Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Young
Published by Goldman House Publishing
ISBN 9780981562711
At the request of Pump Up Your Book, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (back of book): Every life has a price. Waverly Sloan is a down-on-his-luck lawyer. But just when he’s about to hit rock bottom, he stumbles upon a business with the potential too solve all his problems.
  In Waverly’s new line of work, he comes to the aid of people in desperate need of cash. But there’s a catch, His clients must be terminally ill and willing to sign over rights to their life insurance policies before they can collect a dime. Waverly then finds investors eager to advance them thousands of dollars-including a hefty broker’s fee for himself-in exchange for a significant return on their investment once the clients take their last breath.
  The stakes get higher when Waverly brokers the policy of the cancer-stricken wife of Lawrence Erickson, a high-powered lawyer who’s bucking to become the next U.S. Attorney General, When Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly’s clients start dying sooner than they should, both Waverly and Erickson-who has some skeletons of his own to hide-are unwittingly drawn into a perilous web of greed, blackmail and murder.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: There is so much to say about this book and all positive. When I read a book for a review, I have a little checklist in the back of my mind that I use to critique a book. First, the description, Buying Time is a legal thriller, however, it was not bogged down with a lot of legal terminology where the reader needs to have a prerequisite of being a 4th year law student to understand. The legal jargon was worked into the story line so that it was easily understandable. Now to my check list. Did I get pulled into the plot and when? Check, on page 1 of the Prologue. Were the characters brought to life and relateable? Check. Was it, as I call it, “a one more chapter” read? Check. The chapters were short with chapters alternating with the different characters and ending with a mini cliff hanger that this reader had to read on until I got to the next chapter of this character. Was it a page turner? Check, all 414 pages. Was I able to conjure up vivid imagery due to the author’s writing style for characters and scenes? Check. Was I so engrossed into the story that I didn’t realize what was going on around me? Check. Did I enjoy it? Can I honestly recommend this book? Check and Check. A nonstop fast paced legal thriller that must be read!!

Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook
Published by Hyperion
ISBN 978-1-4013-4116-9
At the request of Pump Up Your Book, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (book’s jacket): Just when Jill Murray has finally figured out how to manage on her own, her ex-husband proves that he can’t even run away reliably. After seven long years missing in action, he’s back-crashing into the man-free existence Jill and her ten-year-old daughter have built so carefully. What’s a good mother to do? To a child, even a deadbeat dad is better than no dad at all.
  Jill’s life just hasn’t turned out quite the way she planned. By now, she’d hoped to be jetting around the world as a high-end cultural coach. Instead, she’s answering phones for a local travel agency and teaching cooking classes at the community center.
  Enter free-spirited entrepreneur Billy, who hires Jill as a consultant for an upcoming business trip. Is their relationship veering off in a new direction? And what about her ex? Jill couldn’t possibly still have feelings for him….could she? Suddenly, her no-boys allowed life is anything but.
  The say that every seven years you become a completely new person, but Jill isn’t sure she is ready for the big change. It takes a Costa Rican getaway to help her make a choice-not so much between the two men in her life, but between the woman she is and the one she wants to be.
  My Thoughts and Opinion:  Hurry!! You still have time to read this delightful, female self liberating, fun, maybe even a little envy thrown in summer read. Jill, has been surviving and going through the motions of daily life to stay afloat to make a life for her daughter and herself after being abandoned seven years ago by her husband. But she hasn’t moved on since that time. The characters in this book come alive through Ms. Cooks writing. I found myself laughing along with Jill, the main character, feeling sorry for her and, at the same time, rooting her on. It was very easy to form imagery of the settings by the words the author conveyed. I might add that one scene, involving a tarantula, had me looking around and I don’t even live where tarantulas do, but was not taking any chances. I also enjoyed the little tidbits of knowledge that the author also added about different lands, the unique foods and customs of different cultures. And for the jealousy, I now believe that every woman needs to and should take a GGG, Great Girlfriends Getaway. This was the first book I read by Claire Cook and it won’t be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as have so many others, from reading the many great reviews regarding this book.
Claire Cook visited this blog and was a “Guest Author” in July. Check out that posting.

Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook
Published by Hyperion
ISBN 978-1-4013-4116-9
At the request of Pump Up Your Book, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (book’s jacket): Just when Jill Murray has finally figured out how to manage on her own, her ex-husband proves that he can’t even run away reliably. After seven long years missing in action, he’s back-crashing into the man-free existence Jill and her ten-year-old daughter have built so carefully. What’s a good mother to do? To a child, even a deadbeat dad is better than no dad at all.
  Jill’s life just hasn’t turned out quite the way she planned. By now, she’d hoped to be jetting around the world as a high-end cultural coach. Instead, she’s answering phones for a local travel agency and teaching cooking classes at the community center.
  Enter free-spirited entrepreneur Billy, who hires Jill as a consultant for an upcoming business trip. Is their relationship veering off in a new direction? And what about her ex? Jill couldn’t possibly still have feelings for him….could she? Suddenly, her no-boys allowed life is anything but.
  The say that every seven years you become a completely new person, but Jill isn’t sure she is ready for the big change. It takes a Costa Rican getaway to help her make a choice-not so much between the two men in her life, but between the woman she is and the one she wants to be.
  My Thoughts and Opinion:  Hurry!! You still have time to read this delightful, female self liberating, fun, maybe even a little envy thrown in summer read. Jill, has been surviving and going through the motions of daily life to stay afloat to make a life for her daughter and herself after being abandoned seven years ago by her husband. But she hasn’t moved on since that time. The characters in this book come alive through Ms. Cooks writing. I found myself laughing along with Jill, the main character, feeling sorry for her and, at the same time, rooting her on. It was very easy to form imagery of the settings by the words the author conveyed. I might add that one scene, involving a tarantula, had me looking around and I don’t even live where tarantulas do, but was not taking any chances. I also enjoyed the little tidbits of knowledge that the author also added about different lands, the unique foods and customs of different cultures. And for the jealousy, I now believe that every woman needs to and should take a GGG, Great Girlfriends Getaway. This was the first book I read by Claire Cook and it won’t be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as have so many others, from reading the many great reviews regarding this book.
Claire Cook visited this blog and was a “Guest Author” in July. Check out that posting.

The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst
Published by Doubleday
ISBN 978-0-385-52769-9
At the request of Doubleday, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (from book’s jacket): Octavia Frost is a former bestselling writer in the winter of her career. In the opening pages of this dynamic novel, she arrives in New York to deliver her latest manuscript-a revolutionary new book-to her editor. But as she walks through Times Square , she sees a news crawl announcing that Milo, Frost, her rock-star son, has been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend.
  Octavia and Milo haven’t spoken in years, an estrangement stemming from a horrific tragedy the two of them endured when he was a child. Yet Octavia cannot help but drop everything and fly to San Francisco to try to make sense of the situation.
  The book Octavia was supposed to deliver contains rewritten versions of the final chapters of all her previous novels, in which she has changed her character’ outcomes and removed pieces of her personal life that had been hidden within, especially concerning that terrible days years ago, These “last’ chapters” and their new revisions are interspersed throughout Carolyn Parkhurst’s The Nobodies Album-the scattered puzzle pieces of the troubled past Milo and Octavia share.
  Did she drive her son to murder? Did Milo murder anyone at all? And what exactly happened all those years ago? As the novel builds to a stunning reveal, Octavia must consider how her own story will come to a close.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: I had a hard time with the beginning of this book. I felt that at times it was very “wordy” and “dry”, and not sure where the plot was headed. There were eight (8) chapters that had been written by the character of the author and her ground breaking concept of her newest manuscript, whereas it had the original ending of one of her prior novels and then a new and different ending. Another thing that I felt was hard to relate to, which was stated in the synopsis, and that was the many years of estrangement between the characters of mother and son. It appeared to this reader, and this is my opinion only, that son’s response, was unrealistic and too nonchalant when they were reunited after many years of bitterness and being apart. On the other hand, the suspense of trying to piece together the clues of finding the murderer in the cast of characters, what was the underlying reason for the estrangement and a few other issues that I won’t mention due to it containing spoilers, is what kept my interest and had me turning the pages. Since I found this novel to be a 50/50 read I will rate it accordingly.

The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst
Published by Doubleday
ISBN 978-0-385-52769-9
At the request of Doubleday, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (from book’s jacket): Octavia Frost is a former bestselling writer in the winter of her career. In the opening pages of this dynamic novel, she arrives in New York to deliver her latest manuscript-a revolutionary new book-to her editor. But as she walks through Times Square , she sees a news crawl announcing that Milo, Frost, her rock-star son, has been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend.
  Octavia and Milo haven’t spoken in years, an estrangement stemming from a horrific tragedy the two of them endured when he was a child. Yet Octavia cannot help but drop everything and fly to San Francisco to try to make sense of the situation.
  The book Octavia was supposed to deliver contains rewritten versions of the final chapters of all her previous novels, in which she has changed her character’ outcomes and removed pieces of her personal life that had been hidden within, especially concerning that terrible days years ago, These “last’ chapters” and their new revisions are interspersed throughout Carolyn Parkhurst’s The Nobodies Album-the scattered puzzle pieces of the troubled past Milo and Octavia share.
  Did she drive her son to murder? Did Milo murder anyone at all? And what exactly happened all those years ago? As the novel builds to a stunning reveal, Octavia must consider how her own story will come to a close.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: I had a hard time with the beginning of this book. I felt that at times it was very “wordy” and “dry”, and not sure where the plot was headed. There were eight (8) chapters that had been written by the character of the author and her ground breaking concept of her newest manuscript, whereas it had the original ending of one of her prior novels and then a new and different ending. Another thing that I felt was hard to relate to, which was stated in the synopsis, and that was the many years of estrangement between the characters of mother and son. It appeared to this reader, and this is my opinion only, that son’s response, was unrealistic and too nonchalant when they were reunited after many years of bitterness and being apart. On the other hand, the suspense of trying to piece together the clues of finding the murderer in the cast of characters, what was the underlying reason for the estrangement and a few other issues that I won’t mention due to it containing spoilers, is what kept my interest and had me turning the pages. Since I found this novel to be a 50/50 read I will rate it accordingly.

The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain
Published by MIRA Books
ISBN-13: 978-0-7783-2853-7
At the request of Meryl L Moss Media Relations (The Book Trib) a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review.
  Synopsis (back of book): Maya and Rebecca Ward are both accomplished physicians, but that’s where the sisters’ similarities end. As teenagers, they witnessed their parents’ murder, but it was Rebecca who saved Maya from becoming another of the gunman’s victims. The tragedy left Maya cautious and timid settling for a sedate medical practice with her husband, Adam, while Rebecca became the risk taker.
  After a devastating hurricane hits the coast of North Carolina, Rebecca and Adam urge Maya to join them in the relief effort. To please her husband, Maya finally agrees. She loses herself in the care and transport of victims, but when her helicopter crashes into raging floodwaters, there appear to be no survivors.
  Forced to accept Maya is gone, Rebecca and Adam turn to one another-first for comfort, then in passion-unaware that, miles from civilization, Maya is injured and trapped with strangers she’s not certain she can trust. Away from the sister who has always been there to save her, now Maya must find the courage to save herself-unaware that the life she knew has changed forever.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: What a book !! Even though there are 371 pages, I found it to be a quick read because I had to keep reading at a fast pace to keep up with the fast pace of the storyline. The characters came to life, to the point that I was disappointed the story ended because I wanted to continue following their lives, especially with the surprise ending. I could actually feel the emotions, especially of the 2 sisters, Maya and Rebecca. The portrayal of how they both handled the trauma of their parents’ murders differently , which they both felt guilty for but never discussed, molded and affected them as adults was compelling. Reading the written detailed graphic account of the disaster following a hurricane was so vivid, that it felt like I was watching a movie. I really enjoyed the medical aspect of the plot being a retired RN. This was the first time I read a book written by Diane Chamberlain and I will definitely be reading her prior books. Would I recommend this book? Absolutely!!

The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain
Published by MIRA Books
ISBN-13: 978-0-7783-2853-7
At the request of Meryl L Moss Media Relations (The Book Trib) a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review.
  Synopsis (back of book): Maya and Rebecca Ward are both accomplished physicians, but that’s where the sisters’ similarities end. As teenagers, they witnessed their parents’ murder, but it was Rebecca who saved Maya from becoming another of the gunman’s victims. The tragedy left Maya cautious and timid settling for a sedate medical practice with her husband, Adam, while Rebecca became the risk taker.
  After a devastating hurricane hits the coast of North Carolina, Rebecca and Adam urge Maya to join them in the relief effort. To please her husband, Maya finally agrees. She loses herself in the care and transport of victims, but when her helicopter crashes into raging floodwaters, there appear to be no survivors.
  Forced to accept Maya is gone, Rebecca and Adam turn to one another-first for comfort, then in passion-unaware that, miles from civilization, Maya is injured and trapped with strangers she’s not certain she can trust. Away from the sister who has always been there to save her, now Maya must find the courage to save herself-unaware that the life she knew has changed forever.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: What a book !! Even though there are 371 pages, I found it to be a quick read because I had to keep reading at a fast pace to keep up with the fast pace of the storyline. The characters came to life, to the point that I was disappointed the story ended because I wanted to continue following their lives, especially with the surprise ending. I could actually feel the emotions, especially of the 2 sisters, Maya and Rebecca. The portrayal of how they both handled the trauma of their parents’ murders differently , which they both felt guilty for but never discussed, molded and affected them as adults was compelling. Reading the written detailed graphic account of the disaster following a hurricane was so vivid, that it felt like I was watching a movie. I really enjoyed the medical aspect of the plot being a retired RN. This was the first time I read a book written by Diane Chamberlain and I will definitely be reading her prior books. Would I recommend this book? Absolutely!!

Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas
Published by St. Martin’s Press
ISBN 978-0-312-60015-0
At the request of Authors On The Web, a HC copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
  Synopsis (from book’s jacket): On a spring afternoon in 1920, Swandyke-a small town near Colorado’s Tenmile Range-is changed forever. Just moments after four o’clock, a large split of snow separates from Jubilee Mountain high above the tiny hamlet and hurtles down the rocky slope, enveloping everything in its path.
  Meet the residents whose lives this tragedy touches: Lucy and Dolly Patch, two sisters long estranged by a shocking betrayal. Joe Cobb, Swandyke’s only black resident, whose love for his daughter forces him to flee Alabama. Then there’s Grace Foote who hides secrets and scandal that belie her genteel facade. And Minder Evans, a Civil War veteran who considers cowardice his greatest sin. Finally, there’s Essie Snowball, born Esther Schnable to conservative Jewish parents but who now works as a prostitute and hides her child’s parentage from the world.
  Fate, chance, and perhaps divine providence all collide in the everyday lives to these people. And ultimately, no one is without sin, no ones’s soul is whiter than snow, and no one is without the need for forgiveness.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: This is the first novel by Sandra Dallas that I have read, and in my opinion, is a gifted storyteller. The first chapter grips you with a glimpse of what is to come. It begins on that fateful day, April 20th 1920 when the avalanche roars through Swandyke, Colorado. Subsequent chapters follow the lives of six (6) residents prior to that fateful day and then returns, once again to 1920 bringing the story full circle. The author’s writing style, one word, exceptional. While reading this novel, for me, was like watching a movie in my imagination. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the history, the fashion or lack of, the housing, professions, morals, racism, inter caste system and beliefs of the 1920’s and before, on a personal level, because my grandmother was born in 1900. And a profound underlying message that forgiveness comes within and is a gift to one’s self and that no one’s soul is whiter than snow. This moving and emotional tale was truly a treasure to read.