Top Ten Tuesday – Save the Date: Ten of My Favorite Wedding Themed Novels

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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is actually supposed to be Book I Wish Had an Epilogue, but I just wasn’t feeling that topic so I went rogue.  Since June is such a popular month for weddings, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite novels that center around weddings in some way or another.  Most of these are adult contemporary romance novels obviously but there’s also one historical fiction novel in the bunch as well as one YA.

 

Ten of My Favorite Wedding Themed Novels

 

 

1. FOUR AUNTIES AND A WEDDING by Jesse Q. Sutanto

2. THE SECRET BRIDESMAID by Katy Birchall

3.  THE WEDDING SEASON by Katy Birchall

4.  THE WEDDING RINGER by Kerry Rea

5. THE WEDDING VEIL by Kristy Woodson Harvey

6. SAVE THE DATE by Morgan Matson

7.  THE SINGLES TABLE by Sara Desai

8.  THE WEDDING GAME by Meghan Quinn

9. SOMETHING BORROWED by Emily Giffin

10. THE WEDDING PARTY by Jasmine Guillory

 

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Question:  Have you read any of these? 

Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE AMERICAN ROOMMATE EXPERIMENT by Elena Armas

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“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

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My selection for this week is THE AMERICAN ROOMMATE EXPERIMENT by Elena Armas.  It is set in the same world as The Spanish Love Deception, which has been one of my favorite reads so far this year.  This new novel follows Rosie, who is the best friend of Lina, the protagonist from The Spanish Love Deception.  Rosie was a hoot in the first book, so I can’t wait to get to know her better in this new one. Plus, the synopsis sounds fabulous!

 

THE AMERICAN ROOMMATE EXPERIMENT by Elena Armas

Publication Date:  September 6, 2022 by Atria Books

From Goodreads:

From the author of the Goodreads Choice Award winner The Spanish Love Deception, the eagerly anticipated follow-up featuring Rosie Graham and Lucas Martín, who are forced to share a New York apartment.

Rosie Graham has a problem. A few, actually. She just quit her well paid job to focus on her secret career as a romance writer. She hasn’t told her family and now has terrible writer’s block. Then, the ceiling of her New York apartment literally crumbles on her. Luckily she has her best friend Lina’s spare key while she’s out of town. But Rosie doesn’t know that Lina has already lent her apartment to her cousin Lucas, who Rosie has been stalking—for lack of a better word—on Instagram for the last few months. Lucas seems intent on coming to her rescue like a Spanish knight in shining armor. Only this one strolls around the place in a towel, has a distracting grin, and an irresistible accent. Oh, and he cooks.

Lucas offers to let Rosie stay with him, at least until she can find some affordable temporary housing. And then he proposes an outrageous experiment to bring back her literary muse and meet her deadline: He’ll take her on a series of experimental dates meant to jump-start her romantic inspiration. Rosie has nothing to lose. Her silly, online crush is totally under control—but Lucas’s time in New York has an expiration date, and six weeks may not be enough, for either her or her deadline.

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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday – Books With a Unit of Time In the Title

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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is Books With a Unit of Time In the Title (seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, eternity, etc.) (Submitted by RS @ The Idealistic Daydream).  This is one of those topics that makes me wonder how many book titles actually fit this description.  Will we see a lot of duplicates as we blog hop or will we see more titles with units of time in them than we ever could have imagined?  I’m leaning toward the second option, especially since I always end up amazed by the variety of books we all come up with. 🙂

 

Books With a Unit of Time In the Title

 

 

 

1. OUR LAST DAYS IN BARCELONA by Chanel Cleeton

2. IN A NEW YORK MINUTE by Kate Spencer

3.  ONE DAY IN DECEMBER by Josie Silver

4.  EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES by Lisa Scottoline

5. 180 SECONDS by Jessica Park

6. IN FIVE YEARS by Rebecca Serle

7.  THE HOURS by Michael Cunningham

8.  MAGIC HOUR by Kristin Hannah

9. THE CRUELEST MONTH by Louise Penny

10. THIS TIME NEXT YEAR by Sophie Cousens

 

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Question:  Have you read any of these? 

Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE FAMILY REMAINS by Lisa Jewell

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“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

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My selection for this week is THE FAMILY REMAINS by Lisa Jewell. I love Jewell’s twisty thrillers and was a big fan of The Family Upstairs. This new one appears to be a sequel to The Family Upstairs but also works as a standalone novel.

 

THE FAMILY REMAINS by Lisa Jewell

Publication Date:  August 9, 2022 by Atria Books

From Goodreads:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell comes an intricate and affecting novel about twisted marriages, fractured families, and deadly obsessions in this standalone sequel to the “brilliantly chilling” (Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author) The Family Upstairs.

Early one morning on the shore of the Thames, DCI Samuel Owusu is called to the scene of a gruesome discovery. When Owusu sends the evidence for examination, he learns the bones are connected to a cold case that left three people dead on the kitchen floor in a Chelsea mansion thirty years ago.

Rachel Rimmer has also received a shock—news that her husband, Michael, has been found dead in the cellar of his house in France. All signs point to an intruder, and the French police need her to come urgently to answer questions about Michael and his past that she very much doesn’t want to answer.

After fleeing London thirty years ago in the wake of a horrific tragedy, Lucy Lamb is finally coming home. While she settles in with her children and is just about to purchase their first-ever house, her brother takes off to find the boy from their shared past whose memory haunts their present.

As they all race to discover answers to these convoluted mysteries, they will come to find that they’re connected in ways they could have never imagined.

In this masterful standalone sequel to her haunting New York Times bestseller, The Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell proves she is writing at the height of her powers with another jaw-dropping, intricate, and affecting novel about the lengths we will go to protect the ones we love and uncover the truth.

 

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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday – Ten Reads That Provided Me an Escape During the Pandemic

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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is Comfort Reads (Share which books or kinds of books you turn to when you need to escape. You can either share specific titles if you love to re-read, or you could share qualities of books you look for in a comfort read).  I decided to focus on reads that provided me a much needed escape during the Pandemic, particularly as we were going through months and months of isolation.  The kinds of reads I’ve highlighted here are reads that feature elements that bring me joy – both real families like the Murphy women of Peachtree Bluff and found families like we find in The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Break Up Book Club.  They also feature happily ever afters as in Very Sincerely Yours and The Simple Wild, as well as uplifting themes as in The Garden of Small Beginnings.  And finally yes, there are books such as Crazy Stupid Bromance that feature laugh out loud humor.  If you ever find yourself looking for a read that will provide you with a much needed escape from the reality of your life, I highly recommend any of these gems.

 

Ten Reads That Provided Me an Escape During the Pandemic

 

 

 

1. THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA by T.J. Klune

2. THE KINDRED SPIRITS SUPPER CLUB by Amy E. Reichert

3.  THE SECRET TO SOUTHERN CHARM by Kristy Woodson Harvey

4.  THE SIMPLE WILD by K.A. Tucker

5. THE BREAKUP BOOK CLUB by Wendy Wax

6. VERY SINCERELY YOURS by Kerry Winfrey

7.  ACT YOUR AGE, EVE BROWN by Talia Hibbert

8.  CRAZY STUPID BROMANCE by Lyssa Kay Adams

9. THE GARDEN OF SMALL BEGINNINGS by Abbi Waxman

10. THE LAST CHANCE LIBRARY by Freya Sampson

 

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Question:  Have you read any of these?  What kind of read brings your comfort?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – WILD IS THE WITCH by Rachel Griffin

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“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

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My selection for this week is WILD IS THE WITCH by Rachel Griffin.  I loved Griffin’s debut novel, The Nature of Witches, so I was thrilled to see she has another witchy read coming out this year.  This one sounds really good too. I’m intrigued by the idea of a witch teaming up with a witch hater, which is definitely something you don’t see very often, if at all.

 

WILD IS THE WITCH by Rachel Griffin

Publication Date:  August 2, 2022 by Sourcebooks Fire

From Goodreads:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches, comes another high-stakes contemporary fantasy. When eighteen-year-old witch Iris Gray accidentally enacts a curse that could have dire consequences, she must team up with a boy who hates witches to make sure her magic isn’t unleashed on the world.

Iris Gray knows witches aren’t welcome in most towns. When she was forced to leave her last home, she left behind a father who was no longer willing to start over. And while the Witches’ Council was lenient in their punishment, Iris knows they’re keeping tabs on her. Now settled in Washington, Iris never lets anyone see who she really is; instead, she vents her frustrations by writing curses she never intends to cast. Otherwise, she spends her days at the wildlife refuge which would be the perfect job if not for Pike Alder, the witch-hating aspiring ornithologist who interns with them.

Iris concocts the perfect curse for Pike: one that will turn him into a witch. But just as she’s about to dispel it, a bird swoops down and steals the curse before flying away. If the bird dies, the curse will be unleashed―and the bird is a powerful amplifier, and unleashing the curse would turn not just Pike, but everyone in the region, into a witch.

New witches have no idea how to control their magic and the consequences would be dire. And the Witches’ Council does not look kindly on multiple offenses; if they found out, Iris could be stripped of her magic for good. Iris begs Pike to help her track the bird, and they set out on a trek through the Pacific Northwest looking for a single bird that could destroy everything.

 

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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂

Can’t Wait Wednesday – ONE LAST GIFT by Emily Stone

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“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

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My selection for this week is ONE LAST GIFT by Emily Stone. I know it’s early to be posting about holiday romances but I couldn’t resist sharing Emily Stone’s new novel since her debut was one of my favorite reads last year and this new one sounds just as good.

 

ONE LAST GIFT by Emily Stone

Publication Date:  October 11, 2022 by Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine

 

From Goodreads:

When a young woman finds herself lost and at a crossroads, one last gift from her brother just might give her another chance at life and at love in this epic holiday romance from the author of Always, in December

Sometimes the best gifts in life are the ones you don’t expect.

Cassie and Tom lost their parents at a young age and relied on each other–as well as a community of friends–to get through it. Especially Tom’s best friend, Sam, who always made sure Tom and Cassie were surrounded with love. But now, twenty years later, Cassie has lost Tom as well. And in a way, she’s also lost Sam; over the years they’ve drifted apart, and now the man she always had a crush on is someone she doesn’t even recognize anymore.

She’s never felt more alone.

Then she finds an envelope with her name on it, written in Tom’s terrible handwriting, and she knows immediately what it is. It’s the first clue in the Christmas scavenger hunt Tom made for her every year; he’d promised her for months that this year’s would be the grandest one yet. At first, she’s too scared to open it–what if she can’t figure out the clues without his help? Or what if she does figure them all out, and her last connection to Tom is gone?

Tom’s clues set Cassie on a heart-wrenching and beautiful journey that will change her life–if she lets them. And as she travels from London to the Welsh mountains to the French countryside, she reconnects with old friends, rekindles a lost love, and most importantly, rediscovers herself. But once she’s solved the final clue, will she be brave enough to accept the gift her brother has given her–and the love it’s led her to?

 

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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday – 10 Books I Was SO EXCITED to Get, but Still Haven’t Read

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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is Books I Was SO EXCITED to Get, but Still Haven’t Read.  In my head, I call this “The List of Shame.”  Those books I just had to have, couldn’t wait to get my hands on them, and then proceed to let them sit on my shelf for months or even years before I finally get around to reading them.  I did finally put a dent in the last list I made like this, but there are always more to share.  The biggest trend I see is that I’ve neglected my fantasy reading for a while now. During the pandemic I have craved pretty much exclusively romance so all of those fantasy novels I was dying to read got pushed aside.  I did finally read the entire Poppy Wars trilogy this year though so I’m hoping to start working my way through all of these series as well.  I think the book that has the “honor” of sitting on my shelf unread the longest is Uprooted.  I didn’t love Spinning Silver as much as I hoped to so I’ve kind of lost interest in Uprooted as a result.  Honestly the only reason I haven’t just gotten rid of it is that the cover is so stunning, lol.

10 Books I Was SO EXCITED to Get, but Still Haven’t Read

 

 

1. EMPIRE OF THE VAMPIRE by Jay Kristoff

2. THE CITY OF BRASS by S.A. Chakraborty

3.  THE LANGUAGE OF THORNS by Leigh Bardugo

4.  UPROOTED by Naomi Novik

5. AN ENCHANTMENT OF RAVENS by Margaret Rogerson

6. THE NEAR WITCH by V.E. Schwab

7.  THE DRY by Jane Harper

8.  THE COUSINS by Karen McManus

9. WHEN WE LEFT CUBA by Chanel Cleeton

10. THE FRIEND ZONE by Abby Jimenez

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Question:  Do you have books sitting around that you just had to have, but have still yet to read them?

Can’t Wait Wednesday – THE LIES I TELL by Julie Clark

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“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about.  It is a meme that I have  loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.

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My selection for this week is THE LIES I TELL by Julie Clark.  Now that the weather is getting warmer, I’m starting to crave books I can devour in a single sitting, by the pool, at the beach, or even just outside on my deck.  When I read the twisty synopsis for The Lies I Tell, I immediately added it to my list of one-sitting reads. It sounds like such an addicting read!

THE LIES I TELL by Julie Clark

Publication Date:  June 21, 2022 by Sourcebooks Landmark

From Goodreads:

From the instant New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight!

She’s back.

Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She’s a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be—a college student. A life coach. A real estate agent. Nothing about her is real. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she’s done, you’ve likely lost everything.

Kat Roberts has been waiting ten years for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat’s long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg’s true target is.

The Lies I Tell is a twisted domestic thriller that dives deep into the psyches and motivations of two women and their unwavering quest to seek justice for the past and rewrite the future.

 

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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂

Top Ten Tuesday – Ten Bookish Characters I’ve Encountered in My Recent Reads

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Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!

This week’s TTT topic is Bookish Characters.  I love books about books and bookish characters so I’ve already shared lists of my favorites over the years.  This time around, so as not to duplicate, I decided to share some more recent bookish characters I’ve come across in my readings.  There are definitely a few new favorites in these books. 🙂

Ten Bookish Characters I’ve Encountered in My Recent Reads

 

 

1. ISABELLE from BY THE BOOK by Jasmine Guillory

The story is a contemporary retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and the Belle character works in the publishing industry and is tasked with helping the Beast character write his memoir.

 

2.  NORA STEPHENS and CHARLIE LASTRA from BOOK LOVERS by Emily Henry

An enemies to lovers romance that features a take-no-prisoners literary agent and the guy she thinks is her nemesis, a handsome broody book editor.

 

3.  CUSSY CARTER from THE BOOK WOMAN OF TROUBLESOME CREEK by Kim Michele Richardson

Cussy Carter is a lonely young Appalachian woman who joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky. She befriends fellow Kentuckians and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.

 

4.  LANIE BLOOM from BY ANY OTHER NAME by Lauren Kate

Lanie Bloom became a romance book editor because she was inspired by her favorite romance author, Noa Calloway. When a once in a lifetime opportunity comes along for her to work directly with Noa, Lanie is in for an unexpected surprise that turns everything she thought she knew upside down.

 

5. JUNE JONES from THE LAST CHANCE LIBRARY by Freya Sampson

Librarian June Jones has never left the sleepy English village where she grew up. Shy and reclusive, the thirty-year-old would rather spend her time buried in books than venture out into the world. But when her library is threatened with closure, June is forced to emerge from behind the shelves to save the heart of her community and the place that holds the dearest memories of her mother.

 

6. NORA HUGHES from MUST LOVE BOOKS by Shauna Robinson

When Nora landed an editorial assistant position at Parsons Press, it was her first step towards The Dream Job. Because, honestly, is there anything dreamier than making books for a living? But after five years of lunch orders, finicky authors, and per my last emails, Nora has come to one grand conclusion: Dream Jobs do not exist.

With her life spiraling and the Parsons staff sinking, Nora gets hit with even worse news. Parsons is cutting her already unlivable salary. Unable to afford her rent and without even the novels she once loved as a comfort, Nora decides to moonlight for a rival publisher to make ends meet…and maybe poach some Parsons’ authors along the way.

But when Andrew Santos, a bestselling Parsons author no one can afford to lose is thrown into the mix, Nora has to decide where her loyalties lie. Her new Dream Job, ever-optimistic Andrew, or…herself and her future.

 

7.  ODILE SOUCHET from THE PARIS LIBRARY by Janet Skeslien Charles

It’s 1939 and young and ambitious Odile Souchet has her dream job working at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her beloved library. Together with her fellow librarians, Odile joins the Resistance with the best weapons she has: books. But when the war finally ends, instead of freedom, Odile tastes the bitter sting of unspeakable betrayal.

 

8.  KATRINA FREELING and NATHAN VAN HUYSEN from THE ROUGHEST DRAFT by Emily Wibberly & Austin Siegemund-Broka

This story follows a pair of cowriters, Katrina and Nathan, who, after penning a best-selling novel together, had a major falling out and haven’t spoken to each other in three years. There’s major tension when they have to reuinite to write one more book to fulfill their contract.

 

9. KARA SULLIVAN from TALK BOOKISH TO ME by Kate Bromley

Kara Sullivan’s life is full of love—albeit fictional. As a bestselling romance novelist and influential bookstagrammer, she’s fine with getting her happily-ever-after fix between the covers of a book.

But right now? Not only is Kara’s best friend getting married next week—which means big wedding stress—but the deadline for her next novel is looming, and she hasn’t written a single word. The last thing she needs is for her infuriating first love, Ryan Thompson, to suddenly appear in the wedding party. But Ryan’s unexpected arrival sparks a creative awakening in Kara that inspires the steamy historical romance she desperately needs to deliver.

 

10. MARY PORTER-MALCOLM from BY THE BOOK by Amanda Sellet

As a devotee of classic novels, Mary Porter-Malcolm knows all about Mistakes That Have Been Made, especially by impressionable young women. So when a girl at her new high school nearly succumbs to the wiles of a notorious cad, Mary starts compiling the Scoundrel Survival Guide, a rundown of literary types to be avoided at all costs.

Unfortunately, Mary is better at dishing out advice than taking it—and the number one bad boy on her list is terribly debonair. As her best intentions go up in flames, Mary discovers life doesn’t follow the same rules as fiction. If she wants a happy ending IRL, she’ll have to write it herself.

 

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Question:  Are you familiar with any of these characters?