Book Review of 'Sweet Ridge Hearts' by Susan Bagby

Happy Friday Bookworms!

Today kicks off my birthday weekend!! It is also my grandmother’s birthday, and the start of Mother’s Day weekend, so the festivities are about to pop off around here! Thank you so much for joining me today and virtually celebrating with me!  

Today I am featuring a novel that is from one of my favorite genres, and it’s by an author that is new to me, so I hope you enjoy my thoughts on this Contemporary Romance and have a blessed weekend!

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Sweet Ridge Hearts by Susan Bagby!

About the Book

Title: Sweet Ridge Hearts
Series: Maple Ridge #3
Author: Susan Bagby
Publisher: She Rises Studios
Release Date: October 22, 2024
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Sweet

Career-driven Katy Flanagan desperately wants to become the creative director of the Martin and Lewis marketing agency. But when she loses the promotion and gets dumped by her boyfriend the same day, Katy flees New York for a small-town break with her cousin Christine. 

Yet even in country-quiet Maple Ridge, Katy’s skills can be useful, and she’s prepared to jump in to help Christine win a competition for her Sweet Ridge Bakery. What she’s not prepared for is handsome bakery manager Derek Higgins. 

A veteran dealing with the aftermath of PTSD, Derek is a lone wolf, and he likes it that way. Being forced to work with a spirited businesswoman and her healthy ego is a challenge every step of the way. But the stakes are too high for him to give up helping his boss. 

As the competition heats up, so does the chemistry with Katy—until she’s offered a new job in another city. Now she has to decide whether to take a risk and start her own company, or become the creative director of a new, successful firm, which is everything she ever wanted. At the same time, Derek must face his own issues when personal tragedy wraps him in survivor’s guilt, leaving him unable to forgive himself for past actions. 

While Derek seeks to heal the wounds of a haunting past, and Katy searches for the courage to face her fears and forge a new path, what will become of their relationship?  

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Book Review: Our Last Days in Barcelona by Chanel Cleeton

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Our Last Days in Barcelona

Author: Chanel Cleeton

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

Release Date: May 24, 2022

Genre: Historical Fiction

When Isabel Perez travels to Barcelona to save her sister Beatriz, she discovers a shocking family secret in New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton's new novel.

 
Barcelona, 1964. Exiled from Cuba after the revolution, Isabel Perez has learned to guard her heart and protect her family at all costs. After Isabel’s sister Beatriz disappears in Barcelona, Isabel goes to Spain in search of her. Joining forces with an unlikely ally thrusts Isabel into her sister’s dangerous world of espionage, but it’s an unearthed piece of family history that transforms Isabel’s life.
 
Barcelona, 1936. Alicia Perez arrives in Barcelona after a difficult voyage from Cuba, her marriage in jeopardy and her young daughter Isabel in tow. Violence brews in Spain, the country on the brink of civil war, the rise of fascism threatening the world. When Cubans journey to Spain to join the International Brigades, Alicia’s past comes back to haunt her as she is unexpectedly reunited with the man who once held her heart. 
 

Alicia and Isabel’s lives intertwine, and the past and present collide, as a mother and daughter are forced to choose between their family’s expectations and following their hearts. 

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Book Review: The Charade by Judy Corry

Series: Eden Falls Academy: Book 1

Publisher: Cherry Blossom Romance

Release Date: May 17, 2021

Genre: Teen & YA Romantic Comedy

My math tutor has one rule: he doesn’t date the girls he tutors at our private school.

But a fake relationship that’s beneficial to us both? That’s a different story.

Our agreement helps Carter get revenge on his ex while it helps me hide the real reason why we’re spending so much time together. Win-win.

Plus, flirting with the hottest guy at school is kind of fun.

As long as the feelings stay as fake as the show we’re putting on, there shouldn’t be a problem. Right?

The Charade is a forbidden romance about the new girl and the guy who everyone sees as untouchable.

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Book Review: Lana's War by Anita Abriel

Publisher: Atria Books

Release Date: January 12, 2021

Genre: Historical Fiction

Paris 1943: Lana Antanova is on her way to see her husband with the thrilling news that she is pregnant. But when she arrives at the convent where he teaches music, she’s horrified to see Gestapo officers execute him for hiding a Jewish girl in the piano.

A few months later, grieving both her husband and her lost pregnancy, Lana is shocked when she’s approached to join the resistance on the French Riviera. As the daughter of a Russian countess, Lana has the perfect background to infiltrate the émigré community of Russian aristocrats who socialize with German officers, including the man who killed her husband.

Lana’s cover story makes her the mistress of Guy Pascal, a wealthy Swiss industrialist and fellow resistance member, in whose villa in Cap Ferrat she lives. Together, they gather information on upcoming raids and help members of the Jewish community escape. Consumed by her work, she doesn’t expect to become attached to a young Jewish girl or wonder about the secrets held by the man whose house she shares. And as the Nazis’ deadly efforts intensify, her intention to protect those around her may put them all at risk instead.

With Anita Abriel’s “heartfelt and memorable” (Pam Jenoff, New York Times bestselling author) storytelling, Lana’s War is a sweeping and suspenseful tale of survival and second chances during some of the darkest days of history.

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Book Review: Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon

Publisher: Doubleday Books

Release Date: March 31, 2020

Genre: Historical Fiction

Told in interweaving timelines organized around the four code names Nancy used during the war, Code Name Hélène is a spellbinding and moving story of enduring love, remarkable sacrifice and unfaltering resolve that chronicles the true exploits of a woman who deserves to be a household name.

It is 1936 and Nancy Wake is an intrepid Australian expat living in Paris who has bluffed her way into a reporting job for Hearst newspaper when she meets the wealthy French industrialist Henri Fiocca. No sooner does Henri sweep Nancy off her feet and convince her to become Mrs. Fiocca than the Germans invade France and she takes yet another name: a code name.

As LUCIENNE CARLIER Nancy smuggles people and documents across the border and earns a new nickname from the Gestapo for her remarkable ability to evade capture: THE WHITE MOUSE. With a five million franc bounty on her head, Nancy is forced to escape France and leave Henri behind. When she enters training with the Special Operations Executives in Britain, she is told to use the name HÉLÈNE with her comrades. And finally, with mission in hand, Nancy is airdropped back into France as the deadly MADAM ANDRÉE, where she claims her place as one of the most powerful leaders in the French Resistance, known for her ferocious wit, her signature red lipstick, and her ability to summon weapons straight from the Allied Forces. But no one can protect Nancy if the enemy finds out these four women are one and the same, and the closer to liberation France gets, the more exposed she--and the people she loves--will become.

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Book Review: Seven Letters

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Release Date: October 8, 2019

Genre: Adult Women's Fiction

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Detour to Paradise

Release Date: September 17, 2017

Genre: Contemporary Romance

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Montauk

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: June 4, 2019

Genre: Women's Fiction

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Second Look

Series: Griffin Force

Publisher: Stone Hall Books

Release Date: December 8, 2018

Genre: Suspense

When the most wanted terrorist in the world escapes from a high security prison, Nate Hughes is part of the task force sent to recapture him. During the mission, he meets Abby, a fellow investigator that seems to have it all together. He's drawn to her and hopes they can join forces, but when her past is revealed, loyalties are called into question. Could she have turned against the country she once held dear?

The CIA wants her captured and interrogated, but with a terrorist attack imminent, Abby may be the only person in a position to help them stop it. Nate must make a choice to either trust her or turn her in---but the wrong decision would clear the path for the largest attack on freedom the world has ever seen.

And time is running out.

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