Two New Books by Leah Mercer and Kait Nolan, NaNoWriMo, and Some Interesting Links
ook!
New books!
Until We Meet Again by Kait Nolan
"Freshly sprung from the Marines, Griffin Powell is looking for some fun. Las Vegas offers the perfect playground to blow off some steam before getting to the serious work of deciding what to do with his life. He never expects that fun to include the high school crush who tutored him years ago.
Samantha Ferguson arrives in Vegas for a friend's wedding only to get dumped by text. Desperate not to be the only single in a sea of couples, she makes an impulsive offer to the former bad boy she used to tutor in high school: Be her fake boyfriend for the weekend.
Griff knows he's not the guy for Sam, but he can't resist saying yes for the chance to get to know this grown-up version of the girl who once starred in all his dreams. Turns out, there's not a lot of faking it involved. Between the single bed and the endless couples activities, new feelings flare from the old, until they both fall under the spell of Sin City.
Will what happens in Vegas stay in Vegas? Or will one impulsive weekend be the start of a brand new forever?"
This is a prequel to the upcoming novel Come a Little Closer, Men of the Misfit Inn book 4
I knew this book was a prequel going in. I knew it didn't end with a happily ever after. Yet still I hoped -- because right from the start, despite their troubled pasts, Griff and Sam seem perfect for each other!
I couldn't imagine how they might be parted. This is a great short read for an intense, whirlwind romance, and to find out what forced Griff and Sam to separate, before diving in to the full novel.
Why She Left by Leah Mercer
"When I open the door and see her, my mind starts churning. Why are they here? What do they want? And why did my daughter leave in the first place? Am I finally, after all of these years, going to find out? I take a deep breath and usher them in...
Ruth has spent every day of the last fifteen years wondering why her daughter Isobel left. Walking around the school to which she has given her life, every child she sees reminds her of her family’s bright future which vanished in an instant.
So when Ruth opens the door to find Isobel and a teenage grandson she never knew existed, she feels a rush of relief. Despite the years of hurt she never stopped loving Isobel and wants to help rebuild her life. Enrolling her grandson at the school, Ruth wants to make sure they stay for good.
Isobel has spent her life running from a painful secret. A secret which could have destroyed her family. Now, as she flees a bad relationship, she knows that her childhood home is the only place where she can be safe.
But as Isobel looks at her son in his crisp new uniform, she is taken straight back to the reason she ran all those years ago. Soon it becomes clear that she is not the only one tormented by the past. Someone is prepared to destroy everything Ruth and Isobel hold dear. Can Isobel confront her darkest secret before it is too late?
From the bestselling author of Who We Were Before comes a powerful and emotional page-turner about devastating family secrets. Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Emily Bleeker and Imogen Clark."
Page-turner is right! This book kept me up all night, wondering what was going to happen next. The characters were intriguing and felt familiar right away, and I was rooting for both Isobel and Ruth, even when they were at odds with one another. The mysteries piled up; sometimes with books like these, the author keeps the reader guessing for too long, but that didn't happen in this book! The resolutions were very satisfying and some were unexpected, which is always fun!
I love stories set in schools with long histories; it'd be interesting to find out what happens in the future to the school and its staff -- and students!
In completely separate news, we have not left Switzerland since March 2020. Except for a couple of times last month or so, when we drove across the border to a nearby village in France!
NaNoWriMo is plodding along. I've been trying to ignore the doubtful voices in the back of my mind. This year's story is the second sequel featuring Christianne and Rory, exploring family mysteries from the past, that lead them from Scotland to Switzerland and back again -- or will they return? [cue ominous music]
Participating in NaNo was part of my recent ROW80 goals. Other than that, my main goal was to send out The Charm of Time (the first Christianne and Rory story!) and Captive of the Sea (Santiago and Mawdlen) to a few places, small publishers and agents and so on. I just need to get the files together...
The Big Idea: Monica Byrne
Scalzi and Mendelssohn
A new Dylan Thomas notebook!
Colouring pages by Jenny Dolfen (some Tolkien-related)!
Comments
All the best - cheers Hilary