Saturdays at the Café

Saturdays at the Café is a weekly feature hosted here to talk about and discuss the books I’ve discovered during the past week, added to my shelf and am excited about reading. They may be new/scheduled releases I’ve seen on NetGalley, at the library, or from publishers or they may be older titles my friends have reviewed and shared on Goodreads or blogs.

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Joe never wanted to come back to Arnhill. After the way things ended with his old gang–the betrayal, the suicide, the murder–and after what happened when his sister went missing, the last thing he wanted to do was return to his hometown. But Joe doesn’t have a choice. Because judging by what was done to that poor Morton kid, what happened all those years ago to Joe’s sister is happening again. And only Joe knows who is really at fault.

Lying his way into a teaching job at his former high school is the easy part. Facing off with former friends who are none too happy to have him back in town–while avoiding the enemies he’s made in the years since–is tougher. But the hardest part of all will be returning to that abandoned mine where it all went wrong and his life changed forever, and finally confronting the shocking, horrifying truth about Arnhill, his sister, and himself. Because for Joe, the worst moment of his life wasn’t the day his sister went missing.

It was the day she came back.

Thanks to Lesley @ A Bookworms View I discovered this next book (also titled The Taking of Annie Thorne) by the author of The Chalk Man. The description is chilling.

 

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What if you already know your future… but not the path to take you there?

When Sarah Peterson accepts her Auntie Kay’s unexpected offer to take over her florist’s shop, she’s prepared for a change of job, home and lifestyle. What she isn’t prepared for is the discovery of a scarily accurate clairvoyant reading that’s been missing for twelve years. All her predictions have come true, except one: she’s about to meet the man of her dreams. Oh, and his name is Steven. Suddenly Stevens are everywhere. Could it be the window cleaner, the rep, the manager of the coffee shop, or any of the men she’s met online? On top of that, she finds herself quite attracted to a handsome web designer, but his name isn’t even Steven… During this unusual search, will Sarah find her destiny?

The Empress DJ @ Books & Bindings reviewed a book later in this series and I fell in love with the idea of the fictional town of Whitsborough Bay. I got hooked on the sample of the first book!

 

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Since the 2016 opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, its Sweet Home Cafe has become a destination in its own right. Showcasing African American contributions to American cuisine, the cafe offers favorite dishes made with locally sourced ingredients, adding modern flavors and contemporary twists on classics. Now both readers and home cooks can partake of the cafe’s bounty: drawing upon traditions of family and fellowship strengthened by shared meals, Sweet Home Cafe Cookbook celebrates African American cooking through recipes served by the cafe itself and dishes inspired by foods from African American culture.

With 109 recipes, the sumptuous Sweet Home Cafe Cookbook takes readers on a deliciously unique journey. Presented here are the salads, sides, soups, snacks, sauces, main dishes, breads, and sweets that emerged in America as African, Caribbean, and European influences blended together. Featured recipes include Pea Tendril Salad, Fried Green Tomatoes, Hoppin’ John, Senegalaise Peanut Soup, Maryland Crab Cakes, Jamaican Grilled Jerk Chicken, Shrimp & Grits, Fried Chicken and Waffles, Pan Roasted Rainbow Trout, Hickory Smoked Pork Shoulder, Chow Chow, Banana Pudding, Chocolate Chess Pie, and many others. More than a collection of inviting recipes, this book illustrates the pivotal–and often overlooked–role that African Americans have played in creating and re-creating American foodways. Offering a deliciously new perspective on African American food and culinary culture, Sweet Home Cafe Cookbook is an absolute must-have.

This showed up in my digital library and I checked it out to see if I should buy it. After spending just a few minutes browsing through the cookbook…sold!

 

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From Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi comes Children of Blood and Bone: the highly-anticipated introduction to a YA fantasy trilogy set in West Africa. In this riveting audiobook, Adeyemi conjures a stunning world of dark magic and danger, perfect for fans of expansive narratives and spellbinding prose. They killed my mother. They took our magic. They tried to bury us. Now we rise.

Zlie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zlies Reaper mother summoned forth souls.But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zlie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zlie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zlie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good. Danger lurks in Orsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zlie herself as she struggles to control her powersand her growing feelings for an enemy.

This debut novel has received such rave reviews I decided to add it to my shelf, especially as it’s narrated by the fabulous Bahni Turpin (she’s amazing!) and it’s in my “stretch” genre.

 

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When Ahmare’s brother is abducted, there is nothing she won’t do to get him back safely. She is unprepared, however, for the lengths she will have to go to save his life. Paired with a dangerous but enticing prisoner, she embarks on an odyssey into another world.

Duran, betrayed by his father, imprisoned in a dungeon for decades, has survived only because of his thirst for vengeance. He has been biding his time to escape and is shocked to find an unlikely and temporary freedom in the form of a determined young female.

Battling against deadly forces and facing unforeseen peril, the pair are in a race to save Ahmare’s brother. As time runs out, and the unthinkable looms, even true love may not be enough to carry them through.

This landed in my inbox as a complete surprise! Look for the blog tour on January 7 of this novella in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

 

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Dexter meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this wildly compulsive debut thriller about a couple whose fifteen-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting…

Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams, and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored.

We look like a normal couple. We’re your neighbors, the parents of your kid’s friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with.

We all have secrets to keeping a marriage alive.

Ours just happens to be getting away with murder.

Carol @ Bookaria reviewed this title and I knew I had to have it. I’m hoping to get the audiobook for review.

 

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In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup “unicorn” promised to revolutionize the medical industry with a machine that would make blood tests significantly faster and easier. Backed by investors such as Larry Ellison and Tim Draper, Theranos sold shares in a fundraising round that valued the company at $9 billion, putting Holmes’s worth at an estimated $4.7 billion. There was just one problem: The technology didn’t work.

For years, Holmes had been misleading investors, FDA officials, and her own employees. When Carreyrou, working at The Wall Street Journal, got a tip from a former Theranos employee and started asking questions, both Carreyrou and the Journal were threatened with lawsuits. Undaunted, the newspaper ran the first of dozens of Theranos articles in late 2015. By early 2017, the company’s value was zero and Holmes faced potential legal action from the government and her investors. Here is the riveting story of the biggest corporate fraud since Enron, a disturbing cautionary tale set amid the bold promises and gold-rush frenzy of Silicon Valley.

This book was recommended on The View and when I learned of the subject, I knew I wanted it. It finally showed up at my library and my number came up in the queue. And, I later discovered Rennie @ What’s Nonfiction? also recommended this one. That sealed the deal.

 

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A body is discovered with the dismembered parts of six victims stitched together like a puppet, nicknamed by the press as the ‘ragdoll’.

Assigned to the shocking case are Detective William ‘Wolf’ Fawkes, recently reinstated to the London Met, and his former partner Detective Emily Baxter.

The ‘Ragdoll Killer’ taunts the police by releasing a list of names to the media, and the dates on which he intends to murder them.

With six people to save, can Fawkes and Baxter catch a killer when the world is watching their every move?

Norrie @ Reading Under the Blankie included this as one of the 10 best books she read in 2018. After reading her reason why, I pounced. I’ll be listening to this on audio.

 

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He didn’t believe in love at first sight… Until it happened to him.

Finn McCarthy, the youngest of the McCarthy cousins, is at a crossroads. As the lease on his Gansett Island rental comes to an end, he’s making plans to return to his “real” life on the mainland. He’s enjoyed the nearly two years on Gansett with his boisterous fun-loving family, but it’s time to get back to the life he put on hold when he came to the island for his cousin’s wedding—and never left. With renovations to the Wayfarer, the family’s latest business endeavor, all but completed and the grand opening slated for Memorial Day weekend, the time is right to make a move. That is until he stops by the local salon for a quick trim that turns his life plan upside down…

Chloe Dennis, owner of the Curl Up and Dye Salon, is about to close the shop after another ordinary day when Finn McCarthy walks in and turns the ordinary into the extraordinary. Holy hotness! How has she never met the youngest of the McCarthys, and now that she has met him, why is it that she runs into him everywhere she goes?

Despite the undeniable sizzle of attraction between Finn and Chloe, she is dealing with life-changing news that makes her reluctant to get involved with anyone, let alone a man who plans to leave the island for good in two short weeks. Finn can’t understand why he reacts to Chloe the way he does or why she won’t give him a chance to see what they could be. When she makes it clear that it’s not going to happen between them, what else can he do but go forward with his plan to pack up and leave at the end of the month? Unless the push-pull of undeniable desire makes them forget the many reasons why this could be a bad idea…

It’s Marie Force! This is her latest in the Gansett Island series. I’m collecting all the books but I’m only seven books into the 17-books-and-counting series. It’s my guilty pleasure and palate cleanser in between all that murder & intrigue.

 

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Women often say a good man is hard to find. And a hard man is even better.

That’s why I’m quite a catch— good, hard, loaded, and wait for it…I’m ready to settle down too. But the woman I want to pitch my tent with is precisely the one I need to stay far away from.

After that fantastic night with Mia Summers, I’m ready to give her many more. But there’s a hitch in my plans — she just hired my company. If there’s one thing I’m committed to, it’s running a squeaky clean adventure tour business. One of the iron-clad rules?

Don’t screw your customers.

But what’s a guy to do when she’s so hard to resist? How hard can it be to keep our hands off each other for a quick group tour down the hills and over the trails? I’m about to find out, and I have a feeling I’m going to need a new badge of honor because things are about to get very hard in the woods.

*sigh* Another guilty pleasure. I’ve collected all but one of the books in this series, all from sales. I picked up this audiobook during Audible’s 2-1 credit sale. Can you really fault me? And, it’s narrated by the awesome Sebastian York.

What books did YOU add to your shelves this week?