All the 2011 Feels!

  This spring I was listening to an episode of the podcast Fated Mates and they mentioned that JR Ward had a new book coming out in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series.  I read a bunch of books in the series back in 2011 and 2012, until I was caught up and then I assume I got distracted. 

However, when I heard about The Beloved by JR Ward I got a craving to check it out. I put the book on hold and last week my hold came up. I started reading it Sunday and right now I'm at the fifty percent mark. I'm enjoying my return to the book's universe.  It's like I found an old favorite jacket that I haven't worn in years and it fits perfectly and feels nice and soft, just like I remembered.

Are there any series you started, didn't finish, and then years later revisited?

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In this weeks writing, I'm getting to know one of my side characters from Too Kölsch For Comfort better and now she has a best friend. I enjoy writing female friendships so much!   We got a ton of rain today and I am hoping that my plants will flourish this week and that I'll have a nice garden update to post on The Sunday Post!

How To Help A Hungry Werewolf, Put this book on your Spooky Season TBR

 

This book has a fabulous cover! Don't you love it? Is this a Paranormal Romance? Is this a RomCom? Does it matter? Let me tell you, I have thoughts about certain parts of the book that I need to discuss in a book club setting! 

Since the tagline of the book is (to paraphrase) What We Do in the Shadows meets Gilmore Girls, I'm categorizing this book as a Paranormal RomCom. Heavier on the Rom than the Com, but a good amount of Com.

Now then important things you should know about the book. The prologue features an incident of our male lead being a jerk and humiliating Cassandra, our female lead,  very publically in high school by making fun of her size. For me, and this is just me, I don't have a problem with a high schooler saying something mean about another high schooler, this is something that happens every day all day. I don't like it in my fiction when the female lead says terrible things about her looks to herself. Cassandra doesn't do this so the book works for me. 

I found the ending satisfying. I thought it was going to go one way when I started reading the book but it went another way that was actually better. I love the magic and the world it takes place in and I would have enjoyed more of the world, the magical rules are really fun and different. 

This book is like when you have your phone in portrait mode to take a picture. We spend this book with Cassandra and Seth in focus and getting more in focus as the story goes on while the side characters and the setting are a bit blurry. I hope that there is a second book in this series so I can see more of this world. 

Throughout the book, I felt like our main characters acted much younger than their age of twenty-seven. Especially, Seth, I decided maybe what I was supposed to understand was because he became a werewolf, and that slowed his maturity. And maybe since Cassandra doesn't know an important fact about herself, her growth is also stunted. 

My rating for this book is 4 stars, if you read it let me know, I'd love to talk about a couple of spoilery things! 

I rec'd an ARC from the publisher, all my opinions are my own! 

The Sunday Post First Week Of May! Time to Draft Book Three!

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

May has arrived and it's past the last time for a frost in my garden zone so I picked up some plants yesterday. A local greenhouse had a pop-up plant sale at one of our local breweries, so I got some seedlings. I got thyme, oregano, a bell pepper, marigolds, cucumbers, kale and zinnias. 

I've got room for a few more plants. At the end of this month, I'm picking up four heirloom tomato plants from the Chicago Tomato Guy. Exciting! 

Reading-wise, I just finished reading an ARC of How to Help A Hungry Werewolf by Charlotte Stein. I'll talk about that this week.

Writing-wise, I have my outline for Is This Love Fur Real? Today I need to buckle down and write two thousand words. My short-term goal is to get to fifteen thousand words in my rough draft by next Sunday. Wish me luck!

How was your week? 

 

Off To A Strong Start- Three Kinds of Lucky by Kim Harrison

I listened to the audio version of this book. I enjoyed this narrator and thought she did an excellent job. This book is an urban fantasy and it's the first in a new series by Kim Harrison. Some of the plot reminded me of one of the books in her Hollows series. I don't want to elaborate as it could be considered on the spoiler side.

In my opinion, this book has only a hint of romance, great for people who don't want a big romantic side plot. If you want an action-oriented story featuring a heroine who thinks she has little agency at the beginning and then begins a story arc where she grows into her own, grab this book. 

Kim Harrison is a lovely writer and some of her sentences are poetry. When I read her books, I always get a sense of light melancholy and this book is no exception. Maybe it's because Petra has lost her parents before we met her.

My rating for this book is 4.5. The book is slow building so if you pick it up be patient. It's worth it and I am looking forward to Petra Grady's future adventures! 

Saturday was Independent Book Store Day. Did you go out and shop? Or order online?  I picked up these books! 

 

Hit It and Quit It by Kelly Reynolds! Do I like Sports Romance Now?

 

I pre-ordered this book not because I'm a fan of sports romance, but because I enjoyed Kelly's steamy Christmas Novellas. This is the first book in her new steamy small-town baseball series and I'm looking forward to the next installment. This book features the curvy Clarke and the nearly over-the-hill third baseman, Soren. He's got a bad reputation and Clarke has left her ex-fiance and a stagnant life in South Carolina. Of course, Soren falls first, how could he not! Clarke is really the heart and soul of the story and it is fun to see her growth during the book She comes into her own and she finds not only her people but also her person. 

There are lots of side characters in this book and I look forward to reading more about many of them as the books in this series continue!

Five Stars to this home run of a first in series! 

How about you, do you enjoy sports romance? 

And here is a picture of my raspberry bush, I'm hoping it is going to flower? I'm not sure if those will be flowers or leaves? 

Happy Release Day for Too Kölsch For Comfort! The Second Book in the Steamy Marley Creek Romance Series!

 My second book is out today! If you like fake dating, couples that get snowed in, or when she can't stand him but he thinks she's the one who got away, check it out! 

As you can see I'm still slowly learning how to use Canva! Trying to make posts about my book is harder than writing, revising, and proofreading! 

I am thinking of hosting a little book release at my local craft brewery next month. What do you think? Have you gone to many book release or book signing events? 

Here is the scoop on Jasper and Zaina's story!

When Jasper makes Zaina a deal she can’t refuse, will she find herself with something more than money?

Zaina Evans told herself this was going to be her year. She’s done looking for a soulmate to share her life. She lives in a great small-town, has a successful business, she’s surrounded by wonderful friends and her mom is just a train ride away. Zaina has everything she needs and wants in life except for a baby. Now all she needs is funding to help pay for artificial insemination.
Jasper Kane is the handsome owner and head brewer of Hop’s Heaven Brewery. He’s only had time to promote his business and date a of string of beautiful women for the last five years. His goal to take his craft brewery nationwide consumes him. Maybe if his brewery had locations across America, his mother would finally take him seriously.
Then a video of Jasper and Zaina goes viral for its feel-good content, and a local TV show wants to do a live remote, but only if Zaina’s there too. This gives Jasper a fantastically devious idea. He can get loads of free publicity and tons of followers if Zaina agrees to fake date him to make social media content. But when they get stuck at the brewery during an ice storm, things stop being fake fast. Will they be able to get past their preconceived notions of the perfect life to find the love right in front of them?

The Sunday Post - Spring Fling Conference! Books, Books, and more Books!

 

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 had the most wonderful time at the Chicago North Romance Writers Spring Fling! I attended all these wonderful craft sessions and some great marketing sessions as well. I got to meet Jen from the podcast Fated Mates! And if that wasn't enough there was a panel featuring the writer Kate Clayborn! 

Then on Saturday, I did my first book signing! And some people bought my book!  It was amazing. The room was filled with readers and authors. I loved seeing lots of moms and daughters picking up books together, that was great!. Saturday night there was a gala and our keynote speaker, Thee Beverly Jenkins gave an inspiring and wonderful speech. The night was capped off with dancing and I can now say I was on the dance floor with Beverly Jenkins and Brenda Jackson! 

I also stocked up on books!

So much good reading ahead!

How was your week? 

A Taste of Summer

 

The last few days we've enjoyed summer weather. It's been bittersweet knowing the sun and the warm temperatures aren't here to stay. Tonight we'll be getting storms and then we'll be back to traditional April weather, mid-50s (low 10s if you do Celsius) and more rainy days. The trees are blooming and in a few weeks it will be May and I can start planting outside. 

Tomorrow I head up North for the Chicago North Romance Writer's Spring Fling. I'm excited and look forward to learning lots from the presentations, doing my best as a volunteer, and hopefully I'll exceed my goal to sell three books at the book signing. Yes three does sound like a very low goal but it's my first signing, and I've only written one book. 

Life has been busy, I swear I spend several hours a day cooking and doing laundry! I've been reading Kelly Reynold's new baseball romance Hit It and Quit It. I'd have it finished by now if I had more time to read!  So far, it is a delightful book and about as sporty as I get. My jam isn't sports romances, but I enjoy Kelly's writing and I like baseball better than most sports. 

Here is the tag line for the book: Bull Durham meets Ted Lasso (with a hint of the Savannah Bananas) in this opposites attract, baseball romcom set in smalltown Oregon.

How about you? Do you read sport romance?  Do you follow any sports? 

Last Night By Luane Rice and My Brother's Restuarant

 Happy Monday! In my neck of the woods, we are enjoying some summer weather! Today, I'm sharing a quick review of the recent release Last Night by Luane Rice. I picked up this book when it was free to me as a Prime First Read.  I chose Last Night because it said it was a domestic thriller. 

When I was deciding on my First Read, I didn't have my glasses on and I mistakenly thought the hotel on the cover was a government building, I thought domestic thriller meant it was a political thriller about a domestic issue.  I greatly enjoy political thrillers. Domestic thrillers are typically about romantic relationships gone bad and are fine but not what I seek out to read.

If you enjoy domestic thrillers, this book works as a stand-alone book. If you read it and enjoy it there are other books in the series. The book has child kidnapping, it's handled well, but child kidnapping is something I don't really want to read. 

Overall it's well-written, and has a positive conclusion and I rate it four stars because of those factors. If you enjoy domestic thrillers this is likely going to be a five-star review for you. If anyone has any recommendations for a political thriller, please let me know because I'm in the mood for one of those!

Recently, Anne of  Books Are My Heart, commented that she'd like to know more about my brother's restaurant. It's located in a tiny town right over the border of Georgia in Hayesville, North Carolina. It's called Epic Catering and Eatery. As the name implies they do catering in the area. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Sunday from ten a.m. to two p.m. and they do dinner several nights a week. You can follow them on Instagram to see all the delicious food pictures. It's very vegetarian and vegan-friendly. They are located two hours south of Asheville. Most of their food is locally sourced, for example their beef comes from a local farm. They also have a bar where local musicians play on the weekend. Don't plan to be on your phone if you go there, they don't have wi-fi! 

Exciting Happenings This Week! The Sunday Post

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 

Tonight I'm a guest host on the podcast Christmas Countdown! Exciting! I've been listening to the podcast since it started and now I get to be on an episode sharing my top five favorite (recent) Christmas movies!  Do you listen to podcasts?  If you like Christmas, you must check out the five-star goodness of Christmas Countdown! 

https://christmascountdownshow.com/

And then later this week I'll be attending the Chicago North Romance Writer's Spring Fling. I'm volunteering and I've been assigned to be a moderator for two different panels! I'm more nervous about that than the podcast. I don't want to mess up a panel! Fingers crossed that it goes smoothly! And then on Saturday, as I mentioned previously I'll be doing my first author signing. Amazing, it feels surreal! If you had told me a year ago I'd be writing a series of romance books, I wouldn't have believed you.

Speaking of books, I'm happy to share the cover for my second book in the Marley Creek Romance Series! 

Coming out 4//30/2024!  You can pre-order it now here: https://a.co/d/39I9z4x

Stay tuned for Tomorrow's blog where I will talk about my brother's North Carolina restaurant and the book Last Night by Luanne Rice.