Monday, December 30, 2019

Best Books of 2019!


I had a wonderful time reading the first half of 2019. I continued taking very few review books and focused on just reading for fun. Freebies, from the library, from my own shelves for a change. I tried out KU and picked up some random suggestions from friends. And it was fantastic! Things did go sideways mid September and I haven't really read since then but before that I read 144 total books. Which is pretty amazing since I've only read 3 since September! But I hit my Goodreads goal which is great. Anywho...


5--Print
124--Ebook
16--Audio

New to Me Authors-- 25

These were my favorites...

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

4 stars-- Two Men Walk into a Bar (at Christmastime) by Katy Regnery

A short story and it made me cry. Dammit! lol  Yall. Two Men Walk into a Bar (at Christmastime) was so cute! It's a catch up with two previous couples-- Asher/Savannah from The Vet and the Vixen and Zach/Violet from Playing for Love at Deep Haven. Impossible not to love.

The Gist: It's Christmas and two fellas meet at an airport bar after their flights home for Christmas are canceled due to snow. Their women? Well, they're not going to let a little snow get in the way of Christmas with their men. Sure not.

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

3 stars-- Merry Ex-Mas (Life in Icicle Falls #2) by Sheila Roberts

Ahhh! I wanted a warm fuzzy Christmas comfort read. Merry Ex-Mas was not it. It was a bit depressing, really. It was my first from Roberts and while I didn't hate it I really didn't love it either.
The Gist: A group of girlfriends who have been unlucky in love are having to deal with their ex-s. One ex coming back for their daughter's wedding (with new wife in tow), one ex wanting a second chance, and a young couple recently divorced and wondering if they've been too hasty.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

3.5 stars-- Marrying Mr. English (The English Brothers 0.5) by Katy Regnery

Aw Marrying Mr. English was a sweet Christmas romance as you jump back in time to the parents from the series and watch them find their happily ever after way back in the 1980s.
The Gist: Tom is in a bind. If he doesn't find a wife in the next couple days...he'll lose his inheritance. Eleanora is a down on her luck waitress who's more than willing to join forces in exchange for a boost to her bank account. Perfect! A quickie marriage and they'll both have everything they wanted and can go their separate ways. But...things rarely go as planned.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

4 stars-- Bring Me Home for Christmas (Virgin River #14) by Robyn Carr

One of my favorite places to visit is Virgin River at Christmas. It's magical!
The Gist: Becca never got over her ex, Denny. It's been years and she's with a new guy but the past still haunts her so she crashes her brother's hunting weekend with the guys to finally put things to rest with Denny (one of her brother's friends and hunting buddies). 

Sunday, December 1, 2019

1.5 stars-- Mistletoe in Texas (Texas Rodeo #5) by Kari Lynn Dell

What an utter disappointment. Both Mistletoe in Texas AND the author herself. Before I get into the review I want to note that after I posted my review to Goodreads last year the author went on her Facebook page complaining and sending readers over to Goodreads to try and manipulate the ratings in order to move my review lower in the ranks as well as having people flag my account. Charming behavior, really. She is no longer on my recommend list even for the books I absolutely adored by her. This is abhorrent behavior by an author and her apology was simply an attempt to cover her ass and bad behavior.

Now the review...

Mistletoe in Texas would be an awesome read...if every single scene with the heroine was eliminated.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Things...

I'm still here. And mostly okay.

Things have gone fairly quiet on the blog the last few weeks. I had posts scheduled but honestly didn't want to deal with comments and visitors. Sorry yall. Life kind of sucks sometimes and I was done for a bit. Still am more or less.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Sunday, October 13, 2019

[memes] Well THAT'S a Title! Woo! + this week


I FINISHED A BOOK!!!! Yall! It had been nearly 3 weeks. Three. Weeks! I cooked a meal, too. Nothing fancy but can't actually remember the last time I turned on the stove! I had to force myself to do both but I did them. So there's a start at least. lol

Non bookish news. The food pantry was an absolute mad house. My fitbit died and I had to get a replacement that I don't love but it lets me have a cat face on the screen so that's kind of fun.

Instacart went well. I hit my weekly goal again which is exciting. I'm determined to pay this mortgage off early. Plus it's kind of fun. Though damn other instacart shoppers are bitter ugly people. If you hate your job...find something else. Goodness.

It got cold here. 40s overnight this coming week 70s during the day. Not cold to some but since we were mid90s last week it's a chill. I've replaced about a third of the garden and have another third to go. Need to set up a green house, too, so that's the current

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

[memes] Yall. I'm Broken. So Broken. +things.


Yikes yall! I haven't read since September 19th! I finally made myself read on Oct 4th but it was like 10 minutes and then I was done. Not the book's fault. It's actually good. It's all me. I'm just not in the mood to read...at all. Or cook. Or garden. Apparently September broke me some how. lol
Post phase 1 rip out. More will have to go.

Saturday, October 5, 2019

2 stars-- Daughter of the Spellcaster (The Portal #2) by Maggie Shayne

Daughter of the Spellcaster turned out to be quite the letdown. A flaky heroine, a bunch of cheesy paranormal witchery, oblivious characters. It just missed the mark completely for me.
The Gist: Ancient souls come back around to right a wrong done to them. And a witch and  playboy being the bodies they inhabit this go around. They just have to figure it all out before evil swoops in again and destroys them all.

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Monday, September 30, 2019

The Monthly Herd-- September-- What Happened?!


My word. Where did time go?! September was crazy around here. From family to herd to garden and doing new things.

So the highlights? Mom is doing great post knee surgery and getting back to normal life. The herd has been hanging in there. Everyone's fine just driving me out of my mind. lol

I started working for Instacart which has been an experience! I'm having my 3rd shift today. And I got a drone and promptly crashed him. He survived! I'm not a good drone mom.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Blog All About It: Crunch

This Month's Prompt!
CRUNCH

Welp. I had planned to do a fall themed one for crunch since our leaves change color and get all crunchy. But the prompt is about a month too early. Oops!

So my 2nd favorite type of crunch. That's the very devil.

Monday, September 23, 2019

[memes] Oh the FALL TBR pile! Woo! Plus a tiny dang watermelon.


Um. Not sure what happened to the past week. It just flew by. I did have the USO and Food Pantry. The pantry was fine. The USO was not. We had someone join our group for the shift and I did not like her one single bit. One of the guys loved her and invited her back any time. Ugh! So I may be skipping USO shifts if she joins again.
Other than that. Hmm. I didn't do much reading. I just wasn't into it this week. I did get a drone! And promptly flew it into a wall, freaked out a cat and then lost it the next day for a good half hour when I went to the park. lol I can get it up and have it stay in the air somewhat where I want it now. So we'll see how it goes this coming week. lol

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Sign Up-- Get Your Shit Together Challenge!


Soooo I've come up with a new challenge for October after chatting with some people on Facebook. It's all about Getting Your Shit Together. Basically an adulting checklist for the month with all kinds of prompts (one a day). 

Friday, September 20, 2019

SIGN UP-- Blog Ahead October Challenge 2019


It's TIME!!!!!! Yes, it's nearly October and that means it's time to sign up for our annual Blog Ahead Challenge! I love this challenge! It's a fantastic way to get a little support from other bloggers and get yourself ready for the end of year school madness, for the holidays, get prepared in case there's an emergency or just put last minute blogging behind you!


This was a game changer for my personal blog. I love not having to worry at 1150pm that my post for the next day isn't finished.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

New Books & Sales


There were some pretty new books out the last little spell...

Monday, September 16, 2019

[memes] Food & Books? + my week


Did some gardening. It's eh. I'm pulling most of my summer plants that are struggling which makes me sad. And putting in some fall/winter ones. I'm trying to grow from seeds and yall that's hard for me apparently! lol I am not a good seedling mom at all.
I had the food pantry which was bu

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

4.5 stars-- Trailblazer (Cowboys & Harvey Girls #1) by Anna Schmidt

Oh my! Anna Schmidt never fails at delivering a knock out read that simply captivates.
The Gist: Grace has taken a job out west working as a waitress at a railway restaurant. She wants a little adventure and desperately needs to earn money to help her family back home. She most certainly does not need to get distracted by a pretty cowboy with dreams of his own.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

[meme] Ooop! I forgot a week! All the Things...


Yall I'm worn out. It was a long (two) weeks. Nothing bad just a little of everything. I skipped posting last week mainly because I was lazy and then when I finally got around to finishing the meme post it was time for this week's meme post. lol So they're combined. 

Mom is doing great! She's home and behaving post surgery. She said it's not as bad as expected and no worse than it was pre-surgery so that's good. Thank you for all the prayers for her. Lotus is home, too, but having a little struggle. She's 19 and mom is worried.

The food pantry was fine mostly. Nothing really notable. USO as well. Good to see the guys as usual.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Buy The Book-- New Book Releases & Sales!


Oh my! Lots of new (and recent) pretties!

4 stars-- Hard Sell (21 Wall Street #2) by Lauren Layne

Oh dear. Enemies to lovers, indeed!
The Gist: Matt and Sabrina? Well they hate each other. Probably. They sure fight like cats and dogs whenever they within arms distance of each other. But Matt has a problem. His reputation and his job are on the line after a wild trip to Vegas and he needs his image cleaned up. Namely...settling down with a good woman. Sabrina? Well she's the best "fixer" out there. Much to her dismay the only solution to this problem is for her to play the part of that "good woman".

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Blog All About It: August -- The Skies of Cary

One town. 31 days.
The Skies of Cary.

For August our prompt was sky. I thought on it and decided to embark on an adventure. I do believe this post took more time than any other post on the blog. 31 days and at least an hour each day dedicated to sky hunting. Some days 2-3 hours.

I wanted to show the many faces of my town. Things I was doing. Places I go. Some were just while I was out running errands. Some were adventures to places I've never visited. Some rather plain. Some spectacular. All beautiful in their own way. It's so easy to miss the beauty around us.

All are within my town limits. They're as I took them. No editing or filters. I think 2 I cropped them just a little to fit better (they were wonky) but other than that these were the skies of Cary in August 2019.

The Monthly Herd-- August-- How is it over already?!!


And August is OVER! It was a busy month. So. Some highlights!
  • We had some scary rain a couple times. One I got stuck between two flooded out roads. Took me 45 minutes to get 4 miles home. Eek!
  • bought a fancy new camera! First real camera in probably 10 years. It's amazing!
  • Did a ton of gardening! Worked on some new beds, grew a cantaloupe! started a few new projects

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

3.5 stars-- The Coincidence of Callie & Kayden (The Coincidence #1) by Jessica Sorensen

The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden has been sitting on my review pile since, well, since it came out. I honestly don't recall requesting it (maybe it was a giveaway win?) but anywho I figured it was FINALLY time to dive in. And I enjoyed it overall.
The Gist: Callie and Kayden have not had easy childhoods but they're finally escaping the pain of home life for college. And it's overwhelming. Scary and exciting and a chance to be different people. To take back some of what was stolen from them. Even if it's with the unlikeliest of group friends.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

New Book Releases & Sales!


Oh my gosh, yall! Two of my favoritest authors have releases today and I neeeeeeed those books! There were some other nice looking ones, too! 

Click HERE for New Releases

Monday, August 26, 2019

[memes] Yall I'm Gonna Need Some Prayers + this week


First up! Mom's knee replacement surgery is today! We could use all the prayers, please. I'm a nervous kiddo. She goes in at 10am and will be done by 1pm if all goes as scheduled. One of her kitties (Lotus) is having surgery today, too. So any prayers for my mom (Martha) and Lotus and their medical teams would be greatly appreciated!

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

2 stars-- Gabriel's Redemption (Gabriel's Inferno #3) by Sylvain Reynard

Oh my word. It took me for freaking ever to finish Gabriel's Redemption. Goodness but I do not understand the fan girl reviews for this at all.

The Gist: Academic types city hopping for work, school and fun. All while picking ridiculous fights with one another.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Monday, August 19, 2019

[memes] My FAVORITE Tropes & One I LOATHE + my week


Whew a week! LOTS of yard work. Ridiculous amount of yardwork. I'm starting to put in my fall garden so there was a lot of planting and starting to pull some summer plants. And working on a raised bed around one of the trees. 

I did a bunch of sunset chasing. It's been hot and humid here but gorgeous sunsets most nights.

Hm. Not too much else. Food pantry was fine, the herd is doing okay though they're driving me bonkers.

Friday, August 16, 2019

3 stars-- Highland Spitfire (Highland Weddings #1) by Mary Wine

Highland Spitfire landed on my review pile a few, erm, years ago. I loved the cover -- seriously this cover has amazing covers!-- and accepted it. Then realized Mary Wine is the pen name of Dawn Ryder. Who I'd just tried and...did not like... at all. *cue the blogger groan* So it's sat on the review pile for a few years. I finally tackled it. It wasn't knock me over amazing but it wasn't so bad, either! Yay!
The Gist: Rival clans and a King's Regent who's had enough of all the fighting and killing over a stupid generations old grudge. His solution? The Laird's kids are gonna marry. They have no choice. Either they marry at that moment or he's going to slaughter both clans and be done with all of them. So....a wedding. With two very reluctant participants.

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

In My Cart-- $539.48 in Groceries for... $12.11

I decided to start sharing my couponing adventures on the blog!

Well there was a LOT of couponing so far in August 2019! And I need a nap!

My Shopping Totals This Week(ish)
$539.48 in Groceries down to... $12.11

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Monday, August 12, 2019

[memes] Be My Friend? + my week in books


This week was busy once again. Just a lot of random around the house and errands and chasing sunsets for a post. 

The food pantry was pretty busy. It was good, though. I did some babysitting while there which was different. And helped someone with their resume.

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