The Name Curse by Brooke Burroughs

Unlike her great aunt Bernice she was named for,  Bernie isn't the adventurous type.  When her boss forces her to take a vacation,  she plans on helping her mom on the farm, but everyone pushes her to go to Alaska on a week-long hiking trip to Denali. Due to a mixup on the paperwork with them thinking "Bernie" to be a man, she is teamed up with Matthew, a struggling screenwriter looking for inspiration.  Forced to share a tiny tent and rely on each other throughout the trip,  Matthew is disgusted with her lack of camping skills,  and Bernie is fed up with his know-it-all attitude. But attraction grows when he doesn't flinch at her snoring or her stinky feet,  and she actually liked one of his screenplays.
I loved the camping humor in this story,  from Bernie's attempts to set up a tent,  to her toileting disaster, and the problematic bear can. This is a hilarious rom-com adventure!
I received an advance reader copy of this book through Netgalley. My review is given voluntarily.

 

One Last Kiss by Kat Martin

Liberty Hale grew up on a farm in Kansas until a tragic accident killed her parents when she was 12. Her great uncle Marty took her in and raised her and she became a successful model in New York. But after her uncle's death, she finds out that she has to spend a month working at a Colorado ranch to receive her inheritance. 

Sam Bridger would have done a favor for longtime friend Marty for free, but to earn the fifty thousand dollars his ranch badly needs, he's ordered to treat Libby the same as his other ranch hands. But at his first sight of her, he knows he has his work cut out for him. Then as time goes on, he realizes there's more to her than a pretty face. The ranch brings back memories of her childhood on the farm, and she finally works through her grief of losing her parents so young. And her budding relationship with Sam is an added bonus. But on a three day packing trip, their lives are in danger from a threatening guest.

I swear if I had to read how pretty Lint was one more time I was going to scream. Regardless of that, I liked the chemistry between her and Sam. I loved how strong and capable (and patient) Sam's character was. The ranch was described so beautifully. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the Blood Ties series. 

I received an advance reader copy of this book through NetGalley. My review is given voluntarily.

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

This is a beautiful book about books... how they can help enlighten, guide, heal, and become an escape. Where two unlikely troubled souls connect and become like family over a shared list of books that help them overcome the trouble in their lives.  Where a small- town library brings people together into a community. 

I loved this story. I love how books change Mukesh from a grieving old man, stuck in his routine, to a thriving confident man in his community. And how reading through the list brings Aleisha and her mother a connection that's been missing for years. I've read all but one of the books on their reading list (A Suitable Boy) and my experience with these books brought even more understanding and depth to the characters in this book.

I received an advance review copy of this book through NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers.  

Witchy Coffee by Erin Ritch

After being fired from her barista job in Portland,  Florence MacKenzie returns to her small hometown of Windia on the coast for the holidays. She helps out in their family coffee shop, lovingly nicknamed the Yurt by the town's residents. Shortly after arriving,  she discovers that another coffee shop is trying to take over... none other than the son of the company that fired her. When the Yurt is forced to try a new coffee blend,  suddenly the town is going crazy for coffee. When new and unexpected couples start falling in love,  the slogan on their new coffee takes on new meaning, "There's magic in every bean". Has the Yurt been serving up a love spell to the whole town? Is this the cause of her attraction to her rival,  Samson Richards?

This snuggly holiday romance is perfect to cuddle up with on a cold day with your favorite cup of coffee. The rivalry between the MacKenzie ladies and Sam is laugh-out-loud funny at times and great fun. I wish my small town had The Yurt too.

I received an advance reader copy of this book through NetGalley. 

What You Never Knew by Jessica Hamilton

June Bennett remembers idyllic childhood summers on her family's private island with her older sister May and her best friend Ezra. But the summer she was 12, her father disappeared never to be found again and they never returned to Avril Island. Her mother told her and May that the island had been sold years ago, but now 30 years later after May's traffic death in a car accident, June finds out that the island was never sold and now belongs to her. But when she decides to go there, she finds out her father didn't disappear, he was believed to be murdered and the case is now cold. Then strange things start happening on the island... getting locked inside her bedroom, creaking on the stairs in the night, her father's missing watch reappearing. Is the island really haunted or does someone not want her to find the truth?

I felt so bad for June after losing her mother and sister so close together, she then finds out she was lied to all these years. It was almost like another death...her childhood memories. Then the shocking truth in the end threw me for a loop!

I received an advance review copy of this book through Netgalley. This review is given voluntarily.

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon

Creepy and atmospheric, this story is based on a natural spring that's rumored to grant wishes. People come from all over to be healed from crippling injuries or to have their wishes granted, not expecting the heavy price in exchange. And with every drowning, the spring only grows stronger.
Jax and Lexie spent their childhood summers at their grandmother's estate, where a natural spring has been made into a private pool. Lexie always loved the pool and wished to become a stronger swimmer. Later in life she suffers from bipolar manic episodes and it's nothing new for her to call Jax at all hours. When she gets several voice mails from Lexie, each crazier than the last she ignores them only to find out that her sister was found drowned in the pool. She travels to the estate to follow the clues her sister left behind only to find a startling truth about the pool.
I love this author's books and they keep getting better and creepier! I couldn't put this one down and I know this story will be stuck in my nightmares for awhile.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

How has it come to this? The fate of humanity rests on one man, who woke from a coma with no memory of his own name, much less the reason why he is hurtling through space on a mission he can't remember.
Originally a crew of three, Ryland Grace is the only surviving crew member of the Hail Mary research mission. He needs to discover how to kill a parasite called Astrophage that is feeding off the energy from the sun, slowly killing it and potentially threatening all life on earth.
This book has a lot of science and technology that Weir has a magical way of explaining that makes it fascinating to this average reader. I'm left staring up at the stars, my brain overloaded with sciency information, wondering if we're really alone in the universe. This was such a great book and I can't wait for his next one!
I received a free advanced reader copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are given voluntarily.