Book Review for Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan

 Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan 

 

320 pages, Paperback 

Publication June 6, 2023 

Genre:  Romance, Chick Lit 

 

 

Taken from Goodreads:  The ultimate summer nostalgia read, about an engaged woman who comes face to face with her first love who she hasn't seen in fourteen years, but who she spent every summer with from age five to seventeen when he broke her heart, calling into question everything she thought she knew about their love story, and herself. 
 
Beach Rules: 
Do take long walks on the sand. 
Do put an umbrella in every cocktail. 
Do NOT run into your first love. 
 
Sam's life is on track. She has the perfect doctor fiancée, Jack (his strict routines are a good thing, really), a great job in Manhattan (unless they fire her) and is about to tour a wedding venue near her family's Long Island beach house. Everything should go to plan, yet the minute she arrives, Sam senses something is. Wyatt is here. Her Wyatt. But there's no reason for a thirty-year-old engaged woman to feel panicked around the guy who broke her heart when she was seventeen. Right? 
 
Yet being back at this beach, hearing notes from Wyatt's guitar float across the night air from next door as if no time has passed--Sam's memories come flooding back: the feel of Wyatt's skin on hers, their nights in the treehouse, and the truth behind their split. Sam remembers who she used to be, and as Wyatt reenters her life their connection is as undeniable as it always was. She will have to make a choice. 

 

My Thoughts:   Wyatt is the person in Sam’s life that always let her be.  He encouraged her freedom while also showing her how to live.   Wyatt breaks Sam’s heart one summer and her entire life changes when she meets Jack.  He is organized, has set routines, and has expectations that he meets and everyone he is with will meet.   

 

From the minute Wyatt came back into Sam’s life, I could feel that there was so much unfinished between them.   I had hopes that they would get back together but even more I wanted them to be okay as friends.  I wanted them to look back at whatever tore them apart and put themselves back together.   Their past is one that has to be dealt with for either of them to be able to move forward.    

Same Time Next Summer is an easy book to read but it has many lessons within its pages.   It tells the story of young heartbreak, finding yourself, and learning what is most important in life.    

 

Thank you Putnam Books for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.  

 

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads 

Purchase your own copy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble 

 

Meet AnnaBel Monagham (taken from Goodreads):  Annabel Monaghan writes for TheWeek.com, The Huffington Post and The Rye Record. Her first book for adults, Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big? is a collection of humorous essays for moms (Fischer Press 2016). She is the author of two novels for young adults, A Girl Named Digit and Double Digit (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2010 and 2012), and she is the co-author of Click! The Girls Guide to Knowing What You Want and Making it Happen (Simon and Schuster 2007). Annabel teaches novel writing at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in Rye, New York with her husband and three sons. 

Book Review for The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel

 The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel 

Genre:  Historical Fiction, WWII

Publication: June 6th 2023 by Gallery Books

 

Taken from Goodreads:  From the bestselling author of the “heart-stopping tale of survival and heroism” (People) The Book of Lost Names comes a gripping historical novel about two mothers who must make unthinkable choices in the face of the Nazi occupation.

Paris, 1939: Young mothers Elise and Juliette become fast friends the day they meet in the beautiful Bois de Boulogne. Though there is a shadow of war creeping across Europe, neither woman suspects that their lives are about to irrevocably change.

When Elise becomes a target of the German occupation, she entrusts Juliette with the most precious thing in her life—her young daughter, playmate to Juliette’s own little girl. But nowhere is safe in war, not even a quiet little bookshop like Juliette’s Librairie des Rêves, and, when a bomb falls on their neighborhood, Juliette’s world is destroyed along with it.

More than a year later, with the war finally ending, Elise returns to reunite with her daughter, only to find her friend’s bookstore reduced to rubble. Surviving neighbors tell her that Juliette and a little girl survived. But which little girl—and what happened in the bookstore’s final moments? Juliette has seemingly vanished without a trace, taking all the answers with her. Elise’s desperate quest to find out what happened to her daughter ultimately leads her to New York—and to Juliette—one final, fateful time.

An “exquisite and gut-wrenching novel” (Lisa Barr, New York Times bestselling author) you won’t soon forget, The Paris Daughter is also a sweeping celebration of resilience, motherhood, and love.

My Thoughts:  Phenomenal!   This book tore my heart up and then put it piece by piece together. Being a mother during WWII meant not only keeping yourself alive but also keeping your children alive.  This means leaving your children behind to be kept safe or sending them away to keep them safe.   The Paris Daughter is the story of a woman who made the choice to leave her daughter with her best friend while she feels the Nazi’s.  While gone the unthinkable happens, the place where she left her daughter to be kept safe is bombed. 

 

A mother’s love is an amazing thing, and this was proven many times in this book.   I was in awe of all the mothers in this book.  The choices they had to make just to keep their families safe made my heart ache for them.  Whether they choose to leave the children, send them away, or keep them with them there was no guarantee that they would all be together at the end of the war.  I believe there was no right answer and each mother had to make their own decision. 

The Paris Daughter is a story of the strength of a mother’s love, families, and mother/daughter relationships.  This book had me turning pages and devouring the words just to see what was going to happen next.

Thank you Gallery Books and NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

 

Meet Kristin Harmel (taken from her website):  Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling, USA Todaybestselling, and #1 international bestselling author of The Forest of Vanishing Stars, The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into more than 30 languages and are sold all over the world.

Kristin has been writing professionally since the age of 16, when she began her career as a sportswriter, covering Major League Baseball and NHL hockey for a local magazine in Tampa Bay, Florida in the late 1990s. In addition to a long magazine writing career, primarily writing and reporting for PEOPLE magazine (as well as articles published in American Baby, Men’s Health, Woman’s Day, Travel + Leisure, Ladies’ Home Journal, and more), Kristin was also a frequent contributor to the national television morning show The Daily Buzz.

Kristin was born just outside Boston, Massachusetts and spent her childhood there, as well as in Worthington, Ohio, and St. Petersburg, Florida. After graduating with a degree in journalism (with a minor in Spanish) from the University of Florida, she spent time living in Paris and Los Angeles and now lives in Orlando, with her husband and young son. She is also the co-founder and co-host of the popular weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction.

 

Release Blitz for Forbidden Hearts by Corinne Michaels

 

Forbidden Hearts by Corinne Michaels is now live!

First rule of being a nanny? Don’t fall for the single dad, even if he is smoking hot.

But that’s exactly what happens when grumpy small-town sheriff Asher Whitlock reluctantly hires me to take care of his daughter for the summer. Neither of us is thrilled with the arrangement, but he’s desperate for help, and I need the money for grad school this fall.

All we need to do is keep our distance and remain professional . . . turns out, that’s easier said than done.

Instead of focusing on my future, all I see is the strong jawline, crystal-blue eyes, and rock-hard body right in front of me. We try to resist each other, but we end up crossing every line until I’m in his bed.

I tell myself it’s just this once.

Okay, twice.

All right, every night.

But it’s got to end–he’s fourteen years older than me, with a kid and a stressful job. Have I mentioned my dad is his boss? Then there’s the past I’m trying to forget. Secrets aren’t easy to keep and mine are getting too big to hide.

Walking away is never simple but when I do, I can’t look back.

Even if it means leaving behind the man I was never meant to love.

Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon: https://geni.us/FH_Amazon

Paperback: https://geni.us/FH_PB

 

Available June 10th

Audio: https://geni.us/FHAudible

Narrated by Zachary Webber & Desiree Ketchum

 

Add to Goodreads: https://geni.us/FH_GR

 

 

Meet Corinne

Corinne Michaels is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of romance novels. Her stories are chock full of emotion, humor, and unrelenting love, and she enjoys putting her characters through intense heartbreak before finding a way to heal them through their struggles.

Corinne is a former Navy wife and happily married to the man of her dreams. She began her writing career after spending months away from her husband while he was deployed--reading and writing were her escapes from the loneliness. Corinne now lives in Virginia with her husband and is the emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun-loving mom of two beautiful children.

Connect with Corinne

Website: http://corinnemichaels.com

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2N1H2Gb

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1NVZmhv

Facebook: https://bit.ly/1iwLh6y

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/corinnemichaelsbooks/

Instagram: https://bit.ly/2L1Vzo6

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CMBOOKS TO 77948

Excerpt Tour for Stars at Dusk by Sky Gold with a GIVEAWAY

 

Stars At Dusk by Sky Gold

(The Sable Riders, #2)
Publication date: April 1st 2023
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Science Fiction

Synopsis:

‘Your brass is ballsy, Kage Sable.’ – Harlow Meridien.

Running from her past, Harlow lives for the present. She’s sassy-smart-strong. A genius, generous, confident scientist developing a groundbreaking propulsion technology that’s attracted the attention of The Sable Group, and Kage Sable, to be exact.

He’s a master builder, an ex-warrior, a kick-ass engineer with sexy nerd energy and her new ‘boss’. His shop is responsible for an enviable fleet of high-tech corvettes, luxury flyers and racing pinnaces – helping to cement the Sable Riders’ dominance across Pegasi.

Convinced she’s the woman for him, Kage is determined to make Harlow his. He strongly believes every superwoman needs a superman. Problem is, she’s not so sure. She’s got a bad history with men. All she wants to do is focus on her work that could shift the balance of power in the Pegasi System.

She’s wary of Kage’s moxie and full-on thrust at life and love and doesn’t think she’s ready for that much intensity yet. But he slowly draws her in, one delicious moment at a time.

From subterranean speakeasies, sunken casinos and ancient ruins to fighting dens and exquisite eateries, Kage takes Harlow on dizzying flights of pure bliss across Eden II to convince her he’s light years from the ‘lame, always running game’ losers of her past. Instead, he’s a real man with strong convictions and the best intentions, who believes in an impossible love.

Together, they’ll fight for the relationship they want while keeping their top-secret breakthrough from a swarm of greedy, ruthless galactic hustlers. Together, they’ll fall into a twilight dusk of heady love and impossible starlight.

__________________________

If you’re in the mood for:

• A strong, smart heroine AND a sexy, badass anti-hero
• Unrequited love and personal growth sagas that span a universe
• Steamy, hot epic jolts!
• Paranormal action
• All the feels AND heartfelt escapism

Then take to the Skies Above Eden II. A whole new world awaits you.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124933470-stars-at-dusk

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ZPzWd0

EXCERPT:   You know Shadow, Kage or whatever they call you -,’ she started.

‘Feels like I’m about to get a beating,’ he drawled. ‘Out with it, Harlow.’

‘Fine. I’m still pissed off that you didn’t announce yourself earlier. I find it rude that you were hanging around while I was on my date.’

‘Excuse my efforts in keeping you safe from unknown threats,’ Kage rumbled with a glimmer in his eye. ‘Why so peeved? Was he your boyfriend?’

She narrowed her eyes at him, neither denying nor confirming his speculation.

‘You don’t need a boyfriend,’ he drawled on, unconcerned. ‘Specially one who’s such a controlling toxic asshole. What you need is a man. Who’s secure enough to appreciate your beauty as it is and let you eat in peace.’

Harlow’s head swivelled, and she nailed him with a long, unsettling look. ‘Is that right?’

‘Tis, and you know it,’ the man muttered smartly.

Harlow stopped what she was doing and pointed her finger at Kage. ‘Yet another man telling me who I should be and how I should think.’

‘Cept he was wrong, and I’m right.’

Suddenly Harlow felt the same emotion that had consumed her at the restaurant wash over her again. She was unable to stop the rush of words out of her mouth. ‘Why do you men always claim to be arrogantly right? That’s why I’m done with you all.’

Kage paused mid-beer pull. He cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. ‘All men?’

‘All! I made myself a promise tonight, no men for a very long time.’

‘How long?’ he taunted, his eyes narrowing.

‘As long as it bloody takes. Forever if necessary.’

He gave her a speculative look. ‘You won’t last long,’ he drawled.

‘And how would you know?’

‘Because you’re one hella beautiful woman. You deserve the best loving.’

‘There you go. Judging me and my happiness by my looks.’

‘I wouldn’t dare.’

‘You just did, though. You said I’m -,’ Harlow paused, suddenly nonplussed as she realised the full force of his unexpected compliment. ‘- Beautiful.’

‘That’s coz you are. And smart from the looks of things.’ He settled deeper into the couch, a smirk playing on his lips.

 

AUTHOR BIO:

I'm a lover of words, and consequently an author, writer and consumer of all things delicious, fun and courageously life affirming. 

“Five Fun Facts” About Me:

- I’m married to a gorgeous alpha, grumpy husbeast and we’ve sired two bright, funny kids

- I live in the gorgeous sun-soaked beach haven that’s Sydney, Australia

- I love racing cars; I’m a lil’ bit of a speed demon …

- I own a grey Russian blue cat who's an escape artist during the day and a yeller at night (sigh ..)

- I write best to music - check out the 'Stars on Fire' playlist on Spotify for a taste of my writing vibe :-)

- I look to the stars themselves for my heavenly inspiration.

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Now Live!! How We Began by Anna Bloom

 

Title: How We Began

Series: The Uni Files Book 1

Author: Anna Bloom

Release: June 2, 2023

Genre: Flirty & Fun Romantic Comedy

Cover design: Cathy Sutton @ Hudson Indie Ink

Publisher: Hudson Indie Ink

I’m Lilah McCannon, and this is my diary.

Yes, it may seem a little juvenile for a twenty-something woman who’s just started university, but did you just read that? Mid-twenties… university… I’m older than most of my peers, spend most of my time hungover, and I’m pretty sure I’m in the midst of a quarter-life crisis.

All I know is that I don’t want to end up like my mother wearing a twinset and pearls as I parade into the dining room with a roast dinner every Sunday.

This means putting myself out there, trying new things… and boy, am I trying new things.

The guitar-playing hottie from the room next door to my uni room is called Benjamin Chambers. He’s the lead singer in an up-and-coming band, and way out of my league… until he’s not.

Writing my thoughts and feelings down has always helped me work through my emotions, and this diary is full of them. A lot of them. Friendship, heartbreak, love, they’re all here. The realistic challenges of adulthood are sometimes too much to bear, and I’m sure that one day I’ll be able to cope with them, but for right now, it’s hard.

I want what I want, who I want, but being a proper grown-up means having to make choices and sacrifices. I just hope I can make the right ones…

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Book Review for The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

 

The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

 Publication: May 30, 2023 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Taken from Goodreads:  A Big Chill for our times, celebrating decades-long friendships and promises—especially to ourselves—by the bestselling and beloved author of The Guncle.

It’s been a minute—or five years—since Jordan Vargas last saw his college friends, and twenty-eight years since their graduation when their adult lives officially began. Now Jordan, Jordy, Naomi, Craig, and Marielle find themselves at the brink of a new decade, with all the responsibilities of adulthood, yet no closer to having their lives figured out. Though not for a lack of trying. Over the years they’ve reunited in Big Sur to honor a decades-old pact to throw each other living “funerals,” celebrations to remind themselves that life is worth living—that their lives mean something, to one another if not to themselves.

But this reunion is different. They’re not gathered as they were to bolster Marielle as her marriage crumbled, to lift Naomi after her parents died, or to intervene when Craig pleaded guilty to art fraud. This time, Jordan is sitting on a secret that will upend their pact.

A deeply honest tribute to the growing pains of selfhood and the people who keep us going, coupled with Steven Rowley’s signature humor and heart, The Celebrants is a moving tale about the false invincibility of youth and the beautiful ways in which friendship helps us celebrate our lives, even amid the deepest challenges of living.

 

My Thoughts:  Funerals are for the living, so why not celebrate your life when you are living?   That is exactly the idea for these friends after losing a close friend in college.   Each person in the pact can call, no questions asked, just show up, and have their funeral thrown for them while they are alive. 

 

I was not sure how this would play out, would it be incredibly sad, would it be corny?  I believe it played out perfectly.   Each person has their funeral, their story is told in their own chapter.   Their friends celebrate them, challenge them to keep living, and show them how much they are loved.  I really liked that no one took making the call for their funeral lightly.  The calls only came during times of need and ended up changing their lives for the better.  

 

The Celebrants is a unique look at living life, true friends, and celebrating living.  

 

Thank you Penguin for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

 

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

 

Meet Steven Rowley (taken from his website):  Steven Rowley is the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus, a Washington Post Notable Book of 2016, The Editor, named by NPR and Esquire Magazine as one of the Best Books of 2019, and The Guncle, a Goodreads Choice Awards finalist for 2021 Novel of the Year and finalist for The Thurber Prize in American Humor. His fiction has been published in twenty languages.

 

Lily and the Octopus is in development as a feature film at Amazon Studios. The Editor was optioned by Twentieth Century for producer Greg Berlanti. Feature film rights for The Guncle have been picked up by Lionsgate. Rowley has worked as a freelance writer, newspaper columnist and screenwriter. Originally from Portland, Maine, he is a graduate of Emerson College and currently resides in Palm Springs with his husband, the writer Byron Lane.

 

 

 

 

Release Blitz for Babymoon or Bust by Ava Hunter

 

One bump. Two strangers. Three days to fall in love.

Babymoon or Bust by Ava Hunter is now live!

Tessie Truelove has spent her entire life avoiding. . .well, true love. And why wouldn’t she? Her dog ran off, her father left to go get cigarettes and never came back, and her mother passed away years ago. Instead, Tessie, a celebrity interior designer, clings to her to-do lists and her Pantone colors and her toxic job to avoid more heartbreak.

But after too much whiskey and a wild night with a rugged stranger has her seeing two little pink lines, she vows to do motherhood all by herself. After all, it might be her one shot at true love.

Nothing will interrupt her plans. Not even Solomon Wilder—her muscled, bearded, brooding baby daddy—who stomps his way into her perfectly planned babymoon after learning about her pregnancy.

Stuck together in paradise, the two strike a deal: spend three days together to figure out how to raise their son.

Complete opposites, they have nothing in common except the bump between them. Tessie has her glamorous career in LA, and Solomon has his wild life in Alaska. Yet as the babymoon takes a turn for the steamy and Solomon breaks through the emotional walls Tessie’s spent years guarding, she starts to wonder if she and this gruff, flannel-wearing mountain man might be meant to do more than just share a baby—they might be meant to share a heart.

 

Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3KIRxhc

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/BabymoonOrBust

Paperback: https://mybook.to/BbymoonBustPB

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3m6HOcc

 

 

Meet Ava

Ava Hunter is a strong believer in black coffee, red wine, and the there's-only-one-bed trope. She writes contemporary romance with healthy amounts of angst where the damsels are never quite damsels, but the men they love (good, bad and rugged) are always there for them. Her first series, Nashville Star, centers on sexy country singers and their honky-tonk drama-filled lives.

Ava is married to her high school sweetheart, loves writing strong, stubborn women that only make their men fall harder, adores all things pink, and can never ever get enough of protector romance.

Connect with Ava

Website: https://authoravahunter.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21662346.Ava_Hunter

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Ava-Hunter/author/B098FF8YN9/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoravahunter

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authoravahunter/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authoravahunter

Verve: https://ververomance.com/app/authoravahunter

Book Blitz for Drink Wine and Be Beautiful by Kimberly Sullivan with a GIVEAWAY

 

Drink Wine and Be Beautiful by Kimberly Sullivan

Publication date: May 26th 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Women’s Fiction

Synopsis:

Italian Tales of love, betrayal, longing, desire – and hope

Italy serves as the backdrop for stories of Italian women and expatriate women living in Italy.

A freak snowstorm in Rome changes the travel plans of two women, touching their lives in ways they could never have imagined. An ambitious Italian professional working in Brussels rails inwardly at her privileged boss, until fate presents her with a rare opportunity. A long desired trip to Bali, Indonesia serves as a needed chance for introspection. A cautious housewife in Rome thinks back to a fateful missed connection in Florence. A first-time mother feels debilitating guilt for not bonding with her newborn, until an elderly neighbor provides her with a new perspective.

The twenty-one stories in this collection follow women’s lives as they confront betrayal and love, alienation and community, despair and-ultimately-hope.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122998393-drink-wine-and-be-beautiful

Purchase:

On sale for 99¢ - limited time only

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3OA9LFd

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/drink-wine-and-be-beautiful

AUTHOR BIO:

Kimberly grew up in the suburbs of Boston and in Saratoga Springs, New York, although she now calls the Harlem neighborhood of New York City home when she’s back in the US. She studied political science and history at Cornell University and earned her MBA, with a concentration in strategy and marketing, from Bocconi University in Milan. 

Afflicted with a severe case of Wanderlust, she worked in journalism and government in the US, Czech Republic and Austria, before settling down in Rome, where she works in international development, and writes fiction any chance she gets.

She is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) and The Historical Novel Society and has published several short stories and three novels: Three Coins, Dark Blue Waves and In The Shadow of The Apennines.

After years spent living in Italy with her Italian husband and sons, she’s fluent in speaking with her hands, and she loves setting her stories in her beautiful, adoptive country.

Author links:

https://kimberlysullivanauthor.com/

https://twitter.com/Kimberlyinrome

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kimberly-sullivan

https://www.instagram.com/kimberlyinrome/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21814220.Kimberly_Sullivan

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