Top Ten Tuesday - The Releases I'm Most Anticipating In the 2nd Half of 2022

Today I'm linking up with Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl which is all about lists.  Since lists are one of my favorite things this is one of my favorite linkups!  Today's topic is about Books I'm Most Anticipating for the 2nd Half of 2022.

1.  Death at the Manor by Katharine Schellman - I'm really loving this historical mystery series and am really looking forward to spending more time with Lily and the rest of the side characters.

2.  The Choice by Nora Roberts - I have loved the first two books in this fantasy trilogy and I can't wait till the last book!

3.  High Spirits by Carol J Perry - The first book in this series was one of my favorites of 2021 so I'm so excited about this one.

4.  Bound by Murder by Laura Gail Black - I'm enjoying this series involving an antique bookshop owner and I think it has so much potential.

5.  An Unforgiving Place by Claire Kells - This is a bit of a darker mystery set in a National Park and I'm really looking forward to it.

6.  Voice of Fear by Heather Graham - I love Graham's Krewe series and this is the latest upcoming release.  

7.  These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall - There's a reference to Hill House on the blurb so I can't help but resist this one.

8.  The Last to Vanish by Megan Miranda -I've been wanting to read this series forever and this one sounds amazing!

9.  Bleeding Heart Yard by Elly Griffiths -  I really liked The Stranger Diaries and I want to pick up the 2nd book and this new one to get caught up on it.   

10. Back to the Garden by Laurie R. King - I've been really enjoying catching up on this series and this upcoming title involving an American Golden couple sounds great.  

What are you looking forward to in the 2nd Half of 2022?

Mini Reviews - The Canterbury Sisters + No River Too Wide

Goodreads:  The Canterbury Sisters by Kim Wright

Blurb: Che Milan’s life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives, along with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage.
Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the sixty miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, reputed to be the site of miracles. In the best Chaucer tradition, the women swap stories as they walk, each vying to see who can best describe true love. Che, who is a perfectionist and workaholic, loses her cell phone at the first stop and is forced to slow down and really notice the world around her, perhaps for the first time in years.

Through her adventures along the trail, Che finds herself opening up to new possibilities in life and discovers that the miracles of Canterbury can take surprising forms.

My Thoughts:  At first I thought this was going to be a DNF.  Che is pretentious and judgmental and the rest of the tour group aren't much better.  But as this story continues I was quickly caught up into the stories and begin to become interested in the characters and the stories they had to tell.  Each woman is far more complicated than they appear and each story brings out more about not only the storyteller but the listeners.  Angelique was my favorite character but I felt like I connected to each one - even Che - by the end.  My Rating:  Really Liked It!

Goodreads:  No River Too Wide (Goddesses Anonymous #2) by Emilie Richards

Blurb:  On the night her home is consumed by fire, Janine Stoddard finally resolves to leave her abusive husband. While she is reluctant to involve her estranged daughter, she can't resist a chance to see Harmony and baby Lottie before she disappears forever.

Harmony's friend Taylor Martin realizes how much the reunited mother and daughter yearn to stay together, and she sees in Jan a chance to continue her own mother's legacy of helping women in need of a fresh start. She opens her home, even as she's opening her heart to another newcomer, Adam Pryor. But enigmatic Adam has a secret that could destroy Taylor's trust and cost Jan her hard-won freedom.

My Thoughts:  I forgot just how much I love Emilie Richards and her ability to handle difficult topics and create such complex characters.  I loved Jan and all the rest of the characters in the book.  I especially loved that all was not unicorns and rainbows between Harmony and her mother but it was handled in such a way that I sympathized and related to both women.  While this is the second in the series this book is a stand alone.  I want to continue the series just so I can hopefully get peeks of all the characters I grew to love in this book.  If you enjoy women's fiction where you connect with the characters and become caught up in the story this is a can't miss book.  My Rating:  Loved It!

Reading Recap - June 2022

Monthly Total - 20 - I got in a romance mood and ended up doing some binge reading of rereads which helped my total a bit. 

Monthly Breakdown:

Audio:  7

Print: 8

Kindle: 5

Mystery: 11

Romance: 4

Fiction: 3

NonFiction: 2

Favorite Book of the Month:

The Tuesday Night Survivors' Club by Lynn Cahoon - I've enjoyed other books by this author but this one really clicked with me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Least Favorite Book of the Month:

Devlin's Light by Mariah Stewart - I either really love Mariah Stewart's books or I really don't.  This was a really don't.  It feels like the author wanted to right a women's fiction story but her publisher insisted on adding suspense to it and both aspects suffered.  

My Bookish Travel:

I visited two new states:

Louisiana - This is actually the only state I've visited in real life this year!

Connecticut

And as usual I visited England and Ireland but with a new addition of 1960s China

How was your reading in June?  Where did you virtually travel?

Friday Fives - July TBR

I'm taking a bit of a break from my usual Friday Linkups to try something a little different.  I'm in a list making kind of mood so I thought I'd start making random five lists.  Sometimes they'll be bookish other weeks not so much.   Since this is the first Friday in July I'm picking out 5 books I'm hoping to read this month.

1.  Point Last Seen by Christina Dodd - There's a raging ocean and a bit of amnesia as well as a town full of secrets.  It looks like perfect summer reading!

2.  Tightrope by Amanda Quick - I've really enjoyed this series and the Burning Cove setting.  I read the most recent book and the first two books and want to get caught up on the books in the middle.

3.  Chained by Eileen Brady - This is a book that has been on my review shelf for far too long and it sounds really great even though I'm not so much a fan of the cover.

4.  Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James - This book has been on my TBR since it came out and I'm really looking forward to this one.

5.  Hark the Herald Angels Slay by Vicki Delany - I really this Year Round Christmas series and this one takes place in July which means this is the right time to read this one!

What are you hoping to read this month?

Books from the Backlog - Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Today I'm linking up with Carole from Carole's Random Life of Books for Books from the Backlog.  I really enjoy the chance to feature a book that's been hiding in the piles of books for far too long!

Goodreads:  Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Marty Wingate

Blurb:  After her romantic idyll with the debonair Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Pearse culminates in a marriage proposal, Pru Parke sets about arranging their nuptials while diving into a short-term gig at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. At hand is the authentication of a journal purportedly penned by eighteenth-century botanist and explorer Archibald Menzies. Compared to the chaos of wedding planning, studying the journal is an agreeable task . . . that is, until a search for a missing cat leads to the discovery of a dead body: One of Pru’s colleagues has been conked on the head with a rock and dumped from a bridge into the Water of Leith.
Pru can’t help wondering if the murder has something to do with the Menzies diary. Is the killer covering up a forgery? Among the police’s many suspects are a fallen aristocrat turned furniture maker, Pru’s overly solicitous assistant, even Pru herself. Now, in the midst of sheer torture by the likes of flamboyant wedding dress designers and eccentric church organists, Pru must also uncover the work of a sly murderer—unless this bride wants to walk down the aisle in handcuffs.

Why It Needs to Come Off the Shelf:  I have all  the books in this series and haven't read past the first two.   I need to fix that!

With a Spirit of Vengeance - Cozy Mystery Review

Goodreads:  With a Spirit of Vengeance (A Bay Island Pyschic Mystery #7) by Lena Gregory

Rating:  Liked It!
Source:   Publisher

Description:  Psychic Cass Donovan must uncover the truth about long-buried secrets and recent murders to bring peace to a troubled spirit and bring justice to a flesh-and-blood killer . . .

When the spirit of Ophelia Wilson turned to clairvoyant Cass Donovan for help, Cass was able to prove Ophelia’s innocence in the century-old murders of her family members—and solve a contemporary murder in the process. But Ophelia’s spirit has returned, this time angrily demanding that Cass expose the identity of whoever did kill her family. And then eerily, two descendants from the Wilson family tree are murdered, suggesting that Ophelia has the power to meddle in modern-day events to satisfy her rage.

As Cass struggles to solve the two recent murders and unravel the sparse clues about murders from a hundred years ago, she and those around her begin to suffer Ophelia’s wrath—including an attempt on the life of one of Cass’s closest friends. Relying on all of her own psychic powers, Cass has to confront the spirit’s hunger for vengeance and track down a merciless killer before she becomes the next victim of both . . .

Genre:  Mystery - Cozy

Why I Picked This Book:   I have really enjoyed the previous books in the series and how can I resist the big clumsy looking dog on the cover?

My Impression: I really enjoy this series!  Cass is a likable main character but what really sells it is her friends - especially Bee and Stephanie.  I also cannot get enough of her big dog aptly named Beast who is just as gentle as he is big and clumsy. The pyschic element adds an interesting element and is not always convenient for Cass.

This book follows closely with what happened in the previous book A Spirit Seeks Asylum and while you could read this book without reading the rest of the series you do need to read the book before this one for this one to really make sense.  The ghost of Ophelia is an interesting character and raises the question of just how do you solve a decades old murder with no evidence.  As well when Bee and Cass discover a modern day murder they have to figure out just how everything else is connected.  

The ending felt a little rushed but that is a common issue I have with cozy mysteries lately and since everything was esxplained I was happy with it.  This is a fun series with likable characters and a fantastic canine side kick.  If you enjoy a cozy with a good paranormal twist this is a fun series to try.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author? Definitely!  I've missed a few of the earlier books in the series and I'm looking forward to going back and reading them.

Would I Recommend this Book?  If you enjoy cozy mysteries this is a fun series.

* I received this book in exchange for an honest review.  As always my opinions and impressions are completely my own. *

Top Ten Tuesday - Summer TBR

Today I'm linking up with Top Ten Tuesday hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl which is all about lists.  Since lists are one of my favorite things this is one of my favorite linkups!  Today's topic is Summer TBR.  I love making this list each season even if I don't always (okay never) get to all the books on my list.

1.  The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin - The previous book by this author was one of my favorite books of last year and I'm so excited about this one!

2.  Round Up the Usual Peacocks by Donna Andrews - This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series and I can't wait to see what kind of hijinks and mayhem happen in this book.

3.  A Certain Darkness by Anna Lee Huber - This is another favorite series and in the previous book the main character had some real personal growth and I'm curious to see how this affects the books going forward.

4.  Dewey Decimated by Allison Brook - I love this series involving a haunted library and a cat names Smoky Joe.  I can't wait to read this one!

5. Castle Deadly, Castle Deep by Veronica Bond - I loved the first book in this series last year and am so excited to pick this one up.

6.  The Evil Inside by Heather Graham - I enjoy this series and love a good romantic suspense during the summer.  I've been making slow progress on catching on on this series from the beginnning and this is the next book in the series for me.

7.  Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers - I'm making slow progress on reading the Lord Peter Wimsey series in order and this is the next book.

8.  By Book or By Crook by Eva Gates - A book set on the Outer Banks in a library inside of a lighthouse seems like perfect summer reading!

9.  Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams - This book has been on my TBR FOREVER and I'm hoping to finally read it this summer.  I love Adams' sense of humor and this looks like it'll be really fun - and more than a little weird.

10.  Tilly and the Book Wanderers (Pages and Co #1) by Anna James - It's been a long time since I've read a new to me Middle Grade and this one looks really fun.

What are you hoping to read this summer?