SplendeurCaisseBooks

  The series as a whole was wonderful. These couples are not without their own individual hardships but they find a way to make their love work and grow, while still managing to support their friendships. The first book I was lucky enough to receive an ARC. Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan My rating: 5 of 5 stars Emotional and beautiful. I did oddly find myself wanting to put the blame on someone for the end of their marriage. And finding out that this was all because of grief finally got me out of that mindset. I liked that this couple had history. Seeing Josiah work through his fears/grief in therapy was good, especially after his initial reluctance. After a series of tragic losses and the grief that came from those losses, Yasmen asks her husband Josiah for a divorce. Yasmen's life is now moving at a better pace. She's co-parenting with Josiah and running a business together. These ensure involvement in each other's life. Even though they are divorced they still love e...

 I was given a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.  It was released yesterday, and if you're not in the mood now, it would make for a great read in the fall! Practical Magic meets Gone Girl in Ava Morgyn's next dark, spellbinding novel about a woman who is more than a witch - she's a hunter.  Piers Corbin has always had an affinity for poisonous things - plants and men. From the pokeweed berries she consumed at age five that led to the accidental death of a stranger, to the husband whose dark proclivities have become… concerning, poison has been at the heart of her story. But when she fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her volatile marriage and goes to stay with her estranged great aunt in the mountains, she realizes her predilection is more than a hunger - it’s a birthright. Piers comes from a long line of poison eaters - Bane Witches – women who ingest deadly plants and use their magic to rid the world of evil men. Piers sets out to earn her place in ...

  A relatable and nerve-wracking, sympathetic and bone-chilling story — a fresh new twist on motherhood and murder in suburbia. Isolated. Lonely. Tired. It's hard being The New Mother. Sometimes it's murder. Nothing is simple about being a new mom alone in a new house, especially when your baby is collicky. Natalie Fanning loves her son unconditionally, but being a mother was not all she wanted to be. Enter Paul, the neighbor. Paul provides the lifeline she needs in what feels like the most desperate of times. When Paul is helping with Oliver, calmed by his reassuring, steady presence, Nat feels like she can finally rest. But Paul wants something in return. It’s no coincidence that he has befriended Nat—she is the perfect pawn for his own plan. Will Nat wake up in time to see it? I received this ARC last year and I just wasn't able to read it in time.  The New Mother by Nora Murphy My rating: 4 of 5 stars At first, I was so confused by Natalie's behavior. It made it ...

  Jessica Goodman meets The Agathas in this taut, twisty YA thriller set in the glittering world of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where secrets—and bodies—never stay buried. For the New Orleans elite, the Les Masques Ball is sure to be the social event of the season—if they can avoid another dead Queen. When debutante Margot Landry was found dead the morning after her reign at last year’s ball, it was a tragedy, but not a shocking one. Margot was a wild child with a self-destructive streak, nothing like this year’s Queen, Lily LeBlanc. With a perfectly poised debutante on the throne, everything is going according to plan…until the ball is hijacked by a mysterious figure in a Jester costume. That night, Lily sends a text to three of the Maids on her royal court—her best friend, Vivian; her boyfriend's sister, Piper; and April, her former frenemy—asking them all to meet the next morning. But Lily never shows up. On the surface, these three debutantes don’t have anything in common except...

 LOVE SO HOT  A new release from @ivywildauthor is now available on Amazon, in #kindleunlimited and paperback! It is time to head to the small town of Greenwood Hollow where sparks fly between Lawrence Sinclair and Willow Harper   Small Town  Enemies to Lovers  Fake Engagement  Millionaire My Review Love so Hot: A small town, fake engagement romance by Ivy Wild My rating: 4 of 5 stars Larry, Larry, Larry... it took me some time to finally like this guy and I wondered how/when he'd finally start to be likable. He and Willow are truly enemies to lovers even though he does find her attractive from the start. Willow has dedicated her life to defending Earth from greedy corporations. Yet, she somehow finds herself engaged to Lawrence Sinclair, the man trying to build a pipeline in her little town. Willow chains herself to a tree to slow down the pipeline and having her arrested is giving Larry bad press. So he comes up with a plan, he won't press charges...

  From #1  New York Times  bestselling author Helen Hardt comes a deeply emotional tale of being lost, until light—and love—brings you back to shore… Some days I can almost see the person I used to be. See the version of myself that felt joy, even passion. But she's gone...just out of reach. Life moves on for everyone else, though, and as my best friend’s maid-of-honor, I have a bachelorette party to plan—in Jamaica, no less. And that means working side by side with the best man: Benjamin Black. Billionaire. Workaholic. Ultimate bachelor. The perfect catch for any woman—unless she's lost her sense of self. Apparently my body hasn’t gotten the memo. Because from the second we meet, something begins stirring, warming my blood. And when our hands touch, it’s a heady reminder that even if I feel numb, my heart still beats. He’s nothing like I thought. Every moment with him unshackles a little more of my fears, cracks another layer of ice. But I should be afraid—and so should...

  Fans of Heather McCollum and Keira Montclair will love this tale of warring clans, a braw Highlander, and a secret none of them saw coming. It’s been five years since Shane MacPherson stepped foot on his clan’s lands. Still haunted from years at war and the painful ache of loss, duty has called once again…and with it, his obligation to claim his place as the new laird of Clan MacPherson. But when Shane encounters a lass—a Valkyrie in both temperament and foul tongue!—in trouble, he puts title and duty aside to defend her… Lindsay Wallace would rather die than call the MacPherson lands her home—let alone their horrid clan. She just has to survive a month with her vile uncle before being married off as a peace offering between the Wallaces and MacPhersons. The only person she can trust is a simple soldier who is strong of body and heart. She has no interest in marrying her betrothed…so why not give in to the temptation of a soldier’s kiss? But promises made can’t be broken or forgo...

 From the old First to Read program: From the author of  Bound for Eden  comes a new historical Western romance that tests life and love on the Oregon Trail. WANTED: A resourceful frontiersman, for the purpose of matrimony... When Georgiana Bee Blunt advertises for a husband, she's not looking for a handsome man, or a smart man, or a charming man. What she wants is a brute. A no-nonsense, capable backwoodsman who won't trouble her with talk of love; she just wants someone to get her and her fatherless children safely to California. Matt Slater seems to fit the bill perfectly. The man looks like he could wrestle a bear and not even break a sweat. The only problem is he doesn't want a wife. Well, not the only problem... Truth be told, Georgiana has more problems than she knows what to do with. Left holding a gold claim by her not-so-dearly departed husband, Georgina finds her eldest son held ransom by the sinister Hec Boehm and his henchmen, and herself facing a journey of ...

 Another First To Read from the archives. A witty and inherently feminist novel about passion and marriage, based on a true story of an unstoppable woman ahead of her time in Victorian London. In 1887, Isabel Bilton is the eldest of three daughters of a middle-class military family, growing up in a small garrison town. By 1891 she is the Countess of Clancarty, dubbed “the peasant countess” by the press, and a member of the Irish aristocracy. Becoming Belle is the story of the four years in between, of Belle’s rapid ascent and the people that tried to tear her down. With only her talent, charm, and determination, Isabel moves to London alone at age nineteen, changes her name to Belle, and takes the city by storm, facing unthinkable hardships as she rises to fame. A true bohemian and the star of a dancing double act she performs with her sister, she reigns over The Empire Theatre and The Corinthian Club, where only select society entertains. It is there she falls passionately in love...

Wow!  This is one of the first ARCs I ever read. The program was First To Read. But I didn't share this on my original blog, so I thought I'd share it here because I didn't have anything else ready to post. My review style has changed since I read this book.  Maybe I need to re-read this book so I can write a better review. Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There's not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley's favorite activity: amateur witchcraft. So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone's explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life. Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders...

Across two different time periods, two women confront fear, loneliness, mortality, and a haunting yearning that will not let them rest. A breakout, genre-blurring novel from one of the most exciting new voices of Latin America’s feminist Gothic. It is the twilight of Europe’s bloody bacchanals, of murder and feasting without end. In the nineteenth century, a vampire arrives from Europe to the coast of Buenos Aires and, for the second time in her life, watches as villages transform into a cosmopolitan city, one that will soon be ravaged by yellow fever. She must adapt, intermingle with humans, and be discreet. In present-day Buenos Aires, a woman finds herself at an impasse as she grapples with her mother's terminal illness and her own relationship with motherhood. When she first encounters the vampire in a cemetery, something ignites within the two women—and they cross a threshold from which there’s no turning back. With echoes of Mary Shelley’s  Frankenstein  and written in t...

  Tempting love can be fatal—even for the most dangerous vampire in Savannah—in New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Alyssa Day’s tantalizingly sexy romance… Meara Delacourt loves being underestimated, especially when it comes to her enemies. Few know that the wealthy socialite and philanthropist is a 300-year-old master vampire—or the horror that rains down when her emotions spiral out of control. The consequences are nothing short of devastating. Which is why she can’t risk an attraction to the irritating, arrogant, and unbelievably hot Edge…even if she wanted to. And oh, she does. Scientist-turned-vamp Edge knows exactly what it’s like to fear emotions. He keeps a tight rein on his, knowing that—thanks to being the subject of a cruel experiment—falling in love is an instant trigger for his death. Fortunately, he can control himself…he has no choice. But the golden, sexy-as-hell Meara is one temptation he can’t find a cure for. Now they’re forced to fight the pull of t...

  A deliciously dreamy urban fairytale about a dryad who risks immortality for love, from debut author Devin Greenlee All seventeen-year-old Quill wants is a break from the family business. Flowers, plants, the generations-old garden. What he wouldn’t give for a taste of the outside world. Normalcy. But his mom won’t let him out of the house, telling him he’s just not ready… All because he’s a dryad. Well, not just any dryad, but a male dryad—the first ever. And unlike everyone else in his family, he hasn’t a lick of magic. Just a shock of green hair, matching green eyes, and a growing frustration that there’s an entire world out there waiting to be discovered. Until the night when the outside world—specifically his new neighbor—discovers him. Liam Watson lives in a culture filled with electronics, mobile devices, and social media—where there is no magic or even the belief in it. And as much as Quill finds Liam irritating (he’s so cute it’s annoying), he can’t help himself. Now Qui...

  I am excited to share Coming Home by Julieann Dove, the first book in the Women of Boone County series. You'll want to grab a cup of tea and snuggle up for Abigail and Ryan's second chance story. Perfect for fans of women's fiction romance. Be sure to check out the excerpt and enter the giveaway before grabbing your copy! Coming Home by Julieann Dove The Women of Boone County #1 Release Date: February 6, 2024 Available in Kindle Unlimited and paperback Amazon  |  Goodreads Thirty-five-year-old Abigail’s midlife crisis first appeared as an innocent trade in of her Ford Taurus for a two-seater BMW. Then she resigned as lead prosecutor and took a job at Patty Cakes Bakery heating cinnamon buns. But no one was more shocked at her behavior than her fiancé, Joe Batista, when she gave back his engagement ring without a reason why. They say your past always catches up to you and one day Abigail’s past showed up on her porch wearing Converse shoe...