Someone Else's Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson (5 stars)

About Someone Else's Love Story

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (November 19, 2013)

I fell in love with William Ashe at gunpoint, in a Circle K

For single mom Shandi Pierce, life is a juggling act. She’s finishing college; raising her delightful three-year-old genius son, Nathan, aka Natty Bumppo; and keeping the peace between her eternally warring, long-divorced Christian mother and Jewish father. She’s got enough to deal with before she gets caught in the middle of a stickup in a gas station mini-mart and falls in love with a great wall of a man named William Ashe, who steps between the armed robber and her son to shield the child from danger.

Shandi doesn’t know that her blond god has his own baggage. When he looked down the barrel of the gun in the gas station he believed it was destiny: it’s been exactly one year since a tragic act of physics shattered his universe. But William doesn’t define destiny the way other people do. A brilliant geneticist who believes in science and numbers, destiny to him is about choice.

Now, William and Shandi are about to meet their so-called destinies head-on, making choices that will reveal unexpected truths about love, life, and the world they think they know.

Someone Else’s Love Story is Joshilyn Jackson’s funny, charming, and poignant novel about science and miracles, secrets and truths, faith and forgiveness; about falling in love and learning that things aren’t always what they seem—or what we hope they will be. It’s a story about discovering what we want and ultimately finding what we need.

Review

How many love stories start with a shooting at a convenience store between a man in deep despair over loss and a woman who has yet to know real love although she's a single mom?

When William saves Shandi's life, and the life of her young son, she's smitten. He's a hero in her eyes, and she wants to fall in love--in fact, she's in love with the idea of loving him. William is tortured over lost love. Their worlds collide. As much as Shandi would love to have a fairy tale ending, they both have lessons to learn. Love is part of the equation but not in the most obvious way.

There is something so sweet and completely unexpected about this charming and realistic love story. Joshilyn Jackson slowly builds the characters with glimpses into who they are in a brilliant and captivating weaving of story. Both Shandi and William are broken and teach each other important aspects about love.

Too often, fictional romances heat up quickly and leave you breathless but without much foundation for the characters' futures. This story, however, builds up to a satisfying climax of answers, love, and truth. The kinds of qualities you can base a lifetime of fulfillment on. Beautifully written and compelling--highly recommended for readers who love a character-drive story with tremendous heart and soul.

Rating: 5 stars

About Joshilyn Jackson

Joshilyn Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including gods in Alabama and A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages. A former actor, Jackson is also an award-winning audiobook narrator. She lives in Decatur, Georgia, with her husband and their two children.

Find out more about Joshilyn at her website, connect with her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

Thanks to TLC for my review copy.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

Please visit other stops on the Someone Else's Love Story blog tour page.

Borrowed Things by Doris Schneider (5 stars)

About Borrowed Things
(from GoodReads)

Borrowed Things takes place in North Carolina, alternating between Durham and Pearl, a fading town on the Lockwood Folly River. It traces a year in the separate yet symbiotic lives of five characters whose paths cross and ultimately connect.

Wishing to reinvent herself, Anne Gray sells her Durham home and the care of a Great Blue Heron to Noah Levinson, who also negotiates for the temporary use of her things and their stories in the desperate hope they will infuse some of Anne's spirit and resilience into his ailing wife, Elizabeth.

Anne finds a new home in the forgotten town of Pearl where she releases the memories of two failed marriages as she sails the waters of the Intracoastal Waterway with a haunted Latino priest and an elderly woman who rides a bicycle and wears No Fear t-shirts.

Through Anne's not-so-divine intervention, Father Paul and old Marjorie unveil their long held secrets, and come face to face with the embodiment of their abandoned hope. Anne is finally forced to come to terms with her past and find the courage to accept or reject the opportunity for a last and lasting love.

Review

Anne Gray is struggling to redefine her life. She's the single mom of two girls who have their own lives. When Noah Levinson offers Anne the chance to move on and help him and his dying wife, Anne takes the opportunity to examine her past and consider a new future.

Fate brings a new home and new families into her life. Anne is determined to follow her heart down the path of self-discovery as she ponders past loves and failed relationships. Along the way, she meets some amazing people with their own secrets and pain.

Borrowed Things is Southern women's fiction at its best, capturing your heart within the first few pages. Anne Gray is a rare character, equal parts strength and compassion. Readers will identify with her struggles and lingering questions as they enjoy her exploits and journey toward friendship and love. But most of all, they will find themselves transported into a town rich in memorable characters, intriguing history, and many secrets.

Rating: 5 stars

I am thrilled to be giving away a paperback copy. Please enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Doris Schneider
(from Amazon)

Doris Schneider is a writer, artist, and former professor of theatre at North Carolina Central University. While directing a play in Singapore, extra time in a lush hotel room prompted her to continue writing a story she had begun years before in a not-so-lush tent in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The result is Borrowed Things.

For more information, check out GoodReads or follow Doris on Facebook.

Note: I was the editor for this book. A positive review was not guaranteed or requested; the opinions expressed are my own.

Promise Me This by Sarah Ashley Cover Reveal

Promise Me This by Sarah Ashley Jones

Cover Design by Okay Creations.

Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance

Release Date: June 17, 2013

Welcome to the South - where the tea is sweet and the accents are sweeter. This Southern way of life is all Charlie has ever known. It’s not until she loses the only person who pushed her to break free of the Southern Belle mold that she starts living the life she needs and not the life her parents forced on her.

Jhett has lived on the edge for as long as he could remember - constantly teetering back and forth between being a rock star and living a normal life. His rebellious and sometimes arrogant attitude is known to get him into trouble, especially with the girls who hang on his every move.

Charlie never thought that a trip to pack up her brother’s apartment would leave her feeling even more unsettled about the grainy details of her brother’s death. Her quest for information leads her straight to his old hangout and into arms of Jhett, who suspiciously knows more about her situation than he ever should.

Only a few questions remain - Can you trust someone based on their word alone? And if you make a promise, how far will you go to keep it?

About The Author

Sarah Ashley Jones was raised in San Diego, California, but currently wrangles her husband and four dogs in Clarksville, Tennessee. When she's not writing she works in a pottery studio and comes home covered in paint on a daily basis. She has a slightly unhealthy obsession with cupcakes and chapstick. She is an eternal optimist and can often be found dancing and singing to music at any given time. It's rare to see her not smiling or laughing, but if you do, just bring her a cupcake and it will cheer her up.

Promise Me This is her first novel and is a story that weaseled its way into her heart and wouldn't leave her alone until she typed it up on the computer. She already is hard at work on ideas for her next book and hopes that the characters never stop coming to her. Her huge imagination was always in overdrive as a child and now she is beyond excited to put it to good use as an adult. She plans to write as long as she has stories that need to be told.

FIND SARAH ASHLEY JONES ON

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | HER BLOG

ADD PROMISE ME THIS ON GOODREADS

Beautiful Creatures, Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl (4 stars)

About Beautiful Creatures
(from Amazon)

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Review

Ethan can't wait to leave Gatlin in the dust. His dad has been a recluse since his mom died, leaving nothing for him in the small town. The only excitement comes in the form of his dreams about a mystery girl. 

Lena Duchannes comes to Gatlin with a secret--a secret her powerful family is trying to protect her from, while trying to keep the town in the dark. Ethan recognizes her from his dreams, and they form and immediate and intense connection.

Lena has a choice to make, and time is running out. The day she turns 16, her powers will be claimed for either the light or the dark. Old Man Ravenwood, as the town refers to him, is Lena's protector; a man determined to deliver her to the light. But what sacrifices will he, and others, need to make along the way? Will Lena have any choice in the matter?

There's so much to love in this story, now a major motion picture: intriguing characters, paranormal twists, an endearing romance, and shock value. Plus, the story is told from Ethan's perspective, which I found quite refreshing. It was nice to see the romance from the boy's point of view. Although I loved Lena by the end, I wasn't sure what I thought of her in the beginning; she was a bit broody for me. But I commend the authors for the slow unraveling of the plot and characters. It was like eating a pastry and enjoying every single glorious layer of it. 

My best compliment... I already have Beautiful Darkness, and I can't wait to find out what happens to Lean and Ethan and to discover more about other family members, and all of their powers.

It's a solid 4-star read that moves toward a 5-star read by the end. I highly recommend it for YA paranormal fans, but also to fans of Southern fiction and darker tales. 

Rating: 4 stars

About the Authors
(from the Beautiful Creatures website)

Kami Garcia is a teacher and reading specialist with an MA in education, and leads book groups for children and teenagers. 

Margaret Stohl has an MA in English and studied creative writing under poet George MacBeth at the University of East Anglia, Norwich. 

They both live in Los Angeles, California, with their families. Beautiful Creatures is their debut novel.

Note: I also saw the movie and will have a review of that up soon. A slight warning on the movie for those who love the book--it's quite different. Reading the book first definitely affected my view of the movie.