Review and Giveaway: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

Meet twelve year old CeeCee. She's an only child and, even worse, her mother Camille is well on her way to being unhinged. She is the talk of their small Ohio town. Since CeeCee's father has chosen to escape the entire situation by spending all of his time traveling for work, she is left to try to rein in her mother's increasingly bizarre behavior all on her own.

You see, Camille's finest hour was when she was the Vidalia Onion Queen in 1951, complete with tiara, sash and fancy gown. Now she spends her days reliving that long ago day, becoming the bane of CeeCee's existence in the process. The constant embarrassment coupled with the responsibility put upon her causes CeeCee to have to grow up far before her time. And she does, she is an amazing young girl, funny and bright.

Beth Hoffman

When tragedy strikes, CeeCee's fragile world collapses like a house of cards. But rescue is at hand in the form of her great aunt Tootie. CeeCee has never even met her but Tootie swoops in and changes her life. Before she knows it, she has been whisked away to live in Savannah, Georgia, where the trees are green, the days are warm and the women are STRONG!

Though she suddenly finds herself with good friends and more mothers figures than any girl could wish for, she is still dealing with the difficult aftermath of her past. Time and loving advice from the disparate group of women who become her family are all CeeCee needs to blossom into the beautiful young woman she is sure to be.

It is hard for me to put into words how much I enjoyed this novel. It captures perfectly the strength and wisdom that lies at the core of southern women. I was strongly reminded of my Grandmother, born and raised in Tennessee, she was what we used to call 'salt of the earth'. Without women like her and the women you will find in this book, surely the world would cease to spin. It is a lovely, lovely book, charming, sweet, honest. Can't recommend it highly enough, it's a gem.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is published by Viking, ISBN 978-0-670-02139-0. For more information about Beth Hoffman and her writing, please visit her website.

Okay, now you want to read it, right? Of course you do! And I have three copies to give away!! (Thank you Allie & Shannon!) So, to enter just leave me a comment here that includes your email address. Instructions for extra entries are below. Giveaway is open those with a US or Canada mailing address and you can enter thru midnight eastern time on June 12.

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Review: Face of Betrayal by Lis Wiehl with April Henry

Katie Converse is a smart, beautiful, seventeen year old Senate page from Portland, Oregon. At home in Portland for Christmas, she disappears while walking the dog. Her parents immediately raise the hue and cry and a desperate search begins.

Local Portland television reporter Cassidy Shaw announces the story of Katie's disappearance on the air. The media firestorm that follows could be the making of her career, if she can keep herself at the forefront of the action. Good thing for Cassidy that her two best friends become involved in the case, as well. Federal prosecutor Allison Pierce and FBI agent Nicole Hedge are Cassidy's buddies. As a group the call themselves "The Triple Threat Club" and they get together regularly to try to sort out the difficulties of their crazy lives. Cassidy is able to glean important bits of information about the case from Allison and Nicole because both women are soon sucked into the investigation that mushrooms around the case.

When Nicole discovers that Katie had a Myspace page that she posted on regularly, things really start to heat up. Turns out Katie was having a little fling with "Senator X." It isn't too hard to figure out that "Senator X" is actually Senator Fairview, who sponsored Katie's page application. Suddenly the case has taken on a whole new aspect, the well known Senator has motive and opportunity. His relationship with Katie is certainly a juicy scandal, but is he really her killer?

This fast paced, interesting suspense novel has a premise that could easily have been ripped from the headlines. All of the characters are well-rounded and their relationships feel authentic. The point of view rotates between Cassidy, Allison and Nicole so the reader gets to know the personal struggles of each woman and how they relate to each other as a group of close friends. Cassidy is a beautiful girl with a promising career, but she is stuck in an abusive relationship. Allison and her husband have been struggling with infertility, under the stress of trying to have a baby for the past several years. Nicole is a single mom, juggling parenting her child and the demands of her job. She doesn't seem to have any time left over for a personal life. Because of their unique relationship they are able to put their heads together and figure out what happened to Katie Converse. Interspersed between the chapters are Katie's Myspace pages. Through these, the reader gets to know a little about Katie's life.

The action keeps the reader guessing and turning pages in this absorbing tale. Ms. Wiehl's experience with the media and the government are apparent and lend the book a veracity that makes it seem to almost read like a non-fiction story.

Looking for an exciting contemporary mystery with strong female characters? Add Face of Betrayal to your summer reading list!

Face of Betrayal is published by Thomas Nelson, ISBN 9781595547057.

This review was originally published at Curled Up With a Good Book.

Review and Blog Tour: Beach Trip by Cathy Holton

For the first time in twenty years, four college friends get together for a week long beach vacation, to relax, reconnect and enjoy some time together. They all went their separate ways after being roommates at North Carolina's Bedford University in the eighties. Now in their forties, they couldn't be more different, but the bonds of friendship remain strong despite the years, and the secrets, that have passed by.

Mel is the wild child of the bunch. Married and divorced twice, she never had, never wanted, any children. She lives in Manhattan and is a fairly successful mystery writer. She's a tough cookie, very independent, she has learned to take care of herself. She had to, with the difficult and overbearing father and largely absent mother she had to deal with in her childhood.

Sara is happily married with two beautiful children and is a lawyer. She and Mel have been friends since they were very small children. While Sara enjoyed the luxury and chaos of visiting Mel's home, Mel loved the simple homeliness of Sara's normal parents and family life. These two girls were as different as it is possible to be, but were friends for almost two decades, until after college. Now they barely speak and haven't seen each other in years.

Anne Louise, or Annie, married her childhood sweetheart and has two boys in college. Her hair has gone prematurely white and she lives a perfectly ordinary life. A creature of habit, she obsessively cleans and schedules, carving order out of her little corner of the world, striving to forget the one mistake that haunts her still.

Lola, sweet, pliable and beautiful, is the daughter of a wealthy politician and her mother never let her forget it. All her life has been lived for appearance's sake. Lola is aware of her own limitations, she is not strong enough to stand up to her controlling husband, Briggs or her indomitable mother. She can count on her mother to always team up with Briggs and she has no chance against the two of them. She is weary of being manipulated.

The trip will change all of them in some way. As they reminisce about their years together and talk about their lives apart, old wounds are opened up and old grievances aired. Sometimes the best medicine is friendship.

This novel is about the powerful bonds that draw us together and the value of those relationships that not only support us but help us to see ourselves more clearly. The characters come to life, they are complex and beautifully drawn and the story is very well written. It resonated with me, these women are at roughly my age and stage of life and their issues struck a chord with me and I found myself longing for a group of friends like this. There is something special about the female bond of friendship and Cathy Holton has captured that in this excellent novel.

Please visit the author's website for more information about all of her books.

I received this book as part of a blog tour for TLC Book Tours and I would like to thank TLC for sending me this book for review. Here's the schedule for the tour:

Tuesday, June 2nd: S. Krishna’s Books
Thursday, June 4th: Books & Cooks – Lisa
Tuesday, June 9th: Pop Culture Junkie
Wednesday, June 10th: Books and Needlepoint
Thursday, June 11th: Educating Petunia
Friday, June 12th: Bookworm with a View
Monday, June 15th: Caribousmom
Tuesday, June 16th: Books on the Brain - Summer Reading Series Discussion
Thursday, June 18th: Books on the Brain
Tuesday, June 23rd: The Book Faery Reviews
Wednesday, June 24th: Thoughts of Joy
Thursday, June 25th: Books and Cooks-Tara
Friday, June 26th: Peeking Between the Pages
Monday, June 29th: It’s All About Books
Tuesday, June 30th: Bermuda Onion



Beach Trip is published by Ballantine. ISBN 978-0-345-50599-6