Book Life Rambles

My Name is Emilia Del Valle by Isabel Allende   *DNF* G👀dreads In San Francisco 1866, an Irish nun, left pregnant and abandoned following a torrid relationship with a Chilean aristocrat, gives birth to a daughter named Emilia Del Valle. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia grows into an independent thinker and a self-sufficient young woman. To pursue her passion for writing, she is willing to defy societal norms. At the age of sixteen, she begins to publish pulp fiction under a man’s pen name. When these fictional worlds can't contain her sense of adventure any longer, she turns to journalism, convincing an editor at the San Francisco Examiner to hire her. There she is paired with another talented reporter, Eric Whelan. As she proves herself, her restlessness returns, until an opportunity arises to cover a brewing civil war in Chile. She seizes it, along with Eric, and while there, begins to uncover the truth about her father and the country that represents her roots. But as the ...

  Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor   G👀dreads On a sultry August day in 1922, Jay Gatsby is shot dead in his West Egg swimming pool. To the police, it appears to be an open-and-shut case of murder/suicide when the body of George Wilson, a local mechanic, is found in the woods nearby. Then a diamond hairpin is discovered in the bushes by the pool, and three women fall under suspicion. Each holds a key that can unlock the truth to the mysterious life and death of this enigmatic millionaire. Jillian Cantor revisits the glittering Jazz Age world of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, retelling this timeless American classic from the women’s perspective. Beautiful Little Fools is a quintessential tale of money and power, marriage and friendship, love and desire, and ultimately the murder of a man tormented by the past and driven by a destructive longing that can never be fulfilled. Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery ⭐⭐⭐ Overall Enjoyment 🎉 🎉 🎉 Did it grab and keep m...

  Casanova LLC by Julia Whelan  Cover says June French and Julia Whelan, but June French was the fictional author of her book Thank You for Listening. That book was about the narration business and the book they were narrating was Casanova LLC by June French. In the forward she said felt like June was her co-author because it was the inspiration.  In the Hoopla description it says  NOTE: This is a SPICY listen. If you blushed while reading Thank You for Listening, this will turn you crimson .   I listened to Thank You for Listening before I started my review format so I didn't rate it for spice, but I'm thinking maybe  🌶🌶 . G👀dreads From fictional author June French (with some assistance from real author Julia Whelan) comes the sweeping, spicy Romance series narrated by characters Sewanee Chester and Nick "Brock McNight" Sullivan in Thank You For Listening: "The descendent of Giacomo Casanova, Alessandro is a trained expert in the art of love and ca...

  Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon I read it YEARS ago. It was published in 1982. I don't think I've ever re-read a book (Bible excluded). I loaned a few of my Sidney Sheldon books to my friend Mike and told him to start with this one. I decided to listen to it because it was my all time favorite and it was so long ago I wanted to refresh my memory so we can talk about it when he reads it. G👀dreads Kate Blackwell is one of the richest and most powerful women in the world. She is an enigma, a woman surrounded by a thousand unanswered questions. Her father was a diamond prospector who struck it rich beyond his wildest dreams. Her mother was the daughter of a crooked Afrikaaner merchant. Her conception was itself an act of hate-filled vengeance. At the extravagant celebrations of her ninetieth birthday, there are toasts from a Supreme Court Judge and a telegram from the White House. And for Kate there are ghosts, ghosts of absent friends and of enemies. Ghosts from a life of ...

  The Spice King by Elizabeth Camden  Very regal cover G👀dreads Gray Delacroix has dedicated his life to building an acclaimed global spice empire, but it has come at a cost. Resolved to salvage his family before they spiral out of control, he returns to his ancestral home for good after years of traveling the world. As a junior botanist for the Smithsonian, Annabelle Larkin has been charged with the impossible task of gaining access to the notoriously private Delacroix plant collection. If she fails, she will be out of a job and the family farm in Kansas will go under. She has no idea that in gaining entrance to the Delacroix world, she will unwittingly step into a web of dangerous political intrigue far beyond her experience. Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Christian Fiction Circa: 1900 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Overall Enjoyment 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 Did it grab and keep my attention?  🎣   🎣 🎣 🎣 🎣 Would I recommend it to anyone?  Yes ➕ Would I want a sequel...

  The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki  Love the cover G👀dreads The year is 1853, and the Habsburgs are Europe’s most powerful ruling family. With his empire stretching from Austria to Russia, from Germany to Italy, Emperor Franz Joseph is young, rich, and ready to marry. Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, “Sisi,” Duchess of Bavaria, travels to the Habsburg Court with her older sister, who is betrothed to the young emperor. But shortly after her arrival at court, Sisi finds herself in an unexpected dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and won the heart of her sister’s groom. Franz Joseph reneges on his earlier proposal and declares his intention to marry Sisi instead. Thrust onto the throne of Europe’s most treacherous imperial court, Sisi upsets political and familial loyalties in her quest to win, a nd keep, the love of her emperor, her people, and of the world. Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance , Royalty ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Overall Enjoyment 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 Did it ...

  Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack  G👀dreads All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series―is that too much to ask? Clearly, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life―the handsome but infuriating con man she got mixed up with ten years ago and now can't get out of her life―Eleanor’s enlisted to help solve the case. Contending with literary rivals, rabid fans, a stalker―and even her ex, Oliver, who turns up unexpectedly―theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed. But who’s really trying to get away with murder? Irresistible and hilarious series debut from Catherine Mack. Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Cozy. I'm surprised it didn't indicate Humor or Chick Lit. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Overall Enjoyment 🎉 🎉 🎉 🎉 Did it grab and keep my attention?  🎣   🎣 🎣 🎣 Would I re...

Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukess G👀dreads When thirty-four-year-old Cath loses her mostly absentee mother, she is ambivalent. With days of quiet, unassuming routine in Buffalo, New York, Cath consciously avoids the impulsive, thrill-seeking lifestyle that her mother once led. But when she’s forced to go through her mother’s things one afternoon, Cath is perplexed to find tickets for an upcoming “murder week” in England’s Peak. A whole town has come together to stage a fake murder mystery to attract tourism to their quaint hamlet. Baffled but helplessly intrigued by her mother’s secret purchase, Cath decides to go on the trip herself—and begins a journey she never could have anticipated. Teaming up with her two cottage-mates, both ardent mystery lovers—Wyatt Green, forty, who works unhappily in his husband’s birding store, and Amity Clark, fifty, a divorced romance writer struggling with her novels—Cath sets about solving the “crime” and begins to unravel shocking truths about he...

  The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel Cleeton G👀dreads London, 2024: When American expat Margo Reynolds is hired to source a book that’s more than one hundred and twenty years old, she thinks her greatest challenge is going to be that there’s only one copy in existence. However, it quickly becomes clear that her client isn’t the only person determined to procure the book at any cost. Thrust into a deadly quest, Margo teams up with an unlikely ally—the man she loved and lost—and is forced to confront the ghosts of her own past as the lingering feelings that simmer between them ignite. Havana, 1966: Pilar Castillo’s days are spent working as a librarian in Havana, her nights spent hoping for her husband’s freedom after his unjust imprisonment. But Pilar has a secret that could jeopardize her life. She’s fighting Fidel’s regime in her own way, and when she comes into possession of a book that was published more than sixty years earlier, she must decide how much she’s willing to r...

  Bless Your Heart by Leigh Dunlap Very fitting cover of the highfalutin team Moms  G👀dreads Motherhood and murder link five very different women when a working-class detective clashes with wealthy moms in this upmarket thriller in the vein of May Cobb ** and Jeneva Rose * . Anderson Tupper, a member of one of Atlanta’s richest families, has been murdered in the dugout of the Little League field where he was a volunteer coach, and it’s up to Detective Shay Claypool, a single mother from the other side of town, to find his killer. * I'm not the biggest fan of Jeneva Rose. 1 out of 4 is my record with her. ** I've not read/listened to any May Cobb yet but The Hunting Wives is on my holds list.   Genre: Mystery, Thriller I saw this one advertised by an author I follow on IG. Oh my gosh, there are so many books with this title in GR I had to scroll down to find it and I had to search for it by author on Hoopla! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I'm going to have to go with 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ because I did N...

  Last Summer at the Golden Hotel by Elyssa Friedland G👀dreads:  A family reunion for the ages when two clans convene for the summer at their beloved getaway in the Catskills--perfect for fans of Dirty Dancing and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel--from the acclaimed author of The Floating Feldmans. In its heyday, The Golden Hotel was the crown jewel of the hotter-than-hot Catskills vacation scene. For more than sixty years, the Goldman and Weingold families - best friends and business partners - have presided over this glamorous resort which served as a second home for well-heeled guests and celebrities. But the Catskills are not what they used to be - and neither is the relationship between the Goldmans and the Weingolds. As the facilities and management begin to fall apart, a tempting offer to sell forces the two families together again to make a heart-wrenching decision. Can they save their beloved Golden or is it too late? Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Chick L...