This story is told entirely through letters, both from and to the central character Sybil Van Antwerp.
I think epistolary novels, at least for me, can be a slippery slope. By their nature, they are slower-paced and perhaps more introspective than the average novel. I find myself needing to be "in the mood" before starting to read one of these novels as I tend to enjoy mysteries/thrillers most often.
I will be honest; I found some of this one to ?

Bethany Turner is always an auto-read for me. 🩶😊 She speaks my language with her characters and humor.

4.5/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7723415605

@GinaKButler you‘re it 😊😊 ! You posted a review of a book with an ocean on the cover! Feel free to play along if you‘d like! @Chrissyreadit #tagyoureit

@CBee Thanks for the tag. 😊

I‘m happy to have discovered Heath and am looking forward to exploring her backlist.

4.25/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7679110345

Out tomorrow, this is a first contemporary novel from MacLean who is known for her historical romances of which I‘ve enjoyed a few over the years. With this great first effort, I‘m hoping to see more of these from her.

4.5/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7218304483

July‘s #ReadYourKindle

Thanks, Cydney!

July‘s #BookSpin / #DoubleSpin

Thanks, Sarah!

Such a fan of this author, such a good book. Gave me vibes of vintage historical romances.

5/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7690660535

I wanted to like this one more, but in the end I had conflicting feelings about it…maybe an unpopular opinion. 🤷🏻‍♀️

3/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7684916952

So happy I discovered this series and this author. I‘ve already read another of her series, and I highly recommend either or both.

4.5/5⭐️
Rounded up to 5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7633692513

Big fan of Walsh! Cute, sweet and funny.
Rounded up to a 5⭐️

4.5/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7430419628

Just OK. Not one of my favorites of Silver‘s.

4/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7664588592

It‘s always a stellar day when a new Lady Darby mystery drops…one of my favorite series. 🩵

5/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7525996576

Rounded up to 5⭐️, this 4th book in series finds the Darcys, Tilneys and Bertrams knee-deep in family dramas/murders. Love this series!

4.5/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7665399128

Second in a series about top level assassins wanting to reform (Assassins Anonymous), this is funny, adventurous and a bit poignant in spots. Enjoyed.

4.25⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7669712447

I‘ve loved everything I‘ve read from this author, and this one is no exception.

5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7394177051

The Birthday Fairies are looking forward to celebrating with these special birthday Littens in July!

☀️🥳☀️🥳☀️🥳☀️🥳☀️

If you‘d like to add your special day to the Litsy Birthday calendar for a little extra dose of #birthdaylove ❤️, just send YOUR Litsy handle and birthdate to litsybirthdays@gmail.com . 😊

My June #ReadYourKindle list. 📚

Thanks, Cydney!

My #BookSpin / #DoubleSpin list for June. 😊📚

Thanks, Sarah! 😘

I always enjoy Center‘s books, and this one was no exception.

My review is rather long-winded 😂 so I‘m putting my GR link for anyone who might be interested.

4.5/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7046146654

REPOST for @LitsyBirthdays :

June is coming soon! The Birthday Fairies would love to celebrate your special day with you! If you want us to add your name, send your birthday and litsy handle to LitsyBirthdays@gmail.com. We would ❤️ to add you!

My list for May. 😊

Thanks, Cydney! 💙

#ReadYourKindle

Almost late with my list for May. 😊

Thanks, Sarah! 💛

#bookspin
#doublespin

For those of you who might not know, it‘s with a very heavy heart that I share the loss of a dear friend that I “met” here on Litsy…Elisabeth Anderson (@eanderson).

Elisabeth fought hard and bravely against cancer for 4 years before gaining peace last month.

She was a sweet, dear person, who shared insightful and often funny reviews of her favorite books. And she especially loved her some Kim Stone. 😉😊🕵🏻‍♀️
🔽

I enjoyed this time travel sci-fi debut, and I look forward to further adventures with Rabbit Ward in the future.
This has a bit of an Indiana Jones vibe with our lead character being a treasure-hunting archaeologist with competition dogging his trail and a bit of possible romance thrown into the mix. There‘s also good historical world building and research that adds to flavoring the story with vivid imagery. I did (occasionally) have some🔻

This was such a GREAT second dive into the new Spencer & Reid historical mystery series! While the initial book felt a little slow at times, I know that it takes a while to get a series established with character development/backgrounds, the feel of locations, etc. But with the ending of this one, I feel like I‘ve been wholeheartedly immersed in Leo and Jasper‘s world, and they feel like fully developed and well-rounded characters now. 🔻

This second in series was just as much fun as the first!
I love the bubbly, long-suffering Val and her tireless efforts to keep the lazy, laid-back but lovable Arbie in line and on track. They make a wonderful team, and I love how comfortable they are with each other...true friends, warts and all.
The interesting thing here is that the murder doesn't show up until about 40% into the story. Sometimes that might mean a very slow pace or that 🔻

I really enjoyed this one! 4.75/5⭐️

My review is rather long-winded (well, longer than usual 😂), so if you‘re interested, here‘s my GR link:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7439852145

I've read several of Martineau's books, and they've been consistently good choices for me, so I was excited to start this one.
This fantasy romance gave hints of a Grimm Fairy Tale in its darkness and some of its physical descriptions (characters, world setting, etc.). It started just a bit slow for me but quickly picked up its pace and kept me spellbound and on the edge of my seat at times. The premise of a "threadmender" (Edira) who is able to?

I was able to read two of my #ReadYourKindle books in March. Hopefully April will be even more productive. 😊📚

Thanks, Cydney! 🩷

Hope you‘re doing well and enjoying our warmer weather and have been safe from our stormier days. ☀️⛈️

Here‘s my April #BookSpin / #DoubleSpin list…which weirdly looks like my March #BookSpin / #DoubleSpin list. Hmmm. 😂😂 Note to self, update (start from scratch) a new list.

Happy New Home, Sarah! 🏡 So excited for you and your hubby. 😊

Remember…

If you‘d like to be added to the Litsy birthday calendar for April (or any month), just send your name, Litsy handle and birthdate to litsybirthdays@gmail.com.

The #birthdayfairies would love to share some of their #birthdaylove with you on your special day. 🥳🩷

I really enjoyed this book…a bit supernatural, a bit folklore, a bit romantic, a bit adventurous, with a bit of a suspenseful, dark Gothic feel to it.
First, and to me foremost, Sain excelled at her world-building here. I felt the dark but beautiful woods of the rural town of Lucifer‘s Creek, Arkansas tucked into the Ozark Mountains. The location itself felt like a character.
And speaking of characters I fell for Dovie and Lo hook, line and 🔻

This was my first Bohjalian novel, and it won‘t be my last.
This Civil War-era romance thriller (not sure I‘d bill it as a “thriller” per se) set in 1864 Virginia, revolves around a Union army captain (Jonathan Weybridge) and the wife (Libby Steadman) of a Confederate army captain. Weybridge is a Vermont professor trying his best to keep his men alive, while Libby has taken over the running of her husband‘s gristmill to keep the soldiers in 🔻

I found this a satisfying conclusion to the duology starting with The Forest Grimm.
This series was intriguing to me because of its base in Grimm's Fairy Tales. There are different tales interwoven within the plot that feature unique twists and turns from the original stories. While I didn't feel that this outing featured as many tales as the first book, I enjoyed the more personal stories of the lead characters Clara and Axel. These two are 🔻

I really enjoyed this romantic fantasy because it had all that I look for in a good book...well-developed and interesting characters, great world-building, and an intriguing plot to tie it all together. First, and foremost in this instance I think, I loved the unique and detailed world of basically a fictional USPS (the Otherwhere Post) which is based on the art of scriptomancy (the art of magically enchanting mail). This was a location setting🔻

In Hall's US debut, we get a powerhouse of a story featuring awesomely drawn flawed characters, a rich and descriptive location setting (North Dorset farming village 1968-1975) and a sprawling, at times heart wrenching storyline. First, let me say that while reading this it felt monumentally grand scale to me, and at 319 pages, how can that be, right? Hall has crafted a compact, concise portrait of the lives of three interconnected characters 🔻

Here‘s my #ReadYourKindle list for March.

I managed to read 3 out of 4 this month…had some good ones in the bunch!

Thanks, Cydney! Hope you‘re doing well. 😊

Here‘s my March #BookSpin / #DoubleSpin list.

I only managed to read my #DoubleSpin this month which actually led me to re-read the prior book AND the new recently released one! 😂😂😂 Kind of went off the rails…and considering one was 600+ pages, one 700+ and one 900+…yeah. 🤦🏻‍♀️ A bit hungover to say the least. 🤪

Thanks, Sarah, and I hope your move goes well! 😊

REPOST for @LitsyBirthdays :

Can you believe we are two-thirds through February already? Soon it will be March and time to celebrate the birthdays of all these lovely Littens!

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁📚📚📚📚

If you‘d like to be added to the list to receive some #birthdaylove on your special day, simply email your Litsy handle and birthday to litsybirthdays@gmail.com and the Birthday Fairies will do the rest. 😊

This is a sweet (no language, no sex), tug-at-your-heartstrings kind of book from an author that I have fallen in love with (this is my 4th book of hers to read and they‘ve all been wonderful).

Bryony Page is watching as her grandmother‘s nonprofit organization (The Bridge), where Bryony teaches ESL, is failing without funding. As a last ditch effort, she writes an overlong novel based on her grandmother‘s experiences but is turned down at an 🔻

A great draw for February! I‘d love to get through ALL of these! 😳🤷🏻‍♀️

Thanks, Cydney! 🩷

My #ReadYourKindle list for February. 😊

My #BookSpin /#DoubleSpin for February. 😊

Thank you, @TheAromaofBooks , for sending me the beginning of yet another series…ahhh, you know me so well!! 😂😂😂

I‘ll look forward to meeting Daisy and going along for the ride in her adventures. 😊🧐

So excited to have won a prize in your #BookSpin yearly drawing. 🎉

Thanks again!!

PS. That cover…💚💚💚

Second in the Dez Limerick series, I am currently reading an arc of the next installment so I went back to read the previous two so I wouldn‘t be totally lost.
This one features Dez, a mysterious “retired” covert operative (his former job, The Gatekeeper), going to the aid of a musician friend whose sister has unknowingly become a target in the coverup of a breach in the Witness Protection Program and a bid to establish an autonomous country 🔻

I'll be perfectly honest this is not my usual kind of book. While I do enjoy mysteries and thrillers, I don't normally go for male protagonists (nothing against men in general, I promise). That said, I really enjoyed this series starter about a "retired" mysterious ex-mercenary and amateur musician who is pulled into an embezzlement scheme and an armed coup (among other things) when he winds up in the wrong place at the wrong time. ?

REPOST:
Such a wonderful group of Litsy friends celebrating during the month of February. Looking forward to sending lots of #birthdaylove their way! 🩷

If you‘d like to be added to the Litsy birthday calendar, just send your Litsy handle and birthdate to litsybirthdays@gmail.com and the #birthdayfairies will look forward to the party! 😉🎉

Ok, I get that editors aren‘t perfect, but with these back-to-back sentences, I‘m trying to figure out whether the cat is a “he” or a “she”…🤷🏻‍♀️🤣🤣🤣

It‘s a conundrum…and yes, these are the things I ponder. 🧐🙄