We Live and Breathe Books: Sundays with Sam

Sundays with Sam is a combination of Sunday Post hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Stacking the Shelves hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

My Week in Review

Happy Sunday! Hope all is well with everyone. On Friday, it will be 25 years since 9/11. I am starting to see posts on social media, and the tears were flowing. The one below shows the memorial museum. I went there one with my parents. It's beautiful but so painful and difficult. I will never visit again, but I do think it's a wonderful tribute to those who were lost and served. It's an event that I have such a strong memories. I remember them locking down the bridges and tunnels, seeing the smoke for weeks form the World Trade Center, watching my father circle the names of all the lost firefighters he knew. I also remember the positive effects, the patriotism and strength that people in this area showed.

I am going to enjoy this short work week. We have off on Monday for Labor Day, and I have a half day on Friday as I am flying to Chicago. I feel like I am in a rut, so I am really looking forward to the short trip. I have not done much lately, and because of renovations, I don't even have my Paper Mill show to see.

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On the Blog

Monday: Reviews - A Taste of Magic, Something About September
Tuesday: TTT - Books with Nationalities in the Title
Wednesday: Sloth Goes Places - Arizona
Thursday: Reviews - You'll Love It Here, When Lemons Give You Life
Friday: Five Star Friday - August 2026

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Stacking the Shelves

This was a week of surprises. I was excited to get approved for the Julia Whelan book as I loved both her previous books. I saw the next Bootleg Springs book for download on Edelweiss and had to click. I really loved Whiskey Chaser and am looking forward to returning to that world and the overarching mystery.

I one-clicked The Jump as it was discounted and one of my anticipated books this year. Downloaded a few freebies from authors I have read before as well.

The real surprise came in the form of invites from Berkley. I already have an ARC of the DeLuca book, but I was very sad to be rejected for the new Mallory Marlowe. I was giddy to get that one. I will probably download the Levine book as well, and the Sarah Fox one sounds good too. Then, when I realized Rachel Griffin is the author of The Nature of Witches, I wanted to download her new book too.

Netgalley/Edelweiss

Casanova LLC by Julia Whelan
Sidecar Crush by Lucy Score, Claire Kingsley

Purchased/Free

The Jump by Natalie Heller Reiner
Strung Along by Hannah Cowen
Dust Storm by Maggie Gates

Invites

Fall for a Fairytale by Isabelle Taylor
We Are Never Ever Solving This Murder by Sarah Fox
Your Best Chance of Survival by Mike Bockoven
When the Woods Called Us Home by Rachel Griffin
Well Versed by Jen DeLuca
Love You to Death by Jenna Levine
Entities to Lovers by Mallory Marlowe

Read Last Week

This was a good week. The first two books had me a sobbing mess for very different reasons. Star-Crossed Summer was my top read of the week. It was just second-chance perfection. It's been a long time since I was this invested in a reunion. There was a physically sensation of excitement coursing through my body as I read this story. You would think knowing this was genre romance (HEA) I could remain calm, BUT I COULDN'T!! I loved it!

I also really enjoyed Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt. This was a deep book about life and death, and there was this part that broke me, but the ending was quite surprising and well done. Falling Into Place was a hit as well. You all know how much I love grief and loss stories. This was a good one. Loved the setting, the characters, the personal journey, and the touch of mystery which added something unexpected to this tale.

Find all my reviews on Goodreads