Challenge Mount TBR
I have completed my second mountain climb. First mountain was completed in January. As with the first mountain I made myself go up (physical owned books)and down (kindle owned books) the mountain.
Hope you will enjoy this new fun little challenge as you follow along.
April Wrap Up 🪻🌷🦋🐣🦢🪺
16 books total, 1 DNF
2 books donated/given to others
7 books (kindle/physical) of my own read
Reviews of most books on my blog. http://www.kentuckybooklover.com
B Borrowed from friend/family
L Library
KO Kindle Owned
O Physical Owned
EL E-library (Libby/Overdrive/Hoopla)
AB Audiobook
KU Kindle Unlimited
NG NetGalley
ARC Advanced Reader Copy
#bookstagrammer #kentuckybooklover #readersofinstagram #monthlywrapup #kindlegirlie
The Kitchen Kebab series is a series when you want to visit a small neighborhood on the beach and soak up all the gossip.
Since our last visit with Lucy she has continued to manage her family’s restaurant but has yet to convince her dad to let her officially take over and modernize their record keeping and ordering. She has agreed to be in charge of the summer festival where all the boardwalk restaurants have tents set up with yummies. Lucy’s best friend is in charge of the sand castle competition and has to release a judge from the competition when it came to light his nephew entered the competition. Unfortunately, a bit later Lucy finds the judge shot under the boardwalk. What ensues can only be described as chaos.
I didn’t figure out the killer ahead of time which I like. The red herrings were expertly done. I enjoyed that certain topics and careers weren’t tabooed. It gave the story the punch it needed to keep you interested.
The love triangle is still there. This is only book three so it hasn’t gotten stale yet. I’m still trying to decide who Lucy should be with as both have plenty of pros and cons.
I will continue the series.
Recipes included in the book.
A clean romance that brings the smiles.
Kinsey finally feels grown up. She has her own place and a job as a dental receptionist. Ever since her parents died when she was eleven she has felt lost and scared. Her last set of foster parents have been the closet to being family. In fact that is who she works for, her foster dad.
Hunt was the boy next door but he was already grown and serving in the military when she came around. After suffering a horrific military ending accident he has returned home and works as a handyman. Dr. Martin hired him to refresh the dental office.
Hunt and Kinsey get off on the wrong foot. Through a series of awkward moments they become friends that leads to a fake dating scenario to protect Kinsey from someone in her past.
This has all my favorite tropes especially grumpy/sunshine. I love a good grumpy guy and a bubbly girl that makes him turn into a big teddy bear. All men need that one woman who lets them be soft and mushy.
I thought this might be the last in this series but I’m hoping the epilogue is an insight to a possible future story.
Whether SSG writes contemporary romance, Amish romance, or historical romance you are guaranteed a good read.
I received a complementary copy from the author with no requirement to leave a review. The above positive review is in my own words and my own thoughts on the book.
Since I have read all of Abby Jimenez books I am going back to Sarah Adams as my go-to feel good romance reads.
The Enemy is book two of the second book in the It Happened in Charleston series. June has had a rough go in the romance department. After she called off her wedding invoked the one date rule. One date with a guy and sayonara. Her BFF and co-owner of Darling Donuts is getting married and that means her secret crush from high school, Ryan, will be in town. What she doesn’t know is Ryan has always had a crush on her. Follow along as they tip toe and crash into their feelings.
I needed a book to make me laugh this week and this was perfect. Sometimes we need a fun book that doesn’t make you think too deep.
Next up is The Off-Limits Rule, book one in the It Happened in Nashville series.
Another delightful adventure with Jethro the pig. We all know Bailey is the main character and sleuth but Jethro is the star of the series.
It’s the most wonderful time of year…Christmas. Bailey is enjoying her engagement to Sheriff Brody but their families are anxiously awaiting the big day. Well there would be a big day of Bailey and Brody would set a date. The moms take it into their own hands by hiring a wedding planner. At the same time Harvest has a life size game of Candyland going on in the town square. Swissman Sweets and the candy factory are responsible for providing the treats for the players. Bailey is busy keeping up and Brody is busy trying to solve the robberies going on in the community. Things come to a grim head when a murder occurs at the candy factory.
This is such a fun series. I have let a couple of releases build up so I can extend my time in Harvest. Amanda Flower is a talented cozy mystery author with all her series but my favorites are her Amish and Amish adjacent series.
This was a book of my mamaw’s. She loved to read biographies. I used to groan if I had to read one but as I’ve grown older I have started to enjoy them more. I’ve really enjoyed biographies about famous women in history. I knew very little about President Truman and his wife, Bess.
Bess was a powerhouse for her family and her husband. She became the head of household when her father killed himself. Her mother depended on her for everything. She had an alcoholic brother that the Truman’s tried to help many times over and over. She suffered miscarriages. She worried a lot especially when it came to her husband. She lived through four wars and an assassination of a president. She saw the progression from horse and buggy to trains to cars to airplanes as the preferred mode of travel. She survived Washington D. C., a place she fought long and hard to avoid but ended up loving.
A fascinating read with politics intertwined but it’s mainly on who Bess was a daughter, wife, and mother.
Who is an author you love but at the same time curse the person who introduced you to that author? Abby Jimenez is that author for me. I have loved everything so far (one author I’m caught up on) but at the same time I curse April for introducing me because I HAVE to read the new one ASSP after release day! I’m not at auto-buy status yet but that is a struggle.
The Night We Met was so so good. At one point I had to walk away from the book I was so mad. I’m talking I wanted to give someone a strong jab in their solar plexus. And that person was a very minor character.
I had angst reading this book. Abby even admits in the back of the book it had more angst than her other books.
Larissa comes from a hard background and has to deal with stuff most of us never have to know. She is dating Mike, a good looking guy who is full of himself and lazy. He can talk a good game and pull the wool over everyone’s eyes except his best friend, Chris. Chris realizes he has fallen for Larissa but knows he can’t do anything about his feelings except ignore them. Through a series of events Larissa and Chris find themselves together a lot.
I enjoy how characters connect through all AJ’s novels. When I crack one open I feel like I’m falling back in with a group of friends. I’m already anticipating the next one.
Cozy mystery fans do I have a new one for you. Vannetta Chapman has wowed us again with a new cozy mystery series. This one is set in Texas and is Amish adjacent (meaning side characters not main).
Emma and Sydney are sisters and have just bought a building to open their own stores. Emma will sell quilting and sewing supplies while Sydney sells books. Before the ink is even dry on the papers they find a dead man in their back door. Who and why?
I enjoyed the dynamic between Emma and Sydney. Emma is the oldest sister and in true oldest form is a little bossy and likes things to go in an orderly fashion. Sydney is the baby and is a free spirit in a lot of ways. (There is a 3rd sister Delaney but you don’t get much of her…yet). Even with their small squabbles you can feel the love between the sisters.
You will laugh quite frequently and have a smile when turning the last page. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
This was just released at the end of March so I suggest you run to go get it.
I am a firm believer that the right book finds you when you need it. If I could fall sleep on April 11 and wake up on the 26th I think I would be happier. Those are two weeks of heavy grief every year. The Switch is about how everyone handles grief differently and that we all need to work through the grief at our own pace but may need a push in the right direction. The right people will stick by your side even on the hardest days.
Leena Cotton’s sister passed away a year ago and to handle the grief she threw herself into her work until she couldn’t. After a mandatory vacation demand was given she calls her almost octogenarian grandma, Eileen. They concoct a plan to switch lives for two months. What transpires is more than either could have hoped.
Don’t think this book is all sadness and darkness. It is the furthest thing from sadness and darkness. You will find yourself belly laughing and turning the pages long into the night. You will be wishing for a small English town of your own.
A clean romance with light swearing and kissing. If I had a teenage daughter I would have no trouble letting her read this book.
And yes, you will need cookies and tea while reading.
Kentucky Book Lover 