Friday Finds & Reader Recommendations – 08-30-19

HAPPY FRIDAY & FRIDAY FINDS EVERYONE (almost 40 finds)😮!! End of summer, end of my favorite month (my birthday month!!!) and our first hurricane is already on the way… *sigh* It’s headed right for us – supposedly – so fingers crossed all will be well. In case I lose electricity like I did a year or so ago, I am preparing blog posts to auto post for all of next week, just in case… (no worries, the blog will still be up because it’s not here in hurricane-land). LOL!! I’ll try and check in (or have my family or Sherry check in) to give you quick updates.

P.S. I’ve got my water, my lights, my batteries, my battery backups, and plenty of unperishables (my dogs have plenty of dog food)… and best of all… I have my BOOKS!!! MY PAPER BOOKS!! I’ve got my pile ready to go, so if my power is out, I will still be plenty entertained! YAY ME!!! 😀

But the storm’s not here yet, and I AM still here so… in the meantime…

TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT WE FOUND FOR THE WEEKEND  !!

• Instant Gratification (Always Satisfied Book 2) by Lauren Blakely <— LIVE!!! LAUREN BLAKELY ALERT!! “…As the premier best-man-for hire in all of Manhattan, I promise discretion, so when I need a plus one for a couple of “I dos,” I turn to my gorgeous, clever, witty best friend’s sister. She’s my good friend, too, and I lust after her completely. I mean, I TRUST her completely. After all, just look how she’s kept her lips sealed about the hot, multi-O night we spent together.…”
• Maybe: The Complete Series by Ella Miles <— ARRANGED MARRIAGE SERIES SUPER-BARGAIN ALERT!!
• Forgetting You, Forgetting Me (Memories from Yesterday Book 1) by Monica James <— GASP!!! THIS SOUNDS ANGSTY!!! Her world was shattered… and then HIS identical twin COMES BACK… “…It’s unimaginable how simple, ordinary words can change a person’s life forever. For me those words were, “There’s been an accident.” I thought Sam was my forever, but that forever came to a close the day Saxon Stone, Sam’s identical twin brother, came back...”
• My Husband’s Wife: A Novel by Jane Corry <— PSYCH-THRILLER SUPER-BARGAIN & SOUNDS LIKE IT’S MADE FOR ME!! 😀 MINE!!! 😀 “…she takes on her first murder case and meets Joe, a convicted murderer to whom Lily is strangely drawn—and for whom she will soon be willing to risk almost anything. But Lily is not the only one with secrets. Her next-door neighbor Carla may be only nine, but she has already learned that secrets are powerful things. That they can get her whatever she wants. When Lily finds Carla on her doorstep twelve years later, a chain of events is set in motion that can end only one way...”
• Soul of the Dragons (Bad Dragons Book 3) by Terry Bolryder
• Grumpy Dad (Greenbridge Academy Book 2) by Abby Knox <— LIVE!! GRUMPY, RECLUSIVE DAD & THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER ALERT!! SOUNDS LIKE FUN!! “...Vince really wishes people would leave him alone. For the most part, they oblige. So why does a gorgeous, relentlessly upbeat Kindergarten teacher keep trying to include him in all this bougie PTA rigmarole? But … if all this nonsense will help five-year-old Max fit in at this fancy school, fine. Just this once, he’ll help; and then everybody’d better leave him alone…”
• Heart of the Mountain by Frankie Love & C.M. Seabrook
• Flirting with Forever by Kendall Ryan <— KENDALL RYAN SUPER-BARGAIN!!
• The Bad Boy Reformed Series, Books 1-3: Raising Ryann, Resisting Ryann and Breaking Ryann by Alyssa Rae Taylor <— THREE BOOK BUNDLE SUPER-BARGAIN ALERT!! “…He’s the stereotypical fighter- 100 percent alpha male. The kind of guy a girl should avoid at all costs. When he’s hired to privately train me, avoiding him isn’t an option…”
• The Simple Wild: A Novel by K.A. Tucker <— ONE OF MY FAV K.A. TUCKER BOOKS ALERT!!! And now we’re getting more feedback! 😀 P.S. Here’s my review.

Hvitserk: Love your review! I just finished reading it the other day I can’t believe I missed this one last year. I was in a reading slump after Katherine Center’s Things You Save in a Fire: A Novel and this it’s exactly what I was looking for!

Linda: …was totally able to indulge in reading The Simple Wild and laughed and cried and laughed and cried. Oh my heart.

• To Be Your Girl (To Be Yours Book 1) by Rae Kennedy <— OLD SCHOOL FEELS LOVE TRIANGLE ALERT!! RECENT RELEASE & WE HAVE FEEDBACK!!! Well… sorta. 😉 Stacie is already loving it!!

Stacie: Hi Maryse,

I have a book recommendation. “To Be Your Girl” by Rae Kennedy I am only 16% in and already feeling a 5 star book here. It gives me all the feels, just like from the oldie books such as Thoughtless or Beautiful Disaster.

This book is already giving me giddy, butterfly feelings reading it; so far it’s been only from her POV which makes it so much better!!!  I couldn’t even wait to finish it before recommending it!! Can’t say enough how much I enjoy your page!

Maryse: You just said the magic words… HER POV. YAY!!! Thank you Stacie!! *claps and bounces* 😀

• Misrule (A Death Dwellers MC Novel) by Kathryn C. Kelly <— BIKER BOOK ALERT!! THEY HAVE A THREAT FROM AN UNEXPECTED ENEMY… “…Knox and Roxy have finally set the date for their wedding, but things won’t go smoothly. There are too many people within the Club who won’t accept Knox—and one woman in particular whose day of reckoning has been a long time coming. Not to mention the outside interference from family. But the most deadly threat of all will come from an unexpected enemy....” And it’s in KU AND the author is today’s Friday Finds newsletter sponsor AND she’s giving away a copy here ➔ Kathryn C. Kelly – Death Dwellers Series Reading Order and we’re having a giveaway!!
• The Whisper Man: A Novel by Alex North <— OMG ALL THE REVIEWS SAY TERRIFYING!!! Ooooops!! I missed this new release and Tasha J is my book-twin, so if she’s exited, I should have been… and now I SUPER-AM!!! 😉

Tasha J: Oooh, The Whisper Man by Alex North released today!

Maryse: OMG how did I possibly miss The Whisper Man??? All the reviews say TERRIFYING!! Eeeeeeep!!! MINE!!! 😀 Thank you Tasha!!!!

• Lake Silence (World of the Others, The Book 1) by Anne Bishop <— ANNE BISHOP SUPER-BARGAIN ALERT!! Caroline found this sale for us!!

Tessa: My favorite thing, though, was the “others” world and how the MC reacted to it. I honestly loved the story and really want to stay in Lake Silence. I was so sad it ended and I refused to read anything else last night.

…Bev, you are going to love Lake Silence. The new area is quite wonderful. It’s different as far as how and why people interact, yet at the same time, it’s still the same world. It takes place a year after the BIG thing that happened in book four.

• The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy (A Sleeping Beauty Novel) by Anne Rice <— SUPER-BARGAIN & JUST A LITTLE BIT SCANDALOUS… 😉 Caroline found it for us!! 

Melissa: Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne Rice. It starts out with a bang and just keeps on going. I stayed up late every night and finished all 3 in about 2 days. I got the first one and regretted not getting all three at the same time. A great twist on what happens to Beauty after her prince wakes her with a kiss. Or should I say how he woke her as he gave her the kiss that woke her up. *shivers* Think I will read them again. = )

Kim: I think I read these back in the day, but for $1.99, I just 1-clicked those bad boys 😉

Rene: These are a great very naughty read. Anyone for a little spanking

• Sapphire Flames: A Hidden Legacy Novel by Ilona Andrews <— RECENT ILONA ANDREWS RELEASE & we have feedback!! Tessa LOVED it!

Tessa: Finished Saphire Flames and it was as good as expected. Ilona Andrews is a rare miss, honestly, and I can’t think of that rare moment currently.

Maryse: I always here she’s one of the BEST paranormal authors out there. I wish I had jumped into her worlds when I was devouring that genre. I can’t wait until I cycle back around again. 😉

Tessa: They really are. I think the fact that it’s a husband and wife team makes it stronger because you get an honest male and female perspective and they work well together.

• MONA is out of her book slump now that she’s had a stroke of book luck!!! 😀 She says:

I have been in such a book slump lately, either DNF or skim reading, but finally (thank you Maryse and everyone’s suggestions) I have been saved!

➔ First was Broken Knight by LJ Shen, it was angsty, but I didn’t require tissues, and a great read!

➔ Second was Julie O’s rec of Worked Up (Made in Jersey Book 3) by Tessa Bailey, very punny and entertaining! And Duke, what a great book boyfriend! Loved it!

➔ Third was Crossed Lines by Lana Sky and Holy Moly was it good, great, awesome! After reading the synopsis, I had it in my mind it was just going to be this bratty girl the whole time so I held off on starting it. Don’t get me wrong, she can be bratty, but it goes much deeper than that! I have a book hangover!

I’m looking forward to Friday’s Finds but am now headed off to read Butterfly in Frost.

• The First Girl Child by Amy Harmon <— AMY HARMON RECENT RELEASE & WE HAVE ECSTATIC FEEDBACK!!

Tessa: First Girl Child was wonderful! Loved it so much! Grey, if you read it, (which you should) tissues! I think it’s her best yet.

Michele G: Ohhh I loveddd The First Girl Child….

Grey: The First Girl Child was amazing. I stayed up last night to finish it. I LOVED it. It definitely had a The Queen & the Cure vibe to it…but in no way were the stories even remotely similar, just spectacularly written.

Tessa: I’m so glad you liked it! Hopefully, more will read it because it was just insanely good. Not a romance, though with the romance in it, but a true fantasy.

MichelleS: The First Child is calling my name! Thanks for all the feedback. I love Amy Harmon! And it’s KU with audio for free!!! Woop woop. …Lately I’ve been craving exactly that… fantasy and not necessarily romance. I think I’ve overdone it and nothing surprises me anymore, but with a good fantasy… I get all the thrills. The world, the lore, the characters. There’s always a little romance, but it’s not the central theme. So much intrigue & backstabbing. Love it!

• Eight (Love by Numbers Book 6) by E.S. Carter <— SUPER-BARGAIN & CAN BE READ AS A STANDALONE ALERT!! AND I am ABSOLUTELY IN LOVE with this cover!!! OMG THIS BLURB BREAKS MY HEART!!!! He’s grieving his wife… “…She was my first love. She is my last love. I am an empty husk who pretends to be filled with enough love for those of us she left behind. Our little girl and newborn son need me. I am both mother and father now. I am hollow and empty. I am a shell. So why does the girl with the face of an angel and eyes that mirror my emptiness, look at me like I’m her everything?…”

Kathy: Love Love this book but get out your tissues. Definitely read it! …It is part of a series but can be read as a standalone. Of course it had my catnip of widowed Dad with small children. I definitely recommend it.

• Can’t Fix Cupid by Raven Kennedy <— HILARIOUS RECENT RELEASE & Tessa loved this one too!

Tessa: I finished Can’t Fix Cupid. Sweet, emotional, and hilarious. Probably her best yet. It’s standalone away from her other cupid series. Same “afterworld”, different cupid on Earth instead of a fantasy world.

• Players on Ice (Books 1-3) by Cathryn Fox <— SUPER-BARGAIN BOOK BUNDLE ALERT!! THREE HOCKEY STARS STORIES!! 😀 And Caroline found is this bargain.
• Denton: A Hathaway House Heartwarming Romance by Dale Mayer
• Kray: Broken Deeds MC by Esther E. Schmidt
• Priceless: A Dark Bratva Romance (Ruthless Doms) by Jane Henry <— LIVE!!! AND FORBIDDEN!!! “...a high-stakes, gritty story of forbidden romance, devastation, and taboo love that knows no bounds...”
• Sinful As Hell: A Reverse Harem Bully Academy Romance (The Demon Academy Book 1) by G. Bailey <— LIVE!!! “…I’m a demon, and I’m signed up to attend The Demon Academy. I soon find out it’s the darkest, cruellest school around and not many survive a full year, let alone three.
  Welcome to DA, where unless you are a high demon, you can expect to be treated like trash...”
• A TIME OF RAGE by Edith Anyakee <— A WATTPAD STORY!!

2312: I’ve read more than half the books you mentioned, and I know they are incredible hence, I must admit what I think, we have similar tastes in books, I love that. For another great read that will blow your mind away. Check out this book on Wattpad. A TIME OF RAGE by Edith Anyakee. I promise you, you won’t regret even reading just a single chapter.

• Then She Was Gone: A Novel by Lisa Jewell <— PSYCH-THRILLER/UNCOMFORTABLE STORY ALERT!! Linda LOVED it!!!! 😀 Oh this is calling me big time!!! Her teen daughter disappeared…”… It’s been ten years since her daughter disappeared, seven years since her marriage ended, and only months since the last clue in Ellie’s case was unearthed. So when she meets an unexpectedly charming man in a café, no one is more surprised than Laurel at how quickly their flirtation develops into something deeper. Before she knows it, she’s meeting Floyd’s daughters—and his youngest, Poppy, takes Laurel’s breath away. Because looking at Poppy is like looking at Ellie...” <— 😮 GASP!!!!!

Linda: Stayed up way to late last night to finish a fantastic read!! Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewel. Couldn’t read fast enough!!! Kept me totally engaged even though an uncomfortable storyline for me. *****

• Mists of The Serengeti by Leylah attar <— ONE OF MY 5-STAR FAVS IS SUPER-BARGAIN PRICED!!! P.S. Here’s my review.

MK: love this one too!

Kathy P: I have never highlighted as many passages as I did in the Mists of Serengeti.

Linda: Mist of the Serengeti was one of my holiday reads and oh my gosh….LOVED it soooo hard!!!! It was my “what took me so long?” to read!!

• The White Tower (The Aldoran Chronicles: Book 1) by Michael Wisehart <— FANTASY SERIES & MichelleS is SO into it!!

MichelleS: MICHELLE S IS ALIVE AND WELL. She was not kidnapped by aliens. …I’ve been reading The White Tower, Book one in a new fantasy series that’s spectacular for fans of that genre.

It’s reminding me a little of Tairen Soul series, so I’m in a good place! The mistrust of magic, the Fae, the names, the bad guy! The torture, the creatures, all of it.

• TESSA’S LATEST BULLY FAVORITES LIST:

Tessa: Also, uh, I might’ve read a few more bully books. They are popular suddenly.

Boys of Oak Prep series by Callie Rose was soooo good and the trilogy is complete. It is an RH, though.

Zodiac Academy by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti just started. It’s a PNR Bully and is not an RH, and the premise along with that first book had me sucked in.

Also, bully PNR, and probably one of my favorites is Villain Academy series by Eva Chase, another PNR bully. Basically, she’s raised by the good guys, only to find she was kidnapped as a baby when her parents were killed and she’s actually born to be the bad guy. And it’s NOT CHEESY!

Grey: *Jots down all of Tessa’s suggestions*

Tessa: I’m not joking on the number of new bully books out. It’s the new popular trope. *grins* Which makes my day, but I’m having trouble keeping up, and there have been some truly BAD ones. lol It’s worth sorting through the bad ones to get to the good, though, right?

• Zodiac Academy: Ruthless Fae: An Academy Bully Romance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts Book 2) by Caroline Peckham <— TESSA LOOOOOOOK!!! LOOK WHAT JUST WENT LIVE!!! “…They tried to break us. They almost did. But we’re not going anywhere…”
• Royals of Villain Academy 4: Horrid Charms by Eva Chase <— AND!!! TESSSSSA!!! LOOKIT THIS ONE JUST WENT LIVE TOO!!! 😀
• Knights of Arcanum Academy by Bella Holiday & Nicole Marie <— LIVE!! BULLY ROMANCE ALERT!!
• A Sinful Year Three: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Bully Romance (Academy of the Devil Book 3) by Eva Brandt
• The Bloodwood Academy Shifter: Semester One by Rae Foxx
• Under the Lies: A Reverse Harem Series (The Villainous Wonderland Series Book 3) by A.K. Koonce

AUDIOBOOK LVERS!

For those going on a road trip soon, or maybe you’ve got some projects that require both hands this weekend but still allows you to “listen”… check out the free audible trial + 2 free audiobooks deal

• AND! Here’s the fun-tool again! —> Find out which of YOUR Kindle books are available as audiobooks at a BARGAIN-PRICE! <— This thing is so cool (Amazon calls it “Matchmaker“)! It’s an Amazon feature, that scans all of your Kindle books and will list all of the ones you have that are also available as an audiobook at a discounted price (not normal audiobook prices). This way, you can switch back and forth, seamlessly between your ebooks and your audiobooks. VERY COOL!
• ➔➔ Audible now has an “Escape” package membership (30 day free trial)
• and…
• A Thousand Boy Kisses: A Novel by Tillie Cole <— Michele G is gutted already!!

Michele G: A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole that is currently gutting me as I listen to it…..ugh. I’m not to the adult lovers part yet…I’m hoping they get there…currently being emotionally destroyed while they are still teenagers….sorry…obviously I needed to vent!

• The First Girl Child by Amy Harmon <— And here’s the audiobook version of Amy Harmon’s latest HUGE hit here!! 😀

MichelleS: The First Child is calling my name! Thanks for all the feedback. I love Amy Harmon! And it’s KU with audio for free!!! Woop woop.

PREORDERS (going live soon!!! 😀 )

• Goddess Rising: A Skye Faden Novel by Alisha Ashton
• Dark Illusion (Carpathian Novel, A Book 33) by Christine Feehan – September 3rd 2019
• Hitched by Lili Valente & Pippa Grant – September 3rd 2019
• The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young – September 3rd 2019
• Wherever You Are (A KGI Novel Book 12) by Maya Banks – September 3rd 2019
• The Marquis She’s Been Waiting For (The Marriage Game) by Ella Quinn – September 3rd 2019
• Vendetta in Death: An Eve Dallas Novel (In Death, Book 49) by J.D. Robb – September 3rd 2019
• This Is Love by Natasha Madison – September 3rd 2019
• The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young- September 3rd 2019
• Grit: A Love Story on 7th and Main (Love Stories on 7th and Main Book 3) by Elizabeth Hunter – September 3rd 2019
• The Unkindest Tide (October Daye Book 13) by Seanan McGuire – September 3rd 2019
• Jordyn’s Army – September 3rd 2019 <— “We are happy to bring you seventeen never seen before short stories! This anthology is a fundraiser for Jordyn Preston and her fight against liver cancer.New short stories from:
  Heidi McLaughlin
  Kathy Coopmans
  Shari J. Ryan
  Adriana Locke
  HJ Bellus
  Julie A. Richman
  Sam JD Hunt
  Tara Leigh
  Kaylee Ryan
  Michelle Dare
  Verlene Landon
  Haylee Thorne
  Michelle Windsor
  Kristin Mayer
  Amy Briggs
  MJ Fields
  Rebecca Brooke

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