Domestic Violets - TLC Blog Tour August 30, 2011

Domestic Violets - Matthew Norman (TLC Book Tour)

Synopsis:

Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned thirty-five, he’d have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day.

The reality, though, is far different. He’s got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he’s written a novel, but the manuscript he’s slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords, his pretentious archnemesis Gregory, and a hopeless, completely inappropriate crush on his favorite coworker. Oh . . . and his dog, according to the vet, is suffering from acute anxiety.

Tom’s life is crushing his soul, but he’s decided to do something about it. (Really.)Domestic Violets is the brilliant and beguiling story of a man finally taking control of his own happiness—even if it means making a complete idiot of himself along the way.

My Thoughts:

I can honestly say this book surprised the heck out of me. When

I picked it up I almost expected it to be a dry read for me. Boy was I wrong. I found this book to be funny, charming, and full of heart.

Tom is a character that is hard not to like. He's full of wit and sarcastic jokes, which he uses to cover up insecurity. I loved watching his character evolve through out the story.

As for the other characters, they were just as well written. His wife was easy to relate too. His daughter was wise and cute beyond her years. Curtis is a character you want to dislike but no matter how hard you try, it's impossible not to love him. Heck I even like the neurotic dog Hank.

Author's Website: Matthew Norman

Other Participating Sites:

Tuesday, August 9: Rundpinne

Tuesday, August 9: Like Fire

Wednesday, August 10: Life In Review

Thursday, August 11: BookNAround

Friday, August 12: The House of the Seven Tails

Monday, August 15: Colloquium

Tuesday, August 16: Raging Bibliomania

Wednesday, August 17: Book Chatter

Thursday, August 18: Teresa’s Reading Corner

Monday, August 22: The Bodacious Pen

Tuesday, August 23: StephTheBookworm

Tuesday, August 23: Write Meg

Wednesday, August 24: I’m Booking It

Thursday, August 25: Sara’s Organized Chaos

Friday, August 26: Iwriteinbooks’s blog

Monday, August 29: A Bookish Way of Life

Tuesday, August 30: My Life in Not So Many Words

Thursday, September 1: That’s What She Read

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted byMizB of Should Be Reading and it asks us to...

• 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!

Here's my teaser this week:

"Well, for one thing, there are all the new kids from Eastern Coming in. It won't just be the same people we've been going to school with, like, forever."

"Great so there will be even more Clique Queens to make our lives miserable."

Want To Go Private - Sarah Darer Littman pg.1

Mailbox Monday & What Are You Reading

Mailbox Monday was originally hosted by Marcia at the Printed page but now it is a traveling meme. This month it is hosted by Staci at Life in the Thumb.

I've gotten a few books in the week

The Cradle - Patrick Somerville (bought)

Little Giant of Aberdeen County - Tiffany Baker (bought)

Dead Iron - Devon Monk (bought)

Want to Go Private - Sarah Darer Littman (Amazon Vine)

Also picked up a couple Medical terminology books and Anatomy & Physiology book to self learn some stuff to help with work.

It's Monday What are you reading this week? Hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through A World of Books. This is a meme to list the books completed last week, the books currently being read, and the books to be finished this week.

Books I finished in the last week:

Domestic Violets - Matthew Norman

Books I am reading this week:

In The Forest of The Night - Kersten Hamilton

Books to finish this week:

In The Forest of the Night - Kersten Hamilton

Mailbox Monday & What Are You Reading

Mailbox Monday was originally hosted by Marcia at the Printed page but now it is a traveling meme. This month it is hosted by Staci at Life in the Thumb.

I've gotten a few books in the last couple of weeks

Simply Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet (bought)

In the Forests of the Night - Kersten

Hamilton (author)

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod - Heather Brewer (bought)

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour - Moran Mastson (bought)

Deception - Lee Nichols (bought)

The Miles Between - Mary E. Pearson (bought)

It's Monday What are you reading this week? Hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through A World of Books. This is a meme to list the books completed last week, the books currently being read, and the books to be finished this week.

Books I finished in the last week:

Wildefire - Karsten Knight

Books I am reading this week:

Domestic Violets - Matthew Norman

Witchlanders - Lena Coakley

Books to finish this week:

Domestic Violets - Matthew Norman

Witchlanders - Lena Coakley

Wildefire - A Review

Wildefire - Karsten Knight (publisher)

synopsis:

Every flame begins with a spark.

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

My Thoughts:

Wow! What a way to end a book! So now I just have to know who the heck Colt is anyhow.

Before this last section of the book I was pretty intrigued as to what might happen in the next book. Now, I just have to know!

What really interested me in this book was the mythology and I feel as if we only got an introduction to our characters and their background. I hope with the next one, we get a whole lot more information on them. I find I want to know this portion more than anything. How they came to be, how they connect, how it is they keep repeating the cycle and reincarnating back to rinse and repeat again.

If Mythology interests you, I'd say give this book a read. I think you'll like it.

Author's website: Karsten Knight

I have been a bad blogger this summer

So much stuff has been going on. I spent the better part of the summer going from one job that was being eliminated to a temp summer job where my husband works. Then on every weekend, we were doing family stuff with my oldest child, Andy, who was prepping to leave for Naval Boot Camp on August 8, 2011. So we were going on day trips to like Crater Lake, Mt St. Helens, we drove him to Idaho to see his dad before he left. My reading time was beginning to suffer but I was doing more important stuff.

This went through July. Then August came and it was getting closer and closer to the time Andy was leaving. I had also been offered a FT permanent position with a company I had applied and a job I was hoping to get. I accepted of course and I started 5 weeks of training on August 8th.

Fast forward one week to August 7th, My birthday and getting older sucks lol. Then comes August 8th. I started my new job. My son left for Portland to MEPS. I got to at least go up and say goodbye to him but Tuesday came all too quick and he was off to Chicago to start his new life and my house feels half empty with one of my two children grown and gone. I'm handling him being gone fine but the not being able to call him is driving me nuts.

So this is my summer and my half hearted excuse for my bad, bad blogging habits. I'm hoping as I settle into my job, that my reading will pick up and I'll get back going on blogging again.

So bear with me folks, I'm not gone just overloaded with stuff.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted byMizB of Should Be Reading and it asks us to...

• 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!

Here's my teaser this week:

Tears were spilling down Teagan Wyllston's cheeks as she went up the stairs. She locked her bedroom door so no one could follow her in.

In The Forests Of The Nights - Kersten Hamilton pg. 1 (note ARC subject to change)

Mailbox Monday & What Are You Reading

Mailbox Monday was originally hosted by Marcia at the Printed page but now it is a traveling meme. This month it is hosted by Staci at Life in the Thumb.

I got one book this past week

The Stranger you Seek - Amanda Kyle Williams

It's Monday What are you reading this week? Hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through A World of Books. This is a meme to list the books completed last week, the books currently being read, and the books to be finished this week.

Books I finished in the last week:

The Iron Queen - Julie Kagawa
Darkhouse - Karina Halle

Books I am reading this week:

Wildefire - Karsten Knight

Witchlanders - Lena Coakley

Books to finish this week:

Wildefire - Karsten Knight

Witchlanders - Lena Coakley

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted byMizB of Should Be Reading and it asks us to...

• 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!

Here's my teaser this week:

Even as the sirens picked up from the south, even as the red and whites flickered over the lawn soon after, Ash lay still in the grass, letting the rain cascade down around her, hoping her mind would take her some place--any place--other than here on the lawn with a dead girl.

Wildefire - Karsten Knight pg. 37