It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - 1 August 2022

#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.

Hey Bookdragons! I didn't have much reading time this past week because I had a ton of paperwork and meetings to do for work. I'm hoping to catch up more this week with a few short ebooks. 

What I Read Last Week: 

My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey

(Picture Below)

I only had about 100 pages left last week but, like I said, I barely had any reading time. I'm down to about 50 pages now. 

Currently Reading: 

My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey

I'm hopefully going to finish this one by the end of my work shift today. I love the story though, it's funny, it's spicy, and I've been savoring it. A few scenes I've even had to refrain from "squeeing" out loud at work. 😆

Next Read

Chaos & Carnage by Stacey Rourke

My pick for last week, Gallant, is still on my immediate TBR but I'm going to take a break with these books because I know that I'll breeze through both Chaos & Carnage (which is bound to be a 45 minute read) and The Dark One (which is a dark, sexy retelling I'm bound to devour.)

*** 

 What are you reading this week? Have you read any of my recent reads?

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books From My Past Seasonal TBR Posts I STILL Haven’t Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and The Bookish and currently hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books From My Past Seasonal TBR Posts I STILL Haven’t Read

This week’s TTT is all about books from our previous seasonal TBR posts that we still haven't read. I'm a good example of people who get excited about upcoming releases for a season, even preorder some, then never get around to reading them. Here are a few I still haven't read yet...

Fall 2021

1. Window Shopping by Tessa Bailey (October 29, 2021)

2. The Rhythm Method by Kylie Scott (November 9, 2021)

3. You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao (November 9, 2021)

Winter 2021-2022

4. To Die For by Amy Plum (December 13, 2021)

5. A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham (January 11, 2022)

6. In Every Generation by Kendare Blake (January 4, 2022)

7. House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas (February 15, 2022)

Spring 2022

8. The Club by Ellery Lloyd (March 1, 2022)

9. Famous in a Small Town by Kylie Scott (April 7, 2022)

10. Fate Touched by Becky Moynihan (May 31, 2022)

***

What books were on your previous seasonal TBRs that you just haven't gotten around to reading yet? Is there any reason you're hesitating?

Let me know in the comments or drop a link to your TTT!

Happy Reading Bookdragons!

-Taylor

I Can't Wait For... 22 September, 2021

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released.

These are a couple books releasing in the next couple weeks that I can't wait to pick up...

The Wish

Standalone

by Nicholas Sparks
eBook, Hardcover, Audiobook, 400 Pages
September 28, 2021 by Grand Central Publishing

Blurb:

1996 was the year that changed everything for Maggie Dawes. Sent away at sixteen to live with an aunt she barely knew in Ocracoke, a remote village on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, she could think only of the friends and family she left behind . . . until she meets Bryce Trickett, one of the few teenagers on the island. Handsome, genuine, and newly admitted to West Point, Bryce gradually shows her how much there is to love about the wind-swept beach town—and introduces her to photography, a passion that will define the rest of her life.

By 2019, Maggie is a renowned travel photographer. She splits her time between running a successful gallery in New York and photographing remote locations around the world. But this year she is unexpectedly grounded over Christmas, struggling to come to terms with a sobering medical diagnosis. Increasingly dependent on a young assistant, she finds herself becoming close to him.

As they count down the last days of the season together, she begins to tell him the story of another Christmas, decades earlier—and the love that set her on a course she never could have imagined.

Add to Goodreads | Amazon | Snowbound Books (Help Support My Favorite Indie Bookstore)

Why I Want To Read The Wish:

It's been ages since I read or enjoyed a Nicholas Sparks book but this one really sounds like something I would like. 

***

Lakesedge

World at the Lake's Edge #1

Lyndall Clipstone

ebook, Hardcover, 384 Pages

September 28, 2021

Blurb:

A lush gothic fantasy about monsters and magic, set on the banks of a cursed lake. Perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Brigid Kemmerer.

There are monsters in the world.

When Violeta Graceling arrives at haunted Lakesedge estate, she expects to find a monster. She knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.

There are monsters in the woods.

As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn…

There’s a monster in the shadows, and now it knows my name.

Now, to save Rowan—and herself—Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unraveling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under.

Add to Goodreads | Amazon | Snowbound Books 

Why I Want to Read Lakesedge:

I fell in love first with the cover, but the description - from the haunted estate and the boy with the dark past to the death god bound to the lake all sound so fantastic to me. 

***

The Violent Season

Standalone

Sara Walters

ebook, Paperback, 320 Pages

October 5, 2021 by Sourcebooks Fire

Blurb:

There is something terribly wrong in Wolf Ridge. Every November, every teen is overwhelmed with a hunger for violence…at least, that’s the urban legend.

After Wyatt Green’s mother was brutally murdered last Fall, she’s convinced that the November sickness plaguing Wolf Ridge isn’t just a town rumor that everyone ignores…it’s a palpable force infecting her neighbors. Wyatt is going to prove it, and find her mother’s murderer in the process. She digs up every past brutal act she can find from Wolf Ridge’s past – from car wrecks, suicides, and unnamed victims turning up in rivers—and even reaches out to an out-of-state journalist that seems to believe her. But all of her digging leads to nowhere. Everyone in Wolf Ridge accepts that the November sickness is real, and absolutely no one will talk about it.

As Wyatt’s best friend Cash turns on her, and her friend is almost killed in a tragic accident, Wyatt panics – how can she keep her friends safe, and find her mother’s murderer, when no one believes her?

As the evidence stars to disappear, Wyatt wonders: is she just imagining everything? Is the sickness real, or are the people of Wolf Ridge just naturally prone to doing bad things?

Can Wyatt and her friends come out of the Violent Season unscathed, or is one of them going to be the next victim?

Add to Goodreads | Amazon | Snowbound Books

Why I Want to Read The Violent Season:

I read an excerpt of The Violent Season in an email newsletter about a month ago and it grabbed me right away. I can't wait to read more. 

***

Will you be checking any of these books out? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?

{Book Review} IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER by Tessa Bailey

  

It Happened One Summer

Bellinger Sisters Book 1

Tessa Bailey

Released: July 13, 2021 by Avon Books

416 Pages

Blurb:

Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who’s cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town... where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong.

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar... in Washington.

Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.

My Review:

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the summer and actually inspired me to finally watch the show Schitt's Creek since the blurb said it had Schitt's Creek vibes. 

At first I was afraid I'd hate Piper because she comes off as so shallow in the first few pages of the book but my opinion quickly changed and I loved how big her heart was and how eager she was to prove herself and learn to do things on her own. 

Brendan is this uptight, crusty character that basically embodies the expression "everything in its' place and a place for everything" (or did I reverse that? I can't remember).. anyway.. he's the type of guy that goes into a restaurant and always orders the same thing, not wanting to try anything new in any aspect of his life, and believes that there's only one way to do things in life and Piper shows up and throws a wrench in all of that and its so fun to watch. 

This is no sweet, heat-lacking book, this is actually a really sexy read in spots and I was definitely here for that! Piper and Brendan just compliment each other so perfectly and I loved watching them go from squabbling to passion. 

I also loved the side characters in this book and I'm really looking forward to Fox and Hannah's book next year. 

Overall, this was such a fun, quick read perfect for an afternoon at the beach. It made me want to pack up and find a small town in Washington and a sexy bearded fisherman 😆

My Rating:

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

5 of 5 Stars!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - 31 May 2021

#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.

Hey Bookdragons! Happy Memorial Day (or Happy Monday to everyone else!) I hope you're having a great day whatever you're up to. 

What I Read Last Week: 

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

I've tried twice but I just can't get into this book. I'm blaming this on the fact that I never really liked Alice in Wonderland and I haven't really enjoyed any of the retellings, by any author. It's really nothing personal to this author.

Corpse Queen by Stacey Rourke

If you like Tim Burton, Beetlejuice, and Sassy Take-No-Prisoners heroines you'll love this book! Full review will be posted Friday!  

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner

This was a DNF book for me. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be going in and I probably won't read anything else by this author. 

One Year Gone by Avery Bishop

This book releases in August. The author sent me an advance copy and I devoured it last week. I liked how it was told in the mother's perspective after her daughter's disappearance and in the daughter's perspective before and leading up to her disappearance. The dual timelines worked for me.

Currently Reading:

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

I feel like I've been sitting on this book forever. Everyone I know who has read it loved it but I put it off for some reason. I'm starting it tonight so we'll see how I fare. 

Next Read

Tentative First Week of June TBR

More Info:

The Wicked Aftermath by Melissa Foster (eARC)

Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco (reread)

Her Dark Lies by J.T. Ellison (audiobook)

*** 

 What are you reading this week? Have you read any of my recent reads?

{Re-Cover Reveal} HEARTS IN DARKNESS by Laura Kaye

Laura Kaye is joining us today to share the cover reveal for her 10th Anniversary edition of HEARTS IN DARKNESS COLLECTION!

 

Title: Hearts In Darkness Collection

Author: Laura Kaye

Cover Artist: Tricia "Pickyme" Schmitt

Dear Readers, 

  It’s my 10th publication anniversary & HEARTS IN DARKNESS is 10!! I can hardly believe it! This book has been such a wild, special ride and I'm so grateful that so many people fell in love with it. It's how so many readers found me and that is just incredible to think about! Thank you so so much for all the love, fun, and support over the past 10 years! To celebrate, I’ve put together a special 4-story collector’s edition volume that includes two new and/or never-before-published stories that continue Caden and Makenna’s story! Preorder the collection for a discount now before the price goes up on release day!

xx Laura   

PREORDER NOW at a special price! COMING AUGUST 24!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/34ngMk5

B&N: http://bit.ly/BNHeartsCollection

Apple: http://bit.ly/AppleHeartsCollection

Kobo: http://bit.ly/KoboHeartsCollection

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/GRHeartsCollection

Links to come: GooglePlay, paperback, hardcover

About the Collection:

"Laura Kaye has a gift for writing beautifully damaged men." ~ NYT Bestseller Tessa Bailey

Two strangers. Four hours. One pitch-black elevator. And their struggle to find love in the light… 

  This beloved, bestselling series has it all! Scorching hot chemistry. Achingly heartfelt emotion. Strangers-to-lovers, forced proximity, and opposites attract goodness. 

And, with “one of the most beloved couples in romance,” Caden Grayson and Makenna James will stay with you long after the last page!

 Plus, a brand-new story and a never-before-published epilogue. All in one gorgeous edition! 

   This Special Collector’s 10th Anniversary Edition Includes: 

  Hearts in Darkness – the bestselling story that started it all! 

  When two strangers get trapped in a pitch-black elevator, they find connection, attraction, and red-hot heat in the darkness. 

  Lovers at Dawn – a brand-new follow-up story!

In the light of the morning after, these new lovers wake up in each other’s arms. But will this buttoned-up accountant and tattooed paramedic still want what they found in the darkness? 

  Love in the Light – the bestselling sequel to Hearts in Darkness

Can a man who’s lost everyone he’s ever loved trust that he won’t crash again if he lets himself fall? Or will the pressures of commitment be more than Caden and Makenna’s love story can handle?

Forever in the Light – a never-before published epilogue to the series 

  The happily-ever-after story Caden and Makenna deserve, including their heartfelt wedding and sexy wedding night! "Passionate and poignant! This will have readers falling in love with Caden and Makenna all over again!" ~ NYT Bestseller Jay Crownover  

PREORDER NOW! COMING AUGUST 24!

Amazon | B&N | Apple | Kobo | Goodreads

  About the Author:

Laura Kaye is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of over 40 books in contemporary romance and romantic suspense and has sold more than one million books in the U.S. alone. Laura grew up amid family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses, cementing her life-long fascination with storytelling and the supernatural. A former college history professor, Laura also writes bestselling historical women's fiction as Laura Kamoie. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband and two daughters and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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I Can't Wait For... IT HAPPENED ONE SUMMER!

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released.

I read this author's book Reborn Yesterday last year and enjoyed it, now I'm interested in checking out this standalone rom-com...

It Happened One Summer

Standalone

by Tessa Bailey
Rom-Com
eBook, Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, 416 Pages
July 13, 2021 by Avon Books

Blurb:

Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl” who is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town... where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong.

Piper Bellinger is fashionable, influential, and her reputation as a wild child means the paparazzi are constantly on her heels. When too much champagne and an out-of-control rooftop party lands Piper in the slammer, her stepfather decides enough is enough. So he cuts her off, and sends Piper and her sister to learn some responsibility running their late father’s dive bar... in Washington.

Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.

Add to Goodreads | Amazon| Snowbound Books (Help Support My Favorite Indie Bookstore)

***

Will you be checking this book out? 

I Can't Wait For... SAY I'M THE ONE

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they're books that have yet to be released.

I have several of this author's books on my kindle that I haven't had a chance to read yet but when I saw this one in her latest newsletter I had to add it to the top of my TBR... 

Say I'm the One

All of Me Duet, Book 1
by Siobhan Davis
Contemporary Romance
eBook, Paperback (presumably)
April 30, 2021 by Siobhan Davis

Blurb:

From the USA Today bestselling author of Inseparable and When Forever Changes comes another emotional, angsty, new adult romance that will rip your heart apart before mending it again.

I’m head over heels in love with my best friend. Although, I can’t pinpoint exactly when Reeve Lancaster became my entire world.

Was it when we were little kids, practically brought up together, after Reeve’s mom died during childbirth and his dad subsequently fell apart? Or when I doodled his name in my school journal at age ten? Maybe it was when we became boyfriend and girlfriend at fourteen or when we shed our virginity at sixteen, pledging our forever?

I was there as his star ascended—like I’d always known it would—and there wasn’t a prouder person on the planet. As the only child of Hollywood’s golden couple, I’ve lived my life in the spotlight enough to know it wasn’t what I wanted for my future. But I sacrificed my own desires, because Reeve’s happiness meant everything to me.

Until he crushed my heart into itty-bitty pieces, forcing me to fly halfway around the world just to escape the gut-wrenching pain.

The opportunity to study at Trinity College Dublin came at the perfect moment, and I jumped at the chance without hesitation. If I’d known fate was meddling in my life, perhaps I would have chosen differently, but my future was cemented the instant I laid eyes on him.

Dillon O’Donoghue was Reeve’s polar opposite in every way, and perhaps, that’s why I felt drawn to him. He was the dark to my light. The thorn in my side, irritating me with his cold disdain, wild recklessness, and a burning rage hidden deep inside him that spoke to a silent part within me. Yet Dillon showed me what it was like to truly live, opening my eyes to endless possibilities.

What happened next was inevitable, and I only have myself to blame. He warned me, and I knew my reprieve was temporary, because there is only so far I can run.

Especially when fate hasn’t finished messing with me yet.

This is a full-length 168K-word second-chance romance novel that is book one of two. It cannot be read as a stand-alone, and it ends on a cliff-hanger. Recommended to readers aged eighteen and older.

Add to Goodreads 

***

Will you be checking this book out? Have you read anything else by Siobhan Davis?

{RELEASE DAY BLITZ} Not Pretending Anymore by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward

Title: Not Pretending Anymore

Authors: Penelope Ward & Vi Keeland

Genre: Standalone Contemporary Romance

Release Date: April 12, 2021

BLURB

Finding a good roommate through a classified ad isn’t as easy as it sounds.

I was starting to lose hope.

Until a knock at my door came and God answered my prayers.

Except…uh…wrong prayer, God.

I’d definitely requested the big guy find me a drop-dead gorgeous man on more than one occasion...just not as my roommate.

Declan Tate talked me into interviewing him anyway.

While he was amusing and charismatic, I wouldn’t have been comfortable living with a man, so I regretfully declined.

Then cupcakes showed up at my door—freshly baked by Declan and just as sinfully delicious as he was.

You could say he was persistent.

I eventually folded. It wasn’t like I had another viable candidate anyway.

Plus, I was interested in someone else. And Declan was into another woman. So it wasn’t like anything would happen romantically.

After he moved in, the two of us became the best of friends. We even started to give each other advice on getting our crushes to notice us.

Eventually, Declan concocted an idea: we should pretend to be a couple to make our love interests jealous.

I was hesitant, but went along with it anyway. To my utter shock, his crazy plan worked.

Now I was dating the supposed man of my dreams, and my best friend had the woman of his.

But there was one problem.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Declan.

Those feelings we were trying to fake?

Yeah…I wasn’t pretending anymore.

ADD TO GOODREADS

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AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

Free in Kindle Unlimited

ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK & AUDIO

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PENELOPE WARD

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance. 

She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism. 

With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.

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FACEBOOK GROUP

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VI KEELAND

Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles have appeared in over a hundred Bestseller lists and are currently translated in twenty-five languages. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.

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OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE & VI

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

Free in Kindle Unlimited

ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK & AUDIO

PAPERBACK / AUDIOBOOK

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

Free in Kindle Unlimited

ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK & AUDIO

PAPERBACK / AUDIOBOOK

OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

B&N / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS

GOOGLE PLAY / PAPERBACK

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OTHER BOOKS BY VI

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

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GOOGLE PLAY / PAPERBACK

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Find more books

at http://www.penelopewardauthor.com and 

http://www.vikeeland.com