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Special Feature/Excerpt: The Codebreaker’s Secret by Sara Ackerman
I have never wanted to visit Hawaii so much! Whenever I read one of Sara Ackerman’s books set in Hawaii, I simply want to go there instantly! I have never been to Hawaii but I feel like I have simply by reading her books! Her love of Hawaii resonates in every book she writes and I always come away from one of her books feeling like I just took a vacation. Not only is her love for the island evident, her history is interesting and the stories and characters always well done. It’s been a while since I read one of her books and I am actually currently reading this…
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Special Feature: Mademoiselle Revolution by Zoe Sivak
I love seeing all these new historical fiction books featuring characters of color and of the LGBTQ community! It’s exciting and refreshing to see a new side of history told from a new perspective. I am always eager to check out books that have substance and a rich historical backdrop and interesting locations. I have said this often enough, a lot of historical fiction is set in England and France—-familiar landscapes for readers. But if you read a lot of historical fiction, you will likely grow board of these locations. This is why this book appealed to me so much—it is set in Haiti and then moves to France. I…
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Review: The Mozart Code by Rachel McMillan
Over the years I have read and enjoyed many or Rachel McMillan’s books! I especially loved her book The London Restoration that I read in 2020. It was a standalone novel with lots of historical detail and some romance. While I enjoyed her historical mysteries, it was the standalone novel that really made me love her writing! When I saw that she was coming out with a new standalone piece of historical fiction, I was eager to get my hands on it. I love books about espionage and spies especially when they are women spies! I have read a lot of historical fiction with female spies in WWII and while…
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Special Feature: The Accidental Pinup by Danielle Jackson
I absolutely love the message this books sends! Like it or not, representation in all forms matters! When I was growing up, I was not necessarily a ‘big girl’ but I certainly wasn’t a Kate Moss either! Kate Moss was the quintessential ‘ideal woman’ of the 1990s. She was on the cover of every magazine I read at that time and I just couldn’t understand why I didn’t look like her. I knew from a very young age that there just weren’t ‘plus’ or ‘athletic’ women on any covers or ad campaigns. Now everywhere I look, I see thicker women, plus size models, and athletic women on covers, in ad…
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Special Feature: The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
While some people like their summer reading fluffy and warm, others prefer their summer beach reads with a little spook and creep factors! Personally I can go wither way but with a sea of warm fluffy beach reads on my list I thought it might be nice to add a litlte bit of the unknown into my summer reading line up! Enter this book which I thought would be more ghost story but from the sound of it, it’s going to be more about a ghostwriterbut might have an element or two to satisfy your spooky reads urning. I am so excited for this book that merges the paranormal, chick…
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The Ultimate Must-Read Rom-Coms for Pride Month
Many books with LGBTQ+ characters and queer themes have been banned in the past. NBC reports that five out of ten books that were most banned in 2021 were flagged for having LGBTQ+ content. With pride month coming to a close, reading these works can help people explore perspectives from different sexualities and gender identities through the stories these books tell. More importantly, genres like rom-com can show that queer joy is possible, despite it being a month of protest for rights and respect. Here are just a few queer rom-com books you might enjoy: The Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee If you are a fan of young love and the…
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Special Feature: Dog Friendly by Victoria Schade
I have been a huge fan of Victoria Schade over the years! I love the adorable dogs on the covers of her books plus, the stories feature strong women who are maybe struggling with something in their personal or professional lives (hello this could be ANY of us ladies!) and then she throws in a touch of romance and cute dogs and I just can’t say no to one of her books! This book is no different! I am reading it a little later this summer and I cannot wait to meet more cute dogs plus a hunky surfer if the summary is to be trusted! Schade’s books are just…
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Review: The Beach Trap by Ali Brady
I love beach reads season! I love the carefree, relaxed, fluffy appraoch to beach reading every year and as the summer approaches I usually have a list of books that I can’t wait to read on vacation over the summer. This book was right up there for me. It sounded like a blend of The Parent Trap and an HGTV show that I could absolutely get behind. Plus a friend of mine recently went to Destin, Florida and the photos looked amazing so I could completely visualize what this beach house might look like! But as I got into this one I found that it was NOT in fact a…
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Special Feature: A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey
There is nothing quite like a road trip in the summer is there? I love driving and seeing different places but with gas prices the way they are this summer, I will probably be staying mostly close to home. Which leave me feeling a little sad since every summer my family and I try to road trip somewhere either in Oregon or in the immediate vicinity. There are plenty of road trip destinations in Oregon but the gas prices are breaking the bank here! So where does that leave me? Longing for a road trip of some kind—-enter this book! I thought this sounded like the perfect book to read…
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Review: Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair by June Gervais
This book appealed to me for one big reason—the main character wanted to be a tattoo artist! I loved that plot point and I was eager to read it simply for that! I have two full tattoo sleeves and tattoo culture has changed SO MUCH since I got my first tattoo. When I was 18 (1999 ish) I was sure no one would hire me with a visible tattoo so I got a tiny one on my shoulder, flash forward 20 years and here I am with a professional job and full sleeve tattoos and PLENTY of other visible ones too. I love tattoos and the tattoo culture and I…