Sunday Skim

Week of 9/20/2020:

Finished:

Currently Reading:

                                                                Looking Forward To:

The world feels real heavy right now, so reading is my escape. Last weekend I wanted to get out of the house on Saturday so we went for a drive up to a corn maze that has the most amazing apple cider donuts. It was nice just to take a drive that wasn't sports related. Not sure we will go apple picking as my daughter is dealthy afraid of bees but I might have to go and get a bushel of Honey Crisp. What about you guys? Any fall outdoor plans?

Google+

Sunday Skim

Week of 9/13/2020:

Finished:

Currently Reading:

                                                                Looking Forward To:

I know it's not officially fall yet but it's my favorite time of year so I'm going to enjoy it for as long as I can. I love sweatshirts, jeans, sweaters but not everything needs to have pumpkin in it or taste like it.  Do you like fall? What's your favorite thing about it? 

 Google+

Sunday Skim

Week of 9/6/2020:

Finished:

Currently Reading:

                                                                Looking Forward To:

I savored Transcendent Kingdom for as long as I could but at some point I needed to finish it. It was gorgeous and heartbreaking but her writing is so perfect. 

Julie's Review: Stories We Never Told You

Author: Sonja Yoerg
Series: None
Publication Date:  May 1, 2020
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Pages: 328
Obtained: Netgalley via Publisher
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction; Psychological THriller 
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: How do you escape someones control when their control is subtle?
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: Psychology professor Jackie Strelitz thinks she’s over Harlan Crispin, her ex-lover and colleague. Why should she care if Harlan springs a new “friend” on her? After all, Jackie has everything she ever wanted: a loving husband and a thriving career. Still, she can’t help but be curious about Harlan’s latest.

Nasira Amari is graceful, smart, and appallingly young. Worse, she’s the newest member of Jackie’s research team. For five years, Harlan enforced rules limiting his relationship with Jackie. With Nasira, he’s breaking every single one. Why her? Fixated by the couple, Jackie’s curiosity becomes obsession. But she soon learns that nothing is quite what it seems and that to her surprise—and peril—she may not be the only one who can’t let go. ~amazon.com 

Review: Dr. Jackie Strelitz is a well know psychologist that is studying the early signs of autism and is making significant progress but her personal life is about to get wrecked. For 5 years she dated Harlan Crispin, another leading Psychologist that studies lying and their break up wasn't amicable but it wasn't horrible either. They are cordial with each other and even at times get together socially. It is helpful that Jackie is married to Miles. The wheels come off their amicable relationship when Harlan brings Jackie's new post-doc to dinner; she thinks this is inappropriate. 

This sends Jackie teetering down a road of jealousy that she's not even certain why when she's happily married to Miles for 2 years.  Maybe it's the fact that she was with him for 5 years and never really made in roads with him and Nasira seems to be moving quickly with him. Jackie starts to think all kinds of things but when her data for her study, she begins to view Nasira different and to question her motives. 

What happens next is a series of things that makes Jackie start to question her sanity. She starts to question if things are all in her head or not. Being of the science thinking she starts to look at the facts to put the puzzle together. As she does this things start to make more sense and she's not feeling like she's losing her mind. 

The reader immediately knows that something about Harlan doesn't sit right but you aren't quite sure. Is he just a man who is sore at being dumped? Is he an-ex lover still obsessed with an ex? All I know is he made me feel extremely uncomfortable. 

I liked how Jackie stopped and thought about the facts that were presented to her to come up with her evidence about who was messing with her data and therefore her possible funding; which is her livelihood. She uses reasoning and science to figure out what has been happening to her. 

I definitely recommend this one but know that it's a slow build to the ending. 

Google+

Sunday Skim

Week of 8/30/2020:

Finished:

Currently Reading:

                                                                Looking Forward To:

Well reading slowed down because my husband and I discoved Cobra Kai on Netflix and let's just say I am loving every single minute of it. He's just waiting to see if Elizabeth Shue shows back up. 😉 Is it corny, absolutely but the original The Karate Kid is an all time favorite, so I don't really care. My September TBR is light so I'm hoping to make it through some backlogged books. 

Are you guys favoring tv over reading these days? 

. Google+

Julie's Review: The Heir Affair

Author: Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
Series: Royal We #2
Publication Date:  July 7, 2020
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 481
Obtained: Bought and Paid For
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.5/5
Bottom Line: It's not so easy being royal and being married to one
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: After a scandalous secret turns their fairy-tale wedding into a nightmare, Rebecca "Bex" Porter and her husband Prince Nicholas are in self-imposed exile. The public is angry. The Queen is even angrier. And the press is salivating. Cutting themselves off from friends and family, and escaping the world's judgmental eyes, feels like the best way to protect their fragile, all-consuming romance.
But when a crisis forces the new Duke and Duchess back to London, the Band-Aid they'd placed over their problems starts to peel at the edges. Now, as old family secrets and new ones threaten to derail her new royal life, Bex has to face the emotional wreckage she and Nick left behind: with the Queen, with the world, and with Nick's brother Freddie, whose sins may not be so easily forgotten -- nor forgiven. ~amazon.com 

Review: I don't think there's enough money to make me want to marry into the royal family. That being said those that do it should go in with their eyes wide open to ensure they understand all of what is going to be asked of them now and in the future. I feel like Bex did go in with her eyes wide open, it's why she struggled to make sure her feelings for Nick were real. They were and they are. Nick and Bex clearly adore and love each other but running away from their problems to start of a marriage could be a sign of a rocky beginning. At least that's what the British Media want you to think. The truth is they enjoyed their time together as Steve and Margot; it cemented them to each other; it gave them a firm foundation. Which is a good thing because their lives are going to be a whirlwind when they get called back to London on a family emergency.

From there they are forced to face what they ran away from and the domino effect it had on familia obligations. In Nick's absence, Freddie stepped up but can they repair their relationship. It won't ever be the same but it can be something different and maybe something better. Bex also has to change her relationship with Freddie because maybe they were too close before. They never crossed the line physically but sometimes emotional support can be more than physical.

I think my favorite part of the book was the developing relationship between Queen Eleanor and Bex. At first it was a stand off of wits and stubborness but it grew into something more. I also love the backstory and mystery of Georgina, Eleanor's sister. It all dovetails nicely into the current plot line.

I wasn't sure what the timeline span of The Heir Affair would be but I'm glad they chose to set it over a few year period and didn't advance the storyline with trival plot points. When there was nothing left to be said, they moved on to the next important piece of the story.

I enjoyed the ending of the book and I wouldn't be terribly upset if they didn't write another one in the series but I would also read the next one if they decided to go that route as well.

The Heir Affair is a fun book with some serious angles to it that will let you escape 2020 for just a little bit.



Google+