By Tessa Pulyer Posted on

Sunday Post 84: Fireworks, Food, and Fun

The Sunday Post is a blog news 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 your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly or for a monthly wrap up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

This weekend is a holiday weekend in the US, which means we are enjoying a three day weekend! Yay! This weekend, we are celebrating the 4th of July, and just like many other people, we are doing it with food, fun, and maybe fireworks. Our town doesn’t do a fireworks display but many individuals cross the border and come back with a car full of various light displays (you can’t buy them in NC but you can buy them in SC). I’m such a nervous Nelly, that it kind of freaks me out to have those individuals playing with fire, but what can you do 🤷‍♀️

We have brats and steak on the grill, and other traditional side goodies planned. There is the usual red, white, and blue parade and concert on the green on our Main Street. And the weather is going to be hot Hot HOT with temperatures around the 90s but with possible rain and thunderstorms – which is a good thing – well for the temps, grass, and plants – maybe not for the people with the fireworks 🤣

How was your week?

From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set at an Italian villa with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware. As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend. Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album––and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder. As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred––and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind. Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge––and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.
A young Indian woman finds the false rumors that she killed her husband surprisingly useful—until other women in the village start asking for her help getting rid of their own husbands—in this razor-sharp debut. “Shroff captures the complexity of female friendship with acuity, wit, and a certain kind of magic irreverence…The Bandit Queens is tender, unpredictable, and brimming with laugh-out-loud moments.” –Téa Obreht, New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger’s Wife Geeta’s no-good husband disappeared five years ago. She didn’t kill him, but everyone thinks she did—no matter how much she protests. But she soon discovers that being known as a “self-made” widow has some surprising perks. No one messes with her, no one threatens her, and no one tries to control (ahem, marry) her. It’s even been good for her business; no one wants to risk getting on her bad side by not buying her jewelry. Freedom must look good on Geeta, because other women in the village have started asking for her help to get rid of their own no-good husbands…but not all of them are asking nicely. Now that Geeta’s fearsome reputation has become a double-edged sword, she must decide how far to go to protect it, along with the life she’s built. Because even the best-laid plans of would-be widows tend to go awry. Insightful, irreverent, and poignant, Parini Shroff’s The Bandit Queens is an unforgettable novel full of dark humor and surprising heart.
From the New York Times Bestselling author of Six Crimson Cranes comes the thrilling next adventure! A journey to the kingdom of dragons, a star-crossed love, and a cursed pearl with the power to mend the world or break it… Fans of Shadow and Bone will devour this soaring fantasy. Princess Shiori made a deathbed promise to return the dragon’s pearl to its rightful owner, but keeping that promise is more dangerous than she ever imagined. She must journey to the kingdom of dragons, navigate political intrigue among humans and dragons alike, fend off thieves who covet the pearl for themselves and will go to any lengths to get it, all while cultivating the appearance of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood. The pearl itself is no ordinary cargo; it thrums with malevolent power, jumping to Shiori’s aid one minute, and betraying her the next—threatening to shatter her family and sever the thread of fate that binds her to her true love. It will take every ounce of strength Shiori can muster to defend the life and the love she’s fought so hard to win.
A wealthy family shrouded in scandal; a detective tasked with solving an impossible cold case; and a woman with a dark past collide in Hannah Morrissey’s stunning new Black Harbor mystery, The Widowmaker. Ever since business mogul Clive Reynolds disappeared twenty years ago, the name “Reynolds” has become synonymous with “murder” and “mystery.” And now, lured by a cryptic note, down-on-her-luck photographer Morgan Mori returns home to Black Harbor and into the web of their family secrets and double lives. The same night she photographs the Reynolds holiday get-together, Morgan becomes witness to a homicide of a cop that triggers the discovery of a long-buried clue. This could finally be the thing to crack open the chilling cold case, and Investigator Ryan Hudson has a chance to prove himself as lead detective. If only he could stop letting his need to solve his partner’s recent murder distract him. But as Morgan exposes her own dark demons, could her sordid history be the key to unlocking more than one mystery?

The rest of Strangers Things season 4 came out Friday, so you know what I’ve been watching 👀

  • Monday (June 27, 2022): Book Review – Her Darkest Secret by Jessica Patch (Psychological Thriller / Serial Killer)
  • Tuesday (June 28 2022): Book Review – The Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede (YA Fantasy)
  • Wednesday (June 29, 2022) WWW Wednesday
  • Thursday (June 30, 2022) Book Review – Take A Chance on Greece by Emily Kerr (Romantic Comedy)
  • Friday (July 1, 2022) Book Blogger Hop
  • Monday (July 4, 2022): Mini Book Reviews – Paradise Girls by (Women’s Fiction) and The Charmed List by (YA RomCom)
  • Tuesday (July 5, 2022): Book Review – Cold Cold Bones by Kathy Reichs (Thriller)
  • Wednesday (July 6, 2022) WWW Wednesday
  • Thursday (July 7, 2022) Book Review – Look Closer by (Thriller)
  • Friday (July 8, 2022) Book Blogger Hop
  • Saturday (July 9, 2022) Book Review – Upgrade by Brandon Couch (SciFy)

37 Replies to “Sunday Post 84: Fireworks, Food, and Fun”

  2. Sheri Dye says:

    I always love how incredibly put together your posts are, you can tell you’ve put quite a bit of work into them.. It helps that you have great taste in books, too. 😋

    Liked by 1 person

  7. BonnieReadsAndWrites says:

    Enjoy the 4th. I’m kind of dreading the fireworks because it freaks my dogs out, so it’s going to be tough for them. Even though we don’t have them, they can hear them all over the neighborhood.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      That’s how it is here. The cats are okay with it. I have one that may go hide. The rain seems to be subduing most of the fireworks which I’m okay with ☺️

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Louise H says:

    Enjoy your long weekend! I’m still trying to find time to watch the new season of Stranger Things, it might have to wait until August when I’m off work. Have a great week.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. writerravenclaw says:

    I’m watching series three (so no spoilers lol) I watched the first series, and my daughter was talking about some characters dying in this newest series. I have not had chance to attach myself to the characters, as of yet, but in time I will.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. BookerTalk says:

    It’s odd isn’t it that you can’t buy fireworks in your state but there’s no rule against people using them – that’s the most dangerous part!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      Oh, there supposively is a rule but the police do not even pretend to enforce it. Which is even more annoying!

      Like

  14. jennielyse says:

    I hope you enjoy your 4th. I used to love the fireworks, but now I kind of hate them. I don’t like how much they scare my cats and that the fireworks aren’t just on the 4th, but for the full first week of July (at least in my state). I also constantly worry about fires because we live in a very dry state. Our officials have asked us not to light fireworks, but of course, no one heeds their advice. Sigh.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Lady Tessa says:

      I heard a few Saturday night but none last night, so we will see what today brings since it is actually the 4th.

      Like

  15. WendyW says:

    I get nervous around fireworks too. We live in a rural area on the outskirts of town, so there is always someone breaking the rules and shooting off fireworks.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Teri Polen says:

    I wasn’t able to start the last two episodes of Stranger Things over the weekend since we were out of town, but you can bet I’ll be watching one of them today. This has been one of the best seasons. Hope you had a fabulous 4th, Tessa!

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.