Sundays with Sam - The Sunday Post

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

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My Week in Review

Happy Sunday! I hope the week was a good to you. With my home situation, all I do is work and read these days. I leave the house to shop and get food. That's it. I am looking forward to having a day off this week for an appointment. I could use a break from something. 

On the Blog

• Monday: Reviews - Slow Burn Summer, Never Been Shipped
• Tuesday: TTT - It's Been a "Summer"
• Wednesday: CWW - Lucky Break, The School of Essential Ingredients
• Thursday: Reviews - Love Story, The Grump Whisperer
• Friday: Five Star Friday - May 2025
• Saturday: Five on My TBR - Summer Titles

Let's Discuss

• Jen shares some mystery and thriller books set on a lake
• The Orangutan Librarian wonders if fiction is getting worse
• Carol talks about those elusive five-star reads

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Stacking the Shelves

It was a good book week this week. I got some invites for books I was previously approved for, but I also got some approvals I was waiting on. Secret Nights and Northern Lights looks like a fun one, and I enjoyed Dahlia's last book, so it was nice to get approved for that one too. Playing for Keeps was the Hockey Romance Book Club download this month. I have never read the author, but I liked the premise. I also purchased two books from my TBR that were on sale. 

Netgalley/Edelweiss

• Secret Nights and Northern Lights by
• Backslide by Nora Dahlia

Invites

• Playing for Keeps by KA Findlay
• Writing Mr. Wrong by Kelley Armstrong
• It's Different This Time by Joss Richard
• If It Makes You Happy by Julie Olivia

Purchased/Free

• Italian for Beginners by Kristin Harmel
• Love and Other Lost Things by Melissa Wiesner

Read Last Week

I had a three-way tie for highest rated this week with Prose, Bauermeister, and Doyle all earning 4.5 stars. They were so different from each other, but I think The School of Essential Ingredients was my favorite. The focus on food and community was really soothing for me. Total Dreamboat was a fun one which actually earned the rom-com label, and it was great to be back with Molly learning more about Gran. 

Find all my reviews on Goodreads

Books

• A Maid's Secret by Nita Prose - ★★★★ 1/2
• The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister - ★★★★ 1/2
• Holding the Reins by Paisley Hope - ★★★★
• Total Dreamboat by Katelyn Doyle - ★★★★ 1/2
• Air Kiss by L.H. Cosway - ★★★ 1/2

Audiobooks

• Yours to Forget by Emily Silver - ★★★★

Currently Reading

Dear Carolina started with me in tears. This is a story about a child and her two mothers - her birth mother and her adoptive mother, and the way the story was being told to the child from the two women's points of view is very touching at times. 

I am loving Writing Mr. Wrong. The premise is a good one. The heroine is a romance author who wrote the kind of hero the people want - a jerky alpha. When writing her hero, he ended up being modeled after a crush who kind of broke her heart in high school and went on to become a hockey sensation. They are reunited on a talk show and embark on a fauxmance. So far, so good. I am loving the banter between the hero and heroine, and really want her to see how the hero has grown. I think this could be a big hit for me. 

• Writing Mr. Wrong by Kelley Armstrong
• Dear Carolina by Kristy Woodson Harvey (audiobook)

To Be Read

• Insignificant Others by Sarah Jio
• The Summer of Perfect Mistakes by Cynthia St. Aubin
• Totally Completely Fine by Elissa Sussman
• How Freaking Romantic by Emily Harding

How was your week?
Let us know in the comments!