Showing posts with label Nino Gugunishvili. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nino Gugunishvili. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Friday Evening, Eight O’Clock by Nino Gugunishvili (with giveaway)

Friday Evening, Eight O’Clock
by Nino Gugunishvili

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
BookExcerpt
Website
Facebook
Twitter @NinoGuguni

Published: 2015
Publisher: Archway Publishing
Genre: Women's Fiction
Paperback: 542 pages
Rating: 3

First sentence(s):
Balthazar Hamish woke up in a grumpy mood that morning.

Zombie sighting:
Sometimes Clarissa's indifference astonished Liz. She's a walking zombie girl! Clarissa = Zombie!
-chapter 3


Tasha is a dreamer in search of a new dream.

She’s bored with Pilates. She’s never tried yoga. She doesn’t even have a driver’s license. She lives a pretty ordinary life as a freelance writer who battles the occasional flow of melancholy with the regular flow of martinis. Nestled into her couch, her television remote in one hand and a cold adult beverage in the other, she’s found a favorite way to pass the hours on a Friday evening. It’s comfortable and familiar, but it’s not exactly an exciting way to live. With two of her closest friends, a bossy mother, an eighty-two-year-old grandmother, and Griffin, her fat yellow Labrador at her side, she knows that there has to be something better out there.

But where?

When she gets an unexpected offer to relocate to France to write a magazine column, she thinks her circumstances are improving. But life in a new country isn’t all pêches et la crème. Now far away from her comfort zone, Tasha must find the inner strength to start a new career and navigate the bizarre and unknown world of professional jealousy, intrigue, and conflicting personalities in a very foreign land.

It’s enough to make a girl yearn for those quiet nights on the couch.


My two-bits:

I had a hard time sticking to this story. Mostly because I did not like the two main female characters. They rubbed me the wrong way in that they gave off negative and slightly mean attitudes in how they handled their public and private lives.

Some scenes with side characters also threw me and the focus of the story off.

IF you like dogs, there are a few dog-related side storylines.

Funny though, I found the male characters more interesting even though they had issues of their own.

--~ Blog Tour Giveaway ~--

WIN a copy of this eBook! (here)

~*~

* review copy courtesy of book tour arranged by HCL Book Tours & HCL Author Services 
an extension of Hello...Chick Lit
. Now booking tours for June/July/August


Monday, May 9, 2016

Excerpt & Giveaway: Friday Evening, Eight O’Clock by Nino Gugunishvili


~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Nino Gugunishvili
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~

Excerpt:

Balthazar Hamish woke up in a grumpy mood that morning. He had a terrible headache. His nervous young assistant, Clarissa, and a fashion editor, Chloe, were looking down at the magazine layout, spread out in huge sheets on his office desk. Clarissa always seemed to be a little afraid of him and his fat old cat, Baltimore.

Where did she get that awful velvety coat and ankle boots? She apparently is not at all a fashion addict, or a shopaholic, he thought. Still, she worked in a fashion magazine. What the hell is that? He looked down at one of the headlines printed in bold.

“A True Tale from an Unromantic Goddess”! Balthazar felt suddenly irritated. It’s a sophisticated magazine, for god’s sake. I don’t need more sentimental or feminist crap out here. That title sounded artificial and kitschy to him, as did the whole idea of aspiring foreign authors working for a magazine on a regular basis. It was Liz’s brilliant hunch, of course.

Liz Foster, his deputy! Stubborn and selfish! The whole damn thing about this magazine project was a total waste of time and possibly money. Shark heads in the top management of the publishing house were longing for Balthazar’s blood. He knew it from the very beginning of it all.

“Clarissa, could you please send reminders to all for our meeting later?” Balthazar tried to say it louder word by word. Clarissa looked at him and blinked. She was terrified by his presence and wanted to leave the room—the sooner the better.

“Tea maybe?” she asked, grabbing an opportunity to leave this uncomfortable place. She had to make tea for her new boss, make notes, organize staff meetings, and be optimistic about her new life and brand new dream job as a secretary at this damn, hellish magazine!

Working with Balthazar made her feel dizzy. She tried hard to overcome her nervousness and pretend to be confident, but her hands were almost always shaking.

“Tea would be great, thank you!” he responded quickly.

Clarissa walked out the door, leaving Chloe and Balthazar alone. Chloe, stylish and cute, looked at Clarissa, amazed but silent. A while later Chloe left, too.

Balthazar’s headache was getting intense. He opened the locker and took out a painkiller, swallowing it without water. Baltimore sat in his lap lazily. All Balthazar wanted was a cup of a dark tea, but his eyes were already glued to the printed text.

~end

Guest post created by Nino Gugunishvili, author of Friday Evening, Eight O’Clock
© 2016. All rights reserved.

About the author:
Nino Gugunishvili holds MA in arts and has worked in the film and television industries.

“Friday Evening, Eight O’Clock” is her debut novel.

She lives in Tbilisi, Georgia

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon | Goodreads
Website | Facebook
Twitter @NinoGuguni

~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~
by Nino Gugunishvili
~-~-~-~-~ guest ~-~-~-~-~

READ more about this world...

Friday Evening, Eight O’Clock
by Nino Gugunishvili
-Women's Fiction
Amazon | Goodreads

Tasha is a dreamer in search of a new dream.

She’s bored with Pilates. She’s never tried yoga. She doesn’t even have a driver’s license. She lives a pretty ordinary life as a freelance writer who battles the occasional flow of melancholy with the regular flow of martinis. Nestled into her couch, her television remote in one hand and a cold adult beverage in the other, she’s found a favorite way to pass the hours on a Friday evening. It’s comfortable and familiar, but it’s not exactly an exciting way to live. With two of her closest friends, a bossy mother, an eighty-two-year-old grandmother, and Griffin, her fat yellow Labrador at her side, she knows that there has to be something better out there.

But where?

When she gets an unexpected offer to relocate to France to write a magazine column, she thinks her circumstances are improving. But life in a new country isn’t all pêches et la crème. Now far away from her comfort zone, Tasha must find the inner strength to start a new career and navigate the bizarre and unknown world of professional jealousy, intrigue, and conflicting personalities in a very foreign land.

It’s enough to make a girl yearn for those quiet nights on the couch.


--~ Blog Tour Giveaway ~--

a Rafflecopter giveaway


CURRENTLY on a virtual tour!


Visit all the Stops on the Tour:

May 9th
Book Lover in Florida
Red's Midnight Readers
Steamy Book Momma
Grass Monster

May 10th
Ever Growing Book Obsession 

Judging More Than Just The Cover
vvb32 reads - HEY! that's me ;-)
Booked Up and Bossy

May 11th
ItaPixie's Book Corner
T&L Book Reviews
Around the World in Books
Hello...Chick Lit

May 12th
The Bookworm Lodge -  - Promo Post

The Belgian Reviewer
Ali - The Dragon Slayer

May 13th
One Book At a Time

Book Groupies
Book Lover Worm

Tour arranged by HCL Book Tours & HCL Author Services 
an extension of Hello...Chick Lit
. Now booking tours for June/July/August

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Stacking the Shelves - 4.16.16

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

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Bought:

River of Flesh and Other Stories:
The Prostituted Woman in Indian Short Fiction
by Ruchira Gupta
-Short stories, Women's Studies
Amazon | Goodreads


=====> Book Passage, Corte Madera, hosted an event with Ruchira Gupta, author of River of Flesh. The audience was also treated to introductions from authors, Alice Walker and Jean Shinoda Bolen.

A Year in the World:
Journeys of a Passionate Traveller
by Frances Mayes
-Memoir, Travel
Amazon | Goodreads

=====> I joined a face-to-face book club that reads travel related books. This is the April book. I figured this would be a great way to feed the travel bug within until I can actually DO IT.

In Patagonia
by Bruce Chatwin
-Memoir, Travel
Amazon | Goodreads

=====> The MAY book for the travel book club.


For Review:

Friday Evening, Eight O’Clock
by Nino Gugunishvili
-Women's Fiction
courtesy of tour by I Heart All the Books - Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads

The Double
by Alison Brodie
-Mystery, Thriller, Women's Fiction
courtesy of tour by I Heart All the Books - Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads

Love is Come
by Heather B. Moore
-Romance
courtesy of eBooks for Review
Amazon | Goodreads

OTHER things on my shelf: kinda book-related

Out of Print
The Book Necklace
by pulp~ink studio

=====> This was a gift from fellow book lovers! Thanks T & D :-)

Field Notes
special edition for the Tournament of Books 2016
also included were a pencil and sticker

=====> Got this as a memento for this year's event in which I attempted to read the short list (here). There are a couple I still plan to read before year's end -- including the winner, The Sellout by Paul Beatty.

AND watched: on DVD

Cloverfield (2008)
Director: Matt Reeves
Screenplay: Drew Goddard
Starring: Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan
-Action, Adventure, Horror | imdb | my rating: 5

A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.

=====> Ended up watching this after 10 Cloverfield Lane which turned out alright because while there is a something that ties the two together you do not have to watch this for any back stories. Enjoyed it for the monster movie it turned out to be.

Super 8 (2011)
Director/Writer: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Elle Fanning, AJ Michalka, Kyle Chandler
-Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi | imdb | my rating: 5

During the summer of 1979, a group of friends witness a train crash and investigate subsequent unexplained events in their small town.

=====> I picked this up on a whim. It was one I was wanting to watch for awhile. Coincidentally, it has a connection with the Cloverfield series. What a treat to watch!

The Scorch Trials (2015)
Director: Wes Ball
Screenplay: T.S. Nowlin
Based on book by: James Dashner
Starring: Dylan O'Brien, Kaya Scodelario, Ki Hong Lee, Thomas Brodie-Sangster
-Action, SciFi, Thriller | imdb | my rating: 4

After having escaped the Maze, the Gladers now face a new set of challenges on the open roads of a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles.

=====> No doubt, I had to continue this series. Lots of stuff thrown into this one. The end left me with questions. And, wondering the fate of Minho.

Thunderball (1965)
Director: Terence Young
Screenplay: Richard Maibaum, John Hopkins, Jack Whittingham
Original story: Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham
Based on book by: Ian Fleming
Starring: Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, Adolfo Celi
-Action, Adventure, Thriller | imdb | list | my rating: 4

James Bond heads to The Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by SPECTRE agent Emilio Largo in an international extortion scheme.

=====> Watching the James Bond series continues with this 3rd entry (here). Got some SPECTRE action. I found underwater fight scenes kinda boring. It was hard to tell who was who. The water just slows things down. Bond was sure handy with his knife though - probably the best weapon of choice for underwater fighting.

~*~

* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Currently reading:

Steampunk Soldiers: The American Frontier
by Philip Smith & Joseph A. McCullough
Amazon | Goodreads
 
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