Cover Reveal...Everything We Didn't Say

 COVER REVEAL!

I can’t wait until November for "Everything We Didn’t Say!"

I’m so excited to share the cover reveal for my friend Nicole’s new book! It’s another “race-to-the-finish family drama” (People Magazine)  and let's be real, Nicole's prose are top notch

Head on over to goodreads and add it to your TBR. If you're super cool Pre-order

2020 reading wrap-up

 I did NOT think I'd make my reading goal this year, because I was supposed to get married and my business would limit reading time. However I super-exceeded it. Story is where I escape too when I'm stressed. You are given a year of pandemic, quarantining, and postponing your wedding twice and this girl reads A LOT.

My top 5 :

1. You Were Always Mine by Nicole Baart⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

2. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

3. Sheltering Rain by Jojo Moyes ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

4. The Selection series by Kiera Cass (rating depends on the book? But overall 5 stars)

5. The Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Other 5 star reads this year:

*Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste NG

*The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

*The Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

What were your favorite reads this year? Did we read any of the same books? Sound off in the comments..

November reading wrap up

 

Is it already December? Have we really been at home for NINE months!? I swear yesterday was November 1st. Time is flying by and barely moving at the same time. 2020 is weird, ya'll. Anywho, this first read was my favorite of the month and I'm nearing the end of a LONG one we'll get to talk about next month. What was your favorite read of November?

⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Museum of Extraordinary Things is hands down my favorite Alice Hoffman read so far. It had the was magical and quirky but still new how to break my heart in places. The way you watch the character shift, and grow, and learn is truly extraordinary. Hoffman keeps the extraordinary ordinary with seemingly little effort. Beautiful, beautiful, story.

⭐⭐⭐.5

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares made it onto my TBR because of the Netflix series. I HAD to read the book first, and I'm glad I did. It'd a quick and easy read to get you in the holiday mood. The TV series is just different enough that if you've already seen it you can still read the book. The best part about it is that the storyline is clever.

⭐⭐⭐

If domestic suspense is your jam; then When I Was You, is definitely for you. It's so twisty and turns down to the last two sentences. Yes some of these twists are predictable, but some definitely are not. Grandma Mary, if you're reading this-I think you would like this one.

"The Girl Behind the Red Rope" by Ted Dekker and Rachelle Dekker

 

Ya'll I have been DRAGGING my feet on writing up this review. And I'm sorry about it....a little bit.  I finished The Girl Behind the Red Rope, (Revell), by Ted and Rachelle Dekker almost exactly one year ago. Full disclosure, Ted Dekker is by far my favorite author, which if you've read my reviews I'm sure you already know.  So I'm a shoe in for Rachelle's books, right? Maybe?

Rachelle Dekker has written I think four books before this, and I've read them all.  They are ok.  It bothers me that she uses key phrases that only her dad's fans would pick up on.  While I understand that I would probably not have picked up one of her books unless I was his fan, I would like her to stand on her own and be more than just his daughter.  And while his writing style has a feeling that I love to go back to over and over again and it feels like home whenever I start a new book, hers have been subpar.  Ted has cowritten a few books in the past that the co-authors have added to his voice in a brilliant way so I was excited for this collaboration.

Overall I didn't hate this book.  But I didn't love it.  It felt like a cookie cutter of many other books I've read.  Maybe that's Rachelle's style?  That's the pattern I'm seeing at least. Maybe I feel that way because I'm such a big Dekker fan and this book wasn't the home I usually find in his stories.  I am EXTREMELY interested to know the opinion of those who haven't read very much Dekker before! So please sound of in the comments with your thoughts and feelings on this book.

I'm going to let my aunt read it, who likes thrillers and has only read 3 Dekker books I've lent her. We'll see if my suspicion is correct that first time readers may be really into it.

I did receive this book for free as part of the launch team (sorry for posting a year later, my feelings on this book just broke my heart) in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own

"Firefly Lane," by Kristin Hannah

 

For those who told me this was one of your favorite Kristin Hannah books; I would love to know why? This book came highly recommended and so I'm genuinely curious.

I've read 4 of her books and id this was the first I probably wouldn't have read another. Character development was close to Bill, not only was the main relationship toxic, but so were about 4 others. Not only were the relationships outrageously dysfunctional but I found them incredibly unrealistic. Then wham...let's fire up your empathy to save the story?! (I'm guessing that is why people.love it so?) Ughhhh! I can guess what happens in book 2 pretty easily.

I'm quite shocked Netflix is taking this on. I kept reading it because I wanted to know if what I thought would happen did....like bad reality TV, upsetting addicting. And yet I wouldn't recommend it. I'm guessing they are taking it on for the addictive quality, the empathy aspect, and Hannah's (other than this books) deserved popularity

"These Nameless Things" by Shawn Smucker

These Nameless Things (Revell), by Shawn Smucker, was not what I expected.  Not sure why, but from the description I thought maybe our lead character escaped an evil cult and was waiting for his brother to escape as well.  It was not.  Our main character, Dan, lives in a village on a prairie just outside of the Mountain all of the villagers escaped.  As time goes on more and more villagers decide to leave the prairie and travel east.  Dan is afraid that everyone will leave before his brother escapes and he will be left all alone.  One night a storm rolls in and everyone starts to remember snippets of their past and secrets begin to be kept. Dan keeps a secret of his own as he helps a tormented welcome heal in his home without telling any of the other villagers.  His moral dilemmas pile up as he begans to trust the other villagers less and less.

It was slightly slow going, in the way of the finale of Lost-I kept going but was never quite satisfied.  Then I discovered that the author followed the idea of Dante's Inferno and everything made much more sense.  Give me a break that it took me a while; I've never read Inferno. Haha.

I'm not sure that I would recommend this to the general public but I do think my fiance would like it.  If you're like him and like to peel apart the layers of story to find themes and metaphors and symbolism you may like this book.  You will find themes such as grace, grief, guilt, and forgiveness.  

You may even discover that as important as it is to forgive others in order to experience the freedom and guilt and grief you may need to forgive yourself.

 A copy of this book was provided to me for review by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

"The Key to Everything" by Valerie Fraser Luesse

The Key to Everything (Revell), by Valerie Fraser Luesse, is a coming of age story set post World War II.  Our main character is 15 year old Peyton Cabot who we are introduced do during some turbulent family events.  A tragic accident not only disrupts his entire family but also any chance he has to date the girl he is infatuated with.  To cope with what is going on around him Peyton decides  to retrace a journey his father took at his age-to ride his bicycle from St. Augustine, Florida to Key West.

I love the quick relationships Peyton makes along his journey, the adventures those relationships take him on, and the lessons he learns through them.  It touches on a way of the past that our busy world has forgotten, and it was truly beautiful to experience.  My only complaint about this book is at the beginning the story led you to believe that his parents relationship was possibly abusive then later remembered it as a relationship that had struggles because of WWII but the dream love story.  This sat funny for me, and I wish that the plot line in regards to that would have been more cohesive.

My Quarantine fun was that we bough new bicycles while I was reading this book.  It was fun to go on rides and have some of my thoughts lingering on a story that followed a bike ride.

Over all this story was very charming and a nice and easy summer read.

  A copy of this book was provided to me for review by the publisher in exchange for an honest review