Edie Browne's Cottage by the Sea by Jane Linfoot (Book Beginnings & Friday 56)

Of all of the fictional locations I wish I could visit, Jane Linfoot's St Aidan in Cornwall isn't just at the top of the list of places I wish I could visit -- it's at the top of the list of places I wish I could call home. I first fell in love with St Aidan and Jane's storytelling abilities three years ago with the first book in her Little Wedding Shop series (which I loved so much it got a Teaser Tuesday AND a Friday 56). I may have even audibly squealed when the shop got a little shoutout early in her latest offering -- Edie Browne's Cottage by the Sea.

After a life-altering turn of events, Edie takes refuge in my beloved St Aidan to stay with her Aunt Jo. She herself has taken refuge in the confines of the cottage she moved into with her husband just weeks before he passed. She rarely leaves the cottage -- ordering the vast majority of everything to be delivered. (Been there. Done that.) Edie and Josie need each other -- and St Aidan itself -- to move on and heal. Their journeys are hilarious and heartbreaking and, through it all, more than a little cathartic. I know all about devastating and unexpected loss and how hard it is to move on like Aunt Jo, and I know way too much about Edie's angst.

20+ years ago I became the not-so-proud owner of a Traumatic Brain Injury. I remember all too well relearning how to walk; how to do basic things most take for granted; how to merge multiple noises together to make a "normal" sound. Do you have any idea how many different noises there are when a door is opened and closed? I don't recall the exact count, but I spent a couple of hours driving my family crazy by opening and closing the door repeatedly to piece it all together. I get Edie. I get her frustration at being told she looks well when she and I are both well aware that you can't really see most brain injuries without medical equipment. I know how bothersome it is to not be able to drive  (something I will probably never do again). It's been 20+ years and I still know how heartbreaking it is to not be who you were ... and to not know if you ever will be again.

*Not A Real Spoiler Alert*

It gets easier.

For myself, and for Edie.

Her story is far more enjoyable to read than mine probably would be, but there are some similarities. For both of us, much of the "easier" came from good friends and family, a really great kid, and a pretty darn spectacular, stubborn and incredibly patient man. I'll spare you the details about mine, but I definitely urge you to read all about Edie's.

Friday 56 (today is from page 256ish from the advanced pdf received by the author) is hosted at Freda's Voice & Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader.

An Enchanting Madness by Erica Taylor (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

There are a few things I need to say right off the bat:

• Read this book.
• Read ALL of The Macalister books. 
• Read them in order -- chronologically by story, not by date published. (The Perfect Duchess comes first even though it came out second.)
• Read them in private if at all possible. (You know, because of feels.)
• Simultaneously thank me and curse me for getting you hooked on an absolutely captithrallious series. Thank me for the joy and tears. Curse me that you fly through them too quickly and will have to wait until the next installment.

We're going on close to two years now since I read my first Erica Taylor book and was blown away to the point of having to make up words to describe how I felt about the story. I didn't think that it would be possible to top it. And then she did. And then she did again. And then? Oh, gosh. Then came Norah and Trevor and An Enchanting Madness and I honestly don't know if I've ever loved a fictional couple quite so much. No, not even Emma and Knightley. Maybe Catherine and Tilney ... though more because of him than her. Trevor and Norah, though? They both break my heart and then turn around and make my laugh until coffee spurts out my nose and then things get all gushy and they give me .... you know .... The Feels. 

Now, I have to warn you. This book needs to come with a trigger warning over some instances of sexual assault. It's not terribly graphic, but it can be intense and I was literally walking down the sidewalk with tears streaming down my face. That actually happened with his flashbacks, too. PTSD is a powerful thing and Erica Taylor wrote it amazingly well for both. Maybe that's really why they're my favorite fictional couple. Maybe it's because they're both so broken in so many ways and yet so much stronger than they believe ... and even stronger together. 

Of course ... there are more Macalister siblings to go ... so there's a chance that Norah and Trevor will be bumped from my top spot. A very slim chance, but a chance. (Yes, I thought that about every other couple in the series as well. Shut up.)

"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by I'd Rather Be At The Beach. "Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two from anywhere in the book currently being read.

Kristin Vayden's Gentlemen of Temptation series

I had started to read the third book in Kristin Vayden's Gentlemen of Temptation series, The Temptation of Grace, before realizing that it was a series that really is best read in order. It was my first time reading Vayden, but before I had sent the request through Netgalley to Kensington/Lyrical, I poked around to see if she had other books available in case I fell in love. Within the first few pages it hit me that : 1) yes, I was going to fall in love and 2) I really needed to get my hands on the other two books before I continued.

I knocked the trio out in a week.

I'm still in recovery mode from all the feels.

I normally don't bother reading a series one right after another -- even if a review is lingering. It doesn't matter how much I enjoy a series, I just tend to skip around a bit. But this series. Oooooh this series. Once I started reading about our three reluctant heroes, I couldn't help but read them all together. These books have it all -- romance, intrigue, scandal, humor, and the feels. 

Oh. So. Many. Feels.

If you love a good Regency romance (or 3), you need to read this series. In order (Falling From His Grace, Escaping His Grace, and finally The Temptation of Grace). Read them individually or read them all together, as I did. It doesn't really matter, but if you're anything like I am you will want them all -- Lucas, Heathcliff and Ramsey. 

(And have I mentioned the feels?)