Reading
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Review: All About Evie by Cathy Lamb
I have only read one of Cathy Lamb’s novels but as soon as I finished, I knew this was an author that I wanted to read more of! Not only is she a local author for me (she’s from Oregon!) but she’s innovative with a strong voice and writing skills. Reading one of her books was a delight and when I saw this one was coming up, I was looking forward to it for months! Besides the author’s name and appeal to me, I was instantly attracted to the story as well—mostly because it’s set on the San Juan Islands. If you have never been to the San Juan Islands,…
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Review: The Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox
I discovered Hester Fox last year with her debut novel, The Witch of Willow Hall, and thought it was marvelous. When I saw that she had another haunting novel coming out, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it! I even saved it as my special October/Halloween feature! It was released in the middle of September, and even though I wanted to start reading it right away, I also wanted to set the mood because her books demand it so I saved it for October! Before we get down to this book, let’s talk for a minute about the cover! How unbelievably beautiful is this cover? I love this…
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Review: The Shining by Stephen King
Every year my sister and I pick a scary book for October and do a buddy read. Last year we did Frankenstein and we both hated it so much that we both DNF! This year we vowed to pick something better. We tossed around a few options but ultimately settled on this classic horror novel by the king of horror Stephen King himself. Neither of us have read King before so we thought this one would be a good starting point. Wait—I take that back. I started reading The Gunslinger and I had no idea what was going on so I stopped reading it so I don’t count that as…
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Review: Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women #1) by Evie Dunmore
Get ready people, I am here to rave about this book! This book was my September Book of the Month pick and I picked it because I loved the cover. I thought it looked whimsical and fun and would be a nice break from all the horror books I planned to read in October. I got it in September and then it got buried in my TBR stack until I decided to do a little dusting and then I found it and set it out to read as soon as I was done with The Shining. As soon as I was done with that book I knew that reading this…
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Review: Cilka’s Journey (The Tattooist of Auschwitz #2) by Heather Morris
I am probably the last person alive who hasn’t read The Tattooist of Auschwitz! And to think, I call myself a historical fiction fan. The Tattooist of Auschwitz was on my radar months before its release but I worried it would be a heavy read and at that time, I was reading a lot of heavy books and I just wasn’t ready for another one. After that, I sort of forgot about it in favor of other new releases. Then this book showed up on my desk for review, the second in this series. I knew there wasn’t time for me to read The Tattooist of Auschwitz before reading this…
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Excerpt and Special Feature: Meant to Be Yours (Happily Inc. #5) by Susan Mallery
Who doesn’t love a good romance novel? I am a sucker for love stories, especially ones that involve people who work in the wedding industry! For a long time I thought about becoming a wedding planner (I LOVE to organize things!) because it looked like so much fun and watching people in love is so addicting. Then my sister got married and trying to help her plan her wedding was a nightmare (bridezilla!) and that short lived dream dissolved! But that hasn’t derailed me from reading books with wedding planners as the heroines! As we get closer to the holidays, I find myself moving away from all my creepy horror…
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Review: The Art of Theft (Lady Sherlock #4) by Sherry Thomas
Do you ever just come across a book that by all accounts you should absolutely love, and then you just don’t? Well that’s what happened to me with the Lady Sherlock series. I picked up the first book fully ready to be hooked and in love with this series only to feel let down and disappointed. I don’t even think I finished the first book and I didn’t pick up any of the others in the series. I was heart broken and as the years have gone on, I keep thinking I should pick this series up again because it should be a series that I love. Sassy heroines, Victorian…
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Review: A Convenient Fiction (Parish Orphans of Devon #3) by Mimi Matthews
Oh Mimi Matthews, you have my heart when it comes to historical romances. I absolutely love all of her books and I can’t rave about them enough. I have been eager to read this latest installment of her Parish Orphans of Devon series for the last few weeks and finally cracked it open and as predicted, I read it in like one sitting. I was most eager to read Alex’s story and see how his romance evolved. In the other books he is the most mysterious and I love a mysterious rogue. So yes to say this book was high on my most anticipated list is an absolute understatement.
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Review: Secrets of the Chocolate House (Found Things #2) by Paula Brackston
Paula Brackston is a favorite author of mine. I’ve read almost all of her books and with each read, I feel like I walked away satisfied and looking forward to the next book. She has a deft hand with magical realism and all things ‘witchy’. She is probably most known for her ‘witch’ books of which I have read almost all of them (The Silver Witch, The Midnight Witch etc) as well as a host of other works by her. After reading the first book in this particular series, I was eager to see what direction this book took! After reading this one, I do think that readers who haven’t…
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Special Feature: Things She’s Seen (Northern Circle Coven #2) by Pat Esden
We are quickly approaching Halloween and if you guys are anything like me, your TBR stack for October is probably full of stories about vampires, witches, and ghosts! Are you still trying to sneak in another paranormal or suspense read before the big day? Well if you are then look no further than this fun paranormal witchy book! I know it’s the second in a series, but from what I have heard you can pick it up as a stand alone! It’s also been getting rave reviews and I am thrilled to be able to share it with you guys! With it coming in at just over 300 pages, it’s…