All aboard! It’s a Voyage of Desire!

Today, I’ve got another review.  This time, the book is Voyage of Desire by Natalie Kleinman.  It’s a straight-up romance novel, which is not my usual read, though I’ve read a few here and there.  I wanted something light and fluffy this time around, and here ’tis:

What do you do when you discover your boyfriend of two years is married to someone else!

Beth Walker seeks to escape her heartbreak by taking temporary work on a cruise ship. Instead, on the very first day she meets Ryan Donovan and is drawn to him by his soft Irish lilt and mischievous eyes. Her plan to forswear men recedes like the waves at the stern of the ship…but it isn’t quite that simple. There are many obstacles that stand in the way of her happiness – and then she learns she is pregnant.

It seems her problems may only just be beginning. Antagonism between Beth and Ryan abounds and there are misunderstandings aplenty. Can these two warring factions find a happy ever after? Find out what happens in Voyage of Desire.

In my opinion…

Photo Friday: Funny face

Today’s theme is funny faces, and with someone as talented as Miss Tadpole is at making funny faces, I have no shortage of pictures to share.  Indeed, our annual photo book for 2013 has a full-page spread of some of her funnier faces.

Behold, Miss Tadpole, Queen of the Funny Faces:

Our very own Muggles

To the Non-writing (which is like our own brand of Muggle), the whole journey is completely alien.  They really don’t know what it means to be querying agents or to have an agent or to be on submission or whatever the heck it is you’re trying to tell them.

There’s no universal translator.  If we try to explain, we get blank stares.  And sometimes polite nods.  –Authoress

I read this this morning over at Miss Snark’s First Victim.  It’s a great site, and I really enjoy all Authoress’s posts.  This post was full of great things, but the reference to non-writers as Muggles really made me smile.  You can find the rest of the post here.

(c) 2014.  All rights reserved.

Let’s review, shall we?

Inquisitor - RJ BlainBack in May, if you’ll recall, I hosted author RJ Blain for a stop on her blog tour promoting the release of her latest book, Inquisitor.  Today, I’ve got a review for you!

I know, I’m a bit of a slow reader.  Life keeps happening.

Anyway, in case you don’t recall (or in case you missed it), here’s the blurb:

When Allison is asked to play Cinderella-turned-Fiancée at a Halloween ball, the last thing she expected was to be accused of murder on the same night. She has to find the killer and quick, or she’ll be put to death for the crimes she didn’t commit. To make matters worse, the victims are all werewolves.

On the short list of potential victims, Allison has to act fast, or the killer will have one more body to add to his little black book of corpses.

There’s only one problem: One of the deaths has struck too close to home, and Allison’s desire for self-preservation may very well transform into a quest for vengeance…

This is not the sort of novel I normally read.

Fairly crazy

treebridgeIt’s been a whirlwind sort of day around here.  I stayed up till 2:00 a.m. reading Inquisitor by RJ Blain, which I’m really enjoying, so I wasn’t exactly ready to rise with the boys this morning at 7:00 a.m.  I spent half my day running all over three counties to get last-minute things done for the kids’ fair projects, which are being judged as we speak.

redbloomAt last, I have a little bit of peace and quiet to get done the dozen and one other things I have to do today, and I’m so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open.

So.  I think I’m just going to go sit down with my candy-coated licorice bites and listen to the birds sing in the trees while I finish reading my book.  It’s nice to relax every now and then.

(c) 2014.  All rights reserved.

Where is the time going?

Can you believe it’s Week 7 already? I know I can’t! Here, with some more great summer reads, is author, friend, and fellow Worldbuilder Sammy HK Smith.

Summer Reads Blog Tour – Week Seven

Sammy HK Smith

Week seven is already here, and it’s time to introduce Sammy HK Smith!  Sammy is another Authonomy friend who didn’t run away when I send a friend request via Facebook!  Some do you know…lol.  Anyway, along with others on this Blog Tour, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know her and her writings.  You won’t want to miss out on her work and recommendations from Goodreads.  Here’ssssss Sammy!
Sammy lives and works in the sunny county of Oxfordshire in the UK with her husband, 14 cats, 2 dogs and hamster, Georgeski. When time allows, she writes. In Search of Gods and Heroes is her first book, and the first  of the Children of Nalowyn series.

Lemon delight

image

So the other night, I tried a new recipe. I don’t normally care for a lot of lemon things, but the rest of my family ADORE all things lemon. I thought this lemon bread would be a hit for supper (we wanted to keep it light that night), and I couldn’t have been more right. As a matter of fact, it was an even bigger hit the next day.

Continue reading

Photo Friday: From a friend

Today, I have a lovely coaster (part of a very pretty set of four) that I received from a work friend when Seymour and I got married:

Life

The flower is courtesy of Cricket, my resident flower-picker.  This morning, he gave me a sunny little dandelion.

Don’t forget to stop by Charnele’s blog and take a look at her Photo Friday fun! 🙂

(c) 2014.  All rights reserved.

RIP Oscar, and hello, new kitties!

Saturday was a tough day.  Our kittens, Oscar and Patches, went to their new home Saturday afternoon with a lovely lady who’s a friend of a friend.  Bubbles and Tadpole were understandably upset when they came home and found the kittens gone, but not nearly as upset as they were when we received the news that Oscar had died sometime Monday night from an unknown illness.

Patches, thankfully, is doing well…

On storytelling

“And I would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling characters!” — every good storyteller ever, unmasked for the monster that they are.  –Chuck Wendig, penmonkey extraordinaire

Seriously, go check out that post.  Lots of good info.

(c) 2014.  All rights reserved.