Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter... A Deadly Duel. A Forbidden Love. One Jaw-Dropping Twist.

Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter

A centuries-old covenant forces the heir of the witches of Arturea to fight the heir of the dragon riders of Vatra… to the death.

Astrid—princess of Arturea—is powerful, proud… and not a warrior at heart.
Zryan—Vatra’s lethal champion—is a battle-hardened force of nature, bonded to a massive fire-breathing dragon… and completely obsessed with Astrid.

What should be a death sentence becomes something far more dangerous:
a forbidden, undeniable pull neither of them can resist. Blood Bound is the kind of romantasy that hooks you fast and doesn’t let go. 

The world-building? Incredible. From the witches’ distinct magic and their familiars to the dragon riders’ raw, elemental power—every detail feels vivid and immersive. I swear, I was living in Vatra the entire time. (Still waiting to find out if “reading” counts as a magical talent… I’m claiming it.)

What fills this story out even more is the political intrigue and the rebellion hiding in the shadows—adding layers of tension and depth that make the stakes feel even higher.

And the characters? I was in. Fully invested. Practically third-wheeling alongside Astrid. The friendships that develop are true and touching. I loved the way the female friendships unfolded.

But let’s talk about what really delivers:


Forbidden love…. Enemies to lovers….That slow burn tension…. Touch her and you’ll die… Dragons & Familiars… Political intrigue… Great banter!… Found family… Great female friendships… Magic & Potions… Did I say Dragons! And Familiars!
  

And then—THE TWIST. The kind that makes you stop, reread, and immediately need to talk about it with someone. I want to scream about it… but I won’t ruin it for you.

Just know: It’s big, it’s bold and it brings everything together in a jaw-dropping way. There is so much packed into the story - you’re going to love it. I know I did. This is the first book of a promised 3 book trilogy. 

And I am already whining that I want the second book! 

Published by Atria Books on April 28th! And available at your favorite bookstore right now! I want to thank Atria Books for an advanced copy of Blood Bound to read & review! I loved it!

 

MORE New Released Books!

I had these new books pop into my inbox today and just HAD to share them with you! So, part 2 of New Release Tuesday with 3 books Definitely on my radar & wishlist!

Somewhere Soft to Land by Kai Alonte... In this crackling portrayal of friendship in peril, a young woman’s world is upended when a tragedy in her best friend’s life tests the boundaries of their sisterhood. Published by Ballantine Books.

Omg, this sounds so good! I love women friendship stories!

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The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Susan and James Patterson... Old friends. New secrets. A dreamy Lake Como reunion turns emotional as a mother-daughter book club reconnects—where late-night confessions, long-held tensions, and unexpected revelations prove some stories hit closer to home than any book. Published by Little, Brown & Co.

I thought this sounded like such a wonderful book for Book Clubs! And again, a women's friendship kind of read.

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The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer... a supernatural horror about a young woman who accepts a caretaking job from Craigslist, only to discover the position has consequences far greater—and more dangerous—than she ever could have imagined. Published by Atria/Emily Best Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster)

This one sounds delicious!

What's on your radar this week? 

What new books are you excited for?

#Bookstagram #Atriabooks #Littlebrownandco #Ballantinebooks #pubday

 

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!

🔥 Hot Off the Press: Three Fresh Reads You’ll Want on Your Radar!

Today's Book Releases!

New book day is my favorite kind of temptation. Suddenly there are fresh stories everywhere and my TBR pile grows just a little taller.

Today’s releases bring a mix that’s impossible to resist: Gilded Age glamour, a chilling mystery involving podcasters who vanish, and a strange speculative tale about women mysteriously compelled to head west.

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In It Girl, Allison Pataki dives into the dazzling and ruthless world of Gilded Age high society, bringing to life one of the era’s most talked-about women. I love historical fiction that brings to life a real person. In this case, Evelyn Talbot is based on real life "It Girl" Evelyn Nesbit. 

It Girl by Allison Pataki... At the dawn of the twentieth century, New York’s streets teem with change: electricity, automobiles, the brash young President Teddy Roosevelt—and the It Girls. As artists’ muses and working models, these independent young women soar to stardom not because of their pedigrees or inherited wealth, but because of their talent, charisma, and irresistible beauty. Pop culture is born, and in a world alight with Mr. Edison’s new bulbs, no one shines brighter than America’s sweetheart, Evelyn Talbot.

But the journey to stardom is not simple or straight. While working as a shopgirl, the young Evelyn is recruited as a studio model and soon catches the eye of the preeminent artists of the age. When Broadway comes calling, Evelyn solidifies her status as the first self-made American female celebrity: the iconic Gibson Girl, the most sought-after figure and face of her time. Enter a parade of powerful and power-hungry men, from world-famous architect Stanley Pierce, the visionary behind Manhattan’s mansions and iconic landmarks, to Hal Thorne, the shockingly wealthy railroad heir and premier “playboy” of high society. Each man promises comfort, glamour, security—even love. But fame and fortune are cruel teachers, and Evelyn learns that the only person she can rely on is herself.

When Evelyn finds herself at the center of a murder of passion declared “the Crime of the Century,” she is blamed for the acts of the men in her life. In the media frenzy that spirals around her, Evelyn realizes that to survive, she will have to write her own ending. But can this artists’ muse turned showgirl pull off the greatest act of her life?

Published by Ballantine Books

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I've come to really like those "murder mystery" podcasts, and though This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum isn't about "murder mystery" podcasters, these podcasters become the "murder mystery" as they mysteriously disappear. I read the beginning of this novel and just loved it. I might have to see if there really is a podcast for survival stories now...

This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum... Benny Abbott and Joy Moore host one of the most beloved podcasts in the world. Each week, they delight listeners with a different “against all odds” survival story, gleefully finding the weird, life-affirming humor in near-death experiences. Since their first episode on Joy’s experience with severe narcolepsy, they’ve been the best friends everyone wants to befriend—and thanks to the meticulous management of Joy’s husband, Xander, they’ve built a lucrative empire.

The problem is, their next survival story may be their own. When Benny arrives at Joy and Xander’s one morning to record, he finds shattered glass and an empty house. The one clue shedding light on the couple’s disappearance is the incomplete, previously unseen first draft of Joy’s memoir. Benny is desperate to find them, even when the police soon zero in on him as their prime suspect.

Millions of devoted listeners think they know the “real” Benny and Joy. But as the hours tick by, and the odds seem increasingly stacked against Joy and Xander being found alive, not even the most devoted fans could guess the terrible secrets their favorite famous BFFs have hidden from the world—and from each other.

Published by Flatiron Books

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AND in the haunting speculative novel Westward Women, Alice Martin imagines a mysterious phenomenon spreading among women—an inexplicable urge pulling them westward, leaving families, jobs, and entire communities trying to understand why. This book hit a nerve because recently I watched the movie BirdBox, where people started to up and kill themselves after seeing something in front of them. They would get this zombie like expression all of a sudden and start acting crazy. The survivors wore blindfolds to prevent themselves being "infested" with the infection. I am so intrigued by Westward Women and it is definitely on my TBR list and should be on yours too!

Westward Women by Alice Martin...
It starts with an itch.

In homes across the country, women ages eighteen to thirty-five begin to slow down.

Tired. Blank. Restless.

Drawn to the Pacific Ocean like it’s calling them home. They abandon their lives—jobs, families, their very selves. And once they reach the West, they vanish forever.

At the center of the story are three young women caught in the pull of something unstoppable.

Aimee follows the trail of her missing best friend to a man called the Piper—known for leading infected women West.

Teenie, afflicted and unraveling, clings to a single memory as she looks out the window of the Piper’s van.

And Eve, a former journalist, is chasing the story that might just consume her.

Published by St. Martin's Press

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Let's not forget about She Fell Away by Lenore Nash! I shared this book on Sunday. Get the full description in The Sunday Salon, but here' s little blurb about it. I just  started reading it and really love Lenore Nash's writing, plus she really is a "detective" here, in the midst of a murder investigation...

She Fell Away by Lenore Nash... A State Department diplomat must confront the ghosts of her past as she searches for a missing American woman in New Zealand in this pulse-pounding and unputdownable thriller.  Published by Atria Books.

Are you building up that TBR pile?! I've got all of these on my TBR list! What is the saying... So many books, too little time? Well, make time for these! 

The Sunday Salon... and Books You NEED to Add to Your TBR Pile!

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 ! It's a beautiful day in South Carolina and a perfect day to talk books. And talking books is what The Sunday Salon is all about! 

My TBR pile is getting high! There are so many books I just have to read! Today's Sunday Salon is about adding some great books to YOUR TBR pile!

Right now I'm reading Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke (coming April 2026) and I am hooked! I'm living the good life of a modern day influencer (that isn't quite what it seems), and the dirt poor rural life with no indoor plumbing with Nattie Heller Mills in parallel universes. Omg! Keep an eye out for my review. I'm over half way done and so far it's a 5 star read for me. Add this to your TBR list, but you'll have to wait until April 7th to find it at your favorite bookstore...

Here are 3 others I can't wait to read in my TBR list and should be in yours... 

First, Are you a fan of Epistolary novels?

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans... Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter. Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.

Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime. Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be “a very small thing,” but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever find.

This book has been exploding the internet! Like being a voyeur, the book lets us read the letters Sybil Van Antwerp has written to the people in her life and the letters she has received in return.

Published by Crown Publishing last October, I'll be diving into this one soon!

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Theo of Golden by Allen Levin... Questions linger about Theo, a pleasant but mysterious stranger, after his arrival in the southern city of Golden. Who is he, and why is he here? He arrives early one spring and by chance - or is it? - he visits a coffee shop where 92 framed pencil portraits are on display. Inspired, Theo sets out on a mission of purchasing all the portraits one at a time and quietly bestowing them on their 'rightful owners.' Stories are told; friendships are born; and lives are changed. Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted story about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the far-reaching possibilities of anonymous kindness.

The first time I noticed this book, I was in Barnes & Noble walking around and stopped in front of a table to look at a book (big surprise, right?!). This one young lady looks at her friend, picks up a copy of Theo of Golden and says, "I've heard really good things about this book". Of course I had to see what book it was. From it's cover, it looked pretty nondescript. When I got home I did some research, and kept finding Theo of Golden on a million (I might be exaggerating a little) best books of the year and my favorite book of the year lists. So I have this waiting in my TBR pile. 

Published by Atria Books in October of 2023 (but it took off in 2025!), It's in my TBR pile, waiting for a window of time where I want to settle down for a leisurely read.

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My Friends by Fredrik Backman... Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.

Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.

I like Fredrik Backmans' writing. I've read all his books and naturally would pick this one up. This one seems a bit different. More mystery to unveil. AND, My Friends is on a ton of "Best of/Favorite Books" lists too. 

   Published by Atria Books May 2025. In my ever growing TBR pile now.

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Weekly Wrap-up... 

Last Sunday... If you missed last Sunday, there was no Sunday Salon, but there was a review. Read my review of Atmosphere and share your thoughts on Taylor Jenkins Reid's new book.

Monday... Mondays are for Memoirs, and this past Monday we showcase Home Schooled by Stefan Merrill Block, who had an unusual home school experience to say the least. Click on the link to learn more about this memoir published by Hanover Square Press. P.S. I just received an eBook of Home Schooled from the publisher, so look for a review coming soon!

Friday... Fridays are for First Lines! And we take a look at Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. After seeing the preview of the upcoming movie, The Sheep Detectives, I really wanted to see the movie... but I like reading the book first, so I had to pick up a copy. Read about it on First Lines Friday! (and I posted a link to the trailer of The Sheep Detectives too!)

That about does it for this week. Next week, more exciting books that just came in from my library wishlist... and my new obsession with Romantacy! Stop by and check it all out next week.... and until then...

Happy Reading... Suzanne
 

The Sunday Salon... New Year, New Books!

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! Happy New Year! The Sunday Salon is 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 ! It's a beautiful day in South Carolina and a perfect day to talk books. And talking books is what The Sunday Salon is all about! 

And just as soon as Thanksgiving and Christmas arrived, they were gone... and the new year slipped in.

I never make new years resolutions anymore. But I do put up a GoodReads books read tracker on Chick with Books, and make a guess as to how many books I want to read this year. This year I put a very reasonable 25 as the goal. Of course, I will probably go over that, but it will be fun to see when I get to 25. Already I have a new pile of books waiting for me because... ALL my reserve books at the library came in the SAME day! Even though they were all suppose to be months away! The River is Waiting by Wally Lamb, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite have been waiting for me to finish my "first book", Heart the Lover. 

(Psst, I finished Heart the Lover, started The River is Waiting, finished that last night and next up is Atmosphere).

Do you make a goal of how many books you will read this year?

What the new year definitely brings are new books! What are you looking forward to? Are your favorite authors releasing anything new? Here's what's coming soon from some great authors...

Skylark by Paula McLain... 

1664: Alouette Voland is the daughter of a master dyer at the famed Gobelin Tapestry Works, who secretly dreams of escaping her circumstances and creating her own masterpiece. When her father is unjustly imprisoned, Alouette's efforts to save him lead to her own confinement in the notorious Salpêtrière asylum, where thousands of women are held captive and cruelly treated. But within its grim walls, she discovers a small group of brave allies, and the possibility of a life bigger than she ever imagined.

1939: Kristof Larson is a medical student beginning his psychiatric residency in Paris, whose neighbors on the Rue de Gobelins are a Jewish family who have fled Poland. When Nazi forces descend on the city, Kristof becomes their only hope for survival, even as his work as a doctor is jeopardized.

A spellbinding and transportive look at a side of Paris known to very few—the underground city that is a mirror reflection of the glories above—Paula McLain’s unforgettable new novel chronicles two parallel journeys of defiance and rescue that connect in ways both surprising and deeply moving.

I am so excited to read this! My favorite book by Paula McLain is Circling the Sun. She does an incredible job bringing to life historical women.

Published by Atria Books and coming out this Tuesday, January 6th!

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Woman Down by Colleen Hoover...      

Her words used to set the page on fire. But a viral backlash over her latest film adaptation forced Petra Rose to take a hiatus, resulting in missed deadlines and an overdue mortgage. Branded a fraud and fame-hungry opportunist, she learned the hard way what happens when the internet turns on you. And she’s been uninspired to write ever since.

Now, with her next suspense novel outlined and savings nearly gone, she retreats to a secluded lakeside cabin, hoping to find inspiration. It’s Petra’s last-ditch attempt to save her career―and herself.

Then he shows up.

Detective Nathaniel Saint arrives with disturbing news, his presence igniting a creativity in her she thought long since burned out. Petra’s words return in a rush, and her fictional cop character begins to mirror the very real cop who’s becoming her muse.

Don't we all love those twisty romances Colleen Hoover writes! This sounds like another winner by her!

This is published by Montlake, an imprint of Amazon and will come out January 13th.

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The Storm by Rachel Hawkins... 

St. Medard’s Bay, Alabama is famous for three things: the deadly hurricanes that regularly sweep into town, the Rosalie Inn, a century-old hotel that’s survived every one of those storms, and Lo Bailey, the local girl infamously accused of the murder of her lover, political scion Landon Fitzroy, during Hurricane Marie in 1984.

When Geneva Corliss, the current owner of the Rosalie Inn, hears a writer is coming to town to research the crime that put St. Medard’s Bay on the map, she’s less interested in solving a whodunnit than in how a successful true crime book might help the struggling inn’s bottom line. But to her surprise, August Fletcher doesn’t come to St. Medard’s Bay alone. With him is none other than Lo Bailey herself. Lo says she’s returned to her hometown to clear her name once and for all, but the closer Geneva gets to both Lo and August, the more she wonders if Lo is actually back to settle old scores.

Published by St. Martin's Press and will be released this Tuesday, January 6th!

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Weekly Wrap-up...

Thursday... we reveal our "First Book of the Year" for 2026! (Hint... I read it in 24 hours, it was that good!

Friday... is all about first lines, and these first lines will make you happy if you're a fan of "the bookwoman"!

Saturday... was my FIRST book review of 2026! Heart the Lover by Lily King was definitely a 4 star read.

So, this has been my crazy first week of the year! How was yours?!

Let me know what new books are on your radar... and if you picked out a "first book" for the new year!

Happy Reading... Suzanne

New Book from Fredrik Backman!

 For the fans of Fredrik Backman there's a new book on the horizon! It's called My Friends, will be published by Atria Books and available to purchase on May 20th of this year. Nice and hefty, the page count is 448 according to the publisher... and I love fat books! 

If you're not familiar with Fredrik Backman, he wrote A Man Called Ove, which was a massive hit and made into a pretty good movie. He has written more than just that book, with a total of a dozen including this newest one. 

Here's the blurb from the publisher about My Friends...

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an aspiring artist herself, knows otherwise, and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures. Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant seaside town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their bruising home lives by spending long summer days on an abandoned pier, telling silly jokes, sharing secrets, and committing small acts of rebellion. These lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream, a reason to love. Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be placed into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. She embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn how the painting came to be and to decide what to do with it. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more nervous she becomes about what she’ll find. Louisa is proof that happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this stunning testament to the transformative, timeless power of friendship and art.

AND... I just received an ARC of My Friends by Fredrik Backman for my Kindle and can't wait to start reading it! So as we settle down into the new year, stay tuned for my review of My Friends by Fredrik Backman... 

P.S. Here's my review of Fredrik Backman's novella, And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer, a beautifully written story about the effects of Alzheimers in a loved one. 

The Sunday Salon... and Great Books in my eReader...

 Welcome to The Sunday Salon! What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine Some university library’s vast reading room. It’s filled with people — students and faculty and strangers who’ve wandered in. They’re seated at great oaken dests, books piled all around them, and they’re all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they’ll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon’s literary intake. Thank you to Deb at ReaderBuzz for keeping us all together on Sundays now and hosting The Sunday Salon! 

There are so many great books to talk about this week! I'm limited myself to the 3 I think you've got to hear about first and are availabe right now at your favorite book... 

The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman... 

One brilliant June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden, and books are considered evil. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her? Through a journey of heartbreak, love, and time, Mia must abandon the rules she was raised with at the Community. As she does, she realizes that reading can transport you to other worlds or bring them to you, and that readers and writers affect one another in mysterious ways. She learns that time is more fluid than she can imagine, and that love is stronger than any chains that bind you.

Alice Hoffman always writes wonderful, sink your teeth into stories. Some sprinkled with magic, it's been a few years since we've gotten a new story so this is exciting! Just published and released by Atria Books  August 15th, let's journey with Mia as she learns the strength that exists inside of her. This is waiting for me in my eReader courtesy of Atria Books! A thank you to them for the opportunity to review The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman! I can't wait!!

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Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death by Maria Vale... 

Death needs a do-over. Azrael--Grim Reaper, Destroyer, Angel of Death--has messed up. Instead of taking Molly Molloy's soul, he accidentally saves her from choking on a chicken wing. Molly has been visited by Death before. He took her parents, her grandparents. Her first love. But now this utterly unexceptional waitress at a breastaurant in New York can see him. Touch him. Talk to him. Say 'no' to him. Make him doubt. The Powers that Be are waiting for Death to fix his mistake but before he can, he makes one more...

He falls in love.

We've gotten a glimpse of the grim reaper in books and television (Dead Like Me fans should love this book) and it's always interesting to see another aspect of "his" personality. Of course he is the Grim Reaper, so he is gathering souls, but how does he manage to fall in love? This is waiting in my eReader for me too, courtesy of Wild & Ashe LLC who published the ebook. Sungrazer Publishing has published the paperback version. Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death by Maria Vale is now available at your favorite bookstore AND the Kindle version is only $4.99 right now!

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Someone Else's Shoes by JoJo Moyes... 

Who are you when you are forced to walk in someone else’s shoes? Nisha Cantor lives the globetrotting life of the seriously wealthy, until her husband announces a divorce and cuts her off. Nisha is determined to hang onto her glamorous life. But in the meantime, she must scramble to cope--she doesn’t even have the shoes she was, until a moment ago, standing in. That’s because Sam Kemp – in the bleakest point of her life – has accidentally taken Nisha’s gym bag. But Sam hardly has time to worry about a lost gym bag--she’s struggling to keep herself and her family afloat. When she tries on Nisha’s six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes, the resulting jolt of confidence that makes her realize something must change—and that thing is herself. Someone Else’s Shoes is a story about how just one little thing can suddenly change everything.

I love JoJo Moyes writing! I interviewed her for Chick with Books in 2018, when she came out with her book Still Me, which continued the story of Louisa Clark, who we first met in Me Before You. ( You can find that interview HERE ). She writes these characters that just pull you in. Totally relatable, flawed but honest characters. Someone Else's Shoes sounds like a fun romp with the heartwarming characters JoJo Moyes is known for. Published by Pamela Dorman Books, a division of Penguin the beginning of 2023, you can find this at your favorite bookstore! Right now this is on my wishlist!

So, there you have it! 3 books that look like great reads and available right now! Next Sunday, I'll share some books that you should mark your calendars for because they are the ones you are going to want to read next!

What's on your Nightstand? or eReader?

Weekly Wrap-up:

Tuesday...

This week I've been reading about those "Golden Girls" of  a secret government agency taking care of business in Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. It's my Library Loot for this week and in my eReader. As I get to know these ladies and the story their story, I am obsessively turning those pages to get to what happens next. I love Deanna Raybourn's Victorian Mystery series and so far, the writing here is holding my attention. It's not a "gripping" read, more light reading with a good story. Stay tuned for the review coming...

 And just in case you missed... My Review on The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. A mix of  Top Chef and a Rom Com.

Hope you've found something interesting here! Leave me a comment and let me know what piques your interest! Happy reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon and Great Reading coming your way...

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! It's the one day of the week where Book Bloggers from everywhere get together virtually and talk books! It's been an exciting month here too ... many great books are coming out and I just have to share some of my top picks that I was lucky enough to receive for review from the publishers...

Touch by Olaf Olafsson... A mesmerizing, panoramic story of one man’s search to find a lover who suddenly disappeared decades before...

When the pandemic hits, Kristofer is forced to shutter his successful restaurant in Reykjavik, sending him into a spiral of uncertainty, even as his memory seems to be failing. But an uncanny bolt from the blue—a message from Miko Nakamura, a woman whom he’d known in the sixties when they were students in London—both inspires and rattles him, as he is drawn inexorably back into a love story that has marked him for life. Even as the pandemic upends his world, Kristofer finds himself pulled toward an answer to the mystery of Miko’s sudden departure decades before, compelling him to travel to London and Japan as the virus threatens to shut everything down.

A heart-wrenching love story and an absorbing mystery, Touch delves into the secrets of the past to explore the hidden lives that we all possess, the pain and beauty of our past loves and friendships that continue to leave their mark on us. Searching and lyrically rendered by acclaimed author Olaf Olafsson, Touch is a stunning tribute to the weight of history and the complexities of the human heart.

I found this book from reading Book Blogger friend, Harvee Lau's blog called BookBirdDog (Book Dilettante). Her post for The Sunday Salon last Sunday included this book and the description just made me want to read it. I love stories about friends and lovers finding each other after many years and this seemed a perfect fit. Right now it is in my eReader thanks to the generosity of the Publisher, Ecco Publishing, who sent me a copy for review. 

This book will be published August 16, 2022 by Ecco Publishing, an imprint of HarperCollins...

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The Kingdoms of Savannah by George Dawes Green...
Savannah may appear to be “some town out of a fable,” with its vine flowers, turreted mansions, and ghost tours that romanticize the city’s history. But look deeper and you’ll uncover secrets, past and present, that tell a more sinister tale. It’s the story at the heart of George Dawes Green’s chilling new novel, The Kingdoms of Savannah.

It begins quietly on a balmy Southern night as some locals gather at Bo Peep’s, one of the town’s favorite watering holes. Within an hour, however, a man will be murdered and his companion will be “disappeared.” An unlikely detective, Morgana Musgrove, doyenne of Savannah society, is called upon to unravel the mystery of these crimes. Morgana is an imperious, demanding, and conniving woman, whose four grown children are weary of her schemes. But one by one she inveigles them into helping with her investigation, and soon the family uncovers some terrifying truths—truths that will rock Savannah’s power structure to its core.

Moving from the homeless encampments that ring the city to the stately homes of Savannah’s elite, Green’s novel brilliantly depicts the underbelly of a city with a dark history and the strangely mesmerizing dysfunction of a complex family.

When I hear a novel is set in Savannah, I am immediately drawn to it. I love Savannah. It is romantic, beautiful and late at night as you walk the streets there is an eery quality to it all. The book seems to promise to bring Savannah to life as this mystery/thriller comes to life. From the first line I was hooked and I'm reading this right now! Released on July 19th, 2022 by Celadon Publishing, I received a copy from the publisher. Stay tuned for my review...

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The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford...

Dorothy Moy breaks her own heart for a living.

As Washington’s former poet laureate, that’s how she describes channeling her dissociative episodes and mental health struggles into her art. But when her five-year-old daughter exhibits similar behavior and begins remembering things from the lives of their ancestors, Dorothy believes the past has truly come to haunt her. Fearing that her child is predestined to endure the same debilitating depression that has marked her own life, Dorothy seeks radical help.

Through an experimental treatment designed to mitigate inherited trauma, Dorothy intimately connects with past generations of women in her family: Faye Moy, a nurse in China serving with the Flying Tigers; Zoe Moy, a student in England at a famous school with no rules; Lai King Moy, a girl quarantined in San Francisco during a plague epidemic; Greta Moy, a tech executive with a unique dating app; and Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to set foot in America.

As painful recollections affect her present life, Dorothy discovers that trauma isn’t the only thing she’s inherited. A stranger is searching for her in each time period. A stranger who’s loved her through all of her genetic memories. Dorothy endeavors to break the cycle of pain and abandonment, to finally find peace for her daughter, and gain the love that has long been waiting, knowing she may pay the ultimate price.

One of my favorite books was Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet written by Jamie Ford in 2009! (and if you haven't read it yet, here's a link to its anniversary edition which is on sale for $10.69. Remember though to check the price before you hit the buy button because Amazon does change those bargain prices often...) SO, when I see a new book written by Jamie Ford I have to check it out! And it's a lost loves love story! The story sounds so intriguing and add Jamie Fords fantastic writing and I predict a winner! This will be released August 2, 2022 by Atria Books, a subsidary of SimonSchuster.

And if those authors coming out with new books isn't enough, so are Kate White, Sandra Brown, Phillip Margolin and Isabel Allende... but I'll save those until next week! 

I always find summer an exciting book season. Maybe the sun hitting my pale skin and the warmth that I feel makes me long for the lazy days on the beach with a good book in my hands that I use to enjoy as a teenager. There were some great books read back then... The Shining and The Exorcist  are two that come to mind. 

What kind of reading do you do in the summer? 

I hope you've found a couple of interesting reads here today! Let me know what books you're reading!

Happy reading... Suzanne

First Lines Friday...

All the dying that summer began with the deaht of a child, a boy with golden hair and thick glasses, killed on the railroad tracks outside New Bremen, Minnesota sliced into pieces by a thousand tons of steel speeding across the prairie toward South Dakota. His name was Bobby Cole, He was a sweet-looking kid and by that I mean he had eyes that seemed full of dreaming and he wore a half smile as if he was just about to understand something you'd spent an hour trying to explain.
                                     ... Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger


I was hearing a lot of buzz about This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger and saw that this was not his first book. In fact, William Kent Krueger has an award winning mystery series with #17 having been published in 2018. But Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land were not mysteries, but were literary fiction, coming-of-age novels. As I read the sample of Ordinary Grace I was struck by the easy going readability, the really good story writing and decided he was someone I needed to read. This Tender Land is on my TBR list, but Ordinary Grace is on my nightstand now. Published by Atria Books in 2014.

And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman... a Review

A grandfather shares the memory of falling in love with his wife to his young grandson, whose feet can’t yet touch the ground as they sit side by side on a bench. And he shares other memories, like the time they slept in the tent or how mathematics rule the universe. But some memories are harder to remember, and soon even the memories that he thought were his forever are slipping away…

A heartfelt and touching story of love, life and letting go. And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman is told thru the fading memories of a loving Grandfather to his grandson and son, as they learn to accept the inevitable in a loving and graceful way.

Anyone who has seen the devastating effects of Alzheimers or dementia in a loved one, will relate to this small, beautiful little novella written by Fredrik Backman. Originally Mr. Backman was not going to publish this story, he wrote it as a way to deal with his own feelings of love and loss, but we are grateful that fate stepped in and he shared this personal journey.

It’s hard to say more than read this. it is a beautiful love letter written to all of our parents and grandparents, but also for us, to help us, the caretakers and loved ones, to understand what such a loss of ourselves really means, and feels like…

Published in 2016 by Atria Books, and one of my Library Loot Reads for 2020, (But I think I’ll eventually put this one on a shelf)

In My Mailbox...

In My Mailbox... I've received some great books in my mailbox! And I decided I would join in on the fun sharing them with you and the other bloggers participating in Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a weekly event for bloggers to share what books arrived in their mailboxes. Mailbox Monday was originally created by Marcia of To Be Continued and is now hosted by Vicki, Serena and Leslie at Mailbox Monday's own blog.

So, here are the books...

The Girl Before by JP Delaney... The request seems odd, even intrusive—and for the two women who answer, the consequences are devastating.

EMMA
Reeling from a traumatic break-in, Emma wants a new place to live. But none of the apartments she sees are affordable or feel safe. Until One Folgate Street. The house is an architectural masterpiece: a minimalist design of pale stone, plate glass, and soaring ceilings. But there are rules. The enigmatic architect who designed the house retains full control: no books, no throw pillows, no photos or clutter or personal effects of any kind. The space is intended to transform its occupant—and it does.

JANE
After a personal tragedy, Jane needs a fresh start. When she finds One Folgate Street she is instantly drawn to the space—and to its aloof but seductive creator. Moving in, Jane soon learns about the untimely death of the home's previous tenant, a woman similar to Jane in age and appearance. As Jane tries to untangle truth from lies, she unwittingly follows the same patterns, makes the same choices, crosses paths with the same people, and experiences the same terror, as the girl before.

Published by Random House Publishing, Ballantine and will be released Jan. 24th! Tomorrow!

*****

Always by Sarah Jio... While enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with her fiancé, Ryan, at one of Seattle's chicest restaurants, Kailey Crane can't believe her good fortune: She has a great job as a writer for the Herald and is now engaged to a guy who is perfect in nearly every way. As they leave the restaurant, Kailey spies a thin, bearded homeless man on the sidewalk. She approaches him to offer up her bag of leftovers, and is stunned when their eyes meet, then stricken to her very core: The man is the love of her life, Cade McAllister. 

When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense—everything connected and felt right. But it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now the poor soul on the street is a faded version of her former beloved: His weathered and weary face is as handsome as Kailey remembers, but his mind has suffered in the intervening years. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes that she must decide exactly what—and whom—she wants.

Alternating between the past and the present, Always is a beautifully unfolding exploration of a woman faced with an impossible choice, a woman who discovers what she's willing to save and what she will sacrifice for true love.

Published by Random House Publishing, Ballantine and will be released Feb. 7, 2017.

*****                           

I Found You by Lisa Jewell... A young bride, a lonely single mother, and an amnesiac man of dubious origin lie at the heart of New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell’s next suspenseful drama that will appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty and Paula Hawkins.

In a windswept British seaside town, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside.

Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one. Then the police tell her that her husband never existed.

Twenty-three years earlier, Gray and Kirsty are teenagers on a summer holiday with their parents. Their annual trip to the quaint seaside town is passing by uneventfully, until an enigmatic young man starts paying extra attention to Kirsty. Something about him makes Gray uncomfortable—and it’s not just that he’s playing the role of protective older brother.

Published by Atria Books with a release date of April 25, 2017.

*****

the night the lights went out by Karen White... Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It’s not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren’t helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail.

Merilee finds some measure of peace in the cottage she is renting from town matriarch Sugar Prescott. Though stubborn and irascible, Sugar sees something of herself in Merilee—something that allows her to open up about her own colorful past.

Sugar’s stories give Merilee a different perspective on the town and its wealthy school moms in their tennis whites and shiny SUVs, and even on her new friendship with Heather Blackford. Merilee is charmed by the glamorous young mother’s seemingly perfect life and finds herself drawn into Heather's world.

In a town like Sweet Apple, where sins and secrets are as likely to be found behind the walls of gated mansions as in the dark woods surrounding Merilee’s house, appearance is everything. But just how dangerous that deception can be will shock all three women....

Published by Berkey Publishing Group with a release date of April 11, 2017