Chasing the Sun by Natalia Sylvester

Hi, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Natalia Sylvester's debut, Chasing the Sun.

Four months ago, Andres's wife left him. They reunited but things have never been the same. So when Marabela doesn't come home one evening, Andres believes she may have left him once again. Then he receives a call: Marabela has been kidnapped. The people holding her want more money than Andres can possibly put together and have ordered him to tell no one about the incident. Desperate, Andres hires a mediator to help but otherwise follows the instructions he's been given - no police, no media, no attention whatsoever. As time goes by, though, it gets harder and harder to deal with this a secret.

This is yet another title in a string lately that seems at the outset to be a thriller but in actuality is not. Which is totally fine - but I wanted to get that out of the way right off the bat so as not to contribute to any sort of false impressions :)

The kidnapping itself is a vehicle for the story of Andres and Marabela's relationship, one that has been tense for quite some time. It's interesting too that Andres continues to have his own doubts and suspicions even after learning that Marabela has been kidnapped and has not in fact left of her own volition this time.

The book obviously touches on the politics in Peru at the time of the story (1992), which is a subject I know very little about. It was quite eye opening and prompted me to do some further reading on my own just to understand more about the setting of the book. It seems like a terrifying time to have faced and I found it interesting that the author noted the book was based in part on a kidnapping that occurred in her own family.

Chasing the Sun is a wonderful show of Natalia Sylvester's talent. She's woven a story fraught with emotion and tension that plays out in a truly captivating way.

Rating: 4/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Natalia Sylvester, you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter and Pinterest.

Hidden by Catherine McKenzie

Happy book birthday to Catherine McKenzie! Readers, I've been looking forward to the release of Hidden for what feels like ages and now it's finally here!

Jeff Manning has died, leaving behind not one but two grief stricken women. Claire, his wife, is shocked when the police arrive on her doorstep with news of Jeff's death. Her family rallies to support her but nothing can truly calm the young widow. Tish lives 500 miles away and has always wondered how she'd find out if something happened to Jeff. Her worst fears are confirmed when she hears the news upon arriving at work the Monday following the accident. 

Hidden is told through three viewpoints - Clair and Tish, obviously, but also Jeff. Chapters alternate between the three providing the readers a glimpse inside all three characters' lives, their families, how they got to where they are presently, and the building of the two relationships.

Unlike McKenzie's previous three titles (Spin, Arranged, and Forgotten) there's very little humor in Hidden. It's still about family and relationships, featuring the same honest and emotional style of the previous three, just with a more serious tone than the prior releases. It was a bit of a heart wrenching read, to be quite honest.

Hidden is all of the best things I've come to love about McKenzie's work and I really can't recommend her highly enough!

Rating: 5/5

Real Happy Family by Caeli Wolfson Widger

Good morning, everyone. Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Caeli Wolfson Widger's debut,  Real Happy Family!

Lorelei Branch has always wanted to be a big star. After an HPV vaccine ad and a few other small placements, she thought she was finally on her way when she made it through to the big finale of Flo's Studio's live casting pick. But when Lorelei is passed over, disaster strikes - in the form of her mother Colleen. 

Now Lorelei isn't speaking to Colleen. In fact, Lorelei has run off to Reno with her boyfriend, Don, her mother's credit card, and a stash of meth. To get her through the day Colleen has a cocktail of pills and booze, all of which she hides from her husband, Carl. But then Colleen gets an idea, a way to hopefully earn Lorelei's forgiveness while also putting her back in the spotlight. 

Meanwhile, Lorelei's brother and his wife have their own struggles. They've been trying to conceive and after a visit to a highly sought after specialist, their plan is in place. Until Darren is offered a job on a set in Florida. And this job would finally mean earning recognition in the industry as well as earning the respect of his in-laws. Robin reluctantly agrees but having her husband so far away while undergoing hormone treatments is definitely not ideal. 

Whew. That's a lot of info to sum up. Caeli Wolfson Widger's Branches are crazypants. It's kind of hard to sympathize much with Lorelei and Colleen considering their situations are pretty much born of their own bad choices and stubbornness. Robin and Darren on the other hand are probably the most likable ones of the bunch. (Carl gets some facetime but he's still mostly in the background throughout the book.) All in all, though, reading Real Happy Family is like watching a train wreck. I was intrigued, especially by the hints of the occurrence on Flo's Studio, but I don't know that I really enjoyed most of the story.

I will say this, all of the ridiculousness of reality tv is spot on! I'm not a fan of reality tv for exactly the reasons Real Happy Family portrays. And while we've had some small brushes with the Hollywood industry, the stage mom and the Hollywood lifestyle are still things I'll never be able to understand. While the author is clearly poking fun at it, it's all kind of exactly the way she lays it out here. In fact, I've heard much crazier beyond the glimpse she gives us into that life.

I'm a little on the fence. Lots of Real Happy Family is amusing, in a tragicomic sort of way (you know, if you like to see characters ride the meth bus to disaster and you want to see families fall apart). It's a quick read as well, I finished it in one afternoon. It didn't quite reach the oddball hilarity of similar reads (Wonder Bread Summer) and while I'm all for unlikable characters, in cases like this one it doesn't work in the book's favor.

Rating: 3/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to visit the official TLC tour page here. For more on Caeli Wolfson Widger you can follow her on Twitter and Goodreads.

Pre Pub Book Buzz: Hidden by Catherine McKenzie

Or my version of Waiting on Wednesday :)

Some of you might recall my gushing praise of Catherine McKenzie's 2012 releases, Spin, Arranged, and Forgotten. All three were at the top of my list of books read that year. I've been anxiously awaiting McKenzie's fourth release, Hidden, antsy as hell because it's been out in her native Canada since this past summer. We here in the States still have a bit of a wait, but every day is one day closer to the April 1st release!

Here's a bit about the book from Goodreads:

While walking home from work one evening, Jeff Manning is struck by a car and killed. Not one but two women fall to pieces at the news: his wife, Claire, and his co-worker Tish. Reeling from her loss, Claire must comfort her grieving son and contend with funeral arrangements, well-meaning family members and the arrival of Jeffs estranged brother, her ex-boyfriend Tim. With Tish's co-workers in the dark about her friendship with Jeff outside of the office, she volunteers to attend the funeral on the companys behalf, but only she knows the true risk of inserting herself into the wreckage of Jeff's life. Told through the three voices of Jeff, Tish, and Claire, Hidden explores the complexity of relationships, the repercussions of our personal choices, and the responsibilities we have to the ones we love.

Considering how blown away I've been not only by McKenzie's books but her overall taste in fiction in general, I definitely expect Hidden to be an incredible read.

Mystery Girl by David Gordon

Morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for David Gordon's Mystery Girl.

Sam's wife has left him. She has her reasons, though, and says that it's the only way she thinks he'll ever change. The first order of business is getting a job, which he does manage to do pretty immediately (impressing her at their first couple's therapy session). The job in question is that of assistant to the odd and housebound Solar Lansky, PI. He even assigns Sam his very first case on the same day as the interview: to follow Ramona Doon. But within days, Ramona is dead. Rather than admit defeat, Solar sets Sam to the task of uncovering Ramona's past in hopes that it might lead to the truth of her death. Soon Sam is embroiled in a strange tale of suicide, avant garde filmmaking, and even devil worship. 

I have very mixed feelings about Mystery Girl. There are various aspects of the book that I really enjoyed - the humor and Gordon's particular way of describing things in particular. It was very easy to be drawn into Gordon's prose. On the other hand, Gordon's style did strike me as being a bit in the vein of Chuck Palahniuk, which I see as being shocking simply for the sake of it rather than moving the story along. (Palahniuk has a pretty passionate fan base that would likely disagree with me.)

The mystery in Mystery Girl is interesting and while I'm not very well read in classic noir, I am familiar enough with it and the big names to see the obvious influence here. I could also very plainly see the appreciation of and sort of homage to Hitchcock's Vertigo.

Mystery Girl is smart and quite funny in a very twisted way. Fans of dark comedy and mystery will enjoy this latest from Gordon for sure, but the book definitely isn't for everyone.

Rating: 3/5

To see more stops on the tour, check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on David Gordon and his work, you can visit his website here.