Friday, May 17, 2019

The Printed Letter Bookshop By Katherine Reay

I received this book from Celebrate Lit Blogger Program and the author for no charge in exchange for my honest review of this book. The opinions expressed here are my own.


Book Description: 

Love, friendship, and family find a home at the Printed Letter Bookshop

One of Madeline Cullen’s happiest childhood memories is of working with her Aunt Maddie in the quaint and cozy Printed Letter Bookshop. But by the time Madeline inherits the shop nearly twenty years later, family troubles and her own bitter losses have hardened Madeline’s heart toward her once-treasured aunt—and the now struggling bookshop left in her care.
While Madeline intends to sell the shop as quickly as possible, the Printed Letter’s two employees have other ideas. Reeling from a recent divorce, Janet finds sanctuary within the books and within the decadent window displays she creates. Claire, though quieter than the acerbic Janet, feels equally drawn to the daily rhythms of the shop and its loyal clientele, finding a renewed purpose within its walls.


 

 My Thoughts:  

The Printed Letter Bookshop is the latest book by Katherine Reay and it is a wonderful story. I am a huge fan of Katherine Reay's books and this one is definitely my favorite. The cover of this book is creative and love the way it looks.  The writing style of Katherine Reay is unique.  In this book, it is broken up not in chapters but with characters names and their perspective of events unfolding. Katherine Reay writes with authority on being a lawyer, bookstores, books, 
 gardening, ministering, family, and how friends become family.  I couldn't put this book down from the start. I felt like I was right there experiencing everything as the characters did, seeing through each of their eyes. The characters are very well written and very real people. I found myself drawn to Madeline, especially as she deals with the family dynamics of issues from the past. Finding herself feeling stuck between to 2 opposing sides. Madeline also learned that being a partner in a law firm was not her hearts passion but offering help to people who otherwise wouldn't have legal help is. As Madeline finds renewed faith through a letter from her Aunt Maddie, the transformation was beautiful.  A big theme throughout is faith whether finding, strengthening, or renewing it.  I absolutely loved this book and it is one that will stay with me for a while. I highly recommend this book and author to anyone who enjoys Women's Fiction, you will NOT be disappointed. 
I give this book 5+ STARS.



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About the Book

The Printed Letter Bookshop Cover

Book: The Printed Letter Bookshop  
Author: Katherine Reay  
Genre: Women’s fiction, romance
Release Date: May 14, 2019  

Amid literature and lattes, three women come together and find that sharing one’s journey with best friends makes life richer.

When attorney Madeline Carter inherits her aunt’s bookstore in a small town north of Chicago, she plans to sell it and add the proceeds to her nonexistent “investment portfolio.” But plans change when Madeline discovers the store isn’t making money and she gets passed over for promotion at her firm. She quits in protest, takes the train north, and decides to work at the store to prep it for sale. Madeline soon finds herself at odds with employees Jessica and Courtney; when she also finds herself attracted to an affianced man, it only confuses the entire situation. After blowing up her marriage two years earlier, Jessica has found solace working at the bookstore and a kindred spirit within its owner, Maddie Cullen. But when Maddie dies and her niece, Madeline, barges in like a bulldozer, Jessica pushes at the new owner in every way-until she trips over common ground. Soon the women are delving into online dating and fashion makeovers, and Jessica feels the pull to rediscover her art, a love she thought long behind her. After a night of bad decisions leaves the store in peril, Courtney arrives and tries to save the day. While she, too, found sanctuary in the little bookstore, she knows it’s under-insured, in the red, and will never survive. When she discovers her teenage daughter has played a part in vandalizing the store, Courtney taps into strength she didn’t know existed-or had long forgotten. The quietest of the three, she steps up and finds a way to save her family, the store, and the precious friendships that have grown within it. The Printed Letter Bookshop is the story of friends who find each other-and themselves-in a place none of them ever expected.
 
Click here to purchase your copy.

About the Author

 
Reay Katherine

Katherine Reay is the national bestselling and award-winning author of Dear Mr. Knightley, Lizzy and Jane, The Brontë Plot, A Portrait of Emily Price, The Austen Escape, and The Printed Letter Bookshop. All Katherine’s novels are contemporary stories with a bit of classical flair. Katherine holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University, graduating Phi Beta Kappa, and is a wife, mother, former marketer, and avid chocolate consumer. After living all across the country and a few stops in Europe, Katherine now happily resides outside Chicago, IL. You can meet her at www.katherinereay.com; Facebook: KatherineReayBooks; Twitter: @katherine_reay; or Instagram: @katherinereay.

More from Katherine

Don’t you love bookshops? Every time I walk into a bookstore, it feels like a rainbow cracked open and rained a kaleidoscope of light, life and possibilities before me. I find worlds within the world and a call to adventure. Each bookshop tells a different story. It tells of its loyal beloved customer base. It reflects the personality of its owner and staff. It carries the aura of the stories it offers to us. And it was the perfect place to dig into lives, hearts and book loves of Janet, Claire and Madeline. These three women, at different stages in life, meet at the Printed Letter Bookshop, with all the romance and wonder it holds, and learn to work through their challenges together. They become the friends that each didn’t know she was missing. There is also a fourth woman I loved spending time with in the Printed Letter Bookshop — its original owner, Maddie Carter. Maddie doesn’t step onto the stage even once, but her presence, her love and her guiding hand are apparent from page one as Janet, Claire, and Madeline grow in friendship and in faith. The Printed Letter Bookshop is a love letter to books, a testament to the beauty of new beginnings and a sweet reminder of the power of friendship. I hope you savor your time with these three women — And, book lovers rejoice, there is a list of all the books they allude to in the back of the book!

Blog Stops

Bigreadersite, May 16
By The Book, May 16
Emily Yager, May 18
Simple Harvest Reads, May 26 (Guest post from Mindy Houng)
amandainpa, May 27


Giveaway


To celebrate her tour, Katherine is giving away a paperback copy of The Printed Letter Bookshop to one lucky winner!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/e4f1/the-printed-letter-bookshop-celebration-tour-giveaway

Friday, May 3, 2019

Gone Too Soon By Melody Carlson

I received this book from Celebrate Lit Blogging Program and the author for no charge in exchange for my honest review of this book. The opinions expressed here are my own. 

Book Description: 

An icy road. A car crash.

A family changed forever.


Hannah Josephson had always been the “perfect” daughter. Kiera couldn’t live up to her before, and she certainly can’t now that her older sister has died in a car accident. But the image she carried resentfully of Hannah is challenged when she finds her dead sister’s diary and begins to read. Apparently Hannah’s final year wasn’t as perfect as everyone thought.
Caught in a pattern of blaming each other, the Josephson family is falling apart. Their father has left, their mother is mixing opiates and alcohol, little sister Maddie has been shipped off to spend the whole summer with their grandmother, and Kiera feels utterly alone with her grief and anger. A summer job helping at a park in a poor section of town provides a friend and a purpose.
But it’s Hannah’s diary that fills her thoughts. For the first time in years, she feels close to the sister she’s lost. But can the knowledge she gleans about her possibly help her patch back together the family that seems determined to implode?


My Thoughts: 


Gone Too Soon is the latest book by Melody Carlson and there are no words that adequately conveys how fantastic this book is. I love reading Melody Carlson's books and so when this one came up I couldn't pass it up! This book is considered Young Adult, which isn't a genre I have read much but the ones I have read have been wonderful and this one is no exception. The cover is so unique and really goes with the whole story. Melody Carlson writes with authority family dynamics, teenagers, addictions, effects of the death of a child on a family, and the healing through faith. I found myself unable to put this book from start to finish. I absolutely love Melody Carlson's style of writing, she definitely makes seamless transitions between the point of view of Kiera, her mother, and Hannah's diary entries. This book really portrayed real struggles families face and how it affects each person differently. I really found myself drawn to Kiera both from a mother and a daughters viewpoint. My heart broke for Kiera as she lost her sister and bore the brunt of the upset throughout her house. I felt a kinship with Kiera as her relationship is with her Mom and truly knew the emotions she felt, it is not easy to grow up hearing you aren't enough.I found myself feeling so proud that Kiera was able to find the faith in God she needed and wanted.  This book does deal with some heavy situations but Melody Carlson truly used sensitivity and safely stepped me through the each page. I felt many, many emotions: I found myself chuckling, holding my breath, and definitely cried. This book is on of these books that have left a mark in my heart and I believe it will stay therefor/hearts for a very long time.  I am love with this book from cover to comer and I HIGHLY recommend this book to any adult, young or older, I give this book 5++

Please check out the info and the cool giveway: 










Gone Too Soon FB Banner

About the Book

Gone Too Soon

Book: Gone Too Soon  
Author: Melody Carlson  
Genre: Young Adult
 Release Date: November 15, 2018

An icy road. A car crash. A family changed forever. Hannah Josephson had always been the “perfect” daughter. Kiera couldn’t live up to her before, and she certainly can’t now that her older sister has died in a car accident. But the image she carried resentfully of Hannah is challenged when she finds her dead sister’s diary and begins to read. Apparently Hannah’s final year wasn’t as perfect as everyone thought. Caught in a pattern of blaming each other, the Josephson family is falling apart. Their father has left, their mother is mixing opiates and alcohol, little sister Maddie has been shipped off to spend the whole summer with their grandmother, and Kiera feels utterly alone with her grief and anger. A summer job helping at a park in a poor section of town provides a friend and a purpose. But it’s Hannah’s diary that fills her thoughts. For the first time in years, she feels close to the sister she’s lost. But can the knowledge she gleans about her possibly help her patch back together the family that seems determined to implode?

Click here to purchase your copy.

About the Author

Melody Carlson

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women, and children. That’s a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a “storyteller.” Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, True Colors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She’s won a number of awards (including RT’s Career Achievement Award, the Rita, and the Gold medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog.

More from Melody

I think I’ve written about a hundred or more teen novels, but Gone Too Soon, a rather serious story, is a bit different. There’s no denying I’ve covered a bunch of gritty issues—everything from self-harm to suicide to murder—but I’ve never written a novel quite like this one. For starters, I wrote it from two viewpoints. Both the teenage daughter and her mother express themselves in this story. And because the premise involves an untimely death, the family is torn apart. As a result, there’s a lot of guilt and blame and confusion going around. They’re all in pain. I’ve been asked several times what “inspired” this story. And I’m sad to say that it’s simply a case of “art imitating life.” I live in a small community where too many young people have died “too soon.” These untimely deaths—for a variety of random and unexplainable reasons—are devastating. I know more than a dozen families (some very close friends) who have tragically lost a child. So I’ve seen up close how it can tear a family apart. It’s truly heartbreaking, often leaving friends and family without words of comfort or explanation. But that’s not the only reason I wrote this story. My hope is that teens (who often feel invincible) will be reminded that they are mortal and that this earthly life is temporary. Hard as it sounds, death is inevitable. And it’s not that I want everyone to be obsessed about dying, but we do live in a culture that practices denial about the end of a life. No one really wants to talk about it. My hope is that readers will take a hard, honest look, peel back some layers, and face death for what it is—a part of earthly life. And I hope readers will close the book with a little more understanding . . . and hope.

Blog Stops

The Avid Reader, April 25
Emily Yager, April 26
Moments, April 26
Hallie Reads, April 27
Mary Hake, April 28
SusanLovesBooks, April 29
amandainpa, May 4
Remembrancy, May 6

Giveaway

 
To celebrate her tour, Melody is giving away a grand prize of paperback copy of Gone Too Soon and a matching journal!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/dfa9/gone-too-soon-celebration-tour-giveaway


The Egyptian Princess: A Story of Hagar By KD Homberg

I received this audiobook for no charge from the author and Celebrate Lit Blogger Program in exchange for my honest review of this audiobook...