Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Ramsay in 10 By Gordon Ramsay GIVEAWAY

 

Packed with recipes that are max 10 minutes to prep and 10 minutes to cook, RAMSAY IN 10 is your new everyday cookbook.

In Ramsay in 10, superstar chef, Gordon Ramsay, returns with 100 new and delicious recipes inspired by his YouTube series watched by millions across the globe – you’ll be challenged to get creative in the kitchen and learn how to cook incredible, flavorsome dishes in just ten minutes.
 
Whether you need something super quick to assemble, like his Microwave Sticky Toffee Pudding, or you’re looking to impress the whole family, with a tasty One Pan Pumpkin Pasta or some Chicken Souvlaki – these are recipes guaranteed to become instant classics and with each time you cook, you'll get faster and faster with Gordon's shortcuts to speed up your cooking, reduce your prep times and get the very best from simple, fresh ingredients.  

Pick up your copy here...


Scottish by birth, Gordon Ramsay was brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, and initially aspired to be a professional soccer player but an injury put an end to that and led him to the kitchen. He's trained with some of the world’s leading chefs, such as Albert Roux and Marco Pierre White in London, and Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon in France. At the age of 31, Ramsay set up his first wholly owned and namesake restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, which quickly received the most prestigious accolade in the culinary world – three Michelin stars.

Now internationally renowned, Ramsay has opened restaurants around the globe including in London, Las Vegas, Singapore, Baltimore, Europe and Dubai. Ramsay has also become a star of the small screen with hit shows in both the UK & US. From Gordon, Gino & Fred on ITV, Gordon Ramsay's Bank Balance on BBC to FOX's MasterChef, MasterChef Junior, Hell's Kitchen & 24 Hours to Hell and Back as well National Geographic's Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted which airs in 172 countries.

Ramsay has seen success in a variety of other ventures outside of restaurants and television including his online MasterClass, and Mobile Puzzle Game, "Chef Blast with Gordon Ramsay." This is in addition to his highly successful YouTube channel that has various cooking formats including his widely popular series "Ramsay in 10" & "Scrambled." Ramsay also loves to TikTok with his daughter Tilly.

In 2006, in recognition of all that Ramsay has contributed to the industry, he received an OBE (Order of the British Empire awarded by Queen Elizabeth II). Since then, Ramsay and his wife, Tana, set up the Gordon and Tana Ramsay Foundation in 2014, to make a meaningful difference to the London-based children's hospital Great Ormond Street. 


My Thoughts...
A cookbook with great photos. Ramsay shares some of his favorite recipes. You will find most of the ingredients in your pantry and fridge. This would make a nice hostess gift or holiday gift for the cooks in your life.
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, November 29, 2021

The Ghost Marriage By Kirsten Mickelwait


 At thirty-one, Kirsten has just returned to San Francisco from a bohemian year in Rome, ready to pursue a serious career as a writer and eventually, she hopes, marriage and family. When she meets Steve Beckwith, a handsome and successful attorney, she begins to see that future materialize more quickly than she’d dared to expect.


Twenty-two years later, Steve has turned into someone quite different. Unemployed and addicted to opioids, he uses money and their two children to emotionally blackmail Kirsten. What’s more, he’s been having an affair with their real estate agent, who is also her close friend. So she divorces him―but after their divorce is finalized, Steve is diagnosed with colon cancer and dies within a year, leaving Kirsten with $1.5 million in debts she knew nothing about. It’s then that she finally understands: The man she’d married was a needy, addictive person who came wrapped in a shiny package.

As she fights toward recovery, Kirsten begins to receive communications from Steve in the afterlife―which lead her on an unexpected path to forgiveness. The Ghost Marriage is her story of discovery―that life isn’t limited to the tangible reality we experience on this earth, and that our worst adversaries can become our greatest teachers. 

Pick up your copy here...


Kirsten Mickelwait is a professional copywriter and editor by day and a writer of fiction/creative nonfiction by night. She’s an alumna of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, the Paris Writers’ Conference, and the San Francisco Writers’ Conference. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she’s at work on a new novel. You can learn more about her and her new memoir, The Ghost Marriage, at www.kirstenmickelwait.com. 

My Thoughts..
This was an interesting read. The cover is great. If you love memoirs maybe you will 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.

Sunday, November 28, 2021

The London House By Katherine Reay

 

Uncovering a dark family secret sends one woman through the history of Britains World War II spy network and glamorous 1930s Paris to save her family’s reputation.

Caroline Payne thinks it’s just another day of work until she receives a call from Mat Hammond, an old college friend and historian. But pleasantries are cut short. Mat has uncovered a scandalous secret kept buried for decades: In World War II, Caroline’s British great-aunt betrayed family and country to marry her German lover.

Determined to find answers and save her family’s reputation, Caroline flies to her family’s ancestral home in London. She and Mat discover diaries and letters that reveal her grandmother and great-aunt were known as the “Waite sisters.” Popular and witty, they came of age during the interwar years, a time of peace and luxury filled with dances, jazz clubs, and romance. The buoyant tone of the correspondence soon yields to sadder revelations as the sisters grow apart, and one leaves home for the glittering fashion scene of Paris, despite rumblings of a coming world war.

Each letter brings more questions. Was Caroline’s great-aunt actually a traitor and Nazi collaborator, or is there a more complex truth buried in the past? Together, Caroline and Mat uncover stories of spies and secrets, love and heartbreak, and the events of one fateful evening in 1941 that changed everything.

In this rich historical novel from award-winning author Katherine Reay, a young woman is tasked with writing the next chapter of her family’s story. But Caroline must choose whether to embrace a love of her own and proceed with caution if her family’s decades-old wounds are to heal without tearing them even further apart. 
Pick up your copy here...                                                                                                                                    Amazon.com: The London House: 9780785290209: Reay, Katherine: Books

Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of several novels and one work of nonfiction.

For her fiction, Katherine writes love letters to books, and her novels are saturated with what she calls the “world of books.” They are character driven stories that examine the past as a way to find one’s best way forward. In the words of The Bronte Plot’s Lucy Alling, Katherine writes of “that time when you don’t know where you’ll be, but you can’t stay as you are.”

Katherine holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University, and after several moves across the globe, lives outside Chicago.

Please visit Katherine on social media, on FB at Katherinereaybooks, Instagram @katherinereay, or visit her website at www.katherinereay.com 

My Thoughts...
I read this on one sitting, I could not put it down.  Secrets and heartbreak always keep me reading late at night.
The redemption was so sweet. I have to say this one is a keeper.
4 stars and I recommend it to historical fans.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Saturday, November 27, 2021

Lost Girls By Angel Marsons

 

Two girls go missing. Only one will return. The couple that offers the highest amount will see their daughter again. The losing couple will not. Make no mistake. One child will die. When nine-year-old best friends Charlie and Amy disappear, two families are plunged into a living nightmare. A text message confirms the unthinkable; that the girls are the victims of a terrifying kidnapping. And when a second text message pits the two families against each other for the life of their children, the clock starts ticking for D.I. Kim Stone and the squad. Seemingly outwitted at every turn, as they uncover a trail of bodies, Stone realises that these ruthless killers might be the most deadly she has ever faced. And that their chances of bringing the girls home alive, are getting smaller by the hour... Untangling a dark web of secrets from the families' past might hold the key to solving this case. But can Kim stay alive long enough to do so? Or will someone's child pay the ultimate price? The latest utterly addictive thriller from the No.1 bestseller Angela Marsons. 

Pick up your copy here...


Angela Marsons is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of the DI Kim Stone series and her books have sold more than 4 million in 5 years.

She lives in Worcestershire with her partner and their 2 cheeky Golden Retrievers.

She first discovered her love of writing at Junior School when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read "Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people's".

After years of writing relationship based stories (The Forgotten Woman and Dear Mother) Angela turned to Crime, fictionally speaking of course, and developed a character that refused to go away.

She is signed to Bookouture.com for a total of 28 books in the Kim Stone series and her books have been translated into more than 27 languages.

Many of her books, including Blood Lines, Dead Souls, Broken Bones, Fatal Promise and Dead Memories reached the #1 spot on Amazon on pre-orders alone and the translation of Dead Souls, La Verita Sepolte, recently won the prestigious Primo Bancarella award.

Friday, November 26, 2021

Celebration At Christmas Cove By Carrie Jansen

 

In this humorous and heartwarming romance, sparks fly between a woman who can't wait to leave a wintry New England island, and a widower who would do anything to stay.
 
Travel magazine writer Celeste Bell is in a terrible mood. Not only was her flight to the Caribbean diverted to a Massachusetts island, now it looks like she'll have to spend Christmas there. Single and still mourning the loss of her mother a year earlier, Celeste is desperate to avoid any emotional entanglements and all holiday festivities. She just doesn't feel like celebrating.
 
But that's exactly what community center director Nathan White and his young daughter Abigail want to do. Nathan is entirely focused on making sure that his daughter has a happy Christmas, especially with the knowledge that if he can't raise money for the community center soon, it will close and they'll have to leave the island. When he meets Celeste, Nathan begins to feel a connection and wonders if he's brave enough to risk his heart once more.

Thawing their frozen hearts, and saving the community center will require a Christmas miracle. But tis' the season... 

Pick up your copy here...


Carrie Jansen earned an MFA in creative writing and published many poems and short stories before becoming a novelist. An avid bodyboarder and beach walker, she spends as much of the year as she can on Cape Cod, where she draws inspiration for her beach books. She also writes Amish romance novels under the name Carrie Lighte.

For more information, please visit her website at carriejansen.com 


My Thoughts...
I love small town romances and this one did not disappoint. To top is off is was a Christmas romance. That made it so much better. I stayed engaged the whole book until the very end.
This is a 4 star must read.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Thursday, November 25, 2021

After She Falls By Carmen Schober

 

She's always had that fire in her. She just needs to find it again.

Strong-willed Adri Rivera nearly achieved her goal of being a professional mixed martial artist, but then she fell in love with a man who knocked all the fight out of her. When their abusive, tumultuous relationship finally comes to a head, Adri flees with their young daughter to her small hometown in the mountains of Pennsylvania. There, she must face the people she left behind and put her broken life back together again.

A hardened Max Lyons can't believe Adri is back in town after abruptly cutting him and everyone else off years ago. Despite the distance that grew between them, he feels compelled to help her regain her independence and offers her a job at his gym. But regaining each other's trust is another matter, made even more complicated by the lingering spark between them. As Adri dares to pursue her dream again, she trains for a big tournament with Max's help, but they'll both have to confront their own doubts in order to rise victorious. 

Pick up your copy here..


Hi! I'm Carmen, and I write (among other things).

I'm also wife to Jeff, mom to Vivian and Sofia (and one on the way!), occasional goal-coach, Rocky enthusiast, perpetual project starter, and a former creative writing teacher. I've published sports fiction and nonfiction in literary journals, freelanced, edited a few magazines, and I recently finished my debut novel, 

My Thoughts...                                                                                                  A very well written story. One that you don't read every day. And I like unique reads.
Debut authors always amaze me they write like they have been doing it for years.
You are going to love the storyline and the well thought out characters.
4 stars and one to give as a gift.
 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, November 24, 2021

These Silent Woods By Kimi Cunningham Grant

 

A father and daughter living in the remote Appalachian mountains must reckon with the ghosts of their past in Kimi Cunningham Grant's These Silent Woods, a mesmerizing novel of suspense.

No electricity, no family, no connection to the outside world.

For eight years, Cooper and his young daughter, Finch, have lived in isolation in a remote cabin in the northern Appalachian woods. And that's exactly the way Cooper wants it, because he's got a lot to hide. Finch has been raised on the books filling the cabin’s shelves and the beautiful but brutal code of life in the wilderness. But she’s starting to push back against the sheltered life Cooper has created for her―and he’s still haunted by the painful truth of what it took to get them there.

The only people who know they exist are a mysterious local hermit named Scotland, and Cooper's old friend, Jake, who visits each winter to bring them food and supplies. But this year, Jake doesn't show up, setting off an irreversible chain of events that reveals just how precarious their situation really is. Suddenly, the boundaries of their safe haven have blurred―and when a stranger wanders into their woods, Finch’s growing obsession with her could put them all in danger. After a shocking disappearance threatens to upend the only life Finch has ever known, Cooper is forced to decide whether to keep hiding―or finally face the sins of his past.

Vividly atmospheric and masterfully tense, These Silent Woods is a poignant story of survival, sacrifice, and how far a father will go when faced with losing it all. 

Pick up your copy here...


Kimi Cunningham Grant is the author of two books. Silver Like Dust is a memoir chronicling her Japanese-American grandparents and their internment during World War II. Her second book, Fallen Mountains, is a literary mystery set in a small town in Pennsylvania, where fracking has just begun. Kimi is a two-time winner of a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Prize in Poetry and a recipient of a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowship in creative nonfiction. Her poems and essays have appeared in Fathom, Literary Mama, RATTLE, Poet Lore, and Whitefish Review. She studied English at Bucknell University and Messiah College. She lives, writes, and teaches in Pennsylvania. You can find her at https://www.kimicunninghamgrant.com.  

My Thoughts...
All I am going to say about this book is 5 star read I HIGHLY recommend.
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, November 23, 2021

The Secret Next Door By Rebecca Taylor

 

How well do you really know your neighbors?

Alyson Tinsdale is giving her son the childhood she never had: a stable family, a loving home, and a great school in a safe neighborhood.

Bonnie Sloan is the neighborhood matriarch. With her oldest son headed to Yale, and her youngest starting kindergarten, Bonnie is now pursuing her own long-held political aspirations despite private family struggles.

When the open space behind some of the most expensive homes gets slated for development into an amusement facility, the neighborhood becomes deeply divided. The personal pressures and community conflicts ratchet with every passing day, but it's when a thirteen-year-old is found dead beside the neighborhood lake that simmering tensions boil over into panic.

Gossip flows, lies are exposed, and accusations are made as cracks run through the community's once solid foundations. The neighborhood's faith in exterior appearances is eclipsed by the secrets every house keeps. And as Bonnie and Alyson fight to keep their children safe and their messy personal lives from becoming neighborhood knowledge, it becomes clear that their neighbors might not be who they appear to be.

Fans of Lisa Jewell and Wendy Walker will love this fast-paced, engrossing novel that reminds us that nothing and no one are ever as perfect as they seem. 

Pick up your copy here...


Rebecca Taylor was born to a single British teen during a February blizzard in Green Bay, Wisconsin. When she was three, her mother met and married a US Marine. Like many children of military families, Rebecca spent the next fifteen years of her life moving. From Canada to Okinawa, and then all over the United States, she attended eight different schools before graduating high school.

Given that, she didn't really understand how people managed to stay in one place for more than twelve months. So, she spent her twenties working as an international flight attendant while pursuing degrees in psychology and sociology. It wasn't until she was pregnant with her first child and working on her graduate degree in psychology that she began writing fiction.

Rebecca has since written eight novels: ASCENDANT won the Colorado Book Award in 2014, and AFFECTIVE NEEDS was a finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA Award in 2017. HER PERFECT LIFE was her first work of women's fiction and was published by Sourcebooks in 2020. It won the WFWA STAR award in 2021.

THE SECRET NEXT DOOR will release from Sourcebooks on November 9th, 2021.

Thankfully, Rebecca did eventually learn how to sit and stay. She currently lives in sunny Colorado with her husband, two teens, two dogs, two cats, two fish...there seems to be something about the number two for her.

Learn more at:

www.rebeccataylorbooks.com

@RebeccaAuthor (Twitter)

@RebeccaTaylorPage (Facebook)

@RebeccaTaylorBooks (Instagram) 
My Thoughts...
 This was a fantastic must read. I loved it, I had no clue who killed the little boy. I was thinking the wrong person the whole time. Taylor out did me on this one. I Highly recommend this 5 star mystery. 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, November 22, 2021

The Angle Of Flickering Light By Gina Troisi

 

Desperate to find respite from her father's verbal abuse, his various affairs, and her step-mother's psychological torment, Gina spent hours doing Jane Fonda's workouts, smoked cigarettes instead of eating food, and became obsessed with her thinness... with the notion of fading away. She found solace in restlessness-drinking hallucinogenic mushroom tea and inhaling crushed pills and powders-perching herself on the periphery of danger again and again.


Gina soon glimpsed a better life for herself when her grandfather, a man who was a surrogate father to her, became terminally ill. She soon fell in love with John, a stranger who was utterly familiar, but who was addicted to heroin. She moved from New Hampshire to California, crossing the country in an attempt to alleviate her self-destructive tendencies, but found herself pulled back to New Hampshire, to John, a man with whom, despite his struggle, she could not deny the sense of home she felt.


What would it cost for a girl to run wildly and recklessly into womanhood, making instant, temporary homes? 

Pick up your copy here...



Gina Troisi’s work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Fourth Genre, The Gettysburg Review, Fugue, Under the Sun, Flyway: Journal of Writing and Environment, and elsewhere. Her stories and essays have been recognized as finalists in several national contests, including the 2020 Iron Horse Literary Review Trifecta Award in Fiction, the 2018 New Letters Publication Award in Fiction, American Literary Review’s Creative Nonfiction Contest, 2018, and others. She has taught numerous classes and workshops in both traditional and nontraditional settings, including writing workshops for female adult survivors of sexual assault. She lives in coastal Maine.

My Thoughts...
What an inspiring memoir. This is such an engaging read. This was a journey that you will be happy to going along on.
Very well written and leaves you feeling you really got to know Troisi.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Sunday, November 21, 2021

A Girls Named Dara By Tom Flynn

 

When Jeff Newcastle meets Dara, a beautiful Belarusian girl, on the first day of poetry class at UCLA, he imagines he’s stumbled onto the perfect college romance. Unfortunately, his fixation on Dara’s beauty prevents him from seeing the truth about her tragic life.

Doubting a normal relationship could ever be possible, Dara pulls some mysterious strings to redirect Jeff’s affection toward Carey, a sweet and kindhearted coed in Jeff’s circle of friends.

Jeff’s romance with Carey blossoms steadily until he’s awakened by a late-night phone call and summoned by a man’s voice to a large estate in the Hollywood Hills. It is here where Jeff finds that a bruised and bloodied Dara has locked herself in an upstairs bathroom.

Jeff does his best to pull Dara immediately out of danger, but he soon realizes it is only the beginning of his problems. Jeff must find a way to save Dara without falling deeper into her chaotic world or sacrificing his budding relationship with Carey. 

Pick up your copy here...


I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my wonderful wife, my amazing daughter, and our cute little puppy.

I spent my early twenties as an aspiring playwright putting up shows on small stages around Los Angeles. The responsibility of adulthood came calling and I spent the next two decades building my career in the tech industry, but I just couldn't shake the writing bug. So here we are today.

I write stories about very recognizable, imperfect people that face steadily growing challenges. These people are either forced to change or they falter under the weight of refusing to change. My influences are Tennessee Williams, Sandra Cisneros, and Haruki Murakami.

A Girl Named Dara is my first novel. Sawtelle Gemini, my second novel, is scheduled for publication in Spring 2022. 


My Thoughts...

Flynn is a new author this is his debut and let me tell you he touched this reader with this one.

His writing style is so unique you can't book the book down.

This one needs to be on your book shelf.

I'm super excited for Flynn's next book to release.

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

Saturday, November 20, 2021

The Inn On Sweetbriar Lane By Jeannie Chin

 

June Wu always has it all together—only now, she’s in over her head. Her family’s inn desperately needs guests, her mother’s medical debts are piling up, and the surly, if sexy, stranger next door is driving away the customers she has left! When he asks for June’s help, though, she can’t say no. After all, his new bar could be just what the upcoming Pumpkin Festival needs to bring in more tourists. But with the fierce attraction between them, will working together be playing with fire?

Ex-soldier Clay Hawthorne prefers being on his own. He’s moved to Blue Cedar Falls for one reason—to carry out his best friend’s dream of opening a bar in the hometown he’ll now never return to. But the town’s business association is trying to stop Clay’s progress. June soon becomes his biggest supporter, and while their partnership is supposed to be only temporary, for the first time Clay wants something permanent—with June. Can two total opposites really learn to meet each other in the middle? 

Pick up your copy here...

My Thoughts...
I love a sweet romance and that is exactly what this is.
My first book by chin, I can not wait to see what she has for us next.
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, November 19, 2021

Hooked By Sutton Foster

 

From the 2-time Tony Award-winner and the star of TV’s Younger, funny and intimate stories and reflections about how crafting has kept her sane while navigating the highs and lows of family, love, and show business (and how it can help you, too).

Whether she’s playing an “age-defying” book editor on television or dazzling audiences on the Broadway stage, Sutton Foster manages to make it all look easy. How? Crafting. From the moment she picked up a cross stitch needle to escape the bullying chorus girls in her early performing days, she was hooked. Cross stitching led to crocheting, crocheting led to collages, which led to drawing, and so much more. Channeling her emotions into her creations centered Sutton as she navigated the significant moments in her life and gave her tangible reminders of her experiences. Now, in this charming and poignant collection, Sutton shares those moments, including her fraught relationship with her agoraphobic mother;  a painful divorce splashed on the pages of the tabloids; her struggles with fertility; the thrills she found on the stage during hit plays like Thoroughly Modern Millie, Anything Goes, and Violet; her breakout TV role in Younger; and the joy of adopting her daughter, Emily. Accompanying the stories, Sutton has included crochet patterns, recipes, and so much more!
 
Witty and poignant, Hooked will leave readers entertained as well as inspire them to pick up their own cross stitch needles and paintbrushes. 

Pick up your copy here...

My Thoughts...
After reading this I would give anything if I could do some kind of crafting. This was a fun read. I loved getting to know Foster better.
The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Win By Harlen Coben

 

In this #1 New York Times bestselling thriller from Harlan Coben, a dead man's secrets fall into the hands of a vigilante antihero—drawing him down a dangerous road.

Over twenty years ago, the heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family's estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors — and the items stolen from her family were never recovered. 

Until now. On the Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead — not only on Patricia's kidnapping, but also on another FBI cold case — with the suitcase and painting both pointing them toward one man.

Windsor Horne Lockwood III — or Win, as his few friends call him — doesn't know how his suitcase and his family's stolen painting ended up with a dead man. But his interest is piqued, especially when the FBI tells him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism — and that the conspirators may still be at large. The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades, but Win has three things the FBI doesn't: a personal connection to the case; an ungodly fortune; and his own unique brand of justice. 

Pick up your copy here...


With over 70 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben is the #1 New York Times author of thirty one novels including RUN AWAY, FOOL ME ONCE, TELL NO ONE, NO SECOND CHANCE and the renowned Myron Bolitar series. His books are published in 43 languages around the globe.

Harlan is the creator and executive producer for the Netflix television dramas SAFE starring Michael C. Hall, Audrey Fleurot and Amanda Abbington, and THE FIVE starring Tom Cullen and OT Fagbenle. He is currently filming THE STRANGER, based on his novel, for Netflix starring Richard Armitage, Siobhan Finneran, Jennifer Saunders and Stephen Rea. Harlan was also showrunner and executive producer for two French TV mini-series, UNE CHANCE DE TROP (NO SECOND CHANCE) with Alexandra Lamy and JUST UN REGARD (JUST ONE LOOK) with Virginie Ledoyen. KEINE ZWEIT CHANCE, also based on Harlan’s novel, aired in Germany on Sat1.

Harlan’s novel TELL NO ONE (NE LE DIS A PERSONNE) was turned into the renowned French film, directed by Guillaume Canet and starring Francois Cluzet. The movie was the top box office foreign-language film of the year in USA, won the Lumiere (French Golden Globe) for best picture and was nominated for nine Cesars (French Oscar) and won four, including best actor, best director and best music. The movie with subtitles is now available on Netflix, Amazon Prime and DVD/Blu-Ray.

Winner of the Edgar Award, Shamus Award and Anthony Award – the first author to win all three – international bestselling author Harlan Coben’s critically-acclaimed novels have been called “ingenious” (New York Times), “poignant and insightful” (Los Angeles Times), “consistently entertaining” (Houston Chronicle), “superb” (Chicago Tribune) and “must reading” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

In his first books, Coben immersed himself in the exploits of sports agent Myron Bolitar. Critics loved the series, saying, “You race to turn pages…both suspenseful and often surprisingly funny” (People). After seven books Coben wanted to try something different. “I came up with a great idea that simply would not work for Myron,” says Coben. The result was the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller TELL NO ONE, which became the most decorated thriller of the year. Two books later, Bookspan, recognizing Coben’s broad international appeal, named NO SECOND CHANCE its first ever International Book of the Month in 2003 – the Main Selection in 15 different countries.

Harlan was the first writer in more than a decade to be invited to write fiction for the NEW YORK TIMES op-ed page. His Father’s Day short story, THE KEY TO MY FATHER, appeared June 15, 2003. His essays and columns have appeared in many top publications including the New York Times, Parade Magazine and Bloomberg Views.

Harlan has received an eclectic variety of honors from all over the world. In Paris, he was awarded the prestigious Vermeil Medal of Honor for contributions to culture and society by the Mayor of Paris. He was won the El Premio del Novela Negra RBA in Spain, the Grand Prix de Lectrices in France, and the CWA/ITV3 Bestseller Dagger for favorite crime novelist in England. On the other end of the spectrum, Little League Baseball inducted Harlan into their Hall of Excellence in 2013, and Harlan is also a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame from his playing days at Amherst College.

Harlan was born in Newark, New Jersey. He still lives in New Jersey with his wife, Anne Armstrong-Coben MD, a pediatrician, and their four children. 


My Thoughts...

I have to say I watched this on Netflix before I read it. The book was so much better and really worth the read. I am glad that I read it. Much more detailed and entertaining reading then watching.

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, November 17, 2021

The Passing Storm By Christine Bolfi

 


A gripping, openhearted novel about family, reconciliation, and bringing closure to the secrets of the past.

Early into the tempestuous decade of her thirties, Rae Langdon struggles to work through a grief she never anticipated. With her father, Connor, she tends to their Ohio farm, a forty-acre spread that itself has enjoyed better days. As memories sweep through her, some too precious to bear, Rae gives shelter from a brutal winter to a teenager named Quinn Galecki.

Quinn has been thrown out by his parents, a couple too troubled to help steer the misunderstood boy through his own losses. Now Quinn has found a temporary home with the Langdons―and an unexpected kinship, because Rae, Quinn, and Connor share a past and understand one another’s pain. But its depths―and all its revelations and secrets―have yet to come to light. To finally move forward, Rae must confront them and also fight for Quinn, whose parents have other plans in mind for their son.

With forgiveness, love, and the spring thaw, there might be hope for a new season―a second chance Rae believed in her heart was gone forever. 

Pick up your copy here...


Award-winning author Christine Nolfi writes heartwarming and inspiring fiction. Look for her new release, THE PASSING STORM.

THE ROAD SHE LEFT BEHIND has been selected as a top book club pick by Working Mother and Parade magazines, and a Best Books of Summer selection by SheReads.

The Sweet Lake Series has been recognized by the International Book Awards, Royal Palm Literary Awards, Readers’ Favorite Awards, and Best Book Awards. Kirkus Reviews calls SWEET LAKE "an uplifting and charming story." Redbook calls the book "an enchanting story full of lovable characters."

The Liberty Series has been recognized by the Next Generation Indie Awards and Put Your Heart In A Book Awards. “TREASURE ME is sure to delight and entertain. It’s light and refreshing; your old fashioned feel-good novel.” --USA Today

"Please visit me at www.christinenolfi.com and continue the mail, tweets, and comments on social media. I cherish your support and love chatting with readers." ~Christine

www.christinenolfi.com

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My Thoughts....                                                                                                 I have really enjoyed reading Nolfi's books but I have to say she just gets better with each book. I'm not sure if it was the who dealing with grief and I could relate or if it was the farm in Ohio, I'm a buckeye myself or if it was the fantastic writing. But this one should be high on your list to read. I gave it 4 stars and I am going to be giving it this year as a gift. The Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are our own.