Release Day! Shooting Stars Above by Patricia Leavy ~ My Thoughts #ShootingStarsAbove @PatriciaLeavy @shewritespress @GoSparkPress

Happy Release Day!

Congratulations Patricia

on the release today of

Shooting Stars Above!

Shooting Stars Above by Patricia Leavy

(The Celestial Bodies Romances Book 1)

Contemporary Romance Fiction, 206 pages

Published March 18, 2025 by She Writes Press

For fans of Colleen Hoover comes an emotionally charged contemporary romance about a internationally best-selling novelist and a federal agent fighting to heal past wounds. 

A powerful contemporary romance that explores the incredible healing power of love.

Tess Lee is a world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore people’s innermost struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel—but despite her extraordinary success, she’s been unable to find personal happiness. Jack Miller is a federal agent working in counterterrorism. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a residue remains. He’s dedicated everything to his job, leaving nothing for himself.

The night Tess and Jack meet, their connection is palpable. She examines the scars on his body and says, “I’ve never seen anyone whose outsides match my insides.” The two embark on an epic love story, but old traumas soon rise to the surface as Jack struggles with the death of a loved one and Tess is forced to confront her childhood abuse. Can unconditional love help heal their invisible wounds? Together, will they be able to move from darkness to light?

My thoughts about Shooting Stars Above ~~ 

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First lines—"'How's your son doing in school?' Tess asked the bartender. 'Really well. He especially loves the history class he's taking.' A man came in and sat two stools down from Tess."

Shooting Stars Above is a cute, quick, fast-paced romance novel that I devoured in one sitting. Tess and Jack have an immediate connection—one completes the other. It's a little bit crazy how quickly they bonded and fell in love. Both of these characters have scars and wounds from their pasts. Their meeting and connection to each is just what the other one needs to heal those scars.

This is the first story I have read by this author but I enjoyed it immensely. It was just the escape read I needed right now and I'm excited to check out more of Patricia's books/

I received an ARC of Shooting Stars Above and this is my honest opinion of the book.

About the author

Patricia Leavy, Ph.D., is a bestselling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chair of Sociology and Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. She has published over forty books, earning commercial and critical success in both fiction and nonfiction, and her work has been translated into many languages. 

Patricia has received over 100 book honors. She has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. 

In 2016 Mogul, a global women’s empowerment network, named her an “Influencer.” In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” 

She lives in Maine with her family. Patricia loves writing, reading, watching films, and traveling. These days, she's focused on writing feel-good love stories. ~ Goodreads

Connect with Patricia

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? March 17, 2025 #IMWAYR

      

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are! 

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Are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day today? We will be having corned beef and cabbage for dinner. That's about the extent of our celebrating. 

I feel like I didn't get much reading done this week. We had some absolutely beautiful days and sat out on the patio. I guess I may have to adjust my reading expectations because I really love that time on the patio.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. 

Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

Barely Visible: Mothering a Son Through His Misunderstood Autism

by Kathleen Somers

print ARC for review

Pub date ~ April 1

The Murder List

by Hank Phillippi Ryan

e-book from my TBR

Published August 2019

Megan's Way

by Melissa Foster

audiobook from my TBR

Published July 2009

What I recently finished

Remarkably Bright Creatures

by Shelby Van Pelt

e-book from my TBR collection

Published May 2022

Cops and Clobbers in Deadwood

(Deadwood #14)

by Ann Charles

audio-book from my TBR

Published February 25, 2025

What I am going to read next

Saving Ellen: A Memoir of Hope and Recovery

by Maura Casey

print ARC for review

Pub date ~ April 1

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways! 

New Release! And They Had a Great Fall by Shelby Saville ~ My Thoughts #AndTheyHadAGreatFall @shewritespress @GoSparkPress

Congratulations Shelby

on the recent release of

And They Had a Great Fall!

And They Had a Great Fall by Shelby Saville

Contemporary Romance Fiction, 280 pages

Published March 11, 2025 by She Writes Press

For fans of Robinne Lee’s The Idea of You, a debut contemporary romance about a celebrity and a single mother who push and pull against each other as they teeter between a carrying on a secret affair and living an authentic life.

If Jake Laurent is the “human equivalent of Friday,” Kat Green is “Monday.” Nevertheless, the two shared a secret (if casual) affair during the pandemic, and now, almost exactly one year later, they’ve reunited in Copenhagen, the “city of fairy tales.” Only neither one of them is living a fairy tale.

Jake is a young actor who’s cracking under the public pressure that comes with rising celebrity. Kat is a single mother at the top of her career who believes she’s holding it all together but is barely living. Each one is a simple escape for the other—until the security Kat has worked so hard to build for her tiny family comes under threat, and Jake has to decide if he can keep Kat a secret even if it’s at the expense of his own fame.

And They Had a Great Fall is the story of two people who are going through the motions in life—until they finally look inside themselves to figure out what it takes to find a happily ever after.

My thoughts about And They Had a Great Fall ~~ 

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First lines—"Jake Laurent forgot how to be afraid."

This is an amazing debut novel by Ms. Saville, a novel that has it all—Copenhagen as its beautiful setting, great characters who are worlds apart in their personal lives, and characters who are able to grow to make the best of their situations.

When Jake reaches out to Kat, asking her to come because he needs her, she drops everything in her life to go to him, even though they haven't been in contact with each other for a long time. That's what real friends do for each other, right? As these two people from completely different worlds come together, will they be able to get over those hurdles to become comfortable in each other's lives?

I loved becoming a part of Jake and Kat's lives as they rediscovered what is important in life while not forgetting where they came from. The support they have for each other is refreshing for sure. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel and can highly recommend And They Had a Great Fall for all of you romance readers out there who love great characters and beautiful settings. I'm excited to see what this author writes in the future.

I received an ARC of And They Had a Great Fall and this is my honest opinion of the book.

About the author

Shelby Saville resides in a suburb west of Chicago.  Despite her city living, she’s a small-town girl at heart. She grew up in a town of 2000 people where she spent her teenage years at her typewriter late into the night.  Her stories brought her to a world beyond the 1.6 square mile radius of her town. 

Her first writing job was for the Lacon Home Journal, where she covered the news of the town. She particularly loved writing obituaries, taking great care to convey the life of someone’s friend … sibling … lover…. But still the city was calling. 

She moved to Chicago when she got her dream job in the advertising industry. Throughout her career she realized she had an interest in digital media.  She’s spent the last 25 years at Publicis Media where she’s focused on media investment – quite simply – how advertising space is bought and sold. Most surprisingly, she found her career in numbers, not words. 

She’s returned to the world of words with her debut novel, And They Had A Great Fall.  It’s a second chance love story, set in a foreign city with a dash of a celebrity secret romance.  Writing this novel has felt like coming home as the two sides of her brain merge. 

When not at her computer, she can be found hanging with her husband, Scott, teenage daughter, three dogs and one mean cat.

Connect with Shelby

Website | Goodreads | Instagram | TikTok

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Release Day! The Heart of the Matter by Deanna Lynn Sletten ~ My Thoughts #TheHeartOfTheMatter @DeannaLSletten

Happy Release Day!

Congratulations Deanna

on the release today of

The Heart of the Matter!

The Heart of the Matter by Deanna Lynn Sletten

Women's Saga, 146 pages

Published March 11, 2025 by Deanna Lynn Sletten

There are two sides to every story, but you must be willing to listen.

Marsha Winslow believes she lives a charmed life. She has a loving husband, a successful business they built together, and a beautiful home overlooking the ocean in California. But when a devastating accident occurs only days before their twentieth wedding anniversary, Marsha must face some hard truths. Her life isn’t what she believed, and it’s up to her to face reality and fix the mess it’s become.

Amanda DeCarlo’s life was going along well. She is young, loves her job and the people she works with, and has worked her way up quickly. But the worst thing that could happen after a drunken one-night stand resulted in the best thing in her life. And the man responsible made sure to take care of her and her son—his son. But reality hits her hard when fate changes her life and she’s on the verge of losing everything. And the only person who can help her is the one who refuses to talk to her.

They say you should forgive and forget in order to move on. Marsha is unable to forget what happened to her. And the one person who holds the key to her understanding the truth is the only one who can also help her forgive.

My thoughts about The Heart of the Matter ~~ 

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First lines—"Marsha Winslow sat at her dressing table, applying the finishing touches to her make-up. She studied her face and neck, lightly tracing her fingertips over her pale skin. At forty-five years old, her skin still looked smooth."

As always, when I start a book by Deanna, I know I'm going to be in for a treat. I set aside time to completely immerse myself in the wonderfulness of her stories! The Heart of the Matter did not disappoint. 

Marsha's life basically falls apart in seconds and that's when she realizes that the life she had with her husband was all a lie. How could he do this to her? How can she get past his betrayal? And what is going to happen to Amanda and her family now that he is gone?

This is an emotional, heart-wrenching story of two women thrown together as they try to deal with the cards that were dealt to them. Both characters have their redeeming qualities and I was rooting for both of them, hoping there would be a good resolution for them but not sure how it could happen.

Once again, Deanna has created a world with a wonderful setting and memorable characters. She has written an emotional, uplifting story that will stay with me for a long time. I highly recommend The Heart of the Matter.

I received The Heart of the Matter from the author and this is my honest opinion of the book.

About the author

Deanna Lynn Sletten is the author of Mrs. Winchester's Biographer, The Ones We Leave Behind, The Women of Great Heron Lake, Maggie's Turn, The Lake Harriet Series, and several other titles. She writes compelling historical fiction, heartwarming women's fiction, romance novels, and murder mysteries. She has also written one middle-grade novel that takes you on the adventure of a lifetime

Deanna has recently begun a new murder mystery series, The Rachel Emery Series which includes The Truth About Rachel and Death Becomes You.

Deanna is married and has two grown children. When not writing, she enjoys walking the wooded trails around her home with her beautiful Australian Shepherd or relaxing on the lake in the summer. ~ Goodreads

Deanna loves hearing from her readers.

Connect with her here—

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? March 10, 2025 #IMWAYR

       

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are! 

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I live in South Dakota and what do we do? We talk about the weather whenever we can. So here goes! Last week, areas around us were under blizzard warnings. Here, we got a lot of wind but not very much snow, and really, really cold—like my car won't start cold. Now today we are supposed to get close to 70 degrees. And then back to winter—cold and snow by this weekend. I'll take the intermittent nice days, it gives us a little break from winter. Spring is right around the corner, right? Right?

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. 

Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

Remarkably Bright Creatures

by Shelby Van Pelt

e-book from my TBR collection

Published May 2022

Barely Visible: Mothering a Son Through His Misunderstood Autism

by Kathleen Somers

print ARC for review

Pub date ~ April 1

Cops and Clobbers in Deadwood

(Deadwood #14)

by Ann Charles

audio-book from my TBR

Published February 25, 2025

What I recently finished

The Shack

(The Seaside Saga #23)

by Joanne DeMaio

e-book for review

Published March 3, 2025

The Page Turner

by Viola Shipman

eARC for review

Pub date ~ April 8

What I am going to read next

Saving Ellen: A Memoir of Hope and Recovery

by Maura Casey

print ARC for review

Pub date ~ April 1

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!