…. On a Bookshelf near you!

In July I hope to read….

Publication Date: July 11, 2023
Publisher: Gallery Books

Goodreads: Four women come together to save the summer camp that changed their lives and rediscover themselves in the process in this moving new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Veil and the Peachtree Bluff series.

Nearly thirty years ago, in the wake of a personal tragedy, June Moore bought Camp Holly Springs and turned it into a thriving summer haven for girls. But now, June is in danger of losing the place she has sacrificed everything for, and begins to realize how much she has used the camp to avoid facing difficulties in her life.

June’s niece, Daphne, met her two best friends, Lanier and Mary Stuart, during a fateful summer at camp. They’ve all helped each other through hard things, from heartbreak and loss to substance abuse and unplanned pregnancy, and the three are inseparable even in their thirties. But when attorney Daphne is confronted with a relationship from her past—and a confidential issue at work becomes personal—she is faced with an impossible choice.

Lanier, meanwhile, is struggling with tough decisions of her own. After a run-in with an old flame, she is torn between the commitment she made to her fiancé and the one she made to her first love. And when a big secret comes to light, she finds herself at odds with her best friend…and risks losing the person she loves most.

But in spite of their personal problems, nothing is more important to these songbirds than Camp Holly Springs. When the women learn their childhood oasis is in danger of closing, they band together to save it, sending them on a journey that promises to open the next chapters in their lives.

What is coming soon …. to a bookshelf near you?

Let me know – I am always looking for a good read!

The perfect place to read.
The perfect book to read.
One of my favorite authors to read.
What more could you want from vacation!?

Author: Alison Rose Greenberg
Publisher: St. Martin Griffin
Genre: Romance
Source: St. Martin Griffin ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: It’s official: Zoey Marks is the cursed bridesmaid that no engagement can survive. Ten years, three empire waist dresses, and ZERO brides have walked down the aisle.

After strike three, Zoey is left wondering if her own ambivalence towards marriage has rubbed off on those she loves. And when her building distrust of matrimony culminates in turning down a proposal from her perfect All-American boyfriend, Rylan Harper III, she and Rylan are both left heartbroken, leaving Zoey to wonder: what is it exactly about tying the knot that makes her want to run in the opposite direction?

Enter Hannah Green: Zoey’s best friend, who announces that she’s marrying a guy she just met (cue eye roll). At a castle. In gorgeous, romantic Ireland, where Rylan will be in attendance, and Zoey will be a bridesmaid. It’ll be fine.

Okay, the woman definition of fine (NOT FINE).

Determined to turn her luck around, Zoey accepts her role and vows to get Hannah down the aisle—all the while praying her best friend’s wedded bliss will allow her to embrace marriage and get Rylan back.

But as the weekend goes on, Zoey is plagued with more questions than answers. Can you be a free spirit, yet still want a certain future? Can you have love and be loved on your terms? And how DO you wrangle a bossy falcon into doing your bidding?

Ope’s Opinion: The synopsis looked like this could be a really cute read. I guess it could have been, but there was so much foul language. I wish the author had been more creative and used other words instead of the “f” word constantly – it lost it’s impact and meaning ( if there was any meaning ).

Zoey is the main character and it is all about her – she is the most self centered main character I think I have ever read. She even talks about herself. Zoey even wants to make sure her best friend ends up married just so Zoey feels better about marriage – not so her friend will be happy.

This was way too steamy for me and cheating is not sexy or enjoyable to read.

The ending was my favorite part, although I felt like there was no progress made by the main character – she was exactly where she was in the beginning. No spoilers – it just was not traditional.

Goodreads: Her past is restless. Her future is vulnerable. The longest summer of her life has begun.

Miranda Blair is a self-proclaimed hypocrite. Employed by her town’s historical society, she preserves brick-and-mortar landmarks from yesterday but has spent two decades running from her past. Having never been able to afford life’s indulgent toppings, she’s settled for vanilla.

Miranda is coaxed from her childhood home when she’s named the sole heir to her estranged grandmother’s estate. Gertrude Blair has outlined a hundred-day stay at her New England cottage as a prerequisite for the inheritance. Begrudgingly, Miranda accepts this unorthodox final request from the woman who never deserved the title “grandma.”

In idyllic Cobblers Hill, shingled homes boast charming front porches and roses entwine white picket fences. But Gertrude’s abandoned property needs a makeover as desperately as Miranda does. And while remnants from Miranda’s history dwell within the dark paneled cottage walls, no strings attached prevails as her motto—until, that is, she meets the emerald-eyed guy next door.

Thank you Corrine from Books Forward for passing this book on to me.

This year my reading has changed from mostly physical books to mostly ebooks on my Kindle. Although there are a lot of positive things with the Kindle, I do miss the physical books.

I also really miss BEA. It was a trip my daughter ( Kristi of Kritters Ramblings ) and I used to take each year. Meeting the authors, publishers and finding new books to read gave me incentive to read more ( not that I needed much incentive! ).

It is hard to believe another year of blogging has gone by. I am still really enjoying reading, talking about books and sharing those books with everyone.

This is my favorite place to read a book!

Author: Adele Griffin
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Genre: Fiction
Source: Sourcebook Landmark ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: From National Book Award finalist Adele Griffin, an insightful and warmhearted story of two very different women who make an unexpected connection when one decides to carry a baby for the other.

At I’ll Have Seconds, a high-end fairytale vintage dress shop in Manhattan, Nora Hammond loves nothing better than pairing a rare find with the perfect client.

At home, Nora grapples with the bleaker reality of enormous debt, a tiny apartment, and ever-dwindling hope that she and her husband Jacob will have a family of their own.

When socialite Evelyn Elliot charges into Nora’s life, the women spark an immediate connection, and Nora is jettisoned into the heady whirl of New York’s moneyed elite. As Evelyn’s stylist and confidante, Nora needs to learn all new rules of engagement for the uber-wealthy. But it isn’t until Evelyn decides her next cause is to carry a baby for Nora, that these rules― and this unlikely friendship―are tested.

A contemporary story that celebrates alternative routes to family, The Favor is an incisive examination of what it means to long for a child and what relationships cost us―and what they’re worth.

Ope’s Opinion: I had heard so much about this book, I really thought I was going to fall in love with it from page one. Well, it is such a unique story I wanted to see where it went, but I wasn’t captivated by it.

I thought it was strange how Evelyn came into the store where Nora was working and just stripped down and tried on all the clothes. It seemed an odd way to start a friendship – if that is what you want to call Evelyn and Nora’s relationship.

I am a huge fan of stories about how people who deal with infertility, but this one was really different and hard to relate to. I could not relate to the dead poet and the perfume line – not sure how that fit in to the rest of the story for me.

Author: Heather McGovern
Publisher: Forever
Genre: Romance
Source: Forever ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: A charming second-chance romance about a big city chef whose return home to help run her family’s wedding planning business means reuniting with the man who broke her heart.

Chef Aurora Shipley spent years slicing, dicing, and chopping her way up the ladder of L.A.’s competitive restaurant scene, but when her sisters needed her help, she dropped everything to return home to Texas. With her family’s Orchard Inn now on its feet, it’s time for Aurora to head back to the big city. At least there, she won’t keep running into ex-boyfriend Jude Jones or her high school bully Erica, who now needs Aurora and her wedding planning business to throw the celebration of her dreams. Will Aurora let the past go long enough to send the bride off without a hitch and ignore her traitorous heart urging her to stay and try again with Jude?

As a teenager, Jude Jones foolishly listened to his father and let Aurora Shipley slip away. In the intervening years, the sweet, shy girl grew into a stunning, capable, confident woman, and her reappearance is messing with Jude’s focus, which should be on expanding Jones’ Family Herbs. He broke Aurora’s heart once, and she broke his, too. This time will Jude be strong enough to fight for her—for them—and a future together?

Ope’s Opinion: This was a really good read. I enjoyed the strong women in this story that had other interests as well as romance going on in their lives. I liked how supportive the sisters were with each other. I really like the cleanness of the romance in this book.

This is the second book in the Orchard Inn Series. I read the first one and enjoyed it, but I liked this one better. You could have read this as a stand alone. I am assuming there is a third one and I will be putting it on my TBR list as soon as it is out!

Goodreads: A charming second-chance romance about a big city chef whose return home to help run her family’s wedding planning business means reuniting with the man who broke her heart.

Chef Aurora Shipley spent years slicing, dicing, and chopping her way up the ladder of L.A.’s competitive restaurant scene, but when her sisters needed her help, she dropped everything to return home to Texas. With her family’s Orchard Inn now on its feet, it’s time for Aurora to head back to the big city. At least there, she won’t keep running into ex-boyfriend Jude Jones or her high school bully Erica, who now needs Aurora and her wedding planning business to throw the celebration of her dreams. Will Aurora let the past go long enough to send the bride off without a hitch and ignore her traitorous heart urging her to stay and try again with Jude?

As a teenager, Jude Jones foolishly listened to his father and let Aurora Shipley slip away. In the intervening years, the sweet, shy girl grew into a stunning, capable, confident woman, and her reappearance is messing with Jude’s focus, which should be on expanding Jones’ Family Herbs. He broke Aurora’s heart once, and she broke his, too. This time will Jude be strong enough to fight for her—for them—and a future together?

I am currently reading this book and it is really good.
The review will be out soon!

Author: Hannah McKinnon
Publisher: Atria / Emily Bestler Books
Genre: Fiction
Source: Atria / Emily Bestler Books ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: On a secluded stretch of Cape Cod, a wedding is being planned at a beloved beach house—only for a long kept secret to emerge that hurtles both the wedding and the family off course, in this fresh, lyrical new novel from the acclaimed author of the “charming and warmhearted” ( PopSugar ) The Summer House.

At age ninety-two, Tish Darling is the matriarch and protector of what’s left of the Darling family fortune, including the decades-old beach house, Riptide. Located on the crook of Cape Cod, it’s a place she once loved but has not returned to in decades, since a tragic family accident one perfect summer day. Still, she is determined to keep Riptide in the family. Even if that means going back there on the cusp of her granddaughter’s wedding. Even if it means revealing someone else’s truth.

Her daughter-in-law Cora has her own complicated feelings surrounding Tish’s return as well as doubts about her place within the Darling family. After all, Cora came into the family carrying a secret that her husband promised to keep for her forever. Tish’s sudden return to Riptide may force everything they’ve worked so hard to protect out into the light.

Meanwhile, Cora’s eldest daughter, Andi isn’t exactly looking forward to her little sister’s wedding so soon after her own divorce. To make matters worse, her ex has arrived on the Cape with his insufferable new girlfriend. Andi has no idea how she’ll be able to survive this family reunion…until she bumps into an old friend from the past. A friend who may just offer her a second chance.

As the three distinct generations of Darling women arrive at Riptide, they have no idea that this summer will forever change them. One old secret, kept with the best of intentions, threatens to not only divide the family, but shatter each member’s sense of who they really are. Can the ties that bind survive, when the history you’ve always been told turns out to be untrue?

Ope’s Opinion: What a wonderful family drama Hannah McKinnon has written. All the characters are well rounded – real with flaws and a lot of heart. It was a pleasure to watch each of them develop.

I didn’t care for Tish, but I don’t think I was suppose to. It was understandable why she was the way she was, but I wanted her to be different. I was wishing her past would have made her kinder and more sympathetic, but it didn’t. But that was part of the story – it didn’t make me like the story less, just didn’t like Tish!

The setting is at the beach – which is always one of my favorite places to be, so I enjoy reading about stories set there. The family cabin was described so I felt like I was there with the family.

I would like to know where all the Darling family is now.