Can We Start Fall Now Please? The Sunday Post!

   

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.

What I'm reading this weekend: 

I don't know about you, but I am excited to have Monday off! A three-day weekend after a couple of weeks of school!  I'd be more chill about everything, but it's been so hot we haven't even had outside recess. I am ready for sweater weather! I am also ready to break out my fall-themed shirts. Going through my closet I realized I've added four new fall t-shirts over the summer!  I'm going to kick off fall by wearing my Halloween Town shirt.  Do you enjoy the autumn season?

Yesterday I brainstormed with an editor for my upcoming book It App-ened One Night. The brainstorming session was very helpful; now I know I can make this book a satisfying story. I would love for you to join my newsletter. I'll share a prequel to the Marley Creek Series, doing cover and blurb reveals, and ARC sign-ups. Plus I'm commissioning some fun stickers to give to my subscribers! 

Thanks so much! 

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The Sunday Post: Birthday Month, The Bridge to Fall, and Back to School All Rolled Into One!

 

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 do you feel about August?  It's my birthday month, so I'm a fan.  August has also always been bittersweet for me. As a kid, I loved summer and once my birthday rolled around, I couldn't ignore the fact that school was right around the corner. When I had kids, same feelings!  And now that I work at a school, I'm happy to go back and also I like sleeping in! 

Fall was a very busy month, the hubs and I went to Colorado. He had altitude sickness and that put quite the damper on the trip. On the way home, I googled the elevation of my dream vacations, Coastal Maine, Scotland, and South Korea. Thank goodness all of those locations are close to sea level!

Below is a picture from our trip. If you find yourself in Colorado make sure you drink loads of water that helps with the elevation and the fact that Colorado is more desert than you think! 

This is from the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. A free city park!

I also went to a concert at The Salt Shed with my middle kiddo and another concert with a friend. I'm having a real music-filled summer!

I love how our Chicago concert venues have views of the City!  This one is right on the Chicago River so people sit in their boats and see the show as well! I went to this concert with middle kiddo, we saw AWOLNATION and 311.

How was your July?  I also read some books worth talking about and released my own book! 

I'm currently reading this book. It's my first time reading a Regency male/male romance. I'm very curious how they will have a HEA!

Canvassing and Under The Mask- A Superhero Romance!

I received an ARC of this new release in exchange for an honest review. Under The Mask by Lisabel Chretien is a nice twist on the romance subgenres of police romance and paranormal romance. In this book, Claire is a New York EMT who has dreamt of being a superhero. In this universe, superheroes came out of the shadows during the prohibition era to help fight crime. 

Claire doesn't have superpowers, but due to some events, she comes to the attention of a supervillain and needs protection. I don't want to say too much and spoil you. This is a second-chance romance. The heat level is low, basically on par with what you would see if this was a primetime TV show. 
I enjoyed the romance and the action of the book. If you typically read paranormal romance I think this book is a good fit. Plus this is a standalone book. So it's like Nalini Singh's Psy Changeling series, each book will have a different couple. Which is nice! 

Under The Mask has characters you'll enjoy spending time with, is a fast read, and for me, it was a five star read! 

You can get it here: https://a.co/d/fo7fEZQ

Tomorrow I'll be canvassing again for a local candidate who is running to be my state representative in Springfield, IL. Temps are supposed to be in the low 50s (12 degrees Celsius). This is great weather for February weather in Chicagoland so I will take it. I hope the time goes fast and that the people are friendly! 

We have 27 days until our Illinois primary--will it snow between now and then? Yes, I'm sure it will!

 

I've been sick the whole month so far! Rude! #TheSundayPost

 

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. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme  

I have spent this month with a miserable sinus infection. The worst is at night when I am coughing, coughing, coughing. It's still pretty bad but not as bad as last week, so I guess I'm getting better. I have done all the things you are supposed to do to alleviate symptoms. One problem I have is that I can't take any decongestant stuff because it causes me to have restless legs. 

The other day my No Gouda Without You author copies arrived and I've been exhausted and sick to do an unboxing video! A total bummer!

I didn't have the energy or attention span to read or blog. I did manage to work on writing my second book, that's about all I could manage. My manuscript is due to my editor on March 2nd, so that was my motivator. 

How are you doing? I hope you have not been sick!  My fingers and toes are crossed that I start feeling better each day this week. I've got books to share here and I'd like to have the energy to read! 

Wishing you a wonderful Valentine's Day! 

The Sunday Post, Week One Back to School In the Books

 

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. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme  

Thankfully I have tomorrow off work. I love a nice three-day weekend. 2024 has brought the winter weather to Chicagoland. For the most part, we got off easy in December. We didn't have measurable snow and we had more than a handful of days in the 40s and even 50s. Now those days are gone and we have about five inches of snow blowing around and it's crazy cold! We are below zero Fahrenheit (-17 Celcius) until Wednesday.

I have said before on this blog that I have made a conscious effort to embrace the winter season. I've learned to appreciate the quiet of a cold winter day, to look forward to hot tea and lots of layers. But when it's  below zero, ooof. That's too cold! 

This weekend I worked on the proofreading edits and formatting of my book. Let me just say, I am learning so much about grammar and fun stuff like not using numerals in fiction. 

How are things by you? Did you have a nice week? Read anything good? See any good TV or Movies? 

This week on the blog I'll be talking about: 

If you enjoy wondering if your narrator is unreliable..this is a book for you! 

Bungled! Out today! Who knew Sport Fishing Was So Deadly?

I was enjoying reading about the upcoming fishing tournament, the reality TV show being filmed in town, and Rylie's upcoming wedding so much that I didn't even care if there was a murder to solve!  

Stella starts Bungled: A Rylie Cooper Mystery out with a great hook, George the part-time park ranger explains to Rylie how to get yourself out of zip-tie handcuffs.  Well, now I need to drop everything and read this book to find out if and when Stella is going to need to get herself out of handcuffs.  As if that wasn't enough, then there are all the comments by friends and family members asking Rylie if she's sure she should get married. What a great distraction of a book! 

I appreciated how Stella made a fishing tournament interesting for someone who doesn't fish. Her descriptions of how a fishing tournament works and ways one might try to cheat are seamlessly part of the narrative making sure they don't become information dumps for the reader. 

The mystery keeps you reading and guessing about who did it and why, and the side characters are properly quirky.  The book ends with Rylie questions her life choices and that is a good place to end things and get the reader interested in what will come next! 

4 stars for Bungled: A Rylie Cooper Mystery.  The perfect book to take with you fishing! Click here to add it to your Goodreads TBR.

It is available on Kindle or in Paperback and is included in a Kindle Unlimited Subscription! 

Happy Pulaski Day! A Holiday Only Celebrated in Illinois! #BookReview

 Some local government offices and some schools are closed today in honor of Casimir Pulaski who according to Wikipedia: "is praised for his contributions to the U.S. military in the American Revolution and known as "the father of the American cavalry".

And now on to today's book review!  

Today's book is the first book in a new Cozy Series by Elizabeth Pantley (well know non-fiction writer of the No-Cry Sleep solution). This is her first foray into writing cozies and she jumped right in with Falling into Magic a paranormal cozy.  In this book, we meet Hayden who is in her mid-20s, single with her own business.  

When we are introduced to Hayden, we learn that she has been unlucky in love, and has never known her parents as they disappeared when she was a newborn.  That seems odd, right?  

Also, she is certain that sometimes she sees a boy and later,  a man in the mirrors behind her, but it's not a scary situation. She calls this specter her 'guardian angel' --Not to mention at her grandmas' salon a strange man comes in and steals all the garbage?  

Then Hayden falls into a hole and the next thing you know she can communicate telepathically with her cat! This is a fun light, cozy read, easy on the budget, and just a fun escape.  The second book in the series, The Disappearance of Emily is available on Amazon starting March 12, 2021, so now is a perfect time to read book one and then pre-order book two! 

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

Wanna Get Away? Travel via Book to Sunset Cove!

A Novel Way To Die by Tamra Baumann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"A Novel Way to Die" is the second book in Tamra Baumann's Cozy Mystery Bookshop Series. (The first book is called "Plotting for Murder".) If you have already read "Plotting for Murder" I think you are going to love this second installment. I came into "A Novel Way to Die" without having read the first book so it took me a little bit longer to understand our main character and her eclectic community.

Tamra Baumann's does a wonderful job crafting this mystery! There are several points where you think you know who did it and who helped, only to find out there is more to the story. I enjoyed that she uses technology in the main mystery and I found it pleasing to read a Cozy Mystery that had major supporting characters from several different generations.

Not only does this book have a central murder mystery, but it also has some interesting ongoing mysteries that drawn in the reader into Sunset Cove and makes one look forward to future installments. What is going to happen with the bookshop? Will Sawyer's uncle thwart Sawyer? What will we find out about Brittany's mother? The non-murder mystery subplots are almost more fascinating than who killed the person in this book!

As a fan of Cozy Mysteries, this book really has it all- 1. small town, 2. a plucky heroine who can cook, 3. a cute dog, 4. a handsome sheriff, 5 a bookstore with a book club and 6. A witty best friend.

I look forward to going back and reading "Plotting for Murder" ASAP!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.


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Looking for Summer Reads? Try some Urban Fantasy

I recently finished the Hollows Series by Kim Harrison. Below is my review of the final book in the series.  The first book is Dead Witch Walking. If you are tempted to take a taste of this series, the Kindle version is only .99 cents. That's how they get you sucked in! 😊 All the books were available at my local library, so you can read for free or order from audible.com for audio ( or get the audio or e version from your library as well). Or support your local independent book seller!


The Witch With No Name by Kim Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I started reading this book when it first came out and then I put it down for a few years, Why? It's the last book in Kim Harrison's Hollows Series and I wasn't ready to be done forever with Rachel, Ivy, Jenks and Al.

I thoroughly enjoyed the series. Back around book 7, I met Kim Harrison at a book signing. She is a lovely person. It's always nice when the writer whose work you look forward to reading is also pleasant and happy to answer questions about her stories.

I'm not 100% clear on the vampire resolution, like what will happen when Ivy dies her first death. Will there be some sort of vampire daisy chain? I'm not going to over think this, because I have to say I don't care as much about the vampires as I do the demons. The demon situation was resolved very satisfactorily.

I was disappointed on the fast forward that occurs in final chapters, I was really hoping to see Rachel and Trent marry and raising the kiddos (with Quen) shortly after the climax of the book. Ending with Rachel finally feeling like a full member of society would have been icing on the cake. Rachel says she is OK without a marriage, but I think we know better. Also Rachel's mom would love for her daughter to get married.  😊 Maybe Kim will do a short story follow up with a wedding, or maybe she has done one already and I don't know!

Having so many great books sitting in my TBR pile, and on my Audible wish list, I rarely re-read anything. However, The Witch With No Name did have me feeling surprisingly nostalgic and I want to go back to the beginning and read Dead Witch Walking  now that I know how the story ends.


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On the writing front, tomorrow starts the #1000wordsofsummer challenge.  You can click to join the challenge if you like to write!  I'm excited because yesterday I figured out what to do with the date I accidentally sent my protagonist on with one of her co-workers. It's going to be awkward!