{Book Blogger Hop} Instagram

This week's question over at Coffee Addicted Writer is: Do you have an Instagram account? If so, do you only follow book folks?

Do you have an Instagram account? Confession Time: I literally just made an Instagram page last week. I had a personal one that I used for following awesomely amazing people doing Keto and living that teacher life, but I felt like I needed a bookish one. So, if you want to follow me and spend a little time in my bookish world, you're more than welcome to over at BohoBookReviews. 

If so, do you only follow book folks? I am planning to only follow book folks on this account. I have my personal account already (If you enjoy yoga, work out tips and seeing photos of one cute kid you can follow me over there: sparrows_and_lilies) where I follow non-book related people and family, so I'd rather keep my bookstagram as such.

If you are looking to follow some book related Instagram accounts I highly suggest: borgprincess, darkfaerietales_, paperfury, bookholic.and.proud 

Their accounts put hearts in my eyes!

{Friday} 56

What I had said about Brayden Matthews and my short but intriguing contact with him was just another speed bump for my father to navigate in his journey to embrace fully this mysterious creature he called his daughter.

Into the Darkness by V.C. Andrews, Page 56

His pale blue eyes were agleam in the waning light of day's end. Like many Louisianians, his voice was full of character and appeal, that wonderful accent as charming as any Mignon had heard in her many travels.

Bayou Moon by C.L. Bevill, Page 56

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader

*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it)

*Post it.

*Leave your link over at Freda's Voice.

Bookish (and not-so Bookish) Thoughts Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

1. This week I watched I Can Only Imagine. I cried. I definitely recommend this movie and if you haven't heard the song yet, LISTEN to it. Seriously.

2. I'm officially on vacation! It feels so good to vacation for the first time in a few years. I'm glad Little Man is now at an age where he can enjoy it also.

3. Our library just got these super awesome yard signs in that say "A Reading Rockstar Lives Here". They are amazing. My son grabbed one the second we walked into the library the other day and rushed to put it in our yard as soon as we got home.

4. On that note, we so want to start building our own Little Free Library. What are your thoughts? Do you have one or do you enjoy a local one? I'm in envy over Whim2Read's Little Free Library on Instagram.

5. I started taking a yoga class each week at our local farmer's market and I love it. Not only do I get to spend time taking in the smells of cooking in the air, the beautiful fruits and vegetables and the sounds of music, I can now immerse myself in nature and become one with it. I am enjoying this yoga class so much and I can't wait to do goat yoga in a few weeks!

6. It seems as if my mind is always buzzing with ideas. I've been writing down so many plans for my class lately along with coming up with details on future fundraisers.

7. I'm currently reading Denial by Lisa Renee Jones, Lord Fenton's Folly by Josi S. Kilpack and Bayou Moon by CL Bevill.

Linking up my thoughts at Bookishly Boisterous.

Wonderous Words & Library Loot Wednesday

 Wondrous Words Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Bermuda Onion where you can share new words that you've encountered or spotlight words that you love. Today I'm sharing two of my favorite words.

Selcouth - (adj.) unfamiliar, rare, strange, and yet marvelous

Orphic - (adj.) mysterious and entrancing; beyond ordinary understanding

   I'm also linking up to the weekly Library Loot meme hosted by The Captive Reader. Check out what I picked up at the library this week!

Bayou Moon by CL Bevill - I love mysteries, especially those set in the Bayou! I'm so excited to dive into this one. The book really sold me with the last few lines in the description: Bayou Moon is a gripping tale of murder, revenge, and voodoo in small town Louisiana that captures all the ambience and charm of the rural South. Someone has a secret that must be kept hidden, and God help the one who tries to uncover it...

Lord Fenton's Folly by Josi S. Kilpack - I haven't read many historical romances lately, but COYER Bingo has one on the card and this one drew my attention. Once I had it home from the library, I realized just how mixed the reviews are from two stars to five. It will be interesting to see what I think of it.

Into the Darkness by V.C. Andrews - I'm a big fan of V.C. Andrews so I picked this one up on a whim. I hadn't read anything by the author in awhile. Once again, I see reviews are really mixed on this one, most of them poor, so I'm not sure how this one will measure up, but I'm going to form my own opinion.

When by Victoria Laurie - I don't read much YA, but I picked this up since I was curious after reading the blurb.

This Could Change Everything by Jill Mansell - This seemed like a perfect read for my vacation so it's packed up and ready to go with me. It's been awhile since I've picked up a Jill Mansell book, but I wanted something light for beach reading.

{Book Review} Spelled by Betsy Schow

Title: Spelled

Author: Betsy Schow

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairy Tale Retelling

Published: June 5th, 2018

Author Links: Goodreads / Website 

Book Links: Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

Somewhere over the rainbow, all spell is about to break loose...

Fairy Tale Survival Rule No. 32: If you find yourself at the mercy of a wicked witch, sing a romantic ballad and wait for your Prince Charming to save the day.

Yeah, no thanks. Dorthea is completely princed out. Sure being the crown princess of Emerald has its perks - like Glenda Original ball gowns and Hans Christian Louboutin heels. But a forced marriage to the charming brooding prince Kato is not what Dorthea had in mind for her enchanted future.

Talk about unhappily ever after.

Trying to fix her prince problem by wishing on a (cursed) star royally backfires, leaving the kingdom in chaos and her parents stuck in some place called "Kansas." Now it's up to Dorthea and her pixed off prince to find the mysterious Wizard of Oz and undo the curse...before it releases the wickedest witch of all and spells The End of the world of Story.

   Once upon a time... There was a spoiled princess living indoors behind locks and spells because the alternative is that could burn down the world. A curse was put on her family years and years prior and now Dorthea has to live with it being passed down to her. The witch who cursed the family messed up the spell and didn't specify which Emerald princess would receive the curse so the entire line has spent their lives in gilded cages.
   Dorthea spends her days looking for ways to break the wards that keep her bound to the castle until the day she meets a prince and makes a wish and everything changes.
  I'll be the first to admit that fantasy and YA books are usually not my cup of tea. I prefer mysteries, suspense and romance. HOWEVER, I picked up Spelled for the COYER Fairy Tale Read-A-Thon and I really enjoyed the book. The book itself doesn't have a four or five star rating, but I didn't let that hold me back from reading it or from making my own opinion about it.
   Spelled is a fun and easy book. There's no drama or angst, in fact it's very light-hearted and fast paced. There are quirky references with a fairytale twist made to popular social media apps and designer clothing and there is different recognizable fairytale references made in several parts of the book. While no overwhelming romance takes place, I really like how Kato and Dorthea come together in their own time and their feelings develop naturally instead of being forced. While I liked Dorthea, I wish her character would have evolved a bit more from the spoiled princess, but Kato, broody and sarcastic, was really my favorite character.
   Overall, if you're looking for a story that is light, silly and quirky, this just may be your jam. Forewarning though, you may need a little time to warm up to the heroine.

 
 

{Book Review} What Happened That Night by Sandra Block

Title: What Happened That Night

Author: Sandra Block

Genre: Suspense, Mystery, Thriller

Published: June 5th, 2018

Author Links: Goodreads / Website / Facebook

Book Links: Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

One moment Dahlia is a successful Harvard student. The next, she wakes up from a party, the victim of a brutal assault. Her life veers into a tailspin, and what's worse, her memory of the attack has been ripped away, leaving a cold rage in its wake. 

Now, years later, Dahlia is a tattooed paralegal suffering from PTSD, still haunted by that night. Until one day, a video surfaces online, and Dahlia sees her attack for the first time. Now she knows what happened to her. And she knows who to blame. Her rage is no longer cold, but burning, red hot.

And she is about to make everyone pay.

  What Happened That Night is told in both past and present. Five years earlier, Dahlia, a college student, is gang raped at a college party and wakes up with no memory of what happened, just little pieces that make no sense to her. Feeling judged by the police and her family, Dahlia reinvents herself into a tattooed paralegal who sleeps with a gun by her side. One day Dahlia walks into the break room at work to find her past colliding with her present as she sees a video of her attack being watched. Now it's time for her to get the answers she so desperately needs and the revenge she so desperately wants.
    What Happened That Night is told in two different points of views - Dahlia and James, a man from work who is grieving the loss of his sister when he meets Dahlia. Together, they set out to make the men who raped Dahlia pay. 
    Dahlia is a strong character and her story makes you feel for her. The author makes you feel Dahlia's pain. Makes your gut wrench from the attack and wanting to do something to help Dahlia. James is also a character that you can't help but fall in love with. The build up of their friendship turned relationship is so much better than an instalove story. You can sense their connection in the slow build and you can't help but root the two of them on, hoping they find closure and can move on from their demons together.
    The book is a fast-paced suspense that intrigued me from the very first line. Block does a great job with bringing her characters together, building up suspense and putting together a compelling story line that draws readers in. I can't wait to dive into Block's 'Zoe Goldman' series. 

     *TRIGGER WARNINGS - What Happened That Night includes graphic descriptions of the sexual assault and mentions of suicide. 

Mini Blog Ahead & Bloggiesta

Today begins the Mini Blog Ahead Challenge over at The Herd Presents. As a blogger transitioning to a new blog, I thought this challenge would be a great way to get ahead with my blogging and catching up with some reviews I have wanted to post. Running from June 22nd- July 6th, my goal is to have at least twenty blog posts scheduled by the end. (6/27: 7 of 20 posts scheduled)

Also, beginning today is the Summer Mini Bloggiesta. I have a lot I want to accomplish so I want to use this weekend to get a jump start on things.

My To-Do List: 

• Write a review for What Happened That Night
• Write a review for Spelled
• Comment on other participant's blogs.
• Participate in the Twitter chat (Hopefully!)
• Update Goodreads.

{Book Review} The House on Foster Hill by Jaime Jo Wright

Title: The House on Foster Hill

Author: Jamie Jo Wright

Genre: Suspense, Mystery, Historical, Christian

Published: November 21st, 2017

Author Links: Goodreads / Website / Facebook

Purchase Links: Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

Kaine Prescott is no stranger to death. When her husband died two years ago, her pleas for further investigation into his suspicious death fell on deaf ears. In desperate need of a fresh start, Kaine purchases an old house sight unseen in her grandfather's Wisconsin hometown. But one look at the eerie, abandoned house immediately leaves her questioning her rash decision. And when the house's dark history comes back with a vengeance, Kaine is forced to face the terrifying realization she has nowhere left to hide. 

A century earlier, the house on Foster Hill holds nothing but painful memories for Ivy Thorpe. When an unidentified woman is found dead on the property, Ivy is compelled to discover her identity. Ivy's search leads her into dangerous waters, and even as she works together with a man from her past, can she unravel the mystery before any other lives -- including her own -- are lost?

MY REVIEW

  As a fan of suspense novels, the description of The House on Foster Hill immediately captured my attention. I wasn't sure what to expect from this new to me author, but I got so much more than I anticipated out of this book. 

  The House on Foster Hill is a suspenseful mystery told in parallel time lines from Ivy's point of view back in 1906 when the murder occurred and Kaine's point of view decades later after moving into the house where the girl was found. The book starts off mysterious with it's spooky tones and a case of an unidentified girl found dead. While there are some "spook" filled passages, the author doesn't sensationalize them, preferring to focus on the mystery behind the house instead. The book itself is riveting and keeps you wanting to read page after page without putting it down. 

  The main characters, Kaine and Ivy have their own stories and their own opinions on what happened to the girl found murdered in a tree at Foster Hill House. Past meets present in this book and both Kaine and Ivy's stories draw you in to their worlds. You can picture yourself there with them, be it 1906 or in the present. 

   Both Ivy and Kaine are different, but so alike at the same time. Ivy, the great-great grandmother of Kaine is strong, unconventional and bold. She stands up for herself and for those who stories have ended too soon. While the townsfolk find Ivy weird, I find her caring and sympathetic. Kaine on the other hand is a woman who has been hurt. She knows the heartbreak of losing loved ones and is in need of a fresh start, which is how she winds up purchasing Foster Hill House. Kaine, despite the pain of her past, is still strong in the face of everything she is going through and how dangerous it really could be. At times, I had trouble relating to Kaine as well as I did to Ivy, but I still enjoyed her character. I found myself questioning a few of the things she did in regards to her stalker, but I liked that even decades after the murder of 'Gabrielle', she was still passionate about finding out what happened to her. 

     Wright is a new to me author, but she kept me engaged in the storyline and what was happening in both the past and the present. What I did find surprising throughout the book is that there is Christian undertones. I wasn't expecting it in a book such as this since you don't find many books that blend thrillers with God, but Wright managed to do it easily. If you like a good and twisty mystery, I highly recommend The House on Foster Hill.

 AND COMING SOON

The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond

Release Date: July 3, 2018

Bethany House Publishers

For over a century, the town of Gossamer Grove has thrived on its charm and midwestern values, but Annalise Forsythe knows painful secrets, including her own, hover just beneath  the pleasant faade. When a man is found dead in his run-down trailer home, Annalise inherits the trailer, along with the pictures, vintage obituaries, and old revival posters covering its walls. As she sorts through the collection, she's wholly unprepared for the ramifications of the dark and deadly secrets she'll uncover. 

A century earlier, Gossamer Grove has been stirred into chaos by the arrival of controversial and charismatic twin revivalists. The chaos takes a murderous turn when Libby Sheffield, working at her father's newspaper, receives an obituary for a reputable church deacon hours before his death. As she works with the deacon's son to unravel the mystery behind the crime, it becomes undeniably clear that a reckoning has come to town -- but it isn't until another obituary arrives that they realize the truth depths of the danger they've waded into.

Two women, separated by a hundred years, must uncover the secrets within the borders of their own town before it's too late and they lose their future -- or their very souls.

#COYER Big Summer Birthday Sign Up

    Before I moved to Boho Book Reviews, I ran Bottles & Books Reviews. I participated in COYER a few times and it was a ton of fun. These girls go out out their way to make COYER not only challenging, but a blast to participate in through Twitter parties, weekly games and more. 

    I took a year hiatus from blogging. There was no issues or drama to stop me from blogging, I just took time to spend with my son, to take time for myself and to work on other projects in my life. Now, I'm back to blogging and what better way to kick it off than with COYER's Big Summer Birthday Bash.

    There is so much going on during this summer's COYER, so I'm sharing the parts that I will be doing. If you want full details, you can visit the COYER Challenge website.

Basics -

• The challenge runs from June 9th to August 31st.
• It's summer! ... Anything goes! Any format, any price, any legally obtained book.

Goodies - 

• Goody #1: Declare your cleaning goal. I'm aiming for "Spring Clean" meaning 11-20 books, but who knows, maybe I'll end up deep cleaning ;) 
• Goody #3: Participate in at least ONE Readathon. I'll be participating in the following readathons: 

1. Fairy Tales with a Twist - Read fairy tale re-retellings from Sunday, June 17th to Saturday, June 23rd. 
2. Christmas in July - Read Holiday themed books from Sunday, July 15th to Saturday, July 21st. 
3. Dusting off The Shelves - Read the oldest books on your TBR list. They need to have sat on your shelf for at least a year. The readathon runs from Sunday, July 29th to Saturday, August 4th.
4. Scary Stories by the Campfire! - Read about ghosts, goblins, and any other horror/thriller that would make for a scary campfire tale from Sunday, August 5th to Saturday, August 11th.

• Goody #4: Participate in one or all of the Mini-Challenges hosted by COYER participants. I don't know what all the Mini-Challenges will be but I know I'll be participating in at least one or more!
• Goody #5: Participate in the Mini Scavenger Hunt - This runs from Sunday, August 12th to Saturday, August 25th. The scavenge hunt list can be found on the main sign-up page.
• Goody #6: Participate in the Social Media Games in the Facebook group and the Twitter parties. I'm going to try to participate as much as possible in the Facebook games and attend as many parties as I'm able.
• Goody #7: Fill in 1 or all 4 Bingo Boards. I'm going to try to fill in at least one!
• Goody #8: Survive Hurricane Berls! Read only eBooks, $1 or less, that you already own (including ARCS) from Wednesday, July 25th to Saturday, July 28th.
• Goody #9: Make a list of 15 books and read at least 10 of them. See my list below.
• Goody #10: Participate in the Switch! Each week from Sunday, June 24th to Saturday, July 14th, do the STRICT, the LIST, and the ONE WITH THE TWIST. I'll be doing the Switch in that order.

           THE STRICT - JUNE 24TH TO JUNE 30TH

1. Every book you read MUST be an eBook or audio book.
2. Every book must be either FREE or less than $5
3. No library books, borrowed books or Kindle Unlimited. 

           THE LIST - JULY 1ST TO JULY 7TH 

1. Make a list of up to 15 books you want to read (I'll be using the same list as I wrote for Goody #9)
2. Every book on the list must be in your possession before you put them on the list. Books can be any format, any price as long as obtained in a legal way.

           THE ONE WITH THE TWIST - JULY 8TH TO JULY 14TH 

1. You can read any book, any price, obtained any legal way.
2. The Twist is that you have to stick with just one format. I'll be reading eBooks through it!

GOODY #9 READING LIST/"THE LIST"

1. Rosecliff Manor Haunting - Cheryl Bradshaw

2. The Scars I Bare - J.L. Berg

3. Clam Jam - RC Boldt

4. Betting off Dead - Tonya Kappes

5. Wasted Words - Staci Hart

6. The Space Between - Dete Meserve

7. Royal Order - Leslie North

8. Rock Legend - Tara Leigh

9. Christmas in Evergreen - Nancy Naigle

10. Six Years Gone - Jessica Gouin

11. Road Tripped - Nicole Archer

12. Denial - Lisa Renee Jones

13. The Prince - Jillian Dodd

14. A Stone in the Sea - A.L. Jackson

15. She Was the Quiet One - Michele Campbell