Book arrivals: (Mailbox Monday)
From Ballantine and NetGalley
Kindle sale
Audible sale
Last week on Bookfan:
Blog tour review: A Tempest at Sea
Reading plan for this week:
I’m up to date with review books so I’ll pick something from my personal bookshelf.
A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas
Published: March 14, 2023 – Berkley
Review copy courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley
Description:
(Edited to avoid spoiling the previous book in the series).
Charlotte Holmes receives a tempting offer: Find a dossier the crown is desperately seeking, and she might be able to go back to a normal life.
Her search leads her aboard the RMS Provence. But on the night Charlotte makes her move to retrieve the dossier, in the midst of a terrifying storm in the Bay of Biscay, a brutal murder takes place on the ship.
Instead of solving the crime, as she is accustomed to doing, Charlotte must take care not to be embroiled in this investigation, lest it become known to those who harbor ill intentions that Sherlock Holmes is abroad and still very much alive. (publisher)
My take:
I love a locked-room mystery so when I discovered the newest installment of the Lady Sherlock series was set on a ship I knew I’d be all in. Charlotte and her friends Mrs. Watson, Lord Ingram and others are all on board the Provence sailing for Gibralter and points east. When a murder occurs the wheels of Charlotte’s brilliant mind are set in motion. Rest assured, with the help of Lord Ingram and Mrs. Watson the murderer will be found. This was an entertaining story, a bit convoluted at times, but ended as you might expect. As the novel wrapped I was smiling with all the romantic vibes that subtly appeared. Well done, Sherry Thomas!
About the author:
USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas is one of the most acclaimed historical romance authors writing today and a two-time RITA Award winner. Learn more online at www.sherrythomas.com.Book arrivals: (Mailbox Monday)
An Audible sale buy
Last week on Bookfan:
Review: Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club
Reading plan for this week:
Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
Expected Pub. date: April 18, 2023 – Pamela Dorman Books
Review book courtesy of the publisher
Description:
Mariel Prager needs a break. Her husband Ned is having an identity crisis, her spunky, beloved restaurant is bleeding money by the day, and her mother Florence is stubbornly refusing to leave the church where she’s been holed up for more than a week. The Lakeside Supper Club has been in her family for decades, and while Mariel’s grandmother embraced the business, seeing it as a saving grace, Florence never took to it. When Mariel inherited the restaurant, skipping Florence, it created a rift between mother and daughter that never quite healed.
Ned is also an heir—to a chain of home-style diners—and while he doesn’t have a head for business, he knows his family’s chain could provide a better future than his wife’s fading restaurant. In the aftermath of a devastating tragedy, Ned and Mariel lose almost everything they hold dear, and the hard-won victories of each family hang in the balance. With their dreams dashed, can one fractured family find a way to rebuild despite their losses, and will the Lakeside Supper Club be their salvation?
In this colorful, vanishing world of relish trays and brandy Old Fashioneds, J. Ryan Stradal has once again given us a story full of his signature honest, lovable yet fallible Midwestern characters as they grapple with love, loss, and marriage; what we hold onto and what we leave behind; and what our legacy will be when we are gone. (publisher)
My take:
This is a story about people finding their way in life – figuring out a path or simply following one that’s been laid out. A supper club is passed from one generation to the next which will hopefully keep it all going. But times change and not everyone shares the same dream. I grew up in the upper Midwest and that included going to supper clubs – something I didn’t realize was a unique experience. This novel brought back a lot of memories. It’s a satisfying story of family and all the ups and downs of life.
About the author:
J. Ryan Stradal is the author of New York Times bestseller Kitchens of the Great Midwest and national bestseller The Lager Queen of Minnesota. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Granta, The Rumpus, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. His debut, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, won the American Booksellers Association Indie’s Choice Award for Adult Debut Book of the Year. His next novel, Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club, is forthcoming. Born and raised in Minnesota, he now lives in California with his family.
Book arrivals: (Mailbox Monday)
A Kindle deal
Kindle First Read
Last week on Bookfan:
Review: The Soulmate
Reading plan for this week:
The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
Expected Pub. date: April 4, 2023 – St. Martin’s Press
Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Macmillan Audio/NetGalley
My take:
Many thanks to Macmillan Audio (via NetGalley) for allowing me early access to the audiobook. Barrie Kreinik’s narration was wonderful. The story flowed as she gave voice to each character (even the children, which is not often my experience). Her performance enhanced the novel.
Publisher’s description:
There’s a cottage on a cliff. Gabe and Pippa’s dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Night after night Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge. Until he doesn’t.
When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral…Did the victim jump? Was she pushed?
And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate…lie? As the perfect facade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel.
Book arrivals: (Mailbox Monday)
From St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley
From St. Martin’s Press
Last week on Bookfan:
Review: Primer and Punishment
Reading plan for this week:
Primer and Punishment by Diane Kelly
A House-Flipper Mystery, #5
Published: Feb. 21, 2023 – St. Martin’s Press
Review galley courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley
My take:
Cousins Whitney and Buck are house-flippers embarking on a project unlike any they’ve done before: a houseboat. All that’s needed are a new motor, generator and cosmetic updates that can be done in a few weeks. That is a good thing since Buck is getting married soon. Easy-peasy, right? So it seems until an incident involving the boat in the adjacent slip throws a wrench into Whitney and Buck’s construction plan.
Without spoiling by going into the specific crime I’ll just say this was an interesting and fun cozy. I enjoyed the different directions the plot took which kept me on my toes. I also appreciated the possible suspects/red herrings added into the mix.
I got to the point where I gave up trying to solve the crime and just enjoyed the ride to the solution. Honestly, that is the way it usually works out for me, ha. I think fans of the series will love the book. It’s the first I’ve had the pleasure to read and I didn’t feel lost.
About the author:
A former tax advisor, Diane Kelly inadvertently worked with white-collar criminals more than once. Not surprisingly, Diane decided self-employment would be a good idea. Her fingers hit the keyboard and thus began her Death and Taxes romantic mystery series. A graduate of her hometown’s Citizen Police Academy, Diane Kelly also writes the hilarious K-9 cop Paw Enforcement series, the Busted female motorcycle cop series, and the House Flipper cozy mystery series. 2021 marked the debut of her new Southern Homebrew moonshine series and her Mountain Lodge Mysteries with The Moonshine Shack Murder and Getaway with Murder.
Be the first to receive book news and access exclusive content by signing up for Diane’s newsletter at DianeKelly.com. Follow the Author Diane Kelly page on Facebook @dianekellybooks for fun, prizes, and more! Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @dianekellybooks. (Source: Amazon)
Book arrivals: (Mailbox Monday)
A Kindle buy
Last week on Bookfan:
Spotlight: Stone Cold Fox
Reading plan for this week:
Happy publication day to Rachel Koller Croft
Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Croft
Published: February 14, 2023 – Berkley
Content provided by the publisher
Description:
A perfectly wicked debut thriller about an ambitious woman who, after a lifetime of conning alongside her mother, wants to leave her dark past behind and marry the heir to one of the country’s wealthiest families.
Like any enterprising woman, Bea knows what she’s worth and is determined to get all she deserves—it just so happens that what she deserves is to marry rich. Filthy rich. After years of forced instruction by her mother in the art of swindling men, a now-solo Bea wants nothing more than to close and lock the door on their sordid partnership so she can disappear safely into old-money domesticity, sealing the final phase of her escape.
When Bea chooses her ultimate target in the fully loaded, thoroughly dull and blue-blooded Collin Case, she’s ready to deploy all of her tricks one last time. The challenge isn’t getting the ring, but rather the approval of Collin’s family and everyone else in their 1 percent tax bracket, particularly his childhood best friend, Gale Wallace-Leicester.
Going toe-to-toe with Gale isn’t a threat to an expert like Bea, but what begins as an amusing cat-and-mouse game quickly develops into a dangerous pursuit of the grisly truth. Finding herself at a literal life-and-death crossroads with everything on the line, Bea must finally decide who she really wants to be.
Like mother, like daughter?
About the author:
Rachel Koller Croft is an author and screenwriter in Los Angeles where she has scripted projects for Blumhouse, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Comedy Central, among others. She lives by the beach with her husband, Charles, and their rescue pitbull, Juniper. STONE COLD FOX is her first novel.
Advance Praise for STONE COLD FOX:
“A blast of perfectly wicked escapism.”—Paste Magazine
“This thriller is sexy, darkly funny, and filled with rich people behaving badly, begging the question:
who really is the villain here?”—HelloGiggles
“This clever tale of jealousy, revenge, deception, and betrayal marks
Croft as a writer to watch.”—Publishers Weekly
“An absorbing story that plays with ideas of good and evil, keeping readers guessing
who is the hero and who the villain.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“This is excellent writing for a debut author and is a must-read for fans of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl or Lisa Unger’s Confessions on the 7:45.”—Library Journal, Starred Review
Book arrivals: (Mailbox Monday)
My February BOTM pick
A Kindle sale book
Amazon First Reads pick
Last week on Bookfan:
Spotlight: Right By My Side
Reading plan for this week:
Right By My Side by David Haynes
Pub. date: Jan. 31, 2023 – Penguin Classics Trade PB
Content courtesy of the publisher
Description:
Move over, Holden Caulfield, and meet Marshall Field Finney, in the 30th anniversary edition of Right by My Side, by a celebrated chronicler of Black middle class life in the American Midwest
A Penguin Classic
With wit and realism, David Haynes presents a different kind of Holden Caulfield in fifteen-year-old Marshall Field Finney, an ordinary, sullen teenager who discovers storytelling as a way to ease his adolescent anger and family tensions. Living with his parents in “Washington Park,” a housing development outside St. Louis, Missouri in the 1980s, his high-strung mother walks out on him and his father, a flawed yet strong man who manages the local landfill. Marshall’s two best friends, one Black and one white, are his only allies, as they navigate school and family life together. Through these relationships, Haynes poses Marshall’s universal questions about his place in his community and what’s next in his life. Ultimately, Marshall’s story proves that people take care of each other, families take care of others, and a boy finds his own resilience to become a young man. (publisher)
About the author:
David Haynes is a novelist and professor emeritus of English at Southern Methodist University. He is board chair and co-founder of Kimbilio Center for Fiction, a national organization for fiction writers of the African Diaspora.
By David Haynes; Foreword by Jamel Brinkley
Penguin Classics
Trade Paperback
On Sale: January 31, 2023
ISBN: 9780143137559
$16.00
208 pgs
Praise for Right By My Side
“[Haynes] belongs to the old realist tradition that believes that everyday life, if truly rendered, is more than exciting enough.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review
“Enjoyable reading–witty insight–Haynes has created a likeable, heroic character.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Marvelous–[Haynes] has created one of the most vivid and idiosyncratic first-person narrators I’ve run up against in recent years. You trust Marshall’s voice, and you trust Haynes’ gifts. He’s a prose writer of the first order.” —Hungry Mind Review
“In Right By My Side David Haynes crafts a story that is both humorous and heartbreaking. It is a moving coming-of-age and a complex portrait of an entire community all at once. Marshall Field Finney is the kind of charismatic, world-wary young narrator whose voice leaps off the page and grabs hold of your heart. How thrilling for a new generation of readers to get to know him.” —Angela Flournoy
“A charming debut–a funny and cynical coming-of-age novel.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Haynes offers engaging characters who tackle fundamental issues such as love, family and benevolence.” —Publishers Weekly
Book arrivals: (Mailbox Monday)
Audible deal of the day on Monday (1/30)
Kindle purchases
From St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley
Last week on Bookfan:
Spotlight: The Second You’re Single
Reading plan for this week:
Happy publication day to Cara Tanamachi!
The Second You’re Single by Cara Tanamachi
Published: January 31, 2023 – St. Martin’s Griffin
Content provided by the publisher
Description:
Most Anticipated Romance by Buzzfeed
Freelance writer Sora Reid has an intense dislike for Valentine’s Day. What is it with the commercial love machine? Why do we pin our hopes on one romantic day, when staying home with a package of bacon and a bottle of tequila would be better? Sora’s been betrayed and disappointed more than once, and her heart is starting to feel like her Grandma Mitsuye’s antique Japanese ceramic bowl, with its many gold-filled cracks.
When Sora decides to protest Valentine’s Day with a viral pledge to stay single (aka #GoSolo) for February, she inspires readers to do just that. Relationships aren’t built to last, so it shouldn’t be that hard. Right?
But her timing proves terrible when her childhood classmate-turned-super sexy baker, Jack Mann, re-enters her life and sparks fly. Throw in a jealous ex-fiancé and Sora’s reluctance to give up her hashtag, and it all makes for a “humorous” read that offers “plenty of food for thought” (Publisher’s Weekly)
About the author:
Cara Tanamachi lives near Chicago with her husband and five children (two by
biology and three by marriage), and their 85-pound Goldendoodle, Theodore. Raised near Dallas, Texas by her Japanese-American dad and her English-Scottish American mom, she was the oldest of two children (the debate still rages whether she or her brother are currently the family favorite). The University of Pennsylvania (Go Quakers!) grad worked as a newspaper reporter, and then published many novels under the name, Cara Lockwood. A former single mom, she spent eight years dating (hilariously and awkwardly) before finding the love of her life on Bumble (yes, Bumble!). She believes we all could use a little more happily ever after.
Praise for The Second You’re Single
“Charming and smart, The Second You’re Single is a hilarious romp through the tangled and thorn-covered tendrils of romance. I read this in one sitting, laughed, sighed, and loved every word. This is a heartwarming tale you won’t want to miss!” – New York Times bestselling author Darynda Jones
“The perfect Valentine! Cara Tanamachi will charm even the most reluctant heart with this treat of a story. Sora’s attempts to stay single, then her courage to follow her heart, had me cheering. Readers will fall in love!” – USA Today bestselling author Megan Crane
Book arrivals: (Mailbox Monday)
From St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley
Last week on Bookfan:
Spotlight: Do I Know You?
Spotlight: Georgie, All Along
Reading plan for this week:
Something from my own bookshelf
Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn
Published: Jan. 24, 2023 – Kensington
Description:
Longtime personal assistant Georgie Mulcahy has made a career out of putting others before herself. When an unexpected upheaval sends her away from her hectic job in L.A. and back to her hometown, Georgie must confront an uncomfortable truth: her own wants and needs have always been a disconcertingly blank page.
But then Georgie comes across a forgotten artifact—a “friendfic” diary she wrote as a teenager, filled with possibilities she once imagined. To an overwhelmed Georgie, the diary’s simple, small-scale ideas are a lifeline—a guidebook for getting started on a new path.
Georgie’s plans hit a snag when she comes face to face with an unexpected roommate—Levi Fanning, onetime town troublemaker and current town hermit. But this quiet, grouchy man is more than just his reputation, and he offers to help Georgie with her quest. As the two make their way through her wishlist, Georgie begins to realize that what she truly wants might not be in the pages of her diary after all, but right by her side—if only they can both find a way to let go of the pasts that hold them back. (publisher)
About the author:
Kate Clayborn is the critically acclaimed author of six novels. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Oprah Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Bookpage, and more. By day she works in education, and by night (and sometimes, by very early morning) she writes contemporary romances about smart, strong, modern heroines who face the world alongside true friends and complicated families. She resides in Virginia with her husband and their dog.
Praise for Kate Clayborn:
“A novel of lush complexity, one bursting with humor, a tender melancholy, and meditations on love, friendship, and life.”
—Entertainment Weekly, A+ for Love Lettering
“Luminously beautiful . . . heartbreaking, wise, and wonderful.”
—Ruby Lang, author of Playing House
Do I Know You? by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Publication date: January 24, 2023 – Berkley
Description:
When a couple starts to feel like they’re married to a stranger, a flirtatious game of pretend becomes the spark they need to reignite their relationship.
Eliza and Graham are anticipating an anything-but-sexy, weeklong getaway to celebrate their five-year anniversary. Nestled on the Northern California coastline, the resort prides itself on being a destination for those in love and those looking to find it. For Eliza and Graham, it might as well be a vacation with a roommate.
When a well-meaning guest mistakes Eliza and Graham for being single and introduces them at the hotel bar, they don’t correct him. Suddenly, they’re pretending to be perfect strangers and it’s unexpectedly…fun? Eliza and Graham find themselves flirting like it’s their first date, and waiting with butterflies in their stomach for the other to text back.
Everyone at the retreat can sense the electric chemistry between Eliza and Graham’s alter egos. But when their scintillating game of roleplaying ends, will they still feel the heat? (publisher)
About the authors:
Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka met and fell in love in high school. Austin went on to graduate from Harvard, while Emily graduated from Princeton. Together, they are the authors of several novels about romance for teens and adults. Now married, they live in Los Angeles, where they continue to take daily inspiration from their own love story.
Book arrivals: (Mailbox Monday)
From St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley
Kindle sale books
Last week on Bookfan:
Reading plan for this week:
From my NetGalley shelf
Covers link to Goodreads
The story of a cover up involving an esteemed dean of a high profile medical school, his nefarious habits, a city wanting to gloss over the details and a reporter running into roadblocks and pushback from all involved – including his own newspaper. A non-fiction book that reads like a novel. A good choice on audio.
Peter Swanson’s nod to Agatha Christie – an addictive read/listen!
Book arrivals: (Mailbox Monday)
My BOTM pick
An Audible deal of the day
From Kensington and NetGalley
From Mariner Books
Last week on Bookfan:
Spotlight/Review: City Under One Roof
Reading plan for this week:
I planned to read this last week but two of my library audio requests arrived so those moved ahead in my reading.
Bookfan 