Tara's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 06 Apr 2025 23:01:07 -0700 60 Tara's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg A Season for Second Chances 57345678 A charmingly quirky seaside town offers a recently separated restauranteur a fresh start and possibly a new lease on love in A Season for Second Chances, by the author of The Twelve Dates of Christmas.

Annie Sharpe's spark for life has fizzled out. Her kids are grown up, her restaurant is doing just fine on its own, and her twenty-six-year marriage has come to an unceremonious end. Untethered for the first time in her adult life, she finds a winter guardian position in a historic seaside home and decides to leave her city life behind for a brand-new beginning.

When she arrives in Willow Bay, Annie is enamored by the charming house, the invigorating sea breeze, and the town's rich seasonal traditions. Not to mention, her neighbors receive her with open arms--that is, all except the surly nephew of the homeowner, whose grand plans for the property are at odds with her residency. As Christmas approaches, tensions and tides rise in Willow Bay, and Annie's future seems less and less certain. But with a little can-do spirit and holiday magic, the most difficult time of her life will become...a season for second chances.]]> 448 Jenny Bayliss 0593085418 Tara 4 3.76 A Season for Second Chances
author: Jenny Bayliss
name: Tara
average rating: 3.76
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
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]]> Love, Me 173833902 Rachel Miller is a lawyer and mother of two who’s just as comfortable in a courtroom as she is on the sidelines of a soccer field. Sure, her marriage is on autopilot, her parents are overly involved, and the other suburban moms are just a little bit catty. But if you ask Rachel, life is good. That is until her world is upended when racy photos of her and her high school boyfriend, the famous actor Jack Bellow—along with his love letters to her—are published in a tabloid, unexpectedly thrusting Rachel into the spotlight. This newfound attention calls into question her marriage, her career, and her superstar ex. Betrayed by someone she trusted and reunited with the man she tried so hard to forget, Rachel must ask herself, “How did I get here? And what do I really want?�
Ěý±Ő±Ő> 272 Jessica Saunders 145495079X Tara 3 3.43 Love, Me
author: Jessica Saunders
name: Tara
average rating: 3.43
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/04
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]]> All the Colors of the Dark 203019740 From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that spans decades.

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.

When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.

Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope.]]> 608 Chris Whitaker 0593798872 Tara 0 currently-reading 4.24 2024 All the Colors of the Dark
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Tara
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> A Season of Light 214175053 For fans of Behold the Dreamers, immigrant stories, and family sagas, a compelling novel about a tightly bound Nigerian family living in Florida and the wounds that get passed down from generation to generation, by the significant new literary voice who wrote the acclaimedĚýMr. and Mrs. Doctor.

When 276 schoolgirls are abducted from their school in Nigeria, Fidelis Ewerike, a Florida-based barrister, poet, and former POW of the Nigerian Civil War, begins to go mad, consumed by memories of his younger sister Ugochi, who went missing during that conflict. Consumed by survivor’s guilt and fearful that the same fate awaits Amara, his sixteen-year-old daughter who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ugochi, Fidelis locks her in her bedroom, offering no words of explanation, only lovingly—if poorly—made meals and sweets.

Amid that singular action, the Ewerike family spirals into After unsuccessful attempts to free her daughter from her room, his wife Adaobi seeks the counsel of a preacher, praying for spiritual liberation from the curse she is certain has plagued her family since leaving Nigeria. Fourteen-year-old Chuk, beset by his own war with the neighborhood boys, receives a painful education on force, masculinity, and his tenuous position within his family. And rebellious, resentful Amara is hungry for her life to be hers, so the moment she is able to escape her imprisonment, she falls in love—not with the Aba-born engineer-in-training her mother envisages, but with Maksym Kostyk, the son of the town drunk. Before long, the two have concocted a plan to run away from the trappings of their familial traumas.

Perfect for readers ofĚýSing, Unburied, Sing,ĚýJulie Iromuanya's A Season of Light is an all-consuming masterpiece. To peer into the window of the Ewerike family’s lives is a gift.]]> 256 Julie Iromuanya 164375551X Tara 3 3.01 2025 A Season of Light
author: Julie Iromuanya
name: Tara
average rating: 3.01
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/04
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]]> Nine Lives 58385688
FBI agent Jessica Winslow, who is on the list herself, is determined to find out. Could there be some dark secret that binds them all together? Or is this the work of a murderous madman? As the mysterious sender stalks these nine strangers, they find themselves constantly looking over their shoulders, wondering who will be crossed off next....]]> 320 Peter Swanson 0062980076 Tara 4 3.52 2022 Nine Lives
author: Peter Swanson
name: Tara
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/03
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]]> <![CDATA[His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice]]> 58890953 A landmark biography by two prizewinning Washington Post reporters that reveals how systemic racism shaped George Floyd's life and legacy--from his family's roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, to ongoing inequality in housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and policing--telling the singular story of how one man's tragic experience brought about a global movement for change.

The events of that day are now tragically familiar: on May 25, 2020, George Floyd became the latest Black person to die at the hands of the police, murdered outside of a Minneapolis convenience store by white officer Derek Chauvin. The video recording of his death set off a series of protests in the United States and around the world, awakening millions to the dire need for reimagining this country's broken systems of policing. But behind a face that would be graffitied onto countless murals, and a name that has become synonymous with civil rights, there is the reality of one man's stolen life: a life beset by suffocating systemic pressures that ultimately proved inescapable.

This biography of George Floyd shows the athletic young boy raised in the projects of Houston's Third Ward who would become a father, a partner, a friend, and a man constantly in search of a better life. In retracing Floyd's story, Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa bring to light the determination Floyd carried as he faced the relentless struggle to survive as a Black man in America. Placing his narrative within the larger context of America's deeply troubled history of institutional racism, His Name Is George Floyd examines the Floyd family's roots in slavery and sharecropping, the segregation of his Houston schools, the overpolicing of his communities, the devastating snares of the prison system, and his attempts to break free from drug dependence--putting today's inequality into uniquely human terms. Drawing upon hundreds of interviews and extensive original reporting, Samuels and Olorunnipa offer a poignant and moving exploration of George Floyd's America, revealing how a man who simply wanted to breathe ended up touching the world.]]> 432 Robert Samuels 0593490614 Tara 0 currently-reading 4.50 2022 His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice
author: Robert Samuels
name: Tara
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Pictures of You 197156017 If you knew then what you know now, would you make the same choices? Imagine having a second chance with the one you never forgot.

From the author of the global breakout bestseller The Last Love Note comes the story of a young woman struggling to piece her life back together in the wake of a tragic accident, and the man who gives up everything to help her.

When Evie Hudson wakes in an unfamiliar hospital room, she thinks she’s fresh out of a teenage party with her best friend, Bree. Except, Bree isn’t around anymore and high school was years ago. Evie had just survived the crash that killed her husband, Oliver—whom she can't remember either. After suffering a traumatic loss of memory, she’s left to connect the dots. But how?

Drew, a promising photographer whose chance encounter with Evie unravels the elusive details of her marriage and her husband’s death. As Drew watches Evie stitch the story of her life together, secrets emerge that might shatter both of their worlds.

This tangled second-chance romance leads Evie to question every decision she ever made. This time around, she’s seeing all the things she missed–and the life she gets to choose...again.]]> 416 Emma Grey 195850646X Tara 4 4.01 2024 Pictures of You
author: Emma Grey
name: Tara
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/02
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]]> <![CDATA[The Highly Sensitive Person's Guide to Dealing with Toxic People: How to Reclaim Your Power from Narcissists and Other Manipulators]]> 50271294
In The Highly Sensitive Person's Survival Guide to Dealing with Toxic People, you'll learn evidence-based skills grounded in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to help you recognize and shut down the common manipulation tactics used by toxic people, such as gaslighting, stonewalling, projection, covert put-downs, and love bombing. You'll also discover targeted tips to protect yourself from the five main types of toxic people:

� Garden-variety boundary-steppers;
� Crazymakers and attention-seekers;
� Emotional vampires;
� Narcissists;
� Sociopaths and psychopaths.

Finally, you'll learn how to heal from toxic or narcissistic abuse, and find strategies for establishing healthy boundaries and a strong sense of self. If you're an HSP who is ready to take a stand against the toxic people in your life, this book has everything you need to survive and thrive.]]> 194 Shahida Arabi 1684035309 Tara 5 3.85 2020 The Highly Sensitive Person's Guide to Dealing with Toxic People: How to Reclaim Your Power from Narcissists and Other Manipulators
author: Shahida Arabi
name: Tara
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> Incidents Around the House 199757490 A chilling horror novel about a haunting told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls “Other Mommy,� from the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box
Ěý
To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’sĚýMommy,ĚýDaddo,Ěýand Grandma Ruth.ĚýBut there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?”ĚýĚ�
Ěý
When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the same question, over and over . . . Bela understands that unless she says yes, soon her family must pay.Ěý
Ěý
Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe but other incidents show cracks in her parents' marriage. The safety Bela relies on is on the brink of unraveling.ĚýĚý
Ěý
But Other Mommy needs an answer.Ěý
Ěý
Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror told by the child Bela. A story about a family as haunted as their home.]]> 367 Josh Malerman 0593723120 Tara 3 3.61 2024 Incidents Around the House
author: Josh Malerman
name: Tara
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> The Hospital 202610061 "I COULD not put it down. So many twists and turns and story lines I almost couldn't follow. I am so glad I picked this book up." - Candace Searles

"One of the best books I've every read!" - Michael S.

"A different psychological thriller. Well plotted, daring, and creative. " - Luccia Gray

"Edge of my seat. I read this book in one day." Caitlin S.

"An Addictive Page Turner. I really enjoyed this book! It's a well written thriller that was full of unexpected twists and turns! The determination, perseverance and strength of the main character is amazing." - Jessica Cooper

"A roller coaster of emotions. This is a book that once you start to read, you will not be able to put it down.

Looking forward to the next book!" - Maybeth K

"I am quite in awe of how well it was put together and written with a true passion for overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Brilliant and full of hope." - Book Junkie

"I read this book non stop, no way could I put it down. My eyes are 3/4 closed from lack of sleep. This is a different kind of book, not your typical thriller at all." - Rowesey

"This book was near impossible to put down. I felt a range of emotions that no one book has ever made me feel. Fear, anger, sadness, confusion, sympathy, empathy and happiness. NEVR SAW THE ENDING COMING." - Kindle Customer

"Captivating central character!! Wonderfully complex and shockingly good. The books stayed with me for days after reading." -- Jowee


When I wake up, I don't know who I am or why I am here. A existential feeling of non-existence runs through my lost soul. All I know is that I'm in a hospital with a barred window and a door that cannot be unlocked from the inside.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Do I have a boyfriend, a husband'? Do I have kids? Anyone at all?

And why am I so shocked at my reflection in the mirror. Why do I feel this person cannot be me?

Then someone slips me a message from under the door, and I realize that I have to act

Don't trust anyone. The memories will come back if you wait long enough. And when you remember, don't tell them who you are. Play along until you find your daughter; they have her, too...

Inspired by true events.

]]> 473 A.G. Twist Tara 4 3.48 The Hospital
author: A.G. Twist
name: Tara
average rating: 3.48
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> Promise Me Sunshine 214269328 Grieving the loss of her best friend, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she meets a grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again, in this heartwarming, slow-burn romance by the author of Ready or Not

Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Her best friend, Lou, recently passed away after a battle with cancer, and her death has left Lenny feeling completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and the list of things she’s supposed to do to help her live again. The only thing she can do is temporary babysitting gigs, and luckily, she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. It’s not perfect: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of... a huge jerk. But if Lenny acts like she has it all together, maybe no one will notice she’s falling apart.

Miles sees right through her though. Turns out, he knows a lot about grief and, surprisingly, he offers her a proposition. He’ll help her complete everything on her “live again� list if she’ll help him connect with Ainsley and overcome his complicated relationship with Reese. Lenny doubts anything can fill the Lou has left behind, but she begins to spend more time with Miles, Lenny is surprised to discover that, sometimes, losing everything is only the first step to finding yourself, and love, again.]]> 416 Cara Bastone 0593595734 Tara 4 4.27 2025 Promise Me Sunshine
author: Cara Bastone
name: Tara
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
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]]> The Confession 63111167
When the police break in, there’s a surprise in store for them. They find Julie Campbell’s decaying body at her desk, her laptop open beside her. She’s a well-liked, respectable woman. On the laptop is a confession � to five murders. There’s one major problem though - only one of the victims she names is actually dead.

DI Mark Nicholson is persuaded by his boss DCI Alex Scrimgeour that the confession is a fantasy, and to drop the case, but Mark senses there’s more to it than meets the eye. As he delves further, the darkest of secrets are revealed, and everyone around him is dragged into a vortex of fear, danger and murder. No one is beyond suspicion as The Confession becomes a murderous reality.]]> 357 Maureen Myant 1913793885 Tara 4 3.85 The Confession
author: Maureen Myant
name: Tara
average rating: 3.85
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
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]]> Make the Season Bright 206180603
It's been five years since Charlotte Donovan was ditched at the altar by her ex-fiancée, and she’s doing more than okay. Sure, her single mother never checks in, but she has her strings ensemble, the Rosalind Quartet, and her life in New York is a dream come true. As the holidays draw near, her ensemble mate Sloane persuades Charlotte and the rest of the quartet to spend Christmas with her family in Colorado—it is much cozier and quieter than Manhattan, and it would guarantee more practice time for the quartet’s upcoming tour. But when Charlotte arrives, she discovers that Sloane’s sister Adele also brought a friend home—and that friend is none other than her ex, Brighton. All Brighton Fairbrook wanted was to have the holliest, jolliest Christmas—and try to forget that her band kicked her out. But instead, she’s stuck pretending like she and her ex are strangers—which proves to be difficult when Sloane and Adele’s mom signs them all up for a series of Christmas dating events. Charlotte and Brighton are soon entrenched in horseback riding and cookie decorating, but Charlotte still won’t talk to her. Brighton can hardly blame her after what she did. After a few days, however, things start to slip through. Memories. Music. The way they used to play together—Brighton on guitar, Charlotte on her violin—and it all feels painfully familiar. But it’s all in the past and nothing can melt the ice in their hearts...right?]]> 342 Ashley Herring Blake 0593550595 Tara 4 3.60 2024 Make the Season Bright
author: Ashley Herring Blake
name: Tara
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
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]]> Deep Cuts 214269394
Joe asks Percy for feedback on one of his songs—and the results kick off a partnership that will span years, ignite new passions in them both, and crush their egos again and again. Is their collaboration worth its cost? Or is it holding Percy back from finding her own voice?

Moving from Brooklyn bars to San Francisco dance floors, Deep Cuts examines the nature of talent, obsession, belonging, and above all, our need to be heard.]]> 277 Holly Brickley 0593799089 Tara 3 3.81 2025 Deep Cuts
author: Holly Brickley
name: Tara
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/22
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves:
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]]> Penitence 211003837 For readers of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive page-turner filled with literary insight that compels readers to consider whether each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.

When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.

Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of post-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness.]]> 320 Kristin Koval 1250342996 Tara 4 3.70 2025 Penitence
author: Kristin Koval
name: Tara
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[A Very No Strings Halloween: Special Edition (Very Holiday Special Edition Paperbacks)]]> 220076531 Halloween: it’s a holiday where people shed their boring everyday personalities and become fantastic beings ready for an epic party. Well, guess what? That’s Billy Boston 24/7, 365, baby! It’s who I was before I became a millionaire and it’s who I’ll always be.
My beautiful next door neighbor, Donna, is a hardworking nurse who takes her job seriously and her fun even more so. All she wants is a no-strings arrangement and that’s fine by me. It’s Halloween for us every time we’re together because she likes to role play. There’s no way to get attached if we’re both pretending to be someone else, right?
It’s all smooth as a good whiskey until my married cousins bet me that I can’t get a serious girlfriend by November.
So, Donna and I make a deal: She’ll help fix me up to be a proper boyfriend and I’ll help fix up the farmhouse she inherited.
The one she thinks is haunted.
And that’s not the scary part.
Because I realize I’m falling wicked hard for Donna. For real. She’s spooked by the ghost, but I’m afraid I’ll spook her if I tell her how I really feel. We made a pact when we started this no-strings thing: If either of us gets serious, we have to end it.
I have to trick Donna into thinking she’s teaching me how to date, when really I’m treating her to dates with me.
But if I screw this up, I’ll lose the woman I’m in love with.
And that’ll haunt me forever.]]> 286 Kayley Loring Tara 3 3.88 A Very No Strings Halloween: Special Edition (Very Holiday Special Edition Paperbacks)
author: Kayley Loring
name: Tara
average rating: 3.88
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/28
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
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]]> More or Less Maddy 214151333 A breathless, riveting novel about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal� life for a career in stand-up comedy.

Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed. It doesn’t help that she’s always felt like the odd one out in her picture-perfect Connecticut family. But Maddy’s latest low is devastatingly low, and she goes on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

As she struggles to find her way in this new reality, navigating the complex effects bipolar has on her identity, her relationships, and her life dreams, Maddy will have to figure out how to manage being both too much and not enough.

With her signature “deep empathy and insight� (Booklist), Harvard-trained neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova has crafted another profoundly moving novel that makes complicated mental health issues accessible and human. More or Less Maddy is destined to become another classic like Still Alice.]]> 368 Lisa Genova 1668026163 Tara 4 4.23 2025 More or Less Maddy
author: Lisa Genova
name: Tara
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/13
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves:
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]]> Tell Me What You Did 209823382
Poe Webb, host of a popular true crime podcast, invites people to anonymously confess crimes they've committed to her audience. She can't guarantee the police won't come after her "guests," but her show grants simultaneous anonymity and instant fame—a potent combination that's proven difficult to resist. After an episode recording, Poe usually erases both criminal and crime from her mind.

But when a strange and oddly familiar man appears on her show, Poe is forced to take a second look. Not only because he claims to be her mother's murderer from years ago, but because Poe knows something no one else does. Her mother's murderer is dead.

Poe killed him.

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Dead Girl in 2A and The New Neighbor comes a chilling new thriller that forces the question: are murderers always the bad guys?]]> 420 Carter Wilson 1464226229 Tara 4 3.79 2025 Tell Me What You Did
author: Carter Wilson
name: Tara
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
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]]> Count My Lies 214151565 A read-in-one-night suspense thriller narrated by a compulsive liar whose little white lies allow her to enter into the life and comfort of a wealthy married couple who are harboring much darker secrets themselves. For the millions of us still chasing those gone girls, this is perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Lucy Foley, and Laura Dave.

Sloane Caraway is a liar.

Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting.

So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park one afternoon, she can't help herself—she tells the girl's (very attractive) dad she's a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl's foot.

With this lie, and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy, and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island.

But maybe Sloane isn't the only one lying, and all that's picture-perfect harbors a much more dangerous truth. To say anything more is to spoil the most exciting, twisty, and bitingly smart suspense novel to come out in years.

The thing about lies is that they add up, form their own truth and a twisted prison of a world. And in Count My Lies, Sophie Stava spins a breakneck, unputdownable thriller about the secrets we keep, and the terrifying dangers that lurk just under the images we spend so much time trying to maintain.

Careful what you lie for.]]> 336 Sophie Stava 1668079348 Tara 4 3.75 2025 Count My Lies
author: Sophie Stava
name: Tara
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
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]]> <![CDATA[The Choice: Embrace the Possible]]> 30753738
The horrors of the Holocaust didn’t break Edith. In fact, they helped her learn to live again with a life-affirming strength and a truly remarkable resilience. The Choice is her unforgettable story.]]> 289 Edith Eger 1501130781 Tara 5 4.59 2017 The Choice: Embrace the Possible
author: Edith Eger
name: Tara
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves:
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]]> House of Glass 195790531
A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?

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

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

As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny's murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny's boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella's supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?]]> 341 Sarah Pekkanen 125028399X Tara 4 3.84 2024 House of Glass
author: Sarah Pekkanen
name: Tara
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves:
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]]> We Could Be Rats 214152402 A moving story about two very different sisters, and a love letter to childhood, growing up, and the power of imagination—from the bestselling author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead and Interesting Facts About Space.

Sigrid hates working at the Dollar Pal but having always resisted the idea of growing up into the trappings of adulthood, she did not graduate high school, preferring to roam the streets of her small town with her best friend Greta, the only person in the world who ever understood her. Her older sister Margit is baffled and frustrated by Sigrid’s inability to conform to the expectations of polite society.

But Sigrid’s detachment veils a deeper turmoil and sensitivity. She’s haunted by the pains of her past—from pretending her parents were swamp monsters when they shook the floorboards with their violent arguments to grappling with losing Greta’s friendship to the opioid epidemic ravaging their town. As Margit sets out to understand Sigrid and the secrets she has hidden, both sisters, in their own time and way, discover that reigniting their shared childhood imagination is the only way forward.

What unfolds is an unforgettable story of two sisters finding their way back to each other, and a celebration of that transcendent, unshakable bond.]]> 256 Emily R. Austin 1668058146 Tara 4 4.08 2025 We Could Be Rats
author: Emily R. Austin
name: Tara
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
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]]> Vampires of El Norte 63892214 Vampires and vaqueros face off on the Texas-Mexico border in this supernatural western from the author of The Hacienda.

As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.

Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago.

Believing Nena dead, NĂ©stor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind.

When the United States attacks Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together on the road to war: Nena as a curandera, a healer striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Néstor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros. But the shock of their reunion—and Nena’s rage at Néstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago—is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh.

And unless Nena and Néstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn.]]> 371 Isabel Cañas 0593436725 Tara 4 3.87 2023 Vampires of El Norte
author: Isabel Cañas
name: Tara
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
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]]> <![CDATA[The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom]]> 214151420 From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and how, in the face of unimaginable pain, she found freedom and healing.

Shari Franke’s childhood was a constant battle for survival. Her mother, Ruby Franke, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a façade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers. But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface—Ruby’s wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined.

As the family’s YouTube notoriety grew, so too did Ruby’s delusions of righteousness. Fueled by the sadistic influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, together they implemented an inhumane and merciless disciplinary regime.

Ruby and Jodi were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse. On that fateful day, Shari shared a photo online of a police car outside their home. Her caption had one word: “Finally.�

For the first time, Shari will reveal the disturbing truth behind 8 Passengers and her family’s devastating involvement with Jodi Hildebrandt’s cultish life coaching program, “ConneXions.� No stone is left unturned as Shari exposes the perils of influencer culture and shares for the first time her battle for truth and survival in the face of her mother’s cruelty.]]> 320 Shari Franke 1668065398 Tara 4 4.44 2025 The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom
author: Shari Franke
name: Tara
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/01
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]]> Three Holidays and a Wedding 75670229
ĚýĚýĚýĚýAs strangers and seatmates Maryam Aziz and Anna Gibson fly to Toronto over the holidays—Maryam to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family for the first time—neither expect that severe turbulence will scare them into confessing their deepest hopes and fears to one another. At least they’ll never see each other again. And the love of Maryam’s life, Saif, wasn’t sitting two rows behind them hearing it all. Oops.
ĚýĚýĚýĚýAn emergency landing finds Anna, Saif, Maryam, and her sister’s entire bridal party snowbound at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in a picture-perfect town, where fate has Anna’s actor-crush filming a holiday romance. As Maryam finds the courage to open her heart to Saif, and Anna feels the magic of being snowbound with an unexpected new love—both women soon realize there’s no place they’d rather be for the holidays.]]> 384 Uzma Jalaluddin 0593543920 Tara 4 3.55 2023 Three Holidays and a Wedding
author: Uzma Jalaluddin
name: Tara
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves:
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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 Tara 4 4.09 2025 First-Time Caller (Heartstrings, #1)
author: B.K. Borison
name: Tara
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Love Unfu*ked: Getting Your Relationship Sh!t Together (Unfu*k Yourself)]]> 59685038 193 Gary John Bishop Tara 4 3.77 2022 Love Unfu*ked: Getting Your Relationship Sh!t Together (Unfu*k Yourself)
author: Gary John Bishop
name: Tara
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves:
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]]> Desire Lines 312400
When a divorce sends Kathryn reeling back to the Maine town where she grew up, the young journalist finds herself face-to-face with her past. At twenty-eight, she's been living for far too long on memories and questions; now she needs to take a hard look at her own life at the same time that she is delving into the mystery of what happened to her friend.

As she explores the seemingly random series of events that led up to Jennifer's disappearance, a pattern slowly begins to take shape. All the puzzle pieces are at her fingertips - it's a matter of whether Kathryn can put them together in a way that makes sense. As she faces her own fear and grief, she is finally able to come to terms with the ways in which the loss of her friend has shaped her life and the lives of those who knew her. In the process, Kathryn realizes that if she is ever going to understand the circumstances of Jennifer's disappearance, she is going to have to expose herself to the same risks and dangers. Ultimately, Kathryn's quest to find out the truth becomes a quest to save her own life as she races against time to keep Jennifer's fate from becoming hers.]]> 320 Christina Baker Kline 0688151078 Tara 4 3.31 1998 Desire Lines
author: Christina Baker Kline
name: Tara
average rating: 3.31
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
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]]> Famous Last Words 212421066
From the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an addictive thriller about a new mother’s world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie?

It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.

Then it starts. Breaking news: there's a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn't a hostage. Her husband—doting father, eternal optimist—is the gunman.

What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says...

Famous Last Words is the story of a crime, a marriage, and more secrets than Camilla ever could have imagined. This novel cements Gillian McAllister’s reputation as “the best at putting her characters in impossible situations and making her readers not only contemplate but feel what it would be like to find themselves in those situations.� (Emily Henry)]]> 336 Gillian McAllister 0063338424 Tara 4 3.73 2025 Famous Last Words
author: Gillian McAllister
name: Tara
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Separated: Inside An American Tragedy]]> 49604006 NBC News and MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff, winner of the 2019 Walter Cronkite Award for his reporting on the child separation crisis, delivers a profoundly personal and moving report from the border and beyond, revealing the wrenching human story behind one of the most disturbing passages of modern American history.Ěý

Donald Trump’s most infamous decision as president, to systematically separate thousands of migrant families at the border, was in effect for months before most Americans saw the living conditions of the children in custody at the epicenter of the policy. NBC News and MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff was among the first journalists to expose the truth of what their lives were like on the inside after seeing them firsthand. His widely shared reports in June 2018 ignited public scrutiny that contributed to the President reversing his own policy by Executive Order, and earned Soboroff the Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Broadcast Journalism and the 2019 Hillman Prize for Broadcast Journalism.

In Separated, Soboroff weaves together his own experience unexpectedly covering this national issue with other key figures in the drama he met along the way, including feuding administration officials responsible for tearing apart and then reuniting families, and the parents and children who were caught in the middle. He reveals new and exclusive details of how the policy was carried out, and how its affects are still being felt.Ěý

Today, there is still not a full accounting of the total number of children the President ripped away from their parents. The exact number may never be known, only that it is in the thousands. Now the President is doubling down on draconian immigration policies, including threatening to hold migrant families indefinitely and making tens of thousands applying for asylum wait in some of Mexico’s most dangerous cities. Separated is required reading for anyone who wants to understand how Trump and his administration were able to carry out this inhumane policy, and how so many missed what was happening before it was too late. Soboroff lays out compassionately, yet in the starkest of terms, its human toll, and makes clear what is at stake in the 2020 presidential election.
]]> 292 Jacob Soboroff 006299221X Tara 5 4.12 2020 Separated: Inside An American Tragedy
author: Jacob Soboroff
name: Tara
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
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]]> Isaac's Song 210719174 The beloved author of Don’t Cry for Me and Perfect Peace returns with a poignant, emotionally exuberant novel about a young queer Black man finding his voice in 1980s Chicago—a novel of family, forgiveness and perseverance, for fans of The Great Believers and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.

Isaac is at a crossroads in his young life. Growing up in Missouri, the son of a caustic, hard-driving father, he was conditioned to suppress his artistic pursuits and physical desires, notions that didn’t align with a traditional view of masculinity. But now, in late �80s Chicago, Isaac has finally carved out a life of his own. He is sensitive and tenderhearted and has built up the courage to seek out a community. Yet just as he begins to embrace who he is, two social catalysts—the AIDS crisis and Rodney King’s attack—collectively extinguish his hard-earned joy. At a therapist’s encouragement, Isaac begins to write down his story. In the process, he taps into a creative energy that will send him on a journey back to his family, his ancestral home in Arkansas and the inherited trauma of the nation’s dark past. But a surprise discovery will either unlock the truths he’s seeking or threaten to derail the life he’s fought so hard to claim.

Poignant, sweeping and luminously told, Isaac's Song is a return to the beloved characters of Don’t Cry for Me and a high-water mark in the career of an award-winning author.]]> 320 Daniel Black 133509041X Tara 4 4.31 2025 Isaac's Song
author: Daniel Black
name: Tara
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
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]]> The Crash 216223604 The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child.

A gut-wrenching story of motherhood, survival, and twisted expectations, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a snowbound thriller that will chill you to the bone.
]]> 384 Freida McFadden 1464232989 Tara 4 3.58 2025 The Crash
author: Freida McFadden
name: Tara
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Fern (The Keys to My Diary #1)]]> 25464156 Alternate cover edition for B00KUX0NAE

Hi, there! Would YOU like to take a peek in my diary?

Wait, we haven't been introduced. My name is Fern, and by some wonderful stroke of good luck, I live in the beautiful, tropical Florida Keys.

My life is wacky, often wild, and always entertaining. From my love-hate relationship with the book, The Secret, to my encounters with cursing parrots and skittering crabs, the summations of my offbeat life will make you laugh right along with me.

It is a particularly exciting year because I finally meet the man of my dreams! Or is he?

This fast-paced story is an intimate look inside my life as I go all-in and hand over the keys to my diary. Go ahead...Take a PEEK!

Spend some time with the lady Kirkus Reviews calls 'fun, likable company.' Get your copy of The Keys to My Diary ~ Fern today.

P.S. Now featuring a BONUS epilogue!]]> 240 Ann Omasta Tara 2 3.58 2014 Fern (The Keys to My Diary #1)
author: Ann Omasta
name: Tara
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
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]]> The Woman Inside 40776554 An impossible-to-put-down domestic thriller about secrets and revenge, told from the perspectives of a husband and wife who are the most perfect, and the most dangerous, match for each other
Ěý
Rebecca didn’t know love was possible until she met Paul, a successful, charismatic, married man with a past as dark as her own. Their pain drew them together with an irresistible magnetism; they sensed that they were each other’s ideal (and perhaps only) match.
Ěý
But twenty years later, Paul and Rebecca are drowning as the damage and secrets that ignited their love begin to consume their marriage. Paul is cheating on Rebecca, and his affair gets messy fast. His mistress is stalking them with growing audacity when Rebecca discovers Paul’s elaborate plan to build a new life without her. And though Rebecca is spiraling into an opiate addiction, it doesn’t stop her from coming up with a devious plot of her own, and this one could end absolutely everything.
Ěý
What follows is an unpredictable and stylish game of cat and mouse—a shocking tale of unfaithfulness and unreliability that will keep you racing until the final twist and make you wonder how well you really know your spouse.]]> 335 E.G. Scott 1524744549 Tara 4 3.45 2019 The Woman Inside
author: E.G. Scott
name: Tara
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
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]]> Slummy Mummy 944840 352 Fiona Neill 1594489440 Tara 4 3.25 2007 Slummy Mummy
author: Fiona Neill
name: Tara
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves:
review:

]]> Love Always, Christmas 62178791
Libby is planning to spend the holidays alone until a mysterious Christmas card takes her on a life-changing journey where she discovers a family she didn’t know she had and a love she was never expecting to find�

Libby Larson’s Christmas wish is to get the holidays over as fast as possible. After losing her mom, her only family, she’s bah humbugging Christmas, while desperately trying to save her childhood Seattle home.

But when Libby finds a twenty-year-old unopened Christmas card addressed to her mom, what she discovers inside takes her to the snowy mountain town of Holly Peak.

As family secrets start to unravel, Libby must rely on Holly Peak’s handsome town manager, Adam Thompson, to help her find answers while reluctantly participating in the town’s quirky Christmas traditions.

In the midst of merrymaking and mistletoe, Libby’s life is forever changed when this Christmas brings her the gift of a family and true love.

Bonus Content: Includes exclusive Christmas recipes from Love Always, Christmas.

LOVE ALWAYS, CHRISTMAS is an uplifting, feel-good Christmas romance that will appeal to fans of Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery, RaeAnne Thayne, and Christina Lauren.

5-Star Reviews! Readers & Reviewers are Falling in Love with Karen Schaler’s Christmas Romances!

“How A Christmas Prince [Netflix] screenwriter Karen Schaler became a holiday publishing darling.� —Entertainment Weekly

“Karen Schaler writes stories that are bursting with Christmas charm!� —Jenny Hale, USA Today bestselling author.

“I loved this book! It had a story that was just a joy to read, but also had such heart, and humor and an abundance of Christmas!â€� Patricia R â€� Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ

“This book was everything for my Christmas loving heart. I smiled, laughed, and even teared up as I read through this story connecting with the people and the town. I could picture the characters so clearly and the ups and downs they faced throughout the book kept me reading right to the end�. It’s a journey I’ll return to every year.� Eric M � NetGalley

“A beautiful story about life, love, and family. Second chances in life are hard to find but they feature prominently here as does Christmas. I loved this book. Devoured in one day.â€� Peggy D â€� Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ

“Karen Schaler has Christmas down pat, and each of her stories is unique in its own right! This one has all the small-town feels, with a cozy mystery, and a clean romance thrown in. There are twists and turns up to the very ending.� Yvie F - NetGalley

“LOVE ALWAYS, CHRISTMAS was so much fun! I love Christmas books that throw tinsel at a tree in big handfuls and Karen Schaler’s books always hit the mark! Enjoyed this one! 5/5 stars.� Kat K � Library Thing

“For Schaler, creating these fantastical holiday stories comes naturally.”—Money

“This was absolutely delightful. The plot was well-paced and captivating from start to finish. The characters were charming and witty. I highly recommend this fun and quick holiday read! Jessica M � NetGalley

“I thought the whole story was amazing. I honestly didn’t want this book to end. I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next..â€� Courtney C - Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ]]> 380 Karen Schaler 1734766182 Tara 4 3.92 Love Always, Christmas
author: Karen Schaler
name: Tara
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
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]]> <![CDATA[How to Kill Men and Get Away With It (Kitty Collins #1)]]> 61833058 Meet Kitty Collins.

FRIEND. LOVER. KILLER.

He was following me. That guy from the nightclub who wouldn’t leave me alone.

I hadn’t intended to kill him of course. But I wasn’t displeased when I did and, despite the mess I made, I appeared to get away with it.

That’s where my addiction started�

I’ve got a taste for revenge and quite frankly, I’m killing it.

A deliciously dark, hilariously twisted story about friendship, love, and murder. Fans of My Sister the Serial Killer, How to Kill Your Family and Killing Eve will love this wickedly clever novel!]]> 384 Katy Brent 0008600481 Tara 3 3.66 2023 How to Kill Men and Get Away With It (Kitty Collins #1)
author: Katy Brent
name: Tara
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[All I Want For Christmas is the Girl Next Door (All I Want for Christmas #1)]]> 58905775 It's a Wonderful Life meets Wish Upon A Star in this Christmas-themed young adult contemporary romance.

Graham Wallace has been in love with the girl next door for a decade. Unfortunately, she's been dating his best friend for the past two years. Out of sheer desperation, Graham makes a wish on a shooting star—all he wants for Christmas is Sarah Clarke.

When Graham wakes up the next morning, everything has changed, and he's the one who's been dating Sarah for the past two years, not his best friend. Graham assumes the wish would have only come true if he and Sarah were meant to be together, but as it becomes clear that he and Sarah bring out the worst in each other, not the best, and as he starts to fall for the new girl in town, Graham wonders if some wishes come true in order to show us what's not meant to be.]]> 214 Chelsea Bobulski 1953944108 Tara 4 3.74 2021 All I Want For Christmas is the Girl Next Door (All I Want for Christmas #1)
author: Chelsea Bobulski
name: Tara
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
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]]> The Lobotomist's Wife 57827618
Since her brother took his life after WWI, Ruth Emeraldine has had one goal: to help those suffering from mental illness. Then she falls in love with charismatic Robert Apter—a brilliant doctor championing a radical new treatment, the lobotomy. Ruth believes in it as a miracle treatment and in Robert as its genius pioneer. But as her husband spirals into deluded megalomania, Ruth can’t ignore her growing suspicions. Robert is operating on patients recklessly, often with horrific results. And a vulnerable young mother, Margaret Baxter, is poised to be his next victim.

Margaret can barely get out of bed, let alone care for her infant. When Dr. Apter diagnoses her with the baby blues and proposes a lobotomy, she believes the procedure is her only hope. Only Ruth can save her—and scores of others—from the harrowing consequences of Robert’s ambitions.

Inspired by a shocking chapter in medical history, The Lobotomist’s Wife is a galvanizing novel of a woman fighting against the most grievous odds, of ego, and of the best intentions gone horribly awry.]]> 305 Samantha Greene Woodruff 1542036208 Tara 5 4.04 2022 The Lobotomist's Wife
author: Samantha Greene Woodruff
name: Tara
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
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]]> The Three Lives of Cate Kay 214152244 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781668076217.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets First Lie Wins in this electric, voice-driven debut novel about an elusive bestselling author who decides to finally confess her true identity after years of hiding from her past.

Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she’s one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. She’s never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now.

As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Cate understands that returning home is the only way she’ll be a whole person again.]]> 304 Kate Fagan Tara 3 3.76 2025 The Three Lives of Cate Kay
author: Kate Fagan
name: Tara
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Win (Windsor Horne Lockwood III, #1)]]> 53916157 The new novel from Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author and creator of The Stranger on Netflix.

From a #1 New York Times bestselling author comes this thrilling story that shows what happens when a dead man's secrets fall into the hands of vigilante antihero—drawing him down a dangerous road.

Over twenty years ago, the heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family's estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors � and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.

Until now. On the Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead � not only on Patricia's kidnapping, but also on another FBI cold case � with the suitcase and painting both pointing them toward one man.

Windsor Horne Lockwood III � or Win, as his few friends call him � doesn't know how his suitcase and his family's stolen painting ended up with a dead man. But his interest is piqued, especially when the FBI tells him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism � and that the conspirators may still be at large. The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades, but Win has three things the FBI doesn't: a personal connection to the case; an ungodly fortune; and his own unique brand of justice.]]> 375 Harlan Coben 1538748215 Tara 4 3.95 2021 Win (Windsor Horne Lockwood III, #1)
author: Harlan Coben
name: Tara
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/02
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]]> Want to Know a Secret? 56047352 Everyone has secrets.

YouTube baking sensation April Masterson knows the secret to the perfect gooey brownies. Or how to make key lime squares that will melt in your mouth. But if you keep watching her offline, you may find out some other secrets about April. Secrets she’d rather you didn’t know.

Like where did her son go when he snuck out of the house? What was she doing with the local soccer coach behind fogged windows? And what’s buried in her backyard?

Everyone has secrets. Some are worse than others. April’s secrets are enough to destroy her.

I’ll make sure of that.]]> 398 Freida McFadden Tara 4 3.94 2021 Want to Know a Secret?
author: Freida McFadden
name: Tara
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
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]]> Kiss Me at Christmas 204466320 White Christmas meets Nora Ephron in Jenny Bayliss� latest wholehearted, ensemble-cast holiday extravaganza.

Christmas can officially get stuffed because Harriet Smith is not feeling bright and merry this year. She hasn’t for a while. So when her college-aged daughter opts for Manhattan’s winter wonderland instead of Christmas at home, Harriet finds herself seeking solace in a wine-soaked one-night stand. Ěý

But how Harriet will spend the holidays is swiftly decided for her after she takes the fall for some students who break into the town’s old Winter Theater. To get the students off the hook, the theater’s elderly owner requests that Harriet direct the washed-out stage’s final Christmas performance. And Harriet will do anything to help the kids . . . even work with the owner’s lawyer who, as it turns out, is her less than impressed one-night stand.

Directing the play with him won't exactly change her life. But it might just reignite the Christmas spirit andĚýremind her what makes life merry and bright again.]]> 397 Jenny Bayliss 0593717910 Tara 4 3.58 2024 Kiss Me at Christmas
author: Jenny Bayliss
name: Tara
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Perfect Marriage (Perfect, #1)]]> 53450790 Would you defend your husband if he was accused of killing his mistress?

Sarah Morgan is a successful and powerful defense attorney in Washington D.C. At 33 years old, she is a named partner at her firm and life is going exactly how she planned.

The same cannot be said for her husband, Adam. He is a struggling writer who has had little success in his career. He begins to tire of his and Sarah’s relationship as she is constantly working.

Out in the secluded woods, at Adam and Sarah’s second home, Adam engages in a passionate affair with Kelly Summers.

Then, one morning everything changes. Adam is arrested for Kelly’s murder. She had been found stabbed to death in Adam and Sarah’s second home.

Sarah soon finds herself playing the defender for her own husband, a man accused of murdering his mistress.

But is Adam guilty or is he innocent?]]> 337 Jeneva Rose 1913419657 Tara 4 3.90 2020 The Perfect Marriage (Perfect, #1)
author: Jeneva Rose
name: Tara
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves:
review:

]]> What Happened to the McCrays? 195391623 From New York Times bestselling author Tracey Lange, a poignant story about the resilience of family, the importance of community, and the magic of middle school hockey

When Kyle McCray gets word his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, he returns to his hometown of Potsdam, New York, where he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. Kyle left suddenly two and a half years ago, abandoning people who depended on him: his father, his employees, his friends—not to mention Casey, his wife of sixteen years and a beloved teacher in town. He plans to lie low and help his dad recuperate until he can leave again, especially after Casey makes it clear she wants him gone.

The longer he’s home, the more Kyle understands the impact his departure has had on the people he left behind. When he’s presented with an opportunity for redemption as the coach of the floundering middle school hockey team, he begins to find compassion in unexpected places. Kyle even considers staying in Potsdam, but that’s only possible if he and Casey can come to some kind of peace with each other.

Full of love and hope, What Happened to the McCrays? takes an intimate look at both sides of a failed marriage and two people who must finally confront the awful pain of their past or risk being consumed by it.]]> 352 Tracey Lange 1250328438 Tara 4 4.10 2025 What Happened to the McCrays?
author: Tracey Lange
name: Tara
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Snowed In (Fitzpatrick Christmas, #2)]]> 195487194
Christian’s fed up of being on his own every Christmas. He doesn’t mind being alone , but he hates his family’s sad eyes and soft tones as they sit around coupled up. Because he’s actually, totally, fine.

So when Megan literally bumps into Christian in a Dublin pub, they come up with a pact to see them through the holiday season. They’re going to be the very best fake dates for each other, ever .

Rules are drawn up, a contract is signed on a wine-stained napkin. They will sit through each other’s family gatherings and be outrageously in love until freed from their annual obligations. After all, it’s only for a few weeks.

But with everyone home for the holidays, two big families to deal with alongside old friends, old flames and old feelings, things are bound to get messy. And when a snowed-in cabin and a little Christmas magic are added to the mix, anything could happen�

A swoonworthy and utterly gorgeous romantic comedy that will make you laugh out loud and fall completely in love. Fans of Emily Henry, Sophie Kinsella and Abby Jimenez won’t be able to put this down!]]> 384 Catherine Walsh 1837906653 Tara 5 4.08 2023 Snowed In (Fitzpatrick Christmas, #2)
author: Catherine Walsh
name: Tara
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Eating Her Christmas Cookies (The Frost Brothers #1)]]> 55856024 Jack

In my perfect world it would always be winter and never Christmas.

I despise the holiday. I hate carols, shopping, and pretending to be a perfect family.

I walked away from my family, or rather they walked away from me.

My heart is like ice�

See it creeping up the walls.

Oh, wait, no, that’s royal icing.

I never should have allowed the Great Christmas Bake-Off to film in my tower.

And I never, ever, should have agreed to be a judge.


Chloe

I love Christmas! I love sparkly window decorations, heartwarming holiday movies, and themed coffee.

Most of all I love Christmas baking.

Even though his company is sponsoring the bake-off show, billionaire Jack Frost claims he hates sweets.

But after he tastes my goods I know he'll come begging for more.


And wouldn't you know it, that night Jack Frost asked me to come up to his penthouse and give him a special taste of my Christmas cookies.

Against my better judgement I went�


I baked him my signature gingerbread cookies and of course he ate them up!


It should have been a Christmas miracle, but Jack Frost couldn't have come into my life at a worse time.

Not only am I broke, but this was my first Christmas after my Oma died.

Someone is trying to sabotage me in the Great Christmas Bake-Off.

I'm being stalked by a mall Santa.


Sleeping with one of the judges is a disaster waiting to happen. I needed Jack and his washboard abs about as much as I needed that third sticky bun.Ěý

But when he says in his deep, sexy voice, "Can you make me some more cookies?" well stick a candy cane in me I'm done.

Eating her Christmas Cookies is a standalone holiday novel. This 90,000 word steamy romance novel has no cliffhangers but does have a very happily ever after.

]]> Alina Jacobs Tara 4 3.54 2018 Eating Her Christmas Cookies (The Frost Brothers #1)
author: Alina Jacobs
name: Tara
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves:
review:

]]> A Winter Wish 205436005 When an unexpected inheritance forces two total opposites to work together, Lexie must decide if Theo is going to push her out—or pull her in for the kiss of a lifetime—in this heartwarming holiday novel from the author of Always, in December and One Last Gift

When Lexie learns of her father’s death, she doesn’t know how to feel; they’ve barely spoken in the last ten years. And she’s even more confused when she discovers he’s left her half of his holiday travel company, a successful niche business specializing in trips that explore the holiday traditions of cultures all over the world.

Meanwhile, the other half of the company has been left to her father’s handsome but bad-tempered young executive, Theo. And the will stipulates that the two of them must find a way to run the company together for a year before they decide its fate.

Lexie intends to leave once the year is over, even though, as a wanderer herself, she finds the company’s mission more compelling than she first thought. And a work trip to sizzling Spain reveals a chemistry between Lexie and Theo that is impossible to deny.

There may have been some snap judgments made about each other. But mixing business and pleasure isn’t always a good idea.]]> 368 Emily Stone 0593872258 Tara 4 3.54 2024 A Winter Wish
author: Emily Stone
name: Tara
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:

]]> Hera 195790663
Traditionally portrayed as a jealous wife, a wicked stepmother, and a victim-blaming instrument of the patriarchy, Hera is ripe for a retelling that shows her as a powerful queen―ruthless when she needs to be, but also compassionate, strategic, and ambitious. With Hera, beloved and bestselling author Jennifer Saint delivers another epic and enthralling reimagining of a Greek heroine we only thought we knew.]]> 389 Jennifer Saint 1250855608 Tara 3 3.49 2024 Hera
author: Jennifer Saint
name: Tara
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 25 Days 217538341 25 days, 25 chapters. This December, the countdown to Christmas will chill you to the bone.

Hoping to bring his family closer together, Adam Gray arranges a vacation in a remote cabin on a snowy mountain. Things take a dark turn, however, when someone starts leaving gifts in the Christmas stocking mounted on the barn door.

Each morning brings something new, and with every passing day, the contents become more terrifying. Soon, the family makes a spine-chilling they’ve been dragged into a deranged game of Secret Santa, and if they want to survive, they will have to fight.]]> 360 Per Jacobsen 8794319308 Tara 3 3.65 25 Days
author: Per Jacobsen
name: Tara
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/14
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves:
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]]> The Holiday Honeymoon Switch 204316886 When doppelgänger best friends trade one’s cabin Christmas vacation for the other’s Hawaiian would’ve-been-honeymoon, both might just find love they weren’t expecting.

Holly Beech and Ivy Casey are bury-the-body besties. They’re so in sync, they even look alike. So when Holly’s fiancé jilts her, leaving her in shock and with a nonrefundable honeymoon, Holly convinces Ivy to switch places. Ivy will go on the Hawaiian honeymoon her best friend can’t bear to take alone, while Holly escapes to Ivy’s rented Hudson Valley cabin to binge-watch holiday movies and heal.

But Holly’s wallowing is interrupted when her rugged Airbnb host turns out to be her high school academic rival who’s had a major glow-up. Meanwhile, Ivy’s (now Hawaiian) annual solo art retreat is upended when Holly’s ex-fiancé checks into the honeymoon suite—with a new woman. Raging and bedless, the last thing Ivy expects is for the hot hotel bartender to come to her rescue. Against all odds, this Christmas might prove the most magical yet.]]> 352 Julia McKay 0593716280 Tara 4 3.59 2024 The Holiday Honeymoon Switch
author: Julia McKay
name: Tara
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/14
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Evergreen Christmas (Frosted Firs Ranch, #1)]]> 204294898 The first in a new cozy Christmas series where the 12 annual Competitions of Christmas in the, close-knit town of Noel, North Carolina are underway! This year horse breeder, and newcomer, Jordyn Banks decides to take on the resident Christmas tree decorating champion, who happens to be her handsome next door neighbor. Barrel racer Jordyn Banks is thrilled to discover affordable land for sale in charming Noel, perfect for breeding her horses. But that’s not all. A nomad with no family—other than her beloved Quarter Horse, Star—she also hopes to find a home within the close-knit Appalachian Mountain community. Yet Jordyn didn’t bargain on inheriting a controversial Fraser Fir—or falling for a handsome single dad whose adorable little girl tempts her to dream of being far more than a property owner . . . Since losing his wife in childbirth six years ago, Nate Reed has devoted himself to their daughter, Roxanna, and built up their thriving Frosted Firs Ranch. For nine years straight he’s won Noel’s contest for the most perfect Christmas tree for the Town Square. It’s a tradition he began with his late wife. But this year, Jordyn Banks is determined to harvest her Fraser Fir and compete—meaning Nate will finally be challenged—in more ways than one . . . Throughout the event, Nate can’t help noticing that Roxanna is dazzled by Jordyn’s strength, beauty, and quirky sense of humor. Soon enough, Nate is falling for her, too. But can a feisty wanderer ever really settle down? Is Nate ready to open his heart to someone new? And is it possible that sometimes love does grow on (Christmas) trees? . . .]]> 288 Janet Dailey 1496747895 Tara 4 3.78 2024 Evergreen Christmas (Frosted Firs Ranch, #1)
author: Janet Dailey
name: Tara
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves:
review:

]]> A Killing Cold 211004079 A woman invited to her wealthy fiance’s family retreat realizes they are hiding a terrible secret—and that she’s been there before, by the bestselling author of What Lies in the Woods.

A whirlwind romance.
When Theodora Scott met Connor—wealthy, charming, and a member of the powerful Dalton family—she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he’s brought her to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to win over his skeptical relatives.

Stay away from Connor Dalton.
Theo has tried to ignore the threatening messages on her phone, but she can’t ignore the footprints in the snow outside the cabin window or the strange sense of familiarity she has about this place. Then, in a disused cabin, Theo finds something impossible: a photo of herself as a child. A photo taken at Idlewood.

I’ve been here before.
Theo has almost no recollection of her earliest years, but now she begins to piece together the fragments of her memories. Someone here has a shocking secret that they will do anything to keep hidden, and Theo is in terrible danger. Because the Daltons do not lose, and discovering what happened at Idlewood may cost Theo everything.]]> 291 Kate Alice Marshall 1250343054 Tara 4 3.80 2025 A Killing Cold
author: Kate Alice Marshall
name: Tara
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One Last Christmas (Seasons of Sugar Creek)]]> 63116009 Getting stuck in Sugar Creek wasn’t on Bobbi’s Christmas list�

After a string of bad relationships and a canceled graduation trip, Bobbi gives up and heads home for Christmas. Despite the magnetic pull of holiday lights and hot cocoa in the square, she’s still solidly committed to landing her dream film internship in L.A. and putting any distractions decidedly in the slush pile.

Ben, a highly sought-after ski instructor—and Bobbi’s first kiss—is back in Sugar Creek for one reason and one reason to spend one last Christmas with his mom before she loses her battle with ALS.

When Bobbi runs into Ben at St. Ambrose ski resort, she fights valiantly to ignore the memories that bubble up inside her. She didn’t plan on biffing it in fresh powder on the hill next to him. And she definitely didn’t anticipate getting torturously snowed in with him and his girlfriend.

Despite her best efforts to stay far, far away from Ben McNeil, Sugar Creek seems to foil Bobbi’s plans at every turn. As the two one-time best friends help build a set for White Christmas and work to create one last magical Christmas for Ben’s mom, Bobbi can no longer ignore the attraction reigniting within her. She can’t help but wonder what might’ve been had Ben stayed in Sugar Creek all those years ago�

This cozy, festive read is a toasty blanket and steaming cup of cocoa in a book. Fans of Katherine Center, Debbie Macomber, and Nicola May will love this heartwarming, small-town holiday romance.

Read the story now!]]> 274 Cynthia Gunderson Tara 4 3.49 One Last Christmas (Seasons of Sugar Creek)
author: Cynthia Gunderson
name: Tara
average rating: 3.49
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
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]]> Through the Snow Globe 125077933 It’s a Wonderful Life meets Groundhog Day, as a woman dangerously close to losing it all receives an unexpected Christmas gift that prompts a surprising journey of self-discovery... and another chance at happiness.

What if you could have one more day with someone you lost?

Diana Merriman, a physical therapist, is probably the only person in the small town of Snow Haven, North Carolina, who isn’t looking forward to Christmas. It’s been three weeks since her fiancé Linus was critically injured when a car hit him as he biked home from the toy store he owns and manages. Watching him open his eyes is the only gift she wants, but she can’t help losing a little more hope every day.

But an unexpected visit from a friendly neighbor and finding a snow globe of Snow Haven—a gift Linus had hidden in the closet—the night before Christmas Eve changes things in ways Diana never would have imagined. Because on Christmas Eve Diana wakes up to find that it’s not—Christmas Eve, that is. Instead, it’s somehow December 4 all over again, the day Linus got hurt, and as mystified as Diana is, she immediately starts a plan to save her partner from his fate.

Nothing is that simple, of course. Instead of a single repeat of that day, Diana finds herself in an endless loop of December 4, experiencing every possible variation of events. Along the way, she uncovers startling truths about herself, her relationship, and even her career that illustrate the ways she’s retreated from her life—and in the face of life’s slights and outright blows, from her deepest feelings. Suddenly hope is second only to joy as Diana opens her heart to the people she loves in every way she can.]]> 352 Annie Rains 149674084X Tara 4 3.78 2023 Through the Snow Globe
author: Annie Rains
name: Tara
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/08
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves:
review:

]]> Beautiful Ugly 211004123 The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .
. . . and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible � a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.]]> 306 Alice Feeney 125033778X Tara 4 3.65 2025 Beautiful Ugly
author: Alice Feeney
name: Tara
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Most Wonderful 205846808
It’s the most romantic time of the year.

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

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

Emotional, smart, and sexy, this queer holiday romcom celebrates love, family, and the wild creative life, and is perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Casey McQuiston.]]> 432 Georgia Clark 0593729080 Tara 3 3.75 2024 Most Wonderful
author: Georgia Clark
name: Tara
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/04
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:

]]> The Merry Matchmaker 204218797 The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie

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

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

Then there’s Mitch Howard, the owner of the local hardware store. They’ve been friends ever since Frankie opened her store, nine years earlier. He got her through the nightmare when she lost her husband in a freak accident, and he’s her favorite shoulder to cry on. He’s been divorced for years, and it’s such a waste of man! Mitch is the fittest, finest man Frankie knows. He’s easygoing, wise and kindhearted. Mitch needs someone. And she’s determined to help him find that someone—whether he likes it or not.
]]> 329 Sheila Roberts Tara 4 3.82 The Merry Matchmaker
author: Sheila Roberts
name: Tara
average rating: 3.82
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Midlife Holiday (The Midlife Trilogy #1)]]> 61301061
Helen Winters worries the walls are closing in. With her children grown and her selfish husband absent on her fiftieth birthday, she regrets not taking the exciting paths she dreamed about in her youth. So when a well-meaning gift reveals a depressing image of her future, she takes a leap of faith and jets off to Cyprus with two lifelong friends.

Basking in the glorious sunshine and crystal-blue waters while enjoying the attention of handsome men, she. starts to feel truly alive. But her best friend isn't in Cyprus for the sunshine, and when Helen learns the true reason, tensions threaten their lifelong bond and she fears nothing will ever be the same again.

Can she shake off years of disappointment and claim well-deserved happiness?

A Midlife Holiday is the affirming first tale in the Midlife Trilogy women's fiction series. If you like vivacious heroines, relatable humor, and reawakenings of the spirit, then you'll love Cary J Hansson's nuanced take on aging with style.

Buy A Midlife Holiday to reignite your soul today!]]> 284 Cary J. Hansson 9198758721 Tara 4 3.67 A Midlife Holiday (The Midlife Trilogy #1)
author: Cary J. Hansson
name: Tara
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:

]]> The Kingdom of Sweets 123176586 Bestselling author of the Queen of the Tearling series, Erika Johansen, journeys to a new kingdom in this brilliant stand-alone novel—a darkly magical take on The Nutcracker where two sisters, cursed from birth, are forever changed one memorable Christmas. . . .

Light and dark—this is the destiny placed upon Natasha and Clara, the birthright bestowed by their godfather, the mysterious sorcerer Drosselmeyer. Clara, the favorite, grows into beauty and ease, while Natasha is cursed to live in her sister’s shadow. But one fateful Christmas Eve, Natasha gets her chance at revenge. For Drosselmeyer has brought the Nutcracker, an enchanted present that offers entry into a deceptively beautiful world: the Kingdom of Sweets.

In this land of snow and sugar, Natasha is presented with a power far greater than Drosselmeyer: the Sugar Plum Fairy, who is also full of gifts . . . and dreadful bargains. As Natasha uncovers the dark destiny laid before her birth, she must reckon with powers both earthly and magical, and decide to which world she truly belongs.]]> 354 Erika Johansen 1524742759 Tara 3 3.21 2023 The Kingdom of Sweets
author: Erika Johansen
name: Tara
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
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]]> Real Americans 62929342 Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn't be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.

In 2021, fifteen-year-old Nick Chen has never felt like he belonged on the isolated Washington island where he lives with his single mother, Lily. He can't shake the sense she's hiding something. When Nick sets out to find his biological father, the journey threatens to raise more questions than answers.

In immersive, moving prose, Rachel Khong weaves a profound tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance—a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home.

Exuberant and explosive, Real Americans is a social novel par excellence that asks: Are we destined, or made, and if so, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?

From the award-winning author of Goodbye, Vitamin: How far would you go to shape your own destiny? An exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family, and asks: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures? ]]> 399 Rachel Khong 0593537254 Tara 4 3.94 2024 Real Americans
author: Rachel Khong
name: Tara
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/30
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Good Elf Gone Wrong (Wynter Brothers, #1)]]> 199432961 When you catch your fiancé cheating on you with your sister on Christmas Eve, the elf hat comes off.
I’ve always been the good girl—the anti Scrooge—the one who sacrifices for her guests, bakes cookies for her neighbors, and stays late after a party to clean up.
I don’t mind. I like being on the nice list.

I kept smiling when I caught my fiancé coming down my sister’s chimney on Christmas Eve.
I gave polite congratulations when they got engaged on Christmas morning.
And I even offered to help decorate for their holiday wedding despite the fact that was supposed to be my dream wedding.

But when my sister cuts up our great-grandmother’s one-hundred-year-old wedding dress and turns it into a skank show, even though that was the dress I was going to wear on my wedding day?
Well, this elf is torching down the North Pole.

And what better way to get revenge than giving those cheaters a taste of their own medicine?
This good elf is bringing the bad boy home for Christmas.
Hudson is a six-foot-five, coldhearted, tattooed bad elf with a perpetual sneer and washboard abs.
He’s exactly my sister’s type.
And he’s going to help me nuke her wedding from orbit on the night before Christmas.

What he is not supposed to do is grab my ass in the kitchen while I bake gingerbread.
Or crawl in my bed half naked.
And he’s definitely not supposed to smirk and tell me to commit to our fake relationship right before he goes down on me.

Guess there’s a reason the good elves stay far away from the bad.

Good elves of Christmas unite! We’re ogling the tattooed chests of shirtless bad boys, baking massive amounts of cookies, drinking all the wine, and trying to survive recently divorced grandmothers who have a pathological obsession with our love lives. This standalone holiday romantic comedy has all the Christmas cheer you can fit in your stocking and a happily ever after, guaranteed!]]> 589 Alina Jacobs Tara 3 3.96 Good Elf Gone Wrong (Wynter Brothers, #1)
author: Alina Jacobs
name: Tara
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> A Home for the Holidays 204316960 A witty, warmhearted novel about coming to terms with grief, taking a chance on unexpected connections, and finding family in time for the holidays.

For wedding singer Mel Hart, the holidays have always retained a certain magic. Her mother, Connie, always managed to pull off spectacular Santa hijinx that convinced Mel to keep believing in Santa way longer than other kids. Those moments meant everything to Mel because the rest of the year, life was unpredictable because of her mother’s alcohol use.

But two weeks before Christmas, Mel gets a call from the hospital: her mother has died.

Then a woman shows up on Mel's doorstep, claiming to be Connie's estranged best friend, promising to tell Mel a different narrative—one in which Connie was almost a famous country music star, if only a man hadn't gotten in the way. Instead of spending Christmas alone in her dead mother's house, Mel agrees to stay with Barb for the holidays, finding herself in the middle of Barb's complicated family and uncovering secrets while fighting an attraction to Barb’s in-the-middle-of-a-divorce son. As Christmas approaches, Mel reckons with how little she knew about her mother's past while reexamining her own future.

A Home for the Holidays is a moving exploration of complicated grief, mother-daughter relationships, loving someone with addiction, and the redemptive power of opening one's heart to love in all its forms.]]> 256 Taylor Hahn 0593470702 Tara 4 3.80 2024 A Home for the Holidays
author: Taylor Hahn
name: Tara
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Two Can Keep a Secret 38225791
The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.]]> 329 Karen M. McManus 1524714720 Tara 4 3.92 2019 Two Can Keep a Secret
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Tara
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year's (Mrs. Claus, #5)]]> 204294793

April Claus is looking forward to relaxing with her hubby, Nick (aka THE Santa Claus), in the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. But just after Santa departs for his deliveries, an elf pulls into Santaland with three people he found lost in the frozen wilderness. The survivors of a scientific expedition are injured, but their presence endangers the future of Santaland. So, while the strangers recuperate at the infirmary, April convinces Christmastown to pull off its grandest, most impossible, most magical feat yet . . . pretend to be normal!

Posing as a touristy, albeit Christmas-centric, arctic town, the elves cover their ears, snowmen take a vow of silence, and the reindeer keep their hooves on the ground. But as New Year’s Eve draws closer, hiding their true selves becomes harder to do, especially when one of the uninvited guests dies under highly suspicious circumstances. With a murderer in their midst, April sets out to find the uncorked culprit before any auld acquaintances should be forgot . . . or worse.]]> 304 Liz Ireland 149674893X Tara 4 3.94 2024 Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year's (Mrs. Claus, #5)
author: Liz Ireland
name: Tara
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 'Tis the Damn Season 212020753 This year, their families can deck the bloody halls themselves...

Old friends Shelley, Lena and Pearl have reached their limit with the festive preparation that has always fallen to them, and five days before Christmas, they’ve booked a mini break� without their families. Up until Christmas Eve, they’ll be sipping prosecco in the Highlands while their kids wrap bacon around 100 chipolatas and their partners brave the supermarkets.

It’s exactly what they need� until they’re snowed in. Facing the prospect of Christmas 500 miles from home, each woman is forced to confront her real reasons for needing to escape: the fiancé with the obnoxious family; the son’s new girlfriend who is taking over their home; the family who take their mother for granted all year round�

Will the friends make it home before Christmas day? And if they do, can they really go back to their old lives?]]> 287 Fiona Gibson 1836172184 Tara 4 3.91 'Tis the Damn Season
author: Fiona Gibson
name: Tara
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Christmas Party (Bailey Family #1)]]> 63288618
On a snowy December night, the Bailey family are gathered at an isolated hotel in the English countryside. They’re reuniting for the first time since the accident that shattered their lives ten years ago.

It’s a time for love and forgiveness. But more than one guest has an ulterior motive:

The perfect daughter
The alcoholic

The single mother
The liar

The handsome husband
The adulterer

The beautiful sister
The jealous sibling

The murderer�

As the clock strikes midnight, one member of the party is found dead at the foot of the grand marble staircase.

Everyone is a suspect. But which one of them is a killer?

This completely addictive psychological thriller is packed with chilling twists that will keep you up all night. Perfect for fans of The Hunting Party and The Chalet.]]> 291 Mikayla Davids 1739227808 Tara 3 3.54 2022 The Christmas Party (Bailey Family #1)
author: Mikayla Davids
name: Tara
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves:
review:

]]> Twice on Christmas 197785670
The last thing she hears is a tenor voice singing Silent Night.

Several hours later, the police find Rose lying in a ditch. Badly beaten � but alive.

As she recovers in hospital, Rose is told she’s pregnant. She has a terrible choice to make. She decides to keep the baby.

Nine months later, she gives birth to a beautiful baby girl. She names her Mary.

Rose lives quietly in her small Connecticut hometown raising her daughter � the one good thing to come out of her horrible ordeal. She begins to get her old self back.

But her evil attacker has never been caught. He strikes twice a year. Once on Christmas Eve, once on Christmas Day.

And until he’s behind bars, Rose and her baby can never be safe.

But now he’s found out he has a daughter. And that changes everything . . .]]> 334 McGarvey Black 1835261388 Tara 4 4.03 2023 Twice on Christmas
author: McGarvey Black
name: Tara
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/16
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Only Santas in the Building (Under the Mistletoe Collection, #5)]]> 220389090
All Evie Cruz wants for Christmas is a nap. And maybe some ornaments for her naked Christmas tree. And while she’s making a list, she wouldn’t mind unwrapping her sexy upstairs neighbor like a present. Luckily, the building’s Santa-themed party and a surprise sprig of mistletoe give her just the opening she needs to make all her wishes come true.

Alexis Daria’s Only Santas in the Building is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 65 Alexis Daria 1662529376 Tara 3 3.36 2024 Only Santas in the Building (Under the Mistletoe Collection, #5)
author: Alexis Daria
name: Tara
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/16
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Merriment and Mayhem (Under the Mistletoe Collection, #4)]]> 220389457
When Everleigh Dangerfield’s baking disaster necessitates a call to 911, firefighter Griffin Brantley douses the flames in the kitchen, but the ones he stokes in Everleigh are an entirely different story. Unfortunately, Everleigh’s only visiting and doesn’t do casual hookups, no matter how smoldering the temptation. But Everleigh’s holiday mishaps have just begun. And Griffin is seemingly always on call. If Everleigh is game for a change of plans, he can give her the merriest Christmas of her life.

Alexandria Bellefleur’s Merriment and Mayhem is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 58 Alexandria Bellefleur 1662529341 Tara 0 3.28 2024 Merriment and Mayhem (Under the Mistletoe Collection, #4)
author: Alexandria Bellefleur
name: Tara
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[All by My Elf (Under the Mistletoe Collection, #3)]]> 220389455
Nina and William are underpaid adjunct professors at the same university, where winter break is no break at all: ’tis the season to make extra money. When their holiday side hustle has them stranded by a blinding blizzard in the middle of nowhere, there’s nothing to do but cuddle up for warmth and play a game of Never Have I Ever to pass the time. But in the game of love, secrets never stay secret for long�

Olivia Dade’s All by My Elf is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 55 Olivia Dade 166252823X Tara 3 2.58 2024 All by My Elf (Under the Mistletoe Collection, #3)
author: Olivia Dade
name: Tara
average rating: 2.58
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Merry Ever After (Under the Mistletoe Collection, #2)]]> 220389465 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey.

Evie Crowe is starting over in a strange town with her newborn, and men are the furthest thing from her mind. If only the quiet, hulking farmer, Luke Ward, would stop coming into the thrift shop and piquing her reluctant interest. Evie wants to stay single all the way—she can’t trust anything more than friends-with-holiday-benefits. But Luke is in it for the long haul. He’s fixed on making this a Christmas Evie will remember forever. If she gives him a chance.

Tessa Bailey’s Merry Ever After is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 59 Tessa Bailey 1662528736 Tara 3 2.79 2024 Merry Ever After (Under the Mistletoe Collection, #2)
author: Tessa Bailey
name: Tara
average rating: 2.79
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cruel Winter with You (Under the Mistletoe Collection, #1)]]> 220389458 New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood.

All newly minted pediatrician Jamie Malek wants is to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, that requires her to interact with Marc—her best friend’s troublemaking brother, who’s now a tech billionaire. He’s the one who got away. She’s the one who broke his heart. Outside, a howling blizzard. Inside, a crackling fire. Suddenly, being snowbound with the man she never expected to see again might not be such a bad way to spend a winter’s night.

Ali Hazelwood’s Cruel Winter with You is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 73 Ali Hazelwood 1662528396 Tara 3 3.68 2024 Cruel Winter with You (Under the Mistletoe Collection, #1)
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Tara
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys (Mrs. Claus #4)]]> 75544339
At Castle Kringle, the elves are excitedly arranging their first ever Thanksgiving day feast. April’s husband, Nick—the real Santa—has some misgivings, since it’s tough to get ready for Christmas when everyone is obsessed with helium balloons and pie recipes. Chaos erupts when Gobbles, the live turkey imported for the castle feast, is bird-napped. That crime is quickly overshadowed at a pre-Thanksgiving potluck when Nick’s cousin, Elspeth, face-plants into her mashed potatoes—dead.

Someone poisoned Elspeth, and April believes Constable Crinkle is hauling the wrong suspect off to jail. An ominous message, written in what seems to be blood and urging April to stop investigating, only convinces her more. But who’s really to blame? Where is Gobbles the turkey? And can April solve a double helping of mystery in time for everyone to sit down to a non-deadly dinner together?]]> 288 Liz Ireland 1496737830 Tara 4 4.15 2023 Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys (Mrs. Claus #4)
author: Liz Ireland
name: Tara
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:

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

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

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

As Tilly and George circle each other, they both wonder where their lives are headed and if, maybe, meeting each other is just the Christmas miracle they need.]]> 72 Mary Kay Andrews 1662527004 Tara 3 3.62 2024 Holiday Hideaway
author: Mary Kay Andrews
name: Tara
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I'll Be Alone For Christmas: A Thriller Novella]]> 219801741 I’ll Be Alone For Christmas is a suspenseful novella filled with terror, a dash of gore, and packed with Christmas spirit.

Romee's winter break was planned out months ahead. A week at a cabin in the woods sounded romantic, and maybe it was just what her boyfriend of two years needed to pop the question.

Instead, he proposed they break up, a week before they were destined to wake up Christmas morning, happier than ever. Heartbroken but undaunted, Romee embarks on a solitary journey to the remote cabin, yearning for peace and closure in the tranquil snowscape. Six nights of isolation, wine, and TV shows seemed like the perfect remedy for a breakup.

Yet, from the moment she arrives, an ominous presence clings to her. The house is old, creaking and shifting, as if harboring another occupant. Bizarre occurrences escalate as each day passes, blurring the line between reality and a nightmare, making her question everything. She is alone, right?

When Romee decides it’s time to leave the vacation rental early, it’s already too late. Snowed in and unable to escape, she has to survive the frigid conditions and limited resources... And the possibility that someone sees her when she’s sleeping and knows when she’s awake.]]> 166 Kristin Mulligan Tara 4 3.89 2024 I'll Be Alone For Christmas: A Thriller Novella
author: Kristin Mulligan
name: Tara
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How My Neighbor Stole Christmas]]> 211929737 A new winter holiday, enemies-to-lovers romance, from the undeniably funny and always spicy, USA Today bestselling author, Meghan Quinn.

Living in a year around Christmas town has it's drawbacks. The caroling, the decorations, the insanely cheery spirit, it never disappears. It's why I like to hibernate away in my cave--I mean house--keeping a healthy distance from the holly jolly spirits.

And all was going according to plan until my nemesis, Storee Taylor, moved in next door to care for her Aunt Cindy. Without blinking, she turned my simple world into a real nightmare-before-Christmas, especially when she decided to enter the town Christmas Kringle contest - which she was determined to win.

Well guess what? Over my cold-hearted body.

There was no way I was going to let her win, not after the history we'd shared.

So despite my promise to myself of never participating in the sickening Christmas season, I entered the competition as well. That's right, I planned on beating Storee at her own game by pretending this grump’s heart grew three sizes this season.

And it was working until feelings between us started heating up.
We pretended to date.
We kissed.
And well, sparks flew from there.

Which led to one explosive night involving Christmas lights, the competition, and a ladder. Don't let me convince you who stole Christmas, I think you need to find out for yourself...]]> 482 Meghan Quinn Tara 4 3.77 2024 How My Neighbor Stole Christmas
author: Meghan Quinn
name: Tara
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/12
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]]> <![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 Tara 3 3.92 2024 The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year
author: Ally Carter
name: Tara
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/11
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves:
review:

]]> One Big Happy Family 204906189 Please don’t come home for Christmas�

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

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

As the guest list grows in surprising ways, from Blair’s estranged mom to Heath’s precocious children, Julie’s secret is one of many to be unwrapped. Over this delightfully complicated and very funny Christmas, she’ll discover that more really is merrier, and that a big, happy family can become bigger and happier, if they let go of old hurts and open their hearts to love.]]> 320 Susan Mallery 1335006303 Tara 4 3.64 2024 One Big Happy Family
author: Susan Mallery
name: Tara
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Holiday Honeymoon for One (A Christmas at the Falls Romance #1)]]> 63215061
Unexpectedly, the gorgeous man, who should have been on his honeymoon, makes a fantastic second and third impression. It’s putting a big kink in my plans. You see, resort employees and guests are forbidden to mingle, but mingle we do. Not only is Jace amazing with my son, but he’s making me believe that maybe I deserve more than I’ve given myself credit for. But is he worth risking my heart and promotion for? He sure thinks so. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll let him convince me.

USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Peel presents a charming Christmas tale about finding love in the most unexpected place—a honeymoon.]]> 189 Jennifer Peel Tara 4 3.60 Holiday Honeymoon for One (A Christmas at the Falls Romance #1)
author: Jennifer Peel
name: Tara
average rating: 3.60
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Killer in the Cold (DI James Walker, #5)]]> 211051407 Pre-order the next gripping thriller from Alex Pine!

This Winter, a brutal killer strikes again in a small village.

DCI James Walker is on the case. But will he find the killer before they strike again?

Praise for Alex

�HELP! I am addicted to this series! Unputdownable� NetGalley reviewer

�Alex Pine has done it again! Another excellent crime thriller� I was hooked from the first page. Read it � you won’t be disappointed� NetGalley reviewer

�Absolutely gripping� I was on the edge of my seat� NetGalley reviewer]]> 383 Alex Pine 0008706824 Tara 4 4.10 The Killer in the Cold (DI James Walker, #5)
author: Alex Pine
name: Tara
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
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]]> Ward D 123193218 spending the night on a locked psychiatric ward.

Amy has been dreading her evening working on Ward D, the hospital’s inpatient mental health unit. There are very specific reasons why she never wanted to do this required overnight rotation. Reasons nobody can ever find out.

And as the hours tick by, Amy grows increasingly convinced something terrible is happening within these tightly secured walls. When patients and staff start to vanish without a trace, it becomes clear that everyone on the unit is in grave danger.

Amy’s worst nightmare was spending the night on Ward D.

And now she might never escape.
]]> 348 Freida McFadden Tara 5 3.98 2023 Ward D
author: Freida McFadden
name: Tara
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Now or Never (Stephanie Plum, #31)]]> 207299449
While Stephanie stalls for time, she buries herself in her work as a bounty hunter, tracking down an unusually varied assortment of fugitives from justice. There’s Eugene Fleck, a seemingly sweet online influencer who might also be YouTube star Robin Hoodie, masked hero to the homeless, who hijacks delivery trucks and distributes their contents to the needy. She’s also on the trail of Bruno Jug, a wealthy and connected man in the wholesale produce business who is rumored to traffic young girls alongside lettuce and tomatoes. Most terrifying of all is Zoran—a laundromat manager by day and self-proclaimed vampire by night with a taste for the blood of pretty girls. When he shows up on Stephanie’s doorstep, it’s not for the meatloaf dinner.

With timely assists from her stalwart supporters Lula, Connie, and Grandma Mazur, Stephanie uses every trick in the book to reel in these men. But only she can decide what to do about the two men she actually loves. She can’t hold Ranger and Morelli at bay for long, and she’s keeping a secret from them that is the biggest bombshell of all. Now or never, she’s got to make the decision of a lifetime.]]> 320 Janet Evanovich 1668003139 Tara 4 4.05 2024 Now or Never (Stephanie Plum, #31)
author: Janet Evanovich
name: Tara
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Paradise for Christmas (Sisters in Paradise #1)]]> 76747298 368 Carolyn Brown 1728274982 Tara 4 4.18 2023 Paradise for Christmas (Sisters in Paradise #1)
author: Carolyn Brown
name: Tara
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/30
date added: 2024/11/30
shelves:
review:

]]> One by One 54197718
A night spent sleeping on dirt and leaves is not how Claire Matchett expected to spend her vacation.

She thought this would be a break from the stresses of work and raising her young children. A chance to repair her damaged marriage. A week of hiking and hot tubs with two other couple friends. It sounded like heaven.

Then Claire’s minivan breaks down on a lonely dirt road. With no cell reception, the group has no choice but to hike the rest of the way to their hotel. But it turns out the woods aren’t as easy to navigate as they thought.

Hours later, they are lost. Hopelessly lost.

And as they navigate deeper into the woods, the members of their party are struck down mysteriously one by one. Has a wild animal been hunting them? Or is the hunter one of them?

But as more time passes, one thing becomes clear:

Only one of them will return home alive.]]> 295 Freida McFadden Tara 4 3.87 2020 One by One
author: Freida McFadden
name: Tara
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/28
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves:
review:

]]> Love, Holly 78299277
Sometimes it takes a stranger to bring you back to yourself.

Ever since a car accident tore her family apart, Holly has been part of a lonely-hearts holiday letter–writing club. Each December, she writes to a stranger who is also spending Christmas alone, and receives a letter from another lonely person in return.Ěý

Usually, the letters go unanswered. That’s the point—the letters are anonymous, and the senders write whatever is in their heart. But this year, the letter Holly receives is different; not only is the letter full of a grief she knows all too well, but its writer, Emma, mentions a place that Holly has visited. When she realizes that she might actually be able to find the letter’s author, Holly becomes determined to reunite Emma with the estranged grandson, Jack, with whom Emma is desperate to reconnect.

When Holly finally tracks him down, she remembers that she’s met Jack once before . . . and the connection was electric. The spark between the two of them is still there—until a misunderstanding risks their burgeoning romance and his strained relationship with Emma, too. But Holly is determined; if she can fix Emma’s family, she might also be able to fix her own. Though as it turns out, Holly might have less time to put things right than she thought.]]> 370 Emily Stone 0593722116 Tara 4 3.85 2023 Love, Holly
author: Emily Stone
name: Tara
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/28
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie]]> 216476388 My husband is dead.

I attended his funeral. I watched his casket be lowered six feet into the ground. (Actually, it may have been only five feet, but that still seems like more than enough.) And then we ate an array of finger sandwiches and deviled eggs and miniature beef wellingtons that cost more than my first car.

My point is, Grant is gone. And so are all his many, many deep, dark secrets which I never really ever bothered to ask him about. He is never coming back.

So why do I still see his face everywhere I go?

The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie is an utterly addictive, unputdownable, nail-biting, absolutely gripping psychological thriller novella with a shocking, breathtaking, heartstopping, spine-chilling twist that you won't see coming, will leave you stunned, and will literally have you picking your jaw up off the floor and bringing it to the nearest hospital for major facial reconstructive surgery.]]> 152 Freida McFadden Tara 4 3.34 2024 The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie
author: Freida McFadden
name: Tara
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves:
review:

]]> Nightbitch 55835474
At home full-time with her two-year-old son, an artist finds she is struggling. She is lonely and exhausted. She had imagined - what was it she had imagined? Her husband, always travelling for his work, calls her from faraway hotel rooms. One more toddler bedtime, and she fears she might lose her mind.

Instead, quite suddenly, she starts gaining things, surprising things that happen one night when her child will not sleep. Sharper canines. Strange new patches of hair. New appetites, new instincts. And from deep within herself, a new voice...

With its clear eyes on contemporary womanhood and sharp take on structures of power, Nightbitch is an outrageously original, joyfully subversive read that will make you want to howl in laughter and recognition. Addictive enough to be devoured in one sitting, this is an unforgettable novel from a blazing new talent.]]> 256 Rachel Yoder 0385546815 Tara 3 3.47 2021 Nightbitch
author: Rachel Yoder
name: Tara
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Red River Road 195790904 Anna Downes's extraordinary next thriller Red River Road follows a woman desperate to discover what happened to her sister on a solo road trip through the Australian outback.

Katy Sweeney is looking for her sister. A year earlier, just three weeks into a solo vanlife trip, her free-spirited younger sister, Phoebe, vanished without a trace on the remote, achingly beautiful coastal highway in Western Australia. With no witnesses, no leads, and no DNA evidence, the case has gone cold. But Katy refuses to give up on her.

Using Phoebe’s social media accounts as a map, Katy retraces her sister’s steps, searching for any clues the police may have missed. Was Phoebe being followed? Who had she met along the way, and how dangerous were they?

And then Katy’s path collides with that of Beth, who is on the run from her own dark past. Katy realizes that Beth might be her best—and only—chance of finding the truth, and the two women form an uneasy alliance to find out what really happened to Phoebe in this wild, beautiful, and perilous place.

Anna Downes takes us on a twist-filled journey into the dark side of solo female travel, in this gripping novel that explores what drives us to keep searching for those we have lost, the family bonds that can make or break us, and the deception of memory.]]> 369 Anna Downes 1250868017 Tara 4 3.74 2024 Red River Road
author: Anna Downes
name: Tara
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Dearest 204593562 B&N Best Horror of 2024
A Golden Poppy Octavia E. Butler Award Finalist
A Book of the Month Club Pick

A new mom in need of help opens her door to her long-estrangedĚýmother—only to invite something much darker inside—in this "fast-paced and frightening debut" (Rachel Harrison) about the long shadows cast by family secrets, perfect for readers of Grady Hendrix or Ashley Audrain.

Flora is a new mom enamored of her baby girl, Iris, even if she arrived a few weeks early. With her husband still deployed, Flora navigates the newborn stage alone. But as the sleepless nights pass in the loneliness of their half-empty home, the edges of her reality begin to blur.

Just as Flora becomes convinced she is losing her mind, a surprising guest shows up: Flora’s own mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken in years. Can they mend their fraught relationship? Or is there more Flora’s mother isn’t telling her about the events that led to their estrangement?

As stranger and scarier events unfold, Flora begins to suspect the house is not as empty as she once thought. She must determine: is her hold on reality slipping dangerously away? Or is she, in fact, the only thing standing between a terrifying visitor and her baby?Ěý±Ő±Ő> 297 Jacquie Walters 0316580295 Tara 4 3.50 2024 Dearest
author: Jacquie Walters
name: Tara
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Christmas You Found Me (Heart of the Wilderness, #1)]]> 202204672 Sarah Morgenthaler is back with a heart-mending contemporary romance featuring a single dad you'll fall for; a satisfying slow burn love affair; found family you'll root for; small town holiday magic; and all the quirky animals and snowy rustic scenes your heart desires.

Sienna Naples's family has taken care of their wild Idaho land for generations and Sienna can't imagine any other life. But at Christmastime, with her parents gone and her painful marriage finally over, it's full of memories...and incredibly lonely. Until a tall, handsome stranger and a little girl walk into her life and suddenly the holidays are alive again.

When single father Guy Maple shows up as the result of an ad meant to be a joke, the handsome Montana construction worker isn't joking. Money is tight this Christmas, and Guy's four-year-old daughter Emma has stage-five chronic kidney disease. She needs a kidney transplant, but if Guy can't prove that he can afford Emma's anti-rejection medications, his daughter isn't going to stay on the transplant list. Guy's willing to do anything, including marrying a stranger, to keep her safe. It's an impulsive marriage of convenience, and Sienna knows this isn't real, no matter how much she adores Emma, how well Guy fits in to the ranching life—or how much light and laughter is coming into their lives as a result. But the more time she spends with her new family, the more she fears losing the fragile, feisty little girl and the kind, devoted, hard-working, incredibly attractive man who is her husband—but is it only in name?]]> 304 Sarah Morgenthaler 1728249201 Tara 3 4.13 2024 The Christmas You Found Me (Heart of the Wilderness, #1)
author: Sarah Morgenthaler
name: Tara
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The New Rules of Attachment: How to Heal Your Relationships, Reparent Your Inner Child, and Secure Your Life Vision]]> 173494434 A revolutionary approach to attachment theoryĚýthat teaches readers how to heal their inner child to change their anxious, avoidant, or disorganized attachment style in relationships, friendships, at work, and home—perfect for readers of How to Do the Work, Polysecure, and Amir Levine’s Attached.Ěýâ€� Did you know that attachment style impacts more than romantic relationships? As it turns out, most of us are thinking about Attachment Theory all wrong, and triple board-certified clinical and forensic neuropsychologist Dr. Judy Ho is here to set the record straight. Ěý Grounded in the science of attachment, Dr. Judy’s game-changing approach shows that our attachment style impacts every aspect of our friendships, career, goal setting, and, critically, our sense of self. Moreover, we can all learn to become securely attached—no matter what attachment style we developed in childhood—meaning that we can reclaim our ability to feel safe, loved, and capable of achieving the life we’ve always wanted. Ěý Through Dr. Judy’s innovative program, readers will learn to identify their attachment style, recognize their core needs and wounds, and implement evidence-based practical tools to heal their inner child as they develop the secure attachment we all need to thrive. Ěý Readers will also benefit A new attachment style quiz to identify your attachment style in all areas of life. A personalized approach that allows you to start making positive change today. More than two dozen transformative exercises to support your journey to healing. Ěý With warmth, authority, and a bias to action,ĚýThe New Rules of Attachment is a call to achieving unconditional self-love and a meaningful, joyful life.]]> 353 Judy Ho 153874144X Tara 0 4.33 The New Rules of Attachment: How to Heal Your Relationships, Reparent Your Inner Child, and Secure Your Life Vision
author: Judy Ho
name: Tara
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
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]]> Unleashed Holiday 123683836
Chelsea Higgins is doing just fine. She’s heading into the holidays at the helm of a thriving dog training business, and she’s got a mellow senior dog at home to keep her warm at the end of the day. What more could she need? Enter certified gym bro Andrew Chelsea’s former nemesis, and now the newest neighbor in her business complex, who also wants to expand into the vacant space Chelsea’s been eyeing for months. Who cares if it’s the season of joy? Let the turf war begin.

When an unfortunate (and literal) run-in with Andrew’s lawless dog leaves Chelsea with a bum wrist, the two strike a Andrew will help Chelsea rehab the injury if she’ll work with him to train his adorably uncivilized boxer.

Their typical bickering soon turns to bantering, and Chelsea finds herself inexplicably drawn to the man she thought she had nothing in common with. As she gets to know Andrew and his parents, she realizes she needs to refocus on her own family, especially with a milestone Christmas speeding toward them. But Chelsea can't help wondering if she and Andrew are training for keeps, or if this unexpected Christmas gift is just too good to be true.]]> 352 Victoria Schade 0593437411 Tara 3 3.62 Unleashed Holiday
author: Victoria Schade
name: Tara
average rating: 3.62
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Letting Go of Overthinking in Relationships and Relationships Anxiety Workbook: Rewire Your Anxious Brain to Fix an Unhealthy Relationship, Stop Toxic Thoughts and Discover Your Attachment Style]]> 195093971 Rediscover Love Without Limits with 'Letting Go of Overthinking in Relationships and Relationship Anxiety'!

Are you entangled in the web of overthinking, letting anxiety cloud your relationships?

It's time to break free!'Letting Go of Overthinking in Relationships and Relationship Anxiety' is not just a book. This groundbreaking book offers more than advice—it provides a new way of living and loving, free from the burdens of overthinking.

Reclaim the joy and depth in your relationships, forging connections that are not just strong but also deeply authentic and heartfelt.

It's a blueprint for freeing yourself from the shackles of anxiety and overanalyzing, allowing you to connect deeply and authentically with those you love.
Discover the keys to unshackling yourself from the chains of anxiety and overthinking, and embrace a world where your relationships flourish in the light of presence and peace.



Inside, Uncover Transformational Break the Overthinking Understand how overthinking and anxiety feed off each other, affecting your love life.

Roots of Relationship Dive into the causes and consequences of anxiety in relationships.

Rewiring Your Anxious Learn brain exercises that pave the way to mental clarity and calm.

Deepening Trust and Discover how to build stronger, more intimate bonds.

Nurturing Healthy Relationship Steps to form lasting, positive relationship habits.

Decluttering Mind and Realize the benefits of decluttering for mental clarity.

Coping Mechanisms for Develop habits that help you navigate and overcome overthinking.

And so much more!



Start Your Transformation Now!

Click to get your copy of 'Letting Go of Overthinking in Relationships and Relationship Anxiety.'



Watch as your relationships and overall life transform, paving the way for a future where you live and love without the burden of overthinking. Step into a life of clarity, presence, and authentic connection.]]> 216 Robert J. Charles Tara 4 4.27 Letting Go of Overthinking in Relationships and Relationships Anxiety Workbook: Rewire Your Anxious Brain to Fix an Unhealthy Relationship, Stop Toxic Thoughts and Discover Your Attachment Style
author: Robert J. Charles
name: Tara
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
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]]> The Mighty Red 199793431
Gary Geist, a terrified young man set to inherit two farms, is desperate to marry Kismet Poe, an impulsive, lapsed Goth who can't read her future but seems to resolve his.

Hugo, a gentle red-haired, home-schooled giant, is also in love with Kismet. He’s determined to steal her and is eager to be a home wrecker.

Kismet's mother, Crystal, hauls sugar beets for Gary's family, and on her nightly runs, tunes into the darkness of late-night radio, sees visions of guardian angels, and worries for the future, her daughter’s and her own.

Human time, deep time, Red River time, the half-life of herbicides and pesticides, and the elegance of time represented in fracking core samples from unimaginable depths, is set against the speed of climate change, the depletion of natural resources, and the sudden economic meltdown of 2008-2009. How much does a dress cost? A used car? A package of cinnamon rolls? Can you see the shape of your soul in the everchanging clouds? Your personal salvation in the giant expanse of sky? These are the questions the people of the Red River Valley of the North wrestle with every day.

The Mighty Red is a novel of tender humor, disturbance, and hallucinatory mourning. It is about on-the-job pains and immeasurable satisfactions, a turbulent landscape, and eating the native weeds growing in your backyard. It is about ordinary people who dream, grow up, fall in love, struggle, endure tragedy, carry bitter secrets; men and women both complicated and contradictory, flawed and decent, lonely and hopeful. It is about a starkly beautiful prairie community whose members must cope with devastating consequences as powerful forces upend them. As with every book this great modern master writes, The Mighty Red is about our tattered bond with the earth, and about love in all of its absurdity and splendor.

A new novel by Louise Erdrich is a major literary event; gorgeous and heartrending, The Mighty Red is a triumph.]]> 384 Louise Erdrich 0063277050 Tara 4 3.79 2024 The Mighty Red
author: Louise Erdrich
name: Tara
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves:
review:

]]> The Christmas Orphans Club 75492257
Hannah and Finn have spent every Christmas together since college. Neither has anywhere else to go—Hannah’s parents died, and Finn’s disowned him when he came out. Their tradition of offbeat holiday adventures only grows more outrageous with time. When the pair starts their adult lives in New York City, they add stylish Priya and mysterious Theo to the group, solidifying a found family and sense of belonging they’ve always craved.

But now, when Finn announces a move to L.A., this Christmas may be their last. Hannah is terrified of losing the family she’s built for herself, even as her boyfriend nudges her toward commitment. Meanwhile, Finn struggles with the things he’s about to leave behind—namely, his unexpressed feelings for Theo. Does growing up mean growing apart? This Christmas the changes these friends fear may be exactly what they need. . . .]]> 368 Becca Freeman 0143138030 Tara 4 3.75 2023 The Christmas Orphans Club
author: Becca Freeman
name: Tara
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/16
date added: 2024/11/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Anxious Attachment Recovery: Stop Being Insecure in Love, Overcome Relationship Anxiety, and Learn How to Communicate Your Feelings Effectively]]> 199670674 Does the fear of abandonment haunt you, even in the happiest moments? Have you tried to change, but the grip of anxiety and insecurity holds you back? Are you tired of feeling insecure, always needing reassurance, yet never quite believing it?

Do you find yourself constantly anxious about your relationships?

I know that pain, the silent battles waged within the walls of the mind, the echoes of doubt drowning out every whisper of assurance. I’ve been there, where every moment away from a loved one is a moment spent in the throes of anxiety. You are not alone, and I understand the silent storm that rages within you.

Does any of these situations sound familiar?

- You're always seeking reassurance, yet it never seems to be enough

- The fear of abandonment is a constant companion, even when you’re told you’re loved

- You find it hard to trust, and doubts linger, poisoning your peace

- Your emotions are a roller coaster, soaring high and plunging low with every interaction

- You cling, you hold, yet the fear of loss only grows

- Every argument feels like the end, every silence a confirmation of your worst fears

- You’re exhausted, worn from the constant anxiety, yet unable to let go

- You feel trapped in a cycle of need, anxiety, and overwhelming emotions

Imagine for a second, what if you could�

- Wake up to mornings where tranquility replaces anxiety, where each sunrise brings a promise of stability and each sunset, a testament of unwavering love.

- Trust, pure and unblemished, illuminating every corner of your relationships, casting away the haunting shadows of doubt and uncertainty.

- Savor the richness of every touch, every shared laughter, every whispered secret, unmarred by the icy fingers of fear, each moment a dance of two souls in perfect harmony.

- Stand amidst life’s storms with an unyielding spirit, your soul anchored in the serene waters of self-assurance, untouched by the tumultuous waves of insecurity.

- Transform conflicts into bridges, where every disagreement is an opportunity for deeper connection, and every resolution, a step closer to unison.

- Bask in the silent moments, where solitude is a sanctuary of peace, not a prison of anxiety, and silence sings the melodious tunes of inner harmony.

- Love with a heart unchained, where every beat echoes the rhythms of freedom, and every emotion is a flight of a soul unburdened.

But first a

This book is not a magic potion. It’s a journey, a path to recovery and freedom, but every step requires effort. If you’re looking for a quick fix, a band-aid for the soul, you won’t find it here. But if you’re ready to dive deep, to confront the demons of anxiety and insecurity, to build a life of trust, security, and unshaken love, then take my hand. This book is for the brave, the warriors of the soul, ready to fight for freedom and peace. It’s not easy, but oh, it’s worth it.

Here's a little sneak preview of what you’ll

- Understanding How Anxious Attachment Affects Your Life

- Breaking the Vicious Cycle of Narcissistic Relationships

- Spotting Red Flags and Green Lights for Compatible Partners

- Crafting Authentic Connections for Intimate Relationships

- Move from Anxious Attachment to Secure

- The Power of Saying No and Why It Matters

- Discerning the Tw]]> 141 Margaret Tacy Tara 4 3.45 Anxious Attachment Recovery: Stop Being Insecure in Love, Overcome Relationship Anxiety, and Learn How to Communicate Your Feelings Effectively
author: Margaret Tacy
name: Tara
average rating: 3.45
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Waiting (Harry Bosch, #25; Renée Ballard, #6; Harry Bosch Universe, #39)]]> 206119050 LAPD Detective Renée Ballard tracks a terrifying serial rapist whose trail has gone cold, with the help of the newest volunteer to the Open-Unsolved Unit: Patrol Officer Maddie Bosch, Harry’s daughter.

Renée Ballard and the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit get a hot shot DNA connection between a recently arrested man and a serial rapist and murderer who went quiet twenty years ago. The arrested man is only twenty-three, so the genetic link must be familial. It is his father who was the Pillowcase Rapist, responsible for a five-year reign of terror in the city of angels. But when Ballard and her team move in on their suspect, they encounter a baffling web of secrets and legal hurdles.

Meanwhile, Ballard’s badge, gun, and ID are stolen—a theft she can’t report without giving her enemies in the department the ammunition they need to end her career as a detective. She works the burglary alone, but her solo mission leads her into greater danger than she anticipates. She has no choice but to go outside the department for help, and that leads her to the door of Harry Bosch.

Finally, Ballard takes on a new volunteer to the cold case unit. Bosch’s daughter Maddie wants to supplement her work as a patrol officer on the night beat by investigating cases with Ballard. But Renée soon learns that Maddie has an ulterior motive for getting access to the city’s library of lost souls.]]> 407 Michael Connelly 031656379X Tara 4 4.17 2024 The Waiting (Harry Bosch, #25; Renée Ballard, #6; Harry Bosch Universe, #39)
author: Michael Connelly
name: Tara
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/14
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves:
review:

]]> Whiteout 60579828
As the city grinds to a halt, twelve teens band together to help a friend pull off the most epic apology of her life. But will they be able to make it happen, in spite of the storm?

No one is prepared for this whiteout. But then, we can’t always prepare for the magical moments that change everything.

From the bestselling, award-winning, all-star authors who brought us Blackout—Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon—comes another novel of Black teen love, each relationship within as unique and sparkling as Southern snowflakes.]]> 291 Dhonielle Clayton 0063088142 Tara 3 3.62 2022 Whiteout
author: Dhonielle Clayton
name: Tara
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/13
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Not Die Alone: The Surprising Science That Will Help You Find Love]]> 54304221
Have you ever looked around and wondered, “Why has everyone found love except me?� You’re not the only one. Great relationships don’t just appear in our lives—they’re the culmination of a series of decisions, including whom to date, how to end it with the wrong person, and when to commit to the right one. But our brains often get in the way. We make poor decisions, which thwart us on our quest to find lasting love.

Drawing from years of research, behavioral scientist turned dating coach Logan Ury reveals the hidden forces that cause those mistakes. But awareness on its own doesn’t lead to results. You have to actually change your behavior. Ury shows you how.

This “simple-to-use guide� (Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone ) focuses on a different decision in each chapter, incorporating insights from behavioral science, original research, and real-life stories. You’ll learn:
-What’s holding you back in dating (and how to break the pattern)
-What really matters in a long-term partner (and what really doesn’t)
-How to overcome the perils of online dating (and make the apps work for you)
-How to meet more people in real life (while doing activities you love)
-How to make dates fun again (so they stop feeling like job interviews)
-Why “the spark� is a myth (but you’ll find love anyway)

This “data-driven� ( Time ), step-by-step guide to relationships, complete with hands-on exercises, is designed to transform your life. How to Not Die Alone will help you find, build, and keep the relationship of your dreams.]]> 352 Logan Ury 1982120622 Tara 4 3.97 2021 How to Not Die Alone: The Surprising Science That Will Help You Find Love
author: Logan Ury
name: Tara
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/13
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves:
review:

]]>