Recent Reads

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune (2022)

Percy and Sam fall in love as teenagers over the course of her summer visits to the lake, but one mistake causes Percy to stay away for a decade.  When Sam's mother passes away, Percy returns to Barry's Bay and is forced to confront her feelings for Sam.  Carley Fortune's books are so hyped that I've avoided reading them for years, but when I saw this book in a Little Free Library, I took the opportunity to finally read one of her stories!  For the most part, I enjoyed this book.  I liked the back and forth between present and past, seeing Percy and Sam grow up and realize their feelings for each other.  The ending really threw me, though - it was so abrupt and I honestly can't believe that Sam could get over the "mistake" that Percy made when they were younger.  The reveal of the mistake took so long and it seemed so monumental to me, yet it was resolved fairly quickly and painlessly.  4 stars

Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood (2024)

Viola and Jesse are video game designers at rival firms, but they have a chance to work together on Viola's dream job.  Their firms participate in a snowy retreat, where Viola finally confronts Jesse over his apathy towards her over the years, and Jesse shocks her with his response.  This was a fun (and spicy) little novella!  I think Hazelwood did a great job succinctly creating a believable and well-rounded backstory for Viola and Jesse, and also for Viola's love for the book series-turned-video game.  The other co-workers on the retreat added some flavor, but in such a short story, it really was all about Viola and Jesse.  I appreciated that they were able to talk through their issues, but I did feel like they got serious so fast, and it always seems a little weird to me that people who have barely talked to each other hold such a torch for each other - is it just me?  3.5 stars

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Can't-Wait Wednesday: Love You More

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating!

Love You More

Emily Giffin

Expected publication date: July 7, 2026

A woman is newly engaged to a man she adores when she receives a call from her first love—with news that shatters her carefully ordered world—in this emotional, powerful novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Pact.

Billie has built the perfect life. Her practice as a doctor in New York City is thriving, and she’s finally found the right partner in Dean after years spent trying to move on from her high-school sweetheart, Mick. Their young love had been intense and true, but distance and ambition pulled them apart when she left Wisconsin for medical school.

Then one morning, just after accepting Dean’s romantic marriage proposal, Billie’s phone rings. It’s Mick—calling for the first time in nearly a decade. His news is urgent, and in a moment, everything changes.

As Billie boards a plane back to Wisconsin, the past comes rushing in—her friendships from home, the love she shared with Mick, and the choices that shaped them. What awaits her is a reckoning with what she’s lost, what she’s built, and what she still wants.

Gripping and deeply moving, Love You More is a story about the plot twists life throws at us—and how love, in all its forms, has the power to change everything. - from Goodreads

Recent Reads

Welcome Home, Caroline Kline by Courtney Preiss (2024)

After a bad breakup, Caroline has no job and no apartment in the city, so she's kind of forced to return home to New Jersey when her father asks for her help.  She is to take his place on the local men's softball team, but coming home is more difficult than she imagined it to be.  First off, I loved the NJ setting of this book - it's not one I see often and it was fun to know a lot of the local references.  I liked Caroline's sarcasm and the growth in her relationship with her father; although always pretty close, she gets to see a different side of him and help him as she never could before.  If you're looking for romance, I'd look elsewhere - although Caroline is reunited with her first crush, there are other elements at play that force a love match to the backburner.  The pacing was extremely slow and there's a lot of plot points to keep track of.  Caroline has to deal with some heavy topics, but because there's so much going on, there wasn't as much impact as I'd hoped for.  3 stars

Sunk in Love by Heather McBreen (2026)

A divorcing couple hide their secret from her family while they attend a vacation with them, but the close proximity stirs up old feelings and makes them question if they're doing the right thing.  I just loved this book!  I read a lot of romance, but not a lot about married couples, so that was a nice change and felt more relatable to me.  Mostly we get romances about couples just starting their journey together, but Roslyn and Liam have been together for 9 years, married for 5.  We get to see where they started from, but also the obstacles that can creep in over the years.  Happily ever afters aren't guaranteed; Roslyn's mother's death put a serious strain on their marriage, and issues that they may have overlooked before, now became magnified.  I loved watching them find their way back to each other, but also witness Roslyn's growth in regard to her family and never quite feeling like she fit in.  4.5 stars

* This post contains affiliate links; I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.

Can't-Wait Wednesday: When You Loved Me

Can't-Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and helps us spotlight upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating!

When You Loved Me

Beatriz Williams

Expected publication date: June 23, 2026

A young widow returns to her late father’s New England estate, only to be drawn into the hunt for the rumored pirate treasure that consumed his life, in this thrilling and moving novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Husbands & Lovers.

Local history insists that a legendary pirate buried his treasure somewhere beneath Windward, the decayed Cooper estate on Winthrop Island, but Lucy Cooper never trusted the fable that broke her family apart. When a widowed Lucy returns with her young daughter to grieve her estranged father, she discovers the property’s buried under a mountain of debt, and Ben Ressler has just turned up on her doorstep.

Thirteen summers ago, a teenaged Lucy never meant to fall in love with Ben, a Dartmouth football star vacationing next door at the Peabody estate, and the object of an all-consuming crush by Laura Peabody, Lucy’s best friend. Those two weeks with Ben were the best and worst of Lucy’s life, dooming her friendship with Laura. Now Ben’s returned to live quietly in the Peabodys’ caretaker lodge, after a fatal accident ended his dazzling NFL career. He’s also the last person who saw Lucy’s father alive.

As Lucy reconstructs her father’s troubling final days, she uncovers his research on the frozen winter of 1717, when a desperately wounded pirate sought refuge on Winthrop Island with an enigmatic healer. To Lucy, this history points the way to a different kind of how to forgive yourself for the mistakes of the past and earn a second chance at love. But just as Lucy’s long-buried emotions sear to the surface, a shocking turn of events reveals that someone else on the island will do whatever it takes to claim the fabled plunder.

A timeless story of love and atonement, When You Loved Me maps both a centuries-old treasure hunt and the intimate territory of the human heart, weaving together past and present as only Beatriz Williams can. - from Goodreads

Michele's Monday Picks #96

Angela is so generous to let me pop in with my series, Michele’s Monday Picks!  I’m not a blogger or bookstagrammer, but I love getting excited about new releases with the rest of you.  Here I’ll be sharing new books I’m really looking forward to!

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Scandal of the Summer

By Alexandra Vasti

Expected Publication: June 23, 2026

From Goodreads:

A desperate debutante meets a ragtag smuggler in this sexy Regency romp by USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Vasti.

Eccentric heiress Lady Ruby Ballimore has had enough of the Marriage Mart. After offending yet another Very Important Marquess―and imperiling her father’s diplomatic career―Ruby flees London for the holiday house of a glamorous (and better yet, absent) princess. Armed with a forged invitation and accompanied by her like-minded friends, Ruby arrives at the Cornwall estate expecting a summer of blissful freedom.

Instead, she discovers a derelict mansion and the most suspiciously charming man she’s ever met.

Former privateer and current con artist Captain Malcolm Archer has dragged his ramshackle crew into a new life. Posing as staff at a princess’s abandoned estate provides the perfect cover for Archer’s smuggling scheme (not to mention free rent). Everything’s going according to plan―until an unorthodox London heiress crashes the party.

But when Archer and his crew attempt to frighten off their uninvited guests, Ruby’s unfazed by insect invasions and sham sea monsters. Harder to ignore? The scorching heat between the rakish pirate and the debutante who can see right through him. As sparks fly, deceptions run wild―because in this Great Cornish Fake Off, the only thing riskier than telling the truth is falling in love.

I thought this sounded so fun! Do you think you’ll be picking this one up?

Recent Reads

 The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda (2023)

A decade ago, a group of students survived a horrific crash when many others perished.  Now, the survivors meet yearly, as the only ones who really know what happened that night.  This year, though, feels different.  As their group gets smaller, Cass, one of the survivors who is trying to distance herself from the group, begins to wonder if something else is going on.  I feel like the premise of this book definitely didn't match the execution.  I liked the dual timeline, with one focusing on the survivor group at their yearly get-together in the present day and the other on the night of the accident.  The past timeline is told in a reverse chronological way, which definitely made for a shocking (yet also wholly unbelievable) reveal but also made me feel confused as to what was happening.  I think this book was trying to be more of a thriller than it actually was.  The reveals didn't necessarily make sense and the whole book felt kind of convoluted.  3 stars

The Write Off by Kara McDowell (2026)

Mars and West met in college, became best friends, and briefly dated, which ended badly.  Now, a decade later, they are both back on campus, attending a book festival as published authors, and they are forced to confront their complicated past.  I loved the college setting of this book, both seeing Mars and West in the past as undergrads and now being back as older adults.  I think McDowell captured that unique setting and feeling very well.  I also enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at the life of a successful author who is also trying to make a comeback.  I felt the connection between Mars and West, but at times there was a bit too much drama for me.  I get the dynamics between them, but more than once, it felt like things were finally getting on track, just for one of them to abruptly pull the plug.  They both felt a bit immature (and since McDowell mostly writes YA, I get it) and it seemed like there was too much miscommunication and impulsivity.  4 stars

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Month in Review: May 2026

 

May was another busy month!  Henry continued tball - I was very nervous when he refused to play any of the second game, but after that, he was excited to go to practice and his games, and he's doing great!  My sister and I attended a book event with author Sally Hepworth (linked below if you missed the original post!).  We took our annual trip to Cape May with my in-laws.  We had really nice weather and spent a lot of time walking around Cape May, visiting lighthouses, walking the boardwalk, and shopping downtown.  Memorial Day weekend was almost a total washout, so it ended up being a very relaxing weekend for us.  We ended the month with a Somerset Patriots game (our local minor league baseball team).  Henry and Tom got to walk the field with our tball league and Henry saw fireworks in person for the first time - he was so excited, he couldn't stop yelling!

The Books

Too Old For This // Manor for Sale, Baron Included // The Only Survivors // Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

The Honeymoon Cottage // Into Thin Air // The Write Off // Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai'i

Welcome Home, Caroline Kline

The Posts and Reviews

Michele's Monday Picks #95

Author Tea with Sally Hepworth

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Chateau on Sunset

Recent Reads

Little Free Library Sightings: The Jersey Shore Edition, Part 5

Fiction/Nonfiction Quick Reviews: The Hawaii Edition

How are you doing?

* This post contains affiliate links; I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.