As the Light Fades | Excerpt + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

Sometimes we’re placed in the strangest of circumstances for the most important reasons.

After her carefully constructed life crumbles, Liz Carlisle finds herself back on Nantucket, picking up the pieces. With the family estate under renovations, the solitude she craves seems out of reach.

Matthew Stone intends to steer clear of his new tenant. She’s carrying a load of baggage, but as long as she pays the rent, he’ll let her be. He’s got enough to deal with caring for his wayward niece, Mia.

Liz doesn’t have time for teenagers and her track record with men is abysmal, but an unlikely friendship forms between the three.

When her former boyfriend is charged with assault, Liz is called to testify against him. But he knows the darkest secrets of her life—secrets she’d hoped to keep buried forever, and he’s ready to reveal them. Telling the truth is the right thing to do, but it may cost her everything she’s worked so hard for, and all she’s come to love.

Release Date: September 10, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon

Deadly Deceit | Waiting on Wednesday

Hosted weekly by Breaking the Spine 

to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

(Similarly, Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings.)

Happy Wednesday!

Natalie Walters's Harbored Secrets series is another one I'm excited to continue soon.

Meet the Misfits & Odd Girl Out | Book Review, Guest Post + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

Zoey's pretty sure her life is over when her wannaba-rockstar mother uproots her from from their home in Seattle and deposits her in Nowheresville, Oregon to live with her whackadoodle grandparents. Things start to look up, though, when she reconnects with Louisa, the girl from across the street. Maybe, just maybe, Louisa won't mind that Zoey's always been a bit of a misfit. Louisa's ex-BFF, however, doesn't seem too happy to welcome Zoey to the neighborhood. And when they all end up at church camp together, it's not just a matter of whether or not Zoey can fit in...it becomes a firsthand lesson in what it really means to "love your enemy."

Publisher: WhiteSpark

Release Date: April 15, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Zoey's school year is beginning...without her new BFF. Louisa is out with a bad case of the flu, and that leaves Zoey to fend for herself in the first days of middle school.

She thinks maybe it won't be so bad when she strikes up a conversation with another new girl, Taylor. But as she tags along on Taylor's quest to become one of the A-crowd, she starts to wonder how much of herself she can safely change and still be...well, herself.

Worse, new friends don't get rid of old enemies. And somehow, despite trying so hard to fit in, Zoey finds herself exactly where she didn't want to be—all alone in her new school. The odd girl out.

Publisher: WhiteSpark

Release Date: August 15, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Books I've Been Putting Off | Top Ten Tuesday

Hosted weekly by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Happy Tuesday!

I have way too many books on my TBR. Inevitably, then, there are plenty of books I want to read, but don't. Usually, I can blame it on my mood or my distraction by new, hyped books. Here are a few of those books that I keep putting off (but, of course, fully intend to read... sometime).

The Amish Christmas Matchmaker | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

She’ll find him a wife for Christmas… 

Which of these Indiana Amish Brides is next?

With her wedding business thriving, Annie Kauffmann could never leave her beloved Amish community. So when handsome Amish cowboy Levi Lapp tries to convince her father to move the family to Texas, she must put a stop to it. If Annie finds Levi a wife, he might forget his dream of moving…but can she keep from falling for him herself?

Publisher: Love Inspired

Release Date: September 1, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

A Widow's Hope

Amish Christmas Memories

A Perfect Amish Match

An Unlikely Amish Match

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #65

Hosted weekly by The Book Date.

Happy Monday!

My reading this week ended up all over the place, which is bound to happen now and then. Oh well.

Surf Smugglers | Book Review, Guest Post + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the summer of 1917, US troops join the allied forces in the Great War. Back in Sunset Cove, Oregon, other battles wage. Anna McDowell continues to fight old fashioned stereotypes as she runs a newspaper committed to truth. Despite opposition, she’s determined to expose ongoing rum-running and prohibition lawlessness.

Adding to Anna’s frustrations, her good friend Dr. Daniel seems to run hot and cold. He loves Oregon, and maybe Anna too, but he’s pulled by his East Coast family responsibilities. Even the lure of a new modern Sunset Cove hospital doesn’t seem enough to keep him in Sunset Cove.

Meanwhile, Anna’s strong-willed daughter Katy continues to develop her dress shop by inviting family friend Sarah Rose to help out. But the woman’s presence tests the small town’s tolerance. And Anna’s concern that her daughter is growing up too fast is confirmed when Katy’s romantic life takes an unexpected turn, which Anna fears is influenced by the pressure of a devastating war that is not only changing the entire world but Sunset Cove as well.

Publisher: WhiteFire Publishing

Release Date: August 15, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Harbor Secrets

Riptide Rumors

Strands of Truth | First Line Friday + The Friday 56

The Friday 56 is hosted weekly by Freda's Voice.
First Line Friday is hosted weekly by Hoarding Books.

Happy Friday!

In recent years, I've gotten off the Colleen-Coble bandwagon, but this upcoming release sounded interesting enough for me to give her another shot—hoping it's worth it!

Bursts of Fire | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

Bursts of Fire begins an epic political fantasy of revenge, addictions, and redemption. In an empire where magic has become suspect, love and loyalty—for one’s lover, one’s family, one’s country—are tested. If Heaven desires the very earth be burned, what place can those below hope for, when the flames come for them?

To survive. To fight. To restore balance.

The Falkyn sisters bear a burden and a legacy. Their mother, the imperial magiel of the kingdom of Orumon, protects her people from the horrors of the afterlife by calling upon the Gods with a precious Prayer Stone. But war among the kingdoms has brought fire and destruction to their sheltered world. When a mad king’s desire to destroy the Prayer Stones shatters their family, the three girls are scattered to the wilderness, relying on their wits and powers they don’t yet master.

Assassin. Battle tactician. Magic wielder. Driven by different ambitions, Meg, Janat, and Rennika are destined to become all these and more. To reclaim their birth right, they must overcome doubtful loyalties within a rising rebellion; more, they must challenge a dogma-driven chancellor’s influence on the prince raised to inherit his father’s war: a prince struggling to unravel the mystery of his brother’s addiction to Heaven.

Publisher: Laksa Media Groups, Inc.

Release Date: August 6, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Fatal Memories | Book Review, Guest Post + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

She was framed! Or was she?

If only she could remember…

Border patrol agent Jocelyn Walker has no memory of how she turned up unconscious with a cache of drugs—or why a gang is dead set on killing her. With evidence stacking up against her, Joss takes refuge with driven DEA agent Dylan Murphy, who guards—and suspects—her. But will finally trusting each other lead them into a trap they’ll never escape?

Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense

Release Date: September 1, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book

The Chocolate Maker's Wife | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

Australian bestselling novelist Karen Brooks rewrites women back into history with this breathtaking novel set in 17th century London—a lush, fascinating story of the beautiful woman who is drawn into a world of riches, power, intrigue…and chocolate.

Damnation has never been so sweet…

Rosamund Tomkins, the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman, spends most of her young life in drudgery at a country inn. To her, the Restoration under Charles II, is but a distant threat as she works under the watchful eye of her brutal, abusive stepfather . . . until the day she is nearly run over by the coach of Sir Everard Blithman.

Sir Everard, a canny merchant, offers Rosamund an “opportunity like no other,” allowing her to escape into a very different life, becoming the linchpin that will drive the success of his fledgling business: a luxurious London chocolate house where wealthy and well-connected men come to see and be seen, to gossip and plot, while indulging in the sweet and heady drink.

Rosamund adapts and thrives in her new surroundings, quickly becoming the most talked-about woman in society, desired and respected in equal measure.

But Sir Everard’s plans for Rosamund and the chocolate house involve family secrets that span the Atlantic Ocean, and which have already brought death and dishonor to the Blithman name. Rosamund knows nothing of the mortal peril that comes with her new title, nor of the forces spinning a web of conspiracy buried in the past, until she meets a man whose return tightens their grip upon her, threatening to destroy everything she loves and damn her to a dire fate.

As she fights for her life and those she loves through the ravages of the Plague and London’s Great Fire, Rosamund’s breathtaking tale is one marked by cruelty and revenge; passion and redemption—and the sinfully sweet temptation of chocolate.

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

Release Date: August 20, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | HarperCollins

Always Look Twice | Waiting on Wednesday

Hosted weekly by Breaking the Spine 

to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

(Similarly, Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings.)

Happy Wednesday!

Less than a month to go until the Uncommon Justice series continues, and I'm excited to see what happens.

Sweet Melody | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

When a struggling bakery owner is rescued by a wannabe songwriter with hidden culinary talents, they discover they can make sweet harmony … if they can only learn to work together. 

Rhett Foster longs to change the world with his music, yet he can’t even finish writing one song. Battered by a string of failures and disillusioned, he returns home to Portland, Oregon. While he desperately wants to create a chart-topping hit, his dad mandates a new mission: move to coastal vacation hotspot Seabrook, Washington and expand the family’s successful restaurant chain. 

In danger of destroying her late parents’ legacy if she doesn’t diversify her menu, Lindsay Carmichael will try anything to save her bakery. But with a tiny budget and an injured employee who can’t work, she has no choice but to sink the last of her savings into buying a dilapidated food truck and hiring Rhett as a part-time barista. What she doesn’t know is that the handsome songwriter has a secret … one that could destroy her business and her heart.

Release Date: August 1, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Wearing the Greek Millionaire's Ring | Book Review + Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

A convenient engagement…

An inconvenient attraction!

In this Greek Island Brides story, widow Stasia Marinakos is learning to enjoy life again aboard a Mediterranean cruise. Her chemistry with gorgeous Greek tycoon Roberto Carrass is a pleasant surprise—until she’s mistaken for his fiancée! Nevertheless, the guarded bachelor asks Stasia to continue the charade to stop his family from matchmaking. As their attraction grows, their fake romance feels ever more real…but what will happen when the vacation ends?

Publisher: Harlequin Romance

Release Date: September 3, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Carrying the Greek Tycoon's Baby

Claiming the Drakos Heir

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #64

Hosted weekly by The Book Date.

Happy Monday!

And happy September!

Fall classes are in full swing now, and I'm surprised by how much reading I still managed last week—but I'm not complaining, of course.

State of Lies | Book Review + Guest Post

ABOUT THE BOOK

Months after her husband, Sean, is killed by a hit-and-run driver, physicist Georgie Brennan discovers he lied to her about where he had been going that day. A cryptic notebook, a missing computer, and strange noises under her house soon have her questioning everything she thought she knew.

With her job hanging by a thread, her son struggling to cope with his father’s death, and her four-star general father up for confirmation as the next Secretary of Defense, Georgie quickly finds herself tangled in a political intrigue that has no clear agenda and dozens of likely villains. Only one thing is clear: someone wants her dead too.

The more she digs for the truth, the fewer people she can trust.

Not her friends.

Not her parents.

Maybe not even herself.

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: August 13, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Christian Book

Freaky in Fresno | First Line Friday + The Friday 56

The Friday 56 is hosted weekly by Freda's Voice.
First Line Friday is hosted weekly by Hoarding Books.

Happy Friday!

I love surprise book mail, and this book is one such recent arrival. While the cover initially put me off a bit, I do love Freaky Friday, so I'm definitely looking forward to getting into this story soon(ish).

Of Literature and Lattes | Waiting on Wednesday

Hosted weekly by Breaking the Spine 

to spotlight eagerly-anticipated upcoming releases.

(Similarly, Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Wishful Endings.)

Happy Wednesday!

This looks like a delight.

Rule of Capture | Book Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

“This one is fresh, intelligent, and emotional with a plot that envisions an alternate reality hard to dismiss as unreal. It’s a legal thriller, with a big twist, stirring and imaginative, brimming with skullduggery, that will have you asking: is this possible?”—New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry

Better Call Saul meets Ben Winter’s The Last Policeman in this first volume in an explosive legal thriller series set in the world of Tropic of Kansas—a finalist for the 2018 Campbell Award for best science fiction novel of the year.

Defeated in a devastating war with China and ravaged by climate change, America is on the brink of a bloody civil war. Seizing power after a controversial election, the ruling regime has begun cracking down on dissidents fighting the nation’s slide toward dictatorship. For Donny Kimoe, chaos is good for business. He’s a lawyer who makes his living defending enemies of the state.

His newest client, young filmmaker Xelina Rocafuerte, witnessed the murder of an opposition leader and is now accused of terrorism. To save her from the only sentence worse than death, Donny has to extract justice from a system that has abandoned the rule of law. That means breaking the rules—and risking the same fate as his clients.

When Donny bungles Xelina’s initial hearing, he has only days to save the young woman from being transferred to a detention camp from which no one returns. His only chance of winning is to find the truth—a search that begins with the opposition leader’s death and leads to a dark conspiracy reaching the highest echelons of power.

Now, Donny isn’t just fighting for his client’s life—he’s battling for his own. But as the trial in the top secret court begins, Xelina’s friends set into motion a revolutionary response that could destroy the case. And when another case unexpectedly collides with Xelina’s, Donny uncovers even more devastating secrets, knowledge that will force him to choose between saving one client . . . or the future of the entire country.

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Release Date: August 13, 2019

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | HarperCollins

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

Tropic of Kansas

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #63

Hosted weekly by The Book Date.

Happy Monday!

I had a lot of fun doing Bout of Books last week, making the most of my last week of "summer." I enjoyed most of the books I read, so I'm happy (even though classes start today...).