-'s bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 24 Apr 2025 21:16:21 -0700 60 -'s bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Broken Country 214151202 “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.]]> 320 Clare Leslie Hall 166807818X - 0 currently-reading 4.42 2025 Broken Country
author: Clare Leslie Hall
name: -
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> The Girl on the Train 22557272
An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.]]> 336 Paula Hawkins 1594633665 - 3 3.97 2015 The Girl on the Train
author: Paula Hawkins
name: -
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/24
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]]> <![CDATA[First-Time Caller (Heartstrings, #1)]]> 213243908 A hopeless romantic meets a jaded radio host in this cozy, Sleepless in Seattle-inspired love story from beloved author B.K. Borison.

Aiden Valentine has a secret: he's fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore's romance hotline, that's a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in to the station asking for dating advice for her mom, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and Heartstrings into the limelight.

Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. She has a good job; an incredible family; and a smart, slightly devious kid. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life-or lack thereof—she begins to question if she's as happy as she thought. Maybe a little more romance wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending... even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. But when sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final call between the radio-sponsored happily ever after or the man in the headphones next to her.]]> 448 B.K. Borison 0593641191 - 2 4.06 2025 First-Time Caller (Heartstrings, #1)
author: B.K. Borison
name: -
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/19
date added: 2025/04/19
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]]> A Love Song for Ricki Wilde 173404023
Leap years are a strange, enchanted time. And for some, even a single February can be life-changing.

Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn’t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she’s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. Where they’re long-stemmed roses, she’s a dandelion: an adorable bloom that’s actually a weed, born to float wherever the wind blows. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a different, more exciting life awaits her.

When regal nonagenarian, Ms. Della, invites her to rent the bottom floor of her Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh beginning. She leaves behind her family, wealth, and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. And just beneath the surface of her new neighborhood, the music, stories and dazzling drama of the Harlem Renaissance still simmers.

One evening in February as the heady, curiously off-season scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome, deeply mysterious stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.

Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a swoon-worthy love story of two passionate artists drawn to the magic, romance, and opportunity of New York, and whose lives are uniquely and irreversibly linked.]]> 352 Tia Williams 153872670X - 3 3.98 2024 A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
author: Tia Williams
name: -
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/16
date added: 2025/04/16
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]]> Sounds Like Love 219301810 A hitmaking songwriter and a bitter musician share a startling and inexplicable connection that they’ll do anything to shake, in the next sparkling, magical book from Ashley Poston.

Joni Lark is living the dream. She’s one of the most coveted songwriters in LA…and she can’t seem to write. There’s an emptiness inside her, and nothing seems to fill it.

When she returns to her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, she hopes that the sand, the surf, and the concerts at The Revelry, her family’s music venue, will spark her inspiration. But when she gets there, nothing is how she left it. Her best friend is avoiding her, her mother’s memories are fading fast, and The Revelry is closing.

How can she think about writing her next song when everything is changing without her?

Until she hears it. A melody in her head, lyric-less and half-formed, and an alluring and addictive voice to go with it—belonging, apparently, to a wry musician with hangups of his own.

Surely, he’s a figment of her overworked imagination.

But then the very real man attached to the voice shows up in Vienna Shores. He’s aggravating and gruff on the outside—nothing like the sweet, funny voice in Joni’s head—and he has a plan:

They’ll finish the song haunting them both, break their connection, and hope they don’t risk their hearts in the process.

Because that song stuck in their heads? Maybe it’s there for a reason.]]> Ashley Poston 0593641019 - 0 to-read 4.27 2025 Sounds Like Love
author: Ashley Poston
name: -
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
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]]> Atmosphere 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 - 0 to-read 4.45 2025 Atmosphere
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: -
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> It's a Love Story 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 - 0 to-read 4.30 2025 It's a Love Story
author: Annabel Monaghan
name: -
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> A Flicker in the Dark 57693172
Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren't really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?

In a debut novel that has already been optioned for a limited series by actress Emma Stone and sold to a dozen countries around the world, Stacy Willingham has created an unforgettable character in a spellbinding thriller that will appeal equally to fans of Gillian Flynn and Karin Slaughter.]]> 357 Stacy Willingham 1250803829 - 2 3.96 2022 A Flicker in the Dark
author: Stacy Willingham
name: -
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/11
date added: 2025/04/11
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]]> <![CDATA[Devil's Daughter (The Ravenels, #5)]]> 40404706 A scintillating tale of a beautiful, young widow who finds passion with the one man she shouldn't . . .

Although beautiful young widow Phoebe, Lady Clare, has never met West Ravenel, she knows one thing for certain: he's a mean, rotten bully. Back in boarding school, he made her late husband's life a misery, and she'll never forgive him for it. But when Phoebe attends a family wedding, she encounters a dashing and impossibly charming stranger who sends a fire-and-ice jolt of attraction through her. And then he introduces himself—as none other than West Ravenel.

West is a man with a tarnished past. No apologies, no excuses. However, from the moment he meets Phoebe, West is consumed by irresistible desire . . . not to mention the bitter awareness that a woman like her is far out of his reach. What West doesn't bargain on is that Phoebe is no straitlaced aristocratic lady. She's the daughter of a strong-willed wallflower who long ago eloped with Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent—the most devilishly wicked rake in England.

Before long, Phoebe sets out to seduce the man who has awakened her fiery nature and shown her unimaginable pleasure. Will their overwhelming passion be enough to overcome the obstacles of the past? Only the devil's daughter knows.]]> 375 Lisa Kleypas 0062371932 - 3 4.10 2019 Devil's Daughter (The Ravenels, #5)
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: -
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/07
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]]> The Vanishing Half 51791252
Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.]]> 343 Brit Bennett 0525536299 - 4 4.11 2020 The Vanishing Half
author: Brit Bennett
name: -
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/02
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]]> The Layover 55411076
But when their plane encounters mechanical problems, what should have been a quick stop at the Belize airport suddenly becomes a weekend layover. Getting stuck on a three-hour flight with her nemesis was bad enough. Being stranded with him at a luxury resort in paradise? Even with the sultry breeze and white sand to distract her, it will take all the rum punch in the country to drown out his larger-than-life presence.

Yet the more time Ava spends with him under the hot Caribbean sun, the more she begins to second-guess everything she thought she knew about him... and everything she thought she wanted from her life. And all too soon, she might have to choose between keeping her feet on the ground and her head in the clouds....

An unexpected tropical layover with her nemesis turns a flight attendant's life upside down in this witty, breezy debut romantic comedy about life -- and love -- 30,000 feet above the ground.]]> 320 Lacie Waldon 0593328256 - 3 3.58 2021 The Layover
author: Lacie Waldon
name: -
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/28
date added: 2025/03/29
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]]> Educated 35133922
Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent.

Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one's life through new eyes and the will to change it.]]> 352 Tara Westover 0399590501 - 0 4.46 2018 Educated
author: Tara Westover
name: -
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/03/18
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]]> The Boyfriend 208503280 She's looking for the perfect man. He's looking for the perfect victim.

Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. She’s seen it men who lie in their dating profile, men who stick her with the dinner bill, and worst of all, men who can't shut up about their mothers. But finally, she hits the jackpot.

Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He's charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet.

Then the brutal murder of a young woman―the latest in a string of deaths across the coast―confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.

Sydney should feel safe. After all, she is dating the guy of her dreams. But she can’t shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move, and if she doesn’t get to the truth, she’ll be the killer’s next victim...

A dark story about obsession and the things we’ll do for love, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden proves that crimes of passion are often the bloodiest…]]> 368 Freida McFadden 1728296226 - 2 3.95 2024 The Boyfriend
author: Freida McFadden
name: -
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/14
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]]> The Spellshop 217206125 The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst’s romantasy debut–a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.]]> 377 Sarah Beth Durst 1250333970 - 4 3.98 2024 The Spellshop
author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: -
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/10
date added: 2025/03/13
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]]> The Frozen River 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 - 0 to-read 4.37 2023 The Frozen River
author: Ariel Lawhon
name: -
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/10
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]]> Love, Mom 220838350 A best-selling author. A mother. A murderer�

Mackenzie Casper is a brilliant student. But she is best known for her mother, a best-selling author whose dark, twisted thrillers have a dedicated worldwide fanbase.

When her mother dies in an accident, fans across the world are left grieving, and the investigators are asking: Was that really an accident?

The day of the memorial service, Mackenzie gets the first mysterious envelope, signed,
From #1 fan. XOXO

Inside are the pages of her mother’s diary that start with the lines:
Want to know a secret?
Love, Mom.

What Mackenzie reads leaves her in shock.
But then comes the second letter.
And the third...

Mackenzie starts her own investigation and stumbles upon secrets that her family has lived with for years.
Quickly, she realizes that her mother's path to stardom was etched with sinister lies that might have caught up with her.

Sometimes fame is worth a murder. Or worse.
Soon, Mackenzie will come to find out that there are worse things than murder�]]> 348 Iliana Xander - 0 to-read 4.28 2024 Love, Mom
author: Iliana Xander
name: -
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/10
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]]> The Wedding People 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 - 3 3.5 4.11 2024 The Wedding People
author: Alison Espach
name: -
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/08
date added: 2025/03/08
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3.5
]]> Great Big Beautiful Life 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 - 0 to-read 4.22 2025 Great Big Beautiful Life
author: Emily Henry
name: -
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
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]]> <![CDATA[My Darling Duke (Sinful Wallflowers, #1)]]> 43263291 desperate wallflower. To save her family, she’ll do anything. Luckily, she has the perfect plan...

She’ll impress the ton by simply announcing she is engaged to the reclusive and mysterious Duke of Thornton, Alexander Masters, and secure strong matches for her sisters. No one has heard from the duke in years. Surely he’ll never find out before her sisters� weddings, and she can go back to her own quiet life.

Soon, though, everything is out of control. At first, it’s just a few new ball gowns on the duke’s accounts. Then, it’s interviews with reporters eager for gossip. Before she knows it, Katherine has transformed herself into Kitty Danvers, charming and clever belle of the ton―with everyone eager to meet her thankfully absent fiancé.

But when the enigmatic Alexander Masters suddenly arrives in the city, dashing and oh so angry, he demands retribution. Except not in the way Katherine expected…]]> 377 Stacy Reid 1640637451 - 3 3.92 2019 My Darling Duke (Sinful Wallflowers, #1)
author: Stacy Reid
name: -
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
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]]> <![CDATA[Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)]]> 212127083
In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn't much a girl wouldn't do for a glass of water.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember.

But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently re-opens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares... but it turns out they're real, and Saeris has landed herself in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist's magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him . . . or her.

Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he's the only way Saeris is going to make it home.]]> 588 Callie Hart - 3 4.35 2024 Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)
author: Callie Hart
name: -
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/27
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]]> The Devil You Know 159117485 Ben-Stealer of Clients, Evicter of Homeless Women, Nemesis. Sitting across from me every damn Monday with his lovely, smug smile and his too-perfect teeth, the living symbol of everything I hate.
It's been my policy to avoid him, but when a case comes into the firm-one that could change his career and mine-I make an exception. It means weekends and evenings by his side. It means enduring his smirk and his smart mouth and never taking the bait.
Until the night Ben says "Beg"...and that devil on my shoulder decides to make a few demands of her own.]]> 296 Elizabeth O'Roark 1956800093 - 0 currently-reading 3.93 2022 The Devil You Know
author: Elizabeth O'Roark
name: -
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year]]> 199531989 Knives Out gets a rom-com twist in this rivals-to-lovers Christmas romance-mystery from New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter

The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room three days before Christmas.

Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt:
She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery.
He’s Mr. Big-Time Thriller Guy.

She hates his guts.

He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)

But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.

That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone.

She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to wonder: Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?

As the snow gets deeper and the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other. Because, this Christmas, these two rivals are going to have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor.

Assuming they don’t kill each other first.]]> 293 Ally Carter 0063276682 - 3 3.92 2024 The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year
author: Ally Carter
name: -
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> <![CDATA[A Cruelty Special to Our Species: Poems]]> 36203674 A piercing debut collection of poems exploring gender, race, and violence from a sensational new talent

In her arresting collection, urgently relevant for our times, poet Emily Jungmin Yoon confronts the histories of sexual violence against women, focusing in particular on Korean so-called “comfort women,� women who were forced into sexual labor in Japanese-occupied territories during World War II.

In wrenching language, A Cruelty Special to Our Species unforgettably describes the brutalities of war and the fear and sorrow of those whose lives and bodies were swept up by a colonizing power, bringing powerful voice to an oppressed group of people whose histories have often been erased and overlooked. “What is a body in a stolen country,� Yoon asks. “What is right in war.�

Moving readers through time, space, and different cultures, and bringing vivid life to the testimonies and confessions of the victims,Yoon takes possession of a painful and shameful history even while unearthing moments of rare beauty in acts of resistance and resilience, and in the instinct to survive and bear witness.]]> 80 Emily Jungmin Yoon 0062843699 - 0 4.22 2018 A Cruelty Special to Our Species: Poems
author: Emily Jungmin Yoon
name: -
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
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]]> Two Can Play 217108838
An enemies-to-lovers spicy romance set in the world of video gaming from the bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis—available only in audio!

Viola Bowen has the chance of a lifetime: to design a video game based on her all-time favorite book series. The only problem? Her co-lead is Jesse F-ing Andrews, a.k.a. her arch-nemesis. Jesse has made it abundantly clear over the years that he wants nothing to do with her–and Viola has no idea why.

When their bosses insist a wintery retreat is the perfect team-building exercise, Viola can’t think of anything worse. Being freezing cold in a remote mountain lodge knowing Jesse is right next door? No, thank you.

But as the snow piles on, Viola discovers there’s more to Jesse than she knew, and heat builds in more ways than one.]]> 5 Ali Hazelwood - 2 3.55 2024 Two Can Play
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: -
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/30
date added: 2024/12/30
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]]> The Deal of a Lifetime 36229962
As he talks about this plucky little girl, the father also reveals more about himself: his triumphs in business, his failures as a parent, his past regrets, his hopes for the future.

Now, on a cold winter’s night, the father has been given an unexpected chance to do something remarkable that could change the destiny of a little girl he hardly knows. But before he can make the deal of a lifetime, he must find out what his own life has actually been worth, and only his son can reveal that answer.

With humor and compassion, Fredrik Backman’s The Deal of a Lifetime reminds us that life is a fleeting gift, and our legacy rests in how we share that gift with others.]]> 65 Fredrik Backman 150119349X - 0 3.78 2017 The Deal of a Lifetime
author: Fredrik Backman
name: -
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> Wrong Place Wrong Time 59947696
It is midnight on the morning of Halloween, and Jen anxiously waits up for her 18-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But worries about his broken curfew transform into something much more dangerous when Todd finally emerges from the darkness. As Jen watches through the window, she sees her funny, seemingly happy teenage son stab a total stranger.

She doesn’t know who the victim is, or why Todd has committed such a devastating act of violence. All she knows is that her life, and Todd’s, have been shattered.

After her son is taken into custody, Jen falls asleep in despair. But when she wakes up� it is yesterday. The murder has not happened yet—and there may be a chance to stop it. Each morning, when Jen wakes, she is further back in the past, first weeks, then years, before the murder. And Jen realizes that somewhere in the past lies the trigger for Todd’s terrible crime…and it is her mission to find it, and prevent it from taking place.]]> 416 Gillian McAllister 0063252341 - 3 3.95 2022 Wrong Place Wrong Time
author: Gillian McAllister
name: -
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/27
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]]> The House Across the Lake 58909880 The New York Times best-selling author of Final Girls and Survive the Night is back with his most unexpected thriller yet.

Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.

One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect and placid as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession and how looks can be very deceiving.

With his trademark blend of sharp characters, psychological suspense, and gasp-worthy surprises, Riley Sager’s The House Across the Lake unveils more than one twist that will shock readers until the very last page.]]> 369 Riley Sager - 2 3.57 2022 The House Across the Lake
author: Riley Sager
name: -
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/26
date added: 2024/09/26
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]]> <![CDATA[Practice Makes Perfect (When in Rome, #2)]]> 61897968 A small-town sweetheart and an emotionally unavailable bad boy try to find some common ground in this chemistry-filled romance from the author of The Cheat Sheet and When in Rome.

Annie Walker is on a quest to find her perfect match—someone who complements her happy, quiet life running the local flower shop in Rome, Kentucky. But finding her dream man may be harder than Annie imagined. Everyone knows everyone in her hometown, and the dating prospects are getting fewer by the day. After she overhears her latest date say she is “so unbelievably boring,� Annie starts to think the problem might be her. Is it too late to become flirtatious and fun like the leading ladies in her favorite romance movies? Maybe she only needs a little practice . . . and Annie has the perfect person in mind to be her tutor: Will Griffin.

Will—the sexy, tattooed, and absolutely gorgeous bodyguard—is temporarily back in Rome, providing security for Amelia Rose as excitement builds for her upcoming marriage to Noah Walker, Annie’s brother. He has one personal objective while on the job: stay away from Annie Walker and any other possible attachments to this sleepy town. But no sooner than he gets settled, Will finds himself tasked with helping Annie find the love of her life by becoming the next leading lady of Rome, Kentucky. Will wants no part in changing the sweet and lovely Annie. He knows for a fact that some stuffy, straitlaced guy won’t make her happy, but he doesn’t have the heart to say no.

Amid steamy practice dates and strictly “educational� tutoring lessons, Annie discovers there are more layers to Will’s usual stoic attitude. As the lines of their friendship become dangerously blurred, Annie reconsiders her dream guy. Maybe her love life doesn’t need to be perfect—it just needs to be real.]]> 335 Sarah Adams 0593500806 - 2 4.00 2023 Practice Makes Perfect (When in Rome, #2)
author: Sarah Adams
name: -
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/03
date added: 2024/09/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Magic Rises (Kate Daniels, #6)]]> 11544421 Atlanta is a city plagued by magical problems. Kate Daniels will fight to solve them—no matter the cost.

Mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate, Curran, the Beast Lord, are struggling to solve a heartbreaking crisis. Unable to control their beasts, many of the Pack’s shapeshifting children fail to survive to adulthood. While there is a medicine that can help, the secret to its making is closely guarded by the European packs, and there’s little available in Atlanta.

Kate can’t bear to watch innocents suffer, but the solution she and Curran have found threatens to be even more painful. The European shapeshifters who once outmaneuvered the Beast Lord have asked him to arbitrate a dispute—and they’ll pay him in medicine. With the young people’s survival and the Pack’s future at stake, Kate and Curran know they must accept the offer—but they have little doubt that they’re heading straight into a trap�

Includes the short story "An Ill-Advised Rescue"]]> 355 Ilona Andrews 1937007588 - 3 4.43 2013 Magic Rises (Kate Daniels, #6)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: -
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/16
date added: 2024/08/16
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]]> The Dutch House 44318414
The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives, they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.]]> 337 Ann Patchett 0062963678 - 0 to-read 4.08 2019 The Dutch House
author: Ann Patchett
name: -
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Four Winds 53138081 Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance.

In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes an epic novel of love and heroism and hope, set against the backdrop of one of America’s most defining eras—the Great Depression.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250178602]]> 464 Kristin Hannah 1250178606 - 0 to-read 4.27 2021 The Four Winds
author: Kristin Hannah
name: -
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/16
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]]> <![CDATA[The Knight and the Moth (The Stonewater Kingdom, #1)]]> 205335957
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.]]> 400 Rachel Gillig 0356522962 - 0 to-read 4.61 2025 The Knight and the Moth (The Stonewater Kingdom, #1)
author: Rachel Gillig
name: -
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/15
shelves: to-read
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]]> Scarred (Never After, #2) 59512586 She doesn't belong to him...she belongs to the crown.

Prince Tristan Faasa was never destined for the throne. That was always his brother, Michael. The same brother responsible for both Tristan's tormented childhood and the scar that mars his face. When their father dies, Michael is set to assume the throne, and Tristan is set to steal it. The leader of a secret rebellion, Tristan will stop at nothing to end his brother's reign. But when Michael's new betrothed, Lady Sara Beatreaux arrives, Tristan finds himself in the middle of a new kind of war. The kind that begs the question of what's more important, the crown or the woman about to wear it.

Sara has one plan. Marry the King and eradicate the Faasa line, even at the risk of her own peril. But she never expects the Scarred Prince. He's dangerous. Forbidden. And one of the men she's been sent to kill. But the line between hatred and passion has never seemed so thin, and as secrets come to light, Sara grows unsure of whom she can trust—torn between vengeance and the villain she was never supposed to love.

Scarred is a DARK Royal Romance and a complete standalone within The Never After Series (A series of fractured fairy tales inspired by our favorite villains). It is not a retelling or fantasy. It contains subject matter which may be triggering for some. Reader discretion is advised. ]]> 447 Emily McIntire - 1
yeah� this author is not for me lol]]> 3.87 2022 Scarred (Never After, #2)
author: Emily McIntire
name: -
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2022
rating: 1
read at: 2024/08/15
date added: 2024/08/15
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dnf at 43%

yeah� this author is not for me lol
]]> Behind Closed Doors 29437949
But it’s difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are inseparable.

Some might call this true love. Others might wonder why Grace never answers the phone. Or why she can never meet for coffee, even though she doesn’t work. How she can cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim. Or why she never seems to take anything with her when she leaves the house, not even a pen. Or why there are such high-security metal shutters on all the downstairs windows.

Some might wonder what’s really going on once the dinner party is over, and the front door has closed.]]> 293 B.A. Paris 1250121000 - 3 3.96 2016 Behind Closed Doors
author: B.A. Paris
name: -
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/14
date added: 2024/08/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Hello Stranger (The Ravenels, #4)]]> 34379276 A woman who defies her time.

Dr. Garrett Gibson, the only female physician in England, is as daring and independent as any man—why not take her pleasures like one? Yet she has never been tempted to embark on an affair, until now. Ethan Ransom, a former detective for Scotland Yard, is as gallant as he is secretive, a rumored assassin whose true loyalties are a mystery. For one exhilarating night, they give in to their potent attraction before becoming strangers again.

A man who breaks every rule.

As a Ravenel by-blow spurned by his father, Ethan has little interest in polite society, yet he is captivated by the bold and beautiful Garrett. Despite their vow to resist each other after that sublime night, she is soon drawn into his most dangerous assignment yet. When the mission goes wrong, it will take all of Garrett's skill and courage to save him. As they face the menace of a treacherous government plot, Ethan is willing to take any risk for the love of the most extraordinary woman he's ever known.]]> 400 Lisa Kleypas 0062371894 - 3 3.99 2018 Hello Stranger (The Ravenels, #4)
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: -
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/14
date added: 2024/08/14
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]]> <![CDATA[World After (Penryn & the End of Days, #2)]]> 12983100 Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?]]> 438 Susan Ee - 5 4.24 2013 World After (Penryn & the End of Days, #2)
author: Susan Ee
name: -
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2014/09/01
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> The Switch 45134200 Eileen is sick of being 79.
Leena's tired of life in her twenties.
Maybe it's time they swapped places...

When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she escapes to her grandmother Eileen's house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She'd like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen.

Once Leena learns of Eileen's romantic predicament, she proposes a a two-month swap. Eileen can live in London and look for love. Meanwhile Leena will look after everything in rural Yorkshire. But with gossiping neighbours and difficult family dynamics to navigate up north, and trendy London flatmates and online dating to contend with in the city, stepping into one another's shoes proves more difficult than either of them expected.

Leena learns that a long-distance relationship isn't as romantic as she hoped it would be, and then there is the annoyingly perfect � and distractingly handsome � school teacher, who keeps showing up to outdo her efforts to impress the local villagers. Back in London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, but is her perfect match nearer home than she first thought?]]> 336 Beth O'Leary 1787475018 - 3 3.94 2020 The Switch
author: Beth O'Leary
name: -
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/06
date added: 2024/08/06
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]]> Not Another Love Song 201627074 Two string players fight their attraction for each other as they compete for center stage in this spicy and emotional romance.

Gwen Jackson and Xander Thorne are both musical prodigies, but each has had very different paths to success. Xander was born into classical music royalty, while Gwen had a natural ear for music that was nurtured by a kind shop owner.

After Gwen performs at his friend’s wedding, she’s mortified when she realizes Xander has no clue who she is—despite having worked together for a year at the Pops Orchestra. But she’s more furious that he arrogantly critiques her performance.

When Gwen is offered the role of First Chair of the orchestra, something Xander had secretly coveted for years, their existing hostility goes up a notch. But their respect for each other's music is undeniable, and their onstage chemistry off the scale. As they begin to explore their feelings for one another, suddenly they're box office dynamite and the fragile romance that's growing between them is in danger of being crushed beneath a publicity stunt...]]> 384 Julie Soto 1538740915 - 3 4.05 2024 Not Another Love Song
author: Julie Soto
name: -
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/02
date added: 2024/08/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #1)]]> 58763686
I can manipulate the emotions of anyone who lets me.
I will make you hurt, make you cry, make you laugh and sigh.
But my words don't affect him. Especially not when I plead for him to leave.
He's always there, watching and waiting.
And I can never look away.
Not when I want him to come closer.


The Shadow

I didn't mean to fall in love.
But now that I have, I can't stay away.
I'm mesmerized by her smile, by her eyes, and the way she moves.
The way she undresses...
I'll keep watching and waiting. Until I can make her mine.
And once she is, I'll never let her go.
Not even when she begs me to.]]> 583 H.D. Carlton - 1 um 3.95 2021 Haunting Adeline (Cat and Mouse, #1)
author: H.D. Carlton
name: -
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2021
rating: 1
read at: 2023/10/18
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves:
review:
um
]]> Out on a Limb 124950295 397 Hannah Bonam-Young 1778027784 - 2 4.25 2023 Out on a Limb
author: Hannah Bonam-Young
name: -
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/31
date added: 2024/07/31
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]]> The God of the Woods 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 - 4 4.15 2024 The God of the Woods
author: Liz Moore
name: -
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
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]]> <![CDATA[Scandal in Spring (Wallflowers, #4)]]> 51330514 An unexpected desire.

Quirky and fun-loving American heiress Daisy Bowman is the last unmarried Wallflower. Her exasperated father has informed her that if she can’t find a husband by the end of her third London season, she will be forced to marry a man she hates—the ruthless entrepreneur Matthew Swift.

Daisy is horrified. A Bowman never admits defeat, so she decides to do whatever it takes to marry someone . . . anyone . . . other than Matthew. What she doesn’t count on, however, is Matthew’s unexpected charm, or the blazing sensuality that soon flares beyond both their control. And Daisy discovers that the man she has always hated just might turn out to be the man of her dreams.

But when a scandalous secret is uncovered, it could destroy both Matthew and a love more passionate and irresistible than Daisy’s wildest fantasies.]]> 384 Lisa Kleypas - 3 4.21 2006 Scandal in Spring (Wallflowers, #4)
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: -
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/26
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves:
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]]> She's Not Sorry 140111148
Meghan Michaels is trying to find balance between being a single mom to a teenage daughter and working as a full time nurse. While on duty at the hospital one day, a patient named Caitlin arrives in a coma with a traumatic brain injury, having jumped from a bridge and plunging over twenty feet to the train tracks below. 

But when a witness comes forward with shocking details about the fall, it calls everything they know into question. Was Caitlin  pushed  and if so, by whom and why? 

Meghan has always tried to stay emotionally detached from her patients, but this time, she mistakenly lets herself get too close until she’s deeply entangled in Caitlin’s and her family’s lives. Only when it’s too late, does she realize that she and her daughter could be the next victims.]]> 330 Mary Kubica 0778308065 - 2 3.77 2024 She's Not Sorry
author: Mary Kubica
name: -
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves:
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]]> The Fastest Way to Fall 56921326 Britta didn’t plan on falling for her personal trainer, and Wes didn’t plan on Britta. Plans change and it’s unclear if love, career, or both will meet them at the finish line.

Britta Colby works for a lifestyle website, and when tasked to write about her experience with a hot new body-positive fitness app that includes personal coaching, she knows it’s a major opportunity to prove she should write for the site full-time.

As CEO of the FitMe app, Wes Lawson finally has the financial security he grew up without, but despite his success, his floundering love life and complicated family situation leaves him feeling isolated and unfulfilled. He decides to get back to what he loves—coaching. Britta’s his first new client and they click immediately.

As weeks pass, she’s surprised at how much she enjoys experimenting with her exercise routine. He’s surprised at how much he looks forward to talking to her every day. They convince themselves their attraction is harmless, but when they start working out in person, Wes and Britta find it increasingly challenging to deny their chemistry and maintain a professional distance.

Wes isn’t supposed to be training clients, much less meeting with them, and Britta’s credibility will be sunk if the lifestyle site finds out she’s practically dating the fitness coach she’s reviewing. Walking away from each other is the smartest thing to do, but running side by side feels like the start of something big.]]> 380 Denise Williams 0593101928 - 3 4.00 2021 The Fastest Way to Fall
author: Denise Williams
name: -
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/23
date added: 2024/07/23
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies, #1)]]> 22840421 This comical, fantastical, romantical, New York Times bestselling, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey is “an uproarious historical fantasy that’s not to be missed� (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

In My Lady Jane, coauthors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind YA fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history—because sometimes history needs a little help.

At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren’t for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England.

Like that could go wrong.]]> 474 Cynthia Hand 0062391798 - 4 4.00 2016 My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies, #1)
author: Cynthia Hand
name: -
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/11
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves:
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]]> Margo's Got Money Troubles 199534613
“[An] enormously entertaining and lovable book.� —Nick Hornby, New York Times Book Review

A bold, laugh-out-loud funny, and heartwarming story about one young woman’s attempt to navigate adulthood, new motherhood, and her meager bank account in our increasingly online world—from the PEN/Faulkner finalist and critically acclaimed author of The Knockout Queen.

As the child of a Hooters waitress and an ex-pro wrestler, Margo Millet's always known she’d have to make it on her own. So she enrolls at her local junior college, even though she can’t imagine how she’ll ever make a living. She’s still figuring things out and never planned to have an affair with her English professor—and while the affair is brief, it isn’t brief enough to keep her from getting pregnant. Despite everyone’s advice, she decides to keep the baby, mostly out of naiveté and a yearning for something bigger.

Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion—fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she’ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx’s advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she’s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo’s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?

Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine who’s struggling to wrest money and power from a world that has little interest in giving it to her. It’s a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative, and an empowering portrait of coming into your own, both online and off.

“A wholly original novel. . . . Thorpe is both poetic and profound in the way she brings her remarkable story to an end.� —The Associated Press]]> 304 Rufi Thorpe 0063356589 - 3 3.87 2024 Margo's Got Money Troubles
author: Rufi Thorpe
name: -
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/19
date added: 2024/07/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin, #3)]]> 20522640
She has spent her whole life training to be an assassin. Just because the convent has changed its mind doesn't mean she has...]]> 444 Robin LaFevers 0547628404 - 3 4.10 2014 Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin, #3)
author: Robin LaFevers
name: -
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/18
date added: 2024/07/18
shelves:
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]]> All Rhodes Lead Here 57605091 572 Mariana Zapata - 4 4.24 2021 All Rhodes Lead Here
author: Mariana Zapata
name: -
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)]]> 44421460 What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?]]> 213 Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1529029589 - 3 3.66 2015 Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: -
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/15
date added: 2024/07/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Throne of the Fallen (Prince of Sin, #1)]]> 73071451 Sinner. Villain. Wicked.

The Prince of Envy has never claimed to be a saint. But when a cryptic note arrives, signaling the beginning of a deadly game, he knows it will take more than a hint of sin to win and save his falling demon court. Riddles, hexed objects, anonymous players, nothing will stand in his way, though none of his meticulous plans prepare him for her, the frustrating artist who ignites his sin like no other�

Virtuous. Darling. Liar.

The trouble with scoundrels and blackguards is that they haven’t a modicum of honor, a fact Miss Camilla Antonius learns after one desperate mistake allows Waverly Green’s most notorious rake to blackmail her. To avoid a ruinous scandal, Camilla is forced to enter a devil’s bargain with Envy, little expecting his game will awaken her true nature...

Together, Envy and Camilla must embark on a perilous journey through the Underworld—from glittering demon courts to the sultry vampire realm and beyond—while trying to avoid the most dangerous trap of all: falling in love.]]> 612 Kerri Maniscalco 031655751X - 2 4.00 2023 Throne of the Fallen (Prince of Sin, #1)
author: Kerri Maniscalco
name: -
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/13
date added: 2024/07/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Praying for Rain (The Rain Trilogy, #1)]]> 44064905 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B07Q58FWZZ

From the author of 44 Chapters About 4 Men (inspiration for the Netflix Original series, Sex/Life) comes an immersive dystopian romance unlike anything you’ve ever read.

“None of this matters, and we’re all going to die.�

With only three days left until the predicted apocalypse, the small town of Franklin Springs, Georgia, has become a wasteland of abandoned cars, abandoned homes, abandoned businesses, and abandoned people. People like Rainbow Williams.

Rain isn’t afraid of dying. In fact, she’s looking forward to it. If she can just outrun her pain until April 23, she’ll never have to feel it at all.

“Supplies. Shelter. Self-defense.�

Wes Parker has survived every horrible thing this life has thrown at him with nothing more than his resourcefulness and disarming good looks. Why should the end of the world be any different? All he needs are some basic supplies, shelter, and a sucker willing to help him out, which is exactly what he finds when he returns to his hometown of Franklin Springs.

As society crumbles, dangers mount, and secrets refuse to stay buried, two lost souls are thrust together in a twist of fate—one who will do anything to survive and one who can’t wait to die.

Perhaps, together, they can learn how to live.

Before their time runs out.]]> 224 B.B. Easton - 2 3.97 2019 Praying for Rain (The Rain Trilogy, #1)
author: B.B. Easton
name: -
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/09
date added: 2024/07/09
shelves:
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]]> Perfect on Paper 49204960 In Perfect on Paper: a bisexual girl who gives anonymous love advice to her classmates is hired by the hot guy to help him get his ex back.

Her advice, spot on. Her love life, way off.

Darcy Phillips:
� Can give you the solution to any of your relationship woes―for a fee.
� Uses her power for good. Most of the time.
� Really cannot stand Alexander Brougham.
� Has maybe not the best judgement when it comes to her best friend, Brooke…who is in love with someone else.
� Does not appreciate being blackmailed.

However, when Brougham catches her in the act of collecting letters from locker 89―out of which she’s been running her questionably legal, anonymous relationship advice service―that’s exactly what happens. In exchange for keeping her secret, Darcy begrudgingly agrees to become his personal dating coach―at a generous hourly rate, at least. The goal? To help him win his ex-girlfriend back.

Darcy has a good reason to keep her identity secret. If word gets out that she’s behind the locker, some things she's not proud of will come to light, and there’s a good chance Brooke will never speak to her again.

Okay, so all she has to do is help an entitled, bratty, (annoyingly hot) guy win over a girl who’s already fallen for him once? What could go wrong?]]> 304 Sophie Gonzales 1250769787 - 3 3.96 2021 Perfect on Paper
author: Sophie Gonzales
name: -
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/09
date added: 2024/07/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Devil in Winter (Wallflowers, #3)]]> 53041569 Alternative cover editions for this ASIN can be found here and here.

"I'm Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent. I can't be celibate. Everyone knows that."

Desperate to escape her scheming relatives, Evangeline Jenner has sought the help of the most infamous scoundrel in London.

A marriage of convenience is the only solution.

No one would have ever paired the shy, stammering wallflower with the sinfully handsome viscount. It quickly becomes clear, however, that Evie is a woman of hidden strength—and Sebastian desires her more than any woman he's ever known.

Determined to win her husband's elusive heart, Evie dares to strike a bargain with the devil: If Sebastian can stay celibate for three months, she will allow him into her bed.

When Evie is threatened by a vengeful enemy from the past, Sebastian vows to do whatever it takes to protect his wife... even at the expense of his own life.

Together they will defy their perilous fate, for the sake of all-consuming love.]]> 384 Lisa Kleypas - 3 3.5 4.29 2006 Devil in Winter (Wallflowers, #3)
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: -
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/08
date added: 2024/07/08
shelves:
review:
3.5
]]> Home Before Dark 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 - 3 4.05 2020 Home Before Dark
author: Riley Sager
name: -
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/05
date added: 2024/07/05
shelves:
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]]> Not in Love (Not in Love, #1) 198716261 A forbidden, secret affair proves that all’s fair in love and science.

Rue Siebert might not have it all, but she has enough: a few friends she can always count on, the financial stability she yearned for as a kid, and a successful career as a biotech engineer at Kline, one of the most promising start-ups in the field of food science. Her world is stable, pleasant, and hard-fought. Until a hostile takeover and its offensively attractive front man threatens to bring it all crumbling down.

Eli Killgore and his business partners want Kline, period. Eli has his own reasons for pushing this deal through - and he's a man who gets what he wants. With one burning exception: Rue. The woman he can't stop thinking about. The woman who's off-limits to him.

Torn between loyalty and an undeniable attraction, Rue and Eli throw caution out the lab and the boardroom windows. Their affair is secret, no-strings-attached, and has a built-in deadline: the day one of their companies will prevail. But the heart is risky business - one that plays for keeps.]]> 384 Ali Hazelwood 1408728915 - 1 3.59 2024 Not in Love (Not in Love, #1)
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: -
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/07/03
date added: 2024/07/03
shelves:
review:
this is her worst book omfg. 90% of it is just two insufferable people with no chemistry having (badly written) sex
]]> Remarkably Bright Creatures 58733693 Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.]]> 368 Shelby Van Pelt 0063204150 - 3 4.35 2022 Remarkably Bright Creatures
author: Shelby Van Pelt
name: -
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/02
date added: 2024/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)]]> 31076583 229 Sarah J. Maas 168119631X - 3 3.77 2019 A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: -
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2020/01/08
date added: 2024/07/02
shelves:
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]]> The Paradise Problem 199797582
Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents � his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.]]> 352 Christina Lauren 1668017725 - 2 4.07 2024 The Paradise Problem
author: Christina Lauren
name: -
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/01
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]]> First Lie Wins 164444179 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593492918.

Evie Porter has everything a nice Southern girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence, a tight group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.

Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job isn’t like the others. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.

Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn’t be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge. . . .]]> 340 Ashley Elston - 0 to-read 3.97 2024 First Lie Wins
author: Ashley Elston
name: -
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shadow Music (Highlands' Lairds, #3)]]> 1112404
For Gabrielle, everything changes in one last burst of freedom--when she and her guards come upon a scene of unimaginable cruelty. With one shot from her bow and arrow, Gabrielle takes a life, saves a life, and begins a war.

Within days, the Highlands are aflame with passions as a battle royal flares between enemies old and new. Having come to Scotland to be married, Gabrielle is instead entangled in Highland intrigue. For two sadistic noblemen, underestimating Gabrielle's bravery and prowess may prove fatal. But thanks to a secret Gabrielle possesses, Colm MacHugh, the most feared man in Scotland, finds a new cause for courage. Under his penetrating gaze, neither Gabrielle's body nor heart is safe.]]> 339 Julie Garwood 0345500733 - 2 3.88 2007 Shadow Music (Highlands' Lairds, #3)
author: Julie Garwood
name: -
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Inadequate Heir (The Bridge Kingdom, #3)]]> 59487103 Return to the world of The Bridge Kingdom in this sensuous fantasy full of romance and intrigue that is perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Silver Flames.

A soldier raised as heir to an empire, Zarrah is motivated by two truths. The first is that the Veliant family murdered her mother. And the second is that her pursuit of vengeance will put every last one of them in their graves.

The Endless War between Maridrina and Valcotta has raged for generations, leaving thousands of Zarrah’s people dead and countless more orphaned. So when she’s given command of the contested city of Nerastis, Zarrah is prepared to do whatever it takes to destroy the Maridrinian forces who oppose her. And to kill the Veliant prince who leads them.

Yet a chance encounter with an anonymous, and handsome, Maridrinian causes Zarrah to question whether the violence she’s perpetrated is justice or a crime. And as she continues to meet the nameless man each night, she finds common ground - and fiery passion - in his arms.

But when identities are revealed, Zarrah must decide whether to embrace a chance at peace…or march to the drums of war.]]> 538 Danielle L. Jensen - 3 4.11 2022 The Inadequate Heir (The Bridge Kingdom, #3)
author: Danielle L. Jensen
name: -
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/25
date added: 2024/06/25
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]]> The Inmate 61149872 1) Treat all prisoners with respect.
2) Never reveal any personal information.
3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates.

But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary's most notorious and dangerous inmates. And they certainly don't know that Shane was Brooke's high school sweetheart―the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke's testimony was what put him there.

But Shane knows. And he will never forget.]]> 388 Freida McFadden - 2 4.03 2022 The Inmate
author: Freida McFadden
name: -
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/24
date added: 2024/06/24
shelves:
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]]> Local Woman Missing 54737068 People don’t just disappear without a trace....

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, 11 years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find....

In this smart and chilling thriller, master of suspense and New York Times best-selling author Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.]]> 356 Mary Kubica 0778389448 - 3 3.5 4.12 2021 Local Woman Missing
author: Mary Kubica
name: -
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/21
date added: 2024/06/21
shelves:
review:
3.5
]]> <![CDATA[Keeping 13 (Boys of Tommen, #2)]]> 146943394 667 Chloe Walsh 1728299985 - 3 4.51 2018 Keeping 13 (Boys of Tommen, #2)
author: Chloe Walsh
name: -
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/29
date added: 2024/06/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Binding 13 (Boys of Tommen, #1)]]> 146943294 626 Chloe Walsh 1728299950 - 3 3.5 4.45 2018 Binding 13 (Boys of Tommen, #1)
author: Chloe Walsh
name: -
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/17
date added: 2024/06/20
shelves:
review:
3.5
]]> Summer Romance 198563734
There aren’t enough labeled glass containers to contain the mess that is Ali Morris’s life. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember. She’s a professional organizer whose pantry is a disgrace.

No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her in the same way he claimed his favorite of her three children: by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. The last thing Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little Summer Romance. Is there?]]> 321 Annabel Monaghan 0593714083 - 3 3.5 â­ď¸Ź 4.01 2024 Summer Romance
author: Annabel Monaghan
name: -
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/19
date added: 2024/06/19
shelves:
review:
3.5 â­ď¸Ź
]]> The Rom-Commers 195790586 She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies―good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates―The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!―it’s a break too big to pass up.

Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone―much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.� Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script―it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.

But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter―even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules―and comes true?]]> 336 Katherine Center 1250283809 - 3 4.06 2024 The Rom-Commers
author: Katherine Center
name: -
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/18
date added: 2024/06/18
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[It Happened One Autumn (Wallflowers, #2)]]> 52836904 Alternative cover editions for this ASIN can be found here and here.

Headstrong American heiress Lillian Bowman has come to England to find an aristocratic husband. Unfortunately, no man is strong enough to tame the stubborn beauty's fierce will. Except, perhaps, the powerful and arrogant Earl of Westcliff—a man Lillian despises more than anyone she's ever met.

Marcus, Lord Westcliff, is famous for his icy English reserve and his supreme self-control. But something about the audacious Lillian drives him mad. Whenever they're in the same room, they can't stop themselves from battling furiously to gain the upper hand.

Then one afternoon, a stunningly sensuous encounter changes everything... and Lillian discovers that beneath the earl's reserved façade, he is the passionate and tender lover of her dreams. What neither Westcliff nor Lillian suspect, however, is that a sinister conspiracy threatens to destroy any chance of happiness. After a shocking betrayal endangers Lillian's safety—and possibly her life—will Marcus be able to save her before it's too late?]]> 400 Lisa Kleypas - 3 4.19 2005 It Happened One Autumn (Wallflowers, #2)
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: -
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/14
date added: 2024/06/14
shelves:
review:

]]> This Summer Will Be Different 197577126 This summer they’ll keep their promise. This summer they won’t give into temptation. This summer will be different.

Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again.

It’s easier said than done.

Each year, Lucy escapes to PEI for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach, beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up in Felix’s bed. Again.

If Lucy can’t help being drawn to Felix, at least she’s always kept her heart out of it.

When Bridget suddenly flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy drops everything to follow her to the island. Her mission is to help Bridget through her crisis and resist the one man she’s never been able to. But Felix’s sparkling eyes and flirty quips have been replaced with something new, and Lucy’s beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is.]]> 368 Carley Fortune 0593638883 - 2 painfully bland 3.94 2024 This Summer Will Be Different
author: Carley Fortune
name: -
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/13
date added: 2024/06/13
shelves:
review:
painfully bland
]]> Verity 59344312
Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.]]> 336 Colleen Hoover 153872474X - 2 4.29 2018 Verity
author: Colleen Hoover
name: -
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/10
date added: 2024/06/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Housemaid Is Watching (The Housemaid, #3)]]> 199235727
I used to clean other people’s houses—now, I can’t believe this home is actually mine. The charming kitchen, the quiet cul-de-sac, the huge yard where my kids can play. My husband and I saved for years to give our children the life they deserve.

Even though I’m wary of our new neighbor Mrs. Lowell, when she invites us over for dinner it’s our chance to make friends. Her maid opens the door wearing a white apron, her hair in a tight bun. I know exactly what it’s like to be in her shoes.

But her cold stare gives me chills�

The Lowells� maid isn’t the only strange thing on our street. I’m sure I see a shadowy figure watching us. My husband leaves the house late at night. And when I meet a woman who lives across the way, her words chill me to the bone: Be careful of your neighbors.

Did I make a terrible mistake moving my family here?

I thought I’d left my darkest secrets behind. But could this quiet suburban street be the most dangerous place of all?]]> 364 Freida McFadden 1464223319 - 0 to-read 3.79 2024 The Housemaid Is Watching (The Housemaid, #3)
author: Freida McFadden
name: -
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1)]]> 196864520

The viral TikTok friends-to-lovers dark romantic comedy full of murder, chaos, and spice—unlike anything you’ve read before—now available in all bookstores.


When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of like-minded, pitch-black souls. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country.


But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love. Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves? Or have they finally met their match?

]]> 360 Brynne Weaver - 2 4.00 2023 Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1)
author: Brynne Weaver
name: -
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/07
date added: 2024/06/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1)]]> 60657589
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, and the Fair Folk.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart.]]> 336 Heather Fawcett 059350013X - 0
i love the idea of this book� the execution however ]]> 3.99 2023 Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1)
author: Heather Fawcett
name: -
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2024/06/06
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dnf at 49%

i love the idea of this book� the execution however
]]> Funny Story 194802722 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

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

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

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

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]> 400 Emily Henry - 4 4.21 2024 Funny Story
author: Emily Henry
name: -
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/05
date added: 2024/06/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Old Flames and New Fortunes (Moonville, #1)]]> 194803816
So, when the shop’s potential financier shares news of his wedding, Romina jumps on the opportunity to discuss buying the business. What better place to negotiate a deal than at a wedding, even if she has to fake-date her chaotic colleague Trevor to get an invitation? But all hell breaks loose when she discovers Trevor’s soon-to-be stepbrother is none other than Alex, her high school sweetheart. Her greatest love. The boy who, eleven years ago, broke her heart, and who now thinks she and Trevor are dating. 

What starts as an innocent misunderstanding becomes a week-long fake dating scheme, as Romina resolves to make Alex pay for breaking her heart. The only issue? She can’t deny their still-burning connection. Caught between proving to Alex what he lost, and coming clean and risking her business, Romina must decide whether giving Alex another chance means going back on herself, or finally releasing her hold on the past.]]> 384 Sarah Hogle 0593715055 - 2 3.50 2024 Old Flames and New Fortunes (Moonville, #1)
author: Sarah Hogle
name: -
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/04
date added: 2024/06/04
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]]> The Women 127305853 From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie� McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.]]> 471 Kristin Hannah 1250178630 - 3 4.59 2024 The Women
author: Kristin Hannah
name: -
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/06/03
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]]> The Nightingale 21853621 In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.]]> 564 Kristin Hannah 0312577222 - 0 to-read 4.63 2015 The Nightingale
author: Kristin Hannah
name: -
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Great Alone 34912895 Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents� passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if it means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights� lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.]]> 435 Kristin Hannah - 0 to-read 4.44 2018 The Great Alone
author: Kristin Hannah
name: -
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[In a Jam (Friendship, Rhode Island #1)]]> 62597278
First, Shay has to move home to the small town of Friendship, Rhode Island. Second—and most problematic since her fiancé just called off the wedding—Shay must be married within one year.

Marriage is the last thing in the world Shay wants but she’ll do anything to save the only real home she’s ever known.

Noah Barden loved Shay Zucconi back in high school. Not that he ever told her. He was too shy, too awkward, too painfully uncool to ask out the beautiful, popular girl.

A lifetime later, Noah is a single dad to his niece and has his hands full running the family business. That old crush is the farthest thing from his mind.

Until Shay returns to their hometown.

CW/TW: absentee parent(s), brief mention of parent death, brief mention of parent chronic illness, mention of incarceration, mention of temporary foster care placement, reference to teenage teasing/bullying (not detailed, not explicit), brief incidence of fat-shaming, living with a neurodivergent child]]> 480 Kate Canterbary - 3 3.85 2022 In a Jam (Friendship, Rhode Island #1)
author: Kate Canterbary
name: -
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/30
date added: 2024/05/30
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]]> <![CDATA[Secrets of a Summer Night (Wallflowers, #1)]]> 57176841 The Wallflowers

Four young ladies at the side of the ballroom make a pact to help each other find husbands... no matter what it takes.

Proud and beautiful Annabelle Peyton could have her pick of suitors—if only she had a dowry. Her family is on the brink of disaster, and the only way Annabelle can save them is to marry a wealthy man. Unfortunately her most persistent admirer is the brash Simon Hunt, a handsome and ambitious entrepreneur who wants her as his mistress.

Annabelle is determined to resist Simon's wicked propositions, but she can't deny her attraction to the boldly seductive rogue, any more than he can resist the challenge she presents. As they try to outmaneuver each other, they find themselves surrendering to a love more powerful than they could have ever imagined. But fate may have other plans—and it will take all of Annabelle's courage to face a peril that could destroy everything she holds dear.

]]> 400 Lisa Kleypas 0063142732 - 3 4.17 2004 Secrets of a Summer Night (Wallflowers, #1)
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: -
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/28
date added: 2024/05/28
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]]> <![CDATA[The Toll (Arc of a Scythe, #3)]]> 43822024
In this pulse-pounding conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe trilogy, constitutions are tested and old friends are brought back from the dead.]]> 625 Neal Shusterman 1481497065 - 0 4.16 2019 The Toll (Arc of a Scythe, #3)
author: Neal Shusterman
name: -
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/27
date added: 2024/05/27
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review:
i’m officially dnfing this� it’s taking me ages to get through
]]> <![CDATA[Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth, #1)]]> 127305713
Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe � a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution � who she can't help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s The Crimson Moth is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch� is falling in love.]]> 406 Kristen Ciccarelli 1250866901 - 2 4.16 2024 Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth, #1)
author: Kristen Ciccarelli
name: -
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/27
date added: 2024/05/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3)]]> 195820807
Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected--including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?]]> 432 Abby Jimenez 1538704439 - 3 4.35 2024 Just for the Summer (Part of Your World, #3)
author: Abby Jimenez
name: -
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/21
date added: 2024/05/21
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]]> Listen for the Lie 127279000 What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all and, if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. But after Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer.

It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast Listen for the Lie and its too-good looking host, Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one who did it.

The truth is out there, if we just listen.]]> 352 Amy Tintera 1250880319 - 4 4.07 2024 Listen for the Lie
author: Amy Tintera
name: -
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/15
date added: 2024/05/15
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]]> <![CDATA[When He Was Wicked (Bridgertons, #6)]]> 110396 Everything was so much simpler... when he was wicked.

In every life there is a turning point. A moment so tremendous, so sharp and breathtaking, that one knows one's life will never be the same. For Michael Stirling, London's most infamous rake, that moment came the first time he laid eyes on Francesca Bridgerton.

After a lifetime of chasing women, of smiling slyly as they chased him, of allowing himself to be caught but never permitting his heart to become engaged, he took one look at Francesca Bridgerton and fell so fast and hard into love it was a wonder he managed to remain standing. Unfortunately for Michael, however, Francesca's surname was to remain Bridgerton for only a mere thirty-six hours longer—the occasion of their meeting was, lamentably, a supper celebrating her imminent wedding to his cousin.

But that was then... Now Michael is the earl and Francesca is free, but still she thinks of him as nothing other than her dear friend and confidant. Michael dares not speak to her of his love... until one dangerous night, when she steps innocently into his arms, and passion proves stronger than even the most wicked of secrets...]]> 368 Julia Quinn 0060531231 - 2 3.96 2004 When He Was Wicked (Bridgertons, #6)
author: Julia Quinn
name: -
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2004
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/14
date added: 2024/05/14
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]]> <![CDATA[The Reappearance of Rachel Price]]> 182484360
Lights. Camera. Lies.

18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.

But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.

Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And � could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .

From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.]]> 438 Holly Jackson 0593374207 - 2 4.09 2024 The Reappearance of Rachel Price
author: Holly Jackson
name: -
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/10
date added: 2024/05/10
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]]> The Fake Mate 123199658
Noah, interventional cardiologist and all-round grump, has spent his entire life hiding what he is - an unmated alpha. But when an anonymous tip brings everything to light, he's left with two choices: come clean to the board and risk his career or find himself a mate. So, when the chatty, overly friendly ER doctor asks him to be her fake boyfriend the same day he's called to meet the board, it must be kismet, right?

Mackenzie gets her grandmother off her back, and Noah gets the chance to prove he can continue to work without a real mate - it's a mutually beneficial business transaction. But when the fake-mate act turns to a very real friends-with-benefits arrangement, lines start to blur, and they quickly realise love is a whole different kind of animal.]]> 372 Lana Ferguson 0593549376 - 2 3.62 2023 The Fake Mate
author: Lana Ferguson
name: -
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/03
date added: 2024/05/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Ransom (Highlands' Lairds, #2)]]> 107776 576 Julie Garwood 074347418X - 2 4.30 1999 Ransom (Highlands' Lairds, #2)
author: Julie Garwood
name: -
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1999
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/01
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]]> <![CDATA[Always Only You (Bergman Brothers, #2)]]> 177704674
Ren has known Frankie Zeferino was a woman worth waiting for since the moment they met. She’s a master of deadpan delivery, has a secret heart of gold, and a rare one-dimpled smile that makes his knees go weak. But as long as Frankie’s the team’s social media manager, she’s off limits.

Frankie is a self-admittedly blunt, grumbly grump, but even she isn’t immune to sunshiney Ren Bergman. Who could be, when he’s a six-foot-three hunk of happy with a hockey player’s physique? Maybe in the past, Frankie would have gone for a guy like him, but since being burned too many times by people who learn about her diagnoses and see a problem, not a person, she’s wised up.

After waiting years for the right time to make his move, Ren learns Frankie plans to leave the team to pursue a new career. But what he didn’t anticipate is how hard he’ll have to work to convince her to let him have his shot at winning her heart.]]> 384 Chloe Liese 0593642376 - 3 3.81 2020 Always Only You (Bergman Brothers, #2)
author: Chloe Liese
name: -
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/24
date added: 2024/04/24
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Wrong Bride (The Windsors, #1)]]> 62316382 She’s his fiancée’s younger sister. He’s the man she’s always loved.

When her sister doesn’t show up on her wedding day, Raven has no choice but to take her place � but marriage to Ares Windsor is nothing short of torture.

The elusive billionaire media mogul is the man she’s always loved� yet he’s only ever had eyes for her sister.

Married to him at last, Raven is determined to win him over.

After all, everything is fair in love and war.

And this?

This is war.]]> 382 Catharina Maura - 1 3.88 2022 The Wrong Bride (The Windsors, #1)
author: Catharina Maura
name: -
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2022
rating: 1
read at: 2024/04/11
date added: 2024/04/11
shelves:
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it is so bad i want to give you a zero
]]> Shadowfever (Fever, #5) 7304203
What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh -- a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds.

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves.

Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?

From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it.]]> 608 Karen Marie Moning 0385341679 - 3 4.39 2011 Shadowfever (Fever, #5)
author: Karen Marie Moning
name: -
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/09
date added: 2024/04/09
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]]> <![CDATA[A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting (A Lady's Guide, #1)]]> 59656358 Follows the adventures of an entirely unconventional heroine who throws herself into the London Season to find a wealthy husband. But the last thing she expects is to find love...

Kitty Talbot needs a fortune. Or rather, she needs a husband who has a fortune. Left with her father’s massive debts, she has only twelve weeks to save her family from ruin.

Kitty has never been one to back down from a challenge, so she leaves home and heads toward the most dangerous battleground in all of England: the London season.

Kitty may be neither accomplished nor especially genteel—but she is utterly single-minded; imbued with cunning and ingenuity, she knows that risk is just part of the game.

The only thing she doesn’t anticipate is Lord Radcliffe. The worldly Radcliffe sees Kitty for the mercenary fortune-hunter that she really is and is determined to scotch her plans at all costs, until their parrying takes a completely different turn...

This is a frothy pleasure, full of brilliant repartee and enticing wit—one that readers will find an irresistible delight.

]]> 325 Sophie Irwin 0593491343 - 2 dnf at 70%<br /><br />Zzzzzz 3.91 2022 A Lady's Guide to Fortune-Hunting (A Lady's Guide, #1)
author: Sophie Irwin
name: -
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/04/08
date added: 2024/04/08
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dnf at 70%

Zzzzzz
]]> <![CDATA[Kingdom of the Feared (Kingdom of the Wicked, #3)]]> 58470171
When a high-ranking member of House Greed is assassinated, Emilia and Wrath are drawn to the rival demon court. Damning evidence points to Vittoria as the murderer and she’s quickly declared an enemy of the Seven Circles. Despite her betrayal, Emilia will do anything to solve this new mystery and find out who her sister really is.

Together Emilia and Wrath play a sin-fueled game of deception as they work to stop the unrest that’s brewing between witches, demons, shape-shifters and the most treacherous foes of all: the Feared.

Emilia was warned that when it came to the Wicked nothing was as it seemed. But, have the true villains been much closer all along? When the truth is finally revealed, it just might end up costing Emilia her heart.

Two curses.
One prophecy.
A reckoning all have feared.

And a love more powerful than fate. All hail the king and queen of Hell.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stalking the Jack the Ripper series comes the steamy conclusion to Kingdom of the Wicked trilogy.]]> 417 Kerri Maniscalco 0316342084 - 2 3.85 2022 Kingdom of the Feared (Kingdom of the Wicked, #3)
author: Kerri Maniscalco
name: -
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/04/04
date added: 2024/04/04
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]]> <![CDATA[A Heart of Blood and Ashes (A Gathering of Dragons, #1)]]> 46021762 A generation past, the western realms were embroiled in endless war. Then the Destroyer came. From the blood and ashes he left behind, a tenuous alliance rose between the barbarian riders of Parsathe and the walled kingdoms of the south. That alliance is all that stands against the return of an ancient evil—until the barbarian king and queen are slain in an act of bloody betrayal.

Though forbidden by the alliance council to kill the corrupt king responsible for his parents� murders, Maddek vows to avenge them, even if it costs him the Parsathean crown. But when he learns it was the king’s daughter who lured his parents to their deaths, the barbarian warrior is determined to make her pay.

Yet the woman Maddek captures is not what he expected. Though the last in a line of legendary warrior-queens, Yvenne is small and weak, and the sharpest weapons she wields are her mind and her tongue. Even more surprising is the marriage she proposes to unite them in their goals and to claim their thrones—because her desire for vengeance against her father burns even hotter than his own…]]> 534 Milla Vane 0440000513 - 3 3.86 2020 A Heart of Blood and Ashes (A Gathering of Dragons, #1)
author: Milla Vane
name: -
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/01
date added: 2024/04/01
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]]> Dreamfever (Fever, #4) 6050298
He has stolen her past, but MacKayla will never allow her sister’s murderer to take her future. Yet even the uniquely gifted sidhe-seer is no match for the Lord Master, who has unleashed an insatiable sexual craving that consumes Mac’s every thought—and thrusts her into the seductive realm of two very dangerous men, both of whom she desires but dares not trust.

As the enigmatic Jericho Barrons and the sensual Fae prince V’lane vie for her body and soul, as cryptic entries from her sister’s diary mysteriously appear and the power of the Dark Book weaves its annihilating path through the city, Mac’s greatest enemy delivers a final challenge.�

It’s an invitation Mac cannot refuse, one that sends her racing home to Georgia, where an even darker threat awaits. With her parents missing and the lives of her loved ones under siege, Mac is about to come face-to-face with a soul-shattering truth—about herself and her sister, about Jericho Barrons…and about the world she thought she knew.]]> 386 Karen Marie Moning 0385341652 - 3 4.38 2009 Dreamfever (Fever, #4)
author: Karen Marie Moning
name: -
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/31
date added: 2024/03/31
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]]> Faefever (Fever, #3) 2702704 New York Times bestselling author of Darkfever and Bloodfever returns to Dublin’s Fae-infested shores in a bold, sensual new novel. Hurtling us into a realm of seduction and shadows, Karen Marie Moning tells the enthralling tale of a woman who explores the limits of her mysterious powers as she enters a world of ancient sorcery—and confronts an enemy more insidious than she could ever have imagined.

He calls me his Queen of the Night. I’d die for him. I’d kill for him, too. When MacKayla Lane receives a torn page from her dead sister’s journal, she is stunned by Alina’s desperate words. And now MacKayla knows that her sister’s killer is close. But evil is closer. And suddenly the sidhe-seer is on the hunt: For answers. For revenge. And for an ancient book of dark magic so evil, it corrupts anyone who touches it.

Mac’s quest for the Sinsar Dubh takes her into the mean, shape-shifting streets of Dublin, with a suspicious cop on her tail. Forced into a dangerous triangle of alliance with V’lane, an insatiable Fae prince of lethally erotic tastes, and Jericho Barrons, a man of primal desires and untold secrets, Mac is soon locked in a battle for her body, mind, and soul.

As All Hallows� Eve approaches and the city descends into chaos, as a shocking truth about the Dark Book is uncovered, not even Mac can prevent a deadly race of immortals from shattering the walls between worlds—with devastating consequences.…]]> 327 Karen Marie Moning 0385341636 - 3 4.29 2008 Faefever (Fever, #3)
author: Karen Marie Moning
name: -
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/30
date added: 2024/03/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Shadows Between Us (The Shadows Between Us, #1)]]> 35702241
1) Woo the Shadow King.
2) Marry him.
3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.

No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it.

But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?]]> 326 Tricia Levenseller 1250189969 - 1 3.82 2020 The Shadows Between Us (The Shadows Between Us, #1)
author: Tricia Levenseller
name: -
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2020
rating: 1
read at: 2020/12/30
date added: 2024/03/30
shelves:
review:
this was lackluster tbh. i couldnt care less about either of the main characters
]]> The Goal (Off-Campus) 52530074
She’s good at achieving her goals�

College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick butt in law school, and land a high-paying job at a cutthroat firm. Her path to escaping her shameful past certainly doesn’t include a gorgeous hockey player who believes in love at first sight. One night of sizzling heat and surprising tenderness is all she’s willing to give John Tucker, but sometimes, one night is all it takes for your entire life to change.

But the game just got a whole lot more complicated...

Tucker believes being a team player is as important as being the star. On the ice, he’s fine staying out of the spotlight, but when it comes to becoming a daddy at the age of twenty-two, he refuses to be a bench warmer. It doesn’t hurt that the soon-to-be mother of his child is beautiful, whip-smart, and keeps him on his toes. The problem is, Sabrina’s heart is locked up tight, and the fiery brunette is too stubborn to accept his help. If he wants a life with the woman of his dreams, he’ll have to convince her that some goals can only be made with an assist.]]> 386 Elle Kennedy - 0 DNF at 40%<br /><br />Ugh 4.07 2016 The Goal (Off-Campus)
author: Elle Kennedy
name: -
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/30
date added: 2024/03/30
shelves:
review:
DNF at 40%

Ugh
]]> <![CDATA[Phoebe (The Bellamy Sisters #1)]]> 59075303 Meet the Bellamy sisters, five young women who will do anything to save their siblings and keep the wolf from the door.

Lady Phoebe Bellamy will do anything to save her family estate—even marry the devil himself�

The Bellamy family has only four months before they’ll lose the very roof over their heads. While Phoebe’s older sisters venture out into the world to earn the necessary funds, Phoebe herself—plain, levelheaded, and responsible—stays home to care for her younger siblings and parents. But then she meets Viscount Needham, a fabulously wealthy, brand new peer, and everything changes.

When Phoebe learns that her father is determined to marry one of his daughters to Needham, she knows it's time to act. She certainly can’t imagine saddling any of her beloved sisters with the brutally handsome upstart. So, she does the unthinkable and proposes to Viscount Needham herself�

Paul Needham attended the best schools, belongs to all the proper clubs, and can buy and sell half the House of Lords and still have money to spare. And yet the ton still treats him with disdain. Marrying one of their own is the fastest way to legitimize his place in society. But that doesn’t mean that he has to like his bride. He certainly won’t ever love her. Their marriage will be nothing but a mutually beneficial business arrangement.

Except it doesn’t feel like a simple transaction when Phoebe is in his arms�

They are complete opposites with nothing in common. Class differences and prejudices divide them. Is love enough to bridge their two worlds—or are they destined for heartbreak?]]> 263 Minerva Spencer - 0 to-read 4.05 2022 Phoebe (The Bellamy Sisters #1)
author: Minerva Spencer
name: -
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1)]]> 165940202
Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.

Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.

Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.]]> 419 Danielle L. Jensen 0593599837 - 0 to-read 3.91 2024 A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1)
author: Danielle L. Jensen
name: -
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

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