Author: Robert Lacey
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Genre: Nonfiction
Source: Kristin of Kritters Ramblings

Goodreads: The official companion to the critically acclaimed Netflix drama about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, The Crown by Peter Morgan, featuring additional historical background and exclusive images.

Starring Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II and John Lithgow as Winston Churchill, Netflix’s original series The Crown, created by Peter Morgan and growing out of his Oscar-winning movie The Queen starring Helen Mirren, paints a unique and intimate portrait of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch. This official companion to the show’s first season is an in-depth exploration of the early years of Elizabeth II’s time as Queen, complete with extensive research, additional material, and exclusive, beautifully reproduced images.
One of the show’s most powerful themes is that royals do not choose their duty; it is thrust upon them. Princess Elizabeth never expected her father to die so suddenly, so young, leaving her not only a throne to fill but a global institution to govern. Crowned at twenty-five, already a wife and mother, follow the journey of a woman learning to become a queen while facing her own challenges within her own family. This is the story of how Elizabeth II drew on every ounce of strength and British reserve to deal with crises not only on the continent but at home as well.
Written by bestselling historical biographer Robert Lacey, who also serves as the show’s historical consultant, this official companion provides an in-depth exploration from behind the palace gates. Relive the majesty of the first season of the hit show, with behind-the-scenes photos, meticulously researched images from the time, and more.

Ope’s Opinion: After watching The Crown, it was fun to read behind the scenes. It was interesting to see what facts they chose to highlight. The Royal family is amazing to follow – fact vs fiction. If you are a fan of Royal family information, this will be a good read for you.

There were so many pictures of the family and the cast that played them. It showed what a great job they did to have the cast look as close to the family as possible. I read the physical copy and I highly recommend it ( not ebook ) because of all the photo’s.

My understanding is there is going to be a volume 2 for the next part of The Crown. If they do it similar to this one, I will be interested in reading the physical copy.

Author: Valerie Bertinelli
Publisher: Mariner Books
Genre: Non-fiction
Source: Purchased

Goodreads: Beloved actress and New York Times best-selling author Valerie Bertinelli returns with a heartfelt look at turning sixty, the futility of finding happiness in numbers on a scale, learning to love herself the way she is today, and tips for a healthier outlook on life.

Valerie Bertinelli shares an inspiring blueprint that offers women in midlife support and hope. She shares personal stories that many women will relate to from her past decade: hitting her fifties, taking care of her dying mother, the evolving relationship with her husband, a career change, her relationship with food, and the battle to believe in herself as she is.

Despite her success receiving Emmys for her Food Network show and critical praise for her books and cookbook, Bertinelli still judged herself harshly if she gained a pound or showed too many wrinkles. But after her mother died, she found an old recipe box with notes of the strong women that came before her, reminding her that she has to find out who she is and take care of herself. Saying, “enough already!” Bertinelli set out on a journey to love herself and see that perfection is not the goal; it’s the joy we can find every day in our lives, our loved ones, and the food we share. Recipes and advice will be sprinkled throughout the book.

Ope’s Opinion: I find it very hard to review autobiography’s. It is Valerie’s story, in her voice. Her thoughts are all about her, her life, and how she was feeling at the time. The bottom line was if it isn’t about loving yourself and other it is not worth the time.

I have been a fan of Valerie’s since she was on One Day at a Time. I have followed her career and life since. It is interesting to hear how she felt about herself when it always looked from the outside that she was bubbly and happy. The chapters are labeled according to dates – each chapter has short segments that were happening around the same time – this made it easy to pick up and read a little at a time.

…. On a Bookshelf near you!

In March I hope to read….

Publication Date: March 15, 2022
Publisher: HQN

Goodreads: One woman discovers the beauty in chaos in this poignant and heartwarming story about the threads that hold family together from #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery.

With her divorce settlement about to run out and a mortgage she can’t afford, Robyn Caldwell needs a plan for her future. She nurtured her family and neglected herself. But how’s she supposed to think when her daughter has become the most demanding bride ever, her son won’t even consider college, her best friend is on the brink of marital disaster and her ex is making a monumentally bad decision that could bring everything crashing down on Robyn’s head? So when her great-aunt Lillian invites her to Santa Barbara for the summer, Robyn hops on the first plane.

But it’s hard to run away when you’re the heart of the family. One by one, everyone she left behind follows her across the country. Somehow, their baggage doesn’t feel as heavy in the sun-drenched, mishmash mansion. The more time Robyn spends with free-spirited Lillian, the more she sees the appeal in taking chances—on dreams, on love, on family. Life is meant to be lived on purpose. All she has to do is muster the courage to take a chance on herself.

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

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

Author: Ashley Schumacher
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: Young Adult
Source: Wednesday Books ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: Everyone else in the tiny town of Enfield, Texas calls fall football season, but for the forty-three members of the Fighting Enfield Marching Band, it’s contest season. And for new saxophonist Anna James, it’s her first chance to prove herself as the great musician she’s trying hard to be.

When she’s assigned a duet with mellophone player Weston Ryan, the boy her small-minded town thinks of as nothing but trouble, she’s equal parts thrilled and intimidated. But as he helps her with the duet, and she sees the smile he seems to save just for her, she can’t help but feel like she’s helping him with something too.

After her strict parents find out she’s been secretly seeing him and keep them apart, together they learn what it truly means to fight for something they love. With the marching contest nearing, and the two falling hard for one another, the unthinkable happens, and Anna is left grappling for a way forward without Weston.

A heartbreaking novel about finding your first love and what happens when it’s over too soon. Ashley Schumacher’s Full Flight is about how first love shapes us—even after it’s gone.

Ope’s Opinion: Oh, my what an awesome read. I only read a few Young Adult books a year and this one was a great pick! Even if this is not your typical genre – I highly recommend this one. The main characters are high school students. Both of their families are very involved ( in a positive way )in their students lives.

This was written with a lot of emotion. You could feel it as you read it. I really liked that it was not overly dramatic – felt real to me. I am ready to see what Ashley writes next.

Author: Alys Murray
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Romance
Source: Bookouture ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: Harper Anderson has a to-do list longer than the Colorado river, and fields of tulips to tend to at her family’s flower farm in Hillsboro County, California. It’s her dream to run the business with her sisters when their father retires, keeping up traditions that began with her great-great-grandmother.

That is, if there’s a farm left to run. Rich out-of-towners looking for a slice of country living are hiking up the prices in town and it’s putting her family out of business. So she has no time for the arrogant LA tech mogul who makes her an offer to use their farm as his sister’s wedding venue. No amount of money could make up for the destruction it would wreak on next season’s crop. The sooner Luke Martin is on his way, the better.

But Luke isn’t willing to go. He’s been looking out for his sister ever since their deadbeat parents left them to fend for themselves, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy. So when Harper’s newest farmhand leaves her in the lurch, he sees an opportunity to strike a deal. He’ll work on the farm for free if she’ll give him the chance to change her mind.

Harper and Luke each expect the other to crack first. What they don’t expect is the chemistry that sparks between them as they work side by side among the budding roses. But Luke’s presence is turning over more than the earth, and just as Harper is starting to let her guard down, he stumbles upon a secret that could spell disaster for the entire Anderson clan.

With her family’s happiness at stake, can Harper put her trust in a man who is worlds apart from everything she knows?

Ope’s Opinion: This is the perfect Hallmark movie! If you like romances that go from enemies to loving each other, you will really like this one. There are not steamy scenes, so I really enjoyed this story.

The description of the flowers, fields and the water near their house made it easy to visualize. It made me want to be there.

My understanding is this is the first book of the series. I think the other books will be about each of the other sisters. It will be interesting to see where the story goes for each of them and to get updates on Harper.

When Steven Manchester sends you a book,
you know it will be a good reading day!

Publisher: Luna Bella Press
Publication Date: March 8, 2022

Goodreads: From New England’s Storyteller, Steven Manchester, comes the nostalgia-filled sequel to Bread Bags & Bullies; a novel about growing up in a whacky family during the 1980s. Boom boxes, leg warmers and Rubik’s Cubes—it’s all there. A hysterical walk down memory lane!

“Steven Manchester’s Lawn Darts & Lemonade is so much fun, filled with laughter, tears, and Big Hair.” – Taylor Dayne, ’80s Recording Artist, Love Will Lead You Back

It’s the summer of 1984, a season of dodging lawn darts and chugging lemonade—or at least the discolored tap water Ma tried to disguise as lemonade.

Growing up is never easy, no matter what era you do it in. For generations, teenagers have suffered peer pressure, bullying, fear of rejection, and a sadistic obstacle course of one unexpected challenge after the next. Three brothers, Wally, Herbie, and Cockroach, learn that the past can be filled with questions—even shame and regret—while the future might be shrouded in worry and fear. But staying in the moment, now that’s where the sweet spot is.

Thank you Steven!

This is the box of Colorful Tea Cups.

This is the puzzle.
The pieces are really nice – I am missing one, but it may have been me who lost it.
The finish is a little shinny, so it does reflect the light. It was a good puzzle for
cold winter days – just added my own cup of hot tea while working on it!

Author: Kate Hewitt
Publisher: Bookouture
Genre: Fiction
Source: Bookoutoure ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: If you had to make an impossible choice to save your long-lost daughter, you would… wouldn’t you?

It’s a warm early summer’s evening when Mia’s doorbell rings. She opens the door to see a teenage girl standing in the shadow beyond the porch light—and in an instant she knows who it is. Daisy, the daughter she gave up as a baby. Daisy steps forward, as she says tearfully “I’m sorry I didn’t call first. But something happened. And I really needed… you.”

Seventeen years before, knowing she couldn’t possibly give her beautiful little girl Daisy the future she deserved, Mia made the hardest decision of her life—to give her up. And Suzanne seemed the perfect adoptive mother: calm, stable, and full of love for the daughter she’d always dreamed of having.

The two mothers promised to keep communication open, so Daisy could have Mia’s love and support along with Suzanne’s. But as the years passed, Mia moved away, and their visits happened less. Now Daisy is almost a stranger to Mia—angry, closed and broken—nothing like the tiny girl she once couldn’t bear to say goodbye to.

But now Daisy has arrived on Mia’s doorstep, and she says she has a terrible secret. One she can never tell Suzanne. And she believes the only person who can help her is Mia. Her birth mother.

Mia, however, has secrets of her own. Ones she is afraid to let Daisy or anyone else know. And while Suzanne desperately seeks a way to bring her child home, can Mia overcome her past to help the girl they both call their daughter in her darkest hour before it’s too late?

Totally gripping emotional women’s fiction from the author guaranteed to make readers cry. Kate Hewitt’s story will grab you by the heartstrings and never let you go. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlain and Jojo Moyes.

Ope’s Opinion: This story felt like a good rollercoaster for me. Each time I felt like the story was predictable and maybe a little slow, there was a new twist or turn I did not see coming. Kate Hewitt knows how to write a story from a different perspective than you would expect to see.

The book was told from three perspectives – birth mother ( Mia ), adopted mother ( Suzanne ) and the daughter ( Daisy )to both of them. It was written from the past ( then ) and present. The past really gave you insight as why and how the characters got where they are now.

I have read Kate Hewitt before and I will read her again.

Author: Liz Johnson
Publisher: Fleming H. Revell Company
Genre: Christian Fiction
Souce: Fleming Revell Company ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: When Meg Whitaker’s father decides to sell the family’s lobster-fishing business to her high school nemesis, she sets out to prove she should inherit it instead. Though she’s never had any interest in running the small fleet–or even getting on a boat due to her persistent seasickness–she can’t stand to see Oliver Ross take over. Not when he ruined her dreams for a science scholarship and an Ivy League education ten years ago.

Oliver isn’t proud of what he did back then. Angry and broken by his father walking out on his family, he lashed out at Meg–an innocent bystander. But owning a respected fishing fleet on Prince Edward Island is the opportunity of a lifetime, and he’s not about to walk away just because Meg wants him to.

Meg’s father has the perfect solution: Oliver and Meg must work the business together, and at the end of the season, he’ll decide who gets it. Along the way, they may discover that their stories are more similar than they thought . . . and their dreams aren’t what they expected.

Bestselling author Liz Johnson invites you back to Prince Edward Island for a brand-new series about family, forgiveness, and the kind of love that heals all wounds.

Ope’s Opinion: This is my first Liz Johnson book and now I will be reading her back list until she writes her next one! This is a great example of how Christian Fiction should be written – there are amazing characters ( who are flawed ), a beautiful setting ( Prince Edwards Island ), and good examples of what Christians are really like ( not perfect, but seeking God – Not preachy at all ).

Although this book is centered around Lobster fishing – the fishing was woven into the story of the relationships. Those relationships should be treasured and forgiveness are both at the center of this story.

This is the first in the series and I am really excited about going back to Prince Edwards Island to read Eli’s story and peek into Meg and Olivers lives again.

Author: Rachel Kapelke-Dale
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Genre: Thriller
Source: St.Martin’s Press ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive in a captivating, voice-driven debut novel about a trio of ballerinas who meet as students at the Paris Opera Ballet School.

Fourteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg––taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career––and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she’s been away…and some secrets can’t stay buried forever.

Moving between the trio’s adolescent years and the present day, The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside––all culminating in a twist you won’t see coming, with magnetic characters you won’t soon forget.

Ope’s Opinion: I love the cover on this book – it is beautiful! My daughter danced for fifteen years, so I was very interested in the behind the scenes of the ballet world. This book is in the thriller genre – I didn’t really see it fitting in that category. I see this as a women’s fiction – it was more about the friendship of her and her fellow ballerina’s.

These three friends didn’t feel like friends to me. They were not very supportive of each other. I like strong women who lift each other up – I don’t think they did this. I felt like too many issues were trying to be dealt with in this book.