REVIEW:CALIFORNIA GIRLS BY SUSAN MALLERY

 

REVIEW:

 

Holy cow, CALIFORNIA GIRLS is one crazy story! Three sisters all get dumped in the same week and to say they are devastated is a huge understatement! I have two sisters so I totally understood some of the feelings they had. Finola is a tv host for a morning show in Los Angeles. Zennie is a surgical nurse and Ali works for an auto parts warehouse. These three sisters couldn’t be more different but they are about to find out just how strong their sister bond is. Their mother, Mary Jo has been after all three daughters to give her grand babies and needless to say, she isnt happy with the latest turn of events.

CALIFORNIA GIRLS is exactly why I love Susan Mallery’s books. She had me sad on one page and giggling out loud on the next. This story is all about family and the past and the life lessons are heart tugging. It had me flipping through the pages like a woman on a mission. I had to know what was going to happen to these three sisters and all the secondary characters. CALIFORNIA GIRLS is a perfect story that will hold you hostage until the very last page. Once you start reading, it will be very hard to put down! You also won’t be able to stop yourself from laughing at Daniel and the way he won’t leave Ali alone!

In CALIFORNIA GIRLS, all of the characters are very interesting and believable, so much so that I felt as if I’ve known them for a long time. I would love to hang out with these sisters. I’m sure they could teach me a thing or two and I know they would keep my laughing all day long! I love how Susan Mallery does that to me each and every time. She has me longing to find friends just like her characters. There is so much heart in Susan’s writing that I was left with a huge smile on my face and my heart very happy. Susan Mallery is the queen of writing heartfelt stories about sisters and family drama. If you are looking for a quick, funny, feel good story, you can’t go wrong with CALIFORNIA GIRLS!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

 

FROM GOODREADS:

The California sunshine’s not quite so bright for three sisters who get dumped in the same week…

Finola, a popular LA morning show host, is famously upbeat until she’s blindsided on live TV by news that her husband is sleeping with a young pop sensation who has set their affair to music. While avoiding the tabloids and pretending she’s just fine, she’s crumbling inside, desperate for him to come to his senses and for life to go back to normal.

Zennie’s breakup is no big loss. Although the world insists she pair up, she’d rather be surfing. So agreeing to be the surrogate for her best friend is a no-brainer—after all, she has an available womb and no other attachments to worry about. Except…when everyone else, including her big sister, thinks she’s making a huge mistake, being pregnant is a lot lonelier—and more complicated—than she imagined.

Never the tallest, thinnest or prettiest sister, Ali is used to being overlooked, but when her fiancé sends his disapproving brother to call off the wedding, it’s a new low. And yet Daniel continues to turn up “for support,” making Ali wonder if maybe—for once—someone sees her in a way no one ever has.

But side by side by side, these sisters will start over and rebuild their lives with all the affection, charm and laugh-out-loud humor that is classic Susan Mallery.

SUNDAY BOOKISH LOVE

Happy St Patrick’s Day, Happy Sunday, have a peaceful and beautiful day!!💜

 

 

 

 

 

 

MY NETGALLEY HAUL THIS WEEK

Good morning!

I had the flu last  week and I’m still not feeling 100% better so I’m not planning on doing very much this weekend. I have a Drs appointment at an ENT because my left ear is still clogged and I can’t hear.  I really need to rest. But I’m sure I will do some reading!😂

Three from Netgalley this week!😂

I hope you all have an awesome weekend!

Okay, here we go……

In the bestselling tradition of Jodi Picoult and Celeste Ng, a tightly wound and suspenseful novel about a blended family in crisis after a drunk driving accident leaves the daughter of one parent dead—and the son of the other parent charged with manslaughter. 

Divorce lawyer Leigh Huyett knows all too well that most second marriages are doomed to fail. But five years in, she and Pete Conley have a perfectly blended family of her children and his. To celebrate their anniversary, they grab some precious moments of alone time and leave Pete’s son Kip, a high school senior, in charge of Leigh’s fourteen-year-old daughter Chrissy at their home.

Driving back on a rainy Friday night, their cell phones start ringing. After a raucous party celebrating his college acceptance to Duke and his upcoming birthday, Kip was arrested for drunk driving after his truck crashed into a tree. And he wasn’t alone—Chrissy was with him.

Twelve hours later, Chrissy is dead and Kip is charged with manslaughter.

Kip has always been a notorious troublemaker, but he’s also a star student with a dazzling future ahead of him. At first, Leigh does her best to rally behind Pete and help Kip through his ordeal. Until he changes his story, and claims that he wasn’t driving after all—Chrissy was, and he swears there is a witness.

Leigh is stunned that he would lie about such a thing, while Pete clutches onto the story as the last, best hope to save his son, throwing his energy and money into finding this elusive witness. As they hurtle toward Kip’s trial date, husband and wife are torn between loyalty to their children and to each other, while the mystery of what really happened that night intensifies.

This richly conceived and tightly plotted exploration of family and tragedy will have you racing toward its shocking and thought-provoking conclusion.

 

Jules, her sister Joanne, and her brother Andrew all grew up in the same household—but their varying views of and reactions to their experiences growing up have made them all very different people. Now, as adults with children of their own, they are all faced with the question of what to do to help their parents, who insist on maintaining the upscale lifestyle they’re accustomed to despite their mounting debts. A deft exploration of the ever-shifting covenants between parents and children, Things Unsaid is a ferocious tale of family love, dysfunction, and sense of duty over forty years.

 

Ava and Gen are best friends. Ava knows what she wants and has plans to achieve her goals. Gen…not so much. But no matter how annoying, dramatic, or utterly bananas a 2 a.m. rant might get — Ava has always been there for Gen and Gen for Ava. But then they graduated high school.

Now, they’re in the same time zone (although over a thousand miles apart), and in the real world, and it’s the worst, but they still have each other’s support. For relationships. Questionable roommates. Internships. And whether or not it’s a good idea to take in a feral cat. Through their hilarious, sometimes emotional, conversations, Ava and Gen help each other navigate. But as the two of them start to change, will their friendship survive the distance?

In Please Send Help, the hilarious new novel from the New York Times bestselling authors of I Hate Everyone But You, Allison Raskin and Gaby Dunn perfectly capture the voice of young adults looking to find their place in the world, proving no matter how desperate things seem, your best friend is always there to reboot your life and send help.

 

Have an awesome Saturday and thanks for stopping by!💜

BE KIND💜💙💜

 

 

 

 

WHAT ARE YOU READING??💜

Just wondering what everyone is currently reading! So many new books are coming out in March.  Are you excited to read any of them?  I have a few books going today…….but I’m going to finish up  and

then start

 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!💜

THROWBACK THURSDAY

 

Throwback Thursday meme is hosted by Renee@It’s Book Talk and is a way to share some of your old favourites as well as sharing books that you want to read that were published over a year ago. You know, the ones waiting patiently on your TBR list while you continue to pile more titles on top of them These older books are usually much easier than new releases to get a hold of at libraries and elsewhere. If you have your own Throwback Thursday recommendation feel free to jump on board, you’re welcome to use Renee’s pic as well. If you’d just link back to her @ It’s Book Talk she’d so appreciate it.

 

This week my pick is:

BLUE  SMOKE

Nora Roberts

 

Reena Hale grew up with an intimate knowledge of the destructive power of fire. When she was a child, her family’s restaurant was burned to the ground, and the man responsible was sent to jail. The Hale family banded together to rebuild, and Reena found her life’s calling. She trained as a firefighter and then as a cop, always with the end goal in sight: to become an arson investigator. Now, as part of the arson unit, she is called in on a series of suspicious fires that seem to be connected-not just to each other, but to her. And as danger ignites all around her, Reena must rely on experience and instinct to catch a dangerous madman who will not stop until everything she loves has gone up in smoke.

 

This book has been on my TBR pile since 2008…….is that crazy or what?😢😰

Have a great day everyone!!

NICE PEOPLE

 

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have loved participating in, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll just be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

PUBLICATION DATE: MARCH 24,  2019

FROM GOODREADS:

In her career as an Army intelligence officer, Amy Cornwall has seen haunting sights half a world away. None compare to the chilling scene at her Virginia home. A phone rings with a terrifying ultimatum: locate and liberate an unnamed captive in forty-eight hours, or her kidnapped husband and ten-year-old daughter are dead. Now, and in open defiance of Army Command, Amy must employ every lethal tactic she has to save them. To succeed, she must discover not only who dispatched her on this mission, but why. Without her family, she’s dead either way.

 

What about you? What’s your WOW? Link us up!

UNINVITED WITH A GIVEAWAY

About the Book

Book: Uninvited

Author: Beckie Lindsey

Genre: YA

Release Date: 9/16/2018

Every girl has a secret she hopes the light will never find—

but the demons already have.

Battles between unseen forces of good and evil have made unlikely friends out of high school juniors Krystal, Mackenzie, Tammi, and Sadie, who share similar secrets from their traumatic pasts.

As Krystal’s lifelong friendship with Bryce grows into something more, her new friendship with Mackenzie is tested.

While Tammi and Sadie heal from their injuries caused by a horrific accident, their deeper wounds fester as tension grown between them.

When a handsome nurse and a sultry singer join the group, things become even more tangled.

Will the relationships survive the epic spiritual battles raging around them? Or will the demons keep them chained to their secrets?

 

Click here to purchase your copy.

 

About the Author

Beckie Lindsey is an award-winning author, poet, blogger, and the editor of Southern California Christian Voice, a division of One Christian Voice, a national news syndicating agency. She is a major coffeeholic and enjoys a good book with a cat on her lap. She also loves to hike and hang out with family and friends. Beckie and her husband, Scott have three adult children, two adorable cats and live in California.

 

Guest Post from Beckie

WHY I WRITE YA AND THE BFA SERIES

 

I believe a teenager still exists inside each of us.

 

We hear a familiar tune from our “glory days” and are instantly tapping our toes. Mentally, we’re back in high school —poofy bangs, scrunchie, neon off-the-shoulder sweatshirt — and all. Oh, wait. That’s me back in the ‘80s!

 

Ah, yes. There is something wonderfully awful about those coming-of-age years.

 

From the first kiss to the first breakup, there are memories we cherish and some we don’t care to ever revisit. Being a teen can be exciting, confusing, painful, joyous, or even all of those things at once!

 

No matter how different your teenage experience was from mine, one thing is true for us all: these years have an enormous impact on who we become as adults. We can all sympathize with the plight of puberty and the longing for independence and acceptance. Yeah, there’s still a teenager in all of us!

 

These are the reasons I write YA.

 

My hope is to use the power of storytelling to move past barriers and open hearts to accept how much God loves and desires a personal relationship with us.

 

At every age, we all need the grace and love of Jesus.

 

In the Beauties from Ashes (BFA) series, I write about relatable characters with difficult issues and traumatic pasts to enlighten readers about the unseen spiritual battle referred to in Scripture. Each character has a secret that has left them vulnerable to the battle in an invisible realm where demonic creatures fight to keep them chained to their pasts and angels of light work to free them.

 

The characters and their issues are complex, just like real life. In fact, some of the topics are often considered too taboo to talk about openly. But what is left in the dark, festers and grows. It is only in the light that we can be free. In the BFA series, readers experience the character’s quest for truth, love, grace, and freedom while hopefully finding the same for themselves.

 

Blog Stops

Real World Bible Study, March 12

Through the Fire Blogs, March 13

Blogging With Carol, March 13

Genesis 5020, March 14

Seasons of Opportunities, March 15

Godly Book Reviews, March 16

Remembrancy, March 17

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 18

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, March 19

Ashley’s Bookshelf, March 19

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 20

The Becca Files, March 20

Texas Book-aholic, March 21

janicesbookreviews, March 22

Bigreadersite, March 23

A Reader’s Brain, March 24

Inklings and notions, March 25

 

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Beckie is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/dcc2/uninvited-celebration-tour-giveaway