27. My Best Friend's Girl

I liked this one a lot.

How far would you go for the best friend who broke your heart? This internationally bestselling novel tells an enchanting tale of life’s most unpredictable loves and heartaches, and the unforgettable bond between a single woman and an extraordinary five-year-old girl. From the moment they met in college, best friends Adele Brannon and Kamryn Matika thought nothing could come between them—until Adele did the unthinkable and slept with Kamryn’s fiancé, Nate. Now, after years of silence, the two women are reuniting, and Adele has a stunning request for her old friend: she wants Kamryn to adopt her five-year-old daughter, Tegan.

Besides the difference in skin color—many will assume that headstrong, impulsive Kamryn is Tegan’s nanny—there’s the inconvenient truth that Kamryn is wholly unprepared to take care of anyone, especially someone who reminds her so much of Nate. With crises brewing at work and her love life in shambles, can Kamryn somehow become the mother a little girl needs her to be?

In My Best Friend’s Girl, Dorothy Koomson takes us on a warm and wondrous journey through laughter and tears, forgiveness and hope—and the enduring love forged by the unlikeliest of families.

26. Guilty Feet

This was a re-read, probably one I re-read about once as year as it is one of my favorite cheesy red dress ink books. Probably because I can totally picture myself doing something as ridiculous as the main character does here...

Here's a review from B&N.com:What would you do if your boyfriend told you that you were going to end up like your mother? You'd walk out on him...and that's just what Jo did to Dan. What if he didn't make any effort to get you back and, according to your upstairs neighbor, let your downstairs neighbor take your place? You'd be madder than a wet cat. What if, on top of all that, you lost your job? Wouldn't that be enough to make you wish you were someone else…and maybe just crazy enough to create a new email account so you could have an online flirtation with the lover you still wished was anything but ex? Well, Jo did that too…. That's when her life really went nuts. All her friends suddenly had unsuitable but great-in-bed new boyfriends. Her mother decided to try sexual experimentation. Then Jo's dad moved in. In times like this, anyone might find the safety valve of an Internet alter ego was the only thing keeping her going, even if that alternate identity was romancing her own unrepentant ex-boyfriend. At least on the Internet the only thing that can get dumped is data. British import Kelly Harte takes her chronicle of the life of this slightly overwhelmed London single into the electronic age with inventiveness, humor, passion…and absolutely no guilt at all.

25. Fifteen Minutes of Shame

This was a quick, cute bookstore read today.

Here's a review from B&N.com:

A real-life dating columnist and book author (Stop Getting Dumped!), Daily puts her debut novel's heroine into her professional shoes. Darby Vaughn, 31, is enjoying her success as the nation's most popular romance expert: she's got bestselling books, TV appearances and even her own perfume. But her empire threatens to topple when her cheating husband, aka her publicist, humiliates her and leaves her vulnerable to giant aftershocks in the press. After a few days of intense girlfriend therapy, Darby emerges from the haze of margaritas and sappy movies to rebuild her life starting with "spin dating"-i.e., "dating for publicity." Besides being photographed canoodling with a basketball star and a young model, Darby hires the best divorce lawyer in town, who also just happens to be the hottest. Daily keeps things moving along quickly, and though her style is not exactly seasoned, she delivers some surprising depth and a heroine with heart to root for.

24. The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square

I read this one in the bookstore and really really liked it. You might call it chick lit, but since the characters weren't in their 20s I don't really think of it that way. It was just a good novel... a little romance, some quirky characters, a nice picture of small town life in the south, just a good read overall.

Here's the description from B&N:

From the author of Tied to the Tracks comes a charming new novel set in Lambert's Corner, South Carolina-a beautiful town where no one's secrets remain secret for very long.
For John Dodge, moving to new places and reviving ailing businesses is a way of life. So when he sees an ad for Scriveners, a stationery shop in a small town in South Carolina, he decides to take the plunge.

As soon as he arrives in Lambert's Corner, Dodge falls happily into the whirl of gossip, gifts, and quintessential Southern hospitality. Link Kay, one of his employees, warms up to him after Dodge admires his expertise on pens. Bean Hurt-a feisty and outspoken ten-year-old-becomes a fast friend. And Maude Golden, the mayor, supplies him with indispensable information. But the one person who really catches Dodge's eye is Julia Darrow-the beautiful but aloof pajama-wearing owner of the Cocoon, a popular store specializing in luxury linens. Dodge tries to befriend her, but she remains elusive and mysterious. Everyone knows that she is a widow, but no one seems to know why she came to town or why she never leaves Lambert Square-or does she?

Like Dodge, Chicago-born Julia is fleeing a tumultuous past. But with the help of a hilarious and endearing cast of characters, Julia and Dodge learn that, sometimes, you don't need to go far to find home.

23. sTori Telling

Yes, I ready Tori Spelling's memoir, and it was pretty interesting. A quick read, it made me realize how little I actually knew about her life despite all of the rumors and tabloid stories I've heard.

Here's the description:

She was television's most famous virgin -- and, as Aaron Spelling's daughter, arguably its most famous case of nepotism. Portraying Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210, Tori Spelling became one of the most recognizable young actresses of her generation, with a not-so-private personal life every bit as fascinating as her character's exploits. Yet years later the name Tori Spelling too often closed -- and sometimes slammed -- the same doors it had opened.

sTORI telling is Tori's chance to finally tell her side of the tabloid-worthy life she's led, and she talks about it all: her decadent childhood birthday parties, her nose job, her fairy-tale wedding to the wrong man, her so-called feud with her mother. Tori has already revealed her flair for brilliant, self-effacing satire on her VH1 show So NoTORIous and Oxygen's Tori & Dean: Inn Love, but her memoir goes deeper, into the real life behind the rumors: her complicated relationship with her parents; her struggles as an actress after 90210; her accident-prone love life; and, ultimately, her quest to define herself on her own terms.

From her over-the-top first wedding to finding new love to her much-publicized -- and misunderstood -- "disinheritance," sTORI telling is a juicy, eye-opening, enthralling look at what it really means to be Tori Spelling.

22. Protect and Defend

The last of the Vince Flynn books, this one was a good read, but not quite up to the same standards as the last two I read. I think because it takes place in Iran and I had a hard time keeping several of the characters straight since I know nothing about the Iranian government. I also felt like this one left some loose ends with minor characters - maybe they'll get picked up in the next book, who knows...

Anyway, here's the description from B&N:

An action-packed and all-too-realistic vision of nations navigating the minefield of international intrigue, Protect and Defend is Vince Flynn's most explosive political thriller yet. The action begins in the heart of Iran, where billions of dollars are being spent on the development of a nuclear program. No longer willing to wait for the international community to stop its neighboring enemy, Israel launches a creative and daring operation that leaves a radioactive tomb in the middle of Iran's second largest city. An outraged Iranian government publicly blames both Israel and the United States and demands retribution. Enter Mitch Rapp, America's top counterterrorism operative. Rapp convinces President Josh Alexander to sign off on a risky operation that will push Iran to the brink of revolution. But when Iran recruits Hezbollah master terrorist Imad Mukhtar, and a CIA effort goes disastrously wrong, Rapp and Mukhtar are set on a collision course that threatens to engulf the entire region in war. With the clock ticking, Rapp is given twenty-four hours, no questions asked, to do whatever it takes to stop Mukhtar, and avert an unthinkable catastrophe.

21. Act of Treason

For some reason the writing style seemed a bit different in this one than the others but I can't put my finger on exactly why. I love the humor that Flynn manages to weave into the most seriously and deadly situations though - my favorite in this one was Rapp, the US's top spy/assassin putting all of the evidence together onto a Power Point presentation to make it easier for a press conference. It made me laugh out loud. :) Anyway, only one more to go til I've read them all.

Here's the recap on this one:

CIA operative Mitch Rapp follows a trail of contract killers leading directly to the heart of our nation's capital in New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn's eighth explosive thriller.
It's a gorgeous autumn day in Georgetown. The Democratic candidates for president and vice president of the United States are dutifully glad-handing voters and the media outside a grand estate where a national security conference has just been held, bringing together the world's greatest minds to discuss the issues that are threatening the country. It's American politicking at its best. That's when all hell breaks loose.

When presidential candidate Josh Alexander's motorcade is ambushed by a group of terrorists, the nation is thrown into turmoil. Two weeks following the attack, Alexander is carried to victory by a sympathy vote, but his assailants have not been found. On the surface it appears to be the work of al-Qaeda, despite the tremendous job that the U.S. and her allies have done eliminating terrorist cells within the heart of America. While the FBI and the rest of the government begin scouring the world for jihadists, CIA director Irene Kennedy and Special Agent Skip McMahon are presented with classified information so toxic that they consider destroying it altogether, as it contains intelligence pointing to some of the most powerful players in Washington.

Enter Mitch Rapp, the one man reckless enough to follow the evidence to its explosive conclusion. His journey takes him through the shadowy world of contract killers, into the darkest corners of the globe, and eventually back to Washington, where the fragile pillars of power are shaken to their core.

20. Consent to Kill

Just when I think they can't get better, they do. This was the best Vince Flynn book I've read yet. Filled with twists and turns that I never saw coming, I think I raced through these 675 pages because I just couldn't put this book down.

Here's a description:

For more than a decade and a half Mitch Rapp has been on the front line of the war on terror. He has killed with impunity, tortured to avert disaster and shown he's willing to do whatever it takes to stop the crazed fundamentalists from fulfilling their bloody wishes. His bold actions have saved the lives of thousands, but in the process his list of enemies has grown exponentially. There are even those within his own government who would like to see him eliminated. Rapp is far from naive to the fact that there are thousands if not millions of zealots who would gladly trade their life for his, but even knowing all of this Rapp could never have imagined the mayhem that is about to visit his doorstep.

Thousands of miles away the influential father of a dead terrorist demands retribution for the death of his son at the hands of the infidels. His hate-filled plea is a simple request from one father to another. He wants Mitch Rap dead, and he has found sympathetic ears. In the tangled, duplicitous world of espionage there are those, even among America's allies who feel Mitch Rapp has grown too effective. They have been looking for an excuse to eliminate America's number one counterterrorism operative, and they have decided to seize the chance. The hunter is about to become the hunted.

In Consent to Kill, Vince Flynn's seventh novel, Mitch Rapp and his family are placed directly in the line of fire. A tragedy of unimaginable proportions is about to befall him, and Rapp must use all of his cunning and skill, and ultimately his ruthless determination, to stay alive and seek vengeance against those who have turned his life upside down.

19. Remember Me

The lastest from Sophie Kinsella was a quick, cute read I enjoyed at B&N today. I liked that the main character wasn't quite as flighty and ditzy as some of Kinsella's other characters, and of course, as usual, I liked the happily ever after ending. :)

Here's the description:

When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.

Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.

Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?

18. the girl who stopped swimming

like gods in Alabama and Between, Georgia - this was another really good read from Joshilyn Jackson. I read it in one sitting at B&N - I almost put it down at one point to go home because i had a headache but it was such a page turner i couldn't bear to stop reading.

I definitely recommend this one!

Here's a description from B&N:

Laurel Gray Hawthorne needs to make things pretty, whether she's helping her mother make sure the literal family skeleton stays in the closet or turning scraps of fabric into nationally acclaimed art quilts. Her estranged sister Thalia, an impoverished Actress with a capital A, is her polar opposite, priding herself on exposing the lurid truth lurking behind middle class niceties. While Laurel's life seems neatly on track--a passionate marriage, a treasured daughter, and a lovely home in suburban Victorianna--everything she holds dear is suddenly thrown into question the night she is visited by the ghost of a her 13-year old neighbor Molly Dufresne. The ghost leads Laurel to the real Molly floating lifelessly in the Hawthorne's backyard pool. Molly's death is inexplicable--an unseemly mystery Laurel knows no one in her whitewashed neighborhood is up to solving. Only her wayward, unpredictable sister is right for the task, but calling in a favor from Thalia is like walking straight into a frying pan protected only by Crisco. Enlisting Thalia's help, Laurel sets out on a life-altering journey that triggers startling revelations about her family's guarded past, the true state of her marriage, and the girl who stopped swimming.Richer and more rewarding than any story Joshilyn Jackson has yet written, yet still packed with Jackson's trademarked outrageous characters, sparkling dialogue, and defiantly twisting plotting, THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING is destined both to delight Jackson's loyal fans and capture a whole new audience.

17. Memorial Day

Yet another page turner by Vince Flynn. Whenever I think I am getting tired of these and probably need to take a break I read another that is just really really good.

Here's the description from B&N:

Fighting terrorism on foreign ground, CIA superagent Mitch Rapp does whatever it takes to protect American freedom.

CIA intelligence has pointed to a major terrorist attack on the United States, just as the nation's capital prepares for a grand Memorial Day tribute to the veterans of World War II. Racing to Afghanistan, Mitch Rapp leads a commando raid on an al Queda stronghold in a remote border village -- and defuses plans for a nuclear strike on Washington. The crisis averted, the special ops work is done. But Rapp knows, in the face of a new kind of enemy, nothing is as it seems -- and it's up to him alone to avert a disaster of unimaginable proportions.

16. Snowfall at Willow Lake

This is one in a series, possibly the best in the series actually. It is light, cheesy romance and a perfect quick read.

Here's the description from B&N:

Can a single moment change your entire life?

International lawyer Sophie Bellamy has dedicated her life to helping people in war-torn countries. But when she survives a hostage situation, she remembers what matters most—the children she loves back home. Haunted by regrets, she returns to the idyllic Catskills village of Avalon on the shores of Willow Lake, determined to repair the bonds with her family.
There Sophie discovers the surprising rewards of small-town life—including an unexpected passion for Noah Shepherd, the local veterinarian. Noah has a healing touch for anything with four legs, but he's never had any luck with women—until Sophie.

Snowfall at Willow Lake speaks from the heart about all the loves that fill a woman's life, and all the ways that love is tested and made to grow. It's the story of what comes after a woman survives an unspeakable horror and finds her way home, to healing and redemption and a new chance at happiness.

15. Cooking for Mr. Right

My mom got me this one at a Goodwill store for a quarter... it was definitely worth the price. :)

Actually, it was a cute, quick chick lit read. I've strayed from my typical genre lately for the more serious and the spy novels so this was a nice return to the cheesy, comfort novel I have come to know and love...

Here's a description from B&N:

At twenty-six, Seattle-based chef Kate Linden still has the urge to dye her hair blue and learn to play electric bass. But when she's abruptly fired from the city's hottest restaurant, and her ex-boyfriend, Gaston, announces he's getting married to a woman he's only recently met, Kate feels life's opportunities slipping away. Suddenly she's convinced that Gaston may be her last chance at a happy walk down the aisle. So she cooks up a scheme so grand her ex will be eating out of her hands in no time...It's the perfect recipe for happiness. Until some unexpected ingredients fall into the pot-including a man she'd rather be cooking for.

14. Elements of Style

This is another one that I both liked and didn't like at the same time. I listened to it on my iPod over the course of my trip up to the beach and then in bits and pieces over the last week. I think maybe my not liking it was because I spaced it out so much, but who knows...

Anyway, here's the description from B&N:

Elements of Style, the Pulitzer Prize—winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein’s first novel, is a scathing comedy about New York's high society facing the post—9/11 world.

Francesca Weissman, an Upper East Side pediatrician rated number one by Manhattan magazine, floats on the fringes of the upper strata of privilege and aspiration. Through her bemused eyes we meet the thoroughbred socialite Samantha Acton; relentless social climber Judy Tremont; Barry Santorini, an Oscar-winning moviemaker accustomed to having his way; his supermarket heiress wife, Clarice; and more, tossed together in a frothy stew of outrageous conspicuous consumption and adulterous affairs that play out on Page Six. But when Wasserstein’s madcap tour of the social lives and mores of twenty-first-century Manhattan veers into tragedy, we finally see the true cost of her characters’ choices, and the beating heart of this dazzling novel.

13. The Wednesday Letters

This was a quick read and sweet book. That's the best way I can think of to describe it.

Here's the description from B&N:

Jack and Laurel have been married for 39 years. They've lived a good life and appear to have had the perfect marriage. With his wife cradled in his arms, and before Jack takes his last breath, he scribbles his last "Wednesday Letter." When their adult children arrive to arrange the funeral, they discover boxes and boxes full of love letters that their father wrote to their mother each week on Wednesday. As they begin to open and read the letters, the children uncover the shocking truth about the past. In addition, each one must deal with the present-day challenges. Matthew has a troubled marriage, Samantha is a single mother, and Malcolm is the black sheep of the family who has returned home after a mysterious two-year absence. The Wednesday Letters has a powerful message about forgiveness and quietly beckons for readers to start writing their own "Wednesday Letters."

12. The Kite Runner

The cover of this book has a review that describes it as "powerful and haunting." I completely agree with both. Because reading is an escape for me I can't say I enjoyed this book very much. Yes, there was a happy ending, but the road it took to get to it was so horrible that it was really tough to read at points.

Here's the description from B&N:

The Kite Runner is an unforgettable story of honour, courage and betrayal set in war-torn Afghanistan as two small boys test their friendship to its limits. Compelling, heartrending, and etched with details of a history never before told in fiction, The Kite Runner explores the ways in which we’re damned by our moral failures, and of the extravagant cost of redemption.

11. Executive Power

The Vince Flynn kick continues. This one was good but I didn't like it as much as some of the prior ones. I think I might need to take a bit of a break and read some mindless chick lit fluff in between all of these serious books.

Anyway, here's a description of Executive Power from B&N:
CIA superagent Mitch Rapp battles global terrorism in a high-octane follow-up to The New York Times bestselling Separation of Power -- another chillingly authentic adventure from the master of the political thriller.

Mitch Rapp's cover has been blown. After leading a team of commandos deep into Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein from joining the nuclear arms race, he was publicly hailed by the president as the single most important person in the fight against terrorism. But after years of working covertly behind the scenes, Rapp now lives in the glare of the public spotlight, lauded by the nation and an easy target for virtually every terrorist from Jakarta to London.

As special advisor on counterterrorism to CIA director Dr. Irene Kennedy, Rapp is ready to fight the war on terrorism from CIA headquarters rather than the front line. That is, until a platoon of Navy SEALs, sent to the Philippines to save an American family kidnapped by radical Islamic terrorists, is caught in a deadly ambush. The mission had been top secret -- so who told the enemy? All evidence points to the State Department and the Philippine embassy. But a greater threat still lurks. An unknown assassin working closely with the highest powers in the Middle East is bent on igniting war. Now, with the world watching his every move, will Rapp be able to overcome this anonymous foe and once again keep the flames of war from raging?

Transporting us into an intriguing geopolitical puzzle full of deadly motives, covert operatives, and all the true-to-life insider detail we've come to expect from Vince Flynn, Executive Power is a high-flying story that delivers shattering suspense with the velocity of a 9mm bullet.

10. A Date with the Other Side

I got this one on the bargain table at B&N and I guess it was worth the $5 I paid for it. First, the description:

In the three years Shelby Tucker has been leading tour groups through the haunted houses of Cuttersville, Ohio, she's never caught a glimpse of a ghost. But she does get pretty startled when she waltzes into the bedroom of a supposedly vacant cottage and stumbles upon a sexy, hot-blooded, naked man. This is no ghost, though. This guy is solid as a rock. Bad boy Boston Macnamara is renting the so-called haunted cottage...and he's about to shake things up in Cuttersville. At least for Shelby, who's never been so hot and bothered before. And she may find herself haunted with desire if some feisty matchmaking spirits have their way.

Ok, that description doesn't really signify that the story is really really racy. And, not all that interesting either. It could have been good, but.... nah, it was just so so.

9. Separation of Power

School and life are getting in the way of reading time and I don't like it! Hopefully this weekend will give me the chance to get through several books and try and get caught back up with Mary!

Anyway, this was my latest in the Vince Flynn series and just as fast paced and compelling as the previous ones. If you like the whole spy novel genre I definitely recommend this series!

Here's a review from B&N.com:

A changing of the guard at the CIA attracts some corrupt politicos with eyes on the White House at the start of this sharply plotted thriller, a step up for popular writer Flynn (The Third Option, etc.). Unfortunately for the bad guys, upright CIA agent Dr. Irene Kennedy is tapped to replace her dead boss, foiling their illicit fund-raising plans. Corrupt politico number one, Sen. Hank Clark, enlists Irene's envious second to discredit her and the president. Clark and his cronies are also eager to deal with CIA special ops assassin Mitch Rapp, who's stuck on desk duty after nearly losing his life on a previous assignment and seems ripe to be taken out. Mitch accompanies his girlfriend, White House reporter Anna Rielly, to Italy, where he meets up with his former lover, freelance assassin Donatella Rahn. When Rahn is shot, Mitch uncovers a plot linked to the men behind the threats to Irene and the CIA. Meanwhile, reports surface that Saddam Hussein has acquired nuclear weapon components from North Koreans, who are assembling them in a factory buried beneath a Baghdad hospital. This calls for a gutsy mission, one that entails stopping Saddam while avoiding the PR nightmare that bombing a hospital would cause. Irene pulls Mitch into the plans to deal with Baghdad while she grapples with Congress. Flynn knows his politicians and pits his characters against impossible odds with nonstop action and suspense thus distracting fans from all the clich?s and mediocre prose and a final fillip will keep them guessing as to Mitch's future in the series.

8. A Good Man

This one had its ups and downs. At times I didn't like it at all and at other times I really liked it. Overall, I'd say it's a good read...

Here's the description from B&N.com:

From the acclaimed author of The Girlfriends Club a deeply affecting novel that tests the bonds of friendship against the long-buried pangs of first love

Rhonda, Gina Kay, and Holly were the best of friends in their small-town Texas high school until the day Gina Kay ran off and married Rhonda's boyfriend, Terry Robertson. Now, twenty-five years later, news of Terry's sudden death has reunited them, and brought to the surface old bonds and betrayals they thought they'd left behind.

The three old friends share a trip to New York City, where Gina Kay promises to finally reveal why and how she stole the love of Rhonda's life and ruined a friendship that was supposed to last forever. Over the course of that tumultuous trip, the women find themselves reconsidering their lives, the choices they made, the men they married, and all the paths not taken. As girls, they were stifled by their parents' expectations, small-town life, and the inevitability of biology. How many of their dreams did they actually pursue, and how many have they relinquished? If Rhonda had married Terry instead, would all of their lives have turned out differently?

A Good Man is a novel about good friends, first loves, shocking disloyalty, long-held secrets, and that ever-present question -- what if?