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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Don't Go by Lisa Scottoline {Audio}

Don't GoDon't Go by Lisa Scottoline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Title: Don't Go
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Narrator: Jeremy Davidson
Length: 9 Discs, 11 hours, 25 minutes
Publisher: MacMillion Audio
Published: April 9, 2013
Genres: Fiction; Suspense; Mystery

Visit my review: http://chorleychronicals.blogspot.com

My Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Synopsis:
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.

My Review:
This book was such a heartwarming, gut wrenching, truly touching story to read (or in my case, listen to!) It is a story of love, loss, war and conflict, military spouses, and life after war. It is of my opinion that most people would find it difficult to dislike this book.

This was my first read by Lisa Scottoline, and I have to say, that I thought this book was exceptional! I listened to it on audio, and it had me captured from the first few moments clear through the bitter end. I thought that Scottoline did a superb job of writing a believable and emotional story.

The narrator, Jeremy Davidson, did a phenomenal job narrating this story. He is such a great reader, that I would consider listening to book narrated by him, just to see what else he can do! He was able to make you feel like you really were listening to Mike, hearing his story, and feeling his raw emotions.

I felt that Scottoline was very in depth and thorough with her characters in Don't Go, and I felt like they all appropriately fit each of them. Of course, there were characters that I loved and characters that I absolutely had complete disdain for! One of those was Bob! I was also carefully guarded with Danielle. I kept feeling the need to root for Mike!

The story was the farthest thing from predictable and I loved that! Scottoline gives you just enough bits and pieces to know that something is amiss, but never enough to know exactly what it is until the very end. Speaking of the end, it was a very peaceful, acceptable ending, that left me with a feeling of closure. There was mystery and suspense, but not enough to be gory, just enough to keep you hanging on to every last word!

Overall, I loved listening to this book. It has got to be one of my favorite audio books that I've ever listened to. This book was made to be an audio book! I also can't wait to try out more of Lisa Scottoline's book's to see what else she has up her sleeve!

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this book by the Publisher, MacMillion Audio via Audiobook Jukebox in return for an honest, unbiased review.

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Bella by Steve Piacente

BellaBella by Steve Piacente
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Title: Bella
Author: Steve Piacente
Length: 268 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: June 13, 2010
Genres: Fiction; Political Thriller; Mystery/Thriller

Visit my review: http://chorleychronicals.blogspot.com

My Rating: ✮✮✮

Synopsis:
A striking widow intent on proving the military lied about her husband's death lures a Washington journalist into the investigation. Working together, they discover the power of temptation, the futility of revenge, and the consequences of yielding to either.

My Review:
I have thought and thought about what I was going to write for this review, and just wanted to put out a disclaimer that this probably has to be one of the hardest reviews that I ever had to do.

I instantly thought I would love this book when I read the description, even though there are quite the conflicted reviews. I now understand, because I am still quite conflicted over a month after finishing this book!

I did really like the book, but there was just something about it that made me give it 3/5 stars. I think it was my distaste for Isabel Moss. And lack of respect for Dan Patragno.

I found the plot to be wonderful and shocking and just full of twists and turns that kept you wanting to turn the page and find out exactly what happened. However, the idiocy and total lack of thought or consequence on Dan's part, just really irritated me, along with Isabel's total disregard for anyone or their feelings. Granted, I understand she had been through a lot, but that woman is ice cold!

As for the characters, I think they are a diverse group! Piacente did a really good job with creating the type of characters that we don't read about often, if ever. However, I have often found in my reading, that if I don't like a character, what they do, or what they about, it turns me off from the book a bit, so I seem to find characters quite important to me for me to be able to enjoy the book.

This was the hardest story for me to rate because there are parts of it that I really like and would love to give it a higher rating, and there are parts of it that I really do not like. Overall though, I'd say I'd get it a 3.75 rating! This book shows me that Steve Piacente has great potential of providing me with a fantastic reading, so I would not hesitate to read another of his books!

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this book by the Author in return for an honest, unbiased review.

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Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Losing Hope (Hopeless #2) by Colleen Hoover

Losing Hope (Hopeless, #2)Losing Hope (Hopeless #2) by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Title: Losing Hope
Author: Colleen Hoover
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: July 8, 2013
Genres: Fiction; Women's Fiction

Visit my review: http://chorleychronicals.blogspot.com

My Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Synopsis:
Sometimes in life, in order to move forward you must face the past…

#1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover held readers spellbound with her novel Hopeless, the story of what happened when a troubled girl named Sky encountered a long-lost childhood friend, Dean Holder. With Holder’s help, Sky uncovered shocking family secrets and came to terms with memories and emotions that had left deep scars.

Hopeless was Sky’s story. Now, in Losing Hope, we finally learn the truth about Dean Holder.

Haunted by the little girl he couldn’t save from imminent danger, Holder’s life has been overshadowed by feelings of guilt and remorse. He has never stopped searching for her, believing that finding her would bring him the peace he needs to move on. However, Holder could not have anticipated that he would be faced with even greater pain the moment they reconnect.

In Losing Hope, Holder reveals the way in which the events of Sky’s youth affected him and his family, leading him to seek his own redemption in the act of saving her. But it is only in loving Sky that he can finally begin to heal himself.

My Review:
I have to start out with the fact that I loved Colleen Hoover's Hopeless, so I had extremely high hopes for Losing Hope and drove myself nuts with anticipation waiting anxiously for the day I could finally get my hands on a copy of this book! Hopeless was certainly a tough act to follow! I've never read a second book, from a different person's point of view, so I have to admit that I was quite skeptical about reading this book, and enjoying it as much as I did the first one, but boy was I wrong! It seemed to help me that much more that I already knew the background of the story, and seemed to be able to read more efficiently and thoroughly because of that fact! I was also able to enjoy what I was reading a little easier than a book you're reading for the first time!

Dean "Holder" was such an amazing character in Hopeless that simply left me feeling speechless and hopeless for days after finishing it, so I couldn't wait to get more of Holder! I found myself highlight favorite quotes from holder every few pages! He's just so wise and intricate and deep and intense and even though I loved Sky, I really wanted to delve into Holder's world and thoughts! He left me just as smitten if not more the second time around!

The story is so gut-wrenching but believable! Again, I must use the word intense, because that seems to be the only appropriate adjective to describe both Holder and the story. The story flowed so smoothly and was so well written that I easily lost myself within the story. I started the book when I went to bed, and here I found myself at 2 am, already 42% into the book, forcing myself to stop reading because I HAD to go to sleep!! It was so hard to put down the book once you started, and I LOVE that about Colleen Hoover's books! She has such an awesome ability to capture the true essence of what a reader wants and ensconce them in her writing!

After reading Hopeless, it left me reeling for days! Hopeless was all that consumed my thoughts and Losing Hope is no different! Both books left me feeling the roller coaster of emotions that the characters were feeling at the time: devastation (which Holder shares his personal thoughts of the meaning throughout!), grief, pain, sadness, chemisty, contentment, fulfillment, true love. I couldn't help but feeling breathless, my heart aching, leaving me gasping for breath while throughout the entire book. I have never in my life read another story from another author that has made me personally feel so emotional and invested as Colleen Hoover has been able to do in not one, but TWO books!!

There are not enough words or adjectives in the English vocabulary that can do this book and this author justice, but I will try with unbelievable phenomenal best two books that I have EVER read! It does leave me wanting more, more of the future for Sky and Holder! At the end of Hopeless, all I could feel was Hopeless. Now at the end of Losing Hope, I feel breathless, still speechless, but not so hopeless! It left me with my own little ray of Hope! I certainly hope this is not the end of Sky and Dean and can't wait to see more out of Colleen Hoover and hope that this series takes her to the top, because that is where she belongs!

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of this book by the Publish, Atria Books (by Simon & Schuster) via NetGalley in return for an honest, unbiased review.

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All blogs and reviews posted here are the sole property of the blogger and represent my very own opinions. In some cases, books reviewed are supplied to me in exchange for an honest review. Such cases will be noted on the blog post.

All other books reviewed have been purchased or borrowed through the normal channels.

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