2. A classic pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses is always a great gift option & these are currently on sale!

3. For the man who has everything, this all in one flashlight tool kit is a unique gift that is also handy.

4. This sherpa lined jacket is both stylish and cozy and is currently on sale!

5. A perfect stocking stuffer for 2020! This neat little pouch attaches to your keys and stores your face mask.

6. A 10-in-1 cocktail tool is perfect for the man who prizes his bar cart.

7. A plaid flannel shirt is a great go-to for winter days and I love the colors of this one.

8. A pair of Ugg boots are perfect for the winter season and these are currently marked down!

9. For the man who likes to cook! This "spoonula" comes in multiple colors and has great reviews!

10. A 3-in-1 can cooler set is another great option for the man who has everything. It also comes in a few colors!

Alright, friends! It's that time of year again - the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is finally here! For those of you who are not familiar, the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale only comes around once a year, but it is definitely not your average sale (it's the best sale, in my opinion!). Most sales involve stores trying to get rid of items from the previous season in order to bring in new items for the upcoming season, but the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is giving you the opportunity to buy next season's newest fashion and beauty items at a discounted price! However, once the sale is over, all of these items go back up to their normal price, so you definitely want to buy all of your favorite fall items (sweaters and boots, anyone?) while the sale is going on.  For those of you who want to receive first picks of all of the latest items before they sell out, you can receive early access by becoming a Nordstrom cardholder by clicking 'here' and begin shopping today! For those of you who do not want to apply, do not fret! You can begin shopping the sale on August 19th, but beware - items sell out fast (I missed out on some of my favorites in previous years), and the sale ends August 30th!

Be sure to check back here and on my Instagram Page as I style all of the items I purchased. Most of these items come in multiple colors, so be sure to click around to find your favorites! You can also check out some of my favorite picks from last year's Nordstrom Anniversary Sale here. Without further ado, let's get shopping! :)

Hello everyone!

I am over the moon excited to share with all of you that I am beginning a new book series on my blog! I spend the majority of my free time with my nose stuck in a book, so I figured it was time for me to share one of my greatest passions with you! For those of you who love to curl up with a good book, I hope you enjoy this new series and possibly find a new favorite in the process. For those of you who are not interested in reading, do not fret! I will still continue to create my fashion and travel posts. My hope with this platform is to create content that will hopefully inspire you the way so many creators inspire me.

The arrival of spring brings fresh blooms, new possibilities and new books! I love a good wander around the aisles of Barnes & Noble to explore the latest novels hitting the bookshelves, and there are so many new titles that I can hardly wait to read this season. With that being said, I have also thrown in a couple of classics on my TBR (to be read) list that I have been itching to read for a while. My spring reading list consists of a variety of genres, so my hope is that there is a book for everyone to enjoy. At the end of this post I have also listed some novels that are not on bookshelves yet, but will be released within the next couple of months.

Without further ado, let's dive right in to my spring reading list!

The Majesties

Tiffany Tsao

Gwendolyn and Estella have always been as close as sisters can be. Growing up in a wealthy, eminent, and sometimes deceitful family, they’ve relied on each other for support and confidence. But now Gwendolyn is lying in a coma, the sole survivor of Estella’s poisoning of their whole clan.

As Gwendolyn struggles to regain consciousness, she desperately retraces her memories, trying to uncover the moment that led to this shocking and brutal act. Was it their aunt’s mysterious death at sea? Estella’s unhappy marriage to a dangerously brutish man? Or were the shifting loyalties and unspoken resentments at the heart of their opulent world too much to bear? Can Gwendolyn, at last, confront the carefully buried mysteries in their family’s past and the truth about who she and her sister really are?

Traveling from the luxurious world of the rich and powerful in Indonesia to the most spectacular shows at Paris Fashion Week, from the sunny coasts of California to the melting pot of Melbourne’s university scene, The Majesties is a haunting and deeply evocative novel about the dark secrets that can build a family empire—and also bring it crashing down

This novel is described as a dark Crazy Rich Asians, so I simply could not resist this one! For those of you who have not read Crazy Rich Asians I would highly recommend you to add it to your reading list as well!

The Girl in White Gloves

Kerri Maher

A life in snapshots…

Grace knows what people see. She’s the Cinderella story. An icon of glamor and elegance frozen in dazzling Technicolor. The picture of perfection. The girl in white gloves.

A woman in living color…
But behind the lens, beyond the panoramic views of glistening Mediterranean azure, she knows the truth. The sacrifices it takes for an unappreciated girl from Philadelphia to defy her family and become the reigning queen of the screen. The heartbreaking reasons she trades Hollywood for a crown. The loneliness of being a princess in a fairy tale kingdom that is all too real.

Hardest of all for her adoring fans and loyal subjects to comprehend, is the harsh reality that to be the most envied woman in the world does not mean she is the happiest. Starved for affection and purpose, facing a labyrinth of romantic and social expectations with more twists and turns than Monaco’s infamous winding roads, Grace must find her own way to fulfillment. But what she risks--her art, her family, her marriage—she may never get back.

I have always been drawn to Grace Kelly's elegance and charm and I am very much looking forward to reading this perspective of her life in the format of a historical fiction novel.

The Grace Kelly Dress

Brenda Janowitz

Two years after Grace Kelly’s royal wedding, her iconic dress is still all the rage in Paris—and one replica, and the secrets it carries, will inspire three generations of women to forge their own paths in life and in love.

Paris, 1958: Rose, a seamstress at a fashionable atelier, has been entrusted with sewing a Grace Kelly—look-alike gown for a wealthy bride-to-be. But when, against better judgment, she finds herself falling in love with the bride’s handsome brother, Rose must make an impossible choice, one that could put all she’s worked for at risk: love, security and of course, the dress.

Sixty years later, tech CEO Rachel, who goes by the childhood nickname “Rocky,” has inherited the dress for her upcoming wedding in New York City. But there’s just one problem: Rocky doesn’t want to wear it. A family heirloom dating back to the 1950s, the dress just isn’t her. Rocky knows this admission will break her mother Joan’s heart. But what she doesn’t know is why Joan insists on the dress—or the heartbreaking secret that changed her mother’s life decades before, as she herself prepared to wear it.

As the lives of these three women come together in surprising ways, the revelation of the dress’s history collides with long-buried family heartaches. And in the lead-up to Rocky’s wedding, they’ll have to confront the past before they can embrace the beautiful possibilities of the future.

For a lover of both fashion and Grace Kelly, this one is a must for me!

The Authenticity Project

Clare Pooley

Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren't really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes--in a plain, green journal--the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves--and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica's Café.

The Authenticity Project's cast of characters--including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends--is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward--and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness.

I love novels that feature a set of lovable characters that find meaningful relationships or a new viewpoint on life, and this novel appears to offer exactly that.

Emma

Jane Austen

Beautiful, clever, rich—and single—Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen's most flawless work.

I recently finished Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and can hardly wait to dive into this one. There is also a new movie adaptation of Emma currently in theaters that I can't wait to see once all of the social distancing is over.

Meg & Jo

Virginia Kantra

The March sisters—reliable Meg, independent Jo, stylish Amy, and shy Beth—have grown up to pursue their separate dreams. When Jo followed her ambitions to New York City, she never thought her career in journalism would come crashing down, leaving her struggling to stay afloat in a gig economy as a prep cook and secret food blogger.

Meg appears to have the life she always planned—the handsome husband, the adorable toddlers, the house in a charming subdivision. But sometimes getting everything you’ve ever wanted isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

When their mother’s illness forces the sisters home to North Carolina for the holidays, they’ll rediscover what really matters.

A spin on the classic, Little Women, Meg & Jo is a contemporary retelling, which is set in North Carolina, so I naturally have to read it! A new Little Women movie adaptation was released in theaters this past December, and if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you to stream it soon.

Beautiful Ruins

Jess Walter

The acclaimed, award-winning author of the national bestseller The Financial Lives of the Poets returns with his funniest, most romantic, and most purely enjoyable novel yet. Hailed by critics and loved by readers of literary and historical fiction, Beautiful Ruins is the story of an almost-love affair that begins on the Italian coast in 1962...and is rekindled in Hollywood fifty years later. 

The Italian coast has a special place in my heart, so I bought this book mainly to receive a taste of the Italian coastal atmosphere, but after reading the reviews I expect so much more from this novel and cannot wait to dive it!

The Riviera Set

Mary S. Lovell

The Riviera Set reveals the story of the group of people who lived, partied, bed-hopped and politicked at the Château de l'Horizon near Cannes, over the course of forty years from the time when Coco Chanel made southern French tans fashionable in the twenties to the death of the playboy Prince Aly Khan in 1960.

At the heart of dynamic group was the amazing Maxine Elliott, the daughter of a fisherman from Connecticut, who built the beautiful art deco Château and brought together the likes of Noel Coward, the Aga Khan, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and two very saucy courtesans, Doris Castlerosse and Daisy Fellowes, who set out to be dangerous distractions to Winston Churchill as he worked on his journalism and biographies during his 'wilderness years' in the thirties. After the War the story continued as the Château changed hands and Prince Aly Khan used it to entertain the Hollywood set, as well as launch his seduction of and eventual marriage to Rita Hayworth.

The elite partying along the beautiful French Riviera? Count me in!

Woven in Moonlight

Isabel Ibañez

Ximena is the decoy Condesa, a stand-in for the last remaining Illustrian royal. Her people lost everything when the usurper, Atoc, used an ancient relic to summon ghosts and drive the Illustrians from La Ciudad. Now Ximena’s motivated by her insatiable thirst for revenge, and her rare ability to spin thread from moonlight.

When Atoc demands the real Condesa’s hand in marriage, it’s Ximena’s duty to go in her stead. She relishes the chance, as Illustrian spies have reported that Atoc’s no longer carrying his deadly relic. If Ximena can find it, she can return the true aristócrata to their rightful place.

She hunts for the relic, using her weaving ability to hide messages in tapestries for the resistance. But when a masked vigilante, a warm-hearted princesa, and a thoughtful healer challenge Ximena, her mission becomes more complicated. There could be a way to overthrow the usurper without starting another war, but only if Ximena turns her back on revenge―and her Condesa.

Fantasy, culture and a beautiful cover. What is there not to like about this book?

House of Salt and Sorrows

Erin A. Craig

In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor with her sisters and their father and stepmother. Once there were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last--the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge--and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that her sister's deaths were no accidents. The girls have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who--or what--are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family--before it claims her next. House of Salt and Sorrows is a spellbinding novel filled with magic and the rustle of gossamer skirts down long, dark hallways. Get ready to be swept away.

This novel sounds so eerie and atmospheric. I think this is the book I'll read next!

The Hand on the Wall

Maureen Johnson

Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are now dead. One, a victim of either a prank gone wrong or a murder. Another, dead by misadventure. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. All three in the wrong place at the wrong time. All at the exact moment of Stevie’s greatest triumph . . .

She knows who Truly Devious is. She’s solved it. The greatest case of the century.

At least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, it’s hard to concentrate on the past. Not only has someone died in town, but David disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehow—somehow—all these things connect. The three deaths in the present. The deaths in the past. The missing Alice Ellingham and the missing David Eastman. Somewhere in this place of riddles and puzzles there must be answers.

Then another accident occurs as a massive storm heads toward Vermont. This is too much for the parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. Obviously, it’s time for Stevie to do something stupid. It’s time to stay on the mountain and face the storm—and a murderer.

In the tantalizing finale to the Truly Devious trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson expertly tangles her dual narrative threads and ignites an explosive end for all who’ve walked through Ellingham Academy.

The Hand on the Wall is the third book in the Truly Devious series, so if you haven't read the first two, do not pick this one up! These books have left me hooked and craving more, and I'm quite sad that this will be the last one. This is the book I am currently reading and I am scared to finish it - haha!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (illustrated edition)

J.K. Rowling

For twelve long years, the dread fortress of Azkaban held an infamous prisoner named Sirius Black. Convicted of killing thirteen people with a single curse, he was said to be the heir apparent to the Dark Lord, Voldemort.

Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts . . . he's at Hogwarts."

Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. Because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

Harry Potter fans rejoice! If you are thinking about rereading the series, be sure to try out the new illustrated editions. I have read the first two illustrated editions (thanks to my darling brother's Christmas gift), and I am excited to begin the third. The artwork is incredible, making it a fun way to dive back into the wizarding world we all love so much.

Murder on the Orient Express

Agatha Christie

Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Edward Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. Without a shred of doubt, one of his fellow passengers is the murderer.

Isolated by the storm, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer among a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again.

Jay and I both have a love for books, so we decided to start a monthly book club in order to finally be able to talk about books together! We have yet to read any of Agatha Christie's novels (I know, I know - the shame!), so we are beginning with the famous Murder on the Orient Express.

Everybody Always

Bob Goff

In his entertaining and inspiring follow-up to the New York Times bestselling phenomenon Love Does, Bob Goff takes readers on a journey into the secret of living without fear, constraint, or worry. The path toward the liberated existence we all long for is found in a truth as simple to say as it is hard to do: love people, even the difficult ones, without distinction and without limits.

Driven by Bob’s trademark storytelling, Everybody, Always reveals the lessons Bob learned--often the hard way--about what it means to love without inhibition, insecurity, or restriction. From finding the right friends to discovering the upside of failure, Everybody, Always points the way to embodying love by doing the unexpected, the intimidating, the seemingly impossible. Whether losing his shoes while skydiving solo or befriending a Ugandan witch doctor, Bob steps into life with a no-limits embrace of others that is as infectious as it is extraordinarily ordinary. Everybody, Always reveals how we can do the same.

I love the idea of embodying love, and from the reviews I have read, this Christian book delivers. This is one of those books I expect to finish with a new, positive perspective.

Where the Crawdads Sing

Delia Owens

For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life--until the unthinkable happens.

Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

My mom raved about this book and then gifted it to me, so I naturally have to read it! I have heard nothing but great things about this novel and I expect to be amazed!

The Honey - Don't List

Christina Lauren

March 24, 2020

Carey Douglas has worked for home remodeling and design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp for nearly a decade. A country girl at heart, Carey started in their first store at sixteen, and—more than anyone would suspect—has helped them build an empire. With a new show and a book about to launch, the Tripps are on the verge of superstardom. There’s only one problem: America’s favorite couple can’t stand each other.

James McCann, MIT graduate and engineering genius, was originally hired as a structural engineer, but the job isn’t all he thought it’d be. The last straw? Both he and Carey must go on book tour with the Tripps and keep the wheels from falling off the proverbial bus.

Unfortunately, neither of them is in any position to quit. Carey needs health insurance, and James has been promised the role of a lifetime if he can just keep the couple on track for a few more weeks. While road-tripping with the Tripps up the West Coast, Carey and James vow to work together to keep their bosses’ secrets hidden, and their own jobs secure. But if they stop playing along—and start playing for keeps—they may have the chance to build something beautiful together…

I read The Unhoneymooners, by Christina Lauren, last summer and it was truly a joy to read. Several moments actually had me laughing out loud. So much so in fact that I would force my husband to listen to me read out loud some of the most humorous passages! I can't wait to go for another joy ride with one of Christina Lauren's novels, and The Honey-Don't List certainly looks like it will provide.

To Have and to Hoax

Martha Waters

April 7, 2020

Five years ago, Lady Violet Grey and Lord James Audley met, fell in love, and got married. Four years ago, they had a fight to end all fights, and have barely spoken since.

Their once-passionate love match has been reduced to one of cold, detached politeness. But when Violet receives a letter that James has been thrown from his horse and rendered unconscious at their country estate, she races to be by his side—only to discover him alive and well at a tavern, and completely unaware of her concern. She’s outraged. He’s confused. And the distance between them has never been more apparent.

Wanting to teach her estranged husband a lesson, Violet decides to feign an illness of her own. James quickly sees through it, but he decides to play along in an ever-escalating game of manipulation, featuring actors masquerading as doctors, threats of Swiss sanitariums, faux mistresses—and a lot of flirtation between a husband and wife who might not hate each other as much as they thought. Will the two be able to overcome four years of hurt or will they continue to deny the spark between them?

With charm, wit, and heart in spades, To Have and to Hoax is a fresh and eminently entertaining romantic comedy—perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Julia Quinn.

This novel just sounds like so much fun, and I always love a good period piece!

Catherine House

Elisabeth Thomas

May 12, 2020

A gothic-infused debut of literary suspense, set within a secluded, elite university and following a dangerously curious, rebellious undergraduate who uncovers a shocking secret about an exclusive circle of students . . . and the dark truth beneath her school’s promise of prestige.

Gothic? Secluded, elite university? Secrets? SOLD!

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

Suzanne Collins

May 19, 2020

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.
 
The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Alright, Hunger Games fans this one is for you! I'm excited to dive back into this world, and I'm hoping this new twist will live up to our expectations!

The Jane Austen Society

Natalie Jenner

May 26, 2020

Just after the Second World War, in the small English village of Chawton, an unusual but like-minded group of people band together to attempt something remarkable.

One hundred and fifty years ago, Chawton was the final home of Jane Austen, one of England's finest novelists. Now it's home to a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate. With the last bit of Austen's legacy threatened, a group of disparate individuals come together to preserve both Jane Austen's home and her legacy. These people―a laborer, a young widow, the local doctor, and a movie star, among others―could not be more different and yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Austen. As each of them endures their own quiet struggle with loss and trauma, some from the recent war, others from more distant tragedies, they rally together to create the Jane Austen Society.

A powerful and moving novel that explores the tragedies and triumphs of life, both large and small, and the universal humanity in us all, Natalie Jenner's The Jane Austen Society is destined to resonate with readers for years to come.

The description of this novel just gives me all of the feels, and as a Jane Austen lover I will gladly read anything that gives a nod to her legacy.

I hope you all enjoyed my spring reading list, and hopefully found a book that peaked your interest! There are so many great books out there to be read, which can honestly be overwhelming at times. I want to read them all, but you know what they say... so many books, so little time!


Like this article? Pin it!





xoxo,

Rachel