For someone who was so reluctant to read this for book club, I sure devoured it in a short amount of time.

Dark, steamy, raunchy, complicated.

The villain gets his HEA.

This is not a Peter Pan retelling as much as it is a story with many elements, settings, and names found in the original Peter Pan.

I carefully recommend this to any fans of dark romance.

When I saw one of my childhood favorites at an estate sale, I had to snatch it up and do a re-read.

I still loved it! ❤️

Three foster kids staying in the same home form a lovely bond.

I vividly remembered the part about Carlie's nail decals getting ruined when she made her mayonnaise cake 😄 What a funny detail to carry with me decades after first reading the book.

Fun fact - this was an After School Special

The third book in the Aaron Falk series and it was great!

I love a map in a book, and I really loved realizing that this was probably one of the maps drawn by Inspector Luptack.

Two children from the same wealthy family have disappeared - eight year old Bear and then, 14 years later, his sister Barbara.

I had my theories, but I wasn't even close.

This is an excellent mystery/thriller!

Fantastic!

I remember very well when Nirvana and grunge came on the scene in the 90s.

Dave Grohl, of course, covers that time period and much more in this memoir that is eloquently told.

I suggested listening with my husband while on a drive, and he kept asking to listen to more in the following days. You guys - that is not like my husband and speaks volumes as to this audiobook.

1) Spoiled
2) I've been lucky enough to meet many authors - including my favorite Markus Zusak
3) Romance
4) Historical Fiction
5) Skip the first and hope I can catch on!

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

I tried to resist, but fomo got the best of me 😂

This had been sitting on my Kindle for quite some time - a free book that sounded intriguing.

It was intriguing!

This is the story of Lord Byron from childhood to age 23.

Very interesting.

Book 1 in a series of 7

Thanks @dabbe

1) Gilmore Girls, The Office, Schitt's Creek, The Big Bang Theory, Pitch Perfect

2) Checkers and Dominoes - both with my grandma

3)The Wishing Game

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

Want to join in @LiseWorks @Librarybelle

I really liked my second Jimenez book even though it is quite a bit heavier than Yours Truly.

Lots of family trauma for both main characters, but it was written with care and sensitivity.

In reading the q&a at the end, I learned that Jimenez brings in lots of characters from her previous books. I think I might have squealed when Benny popped up 😄

Me after purchasing the book I swore I wasn't going to buy ?

"Hooked" is the next read for Romance Book Club. I planned on skipping, but too many women at club clapped and exclaimed how much they enjoyed it.

How could I ignore that level of praise?

This made me want to dust off my journal and write poetry again.

Hemphill was very creative in telling about the life of Sylvia Plath.

Each section contained facts about Plath and then a poem imagining what the people in Sylvia's life might have been thinking and feeling at the time.

Many of Hemphill's poems were written in the style of Plath's poems.

Very unique! I loved it.

I'm ready for the July meeting of Romance Book Club.

This was a historical romance with a murder mystery thrown in!

If Lord Ian MacKenzie were alive today, he'd be labeled autistic - not "mad."

I liked this ?

June wrap-up

Some authors have a way of stringing words together that make you catch your breath. Leif Enger is one of those authors.

I savored every word of this ugly/beautiful story about not giving in to despair.

A beautifully told story about a family tragedy.

When Joe and Ruthie are very young, Ruthie is kidnapped, and Joe is the last family member to see her.

The chapters in this book alternate between Joe and Ruthie (now known as Norma).

I thought Peters did an excellent job with this story.

Is there such a thing as a victimless crime?

I have to admit that I found myself rooting for this art thief who stole millions of dollars worth of art from museums, just to take them home and admire them.

His brazenness and his girlfriend were tremendous assets.

I thought this short audiobook was entertaining and thought-provoking.

Love, love, LOVE!!

This book is fantastic!

19 year old Margo has to grow up fast when she finds herself pregnant and decides to keep the baby.

She finds out real quick that babies are expensive, roommates don't want to hear crying, and childcare isn't as simple as it should be.

How to make money? Why not Onlyfans??? She can work from home and make more in one day than she made in a month of waitressing.

I was rooting for Margo from page 1!

1) No! I read for pleasure. It doesn't matter how few or how many books I read. I just started keeping track of the number of books I read last year because it's kinda fun 😁
2) Fly by the seat of my pants 👖
3) Escape, education, constant companionship

Thanks @Eggs #WondrousWednesday

I know this author and was here when the Almeda fire tore through our region, so I appreciated the setting and the imagination in this story.

Most of the chapters were titled "Kindling" or "Afterburn" to designate whether the events occurred before or after the fire.

I think I would have preferred to read this in print because the audiobook made it difficult for me to keep track of who was who.

All in all, though, an enjoyable mystery/thriller.

I thought this was excellent!

A story about friendship (including all the complications) and deciding what you are going to stand up for and how much you are willing to sacrifice for your beliefs.

I was intrigued by the idea of a dark academia story revolving around a group of friends studying translation. I wasn't so sure about the fantasy element because, well, I'm not a fantasy person.

It all worked beautifully, and I LOVED this book about friendship, where we place our loyalty and what we stand for.

I thought this was brilliant 👏🏻

This was one of two books assigned for June for Romance Book Club.

Stephan is from a very rich, powerful family. Carter used to be a big-time actor in Hollywood. Somehow, neither of them knew anything about the other 😂

Everything somehow works out and love endures.

It's funny how I think these same-sex romances are going to be salacious, but they end up being more Hallmark than anything 😄

I took a bunch of books to the coast yesterday to take pictures of them so that I can dazzle you all when I post my reviews 😄

1) Book two from The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante
2) I did all my traveling over the past two months! I'm staying home 🏡
3) My family and our health

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

This is one of the assigned books for Romance Book Club this month.

It screams Hallmark except for the fact that it's a female/female romance.

Georgia has a high-stress, high-profile job. Her aunt dies and leaves her charming rural cottage to Georgia.

Mel is a small town vet.

A litter of abandoned kittens brings the two together.

Predictable and cheesy, but like a Hallmark movie, comforting.

May was a busy month for life - not for reading 🤪

I thought this was a great memoir about Crystal's time in the Playboy Mansion.

I'm glad she's on the other side, figuring out who she is without someone telling her who they want her to be.

Couldn't decide between the two, so you know what that means - I got both! 😁

#botm

Prior to The Housemaid, I had read 2 McFadden books - one I liked and one I didn't.

This book breaks the tie. I loved it!

A quick page-turner that kept me riveted from start to finish.

The good news is I finished a book. May has been so busy, I haven't had much time for reading.

The bad news is I struggled to get through this one.

It's always risky when I choose a science fiction book.

Downloaded this on a whim before my big travel day and am really enjoying it ☺️ ✈️

This counts as reading because I read the menu, right??

Enjoying my time in Indianapolis after the wedding 😄

My son got married last Saturday! 💞

#WhatsNewWednesday
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Read4life @TieDyeDude

We visited some Amish friends last weekend, and I didn't breathe a word that I was reading this book ?

The Amish Wife is a true crime book that I got free on Kindle about a woman who died in a "barn fire."

Spoiler alert - it wasn't the fire that killed her.

I'm glad to be on to the next book. The title intrigued me, but the book dragged.

While John Boy Walton was my first crush, John Stamos has been my most enduring crush 💞

I enjoyed this memoir despite the cockiness that often came through the pages.

John is sober and happy, and I'm happy for him.

I had never heard of Fern Brady before but was intrigued to read this memoir about her life with autism and not getting a diagnosis until she was in her thirties.

Her story is eye-opening, brutally honest, and helpful in explaining autism to people (like me) who don't know much about it.

Her Scottish accent took me a minute to get used to, but the audiobook was great. I always like when people narrate their own stories.

T-minus one week until we leave for our son's wedding!🤵👰‍♂️🥂

I'm going to be someone's mother-in-law 😄

#WhatsNewWednesday @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Read4life @TieDyeDude

What a mess!

While the concept was unique (a man knits himself into Trinity's life using her deceased grandmother's knitting needles and yarn), that was the only thing remotely likable.

Non-existent editing - see example.

Smutty to the point of being vulgar.

The only reason I finished was it was short and I could squeeze it in for another book to add to my monthly total.

Skip this one. Trust me.

This is book 2 in the Aaron Falk series, and even though it took me a little longer to get into than the first book, I really liked it 🙂

Have you ever been forced to go on a team-building work retreat?? Imagine going, getting lost, and losing a co-worker.

Falk and his partner are tasked with finding out what happened to unlikable Alice.

I do plan on reading book 3

My text to my co-worker this morning

I am not a fan of science fiction, but steamy science fiction... I was willing to give it a try ??

This fun take on "The King and I" was in a pile of donations, and I just HAD to pull it out to see what an alien romance was like.

Very fun, very quick read, and very steamy.

Phillips has more books based on musicals ? ? ?

**This book is not in the database

What a great night!

Finished this fantastic book AND the LA Kings win in overtime!!

This is my first Abby Jimenez, and I'm officially a member of her fan club now.

Smart, funny, sexy - everything you want in a romance ❤️

This was okay.

Actress Diane Keaton explores her relationship with her mentally ill, alcoholic brother.

A short audiobook that I'm glad to be done with.

Onward!

Noodle and I are under the weather, but at least that gave us some time to read and cuddle on the couch.

I really liked "The Husbands."

A unique concept that was well executed.

Lauren has an attic that, once she sends a husband up, a different one comes down.

This was a fun story, and I couldn't wait to see how it would be resolved.

This was highly recommended by a friend.

I immediately downloaded the second book, so it's safe to say I enjoyed it 😄

A family is murdered in his hometown, and detective Falk weeds through old memories and new clues in order to solve the mystery.

The drought plagued setting is just as much a character as any of the people.

I'm feeling very spoiled!

First, my co-worker went on break and came back with a book for me because "it sounded good." She even stuck a bow on it ?

Then, I received a mystery box from Amazon. My bestie surprised me with the tagged book!

What a lucky book nerd ? ??

Dollar Tree, you done good!

So excited to see these 😁 💵 🌳