Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday! Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, this week it is Typographic Book Covers (Book covers with a design that is all or mostly all words. You can also choose to do books with nice typography if that’s easier!) (Submitted by Mareli @ Elza Reads).
I found this quite hard as most of the books that I have read have a dominant picture, however I thought that these ones fitted the bill (fairly well!):
Welcome to my Stacking The Shelves post hosted by Reading Reality. Whilst I haven’t been to the library this week, I have signed up to 2 Blog Tours and downloaded a Kindle freebie (free at the time of purchase).
“A Murderous Macaron is book #2 in a charming and hilarious new cozy mystery series by #1 bestselling author Fiona Grace, whose bestselling Murder in the Manor (A Lacey Doyle Cozy Mystery) has nearly 200 five star reviews.
Allison Sweet, 34, a sous chef in Los Angeles, has had it up to here with demeaning customers, her demanding boss, and her failed love life. After a shocking incident, she realizes the time has come to start life fresh and follow her lifelong dream of moving to a small town and opening a bakery of her own.
A rude tourist dies after eating his way up and down the boardwalk, and all eyes fall on Allison, as the police blame her new macarons. The macarons have a secret ingredient that is so delicious it has customers lining up and down the boardwalk—but they are not, she knows, the cause of death.
Allison, forced to clear her name and salvage her customers, has no choice but to retrace the victim’s foodie trek up and down the boardwalk, and to figure out what he ate—or who he insulted—that could have gotten him killed.
With her beloved dog at her side, it is a race against time to crack the mystery and solve the crime before she loses her bakery—and her budding romance—for good.
A hilarious cozy mystery series, packed with twists, turns, romance, travel, food and unexpected adventure, the Beachfront Bakery series will keep you laughing and turning pages late into the night as you fall in love with an endearing new character who will capture your heart.”
I saw this on Socrates’ Book Reviews Sunday Salon Post (click for link to that post) and as I had read and enjoyed the first one A Killer Cupcake by Fiona Grace (click for link to my book review) I knew that I had to get it. When I will get time to read it, I don’t know, but I am looking forward to finding the time!
“Mario Conde has retired from the police force and makes a living trading in antique books. Havana is now flooded with dollars, populated by pimps, prostitutes, drug dealers, and other hunters of the night. In the book collection of a rich Cuban who fled after the fall of Batista, Conde discovers an article about Violeta del Rio, a beautiful bolero singer of the 1950s who disappeared mysteriously. A murder soon follows. This is a crime story set in today’s darker Cuba, but it is also an evocation of the Havana of Batista, the city of a hundred night clubs where the paths of Marlon Brando and Meyer Lansky crossed.”
I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 9 November so keep your eyes peeled for my review on here, Amazon, Goodreads, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
For one, their family home is Roxborough Hall – a magnificent, centuries-old mansion in the Norfolk countryside. For another, the house isn’t passed down from parent to child – but rather to the family member deemed most worthy.
Cecily Mordaunt is dead. On the evening of her funeral, her family will gather for dinner and each will be given a letter, revealing who is the next custodian of Roxborough Hall.
The house is a burden, a millstone, a full-time job . . . but they all want it. And some are willing do anything to get it.
One family. Eight letters. Who will get what they deserve?“
I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 15 November so keep your eyes peeled for my review on here, Amazon, Goodreads, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!
What have you been stacking your shelves with this week?
“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “what should I read next”, “thriller”, “Kindle”, “mystery”, “stacking the shelves”
Happy Labor Day to all those who celebrate it! Apparently we also have a Labour Day here in the UK, in May, but we call it a Bank Holiday, specifically Early May Bank Holiday…You learn something new everyday! Anyway in honour of today’s Labor Day I have created this post that spells out Labor Day using the surnames of Authors:
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “what books do you recommend”,what book should I read next”, “mystery”, “thriller”, “romance”, “labor day 2022”, “labor day”
Every season I like to look back and revisit my 5 star reads. As well as trying to read different genres, I also like to try and match my reading to the season as far as possible.
So here were my 5 star reads for the second half of Summer (click for my reviews):
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “rom com”, “mystery”, “thriller”, “summer reading”, “reading slump”, “what should I read next”, “what book do you recommend”, “library”, “what book should I get from the library”, “what books should I read this summer”
“James Bond is missing… 007 has been captured, perhaps even killed, by a sinister private military company. His whereabouts are unknown.
Meet the new generation of spies… Johanna Harwood, 003. Joseph Dryden, 004. Sid Bashir, 009. Together, they represent the very best and brightest of MI6. Skilled, determined and with a licence to kill, they will do anything to protect their country.
The fate of the world rests in their hands… Tech billionaire Sir Bertram Paradise claims he can reverse the climate crisis and save the planet. But can he really? The new spies must uncover the truth, because the future of humanity hangs in the balance.
Time is running out.”
I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 2 September so keep your eyes peeled for my review on here, Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “june reading”, “reading goals”, “what should I read next”, “what did you read”, what would you recommend that I read”, “what would get me out of a reading slump”, “romance”, “mythology retelling”, “mystery”
“”Oh no. No, no, no.” Rocky Herbert smelled death, the stench hitting him hard as he approached the doctor’s kitchen door.”
Genre:Thriller/Romantic Suspense
Number of Pages:560
Date of Publication:4 August 2022
Publisher:HarperCollins
My Review Summary: Gripping from beginning to end.
📖PLOT SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS 📖
There are good cops. And there are bad cops. The question is…who wins?
After completing her tours with the Marines in Iraq, Molly Sutton knew she could take down any bad guy she met. But when her law enforcement agency in North Carolina turned against her, she joined up with her former CO Burke Broussard, who left New Orleans PD to set up a private investigative service for people who couldn’t find justice elsewhere.
Gabe Hebert saw the toll that working for the NOPD took on his dad and decided instead to make a name for himself as one of the best young chefs in the French Quarter. But when his father’s death is ruled a suicide after a deliberately botched investigation by his former captain, Gabe knows his dad stumbled onto a truth that someone wants silenced.
Gabe goes to his father’s best friend, Burke, for help. Burke assigns the toughest member of his team, Molly, to the case. Molly can’t believe she’s being asked to work with the smoking hot chef whose chocolate cake is not the only thing that makes her mouth water. Sparks fly as they follow the leads Gabe’s dad left them, unraveling a web of crimes, corruption, and murder that runs all the way to the top.
💭THOUGHTS💭
I wanted to get back into reading Thrillers and this one fitted the bill. There was also a bit of Romance thrown in too which I quite enjoyed. I loved the cover, but was quite surprised at the size of the book when it arrived. I was a bit daunted by it, however I needn’t have worried because it was a fantastic book that made me forget about the length.
The writing had me gripped from the beginning to the end. I had worried that the story would drag, but it didn’t. It was so well put together that it didn’t feel as long as it looked. Whilst the text was small and there was a lot of intricate details, I never felt lost and the story kept moving. There were also little recaps dotted around that made sure that you knew who everyone was and what was happening.
The chapters themselves were long, but they were cleverly split into place and time zones. It was this that gave the story a good pace and stopped my interest from wandering.
The story was mainly told from an outside narration, but there were times when you got one of the main character’s points of view. This style kept my interest and allowed you to get to know the characters a bit more.
It was quite an emotional read at times and there was a lot of death throughout. You knew what had happened before the end, but you were still interested in following the journey of discovery by the characters and seeing how everything linked together and panned out.
The characters were excellent. I loved the friendships that were made and also the fact that you didn’t always know who to trust! There were morally grey/moral less characters too which are always fascinating to read about.
Lastly the settings. They were very much secondary as all the little details were in the characters and their thoughts, feelings and actions. I didn’t mind this at all as you were so focused on what was going on that you didn’t need all the surroundings being described.
Overall a fantastic story that was cleverly put together. I recommend it and will be looking to read more of this Author’s books in the future!
This is my Blog Tour Book. I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 23 August so keep your eyes peeled for my review on here, Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
This is my Blog Tour Book. I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 2 September so keep your eyes peeled for my review on here, Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!
My Book Of The Week That Took Part In This Week’s Memes Was:
We have finally had cooler weather and some rain! It has been excellent! We have also had a pretty busy week, going out most days.
On Monday we went to the Children’s Centre then on to Hastings. It was my son’s 4th birthday so we thought that we would take him to the Seaside and to the Aquarium. He loved being in the Sea, but not the Aquarium so much, no idea why. On Tuesday we went to Rochester for some lunch, a look round the Cathedral and some window shopping (including a couple of bookshops!). Wednesday we went to Aylesford Priory and had a look around where the Order of Carmelites used to live. Thursday we went to Maidstone Museum. On Friday we went to Tunbridge Wells to buy some bits for my son’s first homework (!!). On Saturday we went to IKEA and bought some bits for the house – we always need more storage solutions! Today we are going to stay near home and visit my partner’s parents (who live a 10 min walk away!)
Hastings
Hastings
Hastings
Rochester Cathedral
Rochester High Street (with Cathedral in the background)
Aylesford Priory (you can see where the heat has damaged the grass!)
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “book meme”, “weekly wrap up”, “sunday salon”, “what books do you recommend”, “what books are popular on social media”, “what book should I read next”, “mystery”, “mythology”,”summer reading”
Exciting news! It finally properly rained here! It has also cooled down and we have rain forecast for the next week which I am thrilled about! We shall see if it happens.
On to this evening and I have made a good dent in my Blog Tour Book Quarter to Midnight by Karen Rose. I actually think that I will get it finished tomorrow! I had been starting to panic about it, but I have sorted myself out! It is an excellent book and I am looking forward to reviewing it on 23 August.
The rest of the evening was spent reading a chapter of my buddy read The Christie Affair by Nina De Gramont. Tomorrow I really need to focus on my library book Norse Mythology as time is ticking on that.
I hope that you have all had an excellent Tuesday. Tomorrow on the Blog it’s WWW Wednesday, Top 5 Wednesday and Wondrous Words Wednesday.
Welcome to my Sunday Salon post! Hosted by Readerbuzz this post is a chance to have a weekly bookish and non-bookish catch up with other bloggers. This is a different post this week as I have been away on holiday so a lot of the posts were scheduled in advance. Anyway, here is what I have been reading and seeing this past week:
“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “book meme”, “weekly wrap up”, “sunday salon”, “what books do you recommend”, “what books are popular on social media”, “what book should I read next”, “romance”,”summer reading”
*Budget Tales Book Blog* 