It's Monday! What Are You Reading? October 9, 2017

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 am enjoying the long weekend, with Monday being Native American Day here in South Dakota, Columbus Day most other places. After a rainy week, the weekend has been just beautiful. The cooler/cold weather is coming though.

My youngest celebrates his 31st birthday today. I don't even want to think about how old my oldest is this year. Where does the time go? 

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

What I'm currently reading

The Comfort of Secrets: A Sweet Lake Novel (Sweet Lake #2)
by Christine Nolfi


Perfectly Good Crime (A Kate Bradley Mystery)
by Dete Meserve

Treachery in Death (In Death #32)
by J.D. Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen
(audio-book)

What I recently finished

Merry and Bright

by Debbie Macomber

Read my thoughts here.

A Little Bit of Grace

by Phoebe Fox

My thoughts will be posted soon. 

What I am going to read next

The Boyfriend Swap

by Meredith Schorr

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!

Book Spotlight Giveaway! The Ladies' Man by Elinor Lipman

I have sooooo many books! The Book Spotlight Giveaway feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to clear my shelves and to share some of the many books I have. This feature is a way for my to cull my collection and to give someone else the opportunity to enjoy these treasures.

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The book this week is another book club read from the past. I got this copy from a friend and now I'm passing it onto one of you. 

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!



The Ladies' Man

The Ladies' Man by Elinor Lipman
Hardcover, 260 pages
Published June 15th 1999 by Random House USA Inc

From the bestselling author of The Inn at Lake Devine and Isabel's Bed comes a darkly romantic comedy of manners that confirms Elinor Lipman's appointment to the Jane Austen chair in modern American sensibility.

Thirty unmarried years have passed since the barely suitable Harvey Nash failed to show up at a grand Boston hotel for his own engagement party. Today, the near-bride, Adele Dobbin, and her two sisters, Lois and Kathleen, blame Harvey for what unkind relatives call their spinsterhood, and what potential beaus might characterize as a leery, united front. The doorbell rings one cold April night. Harvey Nash, older, filled with regrets (sort of), more charming and arousable than ever, just in from the Coast, where he's reinvented himself as Nash Harvey, jingle composer and chronic bachelor, has returned to the scene of his first romantic crime. Despite the sisters' scars and grudges, despite his platinum tongue and roving eye, this old flame becomes an improbable catalyst for the untried and the long overdue.

The refined and level-headed Adele finds herself flirting with her boss--on public television. Entrepreneurial Kathleen is suddenly drinking cappuccino with Lorenz, the handsome doorman at the luxury high-rise where she owns a lingerie boutique. And Lois, the only sister to have embarked on the road to matrimony and, subsequently, divorce, revives her long-cherished notion that Harvey abandoned Adele rather than indulge his preference for another Dobbin.

Both comic and compassionate, The Ladies' Man has all of Lipman's trademark wit, wattage, and social mischief--with an extra bite.

  

About the author

Elinor Lipman is the author of 11 humorous novels about contemporary American society; essay and short story collections, and a book of rhyming political tweets.. Born and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, she graduated from Simmons College where she studied journalism. She lives in Manhattan, and received the New England Book award for fiction in 2001.

Her first novel, Then She Found Me, was adapted for the screen, starring Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth and Matthew Broderick. Her fourth novel, The Inn at Lake Devine was adapted for the off-off Broadway stage by Tongue in Cheek Theater. In 2011-2012, she held the Elizabeth Drew chair in creative writing at Smith College.

Connect with Elinor

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

New Release! Rattling the Heat in Deadwood by AnnCharles #RATTLINGtheHEAT #AnnWCharles

AVAILABLE NOW!!! 

Rattling the Heat in Deadwood 
(Deadwood 8)

Woo hoo! Violet Parker's newest adventure in Deadwood is ready for you to read. You'll laugh, you'll cringe, and you'll have a blast with Violet and crew in Rattling the Heat in Deadwood!

“Whip-smart. Hilariously funny. I’m packing my bags and moving to Deadwood.” ~ Pamela DuMond, USA Today Bestselling Author

“Fasten your seatbelt and get ready for another Deadwood roller coaster ride! Violet and the gang are back, and the stakes couldn't be higher. I loved it!!” ~ Kristy McCaffrey, Author of the Award-Winning Wings of the West Series

Rattling the Heat in Deadwood 

A scrappy, hot-blooded woman can only take so much!

Violet Parker is on fire … or rather under fire yet again. New evidence has fanned the embers of a cold murder case, and her alibi is smoldering at the corners. While battling a dogged detective determined to pin the murder on her, Violet scrambles to find the real killer. Will she escape “the heat” with singed tail feathers? Or will Violet go down in flames?

EBOOK Links*

Amazon | B&N Nook | Kobo | Apple

*Print books will be available via Amazon, participating vendors, and the Ann Charles Online Store around mid-October 2017. The Audio book version will be available in early 2018.

Check out whole the series here! 

The Deadwood series on Goodreads

About the author

Ann lives in the beautiful Northern Arizona mountains with her clever husband, charming kids, and an incredibly sassy cat. After many years and several colleges, she managed to obtain her Bachelor’s Degree in English with an emphasis on creative writing from the University of Washington.

Her books are mixed-genre mysteries full of mayhem and fun, romance and comedy, and whatever else feels right. Sisters in Crime was kind enough to let her join their membership years ago. In addition, she’s been a member of Romance Writers of America for so many moons that she’s lost count.

Ann has written a bunch of contemporary, award-winning novels in multiple series full of quirky characters with whom she loves to spend time as much as reality allows. Right now, while you’re reading this, she’s probably frolicking around in another story.

While her reading preferences range from adventure to horror to mystery, ever since she tried on her first training bra, she has loved a good mix of romance, too.

When she’s not dabbling in fiction, she’s penning writing-themed articles or standing on her workshop soapbox, sharing what she has learned over the years about the writing craft and self-promotion.

Connect with Ann

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

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

Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber ~ My Thoughts

Merry and Bright

Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber
Print and ebook, 288 pages
Published October 3rd 2017 by Ballantine Books

Merry Knight is pretty busy these days. She’s taking care of her family, baking cookies, decorating for the holidays, and hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of her stressed and by-the-book boss at the consulting firm where she temps. Her own social life is the last thing she has in mind, much less a man. Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her—minus her photo—and the matches start rolling in. Initially, Merry is incredulous, but she reluctantly decides to give it a whirl.

Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. Their online exchanges become the brightest part of her day. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects—or desires. Still, sometimes hearts can see what our eyes cannot. In this satisfying seasonal tale, unanticipated love is only a click away.

My thoughts about Merry and Bright ~~

(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 line—"'Mom, I need to work overtime, so I won't be home to help with dinner.' 'Again?' her mother moaned into the phone."

I love reading all the Christmas books that come out this time of year. And then to read a Christmas story by Debbie Macomber—that has got to be the ultimate! 

Merry and Bright is a wonderful glimpse into Merry's life—a busy life with family and work. She loves the holiday season and all that goes with it. But she has a curmudgeon of a boss—a bah-humbug kind of guy. In her personal life though, as she gets to know the mysterious Jay on an online dating service, she starts to think that maybe there is something to the whole 'romance' thing. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this story, like I have enjoyed all of Debbie's books. It is such a wonderful, feel-good story full of the Christmas spirit and lots of love.  

I received a copy of Merry and Bright from Penguin Random House via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

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About the author

Debbie Macomber is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers with more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. In her novels, Macomber brings to life compelling relationships that embrace family and enduring friendships, uplifting her readers with stories of connection and hope. Macomber’s novels have spent over 1,000 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Thirteen of these novels hit the number one spot.

In 2017, Macomber’s all-new hardcover publications include If Not for You (March), Any Dream Will Do (August), and Merry and Bright (October). In addition to fiction, Macomber has also published two bestselling cookbooks, an adult coloring book, numerous inspirational and nonfiction works, and two acclaimed children’s books.

Celebrated as “the official storyteller of Christmas”, Macomber’s annual Christmas books are beloved and five have been crafted into original Hallmark Channel movies. Macomber is also the author of the bestselling Cedar Cove Series which the Hallmark Channel chose as the basis for its first dramatic scripted television series. Debuting in 2013, Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove was a ratings favorite for three seasons.

Macomber owns The Grey House Café, which also features a gift shop and a Hallmark Gold Crown store inside. It is located in the Village Square campus, which also serves as Debbie’s corporate headquarters.

She serves on the Guideposts National Advisory Cabinet, is a YFC National Ambassador, and is World Vision’s international spokesperson for their Knit for Kids charity initiative. A devoted grandmother, Debbie and Wayne live in Port Orchard, Washington, the town which inspired the Cedar Cove series

Connect with Debbie

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

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Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? October 2, 2017

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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Another busy week and weekend. Stuff going on every night, with grandkiddo duty a couple of evenings. One of the highlights of the week was Wednesday night. I had dinner that night with three of my friends.

The four of us became friends because we were each a friend of a very special person, Kris. She passed away a year and half ago from cancer (I HATE CANCER!!) and we vowed to her that we would continue our friendship, even though she was gone. We ate, drank, talked, laughed, and supported each other for over 3 hours. It had been too long and we have now set a time each month to get together—it's our dinner club. Kris was notorious for her 'clubs'. It was her way of staying connected to her friends. Do you have friends who you make an effort to get together with on a regular basis. Good friends are so important!

My book club met on Thursday night to discuss The Zookeeper's Daughter. Have you read it or seen the movie? Be sure and enter my giveaway to win a copy of the book!

And then Friday through Sunday, we were out of town for my daughter's wedding. It was a small celebration but it was a packed weekend. It was fun spending time with family and it is awesome to see her so happy. 💕 

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

What I'm currently reading

A Little Bit of Grace

by Phoebe Fox 

Treachery in Death (In Death #32)
by J.D. Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen
(audio-book)

What I recently finished

The Zookeeper's Wife
by Diane Ackerman
Enter my giveaway to win a copy!

What I am going to read next

Merry and Bright

by Debbie Macomber

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!