Saturday, March 20, 2021
#TheSundayPost #ShamrockShuffle Who's Ready for Spring?
Thursday, March 18, 2021
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!
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
This Weeks #SeriesinaMonth Challenge Post! A Duke By Default #romance
The librarian looked up again.
“I need help now. I need to print this article and . . . do you have any books about dukes?”
The librarian’s eyes went wide and she rubbed her hands together with glee. “We have a fantastic romance section,” she said. “Do you need recommendations? How do you like your dukes? Grumpy? Tortured? Alpha, beta, or alpha in the streets, beta in the sheets?”
“Actually, I meant nonfiction,” Portia said glumly.
The librarian sighed. “Aye. Just a warning, love—the non-fic dukes are not nearly as fun.”
I am coming to the conclusion that my first attempt at growing an avocado tree isn't going well. I decided to try another pit and see if that one might grow. I think that it is starting to grow roots, but it's too soon to tell. We should know by next week for sure, fingers crossed!
Sunday, March 14, 2021
So Excited for the Second Book in This Series! Bowling Blunder review today!
Not too long ago I shared a debut Cozy Mystery by Stella Bixby, my review Downward Death is here, a new series with paranormal elements featuring Ellie and her pet pig Penelope. Now I am happy to share that book two in this fun series is out tomorrow March 16th! Here is a link to add Bowling Blunder to your Goodreads shelf.
I was able to read an ARC of the book last week and I'm happy to share my opinions, which as per usual are all mine!
This book is on the shorter side, so it's great for a nice weekend read. There are quite a few female characters so you might want to read this when you have time to focus on it over a day or two instead of reading it in snatches of free time here and there over a long period of time.
One of the reasons I find this series so entertaining is that we the reader are learning about Ellie's magic alongside her and it's so fun to see what happens next! It's a delightful tension in the story. Also, the themes of Ellie's search for belonging and acceptance continue in this book and you just have to root for her to flourish in this small Iowa town. I enjoyed how the town is now turning to her to solve crimes even as she says she doesn't have the right skill set, looks like the town knows her better than she knows herself!
As a runner, I was both amused and horrified by the Trot and Tater race. I could NOT eat a bucket of mashed potatoes at the finish line of a race.
The ending of Bowling Blunder is super sweet and I'm excited to read what happens in book three. I'm definitely hoping for more scenes with Ellie and the mystery motorcycle man!
4.5 stars!
Dinner talk, I had a bag of Vigo rice in the cabinet and I wanted to use it to make a skillet dinner. This is what I came up with:
First I sauteed about 12 oz. of medium deveined, shelled shrimp in a little oil. The shrimp were seasoned with chili lime seasoning I had and once the shrimp were cooked then I took the shrimp out of the iron skillet and then I cooked one chopped poblano pepper, chopped shallot, chopped yellow onion, and chopped celery in a little red pepper oil. After a couple of minutes, I added the bag of Vigo Yellow Rice and two cups of water. Once the water boiled, I turned it down, covered the skillet, and let it simmer until the rice was cooked. Then I turned it off and threw the shrimp into the skillet and gave it a mix and then wah-la dinner was done.
The Hubs said it was very good and spicy. That was my goal! Mission Accomplished!
Saturday, March 13, 2021
#TheSundayPost Goal This Week: Mason Bee Open House
Thursday, March 11, 2021
#BookBirthday "The Disappearance of Emily" is Out Today!
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
#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!
Sunday, March 7, 2021
Public Libraries are The Best! and Fairy Godmothers, Inc. #BookReview
Not only was I able to borrow Fairy Godmothers, Inc. by interlibrary loan, I also won a Fitbit! You see, my local library has reading challenges for kids and adults in the summer and in the winter. This winter I decided to put all my virtual tickets in the Fitbit drawing and I won! Not only that but during the pandemic, our library has also been putting together activity and craft kits for kids and adults. This month the craft kit included everything to make some nice sugar and salt scrubs and beeswax lip balm!
The moral of the story, take advantage of your local library, it really pays off!
Now on to my review of this new book by Saranna DeWylde, Fairy Goodmothers, Inc. This is the first book in a new series, it came out in December 2020 and the second book titled Men Are Frogsm is slated to be out this summer. So read this book now, and then this summer you'll be ready for a trip back to Ever After, Missouri.
Lucky Fujiki believes she is the opposite of her name. In fact throughout her life so far, she's even been able to share her disastrous luck with people by giving them unlucky hugs. She's lived with the limiting belief that she is under a curse for her entire adult life. Ransom Payne has loved Lucky for years and years, but whenever they get together---bad stuff happens! We are talking feral pigs, tornadoes, etc.
How is Saranna DeWylde going to get Lucky and Ransom to a HEA? This is a romance after all! The how of the HEA is a wild ride because Ever After, MO is populated by all the fairy tale characters you thought were fiction. Little Red Riding Hood is there, the 7 Dwarfs, tailor mice, Prince Charming, and of course the Fairy Godmothers! Setting a romance series in a fairy tale town in the middle of America is clever and the more familiar you are with the fairy tales of your youth the more references and Easter Eggs you will find in this book.
I think my jam in romance stories is when the protagonist has to learn to love themselves as they are and stop waiting for their prince (or princess) to come. That's what makes this story extra special. Lucky could take advantage of the three wishes her Fairy Godmothers offer her, but if she were to do that, will her luck ever change?
"For a single, selfish moment, she wondered when it was going to be her turn. When someone would save her, but maybe that was the lesson all along. She had to learn how to save herself."
Or Maybe there was no lesson at all. Maybe this was just how things were." (page 221)
For me, this quote summaries Lucky's journey, does she need to let go of hoping to be saved and learn to save herself, or maybe she just needs to let go and just be? Wanting to find out the answer lead me to read this book in two days!
Fairy Godmothers, Inc is packed with loads of humor, and all the delights of Fairy Tales, chocolate, and love!
5 Stars! I recommend you add Fairy Godmothers, Inc. to your TBR pile ASAP!
The Dollar Tree has little figurines for making fairy gardens so I picked up a gnome for my thyme! I think I will make a little fairy garden on our porch in one of my larger pots once it's warm enough for flowers and plants outdoors again!
Saturday, March 6, 2021
The Sunday Post! Marching into March!
I wrote about Magic for Liars,
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!
Thursday, March 4, 2021
#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.