Book Life Rambles

Home of the American Circus by Allison Larken  G👀dreads After an emergency leaves her short on rent, thirty-year-old Freya Arnalds bails on her lackluster life as bartender in Maine and returns to her suburban hometown of Somers, New York, to live in the house she inherited from her estranged parents. Despite attempts to lay low, Freya encounters childhood friends, familial enemies, and old flames—as well as her fifteen-year-old niece, Aubrey, who is secretly living in the derelict home. As they reconnect, Freya and Aubrey lean on each other, working to restore the house and come to terms with the devastating events that pulled them apart years ago. Set in the birthplace of the American circus, this deeply moving novel is an exploration of broken families, the weight of the past, and the complicated journey of finding home. Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Family Drama Dual Timeline: ETA: This is listed as dual timeline but I thought it was more like memory flashbacks. It's ...

The Siren's Cursed Kiss by Kat Kinney  A.R.T. =  Tiffany Vanlandingham's  Audiobook Review Team pick. I received this audiobook as member of her ART in exchange for an honest review. G👀dreads EVERWOOD FALLS… a small supernatural community tucked up in the Colorado Rockies where witches, werewolves and vampires can live without fear of discovery, and those with curses they can’t control are sent to keep the existence of magic from being revealed to Mundanes. Green witch Sage Summers is no stranger to curses. The night her power manifested, the park outside her apartment devoured a strip mall. Classified by the Magic High Council as too dangerous to live in the Mundane world, she’s made a life for herself in Everwood Falls with her organic produce, a weekly stand at the farmer’s market, and the best group of friends a witch could ever hope for. But isolation has also meant the loss of her family, as well as an ex-fiancé who decided to put her and Everwood Falls in his rear...

The Town I Call Home by Veronica Mixon *DNF* G👀dreads: A gripping, heartwarming portrayal of a son’s loyalty and a father’s undying love. After his childhood friend is charged with murder and his dad is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Jackson Taylor walks away from a lucrative Atlanta law career and returns home to the small, southern town of Loblolly. The case against Jackson’s friend, the son of a state senator, appears to be circumstantial and easily defended, leaving Jackson shocked when his father, a retired county sheriff, insists he stay clear of the case. Jackson shrugs off the warning as paranoia associated with his dad’s disease. But within days, his winnable case upends when the police discover his father’s fingerprints on the murder weapon. Jackson suddenly finds himself in the battle of his life against his father’s failing memory, a prosecutor with a hidden agenda, and a judge dead-set on awarding the powerful senator’s son a speedy trial. Genre: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller ...

The Cromwell Rules by Ania Ray *DNF* This one was an A.R.T. = Audiobook Review Team pick.  I follow Narrator Tiffany Vanlandingham on IG. I have joined her Audiobook Review Team. She's requesting at least one review on social media platforms either Audible or IG (or Threads but I don't do Threads).  This is the first book assigned to me.  G👀dreads Lily Cromwell already knows the best way to prevent a life of tears and unnecessary heartache: be the player. She’s cool. Calm. Collected. At 27, she’s a New York City socialite and a software engineer on the brink of a promotion. Trained by her mother’s ten-commandment “Cromwell Rules,” Lily has learned how to play the social game so that she always ends up on top. But when she meets Logan, she’s thrown off. He doesn’t realize there are certain rules he should follow and, frankly, that’s attractive. Nicholas, on the other hand, is just what her mother Anne would want. Can Lily be the daughter Anne’s always wanted her to be and...

Three Words for Goodbye by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb Great Cover Fabulous Fur Coat! G👀dreads Three cities, two sisters, one chance to correct the past . . . New York, 1937: When estranged sisters Clara and Madeleine Sommers learn their grandmother is dying, they agree to fulfill her last wish: to travel across Europe—together. They are to deliver three letters, in which Violet will say goodbye to those she hasn’t seen since traveling to Europe forty years earlier; a journey inspired by famed reporter, Nellie Bly. Clara, ever-dutiful, sees the trip as an inconvenient detour before her wedding to millionaire Charles Hancock, but it’s also a chance to embrace her love of art. Budding journalist Madeleine relishes the opportunity to develop her ambitions to report on the growing threat of Hitler’s Nazi party and Mussolini’s control in Italy. Constantly at odds with each other as they explore the luxurious Queen Mary, the Orient Express, and the sights of Paris and Venice, Clara and M...

Witches of Dubious Origin by Jenn McKinlay Cool Cover.  I hope it's not too cozy! G👀dreads When a librarian discovers she’s descended from a long line of powerful witches, she’ll need all of her bookish knowledge to harness her family’s magic, in this enchanting cozy fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay. Zoe Ziakas enjoys a quiet life, working as a librarian in her quaint New England town. When a mysterious black book with an unbreakable latch is delivered to the library, Zoe has a strange feeling the tome is somehow calling to her. She decides to consult the Museum of Literature, home to volumes of indecipherable secrets, some possessing magic that must be guarded. The collection is known as the of Books of Dubious Origin. Here, Zoe discovers that she is the last descendant of a family of witches and this little black book is their grimoire. Zoe knows she must decode the family’s spell book and solve the mystery of what happened to her mother and her grand...

  Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson G👀dreads We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become? In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves. Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever? Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the in...

Hawt Flash by Blair Bryan G👀dreads Turning 50 is supposed to be a milestone, but for Katie Beaumont, it's the beginning of a supernatural adventure that will change her life forever. Devastated by her husband's infidelity, Katie discovers she possesses powers beyond her wildest dreams. But as she embarks on a journey of explosive self-discovery, a century of ancestral secrets begins to unravel and threatens to upend everything she thought she knew. Guided by her sassy best friend, a talking dog, and a ball-busting lawyer, Katie embraces her new life. But she soon realizes that her magical abilities come with a price and enemies who will stop at nothing to claim them. Filled with hilarious revenge, outrageous female empowerment, and the comfort of family, this small-town paranormal women's fiction series will leave you breathless and prove there is a lot of life to live after 50. Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal The ad for this keeps scrolling by on FB so here we are. I ...

Christmas with the Queen by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb ~I love the cover~ December 1952. While the young Queen Elizabeth II finds her feet as the new monarch, she must also find the right words to continue in the tradition of her late father and grandfather’s beloved Christmas Day radio broadcast. But even traditions must move with the times, and the Queen faces a postwar Britain hungry for change. As preparations begin for the royal Christmas at Sandringham House in Norfolk, two old friends—Jack Devereux and Olive Carter—find themselves reunited for the festivities. A single mother, typist at the BBC, and aspiring reporter, Olive leaps at the opportunity to cover the holiday celebration, despite self-doubts. When a chance encounter with the Queen presents an exciting opportunity, Olive begins to believe her luck might change. Jack, a grief-stricken widowed chef originally from New Orleans, accepts a last-minute chance to cook in the royal kitchens at Sandringham. When he bumps into...

The Weekend Crashers by Jamie Brenner G👀dreads A knitting retreat gets knotty in this humorous and poignant novel about love, second chances, and the unyielding bonds between mothers and daughters. Maggie Hodges and her daughter Piper are looking forward to a restful knitting retreat in the picturesque village of New Hope, Pennsylvania. But instead, they are surprised to find themselves sharing their charming riverside inn with a rowdy bushcraft bachelor party. Undaunted by the clash of interests and personalities, Maggie suggests a lighthearted competition—a battle of crafts—that sparks a rivalry between the two groups, and perhaps something more. But as the weekend unfolds, old mistakes and buried resentments begin to surface, threatening to destroy Maggie and Piper’s cherished connection. In knitting, one can easily fix mistakes by picking apart each stitch and starting anew. But life’s tangles aren’t so easily mended. With tensions rising and the retreat coming to a close, Maggie ...

The Woman with the Cure   by Lynn Cullen  G👀dreads In 1940s and ’50s America, polio is as dreaded as the atomic bomb. No one’s life is untouched by this disease that kills or paralyzes its victims, particularly children. Outbreaks of the virus across the country regularly put American cities in lockdown. Some of the world’s best minds are engaged in the race to find a vaccine. The man who succeeds will be a God. But Dorothy Horstmann is not focused on beating her colleagues to the vaccine. She just wants the world to have a cure. Applying the same determination that lifted her from a humble background as the daughter of immigrants, to becoming a doctor – often the only woman in the room-she hunts down the monster where it lurks: in the blood. This discovery of hers, and an error by a competitor, catapults her closest colleague to a lead in the race. When his chance to win comes on a worldwide scale, she is asked to sink or validate his vaccine—and to decide what is forgivable...

Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renee Rosen Glamorous cover  G👀dreads It’s 1938, and a young woman selling face cream out of a New York City beauty parlor is determined to prove she can have it all. Her name is Estée Lauder, and she’s about to take the world by storm. In New York City, you can disappear into the crowd. At least that’s what Gloria Downing desperately hopes as she tries to reinvent herself after a devastating family scandal. She’s ready for a total life makeover and a friend she can lean on—and into her path walks a young, idealistic woman named Estée. Their chance encounter will change Gloria’s life forever. Estée dreams of success and becoming a household name like Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein, and Revlon. Before Gloria knows it, she is swept up in her new friend’s mission and while Estée rolls up her sleeves, Gloria begins to discover her own talents. After landing a job at Saks Fifth Avenue, New York’s finest luxury department store, Gloria finds her voice, w...

  Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight  G👀dreads "There are no female publishing CEOs in 1960's New York. And that is exactly what savvy, ambitious Bernadette Swift plans to change. Bernadette Swift, a young copyeditor at Lenox & Park Publishing, is determined to become the first female CEO in the publishing industry. But first she needs to take the next step up that ladder with a promotion that her boorish and sexist boss wants to thwart. Seeking a base of support, Bernadette joins a feminist women's book club at the New York Public Library, and soon, she's inspiring her fellow members to challenge the male gatekeepers and decades of ingrained sexism in their workplaces and pursue their personal and professional dreams. And that is precisely what Bernedette does on a daily keeps her eye on the prize—equality for women in the workplace, and a promotion—while fending off the ire of her boss and the sabotaging efforts of a jealous coworker. With the suppor...