#CozyMysteryBookClub I'm Going To Be On The Live Stream!

 A bit of a bucket list item, though, I'm not keen on the whole bucket list item, so I'm going to say that getting to be a co-host on the Cozy Mystery Book Club live stream tomorrow is the fulfillment of a New Years Resolution/Goal :-) That's much better right?

 

 Join us!  We will be talking about Color Me Murder by Krista Davis.  It is the first novel in the Pen & Ink Mystery series and the added bonus is that if you buy the book you can color the cover.  Our amateur sleuth Florrie Fox draws coloring books, with a concentration on coloring books for adults and she is the manager of the Color Me Read bookstore in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C. 

This area is also where Krista Davis's Diva series takes place and in both series, the descriptions make me want to book an AirBnB and stay in a historical home in Georgetown. For now, I'll live vicariously through these books. I borrowed my book from the local library, so no cover coloring for me. 

The book takes some interesting twists and turns, but my favorite part of the book might just be the three recipes in the back of the book. There is a recipe for Raspberry Quick Bread with Vanilla Glaze that seems pretty simple to make and I am sure delicious to eat.  I just need 2 pints of fresh raspberries!  You can find the recipe in the back of the book if you purchase or borrow it, and it is also available at the great website Mystery Lovers' Kitchen the website is run by a collective of cozy mystery authors who post recipes from their books. A great resource for foodies who love cozies! 

The Sunday Post! This Week I Make My YouTube Debut!

  

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

Here is the link to join the live stream! We will be talking about this month's Book Club Book!  Color Me Murder by Krista Davis. The live stream is Tuesday, April 27th at 7PM EST!

Please keep your fingers crossed that all goes well for me on the live stream!  Eeekkk! 

This past week I listened to Boyfriend Material By Alexis Hall.  I recommend it, it's a sweet romance. I also participated in a blog tour with a giveaway, which is still open so enter here.  And on Monday I shared a free book click here. 

This past week my local public library posted that they are accepting applications for an open Trustee position. I threw my hat in the ring.  I don't know if I have a shot or not, but I've loved public libraries since I was a wee lass, so I had to try, right?  

In other media, We've been watching The Circle on Netflix.  It's a surprisingly engaging game show centering around social media and players who don't actually see each other in real life while playing.  I recommend it! 

That's what's going on in my neck of the woods, how are things by you?  Comment and share! 

My Introduction to Alexis Hall writer of Boyfriend Material

 This is my first book by writer Alexis Hall. Alexis Hall has written a bunch of books including a paranormal investigator series that I think I will check out sometime later this year.  Boyfriend Material is the first book in a new romance series. This was picked as our book club read for April and I was excited to get to read it. 

Well, as I tend to do for this book club, I didn't 'read' it, I listened to the audio. For this book that was a good choice as the reader, Joe Jameson, has the most delightful accent - I assume it's a London accent.  Is that a thing?  In any case, he really helps make the book that much more enjoyable. 

Luc is so hard on himself and right from the beginning you just want good things for him. Unlike most of the Romance books, I've read lately this one is not told from both Luc and Oliver's point of view.  This one is only from Luc's POV and I did enjoy that change. 

The tagline for this book is: 

Wanted:
One (fake) boyfriend
Practically perfect in every way

As you know if you read my blog, I love a fake relationship! There is lots of wonderful banter and high-quality cuddling as this fake relationship slowly morphs into so much more. I appreciated Luc's slowly awakening from depression as he spent time with Oliver and Oliver's actions revealing that he wasn't the only person in the relationship with self-esteem issues and doubts.  This book has many laugh-out-loud moments and tons of the sweetest scenes. 

If I had to compare this story, I would say that this romance reminded me of David Rose and Patrick Brewer on Schitt's Creek.  Funny, sweet, and kind.  This romance was described as a cracked door romance, by a reviewer on Goodreads.  To me, someone who usually reads more explicit romance, I thought it was a closed-door romance. All that is to say, if you prefer more scenes with bedroom ( or other rooms LOL) action, you may be left wanting more, but overall I wouldn't let that stop you from giving this a read! 

On Mindfulness- Based Stress Reduction, Dumb Things My Brain Tells Me

 The entire reason I took the online Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction class in March was that I’ve known since January  I would need to have a surveillance CT scan before April 6th. The MBSR class was another tool I was pretty desperate to add to my mental health toolbox.   And as I have writing about previously, these measures have actually been helpful, which is fantastic because CBD oil and THC doesn’t work for me—a bummer since here in Illinois pot is legal and I would definitely get some cannabis gummies if they would reduce my anxiety. 

There are four days until the scan and currently, I rate my scanxiety as a 5 on a scale of 1-10. The kicker is that it’s not the actual scan that completely melts my brain, it's the time between when the scan is done and when I hear the results. Ack, just typing that sentence moves me up to a 6 of 10.  

The scanxiety will really ramp up on the night before the scan and the day of the scan, then once the scan is over it will drop. The worse time will be during business hours after the scan. At any moment my phone might show the doctor’s number as an incoming call and I won’t be able to hardly breath. Fun fact, since I won that Fitbit from the library, this time I will be able to see exactly how much my blood pressure spikes before the scan and when I get the results. 

As I was writing this post, I found my brain created a new trick to slip past some of my new coping mechanisms. Now my brain is telling me, I should be worried about the scan, because maybe worrying about it is what will make me have good results. In other words, I need to mentally suffer in order to earn a clean scan. How bonkers is that! I mean, top-notch terrible rationalizations there from my brain. So I am noticing this thought and I am allowing it to float on by as I remind myself:

Thoughts are not facts. Say it again: Thoughts are not facts.

Lark and the Loon, by Rhiannon Gelston- A Virtual Book Tour

I’m delighted to be participating in author Rhiannon Gelston’s blog tour for her latest release, LARK AND THE LOON. 

I was drawn to participate in this virtual book blog tour because of this cover! I love the rainbow of color in the background along with the child in profile under a tree. This cover says to me the contents of this book will be filled with the sorts of adventures that can only happen when you are a kid.

If I had to compare this book to another book I would say that Lark's journey reminded me of The Little Prince. A fantastical adventure with unusual companions by a boy who is 10.

I found that I appreciated the fanciful telling of the author's own story as a mother, as I think it made space for telling hard, frightening times with joy and love.

◊ Genre: Memoir with a Twist
◊ Publisher: WiDo Publishing (July 17, 2020)
◊ Print & eBooks
◊ Paperback: 284 pages
◊ ISBN-10: 1947966251
◊ ISBN-13: 978-1947966253

Lark and the Loon follows the adventures of a tentative boy named Lark, as he is catapulted out of all that he knows, into a courageous journey beyond his wildest imagination. 

Upon receiving a special gift from his Gramps, Lark embarks on a reflective journey of self-discovery as the innovative story weaves the true-life memoir of his mother (the author) in with a fantastical journey. With some special new-found friends, Lark travels back and forth from a symbolic tree to his mother’s true memories of life and death moments, and simple moments, found everywhere from wild Africa to their very own living room. Lark and his friends must ascend this tree and gain the important life lessons offered along the way if they ever hope to find their way out. Within this journey, Lark finds these lessons, and ultimately himself, in the space between imagination and truth in this wild tale.  

The story explores friendships, philosophies, and everyday challenges and joys, both from a child's perspective and from a parent's perspective. This memoir with a twist results in a coming-of-age story that ultimately leads to a new understanding of self, others, and the world that surrounds us.

LARK AND THE LOON is available at AMAZON * Barnes & Noble * WiDo Publishing. Also, be sure to add it to your TBR List on Goodreads.

Meet the Author

RHIANNON GELSTON loves to lose herself in all things creative. She enjoys writing, painting, live music, traveling, sports, being outdoors, exploring, playing, spirituality, and energy work. She has a BA in English and an MS in Occupational Therapy with a pediatric focus. Rhiannon just had her first novel published. It is a memoir with a twist called, LARK AND THE LOON, available wherever books are sold.

Rhiannon grew up on Spa Creek in downtown Annapolis. Home for Rhiannon will always be the sound of the halyards hitting the masts on a breezy day, a pile of crabs saturated in Old Bay, raft-ups with friends as kids cannonball off of the stern, and time with family and friends, in, on, and around the Chesapeake Bay.

She lives in Annapolis with her husband, their five lovely and lively children, and their black lab, McNasby.

Connect with Rhiannon on Facebook and Instagram.

Be sure to enter the tour wide giveaway. It ends May 3. The grand prize is a $25 Amazon Gift Card and an eBook of LARK AND THE LOON. The second-place winner has to be a US resident as the gift is a signed copy of LARK THE LOON. The third-place prize is an eBook that two winners will receive. If the Rafflecopter widget doesn’t work, you can still enter by clicking HERE.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by today. Doesn’t this sound like an intriguing memoir?

Starting Off The Week With A Free Short Read and Another Rom Com from The Mystic Bayou!

 I've read and listened to a few shorter stories so I thought I'd give some reviews here. But before I do that, I have to share this great spring picture I took on my run the other day. I'm working on increasing my mileage so I am working on expanding my running routes. This is on a four-mile route I do most often during the summer, why? Great question!  In the winter if there is snow, too much of the route isn't shoveled and I don't like trying to run in drifts of snow.  But in the spring, it's a good route and has some of my favorite trees. 

Since I enjoyed running with Love and Other Wild Things, I decided to go right into the next book in the Mystic Bayou series. This one is called  Selkies Are A Girl's Best Friend, and like the other books in this series, the readers are Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis. 

This time around it's Sonja--Gillian's best friend who's come to Mystic Bayou.  She's the office manager and more for the league office and her dander is up from the moment she meets the new Doctor in town Will Camody.  Yes, this is starting off with an enemies to lovers vibe! As I've said before this series is nice to listen to while working out or cleaning.  The readers seem to be having fun acting out these books so you stay engaged in the story and the romance is comedic.  It's a light and fun escape listen! 

In case you aren't aware, selkies are seal people. When they are in the water they are seals and when they are on land, they are people people. 

If you like cozy mysteries, I have a free taste of a series for you!  Just click hear and you can sign up for Ellen Jacobson's newsletter and get a free ecopy of her prequel  Robbery at the Roller Derby. It's a novella origin story for Ellen Jacobson's Mollie McGhie's Sailing Mystery Series.   Mollie is the kind of ametur sleuth I'd like to have as a friend in real life. She's smart, kind and no one's fool.  The prequel doesn't have a murder this is a robbery mystery.  I liked this aspect, I feel that it's hard to build up suspects in a book that is only about 40% as long as a mystery novel. I will be reading on in this series.  I thought this first story was well-crafted and a nice distraction!

Mollie in Robbery at the Roller Derby

 

#TheSundayPost We Are Halfway There!

  

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

I am happy to report that our household is half vaccinated. Everyone has had their first short. The Man was able to get the J&J vaccine, so he is now fully vaccinated.  The rest of us got Pfizer so we are going back for that second shot in a few weeks.  Here is the selfie I took instead of taking a picture of my card.

It's been a tough week. The killing of a 20-year-old in Minnesota and the killing of a 13-year old in Chicago, and the killing of a 16-year-old in Maryland --all done by police officers followed by a mass shooting at a Fed-Ex workplace made me sad and angry. As a white lady, who has white kids, I don't carry the worry about the higher likelihood that one of my kids could wind up killed during an encounter with the police. I can only imagine how much more heartbroken and angry I would be. 

One thing I can do is give money directly to people who need it. I belong to a group that raises money and gives it directly to BIPOC single moms who have kids with special needs. We share their needs and then give money for food, power bills, and copays direct to those in need.  I'm not saying that for any pat on the back, I'm just sharing something I have found to try and help others. if you follow me on Twitter at @Victoria7401 I post the needs there if you ever want to give! 

I also donate time to help local candidates who I believe in when they run for office. If you want to make a change, you don't have to have money, volunteering time is huge. 

Tell me, did something good happen in your neck of the woods this week? How are you? 

Here is my Christmas Cactus and look---you can see tiny buds!  It's gonna flower!

Happy Friday! Time for a #Readalong Review! Hostage To Pleasure by Nalini Singh #ParanormalRomance

 My approach to the month of April in Chicagoland boils down to if it ain't snowing I'm happy. We had some unusually awesome weather to begin the month and now it seems, fingers and toes crossed, to have settled into mostly sunny skies with temps in the mid to high 50s. I'll take it! 

I don't know about your, but I love watching the trees flower and then leaf out! 

Today's review is for Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh.  It is the fifth book in her Psy-Changeling series and I'm reading it as part of the COYER/Books of My Heart 2021 read-a-long. 

The romance of this installment in the series centers on Dorian one of the Dark River pack's sentinels and  Ashaya Aleine an M-Psy and arguably the top medical researcher for all the Psy. We knew at the end of Mine To Possess that the start of a romance between Dorian and Ashaya was imminent. 

In this book, Nalini Singh features a Psy for whom Silence never really took, so that was a new revelation for the readers.  We also get a manifestation of the duel nature of the net. As for Dorian, he is a latent shifter meaning, he is as jaguar as all his packmates, except he can't physically shift.  This causes him physical and emotional pain.  As I read, I *knew* at some point, some way Dorain was going to finally shift.  I had full confidence that Nalini wasn't going to keep mentioning his inability to shift without at some point overcoming the problem.  That's one of the reasons I am loving this series.  I'm a rider on this journey, I'm not sure exactly what roads we are taking, but I have complete trust in our driver.  Both Dorian and Ashaya have perceived flaws that make them different than others like them. Dorian can't shift and the Silence protocol didn't work on her. This leads to a deeper understanding of each other. 

In addition to the relationship between Dorian and Ashaya, so much was happening in the political worlds of the Psy/Changeling/Humans.  It's clear that the Psy Council is going to come crashing down.  We don't know yet what that will mean for the PsyNet as a whole and now we have a new Human organization on the scene, what are their motivations and how will that affect the characters we have come to love.  I am in awe at all the plot plates that Nalini Singh is able to spin at once--so much is happening in this world and I love to read it! 

As I was reading, the sentences below said by Ashaya Aliene really struck me.  

I thought to myself, Wow, now I get it! That is a description of white supremacy with the Psy being the white supremacists--focused only on their 'race'.  Over and over we have read how the Psy believe the Changelings and Humans as lesser beings driven by their emotions.  The Psy only care about their bloodlines and having power through wealth. The Psy don't even seem to realize that Psy/Changelings/Humans are the same species and what hurts the Changelings and Humans also hurts the Psy.  

Until the Psy realized they are all part of one humanity (for lack of a better descriptor) bad stuff is going to happen.  Fortunately for us, we already know of a nascent network connecting all three races has taken root like a seed that will one day become a mighty forest by the end of this series.  

On Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, I Didn't Used To Be Like This!

Post #2 in My Series of posts sharing me navigating the minefield of my own mind post-cancer treatment. 

Tree beginning to flower on a recent walk. 

 As I work on practicing Mindfulness and living life post-cancer treatment, I am slowly realizing a few things. For example, I’ve been operating from the idea that my medical anxiety and fears started when I was diagnosed with cancer, but now that I have distance from those early days I look back and realize that’s not quite true. When I got ‘the call’ it was more of a ‘crap I knew it!’ moment than a surprise. 

At first, when I was still a cancer newbie, I thought it wouldn’t be that bad. Maybe I wouldn’t even need chemo and I was sure I’d be fine. I wasn’t worried that it could kill me. I wasn’t worried when I had my surgery, and I wasn’t even worried when I found out I had the BRCA-2 gene. I still had great confidence that I would be cured, even finding out I’d need chemo, didn’t rock me. 

What destroyed my confidence in my body was the bone scan. I didn’t think they would find anything, just another test to hurdle over, no big deal—my biggest problem was I’d be starting chemo soon and that stupid stuff was going to make my hair fall out. 

I was in the walkway from the hospital to the parking garage when my Medical Oncologist called me to say that my bone scan results were in and that everything was good BUT there was one tiny spot on my pelvis and she wanted me to get an MRI. That was the moment all confidence drained from my body. It has not yet returned—even though once I had the MRI the tiny spot was ruled to be a bony island. If you are going to have a bony something an island is what you want to have. 

It’s funny how something so small and something that turned out not to be anything ‘bad’ completely destroyed the confidence I had in my body for decades. It’s also wild that having come to the realization of how much that phone call rocked my world—so not in a good way—knowing the genesis of my fear is helping me to worry less. Not having a psychology degree, I do not understand why this has made a difference, but I will definitely accept any reduction in medical anxiety!

#2021 Audiobook Challenge Review - Pure Fun and An Easy Vegetarian Dinner!

 

Spring Fried Rice from Real Simple Magazine.  Simple to make and easy to modify! 

I didn't have nori (dried seaweed) or cashews on hand,but I did have a red bell pepper that needed to be used so I added that and I doubled the garlic in the recipe. If I had leftover ham, pork, chicken, steak, any of those proteins could be included if you didn't want a vegetarian meal. If you sub tofu for the eggs, then the recipe is vegan. 

Next time I make this I would like to add more scallions and pea pods. 

 

I tried to be very patient when cooking the egg so it done without flipping it.  I feel I succeeded. 

Now that it is looking like the Chicago Marathon will be a go this year, I've started to increase my running mileage and that means, I'm on the hunt for audiobooks that are engaging to distract me from the long miles I need to put in to build my stamina.  

This week I listened to the second audiobook in the Mystic Bayou Series by Molly Harper: Love and Other Wild Things.  Having enjoyed book one, How To Date Your Dragon I was ready to dive into Love and Other Wild Things.  This book is the story of my favorite side character in book one, Zed the werebear and mayor of Mystic Bayou.  As in book one, this story is loaded with humor:

“You would think I would have weird abandonment issues, considering that both my parents left me behind. But I’m pretty well adjusted, except for this little thing where I run from emotional intimacy like my hair is on fire.”
― Molly Harper, Love and Other Wild Things

One of the best parts of book one was the best friend duo of Bael and Zed, I was very happy to see it continue in this book:

“Bael, you’re my best friend, but please don’t smell me. We’ve talked about this.”
― Molly Harper, Love and Other Wild Things

This book was a great distraction as a ran. I love to read book series in part because I enjoy seeing the characters unfold when reading a series.  Book two in a series also gives the reader a clearer understanding of the overarching conflicts in the story.  

4 stars- if you have Audible, definitely give this series a go!