Books I read and enjoyed in December 2020!

 

1: ARTIC FURY by Greer McAllister

2: DARK FALLS by Gregg Olsen

3: A LIFE WITHOUT REGRETS by Marci Bolden

4: TAKE IT BACK by Kia Abdullah

5:  THE WICKED HOUR by Alice Blanchard

6: COLD WIND by Paige Shelton

7: MY NAME IS ANTON by Catherine Ryan Hyde

8: COVER MY TRACKS by Daco S. Auffenorde

9: COME TOMORROW by Tess Thompson

10: THE LAST TO SEE HER by Courtney Evan Tate

11: THE BETRAYAL by Terry Lynn Thomas 

12: THE NATURE OF FRAGILE THINGS by Susan Meissner

13: THE WIFE UPSTAIRS by Rachel Hawkins

I had a great month of reading...

December 2020 Favorite book!

 

This is the best book I read in December 2020. Possibly the best book I've read this whole year. It was fantastic. So well written and to heartbreakingly good. From start to finish it was greatness at its best. You will not want to miss this book!

Full review will be February 2, 2021

Author Susan Meissner

Publisher Berkley

November 2020 Favorite book!

November's favorite book

From the author of A Lily in the Light comes a poignant story of innocence lost and what it means to grow up too fast. (I loved A LILY IN THE LIGHT)

I loved A Lily in the Light, but this one to me was even better. It's a very emotional story. A story that hits so close to my heart. A bit too close. 

Full review HERE:

Mailbox Monday! 12/28/20

 

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists!!

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books, has a permanent home now at Mailbox Monday.

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Here’s a shout out to the administrators:
Leslie @ Under My Apple Tree 
Serena @ Savvy Verse And Wit
Martha @ Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf 

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                THANKS to everyone for keeping Mailbox Monday alive. 

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I hope you had a good mailbox.

I had an AMAZING mailbox!!

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Received December 22nd

1: THE SPINSTER by Tess Thompson

Gift from Tess Thompson via Bookfunnel 

Received December 23rd

2: THE SILENT WOMAN by Terry Lynn Thomas

Gift from the author

Received December 24th

3: LEFT TO DIE by Blake Pierce

It was free on Amazon

4: BLACK SWAN OF PARIS by Karen Robards

5: IF I WERE YOU by Lynn Austin

6: THE PARIS MODEL by Alexandra Joel

These were sent to me in a contest on Facebook!

7: Children's books I won on Facebook:

For my great grandson who will be   here around

March 8th of 2021

It's Monday! What are you reading? 12/28/20

I hope you had a great reading week.

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This is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn at BOOKDATE! 

Post the books completed, the books you are currently reading, and the books you hope to finish at some point.

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What I read this past week:

1: THE LAST TO SEE HER by Courtney Evan Tate (reviewed)

2: THE BETRAYAL by Terry Lynn Thomas (reviewed)

3: THE NATURE OF FRAGILE THINGS by Susan Meissner (review will be today)

What I am going to read in the next few weeks: 

1: THE WIFE UPSTAIRS by Rachel Hawkins

2: THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS by Jodi Picoult

3: NOT MY BOY by Kelly Simmons

4: THE FIXER UPPER by Lauren Clark

5: LITTLE WISHES by Michelle Adams

6: BLOODLINE by Jess Lourey

7: THE PUSH by Claire McGowan

8: WATCH HER by Edwin Hill 

9: PRETTY LITTLE WIFE by Darby Kane

10: WRONG ALIBI by Christina Dodd

11: WHAT'S WORTH KEEPING by Kaya McLaren

12: POSSESSION by Katie Lowe

13: EVERY WAKING HOUR by Joanna Schaffhausen

14: HADLEY AND GRACE by Suzanne Redfearn

Book Beginnings Friday & The Friday 56!

 

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. 

The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. 

Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

MY BOOK BEGINNING:

INTERVIEW WITH MRS. SOPHIE HOCKING

CONDUCTED BY AMBROSE LOGAN, U.S. MARSHAL

CASE NUMBER 069308

Official transcript

San Francisco, CA

November 6, 1906

QUESTION: Thank you again for coming. Could you please state your full name, age, birth date, and the city where you were born, for the record, please?

MY 56:

There was little privacy inside the church sanctuary, but we find a back-row that offers the most we can expect. I can't help but watch as Belinda nurses the child once we are settled in. It is such a beautiful sight.

SYNOPSIS:

April 18, 1906: A massive earthquake rocks San Francisco just before daybreak, igniting a devouring inferno. Lives are lost, lives are shattered, but some rise from the ashes forever changed.

Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin's silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin's odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn't right.

Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved.

The fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear.

From the acclaimed author of The Last Year of the War and As Bright as Heaven comes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity.

My week of reading! 12/21 - 12/27

 

My week in reading 12/21 - 12/27

What I read/reviewed. My current read. What I plan to read.

Have you read any? What are you going to read?

1: THE LAST TO SEE HER by Courtney Evan Tate(reviewed)

2: THE BETRAYAL by

Terry Lynn Thomas

(reviewed)

3: THE NATURE OF FRAGILE THINGS by

Susan Meissner

(review will be tomorrow)

4: THE WIFE UPSTAIRS by Rachel Hawkins

5: NOT MY BOY by

Kelly Simmons

October 2020 Favorite book!

 October's favorite book

Another great by the author of THE DELTA CROSSROADS TRILOGY, Stacy Green. It's been a few years since I read a book by this author but I won't wait so long again. This book was a page turner. A real edge of your seat thriller.

Full review HERE!

THE BETRAYAL by Terry Lynn Thomas

                                                 

‘OMG! It literally blew me away. It gripped me from the very first page and I could not stop reading until I finished.’ NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars

From the USA Today bestselling author comes a gripping thriller about a divorce attorney who’s about to discover her own marriage is based on lies when she’s arrested for murder.

Attorney Olivia Sinclair is shocked when she receives an anonymous video showing her husband Richard sleeping with someone else. After years of handling other people’s divorces, she thought she could recognise a marriage in trouble.

She angrily throws Richard out of the home they share. But days later she’s arrested—for the murder of his mistress.

Olivia knows she’s innocent but, with all the evidence pointing at her and an obvious motive, she must find the real killer to clear her name.

She may be used to dealing with messy divorces, but this one will be her most difficult case yet. Olivia’s husband has already betrayed her—but would he set her up for murder?

A gripping and unputdownable thriller for fans of Gillian McAllister, Alafair Burke and A Killer’s Wife.

MY THOUGHTS: 

This was my first book by Terry Lynn Thomas. I have found a new to me author. I'm so excited to read the next in this series.

This book was so good. It had so many good things going on. A woman who thought she had it all. A happy marriage. A lucrative law practice. A beautiful daughter. A home that was picture perfect. Was it all a lie? 

Olivia Sinclair was a successful divorce attorney who just celebrated her sixty second birthday and retirement. She's married to a very handsome successful attorney, Richard, and has a beautiful daughter,Denny. A lovely home and lots of wonderful friends. But... 

Richard is Olivia's husband. He has a problem. He can't seem to be faithful. He thinks it's perfectly ok to have as many affairs as he wants. After all a man has needs... He's truly the definition of a cad. A jerk of the worst possible kind. An adulterous insolent man without a conscious or thought about anyone but himself. I did not like Richard. But could he be so heartless as to set his wife up for murder? Is he that cold and callous? 

This book will keep you turning pages. It has so much going on and will keep you guessing until the truth comes out. I do usually figure these out but this time I pegged the wrong person. I didn't guess who the murderer was. The things that Olivia Sinclair goes through and the depths she will go to to prove her innocence and to save her daughter from the same kind of life are endless. I throughly enjoyed this book. It kept me turning the pages until I finished it. I loved how the author pulled all the things together for an ending that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The descriptions are so well written and the feelings so well said. I felt the fear in not only Olivia but her daughter. The cruelty in Richard and in their son in law David. Both men are just cold and believe women are their property. 

This was one of the best books I have read. I look forward to many more by this author. Her sequel THE WITNESS is on my TBR list. I can't wait.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #TerryLynnThomas, #HQDigital for this wonderful book. This is my own true feeling of this book.

5/5 stars and a very high recommendation.

September 2020 Favorite book!

 September's favorite book

This is my first book by Lesley Kagen but will not be my last.

This is such a good book. It's a very cute quick read with a lot of intense things going on also. It starts out with Elizabeth Buchanan telling a story about her and her two best friends. The setting is the summer of 1960 and these three girls are eleven years old. Just old enough to be kids and be finding themselves. Their innocence is so sweet in this book. Some of the things they say made me laugh so hard. They are three different girls who are always there for each other no matter what. They call themselves the "tree musketeers." Not a mistype either. 

Full review HERE!

Book Blogger Hop - 12/25 - 12/31

 

Question of the Week:

Did you meet your reading goals for 2020? How many books did you read? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

My Answer:

I have met and exceeded my reading goal. I never make it to outrages as I have to do things like clean, cook, shower, eat, sleep... You know "live." But I have read way more than I set my goal for. 122 out of 75 books and still reading. I usually read 2-3 books a week and enjoy them. 

I don't like to stress out over the amount of books I set. A bit low is always better. Since I have stayed home since March I've done so much reading. Reading is my stress reliever!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

August 2020 Favorite book!

August's favorite book

This book is the best one yet by this author and she writes some very good books. It’s such an emotional and touching story. It will leave you breathless. It’s filled with things that really did happen and the young girl Pia was so likable. She never, ever, gives up. I loved her. Full review HERE!

July's Favorite book!

 July's favorite book

OMG, this book is awesome. The best ever by Amanda Prowse and that is saying a lot. She’s a wonderful author and this book is pure magic. Pure poetry in it’s own way. Such a touching book. A big 10 tissue box read.

Full review here.