By Tessa Pulyer Posted on

Sunday Post 69 | Spring Break and Springing Forward

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

I’m losing an hour today and you know what’s the first thing I think about? “Oh, no – that’s one less hour to read, today.” Such is my life but I can’t complain. I will feel it more tomorrow when that alarm goes off at 6am.

My daughter is home for her last spring break, and we will be doing some adult clothes shopping for a dress to go under her graduation gown and interview clothes 😳. These transitions have always been hardest for me with my youngest. She is forever that three-year-old curly-haired moppet that loved to snuggle in my lap ❤️ .

I haven’t been clothes shopping the traditional way (you know – actually go to the store and try things on) since Covid began, so this will be a doubly monumental day.

from NetGalley

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press

Psychological Thriller
A gripping debut domestic suspense novel, Nora Murphy’s thrilling The Favor explores with compassion and depth what can happen when women pushed to the limit take matters into their own hands. “A thrilling debut—I couldn’t put it down!”—Shari Lapena, #1 internationally bestselling author of Not a Happy Family and The Couple Next Door. Leaving would be dangerous. Staying could be worse. Leah and McKenna have never met, though they have parallel lives. They don’t—ever—find themselves in the same train carriage or meet accidentally at the gym or the coffee shop. They don’t—ever—discuss their problems and find common ground. They don’t—ever—acknowledge to each other that although their lives have all the trappings of success, wealth and happiness, they are, in fact, trapped. Leah understands that what’s inside a home can be far more dangerous than what’s outside. So when she notices someone else who may be starting down the same path she’s on, she pays attention. She watches over McKenna from afar. Until one night she sees more than she bargained for. Leah knows she can’t save herself, but perhaps she can save McKenna. Leah and McKenna have never met. But they will.
Mystery/Thriller
Long Gone, the next installment of Joanna Schaffhausen’s critically acclaimed Detective Annalisa Vega series. Chicago detective Annalisa Vega shattered her life, personally and professionally, when she turned in her ex-cop father for his role in a murder. Her family can’t forgive her. Her fellow officers no longer trust her. So when detective Leo Hammond turns up dead in a bizarre murder, Annalisa thinks she has nothing to lose by investigating whatever secrets he hid behind the thin blue line. Annalisa quickly zeroes in on someone who had good reason to want Hammond dead: a wealthy, fast-talking car salesman who’d gotten away with murder once and wasn’t about to let Hammond take a second shot. Moe Bocks remains the number one suspect in his girlfriend’s brutal unsolved death, and now he’s got a new woman in his sights—Annalisa’s best friend. Annalisa is desperate to protect her friend and force Bocks to pay, either for Hammond’s death or his earlier crime. But when no one else believes the connection, she takes increasingly risky chances to reveal the truth. Because both Hammond and Bocks had secrets to die for, and if she doesn’t untangle them soon, Annalisa will be next.
YA Thriller
“This is Courtney Summers doing what she does better than anybody—revealing truths beneath the surface of what we think we know. I’m the Girl captures the glittering allure of beauty as power and the insatiable need of the powerful to possess beautiful things.”—Angeline Boulley, #1 New York Times bestselling and Printz Award-winning author of Firekeeper’s Daughter. “Scorchingly smart and on point, Courtney Summers’ latest novel advances her even more fearlessly into the conversation about female autonomy, sexuality, and the damage wrought when young women try to win in a system rigged against them. Taut, unfiltered and unapologetically emotional, I’m the Girl digs in its nails and doesn’t let go.”—Paula McLain, author of When the Stars Go Dark and The Paris Wife. The new groundbreaking queer thriller from New York Times bestselling and Edgar-award Winning author Courtney Summers. When sixteen-year-old Georgia Avis discovers the dead body of thirteen-year-old Ashley James, she teams up with Ashley’s older sister, Nora, to find and bring the killer to justice before he strikes again. But their investigation throws Georgia into a world of unimaginable privilege and wealth, without conscience or consequence, and as Ashley’s killer closes in, Georgia will discover when money, power and beauty rule, it might not be a matter of who is guilty—but who is guiltiest. A spiritual successor to the breakout hit Sadie, I’m the Girl is a masterfully written, bold, and unflinching account of how one young woman feels in her body as she struggles to navigate a deadly and predatory power structure while asking readers one question: if this is the way the world is, do you accept it?

Thanks to Random House

Thriller
Secrets, jealousy, and paranoia collide when a seemingly perfect new family moves into a neighborhood with ties to the CIA in this gripping thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Need to Know. Idyllic neighborhood, perfect family, meaningful career. CIA analyst Beth Bradford has it all— Until she doesn’t. Now, facing an empty nest and a broken marriage, Beth is moving from the cul-de-sac she’s long called home, and the CIA is removing her from the case that’s long been hers: tracking an elusive Iranian intelligence agent known as The Neighbor. Madeline Sterling moves into Beth’s old house. She has what Beth once had: an adoring husband, three beautiful young children, and the close-knit group of neighbors on the cul-de-sac. Now she has it all. And Beth—who can’t stop watching the woman stepping in to her old life—thinks the new neighbor has something else too: ties to Iranian intelligence. Is Beth just jealous? Paranoid? Or is something more at play? After all, most of the families on the cul-de-sac have some tie to the CIA. They’re all keeping secrets. And they all know more about their neighbors than they should. It would be the perfect place to insert a spy—unless one was there all along.
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Fantasy (for adults)
A rural island community steeped in the mystical superstitions of its founders and haunted by an unsolved murder is upended by the return of the suspected killer in this deeply atmospheric novel. Emery Blackwood’s life was forever changed on the eve of her high school graduation, when the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her best friend, Lily. Now, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence among the community that fractured her world in two. She’d once longed to run away with August, eager to escape the misty, remote shores of Saiorse Island and chase new dreams; now, she maintains her late mother’s tea shop and cares for her ailing father. But just as the island, rooted in folklore and tradition, begins to show signs of strange happenings, August returns for the first time in fourteen years and unearths the past that no one wants to remember. August Salt knows he is not welcome on Saiorse, not after the night that changed everything. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from the past that has never healed—Emery. But the town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises that span generations threatens to reveal the truth behind Lily’s death once and for all. Evocative and compelling, Spells for Forgetting is a vivid exploration of lost love and the unraveling of a small town and its many secrets.
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I tried Sweet Magnolias on Netflix yesterday. Season 2 just came out but I haven’t watched season 1, so I started there.

  • Monday, March 7: Mini Book Reviews of Daughter by Kate McLaughlin and Quantum Girl Theory by Erin Kate Ryan (Thrillers)
  • Tuesday, March 8: Blog Tour Book Review of Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pelligrino (Contemporary/Domestic Thrillerish)
  • Wednesday, March 9: WWW Wednesday
  • Wednesday, March 9: Blog Tour Book Review of Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn (MG Princess Adventure)
  • Thursday, March 10: Book Review of A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft (YA Fantasy)
  • Friday, March 11: Book Blogger Hop
  • Sunday, March 13: Spotlight of Under the Bridge: A Liverpool Mystery by Jack Byrne
  • Monday, March 14: Book Review of Secret Identity by Alex Segura (Noir Mystery/Thriller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
  • Tuesday, March 15: Spotlight of The Rosewood Chronicles, Book 5 by Connie Glynn
  • Wednesday, March 16: WWW Wednesday
  • Thursday, March 17: Mini Book Reviews of Under Lock and Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨) and I am Margaret Moore by Hannah Capin (Thrillers)
  • Friday, March 18: Book Blogger Hop

How was your week – bookish or otherwise?

41 Replies to “Sunday Post 69 | Spring Break and Springing Forward”

  3. Zainab says:

    Happy graduation to your daughter! My week has been pretty good, just been trying to get into the swing of things after having covid – my productivity decreased while I had it so I’m trying to get back into a routine!

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Mareli Thalwitzer says:

    Hi Tessa! Me and a friend went shopping about 2 weeks ago and we had a lovely time! I wish the same to you and your daughter. Bitter sweet yes, but good memories to be made!

    I am always so envious of your new books. And then I say to myself, you can also get them you know. Just finish the ones that are already piling up!!! Wha ha ha ha!! This holiday, I NEEED to sort my Netgalley out.

    Have a good week Tessa and happy reading.

    Elza Reads

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I’m very lucky with many of my arc choices but totally get the NetGalley whoa’s. And shopping is fun with my girls ❤️ So many good memories!

      Like

  5. writerravenclaw says:

    Shopping with your daughter sounds great, My daughter was away for a few days, so I’m expecting her to call sometime this week to go shopping. The only trouble is I end up spending my money, not hers.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. stargazer says:

    Good luck with your shopping trip! It does sound like a monumental day. I stopped going to shops already before Covid and prefer to buy stuff online. It is fun to go shopping for a special occasion, though. Looks like a great book haul, hope you will enjoy all of them!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      For my own stuff, I usually shop online. But when I’m not sure about size and styles, it’s off to the store I go ❤️

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Book of Secrets says:

    That is a fantastic haul from NetGalley. I’ve heard a lot of buzz about The Favor. Enjoy your day out with your daughter! I will be out shopping with mine too. ♥

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Louise H says:

    Our clocks don’t change for another few weeks but it always totally disrupts my routines, though the lighter evenings will be welcome. Our children definitely grow up too fast – I kinda miss the 7 – 12 age range, you could see their personalities, they could do some things independently but they still loved hugs and kisses (just).

    Liked by 1 person

  11. jennielyse says:

    I’ve heard milestones are always hardest with your youngest. I’m the youngest child and my mom had a hard time when I left the nest and especially when I got married. {{{HUGS}}}

    Liked by 1 person

  13. jessicabookworm says:

    Tessa, I hope you will enjoy your shopping trip with your daughter and all those new books! 😊 This week, I finished reading Eldest by Christopher Paolini and watched series 1 of the British crime-drama, Vera. Take care and happy reading in the coming week. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  14. kat says:

    Ugh, the time change is killing me. Especially since it capped off a long week of dragging young kids to look at houses. Fortunately, the kids are still young and nowhere close to any major graduations. Unfortunately, the concept of tiredness and time changes means absolutely nothing to them. Congratulations and good luck to your daughter! I hope your in person shopping goes well!

    Liked by 1 person

  15. D. Wallace Peach says:

    Awww. Your moppet is shopping for grown-up interview clothes. I also haven’t done any “real” shopping in a long time either. Have fun with that! And nice book haul. Spells for Forgetting appealed to me. I’m looking forward to your thoughts. 🙂 Happy Reading!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      She is the author of Fable and is now putting out an fantasy for adult readers rather than YA. I’m very curious and excited.

      Liked by 1 person

  16. Carla says:

    I hope you and your moppet enjoy your day together. When my daughter got a job after graduating on Baffin Island in Hudson Bay, I thought I would cry myself to death, but she is home working now (she was there for 2 years). I totally get how you feel. I did not realize the author of Fable has an adult book coming out. I enjoyed Fable and it’s sequel. I love Sweet Magnolias. I binge watched season 2 the week it came out! Enjoy!

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Teri Polen says:

    I’m so jealous you were offered Spells For Forgetting – I have to Wish For It. What a haul you got from NG last week! I know you’ll have fun shopping with your daughter – enjoy, Tessa!

    Liked by 1 person

  19. WendyW says:

    Have a great time with your daughter! We don’t change the clocks in Arizona, and it’s great.

    Liked by 1 person

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