

ADD TO GOODREADS

REVIEW: HOLY. EFFING. ISH.
"It's strange how perception is altered by bitterness."

WOW! This was my FIRST read of Tarryn Fisher's but I can guarantee you it will NOT be my last. I am still smiling at that ending!!! Holy freaking cow!!! *Breathe, Bee. Breathe.* I LOVED THE WIVES!! I loved the rush I got and I loved the look inside her crazy mind. What a deliciously twisted read. I want more of this. This was insanity with a devilishly crooked smile.....on me.

Maybe it was the thrill of reading a well known, very popular, and highly recommended author that gave me the boost I needed to read this book. Maybe it was the different genre that didn’t have any preconceived norms for me to expect that made me turn the pages quicker than I anticipated. Either way, this book worked for me. I feel like Fisher gave me an enormous amount of info, a whirlwind of action, only for it all to come to fruition with a slam of the door. I was left with a gasp and for my first psychological thriller and first Tarryn Fisher book, and this one gave me the best of both worlds.

"But the truth is the heart's desire is a mere current against the tide of nurture and nature."

I got to a certain point in the book, and the writing on the wall became very clear in a blurry sort of way - so trying to make sense of it all was interesting. Now I had answers, but I needed the coordinating questions to match them up to. Not totally unpredictable - given the layout, but completely eye-widening because while I clearly don’t read this genre enough, it had just enough suspense and shock to guide me along, making me cling to her every word. I originally read it one way, but then I found myself scrutinizing the words and the implied tones used earlier, the further I got into it.

This was a fresh voice with a differently paced inflection that allowed me to follow along easily. I loved her flow, her voice, and her pace. I was completely engaged in the storyline because I was following along with a concept that I couldn't imagine myself dealing with, so every turn and every twist had me more and more curious.

I loved that she gave me a character that was so real, in very real form, but had a dynamic that had me OMGosh'ing throughout the book. Also....the fun part about this book was that it was set on my area.

You know all those big words: enraptured, captivated, enthralled. Those overused review words people throw out there for so many books? Yeah, I could throw them out there, but I won’t. I suppose I could also throw around a wow, woah, *wide-eyes* and a few holy cows too. This book, from the minute I opened it until I closed it and had to think it through, it had my undivided attention. All of it.

Do I give it a five star rating because it had me going crazy and turning the pages to the point that I couldn’t stop or do I give it a four and be objective and try to name something that I think maybe could’ve been different, although I really can’t because I don't have any experience in this genre. I can tell you that it was a thrill from beginning to end, and I didn't do anything but SIT and READ. I honestly couldn’t find any fault with this simply because it held my attention from the very beginning until the very end. Nothing was as it seemed.... or was it. <-- Not a question, actually. I really enjoyed this one and it just makes me that much more excited to give her other stories a shot. Her voice is so clear, so animated, and she gave me a story that took me on a wild ride - definitely not the same story I’ve read 20 times. It was a rush reading this, trying to figure out the twist and then seeing it change direction. I felt the urgency behind the actions, I felt the fear behind the words, I totally loved this!! So so good!! Argh...I can't wait to read more by her. 

"Denial is a twisted, perverted soul-thinner."
~BEE

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~ MEET TARRYN FISHER ~

I would like to write a novel that every, single person loves, but not even J.K. Rowling could do that. Instead, I try to write stories that pull on people's emotions. I believe that sadness is the most powerful emotion, and swirled with regret the two become a dominating force. I love villains. Three of my favorites are Mother Gothel, Gaston and the Evil Queen who all suffered from a pretty wicked case of vanity (like me). I like to make these personality types the center of my stories. I love rain, Coke, Starbucks and sarcasm. I hate bad adjectives and the word "smolder". If you read my book-I love you. If you hate my book-I still love you, but please don't be mean to me; I'm half badass, half cry baby.

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Prologue Reveal for King of the South by Calia Read

King of the South is a spinoff from Calia Read's Surviving Time Series and is the first book in her newest series, Belgrave Dynasty.

P R O L O G U E 

R a i n e y 

I was born on June fifth 1891, during the heart of the summer. 

The days were so hot you could barely breathe. When the sun set, the humidity stubbornly held its place. People slept with their windows open, braving the risk of mosquito bites. A sheen of sweat would cling to your forehead and neck through the night. 

However, the night I was born, a storm swept through Charleston. It rattled the shutters and caused the wind to whistle through the cracks of the front doors along The Battery. 

“The thunder swallowed your momma’s screams and your cries,” my daddy would tell me when I was a little girl. 

“The devil knew you were comin’ and he got scared,” my Momma used to tell me when I was a little girl. 

To me, it’s fascinating what they each remembered from that night. 

My older brother Miles was supposed to be removed from the home but due to the storm he was sent to the third floor. Once I was born, Miles came pounding down the stairs. His best friend was hot on his heels. 

They burst into the doors just as the midwife placed me, swaddled and content, in my momma’s arms. 

“This is your little sister, Raina Leonore.” 

According to my momma, Miles patted my head and said hello. His friend came up to me and stared at me intently. “Why is her face so red?” Livingston Lacroix bluntly asked. 

Seconds later, I began to wail and it became a joke between our families that it was a precursor to the relationship I’d have with Livingston. 

He poked, I protested. 

However, as the years passed on and I grew older, I would be the one to do the poking. My chagrin for Livingston grew exponentially. High jinks became grand and artful. When I knew our families were to see each other, I would preoccupy myself with the best ways to torture him. And in turn, he would do the same. 

At the mere age of seven, I took our antics one step further when I shot him in the leg with Miles’ bow and arrow. Livingston was eighteen. My temper always got the best of me, and when he told me to leave them—him, Etienne, and Miles—be, I made up my mind then and there it was war. I ran into the house, up the stairs. I searched Miles’ room until I found his bow and arrows and ran back outside where I climbed a tree and waited quietly for Livingston. 

Livingston had charm that no one can deny. He could smile himself out of trouble, laugh away your tears. But no smile or words he said could escape the sleek precision of my aim. 

In 1899, when my daddy died, the agony I felt seized every breath I took. I freely waved a white flag between the two of us. Livingston chased away the pain with grand stories. Each one better and brighter than the last. They were vivid and real. I became transported to a different world and my pain faded. It was temporary, but for a brief moment, I felt as though everything was all right. 

Like most men, he wasn’t fond of tears. He saw them quite frequently the first year of my daddy’s passing. It couldn’t be helped. My eyes felt as though they were fountains that couldn’t be turned off. Late one night, when he was visiting my brother, he found me in the garden crying. Underneath a Spanish moss tree he sat beside me and patted my hand. I’ll never forget what he said next. “Rainey, you have more strength in your pinky finger than most grown men will ever possess. Soon, you’ll conquer this pain. You were born to survive this.” 

In 1901, at the age of twenty-one, Livingston would be the one to wave the white flag when he lost his parents and younger brother in a train accident. I returned the kindness he gave to me by telling him stories. It was a dark period for the Lacroix family. Especially Livingston. I knew better than anyone that even though he would become better at coping with the pain, it would never leave. He would merely adapt to living without his loved ones. During that period, Livingston became a frequent visitor at the Pleasonton household, and gradually he did what I imagined he would with his pain, if not better. At least I thought he did. 

By 1902, Livingston Lacroix became the king of the south with his gorgeous looks that bordered on being hazardous. He drank and charmed away his pain. I felt abandoned. Left in the dust. Stories and comfort were no longer needed. To the utter horror of our relatives, I was the first one to pick up the proverbial weapon and end our treaty of peace. 

While he finished college with his twin brother, Etienne, and my brother Miles, the times I saw him were few and far in between. 

“God be with the woman who marries him,” Momma would sigh whenever Livingston visited. 

“God be with the world with which we live in,” I would mutter whenever he left because wherever he walked there was potential for a trail of broken hearts. 

Very swiftly, he was growing into a man. He never grew tired of our antics as the years passed. Yet that meant he also saw me as his best friend’s baby sister. As I grew older, I wanted to do things to make him see I was not a child, such as wearing dresses that were far more flattering, having my hair down, or even going as far as using rouge. Momma was appalled by my desires. She said a true Southern lady would never do such things, but I vowed the moment I was old enough, I would do all three to simply prove a point. Not for Livingston’s affections. 

I did not care for Livingston in that way. I would never be one of the many ladies who fell for his charm. Of that I was certain. 

Throughout the years we would find ourselves at war with one another. I may have grown into a young woman, but he still saw me as Miles’ little sister. If I took aim at him with my words, he returned the favor every time with a consistency that I more than relied on. Women came and went from his life, and I was there to remind him that he was an impossible reprobate. And he would grin with his devastating smirk that made most women blush and say, “Le savauge, you sound upset that I’m not your reprobate.” 

He had his life before him, and I believed the same for myself. 

But then everything changed when the Great War struck. He left. My brother left. He came back. My brother did not. 

We both lost pieces of ourselves. 

The problem was, neither of us knew how to ask for help. And we were all out of white flags to wave.

ADD TO GOODREADS
Release date set for February 2020

Curious about the series leading up to Belgrave Dynasty? The one where I fell in love with Etienne and Serene? See below for The Surviving Time series and my reviews.

PURCHASE The Surviving Trace

Our love is timeless.

Will is my fiancé. The shy man I met years ago in college. The person I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with.

This is the life I’ve always wanted until finding a picture of four men changes everything…

Etienne says he’s my husband and the year is 1912. He can’t stand the sight of me, but I don’t know why.

Oh, and he’s one of the men from the picture.

I’ve done the impossible and have become trapped in time and I know Etienne is my key to going home.

The more time I spend with Etienne, the further I fall for him, until I’m questioning which time I belong in and if the life I left behind is the one I truly desire.

All I know for certain is I need to survive time.

I need to survive love.

And I need to make it out on the other side alive.

My review: http://bit.ly/2lBgzDx

PURCHASE The Reigning and the Rule

Étienne Lacroix and I had a fire I thought would never die.

Our love was timeless.

An irreversible decision sent me back to the present day with a family I barely recognize, but I am determined to find a way back to Étienne.

I can survive time. But I can’t survive life without him.

Time bends to no one’s demands, so I must fight with everything I have to return to the past. However, I am terrified that the past I once knew might not look the same, and the man who once called me his surviving trace will no longer be waiting for me.

Time bends to no one’s demands but sometimes love does…

My Review: http://bit.ly/2zrWCq8

PURCHASE Echoes of Time

For Etienne and me, our love has always left a trace.

It reigns over kingdoms, and rules over time.

With Etienne now in the present day, the echoes of time grow louder.

We must face the answers we seek to set things right.

However, we must be incredibly careful. One false move and everything we love will be destroyed.

And this time, could be the end of our surviving trace.

My review: http://bit.ly/2WrD5Tz

~MEET CALIA READ~

Calia Read is the author of the Sloan Brothers Series, The Fairfax Series, Figure Eight and The Surviving Trace. She lives in Ohio with her husband and their five kids. She is currently hard at work on the first book in the Belgrave Dynasty, a spinoff from The Surviving Time Series.

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Book Review and Giveaway for Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

REGRETTING YOU
by COLLEEN HOOVER

From #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us comes a poignant novel about family, first love, grief, and betrayal that will touch the hearts of both mothers and daughters.

Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.

Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.

With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.

While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.

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REVIEW: 4 BRILLIANT STARS
"I'm happy to finally have you, but I also feel guilty because of the way I got you."

Leave it to Hoover to give me a reality check - no billionaires. No rich man's world. No over the top proclamations or actions. Nothing. Just reality and normal, everyday people....with a devastating journey to watch unfold. This whole story was a story of perspectives. A story of life unfolding without bias or fairness, taking no shame in the lives it's destroying in the process. This book stopped me in my tracks and glued me to my seat.

I had every intention of devouring this one in one sitting. I was going to read it from start to finish. I was going to sink in, soak up, and settle into this book. Then I found myself pacing. There’s nothing like looking at a story with one eye open, knowing something's going to happen. I'm sure I had some idea of what it might be, but I didn't want to really know what it was. Well, cue the anxiousness! It was more by the way of wondering; how in the world was this going to actually happen because of the perspectives I was reading, they showed me SO much. Oh! And contemplation. This entire book was about contemplation and perspectives, but mainly contemplation.

How does one navigate a world of pain and joy consecutively? Guilt and excitement simultaneously? Hoover explores a blossoming love amidst a new world with a tragic background and gives a heartfelt look at two very different takes on the same world. She brilliantly outlined the tired effects of miscommunication between a mother and her daughter - securing the fact that assumptions are the worst! It’s a mother-daughter story with true-to-life tragedy, but watching them learn to deal with it within parallel universes - seriously, so neat to see these connected worlds spinning in different directions, hoping for the same outcome. I could truly appreciate that we got two completely different points of view because the variances between them were so easily understood.

Love, unrequited or not, it’s always hard to give up on - and honestly, I love that pull and aggravation in a story. Years away, days away, immediately - it’s hard. But, while reading this catastrophic chain of events that were compounded by life in general, it was a hard pill to swallow. There was no option of a new course to navigate. There wasn't a "close the book" option to skip forward. It was misadventures aplenty, daily woes magnified, and the daunting task at hand was growing up after having the band-aid of life ripped off. It was SO amazing. A perfectly paced, front seat look at Morgan and Clara's world and how it came together, and then fell apart. I cannot recommend this enough. The heartache was on point. The miscommunication was etched into the pages with truth and so much reality. The love was anything but normal, and that was my favorite part.

The only reason it's not a full five star is because, while I whole heartedly LOVED it, I didn't get a book hangover and ONE thing felt unfinished. Other than that, this was amazing. I'm still thinking about it, but I closed the book with a smile and was able to pick up the next book. I. Loved. This. Book.

I feel like Colleen has her own voice. It’s distinct, it’s poised and it’s raw and it's real. There's always a deeper meaning or perception behind her stories. I love seeing life.....differently. I love the way she tells me a story and I'll always stand in line for the next one. This was simply amazing.

"I'm confident that I'll never spend a single second of my life regretting you."
~BEE

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~MEET COLLEEN HOOVER~

Colleen Hoover is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including the #1 bestseller, Hopeless. She lives in Texas with her husband and three children. She is the founder of The Bookworm Box, a book subscription service which donates 100% of its proceeds to charity. She also owns The Bookworm Box, a specialty bookstore located in Sulphur Springs, Tx.

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Book Review and Giveaway for The Guy on the Left by Kate Stewart

THE GUY ON THE LEFT

by KATE STEWART

It started with a lie. A night of blurred lines between a teacher and a student.

I wasn’t her student, yet it was the single most defining night of my life.

I’ve never been the man she thinks I am.

Most people have no idea about the life I’ve lived or the words that ring true when it comes to me—still waters run deep.

But you’d be hard-pressed to find a coed on the TGU campus who knows otherwise…because I’ve never corrected them.

The clock is ticking down, it’s Fourth and Inches with the ball inside the one-yard line and the focus is on me, The Guy on the Left. I’ve never felt like a football god, inside I’m…just Troy.

It’s time to set the record straight.

For my son, I‘ll find the strength.

In her eyes, I’m determined to gain redemption.

I will have them both, even if I have to take my eye off the ball.

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REVIEW: 4 STARS

"Love requires a little bit of idiocy and a hell of a lot of bravery."

First and foremost - OMGosh. All. Of. The. Smiles. Troy's swagger (hot), Clarissa's anger (understandable but frustrating), his smirk (weak knees) and her glare (scary)....this one is full of piss and vinegar and everything that made me giggle and sigh. In the end, I walked away with a love for yet another book of Stewart's and all it does is make me want more....

Going into this book, I knew there was going to be some heavy to outweigh the humor that we originally saw in The Guy on the Right. I was sure of it, because the glimpses of Troy that we got - I feel he was the most misunderstood man, and with that comes a lot of emotion. I am so glad that I was able to read an early copy of this one. Kate Stewart did Troy good. She also showed a very tenacious and sometimes (often) bratty heroine that gave hard. I love that Stewart can infuse comedy into a subject so serious, but also retain the significance of the topic at hand. The seriousness. The truth. This one, while I loved it so much, will cause many discussions and pretty adamant thoughts - and I can't wait to discuss them!!!

"I'm drowning in resentment, teetering on the brink of love and hate."

Troy would not give up. He was a persistent little sucker. But with that came some serious heartache and pain. My heart hurt for Troy so much, and yet, his love was filled with determination and he refused to be sidelined. His determination and persistence was probably my favorite thing about the ENTIRE book. I realize that love makes us do crazy things, and I also understand that there needs to be a limit on how much pushback we are willing to accept...but it's almost as if Troy didn't have limits. On anything!! His humor was also head-shake-worthy. He took her bitterness and turned it around - and I could admire that more than anything. Troy made this book for me. He is a standup guy. He made sure he took care of his, and never let anything get in the way once his mind was made up. I love love LOVED him. Also, if that didn't show the true breadth of Troy’s love and devotion to not only Clarissa, but Dante as well, I don’t know what would. I loved the mixture of anger I felt at not only the situation, but at her....and to see it come full circle, that was a great read.

"You keep punishing me for something you won't let me apologize for."

Again, Troy made this book so much more than it had the potential to not be (all comedy with little to no seriousness), and I'm thankful for the dip into the heavy side with the funny highlights. His personality and his reality were woven into the storyline with a sort of comfort and not one bit of it felt out of character for him, nor did it feel forced at all. Having said that, I also had a really hard time with Clarissa's attitude and her responses to some of the ways she handled things. Having said that, I can also say with conviction that I can completely understand why she was the way she was - even if I didn't agree with it. I honestly think that shows the creativity and depth of Stewart's writing in this one. We all know she can write funny, and we have already seen her "heavy" reads....but she meshed those well in this book. She continually surprises me and impresses me with each book I have the pleasure of reading.

In closing: SOLID READ and plenty of smiles!!! Troy’s book was what I needed after the rough patch of books I was wading through. Kate Stewart gave Troy all the emotions he needed and showed the struggle was real!! This is the second book in The Underdog Series, and it kind of runs concurrent to Theo’s and Lance’s stories - but is a complete standalone. I can say that with confidence because nothing was given away in this book that would ruin anything from the first book. I loved seeing the ‘other side’ of the side characters’ stories through another lens. However, after reading Theo's story, Lance's novella, and now this one, I love that she was able to splice in other stories that worked with the happening's of those other books and it was neat to be able to piece it all together from a different standpoint. She definitely did this story and this couple justice. I am absolutely, head over heels in love with Troy.

"There's no story if you give up."

~BEE

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My Review: http://bit.ly/2GK1f2K

~MEET KATE STEWART~

Kate Stewart lives in Charleston, S.C. with her husband, Nick, and her naughty beagle, Sadie. A native of Dallas, Kate moved to Charleston three weeks after her first visit, dropping her career of 8 years, and declaring it her creative muse. Kate pens messy, sexy, angst-filled contemporary romance as well as romantic comedy and erotic suspense because it's what she loves as a reader. A lover of all things '80s and '90s, especially John Hughes films and rap, she dabbles a little in photography, can knit a simple stitch scarf for necessity only and does a horrible job of playing the ukulele. Aside from running a mile without collapsing, traveling is the only other must on her bucket list. On occasion, she does very well at vodka.

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