Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston

Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston -- 369 pages

Joni Lark has a secret. She’s one of the most coveted songwriters in LA, and yet she can’t write. There’s an emptiness inside her, and nothing seems to fill it. When she returns to her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, she hopes that the sand, the surf, and the concerts at The Revelry, her family’s music venue, will spark inspiration. But when Joni gets there, nothing is how she left it. Her best friend is hiding something, her mother’s memories are fading fast, and The Revelry is closing. How can Joni write when her world is leaving her behind?

Until she hears it. A melody in her head, lyric-less and half-formed, and an alluring and addictive voice to go with it—belonging, apparently, to a wry musician with an emptiness of his own. Surely, he’s a figment of Joni’s overworked imagination. Then a very real man shows up in Vienna Shores. He’s arrogant and guarded—nothing like the sweet, funny voice in Joni’s head—and he has a plan for breaking their inconvenient telepathic connection: finish the song haunting them both and hope they don’t risk their hearts—or their secrets—in the process. Because that melody, the one drawing them together . . . what if it’s there for a reason?

The Wild Card by Stephanie Archer

The Wild Card by Stephanie Archer -- 464 pages

Former star player Tate Ward has become easily the best coach in professional hockey, leading the Vancouver Storm team to victory. Everyone is in love with the handsome, authoritative single dad—except Jordan Hathaway, the newest staff member on the Vancouver Storm team.

Jordan was more than comfortable behind her bar at the team’s favorite watering hole. When her father threatens to sell the team, though, she’s forced to put her grievances aside and work with the man who likes everyone but her—: Coach Tate Ward.

But beneath his controlled exterior, Tate is funny, encouraging, and protective. He moves Jordan into his guest house, trusts her with his daughter, and fires the person who made her cry. He’s her boss, and a relationship would ruin both their careers, but Jordan still finds herself dreaming of a life with Tate. As the lines between them blur and Jordan encourages him to be selfish, Tate realizes what he wants . . . is her.

I Know A Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours by Nat Cassidy

 

I Know A Place: Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours by Nat Cassidy - 472 pages

There are locations in this world where the light doesn’t seem to reach. Where, no matter how illuminated the place might be, shadows creep in too strongly to fight back.

A suspiciously empty gas station rest stop in the middle of the night, littered with googley eyes... A doctor’s office, where a bottle of booze and a tear-stained folder wait on the desk... A tech millionaire’s haunted kitchen... A Bible-quoting ventriloquist’s dingy apartment... A yoga retreat in the middle of the desert, silent except for the screaming...

These locations and more are your destination and bestselling author Nat Cassidy will be your guide. Featuring the Bram Stoker Award-nominated, critically acclaimed novella Rest Stop (one of Esquire’s Best Horror Books of 2024), along with a number of other original short stories, some which have never been published before, I Know A Rest Stop and Other Dark Detours is a travelogue down twisting side streets and through alleyways where the darkness has eyes... and teeth.

Let’s hope you make it home in one piece.

I really enjoyed reading these short stories.  Sometimes I read a book of short stories and feel unfulfilled, wanting more closure, but these were great.  My favorite was the one about the rest stop, that one was just messed up, but in a good way.  I enjoyed this book so much that I immediately checked out another book by this author.

Fate Breaker (Realm Breaker, #3) by Victoria Aveyard

 Fate Breaker (Realm Breaker, #3) by Victoria Aveyard-625 pages

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Goodreads Synopsis: 

A dark fate descends. A shattered alliance must rise.

The Companions are torn apart and the realm hangs in the balance, at the edge of ruin. Taristan and Queen Erida rise triumphant from the battlefield, while Corayne barely escapes with her life; her Companions left behind to uncertain fates.

But not all hope was lost: Corayne managed to steal Taristan's Spindleblade. Without it, Taristan can’t rip open any more Spindles. Without it, he can’t end the world.

Now, from every corner of the realm, the Companions race to reunite while they rally old allies and seek unexpected new ones, in one final push against darkness.

But Taristan and Erida are all but invincible. With their cruel god, What Waits, on their side, they will sacrifice anything and anyone to his hunger.

Everything has come to this. In the final clash between good and evil, a ragged alliance makes its bravest stand against a ruthless enemy . . . and the demon god who would consume the realm entire.

Thoughts: In this final installment of the trilogy plot points wrap up well and the ending is pretty satisfying. One small flaw is that there's a lot of build up to the final battle in the first 450 or so pages, but the final battle itself feels a bit rushed. Overall, though, this was a good read as was the entire series. 

The Cursed Moon by Angela Cervantes

 

The Cursed Moon   by Angela Cervantes  211 pages

Rafael Fuentes isn't easily scared. He loves writing ghost stories, reading scary books, and entertaining his friends with terrifying tales he creates on the spot. Rafa has come up against enough real-life scary situations that fictional hauntings seem like no big deal. Rafa's incarcerated mom is being released from jail soon, and will be coming to live with him, his sister, and their grandparents. For the first time in a while, Rafa feels a pit of fear growing in his stomach. To take his mind off his mom's return, Rafa spends an evening crafting the scariest ghost story he's ever told. As an eerie blood moon hangs in the sky, Rafa tells a group of friends about The Caretaker. The Caretaker is an evil ghost who lures unsuspecting kids into the neighborhood pond ... and they don't ever come out. Rafa is really proud of his latest creation, until strange things start to happen around him. With a sinking feeling, Rafa realizes the Caretaker is real. Rafa has brought the ghost to life -- and only he can stop him.

Not my favorite Juvenile Fiction book.  I am not a fan of spooky books.  It does delve into the situation of a mom in jail and giving her another chance, but the ghosts were too much for me 😊

That's a Great Question, I'd Love To Tell You by Elyse Myers

That's a Great Question, I'd Love To Tell You by Elyse Myers, 269 pages

Reading a social media influencer's book is always a dicey proposition, no matter how much you enjoy their public persona. Sometimes they're just not interesting in long form. That's a Great Question, I'd Love to Tell You is a read that's equal part cozy, cringy, complicated, and just a little bit crazy. 

The format of the book itself, the way the information is presented to the reader, is an interesting insight into the workings of Myer's mind. Memory and poetry crash together, all illustrated by the author's own hand.  It was an adjustment shifting from shortform videos to the written word, but ultimately, the book reads like Myers speaks. I could almost hear her narrating in my head. It was a fun read with a lot of heart. 

 

The Christmas Doll by Elvira Woodruff

The Christmas Doll by Elvira Woodruff, 151 pages

From the MARC: "As Christmas approaches, Lucy, a ten-year-old orphan living on the streets of London, is overjoyed to be given the job of sewing hearts for the dolls in ThimbleBee's Doll Shop."