www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/books/review/new-thrillers.html

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/03/books/booksupdate/first-lines-quiz.html

This city is large and diverse. There are pockets of grinding poverty, pockets of middle-class respectability, pockets of wealth. There is corruption beyond a normal person’s belief, and incredible selflessness and valor. Intrigue worthy of a spy novel, and innocence and wonder. Eight hundred thousand-plus people living out their stories. And all too often, their…

Marcia Muller: A Crime Reader’s Guide to the Classics — CrimeReads

I love this author’s books.

About the Book

A wedding brings a shocking surprise in New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde’s newest Moonglow Cove novel. Perfect for fans of Susan Wiggs, Jill Shalvis, and Robyn Carr.

It wasn’t the wedding night she’d expected!

When Samantha said “I do” to Luca Ginelli, she knew she’d found a reliable soulmate—a strong, sexy man who’d stand beside her through thick and thin. And so she’d started her wedding day filled with joyful expectation, only to have her dreams shattered when the man she married years before shocking, unexpectedly, reappears, insisting she was still his wife!

Seven years before, Luca’s brother, Nick, had stubbornly set off in a sailing adventure, ignoring the pleas of his young bride and all common sense. He’d disappeared without a trace; everyone thought he was dead—but now he’s expecting to pick up where they’d left off. He’d once been Samantha’s “lightning strike,”—the person you know is the one from the moment you first see them.

But seven years is a long time and so much has changed. Now Samantha is faced with an impossible choice and no matter which decision she makes, it threatens to shred the very fabric of the one thing she holds most dear—family.

About the Author

Lori Wilde is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of 97 works of romantic fiction. She’s a three-time Romance Writers of America RITA finalist and has won numerous other awards as well. Her books have been translated into 26 languages, with more than five million copies of her books sold worldwide.

Her series, Wedding Veil Wishes, inspired three movies from Hallmark, which went on to shatter viewing records. Her breakout novel, The First Love Cookie Club, is also in production at Hallmark.

Lori is an RN with a BSN and a MLA from Texas Christian University. She holds a certificate in screenwriting from UCLA, a certificate in forensic nursing from Kaplan and she is also a RYT-200 yoga instructor.

A sixth-generation Texan, Lori lives with her husband, Bill, in the Cutting Horse Capital of the World.

Over 240 puzzles to do anywhere, anytime

by Roland Hall

#AnagramChallenge #NetGalley

Those who enjoy word puzzles may well want to add this book to their library. The way the anagram puzzle works is clearly explained and then the fun begins. Puzzles range from the easy to the very difficult. Progress or start at the level that seems right. This is a brain teasing, fun collection and one that would be easy to carry around. I enjoyed it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 25 April 2023

A novel

by Jane Smiley

#ADangerousBusiness #NetGalley

Jane Smiley is an adventurous writer. She has retold Shakespeare’s King Lear in her novel, A Thousand Acres, and had talking animals in Perestroika in Paris. In this newest book, she again takes on interesting and unusual characters during the Gold Rush.

Young Eliza was married off by her parents to an older man whom they found to be respectable…if only! Not long thereafter, Eliza finds herself in California as a widow when her husband is killed in a fight. She does not want to go back to her small minded parents but instead finds a unique business opportunity. Eliza takes a job in a well run brothel. When women that she knows begin to disappear, Eliza and the brothel owner investigate. The book unfurls slowly as they figure things out.

A content warning: Some readers may not like some of the ways in which sex is discussed. Nothing too concerning but if a reader is very straitlaced, they may feel that this is objectionable.

Publishers Weekly gave this title a starred review and called it a “seductive entertainment.” I don’t quite agree. I did not absolutely love this one much as I wanted to.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: 06 December 2022

A salty historical romp, two deep dives into the entertainment industry, a handful of memoirs and Salman Rushdie’s much-anticipated new novel, “Victory City.”
— Read on www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/books/february-books.html

Imagine Everywhere

Connecting Families and the World through Photos

by J. Lawrence Graham

#ImagineEverywhere #NetGalley

The author/photographer of this title wants to open up the world to children. Each page presents two photos that are linked in some way. Captions invite a bit of thinking. In the introduction, Graham suggests ways to extend the experience of looking through the book. It is the author’s hope that children will be inspired. I hope that they will be too.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group for this title. All opinions are my own.

#WheninRome #NetGalley

Readers probably know that there is something to be said for finding the right read for the right time or mood. When in Rome was that kind of book for me. It offered a slower, somewhat more contemplative stroll through the life of its protagonist, Claire and was just the kind of book that I was seeking.

As the story opens, Claire is fifty-two years old. Her daughter, Dorothy, is in her late twenties and was raised by Claire as an only child. Claire’s own mother died when she was young leaving her to be raised by her father as a single parent. She also became well known to her Milwaukee community of nuns.

Claire goes to Yale where she makes a very good female friend and also falls for Marcus. Her nascent desire to become a nun remains even as Claire takes a post graduation real estate job where her specialty is the sale of ecclesiastical buildings.

This career sends Claire to Rome, a city that is lovely to visit in Claire’s company. There she meets a group of idiosyncratic sisters who engage with her. Will they lose their unique convent to a real estate developer?

The crux of the story is about what decisions Claire will make and what she wants in her life. Is it to be a nun or is it to remain in the world, possibly with Marcus? Read this gentle novel to find out.

Publishers Weekly calls this one “a delight.” I heartily agree.

Many thanks to Penguin Group Dutton for this title. All opinions are my own.

Pub date: March 202314