Stacking The Shelves is hosted by Marlene @ReadingReality and is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, be they 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!
A mixed bag this week, crime, Christmas, contemporary fiction and historical. Some cracking Daily Deals (saving me £18) and some tempting freebies. So a lovely selection for the lovely sum of £4.95.
(NB This post features Affiliate links from which I earn a small commission on qualifying purchases)
eBooks
Love in the Scottish Fall Forest by Beatrice Bradshaw (was 99p now £4.99)
He’s a grumpy single dad hiding from his past. Then a fearless stuntwoman crashes into his world.
Gennie Rivers lives for the thrill, both on and off set. But her wildest stunt yet might be taking that gig on a film set in Scotland – a chance to boost her career and escape her toxic Hollywood ex.
Nathan MacMillan, hiding from a scandalous past as a pop star, is determined to protect his little daughter Abby from the spotlight at all costs. When financial troubles force the protective single dad to rent out his land, the last thing he needs is a vibrant, young daredevil disrupting his carefully constructed peace – and invading his thoughts…
When Gennie saves Abby’s life and gets injured, Nathan can’t turn away the sassy bombshell who suddenly makes his home feel complete. Forced into close proximity at his rural estate, the grumpy Scot and the free spirit from LA can’t resist their magnetic attraction – despite their 12-year age gap and vastly different lives.
But Nathan must protect his privacy, or he risks his child’s safety and well-being. And Gennie brings exactly the attention he’s desperately trying to avoid. With the ghosts of past hurt and betrayal lingering, they must decide if they’ll take the greatest leap of all – trusting each other.
A Skye Full of Stars by Sue Moorcroft (99p)
Under the winter stars, anything is possible…
Ezzie Wynter can’t wait for Christmas on the beautiful Isle of Skye. Her island home sparkles at this time of year thanks to the snow-capped mountains and frosty winter walks, topped off with family gatherings with those she loves the most.
But her peaceful Christmas idyll is upended when she hears that the Larsson family – the owners of Rothach Hall – are flying in from Sweden for the festivities. As Manager of their grand Scottish manor house, Ezzie suddenly has decorations to hang, food to source and itineraries to organise.
Life only becomes more difficult when Mats Larsson turns up. The owners’ handsome, self-assured son is used to doing things his own way – and he is only another headache to add to her overflowing list.
Yet when unexpected visitors arrive looking for Ezzie, nothing else matters as she is left questioning everything she ever knew about herself. But amidst the Christmas chaos, she might also discover that, when all is lost, it’s sometimes those we least expect who come to our aid…
All I Want for Christmas by AJ Wynter (Free)
When an avalanche closes the road, Henri finds herself trapped without a place to stay – in her worst nightmare – a small town at Christmas.
They call me the Girl Grinch. And I like it.
Covering a small town Christmas movie for my newspaper is the worst assignment I’ve ever been given. My grumpy editor has to be punishing me; because the only thing I hate more than Christmas – is small towns. Luckily, he is letting me put my own spin on the story and I am going to expose that the movies have got it all wrong.
I am going to show the world that sexy mountain men, quaint cupcake shops, and Christmas miracles aren’t a thing.
Friends of Dorothy by Sandi Toksvig (was 99p now £12.99)
After much searching, the happily married young couple, Amber and Stevie think they have found the perfect spot in Grimaldi Square. Despite the rundown pub across the way, the overgrown garden and a decidedly nosy neighbour, number 4 is the house of their dreams. Stevie, a woman who has never left anything to chance, has planned everything so nothing can spoil their happiness. But … upstairs in their new home, seated on an old red sofa is the woman they bought the place from – eighty-year-old foul-mouthed, straight-talking, wise-cracking Dorothy – who has decided that she’s not going anywhere. It turns out that Dorothy will be only the first in a line of life-changing surprises.
The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier (was 99p now £6.99)
Venice, 1486. Across the lagoon lies Murano. Time flows differently here – like the glass the island’s maestros spend their lives learning to handle.
Women are not meant to work with glass, but Orsola Rosso flouts convention to save her family from ruin. She works in secret, knowing her creations must be perfect to be accepted by men. But perfection may take a lifetime.
Skipping like a stone through the centuries, we follow Orsola as she hones her craft through war and plague, tragedy and triumph, love and loss.
The beads she creates will adorn the necks of empresses and courtesans from Paris to Vienna – but will she ever earn the respect of those closest to her?
Yuletide Acres by ML Broome (was free now £3.46)
Poppy:
I loved Dylan, but he left anyway.
He slipped away in the middle of the night without any warning, and he never returned. He didn’t even say goodbye. An abrupt end to the biggest love I’ve ever known.
Sounds like lyrics to the latest country song, but every word of this ditty is true.
Even now, ten years later, the man still crosses my mind. Is he healthy? Happy? Sexy and delectable?
Imagine my surprise when I move to a small Montana village, only to learn the mayor is the same man who ghosted me years earlier.
To answer that last question, the term delectable doesn’t do Dylan justice.
Only one obstacle to our joyous reunion. He hates me. At least that’s what I thought…until he kissed me, upending any semblance of normalcy in my world.
The feelings between us still burn hot, but my heart can’t handle another round with Disappearing Dylan.
I also can’t stay away from him.
Dylan:
My biggest life regret was leaving Poppy ten years ago. I never even told her goodbye. But she was the ultimate free spirit, and I needed to grow up and join the real world.
So I left her—and my heart—in the California desert, returning home to my tiny Montana town.
Time moved on, and I thought I had as well. Until one fateful morning when I went to greet our town’s newest resident and watched my past collide with my present.
Now, she’s under my skin, just like a decade earlier, sexier and feistier than ever before. I want nothing more than to make her mine, but I doubt a single father holds much appeal for a woman like Poppy.
There’s only one solution—I can’t let her near my heart again.
But I know that idea is moot. Poppy has owned my heart all along.
The Wrong Gift by Emi Leon (free)
A Scrooge of a boss gets more than the wrong Christmas gift when he fires his full-of-sunshine temp…
After I accidentally post confidential info on my social media, I give my coworkers presents to save my job. That doesn’t stop my grumpy boss from firing me. VP of Marketing, Ashton Lowe, belongs on the naughty list, but I still give the sexy, broody guy his present. Too bad it’s the one meant for my bestie.
When news of my firing goes viral, ’tis the season for damage control. Now I’m stuck with Ashton as we try to repair the company’s tarnished image before a new product launch. We’re complete opposites, but our attraction grows in ways HR would hate. It’s difficult to keep our distance in a studio apartment…with only one bed.
Maybe it won’t be such a blue Christmas after all.
Wilder at Last by Serena Bell (free)
Falling for my frenemy? Out of the question.
Easton: For as long as I can remember, I’ve been giving Hanna a hard time—and she’s been giving it right back. So we’re both shocked to find ourselves on the same side of a project: helping Hanna win the heart of the celebrity chef hired by my family’s business to give summer workshops.
It shouldn’t be a big deal. A wardrobe evaluation. A shopping trip. Maybe some how-to-get-the-guy advice. I’m an expert on matters of the heart—or, at least matters of the mattress.
But as Hanna starts to trust me and open up, I see her differently. She’s not so much blunt as refreshingly honest, not so much a plain Jane in baggy clothes as… deliciously curvy. And hidden under that spiky, steely exterior is a soft heart she doesn’t show anyone.
Suddenly, the project includes ogling Hanna in dressing room mirrors. Offering her kissing lessons. And desperately trying not to give in to the sizzling heat between us.
I have to let her know the plan has changed: I’ll still help her get the guy she wants. I just need to somehow convince her that it’s me.
Losing Control by Fiona Erskine (99p)
What connects Teesside, England and Bhopal, India? A dead body? An outsourced IT desk? A tragic anniversary? Can DI Julie Cadell find the link before cyber-vengeance brings terror to Teesside? From the author of Phosphate Rocks – A Death in Ten Objects, a brand-new police procedural with a technological core.
A dead body washes up in Hartlepool. The autopsy reveals he was murdered. Police officers trace the scene of crime to the south bank of the River Tees where night watchman, Alf, keeps watch over a scrapyard. A woman comes forward to identify the victim, claiming to be his sister. The murder weapon is found in the possession of a colleague who reported him missing. It seems that the case can be closed.
But DI Julie Cadell is not so sure.
Happy Reading!!
