Review: 100 Slopes of a Lifetime by Gordy Megroz

Inspired from his love of skiing, blended with the expertise of a wide range of professional experts and professional skiers, 100 Slopes of a Lifetime is the perfect book for those who not only love to ski but for those wanting to go but need some guidance. Filled with beautiful photographs and insightful travel information, you get to experience first hand a comprehensive book with the prospective skier in mind.

One of the highlights was the foreword from Lindsey Vonn. Just alone being one of the best female skiers takes me back to her journey. That was a nice way to start the book. The book is divided into Intermediate, Advanced, Expert and Cross Country. The book covers the 100 unique experiences of the best slopes around the world. Some of them you may be familiar with, some no and others you might have never known existed. You learn insights on their history and cultures of the slopes. You also get information on where to go, stay, alternate routes, where to eat and things to know before you go.

Overall, this was a wonderful book for those interested in skiing. It really makes you want to get your gear on and get out there and explore. For those who have a passion that matches the author or have been curious on ideas or want to take their first trip, grab yourself a copy.

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Review: Ghosted by J.M. Darhower

A new second chance romance standalone from USA Today bestselling author J.M. Darhower.

He's a troubled young actor, Hollywood's newest heartthrob, struggling with fame as the star of the latest superhero franchise. Through scandal after scandal, addiction on top of addiction, a flurry of paparazzi hunt him as he fights to conquer his demons.

She's a single mother, assistant manager at a grocery store, existing in monotony with her five-year-old daughter. Every day when she goes to work, lurid tabloids surround her, the face of a notorious bad boy haunting her from their covers.

A man and a woman, living vastly different lives, but that wasn't always the case. Once, they were just a boy and a girl who bonded over comic books and fell in love unexpectedly.

When Kennedy Garfield met Jonathan Cunningham back in high school, she knew he had all the makings of a tragic hero. With stars in his eyes, and her heart on her sleeve, the pair ran away together to follow their dreams.

But dreams, sometimes, turn into nightmares.

Now, years later, the only thing they share is a daughter—one who has no idea her father plays her favorite superhero. But Jonathan is desperate to make amends, and at the top of his list is the woman who gave up everything for him and the little girl he hasn't yet met.-

Review

I feel like I’ve seen this cover multiple times, and I’ve always thought it was a paranormal story. Oh, how wrong was I. This is a story about addiction, parenthood, and second chance romance.

Kennedy and Jonathan met when they were younger and had this almost instant connection. Around their high school graduation, they left their small town together and headed away to follow their dreams. It’s never an easy journey when following dreams, and somewhere along the way they lost each other. Kennedy returned home-- pregnant, and Jonathan eventually made it big. And due to his addiction, Jonathan didn’t have a relationship with his young daughter.

It was hard for me to put Ghosted down. I was emotionally invested in this story. It had all the feels. And I was rooting so hard for Jonathan and Kennedy. These are two people who needed to be together. And yes, they had tried once and everything got messed up and complicated. However, once Jonathan came back into town, he was committed to showing her he was a changed man. He never stopped loving Kennedy, and he was 100% sober and ready to be a dad. And of course, Kennedy had every right to be hesitant. She had Maddie, and she had to do what was best for her.

Kennedy was such a strong character and relatable. She always put her daughter first, and she wanted to give her daughter the best possible life available. At one point in the book, Kennedy mentioned that Maddie’s smile is what kept her going and reminded her that she was doing okay. And I believed that. Maddie was a ray of sunshine and an adorable kid.

Jonathan was a great character as well. Yes, he had is demons and left Kennedy to be a single mother. But he didn’t want his daughter to live with an addict as a father. And he obeyed Kennedy’s wishes. And once he finally was clean, he did everything in his power to not disappoint them again.

Final Analysis

Ghosted was an emotional story about addiction and second chance romance. 

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Review: The Cartographer's Secret by Tea Cooper

The Cartographer's Secret was a beautiful dual timeline story placing the reader back in the late 1800s through early 1900s Australia. Blending elements of historical facts with fiction, we are swept away with a novel that chronicles a young woman determined to the mend a family mystery that has affect them for thirty years.

Meet Evie Ludgrove. She loves her father. His interest in exploration rubbed off on her. As his life became consumed with the mystery surrounding an explorer. When an opportunity came with a cash reward for anyone who could prove what happened to him, Evie knew she had everything she needed to take on the task. Thinking how much the money would help her family and make her father proud, she secretly planned to go on this mission. Upon her journey, she was never seen again, leaving unanswered questions to where and what happened.

Let me introduce, Letitia Rawlings. She is on the cusp of uncertainty after the death of her brother. Dealing with his death and her mother's dominance of planning her future, she is looking for a way to escape the weight of the world of her life. When the opportunity to visit her great aunt about the inheritance of her brother arises, she proposes to take the task on and embraces the chance to take a escape for a bit of time. Upon meeting her aunt Olivia, she begins to question everything she has been told from her mother. As she gets settled into her home, she stumbles upon a map that leads to the discovery of secrets revolving her family. Determined to find out the truth, sets on a journey to try and trace the past to mend a torn apart family for the future.

When you have the opportunity to immerse yourself in one of Tea Copper's novels, you truly are in for a wonderful experience. As always, her beautiful writing takes you away to another time and her characters are memorable and unforgettable. What I loved about this book is the strength and resilience of the female characters in the book. Each woman brought age, experience and the overcoming of obstacles thrown their way to become who they were.

The pace of the book was comfortable. The anticipated buildup from the layered plot unraveling itself allowed the reader to fall in love with the family, history and secrets. The book came together nicely and you will be satisfied in the ending. This was another wonderful addition to her books. If you are fan, make sure you add this to your list. If aren't but love historical fiction, I'd recommend checking this out.

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Review: Walk of Shame (Love Unexpectedly #4) by Lauren Layne

USA TODAY BESTSELLER • Sparks fly between a misunderstood New York socialite and a cynical divorce lawyer in this lively standalone rom-com from the author of Blurred Lines and Love Story.

Pampered heiress Georgianna Watkins has a party-girl image to maintain, but all the shopping and clubbing is starting to feel a little bit hollow—and a whole lot lonely. Though Georgie would never admit it, the highlights of her week are the mornings when she comes home at the same time as her uptight, workaholic neighbor is leaving to hit the gym and put in a long day at the office. Teasing him is the most fun Georgie’s had in years—and the fuel for all her naughtiest daydreams.

Celebrity divorce attorney Andrew Mulroney doesn’t have much time for women, especially spoiled tabloid princesses who spend more time on Page Six than at an actual job. Although Georgie’s drop-dead gorgeous, she’s also everything Andrew resents: the type of girl who inherited her penthouse instead of earning it. But after Andrew caps one of their predawn sparring sessions with a surprise kiss—a kiss that’s caught on camera—all of Manhattan is gossiping about whether they’re a real couple. And nobody’s more surprised than Andrew to find that the answer just might be yes. -

The entire time I was reading this, I kept praying that it wouldn’t end. I was having a good time. It’s fun. It’s romantic. It’s an overall good time. This is the fourth or fifth book that I have read by Lauren Layne and she knows how to write a stellar romantic comedy.

Like mentioned previously, this felt like a rom com that you watch in the movies and can’t help but grim all the way through it. I enjoyed both Georgie and Andrew. And I loved their banter and their interactions. Both of these characters are complete opposites, but despite that it works. Georgie is a fun hopeless romantic. And Andrew is a serious divorce attorney. They contrasted each other very well.

Almost every morning at 5am, they would run into each other at their apartment entrance. Georgie, carrying donuts, would be coming home from partying all night. While Andrew would be on his way to work. Every one of those interactions were gold, and the chemistry was off the chart.

There is something about this book that screams comfort. There are some angsty subjects mentioned; however, those aspects played more a background role. Georgie was a natural sunny person, and I think that helped a lot. 

Final Analysis

Walk of Shame is a perfectly fun rom-com that will have you wanting more. 

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Review: Lost Cities, Ancient Tombs: 100 Discoveries That Changed the World

Summary

Blending high adventure with history, this chronicle of 100 astonishing discoveries from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the fabulous “Lost City of the Monkey God” tells incredible stories of how explorers and archaeologists have uncovered the clues that illuminate our past.

Archaeology is the key that unlocks our deepest history. Ruined cities, golden treasures, cryptic inscriptions, and ornate tombs have been found across the world, and yet these artifacts of ages past often raised more questions than answers. But with the emergence of archaeology as a scientific discipline in the 19th century, everything changed.

Illustrated with dazzling photographs, this enlightening narrative tells the story of human civilization through 100 key expeditions, spanning six continents and more than three million years of history. Each account relies on firsthand reports from explorers, antiquarians, and scientists as they crack secret codes, evade looters and political suppression, fall in love, commit a litany of blunders, and uncover ancient curses.

Pivotal discoveries include:

• King Tut’s tomb of treasure
• Terracotta warriors escorting China’s first emperor into the afterlife
• The glorious Anglo-Saxon treasure of Sutton-Hoo
• Graves of the Scythians, the real Amazon warrior women
• New findings on the grim fate of the colonists of Jamestown

With a foreword from bestselling author Douglas Preston, Lost Cities, Ancient Tombs is an expertly curated and breath-taking panorama of the human journey.

Review

If you love history such as myself, than you will appreciate this book. There are so many moments in history that stand out in my mind but this book captures 100 significant moments that changed our world. In many instances, we always get certain moments that people talk about on repeat as the big moments. What I really loved about this book is that it looked from a global perspective and brought together significant moments from around the world that I'm sure many people never heard about.

From my curiosity of history, I thought I knew a substantial amount of information but this opened so much me for me to explore. This book will definitely inspire further reading and investigation on some of these discoveries because they are just so interesting. The gorgeous pictures bring you into their world. I appreciate greatly the detail of chronicling the events because it allows you to learn when it happened and how those moments affect history. I would love to see NG make a series based on this book. NG doesn't get the credit they deserve for these amazing books. The discovery of these ruins, tombs, relics and alike really give a voice to the past that need to be heard.

Overall, this was a fantastic read for my fellow history lovers out there. This will definitely pique your curiosity and hopefully inspire further reading. I would add this to your collection.

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Review: Last Stop on the 6 by Patricia Dunn

Summary

LAST STOP ON THE 6 is the return of the prodigal daughter to a world of long-buried hurts, political complexities, and female resilience. Dunn introduces characters of all possessing questions for which there are no easy answers - only the slow and steady re-awakenings of familial bonds and moral responsibility.

Angela Campanosi fled her home in the Italian-American enclave of Pelham Bay, the Bronx, after an accident left her brother, Jimmy, an up-and-coming actor, paralyzed. Now, ten years later, on the eve of Jimmy’s wedding, anti-war activist Angela returns home from LA to grapple with the guilt, secrets, and idiosyncrasies that make family, family. What could possibly go wrong?

For starters, the groom has disappeared, leaving behind only a cryptic note and his rotating collection of plastic patron saints on his nightstand. Angela’s asthmatic mother insists on keeping Jimmy’s fiancée in the dark; her father, three years sober, goes on a bender; Angela’s ex-boyfriend has taken over running the family exterminating business; and her stepfather just wants to feed everyone, even vegetarian Angela, some of his meat gravy.

Angela embarks on a search for Jimmy through the old neighborhood, discovering in the process that our perceptions about people—even ourselves—can be wrong, and that family is something far more potent than blood.

Set against the backdrop of the Gulf War and the millions of people who filled the streets in protest (reminiscent of today’s activism), LAST STOP ON THE 6 is a hilarious, subversive, deeply moving tale.

Review

Last Stop on the 6 introduces readers to Angela Campanosi. First impressions might be cliche but this tough born and raised Italian American represents everything a native New York would be proud of.

After an accident leaves her brother paralyzed, running away from guilt and her past, Angela finds herself at an emotional crossroads when he is given a one way to come home. Fast forward, the day of reckoning comes when she finds out her brother is getting married. Angela returns to her past, facing hardships with pain dealing with the secrets of her past, unsettled familial angst and unspoken truths.

Just the title alone brings back memories of the area. For the time I lived in New Rochelle, I can remember taking the 6 all the way to where the setting of this book takes place. It's a reminiscent feeling when a setting can resonate with you. The author took me to a place that I recognized and can appreciate. One of the highlights of the book that I found endearing was the resilience of Angela. Her exterior may be tough but she has been through some things that have definitely made her stronger and shaped who she is.

Much of that strength came from the experiences of her past, her neighborhood and family. Her family definitely had its flaws like any other with some complicated obstacles thrown in the mix. The author created an authentic narrative that was honest, had moments filled with heart break, humor and showed the good, bad and ugly of what could be any family.

Forgiveness for yourself and for others can truly change a person's life. The relationship evolution of Angela and her brother and independently with her mother are two important narratives in the book that really dove deep for these characters. You feel the foundation of their family blended with the influence of the heart of the community. There's something special about books rooted from communities such as this. It has a different vibe and voice that commands your attention to be heard. Overall, I enjoyed the experience and thought it was a nice read.

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