BookLoverAmanda

  Second Chance at Sunshine Inn by Amy Clipston  4 Stars  I had a good time with this one. I liked the cozy inn, the plot is always one of my favorites and the little twist had me really wanting to know more about the family backstory.  This follows Cade and Everleigh who each get 50% of the Inn. Cade wants to keep the Inn and continue to operate it. Everleigh wants to use the proceeds of the sale to form a non-profit in her godmother's honor after her passing. We see briefly their grief from losing Alana, but they quickly move to honoring her in trying to decide what is best to do with the Inn. I liked how Cade and Everleigh each had their own reasons for what they wanted to do with the Inn that made sense in such a realistic way. At first, I wasn't too sure about Everleigh and her motivations for the non-profit but it made sense and she had an honorable reason. It was good to see them communicate about all of this up front, even if they had some disagreements. Alon...

  Even After This - Deborah Clack DNF Review  DNF Video more in detail on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vASQX4FYnEo&t= Content note: Please be aware this is a heavy read. It deals with grief and loss in detail. Meredith’s husband and two small children died in a car accident 4 years ago in a tragic way where she saw it while she was driving behind them. It's important I share this upfront. This is not a spoiler. But please be aware of the subject matter. Romance is clean with kisses only, 1 small curse word "p*ssed." I wish I knew about the death of children before I picked it up. Update 7:50 pm 2/8/26: Adding content warning someone just told me about intentional destruction of embryos in IVF. Had no idea about this either! I want to start gently here, because I know this story will absolutely work for some readers, but it did not work for me. The grief is not just in the background, it is the entire emotional center of the book. I went into this expecting...

  What Did You Expect? Daily Grace Company 5 Stars  Some books come into your life right when you need them most and this was that book for me. This study gently but honestly walks through something many of us don’t talk about... disappointment. The kind that comes when prayers feel unanswered, life turns suddenly, and you’re left asking God questions you feel guilty for having. Right now this message feels especially personal as my family is walking through my Dad’s lymphoma diagnosis. I didn’t realize how many expectations I quietly have in my heart. So many expectations about how God would respond or what His will is...what His plan is....This book didn’t shame those feelings… it helped me examine them. I loved how it points out that sometimes we don’t just struggle with circumstances, we struggle with who we thought God would be in those circumstances. We had OUR WILL instead of HIS WILL. I’ve caught myself wanting God to operate according to my timeline, my idea of “good,...

The Bluff by Emma St. Clair 3 Stars  First, this was such a fun, quick rom-com read. The banter was strong, small town setting is always entertaining in Sheet Cake, TX, and I genuinely laughed out loud several times, as I always do in Emma's books.  Our main couple is James and Winnie. They work together and he is her grumpy boss. It's giving a little enemies to lovers in a way, lots of banter, grumpy sunshine type stuff. It was nice to see Pat and Lindy again from the first book and the family stuff I always enjoy.  That said, I did struggle a little with the romance pacing I guess. Their relationship just felt more surface level - attraction based versus emotional connection. They both had big emotional baggage they needed to deal with from loss, grief and other things. But I feel like I never really knew them and I feel like they never really got to know each other before their first kiss/make outs. I also think I wanted to see more details about why James was so grump...

  Taming Lady Temperance by Karen Witemeyer Book 1 in The Secret Society of Spinsters Series 4 Stars  This was just the book I needed during a hard season, filled with laughs and wit! We have a spinster, Noreen and our Deputy, James. Noreen is a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and it's her goal to defend the cause of prohibition. James is the Deputy who wants to preserve the peace...but Miss Noreen ain't havin' any peace! :) She is invited to join the Secret Society of Spinsters and jumps at the chance to rally others behind her movement to shut the local saloon down. James is wanting to be elected sheriff so he really can't afford to be seen as her ally but Noreen ropes him into her plans for a temperance march...the rest is history. I just had a good time with this book. I think its a fun, old west style book that is a good mix of lightheartedness and emotional depth too.  James and Noreen together was chef's kiss! They were so funny because t...

  Whiteout by Lynette Eason and Dani Pettrey  4 Stars (3.5 Rounded Up) Novella Collections I always enjoy a good Christian, romantic suspense read and these were some great novellas! Very much an on the edge of your seat read for both novellas in this collection. If you are looking for a good quick winter read, check these out because both have snowed in, avalanches type of storylines, with high-stakes suspense.  The first one, Dani Pettrey's, follows Joel and Cassandra in a second chance romance. She left him at the alter years ago over this crazy situation with a stalker she had. Now, they are back around each other when they are both part of a destination wedding party. Everyone ends up being snowed in at an abandoned lodge with their friends after a tragic avalanche happens. But is her stalker lurking in every corner? Will she reveal the real reason she left so long ago? I was really engaged in this one! Loved the characters and suspense. It was very intense though, w...