Could You Use A Few More Books? Or Funds For Bookish Merch?

 

Who doesn't need a little more romance in their life?  Right?  So to that end, I'm participating in a big romance giveaway.  You can enter it here: https://www.bookthrone.com/september-viral-romance-giveaway

I finished reading a book I got from the Amazon First Reads program the other day. It's called "Divorce Towers." This was my first experience reading Ellen Meister. I enjoyed the book. Instead of one POV, there are three POV characters. The first is Addison, our main character. The second is Addison's seventy-five-year-old uncle Arnie, and the third is Carly, who is a domestic abuse survivor. The multiple POVs and the three plots overlap and come to a conclusion at the end of the book. Don't worry, there is a HEA. The book is a quick read; in addition to romance, there are mysteries to solve. Ellen Meister does a nice job with the Beverly Hills setting. 

At a couple of points in the book, conversations or events were summarized instead of taking place on the page, and I would have enjoyed being there for those conversations. It would have made the book longer, but also more entertaining. Overall, this is a fun book, an easy relaxing read. 

4 Stars!

The Sunday Post! Sundays Are For Not Leaving The House

 

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. you can write about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join in weekly, bi-weekly, or for a monthly wrap-up. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.

How was your week?  It's been too warm during the day around here and there's no end in sight for ragweed pollen. I am not going to be sad when the ground freezes and kills off the pollen! This upcoming Friday I'm going to a concert with my eldest. I am hoping for cooler temps and no rain. 

Since last week my middle kiddo moved to the middle of Illinois because he got a job at at TV station near the University of Illinois. It's his first ongoing job in his field. He found housing at the last moment, thankfully since he is in a college town, the place was furnished. He loaded his ancient car, drove down, and started his job the same day.  We will be going down to meet him for lunch soon. A long-ago picture of middle kiddo.

Readingwise, I need to stop adding more books to my TBR and read some of the books already on there. But that's not going to happen!

Quick plug: If you like to read cozy romance books with a hint of spice, my first book "No Gouda Without You" will be 99 cents on Kindle tomorrow (September 16th)! Here is the link: https://a.co/d/3fS0O4t

 I am finishing up these books and will be writing about them soon: 

Cozy Mystery Book Club April Live Stream- Tomorrow at 7PM EST!

 

Join me in the comments tomorrow at 7PM EST with lots of other readers of Cozy Mysteries! 

This month's selection is A Brush With Murder by Bailee Abbott.  I had an ARC of this book from Net Galley back in 2021 and reviewed it here on my blog.  Here is a link to that review: 

A Brush With Murder

Each month people who comment in the live stream are entered to win books, so it's not only fun to comment, you can win a new book in the process!

Now on to a little food talk. I enjoy cooking, and a really enjoy eating good food, so about once a month I treat myself to a box from Blue Apron. This month one of the meals I picked was Oven-Baked Korean-Style Eggs & Rice. It was a meal that all you do is put together the ingredients and bake.  It was delicious and easy enough for me to make it myself in the future.  It's a good anytime of day meal. What do you think? Does it look good to you?

An Audible Original IE No Credits Needed!

 I was looking for something to listen to while I was running and I saw this on audible and, well free is my favorite, so I quickly downloaded it! I  found this to be a quick, fun listen.  I didn't care too much for 3 out of the four widows at first, but by the halfway point of the story, the writing had me rooting for those ladies.  This is part thriller, part mystery, and part mafia wives' story. 

Each of the widows is voiced by a different writer, so this is an ensemble story as opposed to your classic audiobook. The story takes place in the 1980s and has a nice level of camp. If you are looking for something fun to listen to while you are working out, commuting, or doing chores around the house, give this a listen. 

3 stars for this fun audiobook! 

The Inconvenient Corpse A Cozy Mystery Review!

Want to know a secret? I got this book for free!  Would you like to get free cozies?  Here is a link to join a Cozy Mystery Book Club run by 24 Cozy Writers.  Each month you get two free cozies and you can join a monthly discussion group!  Plus if you are interested there is a Facebook group and a discord server as well!

Here is the link to join! 

Now on to the book review, here is the blurb for this book: 

A handsome movie star in her kitchen, and a corpse in the swimming pool. Just your typical Monday morning….

Maggie McJasper is starting over in a little California beach town. She has a bead shop, a nice circle of friends, and a handsome movie star who keeps flirting with her. Life would be pretty great if she could just stop stumbling over dead bodies….

Do you like dogs, crafts, quirky friends, a slow-building romance between grownups who genuinely like each other, and a twisty little mystery with red herrings galore? Then this is for you.

The Maggie & Jasper Capers are fun and flirty cozies, with no swearing or love scenes, and no gruesome violence to keep you up at night. 

******

As an indication of my enjoyment of this book let me tell you what I did as soon as I finished this book.  I downloaded book two in this series! 

I found this book to be a delightful cozy and I recommend you read it too. As it says above this book has

a craft, beadwork, something I know nothing about so that was interesting.  Barbara Cool Lee does an excellent job of giving depth not only to Maggie but also to the people around her.  The setting is a small town but we have rich part-time residents and year-round locals to give lots of room for friction. Add in a smart and sweet dog plus the slow-burn romance between friends and you have a great read!

5 Stars! 

Who Wants Some Free Kindle Mysteries? Read On!

Tomorrow is a milestone birthday for me. No party due to this doggone COVID-19  No birthday vacation trip due to this doggone COVID-19.  However, unlike last year--I have all my hair! Sure it's white, and now people assume I am 65, not 40-something--but I'll take the win where I can get them.  Maybe for my big birthday, I'll dye my hair purple. We will see!

In honor of my isolated milestone birthday, I figured I would post freebies. Today I'm posting free Kindle books on Amazon.  I haven't read these books, so I don't vouch for anything outside the fact that they are free and I liked the cover.  You can read them on a Kindle or on a laptop/iPad or smartphone, just download the free Kindle App.

Happy Sunday!
xoxo