Top Ten Tuesday...

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme: FREEBIE.

So, in honor of it being the week of July 4th, which is one of my favorite holidays, I decided to go with 10 BOOKS WITH FIREWORKS ON THE COVER.

I haven't read any of these, have you?

Happy Reading!

On the Slopes of Tahoe by J.A. Forde

 

There's so much I loved about this captivating romance! Here's just some of the things:

* Single dad Breck Kylie and all of his sweet and loving interactions with his seven-year-old daughter, Willow.

*Rory falling in love with her older brother's best friend...and with his cute daughter, too.

*That picturesque Lake Tahoe setting (and because it's winter that means there are fun scenes including snowboarding lessons, ice skating, sledding, and a snowstorm that strands Rory at Breck's and Willow's condo overnight).

*Found family.

*Swoony kisses. (I also appreciated that this is a fade to black romance with no explicit sex scenes.)

*That flirty spark between Breck and Rory and how their friendship deepened into love.

*Rory's dream of starting her own photography business and how Breck totally supports her.

*How Rory helps Breck and Willow heal.

*Her grand gesture!

*A fireworks proposal.... and a very happy ending for everyone. 

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Random scenes from my morning walks...

•  Ants. Swarms of them. So many it felt like I was walking into an Antapocalypse. What's up with that?
• Baby robins hopping after their mother in search of breakfast.
• The cutest dog, tail wagging, happily carrying his own red frisbee on his walk to the park with his owner.
• Lovely white yucca blossoms. So many of them. Everywhere except in my own yard. For some unknown reason, my yucca plants refuse to bloom. 
• Three chattering squirrels running along the top of a fence then leaping onto a branch of the tree right above my head. For a moment I was afraid I was about to be centerstage in a viral video called "When Squirrels Attack!"
• A sign in someone's flowerbed that read:  Garden of Weeden. (It made me laugh.)
• And my favorite thing of all--this quote that my neighbor posted in his front yard:  "You believed in the tooth fairy for years; you can believe in yourself for five minutes."

Have a great day!

P.S.  I think my comments are falling into spam limbo again; I don't know why, but it happens periodically. So if you haven't heard from me for awhile on your blog, check your spam folder. My comments might all be there. 

Another fun summer romance...

 "Adventure awaits."

Emily Edwards is not adventurous or outdoorsy, but she's made a promise to scatter her dad's ashes on Isle Royale, a remote National Park in Michigan that her dad always wanted to visit. So she hires Ryder Fleet to be her guide. Only it was Ryder's older brother, Caleb, who was the outdoorsy one, not him. He doesn't even know how to use a compass. But he needs the money, so he agrees to be Emily's guide. What happens to them on this remote island is some crazy kind of fun that includes getting lost in the woods, a bear spray incident, a pirate shipwreck, some bad guys, and a legendary lost diamond. I thought The Jewel of the Isle by Kerry Rea was laugh-out-loud funny. I loved how Emily and Ryder are total opposites yet connected because of their grief over lost loved ones; I also loved how they found a way to let go of past regrets and move forward with laughter and love together. This book made me smile all the way through. And for that:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Haiku Reviews

 

Crash Landing by Annie McQuaid

Wedding trip plane crash

strands bridesmaid with her old flame;

can love re-ignite?

Contemporary romance .... 293 pages .... 4/5 stars.

(Cute forced proximity second chance summer romance.)

The Passengers by John Marrs

Eight self-driving cars

hacked and programmed to collide

as the world watches.

Science fiction .... 337 pages .... 3.5/5 stars.

(Thought-provoking, fast-paced and twisty. And will make you never want to own a self-driving car.)

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

Filming Coast Guard hero Hutch

makes Katie face her fears and

learn to love herself. 

Contemporary romance ... 302 pages .... 4.5/5 stars.

(Favorite quote from this fun romance:  "No one's born fearless. You have to earn it. Every time you have to be brave, you get to be a little braver next time."

Happy Reading!

Top Ten Tuesday

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly meme hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week's theme:  BOOKS ON MY SUMMER 2025 TO-READ LIST.

Which sounds easy but was actually a little hard because there are so many books I want to read this summer, how do I pick just 10? I ended up with 15 on my list. Here they are:

1. That's Not My Name by Megan Lally

2. The Big Fix by Holly James

3. Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan

(Book #3 in this fun mystery series.)

4. Tide Together by Melanie Summers

5. Exposure by Ramona Emerson

(The second Rita Todacheene mystery.)

6. One Golden Summer by Carly Fortune

7. Crossing Paths by Katie Ruggle

(I've been waiting for this book to come out since 2020; here's hoping it doesn't disappoint.)

8. Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong

(The third book in her Rip Through Time series.)

9. Cold Eternity by S.A. Barnes

10. We Won't All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall

11. Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

12. The Double-A Western Detective Agency by Steve Hockensmith

(Book #6 in the fun and always funny Holmes on the Range series.)

13. Fairy Tale by Stephen King

14. Rage by Linda Castillo

(Her 17th Kate Burkholder mystery.)

15. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

(Check out Leslie's review and you'll see why this book got added to my list.)

As you can see, I'm working on catching up on some series and hoping to fit in a mix of romance, mystery, science fiction and fantasy. All subject to changes in my reading mood, of course. I'm also hoping to read several of John Connolly's Charlie Parker books, a few nonfiction books, and anything else that catches my eye. 

Happy Summer Reading! 

Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon

 

From the blurb:  

"1970s Minnesota. It's spring in the Red River Valley and Cash Blackbear is plowing a field for a local farmer when she discovers a dead man on the kitchen floor of the property's rented farmhouse. The only possible witness to the murder is the young daughter of a Native laborer. The girl, Shawnee, is too terrified to speak about what she’s witnessed, and her parents seem to have vanished. 

"In the wake of the murder, Cash can't deny her suspicions of the dead man's grieving widow. While Cash scours the county and White Earth reservation trying to find the missing mother before Shawnee is placed in foster care, another body turns up. Concerned about the girl and her mother's fate, and with the help of local Sheriff Wheaton, Cash races against the clock to figure out the truth of what happened in the farmhouse."

My thoughts:  Cash Blackbear is young, guarded, and doesn't always make the best decisions. And her intuitive gift, those dreams and impressions that often lead her to the truth, seems to be on the fritz. But she's stubborn and tough and refuses to give up on Shawnee and her mom. And I liked that about her. I hope someday she'll learn to let in the people who care about her, and connect with them on a deeper level. I'm obviously invested in her journey! And these mysteries do such a good job of immersing you in that 1970s time period and Red River Valley setting, with all its injustices towards women and Native Americans. It's another reason I find them so compelling and interesting. This is another 4-star read from Rendon. All four of her Cash Blackbear mysteries are worth checking out. 

Happy Reading!

Other book from this series that I've read and reviewed:

Murder on the Red River (#1)

Sinister Graves (#3)