Susan’s Book Blog

  A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall Release date: May 24, 2022 Published by Forever/Grand Central ❧ ❧ ❧ When Viola Carroll was presumed dead at Waterloo she took the opportunity to live, at last, as herself. But freedom does not come without a price, and Viola paid for hers with the loss of her wealth, her title, and her closest companion, Justin de Vere, the Duke of Gracewood. Only when their families reconnect, years after the war, does Viola learn how deep that loss truly was. Shattered without her, Gracewood has retreated so far into grief that Viola barely recognises her old friend in the lonely, brooding man he has become. As Viola strives to bring Gracewood back to himself, fresh desires give new names to old feelings. Feelings that would have been impossible once and may be impossible still, but which Viola cannot deny. Even if they cost her everything, all over again. ❧ ❧ ❧ I’m not sure I can articulate exactly how amazing this book is. But I will try. Even though Alexis Ha...

Happy birthday to this lovely book! I very much enjoyed reading this one and highly recommend it. My review is posted below. Do consider buying or borrowing this one. It's a keeper. ❤ ❤ ❤ The Suite Spot by Trish Doller Release date: March 8, 2022 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin ✨✨ 4.5 stars out of 5 ✨✨ OMG this gave me allll the feels 🥰🥺 I’ve never read anything by Trish Doller before (Float Plan is high up on my TBR) but I love the characters she created here, the story she told, and her writing style. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of her work after this. Rachel Beck is a single mom who finds herself in need of a new job and decides to make a big life change to get it. This is a follow-up to Float Plan (the MCs of both books are sisters) but can absolutely stand on its own. (For Float Plan fans: Anna & Keane make cameos.) There was honestly so much I appreciated and enjoyed about this book. I loved Rachel’s strength and tenacity and her big heart. I love...

 As of right now, I have 6 ARCs waiting to be reviewed on NetGalley, all with release dates in May, June, and July, so I thought I would give you a heads up on what you can look forward to seeing here in the near future.  Each book is pictured below with its tentative release date so expect to see its review here sometime in the 4 weeks prior to that date.  Are there any here you’re particularly excited about?

(Screenshot from my Instagram) So February is almost over and there is no way I’ll be getting my current book finished in time to add to the list so I guess it’s done! I feel like I was excessively distractible this month - only managed to get 8 books read. (Well, 7 and a smidge of an eighth.) But I enjoyed most of them A LOT. You can find links to my reviews of them below. (And as always, you can always find the link to my GoodReads account in the sidebar.)  Weather Girl - review (blog) / ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Dream Thieves - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Josh & Gemma - review (GR) / ⭐️ Something Fabulous - review (blog) / ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Audiobook re-“read”) So This is Ever After - review (blog) / ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Season’s Change - review (blog) / ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Until We Meet -  review  (blog) / ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Best Laid Plans - review (GR) / ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ February Book Haul Between my BotM selections, my Illumicrate subscription, the used finds I got on PangoBooks, cashing in some credit card rewards points, a G...

Book Recs, part 2. There are a small hand-full of books that have stuck with me ever since I read them several years ago. They're not new, not terribly popular, not anything you'll see on BookTok or Bookstagram. But they made an impression on me and have become some of my all-time feelgood favorites. You can find Pt 1 here .  ☙ ☙ ☙   For this second installment, I’m going with a book that felt equal parts profoundly beautiful and profoundly weird. I read this for the first time more than 20 years ago, but I remember the impact it had on me when I'd finished. It's a little Forrest Gump-like in its believability and tone which I actually really enjoyed. It's an extraordinary story, unlike anything I'd read before or since, about an extraordinary person. I highly recommend giving it a look. A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving (john-irving.com) “I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I eve...

  This gorgeous book is having a birthday today - buy it or borrow it, you’re sure to enjoy it. Read my review here

  Until We Meet by Camille Di Maio Pub date: March 1, 2022 // 5 stars out of 5 // A poignant and page-turning story of three women whose lives are forever changed by war… Brooklyn, 1943 Can one small act change the course of a life?  Margaret ’s job at the Navy Yard brings her freedoms she never dared imagine, but she wants to do something more personal to help the war effort. Knitting socks for soldiers is a way to occupy her quiet nights and provide comfort to the boys abroad. But when a note she tucks inside one of her socks sparks a relationship with a long-distance pen pal, she finds herself drawn to a man she’s never even met. Can a woman hold on to her independence if she gives away her heart?  Gladys  has been waiting her whole life for the kinds of opportunities available to her now that so many men are fighting overseas. She’s not going to waste a single one. And she’s not going to let her two best friends waste them either. Then she meets someone who...

  Season’s Change by Cait Nary Published February 1, 2022 Olly Järvinen has a long way to go. He’s got a fresh start playing for a new team but getting his hockey career back on track is going to take more than a change of scenery. He’s got to shut his past out and focus. On the game, not on his rookie roommate and his annoyingly sunny disposition—and annoyingly distracting good looks. All Benji Bryzinski ever wanted was to play in the big leagues, and he’s not going to waste one single second of his rookie season. Yoga, kale smoothies and guided meditation help keep his head in the game. But his roommate keeps knocking him off track. Maybe it’s just that Olly is a grumpy bastard. Or maybe it’s something else, something Benji doesn’t have a name for yet. Olly and Benji spend all their time together—on the ice, in the locker room, in their apartment—and ignoring their unspoken feelings isn’t making them go away. Acting on attraction is one thing but turning a season’s flin...

  So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens Release Date: March 29, 2022 🗡🗡🗡🗡✨ 4.5 magical swords out of 5 So this is an idiots to lovers/soulmates story about a couple of oblivious dumbasses who take forever to realize how the other one feels.    Arek is the Chosen One; 17 years old and prophesied to overthrow the “Vile One”. Matt is Arek’s best friend, his mage, and his secret crush. The story begins at the fulfillment of the prophecy and shows us what comes after “The End.” This is a single POV, hilariously narrated in the first person by Arek. This was charming and sweet and just really fun. I think the best point of reference for understanding the tone of this book is Season 2 of Miracle Workers (Dark Ages), the TBS show with Daniel Radcliffe. That has the exact same ‘Modern-style Characters in an Old-style World’ feel and the same deadpan parodic comedy style. That they felt so contemporary despite living in a world that could have existed a thousand years ago made t...

I've been inspired again to Pop-ify a fave couple - twice in one month is a record, I think! I just loved Rachel Lynn Solomon's new book Weather Girl and its characters so much that I needed to have them on my shelf!  {{If you're not familiar with the premise, Ari is a meteorologist and Russell is a sports reporter for the local Seattle TV station, KSEA Channel 6.}} Below you can see the mock-ups I made for both Ari and Russell, showing the Pops I used for head and body (and in Russell's case, glasses).    I think they came together pretty well. I was lucky to already have the spare glasses from having used the Felicity pop's body for Stella from The Kiss Quotient.  Ari's boots are a big hot mess. I ordered a couple different pairs of Barbie boots but decided to give it a go using paint first, since the boots hadn't arrived when I started working on the pops. I piled on thick yellow paint and built them up around her legs, but the paint job is not a smooth o...

 I hadn't gotten too far into reading Alexis Hall's new book Something Fabulous when I started thinking about how I could Pop-ify the characters. I don't think I've had this much fun reading a book in quite a while and Bonny & Valentine were the most delightful characters and I felt the need to have them on my shelf... I decided to recreate the cover looks for Bonny & Valentine. Below are some pics of the work in progress and the finished product.  First, here's the mock-ups I made using images of the heads and bodies I chose to create them with, painted in the appropriate ways. ⬇️ Work In Progress ⬇️ A close-up on Bonny's rings ⬇️ And... 🥁🥁🥁 the final product  (Watch out, Malvern, there's a BEE!!) 

🚨   SPOILERS AHEAD  🚨  If you’re an Illumicrate subscriber and you’re still waiting on your box and don’t want to be spoiled, STOP HERE. 🛑 ✋🏼  Shhhhhh 🤫  Illumicrate’s January theme is Royal Secrets . This is my first monthly subscription box from them and I like the books they chose. They’re not ones I would have chosen for myself which I actually kind of like. And the editions are beautiful, especially the larger hardback.  Look at the sprayed edges. The foil embossing all over the whole book shimmers in the light and the print continues onto the page edges. It’s so gorgeous! The endpapers are a beautiful bright orange and display more of the cover pattern. The rest of the contents include: Socks (The Priory of the Orange Tree) Necklace (The Never Tilting World) Phone stand (The Prison Healer) Jigsaw Puzzle (We Hunt the Flame) And a small print (pictured above) came with This Woven Kingdom Here’s more info about each book: This Woven Kingdom Cla...