Helen Power

Scribbler & Scholar

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Category: books

The Shadow Knows
March 7, 2020 Helen

I signed a book deal!

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Happy Sock Sunday! It's getting hotter here, so I'm wearing my lighter "I love long walks to the library" socks today. . I've been reading so much lately. 21 books in May! I've read some amazing gems. My two favourites from the last couple of weeks are "Red, White, & Royal Blue" and "The Hating Game". I feel like I just want to read all the books. I'm going to post a couple of book reviews this week, because I have to keep up with them, or else Netgalley will freeze me out! I plan to write up some reviews today, but dragging myself out of my reading chair is hard! . Yesterday I started working (finally) on my Friends Central Perk Lego. I'll post pictures in my story later! . QOTD: Have you read any of these books? Which one's your favourite? . . . . . #amreading #booklover #shelfie #socksunday #shelfiesunday #whattoread #booknerd #amreadingromance #amreadingfantasy #socks #cozy #readingnook #canadianbookstagram #funkopop #booksbooksbooks #bookaddict #goodreads #bibliophile #writersofinstagram #readersofinstagram #igreads #onemorechapter #bookaddict
Chat Love by Justine Faeth. Thank you to the author for the ebook to review! . TLDR: I recommend this book to anyone looking for a cute, funny, romantic read with Sex and the City vibes. Read the full review: https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/ . ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ . Synopsis Lucia has the perfect life--a budding career, wonderful friends, and a great family. But the one thing she doesn’t have is a boyfriend. Her twenty-eighth birthday is coming up and she still hasn’t found love. Her friends convince her to try Chat Love, an online dating service. She goes on an endless string of bad dates with the men she meets on this website, all the while trying to ignore the handsome jerk in the office who has his eye on her... . My Thoughts This is such a cute book! Lucia is a lovable protagonist, and I really wanted her to find love. I fell in love with her love interest, who is charming, witty, and definitely sexy. This book was written before online dating became very popular, and it was fun to read about the stigmas that people had (and many still have) about dating strangers they meet on the internet. At first, Lucia is very hesitant to try online dating, but eventually she folds after receiving pressure from her family, because her little sister and husband are expecting a baby. Lucia’s experiences dating on Chat Love were outright hilarious. Though, I was exhausted just reading about them! At one point, she refers to the dates of the week as Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The introvert in me cringed at that. Take a day off, Lucia! There was a part in the middle that required a serious suspension of disbelief--when characters don’t realize something that should be obvious to them because you know they’re not raging idiots--but I forgive this, because it’s a common cliche in romance novels. Without these types of obstacles, the romantic leads would get together in twenty pages, not two hundred! . . . . #amreading #amreadingromance #romance #onlinedating #sexandthecity #goodreads #bookreview #ebook #whattoread #booklover #bibliophile #canadianbookstagram #bookishcanadians #read #readersofinstagram #bookphotography #booknerd #bookdragon
Happy Hump Day! The week is already half over, but that's probably because Monday was a holiday. I've read 16 books this month, and it doesn't look like I'll be stopping any time soon! I'm going to write an official review for most of the books I've read, and my plan is to save some of them for June/July when I get the edits for my novel and I'm spending all my free time editing. . Today is very dreary outside. I didn't realize it could be so overcast in Saskatoon. I might take advantage of the weather and start reading something spooky tonight -- probably The Shadows by Alex North, which I got from #NetGalley. I also got the graphic novel "Something is Killing the Children" volume 1. The illustrations are absolutely stunning. 😍 . QOTD: How is your week going? . . . . . #amreading #bookstagram #canadianbookstagram #writingupdate #whattoread #goodreads #bookishcanadians #booknerd #bookdragon #bookaholic #bibliophile #booklover #bookphotography #booksbooksbooks #readersofinstagram #instabooks #booknerdigans #onemorechapter #readallthebooks
Beach Read by Emily Henry. Thanks to #netgalley for the arc to review! This book is released tomorrow! . ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩ . TLDR: Beach Read is equally hilarious and heartfelt, and there are parts that made me laugh out loud followed by heart-wrenching moments of honesty. Synopsis: January Andrews is a romance novelist with a deadline. The only problem? She doesn’t believe in happy ever afters anymore. After her father and role model died, she found out that he had a mistress and a secret love shack on the beach. Broke and desperate for inspiration, she decides to move to this house that she inherited for the summer so she can clear it out to sell while writing her next bestseller. Little does she know, her college rival, literary author Augustus Everett, lives next door. He’s infuriating and judgmental and just as handsome as she remembers. They both think the other can’t write in their genre, and they find themselves making a bet: he’ll write a happy ever after and she’ll write a literary masterpiece. Whoever sells their book first gets the other to formally recommend it. Of course, things are never quite so simple… . 🌼My Thoughts🌼 Beach Read has an intriguing premise, and the delivery does not disappoint. In the opening of the novel, January is quite distressed after finding out that her father had not only been cheating on her mother when she had cancer, but that he had a secret house with his mistress. January’s boyfriend of seven years had broken up with her, because she’s no longer the carefree woman that he fell in love with. How is January supposed to write a light romance with a happy ending when she doesn’t believe in them anymore? . January and Gus are polar opposites at the surface, but it turns out that they have a lot in common once you dig past those top layers. . Full review: https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/2020/05/18/beach-read/ (link in bio) . . . . . #amreading #bookreview #booklover #beachread #emilyhenry #romance #amreadingromance #goodreads #onemorechapter #booknerdigans #bookshark #candianbookstagram #bookishcanadians #booklove #coverlove #fivestars #read #tbr #readersofinstagram #instabooks #igreads #booksbooksbooks
Happy Saturday! I'm looking forward to the long weekend and doing absolutely nothing but reading. Last night I finished Beach Read by Emily Henry, and The Other People by CJ Tudor. Both were amazing (and on completely opposite ends of the emotional spectrum LOL). That brings me up to 12 books read this month! I'm still deciding what I want to read next... . QOTD: What are you currently reading/watching? . . . . . . #amreading #edgarallanpoe #bookstagram #Bookishcanadians #weekendplans #myweekendisbooked #booksbooksbooks #bookphotography #amreadinghorror #readingupdate #readersofinstagram #instabooks #igreads #read #reading #reader #astrangerdream #horrorbooks #quarantine
I'm in the midst of a reading frenzy these last two weeks. I'm at 10 books in May, which is a personal record. I've been on a diet, and I think my brain is converting my sugar cravings to reading cravings. I'm not complaining, though I'm a little sleep deprived 😅 Need. More. Books. . Last night I read The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary. So freaking good! I also finished all three of the Ashley Poston "Once Upon a Con" series. On the weekend I read the Kiss of Deception trilogy, which I think I will be rereading over and over in the years to come. I was an emotional wreck reading those! Tonight I'm going to read Beach Read by and I started The Other People by CJ Tudor last night. I just want to read all the books! . Writing update: I received the proof for Mother Ghost's Grimm anthology, in which I have a short story called "Aunt Agatha's Antiques". It's a collection of spooky short stories and illustrations for ages 7-12. It was going to be published in April, but because of COVID, it had to be pushed. I'm looking forward to checking this out tonight! . QOTD: What are you reading? Do you have any romance recommendations for me??? . . . . #amreading #booklover #writersofinstagram #wip #writingupdate #motherghostsgrimm #readingupdate #writer #authorsofinstagram #author #writelife #writingcommunity #writerscommunity #writing #macbeth #booknerd #read #reading #readersofinstagram
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