The Monthly Herd--May 2017-- I'm a Grandma, Yall!!

I know! So. Yes, I'm a grandmom now! Turns out the #HerdMouse Livvy? Total tart! I went to clean her tank this week and....found squiggly little babies. Ack! They're so stinking cute, though! And tiny! One has ventured out of their igloo so far.

In other news. Hrm. I got a lot done around the house for mission #DontLiveInHell and on the blog (all of the graphic updates are almost done!), planned a couple events, did some USO-ing. and a lovely Mother's Day brunch with Ro from In the Know with Ro and took an art history class at our museum. It was a pretty good month both on the home and blog front :)

InstaWednesday Plus a June Challenge!

Because I love Instagram and sharing what we've been up to the last couple weeks...

Can live be busy and slow at the same time? lol Goodness it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks.  PS there's a link at the bottom. I'm hosting a bookish instagram challenge in June. Hope you'll join us!

Buy the Book-- New Releases/Sales/Freebies

A lot of new pretties. I loved Carolyn Brown's latest.

And Physical Forces is SO on my TBR pile. Noms!

QuoteTastic/Review-- Toughest Cowboy in Texas (Happy, Texas #1) by Carolyn Brown

Yall I love me some cowboys and Carolyn Brown writes a yummy one. And a dang funny story, too. And look at that cover! Yum!

Alright two funny church quotes. It's not a religious book but they do go to church and these made me laugh because, well, I've had a similar first conversation with my grandmom/mom and the second I just love her cheek. lol

And So We Meme-- Upcoming Books I Need. NEED, yall. NEEEEEED!

Getting in on some meme action this week.

Basically a lot of pretty books I'm excited about. lol

Top Ten Tuesday, Waiting on Wednesday and Stacking the Shelves/What I'm reading/Mailbox Monday.

I'm a meme-whore, yall. I couldn't help myself. Ha!

Tasty Delights-- Pesto Tortelloni Bake

Aaaaand another HelloFresh meal. Ha! I swear half my 'new' recipes I make are from HelloFresh. They've been a lot of fun. And almost all of them very simple. I'll link info for HelloFresh at the bottom for anyone interested.

Anywho. So Pesto Tortelloni Bake was up for today. And I was like huh! They had a typo. But I did a little looking and tortelloni is a thing. Who knew?! It's like the bigger cousin to tortellini. Larger and often cheese and vegetable filled instead of meat. Works for me! They were GOOD!

June Instagram Challenge #SassyReader

If you're on Instagram or ready to try it out! I'm hosting a challenge in June. It's a little sassy and a great way to get into daily posting and sharing your favorite reads. Plus meeting new friends on there.

It's pretty flexible. You can do every day. You can skip some days. You can even post them out of order. I don't mind. lol (goodness knows I usually do).

Silent Book Club Invite-- Cary, NC (June 10)

You're invited!!

If you're a reader near Cary, NC a couple of us are doing a "Silent Book Club".

Basically it's a twist on a regular book club. The twist is...you get together to READ! Any book you want. Everyone brings their own choice.

Audio Files-- The Heist & The Chase by Janet Evanovich/Lee Goldberg

Oh this series was fun! Fox and O'hare follows and FBI agent heroine and...the con man she's been hunting for years. Who are now having to work together as a team to tackle off the books missions the FBI can't officially get involved with. Fun banter, captivating characters, a little danger and adventure. A fantastic time all the way around. 

3 stars-- Kiss of the Irish (Foreign Fling #1) by Lauren Hawkeye

So. You've been dumped for a skanky exotic dancer.

Plan of action?

A three month trip to Ireland to soak up all the sexy Irishmen and their pant-worthy accents. Mmhm.

Pretty much what prudent and rather predictable Sarah has decided to do. Yup. She sure has. And turns out her new landlord? A pub owner who rocks some sexy Irishman vibes real hard and isn't afraid to flirt in her direction. Woo! Yes. Kiss of the Irish was a steamy little read and quite a bit of fun.

4 stars-- Master of the Abyss (Mountain Masters & Dark Haven, #2), by Cherise Sinclair

Some Cherise Sinclair today. An older one but still fun. And a bit naughty. The hero owns a, erm, naughty travel lodge, the heroine owns an outdoor adventures type business and the two are trying to work out a business deal but she has to see what kind of things they offer and, well, things get steamy, and funny...

Buy the Book-- New Releases/Sales/Freebies #YayBooks

Sooo a couple new releases that caught my eye. Plus a lot of sales and a few freebies. Woo! I did something a little different with the sales section. Let me know if it works or doesn't work for you!

Covers link over to Amazon*

And we have MEMES-- Summer Fun!

Soooo I'm joining in on some memes! I'm going to post all of mine on Monday then link up as the week goes by. Thought it would be an easy way to start the week. For the time being I'm doing Top Ten Tuesday, Waiting on Wednesday and for the first time Stacking the Shelves. Might add others. Who knows! 

Tag: The Cat Herder [Edition 30]-- blooming cats & pervy chats

 

This...is true. lol

SIGN UP-- Get Social Blogger Event! (June 4-17)

A lot of the blogs I've followed for years have either closed doors or just don't post all that often anymore. 

So I thought it might be fun to do a social blogging event that helps us get to know other blogs and hopefully find some new ones to follow after the event.

4.5 stars-- Marry in Haste (Marriage of Convenience #1) by Anne Gracie

Oh. My. Word. Marry in Haste was a wonderful beginning to her newest series. Full of hope, humor, second chances and new beginnings. It was everything wonderful with Gracie's writing and will sweep you away and leave you utterly spent and satisfied.

Okay, okay, so the background bits behind the awesome. Cal is a military man. A military man used to order, barking out commands and having them followed instantly Something his life is sorely missing now that he's inherited not only a damaged title but three unruly, outlandish, angry, plain ol wild teenagers that came with it. His solution to this hellish nightmare? Find himself a wife and let her take over trying to wrangle the little hoydens who have taken over his life.

4 stars-- Red Wolf (Shifters Unbound #10) by Jennifer Ashley

Jennifer Ashley is simply amazing. Red Wolf was exciting, nerve wracking, made me laugh, made me smile, and had me falling even more in love with the Shifters Unbound series.

So, basically, there's something fishing going on in the shifter world and the leaders are... concerned. So Dimitri and Jaycee-- two of the trackers-- are sent to do what they do best...scope the scene and figure out where the danger is coming from and if one of their own has sold them out to the fae.

InstaWednesday-- A smorgasbord of letters...

And so we photo. I've done a LOT of lettering the last couple weeks. And gotten a little sassy with it which is SO much more my style than the sweet inspirational lettering. Whew! Do I feel better! lol

It's been a fun last two weeks. Went to the art museum, did some lake hiking, herded the herd and pet all the books. Oh and got some USO news which was fun...

Quote-tastic--- A Place Card...Where?!! (After Hours by Cara McKenna)

Sooo. I have like 7 review books read and not a damn quote from any of them. And I was like Waaa?!! How is that possible?!! Alas...it is. lol Even though they were fab books.

So today's quote is from one I read AGES ago but still love-- After Hours by Cara McKenna. Noms! This one was SO good! They meet on a psych ward. It's super hot, too. This bit seriously had me laughing...

Buy the Book-- New Releases/Sales/Freebies

Ooo new reads! And LOTS of fantastic 99cent-1.99 deals. Some great freebies, too. :D

And so we MEME! -- Books I Love That Would Get Me Full Name Treatment from my Mama

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3.5 stars-- Tender Wings of Desire by Harland Sanders #HappyMothersDay

Not bad. Not bad. I laughed, I cried, I smiled as they set sail for their chicken empire in America.

Tender Wings of Desire turned out to be a surprisingly cute read. A runaway heroine, a tavern by the sea, a glasses wearing sailor with chicken in his past.

Rawr!

Audio files-- Tall, Dark & Hungry (Argeneau #4) by Lynsay Sands

So. First off. This series? Totally can read out of order. I started with book 19. Then came to book 4. Totally fine. No worries. 

4 stars-- His to Keep (Beauty and the Brit #3) by Terri L. Austin

Oh my word. These two. Iain and Brynn. Well, they were a handful.

"Stay on your best behavior and try not to say fuck so much."

So the basic gist is Iain's a wanker. He's working on a business deal and his best idea for getting close to a potential investor he has his eye on is chatting up the bloke's sister-in-law and waiting for his chance for an introduction. Yup. Wanker. His in? Hiring her to help boost morale at his company since she's a conflict resolution specialist and, well, his employees fear the hell out of him.

3.5 star-- The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Amanda Quick

 Amanda Quick! I've loved her books basically since I started reading. She's always got such interesting characters and nice mysteries. This one was a bit of a departure from her norm... it's set in 1930s Hollywood. Oo!

It was pretty fun. These two quotes just gave me a little smile. He may have found some of her ways a spot exasperating...

Buy the Book-- New Releases/Sales/Freebies

Yay! Books! And OMG I might have gone a little sale crazy. But there were SO many good ones this week. So. Yes. Lots linked below. Let me know if you grab any! Covers link over to Amazon*

DONATIONS NEEDED!! -- Support the Troops Auction! #authors #bloggers

Hey guys! So, I'm hosting the Support the Troops Auction again this year. This will be our third event. Everything goes to support the USO where I volunteer :)

And we could use your help! All of ya! If you're an author, blogger, industry professional, crafter, consultant, etc and would like to DONATE AN ITEM for the auction I'd love to chat with ya! The USO is a non profit so I can provide you with info for tax deduction purposes as well.

SPREAD THE WORD! Can't donate? You can totally still help us out and spread the word about our donation request to authors/bloggers/others you think might be interested in donating an item or service. It's a huge help!

And so we Meme! TTT, WoW & StS-- I NEED MORE BOOKS!

Soooo I'm joining in on some memes! I'm going to post all of mine on Monday then link up as the week goes by. Thought it would be an easy way to start the week. For the time being I'm doing Top Ten Tuesday, Waiting on Wednesday and for the first time Stacking the Shelves. Might add others. Who knows! 

Tasty Delights-- Spring Greens Gnocchi #amazing

Food deliciousness, yall. Again a HelloFresh box. lol If you go via my link you can get $40 off your first box. I get a bit of credit, too. Woo!

Anywo, this time there was nothing in the recipe I'd not tried and loved previously but the combination of ingredients...I guess it's just not something I would have done normally or even thought of. But it was delicious. I really could have eaten the entire pan and not felt bad about it at all. I definitely went back for seconds.

If You Liked THIS Book.... You'll LOVE My Book! aka #BookDeath

So. A wee #RantyAnna moment this lovely Saturday. 

I got another blog request tonight that basically went like this...

You liked THAT author's book so I think you'll LOVE this other author I'm pimping at you right now!

Audio Files-- The Quiche of Death (Agatha Raisin #1) by M.C. Beaton

I've been trying out all kinds of new audiobooks lately. My mom LOVES Beaton so I figured I'd give one of them a try. I actually streamed this from one of the Audible channels for free. Yay!

3 stars-- The Bad Luck Bride (The Cavensham Heiresses #1) by Janna MacGregor

Such a pretty cover! The Bad Luck Bride easily caught my eye.

The quick of it is that Alex is trying to avenge his dead sister and in doing so decides to ruin the man he blames for her death. And steal the man's current fiance in the process. To protect her, of course. This..is not my favorite trope. I'm not a fan of deceit and manipulation as a main theme so I had a bit of a rough go with Alex.

InstaWednesday-- The Herd, The Planner, Me, And Books!

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

Lots of photo catching up since I didn't post the second half of April because of the A to Z challenge. Lots of the herd. Adventures around town. Me! The herd. Lots of pretties.

Bubbles and Jeremy. Their expressions. Ha!

Buy the Book-- New Releases/Sales/Freebies

Well I'm just really far behind in my reading this week. Eep! I did enjoy Pipe Dreams and so far enjoying Marry in Haste. Have a few others on my need list :D I added blurbs. Not sure if I'll do that in the future or not. Yall let me know what you think on that!

QuoteTastic-- Pipe Dreams (Brooklyn Bruisers #3) by Sarina Bowen

A little change up! I've decided to start posting Quote-tastic on Tuesdays (might change to Thursdays). For those who participate in the meme you can post ANY day of the week. The link up will just go live on Tuesday now. But you could post Fridays and link up the next Tuesday and that's totally cool. :D

And now on to today's Quote! I laughed at this. The heroine is totally business proper and prim when it comes to work and I just loved this little thought from her. I was like, well, yeah! lol