The Book of Broken Hearts

The Book of Broken Hearts, by Sarah Ockler.

The only guy in all of Blackfeather who could help - the guy we had just so desperately hired - was the only guy in all of Blackfeather I was bound by blood, honor, and threat of dismemberment from every female in the Hernandez family to unilaterally ignore.

I'm not kidding about the blood part. There was an oath and everything, carefully scrawled into an infamous black book that once held all my sisters' secrets.

I almost laughed.

Of course it was him.

Emilio fucking Vargas.

I've read a few of Sarah Ockler's books before this one, and they're all great YA books. I think this one, however, may actually be the best of the three that I have now read.

Official synopsis:
Jude has learned a lot from her older sisters, but the most important thing is this: The Vargas brothers are notorious heartbreakers. She’s seen the tears and disasters that dating a Vargas boy can cause, and she swore an oath—with candles and a contract and everything—to never have anything to do with one.

Now Jude is the only sister still living at home, and she’s spending the summer helping her ailing father restore his vintage motorcycle—which means hiring a mechanic to help out. Is it Jude’s fault he happens to be cute? And surprisingly sweet? And a Vargas?

Jude tells herself it’s strictly bike business with Emilio. Her sisters will never find out, and Jude can spot those flirty little Vargas tricks a mile away—no way would she fall for them. But Jude’s defenses are crumbling, and if history is destined to repeat itself, she’s speeding toward some serious heartbreak…unless her sisters were wrong?

Jude may have taken an oath, but she’s beginning to think that when it comes to love, some promises might be worth breaking.
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What was interesting about this book was that it was not your typical YA novel - you have a romance going on between Jude and Emilio Vargas, but Jude is dealing with something a bit more important too: her father, fairly young (50 or so), has early-onset Alzheimers. Some of the time, he's fine, but other times, he forgets what year it is, or where he is, or what he's doing. In one scene, she and her sister Mari take him for mint chocolate chip ice cream, his favorite, and he starts yelling that the store is trying to cheat them, and that this isn't what they ordered; later, when they leave the story, he wonders out loud if they have mint chocolate chip, because that's his favorite.

Because all of this is going on, Jude is hesitant to get involved with Emilio - and, oh yeah, there's the family Vargas dating history too, like one of her sisters being cheated on by a Vargas and the other being dumped days before her marriage to one was supposed to take place.

I liked The Book of Broken Hearts a lot because of all of this; Ockler provides so many details in the novel that makes it come to life. The title actually comes from a book that Jude's sisters started when they were teenagers, and she was 12, of the same name - they wrote about their heartaches and heartbreaks in it, and that's also when they made her take a blood pact with them (becoming "blood sisters," in a way) that they would never get involved with a Vargas again.

I also liked how Jude wanted to have a "normal summer" - her last one before college - but felt like she needed to take care of her Papi (father) all summer instead. Jude seems to have more depth to her than the typical YA character, and Ockler conveys this by using first-person so we can see what Jude is thinking before she acts.

4.5 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I received an e-galley of this book from Edelweiss to review. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

Guest Post: Jennifer Richardson, author of Americashire

*Check back next week for a review and giveaway of Americashire by Jennifer Richardson! This week, Jennifer talks about how she developed the idea for her book and what the writing process was like for her.

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Jennifer Richardson

Just before Christmas 2007, my husband and I bought a cottage in the English countryside. Shortly after, I started writing a blog called An American in the Cotswolds, which was largely travelogue, chronicling my wonder at life in the countryside after a lifetime of suburban and urban existence. Much of the raw material for Americashire came from that blog, although the real work was after the fact in crafting the narrative. You hear it all the time, but a book really is different than a blog: There has to be a narrative arc, an emotional core. Or does there?

To answer the question of whether my book could be a book if built on travelogue alone, I went back and read what others had done before me. I started with the idyll memoir classics, Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence and Frances Mayes’ Under the Tuscan Sun: both lovely books, but neither of them overtly personal by today’s social media-driven, oversharing standards. And in the case of Mayle, the narrative structure was simple: a chapter for every month of the year. I moved onto a less well-known travel memoir, Instructions for Visitors by Helen Stevenson. It predates Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love by four years, but, like that book, is very personal and successful for it. I then sampled some British fare, Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island and Stuart Maconie’s Pies and Prejudice, which brought me back to the straight travelogue camp. My grand tour of travel memoir writing had demonstrated it was possible to be engaging with both straight travelogue AND a more personal approach. Only I could decide what I wanted my book to be.

And after writing Americashire both ways, in the end I opted for the more personal approach. This meant including a central narrative strand on the question of whether or not to have kids, an issue I had been struggling with during my time living in the Cotswolds. By including this aspect of my experience, I hoped to make the book more relatable to women who, regardless of whether or not they eventually pursued motherhood, ever grappled with the choice. It’s a subject that feels topical — a New York Times article noted how frequently these days the romantic comedy film “genre has stretched to include the pursuit — or avoidance — of offspring” — and I hope that Americashire contributes to the conversation.
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About the Author:
Jennifer Richardson is an American Anglophile who spent three years living in a Cotswold village populated straight out of English central casting by fumbling aristocrats, gentlemen farmers, and a village idiot. She is married to an Englishman who, although not the village idiot, provides her with ample writing material. She currently lives in Santa Monica, California along with her husband and her royal wedding tea towel collection. Her first book, Americashire: A Field Guide to a Marriage, is based on her experience in the Cotswolds and is out now from She Writes Press. You can purchase it here, and find Jennifer online at:

www.americashire.com
www.facebook.com/americashire
www.twitter.com/baronessbarren
www.pinterest.com/baronessbarren
www.goodreads.com/book/show/17691662-americashire

Skinny Bitch in Love

Skinny Bitch in Love, by Kim Barnouin.

Let's get something straight right here, since I get this question all the time: what the hell do vegans eat? First let me tell you what vegans don't eat: anything that comes from an animal. Yeah, even if you don't have to slaughter the creature to get it. So no eggs either. No milk. No brie on that cracker. And yes, fish are animals. They what do vegans eat? Duh: everything else.

Skinny Bitch in Love is a novel based on the Skinny Bitch cookbooks, by the same author. Kim Barnouin is a former model who went on to get a Bachelor's degree in Holistic Nutrition, and started writing the cookbooks in order to eat better. She is the author of all of the Skinny Bitch cookbooks, including sequels such as Skinny Bitch in the Kitch and Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven, and now is trying her hand at fiction based on these. I wasn't sure what to expect from this book because of that, but I ended up enjoying it a lot - it's a great "beach read" for the summer.

Official synopsis:
In this new novel based on the #1 bestselling Skinny Bitch books, a twenty-something chef loses her dream job—only to find happiness after she launches a vegan cooking school and falls for a sexy carnivore. Twenty-six-year-old Clementine Cooper is an ambitious sous chef at a hot vegan restaurant in Santa Monica. When an important food critic visits the restaurant, a backstabbing coworker sabotages her vegan dish by adding butter. Fired from her job and blackballed in L.A., Clementine has hit rock bottom. Not one to wallow, she decides to launch her own cooking school and personal chef business called Skinny Bitch.

Every day, Clementine passes a space for lease in her neighborhood and fantasizes about opening her own restaurant. Fifteen tables. A juice bar. Cali-meets-Moroccan décor. She plans to work hard, save money, and buy the space. But on the first day of her cooking classes, she discovers that millionaire restaurateur Zach Jeffries is opening a steakhouse in the same space!

Zach is the antithesis of everything she stands for, but she’s incredibly attracted to him. And it seems like he might be attracted to her too, since he immediately enrolls in her cooking school. Can two people who are so fundamentally different actually find love? As Clementine rebuilds her life with new friendships, romance, and recipes, she finds that there are healthy choices to make both in and out of the kitchen.
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This novel is definitely predictable, but it was also a fun read. Clementine is a vegan cook who gets fired from Fresh, where she is a sous chef, when an important critic comes to dine there and one of her jealous coworkers puts butter (a sin!) in her ravioli dish. It actually ends up being the best thing that ever happened to her, though, because she starts her Skinny Bitch vegan cooking classes and also ends up meeting two great guys: Alexander, the new sous chef at Fresh, and Zach Jeffries, a carnivore with whom she actually has a lot in common. She knows Alexander is the better match for her on paper, yet she keeps coming back to Zach, interestingly enough.

I started reading this book when I was in the midst of another novel, telling myself I was only going to read a few chapters and then get back to the original novel, but that promise fell by the wayside very quickly! Skinny Bitch in Love is a fast read and is perfect for any fans of YA or chick lit. I imagine that fans of the Skinny Bitch cookbooks would like this novel as well, or anyone who is vegan or anything of going vegan ... some of the recipes that Clementine made sounded quite delicious! If you're looking for a fun read, check out this book.

Skinny Bitch in Love will be in stores on June 4th. 4 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I received a NetGalley of this book to review. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

CONTEST: win $200 Toys R Us gift card (or $200 Paypal cash) + childrens' books by Carole P. Roman

Welcome to the $200 Toys R Us Gift Card Giveaway!

Hosted by Giveaway Promote.

Sponsored by author Carole P. Roman.

Carole P. Roman recently released volume four in her award winning series, Captain No Beard!

She's celebrating the new releases by giving away a $200 Toys R Us Gift Card or $200 USD via PayPal and a copy of each book!

Captain No Beard and the crew of the Flying Dragon welcome a new crew member, when Cabin Girl Cayla joins the ship. Responsible for his little sister, Captain No Beard is not very happy because he finds his newest charge a distraction. When faced with danger, the captain must find a way to escape.

While learning valuable lessons about strangers, the crew realized not to judge somebody because they are young or small. Strength comes in all sizes! Be sure to read "Captain No Beard: Strangers on the High Seas", Book 4 of the Captain No Beard Series. It is available on Amazon!

"If You Were Me and Lived in...France - A Child's Introduction to Culture Around the World" is the second book in Carole P. Roman's remarkable series about countries all over the globe.

With each book covering a different nation, Roman opens up a world of wonder while highlighting the fact that underneath it all we are far more alike than we might have imagined. Focusing on what life would be like from a child's viewpoint, she examines the diversity of the people who make up our planet. It is also available on Amazon!

About Carole P. Roman:

Award winning author Carole P. Roman is happy to add "Strangers on the High Seas- A Captain No Beard Story vol 4" to her successful series. The first book of the series, "Captain No Beard-An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate's Life" was named to Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012, as well as received the Star of Remarkable Merit. It was also named as one of the Best Indie Books of 2013 with the Pinnacle Award.

Roman has two other series, "If You Were Me and Lived in...", a children's non fiction book on cultures around the world and an introduction to yoga for kids. She lives on Long Island with her husband and very close to her children and grandchildren.

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Enter to win a $200 Toys R Us Gift Card and a copy of Captain No Beard: Strangers on the High Seas and If you were me and lived in… France…

Complete the tasks below to earn entries into this giveaway.

Refer your friends using your unique link at the top of the Rafflecopter for even more chances to win.

One winner will be chosen at random from all valid entries.

Open Worldwide.

Ends at 11:59pm EST on May 26th, 2013.

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Fearless

Fearless, by Cornelia Funke. (Mirrorworld #2)

"Can you tell me how it will happen?"

Alma pushed open the window to pour out the water. It was getting light. "The Dark One will use her sister's seal to reclaim her name. The moth on your heart will come alive. It won't be pleasant. Once it tears free from your skin and flies off, you will be dead. You may have a few more minutes, maybe an hour ... but there can be no salvation." She quickly turned away. Alma hated for others to see her cry. "Jacob, I wish there was something I could do," she added quietly, "but the Fairies are more powerful than I. It comes with their immortality."

The cat looked at him. Jacob stroked her black fur. Nine lives. He always believed he'd have at least that many.

Fearless is the second book in the Mirrorworld series, the first being Reckless. To be honest, I was offered the chance to read both, but figured that there would be some recap in Fearless about the events in the first novel ... unfortunately, I was very wrong about that - the book has almost no recap, and so I went to Wikipedia and read about what happened in the first book to understand this one and its magical world.

Official synopsis:
Jacob Reckless has only a few months left to live. He's tried everything to shake the Fairy curse that traded his life for his brother's--legends such as the All-Healing Apple, the Well of Eternal Youth, the blood of a northern Djinn. And yet hope after hope is extinguished. After months of fruitless searching, Jacob journeys through his father's mirror one final time to deliver the bad news to Fox.

But there they hear of one last possibility--an item so legendary that not even Mirrorworlders believe it exists: a crossbow that can kill thousands, or heal one, when shot through the heart. But a Goyl treasure hunter is also searching for the prized crossbow. Jacob must find it first--and somehow convince Fox to do whatever it takes to save him.
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Overall I did like this book, I just wish that the author had included recap. Most sequels I read include at least a page or two about what happened previously, and this one had a few flashbacks but that was it. However, that is of course not the author's fault, but mine for failing to read the first book.

It was interesting that Jacob Reckless was human, but chose to live in the Mirrorworld. In the first book, his brother got turned into a Goyl (made of stone) and he makes a deal with a Dark Fairy to save him, and that is where Fearless picks up. We learn about his relationship with Fox, who is a Vixen - she is an animal when she puts on her "fur dress," and a human when she does not - and the fact that he's a treasure hunter. The story will most likely have another book to follow-up, as I didn't get the feeling that Jacob Reckless's story will be done in only two books.

I also couldn't figure out Fox's age - she's in love with Jacob and he is in love with her too, although he doesn't really realize it until the end of the story. Wikipedia said he is 25, which is mentioned a few times throughout the book, but I think she's anywhere from 16-18.

3 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I was provided a copy of this book to review. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

CONTEST: Win a $300 Home Depot gift certificate (or $300 USD via Paypal) and a copy of Brood X

Welcome to the Brood X $300 Home Depot Gift Card Giveaway!

Hosted by Giveaway Promote.

Sponsored by author Michael Phillip Cash.

Are you prepared for the invasion of Brood X? It's here and you need to get ready!

Nothing will stop this 17 year swarm from happening. All humanity can do is hope that they will not stay around long.

Introducing Michael Phillip Cash's new book, Brood X. It is available on Amazon and coming soon to online book stores near you. Now you can win a copy of Brood X and a $300 Home Depot Gift Card or $300 USD via PayPal to help you get prepared for the invasion!

About Brood X:

Seth is laid off from work. His wife Lara just found out they are expecting a baby this summer. Seth plans on documenting the entire pregnancy with his brand new digital camcorder.

During an evening home watching television, the news reports that a swarm of cicada (Brood Ten) are expected to overwhelm the entire Northeast.

Brood Ten is vicious and ready to invade.

During a sweltering summer night, Brood Ten emerges and wreaks havoc with the electric grid, phone and cell service, wi-fi, food and water supply. Civilization as they know it is gone.

Seth and Lara are thrown back to the stone age in their own home with trillions of cicada trying to deposit their eggs and breed.

Will Seth grow up and take responsibility for his family? Or will the devastating bugs destroy humanity?

About Michael Phillip Cash:

Born and raised on Long Island, Michael Phillip Cash has always had a fascination with horror writing and found footage films.

He wanted to incorporate both with his debut novel, Brood X. Earning a degree in English and an MBA, he has worked various jobs before settling into being a full-time author. He currently resides on Long Island with his wife and children.

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Enter to win a $300 Home Depot Gift Certificate and a copy of Brood X.

Complete the tasks below to earn entries into this giveaway.

Refer your friends using your unique link at the top of the Rafflecopter for even more chances to win.

One winner will be chosen at random from all valid entries to receive a $300 Home Depot Gift Card or $300 USD via PayPal and a copy of Brood X (English version).

Open Worldwide.

Ends at 11:59pm EST on May 12th, 2013.

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Review and GIVEAWAY: Replacement Child

Replacement Child, by Judy L. Mandel.

I never met my sister, Donna. My other sister, Linda, was burned nearly to death. I was conceived as the salve on the burns, to fill the abandoned chair at the gray Formica table. My place in the family was cauterized by the flames.

This is the story of my family's trials and triumphs as a result of a tipping of fate, and my own struggle to live up to the role burned into my psyche from the time my mother first dreamed me up as her salvation.

This story is perhaps one of the saddest books I've read lately, and the scary part is, it's nonfiction: a memoir. Judy Mandel never knew her 7-year-old sister, Donna, because Donna died when a flight bound for Newark airport crashed into the house that her other sister, Linda, lived in with her mother and father. Judy wasn't yet born at the time, and her mother and Linda escaped from the wreckage, although not unscathed; Donna was not as lucky. This is the story of how Judy was born as a "replacement child" for Donna, and how she grew up and later made her own family.

Official synopsis:
Replacement Child tells the true story of a horrifying accident: A plane crashes into a family’s home, leaving one daughter severely burned and another dead. The death of the child leaves a hole in the family that threatens to tear it apart. In an attempt to fill the painful gap, the parents give birth to a “replacement child.” But what is life like for a child that was born only be replacement and how does that unique position in the family affect them into their adulthood?

In this powerful story of love and lies, family and hope, Judy L. Mandel tells the story of being the child brought into the world to provide “a salve for the burns.” As a child, she unwittingly rides the deep and hidden currents of her family’s grief—until her discovery of this family secret, years later, changes her life forever, forcing her to confront the complex layers of her relationships with her father, mother, and sister.

This powerful memoir switches between the history of the family before the accident, the day of the accident and Judy’s memories of her own life in a fascinating way of connecting the “before” and “after” families.
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I'm not sure if I had heard of the term "replacement child" before - I feel like there has to be another book or a movie that's explored this topic, but I can't recall any right now. This book could actually be made into a movie; at times, it resembled fiction more than fact, because even though there are plane crashes every day, it's hard to imagine a place crashing into your house, on what previously was a normal day.

Much like with 9/11, it was crazy to read who was in the Mandel house when the plane crashed. They lived in the second story of a triple-decker; the tenants on the 3rd floor were killed. Judy's father was still at work, and only an hour or so earlier, there were three or four girls over at the Mandel's working on a school project. Donna was in the living room and Linda was in the kitchen when the plane hit. Another tenant of the building would have been home, but was a professor and delayed his university class by ten minutes and so he was not home when the plane hit.

I really liked how the author parceled out bits and pieces from the day of the crash - pieces collected from her parents' and Linda's memories, even though Linda was only two years old at the time, and from newspaper articles and other reports about it - but also jumped back and forth between her childhood and growing up, and her present-day (2005/2006, at the time) life and family. I was curious to know why the crash happened, and the aftereffects of it; you learn about the aftereffects before you read about the crash itself, for the most part.

The other scary thing was that planes flying to/from Newark airport had multiple crashes in 1951-53, including this one; yet, they continued to happen, and if you lived near an airport, there was nothing to do but pray that it didn't happen to you and your family.

4 stars out of 5.

*Disclosure: I was provided a copy of this book to review. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

I have one copy of Replacement Child to giveaway to a lucky reader of Books I Think You Should Read! Enter via the Rafflecopter form below. Contest will end on Wednesday, May 8th, at 11:59pm EST, and winner will be notified via email on Thursday, May 9th, and have 24 hours to respond to my email, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Good luck!

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