Books I Plan on Reading August 23-29 and last week's results

 

Hello to everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful week. This past week, I did not reach my reading goals. I was helping my church with their Vacation Bible School, which was fun though required set up) and then came home to pack some more. I feel like I am finally getting somewhere. The weather here has cooled off a bit, staying mostly in the 70's though at night it can get into the 60's. Two of the 5 days of VBS, we were outside with rain or threat of rain keeping us inside. I prefer the outdoors for fresh air and a little more movement space.

Okay, last week's results: I planned to read 5 ebooks but only read 2. I planned on 2 audiobooks but only listened to one (which I finished today). The audiobooks are great for when I am packing.

Ebooks: 

Nicoletta by Barbara Nolan - 5 stars

Bond of a Bewitched Highlander by Vonda Sinclair - 5 stars

Audiobook: 

The Lies We Play by Claudia Burgoa - 4 stars 

Planned Reading for August 23-29

Ebooks:

Audiobooks: 

It should be a more relaxing week (I hope). I plan on seeing at least one movie with my husband and possibly visit my old store to say hi to those who used to work for me. I will still work on packing with a hope that I am ready to move come mid-September. I suggest to everyone that a fall cleaning (or spring) every couple years or so would be a wonderful idea. I am packing up a house that has been lived in by my husband for around 60 years, leaving a lot of stuff to sift through. Take the time to relax, enjoy life as you go, and I will see you next week.

Likkle More (Jamaican for see you later),

Ebook Review: Bond of a Bewitched Highlander (Highland Shifters #3) by Vonda Sinclair

 

Blurb: 

A curse. A broken betrothal. Two shattered hearts.

Self-defense instigated the vile curse ensnaring Chief Brodie MacCain and his two chosen brothers. But the witch still craves vengeance. Brodie was transformed into a mythical shapeshifter—a selkie. When his own clan shunned him in suspicion and fear, he found a new place to belong. The selkie tribe welcomed him as one of their own. And now they need his help in training them to become fearsome warriors to protect their families.

To save his life, she broke his heart.

Lady Elsea MacAuley rides hellbent across the Highland moors every day, but she cannot outrun the demons of her past—relentless guilt and despair. After she was manipulated by a cunning witch to shatter the person she loved most, she only has one purpose in life now—to stop a depraved nobleman from enslaving rare, legendary creatures who barely survive on Scotland's remote windswept islands. Trained as a warrior, she embarks on a dangerous rescue mission. She does not expect to end up at the mercy of the one man she loved but betrayed.

Brodie is crushed between rage and a bond that refuses to break. Has his scarred heart grown too cold to forgive? Will his curse remain forever?

Amazon: Bond of a Bewitched Highlander (Highland Shifters Book 3) - Kindle edition by Sinclair, Vonda. Paranormal Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

B&N: Bond of a Bewitched Highlander (Highland Shifters, #3) | Barnes & Noble®

Kobo: Bond of a Bewitched Highlander eBook by Vonda Sinclair - EPUB | Rakuten Kobo United States

Goodreads: Bond of a Bewitched Highlander by Vonda Sinclair | Goodreads

My Review - 5 of 5 stars - 

This story was wonderful. I loved the determination of Elsea to help the selkies and try to win Brodie back. Her training in knives and swords gave her an upper hand when needed. Brodie fought his feelings so hard to protect his heart and mind. As he gave into some of those feelings, I had hoped the realization would have come faster, but the proper timing finally came. I had tears in my eyes. Throughout the story, I held my breath at times, shook my head at others, and smiled. A beautiful way to end the curse and this series.

I received an ARC, and this is my unsolicited review.

Audiobook Review: The Lies We Play by Claudia Burgoa, narrators Grace Grant, Robert Hatchet, and Stephen Borne

 

Blurb: 

I had two men, one secret marriage, and a love the law refused to name.

Then came the accident.

When I woke up, Halston Saint Claire was hidden behind his family’s money, lawyers, and lies. Creed Lafontaine was gone. Everyone around me insisted the rings, the vows, the three of us—it was all trauma talking.

So I did what broken girls with color-coded calendars and trust issues do best.

I survived.

Now I live in Florence, restoring damaged art and pretending the past doesn’t still have its hands on me. Until one forged document drags me back into the Saint Claire world, where old money buries truth, families weaponize concern, and the two men I never stopped loving are closer than I’m ready for.

Creed remembers everything.

Halston remembers in fragments.

And I remember enough to know our love wasn’t the lie.

It was the thing everyone tried to erase.

Now the three of us have one chance to uncover what really happened that night, reclaim the marriage stolen from us, and decide whether a love built for three can survive ten years of betrayal.

Because in the Saint Claire world, love was never the most dangerous thing.

It was the lies we played to survive it.

Tropes:
🏒Why Choose / MMF
🏒Secret Marriage
🏒Second Chance Romance
🏒Forced Separation
🏒Amnesia
🏒Hockey Romance
🏒Old Money Family Drama
🏒Romantic Suspense
🏒Hidden Conspiracy
🏒He remembers her body before his mind catches up
🏒The marriage was legal, but the love was always three
🏒Touch her and find out
🏒Found family over blood family
🏒The body remembers what the world erased

Amazon: Amazon.com: The Lies We Play: A Why Choose Hockey Romance eBook : Burgoa, Claudia: Kindle Store

Audible: The Lies We Play Audiobook by Claudia Burgoa

Bookbub: The Lies We Play: A Why Choose Hockey Romance by Claudia Burgoa - BookBub

Goodreads: The Lies We Play: A Why Choose Hockey Romance by Claudia Y. Burgoa | Goodreads

My Review - 4 of 5 stars - 

Quite a tale of love lost, secrets, danger, and reunion of love. Three people, Livia, Halston, and Creed, found love together, but there were those who did not want that. I felt for Livia and Creed when a tragic accident caused a great rift, and they lost each other. Their families kept them apart through many different ways. I loved how these three never stopped loving each other despite believing they had been abandoned. Creed's amnesia was used against him. A very steamy story with plenty of heartbreak and a love so strong they came back to each other.
Grace Grant, Stephen Borne, and Robert Hatchet did a wonderful job with the tension, joy, tears, and other emotions that moved through this story. I enjoyed the story more.

This is my unsolicited review.

Teaser: Sparrow (Hawke's Wood #3) by Quinn Marlowe, preorder for 99 cents

Both of them touch her like she's worth saving..

Does she dare to let them in? 

Sparrow by Quinn Marlowe is only 99¢ to preorder!!

https://geni.us/Sparrow

TWO DANGEROUS MEN. ONE BROKEN GIRL. AND A PROMISE SHE NEVER SAW COMING.

None of this was planned.

One moment I’m eating dinner with friends, and the next I’m kidnapped and dumped in a town I’ve never heard of. Where I know no one.

Then I see a face I recognize. One I’ve known my whole life… and never expected to see again.

My mother’s stepbrother. The one I was never allowed to talk to.

Head of the local motorcycle club, Mars Hawke is rough enough to run it with an iron fist. And he takes one look at me, lost and terrified, and claims me as his own. He’s possessive and dangerous, yes. But also playful.

Devoted.

When he brings his best friend into the picture, I find his complete opposite. Orion is dark. Brooding. Tattooed and silent and the ultimate temptation. If Mars is wildfire, Orion is the darkness after it burns.

They’re both deadly and far too dangerous for someone like me, but when trouble suddenly catches up with me, they jump to my rescue, and I’m faced with a choice.

My instinct is to give myself up. Save the men I’ve come to love. But these men touch me like I’m precious. Like I’m everything they’ve ever wanted. Like I’m worth saving.

And when they say they’ll burn the mountain down before giving me back… I believe them.

Because I’ve never felt so safe before. Like I’m finally seen.

Finally home.

If I can choose to let them keep me.

If they’ll choose to keep me as well.

Sparrow is the third book in the Hawke’s Wood series, and is why choose, small-town romance that features step-uncle, step-uncle’s best friend, motorcycle club, protective heroes, touch her and die, found family, forced proximity, hidden identity, trauma healing, age gap, angst, and enough spice to make you want a Mars and Orion of your very own.

About Quinn:

Quinn Marlowe is a writer of girls with bad ideas and the men who have to save them. She doesn't believe in simple plots or clean endings... and she loves a good cliffhanger.

She's not sorry for that. 

She's a fan of red wine, cheesecake, perfect hash browns, and really good punk rock. She’s also obsessed with everything piratical—though she refuses to acknowledge any actual connection to pirates. She studied English and Film at UCLA and, when forced to choose a career, chose publishing rather than teaching or being a filmmaker. Quinn lives in San Diego with her dogs, the ducks that moved into the front yard, and far too many cats.

When she's not writing, you can find her riding her horse or playing villain in someone else's story. And she's not sorry about that, either.

Follow Quinn Online!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3qoxxq9
BookBub: https://bit.ly/3x9iX9Y
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3BpUy2g
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3Qvq2s2
Instagram: http://instagram.com/quinn.marlowe.smokeshow
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@quinnmarloweauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/quinnmarlowe
Web: https://quinnmarlowe.com 

 

Preorder: A Very Grumpy Chef (Wolf Valley: Grumps #17) by Shaw Hart

A Very Grumpy Chef 

by Shaw Hart 

Releases on August 28th!

https://geni.us/VeryGrumpyChef

Available on All Platforms

I didn’t mean to wake up the hottest man in my apartment building at six in the morning, but in my defense… my kitchen was on fire.

Coco
I can’t cook, can’t even boil water without setting off the fire alarm, and trust me, I’ve tried.
That’s actually how I meet my grumpy new neighbor.
He comes over to yell at me for waking him up with the fire alarm and embarrasses me in front of the entire building.
Now my new plan is to avoid that man like the plague and find some other way to feed myself.
Unfortunately for me, my new neighbor seems to have other plans.

Alec
As a chef, I value my routine.
My hours are all kinds of messed up, so having a set schedule saves me from being a royal, sleep-deprived jerk.
Or it used to.
Until I meet Coco.
Now she has me stepping way outside my comfort zone.
I’m chasing after her, trying to make up for our first meeting, but it’s no use.
She doesn’t want anything to do with me.
When she signs up for my cooking class, I know that this is my chance.
She thinks the class is about food.
It’s not.

It’s about me teaching her exactly what she’s been missing.

 

Release: Inn a Heartbeat (No Reservations #1) by Campbell Linden

Inn A Heartbeat 

by Campbell Linden 

Available now!

https://geni.us/InnaHeartbeat

Read With Kindle Unlimited

He’s her boss. She’s sworn off love. But one kiss changes everything.

Pete Hansen has built his life on instinct on the ice and off. So when the retired hockey star buys a small-town inn in Chapman, Connecticut, he doesn’t expect the one thing he can’t outrun… his undeniable attraction to his head of marketing, Susie O’Connor.

Smart, guarded, and fiercely devoted to her ten-year-old son, Susie has no interest in mixing business with pleasure. Especially not with a man like Pete. Charming. Persistent. And far too easy to fall for.

But the closer they work together, the harder it becomes to ignore the spark between them.

As small-town gossip swirls, tensions rise, and Susie’s closest friendship begins to unravel, keeping her distance from Pete might cost her more than she’s willing to lose.

Because some risks aren’t just worth taking…

They’re worth everything. 

Release Boost: Late Harvest (Red Wine Supper Club #1) by Cathryn Lyons

Late Harvest 

by Cathryn Lyons 

Available now!

https://geni.us/LateHarvest

Available on Kindle Unlimited

The role of a lifetime doesn’t always take place on the silver screen

Arabella “Remy” Remington

I’m a surgeon. I like things tidy—rules, routines, predictability, perfection. And I guard my heart as fiercely as the women and children I’m dedicated to helping.

Until he enters the picture.

Sebastian Wheatley is a walking red flag. A charming, sexy as sin, Hollywood-mega-star red flag. He’s smooth and unpredictable—something decidedly unsafe in the world I’ve intentionally created for myself. But one look at him has my blood heating, and I’m not sure if it’s from annoyance…or desire.

The charming devil slides into my life, looking to make a deal. A temporary marriage of convenience to help him land the role of a lifetime. In exchange, I get the funds necessary to secure the stability of a cause deeply important to me.

My common sense says “run.” But despite the risk to my carefully tidy life and the fortress it provides for my painful secrets and battered heart, something about him has me accepting the proposal. And hoping I haven’t just derailed everything I’ve ever worked for.

Late Harvest brings heart, heat, and humor in book one of the Red Wine Supper Club, a later-in-life romance series.

 

Narrator Reveal: Holding Ground (The Mercer Family #1) by Piper Rayne, narrators Callie Dalton and Jason Clarke with additional voices

Piper Rayne has revealed the narrators for Holding Ground!  

FULL CAST Duet Narration: Jason Clarke & Callie Dalton

Also featuring: Connor Crais, JF Harding, Aaron Shedlock & Jill Smith

Releasing September 10, 2026 

I’ve been a single dad for five years. Then the wrong woman rented the guest cabin behind my house, and I knew right then she was going to ruin everything.

When Baylor's mother walked out, I made a promise—I'd be enough. Just the two of us. No one to disappoint her. No one else to leave.

Then Emelia Greene rolled into Echo Lake in a Mercedes and a power suit to convince the townspeople to change what makes our small town great. She’s everything this place isn't.

Emelia's not supposed to be kind. She's not supposed to be good with my daughter. She's definitely not supposed to be the one I find myself confiding in at the end of my dock every night.

She's leaving in three months. I know that.

The problem is, I can't stop wondering what it would be like if a woman like her belonged in a place like this.

In a life like mine.

Pre-order today!

https://books2read.com/holdingg 

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/4wCDMqk 

Cover Reveal and Preorder: First Moon (Cowboy Christmas at Crescent Moon Ranch - Prequel) by Tess Thompson

First Moon 

by Tess Thompson 

Releases on September 8th!

https://geni.us/FirstMoon

Read With Kindle Unlimited

Everyone said they were made for each other. Fate finally caught up.

For years, Ivy James's best friend has been telling her the same thing: Jack Wilder is perfect for you. And Madeleine would know—she's the publicist behind half the biggest names in country music, Jack included. Professionally, personally, she swore they were a perfect match. Ivy never quite took it seriously. She and Jack had crossed paths a dozen times—award shows, back hallways, a handshake and a we should work together sometime—but always in passing, always with a plane to catch.

Jack has spent his whole life disciplined, focused, building an empire one sold-out night at a time. But lately he's started to feel how empty the house gets when he's there alone.

Ivy's gotten everything she ever dreamed of. Number one records. Sold-out arenas. More money than she could spend in a lifetime. The only dream left is the one she's afraid she'll never get—a true love like her mama and daddy have, and a house full of kids.

But some part of Ivy must have been listening to Madeleine after all. Because when she and songwriter Hunter Sloan sat down to write a duet, they wrote it with Jack in mind.

And the moment Ivy and Jack are in a recording booth, singing it together for the first time, they both know.

This is my missing piece. Quite possibly, my forever home.

The prequel to Cowboy Christmas at Crescent Moon Ranch—the soulmate love story that starts it all, and leads to a Christmas Eve wedding under the Montana sky.

A closed-door country music romance. Soulmates, instalove, and a best friend who told them so.

 

Cover Reveal and Preorder: Fighting for Family (Serenity Securities Team Hawk #6) by Cassie Colton

Fighting For Family 

by Cassie Colton 

Releases on September 8th!

https://geni.us/FightingForFamily

Read With Kindle Unlimited

Derrick “Leo” Armstrong built Serenity Securities as a refuge—an unbreakable brotherhood forged from the military and second chances. On Serenity Mountain, he finally found the life he’d always dreamed of: a home, a purpose, and Catherine, the woman he’d loved for a lifetime. With three children and another on the way, Leo believed his world was complete.

Then one mission shattered everything.

Left reeling by the devastating news of her husband’s death, Catherine must navigate grief while protecting the family Leo adored. As the men of Serenity Securities rally to bring their fallen brother home, the mountain community surrounds Catherine with the same fierce loyalty Leo once gave them. But when a final letter from Leo forces her to face an impossible truth, Catherine makes the heartbreaking choice to call off the search. Her children need closure. Life must move forward.

Leo’s team refuses to accept it.

Driven by loyalty, love, and the lessons Leo carved into their souls, the men of Serenity Securities push deeper into danger, determined to uncover the truth about their mission and bring their brother home. Their greatest mission isn’t one they were trained for.

It’s one they learned from Leo himself: Family is worth fighting for.