Weekly Mews: Welcome February (January Wrap Up and February's TBR List Poll--Please Vote!)

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

As part of my monthly wrap up, I am linking to Nicole of Feed Your Addiction's Monthly Wrap-Up Post.

Happy February! 

It was quite the week. It was my week to work from the office.  I was reminded of the early pandemic days when I was often the only one in the office, now that most of the other staff are able to work from home full-time temporarily. It certainly wasn't as slow as it was then though. It's always busy these days, and then add in the fact that so many staff are calling out. Friday was an especially rough day--more so emotionally exhausting than anything else. It was the kind of day when I come home and hug my daughter tighter and longer.

Earlier in the week, I accompanied my mom to the hospital for a couple of medical procedures, each on a different day.  At the first appointment, the doctor identified the problem, and the second was with a specialist. Unfortunately the specialist wasn't able to resolve the issue either and so she will be talking to the surgeon next week to see what the next steps might be. I felt really bad for my mom, having to fast for so long, not to mention going under deep sedation twice, so close together. She is doing well though. We are both anxious to hear what the surgeon says.

On a happier note, the cast lists came out for the summer shows my daughter auditioned for. She has two parts in the ballet, Cinderella, and three in the musical, Mary Poppins (including her first solo!). She is looking forward to learning her parts. Rehearsals begin this coming weekend. 

My favorite coworker keeping an eye on me as I work.

Sleeping kitty

Last Read

This past week I read Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano and Hooky by Míriam Bonastre Tur. My daughter warned me Hooky would end on a cliffhanger and, sure enough, it did. I can only hope we do not have long to wait for the next installment. The second Finlay Donovan book was just as good as the first. It was such a fun read! 

Reading Now

I am nearly finished reading Marion Lane and the Deadly Rose (#2) by T.A. Willberg. The situation is dire at Miss Brickett's Investigations & Inquires but I have high hopes Marion and her friends will find a way to save the day in the end. I am still on schedule with my Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas reading. 

What are you reading now? 

Up Next

It is that time again when you help me choose the next book I will read! I am feeling a romantic reading mood coming on and these three titles jumped off my TBR shelves at me. Which one do you think I should read next?

Well Played (Well Met #2) by Jen DeLuca

Stacey is jolted when her friends Simon and Emily get engaged. She knew she was putting her life on hold when she stayed in Willow Creek to care for her sick mother, but it's been years now, and even though Stacey loves spending her summers pouring drinks and flirting with patrons at the local Renaissance Faire, she wants more out of life. Stacey vows to have her life figured out by the time her friends get hitched at Faire next summer. Maybe she'll even find The One.

When Stacey imagined "The One," it never occurred to her that her summertime Faire fling, Dex MacLean, might fit the bill. While Dex is easy on the eyes onstage with his band The Dueling Kilts, Stacey has never felt an emotional connection with him. So when she receives a tender email from the typically monosyllabic hunk, she's not sure what to make of it.

Faire returns to Willow Creek, and Stacey comes face-to-face with the man with whom she’s exchanged hundreds of online messages over the past nine months. To Stacey's shock, it isn't Dex—she's been falling in love with a man she barely knows.

Another laugh-out-loud romantic comedy featuring kilted musicians, Renaissance Faire tavern wenches, and an unlikely love story. [Goodreads Summary]

Recipe for Persuasion (The Rajes #2) by Sonali Dev

From the author of Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors comes another , clever, deeply layered, and heartwarming romantic comedy that follows in the Jane Austen tradition—this time, with a twist on Persuasion.

Chef Ashna Raje desperately needs a new strategy. How else can she save her beloved restaurant and prove to her estranged, overachieving mother that she isn’t a complete screw up? When she’s asked to join the cast of Cooking with the Stars, the latest hit reality show teaming chefs with celebrities, it seems like just the leap of faith she needs to put her restaurant back on the map. She’s a chef, what’s the worst that could happen?

Rico Silva, that’s what.

Being paired with a celebrity who was her first love, the man who ghosted her at the worst possible time in her life, only proves what Ashna has always believed: leaps of faith are a recipe for disaster.

FIFA winning soccer star Rico Silva isn't too happy to be paired up with Ashna either. Losing Ashna years ago almost destroyed him. The only silver lining to this bizarre situation is that he can finally prove to Ashna that he's definitely over her.

But when their catastrophic first meeting goes viral, social media becomes obsessed with their chemistry. The competition on the show is fierce…and so is the simmering desire between Ashna and Rico. Every minute they spend together rekindles feelings that pull them toward their disastrous past. Will letting go again be another recipe for heartbreak—or a recipe for persuasion…?

In Recipe for Persuasion, Sonali Dev once again takes readers on an unforgettable adventure in this fresh, fun, and enchanting romantic comedy. [Goodreads Summary]

Dial A for Aunties (Aunties #1) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family?

You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!

When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It's the biggest job yet for the family wedding business—"Don't leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!"—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie's perfect buttercream flowers.

But things go from inconvenient to downright torturous when Meddy's great college love—and biggest heartbreak—makes a surprise appearance amid the wedding chaos. Is it possible to escape murder charges, charm her ex back into her life, and pull off a stunning wedding all in one weekend? [Goodreads Summary]

 

Thank you for voting! What will you be reading next?

My TBR List is hosted by the awesome Michelle at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and let you vote for my next read during that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

What I Have Been Watching

My husband and I watched the final episode of the first season of Jessica Jones. Kilgrave is the villain of nightmares. It had been long enough since I had last watched the show that I only had vague impressions of what was coming. It's just as dark as I remember. Luke Cage makes his first appearance during the season and I clapped when Rosario Temple's character, Claire Temple shows up in the season finale. She's one of my favorite Marvel characters from the television shows. I was also happy to see the actress appear in The Book of Boba Fett, which my husband and I have both been keeping up with. I had not expected to see so much of the Mandalorian in the Boba Fett series, but I am not disappointed. I cannot wait to see how this first season of the show wraps up. 

Amazon Prime dropped Chuck just after I started season three and my husband surprised me by subscribing to HBO/Max for the month so I could continue my re-watch of the show since it's now airing there. Okay, so maybe that is not the only reason he signed up for it . . . It worked out well though, because guess what else I found on HBO/Max? I have finally been able to introduce my daughter to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. She's loving it and so am I. 

Have you watched anything interesting lately?

January Monthly Wrap Up

Here is what I finished reading in January:

• The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith 
• White Witch, Black Curse (The Hollows #7) by Kim Harrison
• Circe by Madeline Miller
• The Maid by Nita Prose
• Dressed for Freedom: The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism by Einav Rabinovitch-Fox
• The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

I kicked off January with Sheila's (of Book Journey) First Book of the Year, reading The Witch Haven, a Christmas gift from my daughter, which I enjoyed. I can never resist a novel involving witches! I also finished reading two carryover books I had started in December. January's TBR Poll winner Circe was amazing. I would have named that as my favorite book of the month, but then I read The Girl with the Louding Voice. All in all, it was a very good reading month with no disappointments.

I managed to get a few of my backlog reviews published this past month and posted fairly regularly. Hopefully I will be able to keep that up this month. 

This Past January In Reading Mews:

• Weekly Mews: Happy New Year! (First Book of the Year / December Wrap Up)
• Top Ten Tuesday: My Top Ten Most Anticipated Books Releasing In the First Half of 2022
• Where Is Your Bookmark: The Witch Haven & Connect 5: Series Reading
• Weekly Mews: A Hot Cocoa Kind of Week
• Top Ten Tuesday: Most Recent Additions to My TBR
• Bookish Mewsings: The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton & The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
• Where Is Your Bookmark: An Exiled Goddess & Earthquakes
• Weekly Mews: A Bookstore Run, Leg Cuddles & Good Books
• Top Ten Tuesday 2021 Releases I Was Excited to Read But Didn’t Get To
• Bookish Mewsings: Borrow a Bookshop Holiday / The Charm Offensive / Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors
• Where Is Your Bookmark: Snuggling Under a Blanket with a Mystery
• Weekly Mews: High Winds, Good Books, and More Hot Cocoa
• Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2021
• Bookish Mewsings: Witches Get Stitches / The Ex Hex / Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop
• Where Is Your Bookmark: My Current Read & Just in Time for Cinderella
• Weekly Mews: Cookie Time & Six Degrees of Separation (From No One is Talking About This to Becoming)

In case you missed it - in this past week's Reading Mews: 

• Top Ten Tuesday: My Top Ten Books Read with Character Names In the Titles
• Where Is Your Bookmark: Bookish Mewsings on Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano (& Connect 5: Groundhog Day)

How did your January shape up? Do you have a favorite among the books you read?

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