Sunny’s Review Roundup & Giveaway

I have been reading a lot of great books lately, and I want to give some love to the authors who have been filling my life with goodness one page (or narrated word) at a time. To do that, I am going to do my first, but likely not my last, review roundup. I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into my reading world as of late.

Note: All of these titles were review copies provided to me by the publisher unless otherwise noted.

The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse by Molly Knight. Tantor Audio. Nonfiction/Sports. Having spent my 2015 summer vacation going to the five major league baseball fields in California, including the home of the L.A. Dodgers, I found this book very interesting. Not only could I recall the baseball field itself, Molly Knight gave me a great depiction of the L.A. Dodgers’ players and the franchise that I wouldn’t have otherwise known and understood. It shed a whole new light on the team and the sport my family and I love.

If you enjoy sports and crave a behind-the-scenes look at a major league baseball team, The Best Team Money Can Buy is definitely one to try.

Rating: B

Hanover House (Hanover House Chronicles, Book 0.5) by Brenda Novak. Self-Published. Romantic Suspense. Not being a huge fan of novellas, I gave Hanover House a chance because I knew it was a prequel to a new suspense series by Brenda Novak, an author I love! I loved the setup this book provided for her Hanover House Chronicles series. Not only did it brilliantly describe how Evelyn’s past has driven her to start a new facility that studies psychopaths, it gave a glimpse into how that past greatly impacted other aspects of the present day. This glimpse included hope of a potential love interest that intrigued me as well. This novella has me extremely excited to read the upcoming books in the series.

Rating: A

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, Book 2) by J.K. Rowling. Scholastic. Children’s Fantasy. Source: Purchased. In the second year of Harry’s escape to the Hogwarts school for witches and wizards, he and his wonderful friends once again find themselves getting in and out of trouble. The level of detail written to pull off another year at Hogwarts is simply incredible! This is my third time reading the book. I read it on my own, with my oldest, and this time with my youngest. The imagination of J.K. Rowling still amazes me and has thoroughly entertained my children as well. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was a wonderful reread for me, and I would encourage everyone to read the ENTIRE series.

Rating: A

I Wish You Were Mine (Oxford, Book 2) by Lauren Layne. Loveswept. Contemporary Romance. I totally binge-read Lauren Layne in 2015, so I couldn’t think of a better way to start off 2016 than with an Oxford read, the newest in the series, releasing TOMORROW! I love stories where the characters undergo a transformation, and from the start of the book to the end, there was a great transformation in both Jackson and Mollie. I enjoyed what Jackson and Mollie meant to each other. They were friends due to Jackson’s ex-wife, who happens to be Mollie’s sister. I loved the dynamic this created, and the only thing getting in the way of a 5-star rating was the unlikeable person who brought them together, Madison. Putting her aside, I Wish You Were Mine was a great romance!

Rating: A- (4½ stars)

A Killer Among Us (Women of Justice, Book 3) by Lynette Eason. Tantor Audio. Romantic Suspense/Christian Romance. There was a lot happening in A Killer Among Us, which made for a well-written suspenseful plot. In this fast-paced story, I enjoyed the investigative work that took place to solve the mystery as well as how many of the characters solving the case became targets of the killer. I appreciated that I couldn’t determine who the killer was until near the end, as well as how all of the details fell into place so the case could be solved. I loved how Eason incorporated Christian faith and light romance into her mystery as well as how many characters from earlier books in the series remained key to this story.

Rating: B

Overtime (Assassins, Book 7) by Toni Aleo. Tantor Audio. Sports Romance. Jordie and Kacey get a second chance at love in Overtime. They totally crashed and burned the first time around, and after Jordie hit rock bottom, he finally realizes what he wants in his life: Kacey. He goes after her hard! Whereas I loved every page when they were together, I was a bit frustrated when they weren’t. Kacey has some trust issues with Jordie, which were understandable yet drawn out a bit too much at times. Even so, I loved their passion and how they eventually secured their happily ever after. I also had a number of laugh-out-loud moments throughout the book, which made it that much more enjoyable.

Rating: B

P.S. If you want to see longer versions of my reviews of these titles, click on the boldface title text or book cover.

Review Roundup Giveaway

Thanks to the generosity of the publishers we work with, we have one copy of the following titles from my review roundup to give away to five lucky Kindles & Wine readers:

• The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse by Molly Knight, narrated by Hillary Huber – MP3-CD audiobook donated by Tantor Audio (U.S. residents only)
• Hanover House by Brenda Novak – signed paperback copy (U.S. or Canadian residents only) or digital copy (open internationally) donated by the author
• I Wish You Were Mine by Lauren Layne – digital copy donated by Loveswept (open internationally)
• A Killer Among Us by Lynette Eason, narrated by Kate Zane OR Book 1 in the Women of Justice Series – MP3-CD audiobook donated by Tantor Audio (U.S. residents only)
• Overtime by Toni Aleo, narrated by Lucy Malone – MP3-CD audiobook donated by Tantor Audio (U.S. residents only)

To enter for your chance to win one of the prizes, you must:

1. Be a follower of our blog (click HERE to subscribe),
2. My roundup included a wide variety of genres. Hit the comments and tell me about how eclectic your taste is in books. Which genres do you like to read? AND…
3. List which of the giveaway books you would like to win in order of preference (you can name all five ).

Please note: All entrants must review and adhere to our official giveaway policy. This contest will close on Friday, February 5, 2016 at 11:59 PM (CST) and the five winners will be notified via email on Saturday, February 6.