The Light Between Oceans - Teaser Tuesday

Sometimes I'll read a book and it's entertaining for a while, but when I put it down, I forget it. That's not going to happen with THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS by M.L. Stedman. Set in Australia after the end of World War I, the main characters are a lighthouse keeper and his wife - two people I came to care about so much that I cried when I read their story. That hasn't happened in a long time. 

If you want to read a book that will keep you turning pages, wondering what will happen next with a story you won't soon forget, then you'll enjoy The Light Between Oceans.


Genre: Thriller / Historical
Length: 354 Pages
Amazon Link: The Light Between Oceans
Goodreads: Synopsis

Here's my two-sentence Teaser from 2% on my Kindle:
As he walked down the path, he heard the sweet notes of Isabel's voice as she sang, "Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly, blow the wind south o'er the bonnie blue sea." Though the music was tuneful, it failed to comfort him as he climbed the stairs of the light, fending off a strange uneasiness at the concession he had made.

Partial Synopsis from Goodreads:
After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season and shore leaves are granted every other year at best, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby. 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers
• Leave a comment on MizB's Teaser Tuesday post (HERE) and include your link so everyone can find your post.

Teaser Tuesday - THE COMEBACK KISS

Has anyone heard of (or recall) the Volkswagen "Thing?" I didn't remember it until I started searching online for a photo of the car. The main character in THE COMEBACK KISS had one of these funky little vehicles, and she painted "colorful daisies all over it...."

Teaser Tuesday - Two sentences from 1% on my Kindle:

It was a vintage 1974 VW Thing, a boxy, funky-looking model that didn't sell well and didn't last long; theorists were split on whether the blame fell on the name or the design. But Tessa had loved it with all her heart.

Photo by Sven Storbeck

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 336 Pages
Amazon Link: THE COMEBACK KISS

Goodreads Synopsis:
Sometimes love just won't go away. — ALL IT TAKES IS ONE LITTLE KISS... — 

In order to keep custody of her teenage sister, Tessa Scuderi told a small (okay, big) lie to the people of Lucy's Lake, Vermont, about what really happened ten years ago when Dermot Finnegan took off with her virginity, her car, and the town bell. It had been working, too, until she found her old car parked in front of her house, keys in the ignition, and a telltale red hair stuck to the headrest.

TO TOTALLY SCREW EVERYTHING UP.

All Finn wanted to do was return the stupid car and get going. But he stopped to save a burning pet shop (big mistake), ended up kissing Tessa behind the drugstore (big mistake, but worth it), and discovered that Tessa's been building him up as some kind of town hero all these years (gonna have to puzzle that out). Now Finn has to find out who's behind a string of mysterious fires and deal with the heat between him and Tessa. Hey, one more kiss can't hurt -- or can it?

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers
• Leave a comment on MizB's Teaser Tuesday post (HERE) and include your link so everyone can find your post.

Book Beginnings on Friday and Friday 56 - Ashes

I've recently read ASHES by Kelly Cozy, and the first chapter had me hooked. The opening sentences began innocently enough - the author described a typical day - but wow! Things started happening right away. 

Book Beginnings on Friday - Opening sentences:
Downtown Los Angeles glittered in the sun, seemed to preen. The city knew its best light - a spring morning, the sky cleansed of smog by the past weekend's rain - and its best angle - from a distance.

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
I live in a small town in British Columbia, where I'm an assistant librarian. I putter around with books and have tea with my boss and we talk about what we're reading. I have a cross-eyed cat and a tiny house with fish painted on the bathroom walls and a bedroom done in early San Francisco Whorehouse. I tutor a fisherman's son.

Genre: Thriller
Length: 371 pages
Amazon Link: Ashes

Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

Anonymous. That was Jennifer’s life. But when she survived a domestic terrorist attack and her last-minute escape became the iconic image of the event, that life was over. Wanting only to disappear and become just another face in the crowd, she cashed in on her unwanted fame and moved to a small town, hidden away and safe. 

Retired. That was Sean’s life. A former covert operative – the kind the government denies exists – he’d been pushed unwillingly into a life of suburban peace and quiet. But his retirement ended when he saw Jennifer’s rescue; from then on he only wanted to find those responsible for the attack, even if it meant turning rogue. 

What Jennifer and Sean will both find is that nothing goes to plan, and their paths will cross in a way neither could have foreseen.

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings and Friday 56. 

   Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts 

   (sponsored by Rose City Reader.)

   Find other Friday 56 bloggers here 
   (sponsored by Freda's Voice). 

                

Book Beginnings and Friday 56 - The Beach Trees

I've just finished reading THE BEACH TREES by Karen White and enjoyed it so much that I've added her other books to my wish list. Not only did I like the plot, I came away with a better understanding of the outlook and attitudes of people who live in disaster prone areas. Seems to me that no matter where we live, Mother Nature has surprises in store for us!  

Book Beginnings on Friday - Opening sentences:
Death and loss, they plague you. So do memories. Like the Mississippi's incessant slap against the levees, they creep up with deceptive sweetness before grabbing your heart and pulling it under.

Friday 56 (from Page 56 of my paperback copy):
Aimee regarded me with a steady blue gaze. "Why build skyscrapers in San Francisco that might be knocked down by an earthquake? Or why build farms in Kansas and Oklahoma that might get blown away by a tornado?" 

Genre: Women's Fiction
Length: 432 pages
Amazon Link: The Beach Trees

Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:
From the time she was twelve, Julie Holt knew what a random tragedy can do to a family. At that tender age, her little sister disappeared - never to be found. It was a loss that slowly eroded the family bonds she once relied on. As an adult with a prestigious job in the arts, Julie meets a struggling artist who reminds her so much of her sister, she can't help feeling protective. It is a friendship that begins a long and painful process of healing for Julie, leading her to a house on the Gulf Coast, ravaged by hurricane Katrina, and to stories of family that take her deep into the past.

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings and Friday 56. 

   Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts 

   (sponsored by Rose City Reader.)

   Find other Friday 56 bloggers here 
   (sponsored by Freda's Voice).