Love At First Hate by A.R. Casella and Denise Grover Swank

 Huge thank you to the authors for the free eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

The first book in a new series by Denise Grover Swank and A.R. Casella, authors of the USA Today bestselling Asheville Brewing series.

She wants his story. He wants his secrecy. Too bad he can’t stay away from her.

Molly

Blogging about bad dates used to be fun, but a girl can only take so much foolishness. So I broke up with my job.

Okay, full disclosure, I was fired. It’s a long, sordid tale, involving my sourdough starter—RIP, Fred!—and my ex-boss’s serious lack of humor.

Newly funemployed and in need of a break, I go to Asheville to dogsit for my sister…and stumble onto a scoop big enough to put my fake-dating days behind me forever.

Augusta Glower, local success story, wrote a bestseller about the self-help group she started. People think her system works, and copycat Bad Luck Clubs have sprung up nationwide. Something feels off, though, and a little poking around by yours truly suggests she stole the idea.

There’s one problem. I have to prove it, and the guy she ripped off—super-hot house flipper Caleb Reynolds—seems to…well, hate me. Which is too bad since his secrets aren’t the only thing I’d like to peel away.

* * *

Cal

Molly O’Shea is my worst nightmare.

Is she sexy as sin? Well…yeah. Does she smell like honeysuckle and trouble? No doubt. Is she determined to dig up my secrets with a backhoe? I’m pretty sure she got a two-week rental. But I’ll never talk. If the reason I started the club gets out, my whole life will implode.

So why is she so damn irresistible?

Genre? Romance

Backlist? No. Publishes tomorrow - August 12, 2021

New to me Author? Nope. Absolute favorites.

What did I think?

You know that feeling you get when you see that your favorite movie franchise is adding yet another sequel or spin-off and you're like "Okay, I get it. I love this. But we can stop now."? Yeah, that's not what happened here AT ALL. Love At First Hate had the potential to be just a weird flop of a spin-off but, as always, A.R. Casella and Denise Grover Swank just full on hit it out of the park.

Cal (co-founder of the Bad Luck Club from the original series - Asheville Brewery) has had credit stolen from him for founding the club and he has no intention of setting the record straight in case anyone found out his secret. Molly is in town dog-sitting for her sister Maisie and out of boredom, starts investigating the Bad Luck Club to try to break into official investigative journaling. As you can probably guess, man-who-doesn't-want-his-secrets-spilled and investigative-journalist-set-on-finding-the-whole-truth don't really mesh. But *spoiler* (only not really, because look at the title and the fact that this is a romance book) this definitely fits the enemies-to-lovers trope in the best way.

Enemies-to-lovers isn't necessarily a trope I go looking for, so I don't have a ton of history with them, but I really did love reading about Cal and Molly. This book, like many of the others, is written through dual-perspective between our two main characters. It was so frustrating reading both of their thoughts when if they would just talk to each other, things would have been solved faster! And when I say frustrating, I mean I was like "Just tell her!" and kept reading to see if he did. I will absolutely read more of this series. I fell in love with all the quirky characters that were only just mentioned in the Asheville Brewery series. Definite 4.5 stars. These two are incredible co-authors.

The Peace Project by Kay Wills Wyma

Huge thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

Does life have you feeling unsettled, overlooked, anxious, exhausted? Good news! There's a better way.

Enter The Peace Project with its short, digestible chapters full of practical application. This thirty-day experiment invites you to experience lasting personal peace through the outward practices of thankfulness, kindness, and mercy. In these hopeful pages, Kay Wills Wyma takes us along on a journey to see others--as well as ourselves--not as objects or obstacles but as people of great worth. People who matter.

The result? Transformation--for you and those around you. Experiencing the endless depths of God's peace where you can actually, finally, somehow breathe. Welcome to the less-than-perfect, sometimes hilarious, consistently magical journey of practicing thankfulness, kindness, and mercy with Kay, her kids, and some brave friends.

Genre? Memoir

Backlist? No. Published May 18, 2021.

New to me Author? Yes.

What did I think?

The Peace Project is the memoir of author Kay Wills Wyma, who spent 30 days practicing thankfulness, kindness, and mercy. She goes through the process such as taking time to be quiet and mindful, keeping a gratitude journal, and finding the good in everyone. I really liked the idea behind the book and found myself wanting to try many of the things that are mentioned. I do believe that this could have been a shorter story or article, rather than a full book. I found that many of the concepts were repeated throughout. It was good to hear the stories of how peace showed itself, but there were just too many. It would have also been better as a book that you could work through yourself, with practical applications for our own lives. Overall, it just fell flat for me.

Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens

  Huge thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

The acclaimed and beloved author of Still Missing is back with her most breathtaking thriller yet.

The Cold Creek Highway stretches close to five hundred miles through British Columbia’s rugged wilderness to the west coast. Isolated and vast, it has become a prime hunting ground for predators. For decades, young women traveling the road have gone missing. Motorists and hitchhikers, those passing through or living in one of the small towns scattered along the region, have fallen prey time and again. And no killer or abductor who has stalked the highway has ever been brought to justice.

Hailey McBride calls Cold Creek home. Her father taught her to respect nature, how to live and survive off the land, and to never travel the highway alone. Now he’s gone, leaving her a teenage orphan in the care of her aunt whose police officer husband uses his badge as a means to bully and control Hailey. Overwhelmed by grief and forbidden to work, socialize, or date, Hailey vanishes into the mountainous terrain, hoping everyone will believe she’s left town. Rumors spread that she was taken by the highway killer—who’s claimed another victim over the summer.

One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek, where her sister Amber lived—and where she was murdered. Estranged from her parents and seeking closure, Beth takes a waitressing job at the local diner, just as Amber did, desperate to understand what happened to her and why. But Beth’s search for answers puts a target on her back—and threatens to reveal the truth behind Hailey’s disappearance… 

Genre? Mystery/Thriller

Backlist? No. Published August 3, 2021.

New to me Author? No.

What did I think?

A friend of mine introduced me to Chevy Stevens earlier this year with Never Let You Go. I immediately followed up with Still Missing. So when I saw that she was back with Dark Roads, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Dark Roads did NOT disappoint. Main character Hailey lives in Cold Creek with her aunt and uncle, after her parents have died. Her uncle is one of those police officers who REALLY doesn't like teenagers and uses his badge to control every little thing. Hailey tries running away from town, but instead of assuming a runaway, the town assumes that she became another victim of the highway killer. The way Chevy Stevens tied all of this together was great. I definitely thought I had things all figured out, until about 3/4 of the way through when BAM, everything was completely changed. It was such an unexpected change, yet still a realistic one, which is what I look for in my thrillers. Of the three Chevy Stevens books I've read, this would be my least favorite. However, it was still a solid 4 star read and I will still 100% pick up whatever she puts out next..

July Wrap-Up

July is over and it's almost back to school for some of us! Here's a look at books we loved, books we didn't love, and books we DNF'd during the month of July. 

 Jayme's Reads (14):

What I Rated Them:

The Arrangement ☕☕☕

In A Book Club Far Away ☕☕☕☕.5

With the Fire on High ☕☕☕☕.5

Honey Girl ☕☕☕☕.75

Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids ☕☕☕☕.25

Atheists Who Kneel and Pray ☕☕☕☕.5

Act Your Age, Eve Brown ☕☕☕☕

A Court of Silver Flames ☕☕☕.25

Us Against You ☕☕

Life's Too Short ☕☕☕☕☕

Dark Roads ☕☕☕☕

Red, White, and Royal Blue ☕☕☕☕.5

Where is God When I Need Him? ☕☕☕☕

The Peace Project ☕☕.5

Favorite Read: 

Life's Too Short!

Least Favorite Read:
Us Against You - I enjoyed Beartown, but was this sequel really necessary?

DNF?:
None. :)

Rolling over to next month: 

Forget Me Not (currently holding onto this to return to later)

All Girls (currently holding onto this to return to later)

The Bridesmaid (will be finishing in the next couple days)

Love at First Hate (will be finishing in the next couple days)

Unicorn Untamed (will be finishing soon)

Mud Vein

The Push

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams

 Huge thank you to the publisher for the free ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

From the author of the “full-throttle thriller” (A. J. Finn) No Exit—a riveting new psychological page-turner featuring a fierce and unforgettable heroine.

Three months ago, Lena Nguyen’s estranged twin sister, Cambry, drove to a remote bridge sixty miles outside of Missoula, Montana, and jumped two hundred feet to her death. At least, that is the official police version.

But Lena isn’t buying it.

Now she’s come to that very bridge, driving her dead twin’s car and armed with a cassette recorder, determined to find out what really happened by interviewing the highway patrolman who allegedly discovered her sister’s body.

Corporal Raymond Raycevic has agreed to meet Lena at the scene. He is sympathetic, forthright, and professional. But his story doesn’t seem to add up. For one thing, he stopped Cambry for speeding a full hour before she supposedly leapt to her death. Then there are the sixteen attempted 911 calls from her cell phone, made in what was unfortunately a dead zone.

But perhaps most troubling of all, the state trooper is referred to by name in Cambry’s final enigmatic text to her sister: Please Forgive Me. I couldn’t live with it. Hopefully you can, Officer Raycevic.

Lena will do anything to uncover the truth. But as her twin’s final hours come into focus, Lena’s search turns into a harrowing, tooth-and-nail fight for her own survival—one that will test everything she thought she knew about her sister and herself...

Genre? Thriller

Backlist? No. Published June 15, 2021.

New to me Author? No.

What did I think?

I'm not even sure I could put my thoughts about this book into words, but I will certainly try. Starting with "WOW!". I think Taylor Adams is becoming one of my favorite authors. I really need to dig into their backlist a little more. I fell in love with the high energy thriller No Exit and then Hairpin Bridge kept that same energy up. One thing I really enjoy about this author is that although he's a male, he writes a very convincing female perspective. A lot of times writing through the lens of the opposite gender doesn't seem to work out so well, but Taylor is great at it. In fact, I really thought Taylor Adams was a girl until I looked into their biography! 

In Hairpin Bridge, Lena takes a trip to meet with the officer who found her sister's body after her "suicide". Lena is unconvinced that her sister would ever kill herself, so she's there to find the truth. Officer Raycevic's story doesn't add up with what Lena knows about her sister. She's set out to confront him about it, even if she's a bit worried about her own life in the process.

The twists and turns in this novel were incredible. I never saw them coming, but they weren't completely ridiculous either! I will definitely be picking up any future Taylor Adams novels and will start looking into the backlist. 

The Peculiar Fate of Holly Banks by Julie Valerie

  Huge thank you to NetGalley for the free eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

A wife, mother, and aspiring filmmaker clings to the pursuit of perfection only to have fate play with every plan she’s made in this quirky, contemplative, and empowering novel.

Holly Banks is on a desperate mission to have it all, but nothing in life goes according to plan. She’s quickly learning that keeping up with the Joneses is a full-time job, especially when the women of Primm, her new neighborhood, seem to have it together all the time.

With her husband’s job in flux, her daughter’s difficulty with learning to read, and her mother’s new zest for dating, Holly’s life is already anything but picture perfect. Then her dog digs up an old artifact in the village center, and the mishap draws the attention of local media. Because of course it would.

Holly finds herself at the center of a mystery between two rival towns that, if solved, could change the Village of Primm forever. Attention is the last thing she needs as she’s launching a new business, the village-wide “Parade of Homes” is approaching—though she’s hardly unpacked—and she needs to submit her entry for an upcoming film festival. Can Holly still create her perfect (looking) life? Or is fate about to go off script and give her a story she never could have imagined?

Genre? Contemporary Fiction

Backlist? Unfortunately, yes. I fell pretty far behind on my ARCs last year.

New to me Author? No.

What did I think?

I remember reading the first in this series, Holly Banks Full of Angst, and simply falling in love with Holly. She's quirky, she's fun, and she doesn't quite fit in when she moves to her new neighborhood. She kind of sticks out like a sore thumb and it's just fun to read about. 

This sequel did not disappoint. Holly is still dealing with some passive-aggressiveness from her neighbors. She's still trying to figure herself out. So when her dog is found in the middle of town after having dug up an old artifact, she has no idea what to do. Holly tries to stay out of the media attention surrounding this, but finds herself in an old mystery. 

This book definitely took a turn and had some elements that I didn't expect, but Julie Valerie was able to keep it fun and interesting. I can't wait to find out what happens in Primm next!

The Arrangement by Kiersten Modglin

  Huge thank you to NetGalley for the free audioARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

Ainsley Greenburg is a fixer.
It’s what she prides herself on.

So, when she realizes her marriage is at its breaking point, she makes a decision to repair it, no matter the cost. Approaching her husband to propose the arrangement is supposed to be the hard part, but Peter agrees to the salacious plan almost immediately.

The rules are simple:
They will each date someone new once a week.
They will never discuss what happens on the dates.

Soon, though, the rules are broken, turning terrible mistakes into unspeakable consequences.

When the only person they can count on to keep their darkest secret is each other, new questions and deceits surface. Can they truly trust the person they share a life with, or will the vicious lies that have mounted over the years destroy everything they’ve built?

Once, Peter and Ainsley vowed to stand together forever, but as they push boundaries of deception, suspicion, and temptation, each begins to wonder if ’til death do us part may come sooner than they’d intended.

Genre? Psychological Thriller

Backlist? No. This was published earlier in January, with the audiobook publishing July 1, 2021.

New to me Author? Yes.

What did I think?

The Arrangement is about Ainsley and Peter, a couple who have been together for quite a long time and are feeling the romance fizzle out. From the beginning, they sit down and discuss trying an open marriage. Once a week, they would get to go out with other people. No falling for someone. Purely just a hook up, which they will never discuss with their spouse. From here, I was expecting your typical story of one of them falling for the person they go out with, leading to divorce, etc. etc. NOPE!

Ainsley has promised herself she would never get divorced and she plans to stick to that no matter what. When she felt her marriage cooling off, she cooked up a plan to essentially force Peter to stay with her. I can't say much more without major spoilers, but just know that nothing is as it seems in their arrangement.