A great escape with Juliette Sobanet...plus a book giveaway

We're excited to have Juliette Sobanet back at CLC today. Her latest novel, Story Island, sounds like so much fun! The cover is gorgeous too. She's here to tell us more about it and she has one print copy and one ebook to give away!

Juliette Sobanet is the award-winning author of sixteen books, including the bestselling Midnight Train to Paris and All the Beautiful Bodies. A French professor and writing coach, she holds a B.A. from Georgetown University and an M.A. from New York University in Paris. Juliette has lived all over the U.S. and France, so she is hesitant to commit to a location in this bio, knowing it will likely change. Wherever she resides, she lives there with her adorable cats.

Visit Juliette online:
Website * Facebook * Instagram * X

Synopsis:

What if every book ever written created a world of its own? And what if an author could travel into that world and write the story from the inside out?

When celebrated New York City-based author, Katerina Joyce, finds herself facing a brutal, love-induced case of writer’s block with only three weeks to turn in her next book, she flees Manhattan in search of inspiration on the Big Island of Hawaii. A series of mystical encounters on her first night transports her somewhere entirely unexpected: straight into the world of her own book.

All Kat knows about her story is that her main character, British veterinarian Evie Willcox, wakes up on a magical and (nearly) deserted island with no memory of getting there. Oh, and at the end of the book, Evie Willcox will die. But when Kat wakes up on the same deserted beach in the body of Evie, the journey she faces is much more harrowing than a simple, blank page: Kat must now write her story from the inside out, facing her heart-wrenching past and all her worst fears along the way—not least a blood-thirsty great white shark and that treacherous love triangle she can’t seem to escape.

Can Kat rewrite Evie’s destiny, and perhaps her own as well, as she struggles to uncover the island’s secrets? More importantly, can she find a way to survive the mysterious and perilous world of her own imagining? Or will her own writer’s pen be the killer she ultimately fears?

Story Island explores LGBTQ themes while diving into the emotional depths of life-long friendships and soulmates, the complexities of grief and loss, and the ever-complicated and timeless love of mother-daughter relationships—all interwoven with a splash of island magic and the mysterious currents of time travel. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

What is a favorite compliment you received on your writing?
I love when readers tell me that they lost sleep because they couldn't put my book down at night. Not that I want anyone to be sleep-deprived, but if it's because they're enjoying my writing, that does make me really happy (and it means I'm doing my job!).

What is one thing you would tell the debut novelist version of yourself?
I would tell her that this writing journey is going to be a long, unexpected journey that will take you places you never would have imagined, and that it will humble you in many ways, too! I would tell her not to worry so much about how the books sell--but instead to focus on the passion you have for your stories, and to keep the focus there. That is where the gold lies.

If Story Island were made into a movie, who would you cast in the lead roles?
Such a fun question! I would cast Alexandra Daddario as Kat, our main character. I can totally picture her leading us on this wild, island adventure. I would cast Zachary Levi as Ian, the doctor, and Kat's best friend from long ago. Ever since I saw Zachary Levi play a doctor in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, I knew he'd make the perfect Ian. 

If you could escape into the world of any book, what would it be and why?
I'd have to go with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I have always adored this magical story, and Story Island is a modern-day take on Narnia. I love the idea of normal people tripping through time and space, and somehow entering into magical realms. Sign me up!

What is the most memorable Valentine's Day experience you've ever had?

This Valentine's memory goes all the way back to junior high! My boyfriend in eighth grade gave me one of those red heart-shaped boxes that is typically filled with chocolates. But when I opened up the box, I found that he had counted out the number of days we had been "going together" at that point, and he had filled the box with one Hershey's Kiss for every day we had been together. He had written a note on the inside of the box explaining the gesture--it was absolutely adorable and it has always stuck with me.

If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it? 
I always love a British narrator (I just love that sophisticated accent), so I would want Emma Thompson to narrate. I love her voice!

Thanks to Juliette for chatting with us and for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends February 18th at midnight EST.

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Book Review: The Moonlight Healers

By Jami Denison

The horrors of World War II are so vast, most genres of fiction have grappled with its impact. In her debut novel, The Moonlight Healers, author Elizabeth Becker crafts a World War II/present day tale that combines magical realism, romance, and historical fiction. It’s a powerful story about love, family, and the gifts and costs of magic.

Louise and Peter have been best friends almost since they were in diapers. But with Louise about to leave for college in New York and Peter stuck in their hometown of Richmond, Virginia, their days together are nearing an end. At a party, Peter drunkenly confesses he loves Louise, but in the car the next day, he can’t remember. Distracted by their discussion, Peter veers into oncoming traffic. When Louise regains consciousness, Peter is on the road. He flew out the windshield and broke his neck. Heartbroken, Louise performs CPR on him anyway. A mysterious energy flows out of her hands, and somehow Peter comes back to life, and the injuries on him disappear. 

When Louise tells her mother Bobbie, a former nurse, the truth about what really happened to Peter, Bobbie confesses a long-held secret: All the women in their family are healers, and Louise must talk to her grandmother Camille about how to live with her newfound knowledge. Bobbie and Camille have been estranged for years, for reasons they won’t tell Louise. But Bobbie takes Louise to Camille’s orchard in Appalachian Virginia so Camille can train her.

The story also takes place in 1943 France, as Camille’s mother Helene works as a nurse in an occupied hospital run by a convent. Unlike Louise, Helene has grown up with her healing abilities and a mother who encourages them. She’s called to the hospital by her cousin, who shares the abilities but tells Helene it’s an affront to God to use them. When Helene falls in love with a recovering soldier, her abilities and convictions are tested.

The Moonlight Healers moves seamlessly between the love stories and fantasy aspects of the novel. The car accident starts the story with a literal bang, and Louise takes readers on a compelling journey as she navigates her new powers, the muddy relationship between her mother and grandmother, her feelings for Peter, and her plans for her future. The plot and tone are light, similar to the TV show Pushing Daisies. In contrast, the chapters with Helene feel heavy and dark, as the author gets into questions about the nature of evil and what limits a healer should put on herself.

There’s a good twist about two-thirds of the way through the book that heightens the stakes and gives Louise a personal investment in her abilities and their limitations. Still, her story pales in comparison to Helene’s travails—a dilemma all authors face when alternating a World War II story with a present-day tale. 

With all the elements that Becker packs into her story—the mother-daughter drama, the friends-to-lovers trope—the magic does not dominate the narrative as I had hoped it would. I wish Becker had explored some of her paradoxes more; why can Louise literally bring Peter back from the dead, but not cure cancer? 

Still, The Moonlight Healers balances the different requirements of its genres adeptly. I wanted the book to be longer, so Becker could have really dug into all of her subplots, but as a debut author, she was probably limited in word count. There’s plenty of story left for a sequel, so perhaps Becker and her readers will get to see more of Louise. I certainly hope so. 

Thanks to HarperCollins for the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Spotlight and Giveaway: Get Lost with You

We're excited to celebrate the publication of Sophie Sullivan's latest rom-com, Get Lost With You! It is the second novel in the Rock Bottom Love series, but can be read as a standalone. The story sounds like a lot of fun; something you can lose yourself in for a few hours. Thanks to St. Martin's Press, we have one copy to give away!

Jillian Keller took the long route to her best life, but is now happily settled in her hometown of Smile, raising her little girl alone while helping her brother run Get Lost Lodge. A lover of structure and routine, she doesn’t need anything, or anyone, disrupting her carefully curated life.

After chasing and achieving his culinary dreams, Levi Bright realizes he’s still missing something. Something he can’t find in a big city. Returning home to Smile, he intends to build a different future for himself that includes mending fences with his dad, reconnecting with friends, and creating elevated comfort food for a town he loves.

When Levi and Jilly run into each other one day in Smile, once requited feelings that never had a chance to bloom as teens flare between them immediately. Jaded from her past, Jilly is cautious and convinced that she can handle being just friends, as the two have to work closely together to prepare for Get Lost’s official summer opening, spending time together, camping, laughing, kayaking, and reminiscing. But when her brother hires sweet, funny, ridiculously hot Levi as the new chef at the lodge, and she and Ollie are getting more attached, things are moving more quickly than she anticipated--and Jilly has been hurt before. If she wants to be head over heels in love, she’ll have to learn that the past doesn’t always repeat itself. Sometimes, it just leads you where you’re meant to be.

"Sophie Sullivan is the queen of sweet romance!" 
- Falon Ballard, author of Right On Cue

"Get Lost With You is a charming and heartfelt small town romance, you'll be rooting for these delightful character’s second chance romance." 
- Betty Cayouette, author of One Last Shot and creator of Betty’s Book List

Credit: Shelley Bell

Sophie Sullivan (she/her) is a Canadian author as well as a cookie-eating, Diet Pepsi-drinking, Disney enthusiast who loves reading and writing romance in almost equal measure. She writes around her day job as a teacher and spends her spare time with her sweet family watching reruns of Friends. She's had plenty of practice writing happily ever after as her alter ego, Jody Holford.

Visit Sophie online: 
Website * Facebook * Instagram * X 

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends February 17th at midnight EST.

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Book Review and Giveaway: We All Live Here

Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall and her love life is . . . complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach you: about love, and what it actually means to be family. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Allyson Bales:

This novel was a longer one of Jojo Moyes's but it kept my attention the entire time and might just be one of my favorites of hers! 

I don’t think anyone does better character development. I found myself so invested in every single character in this story, well except for one and when you read this you’ll know who I’m talking about. I loved that you get primarily Lila’s point of view but also some other chapters sprinkled in from other characters' POV too. This is less plot and more character led but I absolutely loved that. 

Lila has two children and is coping with divorce. She got the family home and before she knows it both her fathers move in for a bit and I just LOVED this whole dynamic. I really enjoy family dramas but this one wasn’t so much a drama as a mix of drama and comedy, so dramedy? There’s school pick up drama, past issues arise, and Lila is also trying to write her next book. All of this really keeps you turning the pages! 

I loved the themes explored, mainly what it’s like finding yourself after you thought your life was going to end up one way and now it’s completely different and also the power and strength in a blended family. This story ended just the way I’d hoped and I can’t wait for you to read it! 

Definitely for fans of realistic and vulnerable leading ladies that have no idea how special they really are. Think Kate Winslet in The Holiday! 

Melissa Amster:

We All Live Here is charming and heartwarming in every way possible. Lila is a single mother who is trying to get everything right in her life, but constantly hitting walls. The story is told mainly from her perspective, but we also get glimpses into what her teenage daughter Celie is going through. 

While the book is long, it is also engaging the entire time and I thought about it even when I wasn't reading. It had a Maddie Dawson feel for me. I saw some things coming before they happened, but there were also a lot of surprise moments and unexpected situations that kept the story fresh and interesting. I definitely laughed from various parts, as well as some of the dialogue. 

This is a genuine story and I am excited for it to be out in the world so that everyone has a chance to experience it!

Side note: I'm so glad to be reviewing this with Allyson, since we initially met because of Someone Else's Shoes in early 2023, which led to her joining the CLC team!

(Trigger warnings at the bottom of this post.)

Movie casting suggestions:

Lila: Hayley Atwell
Celie: Isabella Sermon
Bill: Bill Nighy

Gene: Christopher McDonald

Jensen: Ed Speleers
Gabriel: Theo James
Penelope: Jenny Agutter

Eleanor: Natasia Demetriou

Thanks to Viking for the book in exchange for an honest review. They have one copy for a lucky reader!

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here. 

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Giveaway ends February 16th at midnight EST.

More by Jojo Moyes:
Someone Else's Shoes
Night Music
The Giver of Stars

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TW: Death of mother/grandmother (off page), medical situation, parental abandonment, infidelity, mean girl behavior

Book Review: The Perfect Mother

By Sara Steven

All I wanted was to help women become mothers. When I met Alice Monroe, we instantly connected. She was as passionate about motherhood as I was, and I couldn't wait to support her through this life-changing experience.

But the day that should have been Alice’s happiest, turned into a nightmare. And after Alice’s dreams were shattered, she blamed me. Even though there was nothing I could have done, she wanted to ruin me. I lost my business, my reputation. My world fell apart.

Then, I discovered I was pregnant. That’s why we moved hundreds of miles away to the remote Derry countryside. Now, with this beautiful baby, we can have a fresh start.

But then Alice sends me a message. She knows where we are. And I realise, it doesn’t matter how far we’ve moved, I am not safe from her. My baby is not safe.

She would have been the perfect mother. But if she can’t have her happy family, she's not going to let me have mine. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

For most of The Perfect Mother, I really felt for Mel. Her life’s goal and dream is to assist women dealing with various struggles and obstacles during their pregnancies and deliveries, in order to have a more organic birth–but in the end, her experience with Alice ends up shattering her goals and dreams. Alice places total blame on Mel, even though that is extremely debatable. It’s enough to send Mel packing, family in tow, across the country in order to attempt to start fresh elsewhere. But Mel quickly discovers that she’s not anonymous or safe, no matter where she goes.

There are various nefarious events that occur, and no one has any answer for it. The obvious answer would be Alice, but it doesn’t add up. Mel doesn’t know who to trust, even in a small town where she doesn’t know anyone, but they appear to think they know all about her, especially after social media and chat boards continually hash out the past, never letting anyone forget. Never allowing Mel to move on. She lives in a constant state of anxiety and fear, without much support. No one believes her theories.

The experience for me felt psychological, because the reader is in Mel’s head, and we never really know for sure if we should side with her ideas or if they are farfetched. There are a few scenes that are expertly placed in an effort to throw the truth off the trail, but even with that I had my suspicions on where the truth lies. The latter third of the book set everything in go mode, with some similarities to the movie The Hand That Rocks the Cradle–and I kept thinking to myself, why didn’t Mel agree to move to Australia like her husband had recommended? Maybe moving far away would have prevented a lot of the trauma that Mel endures. But then again, I have a feeling it wouldn’t have mattered. 

The Perfect Mother was a fast-paced experience, one of those page turners that was really hard to put down–primarily because I needed to know the answers, just as much as Mel needed to know, too. It was a definite five-star experience for me!

Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US * Amazon UK * Kobo

Claire Allan is the internationally bestselling author of several psychological thrillers, including  Her Name Was Rose. Previously published by Avon, she lives in Derry, Northern Ireland. Boldwood also publishes her women’s fiction under the name Freya Kennedy. 

Visit Claire online:
Website * Facebook * Instagram 

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Visit all the stops on Claire's blog tour:

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What's in the (e)mail

All (or most) of these books can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Apple, Kobo, etc.

NG = NetGalley

Melissa:
The Master Jeweler by Weina Dai Randel from Lake Union (NG)
The Harvey Girls by Juliette Fay from Gallery (NG)
Dear Sister by Michelle Horton from Grand Central (print)

Claire Casey's Had Enough by Liz Alterman from Severn House (NG)

The Baby Exchange by/from Hannah Parry (NG)

The Dogs of Venice by Steven Rowley from Putnam (NG)

Love at First Sight by Laura Jane Williams from Putnam (NG)

Lie in the Tide by Holly Danvers from Severn House (NG)

You Must Be New Here by Katie Sise from Little A (NG)

Jill is Not Happy by Kaira Rouda from MB Communications (print)

I Love You S'more by Auriane Desombre from Random House (NG)

Shopgirls by Jessica Anya Blau from Mariner (NG)

Everything Is Probably Fine by Julia London from Harper Muse (NG)

One in a Million by Beverley Kendall from Harlequin (print)

Sara:

The Dinner Party by Nina Manning from Rachel's Random Resources (NG)

We Don't Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry from Random House (ebook)

Allyson:

The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper from William Morrow (print)

Melissa S: 

The Summer You Were Mine by Jill Francis from St. Martin's Press (print)

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Book Review: This is a Love Story

By Allyson Bales

For fifty years, Abe and Jane have been coming to Central Park, as starry-eyed young lovers, as frustrated and exhausted parents, as artists watching their careers take flight. They came alone when they needed to get away from each other, and together when they had something important to discuss. The Park has been their witness for half a century of love. Until now.

Jane is dying, and Abe is recounting their life together as a way of keeping them going: the parts they knew—their courtship and early marriage, their blossoming creative lives—and the parts they didn’t always want to know—the determined young student of Abe’s looking for a love story of her own, and their son, Max, who believes his mother chose art over parenthood, and who has avoided love and intimacy at all costs. Told in various points of view, even in conversation with Central Park, these voices weave in and out to paint a portrait as complicated and essential as love itself.

An homage to New York City, to romance, and even to loss, This Is a Love Story tenderly and suspensefully captures deep truths about life and marriage in radiant prose. It is about love that endures despite what life throws at us, or perhaps even because of it. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

What I thought I was getting with this story ended up being COMPLETELY different, but in the BEST way possible!

I don't know about you but I go into so many books completely blind, often based on cover, title, or favorite author alone.  I love to be surprised by the plot, the characters, and the feelings that are evoked from a thoughtful story.  

I am a character-driven reader.  I LOVE characters and what they feel and think and do and why and why not and this story had all of that.  I also love to read stories that leave an imprint, that make me think, and that make me grateful, and Abe and Jane did just that.  If you think this is a romance, it is, in my opinion, but it is also not, and you just need to read it to understand that. 

This is my first read by Jessica Soffer and her writing is very unique.  It is lyrical and soulful.  I found myself highlighting so much of this story.  I loved the way it was told.  I loved that you get multiple perspectives including that of Central Park in New York City.  I am a Jersey girl and have never been to Central Park.  Not sure what I have been doing with my life but I will DEFINITELY be visiting now!  I love all the little facts I learned about the park.  It is probably one of the more interesting characters I have met in a book. 

I really, really don’t want to give anything away.  Just know that this story will be one you are going to remember for some time to come.  It will be one that will make you think, make you feel, make you reflect.  It is one that I highly recommend. 

Thanks to Dutton for the book in exchange for an honest review. Purchase This is a Love Story here.

Also by Jessica Soffer: Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots

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