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!

Ooops, I had a bad week this week. Exactly how and when do I think I’ll ever read everything I buy? Plus one of this week’s little gems is a box set of 10! (it was also free when I downloaded so don’t forget to check it out for yourself)

Kindle Purchases

Breathe by Hollis Wynn

Once, it seemed my life was perfect. I had everything I thought I wanted. Then in one fell swoop, it all came crashing down. Suddenly, I don’t have a fiancé or an apartment. If none of that was real, I’ll have to figure out who I am and what I want all over again. Thank goodness I have my friends by my side.

Matt Greenstone was always one of them, a buddy who could make me smile when I frowned. But out of nowhere, there’s a new feeling growing with him. A feeling that’s thrilling and terrifying all at once. Something unmistakable is happening between us, and my freshly wounded heart can’t help but worry about the fall. I’ve been down this road before, but Matt just might be different.

He makes me laugh.
He makes me smile.
He makes my heart beat faster every time I see him.
He could be my new beginning…
If I can remember to just breathe.

Just His Secretary by Donna Jeffries

She’s just his secretary…until he needs someone on his arm to convince his mother that he can take over the family business.

Callie:
Dawson Houser makes sure everyone who comes into the office knows I’m “just his secretary.” Heck, I’ve even said it to suppliers and CEOs when they smile knowingly at the two of us during business meetings. He scowls and grumps around the office afterward, as if the two of us dating is the most ridiculous thing on the planet.

Dawson can handle them.

I can handle them—and him too, once they leave. And he’s no picnic, let me tell you.

Who can’t we handle? His mother.

When Lila Houser comes to town with her faux furs and fashion sunglasses, she only has one question for her spoiled rotten son: When are you going to get married, Dawson, darling?

I expect him to laugh and tell her he’s never getting married. I mean, I’ve heard those exact words come out of his mouth. Instead, he pulls me to his side and says, “Maybe sooner than you think, Mother.”

Oh, that Lila Houser can make a woman feel two inches tall with a simple up-down look. I think I’m a pretty good catch…no matter what my last three boyfriends say.

When Lila says, “I thought Callie was just your secretary,” I suddenly want to prove her dead wrong…

Only Love Can Hurst Like This by Paige Toon

Neither of them expected to fall in love. But sometimes life has other plans. . .

When Wren realises her fiancé is in love with someone else, she thinks her heart will never recover.

On the other side of the world, Anders lost his wife four years ago and is still struggling to move on.

Wren hopes that spending the summer with her dad and step-family on their farm in Indiana will help her to heal. There, amid the cornfields and fireflies, she and Anders cross paths and their worlds are turned upside-down again.

But Wren does not know that Anders is harbouring a secret, and if he acts on any feelings he has for Wren it will have serious fall-out for everyone.

Walking away would hurt Wren more than she can imagine.
But, knowing the truth, how can she possibly stay?

From the Embers by Aly Martinez

In the aftermath of tragedy, it’s strange what you remember.
The deafening boom as the house exploded.
The paralyzing fear as I searched for my wife.
The smoke blinding me as I carried her out.
But the woman in my arms was not my wife.

Bree and Eason survive the fire that takes their partners – but neither of them are truly living after that fateful night. As a single dad with nowhere to turn, Eason moves in with Bree despite the old tensions and the new grief they share.

Eason may have carried Bree out of the fire, but she just might be the one to save him. Yet as they both start to heal, and romance flickers to life, secrets from the past threaten to ignite.

Their love was born from the embers, and together they could go up in flames.

February’s Son by Alan Parks

ON DARK NIGHTS, SOMEONE NEEDS TO LIGHT A FEW FIRES . . .

Bodies are piling up with messages carved into their chests. Rival gangs are competing for control. New drugs have arrived in Glasgow, and they’ve brought a different kind of violence to the broken city. The law of the street is changing and demons from Detective McCoy’s past are coming back to haunt him.

Can McCoy keep his head up for long enough to deliver justice?

Summer at the Ice Cream Cafe by Jo Thomas

A dream home
Beca Valentino is ready to escape the city. When she sees the perfect house for sale in her hometown, it seems like fate. Is this her chance to build the foster family she dreams of, on the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast?

A big mistake?
Returning home isn’t as easy as she thought, however. Her family’s beloved ice cream café is gone – turned into a soulless wine bar by her hateful ex-boyfriend. Reconnecting with her oldest friend, fisherman Griff, isn’t straightforward either. And when, instead of the children she expected to take in, two wary teenage boys appear on her doorstep, Beca fears she’s made a terrible mistake.

A recipe for change
But an old family recipe book is just the inspiration she needs. Soon, with a little help from friends old and new, Beca is selling mouth-watering homemade gelato from a pop-up café on the beach.

Then disaster strikes. Will the Valentino family legacy be lost forever? Or can Beca create a new recipe for happiness?

Always By Your Side by Julie Haworth

When school teacher Rose loses her dream job at a London primary school, her self-confidence takes a knock. Worse still, her stockbroker fiancé, Ollie, sees it as the perfect opportunity for her to join his firm, which only adds to the feelings Rose has that their relationship might be coming to an end.
 
An unexpected phone call, and an elderly aunt who’s taken a fall, means Rose must drop everything – including Ollie – and return to Blossom Heath, the Sussex village she grew up in.
 
With no job to rush home to, Rose decides to stay in Blossom Heath for the Summer, trading London for the idyllic countryside. Here Rose finds herself reconnecting to the village life of her childhood in more ways than one, including falling head-over-heels for local farmer, Jake.
 
So when her London life comes calling, Rose is faced with an impossible choice… to return to the high-pressure life of her past, or embrace the joy of a new life in the country.

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson

Philadelphia, 1948: Fifteen-year-old Ruby‘s dreams are almost within reach. She’s going to be the first in her family to attend college, despite having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising her only daughter. But falling madly in love with the one boy she is forbidden from threatens to pull Ruby back into poverty and desperation. When she’s imprisoned in a home for unwed mothers – locked in the House of Eve with other ‘fallen girls’ – everything she’s worked so hard for starts slipping through her fingers.

Washington, DC, 1948: Eleanor arrives in the city with ambition, hope and a past she’s trying her hardest to run from. When she meets William at Howard University, with his inky black eyes and broad shoulders, it’s love at first sight. But William hails from one of Washington, DC’s elite Black families, who don’t let just anyone into their inner circle – especially not a girl from ‘the wrong side of the tracks’. Eleanor hopes that a baby will mean they finally accept her, and that her secrets won’t see the light of day – but fate has other plans in store…

In the dawn of the 1950s, Ruby and Eleanor are complete strangers – until their paths unexpectedly collide. Forced to make the most heartbreaking decisions of their lives, will their choices save them… or be their undoing?

At the Table by Claire Powell

To Nicole and Jamie Maguire, their parents seem the ideal couple – a suburban double act, happily married for more than thirty years. So when Linda and Gerry announce that they’ve decided to separate, the news sends shockwaves through the siblings’ lives, forcing them to confront their own expectations and desires.

Hardworking – and hard-drinking – Nicole pursues the ex she unceremoniously dumped six years ago, while people-pleasing Jamie fears he’s sleepwalking into a marriage he doesn’t actually want. But as the siblings grapple with the pressures of thirtysomething life, their parents struggle to protect the fragile façade of their own relationship, and the secrets they’ve both been keeping.

Set in 2018, Claire Powell’s beautifully observed debut novel follows each member of the Maguire family over a tumultuous year of lunches, dinners and drinks, as old conflicts arise and relationships are re-evaluated. A gripping yet tender depiction of family dynamics, love and disillusionment, At the Table is about what it means to grow up – both as an individual, and as a family.

The House at Magpie Cove by Kennedy Kerr

The Cornish beach house creaked in the salty sea wind and, from the weathered wooden porch, Mara watched a lone magpie circle above. It was silly to think that her mother’s spirit was still with her, but Mara felt as if there was something keeping her here. A secret that needed to be told…

When Mara Hughes inherits her late mother’s tumbledown beach house overlooking the bright, sandy sweep of Magpie Cove, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. With her marriage on the rocks and her husband threatening to take the family home, the beach house – with all the bittersweet memories it holds – might be the thing that finally sends Mara’s world crashing down around her. She tells herself she’ll only spend a few days there: sell it and move on to rebuilding her life.

When Mara arrives, the house is in a worse state than she feared – holes in the bedroom ceiling, birds’ nests in the attic and the beautiful, wrap-around porch on the brink of collapse… but she loves it anyway. With all its history it feels like the last link to her late mother and, determined to do whatever it takes to keep it in the family, Mara strikes a deal with local handyman – and town heartthrob – Brian Oakley to save the crumbling cottage from ruin.

But when a box of unopened old letters arrives on her new doorstep – a bequest from her mother’s will – Mara’s resolve to save the beach house will be tested to the limit. Because Mara’s mother’s perfect childhood in Magpie Cove was forever spoiled by one haunting summer afternoon, and the letters contain a secret about her family that Mara can scarcely believe to be true…

The Book-Lovers Retreat by Heidi Swain

One long summer. One perfect setting. Can fiction inspire real life…?
 
Sometimes a book grabs you by the heart and grows to mean everything to you. That’s what Hope Falls is to friends Emily, Rachel and Tori. So, when they get the chance to spend a whole summer at the cottage in Lakeside where the film adaptation was located, they know it is going to be the holiday of a lifetime.

Spending six weeks away will give them a chance to re-evaluate their life choices. For Emily to decide which way her career will go – the safe route, or the more risky creative option? And for Rachel to decide whether to move in with her partner Jeremy. Then Tori has to drop out at the last moment, and her space is offered to another Hope Falls afficionado, Alex.

But when Alex turns out not to be who they expected, the holiday takes an unforeseen turn. And as the summer develops, so does their friendship. Could this be where they uncover their future selves, find love in all its forms and where their lives will change course forever…?

Field Rules by Carla Luna

What happens in the field, stays in the field. Or does it?

After the disastrous way her first archaeological dig ended, graduate student Olivia Sanchez abandoned her dreams of working in the field. Now, thanks to a last-minute teaching opportunity in Cyprus, she’ll get another chance to explore ancient history firsthand. This time, failure isn’t an option.

But digging up the past takes on a whole new meaning when she’s forced to team up with her ex, shovel bum Rick Langston.

For years, Rick has proven his archaeological skills all over the Mediterranean. But with no graduate degree—and a habit of attracting trouble—his reputation could use a little rehab. All he has to do is play by the rules while he’s in Cyprus and he’ll secure a coveted recommendation for his next job. Until Olivia resurfaces like a cursed relic from the past.

Given that their last fling nearly led to their academic ruin, Olivia and Rick can’t afford to repeat their past mistakes. But as they work together under the scorching Mediterranean sun, the heat between them proves impossible to ignore.

Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

Four lives, entwined forever by decisions made in a time of conflict. But what happens decades later when they unexpectedly converge once more?

Trang and Quynh: sisters who leave their rural village for the bustling city of Saigon, desperate to find work to help their impoverished parents. When they take jobs as ‘ bar girls’, paid to flirt with American GIs, they must decide whether they are willing to turn their backs on the people they used to be.

Phong: one of the thousands of mixed-race children abandoned by their American fathers and Vietnamese mothers. Phong grows up surrounded by rejection, insulted as a ‘Black American imperialist’, and a ‘child of the enemy’. But he never gives up hope of finding his parents and proving he is more than a ‘bui doi’: more than the ‘dust of life’.

Dan: A former American helicopter pilot still plagued by regrets about his actions during the Việt Nam war. Now he has returned in the hope of confronting the demons that refuse to fall silent.

Set between the Việt Nam war and the present day, Dust Child is a sweeping epic of family secrets and hidden heartache, from an internationally celebrated author.

The Watchmaker’s Daughter by Dianne Haley

Hiding the worn piece of paper among her father’s watch deliveries, her eyes fill with tears at the memory of her brave friend walking towards the Nazi soldiers, and the sharp sound of gun fire. Her friend sacrificed herself so that she could deliver this message. But if she hands it over, the love of her life will die…

1942, Geneva: As her radio crackles with heart-breaking news from occupied France, Valérie Hallez gazes towards the snow-covered Alps after a long day helping her father, a local watchmaker. With a Nazi invasion looming, she is sick with worry for the future of her country, and for Philippe, her childhood sweetheart with soft brown eyes. Valérie might not be able to join the army like him, but she is determined to play her part in the fight against evil…

In defiance of her father, Valérie helps the French Resistance by smuggling messages among her father’s watch deliveries. And when darkness falls, she risks everything to hide Jewish refugee children in his old workshop. Philippe fears for her safety, as her work for the Resistance could come with a heavy price. But nothing will stop her delivering vital information and getting terrified children to safety before they are sent back to the Nazis.

But when Valérie is entrusted with an urgent letter for the Allies, she finds herself in an impossible position. The information it contains could alter the course of the war. But if she hands over the message now, it will cost Philippe his life. With Nazi spies closing in on her, Valérie must act now… But can she really trust the man she loves, and will she find a way to save both him and her country before it’s too late?

My Billionaire Grump by Camilla Isley

When Lucy planned a summer trip to Florence, she didn’t expect to have to go single. Or for the hotel manager to cheat her out of her river-view room. And especially not for a broody, handsome stranger to offer to swap rooms with her.

Offer is a euphemism. The mysterious George Emerson sort of brutalizes her into accepting the exchange. His gesture is as kind as the tone in which he poses it is barbaric, leaving Lucy rightfully confused.

What is it about this man that makes her heart race while simultaneously making her want to punch him in the face?

Only an unforgettable vacation under the Tuscan sun will unravel Lucy’s true feelings.

A Winter Grave by Peter May

A TOMB OF ICE

A young meteorologist checking a mountain top weather station in Kinlochleven discovers the body of a missing man entombed in ice.

A DYING DETECTIVE

Cameron Brodie, a Glasgow detective, sets out on a hazardous journey to the isolated and ice-bound village. He has his own reasons for wanting to investigate a murder case so far from his beat.

AN AGONIZING RECKONING

Brodie must face up to the ghosts of his past and to a killer determined to bury forever the chilling secret that his investigation threatens to expose.

Beach Reads Box Set, Vol 3

Ten full-length novels from some of your favorite bestselling romance authors. This special bundle features stories perfect for fun in the sun. A gift to our readers and a great way to introduce you to new authors to love, grab this romance bundle before it’s gone!

Ten Trends to Seduce Your Best Friend by Penny Reid

Faking Ms. Right by Claire Kingsley

Come Back for Me by Corinne Michaels

Then Came You by Dylan Allen

Flawless by Elsie Silver

The Wrong Game by Kandi Steiner

Boss in the Bedsheets by Kate Canterbary

Forrest for the Trees by Kilby Blades

Ignite by Melanie Harlow

Rockaway Bride by Pippa Grant

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman’s carefully calculated theories on love into chaos.

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is on her way to a happily ever after was always going to be tough, scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting woman, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when he agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire and Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support (and his unyielding abs), their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion.

Olive soon discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

Happy Reading!!