Amazon First Read - Thriller with Magical Realism

 Today at my house we all have the day off.  My husband works from home and he is terrible about actually taking time off, so we will see if he goes ahead and logs a few hours of work. It's below zero here so I'm not going to be doing my but staying home today. My big excitement for today is to sign up for my local library's Winter Reading Challenge!  I want to win a fun prize!  A few years ago I won a Fitbit, which was an excellent reward for doing something I love to do. 

Do you have a local library? Do they do reading challenges?  

For January you can get two Amazon First books if you are a Prime member. I chose Almost Surely Dead as one of my choices.  In the book, we follow our unreliable narrator and try to figure out who is trying to kill her and why. There are supernatural elements that reveal themselves as it goes along. Dunia is the main character and her family is from Pakistan and they are Muslim. She isn't a practicing Muslim and is very disconnected from her heritage--but in the book, her heritage is key to the plot.

It's a fast-paced book and I enjoyed it.  I did have a few wait what? moments toward the end regarding a couple of developments in the story. Overall it was a decent read from a new author and I would consider reading another book from her.  Four Stars!

The Sunday Post, Week One Back to School In the 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  

Thankfully I have tomorrow off work. I love a nice three-day weekend. 2024 has brought the winter weather to Chicagoland. For the most part, we got off easy in December. We didn't have measurable snow and we had more than a handful of days in the 40s and even 50s. Now those days are gone and we have about five inches of snow blowing around and it's crazy cold! We are below zero Fahrenheit (-17 Celcius) until Wednesday.

I have said before on this blog that I have made a conscious effort to embrace the winter season. I've learned to appreciate the quiet of a cold winter day, to look forward to hot tea and lots of layers. But when it's  below zero, ooof. That's too cold! 

This weekend I worked on the proofreading edits and formatting of my book. Let me just say, I am learning so much about grammar and fun stuff like not using numerals in fiction. 

How are things by you? Did you have a nice week? Read anything good? See any good TV or Movies? 

This week on the blog I'll be talking about: 

If you enjoy wondering if your narrator is unreliable..this is a book for you! 

Whisking It All Brings The Heat!

 Do you love a good romance? Are you a fan of the Food Channel?  Do you dig an age gap?  If you said "Yes, Chef" to any of the above, you have to read Whisking it All by Cara Dion. Cara promises sexy times, small-town vibes, and lots of delicious cooking and baking and she delivers. In this book, Tesse returns to her hometown after years of being gone and has a memorable night with Jamie the handsome chef who runs a high-end restaurant on Aster Bay. He also happens to be Tesse's dad's best friend! 

This is the first book in Cara Dion's New Aster Bay series and if you like age-gap, high heat, forbidden love,  small-town romances, this series is for you. Plus, the epilogue of Whisking It All gives you a hint about who is the male lead for book two. 

5 Stars for Whisking It All  Here's a link to find it on Amazon.

This book is available on Kindle Unlimited. 

******************************************************************

If you are reading this in the US on the day I published it, Happy Friday! This weekend youngest Child is going back to college so we will be back down to a three-person household again. I am looking forward to the great reduction in laundry to be washed. But seriously, it gets almost too quiet around here when the kids go back to college. 

I'm Feeling Pretty On Top of Things for Now. Book Club Book is Read- The Second Chance Year

 

I hope you don't mind if I complain for just a moment. I have to wait until January 18th to wear glasses again. Boy, do I miss being able to see up close. You really don't know what you've got til it's gone. I really should just go to the Dollar Store and pick myself up a magnifying glass! If I had one I could use it to see the fine print on food packaging and my phone! 

I adjusted my kindle app to the biggest size it offers and read this book over the weekend: 

This book is categorized as romance on Amazon, but I don't think that is the best category for it. It's more, in my opinion, Sadie's hero's journey with a little romance. The romance is definitely more secondary. So if you'd like a time travel story, a book about getting to make different choices this will be a book you'll likely enjoy. 

I liked it, and I'm glad I read it for a book club next week because I have a few questions and I'd love to hear what other people think.  I read this one, but as long as the narrator is your cup of tea, this would be a perfect book to listen to while you work, go for walks, clean the house, etc.

One big positive in this book is that the cast of characters is very manageable, another reason this would be a great listen. If you are doing any reading challenges and need a romance book, but you don't really like romance that much., this could fit the bill because there is a lot of story outside the romance.

 

4 Stars! 

*********

Speaking of romance, my book is coming out in less than two weeks EEEK! Here is the link if you'd like to check it out and perhaps even preorder my debut book:

No Gouda Without You

Not Just Gal Pals - My First Book for the I Heart SapphFic Book Challenge.

 

I was scrolling Facebook at the end of the year and an author that I follow (and that you should read) posted about a book reading challenge for 2024.  I looked into the challenge and it seems really fun, so I decided I'm going to participate in it this year. I love that you can win gift cards so you can buy more books. Is anything more perfect than that?

Here is the link to the challenge if you'd like to join in!

For this bookish challenge, there are 100 different categories! This book is my entry for small-town romance. I'm happy to report I started right out of the gate with a fun 5-star book! Not Just Gal Pals is the story of Jenny and Blake. Jenny is an influencer who has returned home to Sapphire Springs for a few months to get away from a social media scandal, and Blakc is the local doctor. There are some really cute scenes in the book, like a Pride and Prejudice-themed wedding shower and a delightful wedding in a barn. There is also a very nice amount of heat. If you are looking for a fun read that brings some nice passion into the mix and gives you low-angst. By the end of the story I definitely had a crush on Blake, she is swoony! Add this book to your TBR pile. It's available as a Kindle Unlimited. 

The Sunday Post Oh, No! Back To Work Tuesday

  

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  

All good things must come to an end, right? My break was nice, but I spent all of it recuperating from surgery, so it might have been more enjoyable if not for that. This weekend we finally got a little snow, just about all of December it was too warm for snow.  Now that I'll be returning to school, it will probably get really cold and we will have snow! 

This week I began drafting the second book in my Marley Creek series!  Next weekend I am planning to go to a new brewery in my area for research purposes.  The main male lead in this book owns a craft brewery and I'd like to be able to write good descriptive scenes. 

Speaking of reading, I find myself in the midst of reading two books that have main female characters who are pastry chefs. I"ll be sharing my thoughts on those two books this week as well as Not Just Gal Pals my first finished read of the year. 

How was your first week of 2024? 

This Year My Goal is To Do Better

 For the third year in a row, I'm participating in the COYER challenge.  My goal this year is to be a more active member throughout the year because the COYER community is an exceptional group. Not only do you get to connect via online posts and enter to win prizes, but there are also monthly video chats.  This year I'm working on building friendships in the reading and writing community.  In general, I need more friendships in my life. Covid really did a number on my relationships. 

Would you like to talk to people about books this year?  Click here to find out more and join us! 

Yesterday I think I overtaxed my eyes.  I don't remember if I shared here that I had nose surgery right before Christmas? Yep. It was about midnight on the night before surgery when I realized that I probably wouldn't be able to wear glasses for a while. I miss being able to wear glasses so I can see my computer and my phone. I've been zooming my computer screen and using the maximum text size to read via Kindle, but it still stinks! Last night I did a grocery order and I think that was a big strain on my eyes. Today I have a crummy headache. I need to be good and pace myself because I am going to be going through my book and fixing errors as well as doing the formatting.  Plus I really want to get going on book two. I have most of the outline done and today I realized I can have my main characters get snowed in, or iced it. I'm thinking of a late winter ice storm. 

I used one of my credits for this audiobook and when I'm done I'll tell you about it! 

Lastly, in case you missed it!  You can preorder my book No Gouda Without You via Amazon! It's the first book in my Steamy Marley Creek Romance series!  It will also be available as a KU book if you use KU and after 1/23/2024 you can also order it in paperback! 

Link to order!

What I'll be Taking into 2024

 Have you heard of choosing a word of the year?  Some people do that as a resolution or goal to focus on the attributes of the word they choose. This isn't a tradition I follow, but now that 2023 is in the rearview window, I can see that last year was a year of experimentation for me. I can't even say it was a conscious effort on my part! 

Here are things I tried in 2023 that I'll be taking with me into the new year. These aren't in any particular order.

1. I started watching K-dramas. Turns out I love Kdramas. They are like watching a book come to life. Part of the enjoyment is not only the storytelling but learning about a different culture. It's interesting to see the difference in social norms. I enjoy the dramas so much that I joined the Afternoona Delight Podcast Patreon. I even managed to attend a group Zoom in December. So fun! 

2. We took advantage of living close to a world-class city and made a bunch of excursions into Chicago. We even got to go to a Cubs Rooftop. I think that experience is overrated. I'm not a Cubs fan, take my opinion with a grain of salt. 

3. I was able to sign up for a two-year nutritional and wellness coaching program through my hubs work. I started the program a few months ago and am looking forward to working on trying new ways to exercise this year. 

4. I plan to take writing romance books into the new year. It feels surreal that I finished a book this fall and I am going to work hard to keep writing. As part of that, I plan to make the effort to post here more often. I've been blogging here on and off since 2007. I have not aged a day, but that was 17 years ago!  Can you believe it's 2024?  I hope we all have a good year. We deserve it!

How about you? What are you taking into the new year? 

I'm quickly making my way through the book below, I found it on Kindle Unlimited. It's really cute and has some nice little Pride and Prejudice nods it in. I'll be sharing my thoughts on it soon!

Goals For 2024! And a delicious and easy Red Lentil Soup Recipe.

Here is the recipe: Red Lentil Soup by The Kitchn

It was so easy to make and surprisingly tasty. I will certainly make this soup again!

If you've read this blog before you know that I do like to set goals for the New Year. Over the years I've posted goals on this blog many a time, and this year won't be an exception. Let's see how I do with these goals! 

Author Goals:

* Write Books Two, Three and Four in my Marley Creek series.

*Figure out how to use Canva to make fun posts about my books

*Attend a Romance Author Conference. 

*Be on a podcast! (dream big right?) 

Bookish /Blogger Goals

* 75 Books Read Goal

* Participate in COYER

*Attend 4 in-person book signings.

*Write my 1,000th blog post! (I'm at 903 with this post) 

And for Personal Goals:

TBD I need to think about this one some more. 

Happy New Year!  I hope you are having a wonderful first day of the new year! 

 

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.