When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams

 

My thoughts

Beatriz Williams is an automatic go to for me. If I see a new book coming, especially one set on Winthrop Island, I'll need to grab it. This is the best yet and I look forward to the next book. Very much so...

This book starts out with a horrific accident during a football game. One player is dead on the field and another's life is turned upside down, never to be the same again.

Nothing given away there. It's just how the story starts. Then you go to Winthrop Island and start searching for buried treasure.

Lucy Cooper had been coming to Winthrop Island during the summer for most of her life. When she was small she lived there with her parents. Her mother took her and left but Lucy came back to visit. She had a best friend, Laura Peabody, and Lucy's dad Bud Cooper,  who lived there. One summer though there was a teenage boy named Ben Ressler. Ben was visiting and both girls had crushes on him. That last summer a boy named Ben came between two best friends. Lucy did not mean to fall in love with Ben. But it happened. They were each other's first loves.. Laura didn't take it to well.

Ben had moved back to Winthrop after his football career plummeted. He became a landscaper and worked hard. He is well loved and no one on the island holds what happened against him. It was an accident.

When Lucy and Ben meet again the fire sparks. Though both it seems try to hide it and not make a deal out of it.

Then there is another story going on but set back in 1816-1817. Still on Winthrop Island. It's set during The Great Snow and is another romance in the making. Hephzibah is living with her sister and brother in law and there is a huge snow storm. Also there are pirates. When two men come in wanting help for their captian and promising to pay them handsomely what can they do. Silas who is married to Beulah, Hephzibah's sister, is sickly. Hephzibah takes charge and does what needs doing. The captain, Ramsay, is hurt and needs quite a few stiches. Hephzibah does the sewing and must do a fine job. 

You get to know the characters in both stories and how they weave together. Lucy's dad has spent his life researching buried treasure and was convinced there was treasure on his land. Thus the reason Lucy's mother took her and left. 

I adored this story. Both of them. Two strong women. Two strong love stories. Pirates and buried treasure. A mystery. A murder??? There are a few things going on and you just have to find out who is doing what and why. I wanted everyone to end up happy and together. I loved the love stories. I loved these characters. The way Ben helped the girls basketball team start winning. How he stood by Laura when she needed him but never left Lucy's side either. 

You may see a few names from other books set on Winthrop Island by this author also. I recognized some. I can't wait to read the next book already. 

Thank you Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC. I also received a physical copy from attending an author event. 

I bought the audio and am so glad I did. I loved how the three narrators made this book even better. The dialect from back in the early 1800s was great. So well done. Each one did great.

 

Five stars.

About

A young widow returns to her late father’s New England estate, only to be drawn into the hunt for the rumored pirate treasure that consumed his life, in this thrilling and moving novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Husbands & Lovers.

Local history insists that a legendary pirate buried his treasure somewhere beneath Windward, the decayed Cooper estate on Winthrop Island, but Lucy Cooper never trusted the fable that broke her family apart. When a widowed Lucy returns with her young daughter to grieve her estranged father, she discovers the property’s buried under a mountain of debt, and Ben Ressler has just turned up on her doorstep.

Thirteen summers ago, a teenaged Lucy never meant to fall in love with Ben, a Dartmouth football star vacationing next door at the Peabody estate, and the object of an all-consuming crush by Laura Peabody, Lucy’s best friend. Those two weeks with Ben were the best and worst of Lucy’s life, dooming her friendship with Laura. Now Ben’s returned to live quietly in the Peabodys’ caretaker lodge, after a fatal accident ended his dazzling NFL career. He’s also the last person who saw Lucy’s father alive.

As Lucy reconstructs her father’s troubling final days, she uncovers his research on the frozen winter of 1717, when a desperately wounded pirate sought refuge on Winthrop Island with an enigmatic healer. To Lucy, this history points the way to a different kind of how to forgive yourself for the mistakes of the past and earn a second chance at love. But just as Lucy’s long-buried emotions sear to the surface, a shocking turn of events reveals that someone else on the island will do whatever it takes to claim the fabled plunder.

A timeless story of love and atonement, When You Loved Me maps both a centuries-old treasure hunt and the intimate territory of the human heart, weaving together past and present as only Beatriz Williams can.

Where She Rests (Nikki Hunt, #12) by Stacy Green

 

My thoughts

I've read all of the Nikki Hunt books and will continue to as long as Stacy Green keeps writing them. Nikki is the best. So strong and take no crap bad.... 

When three young teens are brutally murdered Nikki makes it her mission to find the killer. Two of these young girls worked at the bakery she frequented. Shot execution style. Nothing missing. Except a possible third girl. A runaway. A street child. If she is alive Nikki will find her. 

Back when Nikki was a teenager her parents were brutally murdered. An innocent young man was sent to prison for it. Nikki truly thought he was the killer. He was released after the true killer was found and brought to justice. The innocent young man is now Nikki's brother in law. He's just about the kindest person ever. But he is taken in again. A possible suspect in the murder of the two young girls in the bakery. Nikki comes to his defense...

This story has many twists and turns. A few suspects. Don't even try to figure out who the murderer is.. You won't guess. I thought I had it all figured out. I was wrong. I'm glad I was wrong but I still didn't like the one I thought was the killer. He was a jerk. 

I love almost all of the characters in this series. They start to feel like friends after a while. This one kept me reading all day. I didn't want to put it down. I wanted so bad to know who the killer was and why. Why he killed the two girls in the bakery.

All questions were answered and I finally released a held breath right before the Epilogue... Once Nikki woke up and Rory could breath again I was happy. Now I can't wait for the next book. I'm wondering how Stacy will top this one. It was perfect. 

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC. I bought the audio and it was just great. Made the characters even more realistic.

5 big stars..

About

The girl feels her pulse spike as she tucks herself into the tight space hoping he can’t hear her heavy breathing. She watches him adjust the limp body beside him, and then pause, as if he’s noticed something…

When Special Agent Nikki Hunt walks into the local bakery, she can’t believe the terrifying scene inside. Owner, Claire, is in floods of tears and trembling, the bloodied blond hair of her two young shop assistants peeking out from beneath the white sheets covering them. Nikki immediately panics as she hears Stillwater police whispering that her brother-in-law, Mark, might be the killer…

Though Nikki once proved Mark was innocent of murder, there are people in town who still believe he should be in prison. And everyone knows he just started dating Claire. But finding Mark shaking in the station’s interrogation room, her gut tells her he’s innocent once again. Evidence that a homeless teen was sleeping in the bakery is Nikki’s first real lead, and she begins a desperate search.

But despite knocking on every door, Nikki can find no trace of the missing girl. And then she receives the call she dreads… another body has been found.

Will Nikki be able to protect the people of Stillwater, and her own family? Or has the girl she’s been searching for already lost her life?

Fans of Kendra Elliot, Lisa Regan and Mary Stone will inhale this unbelievably pacy crime thriller until the early hours, desperate to flip the final pages.

The Iron Hex by Victoria S. Walsh

 My thoughts

I did enjoy most of this book. Parts were repetitive and slow but still it was ok. You have a girl who seems to be in love with a guy. The problem is the guy is a witch killer and the girl is a witch. Her best friend is a rabbit. A literal rabbit. What could possibly go wrong?

Eira is a witch who has lost her memory. Her best friend is a rabbit. She thinks her family are all dead and gone. Then along comes Hugo to help her. And her friend Evangeline is suddenly there too. These three take a journey to find a memory witch who can restore Eira's memories. There are some big secrets along the way too. And a love story in the making. Well not exactly in the making since it's kind of been there all along. The problem is one is a witch. One is a killer of witches. How do you make a love match out of that? You'll see...

This is a three part story. I've only read the first part and do highly look forward to the next one. While parts of this story drove me crazy, most was so good. I hated hearing Iron Retinue in almost every paragraph. It was a bit overdone. But this was the author's first attempt at this kind of story so you have to give credit to that. A debut novel that seems to be a hit. 

I listened to the audio while reading the ebook and the narrator Jeremy Carlisle Parker did a good job with it. While she is not one of my favorite narrators she does do a decent job of holding your attention. Keeping the characters separate has to be a job on it's on. 

 

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA and Harlequin Audio/MIRA for the arcs.

3.75 stars. 

About

She doesn’t remember her past. But some memories come with a cost.

Eira Eckhart has spent years building a quiet life in a small town at the edge of a recently overthrown kingdom. Her memory is fractured, her past a blur—but with her shop, her loyal rabbit familiar, and practicing only the potions magic still legal under the watchful eye of the Iron Empire, she’s managed to remain unnoticed by the empire’s witch hunters.

Until Hugo Venton walks through her door.

Brash, clever, and infuriatingly handsome, Hugo is searching for something…and seems to know more about Eira than she knows about herself. But when a terrifying encounter with an unnatural, deadly new breed of soldier puts a price on her head, she has no choice but to join Hugo on his quest.

Their hunt for a missing princess pulls Eira across the continent—and deeper into a past she can’t recall. As buried memories, mysteries in the Iron Empire’s capital, forgotten feelings, and the truth behind her identity begin to surface, Eira realizes the forbidden magic simmering in her veins might be the very thing that could save them from the Iron Empire’s forces as they draw ever closer…if she can remember how to control it in time.

Meet Me In Paris by Kristin Harmel

 

My thoughts

I will read anything Kristin Harmel writes. Her books always take me to places I would not be able to go. (I don't fly) They give me the emotions that all good books give. All of the emotions. They always keep me wanting more. This book was just so good. Filled with several characters and their stories. Their feelings and emotions. From finding true love to losing old loves. From young to young at heart..

This is a story of many faces. A few young ladies coming to Paris to help their friend get over her husbands affair. A divorce vacation if you will. A mother/daughter who always planned to visit and are here before it's to late. The mother has terminal cancer. A group of people who were in Vietnam together, for a reunion of sorts. A single young lady who just wants to know her father who never was part of her life. (I didn't like him at all. He reminded me of someone in a way). An older man who found out the true love of his life didn't die. She's alive but in a home for memory loss. (dementia) What a story there....

You truly will get to know these characters and all their feelings. The emotions and caring they each have. And there is a lady's man in the group of Vietnam veterans. He was a hoot for sure. 

All of the stories are heartwarming and in ways heartbreaking. Very emotional. Very touching. 

I think this author always out does herself. This is such a good book. It was so interesting to read one that was not historical though in a couple of places there is history in the subject. 

I can't wait to read her next book. 

Thank you Gallery Books and NetGalley for this ARC. 

Five stars 

About

Nine Americans in Paris. Seven intertwined love stories. One City of Light.

Love Actually meets The Notebook in a tale of love, loss, and finding your way home, all set over the course of one life-changing week in Paris.

Julia Glover has brought her twenty-three-year-old daughter, Piper, to Paris for the first time—but they know it will also be their last trip here together. Julia is dying, and as the mother and daughter desperately try to make memories together as the clock ticks down, the world opens up around them. Piper meets a cute French waiter, who might just understand her better than anyone she’s ever met, and Julia meets a man at a dive bar and struggles with how to tell him the truth about her future.

Rock star Jackson Quick’s glory days are behind him. He had a handful of hit songs thirty years ago, but he hasn’t toured in a decade. This week, he’ll launch his reunion tour in Paris, the city where it all began. But he wants more out of life than being defined by fame. When he meets a woman who finally sees him for who he is at his core, the ground shifts beneath his feet.

Henry McGee has been writing hit songs for decades—including Jackson Quick’s biggest hit, City of Light. But his secret is that every love song he’s ever written is for a woman named Celeste, whom he loved a lifetime ago, when they were both teenagers in Paris during World War II. He has spent eighty years believing she died—but when a letter arrives telling him the opposite, he’s on the first flight to France. Can he break through the haze of her dementia, using the songs he’s written all these years, to remind her of who they once were to each other—and to tell her he came back for her?

Henry’s granddaughter, Melody, has just discovered that her husband of twenty years, Gilles, a French cosmetics executive, is having an affair. When she confronts him, he tearfully apologizes and begs her to forgive him. But can she? And, perhaps even more importantly, does she want to? Or is there a different kind of life out there for her if she chooses to be alone?

These intertwining stories—plus several others—unfold over a few breathtaking spring days, as an unforgettable group of Americans in Paris must find their way to their own versions of happily ever after in the City of Light.

A Curse of Beasts and Magic by Jeaniene Frost

 

My thoughts

This was my first by this author. It was so good too. 

The only thing that I didn't like was that dragons are not good in this story. I love a good dragon story and this one is good but not the dragons good. Yikes!! I did not like the dragon's host though. That kind of made up for the dragon being not nice. :) 

A girl with a beast inside meets a man with tons of money and possibly a beast inside of him. They become an item. A fake engagement too. 

Raine was infected with a beast at the young age of fifteen. She lost her mother and grandmother that day. She has tried everything to kill this beast but to no avail. When she saves an old man her life changes drastically. 

Remington is a very rich man. He owns most of the land and soon hopes to own Raine. Well maybe not own, but have. He likes her. He finds her to be kind and full of spunk. He also believes her to be beautiful and she has a beast in her. He wants to find out what kind of beast and what she knows about it. He never expected to fall in love. Or did he?

This book was a fun read and oh my I hope the next book comes out soon. I didn't want it to end yet...

Well written and filled with a few beasts and bad guys/girls. A big fight scene and a few love scenes. Hot but not too hot. This was just a good story. A good fictional story of love, loss, fights, beasts, humans, and some horrors too. 

I listened to the audio via NetGalley and it was fantastic. The narrator, Tavia Gilbert, did such a good job. She was able to do the voices so you felt each character. She truly brought this book to life.

Thank you MacMillan Audio for this ARC.

4.5 stars 

About

New York Times bestselling author of The Night Huntress series Jeaniene Frost returns with a brand-new series! It’s Beauty and the Beast meets The Witcher, except Beauty IS the Beast, and he’s the Warden keeping mythical beings in check in our world and beyond.

Raine Stone is living a nightmare. Ever since she survived the attack that killed her family, she's been hiding a terrible secret--and a Beast inside her.

It feeds on violence and chaos, but she restrains its urges by playing vigilante on the city streets. Until one night, Raine uses the Beast’s energy to heal an elderly gentleman from a seemingly random attack and discovers a new world of danger—literally.

Remington “Remy” Byrne knows the wall between a realm of deadly mythic creatures and our own world is very fragile. After all, he’s the Warden who guards the gateways between them. Raine’s Beast contains power that could tip the scales in a sinister plot against Remy’s rule—if she allies with him.

Will they be friends or foes…or will their dangerous attraction turn into something else? And can our world be saved by their explosive alliance?

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

 

My thoughts

Meg Shaffer is one to watch. Her books are in my top favorites. This is the third book by her and I enjoyed it so much. What was not to love. A book about books about characters, authors, real life characters, book characters, a book witch, and a cat. You have a story set to make you laugh and in places cry. It's a kind of love story but so so much more. You'll second guess yourself a few times too. 

Rainy March is living with her grandfather. Her mother is dead and she has no idea who her father is. Her grandmother died several years prior. So it's just Rainy and her grandfather. And her cat. Rainy is a book witch. Her cat Koshka, is her muse. Koshka saves her a couple of times too. Or helps I should say. Smart cat. 

There is a lot going on but it's so easy to follow. Rainy is looking for her grandfather. Also looking for other things that she really does not realize she is looking for. 

This is truly a brilliantly written story. It grabs you and gives you quite a bit. Not to overwhelming but just enough mystery or secrets to keep you guessing what is happening. The author wrote a masterpiece here. At least from this readers POV. The way she wove these characters together was nothing short of striking. When it finally all comes together you can breath a sigh of relief. For all the characters...

It just falls together so perfectly. Total perfection. It's like reading more than one story that weaves together. 

Thank you Ballantine Books for this ARC. 

Five stars. 

About

She can hop into any novel, she just can’t stay there. Come along with the book witch in this magical and inspiring love letter to reading from the USA Today bestselling author of The Wishing Game.

Rainy March is a proud third-generation book witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps into and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes. 

Book witches live by a strict Real people belong in the real word; fictional characters belong in works of fiction…. Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don’t even think about it.

Which is why Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite mystery series. If she’s ever caught with him again, she’ll be expelled from her book coven—and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.

But when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, there’s only one person she trusts to help her solve the case: the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, The Great Gatsby, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.

An Infinite Love Story by Chanel Cleeton

 

My thoughts

A promise of space and love, what's not to love. This is a very compelling space race love story. One that kept me glued to my reader. One for the ages. This book is so good. Chanel Cleeton's best yet...

Vivian and Joe have a kind of whirlwind love/romance. Though they take and write a lot they've not been on a lot of dates. But when it's true love you just know it. You just feel it. I felt the love between these two. I also felt the tension Vivian felt at Joe becoming an astronaut. The fear she felt when he was going into space. To the moon....

Then the time comes and he's gone. He's flying. Fulfilling his lifelong dream. To fly to the moon. To be an astronaut. Something he's always wanted. But then the most horrible thing happens. Joe and two other astronauts are lost. No one can communicate with them. There is no sign of them. No at all!!!

Vivian's worst fears surface. She stood by Joe even when she didn't want him to do this. She didn't want him to fly to space. But she supported him. Now he is missing. 

The things Viv goes through are so heartfelt. So heartbreaking. So sad. What wives of astronauts go through at times are horrible. A lot of the astronauts cheat. Have affairs. They can't seem to be faithful. There are a few divorces but some wives stay. 

Joe never cheated on Viv. He was a faithful husband and you'll love him. I loved all of the characters in this story. They all seemed so realistic. Friends who stand by each other. 

This is a well written story of hope and love. Of trying to find answers. Trying to come to terms with a horrible loss. Or two.

Thank you Berkley Publishing for this ARC.

Five stars..

About

When an astronaut is lost in space, his wife relives their epic love as she attempts to unravel what truly happened to him, in this sweeping love story set against the backdrop of the 1960s Space Race, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes.

When Joe Mitchell launches into space, the world is watching. It’s 1968, and the country waits with anticipation and excitement for another successful mission, another celebration as America sets its sights on the Moon. And then comes the knock at the door.

Joe Mitchell’s spacecraft has lost contact. He and his fellow astronauts onboard are feared to be dead. It’s his wife Vivian’s worst nightmare come to life, her grief suddenly taking center stage as the nation waits and mourns. In her quiet moments, Vivian relives their memorable story, unable to accept that this is the end to a love that felt as though it was written in the stars.

As the investigation surrounding Joe’s lost spacecraft intensifies and the mishap is written off as an operator error, Vivian is determined to clear her husband’s name and uncover the mystery of what happened in space. When someone starts sending Vivian messages—messages she believes only Joe could send—she begins to wonder if their love is stronger than space and time, and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring her husband back to her.