Chasing Christmas by Terri Blackstock - Audio version

 Chasing Christmas 

by Terri Blackstock

Audible Version

My first experience with a Terri Blackstock story.

The cover caught my eye. Kind of cute, isn't it?

It really matches the story. 

Catching Christmas reminded me to try being

less judgemental in general. It is easy to think

the worst of people. 

Sydney is just beginning her law career. She feels

like she is always trying to catch up. It is hard to 

convince yourself even when you know right

from wrong. When everyone around is telling

you what a disaster you will make of your life 

if you don't do what they say. 

Finn is a cab driver. Trying to make a living. 

Not an easy thing in his career choice.

Then he picks up Miss Callie. His life is  

forever changed. The thing is, he keeps 

meeting people whose lives have also

been changed after meeting Miss Callie. 

I hope you will also enjoy Chasing Christmas. 

 It isn't one of those preachy type stories. 

There are no perfect people here. 

Review by Lisa Hutson

Susan's Review of The Wonder of Now by Jamie Beck

Moving on has never been harder—or so perfectly unpredictable…
Peyton Prescott would give anything for the carefree life she knew before breast cancer changed everything. But instead of using her second chance to move forward, she’s stuck promoting the memoir her brother convinced her to write, thus reliving the very battle she wants to forget. If she hopes her European book tour will allow her to enjoy revisiting her favorite travel-writing destinations, she’s wrong: her PR whiz is too consumed with his own goals to consider her needs.
Mitch Mathis has relied on discipline to achieve his goals, and with his new firm’s success riding on Peyton’s book launch, he must keep her on task. They’re here for business, not pleasure. And Mitch won’t let unbridled desire harm his professional reputation—not again.
When frustrated expectations and attraction throw the tour into chaos, it challenges everything Mitch and Peyton believe about themselves, life, and love, forcing these opposites to consider whether they can embrace the change they need to grow.

Logan Prescott has documented every step of his sister Peyton’s cancer journey from diagnosis to treatment to surgery. Peyton has added her feelings, fears and despair to the emotional memoir. Her goal for the book is to raise money for cancer research. Logan was Peyton’s lifeline during her two year battle—and she must take a huge step without him. Peyton’s PR person, Mitch Mathis, is going to accompany her the European book tour. Peyton understands the importance of the tour on several levels. She needs the good press generated by her author speaking engagements to ensure book sales and she needs to move forward with her life.

Peyton and Mitch are total opposites; at first glance they do not seem to have anything in common. Before her diagnosis, Peyton travelled all over the world and was a well-known blogger. Mitch is a workaholic and appeared to be more concern with texting, hitting the best seller list and working than in Peyton or the tour.

I liked that Jamie Beck presented Peyton has a flawed character. She was not perfect before her surgery- she made mistakes and hurt people she loved- or after it. The author did a superb job including Peyton’s insecurities about her body image. As a cancer survivor, this resonated with me. You are not the same after cancer—your body has changed, you have scars, you dread having your mammogram and you wonder about stray cancer cells. I loved that Peyton grew stronger, more self-confident as she realizes sharing her story has positive effect on her readers.

Jamie Beck explored both Mitch and Peyton’s strengths and weakness. I wasn’t a fan of Mitch until he admitted that he was too busy to read her book—which devastated Peyton. This story choice allowed the readers to discover the reasons why Mitch could not read Peyton’s story and allowed the author to show a compassionate, caring side to the workaholic PR man. Peyton struggled with reliving her experience on tour.

This is one of my favorite quotes:
Thanks for giving up weeks of your life to walk me through my first – and last—European book tour. For making me take responsibility for this work when all I wanted to run from it. I might not write another book as long as I live, but somehow doing all of this has made me feel a little stronger than when we started. More like a survivor, than a victim. You have made this experience memorable Mitch.

The Wonder of Now holds a special place on my keeper shelf. I loved the characters, identified with their struggles and enjoyed reading their journey. Jamie Beck’s descriptive writing allows the reader to imagine the sights and taste the food in Italy and France. The honest conversations between Logan, Peyton and Mitch bring the reader into the story immediately. Peyton’s step by step journey towards recovery kept me reading. Loved the romance that developed between Mitch and Peyton-it was perfectly paced and poignant.

I highly recommend The Wonder of Now-it’s got all the feels. It’s an emotional, heartbreaking story which showcases the importance of family, the power of forgiveness, the struggles of recovery and –most of all-hope for the future.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from the publisher and am voluntarily reviewing it.

Reviewed by Susan Gorman

My childhood writing dreams featured a Hollywood career in the television or film industries. I’d finish watching a dramatic family saga or love story and think, “I want to write something like this!” But a creative writing career seemed like a pipedream, so I went to Tulane University assuming I’d figure out what to do with the rest of my life by graduation day. I fell in love with psychology coursework, but psychiatrists go to medical school, and subjects such as biology and chemistry weren’t my forte. Alas, another career eliminated.
Ultimately, I earned a joint law/M.B.A. degree and practiced commercial real estate and lending law for a decade in my hometown of Pittsburgh (Go Steelers!). I learned so much during that decade, but was never passionate about the work. When my husband’s career took us to Connecticut, I opted to stay at home to raise our two young children. That decision presented a second chance to revisit the idea of writing.
These days I dream up stories about love, family, self-discovery, and redemption. I’ve been honored to hit the Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-seller’s lists, and to earn a spot on the Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll. I’m so grateful to each and every reader who has given wings to this new chapter in my life. When I’m not writing, you can find me dancing around my kitchen while cooking, and hitting the slopes in Vermont and Utah. I love hearing from readers, so please write to me or follow me on any of my social media sites.

Something like Happy by Eva Woods

☆☆☆☆

Something Like Happy

by Eva Woods

 

A story of future. When Annie finds herself in such a deep

dark unhappy place that she cannot find a ray of sunshine.

When you are in such a sad place that you don't clean

your house. That you don't care about anything in your

life. It's a very sad place. Annie is so deep that she does

not even have thoughts about how to make things better.

No thoughts of how bad her life is.

 

 

Do you believe in angels?

Because an angel crashes into Annie. Into her life. Into her

sadness. Into her depression. Into her darkness and despair.

This bright shining energetic lady named Polly, slides right

in. Polly breaks Annies life wide open.

 

 Its 100 days to be happy. 

Something Like Happy is an interesting

thoughtful novel. You cant know what you are

getting into as you read along.

 

I won this book from

Lorelei's Lit Lair

Review by Lisa Hutson

 

 

 

The Summer That Made Us by Robyn Carr - Audible version

The Summer That Made Us

by Robyn Carr

Audible Version

☆☆☆☆☆

 

The story starts with two sisters, Louise and Jo, that marry two brothers.

Each sister has three daughters. There is the family summer house.

Each season, the six daughters and Louise and Jo live in pure happiness

at the beach.Or so it seems. Anyone outside the family would think

its all magical. Everything is perfect for everyone.

Until that one summer.

 

The Summer That Made Us has a number of events that change

everything. Every life attached in any way is changed.

And the summer house is never opened up again. The closeness

is gone for everyone. Even Louise and Jo have lost their relationship.

 

 

As life goes on, one of the daughters decides she wants to see the

summer house opened back up. Wants to bring it back to life.

 

The Summer That Made Us is full of emotion. The roller coaster

of every different human feeling is displayed. I could not put

the book down. I needed to see whats going to happen next.

Robyn Carr brings deep, interesting and funny characters to life.

 

And Therese Plummer is excellent as always. Her narration brings

Robyn Carrs stories into my heart. I have loved them all.

Anyone that listens to audible stories knows that the voice

can make or break any story. Therese is wonderful.

 

I hope you will also enjoy The Summer That Made Us.

 

 

I bought my copy of The Summer That

Made Us from Audible.com

Review by Lisa Hutson

 

 

 

 

 

Hannah's List by Debbie Macomber - Audible version

Hannah's List

by Debbie Macomber

Audible version

I cannot begin to imagine where Debbie Macomber gets all her ideas from. Every book has its own feel. There is no standard potion for her stories. Hannah's List is part of a series. I have not read any of the others, yet. But it was not necessary to completely fall head over heels into this story.
A year after his wifes passing, Dr Michael Everett is given a letter from her.
She expresses her final wish is for Michael to make a new life for himself.
To find a new love. In that direction, she has made her own list.
A list of three women that Hannah knows. She believes each woman has something that may appeal to him. Hannah directs him to make the effort to meet and get to know each of them.
It's an interesting journey for Michael and all three of the women on Hannahs List. This story is so full of love and romance. And many surprises. Could Hannah know how meeting these women might direct Michael to change his life entirely? Maybe these women are or are not meant for him. Who knows where this request from Hannah will lead him.
To make it all even better, the narration is wonderful. 
Fred Stella did a great job. Personally, I prefer a male voice for
most romance listening. Fred is the perfect type
male voice for this kind of story. 

I bought my audio copy of Hannah's List

from Audible.com

Review by Lisa Hutson