The Sunday Post - Is Your Turkey Defrosting?

   

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  

Holy Smokes this week is Thanksgiving!  This year I've gotten everyone on board with a Blue Apron Thanksgiving Box. It's scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday and then on Thursday after I run the annual Pie Run --it's 3.14 miles,  I'll be delgating some of the prepping and cooking to my middle kiddo.  I did an information survey of everyone's favorite side dish on my Facebook and the winner hands down is stuffing.  

Do you have any Thanksgiving Traditions? My own personal tradition is watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  What a fantastic buddy comedy.  A true Bromance!  Some of the best romance tropes make this film sing-

*Enemies to Besties

*Road Trip bonding

*One Bed

*Third Act Breakup

It's so fun and check out the romance book John Candy is reading when he sees Steve Martin on the plane!  What a book title! The Canadian Mounted 

Oh, I almost forgot another trope!  Steve Martin's Grumpy to John Candy's Sunshine! 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

What I'm reading this week:

The Least Amount of Awful, Definitely Not an Awful Book!

 

If you asked me to describe this book in ten words or less I would say: "It's a Hallmark Movie with benefits."  We have a small town, we have a girl coming from the city in a fancy car, everyone is attractive and has a good job, Jake is a single dad with abs for days, Colbie owns a series of barre studios. Jake is quite rude to Colbie in the beginning, but it is overcome.  The angst level and pining is low in this book.

The main characters are great communicators and Jennifer Millikin is a very good writer, the sex scenes were picture perfect, the right amount of description and heat level. She also ties in the title of the book in a pivotal way throughout the story. 

Overall I enjoyed the book, I did feel that Jake and Emmett (Colbie's dad) were 'too perfect' for me, and Colbie's mom was unsympathetically awful.  But hey this is a romance, and the main story is quite well done. 

4 stars! 

Say Victoria, Why Did you Read Romancing the Beat?

That's a great question! For as long as I can remember I've wanted to write and when I was a child and a teen I did write, then life got in the way and I spend my 20s thinking I needed to have experiences worth writing about instead of writing. Then I got married and had kids and well, that was a lot. To be fair, I did some blogging and I wrote a bit, but mostly I didn't and then I thought should I go back to school and get an English Degree or study creative writing? Then I thought, how can I even consider spending money on going back to school when we have three kids to put through college? After thinking on that for a while, I decided maybe writing doesn't need to be me creating a best seller or the next great American novel, maybe I could write a cozy mystery.

So I did that, and right when I was getting something together and ready to be at the editing stage, then I found out I had cancer. Then when that was done and my brain was mush, then Covid happened. Oh sure that could have been a really good time to go back to writing, but as you can see I'm quite good at pushing off my dream to write stories other people want to read. 

So lately, I've been thinking about writing again and writing in the romance genre. This time around, my plan is to get to the point where I can self-publish via Kindle Unlimited. I've started listening to podcasts and following smaller successful romance writers who share how they do the business side and based on my past work experience, I think self-publishing would be something I could manage--once I have something to publish.  Plus I'll need to save up money to pay to have someone edit my book. Here is my process and timeline (I'm posting all this so I have some accountability for my writing dream)

Now thru end of May:

Listen to podcasts for writing and publishing romance. 

Work on a very detailed outline as well as character sheets 

June: 

Participate in the #1000wordsofsummer writing challenge and draft 1,000 words per day for the first two weeks of June. 

Then assess--ideally be in a writing groove and finish my round draft by end of summer - or fall. 

*****

I enjoyed reading Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes, it's a short book that breaks down the plot points that make a good romance so good. For me, I need to plan to be creative, so this book is perfect for me to start with as I begin writing from an idea I had a few years ago!

 

Light and Fluffy Romance Listening for a Spring Afternoon

I downloaded this book for a listen because I have been following the author Rebekah Weatherspoon on Twitter for quite some time, so when she tweeted about this book, I had to give it a listen.  It's a real bummer how Twitter is falling apart because it was a great place to follow authors easily, esp. since my email boxes are so full of emails all the time that author newsletters get lost by me. 
 

This is a novella, a short and charming read, a very nice listen for a day when you are feeling down and want a pick-me-up, or when are in a slump and aren't ready to dive into a novel. Rebekah Weatherspoon gives Andre and Janelle a super cute and creative Meet Cute. I'm not even going to tell you about it because it is such a fun idea, now if you go to GoodReads, you'll see it in the book description, so there you go. 

This book has all the comfort tropes, two good people whose hearts are on the mend after a breakup. A super cute shelter dog, a chaotic twin sister, and the open-door sex scene is full of consent and good vibes. Andre and Janelle communicate well and there aren't any contrived miscommunications.  It gets even better in my opinion, they don't resemble fashion models, and there is no third-act breakup! 

The only thing I wanted at the end of this book was more Andre and Janelle content--oh I forgot to mention the narrators are fabulous! 

5 Stars!!

Finally Not Feeling Sick AND a *Delighful* new Holiday Romance by A Debut Author!

So I started off September with Covid finally catching me. I was so close to getting that next booster when BAM! I was infected. Fortunately, it wasn't that bad. I have had way worse colds and cases of flu.

Unfortunately, shortly after getting over the covid fatigue, I caught a cold--did I mention I'm working at a school with kindergarteners and first graders?  Yep, so you can see how I wound up with a cold. Any who so that turned into a sinus infection.   Yesterday I finished antibiotics and am now feeling much better. The dumb cold was worse than Covid for me. That's why I get vaccinated for all the stuff I can get vaccinated for, I really don't want any flu or more Covid or anything else. 

My reading has been at a snail's pace and watching TV shows and movies has been more my speed.  This week I have managed to start feeling good enough to read!  

Today I am sharing a new book from a debut author, Kelly D. Reynolds.  Kelly is the creator of the romance book reviews podcast Boobies & Noobies. This is her debut book and it is a delightful, hot, full of sexy times holiday novella.  The book is set in LA and takes place from Thanksgiving to Christmas.  One of the things I liked about this book is that it takes place over weeks instead of days. It's light on the angst and heavy on Nora and Bowie falling in love. Kelly does a great job of putting just the right amount of holiday season--we have a Santa pub crawl, a tea room,  a cute dog, and talk of scones as well as a loving description of an actually delicious fruitcake. 

Best of all we have two likable leads who are grown folks who talk about what they need and want in a relationship and a wide open-door romance with toys and more! 

5 Stars!

Add this book to your kindle today --you'll thank me later! 

Bridgerton, Eloise suprises me!

 I was in no hurry to read Eloise's book. She is fairly annoying on the TV show and I didn't know what all her story could offer.  However, I was very pleasantly surprised by

this book.  Although I'm tired of romances featuring virgins, I found this book to be very enjoyable, I liked that Eloise and Phillip begin conversing via letters and that she shows up at his door basically unannounced. And then they have loads of time together alone-- scandalous!  And then just when they are getting to really know each other her family shows up.  So it's nice to have-- much like Benedict's book nearly the first half of the story without the larger Bridgerton family on the scene and then they swoop in and help the couple find their way.

I believe I liked this story because 1. Eloise is older than what we have seen on the show so far, so she is less annoying on the show because she is more mature, and 2. I like that Sir Phillip is a widow with a child--so he had depth. 

I am interested to see how this book will be shown on the big screen as Eloise's story has verged from what we see in the book significantly at this point. 

4 stars for To Sir Phillip, With Love  (now if this book has been written as an epistolary that would have made it a 5 in my book!)  

How do you feel about a Cinderella Retelling? An Offer From A Gentleman

Ah yes, season two of Bridgerton on Netflix pulled me in all the way and now I can't sit idly by waiting for Shondaland to make the next book come alive.  So I bought book three the other day, and now I've finished it and am waiting for the next book to come available as I have it on hold at my library.

Exciting news, while I was typing the above paragraph, I got the notice from my library that Romancing Mister Bridgerton is ready for me to pick up!  Yippee! I'll pick it up and then, I think I'll have time to dive into it by the weekend. 

Now back to An Offer from a Gentleman.  Enjoyable, some good will they/won't they action If you like a good sickbed situation you get it. The problem of Sophie's birth is a big obstacle and I thought Julia Quinn deals with it in an interesting way, Mama Bear powers for the win! 

Much of the book takes place outside the ball season, so it will be interesting to see what the Netflix version of this will look like. Also, I think many of us who have come to Bridgerton via the show wonder if this book could possibly transform into a queer story where Benedict finds his HEA with a man? I'm sure the creative powers behind the show could manage it and make it some fantastic viewing. In general, I'd say I don't hold out much hope that this will happen, but I'd love to see it. 

4 Stars for Book 3 in the original Bridgerton series! 

Need A Distraction From the News of The Day? This Series Delivers!

 Blue aliens, women kidnapped in their sleep, and a frozen planet.  If you read romance, you probably already know what I'm talking about. 

Ice Planet Barbarians is the sort of reading you can devour.  It starts like this:

"You'd think being abducted by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you'd be wrong. Because now, the aliens are having ship trouble, and they've left their cargo of human women - including me - on an ice planet."

With those opening lines, and because the series is free when you have Kindle Unlimited, I decided to give this series a try, even though blue aliens seemed pretty bonkers. I was wrong.  So far I have read the first two books in the series and found both to be good reads.  Ruby Dixon's ability to write steamy sex scenes is only surpassed by her talent at creating this world and the unique rules that apply to this strange land. 

I don't see a point in going into much detail on this series, I don't want to spoil your fun as you dive into this alien world. I do like to read wintery stories in the winter, so my opinion is that this time of year is perfect for ice planet stories.  As someone who usually reads contemporary romance and contemporary fantasy, this series, I suppose, isn't too much of a leap. Ruby Dixon's characters are engaging, the classic romance tropes are there in this strange new land. 

I highly recommend this series if you enjoy fated mate tropes and lots of babies happening. 

4.5 stars to the first two books in this series!  I'm quite confident you'll enjoy it! 

You've Got Mail--but with lovable Teens!

His family's small bookstore chain is flourishing, Her family's bookstore is closing at the end of August. Both stores are on the same block. I don't recall how this book ended up on my library hold list, but since I was notified that my hold was available, it's clear at some point I heard about this book and added it to my holds!

I started reading it and for the first few pages, I was not particularly intrigued.  I gave it a few more pages and I found myself getting more and more drawn into Madeline's world.  This YA romance is an enemies-to-lovers tale and is a retelling of the movie You've Got Mail (starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks). The main characters are just out of high school and so this book is about endings and beginnings, worries and hopes for what the future will bring. 

Madeline has body-esteem issues, and in other books I would have been turned off. However in this book, she is only 17 so it's more understandable.  Plus and most importantly, you see her working on reframing her negative thoughts, and this to me seemed very authentic.  The writing style and Madeline's interior dialogue were just the right amounts of funny, self-deprecating, and sweet. 

 4 stars for a delightful summer before college tale! 

 

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!

#SeriesinaMonthChallenge A Princess in Theory and An Avocado Tree (in theory)

The hubs and my dear daughter eat avocados all the time, so I thought, why not try to grow a tree from one of the pits that usually goes into the compost bin.  Hope springs eternal as they say.

Here is a link to the handy Good Housekeeping Article on how you can grow an avocado tree from a pit. 

I have a planter all ready to pot an avocado tree provided that my pit decided to make roots. 

I'll keep you all updated on the pit situation moving forward, you shall be the first to know if we get growth!

And now on to the first book in my #SeriesInAMonthChallenge!  A Princess, in Theory,  the first book in the Reluctant Royals series by Alyssa Cole. I was able to borrow the audiobook from my library so I listened to the book at 1.5 speed via the Libby App. 

The audiobook is read by Karen Chilton who is incredibly good.  She gives each character their own voices with just the right accents.  If you are deciding between reading the book and listening to the audio, in this case, do yourself a favor and listen to this book.  

Reading this book, I'm amazing at how Alyssa Cole is so skilled at taking the tropes of fairy tales and regency romance and updating it so that it is grounded in the 21st century.  This book starts off with Naledi Smith getting emails she thinks are spam telling her she is supposed to marry an African Prince!  It's like someone said to Alyssa Cole, I bet you couldn't write a story based on an email scam and she said, watch me! 

In this story, we have Naledi Smith who was raised in the foster care system and doesn't know her roots. She is studying epidemiology as a graduate student.  Along comes Prince Thabiso who plans to swoop in and tell Naledi he is her Prince, and that they have been betrothed since they were practically babies. But then there is a misunderstanding and now the Prince is some guy named Jamal who is a server.  Sparks begin to fly, Prince Thabiso has to keep up his pretense and we know the stage is set for a great romance with comical elements and smart, smart people. 

It's so delightful and I am glad that I decided to read this series in a month!  Alyssa Cole writes intelligent,  environmentally-responsible characters who fall into steamy romances and she doesn't forget to add some humor along the way.  Go ahead and read this one and next week I'll be reviewing A Duke By Default the second book in the series featuring Naledi's BFF!

4.5 Stars to A Princess in Theory! 

#Romance Review and a Recommendation

 

This month's selection for a book club I belong to was  A Totally Awkward Love Story by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison. It's a story told from Hannah and Sam's point of view in which they have just finished secondary school.  It takes place over the summer while they are waiting for the results of their admissions tests for university.  In the book Hannah and Sam keep running into each other, being attracted to each other, and then something gets in the way, and they miss their opportunity.  The book has parties and trips and shopping and eating--honestly, reading about the vacations in France, Greece, and the group of friends going to a festival during COVID-19 made me a little jealous.  However, listening to the book definitely didn't make me miss being 18. The book is filled with many miscommunications and drunken decisions, which seem to be right on point for that time of life between the very end of childhood and the official start of adulthood.  

One line from the book that I really enjoyed is when Pax (a male character)  says: "Love her? Love her?  You don't love someone until you are like 23 or something."  That sounds like a solid life plan!

I listened to the audio version of this book at 1.8 speed. Both readers are excellent and make the book that much more engaging. 

3.5 Stars  - If you like first love romances with lots of missed connections, you'll love this book. 

***

And now the recommendation. I was looking for a way to use fewer giant plastic bottles of Laundry Soap and Dishwasher detergent. I decided it was worth it to give Dropps a try.   I've been super impressed.  The boxes the pods come in can be composted and the pods work as good as name brand stuff in the washing machine and the dishwasher pods are super good. I've stopped having to rinse the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher.  This link has a referral discount: Dropps if you want to check it out. It's a subscription service but it's very flexible on the timing of orders, and it's so nice to reduce some of the plastic bottles our house goes through each month.