Monday, March 20, 2023
It's Monday! What Are You Reading? March 20, 2023 #IMWAYR
Saturday, March 18, 2023
This OR That #Giveaway № 96 ~ My Ex-Life by Stephen McCauley OR The God Game by Danny Tobey #MyExLife #TheGodGame
Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
Release Day! Scent of Magnolia by Ashley Farley ~ My Thoughts #ScentOfMagnolia @AshleyWFarley

Ashley is a wife and mother of two young adult children. While she's lived in Richmond, Virginia for the past 21 years, a piece of her heart remains in the salty marshes of the South Carolina Lowcountry, where she still calls home. Through the eyes of her characters, she captures the moss-draped trees, delectable cuisine, and kindhearted folk with lazy drawls that make the area so unique. For more information, visit www.ashleyfarley.com ~ Goodreads
New Release! Lost at Sea by Patricia Sands ~ My Thoughts #LostAtSea
For every family that is Italian going back several generations, this will sound familiar: It's a known fact that Italian women are passionate about everything, especially family, and they know that food is the essence of life.
Stephanie (Stevie) Valentini's story begins with her Bisnonna (great-grandmother) Paola in a village in Italy after WW2. In 2021, she is searching for something. She's just not sure what that something is.
The chef in her family's trattoria, Stephanie's life has imploded. Suddenly single, suffering from Covid burnout, and about to turn thirty, she impulsively agrees to help best friend Kim with her pop-up jewelry shop on a Mediterranean cruise. Feeling lost, she's not convinced she even needs to be found. What she discovers on this voyage is magic that might change her forever.
This gourmet food cruise is on a small ship with ten stops of three days in exciting ports from Barcelona to Venice. Time with Kim can only help heal Stephanie's wounded heart as they have laughed and cried their way through life together as only besties can. They will be crew on this cruise and not paying passengers. Kim understands Stephanie does not want anyone to know she is the TikTok star of Stevie Valentini's Pasta Party. Nor does she want any romance.
With each passing port, adventures continue, surprises occur and the final outcome once Venice is reached could not have been anticipated, particularly by Stephanie.
Join bestselling author Patricia Sands as she whisks you away in the latest adventure in the Sail Away series. Lose yourself on the sparkling Mediterranean in a story of family, friendship and food.
My thoughts about Lost at Sea ~
(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 line.)
First line—"For every family that is Italian going back several generations, this will sound familiar: It's a known fact that Italian women are passionate about everything, especially family, and they know that food is the essence of life."
I'm a huge fan of this series and I especially love the work of this week's author. Patricia Sands' stories always take me on wonderful, little vacations, allowing me to escape my life for a bit. Lost at Sea was just the mini vacation I needed right now. I was able to spend time on a wonderful cruise full of fantastic people, beautiful scenery and tempting, yummy-sounding food.
Stevie Valentini is burnt out and goes on this cruise with her best friend, to get away from her career and to reset her life. Not wanting to outed for the wonderful chef that she is, she makes friends and keeps her identify a secret. That was fun to watch, as she tries to rein in her foodie expertise.
Like all the books in this series, Stevie learns so much about herself while cruising and is on the path for figuring out her life. Lost at Sea will sweep you up and land you in an amazing place, enjoying the beautiful scenery just as if you were there. I could almost smell the wonderful aromas of the food they all enjoyed. Thanks, Patricia, for once again allowing me to enjoy this little trip to another world.
I highly recommend Lost at Sea, as well as this whole series, as an escape and as a way to experience the fun of a cruise or two, or eight.
I received a copy of Lost at Sea from the author and this is my honest opinion.
**********************
Get ready to set sail on the trip of a lifetime! Eight amazing authors have come together to create this fun series, each book set on a cruise ship but with individual stories and characters. I have read a few of these authors, and love them already. Some are new-to-me authors but I'm excited to give their books a try.
Welcome Aboard contains the prologue to each story so the reader can get a taste of the story before it comes out. I have to admit that I am intrigued by all of them and can't wait to read all of the stories. Some of the characters have already grabbed my heart.
You can snag Welcome Aboard for free right now. Check it out and then sit back and wait in anticipation for each release, like I will be. I know it's going to be fun!
★ Don’t miss a Sail Away book! ★
Book 1: Welcome Aboard – prologue book
Book 2: The Sound of the Sea by Jessie Newton
Book 3: Uncharted Waters by Tammy L. Grace
Book 4: A Not So Distant Shore by Ev Bishop
Book 5: Caroline, Adrift by Kay Bratt
Book 6: Moonlight On the Lido Deck by Violet Howe
Book 7: The Winning Tickets by Judith Keim
Book 8: Lost At Sea by Patricia Sands
Book 9: The Last Port of Call by Elizabeth Bromke
******************
Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
Release Day! All the Pretty Girls by Deanna Lynn Sletten ~ My Thoughts and 3-Book #Giveaway! #AllThePrettyGirls @DeannaLSletten

Release Day! No More Secrets by Kerry Lonsdale ~ My Thoughts #NoMoreSecrets @kerrylonsdale
A young man seeks redemption from his past in the third novel from the No More trilogy by Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kerry Lonsdale.
After serving six months in a juvenile detention center, Lucas Carson returns home irrevocably changed by what happened there. Traumatized, Lucas shuts himself out from everyone he loves, even his younger sister, Lily, who ran away from home when she was pregnant at sixteen. When Lily resurfaces years later, Lucas can’t cope with his guilt about not being there for her. He takes off, only to cross paths with Shiloh Bloom—fifteen, homeless, and, like Lucas, escaping the past.
All Lucas sees in her is the little sister he neglected. Believing this is his chance to absolve past mistakes, he takes Shiloh in. He gives her food and shelter. She gives him a purpose. Together they invent a background for her and form a bond. But the risk of discovery grows. Lucas’s sisters aren’t the only ones looking for him. So are Shiloh’s mother and the police. If Lucas wants to heal and have a future, he must stop running and face everything he’s left behind.
Release Day! In My Life by Kay Bratt ~ My Thoughts #InMyLife @kaybratt
As a writer, Kay used writing to help her navigate a tumultuous childhood, followed by a decade of abuse as an adult. After working her way through the hard years, Kay emerged a survivor and a pursuer of peace--and finally found the courage to share her stories. She is the author of more than a dozen full length books, with ten of those published by Lake Union Publishing. Kay writes women's fiction and historical fiction, and her books have fueled many exciting book club discussions. Her works have been translated into German, Korean, Chinese, Czechoslovakian, and Estonian.
As a rescuer, Kay currently focuses her efforts on animal rescue and is the Director of Advocacy for Yorkie Rescue of the Carolinas. As a child advocate, she spent a number of years volunteering in a Chinese orphanage, as well as provided assistance for several nonprofit organizations that support children in China, including An Orphan's Wish (AOW), Pearl River Outreach, and Love Without Boundaries. In the USA, she actively served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for abused and neglected children in Georgia, and spear-headed numerous outreach programs for underprivileged children in the South Carolina area.
As a wanderer, Kay has lived in nearly three dozen different homes, on two continents and in states from coast to coast in the USA. She's traveled to Mexico, Thailand, Malaysia, China, Philippines, Central America, Bahamas, and Australia. Currently she and her soulmate of more than 25 years enjoy life in their forever home on the banks of Lake Hartwell in Georgia, USA.
Kay has been described as southern, spicy, and a little sassy. Social media forces her to overshare and you don't want to miss some of the antics that goes on with her and the Bratt Pack.