The Search for a Proper Tagline and a New Release with Strong Sense of Place

This month I'm working on putting together my author website and getting a newsletter going. Did you know that many authors have taglines for their websites?  I didn't, but I do now, and let me tell you, authors are a creative bunch!  So many great taglines that nail their brand. 

I am in awe, and at the same time, I need to come up with my own gem! When I write the Marley Creek series my goal is to write a romance that gives the reader those Hallmark vibes along with some spice. Now the question is, will Hallmark appreciate me using them in my tagline? I'm just a teeny tiny writer in a sea of authors, so maybe it doesn't matter. I don't want to find out after I finish my website and get some fun merch made, so I need to go back to the drawing board.

Here are my rough drafts:

Cozy Romance With A Kick.

Cozy Romance Sprinkled with Some Spice.

Steamy Small Town Romances You'll Stay Home For.

Cozy Comfort Reads.

Cozy Vibes with a Dash Of Spice.

Please let me know your favorite! I need some feedback!

As I mentioned in The Sunday Post, I picked up a new release from Kindle Unlimited. This is the second book in this series. It's set in a town a few hours away from New Orleans and the book is filled with the sights, sounds, and tastes of Southern Louisiana.  Gelly the lead character in this book is a dancer so the book is also filled with many music references. Dance of Love has a HEA for the main characters in this book but has an overarching mystery so it's best read after the first book Learning to Love which is also on Kindle Unlimited. The third and fourth books in the series will be out before the end of the year!  

If you like books with an immersive setting, a light dusting of spice, and romantic suspense, check this series out! 

Here is a link to the book: https://a.co/d/9juFCZ5

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! 

The Marley Creek News!

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Short but Packed with Paranormal Cozy Goodness! Available on KU!

 

This is the first book in Beth Dolgner's Nightmare, Arizona's Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series. It's on the short side, but I didn't find the story lacking or rushed. I enjoyed Olivia embracing her new environment and coming to conclusions about certain things we, the readers, knew right away. 

There are some good red herrings in this book and lots of room for growth. The location is fun. I read Beth's bio and discovered she lives near a Wild West tourist town, so this series is sort of set in a real town—minus all the paranormal elements, of course.

As soon as I finished this book, I returned it to KU so I could pick up the second book in the series. If you are looking for something fluffy and fun, this is an enjoyable read! 

Four Stars for this fun book!

This week our temperatures have been incredibly hot and we even had to cancel outdoor recess at school Last night the heatwave broke, but we also had major thunderstorms.  A large elm tree crashed down onto one of our neighbor's garage and car.  Fortunately, everyone is okay! The holiday weekend is almost here in the USA and I can't wait to do some reading and go for a run! 

The Sunday Post-- I survived!

  

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.

I survived the first week of pre-K, and I now have one week of working with the most delightful three- and four-year-olds!  Were there tears?  Yes. Where they mine? No!  Then when I got home from work I had a snack and took a nap. Seriously--and I bet the kiddos did the same. It's going to be such a treat to see how much the students change as the year goes on. I also look forward to getting better at my job! 

How was your week?  Can you believe this upcoming weekend will be Labor Day weekend?  I can. The summer I had was packed with travel, medical stuff, and thinking back it seems like I was working summer school ages ago. 

I just finished listening to Dead and Gondola in time to take part in the Cozy Mystery Book Club livestream on Tuesday. Speaking of the Cozy Mystery Book Club, I'm going to be doing a guest blog post for the 12 Days of Cozies in December! I'm so excited I have to turn it in by October 15! I plan to talk about a few Christmas Cozy Mysteries and share a cookie recipe I love.

In my own person book news, my latest book Is This Love Fur Real? was a sponsor on this weeks Fated Mates podcast.  You can hear it around the 45-minute Mark! Here is a link to the episode: https://fatedmates.net/episodes

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!

The Sunday Post- Have you finished watching Bridgerton yet?

 

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 a

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

Having finished my rough draft of Is This Love Fur Real, I watched the second half of Bridgerton yesterday.  It was very well done, I thoroughly enjoyed Penelope and Portia coming to a better understanding and healing their relationship.  Portia Featherington is one of my favorite characters. I read many a social media post about the season while scrolling and geez Louise people really go overboard on critiques. 

Readingwise, I finished The Diva Goes Overboard and am a third of the way through the latest Lucy Stone cozy mystery.  I'm also listening to a Kim Harrison audible exclusive. I'll be making a concerted effort to make my posts about these books and more this week. 

I've completed the first week of summer school and we only have two weeks left!  Summer school is only three and a half hours per day four days a week and we only go through June twenty-seventh, so it's nice. I'm working in a classroom of junior high kids. I was worried they would be a lot to handle, but I have found they are just wonderful and delightful!

In garden news, my zinnias have bloomed and we have cucumbers!  How was your week? 

Oh I almost forgot yesterday I ran a 5K for Imerman Angels!  Bonus was my middle kiddo ran it too! It was his first race!

The race is held at Montrose Beach (Lake Michigan) 

And here are my garden pics!

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! 

Book Release Day! No Gouda Without You by Me!

No Gouda Without You is officially available! It's a Kindle unlimited book so you can download it and check it out via your subscription!  It's also available as a Kindle for under $4 and you can also get it as a paperback! I'm nervous and excited! 

My goal was a book that was filled with Hallmark Vibes and showed life after cancer for someone who had cancer young  (ish). It's the first book in my small town romance series and I am having fun working on book two right now! 

Here is the Amazon link and the book's description below! 

https://a.co/d/hjCZL2W

She survived cancer. Can she survive risking her heart?

Having survived cancer, Nicole Garrett is determined to take care of herself by eating well, exercising, and avoiding stress. She’s got a stable job, good friends, and her own house, and that’s enough for her. Most importantly, Nicole isn’t going to take any risks that could leave her heartbroken again. But when she meets a handsome chef with the cutest dimples she’s ever seen, she begins to question if playing it safe is still working for her.

Sean Harper is the optimistic chef and owner of Jesse’s Pub. After two years of constant devotion, his restaurant is hitting its stride. He’s put every dollar and every hour he’s had into making it a success. Beyond the now positive balance sheet, it’s a way for him to distance himself from his own broken family, who’ve never seen his worth. Then one Sunday, he meets the attractive woman who dismisses his omelet culinary masterpiece, and he can't get her out of his mind, so much so that he starts questioning if he can make room for her in his kitchen.

She’s got plenty of reasons to be grumpy, and, frankly, relationships with men never end well for her, especially given the wounds she’s still healing from. Even though sparks fly between Nicole and Sean, he only has time for his farm-to-table restaurant. If he’s willing to change his view of marriage, can he convince her to open her heart and trust him in return?

No Gouda Without You is a small-town, life after cancer, grumpy-sunshine, steamy romance, featuring a chef who loves a good food pun and a school secretary who’s just trying to survive. Part of the Marley Creek Romance Series, this standalone story includes adventures at a local brewery, Hallmark movie vibes, and a guaranteed HEA. 

Whisking It All Brings The Heat!

 Do you love a good romance? Are you a fan of the Food Channel?  Do you dig an age gap?  If you said "Yes, Chef" to any of the above, you have to read Whisking it All by Cara Dion. Cara promises sexy times, small-town vibes, and lots of delicious cooking and baking and she delivers. In this book, Tesse returns to her hometown after years of being gone and has a memorable night with Jamie the handsome chef who runs a high-end restaurant on Aster Bay. He also happens to be Tesse's dad's best friend! 

This is the first book in Cara Dion's New Aster Bay series and if you like age-gap, high heat, forbidden love,  small-town romances, this series is for you. Plus, the epilogue of Whisking It All gives you a hint about who is the male lead for book two. 

5 Stars for Whisking It All  Here's a link to find it on Amazon.

This book is available on Kindle Unlimited. 

******************************************************************

If you are reading this in the US on the day I published it, Happy Friday! This weekend youngest Child is going back to college so we will be back down to a three-person household again. I am looking forward to the great reduction in laundry to be washed. But seriously, it gets almost too quiet around here when the kids go back to college. 

Spring Means Gardening, and You Don't Need a Yard to Do It!

 Today I am sharing a review of a book from the publishing company Pelargonium Press called Apartment Kitchen Gardening by James Jacques. 

Here is the blurb from the publisher: 

Do you like the idea of growing your own fresh, healthy food at home?

Our latest book by James Jacques explains exactly how to do that, even if 

you don’t have a garden or yard of your own, and even if you’ve never grown 

anything before. It’s also great if you already grow food and want to learn 

exciting ways to grow even more. The book is called Apartment Kitchen 

Gardening and it explains how to grow a wide range of veg, fruit, and herbs, 

from oregano to oranges to oyster mushrooms, inside your home. It even 

covers some fascinating, unusual edibles like ‘beef and onion plant’ and 

saffron.

You can order the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TWX7B28/

If you have a Kindle Unlimited it's free to you, if not, it's only $4.99

I live in a townhome and I have a small backyard and I have a little raised garden bed, but recently I bought a bunch of fresh herbs to make some new recipes and I came to the conclusion that I must figure out how to have fresh herbs in my house year-round!  Thankfully  Apartment Kitchen Gardening covers exactly how to manage that! You can even use leftover grocery store herbs to start your own plants! 

"Regrow Herbs!

Herbs are a fantastic addition to any kitchen windowsill.

Many herbs grow well in water – all you need is a glass, pot,

or even an old plastic bottle and a herb plant from the store.

You can then take cuttings from the parent plant and stand

them in your container with some water." -Apartment Kitchen Gardening

This book is a concise guide that includes all the most important information you need to start a garden in any living space, it covers indoor gardening, patio/balcony gardening as well windowsill, and other container gardens.  I really appreciated that James Jacques' writes with frugality and conservation in mind. The book is filled with tips on how to use what you already have to garden and a few fun upcycling projects as well. 

The book is a fast read and a nice reference that will inspire anyone who has wanted to grow some of their own food wherever they reside. 

Thanks to the publisher for a complimentary copy of the book to review!  All the opinions are my own and the link to Amazon is not an affiliate link.  

Sometimes The Audio Reader Makes The Series!

 You may recall that I recently rated the first book in this series a 3, which is low for me when it comes to rating books. Because the book ended on a cliffhanger, and because of the incredible job Jessica Almasy does bringing all of the characters to life. 

I am glad I continued this series.  It's fun, Daisy has shown growth and is becoming a strong protagonist.  The voices Jessica does for the ghosts are fantastic. If you have listened to the Mystic Bayou Series by Molly Harper, I think you will also enjoy this series.  

One of the keys to enjoying this series is to see these books as a true traditional serial. Each book is fairly short and ends on a cliffhanger; you *have*  to read on to the next book to find out what happens next. 

The series is included with a Kindle Unlimited subscription or an Audible subscription.  As I have already gushed, I love the reader, so I do the audio version of this series.  It's a pleasant distraction when I am working out or cleaning the house. 

The growth of character and the fantastic Jessica Almasy moved this series from  3 to a 4!  A fun adventure! 

Snowed: A Rylie Cooper Mystery

 This is a novella-length cozy mystery and is the latest installment in Stella Bixby's Rylie Cooper Mystery series. Rylie Cooper is a Park Ranger so she is an amateur sleuth, but law enforcement adjacent which is helpful in this series since she keeps running into dead bodies. 

This series is available as part of a Kindle Unlimited subscription, so if you haven't already done so, do yourself a favor and start reading this fast-paced cozy series. Stella Bixby pushes the boundaries of 'coziness', which I enjoy but if you are not one who wants any romance or talk of romance, this series is not for you. 

Snowed is a real page-turner, I could not put it down! In addition to finding out if a murder had happened, I needed to know if the wedding was going to happen!  

After a fall filled with above-average temperatures, this week we finally got those cool 50 degrees (or 10 degrees Celcius)  days, reading about a massive snowstorm felt extra cozy as it rained outside my window! 

4 Stars! 

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!