GIVEAWAY: Absalom's Daughters, by Suzanne Feldman {ends 7/6}

Absalom's Daughters, by Suzanne Feldman, will be in stores on July 5th, but two of my lucky readers can win themselves a copy!

Official synopsis:

A spellbinding debut about half sisters, one black and one white, on a 1950s road trip through the American South.

Self-educated and brown-skinned, Cassie works full time in her grandmother’s laundry in rural Mississippi. Illiterate and white, Judith falls for “colored music” and dreams of life as a big city radio star. These teenaged girls are half-sisters. And when they catch wind of their wayward father’s inheritance coming down in Virginia, they hitch their hopes to a road trip together to claim what’s rightly theirs.

In an old junk car, with a frying pan, a ham, and a few dollars hidden in a shoe, they set off through the American Deep South of the 1950s, a bewitchingly beautiful landscape as well as one bedeviled by racial strife and violence. Suzanne Feldman's Absalom’s Daughters combines the buddy movie, the coming-of-age tale, and a dash of magical realism to enthrall and move us with an unforgettable, illuminating novel.

Read Chapter One of the book here.

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Quick Pick: The Lovely Reckless, by Kami Garcia

• Opening lines: A police officer shines a blinding light in my eyes. "Do you know why I pulled you over?"
  
  To ruin what's left of my miserable life?
• Reason I picked up the book: Kami Garcia is the co-author of Beautiful Creatures, a book series that I really enjoyed. 
• And what's this book about?
I’ve become an expert at avoiding things that could hurt me—which means I will figure out how to stay away from Marco Leone.

Seventeen-year-old Frankie Devereux would do anything to forget the past. Haunted by the memory of her boyfriend’s death, she lives her life by one dangerous rule: Nothing matters. At least, that’s what Frankie tells herself after a reckless mistake forces her to leave her privileged life in the Heights to move in with her dad—an undercover cop. She transfers to a public high school in the Downs, where fistfights don’t faze anyone and illegal street racing is more popular than football.

Marco Leone is the fastest street racer in the Downs. Tough, sexy, and hypnotic, he makes it impossible for Frankie to ignore him—and how he makes her feel. But the risks Marco takes for his family could have devastating consequences for them both. When Frankie discovers his secret, she has to make a choice. Will she let the pain of the past determine her future? Or will she risk what little she has left to follow her heart?

• Favorite paragraph:
  My heart aches. "Me too. But that doesn't change anything."
  "It should."
  "We've been through this. I'm the daughter-"
  "Of a cop, and I'm a car thief, he says softly. "But if I wasn't?" Marco watches me. He's playing what if, and I already know how the game ends.
  "Are you saying you stopped stealing cars?" I already knows the answer.
  
  He frowns and bites his cracked lip.
• Recommended for: Anyone who likes family tales and also family secrets; also for those who like "chick lit."
• Something to know: I believe this is a standalone novel.
• What I would have changed: Some of it was very YA-ish but overall, it was written very well. 
• Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
• Where can I find this book? Click here to pre-order on Amazon - it will be released on October 4th. You can also read the first five chapters here, for free.

*Disclosure: I received an e-copy of this book from NetGalley for reviewing purposes. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

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Book Review: One True Loves, by Taylor Jenkins Reid {and a giveaway!}

The voice I hear through the phone is one that I would recognize anywhere, anytime - a voice that spoke to me day in and day out for years and years. One that I thought I'd never hear again, one I'm not ready to even believe I'm hearing now. 

The man I loved since I was seventeen years old. The man that left me a widow when his helicopter had gone down somewhere over the Pacific and he was gone without a trace.

Jesse.

"Emma," Jesse says. "It's me. I'm alive. I'm coming home."

I am a huge fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid's books, so I was excited to see that she had a new book coming out soon. One True Loves, like her other books, focuses on romance and relationships, but this time there's a small hitch: Emma, who recently became engaged to Sam, finds out that in fact, she's not a widower; her husband, who they thought died in a helicopter crash, is still alive.

Official synopsis:

From the author of Maybe in Another Life—named a People Magazine pick and a "Best Book of the Summer" by Glamour and USA Today—comes a breathtaking new love story about a woman unexpectedly forced to choose between the husband she has long thought dead and the fiancé who has finally brought her back to life.

In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure.

On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever.

Emma quits her job and moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.

That is, until Jesse is found. He’s alive, and he’s been trying all these years to come home to her. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect the ones she loves.

Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly?

Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying.

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