Aloha to Leah Marie Brown and FAKING IT - Book Review

Vivia Grant couldn’t be happier. She has her dream job and is about to marry her dream man. Does it really matter that she’s led him to believe she’s a virgin? After all, being in love makes every experience feel like the first time anyway! But an unexpected encounter with an ex-lover is about to expose her embarrassing lie…

When Vivia’s fiancé discovers the truth, he ends their engagement—via text—and uses his connections to get her fired. Unemployed and heartbroken, Vivia begins planning her new future—as a homeless spinster. But her best friend has a better idea. They’ll skip the Ben & Jerry’s binge and go on Vivia’s honeymoon instead. Two weeks cycling through Provence and Tuscany, with Luc de Caumont, a sexy French bike guide. Too bad Vivia’s not a big fan of biking. And she’s abysmal at languages. Will she fib her way through the adventure, or finally learn to love herself—and Luc—flaws and all?

Who's to know if your soul will fade at all
The one you sold to fool the world
You lost your self-esteem along the way

- Seether, Fake It

Vivia lost her soul in pursuit of the dream job, dream man, and dream wedding.  Rather than trust her fiance (and have faith in herself), she lied to portray herself as something she is not.  We all know in Romanceland that secrets always come to the surface.  Brown reveals the secret in a funny way ... sending Vivia on her way to her honeymoon with her best friend instead of her fiance.  The honeymoon becomes an opportunity for Vivia to rediscover herself.

FAKING IT is pure escapism.  Brown delivers laugh out loud comedy along with heartwarming moments, making it the perfect beach read.  Although FAKING IT follows a predictable path, it is a path worth taking in celebrating our own self worth.  I particularly enjoyed Brown's vivid description of Provence and Tuscany.  I could hear the accents, I could smell the delicacies, and I could feel the cobblestones of these romantic cities.

Recommended read for fans of contemporary romance, European culture, and humorous adventure.

I received a print copy from Kensington at the RWA Annual Conference in New York City.

I am giving away my copy of FAKING IT, plus a book choice from my convention stash, to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about bike riding - love it or loathe it?  I enjoyed biking around Pearl Harbor to soak up the colors of Hawaii (link).

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, August 15, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, August 16.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Learn more about Leah and her books at this link.

Coming September 29, 2015

Aloha to Susanna Kearsley and SEASON OF STORMS - Book Review

A mystery trapped in time

In 1921, infamous Italian poet Galeazzo D'Ascanio wrote his last and greatest play, inspired by his muse and mistress, actress Celia Sands. On the eve of opening night, Celia vanished, and the play was never performed.

Now, two generations later, Alessandro D'Ascanio plans to stage his grandfather's masterpiece and has offered the lead to a promising young English actress, also named Celia Sands - at the whim of her actress mother, or so she has always thought. When Celia arrives at D'Ascanio's magnificent, isolated Italian villa, she is drawn to the mystery of her namesake's disappearance- and to the compelling, enigmatic Alessandro.

But the closer Celia gets to learning the first Celia's fate, the more she is drawn into a web of murder, passion, and the obsession of genius. Though she knows she should let go of the past, in the dark, in her dreams, it comes back...

A storm brewing in Lanakai, Hawaii

Storms make trees take deeper roots. - Dolly Parton

SEASON OF STORMS was first published in 2001.   Sourcebooks rereleased this title with the following note from Susanna:

This book was first published when emails were rare and nobody I knew owned a cell phone.  to update the story's technology would have unraveled the story itself, so I've left the things the way I first wrote them, and hope you'll indulge me.

I won this book last summer during a Sourcebooks promotion. Although I enjoyed other books from Susanna, the book's thickness - 504 pages - intimidated me.  Last week, I cracked open the book and I could not put it down.  Told from the heroine's perspective, Celia Sands (known as Celia Sullivan in the theater world) is a struggling actress with a dwindling bank account and a roommate moving out.   Her roommate gives Celia one last reading from the tarot cards, predicting an adventure  wrapped in a mystery.  The adventure comes as the leading role in Il Prezzo - The Price.  Written by eccentric poet Galeazzo D'Ascanio, the play will be staged on the same theater he built for the play's muse, English actress Celia Sands.  

Alessandro D'Ascanio, the poet's grandson, hires Celia on the condition she uses her given name.  The fact that the two actresses share the same name will a marketing ploy to spotlight D'Ascanio's restored estate on Lake Garda, Il Piacere del Vecchio, The Pleasures of an Old Man.  Celia enjoys a love/hate relationship with the infamous actress.  Her feckless mother gave her the actress' name on a whim.  As such, modern Celia refers to her namesake as Celia the First. 

Modern Celia arrives in Venice with acclaimed director and surrogate father Rupert.  They soak up the local sights which influenced D'Ascanio during the Great War.  Venice is also where D'Ascanio met Celia the First.  As Celia considers how their romance blossomed along the canals, Kearsley plants the seeds of the coming mystery. 

The story moves to Lake Garda, where cast and crew meet their host, Alessandro.  Half Italian, half English, he asks them to call him Alex but remains distant from his guests.  The cast begin rehearsals in the estate's ballroom while Alex overseas the theater's renovations.  As storms roll in, Gothic elements seep into the story with missing servants, ghost sightings, and clandestine meetings. The mysterious events only intrigue the merry band of actors.  Like true thespians, they immerse themselves in the poet's life by admiring his objects de art, including a chalice stolen by the Fourth Crusade's sacking of Constantinople.  They discover secrets about the celebrated poet, his muse,  and even themselves.

The absence of today's technology enabled the characters to engage in the lost art of innocent pleasures, such as an afternoon drink on the terrace, lively debate at the dinner table, and reading classics found in the poet's library. Kearsley weaves the stories of Sophocles, the Fourth Crusade, and the Great War into the plot as conversations topics, inspiring the actors to reflect on their own lives. 

Recommended read for fans of historical fiction, modern Gothic romance, and Italian culture. 

Conquest Of Constantinople By The Crusaders In 1204
Public Domain (link) 

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  What do you know about Venice, Lake Garda, and/or Italia?  

As I learned from SEASON OF STORMS, the Fourth Crusade to Jerusalem stopped in Venice for provisions.  After a series of political manipulation, the Crusaders joined the Venetians in sacking Constantinople, creating the Great Schism between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Eight hundred years later, Pope John Paul II apologized, 

"It is tragic that the assailants, who set out to secure free access for Christians to the Holy Land, turned against their brothers in the faith. The fact that they were Latin Christians fills Catholics with deep regret."  

Yes, I love history!

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, July 18, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, July 19.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Check out my review of Susanna's other modern Gothic novels, THE SPLENDOR FALLS (link) and THE SHADOWY HORSES (link).