I’ve had another busy mailbox this month with a bunch more great books coming my way.  I have become very picky with the books I agree to review become my time is limited.  So, you can be assured that if a book has arrived in my mailbox, I felt it was going to be worth my time and yours. 


If you would like to purchase any of these books, clicking on the photo of the book will take you directly to Amazon.  If you choose to purchase, I will receive a small commission without you having to pay any more for your purchase.  I appreciate your support of SincerelyStacie.com reviews.

Book Club Read

Our book club choice this month is DON’T GO by Lisa Scottoline.  It was my choice this month and I wanted to choose something from my stash of books that I have been wanting to read.  I have never read any of Scottoline’s books and have been wanting to. Her books seem like they are right up my alley! Looking forward to our discussion on this one!

Bestselling author Lisa Scottoline has thrilled millions with her emotionally-charged novels that feature strong women exploring the boundaries of family, justice, and love.   In Don’t Go, she breaks new ground and delivers the story of a soldier who discovers what it means to be a man, a father, and ultimately, a hero.When Dr. Mike Scanlon is called to serve as an army doctor in Afghanistan, he’s acutely aware of the dangers he’ll face and the hardships it will cause his wife Chloe and newborn baby.  And deep inside, he doesn’t think of himself as a warrior, but a healer.


However, in an ironic turn of events, as Mike operates on a wounded soldier in a war-torn country, Chloe dies at home in the suburbs, in an apparent household accident.  Devastated, he returns home to bury her, only to discover that the life he left behind has fallen apart.  His medical practice is in jeopardy, and he is a complete stranger to the only family he has left – his precious baby girl.  Worse, he learns a shocking secret that sends him into a downward spiral.

Ultimately, Mike realizes that the most important battle of his life faces him on the home front and he’ll have to put it all on the line to save what’s dearest to him – his family.  Gripping, thrilling, and profoundly emotional, Don’t Go is Lisa Scottoline at her finest.



Books and Other Items I Won

I won this awesome homemade Toms bag from Becky at http://bybmg.blogspot.com/.  I’m using it to hold my essential oils. It is the perfect size! I love how Becky reuses items to make them new.  She is certainly talented in the crafting department.  Be sure to follow her blog and visit her Etsy Shop, HERE to see more of her great ideas! Her Instagram Frames are the coolest! Since I had a couple Toms bags laying around here, I sent them off to her to make them into something useful!

I won THE BURGESS BOYS from Kimberly at Reflections of a Book Addict. It does pay to enter to win! I loved OLIVE KITTERIDGE by Elizabeth Strout and have been wanting to read her newest book. I was thrilled to find out I won a copy.

I won a $20 Amazon Gift Card from Teddy Rose at Virtual Author Book Tours.  I won it by participating in a book tour.  They giveaway gift cards to thank us for reviewing the books and I was a winner!

Bookish Items I received

Sometimes we get little thank you gifts from authors and publishers for reviewing/promoting their books. I received this awesome beach towel from Wigu Publishing and I was absolutely giddy.  It is big, soft, and I love the bright colors.  They sent it my way to promote their Summer Reading Campaign. I’ll be blogging about it soon!

Books For Review

GOODNIGHT JUNE by Sarah Jio

Goodnight Moon is an adored childhood classic, but its real origins are lost to history. In Goodnight June, Sarah Jio offers a suspenseful and heartfelt take on how the “great green room” might have come to be.

June Andersen is professionally successful, but her personal life is marred by unhappiness. Unexpectedly, she is called to settle her great-aunt Ruby’s estate and determine the fate of Bluebird Books, the children’s bookstore Ruby founded in the 1940s. Amidst the store’s papers, June stumbles upon letters between her great-aunt and the late Margaret Wise Brown—and steps into the pages of American literature.

THE CHRONICLE OF SECRET RIVEN (Book 2 Keeper of Tales Trilogy) By Ronlyn Domique

An uncanny child born to brilliant parents, befriended by a prince, mentored by a wise woman, pursued by a powerful man, Secret Riven has no idea what destiny will demand of her or the courage she must have to confront it in the breathtakingly epic, genre-spanning sequel to The Mapmaker’s War.

One thousand years after a great conflict known as The Mapmaker’s War, a daughter is born to an ambitious historian and a gifted translator. Secret Riven doesn’t speak until her seventh year but can mysteriously communicate with plants and animals. Unsettled by visions and dreams since childhood, she tries to hide her strangeness, especially from her mercurial father and cold mother. Yet gentle, watchful Secret finds acceptance from Prince Nikolas, her best friend, and Old Woman, who lives in the distant woods.

When Secret is twelve, her mother receives an arcane manuscript to translate from an anonymous owner. Zavet suffers from nightmares and withdraws into herself. Secret sickens with a fever and awakens able to speak an ancient language, one her mother knows as well. Suddenly, Zavet dies. The manuscript is missing, but a cipher has been left for Secret to find.

Years later, Secret becomes a translator’s apprentice for Fewmany, an influential magnate, who has taken an interest in her for reasons she cannot discern. Before Secret learns why, Old Woman confronts Secret with the truth of her destiny—a choice she must make that is tied to an ancient past.

Overflowing with spellbinding storytelling, vivid characters, and set in a fascinating world, The Chronicle of Secret Riven explores the tension between love and hate, trust and betrayal, fate and free will.

HERE AND AGAIN By Nicole R Dickson

Deep in the Shenandoah Valley, the present and the past are as restless as the river mists. And when they collide, the heart is the only compass pointing home.
 
For nurse Ginger Martin, her late husband’s farm is both a treasured legacy and the harbinger of an uncertain future. Since he was recently killed in Iraq, every day is fraught with grief that won’t abate. Keeping the farm going and nourishing her children’s hopes without him seems as impossible as having dreams for the future—or going back into the past….
 
By a curious coincidence, a stranger appears in Ginger’s life, always showing up to help in unexpected and much-needed ways. He says he’s a soldier, lost and trying to make his way home, but Ginger understands that Samuel is a kindred spirit, longing to repair a life interrupted. The challenges of their hopes and longings will test who they really are in the most heartbreaking of ways. And only by coming to terms with their losses and the necessity of change will Ginger and Samuel be able to each make a future of their own—and discover at last where their true home lies….

THE NEVER NEVER SISTERS By L. Alison Heller

Sometimes you just need to get away….
 
Marriage counselor Paige Reinhardt is counting down the days to summer, eager to reconnect with her workaholic husband at their cozy rental cottage in the Hamptons. But soon a mysterious crisis at Dave’s work ruins their getaway plans. Paige is still figuring out how to handle the unexplained chill in her marriage when her troubled sister suddenly returns after a two-decade silence. Now, instead of enjoying the lazy summer days along the ocean, Paige is navigating the rocky waters of a forgotten bond with her sister in the sweltering city heat.
 
As she attempts to dig deeper into Dave’s work troubles and some long-held family secrets, Paige is shocked to discover how little she knows about the people closest to her. This summer, the self-proclaimed relationship expert will grapple with her biggest challenge yet: Is it worth risking your most precious relationships in order to find yourself?

IN THE MIRROR By Kaira Rouda

At this time it is just $3.99 on Kindle. Purchase it by clicking the photo above.

If you knew you may die soon, what choices would you make?

Jennifer Benson has it all: a successful career, a perfect husband, two kids and abundant friendships. The only problem is she may be dying. IN THE MIRROR is the realistic love story about a woman facing a deadly illness, and her loves past and present. It’s a story that unfolds with a delightful blend of humor and poignancy, ringing true in the heart of anyone who has ignored a warning of her own.

THE BEAUTIFUL AMERICAN by Jeanne Mackin

From Paris in the 1920s to London after the Blitz, two women find that a secret from their past reverberates through years of joy and sorrow….

As recovery from World War II begins, expat American Nora Tours travels from her home in southern France to London in search of her missing sixteen-year-old daughter. There, she unexpectedly meets up with an old acquaintance, famous model-turned-photographer Lee Miller. Neither has emerged from the war unscathed. Nora is racked with the fear that her efforts to survive under the Vichy regime may have cost her daughter’s life. Lee suffers from what she witnessed as a war correspondent photographing the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps.

Nora and Lee knew each other in the heady days of late 1920s Paris, when Nora was giddy with love for her childhood sweetheart, Lee became the celebrated mistress of the artist Man Ray, and Lee’s magnetic beauty drew them all into the glamorous lives of famous artists and their wealthy patrons. But Lee fails to realize that her friendship with Nora is even older, that it goes back to their days as children in Poughkeepsie, New York, when a devastating trauma marked Lee forever. Will Nora’s reunion with Lee give them a chance to forgive past betrayals…and break years of silence to forge a meaningful connection as women who have shared the best and the worst that life can offer?

A novel of freedom and frailty, desire and daring, The Beautiful American portrays the extraordinary relationship between two passionate, unconventional women.

THE FEVER: A Novel By Megan Abbott

To be published, June 17, 2014. You can pre-order your copy by clicking the photo above…that is if Amazon and Hachette Publishers come to an agreement.

The panic unleashed by a mysterious contagion threatens the bonds of family and community in a seemingly idyllic suburban community.

The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hockey star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie’s best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community.

As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town’s fragile idea of security.

STILLWELL: A Haunting on Long Island By Michael Phillip Cash

STILLWELL is available on Kindle for free to all Amazon Prime members or just $.99 if you are not a Prime member.

Paul Russo’s wife just died. While trying to get his family’s life back in order, Paul is being tormented by a demon who is holding his wife’s spirit hostage on the other side. His fate is intertwined with an old haunted mansion on the north shore of Long Island called Stillwell Manor. Paul must find clues dating back hundreds of years to set his wife’s soul free.



THE FLIP By Michael Phillip Cash
THE FLIP is free to Amazon Prime users or $.99 for the Kindle version right now. Get it by clicking the photo above. 
Julie and Brad Evans are house flippers. They buy low, clean out the old occupants junk, and try to make a profit. Enter Hemmings House on Bedlam Street in scenic Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Too good a deal to pass up, but with an ominous secret. The old Victorian Mansion has dwellers that do not want to be dispossessed. As the house reveals it’s past, will the couples marriage survive The Flip?

COLLISION: The Battle For Darracia (Book 2 The Darracia Saga) By Michael Phillip Cash
COLLISION’s Kindle version is free to Amazon Prime members or just $.99 on Kindle right now. Purchase it by clicking the photo above.  The first book in the Darracia Sara is called Schism: The Battle for Darracia (Book 1) and the Kindle version is also free to Amazon Prime members or $.99 on Kindle.
The Darracia saga continues with all the key players spread out and searching for answers throughout the solar system. Prince V’sair struggles to hold his fractured kingdom together without help from his family. His stepbrother Zayden is on a vengeful hunt for his evil uncle Staf Nuen. Tulani navigates her two worlds trying to bring them together. Staf Nuen, the orchestrator of the original coup, is making unholy alliances with nefarious new allies. Like the comet zipping across the horizon, all the different factions are heading for a collision course that will test both their faith and power.

Books I Purchased

WHERE THERE’S SMOKE: A Short Story By Jodi Picoult

This is a prequel to her newest novel, LEAVING TIME, that is coming out in November.  You can get this free for Kindle by clicking the photo above.

In this original short story, available exclusively as an eBook, Picoult introduces Serenity Jones, one of the fascinating characters from her eagerly awaited new novel, Leaving Time.

Even as a child, Serenity Jones knew she possessed unusual psychic gifts. Now, decades later, she’s an acclaimed medium and host of her own widely viewed TV show, where she delivers messages to the living from loved ones who have passed. Lately, though, her efforts to boost ratings and garner fame have compromised her clairvoyant instincts. When Serenity books a young war widow to appear as a guest, the episode quickly unravels, stirring up a troubling controversy. And as she tries to undo the damage—to both her reputation and her show—Serenity finds that pride comes at a high price.

EAT TO LOSE, EAT TO WIN: Your Grab and Go Action Plan for a Slimmer, Healthier You By Rachel Beller

This is a free purchase on Kindle and sadly it is no longer free.  But, I thought it would be a good read and have some great tips for getting back on the eating healthy track.

In EAT TO LOSE, EAT TO WIN, celebrity nutritionist Rachel Beller (of Biggest Loser fame) takes a basic tenet of weight loss—eat the “right” foods—and makes it easy to achieve. No more writing lists or memorizing “approved” foods—an extensive, take-it-with-you, full-color look-and-shop guide shows actual products, making purchasing healthy foods and sticking to a nutritious eating plan straightforward and undemanding. EAT TO LOSE, EAT TO WIN is sensible and real-world ready with practical tips on how to best incorporate the latest nutritional recommendations—such as fiber, Omega-3, protein, and antioxidants—into a healthy diet. Filled with recipes for simple-to-prepare meals and snacks, as well as common-sense suggestions, this is a must-have tool for anyone looking for motivation to change to a healthier lifestyle.

BALANCING IT ALL: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose By Candace Bure

This was a one day $.99 deal and I snagged it.  I admire Candace for sticking to her beliefs when confronted after this book came out.  She is a strong Christian wife, mother, and friend to many and tries to live her life just like the rest of us do.  I am looking forward to reading her insights on how to balance it all, because right now I’m struggling in that area!

“How do you do it all?”

That’s the question that wife, mom, actress, and best-selling author Candace Cameron Bure is often asked. And it’s a question that women everywhere are asking themselves as we seek to balance all of our roles, responsibilities, and opportunities.

So, how do we do it? Working since the age of 5, Candace has been in a balancing act for nearly her entire life. She is the first to tell you that there is no miracle formula for perfect execution in every area of your life, but there definitely are some lessons to be learned, lessons that come to life in Candace’s story.

Come along and dig into Candace’s story from her start in commercials, the balance-necessitating years on Full House, to adding on the roles of wife and mom while also returning to Hollywood. Insightful, funny, and poignant, Candace’s story will help you balance it all.




BITSY BEAR: A Great Children’s Story and Essential Parenting Tool By Anne M Jenks

I purchased this book on my own.  It was written by a high school classmate of mine.  You can see my review of this wonderful children’s book HERE. It truly is an important and life-saving story to share with your child.  I think it should be in every school and library and home of young children. You can purchase it for Kindle or in paperback.

CONFESSIONS OF A SO-CALLED MIDDLE CHILD By Maria T Lennon

I purchased this for Kindle on a one day free deal.  This is for our daughter to read this summer.  It is the first in a series. So, that is why it was free, to get you hooked so you purchase the other books. We’ll see if she likes this first one.

It’s Mean Girls for tweens in the tradition of Paula Danziger’s Cat That Ate My Gymsuit and Judy Blume! Watch out, world: here comes Charlie C. Cooper-computer whiz, reformed bully, and so-called middle child-in this seriously funny debut tween novel from screenwriter Maria T. Lennon.

Confessions of a So-Called Middle Child stars the hilariously cheeky reformed bully and tween hacker Charlie Cooper as she tries to ditch her middle-child reputation and make cool friends at her new school in Los Angeles. But being cool isn’t as easy as it looks. Charlie has to face down the mean girls and decide between right and wrong once and for all when she learns the terrible truth behind Marta the Farta’s bad attitude and loner status. And Charlie has to do it all in outfits meant for the runways!

As always, if you want to stay up-to-date on great Kindle Deals that I find.  Follow me on Facebook, HERE or Twitter, HERE.  You can also check the Daily Kindle Deals at any time by clicking the link in the top right side bar of my blog.  I love sharing good deals with you, but keep in mind that they are usually very short-lived.

Stay tuned to upcoming reviews for these books.

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2 Comments

  1. Anita LeBeau on June 6, 2014 at 3:12 pm

    Hey Stacie!! I've read and loved Goodnight June and The Fever!! I love the beach towel you were sent, so pretty. I rarely list the books I purchase…it is scary some months..ha ha.

  2. Becky Goerend on June 6, 2014 at 6:38 pm

    Awe! Thanks for sharing the bag! Looks like some great books! I'm off to check out the Candace Cameron Bure one!

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