First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday is a new bookish meme hosted by yours truly, Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. 

• Grab your current read.
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author so that other FLF participants can add the book to their TBR Lists.

"I was born with a talent. Not for dance, or comedy, or anything so delightful."

~ Girl In Translation by Jean Kwok

Teaser Tuesdays

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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Literary Marie's Tuesday Teaser:

"My childhood was a powerful and often perplexing combination of experiences that were wonderful as well as challenging. One of the more challenging experiences happened when I was nine and attending public school."

~ p. 37, True You by Janet Jackson & David Ritz

Series Sunday

Series Sunday is a new bookish meme hosted by yours truly, Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. 

• Read an installment of a series.
• Post a review/recommendation on your blog, FB, Twitter, Goodreads, or Shelfari pages.
• Share your review/recommendation by posting the link in the comments section below.
• Include the title, author, and name of the series so that other Series Sunday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists.

My Series Sunday pick is Drop Dead Delicious, the second book in the Maggie & Odessa Mystery series by Jill Brock. (I originally read & reviewed this book about a year ago & wanted to recap for new followers.) Odessa Wilkes and her best friend, Maggie Swift, are back in another hilarious mystery. Odessa has recovered from her anxiety attacks and started a new life. Comfortably baking desserts at her family's restaurant, The Blue Moon, and settled into her new romantic relationship, all seems well and calm. Then Odessa's embezzling ex-boss from Eastman & Kendrick, Burke Peterson, comes back. Did he make some kind of deal? Why is Burke back in town? Is Odessa going to kill him like she always planned?

Much to everyone's surprise, Odessa has the opposite reaction. She greets Burke Peterson with a huge warm hug. Maggie is confused. Lee goes into crazy boyfriend mode and shows a jealous streak. Candace just wants everyone to stop making a scene in front of the customers. Burke soon obliges the crowd and makes an exit, leaving behind his wallet. Its not long before Maggie & Odessa try to find out why Burke has returned and if he's really guilty of embezzlement.

Meanwhile, Odessa has entered a Bake Off contest. She needs to determine the best recipe ever in order to win. If only her Aunt left behind the recipes to her delicious cakes like she left behind handmade quilts.

This book is filled with comedic adventures of the amateur detectives. The plot has multiple storylines, but very easy to keep up with. The characters are just as memorable and hilarious as when we first met them.

Title: Drop Dead Delicious
Author: Jill Brock
Published: December 2008
Pages: 316
Edition: Paperback
Rating: ♥♥♥♥

Fiction Soapbox

What if an innocent man is about to executed for a crime he didn't commit? Young college football star, Donté Drumm, was blamed for the murder of a cheerleader. The body was never found. Nine years later, it is time for the execution. Travis Boyette, a repeat sex offender, suddenly comes forward and confesses the crime to a minister. But is it too late?


I haven't read a Grisham book in a while, and I suddenly remember why. The details are drawn out. He has a way of dragging out chapters with too descriptive scenes. The author's message has always been to point out major flaws in our judicial system. His fiction is to prove a point about our legal system, especially the death penalty. In that respect, The Confession meets the requirements. 


Title: The Confession
Author: John Grisham
Published: October 2010
Pages: 375
Edition: eBook
Rating: ♥♥♥

First Lines Friday

First Lines Friday is a new bookish meme hosted by yours truly, Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. 

• Grab your current read.
• Share the first line(s).
• Include the title and author so that other FLF participants can add the book to their TBR Lists.

"I stood in the middle of a near empty restaurant with Horace Fouke. He held a knife to my throat and threatened to cut me open like a turkey on Thanksgiving Day."

~ Semisweet by Jill Brock

Sweet Tweethearts

Abby Donovan is experiencing writer's block. She can't get past chapter five of her second book. To drum up motivation and buzz, her publicist creates a Twitter account for the author. Abby's first follower is Mark Baynard, a mysterious man on sabbatical. They begin tweeting almost daily, greeting each other with, "What are you wearing?" and then a reference to pop culture. Each tweet ends with "Goodnight tweetheart." The friendly flirting turns into scheduled tweet dates and learning to live and love again. Is it possible to find love only a mouse click away?


Goodnight Tweetheart is a very fast read comprised mostly of tweets and direct messages between the two main characters. For those unfamiliar with the popular social network Twitter, a "tweet" is an electronic message of 140 characters or less. Feeling like I was eavesdropping on someone's timeline, I couldn't put the book down! I didn't want to miss any of the unfolding story and actually finished reading it in one day. The cute love story wasn't predictable thanks to a twist at the end. The cover fits perfectly too. If you liked the movie "You've Got Mail" and like the author Nicholas Sparks, then this is a guaranteed favorite. Well done, Teresa Medeiros. Readers will definitely enjoy this love story in 140 characters or less.


Title: Goodnight Tweetheart
Author: Teresa Medeiros
Published: December 2010
Pages: 240
Edition: ARC
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

Teaser Tuesdays

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 & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Literary Marie's Tuesday Teaser:

"Nine years without his family and friends, nine years locked away like a caged animal. Nine years serving the time for a crime committed by someone else."

~ p. 123, The Confession by John Grisham