Boy Am I Going To Miss The Reluctant Royals! #SeriesinaMonthChallenge And Avocado Toast Disappointment

 I would like to move to the alternative universe of Alyssa Cole's Reluctant Royals series.  Too bad you can't do a Go Fund Me to raise funds to buy a magical ticket into the fictional realm.  At least I had the #SeriesinaMonth Challenge.  This series was a wonderful escape during the last few weeks of winter.

What a great-looking cover, right?  I like the bold colors and the dresses each of our heroines has worn on the series covers and this dress is no exception.  Beautiful! This book is featured in the book so it's nice to see a representation of Nya in it. 

I am pretty bummed that this is the last book in the series and that I have already read the first book in the spin-off series, How to Catch A Queen.  At least I can look forward to reading the second book n the spin-off series (Runaway Royals) this summer. 

I loved A Prince on Paper, a 5-star review for me. Picture me ticking these features off on my hand  1. It has the wonderful Nya, cousin to Naledi,  who is inexperienced, but not naive and sensitive in the best ways rake, Johan.  2. There is a tiny fake kingdom  3. there is an exploration of life for someone who has experienced Munchhausen by Proxy. 4. There is a fantastic, fantastic subplot about gender identity and Number five, but really first in my heart... A fake engagement!  I love a good fake engagement. Alyssa Cole is on the top of her game in this book, it's so good and why isn't it a Netflix limited series already. C'mon now! 

Alyssa Cole's writing contains just the right amount of humor! 

Do yourself a favor and get this book, get the whole series but esp get my two favorites, A Prince on Paper and Can't Escape Love! 

*******

Welp, this whole growing avocado tree from a pit is not panning out so well.  Dare I say, it's the pits? Yes, I do dare to make that pun! 

At least I have spring in the great outdoors to look forward to and on that note; time for a couple of springtime photos: 

I see this bird's nest on my walks and runs, so far no eggs. If that changes y'all will be the first to know--well besides the birds! 

Look!! You can see the first hints of green!!

On the Cusp of Springtime, Book 4 of the #PsyChangeling #ReadAlong Mine To Possess!

 You know how sometimes you look at a word and you are certain you must be spelling it wrong?  That's how I feel about 'possess'  for Pete's sake, it has 4 s's!  I am sure I have spelled in wrong many times over the years.  This is one time that I'm not going to complain about autocorrect.  Especially as I write this review.  

Mine to Possess is the fourth book in Nalini Singh's PsyChangeling series. You can join our read-along here     We aren't just reading the books, we have virtual book discussions and you can enter giveaways as well!

This book features Clay who is a wear-panther and Tally who is a human. This is the first book in the series that has a notable human character. 

Clay like some of the other members of Dark River is very close to his animal instincts and what I found unique about this story was that Clay is not just portrayed as a guy with an edge. Clay is in a very dark place and he is close to losing his humanity and becoming an animal full-time.   It took me a while to get drawn into this book because there is some graphic violence and horrifying treatment of children--which sadly happens all over the world, nevertheless it was hard to read. Tally was abused by a monster of a foster parent and Clay's mother was unstable. 

I enjoyed their journey to connect to each other as adults and the slow building of trust between them. One of the themes in this series is how the lies we tell ourselves cut us off from the love and family we deserve. 

This book has very little Snow Dancer content so, all cats no wolves. But we do have a few scenes with Judd who is a favorite character of mine.  The quote above is something he says in the book. 

The Psy-Net and The Psy-Council are becoming more unraveled with each book and I am here for that!  I was really excited to read the final pages of Mine to Possess and see that one of the side characters I thought will play a pivotal role moving forward is now in place! 

May I be one of the first to wish you a Happy Spring!  It's here!  Soon enough there will be flowers blooming and trees blossoming! 

Here is a picture from last March, this is a regular deer, not a changeling deer. 

The Sunday Post! Marching into March!

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly 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 our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

How was your week? The weather here was very nice for early March and finally, the sidewalks are about 96% free of snow!  Even better, we are supposed to have highs in the 60s Monday - Wednesday. I will have my windows wide open to let in that fresh air! It will also be a great time to grill out for the first time in 2021. 

In case you missed it- this week
 I wrote about Magic for Liars,

Join the COYER Seasons Spring Challenge

and wrote about an obscure local holiday and a Cozy Series by Elizabeth Pantley

Upcoming this week I will be sharing reviews of: 

A Princess in Theory

Fairy Godmothers, Inc.

The Disappearance of Emily

As I've mentioned before I like seasonal decor and now that it is March, I have updated my coffee station for early spring:

Speaking of coffee, I am taking a MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) class this month and our current homework is to practice the techniques daily. Today I tried a coffee mindfulness meditation! 

I hope you have a great week planned!  What's going on in your neck of the woods? 

#FriYay! #2021AudioBookChallenge Magic For Liars

 This year I'm participating in the Caffeinated Reader's Audiobook Challenge.   Today's review is an audiobook that I picked up from the Chirp website, it was less than $5.00 USD!  Such a deal, plus if you want to use my referral link you can get 20% off your first order. 

The reason I purchased this book was because I enjoy the reader XE Sands.  Her voice is perfectly suited for telling the tales of world-weary PIs and this book's protagonist is a jaded PI who has spent years investigating fraudsters and cheaters.  Now she's been asked to investigate the murder of a teacher at a school for Mages.   To complicate things, her estranged sister is a teacher at the school.  

Ivy and her sister Tabitha have been avoiding each other for decades. The book is told from Ivy's point of view, so we know she has a deep longing to reconcile with her sister.  Conversely, she is also incredibly angry with her sister over their mother's death.  Their mother died of cancer when they were teenagers.  Trigger warning here, cancer plays a prominent role in Ivy's past and throughout this book. It did not bother me, but if I had started listening to this book during treatment for cancer last year, I probably would have put the book back down (or in this case deleted it off my phone).

What I enjoyed in this book is how magic is a presence that both helps and hinders the investigation. Ivy doesn't have any magical ability and this lack of magic gives her a giant chip on her shoulder, which is an important trait in good PI--a strong sense of lack. 

In my mystery reading, my favorite murder motives are greed, hubris, or unintended consequences, I find these motives always beat boring old jealousy.  In Magic for Liars Sarah Gailey gives us a wide-ranging group of potential suspects with solid motives and not great alibis.  In the end, the murder is solved and Ivy our protagonist, has made in-roads into accepting the possibility that maybe she is enough as she is and worthy of someone's affection. 

The book finishes with Ivy ready to make an emotional leap, but we do not see what happens as a result of her leap of faith. I don't need to know how things turn out because the point is that she's decided to change her script. 

If you like PI mysteries or Contemporary Fantasy- I say give this a read or a listen.  4.5 stars!

This book is a stand-alone book, it's not part of a series! 

Repurposing A Wine Bottle and #COYER Spring Challenge! Join us!

 The other day my other half picked himself up a bottle of wine from Walgreens and I thought to myself, that is a good-looking wine label.  So once the wine was gone.  I repurposed the wine bottle and added it to my bookshelf. I am tempted to find books to put on the shelf that goes with the Firefly theme. 

In case you are wondering what I did, I just took a string of LED lights I got from Aldi over the holidays and stuck the little lights into the wine bottle to get the effect of having fireflies in a mason jar, and then I used some velcro to attach the battery pack on the back of the bottle. Easy peasy, that is the extent of my DIY skills. 

As you may recall this year I am joining reading challenges.  To the right of this post,  you can see the Read a Series in a Month Challenge button which you can click to join!  My post on that challenge is here:  Two Challenges To Talk About.

I am also participating in the COYERS Seasons Challenge, which means it's time for my COYER Spring Challenge post!  You can read all the details and join me in the challenge here.   I'm really excited for this part of the challenge because now that physical books are included it gives me an incentive to read the books I got for Christmas and some books I won in contests. 

In addition to the gentle nudge to read books that I already own,  COYERS offers community! I love being part of the group.  It's nice to read with others, and have a chance to talk about books outside of a traditional book club. 

I hope the beginning of March is going well, the anniversary of when the pandemic began to affect most of our lives is just about here. I hope you are in a good place and soon to be vaccinated or already vaccinated! 

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! 

The Sunday Post: Waiting To See if March Will Come in Like a Lion

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly 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 our blog for the week ahead.  See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

How was your week?  Around here the weather took a turn for the good! The giant piles of snow are finally melting.  Lately when I have been running my left leg has been getting sore in a naggy way. I thought it was most likely due to running on side streets vs. running on sidewalks because the street is slanted so water runs off into the gutter so when you run on the street one leg is higher than the other. 

However, today I got my new running shoes and it turns out, I really needed new shoes!  My leg feels so much better it's ridiculous. Next time I will get shoes in 5 months instead of waiting 6 months. 

Here they are in their platinum glory, for anyone who runs, these are Asics Nimbus 22s. I love the cushion of new shoes and these have great heel support. Once the snow is melted not only can I get back on the sidewalks, I can also run some different routes.  Right now some sidewalks are clear, and others have two-3 foot piles of snow and ice. Not great for running or walking. 

What are you looking forward to in March? Any great reads, TV shows, or films?  Comment below! 

Books I will be reviewing include:

and

Happy Sunday! 

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!