During our Monthly Wrap-Up, we’ll take a look at what has happened around here in the last month. That’ll include what’s happened in my life, what the four of us have read, any other posts we may have had, giveaways still going on, our most popular Instagram posts, and books that I’ve added to my ever-growing TBR.

*We linked this post to the April Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from March & April were:

✮ We celebrated my youngest kiddos birthday.  Thankfully his birthday fell right before our state shut down, so he got to celebrate with cupcakes in his classroom and then with our family that night.  Then in April we celebrated my birthday which I’ll remember forever. Lots of video chats and even a drive by from my best friends that made me cry.
✮ I never thought I’d be homeschooling my children, but I’m so thankful we have the most amazing teachers ever.  I’m so impressed by how much they can do and interact with them through Google Classroom.  Their schedule is intense but I love that we finish school an hour or so early and then can go outside and play all afternoon.  We’ve gone on tons of bike rides, walks and lots of baseball and soccer games in our backyard. 
✮ I’ve done tons of baking.  Some of my favorite recipes have been Triple Chocolate Cake, S’more Cheesecake (although it tastes more like cookie dough), Glazed Strawberry Bread, Oreo Cheesecake Cookies, Best Banana Cake, Banana Donuts With Chocolate Glaze
✮ Some of my favorite dinner recipes have been Chicken Parmesan, Baked Honey BBQ Chicken Fingers, Beef and Cheese Enchiladas, Spicy Beef Sloppy Joes (I use artichokes instead of mushrooms),

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What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ The Resistance (The Union #5) by T.H. Hernandez
✮ Aurora Burning (The Aurora Cycle #2) by Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff
✮ Finding Him (Covet #2) by Rachel Van Dyken
✮ From Blood and Ash (Blood and Ash #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
✮ Tell Me Pretty Lies by Charleigh Rose
✮ The Best Mistake (Southern U O’Brien Brothers #1) by Cookie O’Gorman

4 Stars:
✮ Undercover Bromance (Bromance Book Club #2) by Lyssa Kay Adams
✮ Ember Queen (Ash Princess Trilogy #3) by Laura Sebastian
✮ More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn
✮ The Raven and the Dove (The Raven and the Dove #1) by Kaitlyn Davis

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Our Favorite Books of the Month:

More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn (Cassie’s Choice)
It was a cute story, with fully realized teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, with a great setting.

During our Monthly Wrap-Up, we’ll take a look at what has happened around here in the last month. That’ll include what’s happened in my life, what the four of us have read, any other posts we may have had, giveaways still going on, our most popular Instagram posts, and books that I’ve added to my ever-growing TBR.

*We linked this post to the February Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

So.  I disappeared from doing these wrap ups the last few months.  And that’s because the beginning of this year was really hard for me.  My Grandma passed away in January, and since I’ve been a little girl, she’s been such a huge part of my life.  Even when my husband and I lived back in Indiana for a couple of years, I always flew home every 3 months just so I could see my grandparents, parents and brother.  And for the last 3 years my Grandma has lived over here in Nevada right by my family, my parents, my brother and my aunt and uncle.  She was a part of everything we did.  Family dinners on the weekends, my boys doing their reading homework with her after school, to even shopping together at the grocery store.  I loved school days where I’d drop my boys off at school and go spend my day with her.  Even sports season revolved around my Grandma, the boys would always have an hour break or so between sports games and we’d run to the bakery and get some donuts and bring them to her place and share a snack together.  So much of our week involved my Grandma and I’ve struggled a lot these last few months.  I miss her with my whole heart, but at the same point I’m so thankful she’s with my Grandpa again.

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What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ Keystone by Katie Delahanty
✮ Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1) by Leigh Bardugo
✮ Whatever It Takes (Bad Reputation Duet #1) by Krista & Becca Ritchie
✮ Heartland (True North #7) by Sarina Bowen
✮ All the Stars and Teeth (All the Stars and Teeth #1) by Adalyn Grace
✮ Marriage on Madison Avenue (Central Park Pact #3) by Lauren Layne
✮ Magic Bound (Ravencrest Academy #1) by Theresa Kay
✮ The Silvered Serpents (The Gilded Wolves #2) by Roshani Chokshi

4.5 Stars:
✮ Between Burning Worlds (System Divine #2) by Jessica Brody, Joanne Rendell
✮ Echoes Between Us by Katie McGarry
✮ All the Stars and Teeth (All the Stars and Teeth #1) by Adalyn Grace

4 Stars:
✮ Good Girls Lie by J.T. Ellison
✮ Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson
✮ Charmed Souls (Black Souls #1) by Abbi Glines
✮ The Hand on the Wall (Truly Devious #3) by Maureen Johnson
✮ All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban
✮ The Queen’s Assassin (Queen’s Secret #1) by Melissa de la Cruz
✮ Dead to Her by Sarah Pinborough
✮ The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

3.5 Stars:
✮ Demon Bound by Chris Cannon
✮ The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne
✮ It Sounded Better in My Head by Nina Kenwood
✮ Havenfall (Havenfall #1) by Sara Holland

2.5 Stars:
✮ Together We Caught Fire by Eva V. Gibson

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Our Favorite Books of the Month:

The Silvered Serpents (The Gilded Wolves #2) by Roshani Chokshi (Arielle’s Choice)
There were some twists that I certainly DID NOT see coming which is always a delicious thing. We learn so much more about our characters and their pasts and it helped me connect with a few of them way more than I had in the previous book. And then. The ending. THE ENDING. Holy crap, guys.

During our Monthly Wrap-Up, we’ll take a look at what has happened around here in the last month. That’ll include what’s happened in my life, what the four of us have read, any other posts we may have had, giveaways still going on, our most popular Instagram posts, and books that I’ve added to my ever-growing TBR.

*We linked this post to the December Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from this month were:

✮ We did so many Christmas activities!  But my favorite was taking my two little boys, who are 6&8 and still very much believe in the magic of Christmas, on the Polar Express.  They got dressed up in their pjs, and the ride to the North Pole and back is beyond magical.  Singing, dancing, cookies, hot cocoa and then Santa boards the train when you arrive at the North Pole.  It’s always one of my favorite memories that we make each year.
✮ My kiddos had 2 weeks off from school and we just played and baked the whole time.  I discovered I’m awful at Exploding Kittens (such a fun game!).  And my favorite cookies we made were Soft Caramel Snickerdoodles and my favorite non-Christmas dinner was My Favorite Slow Cooker Chicken Chili Recipe.  Links to the recipes when you click the name :).
✮ Chelsea got me the cutest Daemon (Lux Series by JLA) socks for Christmas here.  And I’m so excited she also sent me Holly Black’s latest trilogy here.  I hope I love it as much as her!!

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What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ Watch Over Me by Mila Gray
✮ Adorkable by Cookie O’Gorman
✮ Skyward (Skyward #1) by Brandon Sanderson
✮ Meet Me on Love Lane (Hopeless Romantics #2) by Nina Bocci
✮ The Boss Who Stole Christmas (Reindeer Falls #1) by Jana Aston
✮ To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters
✮ The Replacement Crush by Lisa Brown Roberts

4.5 Stars:
✮ A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers #2) by Brigid Kemmerer

4 Stars:
✮ The Honey-Don’t List by Christina Lauren
✮ Hook (Neverland #2) by Gina L. Maxwell
✮ The Trouble With Christmas by Robin Daniels
✮ The Hitched Series by G.K. DeRosa
✮ Starsight (Skyward #2) by Brandon Sanderson

1 Star:
✮ Slippers And Thieves (Fairy Tales of the Magicorum #4) by Christina Bauer

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Our Favorite Books of the Month:

Watch Over Me by Mila Gray (Jen’s Choice)
The characters leaped off of the pages, the relationships burrowed deep into my heart and the story made me turn the pages faster. I absolutely loved Watch Over Me and I can’t recommend this book enough!

During our Monthly Wrap-Up, we’ll take a look at what has happened around here in the last month. That’ll include what’s happened in my life, what the four of us have read, any other posts we may have had, giveaways still going on, our most popular Instagram posts, and books that I’ve added to my ever-growing TBR.

*We linked this post to the November Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from this month were:

✮ We celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents, my brother, grandma, aunt and uncle.  It was such a wonderful time!  And of course we ate WAY too much food.  For dessert we had pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, peppermint loaf cake, chocolate peanut butter bars, and cookies.  Of course I had to have one of each.  Thank goodness for jeggings since they stretch when you eat ha!
✮ Doggy wise, it’s been rough.  Bentley had surgery the week before Thanksgiving to remove a possible cancerous growth.  The tests came back a mix between pre-cancerous and other parts benign.  So we just need to keep an eye on him and make sure it doesn’t come back.  Here’s a picture of my little boy here.
✮ And Callie, my other dog, has had a gastrointestinal bug.  She’s on her third kind of antibiotics and it looks like we’re finally making head way!  But then she tore her ACL ugh.  They’re hoping she’ll go in for surgery the day after Christmas, since she has to be completely healthy before she can go under.  Here’s a picture of her here.

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What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ Dirty Letters by Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward
✮ Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex: Demonized #1) by Annette Marie

4.5 Stars:
✮ The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
✮ Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
✮ Wish Upon a Cowboy (Cowboys of Creedence #4) by Jennie Marts

4 Stars:
✮ The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah
✮ Stealing Her (Covet #1) by Rachel Van Dyken
✮ Find Me Their Bones (Bring Me Their Hearts #2) by Sara Wolf
✮ Twist of Fate (Heartbreaker Bay #8.5) by Jill Shalvis
✮ The Upside of Falling by Alex Light
✮ Resurrection Girls by Ava Morgyn

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Our Favorite Books of the Month:

 Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex: Demonized #1) by Annette Marie  (Jen’s Choice)
A ton of fun, action packed and impossible to put down.  Just from that first chapter I was hooked and I screamed out loud best chapter ever!  Oh my gosh you guys, Annette Marie knows how to pull you in and continually have you begging for more.  

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Dirty Letters by Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward  (Arielle’s Choice)
What the BLEEP this is so cute *goes and cries and blames it on pregnancy hormones*. I had been in SUCH a reading rut, you guys. I seriously have like five books on my currently reading list on GR right now and I finished this gem IN A DAY.

During our Monthly Wrap-Up, we’ll take a look at what has happened around here in the last month. That’ll include what’s happened in my life, what the four of us have read, any other posts we may have had, giveaways still going on, our most popular Instagram posts, and books that I’ve added to my ever-growing TBR.

*We linked this post to the October Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from this month were:

✮ Totally not a highlight, but my computer died.  And I use to back up everything, and then spaced for the last few years.  I lost everything.  And then my brother, who is in IT worked on it for days and was able to recover 37%, I’ll take it lol.  So let my epic failure be your lesson, back up back up back up ha!
✮ We took our annual trip to visit my husband’s family in Orange County (Calfornia) and one of my high school friends who lives in Del Mar (little north of San Diego).  It’s always my favorite trip we take!  We hang out on the beach every day and surf, boogie board, read and play in the sand.  It was the best 8 days ever and I wasn’t ready to go home.  Here are some pictures…..
Here’s my husband getting barreled here. 
Here’s me and my kiddos playing around on the beach here.  Ohhh see the cream and green colored house behind us?!  Bethany Hamilton was having an event there and she was with her family on the beach just a few feet away from us!  We got to watch her surf and she kicks ass!!  She is such an inspiration to all ♥. 
And then here’s my 6 year old surfing here. 
And my 8 year old surfing here.

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What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
✮ The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club #1) by Lyssa Kay Adams
✮ The Witchlands Box Set (The Witchlands #1-3) by Susan Dennard
✮ The Burning Shadow (Origin #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
✮ Sinful Like Us (Like Us #5) by Krista & Becca Ritchie
✮ Lock Every Door by Riley Sager
✮ The Midnight Lie (The Midnight Lie #1) by Marie Rutkoski
✮ The Bookworm Crush by Lisa Brown Roberts

4 Stars:
✮ Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson

2 Stars:
✮ Hidden Bodies (You #2) by Caroline Kepnes

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Our Favorite Books of the Month:

Every Other Weekend by Abigail Johnson (Cassie’s Choice)
Every Other Weekend, my second Abigail Johnson novel I’ve read, was almost unputdownable for me. Not because it was a thrilling page turner, but because I was so invested in these characters I needed to find out what was going to happen next.

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The Bookworm Crush by Lisa Brown Roberts (Jen’s Choice)
I laughed, cried, sighed and fell madly in love, so it’s no surprise that The Book Worm Crush became an instant favorite!