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I'll Give You the Sun
I'll Give You the Sun
Jandy Nelson | 2015 | Children
8
8.2 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book just made me cry and laugh and cry! I have to admit though I gave up on it the first time! I got 50 pages in and just did not have any desire to pick it back up again. Thank god I did! It was many months later but I told myself I must keep going! Just wow, I loved it, the characters were so very well written and their relationships are just magical. There is such a twist in the story which I won't mention, but I didn't see that coming at all. I just loved it, I have given it 4 stars because of the slow start!
  
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Merissa (14027 KP) created a post

May 8, 2026  
"Selina comes face to face with a devil in a suit, and she wants to know more." – Debbie 🎭❤️

RESCUED BY THE RAKISH LORD by SARAH MALLORY earns a very good 4 out of 5 stars in today's review! This charming historical romance and romantic adventure delivers a heroine with sharp instincts and a hero who is every bit as dangerous and irresistible as he appears. ✨🌹

Head over to the blog to read the full review!

@sarahmallory21 @thecoffeepotbookclub @Cathie Dunn @Debbiereadsbook #HistoricalFiction #Romance #RomanticAdventure
https://archaeolibrarian.wixsite.com/website/post/rescued-by-the-rakish-lord-by-sarah-mallory
     
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Merissa (14027 KP) created a post

Apr 17, 2026  
"I love the descriptive passages, they come across so beautifully!" – Debbie 🌊✨

STILL WATERS, DEEP (BETWEEN HILL AND SEA) by MORGAN SHEPPARD earns a very good 4 out of 5 stars, and a guest post is live on the blog today! This gorgeous blend of contemporary fantasy, romance, and magical realism is the kind of book that lingers long after the last page, with prose as luminous and immersive as the world it conjures. 💚🌙

Head over to the blog to read the guest post and the full review!

@MorganSheppardAuthor @debbiereadsbooks #Contemporary #Fantasy #Romance #MagicalRealism
https://archaeolibrarian.wixsite.com/website/post/still-waters-deep-between-hill-and-sea-by-morgan-sheppard
     
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Merissa (14027 KP) created a post

May 21, 2026  
"From England to Canada, through hardship and heartbreak, one family refuses to be broken." 🚢📖

BEYOND THE DARK OCEANS by ALISON HUNTINGFORD earns a very good 4 out of 5 stars, and an excerpt is live on the blog today! This moving work of historical fiction and family history traces one family's remarkable journey across continents and through the devastation of World War I. ✨

Head over to the blog to read the excerpt and full review!

Available in Kindle Unlimited 🎉

@ahuntingford9 @thecoffeepotbookclub @Cathie Dunn #HistoricalFiction #FamilyHistory #WorldWarI #KU #KindleUnlimited #CoffeePotBookClub #BlogTour
https://archaeolibrarian.wixsite.com/website/post/beyond-the-dark-oceans-by-alison-huntingford
     
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Behind Every Lie
Behind Every Lie
Christina McDonald | 2020 | Mystery, Thriller
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

After reading Christina McDonald's The Night Olivia Fell, I was eager to read her latest, Behind Every Lie.

Behind Every Lie has an interesting premise - how can you prove you did not do something if you cannot remember it. Eva Hansen wakes up in a hospital after being struck by lightning. She discovers her mother was murdered and Eva was found just down the street from the murder. She cannot remember what happened but the police doubt her and her convenient memory loss. What follows is a two continent race to solve the mystery before the police arrest her. Did Eva kill her mother? If not, who did?

Both of Christina McDonald's books grabbed me right at the beginning and kept me there throughout the whole story. I was worried because I rarely believe a book is 5 stars. It has to blow me away. I gave The Night Olivia Fell 5 stars. I was hoping Christina McDonald was not a "one and done" author. Behind Every Lie proves she is not. While I did not give Behind Every Lie 5 stars, it did earn a well-deserved 4 and ensured Christina McDonald is an author I will continue to read.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 2/27/20.
  
Hardened Hearts
Hardened Hearts
Theresa Braun | 2017 | Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
9.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
VERY DIFFERENT!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this collection.

Most of the books I read these days have romance of some description in them. And inevitably, there will be a Happy Ever After.

So, it makes to change to read a collection of books that, while following the romance theme, there ain't no hearts and flowers, there ain't no Happy Ever After either. Because, just as much as falling in love can be the best thing that happens to you, it can also be the worst.

I didn't read all the stories here, about half I read. The ones I did read were very well written, in various ways from first and third person, and in past and present tense. Some about normal everyday people, some paranormal, some scary, and some were just plain weird. There was one book, that I could not read, that is written in the second person, as in YOU. Very odd.

But the one that stuck with me is possibly the shortest one here. Its only maybe 4 pages, but it proper had me bawling my eyes out!

It Breaks My Heart To Watch You Rot, by Somer Canon, 4 pages but 5 full stars!

It tells the story of a woman whose husband (partner, lover, it matters not) has clearly lost his mind but she still visits, still tells him the car is his, that SHE is his. She takes him out, every Saturday, as he used to do himself. And then she gets the call he is gone. No names are mentioned, just he/she and him/her, but it gets the point across.

"Love didn't provide the real happy ending. There is no such thing between two lovers such as them."

If you want something a little (and a LOT) different, this one will be for you. If you are feeling very anti-Valentine's, again, one for you.

Just don't expect Cupid's Bow to be anywhere around.

For the ten books that I read, 4 stars overall, with 5 Stars for the book mentioned.

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Half Cast (Helheim Wolf Pack Tale #4)
Half Cast (Helheim Wolf Pack Tale #4)
Lauren Dawes | 2018 | Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
slipped a bit from book 3!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 4 in the Helheim Wolf Pack Tale, and you really SHOULD read all three previous books before this one. There is MUCH that is referenced, but not fully covered here from those books. MUCH. So, don't say I didn't warn you!

We met both Alex and Saskia in book 3, and they met too. They fell in love over a single kiss and now Saskia is mated to another, and Alex is now Bitten.

So, in my review for the third book, I said things were beginning to make sense, and I could kinda see where this was all going. You read that, right? I said it?? Well, now? I lost it all again! I still got an inkling, but I've lost something in the couple of months since I read book three, I really did and I didn't pick it back up here, not fully.

To that end, I didn't enjoy this as much as book 3.

However, I don't think that me losing whatever I did is the full reason. There is more, and it revolves around what Alex and Saskia did, to Ezekiel, in their home. They both felt guilty about that, and well they should but it didn't sit well with me! I would like to see Ezekiel happy in a later book, he needs some happiness now.

Saxon (Saskia's brother) meets HIS mate, but this book ends on a cliffhanger about that. Brax is smitten by someone he meets but not sure where thats going.

As usual, everyone important has a say. And you really do need that here, more so than in the other books.

Like I said, I lost something, and didn't quite get it back and whatever it is, I missed it!

Books one and two got 4 and 4.5 stars respectively. Book 3 is by far my favourite of them all so far and got 5 stars. We've slipped a bit here, and so....

4 solid stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
Now Comes the Dark (Basic Instincts #1)
Now Comes the Dark (Basic Instincts #1)
Thom Collins | 2025 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
solid 4 star start to series
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 1 in the Basic Instincts series, and I am reading it AFTER I already book 2, Nothing but The Night, 5 stars and book 3, Beyond The Darkness, 4 stars. I think this might have skewed my enjoyment a little, since I know what happens in future books. That said, reading this book has answered some questions! So, I would recommend you read them in order, but not strictly necessary.

Roman just wants to get laid, and Mallon catches his eye. But Mallon goes off with someone else, and Roman finds himself wandering the streets to get home. Not a good idea, given as there is a murderer on the loose and the police aren't doing anything. Mallon saves him from a beating. Roman falls hard and fast, but Mallon is keeping secrets, and that murderer is closing in on his latest target.

Since I read books 2 and 3, I knew about the killer and what happens. I just didn't know how things are bought to a head. And, as in the other books, Collins pulls a blinder of a twist, as to who that was. However, I think I saw that coming, or I picked the clues up from previous books. Not that it mattered, I loved watching it all play out.

It does carry some violence, both Roman and Mallon suffer here, but I do think it is necessary for the story.

Steamy, too. But I'm finding these books are more about the crime aspect, that the smex and I do like that!

I liked that the secrets that Mallon were keeping weren't quite what I expected, but it was dealt with very well.

The majority voice is Roman's. Mallon gets a couple of chapters but not as many as Roman. AND!! We get the bad guy. I do love hearing from the bad guy!

4 very VERY good stars (but had I read them in order, it would probably be a 5! Sorry!)

*same worded review will appear elsewhere