Rainy Days With Amanda

Hey Ya'll! I'm back with another Stephanie Plum novel. It's been almost a year since I read my last one. So many books, so little time. But I had an itch for my favorite bounty-hunter, so I grabbed the next book on the list and dove right back into the world of Stephanie and her bounty hunter life in Trenton, New Jersey.   *Side Note:  I'm also excited to go to Jersey next year and I will be checking to see if there is a Plum tour of sorts!    About the Author Janet Evanovich  is an American writer. She began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall , but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a former lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey, who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet after losing her job. The novels in this series have been on The New York Times , USA Today , Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestseller lists. Evanovich has had her last seventeen Plums debu...

    HOME TO COMFORT By Kimberly Fish Women’s Fiction / Contemporary / Cozy Mystery Publisher: Fish Tales Publishing Pages: 382 Publication Date: October 10, 2024 SYNOPSIS ════════════════════════════════════ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　 ︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶︶⊹ Gloria Bachman has pivoted so many times this year she has whiplash. Now, in the middle of winter and drenched in Mexican sunshine at a five-star resort, she has a role to play: Mason Lassiter’s “arm candy” in a sting to nab his not-actually-dead, first wife, Patsy. It didn’t make any sense to her either, but who argues with government officials offering an expense-paid trip and a reason for a new beach wardrobe? With Patsy leading resort security, FBI agents, and Mason on a merry chase, Gloria knows that if you want to catch a woman of a certain age, you have to think like a woman of a certain age. Thankfully, she’s got the credentials. If only she could understand the other peo...

 Hey Ya'll! I'm happy to be back with another list of coffee shops or you to try this month! I'm getting in all my coffee shop time right now as I will be a new mom in just about 5 more weeks, give or take, and I'm not sure how much time I will have to go out to coffee shops, at least for the following couple of months. Anyways, it's fall!! Kind of. Doesn't feel like it, but here in Texas, we like to pretend. Gravves Coffee ☕ 2106 McCullough Ave, San Antonio, Texas 78212 If you're looking for something a little more goth to grab your coffee, you've come to the right place. Gravves Coffee offers a great selection of fun coffee concotions, including their Elixir drink that is purple because it's made with ube! They also now offer affogato, which is coffee and ice cream and something I've discovered in other places, but not really here in the San Antonio area.  As far as the space, it's in a good size warehouse, which I love. The bathroom is cl...

I found this book when I was looking through a table set at Barnes & Nobles with a sign that read something along the lines of "Translated Japanese Novels." Of course, I had to take a look. This one caught my attention not by the cover, but by the title. It intrigued my interests, so I put it on my list of books to read and I was happy to be able to find a copy at one of my local bookstores. Here's a little bit about All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami . About the Author Meiko Kawakami is a Japanese writer and poet from Osaka. Her work has won prestigious Japanese literary awards in several genres including the 138th Akutagawa Prize for Chichi to Ran (Breasts and Eggs), the 2103 Tanizaki Prize for Ai no yum to ka (Dreams of Love, etc.), and so much more.  Kawakami published All the Lovers in the Night in 2011. In 2022 is when it was translated into English by Sam Bett and David Boyd.  About the Book Fuyuko Irie is a freelance copy editor in her mid-thirtie...

 So, I've been reading this fan fic and it takes place in the Victorian era. I am not the biggest fan of reading materials from this era but I ended up loving it and now I read other fics that are set int he Victorian era. Anyway, one day the author of the main Victorian-era fic that I read posted in her comments that she was inspired by the book Persuasion , thus I put it on my Goodreads list to read and here we are. Here's my book talk blog on Persuasion by Jane Austen.    About the Author  Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favorable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary...

  THE KILLER ENIGMA Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles Book 16 by BREAKFIELD & BURKEY NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER ! Cozy Mystery / Suspense / Cozy Mystery Series Publisher: ICABOD Press Coming August 19, 2023 Enough is Enough – JJ rumbled when the paparazzi invaded dinner. JJ and Jo realize privacy doesn’t exist for them. They return to Magnolia Bluff to check on their friends and recapture the small-town anonymity. In Magnolia Bluff, no one suspects their fame. They discount the status of urban legends in favor of acceptance and a quiet, peaceful life. After all, a supermodel needs time and space to recharge between jobs. A geek wants time to adore his wife. Does Magnolia Bluff hold the answers to their prayers? Will their desires get clouded by a hidden secret? Past, present, and future collide in a perfect storm no one expected. JJ and Jo take action to uncover the truth. Chief Tommy Jager likes them but feels they’re a lightning rod for trouble and disruption. Who will live ...

    “SO SORRY FOR  YOUR LOSS” by Dina Gachman Grief & Bereavement / Love & Loss / Parenting & Relationships Publisher: Union Square & Co. Page Count: 240 pages Publication Date: April 11, 2023 Scroll down for a giveaway! A heartfelt exploration about what it means to process grief, by a bestselling author and journalist whose experience with two devastating losses inspired her to bring comfort and understanding to others. Since losing her mother to cancer in 2018 and her sister to alcoholism less than three years later, author and journalist Dina Gachman has dedicated herself to understanding what it means to grieve, healing after loss, and the ways we stay connected to those we miss. Through a mix of personal storytelling, reporting, and insight from experts and even moments of humor, Gachman gives readers a fresh take on grief and bereavement—whether the loss is a family member, beloved pet, or a romantic relationship. No one wants to join the grief clu...

  SWEET COMFORT Comfort and Joy Trilogy, #1 by KIMBERLY FISH Women's Fiction / Later-In-Life Romance Second-Chance Romance /  Cozy Mystery Publisher: Fish Tales Page Count: 359 pages Publication Date: January 21, 2023 Scroll down for a giveaway! Welcome to the hometown everyone wants to call their own. Gloria Bachman, a retired bank executive, has eight weeks to flip a location on Comfort’s High Street into a boutique chocolate shop. Defying expectations for “women of a certain age,” Gloria rediscovers talents and a sharpening of skills. If only she could read people as well as she does a spreadsheet. Even with the renovation in good hands, the subsequent struggle to name the shop brings Gloria and her business partner into conflict with a shady citizen. While Gloria is capable of remaining in her retirement rut while opening a business, two competing social groups try to lure her into their networks, causing Gloria to wonder if she ever knew Comfort at all. A murder rocks th...

 Hi Ya'll! Im back with another Liane Moriarty book. I think I have read almost all her books now, but maybe have 1 or 2 more books to read from her for now. But I went to the trusty Half Price Books and found a copy of What Alice Forgot , which I had read the summary of a while ago, but chose to read another one of her books instead. Now, months, maybe even a couple of years later, I finally read What Alice Forgot and I'm here to tell you my thoughts, per use.  About the Author Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of eight internationally best-selling novels: Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist’s Love Story, Nine Perfect Strangers and the number one New York Times bestsellers: The Husband's Secret, Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty. Her books have been translated into over forty languages and sold more than 20 million copies.  About the Book Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child....

    BRUTAL SEASON The Seasons Mysteries Series #4 BY MARYANN MILLER NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER! Police Procedural / Mystery Publisher: MCM Enterprises Coming April 10, 2023 Scroll down for Giveaway! Eighteen-year-old Jamel Frederickson is shot and killed by a white, rookie Dallas police officer. His crime? Being black and mentally ill. Following that unwarranted death, anger, and violence erupts on the streets, leading to the murders of two protestors who were marching around the downtown federal building. Detectives Sarah Kingsly and Angel Johnson are thrust into the investigation of those murders, while desperately clinging to the threads of their partnership. The shootings also raise questions about whether the alt-right white supremacists that invaded the city with their guns and inflammatory rhetoric are responsible. Will more people get killed? Is there more than one person out there with an agenda? When a member of the team, Ryan O’Donnell, is shot while attempting to...

 Hello everyone! It's been a few months since I've written a book review. It's been a busy season in my life, with traveling, work picking up, and the holidays creeping up. I'm happy to share that I have been reading, just a little slower and I was reading a pretty big book.  I was attracted to Jane Eyre as I was walking into a Half Price Books with nothing specific in mind and saw this beautiful cover. I opened it up and while I'm not a big earlier than 1930's book fan, I did find Jane Eyre to be intriguing and I found myself wanting to read it. So here I am and here's my full review on Charlotte Bront ë 's Jane Eyre .  About the Author Charlotte Bronte was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became English Literature classics. She attended school at Roe Head in January 1831 and left at the age of 15 to teach her sisters,  Emily  and  Anne , at home, returning in 1835...