Goals For 2024! And a delicious and easy Red Lentil Soup Recipe.

Here is the recipe: Red Lentil Soup by The Kitchn

It was so easy to make and surprisingly tasty. I will certainly make this soup again!

If you've read this blog before you know that I do like to set goals for the New Year. Over the years I've posted goals on this blog many a time, and this year won't be an exception. Let's see how I do with these goals! 

Author Goals:

* Write Books Two, Three and Four in my Marley Creek series.

*Figure out how to use Canva to make fun posts about my books

*Attend a Romance Author Conference. 

*Be on a podcast! (dream big right?) 

Bookish /Blogger Goals

* 75 Books Read Goal

* Participate in COYER

*Attend 4 in-person book signings.

*Write my 1,000th blog post! (I'm at 903 with this post) 

And for Personal Goals:

TBD I need to think about this one some more. 

Happy New Year!  I hope you are having a wonderful first day of the new year! 

 

Hammered By Kevin Herne Book #Readalong

 

I borrowed the ebook of Hammered  from my library, and I didn't finish the ebook. The book has quite a bit of Norse mythology and I was struggling with trying to pronounce those names in my head and keep everything straight. I switched to the audio version and it was easier for me to follow, I think this was mostly because I have watched all the Thor-related Marvel movies and was familiar with how various characters' names sound in contrast to knowing the spellings. 

This is the third book in the series and it looks like things will be changing from here, we will be moving away from Tempe, Arizona. This book takes place in Asgard for the most part, which was interesting. Lots of action and we don't really know if Atticus has really messed up by going after Thor, or if things will work out.  We do find out exactly what Jesus would do in Atticus's shoes, which is a fun scene in the book. 

The best part of this book for me is when Atticus is spending time camping out with his brothers-in-arms and we learn the back stories behind why this group of desperate supernatural beings want to kill Thor. 

This book is very male-centric and I would really like more Granuaile in these books, but I think maybe that isn't to be? 

I read this book for Anne's Read-Along you can check it out here and consider joining us! 

The Iron Druid Chronicles

3.5 stars

COYER and Books Of My Heart #READALONG!

This was a nice break in the action of the Night Huntress series, in the last installment I was very annoyed with Cat and Bones and ready to read something else.  Pretty clever, Jeaniene Frost, way to keep me reading.

This book is the story of Cat's friend Denise. From her introduction into the series a few books ago, I have wanted to read more about her. I loved her relationship with her husband, Randy, and was very sad that he died in the big Vampire battle.  Now it's about a year later and Denise is still in mourning. She understandable suffering from PTSD and is trying to distance herself from the supernatural world her friend Cat is an intricate part of.  

This being an Urban Fantasy series, Denise is quickly pulled into the world as she is cursed by a demon. This book does have action but most of the story is focused on Denise and her grieving process and Spade's struggle with his attraction to Denise fighting against his desire not to love and lose a human again. We learn a little more about the Night Huntress World and how it works, we do see Cat and Bones towards the end, but this is solidly Denise and Spade's book.

I'm a fan of Denise so I was happy for her to find Spade. Spade--for me--- is just an OK character, he is--and again this is just to me--a pretty typical hot Vampire. In other words, I don't find him as interesting to read as I do Vlad--or even Ian. 

Here is the publisher's blurb for this book: 

"The night is not safe for mortals.

Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows – her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield – and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family’s dark past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness – and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who craves a taste of her.

He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human – even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the demon nightmare together…

Because once the first drop of crimson falls, they will both be lost."

4 Starts to First Drop of Crimson

Join the Read Along at https://booksofmyheart.net/2021/12/05/read-along-giveaway-night-huntress-world-by-jeaniene-frost/

Halfway To The Grave Read-Along!

 

It's time to talk about the first book in Anne's 2022 Night Huntress World  Read-Along.  I'm so excited to be part of this read-along not only because I like vampire stories and Anne's read-alongs are so fun but also because at the end of the year we will have a Q and A with Jeaniene Frost!  How cool is that! 

Learn more about this year's read-along and join us here! 

At some point in my past, I read this book, and then I don't think I continued the series for whatever reason--chalk it up to a 'life got in the way' thing.  This time around I decided to do the audio version of the book because it was available on my Libby library app.  I took this book on me as I went on runs around my neighborhood during the time between Christmas and New Year.  Tavia Gilbert is a fine reader, I enjoyed Bones' accent as well as the other characters.  It was easy to keep track of who was speaking as I listened.

As I began listening, I realized that Jeaniene Frost did something very clever in this book. Because Cat doesn't know anything about Vampires when Bones captures her, they have a long, but engaging Q and A where most of the rules of this world are explained.  A great way to get Cat and all the readers up to speed about what the Vampire rules are in the Night Huntress World. 

Cat is so naive and impetuous that if not for her vampire blood, she would definitely fit the 'too dumb to live' trope.  Much of her naivety is due to her upbring and she is already beginning to question what she has been taught as her worldview expands out from a very rural town in Ohio.  I look forward to seeing her character arch over the series. 

4.5 Stars to this first book in our 2022 Read Along!!

Reading Challenges- Do You Participate? I'm Joining The Coyer Challenge Again!

 To review, I did a great job participating in the Winter and Spring Seasons of COYER and then as the Summer went along I really fell off with posting my books read, but I did really enjoy being part of the challenge, so I am definitely in for 2022! 

This should help me to get some of the many, many books in my Kindle app and Apple Books app read! Hopefully! 

What do you think?  Would you like to maybe join in?  Here is the link to know more about how the challenge works: It's Happening Again! COYER Season!

Some of the books I'm planning to read:

The Accidental Alchemist 

Blacktop Wasteland

Christmas Key: There's Always A Catch

And of course, there will be many more books I hope to read! 

The Installment in the #PsyChangeling #Readalong #COYER Challenge Book 6! And Grocery Store Monopoly Talk

 Just when you think you think a book is going to be full of pining and delayed gratification Nalini Singh comes out of the gate hot!  Sexy time right from the get-go.  I love this series because of stuff like this.  Nalini keeps the readers guessing and that keeps this reader, reading! 

Branded by Fire tells the story of Mercy from the Dark River pack and Riley from the Snow Dancer Pack. She's a leopard and he's a wolf.  Can a cat and a dog find happiness together? Let's find out!  In this story, we have two main characters that are antagonists to each other but also have wild chemistry.  Frienimies to lovers is a solid descriptor, but none of the I hate you, I love you. Their relationship is more nuanced and because they are at the top of the pack hierarchy, they have to consider how becoming mated would affect both of their packs. I know they will get there, just a matter of how fun getting there will be for me the reader!

I loved the banter! 

Nalini Singh shares more about the lives of the couples we have already met, as the packs face a new challenge when the Human Alliance emerges as a terrorist group. There are also developments in the growth of Sienna Lauren, a character that readers know will be more and more pivotal as this story continues.  Lastly, is Nalini rehabilitating Ashaya's sister Amara?  Will Amara be fit to be around the pack in the future? 

Solid advice from E-Psy Sasha to Mercy! 

4 stars to the Branded by Fire, It was fun to read Mercy and Riley's point of view and see their romance play out! 

While I've been trying to read this week, I'm also in the midst of trying to win fabulous prizes from my grocery store's monopoly game. Thanks to a friend that passed on a ton of tickets to me, I'm up to my eyeballs in chances to win major prizes!  All I need to do now that all of the tickets are opened is to scan them in my app.  So far I have won over 36 individual bottles of water, five loaves of french bread, and three bottles of ranch dressing. Wish me luck, maybe I'll win $25,000! Who knows! If I do, I'll let you know!

Two Challenges To Talk About!

 My local grocery store had a very good deal on Eye of Round Beef Roast, So I said challenge accepted, let me see if I can cook that.  I didn't know that eye of round roast is tricky to cook since it doesn't have that handy fat marbling that allows you to throw it in a slow cooker and forget it.  In other words, Eye of Round Roast isn't like Chuck Roast.

I did some Google searches and found this recipe from the A Family Feast blog which I followed. I did marinate the roast overnight before cooking it today.  I will say that my oven runs hot and I should have turned the heat down from the 500 the recipe used to 475. The fat cap on my roast was overdone. Otherwise, the roast turned out. For sides, I made roasted potatoes as well as cabbage, carrots, and cipollini onions. 

Here is how it looked going into the oven. I put it on a little rack in a roasting pan, but there wasn't much in the way of grease and I don't think the rack was essential. 

This is the plate of food I prepared and brought up to my husband to eat since he was on a work call. Isn't he lucky to have such a nice wife? 

The second challenge I want to talk about is a book series challenge that I'm going to participate in this March.  The challenge is called Can You Read A Series In A Month? My plan is to use this challenge as an opportunity to read the Reluctant Royals series by Alyssa Cole.  The series is a contemporary romance series of three books and two novellas. 

Join me! Let's read a series in March, and then when March is over it will be time for springtime! 

#ReadAlong Visions of Heat #ParanormalRomance

 It's the last Friday of January already!  How are you doing?  Hanging in there? We had some snow this week and I got to try out my YakTrax which work great for walking or running in the snow. I'm still looking forward to the snow melting so I can run without the snow.  In my perfect world, among many amazing advancements; we would have sidewalks and streets that warmed up when it snowed and we'd not have to shovel or trudge through unshoveled sidewalks and we'd have dry streets that didn't turn into sheets of ice. 

Along with the snow has come gloomy grey skies, but since Groundhog Day is around the corner that's when we usually have sunshine to ensure six more weeks of winter!  That sun scares the poor little dude!

 

Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Because Nalina Singh had laid a foundation of the Psy-Changeling world in "Slave to Sensation", I was able to appreciate the expanding universe of this book and deepen my understanding of the Psy-Net.

In direct contrast to Sascha and Lucas's relationship, Faith and Vaughn have a slow, slow burn. There is much to be learned about Faith's family and I look forward to knowing more about the F-Psy Clan in the future. This book is almost all Faith and Vaughn with as much DarkRiver interaction as Sascha had in book one. I noticed that Nalini Singh purposefully uses images of heat, fire, gold to describe Vaughn throughout the book, Singh wants us to notice and understand Vaughn is the sun and Faith is the night sky. Vaughn is a passionate being, an artist more at home in the wild and Faith is a logic-driven woman who lives in her mind-- and sees the beauty of the Psy-net. Their approaches to the world are polar opposites and Nalini Singh shows us how perfectly they fit together.

At the end of the book, we get some information on a character and I was pleased to see that character isn't who we thought they were earlier in the book, I look forward to them coming back into the picture and home someone they are related to plays a role in these books as well.

At the end of this book, we have some idea of how the Dark River/Snow Dancer Clans with their adopted Psy members may someday be able to usher in an end to the Silence and I am here for it!

View all my reviews