Showing posts with label Simon & Schuster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Simon & Schuster. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Is This Normal? by Dr. Jolene Brighten


 When discussing period pain or mood swings, hormonal imbalance or fertility issues, and all the “down there” concerns, vagina owners everywhere consistently ask their doctors one thing: Is this normal?


Whether it was from her patients or her hundreds of thousands of social media followers, Dr. Jolene Brighten has heard this simple question more times than she can count. With only eighteen states (yes, really) requiring medically accurate sexual education, it’s no wonder that so many have serious questions that need answers.

In 
Is This Normal?, Dr. Brighten candidly shares what your sex-ed teacher should have said but didn’t. TMI isn’t a term in her world. She answers all those “lady parts” questions you’ve always wondered but might not have felt comfortable asking, including topics as wide-ranging as the menstrual cycle, postpartum health, libido, acne, the orgasm gap, and vaginal discharges. No topic is too gross, gooey, or OMG to be off-limits.

Featuring a twenty-eight-day plan to take back your cycle and dozens of charts, checklists, and diagrams that help keep it real while keeping you educated, Is This Normal? is the Our Bodies, Ourselves for the social media generation and women everywhere will benefit from this honest, easy-to-understand guide to their bodies. 

Pick up your copy here...

Jolene Brighten NMD, FABNE, is an internationally acclaimed hormone expert, nutrition scientist, and thought leader in women’s medicine. She is board certified in naturopathic endocrinology and trained in clinical sexology. A fierce patient advocate and completely dedicated to uncovering the root cause of hormonal imbalances, Dr. Brighten empowers women worldwide to take control of their health and their hormones through her website, DrBrighten.com, and social medical channels. Dr. Brighten is an international speaker, clinical educator, and medical advisor within the fem-tech community. She lives in Puerto Rico with her husband and two boys.

My thoughts...
After reading this book and now rereading it again I can say there is not a better advocate for us women. This book has brought so much to light and helped me in so many ways.  Family Doctors just don't know what to do when you are sitting there telling them everything going on with your body. They don't have the answers. I don't want a Band-Aid  I want a solution to the problems. So take control of your life!
This Book, I mean women's Bible gives you so much information so many solutions you have to read it slowly and take lots of notes. Then reread it.
I gave Is This Normal? 5 stars and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Meant To Be Mine by Hannah Orenstein


 What if you knew exactly when you’d meet the love of your life? Edie Meyer knows. When her Grandma Gloria was a young woman, she had a vision of the exact day she would meet her soul mate—and then Grandpa Ray showed up.


Since then, Gloria has accurately predicted the day every single member of the family has met their match. Edie’s day arrives on June 24, 2022, when she’s twenty-nine years old. She has been waiting for it half her life. That morning, she boards an airplane to her twin sister’s surprise engagement, and when a handsome musician sits beside her, she knows it’s meant to be.

But fate comes with more complications than Edie expected and she can’t fight the nagging suspicion that her perfect guy doesn’t have perfect timing. After a tragedy and a shocking revelation rock Edie’s carefully constructed world, she’s forced to consider whether love chooses us, as simple as destiny, or if we choose it ourselves. 

Pick up your copy here...


Hannah Orenstein is the author of Playing with Matches and Love at First Like, as well as the senior dating editor at Elite Daily. Previously, she was a writer and editor at Seventeen.com. She lives in New York.

My Thoughts...
I love a fun rom-com. This one is not to be missed. Just read the blurb you are going to really enjoy this one.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

The Wedding Veil By Kristy Woodson Harvey


 Four women. One family heirloom. A secret connection that will change their lives—and history as they know it.


Present Day: Julia Baxter’s wedding veil, bequeathed to her great-grandmother by a mysterious woman on a train in the 1930s, has passed through generations of her family as a symbol of a happy marriage. But on the morning of her wedding day, something tells her that even the veil’s good luck isn’t enough to make her marriage last forever. Overwhelmed and panicked, she escapes to the Virgin Islands to clear her head. Meanwhile, her grandmother Babs is also feeling shaken. Still grieving the death of her beloved husband, she decides to move out of the house they once shared and into a retirement community. Though she hopes it’s a new beginning, she does not expect to run into an old flame, dredging up the same complicated emotions she felt a lifetime ago.

1914: Socialite Edith Vanderbilt is struggling to manage the luxurious Biltmore Estate after the untimely death of her cherished husband. With 250 rooms to oversee and an entire village dependent on her family to stay afloat, Edith is determined to uphold the Vanderbilt legacy—and prepare her free-spirited daughter Cornelia to inherit it—in spite of her family’s deteriorating financial situation. But Cornelia has dreams of her own. Asheville, North Carolina has always been her safe haven away from the prying eyes of the press, but as she explores more of the rapidly changing world around her, she’s torn between upholding tradition and pursuing the exciting future that lies beyond Biltmore’s gilded gates.

In the vein of Therese Anne Fowler’s A Well-Behaved Woman and Jennifer Robson’s The GownThe Wedding Veil brings to vivid life a group of remarkable women forging their own paths—and explores the mystery of a national heirloom lost to time. 

Pick up your copy here...


Kristy Woodson Harvey is the New York Times, USA Today and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author of seven novels including UNDER THE SOUTHERN SKY, FEELS LIKE FALLING and the Peachtree Bluff Series. Kristy is the winner of the Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award for Excellence in Creative Writing, a finalist for the Southern Book Prize, her work has been optioned for film and her books have received numerous accolades including:

Southern Living’s Most Anticipated Beach Reads

Southern Living’s Best Spring Break Reads

Southern Independent Bookseller Association’s Okra Pick

Parade’s Big Fiction Reads Every Book Club Will Love

Entertainment Weekly’s Spring Reading Picks

Us Weekly’s Sweet Reads for Right Now

Woman’s WorldBest Books

PopSugar’s Ultimate Summer Reading

USA Today Happy Ever After’s Best Women’s Fiction

New York Live’s “Ashley’s A-List”

Deep South Magazine’s Summer Reading List

Raleigh News & Observer‘s “The Best Reads of Summer”

Charlotte Observer’s “Summer’s Best Books”

Bustle’s Books to Read and Discuss With Your Mom and Grandma

Huffington Post’s Summer Reading: Women’s Fiction Style

She blogs with her mom Beth Woodson on Design Chic about how creating a beautiful home can be the catalyst for creating a beautiful life. Design Chic is the inaugural member of the design blogger hall of fame, sponsored by Traditional Home, and winner of Amara’s Best Luxury Blog, as chosen by Roberto Cavalli. She also loves connecting with readers on kristywoodsonharvey.com.

Harvey is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s school of journalism and holds a master’s in English from East Carolina University, with a concentration in multicultural and transnational literature. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications and websites, including Southern Living, Traditional Home, Parade, USA Today, Domino, Our State and O. Henry. She has been seen in Today.com, Women’s Health,The Washington Post, US News and World Report, The Huffington Post,Marie Claire’s The Fix, Woman’s World, Readers’ Digest, Bustle, New York Live and North Carolina Bookwatch, among others.

She is a proud member of the Tall Poppy Writers, serves on the board of Beaufort Historical Association, and is a member of the University of North Carolina’s Women’s Leadership Council. She is a frequent speaker at fundraisers, book conferences and private events. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and seven-year-old son where she is working on her next novel. 


My Thoughts...

I have read all of Harvey's books. She can write such smooth easy reads that you can't put down. her latest is no different. First the cover is just gorgeous. The story is unforgettable. This is a must read and one you will cherish.

 The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

It Had To Be You By Georgia Clark

 

For the past twenty years, Liv and Eliot Goldenhorn have run In Love in New York, Brooklyn’s beloved wedding-planning business. When Eliot dies unexpectedly, he even more unexpectedly leaves half of the business to his younger, blonder girlfriend, Savannah. Liv and Savannah are not a match made in heaven, to say the least. But what starts as a personal and professional nightmare transforms into something even savvy, cynical Liv Goldenhorn couldn’t begin to imagine.

It Had to Be You cleverly unites Liv, Savannah, and couples as diverse and unique as New York City itself, in a joyous Love-Actually-style braided narrative. The result is a smart, modern love story that truly speaks to our times. Second chances, secret romance, and steamy soul mates are front and center in this sexy, tender, and utterly charming rom-com.

Pick up your copy here...


Georgia Clark is the author of rom-com IT HAD TO BE YOU, as well as THE BUCKET LIST and THE REGULARS (all Simon & Schuster), plus two YA novels, SHE'S WITH THE BAND and PARCHED. She's passionate about good jokes and queer stuff.

Georgia moved from Sydney to New York in 2009 just for fun. Here, she is the host and creator of Generation Women, a monthly, multigenerational storytelling night. She lives in Brooklyn with her hot wife and a fridge full of cheese.

She's most active on Instagram (@georgialouclark).

My Thoughts...
I am loving rom-coms so much and this one did not disappoint at all. All  the rom-com lovers are going to devour this. You just might cry too.
I really needed this book right now. I hope that you will grab a copy and I am sure you will enjoy it.
4 stars and I recommend it.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Monday, May 3, 2021

to Love And To Loathe By Martha Waters

 

The author of the “hilarious...joyful, elegant” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) To Have and to Hoax returns with an effervescent, charming, and swoon-worthy novel about a man and woman who never agree on anything—until they agree to a no-strings-attached affair in this Regency-era romp.

The widowed Diana, Lady Templeton and Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham are infamous among English high society as much for their sharp-tongued bickering as their flirtation. One evening, an argument at a ball turns into a serious wager: Jeremy will marry within the year or Diana will forfeit one hundred pounds. So shortly after, just before a fortnight-long house party at Elderwild, Jeremy’s country estate, Diana is shocked when Jeremy appears at her home with a very different kind of proposition.

After his latest mistress unfavorably criticized his skills in the bedroom, Jeremy is looking for reassurance, so he has gone to the only woman he trusts to be totally truthful. He suggests that they embark on a brief affair while at the house party—Jeremy can receive an honest critique of his bedroom skills and widowed Diana can use the gossip to signal to other gentlemen that she is interested in taking a lover.

Diana thinks taking him up on his counter-proposal can only help her win her wager. With her in the bedroom and Jeremy’s marriage-minded grandmother, the formidable Dowager Marchioness of Willingham, helping to find suitable matches among the eligible ladies at Elderwild, Diana is confident her victory is assured. But while they’re focused on winning wagers, they stand to lose their own hearts.

With Martha Waters’s signature “cheeky charm and wonderfully wry wit” (Booklist, starred review), To Love and to Loathe is another clever and delightful historical rom-com that is perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Evie Dunmore. 

Pick up your copy here...


Martha Waters was born and raised in sunny South Florida and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She works as a children’s librarian in North Carolina and spends much of her free time traveling. To Have and to Hoax, her debut novel, received three starred reviews; a companion novel, To Love and to Loathe, releases in April 2021.

My Thoughts...
I fell in love with these two, Diane and Jeremy were so real and I felt as if I really knew them.
I am just now getting into rom-coms and i am adding Waters to my ever growing list of must reads.
If you are a rom-com fan and a historical fiction fan you are going to really enjoy this one. I gave this sweet read 4 stars.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Friday, March 19, 2021

Wiving By Caitlin Myer

 

At thirty-six years old, Caitlin Myer is ready to start a family with her husband. She has left behind the restrictive confines of her Mormon upbringing and early sexual trauma and believes she is now living her happily ever after . . . when her body betrays her. In a single week, she suffers the twin losses of a hysterectomy and the death of her mother, and she is jolted into a terrible awakening that forces her to reckon with her past—and future.
 
This is the story of one woman’s lifelong combat with a culture—her “escape” from religion at age twenty, only to find herself similarly entrapped in the gender conventions of the secular culture at large, conventions that teach girls and women to shape themselves to please men, to become good wives and mothers. The biblical characters Yael and Judith, wives who became assassins, become her totems as she evolves from wifely submission to warrior independence.
 
An electric debut that loudly redefines our notions of womanhood, Wiving grapples with the intersections of religion and sex, trauma and love, sickness and mental illness, and a woman’s harrowing enlightenment. Building on the literary tradition of difficult women who struggle to be heard, Wiving introduces an urgent, striking voice to the scene of contemporary women’s writing at a time when we must explode old myths and build new stories in their place.

Pick up your copy here...


In 2011, Myer attended the Disquiet International Literary Program in Lisbon on a scholarship. While there, she hosted a Portuguese Artists Colony reading in the historic Grémio Literário, 150-year-old literary club that did not admit women until the Carnation Revolution in 1974. In the same year, she participated in the Squaw Valley Writers Workshop with a George Pascoe Miller Scholarship. In the spring of 2012, Myer completed a residency at MacDowell Colony, where she was recipient of a fellowship from the Rona Jaffe Foundation. Her memoir/essays “Positive I Don't Have a Uterus” and “Unforgettable: Becoming an Amnesiac’s Memory” were published in The Butter and Electric Literature, respectively. Her short story “Everything a Woman Should Have” appeared in Cultural Weekly, the poem “Bus Story” in No Tokens, and the story “God Time” in Joyland. Other short stories, poems, and essays have been published in literary magazines, online journals and anthologies.

She has appeared in storytelling series such as Porchlight and The Moth, and was featured on NPR's The Moth Radio Hour with her real-life story, “Near Mrs.” She has also been featured in podcasts, including Nocturne. These performances have won her fans around the world, from India to Portugal to New Orleans.

For seven years, Myer has lived out of a suitcase, but she now has a lease on a 400-year-old apartment in the north of Portugal. At least once a week, she climbs the hill to what was once a 12th century Augustinian monastery, and writes.

My Thoughts...
I love a good memoir, its always neat reading about other peoples lives and what others are going through and how they are handling it.
So this was a treat and a good getaway from fiction for a few hours.
My heart aches for this women being homeless for 7 years had to be hard. I am so happy that her life took a turn for the better and she is doing well and writing now.
I gave this book 4 stars.
   The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.  

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Three perfect Liars By Heidi Perks

 

From the author of Her One Mistake, hailed as chilling, captivating” by New York Times bestselling author Megan Miranda, comes a riveting new suspense novel about three ambitious women whose lives are turned upside down in the aftermath of a horrifying fire, which destroys a successful advertising agency and threatens to expose a tangled web of lies.

Laura has returned to work at Morris and Wood after her maternity leave, only to discover that the woman she brought in to cover for her isn’t planning on going anywhere. Despite her close relationship with the agency’s powerful CEO, Harry Wood, she feels sidelined—and outmaneuvered—as she struggles to balance the twin demands of work and motherhood.

Mia was only supposed to be a temporary hire at Morris and Wood, but she’s managed to make herself indispensable to everyone. Everyone, that is, except Laura. If people only knew why she was so desperate to keep her job, they might not want her to stay.

Janie gave up everything to support her husband and the successful agency he runs. But she has her own dark secret to protect…and will go to any lengths to keep it safe.

With signature prose lauded as “breathtaking” and “bone-chilling” by USA TODAY bestselling author Cristina Alger and plenty of shocking twists and turns, Three Perfect Liars is an unputdownable thriller for fans of Watching You and The Couple Next Door.

Pick up your copy here...


Author of the Sunday Times bestselling books Now You See Her and Come Back For Me. My new book, Three Perfect Liars.

My Thoughts...
I read Her One Mistake and enjoyed it so I was honored when asked to read and review Three Perfect Liars. I read it in one sitting, I devoured it. Nothing like a  great suspense to get your blood moving. I loved how this all played out. You are going to be super surprised by this one. You will not see it coming.
I gave this book 4 stars and I can't wait until Perks next book comes out.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.