Musing Mondays #2

Posted May 4, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 10 Comments

open book and  pink flowerMusing Monday is hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm.

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I bought just one new book last week, which is a miracle for me.  It’s described below.

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION:

What would you do if you wanted to buy a book for someone, but didn’t know what they like to read? Would you ask them? Would you choose something you, yourself, like? How would you go about buying them something?

My Answer:  I’m pretty sneaky.  I’d find a way to bring the conversation around to books and new releases – then ask them what they are looking forward to reading.  That would at least give me an idea of what genre they read.  Then I’d either find the book they said they were wanting to read or if that wasn’t out yet, then something similar.  If none of my sneaky ways were working, then I’d take the easy way out and get them a gift card from a specific book store – so I’d know they still bought a book.

To me book choices are very personal.  In the end I would rather they get something they like and would read, instead of my randomly choosing something that might not be in their tastes and would sit, unread, on a shelf.

I love my paranormal werewolves and vampires, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I just want something different.  When I saw Dream of Me reviewed recently, I thought it would be a different and unusual read for me.  I should be getting into it later in the week, I enjoy the “slightly different” so this one should fit that just perfectly.

Dream of Me by Quinn Loftis:

Dream of MeSince the dawn of time, Brudair, otherwise known as the Sandman to the world, has faithfully lived out his purpose, faithfully performed his duties. He has never questioned his lot among the immortals, until now, until her. Sarah Serenity Tillman, a consummate beauty both inside and out, is a high school senior five months from her graduation. She has great plans, dreams of leaving the small town of her childhood behind her forever. But destiny has other plans, and it’s the Sandman’s job to make sure those plans are fulfilled.

The tall muscular Sandman, known as Dair to his friends, dressed in black, wrapped in shadows, is more than a myth. And he has a job to do. His very existence makes him a creature of the night, because dreams, (yes the legends got that part right), were indeed his specialty. But his purpose was more than just weaving dreams for sleeping children. No, his dreams were made to influence, made to ensure that certain special individuals, those individuals who would change the course of history, actually accepted their chosen destiny.

Little does Serenity know that she is Dair’s next assignment. And the dream that he weaves for her, if she follows its influence, will change the course of, not only her life, but possibly the whole of history as well. But she isn’t the only one being influenced. The beauty inside of her was weighing on the Sandman, lighting up the darkness that was his constant companion. Her light was warmth, it was life, and he didn’t understand how he had survived the previous millennia without it.

The Sandman was indeed greater than anything humans had ever imagined, and his purpose was vital to the course of history. So what happens when the weaver of dreams gets so distracted by a mere human that he ignores his own duties in the immortal realm? How can an immortal who was never meant to have a mate, join a young woman in her destiny without irrevocably changing the lives of millions and potentially altering history in a way the Creator never intended?

“Dream of me, Princess,” Dair whispered into her ear.
“Then weave me a dream, Sandman,” she said softly. “And we can dream together.”
As her eyes grew heavy, she heard Dair’s voice telling her to sleep, to open her mind to him and let him in. I’m all yours, she thought as sleep finally claimed her.

Definitely different.  This is the start of a new series.  Have you read this yet?

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Monday’s Pick #3 ~ Be My Love

Posted May 4, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

Be My LoveMonday’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:

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.

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What Happens To Your Blog When An Emergency Strikes?

Posted May 1, 2015 by Marsha in Discussion Post / 4 Comments

Let’s be honest.  We do not like to think of emergencies happening.  That is something that happens to other people – until we become those “other people”.

Yesterday I sent my son and two of his nurses off on a business trip he had planned.  So there is only me and the two cats at home right now.

Thank God.  Because all hell broke loose here.

I am fine.  Things are calming down – and I have a chance to breathe slowly and survey the results.

My blogs suffered because I didn’t take the time – couldn’t find the time in my tight schedule – to plan in advance.  Oh, it’s not the end of the world kind of thing.  I’ll be late on some reviews that should have been up, and now I am about 48 hours behind on just about everything.  Those things can be taken care of with a solid nose to the grindstone kind of effort.  Life will go on and everything will work out.

The point I am trying to make, and doing a piss-poor job of it because my mind is so scattered right now is this:  It didn’t have to be this way for my blogs.  If I had simply taken a day a week to plan, schedule and have posts in place to go automatically – no one would have been the wiser about my 37 hours from hell.  Since that didn’t happen because I just “couldn’t find the time” to plan ahead, now I am looking at a lot of work to make up quickly.

There are always fun Challenges around – the irony of Anna’s Blog Ahead Mini-Challenge starting today is not lost on me at all right now.  The reality is that we need those challenges, fun though they are, to help motivate us or kick us in the butt to get our stuff taken care of… in advance.

I wish I had been better prepared for an emergency to strike.  I wasn’t, and that is on me this time.  It will not happen again.  That is a truth I now know with certainty – not gonna happen to me twice.

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Review: His Forbidden Princess by Jeannie Moon

Posted April 30, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 0 Comments

His Forbidden PrincessHis Forbidden Princess
Series:  Royal Holiday #4
Author:  Jeannie Moon
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  April 30, 2015
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Synopsis:

Eight years ago, university student Ian Stuart fell in love with his sweet, beautiful classmate and he’s never forgotten her. Sofie loved Ian with all her heart in return, but she didn’t trust him with one little detail about her life she’d neglected to share.

She was a princess, and they could never be together in the outside world.

Now Crown Princess Sofia is in danger. An insurgent faction in her country has targeted the royal family, and while Sofia is visiting the United States, she is forced to go into hiding. Assigned to protect her is none other than FBI Special Agent Ian Stuart.

Once again Ian and Sofie are in an impossible situation, fighting their feelings for one another, while trying to stay safe. Will their love for each other prove to be the most dangerous game of all?

Read on for my thoughts on His Forbidden Princess.  No true spoilers, promise.

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I’m Waiting For This TV Series

Posted April 29, 2015 by Marsha in Discussion Post / 2 Comments

Since X-Files days I have enjoyed watching David Duchovny work.  Now, even though there are rumors (perhaps more than mere rumors) of a limited run return of X-Files with both Duchovny and Gillian Anderson… for now there is Aquarius to look forward to in a few weeks.  It was the murder spree of a generation, it defined the ’60s in many ways.  On this Waiting on Wednesday when we most often talk of books, I’m also looking forward to this:

https://youtu.be/aVTdizy0Wds

 

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Confessions of a Bookworm #5

Posted April 29, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 4 Comments

book confessionI love taking part in features and memes.  It brings us book lovers and book bloggers a bit closer together, if only in our shared love of reading great books.    :)

There is a new feature over at Parajunkee.   Confessions of a Bookworm.  Here’s the link.   And the information about all of this is located at that link.

This week’s question is:

Do you prefer using bookmarks, or bending the book page?

I raise my hand and swear I just got the shivers like fingernails on a blackboard at the very thought of bending book pages.  *visible shudder*

I have a lovely collection of bookmarks from vacations, presents, saw it and just had to have it – that is the only way to mark the place in one of my books.  I get violent when a book is returned to me with bent pages.  My own mother used to do this and it drove me crazy.  Needless-to-say, she got pretty new bookmarks every single Christmas.

On the now rare occasion when I do loan out physical books, several bookmarks go with them – with stern instructions to use them or else no more books loans for you.  I will be frank in that I am anal retentive about never bending or folding down book pages.  Never, ever.

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Waiting on Wednesday #12 ~ Snatched

Posted April 29, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 5 Comments

Print“Waiting on” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating… cannot wait to get our hands on… having hissy fits at having to wait… you know, waiting for the book is exhausting work!

This one caught my attention for several reasons.

SnatchedFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Cocoon (which was made into an Academy Award–winning movie) comes a sci-fi adventure about family, love, and, in a universe teeming with life, deciding who and what are the aliens.

Six single, semi-retired, “older” women are inseparable friends. But their lives start to go haywire when mischievous Rosie submits her friends’ names to an ad soliciting “Mail Order Brides for Farmers & Miners—Distant Locations.” A few weeks later, as the six women are driving along a lonely beach road, their vehicle suddenly begins to shake, the sky grows dark, an eerie light envelops the van, and ZAP—it’s gone!

Exactly three years later, the van reappears on the same road. But this time, the women appear to be thirty years younger—and they’re all pregnant!

The “distant locations” advertised were, in fact, elsewhere in our galaxy. A process, required for deep space travel, has somehow reversed their aging. They are happy with their new lives. However, a universal law requires that babies of “mixed-mating” be born on the mother’s home planet, forcing their return. But as they re-adapt to life on earth, surprises and problems arise as they’re faced with a media circus, doctors, nurses, police, priests, and nuns, not to mention their new humanoid mates.

In Saperstein’s wacky, comedic-drama tradition that’s out of this world, Snatched builds to an exciting, uplifting climax that celebrates life, love, and the universal condition known as family.

 

 

No matter your age now, at some point in your life you might have heard about a movie called Cocoon – the trailer is below… Snatched is by the same author.  This is why I think his latest book is going to be a fun ride.  🙂    Snatched releases on May 19, 2015

 

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Review: Cinderella’s Cowboy by Roxanne Snopek

Posted April 29, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 0 Comments

Cinderella's CowboyTitle:  Cinderella’s Cowboy
Series:  This Old House #4
Author:  Roxanne Snopek
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  April 28, 2015
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Synopsis:

Chad Anders doesn’t know why mousy Cynthia Henley trips all over her tongue when she’s around him. Nor does he understand his undeniable attraction to this good girl. Wild and sexy is his type, like the dream-girl he caught a glimpse of years earlier he’s never forgotten.
Cynthia’s superpower is invisibility, especially with men. It’s better for everyone that way. Besides, she’s got a cat. She’s okay. But when playboy-rancher Chad hires her, she’s got a chance to shine. Professionally, at least. Until she learns of his fascination with a mysterious dream-girl, who was actually nothing more than a shy teenager on an ill-advised dare all those years ago. Cynthia knows she’s no man’s dream-girl and never will be.
But there’s magic at the ball. Princesses glow in the starlight, princes appear out of nowhere, and, sometimes, they look a lot like cowboys.

Read on for my thoughts on Cinderella’s Cowboy.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Review: The Werewolf Wears Prada by Kristin Miller

Posted April 28, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

The Werewolf Wears PradaTitle:  The Werewolf Wears Prada
Series:   San Francisco Wolf Pack #1
Author:  Kristin Miller
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Published:  April 28, 2015
Publisher:  Entangled Publishing
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Synopsis:

Melina Rosenthal worships at the altar of all things fashion. Her dream is to work for the crème de la crème fashion magazine, Eclipse, and she’ll do much anything to get there. Even fixing up the image of a gorgeous, sexy public figure who’s all playboy, all the time. Even if he’s the guy who broke her heart a year ago…

Even if Hayden Dean is a werewolf.

Since his father’s death, Hayden’s the heir apparent to the San Francisco Wolf Pack—well, once he settles down. Hayden isn’t interested in giving up his partying ways, except he’s pretty sure he’s found his fated mate, and the fact that she’s a non-shifter is bad news. Now he must find a compromise between the traditions of his wolf world and his certainty that Melina is his…before fate (or another werewolf) bites them both in the butt.

Read on for my thoughts on The Werewolf Wears Prada.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Review: The Harlot Countess by Joanna Shupe

Posted April 28, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

The Harlot CountessTitle:  The Harlot Countess
Series:  Wicked Deceptions
Author:  Joanna Shupe
Genre:  Regency Romance, Historical Romance
Published:  April 28, 2015
Publisher:  Kensington Books
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Synopsis:

Maggie, Lady Hawkins, had a debut she’d rather forget—along with her first marriage. Today, the political cartoonist is a new woman. A thoroughly modern woman. So much so that her clamoring public believes she’s a man…

FACT: Drawing under a male pseudonym, Maggie is known as Lemarc. Her (his!) favorite object of ridicule: Simon Barrett, Earl of Winchester. He’s a rising star in Parliament—and a former confidant and love interest of Maggie’s who believed a rumor that vexes her to this day.

FICTION: Maggie is the Half-Irish Harlot who seduced her best friend’s husband on the eve of their wedding. She is to be feared and loathed, as she will lift her skirts for anything in breeches.

Still crushed by Simon’s betrayal, Maggie has no intention of letting the ton crush her as well. In fact, Lemarc’s cartoons have made Simon a laughingstock…but now it appears that Maggie may have been wrong about what happened years ago, and that Simon has been secretly yearning for her since…forever. Could it be that the heart is mightier than the pen and the sword after all?

Read on for my thoughts on The Harlot Countess.  No true spoilers, promise.

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What Series Would I Recommend to a Friend?

Posted April 27, 2015 by Marsha in Discussion Post / 2 Comments

lady with books in airRecently, Shannon of The Tale Temptress had a really good discussion post up about Happily Ever Afters in the novels we read – do we need them or not.  (Use that link up above to go check it out)  The discussion got quite lively and enjoyable.  During commenting back and forth we got talking about series that Do Not Have Cliffhanger Endings – Which I Hate.  Just sayin’.  And after mentioning a few ongoing series that I love that keep the overall story arc but each novel within is still totally complete, HEA and all,  I offhandedly said I should make a recommended post.  This is that post.  *fingers crossed*  And if this works, I might (might) make this a Feature.  We’ll see what happens.

Crime & Mystery & Romance combined.  I think an excellent example of a mystery and romance ongoing series that gets deeper with time is J. D. Robb’s In Death series.  Roarke & Eve.  The billionaire, reformed thief & the focused, dedicated, non-people-person Lt. Detective Eve Dallas.  Slightly futuristic, set about 50 years in the future, far enough for there to be fun gadgets and near enough to not be sci-fi this is a series that is now forty, yes, 40 novels and novellas long and counting.  Each one can be read as a stand alone crime, mystery and romance.  Really, it can.  However – since we almost step into the In Death world like a tv series – the characters grow, change, come, go, get more at ease with each other, and still hold tight to the love, and friendships that bind them all.  There is a constancy there as there would be with visiting with old friends.

Paranormal ~ Vampire  One of my absolute genre.  Maggie Shayne’s Wings in the Night.  The first vampire series I followed like clockwork, and still do since she is taking it into Twilight Reborn.  During a time when any paranormal romances were harder to find than vampires who walked in the daylight, Maggie Shayne was my heroine and go to vampire author.  Christine Feehan’s The Dark (Carpathians) vampire series.  This is such a beloved, long lasting, still feels new series.  We are always running into favorite characters within the individual novels.  This is a tight community and it shows.  Another series that I think just gets better with time.

Pure Romance For long ongoing Romance series I do not believe you can beat Debbie Macomber.  Her Cedar Cove series (which was turned into a tv series) or her Blossom Street, even her early Mannings – all have individual novels with a arc of town, communities and families which always leaves me satisfied and ready for the next installment of any of her series.

And that is all I have for this post.  I realize that some readers may think that these are older series – while that may be true for most, also realize that these authors have given us long, ongoing series that have captured our hearts and imaginations for years.  It takes a good author, one in it for the long haul and the love of telling tales to give us these stories.

So, now it’s your turn.  Do you have any favorite ongoing series where each novel has it’s own happy ever after yet remains within a over arc of a story, community or family?  Then please share in the comments – I’m always up for a new to me author.

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