Top Ten Tuesday: It's Your Fault I Read It (and I Thank You)

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.
This week's Top Ten Tuesday topic: 
It's Your Fault I Read It
(and I Thank You)

To be honest, I don't act on book recommendations often. That might qualify as Blogger Heresy and admitting that is means for a Blogger Time-Out, but it's the truth. The fact is, after reading for 40+ years I'm kind of an expert on knowing what I like to read and then finding it. :) 

 But there are exceptions to every rule. And there have been some instances when a blogger friend specifically recommended a book to me, or maybe I just read their review, and I decided to give it a go. I'm not sure I can come up with ten, but let's see what I've got, shall we?
  

HIM by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy - This one was recommended to me by Brittany at This is the Story of My Reading Life. (Sadly, she no longer blogs but she sometimes posts on Instagram.) Brittany practically forced me to read this M/M romance about 4 years ago. Now I've lost count of how many times I've read and listened to it. #WesmieForever

 THE MARKED MEN SERIES by Jay Crownover - Brittany is also the culprit friend who turned me on to Jay Crownover and her Marked Men series. I really had zero expectations when I read Rule, the first book in the series, but I was hooked and binged the whole series on audio. 

 LONG SHOT by Kennedy Ryan - Sam (We Live and Breathe Books) and Amber (Du Livre) take the credit for this one. I remember DM'ing with them while I was reading it, sharing my thoughts along the way. And at one point Sam wrote: "Brace yourself" in regard to what was coming. She was right. It was a tough read but it was also a 5 star read and make Kennedy Ryan an instant favorite.
  

 THE MUSIC OF WHAT HAPPENS by Bill Konigsberg - I only became aware of this one when Sam featured it on her blog. I was so taken by the way she wrote about it that I knew I wanted to read it. It was a great recommendation and I was able to enjoy a book I never would have picked up on my own.

 BIRTHDAY GIRL by Penelope Douglas - I'm pretty sure that it was BookTuber Jess @ Peace Love Books who I first remember talking about Birthday Girl. I bought it soon after but then it took me a year (um, or maybe two) before I finally read it. Now I definitely want to read more from Penelope Douglas. 

 THE BOY AND HIS RIBBON by Pepper Winters - I have Sophie (Beware of the Reader) to thank for this one. Pepper Winters had barely been on my radar before I saw Sophie talking about her books. It was this one in particular that really caught my eye and helped me a discover a new author whose story telling I enjoyed.


What book do you most often recommend?


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Cover Reveal! Queen Move by Kennedy Ryan

QUEEN MOVE - CR banner-2

Kennedy Ryan is one of my absolute favorite authors and I jumped at the chance to help share the cover of her next release. I love second-chance romance so Queen Move sounds like one that I am going to love. And knowing Kennedy Ryan's amazing ability to write an intense, emotional story, I think it's pretty much guaranteed to be a new favorite. 

Queen Move, an all-new beautiful and unforgettable second chance romance from RITA® Award-winning and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kennedy Ryan, is coming May 26th and here is the stunning cover!

Queen Move_FNL_sized

 The boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can't have… Dig a little and you'll find photos of me in the bathtub with Ezra Stern. Get your mind out of the gutter. We were six months old. Pry and one of us might confess we saved our first kiss for each other. The most clumsy, wet, sloppy . . . spectacular thirty seconds of my adolescence. Get into our business and you'll see two families, closer than blood, torn apart in an instant. Twenty years later, my "awkward duckling" best friend from childhood, the boy no one noticed, is a man no one can ignore. Finer. Fiercer. Smarter. Taken. Tell me it's wrong. Tell me the boy who always felt like mine is now the man I can’t have. When we find each other again, everything stands in our way--secrets, lies, promises. But we didn't come this far to give up now. And I know just the move to make if I want to make him mine.

  **QUEEN MOVE will have the special pre-order and release week price of $3.99. After that, the price will increase.**
Queen Move - PO-2

Pre-order your copy today! 
  Apple Books: https://apple.co/2JGiqD7 
  Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/queenmove 
Google Play: https://bit.ly/2yrPZ9E 

Add QUEEN MOVE to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3apG1E1 

  Be notified FIRST when Queen Move is live: http://bit.ly/2oRuDhf 

  Cover Designed by Asha Hossain Design Photography by Sophia Barrett Studios Model: Lashae Dennie 
 
Enter the Cover Celebration Giveaway for a chance to win a $50 gift card and a signed paperback of Queen Move: http://bit.ly/2HHkmf4 
About Kennedy Ryan Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller and RITA® Award Winning author, Kennedy Ryan, writes about women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Her heroes respect, cherish and lose their minds for the women who capture their hearts. She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son. She has always worked with charity and non-profit organizations, but enjoys raising Autism awareness most. A contributor for Modern Mom Magazine and Frolic, Kennedy’s writings have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today and many others. The founder and executive director of a foundation serving Atlanta Autism families, she has appeared on Headline News, Montel Williams, NPR and other media outlets as an advocate for families living with autism.
Connect with Kennedy
Facebook Reader Group: http://bit.ly/2GY6eyb

Never Miss A New Release!
Follow Kennedy on BookBub: http://bit.ly/2HcRuee
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Subscribe to Mailing List: http://bit.ly/2QjisCW

Connect with Blue Box Press
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The Sunday Post #202


The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
It's a chance to share news - a post to recap the past week on your blog, 
showcase books and things we have received, and share news about what is
coming up on your blog in the week ahead. You can find the info here:
Sunday Post Meme

  • Another week into the new normal. The Husband and I are pretty well settled into our new routines. We both work from home, have breakfast/lunch/dinner together, read, play backgammon... and just basically live our lives at home. Very little need to leave the house these days.
  • The Husband goes out for several walks a day but I'm much more content staying in. I've always been a bit of a hermit but now I'm realizing just how little I really need to go out. LOL I use YouTube for yoga/stretching/exercise videos so I get my exercise indoors. You know, where the A/C is. :)
  • I have a puzzle! I forget who it was last week that suggested I try eBay when I mentioned having trouble finding them, but that did the trick. Jackpot! I actually bought 4 or 5. One for my mom and the others for us. So far two have arrived and it's been fun to have another distraction. We also ordered a cornhole game and we've played that several times as well. I should note that instead of playing in the back yard, we set up the game in the foyer and hallway and play there. Haha!
  • We continue to have our Friday Night Driveway Picnics at my mom's house. This past Friday night my younger sister and niece joined in and we had a good time. We pick up some take-out on the way over, set up chairs (at least 6 ft. apart) on the driveway, and have dinner together. Then we talk or play trivia (I pull up questions on my phone) and just visit for a while. I know my mom enjoys the face to face company.
  • This week's 80's music fix is from DeBarge. Rhythm of the Night was probably their biggest hit and was even used in a movie. Does anyone remember The Last Dragon? It was so cheesy and campy and I absolutely loved it. (Hey Greg! That would be an awesome pick for your Movies That Suck feature. Just sayin'. ;-)



WHAT I COMPLETED IN THE LAST WEEK:
WHAT I'M CURRENTLY READING: 
    
    

READING:
Where the Lost Wander - Amy Harmon

LISTENING:
Risky Play - Rachel Van Dyken

KINDLE BOOKS:

    

Gypsy King (Tin Gypsy #1) - Devney Perry
The Guy on the Right (Underdogs #1) - Kate Stewart
Be the Girl - K.A. Tucker

eARC FOR REVIEW:


Rage and Ruin (The Harbinger #2) - Jennifer L. Armentrout

Cue much screaming, squealing, and general revelry when I got the approval for this one. :)






How was your week? Any new books? Any news to share? 
I'd love to hear about it!
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Monthly Wrap Up | March 2020


WHAT HAPPENED IN MARCH
  • What is there to say about March? It started off shaky and continued to go downhill. 
  • The Husband and I have been working from home and isolating since March 16. I actually have zero issue with staying at home. None. I am not a social person on the best of days so the whole social distance thing? I've been practicing for this my whole life.  
  • My mother, on the other hand, Is. Not. Getting. It. I don't even know what to say anymore. She's not grasping the seriousness of the situation and every time I talk to her I hear about how she "had" to run to the grocery store/Target/pharmacy/etc. It's like beating my head against the wall. I'm concerned for her but also frustrated beyond belief. 
  • I expected to get loads of reading done once the whole self-isolating thing took effect, but I found I had trouble concentrating on anything for too long. So my reading basically stayed at its normal level. 

WHAT I READ IN MARCH


I read eight books in March and, considering that I was having trouble concentrating on anything in the past couple weeks, I consider it a success. There was on old favorite, a brand new favorite, and one slight disappointment - but all in all it was a good reading month.

Still* by Kennedy Ryan | 5 stars
Regretting You by Colleen Hoover | 4.5 stars
Filthy Vows* by Alessandra Torre | 3 stars
The Honey-Don't List by Christina Lauren | 3.25 stars
Holy Frigging Matrimony* by Emma Chase | 3.5 stars
Anticipating Spring by Lora Richardson | 3.75 stars
Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda* by Becky Albertalli | 5 stars
Bad for You by Abbi Glines | 3 stars

(* denotes an audio book)

FORMATS
Total Read: 8
2 physical books
4 audiobooks
2 e-books
(2 ARCs: The Honey-Don't List, Anticipating Spring)

TOP OF THE HEAP
Still and Regretting You
Still was jaw-droppingly good and gave me my first five star read of the year.  Kennedy Ryan's talent at creating realistic characters and emotionally charged stories is just stunning. Regretting You was a close second. Opening up a book by Colleen Hoover is such a comforting feeling. It's like sinking into a story that I know will probably hurt my heart, but I also know that I'll love the characters and feel like I know them inside and out. 

THE ONE THAT ENDED A SERIES
Anticipating Spring
Lora Richardson further cemented herself as one of the few authors that still makes me read YA. With Anticipating Spring, she completed her Unexpected Love series and it was so bittersweet. I will miss the friend group in these books but it also ended with just the right couple and I was so happy with the outcome. 

THE ONE I WILL ALWAYS LOVE
Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda
If ever I needed to revisit one of my favorite fictional characters from one of my favorite books it was this month. I've lost count of how many times I've read and listened to Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda but it never gets old. I love Simon, I love his friend group, I love Blue, and I love his parents and sisters. The story is filled with so much humor and heart and it never fails to make me happy.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE BLOG

I had 17 blog posts in March and shared seven reviews: 

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY READING

Where the Lost Wander - Amy Harmon
I just started the arc of Where the Lost Wander yesterday and I'm already feeling pulled into the story. I actually convinced my husband to read it, too. But even though we started at virtually the same time, naturally he's already far beyond where I'm at. He's such a fast reader. I thought it would be fun to discuss as we went along but at this rate he'll be done by the time I get to the 25% mark. LOL 


WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE READ IN MARCH?

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WWW Wednesday #81 | April 1, 2020


WWW Wednesdays is a meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words.
Just answer three questions and share what you're reading.


Happy April, friends. I'm guessing this will be an April we won't forget. I'm hopeful this month brings a turning point where we can see the spread of the virus peak and then - finally - take a downward turn. Maybe it's overly optimistic, but I'm still going to hope.
 

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

    


Currently reading: I was only able to read the first 2-3 pages this morning before I had to stop and get to work, but I'm excited to read more this evening. This arc is one I've been highly anticipating since Amy Harmon is one of my favorite authors. This time period - set in the 1850's in the U.S. West - is not one that typically calls to me, but I trust Harmon and know that she will deliver an epic story. 
Current progress: 1%

Currently listening: This one is a little slow-going but I think that's because I no longer have a daily commute and that was when I listened to my audio books each day. This is my first by Van Dyken and for now it's falling into the like-not-love category. I don't feel particularly invested in either of the main characters but I'm still not quite at the halfway mark so I'll see how it goes.
Current progress: 45%

WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

So I know I give the Sea Breeze series a lot of crap, but I've gotta say, Hold on Tight really surprised me. I think it might be the first time in the series that I genuinely liked both characters. Yes, Dewayne started out being a douchey manwhore, but whatever. And yes Sienna was a bit naive, but given how she was raised and what happened to her at a young age it kind of made sense. But I really liked them both. Sienna had been dealt such a lousy hand (and had the worst parents) but this girl was made of strong stuff and was mature, responsible and determined to do the right thing. And Dewayne, despite feeling like he wasn't good enough, actually had a heart of gold. I loved the way he was determined to look after Sienna and Micah and make sure they never wanted for anything. Definitely one of my favorites in the series.
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'LL READ NEXT?

  

Not sure exactly what I'll pick up next but these are all strong contenders. 

What are you currently reading?
I wanna know! :)

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