Review: A Whisper to a Scream by Karen Wojcik Berner

Published: June 2011 by CreateSpace
Format: E-book
Source: Amazon

Ovulation detectors.  Hormone surges.  Anxiety-ridden dreams.  This is the world in which Annie Jacobs is thrust when she and her husband John receive a diagnosis of unexplained infertility.  A 37-year old PR executive, Annie has wanted to be a mother since she first cuddled her Baby Tenderlove at age five.  She is dreading another Christmas of relatives asking when they will be hearing the pitter patter of little feet, and Uncle Joe slapping John on the back, telling him to relax and take a cruise.  Lots of people get pregnant on vacation, you know.  

Across town, stay-at-home mom of two, Sarah Anderson, attempts grocery shopping with a toddler intent on hurling items from the cart at passersby.  She notices a box of rice heading straight for a gray-haired head.  Leaping across the aisle, Sarah grabs it, saving the woman from certain doom, or at least a minor head injury.  Little Alex screams at being thwarted.  The unknowing octogenarian shakes her head and admonishes Sarah for not knowing how to keep her child quiet in public.  

"A Whisper to a Scream" is the story of two women on opposite ends of the child-bearing spectrum who come to realize the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side of the fence.  A vivid portrayal of contemporary marriage and its problems, the novel speaks to a longing in all of us, a yearning that might start as a vague notion, but eventually grows into an unbearable, vociferous cry.

First Sentences

"At 35 years old, Sarah Anderson discovered something quite shocking.  She had Attention Deficit Disorder - she didn't get any."

My Thoughts

Sarah and Annie are experiencing exactly the opposite when it comes to babies.  Annie has been focused on her career and is just now getting around to starting a family, while Sarah has two small boys and doesn't have a career going for her.  While Annie and Sarah might be at opposite ends of the child bearing spectrum, you can see that the way it affects the family, marriage, etc is very similar.  Annie and John found out they have unexplained infertility and are undergoing treatment to up their chances of having a child.  The stress that is placed on them as a couple as well as the family is not something I really ever thought about.  Not to say that I thought hormone treatments, IVF, blood test after blood test and millions of doctors appointments were easy...but Berner does a great job playing the scenario out so I could get a grasp on the struggles/pains that Annie and John went through.  While reading, each time the phone would ring at Annie and John's I would almost hold my breath waiting to see what the results were.  Unfortunately Annie became obsessed with wanting a child and it severely impacted her performance at work and her relationship with John.  It is so important that couples have open lines of communication and I almost feel as though if John and Annie would just talk more they would have been able to make it through.  

Sarah and Tom's relationship is on the fritz because Tom is never home.  Sarah is left to do everything at home and is overwhelmed when Tom is never around.  Again, I think this goes to show how important communication is -- there wasn't a lot of that in either one of these relationships.  

I don't want to spoil anything, so the last thing I will say is -- what happens to Annie????  I can't stand when I'm left to my own devices when it comes to the ending of a book!  My mind is spinning and I've come up with several different scenarios, but dang...

My Ratings

Cover: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing Style: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Ending: 5/5

Overall: 5/5

Happy Reading!

Review: Party Crashers by Stephanie Bond

Published: November 6, 2011 by NeedtoRead Books
Format: E-book
Source:  Amazon

Jolie Goodman is a perennial good girl - which is how she wound up selling shoes at Neiman Marcus during the holiday season: She walked out on her brokerage job because her boss asked her to do something unethical.  Now she's trying to start her own brokerage firm in Atlanta at the worst possible time.  Also pressing on her mind is the fact that her boyfriend of the last few months is missing...along with her car.  With problems piling on, she manages to make a new friend at work, but too late she realizes her gal pal Carlotta Wren is a serial party crasher - which is fun...at first.  But no one's laughing when a body turns up at an upscale party they've crashed and they're the only people who weren't suppose to be there!  Jolie vows she'll never crash another party...if she gets out of this mess alive.

First Sentence

"It's like, I can't decide between the Kate Spade sliders and the Via Spiga T-straps, you know?"

My Thoughts

As soon as I saw this was set in Atlanta I was pumped!  A book about my hometown -- bring it! A murder mystery/romance to boot - SOLD!  

I absolutely love Jolie - she's a well rounded character that I could totally relate to.  She's just quit her job working for Realtor Barbie (HAH) as she was asked to do something that she just morally couldn't do.  While working on building up her own brokerage company she gets a job selling shoes at Neiman's.  Selling shoes has to be easier than selling houses...right??  The first sentence cracked me up -- make that, the first entire scene cracked me up.  Gosh, I'd love to know what it'd be like to just buy three pairs of thousand dollar shoes, just because.  A girl can dream!

Jolie has filed a missing persons report on her boyfriend Gary.  She hasn't seen or heard from him, but finds out that his car was found at the bottom of the 'Hooch...with a woman's body inside.  Jolie has not been dating Gary for very long, so she's not really 100% sure what is going on...but is determined to get to the bottom of it.  

At work, she meets Carlotta who invites her to an exclusive party that night.  Jolie doesn't know, but Carlotta wasn't exactly invited to this shindig...she crashes local events for fun with her friend Hannah.  Once Jolie realizes what she's doing she instantly feels bad, but is getting somewhere in her investigation and doesn't want to give up yet.

The twists and turns in this book kept me hooked.  I couldn't put the book down because I just had to know what was going to happen next.  Go, get it -- NOW!

Favorite Quotes

"Focusing on mundane details allowed her to get through difficult times because they were reminders that life went on."

"...the 'Buckhead Bubble' - a magic bubble, he said, that surrounded he country-club set that lived in he ritziest part of Atlanta." 

"It's the South and most people don't really care who they are as long as they wipe their feet."

"Loneliness had a comfortable, insular quality that could lull a person into feeling secure in a distorted kind of way...secure in the knowledge that she'd never have to expose herself to another person's feelings.  If she didn't trust, she'd never be betrayed, and if she didn't love, she'd never be rejected."

"...being rich was as much a state of mind as it was a state of bank account."

"Jolie suspected the animal rights activists subscribed to the belief that everyone south of the Mason-Dixon Line was armed and anyone who flung red paint on a Southern woman's coat might get themselves shot."

"To recognize someone, you had to first know them."

"...white was a prestigious color with the implication that one had to have money to maintain anything white."

"There are times in every person's life when they find out what they're made of."

"...the only thing that went away faster if a person ignored it was time."

My Ratings

Cover: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing Style: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Ending: 5/5

Overall: 5/5

Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday (21)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly event held by MizB at Should Be Reading.  I love this event and love giving you a little teaser into what I'm reading!  This can either suck you in, and you will enjoy reading the book, or it can make you realize that this just isn't the book for you!

The rules are simple:

- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on the page

- Please do not include spoilers!!!!! (Please be sure that what you post doesn't give too much away -- we want this to be fun for those who haven't read the book as well!)

- Make sure you share TITLE and AUTHOR so that other TT followers can add the book to their TBR pile.

- Always be sure to check out the host's blog and leave your Teaser Tuesday link!

My Teaser

"According to the postcard, the attire was sleepwear, the guest list was exclusive, and invitations had to be presented at the door.  Apparently Sammy had moved through the crowd tonight, picking and choosing her guests."

Review: Orphan Flu by A. D. Bolivar

Published: October 11, 2012 by A. D. Bolivar Books
Format: E-Book
Source: Received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookrooster in exchange for my review.

When all of the adults start dying around the world from a unique strain of influenza, Sara's family is prepared.  Her Dad is a survivalist computer geek who built a bunker of a house in the Philadelphia suburbs completely off grid.  He taught his kids to hunt and gave them lessons on how to survive in the wilderness.  With society collapsing under the strain of so much death, violence starts erupting around the country.  All of their training isn't enough to keep them safe as strangers swarm the property and they find themselves under attack.  

 Dad's instructions swirl in Sara's head as she leaves her family home with her younger sister Eve.  They always promised him they would go right to his friend Mr. John's house in Denver if they ever had to evacuate.  Sara just wants to make one small stop in Washington, DC to see if it's true that the government and all the authority that goes along with it is dead too.  When she arrives she finds herself in the middle of a battle she doesn't want to fight, kidnapped by soldiers and living in the White House.  

 Forced to work in the new army, Sara ends up making friends and right when she thinks she may have found a home, they give her a mission she's not sure she can complete.  At this point, Sara isn't worried about getting lost.  She's just wondering if she's going to survive.  

First Sentence

"Two roads diverged in a mall and her Dad took the one only traveled by geeky older men."

My Thoughts

The first sentence had me...hook, line and sinker.  I love the Robert Frost poem this is a play on and I thought it was super cute!  I could feel the characters embarrassment and couldn't help but laugh out loud at the reference.  Oh to be a teenager again...

This book was extremely well written and a page turner.  I didn't want to put it down, even when I knew I had to.  This book is action packed and left me constantly wondering what was going to happen next! 

 The flu is definitely harder on the elderly, and it isn't uncommon for someone elderly to pass from the flu.  That being said, the plot is not far fetched and the more you think about it --- kinda freaky!  Can you really imagine what the world would be like if a widespread epidemic wiped out anyone over the age of 30??????  

Sara is an incredibly strong character that I fell in love with instantly.  She has a geeky dad and an older brother that is just as geeky.  While she may be slightly embarrassed of how geeky they are...it definitely pays off in the end.  Sara has been taught all of the necessary tools to be able to survive any and every possible thing.  

While Sara's family is prepared, there is no way to stop the progression and spread of the disease.  It takes both her mother and father early on and leaves her, her brother Adam and her sister Eve to fend for themselves.  With the society crumbling, looters are everywhere and will do anything to get what they need to survive.  The cabin is well equipped and looters end up ransacking and taking over the house.  

Sara knows that she has to make it to Denver to be with Mr. John, her father's best friend, and his family.  Before she heads to Denver she needs to see for herself what is going on in Washington, DC.  When she gets there, she is in for a big surprise.  Sara will do anything to protect her family...but will she make it to Denver?

I really don't want to give too much away, as the book is fantastic and I don't want to ruin it!  I highly recommend this book!  Go, read it now!

My Ratings

Cover: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing Style: 5/5

Plot: 5/5

Ending: 5/5

Overall: 5/5

Happy Reading!