Saturday, April 30, 2022

This OR That #Giveaway № 54 ~ Haven by Kay Hooper OR The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardner #Haven #TheOtherDaughter

 

I have sooooo many books!

The This or That Giveaway! feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to cull my collection and to share some of the many books I have. I get to clear off some of my shelves to make room for more books and give someone else the chance to enjoy these treasures.

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!

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Haven
(Bishop/Special Crimes Unit #13)
by Kay Hooper
Mass Market Paperback ~ Published April 2013

After years away, Jessie Rayburn has finally returned home—unwelcomed—to a town of menacing whispers: Baron Hollow, North Carolina. It’s as though she never left. That’s why she’s so afraid.

She left behind her estranged sister, Emma, who has her own secrets to protect. But Emma is afraid to reveal what’s really troubling her and keeping her awake—strange dreams of women being murdered, brutally, viciously. Now, in this conspiracy of silence, Emma’s bad dreams are becoming more real than ever.

Even with the help of Noah Bishop, cofounder of Haven, the group of psychic investigators that Jessie works for, Jessie and Emma fear they won’t be able to outrun the secrets buried in Baron Hollow—or the evil targeting them one last time. 

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The Other Daughter
by Lisa Gardner
Mass Market Paperback ~ Published July 1999

WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN KILL YOU

Twenty years ago, Melanie Stokes was abandoned in a Boston hospital, then adopted by a wealthy couple. Gifted with a loving family, Melanie has always considered herself lucky. Until tonight.

Tonight, a has-been reporter turns up investigating her past. Tonight the first note arrives, saying, "You Get What You Deserve." And tonight, Melanie has her first, horrifying vision of the past.

Melanie has no memory of her life before the adoption. Now someone wants to give it back, even if it includes the darkest nightmare the Stokes family ever faced: the murder of their first daughter in Texas. As Melanie desperately searches for her real identity, two seemingly unrelated events from the past will come together in a dangerous explosion of truth.

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Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Release Day! Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey ~ My Thoughts #WatchOutForHer

Happy Release Day!


Congratulations Samantha
on the release today of
Watch Out for Her!

Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey
Psychological Thriller, 336 pages
Published April 19, 2022 by Simon & Schuster

Wherever you go…
she’ll be watching.

Sarah Goldman, mother to six-year-old Jacob, is relieved to move across the country. She has a lot she wants to leave behind, especially Holly Monroe, the pretty twenty-two-year-old babysitter she and her husband, Daniel, hired to take care of their young son last summer. It started out as a perfect arrangement—Sarah had a childminder her son adored, and Holly found the mother figure she’d always wanted. But Sarah’s never been one to trust very easily, so she kept a close eye on Holly, maybe too close at times. What she saw raised some questions, not only about who Holly really was but what she was hiding. The more Sarah watched, the more she learned—until one day, she saw something she couldn’t unsee, something so shocking that all she could do was flee.

Sarah has put it all behind her and is starting over in a different city with her husband and son. They’ve settled into a friendly suburb where the neighbors, a tight clique of good citizens, are always on the lookout for danger. But when Sarah finds hidden cameras in her new home, she has to wonder: Has her past caught up to her, and worse yet, who’s watching her now?

A tense psychological thriller about a mother who must keep watch at all times if she wants to keep her family safe—from USA Today and #1 national bestselling author Samantha M. Bailey.

A spine-tingling, page-turning novel from USA Today and #1 national bestselling author Samantha M. Bailey, Watch Out for Her is psychological suspense at its very best—a chilling look at trust, voyeurism, and obsession in the modern age, and how far we will go to watch out for those we love. 


My thoughts about Watch Out for Her ~~

(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 line.)

First line—"I watch people."

Watch Out for Her is full of creepiness and questionable characters. All of them—Sarah, the mom, Daniel, the dad, and Holly, the babysitter—have secrets they are keeping from the others and everyone is suspicious of everybody else and wonders what they might be up to. Honestly, I didn't really like any of them either and was suspicious of them myself. 

But you know what? That suspicion and creepiness is what kept me turning the pages. I just had to figure out who was behind it all and what their motives were. Everyone was suspect, even the friendly neighbors in their new neighborhood. 

The exciting ending had me on the edge of my seat and I was able to finally take a breath when I got to the end. Watch Out for Her is an exciting thriller that you must read, just be prepared to not know who to like or which person is the good guy and who you need to watch.

I received an ARC of Watch Out for Her from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion of the book.

About the author

Samantha M. Bailey

Samantha M. Bailey is the USA Today and #1 nationally bestselling author of Woman on the Edge, which has sold in eleven countries to date. She is also a journalist and freelance editor; her work has appeared in NOW Magazine, The Village Post, The Thrill Begins, and The Crime Hub, among other publications. 

Watch Out for Her is her second novel. Samantha lives in Toronto, where she can usually be found tapping away at her computer or curled up on her couch with a book. ~ Goodreads

Connect with Samantha


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Book Spotlight! Jestin Kase and the Masters of Dragon Metal by J. Michael White ~ An Interview, Excerpt, and #Giveaway #JestinKaseAndTheMastersOfDragonMetal

  

Coming May 3rd!!

Jestin Kase and the Masters of Dragon Metal by J. Michael White
Teen & Young Adult Coming of Age Fantasy, 402 pages
Published May 3, 2022 by Teer Publishing

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – In his fiction debut, award-winning journalist J. Michael White draws on his experience as a reporter to develop the world of his new urban fantasy novel, Jestin Kase and the Masters of Dragon Metal (May 3, 2022, Teer Publishing).

Mankind lost the battle for its soul without knowing. Evil won. And no Chosen Ones are coming to the rescue. Enter Jestin Kase, a foster kid on the run in Chicago. He finds himself drawn into the underbelly of civilization, where the Three Great Schools of Magic are crippled by their own corruption and unable to push back against the Great Dark. Monsters from Babylonian myth, demons, and the enthralled thrive beneath the notice of everyone. Only one force of good remains: an ancient magic called Dragon Metal. And Jestin is determined to learn its secrets.

But how much of a difference can one person make in a world that’s already fallen?

There’s no fate.

No destiny.

Only Metal. And those brave enough to wield it.

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Excerpt

Apparently, the cops didn’t like it when you burned down your foster home. Who knew?

Police lights flashed across the dark streets as Jestin ran through the back alleys of Chicago. He pumped his legs as fast as he could, hopping over fences, dashing up and down fire escapes, and cutting across rooftops. His legs burned with fatigue, and his chest ached as his heart pounded.

Christ, I need to get back into shape.

No matter how fast he ran, the police sirens followed. He could hear at least three cars. Maybe four.

“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” he muttered, out of breath. Understaffed and underpaid, the cops rarely showed this level of persistence when they needed to give chase. They typically responded in an hour or two, if at all, and never followed Jestin’s trail for longer than a few minutes. Granted, he’d never burned down a house before—at least, not an entire house.

Jestin ducked into a tight alley and collapsed between a dumpster and a cluster of garbage cans. He leaned against the brick wall and breathed deeply, his pulse pounding so hard he could feel it in his neck.

Gradually, the siren sounds moved farther and farther away.

“Okay . . .” he whispered between breaths. “Okay . . . no more arson. Arson bad. Got it.”

His voice startled something. He heard a clang; a black cat hissed, bolted from a garbage can, and landed on the dumpster. The feline arched his back, raising his short hair and poofing his tail. He glared, more afraid than angry, trying to look tough . . . and failing. The cat had one of those cute teddy-bear faces—hard to find that frightening.

Jestin sighed at the cat’s sad attempt to scare him. “That’s an impressive, bushy tail you have there. I’m very intimidated.” The cat breathed another hiss. Jestin nodded. “Yes, yes. You’re very fearsome. But I need to crash here for a sec, okay?”

Jestin curled up on the ground and crossed his arms over his chest, scrunching his black winter jacket, worn over a gray hoodie. Sweat dripped down his forehead, chilling in the winter air and wetting his shaggy brown bangs. He shuffled his legs, trying to get comfortable. Cold air seeped into the rips and tears in his faded jeans and worn sneakers—his big toe slipped through a hole in his right shoe.

Slowly, Jestin glanced up at the feline. Hair bristled down the black cat’s spine, and his golden-brown eyes stared from a face as terrorizing as a child’s stuffed animal.

“Oh, calm down. I’m Jestin, by the way. Fifteen. Orphan on the run. I don’t suppose you have a name?”

The cat rumbled a soft growl.

“Growly McHissy-Face? Nice to meet you.”

Another quick hiss.

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.”

The cat walked slowly in a circle, hopped onto the pavement, and stared at Jestin, staying crouched and ready to pounce if needed. Then he lowered his tail, still cautious, but not aggressive.

“See? We’re fine,” Jestin said. “Well . . . at least you’re fine. I’m royally screwed.”

Jestin told Growly McHissy-Face his story, because why not?

Jestin had spent the past three weeks living in the basement of a foster home, where kids crammed together in bunk beds and sleeping bags. Their foster father cared little for them. As part of the system’s private sector, the man got paid per kid. So instead of children, he saw dollar signs and treated his charges no better than farmers treated livestock.

“I didn’t like the guy. So I burned his house down,” Jestin said. “Totally logical.”

The cat tilted his head. He looked inquisitive instead of afraid but still kept all fours beneath his body so he could spring away if needed. Something about Jestin’s voice seemed to calm the feline, so the boy kept talking.

“What?” Jestin said with a shrug. “Okay, yeah, it was stupid and impulsive. You’re right. You get me, Growly McHissy-Face. You really get me.”

Unfortunately, Jestin didn’t think far enough ahead. He had no idea what to do or where to go next. Not to mention, he may or may not have needed a psych evaluation. See, he didn’t burn down the house just because the foster dad was a prick (that didn’t help his case, though). Jestin learned something about the man, something that sounded crazy.

He was a thrall.

Jestin called the man that because he was enthralled by a demon’s influence. Empty and pathetic, the foster father fed off the loneliness and despair of the kids under his care. The man’s greed empowered him, twisted him into a soulless pawn of chaos—not exactly something Jestin could explain to the cops or his social worker.

“So I took care of him myself,” Jestin said. “Why? Because no one else would.” Besides, the man wasn’t human anymore; a thrall was a monster on the inside, evil, beyond saving, not a person, not even alive in the traditional sense. Killing a thrall wasn’t taking a life, it was saving the lives of others.

The boy rolled his hands into fists at the memory. Ugh, I’m too young to feel this old. Can I retire yet? Is that an option?

“Maybe I’ll just move in with you,” Jestin said to the cat, extending his hand slowly, palm up. “Would you like the company?”

Reluctantly, the cat stretched his body forward, moving his nose closer and closer to Jestin’s fingers, sniffing the boy’s hand until he got several good whiffs, his whiskers prickling Jestin’s skin. Then he rubbed the side of his face against the boy’s palm and started to purr like a boat engine.

“See? Everything’s fine. I’m safe. Definitely not crazy. Definitely not sitting in the trash talking to an alley cat . . .” Sometimes I hate my life.

The cat sprang up the boy’s arm, climbed around his neck, and dropped into his hoodie, using it like a hammock. Jestin snorted a laugh. “Make yourself at home.”

Suddenly, Jestin heard a shuffle from the shadows. The cat snapped his head around and perked his ears. Jestin stayed as still as possible. At first, he thought the shuffle belonged to another cat. But the steps sounded too heavy. And human.

“Son of a mother,” he muttered.

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An Interview with J. Michael White

1. How did you develop the character of Jestin? Why did you give him the background of a foster kid? 

I wanted a humorous, sarcastic, likeable teenager to balance the bleak background of the story. I also wanted to use Jestin as a vehicle to highlight the problems with the foster care system (my original idea for Jestin was “Oliver Twist but with demons”). Further, as a member of the LGBT community myself, I wanted the same for Jestin, but without making the story about his sexuality, something I don’t see often with LGBT representation. 

2. Why did you set the book in Chicago?

I grew up in northwest Indiana, which is more a part of Chicago than the Hoosier state, and I’ve always loved the character of the city. It was important for me to set the story in a Midwestern city, because I wanted the story to take place in the heartland, the heart of the country. 

3. How did you develop the idea of the Three Great Schools of Magic?

The Three Great Schools of Magic represent the state of spirituality in our world today. There are people who pervert and twist religion for greed and selfish purposes, to spread hate and to amass power. This is what the Three Great Schools represent.

4. You have a background in journalism -- where your job is to report on reality. Was it difficult to shift your writing focus to fiction / urban fantasy? How did you go about this? 

I’ve written fiction stories for my own enjoyment since I was in grade school, so the shift from journalism to fiction was pretty simple. If anything, my newspaper writing skills helped craft my fiction writing style. Also, I’ve seen some crazy things in this real world of ours, and that’s helped me build my fictional characters’ backgrounds. 

5. This is your first novel -- what inspired you to write it now?

I’ve wanted to write a book for years; I actually left the newspaper business to free up my creativity to focus on fiction. But I still never found the time to write--until the pandemic. Like many people, I’ve been working from home since COVID, and without a morning or evening commute, I have up to a couple hours of extra free time a day that I use for writing. 

6. You make a distinction between traditional dystopian futures and the worlds you create in your writing. Can you explain what this is and why you chose this approach?

I wanted to highlight the dystopia of the world we live in today instead of creating a traditional, make-believe dystopian future. Look at the state of things in our world: class warfare, poverty, sickness, corruption, homelessness, division--one could argue we’re already living in a “dystopian future” in the real world of today. 

About the author


J. Michael White is an award-winning journalist and author of young adult urban fantasy action-adventure stories. His career as a newspaper reporter gave him deep glimpses into the challenges of the world, from the struggles of foster care to the tragedies of murder and war. His fiction often reflects these experiences. 

Instead of setting his stories in alternate, dystopian futures, he looks at the dystopia of the world we live in today, through the lens of urban fantasy and adventure, with a little dark humor. Like all responsible adults, he spends his time playing video games, reading books, and watching cartoons. ~ Publicist

Connect with Jason

Twitter (@JMichael_White)
Instagram (@thejmichaelwhite)
TikTok (@the_jmichaelwhite)



I have a print copy of this beautiful book for the winner. I want to send a huge 'Thank You' shout-out to Books Forward - Literary Publicity for the copy!

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Monday, April 25, 2022

Book Blitz! Bridges by Linda Griffin ~ Excerpt & #Giveaway! #Bridges

 

Bridges by Linda Griffin
Published by: The Wild Rose Press
Publication date: April 25th 2022
Genres: Adult, Historical Romance

In 1963, Neil Vincent, a middle-aged World War II veteran and “Christian atheist” is working at Westfield Court as a chauffeur. He spends most of his spare time reading. 

Mary Claire DeWinter is a young, blind, Catholic college student and reluctant heiress. To secure her inheritance, she has to marry within a year, and her aunt is pressuring her to marry a rich man who teased and bullied her when she was a child. 

Neil and Mary Claire shouldn’t even be friends, but the gulf between them is bridged by a shared love of books. Can they cross the bridge to more?

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EXCERPT:

On the drive to Brierly Station, he didn’t speculate about who Miss DeWinter might be. It wasn’t his job to know who she was, only to meet her train and take her safely back to Westfield Court. She wouldn’t be the last of the friends and relatives who would gather as the old man’s life came to its long-awaited and peaceful end.

Brierly was bustling today, as restless as the St. James household. He was in plenty of time for the train and sat in the car reading. The car was a Bentley Mark VI, as well-maintained and highly polished as it was the day it was purchased. The book he was reading was Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native.

When the train rumbled in, he got out of the car. He stood patiently on the platform as the passengers disembarked, holding up a small slate on which he had chalked DEWINTER in large capitals. There weren’t many passengers, but they were briefly delayed while the conductor helped a blind woman navigate the steps. Neil’s gaze fell expectantly on a woman in her thirties, with an awful hat, but she was immediately met by a portly man and a teenage boy. No other likely prospects appeared, and he waited for someone to respond to the sign. No one did.

Finally, only two passengers were left on the platform—a small, homely man and the blind woman. Blind girl, really. She couldn’t be more than twenty. She had a jointed white cane, and her large sunglasses didn’t cover the edges of the scars on her face. She would not have been beautiful even without the scars—too thin, for starters, of average height but with small bones. On the other hand, her face might once have been pretty, and her hair was clean and shining, raven black, and well brushed. She was too pale, and the scars around her eyes were red and ugly. She looked a little lost.

Feeling foolish, he lowered the slate. “Miss DeWinter?” he asked as he approached her.

“Yes,” she said, turning toward his voice with a smile.

“I’m Vincent,” he said. “The St. James chauffeur.”

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Vincent,” she said. “Thank you for meeting me.” Her voice was soft, her enunciation perfect.

The porter fetched her luggage—a single gray vinyl suitcase with a flower decal—from the depot and turned it over to Neil with a cheerful nod. Jane would be disappointed, especially if the girl’s other clothes were as plain as what she wore, a simple dark dress with long sleeves and an unfashionable, below-the-knees hemline. “Would you take my arm?” he asked, positioning himself so she could place her hand in the crook of his elbow, which she did with easy confidence.

“Do you have a Christian name?” she asked.

“Yes, miss. It’s Neil.”

“That’s a good name,” she said. “Mine is Mary Claire. How is my grandfather, do you know?”

Neil, who hadn’t known the old man had any grandchildren, said, “Hanging on, miss.”

He opened the car door and helped her into the back seat.

“You don’t have to call me ‘miss’ all the time,” she said. “Please call me Mary Claire. Or my friends at school call me Sunny.”

“Yes, miss,” he said automatically and closed the door.

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About the author



For more information, visit my website, sign up for my newsletter, and claim a free autographed copy of Stonebridge: https://www.lindagriffinauthor.com/

I was born and raised in San Diego, California and earned a BA in English from San Diego State University and an MLS from UCLA. I began my career as a reference and collection development librarian in the Art and Music Section of the San Diego Public Library and then transferred to the Literature and Languages Section, where I had the pleasure of managing the Central Library’s Fiction collection and initiating fiction order lists for the entire library system. Although I also enjoy reading biography, memoir, and history, fiction remains my first love. In addition to the three R’s—reading, writing, and research—I enjoy Scrabble, movies, and travel.

My earliest ambition was to be a “book maker” and I wrote my first story, “Judy and the Fairies,” with a plot stolen from a comic book, at the age of six. I broke into print in college with a story in the San Diego State University literary journal, The Phoenix, but most of my magazine publications came after I left the library to spend more time on my writing.

My stories have been published in numerous journals, including Eclectica, Thema Literary Journal, The Binnacle, The Nassau Review, Orbis, and Avalon Literary Review, and in the anthologies Short Story America, Vol. 2, The Captive and the Dead, and Australia Burns. Four stories, including one as yet unpublished, received honorable mention in the Short Story America Prize for Short Fiction contests.

Member of RWA, Authors Guild, and Sisters in Crime.

Connect with Linda

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? April 25, 2022 #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

The Book Woman's Daughter
by Kim Michele Richardson
Pub date May 3
Loved the first book!

An Unfinished Story
by Boo Walker
Narrated by Alexander Cendese & Gabrielle Cendese

What I recently finished

Dreaming of Flight
by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Pub date May 3

The Kew Gardens Girls at War
by Posy Lovell

What I am going to read next

The Homewreckers
by Mary Kay Andrews
Pub date May 3 

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Saturday, April 23, 2022

This OR That #Giveaway № 53 ~ Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid OR Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult #SingYouHome #DaisyJonesAndTheSix

 

I have sooooo many books!

The This or That Giveaway! feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to clear my shelves and to share some of the many books I have. It's a way for me to cull my collection and give someone else the chance to enjoy these treasures.

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!

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Daisy Jones & The Six
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Hardcover ~ Published March 2019

A gripping novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group and their beautiful lead singer, revealing the mystery behind their infamous break up.

Everyone knows Daisy Jones & The Six, but nobody knows the real reason why they split at the absolute height of their popularity…until now.

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go-Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock and roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things.

Another band getting noticed is The Six, led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road.

Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend. 

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Sing You Home
by Jodi Picoult
Hardcover ~ Published March 2011

After Zoe Baxter loses her baby, the only way she can find of coping is to try again. But her husband Max disagrees - more than that, he wants a divorce. When they separate, there is no mention of the unborn children they created together, still waiting at the clinic.

The Zoe falls in love again, out of the blue, and finds herself with an unexpected second chance to have a family.

But Max has found a new life too - one with no place in it for people like Zoe. And he will stand up in court to say that her new choice of partner makes her an unfit mother.

Jodi Picoult's most powerful novel yet asks who has the right to decide what makes the ideal family?

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Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Release Day! The Kew Gardens Girls at War by Posy Lovell ~ My Thoughts #TheKewGardenGirlsAtWar #NetGalley

 Happy Release Day!

Congrats Posy
on the release of
The Kew Gardens Girls at War!

The Kew Gardens Girls at War by Posy Lovell 
Historical World War I Fiction, 448 pages
Published April 19, 2022 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Inspired by real events, a touching novel about a new class of courageous women who worked at London's historic Kew Gardens during World War II.

In the face of war, gardening is their duty...

When Daisy Cooper's new husband joins the RAF to fight the Battle of Britain, she's terrified she's going to lose him. So when her mother Ivy suggests she join the gardeners at Kew to keep busy, Daisy's intrigued. After all, Ivy worked at Kew during the last great war and made lifelong friends along the way.

Louisa Armitage, not ready to hang up her gardening gloves just yet, and Beth Sanderson, an aspiring doctor looking to make a difference, decide to enlist as well. When tragedy strikes, the women are forced to come together to support one other during their darkest hours. But can the Kew Gardens Girls survive the horrors of war-torn London this time? 


My thoughts about The Kew Gardens Girls at War ~~

(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 line.)

First line—"Kent, Summer 1940 - Louisa heard the engines before she saw the planes. They were high-pitched and droning bees. Angry bees, she thought."

I loved The Kew Garden Girls and was excited when I found out that the author continued their story. As we go back to the Kew Gardens, we get to meet up again with some of the original girls but we also get to meet their other family members and children. The Kew Gardens legacy continues in the next generation. This is a continuation of the first book but you wouldn't need to read the first book to enjoy this one. 

This is a beautifully written historical fiction story that will make you fall in love with the characters and the gardens, even in the midst of the terrible war and all of the tragedy that comes with it. There is a peacefulness and healing to the gardens that made me want to visit and spend time in them. 

The Kew Gardens Girls at War is a definite must-read for all lovers of historical fiction. Amazing writing, beautiful setting, and memorable characters. 

I received an ARC of The Kew Gardens Girls at War from the publisher via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.


 Book #1 was just as amazing. 

About the author


Posy Lovell is a pseudonym for British author and journalist Kerry Barrett. Born in Edinburgh, she moved to London as a child with her family. She has a passion for uncovering the role of women in the past. She lives in London with her family and is the author of The Kew Gardens Girls. ~ Publisher website

Connect with Posy/Kerry

Publisher Website | Website | Goodreads | Facebook

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Monday, April 18, 2022

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? April 18, 2022 #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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March 21st was the last Monday that I posted one of these posts. By that next Monday, we were already off on our 3-week road trip to see family and friends around the country. Our first stop was to attend Hubs aunt's 80th birthday celebration in Kansas City. It was great seeing family members that we haven't see in a long time. I hope I'm as spry and with it at 80 as Aunt Sandy is now. 

Next planned stop was to see one of my best friends growing up, the maid of honor in our wedding many, many years ago. She figured out that we last saw each other 40 years ago! How does that happen and time fly by like that? It was so wonderful seeing her again and catching up. It was like old times, lots of laughs and reminiscing. 

Our ultimate goal was to land in Tennessee (yep, a long way from South Dakota) to visit our son and his family. They recently moved there from Florida. Our grandson turned 13 while we were there and it was super special to celebrate his birthday with him. I totally loved all hugs and attention from the three grands, our son, and his wonderful wife. It's beautiful there in the Smoky Mountains and I can't wait to go back. I imagine it's spectacular in the fall with the changing colors. 

So this week's post is for several weeks worth of reading, although it's a lot less than my normal reading would have been. With so much to see and do over the last three weeks, my reading life really suffered. I don't even want to know how far behind I am on my Goodreads goal. 😬

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

What I'm currently reading

The Kew Gardens Girls at War
by Posy Lovell
Pub date April 19

An Unfinished Story
by Boo Walker
Narrated by Alexander Cendese & Gabrielle Cendese

What I recently finished

Watch Out for Her
by Samantha M. Bailey
Pub date April 26

Summer on the Island
by Brenda Novak

A Brilliant Night of Stars and Ice
by Rebecca Connolly

Falling for Doctor Drop-Dead Gorgeous: 
A Feel-Good Romantic Comedy
by Sophie-Leigh Robbins

The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
Narrated by Polly Stone

What I am going to read next

Housebreaking
by Colleen Hubbard
Pub date April 19

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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