I just finished The Fourth Daughter by Lyn Liao Butler and here are my musings. Liv Kuo was a star on the rise in the kitchen until a traumatic incident in her kitchen has her hiding in her apartment. She wants to stay there… Safe but when her grandmother calls her begging for her help, she jumps on a plane and flies to Tawain.. She needs help to find the daughter, a woman she thinks she just saw, her 4th daughter, who was rehomed by the child’s father decades earlier. Ah-Ma tells Liv all about her life before she was born and the while they spend time together and search for her missing aunt, they allow their love of food to bring them closer together. OK this was one of the best books of the year for me. I absolutely loved the straddling of timelines and how Ah-Ma had such a love for her children but after her youngest daughter was taken and given away…. The loss was tangible. It came across so acutely I could not help sobbing. Watching her struggle to be a wife to a monster in a time and place where she had no rights… UGH my heart. Her beautiful friendship with an abused woman was one of the best things I have ever read. I liked the cooking parts in the book too and the fact that Liv had PTSD and her struggles with the anxiety and panic attacks was done with such care, I couldn’t put it down. I felt bereft for Ah-Ma and I love that we got the story from the perspective of the family her daughter was placed with. It was beautiful, heartwarming in the sadness because she never gave up hope. It was beautiful and I highly recommend it. 5 stars Thank you to @brilliancepublishing for my gifted copy. Make sure you check out my store Bookaloriandesigns.com Bookaloriandesigns.etsy.com Unique bookish merch for the book dragon connoisseur. You can find all my book reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A Youtube.com/@litdulterous #thefourthdaughter #bookreview #bookishreview #bookalorian #bookworm #booksbooksbooks #booktok #litdulterous #bookishpost #bookishpodcast #booklover #reading #readersofig #booksofbookstagram

Book review - Non-Fiction - Psychology - Self Help - Science I just finished Why We Click by Kate Murphy and here are my musings! Did you know that subconsciously we mirror people's tone, mannerism, postures and more when we are communicating? I knew this. It’s a sales tactic we were taught. Mirror the customer and they feel more at ease and familiar with you that they will automatically trust you. That’s the surface part.. Did you know that we also sync our blood pressure, moods, brainwaves and heart rates as well? COLOR ME BLOWN AWAY. I had no dang idea and this book clued me right in and I found myself learning more and more. This book was truly fascinating. The book was clear and easy to follow. Nothing overtly complicated and it was a super interesting read. The topics covered… Things like relationships in a social setting, working remotely all with real life offerings makes everything more relatable. Have you ever wondered why some connections feel right and others don’t? This book will give you the insight you always wondered about but never actually asked outloud. I don’t read a lot of self-help books, they tend to lean towards a certain type of person but I actually really enjoyed this book and ended up lending it to my husband who is basically a social pariah and he understood some things about himself that he put into action. If you are looking into the psychology of how to understand social bonds then this book is one to look for! 4 stars Thank you to @celadonbooks for my gifted copy. Out 27th January 2026 #celadonbooks #bookblog #readersofig #booksbooksbooks #readingallday

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The storm by Rachel Hawkins Have you read any books by this author before? I’m a fan of hers so I’m a teeny bit biased but this book was amazing! The Rosalee inn sets a scene. Geneve owns the place and when her old friend returns after she left through a scandal.. all the secrets bubble to the surface! What will cause more carnage? The lies of the past or the hurricane heading directly for them? The book had a slow but brilliant start. One thing I love about her books is she knows how to set the stage and when things really get going… Oohh watch out! I loved the tone and the pace: the writing is always excellent but I felt the more dark edge in this one. The characters are all well developed and I wanted to learn more about them and hello!! Set in an inn!! Love that! Not always a massive fan of weather related plots in books but I actually quite liked that there was something coming that couldn’t be stopped! Felt the ending was done right and all in all.. solid book! 4 stars Thank you to @stmartinspress for my gifted copy. SMP early reader - book influencer - book review - thriller

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I just finished Falling for You Again by Kerry Lonsdale and here are my musings. Meli is a furniture artist. She crafts the most amazing pieces and looks forward to taking over the family business. She is blind-sided when her uncle plans to sell the business. When she finds out the company that is buying has someone she knows working for them… Aaron. A man she hasn’t seen in years… The man she married and divorced after a night in vegas… A man who might just be able to help her destroy the deal. Wow wow wow! This second chance story really took a unique twist by having the main characters meet by chance on a plane and get married in Vegas with the agreement they annul it after. They don’t see each other again until this deal. I loved the chemistry between them. The narration was absolutely wonderful and I loved how the whole book came to life in this beautiful way. I liked Meli a lot. I loved that she had a job outside of “pink” jobs that come up a lot in romance books. She was a rockstar with A wood-lathe and that was bad ass. I thought the plot was clever and unique. It really was a fun read. I liked the ending too. It was definitely an all round epic romance read! 4.5 stars Thank you @netgalley and @brilliancepublishing for my gifted ALC! You can find all my reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A #bookish #bookalorian #bookalicious #bookishblog #bookstagrammer #candianbookblogger #bookishbusiness #bookpodcast #litdulterous #readingbook #readersofbookstagram #bookrecs #fallingforyouagain #audiobookreview

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