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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One book. Nine readers. Ten changed lives. New York Times bestselling author Erica Bauermeister’s No Two Persons is “a gloriously original celebration of fiction, and the ways it deepens our lives.”

That was the beauty of books, wasn’t it? They took you places you didn’t know you needed to go…

Alice has always wanted to be a writer. Her talent is innate, but her stories remain safe and detached, until a devastating event breaks her heart open, and she creates a stunning debut novel. Her words, in turn, find their way to readers, from a teenager hiding her homelessness, to a free diver pushing himself beyond endurance, an artist furious at the world around her, a bookseller in search of love, a widower rent by grief. Each one is drawn into Alice’s novel; each one discovers something different that alters their perspective, and presents new pathways forward for their lives.

Together, their stories reveal how books can affect us in the most beautiful and unexpected of ways—and how we are all more closely connected to one another than we might think.

Thanks to my friend Marialyce @ yaya reads for putting this in her comment to last week’s post. I like stories about writers and this has a unique connection. It’s a library audiobook hopeful.

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Midwife Sarah Malloy and her private investigator husband, Frank, must stop a killer lurking among a young family in the newest installment of the USA Today bestselling Gaslight Mysteries.

Hugh Breedlove is far from the most agreeable client private investigator Frank Malloy has ever had, but his case is impossible to refuse: his young niece, Julia, has been wrongfully committed to an insane asylum by her cruel and unfaithful husband, Chet Longly. Though Breedlove and his wife seem more interested in protecting the family reputation than their niece’s safety, Frank and Sarah agree to help for the sake of Julia and the young son she left behind.

Frank and Sarah’s investigation reveals a dark secret—a maid at the Longly home died suspiciously under Chet’s watch, and now it seems Julia’s son might also be in danger. The Malloys fear they are dealing with a man more dangerous than they had anticipated, one who will do anything to defame his wife. But all is not as it seems in the Longly family, and perhaps another monster is hiding in plain sight….

I love this series and am up to date. This is #26, scheduled for release in April. It’s a NetGalley and library hopeful. 

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New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis returns to Sunrise Cove with a beguiling, lighthearted story about fresh starts, second chances and true love.

When Harper Shaw’s life falls apart, she knows it’s time for a change. She removes everything that doesn’t spark joy–from her soul-sucking job to eating kale to making lists–and sets off for the last place she was happy, Lake Tahoe (who wouldn’t feel good there, right?) to fulfill her dream of opening her own bakery.

With her Sugar Pine Bakery in between a tavern, owned by sexy, grumpy Bodie Campbell, and a bookstore, run by her new BFF, she feels a peace she’s never experienced since…well, forever.. Then she meets Ivy, a teenage runaway, who barrels into her heart. She sees a lot of herself in Ivy and takes her under her wing, but the teenager has secrets…

When those secrets explode, it changes Harper’s new world, and she’ll learn, it’s never too late to start over, it’s never too late to figure out your life, and best of all, it’s never too late to let yourself believe in love.

Thanks to the author’s newsletter, I learned about this 4th book in the series, scheduled for release in June. It’s an audio review hopeful.

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Three betrayed women with revenge in common channel their fury in a twisting novel of psychological suspense by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Jane Doe and False Step.

A women’s boxing class is the perfect place for betrayed wife Katherine to work out her aggressions. Ideal, too, for Geneva, a teacher disgraced and ruined by a vengeful ex, and Luz, a software engineer battling an unjust system. Maggie, their instructor and mentor, guarantees she can right the wrongs they’ve endured. And if Katherine, Geneva, and Luz really want to unleash their rage, they must do what Maggie says.

Each woman’s secret task has its risks. Call it justice. Call it revenge. It’s bound to be worth it—if no missteps are made. As they take the leap to reclaim what they’re owed, their lives are turned upside down. Because no one could have guessed that it would all end in murder.

Now, coming together to harness their power, Katherine, Geneva, and Luz fear that the game they’ve been playing is playing them.

I enjoy pretty much anything this author writes, whether it is under this pseudonym or her real name (Victoria Dahl). This is scheduled for release in May and is an audio review hopeful. Thanks to a NetGalley email for the heads up.

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Jodie Slaughter’s latest rom-com, Play to Win, is a sizzling romance where a winning lottery ticket is meant to be a new start but instead becomes a second chance at love.

Miriam Butler’s life is going nowhere in the slowest, most excruciating way possible. Stuck in the same barely-paying job she’s had since she was sixteen and spending every night sleeping in the spare twin bed in her mother’s house, her existence might be hilarious if it wasn’t so bleak. One trip to her favorite Quickie Mart upends everything when she finds herself the winner of a Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot. Unfortunately, not even life-altering roses come without their painful thorns. Hers just so happen to be in the form of an estranged husband who has the right to claim his share of her money.

It’s been eight years since Leo Vaughn has had a conversation with his wife. When she calls out of the blue, practically begging him to come back to Greenbelt, the last thing he expects her to tell him when he gets there is that she’s come into a whole heap of money. She offers him a life-changing proposition of his own. Take a lump sum, finally sign the divorce papers, and be done with her for good. Only, a forever without her is the last thing Leo wants. So he gives a proposition of his own. One that won’t cost her nearly as many millions, but will buy him the time to do the one thing he’s been hungry to do since he left — win her back..

Another NetGalley email strikes again! I love the premise of this story and the illustrated cover (yes, it was an influence). It’s a library audiobook hopeful scheduled for release in July.

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The bluest of blood; the boldest of hearts; the de Montfortes will take your breath away.

Irish Captain Ruaidri O’ Devir has no love for the English. Taken from his family and pressed into the Royal Navy at a young age, he is now a commander for the fledgling American Continental Navy, hand-picked by John Adams himself to steal a potent new explosive from the British. Ruaidri expects to be successful in his mission. What he doesn’t expect is to fall in love with the sister of the man he’s crossed an ocean to abduct…

Beautiful Lady Nerissa de Montforte is the youngest sibling in a powerful and aristocratic English family. Fiercely guarded by her overprotective brothers, she pines for love after a longtime betrothal was cruelly cut short. When she accompanies her brother to a demonstration of his new explosive, she never dreams that her wildest longings to find love and freedom are about to be fulfilled … by a man who is wrong for her in every single way except the one that matters most…

I discovered this series many years ago and love it! The author’s newsletter offered this 5th book as a Kindle freebie so of course I grabbed it.

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Grace Holloway keeps to herself. She runs a small inn off a rural coastline in Maine and prefers the off-season, when she can be left completely alone. She survived a kidnapping and trauma no one could ever understand, so she shuts the world out. That is, until Aden Coleman knocks at the door looking for a room. He’s come to town to help find his elderly father, who is missing, although Aden thinks he’s just off fishing and forgot to mention it to anyone.

Grace resists the intrusion of this stranger and cannot be faced with all of the terrible reminders of police and missing person posters and fear and everything he represents to her. But as it becomes clearer the man really is missing, she quickly realizes that she might have information that will help him.

Then Kira Everett, a woman desperate to find her missing teen daughter, enters the picture and the three stories combine. Just when Kira is certain she knows who is behind her daughter’s disappearance, Grace drops a bomb of information that breaks the case wide open…except when the truth is revealed, the three of them might need to take matters into their own hands for justice to be served.

I’m a fan of the author and learned of this upcoming May release from Carla @ Carla Loves to Read in her Stacking the Shelves post. It’s an audio review hopeful.

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Country music headliner, crowd pleaser, legend in the bedroom.

You know how your mother always warned you that it only takes one time. Well, I’m proof of that.

One night with country music’s hottest star, Ryder Merrick, and I got knocked up.

He promised me it wasn’t just a one night stand.

But I woke up alone, and a few weeks later found out I was carrying his child.

I’m sure Ryder won’t want anything to do with us. After all, he’s famous for not believing in love. There’s a reason he’s never written a love song.

Why should he change his tune now? But telling him I’m pregnant still feels like the right thing to do.

 All it takes is maxing out my credit card to buy a front row seat to his concert.

And then wait for him to notice me… and my bump.

Author newsletters often provide great deals as did this one. Got this second book in the series as a Kindle freebie. I’m also a big fan of the author.

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What books did YOU add to your shelves this week?