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!

I was actually doing very well this week with a creditable 2 purchases until Amazon offered me a spend £10 get £3 back offer. As a result I went over my Kindle bargains listing and had a little spree.

Kindle Purchases

Wedding Days at Halesmere House by Suzanne Snow

The last thing on Lizzie’s mind is catching the bouquet

When her best friend’s wedding venue catches fire, Lizzie Martin is on the case to find somewhere new. By some miracle, a space opens up at Halesmere House, and it makes perfect sense to move the event to the Lake District artists’ residence. But Lizzie has painful memories of Halesmere…

And when she bumps into Cal, her first love, she is forced to confront the past. Now a sought-after blacksmith, Cal has his own studio at Halesmere and the two must find a way to get along if this wedding isn’t going to be a complete disaster.

It soon becomes apparent that their attraction hasn’t waned, but can Lizzie put their shared past behind her and learn to trust the man who left her once before?

Stepping Up by Sarah Turner

Beth has never stuck at anything.

She’s quit more jobs and relationships than she can remember and she still sleeps in her childhood bedroom. It’s not that she hasn’t tried to grow up, it’s just that so far, the only commitment she’s held down is Friday drinks at the village pub.

Then, in the space of a morning, her world changes.

An unspeakable tragedy turns Beth’s life upside down, and she finds herself guardian to her teenage niece and toddler nephew, catapulted into an unfamiliar world of bedtime stories, parents’ evenings and cuddly elephants. Having never been responsible for anyone – or anything – it’s not long before she feels seriously out of her depth.

What if she’s simply not up to the job?

With a little help from her best friend Jory (purely platonic, of course …) and her lovely, lonely next-door neighbour, Albert, Beth is determined that this time she’s not giving up. It’s time to step up.

This is a story about digging deep for strength you never knew you had and finding magic in things that were there all along.

Isaac and the Egg by Bobby Palmer

It is early. A young man stands on a bridge and lets out a heart-wrenching scream. From deep in the woods, something screams back.

It sounds improbable. But this is how Isaac meets the egg.

The two are unlikely companions. But their chance encounter will transform Isaac’s life in ways he cannot yet imagine.

Maybe he will finally understand why he went there that morning. Maybe he will find a way to tell the truth.

Sometimes, to get out of the woods, you have to go into them.

Lily Bennett’s Bucket List by Katherine Dyson

What would Lily Bennett do?

This is the question Lydia Grey finds herself repeatedly asking ever since she discovers Lily’s bucket list at the bottom of her shopping trolley. Lily clearly knows how to live life and it’s about time Lydia started to live hers. And what better start than to tick off all Lily’s life-long dreams . . .

1. Ride a horse
2. Jump off the 10m diving board
3. Climb a mountain
4. Go camping
5. Ride a rollercoaster
6. Learn to surf
7. Go stargazing
8. Get a tattoo
9. Do the scariest thing you can think of

After all, how hard can it be to complete the list?Except number nine means that Lydia must open herself up to her past to move on with her future . . .

Made in Manhattan by Lauren Layne

Sometimes the best things come from unexpected places . . .

Raised in the privileged world of Upper East Side Manhattan, Violet Townsend always says the right things, wears the right clothes, and never rocks the boat. So when a friend of her beloved grandmother asks Violet to teach her newly discovered grandson how to fit in with the city’s elite, Violet immediately agrees. Her task? To prepare Cain Stone to take his place as heir to his family company . . . but he’s not exactly an eager student.

Born and raised in rural Louisiana, Cain is only playing along for the payout at the end. He’s not interested in a relationship with the grandmother he just met and has no patience for the uppity Violet’s attempts to turn him into a suit-wearing, museum-attending gentleman.

But somewhere between antagonistic dinner parties and tortured tux fittings, Cain and Violet begin to find a begrudging respect for each other – and perhaps even something more.

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

PARIS, 1920. On the bohemian Left Bank, Sylvia runs a little bookshop called Shakespeare and Company. Here she welcomes the greatest writers of the day – and from the moment James Joyce finally walks through her door, the two become friends.

When Joyce’s controversial novel Ulysses is banned, Sylvia is determined to publish it herself.

But championing the most scandalous book of the century will come at a cost – and Sylvia finds herself risking ruin, her reputation and her heart, all in the name of the life-changing power of books.

Set in post-war Paris, The Paris Bookseller is a sweeping story of love, courage and betrayal – and a breathtakingly beautiful love letter to books.

What July Knew by Emily Koch

Summer, 1995. July Hooper knows eighteen things about her mother.

Like number thirteen: she loved dancing on the kitchen table. And number eight: she was covered in freckles.

And then there’s number two: she died after being hit by a car when July was small.

She keeps this list hidden in a drawer away from her father. Because they’re not allowed to talk about her mother. Ever.

But an anonymous note slipped into July’s bag on her tenth birthday is about to change everything she thinks she knows about her mum…

One More Day by Emma Heatherington

Annie Madden and her husband Peter seemed to have the perfect life.

They had two beautiful children, a wonderful home and each other. That was before everything changed. Now Annie must face a different life, after a devastating event casts a shadow over her family, and their future.

When she is offered the chance to pick up her previous career as a writer, Annie is reluctant. Hollywood bad-boy, Senan Donnelly, has scared off every other ghostwriter who has tried to tell his story, so why would she be any different?

Travelling to the beautiful coast of West Cork, she discovers a very different side to the Hollywood actor. Annie can feel her heart opening up, but she is not free to follow it. Must she put her own happiness last, or can she dare to turn the page on a new chapter?

The Corner Shop on Foxmore Green by Lilac Mills

Can a new shop change the village’s future – and Rowena’s?

Single mum Rowena is always looking for ways for her and Nia, her four-year-old daughter, to live more sustainably. So when she visits a zero-waste shop in Cardiff, she’s inspired to start one up in her home village of Foxmore, where local businesses and artisan shops are a core part of the community.

For Huw, it’s love at first sight when he bumps into Rowena the day he moves to Foxmore. But a series of misunderstandings keeps the two from getting closer, and now a conflict of interest over Rowena’s shop might put a stop to any fledgling romance…

When a figure from Rowena’s past makes a surprise appearance, both her shop and her relationship with Huw are suddenly under threat. Can Rowena still realise her corner shop dreams and find love?

In Case of Emergency by Poorna Bell

When Bel Kumar leaves for work in the morning, the last thing she expects is wake up in hospital later that day – with her ex from four years ago by her bedside.

It turns out that:

1) She’s had a near-death accident outside work
2) She urgently needs to replace her ex with another next of kin on her HR form

But who can Bel turn to in a crisis? She’s never been good at asking for help, but she knows she needs to reconnect with the most important people from her past.

Within days she’s navigating complex family history, old school friendships and romantic encounters – with consequences she never could have predicted.

Perhaps the worst day of Bel’s life will turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to her . . .

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the magical wilds of Tanria. It’s an unforgiving job, and he’s got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness.

Mercy never has a moment to herself. She’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart-ache Hart, the man with a knack for showing up right when her patience is thinnest.

After yet another run-in with Merciless Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to “A Friend”. Much to his surprise, he receives an anonymous reply, and a tentative friendship is born. Little does Hart know he’s baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most. . .

Set in a world equally full of magic and demigods as it is donuts and small-town drama, this utterly unique fantasy is sure to sweep you off your feet.

Book Subscriptions

Dance Move by Wendy Erskine (Feb NB Book Sub)

Following the prize-winning Sweet Home, Wendy Erskine’s Belfast is once again illuminated. Meet Drew Lord Haig, called on to sing an obscure hit from his youth at a paramilitary event. Meet Max as he recalls an eventful journey to a Christian film festival. And Mrs Dallesandro who dreams of being a teenager again as she sits in a tanning salon on her wedding anniversary.

In these stories, Erskine’s characters’ wishes and hopes often fall short of their grasp. Brilliantly drawn, Dance Move is about the hugeness of life as seen through glimpses of the everyday.

Happy Reading!!