Feed Your TBR - Strange Bedfellows

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

September 22, 2026

FROM GOODREADS: Cleo is a willfully aloof college student with an impossible secret. When she meets Wes, a brooding musician, at a Halloween party, their connection is instant, electric, and impossible to ignore. Their romance takes a mystical turn when Wes discovers what Cleo’s been hiding: sometimes she takes the form of his pet cat.

Enter Bailey and Ollie—their magical counterparts—who reveal a deeper tie between Cleo and Wes: he’s a witch, and she’s his animal familiar. As past secrets collide with their entangled present, Cleo faces her greatest fear—losing Wes. With long-gone threats returning and danger looming, Cleo must confront her role in their dark and violent shared history and decide if she’s willing to fight for their future.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT: I'm curious what danger is looming and come on, his girlfriend is also his cat familiar.  This has odd written all over it and I'm all over that. 

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK???

She Sure Saved a Lot of Horses!

TITLE: Cash (Lucky River Ranch #1)

AUTHOR: Jessica Peterson

PUBLISHER: Bloom Books

PUBLISHING DATE: August 22, 2024

PAGES: 432   

SOURCE: KU

FROM GOODREADS: My dad and I have been estranged for years. But as his only living relative, it’s no surprise I inherit his massive cattle ranch when he dies. Something that is a surprise? The stipulation in his will, which requires me to live on the ranch and actively manage it for a year before I can access my inheritance money. \

I haven’t stepped foot in Hartsville, Texas, population one thousand, since my parents split when I was six. Now a city girl through and through, I never imagined having to move back to cowboy country. But I need the money to invest in my company, and a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. 

There’s just one giant roadblock to my plan: the ranch’s foreman, grumpy cowboy Cash Rivers. I don’t care how good he looks in his Wranglers and chaps. He’s rude, he’s growly, and he wants me gone. I’d fire him in a heartbeat, but I need this cowboy to teach me the ropes of running a ranch. 

We’re enemies from the get-go. But turns out, Cash is really good at this ranch thing. He’s got strong hands, an intelligent mind, and let’s just say everything really is bigger in Texas. Working alongside him leads to conversations beneath the stars. Throw in some cheek-to-cheek dancing at the local dive bar, and it all feels so right that I start to fall in love with life on the ranch. And maybe with him, too. 

But my stay in Hartsville is only temporary. And you know what they say about cowboys: they may break horses, but they also break hearts. If only Cash hadn’t already lassoed mine…

MY THOUGHTS: I was in need of a light-hearted romance as a break from a never-ending buddy read so I picked this up from Kindle Unlimited.  Of course, I'm still missing Yellowstone and wanted to revisit my cowboy era so this seemed like the perfect series to start.  I wasn't wrong.

Mollie hasn't been home to her dad's ranch in years.  At an early age, her parents divorced and her mother basically ruined her for anything cowboy-related, even her father.  However, when he suddenly dies and leaves Mollie his prosperous estate, she sees this as a way to help fund her fashion cowboy boot business.  

Case Rivers has worked for Mollie's dad since he was 20.  When his parents died, leaving him with an aging neighbor ranch and four younger brothers to raise, Mollie's dad basically adopts them all and makes Cash the foreman of his spread.  Along the way, he promises to leave Cash the ranch.  However, all Cash got in the will was a safe deposit box full of family photos of Mollie.

As a condition to the will, city-girl Mollie has to commit to living on the ranch for a year.  She hates the thought but needs the funding.  She is going to have to rely on Cash's assistance, but the main problem is, they can't stand each other. 

I loved this enemies-to-lovers book and let me stress, once they become lovers, these two don't stop. So, if spicy books (I'd say perhaps a 3/5 on that scale) turn you off, don't even start this one.  Mollie was a tad irritating at first, but she quickly grew on my and her character was much deeper than the initial spoiled rich girl she comes across as. And Cash was a perfect grumpy character.  He cares so much for his brother and both ranches and spends so much time looking out for everyone, he doesn't realize how miserable he has become.  Also, an extra perk was the humor in the book.  In the beginning, Mollie and Cash keep talking about offing each other and I found it quite hilarious. 

If you are looking for a fun romance read with a bit of substance, this might just be the book for you.  Heck, I even threw the TBR aside and started book two!

MY RATING: 5 PAWS

2 Blogger 1 Series - Broken (Will Trent #4) -

 

This month I convinced Stormi to continue on with the Will Trent series.  I am pretty sure I am enjoying this one more than her but hoping I can convince her to continue with the fifth one sometime soon.  Read on for my thoughts and then hop over to Storm Reads to see what she had to say.

 

TITLE: Broken (Will Trent #4)

AUTHOR: Karin Slaughter

PUBLISHER: Delacorte Press

PUBLISHING DATE: June 22, 2010

PAGES: 502   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: When Special Agent Will Trent arrives in Grant County, he finds a police department determined to protect its own and far too many unanswered questions about a prisoner’s death. He doesn’t understand why Officer Lena Adams is hiding secrets from him. He doesn’t understand her role in the death of Grant County’s popular police chief. He doesn’t understand why that man’s widow, Dr. Sara Linton needs him now more than ever to help her crack this case. 

While the police force investigates the murder of a young woman pulled from a frigid lake, Trent investigates the police force, putting pressure on Adams just when she’s already about to crack. Caught between two complicated and determined women, trying to understand Linton’s passionate distrust of Adams, the facts surrounding Chief Tolliver’s death, and the complexities of this insular town, Trent will unleash a case filled with explosive secrets—and encounter a thin blue line that could be murderous if crossed.

MY THOUGHTS: I absolutely loved being in Grant County again, but I have to admit, I was a little taken aback because 75 pages into this one and there was no Will Trent.  However, he soon appeared and his actions in this one made me love him even more.

The book opens with a college student getting killed by the lake.  Although there was a suicide note, soon the police begin to think that her landlord's son, who is mentally challenged to some degree, had a crush on her and killed her because she didn't return his feelings.  He is arrested and taken into custody, but shortly thereafter, is found dead in his cell. The action police Chief, Frank, contacts Sara for assistance because the boy kept asking for her prior to his death.  

Sara is in town for Thanksgiving and she would rather be anyplace else.  She is still grieving for her husband Jeffrey and being back in Grant County is tough. Also, Lena Adams, lead detective, is also on the case and Sara just knows Lena is at fault for something.  Sara still blames Lena for Jeffrey's death and Sara decides to work with Will to prove Lena is a dirty cop for once and for all.

I despise the character of Lena and always have.  In saying that, she is an interesting character in the fact that she is one hot mess.  I also cannot stand Frank.  He is struggling with wanting to retire by he and Lena mishandle the arrest of the suspect so badly, there is no way he can leave until all the loose ends are tied up.  I also enjoyed Will in this one.  It was fun seeing him in a different setting other than Atlanta and he and Sara working together was definitely the high point of this installment.

Overall, I found this to be my favorite Will Trent book yet.  I devoured it even though my copy was over 500 pages and there was a twist at the end that had me picking my jaw up off the floor.  I absolutely hated it but also loved how well the author did it and it was one I NEVER saw coming.

If you are even a bit curious about this series, then I say give it a go.  However, you really need to read the Grant County series first.  Slaughter is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and I can't wait to read something else from her soon!

MY RATING: 5 PAWS

Feed My TBR - The Summer Fun Massacre

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

June 16, 2026

FROM GOODREADS: SUMMER 1983. A blood-soaked summer camp counselor is found staggering down a country road. The sole survivor of a horrific massacre, Mary tells a nightmare of a masked maniac wielding an old skinning knife. Arriving too late to help, her boyfriend Tom Bailey is plagued by guilt.

SUMMER 1992. The camp reopens as Camp Summer Fun. Now a sheriff’s deputy, Tom doubts this is a good idea, but the camp has been refurbished, the counselors hired, and the little campers are on the way. Responding to reports of a blood-curdling howl near the camp, he again arrives too late to save anyone except a single brutalized teen. The killer nowhere to be found.

Hoping to catch the killer and finally right his mistakes, Tom reconnects with Mary. She's convinced that the killer is not human but instead a rural legend known as the Hungry Hare.

The sheriff wants the case closed but refuses to believe in folklore. Mary dreams of revenge for her friends. And Tom hunts for any traces of the real or fictional. But the murderer could be closer to home than anyone expects.

The Hare is coming and is so, so hungry…

WHY I CAN'T WAIT:  I need to know more about this Hare and what I'm a bit confused because it mentions howling.  Either way, I loved DiLouie's last novel and I'm always up for a good slasher.  

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK???

And I Thought My Extended Family Was Bad!

TITLE: You Should Have Been Nicer to My Mom

AUTHOR: Vincent Tirado

PUBLISHER: William Morrow

PUBLISHING DATE: MArch 10, 2026

PAGES: 256   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: When Papi Ramon, the patriarch of the wealthy Abreu family dies, he gives the family one last message in the will: “One of you is el bacà, the demon that I made a deal with. Get rid of them or you will be damned.” Xiomara, the uncontested favorite of Papi Ramon (and therefore the least liked in the family), watches as everyone dismisses this as the joke of a senile old man and demands the lawyer obtain the previous will Papi wrote. 

While the lawyer drives back to his office, a storm breaks out, forcing the entire family—Xiomara’s aunts and uncles and cousins—to remain in the house. And the words of Papi’s will hangs over their heads even heavier than the rain clouds. Over the course of the night, scandal after scandal is revealed to the public about the family. Suddenly a tense few hours of surviving her family turns into a vicious night of recrimination, violence, accusations…and murder. 

Xiomara is faced with an impossible task: uproot a demon and somehow kill it or excise the ghosts that linger within her own family. 

And the clock is ticking...

MY THOUGHTS: I won't lie, this cover of this book immediately drew me in, and I was thrilled when I was approved for an ARC.  I haven't read from this author before, but I am so glad I dove into this one and I won't forget the Abreus family any time soon.

Xiomora's Papi Ramon recently passed on an stormy afternoon, the whole family, aunts, uncles and cousins, have gathered at his residence for the reading of the will.  Along with the family attorney and Naomi, his hired caretaker and longtime family friend, everyone is shocked when the will discloses that Papi Ramon made a deal with a demon some time ago and the family needs to figure out who the demon is and get rid of them or risk being further cursed. Xiomara hasn't liked her family in years ever since they targeted her mother and spread horrible rumors about her before her death.   

The family initially thinks Papi Ramon was more senile than they thought and shrug off the warning.  However, as the storm rages on, slowly the family unravels as more family scandals come to light.  But Xiomara believes there is a demon lurking, and she is going to find them or die trying.  

I have to say this book is a slow-burn horror at best and the actual action doesn't escalate until the last 25% or so.  However, the ending REALLY packs a punch and a punch I never saw coming.  Xiomara's family is awful. They all have their own secrets and when they aren't backstabbing each other, they are teaming up to backstab someone else.  I had absolutely no loyalty to any of them but really did like Xiomara and found myself rooting for her and her quest to find the demon.  Naomi was an interesting character as well and I feel like she was mistreated by everyone, including Xiomara at times, and I just knew there was more to her than meets the eye. 

My only real issue with this book is I would have liked to know a bit more of the backstory of why everyone disliked Xiomara's mother so much.  It was touched on but I feel it could have been fleshed out more.  

I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys tales of demons and possession.  The author relies heavily upon his Dominican heritage to enrich the story and weave in cultural folklore and practices. If you ever find yourself questioning your own family dysfunction, pick this one up and maybe you will realize your family isn't that bad after all. 

MY RATING: 4 PAWS

Everybody Has to Read This Book!

 

TITLE: The Best Dog in the World: Essays on Love

AUTHOR: Alice Hoffman

PUBLISHER: Scribner

PUBLISHING DATE: March 10, 2026

PAGES: 240   

SOURCE: ARC

FROM GOODREADS: Anyone who has ever been fortunate enough to share their life with a dog knows the experience is both profound and transformative. Here, in this charming collection of essays, fifteen celebrated authors share unforgettable tales of the dogs who left their pawprints on their hearts. 

With contributions from Chris Bohjalian, Roxane Gay, Emily Henry, Ann Leary, Tova Mirvis, Jodi Picoult, Elizabeth Strout, Amy Tan, Adriana Trigiani, Nick Trout, and Laura Zigman, The Dog Who Changed My Life captures the full range of the canine-human connection, from the joy of welcoming a new puppy to the heartache of saying goodbye to a beloved friend. 

A love letter to the loyal companions who enrich our lives and teach us about empathy, joy, and unconditional love, this anthology is the perfect gift for dog lovers everywhere, offering a blend of laughter, tears, and inspiration that will resonate with anyone who has been fur-ever touched by the love of a dog.

MY THOUGHTS: It has to be a no-brainer if you've been around my blog much why I requested this one.  That cover spoke to me and when I saw some of my favorite authors were contributing, I knew I had to read it.  I'm so glad I picked this one up and all I can say is if you are a dog lover, you have to make time for this one.

Hoffman has gathered 15 authors who share they experience with a special dog or dogs in their lives.  Some are current family members, and some have passed but the love and dedication these authors have to their canine children is admirable.  The book starts off with Emily Henry's entry, who I love and I should have known she had the power to make me sob right off the bat.  Right of the bat she addresses the who "Does the dog die?" movement and why it is so important to people and then goes on to say that yes, the dog dies in her essay.  But it is such a touching tale.  There are also entries from people who weren't "dog people" until they were about dogs who drove their parents crazy but were still the best dogs ever.

Overall, I was surprised to see so many familiar authors here for the forward and afterward, it's obvious this project was one that was dear to Hoffman's heart.  So, stop reading my review and go out and find a copy of this book.  Settle down in a cozy spot and get ready to fill your heart and then get it ripped open. I finished this several days ago and have found myself thinking of all my children and some things I have learned from them so I will close by sharing a few of those precious memories.  

• Cicero taught me I had no clue about raising a puppy and then he taught me how to do it.
• Barkley taught me to never give up (he lived to be 16).
• Cooper taught me the biggest giants are often the gentlest (his nickname was Teddy Ruxpin because he was a big old teddy bear).
• Booker T taught me that even if you only catch one ball a year, it's how you celebrate it that matters. Oh, and that zombies are bad.
• Cassius taught me the bite is definitely worse than the bark and broke pieces of my heart that will never mend.
• Apollo taught me there's NEVER a good time to leave the park as well as that even though one dog never replaces another, they can make the journey more bearable.
• Ezekiel/Zekey taught me how to play because he can catch a ball 50 times a day and still want you to throw it again. 

MY RATING: 5 PAWS

Feed Your TBR - We Already Dug the Grave

 

Can't Wait Wednesday, which I have adapted to better suit my blog as "Feed Your TBR" is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

September 8, 2026

FROM GOODREADS: Milly can't divine the future anymore, and maybe that's a good thing. Lately, her life has been bleak enough, she doesn't need the now-silent tea leaves to tell her. Meanwhile, her estranged younger sister thrives miles away in a shiny new life with a shiny new marriage. Milly doesn't blame Francis for wanting nothing to do with her. Not after what happened in that Tennessee meadow a decade before.

But when Francis shows up on Milly's doorstep with a black eye and a plea for help – Milly can't say no. Especially when the tea leaves are finally crystal if the sisters don't kill Francis's husband, he'll kill her.

And if they're going to plot a murder, the sisters have no choice but to return to the one place they'd left behind. A place where another body – and a multitude of secrets – were buried. Because this isn't the first time the sisters have needed to dispose of a bad man. In fact, they might be pretty good at it.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT: I've seen this book described as a Southern Gothic with a dash of Practical Magic thrown in.  I can definitely see that for sure.  Anxious to see how this one plays out.  

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK????