It's Monday! What Are You Reading? September 23, 2019

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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This is going to be an exciting week for our family. Our son and his wife are having their third child on Wednesday. I get to go and help take care of the older two, ages 10 and 2. Should be a busy week but so much fun. 

This will be grandchild number 9 and they are all within one hour of our home. I am so blessed. Yay! 

I hope to get some reading done but that will have to be after the kiddos are in bed for the night, I have a feeling my days are going to be busy. 

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

What I'm currently reading

The Little Shop of Found Things
(Found Things #1)
by Paula Brackston

Calculated In Death
(In Death #36)
by J.D. Robb
Narrated by Susan Ericksen


Jackrabbit Junction Jitters
(Jackrabbit Junction #2)
by Ann Charles
Narrated by Lisa Larsen

What I recently finished

29 Seconds
by T.M. Logan

Relatively Happy

(Relativity #3)

by Whitney Dineen

What a fun, fun story! Read my thoughts here.

What I am going to read next

Eighteen Winters
by Joanne DeMaio

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Book Spotlight Giveaway! The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides #TheSilentPatient

I have sooooo many books! The Book Spotlight 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. This feature is a way for my to cull my collection and to give someone else the opportunity to enjoy these treasures.

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Once again, I find myself with duplicate copies of a book. This week I have a copy of a thrilling and engrossing book that everyone is talking about and that I completely devoured recently on our vacation. What a great book to get lost in! 

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!

The Silent Patient

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Hardcover, 323 pages
Published February 5th 2019 by Celadon Books

Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word.

Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

About the author

Born in Cyprus to a Greek-Cypriot father and English mother, I studied English literature at Cambridge University and got my MA in screenwriting at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. I wrote the film The Devil You Know (2013) starring Rosamund Pike and co-wrote The Con is On (2018), starring Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Parker Posey and Sofia Vergara. The Silent Patient is my first novel. ~ Goodreads

Connect with Alex

Website | Goodreads | Twitter

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Release Day! Relatively Happy by Whitney Dineen ~ My Thoughts #RelativelyHappy

Happy Release Day!

Congratulations Whitney

 on the release today of

Relatively Happy!

Relatively Happy by Whitney Dineen
Series: Relativity #3
Kindle Edition, 256 pages
Published September 18th 2019

Award-Winning Series!

Sarah Hastings' life is chaotic. Between running her organic farm, her yurt-style holistic B&B, and her vegan café Eat Me!, she barely has time for an aura cleanse. What's more, her spirit guide just announced the universe is sending her a man.

Suddenly, a sexy pro-football player, a hipster photojournalist, and fellow organic farmer practically fall from the sky onto her doorstep. But which one is her cosmic soulmate?

While Sarah meditates on the answer, her parents show up unexpectedly throwing the mother of all monkey wrenches into her carefully laid plans.

With only morning yoga and her erotic book club to keep her sane, no wonder she's chucked her vegan diet in search of bacon. Will the stars of love align, or will the universe let her down in the biggest way possible?

Relatively Happy is a laugh-out-loud, cry-your-heart-out tale that will have you believing in the beauty of life's journey.

My thoughts about Relatively Happy ~~

(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've dreamed about the county fair for as long as I can remember. I've been to every single one since the year I was born."

Oh my gosh! I loved this book so much, it made me so happy! (See what I did there?) 😀

This story was so much fun to read and I absolutely love Whitney's sense of humor. I honestly was laughing out loud in several parts. The part where the group of women were frolicking around in the field, braless, paying homage to their breasts, thanking their breasts—that part had me in stitches. And then when Sarah takes the two men through their "cleansing"—let me just throw out some words—super hot sweat lodge, naked bodies, mud pit, eucalyptus beating. I thought I was going to die. OMG so funny!

It's not all fun and games though. When Sarah's father gets seriously ill, she realizes how blessed she has been in her life and she doesn't take what she has for granted. This was such an entertaining, fun story while also having a serious side, dealing with topics ranging from organic foods, pesticides, global warming, death, loss and love. 

This is book #3 in the Relativity series but it's definitely good as a stand-alone read. As a matter of fact, I haven't read books 1 or 2.... yet, but I sure am going to now! 

      

Check out the whole series here.

About the author

Whitney loves to laugh, play with her kids, bake, and eat french fries -- not always in that order.

Whitney is a multi-award-winning author of romcoms, non-fiction humor, and middle reader fiction. Basically, she writes whatever the voices in her head tell her to.

She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband, Jimmy, where they raise children, chickens, and organic vegetables.

Gold Medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2017. Silver medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2015, 2016. Finalist RONE Awards, 2016. Finalist at the IRFA 2016, 2017. Finalist at the Book Excellence Awards, 2017. Finalist Top Shelf Indie Book Awards, 2017. ~ Amazon

Connect with Whitney

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

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On Tour! Helix by Mary Ting ~ an Excerpt and a Giveaway! #Helix

Helix

Helix by Mary Ting

Series: International Sensory Assassin Network #2
Published by: Vesuvian Books
Publication date: September 10th 2019
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Alliances are forming. The resistance is growing. Everything is about to change.

With her memory still fragmented, Ava returns to the International Sensory Assassin Network (ISAN) to find the twin sister she never knew she had.

But as Ava hunts for information, she finds herself tangled in a web of yet more lies and conspiracy. The Helix serum may not be required to access her superpowers, and the number of male assassins—previously considered too volatile to tolerate Helix—is growing in every territory.

The more Ava uncovers, the more of a threat she becomes to ISAN. Her only salvation may be to join the rebels—if she isn’t killed first.

Add to Goodreads | Purchase

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Excerpt

An icy gust slapped my face, pushing back my hair. My wig was lost to the relentless wind that almost flipped me over. The tight fabric whooshed, and I dove like a missile.

The ground blurred as I homed in on my target. When the guards noticed me, they shot over their shoulders, bullets ripping through the air. They missed. Their bodies twisted awkwardly in the gusts and spoiled their aim.

Palmer landed, and then his guards.

One of Palmer’s bodyguards continued to shoot at me. I’d had enough. Releasing my special armlet—another of Kendrick’s gadgets—I chucked it at the firing guard. It opened in the air to three feet of rope and coiled around his body like a snake. He dropped, unmoving, just when my feet touched the ground.

“Something is coming.” Tamara thumped beside me.

With no time to respond, I moved cautiously forward. Palmer gawked and staggered back when he realized I landed, untouched by bullets. My feet slid across the gravel until the wings on my back sprang back inside, and then I shot at Palmer’s men with my Taser, my team beside me.

That fool. Where does he think he’s going?

Palmer sprinted to the other end of the roof and traversed to the next building, his men following suit.

One by one, his men fell, zapped by our weapons.

“Hurry.” Brooke waved a hand. “We need to get him before he gets to that door.”

But I couldn’t. A savage wind slapped me fiercely, as if someone had switched on a giant fan. Where had it come from?

“It’s here,” Tamara shouted over the roar.

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About the author

International Bestselling, Award-Winning Author Mary Ting writes soulful, spellbinding stories that excite the imagination and captivate readers all over the world. Her books run a wide range of genres and her storytelling talents have won her a devoted legion of fans and garnered critical praise.

Becoming an author happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she had in high school. After realizing she wanted to become a full-time author, Mary retired from teaching after twenty years. She also had the privilege of touring with the Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children's chapter book: No Bullies Allowed.

Mary resides in Southern California with her husband, two children, and two little dogs, Mochi and Mocha. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry.

Connect with Mary

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bookbub

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Release Day! Eighteen Winters by Joanne DeMaio #EighteenWinters

Happy Release Day!

Congratulations Joanne

 on the release today of

Eighteen Winters!

Eighteen Winters by Joanne DeMaio
Print and e-book, 254 pages
Published September 17th 2019

From New York Times bestselling author Joanne DeMaio comes a beautiful novel about a little town you'll want to visit, and a love story you won't soon forget.

Harry Dane lives an ordinary life. From his days working alongside his father at a New England general store, to Harry's endearing and heartbreaking relationships, to sudden snowstorms, to quirky fiascos of found kittens and spilled jam jars, always ... always there is a curious constant.

Through it all, each and every winter, a Christmas card arrives at Harry's Craftsman bungalow from a mysterious woman named Sadie Welles. And when the two of them unexpectedly meet, Harry Dane soon finds himself in an intricate love story spanning Eighteen Winters.

I love Joanne's stories and can't wait to start this one. And isn't this cover just beautiful? 

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. Currently at work on her next novel, Joanne lives with her family in Connecticut.

For a complete list of books and to learn more about the author, visit Joannedemaio.com. She also enjoys hearing from readers on her Facebook Page.

Connect with Joanne

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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