Hard to let go of Rochelle B. Weinstein...plus a book giveaway

We are thrilled to have Rochelle B. Weinstein back at CLC today to celebrate the publication of her latest novel, When We Let Go! We've heard some great buzz about this novel and Melissa is excited to read it soon. In the meantime, check out Jenny's review at Book Coffee Happy. Rochelle is here to chat with us about the novel and share some other fun facts. Thanks to Get Red PR, we have one copy to give away!

Rochelle B. Weinstein is the USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of  emotionally driven women’s fiction, including When We Let Go, This Is Not  How It Ends, Somebody’s Daughter, Where We Fall, The Mourning After,  and What We Leave Behind. Rochelle spent her early years, always with a  book in hand, raised by the likes of Sidney Sheldon and Judy Blume. A  former entertainment industry executive, she splits her time between sunny  South Florida and the mountains of North Carolina. When she’s not writing,  Rochelle can be found hiking, reading, and searching for the world’s best  nachos. She is currently working on her seventh novel.

Visit Rochelle online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:

When Avery Beckett is proposed to by Jude Masters, a widowed father and the man she loves, it should be a time of great joy. Instead, Avery is on edge. She’s wary of the idea of family, doubtful of happy endings, and too afraid to take the leap. It’s the kind of fear that comes from having secrets.

Before Avery commits to a new life, she must reconcile with the one she left behind.

When Avery returns to her childhood farm in the North Carolina mountains, she’s surprised to be saddled with a companion: Jude’s teenage daughter, Elle, who’s grappling with the loss of her mother and the complicated emotions of first love. On a path of mending wounds and breaking down walls, Avery and Elle form an unexpected alliance. It’s giving them the courage to move forward. And for Avery, everything she needs to confront the past.

An emotional tale of mothers and daughters, loss and acceptance, When We Let Go is about the lessons that come from heartbreak and the healing it takes to embrace the joy of a second chance. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

“Every one of Rochelle Weinstein’s novels is compulsively readable—but  When We Let Go takes her enviable talent to the next level. Insightful,  exacting, and brimming with empathy, this story of second chances is  Weinstein at her very best.” 

—Camille Pagán, Bestselling Author of Everything Must Go 

“In When We Let Go, Rochelle Weinstein writes of Avery, a woman who  finds herself on a trip to confront the painful losses of her past while forging  an unlikely intergenerational bond with her fiancée’s teenage daughter.  With the strong voice and insightful prose for which she has become  known, Weinstein builds a powerful and memorable story of homecoming,  first love, second chances, the truths that set us free and the families we  find for ourselves.” 

—Pam Jenoff, NYT Bestselling Author of The Woman with the Blue Star  

What is something new that you learned while writing When We Let Go? 

Oh gosh. Where to begin? That I needed to let go of stuff? Yes. That. And I learned all about fly-fishing which I'm absolutely fascinated with. It's not just a sport. It's a lifestyle. There's so much to learn about patience, timing, and the scenery. I think I learned to breathe again.

How is Avery similar to or different from you? 

Like a lot of my characters/books, there are parts of me sprinkled throughout. Avery and I share a passion for the outdoors and nature, and we're both strong-willed and super independent. Where we differ is in the way she holds back. I am an open book; sometimes to a fault.

If When We Let Go was made into a movie, what songs would be on the soundtrack? 

Funny you should ask! I have an entire playlist, but here are just a few of my favorites: 

Coldplay and The Chainsmokers, “Something Just Like This”
Martin Garrix and Khalid, “Ocean” 

Katy Perry, “I Kissed A Girl”
Maddie Poppe, “Losing You”
Blake Shelton, “Honey Bee”

What is the last movie you saw that you would recommend? 

CODA! I can't say enough about this film. Both heart-breaking and heart-warming. The feel-good movie of the decade. I still think about the characters and recommend it to anyone I speak to.

What is your go-to breakfast item? 

Ugh. I'm not really a breakfast eater. In fact, I'd give it up and be just fine with lunch and dinner. If pressed, it's chocolate chip pancakes and bacon very well done. The perfect blend of sweet and salty.

What is something you had a good laugh about recently? 
This literally happened yesterday. The flyer for my launch event with a color picture of me is circulating around our building. I was in the elevator (un-showered, with my glasses on) with a couple who were holding it in their hands less than a foot from me. No recognition whatsoever. In fact, they asked if I knew this author and if was going! Hilarious.

Thanks to Rochelle for visiting with us and Get Red PR 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 May 22nd at midnight EST.

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Book Review: Brandy, You're a Fine Girl

By Cindy Roesel

It’s hard to imagine anyone not knowing the 1972 hit song, Brandy, You’re A Fine Girl by Elliot Laurie and performed by his band, Looking Glass. The song is celebrating its 50th anniversary and in Dee DeTarsio’s new novel, BRANDY, YOU’RE A FINE GIRL (Histria), the Brandy story doesn’t end when the music stops.

Barmaid Brandy is on the prowl for a sailor/husband who will help her escape from her dull and repulsive life at the local bar. Once she eyes the bait, she fakes a pregnancy hoping to lure him in. But when he doesn’t bite, she’s thrilled to be snatched up by Elliot, a nobleman in need of a wife and heir. Elliot is fast approaching his thirtieth birthday and if he doesn’t have a wife and heir by then, he loses his inheritance!

Once married, it’s time for Brandy to learn how to become the lady of the manor. Atsuko is in charge of hair and makeup, Mrs. Catarrh is her tutor, Ray Ray teaches her how to dance and Gordy gets the toughest job, trying to teach her manners and turn her into a lady! Good luck. She eats up all the attention and believes she's really something special. Elliot’s odd friends try to accept the bitch she has become, but with no "thank yous" or "pleases," it’s not easy.

But remember, Brandy isn’t really pregnant. Elliot has no desire to sleep with her and the calendar is fast approaching Elliot’s thirtieth. Tick! Tock! Enter Elliot’s best friend. Hello Beau – not much to look at, but he lays on the charm thick and Brandy is smitten! Is there enough time to produce an heir? What’s the real relationship between Elliot and Beau?

Dee DeTarsio has written a very funny book with characters that just jump off the page. The language can be a bit coarse but I promise, you’ll never hear the song, Brandy, You’re A Fine Girl the same again!

Thanks to Dee DeTarsio for the book in exchange for an honest review. She highly recommends listening to this a cappella version of "Brandy."

More by Dee DeTarsio:

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What's in the (e)mail

Melissa:
Heat Wave by T.J. Klune from Tor/Forge (NetGalley)
Lizzie Blake's Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings from St. Martin's Press (NetGalley)
The Mommy Clique by Barbara Altamirano from BooksGoSocial (NetGalley)

The Edge of Summer by Viola Shipman from Graydon House (NetGalley)

Acting the Part by Z.R. Ellor from HarperCollins (NetGalley)

Nate Plus One by Kevin van Whye from Random House (NetGalley)

Wherever the Wind Takes Us by Kelly Harms from Lake Union (NetGalley)

The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin from Harlequin (NetGalley)

Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales from St. Martin's Press (NetGalley)

When in Rome by Sarah Adams from Ballantine (NetGalley)

The Ways We Hide by/from Kristina McMorris (NetGalley)

Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks from Random House (NetGalley)

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan from Ballantine (NetGalley)

The Most Likely Club by Elyssa Friedland from Berkley (NetGalley)

None of This Would Have Happened If Prince Were Alive by Carolyn Prusa from Atria (NetGalley)

I Let You Fall by Sara Downing from Quilla Books (NetGalley)

Sara:
Scotsman in the Stacks by Alana Oxford from Rachel's Random Resources (ebook)

Vanessa Jared's Got a Man by LaQuette from St. Martin's Press (NetGalley)

The Two Lives of Sara by Catherine Adel West from Harlequin (NetGalley)

Solving Shelly by Grayson Avery from Rachel's Random Resources (ebook)

Jami:
The Night They Vanished by Vanessa Savage from Grand Central (print)

The Last House Party by/from Kelly Simmons (ebook)

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Book Review: A Ration Book Victory

By Sara Steven

Many years ago, before she married Fergus, she was Philomena Dooley, a daughter of Irish Travelers, planning to wed her childhood sweetheart, Patrick Mahone. But when tragedy struck and Patrick's narrow-minded sister, Nora, intervened, the lovers were torn apart.

Fate can be cruel, and when Queenie arrives in London she finds that Patrick Mahon is her parish priest, and that the love she had tried to suppress flares again in her heart. But now in the final months of WW2, Queenie discovers Father Mahon is dying and must face losing him forever.

Can she finally tell him the secret she has kept for over fifty years or will Nora once again come between them? And if Queenie does decide to finally tell Patrick, could the truth destroy the Brogan family? (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon)

I’ll admit, this is my first trip with the Ration Book series–but A Ration Book Victory was easily read as a standalone, and I never felt as though I didn’t completely understand the characters and how they’re connected to one another. It was interesting to see the vast differences between experiences from when Queenie is a young woman, and then the fast forward to 1945, when the world is at odds and there is a lot of uncertainty with who to trust and how to move forward in what feels like new terrain. Life seemed to be a lot more simpler for Queenie in her childhood, up until the love of her life was ripped from her, in a way that made him available in many ways, but not in the ways she wanted him to be. 

Some of my favorite scenes included the ones with Queenie and Patrick from their youth, and later in the more present time. There is an underlying yearning that time hasn’t been able to erase, even though their lives have taken them in two entirely different directions. It was mournful to witness, but in a way that only endeared me more to them and their story. There were little bread crumbs dropped along the way, subtle clues that let the reader in on what might be the thing that Queen has kept secret for so long, but done in a way so that you didn’t want to rely on it too much, because it would only make you second guess the secret. 

Despite the large time difference between then and our present time, I felt like a lot of what the Brogan clan go through are still issues faced today–particularly with one character, Jo, who is dealing with fertility complications. It was a relatable experience for many couples. I appreciated that I got to know Queenie’s family so intimately and look forward to checking out the other books in the Ration Book series!

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

Purchase Links:
Amazon UK * Amazon US

Born and bred in East London, Jean Fullerton is a District Nurse by trade and has worked as a NHS manager and as a senior lecture in Health and Nursing Studies. She left her day job to become a full-time writer in 2015 and has never looked back.

In 2006 she won the Harry Bowling Prize and now has seventeen sagas published over three series all of which are set in East London.

She is an experienced public speaker with hundreds of WI and women’s club talks under her belt, plus for the past fifteen years she has sailed all over the world as an enrichment speaker and writing workshop leader on cruise ships.

Visit Jean online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter

Giveaway to Win 6 x Signed Copies of A Ration Book Victory 

(Open to UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within seven days, then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for fulfillment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  We are not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

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Giveaway ends June 1st.

Visit all the stops on Jean's blog tour: 

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Susan Coventry has a lot to teach us...plus a book giveaway

We are pleased to welcome Susan Coventry to CLC today. She has a new series called Love Lessons and the first book, Teach Me Tonight, is a sweet and sexy contemporary romance. Susan has one copy for a lucky reader!

Susan Coventry is the author of over twenty-five contemporary romance novels and multiple series. She's also an avid reader of romance, historical fiction (particularly WWII), and women's fiction. Susan has a degree in Elementary Education although she never became a teacher. After several years of working in the insurance and real estate industries, she became a stay-at-home mom, and was finally able to pursue her true passion—writing!

 Today, Susan spends most of her time writing "sweet and sexy" romance novels with a touch of humor. When she's not writing, she enjoys reading, puzzling, and walking her lovable Labradoodle. Susan lives with her family in Southeast Michigan where many of her novels are set. (Bio courtesy of Susan's website.)

Visit Susan online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:

Friends and coworkers…

Lily Caldwell loves her job as a junior high school language arts teacher. It doesn’t hurt that her classroom is right across the hall from her handsome, charming coworker Trey. While she enjoys his friendship, she hides her attraction to him for a variety of reasons, and she’s determined to keep it that way.

A mutual attraction…

Trey Garrison enjoys his job as a math teacher even if it makes him sound nerdy. He also likes his pretty coworker across the hall and interacts with her every chance he gets. Lily is sweet and friendly, but she keeps her distance, and he’s dying to know why.

One conversation changes everything…

Lily tells Trey about her friend’s upcoming wedding at a popular ski resort. It should be fun, but she’s standing up in the wedding with Collin, her controlling ex-boyfriend, and wishes she had a date. She never expected Trey to volunteer or to play her “fake boyfriend” to prove to Collin that she’s moved on.

Love Lessons…

Trey can’t wait to spend more time with Lily. He excitedly prepares “lesson plans” to pull off their ruse. However, he hasn’t accounted for everything, including falling in love. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?

My favorite compliment on my writing was when a reader compared me to Jill Shalvis, Susan Mallery, and Debbie Macomber. Jill Shalvis had a big influence on my writing style, and to be placed in the same category as her was amazing!

What were the biggest rewards and challenges with writing Teach Me Tonight?

The rewards of writing this book were similar to my other books. I love seeing a story come together from the initial planning stage to self-publishing it. To me, the biggest challenge of writing is the editing process. I review the story several times before I send it to a professional editor, and though it's tedious, the end result is worth it.

If Teach Me Tonight were made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?

If Teach Me Tonight were made into a movie, I would cast Scott Eastwood as Trey and Zooey Deschanel as Lily. I think Scott could easily play the cool, charming Trey, and Zooey the sweet, and slightly awkward, Lily.

What is the last book you read that you would recommend?

I'm an avid reader and known to give book recommendations to friends and family. The last great romance I read and would recommend is The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood. This story has all the elements of contemporary romance that I love: humor, heart, and passion. Plus, the characters are highly educated and nerdy. I loved it!

If you were to go back to school to learn something new, what would it be?

If I were to go back to school, I would take more writing classes. I earned a college degree in Elementary Education, but never became a teacher. Had I known I would become a writer, I would have geared my education in that direction. Now, I read books on the craft of writing and continually work on honing my skills.

Where is your favorite place to spend money?

My favorite place to spend money is at the bookstore (of course)! I'd rather have shelves full of books than clothes, and I do!      

Thanks to Susan for chatting with us and sharing her book with our readers. Thanks to Author Marketing Experts for coordinating the interview.

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Giveaway ends May 17th at midnight EST.

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Book Review: Take My Hand

By Jami Denison

The saying goes that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it, but it seems like knowledgeable and ignorant alike are equally doomed by those who are determined to turn back the clock. When headlines talk of global pandemic, wars in Europe, book banning, and voting and abortion rights, sometimes I wonder what decade we’re in—or which century.

Take My Hand, the latest novel by historical fiction author Dolen Perkins-Valdez, takes place in 1973 (with a few scenes set in 2016), but the events the book is based on still resonate today. When certain segments of the population decline vaccines because they don’t trust the federal government, it’s important to remember that they have a good reason not to. 

In 1973 Alabama, Civil Townsend has just graduated from nursing school and is looking forward to helping Black patients at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic. The daughter of the town’s Black physician, Civil is an only child whose parents wanted her to go to medical school and marry the son of their best friends. But Civil thinks nursing provides the hands-on care she wants to give, and in light of the Roe v. Wade decision, she’s eager to help women claim control of their bodies. She also had a secret abortion herself, before the procedure was legal.

But Civil’s first patients aren’t women – they are 11-year-old and 13-year-old girls. Erica and India live in a filthy shack on a farmer’s land. Their illiterate father works for the farmer; their mother is dead, and their grandmother can’t keep up with chores. Civil is tasked with giving these girls birth control shots. 

Civil is horrified by their living conditions, and stunned at the implication that the most important concern is making sure these children—one of whom can’t speak—don’t get pregnant. There aren’t even any boys around! But when Civil learns that the shot isn’t FDA-approved, she realizes something much bigger and sinister could be going on. She knows about the Tuskegee experiment that withheld syphilis treatment from Black men. Could something similar be going on with Black women and girls? 

Perkins-Valdez tackles so much in this ambitious novel, on both the plot and character levels. Civil, an enormously likeable heroine, has been sheltered by her protective father. Even growing up Black in Alabama, Civil still sees the best in people. She believes in the mission of the clinic, and worries about teenage Black girls who already have multiple children. She thinks the clinic’s White leader has Black women’s best interests at heart. She believes her own efforts to help the children can only result in good things happening for them. 

Life gives her a rude awakening. 

Civil is definitely the sun around which the novel orbits, but Perkins-Valdez’s thoughtful character work extends to the other cast members. In particular, the girls’ father could have been a stereotype, but Perkins-Valdez makes him fully three-dimensional. He’s a proud man, and his shame at not being able to protect his girls is palpable. 

The characters and the relationships are the book’s strongest offerings. Structure and plotting aren’t quite as strong, however. The book loses a sense of urgency in the second half, as legal and Congressional proceedings take over and drag at a realistic-but-not-engaging pace. In her author’s note at the end of the book, Perkins-Valdez explains she was motivated by a real court case in the 1970s (as well as more recent reports on refugee women); I wonder if a desire to stick closely to a real timeline might have been the reason for this issue.

Scenes taking place in 2016 aren’t as impactful as they could have been. An older Civil has since become a doctor; never married, but adopted a teenager out of foster care. Seeing these events happen in real time could have been satisfying for the reader, who never gets a clear explanation of these choices. While the 1970s storyline wraps up in a realistic way, it’s not a fulfilling one, either. Civil is the kind of character who deserves her rewards on the page, and she doesn’t get them there. 

Another Southerner, William Faulkner, wrote that, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Nowhere is this more true than the south, where Black people are still fighting for equal access to the voting booth and women are still fighting to control their own bodies. Take My Hand is an important work, the type of novel that could be taught in high school English classes. Because of that, in the south, it will probably be banned.  

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

More by Dolen Perkins-Valdez:

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Spotlight and Giveaway: No More Lies

Today we are celebrating the publication of No More Lies, the second novel in Kerry Lonsdale's No More series. While it can be read as a standalone, you'll get more background from reading No More Words first and it's so interesting to put all the pieces together. Melissa had that to say, and more, in her five-star review. Thanks to Kerry, we have one copy for a lucky reader!

Jenna Mason’s life seems perfect: a successful career as an animator, a town house near the beach, and an adoring son, Josh, whose artistic talent looks as promising as his mother’s. But there’s something nobody realizes about Jenna. She used to be Lily Carson, a young mother on the run from a secret no one must ever know.

After years of constantly relocating, Jenna concedes to her son’s request to settle down. He wants to make friends. He wants some stability. He wants to feel normal. She convinces herself they’re safe. Until a reporter discovers who Jenna really is, bringing her estranged father to her doorstep. When he threatens to expose her carefully fabricated life for the lie that it is, Jenna has no choice but to run again.

But just as she’s about to go off the grid, Josh disappears, forcing Jenna to seek out the one person she never thought she’d see again: Josh’s father. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Kerry Lonsdale is the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Amazon Charts & #1 Kindle bestselling author of standalone and series-based emotionally charged domestic drama. A mash-up of domestic suspense, family drama, and contemporary romance, her novels straddle genres, and with over twenty-seven foreign language translations, they appeal to a wide, global audience. She lives in Northern California with her husband, college-aged kids, and two cats. When Kerry’s not writing, she can be found binge-watching anything with big CGI effects or high drama. She’s a sucker for stories about second chance romance, strong women overcoming odds, and families with dark secrets. (Bio courtesy of Kerry's website.)

Visit Kerry online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

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Giveaway ends May 15th at midnight EST.

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