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.

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving- and an Audiobook if You Are Ready For Christmas Time!

 

Thanksgiving 2017

Monday was my only work day and for some reason after work, i kept thinking it was the 21st. My Thanksgiving dinner box was due on 11/21, so I was checking my app and looking for the box, I even messaged the shipping company about my order--thanks to their reply I realized I was thinking it was the 21st but it was only the 20th. 

Yesterday the box arrived safe and sound with everything to make our dinner. This afternoon I think I'm going to make ahead the apple crumble pie. Much to my dismay, I need to go into the grocery store today to get green beans, rice, and crescent rolls. Wish me luck! I am also going to pick up my race packet for tomorrow's Pie Run.  At the end of the Lagrange Rotary Pie Run, we get a Home Run Inn Pizza--A pizza pie! If you have seen Home Run Inn pizza in your grocery store frozen food aisle, but you have said I don't know if it is worth paying that much for a frozen pizza, let me tell you--it is!  Best frozen pizza in the USA.  

If you are looking for something to listen to as you make Thanksgiving Dinner or go for a post-meal walk, or if you are shopping online for Black Friday, this is a quick fluffy audiobook you can enjoy.  The narrators are very good the story is a sweet second chance and features a single dad. If you like holiday romance and the single dad trope, this is a must-listen for you!

If you are looking for something fun to watch tonight, HULU has a collection of Thanksgiving Episodes from TV shows over the last 40 years. If you are looking for the iconic WKRP in Cincinnati Turkey Drop episode you can buy it for $1.99 via Apple TV. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

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:

Venice, Actually a Holiday Novella

According to many people, November 1st is the official start of the holiday season. So let's talk about Venice, Actually by Kelly Reynolds.  It's a fun, spicy low-angst novella. You can read it in one afternoon with a nice Peppermint Mocha or Gingerbread Latte and you'll be feeling all the holiday vibes. 

I received an ARC of the book, but since it is available on Kindle Unlimited and I have KU, well I could have gotten the book that way too, all that to say the opinions are all mine. 

I enjoyed this book, I wasn't sure I would because I didn't care about Leighton or Killan in the first book. Kelly Reynolds did a great job of bringing these side characters into the forefront and making me like them. 

I think it's difficult to have a fake fiance trope in 2023, but Kelly Reynolds manages to use that trope and to have the fake finance relationship resolved without family or friends being hurt by the actions of the main characters.  

This book promises Christmas, sexy times, and love. It delivers all of those and does so in a tight couple hundred pages. Give it a read!  

5 Stars!

Here is a section I highlighted where Killian is talking to Leighton's sister Janelle:

"I'm trusting you with her, "she told me, the warning in her voice clear. 

"I'm not going to try anything."

"Oh, Killian. Don't disappoint me like that,"

Ha-ha! I loved that exchange!

*** trigger warning one of the main characters lost a parent due to cancer at a pivotal age. ***

 

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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Fiction Taking Place During Covid. - Well It Is in the Horror Genre

How fantastic is this cover?  I love the color scheme and the blood-red sky behind this old house. It hits on all cylinders if you are looking for a spooky read. Now that last sentence was really mixing metaphors!  

This book takes place during COVID-19, and it is fiction, so is this Covid the same as ours? Who knows.  If the last thing you want to do is read about Covid, or if reading about someone very sick with Covid or dying from it, this book is not for you. 

Now if you are okay with that, this is a good read.  I think Stephen King does a good job having characters that are very worried about the pandemic as well as people who don't believe it exists and various points in between. I thought the characters were fleshed out so they didn't feel one-note based on their personal beliefs. 

The story is good and stands alone, I know Holly has featured in other stories, but I haven't read them and I didn't feel like I was missing anything when I read this book. 

If you like P.I. mysteries, I think you'll enjoy this book. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was very good, I could easily tell who was who as she spoke. 

Yesterday I was going to make stew, but then I decided to make a pot roast in the slow cooker, it was decent, but I felt like it was missing something. I should have added some tomato paste, but I was out. That was a mistake!

An old picture that I love- I believe this was 2009!

 

The Sunday Post, Finally Fully Staffed

 

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  

Hi All! Did you live where you could see the eclipse yesterday?  We should have seen some of it, but it was a gloomy rainy day so we couldn't see anything! A real bummer. There is a lunar eclipse at the end of this month, so hopefully, it won't be cloudy and we will be able to see that event.

This week we got a new employee in the lunchroom.  We've been short-staffed since last Thanksgiving, so this is a major development in my work life. I hope she enjoys working with the kids and us at the school and decides to stay a long time! 

This week I'm planning to make a nice beef stew, I don't have a recipe in mind, I think I might wing it, we will see!

In the books department, I finished listening to Holly and will discuss that tomorrow and I am reading an ARC for a holiday romance novella that will be released on October 24th. Lastly I'm finishing a paranormal romance, this one is a MM (Male/Male) pairing and not my typical read.

How was your week? 

Wednesday Check In! Less than 3 weeks til Halloween!

 

A little bit of my fall decor.  The gnome is a repurposed air freshener I bought from a craft show. It's super cute and I love that it's reusing something that goes in the trash.  The candle is also from a craft show, it's a really nice fragrance, perfect for fall, the little striped pumpkin was a library craft and the tray is a cake plate that my mom gave me. Tiered trays with seasonal displays are BIG, so this is my take on that decorating trend. 

I've been working very hard on my passion project.  So far so go, I think I'll be ready to spill the beans by Halloween.  Right now I don't want to say much because I don't want to jinx myself. 

I haven't finished reading my books for this week. I have a few more hours left to listen to Holly by Stephen King, and I'm about halfway done with Much Ado About You which is good, it's just long. I flipped ahead a few chapters to see if they ever have sex. Looks like they do, hopefully, so far they've almost kissed but been interrupted a few times and that is a fine line.  You know?  Like I'll allow it once or twice, and then I start rolling my eyes.

How about you? How's your week going?  

Mushrooms I saw while walking! 

The Sunday Post, Fall is here for real!

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  

This week I started working on a passion project, I just finished week one of said project and I am very happy to say I'm on track. I don't want to say more because I don't want to jink anything. More details to come by Thanksgiving.  

This weekend, the temperatures are finally feeling like sweater weather, in fact, today for the first time since early April, I'm wearing a sweater!  I got it back in August for my birthday from Stitch Fix and have been waiting patiently to wear it. 

I like that it has color blocking and button detail on the sides- and it's all the fall colors! 

I'm currently reading Much Ado About You,  it's fun but for a romance, it's pretty long. 

And I'm listening to Holly by Stephen King. I hope to prioritize finishing it ASAP. 

I really like the cover, it feels so Halloween. I hope you are having a great day! Any fun plans this week? 

House of Vampires and Exciting News for Me (Hopefully)

It was a dark and stormy night, and there I was scrolling Facebook or was it Twitter (RIP) when I was served several times with an ad for House of Vampires --a highly-rated vampire paranormal romance.  According the the ad, loads and loads of people apparently love this series and I would be missing out if I didn't download it and start reading ASAP.

The Algorihim knows me, how could I not give this series a try?  I made room on my KU shelf and added House of Vampires.  A couple of days later, I'd finished it and was on to the next book.  Here are some things you should know about this series.

If you like a young scrappy heroine who is down on her luck and open to trying new things, you'll like Lorena.  If you are looking for a book with a conclusion at the end, this is not it.  The book ends with all the plots wide open; however, the books in this series are short and there are fifteen books in the series. The book is told from Lorena's POV.  When you start to read this book, you may think that there is going to be a polyamorous relationship between Lorena and the Vampires, but that is quickly dispelled so if you come into the series looking for poly, you'll be disappointed--at least in the short term, maybe it chances? 

I rate this book a 4. I wanted a Vampire story, that was an easy read, and this is, it's a real slow burn, not much happens in this book, but I'm thirsty for more. 

****

Word in the school halls, is that they may have finally hired someone for the open Lunchroom Supervisor position. Keep your fingers crossed for me, we've been down a person since last Thanksgiving and we could really, really use the help! I hope you are having a great week! I'm going to get back to my reading now!