June Reading Month in Review

                                  

Welcome in, do join me by sharing your link to your look back at this month. I'm looking forward to visiting and seeing what everyone has been up to.  The link will be open for you to share your post whenever you post over the next few days.  Do visit each others' posts.

Total books read this month: 12
Ocean Light    Nalini Singh
Rainy Day Friends   Jill Shalvis
Promise Me Dad   Joe Biden    Audiobook 5 stars.
Wicked and the Wallflower  Sarah MacLean
The Bookshop of Yesterdays.  Amy Meyerson
Beard Science   Penny Reid   Audiobook 4 stars
Happiness For Beginners   Katherine Center
The Lost For Words Bookshop Stephanie Butland
The Cottages on Silver Beach  RaeAnne Thayne
Heaven Adjacent  Catherine Ryan Hyde
Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe    Jenny Colgan    5 stars  audiobook
The Art of Inheriting Secrets   Barbara O'Neal

Book Formats:

Paperback	Two
E-Book&	Seven
Audiobook	Three
From TBR shelf	One
Review Books	Seven
From my New Shelf	One

Genres Read

Contemporary Romance	Three
Crime/Suspense	Zero
Fantasy	One
Women's Fiction	Five
Historical Fiction	One
Memoir	One
Fiction	One

New to me authors.
Stephanie Butland
Sarah MacLean
Amy Meyerson
Penny Reid
Katherine Center
Joe Biden

Top Book for June

Book Looking Forward to Reading in July...
I am looking forward to less review books this month and reading more of my own books, many of which you see the book covers below. Probably one I am most looking forward to is...

Incoming Books.

Paperback Books Purchased:

E Books Purchased:
None.  

Library Books: 

Books coming from NetGalley or Edelweiss

Audio Books 

So how did your reading month pan out?

An InLinkz Link-up

The Lost For Words Bookshop. Stephanie Butland

Published: St Martin's Press
Date:  19th June 2018
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 304
Genre: Fiction
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
                      

Loveday Cardew prefers books to people. If you look carefully, you might glimpse the first lines of the novels she loves most tattooed on her skin. But there are some things Loveday will never, ever show you.

Into her hiding place - the bookstore where she works - come a poet, a lover, and three suspicious deliveries. Someone has found out about her mysterious past. Will Loveday survive her own heartbreaking secrets?

I chose this title for the word bookshop, it will I think always catch a reader's eye. And it did mine. The cover for The Lost for Words Bookshop is kinda cute but it wouldn't have really pulled me in. However the character of Loveday Cardew was the gem within the pages that caused me to fall in love with this story.

The story begins at a gentle walk, then moves to a trot and finally a gallop you might say. There is a slow revelation to begin with as the book seamlessly moves between present day and Loveday's childhood. Slowly we find out why our Loveday is like she is.

And what is she like?  Well prickly... a loner kind of figure, and a great lover of books. She loves to work in the second hand bookshop, and mostly hide out from customers. She also loves poetry and wait for it... writes a bit of her own.  I liked how very occasionally Loveday addresses the reader, just enough for me to sit up with a jolt because I wasn't expecting it!

Archie is the bookshop owner, we only see him really through Loveday's eyes so we learn about him slowly, but everything we learn about him I loved. He has the perfect heart, well almost anyway. 

Archie isn't young so he isn't the love interest. Leave that to Rob and ....   Rob doesn't last too long and as you read you'll see very soon why. But.... now quite a different person comes into the picture, he's a keeper but will Loveday keep him?

This is a touching, quirky, delightful story. It does tackle the difficult subject of domestic violence so if that's a trigger for you maybe avoid, although it is mostly off stage. 

Often when I read I skip words/paragraphs. No word was lost while reading this book!

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join them!

So I came home Tuesday, and was quite tired for a couple of days. Travel up one day, see lawyer next, travel home the next! I wish I was one of those people who can read or sew in a car... but no! And definitely not for sure around all the many twists and turns.  Although the scenery was gorgeous so no complaints really.

I am watching a little TV, my fav at the moment is S2 of Doctor Doctor. An Australian programme that just hits the right note for me of drama and comedy, and I love the actors who have the various parts. Plus the way they film the Australian scenery, outstanding. 

And A Place to Call Home S5 has just started as well, I recorded it, but I look forward to catching up with this Australian one as well.  I am not into crime, reality TV, cooking and singing shows, so there isn't much that comes along that I like. I do have Netflix though. Did I say I spend more time reading than viewing!

This week my eye was caught on Twitter by this link to a post that talks about the value of reader reviews. It does make me want to keep making sure I do - however small.  How To Feed Your Favorite Author  by Donna June Cooper

During the week I came across this reader survey highlighted by Susan over at The Book Bag  I always like to take part in a reading survey and in case you do too and haven't seen it here is a link to the survey. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/68HL6F2 This 2018 Reader survey has been organised by by M.K. Tod, Heather Burch and Patricia Sands.                         

What I read last week:

I finished listening to this audiobook as planned while driving home from being away.

I also finished this review book

And this book from my very new shelf!  And well worth the read too. A favourite series!

What I am reading at present:

I started listening to this one, it is part of a series and I worried I'd have forgotten the characters, but no I have picked it up from where it left off easily.

And I have just started this review book. I have enjoyed books by Barbara O'Neal in the past so hoping I will do so too with this one.

Up next:

For review. The second in the romantic suspense series by Emilie Richards.

Last weeks posts:

Heaven Adjacent   Catherine Ryan Hyde

Over the Teacups #8

The Cottages on Silver Beach   RaeAnne Thayne

See you in July - now isn't that a scary thought!

An InLinkz Link-up

Over The Teacups #8

This is audiobook month, so it is quite fitting that my three books this time round for Over the Teacups are all audiobooks.

Why? I had read/listened to the previous book The Cafe by the Sea and loved it so I was totally in for listening to this one. 

Plot This continues life on Mure which is a small island off the coast of Scotland. It sounds both unappealing and appealing. We meet all the same characters. Flora is running her cafe, her brother is about to get married, there is a doctor who wants to find his wife and children from a war torn area. And Flora is still wondering really about her relationship with Joel.

What Appeals to me? Well I loved the narration by Sarah Barron, perfection. I loved the setting, the characters and the bittersweet angst. We learn so much about the background of Joel, the doctor's struggle with his search and find of his family, and well... there is one very sad loss happening.
And so...  It was a 5 star listen for me.  A keeper shelf book and most likely a notable book of 2018 for me.

Why?  I saw this listed over on the AAR website where they had the top 100 romances as voted I guess by their readers. As I had read quite a few on this list I thought I'd try this one - new to the list. I also heard it discussed on a couple of podcasts and reviews on Goodreads were generally very positive.
Plot.  This was about Jennifer - the Banana Queen, a baking genius who is totally exploited by her parents. And Cletus Winston - Jen blackmails him into helping her prepare for someone to marry. He sets out to educate her giving her tasks to do - like do something different every day. Cletus is a devious, loveable, quiet and clever individual but it turns out Jen is all of that and more.
What Appeals to me.  It was a fun set up, and all the Winston family were a load of fun. They all have their own books I do believe.  I listened to the audio and it was an easy listening experience reasonably well narrated.
And so...While  I most likely won't read about the rest of them in their books its only because there are so many books to be read... and if I only had time!   A 4 star story and narration.

Why?  I heard Joe Biden being interviewed by Oprah on SuperSoul Sunday Podcast awhile back and I was just so impressed by him. So I put the book into my wish list at Audible.
Plot. Joe Biden recounts some of his experiences as Vice President of the USA, and the years that led up to his son Beau's death from brain cancer.
What Appeals to Me. I really liked Joe Biden's values, his devotion to family and to duty and service. His life is inspiring, his simplicity, his authenticity, humility and loyalty. I liked his positivity and belief in his country even as times changed after his time in office.  He narrates this book himself, he doesn't have the most varied of voices, but the fact he is speaking it himself was enough for me.
And so...I was pleased I picked this one out to listen to, Joe Biden because of his life experience with tragedy has a compassion and ability to connect with others who have suffered.  A 5 star reading experience.

The Cottages on Silver Beach. RaeAnne Thayne

Published: HQN Books
Date:
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 384
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source:
Rating:
                           

For the sake of her brother’s children, innkeeper Megan Hamilton has put her entire life on hold to become their guardian. The last person she wants to ever see again is Elliott Bailey, who she feels is responsible for her brother’s current predicament. But the heat between them is undeniable, and she agrees to help Elliott investigate the cold case that tore their family apart…as long as they keep their attraction under control.

With the  the scent of  pine and spruce and the picture of lake and mountains in my imagination as I read the first chapters of The Cottages on Silver Beach, I was hooked into another small town contemporary romance. I'd enjoyed the previous couple of books in the Haven Point series and so it was with anticipation I read into this story.

I liked very much Elliot Bailey the wounded FBI hero, who has carried all the expectations on his shoulders of being the eldest in the family, someone who doesn't want to disappoint his family and maybe reveal that his halo has slipped... or has it.  I loved his values and totally agreed with him on many points, but none more on an important decision he took and his reasons why.   He is as well as being a FBI agent - a crime writer and I really enjoyed seeing him embarrassed by the fan base he has engendered.

Megan the heroine is a talented photographer who also manages the family Inn. She has a difficult family background and many times doubts herself too often.  When she is placed in close proximity to Elliot a long time attraction has time to develop between them. Mostly its a good one, with some great personal sharing, yet when the chips are down some disappointing miscommunications happen. I so hate that, but have to be honest and say in real life it happens so I can't be too hard on my bookish characters!

A mystery of what happened to  Megan's brother Luke's wife threads its way through the book,  she has been gone for many years. Luke has many a time been blamed for her murder, but what really happened. Well guess who can't keep out of that one. Elliot makes it his business to pursue it. 

The final chapter had me looking forward in great anticipation to Luke's story and how that is going to pan out. So just lets say I am hooked into making that an auto read in my reading future!  That's quite a turn around for me as some of this present book is set in Hope's Crossing and well... I just did not connect with the first book in that series and ditched the whole series. I just may have made a mistake!

Heaven Adjacent Catherine Ryan Hyde

Published:  Lake Union Publishing
Date:  June 19th 2018
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 316
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Little Bird Publicity via NetGalley
Rating:
                         

Roseanna Chaldecott spent her life as a high-powered lawyer in Manhattan. But when her best friend and law partner dies suddenly, something snaps. Unsure of her future, Roseanna heads upstate on one tank of gas and with no plans to return.

In the foothills of the Adirondacks, Roseanna discovers the perfect hideout in a ramshackle farm. Its seventy-six acres are rich with possibilities and full of surprises, including a mother and daughter squatting on the property. Although company is the last thing Roseanna wants, she reluctantly lets them stay.

Heaven Adjacent is a thought provoking novel filled with quirky characters.  

Roseanna is a high flying attorney until she up and leaves it and everyone behind. A life changing moment happens when her attorney friend Alice dies before she can experience the joy of retirement and doing all those fun relaxing things she plans to do.  However Roseanna leaves behind one irate partner in the business who isn't impressed by her departure. He plans revenge! I didn't like him at all!

When Roseanna settles down on a farm she just comes across she finds that there are already some people living on her property and along come more. As well her son finds her because of a reporter who stops by and writes about what Roseanna has been involved in along with the little girl on the property.

Over a few years Rosie finds herself being challenged and while what might have began as a 'pretend' living off the land, becomes a reality. She finds out that it is not too late to change and to become the someone she would like to be towards herself and others. 

There's an old man, a dog and a horse with a mind of its own, a young man with no where to go until now and a little girl who is persistent but low key.  

There are poignant moments and moments filled with humour. And times where family really counts.