I swear for every book I’ve read this month I got 3 to replace it. Will I ever catch up at this pace? Probably not 🙂
Have a great evening. Are any of these on your to read list?
Tag: Book Review
ABOUT THE BOOK
Second Chances at the Little Bookshop
Nora’s city life isn’t exactly working out how she planned. She’s stuck in her best friend’s tiny boxroom and hasn’t yet found that dream bookish job. But when she’s forced to return to her hometown of Little Harbour, Nora’s life takes an unexpected plot twist. Her estranged sister needs her help and the beloved family bookshop of her first love, Alex, is about to go out of business.
Alex knows a trip home to his dad and The Book Nook is long overdue. If only his own life wasn’t such a complete and utter mess he’d have visited by now. But then he hears Nora Bell is back in town and it’s the push he needs to change everything.
When the two meet again it’s clear the spark of attraction still burns bright, but their unresolved past overshadows any possible future. Can they work together to save the bookshop and find their fairytale ever after, or will hidden secrets and surprising truths keep them apart?
Perfect for fans of second chance romances, dreamy bookshops and escapist seaside settings!
ONLY AVAILABLE TO THOSE WHO SIGN UP TO KATIE GINGER’S MAILING LIST:
Author Bio – Katie Ginger writes romantic comedies as Annabel French for Avon, HarperCollins and historical fiction as Emma Royal for Century, Penguin Random House. When she’s not writing she spends her time reading, looking after her family and volunteering as Vice Chair or the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
Social Media Links –
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katie_ginger_author/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/katiegauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KatieGAuthor/
Hope you’re having a splendid day. Thank you for stopping by.
260 pages Black Odyssey Media September 24,2024 publish date
ABOUT THE BOOK
A prominent romance author has a slump in her love life and book sales, but a chance encounter with a hot firefighter helps her reignite her muse in this swoony holiday romance, perfect for book romantics.
Saira Wright is a prominent Black romance author who has been signed to the most prestigious publisher of African American works, Brownstone Literature. Her career has been successful for the past five years. However, she’s in a slump, and so are her sales and reviews. The romance she has been known for seems to be zapped out of her stories . . . and her love life.
Eager to get Saira back on top of the charts, her publisher has given her an ultimatum—write a chart-topping holiday romance or be dropped from the publishing house. There’s only one problem: Saira strongly opposes penning holiday books. To her, they are cliché and off-brand, but with her career on the line, she’s forced to give it a shot. To capture the spirit of the holidays, she books a vacation in the most “Christmassy” town she can find.
Sharing the other side of her rented duplex is the owner, Dorian Black, a volunteer firefighter, and the town’s little league football coach. He’s also “Mr. December” in the firefighter’s annual fundraising calendar . . . and every woman’s dream. Years ago, Dorian was happily married to the love of his life until cancer took her away from him. Still coping with the loss, a romantic relationship is the furthest thing from his mind. However, when he encounters his new tenant for the holiday, sparks fly and a fire is ignited that not even he can extinguish.
As the two navigate through various encounters, holiday festivities, and a snowstorm, will the magic of Christmas help them rediscover a long-awaited connection?
MY THOUGHTS
Saira Wright, a famous author of Black romance books has a huge following and is signed with a top publisher of African American works. She’s quite surprised one day when she receives a call from the publishing house saying they want a Christmas romance book from her. Ms Wright doesn’t do Christmas books, but her sales have taken a slump just like her love life. She has a choice, write that best-selling Christmas romance or her contract is gonzo. Needing a little inspiration, she goes to the best Christmassy town she can think of.
Renting a half of a duplex with the owner on the other side is no problem, that is until she sees who it is. Mr. December on the firehouse calendar, Dorian Black. Firefighter, football coach and widow.
He’s not looking for a relationship, he’s had plenty of people try to matchmake for him, but his late wife’s memory is still too strong.
When Saira and Dorian meet though it’s as though they were made for each other in this spicy winter romance.
Saira seems to fit right in with the folks in town and all his friends as if she’d been there for a lifetime and he feels the same way. I enjoyed seeing the interaction between the two as the sparks ignite bright. I think she has all the inspiration she needs for this upcoming romance book.
Loved this uplifting full of great humor book. Filled with the holiday season you’ll want to read this more than once.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charity Shane’ holds a Bachelor degree and a Juris Doctor degree. Author. Higher Education Leader. Legal Expert. Creator.
Writing stories that create feelings through her words is her true passion. Her soul sings AA romance and urban romance fiction.
To date, she has published over twenty books, including #1 Bestsellers in African American Fiction. Charity Shane’ is dedicated to giving readers robust and diverse stories centered around love.
Love is the passion behind each of her stories. By crafting characters that are relatable and by creating feelings with words, Charity Shane’ has a little something for everyone.
Categories
Happy Sunday Post
LAST WEEK I READ
LAST WEEK’S POSTS
It’s Monday- What are You Reading?
Woman Reunited with Cat Missing after 11 Years
WATCHED LAST WEEK
Still watching Downtown Abbey, on Season 4 parts one and two of last episode. I was saddened to hear of the death of Dame Maggie Smith. I think she is my favorite character in this show.
I hope you’re enjoying your weekend. Stay safe.
Categories
Stacking the Shelves
STACKING THE SHELVES
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! And audiobooks. Don’t forget audiobooks! Hosted at Reading Reality.
In other words, if you can read it or if it can be read to you – no matter how you got it – it belongs in Stacking the Shelves.
The books I’ve added to my shelf this week are:
NETGALLEY BOOKS
Have any of these made it to your want to read shelf? Thanks for stopping in. Enjoy your day.
Categories
First Line Friday
FIRST LINE FRIDAY
Happy Friday & welcome to First Line Friday hosted at Reading is my Super Power! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line. Today I’m delighted to feature the first line of The Garden by Nick Newman. This is a new to me author and I look forward to getting into it.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A darkly beautiful, eerie, hypnotic novel about two elderly sisters living alone at the edge of the world.
In a place and time unknown, two elderly sisters live in a walled garden, secluded from the outside world. Evelyn and Lily have only ever known each other. What was before the garden, they have forgotten; what lies beyond it, they do not know. Each day is spent in languid service to their home: tending the bees, planting the crops, and dutifully following the instructions of the almanac written by their mother.
When a nameless boy is found hiding in the boarded house at the center of their isolated grounds, their once-solitary lives are irrevocably disrupted. Who is he? Where did he come from? And most importantly, what does he want?
As suspicions gather and allegiances falter, Evelyn and Lily are forced to confront the dark truths about themselves, the garden, and the world as they’ve known it.
- G.P. Putnam’s Sons
- Publication date February 18, 2025
FIRST LINE(S)
Somebody had moved the beehive. Evelyn couldn’t understand how it had happened. It was at a slight angle to the others, like it had been shoved, and beneath each of its wooden feet there was a shallow red trench in the earth. An animal? A storm? It couldn’t have been.
Does this sound like one you’d add to your reading list? Thank you for your visit today.
416 pages Bethany House publishers August 20, 2024 publication date
ABOUT THE BOOK
Treva Zimmerman finds herself at a crossroads in life after a heartbreaking failed relationship. Returning to Lancaster County to visit her Amish grandparents and elderly aunt, Treva plans to leave her Plain heritage behind for a fresh start in Alaska. Torn between the expectations of her community and her own desires, she seeks to follow her own path–but all that changes when her aunt Rosene suffers a heart attack.
As her aunt recounts her own past–a poignant journey through Cold War Germany and a fervent desire to escape her Plain life to search for a lost love–Treva is determined to discover the whereabouts of Rosene’s former sweetheart. Amid the turmoil, their former farmhand Gabe Johnson returns unexpectedly, throwing Treva’s plans into further disarray.
While working hard to save the farm and explore her own destiny, Treva confronts her deep-rooted ties to her heritage and must decide if she will embrace her family’s legacy or break free from the pressures of her past to forge a life of her own.
MY THOUGHTS
By Evening’s Light is the third and final book in the Amish Memories series. I enjoyed all three books in the series and fully recommend you read this series in order to get the full backstory with all the characters.
This is told as a dual timeline story.
Though taking place in an Amish community and incorporating the Amish culture into the book it is not strictly an Amish story. A character comes back from a missionary trip to Haiti not having expected things to work out the way they had.
We are transported back in time with a storytelling Aunt who tells of her struggles and joys during WWII in Germany.
I enjoyed how well the series was researched by the author, making for a fascinating and entertaining series.
The characters are well developed and perfectly imperfect with their own struggles and joys. I enjoyed reading their faith journeys.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
About the Author
Leslie Gould is a Christy Award-winning and #1 bestselling author of more than 48 novels, including four Lancaster County Amish series. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history and an MFA in creative writing. She enjoys church history, research trips, and hiking in the Pacific Northwest. She and her husband live in Portland, Oregon, and have four adult children and two grandchildren. Learn more at LeslieGould.com.
Thank you for stopping in. Your visit is always appreciated.
Categories
Can’t Wait Wednesday
CAN’T WAIT WEDNESDAY
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally, they’re books that have yet to be released. Find out more here.
I really enjoy holiday books, so much so that I read them year round when I get a chance. Unfortunately, I don’t get a chance to read them as much as I’d like to as I have other reading commitments. So, let’s get on with it. I am looking forward to:
A Corpse Among the Carolers by Debra Sennefelder publication date Nov 12 2024
Book 7 of A Food Blogger Mystery
Description
Hope Early is fully immersed in the spirit of the Christmas season, until the sounds of joyful carolers are silenced by the words “Ho-ho-homicide” . . .
Food blogger Hope Early always gets a hearty holiday laugh from knowing that the weeks leading up to Christmas are as frantic as they are festive. But in spite of everything she has to do, the one thing she always has time for is the annual Jingle Bell Stroll, a night when the community gathers to sing their hearts out and enjoy each other’s company. This year’s caroling feels especially heartwarming, until the final note lands with a thud when Hope finds the body of the man who’d volunteered to play Santa, a knife plunged into his back.
With virtually the whole town present at the caroling, the list of suspects seems endless. It doesn’t take long, though, for both Hope and the police to turn a sharp eye on the victim’s bitter and vindictive ex-wife, along with his new wife, who may have been after his money. Then Hope unearths a clue that suggests the dead man may have been hiding a sordid past and connections to unseemly characters. But as she closes in on the killer, they’re determined to wring her neck before she can ring in the new year . . .
Includes tasty and toasty holiday recipes!
About the Author:
Debra Sennefelder lives and writes in Connecticut, where she shares her home with her family and slightly spoiled Shih Tzu. An avid reader across a range of genres, mystery fiction is her obsession. Her interest in people and relationships is channeled into her novels against a backdrop of crime and mystery. She’s the author of the Food Blogger Mysteries, the Resale Boutique Mysteries, and the Cookie Shop Mysteries. When she’s not writing, she’s either baking or reading. To learn more, visit her on the web at debrasennefelder.com.
Is this one on your radar and will it be getting a read this holiday season?
Have a wonderful day and thank you for stopping in.
320 pages Bethany House publishers Sep 24,2024 publication date
ABOUT THE BOOK
Beyond the perilous landscape lies a love that defies extinction. . . .
In the bustling world of paleontology in 1916, Eliza Mills defies societal expectations to pursue her passion. Having published her early groundbreaking papers under a false name, she has finally earned her place at the Carnegie Museum and seizes the opportunity to work at Dinosaur National Monument with a renowned paleontologist. But things in Jensen, Utah, aren’t what they appear. When Eliza gets the chance to dig up bones at a ranch with a dark history, it sparks a chain of events that will rock the very fabric of her carefully constructed world.
Devin Schmitt, Eliza’s closest friend since childhood, harbors unspoken feelings for her but knows he will never be able to win her heart. Just as he vows to give her up for good, Eliza begs him to visit her in Utah for another grand adventure. He reluctantly agrees, and within a few days of his arrival, he and Eliza find themselves entangled in a web of danger where the stakes are much higher than they ever anticipated. Together, Devin and Eliza must hold on to God as their hope as they navigate a treacherous terrain of betrayal to unbury the truth and save Eliza from those who wish to see her fail.
MY THOUGHTS
I am sorry to see this series end, but I enjoyed it so much and learned a lot from it. Being from the Pittsburgh, PA area I am familiar with Carnegie libraries and museum and the many other things that he had a hand in developing.
Our main female character had an unusual interest for the time period, as a paleontologist in 1916, she is used to being discriminated against. With what many think of as an unusual interest for women. This way of thinking only makes her work harder to prove herself. As with today, people also are under the mistaken assumption if you’re a woman of science you cannot have a faith belief.
When she is sent on a dig at the Dinosaur National Monument in Jensen, Uta she is thrilled to have a chance to work with a paleontologist she admires and hopes to learn even more. As dark secrets come to light at the very ranch where the dig is taking place will all her hard work crumble to dust and blow away in the wind?
Feeling lonely she is thrilled to see her childhood best friend, Devin Schmitt has listened to her pleas and come for a visit. Together they are thrown into a dangerous living and working environment, someone doesn’t want them there or things to change.
Is this the time or place for Devin to act upon his feelings for Eliza Mills, though he wants to spend a lifetime of happiness with her. I enjoyed seeing the character development and learning of women of science and paleontology through this series.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Kimberley Woodhouse is the best-selling and award-winning author of more than two dozen books. She is a wife, mother, author, and musician with a quick wit and positive outlook despite difficult circumstances. A popular speaker, she’s shared at more than 2,000 venues across the country. Kimberley and her family’s story have garnered national media attention for many years including ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Montel Williams Show, Discovery Health channel’s Mystery ER, The Hour of Power, The Harvest Show, and over 1,000 other TV appearances and radio interviews. She lives and writes in the Poconos with her husband of thirty years. kimberleywoodhouse.com
Find Kim on twitter and facebook:
twitter.com/kimwoodhouse
author fan page Kimberley Woodhouse
Thank you for stopping by. Have a great day!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Coming Home to Starr’s Fall
Welcome to the town of Starr’s Fall, where Autumn can feel like it goes on forever, and two people have a chance to fall in love…
The leaves are falling, with a crispness to the air, along with the scents of coffee and pumpkin spice, past a half-empty street of shuttered storefronts and a bandstand that has seen better days…
Just like the whole town of Starr’s Fall, thinks Laurie Ellis – as she and her beloved dog Max head to collect the store keys. Maybe she has seen better days, too, but she’s certainly ready for a new start—and to leave her past behind. Still Laurie wonders whether she made a terrible mistake in coming to lovable but shabby Starr’s Fall. Will she even find customers for her pet store and bakery, never mind a community to welcome and accept her?
Not according to Joshua Reilly, the handsome but grumpy manager of the bookstore across the road, who claims he’s never heard of anything so ridiculous as a bakery for dogs.
But Laurie remains stubbornly undeterred. She’s starting over, right here. Not least because she has another secret reason for being here… one she isn’t telling anybody, at least not yet, as it involves her own tragic past.
What she doesn’t yet know is that a clue to the mystery is hidden deep in Joshua’s bookstore. And he doesn’t yet realize that Laurie herself might be the key to mending his own battered heart… for Laurie and Joshua and the whole town, it’s going to be a fall to remember.
Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/starrsfallsocial
MY THOUGHTS
Starr’s Fall in Connecticut sounds like a charming small town especially in Autumn. I’ve visited Connecticut in the Autum several years ago and it is very beautiful that time of year with the crisp air and lovely scenic trees.
There is so many threads going on in the story and I enjoyed it very much. This is the start of a new series, and I greatly look forward to the next in the series as well. Laurie Ellis and her little dog, Max are off to Starr’s Fall to open a pet shop/bakery for dogs amongst the dusty shuttered store fronts on the main street.
Hoping to breathe some life into this small town with her new shop and have it as a cozy and comfortable meeting place for the town’s folks as well. Laurie has a motive for coming to town, she is looking to find answers to a few things.
An unexpected romance may be in the cards as well. I enjoyed meeting the matriarch of Starr’s Falls and though we didn’t spend much time with her I hold her amongst one of my favorite characters in this book. Time seems to have forgotten about her, which is a feeling Laurie is all too familiar with.
A grumpy- sunshine romance that I enjoyed seeing the character development of. I would have enjoyed seeing more of a development of the doggie bakery though. A warm and emotional read that I’m looking forward to reading more of.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
VISIT OTHER BLOGS ON THE TOUR
MEET THE AUTHOR
Kate Hewitt is a million copy bestselling author of historical, contemporary and romantic fiction. An American ex-pat, she lives in a small market town in Wales with her husband and five young(ish) children, along with their two Golden Retrievers.
Social Media Links
Facebook: KateHewittAuthor
Twitter: @author_kate
Instagram: @katehewitt1
Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/KateHewittNews
Thank you for your visit today. Happy Autumn!
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