Skin and Bone by Keary Taylor Book Blitz and Giveaway! @kearytaylor @XpressoTours

Skin and Bone
Keary Taylor
Publication date: November 12th 2019
Genres: Adult, Romance, Suspense

I’d do anything for him, even become the woman he loves…
HER
I tried my best for years, but all he ever wanted was for her to come back. So bit-by-bit, I evolved, transforming into someone he could love. But he didn’t take the bait until I went all the way.
I became her.
Now everything is perfect. We’re happy. So in love. And he doesn’t suspect a thing.
SAWYER
Someone claiming my name sent me a video. It looks to be me, returning to my hometown, reconnecting with my high school boyfriend, Ezra. Those are my clothes, that’s my laugh, and that’s my face.
She took my freedom next. And then she made me watch as she took over my entire life, fooling everyone like a perfect chameleon. It’s clear what she wants, and Ezra is all too quick to take me back.
Only one person seems to notice something is off. Ezra’s brother, Davis—the last person I called. There’s a certain darkness in Davis’ eyes, and he’s not the type to let up until he gets his answers.
Somehow, I’ll make her pay. This imposter is going to regret the day she ever took the name Sawyer James.

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—

EXCERPT:

Chapter 1

Eight surgeries, twelve hair dye experiments, 1,834 hours of video observation, two years of yoga practice to try to make up that extra inch of height, and the public loss of gluten.
That’s what I’ve gone through for love. That’s everything I’ve given up–all the money I’ve spent, all the hours I’ve invested–to finally be with the man I’ve loved for more than a decade.
They say nothing worth having comes easy.
Everything comes with a price.
I’ve paid my dues. I’ve been more patient than anyone could ever comprehend.
And now it’s finally my time.
I step from the closet into the bathroom. I check my makeup. What the surgeries couldn’t accomplish is made up for with some well-practiced cosmetic techniques. The contour is just right. The eyebrow lift did exactly what was needed. My jaw is still sore, even though all of the swelling and bruising has finally gone away.
But as I apply a coat of lipstick—Apple Sunrise, her default color—I smile at myself.
Even my teeth required altering. Thirty-five thousand dollars, and they look just right; are just the right shade of white.
It’s perfect.
I’m perfect.
I am my own creation and I have to admire my hard work.
It’s brilliant.
I press my lips together, blowing my own reflection a kiss, and step out of the bathroom. I cut through the nearly empty bedroom and aim for the dining room. My laptop sits on it, a cheap piece of technology, because after today, it’s going in the crusher of the cement company down the road.
Can’t leave any evidence behind.
Which is tragic, because really, this amounts to the same amount of work as a doctoral degree.
It’s okay though. I’ll take the loss, so long as it gets me the prize, the reward for all my hard work.
I open the web browser and sign into my email.
iamsawyerjames@gmail.com
Just seeing the signature at the top of the page feels good. My insides flutter in excitement. Goosebumps wash over my skin.
Sawyer James at IMT Homes, I type in the address. I attach just one file and leave the body of the email empty. In the subject line, I type It was never really about you.
But that’s a lie. She may not be my main target, my main motivation, but there are fourteen years’ worth of resentment that brought us to this point.
My gaze re-focuses on the screen, and once more, I see my reflection.
Perfect, soft blonde hair. Blue eyes that border on green, thanks to contacts that are purely for color, not prescription.
A pretty face with hope in her eyes.
Here we are. One last out before it all goes down.
One last opportunity to change my mind.
I see myself smile in the screen.
Not a chance. I’ve worked too hard for this.
I press SEND and smile.

Author Bio:
Keary Taylor is the USA TODAY bestselling author of over twenty novels. She grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now splits her time between a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest and Utah, with her husband and their two children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Tell Me No Lies: A Lady Dunbridge Novel by Shelley Noble Book Tour and Giveaway!

Tell Me No Lies: A Lady Dunbridge Novel by Shelley Noble

 About Tell Me No Lies

 

Tell Me No Lies: A Lady Dunbridge Novel

Historical Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series

Forge Books (November 5, 2019) 

Hardcover: 368 pages 

ISBN-10: 0765398745 

ISBN-13: 978-0765398741

Kindle ASIN: B07LF6FR2L

Miss Fisher meets Downton Abbey in Tell Me No Lies, part of the critically acclaimed Lady Dunbridge Mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Shelley Noble.

Rise and shine, Countess, you’re about to have a visitor.

Lady Dunbridge was not about to let a little thing like the death of her husband ruin her social life. She’s come to New York City, ready to take the dazzling world of Gilded Age Manhattan by storm. The social events of the summer have been amusing but Lady Phil is searching for more excitement---and she finds it, when an early morning visitor arrives, begging for her help. After all, Lady Phil has been known to be useful in a crisis. Especially when the crisis involves the untimely death of a handsome young business tycoon.

His death could send another financial panic through Wall Street and beyond.

With the elegant Plaza Hotel, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the opulent mansions of Long Island’s Gold Coast as the backdrop, romance, murder, and scandals abound. Someone simply must do something. And Lady Dunbridge is happy to oblige.

About Shelley Noble

 

  Shelley Noble is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary women’s fiction. (Beach Colors, Whisper Beach, Lighthouse Beach.) And the author of the Lady Dunbridge Gilded Age Manhattan mysteries. Tell Me No Lies is the latest of the series. She has written eighteen amateur sleuth and historical mystery novels and novellas as Shelley Freydont. (The Sudoku Murders, Celebration Bay mysteries, The Gilded Age Newport mysteries. A former professional dancer and choreographer, Shelley lives at the Jersey shore where she loves to discover new beaches and indulge her passion for lighthouses, vintage carousels, and the past. 

Author Links 
Website https://www.shelleynoble.com 
FB https://www.facebook.com/ShelleyNobleAuthor 
Twitter https://twitter.com/ShelleyNoble3
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/shelleynobleauthor/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5560617.Shelley_Noble 

Purchase Links - 
Amazon - B&N - Kobo

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS

November 4 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT

November 4 – Reading Reality – REVIEW

November 5 – Elizabeth McKenna - Author – SPOTLIGHT

November 5 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

November 6 – Here's How It Happened – GUEST POST

November 6 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT

November 7 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW

November 7 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT - Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

November 7 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

November 8 – Reading Is My SuperPower – GUEST POST

November 8 – Diary of a Book Fiend – REVIEW

November 8 – Laura's Interests – SPOTLIGHT

November 9 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

November 9 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog - CHARACTER INTERVIEW

November 10 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW

November 10 – My Reading Journeys – SPOTLIGHT

November 11 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

November 11 – The Ninja Librarian – REVIEW

November 12 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW

November 12 – A Chick Who Reads – REVIEW

November 13 – I Read What You Write – CHARACTER GUEST POST

November 13 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT

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The Art of Taking It Easy by Dr. Brian King Book Spotlight Tour! @drbrianking

Book Details:

Book Title: The Art of Taking It Easy by Dr. Brian King
Category:  Adult Non-Fiction (18+)
Genre:  Literary/Self-Help/Humor
Publisher:  Apollo Publishers
Release date:  October 2019
Content Rating: PG-13+

Book Description: 

Psychologist and Comedian King explores the science behind stress in this witty, informed guide. The author uses a bevy of running jokes and punch lines to enliven technical explanations for how and why people experience stress. His metaphors of coming across a bear in the wild as well as being stuck in traffic are also used to great effect to explain a variety of stress responses, such as perceiving a threat and feelings of powerlessness. Reframing thoughts plays a large role in King's advice: Stress is simply a reaction to a perception of threat being able to consciously redirect choices made by other areas of the brain is the key to living a less stressful existence. He also provides breathing exercises, plants for painting physical health and useful advice for setting attainable goals. King's enjoyable guide to living with less will be of help to any anxious reader.

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Read an Excerpt

Having Goals And Making Plans (pages 87 – 90) – Art of Taking It Easy: How To Cope With Bears, Traffic, And The Rest Of Life’s Stressors 

By Dr. Brian King

As long as I can remember, I have always been less affected by stress than those around me. I remember keeping calm in cars full of screaming kids, not getting worked up over setbacks, and just keeping my cool in situations that others seemed to lose it. I remember first learning the definition of “lackadaisical” when a teacher used it to describe my apparent lack of worry about something that was most likely, really, really important. For what it was worth, I always seemed to share my outlook with others whenever possible. 

For example, when I was in college at the University of Texas at Austin I went to the campus store to buy a new computer. Upon learning my name, the student technician that was assisting me said “Brian King? I once worked with a guy named Brian King.” We figured out that at one point a few years earlier, we were both working at the same Taco Bell location. I didn’t remember him, but he clearly knew who I was. 

Have you ever worked fast food? I spent my first few years out of high school working wherever I could. I stuffed tacos and burritos, flipped and flame-broiled burgers, I even cooked and delivered pizzas. Generally speaking, fast food can be extremely stressful. The pace is relentless, there is almost always a line of customers inside the store and in drive- through and all expect fast service. When things slowed down, management pressured us to look busy even if we weren’t. It was not unusual for me to be pushing a broom across a perfectly clean floor because there was literally nothing else to do. Not to mention that all of this activity was typically carried out in a steamy hot kitchen while wearing some form of polyester uniform. I made $3.35 an hour and was grateful for it. Not a lot of doors swing wide open for high school dropouts. I worked with an interesting assortment of retirees, ex- convicts, current convicts on work release, or general unemployables and occasionally there was a high school or college student. The computer technician was one of those students. 

As he was going over the details of my new computer, the technician told me that the reason he remembered my name was because of something I had said to him. One day, during a particularly tough shift he was feeling a bit overwhelmed balancing work with school. Apparently, I said something like “Don’t worry about it, it is just Taco Bell” and reminded him to keep his eyes on the bigger picture, like that sweet student technician job waiting for him in the near future. Honestly, I have no idea what I said to him after “it’s just Taco Bell” but whatever I said worked and stuck in this guys head long enough that he thanked me for my advice years later. 

Yeah, those jobs were stressful. School was stressful. Hell, life was stressful. At one point during this period of my life, I was essentially homeless. I slept bottom bunk with my best friend above me at his family’s trailer in the country. The few belongings I had were stored in another friend’s garage. I worked a series of low-wage jobs and 

took classes at the community college, but I never let it get to me. I find it funny that when I meet people now, they know me as an educated comedian/speaker with a loving partner and an incredible kid. When I talk about handling stress, it’s because I have handled some stress. 

This is how resilient people approach life, and the problems they encounter they see their problems or adverse events as temporary and or solvable. That was definitely the case for me in my early college years, I felt that my situation was temporary and under control. And it WAS! 

About the Author:

DR. BRIAN KING trained as a neuroscientist and psychologist and for the past decade has traveled the world as a comedian and public speaker. By day he conducts seminars, attended by thousands of people each year around the US and internationally, on positive psychology, the health benefits of humor, and stress management. By night he practices what he teaches in comedy clubs, and is the founder and producer of the highly reviewed Wharf Room comedy show in San Francisco. Dr. Brian holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, a master’s degree from the University of New Orleans, and a PhD in neuroscience from Bowling Green State University. Hailing from New York and living in dozens of cities throughout the US as the child of a military family, today spends his life on the road with his partner, Sarah, and their young daughter.
Connect with the Author:
Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram 

Murder at First Pitch: Ball Park Mysteries by Nicole Asselin Book Tour and Giveaway!

Murder at First Pitch: Ball Park Mysteries by Nicole Asselin

About Murder at First Pitch

 

Murder at First Pitch: Ball Park Mysteries 

Cozy Mystery 1st in Series 

Pandamoon Publishing (September 4, 2019)

Paperback: 188 pages 

ISBN-10: 1950627217

ISBN-13: 978-1950627219

Digital ASIN: B07TDGL668

32-year-old Madeline Boucher’s Grandfather instilled a love in the Boston Red Sox into her from an early age and increased that love by purchasing a local Independent League Baseball team, the Abington Armadillos.

After losing her corporate job in Boston, Madeline realizes her best option is to join the family baseball business. As the new “Social Media Director” for the team, Madeline attends her first business function and witnesses an argument between her brother Ben, and a strange man.

A few days later when walking the ballpark during her early morning hours, she finds the body of a man beaten to death with a baseball bat in the Visitor’s Dugout. It was the man her brother was arguing with at the party. Madeline is concerned that her brother would be considered a suspect. Through the local Detectives and Davis - the head of security for the ballpark she learns the victim is Christopher Dailey, a local baseball scout and prior felon.

When her brother is arrested and taken to the police station, she realizes she needs to figure out who the real culprit is, so her brother doesn’t take the fall for something she knows he didn’t do.

About Nicole Asselin

Nicole Asselin grew up a Navy Brat, and spent her formative high school years in the middle of Pennsylvania but always identified with her New England roots. Nicole's family is originally from Connecticut, and her Grandpa Asselin introduced her into the Red Sox nation where she has been a member for her whole life and her Grandma Asselin introduced her to the world of mystery novels.

Nicole graduated from Curry College in Milton Mass with a degree in English/Creative Writing, minoring in Dance in 2004. She also attended George Mason University and received a Master's in Arts Management... Now working just outside of Boston as a Technical Writer, she lives on the South Shore of Massachusetts with her three cats Julia, Jacques, and Madeline (no relation to the main character of her book).

Nicole is a current member of Sisters in Crime (National and New England) and the Mystery Writers of America. She sits on the Board of Directors for the NE branches of both groups as Social Media Liaison.

Author Links 
  Website - https://Nicoleasselinwriter.com 
  Twitter - @nanazlyn 
  Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nasselin 
  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19339211.Nicole_Asselin 
  Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nanazlyn/ 

  Purchase Link - Amazon 

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS

November 1 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

November 1 – StoreyBook Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST

November 2 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

November 2 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

November 3 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

November 3 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

November 4 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

November 5 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews   – SPOTLIGHT

November 6 – Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST

November 7 – Mysteries with Character – GUEST POST

November 8 – I Read What You Write – SPOTLIGHT

November 8 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

November 9 – Diane Reviews Books – GUEST POST

November 10 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW

November 10 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

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The Defender by Rachel Rossano Book Tour and Giveaway!

New roles. New rules. No margin for error.

Zezilia Ilar joins the sept son’s entourage as a defender. Her growing Talent ability makes her a target for the Elitists, and her gender makes people question her competence. She must protect the sept son. Any mistake could be fatal.

Hadrian Aleron always knew his beliefs would cause trouble, but he didn’t realize how much. Rebels are rising. He could lose his title, his position, and if he’s not careful, his life. As the assassination attempts grow bolder, Hadrian must rely upon his young defender and their shared faith in the Almighty to keep him from faltering.

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Rachel Rossano lives with her husband and three children in the northeastern part of the United States. Homeschooled through high school, she began writing her early teens. She didn’t become serious about pursuing a career as an author until after she had graduated from college and happily married. Then the children came.

Now she spends her days being a wife, mother, teacher, and household manager. Her evenings and free moments are devoted to her other loves, writing and book cover design. Drawing on a lifelong fascination with reading and history, she spends hours creating historical feeling fantasy worlds and populating them with characters who live and breathe on the page.

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Snippet #2

Zezilia

I fought them the whole way. At least one of the young men limped away with a nasty bruise on his shin, and two had teeth marks on their hands. After the second yelped and withdrew his hand, a sweaty-smelling scrap of wool was stuffed in my mouth instead. They dragged me backwards into a dark room, and the door closed behind us with a final thump. Before I could catch my balance, they released me and let me fall to my knees blind and bewildered. I didn’t dare touch my amoveo now that I was obviously being targeted. The men might be in league with the strange man in the Council Hall. Now that I was unhindered, I spat out the rag and peered into the darkness.

“You always were such a pest, Zez.” Vander, one of my elder brothers, lit a lamp, bathing the small storeroom in a meager glow. “Why couldn’t you have come quietly?”

“If I had known I was coming to speak to you, I wouldn’t have protested,” I replied. “The method of my invitation was a bit hostile.”

I scanned the room as I slowly rose to my feet. The lack of windows was hardly surprising. Pressing in on my right and left were towering shelves full of towels, bedding, and pillows. In the shadow of Vander’s solid form, a second door beckoned invitingly. If I could just get past him, I had a hope of getting free.

He grunted. “We had to get you away from the stick-in-the-mud of a sept son without him knowing. Father wants to speak with you, and his exaltedness has made it clear that he will not make you available. So, we had to use other means.”

“You could have at least told me where you were taking me,” I pointed out. Even if Vander had asked, I wouldn’t have come, but it was point worth making just the same. 

“I did tell you.” He laughed jeeringly then. “For all that hype about your abilities, you missed my sending from only inches away. Tsk, tsk. Not all that you are supposed to be, are you?”

I almost opened my mouth to explain that I had ConPropped, and my Talent was blind, but I stopped in time.

Snippet #4

Hadrian

It took three days to walk Zez through the steps of permanent defense raising to the extent where I felt she understood and could attempt her first. Part of my unease came from the fact Neleck had given me weeks of exercises, lectures, and study before he allowed me to try my first. We didn’t have weeks. We had days and too few for what we were trying to accomplish. I did take comfort in the fact Zez was my confidant again. Unlike Korneli, she didn’t pester. She also didn’t lecture like Errol. She simply listened, asked questions, and gave me her honest opinion. It was refreshing after two days of being on my own. Korneli was, unfortunately, right. She was already entrenched in my life and stress whether I liked it or not.

Her dark grey eyes were framed by constant dark smudges from lack of sleep. The smile that could brighten my moods came out less often, and when it did, it only glimmered in a pale reflection of its previous shine. She still had her spirit. It would appear at moments when I least expected it. A gesture or facial expression would remind me of the child I had met years ago in the high king’s gardens.

“Am I doing something wrong?” she asked, flooding my mouth with the taste of mint.

“No, you are doing just fine.” I quickly averted me eyes from my study of her face. “I am sorry.  I just haven’t been sleeping, and I tend to stare into space as my brain wanders.”

She nodded. “So, are you ready?”

I glanced around us. The moonlight was so strong that I could clearly locate all of our party scattered around our resting place. We would be starting our nightly journey any minute, but not until I gave the signal. I sent a warning that we were not to be disturbed to Renato and Korneli and then turned my attention back to Zez. “Not really, but I doubt I ever will be.” 

She smiled. “I am going to begin.” Closing her eyes, she withdrew into her mind. I carefully watched her progress with only my eyes.

It was strange how out of practice I had become at observing people with just my normal senses. Perhaps it was because I used my Talent-senses constantly and was hardly ever without them. Either way, I quickly became frustrated just scrutinizing Zez’s facial features. They gave away nothing about what was happening beneath them within her mind and heart.

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The Seventh Flag by Sid Balman Jr. Book Review! @SIDBALMAN

The Book

The US and Europe have unraveled since World War II and radicalism has metastasized into every community, tearing away the decency, optimism, and security that shaped those robust democracies for more than eight decades. No place is immune, including the small West Texas town of Dell City, where four generations of an iconic American family and a Syrian Muslim family carve a farming empire out of the unforgiving high desert. 

These families' partnership is as unlikely as the idea of a United States, and their powerful friendship can be traced back to a bloody knife fight in a Juarez cantina just after World War II. The bond forged that night between Jack Laws, an Irish American who staked his claim in West Texas after the war, and Ali Zarkan, whose great-grandfather sailed from the Middle East to Texas in the mid-1800s as part of President Franklin Pierce's attempt to create the US Army Camel Corps, shapes each generation of the families as they come of age and adapt to shifting paradigms of gender, commerce, patriotism, loyalty, religion, and sexuality.

From the beaches of the Western Pacific to the battlefields of the Middle East and from the lawless streets of Juarez to the darkest corners of the Internet, the two families fight real and perceived enemies--journeying, as they do, through the football fields of Texas and West Point, the hippie playgrounds of Asia, the music halls of Austin, the terrorist cells of Europe and the political backrooms where fortunes are gained or lost over the rights to Western water. 
Underlying their experiences is the basic question of what constitutes identity and citizenship in America, or in Texas, land over which six flags have flown. The seventh flag, ultimately, is not one of a state or a nation, but of a mosaic of cultures, religions, and people from every corner of the world--all struggling to define what it means to be unified under an ambiguous banner.
The Author

Sid Balman Jr., a Pulitzer-nominated national security correspondent, has covered wars in the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo, and has traveled extensively with two American presidents and four secretaries of state on overseas diplomatic missions.
He moved into the business side of communications, where for over two decades he helped found a news syndicate focused on the interests of women and girls, served as communications chief for the largest consortium of U.S. international development organizations, led two successful progressive campaigning companies, and launched a new division at a large international development firm centered on violent radicalism and other security issues on behalf of governments and nonprofits. 
A fourth-generation Texan, as well as a climber, surfer, paddler, and benefactor to Smith College, Balman lives in Washington DC with his wife, three kids, and two dogs. Keep up with Balman at www.sidbalman.com.
The Review
The Seventh Flag by Sid Balman Jr is one of those books about family dynamics that catches you right from the beginning. It took me a little longer to read than normal, not because it was boring, but because I really wanted to digest the story instead of skimming over the words.

What is the seventh flag?

"The seventh flag, ultimately, is not one of a state or a nation, but of a mosaic of cultures, religions, and people from every corner of the world--all struggling to define what it means to be unified under an ambiguous banner." 

This book is a work of fiction but seems like a biographical take on two families the Laws and the Zarkans, one Texan American and the other a Texan Muslim family that would seem like an unlikely friendship but it was. It started after WWII to the present. A huge cast of characters on both sides of the family that takes the reader into the taboos of one culture and the proudness of another. 

A lot of topics are covered, the Texas Water Wars, the U.S.Army Camel Corps, the evolution of division and radicalization with one family member becoming a leader in ISIS. 

What the reader should come away with is the diversity that makes America and that we don't have to fight, we can get along if we chose to. It starts with each and every one of us. I think that everyone should read this book. At times a love story, but also a learning experience. I learned a lot about Texas and ISIS and recruitment and the people that are targeted for entry into this terrorist organization. An epic family novel! Reminds me of books that I read back in the '80s/90s, the huge books that were all about families. This one is not huge and it doesn't need to be to be a great story 

A great story and I highly recommend it!

I received a copy of this book for review purposes.