en-US Tue, 22 Apr 2025 17:33:20 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 203098721 Brand new from the #1 bestselling author of The Last List of Mabel Beaumont comes a powerful story of memory, loss, love, and new beginnings��

When Shelley Woodhouse wakes up in hospital from a coma, the first thing she says is that her husband must be arrested.

He’s the reason she’s in here. She knows it. She remembers what he did. Clearly as anything.

But there are things Shelley has forgotten too, including parts of her childhood. And as those start to come back to her, so do other memories. Ones with the power to change everything.

But can she trust these new memories, or what anyone around her is telling her? And who is the mysterious hospital volunteer who brings her food and keeps making her smile? Is it possible to find your future when you're confused about your past?]]> 298 Laura Pearson 1785136429 Jen 0 currently-reading 4.17 2024
author: Laura Pearson
name: Jen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 148516779 The list he left had just one item on it. Or, at least, it did at first��

Mabel Beaumont’s husband Arthur loved lists. He’d leave them for her everywhere. ‘Remember: eggs, butter, sugar��. ‘I love you: today, tomorrow, always��.

But now Arthur is gone. He died: softly, gently, not making a fuss. But he’s still left her a list. This one has just one item on it though: ‘Find D��.

Mabel feels sure she knows what it means. She must track down her best friend Dot, who she hasn’t seen since the fateful day she left more than sixty years ago.

It seems impossible. She doesn’t even know if Dot’s still alive. Also, every person Mabel talks to seems to need help first, with missing husbands, daughters, parents. Mabel finds her list is just getting longer, and she’s still no closer to finding Dot.

What she doesn’t know is that her list isn’t just about finding her old friend. And that if she can admit the secrets of the past, maybe she could even find happiness again��

A completely heartbreaking, beautiful, uplifting story, guaranteed to make you smile but also make you cry. Perfect for fans of My Name is Ove, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and The Keeper of Stories.]]> 314 Laura Pearson 1785136054 Jen 4 4.03 2023
author: Laura Pearson
name: Jen
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/22
date added: 2025/04/22
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]]> 218572920 Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication.

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.]]> 427 Emily Henry Jen 0 to-read 4.45 2025
author: Emily Henry
name: Jen
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 217189755
What would you change if you could start all over again? From Leeanne Slade, the bestselling author of The Rebound and Told You So, and narrated by Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People) and Sam Claflin (Me Before You), this summer, fall in love with Henry and Grace.

Five Years Earlier

Henry Dunne knows three things: that agreeing to host this raucous house party was a terrible idea, that he absolutely cannot show up to his nursing shift tomorrow with a hangover, and that the beautiful redhead in the corner will be sleeping in his bed tonight.

But what he doesn’t know is that Grace Monroe, the ambitious and fiercely independent chef catering this party, is about to walk a tray of cream cheese appetisers straight into his chest and turn his world upside down. Now, the work-a-holic with a reputation for keeping things casual is planning romantic dates and meeting the family. Utterly smitten, Henry now knows something else: that Grace is the one and that absolutely nothing could come between them. . .

Present Day

Grace Monroe is one day away from thirty, her restaurant has just been declared bankrupt, her beloved grandmother has been rushed to hospital, and she’s now sobbing in a packed train station. The only way life could get worse is having Henry Dunne �� the man who showed her what true love and heartbreak feels like �� see her like this.

And there he is, wordlessly watching her from the opposite escalator.

A bottle of wine and an erratic wish later, Grace wakes up to one hell of a life glitch: it’s five years earlier, her twenty-fifth birthday, and she’s got picture-perfect memory of the missing years. Grace’s plan is clear: save her doomed career and prevent the worst heartache she’s ever known. All she needs to do is stop history repeating. . .

Easy, right?]]> 350 Leeanne Slade Jen 0 currently-reading 3.87
author: Leeanne Slade
name: Jen
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 211399784 To the world, they were a scandal. To each other, an obsession.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER �� An epic love story set in the sparkling, savage sphere of elite figure skating, starring a woman determined to carve her own path on and off the ice

“P������ Wuthering Heights and part Daisy Jones & The Six, this novel is as brilliantly choreographed as a gold medal performance and will keep you guessing until its last page.”—Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of By Any Other Name

She might not have a famous name, funding, or her family’s support, but Katarina Shaw has always known that she was destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Rocha, a lonely kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection makes them a formidable duo on the ice. Clinging to skating—and each other—to escape their turbulent lives, Kat and Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers, captivating the world with their scorching chemistry, rebellious style, and roller-coaster relationship.

Until a shocking incident at the Olympic Games brings their partnership to a sudden end.

As the ten-year anniversary of their final skate approaches, an unauthorized documentary reignites the public obsession with Shaw and Rocha, claiming to uncover the “real story�� through interviews with their closest friends and fiercest rivals. Kat wants nothing to do with the documentary, but she can’t stand the thought of someone else defining her legacy. So, after a decade of silence, she’s telling her story: from the childhood tragedies that created her all-consuming bond with Heath to the clash of desires that tore them apart. Sensational rumors have haunted their every step for years, but the truth may be even more shocking than the headlines.]]> 448 Layne Fargo 0593732049 Jen 4 4.17 2025
author: Layne Fargo
name: Jen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/04/14
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]]> 51342403 Kann ein gebrochenes Herz lernen, wieder zu lieben?

Ella hätte nie gedacht, dass sie als Brieffreundin eines anonymen Soldaten in diesem einen wahren Freund finden würde. Dennoch entwickelt sich eine tiefe Zuneigung zwischen ihr und ›Chaos�� �� vielleicht sogar mehr. Dann treffen Ella mehrere schwere Schicksalsschläge und als auch die Briefe von ›Chaos�� ausbleiben, muss sie glauben, dass sie allein auf der Welt ist.
Obwohl er sie nicht persönlich kennt, hat Beckett alias ›Chaos�� sich in die Frau hinter den Briefen verliebt. Ella, die Schwester seines besten Freundes. Als dieser stirbt, bittet er Beckett in einem letzten Brief, Ella beizustehen. Beckett wird alles tun, um Ella zu unterstützen, aber er wird ihr niemals sagen können, wer er wirklich ist, und Ella hasst nichts mehr als Lügen.]]> 432 Rebecca Yarros Jen 0 to-read 4.61 2019
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Jen
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219279500 Suddenly Maddy is right there�� in her very own future. And it’s all wrong, yet again.

It happens to her every time. When the kisses lead to the bedroom, just when she thinks she might have found the one�� Just for a split second, Maddy disappears, and she finds that she’s living her own life. But ten years into the future.

She’s only there for a little while. But each time, it’s long enough to know that she doesn’t want to be any of those future versions of Maddy. Because every man she falls for seems to lead her to a future that is just�� wrong.

Until she meets Oliver. And the vision of their future is happy. Beautiful even. A little girl runs around, her braids flying behind her, giggling about how she wants sausages for dinner. She has eyes just like Oliver’s.

There’s just one catch. If Maddy wants the family she’s seeing in her future with Oliver, she realizes she has to break his heart now��

Would you destroy your present if there’s a chance that it could give you the perfect future?

The most unmissable ‘what if?�� love story of the year!]]> 318 Laura Pearson 183603458X Jen 4 4.16 2025
author: Laura Pearson
name: Jen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 216437557 disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong��

. . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be.

Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering.]]> 416 Abby Jimenez 0349442827 Jen 2 4.14 2025
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Jen
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/07
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review:

]]> 34189556
You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.

You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement �� a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love.

You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.

Assume nothing.

Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.

Read between the lies.]]> 432 Greer Hendricks 1250130921 Jen 0 to-read 3.82 2018
author: Greer Hendricks
name: Jen
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62919847 A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.

Gracetown, Florida
June 1950

Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie’s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.

Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it’s too late.

The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award–winning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.]]> 576 Tananarive Due 1982188340 Jen 0 to-read 4.44 2023
author: Tananarive Due
name: Jen
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/04
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]]> 214151359 Inspired by a true literary mystery, New York Times bestselling author of the mesmerizing The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both.

In 1927, eight-year-old Clara Harrington’s magical childhood shatters when her mother, renowned author, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, disappears off the coast of South Carolina. Bronwyn stunned the world with a book written in an invented language that became a national sensation when she was just twelve years old. Her departure leaves behind not only a devoted husband and heartbroken daughter, but also the hope of ever translating the sequel to her landmark work. As the headlines focus on the missing author, Clara yearns for something far deeper and more her beautiful mother.

By 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising her own daughter, Wynnie. When a stranger named Charlie Jameson contacts her from London claiming to have discovered a handwritten dictionary of her mother’s lost language. Clara is skeptical. Compelled by the tragedy of her mother’s vanishing, she crosses the Atlantic with Wynnie only to arrive during one of London’s most deadly natural disasters—the Great Smog. With asthmatic Wynnie in peril, they escape the city with Charlie and find refuge in the Jameson’s family retreat nestled in the Lake District. It is there that Clara must find the courage to uncover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind.

Told in Patti Callahan Henry’s lyrical, enchanting prose, The Story She Left Behind is a captivating novel of mystery and family legacy that captures the profound longing for a mother and the evergreen allure of secrets.]]> 352 Patti Callahan Henry 1668011875 Jen 2 4.18 2025
author: Patti Callahan Henry
name: Jen
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves:
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]]> 41818297
After the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna Teale returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her. She throws herself into her work from dusk to dawn, until her solitary routine is disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious child who shows up at her cabin barefoot and covered in bruises.

The girl calls herself Ursa, and she claims to have been sent from the stars to witness five miracles. With concerns about the child’s home situation, Jo reluctantly agrees to let her stay—just until she learns more about Ursa’s past.

Jo enlists the help of her reclusive neighbor, Gabriel Nash, to solve the mystery of the charming child. But the more time they spend together, the more questions they have. How does a young girl not only read but understand Shakespeare? Why do good things keep happening in her presence? And why aren’t Jo and Gabe checking the missing children’s website anymore?

Though the three have formed an incredible bond, they know difficult choices must be made. As the summer nears an end and Ursa gets closer to her fifth miracle, her dangerous past closes in. When it finally catches up to them, all of their painful secrets will be forced into the open, and their fates will be left to the stars.]]> 333 Glendy Vanderah 1503959910 Jen 0 to-read 4.29 2019
author: Glendy Vanderah
name: Jen
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 209740448
Mische lost everything when she was forcibly Turned into a vampire �� her home, her humanity, and most devastating of all, the love of the sun god to whom she had devoted her life. Now, sentenced to death for murdering the vampire prince who Turned her, redemption feels impossible.

But when Mische is saved by Asar, the bastard prince of the House of Shadow with a past as brutal as his scars, she’s forced into a mission worse than execution: a journey to the underworld to resurrect the god of death himself.]]> 498 Carissa Broadbent Jen 0 to-read 4.17 2024
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Jen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214208333 “The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.��

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.]]> 319 Clare Leslie Hall 1668078201 Jen 4 4.55 2025
author: Clare Leslie Hall
name: Jen
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
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]]> 203288914 In a funny and suspenseful debut, Christine Gunderson explores the myth of the perfect mother, the bonds of female friendship, and the haunting impact of secrets.

What you see isn’t always what you get.

Take Ainsley. The gorgeous mother of two lives a picture-perfect life with her husband, Ben—aspiring politician and heir to a candy fortune—in suburban Washington, DC. But in reality, Ainsley has no idea what she’s doing and is terrified someone will figure out who she really is and where she came from.

Nikki’s fighting to keep afloat as a stay-at-home mother of four, subsisting on chicken nuggets and very little sleep. She’s a mess on the outside, and inside yearns for the validation—and the paycheck—of the television news career she left behind.

When a dangerous figure from Ainsley’s past becomes a coach at her kids�� school, she fears the worst and confides in Nikki, spilling every detail of her former life.

Together, they devise a plan to expose the coach and safeguard their kids. But can they protect their own lives—and their new friendship—in the process?]]> 392 Christine Gunderson 1662517661 Jen 0 to-read 4.10 2024
author: Christine Gunderson
name: Jen
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
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]]> 213243915 The #1 New York Times bestselling author, whose books so many love, brings us a fresh, contemporary story of a woman and her unruly blended family

Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall and her love life is... complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach about love, and what it actually means to be family.]]> 450 Jojo Moyes 1984879324 Jen 3 3.87 2025
author: Jojo Moyes
name: Jen
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/25
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves:
review:
I really, really enjoyed the characters. With that being said, I don't really feel like there was much of a plot. I didn't understand the purpose of the story. They have a main character POV that just died out, and that whole storyline just kind of went away. The endearing characters saved this story for me, but overall it isn't a "must read"
]]> 217182552 disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong��

. . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be.

Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering.]]> 368 Abby Jimenez 1538759195 Jen 0 to-read 4.17 2025
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Jen
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 42201995
Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.

A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?

A poignant, heartfelt new novel by the award-nominated author of Together Tea—extolled by the Wall Street Journal as a “moving tale of lost love�� and by Shelf Awareness as “a powerful, heartbreaking story”—explores loss, reconciliation, and the quirks of fate.]]> 312 Marjan Kamali 1982107480 Jen 5 4.22 2019
author: Marjan Kamali
name: Jen
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 222725795 Two women—separated by decades and continents, and united by a mysterious family heirloom—discover second chances at love in this sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives.

New England, 2022. Three years ago, single mother Mallory Dunne received the telephone call every parent dreads—her ten-year-old son, Sam, had been airlifted from summer camp with acute poisoning from a toxic death cap mushroom, leaving him fighting for his life. Now, searching for the donor kidney that will give her son a chance for a normal life, Mallory’s forced to confront two harrowing secrets from her past: her mother’s adoption from an infamous Irish orphanage in 1952, and her own all-consuming summer romance fourteen years earlier with her childhood best friend, Monk Adams�� one of the world’s most beloved singer-songwriters—a fairy tale cut short by a devastating betrayal.

Cairo, 1951. After suffering tragedy beyond comprehension in the war, Hungarian refugee Hannah Ainsworth has forged a respectable new life for herself—marriage to a wealthy British diplomat with a coveted posting in glamorous Cairo. But a fateful encounter with the enigmatic manager of a hotel bristling with spies leads to a passionate affair that will reawaken Hannah’s longing for everything she once lost. As revolution simmers in the Egyptian streets, a pregnant Hannah finds herself snared in a game of intrigue between two men . . . and an act of sacrifice that will echo down the generations.

Timeless and bittersweet, Husbands & Lovers takes readers on an unforgettable journey of heartbreak and redemption, from the revolutionary fires of midcentury Egypt to the moneyed beaches of contemporary New England. Acclaimed author Beatriz Williams has written a poignant and beautifully voiced novel of deeply human characters entangled by morally complex issues—of privilege, class, and the female experience—inside worlds brought shimmeringly to life.]]> 384 Beatriz Williams 0593724240 Jen 0 to-read 3.99 2024
author: Beatriz Williams
name: Jen
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 50089336 Code Name Hélène is a spellbinding and moving story of enduring love, remarkable sacrifice and unfaltering resolve that chronicles the true exploits of a woman who deserves to be a household name.

It is 1936 and Nancy Wake is an intrepid Australian expat living in Paris who has bluffed her way into a reporting job for Hearst newspaper when she meets the wealthy French industrialist Henri Fiocca. No sooner does Henri sweep Nancy off her feet and convince her to become Mrs. Fiocca than the Germans invade France and she takes yet another name: a code name.

As LUCIENNE CARLIER Nancy smuggles people and documents across the border. Her success and her remarkable ability to evade capture earns her the nickname THE WHITE MOUSE from the Gestapo. With a five million franc bounty on her head, Nancy is forced to escape France and leave Henri behind. When she enters training with the Special Operations Executives in Britain, her new comrades are instructed to call her ��É��È����. And finally, with mission in hand, Nancy is airdropped back into France as the deadly MADAM ANDRÉ, where she claims her place as one of the most powerful leaders in the French Resistance, armed with a ferocious wit, her signature red lipstick, and the ability to summon weapons straight from the Allied Forces.

But no one can protect Nancy if the enemy finds out these four women are one and the same, and the closer to liberation France gets, the more exposed she--and the people she loves--become.]]> 451 Ariel Lawhon 0385544685 Jen 3 4.39 2020
author: Ariel Lawhon
name: Jen
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 218153839 USA Today bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a novel about a former adolescent TV punchline who has left her awkwardness in the rearview mirror thanks to a fake-it-till-you-make-it mantra that has her on the cusp of success, until she tells a lie that sets her on a crash-course with her past, spending a week in Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love.

Rules for a love story: There are none. It’s all a lie.

Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth—you can’t fake a belly laugh. Jane should know, she spent her adolescence as "Poor Janey Jakes," the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on America's fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s a Creative Executive at Clearwater Studios and she’s living by a new mantra: Fake it till you make it.

Except, she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she opened her mouth and a big fat fib fell out. She claimed that Jack Quinlan, hottest popstar of the moment, has promised to write an original song for the soundtrack. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years.

Now, Jane must turn to the last man she’d ever want to owe: Dan Finnegan. Because Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown on Long Island, and Dan has an in. A week in close quarters with Dan while facing down her past is Jane's idea of hell, but Dan just might surprise her. While covering up her lie, can they find something true?]]> 368 Annabel Monaghan 0593714105 Jen 0 to-read 4.30 2025
author: Annabel Monaghan
name: Jen
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60588456
When homicide cop Mallory Van Alst is called to a scene at a luxury waterfront home known as the Glass House, she’s confronted with evidence of a violent attack so bloody it’s improbable the victim is alive. But there’s no body. The homeowners are gone. And their maid is missing. The only witness is the elderly woman next door, who woke to screams in the night. The neighbor was also the last person to see Kit Darling alive.

As Mal begins to uncover the secret that has sent the lives of everyone involved on a devious and inescapable collision course, she realizes that nothing is quite as it seems.

And no one escapes their past.]]> 376 Loreth Anne White Jen 0 to-read 4.23 2023
author: Loreth Anne White
name: Jen
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 179550498
While many narrative set pieces of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin��), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a “literary icon�� (Oprah Daily), and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime, James is destined to be a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.]]> 304 Percival Everett 0385550375 Jen 3 4.60 2024
author: Percival Everett
name: Jen
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 180357146 From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala's Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl—and future matriarch, Big Ammachi—will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.

A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humor, deep emotion, and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.]]> 715 Abraham Verghese 0802162177 Jen 0 to-read 4.34 2023
author: Abraham Verghese
name: Jen
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199798217 A heartfelt novel of friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran.

In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation.

Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming “lion women.��

But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls�� high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.]]> 327 Marjan Kamali 1668036584 Jen 5 This. Book. Was. Everything. 4.47 2024
author: Marjan Kamali
name: Jen
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves:
review:
This. Book. Was. Everything.
]]> 209439446
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.]]> 527 Rebecca Yarros 1649374186 Jen 2
First of all, how they handled Xaden turning Venin? My eyes can't roll far enough back in my head. The book was just copy and paste of Violet saying she needed to fine a cure. It was silly, and a huge plot waste.

95% of the book was completely unnecessary, and it was honestly all over the place. One second they were battling at war, then they are in classes, then back on a mission, then back to school! They literally go on this huge POINTLESS mission and come back to school and sit in "battle brief" and no one thinks to ask them what they saw out there/faced? WHY ARE CLASSES STILL HAPPENING?!

Violet and Xaden's relationship was probably the most annoying part, the toxic love and the "we can't be together" narrative is old and immature. We established the relationship in the last book can we just not have that back and forth....again? Lets make him a random professor so they can't be together! Yay! Lets continue this overly done plot point from the last 2 books! He is also a walking RED FLAG in this book. No one can come near her, even her own family without him getting jealous or threatening them. It is not a cute look at all. Run Vi, don't walk, you're not safe

I don't get how these kids are the only people who can fight in this war with dragons and wield, where are all the other Basgiath graduates? Do they just not exist? Are they the first class to come out of the school? WHERE ARE ALL THE OTHER DRAGONS AND RIDERS?!

It doesn't make any sense. Don't even get me started on all the random characters. This just felt like a big waste of time, and I am happy it is over with. I won't give up on the series yet, but this was a complete let down. I am giving it 2 instead of the 1 it deserved because I like the side characters. I hope for book 4 Rebecca isn't rushed and can actually write a good story for it and take her time. Here is hoping for better.]]> 4.18 2025
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Jen
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves:
review:
This book was honestly terrible, which is upsetting since I loved the last 2.

First of all, how they handled Xaden turning Venin? My eyes can't roll far enough back in my head. The book was just copy and paste of Violet saying she needed to fine a cure. It was silly, and a huge plot waste.

95% of the book was completely unnecessary, and it was honestly all over the place. One second they were battling at war, then they are in classes, then back on a mission, then back to school! They literally go on this huge POINTLESS mission and come back to school and sit in "battle brief" and no one thinks to ask them what they saw out there/faced? WHY ARE CLASSES STILL HAPPENING?!

Violet and Xaden's relationship was probably the most annoying part, the toxic love and the "we can't be together" narrative is old and immature. We established the relationship in the last book can we just not have that back and forth....again? Lets make him a random professor so they can't be together! Yay! Lets continue this overly done plot point from the last 2 books! He is also a walking RED FLAG in this book. No one can come near her, even her own family without him getting jealous or threatening them. It is not a cute look at all. Run Vi, don't walk, you're not safe

I don't get how these kids are the only people who can fight in this war with dragons and wield, where are all the other Basgiath graduates? Do they just not exist? Are they the first class to come out of the school? WHERE ARE ALL THE OTHER DRAGONS AND RIDERS?!

It doesn't make any sense. Don't even get me started on all the random characters. This just felt like a big waste of time, and I am happy it is over with. I won't give up on the series yet, but this was a complete let down. I am giving it 2 instead of the 1 it deserved because I like the side characters. I hope for book 4 Rebecca isn't rushed and can actually write a good story for it and take her time. Here is hoping for better.
]]> 28954189 Thou shalt kill.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art�� of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

An alternate cover edition of ISBN: 9781442472426]]> 435 Neal Shusterman Jen 0 to-read 4.32 2016
author: Neal Shusterman
name: Jen
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218422159 From NYT bestselling author Rachel Gillig comes the next big romantasy sensation, a gothic, mist-cloaked tale of a young prophetess who is forced on an impossible quest with the one infuriating knight whose future is beyond her sight. Perfect for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout and Leigh Bardugo.

Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.

Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil's visions. But when Sybil's fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she'd rather avoid Rodrick's dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.���ձ�> 396 Rachel Gillig 0316573787 Jen 0 to-read 4.71 2025
author: Rachel Gillig
name: Jen
average rating: 4.71
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 112975658 A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.]]> 432 Ariel Lawhon 0385546874 Jen 5 4.37 2023
author: Ariel Lawhon
name: Jen
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 66087062 A woman risks everything to end her family’s centuries-old curse, solve her mother’s disappearance, and find love in this mesmerizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Spells for Forgetting.

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere—the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother’s death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’s decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she’s been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young delivers a brilliant novel of romance, mystery, and a touch of the impossible—a story you will never forget.]]> 320 Adrienne Young 0593598679 Jen 4 4.13 2023
author: Adrienne Young
name: Jen
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves:
review:

]]> 205837684 A loving mother. A notorious murderer. They both have reasons to hide their secrets in a novel of escalating shock and suspense by New York Times bestselling author A. R. Torre.

Perla Wultz lives with her husband, Grant, and their precious daughter, Sophie, in a gated Pasadena community. Affluent, sociable, and accomplished, Perla plays the part of loving wife and mother to perfection. It seems an ideal life, if not for a decades-old crime that has become Perla’s dark and consuming secret obsession.

Twenty-three years ago, Leewood Folcrum confessed to murdering two young girls during a birthday party. Though he’s been condemned to a life sentence, his crime is not forgotten. Not by Perla, nor by an inquisitive doctoral student interviewing Folcrum for his dissertation. He’s getting the killer to open up—about his motives, his confession, and the truth of what really happened on that horrible night.

As the past and the present entwine, the deceptions behind the infamous murder begin to surface. But who’s deceiving who now? And why? And as an ingeniously twisted plan is set in motion, who will be the next to die?]]> 349 A.R. Torre 1662519583 Jen 0 to-read 4.08 2024
author: A.R. Torre
name: Jen
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59559145
August knows he is not welcome on Saoirse, not after the night everything changed. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from his past that has never healed—Emery. But the town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises spanning generations threaten to reveal the truth behind Lily’s mysterious death once and for all.]]> 351 Adrienne Young 0593358511 Jen 0 to-read 3.85 2022
author: Adrienne Young
name: Jen
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 207677131 A woman investigates her brother's mysterious death while coming to terms with her own haunting past in this atmospheric novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unmaking of June Farrow

The only thing James and Johnny Golden have ever had is each other. For as long as she can remember, James’s deep connection with her twin brother, Johnny, has gone beyond intuition—she can feel what he feels. So, when Johnny is killed in a tragic accident, James knows before her phone even rings that her brother is gone and that she’s alone—truly alone—for the first time in her life. 

When James arrives in the rural town of Hawthorne, California to settle her brother’s affairs, she’s forced to rehash the ominous past she and Johnny shared and finally face Micah, the only person who knows about it. He’s also the only man she’s ever loved. 

But James soon discovers that the strange connection she had with Johnny isn’t quite gone, and the more she immerses herself into his world, the more questions she has about the brother she thought she knew. Johnny was keeping secrets, and he’s not the only one. What she uncovers will push her to unravel what happened in the days before Johnny’s death, but in the end, she’ll have to decide which truths should come to light, and which should stay buried forever.]]> 288 Adrienne Young 0593598709 Jen 0 to-read 3.71 2025
author: Adrienne Young
name: Jen
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 50279680
Duchess Day Radley is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Rules are for other people. She is the fierce protector of her five-year-old brother, Robin, and the parent to her mother, Star, a single mom incapable of taking care of herself, let alone her two kids.

Walk has never left the coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. And he's in overdrive protecting Duchess and her brother.

Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released. And Duchess and Walk must face the trouble that comes with his return. We Begin at the End is an extraordinary novel about two kinds of families—the ones we are born into and the ones we create.]]> 384 Chris Whitaker 1250759668 Jen 5 4.10 2020
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Jen
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/14
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 123036004 A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and remains unsolved for nearly fifty years.

July 1962. A Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come.

In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.

For readers of The Vanishing Half and Woman of Light, this showstopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.]]> 307 Amanda Peters 1646221958 Jen 4 4.04 2023
author: Amanda Peters
name: Jen
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:
This was a 3.5 for me, but I rounded up. The first 60% of the books was great, I didn’t love that direction the last 40% took. I felt like the ending was rushed. Overall it was a good read that I’d suggest!
]]> 199634844 In her debut collection of short fiction, Amanda Peters describes the Indigenous experience from an astonishingly wide spectrum in time and place—from contact with the first European settlers to the forced removal of Indigenous children, to the present-day fight for the right to clean water.

In this intimate collection, Peters melds traditional storytelling with beautiful, spare prose to describe the dignity of the traditional way of life, the humiliations of systemic racism, and the resilient power to endure. A young man returns from residential school only to realize he can no longer communicate with his parents. As a water protector, a young woman finds purpose and healing on the front lines. An old man remembers his life as he patiently waits for death. And a young girl nervously dances in her first Mawi'omi. The collection also includes the story “The Berry Pickers," which inspired Peters' critically acclaimed novel of the same name, as well as the Indigenous Voices Award–nominated story “Pejipug (Winter Arrives)."

At times sad, sometimes disturbing but always redemptive, the stories in Waiting for the Long Night Moon will remind you that where there is grief there is also joy, where there is trauma there is resilience and, most importantly, there is power.]]> 256 Amanda Peters 1443468223 Jen 0 to-read 4.21 2024
author: Amanda Peters
name: Jen
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 215774088
Arthur Parnassus lives a good life, built on the ashes of a bad one. He's the headmaster of a strange orphanage on a distant and peculiar island, and he hopes to soon be the adoptive father to the six magical and so-called dangerous children who live there.

Arthur works hard and loves with his whole heart so none of the children ever feel the neglect and pain that he once felt as an orphan on that very same island so long ago. And he is not alone: joining him is the love of his life, Linus Baker, a former caseworker in the Department in Charge of Magical Youth; Zoe Chapelwhite, the island's sprite; and her girlfriend, Mayor Helen Webb. Together, they will do anything to protect the children.

But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his dark past, he finds himself at the helm of a fight for the future that his family, and all magical people, deserve.

And when a new magical child hopes to join them on their island home—one who finds power in calling himself monster, a name Arthur worked so hard to protect his children from—Arthur knows they're at a breaking point: their family will either grow stronger than ever or fall apart.

Welcome back to Marsyas Island. This is Arthur's story.]]> 500 T.J. Klune Jen 2 3.80 2024
author: T.J. Klune
name: Jen
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/08
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves:
review:
I absolutely loved the first book, but I just don't see what the purpose of this book was. Until the very end is felt childish and just unnecessary. Very disappointed, I was really looking forward to continuing on in this world.
]]> 217074544 Three women, connected by one of the most brutal mass slayings in US history.

Lucy is sick of turning the other cheek. Ten years ago, an anti-Mormon mob drove her family and friends from their homes in Illinois. But now, the tables have turned. Rumor has it, some of those same men are traveling through Utah on their way to California. And this time, Lucy won’t run.

Katrina knew the trek west would be difficult. But she had no idea she’d be walking straight into hell. The young mother of four is prepared to do whatever it takes to protect her family from the violence closing in, but the battle to survive will be more harrowing than anything she can imagine.

Sally has just been “gifted�� to a man she barely knows—as his fourth wife. Trapped and lonely, she tries to make the best of her new life. But when her husband insists on joining a group of religious zealots�� plans for revenge, she’s forced to reconsider her loyalties. Even if it means putting her own life on the line.

Based on true events, None Left to Tell is the story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.]]> 383 Noelle W. Ihli Jen 0 to-read 4.21 2024
author: Noelle W. Ihli
name: Jen
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 139391940 A spicy small-town romance and TikTok phenomenon, perfect for fans of Hannah Grace and Stephanie Archer.

When Jeanie's aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Café in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job.

Logan is a local farmer who avoids Dream Harbor's gossip at all costs. But Jeanie's arrival disrupts Logan's routine and he wants nothing to do with the irritatingly upbeat new girl, except that he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her.

Will Jeanie's happy-go-lucky attitude win over the grumpy-but-gorgeous Logan, or has this city girl found the one person in town who won't fall for her charm, or her pumpkin spice lattes��

The Pumpkin Spice Café is a cozy romantic mystery for fans of Gilmore Girls, with a grumpy x sunshine dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:

�� grumpy x sunshine
�� small town
�� found family
�� spicy]]> 373 Laurie Gilmore 0008610665 Jen 3 3.36 2023
author: Laurie Gilmore
name: Jen
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:

]]> 54860585 A Black father. A white father. Two murdered sons. A quest for vengeance.

Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.

The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.

Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed his father was a criminal. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.

Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250252708]]> 336 S.A. Cosby Jen 0 to-read 4.08 2021
author: S.A. Cosby
name: Jen
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220817728 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six comes an epic new novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s Space Shuttle program about the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits.

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s Space Shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.

Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easy-going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.

As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.

Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.

Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, with complex protagonists, telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love, this time among the stars.]]> 352 Taylor Jenkins Reid 0593158717 Jen 0 to-read 4.45 2025
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Jen
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 217163697 #1��New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a stranger’s life twenty-five years later.

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.

Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending their days laughing and telling stories out on a pier. There’s Joar, who never backs down from a fight; quiet and bookish Ted who is mourning his father; Ali, the daughter of a man who never stays in one place for long; and finally, there’s the artist, a boy who hoards sleeping pills and shuns attention, but who possesses an extraordinary gift that might be his ticket to a better life. These four lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. As she struggles to decide what to do with this bequest, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own artistic spirit, but happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art.]]> 448 Fredrik Backman 1982112824 Jen 0 to-read 4.58 2025
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Jen
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63903510
When Marlo is unceremoniously ghosted by her part-time lover, she decides she’ll need to avoid the whole Christmas season. That is actually pretty easy in this country, because it’s so hot and so far away from anything that means Christmas to her. But Marlo’s flatmate Alex is determined to lift her out of her grinch slump and convince her that Christmas Down Under may be unfamiliar, but exactly what she needs to start her life on a new course. Alex, with his calm order and terrible Dad jokes. Alex, with his sparkling Christmas cocktails, his chiseled jaw and washboard abs. Alex, who’s going to turn Marlo’s Christmas wish list upside down.]]> 4 Kate Forster Jen 2 3.44
author: Kate Forster
name: Jen
average rating: 3.44
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 214210952 Based on the true story of a famous trial, this novel is Law and 1800, as Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr investigate the shocking murder of a young woman who everyone—and no one—seemed to know.

At the start of a new century, a shocking murder transfixes Manhattan, forcing bitter rivals Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr to work together to save a man from the gallows. 

Just before Christmas 1799, Elma Sands slips out of her Quaker cousin’s boarding house—and doesn’t come home. Has she eloped? Run away? No one knows—until her body appears in the Manhattan Well.

Her family insists they know who killed her. Handbills circulate around the city accusing a carpenter named Levi Weeks of seducing and murdering Elma. 

But privately, quietly, Levi’s wealthy brother calls in a special favor��.

Aaron Burr’s legal practice can’t finance both his expensive tastes and his ambition to win the 1800 New York elections. To defend Levi Weeks is a double a hefty fee plus a chance to grab headlines.

Alexander Hamilton has his own political aspirations; he isn’t going to let Burr monopolize the public’s attention. If Burr is defending Levi Weeks, then Hamilton will too. As the trial and the election draw near, Burr and Hamilton race against time to save a man’s life—and destroy each other.

Part murder mystery, part thriller, part true crime, The Girl From Greenwich Street revisits a dark corner of history—with a surprising twist ending that reveals the true story of the woman at the center of the tale.]]> 341 Lauren Willig 0063306115 Jen 0 to-read 3.71 2025
author: Lauren Willig
name: Jen
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221204998
It’s the flight before Christmas and Molly just got an unexpected gift: a free first-class upgrade on her plane trip home for the holidays. Bring on the complimentary cocktails! But after one too many, she spills all her secrets to the hot guy seated next to her—only to wake up mortified when her buzz has worn off. At least she never has to see Liam again ... or so she thinks.

When Molly arrives at Christmas House, the festive rental home that she and her family are sharing with her sister’s fiancé and his wealthy family, she discovers that Liam is one of the new in-laws. Oops. Now thanks to her boozy oversharing, he knows all her secrets—and they’ll be stuck in the same house all Christmas long. Double oops.

As their chemistry turns red-hot, will they be able keep their hands off each other long enough to navigate growing family drama? And what will Molly do when she discovers that Liam is hiding a scandalous secret of his own? Whatever happens, one thing is clear: These two are in for an unforgettable holiday ride.]]> A.J. Pine Jen 3 3.41 2024
author: A.J. Pine
name: Jen
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 221571058 Brighten the holidays with this funny, heartfelt rom-com about the stories—and the love—that we never forget.

When mystery author D. B. Ziegler is late delivering her book, Abi Schore steps in to help. Surely she can give her favorite author moral support over the holiday break and get the manuscript to her boss at Tea & Sympathy Publishing in time for the new year.

When Abi shows up on Ms. Ziegler’s doorstep bearing holiday treats, she’s met by the author’s handsome grandson Dov, who reveals a startling plot twist. His grandmother isn’t able to finish the book and Dov promised he’d complete it so fans won’t be disappointed—a task that’s harder than he ever imagined.

As Hanukkah unfolds, Abi and Dov cozy up in his grandmother’s brownstone apartment working their way through his writer’s block and untangling plot threads. Before long, the novel starts taking shape ... and so does their simmering attraction. Will their own story end once the book is written, or is this just the first chapter?]]> 4 Liz Maverick Jen 3 3.49 2024
author: Liz Maverick
name: Jen
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 63915487
Rachel Rinehart’s Christmas season is on the brink of disaster when her record label suddenly drops her, threatening to end her music career. Then she receives a mysterious Christmas card, and everything starts to change....

Inside the card are lyrics to a classic Christmas carol urging her to return home to Crystal Falls, the snowy mountain town she left behind 15 years ago.

Once she arrives in Crystal Falls, a stroke of fate brings her face-to-face with her first love, Matt Meyers, who’s now a devoted single dad. Rachel continues to receive mysterious cards filled with Christmas carol lyrics and clues she must follow—all leading her back to Matt. Is it the work of a hometown matchmaker, or could it be Christmas magic? And will the music and majesty of the season help Rachel discover where she truly belongs?]]> Karen Schaler Jen 2 3.36
author: Karen Schaler
name: Jen
average rating: 3.36
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 202432794
After a snowstorm grounds her flight, Lucy makes a last-ditch effort to get home for Christmas using a rideshare app. She thinks she’ll be taking a road trip with a stranger...but the guy who shows up is someone she knows all too well. He’s the hookup she ghosted a few months ago, and now she’ll be stuck in a car with him for the most awkward road trip of her life.

Making matters worse, he’s even more gorgeous than she remembers—too bad things between them are frostier than the North Pole. Will the long ride home allow them to get to know each other in surprising new ways? And more importantly, will the season warm things up and send sparks flying yet again? Whatever happens, one thing is clear: It’s going to take a whole lot of Christmas magic to unlock their guarded hearts.]]> 6 A.J. Pine Jen 1 3.35 2023
author: A.J. Pine
name: Jen
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 210482187 New York Times bestselling author of Fourth Wing comes a new contemporary romance about the summer a celebrated dancer returns home and unearths years of family secrets with the Coast Guard rescue swimmer she never forgot.

Elite ballerina Allie Rousseau is no stranger to pressure. With her mother’s eyes always watching, perfection was expected, no matter the cost. But when an injury jeopardizes all she’s sacrificed for, Allie returns to her summer home to heal and recover. But the memories she’s tried to forget rush in and threaten to take her under.

As a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, Hudson Ellis knows that hesitation can mean the difference between life and death. He’s always prided himself on being in the right place at the right time, especially when it came to Allie Rousseau…until the night he left for basic. After the biggest regret of his life, the secrets he keeps mean he can never be with the one woman he wants more than his next breath.

When Hudson’s niece shows up on Allie’s doorstep, desperate to find her birth mother, Allie finds herself in an unimaginable position. Allie and Hudson’s past and present might be endlessly complicated. The thread that tied them to each other all those years ago may have unraveled, but the truth could pull them back together, or drive them apart forever.]]> 459 Rebecca Yarros 1662514697 Jen 0 to-read 4.19 2024
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Jen
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 56755565 An enchanted Christmas dress brings two generations of women together for the magic of the season in this delightful holiday story from author Courtney Cole.

One Dress. Two Women. The Magic of the Holiday Season.

When hopeful fashionista Meg Julliard must return to her hometown of Chicago to manage her late father’s apartment building, she thinks her dreams of making it in the fashion business are over. Add in her father’s eclectic roster of tenants who all need Meg’s attention (ASAP!), a host of building related disasters, and a handsome handyman she keeps embarrassing herself in front of, and this has all the makings for the worst Christmas she’s ever had.

Ellie Wade, one of the building’s longtime residents, is also not feeling the Christmas Joy this year. She is preparing to move into a nursing home (reluctantly), and is in the process of sorting through her belongings to downsize. Every corner of her apartment holds memories, some good, some bad. But there’s one dress she hesitates to pack up as it represents both the best and worst night of her life.

Ellie and Meg strike up an unlikely friendship and the story of Ellie’s dress comes out. Ellie gifts the gorgeous dress to Meg, hoping that it will bring her more luck, on the condition that she wear it to the building’s Christmas party.

The dress magically fits, and while it eventually leads to the best night of Meg’s life, it also acts as inspiration for Meg to follow a life-long dream of her own, a dream that will help save the crumbling Parkview West, and restore it to its former glory, and keep it as a safe home for all of the current tenants.

The dress and the magic of the holiday season helps both Meg and Ellie find their own happy endings.���ձ�> 352 Courtney Cole 0063099853 Jen 0 to-read 3.94 2021
author: Courtney Cole
name: Jen
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 204906189 Please don’t come home for Christmas��

Julie Parker’s kids are her greatest gift. Still, she’s not exactly heartbroken when they ask to skip a big Christmas. Her son, Nick, is taking a belated honeymoon with his bride, Blair, while her daughter, Dana, will purge every reminder of the guy who dumped her. Again. Julie feels practically giddy for one-on-one holiday time with Heath, the (much) younger man she’s secretly dating.

But her plans go from cozy to chaotic when Nick and Dana plead for Christmas at the family cabin in memory of their late father, Julie’s ex. She can’t refuse, even though she dreads their reactions to her new man when they realize she’s been hiding him for months.

As the guest list grows in surprising ways, from Blair’s estranged mom to Heath’s precocious children, Julie’s secret is one of many to be unwrapped. Over this delightfully complicated and very funny Christmas, she’ll discover that more really is merrier, and that a big, happy family can become bigger and happier, if they let go of old hurts and open their hearts to love.]]> 320 Susan Mallery 1335006303 Jen 2 3.64 2024
author: Susan Mallery
name: Jen
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
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]]> 218559595 Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years--or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.]]> 432 Emily Henry Jen 0 to-read 4.22 2025
author: Emily Henry
name: Jen
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211003787 From New York Times bestseller and Edgar-Award nominee Elle Cosimano, comes Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave—the hugely anticipated next installment in the fan-favorite Finlay Donovan series.

Finlay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet . . . but at least there's not a body in her backyard.

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help. At first a suspect, Mrs. Haggerty is cleared by the police, but her house remains an active crime scene. She has nowhere to go . . . except Finlay’s house, right across the street.

Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting involved in another murder case—or sacrificing either of their bedrooms. After all, they’ve dealt with enough murders over the last four months to last a lifetime and they both would much rather share their beds with someone else.]]> 320 Elle Cosimano 1250337348 Jen 0 to-read 4.14 2025
author: Elle Cosimano
name: Jen
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> 63329561 Listening Length: 9 hours and 24 minutes

How can Holly Winters, the Queen of Christmas Cheer, stand to be neighbors with her town’s resident Scrooge?

Holly owns the merriest holiday shop on Main Street. But right next door is the hardware store run by Declan Gallagher, the grinchiest man in all of Mistletoe, Idaho. With Christmas fast approaching, the small-town rivals engage in an all-out prank war, sending each other not-so-friendly season’s greetings.

But when Holly’s ambitious plan to win the town’s Festival of Lights falls apart, she has no one else to call but her handy sworn-nemesis. They say Christmas is a time for miracles, after all. As Holly and Declan work together, they slowly warm up to each other. They might just end up spending Christmas Eve cuddling by the fire.

Along Came Holly is the perfect enemies-to-lovers rom-com sure to warm hearts this holiday season. Curl up with a beau and a cup of hot cocoa and listen to the latest in A Mistletoe Romance series by author Codi Hall.]]> 366 Codi Hall Jen 2 3.57 2022
author: Codi Hall
name: Jen
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/27
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves:
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]]> 75339222
Growing up at the Shelter Inn hotel, Natalie Shepherd envied guests who could come and go as they pleased. So when it was time to finally leave for college and put the lush green mountains around Shelter Springs—along with the cloud of loss that seemed to follow her family—behind her, she swore she’d never come back. But now her sister McKenna needs a favor. On pregnancy bed rest at doctor’s orders, McKenna needs a helping hand with her two young daughters and someone to take over the inn during the hectic holiday season, and Nat can’t refuse. And just when things can’t get worse, she runs into her late brother’s best friend, Griffin Taylor��

Griff has mixed feelings about Natalie’s return. She’s just as beautiful and full of life as he remembered, but there’s a secret he’s carried for years about her brother—and the guilt is eating away at him. Still, Christmas in this small town is filled with treasured traditions and new adventures that hold the promise of something sweet and lasting. From matchmaking seniors to rambunctious nieces, it seems everyone is hoping Nat and Griff will put loss behind them and find a happy new beginning��
]]> 304 RaeAnne Thayne 1335005137 Jen 0 to-read 3.76 2023
author: RaeAnne Thayne
name: Jen
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 208894426
Columnist Anna Appleby has left her love life behind after a painful divorce. Who needs a man when she has two kids, a cat, and uncontested control of the TV remote? Besides, she’d rather be single than subject herself to the hell of online dating. But her office rival is vying for her column, and no column means no stable source of income. In a desperate attempt to keep her job, Anna finds herself pitching a unique angle: seven dates, all found offline, chosen by her children.

From awkward encounters to unexpected connections, Anna gamely begins to put herself out there, asking out waiters, the mailman, and even her celebrity crush. But when a romantic connection appears where she least expected it, will she be brave enough to take another chance on love?]]> 367 Sophie Cousens Jen 0 to-read 4.24 2024
author: Sophie Cousens
name: Jen
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 198881701
Traveling writer and researcher Stella Fisher is working in London when she's called home to her family’s farmhouse in Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee to help her mother through the first Christmas without her father. Compounding the situation, her younger sister Lily has run off to get married without telling anyone.

When Stella arrives home, she doesn’t expect to find Henry Dutton , the man she’d left behind. As she could guess, after her heartbreaking exit so many years ago, he isn’t speaking to her. What she doesn’t realize, however, is there’s a much bigger reason to blame for his unfriendly reception. She quickly becomes the one person he believes can fix everything, but she isn’t sure about that. She thought she’d buried her past, yet the look in his alluring blue eyes brings it all right back to the surface.

Under the glitter of the holiday trees at the local lot called Christmas, Stella uncovers more than she’d ever imagined. Will she be able to return to her old life? Or will the unexpected be the biggest Christmas gift of all?

A heartwarming holiday escape that will have you rushing to your loved ones this Christmas. If you enjoyed the Christmas movies based on Jenny’s books and are looking for more feel-good, small-town romance, look no further!]]> 276 Jenny Hale Jen 0 to-read 4.22 2023
author: Jenny Hale
name: Jen
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60613236 416 Codi Hall 1728265592 Jen 3 3.71 2021
author: Codi Hall
name: Jen
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 214012363 Anais receives a near-derelict Paris hotel in her divorce settlement, her first thought is to tidy it up and sell it immediately. All she wants is to move on and forget her disaster of a marriage ever happened.

But selling it proves impossible, so she has only one to make it gorgeous and open by Christmas�� when her funds will almost certainly run out.

She’s not counting on the grumpy American bar-owner next door, Noah, coming and interfering at every moment though. Nor is she expecting to find a mysterious room �� which holds the key to a one-hundred-year-old secret �� about a woman who chose love against the odds.

One thing’s for sure�� as the fairy lights twinkle all over the city of lights and the first snowflakes start to fall�� this will be a Christmas in Paris to remember.]]> 338 Rebecca Raisin 1835335136 Jen 0 to-read 4.08 2024
author: Rebecca Raisin
name: Jen
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 204294849 256 Charity Shane 195795051X Jen 0 to-read 3.46 2024
author: Charity Shane
name: Jen
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 205800861 From the author of The Christmas Wager comes a charming holiday rom-com about a young, recently heartbroken woman who is tasked by her sister to complete Advent calendar challenges in the lead up to Christmas to reignite her belief in herself, the holidays, and love again.

She’s given up on love and Christmas…but fate has other plans.

All Callie wants for Christmas is to hibernate. She's still reeling from being dumped by her childhood sweetheart, and under no circumstances will she go home for the holidays considering her ex will be right next door with his new, perfect partner. Callie is officially in grinch mode, but her meddling sister, Anita, won’t let her give up on life, love, and Christmas quite so easily.

Anita stages a Christmas intervention for Callie with a homemade Advent calendar challenge—cheerful tasks to push Callie out of her comfort zone and into the holiday spirit, inspired by a childhood tradition. Callie reluctantly plays along, but when she comes face-to-face with a charming baker who just might be the spoonful of sugar she needs, her strict rules on love and the holidays are tested.

As they strike a deal to do the activities together, could the twenty four little doors on Callie’s Advent calendar not only open up one, but two closed-off hearts?]]> 316 Holly Cassidy 0593716272 Jen 0 to-read 3.65 2024
author: Holly Cassidy
name: Jen
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> 58101267 Curl up this Christmas with a sparkling romance filled with:
�� Irresistible friends-to-lovers romance
�� The kiss that changed everything
�� Warm nights on the family Christmas tree farm
�� All your favorite Christmas songs!

Nick Winter is just out of the military, and his Christmas homecoming is not going as planned. What was supposed to be a memorable holiday with his long-time girlfriend goes sour when he learns she cheated on him while he was stationed overseas. At least Nick can rely on his usual shift at the family Christmas tree farm with his best friend, Noel Carter, and her endless supply of Christmas tunes to lift his spirits. A night of fun together is just what he needs to forget about his ex.

But then they kiss. And it feels...so right.

If Noel can turn Nick’s Blue Christmas merry and bright, this might be the last Christmas Nick spends with a broken heart. This year, they’ll be Rockin�� Around the Christmas Tree as a couple―as long as Nick’s ex doesn’t go standing under any mistletoe.]]> 286 Codi Hall 1728251192 Jen 3 3.57 2020
author: Codi Hall
name: Jen
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/13
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 204169192 The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Emma, this joyful Christmas romp tells the story of a woman who can’t stop trying to help everyone around her find their happily-ever-after—even when her help leads to disaster.

Frankie Lane knows what’s best for just about everyone but herself. Her divorced sister, Stef, who is too young to give up on love; her shy employee, Elinor; and her daughter, Natalie, who works in Frankie’s shop, Holiday Happiness, and really needs to start her own business selling the delectable chocolates she makes at home; even her best friend, Viola, who is trying to renovate her old Victorian. Frankie knows she could help all of them, if they’d just let her—and if all of her help didn’t end in utter disaster.

Then there’s Mitch Howard, the owner of the local hardware store. They’ve been friends ever since Frankie opened her store, nine years earlier. He got her through the nightmare when she lost her husband in a freak accident, and he’s her favorite shoulder to cry on. He’s been divorced for years, and it’s such a waste of man! Mitch is the fittest, finest man Frankie knows. He’s easygoing, wise and kindhearted. Mitch needs someone. And she’s determined to help him find that someone—whether he likes it or not.
]]> 336 Sheila Roberts 0778369609 Jen 0 to-read 3.31
author: Sheila Roberts
name: Jen
average rating: 3.31
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199223201 Two women—separated by decades and continents, and united by a mysterious family heirloom—discover second chances at love in this sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives.

New England, 2022. Three years ago, single mother Mallory Dunne received the telephone call every parent dreads—her ten-year-old son, Sam, had been airlifted from summer camp with acute poisoning from a toxic death cap mushroom, leaving him fighting for his life. Now, searching for the donor kidney that will give her son a chance for a normal life, Mallory’s forced to confront two harrowing secrets from her past: her mother’s adoption from an infamous Irish orphanage in 1952, and her own all-consuming summer romance fourteen years earlier with her childhood best friend, Monk Adams�� one of the world’s most beloved singer-songwriters—a fairy tale cut short by a devastating betrayal.

Cairo, 1951. After suffering tragedy beyond comprehension in the war, Hungarian refugee Hannah Ainsworth has forged a respectable new life for herself—marriage to a wealthy British diplomat with a coveted posting in glamorous Cairo. But a fateful encounter with the enigmatic manager of a hotel bristling with spies leads to a passionate affair that will reawaken Hannah’s longing for everything she once lost. As revolution simmers in the Egyptian streets, a pregnant Hannah finds herself snared in a game of intrigue between two men . . . and an act of sacrifice that will echo down the generations.

Timeless and bittersweet, Husbands & Lovers takes readers on an unforgettable journey of heartbreak and redemption, from the revolutionary fires of midcentury Egypt to the moneyed beaches of contemporary New England. Acclaimed author Beatriz Williams has written a poignant and beautifully voiced novel of deeply human characters entangled by morally complex issues—of privilege, class, and the female experience—inside worlds brought shimmeringly to life.]]> 384 Beatriz Williams 0593724224 Jen 0 to-read 4.08 2024
author: Beatriz Williams
name: Jen
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 202257499 A wronged wife goes toe to toe with her cheating husband at the polls in this hilarious and heart-lifting novel by the bestselling author of Don’t Forget to Write.

It’s a doozy of a bad day for Beverly Diamond when she catches her husband, Larry, in a compromising position with his secretary. What’s a DC suburban wife to do with a soon-to-be ex, two young kids, and no degree or financial support in 1962? Beat the louse at his own game, that’s what.

Larry runs the Maryland senatorial campaign for the incumbent candidate projected to win against his younger underdog opponent, Michael Landau. But Beverly has the pluck, political savvy, and sheer drive to push Landau’s campaign in a successful new direction, even if he already has a campaign manager who is less than pleased she has inserted herself into the race.

Now it’s rival against rival. She and Michael do make a great team…maybe in more ways than one. But with the election heating up, she needs to focus on one thing at a time. If Bev can convince Michael to go modern, pay attention to women’s issues, and learn how to dress himself properly, maybe she can show Larry exactly how much he has underestimated her their entire marriage—and make her own dreams come true in the process.]]> 349 Sara Goodman Confino 1662517726 Jen 0 to-read 4.26 2024
author: Sara Goodman Confino
name: Jen
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219754771 From New York Times bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews comes a charming holiday romance about a newly single thirtysomething whose unauthorized vacation rental turns into a hilarious game of hide-and-seek when the new owner unexpectedly shows up.

Tilly Farriday isn’t feeling very jolly this season. Recently divorced and broke, she’s squatting in one of her rental agency’s properties until her new home is ready. The sprinkles on top of the burnt Christmas cookie that is her life? The new owner shows up early, forcing Tilly to hide in the attic to save her job…and what remains of her dignity.

George Holloway is here to sell his granduncle’s house—and to reconsider whether he and his fiancée are right for each other. Amid home repairs, George notices strange noises and missing food, but as much as he gets his rental agent on the phone, Tilly dodges every invitation to meet. He’s sure that someone’s here with him, and it’s certainly not the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, or Future.

As Tilly and George circle each other, they both wonder where their lives are headed and if, maybe, meeting each other is just the Christmas miracle they need.]]> 72 Mary Kay Andrews 1662527004 Jen 0 to-read 3.62 2024
author: Mary Kay Andrews
name: Jen
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 76715522 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Aelin Galathynius has vowed to save her people �� but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. The knowledge that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, but her resolve is unraveling with each passing day��

With Aelin captured, friends and allies are scattered to different fates. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever. As destinies weave together at last, all must fight if Erilea is to have any hope of salvation.

Years in the making, Sarah J. Maas's New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series draws to an explosive conclusion as Aelin fights to save herself―and the promise of a better world.]]> 984 Sarah J. Maas 1639731067 Jen 5 4.74 2018
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jen
average rating: 4.74
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/07
date added: 2024/11/07
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]]> 162479003
After failing my last semester for my masters degree, I decided to come back to my hometown of Almond Bay and wallow in self pity while my boyfriend told me everything was going to be okay. To my dismay, instead of open arms, he greeted me with a box to move my things.

Now I'm not a petty person, but when he told me he broke up with me because I was boring, there's only so much of the higher road I can take. Hence the box of memorabilia I took from him.

The plan? To give it back to his boss, who happens to be my brother's nemesis, and get the ex fired. But plans never go the way you want them, because instead of dropping off the box with a note, I'm pinned with the crime by Hayes Farrow himself.

And because my life is so pathetic, he gives me two options: turn me into the police and press full charges or . . . work it off. How could I possibly work for someone I can't stand? Easy, I don't look good in orange.

But working for Hayes isn't as horrible as I thought it would be. The hate I had for him begins to turn into something else - something deeper, something I never thought I'd feel.

Unfortunately there are still old grudges and family drama to deal with. And what happens when my brother finds out that I'm working for the guy he hates more than anyone else in the world? Will I be able to follow my heart or will the way I hate him blind me from the love I feel?]]> 528 Meghan Quinn 1959442090 Jen 0 to-read 4.01 2023
author: Meghan Quinn
name: Jen
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: to-read
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]]> 76714487 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Chaol Westfall and Nesryn Faliq have arrived in the shining city of Antica to forge an alliance with the Khagan of the Southern Continent, whose vast armies are Erilea's last hope. But they have also come to Antica for another purpose: to seek healing at the famed Torre Cesme for the wounds Chaol received in Rifthold.

After enduring unspeakable horrors as a child, Yrene Towers has no desire to help the young lord from Adarlan, let alone heal him. Yet she has sworn an oath to assist those in need—and will honor it. But Lord Westfall carries shadows from his own past, and Yrene soon comes to realize they could engulf them both.

In this sweeping parallel novel to the New York Times bestselling Empire of Storms, Chaol, Nesryn, and Yrene will have to draw on every scrap of their resilience if they wish to save their friends. But while they become entangled in the political webs of the khaganate, deep in the shadows of mighty mountains where warriors soar on legendary ruks, long-awaited answers slumber. Answers that might offer their world a chance at survival—or doom them all . . .]]> 663 Sarah J. Maas 1639731040 Jen 3 4.26 2017
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jen
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
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]]> 76713323 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

The long path to the throne has only just begun for Aelin Galathynius as war looms on the horizon. Loyalties have been broken and bought, friends have been lost and gained, and those who possess magic find themselves at odds with those who don't.

With her heart sworn to the warrior-prince by her side, and her fealty pledged to the people she is determined to save, Aelin will delve into the depths of her power to protect those she loves. But as monsters emerge from the horrors of the past, and dark forces become poised to claim her world, the only chance for salvation will lie in a desperate quest that may mark the end of everything Aelin holds dear.

In this breathtaking fifth installment of the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series, Aelin will have to choose what—and who—to sacrifice if she's to keep the world of Erilea from breaking apart.]]> 693 Sarah J. Maas 1639731024 Jen 5 4.66 2016
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jen
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
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]]> 199135459
The boy survives, but Enya goes to pieces. She leaves her husband, her son, and everything she knows to start a new life in remote rural Ireland.

But even in the quiet of Abbeydooley, beneath the boughs of an ancient tree, Enya is still haunted by that night in the rain. Can the stories of strangers and a land steeped in legend lay the ghosts of her past to rest? Or will the storm she's outrunning finally catch up with her?]]> 385 Cecelia Ahern 0008195048 Jen 0 to-read 3.70 2024
author: Cecelia Ahern
name: Jen
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> 76707900 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past��

She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

The fourth volume in the New York Times bestselling series continues Celaena’s epic journey and builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.]]> 648 Sarah J. Maas 1639731008 Jen 5 4.64 2015
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jen
average rating: 4.64
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/03
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]]> 205846808
It’s the most romantic time of the year.

The holidays are fast approaching, and the Belvedere siblings are a mess. Liz, a Hollywood showrunner and responsible eldest, has no idea how to follow up her hit show’s first season, or how to deal with her giant crush on its star, Violet Grace. Birdie turned her chronic middle child syndrome into a career as a stand-up comic, but since she spends more time wooing women than working on new material, she’s facing one-hit wonder status, especially once she gets axed by her manager. And Rafi, sensitive romantic and the baby golden boy, proposes to his coworker girlfriend in front of his entire company, only to be turned down by the woman he thought was the love of his life.

Born to three different fathers, the three adult children share one mother: famed actress and singer Babs Belvedere. Seeking direction and holiday cheer, all three siblings head up to their mother’s house in the Catskills, determined to swear off love and focus on themselves and their work. But the spirit of the season seems to have different plans for them, and their best intentions are quickly derailed in the most delightful and festive of ways.

Emotional, smart, and sexy, this queer holiday romcom celebrates love, family, and the wild creative life, and is perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Casey McQuiston.]]> 432 Georgia Clark 0593729080 Jen 0 to-read 3.75 2024
author: Georgia Clark
name: Jen
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 76706470 576 Sarah J. Maas Jen 4 4.44 2014
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jen
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/24
date added: 2024/09/24
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]]> 58017037 THE INSTANT BESTSELLER! USA TODAY  PUBLISHERS WEEKLY INDIE BOOKSELLERS

"A beautifully written story about second chances. Fans of women’s fiction won’t be able to put this down." ��Publishers Weekly

The forecast is calling for a reluctant homecoming and regrettable decisions with a strong chance of romance��

When Sonny Dunes, a SoCal meteorologist whose job is all sunshine and seventy-two-degree days, is replaced by a virtual meteorologist that will never age, gain weight or renegotiate its contract, the only station willing to give the fifty-year-old another shot is the very place Sonny’s been avoiding since the day she left for college—her northern Michigan hometown.

Sonny grudgingly returns to the long, cold, snowy winters of her childhood…with the added humiliation of moving back in with her mother. Not quite an outsider but no longer a local, Sonny finds her past blindsiding her from the high school friends she ghosted, to the former journalism classmate and mortal frenemy who’s now her boss, to, most keenly, the death years ago of her younger sister, who loved the snow.

To distract herself from the memories she's spent her life trying to outrun, Sonny throws herself headfirst into covering every small-town winter event to woo a new audience, made more bearable by a handsome widower with optimism to spare. But with someone trying to undermine her efforts to rebuild her career, Sonny must make peace with who she used to be and allow her heart to thaw if she’s ever going to find a place she can truly call home.
���ձ�> 372 Viola Shipman 0369702093 Jen 0 to-read 4.09 2021
author: Viola Shipman
name: Jen
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> 50871634 Paris, 1941: The city is growing more dangerous by the day. Signs proclaiming ‘No Jews�� are posted everywhere in the maze-like streets, and people are dragged away in handcuffs.

Maggie Brouillard devotes herself to the Resistance, helping Jews escape. Though her life is a whirlwind of forged passports and midnight runs, she cannot stop thinking about her fiancé, who was forced to flee. She prays that the love of her life is safe, and sends coded, handwritten letters to her dear sister, ��é����������.

England, 1949: Harriet Conway arrives at grand, grey-stoned Chaffingham House to start her job as secretary. Home to the Brouillard family since they escaped Paris after the war, Chaffingham’s opulence has all but disappeared �� its curtains faded, its carpets worn, tragedy hanging in the air��

Harriet is soon consumed by the mystery surrounding the family. The daughter, ��é����������, is confined to a wheelchair due to an accident they refuse to discuss and when a strange man turns up asking for Maggie, the door is slammed shut on him. Why won’t ��é���������� look her son in the eye? Why will no one utter Maggie’s name?

It’s clear that Chaffingham is shrouded in secrecy, the family haunted by a past too shocking to speak of. And when Harriet stumbles upon a crumpled letter she uncovers something that will either repair a lifetime of heartbreak, or rip the family apart.

An evocative, riveting and stirring tale about the tragic realities of war, the fine line between loyalty and lies, and the power of love, even in the darkest of times. Fans of The Nightingale, The Letter and All the Light We Cannot See will be spellbound by this magnificent historical novel.]]> 416 Clara Benson 1838881999 Jen 0 to-read 4.21 2020
author: Clara Benson
name: Jen
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 11778826
Beattie also found herself at a crossroads as a young woman, but she was pregnant and unwed. She eventually found success—but only after following an unconventional path that was often dangerous and heartbreaking. Beattie knew the lessons she learned in life would be important to Emma one day, and she wanted to make sure Emma’s heart remained open to love, no matter what life brought. She knew the magic of the Australian wilderness would show Emma the way.

Wildflower Hill is a compelling, atmospheric, and romantic novel about taking risks, starting again, and believing in yourself. It’s about finding out what you really want and discovering that the answer might be not at all what you’d expect.]]> 546 Kimberley Freeman 1451623518 Jen 0 to-read 4.25 2010
author: Kimberley Freeman
name: Jen
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 126062562
When Celaena's scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, she finds herself acting independently of his wishes—and questioning her own allegiance. Along the way, she makes friends and enemies alike, and discovers that she feels far more for Sam than just friendship. But by defying Arobynn’s orders, Celaena risks unimaginable punishment, and with Sam by her side, he is in danger, too. They will have to risk it all if they hope to escape Arobynn’s clutches—and if they fail, they’ll lose not just a chance at freedom, but their lives . . .

A prequel to Throne of Glass, this collection of five novellas offers readers a deeper look into the history of this cunning assassin and her enthralling—and deadly—world.

Included in this volume:
The Assassin and the Pirate Lord
The Assassin and the Healer
The Assassin and the Desert
The Assassin and the Underworld
The Assassin and the Empire]]> 451 Sarah J. Maas 1619632217 Jen 4 4.16 2014
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jen
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/18
date added: 2024/09/18
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]]> 76705490 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

"A line that should never be crossed is about to be breached.

It puts this entire castle in jeopardy—and the life of your friend."

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.]]> 420 Sarah J. Maas 1639730966 Jen 4 4.34 2013
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jen
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/16
date added: 2024/09/16
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]]> 76703559 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king's champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it's there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena's fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.]]> 406 Sarah J. Maas 163973094X Jen 4 4.18 2012
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jen
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
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]]> 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Jen 3 4.11 2024
author: Alison Espach
name: Jen
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/11
date added: 2024/09/11
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]]> 206306734 A grim and gothic new tale from New York Times bestselling author Alix E. Harrow about a small town haunted by secrets that can't stay buried and the sinister house that sits at the crossroads of it all.

Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote The Underland--and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it’s best to let the uncanny house―and its last lonely heir, Arthur Starling―go to rot.

Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but an unexpected job offer might be a chance to get her brother out of Eden. Too quickly, though, Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she’s never had: a home.

As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a dire to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares.

If Opal wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it.]]> 336 Alix E. Harrow 1250799066 Jen 0 to-read 3.86 2023
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: Jen
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> 195458052
In Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job to provide for herself and her beloved daughter, Olivia. But with the legal restrictions prohibiting widows with children from most employment opportunities, she’s left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots�� Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her.

When the threat of war becomes a reality, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. In her daughter’s absence, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbors and coworkers, as well as the recommendations she provides to the library’s quirky regulars. But the job doesn’t come without its difficulties. Books are mysteriously misshelved and disappearing, and her work forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident.

As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham and Emma fights to reunite with her daughter, she must learn to depend on her community and the power of literature more than ever to find hope in the darkest of times.]]> 432 Madeline Martin 1335000399 Jen 0 to-read 3.96 2024
author: Madeline Martin
name: Jen
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> 195100472
But scandals follow like hunting dogs. And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her ex-husband is really the monster everyone says he is, then how complicit was she in his crimes?

Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did - and did not do. Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all.]]> 176 John Boyne 0857529811 Jen 0 to-read 4.28 2023
author: John Boyne
name: Jen
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> 43269446 This follow-up to The Underground Railroad brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys unjustly sentenced to a hellish reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.

When Elwood Curtis, a black boy growing up in 1960s Tallahassee, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, he finds himself trapped in a grotesque chamber of horrors. Elwood's only salvation is his friendship with fellow "delinquent" Turner, which deepens despite Turner's conviction that Elwood is hopelessly naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. As life at the Academy becomes ever more perilous, the tension between Elwood's ideals and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision whose repercussions will echo down the decades.

Based on the real story of a reform school that operated for 111 years and warped the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven narrative that showcases a great American novelist writing at the height of his powers.]]> 213 Colson Whitehead 0345804341 Jen 0 to-read 4.35 2019
author: Colson Whitehead
name: Jen
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> 6746018
Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in ‘the distant hours�� of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

Morton once again enthralls readers with an atmospheric story featuring unforgettable characters beset by love and circumstance and haunted by memory, that reminds us of the rich power of storytelling.]]> 562 Kate Morton 1439152780 Jen 2 3.88 2010
author: Kate Morton
name: Jen
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/02
date added: 2024/09/02
shelves:
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]]> 45445840 The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power. Optioned by Universal and Elizabeth Banks to be a major motion picture!

SURVIVE THE YEAR.

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.]]> 407 Kim Liggett Jen 4 4.26 2019
author: Kim Liggett
name: Jen
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/28
date added: 2024/08/28
shelves:
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]]> 59843691
The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows��

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.

With a wicked wink to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Daisy Darker’s unforgettable twists will leave readers reeling.]]> 342 Alice Feeney Jen 0 to-read 3.81 2022
author: Alice Feeney
name: Jen
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> 29337028 The Quinn family gathers for one last holiday at the Winter Street Inn in the heartwarming conclusion to Elin Hilderbrand's bestselling trilogy.

Preparing for another holiday season in Nantucket, the Quinns are optimistic that despite a health scare for Kelley, this year's celebration will be their best in ages. After a year apart, and an ill-fated affair with the Inn's old Santa Claus, Mitzi has returned to rule the roost; there is hopeful news about Bart, who has been MIA in Afghanistan; and love is in the air as Kevin and Isabelle are preparing to get married. But as the family gathers together, a powerful blizzard bears down on the Eastern seaboard. With a wedding, an emotional reunion, and enough holiday drama to test the closest of family bonds, WINTER STORMS proves that when the holidays roll around, you can always go home again.]]> 257 Elin Hilderbrand 0316261157 Jen 4 4.13
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Jen
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2020/11/29
date added: 2024/08/16
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]]> 199698485 When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.]]> 490 Liz Moore Jen 4 4.15 2024
author: Liz Moore
name: Jen
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/13
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves:
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]]> 204787816 A merciless wilderness. A harrowing attack. A desperate escape.

When a tragic accident sidelines Miley's dreams of Olympic gold, she takes a summer job at a mountain guest lodge.

The Frank Church Wilderness is remote, but it’s the perfect place to train and recover. Local lore about a staffer who died years ago doesn’t scare her. But it should.

Miley’s plans take a terrifying detour when she’s abducted during a morning run. Held captive in a desolate off-grid cabin, she’ll have to use her athletic prowess, cunning mind, and courage to survive. But as the nightmare at the cabin escalates, Miley is forced to form an unlikely alliance and attempt a risky escape.

Can she outwit her captors and survive the wilderness before it’s too late?

Inspired by true events, Gray After Dark is a pulse-pounding psychological thriller with a finale that will leave you breathless.]]> 370 Noelle W. Ihli Jen 0 to-read 4.22 2024
author: Noelle W. Ihli
name: Jen
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> 25324421 "Happy Holidays 2015! It has been a rough year for the Quinns, but I would like to start by saying thank you for all of the well wishes and positive missives sent our way."

Another Christmas on Nantucket finds Winter Street Inn owner Kelley Quinn reflecting on the past year as he writes a holiday letter to friends and family. Though the year has had its share of misfortune and worry, the Quinns have much to celebrate. Kelley, now single, at least is on better terms with his first wife Margaret, who is using her celebrity to lure customers to the inn in record numbers. Their son Kevin has a beautiful new baby, Genevieve, with the Inn's French housekeeper, Isabelle; and their daughter, Ava, is finally dating a nice guy--her devoted colleague, Scott.
Now the Quinns are looking forward to celebrating Genevieve's baptism, welcoming Isabelle to the family, and enjoying the cheer of Nantucket's traditional Christmas Stroll. But just when a peaceful family gathering seems within reach, Kelley's estranged second wife, Mitzi, shows up on the island after souring on her relationship with the inn's former Santa Claus. Soon Kelley isn't the only Quinn entertaining a surprise guest from Christmases past as lovers old and new gather beneath the mistletoe. With jealousy, passion, and eggnog consumption at an all-time high, it's going to take a whole lot more than a Christmas miracle to get the Quinns--and the inn--through the holidays intact.]]> 256 Elin Hilderbrand 0316261122 Jen 4 4.04 2015
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Jen
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2020/11/23
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
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]]> 50833559 What was it like? Living in that house.

Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.

In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?]]> 389 Riley Sager 1524745170 Jen 0 to-read 4.05 2020
author: Riley Sager
name: Jen
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203931725
The survivors, including key witness Pamela Schumacher, will be forever changed by this night. They have all become victims. But they tell their perspectives here, they remain masters of their stories. And they hunt the perpetrator on their own - against resistance from the justice system and the police; against public opinion, which idolizes the serial killer.]]> 400 Jessica Knoll 1501153234 Jen 0 to-read 4.01 2023
author: Jessica Knoll
name: Jen
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60784612
Mob boss Feliks is still running the show from behind bars, and he has a task for Finlay: find and identify a contract killer before the cops do. The problem is, the killer might be an officer themself.

Luckily, hot cop Nick has just been tasked with starting up a citizen's police academy, and combined pressure from Finlay's looming book deadline and Feliks is enough to convince Finlay and Vero to get involved. Through firearm training and forensic classes (and some hands-on research with a tempting detective), Finlay and Vero use their time in police academy to sleuth out the real contract killer to free themselves from the mob's clutches―all the while dodging spies, confronting Vero's past, and juggling the daily trials of parenthood.

From USA Today bestseller and Edgar-Award nominee Elle Cosimano, comes Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun—the highly anticipated, hilarious, and heart-pounding next installment in the beloved Finlay Donovan ������������]]> 304 Elle Cosimano 125084603X Jen 2 3.80 2023
author: Elle Cosimano
name: Jen
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/04
date added: 2024/08/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 181110045 A haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, D.C. boardinghouse during the McCarthy era.

Washington, D.C., 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital, where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; police officer’s daughter Nora, who is entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Bea, whose career has ended along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.

Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears apart the house, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: Who is the true enemy in their midst?]]> 432 Kate Quinn 0063244748 Jen 5 4.26 2024
author: Kate Quinn
name: Jen
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 216523349 Bestselling and award-winning author Jennifer Donnelly continues her Rose Petals series �� novella-length stories set within the world of her beloved Tea Rose saga.

It’s the summer of 1900 in London’s gritty East End. The ruthless, complicated gangster Sid Malone rules the streets of Whitechapel with an iron fist, but cannot rule his own heart.

A forbidden love for India Selwyn Jones, an idealistic young doctor, torments Sid. He’s certain the violence of his underworld life will only lead to tragedy for a soul whose kindness and decency are like nothing he’s ever known.

When India’s new hospital is robbed in a stealthy nighttime raid, Sid’s worst fears are confirmed. Convinced a powerful rival is closing in, he distances himself from India to keep her safe. But what he doesn’t see is that the one who needs saving might just be himself.

Where Roses Fall is set between parts one and two of The Winter Rose, the second book of The Tea Rose saga.

Praise for The Rose Saga

The Tea Rose

"Steeped in melodrama, revenge and a maddeningly star-crossed romance, The Tea Rose is a fine yarn ... Bottom Guilty pleasure."

People Magazine

The Winter Rose

"The Winter Rose confirms Donnelly's place among the elite writers of epic historical fiction. Lyrical and captivating, The Winter Rose is an astounding work that will speak to your heart."

The Strand Bookstore, New York City

The Wild Rose

"Enjoy the 600-plus pages of romance, harrowing exploits, cinematic backdrops, cliffhangers, and plot twists."

Publisher's Weekly]]> 178 Jennifer Donnelly Jen 0 to-read 4.31 2024
author: Jennifer Donnelly
name: Jen
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57838766
On the not-so-bright side, someone out there wants her ex-husband, Steven, out of the picture. Permanently. Whatever else Steven may be, he's a good father, but saving him will send her down a rabbit hole of hit-women disguised as soccer moms, and a little bit more involvement with the Russian mob than she'd like.

Meanwhile, Vero's keeping secrets, and Detective Nick Anthony seems determined to get back into her life. He may be a hot cop, but Finlay's first priority is preventing her family from sleeping with the fishes... and if that means bending a few laws then so be it.

With her next book's deadline looming and an ex-husband to keep alive, Finlay is quickly coming to the end of her rope. She can only hope there isn't a noose at the end of it...]]> 360 Elle Cosimano Jen 3 4.10 2022
author: Elle Cosimano
name: Jen
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 195790531
A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?

Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny - in the midst of her parent's bitter divorce - and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella's mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.

From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there's something eerie about the house itself: It's a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.

As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny's murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny's boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella's supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?]]> 341 Sarah Pekkanen 125028399X Jen 0 to-read 3.84 2024
author: Sarah Pekkanen
name: Jen
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211156857
They were madly in love. The perfect couple.

That was the story everyone in South River believed...until Gin Talcott and Adam Archer are found shot in their bed.

Adam is dead at the scene. Gin is fighting for her life.

Detectives Greta Jessup and Finn Pate are assigned to the case. Greta has a long history with Gin’s first husband, Eddie, and is determined to protect his 18-year-old twins. Piper discovered the bodies. Daniel is missing—and so is Adam’s gun.

Shocking discoveries about Gin and Adam’s marriage quickly shine a bright light on the children—and their aunt Ruth Talcott, who has her own secrets.

The one person who might know the truth is local estate attorney Sarah Branford. Gin left a letter for her two days before the shooting which Sarah now opens:

Dear Sarah, If you’re reading this, there’s a story I need to tell you. It begins and ends with Adam. I will never forgive myself for what I’ve done....

The evidence twists and turns until the shocking truth about the Talcott family—and the killer—is finally revealed.]]> 5 Wendy Walker Jen 3 3.57 2024
author: Wendy Walker
name: Jen
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/18
date added: 2024/07/18
shelves:
review:

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