Month: December 2022

Sunday Post (a day early)

Mary Book arrivals, Mailbox Monday, Sunday Post

Book arrivals:

A Kindle buy last week

A Christmas gift card buy

Last week on Bookfan:

I hope everyone had a relaxing week and spent some time enjoying a good book.

Reading plan for this week:

My first book of the year. Check the official First Book post that will be up tomorrow (Sunday)

 

All the Dangerous Things

Mary Macmillan Audio, Mystery, Stacy Willingham, Thriller

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

Expected pub. date: January 10, 2023 – Macmillan Audio

Audio courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley

Description:

One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally.

Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.

Isabelle’s entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle’s past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust… including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads. (publisher)

My take:

I can say right off that All the Dangerous Things is my favorite whodunit read in 2022.  As noted, the expected publication is in January 2023. Stacy Willingham revealed details at a pace that made me not want to stop reading.

The main characters are interesting and kept me wondering if anyone was reliable with their side of the story. There’s a missing baby, a distraught mother, a father who, after a year, wants to move on with life, and an array of other characters who play significant parts in the mystery.

I enjoyed it all especially with Karissa Vacker doing the narration. Her voicing of each character was distinct, believable and kept me listening and walking for longer than I’d planned. She’s quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators.

This is my first time reading Stacy Willingham and I look forward to more of her books.

 

Flirting With the Beast

Mary Berkley, Contemporary Romance, Jane Porter, Women's Fiction

Flirting With the Beast by Jane Porter

Published Nov. 29, 2022 – Berkley

Review book courtesy of the publisher

Description:

It’s been five years since Andi McDermott lost her husband, and she’s finally starting to feel like herself again, ready to live fully—she’s even started dating again. But when her holiday plans with her stepson and his fiancée fall through, she refuses to spend another Christmas alone while everyone is celebrating with their families. Impulsively, she decides to go up to her cabin in Lake Arrowhead, a place she used to love to visit but hadn’t gone to in years, not since the feud started between her husband and their nearest neighbor.
 
Andi starts to rethink her decision when being alone at the cabin proves to be more challenging than she expected—a heavy snowstorm hits the area, and Andi finds herself trapped there with no one to help except for her neighbor, Wolf Enders. A military vet who lives full-time on Lake Arrowhead, Wolf is as grumpy and intimidating as Andi remembers. But he’s also unexpectedly kind and uncomfortably sexy—his presence reminds Andi that she may be older, but her body still works perfectly fine, thank you very much. But can this good girl tame this sexy beast of a man, and will this snowy fling turn into a love of a lifetime? (publisher)

My take:

Flirting With the Beast is the second book in Jane Porter’s Modern Love series. I enjoyed the first book, Flirting With Fifty and found this new book as good and maybe even better.

I like how Porter writes emotionally strong women and men. That said, there was a point where I was tempted to throw my book at the wall. No spoilers here but I will say I kept reading because I had faith that Porter would bring things around to the expected HEA. I wasn’t disappointed.

The older main characters (late 50s woman and 60ish man) were a real draw for me. As most people in that age demographic, they’ve experienced love, disappointments, tremendous loss which has shaped the people they’ve become. That made for interesting characters that were easy to cheer for. I  liked the mountain setting as well as the small town locale when they weren’t at their cabins. Between the two families there was plenty of drama to move the plot along all making for a book that I didn’t want to stop reading.

Fans of Women’s Fiction with a strong dose of Romance will want to grab a copy of Flirting With the Beast. It can stand alone but I recommend the first book as well. I look forward to the third book Flirting With Fire which is excerpted in this edition.

 

Spotlight: The Spice Master At Bistro Exotique

Mary Berkley, Samantha Vérant, Spotlight, Women's Fiction

The Spice Master At Bistro Exotique by Samantha Vérant

Published:  December 6, 2022 – Berkley

Description:

A talented chef discovers how spices and scents can transport her—and, more importantly, how self-confidence can unlock the greatest magic of all: love—in this perfectly seasoned new novel by Samantha Vérant.

Kate Jenkins doesn’t believe in fate. She believes in a clear vision, meticulous planning, and hard work in order to achieve her culinary dreams. On the cusp of opening her own Parisian restaurant, Bistro Exotique, she isn’t even concerned when her standoffish—and annoyingly sexy—neighbor dismisses her as a crazy American tourist or when she meets the wildly eccentric Garrance, the self-proclaimed Spice Master of Paris, who ominously warns her of the previous owner’s failures.

Confident and optimistic, Kate keeps calm and cooks on. Until a series of unfortunate events derail her plans and her entire staff quits.
 
Kate is about to throw in the kitchen towel on her lifelong dream when Garrance offers to use her mastery of scents and spices to help her, but it comes at a price: Kate must work with Garrance’s son, Charles, a world-class chef and total jerk. After Kate hesitantly concedes to the deal, she slowly learns to open her heart and mind to new concepts, not quite sure if the magic she’s experiencing comes from Garrance’s spices, from within herself, or from the growing chemistry with Charles. One thing is certain, though: her kitchen is getting increasingly hot. (publisher)

About the author:

Samantha Vérant is a travel addict, a self-professed oenophile, and a determined, if occasionally unconventional, at home French chef. She lives in southwestern France, where she’s able to explore all of her passions, and where she’s married to a sexy French rocket scientist she met in 1989, but ignored for twenty years.