The Beached Ones | Book Review & Tour Stop

The Beached Ones

Colleen M. Story

Publisher: CamCat Books

Pub Date: 6.14.2022 Coming Soon!

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Don’t let this plain, simple cover fool you; 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐧𝐞𝐬 is anything but simple. It is a complex, emotional story that blurs the lines between life and death.

I have to admit, as I started reading, I was a bit confused but very intrigued. 

Daniel is confused when he wakes up in Iowa with only hazy memories of an accident. He doesn’t know why people won’t answer his calls or talk to him until he meets Jolene. But why is she different? Through flashbacks, we learn about Daniel and his past throughout the story. He and his younger brother Tony grew up in an awful home. Now Daniel feels he needs to rescue Tony.

The uniqueness of this book is a blend of supernatural elements with human bonds that Colleen Story has woven in, and with such purpose. As I said, in the beginning, all the whos and whys are not crystal clear at first, but when they start coming together, it’s an emotional landslide. 

You’ll be hard-pressed to label this just a ghost story when the writing is that of compelling literary fiction with characters seeking forgiveness and peace.

Thank you @suzyapprovedbooktours and @camcat_books for a spot on tour and a gifted copy.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 the 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭?

The Wedding Season | Book Review

The Wedding Season

Katy Birchall

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Pub Date: 5.3.2022

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Twelve years they were together, twelve years! And in a broom closet, Matthew tells Freya he can’t go through with the wedding.

Not only must Freya try to move on with her broken heart, but it’s wedding season. She has seven other weddings to attend this summer. Luckily, she has incredible friends. They challenge her to a list of fun and embarrassing things she must complete at each wedding to keep her spirits up. 

Watching Freya try to navigate life without Matthew after being together for so long was hard. The rejection was especially difficult for Freya because her mother had walked out on her father and the whole family years ago. We see how she longs to have a relationship with her mother, but Freya needs to decide whether to forgive her after all these years. 

Freya is super sweet, and my heart went out to her. I had hoped this would be more of a romcom, with quick, witty banter. Instead, it has a cute wedding-themed premise about navigating heartache, forgiveness, and finding your way. 

Thank you to @stmartinspress for a gifted copy.

💐 𝐻𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒸𝒶𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝓉 𝒶 𝓌𝑒𝒹𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔? 𝐼 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓃’𝓉. 

Holding Her Breath | Book Tour

Holding Her Breath

Eimear Ryan

Publisher: Mariner Books

Pub Date: 5.17.2022

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Thank you to [partners] @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks and @marinerbooks for 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡.  A story 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 calls  “A joy to read. … Emotional, clever, and humorous, Holding Her Breath will engross readers with its academic atmosphere and family drama.” 

I love great coming-of-age stories and this sounds amazing with a balance of shadows and sunshine. So I’ll be diving into it soon. Check it out ⤵

📖 When Beth Crowe starts university, she is haunted by the ghost of her potential as a competitive swimmer. With her Olympic dreams shattered after a breakdown, she is suddenly free to create a fresh identity for herself outside of swimming. Striking up a friendship with her English major roommate, Beth soon finds herself among a literary crowd of people who adore the poetry of her grandfather, Benjamin Crowe, who died tragically before she was born. Beth’s mother and grandmother rarely talk about what happened to Benjamin, and Beth is unsettled to find that her classmates may know more about her own family history than she does.

As the year goes on, Beth embarks on a secret relationship with an older postdoctoral researcher—and on a quest to discover the truth about Benjamin and his widow, her beloved grandmother Lydia. The quest brings her into an archive that no scholar has ever seen, and to a person who knows things about her family that nobody else knows.

Holding Her Breath is a razor-sharp, moving, and seriously entertaining novel about complicated love stories, ambition, and grief—and a young woman coming fully into her powers.

☀️⛱ 𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚢? 𝙳𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝? 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚠𝚒𝚖 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜.

Our Little World | Book Review

Our Little World

Karen Winn

Publisher: Dutton Books

Pub Date: 5.3.2022

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Sally Baker, a sweet little four-year-old, went missing in a blink of an eye. She disappeared from the beach where Bee Kocsis, her sister Audrina, and friends spent the summer of 1985.

Sally’s disappearance rocks the close-knit town. It’s easy to point fingers as to who should have been watching Sally, the mother, the older brother, or the community as a whole. Now people are on edge.

Bee becomes more popular at school as kids want to know the sordid details of the day Sally went missing. But Bee has a secret that is gnawing at her. She found part of Sally’s charm bracelet in the sand and didn’t tell the police that day. 

When Bee is found to be hiding the bracelet, her family relationships become strained, even more than they already are, and it will be something she forever regrets. 

As much as this is a mystery, I found it a compelling coming-of-age story layered with family drama. Told from Bee’s perspective, as a seventh-grader, you get the nostalgia of growing up with the raw emotions caused by fear, guilt, and sorrow. 

Thank you @duttonbooks for the gifted ebook and @PRHaudio for the audiobook. 

Crazy to Leave You | Book Review & Book Tour

Crazy to Leave You

Marilyn Simon Rothstein

Publisher: Lake Union

Pub Date: 5.24.2022 Happy Pub Day!

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Thank you @getredprbooks and @lakeunionauthors for this fun-loving book by @marilynsimonrothstein 

At forty-one, Lauren Leo is finally getting married! She’s dieted and fits into that dream dress, and then with a single text (gotta love technology), she is left at the altar.

After running to the nearest diner to down some carbs, which her mother belittles her for, Lauren regroups and throws herself into her work at the advertising agency. But she has her sisters to contend with as well.

𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 starts with a romance gone wrong but develops into a quirky, layered family story with a lot of self-reflection. I loved Lauren’s self-dialogue, and she is very open, even self-deprecating at times, about her relationship with food and her body. Her mother’s snide little digs were so annoying but relatable; we all have that person that gives us unwanted advice. 

This was a fun, quick read, but it had me re-thinking that next cookie. 

Book Mail

📬 ᗷOOK ᗰᗩIᒪ 📬

THANK YOU to all the publishers, publicists, and authors 

@bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks @marinerbooks

Holding Her Breath by Eimear Ryan 

@tlcbooktours for:

Radical Radiance by Angela Jia Kim @stmartinsessentials (6/14)

A Duke For Diana by Sabrina Jeffries @kensingtonbooks (5/31)

Secrets in the Palazzo (6/13) and Sunrise in Florence by Kathleen Reid #koehlerbooks

Veil of Winter by Melanie Dickerson @tnzfiction (6/14)

@suzyapprovedbooktours for:

The Arrangement by David Winkler (6/14)

Search for Treasure by Mary Alice Monroe with Angela May @simonkids (6/14)

Hardland by Ashley E. Sweeney @shewritespress (9/22)

Contest of Queens by Jordan H. Bartlett @camcat_books 

Living and Leaving my Legacy by Merle R. Saferstein (6/7)

@eccobooks

On the Rooftop by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (9/6)

@williammorrowbooks 

Groupies by Sarah Priscus (7/12) *Goodreads Giveaway

@harperperennial 

Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage 

Poison Lilies by Katie Tallo (5/24)

@mmdeluccaauthor for Lilah by M.M. Deluca 

And thank you @booksandcoffeemx for the great birthday gifts – Lovely War and Reminders of Him.

And I had to feature my actual birthday candle from @birthdateco 🥳 Make sure you use my code: SUBAKKA10 to get your discount today!

🎂 𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚔𝚎? 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙲𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐!

Birthday Giveaway

Today’s my birthday. 🎂  And not only have I circled the sun again, but I have 15,000 lovely followers on Instagram! THANK YOU. 😘

To show my THANKS & LOVE to all of you that follow me and give love to my posts. I want to celebrate YOU!

I’ll pick TWO winners who will each receive a book off their WISH LIST – Int’l followers Book Depository must ship to you. (*Book price up to $30 USD total.)

Since I haven’t done a MEET the BOOKSTAGRAMMER in forever, here’s a little about me👇

𝚆𝚒𝚏𝚎 – 𝙼𝚘𝚖 – 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 – 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚝 – 𝙲𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚎 𝙰𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚝 – 𝙳𝚘𝚐 𝙼𝚊𝚖𝚊 – 𝙵𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚑 – 𝚅𝚎𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚗 – 𝙶𝙵 – 𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎  – 𝙻𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛 – 𝚂𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚘𝚛 – 𝙵𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 – 𝙲𝚑𝚘𝚌𝚘𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚌 – 𝙻𝚘𝚢𝚊𝚕 – 𝙻𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛 – 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜

To Enter head over to my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/subakka.bookstuff/

*Like and Save this post.

*Follow Me @subakka.bookstuff  (please don’t unfollow 🥺).

*Tag a bookish friend or two. 

For Extra Entries:

*Share this post in your story and be sure to tag me! (1x per 24 hours = one entry per share). Drop a 🎂  in the comments so I count your entry.

*Tag more bookish friends (each tag = 1 entry).

**Giveaway ends Thursday, May 26 at 11:59 pm (EDT). 

**The winner will be announced in my story.

**Giveaway is NOT affiliated with IG.

** Must be willing and able to provide a mailing address. 

**PLEASE NOTE: I will never ask for your credit card info, watch out for copycat accounts!

Good Luck! 

Photo credit 📷: @cupofkauffie 

Journey | Book Review & Tour Stop

Journey

Andrew Zimmerman

Publisher: Radius Book Group

Pub Date: 3.3.2020

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As the title states, this is a journey, a spiritual awakening, if you will. Paul is a businessman who works for a top tech company. Paul’s goal to climb the corporate ladder has made him stressed and distant from family.

When he travels to Europe for business, he decides to stop by friends in Glastonbury, England. His friends own a small BnB, and they tell him about the mystics, witches, and even soul readers that reside in the small village nearby.

During Paul’s visit, he has a soul reading done, and he feels changed and energized. Paul’s life begins to change at work, at home, and in his heart. 

𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 is fictional, but in reading notes from the author, it is essentially his personal self-discovery pilgrimage. If you enjoy exploring spirituality and its many facets, then you’ll enjoy walking along with Paul and seeing the transformation in his life. 

Thank you @getredprbooks for this gifted copy. 

🙏🏻 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚?

The Wild Girls | Book Feature

The Wild Girls

Phoebe Morgan

Publisher: William Morrow Books

Pub Date: 4.26.2022 

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I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for this one but the premise sounds so interesting. And who wouldn’t want to go on a safari🦓 🦒 for a birthday getaway? (I won’t be doing that for my birthday next week).

Check it out 👇 

📖  FOUR FRIENDS. A LUXURY RETREAT. IT’S GOING TO BE MURDER.

It’s been years since Grace, Felicity, Alice, and Hannah were together. The “Wild Girls,” as they were once called, are no longer so wild. Alice is a teacher. Hannah has a new baby. Grace is a homebody. Only Felicity seems to have retained her former spark.

Then Felicity invites them all on the weekend of a lifetime–a birthday bash in Botswana. It will be a chance to have fun and rekindle their once bomb-proof friendship… and finally put that one horrible night, all those years ago, behind them for good.

But soon after arriving at the luxury safari lodge, a feeling of unease settles over them. There’s no sign of the party that was promised. There’s no phone signal. They are on their own… and things start to go very, very wrong.

A fresh approach to the classic locked-room mystery, The Wild Girls is sure to appeal to fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley.

Thank you @williammorrowbooks for this gifted copy. 

🥳 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲?

Love’s Journey Home: A Memoir | Book Review & Tour Stop

Love’s Journey Home: A Memoir

Gabi Coatsworth

Publisher: Atmosphere Press

Pub Date: 5.7.2022

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Gabi Coatsworth lets us into her marriage of thirty years. She doesn’t sugar coat it; in fact, it was riddled with difficulties, but in the end, she realized it was love that carried them through.

Gabi and Jay met under less than ideal circumstances. She lived in England and he in Chicago; she was a single mother, and he was still married. But years later, Gabi would take a job in Chicago, and they would reunite and eventually marry.

There were problems with the children and typical marital troubles, but what truly tested Gabi was Jay’s consistent drinking. It eventually took a toll on their marriage, and Gabi decides to move on – alone.

But then Jay received a diagnosis that would change everything. Gabi could have stayed the course and possibly sought a divorce, but instead, she turned around and returned to care for Jay, who was in the fight for his life.

I will just caution any reader who may be uneasy with alcoholism and cancer treatments that these subjects are discussed in great length. 

This is a love story, and Gabi is open and honest with us. It is emotional and inspirational to see Gabi go from a wife to a caregiver while rediscovering the love she once had for her husband. 

Thank you @suzyapprovebooktours and @gabicoatsworth for a spot on tour and a gifted book.