The Summer Swap. Sarah Morgan. Book Tour.

THE SUMMER SWAP
Author: Sarah Morgan
ISBN: 9781335474940
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Publisher: Canary Street Press
Source: Publicist.

Cecilia Lapthorne always vowed she’d never go back to Dune Cottage. So no one is more surprised than Cecilia to find herself escaping her seventy-fifth birthday party to return to the remote Cape Cod cottage—a place filled with memories. Some are good—especially memories of the early days with her husband, volatile artist Cameron.  But then there are the memories she has revealed to no one.

After dropping out of medical school, aspiring artist Lily is cleaning houses on the Cape to get by, guilt-ridden for disappointing her parents. Unoccupied for years, Dune Cottage seems the perfect place to hide away and lick her wounds—until Cecilia unexpectedly arrives. Despite an awkward beginning, Lily accepts Cecilia’s invitation to stay on as her guest, and a flicker of kinship ignites.

Then Todd, Cecilia’s grandson—and Lily’s unrequited crush—shows up, sending a shock wave through their unlikely friendship.  Will Lily find the courage to live the life she wants? Can Cecilia finally let go of the past to find a new future? Because as surely as the tide erases past footprints, this summer is offering both Cecilia and Lily the chance to swap old dreams for new…

I very much enjoyed The Summer Swap Sarah Morgan. One of those books I picked up every reading moment I had.

We meet three women and the men they love. Lily is first introduced to us and she was at a crossroads in her life, wanting to do what her heart called to her to do, but she had her parents all worried.

Cecilia was in her mid 70’s and she too is at a crossroads as she walks out on what is expected of her and in going to Dune Cottage meets Lily. Meanwhile Cecilia’s daughter Kristen is left with the planned party and her own beliefs. And is her own marriage on the rocks?

The story unfolds at a really nice pace, it’s emotional and I found it a satisfying read as the women and the men they love all come through to the best endings.

The Summer Swap has enough issues to keep the reader hanging on for what might happen next. It’s a perfect summer read and as such has some  happy endings. I am still thinking about the title – what was swapped? My thoughts are one way of life was swapped for a different way of being!

Buy Links: 

BookShop.org
Harlequin 
Barnes & Noble
Books A Million
Amazon

Social Links:

Author Website
Twitter
Facebook
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Goodreads

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

Welcome to another Monday.

I had a good week, I finally got another load of firewood to fill up a little more. I then shifted it around to the shed, so all ready for a fire. And I am thinking today might be the first fire of the season. No sun today, and that’s mostly when I need to light one. Sun like yesterday makes it all cosy inside.

What I read last week:

What I am reading now:

Listening to…
Review audiobook by new to me author. Some Doubt About It.

Up next:

 

Last Week’s Posts

Secrets of Riverside. Mandy Magro

April Reading Round Up

The Radio Hour. Victoria Purman

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The Radio Hour. Victoria Purman

Publisher: Harlequin/Mira Australia
Date: May 1st 2024
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Martha Berry is fifty years old, a spinster, and one of an army of polite and invisible women in 1956 Sydney who go to work each day and get things done without fuss, fanfare or reward.

Working at the country’s national broadcaster, she’s seen highly praised talent come and go over the years but when she is sent to work as a secretary on a brand-new radio serial, created to follow in the footsteps of Australia’s longest running show, Blue Hills, she finds herself at the mercy of an egotistical and erratic young producer without a clue, a conservative broadcaster frightened by the word ‘pregnant’ and a motley cast of actors with ideas of their own about their roles in the show.

When Martha is forced to step in to rescue the serial from impending cancellation, she ends up secretly ghost-writing scripts for As The Sun Sets, creating mayhem with management, and coming up with storylines that resonate with the serial’s growing and loyal audience of women listeners.

But she can’t keep her secret forever and when she’s threatened with exposure, Martha has to decide if she wants to remain in the shadows, or to finally step into the spotlight.

The Radio Hour gives us a wonderful portrayal of what it was like in the 1950’s and 1960’s for women to work in radio in Australia. I am old enough to remember radio serials, I listened when I stayed with my grandmother to series such as Portia Faces Life and Doctor Paul! I remember those short fifteen minute episodes and the music that introduced them.

Victoria Purman gives us a fictional series As the Sun Sets to show us what life was like back then especially for the women who worked in radio. Well to say they worked in radio is a bit of a stretch because really they were mainly the secretaries and general dogsbodies of the men who worked in radio. Through the character Martha Berry and her young friends April, May, June and Miss Jones we get a window in to what it was like.

I read on because I was feeling frustrated at how bad it was for women in the work force. Attitudes have changed since then, although I think there are still vestiges of that still around in the various work forces.  I kept thinking – come on Martha – call it in for what it is.

However when things do hit the fan it was very satisfying and I felt like cheering for these women who finally take a big step forward.

April Reading Round up

Total books read this month: 17

Book Ratings

Worst Wingman Ever.  Own audio -short story.  4.25 stars.
Legends and Lattes. Library book. 4 .25 stars
The Beautiful Mystery  Own print book. 5 stars.
The Underground Library. Library book. 4.25 stars
Just for the Summer. Own audiobook.  5 stars.
Secrets of Riverside. Review book. 3 stars.
The Wanderer. Audiobook. 5 stars.  (Reread)
What Happened to Nina? Review book. 3.75 stars
Grown Ups. Own print book. 4 stars.
Love, Just In. Library book. 3.75 stars
The Radio Hour. Review book. 4 stars
The Library of Borrowed Hearts. Review audiobook. 4.25 stars
The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue. Review book. 3 stars.
The Rivertown Vet. Library book. 4.5 stars.
The Grazier’s Son. Library book 4.5 stars
Death at a Scottish Wedding. Own kIndle book. 4 stars.
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow. Own print book. 4 stars.

Settings:

USA 6
Canada 1
England 1
Fantasy world 2
Australia 5
Ireland 1
Scotland 1

New to me authors:

8 new to me authors. And probably a first for these month in reviews that I’d read all of these authors again – with different books of course!

Travis Baldree. *
Natalie Murray*
Lucy Gilmore*
Dervla McTiernan*
Marian Keyes *
Jennifer Scoullar*
Cathryn Hein*
Jessica Townsend*

*Authors I’d read again.

Top Books for April

Looking forward to publishing in May

I’ll be listening to these.

 2024 Reading Goals check

24 in 24 books that I own. (on a list  made in January). No additions this month. Still 12/24

Emilie Richard Reader Challenge.   April. Book that makes you laugh. Worst Wingman Ever. Abby Jimenez.  And Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez. Well a couple of LOL moments.

Rachael John’s Book Club selection for April. Love, Just In. Natalie Murray

Slow Reading book – 24 minutes at least a day.  Grown Ups. Marion Keyes Completed. Now reading a middle grade book. Not a big book, but one way to fit it into my reading. Finished The Trials of Morrigan Crow. Going to read Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld next as my slow and steady.

Genre Check

Cozy Fantasy 2
Contemporary Romance 8
Crime/Mystery 3
Historical Fiction 2
Contemporary Fiction 2

Buy 2 – 4 books per month

Books bought in April

Linking up with Nicole from FeedYourFiction Addiction.

Secrets of Riverside. Mandy Magro

Published: Harlequin Australia
Date:  1st May 2024
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

After losing her family in a tragic fire when she was a child, Amelia Price has battled to put the shattered pieces of her life back together. Even so, she’s never felt like she belongs anywhere, and she longs for stability and love. When a mysterious letter turns up at her apartment with hints that she’ll uncover the truth behind what happened all those years ago if she goes to the sleepy, picturesque town of Riverside, she sets off on a journey to tropical Far North Queensland.

Jarrah King owns and runs the Riverside Roadhouse. He loves the simpleness of country living, and the fact it gives him complete anonymity. Over the years he’s made a life for himself under a new name, however his past has never stopped haunting him.

When a sassy blonde takes up the new cook position, he can’t help but be drawn to her vivacious personality. But he can tell there’s also pain hiding underneath her bubbly facade and he longs to erase those shadows. However, lowering his defences to let her in may risk his new identity, as well as everything he holds dear.

Set in Queensland, Australia, Secrets of Riverside is a nice romantic read that moves along well.

I really liked the two main characters – Amelia (Millie) and Jarrah. They both have had a lot to deal with in their past lives, yet they are upright good living people. They deserved to find each other. As well as the two main characters we have a really fun dog in the story.

I liked the premise of the story, yet at times I felt it was a little forced. Tommy – Jarrah’s nephew, didn’t quite work for me. He seemed to just turn so easily one way or the other.

There is a lot of time given to the surroundings or setting or to characters interior thoughts. I found these large chunks of prose, a little off putting. I like to see plenty of dialogue in a book, there was some of course, I just felt I would have liked more.

If you like outback romance set in Australia I think you’ll enjoy this book.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

I had a great reading week this week. The first book is a review book, the next two are Australian outback books from the library and both were so very good. Great and Precious Things was an Audible Plus listen and was very enjoyable. The Summer Swap is a review book coming up.

A mixed bag of weather but it has turned colder at night – a two quilt night now! Mid winter is often a three quilt one! We’ve had a few beautiful sunny days which is always welcome.

One of my sisters called in Sunday to return books and get more. I gave her Inheritance by Nora Roberts but later remembered I need to tell her it ends on a cliff hanger and the next one is out at the end of the year. I am also encouraging her to  rejoin the library with all its goodies. I love on Libby how you can get so many magazines to flip through.  My favourite quilting magazine is there so I am delighted about that.

What I read last week:

What I am reading now:

I gave up waiting for the “maybe” that this one would become available in this part of the world on audio and bought the Kindle edition. Kindle books – many of them are rather expensive now.

I’ve read books #2 and #3 in the Ravenswood series so decided to go back and listen to #1.

Also listening to this one on my phone -Truly, Madly when I am out walking

Slow and Steady is

Up next:

From my NetGalley shelf an Historical book

 

Last Week’s Posts

The Library of Borrowed Hearts. Lucy Gilmore

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The Library of Borrowed Hearts

Published: Dreamscape Media
Narrators: Leanne Woodward, Aven Shore, Joe Jameson, Bob Ball.
Date: 30th April 2024
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Librarian Chloe Sampson has been struggling: to take care of her three younger siblings, to find herself, to make ends meet. She’s just about at the end of her rope when she stumbles across a rare edition of a book from the 1960s at the local flea market. Deciding it’s a sign of her luck turning, she takes it home with her—only to be shocked when her cranky hermit of a neighbor swoops in and offers to buy it for an exorbitant price. Intrigued, Chloe takes a closer look at the book only to find notes scribbled in the margins between two young lovers back when the book was new…one of whom is almost definitely Jasper Holmes, the curmudgeon next door.

And when she begins following the clues left behind, she discovers this isn’t the only old book in town filled with their romantic marginalia. This kickstarts a literary scavenger hunt that Chloe is determined to see through to the end. What happened to the two tragic lovers who corresponded in the margins of so many different library books? 

The Library of Borrowed Hearts by Lucy Gilmore was very enjoyable. We have Chloe and her three siblings Theo, Trixie and Noodle (Aloysius) and their next door neighbor – a grumpy old man who never returns anything that goes over into his garden.  That’s Jasper.

Chloe was left to care for her sister and brothers when their mother just up and left them. She has done so with a very low paid job at the local library. Then she comes across the book with all the notes that two people have made in the margins of a book quite a long time ago. The mystery begins!

Soon we are down that rabbit hole of a story which is utterly fascinating. It eventually plays out into the lives of Chloe and her brothers and sisters. We meet along the way Zac who rescues Noodle when he gets in a spot of bother. Zac becomes quite significant.

This story is a whole listening experience, I went along for the ride and I came to really love these characters. It has some sad parts to it and equally it has some laugh out loud moments and very heart warming moments. It’s one of those books I hate to say good bye to the characters.

The narration is very good, the story as it moves along is told from a few of the characters viewpoints, and different narrators voice these characters.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

Well another week goes by. It was a good reading week with some sunshine and walks (short!) thrown in. I didn’t do that much really, just all the usual daily things. And as I just heard of someone very sick I can definitely count the ordinary and usual as a blessing.

What I read last week:

What I am reading now:

Listening to

I finished my slow and steady read

So I have opted to read as a slow and steady book a middle grade book.

Up next:

Not sure maybe one of these just collected from the library on Sunday.

 

Last Week’s Posts

What Happened to Dervla McTiernan

The Wild Lavender Bookshop  Jodi Thomas

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The Wild Lavender Bookshop. Jodi Thomas

Published:  Kensington
Date:   23rd April 2024
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

The trees that circle Someday Valley near Honey Creek are dressed in their fall finest, providing a pretty backdrop for the local businesses—including the little bookshop loved by schoolteacher Cora Lee Buchanan. There, under the watchful eye of owner Noah O’Brien, Cora Lee and her sister, Katherine, meet each Wednesday. Their talk mostly revolves around one subject: their father, known to everyone in town as Bear.

Both Cora Lee and Katherine worry about Bear Buchanan. They’ve no idea Bear has a secret life of his own. As for the sisters, Katherine, beautiful and self-absorbed, is in search of her third husband, while Cora Lee is in love for the first time. On warm nights, she climbs up to her building’s roof to chat with Noah and listen to the melody of the water below. Yet there is more intrigue afoot in Honey Creek . . .

Andi Delane has arrived in town to hear the last wishes of the father she never met. She was shocked to get a letter from lawyer Jackson Landry, and she has few expectations—of this mysterious will, or of Deputy Danny Davis who’s been assigned to protect her. But fall always brings changes, and this year there will be enough to alter not just the lives of those who call Honey Creek home, but the future of Someday Valley itself . . .

Another very enjoyable book from Jodi Thomas, The Wild Lavender Bookshop is at the centre of all the main goings on that happen in Someday Valley over this period of time.

Andi who I have been long looking forward to turning up in Someday Valley finally appears and it is around her that all the action takes place. And finally she will get to meet two of her half brothers.

Andi and the Deputy soon have a thing going on between them, Noah the bookshop owner discovers he really does have feelings for the younger of Bear’s daughter and Bear himself just might have someone rather special to him as well.

The story is told with all the wonderful Texas setting Jodi Thomas does so well, along with that strong sense of humor that is also her trademark.  It has plenty of action and as usual the characters endear themselves to this reader’s heart.

What Happened to Nina? Dervla McTiernan

Published: HarperCollins Australia
Date: 28th February 2024
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Nina and Simon are the perfect couple. Young, fun and deeply in love. Until they leave for a weekend at his family’s cabin in Vermont, and only Simon comes home.

WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA?

Nobody knows. Simon’s explanation about what happened in their last hours together doesn’t add up. Nina’s parents push the police for answers, and Simon’s parents rush to protect him. They hire expensive lawyers and a PR firm that quickly ramps up a vicious, nothing-is-off-limits media campaign.

HOW FAR WILL HIS FAMILY GO TO KEEP HIM SAFE?

Soon, facts are lost in a swirl of accusation and counter-accusation. Everyone chooses a side, and the story goes viral, fuelled by armchair investigators and wild conspiracy theories and illustrated with pretty pictures taken from Nina’s social media accounts. Journalists descend on their small Vermont town, followed by a few obsessive ‘fans.’

HOW FAR WILL HER FAMILY GO TO GET TO THE TRUTH?

Nina’s family is under siege, but they never lose sight of the only thing that really matters – finding their daughter. Out-gunned by Simon’s wealthy, powerful family, Nina’s parents recognize that if playing by the rules won’t get them anywhere, it’s time to break them.

My thoughts.

What a disturbing crime/mystery story this is. We meet Nina in the prologue, we see things and when she disappears we know enough to be worried for her.

We see her family – distraught and out of their minds. We see Simon and his family and for a start they see money and power as the way to proceed. They are not likeable!

We see the police following up on small leads, and we see the online trolls that Rory – Simon’s father has set in place to blacken Nina and her family. That part I found chilling and oh so real. We see it every day over smaller matters than possible crime.

Have You Seen Nina? was a riveting and disturbing read. Would justice be served? I didn’t see what was coming and that was even more disturbing. It wasn’t something I could rest with or delight in. Messy!