Things I Never Told You

GIVEAWAY

VOGT, BETH K.
THINGS I NEVER TOLD YOU

It's been ten years since Payton Thatcher's twin sister died in an accident, forcing the entire family to cope in whatever ways they could. Now a lone twin, Payton reinvents herself as a partner in a successful party-planning business and is doing just fine -- as long as she manages to hold her memories and her family at arm's length.

But with the announcement of her middle sister Jillian's engagement, Payton's party planning skills are called into action. Which means working alongside Johanna, her opinionated oldest sister, who always seems ready for a fight. They can only hope a wedding might be just the occasion to heal the resentment and jealousy that divides them...until a frightening diagnosis threatens Jillian's plans for the future.

As old wounds reopen and the family faces the possibility of yet another tragedy, the Thatchers must decide if they will pull together or be driven apart for good.

My Review:

Lif'e's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they're supposed to help you discover who you are. (p 182)

But what happens if you're stuck in paralyzed mode and you don't know it? That's Payton, outwardly coping after the accidental death of her twin sister but she really isn't living. It's like she got stuck in time. And the things she's never told anyone are what's holding her back What an intensely moving story of loss and brokenness as a trio of sisters struggle to navigate their way towards a better future.

I hesitated a bit before picking this book out of my TBR pile. Mainly, I think, because it isn't my usual genre -- I mean, it's a well known fact that my romance loving heart loves, well, romance and this is a Women's Fiction selection. But I have loved Beth Vogt's contemporary romance novels so I threw caution to the wind and jumped genres and I am over-the-moon ecstatic over venturing out of my comfort zone! Because once I started reading Things I Never Told You I was hooked. This became the kind of 'savor and ponder' experience that touched me deeply...and more importantly, impacted my life in a profound way.

Three points of view -- Payton in first person, her sister Jillian and 'friend' Zach in third. (I put quotation marks around friend because he isn't in the beginning. Payton is quite hostile towards him.) Anyway, that unusual mash up of first person/ third person point of view actually works really well. Definitely made me feel like this is Payton's book even though Jillian has a compelling story to tell and gets her fair share of page time.

Zach is probably the most powerful secondary character I'v ever met in the pages of a book -- and the only Christian in Payton's sphere. The author uses him to bear a compelling witness to Payton when she questions him about his faith.

"Why do you believe in God, Zach?"

"... I realized that I needed God -- "

"Like a crutch --"

"No. Like the One who knows me best because He created me. The One who offers me more grace than I offer others...more grace than I offer myself. The One who forgave me of the things I still struggle to forgive myself for. That's why I believe in God, Payton." (p 385-6)

And, really, what more can I say, except that these characters and their stories will stay with you long after you close the book and file it away on your keeper shelf.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Things I Never Told You, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add your email to a comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday September 2 2018. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

Almost Like Being in Love

GIVEAWAY

VOGT, BETH K.
ALMOST LIKE BEING IN LOVE

From the author of Somebody Like You, a RITA finalist, and one of Publishers Weekly’s top ten books of 2014, comes the story of a woman who has everything for a perfect wedding—except the groom!

Winning an all-expenses paid Colorado destination wedding might seem like a dream come true for some people—but Caron Hollister and her boyfriend Alex Madison aren’t even engaged. How is she supposed to tell him she’s won their wedding and honeymoon when he hasn’t asked her to marry him? Being “perfect for one another” seems like the absolute best reason to get married. But what if their supposedly faultless relationship is merely a safe place to protect his secrets and a way to keep their families happy? After quitting her job, Caron accepts her best friend’s offer to visit Colorado. She needs to catch her breath. Who knows, maybe visiting the destination wedding site will make a future with Alex seem like a reality.

Kade Webster just landed the biggest deal of his life with his company, Webster Select Realty, participating in the Colorado Springs Tour of Homes. He never imagined he would run into the woman who broke his heart—Caron Hollister—right when his career is taking off. Seeing her again, Kade can’t help but wonder why Caron walked away from him years ago, leaving him with no explanation. When Kade learns his home stager won’t be able to help with the Tour of Homes, he vaults past all the reasons he should stay away from Caron, and offers her a temporary job helping him on the project. This time, their relationship is purely business.

Spending time with Kade has Caron questioning everything. The man intrigues her—at times infuriates her—and reminds her of what she lost. Has she been settling for what everyone expects of her? Just because others believe she and Alex are an ideal couple, does that mean they should get married? And how can Caron say “I do” to one man when she’s wondering “what if?” about another?  

My Review:

Wow -- I'm an emotional pretzel after reading this book! My tummy's in knots and my heart feels like it's been stretched inside out. But, hey, I'm an emotional reader so it's all good and I enjoy basking in the glow of a story well told...and this one certainly is!

First thing you need to know is...I hate love triangles. Second -- I didn't hate this love triangle! It's one of the reasons I feel like somebody's punching bag though. Because I fell for both Alex and Kade and I didn't want one of them to be left out in the cold. The author kept my romantical sensibilities on tenterhooks all the way through!

And that's because Vogt's characters are so relatable -- real people with real problems and hurts and the challenge of being forced out of their comfort zone. That's a common thread that binds Alex, Kade and Caron as they each face demons that need to be conquered.  Vogt has deftly woven these three lives together in a fascinating exploration of grace and hope.

A complex story about relationships and love and finding the courage to follow your heart.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

 If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of  Almost Like Being in Love please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday September  25 2016. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

GIVEAWAY

VOGT, BETH K.
CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE

Wedding bells and storm clouds collide in the first engaging novel in a brand-new series about destination weddings, the power of love, and the possible mishaps and missteps that happen on a couple’s journey down the aisle to “I do.”

Paramedic Vanessa Hollister has put her adolescence behind her, including the unwanted label of being the new kid in town over and over again, thanks to her father’s military career. She’s overcome what her mother called “the biggest mistake of her life” and is planning an elegant destination wedding in Destin, Florida with her new fiancé. But will the reappearance of her first husband from her what-were-you-thinking teenage elopement disrupt her dream of an idyllic beach wedding?

As a professional storm chaser, Logan Hollister is used to taking risks. However, a reckless decision during the last tornado season has him questioning the future of his team, the Stormmeisters. Coming face to face with his ex-wife eight years after their divorce compels him to confront his greatest regret: losing Vanessa. Does their past give him the right to interfere with her future?

A fast-moving, powerful hurricane throws Vanessa and Logan together as they evacuate to a storm shelter along with other residents of the Florida Gulf Coast. Forced to spend time together, the pair battles unexpected renewed feelings for each other.

Vanessa and Logan are faced with a choice: Should they accept, once and for all, their teenage marital mistake? Or is God offering them a second chance at happily ever after?

My Review:

Utterly compelling. Reader beware -- open this book and be prepared to lose all concept of time and place. You won't be able to shake yourself clear until you reach 'the end'.

Complicated pasts lead to complicated futures when an unexpected (and dramatic!) reunion with her ex-husband threatens all of Vanessa's carefully laid plans. The dynamics between the two leap off the page and the ensuing mayhem is both angsty and exhilarating.

Vogt teases her readers with enticing flashbacks of Vanessa and Logan's teenage romance. We can see how the vulnerability and inexperience of youth worked against them. But they are older and wiser now -- but oh so wary. There are some tender and poignant scenes where they both remember a good time, an inside joke, a pet name. Drawn together by sweet memories and torn apart by painful ones. An emotional roller coaster ride of epic proportions!

In fact, at one point,Vanessa laments how being with Logan is like "inhaling adrenaline" and that pretty much describes this reading experience. Inhaling adrenaline right to the very last page.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY

If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of Crazy Little Thing Called Love please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday August 30 2015. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!

Somebody Like You

GIVEAWAY

VOGT, BETH K.
SOMEBODY LIKE YOU

Can a young widow find love again with her husband’s reflection?Haley’s three-year marriage to Sam, an army medic, ends tragically when he’s killed in Afghanistan. Her attempts to create a new life for herself are ambushed when she arrives home one evening—and finds her husband waiting for her. Did the military make an unimaginable mistake when they told her Sam was killed?

Too late to make things right with his estranged twin brother, Stephen discovers Sam never told Haley about him. As Haley and Stephen navigate their fragile relation­ship, they are inexorably drawn to each other. How can they honor the memory of a man whose death brought them together—and whose ghost could drive them apart?

Somebody Like You is a beautifully rendered, affecting novel, reminding us that while we can’t change the past, we have the choice to change the future and start anew.

My Review:

Oh my goodness, but I loved this book! There is such depth and dimension to the story I don't know where to start my review.

Loved both Haley and Stephen. Realistically flawed -- both a product of their upbringing. I really like how Vogt explored the impact of that and how it helped carve out their identities. I could understand so clearly why they each reacted the way they did. That brought such depth to their characters and created a solid platform for the romance.

Loved Haley's snarky wit, Stephen's thoughtful steadfastness. How opposite they were and yet each met a deeper need in the other. Theirs isn't an easy love story which makes the happily ever after ending super happily ever after, if you know what I mean. :-)

This is my first Vogt book, but it certainly won't be my last. She'll be on the top of my TBR pile from now on.


Giveaway Opportunity:

If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of Somebody Like You, please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday June 29 2014. Offer open to international readers. Good luck! 

With thanks to Howard Publishing for a review copy via Net Galley