Mid-Year Freak Out Book Tag 2025

This is a traditional book tag for me, meaning I do it every year around this time of year. Is it just me, or are a lot more book bloggers doing it this year? It makes my heart happy because I love book tags, and I feel they are making a comeback, which is fantastic. They are great for finding other book creators and book recommendations. I looked up the original creator again, but I couldn’t find them.    

Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2025

I won’t lie, I forgot what my last five-star novel was, even though I read it a few days ago. Oops, it was My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson. However, I’m picking a novel I haven’t featured here yet: Girls Like Her by Melanie Sumrow.

Goodreads Blurb:

Winner of the Golden Kite Award. A raw, gripping, authentic, and boldly original novel about a fifteen-year-old Texas girl set to stand trial for murder—and the one person who might be able to help her clear her name. A wealthy businessman is dead, and fifteen-year-old Ruby Monroe is in a Dallas jail awaiting trial for his murder. Ruby has no one she can count on—no one, except her state-appointed caseworker, a woman named Cadence Ware. In Ruby’s experience, that’s not anyone she can trust. Cadence is familiar with the cold reality of Ruby’s situation, even before she was arrested. Angry and alone, homeless and hungry, breaking the law just to survive, Ruby is the kind of girl no one wants to listen to, especially not the prosecutor who wants to put her away for life.  But no one knows the story—the  real  story—of what happened the day Ruby met the man who would end up dead. As the layers of truth are peeled away and time is running out, Ruby and Cadence will both have desperate choices to make—choices that could mean the difference between Ruby spending her life in prison or her name being cleared. Told through a collection of letters, meeting notes, news articles, court transcripts, and more,  Girls Like Her  is a riveting and unflinching tale of the truths so often lost in the American justice system, and one girl’s fight to be heard.

Best sequel?

The books in the Nathan Grant series can be read as a standalone, but I saw some connections, and there has not been a new release since 2022.

Goodreads Blurb:

A shadowy group is murdering American diplomats. But who are they, and what are they after?

Nathan Grant is at it again, this time hunting down a group of international assassins as they try to take out some of America’s highest-ranking diplomats. After breaking with his bosses at the CIA, Nathan is left to solve this mystery on his own. What he uncovers is a conspiracy stretching all across the globe and involving corrupt politicians, notorious drug cartels and ruthless weapons smugglers. Only Nathan Grant could possibly tie these many threads together and get to the truth.

New release you haven’t read yet but want to?

The reason why I don’t have it on my current TBR since when I looked for it to read, it wasn’t available, and now I have too many books to add it. However,  I want to read it at some point.

Goodreads Blurb:

At 29, Detective Rav Trivedi is the youngest member of the NYPD’s homicide squad, and his future looks bright. He may be a bit of an outsider in the department – an ivy-league educated gay Brit with a weakness for designer suits – but his meteoric rise and solve rate prove he belongs.

So when his CO assigns him lead on the high-profile murder of a record executive, Rav is ready for action. He won’t be distracted by TV crews, tabloids, or what’s trending on social media, nor by the ridiculously hot rock star with a clear motive and no alibi.

This is it, his shot, and he is not going to screw it up—certainly not by falling in love with his number one suspect…

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year?

I just posted a whole list, but here’s another for this question’s sake.

Goodreads Blub:

This summer, there’s blood in the water…watch out for sharks!

Kaylani is a born-and-bred Brooklyn girl. She expects to feel like a fish out of water spending the hot and sticky summer on Martha’s Vineyard with family friends, the Watsons. But her mother insists, especially since Kaylani still spends long hours on the phone with her imprisoned father.

The Watsons live in the town of Oak Bluffs, a place with a rich Black history that fascinates Kaylani. Though the Watsons’ daughter, London, is snobby and unfriendly, Kaylani ends up connecting with some other kids in the town, who show her around. The beach IS really nice, and there’s good ice cream to be had. Maybe there’s something to Martha’s Vineyard…

But then a shocking murder–or was it a drowning? A shark attack?–rocks the community to its core.

Kaylani is determined to solve the mystery but in order to do so, she will come face-to-face with sinister truths and shocking secrets that promise to forever change her life as she knows it.

Biggest disappointment?

Goodreads Blurb:

Things change in a blink of an eye and you will need to rise through the inferno…

Instinct lead Darius Gallagher to the captain of their ship as he was about to cause the death of most of his crew and they dealt with it. Now they have no captain and the crew is looking to him for leadership. He was content to be part of the revelry, pillaging and plundering and didn’t want to be captain of any space pirate. A captain had to be good at planning and handle issues that arose from having a crew of aliens, other beings and humans. But…revelations make him consider and now they had to rescue the rest of the crew from another space pirate. If that wasn’t bad enough he was fascinated by the one man on the crew that—although he was respected—was also feared. He should avoid him yet…Darius wasn’t one to walk away from anything.

Heller revealed some of his secrets to contain the situation with their previous captain. Now the crew was further at risk as they headed to retrieve their crew mates. Darius might deny he was going to be their captain. They needed a leader to restore their fate of each other. The crew mate by your side meant the difference between success or death. Heller knew Darius finally saw him as intriguing. Heller wasn’t about to let the opportunity past. They would face getting the rest of their crew back as well as what may come between him and Darius. No matter what happened it would change them all—the crew, Darius and Heller.

When adventure calls it’ll take them through an …Inferno.

Biggest surprise?

Goodreads Blurb:

Nicole met Ryan when he was a handsome, cocky teenager with a desire to fly high above the clouds. Ryan encouraged Nicole to dream big and promised her a lifetime of happiness, but several years into their lives together, they were faced with obstacles bigger than either had ever imagined. Their love faltered. They lost their way and considered what had once been unthinkable—the end of their forever.

But now fate throws them a curve, an event that forces them back together, that strips their emotions bare and is both terrifying and strangely unifying. For the first time in a long while they have to face each other, and not only talk but also listen, because their lives depend on it—not only their lives, but also the life of their six-year-old son.

Secrets and lies frame a perilous journey to the truth that takes Nicole and Ryan to Angel’s Bay, a place where miracles sometimes happen. But in order to get that miracle, Nicole and Ryan must work together and learn how to trust and love each other again. Only then will they be able to save their family and find their way to happily ever after.

Favourite new author? (Debut or new to you?)

Ruby Landers is for sure one of them, but I can’t find a picture of hers, so I’m sharing the novel I read by her.

Goodreads Blurb:

Savannah Grace is a huge star in Nashville. At least, she was. Her hit band Twice Struck topped the country music charts for almost a decade until her high profile marriage to her bandmate and co-writer publicly exploded. Now she’s fading from the spotlight and her own life, just trying to keep her head above water.

Brynn Marshall is a little lost. Dropping out of med school made her the black sheep of the family and now she’s floating around LA trying to find a sense of purpose. When she falls down on her luck, her best friend – indie musician Noah Lyman – refuses to let her wallow. After all, he’s just got his big break, co-writing with a megastar!

When Savannah enlists Noah to help her break out of country music and make a name for herself for once and for all, what better way to do it than to spend the winter in her secluded vacation home in the woods of Vermont? And what better way for Noah to help out a friend than to pretend he’s bringing along his wife?

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Newest fictional crush?

I never get book crushes, and to be honest, I haven’t had one in real life in a long time.

Newest favourite character?

I can’t pick my favourite from this cast of characters; they are all awesome.

Goodreads Blurb:

Maisie is on her way to Fancon! She’s looking forward to meeting her idol, Kara Bufano, the action hero from her favorite TV show, who has a lower-leg amputation, just like Maisie. But when Maisie and her mom arrive at the convention center, she is stopped in her tracks by Ollie, a cute volunteer working the show. They are kind, charming, and geek out about nerd culture just as much as Maisie does. And as the day wears on, Maisie notices feelings for Ollie that she’s never had before. Is this what it feels like to fall in love?

A book that made you cry?

I don’t have an answer at the top of my head.

A book that made you happy?

Sophie’s grandmother just cracked me up, and the storyline was wholesome with dogs and all.

Goodreads Blurb:

Apparently, my wingman is my wackadoodle mom. Working twelve-hour days, I’ve made Fur Bebé Co a rising star in the world of doggie high fashion. But when my idea for designer pup activewear gets stolen and my mother arrives in a dominatrix outfit—long story—I’m not only stripped of my promotion and reputation, but my job too.

Lucas, Fur Bebé’s hot new CEO, becomes enemy numero uno. He’s going to be sorry…eventually.

Out of cash and snubbed from the industry, I move into Mom’s Winnebago, AKA, Hell on Wheels. When Lucas and Mom go undercover as bikers on a pup rescue mission, Mom lands on the cover of Hog Honeys. Now they’re BFFs. Lucas is a Harvard MBA, and I’m a community college grad, but with our painful pasts, we get each other. Except falling for him could destroy everything.

For me, finding love, forgiveness—and myself—may just take my wackadoodle wingmom.

Most beautiful book/cover design?

I love the bright covers like Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive, but sadly, the story wasn’t my cup of tea.

Goodreads Blurb:

It’s 2067 and Florida is partially underwater, but even that can’t bring down the residents of Palm Meridian Retirement Resort, a utopian home for queer women who want to revel in their twilight years. Inside, Hula-Hoopers shimmy across the grass, fiercely competitive book clubs nearly come to blows, and the roller-ski team races up and down the winding paths. Everywhere you look, these women are living large.

Hannah Cardin has spent ten happy years under these tropical, technicolor skies, but after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis, she has decided that tomorrow morning she will close her eyes for the very last time. Tonight, however, Hannah and her raucous band of friends are throwing one hell of an end-of-life party. And with less than twenty-four hours left, Hannah is holding out for one final, impossible thing…

Amongst the guest list is Sophie, the love of Hannah’s life. They haven’t spoken since their devastating breakup over forty years ago, but today, Hannah is hoping for the chance to give her greatest love one last try.

As Hannah anxiously awaits Sophie’s arrival, her mind casts back over the highs and lows of her kaleidoscopic life. But when a shocking secret from the past is revealed, Hannah must reconsider if she can say goodbye after all.

What books are you prioritizing to read by the end of the year?

The priority is, for sure, to read more Kindle books than I get, which will be tricky, but I will try.