Category: Books

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Dim Sum of All Fears (A Noodle Shop Mystery #2) by Vivien Chien

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Review: Dim Sum of All Fears (A Noodle Shop Mystery #2) by Vivien Chien

Earlier this year I got in on the ground floor of this sweet and sour mystery series and I loved it. The Noodle Shop Mysteries offer something on the exotic side when it comes to cozy mysteries as they have a distinct Asian flare—-if you couldn’t tell from the title!

What I love about Chien’s writing style is that she is to the point and brisk but not so brisk that she’s impersonal. This was just the light murder mystery that I needed as the summer days become shorter.

Welcome back to Ho-Lee Noodle House, where you can get fantastic take-out. . .unless you get taken out first.

Lana Lee is a dutiful daughter, waiting tables at her family’s Chinese restaurant even though she’d rather be doing just about anything else. Then, just when she has a chance for a “real” job, her parents take off to Taiwan, leaving Lana in charge. Surprising everyone―including herself―she turns out to be quite capable of running the place. Unfortunately, the newlyweds who just opened the souvenir store next door to Ho-Lee have turned up dead. . .and soon Lana finds herself in the midst of an Asia Village mystery. Continue reading “Review: Dim Sum of All Fears (A Noodle Shop Mystery #2) by Vivien Chien” →

Books, Giveaway, Reading

Giveaway: THE GUESTS ON SOUTH BATTERY by Karen White

by The Lit Bitch1 Comment on Giveaway: THE GUESTS ON SOUTH BATTERY by Karen White

Can I just start off by saying that I love Karen White’s books. She writes beautifully and I have had the Tadd Street books on my TBR for way way way too long. I didn’t want to start this series mid way but I did opt to do a giveaway since I know so many of my readers LOVE this series.

Karen White invites you to explore the brick-walked streets of Charleston in her fifth Tradd Street novel, where historic mansions house the memories of years gone by, and restless spirits refuse to fade away…

With her extended maternity leave at its end, Melanie Trenholm is less than thrilled to leave her new husband and beautiful twins to return to work, especially when she’s awoken by a phone call with no voice on the other end—and the uneasy feeling that the ghostly apparitions that have stayed silent for more than a year are about to invade her life once more.

But her return to the realty office goes better than she could have hoped, with a new client eager to sell the home she recently inherited on South Battery. Most would treasure living in one of the grandest old homes in the famous historic district of Charleston, but Jayne Smith would rather sell hers as soon as possible, guaranteeing Melanie a quick commission.

Despite her stroke of luck, Melanie can’t deny that spirits—both malevolent and benign—have started to show themselves to her again. One is shrouded from sight, but appears whenever Jayne is near. Another arrives when an old cistern is discovered in Melanie’s backyard on Tradd Street.

Melanie knows nothing good can come from unearthing the past. But some secrets refuse to stay buried.

Giveaway runs 8/27/18-9/2/18

A winner will be announced 9/3/18

(how to enter)

On this blog you must leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway.  Your comment MUST include your email so I can contact you….if you do not enter an email in the comments your entry will be void. Winners will be notified by email the day after the giveaway closes and have five days to respond, it not another winner will be chosen. 

(GIVEAWAY OPEN TO US ONLY AND NO PO BOX)

Make sure you note if you have done the following for more chances to win: Tweet about the giveaway (+1), share on Facebook (+1), like The Lit Bitch on Facebook (+1), follow The Lit Bitch on Twitter (+1), subscribe to The Lit Bitch’s blog (+1), follow The Lit Bitch on Instagram (+1). Tweet/RT about the giveaway (+1). Share about the giveaway (+1).

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

by The Lit Bitch2 Comments on Review: Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

This was yet another book that I considered passing on. I sounded like it was going to be more of a thriller and as I said before on one of my other reviews, I have read a ton of thrillers lately and I am just kind of over done.

Then this book started showing up all over my Instagram and once again I gave into peer pressure and decided to review it. I was taking the train up to Seattle and needed something that was going to be a quick read and I was kind of in the mood for a thriller.

Let’s get this out of the way now…..this is NOT a thriller. Not even close. This is more of a family drama for lack of a better description. Let’s just say that once I picked this one up, I never put it down. I read it all the way on the train and immediately following once we checked into the hotel. I read it late into the night and finished it in about 8-9 total hours of reading. It was unbelievable! I am so glad I read this one! Continue reading “Review: Ghosted by Rosie Walsh” →

Book Critic, Book Review, Books, Literary Criticism, Reading

Review: Our House by Louise Candlish

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Review: Our House by Louise Candlish

This is another book thats been all over my Instagram for the last month or so. I was approached a few months ago to read it and put it on my calendar for late summer and then moved on to other books.

When it came time to read this one, I had kind of forgotten about it but then I started seeing these posts on Instagram and was like ‘OMG I need to read this book!’. Then I remembered that I was supposed to be reading this one, and soon! So I started to get excited!

There’s nothing unusual about a new family moving in at 91 Trinity Avenue. Except it’s her house. And she didn’t sell it.

When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she’s sure there’s been a mistake. She and her estranged husband, Bram, have a modern coparenting arrangement: bird’s nest custody, where each parent spends a few nights a week with their two sons at the prized family home to maintain stability for their children. Continue reading “Review: Our House by Louise Candlish” →

Books, Reading

Special Feature: NOT HER DAUGHTER by Rea Frey

by The Lit BitchLeave a Comment on Special Feature: NOT HER DAUGHTER by Rea Frey

This mystery novel will be up for review on my blog here in the fall but until there I wanted to do a special feature since it came out just yesterday, 8/21. Take a minute and read this tantalizing summary and tell me you aren’t excited to read this one too?

You know it’s going to be good when someone has already secured the rights for a TV/film adaption, which you can read all about here! 

Emma Grace Townsend. Five years old. Gray eyes. Brown hair. Missing since June.

Emma Townsend is lonely. Living with her cruel mother and clueless father, Emma retreats into her own world of quiet and solitude.

Sarah Walker. Successful entrepreneur. Broken-hearted. Abandoned by her mother. Kidnapper.

Sarah has never seen a girl so precious as the gray-eyed child in a crowded airport terminal—and when a second-chance encounter with Emma presents itself, Sarah takes her, far away from home. But if it’s to rescue a little girl from her damaging mother, is kidnapping wrong?

Amy Townsend. Unhappy wife. Unfit mother. Unsure she wants her daughter back.

Amy’s life is a string of disappointments, but her biggest issue is her inability to connect with her daughter. And now she’s gone without a trace.

As Sarah and Emma avoid the nationwide hunt, they form an unshakeable bond. But her real mother is at home, waiting for her to return—and the longer the search for Emma continues, Amy is forced to question if she really wants her back.

Emotionally powerful and wire-taut, Not Her Daughter raises the question of what it means to be a mother—and how far someone will go to keep a child safe.

About the Author

Rea Frey is the author of four nonfiction books. Her debut novel, NOT HER DAUGHTER, will be released by St. Martin’s Press August 21, 2018.

When she’s not exercising, mothering, adulting, wifing, eating, or writing about herself in the third person, you can find her hard at work on her next book and ghostwriting for other people.

Read more at reafrey.com.