I just saw this in my Google Reader and am signing up.  Want to join me?  Here are the details:

Hosted by bout of books

 Standard info:

• Bout of Books is a week long read-a-thon, run from 12:01am on Monday, May 14th through 11:59pm Sunday, May 20st in whatever time zone you are in.
• Bout of Books is low pressure, meaning participants are only asked to push themselves to read more than they normally would during any given week. There is no competition between readers.
• How much time a reader wants, and can commit, to read, tweet, or network with fellow bloggers is left to individual preference. All challenges and giveaways are optional.
• Networking with fellow bloggers is actively encouraged, though never required. Co-hosts are there to facilitate blog hopping and interaction between participants.
• Use Twitter to post updates throughout the read-a-thon. Everyone will be tweeting with the #boutofbooks hashtag.

My Goals are:
*Finish current read of Far and Away by Meg Mitchell Moore
*Start and hopefully finish 1-2 other books which I haven’t chosen yet

Progress (which will be a sticky post during time frame of Read-A-Thon:
*I will be tracking my progress of # of pages read daily
*List books finished
*Wrap Up post

CARING LESSONS by Lois Hoitenga Roelofs
Published by Deep River Books
ISBN 10: 1-935265-37-7
ISBN 13: 978-1-935265-37-5
At the request of WOW Tours, a TPB was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

  Synopsis: Lois Roelofs describes herself as a rebellious minister’s daughter, a reluctant nurse, a restless mom, and a perpetual student who eventually became a fun-loving teacher of mental health nursing. During her forty-year nursing career, she cared for patients and taught nursing students in primarily mental health and medical-surgical settings. As a caregiver, she learned the value of caring for herself and did so by changing jobs to suit her interests, going back to school more than once to feed her crave for learning, and seeking professional help when personal and family crises invaded her life.

Hosted by An Island Life

We all enjoy eating, right?   But there is something I just don’t understand and today that is my question.

Do you enjoy eating very hot, spicy food?   If yes, isn’t your mouth in pain?   How is that enjoyable?

SCROLL DOWN FOR DAILY POSTINGS.
This is a sticky post for Read-A-Thon progress.

Book:  The Second Time We Met by Leila Cobo
02/24  Friday  Pages Read:    127/361
*Musing–I am reading/reviewing this book for The Hachette Book Group. Once my review is posted, Brianne from Hachette has kindly offered for me to host a 3 book giveaway. For a debut novel, it is well written and holding my attention.

02/25 Saturday Pages Read:  182
                                           Subtotal:  308/361
*Musing—ohh so close to finishing the book but sleep won.
 

02/26 Sunday Pages Read:  53
                                       Subtotal:   361/361
*Musing–Finished The Second Time We Met by Leila Cobo.  Will be writing my review today and starting another book
Didn’t get much reading in.  Between doing things around the house and computer to-dos the day flew by.

Started Book The Ninth Step by Barbara Taylor Sissel
02/27 Monday Pages Read: Kindle 9%
Subtotal:  1 book/ 9% 2nd book
Musing:  Going to be hard keeping track of pages read since Kindle does it by %s, one of the negatives I have with owning a Kindle.

02/28 Tuesday Pages Read:  Kindle : another 9%
                                           Subtotal:  Kindle:  18%
Musing: not too much time spent reading.  Errands, doctor appointment (and wouldn’t you know it) I thought great, I’ll be able to get some reading done in waiting room..was taken right on time lol.  I still haven’t learned all the gadgets w/the Kindle..is there a way to find out page numbers instead of the % read?

02/29 Wednesday Pages Read:  0%
Musing:  Unfortunately I didn’t even open a book.  Due to RL commitments, which I knew ahead of time, I knew that I would probably not get much reading in.  

03/01 Thursday Pages Read:  32%
                                                    Total:  50%

Wrap Up:  Finished The Second Time We Met by Leila Cobo
1/2 through- The Ninth Step by Barbara Taylor Sissel
I was hoping to get at least 2 books read and started on a third during this read-a-thon, however, I also knew  when, I signed up that I had obligations that were going to interfere.   But knowing that I was participating, was an incentive to try and pick up my book as often as I could.

Thank you Stephanie from Once Upon a Chapter for hosting.

LOVESICK by Spencer Seidel
Published by Publishing Works, Inc.
ISBN-13: 978-1-935557-20-3
ISBN-978-1-935557-51-7
At the request of Meryl L. Moss Media, an ARC TPB was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

  Synopsis (borrowed from Amazon):   Late one night out on the Eastern Promenade Trail in Portland, Maine, the police discover an incoherent teenager sitting in a pool of blood, holding the body of his best friend and the murder weapon. The girl they both love has been missing for weeks.

The kid’s jealousy clearly drove him to murder. He says the missing girl is the love of his life. She also happens to be the girlfriend of the murder victim.

It’s an open and shut case, or so most of Portland thinks.

Dr. Lisa Boyers, forensic psychologist, receives a call from an old friend, a connection to her troubled past. Attorney Rudy Swaner wants her to interview the young killer Paul Ducharme, who is claiming he doesn’t remember the events leading up to the murder.

In her jailhouse interviews, Lisa helps Paul to recover his memories. But something about Paul’s disturbing love story shakes Lisa to the very core of her being. To understand Paul, she is forced to confront her own ugly violent secrets.

Media attention mounts. Reporters stream into Portland. All eyes turn to the psychologist who seems intent on exonerating the vicious teen killer. Soon Lisa finds herself the focus of an over-zealous reporter with a knack for digging up dirty secrets.

But the killer who has Lisa in the crosshairs already knows them all.

  My Thoughts and Opinion:   I was introduced to this author in May of 2011 with his debut novel, Dead of Wynter,  in which I had stated at the time to put this author on your radar.  So when I was approached to read his latest novel to read and review, I jumped at the chance.  There is always a bit of skepticism, I find, when the debut book is extraordinary, is the 2nd one going to be too?  Or was it a one hit wonder.

Lovesick draws you in from the first few pages.  A deep, dark psychological thriller with a cast of characters that are interwoven with each other, having their own secret demons, in which they were all trying to live a normal life.  Even those that were in positions of trying to investigate a murder of a  teenage boy, his missing girlfriend and a best friend found at the murder scene but who doesn’t remember anything.   So many parallels between those investigating the case and those that were the victims.

Engrossing!!  Spencer Seidel’s writing style transports you right into the book.  To the point that a few times, I would be reading while waiting to pick up my husband after he got out of work and I was so absorbed, that I did not see nor hear him approach the car and when he knocked on the window, I let out a scream.  Definitely a white knuckle, thriller read!!!  Even though I had figured out the “whodunit”, the details surrounding the why’s, what’s, details, and secrets of the other characters were surprising.  This was a couldn’t put down book.  Looking forward to Mr. Seidel’s  future works.

(2012 Challenges:  Romantic Suspense, ARC, Mystery/Suspense, Off The Shelf, Serial Killers, Free Reads, Where Are You?, A-Z, Merely Myster, I want More, 52 in 52, Outdo Yourself, 100+)

I am excited since I have been doing pretty good this year so far with read-a-thons and I just found another one via Michelle from The True Book Addict,  thank you Michelle.   It starts today and runs until March 1st.   Here are the details if you would like to participate:

Hosted by  Stephanie at Once Upon a Chapter

Details from her site:
*Will run from 2/24 (12:01 AM) to 3/1 (11:59 PM).

*If you are a blogger, please do a post announcing your participation. If you want to do all of your updating from one post, that is completely fine by me. (You can also grab the smaller button below.)

*I will be having mini-challenges throughout the week. Two for US residents and one for my international friends!

*I can’t stress this enough: HAVE FUN with the read-a-thon! 

*Please fill out the form to sign up!

He’s baaaaack!!   Yes, my paisan from the old neighborhood is back.   For those who aren’t Italian, paisan means pal and/or buddy.   I don’t think I ever told the story how we virtually met.   So before he starts telling us about his latest book, I will digress and share.

He sent me an email via GR asking me if I lived anywhere near Providence College, which is where he attended college and in which he mentions in his Moonlight novels.  And then he happens to mention…..”Oh and btw I just wrote a book that you might enjoy.”  I explained I would put it on my TBR list but that I review for several publishers and publicists and when I had a lull I would pick it up.  It just so happened, that a week later a tour company that I was reviewing for put a call out for his book so I jumped at the chance, and as they say the rest his history.

As I said, he is returning today to talk about his latest book, which should be quite interesting since this is definitely not in the genre that he hooked me with.  But I will let him explain.  So I am happy to have Vincent Zandri here once again!!!

ABOUT VINCENT ZANDRI

Vincent Zandri is the No. 1 International Bestselling author of THE INNOCENT, GODCHILD, THE REMAINS, MOONLIGHT FALLS, CONCRETE PEARL, MOONLIGHT RISES and SCREAM CATCHER. He is also the author of the bestselling digital shorts, PATHOLOGICAL and MOONLIGHT MAFIA. Harlan Coben has described his novels as “…gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting,” while the New York Post called THE INNOCENT, “Sensational…Masterful…Brilliant!” In March, April and May of 2011, he sold more than 100,000 Kindle E-Book editions of his novels. In September 2011, he signed a major deal with Thomas and Mercer of Amazon for the publication of his new novel, Murder by Moonlight, and the re-publication of many of his back-list titles, including The Innocent and The Remains. Zandri’s list of publishers also include Delacorte, Dell, StoneHouse Ink and StoneGate Ink. An MFA in Writing graduate of Vermont College, Zandri’s work is translated into many languages including the Dutch, Russian and Japanese. An adventurer, foreign correspondent, and freelance photo-journalist for RT, Globalspec, IBTimes and more, he lives in New York. For more go to WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM

You can find Vin at the following locations:
Website, Blog, Amazon Author Page, Facebook, Twitter

Or at his next 2 stops:

2/14/2012 Misty Rayburn Review – http://www.the-top-shelf.com

ABOUT THE BOOK

A young U.S. Army officer who’s served in Afghanistan finds himself suffering from intermittent bouts of “hysterical” temporary blindness due to impossible and deadly orders he was forced to obey by high command in the field. When he’s reunited with his fiancée in a military hospital in Germany after being separated for more than year, the couple are encouraged by doctors to travel to Venice, Italy together. There, amongst the canals and the cafes, they try to rekindle their love and fight off their personal demons while trying to comprehend the enormity of the heartbreaking role they now must play in love and war.

Amazon buy link

Barnes and Noble Buy Link

Addendum:  In case you don’t see it, Vin just left a comment that his novel Scream Catcher is a free download all weekend!!!!  What a deal!!!  Don’t miss out!!!

MY REVIEW

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT by Vincent Zandri

Published by  StoneGate Ink

ASIN: B0060MB5JM

At the request of his Virtual Publicist a digital short edition, was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

  Synopsis (borrowed from Amazon):  A young U.S. Army officer who’s served in Afghanistan finds himself suffering from intermittent bouts of “hysterical” temporary blindness due to impossible and deadly orders he was forced to obey by high command in the field. When he’s reunited with his fiancée in a military hospital in Germany after being separated for more than year, the couple are encouraged by doctors to travel to Venice, Italy together. There, amongst the canals and the cafes, they try to rekindle their love and fight off their personal demons while trying to comprehend the enormity of the heartbreaking role they now must play in love and war.

  My Thoughts and Opinion:  The mystery, the suspense, the engrossing roller coaster twists and turns, white knuckle ride to the very last word is what put this author on my radar when I read Moonlight Falls.  And as I kept reading his subsequent novels (all of them) it moved him right on up to the Number 1 spot for mystery/suspenseful reads.  Then I read Scream Catcher and instantly saw a difference in his writing style.  Not in a bad way, but in a way that proved that this author has a lot to give, that he is most definitely a master at storytelling.  And then something happened, that I can honestly say, I was blown away.  I never thought these 2 words would be in the same sentence, Zandri and romance.

OK..another test..could he pull this one off?  Even though it was a digital short, which disappointed me because I wanted to get the whole package, but I will be patient until the sequel is out), he transported me to the sidewalk cafe in Italy sitting next to this American couple that seemed to be quite uncomfortable with each other.  Yes, he made the characters come to life, he allowed the reader to form a vivid imagery of the scene, feel the emotions, see the sights and sounds.  If this digital short is any indication what the novel will be, I have something to look forward to.  He just raised the bar even higher!!!