Giveaway: More Than Words

About the Book:
Title: More Than Words
Author: Jill Santopolo
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons

Summary:
Nina Gregory has always been a good daughter, a good girlfriend. Raised by her father, owner of New York City's glamorous Gregory Hotels, after her mother's death, Nina was taught that family, reputation, and legacy are what matter most. And her boyfriend Tim, thoughtful, kind, and honest, not to mention her best friend since childhood, feels the same. But after Nina's father passes away, she learns he may not have practiced what he preached.

As her world falls apart, Nina begins to question everything she thought she knew and to see the men in her life--her father, her boyfriend, and unexpectedly, her handsome and attentive boss, Rafael--in a new light. Soon Nina finds herself caught between the world she knows and loves, and a passion that could upend everything.

More than Words is a heartbreaking and romantic novel about grief, loss, love, and self-discovery, and how we choose which life we are meant to live.


About the Author: Jill Santopolo

photo credit: Charles Grantham

Jill Santopolo is the author of the The Light We Lost, the Alec Flint Mysteries, the Sparkle Spa series, and the Follow Your Heart books. She holds a BA in English Literature from Columbia University, an MFA in Writing for Children from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a certificate in Intellectual Property Law from NYU. Jill is also the Editorial Director of Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group. When she’s not writing or editing, Jill is a thesis advisor at The New School in their MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults and is on the faculty of the Columbia Publishing Course. Jill has traveled all over the U.S.—and to Canada and Europe—to speak about writing and storytelling. She lives in New York City.

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Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope that you're day is filled with candy, love, laughter, and great books.

Review: I Only Have Pies For You

Darcy's family bakes amazing pies - except for her. She can't bake a pie to save her life. But she tries. Maybe it has to be with the curse. Her great-grandmother made the best Heartstring Pie - but she hide the family recipes and no one's been able to find it. Anyone that tries ends up with a disaster on their hands.

Darcy's family pie shop is going through a rough patch - just like the town. Businesses are struggling to survive.

But when local celebrity TV host brings her show to town, things start looking up. They spruce up the down, giving it a much needed makeover. More than anything the TV host needs stellar ratings. What could be better than finding a long lost pie recipe?

Soon Darcy's competing with the TV host to find her family recipes. She's determined to find it first so she can save her family pie shop.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book - and of course it made my mouth water with all that talk about pies. I loved the baking parts - especially learning more about Darcy's Great-Grandmother. I loved the moments in the bakery - with everyone chatting about life. I liked that Darcy had a temper and it often got the better of her. I loved the horses. I enjoyed the scavenger hunt and how Darcy and her friends tried to uncover the recipe. I liked the her moments with her one time rival then turned friend then turned love interest. A really fun read.


Cover Thoughts: Perfect and adorable
Source: My Library
Library Recommendation: Grab this one for your tween collection - for both schools and public libraries.

Picture Book Wednesday: Valentine Books

Here are some Valentine Books - many of them are with favorite book characters

One More Hug:

A sweet story about growing up, love and family, and how you're never too hold for a hug. 

* Book sent for review

Llama Llama Be My Valentine

A story about making gifts using your creativeness and your unique talents. A sweet story for fans of the series.

Splat the Cat: Funny Valentine (A lift the flap book)

The class wants to create a valentine for their teacher - they work together to create something special for her.

Duck and Hippo: The Secret Valentine

Someone is gifting out secret valentines and asking people to meet at the park at an appointed time. Everyone wonders who their secret valentine might be. A sweet story about friendship and making people happy. 

I Heart You (Board Book)

Baby animals playing with their parents - a very sweet story.

* book sent for review

I Yoga You (Board Book)

A cute diverse story with parents and children saying I love you throughout the day. Parents share yoga moves throughout the day, but they are also compiled at the end of the book.

* book sent for review

Top Ten Tuesday: 5 Star Romance Read Predictions

This week's topic is books Romance freebie. I mixed last week and this week up so I'm doing a mash-up of romance books that I predict with be 5 star reads. I confess, I have a lot of 5 star reads. Books just make me happy. I've been waiting and waiting to read these books because I'm so excited about them! I'll create the list starting with books coming out soonest or already out but I have yet to read.

There are so many, but I'll stop at 10.

Teen Summer Reading (1)

The time has come to start planning the summer reading program. So I'm busy looking at Pinterest for fun crafty ideas as possibilities for programs with teens.

Unicorn:

Fantasy Jar:

Design a Shoe:

Dragon Mask:

Dragon Origami

Summer Reading Kids (6)

Even though it's winter outside, in the library world, it's time to start planning summer reading. This year's theme is all about fantasy and fairy tales in Imagine Your Story.

Four weeks ago I looked at Castles, three weeks I looked at Fairy Tale Crafts, two weeks ago I looked at STEAM programs, last week I'm talking about food programs, and this week I'm talking about new books to order for the collection.

I just started building my cart for new books for summer.

As you can see I'm looking at castles, faeries, fairy tales, princes and princesses, knights, trolls, and magic. Here's a sample books in my cart at the moment.

What are you looking to purchase for your library?