Review Time: With You Always by Rena Olsen

Good Morning Readers!! 

Today we're talking about a book I just finished, the second by one of my favorite authors, 

With You Always by Rena Olsen; her first book is The Girl Before and she doesn't disappoint with her sophomore novel. Just a heads up, I will be spoiling the novel, so if that is going to bug you read the book first and come back tomorrow. Additionally, I listened to the Audible version of this book, because Brittany Pressley is amazing and I love listening to her; also, psycho thrillers are way more fun as audio books. 

Told in multiple parts and from the perspective of Julia, our gem of a leading lady, With You Always brings you in and then leaves you feeling trapped. (In a good way I swear!)  

"In the wake of a painful breakup and struggling to prove herself at work, Julia feels adrift. When Bryce blows into her life, he seems like the perfect anchor. Handsome, charming, secure, and confident, Bryce brings out the best in Julia, sweeping her off her feet with attention and affection while grounding her with his certainty and faith. Together they embark on a path guided by the principles of his family and their church, each step a paving stone leading to happily ever after.

But this is no fairy tale.
Step by step, one small concession leading to another, Julia is slowly isolated from her job, her friends, and her family, until she comes to find that her dream come true is a cage. Then one day everything changes...and Julia is faced with no choice but to find a way out" 

As the story begins Julia is relatable to every single woman in the world who has dated a terrible guy. Her fiance leaves her, after cheating on her multiple times, and she is seriously lacking in confidence. She has some great friends from college, a good to great relationship with her sister, nephews, and parents, and a domineering female boss that makes her feel inferior, though she's starting to make her mark at work. Julia feels disturbingly normal, and Bryce feels somehow planted. He just happens to be there when Julia is taking a break from work outside when the wind blows and scatters her papers, he just so happens to be at the bar she's at with her friends after she and Bryce have gone on a few dates. He's perfect with her nephews and parents, he even gets along with her sister's (probably soon to be EX) husband, and the only one who is skeptical is Julia's sister Kate. 

So when we get brought into Bryce's life, with his "parents" the Reverend and Nancy, the church life and culture, I was getting some Scientology vibes. (I also picked up on the drug thing as soon as "The Gathering" was described the first time.) Everything about Bryce felt fake, especially compared to how real Julia felt. Their relationship, the dynamic, you know from the synopsis what's going to happen, but I wasn't anticipating HOW it happened. 

Like I said this story is told in parts, and I liked that. We start off with a large cast of characters as well, and as each part is told references to other characters start dying down, I flat out forgot about a couple of them by the end, not that they weren't well written, just that the story had so completely focused on Julia and Bryce by that point that I started feeling Julia's isolation as I listened. It's brilliant. 

I do wish that the bits and pieces of Bryce's back story that we got were larger. There are some flashback scenes that happen, giving us clues as to why Bryce was so enthralled with the Reverend, why Bryce left his home and changed his name from Bruce to Bryce, and sure, he killed an abusive jackass to save his mother and sister, but I wanted more from Bryce. Hell, I want more from Reverend and Nancy. Like a whole book of their backstory, how many people in their church are abusive assholes, the whole nine. I want more info on the school, I want to know what the hell happens in that punishment closet, can these characters have a spin off? Can we be told their story and have Julia and Bryce be background characters? They're so addicting!! 

One thing I wasn't expecting was the foreshadowing or outright explanation of the ending. About halfway through the book, when we're getting used to the narrator telling us about Bryce's back story, we start hearing about a dead man in a tub, about him being held down by a woman, and it's written in such a way you think it has something to do with something "Bruce" did, or maybe even something Nancy did, that woman is shady as hell, when in reality, it's Julia killing Bryce. 

All in all, this novel was every single bit as compelling as The Girl Before. I couldn't finish it fast enough, and I want more. I'm excited to see what comes next from Rena Olsen, because hands down I will always be here, ready to read or listen. 

Until Next Time! 

XoXo

BrainyHeroine

P.S. Rena Olsen's first novel is also how I found J.P. Delaney, who's second book I'm currently listening too. Sooooo you'll get that review by the end of the week I'm sure. 

Writer, Seeker, Killer... Talk About a Thriller!

Hey Readers,

(TRIGGER AND SPOILER WARNING, THIS BOOK INVOLVES SUICIDE)

Today we're talking WSK, that's Writer, Seeker, Killer by Ryan Starbloak!

WSK was published in November of 2017, and though it is a collection of novellas, don't start reading thinking you are going to be underwhelmed. If anything each part of this story is a sucker punch to the gut, while simultaneously making you want to sleep with the lights on. Stay tuned to the end, where I have a brief interview with the author to lighten the mood!

"New Orleans; our lady of perpetual sirens." Hinanya Ven has but one interest in this life, and that is death. This great question has enveloped her into a deranged obsession, a need for transcendence in proximity to grand suffering. The search takes her back to her childhood home of New Orleans, where she returns after a six year absence following her family's permanent retreat from the city in the unanticipated catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina. On her own there for the first time, Hinanya inquires into whether or not there is a metaphysical substructure to the universe we all perceive. In the course of her journey, she, through inexplicable and violent circumstances, appropriates the pistol identical to the make, model, and serial number her friend had used to commit suicide several months prior to her arrival in New Orleans. The weight of the mystery augments her desire to part from her body... to have an out-of-body experience. The suicidal girl's path takes her from becoming a writer, a graffiti artist in the glittering menace of the New Orleans nightscape to search for a secretive substance which may settle her ceaseless curiosity. From there, she uncovers a jarring conspiracy which inextricable undermines her being into that brutal principle of the natural world: kill or be killed."

Told in three parts, Writer, Seeker, Killer, follows Hinanya Ven, a completely death obsessed woman who is working through a few things. She's a few screws loose and the way her mind works is expansive enough that each of these novellas could have become their own stand alone novels. Hinanya's obsession with death leads to the asking of the big questions, and we start asking them slowly, with her return to New Orleans after a 6 year hiatus due to Hurricane Katrina. While contemplating so many big questions, Hinanya comes across the pistol her friend used to commit suicide. Now I mentioned before that she is death obsessed, so reading about her becoming suicidal was a complicated experience as a reader. From here the novellas dig deeper into some dark and dangerous truths about life.

After reading WSK I had to step away from it for a few days. Starbloak has mastered in 256 pages what many authors master in a thousand; that paranoid, frightened, thrilling feeling of reading a book that will fuck you up. There is nothing soft or gentle about this book, though there is love in it. Very little hope can be found inside but I have never felt a character's emotions so completely and so immediately than with Hinanya's. I would love to see each story fleshed out into it's own novel, I'd love to one day find this on the shelves as a trilogy, but I am terrified of what may come of the story if that happens. Hinanya's story ends when the book does, but the characters she interacts with, the implied history she discovers, there's so much more here. Additionally, I've never been a fan of authors who have multiple characters commit suicide, but I will give Starbloak credit here for not having it feel like a rush job, or as a plot device. Hinanya's spiral will consume you like a tornado; it'll pick you up and drop you off somewhere new completely disoriented.

To purchase the book for yourself or a friend CLICK HERE!! 
To keep up with Ryan check out his site www.starbloak.com

And now for Five Questions! The fun thing where I ask the author 5 questions and cross my fingers for some great answers! 

Author Ryan Starbloak

1. What are your top five books right now? 

"The Three-Body Problem" by Cixin Liu, amazingly mind-blowing first contact read. The science fiction concepts found in this trilogy are so fresh and vibrant... & here I was thinking another Transformers movie would tarnish the genre for good! But for every disgraceful science fiction franchise there is an author like Liu pushing things forward in unexpected ways.

"The Long Walk" by Richard Bachman (Stephen King), always & forever my most beloved King read. The journey is utterly humane yet the premise of the story is not. It's an evocative contradiction.

"Yesterday's Gone" by Sean Platt & David Wright, a sprawling serialized work that becomes rather addictive. These guys do so good at cliffhangers!

"Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier, thought it'd be a delightful English romance. That's the first impression. And with du Maurier's prose, I was sold already. But this novel became more like a suspense piece that had me tense and in awe at the same time.

"A Scanner Darkly" by Phillip K. Dick, a look at the consequences of trying to slay a monster by impersonating one. I find this one really somber... use & abuse of drugs definitely does not lead to a happy ending here. I found myself really inspired by the work, & there's definitely some elements to be seen of it in "Writer, Seeker, Killer."

2. They say inspiration comes from everywhere, where is the weirdest place you've found a story's 

inspiration? 

Hm, challenging question, but after a lot of thought, one thing keeps coming back to me. Those ghost hunter programs on TV really got to me this one time. I'm a skeptic and philosophy has some issues with the existence of ghosts. Hell, I'd love to see one though. No matter how scary it might be in the moment, that's confirmation of an afterlife. Good deal, in my mind. Anyway, I got to thinking in the way a skeptic like me might roll their eyes at these ghost hunter people, some of whom believe in ghosts, what would make THEM roll their eyes at someone? That's how I got the idea for my short story "Ghost Eggs."

3. Chocolate or Vanilla? 

(Dark) Chocolate. Mhm. I have some stockpiled in my freezer as I'm typing (excuse me, it's calling to me).

4. Does WSK have a book 2 coming out? 

 Ah, good question! Well, I certainly felt good with the scope of the world I created there. That seedy New Orleans underbelly truly yields some brutal and decadent tales. There are absolutely more stories to tell there, but would you believe it? I don't know what they are as of yet. I sure did love writing in the thriller genre though!

5. What's your next project about?

I've been working on a science fiction serial for some time. It's going to be at least four books. What's taking so long is I'm trying to write out all four books before launching the first. For the cohesion and integrity of the story. Yay J.K. Rowling for doing that. Boo for "Lost" for failing to do that. Eh, on second thought the "Lost" people were probably on a ridiculously tight schedule.

Anyway, it is about the first contingent of human beings to emigrate from Earth and live on a spaceship for keeps. I explore the consciousness change the first generation experiences as a result of leaving Earth behind. Space is sad! And there are many hazards both psychologically and externally. I also address the development of their offspring, who have never known Earth.  I'd drop the tentative title, but my friends snickering at it (because apparently, the title sounds like it's a book about butts) advise I keep that in the vault. Okay, okay, if you really want to know there's a loophole. Pretty sure I have it listed somewhere on my website (www.starbloak.com). Oooops! Will you go there in time or will I have already purged it?

That's all for now readers, until next time...

XoXo
BrainyHeroine

Little Gray Dress

Happy Monday All!! 

Today we're kicking of my birthday week with something I find to be pretty amazing, A NEW RELEASE BOOK TOUR BLOG!! Needless to say I'm pretty excited to be a part of this and super grateful to Aimee Brown and Crooked Cat Publishing for this opportunity. So poke around at will, I've got plenty of goodies packed into this post! We're talking a review, an Author Q&A, and even an excerpt from the book! All rounded out by a giveaway! Can you tell I'm excited? 

Let's start off with the details shall we? #BookBlub time!

Title: Little Gray Dress
Author: Aimee Brown
Release Date: August 2nd, 2017
Publisher: Crooked Cat Books
Genre: Romantic Comedy/Chick Lit
GoodReads: add Little Gray Dress to your to be read list

Emi Harrison has avoided her ex-fiance, Jack Cabot, for nearly two years. Her twin brother Evan’s wedding is about to end that streak.

From bad bridesmaid’s dresses, a hyperactive sister-in-law, a mean girl with even meaner secrets, and too much to drink, nothing seems to go right for Emi, except when she’s wearing her little gray dress.

When she speed-walks into Liam Jaxon’s bar, things get more complicated. He’s gorgeous, southern, and has no past with Emi. He may be exactly what she needs to prove for the last time that she doesn’t need or want Jack!

Her favorite little gray dress has made an appearance at nearly every major event in Emi’s adult life. Will it make another when she least expects it?

Wasn't that tease too much to handle? Get yourself a copy!!

AmazonUS: eBook – $2.99 | print – $9.99
AmazonUK: eBook – £1.99| print – £6.99

Barnes & Noble: print – $9.99

Side note, I am in love with the name of this author! We're both Amy's- spelled with "i's"!! (Though I don't use the ee at the end of my name.)

Aimee Brown – author bio:

Aimee Brown is a writer and an avid reader. Little Gray Dress is her first published novel. My second novel is in the works now. She’s currently studying for her Bachelor’s degree in English Writing. She spends much of her time writing, doing homework, raising three teenagers, binge watching shows on Netflix and obsessively cleaning and redecorating her house. She’s fluent in sarcasm and has been known to utter profanities like she’s competing for a medal.

Aimee grew up in Oregon but is now a transplant living in cold Montana with her husband of twenty years, three teenage children, and far too many pets.

She would love to hear your thoughts on Little Gray Dress! If you’d like to chat with her she’s very active on social media. You can find her at any of the networks below. Stop by and say hello!

An introduction is never enough, and I had a few questions I wanted to ask! Aimee was kind enough to respond to them. 

      We've all heard of the LBD, that sexy dress giving you all the confidence in the world, or at least a free drink at the bar. Why did you opt for Gray? How did it become Emi's favorite color? Did your own Little Gray Dress give you inspiration? 

I think the part of the book that represents me the most is the fact that Gray is Emi’s favorite color. I love the color gray and if it’s an option in any clothing I like, it’s what I choose. My closet looks like I spend every single day mourning a loved one, it’s all black and grays! LOL.

I didn’t want to be ‘just another book about a little black dress’ so I opted for another color, my favorite color, Gray!

Actually, I don’t think I’ve worn a dress since my wedding day in 1997. I’m just not really a ‘dress’ kind of girl. Jeans and t-shirts fill my closet. I love the idea of the girly girls wearing dresses and heels though so it would figure that I would write my characters with that trait.

In an era of body positivity Emi seems pretty harsh on herself appearance wise; do you feel that you're representing a more realistic image of women post break up? 

I feel like Emi is true to life. As a woman myself who is not a perfect size 2, I can say that in that same ‘body positive’ world you’re speaking of, it’s still hard to be the ‘nonperfect’ girl. Despite everyone screaming for body positive thoughts, judgment is still around every corner.

Every woman, no matter how positive they try to be on the outside, has some kind of body issues. Whether it be her weight, hair, stretch marks or ingrown toenails. There is just no way around it. Emi represents that woman, the woman who loves herself but wishes that maybe it was a little easier to lose that extra 30 pounds.

      Romance novels have either had a cult following or taboo feel to them, think of the dimestore, throbbing members of older generations, how do you feel you've enhanced the genre? Do you believe that Romance is making a comeback? 

I actually don’t think romance has ever gone out. If you look at the Bestseller lists there is ALWAYS a romance novel on there. Whether women want to admit it or not, they love romance. Some like the dirty kind, some the sweet kind and some the funny kind (like Little Gray Dress).

We all dream of that ‘happily ever after’ feeling. Even if we’re married. It’s fun to read a book that you can close with a smile, feeling like you’ve just made a new group of friends and went on a tiny vacation right from your favorite chair.

Little Gray Dress is a fun read, you’ll laugh out loud and not regret skipping a meal or two while you finish it. I think those are the kinds of books that really make you feel good. The ones you absolutely can not put down. I think that is what Little Gray Dress adds to the world, fun and a bit of laughter.

What about the Romance and ChickLit genres made you decide to write LGD as a Romance? Were these genres long held favorites of yours?

For me, romantic comedy/chick lit is just what comes out when I try to write. I love it as much as I loved the 90’s rom/com movies. From the first Sophie Kinsella book, I knew it was the genre for me.

I saw Sleepless in Seattle in the theaters when it was released when I was a teen… it (and so many movies after) have held a piece of my heart. I just can’t get enough of the quirky heroines and happy endings.

I have no doubt that most every book I write will be in this genre. It’s just me.

     Where will we be seeing your career take you next? Any upcoming projects? 

Absolutely! I’ve got all kinds of tricks up my sleeve.

Right now I’m working on another romantic comedy, whose main character, Riley is not the smoothest with men. She’s hilarious and completely real as she navigates through set-ups, accidental run-ins, and some real oddballs. There may even be a character I love from Little Gray Dress. 😉

 (Personally I hope we get more Lily! 😊😃)

Ready for that excerpt? Here you go!!

The Getaway

“He asked you to go away with him? Already?” Lily almost drops her fork into her lasagna when I say it. Like it’s such a shock that a man could ask me to go away with him. Even though it has never actually happened.

“Yeah. I guess his parents own a house in Malibu, California.”

“Out of state?”

“Yes, Malibu… Like where Barbie lives.” I wink at her.

“What did you say?”

“I said yes, duh.”

“I hope you’re planning on having sex with him, because guys don’t take girls to fancy Malibu beach houses for a long weekend and not expect to get laid. Not to mention that you’ve been dating six months and you still haven’t given it up.” She scrunches her face in confusion.

“I wanted to be sure!” I glance around the restaurant to see who now knows what a prude I am since she’s talking so loud about it. No one appears to be listening in, but who knows?

“Sure of what?”

“That he wasn’t just one of those guys who would screw me and then move onto the next.” I shrug my shoulders. “Apparently, he’s not.”

“I’ve told you the whole time, Ems, he’s a good guy. You should stop holding him at arm’s length like you’re scared of him. This is a big step in your relationship.”

“I know it is, and I’m so freaking nervous. I have no idea what this is going to be like.”

“Don’t even pack clothes, you won’t need them.” She takes a bite of her lasagna before nearly choking on it when she looks up at my horrified face. “I’m kidding! If I know Jack, and I think I do, it’ll be all romance and rainbows and he’ll set the tone for your entire relationship.”

“A good tone?”

“A rich, romantic tone, but yes, probably good too. Maybe we should go shopping?”

“For what?”

“Uh, hello, have you not been listening? For lingerie ya weirdo. You do want to make him want you on your first time, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you need good lingerie. Have any?”

I think about my underwear drawer for a minute. “I have a pair of bra and panties that match.”

“You’re so sad.”

“I know, seriously, you have to help me.”

“I know. Don’t worry, I will.” She grabs her phone and starts tapping away, planning goodness knows what, in order to get me ready to consummate my relationship.

When we walk into the shop I’m almost a little scared. This is no Victoria’s Secret. Lily’s friend Merri used this shop when she was shopping for her wedding night. They make private appointments and do fittings to suit your body type.

“I don’t know about this…” The room is filled with racks of swanky lingerie, expensive underwear, and floor-to-ceiling mirrors. “I feel like I’m in a secret sex shop.”

“Ladies!” A middle-aged woman in a dress far too tight and far too short comes walking in from the back part of the shop, carrying an armload of what looks like hot pink lace string bikinis.

“Are you Esther?” Lily asks.

“I am!” Esther has a sing-song type voice. “You must be Lily! I’m thrilled to meet you!” When she speaks, every single sentence ends with either a question mark or an exclamation mark. Lingerie obviously excites her.

“And you must be Emi!” She looks at me with a huge smile on her face. “Lily told me a bit about you, and based on what she said I pulled out a few items for you to try on. They’re waiting in here…” She leads me to a giant dressing room with three-way mirrors and a plush velvet couch. “Try them on and come out for our opinions.”

“I have to model?”

“Well…” She glances over at Lily. “You don’t have to come out, but we’re here to help you make the best decision for this special occasion. You’re in a safe place and there is no one here with us.”

“No cameras?”

She bursts out a laugh then quickly stifles it away. “No! No. No cameras; that would make the news, dear. No, go, try and model.”

Personally, I found my own little gray dress while reading this book. Very similar to the Emi's! I never thought of gray being this sexy, powerful, beautiful color until now. 

Alright, so now you've come to the nitty gritty, my review of The Little Gray Dress by Aimee Brown. To begin, I've broken my cardinal rule to never read romances; and thankfully nothing in this book "quivered". I found LGD to be refreshing, I read it in a few hours and laughed almost every other page; the situations Emi found herself in were extremely familar and comical. I loved the friendship between Emi and Lily. The genuine support, advice, and candor between the two honestly felt real. Emi and Jack's relationship seems like a Cinderella tale at first, until the pumpkin arrives in the form of "May" and midnight breaks the glass slipper. I appreciated the back and forth version of the narrative, you are never able to get mired down in something for two long, and Aimee does a great job of not letting you wonder or wander for too long. I did find the pacing to be a bit quick at times, and the stand in love interest didn't feel like it really went anywhere beyond a few great kisses; though I kind of liked that because, again, we avoided any quivering.

In the end I found this to be a great and easy read that's fun, different, and great if you're looking for something to engross you for a couple of hours or as a beach read. It is also a fantastic introduction to the Romance Genre or a great one to read if you aren't a fan of the genre; I'm also calling it chick-lit that won't annoy you. There is real substance here, the relationships are real, the love in this book is palpable, and you find yourself rooting for true love all the way. You won't be disappointed.

And, as promised, a give away!!!!!!!!

Aimee Brown has the cutest Giveaway for the tour - pictured here & opened worldwide.

Included is a 'create' coffee cup, some dark & handsome K-cup pods, a cute Life is Short, Eat Cake wall art, some tiny macaroons, a Little Gray Dress bookmark & postcard!

Enter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be sure and stay connected to the author via Social Media!! 

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Website/Blog | GoodReads | Amazon Page | Newsletter

Until Next Time! 

XoXo

BrainyHeroine

Poetry in the Desert, or Mojave in July

“Imagine a heat so dry that it presses down into the earth…” -Mojave in July, A. Brommel p.45

Close your eyes and think of Las Vegas; feel the summer heat come around you, you can hear the tourists, see the bright flashing neon lights this town is known for, and you probably have a limited vision of Las Vegas. When you think of Las Vegas it is hard to separate the trashy, cheesy, formerly mob run town that sparks to life when the sun goes down. "At midnight you can look up at the sky or down towards the lights and be blinded by brilliance. No one told me about the sunsets. No one warned me about monsoon season." -From California, V. Robinson p. 248. The beauty of Las Vegas is found in its desert home, and the beauty of the desert is captured in photographs, and in the work of its poets. On almost any given night of the week you can find yourself amongst local poets at open mics, poetry slams, workshops, ciphers held on the street, and in the homes of Vegas’ poets. "Here in Vegas nothing is old but the mountains silently observing." The Lights of Las Vegas, A. Barnstone p. 268.

Clark: Poetry from Clark, Nevada is an anthology recently published by Zeitgeist Press, which a local imprint with over 100 titles to date. Clark was initiated by Clark County’s first Poet Laureate, Bruce Issacson, and was done cooperatively with Poetry Promise, Inc., currently helmed by Clark County’s second Poet Laureate Vogue Robinson. This anthology is filled with the work of 95 Clark County authors, meaning those from, and those who found a home in, Clark County, Nevada. As with any artistic profession these poets are from a myriad of backgrounds and include educators, street poets, slam poets, high school students, as well as visual artists; Clark also includes the visual work of twelve local artists that enhances the reading of the poetry.

Reading poetry is different than reading a novel, yet they both tell stories. Let Clark tell you a story you’ve never heard and find your way to and through this beautiful desert.

The magical thing about this anthology, aside from its “setting”, "the winds of lasciviousness blow east to west except in Vegas. Everybody knows what happens in places with an oasis." -Chasing The Sun, S. Stewart, p. 234, is that the range of voices is diverse enough to actually give you a true taste of the Valley.

From love poems, "And I want us to go to the park and the day that we go to the park I want to climb to the top of the tallest tree and scream from the top of my lungs I REALLY LIKE THIS WOMAN."- Hope for the Flowers (Thai Food), A. Kenyon, p.4.

To poems that cause you to sit a while and think, "They will find a brown sun baked boy, holding a seashell to his ear, inside is the voice of the poets singing all at once, every poem the world has known from Ode to an Onion to the Illiad. This poem will be there too, but it will all sound like the ocean." -What They Will Find When They Exhume Pablo Neruda's Body, B. Lloyd, p. 1.

Poems that encompass the “Fear and Loathing” vibe Vegas has been known for, "When the guard falls to the floor, blood trickles from a thin crack at the top of his head. This is the start of the mayhem." -How to Kill a Crippled Person in Six Easy Steps (Just Because You Want To) -N. Say, p. 196.

To verses that came out of workshops run in Clark County Community and Cultural Centers "If only the key to happiness could be found in one family. Lately I've been thinking about mankind's finest hours. When other person's beating hearts are put in place of ours."- When Other Persons Beating Hearts Are Put In Place Of Ours, S. Des Lauriers, p. 177

To verses that bring you home, "She has faith in peppermint to soothe the bitterness of parsley. To gather her sons in times of feast and famine; knowing by taste the heirlooms of their heritage, that leafy weed grew hearty where ever it rooted."- tahbouleh, E. Wirshing, p. 167.

Clark even gives you a glimpse into the history of Las Vegas in Dayvid Figler's essay, Au Revoir, Riveria, p. 122.

This anthology took me a while to read; and while I'm hesitant to admit that I'm willing to say that as I went through each page there were some poems I didn't like, that I couldn't relate to, or just didn't understand. That's poetry though. It is a subjective art form used to express the thoughts and emotions of its writer.

“Here, we build urban legends and kill your urban legacies. We still rent the room where John Entwistle overdosed. There is no remembrance left where 2Pac was shot outside of Ellis Island. We crush world tours into a single city block. 3 A.M. view from Sunrise Mountain is breathtaking, partly because you choke on the electric bill, partly because it’s just that fucking beautiful. It is so bright here, we can count the stars.” -Count the Stars, A. Moyer, p.37

Everything We Read

Howdy Y'all!

Happy day of mulitcolored explosions! I am hunkered down and hiding from the crazies outside and catching up on my book reviews and organizing future blog posts / literature goals. That being said, today you get a Two fer One in this review post! Today I'm going to give you a quick rundown of Kerry Lonsdale's Everything We Keep and Everything We Left Behind (which came out today!!!)

Side note.... SPOILERS AHEAD...obviously!

Everything We Keep was published last summer, and follows Aimee Tierney (yay for having the same first name as the character!). Following the somewhat traditional story line, Aimee has her life figured out. She's going to marry James, the boy she's loved since childhood, they'll have adorable babies, live in the white picket fenced house, one day she'll be able to own her parents restaurant, and life will be amazing and perfect. CUE THE SOMETHING BAD MUSIC! Dun dun dun...... James goes MISSING! He goes out on a boat, he doesn't come back. You then get Aimee at his funeral with the gnawing feeling that something isn't quite right here. Ladies and Gentlemen, trust your gut and all those hours of Lifetime movie watching, this is the part where you'd be screaming at the television that "he isn't missing, he's XYZ!!" As Aimee tries to move on from this loss, she discovers that what she has lost isn't what she originally thought. Suddenly mired down in the clues she's finding Aimee is acting like an idiot, trusting psychics that aren't psychics, and genuinely being stupid in Mexico. You get sucked into Aimee's life, and the mystery around James, and the genuine moments that come from the relationships in this novel. Also, this was Lonsdale's debut and I need her to teach a class on how to write real relationships because nothing felt forced or faked, or insignificant; which as a reader I appreciated. At the end of Everything We Keep you're left with some resolution, some questions, and some satisfaction to tide you over to book two.

Book Two is Everything We Left Behind, and publishes TODAY!!! Seemingly told more from James side, or at least telling more of his story we pick up SIX AND A HALF YEARS LATER!! Y'all this book is seriously part two of a very long and complicated story that combines both Lifetime movie and old fashioned soap opera. James has woken up from a coma/fugue state/disorientation of lies, to find that he'd been living as Carlos, widower and papa to two. Not ready to accept the life he's been living due to some terrible life choices James wants what he could have had. Logically he packs up his hijos and moves to California to once again pursue Aimee, whom he does truly still love, but who has truly moved on, and even has her own kid at this point. Never fear though! James does have his sister in law Natalya to help him and the ever present fear of retaliation from Phil to keep him moving and motivated. Here Lonsdale has given us a more romanticized version of Jason Bourne, which contrasts a bit from book one, but somehow she makes this work!!

Lonsdale's books were not ones I would have read had I not succumbed to peer pressure. I am so very glad that I did. These books are a roller coaster of emotion and happen to take you through some bizarre situations and yet give you honest relationships and reactions. Everything We Left Behind will make zero sense if you haven't read Everything We Keep, and thankfully there will be a third book to this series. The end of book two has multiple epilogues, which is frustrating since book three isn't releasing until NEXT JULY.

I will be crankily waiting in utter anticipation to see what happens next.

XoXo
BrainyHeroine

Also a HUGE thank you to Lake Union Publishing and Net Galley for the ARC's of both books!!! Seriously, I can't wait until book three!!!!

Mystère et Science: The Work of Holly Tucker

Bonjour les lecteurs! (Hello Readers!)

Today we are discussing the works of author Holly Tucker, Pregnant Fictions: Childbirth and the Fairy Tale in Early Modern France, Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution, and City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris. 

Let me introduce the author, Holly Tucker, before delving into her works. Holly Tucker is a professor at Vanderbilt University, in their Department of French and Italian; she is also in their Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society. Her book Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist and a Best Book of the Times Literary Supplement and Seattle Times. Her main residence is in Nashville, TN, but she can oft be found in Aix-en-Provence, France.

As a history major and science nerd I cannot fully express just how marvelous I found these books to be. They read like novels, and yet are filled to the brim with history and science. I was lucky enough to have gotten a copy of City of Light as an ARC through Litsy and promptly spent the weekend I got it reading, after re-reading her first two books. It is not often that I fangirl and stalk authors only to be given the chance at an ARC, but I was thrilled to have gotten this one. My husband, who is 100% math and chemistry, even found Blood Work to be fascinating. 

As a student of history, particularly medieval history, Tucker's first work "Pregnant Fictions" came to me by accident. I was searching for paper resources and grabbed everything with the term Medieval in it. While it was sadly of no use to me for my paper at the time I did appreciate the break it provided from my research, and the societal background it gave me on Medieval France. Here, Tucker makes the argument that "fairy-tale writers experimented with alternative ways of understanding pregnancy." While this seems far flung to many in the medical profession, it makes sense that women who were uneducated in biology would use what knowledge they had at their disposal to make sense of their surroundings. 

In Tucker's second book, which was read purely out of curiosity, she goes on to describe the mildly baffling world of blood transfusions at the height of their invention. This book will make you nauseous if you are squeamish around blood. Yet the story she weaves is an entertaining way to learn about the murder of Parisian madmen, via a blood infusion of CALF BLOOD, by Dr. Jean Denis. This was also an interesting read from a legalistic point of view; was what Dr. Denis did actually murder? Was it an experiment gone awry? It serves to remember that medical advancements have only ever come about through experimentation, often brutal and gruesome, often on the clinically insane or poor. Tucker manages to present a clear and direct argument, combing the history and mystery of France at the time. 

Her most recent book, City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris is the book I received an ARC of, which only served to save my book budget a few dollars because this would have come home with me no matter what. Her tale of Nicolas de La Reynie sweeps you up and spins you around Paris, making you feel as though you are following him in the labyrinthesque streets of the city itself. City of Light gives you this haunting history of Paris that almost seems impossible. As a city known for glamour and prestige, particularly during the reign of Louis XIV, Tucker illuminates Paris's secrets like no other. With every lamp hung, and corner turned, La Reynie and Tucker lead you further and further into the depths of Paris's dark heart.

Reading Holly Tucker's works have truly been a pleasure, and I will greedily lap up whatever she produces next. Her gift for blending the reality of history with the prose of her passion makes each book better than the last. Putting them down is hard.

Jusqu'à la prochaine fois,

XoXo
BrainyHeroine