Book Swap Loot.

I tentatively signed up for this book swap last year and it brought me a new blog friend I adore, Darby.  Because I enjoyed the book she sent me and the friendship that developed from being book swap partners, when it came time to sign up again, I was in!  I was at the pool sunning with my friend Jess when I received the e-mail containing my book swap partner.  I giggled when I saw I'd been paired with Nichole, my blog friend turned walking partner, turned in real life friend.
Nichole and I met to walk Bayshore and we helped form the first Tampa Blogger Gal's meet up - so we're well acquainted.  And even though it was funny to be paired by Katie and Heather with someone I actually know, it worked out well.  Nichole, in her brilliance, suggested that instead of mailing each other books we meet up face-to-face and exchange both a book we purchased for each other (from our Goodreads To-read list) AND lend each other a book we own that we've already read and enjoyed ourselves.  I loved the idea, especially with my vacay to the beach coming up when I knew I'd be in the market for as much reading material as possible.  I'm in the middle of reading 100 books this year so the more books the merrier.
We met up at Yogurtology with Kari and that's where we exchanged books and got to hangout and stuff our faces with amazing frozen yogurt, of course.  And this is the loot I got from Nichole:

One Breath Away was from my 'to read' list from Goodreads (thanks so much Nichole, I'm stoked about this) and the Brightest Star is on lone from Nichole for me to read and return (again, love that idea friend). I didn't have time to read both of them for this post so I chose the one she bought me, One Breath Away, to read first and I will hopefully post about the other on a future Book Club Friday.
I wanted to read this book because I have read Heather Gudenkauf's other two books - The Weight of Silence and These Things Hidden.  I really love her writing style and I find that she picks topics and story lines that hold my attention (not always an easy thing to do).  One Breath Away is about a small town that is rocked when a gunman enters the town's elementary school.  The book is told from multiple perspectives (much like a Jodi Picoult novel) and takes you through the back story and present day feelings of multiple families.
This was by far my favorite of Gudenkauf's book and I finished all 370 pages in about 48 hours.  Afterwhich I made my sister read it in the 2 remaining days of our vacation so that we could talk about it and I could still bring it back to lend back to Nichole to read!  
It was well written, a little unpredictable, and wickedly entertaining.  I even 5-starred it on Goodreads!  I highly recommend this one to anyone looking for a summer read.  Here's what Amazon says about it:
In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom. Outside the school, the town of Broken Branch watches and waits. Officer Meg Barrett holds the responsibility for the town’s children in her hands. Will Thwaite, reluctantly entrusted with the care of his two grandchildren by the daughter who left home years earlier, stands by helplessly and wonders if he has failed his child again. Trapped in her classroom, Evelyn Oliver watches for an opportunity to rescue the children in her care. And thirteen-year-old Augie Baker, already struggling with the aftermath of a terrible accident that has brought her to Broken Branch, will risk her own safety to protect her little brother. As tension mounts with each passing minute, the hidden fears and grudges of the small town are revealed as the people of Broken Branch race to uncover the identity of the stranger who holds their children hostage.
So thankful for another great book swap!  Can't wait to see what everyone else got and probably double my to-read list on Goodreads!
Love,B