Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Marlene @ReadingReality and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

This seemed like a great feature to jump onboard with to help me avoid my interminably long monthly posts of all that I’ve bought (and NOT read). So here goes!

Kindle Purchases

All the Pretty Ones by Marnie Riches

The girl is sitting upright, her dark brown hair arranged over her shoulders and her blue, blue eyes staring into the distance. She looks almost peaceful. But her gaze is vacant, and her skin is cold…

Seventeen-year-old Chloe Smedley walks out of the school gates and waves to the person waiting for her across the road. She smiles and hurries towards them… and is never seen alive again.

Detective Jackie Cooke is first on the scene when Chloe’s body is found, posed upright at a garden table. In her gut, Jackie knows she’s searching for a monster and it’s only a matter of time before they strike again, but no one will listen.

Chloe’s distraught mother describes her as a happy, loving girl, and Jackie vows to find her killer, whatever the cost.

Then another body is found, posed in the same strange way. Sickened by the scene, Jackie returns home to find a multi-coloured friendship bracelet on her kitchen counter. Her blood runs cold. It’s the same one her brother was wearing before he disappeared, nearly thirty years ago.

Jackie realises that only digging into her own past will let her catch the killer. But he is already watching her every move… can she stop him before he strikes again?

The Ends of the Earth by Abbie Greaves

Some love stories change us for ever.

For the last seven years, Mary O’Connor has waited for her first love. Every evening she arrives at Ealing Broadway station and stands with a sign which simply says: ‘Come Home Jim’.

Commuters might pass her by without a second thought, but Mary isn’t going anywhere. Until an unexpected call turns her world on its head.

It will take the help of a young journalist called Alice, and a journey across the country for Mary to face what happened all those years ago, and to finally answer the question: where on earth is Jim?

When in Rome by Sarah Adams

Rome is where the heart is.

Amelia Rose is burned-out from years of maintaining her public image as pop princess Rae Rose. Inspired by her favourite Audrey Hepburn film, Roman Holiday, she drives off in the middle of the night for a break in Rome . . . Rome, Kentucky, that is.

Running the pie shop his grandmother left him, Noah Walker is busy enough as it is. But after finding Amelia on his front lawn in her broken-down car, he decides to let her stay in his guest room – on a very temporary basis, of course.

As the two of them grow closer, Noah starts to see a new side to Amelia – kind-hearted and goofy, yet lonely from years in the public eye. Amelia may have to go back to her other life someday, but for now she’s perfectly happy falling in love with the cozy small town she’s found herself in . . . and her grumpy tour guide isn’t half-bad either.

So Not My Thing by Melanie Jacobson

I hated Miles Crowe more than itchy socks, “namaste” puns on yoga tank tops, and chigger bites. Combined.

26-year-old New Orleans native Elle Jones used to be the internet’s most famous meme for rejection thanks to an embarrassing teenage TV appearance. But she’s finally put that past behind her and now she’s killing it as a commercial real estate agent in the coolest neighborhoods in the city.

When Miles Crowe—the former pop star who made her notorious—insists on hiring her to find a property for his jazz club, she’ll do everything she can to get herself fired before he realizes who she is.

But Miles has grown up too, and Elle soon discovers that he is as passionate about the city as she is…and even sexier now than he was then. Will she risk exposing her humiliating past to claim a future with the guy who once nearly ruined her life?

The Camino de Santiago :One Wonderful Walk by Shannon O’Gorman

Every year, over three hundred thousand people complete the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela. Part memoir, part history, ( and part attempt at humour), The Camino de Santiago: One Wanderful Walk recounts a solo woman traveler’s personal adventure on this route in 2019.

Each person who walks on this ancient route walks in the footsteps of someone who has come before. And, some steps are bigger than others! These are compelling stories set in beautiful Spanish landscapes and in bustling cities, and they are the stories of the human connections built from funny, shocking and poignant experiences.

Why do so many people chose to walk this way? What did the author hope to gain from the experience? Was the food tasty? How was the wine? A lot of uphill? Any bedbugs?

Follow along with the author, as she follows the yellow arrows and the proverbial yellow brick road, and tries not to get lost on her way to Santiago.

This is book is for the armchair traveller and for those planning on taking a trip to Spain to walk the route for themselves. Sit back be inspired and let the magic of the Camino unfold!

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

A wedding in Spain. The most infuriating man. Three days to convince your family you’re actually in love. . . 

Catalina Martín desperately needs a date to her sister’s wedding. Especially when her little white lie about her American boyfriend has spiralled out of control. Now everyone she knows – including her ex-boyfriend and his fiancée – will be there. 

She only has four weeks to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic for her and aid in her deception. NYC to Spain is no short flight and her family won’t be easy to fool. . . But even then, when Aaron Blackford – the 6’4″, blue-eyed pain in the arse – offers to step in, she’s not tempted even for a second. Never has there been a more aggravating, blood-boiling and insufferable man. 

But Catalina is desperate and as the wedding gets closer the more desirable an option Aaron Blackford becomes. . . 

Paperback Purchases

Love, Hope by Juliet Ann Conlin

An unexpected letter. An unlikely friendship. A chance to start again.

Ever since she first picked up a violin, Hope Sullivan dreamed of going to music college, joining an orchestra and travelling the world with her best friend Janey. But when her parents were killed in a car accident on the way to one of her recitals, she gave it all up to look after her younger sister, Autumn. Ten years later, Janey is living their dream on her own, Autumn is flourishing as a doctor and Hope’s life is smaller and less musical than ever.

Arnold Quince had the happiest of lives – until he lost his beloved wife Marion. Once the life and soul of the village, he withdrew into his grief and pushed all his friends away. Now, five years on, he is sick, lonely and just counting down the years until he can be with Marion again.

When Hope and Arnold are pushed into writing to one another, neither has any idea how much their life is about to change.

The Last Charm by Ella Allbright

Leila’s charm bracelet tells a story of love, a story of loss, a story of hope.

This is the story of her… and the story of Jake.

When Leila Jones loses her precious charm bracelet and a stranger finds it, she has to tell the story of how she got the charms to prove she’s the owner. Each and every one is a precious memory of her life with Jake.

So Leila starts at the beginning, recounting the charms and experiences that have led her to the present. A present she never could have expected when she met Jake nearly twenty years ago…

Happy Reading!!