Showing posts with label #smalltown. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #smalltown. Show all posts

Sunday, December 31, 2023

The Sunday Post - Year End Wrap Up!

 

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 hope you had a wonderful 2023 and that 2024 is a good year for all of us!  When setting and reaching goals this year, I had some successes and some epic failures. My bookish goals included:

1. 60 books for my Goodreads Challenge. I did reach that goal.  

2. I also had a goal to track my reading throughout the year, and in that, I completely failed! I had to use my history on the Libby, Hoopla and Audible app to figure out how many books I read and added most of them to the Goodreads challenge this afternoon! I read more than 60 books, but once I got to 60 I stopped updating Goodreads. 

Will 2024 be the year I update my reading log consistently? (Hope springs eternal) 

 Would it be better if I used a paper log? (Most likely)

3. I had a goal to read one non-fiction book per month.  I read 5. I need to remember that if it's not an audio non-fiction, I won't finish it.

4. Read and review one Netgalley book per month. Boy, I think I only did 3 Netgalley books. 

5. Post all my reviews here and on Goodreads. LOL did not happen. 

6. Go to at least one in-person book signing--I did this !!! I went to Kelly Farmer's It's a Fabulous Life signing.  

Going over my bookish resolutions now makes me want to do some for 2024. Stay tuned!

Now on to the most exciting thing I did in 2023...

I wrote a whole book!  And it's up on Amazon for preorder!  It's coming out on January 23!  I've only been wanting to write a book since I was a wee child. If you like to read romance, I hope you'll consider giving my book a read.  A little blurb about the book and the link to Amazon are under the picture- 

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.





Saturday, October 28, 2023

The Sunday Post, Lots of Writing, Not Too Much Reading

  

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  

Is it just me or did this month FLY by??? I can't believe Halloween is just a couple of days away! We don't get any trick-or-treaters, which is a bummer!  I do get to see all the kids at school that dress up so that is fun. The kids dressed up on Friday because that was the day they had their Fall Festival Party.  Here are the top costumes small kids are wearing this year:
1. Sonic --lots of different versions
2. Spiderman- lots of different versions
3. Elsa from Frozen, again there are several different costumes for Elsa too!
4. Mario
5. Chuckie --popular with boys and girls.

I dressed up as a marathon runner because I'll take any excuse to get to wear my medals! All that running was really hard! LOL

Speaking of hard work, I've been working on writing a Small Town Romance and it's (knock on wood) going really well!  The plan is to publish it in Jan 2024. I am going the indy publishing route.  I'll post updates here and if you want to know more or to get an ARC when the time comes, please sign up for my newsletter! (see below!) 

I did finish reading Venice, Acutally by Kelly Reynolds and I'll be sharing my review of this fun holiday novella tomorrow.  




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    Friday, April 14, 2023

    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!