The Hating Game: A Novel by Sally Thorne

Blurb...

Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.
2) A person’s undoing
3) Joshua Templeman

Lucy Hutton has always been certain that the nice girl can get the corner office. She’s charming and accommodating and prides herself on being loved by everyone at Bexley & Gamin. Everyone except for coldly efficient, impeccably attired, physically intimidating Joshua Templeman. And the feeling is mutual.

Trapped in a shared office together 40 (OK, 50 or 60) hours a week, they’ve become entrenched in an addictive, ridiculous never-ending game of one-upmanship. There’s the Staring Game. The Mirror Game. The HR Game. Lucy can’t let Joshua beat her at anything—especially when a huge new promotion goes up for the taking.

If Lucy wins this game, she’ll be Joshua’s boss. If she loses, she’ll resign. So why is she suddenly having steamy dreams about Joshua, and dressing for work like she’s got a hot date? After a perfectly innocent elevator ride ends with an earth shattering kiss, Lucy starts to wonder whether she’s got Joshua Templeman all wrong.

Maybe Lucy Hutton doesn’t hate Joshua Templeman. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

When Nancy, a friend from the Avon Addicts Group, couldn't stop raving about The Hating Game, I knew I had to give it a try, even though the angst-ridden, bitter rival stories seldom work for me because...well...they're angst-ridden. And bitter. I know a lot of people love this in their romance reading, but I'm not one of them. That said, The Hating Game definitely was all kinds of angsty, but in a fun, snicker-out-loud sort of way.

Josh and Lucy are both amazing characters, each flawed in a way that makes them the perfect match. And rather than choosing sides, I found myself happily cheering them both on in their quest to annoy each other. Their conniving and plotting and their many versions of "The Game" made this a story I couldn't put down. They bring one-upmanship to a whole new level, a level that had me smiling my way through their story. And the romance? Charming! Steamy, funny, unhurried... I loved it!

What a fantastic debut novel!!

An ARC was provided by Avon Books/William Morrow. In appreciation I'm giving them an honest review.

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Family Tree: A Novel by Susan Wiggs

Blurb...

Sometimes the greatest dream starts with the smallest element. A single cell, joining with another. And then dividing. And just like that, the world changes.

Annie Harlow knows how lucky she is. The producer of a popular television cooking show, she loves her handsome husband and the beautiful Manhattan home they share. And now, she’s pregnant with their first child.

But in an instant, her life is shattered. And when Annie awakes from a year-long coma, she discovers that time isn’t the only thing she's lost.

Grieving and wounded, Annie retreats to her old family home in Switchback, Vermont, a maple farm generations old. There, surrounded by her free-spirited brother, their divorced mother, and four young nieces and nephews, Annie slowly emerges into a world she left behind years ago: the town where she grew up, the people she knew before, the high-school boyfriend turned ex-cop. And with the discovery of a cookbook her grandmother wrote in the distant past, Annie unearths an age-old mystery that might prove the salvation of the family farm.

Family Tree is the story of one woman’s triumph over betrayal, and how she eventually comes to terms with her past. It is the story of joys unrealized and opportunities regained. Complex, clear-eyed and big-hearted, funny, sad, and wise, it is a novel to cherish and to remember.

This is a thought provoking story of one woman's journey to reclaim her dreams, her heart, and her life. It's more women's fiction than contemporary romance or chick-lit, but the romance is there and it's sweet. I enjoyed getting to know Annie and Fletcher and the rest of Switchback, Vermont's residents, but I have to admit that I had a problem with Annie who I found rather selfish in the relationship department. I get needing to focus on your career but too often, it seemed, Fletcher played second fiddle to Annie's. One last thing; this isn't a light read. It's actually quite emotional, and even a bit depressing at times, though understandably so. However, there is also humor, poignancy, and so much foodie talk that all I could think about was snacking!

Overall, Family Tree is compelling and entertaining, and I'm looking forward to reading more by Susan Wiggs.

An ARC was provided by William Morrow publishing. In appreciation I'm giving them an honest review.

America's First Daughter by Laura Kamoie Cover Reveal

What a gorgeous cover! And this sounds like a story of epic proportions. I can't wait for the March 1st, 2016 release from William Morrow!!

Blurb: In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph—a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.

From her earliest days, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson knows that though her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper still. As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling with him when he becomes American minister to France. And it is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first tumultuous days of revolution, that she learns of her father’s liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age.

Patsy too has fallen in love—with her father’s protégé, William Short, a staunch abolitionist intent on a career in Europe. Heartbroken at having to decide between being William’s wife or a devoted daughter, she returns to Virginia with her father and marries a man of his choosing, raising eleven children of her own.

Yet as family secrets come to light during her father's presidency, Patsy must again decide how much she will sacrifice to protect his reputation, in the process defining not just Jefferson’s political legacy, but that of the nation he founded.