#notbookrelated but our daughter (our oldest) got married on Saturday. Now, with all of the wedding expenses, her dad and I need a vacation from all the mental and physical exhaustion but can‘t afford one. 😳😳😂😂😂😩🥱🥱

There‘s a wonderful lineup of fabulous folks gearing up to party in the month of May!!! 🎉🎉🎉The #birthdayfairies can‘t wait to celebrate each and every one. 🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️
If you‘d like to be included on the Litsy birthday calendar, please send your Litsy handle and birthdate to litsybirthdays@gmail.com. Only your info, please.

Get ready May babies…you‘re up next!

🥳🪄🥳🪄🥳🪄🥳🪄🥳🪄🥳🪄

DNF. This is NOT a review per se other than to say after 47% in, this book was not holding my attention and felt way too slow. I found myself putting it down way too often for another book (and I‘m a one-book-at-a-time person). Goodreads has it at a 4.2 so l guess I‘m in the #unpopularopinion boat.
I‘m sure that it picked up at 48% 😂😂, but I gave up.

Very soft pick.
Amy has settled in a job that she really doesn't enjoy because her musical dream was dashed two years before by a disastrous attack of nerves. She receives a missent email and is able to track down the intended recipient, who happens to be on an expedition in Antarctica. What begins as a simple email exchange develops into a friendship which in turn leads them both to move forward with their individual dreams. But there's also 🔻

This is third in the Lady Helena Investigates series. Lots of family drama in this installment with Helena trying to help her nephew out of a scandalous situation as well as a potential death sentence for murder. Helena also is surprised by a visit from her first love‘s brother while she is wondering about her tenuous future relationship with Armand Fortier who has his own obstacles to overcome. I had a couple of issues with this book. First, 🔻

Ok, I love this series. But the last couple of books have been rather ho-hum for me. This one felt very slow (pretty much throughout) and even the mystery did not hold my interest all that much. The whole book just felt a bit “off” to me. However, there was a teaser of a cliffhanger that is keeping me hoping for a return to better things. I do wonder if the death of one of this writing duo could be the cause of the “off feel” of the past couple🔻

I‘m loving this series! Set during WW2, this 4th outing finds Ellie called on to aid Major Ramsey with a series of robberies that may be connected to a bigger German threat. She‘s also decided to investigate shocking allegations that her father may have been a spy. There are also developments on the personal side between Ellie and Ramsey (good and bad) which led to some frustration for me with some choices Ellie made. Great characters, great 🔻

Hey, Paula! I think that you sent me a book from another of your #LMPBC groups? No sweat, just wanted to let you know. 😊

If you‘d like me to forward it, drop me an email (robinb@litsy.com) with the recipient‘s name/address. 👍

This was my #BookSpin for the month. I picked it up because I enjoyed her Sunshine Vicram series recently. This was a supernatural woman-discovers-she‘s-a-witch story with some villains and romance thrown in. I might come back to this series as I love Jones‘ snarky humor (in this one especially the sidekick best friend), but for now I‘ve got too many others calling my name. 😆

This third installment in a time travel series (from modern day to 1890s) finds our heroine (a modern-day homicide detective in the body of a Victorian Scotland housemaid), settling into her new position as assistant to an undertaker/medical examiner. After attending the unwrapping of an ancient mummy, in which something goes horribly wrong, they become involved in unraveling the hows/whys. There‘s also a surprise twist towards the end that 🔻

This 7th book finds the newlyweds (Mikaela and Brodie) trying to settle in and find ways to blend their lives. They each have their own cases…a missing surgeon for her, an assassin/anarchist for him, but discover their cases might be connected. There‘s a code to break, ancient surgical procedures resurrected and dastardly deeds to thwart. Exciting times. I enjoyed this one as we see the new dynamics between our mains and we begin to anticipate 🔻

Number 13 in series this one finds Mercy and gang going up against an ancient and powerful artifact known as the Soul Taker who is taking prisoners and leaving victims in its wake. There‘s also still an issue with Adam‘s personal demons, Wulfe and the entire local vampire seethe has gone missing and a mysterious pack member‘s identity is discovered. As usual lots going on. My only disappointment is that we haven‘t seen more of Stefan in either 🔻

I was two behind in this series and am ALWAYS excited to dive back into Mercy‘s adventures. This 12th book in the series involves a “smoke dragon”, who with a single bite, can control a person and have them do anything it likes. There‘s also a bond issue between Mercy and Adam (her mate) and a rogue group is trying to take over their pack. There‘s always multiple problems going on in the Mercyverse, so it always keeps me entertained and on the 🔻

Third in the Fiona Mahoney mystery series, I was a little disappointed in this one as it compares to the previous two. It‘s 100+ pages shorter, and the story felt its brevity. While the characters were as great as they‘ve ever been, the plot line was a bit odd to me with parts that were confusing like I had missed something. This felt more like a novella filler. But I plan to continue on and hope for a return to more excitement. 3.75/5⭐️

I‘m a big Clayborn fan from her beginning. But while I did enjoy this book, it was not a favorite for me. And to be honest I‘m not sure why. This revolves around two sisters who were abandoned by their flighty mom (who took up with a grifter). The older sister Jess raised Tegan, her half sister. Now Tegan wants to find their mother and enlists the aid of a podcaster who interviewed the man 10 years before. Thus begins a cross-country adventure 🔻

Here‘s my #BookSpin / #DoubleSpin list for next month. 😊

Thanks, Sarah! 💙

Just a reminder all, April is fast approaching, and the #birthdayfairies are excited to celebrate these wonderful Littens next month! 🥳🥳🥳

If you‘d like to be included on the Litsy birthday calendar for your own celebration and #birthdaylove, just send your Litsy handle and birthdate to litsybirthdays@gmail.com .

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

My #LMPBC book is coming your way @Jerdencon with delivery estimate of next Monday (4/1). Please forgive the awful wrapping/taping! 😩😆

This second outing in this Tabitha Knight/Julia Child mystery series set in post WW2 Paris was even better than the debut. It centers around valuable bottles of wine showing up as gifts but containing something other than just grapes. As Tabitha investigates against Inspector Merveille‘s wishes, she finds herself in danger from a surprising source. Great historical research including trips into the Catacombs and fun cooking lessons from Child. 🔻

My first Ross book but definitely won‘t be my last. Beautiful and unique fantasy world-building, characters to root for and love and a story that is absorbing and gorgeously written…unfortunately for me, it‘s a standalone. 😂😂😔 Happy to have discovered this author. 4.5/5⭐️
#coverlove

I read this as a result of enjoying the first in series from my LMPBC group, and I enjoyed it even more than the first one. It‘s very dark and shocking with a crime within a crime and 2 different perpetrators…always a neat concept.
Continue to like and be intrigued by Kate‘s character as I learn more about her heritage and the isolated Alaskan community around her. Definitely will continue with the series. 4.5/5⭐️

This is a short story/novella following the 4th in the Raven and Fisher mysteries. Raven and Fisher race to solve the mysterious death of one of their mentor‘s patients before his detractors can find a way to destroy his career with it.
This was a fine (very short) story to fill in until the next full-length novel (which is already out). I‘m so behind. 😩 4/5⭐️

I enjoyed this mystery series starter. Set in Victorian London, Gemma Tate, who lives with her journalist brother (her only living relative) is a nurse working for the son of an invalid woman that she takes care of. When her brother is killed in a horrific accident she begins to wonder if it was a more sinister act when she reads a cryptic message from his notebook. Meanwhile Police Inspector Sebastian Bell is busy trying to save his job by 🔻

So. Much. Fun. 💙

Think Indiana Jones, Romancing the Stone and The Mummy.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6362949627

So funny and cute. 4.5/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6256991189

Loved, loved, loved! Great characters, story and research. 5/5⭐️

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6363459127

A very soft pick and bit of a mixed bag for me unfortunately. A generous 3.5/5⭐️ from me.

Here‘s my GR link if you‘re interested:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6363519245

Great continuation of a series (2nd). This rated a 4.5/5⭐️.

Here‘s my GR link:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6363802231

Lots to say on this one from a favorite author (though I HATE that cover 😩). It rated a 5⭐️.

Here‘s my GR review link:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6363577612

Here‘s another link to a long-winded review from this historical mystery that I really enjoyed. It rated a 4.5/5⭐️

If you‘re interested…https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6363560481

Molly is an up-and-coming fashion and beauty influencer. Her manager/boyfriend suggests she gain experience for the chance to host a new makeover show for underprivileged youth by volunteering at a local transitional program for aged-out foster kids. While she is initially met with mistrust/suspicion concerning her motives, she eventually wins over the program‘s director, Silas, and begins to bond and care deeply about the young adults she works🔻

This was the conclusion of the seven-part Bow Street Duchess mystery series.

I‘ve really enjoyed this series and am very happy that I stumbled across it. The books are well-written, fun, sweetly romantic and engrossing in their various mysteries.
This particular addition was especially dark and featured multiple evil villains, but the ending was so very satisfying for the series overall with a bonus look into the near future for the two 🔻

This book was really frustrating for me as I really disliked one of the main‘s treatment of the other main.

My review is long-winded (imagine that! 😳😂) so I‘m leaving a link to it on GR if anyone is interested. I rated it a “so-so” at 2.5/5⭐️ rounded to a 3.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6363410390

This was an intriguing dual timeline mystery (1965 and present day), apparently the first in a new series, that revolves around a wealthy woman, Frances Adams, who beginning as a teenager, spends her entire life trying to escape her foretold death (by an English country fair fortune-teller) only to be murdered at her estate almost 60 years later.
Annie Adams, Frances‘ great-niece, is summoned to the village of Castle Knoll to meet her reclusive 🔻

This is my second Graves book, and I must say that I‘m enjoying her writing. Wren Waters, at 34 and living in Dayton, OH, receives back-to-back life-changing blows that she didn‘t see coming and falls into a mind-numbing depression. When her best friend succeeds in getting her out for a hike, she discovers geocaching and re-enters the world. On a trail of a week-long geocaching trip in Oregon, she meets Marshall Hendricks, a psychologist on a 🔻

My first Serle book, it definitely won‘t be my last. It‘s a bit romantic comedy, friend fest, introspective deep dive, all tied up with a paranormal twist…wow, never thought I‘d put those descriptives together.
Daphne Bell, for over 20 years, has been living her romantic life through a series of slips of paper that mysteriously come her way. With each slip comes a first name and a timeframe…the exact period of time they will be together. As 🔻

My #DoubleBookSpin and a softer pick.
I enjoyed this mystery set in a remote English village during the WWII era but which doesn‘t center around the war per se but more with it serving as a backdrop. It has a bit of a Gothic feel with a mysterious wraith that our heroine, Ruth, a literary student who wants to write the next great novel, feels needs investigating. Ruth finds herself drawn to Malcolm, a wounded soldier, with a wife who has 🔻

Eighteenth in the Sebastian St. Cyr historical mystery series finds Sebastian (on the eve of Napoleon‘s second wave of forces) drawn into the murder investigation of a major with a long list of enemies…his mistress, his wife, and their governess, a fellow officer and a list of Napoleon‘s spies that he is transporting to the Regent. This one also adds in the intriguing side interests of old English folklore and the occult.
Lots going on 🔻

A new author for me, this first in the Kate Shugak series, is centered around Kate, a native Aleut who works as a PI in Alaska. As an expert in her local Alaskan environs, she is asked to search for a park ranger who has been missing for 6 weeks and the FBI investigator who was sent to look for him.
I really enjoyed this book which is high on character development, a tight storyline, a suspense-filled plot, 🔻

Second in the Lord Julian mysteries, this builds on a series that I‘m enjoying more and more.
Here Lord Julian is summoned by his ducal brother to the family seat to provide diversionary tactics from a marriage-minded neighbor. While visiting, said neighbor‘s (Lady Clarissa) artist brother goes missing, and he is asked to help locate him.
I really enjoy Lord Julian‘s character. As illegitimate, we see the prejudice and snubbing that he faces 🔽

Lord Julian finds himself delving deeper into his deceased younger brother‘s life to uncover the truth about a surprise revelation in this third installment of the Lord Julian mystery series. The reader learns even more here about Lord Julian‘s brother, Lord Harry, who was captured and killed by the French during the war. Lord Julian‘s feelings of guilt over his brother‘s death are further explored as he strives to find the truth behind an 🔽

4.5/5 stars

I think this 4th one is my favorite (so far) of the Lord Julian mystery series. Lord Julian is summoned to the home of a family friend to discover what happened to (and hopefully find) a prized foxhound. As he learns more about the family and nearby village, he unravels secrets, slander, blackmail and fraud, but how does everything tie into the missing dog? As he makes progress on his investigation, he is asked to disband it as 🔽

I really enjoyed this debut historical romance/fantasy with a bit of a steampunk feel and a nice faith-filled atmosphere as well. Taking place in 1860 London, Clara Marie Stanton has always felt responsible for shielding/protecting her lovable but eccentric (some might say insane) family, and she has devoted herself to that end. Her beloved grandfather, a clockmaker and inventor of a flying owl machine, decides to take a flying adventure through🔽

This thriller set in WW2 Boston centers around Reporter Anne Lemire and FBI special agent Devon Mulvey as they are brought together to investigate murder, organized crime, espionage and domestic fascism. While the story‘s plot and writing were fine, and there were twists and turns, I just wasn‘t bowled over. I wanted to connect more with the characters, and I actually had some issues with Devon‘s character. Also a bit of an abrupt ending. 🔽

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

One of these days I‘m going to scrap this list (which I‘ve recycled forever!), and surprise everyone (including myself! 😂🙄) with a completely new line-up.

Goals…🤔

Thanks, Sarah!

She‘s on her way home to you, @Jerdencon , with arrival by next Wednesday (2/28). 🤞🏼

Forgot to mark it as #LMPBC…🤭

March is coming fast, folks, and we have a wonderful line-up of friends celebrating their BIG DAYS next month. 😊🥳🥳🥳

If you‘d like to be included on the Litsy birthday calendar and receive some extra special #birthdaylove from the #birthdayfairies and your Litsy family, please send your Litsy handle and birthdate to litsybirthdays@gmail.com.

Looking forward to the celebrations!

🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈

Hey all! Three of these are “leftovers” from this round, three are new. Do any of these catch your eye? 👀😊

I‘m including page counts FYI. I think all have decent reviews.

This author never disappoints me. This is her 4th book, and I‘ve loved each one in different ways and for different reasons. This Teen/YA novel centers around high schoolers Nova and Sam who serendipitously meet back up 12 years after being neighbors and best friends as 5-year-olds. They have never forgotten each other as they each served a purpose in the other‘s childhood…Nova gave Sam a safe place and friendship as he struggled with abuse and 🔻

I‘ve had this one on my Kindle for a year now and decided to give it a go. I did enjoy the female protagonist Dora as a strong, intelligent and independent undercover spy, but I wasn‘t really fond of her partner Rex or their relationship. And unfortunately, since I‘m very much a character-driven reader, it just didn‘t entertain me like I was hoping for. Probably won‘t continue on with the series. 3/5⭐️