Monday, June 16, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? June 16, 2025 #IMWAYR

    

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are! 

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Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. 
Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

Fog and Fury
Rachel Howzell Hall
print ARC for review
Pub date ~ July 1

The Ice Twins
by S.K. Tremayne
print from my TBR shelf for a challenge
Published January 2015

What I recently finished

Falling for You Again
by Kerry Lonsdale
eARC for review
Pub date ~ July 8

The Bookstore Family
by Alice Hoffman
audiobook from Amazon Prime Reading
Published February 2025

What I am going to read next

Wayward Girls
by Susan Wiggs
print ARC for review
Pub date ~ July 15

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways! 

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Release Day Blitz! Shopping for a Highlander’s Elopement by Julia Kent ~ Excerpt & #Giveaway! @jkentauthor #ShoppingForAHighlandersElopement @XpressoTours

 

Shopping for a Highlander’s Elopement by Julia Kent
(Shopping for a Highlander, #3)
Publication date: June 10th 2025
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance

I didn’t expect to fall for a Scottish footballer so annoyingly sunny you need shades to be around him.

I didn’t expect to say yes to his heart-felt, if loopy, proposal while he lay injured on the pitch, blathering on about banana pudding and sparkly unicorns.

What I definitely didn’t expect?

For our engagement to explode into a paparazzi circus, our mothers to turn into wedding bulldozers, and for our wedding protector’s perfectly reasonable elopement plan to spiral into a road trip escape.

So here we are.

In Love You, Maine, a town that celebrates Valentine’s Day every single day. We’re here to get married. Quietly. No drama. In disguise.

Although good luck hiding a 6’4” ginger Scottish striker wearing a knee brace and a perpetual extrovert smile.

Instead of being subtle and blending in? Our quiet escape is vibrating heart-shaped beds, mirrors on the ceilings, secret identities, interfering mothers, and one suspiciously enthusiastic moose that humps dumpsters.

This was supposed to be a simple wedding. Just me and Hamish. No fuss.

But nothing about us has ever been simple with us.

Still, this is what love is, right? It’s chaos. It’s compromise. It’s crying in a wedding planner’s office, then kissing in a hot spring.

It’s choosing each other again and again, even when everything goes sideways.

No matter what comes next… this is our comeback story, in more ways than one.

And no – that’s not a euphemism. 🙂

Shopping for a Highlander’s Elopement is a romantic comedy that blends the worlds of four bestselling series by New York Times bestselling romantic comedy author Julia Kent:

– Shopping for a Billionaire

– Shopping for a Highlander

– Whatever It Takes

– Love You, Maine

If you love sports romance, surprise proposals, grand gestures, chaotic weddings, Scottish footballers, golden retriever/black cat energy, and characters who love too hard, mess up spectacularly, and always find their way back to each other with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments (and lovingly-used scrunchies) along the way, then this is your book.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

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EXCERPT

Love isn’t a football game.

It’s a feeling.

A feeling that uses instinct as a tool.

I’m smarter than this. When everything felt off, I should have known that it was off for a reason.

“Jody,” I say softly, “I canna do this.”

“Of course you can. You just have the jitters. Amy’s a wonderful woman and–”

“I dinna mean the proposin’ part. That’s fine. I can do that. I mean doin’ it on the pitch.”

His turn to go green.

“You want to cancel the proposal?”

“Aye. Nae. No’ the proposin’. The doin’ it in public part. I love Amy wi’ all ma body and soul.” I frown. “She’d hate to hear me say it that way. Soul and body.” I wink at Jody. “But it’s really the other way around. Ma body knows more than ma mind.”

“I don’t need to hear every thought that pops into your head, Hamish.”

“I only tell ye the important ones.”

“Like not wanting the big spectacle we arranged for you?”

“I’m tellin’ ye now, aren’t I?”

“We have extra cameramen here for this. Your parents and siblings are in the crowd. Declan and Andrew McCormick are here. We doubled the security.”

“Is this about money? I can pay for all that.”

“It’s not–well, yes, some of it is about the money. But it’s more about publicity and planning. A lot of people put forth a huge effort to make today special for you and Amy.”

“And forty thousand of ma closest fans.”

He closes his eyes and sighs through his nose. “A better time to realize this would have been weeks ago. Not a huge US exhibition game.”

“Ma instincts told me then that this was right. Now ma gut says something else. It all feels off.”

“Your gut.”

I pat my flat stomach. “It’s gotten me this far in life. Good gut.”

He’s right. I know how much work all the coaches, teammates, stadium staff and administrators, sponsors–hell, even the car park attendants–have put into helping me today. I don’t have cold feet, and I love Amy to the moon and back, but something feels wrong.

As Amy says, hinky.

I can’t explain it. If I had words for it, I’d use them. It’s a feeling, and those don’t always line up nice and neat in words that make sense.

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About the author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julia Kent writes romantic comedy with an edge. Since 2013, she has sold more than 2 million books, with 4 New York Times bestsellers and more than 21 appearances on the USA Today bestseller list. Her books have been translated into French, German, and Italian, with more titles releasing in the future.

From billionaires to BBWs to new adult rock stars, Julia finds a sensual, goofy joy in every contemporary romance she writes. Unlike Shannon from Shopping for a Billionaire, she did not meet her husband after dropping her phone in a men's room toilet (and he isn't a billionaire she met in a romantic comedy).

She lives in New England with her husband and three children where she is the only person in the household with the gene required to change empty toilet paper rolls.

She loves to hear from her readers by email at julia@jkentauthor.com, on Twitter @jkentauthor, on Facebook at @jkentauthor, and on Instagram @jkentauthor. Visit her at http://jkentauthor.com

Connect with Julia

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Instagram

Twitter | Amazon | Bookbub | Newsletter

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Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Monday, June 9, 2025

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? June 9, 2025 #IMWAYR

        

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are! 

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Well, let's talk about the crazy weather. Again. High of 66 today and then 90 tomorrow. Whiplash!! And seriously?

This past week has been a crazy one, reading wise. I've finished a lot of shorter books and short audiobooks. So it looks like a lot but pages 'read', maybe not so much. I'm not sure that it's a whole lot. Plus there have been the books that have sucked me in that I devoured. Looking at you - The Secret Library of Hanna Reeves and Jar of Hearts.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. 
Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

Falling for You Again
by Kerry Lonsdale
eARC for review
Pub date ~ July 8

The Ice Twins
by S.K. Tremayne
print from my TBR shelf for a challenge
Published January 2015

The Bookstore Family
by Alice Hoffman
audiobook from Amazon Prime Reading
Published February 2025

What I recently finished

The Secret Library of Hanna Reeves
by Christine Nolfi
eARC for review
Pub date ~ June 24

Jar of Hearts
by Jennifer Hillier
print from my TBR for a challenge
Published June 2018

The Bookstore Keepers
by Alice Hoffman
audiobook from Amazon Prime Reading
Published February 2025

The Wedding Setup
by Sonali Dev
audiobook from Prime Reading for a challenge
Published January 2022

What I am going to read next

Fog and Fury
Rachel Howzell Hall
print ARC for review
Pub date ~ July 1

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways! 

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Recent Release! August Dove by Joanne DeMaio ~ My Thoughts #AugustDove @JoanneDeMaio

 

Congrats Joanne
on the recent release of
August Dove!

August Dove by Joanne DeMaio
Women's Saga, 260 pages
Published May 12, 2025 by Joanne DeMaio

From New York Times bestselling author Joanne DeMaio comes August Dove, Book 24 of The Seaside Saga.

Shane Bradford has to make a decision. It won't be easy since there are plenty of consequences either way. He has to gauge the risk, the reward. He also has to act fast—second nature to him as a New England lobsterman. The clock is ticking. Every minute counts. So as the golden beach grasses sway, as Long Island Sound's lazy waves roll in, as the gulls call, as the tides turn, he decides. But at what cost?

And The Seaside Saga continues.




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My thoughts about August Dove ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First lines—"Shane's got to act fast. Think Fast. Move fast. Which is nothing new to him. It's his way of life."

I just love the cover of this book! And these sequined dove wings on denim are such important and meaningful symbols in this series, and in this book in particular. 

I love everything about this series and love going back to Stony Point to hang out with all the people I've become acquainted with over the years. I have to admit, this story one felt a little different to me as I was frustrated with Shane for keeping such vital information from the woman he loves. I just wanted him to be honest with her, but he was looking out for her and didn't want her to be hurt. I get it, but I didn't like it. See how invested I am in all of their lives? 😉

I'm always excited when the next installment comes out so I can catch up. Luckily Joanne keeps producing so I can just keep reading!

I highly recommend August Dove and this entire series. If you haven't read them yet, you need to get started with book one and catch up. Book #25, Hush will be released on August 4th!

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If you're new to The Seaside Saga, the reading order is below. Written like an ongoing TV show, it's a revolutionary series following the same tangled group of beach friends from book-to-book.


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About the author


Joanne DeMaio is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary fiction. She enjoys writing about friendship, family, love and choices, while setting her stories in New England towns or by the sea.

Joanne’s books include the New York Times Bestseller Blue Jeans and Coffee Beans, the first in her ongoing and groundbreaking Seaside Saga. These eleven (and counting) novels journey with a group of beach friends, much the way a TV series does, continuing with the same cast of characters and their storylines from book-to-book.

Joanne’s winter novels have also received much acclaim. These heartwarming standalones are set in the same snowy New England town. Snowflakes and Coffee Cakes became a USA Today Bestseller, and has been featured in national magazines and Six Flags theme parks.

In addition, Joanne’s debut novel, Whole Latte Life, won first place in a competition at BookExpo America and was named a Kirkus Reviews Critics’ Pick. Her other novels have appeared in Redbook, First for Women magazine, Southern Living, USA Today and more. ~ Author's website

Connect with Joanne


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Thursday, June 5, 2025

Book Blitz! All the Silent Bones by Gregory Funaro ~ Excerpt & #Giveaway #AllTheSilentBones @GregoryFunaro @XpressoTours

 

All the Silent Bones by Gregory Funaro
Publication date: June 9th 2025
Genres: Adult, Horror, Psychological Thriller

When they were boys, Ray Dawley, Eddie Sayers, and Matthew Kauffman were the best of friends. Then new kid Bobby “Bones” Bonetti fell through the ice at Blackamore Pond. The other boys saved Bobby from drowning, but something else came out of the water that day, something dangerous that would tear their friendship apart and set one of them on a dark path.

Forty years after the incident on the ice, Ray, a retired college professor, has moved back into his childhood home. Eddie is a retired homicide detective, and Matthew is a successful investment banker. Bobby, who is on disability from his job as a corrections officer at a juvenile detention center, has a secret: the darkness that found him under the ice when he was a kid has made him do terrible things.

Following a reunion at Ray’s house, Matthew is found murdered in his car beside the old pond. The killer includes a chilling message that only the three remaining friends would recognize. Could one of their own be a murderer?

All the Silent Bones, a tense and disturbing thriller told from alternating perspectives of morally complex characters, explores the lasting impact of childhood trauma and its influence on adult relationships.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Only $2.99 pre-order price! Grab yours today!

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EXCERPT

Ronnie Matarese felt a darkness descend upon him, even as he understood that it had always been there, pouring out from those eyes behind the sunglasses and into his apartment. A darkness as indifferent and as cold as the one that had greeted him when he’d returned home. A darkness that feared no light and could not be reasoned with. A darkness that was neither happy nor sad but just was.

Bobby “The Machete” Bonetti had not visited Ronnie to warn him or give him a beating. He had come to kill him. Ronnie suddenly knew this as surely as he was sitting there, and he was both terrified and furious that he hadn’t realized it sooner, when he still might have had a chance to escape. More than anything, though, Ronnie was sad. He wasn’t ready to die—he wasn’t even thirty—but there was no turning back from the elves at the bottom of these stairs. That was what this crazy SOB was trying to tell him.

Ronnie began to cry, softly at first then harder as Bobby finished his story.

“So my mother, she lets me go, but I just held on to the door- frame and didn’t dare look back. She was still there. I could hear her breathing. And in my mind, I watched her, mouth open and eyes blinking as she looked around like she usually did when she came out of one of her episodes. A minute later, I hear the sofa springs in the parlor. She’d been sleeping in there for weeks because the elves hid under her bed, she sometimes thought. But still, I didn’t move. I just stood there, staring down at the darkness in silence.”

Ronnie searched Bobby Bonetti’s sunglasses but saw only murder in the smudge of his reflection, light and shadows on a face that looked like a skull. This was not the way he was supposed to go out, sniveling on his bed like a pussy and not knowing why. And thatwas the hardest part. Not knowing why. Not knowing what he had done—no, not had done but would do. And just as quickly as the darkness had descended, Ronnie saw a light. It was faint at first but coming fast, like when he was speeding through the cross-harbor tunnel up in Boston.

“You said you were here because of something I would do,” Ron- nie said, making no attempt to hide the desperate, trembling hope in his voice. “Not because of something I did but because of something I would do. That’s what you said, right? What is it? Tell me what you think I’m gonna do, and I swear on the souls of my dead parents that I won’t do it. Please, I’m begging you, Mr. Bonetti. You have my word.”

“I would give anything to have that kind of silence again,” Bobby said. “A silence so precious that, when it’s broken, it stings you like a box of bees.”

Then Bobby shot him.

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About the author

Gregory Funaro is the NY Times best selling author of Disney-Hyperion's ALISTAIR GRIM'S ODDITORIUM (an Amazon Best Book of the Month for January, 2015) and ALISTAIR GRIM'S ODD AQUATICUM (2016), which received a Kirkus starred review. WATCH HOLLOW (HarperCollins, 2019) received starred reviews from School Library Journal and ALA Booklist, and was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. The exciting sequel, WATCH HOLLOW: THE ALCHEMIST'S SHADOW, was published in February of 2020. He has also written two thrillers, THE SCULPTOR and THE IMPALER, for Kensington/Pinnacle. 

Gregory is a professor emeritus and lives with his family in Rhode Island, where he is busy working on his next novel. Please visit his official web site at www.gregoryfunaro.com.

Connect with Gregory

Website | Goodreads | Facebook 

Instagram | Twitter | Amazon

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Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

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