Blog Tour Review & Excerpt: The Summer Swap by Sarah Morgan

 

The Sumer Swap by Sarah Morgan

Publication Date: May 7th 2024 by Canary Street Press

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Harlequin | Bookshop.org| Books-A-Million | Goodreads 

My Thoughts:

Loved The Summer Swap! Three women, all at a low in their lives: Cecilia, who’s lived in the shadow of her husband throughout their marriage is now widowed. She has mixed emotions about her loss and how she’ll move on.  Kristen, Cecelia’s daughter, is grieving her father and lonely in her marriage. Kristen has been there for her husband, but he doesn’t make it a priority to be there for her.  Lily, a young woman overwhelmed by the pressure to become a doctor, drops out of college, escaping to Cape Cod where she runs into Cecilia at Dune Cottage.

Cecilia and Lily strike up an unexpected friendship providing support and a listening ear. Cecilia’s reconciling the past and Lily’s figuring out what to do about her future. I was thrilled there was a second chance romance for both Lily and Cecilia! Even though I wasn’t thrilled with Kristen at the beginning, my heart when out to her as all was revealed.

I absolutely loved everything about The Summer Swap! Finding a way to find the courage to grab up happiness and do what you love, no matter your age. Dune Cottage and Cape Code sounded idyllic and a perfect place to start fresh!

4.5 Stars

Excerpt:

 

Book Description:

A recent widow’s plan to spend the summer in Cape Cod hiding from her interfering family is upended when she discovers her beach house has an unexpected guest, and the secret she's been keeping about her marriage threatens to be exposed. Perfect beach reading for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Emily Henry.

70 year old widow Cecilia Lapthorne can’t bear the prospect of a family party to celebrate her birthday and the memory of her husband, famous artist Cameron Lapthorne. They had a toxic marriage but stayed together for the children, and bound by a big secret. She runs away to the Cape Cod seashore cottage she owned with Cameron--it’s where they first fell in love--but she hasn’t returned since she discovered him cheating on her there (for the first time). No one in her family knows about it, so she will be perfectly, delightfully alone for the summer.

Except struggling artist Lily has been secretly crashing on the sofa of the seashore cottage for the last couple of weeks. Unable to make rent after dropping out of medical school to pursue her dreams of becoming an artist and working as a housekeeper in Cecilia's Cape Cod enclave,

Photo Credit: Ev Sekkides

Author Bio:

Sarah Morgan is a USA Today and Sunday Times bestselling author of contemporary romance and women's fiction. She has sold more than 21 million copies of her books and her trademark humour and warmth have gained her fans across the globe. Sarah lives with her family near London, England, where the rain frequently keeps her trapped in her office. Visit her at www.sarahmorgan.com

Connect with Sarah Morgan:

Website | X | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads 

Audiobook Review: Ordinary Bear by C.B. Bernard

 

Ordinary Bear by C.B. Bernard

Publication Date: April 2rd 2024 by Blackstone Publishing

Pages: 268

Audio Book Length: 8hrs 54min

Narrator: Phil Thron

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

As the story opens, we’re introduced to Farley, a big bear of a man, living in a remote part of Alaska as an oil company investigator. The town has a lively mix of characters, and the story is full of humor. However, things turn tragic quickly when his young daughter comes up for a visit.

After months of recovery, Farley ventures back to Portland, Oregon to seek out his ex for closure. Without meaning to he ends up making a few friends as he works through his grief and injuries. When the daughter of his neighbor goes missing, Farley makes it his mission to get her back.

An Ordinary Bear was a unique and captivating story! One that was hard to stop listening to! Sad, humorous and full of heart! A tale of redemption with interesting characters, bits of suspense and action as Farley tracks the down the little girl. You’d think with the subject matter it’d be a depressing story, but there was plenty of humor and sweetness to the story that made for an uplifting read.

I listened to an audio copy narrated by Phil Thron and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance of both male and female voices! Definitely enhanced and already wonderful story!  I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed.

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

Dark and humorous, literary but with the heart of a detective novel, Ordinary Bear weighs the burden of grief while exploring our boundless capacity for humanity, kindness, and hope.

Farley stands out among his Iñupiat neighbors in the Alaska village he calls home, both white and enormous, like the hungry polar bears that wander its streets. Jovial and a little hapless, he works as an investigator for a North Slope oil company, passing the long Arctic winters drinking whiskey with the village’s preacher and playing in the weekly poker game hosted by its matriarch and mayor.

When his young daughter visits from thousands of miles away in Portland—where she lives with her mother, who despises him—a shocking moment of violence leaves her dead and Farley injured. Crippled by his wounds and hamstrung with guilt over his inability to save her, he goes home to Oregon to try to make amends.

There he strikes up an unlikely friendship with a single mother and her daughter. With their help, he begins the slow process of healing—until the girl goes missing. Faced with the opportunity to do what he couldn’t do for his own daughter, Farley sets out on a brutal odyssey through Portland’s quirky and dangerous underworld, using his wits and his fists to try to save her life along with the shattered remains of his own.

Sunday Post #249

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

This week has been sunny and beautiful with highs in the high 60s/low 70s. Nothing exciting to report other than I got canceled from work because it's been so slow. I filled my days by running, gardening and reading. It was nice except for losing out on the money. 

Some lilacs in our yard. They smell amazing!

Today it's been pouring rain, turning to snow because it's so cold. Thankfully, it melted when it hit the ground. We don't need snow in May, especially since I have most of my seedlings planted. Thankfully, I've waited on planting the tomatoes and cucumbers as they don't do as well with the cold. 

I'll be heading out to Austin, Texas this next week to help my daughter move.

Read:

Speculations in Sin by Jennifer Ashley: 5 Stars

Effie Olsen's Summer Special by Rochelle Bilow: 4.5 Stars

First Contact by Kim Harrison: 4 Stars

Ordinary Bear by C.B. Bernard: 4.5 Stars

I had a great reading week! I'm all caught up with the Below Stairs mysteries. Speculations in Sin has me eager for the next book, but since I'm all caught up I'll have to probably wait a year! Effie Olsen was a lovely combination of romance, found family, gorgeous setting and delicious sounding food! If you don't have a beach/vacation read picked out, this would be perfect! First Contact was an alien story with a hint of a romance. It was novella length and I'm eager to start the next one as  it ended in kind of a "to be continued" way. Ordinary Bear was a unique story, in a really good way! I hope to have my review up this next week.

April reading stats:

Books read: 15

ARCs: 8

Purchased/Library Lend: 7

Audiobooks: 12

E-copy: 2

Received:

Thank you to Minotaur Books, Penguin Audio and Berkley!

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Review: Effie Olsen's Summer Special by Rochelle Bilow

 

Effie Olsen's Summer Special by Rochelle Bilow

Publication Date: April 30th 2024 by Berkley

Pages: 384

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Effie’s back in her hometown of Alder Island, Maine after sixteen years roaming the globe as a chef. Effie’s there just for the summer to earn money and move on to her next assignment.

The small town holds a mix of good and bad memories for Effie. The good ones with her best friend, Ernie, until the night of their graduation, when he told her he didn’t want to speak to her again. Being on the island also brings back memories of her mother leaving. Effie had no choice but to tackle the feelings of abandonment caused by her mother’s actions. Her sister, Ingrid, was a great sounding board and source of wisdom for Effie.

I was thrilled that Ernie and Effie slipped back into friendship right away, and things weren’t super angsty. They just got each other. Their bucket list outings made it hard for Effie to ignore the love and attraction between them. It also highlighted some of the things she forgot she loved about Alder Island, which sounded so quaint and picturesque! Soon leaving Alder Island isn’t such an attractive prospect.

There’s drama at Brown Butter, the Michelin star restaurant they both work at. The head chef, Jared, is a jerk and there’s some shady practices gaining attention. I enjoyed how Effie bonded with all the other staff and made new friends along the way. Ms.Bilow's background as a chef comes through in her food descriptions and everything sounded delicious!

Effie Olsen’s Summer Special was such a wonderful story of healing, personal growth, and finding your niche in life. It was also a sweet, swoony, slow burn romance; the friends-to-lovers variety, that made my heart soar with joy!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

These childhood best friends swore they’d never speak again. But a surprise summer reunion changes everything when it gives them the chance to turn up the heat.
 
Effie Olsen thought she’d never live on the tiny Maine island where she grew up, but she’s returning from sixteen years as a professional chef in far-flung countries for one summer and one summer only. Her hometown boasts one of the best restaurants in the US, and lucky for her, Brown Butter needs a sous chef. Effie's eager for a chance at redemption after her last job went up in flames, but reluctant to set down roots in a place that reminds her of the ghosts of her past.

Until, that is, she runs into Ernie Callahan, her onetime best friend who now works in the very same restaurant. Early morning swims and late-night games of truth or dare with Ernie remind her of what she’s been missing while traveling the world. He knows her better than anyone, and it doesn’t hurt that his smile lights her up brighter than the lighthouses dotting the craggy coastline.

But their restaurant has a secret that’s bursting at the seams, and if Effie doesn’t keep it, her job will vanish into the foggy Maine air. As summer draws to a close, her dream job and the perfect guy are both within reach. Her salty seaside hometown might be the key to Effie’s sweet ending...if she can learn to let her heart lead the way in time.

About the Author

Rochelle Bilow is a food and romance writer who previously worked as the social media manager at Bon Appétit and Cooking Light magazines. A graduate of The French Culinary Institute, she has held just about every job in the food industry. Her first book, The Call of the Farm, a swoony farming memoir, was published in 2014. Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year (2023) was her debut romance. Raised in Syracuse, New York, Rochelle now lives in northern Vermont. Learn more online at www.rochellebilowwriting.com.

Review: Archangel's Lineage by Nalini Singh

 

Archangel's Lineage (Guild Hunter #16) by Nalini Singh

Publication Date: April 23rd 2024 by Berkley

Pages: 378

Source: Publisher & Purchased Audiobook

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Archangel’s Lineage takes place ten years after the war with Lijuan that nearly ended the world. They’ve been living in relative peace for the last twelve months, so the Cadre decide to throw a post-war ball at the Refuge. Before the celebrations can commence a violent earthquake strikes, injuring and killing many and severely damaging the Refuge.

Natural disasters are happening around the globe with increasing frequency and intensity, and the Refuge’s camouflage is fading with no knowledge of how to repair it. The Cadre band together to find out how to stop all this before the world is destroyed.

Meanwhile, Elena’s father, Jeffrey has a heart attack and is unresponsive. Elena is terrified he’ll die before they mend all the past hurts between them. My heart ached for Elena. Jeffery’s situation brought home the reality of her immortality, living on long after her mortal family is gone. I really enjoyed seeing Elena grow closer to her extended family. It was cathartic and healing!

This is book sixteen in the Guild Hunter series. That sounds a bit intimidating, but several books can be read as standalones, IMO, because they focus on other couples besides Raphael and Elena, and only touch a little on the continuing story ARC.

The Raphael/Elena books should be read in order. The history of their romance is not to be missed! There are eight, including this installment. I have a more detailed review explaining their history HERE. It’s a little spoilery, but not anymore than you’d get from reading the book descriptions.  I binge read the Raphael/Elena books in a month, back in 2018, and have been reading every new installment since.

The Guild Hunter series is addictive and exciting! One I wholeheartedly recommend!  The audios narrated by Justine Eyre are fantastic!

4 Stars

Book Description:

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh’s dangerous and beautiful world of archangels, vampires, and mortals has never faced a threat this cataclysmic…

Raphael and Elena are experiencing their first ever year of true peace. No war. No horrors of archangelic power. No nightmares given flesh. Until…the earth beneath the Refuge begins to tremble, endangering not only angelkind’s precious and fragile young, but the very place that has held their most innocent safe for eons.

Amid the chaos, Elena’s father suffers a violent heart attack that threatens to extinguish their last chance to heal the bonds between them and make sense of the ruins of their agonizing shared history.

Even as Elena battles grief, Raphael is torn from her side by the sudden disappearance of an archangel. But worse yet is to come. An Ancestor, an angel unlike any other, stirs from his Sleep to warn the Cadre of a darkness so terrible that it causes empires to fall and civilizations to vanish.

This time, even the Cadre itself may not be able to stop a ticking clock that is counting down at frightening speed…

Connect with Nalini Singh:

Website | Facebook | X | Instagram | Goodreads

Review: Speculations in Sin by Jennifer Ashley

 

Speculations in Sin (Below Stairs #7) by Jennifer Ashley

Publication Date: March 5th 2024 by Berkley

Pages: 320

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Kat Holloway’s cooking prowess affords her the best spots in wealthy houses, but she stays in the London area because of her daughter, Grace. There’s a whole backstory there that I won’t elaborate on. In this installment there’s trouble with the family Grace stays with while Kat is working. Sam Millburn, the father has been accused of embezzlement and it’s up to Kat to help the Millburn’s, who’ve been a godsend to her and Grace.

As they investigate, someone is murdered, upping the stakes even higher.

There's a lot of danger and action in this installment! Of course, Kat has Daniel, Cynthia, Mr. Thanos, Tess, and her other gang of friends she’s accumulated along the way. Kat inspires loyalty with her kindness and cleverness in tackling problems for those she loves. As usual, I wanted to thump Mrs. Bywater more than a few times! Kat is too good for that awful woman’s house!

I’ve been devouring the Below Stairs mysteries centered on Kat Holloway, a cook in the 1800s solving crimes while wowing people with her food. Speculations in Sin is the seventh book in the series, and so now Kat has made a name for herself in sleuthing. Each book has a separate mystery to solve, but the continuing story arc is her relationship with Daniel McAdam and the friends she’s acquired along the way. I’ve loved every book! The series is best started from the beginning. I’d start with the novella: A Soupçon of Poison, which introduces Kat and Daniel.

I read an e-copy of Speculations in Sin, but I’ve been listening to the audios of the previous books. Anne-Marie Piazza’s performance is fantastic!

5 Stars

Book Description:

To save an innocent man’s life, amateur sleuth and cook Kat Holloway must expose a financial scam that could ruin the most powerful aristocrats in Victorian-era London, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Secret of Bow Lane.

Kat Holloway is distressed to learn that Samuel Millburn, husband of the woman who looks after her daughter, has been accused of embezzling funds from the bank where he works as a clerk. The accusation is absurd, and Samuel’s wife fears that her husband will not only lose his post but be imprisoned. Kat vows to uncover the truth.

When she discovers the bank is involved in shockingly murky business dealings, Kat realizes she’s treading in dangerous waters. She turns to her confidante and handsome suitor, Daniel McAdam, for help. To exonerate Samuel, Kat and Daniel may have to expose the unseemly financial dealings of prominent aristocrats and government officials, and even those working to bring down the royal family. Kat will risk everything to protect the man who has sacrificed so much for her daughter, even if it means endangering herself and the friends she has come to love.

About the author:

Jennifer Ashley is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Below Stairs Mysteries, the Shifters Unbound paranormal romances, and the Mackenzies historical romances. She also writes as USA Today bestselling mystery author Ashley Gardner.

Sunday Post #248

 

The Sunday Post is hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated reviewer book blog, and is a post to recap my bookish and non-bookish things from the last week. I'm also linking up to The Sunday Salon hosted by Deb Nance @Readerbuzz.

It's been a busy week. I worked, did a bunch of gardening, went on some runs, and then my youngest sister flew in from Southern California on Friday. My middle sister is the one that lives up here and so we took our sister out for dinner, then went to Empire Mine, which is a historic state park with gardens. We took a tour and then went out to Nevada City, another historic miners town a few miles north of us.

The Bourne family estate (one of them)

The blacksmith shop

One of the processing buildings

Climbing rose on the house

Thank goodness the mine is no longer operating since they used very toxic ways to extract gold and the process was supposedly very loud!

We came back to my house and cooked dinner. We had a nice visit!

After a few rainy days, Peanut is enjoying the warmer weather. 

Read:

(Click on cover for Goodreads link)

Funny Story by Emily Henry: 5 Stars

Archangel's Lineage by Nalini Singh: 4 Stars

The Stranger I Wed by Harper St. George: 4 Stars

I wanted to get more read, but there was a lot going on this week!

Received:

Thank you to Canary Street Press, Berkley, and Blackstone Publishing!

Instagram:

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Review: The Stranger I Wed by Harper St. George

 

The Stranger I Wed (The Doves of New York #1) by Harper St. George

Publication Date: April 23th 2024 by Berkley

Pages: 344

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Cora Dove and her sisters’ inheritances are contingent on them finding husbands far away from New York, their birthplace, thanks to their jerk of a father. So they head off to England in search of husbands.

Leopold Brendon, The Earl of Devonworth, captures Cora’s attention right away when they literally crash into each other. He’s in need of a wife with money and she’s in need of a marriage with a title so they make their arrangement with an expiration date, at Cora’s request. Cora doesn’t want to be beholden to any man, her mother soured her on that, but Leo is a different man from her father.

Leo had his heart broken, so he’s wary of giving his heart to any woman, especially when Cora makes it clear that the marriage is for convenience only. However, they are attracted to each other and in time also come to respect each other. Can they get past their issues to let love in? I hoped so!

Both Cora and Leo had reasons to be wary of a romantic relationship. Cora’s father was something else! I’d love to see him sorry for how he behaved, but I won’t hold my breath. Cora’s mother wasn’t much better, in my opinion. The woman was a big detractor for her girls with her outrageous behavior.

I appreciated that both Cora and Leo were moved to advocate for others and bonded over their righting the injustices of their time.

I really enjoyed The Stranger I Wed. It was a slow burn romance; with multi-layered characters I could relate to and root for! It filled my heart with joy to see Cora find everything she was looking for and so much more with Leo! I’m hoping each of the Dove sisters finds their HEA!

4 Stars

Excerpt:

Book Description:

New to wealth and to London high society, American heiress Cora Dove discovers that with the right man, marriage might not be such an inconvenience after all. . . .

Cora Dove and her sisters’ questionable legitimacy has been the lifelong subject of New York’s gossipmongers and a continual stain on their father’s reputation. So when the girls each receive a generous, guilt-induced dowry from their dying grandmother, the sly Mr. Hathaway vows to release their funds only if Cora and her sisters can procure suitable husbands—far from New York. For Cora, England is a fresh start. She has no delusions of love, but a husband who will respect her independence? That’s an Earl worth fighting for.

Enter: Leopold Brendon, Earl of Devonworth, a no-nonsense member of Parliament whose plan to pass a Public Health bill that would provide clean water to the working class requires the backing of a wealthy wife. He just never expected to crave Cora’s touch or yearn to hear her thoughts on his campaign—or to discover that his seemingly perfect bride protects so many secrets. . . .

But secrets have a way of bubbling to the surface, and Devonworth has a few of his own. With their pasts laid bare and Cora’s budding passion for women’s rights taking a dangerous turn, they’ll learn the true cost of losing their heart to a stranger—and that love is worth any price.

Photo Credit: Harper St. George

About the author:

Harper St. George was raised in the rural backwoods of Alabama and along the tranquil coast of northwest Florida. These were settings filled with stories of the old days that instilled in her a love of history, romance, and adventure. By high school, she had discovered the historical romance novel, which combined all of those elements into one perfect package. She has been hooked ever since. She lives in the Atlanta area with her family and loves to hear from readers.

Review: Funny Story by Emily Henry

 

Funny Story by Emily Henry

Publication Date: April 23rd 2024 by Berkley & Penguin Audio

Pages: 400

Audio Book Length: 11hrs 23min

Narrator: Julia Whelan

Source: Publishers

Rating: ★★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Libro.fm | Audible | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Daphne moved to Waning Bay, Michigan following her fiancé, Peter, back to his hometown. Her planned future with him is everything she’s always wanted: stability, family, friends, and a gorgeous Victorian home. Everything is perfect until Peter decides he’s actually in love with his childhood best friend, Petra. They get together leaving Daphne homeless, so she ends up moving in with Miles, Petra’s ex-boyfriend, also dumped. Daphne’s counting the days until she can pick up and move.

I loved everything about this romance! Miles and Daphne bonding over fake dating, fun outings, whacky family, new friends, and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments! They also bonded over sad things: heartache, toxic family, and feelings of not being good enough. Waning, Michigan sounded beautiful as Miles shows Daphne around to all his favorite parts!

Funny Story ties with Book Lovers and Beach Read as my favorite Emily Henry’s! The story brought pure joy to my heart!

I alternately read an e-copy and listened to the audio version of Funny Story and recommend either version. Julia Whelan is such an excellent performer! She really enhances any story she narrates! All characters are distinct, their emotions come through loud and clear! I listened at my usual 1.5x normal speed.

 5 Stars

Book Description:

A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?