Holiday Reading List: November 2018 to January 6th 2019

Yule Reading Challenge

November 1, 2018 - January 6, 2019

Welcome back to another year of the Yule Reading Challenge, here I attempt to read all the Yule/ Christmas books listed on my shelves and any ARCs I might have.  Last year I did this list and really enjoyed reading some of the books I owned.  This lead to me falling in love with a few new authors and adding them on to the TBR Pile but also made me aware of the awesome stories already sitting on the pile from those authors as well.

With another season on us I wanted to give myself plenty of time to really fall in love with these books, since I don't celebrate Thanksgiving I'm going to be going right from Halloween reads right into the Yule season.  If you would like to join in just share in the comments down below and we can work on motivating each other to clean up the TBR Pile just a little bit more.  Now onto the books to be read:

Books From the Stockpile

• Naughty or Nice by Sherrilyn Kenyon and Friends
• A SEAL Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear
• A Bride For Christmas by Heather Graham and Friends
• This Christmas by Jane Green and Friends
• Under The Mistletoe by Stephanie Bond
• The Secret Life of Mrs. Claus by Carly Alexander
• Christmas on Mimosa Lane by Anna DeStefano
• Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand
• Three Days on Mimosa Lane Anna DeStefano
• @Home For The Holidays by Meredith Efken
• Jingle Bells Rock Anthology Lori Foster, Janelle Denison & More
• Mistletoe Games Jaci Burton
• Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley (re-Read)
• Christmas Star by Roz Denny Fox
• Yule Be Mine by Lori Foster
• I'm Your Santa Anthology Lori Foster & Friends
• Holiday Temptation Donna Hill, Farrah Rochon & K.M. Jackson
• What She Wants Jaid Black, Shiloh Walker & Dominque Adair (Anthology)

ARCs That I Need To Read:

• The Keepers Christmas In Salem Heather Graham 
• A Last Chance Christmas by Vicki Lewis Thompson
• A Christmas To Remember by Jill Shalvis and Friends

Books I'm Adding on This Year:

• Once Upon A Holiday (Anthology)
• The Holiday Inn (Anthology)
• Mistletoe & Molly by Janet Dailey
• Santa in Montana
• Searching For Santa
• The Gift by Nora Roberts
• First Impressions by Nora Roberts
• Winter Nights (Anthology)

Let me know if you have read any of these and should I move them to the top.  I'm sure I will find more in my kindle, but for now, these are the ones I would like to work on.  The goal isn't to add any more books to this list but to clean up the books that have been waiting all year for me to read them.

Any comments or questions please feel free to leave them down below, and I will see you tomorrow my loves.

Stacking The Shelves (28): Library Book Sale & Dollar Tree

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page! Stacking The Shelves now has a new host and check out that new image!!

Paperbackswap

Whispered Promises by Brenda Jackson

The Best Man (Anthology) got it because of Brenda Jackson, it's awesome!!

Motherhood & Feminism by Amber Kinser

Purchased

I snagged these from the local Dollar Tree while hunting for some washi tape (which I found).

Out of Sight, Out of Time (The Gallagher Girl)  by Ally Carter

How To Break A Heart by Kiera Stewart

Then I hit up the local library book sale when I went to my eye doctor in another town.  I went in with a budget of $15. I ended up with 30 books, I went over budget by $1.75.

Thanks For the Memories by Cecelia Ahern

Nora Roberts:

Hot Ice 

Language of Love: Treasures Lost, Treasures Found 

Wolf Fever (Heart of the Wolf 6)  by Terry Spear

Brighter Than The Sun (KGI 11) by Maya Banks

Colder Than Ice ( Mordecai Young 2)  by Maggie Shayne

No Girl Nees a Husband Seven Days A Week by Nina Foxx

You Will Be Mine by Natasha Preston

Catalyst Laurie Halse Anderson

The Darkest Secret  (Lords of the Underworld 7) by Gena Showalter

Something Wild (Remington Family 3) by Pattie Berg, going back to an older series that I have on my shelves this is the final book I didn't own.

Apache Summer ( Slater Brothers) by Heather Graham

Kiss Me Once, Kiss Me Twice (Farrel Sisters 1) by Kimberly Raye

Butterscotch Blues by Margaret Johnson-Hodge

The Heart of A Woman by Maya Angelou

Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou

Sula by Toni Morrison

Don't Judge a Girl by Her Cover (Gallagher Girls 3)  by Ally Carter

Queen of Dragons (Drakon 3) by Shana Abe' trying to complete another of the series I have on my read shelves.

Boy Shopping by Nia Stephens this is the first book in the series and I was going to read the second book for the Contemporaryathon.  That's when I discovered I needed to get this one.

For nostalgia purpose I picked up these two books:

R.L Stine

The New Girl

Cheerleasers: First Evil

For The Holiday List: I added these on to the Holiday Reading List that I'll be sharing starting November 1st to January 6th. 

The Gift ( Anthology) by Nora Roberts

First Impressions by Nora Roberts

Mistletoe and Molly by Janet Dailey

Santa in Montana by Janet Dailey (Calder Saga) Discovered that this is the final book in the series. Oops.

Searching For Santa by Janet Dailey

The Holiday Inn (Anthology) 

Jingle All The Way  (Anthology)

Once Upon A Holiday (Anthology)

Charms, Spells & Formulas by Ray T Malbrough


What'd you get in your haul this week?? Share in the comments down below and I'll see you next week.

Happy Reading & Haulin' my loves

October 2018 To Be Read

My goal this year is 150  books, if I break that down it comes out to 13 books per month, with 3 to 4  books a week. Totally doable in my books, so as the proverb says, you can eat an elephant one bite at a time, so here are my first few bites:

Read So Far this Year: 

100!!!

TBR Pile 

150

TBR Balance:
50

Lemonade Syllabus:

1. .
2. .

Perpetual Author Challenge:

• Christine Feehan
• Christine Feehan
• JD Robb/ Nora Roberts
• Nora Roberts
• Nora Roberts

Finish Series Challenge:

• Black Rose by Nora Roberts
• Do Not Disturb The Girl In 6E by Alessandra Torre'
• Rogue (Croak 3) Gina Damico

ARC

• 
  
• .
• .
• .
• .

Black Out Challenge: from LA Banks

• Bad Blood (Crimson Moon 1)
• Bite THe Bullet (2)
• Undead On Arrival 3
• Cursed to Death 4
• Never Cry Werewolf 5
• Left For Undead 6.

Erotica books:

• .
• .
• .

What are you going to be reading my loves?? Share in the comments down below if you have read any of these and as always

Happy Reading

Book #Review: First Frost (Waverley Sisters 2) by Sarah Addison Allen

Book Title:  First Frost ( Waverley Sisters 2)
Author:  Sarah Addison Allen |Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher:   St. Martin's Press
Genre:  Paranormal Romance, Magical Realism
Series/Standalone:  Book 2
Format: Hardcover

Cost: $25.99

Pages: 300

How I got it: Purchased 

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound
Publication Date: Jan 20th, 2015
Add To Goodreads
Synopsis:

From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes a story of the Waverley family, in a novel as sparkling as the first dusting of frost on new-fallen leaves..

It's October in Bascom, North Carolina, and autumn will not go quietly. As temperatures drop and leaves begin to turn, the Waverley women are made restless by the whims of their mischievous apple tree... and all the magic that swirls around it. But this year, first frost has much more in store.

Claire Waverley has started a successful new venture, Waverley’s Candies. Though her handcrafted confections — rose to recall lost love, lavender to promote happiness and lemon verbena to soothe throats and minds — are singularly effective, the business of selling them is costing her the everyday joys of her family, and her belief in her own precious gifts.

Sydney Waverley, too, is losing her balance. With each passing day she longs more for a baby — a namesake for her wonderful Henry. Yet the longer she tries, the more her desire becomes an unquenchable thirst, stealing the pleasu
re out of the life she already has.
Sydney’s daughter, Bay, has lost her heart to the boy she knows it belongs to.. if only he could see it, too. But how can he, when he is so far outside her grasp that he appears to her as little more than a puff of smoke?

When a mysterious stranger shows up and challenges the very heart of their family, each of them must make choices they have never confronted before. And through it all, the Waverley sisters must search for a way to hold their family together through their troublesome season of change, waiting for that extraordinary event that is First Frost.

Lose yourself in Sarah Addison Allen's enchanting world and fall for her charmed characters in this captivating story that proves that a happily-ever-after is never the real ending to a story. It’s where the real story begins

We go back into the Waverly sisters lives to see what their happy ever after looks like 10 years post Garden Spells.  This story picks up years after Garden Spells and shows how their lives progressed since the last book. I really enjoyed seeing the relationships and how the women found their happiness not in just in finding their partners but in finding their homes and their places in their life. Sydney came home to the town to hide and found that she could bloom her and make a success of being there.  Claire's business has taken off with success especially in her candy business, and yet the success is beginning to make her doubt herself. Bay knows where she belongs but like most people who a confidant she unwittingly opens herself up to scrutiny when she tries to share that certainty with someone who is lost.

This time the main focus is Sydney's daughter Bay who is in high school and has figured out what her Waverly magic is, she's able to tell where something or someone belongs. She's figured out where she belongs as well and this is driving her mother crazy. Sydney hasn't really embraced her magic, she's still hesitant to believe that her daughter has it she wants her to be normal and have normal high school memories and associations and when they begin to happen she is now hesitant because this means her daughter won't be hers any longer.

As the women all struggle with finding that sense of home once again, they also deal with Clair'es fear that her uncertainty has made her daughter too much like her father. Bay wonders if she can make her mother understand why she needs what she needs. Sydney is trying to save her daughter from her own mistakes and embrace the changes coming into her life.

There is a moment within the book here their elder cousin points out that the girls are trying so hard because they are attempting to make up for what their mother lacked, and it truly hit home how even though leaving them with their Grandmother was the smartest and safest thing she could have done, Lorelei's flight from her destiny damaged her children in so many ways.  The secrets we keep as adults to 'protect' our children only hurt them when they are old enough to understand.  By leaving them with her mother, the girls never got to know her and never even knew the simplest things that a child should about heir parent.  Without good examples, the girls are left floundering as they try to parent their own children and find their sense of home and family.

It's a wonderful read and I found myself returning to it when I should have done chores just so I could know how it all ended.  As the mystery of certain characters unfolded we learned that the magic the Waverly's have goes deeper than they thought and that history doesn't have to repeat itself.  It was great to see how the relationships between the sisters healed and how without realizing it their example influenced their children.  I loved seeing Mariah, Claire's daughter and how she simply accepted the strangeness that made her home the way it was. I loved that the house and the apple tree had personalities and had to be bribed to behave or to let people it was mad at into the space.  I loved the way the men in their lives loved them and gave them what they needed while they themselves received all the love the women could give.

It's a great story about love, family and finding and embracing your sense of self. I highly recommend.

 ★★★★☆

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Practical Magic Alice Hoffman
• Garden Spells Sarah Addison Allen

Happy Reading my loves, 

Cover #Reveal: Stripped Down by Erin McCarthy . .@authorerin

Y'all know of my love of Erin McCarthy, so when the tour hosts asked if I wanted to participate in sharing the cover of her newest book I jumped so fast.  I am so excited to see the cover and to also dive into the book when it comes out. I've loved her stories for years and her True Believers series is still one of my all-time favorite reads. 

For those who don't know who Erin is here's a little bit about her:


USA Today and New York Times Bestselling author Erin McCarthy first published in 2002 and has since written over sixty novels and novellas in teen fiction, new adult romance, paranormal, and contemporary romance. Erin is a RITA finalist and an ALA Reluctant Young Reader award recipient, and is both traditionally and indie published. When she’s not writing she can be found sipping martinis in high heels or eating ice cream in fleece pajamas depending on the day, and herding her animals, kids, and amazing renovation-addicted husband.

And as for the book:

Book Title: Stripped Down
Author:  Erin McCarthy |Website| Twitter| Facebook|

Publisher: Amazon Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Format: Ebook

Cost: $

Pages: 240

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Publisher
Publication Date: October 29th 2018
Add To Goodreads
Synopsis:

His best friend’s hot older sister.
Her younger brother’s annoying sidekick.
And one forbidden kiss in a bathroom in high school…

Sloane O’Sullivan is returning home to Minnesota, dreading turning thirty. Once the Mean Girl, she’s a lot more humble these days. And shocked to see how Little Dickie is all grown up and hot as hell, stripping at a charity event like he was born with biceps.

Working out has shed Rick Ryder of his despised childhood nickname. Now he leads a simple life. Work on cars, take care of his kid sister, have casual hookups. But when Sloane comes back to town single, he wants to finish what they started in that bathroom twelve years earlier.

It was complicated back then. It’s even more so now.

Because Sloane wrecks his bike.
And he’s her landlord.
And her brother will murder him if he has sex with her.

But sometimes you have to strip it all down to see what was there all along… even if it’s a secret.

STRIPPED DOWN releases later this month at a special limited time release price! Sign up for Erin’s newsletter or like her on facebook to find out when it goes live!

Connect With Erin:

Instagram |  Goodreads | BookHub

Make sure to be on the look out for this one and I'll see you tomorrow.