You Don't Look Adopted

When I first heard of this book, I was immediately intrigued.  We adopted our daughter when she was less than two months old.  She is now seven and, although she doesn’t have the same concerns that the author did, I’m aware that as she gets older these may be some of the things she struggles with. 

The author gives a real, raw look into her life and thoughts on adoption.  How she has felt, how she’s tried to deal with it and where she is now in life.  Although heart-wrenching, this book is definitely worth reading.

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About the author:

Anne Heffron was born in Manhattan in 1964 to a young college student who gave her up for adoption. Fifty-one years later Anne returned to Manhattan to find the roots of her story, the story that began with her birth instead of the story that began “The day we got you.” This journey is the subject of “You Don’t Look Adopted”, an account of the perils and blessings of adoption.

Before turning to memoir, Anne co-wrote the film “Phantom Halo” with her writing partner, Antonia Bogdanovich. “Phantom Halo” was first shown at the 2015 Austin Film Festival and won Best Picture at the 2015 New York International Film Festival. She and Antonia currently have a screenplay, “The Rabbit Will Die” in development.

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Between Me and You - Release Day Giveaway

From New York Times bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch comes an honest, touching, and funny exploration of falling in and out of love, told from two perspectives—one rewinding history, one moving it forward—and each with bias and regret.

When their paths first cross, Ben Livingston is a fledgling screenwriter on the brink of success; Tatum Connelly is a struggling actress tending bar in a New York City dive. They fall in love, they marry, they become parents, and they think only of the future. But as the years go by, Tatum’s stardom rises while Ben’s fades. In a marriage that bears the fallout of ambition and fame, Ben and Tatum are at a crossroads. Now all they can do is think back…

A life of passion, joy, tragedy, and loss—once shared—becomes one as shifting and unpredictable as a memory. As the pieces of their past come together, as they explore the ways love can bend and break, Ben and Tatum come to see how it all went wrong—and wonder what they can do now to make it all right.

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About the author:

A New York Times bestselling author, Allison Winn Scotch has published The Department of Lost and Found, Time of My Life, The One That I Want, The Song Remains the Same, The Theory of Opposites, and In Twenty Years, a Library Journal Best Books of 2016 selection. Her novels have been translated into twelve different languages. A freelance writer for many years, Allison has contributed to Brides, Family Circle, Fitness, Glamour, InStyle, Men’s Health, Parents, Redbook, Self, Shape, and Women’s Health. A cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied history and marketing, Winn Scotch now lives in Los Angeles, where she enjoys hiking, reading, running, yoga, and the company of her two dogs, when she’s not “serving as an Uber service” for her kids.

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Left to Chance - Release Day Giveaway

No one knows why Teddi Lerner left her hometown, but everyone knows why she’s back.

Twelve-year-old Shayna― talented, persistent, and adorable―persuaded "Aunt Tee" to return to Chance, Ohio, to photograph her father’s wedding. Even though it's been six years since Shay's mother, Celia, died, Teddi can hardly bear the thought of her best friend's husband marrying someone else. But Teddi’s bond with Shay is stronger than the hurt.

Teddi knows it’s time to face the consequences of her hasty retreat from family, friends, and, her old flame, but when she looks through her viewfinder, nothing in her small town looks the same. That’s when she truly sees the hurt she's caused and―maybe―how to fix it.

After the man she once loved accuses Teddi of forgetting Celia, Teddi finally admits why she ran away, and the guilt she’s carried with her. As Teddi relinquishes the distance that kept her safe, she’ll discover surprising truths about the people she left behind, and herself. And she'll finally see what she overlooked all along in Left to Chance by Amy Sue Nathan.

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About the author:

Amy Sue Nathan is the author of The Good Neighbor, and the founder of WomensFictionWriters.com, named a Best Website for Writers by Writer's Digest. Amy lives in Philadelphia and has a grown son and daughter. You can find her online, often when she shouldn't be.

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The Boyfriend Swap - Pub Day Review

You’d think the holidays the perfect time to bring home a new boyfriend to meet the family.  For Robyn and Sidney, that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Robyn tends to attract a certain type.  A type that her parents aren’t particularly fond of.   So when she starts dating Perry, a struggling actor, she can already predict the reaction her family will have of him.

Then there’s Sidney who works with her father.  Since he’s already so involved in her professional life, she is hesitant to bring Will home to the family. 

After discussing their conundrum, Sidney suggests that they swap boyfriends for the holidays.  I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

If you’re looking for the perfect book to get you in the holiday mood, look no further.  The Boyfriend Swap is a fun, enjoyable read.

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About the author:

A born and bred New Yorker, Meredith Schorr discovered her passion for writing when she began to enjoy drafting work-related e-mails way more than she was probably supposed to. After trying her hand penning children's stories and blogging her personal experiences, Meredith found her calling writing romantic comedy, women's fiction, and contemporary young adult fiction. She secures much inspiration from her day job as a hard-working trademark paralegal and her still single (but looking) status. Meredith is a loyal New York Yankees fan, an avid runner, and an unashamed television addict.

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Home For Christmas - Pub Week Giveaway

In a charming Maine seaside town, a single mother longs to create a memorable Christmas for her two daughters—and receives a chance to make her own wishes come true . . .
 
At first glance, Nell King’s cozy home in Yorktide seems a step down from the impeccably decorated Boston house she shared with her husband. But in the six years since he abruptly left to marry another woman, Nell and her almost-grown daughters have found real happiness here. Now, faced with what may be their last Christmas together, Nell feels anxious. She gave up her own ambitions when she married. With the daily obligations of motherhood coming to an end, what role is left for her to fill?
 
Twenty-one-year-old Molly worries about sacrificing her independence the way her mother did. Should she stay in Maine with her dependable boyfriend, or move to the city and prove herself? Felicity, meanwhile, is torn between loyalty to Nell and wanting to spend time with her glamorous stepmother. Nell is eager to make this holiday picture-perfect. But there’s a complication—and an opportunity . . .
 
Nell’s first love, now a successful novelist, is in town for a book signing. As the two rekindle their friendship, Nell confronts the choices she once made in the name of stability. And as the days unfold with revelations and unexpected gifts, this Christmas promises to herald a bright new beginning.

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About the author:

Holly Chamberlin was born and raised in New York City. After earning a Master’s degree in English Literature from New York University and working as an editor in the publishing industry for ten years, she moved to Boston, married and became a freelance editor and writer. She and her husband now live in downtown Portland, Maine, in a restored mid-nineteenth-century brick townhouse with Betty, the most athletic, beautiful and intelligent cat in the world.

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The Beautiful Ones - Release Day Giveaway

In a world of etiquette and polite masks, no one is who they seem to be.

Antonina Beaulieu is in the glittering city of Loisail for her first Grand Season, where she will attend balls and mingle among high society. Under the tutelage of the beautiful but cold Valerie Beaulieu she hopes to find a suitable husband. However, the haphazard manifestations of Nina’s telekinetic powers make her the subject of malicious gossip.

Yet dazzling telekinetic performer and outsider Hector Auvray sees Nina’s powers as a gift, and he teaches her how to hone and control them. As they spend more and more time together, Nina falls in love and believes she’s found the great romance that she’s always dreamt of. But Hector’s courtship of Nina is deceptive.

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About the author:

SILVIA MORENO-GARCIA is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Signal to Noise and Certain Dark Things and the short story collection This Strange Way of Dying, which was a finalist for the Sunburst Award in Canada. She was a finalist for the Manchester Fiction Prize and a recipient of the Gloria Vanderbilt/Exile Award for Best Emerging Writer. She lives in Canada.

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Christmas in London - release day review & giveaway

Review by Deb Czajkowski

Since she was a young girl baking in the kitchen with her mother, Louisa has wanted to own her own restaurant that specializes in delicate pastries and unusual desserts. Beyond experience, that requires a commercial-sized sink full of cash.  Thus, twelve hour shifts at a bakery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side are the norm for Louisa, especially the week before Christmas. Louisa is just finishing up the trays of treats for the morning’s Christmas special (cinnamon rolls) when Noah dashes in for a shelf full of ─pause─ cinnamons rolls.

Noah is working his way through law school as a cooking show assistant.  Making problems ─poof!─ disappear is what he’s paid to do.  That includes dashing out in the rain when the show burns the cinnamon rolls they were supposed to film that day.  Or finding a substitute host ─“Please, Louisa! Pleeeease be our host!”─ for their annual Christmas Eve Dinner TV special at Claridge’s in London when the cooking show host has an allergic reaction to the secret ingredient (nutmeg) that was in Louisa’s prize-winning cinnamon rolls.

Of course Louisa must do it! After all, this predicament is (sort of) her fault.  And think of the publicity! So Louisa is off to London.  But will this trip prove delicious or disastrous?

The show’s producer, Kate, a graduate of St. Andrew’s in Scotland, is no stranger to London’s corner of the world. And it’s a small world after all when, on her first night in London, she runs into her college best friend, Trevor, while she’s dining at Claridge’s.

Both Kate and Trevor are currently unattached, and their secret attraction for one another still hovers under the surface. But their college years were fraught with misunderstandings and youthful heartaches. More than one heart was broken at graduation.  Although it’s now ten years later, the obstacles Kate and Trevor experienced in college are still there, and they appear to be just as insurmountable today as they were ten years ago. Even the sugar plum fairies see the dilemmas disturbing their dreams. Isn’t that indication enough to let the past be the past?

Anita Hughes’ novel, Christmas in London, is set in a magnificent city in which to be during the Christmas season. Hughes’ lovely descriptions of London sparkle with Christmas traditions and holiday cheer so magical that I both felt like I was there at Christmas but also dreamt of experiencing it all live and in person. Buckingham Palace, The Nutcracker at Covent Garden, the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, Harrods, just a few ‘musts’ to whet your site-seeing appetite and get you dreaming.  And that’s not even talking food!  Ah, the sweet treats the author describes will have your mouth watering and your fingers googling recipes.

Are you thinking, “Is Christmas in London a travel book?”  No, that’s just a bonus. Anita Hughes’ novel focuses on one week in the lives of two young women, Louisa and Kate. It’s a week filled with fun, fabulous food, and fairy tales. It’s a week marked with mistakes, mishaps, and misunderstandings. We glimpse visions of the future and visit haunts of the past. It’s a week that changes lives.

Should you wait for the holidays for Christmas in London. No need! Pour yourself a relaxing cup of hot tea, help yourself to a flaky, raspberry scone, and enjoy.  It is, after all, tea time somewhere!

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About the author:

Anita Hughes was born in Sydney, Australia and had a charmed childhood that included petting koala bears, riding the waves on Bondi Beach, and putting an occasional shrimp on the barbie. Her writing career began at the age of eight, when she won a national writing contest in THE AUSTRALIAN newspaper, and was named "One of Australia's Next Best Writers." (She still has the newspaper clipping.)

She received a B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Creative Writing from Bard College, and attended UC Berkeley's Masters in Creative Writing program.

She lives in Dana Point, CA with her family, where she interrupts her writing to watch the glorious sunsets.

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Christmas in London by Anita Hughes

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