One Step to you by Federico Moccia

Releases March 2nd

Get it on Amazon

https://amzn.to/37Ewwl1

The book that inspired the Netflix original series Summertime finally comes to America. It's a best-selling trilogy internationally. Goodreads called it "The Romeo and Juliet of their time." I've watched the trailer for Summertime (voiced over into English) and am excited to watch, but in my humble opinion, you need to read the book first. It always explains more of the feelings behind actions and conversations.

I am beyond excited to begin the journey into the Rome Novels!

~Tanja

From the Cover...

Babi and Step are the Romeo and Juliet of their time, spending the best days of their lives together in the Eternal City, but belonging to opposite worlds may eventually tear them apart.

It begins with a chance meeting at a traffic light, one that draws a young woman’s attention to the stranger on a motorbike. In that one moment, the fates of Babi Gervasi and Step Mancini are altered. Babi, poised on the brink of a predictable future, will risk everything to be with Step. Step, running from his past, will find the one thing missing from his life. Sharing days on the streets of Rome and nights under a blanket of stars, they belong in each other’s arms.

Even as they fear their time together will be brief, they know their hearts will remember forever.

Thank you to 

Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Books, and Club Car

For sending this title my way.

The Duke Heist Edition by Erica Ridley

Get it on Amazon

https://amzn.to/37GTfN6

This is absolutely delicious! Give me a strong woman in a time of male domination any day. Smile/smirk was firmly in place while reading The Duke Heist. Lucky for you it’s OUT NOW! So grab a cuppa and settle in for an afternoon of delightful reading.

From the Cover...

Chloe Wynchester is completely forgettable -- a curse that gives her the ability to blend into any crowd. When the only father she's ever known makes a dying wish for his adopted family of orphans to recover a missing painting, she's the first one her siblings turn to for stealing it back. No one expects that in doing so, she'll also abduct a handsome duke.
Lawrence Gosling, the Duke of Faircliffe, is tortured by his father's mistakes. To repair his estate's ruined reputation, he must wed a highborn heiress. Yet when he finds himself in a carriage being driven hell-for-leather down the cobblestone streets of London by a beautiful woman who refuses to heed his commands, he fears his heart is hers. But how can he sacrifice his family's legacy to follow true love?

Thank you to @readforeverpub for sending this my way!

Dream a Little Dream by Melinda Curtis

Get it on Amazon

https://amzn.to/3smilZO

Everything you want in a small town, second-chance romance, my bookish friends! I mean... at this point Melinda Curtis is firmly on the insta-click purchase list. Thankfully for you, Dream a Little Dream is out and ready for you!! It's book three in the series, but feel free to start with any of the books and work your way back.

I could build a home and live in Sunshine Valley!

💛 Tanja

From the Cover...
A small-town judge meets her match in a rodeo star troublemaker, but soon they may both end up targets of the town's matchmakers in this delightful and heartwarming tale of romance.

Darcy Jones Harper is thrilled to have finally shed her reputation as the girl from the wrong side of the tracks. The people of Sunshine Valley have to respect her now that she’s the new town judge. But when the bad boy who broke her heart back in high school shows up in her courtroom, she realizes maybe things haven’t changed so much after all . . . because her pulse still races at the sight of him.

Jason Petrie wants to make amends for the mistakes of his youth—starting with the woman he never stopped loving. Darcy may not believe that he really intends to quit the bull riding circuit and stick around this time but Jason vows—with the help of the matchmaking Widows Club—to pull out all the stops to convince her that they both deserve a second chance.

Thank you to Forever and Grand Central Publishing

for sending this my way! As always, you guys rock!

Quiet in her Bones by Nalini Singh

Get it on Amazon

https://amzn.to/3sYtNfe

Releasing Feb 23rd 

Hang on tight, book friends we are jumping right in! With a knock on the door from cops, the mystery has already begun. Quiet in Her Bones is rich storytelling and a phenomenal premise. I was utterly absorbed and transported to New Zealand.

I can smell, see, and taste the forest, the dirt, and the trees. I think that's such an incredible tribute to the author. It's why I am, and will always be, a fan of Nalini Singh. She makes me want to visit this lush vastness of earth filled with scenic views and pounding surf and black sands.

5 Coca-Cola-filled stars!!

~Tanja

From the Cover...

My mother vanished ten years ago.
So did a quarter of a million dollars in cash.
Thief. Bitch. Criminal.
Now, she's back.
Her bones clothed in scarlet silk.

When socialite Nina Rai disappeared without a trace, everyone wrote it off as another trophy wife tired of her wealthy husband.

But now her bones have turned up in the shadowed green of the forest that surrounds her elite neighborhood, a haven of privilege and secrets that’s housed the same influential families for decades.

The rich live here, along with those whose job it is to make their lives easier. And somebody knows what happened to Nina one rainy night ten years ago.

Her son Aarav heard a chilling scream that night, and he’s determined to uncover the ugly truth that lives beneath the moneyed elegance…but no one is ready for the murderous secrets about to crawl out of the dark.

Even the dead aren’t allowed to break the rules in this cul-de-sac.

Thank you to 

Berkley Publishing Group

for sending me this title for review

While Paris Slept by Ruth Druart

Releases Feb 23rd

Get it on Amazon

https://amzn.to/3rL7A2Q

A powerful, moving all-consuming read. What a mother will do for the sake of her child is a fierce and frightening thing. Jean-Luc is seeing this sacrifice first hand and will feel it as well. It's a heart-wrenching emotional story of love in a time of war. This book has staying power. I can't get it out of my mind.

Beautiful

~Tanja

 

From the Cover...

A family's love is tested when heroes-turned-criminals are forced to make the hardest decisions of their lives in this unforgettably moving story of love, resistance, and the lasting consequences of the Second World War.

After. Santa Cruz, California, 1953. Jean-Luc and Charlotte Beauchamps have left their war-torn memories of Paris behind to live a quiet life in America with their son, Sam. They have a house in the suburbs, they've learned to speak English, and they have regular get-togethers with their outgoing American neighbors. Every minute in California erases a minute of their lives before -- before the Germans invaded their French homeland and incited years of violence, hunger, and fear. But their taste of the American Dream shatters when officers from the U.N. Commission on War Crimes pull-up outside their home and bring Jean-Luc in for questioning.

Before. Paris, France, 1944. Germany has occupied France for four years. Jean-Luc works at the railway station at Bobigny, where thousands of Jews travel each day to be "resettled" in Germany. But Jean-Luc and other railway employees can't ignore the rumors or what they see on the tracks: too many people are packed into the cars, and bodies are sometimes left to be disposed of after a train departs. Jean-Luc's unease turns into full-blown panic when a young woman with bright green eyes bursts from the train one day alongside hundreds of screaming, terrified passengers, and pushes a warm, squirming bundle into his arms.

Told from alternating perspectives, While Paris Slept reflects on the power of love, loss, and the choices a mother will make to ensure the survival of her child. At once a visceral portrait of family ties and a meditation on nurture's influence over identity, this heartbreaking debut will irreversibly take hold of your heart.

Thank you to

Grand Central Publishing

for sending this my way

When We Were Young by Jaclyn Goldis

Releasing Feb. 16th

Get it on Amazon

https://amzn.to/378wVMq

Beautifully written. Women's/historical fiction at its finest. I was invested throughout and felt so much for each of the women portrayed. The write-up plays like a generational read, but in all honesty When We Were Young POV's feel more like flashbacks that just add to the overall feel. It's love, longing, and courage to go after your heart that drives it all home.

A great read for your 2021 summer beach bags!

~Tanja

From the Cover...

Three generations of women come together in this page-turning debut full of family secrets, heart-wrenching drama, and the promise of second chances.

Corfu, 1942: To sixteen-year-old Sarah Batis, the Nazis are a distant danger—of far greater threat is the opposing needs of her heart and her people. Tradition demands that Sarah marry a Jewish man. Only Sarah has fallen in love with a fisherman outside their community. And when the Nazis invade, Sarah must watch from afar as her family is taken away. . .

Corfu, 2004: Sarah's daughter, Bea, has built a happy life with a steadfast husband and two independent daughters. Their summers on the Greek island with the Winn family appear idyllic, especially the love that blossoms between Bea's daughter Joey and Leo Winn. But there is a secret threatening their beach paradise.

Florida, 2019:Joey is only days away from marrying the nice Jewish man her family adores. The arrival of Leo, Joey's first love, sends her reeling. Even after fifteen years, the attraction between them burns bright—but Leo isn't looking for a happy reunion. He's there to reveal why he really broke up with her during their last summer together.

Weddings have a way of bringing out the best—and worst—in those you love the most. And as the revelations of her family flood to the surface, what Joey learns will either bring them closer together . . . or tear them apart forever.

Thank you to Forever Publishing / Grand Central Pub

for sending this my way.

Radiant by Liz Heinecke

Releases Feb. 16th

Get it on Amazon

https://amzn.to/37bHj62

As someone who was a dancer for much of my life, I am always excited to dive into a book with reference and thought into the world of dance and performance. Having said that, I am a reviewer who just recently finished an ARC of Half Life by Jillian Cantor, a fictional story of Madam Curry as well. It's as if the world is telling me to get an education from the Nobel Prize-winning physicist.

After spending my evening with Radiant I found the connection between Curry and Fuller to be a very creative and wonderful friendship. It's a great look into the past. Especially women in the early 1900s.  

"The Dancer, The Scientist, and a Friendship Forged in Light"

*Sidenote - I really enjoyed the inclusion of photographs as well.

~Tanja

From the Cover...
At the turn of the century, Paris was a hotbed of creativity. Technology boomed, delivering to the world electric light, the automobile, and new ways to treat disease, while imagination blossomed, creating Art Nouveau, motion pictures, and modernist literature. A pivotal figure during this time, yet largely forgotten today, Loie Fuller was an American performance artist who became a living symbol of the Art Nouveau movement with her hypnotic dances and stunning theatrical effects. Credited today as the pioneer of modern dance, she was perennially broke, never took no for an answer, spent most of her life with a female partner, and never questioned her drive. She was a visionary, a renegade, and a loyal friend.

 
In the early 1900s, she heard about Marie Curie's discovery of a glowing blue element and dreamed of using it to dazzle audiences on stage. While Loie's dream wouldn't be realized, her connection with Marie and their shared fascination with radium endured. Radiant is the true story of Marie Curie and Loie Fuller, two revolutionary women drawn together at the dawn of a new era by a singular discovery, and the lifelong friendship that grew out of their shared passion for enlightenment.

*Thank you to Grand Central Publishing 

for sharing this title with me.

THE FAMILY by Louise Jensen

Get it on Amazon

https://amzn.to/3jIQUWU

Oh my, you guys. What a ride. Are they friends or foes? I was absolutely absorbed! The Family is a deep and twisted tale of a recent widow and her child looking for some shelter in their newfound situation. They've lost everything and what was supposed to be a lifeline turns turbulent. Thriller genre fans are sure to love it.
This one has been out for a while but is now available in paperback via Grand Central Publishing.

From the Cover...
At Oak Leaf Farm you will find a haven. 

Welcome to The Family.Laura is grieving after the sudden death of her husband. Struggling to cope emotionally and financially, Laura is grateful when a local community, Oak Leaf Organics, offer her and her 17-year-old daughter Tilly a home. But as Laura and Tilly settle into life with their new 'family', sinister things begin to happen. When one of the community dies in suspicious circumstances Laura wants to leave but Tilly, enthralled by the charismatic leader, Alex, refuses to go. Desperately searching for a way to save her daughter, Laura uncovers a horrifying secret but Alex and his family aren't the only ones with something to hide. Just as Laura has been digging into their past, they've been digging into hers and she discovers the terrifying reason they invited her and Tilly in, and why they'll never let them leave.

Thank you to 

@grandcentralpub

for sending this my way!

#Clubcarreadinggroup

What are you reading this Valentine's Day?

Here are a few recent favorites of mine.

~ Summer on Honeysuckle Ridge by Debbie Mason 

~ Forever with you Barb Curtis ~ 

~ Friends Like Us by Sarah Mackenzie ~ 

~ The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez ~ 

~ Layla by Colleen Hoover

The Wife Stalker by Liv Constantine

All she wants is the perfect family... yours. Well, if that doesn't give you a clue for what's to come, nothing will. The Wife Stalker is a fabulous suspenseful drama. It was named one of the most anticipated thrillers of the year on this Goodreads and the people there were not wrong.

I'm a new fan of Liv Constantine and her writing style. I can't wait for more.

~Tanja

From the Cover...

Breezing into the upscale seaside paradise of Westport, Connecticut, gorgeous thirtysomething Piper Reynard sets down roots, opening a rehab and wellness space and joining a local yacht club. When she meets Leo Drakos, a handsome, successful lawyer, the wedding ring on his finger is the only thing she doesn’t like about him. Yet as Piper well knows, no marriage is permanent.

Meanwhile, Joanna has been waiting patiently for Leo, the charismatic man she fell in love with all those years ago, to re-emerge from the severe depression that has engulfed him. Though she’s thankful when Leo returns to his charming, energetic self, paying attention again to Evie and Stelli, the children they both love beyond measure, Joanna is shocked to discover that it’s not her loving support that’s sparked his renewed happiness—it’s something else.

Piper. Leo has fallen head over heels for the flaky, New Age-y newcomer, and unrepentant and resolute, he’s more than willing to leave Joanna behind, along with everything they’ve built. Of course, he assures her, she can still see the children.

Joanna is devastated—and determined to find something, anything, to use against this woman who has stolen her life and her true love. As she digs deeper into Piper’s past, Joanna begins to unearth disturbing secrets . . . but when she confides to her therapist that she fears for the lives of her ex-husband and children, her concerns are dismissed as paranoia. Can she find the proof she needs in time to save them?

Thank you to

Harper Collins Publishing/Harper Perennial

for sending this my way!