Happy July! I know this is a little later than I typically
like to share about my featured releases for the next month, but the past few
weeks have been super crazy. However, I do still want to talk about all of
these fantastic novels! I have already read the first novel—Midnight on the River Grey—because I had
the chance to be an influencer for it, and it was phenomenal. I highly recommend it, and will be reviewing it later
this week, so keep an eye out for that! Other than that, check out all of these
other books too, I’m sure they’re going to be great!
The Toughest Puzzle She’ll Have to Solve May Be the Wishes of Her Own Heart
Three years into the Great War, England’s greatest asset is their intelligence network–field agents risking their lives to gather information, and codebreakers able to crack German telegrams for hints of the enemy’s plans. Margot De Wilde thrives in the environment of the secretive Room 40, where she spends her days deciphering intercepted messages. But when her world is turned upside down by an unexpected loss, she discovers for the first time in her life that numbers aren’t enough.
Drake Elton returns wounded from the field, followed by an enemy who just won’t give up. He’s smitten quickly by the quick and brainy Margot, but soon the dangers of the war draw ever closer. Margot and Drake will have to team up to save themselves from the very secrets that brought them together.
Happy Thursday! I know I have not been as consistent as I should at sharing things here on the blog but I am trying to remedy that! Wedding planning and starting a new job have taken me on a bit of a wild ride the past month, but things should be slowing down now. Hopefully that also means I will get to do more reading in the near future! I remember the days when I would average about 3 books a week, but this past month I only read 2 books in the whole month! However, they were 2 quality books, so I am happy to share about them with you!
Happy almost June! I hope you are having a fantastic end to
your May, and that you have bright things coming up on the horizon. My life has
been full of changes lately, all good ones fortunately but it has still been a
lot of new adjustments, so I am glad to be able to write one of my favorite
regular posts. I love sharing about new books that will be releasing, and this
month is no exception. These June releases are fantastic, and I am SO looking forward to reading them! I am also very confident that you will find
something that piques your interest, and that you will find something you want
to read too. So take a look at these gems!
Hello! On my old blog, Spreading His Grace, I had been known
to post tons of book reviews, all
sharing my thoughts about what I had been reading and whether or not I recommended
them for my readers to check out for themselves. Now that I have moved over to
So I Write and have been thinking about new ways of doing things, I have
decided to just share smaller reviews of everything I have read over the course
of a month all in one post, that way I’m not posting anywhere from three to
seven reviews every month and this blog does not get filled with book reviews
and nothing else.
So, here is my first go at that! I only read three books
over the course of April, as it was a fairly busy month for me, but I was
fortunate enough to really enjoy
every book that I did read. Here are some of my thoughts on what I found
between the pages of all three stories, and my recommendation for all of them
because each one was fantastic. I hope you like this new way of doing things,
and that you are able to find some new books to read as I share what I’ve been
reading every month!
Hello! I know I have been very absent lately, and I really
apologize for that. The past few weeks have been really crazy with final exams
and projects, and I have been so focused on them that I honestly have not even
had time to think about blogging. However, I am finally done now!! I actually
graduate two days from now, and I could not be more excited. So, now I will
actually be able to focus on blogging and writing and everything else I love to
do, starting with sharing about my featured releases for the month of May!
Lizzy and Jane couldn’t be
further from Jane Austen’s famous sisters for whom they are named.
Elizabeth left her
family’s home in Seattle fifteen years ago to pursue her lifelong dream—chefing
her own restaurant in New York City. Jane stayed behind to raise a family.
Estranged since their mother’s death many years ago, the circumstances of their
lives are about to bring them together once again.
Known for her absolute
command of her culinary domain, Elizabeth’s gifts in the kitchen have begun to
elude her. And patrons and reviewers are noticing. In need of some rest and an
opportunity to recover her passion for cooking, Elizabeth jumps at the excuse
to rush to her sister’s bedside when Jane is diagnosed with cancer. After all,
Elizabeth did the same for their mother. Perhaps this time, it will make a
difference.
As Elizabeth pours her
renewed energy into her burgeoning interest in Nick, Jane’s handsome coworker,
her life begins to evolve from the singular pursuit of her own dream into the
beautiful world of family, food, literature, and love that was shattered when
she and Jane lost their mother. Will she stay and become Lizzy to her sister’s
Jane—and Elizabeth to Nick’s Mr. Darcy—or will she return to the life she has
worked so hard to create?
Lizzy and Jane by
Katherine Reay
Elizabeth (Lizzy) has spent her entire adult life running
from her family and the pain of her past, instead focusing on her gift—her
love—of working wonders in the kitchen. But when she loses her “zing,” she
takes a vacation to visit her family, and everything changes. While she and her
sister Jane have never gotten along, Elizabeth finds herself caring for Jane as
she goes through chemotherapy, and this forces Elizabeth to take stock of her
life. As she spends time cooking for Jane, and in their “dystopian library,”
she can’t help but wonder if what she’s been chasing after hasn’t been what she
truly wants all along.
I have found myself completely broken and very challenged at
the hands of this novel. Lizzy and Jane will
make you reevaluate your life, bring tears to your eyes, and wreck your heart,
in the best way possible. I am now completely inspired to change the way I look
at life, the way I live my own—and to one day be able to write something even
half as meaningful.
As I went through this journey with Lizzy, I couldn’t help
but reevaluate my life right along with her. Not only that but watching her
help Jane fight through her battle with cancer gave me a whole new perception
of what that is like. The raw, real emotion that is felt and experienced over
the course of this book was so touching, so understandable, such a true picture
of what familial struggles and the fight against cancer are like; I think
Katherine captured that perfectly. There wasn’t a “everything will work out,”
“happily ever after” sheen on this novel, and that authenticity is just one of
the aspects of this novel that made it my favorite of Katherine’s I’ve ever
read.
If you’ve ever had a sister, known someone who’s fought cancer, or ever loved food and/or cooking—or Jane Austen—Lizzy and Jane is the perfect read for you.
Rating: 5 bookshelves
Recommend? YES!
All credit for the italicized synopsis goes to Katherine Reay and Thomas Nelson Publishing.
