By Tessa Pulyer Posted on

Sunday Post 18 | Spring Has Sprung… and so have allergies

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

It was such a beautiful week this week. Sunny and 70’s pretty much all week. As you can see by my pictures, the daffodils are out, and you know what that means? Spring has officially sprung in the piedmont area of NC. It’s such a pleasure to take a walk and see beautiful flowers and sprouting leaves everywhere.

And then… the sneezing starts. And I wake up in the mornings all congested and headachy. No, it’s not Covid. It’s dreaded allergies for which there is little relief. My allergy doctor currently has me on Xyzal, Singulair, and Dymista – all taken daily. And even with all that, I still feel the effects of the pollen, dust mites, etc.… that I’m allergic to. Crazy, isn’t it? I should never have to take Sudafed or Mucinex again, but yet I do, especially this time of year.

That does not stop my love for being outside, or my joy at seeing flowers bloom and trees sprout their leaves. I just have to take my allergies’ little presents as they come and adjust my habits accordingly. Less outside time when I feel stuffy and sneezy, then more outside time when I feel better. It is such a cyclic thing, isn’t it?

For those of us in a Daylight Savings Time area – did you remember to set your clocks one hour forward – you know, the ones that don’t do it automatically like on your microwave and stove? I always forget those.

How was your week?

NetGalley Approvals and Read Now Books

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Looking for a new book that will make your heart race? This free, second edition of The Minotaur Sampler compiles the beginnings of five can’t-miss novels publishing Spring/Summer 2021 for easy sampling.

Delta Dawn is a photographer for New York City’s elite. Mary Dixie Carter’s debut, The Photographer, is a slyly observed suspenseful story of envy and obsession, told in the mesmerizing, irresistible voice of a character who will make you doubt that see is ever believing.

The next feature is a standalone thriller From Ragnar Jónasson, the award-winning author of the international bestselling Ari Thór series. A young woman seeks a new start in a secluded village where a small community is desperate to protect its secrets in The Girl Who Died.

Meet award-winning author Joanna Schaffhausen’s new heroine, Detective Annalisa Vega, in Gone for Good. A cold case is heating up in Chicago, and with an ever-growing sense of déjà vu Annalisa must retrace the killer’s steps to her own childhood.

From Edgar-nominated author Ashley Weaver comes a historical series debut: A Peculiar Combination. This charming mystery, set in England during World War II, is filled with spies, murder, romance, and wit. Electra McDonnell is a safe cracker, and her latest job doesn’t go at all according to plan.

Finish with Brian Klingborg’s Thief of Souls. A brutal murder in a rural village in Northern China sends shockwaves all the way to Beijing but seemingly only Inspector Lu Fei, exiled to this tiny town, is interested in finding justice.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Gone For Good is the first in a new mystery series from award-winning author Joanna Schaffhausen, featuring Detective Annalisa Vega, in which a cold case heats up.

The Lovelorn Killer murdered seven women, ritually binding them and leaving them for dead before penning them gruesome love letters in the local papers. Then he disappeared, and after twenty years with no trace of him, many believe that he’s gone for good.

Not Grace Harper. A grocery store manager by day, at night Grace uses her snooping skills as part of an amateur sleuth group. She believes the Lovelorn Killer is still living in the same neighborhoods that he hunted in, and if she can figure out how he selected his victims, she will have the key to his identity.

Detective Annalisa Vega lost someone she loved to the killer. Now she’s at a murder scene with the worst kind of déjà vu: Grace Harper lies bound and dead on the floor, surrounded by clues to the biggest murder case that Chicago homicide never solved. Annalisa has the chance to make it rights and to heal her family, but first, she has to figure out what Grace knew—how to see a killer who may be standing right in front of you. This means tracing his steps back to her childhood, peering into dark corners she hadn’t acknowledged before, and learning that despite everything the killer took, she has still so much more to lose.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

A mesmerizing debut novel for fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe.

Ariadne, Princess of Crete, grows up greeting the dawn from her beautiful dancing floor and listening to her nursemaid’s stories of gods and heroes. But beneath her golden palace echo the ever-present hoofbeats of her brother, the Minotaur, a monster who demands blood sacrifice.

When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees in his green eyes not a threat but an escape. Defying the gods, betraying her family and country, and risking everything for love, Ariadne helps Theseus kill the Minotaur. But will Ariadne’s decision ensure her happy ending? And what of Phaedra, the beloved younger sister she leaves behind?

Hypnotic, propulsive, and utterly transporting, Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne forges a new epic, one that puts the forgotten women of Greek mythology back at the heart of the story, as they strive for a better world.

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

The beloved New York Times bestselling Dismas Hardy series returns with this relentlessly twisty murder thriller.

No one mourned when San Francisco DA Wes Farrell put Paul Riley in prison eleven years ago for the rape and murder of his girlfriend. And no one is particularly happy to see him again when he’s released after The Exoneration Initiative uncovered evidence that pinned the crime on someone else. In fact, Riley soon turns up murdered, surrounded by the loot from his latest scam. But if Riley was really innocent all along, who would want him dead?

To the cops, it’s straightforward: the still-grieving father of Riley’s dead girlfriend killed the former prisoner. Farrell, now out of politics and practicing law with master attorney Dismas Hardy, agrees to represent the defendant, Doug Rush—and is left in the dust when Rush suddenly vanishes. At a loss, Farrell and Hardy ask PI Abe Glitsky to track down the potentially lethal defendant. The search takes Glitsky through an investigative hall of mirrors populated by wounded parents, crooked cops, cheating spouses, and single-minded vigilantes. As Glitsky embraces and then discards one enticing theory of the crime after another, the truth seems to recede ever farther. So far that he begins to question his own moral compass, allowing author John Lescroart to explore what TheWashington Post calls “the genuine humanism that [is] central to his writing.”

Masterful misdirection, Lescroart’s signature “enthralling…sharp dialogue” (Publishers Weekly) and a shockingly satisfying climax make The Missing Piece a first-rate thriller you’ll savor to the last word.

Welcome to my newest Book Blogger Friends. If you get a chance, you should definitely check out their sites!

In case you missed any of my posts last week, you can find them here:

I hope you come back to see the following:

  • Tuesday (3/16): Book Review | The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep by Laurie Faria Stolarz (YA Thriller ☀️☀️☀️☀️)
  • Tuesday (3/16): Book Review | Once and Future Queen: Curse of the Celts by Clara O’Connor (YA Fantasy ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️)
  • Wednesday (3/17): WWW Wednesday
  • Thursday (3/18): Book Review | The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson (#ownvoice Mystery/Thriller ☀️☀️☀️☀️)
  • Friday (3/19): Book Blogger Hop

Gilmore Girls is always streaming on my TV. I’m currently on season 4 – Rory’s first year at Yale. What would I do if Netflix didn’t keep all seasons for me to enjoy a little bit each day?

I also decided to watch Coming 2 America. It was much like Coming to America. I like the humor of Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall, so I liked the movie okay. I definitely had some laugh out loud moments.

I noticed that The Lost Boys was recently added to HBO Max. It’s the only movie I can actually quote large sections of – I’ve watched it that many times. I think, the two movies I’ve watched the most in my lifetime are The Lost Boys and How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. I just love both of them.

Did you read, watch, or do anything fun this week?

18 Replies to “Sunday Post 18 | Spring Has Sprung… and so have allergies”

  1. Renee Nash says:

    My daffodils are just coming up here on Long Island. I really enjoyed Gone For Good. Ahh spring, allergy time! I hope it isn’t a terrible year.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tessa says:

      Nothing says spring like daffodils. I just wanted to pick one and put it in colored water but since they were in someone’s well-landscaped yard, I decided a picture would have to do. 😊

      Like

  2. nickimags @ Secret Library Book Blog says:

    I totally understand the allergies as I’ve developed them in the last few years and it’s so annoying! I’ve tried over the counter antihistamines but I got bad side effects last year so might have to visit my doctor sometime if they get really bad.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tessa says:

      That might be able to be handled virtually or just through a phone call, if these are options for you. If you have many different kinds available at the pharmacy (OTC) like we do in the US – you should be able to tell the dr or nurse what you took and the side effects, then they should be able to give you an a good alternative – maybe that’s in my ideal world but idk 🤷🏻‍♀️

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Gayathri Lakshminarayanan says:

    Oh sorry about the allergies. On the other hand it does not seem to have reduced your enthusiasm about spring. I am glad it didn’t and relieved it ain’t the dreaded COVID. Stay safe.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tessa says:

      Lol. We are some group, aren’t we? I always have to take Kleenex with me when I walk and lately the congestion has been sitting in the back of my throat causing me to lightly cough. I feel like people are looking at me in fear that I have Covid even though I know for certain that it’s allergies. Crazy times!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Kelly says:

        Yes we are 😂 The congestion happens mostly at night with me, when I’m out and about my nose is fine but my eyes itch like hell and I start rubbing them, which I’m well aware is the worst thing I could possibly do, and before long I’m all puffy-eyed 🙈😂

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Carla says:

    I love the spring. The crocuses and snowdrops are up, but the daffodils and tulips are not yet in bloom. We are actually having an early spring, so they may be up in the next week or so. I love the name of he photographer, Delta Dawn, must be a Helen Reddy fan. I understand the allergies somewhat. I have sinus and runny nose all the time, and the nose spray the doc gives me doesn’t do much at all. I hope you feel better soon.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tessa says:

      Spring flowers just have a way of bringing joy 😊 and allergies just have a way of bringing tolerable misery. Lol.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Jonetta (Ejaygirl) | Blue Mood Café says:

    I’m so grateful I don’t suffer pollen related allergies during the spring but sympathize with your plight. It was so gorgeous here last week but I hope things haven’t sprung too soon.

    I watched Coming 2 America yesterday and agree it was entertaining. Lots of chuckles.

    Looking forward to all your reviews this coming week💜

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tessa says:

      You are so lucky to not suffer from allergies. March usually fluctuates between 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and then things heat up so fast, I try to remember to enjoy it while it lasts.❤️

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Teri Polen says:

    When we lived in SC I had allergies, but both boys were born there and they didn’t. When we moved to KY, my allergies went away, but the boys started sneezing and having headaches every spring. Go figure. I love the movie Lost Boys! I could probably quote just as much, lol. Have a great week, Tessa!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Tessa says:

      Yay! A fellow Lost Boys fan 😍.

      It’s probably just due to different allergens in the different areas. The further south I go, the worse mine get. We lived in Columbia and Greenville, SC and mine were about the same as they are now but when I go to Charleston/HHI or down to FL, they get worse.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Tessa says:

      I think Gone for Good looks good too. St. Martins publishes some very good thrillers and some that are too dark for my taste. I’m hoping this is a very good one 😊

      Like

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