The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
I can’t believe I just realized all my WWW Wednesday posts this year said 2023 LOL. OH WOW – guess I have to change that. See, I told you my brain has been elsewhere this year. Anyway, it’s May and my kids end the school year in 4 weeks – they are so excited. My daughter has her big recital this weekend and this will be it for her ballet and tap days. She might be trying something more mellow, like hula next. We shall see!
Did I read more this week? Not really…but I’m glad I had some progress, really slow progress, but at least it’s progress.
#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @Local Bee Hunter’s Nook and you can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.
Twin queens Rose & Wren survived the Battle for Anadawn and brought back magic to their kingdom. But danger lurks in Eana’s shadows.
Wren is troubled. Ever since she performed the blood spell on Prince Ansel, her magic has become unruly. Worse, the spell created a link between Wren and the very man she’s trying to forget: Icy King Alarik of Gevra. A curse is eating away at both of them. To fix it they must journey to the northern mountains—under the watchful guard of Captain Tor Iversen—to consult with the Healer on High.
Rose is haunted. Waking one night to find her undead ancestor Oonagh Starcrest by her bed, she receives a warning: surrender the throne—or face a war that will destroy Eana. With nowhere to turn and desperate to find a weapon to defeat Oonagh, Rose seeks help from Shen-Lo in the Sunkissed Kingdom, but what she finds there may break her heart.
As Oonagh threatens all Rose and Wren hold dear, it will take everything they have to save Eana–including a sacrifice they may not be prepared to make.
From the nationally bestselling author of The Guncle comes the much-anticipated sequel, in which Patrick O’Hara is called back to his guncle duties…at a big, family wedding in Lake Como, Italy.
Patrick O’Hara is finally in a league of his own…professionally. Inspired by his stint as Grant and Maisie’s caretaker after their mother’s passing, Patrick has “un-stalled” his acting career with sit-com, Guncle Knows Best . Still, some things have had to take a back seat. Looking down both barrels at fifty, Patrick is single and lonely after breaking things off with Emory. But at least he has family, right? When his brother Greg announces his big, second wedding in Lake Como, Italy, Patrick feels pulled toward Grant and Maisie and flies to Europe to attend the lavish event, only to butt heads with a newfound Launt (Lesbian Aunt), curb his sister Clara from flirting with guests, and desperately restore himself to the favored relative status in the eyes of the kids, as they struggle to adjust to a new normal. But is it Patrick’s job to save the day? Or is simply celebrating love enough to quell the family chaos? Gracing the page with his signature blend of humor and heart, Steven Rowley delivers the long-awaited sequel to a beloved story, all about the complicated bonds of family, love, and what it takes to rediscover yourself, even at the ripe age of fifty.
The duke of the powerful House Hauteclare is the first to die. With my dagger in his back.
He didn’t see it coming. Didn’t anticipate the bastard daughter who was supposed to die with her mother—on his order. He should have left us with the rest of the Station’s starving, commoner rubbish.
Now there’s nothing left. Just icy-white rage and a need to make House Hauteclare pay. Every damn one of them.
Even if it means riding Heavenbreaker—one of the few enormous machines left over from the War—and jousting against the fiercest nobles in the system.
Each win means another one of my enemies dies. And here, in the cold terror of space, the machine and I move as one, intent on destroying each adversary—even if it’s someone I care about. Even if it’s someone I’m falling for.
Only I’m not alone. Not anymore.
Because there’s something in the machine with me. Something horrifying. Something…more.
A young technomancer teams up with a handsome thief to save her sister in this propulsive, magic-filled young adult fantasy that is perfect for fans of Gearbreakers and Iron Widow .
Adya wants nothing more than to be left alone. Content to be loyal to no one but herself in the isolated jungles of South India, she dreams only of finding her lost sister, Priya, and making enough money to take care of their family. It’s too bad that her rare ability to wake electric machines—using the magic that wiped them out five centuries ago—also makes her a coveted political pawn. Everyone seems to believe that her technomancy can help them win the endless war for control over the magic’s supernatural source.
These senseless power struggles mean little to Adya. But when her enemies dangle news of her sister before her, she’s all too quick to leap at the chance to bring Priya home—even if it means teaming up with a rakish, disreputable thief in order to do it. With the threat of invasion looming ever larger on the horizon, Adya must reconcile the kind of person she is with the kind of person she wants to be and untangle the web of intrigue, conspiracy, and deceit that threatens to take all of India down with it.
The stunning conclusion to the story that started in What the River Knows. A lush immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, and a rivals-to-lovers romance like no other!
1885, Egypt
Inez Olivera is left reeling from her cousin Elvira’s murder, and her mother’s betrayal, and when Tío Ricardo issues an ultimatum about her inheritance, she’s left with only one option to consider.
Marriage to Whitford Hayes.
Former British soldier, her uncle’s aide de camp, and one time nemesis, Whit has his own mysterious reasons for staying in Egypt. With her heart on the line, Inez might have to bind her fate to the one person whose secret plans could ruin her.
Have you read any of these? Or plan to read any of these?
What a week and I didn’t realize mercury was in retrograde until I checked and yup total makes sense! I had ants in the house this week but I found where they were coming in from and plugged the hole up. Then my neighbor had something to show me – apparently the dryer vent cover on the outside of my house was damaged, knocked off? Not sure it happened or when – over time? But my neighbor said he saw a bird come out of my dryer vent! Sure enough I saw it happen with my own eyes – I had to remove all the twigs and leaves they stuffed in there but they kept coming back so I tried to put some chicken fence wire over the hole flap until I could get the right covering at the hardware store. But these mynah birds weren’t hindered and I kept finding twigs hanging out of the hole and having to climb a ladder to remove them. Definitely wish my husband was here to take care of it BUT he’s not 🤷🏻♀️…anyway I got so tired of cleaning the hole, I put a piece of duct tape on the flap and they haven’t been able to remove it – HA! They kept me busy for 2 days until I put that tape – dunno why I didn’t just do that in the first place.
Then I called a vent cleaning service to clean my dryer vent. God knows what those birds shoved into my vent! I even saw a bird on the fence with a small plastic bag in it’s mouth before I shooed it away. It was time to get a vent cleaning anyway, we’ve been at this house for 10 years. And sure enough there was a lot of lint in the vent and strings and other random things the birds have stuffed it with to make a nest. So glad I got it cleaned out!
So after figuring out the ant hole, and tape was the answer for the vent and booking the vent cleaning service, feeling like I accomplished a lot this week fighting animals lol…Wednesday night my son is brushing his teeth in his bathroom at 9pm and then starts yelling “there’s a centipede in the sink!!”. I hate roaches and centipedes but Hawaii has lots of them because of our tropical weather…I’ve done good blocking up cracks at the bottom doors so they don’t come in over the years. And I usually have my hubby deal with the bugs – of course with him not there I had to get brave LOL. UGHHHHH I hate centipedes. The ones in Hawaii sting too – and they are ugly UGH. Usually I find them in my backyard after heavy rains. Guess this one was looking for water or something, I have no clue but it was climbing out of his sink drain. I sprayed blindly at it with a can of Raid and that took care of it. But let me tell you I had a hard time going to sleep after that. Last time one got into the house was 10 years ago 😅. I guess this was our 10 year anniversary centipede. 😫 Let’s just say my son doesn’t want to use his sink and we’ve now kept the sinks plugged up when not in use. Then the next day I had him take our recyclables to our recycle bin outside and he came back with all the items still in his hand and he said “mom there is a centipede by the bin”. And it was a BIG one ughhhhhh – sprayed it and watched it wiggle as I jumped out of it’s way. I said maybe he will have good luck this week LOL. 😅 And he kinda did – he got to 100 subs on his youtube channel this week!
Mercury retrograde and Passover? I was visited by plagues this week – so on brand. 🤦🏻♀️ So not cool! 😅 But it can only get good from now on right?! Right!
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
Categories: Young Adult, New Adult, Romance, Second Chance Romance
You can’t always go home again.
Ellis and Easton have been inseparable since childhood. But when a rash decision throws Ellis’s life—and her relationship with Easton— into chaos she’s forced to move halfway across the country, far from everything she’s ever known.
Now Ellis hasn’t spoken to Easton in a year, and maybe it’s better that way; maybe eventually the Easton shaped hole in her heart will heal. But when Easton’s mother invites her home for a celebration, Ellis finds herself tangled up in the web of heartache, betrayal, and anger she left behind… and with the boy she never stopped loving.
Having read this after listening to The Tortured Poets Department was such an experience! I didn’t mean for that to happen by the way but that’s what happened. And so many songs were resonating with what was happening in this book and Easton is a tortured poet for sure! What a coincidence right?
Ellis has made it – she graduated from high school in San Diego, a town that isn’t home. Now she is invited back home to Indiana, for a 50th birthday party for the woman who practically raised her and the three boys she was close to when she lived with them. Dixon, and Tucker are like brothers to her but Easton, is something more. There are events that happen in the book leading up to the moment Ellis and Easton are separated which sets off a hard journey for them to get back together.
There is angst, mutual pining, and so many feelings that aren’t communicated between Ellis and Easton. Their love story is so sweet but heart wrenching because she’s the girl from the wrong side of the tracks and Easton is the boy with loving parents and an easy upbringing. They are together, then torn apart, then thank you for the happy-ending, brought back together. I almost thought it wasn’t going to happen though, it got frustrating, but eventually they broke through to one another. A lot of things had to happen, like Ellis really facing her demons and Easton being patient through it all and telling her how he feels. I was sort of rooting for them, but also rooting for them not to be a toxic kind of love.
I loved how Sandry (Easton’s mom) took Ellis in. I love how Tucker became her best friend. But I also love that people in her dysfunctional family loved her too and showed it, like Tenny, her cousin and her grandma. This story showed that families are complicated but there can be love there too. I appreciated the layers of this story.
My Final Thoughts:
I loved this book and I think this author is becoming a must-read author for me. I can’t wait to read more of her books!
Quotes From the Book:
“I’m so sick of waiting to be saved or waiting for find myself because I’m too afraid the person I find will disappoint someone else.”
Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer
“I stand here and feel other. Not quite one of them, but not quite something else. It’s how I feel everywhere.”
Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer
“Because all the people who love me don’t want to keep me, but I can’t stop feeling like I need to please them.”
Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer
“I forgot about this. People who can laugh at shitty things. People who don’t think the sky is falling when something small goes wrong. They call it perspective. Or being jaded. Or worse, a grateful attitude. Really, it’s just survival. A word I hate as much as I own.”
Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer
“We keep having the same argument with words that circle the same hurt over and over again.”
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
I haven’t picked up a book all weekend because I’ve been streaming Taylor Swift’s new album and trying to decode the lyrics – it’s been a grower for me but so good! I can’t believe we are almost at the end of April. My daughter is going to be busy with her tap recital being next week so we have stage rehearsals this week. Not sure if I’ll finish any books this week but I do have an audiobook I can listen to.
#5OnMyTBR is a bookish meme hosted by E. @Local Bee Hunter’s Nook and you can learn more about it here or in the post announcing it. It occurs every Monday when we post about 5 books on our TBR.
College sweethearts meet again years later, in this highly anticipated romance and companion story to the viral TikTok sensation The Cheat Sheet.
Nora Mackenzie’s entire career lies in the hands of famous NFL tight end Derek Pender who also happens to be her extremely hot college ex-boyfriend. Nora didn’t end things as gracefully as she could have back then, and now it’s come back to haunt her. Derek is her first client as an official full-time sports agent and he’s holding a grudge.
Derek has set his sights on a little friendly revenge. If Nora Mackenzie, the first girl to ever break his heart, wants to be his agent, oh he’ll let her be his agent. The plan is make Nora’s life absolutely miserable. But if Derek knows anything about the woman he once loved—she won’t quit easily.
Instead of giving in, Nora starts a scheme of her own. But then a wild night in Vegas leads to Nora and Derek in bed the next morning married. With their rule book out the window, could this new relationship be the thing to save their careers?
A struggling waitress and the heir to a major Seattle company stumble into a high-profile fake engagement while simultaneously trying to keep up with their own love lives in this flirty fall rom-com!
Lexi Danby is looking for some no-strings, fall fun. Once a college track star, she was forced to drop out when her father passed away. Now she’s trying to make ends meet while putting herself through school and caring for her grieving mother. When her comically bad waitressing lands her directly in the path of a handsome, charming stranger named Will, Lexi may just have found the distraction she’s been looking for. Their first date looks promising until a misunderstanding at a party thrusts Lexi and Will into a fake engagement they can’t talk themselves out of. And Will turns out to be a member of Seattle royalty.
Will Grand is heir to a major company, and Seattle’s most eligible bachelor. But he’s been placed in charge of an important merger with a company that values family above all else, and needs to show them that he’s settled down. While a fake engagement is advantageous from a business standpoint, it’s not so great for a budding relationship with a woman who’s wary of commitment. With a woman who Will is beginning to care about much more than he could have anticipated.
As Lexi gets a taste of Will’s glamorous world and the pair keeps up the pretense of their fake engagement for the press, they decide to see where a more casual relationship takes them out of the spotlight. And amid apple picking in comfy flannels, outdoor breweries in the crisp air, and fun Halloween preparations, Lexi starts to realize the scariest part of the season might just be taking a chance on love.
“Sophie Sullivan consistently crafts romances to root for.” -Courtney Kae, author of In the Event of Love and In the Case of Heartbreak
Two string players fight their attraction for each other as they compete for center stage in this spicy and emotional romance.
Gwen Jackson and Xander Thorne are both musical prodigies, but each has had very different paths to success. Xander was born into classical music royalty, while Gwen had a natural ear for music that was nurtured by a kind shop owner.
After Gwen performs at his friend’s wedding, she’s mortified when she realizes Xander has no clue who she is—despite having worked together for a year at the Pops Orchestra. But she’s more furious that he arrogantly critiques her performance.
When Gwen is offered the role of First Chair of the orchestra, something Xander had secretly coveted for years, their existing hostility goes up a notch. But their respect for each other’s music is undeniable, and their onstage chemistry off the scale. As they begin to explore their feelings for one another, suddenly they’re box office dynamite and the fragile romance that’s growing between them is in danger of being crushed beneath a publicity stunt…
Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it’s now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work.
Emma hadn’t planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.
It’s supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?
Two love sceptics agree to work together as professional wedding disruptors. But fate has more romantic plans in mind for them . . .
When Sophie finds out right before getting married that she’s been cheated on (again!) it’s time for drastic action. Instead of calling the wedding off, she hires a gorgeous stranger – Max – to interrupt the ceremony and confront her fiancé. It’s hardly the wedding she’d planned. But Sophie enjoys taking revenge. So, when Max asks if she’ll work with him to help others expose their cheating partners, Sophie agrees. When they’re hired by a man who’s marrying the girl that once broke Max’s heart, Sophie expects Max to revel in the job. But instead, he seems to be wrestling with his feelings for his ex. And worse than that, Sophie is jealous . . .Tropes/ Friends to lovers2. Slow burn romance3. Spicy books4. Love triangle
Have you read any of these? Or plan to read any of these?
I got over my illness – YAY! And right as my coughing was coming to an end, my daughter’s allergies/coughing started again and she got pink eye. 😅 Spring has not been kind to us!
My best friend since kindergarten so yes…that is 40 years of friendship 🥲🥰, had neck fusion surgery this past Tuesday. So my thoughts have been on her too – she was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis when we were in the second grade, I still remember our teacher explaining why she was going to miss so much class time. Anyway, it’s been a battle these past 40 years for her, with a knee replacement and hip replacement all before the age of 21, daily pain, joints fusing but she’s been a fighter. Her brother is giving me updates as he gets them – but the surgery went well, she’s just dealing with the pain now. 😔 So I have been worried about her but I am SO glad the surgery went well.
My daughter’s dance recital is coming up so we are busy with that. I didn’t get much reading done at all. Still in my slump I think and maybe it’s needed?
The Tortured Poets Department (Taylor Swift) – The Tortured Poets Department: Anthology – My Thoughts – first initial reaction I thought the whole thing was too slow but after a few listens, I think it’s perfect to listen to for when I’m doing certain tasks like blogging ☺️
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
Finally I am feeling much better! Still some congestion but most of the yuckiness and the coughing is gone thank goodness. But now my daughter has pink eye so yay…fun! Now I’m trying to avoid that lol. I haven’t posted much, I haven’t read much and if I did it was one or two pages and then I’d put the book down. Not sure why I’m in such a slump but have you read any amazing books lately? If you have drop some recs in the comments, please!
I got sick the day of the solar eclipse – we only got a 20% eclipse here in Hawaii, but yeah was feeling yucky at the end of the day and then the next few days I was struggling to get through my days with congestion, joint aching, chills, coughing, vertigo – it sucked and I FINALLY feel someone better though I’m still coughing. So I had no motivation to blog at all. I was sleeping, a LOT this week – but it’s just me so I had to at least get my kids to school and fed this week.😅 My sweet dog was my cuddle buddy the whole time I was napping two times a day. He knew I was feeling poorly. I just really hate all the coughing that happens at night, ugh it hurts my whole upper body, so I feel like I need a massage after this week.
I did manage to read two books because I would wake up in the middle of the night coughing and couldn’t go back to sleep. So at least I accomplished that!
I haven’t picked up anything to read and I won’t until maybe tomorrow because I just needed to get through this weekend. 😫
Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:
Bring it On (movie) – I needed a feel good movie and this was perfect.
Coachella (youtube) – Chappell Roan, Lana Del Rey
How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!
The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What have you just finished reading?
What are you going to read next?
I am a little off this week – my daughter caught her monthly cold last week, and then I think I have a bit of it or allergies. I can’t tell, but I feel funky – even woke up with vertigo yesterday, which SUCKS bad. I had to drain my sinuses which helped a lot. So I have a cough, post-nasal drip and just low energy. I feel like I’m in a reading slump, or I can’t seem to find the kind of book I want to read. Anyway, I’m pushing through some arcs, not a lot but I’d rather stay on top of them.
I feel like I’ve been a little sloppy with my posts too or scheduling them. I posted two Top Ten Tuesdays yesterday lol. 😅 Sorry about that.
Past Midnight Book Reviews & More 