Category: This one’s a Keeper

Review: The Caitlain Book of Secrets by Jessica Lourey

Posted March 13, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

The Catalain book of SecretsTitle:  The Catalain Book of Secrets
Series:
Author:  Jessica Lourey
Genre:  Paranormal
Published:  January 1, 2015
Publisher:  Toadhouse Books
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley

Story Blurb:

Faith Falls is a snug little Minnesota town constructed over a mystery, a place where the most impressive building is a gorgeous Queen Anne with turrets, cantilevered gables, and a wraparound porch. In a concealed room beneath the twisting stairs of the Queen Anne lies the Catalain Book of Secrets, the repository of the wisdom the Catalain women have gathered since the beginning of time.

Ursula Catalain, current keeper of the Book of Secrets, is content to concoct spells in her garden cottage until the ghost of the man she murdered when she was 12 appears at her door in a new form. His return pulls Jasmine, Ursula’s daughter, back into the fold. Once believed to be the most powerful of the Catalains, she foreswore her gift years before to bury a shameful secret. The ghost of the murdered man also calls home Katrine, Jasmine’s sister, who has been banished for fourteen years. Finally able to return to Faith Falls and the beloved Queen Anne, Katrine must claim her true Catalain power to save her mother and sister from the dark family curse.

Told in a majestic mosaic of strong women’s voices, The Catalain Book of Secrets weaves together alchemy, hope, tragedy, and true love to spin a tale in the style of Garden Spells, Eva Luna, and Practical Magic.

Read on for my thoughts on The Catalain Book of Secrets.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Review: Getting It Right by Christi Williams

Posted March 12, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

Getting It rightTitle:  Getting It Right
Series:
Author:  Christi Williams
Genre:  Romance, touch Paranormal
Published:  October 24, 2014
Publisher:  Independent Book Publishers Association Members’ Title
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley

Story Blurb:

Named for the Goddess of Desire, can she dream of lasting happiness with only one man?

Selene Pertunda has no trouble attracting a man. She just can’t seem to find the right one. From abusive husband Robert to tattooed bad boy lover Kevin, Selene draws men to her like bears to her honeypot. The problem is that none of them proves to be a good fit.

Sure she will never find a shared happiness, Selene has no way to suspect she’s drawn the attention of a powerful goddess. So she scoffs at the idea that the handsome man who begins to play a large part in her life could be her destiny. After all, what could worldly, educated Beck McNeal want with a small-town girl like Selene?

Selene and Beck try to their best to resist the inexplicable mutual magnetism flaring between them. But can two ordinary people avoid the decree of the Goddess of Desire?

Read on for my thoughts on Getting It Right.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Review: Once Upon A Fairy Tale: A Collection of 11 Fairy Tale Inspired Romances

Posted March 12, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

Fairy Tale CollectionTitle:  Once Upon A Fairy Tale Collection
Series:
Author:  various romance authors
Genre:  Fantasy Retelling
Published:  March 8, 2015
Publisher:  Romantic Greek Publishing
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley

Story Blurb:

Join NY Times, USA Today, and Amazon bestselling authors as they invite you to explore the world of fairy tales in eleven exciting new ways!

Experience the story of The Nightingale through a steampunk landscape, or follow Rapunzel through sci-fi adventures. There is the modern woman who steps out of her front door and into the fairy tale realm, and there is the modern woman who’s life resembles a fairy tale – one involving a slipper. Maybe you’d like to find out just who that Big Bad Wolf was and why he was so interested in Red, or maybe you’d like to go behind the scenes and see what those fairy godmothers are up to while everyone is getting their Happily Ever After.

Read on for my thoughts on Once Upon A Fairy Tale: A Collection.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Review: Through Infinity by Libby Austin

Posted March 12, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 2 Comments

Through InfinityTitle:  Through Infinity
Series:
Author:  Libby Austin
Genre:  Romance
Published:  November 25, 2014
Publisher:  Infinity and Beyond Publishing
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  NetGalley

Story Blurb:

Candice and Jason Woodruff had everything going for them: a strong marriage, the family they’d dreamed of, and successful businesses. When they made their wedding vows, they promised to love each other through infinity and beyond…but Candice doesn’t remember making that vow. Candice doesn’t remember the last eighteen years.

After a medical emergency, Candice awakens to find herself a married mother of four. She’s surrounded by a loving family of strangers, but Candice struggles to claim an identity while learning to be a wife and mother.

Candice is no longer the same woman Jason fell in love with all those years ago. Can they learn to love each other in this new reality?

Through Infinity is one woman’s journey as she rediscovers the love of her husband and children. But will that new found love be strong enough to carry them through infinity and beyond…

Read on for my thoughts on Through Infinity.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Making Certain Photos Show Up In Bloglovin’ Feed

Posted March 12, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 2 Comments

scattered papersI was so frustrated these last weeks.  None of the graphics (book covers) that I had used in my posts were showing in ny Bloglovin’ feed.  I am such a visual person – and I know that many others are too.  I’m drawn by the look of a book’s cover and by what graphic a person uses on their posts.

Mine were visible – then suddenly weren’t.  This past week I put my two new specific book review blogs up on Bloglovin’ (they’re recently launched, but might as well get everything in order).  Those new blogs were showing their graphics just fine in the Bloglovin’ feed.

More frustration – then action.  I finally figured out what was different.  And now my graphics are showing up in Bloglovin’ feed once again.

I use WordPress for my blogs.  So, I only know that this will work on WordPress websites.

On your Dashboard go to  Settings > now click on Reading > then look under Feeds > then be sure that Full Text is ticked off (not Summary) for your RSS Feeds.

Bloglovin’ uses your RSS Feeds to pull information for its own feed.  So unless your feed is giving the Full Text – graphics from your post will not show up.

A simple change fixed this problem for me – I hope this helps anyone else in the same situation.

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Thirsty Thursday & Hungry Hearts #3

Posted March 12, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 4 Comments

unConventionalBookViews_Meme-ThirstyThursdayHungryHeartsThere is a fun new meme going on over at (un)Conventional  Book Views.  Lexxie is hosting the Thirsty Thursday & Hungry Hearts weekly list of food and drink.  ;)  More specifically what food or drink from a recent read of yours would you like to try or never in a million years touch.  You can find details, sorta rules and the sign up linky by clicking on the graphic or on the bold link above.

I have been trying so hard to be aware of food while reading.  It is turning into a more difficult habit to cultivate than I thought it would.  But, I’m working on it.

This week’s delectable comes from a novella in the Montana Born Bachelor Auction series – specifically from Bachelor At Her Bidding by Kate Hardy.  The main characters, Rachel and Ryan, met when her friends “bought” him for Rachel at a Bachelor Auction to help out a single mom and her recently injured son get their home wheelchair accessible.  He was to provide a personally cooked 5 star equivalent meal for her in her home.  Needless to say, but they fell in love..and then he did the guy makes a huge mistake thing – now he’s trying to apologize and win her back through what he does best… cakes.

He replied with, “Fraisier: an almond sponge base topped with vanilla chiffon cream and with sliced strawberries around the side.

But this wasn’t like any strawberry tart Rachel had ever seen.  The strawberries weren’t stuck on the side, they were perfectly aligned with the filling.  And on the top was a garnish of fruits of the forest, with a tiny version of yesterday’s snow flakes sprinkled across it.  On the dark chocolate “slate”” written in white chocolate piping was today’s message: ” I’m really, really sorry for hurting you.”

*sigh*  I want one just like him.

Bachelor At Her BiddingYour date with Parisian-trained chef Ryan Henderson promises you’ll get the best meal of your life cooked especially for you. His Red Velvet cheesecake is to die for – but we know he has even better desserts up his sleeve…

How to win a girl in ten cakes…

When Dr. Rachel Cassidy comes back to Marietta with a broken heart and a divorce under her belt, going to a Bachelor Auction fundraiser doesn’t sound like her idea of a good time – and when her sister and friends “buy” her a dinner date with sexy Parisian-trained pastry chef Ryan Henderson, that sounds even worse.

Ryan doesn’t have time for dating – he’s put his dreams to one side and come back to Marietta to look after his sick grandmother. But when he agrees to help a charity fundraiser by offering to cook a special meal to one lucky bidder, he gets more than he bargains for and discovers a woman he might just dare to let himself fall in love with.

Then tragedy strikes, just when Rachel and Ryan think they might have a future, opening up old scars and pushing them apart.

And if they’re to stand a chance of getting back together, then Ryan’s going to have to be seriously inventive. Can he win the love of his life with ten cakes?

 

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My Mini-Vacation Comes To A Close

Posted March 9, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 3 Comments

blue eyesThis past week my son was up in Boston for the PAX-East Convention/Event.  And I got to stay home for six glorious days totally on my own.  Total Freedom – and it’s gonna be back to life as usual in about 22 hours.  So… I’m doing this post which is kind of an odd one perhaps.  But I’m going to be brave and surge ahead with it.

I’ve been working very steadily on this blog for the last couple months.  It’s shaping up into something that I can be proud of, and I certainly am enjoying the community.  I have a lot of things to do still – but I no longer feel quite as overwhelmed as I did on January 2, 2015 when I made the decision to get back to what I loved doing – reading books and talking about them.  I even branched out and made a new blog totally about my love of Paranormal novels, movies and television series.  Haunted Bookshelf.  That is a work very much in process, but I don’t care if it takes months to get it just where I want it – it’s a labor of love for something I truly enjoy, so time isn’t all that important.

I’ve learned a lot in two months.  NetGalley.  Twitter.  Facebook Page.  Yet, there are moments when I look at my handwritten list of things I still need to do – like yesterday – that I heave a huge sigh and wonder if I’ll ever be finished.  And the truth is that I probably won’t because new things are constantly becoming a part of my life now.  As long as it’s fun, then I don’t mind the learning process.

I’m still trying to find my own personal “voice” for this blog.  It’s still early stages so I know it will eventually all come together.

I’d like to take this moment to thank those folks who have taken the time to stop and comment – whether it was on a meme or just about a review I did.  I appreciate the time, I really do.

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Review: The Infinite by Lori M. Lee

Posted March 8, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

The InfiniteTitle:  The Infinite
Series:  Gates of Thread and Stone (book 2)
Author:  Lori M. Lee
Genre:  Fantasy
Published:  March 10, 2015
My Rating:  3 stars
Source:  NetGalley

Story Blurb:

Kai always believed the only danger to the city came from within. Now, with a rebel force threatening the fragile government, the walls have become more of a prison than ever.

To make matters worse, as Avan explores his new identity as an Infinite, Kai struggles to remind him what it means to be human. And she fears her brother, Reev, is involved with the rebels. With the two people she cares about most on opposite sides of a brewing war, Kai will do whatever it takes to bring peace. But she’s lost her power to manipulate the threads of time, and she learns that a civil war might be the beginning of something far worse that will crumble not only Ninurta’s walls but also the entire city.

In this thrilling sequel to Gates of Thread and Stone, Kai must decide how much of her humanity she’s willing to lose to protect the only family she’s ever known.

Read on for my thoughts on the sequel to Gates of Thread and StoneThe Infinite.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Stacking the Shelves #7

Posted March 7, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 14 Comments

StackingTheShelvesStacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Hosted at Tynga’s Reviews If you want to find out more about Stacking The Shelves, please visit the official launch page!

I swore I was gonna be good this past week.  *sigh*  But you know all about those best laid plans, right?  It’s that 1-click-addiction to free ebooks and the under $3.00 clicks that get me in so much trouble.  Plus I just might have gone a bit crazy on NetGalley’s Read Now section when I saw a couple series there… 80% level comes and goes so easily.  🙁   Ah, well.  At least they all qualify for the TBR Challenge ‘cos most were ones I’ve wanted for a while now.

From Amazon there was:

A Quick BiteAir Boundearth boundThe Witch Who Cried WolfFalling For A Wolf

And from the Read Now section at NetGalley I was tempted by:

Deja DateThe Catalain book of SecretsGetting It right

It could have been a lot worse.  And thankfully, a large majority are novellas so the reading will go fast.  Does anyone have a cure for the 1-click-blues?  😉

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Review: Married To A Perfect Stranger by Jane Ashford

Posted March 7, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

Married To A Perfect StrangerTitle:  Married To A Perfect Stranger
Series:
Author:  Jane Ashford
Genre:  Historical Romance, Regency Romance
Published:  March 3, 2015
My Rating: 4 stars
Source:  NetGalley

Story Blurb:

Mary Fleming and John Bexley are the “white sheep’ of their large families, written off as hapless, boring—and thus suitable for each other. But they’re no sooner married than John is sent off on a two-year diplomatic mission.

Upon his return, John and Mary find that everything they thought they knew about each other is wrong. They’ve changed radically during the long separation. They have to start all over. It’s surprising, irritating—and somehow very exciting…

Read on for my thoughts on Married To A Perfect Stranger.  No true spoilers, promise.

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