NIGHT ROAD by Kristin Hannah

  Synopsis (borrowed from B&N):  For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows — her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close-knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.
  Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way. It has always been easy — until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time Mia and Zach leave the house, she worries about them.
  On a hot summer’s night her worst fears are realized. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget… or the courage to forgive.
  Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, Night Road raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Kristin Hannah grabs your heart, soul, thoughts and emotions from page one to the very last page. As a mother and daughter it was easy to relate to Jude Farraday, mother of twins, Mia and Zach but the author did more than that, she made you feel what Jude was feeling. Her raw emotions, her pride, her pain, her happiness, her anger. How lives can change and be destroyed in a second but can those lives be healed? And how and what does it take? How long? A heart wrenching, yet, thought provoking story that will stay with you long after you are done reading it. This was the type of book that I didn’t want to end, as I was so engrossed in this family’s life, I wanted to know what their future held. A touching and emotional must read! Mark your calendars for March 29th, it’s release date!

NIGHT ROAD by Kristin Hannah

  Synopsis (borrowed from B&N):  For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows — her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close-knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.
  Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way. It has always been easy — until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time Mia and Zach leave the house, she worries about them.
  On a hot summer’s night her worst fears are realized. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget… or the courage to forgive.
  Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, Night Road raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Kristin Hannah grabs your heart, soul, thoughts and emotions from page one to the very last page. As a mother and daughter it was easy to relate to Jude Farraday, mother of twins, Mia and Zach but the author did more than that, she made you feel what Jude was feeling. Her raw emotions, her pride, her pain, her happiness, her anger. How lives can change and be destroyed in a second but can those lives be healed? And how and what does it take? How long? A heart wrenching, yet, thought provoking story that will stay with you long after you are done reading it. This was the type of book that I didn’t want to end, as I was so engrossed in this family’s life, I wanted to know what their future held. A touching and emotional must read! Mark your calendars for March 29th, it’s release date!

NIGHT ROAD by Kristin Hannah

  Synopsis (borrowed from B&N):  For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows — her twins, Mia and Zach, are bright and happy teenagers. When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close-knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude. Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend. Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.
  Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way. It has always been easy — until senior year of high school. Suddenly she is at a loss. Nothing feels safe anymore; every time Mia and Zach leave the house, she worries about them.
  On a hot summer’s night her worst fears are realized. One decision will change the course of their lives. In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything. In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget… or the courage to forgive.
  Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, Night Road raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love.
  My Thoughts and Opinion: Kristin Hannah grabs your heart, soul, thoughts and emotions from page one to the very last page. As a mother and daughter it was easy to relate to Jude Farraday, mother of twins, Mia and Zach but the author did more than that, she made you feel what Jude was feeling. Her raw emotions, her pride, her pain, her happiness, her anger. How lives can change and be destroyed in a second but can those lives be healed? And how and what does it take? How long? A heart wrenching, yet, thought provoking story that will stay with you long after you are done reading it. This was the type of book that I didn’t want to end, as I was so engrossed in this family’s life, I wanted to know what their future held. A touching and emotional must read! Mark your calendars for March 29th, it’s release date!

From An Island Life:
In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.
If you’d like to participate, visit An Island Life answer the question and then post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

My Question:

Do you have a mantra?

My Answer:

Everything happens for a reason.

  In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and find new book-related blogs that we may be missing out on! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!
  The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don’t have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun! This is a weekly event! And stop back throughout the weekend to see all the new blogs that are added! We get over 200 links every week!!
  Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.
  If you start following someone through the Hop, leave a comment on their blog to let them know! Stop back during the week to see other blogs that are added! And, most importantly, the idea is to HAVE FUN!!

This week’s question:
“Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?”

My answer:
I am a one book at a time reader.  I want to give my undivided attention, be totally focus, maybe become “friends” with some of the characters and transported into the story line and hopefully with the author’s writing style that will happen.  Reading more than one book, I would be afraid that I may get some of the details of events, characters, etc. confused with the other books.  Since I have been a one book reader for many years, and read strictly for enjoyment, I plan on continuing this type of reading schedule.

From An Island Life:
In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.
If you’d like to participate, visit An Island Life answer the question and then post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

My Question:

Do you have a mantra?

My Answer:

Everything happens for a reason.

  In the spirit of the Twitter Friday Follow, the Book Blogger Hop is a place just for book bloggers and readers to connect and find new book-related blogs that we may be missing out on! This weekly BOOK PARTY is an awesome opportunity for book bloggers to connect with other book lovers, make new friends, support each other, and generally just share our love of books! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed! So, grab the logo, post about the Hop on your blog, and start HOPPING through the list of blogs that are posted in the Linky list below!!
  The Hop lasts Friday-Monday every week, so if you don’t have time to Hop today, come back later and join the fun! This is a weekly event! And stop back throughout the weekend to see all the new blogs that are added! We get over 200 links every week!!
  Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.
  If you start following someone through the Hop, leave a comment on their blog to let them know! Stop back during the week to see other blogs that are added! And, most importantly, the idea is to HAVE FUN!!

This week’s question:
“Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?”

My answer:
I am a one book at a time reader.  I want to give my undivided attention, be totally focus, maybe become “friends” with some of the characters and transported into the story line and hopefully with the author’s writing style that will happen.  Reading more than one book, I would be afraid that I may get some of the details of events, characters, etc. confused with the other books.  Since I have been a one book reader for many years, and read strictly for enjoyment, I plan on continuing this type of reading schedule.

I am so excited today, and to be honest I think this is the first time I have had this type of feedback.  When I was initially contacted by Laura from Turner Publishing Company, asking if I would like to read and review this book and after reading the synopsis, there was no question in my mind, it was an emphatic YES!!  I received it in the mail within days and of course it was part of my Mailbox Monday Meme, and I had so many comments about it.  Well not only do I get to read and review this fantastic book, it just keeps getting better.  I have the chance to introduce the author to all of you today , so you get to know her better and, are you sitting down?…..5!!!…yes I said 5 of my lucky visitors are also going to get a chance to win this book so you can read it too!!!  But if you aren’t one of the 5, I will provide links to make it easier for you to order your own copy.  So please help me give her a friendly welcome as only the fabulous and fantastic visitors of this blog can….I now turn my blog over to Ms. Megan Munroe!!

    A teen beauty queen, personal trainer and former literary publicist, her range of life experiences and proven ability to succeed as a nice girl in a bitch’s world have led to features in Cowboys and Indians, Country Weekly and more. For more information, visit MeganMunroe.com.
 Follow at:
Online: MeganMunroeAuthor.com
Twitter: @nicegirlsrule
@bitch_pleaze
Turner Publishing is an award-winning, independent publisher based in Nashville, Tennessee. Imprints include Turner, Trade Paper Press, and Iroquois Press. For more information, visit TurnerPublishing.com.

    As we look back during National Women’s History Month and celebrate all the women who’ve paved the way for our success, it’s also the perfect quarter point to revisit your goals and intentionally recommit yourself to the positive history you would like to make in 2011.
    We’ve all heard the quote “well behaved women rarely make history” (in fact I have a whole chapter in my book dedicated to it) but before you bust out the motorcycle boots and get a tattoo of Marilyn Monroe on your forearm, you may be surprised to find out that the author of that quote didn’t write it as a free pass to behave badly.
    In fact, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich wrote that line out of the simple observation that well-behaved women who led fascinating and quiet lives rarely made headlines.
    The same is true today.
    Unfortunately, in today’s media we don’t often see good examples of women making daily positive change. Instead, the 24/7 news cycle showcases the constant influx of unfiltered comments and news”worthy” stories from women like Jersey Shore’s Snooki and Lindsay Lohan—converting this type of bad behavior into the norm and setting the bar lower and lower.
    However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t women in the media that are using their notoriety for good, we just don’t hear about them as often. The website, www.looktothesatrs.com highlights “the world of celebrity giving”, where women like Taylor Swift are applauded for donating $500,000 to the relief fund for the Nashville floods and Alicia Keys who raised 1.1 million dollars for her Keep a Child Alive foundation by encouraging her celebrity friends to refrain from tweeting until the money was raised.
    The difficult part for regular Jane’s like you and me, is that we don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to donate to a cause. But that doesn’t mean we can’t become positive change makers.
    I’m a firm believer in the idea that affecting the world you live in doesn’t take a lot of money- it just takes conscientiousness and time.
    This year, since money is tight for everyone, instead of making a lengthy list of resolutions that you probably won’t keep why not take one small principle and apply it to your daily life, one principle that can help define your personal history?
    Here’s one to try. I call it filtering.
    Filtering means that instead of speaking your mind the minute a thought enters it, take some time to formulate your opinion and say it with kindness and empathy. We have too many women in the media and in our neighborhoods speaking without a filter, and this can lead to some bad behavior.
    I believe that in order to be a passionate and successful woman in this world we have to be bold in our passions and stand up for ourselves. But I also think there may be a little too much speaking and not enough listening going on.
    That’s why this filter is so important. It can clear out unnecessary comments and instead put the thought back into thinking.
    Nice girl or bitch- we are all human, which means that we will say things we shouldn’t. But the difference is that a nice girl invests the time it takes to put her filter on, and the bitch just blurts without caring who gets hurt.
    Discovering my filter was one of the reasons I decided to write Bitch, Please! I wanted to get better at being honest and to become a woman of integrity—like so many of the great women who’ve come before me.
    So what are some simple steps for filtering?
1. Get up or bite down.
    This may mean excusing yourself to use the restroom, asking for a glass of water, or physically biting your tongue before you respond during a potentially uncomfortable or hurtful conversation.
    In the conversations I have with women who deal with “bitches”, I find that the hurtful things taking place have more to do with an unfiltered thought-to-mouth process than intention. In today’s world we are told to “speak our mind”- but can we agree that sometimes the negative things we think shouldn’t be said? Or at least they should be filtered?
2. Build up
    After you’ve formulate a filtered thought, a good rule of thumb is to always compliment before you say anything negative. Don’t just say, “Suzie, I like your headband but your advice sucks.” Say something kind. “Suzie, you know I have always appreciated your opinion, but right now I just need some time to figure this out on my own.”
    A filter doesn’t just keep you from saying things you shouldn’t it also helps you to say what you really mean.
    These are just two simple way to make March the kicking off point to create more positive impact in your corner of the world.
    I would encourage you today to install a filter.
    It just takes a moment to think before you speak, but it can take a lifetime to try and take back what’s already been said.
    Making history and changing the world begins in your backyard. Your family, friends, and foes are a microcosm of that world, and that is the stage by which you have been blessed to live out your life and make positive history.
    So the question begs to be asked, do you think using discretion when it comes to speaking your mind is a good or bad way to be and can it really alter your personal history?
——————————————————
Megan Munroe is the author of Bitch, Please! How Nice Girls Can Succeed in a Bitch’s World, and founder of the Nice Girls Rule Movement. For more thoughts on living a filtered life visit: www.nicegirlsrule.blogspot.com or www.meganmunroeauthor.com.

    Megan Munroe’s Bitch, Please! delivers a saucy communiqué empowering nice girls to kick passivity to the curb and instead use the strength of inward kindness to shake the foundation of the bitch’s empire. Bitch, Please! provides compelling answers to questions that nice girls often ask, like:
    How do I handle confrontation with the bitch in the next cubicle?
    Why does the bitch always seem to get what she wants?
    If being nice is a good thing, why do I feel like a doormat?
    From practical how-to-succeed scenarios to laugh-out-loud lessons, this humorous yet poignant dialogue has something for every woman. A unique mix of rhetoric, real-life revelations, kitschy quizzes, and food for thought, this is the perfect road map for your journey to create a successful life in a nice-girl fashion.
FROM TURNER PUBLISHING:
    Nice Girl Advocate Kicks Passivity to the Curb in Debut Book
    (Nashville, TN) Actress, model, singer-songwriter and nice-girl advocate Megan Munroe delivers a saucy communiqué empowering nice girls worldwide to kick passivity to the curb in her debut book Bitch, Please! How Nice Girls Can Succeed in a Bitch’s World, which releases in March 2011.
Shaking the bitch’s empire with chapter topics like Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, and other big B’s to What Emily Post won’t tell you, this book is a cover-to-cover entertainment treatise with an addictively enjoyable conversational style.
Bitch, Please! How Nice Girls Can Succeed in a Bitch’s World
Megan Munroe
Turner Publishing, $24.95
Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-59652-806-2
Available at local retailers, Amazon.com and TurnerPublishing.com
From practical how-to-succeed scenarios to laugh-out-loud lessons, this humorous yet poignant dialogue has something for every woman. A unique mix of rhetoric, real-life revelations, kitschy quizzes, and food for thought, this is the perfect road map for your journey to create a successful life in a nice-girl fashion.

(Nashville, TN) Actress, model, singer-songwriter and nice-girl advocate Megan Munroe delivers a saucy communiqué empowering nice girls worldwide to kick passivity to the curb in her debut book Bitch, Please! How Nice Girls Can Succeed in a Bitch’s World, which releases in March 2011.
Shaking the bitch’s empire with chapter topics like Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, and other big B’s to What Emily Post won’t tell you, this book is a cover-to-cover entertainment treatise with an addictively enjoyable conversational style.
Bitch, Please! How Nice Girls Can Succeed in a Bitch’s World
Megan Munroe
Turner Publishing, $24.95
Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-59652-806-2
Available at local retailers, Amazon.com and TurnerPublishing.com
From practical how-to-succeed scenarios to laugh-out-loud lessons, this humorous yet poignant dialogue has something for every woman. A unique mix of rhetoric, real-life revelations, kitschy quizzes, and food for thought, this is the perfect road map for your journey to create a successful life in a nice-girl fashion.
SYNOPSIS (borrowed from Amazon):

  How do I handle confrontation with the bitch in the next cubicle?
  Why does the bitch always seem to get what she wants?
  If being nice is a good thing, why do I feel like a doormat?
  From practical how-to-succeed scenarios to laugh-out-loud lessons, this humorous yet poignant dialogue has something for every woman. A unique mix of rhetoric, real-life revelations, kitschy quizzes, and food for thought, this is the perfect road map for your journey to create a successful life in a nice-girl fashion.

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