Weekly Bookish Wrap Up

Happy Sunday bookish peeps!

My Weekly Bookish Wrap Up is linked with the Sunday Salon and the Sunday Post.

The Sunday Salon is a meme hosted by Readerbuzz and is a place to link up and share what you have been doing during the week. It’s also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. While the Sunday Post is a meme hosted by the Caffeinated Reviewer and is a chance to share news. It’s a post to recap the past week on your blog and share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead.

Non-bookish things:

I am in the crux of a reading slump but a colouring in peak. While I’m still new to adult colouring, it is my new obsession and the main way I decompress after work each day. I did break out my crocheting a little over the weekend and I spent some time reading in the sun, but mostly I camped out at the dining table with my markers.

I had a wonderful birthday, visiting the zoo and spending time with family. I was spoiled by my beautiful children with books, a candle and some gorgeous body lotion and my hubby financially supported my new hobby, encouraging me to buy more colouring books and the 320 Ohuhu marker pack. We spent the night in Sydney after our visit to the zoo and then took a slow drive home via brunch at the beach.

I was so surprised by how small Taronga zoo felt, visiting as a child-free adult. Last time I went to that zoo, my children were young and excitable and just in a rush to see all the animals. It was a whole day thing and thoroughly enjoyable but exhausting. This time, just me and hubby, it was very relaxed. We had both breakfast and lunch at the zoo and leisurely strolled around the exhibits before heading to our hotel at around 2.30pm.

Bookish things:

Over the past few weeks I have struggled with my reading choices and have considered DNFing more than once, deciding to call it quits on the Lucky River Ranch by Jessica Peterson series for a while (maybe forever) at book 4, Duke .I just couldn’t get into that one and I tried every version of it to see if it made it any easier, starting with the paperback, trying kindle then eventually starting the audiobook but I just couldn’t get past chapter 10. So I’m popping that aside….potentially permanently.

I finished the Knockemout series by Lucy Score, albeit out of order, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Then I allowed myself to be tempted by Lucy Score’s previous works. I downloaded book 1 of the Blue Moon series No More Secrets on audio and it was really good. So I downloaded book 2 and unfortunately I don’t love it. The narrator has changed from book 1 and it has changed my whole listening experience. And again I’m tempted to DNF the rest of the series.

These reading fails feel like I need to have a clean out of TBR because clearly I’m looking for something different. A clean slate.

Books read this week:

No More Secrets by Lucy Score – ★★★

Carter Pierce is a man who believes in signs. He just doesn’t know what to do with this one.

In the small town of Blue Moon Bend, where everybody is a matchmaker, Carter wants to be left alone to tend the family farm. After returning from Afghanistan with scars, his only goal is recovery. He doesn’t need any distractions, and definitely not one with silver-blonde hair and lips that beg to be kissed.

Summer Lentz is a journalist from the city sent to interview Carter and his family. She’s out of place in the small town, with her designer wardrobe and workaholic lifestyle. She asks too many questions and doesn’t take no for an answer, threatening to destroy the peace and balance that Carter has been working towards. She thwarts every attempt Carter makes to retreat back inside himself, somehow bringing him closer to being whole again.

Summer has secrets of her own, but she never planned to open up to anyone – let alone the scowling, secretive farm owner whose story she’s after. But as she gets drawn into the community, she starts to realize that she can’t stay closed off forever.

And what’s more, she doesn’t want to.

As Carter and Summer grow closer, will they be able to push past the secrets that are holding both of them back?

Fall into Temptation by Lucy Score – ★★★

Beckett Pierce is the most eligible bachelor in the nosiest small town in upstate New York. But after his last girlfriend handcuffed herself to his porch and set his welcome mat on fire, he’s not looking for any more romance.

Even if it lands right in his backyard. And has miles of red hair.

Gianna Decker has her hands full–no, overflowing–with problems. With two kids, a useless ex, and a brand new yoga studio, the last thing on her mind is finding a man who’ll cause her more problems.

Making out with her broody landlord? Yeah, that would be a problem. Lusting after the sexy mayor of the town she just moved to? Definitely a problem. Dating the “favorite” son of her father’s new lady friend? It seems like Beckett is a bad idea just waiting to happen.

But he’s a bad idea she can’t seem to resist.

As Beckett and Gianna find themselves thrown together again and again, they can’t help but fall into the temptation of sizzling stolen kisses, of a desire so hot it brands. And soon they’re much, much closer than they ever wanted. Tempers flare when their families complicate things and the interfering citizens of Blue Moon Bend step in with their special brand of chaos.

Can Beckett and Gianna manage to disentangle themselves before it’s too late?

Or is the temptation too much for either of them to deny?

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore – ★★★

The perfect autumnal romance read, Gilmore’s heartwarming tale finds upbeat city girl Jeannie relocate to a small town to run her aunt’s beloved cafe and cause one irascible local’s heart to flutter.

When Jeanie’s aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Cafe in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job.

Logan is a local farmer who avoids Dream Harbor’s gossip at all costs. But Jeanie’s arrival disrupts Logan’s routine and he wants nothing to do with the irritatingly upbeat new girl, except that he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her.

Will Jeanie’s happy-go-lucky attitude win over the grumpy-but-gorgeous Logan, or has this city girl found the one person in town who won’t fall for her charm, or her pumpkin spice lattes…

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe is a cozy romantic mystery for fans of Gilmore Girls, with a grumpy x sunshine dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

Bookish Challenges:

2026 Goodreads Reading Challenge: 64/100 books

Audiobook Challenge: 44/50

And that’s my bookish week.

I hope you’ve had a wonderfully bookish week.

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