He's Back! Lincoln Rhyme will be in a new thriller... Set Your Alarms for November 17, 2026!

Lincoln Rhyme is back! A new thriller from Jeffery Deaver starring Lincoln Rhyme & Amelia Sachs is coming in November! Mark your calendars for November 17, 2026!... And I've got an ARC of The Collateral Heart in my Kindle right now! I'm so excited! Thank you to Putnam a division of Penguin Random House for sending along a review copy! Stay tuned for a review...

Just Published and Now in My eReader... Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Nguyen

Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead by Mai Nguyen

I was reading about this book yesterday...  then I googled the book to learn more about it... Mai Nguyen's Instagram post popped up and a video of her opening the box she just received of her books. This book, that was just published this week by Atria Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster). If I wasn't interested already from the description from the publisher, I was totally sold (and teary eyed) after watching the unboxing video... Here is what Mai Nguyen wrote for captions during her video...

"I started writing this book six months after my baby died."

"I wasn't sure if I wanted anybody to read it."

"But part of me wanted people to know about my baby and how much I love her."

"So I kept writing thru the tears..."

"And now it's a book."

"I dedicated it to her, my sweet Gemma."

And the dedication:

"For Gemma and all the babies who didn't get to stay"

Omg, the strength of Mai Nguyen to write this book. It's fiction, but it's written from her heart. Not just heartbreaking, but hopeful. And mixed with some dark humor... I just received a review copy from the publisher and moved this to the top of the reading pile. Stay tuned for a review in the near future! Thank you to Atria Books for the digital review copy!

The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann... “History ends. Anne Boleyn's story begins.” My Review

The Beheading Game by Rebecca Lehmann

History says Anne Boleyn lost her head. Rebecca Lehmann asks—what if that wasn’t the end? In The Beheading Game, Anne’s story begins in darkness, in a box, in pieces. This is historical fiction with a twist… and what a twist it is. Horror? Fantasy? Something in between? Anne awakens with her severed head resting between her knees—and that’s only the beginning. What unfolds is equal parts unsettling and mesmerizing as she stitches herself back together—literally—and rises with a singular purpose: revenge, and the fierce determination to protect her daughter, Elizabeth. It’s a haunting, genre-blurring reimagining that is impossible to look away from.

From the first pages, I was hooked.

Lehmann reimagines the Tudor world with vivid attention to detail. While the premise leans into the fantastical, the setting feels grounded and authentic—from the rigid class divides to the stark contrast between courtly life and the struggles of ordinary people. Watching Anne navigate life beyond the palace walls—living in the streets, finding herself in a brothel, and forming unexpected alliances—adds a compelling layer of growth to her character. Her shifting perspective on class and power is one of the novel’s most interesting evolutions.

This Anne is not the polished historical figure we think we know—she’s angry, determined, and unapologetically driven. And honestly? It’s hard not to root for her.

Blending intrigue, danger, and emotional depth, The Beheading Game becomes both a love story and something far darker—a nightmare threaded with ambition and survival. It’s immersive, bold, and surprisingly believable in the way it reshapes a story we thought was already written.

Perfect for fans of historical fiction who enjoy a reimagined edge—and for readers who appreciate stories about women who refuse to stay silent, no matter the cost.

Published by Crown Publishing (a division of Penguin Random House) this past March, this one definitely earns its place on the shelf.

Fresh Off the Press: Three New Releases You’ll Want on Your Radar Today

Today's the day for these books you'll want to put on you TBR list! One yummy memoir, and 2 romances that will have you turning those pages as fast as you can.

Extra Sauce bby Zahra Tangorra... At twenty-two years old, Zahra Tangorra was trying on adulthood and attempting to find herself when a harrowing near-death experience stopped her in her tracks. It felt like a twisted version of a second chance. Who am I? she asked herself. What do I love? The answers started coming to her: Stuffed shells and giant meatballs at J&J’s, the Italian red sauce joint of her Long Island childhood. Her mother’s chocolate mousse pie and her father’s sweet and savory pea soup. The people, places, and experiences that made her her, the relationships both loving and fraught—they were all, for better and sometimes worse, inextricably bound up with food. In this memoir that celebrates both the delicious and the messy in life, Zahra reckons with the adrenaline-filled highs and devastating lows of opening cult-favorite Brooklyn restaurant Brucie and then closing it at the height of its popularity. From cooking her father his last meal and the unexpected yet beautiful things she found at the bottom of her grief to the relationships she couldn’t save through cooking, like her fractured family and the lover she had to leave in Tuscany, Zahra writes about the immense courage it takes to allow ourselves to be loved, extra sauce and all. Told with uproarious humor and tremendous insight, Extra Sauce is for anyone who yearns to embrace their whole self, who loves with abandon, and who eats with gusto.

Published by Dial Press and in my eReader as we speak. I'm always us for a memoir that has a cook and food in it!

Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell... Everybody knows that Cherry's husband, Tom, is in Hollywood making a movie . . . Almost nobody knows that he isn't coming home. Tom is the creator of Thursday—a semi-autobiographical webcomic that's become an international phenomenon. Semi-autobiographical. That means there's a character in this movie based on Cherry . . . "Baby." Wide-hipped, heavy-chested, double-chinned Baby. Cherry never wanted this. No fat girl wants to see herself caricatured on the page—let alone on the big screen. But there's no getting away from it. Baby looks so much like Cherry that strangers recognize her at the grocery store. While her soon-to-be ex-husband is in Los Angeles getting rich and famous and being the internet's latest boyfriend, Cherry is stuck in Omaha taking care of the dog he always wanted and the house they were going to raise a family in . . . and wondering who she's supposed to be without him. Cherry had promised to love Tom through thick and thin. She'd meant it. One night, Cherry decides to leave all her problems, including Tom's overgrown puppy, at home. She ventures out to see her favorite band play her favorite album . . . and someone recognizes her from across the room. Russ Sutton knew Cherry when she was a young art student with a fondness for pin-up dresses and patent leather heels. Before Tom. Russ knows Cherry. He likes Cherry. And best of all . . . he's never heard of Thursday.

Tender, funny, and utterly human, Cherry Baby is Rainbow Rowell's richest, most surprising—sexiest—novel yet.

This sounds like so much fun. I love a girl who holds her own and perserveres! Published my William Morrow and on my Wishlist!

Go Gentle by Maria Semple... Adora Hazzard has it all figured out. A Stoic philosopher and divorcée, she lives a contented life on New York City’s Upper West Side. Having discovered that the secret to happiness is to desire only what you have, she’s applied this insight to blissful effect: relishing her teenage daughter, the freedom of being solo, and her job as a moral tutor for the twin boys of an old-money family. She’s even assembled a "coven"—like-minded women who live on the same floor in the legendary Ansonia—and is making active efforts to grow its membership. Adora’s carefully curated life is humming along brilliantly until a chance meeting with a handsome stranger. Soon, her ordered world is upended by black-market art deals, secret rendezvous, and international intrigue . . . and her past—which she has worked so hard to bury—lands like a bomb in her present. Inflamed by unquenchable desire, Adora finds herself a woman wanting more: and she’ll risk everything to get it. Adora Hazzard’s journey of self-discovery will grip you from the start. Romantic, hilarious, intelligent, and bursting with the stuff of life, Go Gentle is a thrilling story of one woman’s mid-life transformation, cementing Maria Semple in the pantheon of our most exciting and important contemporary writers.

Maria Semple is know for her smash hit, Where'd You Go Bernadette, and her newest book sounds just as wonderful as her last! Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons and on my Wishlist! (BTW, I love pink, but hate this cover 😐)

Putting any of these books on your TBR list?

 

Coming Soon... A NEW Romantasy by Masha Sova... Godbound!

I'm so excited that I just received an ARC of Godbound by Masha Sova! I can't wait to dive in! Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours and Net Galley for the review opportunity! And thank you Masha Sova for writing what sounds like a delicious read! Here's the book blurb:

The Scarlet Letter meets the divine, deadly trials of The Games Gods Play in this dark, epic romantic fantasy where society weaponizes shame, gods weaponize survival, and love becomes the most dangerous rebellion of all.

They branded her a sinner.

She chose to become a threat.

In a kingdom where a forgotten goddess’s curse has become law—where purity is power and desire is a death sentence—Raylane has lived her life playing the perfect girl. Obedient. Untouched. Destined for the crown.

All so she might one day reshape a realm that damns cursed women like her mother… women who dared to fall in love.

Until one kiss ruins everything.

Branded impure and cursed with rot-magic that spreads by touch, Raylane is cast into the Trial of the Bound—a brutal arena where champions fight to the death, gods revel in blood, and power feeds on the prayers of the crowd.

Her only hope of survival? Swear fealty to the very goddess who cursed her. In return, the goddess tears a shadowbeast from another world and binds him to Raylane’s side—feral, unwilling, and the only one who can help her tame the power threatening to consume her.

He doesn’t want her. Doesn’t trust her. But their fates are entwined, and every step toward mastery binds them tighter.

As her power grows and their bond deepens, Raylane must make an impossible choice: win the trial, free the cursed, and unleash a forgotten goddess bent on reclaiming the world… or lose everything to save those who now pray for her death.

One path leads to love.

The other, to mercy.

Both end in ruin.

Mark your calendars... Coming June 6th, 2026

 

Memoir Monday... and a Story of Survival

Jumper Cables by Lee B. Dean... 
JUMPER CABLES: A MEMOIR OF MOURNING AN UNFORGETTABLE GIRL OFFERS A RAW PORTRAIT OF SURVIVAL AND REDEMPTION.

A powerful and unflinching memoir tracing one woman’s journey from trauma and self destruction to hard won wholeness. A deeply personal and courageous account of survival in the aftermath of sexual assault. With unvarnished honesty, it recounts the night that altered the course of her life and the years of struggles that followed, marked by addiction, self harm, and the gradual erosion of identity.

What began as a simple act of kindness in a parking lot became a turning point that shattered any sense of safety and certainty. From that moment, she traces a nonlinear journey through darkness, documenting the ways trauma manifested in destructive choices and emotional isolation. Her story does not follow a tidy arc of recovery. Instead, it reflects the complicated, often painful reality of living with unresolved wounds. Spanning more than twenty years, Jumper Cables moves from that first devastating night to a gas station decades later. The symbolism of these two moments anchors the memoir, illustrating both the depth of loss and the possibility of transformation.

She makes clear that this is not a guidebook or a prescriptive path to healing. Rather, it is an intimate testimony of endurance. She writes for those who have felt broken beyond repair, who have questioned whether survival was enough, and who have wondered if restoration was even possible. By sharing the messy, fragile, and deeply human process of reclaiming herself, she offers readers recognition and hope.

Jumper Cables speaks to survivors of assault, individuals navigating addiction or self destructive cycles, and anyone confronting the long shadow of trauma. Her voice is steady and reflective, honoring the unforgettable girl she once was while acknowledging the woman she fought to become. Dean brings vulnerability and strength to the pages, contributing to an ongoing conversation about trauma, accountability, and resilience. Her memoir stands as a testament to survival and the quiet courage required to rebuild a life.

Someone asked me if I had read this memoir, and I said no. They told me I should take a look at it, and I did. This is a slim book, 165 pages in total, but I feel it is an important one. Surviving sexual assault is a battle and Jumper Cables is a gift to women who need to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I started reading the sample of this book and was immediately drawn to this woman. I will be reading this, this week. Self published on February 17th of this year.  

The Sunday Salon and Villains, Vengeance & Midnight Magic: Meet My Latest Book Obsessions

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! It's the place where Book Bloggers from around the world share their bookish finds with one another in a virtual place called The Sunday Salon. Thank you to for Deb at ReaderBuzz keeping us all together on Sundays and hosting The Sunday Salon now! I also visited with Kim at The Caffeinated Reader, another Sunday gathering place for us bookish people called The Sunday Post!

We are finally out of the cold in South Carolina! The last possible frost was suppose to be April 8th and my seed snails are officially enjoying the big bold outdoors. I put them in our little greenhouse Friday night and Saturday morning they still looked very happy. We are actually suppose to be in the high 80's during the day all this coming week. I've been enjoying the breeze on the front porch in the early evenings finishing The Beheading by Rebecca Lehmann. I'm in the last 40 pages now and am trying to read as fast as I can to see what happens! It's been a great read so far. I'll be posting my review next week, but let's just say it's bordering on 5 stars depending on if the ending lives up to the rest. If you like historical fiction, with a little bit of... I don't know... horror? fantasy? What would you call Anne Boylen getting her head chopped off and she wakes up to the horror of her head between her knees?

Also this past week I got a new spine bookcase. My favorite space saving bookcase and I needed one. Of course I've been finding so many great books lately, I filled it up immediately! Not only did I fill my new bookcase up, but I've been filling my Kindle up too! What, may you ask, did I fill up my Kindle and my bookcase with? Here are the top 4 this week...

The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke (aka V.E.Schwab & Cat Clarke)... Six authors. One private island. Seventy-two hours to write the ending that will change their lives...

Arthur Fletch, one of the world’s bestselling novelists, is a reclusive genius known for his iconic protagonists and fiendish twists. When six struggling authors are invited to spend a weekend on his private Scottish island, they arrive to discover a shocking secret: Arthur Fletch is dead . . . and his last book is unfinished.

Desperate to publish the novel, Fletch’s agent and editor have summoned these writers in the hope that one of them will imagine a worthy ending for this final book. To sweeten the deal, they are offering an irresistible prize: in addition to ghost-writing the last chapter––for a mind-boggling sum––they will also help the lucky writer successfully re-launch their own career, guaranteeing future bestsellers. The catch: the writers have just seventy-two hours to finish Fletch’s magnum opus.

It’s the perfect plot. All it needs is a killer ending.

This book got a lot of hype when it became known that 2 well known writers put their heads together and wrote this... and no one knew who the writers were. When it was revealed that it was none other than V.E. Schwab and Cat Clarke, it got even more hype, probably more so because of V.E. Schwab. In any case, this is suppose to be a fun romp and I am definitely looking forward to cracking the spine on this one. Published by Harper Collins and on released this past Tueday... 

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab...

This is a story about hunger.

1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.

A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.

1827. London.

A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.

2019. Boston.

College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life—

how it ends, and how it starts.

This book has gotten a lot of buzz since it was published last June by Tor. And it still is getting lots of praise. V.E. Schwab is a writer who creates these amazing worlds  & characters and is considered a historical fantasy writer. This book has been on my wishlist for a long time, and I finally bought it! I can't wait to read it!

A Stage Set for Villain by Shannon J. Spann... The gods are dead. All that’s left are the Players. The performers of the Playhouse are as worshipped as they are feared, their enchanting shows bending hearts, minds, and even reality itself. Vicious, godlike, lethal. Eighteen-year-old Riven Hesper knows the dangers better than anyone, after her own encounter with a Player resulted in a curse that is slowly killing her.

When the Playhouse announces the spectacle of a lifetime—a chance for one mortal to steal a Player’s immortality—Riven sees her last chance to live. Desperate for answers, she infiltrates the competition. There, she finds Jude, the Playhouse’s brilliant, merciless Lead Player, whose charm is as dangerous as his Craft, and strikes a deadly bargain to save her life.

But with time running out and the Playhouse’s secrets unraveling into a disturbing picture, Riven faces a grim possibility: she might not be the hero of her story after all. In fact, she may be the villain.

Because the Playhouse doesn’t just tell stories. It rewrites them.

And Riven’s might end in blood.

I had heard so many.

This was an immediate sensation on social media. Published this past February by Entangled Publishing, it was recently scooped up by Amazon MGM Studios for a major project down the road. I downloaded a copy for my Kindle, which is only $7.99 right now, and started reading it. OMG, I was immediately drawn into the story and the setting is so unique. Definitely pick this up if it sounds like your kind of read or if you want to try some romantasy and you have a Kindle, because who knows when that price will go to "normal" Kindle pricing, which is generally around $14.99! (remember when they were all priced at $9.99!?)

Starside by Alex Aster... Enter the world of Starside, where swords wield magic and power is not inherited...but claimed.

Hundreds of years ago, a brutal war split a land in two. Starside is the realm of magic and immortals—the descendants of the gods, living in a power-rich paradise. Stormside is where mortals fight for scraps of that magic.

Every fifty years, the gates between them open, and fifty challengers are allowed to journey across Starside on a deadly quest to access a pool of magic that can heal, grant wealth, or extend life. Everyone has their reasons for entering, but Aris has only one: vengeance. As a child, a goddess set fire to her village, killing her family. Aris isn’t after the gods’ magic—she’s going to kill them.

First, she must survive the Culling, the king’s deadly competition to choose his fifty challengers. An orphaned blacksmith’s apprentice, Aris doesn’t have the superior weapons of the heirs from the Great Houses. But the greatest swords—ones that contain power—are not inherited or bought, they are claimed, by both sides. And when Aris claims a great sword, it makes her not just a real competitor—but a target.

Getting past the gates is only the beginning. Starside is deadlier than it seems. If the ancient creatures, magic-wielding beasts, and bloodthirsty immortals weren’t dangerous enough, a new peril has even immortals fearing what rises from the ground at night. With a blade most would kill to claim, Aris can’t trust anyone. Especially not Harlan Raker, the merciless and mysterious king’s guard who betrayed her years ago—and who may now be the key to her survival.

But Aris is hiding a secret tied to her family’s death. And when it’s revealed, not even the gods will be able to stop what’s coming…

I first found Alex Aster when she was promoting her "enemies-to-lovers" rom-com, Summer in The City, which was published last March. Since then it seems, she's been on a writing spree with YA Fantasy, and that's where we find her today, but she's stepping out of the YA Fantasy genre and into the "adult" Romantasy genre with Starside. This book has been all over TikTok and Instagram with many MANY 5 star ratings. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into, but it sounds like a great read and I put it on my wishlist when it came out in March. Recently I've been obsessed with these Romantasy books and I'm looking forward to starting this one soon. Published by Avon, March 31st (and I did tell you about it then, but I couldn't resist it when I finally saw it in person 😁. Did I tell you how pretty it is?!)

THOSE were some of the books I picked up this week. What about you?! Did you bring home any new books this week?

Now that we've talked about the new books I picked up, let me share what happened on the blog the last two weeks in case you missed anything...

Memoir Monday 3/30... Let's Hear it For The Girls! Memoirs from the ladies of a certain age (my age! )

Memoir Monday 4/6... Get Your Scalpel ready for this one!

New Book Tuesday 3/31... Magic, Destiny & Rising Stars You Need Now!

New Book Tuesday 4/7... New Releases and It's Stacked!

First Lines Friday 4/3... You'll Lose Your Head Over These!

First Lines Friday 4/10... Get Ready to be Swept Away!

Indie Next Pick for April... No Surprise Here and You Don't Want to Miss it!

Comedian Gillian Cosgriff... Sings us a little song about stress relieve (book related!) You really need to listen to this 😄.

What am I Listening To?... OMG! Old Lady Curmudgeon and a Great Narrator!

Happy Easter!... And a reading of Peter Rabbit.

I hope you found something to dig your teeth into... or at least found a good book! Share your good books right here in the comments! I'm always looking for recommendations!

Have a great week and Happy Reading... Suzanne

For All of Us Romantasy Girls...

For all of us Romantasy girls...

 

First Lines Friday... Get Ready to Be Swept Away

 

"Astrid looked up from her grimoire to find an axe swinging directly for her head.

It's been six years since someone tried to kill her, yet her reflexes are still sharp; she throws herself sideways and spins to face her attacker, just as the blade sinks into the spruce tree--right where her neck had been a moment ago.

She staggers back, twisting her ankle when her boot snags on the uneven forest floor, and swallows the yell that creeps up her throat."

This is the "It" book of the day! So much anticipation for its' release! I was lucky enough to receive a digital ARC recently and have been devouring it! But I also snagged a beautiful hardcover copy when I recently signed up for BOTM this month and it is GORGEOUS! Beautiful end papers and stenciled pages. And the cover is reversible too! Reddish or Blueish, your choice. But the beauty of the book is second to the actual story. Today, we're just looking at that first line....

After Reading the First Lines, Would You Keep Going?

I did...