Tag: WWW Wednesday

WWW Wednesday: March 28th, 2023

On By JolieIn book review2 Comments

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?

Personal:

Things have been quiet around here, which it hasn’t been for a couple of weeks. We are all feeling better and back to our day-to-day activities. Even the cats have been chill, which is amazing.

Shows I watched this week: Shadow and Bone: Season 2, 1899 (which is super creepy), and OnPatrol Live.

What I Cooked/Baked: Nothing. I am waiting for meat and chicken prices to come down before experimenting with recipes.

Reading/Blog:

I think I have made up for the books I didn’t read when I was sick…lol. I finished all of my reading challenges as well as all of my ARCs for this month. So, yay me!! I will try to get a head start in April and May, mainly May. I kinda overbooked myself for that month.

The longest book I read this week: The Dark Rift. There was so much happening with that book. Add in that I was having concentration issues. It took me a couple of days to read.

The shortest book I read this week: Vicious Delights. It was a cute Hunger Games knockoff that took me under 4 hours to read (thank you, car rider line!!)

What I Recently Finished Reading:

Set on the planet Syzegis, in a distant galaxy, Nujran is the spoiled pre-teen son of King Rababi and Queen Roone in the kingdom of Typgar. Enter Maestro Amsibh, a gifted teacher with extraordinary qualities, and the prince’s transformation begins.
But, why does he have to leave his sheltered life at the palace and his gorgeous friend Zaarica, with the maestro and two bodyguards? Who are the mysterious Monks of Meirar, and what strange powers do they possess? What motivates Hoanan, the villainous politician, who wants to unseat the king and usurp the throne? And amidst all the turbulence in Typgar, can Nujran find his way back home?
With numerous plot twists and turns, the reader will be transported on a fast-paced adventure with our young prince, where he encounters romance and conflict, friendship and betrayal, while building strength and character through his experiences in the real world.

What I am currently reading:

Perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Ellery Adams, Rain Wilmot must find a novel solution in order to catch another killer—before her book club members are picked off one by one.

Summer is in full swing as tourists flock back to the Northwoods and travel to Lofty Pines, Wisconsin. For Rain Wilmot, owner of the Lakeside Library, this is the perfect opportunity to bring back her mother’s summer book club. But the summer sun starts to really heat up when one of the club’s members, Lily Redlin, is found dead in her own home not long after the first meeting.

Alongside her sidekick and neighbor Julia Reynolds and the charming Jace Lowe, Rain discovers that the murder is seemingly inspired by the book club’s recent selection of Agatha Christie’s classic mystery novel, Sparkling Cyanide. But who would kill Lily, and more importantly, why?
The deeper Rain goes into the story, the more confusing and complicated the plot becomes. Was Lily murdered to cover up a tragic accident involving an old classmate years earlier? Or were the rumors true—did Lily really possess priceless original Laura Ingles Wilder manuscripts and someone killed her for them? And who stands to gain the recently inherited piece of waterfront property that Lily received from a long-lost relative?

With a long list of suspects and motives, Rain realizes that all leads come back to people involved in the book club. Rain and her friends take a page from Agatha Christie’s book by hosting a reenactment of the club’s first meeting to flush out the killer. Will Rain’s plan succeed—or will this librarian’s book be checked out for good?

What books I think I’ll read next:

A twisty, domestic suspense debut about a clique of mothers that shatters when one of their own is murdered, bringing chaos to their curated lives.

She was the perfect wife, with the perfect life. You would kill to have it…

Ciara Dunphy has it all–a loving husband, well-behaved children, and a beautiful home. Her circle of friends in their small Irish village go to her for tips about mothering, style, and influencer success–a picture-perfect life is easy money on Instagram. But behind the filters, reality is less polished.

Enter Mishti Guha: Ciara’s best friend. Ciara welcomed Mishti into her inner circle for being… unlike the other mothers in the group. But, discontent in a marriage arranged for her through her parents back in Calcutta, Mishti now raises her young daughter in a country that is too cold, among the children of her new friends who look nothing like her. She just wants what Ciara has–the ease with which she moves through the world–and in that sense, Mishti might be exactly like the other mothers.

And there’s earth mother Lauren Doyle, born, bred, and the butt of jokes in their village. With her disheveled partner and children who run naked in the yard, they’re mostly a happy lot, though unsurprisingly ostracized for being the singular dysfunction in Ciara’s immaculate world. When Lauren finds an unlikely ally in Mishti, she decides that her days of ridicule are over.

Then Ciara is found murdered in her own pristine home, and the house of cards she’d worked so hard to build comes crumbling down. Everyone seems to have something to gain from Ciara’s death, so if they don’t want the blame, it may be the perfect time to air their enemies’ dirty laundry.

In this dazzling debut novel, Disha Bose revolutionizes age-old ideas of love and deceit. What ensues is the delicious unspooling of a group of women desperate to preserve themselves.

Widowed sounded better than divorced.
Or at least it did the first time.

Despite having survived the trials and tribulations of The Diseased – Paige finds herself in a situation that seems even more impossible.

The President is dying.

Those four words set Paige’s life on a course she could never have predicted.

The President is dying, only Paige can save him.

Those eight words are the only ones keeping her friends Georgia and Violet alive.

The President is dying, only Paige can save him. She won’t.

It is those ten words that keep Paige motivated, that keep her sane.

You’re going to be a daddy.
 
Those were the last words I ever expected to hear.
 
As one of the fabled Hamilton twins, I enjoy my life just as it is. Why wouldn’t I? Check out my stats.
 
Co-owner of Hamilton Realty, a multimillion dollar business.
 
Doting uncle to my niece, Laurie, and my soon-to-be nephew.
 
All-around sexy, single guy who doesn’t do strings—ever.
 
Then I went to Vegas with my sister-in-law’s best friend, Sage.
 
Choices were made. Alcoholic beverages were consumed. Virginities were taken.
 
Hers, not mine.
 
Then Sage announced I’d knocked her up. And oh yeah, she doesn’t expect me to take an active role, because she knows I can’t handle anything except my d*ck.
 
Say what?
 
She’s so wrong, and I’m going to prove it to her. I’m going to claim my baby—and Sage. 

USA Today Bestselling Author, Lexy Timms, brings you a new series About Love and everything in between the road to forever.

The course of true love never did run smooth… William Shakespeare

After losing her money and fiancé in one go, Kellie Margolis, the one-time owner of a lucrative business, checks out of society. She needs to become something—or someone—unassuming. She’s hired on as a waitress at a bar called Darkness. It’s in a dangerous part of town, locally known for its Russian-American population.

Betrayed and humiliated by her fiancé who used her business as a front for an escort service, Kellie wants to keep her world small and simple. Unexpectedly, her new life involves the erotic, shady, and incredibly charming Sasha Petrov. Sasha’s too good-looking for words. Life for Kellie becomes passionate, adventurous, erotic, and bold—but by no means simple.

Though too many signals say Sasha plays dirty, Kellie decides she’d be a fool to deny herself the pleasure he brings her. Their affair becomes more like a fairy tale, and Kellie starts believing Sasha is the love she deserves after her hard times. He lavishes her with opulence and tends to her every need like no one has ever done. When Kellie’s past unexpectedly comes full circle, she realizes how small the world really is.

Will an unforeseen discovery break Kellie’s heart for good, or will Sasha be the bad boy hero he’s set himself up to be?

WWW Wednesday: March 22nd, 2023

On By JolieIn book review2 Comments

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?

Personal:

Remember last week when I said I had been super busy and expected to continue to be super busy for the next couple of weeks? Well, life has a way of changing plans. Let me catch you all up on what’s been happening around here.

Mr. Z got his Herbst devices put in on the week I skipped. The poor kid was in pain, and BK wanted me to call and have them removed. I said no (he needs them) and gave BK the link the orthodontist gave me. Mr. Z is no longer in pain but complains he sounds like some steampunk creation….lol.

Miss R got her braces off last week. She is wearing a retainer full-time and loving not having braces. She has been eating gum nonstop. The ortho told me that she will be going in for her second step in treatment (upper and lower braces) when she’s in 7th grade (so not thinking about that right now).

Miss B has been doing OK. She’s been very active with all sorts of groups in school and has been looking at some local colleges to apply to next year. She took her ACT’s two weeks ago, and we’re waiting for her score.

Miss B, BK, and I got sick over the past week. It wasn’t Covid (we all tested around four times each). But whatever it was knocked us all out. It started with a headache, a sore throat, extreme tiredness ( I slept all day Friday and Saturday and I never sleep that much), and an awful cough and sneezing. I am still getting over it.

I took my almost 7-year-old female cat, Snickers, to the vet to start getting once-monthly arthritis shots. I was a little skeptical if it would work, and I was proven wrong. It’s been a week since the shot, and she has acted like a new cat. She’s been jumping on things (without wincing), not being as grumpy, and (this is huge) using the litterbox 100% of the time.

Kevin, our newest kitten, is getting so much better. We can walk past him now without him running away. We can also walk up to him and pet him. He’s been leaning into our pets and giving tail hugs. Miss B has been able to pick him up for short periods too. He is also sleeping with BK and me at night. I woke up Saturday night, and he was by our waists….lol. Do you think he’s getting comfy? The vet says he is older than she originally thought, but she wasn’t sure. His teeth and his weight said two different things. She placed him between 4-5 months old. I have to call next month to schedule his neutering, but that might be a problem. The vet only found one testicle. She thinks the other one is undescended. She said it was no biggie but would have to go through the abdomen to remove it.

Shows I watched this week: The Last of Us and OnPatrol Live.

What I Cooked/Baked: Nothing. When I say I have been sick, I couldn’t even cook. I supervised Miss B in making eggs and pasta before returning to bed.

Reading/Blog:

I didn’t read from Wednesday until Sunday. BK told me that’s how he knew I was truly ill. I had to stop reading one book to read the two ARCs I had left for the month.

Also, because I was sick, I didn’t write reviews. Thankfully, I had written Solomon’s Crown before I got too sick to concentrate. That left me behind three reviews. I was able to catch up yesterday (Miss R was home from school sick).

I have decided to start accepting invites from indie authors again, but I put on the contact form that I won’t get to their books until June. I also decided to start putting how many spots I have open for reviews. Not sure if that’s going to help or hinder me. We’ll see.

The longest book I read this week: She Who Became the Sun. This is the book that I had to stop reading because I was sick.

The shortest book I read this week: Yours Truly, The Duke. It was a cute non complicated read!!! Just what I needed after not reading for a while.

Other Interesting Bookish News: I was contacted by an author to review her book (a mystery), and she offered me a cookbook along with it. I don’t have to review it either. I was thrilled. The cookbook is Cozy Food: 128 Cozy Mystery Writers Share Their Favorite Recipes by Nancy Lynn Jarvis.

What I Recently Finished Reading:

During ball season, anything can happen, even love.

It’s ball season in Vienna, and Maria Wallner only wants one thing: to restore her family’s hotel, the Hotel Wallner, to its former glory. She’s not going to let anything get in her way – not her parents’ three-decade-long affair; not seemingly-random attacks by masked assassins; and especially not the broad-shouldered American foreign agent who’s saved her life two times already. No matter how luscious his mouth is.

Eli Whittaker also only wants one thing: to find out who is selling American secret codes across Europe, arrest them, and go home to his sensible life in Washington, DC. He has one lead – a letter the culprit sent from a Viennese hotel. But when he arrives in Vienna, he is immediately swept up into a chaotic whirlwind of balls, spies, waltzes, and beautiful hotelkeepers who seem to constantly find themselves in danger. He disapproves of all of it! But his disapproval is tested as he slowly falls deeper into the chaos – and as his attraction to said hotelkeeper grows.

What I am currently reading:

Mulan meets The Song of Achilles; an accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China.

“I refuse to be nothing…”

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness.

Francesca Flores’s The Witch and the Vampire is a queer Rapunzel retelling where a witch and a vampire who trust no one but themselves must journey together through a cursed forest with danger at every turn.

Ava and Kaye used to be best friends. Until one night two years ago, vampires broke through the magical barrier protecting their town, and in the ensuing attack, Kaye’s mother was killed, and Ava was turned into a vampire. Since then, Ava has been trapped in her house. Her mother Eugenia needs her: Ava still has her witch powers, and Eugenia must take them in order to hide that she’s a vampire as well. Desperate to escape her confinement and stop her mother’s plans to destroy the town, Ava must break out, flee to the forest, and seek help from the vampires who live there. When there is another attack, she sees her opportunity and escapes.

Kaye, now at the end of her training as a Flame witch, is ready to fulfill her duty of killing any vampires that threaten the town, including Ava. On the night that Ava escapes, Kaye follows her and convinces her to travel together into the forest, while secretly planning to turn her in. Ava agrees, hoping to rekindle their old friendship, and the romantic feelings she’d started to have for Kaye before that terrible night.

But with monstrous trees that devour humans whole, vampires who attack from above, and Ava’s stepfather tracking her, the woods are full of danger. As they travel deeper into the forest, Kaye questions everything she thought she knew. The two are each other’s greatest threat—and also their only hope, if they want to make it through the forest unscathed.

What books I think I’ll read next:

Who knew dragons could be so… hot?

I grew up as a trash bag kid. I don’t want to even try counting how many foster homes I’ve lived in, since I was orphaned at the age of five!

When some long-lost relatives take me in during my last year in the system, I’m careful to remain on my best behavior. Finding family and living happily ever after has always been a secret fantasy, so getting the boot would be devastating!

But these perfect strangers are turning out to be perfectly strange. Like when they tell me dragons are real and my great-aunt’s husband just happens to be one!

Um…

But before I can pack my few belongings and bolt, I see the evidence with my own eyes. Then I catch sight of my new uncle’s five gorgeous nephews and decide… maybe dragons aren’t so bad after all…

Two strangers.
Two broken hearts.
One night to set each other free.

Almost dying from an undiagnosed heart condition means every second of your life is a precious gift to be guarded.
Lena Pettitt was born a miracle.
And her parents never let her forget it.
Even if that daily reminder kept her from experiencing the one thing they were trying to protect most–her life.

Gabriel Martinez’s heart has been ripped out.
His pride has been stomped on.
Oh, and he now has an arrest record that’s caused an even bigger rift between him and his DA mother. All for a love that wasn’t really true.

Now he’s exiled to his grandmother’s, working on his late grandpa’s old Corvair, when a shivering girl knocks on the garage door. Lena, left alone for the first time ever, has locked herself out of her house. Gabe knows he could help this girl get back inside her house–but that may mean missing the next train to Boston to pick up the part he’s spent weeks tracking down. She can wait for him at his grandmother’s or…

A few hours, an aluminum valve cover, and some strong coffee later, neither Gabe nor Lena can feign disappointment when they race to the station and arrive just as the last train home from Boston is pulling out.

As jaded as he is, Gabe can’t deny the fact that he’s excited to spend the night exploring a city he knows nearly every corner of, with a girl who sees magic in the simplest things.

Lena has been waiting for her tiny world to crack open her entire life. Now that it’s finally happened, she finds the only thing she can focus on is the unexpected tour guide who opens her eyes to possibilities she never imagined.

All they have is this one night, together, under the bright moon in a city full of hidden beauty.
It’s one night that will change how they see the world and the paths their hearts will take forever.

India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who’ll accept her – an enigmatic and mysterious man from America. A man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he’s ill.

Matthew Glass must find a particular watchmaker, but he won’t tell India why any old one won’t do. Nor will he tell her what he does back home, and how he can afford to stay in a house in one of London’s best streets. So when she reads about an American outlaw known as the Dark Rider arriving in England, she suspects Mr. Glass is the fugitive. When danger comes to their door, she’s certain of it. But if she notifies the authorities, she’ll find herself unemployed and homeless again – and she will have betrayed the man who saved her life.

With a cast of quirky characters, an intriguing mystery, and a dash of romance, THE WATCHMAKER’S DAUGHTER is the start of a thrilling new historical fantasy series from the author of the bestselling Ministry of Curiosities, Freak House, and Emily Chambers Spirit Medium books.

When Nicole Graves arranges a summer-long swap of her Los Angeles condo for a London couple’s house, she thinks it’s the perfect arrangement. She’s always dreamed of seeing the real London; she’s also hopeful the time away with her husband Brad will be good for their troubled marriage. But things don’t turn out the way Nicole expects: The Londoners fail to arrive in L.A. and appear to be missing. Then people begin following Nicole and making threats, demanding information she doesn’t have. Soon, Nicole realizes she’s in serious trouble––but she can’t get Brad or the police to believe her. When the confrontations turn deadly, Nicole must either solve the case or become the next victim.

WWW Wednesday: March 15th, 2023

On By JolieIn book review4 Comments

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?

I am not doing a personal or reading/blog section this week. I have been and still am super busy these past couple of weeks. I will be back to normal updates within the next couple of weeks (I hope).

What I Recently Finished Reading:

A con artist can make you feel like the luckiest person on earth just to be in their presence. But when the jig is up, they ghost, and you’re left wondering if you ever mattered

After the death of her wife, Shelby feels more alone than ever—until she meets Cammie, a charismatic woman unafraid of what anyone else thinks and whose own history of trauma draws Shelby close. When Cammie is fired from her job and admits she is in treatment for kidney cancer, Shelby devotes all her time to helping Cammie thrive. But Shelby’s intuition tells her there are things about Cammie’s past that don’t add up. Could the realest thing about Cammie be that she’s actually a scammer?

Gibson is almost forty, fresh from a divorce and deeply depressed. Then he meets and falls in love with Cammie. Suddenly, he’s having the best sex of his life with a woman so attractive he’s stunned she even glanced his way, and for the first time ever he feels truly known. This is the kind of desire and passion that musicians have been writing love songs about for centuries. But Gibson’s friends are wary of Cammie, and eventually he too has to admit that Cammie’s dramatic life can feel a bit over the top.

When Shelby and Gibson find out Cammie is a pathological liar, they struggle to understand what they really want from her—sometimes they want to help her heal from whatever causes her to invent reality, and sometimes they want revenge. But the biggest question of all is: how honest can Shelby and Gibson be about their own characters?

What I am currently reading:

Roger finds a box in the ocean containing more than a quarter of a million dollars in cash while SCUBA diving in Hawaii. He attempts to return the money to the proper authorities. But things go wrong. Before long the money has disappeared along with two missing FBI agents who can’t be found, and Roger is in trouble with the local police and the FBI. Was the missing money intended for an illegal drug deal, as a payoff for crooked cops, or as a ransom for a kidnap victim? Is it real or counterfeit? Roger follows a twisted trail of illicit drugs, police corruption, and murder in this suspenseful thriller set in the vacation paradise of Maui as he seeks the answers to these questions. There’s plenty of action and several attempts on Roger’s life, as well as beautiful scenery, excellent food, and Kona coffee to be enjoyed before this case is solved.

What books I think I’ll read next:

Mulan meets The Song of Achilles; an accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China.

“I refuse to be nothing…”

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness.

Who knew dragons could be so… hot?

I grew up as a trash bag kid. I don’t want to even try counting how many foster homes I’ve lived in, since I was orphaned at the age of five!

When some long-lost relatives take me in during my last year in the system, I’m careful to remain on my best behavior. Finding family and living happily ever after has always been a secret fantasy, so getting the boot would be devastating!

But these perfect strangers are turning out to be perfectly strange. Like when they tell me dragons are real and my great-aunt’s husband just happens to be one!

Um…

But before I can pack my few belongings and bolt, I see the evidence with my own eyes. Then I catch sight of my new uncle’s five gorgeous nephews and decide… maybe dragons aren’t so bad after all…

Two strangers.
Two broken hearts.
One night to set each other free.

Almost dying from an undiagnosed heart condition means every second of your life is a precious gift to be guarded.
Lena Pettitt was born a miracle.
And her parents never let her forget it.
Even if that daily reminder kept her from experiencing the one thing they were trying to protect most–her life.

Gabriel Martinez’s heart has been ripped out.
His pride has been stomped on.
Oh, and he now has an arrest record that’s caused an even bigger rift between him and his DA mother. All for a love that wasn’t really true.

Now he’s exiled to his grandmother’s, working on his late grandpa’s old Corvair, when a shivering girl knocks on the garage door. Lena, left alone for the first time ever, has locked herself out of her house. Gabe knows he could help this girl get back inside her house–but that may mean missing the next train to Boston to pick up the part he’s spent weeks tracking down. She can wait for him at his grandmother’s or…

A few hours, an aluminum valve cover, and some strong coffee later, neither Gabe nor Lena can feign disappointment when they race to the station and arrive just as the last train home from Boston is pulling out.

As jaded as he is, Gabe can’t deny the fact that he’s excited to spend the night exploring a city he knows nearly every corner of, with a girl who sees magic in the simplest things.

Lena has been waiting for her tiny world to crack open her entire life. Now that it’s finally happened, she finds the only thing she can focus on is the unexpected tour guide who opens her eyes to possibilities she never imagined.

All they have is this one night, together, under the bright moon in a city full of hidden beauty.
It’s one night that will change how they see the world and the paths their hearts will take forever.

India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who’ll accept her – an enigmatic and mysterious man from America. A man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he’s ill.

Matthew Glass must find a particular watchmaker, but he won’t tell India why any old one won’t do. Nor will he tell her what he does back home, and how he can afford to stay in a house in one of London’s best streets. So when she reads about an American outlaw known as the Dark Rider arriving in England, she suspects Mr. Glass is the fugitive. When danger comes to their door, she’s certain of it. But if she notifies the authorities, she’ll find herself unemployed and homeless again – and she will have betrayed the man who saved her life.

With a cast of quirky characters, an intriguing mystery, and a dash of romance, THE WATCHMAKER’S DAUGHTER is the start of a thrilling new historical fantasy series from the author of the bestselling Ministry of Curiosities, Freak House, and Emily Chambers Spirit Medium books.

WWW Wednesday: March 1st, 2023

On By JolieIn book review4 Comments

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?

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?

WWW Wednesday: February 22nd, 2023

On By JolieIn book review2 Comments

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?

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 were tedious 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.

To kill Emma.

WWW Wednesday: February 15th, 2023

On By JolieIn book review2 Comments

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?

Personal:

I hope you all had a wonderful week last week. My week was pretty uneventful, and I like it that way…lol.

Last Tuesday, Hogwarts Legacy was released for those who preordered (which I did). So far, I am loving it. I know the controversy around JK Rawlings, but I can safely say that the game doesn’t touch that. There are trans, gay, and lesbian couples in the game.

We finally named the kitten. His name is…Kevin. My oldest wanted to name him Keith after a horror movie victim, but I kept calling him Kevin, and it stuck. He is still super skittish, but we have been handling him nonstop, and he is getting better about people moving quickly and approaching him. Add in that my other cats have been huge in getting him out of his shell. His mouth/side/feet/head wounds are healed/in the process of healing. My only concern is that his third eyelid is still showing, but he has a vet appointment today, so we’ll see what the vet says.

Monday, my kids were on a 2-hour delay due to black ice. As a Northern transplant to the South, it amuses me when those delays happen. But also, at the same time, I understand why they are doing it. Buses aren’t equipped to drive on the snow here. Also, when there are 2-3 hour delays, people freak out when dropping their kids off. The Karens were out in force on Monday. Someone screamed at the teacher who was opening the car doors and laid on their horn when she didn’t go right over. That person almost hit me on the way out and yelled at me when I didn’t let him go. I guess I was in his way….lol.

Miss R walked her horse over a jump last Friday during lessons. That was a huge deal because of what happened to her (abusive instructor whipped horse into bucking her when she was 6). When I met her at the barn, her grin stretched ear to ear. I loved seeing how happy she was and how confident she was. I hope this is the first step towards her starting to trot the jumps, which leads to cantering the jumps.

Shows I watched this week: The Last of Us and OnPatrol Live.

What I Cooked/Baked: Egg Sandwich Sliders

Reading:

I have been on fire with my reading. I am 2 weeks ahead of where I predicted myself to be (ie, what I wrote on my calendar). As for reviews, I am on time with them. I would have liked to be ahead, but I can’t write reviews on weekends (my kids sense when I am about to do something, and all hell will break loose).

The longest book I read this week: The Elvish Prophecy. It took me a little over three days to read this book. It dragged on and on.

The shortest book I read this week: Angeline. It was an interesting and short book. I read it in the school pick-up line, horseback riding, and finished it in bed that night.

Other Interesting Bookish News: I am still working on my Goodreads shelves. I have slowed down some (because of life) but I try to do a couple of pages a night.

What I Recently Finished Reading:

A new dark romance series from the New York Times bestselling author of Twist Me

She fears him from the first moment she sees him.

Yulia Tzakova is no stranger to dangerous men. She grew up with them. She survived them. But when she meets Lucas Kent, she knows the hard ex-soldier may be the most dangerous of them all.

One night—that’s all it should be. A chance to make up for a failed assignment and get information on Kent’s arms dealer boss. When his plane goes down, it should be the end.

Instead, it’s just the beginning.

He wants her from the first moment he sees her.

Lucas Kent has always liked leggy blondes, and Yulia Tzakova is as beautiful as they come. The Russian interpreter might’ve tried to seduce his boss, but she ends up in Lucas’s bed—and he has every intention of seeing her there again.

Then his plane goes down, and he learns the truth.

She betrayed him.

Now she will pay.

What I am currently reading:

Violet Weston, head librarian, always prided herself on being respectable and coolheaded. But when a depraved fantasy keeps plaguing her thoughts, she decides to take a risk and finally allow herself a night of debauchery. Even if she has to hire the company for the evening. An unexpected storm and a surprise visitor throw her plans in disarray but what should be a mortifying error could prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Candace Kane’s go-with-the-flow attitude and sharp tongue often got her in trouble, but she didn’t expect any on a quick trip to the library. When a stern, attractive librarian comes on to her hard, Candace can’t help but say yes. The decision hurls both women into uncharted waters.

What books I think I’ll read next:

Welcome to the Centennial.

Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial, a deadly game that only the rulers of six realms are invited to play. The invitation is a summons—a call to embrace victory and ruin, baubles and blood. The Centennial offers the six rulers one final chance to break the curses that have plagued their realms for centuries. Each ruler has something to hide. Each realm’s curse is uniquely wicked. To destroy the curses, one ruler must die.

Isla Crown is the young ruler of Wildling—a realm of temptresses cursed to kill anyone they fall in love with. They are feared and despised, and are counting on Isla to end their suffering by succeeding at the Centennial.

To survive, Isla must lie, cheat, and betray…even as love complicates everything.

90% of startups fail. Launching a business is unbelievably tough. Blow It Up is a new type of startup book showing you how to launch a business, grow it and then sell it. Few books focus on the full life cycle of a startup. This is the exception. 

Entrepreneur David Lowe shows how we can launch a business in a foreign country, fulfill your dreams and have fun doing it. The British/American maverick has written his own rules for success and Blow It Up contains many frank anecdotes that perfectly encapsulate the entrepreneurial spirit. Highlights include: 

– Getting a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a celebrity ping pong tournament with Jimmy Kimmel as host.  

– Hustling to get his brand featured on national TV within a few months of launching. 

– Managing to create a video for a Kickstarter campaign without having the product ready. 

– Competing against the ping pong club owned by one of Hollywood’s biggest actresses and winning. 

– Saving the company after an overseas factory was flooded.  

Blow It Up is a rollercoaster ride that will teach you everything you need to be a successful entrepreneur.  As soon as you have read the book, you will feel compelled to start your own business. 

After her latest jerk of a boyfriend dumps her (and ditches her with his pet hedgehog), florist Kat Kowalski is done chasing after Mr. Wrong. With her two best friends moving on to more serious relationships, she’s ready to stop repeating the same mistakes that are leaving her stuck in the single lane. Armed with a list of qualities for her perfect Mr. Right, Kat swears off dating until she finds him.

Then in a meet-disaster involving a corpse and a salty cockatoo, she stumbles across Mick O’Sullivan at his family’s funeral home. Their immediate chemistry warns Kat to keep things platonic; after all, following her heart never worked out in the past, and this time she’s determined to listen to her head. But can Kat and Mick be just friends? As she gets to know him better, the lines blur, and Kat starts to wonder if she’s gotten it wrong and Mick is exactly who she’s been looking for…

An assassin without a name, born to kill. Owned by a vicious man who refuses to call her anything but girl, she is forced to commit atrocious acts of violence. Vowing to take her future into her own hands, the seventeen-year-old decides to risk everything on one act of defiance—drinking from The Death Drink. The beverage kills most whose lips touch it—only allowing those who are destined to be royalty survive the first sip.

To the astonishment of the nation of Valcora, she imbibes it and lives, which crowns her queen. Thrown into a life of royal intrigue, she now has a purpose—to rule with the fairness she was never shown. Despite her altruistic plans, it becomes apparent that someone wants her dead. The new queen must use her training from the former life she only wants to forget in order to stay alive long enough to turn her kingdom into something she can be proud of. She’ll hold onto the crown… or die trying.

No one ever said surviving life would be easy.

Ben Reed is not who everyone thinks, and worse, he can’t remember anything.

Overcome with curiosity, he has taken over the body of a distraught soul. After this, there’s no way back…at least for one of them. And with breaking the laws of nature by being decidedly not dead after washing up on a riverbank, he must face the relentless suspicions of Detective Olivia Jones.

Olivia has had enough excitement in life before taking her new job, and having one of two dead bodies wake up at her crime scene is not appreciated. Resourceful and determined, she must find out what really happened the night Ben ended up in the murky and cold Ashdale River.

Meanwhile, Ben’s inherited companions must deal with the fact that their childhood friend has changed in strange ways. All Ben knows is that he isn’t human and that he doesn’t want to be one. He only wants to leave, but soon finds himself trapped in his newly acquired vessel. Life doesn’t get any easier when the only person who can help is terrified of him.

While forced to face the needs of his new friends, Ben struggles to find the truth that could free him from this fragile existence. But when a shocking danger emerges, he must work together with his enemy to fight the deadly threat.
Can Ben survive life?

Deadly Awakening is the first novel in the Ashdale Reaper Series, a tale of loyalty and friendships, memories, and dead bodies refusing to stay that way.

When Jonah Riley’s father dies unexpectedly, he, his grieving mother and ailing sister are forced to move from the country to Austin, Texas. Jonah finds work at an auspicious night spot called Southern Nights, where he earns a few extra bucks as a bouncer-turned-musician.

There he meets fiery songstress Lacy Abernathy, who has no use for him or anyone else in the club when she’s not on stage. This is an entirely new experience for this ladies’ man. The opportunistic club owner latches onto this chemistry to fill her club, playing with their hearts and livelihoods for her own questionable motives.

Enter music executive Graham Baxter, who offers them both a way out…by competing for a recording contract they both need. Now if only they can fight the intense chemistry that keeps them locked in battle, when they’re not locked in each other’s arms, that is!

A year has passed since Clover Kwon witnessed the brutal death of her boyfriend, Frankie, and even with the help of a therapist she is unable to come to terms with what she saw that night. Not only did she lose Frankie, but Clover’s best friend, Saskia, hasn’t spoken to her since.

Jared Van Clayborne seems to have it all. He is a gorgeous, newly-turned vampire, an heir to a fortune. On the inside, he’s a mess. Atrocities he’s committed in the past year torture his thoughts. Jared is forced into counseling, but because he must keep his vampirism a secret, it hasn’t helped.

Jared makes a desperate decision one night, but fate brings him face to face with Clover, a girl he had a crush on when they were in elementary school. A passionate magnetism draws them to one another. They both have secrets, but find solace in each other’s arms.

Things begin looking up when Clover is finally reunited with Saskia. The young women are determined to figure out what happened to Frankie, and launch an investigation to bring those responsible to justice. As Clover and Saskia start piecing together clues, it draws the attention of some powerful individuals and puts their lives, and everyone around them, in jeopardy.

Rebecca Hart has her life together — great job, great friends and ready to run the Boston Marathon. Her life turns in an instant when she’s injured in the bombing.

Single dad and veterinarian, Adam Fielding, intends to remain a bachelor after being “abandoned” twice. Once by the love of his life and once by a second-best girlfriend.

When Rebecca arrives at Sea View House to recover, neither she not Adam is prepared to let the magic of the place affect them.

Will these two open their hearts and run toward a new finish line together?

WWW Wednesday: February 8th 2023

On By JolieIn book reviewLeave a comment

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?

Personal:

I hope you all had a wonderful week last week.

My week was relatively drama-free, well, if you don’t count last Tuesday through Thursday…..lol.

Last Monday, I got an automated message from the school district saying that my older kids go to the high school was going remote for Tuesday. Why? Gas leak, and the school had to shut off the heat to repair it. I would have been OK if the call came earlier than 9 pm. When I told the dynamic duo, Mr. Z told me he wasn’t doing any schoolwork. Well, that wasn’t going to fly with me, and I ended up canceling an appointment I had for that day.

Remember the kitten we caught on camera, and I saw through on my back deck? We caught him (and yes, it’s a boy). I took him to the vet the same day (he had visible mouth and ear injuries). All of his injuries (including the eye one that I went back for on Friday) are consistent with him being thrown from a moving car/and being abused. He was very scared, and the vet had a tough time examining him (so the full extent of his injuries isn’t known). She was able to age him (from his teeth) and says he is between 8-10 weeks old. I am so angry that I can’t even talk about it. We also have pinpointed his breed. We believe that he is a purebred Ragdoll. According to the breed standards, males weigh at least 20 lbs, and I can believe it—this kitten has huge paws. He has a good home now and is slowly learning to trust us.

Shows I watched this week: The Last of Us and OnPatrol Live.

What I Cooked/Baked: Nothing. With the cost of food being what it is, I make new recipes every other week.

Reading:

I have been shaving off books from my TBR. On the weekends, if I have finished the next week’s books, I pick a couple of books from my downloaded to Kindle shelf and read them. Also, like I said last week, being in the car rider line for over an hour is really helping with my reading.

The longest book I read this week: Actually, none. They were all pretty short books this week.

The shortest book I read this week: See above.

Other Interesting Bookish News: I will not do this since it is late here (almost 8 pm eastern time).

How was your week? Read anything good? Did you do anything exciting? Watch anything new? Cook anything good?

As always, let me know if you have read or are planning to read any of these

What I Recently Finished Reading:

What I am currently reading:

What books I think I’ll read next:

WWW Wednesday: February 1st, 2023

On By JolieIn book reviewLeave a comment

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?

Personal:

I hope you all had a wonderful week last week.

My week after Wednesday was pretty good. My drama from earlier in the week went away, and I got an apology from a higher-up.

Miss R had horseback riding, and she did pretty well. I had a long talk with her trainer, and we are revising a plan to work on her nervousness about jumping.

I spent the weekend just chilling at home. Saturday, we returned to the shelter to look at what they had for dogs and cats. One stood out to me. Her name is Dolly, and she is a 1-year-old pit mix. She was so sweet!! Both Miss R and I want her. But she is still on medical hold (weaning eight puppies, and she had just been spayed) and will be on hold until she is healed and the babies are weaned.

Monday, BK came into the living room and swore he saw a tiny kitten on our back porch. I called BS until I checked our Ring. Yup, there was a kitten, and I saw it on Tuesday, eating the food we set out for the two ferals we feed. It looks to be between 6-8 weeks old, and it appears to be at least half Lynx-Point Siamese. There is no way that a young kitten would wander away from its home. I am thinking it was dumped. We’re going to bring it in, clean it up (and sex it), and then take it from there—which means it will join our family.

Shows I Watched: Secrets of the Zoo: Tampa (it was on NatGeo), OPLive (on Reelz), and The Last of Us (on HBO Max). This week’s The Last of Us episode had me in tears. I’m not going to give spoilers, but that was a great storyline and the acting (chef’s kiss).

What I Cooked/Baked: Miss R and I made Pizza Lollipops Monday night. I wasn’t too sure how they were going to turn out. But 2 out of the three kids liked them. If you are going to make these, I recommend 450 for 10-15 mins (check after 10). 450 at 25-30 mins would have burned them. And a big shout out to Hobby Lobby for having popsicle sticks!!

Reading:

I am getting a lot of reading done these days. Sitting in the car rider line for an hour helps with that.

The longest book I read this week: Jackal. I had difficulty concentrating while reading this book, and it took me longer than usual to read.

The shortest book I read this week: The Healing. It was a short book, and I finished it within a couple of hours.

Other Interesting Bookish News: I am still reordering my Goodreads Shelves. It’s time-consuming, but it needs to be done. I bought The Joy of Cooking (the 2019 edition). I figured it is a must-have for the house.

How was your week? Read anything good? Did you do anything exciting? Watch anything new? Cook anything good?

As always, let me know if you have read or are planning to read any of these

What I Recently Finished Reading:

Bought free from Kindle/Read for the Cover Scavenger Hunt Challenge

“Confess!”
Patrick Lahm is down on his luck. Late for his book signing, out of gas and stuck in a storm. He hitches a ride to the Kurtain Motel where he is forced to spend the night. The small motel seems harmless enough at first, but as the night drags on, Patrick and the other guests slowly begin to realize there is a lot more to their temporary lodging than meets the eye.

Something evil is at work at the Kurtain Motel; something that creeps into the deepest, darkest corners of your mind and tugs at the chords of sanity until they finally break. On the longest night of his life, Patrick soon finds out that there is a reason why skeletons are kept in closets. He realizes that your sins always find a way to catch up with you, no matter how hard you try to run.

Welcome to the Kurtain Motel, where all your nightmares come true.

From author and bought through KU/Review set for 2-6

When the past collides with the present…

It was an ordinary day in Friar’s Ridge when Jess took a wrong turn on the way home and, on the spur of the moment, acquired a book at the local market. When she discovers a photograph of a woman within, an indomitable spirit in the form of a small boy enters the life Jess shares with her seven-year-old son, Jonas.

A friendship develops between Jonas and the ghost boy, but something darker is lurking beneath the boy’s friendly demeanour. Meanwhile, Jess oscillates between reality and that of another dimension, her protective nature compromised by a dark and mysterious realm.

She begins to search for the lady in the photograph, who she believes is the ghost boy’s mother. Little did Jess realise that this would lead her to the heart of an undiscovered abhorrent crime, but who was responsible?

And what really happened that fateful hot summer’s day by the park lake?

What I am currently reading:

ARC from NetGalley/Review coming 2-7

Three ordinary people risk everything for a chance at redemption in this audacious, utterly gripping novel of catastrophe and survival at the end of the world, from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man

Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and shattered glass. During a hasty escape from a secluded boarding school, her coach careened over a hillside road during one of the year’s heaviest snowstorms, trapping her inside with a handful of survivors, a brewing virus, and no way to call for help. If she and the remaining few want to make it out alive, with their sanity–and secrets–intact, they’ll need to work together or they’ll be buried alive with the rest of the dead.

A former detective, Meg awakens to a gentle rocking. She is in a cable car suspended far above a snowstorm and surrounded by strangers in the same uniform as her, with no memory of how they got there. They are heading to a mysterious place known to them only as “The Retreat,” but when they discover a dead man among their ranks and Meg spies a familiar face, she realizes that there is something far more insidious going on.

Carter is gazing out the window of the abandoned ski chalet that he and his ragtag compatriots call home. Together, they manage a precarious survival, manufacturing vaccines against a deadly virus in exchange for life’s essentials. But as their generator begins to waver, the threat of something lurking in the chalet’s depths looms larger, and their fragile bonds will be tested when the power finally fails–for good.

The imminent dangers faced by Hannah, Meg, and Carter are each one part of the puzzle. Lurking in their shadows is an even greater threat–one that threatens to consume all of humanity.

What books I think I’ll read next:

ARC from NetGalley/Review set for 2-9

In April Asher’s next Supernatural Singles novel, Not Your Ex’s Hexes, a one-night-stand between a willful witch and a broody half-demon conjures an adventure that wouldn’t be complete without several magical mishaps.

For her entire life, Rose Maxwell trained to become the next Prima on the Supernatural Council. Now that she’s stepped down, it’s time for this witch to focus on herself. And not think about her impulsive one-night stand with Damian Adams, a half-Demon Veterinarian who she can’t get out of her head. Neither of them is looking for a relationship. But when Rose is sentenced to community service at Damian’s animal sanctuary it becomes impossible for them to ignore their sparking attraction. A friends-with-benefits, no feelings, no strings arrangement works perfectly for them both.

After a sequence of dead-end jobs, it’s not until Rose tangos with two snarly demons that she thinks she’s finally found her path. However, this puts Damian back on the periphery of a world he thought he left behind. He doesn’t approve of Rose becoming a Hunter, but if there’s one thing he’s learned about the stubborn witch, it was telling her not to do something was one sure-fire way to make sure she did.

Working—and sleeping—together awakens feelings Damian never knew he had…and shouldn’t have. Because thanks to his ex’s hex, if he falls in love, he’ll not only lose his heart—but his humanity.

ARC from author/Review set for 2-10

Speak of pain, and I’ll tell you of the Time who stole it away…

Besieged by war, ravaged by monsters, and crawling with the undead, the land of Okarria is dying. Seventeen-year-old Emara survives by using her modest healing gift to save as many as she can while eluding the invaders who thirst for her enchanted blood.

So when a cursed cat saves her life and reveals Emara is the legendary Time Heir the necromancer king’s been searching for, she agrees to act as bait in a plot to destroy him. But when the plan goes horrifically awry, Emara must discover how deep her powers go, what she can change…

And what she cannot.

Unfortunately, Time Heirs have a history of getting killed, and with Okarria’s future on the line, Emara may have no choice but to follow in her ancestors’ footsteps.

Free Kindle Purchase/Reading for the Scavenger Hunt TBR Book Challenge

Eli likes uncomplicated. Kill the Vampire Coven Master, save the little girl, simple and uncomplicated. That changes with a phone call. Life gets complicated quickly when Eli finds out that he has to work with his most dangerous foe, a beautiful demon succubus. When Good and Evil have to work together against a common enemy, Eli has to wonder, who’s going to put the knife in his back, his enemies, or his allies.

Free Kindle Purchase/Reading for the Popsugar Reading Challenge 2023

You feel ecstatic! Until you kill yourself.

The Happy Chip is the latest nanoengineering wonder from the high-flying tech company, NeoHappy, Inc.

Hundreds of millions of people have had the revolutionary nanochip injected into their bodies, to monitor their hormonal happiness and guide them to life choices, from foods to sex partners.
Given the nanochip’s stunning success, struggling science writer Brad Davis is thrilled when he is hired to co-author the biography of its inventor, billionaire tech genius Marty Fallon.

That is, until Davis learns that rogue company scientists are secretly testing horrifying new control chips with “side effects”—suicidal depression, uncontrollable lust, murderous rage, remote-controlled death, and ultimately, global subjugation.

His discovery threatens not only his life, but that of his wife Annie and their children. Only with the help of Russian master hacker Gregor Kalinsky and his gang can they hope to survive the perilous adventure that takes them from Boston to Beijing.

An edge-of your-seat thriller, The Happy Chip spins a cautionary tale of unchecked nanotechnology spawning insidious devices that could enslave us. It dramatically portrays how we must control our “nanofuture” before it’s too late.

WWW Wednesday: January 25th, 2023

On By JolieIn book review2 Comments

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?

Personal:

I hope you all had a wonderful week last week.

I haven’t had the best week. There is too much to put here. The Reader’s Digest version of everything is that people suck and need to learn patience. Oh, and not to talk to me like I’m an idiot. While I might be laid back and quiet, it doesn’t mean that I put up with that. And that person got an earful yesterday…sigh.

I was so stressed and upset yesterday that I didn’t write the review for a Guide to Being Just Friends or write this post and schedule it. But it’s in the past, and things can only get better (and they have….karma came for that person I mentioned above).

Shows I Watched: Game of Thrones (we’re on Season 7) and The Last of Us.

What I Cooked/Baked: Miss R and I have been cooking together. This week, we made a kid-friendly Greek Lemon Chicken-Orzo Soup. Miss R enjoyed making this. I had her cut the lemons, squeeze the juice out of them (which she didn’t like), whisk all the ingredients together, crack one of the eggs, and add the orzo. BK had pre-shredded the chicken, and I separated two yolks from the eggs. It was OK. The kids said it was too lemony. I will not be keeping this recipe. Next week, we’re making pizza lollipops, cheesy pizza hot dogs (Miss B will be eating something else, she hates hot dogs), and grilled pizza roll-ups.

Reading:

I got a lot of reading done from Wednesday to last night. Being stressed out and not being able to sleep made me read. This contrasts with last week, when I couldn’t read because of what happened to Snickers.

The longest book I read this week: I didn’t get hung up or have long books this week. Everything was either short, a manga, or a novella.

The shortest book I read this week: The three I read last night. They’ll be mentioned below.

Other Interesting Bookish News: I am reordering my Goodreads Shelves again. I decided I had too many NetGalley shelves, so I removed the shelf that held the books I put under Will Not Give Feedback. Those books went back into my Want To Read shelf. I added a new shelf called Series and have started going through the remaining shelves (Read, Want to Read, Downloaded to Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, Indie Authors, NetGalley, and The StoryGraph Reading Challenges). Any book that is a prologue or book 1 (and is not free)goes onto the Want to Read shelf. The book is part of a series; I go through and add the series (making sure they are on Amazon. If not, I remove them.). If there are free books on any of those shelves from Amazon, I download them, and they go on the Downloaded to Kindle shelf. The other books stay either on Want to Read or, if they are on KU, go on that shelf. It doesn’t sound very clear, but it makes sense to me.

How was your week? Read anything good? Did you do anything exciting? Watch anything new? Cook anything good?

As always, let me know if you have read or are planning to read any of these

What I Recently Finished Reading:

Bought from KU/Read for The StoryGraph’s Genre Challenge

From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes The Tea Dragon Society, a charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons.

After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.

Bought for free from Amazon/Read for Beat the Backlist 2023

Hunted, shot, and without her memory, eighteen-year-old Ann Baker wakes in shallow water on a deserted Pacific Northwest island. She is soon approached by two young men claiming to be her friends. Something isn’t right, but when gunshots sound, Ann is left with little choice but to allow Devon and Archer to help her escape. Soon she finds herself in their North Bend mountain compound, where the higher evolved humans claim to be mind-readers. While Ann heals, she realizes they believe her to be one of the last and most powerful of all – The Lost One.

She’s welcomed by most with opened arms, but not everyone is happy about her arrival. A jealous adversary has plans for Ann, which spirals the entire Reader community into chaos.

As lies, murder, and betrayal threaten to rip apart the once harmonious mountain dwellers, Ann is thrust into making a decision that could save or devastate not only The Readers, but all of mankind. But there’s just one glitch: by doing so it may require her to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Won in a Goodreads Giveaway/Read for pleasure

She wants a favor. He has ONE condition.

The honeymoon is over…

When Veronica said “I do” to Sebastian Sinclair, Duke of Edgefield, she thought all her dreams had come true. He was dashing and doting, and she absolutely adored him—until he betrayed her trust, shattering their marriage, and her heart, into a million tiny bits. She hasn’t seen her husband in the two years since, and she’d just as soon make it twenty. But when she learns that her beloved grandfather’s dying wish is for her and Sebastian to attend the family’s Christmastide celebration, she swallows her pride and asks him a favor: to pretend they’re the happy couple they once were.

But the passion still simmers.

Sebastian is shocked to find his lovely duchess on his doorstep, but he’s ready and willing to play the part of a devoted husband for the Christmas season…if Veronica will grant him a favor in return. All he asks is that she share his bed every night. All night. And maybe even give him the heir he needs.

Could their love be the real deal?

Veronica must be mad to agree—especially since Sebastian seems intent on using every weapon in his arsenal to charm and seduce her. She knows it’s just pretend and yet, she can’t help but wonder if the falling snow and Christmas cheer will work a little magic. Maybe she and Sebastian will end up with more than either of them bargained for…

What I am currently reading:

ARC from NetGalley/Review is set for 2-2

Cheerfully irreverent, bitingly funny, and filled with romantic charm, The Second You’re Single is all about navigating the most romantic month of the year, and how love always seems to arrive when you least expect it.

Freelance writer Sora Reid believes in inertia. She’s the odd one out in a close-knit family of go-getters, including her Japanese-American mom, who hints about her need to lose weight, and her soon-to-be married, overachieving younger sister, who needs her to have a date for the wedding, since a wedding party couples’ dance with their Scottish great uncle Bob simply won’t do. For Sora, minimal input, minimal expectations is the way to go. She’d rather stay at home with her insufferable neighbor and her adorable pitbull.

The one thing that disrupts her inertia: an intense dislike for Valentine’s Day. What is it with the commercial love machine? Why do we pin our hopes on one romantic day, when staying home with a package of bacon and a bottle of tequila would be way better? Sora’s been betrayed and disappointed more than once and her heart is starting to feel like her Grandma Mitsuye’s antique Japanese ceramic bowl, with its many gold-filled cracks.

When her pledge to stay single in February inspires readers to #gosolo, Sora has a responsibility to empower her readers. But relationships aren’t built to last, so it shouldn’t be that hard. Right?

Enter Jack Mann. A muscle-bound baker who looks like he lifts logs on the weekends, Sora hasn’t thought of Jack since they were in elementary school together. When they see each other at the local grocery store and the attraction hits hard, Sora knows she has to shut it down, quick. She can’t #gosolo AND get the guy. She can’t let down her readers. And relationships always end, so why should Jack be any different–even though he’s confounding all her long-held expectations of love?

What books I think I’ll read next:

From author/review is set for 2-3

Bree Gordon looks nothing like a bodyguard. But the short, slender woman knows how to keep her principal safe. And one of her most potent weapons is her appearance. People see her and dismiss her. Their mistake.

Jameson Ford is a technical whiz who’s working on a program that’ll be a game changer. The military wants it. So does the CIA, along with some unsavory players. Someone close to him wants it, as well – one of the engineers in his lab.

When he reluctantly hires a bodyguard, he’s shocked when Bree shows up. But it doesn’t take long for him to appreciate her abilities. Will the attraction flaring between them be their salvation? Or will it be their downfall?

ARC from NetGalley/Review is set for 2-3

A young Black girl goes missing in the woods outside her white Rust Belt town. But she’s not the first—and she may not be the last. . . .

It’s watching.

Liz Rocher is coming home . . . reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn’t exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward and passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the day of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the bride’s daughter, Caroline, goes missing—and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood.

It’s taking.

As a frantic search begins, with the police combing the trees for Caroline, Liz is the only one who notices a pattern: a summer night. A missing girl. A party in the woods. She’s seen this before. Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart missing. Liz shudders at the thought that it could have been her, and now, with Caroline missing, it can’t be a coincidence. As Liz starts to dig through the town’s history, she uncovers a horrifying secret about the place she once called home. Children have been going missing in these woods for years. All of them Black. All of them girls.

It’s your turn.

With the evil in the forest creeping closer, Liz knows what she must do: find Caroline, or be entirely consumed by the darkness.

Bought for free from Amazon/Reading for 2023 Monthly Themes (Fantastical February)

What seventeen-year-old Leland finds in the abandoned basement of his house is something he will never forget.

Leland lost his father when he was seven. Since then, he has successfully adapted to the awful life of being a student, the man of the house, and a father figure to his two younger siblings. All of that changes when he and his best friends stumble upon a secret in his deserted basement, and fall into another dimension with three moons, foggy woods, and an ancient castle-Oremanta.

Learning who he really is, how he came to this remote planet, and the shocking, ugly mystery of Oremanta aren’t as bad as the quest he finds himself obligated to complete-killing someone he never thought he’d meet in Oremanta to save everyone.

Bought for free from Amazon/Reading for Cover Scavenger Hunt (a door)

“Confess!”
Patrick Lahm is down on his luck. Late for his book signing, out of gas and stuck in a storm. He hitches a ride to the Kurtain Motel where he is forced to spend the night. The small motel seems harmless enough at first, but as the night drags on, Patrick and the other guests slowly begin to realize there is a lot more to their temporary lodging than meets the eye.

Something evil is at work at the Kurtain Motel; something that creeps into the deepest, darkest corners of your mind and tugs at the chords of sanity until they finally break. On the longest night of his life, Patrick soon finds out that there is a reason why skeletons are kept in closets. He realizes that your sins always find a way to catch up with you, no matter how hard you try to run.

Welcome to the Kurtain Motel, where all your nightmares come true.

WWW Wednesday: January 18th, 2023

On By JolieIn book review2 Comments

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?

Personal:

I hope you all had a wonderful week last week.

Mine was alright, super rainy, but alright until Saturday. What happened Saturday? Well, for one, BK was away on business but was coming home that morning. Second, I ended up in a veterinary ER for almost 4 hours. Settle in, and let me tell you what happened.

I was in the kitchen with my girls and 3 out of the 5 cats. Miss R decided she wanted to make sunny-side-up eggs with toast for breakfast, Miss B was going to make scrambled, and I was supervising Miss R. Vinnie, Tony, and Jesper were sitting on our chest freezer watching the girls crack eggs (I think they thought they would get some??). Meanwhile, Loki and Snickers were going between the living room, Miss R’s bedroom, and the dining room.

I heard a commotion, though nothing of it because Snickers and Loki have a love/hate relationship, and figured she was chasing him again. Then Miss B noticed the blood on the floor. We checked our feet (to ensure no one was cut), wiped up the blood, and then checked Vinnie, Tony, and Jesper. I hunted down Loki while Miss R walked toward Snickers, who was lying in her room. Miss R screamed, and I came running. Snickers’s left eye was full of blood. So, I called my regular vet (who wasn’t in), grabbed the big cat carrier, and took her to the emergency vet. Thankfully, that was only 5 mins away. To make a long story short, after 4 hours, the vet saw her and told us that the tear duct and a spot on her lower eyelid got lacerated. She didn’t need stitches, but I have to give her a medicated eye ointment every 8 hours. I’m also taking her to her regular vet on Friday to see if any other damage was done. I am beyond thankful that this emergency vet opened up during Covid. Because I have a feeling her eye would have gotten infected if we had to wait until Monday.

So that was the extent of my exciting weekend/week. I was so stressed out on Saturday that it ruined the rest of the day. And ever try giving a cat eye meds? Thankfully, she’s good about letting me do it, but I have gotten scratched.

Reading:

I got a lot of reading down until Saturday. Then that happened, and I couldn’t bring myself to read. I was too upset to concentrate. So, it set me back a little but not much. I picked up my Kindle on Monday, finished reading one book, and started another (see below).

The longest book I read this week: Hello, Stranger. I started reading it on Friday and expected to finish it on Saturday. Then…..well, Snickersapocolypse happened. It took me three days to finish.

The shortest book I read this week: The Things We Do To Our Friends. I finished it within a day of starting.

How was your week? Read anything good? Did you do anything exciting?

As always, let me know if you have read or are planning to read any of these books!!

What I Recently Finished Reading:

Sadie Montogmery has had good breaks and bad breaks in her life, but as a struggling artist, all she needs is one lucky break. Things seem to be going her way when she lands one of the coveted finalist spots in a portrait competition. It happens to coincide with a surgery she needs to have. Minor, they say. Less than a week in the hospital they say. Nothing about you will change, they say. Upon recovery, it begins to dawn on Sadie that she can see everything around her, but she can no longer see faces.

Temporary, they say. Lots of people deal with this, they say. As she struggles to cope―and hang onto her artistic dreams―she finds solace in her fourteen-year-old dog, Peanut. Thankfully, she can still see animal faces. When Peanut gets sick, she rushes him to the emergency vet nearby. That’s when she meets veterinarian Dr. Addison. And she’s pleasantly surprised when he asks her on a date. But she doesn’t want anyone to know about her face blindness. Least of all Joe, her obnoxious neighbor who always wears a bowling jacket and seems to know everyone in the building. He’s always there at the most embarrassing but convenient times, and soon, they develop a sort of friendship. But could it be something more?

As Sadie tries to save her career, confront her haunting past, and handle falling in love with two different guys she realizes that happiness can be found in the places―and people― you least expect.

What I am currently reading:

Vikram Seth’s novel is, at its core, a love story: Lata and her mother, Mrs. Rupa Mehra, are both trying to find—through love or through exacting maternal appraisal—a suitable boy for Lata to marry. Set in the early 1950s, in an India newly independent and struggling through a time of crisis, A Suitable Boy takes us into the richly imagined world of four large extended families and spins a compulsively readable tale of their lives and loves. A sweeping panoramic portrait of a complex, multiethnic society in flux, A Suitable Boy remains the story of ordinary people caught up in a web of love and ambition, humor and sadness, prejudice and reconciliation, the most delicate social etiquette and the most appalling violence.

What books I think I’ll read next:

Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans —though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.

A Body Washes Ashore is the heart-racing sequel to The Killings Begin and Death in a Dark Alley that you’ve been waiting for. Bradley Pay’s signature blend of contemporary romance and psychological suspense will sweep you off your feet and into the thick of mortal danger. Tour Europe with Tracey’s new friend, Remy Martin, as she risks everything for the rush of true love.

Tracey’s new group of friends seems perfect. For as long as he could remember, he felt like an outsider, struggling to make connections, and living as an unknown serial killer certainly didn’t help. Now he and his new wife have discovered a circle of friends that begins to fill his need for close relationships. He’s one step closer to living a “normal” life despite the persistent cold-case investigators who refuse to ignore his murderous past in the US.

Remy Martin, a renowned professor of art history and one of Tracey’s new friends, also bears scars on her damaged heart. She has vowed to only sleep with married men to protect herself from heartbreak. However, the stakes rise when she breaks her biggest rule and takes things too far. But how can she resist? She never meant to fall in love or hurt anyone. Just like Tracey, though, she can’t erase her past. She must deal with the consequences of her affair, whatever the cost.

Don’t miss this landmark installation in the Spectrum Series saga, complete with the complex characters you love and a new romance you’ll never forget.

With the 80’s nostalgia of Stranger Things, this horror drama from NYT bestselling author Christopher Golden follows neighborhood families and a mysterious, lurking evil on one Halloween day.

It’s Halloween night, 1984, in Coventry, Massachusetts, and two families are unraveling. Up and down the street, horrifying secrets are being revealed, and all the while, mixed in with the trick-or-treaters of all ages, four children who do not belong are walking door to door, merging with the kids of Parmenter Road. Children in vintage costumes with faded, eerie makeup. They seem terrified, and beg the neighborhood kids to hide them away, to keep them safe from The Cunning Man. There’s a small clearing in the woods now that was never there before, and a blackthorn tree that doesn’t belong at all. These odd children claim that The Cunning Man is coming for them…and they want the local kids to protect them. But with families falling apart and the neighborhood splintered by bitterness, who will save the children of Parmenter Road?

New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Christopher Golden is best known for his supernatural thrillers set in deadly, distant locales…but in this suburban Halloween drama, Golden brings the horror home.

All Hallows. The one night when everything is a mask…

A playful and emotional romantic comedy from the author of Ten Rules for Faking It

Hailey Sharp has a one-track mind. Get By the Cup salad shop off the ground. Do literally everything possible to make it a success. Repeat. With a head full of entrepreneurial ideas and a bad ex in her rearview, her one and only focus is living life the way she wants to. No distractions.

Wes Jansen never did understand the fuss about relationships. With a string of lackluster first dates and the pain from his parents’ angry divorce following him around, he’d much rather find someone who he likes, but won’t love. Companionship, not passion, is the name of the game.

When Hailey and Wes find each other in a disastrous meet cute that wasn’t even intended for them, they embarrassingly go their separate ways. But when Wes finds Hailey to apologize for his behavior, they strike a friendship. Because that’s all this can be. Hailey doesn’t want any distractions. Wes doesn’t want to fall in love.

What could possibly go wrong?