Another cute seasonal novella from the Coffee Loft fall collection, this time only around 72 pages. So a very cute, very quick romance read. Coffee barista Edwin is obsessed with Elvis Presley and loves to sing Elvis tunes along with the jukebox while he‘s working. When a huge talent show comes to Tahoe, Charlotte encourages him to enter.

This one could easily be expanded to a full length story. I would have loved more from these characters!

Cute romance novella set in the fall around a chain of Coffee Loft coffee shops. Features coffee and football ☕️ 🏈 It has a lot of the things I love in it, and the romance is sweet. It‘s a second chance, brother‘s best friend relationship. As typical with a novella, it isn‘t super duper developed and moves fairly quickly, but I adore seasonal romance novellas so I didn‘t mind. They‘re easy to read and perfect for my own morning coffee time.

Based on the story of Alice Kyteler, the first Irish woman condemned of witchcraft. The language, story structure, and atmosphere are wonderful, and medieval tales are my favorite. Alice isn‘t a likable woman, know that going in. But her story is compelling as a woman with money and power during the 1300‘s made her a target for hate and jealousy, as did her many marriages.

Reminded me of Eleanor from Karen Brooks‘ wonderful The Wife of Bath.

My favorite part of the weekend is mornings with my coffee, my book, and my napping pups!

I‘ve just started this tagged book from Knopf via NetGalley which looks to be atmospheric and inspired for the coming fall (crossing my fingers!). The story features Alice Kyteler who was the first known woman to be accused of witchcraft in Ireland.

#dogsoflitsy #weekendreads

*Not in Litsy database, but I have requested it be added.*

I went into this expecting a quick, lighthearted read, which it was! Funny with good-hearted characters in some silly circumstances. And I loved the dragons!

There is also an expected depth in here-a commentary of sorts on living in rural America with drug addictions, poverty, and an understanding of rural diversity which I believe is far more accurate than not. I enjoyed it! 🐉

We‘ve been renovating our kitchen since we moved here which included doubling its size and adding a wall of cabinets for my collection of dishes and cookware.

Three contractors and fourteen months later: I‘ve just put the very first things inside my cabinets. What went first? My beloved cookbooks, of course! I have had most of them packed away for months and months. Now I can finally re-join the #mtcookbook fun!! #shelfie

My first by Sally Hepworth and I flew thru it in just about 24 hours. I loved the bond Jessica, Alicia, and Norah had as three foster siblings, and their foster mother was absolutely horrible. I‘m not sure that any of the twists shocked me, but I still felt delighted every time I came to one. Just a tight, fast-paced thriller story with a very satisfying ending. Except for the last chapter which, frankly, didn‘t add anything to me.

I loved this. The cover makes it look like it would be a Halloween read but actually takes place in Florida during the summer. The ghosts that haunt the town are (mostly) friendly and playful, and there are comedic moments associated with them. The romance between Cassie and Nick is nice and doesn‘t overshadow the mystery involving the ghost that inhabits Cassie‘s house. I‘ll definitely pick up more by Jen DeLuca after this one. Lots of fun.

I‘ve been meandering my way thru this one over the past week when I can find a few minutes here and there. I‘m almost halfway thru but hoping to finish it up today or tomorrow. This is my first time reading one of Jen DeLuca‘s books.

It‘s cute so far! The ways the ghosts haunt this town are a lot of fun.

When I saw the pitch saying this was a toxic female friendship with vampires, I thought it would be a lot of fun because I LOVE both types of stories. And it probably will be fun to some people-the reviews are mostly good! I just feel like it wasn‘t toxic enough and it also wasn‘t vampire enough. I think if the author had chosen one of those tropes to really lean into, the story would have been better. But it felt not-quite-there on both fronts.

Very sweet novella-length romance between Shelby, whose husband died one year ago, and Scott, who has had feelings for her since high school. Shelby is a designer, Scott is a builder. The two work together to renovate a home with a mysterious past. I love stories featuring home renovation so this one was right up my alley. And there‘s a hint of autumn in there too.

I found this story when it popped up as an ad on my Kindle.

This is part of a great collection of novellas featuring weddings. I have read most of them and I love these authors.

This novella features a love triangle after Alyssa is left at the alter by Brendan and later begins a new relationship with Dalton. It was okay, but not great. Mostly I wish it had been longer because more character and story development would help me understand why these characters made so many questionable decisions.

Gosh this was so good! But I knew it would be. I‘ve learned that each TJ Newman release is absolutely must read for me, as soon as I possibly can.

This was a fast-paced, gripping, white knuckle disaster story set in small town US when a plane crashes into a nuclear power plant. Three major plots converge into an intense, explosive ending. I barely breathed the entire way thru.

Just as I expected from this author! So intense, so fun to read.

So cute! I had a lot of fun reading this. I love books that have a cool weather vibe to them, that make me want to take a slow walk in crispy cool air with a warm coffee. It was a great palate cleanser after a few thrillers. It was lighthearted, but had great depth. This kicks off my fall reading 🍂

It had everything I love in fall-themed sweet romances. I especially loved the found family aspect and Laurie‘s sweet little dog, Max 🐾

The last 1/3 or 1/4 is really where this one shines, but a great read all the way thru. A slow start that inches its way to an exciting ending. I loved how atmospheric and frigid the story felt, and how haunting and actual story was. There is a lot in here about trauma and how we hold onto it, in our minds and our bodies. So well done. I had no idea how the different timelines would converge until they finally did and overall I loved this one.

Very cute! I liked that Lexi‘s life as a chef was so different than Jake‘s life as a rock star. Their romance was very cute and I adore Lexi‘s supportive friends.

The food aspect of this story was actually my favorite part and what drew me to it in the first place. Lexi and Jake fell in love over homemade food and I loved that. She and I are quite similar in how we show people love by cooking for them so this story was really fun for me.

I thought about bailing because it‘s such a slooowww burn in the beginning. I wanted a faster pace. However, there is a point where it clicked for me and I couldn‘t read fast enough. Is it a thriller? A ghost story? Horror? It‘s sort of all three, with a mystery thrown in. I love the way Tremblay captured the anguish of Tommy‘s mother in the days after his disappearance-the “not knowing” nearly did her in. Great work by one of my favorites.

#Galleybrag!!! I‘m so excited for this approval from NetGalley! Ms Newman‘s books are terrifying and fast-paced and so much fun to read!

On sale: August 13, 2024

Really enjoyed this! It took turns I wasn‘t expecting and kept me on my toes throughout. That‘s what I want in a mystery-thriller.

I read somewhere that someone mentioned not flipping ahead thru the illustrations and I wholeheartedly agree. It‘s definitely better to come to each one blindly. There are a lot of them and they‘re fantastic! I tried the audiobook but quickly abandoned it because I wasn‘t getting to see the illustrations.

Sunday morning, my favorite ☕️🐾

I have one pup snuggled up on my right side and one pup snuggled up on my left side. I have a book and some coffee, and my house is nice and quiet. It‘s a good time over here.

Currently 2/3 thru Hidden Pictures! Enjoying it!

I loved this, cover to cover. Although I think the first half is the best, featuring Frankie‘s time in Vietnam and her experiences there as a combat nurse. The second half dealt with her return home and the years after. I know it‘s fiction but it‘s also based on fact. And I had no idea about most of what happened in this book. I‘m astounded.

Lots of emotion in here. Not as much as Hannah‘s previous books, but man oh man, this was a good one.

My first by St James. I really liked it! The offending highway had a deliciously creepy atmosphere and I loved that Eddie and April got sucked into a crime on their honeymoon. I loved the paranormal aspect too. The only thing that felt a little off-kilter were the parts concerning the police and the explanation for everything. That part was so-so. But the rest of the book was a lot of fun! I‘ll read more by this author 🚙

Rescued a puppy yesterday, started a new book this morning!

#dogsoflitsy

I loved every second of this one. It‘s Lydia‘s first person account of her struggle as half-vampire/half-human. More than anything, she wants to experience eating human food, but her vampire body will not allow her this. The whole book is comprised of her thoughts and then her actions in response to her thoughts. A very quiet, very introspective, strange little story. So good! I chose it because I love books about vampires and books about food.

I chose to read this because I love books set in the Colonial time period and this one takes place during The Starving Time at Jamestown in the early 1600‘s. It‘s not a romance by definition although the Ellis‘ romantic feelings for Jane are prominent for half of the story, then it takes a solid turn to horror. The end is pretty dark, but this is understandable as The Starving Time was awful for both the native population as well as the settlers…

I listened to this one chapter at a time and I loved it from start to finish. The author and her husband buy a home in serious disrepair and she details their road to renovating it over the course of many years. My husband and I are one year into remodeling our own home, and I felt kinship with the author in some instances and shock at some of their financial decisions in others. I particularly loved the history of houses and rooms she included.

Oh man, this was something unexpected! I love the movie but I had no idea the book went so much further. Annie Wilkes is terrifying! This one had me gasping and holding my breath with some of the crazy scenes with Annie terrorizing Paul and others 🪓🔥 🐀💉

Also, about the audiobook: I listened to it here and there and at first, I hated it. Sounded boring! But as I kept listening, narrator Lindsay Crouse started sounding just like…

I knew when I saw this cover, I had to read this. It just called out to me. The fork‘s shadow is just so creepy and compelling. And that‘s how this story was. It‘s popcorn horror, and I loved it. The pacing was fast, the story was crazy, and I would have read it straight thru if I‘d had the time.

I agree with other Goodreads reviewers that get a big Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibe-Moss was clearly a fan of that story. I‘ll read more by him.

Sunday morning puppy snores 💤 with my book and coffee. My favorite time of the week!

I‘ve tried so hard to create characters and images in my head for this story. But no matter how hard I try, after seeing the movie many years ago, I can still only imagine Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes and James Caan as Paul Sheldon. #readingStephenKing

Heck yeah!! Started it this morning!! I‘m so excited to finally be reading Misery!

#readingStephenKing

Quite good, a lot of fun to read! I love vampire stories so I was thrilled about this one from Tudor. I loved the police procedural aspect. I loved the characters both good and bad. I loved all of the secrecy and twists. I especially loved the snowy, cold, remote atmosphere of this fictional Alaskan town. I do wish Tudor had leaned in to the vampire aspect a bit more but it‘s still a very solid story with fun vampire lore. I need more from Tudor!

Sunday morning, sitting with my pup, my favorite time to read ☕️

I saw this recently on @Reggie‘s feed and couldn‘t wait to grab it and read it myself. I loved Tudor‘s The Drift so I can‘t wait to really dig into this one. Just started it, only a few chapters in.

I feel like vampire books were trendy for a while but they sort of fell off of publishing lists. Hoping they‘ll come back!! I loooove a good vampire tale.

Twisty and fun, with short chapters to keep the pace moving fast. I was completely shocked by the big twist at the end! I knew it was coming and I was still shocked.

“And the Tower is closer.”

This is the story of how Roland meets Eddie and Susannah, who will accompany him on his quest to find The Tower. I loved the parts with Roland and Eddie, especially in the first half of the story. Nervous, suspicious, addict Eddie, who along with Roland himself has a deadly encounter with a drug kingpin that reminded me of a violent mob movie. A ton of fun to read.

Up next #readingStephenKing: Misery!! I‘m so excited!

I have loved this book since childhood when my teacher read it to our class, one chapter a day, just after lunch. Years later, I read it to my children, one chapter a day, before school in the mornings. For some reason, I picked it up yesterday and read it straight thru again in Serial Reader.

Delightful, as always. A forever favorite. Digital reading is fantastic, but I missed having the illustrations from the print copy, which are so perfect.

Saturday afternoon with my reading buddy 💤

#readingStephenKing #dogsoflitsy

I read along with my BFF who is enrolled in an American Lit class and had to write a paper on it. The reading is easy, but the story is complicated and thought-provoking. In a lot of ways I really understand Edna and her thoughts, but in some ways I feel like her feelings of hopelessness make her careless with herself and those close to her.

Reminds me a lot of Anna‘s POV in Anna Karenina (my favorite!) but Anna K is by far the superior story.

Super short story in which a former slave has to face her fears and cross open fields and head back into the bayou after trauma and fear paralyzed her years ago. She does this to save the life of her former owner‘s child, whom she loves.

I‘m proud of her for facing her fears and doing something that was so difficult. A few hopeful pages, very nice. This story is included in a collection of Chopin‘s work that I‘m reading, featuring The Awakening.

My first time reading it!! Just started it today. I‘m so excited to be on this journey 🙌🏻

#readingStephenKing

Oh man, this was so good. I love the way Heller depicted a healthy male friendship and respected that deep relationship as Jess and Storey navigated the stress and uncertainty of a looming civil war. There‘s a wonderful found family aspect as the two come across a lonely 5 year old child and helps her try to find her parents and dog. Introspective and hopeful while also tense and evocative. And beautiful nature writing. My first by Peter Heller.

#currentlyreading via NetGalley and Knopf. Two long-time best friends emerge from an off-grid hunting trip in the woods to find that Some Big Thing has happened. They‘re not able to navigate roads or bridges. No cellphone service. No people, animals, cars anywhere. I can FEEL their dread and fear because at the halfway point, I still don‘t know what happened either.

It‘s riveting. I feel a delicious tension right alongside these characters.

This one shares some things with Ms Ryan‘s other books: a group of women having to be resourceful against the backdrop of WW2. In this case, when part of the library is destroyed after bombing by Nazis, they take the surviving shelves and books underground and set up there. The characters are plucky and likable, and they find an inner strength while dealing with awful circumstances. My favorite is still The Kitchen Front, but I loved this one too.

I‘m trying so hard to meander thru this book to drag it out, but it‘s so hard! I ADORE this author‘s books and am always so impatient while waiting for each of her new books to come out. Her stories tend to feature women being resourceful during WWII, when things were being rationed or banned, but she is always able to write such humor, light, and levity into the stories so they don‘t feel heavy at all. Really loving this so far #currentlyreading

This was a lot of fun! A dark and twisty serial killer story. I thought I had it figured but I was wrong 🤷🏻‍♀️ Anytime I wasn‘t reading, I was thinking about the story. And whenever I was reading, the pages turned fast. I definitely want to read more by Hillier.

The Author‘s Note in the back of the book mentions that Hillier‘s other books are standalones set in the same fictional world with a few crossover characters-sounds fun!

I started listening to this earlier today and it grabbed me right away. I think I‘ll fly thru it if it continues to be twisty and dark.

January LaVoy is narrating and she is fantastic.

This is the final book in the Haven Point series and I have loved every second I have spent with the characters in this small, Idaho mountain lake community. These books have been comfort reads for me over the last couple of years, and I plan to promptly find another of Thayne‘s series to read in the same vein as this one. No stress in these stories-just a lovely setting, a group of people that I wish were my own friends and family, and dogs.

Reminded me of The Talisman in terms of style and setting, although I think The Talisman is way better. I loved the beginning but feel like some parts dragged a bit from about halfway-point on. I read somewhere that he wrote this for his daughter, and it definitely has a younger feel to it. Overall I did like it, but wasn‘t as excited about it as I am about some of King‘s other masterpieces.

Up next #readingStephenKing: The Drawing of the Three!!

I did not meet my #AwesomeApril goals! My goals:

• finish The Eyes of the Dragon ✔️
• finish Summer at Haven Point ❌
• read 1-2 NetGalley books ❌

The reason I didn‘t read more is because my twin girls graduated from Lees-McCrae College this weekend and I spent every minute soaking in the festivities and celebrating them. Who can blame me for failing to meet my reading goal? I‘m not even mad about it.

Thank you to @Andrew65 for hosting!

I‘m so excited to be joining in for #AwesomeApril! My goals:

• finish The Eyes of the Dragon
• finish Summer at Haven Point
• read 1-2 of my NetGalley books

My family will be in the NC mountains for most of this week due to my twin girls‘ college graduation up in the NC mountains. Hoping to find some good reading time with a pretty mountain backdrop amongst all the graduation festivities.

Thank you to our fabulous host @Andrew65!

I love love love Stephen King‘s fantasy stories. This one has a feel like The Talisman, but it also feels sort of medieval. I‘m not quite 1/4 in but enjoying it so much already. I can tell he must have had a lot of fun writing it, which makes it fun to read. #readingStephenKing