Review: Radar Girls by Sara Ackerman

I have read all of Sara Ackerman’s books and I haven’t been disappointed once! I love how her books are set in WWII but they always seem to feel different than the usual WWII books that I have read. I think location really plays a part here. All of her books are set in Hawaii, not only does that add an exotic feel to the books, but it makes them feel fresh—like I am reading something totally new!

While her books might have similar themes and settings, I always feel like I am reading something different each time I pick up one of her books. I know that the author has also said a number of times that there are endless tapped into stories in Hawaii and I tend to agree with her. Almost all WWII novels are set in Europe or maybe in Japan but few are exclusively set in Hawaii.

Prior to reading Ackerman’s books, I never had any real desire to visit Hawaii or see Pearl Harbor, but after reading her books and I totally inspired to visit Hawaii and Pearl Harbor in the near future! She writes with such love and passion for the landscape, people, and the island’s history that it is infectious! I absolutely love her books and I highly recommend checking them out especially if you love WWII novels but want something truly different and new!

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Review: Three Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Veteran authors, Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb, really are a winning team if you ask me! I have loved many of their novels and when I saw this one was coming out I just knew I had to get my hands on it! Each author has their own unique voice and style but at the end of the day, they blend together so well that their books never feel disjointed or confusing.

Sometimes with multiple authors, it can be hard to marry the two different voices to create a well written story, but I have never felt like that with Gaynor and Webb. I have read their own independent novels as well as their collaborative works and I always finish their books feeling like I read a well written book with interesting characters and voices!

The other things that drew me into this book was that it featured the RMS Queen Mary. The Queen Mary is like the more modern version of the Titanic…a luxurious boat tailored to the upper crust of society. I didn’t know too much about the Queen Mary prior to reading this book but I did know that it was a fancy-schmancy ship for it’s time so I was eager to learn more!

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Re-Share Review: The End of Her by Shari Lapena

If you love Shari Lapena, you will not doubt have seen this book and most likely read it already! But if you haven’t it is out now in paperback and I am so excited to re-share my review with all of you guys today! I read it when it first came out last year during all of my extensive COVID reading and found that his book was a wonderful mystery that kept my interest and while I have only read a few books by Lapena, I found that this one was one of my favorites so far!

Shari Lapena is such a talented writer and she consistently churns out well written thrillers/mysteries. And when I say consistently I mean like one a year which is incredibly impressive! I love her writing style and her books always keep my interest so if you are looking for a solid and consistent writer, you cannot do better than Lapena!

I am so excited to re-share my review with you guys for the paperback release and make sure to check out the links below to see where you can snag a copt of this great summer read today!

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Review: For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

I absolutely loved Samantha Downing’s first novel, My Lovely Wife. In fact, I even read it twice because I thought it was such a great read and my book club loved it too! Her second novel He Started It, just didn’t grab me like the first one. I haven’t read it yet but the description just didn’t sound as exciting or interesting as My Lovely Wife sounded when I first heard of it. But when I saw this one was coming out—her third thriller—the description sounded so excellent and I just couldn’t pass up!

I love novels about darker academia and this book sounded like it would be a perfect summer thriller read so it was an easy yes for review from me! I also saw that it was recently announced that Robert Downey Jr and HBO Max have teamed up to option this stunning new thriller for the streaming service in the coming year!

If that bit of news doesn’t grab your attention then I don’t know what will! I was already interested in this novel based on the name Samantha Downing but adding in one of my favorite actors to potentially produce and create this book into a series sounds absolutely irresistible to me! I cannot wait to see what the vision is for this book when it comes to the HBO Max series, after reading the book I think it’s going to be a perfect book to bring to the streaming service! You should definitely run out and secure a copy of this book now, it’s going to be a hot read this summer!

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Review: The Devil and the Heiress (The Gilded Age Heiresses #2) by Harper St. George

After reading The Heiress Gets a Duke earlier this year, Harper St George was on my ‘one to watch’ list. I immediately preordered this book and was eager to find out what happened to the more reserved Crenshaw sister, Violet. In the first book, August was more headstrong and a little more bold than her sister so I was eager to see how Violet’s character was explored in this one.

Not only do St George’s novels boast fantastic covers but they boast non conventional heroines and dashing heroes with an edge. If you love historical romances I would highly recommend checking this new series out. I found that this book (like the first) was a quick read and you could easily pick it up and put it down and pick it up again and not feel lost. It makes a great read for busy moms who are trying to watch their kids but simply can’t watch another episode of Blippi!

Since it’s summer break, my son is home with me and on those hot days when we are stuck inside we are often watching Blippi—however, I would rather be reading something else more entertaining. So while he’s watching tv, I am able to read a bit. This was the perfect novel to distract me and enjoy but when he needed a snack I could set it down and then pick right back up where I left off and not feel lost in the story or going back to read a page of two because I forgot what was happening!

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