BookLoverAmanda

 Positively, Penelope - Pepper Basham - 5 Stars - Perfectly Magical In EVERY Way! - Releases August 1st, 2023 (Book 2 in the Skymar Series after Authentically, Izzy) PERFECTLY MAGICAL IN EVERY WAY. 5 STARS. LOVE THIS SERIES - SUCH GREAT COMFORT READS! I have to say, these characters make these stories. Authentically, Izzy is one of my favorites books of all time and this sequel did NOT disappoint ya'll! This series is just a good time all around and an ultimate comfort to me. Bonus points here for the movie and theater lovers -as this has all the PERFECT classic movie vibes with Julie Andrews, The Sound of Music, Grease, Cinderella, Rambo and so much more! Perfect princess vibes - yes please! THANK YOU PEPPER for the most magical stories. Positively, Penelope follows Penelope Edgewood - you would have seen her and her siblings, Luke and Josephine in Authentically, Izzy and they're just a GREAT time! Told in e-mails and text messages, plus the traditional narrative story, we fol...

  The Best Summer of Our Lives - Rachel Hauck - 4 Stars - A great coming of age story with all the summer camp vibes! I am so glad I read this book! The Best Summer of Our Lives by Rachel Hauck is a raw, beautiful, coming-of-age Christian contemporary story. The story is dual-timeline, taking place primarily in 1977, with glimpses of 1997. 20 years. 4 best friends. Many secrets. Encounters with Jesus. I really enjoyed learning all about the 4 seasons friend group and look forward to reading more of Rachel's books in the future, as this was my first read by her. 4 stars! This book is following 4 women - the 4 seasons as they're known - Summer, Autumn, Spring and Snow. We are following their journey right out of high-school as they're forced to become camp counselors during the Summer of '77 in Tumbleweed, Oklahoma because of a prank they pulled in high school. Little do they know, this summer will bring many eye opening events, truths to the surface and walks with God. W...

  Rocky Mountain Rendezvous - Misty M. Beller - 4 Stars - A wonderful journey out west with great characters, a unique setting and a sweet romance! (Book 1 in the Sisters of the Rockies Series) Rocky Mountain Rendezvous will take you on quite the journey out west! I really enjoyed the setting, characters, history and sweetness of the story. This was my first Misty Beller book and I’m eager to read the next in this series as it left off with a little bit of a cliffhanger – and ya’ll already know I NEED TO KNOW what happens next in a book like this! If you love sweet reads with historical elements, the rocky mountain setting, a western vibe and a character driven story, this is for you! This story is all about Juniper Collins and her sisters, Rosemary, Faith and Lorelei. They travel to the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous in search of a Piegan Blackfoot woman that helped saved their father’s life many years ago. As they settle in the Green River Valley (future Wyoming), they stand out like ...

  Fairest of Heart - Karen Witemeyer - 5 Stars - A BEAUTIFUL SNOW WHITE RETELLING! Fairest of Heart is the first in the Texas Ever After series and the first book by Karen Witemeyer I have read and WOW it did NOT disappoint ya’ll! 5 stars and a new favorite author?! SO HAPPY! This book exudes all things southern with a western atmosphere, a fairytale historical romance retelling and excellent faith content. I loved it so much and can’t wait to read more of Karen’s books! This was SO delightful as we have a Snow-White retelling with a swoon-worthy hero! I was HERE for it! In this book we follow Penelope Snow, the personal maid for famous actress, Narcissa LaBelle. Penelope is a beautiful woman with a gorgeous figure, but she hides it under loose-fitting dresses, so she doesn’t attract attention to herself. In the beginning of the story, Narcissa appears to be helping Penelope get out of a rough situation, but you soon realize, she is the Snow-White Evil Queen all over again! Narciss...

  Twilight - Stephanie Meyer - 4 Stars - Just a fun nostalgic read :) This book is just a fun nostalgic read and I had the best time laughing and reading through this! I did a vlog and movie commentary with my hubs and we had the best time just picking at things and remembering old times when we would go and watch the movies in theaters when we first started dating. This isn't the best book in the world of course, but again, it's not meant to be. Its a pure comfort read for me and just a fun reminder of the book series that got so many of us back into reading back in the day. My fav characters in Twilight are Alice and Jasper haha and I was always Team Edward but of course, in New moon I would switch around back and forth on that LOL. Not much of a review here, just random thoughts, but just a good time book. (But for real, how did we not see how toxic dis was back in the day LOL jkjk) Still love me some Twilight after all this time. Goodreads Review:  https://www.goodreads.co...

  Murder at a Scottish Social - Traci Hall - 2.5 Stars - Not For Me, Disappointing This is book 3 in the Scottish Shire series and while some parts were good, most of this I didn’t love. The story kicks off when a shortbread cookie kills the “Queen Bee” of a “competitive mom clique” and Paislee Shaw, owner of Cashmere Crush Sweater Shop becomes the sleuth to figure out who added peanut butter to a cookie to kill Kristen – who was deathly allergic to peanuts – and who hid her epi pen in the process. Set in Scotland, I do like the setting and narrator with the Scottish accent. I also do like the main character of Paislee, her son Brody and her gramps with their Scottish terrier dog Wallace. What I couldn’t stand in this story was the circle of “mean girls” – which I guess is the point, but they got on my nerves so bad. They were spoiled mean girls who had everything and still were not happy. We have them continuously saying the woman that died, Kristen, was a “b” word and they were s...

Counter Attack - Patricia Bradley - 5 Stars - Great charatcers, non-stop action, small town vibes and a second chance romance you will love! What an AWESOME romantic suspense novel ya'll! 5 stars! A perfect start to a new series! Great characters, non-stop action, small town vibes and a second chance romance you will love and root for! This was my first Patricia Bradley novel and I loved it so much! I live in Tennessee and love all things southern - and this had some great southern vibes with small town diners, grandparents you love and small town livin' that grows on you. Patricia Bradley is a new favorite author of mine now for sure! Counter Attack is all about Alexis Stone, who is the interim sherrif in Russell County, Tennessee. The story starts with her being undercover invesigating the serial killer known as the Queen's Gambit Killer. She's on the case when she runs into her old high school sweetheart, Nathan Landry. Now in their 30s and both in the police force, ...

Love and Gelato - Jenna Evans Welch - 3.75 to 4 Stars - A fun romance that will transport you right to Italy! This was super cute and just precious! 4 stars. Get ready to be transported to Italy with all the great food, art and romance! This is a young adult, secular romance where Lina goes to Italy - as it was her mother’s dying wish - so she could get to know her father. What she doesn’t expect is to be given a journal that her mom kept when she lived in Italy herself many years ago. Lina starts to uncover all her mother’s past secrets - when she meets Ren, short for Lorenzo 😁, and the two form a budding romance and work together to figure out everything from her Mom’s journal/past. Overall I really liked this! It’s a really feel good story that was clean and sweet. There were a few small bits of language for content and 1 scene involving a psychic reading, but other then that it was clean. Very YA leaning but still had a good time with the story. I guess I was mostly interested in ...

The Bark of Zorro Kathleen Y'Barbo - 4 Stars - Another great read in the Gone to the Dogs series! Who is spray painting the dogs in Brenham, Texas? That’s what Cassidy and Jason are going to try and find out in book #4 in the Gone to the Dogs book series. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this series as each book is always a cozy read with a little bit of romance. They’re just a good time! In this book, dogs start showing up at the Lone Star Veterinary Clinic spray painted with the letter Z on them. Cassidy works at the clinic and she is trying to solve this mystery using social media and her own investigating. Then we have a handsome Game Warden, Jason Saye who comes in to help. He also has reality TV cameras following him around and that makes for some awkward situations🤣 Cassidy and Jason form a little romance, go on a couple dates, all while trying to figure out this little mystery. I really liked Cassidy in this book- she is definitely a favorite character. I didn’t love Jason as much ...

  The Vanishing at Castle Moreau - Jaime Jo Wright - 5 Stars - A mysterious castle, a long kept secret and an ending that will leave with you with so much hope! Wow, loved this book so much. 4.5-5 stars!  Jaime Jo’s endings always have such a big reveal and leave you with such hope. This quote made me cry… “a sisterhood that is greater than fear, and a holy strength that conquers evil.” If you like mysterious castles with secrets, gothic vibes, dual timeline, a century-old mystery….great characters with a little bit of romance sprinkled in- read this! This is a multi timeline, primarily dual timeline. We have 1801 with short updates here and there from a perspective called “the girl”. It appears to be those that originated in the castle. Then we have 1870, where orphaned Daisy Francois takes a job as a housemaid at the castle. She meets a Gothic authoress who appears to be hiding things about the castle so Daisy starts trying to piece everything together to figure out the cast...

  A Novel Proposal - Denise Hunter - 4 Stars - A perfect beach read! This was such a fun, refreshing, light contemporary romance and would be a perfect beach read! I enjoyed the characters, the writing aspect, the little free library, the romance writing 101 bits at the beginning of the chapters and the little mystery they followed surrounding the engagement ring added a nice touch to force them to bond. Some parts were a little predictable, but overall, such a cute, clean romance! I listened to the audiobook, and I was thoroughly entertained! 4 stars. This book follows Sadie, an author of westerns, who loses her writing contract and is asked to try her hand at writing a romance story. She has never been in love and has no idea where to start with this novel so she goes to this little beach house to get away so she can be inspired to write her story. In comes the next-door neighbor in the little duplex she’s in, Sam. He’s been through a tough breakup about a year ago and hasn’t bee...

  The Long March Home - Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee - 5 Stars - An emotional story of 3 friends, trying to make it home from war in the Bataan Death March.  The Long March Home by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee will leave you with a renewed appreciation for the young American men who went through the Bataan Death March in the Philippines. Not many people know about what happened to these young men and this story truly brings their stories to life. I know I certainly have a new appreciation for these young men as I didn’t know this part of history either. In this story, based on true events, we have three best friends, Billy, Hank, and Jimmy. The story is told from Jimmy’s main POV. We see his life leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor and after as they suffer through the Bataan Death March, a 60-mile death march to prison camps where they are forced to work as prisoners in the worst conditions possible. We see flashbacks of Billy, Hank, and Jimmy with family and with J...

  In This Moment - Gabrielle Meyer - 5 Stars - Another favorite book of 2023!  In This Moment by Gabrielle Meyer – 5 big stars! WOW. Another favorite book of 2023 for me! This Timeless series is one of my favorite series of ALL time. I just love the uniqueness of the story, the time travel element, our characters and the faith content throughout. If you haven’t read book 1, When the Day Comes, please do! In book 2, we follow Maggie who inherited the time-crossing gene from her parents. Maggie lives 3 separate lives in 1861, 1941 and 2001. In her 1861 path, Maggie is the daughter of a senator during the onset of the Civil War. In 1941, she is a Navy nurse on the brink of World War II. And in 2001, she is a medical student, working to become a surgeon. We all know as the reader what she is about to endure in 2001 – yet she does not. The decisions she must make about which path to choose – with love interests in each time, who does she truly love? With her time-crossing parents a...

  The Other Side of Special - Amy J. Brown, Sara Clime & Carrie M. Holt - 5 Stars - Such a timely book I needed as a special needs mom! Reading this book has been so timely in my journey as a special needs mom. To say I needed this book at such a time in my life is an understatement. I have felt so many of the feelings these lovely mothers have explained in such beautiful ways. They are relatable moms, all sharing a common ground no matter what disability their children have. Thank you, ladies, for encouraging my heart as a special needs mother. Thank you to Baker Publishing, Revell and NetGalley for a free e-book copy to honestly read and review. I can’t wait to get my physical copy I preordered to get all my highlights down! If you are a special needs mother, relative to someone with special needs, or just wanting to get an insight to this journey of special needs motherhood, please read this. It has changed my perspective and encouraged my faith tremendously. My son is 4 and...

  Assaulted Caramel - Amanda Flower - 5 Stars - A fun cozy mystery series! I really enjoyed this new cozy mystery by Amanda Flower! It had great characters and some faith elements since the grandparents are amish and in the amish community. I listened to this on audio so I didn't find any issues with the language differences / verbiage that you sometimes find in amish fiction. It was just precious. I LOVED the grandparents, the small town vibes, the family aspect, and of course, we love a good cozy mystery set in a candy shop! I am a chocolate lover so this was a bonus for me too! 4.5 to 5 stars. I will be continuing on with the series for sure! This is all about Bailey who is living her best life at the world-famous JP Chocolates in New York City. She is about to get a new promotion when she has to leave to go see her grandfather in Ohio due to his heart condition worsening. When she gets there, we see drama with this guy who wants to buy up all the Amish businesses in town - but ...