Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank - TLC Book Tour

Folly Beach, South Carolina, with its glistening beaches, laid-back Southern charm, and enticing Gullah tradition, is the land of Cate Cooper’s childhood, the place where all the ghosts of her past roam freely. Now, thanks to a newly deceased husband whose financial and emotional perfidy has left her homeless and broke, she’s returning to this lovely strip of coast.

Once, another woman found comfort here: an artist, writer, and sometime colleague of the revered George Gershwin. With her beloved husband, DuBose, Dorothy Heyward enjoyed the greatest moments of her life at Folly. Though the Heywards are long gone, their passion and spirit linger in every ocean breeze.

To her surprise, Cate is about to discover that you can go home again, for Folly holds the possibility of unexpected fulfillment—not just the memories of the girl she was, but the promise of the woman she’s always wanted to become. . . .

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So as the book starts, we are at Cate's husband's funeral.  I have to say that the very beginning and probably the first two Chapters or so, were kind of slow for me.

This was my first Dorothea Benton Frank book and while I think by the end I was able to appreciate her style of writing, it did take some getting used to.  I'm not a huge fan of books that seem to have long pages about the backstory or explaining who so and so is and what they did and whatever....it's just not the kind of stuff that I find interesting.

But I kept with it and very shortly began enjoying the story.

This is a Southern fiction at it's best.  I like that intertwined with the all the family ups and downs and drama, there is also historical details and a lot of funny moments throughout the book.  The author was able to vividly describe the setting and I think for me that was one of the best parts of the book, I kept imagining being where the characters were and kept thinking "boy, I wish I was there".

Overall, after the slow start I ended up not only enjoying the book but unable to set it down for very long, I was so into the story that I wanted to know what was coming next and what was going to happen to Cate.

Definitely recommend it :)

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me with a review copy. If you want to check out the rest of the tour, here are the next stops:

Tuesday, January 3rd: Book Journey
Wednesday, January 4th: Chunky Monkey
Thursday, January 5th: All Grown Up?

Displaced Persons by Ghita Schwarz

In May 1945, Pavel Mandl, a Polish Jew recently liberated from a concentration camp, finds himself among similarly displaced persons gathered in the Allied occupation zones of a defeated Germany. Possessing little besides a map, a few tins of food, and a talent for black-market trading, he must scrape together a new life in a chaotic community of refugees, civilians, and soldiers. With fellow refugees Fela, a young widow, and Chaim, a resourceful teenager with impressive smuggling skills, Pavel establishes a makeshift family, as together they face an uncertain future. Eventually the trio immigrates to the United States, where they grapple with past traumas that arise again in the everyday moments of lives no longer dominated by the need to endure, fight, hide, or escape.
Ghita Schwarz’s Displaced Persons is an astonishing novel of grief, anger, and survival that examines the landscape of liberation and reveals the interior despairs and joys of immigrants shaped by war and trauma.

  About Ghita Schwarz

Ghita Schwarz is a civil rights lawyer specializing in immigrants’ rights. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Displaced Persons was a finalist for the Foundation for Jewish Culture’s Goldberg Prize for Outstanding Fiction.
Visit Gita at her website, gitaschwarz.com.

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I'll start by saying that I find the cover to be one of the prettiest and most eye appealing I have ever come across.  Then I will tell you that when I first read the summary for the book, I knew it was one I not only was interested in but couldn't wait to get my hands on.

And now I will tell you that it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but not in a bad way.

I will say that it was a difficult book to read at times almost too intense, it made me want to put it down and take a deep breath, but it also made me want to stop and thank the Lord for being blessed, for never having to endure what the survivors have.

The author did a brilliant job of bringing us into the story, of taking us down this path, of focusing on what happens AFTER the war, after the heartache and the pain.  I think it's easy to forget about the "after" but often there is so much more to the usual survivor stories.

Like I said, it was an intense book to read.  Some may find it too serious, others may find it just up their alley.  I'm sort of in between, I enjoyed it but I don't think I want to read something similar too soon :)

 TLC Book Tours provided a proof copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are mine alone.

Call me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (August 30, 2011)

R.S.V.P. to the most riotous wedding of the year!

Lucy Jorik’s the daughter of a former U.S. president.
Meg Koranda’s the offspring of legends.
One of them is about to marry Mr. Irresistible—Ted Beaudine—the favorite son of Wynette, Texas.
The other is determined to save her friend from a mess of heartache.

Meg knows breaking up her best friend’s wedding is the right thing to do, but no one else agrees. Faster than Lucy can say “I don’t,” Meg’s the most hated woman in town—and stuck there with a dead car, an empty wallet, and a very angry bridegroom. Broke, stranded, without her famous parents watching her back, Meg believes she can survive by her own wits. After all, what’s the worst that can happen? She’ll lose her heart to Mr. Irresistible?

Not likely. Not likely at all.

About Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is one of our biggest women’s fiction stars soaring onto the New York Times bestseller list with Dream a Little Dream. She’s the only four-time recipient of Romance Writer’s of America’s prestigious Favorite Book of the Year Award. Susan delights fans by touching hearts as well as funny bones with her wonderfully whimsical and modern fairy tales. A resident of the Chicago suburbs, she is also a wife and mother of two grown sons.

Visit Susan at her website, susanelizabethphillips.com, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter.

My Thoughts:

I have always enjoyed Susan Elizabeth Phillips, she is one of my favorite writers so I knew that this book would be a good read.

I would venture to say that the book is predictable but then again I think many are, especially the cutesy romantic ones like this.  But it doesn't stop me from still reading and enjoying the story, and enjoy it I did.  It was sort of like watching one of those romantic comedy movies on TV.

I liked the main character Meg, I enjoyed seeing her thrown into this crazy chaos and trying to get through it with literally no one by her side.

Don't know how much more I can say about it, other than it's a cute, fun read and if you like chick lit, you'll definitely enjoy this one. :)

 TLC Book Tours provided a proof copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are mine alone.