Fiction (Historical)

Rating: 8.5/10

Haven is a nautical archaeologist who has come to Positano to investigate the mysterious shipwrecks along the Amalfi Coast. But she is hoping to find more than artifacts, she is secretly on a quest to find a treasure trove of priceless gems that her father claimed to have seen just before his death. But all she finds is misfortune. A gorgeous and picturesque Italian setting, ancient magic, forbidden love, pirates and sunken treasure make for one heck of a read that will sweep you away!

Thriller

Rating: 9/10

A doorman’s job is not an easy one. They can never fail to remember a resident’s name or the names of regular visitors. They can never call in sick, never leave early, never arrive late. They can never complain or roll their eyes at a request, no matter how ridiculous. They must know what the residents are proud of, what they are most ashamed of. All the dirty details of their most private problems. But they can never know yours. Not ever. An excellent thriller with an ending you won’t see coming, no matter how hard you look!

Supernatural Fiction

Rating: 9/10

When Marshall gets pulled over by a local cop, something is off. Maybe it’s the girl crying in the back of the cop car, or maybe the sinister threat the cop utters. And that’s before he finds out there is no such cop on the force. A summer internship with a PI might be just the thing to get the mystery out of his head. A wonderful coming of age story wrapped up in a supernatural thriller! And the twist…it’s a doozy!

Food Memoir

Rating: 9/10

Simply defined, hospitality is about how to treat people, how to make people feel like they belong, how to be welcoming, how to listen and most of all how to be curious. It’s a dialogue, not a monologue. Think of it like this, service is black and white, hospitality is colour. It needs to be tailored, to be crafted. This author shows us how, not only in business, but in life. My favourite ideal, the charitable assumption. Something we could all be better at!

Thriller

Rating: 8.5/10

When a high security prison experiences technical failures, a wrongly imprisoned retired cop and the governor’s idealist daughter are going to have to work together with a group of misfits to get out alive. All they have to do is get from the ground floor infirmary to the roof, bypassing six floors of convicts who may or may not be free from their cells. If this sounds like a recipe for non-stop, relentless action…it is! Fast paced doesn’t do it justice.

Hitting The Books-April 2025

This month’s read-a-likes are curated for the release Hard Town by Adam Plantinga. The story of a small town mired in dark secrets that has no idea what they are in for with their new resident. Kurt is an ex-cop with a deeply ingrained sense of justice and zero interest in backing down from a fight. When he is asked to help find a missing father and son, he turns over every rock and pulls no punches to get to the truth. No matter the cost. Books with gritty atmosphere and powerful prose, here we come!

New Books On The Shelves-April 2025

I’m a planner in every way you could imagine, a particular quirk that benefits my reading life. And now you dear reader, will reap the rewards with my new monthly post that will feature three of the most interesting books coming out in the next month as well as a few extra just for fun. Happy Reading!

Memoir

Rating: 9/10

I love music, not as much as books (like that’s remotely attainable) but I do. Unlike reads, I am lousy at finding new or untapped listens. My roundabout way of getting there? A curated, themed playlist. You know how much I love my lists! That’s I how stumbled upon the impressive and lovely vocal stylings of one Brandi Carlile. When I added her cover of Black Hole Sun to my Gotcha Covered playlist, I made a mental note to go back and check out her music. I found this amazing book first, and what a treat! Beautifully rendered in every way!

Mystery/Suspense

Rating: 8/10

Looking at her, tattooed, pierced, hard drinking, cigarette smoking and a bit of a hot mess, you might be surprised to find out that Maggie is a genius when it comes to language. A savant able to unravel any linguistics puzzle, she is a star student in her forensic linguistics class. Soon she is tapped police to use her unique skillset to help solve crime. This book pairs my fascination with language and linguistics and my love of books that give me new info for my data loving brain. I’m okay with that statement screaming NERD! It’s who I am…

Mystery/Suspense

Rating: 8/10

Six friends gather at a country house for a birthday weekend. They decide to play a game, or rather it’s decided for them. All six of their names are chosen twice, once to star as the victim, once as the murderer. They must write the story and read it out loud. It’s supposed to be fun, to be fiction. It’s not supposed to be full of secrets and grudges, to reveal their true feelings for each other. And no one is supposed to die…

Fantasy

Rating: 8.5/10

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you this, but all fairytales are fiction. Except maybe this one. When they were fourteen, best friends Jeremy and Rafe went missing in the forest for weeks before being found. One has no memory of where they were or what happened, and the other isn’t sharing. But both feel as it they are in a story they don’t belong in. As they get pulled back into the past, the reader is immersed in a wondrous and charming fairytale kingdom! Don’t miss the recipe for a fairytale!

Books On Books

Rating: 9/10

If I didn’t know it before, I know it now. At heart, I was born to be a shopkeeper. To embrace and embody the traditions, the codes of conduct, the etiquette, the customs, the minutia that make up a day in the life of one who keeps a shop. To put to good use my innate ability to look at what a person is reading and know everything I need to put the next book in their hands. To glory in the task of the hunt for just the right read for that one person. If I won the lottery, a shop would be my hearts desire!

Hitting The Books-March 2025

This month’s read-a-likes are curated for the release of The AmericanHousewife by Anita Abriel. A novel set in the 1950’s about a woman who gets her big break hosting a television baking show. All she has to do is be the ideal housewife, create luscious and delicious desserts and charm the men in charge. Books cast with strong and sassy women, here we come! Underestimate them at your own peril!

New Books On The Shelves-March 2025

I’m a planner in every way you could imagine, a particular quirk that benefits my reading life. And now you dear reader, will reap the rewards with my new monthly post that will feature three of the most interesting books coming out in the next month as well as a few extra just for fun. Happy Reading!

Fantasy

Rating: 8/10

In a mortal world, ruled over by the Descended, Diem is a young healer yearning for answers about her missing mother and her heritage. As old secrets unravel and unforeseen powers are discovered, she finds herself thrust into the world of Royalty, political intrigue and forbidden love. If you are a fan of immersive fantasy worlds, palpable chemistry, badass heroines and the strong, silent type of romantic interest, then this enchanting read might be just the thing.

Thriller

Rating: 9/10

Prepare to enter the world of wickedly unreliable narrator Ruby. Her family has suffered a spectacular fall from grace, and she has gone from being one of the uber rich to working for them. Having to silently bear witness to their dirty secrets and misdeeds, the whole time being invisible, her resentment is building to an explosive level. After seeing something she shouldn’t, Ruby decides it might be time to start indulging in her own misdeeds! Another page turner from this author!

Thriller

Rating: 7/10

The ten worst people in New York are dying, voted on like they were participants in Masked Singer. But they probably deserve it right? They are after all, the worst. But would you trust an anonymous voting public hiding behind their social media handles to get it right? Not so much.

Fiction

Rating: 9/10

Just days after the death of the beloved grandmother that raised her, June receives a photograph of her long missing mother and a murdered preacher. As she delves into this mystery, she unearths secrets she may not be prepared for. Can she be alive in two different places, in two different times? When she opens a door in a place none should be, June finds herself fifty years in the past, in a place she is known. But not welcome. A charming and lovely story that will warm the heart!

Speculative Fiction

Rating: 8/10

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible. This is the sort of novel you fall into, only to come up for breath to eat and sleep, though you may forgo the sleep. What can I say…I was charmed.

Hitting The Books-February 2025

This month’s read-a-likes are curated for the release of Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister. The story of a wife who awakens to find her husband gone with only a note left behind. She struggles with understanding the why of it all and when the truth begins to reveal itself, she will long to a return to a blissful state of ignorance. You know what they say…fool me once.