One of the fun parts of taking part in blog hops (aside from getting to visit new to me blogs) is finding great ways to interact with other book lovers.  This is one:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers

Tate felt as though he’d been underwater too long, and blood thundered in his ears.  He was a man poised on the precipice of something big, something life-changing, and as much as he wanted Libby Remington, he was scared.

While I don’t read Western Romance as my main Contemporary Romance choice, I do read more than I expected to.  If I’m not lost in Marietta, Montana (smile) – then I’m most likely to pick up one of many series novels by Linda Lael Miller – an author I’ve read for more years than I’d like to admit to.  This is the one I’m in the  middle of now.  Gotta love a good rancher series with a super hot guy.  At least I do.

Cover Blurb:

This McKettrick man is about to meet his match…

There aren’t enough hours in the day for everything divorced dad Tate McKettrick has to do: run the Silver Spur Ranch, do the suit-and-tie thing for his business and ride herd on his adorable six-year-old twin girls. But then Libby Remington returns to Blue River, Texas, and suddenly…time seems to stand still.

They were high school sweethearts, Tate and Libby, but he was never able to convince Libby that he loved her. He still loves her and wants to try again. Nothing–not even cattle rustlers, a killer stallion and a vindictive ex-wife–can keep him from the attempt.

Libby has her hands full taking care of her mother and running the Perk Up Coffee Shop. Caffeine, she needs. Tate McKettrick, not so much. Oh, heck–yes. But can they really hope for a second chance?

“Monday’s Pick” is a feature here at Keeper Bookshelf that showcases a novel I picked up for free.  This week’s pick was found at Amazon’s Free Kindle Books offerings.

Look for a “Free” novel to be picked each Monday and the review to appear on the following Monday.   There are some really good “free” novels available (and some not so great too).  Let’s weed them out.  If this sounds like something you might like to take part in — awesome, just leave a link with your Free Monday Pick in the comment section and let us go check it out.

Blurb:

Seventeen year old Lady Guinevere holds the crown to a ancient kingdom. Without brothers to ascend the throne, marriage to her will assure any man the right to rule.

Arthur Pendragon has won his power through battle. His legions have elected him their king and protector but he seeks to legitimize his claim to High King through marrying Guinevere.

Lancelot, a valiant knight with a broken past, is driven by his desire to protect those in need. He’s joined Arthur’s forces because he believes in Arthur’s dream of peace for a war-torn country.

But Lancelot possesses something that Arthur can never win…Guinevere’s heart.

QUEEN’S HONOR is told from the point of view of a young Guinevere as she is caught between the responsibility of her crown and the desires of her heart. This fantasy romance is imbued with celtic lore and magic, as Guinevere discovers she holds an ancient power–a power of the old ones, the Druids. But without any one to guide her to develop her power, she finds herself caught in a web of the ambitions of those more powerful than her. Queen’s Honor puts a fresh spin on an age-old tale of love and honor.

“A Monday’s Pick Review of Be My Love by Lucy Kevin”

Be My Love was a free novella that I picked up at Amazon.  Just because a story is short, don’t think that those styles of tales don’t give a full, satisfying story.  This one certainly did, as well as being the opening story in the series, Walker Island.

Here’s the cover blurb for Be My Love:

Come for a visit to Walker Island where you’ll find stunning Pacific Northwest ocean views, men too intriguing to resist…and five beautiful, close-knit sisters who are each about to find their one true love.

After four years on the Seattle mainland, when Hanna Walker returns to Walker Island to make a documentary about the infamous Peterson-Walker feud from the early 1950s, she’s shocked to realize that passions still run high. Especially when it comes to Joel Peterson, the one man who is totally off-limits…but that she’s never been able to stop dreaming about.

The last thing Joel wants is for Hanna to dredge up the past, but when he realizes she’s determined to follow through with her documentary no matter what, he knows he has no choice but to join her. But despite vowing to hold back his growing feelings for her, as Joel works with Hanna to unravel the mystery of what really happened between their two families, he soon begins to see that love is an unstoppable force…and that sometimes two people are meant to be.

This one was enjoyable, so read on for my thoughts on Be My Love. Read More

“Monday’s Pick” is a feature here at Keeper Bookshelf that showcases a novel I picked up for free.  This week’s pick was found at Amazon’s Free Kindle Books offerings.

Look for a “Free” novel to be picked each Monday and the review to appear on the following Monday.   There are some really good “free” novels available (and some not so great too).  Let’s weed them out.  If this sounds like something you might like to take part in — awesome, just leave a link with your Free Monday Pick in the comment section and let us go check it out.

Blurb:

One look, a passionate love . . . and then they part . . . Forever?

Before the bestselling and award-winning Wyoming Wildflowers series, there was another love story, one that laid the foundation for all those that came after.

Ed Currick’s and Donna Roberts’ worlds couldn’t have been any more different – a rancher from Wyoming and an up-and-coming Broadway musical actress on a national tour. What could have been a momentary encounter sparks desire . . . and more. But can there be anything but heartbreak ahead when they have only days before their dreams pull them apart?

Happy Mom’s Day to all of the amazing mothers out there – especially those in the writing, reviewing, reading, blogging world.

An extra “hug” to all of the moms of kids with what the world calls “special needs” – we who love those kids know that they are simply ours and we love them in any shape or form that God gave them to us in.

Today, my adult “kid” will take me and my best friend and her son out for our traditional Mother’s Day event.  We head into the beautiful mountains of Western Pennsylvania to a ski resort called Seven Springs where there is no longer snow, but there is the most amazing Mother’s Day brunch.  We will shop in a fantastic bakery and pick up  some Buckeyes (sinfully delicious peanut butter globs dipped in chocolate) and some pepperoni bread.  Then head to the local butcher where we’ll pick up some of the best cuts of meat around and store them in the freezer to enjoy the rest of the year.  There are tons of local artists’ shops where I’m certain we will find another hand made wooden piece of furniture (a tradition) and whatever other treasures catch our eyes.  It will be a day spent with my family and those two other people who have become the family of my heart if not blood.  It will be a fantastic day, we’ll return home stuffed and broke – but happy and blessed to have spent one more special Mom’s Day together.  It’s the memories that matter the most.

But before we head out for that precious day, I’d like to share some “mom” thoughts with you, my online family.

I’ve been a daughter and I’ve been a mom, so I guess I’ve seen the world from both sides now.

The most difficult job I’ve ever had was being a mom.  The absolutely most rewarding job I ever accepted has been being a mom.  Again, both sides of the coin.

Not every mom is a perfect mom – but I believe we (for the most part) try our best to be the kind of mom our kids need most.  I have said “I hate you” to my mom.  I have heard “I hate you Mom” from my son – and now I understand the heartbreak I handed to my own mom when, in teenage anger I delivered that strike to her heart.  And even though as an adult I know she knew that I didn’t really mean it – words cannot be unsaid.  So be careful with words, they really can wound sometimes.

I think the most precious words I ever heard were from my son when one day out of the blue he said “I love you, Mom.  Thanks for not giving up on me.”  As if I ever could or had.  But hearing the emotion was priceless.

It’s not a smooth sailing kind of life, there are plenty of stumbling blocks along the way.  But it is so worth every single moment.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you.  The world might think it’s just one day out of the year – we know better.

And to my own mom who has been gone from my daily life for years now, but never, ever far from my heart or thoughts – I love you, Mom.