Hello, August! This summer is just flying by, isn’t it? It is practically over. Not the heat of it.Goodness the heat. But school will be starting next week. I cannot believe I will have a kindergartener!
It’s birthday month for me. Not that I celebrate all month. Heck, I rarely even celebrate an entire day. This week it falls on a Wednesday and I will be working. I always love doing a birthday wish list. They are so fun to put together.
I am trying to decide how I feel about the ending to this book? I am still undecided. So let’s start from the beginning. I was immediately drawn into the book and wanted to see where it was going to go. It took a turn I wasn’t really expecting but I didn’t hate that. This book is a beautiful story about friendship and how life doesn’t always turn out like you planned. Shocker, right? I enjoyed the premise and finished this book in less than 24 hours. So I suppose that says a lot about it.
The premise of this one was so interesting to me. Waking up from a coma with memories of your boyfriend, only wait, they were made up?? While I didn’t love this near as much as Shipped, it still passed the time just fine. I felt like there was so much more that could have been done with the premise of the book, and it took a turn I definitely didn’t think it would. You see it a mile away, but still not where I would have gone with the book. Anyways, it was cute but the characters were not all that interesting. They felt a bit immature at times. I really only enjoyed Perry. I felt like there were many scenes with Cass and Devin that were very cringe. Also, I am confused with the ending, as it was steamy while the whole rest of the book was not. It was like the ending was written by a different author.
Bottom Line: It passed the time just fine.
**I received a copy of Dream On from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
I don’t get too caught up in celebrity lives and drama. I don’t find many of them very relatable, and could honestly care less about their opinions on things. However, I did follow everything that unfolded with Britney Spears out of curiosity. When I saw that my library had Jamie Lynn’s audiobook I figured, why not. I am not sure how much Jamie Lynn had to do with Britney’s conservatorship, she claims none, but I do find the timing of this book a little gross. Like she is piggybacking off Britney’s recent attention the last year. I was interested to hear what she was going to say. She definitely plays victim the entire book, and takes no responsibility. I know her parents are very messed up, and it had to be growing up in the shadows of Britney, and being a child star. But every story is about how she was kind, good, didn’t do anything wrong….but her parents did her wrong, Britney did her wrong, her ex did her wrong, etc. I also didn’t like how much she jumped around in the book. You never really know how old she is in a story, 5, 8, 16, recently. Who knows? She goes back and forth so much. I felt like she only touched on stories and was kind of vague about things. If you are going to open up about something, go all in or don’t mention it.
Bottom Line: While it was an interesting read, it was exhausting trying to keep up with where Jamie Lynn was in her life for each story. The victimhood was gross, and she sounded very immature at times. I did this on audiobook, and Jamie Lynn read it herself. It went by quickly, so if you are interested to hear her side….it won’t take much of your time.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book, as I tend to not care about celebrities/fake famous people in a lot of books. From the start, we alternate between Joe and Cate’s POV and I was immediately hooked. I absolutely loved this book and had the hardest time putting it down. I didn’t know much about JFK Jr or Carolyn Bessette, so I was completely captivated by this story. I went and read up on them after I finished the book, and feel like there are enough differences for this to stand on its own. This is the perfect summer beach read!
Bottom Line: Read it!
**I received a copy of Meant to Be from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
I loved this book so much. I have loved all the books I read from Abby. Alexis, our leading lady, grew so much in this book. I absolutely love the little town she fell into, and of course Daniel! All the towns people sounded wonderful, and I loved how they were there for each other. I felt like there was a good balance between the serious undertones of the book (emotional and physical abuse) and the banter and wit we love to see in a romcom. I flew through this one, finishing it in less than 24 hours. I could not put it down.
Another book that I simply could not put down. This is different than some of CoHo’s other novels. The chapter’s of Verity’s book were really hard to read at times, they were so messed up. This book was quite the ride, and I don’t want to say much else about it to give anything away. I pretty much knew from the start how the book was going to end up, but that didn’t take away the enjoyment from reading it.
I was expecting this to be a light romcom, but wow. It was so much deeper than that. This book dealt with some heavy topics including addiction and grief. I love a good fake relationship troupe, and this definitely hit that craving. There were some fun, steamy parts balanced with heartbreaking drama. I really loved both Grey and Ethan. While this wasn’t what I was expecting when I picked it up, I quite enjoyed it. I believe this is a debut from this author. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.
Bottom Line: Read it!
**I received a copy of How to Fake it in Hollywood from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
I loved all the experiences in Crete and Charlie’s enthusiasm for it. The food, people and scenery were all great. I loved reading about all the different people Charlie meets in Crete. The description of the book tells you that Jamie goes back home after the move, but this doesn’t happen until 40% into the book. And it was very anti-climatic when it happens. Where is the conflict? They were supposed to be together for quite awhile, I just thought there would be more emotion. While I liked some of the dialogue and such, the first half of the book could have been a lot shorter. I would have liked to see a little more excitement, emotion, conflict, spark. I didn’t feel any spark between any of the characters that are attracted to each other. I would classify this book as women’s lit, definitely not romance.
I received an audio copy of this book, and really enjoyed the narration. I felt the narrator did a great job of bringing the characters to life and adding to the enjoyment of the story.
Bottom Line: This one passed the time just fine. Great for a beach read, or if you want to escape to somewhere fun but can’t get away.
**I received a copy of What Happens in Greece from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
An up and coming interior designer falls for the man next door while she designs his house. The premise was fun, and I enjoyed the interior design aspects of this book. I loved how strong Grace was as a character. The book passed the time just fine, but I wasn’t swooning over these two. There were no LOL moments or witty banter. There was no spice. There was a lot of repeating the same hesitant inner dialogue these two had. I felt at times they were a little immature for their supposed ages. This was supposed to be enemy to lovers, but there wasn’t much friction in the beginning, and not a lot of swooning as a reader after the little bit of friction dies down. I just wanted more from the book all around. Also, I didn’t like the third person POV when we switched between Noah and Grace chapters. It wasn’t doing it for me.
Bottom Line: It was cute and passed the time just fine, I wouldn’t rush to read it.
This book is full of ideas and encouragement for moms who want to make the best memories with their kids. It isn’t always about doing everything, but choosing what is special and important to your family, and building traditions on that. I sat with a notebook when I read chapters from this, taking notes on how I want my family to look, ideas for different holidays and traditions, key lines of inspiration and thoughts from the author. One of my favorite lines was: “You never know what traditions your children will treasure the rest of their lives.” I know I have certain memories from my childhood that I hold onto and try to recreate for my daughter. I hope that she has the same. This is written by a Christian author, but you do not have to be Christian to take away good points from the book.
This is such a sweet read for kids. It has a great message about being yourself and that always being enough, even when you are sad or mad or not feeling the best. This teaches kids that mistakes are ok. The art was fantastic and the book is described as being for children 4-8, which I found very appropriate for my 5 year old. This book would make a great gift for any child or baby shower.
Bottom Line: Read it! Perfect for kids.
**I received a copy of You’re Always Enough from Netgalley in exchange of my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
It has been awhile since I have done anything but a book post. I really wanted to post about our trip to the beach over the week of the 4th too. Maybe next week I will get that up! The summer has just been flying right on by. We made a last minute game time decision the last week of June to withdraw Zoe from daycare for the month of July. We were gone on vacation, and wanted to give her a break before school started. Since work has slowed down a little, I wanted to spend some extra time with her. Who knows what next summer will look like.
We have been doing a few fun things like story time at the library! It was summer themed with shark stories, and it was really cute. Zoe even got to craft her own shark before we left.
Zoe and I have taken a walk every morning after she wakes up, before it gets unbearably hot outside. After, we take Mac out. He has been a little slower the last few weeks. Sitting down a lot outside and sleeping more. Our grumpy guy is going to be 12 in a few weeks. I can’t believe it! Zoe has taken every opportunity to get down with him. Its so sweet.
We are hoping to take Zoe shopping for school supplies later today! I can’t believe we are about to have a kindergartner!!! We have a long list of things she will need. Going back to school shopping with my mom every year was always so fun, and I have so many great memories of doing that. I am hoping to create those memories with Zoe as well. We did order her a bentgo lunch box during the Prime Days, and we just got her backpack in from Pottery Barn Kids this past week. She tore open the package while we were still outside and put it on, she was so excited. It turned out so cute!
We also got these unicorn ice packs to put in her lunch boxes. They are a pack of 4 and they are so cute!! They had a few different shapes if unicorns aren’t your thing. If I was still going to the office, I would pick the pineapple ones for myself!
Despite Zoe’s feelings on nap time, we had to order her a new nap mat. The kids have a “rest” the first half of the year, and they drop them after Christmas. Her nap mat was purchased back in 2017 and the Velcro just doesn’t hold anymore and it is getting really lumpy. She picked this one out, because she said it was more “big girl” than her current one with castles and princesses.
Have you gone back to school shopping yet?
Favorite Product: I got this Armani Satin Lipstick in shade 104 Selfless about a month or so ago, and I am really loving it. It is the first lipstick I have used that doesn’t require a liner to keep it in place. It just goes on effortlessly and has a satin finish, so it isn’t matte and drying…and it isn’t super glossy or sticky either. It feels so comfortable on and I really love this shade. It doesn’t hurt that the packaging is gorgeous as well. They all have the bright red lid, no matter which shade you chose.
Favorite Recipe: I made this Peruvian Chicken recipe the other night and it was so good!!! So much flavor! Chris and I both agreed that you almost don’t even need to make the green sauce to go with it, because it is good on its own. But the sauce was so dang good too it is hard to not have it. I served it up with brussels but this would be great over rice as well.
Favorite Funnies:
Linking up for Friday Favorites. I hope you all have a great weekend!
I have had a good reading month. Coming at you with my most recent book reviews. I recommend all of these, except the DNF at the end. Have you read any of these? What has been your favorite book so far this summer?
Gabriela Rose reminds me of a more capable Stephanie Plum. I enjoyed the wacky cast of characters in this one, and the fun ride we went on in search of the Ring of Solomon. Rafer was fun, and I hope to get more of him in future books from this series.
Bottom Line: If you are a fan of Stephanie Plum or cozy mysteries, check this out!
This is supposed to be a Beauty and the Beast retelling, sign me up! I will say, that a lot of the ties to Beauty and the Beast were lame. Like calling the hired help “Kettle,” the yellow sundress coming down the stairs (sounds more like a danger with it trailing behind her), the feeling of the furniture being magical and giving you hugs. Lame. Anyways. This was a little slow for me. I didn’t quite feel the chemistry between the characters. If I am being completely honest, Izzy got on my nerves a little. I feel like she didn’t grow in the book near as much as Beau did. I did enjoy the general plot, with her helping Beau write his book. Overall, I liked the book and I am glad I read it. It just wasn’t my favorite from Jasmine Guillory.
Bottom Line: If you are a Guillory fan or a fairytale retelling fan, read it. I did enjoy it, it just wasn’t my favorite from this author.
**I received a copy of By the Book from NETGALLEY in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
I enjoyed this one, it was full of family drama. The Golden Hotel is located in the Catskills and there was mentions of Dirty Dancing, and has lots of nostalgia of the “good old days.” We deal with a lot of issues in this one; opioids, cheating, miscarriage, dementia, loss, disordered eating, coming out, etc. Even with all of this, the book felt light. I loved the layers of family complications and the way they were there for each other.
I did this on audio and Julia Whelen is one of my favorite narrators.
Man, this book was intense! I couldn’t stop. I had to know what was going on!!! I had a few theories, and I was wrong. I tried to connect everything but was mind blown when it all played out. What a roller coaster! I think I am going to need some fluffy reads for awhile. I am spent. Definitely enjoyed this one, probably the fastest I read a book in awhile.
This was so cute and such a fun slow burn. The writing reminded me of RS Grey, and you all know how much I love her. This is my first from this author, and I am going to be binging anything else she has wrote in my near future. I just know it. This modern take on the Hepburn classic, Roman Holiday. Amelia and Noah were so fun. I loved Noah’s sisters and the town they live in. It was heartwarming and sweet and I hate that I rushed through it, because I miss them! One of my favorite things, is at the end we didn’t have some huge miscommunication issue that most romcom authors turn to. It was so refreshing to see the book play out differently.
Bottom Line: Read it!!!
**I received a copy of When in Rome from NETGALLEY in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
This one was so cute! It went by pretty quickly for me. I love a good friends to lovers romcom. Add in the fact that Lyric and Kian are science-nerds, even better. I enjoyed all the side characters in this one as well. It reminded me a little of “Love Hypothesis,” but I liked that one more. I will say, that Lyric was a little immature for her age? Maybe? I am trying to remember what I was like in my late twenties. Either way, I enjoyed this one.
I received an audio version of The Sizzle Paradox and I really enjoyed both the male and female narrators. They kept me interested and engaged through the whole book.
Bottom Line: Read it.
**I received a copy of The Sizzle Paradox from NETGALLEY in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**
I love Joshilyn Jackson, she is always a solid read for me. This one does not disappoint! I could not put it down. This is a suspenseful, twisty story about a son that goes missing. I was immediately hooked and found the investigation process very interesting. All the characters and details were so very well fleshed out. I am not 100% sure that is was completely believable how everything was connected, but I was here for it. The pacing of the book was interesting, as things happen and you keep thinking oh this is wrapping up, but then it goes on.
I have mixed feelings about the revenge of the villain. Without giving too much away, she is hurting innocent people. I understand that she wants to make certain people hurt the most…but uses innocent people to do that. It just doesn’t make sense. Especially as a mother. There was a theme running through the book of how an act that may have meant very little to us at the time may have been life-changing for another. It makes you think about things differently. This book also makes you think about the choices you would make if you were in Bre’s position in this book.
I absolutely loved this one! I couldn’t stop once I started. I loved Russell and Ari so much. The fun banter about their horrible bosses, their plotting, and watching them grow close. It was such a fun premise and I loved every moment. Ari is a TV meteorologist, and that was just a fun aspect of the book as well. Bring on the science nerds! I felt like the author did a good job writing a character that dealt with depression. I also appreciated Russell and his past. Definitely one of my favorites recent reads.
I am not sure what is wrong, if it was me or the book….but I just couldn’t get into this. I was bored from the beginning and gave up pretty early. I hesitate to give it a bad rating since I didn’t really give it a try. Have you read it? Should I try it again later?
Happy Friday! It has been quite the busy summer so far. I feel like every weekend since the beginning of May we have had some type of event/commitment. This weekend is the first one we don’t have any plans, besides it being Father’s Day.
Last weekend we went to Nashville to see my dad become ordained at his church. We decided to head up a day early so we could spend some time doing fun things around town. I hadn’t been to Nashville in about 10 years, so it was nice to be back. I feel like Nashville is a bigger, cleaner Birmingham. We were excited to show Zoe around.
We started out with lunch at Paula Dean’s, and found a few fun video game stores to look around at. We then headed over to the Cool Springs area to take Zoe to American Girl. Needless to say, it was instant love. She is obsessed with Wellie Wishers and finally got her first doll. She chose Willa.
Zoe carried Willa around everywhere the rest of the trip. Unfortunately, my tire pressure lights started going crazy and we realized we had a nail in the shoulder of our tire. Thank goodness for technology! NTB was right near where we were, so we had a 2 hour pitstop and an expensive tire change out before we headed to our hotel to check in.
CMA Fest was in Nashville when we went, and the hotel rates were insane. We ended up staying at Marriot Vanderbilt, which was across from the Parthenon. After we got checked it, we walked over there and explored.
After walking around the area for a little while, we settled on eating at the restaurant at our hotel because they had outdoor seating, Central Bar + Grill. It was an amazing experience. We had the best service, and they had crab meat hushpuppies. The best I have EVER had.
The next morning, we took Zoe to Parlor Doughnuts (best ever!!!!) and then grabbed coffees from Three Brothers Coffee before heading up to my dad’s church. It was a wonderful day.
Alley near Three Brothers Coffee
Zoe’s school does a lot of fun summer activities for the kids. Last week they had Super Hero Day, and all the kiddos dressed like super heroes. Every Wednesday they have water day, and every Friday the ice cream truck comes and they get to bring money and pick out a treat. Needless to say, Zoe is living her best life.
Picture credit to Zoe’s teachers, who are so great about showing us all the fun they are having throughout the day!
Favorite Finds: About a month ago, I got myself some new sneakers to work out in. I decided to try Brooks for the first time, and I am in love! I haven’t had to wear them in or get used to them or anything. I just threw them on one morning and went about my workout, slaying. LOVE. These are the ones I chose, in Lilac.
Favorite Book Purchase: I ordered Memory Making Mom for my morning quiet time and have been really enjoying it so far!!! The book basically talks about how you can turn little moments into special memories for you and your family. She gives lots of practical tips and advice, and a list of 200 ideas to make traditions for your family. “You never know what traditions your children will treasure the rest of their lives.” I will have a full review when I finish, I am about half done now. I just wanted to share since we are going into summer, and now is the perfect time to slow down and make a few of those special traditions!
