Kris’s Comments (group member since Apr 05, 2013)

Kris’s comments from the What's the Name of That Book??? group.

A guess - The Day He Came Back by Penelope Ward? Based on some Goodreads reviews, it sounds like a ten-year separation of star-crossed lovers, rich boy & poor girl from the wrong side of the bridge, he's engaged.

Google Books preview:

- https://books.google.com/books?id=TDi...

Google search of Goodreads:
site:goodreads.com "contemporary romance" "second chance" "fiance" "bridge"

Amazon's preview of Heaven's River by Dennis E. Taylor - Bobby's suggestion:

- https://www.amazon.com/Heavens-River-...

Amazon's preview of The Last Vampire (in the collection Thirst No. 1: The Last Vampire, Black Blood, and Red Dice) by Christopher Pike - Kat's suggestion:

- https://www.amazon.com/Thirst-No-Vamp...
- There are different cover images here and here.

Fnord, I copied some book details to the topic header. Feel free to edit it.

Did the mystery involve a murder, kidnapping, missing ____, etc.?

Why did the couple have difficulty getting together?
What type of job did she have?
Story's location/ country? Big city or small town?

Starstruck by Brenda Hiatt?

Google Books preview:

- https://books.google.com/books?id=wLE...
- There are different cover images.

Google search of Goodreads:
site:goodreads.com "science fiction" "young adult" "martian" "princess"

A copy of The Black Symbol by Annabel Johnson & Edgar Johnson - Ayshe's suggestion - on eBay shows this description at the front of the book:

- "When Barney ran away to search for his father in the mining camps around Virginia City, he had no idea of what was ahead. Plunging through the blizzard, in terrible haste to get away from his unkind cousins, Barney saw only luck in being picked up and offered a job in Dr. Cathcart's traveling Miracle show. But when Barney learned that his work would consist of caring for Steve, the silent, sullen, blind strong man, his misgivings began.

Barney clung desperately to the truth as he saw it. It was hard for him to see reality under sham, and to learn that the printed word was not always the true one. It was difficult for a young boy, alone and often afraid, to learn that cruelty can masquerade as kindness, and that wisdom may be branded insanity. ..."

One Goodreads review of Desire Has No Mercy by Violet Winspear - Brenna's suggestion (note: there are different cover images):

- "Rome and Julia knew each other from childhood. Julia was the granddaughter of a wealthy, snobbish woman and Rome was the son of one of the grandmother's cleaners. During a birthday party Julia saw Rome looking in on the fun and offered him a dish of strawberry ice cream. He threw it on her lovely shoes and she cried. That caused Rome's mother to lose her job and made Rome hate Julia's family.

Many years later Julia's sister had a gambling debt that she didn't want her snooty fiancé and his family to know about her debt so she asked Julia to clear up the problem for her. Lo and behold the casino owner is none other that Rome. As payment for the debt and after being insulted by Julia he gave her an option. Pay for the debt by spending the night with him or he tells the unsuspecting fiancé. ... Two months later she's at her sister's wedding and Rome shows up. He takes one look at her and knows she's pregnant with his child. ... He forces her hand and makes her marry him and move to a beautiful home in Italy. ..."

A guess - Slappy's Tales of Horror by R.L. Stine has a graphic novel format - and contains four short stories: A Shocker on Shock Street; The Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Ghost Beach; Night of the LIving Dummy.

Google Books preview:

- https://books.google.com/books?id=tGh...

Advanced search on Worldcat.org:
https://search.worldcat.org/
Keyword: swamp | Subject: juvenile short stories horror | 1980-2015 | English | Book

Great! Glad you found your book, Megan. Thanks for the update.

Google Books previews of Anywhere but Here by Tanya Lloyd Kyi - Stephanie's suggestion:

- https://books.google.com/books?id=LZd...
- https://books.google.com/books?id=ieR...

Google Books preview of Hemlock: A Forest Giant on the Edge by David R. Foster (Ed.) - Orsolya's suggestion:

- https://books.google.com/books?id=0YI...
- This edition contains black-and-white photographs.

Google Books previews of Just Between Us by Cathy Kelly - Jo's suggestion:

- https://books.google.com/books?id=FmX...
- https://books.google.com/books?id=YJH...
- There are different cover images.

Kirkus Review:

- "The bright and beautiful Miller women—Rose, Holly, Tara and Stella ... they’re a bit short on perfection. Rose Miller, the matriarch, is elegant and kind, and a loving wife. But be warned: Beneath her calm exterior, trouble is brewing. Rose has a stupendous meltdown during her elaborate 40th anniversary party, airing the dirty laundry of her marriage in front of family and friends and then high-tailing it out of town. Now, the daughters must sort out their man problems without her sage guidance. Holly, the youngest, is in love with her newly engaged neighbor and suffers from debilitating insecurity. ... Tara, the middle child, has a gorgeous husband with an equally stunning drinking problem. ... Stella, the eldest and a single mom, has sacrificed her love life in order to focus on raising her daughter—that is, until a charming new client shows up at her office door."

Ken, what's the genre (which we need to add to the topic header) - e.g., adult thriller, science fiction, etc.?

What did the bad organization want to do with his knowledge and skills?

Amazon's preview of Empire High Untouchables (also called Untouchable and Untouchables) by Ivy Smoak - Robert's suggestion:

- https://www.amazon.com/Empire-High-Un...
- There are different cover images.

Quotes from the book:

- The only reason she was here was because she had a scholarship. And the only reason I was here was because my uncle was a janitor at the school and apparently family got legacy preference at pretigious academies like this. I was still on a GPA restriction though. We were lucky to be in the best high school in New York City.
- I glanced down at my sneakers ... There were a hole in the side of my Keds ... But my mother had bought these for me for my birthday ...
- "Looks like you'll definitely have to replace your shoes now, sneered Isabella.
I looked down. Some of the juice from the steak had gotten onto my Keds.

Glad you found your book, Davida.

Another Faust (book 1) of the Another series by Daniel Nayeri - Becca's find.

I copied book details to the topic header and added a spoiler alert, as an example of the information we need at the top of the page.

Thanks. Do you learn early in the book that he's the father of her son? How old is the boy?

Main characters' jobs?

Google Books preview of Worldshaker by Richard Harland- Jules's suggestion:

- https://books.google.com/books?id=BYh...
- There are different cover images.

Quote from the book:

- Col goggled. "You can speak?"
"Course I can speak. Why wouldn't I?"
"I thought ... I didn't know Filthies could speak. Menials can't."

Amazon's preview of Turbulence by David Szalay- Becca's suggestion:

- https://www.amazon.com/Turbulence-Nov...
- There are different cover images.

Amazon's preview of All Families are Psychotic by Douglas Coupland - Becca's suggestion:

- https://www.amazon.com/All-Families-P... The Kindle preview is longer.
- There are different cover images.

Kirkus Review:

- "Here, plucky 67-year-old matriarch Janet presides over the discombobulated Drummond clan—two freaky sons, one square daughter, numerous dotty spouses, and a mean ex-husband—as it gathers in sweltering midsummer Orlando for the launch of a NASA shuttle carrying Sarah Drummond-Fournier. The much-admired astronaut was a born with one hand, thanks to the thalidomide her mother took during pregnancy, and the ironies roll on as Internet-savvy Janet reveals she is taking the drug again for mouth ulcers caused by AIDS. How did she get the dread disease? A bullet meant for seropositive son Wade (shot by his enraged, drunken father Ted) penetrated her body after passing through Wade’s. (...) He enlists them as couriers of a letter stolen from Princess Diana's coffin..."

You're welcome.

Closing this duplicate thread. Please continue here - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...