(Image from Barnes & Noble)

After years of struggling with infertility, both 38-year-old Lana Stone and her boyfriend, Tyler Jones, are at their wit's end.  The difference is Lana's willing to continue, while her faithful partner is done—with Lana's baby obsession, with all the stress and financial burden it places on them, and with their whole relationship, which has become tense and angry.  When Tyler moves out, Lana's stung.  Then, she gets miraculous news—she's finally pregnant.  Tyler might be out of the picture, but Lana's determined to have their baby anyway.  

A chance encounter on a New York City subway brings Lana face-to-face with a woman she's never met, but with whom she shares an intimate connection.  Katya Dimitrova is the 21-year-old college student whose donated eggs are making Lana's dreams of motherhood a reality.  Lana knows she should not, under any circumstances, follow Katya off the subway, but she does it anyway, an impulsive action that leads to an unlikely friendship between the two women.  It's not long, however, before fun-loving Katya disappears under suspicious circumstances.  Suddenly, Lana finds herself the prime suspect in a missing persons investigation.  In a desperate attempt to exonerate herself, she digs into Katya's past, which brings some very disturbing information to light ...

Her Daughter's Mother, a debut novel by Daniela Petrova, is a compelling psychological thriller built on an intriguing premise.  The characters are complex and authentic, although not very likable.  Still, the propulsive plot kept me reading, needing to know what was going to happen next.  Although the novel is depressing and I didn't end up loving it, it definitely kept me turning pages.  I liked it enough that I'll keep an eye out for Petrova's sophomore attempt.   

(Readalikes:  Hm, nothing's coming to mind.  Help!)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language, violence, sexual content, and disturbing subject matter

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

All over the U.S., families will be gathering this week to celebrate Thanksgiving.  This underrated holiday is one of my favorites—not because I love to pig out on turkey and pie, but because it's not really about gluttony at all.  Thanksgiving revolves around gratitude, being thankful for the blessings in our lives.  Even when life is dark and gloomy, if we just look around a little bit, we can always find something to be grateful for.  Like the quote says, it's a choice.  We can actively decide to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, which will make us happier, healthier, and more pleasant to be around!  This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for so many things—family, friends, a nice house, food on the table, the miracle of modern medicine, cool weather (a REAL blessing in hot, dry Arizona), and so much more.  To all my U.S. readers, Happy Thanksgiving!  A belated one to all you Canadians as well.  

Not surprisingly, today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is a gratitude freebie.  Before I jump into the spin I decided to take, I want to encourage you to join in the TTT fun.  It's easy.  Simply click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl, read a few instructions, make your own list, then spend some happy hours surfing the book blogosphere checking out everyone's lists.  Easy as ... pie!  See what I did there?? 

Today, I decided to celebrate my favorite aspect of blogging—interacting with you, my readers.  To be quite honest, I would probably blog even if no one ever saw my reviews, just because I find it enjoyable, but the fact that people actually want to read what I write is both surprising and wonderful.  I love reading your comments, crafting responses, and just interacting with so many good, like-minded folks.  I appreciate you coming by, even if you're a shy lurker, but I'm especially thankful for those who comment regularly here at BBB.  You make this hobby so much fun!  So, I'm going to publicly thank my most frequent visitors with a TTT list titled Top Ten Twelve Commenters On BBB Who Deserve My Eternal Gratitude.  I hope you will show these good people some love by visiting their blogs, commenting, and taking their always on-point reading recommendations to heart.  Thank you, my friends, for all you do for me and my little blog :)

Top Ten Twelve Commenters on BBB Who Deserve My Eternal Gratitude

1.  Annette @Annette's Book Spot

2.  Carla @Carla Loves to Read

3.  Cath @Read_Warbler

4.  Helen @Helen's Book Blog 

5.  Joy @Joyous Reads  

6.  Katherine @I Wish I Lived in a Library

7.  Kay @Kay's Reading Life

8.  Lark @Lark Writes ... On Books and Life

9.  Mystica @Musings From Sri Lanka

10.  Sam @Book Chase

11.  Sam @We Live and Breathe Books     

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Dr. Doomsday knew the apocalypse was coming. Until the massive cyberterrorism attacks actually happened, though, his obsession with the end of the world just looked like paranoid delusion.  His constant prepping and drilling, not to mention the ranting and raving, led to the soiling of his reputation, the end of his marriage, and estrangement from his children.  Now that the country is in chaos, the world as she's known it crumbling to dust, his 17-year-old daughter, Susan "Jinx" Marshall, is asking (along with the rest of the nation), "Did Dr. Doomsday want the apocalypse to happen so badly that he caused it himself?"

The authorities seem to think the man behind the attacks is not Jinx's father, Dr. Max Marshall (aka Dr. Doomsday), but her stepdad, Jay Novac, who works in security at one of the banks that was targeted.  When a particularly menacing cop takes both Jay and Jinx's mother into custody, Jinx's mom urges her to run and find her father.  This isn't an easy task on a normal day.  It's even tougher with the police hot on her trail and two siblings—one a young diabetic, the other a know-it-all stepsister—in tow.  Channeling all the prepper rules her father drilled into her, Jinx must use every skill in her arsenal, no matter how desperate, to ensure the survival of herself, her family, and the world at large.

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language (a handful of F-bombs, plus milder expletives), violence, and blood/gore

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of Day Zero from the generous folks at Inkyard Press (an imprint of Harlequin) in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

(Note:  The Painted Castle is the third installment in a trilogy of interrelated books.  While they are not sequels exactly, characters from the first and second books have cameos in the third.  The books can be read as standalones, but if you want to avoid even minor spoilers, I recommend reading them in order.)

Art historian Keira Foley is still reeling from a job and a resulting relationship that turned sour, leading to both professional and personal disgrace in New York City.  She's back in her native Ireland licking her wounds.  When a cocky American bloke struts into her family's pub, taking a keen interest in Keira, her protective brother threatens to have him forcibly removed.  Keira's not interested in the bloke until he dangles a mysterious job offer in a crumbling English castle called Parham Hill in front of her nose ...

Amelia Woods had been married to Arthur—the viscount of Huxley and owner of Parham Hill—barely a year when he was killed in a mission while serving as an RAF pilot.  Four years later, the English countryside is still under threat of attack, especially since an airfield lies just over the hill from the estate.  Amelia is protective of her husband's ancestral home with its precious memories and priceless art, but it's the children boarding inside whose safety is her first priority.  When a group of American military officers becomes her unwitting roommates, Amelia must protect all of Parham Hill's hidden treasures.  Especially her heart.

When Elizabeth Meade was just a child, she witnessed her father's callous murder on the streets of London.  A glimpse of a cloaked man with unusual eyes gave her an idea of the killer's identity—and the germ of a revenge plot.  Now engaged to the very man—the viscount of Huxley—Elizabeth is playing a dangerous long game to avenge her beloved parent.  She soon comes to realize that secrets abound at Parham Hill and its owner may not be what he seems ...

If you're a rabid Kate Morton fan like I am, you'll definitely want to check out the Lost Castle series by Kristy Cambron.  I haven't read the first two books in the trilogy since I thought The Painted Castle was a standalone, but I've already put both on reserve at my library.  That should give you a clue as to how much I enjoyed the final installment!  It's a triple timeline novel featuring three women in different eras.  All of the leading ladies are strong, intelligent, independent sorts who find themselves, in some way, through their association with Parham Hill.  They solve mysteries, endure hardship and loss, find love, and make important discoveries about the castle and themselves, all of which makes for an engrossing novel.  Add in vivid prose, excellent pacing, and a few twists to keep things interesting, and you've got yourself an engaging read.  Even better, Cambron keeps things squeaky clean so that this book (and the whole series, presumably) can be handed to any reader, from tween to senior citizen.  Although Cambron writes Christian fiction, The Painted Castle makes only occasional reference to God and never in a way that is preachy or disruptive.  For all these reasons and more, I found myself completely immersed in this engaging, Morton-ish delight.  As I have said, I enjoyed it immensely and am excited to read the rest of the series as well as anything else Cambron has written.  It's always fun to find a new author who writes clean, compelling books.  I know I'm going to relish getting to know Cambron and her work better.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of books by Kate Morton and Susan Meissner)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for violence and scenes of peril

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of The Painted Castle from the generous folks at Thomas Nelson via those at TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

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Want more opinions on The Painted Castle?  Follow along on the book's blog tour by clicking on the links below:

Wednesday, November 20th: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books