I saw this meme on It’s All About Booksand 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.
The country I visited the most this month: United States
States I visited the most: New York, Maine, California
Cities I visited the most this month: New York City, London
Ancient Greece
Troy, Phthia, Scyros, Mount Pelion, Aulis (Island), Lemnos (Island), Tenedos
England
London, Manchester
London, Preston, Nantwich, Manchester, Avalon
London
Italy
Florence
United States
New York (New York City)
New York (New York City, Chinatown, West Village), Maine (Lincolnville, Megunticook Lake)
Oregon, New York City, Florida, California (Northern, Eastern, Mono Lake, Fortune, Southern), Maine
Florida (Fort Lauderdale, Siesta Key)
South City (Unknown State)
California (Studio City, North Hollywood, Catalina Island, Avalon)
Washington (Rockport)
Maine, Nebraska, New York (New York City, Central Park), New Jersey, Massachusetts (Cape Cod)
New York (New York City, Brooklyn), Mississippi (Hickory), Michigan (Alcona County)
So, I realized that I haven’t done IMWAYR for a long time. Actually, the last time I posted was in September 2021. So, it has been a minute.
Why decide to post now? Well, I want to, and I like sharing what I read over the weekend (no huge lists of books like on WWW Wednesday).
So with no further comment, here are the books:
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.
Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kid-litfocus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle-grade novels, young adult novels, or anything in those genres – join them.
What I am Reading Now:
Reading for The StoryGraph Reads the World Reading Challenge (books set in Nigeria)
Tade Thompson’s Rosewater is the start of an award-winning, cutting edge trilogy set in Nigeria, by one of science fiction’s most engaging new voices.
Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious alien biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless—people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumored healing powers.
Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. He has seen inside the biodome, and doesn’t care to again—but when something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro must defy his masters to search for an answer, facing his dark history and coming to a realization about a horrifying future.
What I finished reading this weekend:
Read for 2023 Monthly Themes Reading Challenge (Mysterious May)
Murder, secrets, and folklore now consume this once small, seaside town…
In the town of Rockport, Washington one boy will defy all odds and attempt to uncover the towns most sinister secret. When the new girl at Rockport High is found murdered beneath the iconic, Mermaid Cliff, a group of teenagers must hunt for the killer or become the next victims.
The town of Rockport is thrown into the national spotlight when the towns first ever murder occurs. With his parents telling him to leave it alone, and the law enforcement looking into him as a possible suspect, Mark recruits the help of some friends to uncover the secrets and hunt for the killer. The discoveries they make will put Mark on a journey that will change his life and the world – forever.
Be sure to check out the second book in the series which is available now! Book 3 to be released soon!
Read for The StoryGraph’s OnBoarding Challenge 2023 (read in my least favorite genre)
In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women’s lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.
A wife refuses her husband’s entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store’s prom dresses. One woman’s surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella Especially Heinous, Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naively assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgangers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes.
Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction.
The husband stitch — Inventory — Mothers — Especially heinous — Real women have bodies — Eight bites — The resident — Difficult at parties
What I plan on reading this week:
A riveting tale of revenge, survival and redemption, wrapped around an unlikely love story and set against an urban backdrop corrupted by bigotry and misogyny.
Following a racially motivated rape by three Ku Klux Klansmen, 12-year-old Desiree Devine vows revenge. After eight years of training, now a strikingly beautiful assassin, she accomplishes her mission.
Her campaign continues with solitary walks through dark city streets, hoping to be assaulted by men with bad intentions. Those entrapped by her spider’s web pay dearly for their efforts.
Surrounded by three white men one night, she’s rescued by Tony Marino, an Italian-American passerby. A stormy, up-and-down relationship ensues. Ultimately, as her rage matures into purposeful action, and as he begins to see the world through her eyes, they become a team.
Along the way, they encounter serial killers, wife-beaters, actual and would-be rapists, gangsters, crooked cops, a kidnapper and a pedophile priest, as well as numerous women in desperate need of their help. Beneath all the action, though, is the blossoming of a most unusual love story.
An immortal Knight of the Round Table faces his greatest challenge yet—saving the politically polarized, rapidly warming world from itself—in this slyly funny contemporary take on Arthurian legend.
Being reborn as an immortal defender of the realm gets awfully damn tiring over the years—or at least that’s what Sir Kay’s thinking as he claws his way up from beneath the earth, yet again.
Kay fought at Hastings, and at Waterloo, and in both World Wars. After a thousand years, he thought he was used to dealing with a crisis. But now he finds himself in a strange new world where oceans have risen, armies have been privatized, and half of Britain’s been sold to the Chinese. The dragon that’s running amok, that he can handle. The rest? He’s not so sure.
Mariam’s devoted her life to fighting what’s wrong with her country. But she’s just one ordinary person, up against a hopelessly broken system. So when she meets Kay, a figure straight out of legend, she dares to hope that the world’s finally found the savior it needs.
As the two quest through this strange land swarming with gangs, mercenaries, and talking squirrels, they realize that other ancient evils are afoot. Lancelot is back too–at the beck and call of immortal beings with a sinister agenda. And if their plans can’t be stopped, a dragon will be the least of the planet’s worries.
In perilous times like these, the realm doesn’t just need a knight. It needs a true leader.
Luckily, Excalibur lies within reach–and Kay’s starting to suspect that the hero fit to carry it is close at hand.
The nation of Trylia believes that the gift, a force that can alter the world through the intent of the person who wields it, is a myth. The stuff of children’s tales, brought to life only in the imagination.
For Lila, separated from a life she was too young to remember, it’s a confusing power that has set her apart from the family she found. And she is only just beginning to understand it when her home and family are destroyed, and she is captured.
To escape, she unleashes the gift in a destructive wave that also forces a man she doesn’t trust to keep them alive. Bryn won’t survive unless Lila does, and they must flee the wrath of the captors still pursuing her. If they can’t find a way to work together, Lila won’t live long enough to learn more about the gift.
As Lila finds her strength, the gift inside her grows. Unless she can control it, she may be a greater danger than the one at her heels.
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 Recently Finished Reading:
Love breaks all the rules.
Margo Anderson is sworn off commitment. Alongside her best friend, Jo, she runs a viral podcast featuring rules for hooking up without catching feelings. So when Jo surprises her by deciding to get married and taking up a sponsor’s offer to host an all-expenses-paid wedding trip on Catalina Island, they have the whole internet to answer to.
In a scramble for content to appease their disappointed listeners, Margo cooks up a social experiment: Break all her own dating rules, just to prove that it’s a bad idea. And she’s found the best man for the job in the groom’s best friend and her old high school nemesis, Declan Walsh. He may be easier on the eyes than Margo remembered, but he’s sure to be as smug and annoying as he was before—there is no chance Margo will ever catch feelings for him . . . until she does.
The more time they spend together through cake tastings and wedding party activities, the more Margo can’t ignore their obvious spark, and she may actually be enjoying getting to know Declan. But can she let go of the rules to let him in?
What I am currently reading:
What’s worse than nearly puking in front of a cute guy? Zombies. Definitely zombies.
I’m not feeling so great. I don’t know if it’s something I ate, or if it’s from flipping through one too many teen paranormal romances, trying to find inspiration for an obnoxiously backward creative writing assignment. (Seriously. What kind of teacher asks their students to write a story in their least favourite genre?) But I’m determined not to barf in this stupid vampire book I’m holding, especially not in front of the cute guy who’s checking out the library’s pitiful selection of DVDs. So I make a run for the bathroom… only to have the guy follow me in there. Can you believe it?
But that’s just the first unbelievable thing that happens. When we come out of the bathroom, the library appears to be closed. Weirder still, it’s surrounded by a strange, supernatural storm that definitely wasn’t there a few minutes ago.
Being trapped in a library with a new friend (or enemy—I haven’t decided yet) might not be the worst thing in the world. But it might not be the best thing, either… especially once that weird storm starts spitting out characters that are only supposed to exist in stories, and we find ourselves trying to figure out how to take on a horde of zombies with nothing but our wits, the Dewey Decimal System, and some very strange bookish magic.
Elements of Mind is a metaphysical fantasy quartet that celebrates the power of stories… and the people who create them. Join Sadie on her elemental adventure today!
What books I think I’ll read next:
Reality is evil. While everyone considers it good. That is why reality is actually a fantasy. “Possible” because one can never know. And that exactly is what creates the wrong reality. The facts are irrefutable even when false. The truth is secretly abused and only the lies see the light. Everyone should be able to escape forced fantasies and realize all of it for the sake of true fairness and true justice. Destroy reality fairly by knowing all its dark secrets before it destroys you unfairly.
When the guilty do anything to be innocent, the innocents believe they are guilty. The guilty take advantage of that in their unbelievable and unconceivable tactics and strategies to frame the innocents. Guilt has become a method against the innocents. Innocence has become a pattern in favor of the guilty. The guilty get away with it for their crimes and are presented as the good example while the innocents pay the price and are presented as the bad example. Justice has lost its true meaning, its worth, its liability and its reliability. Or it never had any of these? It has become the norm. The guilty are let free and the innocents are in danger. They used to say “Better to free the guilty than condemn the innocents”. The guilty threaten, so the only way to provide secure justice nowadays is to consider all humans as innocents. All innocent! Until justice is fixed!
Murder, secrets, and folklore now consume this once small, seaside town…
In the town of Rockport, Washington one boy will defy all odds and attempt to uncover the towns most sinister secret. When the new girl at Rockport High is found murdered beneath the iconic, Mermaid Cliff, a group of teenagers must hunt for the killer or become the next victims.
The town of Rockport is thrown into the national spotlight when the towns first ever murder occurs. With his parents telling him to leave it alone, and the law enforcement looking into him as a possible suspect, Mark recruits the help of some friends to uncover the secrets and hunt for the killer. The discoveries they make will put Mark on a journey that will change his life and the world – forever.
Be sure to check out the second book in the series which is available now! Book 3 to be released soon!
In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women’s lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.
A wife refuses her husband’s entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store’s prom dresses. One woman’s surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella Especially Heinous, Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naively assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgangers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes.
Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction.
The husband stitch — Inventory — Mothers — Especially heinous — Real women have bodies — Eight bites — The resident — Difficult at parties
Tade Thompson’s Rosewater is the start of an award-winning, cutting edge trilogy set in Nigeria, by one of science fiction’s most engaging new voices.
Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious alien biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry and the helpless—people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumored healing powers.
Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. He has seen inside the biodome, and doesn’t care to again—but when something begins killing off others like himself, Kaaro must defy his masters to search for an answer, facing his dark history and coming to a realization about a horrifying future.
A riveting tale of revenge, survival and redemption, wrapped around an unlikely love story and set against an urban backdrop corrupted by bigotry and misogyny.
Following a racially motivated rape by three Ku Klux Klansmen, 12-year-old Desiree Devine vows revenge. After eight years of training, now a strikingly beautiful assassin, she accomplishes her mission.
Her campaign continues with solitary walks through dark city streets, hoping to be assaulted by men with bad intentions. Those entrapped by her spider’s web pay dearly for their efforts.
Surrounded by three white men one night, she’s rescued by Tony Marino, an Italian-American passerby. A stormy, up-and-down relationship ensues. Ultimately, as her rage matures into purposeful action, and as he begins to see the world through her eyes, they become a team.
Along the way, they encounter serial killers, wife-beaters, actual and would-be rapists, gangsters, crooked cops, a kidnapper and a pedophile priest, as well as numerous women in desperate need of their help. Beneath all the action, though, is the blossoming of a most unusual love story.
An immortal Knight of the Round Table faces his greatest challenge yet—saving the politically polarized, rapidly warming world from itself—in this slyly funny contemporary take on Arthurian legend.
Being reborn as an immortal defender of the realm gets awfully damn tiring over the years—or at least that’s what Sir Kay’s thinking as he claws his way up from beneath the earth, yet again.
Kay fought at Hastings, and at Waterloo, and in both World Wars. After a thousand years, he thought he was used to dealing with a crisis. But now he finds himself in a strange new world where oceans have risen, armies have been privatized, and half of Britain’s been sold to the Chinese. The dragon that’s running amok, that he can handle. The rest? He’s not so sure.
Mariam’s devoted her life to fighting what’s wrong with her country. But she’s just one ordinary person, up against a hopelessly broken system. So when she meets Kay, a figure straight out of legend, she dares to hope that the world’s finally found the savior it needs.
As the two quest through this strange land swarming with gangs, mercenaries, and talking squirrels, they realize that other ancient evils are afoot. Lancelot is back too–at the beck and call of immortal beings with a sinister agenda. And if their plans can’t be stopped, a dragon will be the least of the planet’s worries.
In perilous times like these, the realm doesn’t just need a knight. It needs a true leader.
Luckily, Excalibur lies within reach–and Kay’s starting to suspect that the hero fit to carry it is close at hand.
The nation of Trylia believes that the gift, a force that can alter the world through the intent of the person who wields it, is a myth. The stuff of children’s tales, brought to life only in the imagination.
For Lila, separated from a life she was too young to remember, it’s a confusing power that has set her apart from the family she found. And she is only just beginning to understand it when her home and family are destroyed, and she is captured.
To escape, she unleashes the gift in a destructive wave that also forces a man she doesn’t trust to keep them alive. Bryn won’t survive unless Lila does, and they must flee the wrath of the captors still pursuing her. If they can’t find a way to work together, Lila won’t live long enough to learn more about the gift.
As Lila finds her strength, the gift inside her grows. Unless she can control it, she may be a greater danger than the one at her heels.
The StoryGraph’s Onboarding Reading Challenge (read a book from your StoryGraph recommendations)—Beautiful Demons—Finished 3-10-2023
The StoryGraph Reads the World (Cuba)—Of Women and Salt—Finished 3-12-2023
The StoryGraph’s Genre Challenge (a sapphic romance)—She Who Became the Sun—Finished 3-22-2023
Beat the Backlist 2023 (about dragons or robots)—The Glow of the Dragon’s Heart—Finished 3-22-2023
Scavenger Hunt TBR Book Challenge (what is the most common letter in the title of the last book you read for this challenge. Find a book with a title that starts with that letter)—Even the Moon has Scars—Finished 3-23-2023
Scavenger Hunt (the prettiest book in your TBR)—The Watchmaker’s Daughter—Finished 3-23-2023
Popsugar Reading Challenge 2023 (A book about a vacation)—The Swap—Finished 3-24-2023
2023 TBR Toppler (the first book in a series)—The Last Artifact—Finished 3-26-23
2023 Monthly Themes (March of the Memoirs)—In the Dream House—Finished 3-1-23
2023 Reading Challenge (A book in a series you already started)—Catching Fire—Finished 3-27-23
This meme 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.
United States
New Hampshire (Adams)
New York (Haverford, Limerick, Johnstown), Connecticut (Ashford, Canterbury, Bayfield), Pennsylvania (Philidelphia)
Iowa (Iowa City), Pennsylvania (Philidelphia, Allentown), Georgia (Savannah), Indiana (Bloomington), New York (New York City)
Louisiana (New Orleans, Algiers Point, French Quarter, Port Sulphur)
Florida (Key West, Orlando), Georgia (Atlanta)
Georgia (Atlanta, Decatur)
Washington (Oreville)
California (post-apocalyptic Sacramento)
Hawaii (unnamed island)
Washington D.C., West Virginia, Pennsylvania (Chestertown, Philadelphia), Florida (Miami)
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
Personal:
I hope you all had a wonderful week last week. My week was interesting, to say the least.
Kevin (our new kitten) is getting better with us. He no longer feels the need to run under the couch and hide. He’s been lying in the cat tree, on the couch, or the blankets in the storage space under the coffee table. He’s also allowed us to walk up to and pet him. He must go to the vet next week, so getting him into a cat carrier will be interesting.
I walked into all six cats grouped by my front door on Friday morning. I thought nothing of it until I noticed Vinnie (our brown tabby) was chasing something small and black. Since we don’t have cat toys that color, I saw that he had a mouse, and it was alive. He (and the other cats) were playing with it. I freaked out (I am phobic about mice/rats) and called for BK. He came running out and had a heck of a time getting it away from Vinnie. The dork kept growling at him and running away. Finally, he dropped it when I opened the cat treats. The best thing, it wasn’t dead. Nope. I threw the bag in the trash, and it started moving. Yeah, not what I wanted. BK went and looked under our counters when the kids were in school, and there was one more under there, dead. A cat got at it, and I will leave it at that.
We discovered that Miss B was nominated for the NTHS (National Technical Honor Society) on Thursday. We go Wednesday night for her induction ceremony. She gets to wear a special tassel on her graduation cap next year and gets to apply for their scholarships.
In an update to the school threat, the police found out who did it, and that person (a freaking kid not even in our school system) is in jail. I hope it was worth it for him.
Also, on police news, my area of NC was featured on On Patrol Live last weekend!! It was a trip to see familiar landmarks during the live shots. BK was joking that maybe I would show up on one.
Shows I watched this week: The Last of Us and OnPatrol Live.
What I Cooked/Baked: I was going to make Skirt Steak with Cheesy Mashed Potatoes last week. But with the food prices the way they are, I settled for breaded chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and salad.
Reading/Blog:
I slowed down with my reading. It wasn’t intentional; I got stuck reading a very slow (but good) fantasy.
On a better note, I caught up on my reviews. I am no longer behind (hurray!!). I got all of those reviews written last week. I was writing day and night (lol).
I am still firm on not accepting new book review requests from indie authors. I hate doing it but must catch up on my NetGalley reviews.
The longest book I read this week:The Shadow of Theron. It was very good but super slow. It took me almost four days to read it.
The shortest book I read this week:Mad Honey. Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t stop. It was that good.
Other Interesting Bookish News: Nothing.
What I Recently Finished Reading:
A soul-stirring novel about what we choose to keep from our past, and what we choose to leave behind.
Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in, and taking over her father’s beekeeping business.
Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.
And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet at times, she wonders if she can she trust him completely . . .
Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in him, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.
Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.
What I am currently reading:
Fear and mystery follow me like an unwanted shadow. As the case of my missing friend, Dr. Charles Thorton, has horrifically concluded, a new mystery emerges! My miserable colleague, Thomas Braham and I discovered that Cordelia had been transformed into an abominable monster, and now we are now off on a discovery to find the root of her evil. We are whisked off on many twists and turns as our adventures lead us to lunatic asylums and underground surgical arenas. Our new apprentice, Scarlett, also joins our endeavors as I pray she only acts as our silent observer and resists sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.
And still, our anonymous prisoner remains. They sit there waiting to be rescued and survive the torment and torture that awaits them. I’m confident they will be discovered, but I worry that the empty cell will be quickly filled by another poor soul.
I say with the greatest of confidence that Thomas, Scarlett, and I will uncover the truth. My fear and anxiety still remain. Sometimes it’s better to let things lie peacefully in ignorance. What sordid and cruel vermin will slither to the surface once we start turning up stones and digging holes? But my curiosity and need for discovery tamps down any trepidation I may have, and besides, I owe it to Dr. Thorton. Pray for us.
What books I think I’ll read next:
For years Carmen Maria Machado has struggled to articulate her experiences in an abusive same-sex relationship. In this extraordinarily candid and radically inventive memoir, Machado tackles a dark and difficult subject with wit, inventiveness and an inquiring spirit, as she uses a series of narrative tropes—including classic horror themes—to create an entirely unique piece of work which is destined to become an instant classic.
From New York Times bestselling author Jana DeLeon, the first in a new thriller series.
Everyone wondered about Shaye Archer’s past. Including Shaye.
Shaye Archer’s life effectively began the night police found her in an alley, beaten and abused and with no memory of the previous fifteen years, not even her name. Nine years later, she’s a licensed private investigator, with a single goal—to get answers for her clients when there aren’t supposed to be any.
And maybe someday, answers for herself.
Emma Frederick thought her nightmare was over when she killed her abusive husband, but someone is stalking her and tormenting her with mementos from her past. With no evidence to support her claims, the police dismiss her claims as post-traumatic stress, but Shaye is convinced that someone is deliberately terrorizing Emma…playing a cat and mouse game with only one goal in mind.
To kill Emma.
In Mr. & Mrs. Witch, the next novel from bestselling author Gwenda Bond, a couple discovers at the altar the surprising secret identities they’ve kept from each other.
Savannah Wilde is a witch, a very powerful one—an identity that only her fellow witches know. Following a whirlwind romance that surprised herself and her family, Savvy is all set to marry the love of her life. But she isn’t the only one with a secret that needs to be kept, even from her soon-to-be husband.
Griffin Carter is a top agent for a clandestine organization that, well, used to primarily hunt witches, but now mainly tries to shut down supernatural threats their own way. He can’t wait to lay his eyes on the woman he’s about to spend the rest of his life with.
As Savvy walks down the aisle to Griffin, the wedding quickly goes from blessed day to shit show when their true identities are revealed. To say there’s bad blood between their factions is putting it mildly. Savvy and Griffin are tasked to take the other out, but when they discover a secret that could take down both of their agencies, they realize the only way to survive is to team up. With assassins hot on their trail, will Savvy and Griffin make it out alive to try again at ‘I do’?
In a gripping novel perfect for fans of Sadie and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, two best friends start a true crime podcast—only to realize they may have helped a killer in the process.
In August of 1999, dazzlingly popular cheerleader Clarissa Campbell disappears from a party in the woods outside the rural town of Oreville, Washington and is never seen again. The police question her friends, teachers, and the adults who knew her—who all have something to hide. And thanks to Clarissa’s beauty, the mystery captures the attention of the nation. But with no leads and no body, the case soon grows cold. Despite the efforts of internet sleuths and true-crime aficionados, Clarissa is never found—dead or alive.
Over twenty years later, Oreville high-school juniors and best friends Blair and Cameron start a true crime podcast, determined to unravel the story of what—or who—happened to this rural urban legend. In the process they uncover a nest of dirty small-town secrets, the sordid truth of Clarissa’s relationship with her charismatic boyfriend, and a high school art teacher turned small-town figurehead who had a very good reason for wanting Clarissa dead. Such a good reason, in fact, that they might have to make him the highlight of their next episode…
But does an ugly history with a missing girl make him guilty of murder? Or are two teenage girls about to destroy the life of an innocent man—and help the true killer walk free?
What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?
Personal:
I hope you all had a wonderful week last week. My week was interesting. Some things made me say, “Well, that will never happen again.“
We took our newest kitten to the vet on Wednesday (like I said in last week’s post). It is a boy, still named Kevin, he is very healthy, and his injuries have healed up nicely. He got his first set of kitten shots and is returning in two weeks to get the other half, plus his 1-year rabies. Then we talk about neutering him. He is still pretty shy, but we have been petting him a ton, and he is slowly realizing that we aren’t humans that will hurt him.
In other cat news, Tony (my orange and white cat) has a URI. He started sneezing and coughing on Thursday/Friday, and it got worse over the weekend. I took him to the vet yesterday afternoon, diagnosed him, and put him on antibiotics. If he hasn’t stopped coughing by tomorrow, I need to let her know, and she will give him another type of antibiotic. I was also told that his shelter background will make him more susceptible to URIs.
While there, I picked her brain about something that happened on Saturday.
My son had gone into our backyard to play/hang out when he came running back in. A raccoon was in the middle of our side yard, lying face down with its butt in the air. Seeing that this was the middle of the day and it looked like it was still breathing, I made him go in, advised my other kids NOT to go outside, and called the police. When the police officer arrived, he tried to get it to move. All it did was move its butt from side to side and try to lunge at him. I was told it would be Monday before Animal Control would be out (they have weekends off), and while I wasn’t thrilled, I understood. The cop’s supervisor’s boss wasn’t as understanding and lit a fire under AC’s butt (because numerous kids are in the neighborhood). They were out within the hour to get it. The AC officer told me it was either rabies or distemper, but we would never know because they were putting the raccoon down as soon as they got back to the shelter and wouldn’t test it because it didn’t bite anyone.
So, I asked my vet about distemper and how it was spread. She was intrigued (she did wildlife management before becoming a regular vet) and will get back to me. We feed two community cats (a big gray one-eyed tom cat and a small black tom cat), and I am worried about them getting it.
My kids had a four-day weekend last week, which I enjoyed. I liked catching up on sleep.
Monday (and I know I am all over the place with this post), I got an automated phone call from the school. Some dipshit emailed a threat to the main email account of our school system. The superintendent immediately put all nine schools on a code yellow lockdown (kids were not allowed to leave their classrooms/visitors were not allowed in or out of the school/police escorted all children out of the school to vehicles if dismissed). The lockdown was lifted around 2 pm except for the high schools. My older kids said there were police escorting the kids to and from the shuttles and, when school ended, onto the bus. They also did a staggered release, with parents being notified when the kids in that group were sent home (or needed to be picked up). I am curious to see if they find out who did it. And I am also beyond pissed off at that person.
Shows I watched this week: The Last of Us and OnPatrol Live.
What I Cooked/Baked: Nothing special this week.
Reading/Blog:
I am still ahead with my reading (yay me). But I am behind with writing reviews. Because my kids had two days off of school, I couldn’t write reviews those days. But I hope to catch up on writing them between Tuesday, today, and Thursday. Right now, I have five reviews that need to be written. Wish me luck on getting caught up.
I am also debating putting a hold on new review requests from indie authors until the summer. That way, I can catch up on all of my NetGalley reviews. I hate to do it because reviewing indie books was what I started off doing. But I do need to catch up with NetGalley. Uggh, I hate making decisions!!
I went ahead and premade my March posts on Monday. Am I the only one that is still in awe over the fact that February went by super fast?
The longest book I read this week: Was a tie between Her Long Walk Home and Death’s Queen. Both because they weretedious reads for me.
The shortest book I read this week:Summer’s Dealy Kiss. It was short, sweet, and to the point. What I like in a book.
Other Interesting Bookish News: Other than still working on my Goodreads shelves, nothing.
What I Recently Finished Reading:
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
Reclusive. Grumpy. Irresistible.
Dr Jake McBride loves two things in life. His people, and chicken cheesy-crust pies. Returning from Iraq, he’s done with medicine and strangers… in fact life. He knows all about trauma, and plans on dealing with his, his own way. His needs are simple, solitude and working on his new career as the town recluse. The only problem with that… well two actually, are the interfering towns folk of Lake Howling, and Branna O’Donnell. He’s damn sure that her return means nothing to him… until it does!
His first mistake was kissing her. His second was doing it again.
Branna O’Donnell is burnt out and needs a place to stop running. Strange how that place is back where she’d once been happy. Settling in to small town life again comes with complications and the biggest has a serious attitude. Once the town golden boy, Jake McBride now wears a permanent snarl, not that anyone but her seems to notice the sexy doctor has changed.
Sharing a bed complicates things but no way is Jake leaving Branna alone until they find who is threatening her, and even then he’s not sure he’ll be able to walk away. He can feel himself changing, and it’s all on her, but when her past comes calling with it comes the realization that more than lust is involved. He’s not sure he can be her hero but he knows he wants to try.
If you enjoy your small town romance sizzling with a side of crazy, then Lake Howling is for you. Meet the real authority in town – the local book club – and Jake’s interfering hot friends. Swim (or skinny dip!) in the ice cold lake, then warm up with coffee and a mystery muffin at The Hoot Café. Plenty of feels and LOLS, all wrapped up in a town that will have you packing your bags to head there, from the very first page.
What I am currently reading:
Free Kindle Purchase—No Review
What would you do if you discovered your adored child wasn’t your child at all? That a mistake had been made in the hospital, and someone else took your child home, and you took theirs? This is the heartbreaking dilemma facing Abbie Bernard and Logan O’Connell — an impossible situation with no acceptable answer. Or is there? Both Abbie and Logan are desperate to protect their children and to keep their families intact. Can they find a way to keep both of their daughters? THE WRONG CHILD is a compelling, emotional and romantic story of the bonds that are stronger than blood and the choices that can only be made with the heart. Ripped from the headlines, it gained Ms. Kay thousands of new fans around the world, and was honored by The Romance Writers of America with a nomination for a RITA, its most prestigious award.
What books I think I’ll read next:
ARC from author—-review coming the week of 2-27
The powers of old are fading. A new Age is dawning.
Holy relics are all that remain of Theron’s sacred legend. Now those relics, the enchanted weapons forged by the Three-Faced Goddess to help Theron defeat the wicked Sorcerer Argoss, are disappearing.
Lysandro knows the village magistrate Marek is responsible, and he searches for proof disguised as the masked protector the Shadow of Theron. But when Marek wounds him with an accursed sword that shouldn’t exist, Lysandro must find a way to stop Marek from gaining any more artifacts created by the Goddess or her nemesis. The arrival of the beautiful newcomer Seraphine, with secrets of her own, only escalates their rivalry.
As the feud between Lysandro and Marek throws Lighura into chaos, a pair of priestesses seeks to recover the relics and return them to safekeeping. But the stones warn that Argoss is returning, and they must race to retrieve Theron’s most powerful weapon. But as they risk their lives for a legend, only one thing is certain. The three temples to the Goddess have been keeping secrets: not just from the faithful, but from each other.
ARC from Ballantine Books, review coming week of 2-27
A soul-stirring novel about what we choose to keep from our past, and what we choose to leave behind.
Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in, and taking over her father’s beekeeping business.
Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.
And for just a short while, these new beginnings are exactly what Olivia and Lily need. Their paths cross when Asher falls for the new girl in school, and Lily can’t help but fall for him, too. With Ash, she feels happy for the first time. Yet at times, she wonders if she can she trust him completely . . .
Then one day, Olivia receives a phone call: Lily is dead, and Asher is being questioned by the police. Olivia is adamant that her son is innocent. But she would be lying if she didn’t acknowledge the flashes of his father’s temper in him, and as the case against him unfolds, she realizes he’s hidden more than he’s shared with her.
Mad Honey is a riveting novel of suspense, an unforgettable love story, and a moving and powerful exploration of the secrets we keep and the risks we take in order to become ourselves.
KU Purchase—Read for 2023 Monthly Themes reading challenge
For years Carmen Maria Machado has struggled to articulate her experiences in an abusive same-sex relationship. In this extraordinarily candid and radically inventive memoir, Machado tackles a dark and difficult subject with wit, inventiveness and an inquiring spirit, as she uses a series of narrative tropes—including classic horror themes—to create an entirely unique piece of work which is destined to become an instant classic.
Free Kindle Purchase—Read for Romanceopoly 2023
From New York Times bestselling author Jana DeLeon, the first in a new thriller series.
Everyone wondered about Shaye Archer’s past. Including Shaye.
Shaye Archer’s life effectively began the night police found her in an alley, beaten and abused and with no memory of the previous fifteen years, not even her name. Nine years later, she’s a licensed private investigator, with a single goal—to get answers for her clients when there aren’t supposed to be any.
And maybe someday, answers for herself.
Emma Frederick thought her nightmare was over when she killed her abusive husband, but someone is stalking her and tormenting her with mementos from her past. With no evidence to support her claims, the police dismiss her claims as post-traumatic stress, but Shaye is convinced that someone is deliberately terrorizing Emma…playing a cat and mouse game with only one goal in mind.