Bargain books September 14, 2021

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1531 Entertainment has some interesting suggestions.

A Piece of the Moon: A Heartwarming Novel about Small Town Life Set in West Virginia in the 1980s

An inspiring southern fiction story from the bestselling author of War Room
When eccentric millionaire Gideon Quidley receives a divine revelation to hide his earthly treasure somewhere in the hills, he sets out to find a fitting hiding spot, choosing only a few Bible verses as clues leading to untold riches of gold, silver, cash . . . and one very unexpected—and very costly—item.

Treasure hunters descend upon the hills of West Virginia, including those surrounding the small town of Emmaus, where TD Lovett and Waite Evers provide the latest updates and the beating heart of the community on radio station Country 16. Neither man is much interested in a wild-goose chase for Quidley’s treasure, though. Waite is busy keeping the station afloat and caring for the bruised souls who have landed there. Meanwhile, TD’s more intent on winning over local junkyard owner Pidge Bledsoe, who has taken in a shy, wounded boy to raise.

But after an estranged friend goes missing searching for the treasure, TD is unexpectedly drawn into the hunt. As TD joins the race to find Quidley’s wealth, he discovers where his own real treasure lies, and he begins to suspect there’s a hidden piece to Gideon Quidley’s treasure that no one could’ve expected.

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I read and enjoyed last years Mosaic Christmas Anthology and I’m happy to see this year’s show up in my suggestion feed..

The Heart of Christmas: A Mosaic Christmas Anthology III

“At Christmas, we always…” And thus a tradition is born. The rituals stay the same, but if betrayal, illness, unfaithfulness, or tragedy strike, can cherished traditions survive?

When unexpected twists throw life out of kilter for the people in these stories, will beloved, time-honored customs lead them back to the heart of Christmas?

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My current read is an author I’ve not encountered before and I have to say I’m enjoying her very much. I’m looking forward to seeing more from her.

Tell Her No Lies 

Even the most admired families have secrets to hide . . .

Nina Fischer carries a camera wherever she goes—so she can view life through a filter. Safely. After her mother abandoned her to the streets, Nina has kept people at a distance, including her uncle, who adopted Nina and her sister. Wealthy and proud, he is a good man, a fair judge, and someone many in San Antonio admire. 

But when he is murdered, and the detective assigned to the case accuses Nina of the crime, she knows she must act. She’s determined to use her journalism background to find the real killer. The two men in her life want to help, but can she trust them?  She’s known Rick since they were children, but now he’s an attorney whose political aspirations seem more important than Nina’s tragic loss. And then there’s Aaron, a news videographer; using their friendship could break the biggest story of his career. 

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Check these books out and see what you think.

Happy Reading …

on a good day when the sun is shining brightly, my car has had it’s overdue oil change, and I actually left the house and talked to people. They were the oil change guys but hey that’s something, right?

I’m a hermit, what can I say. lol

Free and bargain books September 13, 2021

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Today has been a good day for books. We will start off with BookBub, they have a FREE book suggestion for us.

The Forgiving Hour: A Novel 

Amazon quote:

Twelve years ago, Claire Porter thought her entire life was over when she learned that her husband, Dave, was having an affair with a young college student. Following their divorce, Claire started over, including changing back to her maiden name of Conway.

Claire now feels pretty good about her accomplishments. She has raised a wonderful son, Dakota; enjoys her work; and finally has a new love. When Dakota informs her that he is engaged, she looks forward to meeting his fiancée, even as she wonders if 31-year-old Sara Jennings is too old for her “little” six-foot-plus boy.

Secrets never stay buried long, and only God can help Claire find forgiveness when betrayal comes back to haunt her.

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BookRunes also has a FREE suggestion for us. The first chapter or two has me thinking this could be a fun read.

The Iceberg: A Christian Romance Novel (Fulton Ridge Series Book 2) 

Amazon quote:

Meeting her was just the tip of the iceberg.

Curtis wants to build his catering business, not get distracted by the beautiful woman next door. When his business partner’s penchant for betting catapults him into an unexpected date with Hannah, Curtis falls in love.

Hannah wants to be left alone in her cocoon of reading and gardening. She never asked to have her life of solitude interrupted. Her heart isn’t ready. Time hasn’t healed all wounds. How will she let go of her past and give love another chance?

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A bargain suggestion looks interesting too

When Two Souls Defy Destiny: A Historical Western Romance Book

Amazon quote:

Melinda’s twin sister may be utterly in love with a local man, but her family is set on her becoming a mail-order bride. As Melinda is saying her final goodbyes to her beloved sister, a brilliant yet risky idea presents itself. Melinda will take her place on the train instead, allowing her sister to stay in town and have a chance with her love. By the time their ruse is discovered, Melinda will be walking down the aisle with her future husband…

What could possibly go wrong with such a perfect plan?

Reginald Dawson started out in life with nothing and built a fortune from the goldfields in Cripple Creek, Colorado. Now, with a large hotel and success within his grasp, he is on the brink of having it all. When he posts an ad looking for a wife, he only has one thing in mind: to find someone sweet and genteel to be his companion and partner in life. With a lady of refinement at his side, even his tainted past could be overlooked, right?

The problem is, lies have a way of being exposed...

Both Melinda and Reginald have their fair share of secrets and neither is what the other expected. Melinda’s daring new husband seems to have a sinister secret in his past and Reginald’s perfect wife turns out to be a feisty suffragette. With danger looming and past mistakes catching up to them, can they even dare to imagine a chance at true love?

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There are several more so was for Part two.

Hopefully some of these appeal to you.

Happy Reading

No thoughts on milkshakes

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The Sunday Scribblings story prompt today was milkshakes. I think it was chocolate milkshake day but I could be wrong about that. I don’t dislike milkshakes but rarely order one. My drink of choice usually is coffee, second choice would be iced tea. But not sweet tea. I tried it once when travelling in the south, couldn’t do it. I would pick salty over sweet any day of the week.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

On the other hand, I do enjoy some desserts, especially if they lean toward the semi sweet side. Cheese cakes, tiramisu, tuxedo cake. I’m drooling already just thinking about them. Best change the subject.

I still don’t have a big appetite after the reaction to my second shot. My energy levels have not recovered either. I’m a little discouraged over that. Winter will soon be here and I need to get outside to do winter clean-up before the snow flies. One good thing about the snow – at least I don’t have to feel guilty about neglecting the yard.

Staying inside today produced a good chance to pay bills and respond to messages. That brightened my day considerably. The sad side of it, though, is knowing what my son and his wife and daughter are going through today. They will be putting their two oldest on a plane in a few hours to fly home to Canada. This isn’t a visit, they are moving home to see what comes next for them now that high school is nearly finished. I remember what it was like the first time my son flew off to a foreign country for who-knows how long. It was tough.

At the same time, I can relate to both sides. I have been the leaver and the left. It is much easier to be the one striking out on a new adventure. So many new things to experience. The left get to look at an emptier house every day and keenly feel the loss.

The adventurer doesn’t miss out on sadness though. Unfamiliar culture and languages can magnify homesickness. Even just a new and unfamiliar city brings it’s share of homesickness. No one gets away pain free.

On the other hand, sadness and homesickness means we loved. We can’t miss what we have never loved. What a blessing to have loved and been loved.

The three boys living here are excited to welcome their cousins. My daughter is left wondering how she is going to survive as the only woman with six guys. It will be an adventure, for sure. I tell her be glad it’s not girls, they would have to install another bathroom or two. Although if the girls were anything like the two of us, hogging shower and bathroom time would not be a big issue.

All that said, I enjoyed my kids when they were teens and I think she will enjoy these boys too. They are all loving kids.

Well, word is just in, the first leg of the flight was cancelled which means they will miss the connecting flight. At least they have a travel agent to take off some of the pressure. Arrival time will be affected, although this is not a total surprise.

Turns out the problem is a typhoon. 😦

I guess this is to be continued…

A sister about to miss her brothers.

They will be missing her too.

This and that September 10, 2021

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A little of this and a little of that, again tonight… just because I feel like it.

My daughter asked me to check through family pictures this afternoon, she was in need of photos taken with a particular family member. It needed a big chunk of time to find anything after this many years.

I did find a few that fit her needs. But that’s not all I found. There was one I’ve been thinking of lately that always makes me smile. I think it represents my personality fairly well.

I would never have dreamed of taking such a picture but my son-in-law thought it was a great idea. Since I was oblivious to what he was up too, I couldn’t even change to a more lady-like position.

Fine tuning the stove installation.

I have no idea, anymore, what precisely was going on but whatever it was I was the only one small enough to reach. Now that it’s been awhile, this is one of my favorite pictures. Yup, that’s me, climbing on things.

So, this brings me to another favorite picture and I think it kind of goes with my picture. We are like two peas in a pod when it comes to one or two things. That’s my assessment anyway.

We were looking for evidence of her visit a few months after I moved here to Manitoba, back in 2013. At least I was looking through photos. My daughter is already in British Columbia ready for the memorial service tomorrow and needing memories.

Mabel aka Granny, was amazing. Facebook, Face time, emails, messages, all that good stuff right up until the end. This was 85 years young at the time.

Checking Facebook with her morning cup of tea.
Making memories with three of her many great-grandsons
Trusty stylus in hand, emailing someone in the family.

This is my favorite picture of her. The pose says it all.

My next favorite thing in this picture is the stuffed snowman on the hearth. It’s a wind up music box. It plays “Cold as Ice” while it swings around. Makes me laugh every time. I have no idea why I think it’s so funny but after a dozen years I still think it’s hilarious.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I love my mother-in-law like a mother/friend. I’ve been separated from her step-son for 17 years and in spite of it all, she understands and the two of us are still close. She has room in her heart for all of us and I appreciate it more than I can tell. Not everyone can love without choosing sides. Actually, the whole family is good at loving this way. I feel truly blessed.

♥♥♥♥♥

Rest in Peace Mabel. You are a special lady and we all love you.

I can be at peace with her passing because I know I will see her again. Sooner than I might wish, the way time flies by.

My last email to her ended with the chorus from an old Rusty Goodman song about heaven.

Look for me, for I will be there too
I realize, when you arrive, there’ll be so much to view
After you’ve been there ten thousand years, a million, maybe two
Look for me, for I will be there too

Book suggestion September 10, 2021

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1531 Entertainment has a book suggestion but may be interesting.

A Midnight Clear by Trish Perry

When she attends a Washington, D.C. dinner party thrown by friends far wealthier than she, writer Maddie Travers is distracted by internal debates. Should she move back to D.C.? Should she seek work she might find more fulfilling? She meets the appealing “regular guy,” Dom Sebastiani, at the party and consequently wonders whether she’s ready to seek romance again. So many decisions! At the stroke of midnight, a shocking turn of events sets Maddie on a path that holds at least as many questions for her as it does answers.

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Currently, I’m reading the newly released third book in the series I’m following. Christy enjoys placing her characters in very tight spots. This causes my anxiety levels go sky high and I have to remind myself the main character usually survives to the end. They aren’t often killed off within the first three chapters, so take a breath.

Tipping Point (Lantern Beach Mayday Book 3) 

Awakening in a boat surrounded by nothing but water, a yachtie has no doubt someone wants her dead.

Kenzie Anderson is determined not to let anyone scare her away from completing the charter season—even with the threats on her life. The only person she can trust is Captain Jimmy James Gamble, despite their tumultuous relationship.

Kenzie and Jimmy James both suspect turbulent currents rush beneath the tranquil surface aboard the luxury yacht Almost Paradise. Secrets seem to abound, each one increasing the tension aboard the boat.

As answers rise to the surface, neither Kenzie nor Jimmy James is prepared for what they find. Have they both reached their tipping points? Their adversaries want nothing more than to make Kenzie disappear . . . forever. It may be too late for a mayday call.

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Happy Reading!

Free and bargain books September 09, 2021

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BookBub has a FREE suggestion for us. I’ve read and enjoyed book 1 and look forward to book 2.

The Brightest Light: A Page-Turning Tale of Mystery, Adventure & Love (Alaskan Hearts Book 2)

This quiet librarian is about to become the main character of her own real-life adventure story…

Anchorage librarian Scarlett Cole has always preferred to live out her adventures within the pages of her favorite books. That all changes when she befriends junior musher Lauren, who presents her with the opportunity of a lifetime—stop reading about the Iditarod and actually get out there to race!

With her career now on the line and only one chance to establish herself amongst the dog-sledding community, Scarlett knows she’ll need to work hard and with no regrets. Unfortunately, another new racer quickly sets his sights on her, vowing to triumph at any cost… even if his techniques aren’t quite above board.

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1531 Entertainment has a bargain suggestion. I’ve read and enjoyed this one too. Very much.

A Distance Too Grand (American Wonders Collection Book #1)

Meg Pero has been assisting her photographer father since she was big enough to carry his equipment, so when he dies she is determined to take over his profession–starting with fulfilling the contract he signed to serve on an Army survey of the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in 1871. What she doesn’t realize is that the leader of the expedition is none other than the man she once refused to marry.

Captain Ben Coleridge would like nothing more than to leave without the woman who broke his heart, but he refuses to wait even one more day to get started. This survey is a screen for another, more personal mission, one he cannot share with any member of his team.

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I’ve just finished book 2 in the series I was reading yesterday and it was every bit as good as book 1. No disappointment here. They are right when they say these stories have more twists and turns than a roller coaster!

The Long Fall: A clean read whodunit with more twists and turns than a roller coaster! (Smiley and McBlythe Mystery Series Book 2)

Twelve stories is a long fall.

Four classmates in town for their twentieth high school class reunion. Now one of them is dead. Did he decide to end it all from the twelfth story? Or was it something more sinister?

Being blind sometimes had its advantages. Unhindered by how things look on the surface, private investigator Steve Smiley digs deep to think outside the box. Someone wanted it to look like suicide. He’s sure it was murder.

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Happy Reading y’all

I have one new story out of this exercise and it’s a beautiful day, what could be better than that?

Bargain books September 08, 2021 Part Two

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1531 Entertainment had two more interesting suggestions, both of them with authors not in my library. I’ve read two chapters of the historical novel and I have to have it. I’ve looked at the author of the mystery and I need it as well.

The Beautiful Pretender (A Medieval Fairy Tale Book 2)

The Margrave of Thornbeck has to find a bride, fast. He invites ten noble born ladies who meet the king’s approval to be his guests at Thornbeck Castle for two weeks, a time to test these ladies and reveal their true character.

Avelina has only two instructions: keep her true identity a secret and make sure the margrave doesn’t select her as his bride. Since the latter seems unlikely, she concentrates on not getting caught. No one must know she is merely a maidservant, sent by the Earl of Plimmwald to stand in for his daughter, Dorothea.

Despite Avelina’s best attempts at diverting attention from herself, the margrave has taken notice. And try as she might, she can’t deny her own growing feelings. But something else is afoot in the castle. Something sinister that could have far worse—far deadlier—consequences

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Tell Her No Lies 

Even the most admired families have secrets to hide . . .

Nina Fischer carries a camera wherever she goes—so she can view life through a filter. Safely. After her mother abandoned her to the streets, Nina has kept people at a distance, including her uncle, who adopted Nina and her sister. Wealthy and proud, he is a good man, a fair judge, and someone many in San Antonio admire. 

But when he is murdered, and the detective assigned to the case accuses Nina of the crime, she knows she must act. She’s determined to use her journalism background to find the real killer. The two men in her life want to help, but can she trust them?

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It has been a good book day.

Happy Reading

Bargain books September 08, 2021

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1531 Entertainment had a bargain suggestion. It seems this was on our list back in June and somehow I missed reading it. What a mistake. It is awesome, I love this book. In fact the next two in the series are also bargains and I’m about to buy them too. I have to know what comes next.

Exercise Is Murder: A classic whodunit mystery with more twists and turns than a roller coaster. (Smiley and McBlythe Mystery Series Book 1)

Found at the bottom of his exercise pool, police believe the death of Steve Smiley’s friend is an accident. Smiley doesn’t buy it.

There are a lot of things a blind man can do, but solve a murder alone isn’t one of them. He needs a partner… one who knows their way around a crime scene. In walks Heather McBlythe. She can help him solve the crime, but can she keep him out of danger? Steve doesn’t have a choice. Without her someone will get away with murder.

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Book 1 was awesome but can books 2 and 3 live up to the reputation? That’s what I want to know.

The Long Fall: A clean read whodunit with more twists and turns than a roller coaster! (Smiley and McBlythe Mystery Series Book 2) 

Four classmates in town for their twentieth high school class reunion. Now one of them is dead. Did he decide to end it all from the twelfth story? Or was it something more sinister?

Being blind sometimes had its advantages. Unhindered by how things look on the surface, private investigator Steve Smiley digs deep to think outside the box. Someone wanted it to look like suicide. He’s sure it was murder.

Blindsided by opposition from a surprising source, Smiley and his partner have to think fast. His reputation is on the line. Can they unmask the killer and bring justice? Or will this long fall prove to be the perfect murder?

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The Ice House Murder: A clean read whodunit mystery with more twists and turns than a roller coaster! (Smiley and McBlythe Mystery Series Book 3)

Who committed the murder in the ice house? A lawyer of questionable repute approaches PIs Smiley and McBlythe to find out. They agree on one condition: that truth will prevail. Even if that means the Russian cooling his heels in jail is guilty.

Smiley and McBlythe have ten days to name the killer before the lawyer, and the Russian mob, do things their way.

The rules change when Heather arrives home to find her beloved cat gone. The ultimatum: Solve the murder in three days or she’ll never see him again. Smiley has one last trick up his sleeve to ferret out the killer. If it doesn’t work, Max will be gone, and so will his partner.

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I love the humor and the way Mr. Hammack puts a story together. I love the characters too, especially the main characters. They are brilliant, quirky and fun.

I can hardly wait until I’m done posting for the night to get started on these two.

Happy reading to you.

show not tell – love it

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I`ve started a new read and I love this awesome example of show-not-tell on page 6. I love it so much I have to share it right now, this very minute. It makes me smile big, it`s so cute. There is a lot of information packed into that sentence.

“What are we gonna do now?” Evangeline Jones’s cute four-year-old face smiled over at him from where she leaned into the engine.

Sosimo chuckled as her forehead furrowed, a grease mark smeared across it.

Evangeline is busy helping Sosimo work on her mother’s old clunker. So cute.

She doing such an awesome job she’s covered in grease, lucky for him Mom is pretty laid back about this whole scenario.

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Now that I’ve shared my excitement I can go back to see what other fun things are going to happen in this story.

Check it out I think you will like this book too.