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! 

Beth's Absolution and a How Do You Feel About Question to Start the Week

 

I picked up the Kindle version of this book and read it over about three days. It's a fast-paced read of less than 250 pages, which is nice for when you want a book you can read in a day or a weekend. This isn't the first book in the series, but it works well as a stand-alone, and you can go back and read more if you like the people and town in this one. 

For those of you who enjoy Motorcycle Club books, this book has that. It's a romantic suspense, so it's pretty non-stop. The male main character is Doug, and I have to say I don't recall reading a book with a male main character named Doug!  I appreciated that in this book our leads communicate well and there isn't a bunch of drama created because of miscommunication. 

Four Stars from me.  Motorcycle Club books aren't my thing so this book was a stretch read for me, if you love MC books, add it to your TBR for sure! 

CW- discussion of drug overdoses 

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When you are reading romance or mysteries do you like books that have a hint of magic in them?  

Spooky Season is Officially Here- #TheSundayPost!

 

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  

Boy did September fly by, and here we are October!  Such a fun month and really hasn't it become the unofficial start of the holiday season?  In just a few weeks Hallmark will begin the Countdown to Christmas with loads of new Christmas movies!  But back to Spooky Season, I love seasonal reading so this time of year I'm usually found reading witchy cozy mysteries or fun paranormal romance. Speaking of Hallmark and Cozy Mysteries, did you see that the book  Murder in G Major is now a movie?  I have not seen the movie yet, because I havne't restarted my subscription to frndy TV; but I'll be restarting that in a couple of weeks. 

I made my Harvest Moon Soup Friday and it turned out well, I couldn't find fresh sage for the soup, so I substituted thyme for the sage and it was delicious.  Do you have a favorite herb?  Thyme is mine, especially in the fall and winter, it's perfect with any root vegetables. 

Happy October, do you have any season fun planned for this month? 

Books I'm currently reading:

Slight Hiccup, "Murder Most Fowl" by Donna Andrews

 Murder Most Fowl by Donna Andrews is the 29th book in her long-running cozy mystery series. Isn't that amazing?  The Meg Laslow Mystery series is one I enjoy popping in and out of as the mood strikes. I picked it up to listen to because I was looking for books with witchy and/or Halloween vibes and this book delivered. 

If you like Shakespeare and cozy mysteries, you really have to read this book because so much of it revolves around an ill-fated production of Macbeth. In this series, it can take so long before someone is murdered that you might think this is the book where she doesn't have a murder--and just when you've given up on the Murder part of Murder Mystery, Donna will knock someone off. 

The cast of characters in this series is very eclectic and I am sure that is part of what makes the series so popular.  This book is a solid 4 stars.  Give it a try! 

The slight hiccup is that I am not writing about any of the books I was planning on finishing and writing about this week. Yesterday I had my annual physical and as part of it I was asked by my doctor if I wanted to get the shingles vaccine. This is the only shot I have not gotten around to getting, I even had my flu shot already. I explained that I have a strong immune response when I get vaccines and would this vaccine leave me with flu-ish symptoms.  The doctor said no, there should just be maybe some pain around the injection site. So I said sure, let's do it.

Joke is on me! I'm exhausted, achy, and my nose is stuffy. Sigh.  I'm not complaining too much, partly because I'm too tired to complain and also I'd much rather have this than actual shingles. 

I'm too tired to read today, my fingers are crossed this is the worst of it, and also it's good to have a strong immune response for the most part!