Seen on The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog, Spell the Month in Books is run by Jana at Reviews From the Stacks a pretty straightforward monthly linkup. Find a book title that starts with each letter in the month's name, make a list, share your link, and that's it! The linkup opens on the first Saturday of the month and remains open through the end of the month so that you can participate whenever is convenient.
I'm getting in right at the beginning of the month this time. This month's theme is water.
A - Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
In Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, two boys in a border town fell in love. Now, they must discover what it means to stay in love and build a relationship in a world that seems to challenge their very existence.
Ari has spent all of high school burying who he really is, staying silent and invisible. He expected his senior year to be the same. But something in him cracked open when he fell in love with Dante, and he can't go back. Suddenly he finds himself reaching out to new friends, standing up to bullies of all kinds, and making his voice heard. And, always, there is Dante, dreamy, witty Dante, who can get on Ari's nerves and fill him with desire all at once.
The boys are determined to forge a path for themselves in a world that doesn't understand them. But when Ari is faced with a shocking loss, he'll have to fight like never before to create a life that is truthfully, joyfully his own.
The highly anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed, multiple award-winning novel Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is an achingly romantic, tender tale sure to captivate fans of Adam Silvera and Mary H.K. Choi.
💧 I loved the first book so much and have had this sitting on my kindle since it was released, I'm going to move it to the top of my TBR list.
U - Undertow
by Rachel Ember
In Sihr, a strange world of endless seas, Aron is a penniless orphan fighting for survival, not looking for adventure. He agrees to smuggle forbidden artifacts in exchange for a fresh start in another village, but the rendezvous goes awry. By the night's end, a magical accident leaves Aron under the compulsion of Zoral, a steely-eyed pirate who seems to be more shadow than man.
Zoral and his crew only have eleven days to rescue their captain from the witches holding her hostage. He doesn't trust Aron, but he has no choice but to bring him along on the mission.
As the unlikely pair face haunted ships, kraken battles, and the mysteries of ancient cities lost to the rising seas of their world, they discover a connection that runs deeper than magic.
💧 I loved this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (my review)
G - Galaxies and Oceans
by N.R. Walker
Seizing his one chance to escape, Ethan Hosking leaves his violent ex-boyfriend, leaves his entire life, and walks into the path of a raging bushfire. Desperate to start over, a new man named Aubrey Hobbs walks out of the fire-ravaged forest, alive and alone. With no ID and no money, nothing but his grandfather's telescope, he goes where the Southern Cross leads him. Patrick Carney is the resident lighthouse keeper in Hadley Cove, a small town on the remote Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. After the tragic death of his lover four years ago, he lives a solitary life; just him, a tabby cat, the Indian and Southern Oceans, and a whole lot of loneliness. He's content with his life until a stranger shows up in town and turns Patrick's head. Patrick never expected to be interested in anyone else. Aubrey never expected to be happy. Between Aubrey's love of the stars and Patrick's love of the ocean, these two fragile hearts must navigate new waters. If they can weather the storm of their pasts, they could very well have a love that eclipses everything.
💧 This was an emotional read ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (my review)
U - Under the Twilight Rainfall
by Rikki Leighton
Find Love Abroad under the twinkling twilight of the Philippines.
DEX
Life is good: I've got a thriving private photography business, gorgeous sights at my fingertips, and not a single desire to set down roots. Roots that once entangled me with a boy of dark eyes and a smart mouth who I never would have survived my time in the foster system without.
He was both my savior and my curse. I didn't belong–I never do–so I left the Olaño family behind. I should have known fate would eventually draw me back into Valen Olaño's orbit. This family is more than I deserve, but I want it. I want him.
Except I wasn't built to be kept, and I'm not sure I know how to stay.
VALEN
Once upon a time, I fell in love with a broken boy. He didn't want me to fix him, and one day, he disappeared. When Dex's work brings him to my family's home in the Philippines, that long buried spark kindles back to life and catches us both on fire.
Innocent touches become heated hands, and as I hold onto these stolen moments like a lifeline, I tell myself it will be enough. As much as I want him, I can't hope to keep him. My family needs me.
If only Dex would accept that he's my family too.
💧 I really enjoyed this book, it made me cry ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (my review)
S - The Sea Captain's Wife
by Jackie French
From bestselling author Jackie French comes a compelling story of murder, mystery, and mutiny on the high seas - and a love so intense it can overcome two different cultures.
You never know what the sea will give you ... or what it will take back.
When Mair McCrae follows her island tradition and hunts for a husband cast up on the beach, she has no notion that the naked, half-drowned man she rescues is not just Captain Michael Dawson, heir to a major shipping firm, but that he's obsessed by a 'ghost ship' carrying golden cargo.
On Big Henry Island women make the decisions and knit the patterns that mark a man as their own. But Big Henry is also a volcano, and threatening to erupt. Yet when Mair agrees to accompany Michael home, she finds that the Australian comfort he promised has a danger just as a social system that tries to keep women confined to small roles at the edges of men's lives.
And as Michael hunts for the 'Ghost' in his revolutionary new steamship, a string of mysterious deaths upends Mair's new life in Sydney.
Who is the murderer, and why is Mair the only one who realises what is happening?
💧 One of my favourite historical fiction authors, I must move this up my reading list too.
T- This Impossible Brightness
by Jessica Bryant Klagmann
Taking refuge on a remote island, a grieving woman develops unlikely connections with the community and the wild in this haunting novel of hope and perseverance from debut author Jessica Bryant Klagmann.
After the mysterious disappearance of her fiancé, Alma Hughes moves to a remote island in the North Atlantic, where she hopes to weather her grief and nurture her ailing dog. But the strange town of Violette has mysteries as well.
Townsfolk say that the radio tower overlooking their town broadcasts messages through their home appliances, their dreams, even the sea itself. When lightning strikes the tower, illuminating the sky in a brilliant flash, Alma finds herself caught in the unexplainable aftermath of one of Violette's deadliest storms.
As the sea consumes the island, threatening its very existence, the deaths and lost memories of the recently departed also devastate the community. Alma, with a unique link to the lost, may be the only one who can help them move on. But to do so, she must confront a tragic loss of her own.
On this doomed island haunted by echoes of the departed, Alma searches for meaning in her future—and dares to discover the power of hope among the living.
💧 I'm pretty sure this was one of my Amazon First Reads choices earlier in the year, yet another book I need to make time for.
Well, that's August spelt out in books, have you read any of them?
September's theme is Back to School, I think this will be a challenge for me, not only because of the number of letters but there are 3 Es in there. I'm going to have to start looking through my books to see what I can use.
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