Friday, July 15, 2011

ARE YOU LISTENING? FRIDAY: SUMMER RENTAL - AUDIO BOOK REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S
"ARE YOU LISTENING? DAY"
I AM EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS FRIDAY'S
"ARE YOU LISTENING? DAY"
AUDIO BOOK CHOICE IS.....
GIVEAWAY ENDED 
SUMMER RENTAL
BY MARY KAY ANDREWS
ABOUT THE AUDIO BOOK:
Ellis, Julia, and Dorie. Best friends since Catholic grade school, they now find themselves, in their mid-thirties, at the crossroads of life and love. Ellis, recently fired from a job she gave everything to, is rudderless and now beginning to question the choices she's made over the past decade of her life. Julia—whose caustic wit covers up her wounds--has a man who loves her and is offering her the world, but she can't hide from how deeply insecure she feels about her looks, her brains, her life.  And Dorie has just been shockingly betrayed by the man she loved and trusted the most in the world…though this is just the tip of the iceberg of her problems and secrets. A month in North Carolina's Outer Banks is just what they each of them needs.

Ty Bazemore is their landlord, though he's hanging on to the rambling old beach house by a thin thread. After an inauspicious first meeting with Ellis, the two find themselves disturbingly attracted to one another, even as Ty is about to lose everything he's ever cared about.

Maryn Shackleford is a stranger, and a woman on the run. Maryn needs just a few things in life: no questions, a good hiding place, and a new identity.  Ellis, Julia, and Dorie can provide what Maryn wants; can they also provide what she needs? 

Five people questioning everything they ever thought they knew about life. Five people on a journey that will uncover their secrets and point them on the path to forgiveness.   Five people who each need a sea change, and one month in a summer rental that might just give it to them.
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mary Kay Andrews is the New York Times bestselling author of The Fixer Upper, Deep Dish, Blue Christmas, Savannah Breeze, Hissy Fit, Little Bitty Lies, and Savannah Blues.  A former journalist for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, she lives in Atlanta, Georgia.  
Visit www.marykayandrews.com to find out more about Mary Kay Andrews life and work.

PRAISE FOR SUMMER RENTAL:
“A one-of-a-kind vacation story brought to vibrant life through Isabel Keating’s audio performance, Summer Rental is highly recommended.” 
– The Midwest Book Review

Summer Rental…made me wish I had rented a beach house for a month with some ‘girlfriends’…Summer Rental, with its clear characterizations and snappy repartee, works whether you are lolling in a beach chair with the sound of waves in the background, or if you are cured up on the sofa in your own living room… Isabel Keating does an AWESOME job of finding different voices for all five main characters, and even the minor characters are distinct.” 
– A Travelers Library

“Andrews…is at her warm and funny best…[she] simply excels at creating the kind of characters readers can relate to, and she has a fabulous sense of humor to boot.” 
Library Journal (starred review)

“Andrews spins a beach blanket sizzler… This warm weather treat has a lot going for it.” 
Publishers Weekly

Summer Rental is like a great day at the beach. You don’t want it to end. Enjoy a vacation any time of the year with the ever-delightful Mary Kay Andrews.” 
Susan Elizabeth Phillips, author of Call Me Irresistable
 
MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:
Do your summer plans include long walks on a beach where sea oat-topped dunes border the incoming tide?  Will you soon be spending this idyllic time with a group of lifelong friends? Are you all staying together at a weathered but classic clapboard cottage, complete with wrap-around porch and white wooden rockers to watch the sun peak above the horizon each morning? If you are saying no, then hope is in sight! Join Ellis and the gang in Mary Kay Andrews’ newest novel, SUMMER RENTAL! AND better still, sit back and sip that iced tea and let Isabel Keating read this delightful summer treat to you on the new Macmillan Audio Book!

As always, Mary Kay Andrews has set her book, SUMMER RENTAL, in a glorious setting in a favorite place of so many, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Andrews uses such expertise in her description that the narrative comes to life and you are feeling sand in your shoes while you listen. SUMMER RENTAL might be classified as chick lit or a beach read, and there is nothing wrong with that, but it also has all the elements of a good story that draw readers to it. With humor and romance, there also come relationships, mystery, and even some timely topics straight from today’s headlines.

Friends since childhood, brings three young women to the beach cottage known as Ebb Tide in North Carolina for a month of relaxation, fun, and catching up with dear friends. Each woman’s life has its own issues but those are to be put aside so they can share some good times…and it almost works.

With Ellis, Dorie, and Julia being friends from Savannah, Georgia, since they were children, most anything can and does happen. These women are written realistically for the most part as we all know someone like them (or perhaps ARE one of them).  The women have always been supportive of each other and they are to be credited with keeping this friendship alive all this time.

The story opens with Ellis who has just lost her job after being “downsized” along with the company she worked for. Ellis is the planner of the group and has done all the organizing in hopes this will be a perfect place for her friends to rejuvenate themselves. With the loss of her job, Ellis is counting on them to come up with some ideas to help her. Also, Ellis is lonelier than ever, having lost the daily camaraderie of friends at work. Since her early marriage right out of college failed, she has no special someone to count on either.  When she arrives early to the cottage, her first encounter is the sighting of a man who doesn’t make a great impression on her being at the place before check-in time. This she finds out later is Ty, the ‘supposed’ handyman living over the garage. But there is much more to Ty than just his good looks and “skill with his hands”!

Julia is a long legged beauty and model who is living overseas with longtime beau, Booker. However, now in her thirties, jobs aren‘t as frequent as she would like and it is beginning to affect her.  Booker, a photographer, is mad about her and wants their relationship to be more than just living together in London. His job is bringing him back to the states where he hopes Julia will marry him and even start a family. Julia just isn’t sure this is the role for her and even though her best buds tell her to go for it, she stubbornly refuses. She loves Beau but thinking of her mother, who died recently, brings fear to Julia as she can’t picture herself in that same domestic picture.

Dorie still lives in Savannah and is newly married. One would think she would be in heaven, but this school teacher is thrilled for this month with the girls, and not just because she doesn’t have to be in school. Rather, something is going on that she keeps to herself and it may have to do with the fact that her “groom“, Stephen, doesn’t come with her when he was supposed to.  Dorie secretly can’t complain about that but it is also Dorie’s sister, Willa, who would have made up the fourth and final part of this quartet (and help carry the financial load). However, Willa backs out at the last minute leaving the other three with a bigger financial obligation than they planned on. With this in the back of her mind, it is Dorie who meets Madison in town and finds out she needs a place to stay. Thinking this will make up for Willa, Dorie invites Madison, who goes by Maryn, to move in assuming she will be helping with the finances.

Maryn has secrets of her own and would seem to almost be a minor character for much of the novel. She is not very friendly and being from New Jersey, the others think it must be her background. It isn’t until near that end of the book that her role expands and her real story comes out. She carries with her a burden the girls never imagined and when revealed, it could possibly put them all in danger.

Ty enters the picture, especially because of Ellis. He also has a story that none of them would have imagined but readers know from the start. He takes on a major role and his interest in Ellis plays into the decisions he will make, as well as the part the four girls will play in it.

As all four strong personalities and stories come together, Mary Kay Andrews weaves that old summer magic to bring things to a satisfying, if not at times shocking, ending. After all, this is real life she is writing about but what fun to be the fly on the wall watching, or I should say in this case, hearing how it all happens as you listen to SUMMER RENTAL by Mary Kay Andrews.
GIVEAWAY 
THANKS TO ESTHER AND FRIENDS AT
MACMILLAN AUDIO BOOKS , I HAVE THREE
COPIES OF THIS DELIGHTFUL SUMMER AUDIO
BOOK TO GIVE AWAY TO THREE LUCKY READERS
 
--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY
HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: READ ABOUT THE AUDIO BOOK ABOVE AND COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT SUMMER RENTAL THAT WOULD MAKE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS AUDIO BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY 

+1 MORE ENTRY: GO TO MACMILLAN AUDIO BOOKS WEBSITE HERE AND LISTEN TO PART OF THIS AUDIO BOOK IN AN EXCERPT ON THAT PAGE AND COMMENT HERE ABOUT IT

+1 MORE ENTRY: SIGN UP FOR SWAGBUCKS IN MY RIGHT SIDE BAR AND EARN SWAGBUCKS TOWARD PRIZES-WHEN YOU EARN, I EARN AS WELL AND THAT IS HOW I BUY SOME OF THE BOOKS I GIVE AWAY. IT ALSO GIVES YOU CHANCES EACH MONTH FOR EXTRA ENTRIES TO MY GIVEAWAYS. IF YOU ALREADY SIGNED UP ON MY WEBSITE THEN JUST TELL ME AND I CAN CHECK. THANKS!
GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, AUGUST 3
GOOD LUCK!

45 comments:

Pamela Keener said...

Beach setting and a group of friends are my idea of a great book. I have come to love audiobooks so this is a no brainer.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
pk4290(at)comcast(dot)net

Pamela Keener said...

I joined Swagbucks from your site.
Love & Hugs,
Pam
pk4290(at)comcast(dot)net

lag123 said...

I would like to win because I absolutely love Mary Kay Andrews' books and I have been waiting for this one. I have read everything she has written. Thanks for the giveaway!

lag110 at mchsi dot com

lag123 said...

Tweeted: https://twitter.com/#!/lag32583/status/91817500114829312

lag110 at mchsi dot com

günlük kiralık daireler said...

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lag123 said...

I listened to the excerpt and I think the narrator does a great job. I also love how the author describes Nags Head. I have always wanted to visit there.

lag110 at mchsi dot com

debbie said...

This sounds like a great summer book. Some friends, a handsome guy, and a complete stranger. I bet alot happens during their summer.
twoofakind12@yahoo.com

holdenj said...

I love Mary Kay Andrews and she writes such fun women's fiction. This looks like a great summer read.
Thanks!
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

PoCoKat said...

I have heard so many good things about this book so would love to win the audiobook.

littleone AT shaw DOT ca

Literary Chanteuse said...

Sounds like a great book for summer. I love books about friends and how they support each. Thanks for the giveaway!

Margaret
singitm@hotmail.com

Literary Chanteuse said...

Oh those long summer drives...I know those well. In fact I'm about to take one soon. I really have to get this now!

Margaret
singitm@hotmail.com

Bingo said...

Thanks to all the early commenters! I think some people are not sure about audio books and will admit, I wasn't either but love them now. I hope people give them a chance and what better way than to start with Mary Kay Andrews? Good luck to all!

Anonymous said...

"Dorie still lives in Savannah." I have a good friend named Dorie, and I love the city of Savannah. The book already seems familiar to me.

westwardd [at] gmail [dot] com

Anonymous said...

Tweet
http://twitter.com/#!/Westwardd/status/92065903361003520

westwardd [at] gmail [dot] com

Anonymous said...

Driving from Philly to North Carolina in the rain plus being afraid of bridges doesn't make for an easy trip. I really like her because she is far from perfect.

westwardd [at] gmail [dot] com

holdenj said...

I do Swagbucks, but honestly, think I was signed up before you started promoting it. Can you check to see if I can have that extra entry or not? That point always makes any swagbuck entries confusing to me! Thanks!
JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

Ricki said...

I love Mary Kay Andrews!
rickimc[at]aol[dot]com

Pat L. said...

How appropriate - Summer Rental for a beach read or listen. LOL.

patoct @ yahoo.com

Also need to find out the mystery of Ty.

traveler said...

A beach locale for me is appealing. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

petite said...

This sounds like good summer reading. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

Reading said...

I love the Outer Banks! We spent 2 weeks there last summer and are going again this year. I would love to read a story that takes place there.

lizzi0915 at aol dot com

Linda Kish said...

It sounds like a great summer story. I will enjoy hearing it read to me.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Linda Kish said...

I enjoyed the narrator's voice and inflections. She made it easy to listen to her.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

mamabunny13 said...

Nags Head is just a hop, skip, and a jump from me (about an hour away)so it would be fun to read Summer Rental.
mamabunny13 at gmail dot com

mamabunny13 said...

I listened to the excerpt and enjoyed the narrator's discription of the beach house and surroundings. It was perfect!
mamabunny13 at gmail dot com

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Jo-Jo said...

A summer book with friends sounds awesome to me...and it's on audio! Please enter me.
joannelong74 AT gmail DOT com

BrittanyGale said...

Sounds like a great summer read, or I suppose I mean a great summer listen to ;)

quixoticdreamer(at)hotmail(dot)com

rbooth43 said...

Mary Kay Andrews is one of my most favorite authors and I have read all of her books except SUMMER RENTAL. I would love to win and listen to this audio book this summer. What a pleasure that would be!
Thanks!
Rebecca
rbooth43(at)yahoo(dot)com

Sue Farrell said...

I think it will be interesting to see how the fourth woman who is a stranger fits into the picture.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

Jo-Jo said...

I blogged about your giveaway here for another entry.
joannelong74 AT gmail DOT com

Misusedinnocence said...

I love stories of summer vacations, especially on years when I can't afford to take one myself. ;)

misusedinnocence@aol.com

mamabunny13 said...

tweet http://twitter.com/#!/mamabunny13/status/96717976769798144
mamabunny13 at gmail dot com

Nancye said...

This sounds like a great book! I enjoy reading books that are about childhood friends that get together at a great place like the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Wish I were there! Thanks for the geat giveaway!

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Nancye said...

Tweet! Tweet!
@NancyeDavis

http://twitter.com/#!/NancyeDavis/status/98837213625847808

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Nancye said...

I am a member of Swag Bucks (have been for a while)

Do I also put +5 Swag Bucks?

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

Nancye said...

I listened to the audio excerpt. I liked the voice of the narrator. I would enjoy listening to this book. The part I listened to drew me in when the character was driving down the interstate toward the beach and was chiding herself for not leaving earlier to avoid the traffic and the heavy rain storm. Reminds me of my self-- never leaving as early as I'd like to!

nancyecdavis AT bellsouth DOT net

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