BookLoverAmanda

  Dream by Barbara O'Connor 3.5 Stars rounding up to 4 I loved Wish by Barbara last year and was so excited to see the Dream audiobook available on NetGalley! Suzy Jackson does such a great job narrating. As a southern Tennessee gal, I love her accents for the characters and it feels like home.  As a follow up to Wish, Dream follows Idalee Lovett, who lives in the small town of Colby, North Carolina. Idalee's Mama is going on tour for the summer with her cover band and Idalee works on her songwriting skills. There is a local radio songwriting contest and Idalee is determined to win with her songs. Idalee needs a new guitar and there is supposedly long-lost treasure for her and her friends to find hidden somewhere in their house from her late grandfather... the friends spend their time helping Idalee trying to find it, while sneaking around.  We see Howard, Charlie and Wishbone from Wish helping out in this book - loved seeing them again. You can technically read this outs...

The French Kitchen by Kristy Cambron  3.5 Stars Read if you love: - Historical Fiction - Undercover Operations - Julia Child  - Hidden Identities  - Dual Timeline - WWII Fiction - Paris/France Settings - French Language  - Kitchens and Cooking in Books Kristy Cambron really has the attention to detail in her books and this one was really interesting! We follow Kat, who is recruited by the OSS as an agent in 1943. She is hoping to find her missing brother and agrees to go to France as a spy. Years later in 1952, she is still searching for her brother and becomes acquainted with others she knew during the war time. We see different timelines here for the same characters, with multiple identities and plans.  I really liked Kat's character, she is very sharp and in her undercover operations she is working in a kitchen that caters to the Nazi elite. She is tied in with the resistance and there is a lot of suspicion.  In 1952, we see her marriage to Gerard, a man...

  If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair 5 Stars  Let's start this review out with....I LAUGHED SO MUCH IN THIS BOOK! I read this with my friends Oceana and Lindsay and we both really enjoyed it! So many laughs and just an overall great rom-com! This is Emma's first traditionally published book with Thomas Nelson and I HIGHLY recommend! I have loved all of Emma's books I've read, she just has such a way with writing funny, clean rom-coms and this did not disappoint! Tied to the Appies Hockey series, we have Wyatt, Josie's brother's best friend and Hockey Player, who spend the summer together. What happens when the "enemies" spend a summer together including sailing, forced proximity situations and a sweet dog accompanies them? FEELINGS!  Our characters spend time together, feelings come to the forefront....their walls come down as they get to know each other more deeply and we really get to know them. Emma always tells stories that are filled with depth a...

  God Speaks Your Love Language by Gary Chapman 4 Stars I really enjoyed this book. It's heartwarming, encouraging and a good reminder that the Lord meets us where we are. Most people have heard of the 5 Love Languages and Gary Chapman's books. In this one, Gary takes the concept of the 5 love languages and beautifully shows how God speaks to us in the ways we best receive love. I loved how this was not just a theory but he added scriptures tying it back to my own personal and relatable walk with the Lord. He meets us where we truly are in each season of life. This books truly helped me to see that we are all designed with a unique way to connect with His love. If you feel distant from God or unsure of how He is speaking to you personally, I would recommend adding this book to your bible study time. A very gentle reminder that His love is not just general.....it is very specific to you.  I love how he shared different stories from others with their own personal experiences to...

The Sands of Sea Blue Beach - Rachel Hauck 4 Stars  Rachel sure does know how to deliver a heartwarming, emotionally layered story! This one is filled with second chances and healing. If you want a book with depth, charming seaside town and a second chance romance, check this out. Emery Quinn is our main character and she is very relatable with her realistic feelings of grief after losing her mother to cancer when she was a teen. Cut to being in her 30s with no real career or relationship and her step sister is set to be married. She struggles with comparison and the complexity of her blended family. She goes back to Sea Blue Beach and starts a new role at the struggling Sea Blue Beach Gazette. Here is where she runs into her old boyfriend from a summer long ago and they reconnect in many ways, recounting events of the past. Caleb Ransom has a sense of devotion to his nephew and preserving the town's history - you really root for him and Emery.  Their reunion 16 years later if...

The Collector of Burned Books by Roseanne M. White 5 Stars This books was breathtaking for me! I loved it so much. I related to the characters and felt the passion Roseanna had with writing this story from the very first chapters. What made this story really shine was the interconnected characters, themes of freedom, faith and honesty.  Roseanne really shares a story with depth and the Catholic faith displayed was beautiful and authentic to the time and characters. Set in Nazi-occupied Paris in 1940, we see a story of resistance, not just with weapons but with words. We follow Corinne who is a young woman finding refuge and purpose in a secret library filled with banned books. Her love for truth and literature make her a fierce heroine and that really comes to light as we get to know her. On the other side of the war is Christian Bauer, a German professor trapped working for the Nazi's, forced into a role he never wanted. He has quite the internal struggle and his rebellion is beau...

                                                                Tame Your Thoughts - Max Lucado - 4 Stars                 This was a solid, encouraging Bible study with some good biblical reminders about renewing your mind and replacing lies with God’s truth. The concept of being intentional with your thought life, especially the tools like picky thinking, identifying those bad thoughts, uprooting them and replanting with scripture was easy to understand and helpful in a practical, real-life way. While I didn’t find anything super deep or theologically profound, the simplicity of the message is exactly what some of us need in a busy or anxious season. It’s great for newer believers or anyone looking to refocus and get back to the basics of truth...

 No Stone Unturned by Jenelle Hovde  5 Stars This was SO good y'all! A beautiful layered regency romance! Read if you like: ✨Regency Romance ✨Christian Historical Romance ✨English Countryside Settings ✨Slow-burn Romance ✨Restoration of Artifacts/Antiquities ✨Archeology  ✨Unexpected Discoveries ✨Books with a Jane Austen Feel ✨Stories that take time to Unfold  ✨Strong Heroine ✨Wounded Hero with Growth ✨Heartfelt Journeys We follow Miss Bridget Littleton who is NOT your typical society lady. She is very passionate about preservation of history, antiquities and artifacts. She finds herself at odds with the new Lord of Hawthorn Abbey over an ancient Roman mosaic. It leaves quite the enemies-to-lovers, slow-burn romance that I really enjoyed! Captain Rafe Hawthorn is a hero marked by hardship and duty to restore both his family's legacy and his own worth. After his uncle passed away, he is the new lord of the estate and is trying to fix all the things that are broken. He i...

The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry   4 Stars  What a beautiful book of mothers, daughters and the magic of storytelling. I really enjoyed this one. Patti sure does know how to engage you in a book and keep you there needing to know what happens up until the end. I loved Flora Lea and this did not disappoint. We follow Clara - a daughter still haunted by the loss of her mother, Bronwyn. Her mother was a child prodigy and literary sensation who vanished off the South Carolina Coast in 1927. Cut to 1950s when Clara is now a mother herself and gets a call from a man in London, Charlie, who says he found her mothers dictionary of invented language, stories and a letter for her that brings her from America to London on a journey through grief, motherhood and discovery....all set against the 1952 Great Smog of London. Overall, this was a really layered story with lots explored - loved Clara's daughter Wynnie, she added so much to the story. Seeing the circumstance...

Remembering the Cowboy by Mandi Blake 4 Stars  Book 1 in the Blackwater Ranch Series  Another Mandi Blake comfort read for MEEEEE! :) I loved Noah and Camille so much! So much sweet romance cheeseeeee I loved it. We start off with Camille getting in a car accident and Noah being on the scene to help her. They have history as best friends to more growing up as teens but had a falling out....yet Camille can't remember much about their past after the accident. Camille's step father Nathan doesn't want them together because name, status and money mean more to him than anything and Noah being a farmer cowboy guy isn't enough for his daughter....so he threatens Noah to leave and he does.... Cut to 6 months later when Camille is trying to remember who the guy that helped her was and she sees Noah and recognizes him as her hero.... they start to re-connect and little by little memories start to return...the only problem? Her step-dad threatens Noah's family and all they hav...

Shadowed Witness by Angela Carlisle  4 Stars  Book 2 in The Secrets of Kincaid Series  Another great read by Angela Carlisle! I am really enjoying her writing style and this series.  Read if you enjoy: - Christian romantic suspense - Unknown Illness Mystery - Childhood Crush/Friends to More - Friend's Sister Trope  - Lost Memories - A Crime that "Didn't Happen"  - Protective Hero - Small Town Secrets This book was really fast paced with a good balance of romance. From the first chapter, you are drawn into Allye Jessup's world....she is a photographer who believes she's witnessed a murder, yet wakes up bruised, disoriented and without proof. She is the sister to Bryce Jessup in book 1 and we see Bryce and Corina a bit in this one too from book 1. Allye reports the incident to local police, which brings in Detective Eric Thornton to take the case. He cares for Allye and is very protective of her throughout the story, as he can tell something is going on with ...

 The Highland Heist by Pepper Basham  Book 4 in the Freddie and Grace Mystery Series  4 Stars  Pepper delivers another delightful blend of mystery, romance and adventure in The Highland Heist, book 4 in the Freddie and Grace series. We are back with our main characters into another nail-biting quest....involving family secrets, a missing sister, haunted castle and a legacy buried deep in the Scottish Highlands. As always, Freddie and Grace are a joy to journey with. Their banter is endearing, their devotion to one another shines through, and their knack for solving mysteries is AWESOME. We see Grace's sister Lillias back who is entangled in a murder investigation that Freddie and Grace work to solve. Loved the Scotland setting and the crumbling castle - very eerie and lots of twists and turns! Highly recommend this one. I always love being back with these characters. Very cozy stories. If you have loved the previous Freddie and Grace books, this one will be another h...

Book Review: Fire Mountain by Dana Mentink  3 Stars  Book 1 in the Elements of Danger Series  If you’re in the mood for a fast-paced, high-stakes Christian romantic suspense, this one certainly delivers. The plot immediately throws you into danger, with a volcanic eruption, a mystery baby, and a woman with no memory trying to piece it all together. The tension never lets up, making it a definite page-turner. That said, the romance aspect fell a bit flat for me. It leaned heavily into “trauma bonding,” / "trauma romance" with Kit and Cullen forming a connection during extreme circumstances without much time to genuinely get to know one another. Their relationship felt rushed, with a sudden kiss that didn’t feel entirely earned given how little groundwork was laid. It left me wishing we’d had a chance to see who they were outside of the crisis they were enduring and wanting them to have time to know each other outside of the trauma before jumping into a loving relationship...

Fire and Icing by Savannah Scott Book 1 in The Firemen of Waterford TN Series As a Tennessee gal, I enjoyed this story. Dustin and Emberleigh were cute together. Savannah's books are some of my favorite so this is one I was really anticipating. :) Read if you enjoy: 💘 Fake Dating 🚒 Firefighter Romance 😂 Laugh out Loud Rom-Coms 💞 Clean Romances 🧁 Baker FMC 👨‍🚒 Firefighter MMC 🍰 Baking Competitions 🏡 Small Southern Towns 😬 Meet "Ugly" We follow Dustin who is Stevens' brother from the Love Trippin' series. He moves from Marbella Island, California🌊 to Waterford, Tennessee🏡. Dustin is the new rookie firefighter👨‍🚒🚒 in Waterford and the first job is a 🍰kitchen fire at Emberleigh's place. He hauls her outta there - literally 😂- and they have somewhat of a meet "ugly" rather than a meet "cute".😂 Emberleigh is a baker who is entering a baking competition and one rule is she needs a partner that is not a ...

  The Summer of You and Me by Denise Hunter 5 Stars  Set in North Carolina, Maggie has been grieving the loss of her husband the last five years. She is taking pictures one day with her little girl at the amusement park one day and thinks she sees someone who looks like her late husband.  Her brother-in-law, Josh, helps her figure out this odd mystery....and who the man is that looks like her late husband. Soon...feelings happen and they try to navigate them, through grief and how to handle the romantic feelings that are happening. Loved Josh's character so much, he was a great guy. This is a clean romance, with no language. There are no faith elements as this is just a clean read. Audio narration is great! The way the grief in this book was explored was beautiful and the ending had me in tears with the revealing of everything in the mystery aspect. This felt realistic in many ways. - Clean summer romance books - Light mystery elements - Childhood friends - North Carolina...