Goodreads Blurb

Gold Medal Winner, Young Adult Romance –Readers Favorite Awards 2014!
Sometimes a shattered heart needs to sing to love again . . . Sixteen year old singer-songwriter Shaynee Sullivan hasn’t so much as touched her guitar since her mom died six months ago. But when she meets a gorgeous and surprising rocker named Dean, her shattered heart begins to mend . . . and then burst at the seams. Heart-wrenching, heart-warming, and sometimes even heart-racing, Heart Shaped Rock will leave you laughing through tears and rooting for love in all its forms.

2014 Readers Favorite Award Finalist in three categories: Young Adult, Young Adult-Coming of Age and Young Adult-Romance!

Check out the full music soundtrack for Heart Shaped Rock at www.LauraRoppe.com at the “Music to HSR” tab!

“If you liked the music collaboration of Maybe Someday, you’ve got to check out Heart Shaped Rock.” — New York Times best-selling author of Maybe Someday, Colleen Hoover

“Laura Roppé has written a moving and emotional novel of first love, accurately capturing the voice and mind of a dramatic and emotional sixteen year old girl caught in a maelstrom of grief and loss, love and heartbreak. And then there’s Dean…you’ll just have to read the book, ‘cause I can’t do him justice in a few short sentences.” –Jasinda Wilder, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of Falling into You

Hear the original music performed in Heart Shaped Rock at www.LauraRoppe.com.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I received this book directly from Laura Roppe. I loved the way Laura wrote this book. This is a great book for teenagers who have lost a family member and feels that life cannot go on because that one person you always shared your inner secrets is not there anymore physically, but will always be in your heart.

I felt so frustrated like Shaynee Sullivan who felt like life had ended for her, but then sunshine came to her life in the most vivid form a gorgeous guy named Dean, who she falls head over heels for. With time open wombs can heal and you can look forward to living again. Love conquers everything. I loved the songs that were exclusively written for this book by Laura who is an amazing song writer and author. If you were looking for a good book, look no further this is it. Go and find out the roller coaster ride that Shaynee the girl in the yellow dress went through. 

Author Biography

Laura Roppé is an award-winning singer/songwriter, author, audio book narrator, speaker, and former attorney from San Diego, California. In 2011, Billboard Magazine ranked her as Number Three on its chart of the Top 50 “uncharted” artists in the world. In May 2013, Laura began hosting Amazon’s weekly podcast, “Kindle Love Stories,” for people who love hearing about love stories, romance, and happily ever afters.

Her first book is the non-fiction memoir, Rocking the Pink. Her latest is a YA-teen romance novel entitled Heart Shaped Rock, featuring a soundtrack.

Goodreads Blurb

The Giver, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, has become one of the most influential novels of our time. The haunting story centers on twelve-year-old Jonas, who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory does he begin to understand the dark, complex secrets behind his fragile community. This movie tie-in edition features cover art from the movie and exclusive Q&A with members of the cast, including Taylor Swift, Brenton Thwaites and Cameron Monaghan.

My Review: Rated 5 out of 5 stars

This book really left me thinking. I am happy that our life’s aren’t restricted like the life’s in this book. It’s great that people were happy and didn’t know about hurting, love and sadness, but that’s what makes us human. I was happy that Jonas decided that what the community was restricting wasn’t the right way to live. He had amazing courage to go against everything he knew in order to try to make a difference.

I like being able to have freedom to choose, to love, to think and see vivid colors. It is sad that there are Countries out there that restrict births, rights and freedom. This book has similarities like Divergent. So if you love books that keep you thinking and challenge you, then this is the book for you. Lois wasn’t afraid to cross unspoken boundaries, but wrote a book that has many controversies. Not too many people cross those boundaries. I highly recommend you read this book. 

Author Biography

Lois Lowry is known for her versatility and invention as a writer. She was born in Hawaii and grew up in New York, Pennsylvania, and Japan. After studying at Brown University, she married, started a family, and turned her attention to writing. She is the author of more than forty books for young adults, including the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader’s Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, NUMBER THE STARS and THE GIVER. Her first novel, A SUMMER TO DIE, was awarded the International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award. Several books have been adapted to film and stage, and THE GIVER has become an opera. Her newest book, ON THE HORIZON, is a collection of memories and images from Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, and post-war Japan. A mother and grandmother, Ms. Lowry divides her time between Maine and Florida. To learn more about Lois Lowry, see her website at http://www.loislowry.com

I thought I knew what I wanted from life. One sweet treat and I realized I was wrong. Dead wrong.
*Hot Cross Buns:

Pre-order: mybook.to/HotCrossBunsws2

Some lies are only strong enough for the powerful to hold. What happens when they are even too powerful for them?

A Witch’s Last Hope: 
Pre-order 

mybook.to/awitchslasthope 

We’re delighted to welcome Gina Wilkinson to our FoxTale Virtual Event series on Thursday, February 18, 6:30PM EST.

About this Event

We’re delighted to welcome Gina Wilkinson to our FoxTale Virtual Event series on Thursday, February 18, 6:30PM EST. Eventbrite registration. Book purchase appreciated-link below.

To PURCHASE: https://foxtalebookshoppe.indielite.org/book/9781496729354

Inspired by her own experiences stationed in Baghdad during Saddam Hussein’s rule, former foreign correspondent Gina Wilkinson’s evocative, suspenseful debut is told through the eyes of three very different women in Iraq at the turn of the millennium. A secretary, an artist and a diplomat’s wife, each must confront the complexities of trust, friendship, and motherhood under the rule of a dictator and his ruthless secret police…

At night, in Huda’s fragrant garden, a breeze sweeps in from the desert encircling Baghdad, rustling the leaves of her apricot trees and carrying warning of visitors at her gate. Huda, a secretary at the Australian embassy, lives in fear of the mukhabarat–the secret police who watch and listen for any scrap of information that can be used against America and its allies. They have ordered her to befriend Ally Wilson, the deputy ambassador’s wife. Huda has no wish to be an informant, but fears for her teenage son, who may be forced to join a deadly militia. Nor does she know that Ally has dangerous secrets of her own.

Huda’s former friend, Rania, enjoyed a privileged upbringing as the daughter of a sheikh. Now her family’s wealth is gone, and Rania too is battling to keep her child safe and a roof over their heads. As the women’s lives intersect, their hidden pasts spill into the present. Facing possible betrayal at every turn, all three must trust in a fragile, newfound loyalty, even as they discover how much they are willing to sacrifice to protect their families.

RSVP link for free event https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gina-wilkinson-when-the-apricots-bloom-virtual-tickets-137189382135?aff=

Iris and Roy Johansen are back with BLINK OF AN EYE

About this Event

We always love when Iris and Roy Johansen visit us at FoxTale! This year, they will join us VIRTUALLY. Event registration is required and book purchase is greatly appreciated as it supports both the authors and FoxTale Book Shoppe. We will have signed book plates from the authors.

A #1 New York Times bestselling author and an Edgar Award winner team up to deliver this gripping new novel featuring investigator Kendra Michaels—whose observational skills are worthy of a modern-day Sherlock Holmes.

Delilah Winter is one of the hottest pop stars on the planet, so how in the world was she kidnapped right in the middle of a show at the famous Hollywood Bowl? If anyone can figure it out, it’s Dr. Kendra Michaels, who works with local and federal authorities on only the most impossible cases. Blind for the first twenty years of her life until a revolutionary surgical procedure allowed her to regain her sight, Kendra uses her powers of observation—honed during her years in the dark—to detect what other investigators don’t. She agrees to lead the race to rescue the young singer before time runs out.

Joined by Jessie Mercado, the singer’s former bodyguard and a military hero, Kendra closes in on the hideout location but not before casualties mount up. Desperate for leads, Kendra must set aside her personal feelings when agent-for-hire Adam Lynch also volunteers his special skills to aid in the search.

But as the abductor’s true purpose becomes clear, the trio uncover a plot they never could have imagined—leading to a showdown they won’t soon forget.

RSVP link for free event https://www.eventbrite.com/e/iris-roy-johansen-virtual-foxtale-tickets-129394547575?aff=

Authors Jennifer Probst and Samantha Verant

About this Event

If we can’t go to Europe, we can do the next best thing, jump into a great conversation with authors Jennifer Probst and Samantha Verant and their latest books taking place in Italy and France, respectively. Join us on Saturday, January 23, 2PM EST as we chat virtually. Registration is required via Eventbrite and book purchase is always appreciated.

ABOUT OUR ITALIAN SUMMER

Three generations of women in the Ferrari family must heal the broken pieces of their lives on a trip of a lifetime through picturesque Italy from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst

Workaholic, career-obsessed Francesca is fiercely independent and successful in all areas of her life except one: family. She struggles to make time for her relationship with her teenage daughter, Allegra, and the two have become practically strangers to each other. When Allegra hangs out with a new crowd and is arrested for drug possession, Francesca gives in to her mother’s wish that they take one epic summer vacation to trace their family roots in Italy. She just never expected to face a choice that might change the course of her life. . .

Allegra wants to make her grandmother happy, but she hates the idea of forced time with her mother and vows to fight every step of the ridiculous tour, until a young man on the verge of priesthood begins to show her the power of acceptance, healing, and the heartbreaking complications of love.

Sophia knows her girls are in trouble. A summer filled with the possibility for change is what they all desperately need. Among the ruins of ancient Rome, the small churches of Assisi, and the rolling hills of Tuscany, Sophia hopes to show her girls that the bonds of family are everything, and to remind them that they can always lean on one another, before it’s too late.

ABOUT THE SECRET FRENCH RECIPES OF SOPHIE VALROUX

A disgraced chef rediscovers her passion for food and her roots in this stunning novel rich in culture and full of delectable recipes.

French-born American chef Sophie Valroux had one dream: to be part of the 1% of female chefs running a Michelin-starred restaurant. From spending summers with her grandmother, who taught her the power of cooking and food, to attending the Culinary Institute of America, Sophie finds herself on the cusp of getting everything she’s dreamed of.

Until her career goes up in flames.

Sabotaged by a fellow chef, Sophie is fired, leaving her reputation ruined and confidence shaken. To add fuel to the fire, Sophie learns that her grandmother has suffered a stroke and takes the red-eye to France. There, Sophie discovers the simple home she remembers from her childhood is now a luxurious château, complete with two restaurants and a vineyard. As Sophie tries to reestablish herself in the kitchen, she comes to understand the lengths people will go to for success and love, and how dreams can change.

RSVP for free event https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jennifer-probst-samantha-verant-virtual-foxtale-tickets-133232172013?aff=erelpanelorg

Susan Meissner virtually joins us to discuss The Nature of Fragile Things

About this Event

It always exciting when our friend and bestselling author Susan Meissner has a new book! We are delighted to welcome Susan VIRTUALLY back to the fox den on Friday, February 12, 6:30PM EST with THE NATUREOF FRAGILE THINGS. Registration through Eventbrite is required.

From the acclaimed author of The Last Year of the War and As Bright as Heaven comes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity. To purchase please visit: https://foxtalebookshoppe.indielite.org/book/9780451492180

April 18, 1906: A massive earthquake rocks San Francisco just before daybreak, igniting a devouring inferno. Lives are lost, lives are shattered, but some rise from the ashes forever changed.

Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin’s silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin’s odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn’t right.

Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved.

The fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear.

RSVP link for free event https://www.eventbrite.com/e/susan-meissner-virtual-foxtale-tickets-130177453267?aff=erelpanelorg

MJ Rose is back with a stunning new novel, The Last Tiara. MJ joins us virtually!

About this Event

Our foxy friend and NYT bestselling author M.J. Rose is coming back to the fox den virtually as we celebrate the publication of her latest historical fiction novel, The Last Tiara. MJ will join us on Thursday, February 4, 6:30pm ET. Registration through Eventbrite is required so we can send you the online link.

To pre-order a signed (book plate) copy, please visit: https://foxtalebookshoppe.indielite.org/book/9781952457173

From New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller M.J. Rose comes a provocative and moving story of a young female architect in post-World War II Manhattan, who stumbles upon a hidden treasure and begins a journey to discovering her mother’s life during the fall of the Romanovs.

Sophia Moon had always been reticent about her life in Russia and when she dies, suspiciously, on a wintry New York evening, Isobelle despairs that her mother’s secrets have died with her. But while renovating the apartment they shared, Isobelle discovers something among her mother’s effects-a stunning silver tiara, stripped of its jewels.

Isobelle’s research into the tiara’s provenance draws her closer to her mother’s past-including the story of what became of her father back in Russia, a man she has never known. The facts elude her until she meets a young jeweler, who wants to help her but is conflicted by his loyalty to the Midas Society, a covert international organization whose mission is to return lost and stolen antiques, jewels, and artwork to their original owners.

Told in alternating points of view, the stories of the two young women unfurl as each struggles to find their way during two separate wars. In 1915, young Sofiya Petrovitch, favorite of the royal household and best friend of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, tends to wounded soldiers in a makeshift hospital within the grounds of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and finds the love of her life. In 1948 New York, Isobelle Moon works to break through the rampant sexism of the age as one of very few women working in a male-dominated profession and discovers far more about love and family than she ever hoped for.

In M.J. Rose’s deftly constructed narrative, the secrets of Sofiya’s early life are revealed incrementally, even as Isobelle herself works to solve the mystery of the historic Romanov tiara (which is based on an actual Romanov artifact that is, to this day, still missing)-and how it is that her mother came to possess it. The two strands play off each other in finely-tuned counterpoint, building to a series of surprising and deeply satisfying revelations.

RSVP link for free event https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mj-rose-the-last-tiara-virtual-foxtale-tickets-130258250935?aff=erelpanelorg

Erika Robuck joins us virtually in conversation with Allison Pataki

About this Event

We are excited to welcome our foxy friend and bestselling author Erika Robuck back to the fox den, this time virtually! Erika will be in conversation with bestselling author Allison Pataki. This is a free event; however registration is required.

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN by Erika Robuck

In the depths of war, she would defy the odds to help liberate a nation…a gripping historical novel based on the remarkable true story of World War II heroine Virginia Hall, from the bestselling author of Hemingway’s Girl

France, March 1944. Virginia Hall wasn’t like the other young society women back home in Baltimore—she never wanted the debutante ball or silk gloves. Instead, she traded a safe life for adventure in Europe, and when her beloved second home is thrust into the dark days of war, she leaps in headfirst.

Once she’s recruited as an Allied spy, subverting the Nazis becomes her calling. But even the most cunning agent can be bested, and in wartime trusting the wrong person can prove fatal. Virginia is haunted every day by the betrayal that ravaged her first operation, and will do everything in her power to avenge the brave people she lost.

While her future is anything but certain, this time more than ever Virginia knows that failure is not an option. Especially when she discovers what—and whom—she’s truly protecting.

THE QUEEN’S FORTUNE by Allison Pataki

A sweeping novel about the extraordinary woman who captured Napoleon’s heart, created a dynasty, and changed the course of history—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Traitor’s Wife, The Accidental Empress, and Sisi.

As the French revolution ravages the country, Desiree Clary is faced with the life-altering truth that the world she has known and loved is gone and it’s fallen on her to save her family from the guillotine.

A chance encounter with Napoleon Bonaparte, the ambitious and charismatic young military prodigy, provides her answer. When her beloved sister Julie marries his brother Joseph, Desiree and Napoleon’s futures become irrevocably linked. Quickly entering into their own passionate, dizzying courtship that leads to a secret engagement, they vow to meet in the capital once his career has been secured. But her newly laid plans with Napoleon turn to sudden heartbreak, thanks to the rising star of Parisian society, Josephine de Beauharnais. Once again, Desiree’s life is turned on its head.

Swept to the glittering halls of the French capital, Desiree is plunged into the inner circle of the new ruling class, becoming further entangled with Napoleon, his family, and the new Empress. But her fortunes shift once again when she meets Napoleon’s confidant and star general, the indomitable Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. As the two men in Desiree’s life become political rivals and military foes, the question that arises is: must she choose between the love of her new husband and the love of her nation and its Emperor?

From the lavish estates of the French Riviera to the raucous streets of Paris and Stockholm, Desiree finds herself at the epicenter of the rise and fall of an empire, navigating a constellation of political giants and dangerous, shifting alliances. Emerging from an impressionable girl into a fierce young woman, she discovers that to survive in this world she must learn to rely upon her instincts and her heart.

Allison Pataki’s meticulously researched and brilliantly imagined novel sweeps readers into the unbelievable life of a woman almost lost to history—a woman who, despite the swells of a stunning life and a tumultuous time, not only adapts and survives but, ultimately, reigns at the helm of a dynasty that outlasts an empire.

RSVP link for free event https://www.eventbrite.com/e/erika-robuck-in-conversation-with-allison-pataki-virtual-foxtale-tickets-128807176733?aff=erelpanelorg