This is 4th in the Maggie D‘Arcy mystery/police procedural series about a Long Island homicide detective who has moved with her daughter to Dublin to live with her lover and his son. She has completed her Garda training and is assigned to a local neighborhood as a street cop. She is temporarily pulled into a murder case of a young model and her missing toddler. There are lots of suspects, twists and turns and a big surprise during the 🔽

I loved this book. Isadora is a 30 yo university researcher who because she has an analytical mind and a lifelong history of emotional abuse has a hard time with social interactions. She is tasked with helping a psychology professor with his new book research while she‘s also conducting her own study to disprove the validity of a magazine article entitled “31 Ways to be Happy”. As she tests each item on the list, she begins to notice changes in 🔽

This is a dual timeline (1948/1999) story featuring grandmother Cora and granddaughter Mickey centered around their ancestral home Beech House on Martha‘s Vineyard. Cora is shown as a young devoted wife drawn to a local carpenter who renovates her kitchen sanctuary. Decades later she has a second chance at love. Mickey has made management mistakes with her and her boyfriend chef‘s upscale restaurant. As the family gathers to celebrate a 🔽

This is a story about teenage love and how all-consuming and fraught it can be. Ruby and Hart have known each other since early childhood and have become soulmates. Following a devastating turn of events Ruby loses Hart. But through an angel‘s intervention, he returns in the body of the troubled and arrogant bad-boy quarterback. Will Ruby realize this before all of HIS memories fade/are taken away? While this was fine and had its moments, I 🔽

“The best portion of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you”.

*The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley (preface)
**Subject to change upon publication.

I‘m looking forward to my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin this month. One is next from a favorite series, the other (hopefully) an informative guide.🤞🏼

Thanks Sarah! 👏👏👏

Thanks for the tag @Andrew65 (I wonder why you thought of me 😂).

1. I honestly have no idea. 🤷🏻‍♀️

2. The more, the merrier…unless they start going off the track. My longest running is currently 55+ and still going strong (In Death, JD Robb).

3. Oh yes. Julie Anne Long‘s Pennyroyal Green; Darynda Jones‘ Sunshine Vicram … if it‘s a good one, I hate to see any of them end. 😔 I get emotionally attached. 🥹

#wondrouswednesday

Margot Hammer is the former drummer of the famous rock band Burnt Flowers which dramatically and publicly disbanded 20 years ago. She‘s divorced from her famous British actor husband with whom she shares a grown daughter (Poppy) and lives reclusively alone in NYC. Billy Perkins is a happy, cardigan-wearing self-employed music teacher in Baltimore with a college-bound son (Caleb) that he shares with his ex-girlfriend and her husband. When Caleb 🔽

4.25/5

This is second in the Saffron Everleigh historical mystery series set in 1920s London.

As a botany research assistant at university, Saffron has had to prove herself in a male-dominated workplace. She is involved in her first research assignment with Dr. Michael Lee when a series of murders with various floral bouquets left behind pulls her into assisting the police with clues. She and Lee ingratiate themselves with a victim‘s 🔽

When Jess‘ marriage disintegrates, she and her 30-year-old daughter decamp from Charleston to her Cape Cod childhood home for support from her mother and bff. She and her bff (who is also at a crossroads) decide to buy a local bookstore. As they work toward business success, their daughters pitch in as well. OK, this just did not work for me. First, the writing felt simplistic and just not up to par. The characters had no depth, therefore I 🔽

The first in a new series by a new-to-me author, this story revolves around a reclusive duke who suffered emotional abuse as a child and a young woman who dreams of inheriting her father‘s London bookstore.

Elizabeth Sharpe is trying to keep her father‘s generations-old bookshop open while he descends into an alcohol-fueled depression. When they are in danger of losing their historical benefactor, Garrett, the Duke of Montrose, she steps in 🔽

Sam is a 30-year-old successful woman living in Manhattan, planning her wedding near her childhood beach home on Long Island. But when she and her fiancé travel home to finalize details, she comes face-to-face with her childhood best friend and first love, Wyatt, who broke her heart and left her despondent at 17 and now lives in CA. As she begins to relax at the beach with her family and feel more herself, she begins questioning her decisions in?

Esme Cahill is living the dream she had so carefully mapped out in the publishing industry in NYC…until she‘s fired, disrupting all of her carefully laid plans. She returns home to Asheville, NC at the request of her deceased grandmother Adele, to the lakeside retreat family business and her grandfather and estranged mother. Sadly, the refuge she called home with her grandparents is now run down and losing money. Together with her mother, her 🔽

Disclaimer: Not Book Related

Does anyone love magnolias like I do??! Their creamy, majestic beauty and that FRAGRANCE! 🤍🤍🤍 They‘re a big reason why I look forward to this time of year.

Here‘s my updated #BookSpin / #DoubleSpin list, Sarah! 🤗

Happy Gardening! 🍅

Lucy is a teacher‘s aide whose wish is to be able to afford adopting 7 yo Christopher. She is one of four contestants offered the chance to own the rights to mega popular children‘s series author Jack Masterson‘s long-awaited Clock Island book. As she competes to answer Jack‘s (Master Mastermind) riddles, she learns that she needs to be brave and face what scares her the most to be able to win what she truly wishes for. There‘s much more here, 🔻

2nd in series, I enjoyed this one (set in 1781 London) even more than the first. The backstory is a bit long-winded but the series revolves around two unlikely amateur detectives, Harriet Westerman and Gabriel Crowther. This one is unique in that it is told by two voices investigating murders that end up connected. Involving treason, there are twists and turns and surprisingly some heartbreakingly sad moments as well. Well plotted, well written,🔻

REPOST for @LitsyBirthdays :

May might not be over yet, but the #BirthdayFaries are busy preparing the #BirthdayLove fairy dust for all the wonderful Litten celebrating their birthday in June!

🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈

If you‘d like to be sprinkled with virtual heaps of #BirthdayLove and fairy dust, send your birthday and Litsy handle to litsybirthdays@gmail.com .

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

17th in series, this series never disappoints and is one of the few that I will preorder at full price with no idea what it‘s about. 😂 This one is set in 1815 Paris as St. Cyr is faced with more turmoil and heartbreak surrounding his decades-missing mother and mystery of his paternity. Lots of political intrigue, shady characters and twists. I did miss some of the “crew” in London, but this felt a step in the right direction to giving St. Cyr 🔻

I‘ve always been a fan of Roberts, especially her JD Robb persona. But this romantic suspense was just too long. 450 pages may not sound lengthy, but the middle was slow and unnecessary in parts. A young woman saving up to own her own bar has her identity and dreams stolen and her bf murdered by a cyber thief/psychopath. Starting over she relocates to live with her mom and grandma, finds a great job, great guy and regains her strength and 🔻

This is 4th in the Madame Chalamet historical mystery/fantasy series about a Ghost Talker who helps folks with their ghostly problems.😉 In this book, Elinor is called on to try to rid a family of its curse involving a “Gray Lady” ghost. There are lots of secrets and lies that come out around a murder and also some connections made to previous adventures. While I enjoyed it, I didn‘t feel it was on par with previous books. 3.5/5⭐️

Jodie Boyd must complete Bree‘s (her late sister) bucket list (and post her adventures for Bree‘s social media followers) in order to pay off the massive hospital bills that have the family struggling. As she completes each task she begins to come more and more into her own, and when one of the tasks involves her high school crush/baseball teammate, will she be able to complete the final task on the list? This was a sad, funny, and courageous 🔻

This was a modern friends/lovers spin on Austen‘s Emma and reminded me a lot of the movie version as well as the Clueless version. Emma Woodhouse and her sister Margo grew up and were bffs with their backyard neighbors George and Ben Knightley. When Ben and Margo marry, Emma “adopts” Nadine from her college class to “makeover” and occupy herself. As she and George continue bickering (on Nadine‘s makeover and on every other subject), they 🔻

This was my May #LMPBC and is the first in an historical mystery series set in 1883 on Amelia Island (FL). I won‘t say much here to spoil it for my group, but I did end up enjoying it after a bit of a struggle. It started off slow for me but by the middle I was invested. Loved the heroine (Cassie), and there were actually several plots going on (which could be confusing). A bit silly at times (got past that), but overall I liked it. 3.5/5⭐️

Second in series, Mallory, a modern-day Edinburgh homicide detective who found herself transported back to Victorian Edinburgh (in a housemaid‘s body) following a brutal attack, is once again assisting her employer Duncan (a doctor/medical examiner) and a police detective when a string of men (seemingly unrelated) die by poisoning. Could it be the work of a Poisoner‘s Ring consisting of their wives? I would call this book average (as its 🔻

I wrestled and struggled with this historical fiction fantasy. The premise was promising. The Knights of the Round Table were given immortality by Merlin and live under their own tree to be brought back when Britain is in peril. The peril here is global warming, but there are mentions of others throughout history. While the knights and their contemporaries are essential characters, Mariam, a young rebel fighting against power mongers, really 🔻

Second in series featuring the strong, independent women in an all-female circus, I had really enjoyed the first book and had high hopes for this one as well. Cecile is a 36 yo French woman who is part owner of the circus and has an expert markswoman act. Guy is the heir to a dukedom and apparently God‘s gift to women as he is known for his many liaisons. Celine and Guy had an affair, but she ended it when he asked her to be his mistress. A year🔻

So excited for my May #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin ! The Harris is from one of my favorite historical mystery series, and the Robertson is the next in an historical mystery series of which I just read the first in my current #LMPBC round. 👏👏👏 At least on the Robertson book the characters will be fresh on my mind. 😊

Another sweet rom-com (I‘ve been reading lots of them lately) centered around reunited childhood friends Freya (a school teacher) and Charlie (owner of a social media agency) who each dream of owning their own home. As they neither are able to secure loans, they team up and buy a fixer upper (horrendously in disrepair). Freya, a meticulous planner, writes up The Rules, a guide of dos and don‘ts of joint ownership. An easy-going and amused 🔻

Second in the Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney historical mystery series, this one finds the dynamic duo of Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney as they meet again visiting the Willoughby residence and the Brandon residence, respectively. Following a small dinner party, Mrs. Willoughby collapses and dies. As rumors run rampant, Jonathan and Juliet (along with Darcy‘s childhood friend Bamber) discreetly commence an investigation as the village 🔻

This was such a cute rom-com! I had read a previous book from this author and enjoyed it so now I‘m officially on board.😊 Cat is a wealthy influencer in NYC who needs a place to hide out after being accused of financial crimes with her business partner. She takes a job with her beloved park ranger uncle in Montana and is thrown together with his coworker Zaiah, a flip phone user.😂 As they grow closer, Cat begins to see that she might be ⬇️

This is a debut novel centered on three grown sisters (Rachel, Imogen and Sasha) and their complicated relationships with their free-spirited mother (Margo). Taking place at their childhood home on the Island of Wight, it‘s a look at all the complications and messiness of family and its secrets. Richard and Margo were an epic love story that gradually disintegrated following Richard‘s downward spiral. He abruptly left the family with no ⬇️

This is 3rd in series, and I‘m loving it more with each installment. Set in WW2 England, Electra McDonnell, a feisty, intelligent former safecracking thief, is sent to Sunderland to help investigate a possible spy ring/counterfeiting operation. Her “boss”, intelligence agent Major Ramsey, meets her there with more info as bodies begin to pile up. Who is the spy/murderer among her new acquaintances? This one was especially good as the slow-burn ⬇️

Yes, this is a re-telling of the classic Beauty and the Beast but with some key differences. The biggest one is that Beauty is basically running to the castle (albeit she does officially go to save her father) because she‘s running AWAY from a personal trauma. The beast here is more of a balm for her soul than a terrifying monster. While there‘s not a lot of action (more towards the end), I enjoyed the slower introspective pace as I felt ⬇️

This story is centered on Clover, a 36-year-old woman in NYC who works as a death doula. It chronicles her life (beginning at age 6) and shows the evolution of how circumstances and those around her influenced her choice of this unusual career.
I really enjoyed this book. It is so well-written I found myself highlighting many beautiful/poignant passages throughout. And Clover is portrayed as how I‘d picture the perfect companion at one‘s death, ⬇️

Thought I‘d go ahead and post this since I‘ve got it ready. 😊📚

Thanks, Sarah! 🤗

#BookSpin #DoubleSpin

@BookwormAHN I got your next #LMPBC book out today! 😊 Hopefully with arrival by Tuesday, 4/25. 🤞🏻

This is 2nd in series and my first to read, but it was fairly easy to follow. Nonna Maria is an octogenarian living on her beloved island of Ischia near Naples. She is a local legend, a friend to all and helps solve the occasional crime. There are actually two here. Her goddaughter, a hotel maid, is accused of stealing a guest‘s valuable necklace, and a native woman returns decades later and ends up murdered. I liked this one to a point, but ⬇️

I have a love/hate relationship with some books. Just when I get my sleeping schedule on a good track, one comes along to mess it all up. 🤪😳 Bleary-eyed this am, but I won‘t complain too much. 😉😉❤️

Can anyone relate?! 😆

This includes 3 short stories from 3 authors which are connected through different generations of the same British family, the Alnwicks and their ancestral home Leedswick Castle. The time periods are 1870, 1917 and 1945. The stories center on the male heirs and the strong women behind them. The stories cover the horrors of war/PTSD and the pressure and expectations of inheriting a family legacy that may not be your choice. While the stories ⬇️

I gained a lot from reading this book. It is a faith-based approach on how to think about and the reasons why to work towards "getting out of bed" for those struggling with mental health issues. It is not based on a "scientific" study but rather a treatise on how looking outwards when we are in the throes of a crisis can help motivate and push us out of our own thoughts. This may not be for everyone. It is not a cure-all with guarantees of ⬇️

@BookwormAHN I‘ll have this one in the mail to you later in the week. I‘ll give you a heads up! 😊📚
#LMPBC #Round17 #GroupH

So many wonderful Littens are May babies!! 🌼Looking forward to all the fun celebrations coming up! If you‘d like to have YOUR special day added to the #BirthdayLove calendar (and the #birthdayfairies hope you do!), send your Litsy handle and birthdate (yours only, please) to litsybirthdays@gmail.com.

Litsyland will look forward to celebrating with you! 🥳

I‘m not sure where to start with this review. This book affected me in profound ways that I haven‘t even begun to scratch the surface of. While physically this book is only a mere 300 pages, it felt much longer to me as I found myself slowing down to savor EACH sentence, its meaning and its beauty, before moving on to the next. I also found myself dreading reaching the final page…as I feel with all great books. For my full (long) review: 🔻

This book is KILLING me…but I‘ll go down reading. 🤣🤣 The writing…man oh man…I could highlight 50% of the book. 😆

Out 5/2

I really enjoyed this one but won‘t say much here as it‘s an #LMPBC pick (a great choice @Laughterhp ). 😊 It centers around 1948 Edinburgh, the beginning of the NHS in Scotland and a young medical almoner who is determined to bring justice to a murdered woman. Great heroine, twisty plot, interesting details/background. 4.25/5⭐️

This was such a fun, sweet story…a great feel-good book. Genevieve Wilde has been left a young heiress at the death of her beloved magistrate father. She is headstrong and determined that she will continue to make him proud and protect and prosper her inheritance. At the theft of his pocket watch (Ginny‘s most prized possession), she hires a thief-taker (former Bow Street runner Jack Travers) to find it. But soon more sinister things begin to 🔻

This mystery/thriller was just OK for me. It‘s the beginning of a series of 8 featuring Taylor Jackson, a Nashville Metro Homicide Lieutenant. She (with help from her live-in FBI profiler lover) has two cases to solve here…the Rainman serial rapist and the Southern Strangler, a serial killer who leaves his victims‘ bodies in one state, then leaving one of their severed hands in another state with the next body. While there were some twists and 🔻

Such a wonderful gem! I was surprised by this one and how often I highlighted passages, both because they were beautifully written and insightful but also because I felt them on a personal level. Brynn is a first-time new mom who seems to have the perfect life…loving husband, financial security, able to be a stay-at-home mom by choice. But she struggles to do everything right…care for her son Cody, take care of her home, be a good wife, 🔻

A 2nd good entry in the Bow Street Duchess mystery series. Audrey, the Duchess of Fournier, is recovering from a family scandal at her country home when a good friend is found dead. Murder? She requests Bow Street Officer Hugh Marsden to come and investigate on behalf of her friend‘s family. Will Audrey‘s supernatural gift be able to aid them following another death? Good pace, characters and slow burn relationship. Next one out 4/22. 😉 4.5/5⭐️