The wait is over…the cover reveal for The Swindler’s Daughter…I am really looking forward to reading this!
Introducing The Swindler’s Daughter
Description:
Lillian Doyle has lived her entire high-society life with her widowed mother, believing her father died long ago. But when news arrives that her estranged father only recently passed away–in jail–Lillian is startled to find that the man has left a business and all of his possessions to her, making her a rather unusual heiress.
When she goes to take possession of her father’s house in a backwoods Georgia town, the dilapidated structure is already occupied by another woman who claims it was promised to her son, Jonah. In her attempts to untangle the mess, Lillian will discover not only a family she never knew she had but a family business that is more than meets the eye–and has put a target on her back.
To discover the truth and take hold of the independence she’s always dreamed of, she’ll have to make friends with adversaries and strangers–especially Jonah, the dusty and unrefined cowboy who has secret aspirations of his own.
Christmas should be celebrated with family. But for Vera Swanson, that’s not an option this year. Widowed and recently relocated, she is lonely in her condo-for-one–until little Fiona Albright knocks on her door needing help. With her mother seriously ill and her father out of town, Fiona enlists Vera’s help, and when she finds out her new neighbor is a quilter, she has a special request–a Christmas quilt for Mama.
Vera will have to get a ragtag group of women together in order to fulfill the request. Between free-spirited artist Tasha, chatty empty nester Beverly, retired therapist Eleanor, and herself, Vera has hopes that Christmas for the Albright family will be merry, after all–and she may find herself a new family of friends along the way.
Bestselling and award-winning author Melody Carlson invites you to cuddle up this holiday season with this cozy story of giving, forgiving, and a little bit of romance.
My Thoughts
It simply would not be Christmas time without reading the annual Melody Carlson Christmas novella. I always feel such a sense of peace and goodness wash over me after I am finished with it. In this one there are a group of people, some broken, widowed,sad,lonely or have just lost their way a bit. These people who were once strangers come together as now friends for the betterment of each other and unselfishly help out and boost each other’s spirits. When you help others, it gives you a sense of accomplishment and that warm happy feeling. This book is such a warm blessing and I recommend it to you.
Pub Date 06 Sep 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
About The Author
Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women and children. That’s a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a “storyteller.” Her novels range from serious issues like schizophrenia (Finding Alice) to lighter topics like house-flipping (A Mile in My Flip-Flops) but most of the inspiration behind her fiction comes right out of real life. Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, TrueColors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She’s won a number of awards (including Romantic Time’s Career Achievement Award, the Rita and the Gold Medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog. To find out more about Melody Carlson, visit her website at http://www.melodycarlson.com/
Will you be reading this book this year?
Thank you for stopping by today. Have a blessed day.
Under a Brighter Sky: A completely gripping and heartbreaking WWII historical novel (The Resistance Girl Book 2) by Dianne Haley
1943, Nazi-occupied France. Clinging to her little girl’s hand, a young woman runs through the forest and stumbles in the dark. Behind her there are angry shouts in German and shots ringing through the pine trees. Her heart in her mouth, she prays desperately that her husband and son are safe, and that they will see each other again…
As the mountains come alive with bright alpine flowers, Jewish families flee into Switzerland from Nazi-occupied France. Young Resistance fighter Valérie Hallez has hidden Pierre and his little son in the dusty attic of her mother’s bookshop. At night, by flickering candlelight, Pierre tells Valérie of his fear that his precious wife and daughter have been captured. And as they both look to more hopeful days ahead, Valérie writes letters to her soldier fiancé Philippe, dreaming of the day when they can be safely reunited.
With the police going door to door hunting refugees, Pierre and his son must go further into Switzerland before they are caught. But Pierre will not leave without his wife and daughter, and nobody in the Resistance knows what has happened to them. Desperate to reunite the family, Valérie puts herself in more and more danger. But when Philippe discovers that the Germans have her listed as a key Resistance fighter, he begs her not to go back to the border. If she does, he might never see her again.
Valérie knows the Nazis will kill her if they find her, but she cannot bear to abandon the mother and child. Breaking her promise to Philippe, she crosses over into France to look for them. But one of Valérie’s friends in the Resistance is betraying secrets to the Nazis, and her life is in terrible danger. When Philippe hurries to save her life, will they both survive? And will Valérie’s efforts to reunite the family be in vain?
A completely unputdownable and heart-wrenching novel about a woman who risks everything to reunite a family torn apart by war. Fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and We Were the Lucky Ones will be swept away by Under a Brighter Sky.
Author Dianne Haley has written a superb book. There have been many WWII books written and they are good but one that has a different topic covered such as this one really catches your attention. What keeps your attention is the page after page reading of danger, heart wrenching heartbreak the characters face though not of their own causing. Such injustice done to children just trying to escape to a better life. I could not put this down; my heart was beating fast, and I was holding my breath while reading this. You get very invested in the character’s lives, I was hooked as I read about the risks they are taking through espionage and secret communications. France has fallen to the Nazi’s and Switzerland’s people know they could be next, but a long-time jeweler needs the business with the Germans to survive. As his daughter does bike deliveries for him, she, unknown to her father, smuggles messages for the French Resistance, hidden among his watch deliveries. It is a huge risk she is taking but she does it while thinking of Philippe, her childhood sweetheart who is a soldier based in secret military fortresses in the mountains. Someone she knows is betraying secrets to the Resistance, who could be putting them in perilous danger and why? Heart wrenching story about a woman who risks it all, including her own life to try to reunite a family devastatingly torn apart beyond their own control by war. When unexpected danger strikes will she stay safe, will her father? Highly recommended!
Pub Date 25 Apr 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
About The Author
Originally from the north of Scotland, Dianne now lives with her husband in Edinburgh and has two grown-up children. After a thirty-year business career in London and Edinburgh when Dianne wrote between projects, she is now writing full-time.
Dianne and her family have been visiting the area round Lake Geneva since 1992 and love the Alps in all seasons. The inspiration for her series set in WW2 Switzerland came from a drive through Geneva’s old town on a rainy October evening, the cobbled lanes a perfect setting for secrets and hiding places.
A totally captivating story about long-lost family secrets and new beginnings, that will whisk you away to the village of Sandy Cove on the gorgeous Irish coast.
Heartbroken and feeling lost after the end of her last relationship, Edwina is looking for a fresh start. And when she hears that a coastguard cottage in the tiny village of Sandy Cove is for sale, she knows it could be her chance. She remembers the village from her childhood with its beautiful sandy white beaches, and wonders if using her life savings to buy the cottage might give her a new beginning in the Irish town beside the sea.
Not long after she arrives, Edwina discovers a message in a bottle during one of her walks along the coast. Written twenty years ago and washed ashore at Wild Rose Bay, it tells the story of a desperate young man, driven to despair after a terrible accident that left him separated from his true love. Touched by his heartbreaking letter, and haunted by its contents, Edwina resolves to find the person who wrote it.
As she begins her search, Edwina meets Shane O’Flaherty, a charming local doctor with green eyes, with whom she feels an instant connection. As the pair walk the cobbled streets of the village together, Edwina’s feelings grow stronger, and she begins to wonder whether Sandy Cove might be the place she can finally call home…
But when she uncovers the identity of the person who wrote the letter all those years ago, everything Edwina thought she knew about Shane changes in an instant. Has she unearthed a secret that should never have come to light? And will it force her to leave the place where she thought she had finally found happiness?
Fans of Sheila O’Flanagan, Mary Alice Monroe and Debbie Macomber will fall in love with this gripping, heart-warming and utterly charming Irish romance.
Being of Irish nationality I love to visit Ireland through books as I dream of actually visiting there someday. This was a magical visit to the beautiful south-west of Ireland to the fictional village of Sandy Cove on the gorgeous Irish coast. Edwina is ready to settle in and make a new start and she does so by buying five cottages in Sandy Cove. Immediately the gossip starts with villagers speculating on who bought the cottages and wondering if they will be torn down and what building will replace them. You just can’t escape the small-town gossip mill. Walking along the beach she finds a bottle that has been washed up upon the shore and after reading the heartbreaking message the only thing she can think about is finding the person who wrote the letter. She’s not sure if this will even be possible as the message has been written twenty years ago. I was drawn into Edwina’s life as she discovers family secrets, has a reunion,shows graciousness and forgiveness and finds a special relationship. A mix of the perfect amount of romance and heartwarming scenes. The author pulls you into her writing world with the scenery, set up and characters. The loose threads from previous books have come together and I look forward to more in this entertaining series.
Pub Date 20 Oct 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
AUTHOR BIO
Susanne O’Leary is the bestselling author of more than twenty novels, mainly in the romantic fiction genre. She has also written three crime novels and two in the historical fiction genre. She has been the wife of a diplomat (still is), a fitness teacher and a translator. She now writes full-time from either of two locations, a ramshackle house in County Tipperary, Ireland or a little cottage overlooking the Atlantic in Dingle, County Kerry. When she is not scaling the mountains of said counties, or keeping fit in the local gym, she keeps writing, producing a book every six months.
It’s time for a savory soirée—but something sinister is stewing—in Raquel V. Reyes’s second delightful Caribbean Kitchen mystery, perfectly delicious for fans of Mia P. Manansala.
Fall festivities are underway in Coral Shores, Miami. Cuban-American cooking show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith wakes up to find a corpse in her front yard. The body by the fake tombstone is the woman that was kicked out of the school’s Fall Festival the day before.
Miriam’s luck does not improve. Her passive-aggressive mother-in-law puts her in charge of the Women’s Club annual gala. But this year, it’s not canapes and waltzes. Miriam and her girlfriends-squad opt for fun and flavor. They want to spice it up with Caribbean food trucks and a calypso band. While making plans at the country club, they hear a volatile argument between the new head chef and the club’s manager. Not long after, the chef swan dives to his death at the bottom of the grand staircase.
Was it an accident? Or was it Beverly, the sous chef, who is furious after being passed over for the job? Or maybe it was his ex-girlfriend, Anastasia?
Add two possible poisonings to the mix and Miriam is worried the food truck fun is going to be a major crash. As the clock ticks down and the body count goes up, Miriam’s life is put in jeopardy. Will she connect the dots or die in the deep freeze? Foodies and mystery lovers alike will savor the denouement as the truth is laid bare in this simmering stew of rage, retribution, and murder.
My Thoughts
I haven't read the first book in this series, though I would love to, but I don't feel like I am missing part of the story. This is such a fun, high energy book.
With Fall vibes emanating from each page, we have our main character Miriam Quiñones-Smith a star of the Miami. Cuban American cooking show.
I loved the authentic feel for the area with many passages of the book being in Spanish and descriptions of the food's native to the area.
Being that there is a food anthropologist we get a well-researched history of native foods (especially fruits) and information about different cultures.
Thanks to her mother-in-law, Miriam is busy planning the Country Club’s annual gala, of course her mother-in-law hadn't asked her just volunteered her for it. If this isn't enough to keep this anthropologist busy, she also wakes up to find a body in her yard and is sleuthing to solve another murder.
I loved this Foodie cozy mystery with its vibrant take on Cuban culture and food.
Pub Date: 11 Oct 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
RAQUEL V. REYES writes Latina protagonists. Her Cuban-American heritage, Miami, and Spanglish feature prominently in her work. Mango, Mambo, and Murder, the first in the Caribbean Kitchen Mystery series, won a LEFTY for Best Humorous Mystery and was nominated for an Agatha. The New York Times Book Review wrote, “it executes its mission—with panache.” Raquel’s short stories appear in various anthologies, including The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022. Find her across social media platforms as @LatinaSleuths and on her website LatinaSleuths.com
In this warm and moving anthology, a group of bestselling authors and writers pay tribute to legendary, larger-than-life New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank and her literary legacy.
Inspired by the title Dorothea Benton Frank planned for her next book—Reunion Beach—these close friends and colleagues channeled their creativity, admiration, and grief into stories and poems that celebrate this remarkable woman and her abiding love for the Lowcountry of her native South Carolina—a land of beauty, history, charm, and Gullah magic she so brilliantly brought to life in her acclaimed novels.
From Elin Hilderbrand, #1 New York Times bestselling author, a sequel to Summer of ’69.
From Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author, comes a heartwarming, humorous interview from the hereafter with Pat Conroy and Dorothea Benton Frank, two beloved icons of Southern literature.
From Patti Callahan, bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis and Surviving Savannah, comes The Bridemaids, a story about a trip to the South Carolina beach.
From Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author, Mother and Child Reunion, a heartwarming story set under the warm South Carolina sun.
Reunion Beach also features letters, short stories, poems, and essays from:
Mary Norris, New York Times bestselling author and staff writer for The New Yorker
Cassandra King Conroy, bestselling and award-winning author of Tell Me A Story
Nathalie Dupree, James Beard Award-winning cookbook author
Marjory Wentworth, former Poet Laureate of South Carolina
Gervais Hagerty, author of In Polite Company
Jacqueline Bouvier Lee, Peter Frank, Victoria Peluso, and William Frank
Infused with Dorothea Benton Frank’s remarkable spirit, Reunion Beach is a literary homage and beautiful keepsake that keeps this dearly missed writer’s flame burning bright.
Reunion Beach was to be the title of Dorothea Benton Frank’s next title but sadly this larger-than-life beloved author was diagnosed with a fast-acting disease that claimed her life several months later. She had many friends in the publishing industry and made all around her feel at ease. The authors of this book collaborated on writing this title to honor her life by writing essays,stories,poems,sharing recipes and sharing memories. I enjoyed all of the memories, but I’d have to say Adriana Trigiani’s story of Postcards from Heaven was my favorite. It is written as if it’s from her best writing friend Pat Conroy who passed before Dorothea. In his own way he did not leave her behind as he kept in touch. He sent post cards from heaven. Nathalie Dupree, award winning cookbook author shares recipes for foods and drink. This is a warm and moving anthology paying tribute to New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank.
Pub Date 27 Apr 2021 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
The Authors
Thank you for visiting today. I was inspired to read this today because I am on vacation this week in OBX, the Outer Banks are beautiful and it’s so peaceful. We are in Corolla,NC today. Have a beautiful day.
In a cozy 1920s chocolate shop, the special ingredients in each perfect treat are empathy, generosity, and thoughtful acts of kindness.
Eight-year-old Daniel cherishes the hour he spends every morning helping his Great-Uncle Lewis in his chocolate shop. They mix, temper, pour, and mold. “It’s magic, my boy,” Uncle Lewis says. And Daniel agrees. When a new girl named Sarah joins his class, Daniel sees how lonely she is and begins sneaking chocolates into her desk. Seeing Sarah light up after each treat is wonderful…but then Daniel starts noticing other classmates with troubles. Soon he is hiding more and more chocolates until the exciting day when everyone in class receives one, even the teacher! The best part is, no one knows it’s him.
But then, when Daniel is the one feeling sad and alone, who will know to comfort him?
In Cocoa Magic, Gabrielle Grimard’s rich and nostalgic illustrations transport readers to a cozy 1920s chocolate shop and a stiff brick schoolhouse that somehow learns to be warm as well. In her text and her closing author’s note, clinical social worker Sandra Bradley celebrates the wonders that happen when someone meets another person’s need to be seen and understood—even through the smallest act of kindness.
Set in the 1920’s. When Daniel is eight years old he becomes an apprentice to his uncle at his chocolate shop. He loves learning from his uncle and who doesn’t love the taste of chocolate? Mixing up the many varieties of chocolate he learns there is more than cocoa beans in chocolate. There are special ingredients in these perfect treats and they are empathy, generosity, and thoughtful acts of kindness. When a new lonely girl joins his classroom he brings her a golden boxed delicately wrapped chocolate hidden in her desk. This not only brightens her up but brings her out of her shell ready to help others. He does this for other children day after day. His doing this shows how the magical ingredients, empathy, generosity, and thoughtful acts of kindness spreads among the whole school and teaches this to all the children. This is a positive book for young children. The vintage illustrations are charming and visually appealing for children. Children will enjoy how happy the children are in the book which in turn will make them feel good. This would make a very nice gift for children.
Pub Date 8 Nov 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
About The Author
Sandra Bradley is a chocolate lover, a clinical social worker and therapist, and a children’s book author. Her first picture book, Henry Holton Takes the Ice, was a finalist for the OLA Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award and the Maine Chickadee Reader’s Choice Award. Born in Toronto, Sandra earned her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and her Master of Arts at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, then earned her Master of Education (Counselling) from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Today Sandra is back in the Kingston area where she lives on the beautiful Rideau Canal with her New Zealander husband, Grant, and their three teenage kids. Sandra has yet to temper chocolate successfully, but she’s finally nailed chocolate brownie pie.
What type of chocolate did this post make you crave? We all love chocolate right?
New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde returns to Twilight, Texas, with a delicious love story about a sexy cowboy and a love-shy nurse determined to win the Christmas Cookie Bake-off challenge.
He’s sexy, single, and he can bake!
Roan Sullivan is the answer to Jazzy Walker’s prayers. The doting single dad is also fresh off his win on a popular cooking show and a whiz at campfire cooking, so who better to help her win this year’s annual cookie bake-off? With his help, Jazzy is sure she can finally take first prize right out the grasping hands of Andi Browning, the gal who stole her fiancé right from under her nose.
A widower with a four-year-old daughter, Roan tells himself there’s a million reasons not to help Jazzy. She’s too kind, too optimistic, and could do so much better than hitching up with a curmudgeon like him. But every time she draws near, he can’t help but wonder if he could open his heart and love again.
As the holidays come closer, the magic of Twilight starts to weave its spell…and soon it’s not just the competition that’s heating up, it’s the hot sizzle between Roan and Jazzy.
My Thoughts
The Cowboy Cookie Challenge is the thirteenth book in the Twilight,Texas series. This is such a fine series. I have really enjoyed the books I’ve read in this series. Twilight,Texas is a beautiful place that you will definitely want to visit. A charming small town pediatric nurse Jazzy Walker meets Roan Sullivan when he brings his daughter in to be treated. Yes Roan is attracted to Jazzy but he’s still grieving the loss of his wife,doing the single daddy thing to his 4 year old daughter and just happens to be ten years older than Jazzy. I loved the daughter she has such a fun,mischievous personality. Now not only is this guy good looking , he can bake too. Actually he’s just won a baking competition and is encouraging Jazzy to enter the cookie baking contest with something that’ll really catch their attention. I had never heard of baking cookies over a campfire, sounds like you need a special technique but it sounds like a sure fire winner to me. I loved the slow burn relationship Jazzy and Roan had and seeing their characters develop. This couple has quite the chemistry. This is a wonderful series!
Pub Date: 25 Oct 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Lori Wilde is an award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers’ Weekly bestselling author of 97 works of romantic fiction. Her writing has won numerous awards and her books have been translated into 26 languages, with more than four million copies of her books sold worldwide. Her series The Wedding Veil Wishes inspired three movies from Hallmark starring Lacey Chabert, Autumn Reese, and Alison Sweeney. The movies broke viewing records for Hallmark.
Lori is a registered nurse with a BSN from Texas Christian University, along with a Master in Liberal Arts from the same university. She holds a certificate in forensics and is also a certified yoga instructor. A sixth-generation Texan, Lori lives with her husband, Bill, in the Cutting Horse Capital of the World.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Today’s topic is Favorite Words. I’m going to tweak the topic and make it my own by going with the topic Favorite Fall Words on book covers.
Wind-we get lots of wind in the Fall.
A brand new Cornish romance from Kate Ryder, author of Beneath Cornish Skies and Secrets of the Mist.
Kat Maddox has had her fair share of terrible relationships. And after discovering that her latest boyfriend has been hiding an entire other life from her, it’s time for a fresh start.
Spiced Chai is a delicious Fall drink
A charming, relatable small-town setting and a cast of complex characters sets Alex Erickson’s Bookstore Café Mystery series apart from the cozy pack—and this time the stakes are higher than ever, as bookstore owner Krissy Hancock becomes the target of escalating attacks. Smart and masterfully plotted, will appeal to fans of Leslie Meier, Cleo Coyle, and Carolyn Hart.
Hot Cocoa is delicious in Fall and Winter both.
In a cozy 1920s chocolate shop, the special ingredients in each perfect treat are empathy, generosity, and thoughtful acts of kindness.
Plentiful harvest in the Fall
She thought he was arrogant. He thought her walls would never come down. Then they fell in love.
Forever walking the line between passion and conflict, Laurel and Gavin’s relationship ended in divorce after years of miscommunication and unmet expectations. Now pursuing their own separate lives and careers, the two are content . . . though not completely happy.
Cooking new Fall recipes is always fun.
t’s time for a savory soirée—but something sinister is stewing—in Raquel V. Reyes’s second delightful Caribbean Kitchen mystery, perfectly delicious for fans of Mia P. Manansala.
Fall festivities are underway in Coral Shores, Miami. Cuban-American cooking show star Miriam Quiñones-Smith wakes up to find a corpse in her front yard. The body by the fake tombstone is the woman that was kicked out of the school’s Fall Festival the day before.
Hickory trees make me think of Fall.
From the USA Today bestselling author of Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe comes Heather Webber’s next charming novel, In the Middle of Hickory Lane!
Emme Wynn has wanted nothing more her whole life than to feel like part of a family. Having grown up on the run with her con artist mother, she’s been shuffled from town to town, drawn into bad situations, and has learned some unsavory habits that she’s tried hard to overcome. When her estranged grandmother tracks her down out of the blue and extends a job offer—helping to run her booth at an open-air marketplace in small-town Sweetgrass, Alabama—Emme is hopeful that she’ll finally be able to plant the roots she’s always dreamed of. But some habits are hard to break, and she risks her newfound happiness by keeping one big truth to herself.
Fall and Sunflowers 🙂
Fans of Carolyn Brown and B.J. Daniels will adore this slice of Americana delivered with warmth, endearing characters, and authentic Texan flair. The legendary New York Times and USA Today bestselling author brings a sense of nostalgia to the town in this delightful journey of second chances.
Jessica Ann McKenzie—“Jam” to everyone in Honey Creek—has fulfilled her dream of owning the best restaurant for miles around. Serving candlelit dinners to every couple in town on Valentine’s Day is a reminder of another dream, one she’s just about given up on. Until, that very night, Sergeant Tucson Smith clambers out of the muddy river and onto her land, bringing the promise of something they’ve both been searching for.
Apple orchards are the perfect Fall thing for a cool day in Fall.
Feel the sun on your face on a Somerset terrace overlooking golden fields and wild meadowland, and watch as romance beckons and long-hidden secrets are revealed…
When twenty-seven-year-old Posy arrives at picture-perfect Oleander House in the Somerset village of Astercombe, she is enchanted. Adopted when she was just a baby, Posy is excited to re-connect with her birth family and help out on the family cider farm with its old stone walls and bees buzzing in the hedgerows.
As warm and frothy as a spiced pumpkin latte on a crisp autumn day, this trio of magically romantic tales set in the charmingly festive small town of Moonbright, Maine is the perfect Halloween indulgence from National Bestselling Authors Marina Adair, Kate Angell and Stacy Finz!
In Moonbright, Maine, there’s a pumpkin on every porch, fresh brewed apple cider in every cup—and the sweetest sorcery in the air…
Every autumn, Moonbright, Maine, is the picture of charm with its piles of crisp leaves, flickering jack-o’-lanterns … and a touch of the sweetest kind of enchantment.
Witches, goblins, the occasional ghost—they’re all sure to be spotted at the annual Halloween parade, where adults and children alike dress in costume to celebrate Moonbright’s favorite holiday. And no place has more seasonal spirit than Bellaluna’s Bakeshop, a family business steeped in traditional recipes, welcoming warmth—and, legend has it, truly spellbinding, heart-melting treats …
What do you think of my choices this week? Will you be reading any of these?
Have a terrific Tuesday and thanks for stopping by.
In this best-friends-to-lovers romance, mistaken identity leads to a Halloween hook-up that might not be so mistaken after all.
After losing her husband last winter, the thought of hosting a Halloween couples costume party is the furthest thing from Kelsey O’Henry’s mind. Besides raising three young children, managing O’Henry’s Bar and Grill, and caring for her alcoholic mother, she has more important things to worry about. Like the stack of unpaid business loans that threaten the bar’s existence. As well as her newfound feelings she’s developed for her best guy friend.
Davis Vance is tired of being followed around by cameras. He misses the days before he and his twin brother became “Renovation Dudes”—hosts of an HGTV show. When Davis learns Kelsey could lose the bar at the end of the fall season, he sees it as an opportunity to not only help his friend, but as a way out of renewing his HGTV contract.
There’s just one problem—lately Davis’s feelings for Kelsey have been less friendly and more romantic. And on the night of the bar’s Halloween party, both Kelsey and Davis can no longer ignore their desires. Will their passionate evening be a one-night stand—only a flicker of heat during the crisp autumn, or will she risk her pride and accept his help?
Pumpkin patch in autumn.
My Thoughts
I am a cover lover. I’ll admit to judging a book by it’s cover. There are so many book options out there so an appealing cover makes me much more likely to want to grab a book to read and this one did it for me. This book is perfect for this time of year. It has such a Fallish/Halloweenish vibe all the way through it and it was great. Tricked in October has a woman who lost her husband last winter. She has so much going on she’s tripping over her own feet trying to get it all done. She has three young children,an alcoholic mother who also runs a bakeshop that she wants her to help manage, a bar she’s about to lose because of back bills and more. O’Henry’s Bar and Grill was her late husband’s bar and though Kelsey O’Henry runs it because it’s been in her husband’s family a long time she feels she should pass it down to her children but it’s giving her more stress than she can handle. Throw in her best guy friend Davis Vance, she seems to be falling for him. With her responsibilities she really doesn’t need this complication. Davis and his twin brother are filming a HGTV show and are recognizable now. One twin enjoys the extra attention from women,one does not. Davis has been friends with Kelsey for a long time and would love to move this relationship to a more personal level but will the timing be right or will the Halloween chill be in the air between them? Loved the Fall vibes in this and will be looking forward to read more by this author.
Pub Date 25 Oct 2022 I was given a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
Starla DeKruyf started writing when she still had words left to say and everyone stopped listening. Her love of romance novels began when she borrowed her friend’s copy of Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume and kept it hidden from her mom. When she’s not slinging coffee, volunteering with youth, or taxiing her kids around, you can find her jamming out to her playlists and writing her next swoony romance, usually by hand. She lives in Spring, Texas, with her husband, three children, an English Mastiff, and a rescue pup.
Vegan Book Blogger 