August 1-15

Hello Book Friends! Hope you are all safe and healthy right now. Here are the 6 books I read in the first half of the month. My favorite of the month so far is a toss up between A Dance of Fate and The Silent Wife, they are very different but both were fantastic reads! And my least favorite so far is Jar of Hearts.

Always Only You by Chloe Liese – 5 Stars I live in a house that loves hockey but I am not a fan! That being said I love sports romances and especially hockey ones, not sure why 🤷🏼‍♀️. This book was so good, 5 ⭐️’s all the way!!! I loved the first one and I loved this one even more 💕 We have a main character on the spectrum and rheumatoid arthritis and she works for a hockey team that has a Bergman brother on it! This book is #ownvoices and @chloe_liese writing is fantastic and I can’t wait for Axel’s book!!! These boys are all so 🥰

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier – 3.5 Stars I had such conflicting thoughts about this one. We follow Geo who 14 years ago her best friend, Angela Wong disappeared and they now discovered her body. Turns out Angela was a victim of serial rapist and killer Calvin James, who was Geo’s ex-boyfriend. We also follow Geo and Angela’s other best friend Kaiser Brody who is now a detective looking into the murders done by Calvin. There were so many plot points in this book that I found at times were hard to follow. I also wasn’t a huge fan of either of the characters we follow, Geo or Kaiser. Overall the writing was very well done and I was surprised numerous times throughout the book but I just didn’t care for the characters.

Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis – 4 Stars Something happened to Emmie when she is 16 and she is ostracized because of it, feeling lonely she lets go of a red balloon with her email. Across the channel in France Luc finds the balloon and starts what becomes the most important friendship in Emmie’s life. This book at times had me sad, angry and happy. I struggled in the beginning because I found her character to be pretty mopey and the story was sad so I wasn’t sure how much I was going to like it. About half way thru the book I got hooked and had to finish it right away! I started listening on audio but switched to the book so I could finish ASAP. I love where this story went and the growth of Emmie. I absolutely loved the secondary characters of Fox and Rosie and their story was great! If you are looking for a sweet read I recommend this one just be warned that it is sad at times. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for my advanced copies of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Hands Down by Marian Zapata – 4.75 Stars We first met Zac back in The Wall of Winnipeg and I loved him then, in this book we follow him as he is trying to get back on to a football team and feeling a little bit of self doubt. He is reintroduced to his best friends little sister, Bianca who he used to spend all his time with. I loved following their story and them working through their feelings and doubt and each other and life. One complaint of this book is the use of the word kiddo, I had a hard time with him using this word for his love interest.

The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter – 5 Stars I love Will Trent so much! I finished The Silent Wife last night and it was soooo good! It took me about two days to read it because I could not put it down. This is #10 in the Will Trent series and I still just adore him so much!! When we start out Will and Sarah are having some trouble in their relationship and they are having to deal with that while dealing with a serial rapist and murderer. Things get even worse from then when their current case merges with a past one that Sarah’s dead husband worked on. The book follow two time lines and we get Jeffery’s perspective on a case from 8 years before. I haven’t read the original series with him and Sara and I honestly don’t know if I will, I wasn’t a fan of him. I love how Karin Slaughter weaves her stories together and gives me my Will and Sara and Faith moments but also a fantastic mystery! If you haven’t read this series I highly recommend!!!! Also this one is pretty graphic so be forewarned.

A Dance With Fate by Juliet Marillier – 5 Stars This is the second book in the Warrior Bard book and we are still following Liobhan, Dau and Brocc, who are all warriors trained on the mysterious Swann Island. After being severely injured in a practice bout, Dau is forced to return to his childhood home that still causes him nightmares. Liobhan wanting to make sure that nothing befalls Dau travels back home with him, hoping she can protect him. At the same time we are following Brocc who has married one of the Fey folk and we follow his struggle to help those he can in both worlds. The bonds between these three warriors is great to see continuing to grow after the first book. Even though they are separated, Liobhan and Broccs familial bond is always there. Juliet Marillier has such a magical way of writing that she takes instantly takes you in and immerses you into her magical worlds. I have loved every book I have read from her and this one is no exception. I can’t wait to see what comes next for the warriors of Swann Island. If you haven’t read any of her books, I highly recommend this series but be sure to start with book 1. Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for my advanced copy!