PERSONAL THOUGHTS

Still Counting by Phil Fragasso

February 18, 2016

Still Counting by Phil Fragasso was an interesting book. I say that because I think this is the first chick lit book that I have ever read that is written by a man. It was a fun change from the other chick lit books that I have read. I love getting the males view on everything that was going on and I felt like this book is probably more accurate than some chick lit books that are written by females. I spent the entire book interested in what was going on because I loved getting to read what males may be thinking when they are dating and are in relationships. One part that made me sad was in the first chapter when he has to put down Casey, his dog because I too just had to put down my cat so I can understand how that would make him feel. I felt like Adam was someone I would get along with in the real world so that always makes for a good book as well. If you love chick lit and are looking for something a little bit different than I would for sure, tell you to check this book out because I know you will love it.

About The Book

Adam Donatello and Nina Morales share an immediate and powerful attraction, and their future together seems assured. But love is difficult enough without adding complications—real or imagined—to the mix. Nina sees life as a thousand shades of gray while Adam tends toward black-and-white. He wants to move fast; she needs time. Nina sees her past liaisons with women as immaterial to their relationship, while her disclosure drives Adam to a state of irrational jealousy. He doesn’t know how he could compete with a woman, and his suspicions—which Nina views as hypocritical—lead them both to make decisions they may live to regret.

About The Author

I sold my first article at the age of 16. Since then I’ve written and published a wide variety of books, articles, and essays. After many years as a corporate marketer, I left to pursue endeavors that were more fulfilling personally and more contributory on a societal level. Today I focus my time on writing and teaching. I’ve often said “I live the American dream” and that is indeed how I feel. With a wonderful wife, two grown children, great friends and a couple of rambunctious Labrador retrievers, I can’t complain about a damn thing.

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Excerpt

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A Muddied Murder by Wendy Tyson

February 17, 2016

A Muddied Murder by Wendy Tyson was a cute book. I have read several other books by her and I really enjoy her style of writing. I really enjoyed the characters in this book and the setting of this one. I did find parts of this book predictable but that is pretty common for me considering that I read so many books and these types of books tend to be my favorite types of reading. I really liked Megan from the start. I love books have strong female characters because I always feel like I am able to relate to them more than other types. I loved trying to figure out who killed Simon and why they did it. I also loved following along as Megan tried to clear her name and get her businesses up and running. If you love mystery books that aren’t super gross than I know you will love this one and you need to add it to your list of books to read.

About The Book

When Megan Sawyer gives up her big-city law career to care for her grandmother and run the family’s organic farm and café, she expects to find peace and tranquility in her scenic hometown of Winsome, Pennsylvania. Instead, her goat goes missing, rain muddies her fields, the town denies her business permits, and her family’s Colonial-era farm sucks up the remains of her savings.

Just when she thinks she’s reached the bottom of the rain barrel, Megan and the town’s hunky veterinarian discover the local zoning commissioner’s battered body in her barn. Now Megan is thrust into the middle of a murder investigation—and she’s the chief suspect. Can Megan dig through small-town secrets, local politics, and old grievances in time to find a killer before that killer strikes again?

About The Author

Wendy Tyson is a corporate lawyer and former therapist whose background has inspired her mysteries and thrillers. She’s the author of three crime novels. Her latest, DEADLY ASSETS, the second Allison Campbell mystery, was released on July 22. The first Campbell novel, KILLER IMAGE, was named by Examiner.com as one of the ten best mysteries for book clubs in 2014. She’s also written THE SEDUCTION OF MIRIAM CROSS. Wendy lives near Philadelphia with her husband, three sons and two muses, dogs Molly and Driggs.

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Saying Goodbye. . .

February 16, 2016

If you missed yesterday’s post, you would know that on the 29th of January I had to put down Alley Cat. She has been sick for the past couple of years and if you want to know more about that you can click here to go and read that post. I have to know for years that at some point I would have to say goodbye to her, and I knew it would be hard, but I was in no way prepared for how hard it was.

Because of how people acted towards her at the end of her life I refused to let anyone else come with me. It was just her and I and now knowing how it all would turn out I think I made the right choice. They had to give her 3 or 4 shots because she pulled out her first IV, so it didn’t work. Let’s just say that there was nothing humane about the process.

It was supposed to take a few minutes to work, and it took over 30 minutes to finally take effect. I sit here now thinking about it all and I can’t help but smile because her whole life she had to fight to stay alive and she gave them a damn good fight at the end. I wish it would have worked right away, but it wouldn’t have been Alley Cat if she gave in easy. I know she was sick, and it was the right thing to do, but I feel like I failed her because there is no way that it was painless, and it wasn’t short like they claimed it would be. I am now left wondering how much she felt and what her last moments were truly like.

The real reason I wanted to talk about this today is that it brought back so many of the emotions I felt when I placed my daughter for adoption, and I wasn’t prepared for that. I have always said the Alley was my “replacement” baby so instead of getting pregnant shortly after placing my daughter for adoption I went and adopted Alley. I feel like I just placed my daughter a few days ago, and that is one thing I never wanted to feel again. It is hard to be brought back right to place I was at 10+ years ago because at this point I would have thought that there was no way I could feel these emotions as strongly as I did then and yet here we are.

In the end, I hope that I don’t have to feel like this for too long because it truly sucks. I know I will survive this because if I could get through it the first time than I know for sure, I will get through it this time as well. I will just keep putting one foot in front of the other one and keep going. I know that it will pass, and I will have good days and bad days but in time, the good days will start to outnumber the bad days. I will never forget her or my daughter but as time passes you do think of them less and less.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross – Quote Of The Week

February 15, 2016

This week’s quote is by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross.

I chose this quote because on January 29th I had to put Alley Cat down. For those of you who are new and don’t know who Alley Cat is here is the last picture I took of her.

I have a post coming up tomorrow talking more about the entire situation and how having to put Alley down brought back all of the feelings I had when I placed my daughter for adoption over ten years ago. I am just going to leave this post alone, and I will write more about my thoughts and feelings on tomorrow’s post.

What do you think of this week’s quote by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross?

An Amish Year by Beth Wiseman

February 12, 2016

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

An Amish Year by Beth Wiseman was an excellent book. I love books like this because I love the shorter stories and the fact that I can read through one quickly and move on to a new thing. I liked that they put definitions of some of the words that the Amish use so that if you haven’t read books in this genre before you will be able to understand and follow along with the stories. I have read enough books that I don’t need the information, but if you are new, then I know you will love it. Out of the four stories that are in this book, I think I liked the first story the most. I felt like I could relate to Rosemary out of all the characters and her story was my favorite out of the four stories. I would recommend this book to people who don’t have tons of time to read because since they are short stories you can just read one and then put it down and walk away from it for awhile without having to remember what happened before.

About The Book

Spend a year in Amish country with four sweet romances.

Rooted in Love (previously published in An Amish Garden )

Rosemary Lantz is doing her best to run her family’s household. She excels at all her tasks except one: gardening. Saul Petersheim has pursued Rosemary for years, but Rosemary keeps turning him down. What Saul doesn’t know is that she has good reason—something no one can know—especially not him.

A Love for Irma Rose

The year is 1957, and young Irma Rose has a choice to make. Date the man who is “right” for her? Or give Jonas a chance, the wild and reckless suitor who refuses to take no for an answer? Irma Rose steps onto the path she believes God has planned for her, but when she loses her footing, she is forced to rethink her choice.

Patchwork Perfect

Eli Byler has been a widower for two years when he chooses to make a fresh start in Paradise, Pennsylvania. As Eli juggles the admiration of two women, he meets Miriam Fisher—the most unconventional Amish woman he’s ever met. She doesn’t fit the mold for what Eli is looking for, but it isn’t long before Eli realizes that Miriam is everything he wants. But Miriam has no plans to get married—ever. Will Eli be able to change her mind?

When Christmas Comes Again (previously published in An Amish Second Christmas )

Katherine knows the first Christmas without Elias will be hard for her and the children. But when a mysterious Englischerappears with photographs of her late husband, Katherine begins to wonder what other blessings Christmas could have in store.

About The Author

Beth Wiseman is the best-selling author of the Daughters of the Promise series and the Land of Canaan series. Having sold over 1.3 million books, her novels have held spots on multiple Bestseller lists. She was the recipient of the prestigious Carol Award in 2011 and 2013. In 2013 she took home the coveted Holt Medallion. Her first book in the Land of Canaan series–Seek Me With All Your Heart–was selected as the 2011 Women of Faith Book of the Year. Beth lives in Texas with her family.

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Love To Believe by Lisa Ricard Claro

February 11, 2016

Contemporary Romance

Date Published: 1/30/2016

A woman in a man’s world…

CPA Rebecca Walker wields a hammer and saw with skill, but it’s like fighting tooth and nail to prove to her chauvinistic father that she’s capable of managing the family construction business. Romance is a luxury Rebecca can’t afford.

A man with secrets…

Thanks to his past, romance isn’t in Sean Kinkaid’s future, so when Rebecca proposes ‘friends with benefits,’ Sean agrees. It’s the perfect scenario until love sneaks in—and Sean’s secrets tear them apart.

Believe…

But Rebecca has a secret too, one she fears Sean will never accept. It will take intervention from an unlikely source to convince these two lovers they have the one thing neither of them ever expected to find … a love to believe.

Excerpt

“Sean?”

Rebecca’s voice poleaxed him and a powerful wave of awareness washed over him, several things manifesting at once: She had the power to slay him with a single word, she sounded shaken and scared, and this must be serious because she hadn’t initiated contact with him even once since their split. A quick flash of their brief, but passionate, coming together at the gazebo stabbed into his gut, as did her statement before she retreated. ‘I can’t do this,’ she’d said, and he assumed she meant she couldn’t cheat on Nate. Which didn’t negate the fact that she’d been as involved in the kiss as Sean had been, but, he reminded himself for the thousandth time, just because he and Rebecca shared history and a powerful physical attraction didn’t mean that Nate hadn’t managed to win her heart, or at the very least, her loyalty. In either case, she didn’t belong to Sean. He needed to remember that.

“Sean? Are you there?”

“You sound upset.” He heard sirens through the phone and his heart damn near stopped beating as icy fear sluiced over him. “Are you okay? Have you been in an accident?”

“No, but I need you, Sean.”

His heart started pumping again and relief flooded through him. “Where are you, sweetheart? I’ll be right there.”

“No, no. Its—I need you, but I’m not asking—I need a lawyer, Sean. I’m about to be arrested.”

Comprehension doused him like an unexpected cold shower. She didn’t need him, she needed his legal expertise. Ouch.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Arrested for what?”

“Resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.”

A surprised laugh escaped him. “Are you serious?”

“Can I count on you or not?”

“Jesus, yes. Of course. Are you still at the scene of the…uh…crime?”

About the Author

Lisa Ricard Claro is an editor, award-winning author, and Pushcart Prize nominee with published articles and stories spanning multiple media. She resides in Georgia with her husband of more than three decades and counting, is mother to three (a ruggedly handsome son and two stunningly beautiful daughters–Lisa might be a little biased), and dreams of one day living at the beach. Seriously dreams of it. As in, she’s already decorating her dream beach house. In addition to an array of sand dollars and seashells, she keeps a framed sign hanging in her office: “Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses Welcome Here.”

Lisa is also a lover of dogs and cats, and has a heart for rescues. This is why you will find a rescued pet companion in every one of her books. Sometimes they are part of the story line (Pirate the dog, in “Love Built to Last”), and sometimes they’re already ensconced in their forever home with one of Lisa’s characters (Pavarotti the cat, in “Love to Win”). As you read Lisa’s books, watch for the rescues!

While Lisa is a fan of storytelling in all genres, Romance is her favorite because she believes everyone deserves love and a happily-ever-after. But she adores a little mystery now and then, too, so keep an eye out for Lisa’s authorship of a whodunit one of these days soon.

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