as promised, Chautona Havig free and bargain books for this week

Author Chautona Havig has a FREE book-a-day happening this week in an effort to cool us off during this hot summer we are having. Each book is free for two days.

Here is yesterday and today. Both Free.

Next will be the bargain books

Hmmmm. I’ve checked them out and they are not showing up as bargains, yet.

I’ll check again tomorrow. Sometimes things don’t go through as requested. Hopefully it will be resolved.

In the meantime there is a popular collection on pre-order. There was a move on, trying to get the numbers up enough to be on a best sellers list. I’m not sure if it happened, maybe we can still help them out. I’ve done my part, ordering my copy back in December. Many of these authors are on my favorites list so I’m excited about it. Order your copy to help out too.

This was what the December version of the cover looked like.

This is the newest image, which is nice because you can gain a little inspiration by seeing the contributing authors.

Save The Date will be released on September 14, 2021

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That’s all I have for now

Happy reading y’all

Bargain books July 19, 2021 Part two

I’m not sure how it happened. Despite seeing a number of tempting books we only ended up with two. I just had to go back for another look. I found two MORE.

I’m a little unsure about one of them but not enough to cut it from the lineup.

Since we started the day with Christmas, we will continue and start this post that way as well. I know and like some of the authors in this collection and it made the selection choice easy. This book is on pre-order and will be released in October.

Christmas in Mistletoe Square: Christmas Romance Novella

Amazon quote:

Christmas is in the air in Kedgewick Creek, North Carolina, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Will romance find four couples in the month of December or will the pressure to keep the festivities Mistletoe Square is known for keep these couples apart?

Find out in this collection of four novellas from inspirational authors Pepper Basham, Cara Putman, Janine Rosche, and Teresa Tysinger.

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This next book is a complete change of subject and will be a deep dive by the looks of it. I’m excited to see what this one is about.

Things Left Unsaid 

Amazon quote:

An emotional novel of family, friendship and forgiveness from Courtney Walsh, the New York Times bestselling author of Hometown Girl.

Lyndie St. James is thrilled that her best friend, Elle, is getting married but unprepared for the emotional storm of the wedding week and returning to her childhood summer home of Sweethaven. The idyllic cottage community harbors some of her best—and worst—memories. It’s not only the tragic death of her childhood friend Cassie that has haunted her for ten years, it’s the other secrets she’s buried that have kept her from moving on.

But Lyndie isn’t the only one with secrets.

Cassie’s mother, father and brother, still struggling with the loss, have been drifting further and further apart. And Elle herself, the last to see Cassie alive, carries an impossible burden of guilt. Now reunited, each of them has a choice: to reveal the truths of that night or continue to live in its shadow. That means embarking on a personal journey of the heart—to escape the darkness and all its regrets and to finally come to terms with the past and, especially, with each other.

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This next book is in a similar vein but I’m not sure if the dive is as deep.

When It’s All Said and Done

Amazon quote:

As sisters, they couldn’t be more different, but can they count on each other when it’s all said and done?

Ruth Webber’s only focus in life is saving the business her late father left behind and, since her capricious younger sister doesn’t care about family legacy, she must do it alone. When a long weekend trip presents an opportunity to advance the family interests, Ruth won’t let anything stand in her way, not even her sister’s drama or the smile of a handsome new friend.

Despite what Ruth thinks, family means a great deal to Angela, but the unexpected loss of her husband ended her dreams of having one of her own. Now, her only chance of building a new dream lies in her writing career, if she has the strength to act on it. All she needs is a weekend away to clear her thoughts.

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This one is a different flavor all together. Except, is it really? Maybe not.

Defending My Heart – Clean, Christian Football Romance: (A Texas Tornados Single Author Sports Romance Book 1)

Amazon quote:

The man who broke her heart. The second chance she’s not sure if she wants.

Emmitt Brown’s demons are even bigger than he is, and as a defensive lineman for a pro-football team, that’s something. When the team captain tasks his defensive line to go home for Christmas and get rid of their biggest past regret, Emmitt finds himself returning to the small town he grew up in to find the woman he never should have left. Too bad she hates him and tells him to go away.

Mia Carter can’t believe Emmitt Brown is back in town. She does not need this right now. Especially since he’s been the ghost who won’t leave her conscience alone for the past five years and especially since she recently lost her husband. But when the pro football player steps up and offers to help her son fight cancer, she finds herself reluctantly agreeing.

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OK. This is definitely It for today. Anything else will have to wait for tomorrow.

I will stay far far away, there will be no more looking and books.

Happy Reading!

Free and bargain books July 19, 2021 Chautona Havig

One of our regular authors had a brilliant thought in the middle of the hot spell. She was dreaming of snow, lots of it, enough to swim in. One thing led to another, in her mind, and she came up with book deals on her Christmas books.

Her name is Chautona Havig, and she has so much going on with this idea that I am going to quote the relevant parts of her email.

Here we go…

I set all my Christmas books either on sale or to go FREE this week.

No joke. Merry Christmas in July to me… and you. And honestly, I’m going to open up Liz Johnson’s Christmas at the Red Door Inn and read that one myself. A blizzard sounds pretty amazing right now.

So here’s the deal… or maybe I should say, here are the deals… 😉

Free books!

  • Monday (that’s today): 31 Kisses
  • Tuesday: The Second Noel
  • Wednesday: Carol and the Belles
  • Thursday: Advent
  • Friday: Merri’s Christmas Mission
  • Saturday: The Ghosts of New Cheltenham
  • Sunday: Silenced Knight

Each book is on sale for two days. So 31 Kisses will be free Monday and Tuesday, The Second Noel on Tuesday and Wednesday, and so forth.

This is Monday’s book

When one plus one equals thirty-one…

It happens every day.
Guy meets grandpa–and girl.
Guy knocks grandpa off ladder
Guy kisses girl to make it “all better.”
Every day.
For a month.
Just your normal, average, all-American romance…

Meet Chessie and Carson. She goes “all out” for Christmas (and every other holiday including Columbus Day, Cinco de Mayo, and Flag Day); he doesn’t own a single thing that could be considered decorative–unless you count the stickers he stuck to his dresser back when he was three.

Neither of them have ever had a serious relationship; both are opposed to frivolous expressions of affection. How on earth did they get tangled up in a “kiss-a-day-during-December” pact?

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Here are the bargain books… They won’t be on sale until Tuesday so I’ll mention them again tomorrow. Here we go again with her words …

AT THE SAME TIME…

The following books are on sale for just $0.99 starting tomorrow (#becauseKindleRules) and will be through next Thursday! SQUEE!

  • 12 Dates of Christmas
  • Christmas Party in a Box 1
  • Christmas Party in a Box 2
  • Christmas Party in a Box 3
  • Christmas Party in a box 4
  • Christmas Stalkings
  • Snow-Crossed Letters
  • Tarnished Silver
  • Sand & Mistletoe
  • The Matchmakers of Holly Circle

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May these seasonal books provide a little respite, at least the illusion of cool, on these hot days of summer.

It was predicted here as hot for today but so far it’s only in the low 20s Celsius. We have a cloud cover of smoke from nearby forest fires, maybe that’s a contributing factor to the lower temps.

Whatever it is we’ll take it.

Enjoy the deals.

Happy Reading.

This and that July 18, 2021

I’ve discovered it’s best to date these things. They all merge together otherwise. Indistinguishable.

It’s warm out there! That the biggest thing on my mind at this moment. Usually it starts to cool off a little by 7 PM but not tonight. I went out to do some watering and quickly changed my mind. Later.

The highlight of the week was last night’s family Zoom call. Most of us live thousands of miles apart. We enjoy one another but we are not good at staying in touch. In all honesty, I’d have to admit that would be a gross understatement. Since we’ve committed to a Zoom call once a month, we are doing much better at connecting and we are having a lot of fun. The next call is going to fall on my birthday, how nice is that!

So, the other thing on my mind this week was tied up with a comment I made the other day about a writing project I had in mind. I’ve been thinking about this for a very long time but even more so lately. It seemed like it was time to do something about it so this weekend I did put some hours into it and wrote something. In the end, I didn’t use any of it.

I’m surprised about the level of unexpected relief I felt.

Part of the impetus for this writing project was to have a place where I could fill the need to rant and rave once in a while. I couldn’t do it here, didn’t want to do it here, I felt like it would spoil everything.

Anyway, I created another space, wrote an introductory piece with a small rant at the end, and struggled with getting the site set up the way I wanted it. No matter what I did nothing was going right.

By the time I decided to give it all up and deleted the new blog, my rant had lost it’s steam and I felt a lightness I didn’t have earlier.

Sometimes it’s healthy to visit the dark places but sometimes it’s not. There already is an over abundance of negative self-talk going on in my head I don’t need more. It feels healthier, for the most part, to stick to the lighter side of things in my communications with the world.

Part of my reason for wanting a place to rant was to work my way through some of the life long issues that surface from time to time. Writing and talking can be very therapeutic.

The subject of my short rant was acknowledging, for the first time, that my parents were selfish, immature teenager/young adults making unhealthy decisions and choices without a worry over whose life would be negatively affected. I can’t believe that they would unthinkingly do what they did.

While it was healthy to face this truth, I could see that to camp on the negative side of my life, while creating content for a new blog on a regular basis, would be injurious to my emotional health.

I’m so glad I’ve got that all figured out.

Maybe for future needs, I can work through the issue in my mind and then reduce it to a short paragraph. That should take care of everything

There is one more truth recently discovered but I’ll save that topic for another time. It’s a very encouraging truth. I must share it with my brothers.

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Currently I’m reading book one in a three book collection.

A Family to Love by Cindy M Amos and several others

Skinny Ranch Romance – Cindy M. Amos
When a hometown parade explodes with violence targeted at obese onlookers, District Judge Ilie Walton is forced to team with former classmate Traynor Henning for a trial reduction program for the victims. None too pleased over the partnership with Tray, Ilie claims to remain blind to his Zach Efron good looks in the name of justice. As the fence lengthens and the pounds melt off volunteer participants, Tray’s devotion softens her resolve, launching a romantic partnership. When new evidence emerges on a cold case involving a death at their senior class party, Ilie insists that justice prevail, though it threatens to sever their tenuous relationship. Tired of bearing the guilt, Tray faces off with his buddy Rex about what really happened that day in his boat. When the cold case turns red hot, will Ilie stand with the hardworking rancher—or do justice and reconciliation take two separate paths?

The scales of justice possess keen discernment, yet love never needed a final verdict to overcome.

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This is the one recently finished

Dearly Loved: Second Chance Christian Romance

The lovesick daydreams of Meredith Ambrose’s teenage years for neighborhood heartthrob David Steller have faded into uncomfortable memories-until he lands in a hospital bed in her unit where she works as an R.N.

David came to the Northwest to look her up-he just didn’t plan on their reunion occurring with him on a gurney. Can he prove he’s really changed after all these years? (Christian romance)

Happy Reading!!

Free and bargain books July 17, 2021

BookBub has a bargain suggestion for us. I’ve seen this author before, she writes some interesting stories and this one looks promising.

The Rose of Winslow Street

Amazon quote:

Romance and Drama to Capture the Heart in This Emotional Tale

The last thing Libby Sawyer and her father expected upon their return from their summer home was to find strangers inhabiting a house that had been in their family for decades. Widower Michael Dobrescu brought his family from Romania to the town of Colden, Massachusetts with a singular purpose: to claim the house willed to him long ago. Since neither party has any intention of giving up their claim, a fierce legal battle ensues between the two families.

When important documents go missing from the house, Libby suspects Michael is the culprit. Determined to discover the truth behind the stolen papers, Libby investigates, only to find more layers of mystery surrounding Michael and his family. Despite their rivalry, Libby finds herself developing feelings for this man with the mysterious past.

As a decision about the house looms in the courts, Libby must weigh the risks of choosing to remain loyal to her family or give her heart to a man whose intentions and affections are less than certain.

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This first book led to another that caught my interest. I’ve read this author as well but it’s been a while. I’m excited about this story because I’m partial to lady spies.

Ring of Secrets (Culper Ring Book 1)

Amazon quote:

This exciting romantic spy novel from Roseanna M. White combines fascinating cloak-and-dagger secrets with a tale of love and intrigue during the Revolutionary War.

Winter Reeves is an aristocratic Patriot forced to hide her heart amid the Loyalists of the City of New York. She has learned to keep her ears open so she can pass information on British movements to Robbie Townsend, her childhood friend, and his spy ring. If she’s caught, if she’s hung for espionage…well, she won’t be. Robbie has taught her the tools of the trade: the wonders of invisible ink, drop locations and, most importantly, a good cover.

Bennet Lane returns to New York from his Yale professorship with one goal: to find General Washington’s spy hidden among the ranks of the elite. Searching for a wife was supposed to be nothing more than a convenient cover story for his mission, but when he meets Winter, with her too-intelligent eyes in her too-blank face, he finds a mystery that can’t be ignored.

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This next one is a FREE novella that bridges books 1 and 2 in the Culper Ring series

Fairchild’s Lady (Culper Ring) 

Amazon quote:

This bonus romantic novella is set in the intervening years between Ring of Secrets and Whispers from the Shadows by Roseanna M. White.

In 1789 General Isaac Fairchild travels across the Channel on a very special assignment. After surviving the American Revolution, he is now gathering information on life at King Louis XVI’s court. But he must also locate a countess and her grown daughter and escort them back to England before revolution explodes in France.

He knows danger is in the task set before him, but when he meets the beautiful Julienne, a new peril beckons him deeper into the intrigue of Versailles.

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This has been an excellent day for books.

In the meantime, I have a little writing on my mind. I’ll let you know if it turns into anything.

Happy Reading

Read and enjoyed July 16, 2021

It’s time to do another read and enjoyed post.

I don’t have a favorite of the week this time but all four were still good reads.

Of these first two, Rock and a Hard Place was my favorite. There was substance to the story, the characters were well developed. The story moved along well and was believable. There was more angst than I would like but aside from that it was a good experience.

The next two were also good reads but my favorite was Faith in the Mountain Valley. The secrets were revealed layer upon layer, which is the best, in my estimation. There was a great cast of characters and in the end I loved them all. Even the villains.

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I’ve just started a new book. I’m not far enough along, though, to make a judgement call on the story but since it’s by one of my favorite authors I’m expecting to love it. It is still a bargain too.

I won’t make it through this read as quickly as I did on the last four. This one is nearly 400 pages long.

I’m not complaining.

Oath of Honor (Blue Justice Book #1) 

Police officer Isabelle St. John loves her crazy, loud, law-enforcement family. With three brothers and two sisters, she’s never without someone to hang out with–or fight with. And she knows they’ll be there for her when things get tough. Like when her partner is murdered and she barely escapes with her own life.

Determined to discover exactly what happened, Izzy’s investigation sends her headfirst into a criminal organization, possibly with cops on the payroll–including someone from her own family. With her dead partner’s handsome homicide detective brother Ryan shadowing her every move, Izzy’s head is spinning. How can she secure justice for her partner when doing so could mean sending someone she loves to prison? And how will she guard her heart when the man she’s had a secret crush on for years won’t leave her side?

With her signature fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat action, Lynette Eason invites readers into a captivating new series where justice is a family affair.

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Happy Reading on a happy Friday.

Mind you it’s nearly over. Maybe I should just say have a good weekend!

Free and bargain books July 15, 2021 Part Two

On to part two…

1531 Entertainment has several bargain suggestions for us. I’ve read many books from both authors and I’m more than happy to see them here today.

The Accidental Guardian (High Sierra Sweethearts Book #1)

Amazon quote:

When Trace Riley finds the smoldering ruins of a small wagon train, he recognizes the hand behind the attack as the same group who left him as sole survivor years ago. Living off the wilderness since then, he’d finally carved out a home and started a herd–while serving as a self-appointed guardian of the trail, driving off dangerous men. He’d
hoped those days were over, but the latest attack shows he was wron
g.

Deborah Harkness saved her younger sister and two toddlers during the attack, and now finds herself at the mercy of her rescuer. Trace offers the only shelter for miles around, and agrees to take them in until she can safely continue. His simple bachelor existence never anticipated kids and women in the picture and their arrival is unsettling–yet enticing.
Working to survive the winter and finally bring justice to the trail, Trace and Deborah find themselves drawn together–yet every day approaches the moment she’ll leave forever.

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I’m always happy about seeing a new Christy Barritt book.

The Cottage on Ghost Lane: a romantic mystery thriller (The Beach House Mystery Series Book 1)

Amazon quote:

Each house has a history. Each person has a secret. Each turn of events leads to danger.

Come back to me.

Cole Dalton’s wife, Caroline, had the words etched onto a pendant for him. Each time he deployed overseas as a military bomb tech, she stitched the pendant into his uniform. Cole returned safely from the battlefield . . . only to bury his wife after a tragic car accident.

Cole moves into their beachside cottage to both heal and find closure after Caroline’s death. But on the first day he arrives, he finds an intruder searching for something and desperate enough to kill.

Mysterious incidents continue to occur, leading Cole to ask: Was Caroline hiding something in the months before she died? But what? And why?

As danger closes in and a storm lingers off the coast, Cole must find answers. But ghosts of the past have a stranglehold on him. With his heart on the line, he must overcome the grief haunting him . . . or his story will become part of his cottage’s tragic history.

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BookRunes has a FREE suggestion for us, an author I’ve never read. It does look interesting though, and the price is right for taking a chance.

An Agent for Amaryllis 

Amazon quote:

Trouble always seems to find her. If only he hadn’t been raised to help a maiden in need. Will they find strength in each other and the courage to love?

June 1878

Amaryllis Flanders—Amy for short—is tired of her sister, Jessica, constantly reprimanding her for her boyish ways. She wants to be involved in more than mindless housework or helping to tend her sister and brother-in-law’s babies. With her friend, Sarah’s, wedding taking place in Denver, Colorado, Amy can hardly wait to leave her home in Virginia and begin a grand adventure. But even she has no idea of the harrowing experience it will be.

Derrick Baldwin doesn’t know what hit him. He was engaged to Sarah Packard until she decided to marry her childhood friend. Now that the wedding’s been called off, he’s glad to see all of his guests leaving. He just wants to be left in peace. But the maddeningly spirited and foolish Amy unwittingly became the recipient of a mysterious package, and now, the package has suddenly disappeared. Whoever sent it wants it back, and they’re willing to kill to get it. The only way he can keep Amy safe is to become a Pinkerton agent and help her solve the case, hopefully before their luck runs out—or before he realizes that he has fallen in love with her.

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Happy Reading y’all

Free and bargain books July 15, 2021

BookBub has a Free collection suggestion for us. I’ve downloaded books by this author before but I’m not sure why I haven’t read them. Too many other enticing choices maybe. I’m going to try and make sure I read this time. Maybe it’s the haunting suspense holding me back.

The Crittendon Files: Haunting Contemporary Suspense, Books 1-3 (The Crittendon Files Boxset Series)

Amazon quote:

A Loner From the Past Comes Calling . . .


FEAR HAS A NAME (The Crittendon Files, Book 1)

How Far Will He Go To Keep Them Safe?


It was more than a break-in. More than a stalking. It was personal. When a stranger targets his wife and two daughters, journalist Jack Crittendon must uncover who the person is and what his motives are — if he’s to protect the ones he loves.

The investigation leads Jack into a world of behind-closed-door secrets and into a news story about a missing pastor whose apparent suicide is more than it appears.

Each move Jack makes weaves him tighter and tighter into a web of lies, greed, hypocrisy, and danger. Holding onto his faith and keeping his family safe might require Jack to cross lines he never fathomed crossing.

POISON TOWN (The Crittendon Files, Book 2)

There’s More Than One Kind of Poison in This Town


People are sick and dying. Rumors are swirling. Some claim chemicals leaking from a manufacturing plant are causing the cancer that’s crippling people on the poor side of Trenton City, Ohio. Yet nothing at the plant appears amiss. The problem remains a mystery until reporter Jack Crittendon’s long-time mechanic falls ill and he investigates.

Soon Jack becomes engulfed in a smokescreen of lies, setups, greed, and scandal. The deeper he digs, the more toxic the corruption he uncovers.

As he faces off with the big-time players behind the scenes and tries to beat the clock before more people die, he realizes the chillingly unthinkable–he knows way too much.

SKY ZONE (The Crittendon Files, Book 3)

A rally for a controversial presidential candidate.
A terrorist threat.
A nightmare of cataclysmic proportions.


Jack and Pamela Crittendon have hit the breaking point. After months out of work as a reporter, Jack is playing Mr. Mom and working part-time at Festival Arena with his survivalist friend Brian Shakespeare.

Meanwhile, Pamela has gone back to work while eight months pregnant, to make ends meet. Having her recently-widowed mother on hand isn’t making matters any easier.

With financial pressures boiling, Jack reports for duty at a rally for controversial presidential candidate Martin Sterling where he expects a mindless night on the job. But when Homeland Security picks up intel about a potential terrorist threat, Jack and Shakespeare are thrust into a life-or-death battle to save themselves–and the lives of thousands of innocent people.


Fans of Terri Blackstock, Lynette Eason, Dani Pettrey, Diane Moody, and Christy Barritt, will love these thrillers from award-winning and bestselling author Creston Mapes

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I need to do a part two for this post, I can see it is going to be way too long. The next three books will be over there.

Let me know what you think of Creston Mapes.

Do you like haunting suspense?

Happy Reading!

This and that part two July 14, 2021

I was talking about plants in part one but that isn’t what I’ve spent the most time thinking about today. More than plants I’ve been thinking about a new podcaster someone told me about the other day. He has a number of channels started and has been posting short videos on most of them.

This fellow is personable, interesting, animated, and funny. He knows how to supply great content since he is a Hollywood producer in real life. He has a different focus for each channel. There are four or five of them and I’ve subscribed to them all.

So today he was posting short clips from the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It is beautiful. The coloring in the clip I’ll share with you is amazing.

This first one is the link for the story he promised in the last clip.

This next is the first beautiful clip I promised above. Not sure how they ended up in the wrong order but that’s the way things go sometimes. Enjoy the beautiful view.

His name is Michael, I’m sure he’s mentioned his last name somewhere but I didn’t catch it. If you enjoy him, he does give the links to all of his channels now and then as well.

Enjoy the Grand Canyon

A little of this, a little of that July 14, 2021

I’ll have to tell you about my momma plant. It is called a Spider plant but it is thought of as a momma plant because it sends out long stems, like a spider’s web and little babies, or pups, grow on the ends. They are cute and when the plant sends out multiple stems they are really cute. So cute that I hate to cut them off.

There were multiple stems and their cute babies had grown so big they were resting on the floor. It all sort of filled in the corner with pretty greenery and I liked it.

Lately I’ve been noticing that mom has been looking a little dry and starting to go brown. It’s summer, it’s warm, she needs more water. Still, even with more water she was dragging and looking a little worn out (I almost said warn there, oops) (maybe she was warning me)

Anyway, it occurred to me today that her babies were bleeding her dry, no wonder she was looking droopy.

She’s feeling much better now that she’s been delivered of four of her 15 lb babies.

They are resting comfortably in a tray of water. Growing roots to be ready to move into their own home, and start sending out their own babies.

Not sure what I am going to do with them all.

In the meantime…

Mom is starting to look perkier already.

She still has three more babies to feed though.

Hmmmm. Maybe I should have delivered all of them. Given her a fighting chance.

Maybe tomorrow.

Anyone looking to own a Spider plant? Anyone?

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The Spider plant isn’t the only one trying to give me babies.

The flowering Crab Apple cut down two years ago is trying hard to survive.

It’s roots keep sending up pretty pink suckers in an ever widening circle in the front lawn.

I have some thoughts on how to deal with this, I’ll let you know how who wins. Hopefully it will be me.

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Now for a less challenging subject… books.

Currently I’ve started….

Faith in the Mountain Valley (Call of the Rockies series Book 5)

This epic journey is the only way to leave her secrets behind.

After eleven years spent looking for the girl who stole his heart, Jean-Jacques Baptiste—better known as French to his friends—is tempted to give up. Until the day he spotted the flaxen-haired stranger traveling the wooded path with Blackfoot Indians. He never imagined he’d find his childhood friend masquerading as a man in this Rocky Mountain wilderness, hundreds of miles from the Canadian town where he last saw her. No matter her reasons, he can’t let her go this time.

Colette Mignon’s life has become a cacophony of lies, including the fact that her Blackfoot Indian companions believe she’s a man. She’s willing to live the taxing life of a trapper in these desolate mountains as long as it keeps her secrets hidden. When her childhood friend and first love discovers her, his determination to help might put everything at risk.

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I haven’t read far enough to form any opinions but I have high hopes.

That cover is refreshing on these warm days of summer.

Happy Reading y’all