The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Carla Buckley's The Deepest Secret.

For fourteen years, Eve has been completely devoted to protecting her son, Tyler. Tyler has xeroderma pigmentosum, a rare genetic disorder that leaves him extremely sensitive to ultraviolet light. Any exposure means burns and lesions, which can result in blindness, cancer, and ultimately death. 

The constant worry and stress is a lot for Eve to handle and lately it seems the rest of her family is being neglected. Her relationship with her husband is strained, her daughter is increasingly acting out, and Tyler himself, an average teenage boy in every other way, is tired of living such a sheltered life. 

Then the unimaginable happens. An accident that threatens Eve and her family. Eve's first instinct is to keep Tyler and the rest of her family safe but this time to do so will mean hiding something truly horrendous.

Carla Buckley's latest is a powerful read. It's a difficult one, too. Eve's accident really is awful but it's impossible not to sympathize with her. She's a good person, doing the best she can trying to be there for her family and deal with a totally unique situation when she literally makes a life changing mistake. One instance is all it takes for her world to start to crumble around her. It really does make the reader consider what they might do in Eve's situation.

The impact of her actions are massive and Buckley admirably illustrates this, showing the cracks that start to form in the community. Things begin to snowball as Eve tries harder and harder to ensure her secret is kept safe.

But even more interesting is the fact that Eve isn't the only one keeping secrets. Tyler's nighttime wanderings reveal some really odd behaviors on the part of his neighbors. Some are odd simply because they're taken out of context when the neighborhood peeping teen sees just snippets of other people's lives. Others we come to learn are quite serious secrets indeed.

With the pacing and intensity of a thriller, The Deepest Secret is yet another in a string of potential one sitting reads I've been tackling of late (I read about half in one sitting and then had to return to real life. I could have finished it in one go given the chance!).

Rating: 4.5/5

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

For more on Carla Buckley and her work, check out her website here. You can also like Carla on Facebook and follow her on Twitter and Goodreads.

Conquest by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard

They are called the Illyri and after discovering how to find and use wormholes for travel, they set about colonizing planets like their own. They arrived on Earth just over sixteen years ago and have ruled the planet ever since. 

Syl Hellais holds no hate for this planet. It is her home after all; she was the first of her kind born here. But her movements are restricted. As the daughter of the governor of the islands of Britain and Ireland she is forever protected and guarded. Much of the human resistance has been quashed over the years, but militant parties still exist and Edinburgh is home to one of the most active. Still, the area near the castle Syl and her father call home is generally free of such worries. So When Syl escapes on her sixteenth birthday, intent on exploring the nearby village, she has no way of knowing that she's walking straight into a war zone. 

Paul and Steven Kerr are part of the resistance but aren't involved in the bombing that almost kills Syl and her friend. In fact, they come to the rescue saving Syl from the blast and hiding her from the search party. By the time they meet again, Paul and Steven are to be executed for a crime Syl knows they're innocent of. 

Conquest kicks off a brand new series coauthored by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard. This first installment in the Chronicles of the Invaders is awesome in scope and premise. Not only do we have conquering aliens, which of course means an almost certain looming all out war between humankind and the invaders, but the politics of the Illyri are in question as well. There are some pretty big revelations in Conguest, some twists I didn't quite see coming that leave much to look forward to in subsequent books. And while it's clear throughout Conquest that this is only the beginning - there's an obligatory cliffhanger-esque ending, too - it's a highly engaging first book.

Connolly and Ridyard seem to work together fairly seamlessly. The collaboration here has resulted in a smooth and well written series debut with great characters, lots of intrigue, and pretty fantastic world building. No word yet on when we can expect the second book in the series, but it's already on my must have list!

Rating: 4/5

Top Ten Tuesday: Popular Authors I've Never Read

I've decided to jump on board with Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week the topic is: popular authors I've never read.

I feel like this might make me seem like a bit of a snob but here goes:

1. Nicholas Sparks - never going to happen. Not at all my thing. 

2. E. L. James - um, nope. Another one that's just not my thing.

3. Robert Jordan - this one actually probably is my thing, I just haven't gotten around to him yet. 

4. Veronica Roth - I have the whole trilogy in my TBR waiting patiently for when I get the chance so this one is inevitable. 

5. Rianbow Rowell - Rowell is just another of the author's I haven't gotten to. I've heard wonderful things and do plan to read her very soon.

6. Stephanie Perkins - her book sound so amazingly sweet and I'm not sure how I've managed not to read her thus far. I keep picking them up!

7. John Green - yes, yes. I know he's the current must read and I've watched the trailer for the movie and I still haven't read him nor have I got any of his books in the TBR.

8. Jodi Picoult - I have tried. I think I give up on this one.

9. Jojo Moyes - I feel like this author came out of nowhere (she didn't, she has a long string of books to her name) but I missed her somehow. She's in the to read someday list.

10. Nora Roberts - probably not going to happen.

Three Souls by Janie Chang

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Janie Chang's debut, Three Souls.

Let me just kick this off by saying, wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! I don't quite know what I expected in Three Souls. It's a debut and obviously the premise grabbed my attention early on so that I knew I wanted in on the tour. And yes, every reader goes into every book hoping it'll be fabulously wonderful and all that. But when we find one that hits the spot it's a truly excellent experience. Three Souls was that for me. Fabulously wonderful and excellent. It was the perfect book to spend my Sunday with! By the time I came up for air the day had ended and I was a little heartbroken at having turned the final page.

The year is 1935 and Leiyin has just witnessed her own funeral. She should be moving on but it seems she has something she must do first. Something she must atone for before she and her three souls may move on to the afterlife. But first, Leiyin and her souls must remember what started her on this path. What actions led to her death and what restitution is holding her back.

As they walk through her life, beginning with the year she left school, Leiyin and her souls relive her first love, the moment she turned against her father, and the consequences of doing so. She is married off to a man in a small nearby village, a man whose love she never quite accepted because she thought her heart belonged to another. And amidst a revolution, Leiyin lives out her few final years. What she discovers about herself and those around her will not only allow her make amends, but to see the things she was so blind to in life.

Oh, Three Souls was a beautiful book! A story steeped in history and family, culture and lore. A story about love and sacrifice, family and politics. And it was a heartbreaking story in so many ways (more than just by having ended!). It's only in dying that Leiyin is able to see the truth about her family. Her stepmother whose wisdom the teenage Leiyin missed out on. Her father and her older brother and their fears for what would happen to the family. Her sisters and their own struggles. Even her best friend, Nanmei.

It was sad to imagine the life Leiyin could have had if only she'd set aside her stubborn regard for an unworthy man. If only she'd opened her eyes and really seen the people who loved her most and all the opportunities missed! And while her story is certainly one filled with tragedy, Three Souls as a whole is still a wonderfully wrought story filled with hope.

Rating: 5/5

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

To learn more about Janie Chang and her work, you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

The Accident by Chris Pavone + a Giveaway

Hi, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Chris Pavone's latest, The Accident. And as a bonus I'm able to offer up a copy for giveaway. Be sure to read to the bottom to enter.

The Accident by Anonymous. It's the kind of manuscript every agent dreams about, every editor wants to acquire, and every publisher wants on their list. But this particular manuscript also places everyone who reads it in almost certain danger. 

Isabel understood that having the manuscript in hand would be a risk. After staying up reading it all night, she immediately contacted a trusted agent who turned around and pitched it to his boss at McNally & Sons. But as quick and careful as they were been, someone already knew they'd read it; all of them have been under tight surveillance for quite some time. See the manuscript in question is a tell all biography about Charlie Wolfe, a media mogul with the highest connections and an eye on future political office. The details outlined in the book would ruin the man and have far reaching effects. Which of course means the book will be a big hit if it ever makes it to print but only if those involved can stay alive long enough to make that happen. 

After having read and loved Chris Pavone's debut, Expats, I have to say that I was greatly anticipating a new release from him. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that The Accident was set in the publishing world, though. Squee!

My one teeny tiny issue was the way the revelation about the author played out. I doubt any reader will have a hard time figuring out who Anonymous really is and I was actually a bit confused about why Pavone dragged out the official reveal so long. There are clues peppered throughout the book and a pretty big tell about halfway through that's almost impossible to miss. And yet we had to wait almost to the very end for confirmation. It didn't necessarily add or take away any of the suspense in wondering or knowing, but it is what it is. Just something that I pondered while reading.

In all other ways The Accident fully lives up to the expectation set by Expats (and we get a little return to Kate here, too). It's a one sitting read for sure and a tightly plotted, well executed thriller that's smart and packed with tension.

Rating: 4.5/5

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here. For more on Chris Pavone and his work, you can visit his website here.

And now for the giveaway. Thanks to the publisher I'm able to offer up one copy for giveaway, US only and no PO Boxes. To enter just fill out the Rafflecopter before Monday, March 17. Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Releases 3/4/14

Some of the new titles hitting shelves this week are:

Black Moon by Kenneth Calhoun

A Circle of Wives by Alice LaPlante

The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld

A King's Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

The Seeker by R. B. Chesterton

Why Kings Confess by C. S. Harris

Savage Girl by Jean Zimmerman

City of Darkness and Light by Rhys Bowen

Precious Thing by Colette McBeth

The Player by Brad Parks

Two Sisters by Mary Hogan

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

Safe With Me by Amy Hatvany

Trouble in Mind by Jeffery Deaver

The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan

The Disappeared by Kristina Ohlsson

Murder in Pigalle by Cara Black

Black Horizon by James Grippando

Above by Isla Morley

Beauty by Frederick Dillen

Immortal Muse by Stephen Leigh

Night in Shanghai by Nicole Mones

The Moon SIsters by Therese Walsh

The All You Can Dream Buffet by Barbara O'Neal

The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black

Ghost Train to New Orleans by Mur Lafferty

Bone Deep by Randy Wayne White

Gemini by Carol Cassella

Notes From the Internet Apocalypse by Wayne Gladstone

The Walking Dead: The Fall of the Governor by Robert Kirkman & Jay Bonansinga

Panic by Lauren Oliver

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkowski

Half Bad by Sally Green

The Savages by Matt Whyman

Exposure by Kathy Reichs & Brendan Reichs

A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier

New on DVD:
Catching Fire
The Last Days on Mars
Hours
12 Years a Slave
Oldboy

Pre Pub Book Buzz: The Visitors by Sally Beauman

Through the years I have to admit that I haven't read much of Sally Beauman's work. It's something I do need to remedy considering how much I enjoyed Rebecca's Tale, her prequel to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. Her upcoming release, The Visitors, sounds fabulous and is on my list of must haves for this summer.

Here's a bit about it from Goodreads:

Under the tablecloth, Frances's hand reached for mine and clasped it. I knew what it meant, that clasp and the mischievous grateful glance that accompanied it: it meant I was thanked, that there were secrets here. I could accept that. I too had secrets - who doesn't? Sent abroad to Egypt in 1922 to recover from the typhoid that killed her mother, eleven-year-old Lucy is caught up in the intrigue and excitement that surrounds the obsessive hunt for Tutankhamun's tomb. As she struggles to comprehend an adult world in which those closest to her are often cold and unpredictable, Lucy longs for a friend she can love. When she meets Frances, the daughter of an American archaeologist, her life is transformed. As the two girls spy on the grown-ups and try to understand the truth behind their evasions, a lifelong bond is formed. Haunted by the ghosts of her past, the mistakes she made and the secrets she kept, Lucy disinters her past, trying to make sense of what happened all those years ago in Cairo and the Valley of the Kings. And for the first time in her life, she comes to terms with what happened after Egypt, when Frances needed Lucy most.

The Visitors is due out from Harper July 1st but the book is already available in the UK.