Blog Tour: The Doula by Bridget Boland

The Doula by Bridget Boland
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publish Date: September 4, 2012






 Growing up in a family that owns a funeral home, Carolyn Connors chooses to be a doula.  Helping mothers through their childbirth is more to her liking than shuttling people to the gates of death.  When her best friend Mary Grace asks her to be her doula, she gladly moves to Milwaukee to help her despite her premonitions of doom.  Her worst fears come true when Mary Grace dies shortly after giving birth.  The nightmare is only beginning when Mary Grace's husband decides to sue her.

Carolyn lives her life for others.  Her brother Paulie dies when she is 12 and her mother who had just had a miscarriage enters an extended period of depression.  But Carolyn also finds a bottle of pills when her mother miscarries and realizes that her mom probably induced the miscarriage (aka home abortion).  Carolyn takes responsibility for running the family.  She even becomes a nurse and works with her mother.  All the while, Mary Grace and Carolyn's siblings leave the nest and make their own lives.  Carolyn stays at home -  even sleeping in bed with her mom!!! - until the death of one of her patients while she was in nursing school.  So it's not surprising that she would pack up her life and move states to help out her best friend.  Even when Mary Grace sports some unmentioned implants and Mary Grace's husband clearly has some unexplained hostility to her. Carolyn grows over the course of the novel.  I was flabbergasted by the lengths she goes to in order to protect her clearly mentally ill mother and her super unhealthy relationship with her mother.   From allowing everyone to use her a crutch, she stands up for herself literally. 

Bridget Boland's writing is great but Carolyn was a difficult character to get into.  She seems to have some sort of foresight or prescience which she just chooses to ignore.  Even when a colleague advises her to fall back from the Mary Grace situation, she still charges in.  What's the use of ESP if you choose to ignore it?  Almost every conflict in her life is caused by Carolyn making the worst possible decision in every situation.  

**This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.**

Waiting on Wednesday

 "Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My choice this week



The Cutting Season: A Novel by Attica Locke
From Amazon
Caren Gray manages Belle Vie, a sprawling antebellum plantation that sits between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, where the past and the present coexist uneasily. The estate's owners have turned the place into an eerie tourist attraction, complete with full-dress re-enactments and carefully restored slave quarters. Outside the gates, a corporation with ambitious plans has been busy snapping up land from struggling families who have been growing sugar cane for generations, and now replacing local employees with illegal laborers. Tensions mount when the body of a female migrant worker is found in a shallow grave on the edge of the property, her throat cut clean.
What can't you wait to read?

Murder, Monsters, Mayhem 2012

Murder, Monsters, Mayhem is hosted by Jenn of Jenn's Bookshelves during October.  The only goal is to read a book or watch anything from the supernatural, horror, or thriller genres.

At the very least, I plan to read Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist. My other book choices will be on the fly. Any recs feel free to leave a comment.

Bloggiesta 2012

It's time for Bloggiesta 2012.  Bloggiesta is hosted by There's a Book and  It’s All About Books during the last weekend of September.  The goal is to complete some items on our blogging to do lists and get to know some bloggers. 

My goals for this weekend:

• Get current on posting reviews to Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, etc.
• Catch up with my reviews.  (So behind OMG)
• Make some changes to the blog design.
• Meet some other bloggers.

New Years Resolution Nearly Accomplished

One of my New Years Resolutions was to run at least a 5k.  Well last night I registered for a 5k.  I chose this race because it's close to home and I really like the medal.  At this point, the race is 46 days away so I'm already kind of behind as far as training for speed, so I'm just concentrating on finishing in a decent time and enjoying the experience.  I can't wait to compete in my first official race.  I was lucky enough to get an opportunity to get a copy of The Barefoot Running Book by Jason Robillard, so I've been reading and using the techniques to refine my running stance and manner.  I'm wearing light weight sneakers; I live in NYC and can't fathom running barefoot or in those thin soled shoes even in a park. 

Has anyone competed in any race lately?  Any training tips or book recs?

Review: Saving Peace by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

Saving Peace by Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar
ASIN: B006VIOZ1A










 Saving Peace follows a group of women thirty years from students at  women only Peace University to their middle age.  Siobahn, calculating, in everything she does snags the man and manages to become a local news anchor.  Her ambition wreaks havoc on all her relationships, since she only interacts with people if there is some benefit to her. Mary Ann, the charming southern girl, is the first to marry but sets aside her poetry and writing to be a stay at home mom to her infant, teenage, and adult sons. Putting her dreams aside to focus on her family and her absent husband causes severe depression. Kim overcomes cancer and bulimia to become president of Peace University. Her decision to admit male students to Peace University sparks much criticism and angst amongst students and alumna of the school.

 Saving Peace intertwines the stories of the three women across the years. Although outside of the first couple pages of the books, they didn't really seem like friends.  Over the years they mainly communicate by voice messages and chance meetings.  As the story progresses, I was left to wonder why they bothered. The benefits to continued friendship or even acquaintance seemed minimal.  Not to mention that they didn't seem to have any other friends.  They all are emotional train wrecks. There were also issues with time: the term Bridezilla was thrown around and Golden Girls didn't start until 1985 although the girls were supposed to be watching it together in 1977.  Also one of the character's son had a Game Boy in 1988 even though they weren't released anywhere until 1989.
 

Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar is a South Asian American who has lived in Qatar since 2005. Moving to
the Arabian Desert was fortuitous in many ways since this is where she met her husband, had a baby,
and made the transition from writing as a hobby to a full time passion. She has since published five e-
books including a mom-ior for first time mothers, Mommy But Still Me, a guide for aspiring writers, So
You Want to Sell a Million Copies, a short story collection, Coloured and Other Stories, and a novel
about women’s friendships, Saving Peace. Most recently, From Dunes to Dior, is a collection of essays
related to her experiences as a female South Asian American living in the Arabian Gulf. After she
joined the e-book revolution, she dreams in plotlines. Learn more about her work on her website at
www.mohanalakshmi.com or follow her latest on Twitter: @moha_doha.

Review: Too Many Cooks by Shirley Ann Wilder

 Too Many Cooks by Shirley Ann Wilder
 Publisher: Bouroughs Publishing Group







Bitter news leads a San Diego widow and widower to true love—and to a scheme to
marry off their adult children, a plan that goes deliciously awry.

Gaetano Lorenzo was the sweetest man that the widowed Estelle Bennett had
ever met. That morning began terribly, with awful news, but now the owner and
head chef of a local San Diego ristorante was offering up Italian delights: red wine,
delicious food, walks on the beach, laughter when she’d never thought she’d laugh
again…. Estelle felt twenty-five. She and Gaetano had found the recipe for love, and
a simple variation might just get their adult children to settle down, too. A scoop of
sugar, two ladlefuls of lust, a pinch of deception and a whole 24 oz.-can of danger—
Suddenly, ingredients were coming from everywhere! But kitchens are crazy places,
and variety is the spice of life. And for anything to get cooked, things have to get
hot.

 Too Many Cooks is was a quick read, to the point of being rushed.  It basically the story of a romance that develops between two middle-aged people who are scheming to get their children together.  The scenes between Gaetano and Estelle are especially sweet, while the scenes between Alex and Gina are kind of cliche.  I didn't like the fact that the parents were milking Estelle's alleged imminent death for so long to manipulate the kids, but all in all this was a cute if cliched story.  If you like brisk romance reads, this is a great book for you. 

From the time she could hold a pencil, Shirley Ann Wilder wrote stories. Being the youngest of six
children, she was overlooked many times but found wonder and magic in reading books. As a youngster
she was especially fond of horse books and read every one of Walter Farley’s Black Stallion books.That passion for horses carried over into her adult life and with her husband and four children, raised
Quarter Horses and German Shepherds. Shirley’s other passion was writing, but it was put on hold until the three sons and one daughter were in high school.After taking numerous writing classes and amassing many unfinished manuscripts, one of her writing instructors suggested she join Romance Writers of America. Taking that advice she also joined thelocal San Diego RWA chapter has since completed six novels. She served on the Executive Board as Co-President of RWA- San Diego for 2006 and 2007 and held several other chair positions. She credits her fellow writers for the support and encouragement that has kept her writing during recent difficult times.
**I received this book via Innovations Online Book Tours in exchange for my honest opinion.**