September Wrap Up

I read a total of 36 books and 9039 pages. With an average star rating of 3.2 My TBR pile started the month at 33. I read one owned book and got my owlcrate for the month keeping the total at 33.

I only read four books from my TBR list for September but I did finish all the books I had started in August that I wanted to finish in September.

September to finish

Deputy Daddy by Patricia Johns

Shattered at Sea by Cheryl Hollon

Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J Maas

From Twinkle with Love by Sandhya Menon

September TBR

The Deputy’s Unexpected by Patricia Johns

Escape Claws by Linda Reilly

Goodbye Cruller World by Ginger Bolton

Playing Her Secret Crush by Casey Griffin

Swell Time for a Swing Dance by Cindy Vincent (Review Book)

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

The Red Door Inn by Liz Johnson

Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills

September read

Unstoppable by Art Coulson

Secret Past by Sharee Stover

Cowboy Bodyguard by Dana Mentink

Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett

House of Dreams by Liz Rosenberg

Shattered at Sea by Cheryl Hollon

Playing Her Secret Crush by Casey Griffin

Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J Maas

Deputy Daddy by Patricia Johns

Hero by Jennifer Li Shotz

The Keeper of the Lost Causes by Jussi Alder-Olsen

Death and A Pot of Chowder by Cornelia Kidd

The State of Bourbon by Cameron Ludwick

Loving Grace by April Smith

An Hour Unspent by Roseanna M White

Wild Together by Kelly Lund

Goodbye Cruller World by Ginger Bolton

The Deputy’s Unexpected Family by Patricia Johns

What was the Holocaust by Gail Herman

Dim Sum of All Fears by Vivien Chien

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Hitting the Books by Jenn McKinlay

Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson

Hero: Hurricane Rescue by Jennifer Li Shotz

The Hero’s Sweetheart by Cheryl Wyatt

Wilderness Pursuit by Michelle Karl

The Bookshop Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson

I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of The Reading Life by Anne Bogel

From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

Spirit by Ellen Miles

Go To School, Little Monster by Helen Ketteman

Read and Gone by Allison Brook

If you Ever Want to  Bring an Alligator to School, Don’t! by Elise Parsley

Whiskey in a Teacup: What Growing up in the South taught me about life, love and baking Biscuits by Reese Witherspoon

 Trouble is Brewing by Ellie Alexander

Wonder Woman 5: Heart of the Amazon

Autumn To Do List

Get caught up on my book reviews for netgalley

Finish book and review for book I’m doing a blog tour for

Be able to review books I just read for fun and just felt like reviewing at least 4

Write movie reviews for:

Tomb Raider

Wonder Woman

Christopher Robin

Work on blog content for my personal and life blog

Work on blog content for the book blog other than book reviews and reading this week and wrap ups.

Stop doing monthly  reading TBRs as I never stick to them and then feel guilty that I haven’t read any book on the TBR.

Might consider seasonal TBRs with 5 or 6 books listed that I want to read that season.  That way it gives me three months to read them

Stop checking so many books out from the library and then not getting them read before I have to take them back. (Check outs are three weeks and then I renew up to three times if no ones requested) and I still didn’t read them.

Outline and prep my novel idea for Nanowrimo

Read at least 8 more books off my physical TBR

Read at Least 8 books off my kindle TBR

Go see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azabakan with the orchestra

See a couple of movies with my sister

Go to the local you pick place one more time before its sold

Take a couple of day road trips

Reading this week

Finished

Wilderness Pursuit by Michelle Karl

From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

Whiskey in a Teacup by Reese Witherspoon

Read and Gone by Allison Brook

Spirit by Ellen Miles

The Bookshop of Yesterday by Amy Meyerson

Reading

The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell

Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

Non-fiction reading

Classic

Audio on the Way to Work

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

Getting ready to read

The Red Door Inn by Liz Johnson

Five Days in Skye by Carla Laureano

Escape Claws by Linda Reilly

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

The Cumberland Bride by Shannon McNear

Rose in Three Quarter Time by Rachel McMillan

All Made Up by Kara Isaac

Reviewing

Murder at the Flamingo by Rachel McMillan

Swell Time for a Swing Dance by Cindy Vincent

Devotional reading

When God Calls the Heart by Brian Bird

Did not Finish

Reviews Posted this week

Review of Called to Protect

Title:  Called to Protect

Author: Lynette Eason

Series: Blue Justice book 2

 

Chapters: 29

Pages: 320

Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense

Rating: 4.5 stars

Called to Protect is the second Blue Justice book by Lynette Eason that follows  law Enforcement family the St. Johns in South Carolina.  This one focuses  on  Chloe and her K-9 Partner Hank a German Shepard. After a break up Chloe has sworn off man and dating, considering Hank to be the only male she likes.  She wants to focus on her job, but then Hank's nose lands them in the middle of a human trafficking case. 

US Marshall Blake MacCallum who just happens to be Chloe's childhood crush daughter is kidnapped to use as leverage against Blake to get him to kill a judge.  He's racing against the clock and Chloe and Hank have been added to the task force to bring down the traffickers. Blake and Chloe must work together to rescue his daughter , save the judge and stop the traffickers.  Neither can afford to admit their feelings for the other.  Not with so much at stake.  

Called to Protect moves just as fast as the first book in the series Oath of Honor Isabelle St. John’s story.   The human trafficking part of the story is new to be in romantic suspense  I don't think I've ever read in a novel. But it's not something that is new to me,  the plot of the novel is almost something that could have been ripped from today's headlines.  It is a parents real fear in today's society.  It was even the topic that I wrote my senior thesis  on for my criminal justice degree.   So I am glad that Lynette didn't shy away from such a tough and heart breaking topic, but it something that needs to be talked about.  Lynette handled the topic with grace and balance. She included what she needed to but didn't go overboard. I would still recommend this  adults. But I do think teenagers especially teen girls need to read this with their parents.  

This series continues to give me  Blue Bloods  feel in book form.  I recommend even though each book focuses on a different St. John to read them in order.  If you read this one first you may be spoiled for things that happened in the first book.   I look forward to book three Code of Valor, which is Detective Brady St. John  story. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

Review of The Captured Bride

Title: The Captured Bride 

Author: Michelle Griep 

Pages: 256

Series: Daughters of the Mayflower book 3 

Genre: Christian Historical fiction 

Rating: 4 stars 

The Captured Bride by Michelle Griep is the third book in the Daughters of the Mayflower, but it was the first book in the series that I didn't DNF. While the writing of the first two books was good the storyline of The Mayflower Bride and The Pirate Bride just didn't hold my attention.  

But I loved Mercy Lytton and Elias Dubois. Everyone thought Elias was a traitor who started out working for the English but then switched to the French. Mercy was a woman doing a man's job as a scout. Half white half Mohawk but raised as a full blooded Mohawk.   

I always seem to like the frontier stories set during the colonial period more than the ones set in the "civilized"  areas of the colonies. These stories just seem more real with strong characters both male and females, because I pretty sure colonial and frontier women had to be tough in order to survive. Michelle's The Captured Bride captures those aspects of a frontier novel. She's not afraid to shy away from the rough, gritty, and dirty aspects of frontier life.  Real frontier life wasn't pretty and it wasn't clean.  

In The Captured Bride, Michelle Griep doesn't white wash history but she also doesn't make the Natives out to be the automatic villains either so that was a nice change of pace from similar novels. This is the second frontier novel by Michelle that I have read the other being A Captive Heart.  In both these novels her main character has a foot in two worlds, one white and the other Native.   She does it with the right balance she doesn't favor one side over the other. 

The Captured Bride was the first novel I read set during the French and Indian War, I now want to look for other book set during this time period.  As well as more books by Michelle Griep. She now joins Laura Frantz as my go to frontier authors. 

Reading this week

Finished

Dim Sum of all Fears by Vivien Chien

Hitting the Books by Jenn McKinlay

What was the Holocaust by Gail Herman

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson

The Hero’s Sweetheart by Cheryl Wyatt

Reading

From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

 The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell

Wilderness Pursuit by Michelle Karl

Non-fiction reading

Classic

Audio on the Way to Work

Getting ready to read

The Red Door Inn by Liz Johnson

Five Days in Skye by Carla Laureano

Escape Claws by Linda Reilly

The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell

Wilderness Pursuit by Michelle Karl

Reviewing

Murder at the Flamingo by Rachel McMillan

Swell Time for a Swing Dance by Cindy Vincent

Devotional reading

When God Calls the Heart by Brian Bird

Did not Finish

Reviews Posted this week

Review of Killer Green Tomatoes

Title:  Killer Green Tomatoes

Author: Lynn Cahoon

Series: Farm to Fork Book 2

 

Genre: cozy mystery

Rating: 4 stats

In Killer Green Tomatoes the second Farm to Fork Mystery by Lynn Cahoon Angie just wants to focus on getting her resturant fully open she doesn't want to get drawn into another murder investigation. But that becomes wishful thinking when the cousin of her sous chef becomes the main murder suspect.   Now in order to get her sous chef back without any family drama she will have to solve a murder and fast. 

I loved this one more than the first book in the series. It moved faster than the first book I am guessing because the main characters were established in first book.  I do suggest that you do indeed start with the first book in the series first, Who Moved my Goat Cheese?  This book is great for fans of cozy mysteries with animals, food, cooking and restaurants. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All  opinions expressed are mine alone.

Review of If the Coffin Fits

Title:  If the Coffin Fits

Author: Lillian Bell

Series: A Funeral Parlor Mystery book 2

 

Chapters: 15

Genre: Cozy mystery

Rating: 3

If the Coffin Fits is the second book in the A Funeral Parlor Mystery series by Lillian Bell.  Desiree Turner thought she had escaped her small town and the family business. But when your last name is Turner and your family owns Turner Funeral Parlor its easier said than done. She's slowly getting used to being back in town, but she's still on the lookout for something that will get her out of the town. But then a murder lands in her lap so to speak and she has to figure if this murder is actually tied to a natural death that happened after. 

Her family and even the local cop want her to stay out of it but Desiree is just too stubborn to let it go. She's determine to solve the murder and the mysteries surrounding it even if it kills her, and this time it just might.    If the Coffin Fits its' really your typical cozy as the main character is quite a few years younger than most woman in the cozy's and funeral homes don't tend to be the setting of many cozy mysteries, but it is still a quick and enjoyable read for those who like cozy mysteries.   This book is a fairly quick read I was able to finish it in one setting.   I suggest starting with the first book in this series, A Grave Issue. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

Reading This week

Finished

Shattered at Sea by Cheryl Hollon

Deputy Daddy by Patricia Johns

Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J Maas

Playing Her Secret Crush by Casey Griffin

Death and a Pot of Chowder by Cornelia Kidd

Loving Grace by April Smith

An Hour Unspent by Roseanna M. White

Goodbye Cruller World by Ginger Bolton

Wild Together by Kelly Lund

The Deputy’s Unexpected Family by Patricia Johns

Reading

From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

 Dim Sum of all Fears by Vivien Chien

Hitting the Books by Jenn McKinlay

Non-fiction reading

Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson

Classic

Audio on the Way to Work

Getting ready to read

The Red Door Inn by Liz Johnson

Five Days in Skye by Carla Laureano

Escape Claws by Linda Reilly

The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell

Wilderness Pursuit by Michelle Karl

Reviewing

Murder at the Flamingo by Rachel McMillan

Swell Time for a Swing Dance by Cindy Vincent

Devotional reading

When God Calls the Heart by Brian Bird

Did not Finish

Reviews Posted this week