Bookish Travels—June 2023 Destinations

I saw this meme on It’s All About Books and thought, I like this!! So, I decided to do it once a month also. Many thanks to Yvonne for initially posting this!!

This post is what it says: Places I travel to in books each month. Books are lovely and take you to places you would never get to. That includes places of fantasy too!!

Bon Voyage!!

Please let me know if you have read these books or traveled to these areas.

Countries I visited the most: United States, England, Italy, France

States I visited the most: California, Louisiana, New York, Hawaii, Arizona, Washington

Cities I visited the most: New Orleans, Los Angeles, London, San Fransisco, Paris, New York City, Maui, Tucson


Middle Earth

The Hill, Bag-End, Under-Hill, Bywater, Lone-lands, Misty Mountains, Rivendell (Last Homely House), Mirkwood, Carrock, Forest River, Long Lake, Lake-Town, Lonely Mountain, Ravenhill, Running River, Esgaroth

United States

Florida (Key West)
California (Berkeley, San Francisco, Los Angeles), Louisiana (New Orleans), Arizona (Tucson)
Maryland (Baltimore), Vermont (Westridge), Hawaii (Maui), Louisiana (New Orleans), South Carolina (Myrtle Beach),
Georgia (Clay Creek, Elijay)
Unknown State (Norfolk Falls)
Maine (Mistport), California (Los Angeles)
Tennessee (Nashville)
West Virginia (Jasper Creek, McCray)
California (Los Angeles), Iowa (Ames)
California (San Fransisco, Los Angeles, Monterey, The Island)
Pennsylvania (Pittsburg)
Kansas (Witchita), California (Laguna Beach, Los Angeles)
Washington D.C.
New York (New York City), New Jersey (Camden), Nevada (Las Vegas)
New York, Pennsylvania
New York (New York City), California (Los Angeles)
Montana (Helena), Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Washington (Seattle)
Vermont, Minnesota
New York
Hawaii (Oahu, Maui), Arizona (Phoenix, Tucson), Texas (Dallas)
Washington (Raven Creek)

Austria

Vienna

England

London
London
Bristol, Easton, Bath
Regency London

El Salvador

El Mozote, San Salvador, Antigo Cuscatlan, Chalchuapa

Mexico

Nogales

Ellipsis

Herosi

Greece

unnamed island

Canada

Ontario (Toronto, Milton, Root Island)

Scotland

Byker, Brixton, Tynemouth, Newcastle

Ireland

Dublin, Navan, Bray

Italy

Siena, Bologna, Naples, Rome, Tuscany
Venice, Isola di San Michele
Lazio region

Switzerland

St. Moritz

The Czech Republic

Prague

Jamaica

Irwin, Montego Bay, Greenwood, Negril

France

Paris
Paris
Paris

Australia

Aybourne

Tergonian Empire

Hell’s Labyrinth

Sisly

Taormina, Cefalu, Catania, Palermo, Monreale, Agrigento, Erice, Segusta, Selinunte Island, Ortygia, Vulcano Island, Stromboli

Philippines

Manila

Romania

Cluj-Napoca, Codrinesa, Ascunsylvania

Will They or Won’t They by Ava Wilder

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Dell

Date of Publication: June 27th, 2023

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Adult, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Chick Lit, Adult Fiction

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

On screen, they’re in love. Off screen, they can’t stand each other. Two co-stars with a complex history reunite to film the final season of a beloved paranormal drama in this tension-filled will they won’t they romance from the author of How to Fake It in Hollywood.

Lilah Hunter and Shane McCarthy are madly in love— at least, their characters are. As the stars of the hit paranormal TV show Intangible, they spent years pining for each other on-screen… until Lilah ditched the show at the end of season five in hopes of becoming a film star. With no such luck, she’s back to film the much-hyped ninth and final season, in which their characters will get together at last.

But coming back means facing one of the biggest reasons she left: Shane. Ever since their secret behind-the-scenes fling imploded at the end of the first season, the two of them have despised each other.

Now back on set together for the first time in years, with the world’s eyes on them and their post-show careers on the line, they’ll have to grit their teeth and play nice. But under pressure to give Intangible’s fans the happy ending they’ve been waiting for, Lilah and Shane are forced to get closer than ever. And if they’re not careful, they just might get blindsided by one final twist: a real-life happy ending of their own.


First Line:

Lilah Hunter knew better than to get her hopes up.

Will They or Won’t They by Ava Wilder

Lilah and Shane play a madly in love, but kept apart, couple on the hit paranormal show, Intangilble. In real life, though, they loathe each other. So, it was a good thing when Lilah left the show to make a movie and see what else was out there. But the film was a flop, and Lilah wasn’t getting any work because of it. So, when the producers approached Lilah with an offer to return to the show, she wouldn’t turn it down, even if that meant working with Shane again. But Lilah and Shane realize that maybe their hatred towards each other was more than that (thanks to a risque photo shoot). What will they do? Will they give in to their feelings? Or won’t they?

When I wished for Will They or Won’t They, I was on a huge contemporary romance kick. I hoped I liked the book because the blurb seemed rather bland. Unfortunately, I feel the same way now that I have read the book. This book didn’t create any strong feelings for it either way.

The medium pacing of Will They or Won’t They did suit the book. This pacing allowed Lilah and Shane to recount their past relationship (working and personal) on their own and with the therapist. There was some lag toward the end of the book, but since it was the end, it didn’t affect anything for me.

Will They or Won’t They takes place mainly in Hollywood, with a brief scene in New York City and a chapter in Canada. I was disappointed that the author mostly kept to where the show was filmed, convention centers and hotel rooms. I would have loved to see more of those cities and where they filmed in Canada.

The main storyline in Will They or Won’t They are Lilah and Shane’s love/hate/love relationship. The author did a great job of giving Lilah and Shane’s backstories in a way that didn’t seem forced. I could see a behind-the-scenes romance blowing up and causing issues. I could also see a producer wanting his main stars to get along and send them to couples therapy. But, once the book started focusing on the present day, I began to feel “meh” about it. The storyline seemed to be Lilah and Shane rehashing stuff from their past. Also, I wasn’t a massive fan of how their romance ping-ponged back and forth.

I didn’t care for Lilah. She came across as a neurotic pain in the butt who was also a bit of a diva. She self-sabotages almost every relationship she has had (and she admits this at one point in the book). But, at the same time, I felt terrible for her. Growing up, she had a horrible home life that caused her severe anxiety. Her mother got her into acting to overcome it, and things took off. I also felt how she treated Shane was pretty crappy, both past and present. Now, he was no angle, but she took it to another level.

I had no real concrete feelings for Shane. For most of the book, he came across as bland. He went out of his way to needle Lilah (the whole donut scene at the beginning of the book stands out the most to me). I did guess what his real feelings were reasonably early in the book and guessed what he would do with those feelings.

The romance angle of Will They or Won’t They bored me. While I like secret romances, I wasn’t a huge fan of theirs. How can a relationship flourish if they never go out together and always have sex? It can’t, and in the long run, if this were real, I would say they didn’t have a chance long term.

The end of Will They or Won’t They was pretty standard. The author surprised me with a twist towards the end of the book. The author explained the twist in the epilogue, and I was back to feeling “meh” about the characters.

I would recommend Will They or Won’t They to anyone over 21. There is language, mild violence, and sexual situations.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Dell, NetGalley, and Ava Wilder for allowing me to read and review Will They or Won’t They. All opinions stated in this review are mine.


If you enjoyed reading this review of Will They or Won’t They, then will you will enjoy reading these books:


Other books by Ava Wilder:

WWW Wednesday: June 21st, 2023

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?


What I am currently reading:

Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door in a chilling story of murder and intrigue set in a well-to-do DC suburb.

Sometimes the darkest acts occur in the most beautiful houses…

When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, they are ecstatic. Sam is on the cusp of making partner at his law firm, Alexis is pregnant with their second child, and their glamorous neighbors welcome the couple with open arms. Things are looking up, and Alexis believes she can finally leave her troubled past behind.

But the neighborhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy – a handsome, successful father of three – is found dead on the steep banks of the Potomac River. The community is shaken, and as the police struggle to identify and apprehend the killer, tension in the neighborhood mounts and long-buried secrets start to emerge.

In the midst of the turmoil, Alexis takes comfort in her budding friendship with Teddy’s beautiful and charismatic widow, Blair. But as the women grow closer, the neighborhood only becomes more divided. And when the unthinkable truth behind Teddy’s murder is finally uncovered, both Blair and Alexis must reexamine their friendship and decide how far they are willing to go to preserve the lives they have so carefully constructed.


What I recently finished reading:

“It is not often that a man steps through a doorway knowing that he has just made the best and worst decision of his entire life.” So declares notorious criminal, Vazeer the Lash, at the start of A Dream of Shadows. Raised in Hell’s Labyrinth, the corrupt city where crime and violence are the order of the day, Vazeer has lived on a knife’s edge his entire adult life working as a contract smuggler. Having turned himself into an educated man, Vazeer longs to retire from his nefarious career, which has always been at odds with the more cultured side of his personality.

His chance comes when he is paid a fortune to bring down The Raving Blade, one of Hell’s Labyrinth’s most infamous and sadistic power brokers. Vazeer joins a rogue’s gallery of expert Shadow Bidders, each a master of a unique set of unsavory skills, to complete one last contract. Among them are a brilliant actress who finds herself playing a key role in a criminal world where she doesn’t belong, and a calm, mysterious assassin, who draws events ever forward towards a series of increasingly dire consequences.

With life and death hanging in the balance, a dangerous romance unfolds. Secrets are revealed and violence erupts, irreversibly blurring the line between good and evil.

Perfect for fans of George RR Martin, Joe Abercrombie, and Patrick Rothfuss, A Dream of Shadows marks the start of a thrilling new literary fantasy series from Peter Eliott.


What I think I will read next:

“A stunning display of relationships, suffering under the weight of grief and broken hearts. An emotional journey that Einerson has been able to masterfully achieve through flashbacks and character interactions that are raw. A real portrayal of how love can both heal and hurt you.”

A tragedy brought them together as teens, and then fate tore them apart. After fifteen years, can the pain and secrets of the past be forgiven to rekindle a once-in-a-lifetime love?

As a teen, Milo Covell’s life was destroyed when his mother was killed and his father was imprisoned for causing her death. His first love, Olivia Dunham, was the only beacon that brought his soul back into the light, promises of forever whispered under the stars creating an unbreakable bond—until the night Milo left Olivia heartbroken and alone.

When an unexpected phone call draws Milo back to New York, he’s forced to face the ghosts of the past he left behind fifteen years ago. Finding his estranged father, Mac, losing his battle with cancer, Milo is overcome with anger and betrayal when he discovers the girl he once loved has befriended the man who destroyed his life.

As Olivia struggles with her grief at the thought of losing Mac, she must also confront the man who abandoned her in her greatest time of need, leaving her life in pieces.

Brought together by fate during this trying time, the two must face hard truths, unshared secrets, and long-forgotten feelings.

Is their teenage love strong enough to span the decades and heal old wounds, or is the pain of the past too powerful to be forgiven and forgotten?

In love they breathed. In destiny they believed. In the end, will divinity be their demise?

After Séverin’s seeming betrayal, the crew is fractured. Armed with only a handful of hints, Enrique, Laila, Hypnos and Zofia must find their way through the snarled, haunted waterways of Venice, Italy to locate Séverin.

Meanwhile, Séverin must balance the deranged whims of the Patriarch of the Fallen House and discover the location of a temple beneath a plague island where the Divine Lyre can be played and all that he desires will come to pass.

With only ten days until Laila expires, the crew will face plague pits and deadly masquerades, unearthly songs and the shining steps of a temple whose powers might offer divinity itself… but at a price they may not be willing to pay.

Returning to the dark and glamorous 19th century world of her New York Times instant bestseller, The Gilded Wolves, Roshani Chokshi dazzles us with the final riveting tale as full of mystery and danger as ever.

Avery Grambs has a plan for a better future: survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why — or even who Tobias Hawthorne is.

To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man’s touch — and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne grandsons: dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he’s determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather’s last hurrah: a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.

Leticia
I know a piece of fine art when I see one.
That’s why I’m drawn to Carter.
His seductive gaze and stunning physique have been rendered in exquisite detail.
The stress of my new job as head curator for a leading museum has me aching for relief.
When I lock eyes with Carter on the dance floor, I know he’ll get the job done.
I take him back to my apartment for one wild, unforgettable night.
But, come Monday morning, Carter’s still under me… working under me as my new assistant.

Carter
Life hasn’t been kind to me. I’ve loved and I’ve lost.
Now my daughter and my art are the most important things in my life.
Until I meet Leticia at my best friend’s bachelor party.
She’s a masterpiece of strength, beauty, wit, and grace. She’s also my new boss.
I know that I should stay away, but my body betrays me every time I look at her.
She thinks she can resist my charms.
I’ll show her who’s boss.
But is there enough room in her heart for me and my daughter?

This is a full length standalone romance novel with a happily ever after (HEA), no cliffhanger and no cheating.

Family.
The Channon legacy entails keeping a well-guarded secret safe until the time arrives to face the psychopath bent on imprisoning psychics, studying genetic mutations for the purpose of creating an army, and dominating the world.

The psychopath is Brianna’s brother, a psychic with a following of murderous spirits and trained mercenaries.

Through the years, Nicholai Semenov has overseen a group of psychics intent on ensuring safety and peace among their kind. After discovering one of his team is a shifter, the group expands to include the entire pack.

Join the warriors in this final chapter as they take on the Order of Assassins and warrior ghosts determined to control the fate of humanity.

On screen, they’re in love. Off screen, they can’t stand each other. Two co-stars with a complex history reunite to film the final season of a beloved paranormal drama in this tension-filled will they won’t they romance from the author of How to Fake It in Hollywood.

Lilah Hunter and Shane McCarthy are madly in love— at least, their characters are. As the stars of the hit paranormal TV show Intangible, they spent years pining for each other on-screen… until Lilah ditched the show at the end of season five in hopes of becoming a film star. With no such luck, she’s back to film the much-hyped ninth and final season, in which their characters will get together at last.

But coming back means facing one of the biggest reasons she left: Shane. Ever since their secret behind-the-scenes fling imploded at the end of the first season, the two of them have despised each other.

Now back on set together for the first time in years, with the world’s eyes on them and their post-show careers on the line, they’ll have to grit their teeth and play nice. But under pressure to give Intangible’s fans the happy ending they’ve been waiting for, Lilah and Shane are forced to get closer than ever. And if they’re not careful, they just might get blindsided by one final twist: a real-life happy ending of their own.

Mel and Dev are no longer a couple, but they run Blackhawk Security together. When being around Dev becomes too painful, she buys him out.

Dev knows she’s going after her old CIA boss Kingsley, so Dev makes her a deal – if she accepts his help on this last job, he’ll walk away.

But Kingsley is slippery. After he murders one man and almost kills a young woman, they realize he has a well-planned escape.

Can Mel and Dev stop him? Or will Kingsly eliminate them first?

June 2023 TBR

Here is what I am planning on reading for June. Please let me know if you have read any of these and what you thought of them!!


NetGalley


Indie Authors/Publishers


Reading Challenges: