TITLE: Sins of the Flesh AUTHOR: Caridad Pineiro PUB DATE: November 2009
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Caterina Shaw’s days are numbered. Her only chance for survival is a highly experimental gene treatment-a risk she willingly takes. But now Caterina barely recognizes herself. She has new, terrifying powers, an exotic, arresting body-and she’s been accused of a savage murder, sending her on the run.
Mick Carrera is a mercenary and an expert at capturing elusive, clever prey. Yet the woman he’s hunting down is far from the vicious killer he’s been told to expect: Caterina is wounded, vulnerable, and a startling mystery of medical science. Even more, she’s a beautiful woman whose innocent sensuality tempts Mick to show her exactly how thrilling pleasure can be. The heat that builds between them is irresistible, but surrendering to it could kill them both . . . for a dangerous group is plotting its next move using Caterina as its deadly pawn.
MY THOUGHTS:
I love taking part in Blog Talk Radio shows when I get the chance to listen in. This time I have to thank Kathy from Bermudaonion for telling me about this one. If you would like to listen to the interview Anna did with Caridad you can listen here
I was lucky enough to get on the blog tour with Grand Central for this. So I have to thank Anna from HBG for allowing me to be a part of the tour and for sending me this book to read and review.
Sins of the Flesh is part romance, part mystery and part paranormal. Just a warning there is some adult content in this book. Its mainly in the last 1/4 of the book.
With that being said I really enjoyed the book. I found it to be a page turner and there was enough action going on that peaked my interest and left me wanting to read more of the book. You know its a really good book when you have a hard time putting it down and that was the case with this one for me.
I admit that I don’t read alot of romance/paranormal books but when I get the chance I really enjoy them and this one is no exception. If you like reading this genre of books I am really sure you will enjoy it.
Caterina’s life is short lived because she has a tumor that is eating away her brain. She has tried every thing until she is offered something new figuring she has nothing to loose she agrees to this new treatment. Its an experimental gene treatment. Little did she realize what this new treatment would entail and how it would effect her in the long term.
When Dr. Wells is brutally murder, Caterina is named as the killer and is on the run.
Mick Carrera who is a mercenary and comes highly recommended because he is an expert in capturing who is paid too. He is hired by Dr. Edwards to find Caterina and bring her back to him. He soon discovers he is not the only one looking for her but his old arch enemy who is a ruthless killer and will stop and nothing to catch and kill who he is looking for.
Can Mick catch Caterina before Mad Dog?
Will Mick be able to protect Caterina when he does catch her? Is she really the cold bleeded killer that Dr Edwards protrays her to be?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Caridad Piñeiro wrote her first novel in the fifth grade when her teacher assigned a project: write a book for a class lending library. Her love of writing continued through high school, college and law school. Shortly after the birth of her daughter, her passion for the written word led to a determination to publish and share the stories she loved with others. In 1999, Caridad’s first novel was released and a decade later, she is the author of more than twenty novels and novellas.
I am dying to read Stronger than Sin as that is the next book in this new exciting series. I was trying to find out when it was going to be released but I couldn’t find anything.
This book was provided for review by Hachette.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
Thank You to Tracee from Pump Up Your Book Promo for asking me if I would be interested in being part of the tour for Your Family Constitution.
This was a quick and interesting read. Within the first chapter I felt as though the book was about me and for me.
The book is about a day in Scott Gale’s family life that he refers to as the Black Sunday. On this particular day he and his family have bascially hit rock bottom. He realized shortly after that they his family needed a change. He set out to make a plan for this family change.
He came up with the family constitution. Similar to the idea of the American Constitution. At first it seemed to work but realized it wasn’t going to work so he decided that if this was going to work that he needed the input from the family. The managed to come up with something that would work and it did.
Scott included his family constitution at the end of the book for us the readers so we would know how to do it. If you think you can just take the short cut and use his he even explains to us the reader why you can’t just use his. He was smart to include that. You can try to copy his but will so realize that it won’t work for you and your family.
As parents we seem like we are always juggling alot of balls and always afraid that one will drop. We are juggling our kids, our personal needs and our careers. It always feels as though those balls get heavier all the time. It seems as though we have more and more commitments all the time and trying to find ways to make it all work.
I am a stay at home mom so I am not working but still I feel as though at times I was like Scott and I could actually relate to Scott. Not only are we the same age but are struggling with the same issues and concerns.
I always feel as though I am always doing the chores in the house and it gets frustrating because I feel as though its never appreciated. I have tried several times with Michael with helping with chores and rewarding him but I realized while I was reading the book that its not just about assigning chores and offering rewards but its about having house rules that everyone must respect.
Having house rules are important and in order for it to work you have to communicate with monthly and yearly meetings and get the input from your family. Change the things that don’t work.
The book is very simple and straight forward. Everything is laid out in a simply way so that its easy to refer back and forth. Scott also includes several comics and illustrations in the book that had a little humor to the book. I admit I was laughing throughout the book especially the one about BOB’s job description:
Little boy is talking to his parents and he asks:
You’re sure there is nothing in there about catering to our every whim….
Parents are over looking the papers and say:
Nope. I don’t see that anywhere in our job description.
I admit I am guilty of using that. Who isn’t?
If you are at your wits end and want peace in your house then I suggest this book for you. We are currently working on our own family constitution and I will keep you posted on the progress.
This book was provided for review by Tracee from Pump Up Your Book Promo and Scott Gale for sending the book.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
ABOUT THE BOOK: When you meet the man of your dreams on girls night out, it’s hardly Perfect Timing.
In this fresh and funny contemporary romance by bestselling author Jill Mansell, Poppy Dunbar’s whole life gets turned upside down after a chance encounter with a handsome stranger.
Never a troublemaker, Poppy had always been content with the way things were supposed to be done—which included marrying predictable Rob McBride. But that was before she met Tom Kennedy the night before her wedding. Could she really be falling in love with a stranger?
Unable to forget Tom, or go through with the wedding, Poppy runs off to London. Her new life and colorful friends are anything but predictable. Misunderstandings, family secrets, and jealous quarrels ensue, but can Poppy stop running long enough to figure out what—or, rather, who—is in her heart?
MY THOUGHTS:
This has been my fourth Jill Mansell book that I have read and I have enjoyed them all. Each one is different from the last. I am really happy to have discovered her books. Thank You Danielle from Source Books for introducing her to me.
Perfect Timing is the newest one to hit the US market.
Perfect Timing begins with Poppy out on her hen night (bachorlette party) the night before her wedding. Not wanting to have a hangover for her wedding she becomes the designated driver of the evening.
One point in the evening she decides to step outside to get some air and even though she is sober she manages to fall down the stairs. A handsome guy comes to her rescue. He helps her to the bench and offers to check her foot to see if there is any damage. Talking with this guy she realizes she is nervous around him. She is feeling something she has never felt for her fiancee. Right on cue, not Perfect Timing her friends show up and help her back inside.
She tells him how she feels and he admits he feels the same way and asks her to meet him at a near by restaurant and that he will wait for her and if she doesn’t show up then he will understand. One the way home after all the girls have been dropped off she does go to the restaurant but will she go in?
This chance meeting triggers a domino effect to Poppy’s life. This one evening will change the course of life for Poppy will be it a good thing or a bag thing?
Having thought about the evenings events Poppy realizes she can’t go through with the wedding and tells her fiancee. You can only image what will happen and how he will take it. He is devastated and hurt and tells Poppy that her father really isn’t her biological father.
With this new knowledge Poppy decided to head to London to get away from her fiancee, his family and in search of her father. She makes London her home. In London she encounters all kinds of characters who become a part of her life.
I envied Poppy because once she was in London things seemed to fall into place for her and it all seemed like being at that right place at the right time.
This book was provided for review by Danielle from Source Books. Thanks to Danielle for sending me an ARC of the book.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
TITLE: Tyranny AUTHOR: Lesley Fairfield PUB DATE: October 2009
ABOUT THE BOOK: In Tyranny, brisk, spare text and illustrations that deal head-on with anorexia propel the reader along on Anna’s journey as she falls prey to the eating disorder, personified as her tormentor, Tyranny.
The novel starts with a single question: “How did I get here?” The answer lies in the pages that follow, and it’s far from simple. Pressured by media, friends, the workplace, personal relationships, and fashion trends, Anna descends into a seemingly unending cycle of misery. And whenever she tries to climb out of the abyss, her own personal demon, Tyranny, is there to push her back in. The contest seems uneven, and it might be except for one thing: Anna’s strength of character has given rise to her deadly enemy. Ironically, it is that same strength of character that has the ultimate power to save her from the ravages of Tyranny.
Brilliantly and realistically presented, Tyranny is a must-read for anyone looking for a better understanding of eating disorders and for everyone looking for a compelling page-turner that is truly a story of triumph and hope.
MY THOUGHTS:
I have to thank Sylvia at Tundra Books for sending me Tyranny. I took part in the Medina Hill tour and as a thank you she said I could pick out a book from their catalog and this is what I picked.
The book is done as a graphic novel something that I recently discovered and I am enjoying them. It was a quick read with an important message in it.
In our daily lives we are bombarded with images of super thin girls and we try to look like them no matter the cost to ourselves. We are pressured by the media (magazines, tv, movies etc), fashion trends, celebrities, the work place, the malls etc to look like those girls.
This is exactly what this graphic novel is about. Its about a girl named Anna who has an eating disorder. She is struggling to over come it but can’t because of her subconscious, Tryanny telling her she is fat and not to eat.
No matter how thin or close to death Anna gets she still sees herself as fat and unworthy. Anna began this destructive cycle when she got her period for the first time and went shopping with her mom. She saw the difference in her body. What is normal she saw as fat.
At first Anna started dieting but only by counting calories, then to not eating food, and then she started to binge and purge. From all the binging and purging she got very sick but still whenever she looked into the mirror she kept seeing herself as fat.
Out of panic one day her mother visits her because Anna hasn’t answered her phone. She is shocked at what she sees and get Anna the help she needs. She is admitted to the hospital. With the help of her psychiatrist she started to see things clearer.
Can she make it work? Will it take the death of her friend to make her realize what she is doing to her body is wrong?
STATISTICS:
-An estimated 1 in 100 American women binges and purges to lose weight.
-Approximately 5 per cent of women and 1 percent of men have anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder.
-It is estimated that 200,000 to 300,000 Canadian women aged 13 to 40 have anorexia nervosa and twice as many have bulimia.
-Each day Americans spend an average of $109 million on dieting and diet related products.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lesley Fairfield is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design in illustration. Her work appears in many children’s books. Lesley’s personal thirty-year struggle with anorexia and bulimia has informed her work concerning body image, which has appeared in “Dance in Canada” magazine and in York University’s International Women’s Studies Journal.
This book was provided for review by Tundra Books.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
TITLE: Step Back From the Baggage Claim AUTHOR: Jason Barger PUB DATE: July 2009
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Ever experienced the way small moments impact our lives? Ever wanted to participate in a movement to change our world? Step back, be still, share compassion, live gratefully. Today, travel gracefully along your path! “Step Back from the Baggage Claim”. Jason Barger spent seven straight days flying 6,548 miles to seven different cities living only in the airports the entire time. He studied 10,000 minutes of observations at all four corners of the U.S. and reflected on how our airport experiences can teach us about our lives today. The airport metaphor leaps to life through profound anecdotes about an orphanage in Mexico, a summer camp in Ohio, bamboo, the homeless, climbing Mount Everest, a hot dog grill, and much more. The funny and inspiring stories remind us how to change our daily world through thoughtful and compassionate action! Join the movement.
MY THOUGHTS:
Thank You to Jason for contacting me about his book and thank you for sending it my way.
I have to say that I don’t read motivational books this hasn’t been a genre that really has interested me until reading this book. I am sure I will be picking up future books in this genre.
I have to also say that Jason was a pleasure to work with when he contacted me about doing this and in the interview. He always answered my emails really quickly. Jason, you were a pleasure to work with.
The premise behind the book was that Jason decided to spend seven days living in various airports from Columbus, Ohio to Boston to Maimi to Chicago to Minneapolis to Seattle to San Diego. He also didn’t leave these airports at all. He ate and slept in them. He also had set a budget of $20 a day to live on.
I really enjoyed the book and I could relate to it because I have experienced what he was talking about all the time. I am not a worldly traveller and I am not in airports all the time. I can actually say I have only flown three times in the last 11 years but I know what he is referring to.
While I was reading the book I can remember from the times I was in an airport that people rush off the plane to get to baggage claim to claim their stake for the best spot to grab their baggage while the people behind them were basically trying to poke and peek through to see if their bag had come down yet.
It always funny to see this and it has actually happened when I take the train that people are in such a rush to get their belongings that they don’t realize that by the time they get to baggage their baggage is still being unloaded.
Also as a society I find that we have become self centered and that its always about me and not those around us. I have witnessed this on several occassion where I have been standing in line for fast food to have someone butt in front of me. Just because I am a stay at home mom my time is just a precious as the person who cut in front of me.
On one occassion when that happened to me I actually spoke up because I was in a rush and had to be somewhere so I said “Excuse me, but I was in front of you.” The guy looked at me and said “Yea well not everyone can be a stay at home parent. Some of us have to work.” I was rather annoyed but thankfully the lady behind the counter served me before him.
The book was a quick read and it was interesting that Jason also included at the end of each chapter a few questions to ask yourself and to write them down. He also includes frequently asked questions that he gets asked with is answers. I was also curious and happy to see how he managed to live on $20 a day at these airports. Surprisingly he managed to do it. I guess something to think about when you are traveling this holiday season.
This book isn’t meant only for stepping back from the baggage claim but as well as stepping back in life. We are now a society that is a rush to get from A to B in the fastest time and we really need to step back and smell the roses as the saying goes and live in the moment and not let things pass us by.
Just remember it takes two seconds to help someone be it helping a mother with her stroller if she is going down stairs, holding the door open for someone it just takes one small act of kindness to make the difference in your day and in your life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jason Barger is the author of the book Step Back from the Baggage Claim: Change the World, Start at the Airport – featured in the NY Times, ABC News.com, National Geographic Traveler, Kiplinger.com, Book TV, the Seattle Times, the International Herald Tribune, and many other wonderful spots.
Before taking off to sleep in airports and observe human behavior, Barger led over 1,700 people to construct 125 houses internationally for families living in poverty. He also implemented the Streets Mission Project to serve the homeless on the streets of Columbus, Ohio. As the former director of First Community Church’s Camp Akita, he designed programming focused on living with joy, love, compassion, faith, and service for over 1,900 campers per summer.
Jason is a graduate of Denison University, where he served as captain of the men’s basketball team, and then received certification from Georgetown University in Nonprofit Executive Management. In 2004, he was one of five people in Columbus, Ohio, to receive a Jefferson Award, a national award given to “ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”
Today, Jason, his wife Amy, and their two sons, Will and Benton, live in Columbus, Ohio. Jason is an author, consultant, servant-leader, creative Think-Tanker, and respected speaker. When not spending time on those things, he is cheering on The Ohio State Buckeyes and leaving the door open for the next opportunity to serve.
MY INTERVIEW WITH JASON:
I want to thank you Jason for taking the time to sit and answer my questions.
CS- I am sure people are wondering why did you decide to write Step Back From the Baggage Claim?
JB-I’m fascinated by people and the spaces in the world where our lives merge together. I’m inspired by the fact that we all share in the creation of today – wherever we are right now. Our actions ripple to those around us and help to shape the culture of the environments we move in and out of every day.
CS- As a society do you think we are in too much of a rush and we just want to get in and out as quickly as possible?
JB-There’s no doubt that we (generally speaking) are living at a faster pace today than at any other time in our history. We live in a fast-food culture and world of instant communication. There are many positives to this fast-paced, connected world that I enjoy, but the downfall is that when we get moving too quickly, we can find ourselves racing recklessly past those along our path just to get the next thing done.
CS- Being in airports for seven days you must have seen some funny stuff, what was your favorite/funny thing you saw while you were observing people for the book?
JB- I love the phenomenon of when an airplane lands and 80% of the plane immediately leaps out of their seats. It is funny (and interesting) to watch the scurry for the overhead bags, the people who rush to try to get a couple rows ahead, the complaining about why it’s taking so long, and then the awkward wait that comes until the doors open a few minutes later. Everyone is “in a hurry” and “late for their next flight” and then you see the same folks 20 minutes later standing in a long line at Starbucks.
CS- I have to ask this and I am sure you get asked this alot but do you have any future books in the works?
JB-I’ve got a few projects that are marinating right now. Who knows what will emerge!
CS- I have to say that I am really surprised that you could actually live off of $20 / day in an airport. Were you surprised that you actually could do that? Did you find it to be a challenge?
JB-$20 does not go far in the airport! It was a challenge to meet the basic nutritional needs and still have enough money for the gallons of coffee required since I was sleeping only about 4 hours a night. It was a fun challenge.
CS- What surprised you about yourself when you set out to write Step Back?
JB- I was surprised how smooth the writing process was. It was an amazing feeling to see how the stories, lessons and observations emerged along the journey. I felt very grateful that I continued to have trust in what would arise from this unknown process.
CS- What would you want or hope readers would take away from reading your book?
JB- That they are significant in the world…today. That their actions matter more to the envionment around them than they fully realize. That when they put grateful and compassionate actions into motion during the seemingly insignificant moments of every day life – the world is changed. I hope readers feel hopeful, inspired, grateful, and compassionate for others along their path.
Thank you, Cindy! I truly appreciate your help sharing the positive spirit of this project! I hope all is well in your world.
This book was provided for review Jason Barger by. Jason sent me the book to read and review as part of his virtual blog tour. Thank You Jason.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
TITLE: Tell Me Something True AUTHOR: Leila Cobo PUB DATE: October 1, 2009
ABOUT THE BOOK: Gabriella always loved the picture of her mother kneeling in front of a bed of roses, smiling, beautiful and impossibly happy. But then she learns that her late mother hated gardening; that she had never wanted the house in the Hollywood hills, the successful movie producer husband, and possibly, her only daughter. When Gabriella discovers a journal–a book that begins as a new mother’s letters to her baby girl, but becomes a secret diary–the final entry leaves one question unanswered: the night her mother died, was she returning to Colombia to end an affair, or was she abandoning her family for good?
MY THOUGHTS:
I have had this book on my TBR pile since early summer and I only got around to reading it once I heard Leila Cobo being interviewed by Miriam from HBG on Blog Talk Radio. You can listen to the interview here:
This is Leila Cobo’s debut novel. I have to say that I really did enjoy it after hearing the interview. Especially when I heard her character Angel was based on a certain someone that I have had the chance to meet in 2007. To find out who it is you will have to read the post.
The book was written with two alternating viewpoints Gabriella’s and Helena’s diary.
I love the cover of the book. What is there not to love about it? The little girl is just to cute sitting at the piano. It reminds me a little of Michael cause at my in laws they have a piano just like that and he likes to sit and play it.
I enjoyed Tell Me Something True. It was a beautiful debut novel. I am looking forward to reading more from Leila in the future.
Tell Me Something True is about Gabriella, a young woman (in her early 20s) and she is half American and half Colombian. Helena, her mother died when Gabriella was only four years old. Helena died in a plane crash in Cali, Colombia.
Every summer for a month Gabriella goes to Cali to spend time with her grandmother. She never misses it and looks forward to being there because she is waited on hand and foot but her grandmother’s servants. Something that she doesn’t have in California with her father.
Gabriella always believed that her mother and father led a perfect life. She discovers that this isn’t the case when she visits her grandmother. When her grandmother tells Gabriella that she is having the old house torn down Gabriella goes to visit it one last time. Its in her mothers old room that she discovers a box with her mothers things and one of these things is a diary.
Gabriella begins to read it and she realizes that what she thought was true is actually a lie. How will she react to the diary and its secrets? Gabriella is consumed by her mother’s diary and her secret that she sets out to uncover the truth.
Just before finding the diary Gabrielle crashes a party with her cousin and his friends. In her quest to find the bathroom she is looking around the house and stumbles into a room
Ooooooh, she says out loud, looking around her at rows and rows and rows of books. A library.
A library with old-world cherry wood floors and Persian throw rugs that jar with the glinting marble stairs.
She almost giggles. These people actually read?
Sounds like my dream room.
Its here that she meets Angel and falls in love. Although they are similar in ways they are so different. One of the things that draws her to him is he is sort of like the bad boy but he’s not. He is making an honest living dispute the fact his father is in prison for money laundering. He is always surrounded by body guards as there are always people wanting to get to him because of who is. Is he really like his father or is he legit with his business dealings?
If you haven’t read the book yet then you should it was good. I enjoyed reading. I am sure I would have enjoyed it just the same had I not heard this interview.
I had to include this picture with the post because Leila said that Angel was based on Enrique.
So it was really nice reading the book and seeing Enrique in Angel’s place. We got to meet Enrique when he came to a suburb of Montreal in 2007. He was in town promoting his last cd. Michael is just as much of a fan as I am.
I honestly didn’t think we would actually get this close to him considering the line up when we got there but thankfully someone heard my prayers because we meet this really nice lady with her daughter and friend. When the line started moving we got separated and this other girl let us get in beside her so that we were at the window to see him and as the line started moving we met up with that lady again and she said that we were with them (to the guard) and we were actually the last ones in to get autographs and pictures.
Once we got in Enrique was extremely happy that he got to meet Michael cause he kept looking at him the whole time and a few times he came to the window to wave with Michael.
This book was provided for review by Hachette. Thanks to Miriam at HBG for sending this to me.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
TITLE: The Good Neighbors-Book Two: Kith AUTHOR: Holly Black ILLUSTRATOR: Ted Naifeh PUB DATE: October 1, 2009
ABOUT THE BOOK: Rue Silver’s life is not what it appears to be. Her mother is a faerie, and has been taken back to the faerie realm. As Rue goes to bring her back, she must travel deep into an inhuman world. At the same time, the faerie realm is venturing into our world too, and taking its toll on those Rue loves.
MY THOUGHTS:
I found out that this is going to be a trilogy which I am super excited about it. I was trying to find out online when Book Three would be done and couldn’t find anything.
Rue discovers that her father is human and her mother is a faery and that Rue is trying to get use to this new way of life. Trying to live in both worlds.
Rue’s world is so out of control and things are changing. Dale, Lucy and Justin have changed. Everything that Rue knows is changing.
When Rue discovers that the world as she knows it is about to change for the worst she decides she has to save it and that it all lies in her hands. In order to do that she has to go back to the faery world and resist the temptation to stay there. Will she be able to resist the urge? Will she be able to save her mother and the world?
The illustrations in this book were just as fantastic as the first one and done in the same way. This was another quick read at 115 pages. I can’t wait for the last book to come out.
This book was provided for review by myself. I bought this book when I found out that Holly Black was coming to town.
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.
So it was really nice reading the book and seeing Enrique in Angel’s place. We got to meet Enrique when he came to a suburb of Montreal in 2007. He was in town promoting his last 
