Book Review - Elise A. Miller's Star Craving Mad

Last year, I participated in the BookSparks annual summer reading challenge. This year, I found my "book- plate" to be too full to take on the challenge, but I was excited to read Elise A. Miller's Star Craving Mad, which is part of the 2015 challenge. Thank You to SparkPress for an advanced copy of Miller's novel, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT - Maddy Braverman is a first grade teacher at an elite private school in Manhattan. Single and lonely, Maddy straddles between setting an example as a wholesome teacher and hitting the New York dating scene. Her world is turned upside down when the school year begins and she has a new student, Lola, the daughter of A-List celebrities, Nic and Shelby Sebolt. Maddy begins to fantasize about hunky Nic, who is not only married, but seems otherworldly. She is rocked to the core to discover that Nic is more attainable than she imagined and before she knows it, she is caught up in a love affair and thrown into Nic's celebrity lifestyle. Maddy is uneasy about her secret life, especially when she realizes that the fallout would affect not only Lola, but also Maddy's friends and family, including her free-spiritied and handsome teaching assistant, James.

LIKE - For starters, what a great title. I love the play on words and it perfectly sums up Maddy's behavior while she is having an affair with Nic. The themes in Star Craving Mad are engaging. The story fulfills that part of me that loves to read about celebrities and the crazy rich, so it was entertaining to see this behind the curtains look through Maddy's eyes. However, the flip-side of Star Craving Mad, is it's a story with heart. Although Maddy is having an affair with a married man, we see her going through the conflicting emotions and ultimately, we root for her to make better choices. She's a likable protagonist and as she interacts with the children in her classroom, there is an element of sweetness and innocence add to the story that gave me the warm fuzzies.

DISLIKE - My interest in the story waned the last third of the book. I think it may be that Maddy took so much crap for so long, that it was getting to be a drag. I regained interest in the story at the very end when she had her redemption. It was a satisfying ending.

RECOMMEND - Star Craving Mad is an enjoyable chick-lit, summer type of read. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure that in the grand scheme of my "Books Read in 2015" it will remembered. It provided a good escapist read while on my summer vacation.

2014 Wrap-Up

If 2013 was a life-changing year, then 2014 was the aftermath. 2014 was the year of taking stock and moving forward.

I spent much of the first third of the year, dealing with my aunt's estate. This was emotional and stressful. It was my first experience with selling a house. Luckily, Dan found an amazing team of relators (Team Kociela with First Team in Tustin), who took care of everything and made the process as painless as possible. The house sold fast and for well above asking. My aunt and uncle had bought their house before I was born and it was very hard for me to let go of a home that held so many happy memories. Luckily, a nice family with a new baby bought it and at the risk of sounding sappy, I hope that they fill it with love and wonderful memories of their own. I especially hope that they have epic pool parties!

After selling my first home, I turned around and had my first experience buying a home. Dan and I are now proud owners of a house in Big Bear Lake. We have spent many weekends enjoying our mountain retreat and we have already made friendships with several locals. We are starting to feel like part of the community.

I spent about four months working as a professional dog walker. Unfortunately, the company that I worked for, folded. However, during the short amount of time that I worked, I got to know two of the sweetest dogs around, a Golden Retriever Puppy named Busy and an energetic Labradoodle named Milo. My stint as a dog walker nearly turned me from a cat to a dog person. Nearly.

In 2014, we bought a Jeep Wrangler and took up a new hobby, Jeeping. We attended the Big Bear Jeep Jamboree and Big Bear Forest Fest. It's amazing how many trails are in our new backyard. We learned the real definition of JEEP ( Just. Empty. Every. Pocket.), as we got the bug to modify it, until it looked nothing like it did when we purchased it. We are looking forward to more events and modifications in the new year.

Between heading to Big Bear and our other travels, it felt like we were never home in 2014. We spent fifteen days, over four separate trips in Las Vegas, which included Jeeping in the Valley of Fire for the first time. Beautiful! We did a weekend in Chicago and we spent our first anniversary in Lake Tahoe, a place neither of us had visited previously. Our summer trip to Europe included three weeks in England and a little over a week in Sweden. It was great to finally see the country where my stepchildren live and to see their home/school/city. I ate Reindeer for the first time. Rudolph is delicious!

Life was filled up with other things, so I didn't go to as many plays, concerts or movies as I typically do. I did manage to see Josh Ritter, The Airborne Toxic Event and Britney Spears. The first two were phenomenal and the third was much better than I had anticipated. I finally got to see a touring production of The Book of Mormon. Hilarious!

I read fifty-two books and discovered both Booksparks and Netgalley.

I've finished five writing classes towards my Fiction Certificate at UCLA Extension. More exciting than the actually classes, is I've made progress on a novel idea that I've been contemplating for years. 2014 has been creatively, very productive.

2014 started off a mess, but the maelstrom has subsided and I'm entering 2015 calm and focused. I look forward to 2015!

Book Review - Steena Holmes' Stillwater Rising

If you follow my book reviews and blog, you probably already know that I participated in the Booksparks Summer Reading Challenge. In exchange for reviews, I received advanced copies of several books during the summer. Booksparks also did a Fall Reading Challenge, but due to my heavy school schedule, I had to decline participating. However, I did join in for one book, the latest from Steena Holmes, Stillwater Rising.

Honestly, I'd never heard of Steena Holmes, but Booksparks was so excited over Stillwater Rising, that I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. Stillwater Rising is Holmes' second book in her Stillwater series, which revolves around the citizens of a lakeside resort town.

The second book finds the citizens of Stillwater attempting to patch their lives back together, after a teenage gunman has killed several children and teachers at the local elementary school. The story is told through the eyes of a mother who lost her son, the mayor (who is also the wife of the elementary school principal) and a female reporter who although liked, is not a resident of Stillwater. The mother of the shooter still lives in town and Stillwater is divided as to whether they should run her out or treat her with compassion. Everyone is experiencing grief in their own way and it is ripping apart this once tight knit community.

It was fairly easy to follow the plot without having read the first book in the series, however, I urge you not to do this. This series is very much about the characters and their development. You will short change yourself if you skip the first book. I plan on going back and reading the first in the series. Holmes' ended the second book with a chapter for the third, which is a huge tease for what is coming next in the series.

What I really enjoyed about Stillwater Rising is the way that Holmes managed to write a story filled with genuine emotions and human drama without resorting to gratuitous violence or nastiness. There is a sweetness to her story without coming across as false. The characters have honest faults, but at the end of the day, it seems that the inherent good in people is what triumphs. In the midst of such a tragic circumstance, this is a feel good story.

As a selling point for Steena Holmes, when I was in the middle of Stillwater Rising, I noticed that another one of her novels was on sale through Amazon and I went ahead and bought it. It didn't take me a whole book to know that I like her style and that I'm eager to read her other stories.

On another note of personal interest, my husband and I recently bought a vacation home in a lake resort much like Stillwater. In Stillwater Rising, Holmes writes a lot about the distinction between those who live there full time and those that come for a season. This rang very true. As much as we want to insert ourselves into our new community, not living there full time always makes us feel like outsiders. I totally get the dynamic that Holmes writes about in her story.

Stillwater Rising is a very compelling drama that I highly recommend.

Here are some of the promotional pictures that Booksparks to sent to me. Reach out to them if you're interesting in reviewing their books. In addition to free books, they run tons of fun contests.

And here is a pretty press-picture of author Steena Holmes.