Hailey's Dream Bucket List

This blog post is a contest entry for Harlequin’s Come Away with Me Bucket List Contest located at http://bit.ly/1fhFAhz”; 

1. Trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas. 

2. Learn how to drive. 

3. Drive cross-country across the USA. 

4. Visit Australia with my parents to see my sister and brother in-law. 

5. Put a down payment on a brand new car. 

6. Go to college. 

7. Tour of Italy. 

8. Swim with the dolphins. 

9. Walt Disney World trip with my family. 

10. Hire a personal trainer to finally lose weight. 

A Review of Center of Gravity by Laura McNeill

The truth could cost her everything.

Her whole life, Ava Carson has been sure of one thing: she doesn’t measure up to her mother’s expectations. So when Mitchell Carson sweeps into her life with his adorable son, the ready-made family seems like a dream come true. In the blink of an eye, she’s married, has a new baby, and life is wonderful. When her picture-perfect marriage begins unraveling at the seams, Ava convinces herself she can fix it. It’s temporary. It’s the stress. It’s Mitchell’s tragic history of loss. If only Ava could believe her own excuses. Mitchell is no longer the charming, thoughtful man she married. He grows more controlling by the day, revealing a violent jealous streak. His behavior is recklessly erratic, and the unanswered questions about his past now hint at something far more sinister than Ava can stomach. Before she can fit the pieces together, Mitchell files for divorce and demands full custody of their boys. Fueled by fierce love for her children and aided by Graham Thomas, a new attorney in town, Ava takes matters into her own hands, digging deep into the past. But will finding the truth be enough to beat Mitchell at his own game?

From the very first page, I just KNEW I had to read this book by a true gem of a writer. Reading about what happened to Jack at school, I felt as if it were happening to me that very second. I didn't really have an opinion of Mitchell until he was showing off his dark side; then I wanted to scream in his face and ask him why he was treating Ava and the boys the way he was. There is always two sides to every story but Mitchell never gave the chance for Ava to tell her side. I felt like a character in this book and was rooting for Ava the entire length of the book. Graham Thomas (the lawyer that has Ava's back) is a likeable character and you know he just truly cares for Ava and what the aftermath will entail for her and her boys. Center of Gravity is a book that you need to read in one sitting. Every chapter you finish, you want to continue and read till the very last page. If you don't, you'll be wondering what's going to happen next to Ava, Jack, Sam and even Mitchell (even if you don't really care about what happens to Mitchell). I can't even believe this is a book and not a real story because it is THAT great of a book. I would really like for this to be a movie. 

A Review of A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White

A Soft Place to Land is the second novel by Susan Rebecca White that I've loved from the very first sentence to the very last. She just has this way of weaving a story that makes you feel the characters are a part of your family. A quick synopsis: two sisters named Ruthie and Julia grow up in Atlanta with their parents Phil and Naomi in an affluent neighborhood where the houses are gigantic, every one has maids, butlers, cooks, chauffeurs, etc. Ruthie is the younger of the two, always looking up to Julia, trying hard to emulate her and be like her. Julia is the kind of girl who likes to break from the norm, be a rebel kind of girl. Before they know it, tragedy rips their family apart. The girls are separated and have to figure out things on their own. It's a sad story with funny parts mixed in and you come to the realization that you love both Julia and Ruthie but you also kind of hate them by their words, actions and how they respond to others.  I would highly recommend this story because it shows you family isn't always picture perfect and that there are cracks showing off the imperfections. I will definitely be checking out her latest novel. 

Review of This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper is the first book in ages that had me laughing out loud in hysterics. I am so excited a movie was made and I can't wait to watch it. A quick synopsis: Four siblings sit shiva for their father's funeral because it was his last dying request. Throughout the book, they come to realizations about themselves, their families and the people surrounding their lives. Jonathan Tropper has a way of creating characters (pretty much every author I've read does this) that make you think they are real live people that live in your community. It was refreshing to have a male voice tell the story rather than it being from his sister's or his mother's perspective. Jonathan showed the readers (myself included) that Judd Foxman is not the perfect man. I really hope the movie is as good as the book. 85% of the time books are always better than the movies. A) if everything from the book was included into the movie, each movie would be way too long to sit through. If you have yet to read This Is Where I Leave You, read it as soon as possible. You won't regret it! I'm happy to hear it will be rated-R because it just makes the story line even more memorable.

Review of The Guest House by Erika Marks

The Summary of The Guest House: The moment Lexi Wright hears Cooper Moss (the brother of the one who broke her heart) all the feelings she had from the last time they saw each other (the explosive kiss that feels like it happened yesterday) she knows she's in trouble. Lexi's mother Edie Wright runs into Tucker Moss's best friend James Masterson and he asks if she knows of a crew that can repair the guest house in a timely manner because the lady of the house Florence Moss wants to sell the estate and get it out of her hair. Lexi is hired by Cooper to take pictures of the estate along with the inside of the guest house. Lexi is still hurt by how Cooper's brother Hudson broke her heart but she's beginning to fall for Cooper. She doesn't want to because she's afraid Cooper is just like Hudson. 

The chapters go back and forth for Lexi's point of view to her mother's point of view the summer Tucker Moss and his best friend James Masterson come to town in Harrisport, Massachusetts in 1966. The women come to different realizations about their lives and they both discover things about themselves they never knew as well as secrets are spilled out in the open about the ones they thought they knew the most. This is the first book I've read by Erika Marks and I have to say I absolutely loved it! 

The way she creates her characters, I feel as if I've known them my whole life. I picture Lexi as a tomboy with a flair of girly. She's easy to relate to because she's a genuinely nice person. I love stories that talk about the past and go from the past to the present in each chapter. I feel like Erika's characters of the Guest House will stay with me for a long time. I'm looking forward to reading her other stories.