The Monthly Herd-- March 2017-- food, reading, herding. busy month!

Yall. I am just not okay with how fast this year is going. lol March was a blur! But not a bad blur. It was a pretty good month as Casa Herding Kitties. 

On the blog front. Erm. I finally de-Christmased. <grins> I'm still messing around but for now we're blue. I'm still a little shocked by it every time I log into the blog. Ha! We did Blog Ahead earlier this month and it went well on my end. I got a lot done at least :) And the next Support the Troops Auction is now open for donations if you'd like to add an item to the donation list!

4 stars-- Crazy for You (Risking It All #2) by Rachel Lacey

Super cute! Crazy or You was a sweet romance that hit all the right spots. Hunky hero, heroine ready for some adventure, friends since forever, a little drama, a lotta sexy. Totally delicious.

Basically these two have known each other a day past forever. He was her brother's best friend and she was the kid sister always trying to tag along after them. Now all these years later she's still smitten, they're best friends, and suddenly things are starting to heat up...much to his dismay since he'd promised her brother he'd never take advantage and always look out for her.

Buy the Book-- New Releases, Sales, Freebies!

****GUYS!!! Blurbs for the new releases. Would you like to see those here? Or are you okay clicking over to Amazon. There are a lot of new releases each week so I've been hesitant to add them all in since Amazon did away with the way we used to feature them. But. Let me know. I can try to find a way if that would be preferred by most. ****

Seriously this month has had an insane number of releases. I read...Holding Fire, Crazy for You and A Small Town Bride and loved them all. Definitely recommend picking them up. And omg the sales!! The Adrienne Basso. GET IT!! I reviewed book 2 in the series last week so was excited to see book one on sale for 1.99. Anywho. Grab stuff. Let me know what pretties you snag!

4 stars-- A Small Town Bride (Chapel of Love #2) by Hope Ramsay

Look at that cover! It's gorgeous! I was so excited for A Small-Town Bride. I was all *grabby hands* and eagerly dove into Amy and Dusty's story. Aaaaaaand instantly hated both the hero and heroine.

Hold on! Hold on! Keep reading...

Which is exactly what I did. Because I love Ramsay's romances and I had faith. Though, I'll be honest, I was working up a good character rant with each page I turned.

Memes! Top Ten Tues/Waiting on Wed--- Authors I've Met or REALLY Want to Meet!

Memes for the day! I've really been having fun putting these together. Hopefully yall are enjoying them, too :) Today is all about meeting authors and totally fan girling. lol 

Quote-tastic/Review-- Holding Fire (Alpha Security #2) by April Hunt

*pets the cover*

One of my first loves was Rom-Suspense and I've been having fun getting back into it. And been having a blast with April Hunt's Alpha Security series, too! This one. Oh man.

So this first quote. I really just loved the hero and his reactions. You tell her!

Tasty Delights-- Crispy Chickpea Tacos

Oh my heavenly food. I NEVER would have thought to make chickpea tacos. Chickpeas pretty much only exist for hummus to me. So this was a delicious surprise and I will SO make them again.

A fresh, light twist on tacos. Loved. It. And look at all those lovely colors together.

Oh and this was another HelloFresh box. I'll link info at the bottom for anyone wanting to try out their service.

Randomly Random--- Eyebrow Raising Items In Your House (with no explanation)

A 3am musing from a while back, today. So, I'd been watching Blue Bloods and the chick cop was all tickled by some random things they found in a vics apartment and her partner was like dude! what weirdness would people find if they walked in YOUR house right now?

And she was like...something in the DVD player I'd rather no one know about.

And he perks up!

And she's like...the little mermaid.

Ha!

But, seriously, I woke up at 249am and was like, well shit! I've got some real weird stuff in my house, too. So. Things you'd find here that might raise an eyebrow if you randomly visited and I couldn't explain myself....

Joining In: The 2017 A to Z Challenge & My Theme!

Woohoo! It's that time of year again. The A to Z Challenge. This is my 5th year participating. Crazy! I can't believe the blog is still going. Whew!

Basically...a couple thousand blogs blog the alphabet during the month. One letter each day of the month minus Sundays. All types of blogs. All types of topics. Only thing connecting them is the day's letter.

Audio Files-- Smitten Book Club (Smitten #3) Anthology

Smitten Book Club was my first time with the narrator, series, and all four of the authors-- Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Denise Hunter and Diann Hunt. And I had a good time with them. Sweet, heartwarming, and a charming look into a small town. 

Insta-Wednesday: Lettering, Lakes, & Leering Coloring Pages!

Because I love Instagram and fun pictures. The Herd's week ala Instagram :) 

#VegaCat visiting the vet. Yes, I yelled 'be good' as they took her away. lol #shesAHandful #AndAGrumbler #Catitude #catmom #fivpositive

[Holy cow, I think it's definitely time to go back to weekly posting. I've been getting into instagram a lot more this year and really working at staging pretty pictures and dayum there are a lot piling up in two weeks time. Goodness. These are from March 8th on]

Buy the Book-- New Releases, Sales, Freebies!

Eee! Another week where I've read none of the newbies. *flails* lol Some sure look pet-able, though :D And yall! OMG the sales section. You need to buy them ALL!!! lol Most are 99 cents and some of my favorite authors. Woo!

3.5 stars-- Too Taboo Anthology w/ Bardan, Cameron, & Stewart

Too Taboo. Yes, this anthology definitely dabbles on the side of naughty. Erotic, passionate, and eager to push boundaries Too Taboo sure heated things up on a cold winter's night.

Overall I really enjoyed this one. Some were stronger than others as the case usually is with an anthology but it was a nice taste of three new to me authors. So the stories are connected by a dubious consent theme. Each in a different way and the first two each with a surprising twist that left me going Oooo!

Memes! Top Ten Tues/Waiting on Wed-- 10 Shortest Books I've Read aka The Monster Porn List

Bwahaha, yeah today's Top Ten turned into a weird fuckery list....

Quote-tastic-- *said with an Irish lilt*

Another week where I didn't have a review book for Quote-tastic. *flails* But perfect because I was feeling like some Eve and Roarke today.

I reviewed New York to Dallas a year or so ago and, as always, loved it. These two are just my favorite pretty much anything when it comes to reading-- the prickly police lieutenant and her reformed bad boy husband who rocks a sexy Irish lilt. At this point they'd had like 33 books together as a couple and seeing their marriage over the years has been a lot of fun. Romantic bits and snarky growly bits. This one just killed me...

Tag: The Cat Herder [Edition 27]-- opossuppies, kitty-couture, and steps...

Just a few funny pics I've been tagged in lately...

  

Hand Lettering-- What I Use Plus Examples!

If you follow me over on Facebook or Instagram you know I've been doing a hand lettering challenge this past month. A few people have been interested in trying lettering out and asked what supplies I've been using and I figured it would be easiest to make up a post and share the pens, markers and paper I've got in my cart and some examples using them. So here goes!

4 stars-- Branded by Fire (Psy-Changeling #6) by Nalini Singh

Branded by Fire totally won me over. The mystery/suspense, the feisty heroine who was more than happy to give the hero hell, the alpha male who seriously had his world rocked by her and whew boy the heat. All the bits and pieces fell in line for me this time and made for a damn fun ride as Mercy and Riley battled their attraction.

4 stars-- No Other Highlander (The McKennas, #2) by Adrienne Basso

It's been a while since I read Basso and goodness I missed her writing! Rich and compelling. There's an almost magical quality to Basso's writing that pulls you in and makes you feel like you're right there with the characters.

So. No Other Highlander. Basically Malcolm has been accused by another clan of sullying one of their lasses and being her baby daddy. And he's all...um, no. Which leads to a huge gathering of clans to make sure justice is found. And where he finds the most unlikely of allies...the prickly Joan who belongs to the mediating clan and is dead set on never marrying again but manages to walk herself right into one with the now cleared coulda been a baby-daddy highlander.

Buy the Book-- New Releases, Sales, Freebies!

Some pretties today. I haven't read any of them but thinking a few might need to become mine. lol

Memes! Top Ten Tues/Waiting on Wed--- Spring Reads *grabby hands*

Bookish lists. Yay! Some of my Spring Reads and some I'm waiting on :) 

Quote-tastic/Review-- The Billionaire and the Virgin (Billionaires and Bridesmaids #1) by Jessica Clare

Oh you naughty billionaires!

Clare is one of the few authors who really makes me love their billionaires. The Billionaire and the Virgin. Lordy. So Rob is a foul mouthed playboy. Marjorie a prim and very innocent virgin. The two together made for some funny moments. Especially when getting a little naughty. This scene cracked me up. I loved both of their reactions...

Tasty Delights-- Flatbread Fattoush Salad

Yay yummy things! This one, again, courtesy of HelloFresh. Getting me out of my comfort zone and trying new combos.

I'd not had Fattoush and enjoyed their take on it. Plus trying za'atar spice. I'm always nervous about spice blends but this one was amazing. It's a middle eastern seasoning and smelled so good. You brush it on bread. I'll be doing that outside of this dish for sure.

Overall, this was pretty dang easy, colorful and tasty. Perfect combo, I think.

4 stars-- Undeniably Yours (Kowalski Family #2) by Shannon Stacey

**I read this one back in like 2012 and it's been sitting in my drafts folder since then. *hangs head*

Oh yes. I've definitely fallen for the Kowalski family. Whew. Everything about them just does it for me. They're loud, overwhelming, rowdy, they do everything full force and there's just a ton of them. This time...Kevin Kowalsi who was just charmingly handsome and after a one night stand finds himself...about to be a daddy.

Insta-Wednesday: BabyG, Lettering, Pretty Books & Bujo!

Because I love Instagram and fun pictures. The Herd's week ala Instagram :)

Goodness. I might need to start doing these on a weekly basis now that I'm back into the swing of Instagram.

3.5 stars-- Face the Flames (Sugarland Blue #6) by Jo Davis

Oh *pets the sexy fireman*

A fiery police detective, a damaged and oh-so-hunky fireman, lots of sexual tension and a little suspense? Face the Flames was worth the wait!

Clay, oh Clay. *sigh* Alright so the quick of it is that Clay was one of the guys from the previous series--Firefighters of Station Five-- and was seriously injured on the job. A year later and he's still on medical leave and going stir crazy. Until he happens on a gas station robbery and a redheaded detective who lights him up right nice. Happens she's just as taken by damaged firemen. And...fireman petting begins. lol

Buy the Book-- New Releases, Sales, Freebies!

Loved Seduce Me, Cowboy! It was so good. Review is up on the blog if you wanna check it out. Lots of other awesome looking ones today, too! Some really good looking freebies/sales as well :) Yay! Books! Covers link over to Amazon*

4 stars-- Seduce Me, Cowboy (Copper Ridge: Desire #3) by Maisey Yates

Addictive! Seduce Me, Cowboy. Whew boy. Yes, please! I'll take one to go!

The quick of it is that Jonathan is a bit of a cuss. Okay. He's flat out ornery and now he's in need of an assistant for his business. Unfortunately, no one has applied... except the mousy church secretary who is just as innocent as he is sinful. Despite not being his type and doing his best to keep his distance she might just break down some of the walls he's built up...

Quote-tastic: Wait...How'd you get carpal tunnel?!

So my review book for today ended up having like no quote-able quotes so I snagged an old quote that had me rolling. It's from the Sun, Sand, Sex anthology. This was an amazing antho. I ended up giving it a 5 star which is like SUPER rare here.

The quote was from Shelly Laurenston's novella. Lord but I love her shifters. Especially when they get naughty and humor is brought in. Such a slip of the tongue!

Tasty Delights-- Pierogi Lasagna

I love pierogi. It was such a treat when I was growing up and mom would get them and make the yummy carmelized nions to go on top. Gah I could eat them every day. But it's been a LONG time since I've had them now that I'm grown and out of the house. lol 

I was flipping through Facebook looking at food videos and I think it was 12 Tomatoes who did this one. I couldn't resist. It's not the traditional pierogi but a fusion and yall know I love fusion foods. 

So....pierogi lasagna. Noms, people. Noms.

3.5 stars-- Hometown Cowboy (Rocky Mountain Riders #1) by Sara Richardson

Hometown Cowboy was an easy introduction into the Rocky Mountain Riders. Sexy cowboy, a heroine who's a dreamer and rescues animals, chocolate, a darling little pig, family struggles and mending broken relationships. Hometown Cowboy was a tempting introduction to the Rocky Mountain Riders.

The gist of it is that Lance is training for a huge rodeo competition and is having trouble concentrating because of worry over his dad. So he comes up with the brilliant idea of having his dad's best friend move in to help keep an eye over him. Thing is? She's decades younger than his dad and while he's gotten rid of the distraction of his daddy? He's not totally distracted by Jessa and all her sexy bits.

4 stars-- The Bastard Billionaire (Billionaire Bad Boys #3) by Jessica Lemmon

Oh fuck me. Eli is like my catnip. A growly, surly, Marine trying to figure out his life now that he's back home. I wanted to rub all over him. I sure did. lol

Okay so the quick of it is that Eli's main form of entertainment is scaring off the personal assistants his brother keeps sending him. Which is a problem for Isa since she runs the agency and has run out of assistants to send him. So...she goes herself because, really, she'll be damned if she lets one surly-though hot-billionaire ruin her business futures.