Peoples' expectations can make you or break you. Aurora Stone knows what it's like to be raised under heavy expectations. From an early age, her parents' laid the law down and she'd never strayed off the path that they had laid before her. She kept every rule they ever gave her and for every rule she broke, she felt immense guilt whilst her little sister made it her life's mission to break the rules. "Everyone calls me perfect; the perfect daughter, the perfect student, the perfect friend, practically perfect in every way, I might as well be fricking Mary Poppins. I was brought up on a list of rules and I don't remember the last time I broke one..." Don't drink to excess and never get drunk. Don't do drugs, not even just to try it, just don't do it. Don't lie, never cheat on a test. Always be the best, get the best results, be competitive but be generous and gracious. Don't do anything that might put you in danger. Work hard, be selfless. Don't dress inappropriately; only wear skirts that fall below the knee. No piercings and definitely no tattoos. Don't gamble. Do charity work. Go to church, sing in the choir, find yourself a nice Christian boy and settle down, get married, have children, and above all else never ever have sex outside of wedlock. The list of rules seems endless. Aurora decides on a night out with her friends that she wants to break the rules, so when she sees Landon sat at the bar watching her, she makes a split second decision that might just change her life, one broken rule at a time. When Landon offers to help her break the rules, he doesn't expect her to break his rules too. Aurora Stone knows what it means to keep the rules. She’s lived with the expectations of the people around her. The only person whose expectations aren’t met? Hers. On the spur of the moment, Aurora decides to break the rules. Only the list seems endless and Aurora is a little overwhelmed by it. When she sees Landon sat at the bar watching her, she makes a split second decision that might just change her life, one broken rule at a time. The list of broken rules quickly exceeds the number of rules they keep as they embark on this whirl wind adventure of control and chaos. ~My Review ~This was a steamy romance about the good girl and bad boy that's been overdone, quite frankly. But Hanleigh wrote it with both protagonist's point of view and we were privy to read both thoughts and motivation. Both characters were developed and there was still enough mystery and allure that kept my interest. ***I received this book in exchange for an honest review. However, these thoughts and opinions are my own. I'm not required to write a positive review.*** About the AuthorHanleigh loves books more than nearly anything in the world; whether its reading them or writing them, Hanleigh just can't get enough. She relishes in the way authors can create worlds with the words they put in their books. She loves the way your imagination introduces you to a new world when you read a book. It may well be a world completely foreign to the one you live in. That world is brought to life; inspires you to dream, captivates your imagination, entices your senses.
Hanleigh first took to reading as a small child reading Dr Zeus. She then fell in love with romance literature when she first read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; when she first swooned over Mr Darcy. She's read more books than she can count and owns more books than some libraries. Although born in Scotland, she sometimes wishes she could live inside the world that she can create inside her mind, but since that isn't possible she puts pen to paper and shares that world with this world instead. There is something addictive about being able to mould your words into something that causes the reader to fall into your mind. When you put pen to paper and create a world, it's exhilarating. Every word has meaning. You know every character intimately. You know every secret, every whisper, every smell, every look,; as the author you know the world you created and more so than even the most avid of readers you can get lost in your own creation. Social Media Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/authorhanleigh/ Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14468232.Hanleigh_Bradley Twitter - https://twitter.com/HanleighBradley Website - www.hanleighbradley.co.uk
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What if you fall in love and your family thinks you are crazy? Sonia too gets in a similar situation. Sonia, a submissive and people-pleasing girl falls in love with the chirpy girl Esha. Their common passion for painting brings them closer. Sonia realizes that no one in her family will accept her relationship with Esha. But her heart and emotional state are beyond the control of her own mind. At first, they keep their relationship on the hush. Unfortunately, their secret comes out in an ugly way and havoc breaks loose. Will Sonia stand up for herself and withstand the pressure of not following the cultural norms? Are they destined to meet? Can Sonia and Esha live happily ever after? Breaking Norms is a captivating and engrossing tale of love, agony and tolerance. ~ My Review ~I must admit that when I was first approached to read this book, I was apprehensive. I've never read any LGBT love story before and I wasn't sure what to expect.....and whatever it was that I thought I was expecting flew out the window as soon as I read Sonia's words. Given her Indian culture and background, I'm sure Sonia would be just as confused about her feelings towards the same sex but she knew what was love and for who....and from the beginning, she was sure this was the person she was meant to be with. Love is love is love. If you took out the LGBT aspect of this story, you are presented with a touching romance between two people who had to overcome familial pressures and cultural ideals. When you add in the LGBT aspect of it, you get a beautifully painted love affair between two women Breaking Norms. Well done and congrats, Mita Balani on your debut! Your words crafted a touching love story. About the AuthorPeople around Mita Balani say she is a cheerful and genuinely happy person. She believes that she is a hopeless romantic at heart. Her kids say she is the best mom ever while her husband calls out that she scares the heck out of him when she is angry.
Mita writes contemporary fiction on relationships, love, and social issues. She enjoys crafting stories about family, friendship, hurt, and characters who face challenges and find the way out. She loves to bring out the strong side and sad emotions of those characters during their struggle. No matter how much agony the characters go through, she loves to see them happy at the end. Mita was born in a small town of India and has been living in the United States for several years. Growing up, she cherished writing stories and reciting poems. In engineering college, where most of her classmates published technical papers, she enjoyed taking part in storytelling contests, debates, and poetry competitions. Today she has a successful career in Information Technology, but she still loves writing stories and poems. Breaking Norms is her first foray in writing a novel. To find out more about Mita and her writing, find her at: www.mitabalani.com https://www.facebook.com/MitaBalaniAuthor/ https://www.instagram.com/mitabalani/ https://twitter.com/MitaBalani https://www.pinterest.com/mitabalani/ http://www.goodreads.com/mitabalani
This is my stop during the book blitz for Sunsets at Seaside by Addison Cole. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 23 august till 5 September. See the tour schedule here: http://www.lolasblogtours.net/book-blitz-sunsets-at-seaside-by-addison-cole
![]() Sunsets at Seaside (Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers #4) By Addison Cole Genre: Sweet Contemporary Romance Age category: New Adult, Adult Release Date: 23 August, 2017
Blurb:
Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers features a group of fun, flirty, and emotional friends who gather each summer at their Cape Cod cottages. They’re sassy, flawed, and so easy to relate to, you’ll be begging to enter their circle of friends! Sunsets at Seaside by Addison Cole is the sweet edition of New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster's steamy romance novel Seaside Sunsets. The stories and characters remain the same, and convey all of the passion you expect between two people in love, without any explicit scenes or harsh language. In SUNSETS at SEASIDE… Jessica Ayers has lived a sheltered life with little more than cello lessons and practices taking up her day. Now a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, she escapes the prim and proper symphony to vacation in the Seaside community in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, to determine if she is living life to the fullest or missing it altogether. For the first time since developing the second largest search engine in the world, billionaire Jamie Reed is taking the summer off. He plans to work from the Cape and spend time with his elderly grandmother—and falling in love is not in his plans. From the moment Jamie and Jessica meet, the attraction is white-hot. Once-overly-focused Jamie can think of little else than sweet, smart, and alluring Jessica, and Jessica discovers a side of herself she never knew existed. But when Jamie’s business encounters trouble and his attorney and best friend intervenes, he proves that the brown-haired beauty is too distracting for Jamie. To make matters worse, it appears that Jessica might not be who she says she is, turning Jamie’s life—and his heart—upside down. In a world where personal information is always one click away, Jamie must decide if he should trust his heart or watch the woman he loves walk away. You can find Sunsets at Seaside on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34993164-sunsets-at-seasid
You can buy Sunsets at Seaside here:
- Amazon: http://smarturl.it/SAS_Lola - Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2qCip8z - Kobo: http://smarturl.it/SweetSAS_Kobo - iBook: http://apple.co/2p0tzXJ - Google Play: http://bit.ly/2pKwumx - Paperback: http://smarturl.it/SweetSAS_Pb Excerpt
“Come on. Come on. Come on.” Fifteen seconds. She clenched her eyes shut and squeezed the phone, as if she could will the win. It was only seven thirty in the morning, and already the sun had blazed a path through the trees. She was hot and frustrated, and after fighting with her orchestra manager for two weeks about taking a hiatus, and her mother for even longer about everything under the sun, she was ready to blow. She’d come to the Cape for a respite from playing in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, hoping to figure out if she was living her life to the fullest, or missing out on it altogether. Finding her father’s baseball autographed by Mickey Mantle was her self-imposed distraction to keep her mind off picking up the cello. She’d never imagined she’d find it a week into her vacation.
She opened her eyes and stared at the phone. Five seconds. Four. Three. A message flashed on the screen. You have been outbid by another bidder. “What? No. No, no, no.” She pressed the bid icon, and nothing happened. She pressed it again, and again, her muscles tightening with each attempt. Another message flashed on the screen. Bidding for this item has ended. No! She stared at the phone, unable to believe she’d been seconds away from winning what she was sure was her father’s baseball and had lost it. She hated phones. She hated eBay. She hated bidding against nonexistent people in tiny little stupid phones. She hated the whole thing so much she turned and hurled the phone over the deck. Wow. That felt really, really good. “Ouch! What the…” A deep male voice rose up to her. Jessica crouched and peered between the balusters. Standing on the gravel road just a few feet from her building, in a pair of black running shorts and no shirt, was the nicest butt she’d ever seen, attached to a tanned back that was glistening with sweat and rippled with muscles. Holy moly, they didn’t make orchestra musicians with bodies like that. Not that she’d know, considering that they were always properly covered in black suits and white shirts, but could a body like that even be hidden? He turned, one hand rubbing his unruly black hair as he looked up at the pitch pine trees. Yeah, you won’t find the culprit there. His eyes passed by her deck, and she cringed. At least he hadn’t seen her phone, which she spotted a few feet away, where it must have fallen after conking him on the head. His eyes dropped to the ground…and traveled directly to it. Jessica ducked lower, watching his brows knit together, giving him a brooding, sexy look. Please don’t see me. Please don’t see me. He looked at the cottages to his left, then to the pool off to his right, and just as Jessica sighed with relief, he crossed the road toward the steps to her apartment. His eyes locked on her. He shaded them with his hand and looked down at the phone, then back up at her, and lifted the phone in the air. “Is this yours?” She debated staying there, crouched and peering between the railings like a child playing hide-and-seek, hoping he really couldn’t see her. I’ve been seeked. Darn it!
Earlier books in this series:
Read, Write, Love at Seaside (Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers #1): https://www.amazon.com/Read-Write-Love-Seaside-Sweet-ebook/dp/B0711C22JY/ Dreaming at Seaside (Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers #2): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0722PTFLZ/ Hearts at Seaside (Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers #3): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0727XKSFR/ Get Read, Write Love at Seaside for free here: - Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Read-Write-Love-Seaside-Sweet-ebook/dp/B0711C22JY/ - B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/read-write-love-at-seaside-addison-cole/1126323563?ean=2940157541002 - Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/read-write-love-at-seaside - iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/read-write-love-at-seaside/id1232646968?mt=11 - Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Addison_Cole_Read_Write_Love_at_Seaside?id=gkPGDgAAQBAJ Upcoming books in this series: Secrets at Seaside (releasing October 25th) Nights at Seaside (releasing December 13th) Seized by Love at Seaside Embraced at Seaside Lovers at Seaside Whispers at Seaside About the Author![]()
SIGN UP for ADDISON'S Sweet with Heat newsletter. Fun, flirty romance with a dash of heat. www.AddisonCole.com/Newsletter
Addison Cole is the sweet alter ego of New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Melissa Foster. She writes humorous and emotional sweet contemporary romance. Her books do not include explicit sex scenes or harsh language. Addison spends her summers on Cape Cod, where she dreams up wonderful love stories in her house overlooking Cape Cod Bay. Addison enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups and welcomes an invitation to your event. Addison’s books are available in paperback, digital, and audio formats.
You can find and contact Addison Cole here:
- Website: http://www.AddisonCole.Com - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AddisonColeAuthor - Twitter: https://twitter.com/Addison_Cole_ - Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16711767.Addison_Cole - Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Addison-Cole/e/B0722PVZTS/ - Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Addison_Cole - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/addison_cole_author - Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/111069679807608701878/111069679807608701878 - Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/addison-cole - Newsletter: http://www.AddisonCole.com/Newslette
Giveaway
There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of Sunsets at Seaside. One winner will win a $10 Amazon.com giftcard or Paypal Cash (winners choice) – Open International. For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below: Beard in Mind, an all new standalone in the bestselling, romantic comedy Winston Brothers Series by Penny Reid, is available NOW! All is fair in love and auto maintenance. Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in the world. Usually. Handsome as the devil and twice as charismatic, Beau lives a charmed life as everyone’s favorite Winston Brother. But since his twin decided to leave town, and his other brother hired a stunning human-porcupine hybrid as a replacement mechanic for their auto shop, Beau Winston’s charmed life has gone to hell in a handbasket. Shelly Sullivan is not nice and is never accommodating. Ever. She mumbles to herself, but won’t respond when asked a question. She glares at everyone, especially babies. She won’t shake hands with or touch another person, but has no problems cuddling with a dog. And her damn parrot speaks only in curse words. Beau wants her gone. He wants her out of his auto shop, out of Tennessee, and out of his life. The only problem is, learning why this porcupine wears her coat of spikes opens a Pandora’s box of complexity—exquisite, tempting, heartbreaking complexity—and Beau Winston soon discovers being nice and accommodating might mean losing what matters most. For my review on Beard in Mind, click here. Excerpt: She’d taken the sofa, in her own house, and given me the bed. That didn’t make a lick of sense. I crouched next to her, threading my fingers into the silky hair at her temples. “Honey.” “Mmm.” I bent to whisper, “Shelly.” “Hmm?” “I’m going to carry you to your bed. I’ll take the sofa.” “Mmm.” I grinned at her soft noises, at the untroubled expression on her face, and how her brow—even in sleep—still looked regal and stern. Sliding my arms under her legs and shoulder, I picked her up. And, unfortunately, that woke her up. She jerked in my arms. “What are you doing?” “I’m taking you to the bed.” “Don’t do that.” “I don’t mind, I’ll take the sofa.” Our mouths were just inches apart, and hers was distracting. She squirmed. “Put me down.” Sighing unhappily, I did. I set her on her feet next to the couch. The blanket pooled at her feet and I stepped back to give her some space. It was dark, but I could see her just fine, and that meant I had to force my eyes to remain above her neck. The woman was wearing two pathetic scraps of fabric as pajamas. A thin little tank top and shorts. That’s it. I set my jaw and turned to the side, waiting for her to walk past. “Where are you?” I glanced at her and realized she couldn’t see at all. She didn’t have a hand out, but the way her eyes were moving about the room gave away her blindness. “I’m here.” I didn’t touch her, because if I did, I wouldn’t want to stop. Shelly turned her head in my direction and took a deep breath. Still she didn’t reach for me. I didn’t know the specifics of what to expect after her Friday session, but I recalled Dr. West saying something about Shelly doing self-guided ERP exercises over this week. “Can you see?” She licked her lips, her voice sandpapery. “Because I can’t see at all. It’s so dark.” “I can see.” Unbidden, my eyes dropped to her body, to the swell of her breasts, the panel of bare stomach, the curve of her hips. Pinpricks of heat raised over my skin and I curled my hands into fists. She shuffled forward and I caught her before she bumped into me, setting my hands gently at her waist. “Let me take you to your room.” My voice was rough, for obvious reasons. Saying nothing, she brought her hand to my forearm, her body gently colliding with mine. And then her hand on my arm slid up my bicep to my shoulder. “Shelly.” I was running out of breath. “I like this.” “What?” “Touching you.” Oh fuck. I held still and endured her hands moving over my body, down the front of my shirt, stopping at the hem, then pushing it up. “Take this off.” I did. I pulled the T-shirt over my head and let it drop to the floor. We stood there, facing each other in the dark, not touching. Despite the session on Friday and the progress that had been made, I realized she wasn’t quite there yet. Dr. West was right, Friday was just a step, the first step. Shelly wasn’t able to initiate contact. Not yet. Her hands balled into fists and she swayed forward, her breath struggling little puffs. If anything was going to happen tonight, I had to initiate it. I had to be the one to touch first. God, how I wanted her. How I wanted her above me, beneath me, surrounding me. But how could I? “I know why I hesitate,” her voice was breathless, “but why do you hesitate?” “Lots of reasons.” “Give me one.” “I don’t want to you use you.” “I wish you would.” That pulled a laugh from me, just a small relief from the mounting tension. My eyes moved over her body, an undeniable impulse to devour the sight of her, her legs, stomach, chest, then up her neck to her lips. “You asked me on Saturday if sex was a big deal for me, or if it was you. The answer is both.” She held very still, and I got the sense she was holding her breath, straining to listen. “You are a big deal to me. I don’t want a fling. I don’t want a flirtation. I want promises.” “What can I promise you?” That you’ll love me. That I’ll be your priority. She shifted her weight from foot to foot. A spike of anxiety that she might leave me like this had me acting without forethought. I lifted my hands to her waist again and immediately, her fingertips skimmed over skin of my lower stomach in response, making my muscles tense in hot anticipation. She grew more assertive as she caressed my sides, abdomen, ribs, chest, shoulders, and then back down. Shelly stepped closer, a hint of thrilling contact between her breasts and my torso, and all the words and worries melted from my mind, died on my tongue, suffocated by the feel of her body, and the possibility of this moment. Her finger hooked in the waistband of my jeans. “Take these off.” Her hand turned, her fingers and palm cupping me over my zipper. Instinctively, I pressed myself into her touch even as I grabbed her wrist. “Beau, I promise—” She didn’t get to speak, because I kissed her, hard and wild, unbuttoning and unzipping my fly with one hand and bringing her palm inside my boxers with the other. Read Today! (Free in Kindle Unlimited) Amazon US:http://amzn.to/2f53VN9 Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2uRxDdZ Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2u0lZPk Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2whOBQB Add to GoodReads: https://goo.gl/hsTLLC Enter the Giveaway! http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ee2f7e8636/? About the Author![]() Penny Reid is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. When she’s not immersed in penning smart romances, Penny works in the biotech industry as a researcher. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja. Connect with Penny: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PennyReidWriter/ Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lakzsD Twitter: @ReidRomance Newsletter: http://pennyreid.ninja/newsletter/ www.pennyreid.ninja Rachel Montgomery’s family doesn’t think she can change—but she’s going to prove them wrong… What could be more out of character for overly-cautious Rachel than moving sight unseen to the small town of Birch Valley to become the principal of the town’s only elementary school? When she arrives late on her first day, she realizes no one was expecting her, leading to conflict with the staff—and particularly with one handsome, emerald-eyed fourth grade teacher. Liam O’Brien’s life is simple and easygoing, just the way he likes it—until he shows up for school following the holiday break… Not only is his new boss the rude woman who stole his parking spot, she’s highly motivated to switch things up in his very traditional school, and Liam is not a fan of change. His inexplicable attraction to the petite blonde complicates matters, as Rachel is adamant that she didn’t move all the way to Birch Valley to get involved in any kind of romance. But as conflicts are resolved, family ties might draw Liam and Rachel together… Rachel discovers Liam’s family is loving and supportive, particularly his mother Mary—unlike Rachel’s own mother. She bonds with his brothers and his sister Maggie, and it almost seems too good to be true. Can they work through their differences and compromise enough to build a lasting relationship? Or will Rachel be unable to let her guard down long enough to take a chance on… Loving Liam ~ My Review ~I've been wanting to read this book for awhile. And perhaps because it's been hotter than Hades outside, I particularly loved that I can escape to a dreamy winter wonderland. I've only read one other book of Gloria Herrnamm and I knew that this book would be just as descriptive and sound breathtaking. Much like her other book, it also showcases family dynamics. Rachel's family is cold, and almost calculating. Whereas, the O’Brien’s are loud, funny, supportive and very Irish. Rachel being the outsider doesn't take long to fit in with Liam's family. Or perhaps, because of her family issues, it's easy to see how she can fall just as hard for a wonderful family. This is a perfect rainy day read. It moved the two together in a typical romantic fashion but it's not overtly cheesy and the characters were developed enough that we root for the happy ever after....and not just for these two but for the entire family. Way to start a series, Gloria! I'm loving Liam and can't wait to see what happens next!!!! About the AuthorGloria Herrmann is a romance author living in beautiful eastern Washington. She is an avid reader and lover of words, and becoming an author has been a dream come true for her. She still pinches herself all the time and wonders how she got so lucky.
Her debut novel, Loving Liam, the first book in The Cloverleaf Series was released in October of 2015, and three more titles from that series were released by Limitless Publishing. Gloria wrote Single in Seattle, a three-book erotic contemporary series that will be released by Totally Bound in 2017. She has several self-published titles, including The Pass Through, which hit #1 in Native American Literature on Amazon. To find out more about her books and current projects, please visit the links below. www.facebook.com/AuthorGloriaHerrmann www.instagram.com/gloriaiswriting www.twitter.com/gloriaiswriting AMAZON amazon.com/author/gloriaherrmann GOODREADS www.goodreads.com/authorgloriaherrmann LIMITLESS PUBLISHING www.limitlesspublishing.net/authors/gloria-herrmann TOTALLY BOUND PUBLISHING: www.totallybound.com/author/gloria-herrmann Beard in Mind, an all new standalone in the bestselling, romantic comedy Winston Brothers Series by Penny Reid, is coming August 1st! All is fair in love and auto maintenance. Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in the world. Usually. Handsome as the devil and twice as charismatic, Beau lives a charmed life as everyone’s favorite Winston Brother. But since his twin decided to leave town, and his other brother hired a stunning human-porcupine hybrid as a replacement mechanic for their auto shop, Beau Winston’s charmed life has gone to hell in a handbasket. Shelly Sullivan is not nice and is never accommodating. Ever. She mumbles to herself, but won’t respond when asked a question. She glares at everyone, especially babies. She won’t shake hands with or touch another person, but has no problems cuddling with a dog. And her damn parrot speaks only in curse words. Beau wants her gone. He wants her out of his auto shop, out of Tennessee, and out of his life. The only problem is, learning why this porcupine wears her coat of spikes opens a Pandora’s box of complexity—exquisite, tempting, heartbreaking complexity—and Beau Winston soon discovers being nice and accommodating might mean losing what matters most. Preorder Today! iBooks: https://goo.gl/BA5x97 Nook: https://goo.gl/w3HDg3 Kobo: https://goo.gl/KCYbMK Google Play: https://goo.gl/MFzSCL Add to GoodReads: https://goo.gl/hsTLLC ~ My Review ~My favorite Winston brother will always be Cletus. I like the shrewdness and the unapologetic mischief he gets his siblings in. But I must say that out of all the Penny Reid's Knitting in the City and the Winston Brothers series, I'm was very torn on this one. We saw glimpses of Shelly and Beau from the Cletus' Beard Science. Penny hinted that Shelly was quirky and was depicted as "odd" and "cold." I braced myself with this story. I was excited for Beau but wasn't sure if I would like Shelly. Unlike all the other books where I read fast and laughed and hollered and reread it again before the sun came up, I took my time with this book. I felt like it needed to be read slow, with grace and understanding. I appreciate this book. I appreciate the pace she took to take this complex character that is Shelly Sullivan, and dissect her in such a way that it that didn't feel invasive. I grew up with a sibling who has OCD and it's hard to take all that I know, all that I have seen and lived with, and then to read about a character with this disorder and just hope that it doesn't become too stereotypical and pitying. And she wasn't. In typical Penny style, Beard in Mind gives us strong and flawed characters who own their faults and carry their pasts like shields. It's also sprinkled with dry humor and wit that allows us to catch our breath from the gravity and lessons and truths that accompany a person with a mental disorder. Bravo, Penny. I think you did an amazing job depicting someone with the disorder.....I have generalized anxiety and I found myself stopping every so often during the sessions and repeating affirmations. I am not my compulsions. We are not our disorders. We are more than labels assigned to our neurosis. I loved that you had a strong, albeit wrecked character, actively seeking help. Sidenote: I love Dr. West. I am always a little grateful when I read about a character speaking with a therapist and deconstructing what therapy is like for people who need help. You also made sure to point out a few times that OCD looks different for everyone. Another sidenote: I love your notes from the author section. Thank you! Most of all, I love that the acknowledgement in the end that essentially says, yes, I am broken and that's okay. "Perfect is boring." ***I received this book in exchange for an honest review. However, these thoughts and opinions are my own. I'm not required to write a positive review.*** About the AuthorPenny Reid is the USA Today Best Selling Author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. When she’s not immersed in penning smart romances, Penny works in the biotech industry as a researcher. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.
Website: http://pennyreid.ninja/ Twitter: @ReidRomance Facebook: https://wwww.facebook.com/PennyReidWriter/ Dining and Driving With Cats - Alice Unplugged is a heartwarming and beguiling adventure of a couple who shares a love that most of us only imagine. Pat Patterson is a born storyteller and makes readers feel as if they are part of the road trip. This book is as much a story of sweet devotion as it is an exquisite example of discovering life's hidden joys in the smallest of everyday experiences. Not since Michael Ondaatje’s hypnotic voice in The English Patient has a book spoken with such an allure for the reader. You might even spot a bit of Irish in the author and his spouse's detailed arguments comparing a dish from one restaurant to the same of another restaurant. They, along with the cats, dine frequently during a sometimes hilarious but always romantic auto trip across the South. As the miles flip the odometer, we are given insight into how this unusual relationship between the couple came to be, evolved, and gradually, at the end revealed in a secret you didn’t see coming. What, you say? There is a twist in a dining dialogue? Yes! And you’ll just have to read it for yourself–no spoilers here. Dialogue is so natural between the two; you’ll swear he recorded the entire trip. Alice is revealed in the first pages as a real life brainy, successful business woman enjoying life in San Miguel de Allende a small cathedral town high in the Central Mexican foothills. For over thirty years she lived in Washington D.C.. When she was fresh out of grad school and managing her firm’s D.C. office she captured the heart of a young man who came in from the rain. He fell hard. He pursued her. She said no –she told him she had cats. What she didn’t tell him was that she also had a secret. Over thirty years have passed since Alice revealed her secret. The young man is no longer young but he still pursues her. She calls him hubby. This is their story of a shared love for travel and history, for food and for their sweet and wily cats Munchie and Tuffy. You might also say the book is unusual in that it totally engages the reader from the first page without a hint of violence, bloodshed, graphic sex, drugs or language. The author's main character (besides the two cats) Alice, does say "you bastards" once. Alice is supremely self-confident and comfortable in her own skin as we learn early on when she promises the author a vehicle of his dreams if he will join her in a multi-state road trip from Mexico across the South and help wrangle two cats into restaurants, diners, cafes and hotels. He expects to find a Suburban or maybe an Escalade in the drive. Alice surprises with a Japanese sub-compact - a Honda Fit. She says it's "flexible". They drive - Scott La. & the Boudin War. They dine - New Orleans at Gautreau's, Clancy's, and Herbsaint. They laugh - the Carousel Bar. They cry - tragic death. If you come along on this moveable feast you will find yourself caught up in a romantic love story that involves the Other Woman and a secret that Alice cannot keep. You will dine on scrumptious creations from America’s most acclaimed chefs from Austin and New Orleans to the Procope and Odeon Relais at Buci Market in Paris. Along the way you will laugh at cats stuck in boxes, fight with a Pirate, terrify a US Vice-President, discover cat smuggling, and learn how the Other Woman persuaded Alice to accept the author's ring. So what’s keeping you? Hop in ‘cause these cats don’t bite. Besides, “The Get In Here and Eat” pop-up food truck is waiting just up the Austin highway. ~ My Review ~First of all, I remember in the early to late-1990s how my parents fit their three daughters and a fat tabby in the backseat of a 1992 Mitsubishi Galant. They would take us every summer across the southern states, from California to Florida and as far north as Niagara Falls, Canada. Ours was an "educational" and "historical" tour of the United States. I now wish I could go on an eating adventure like these two! Oh to have the luxury of mouth watering feasts and driving cross country....with two cats in the backseat instead of bickering children! My family had a lot of fun memories and adventures during my childhood and I could picture each stop that Pat and Alice took. Parts of this book reads like a tour guidebook that lists interesting facts but with more gusto. Pat weaves his tale, needing to tell you some facts about the background, architecture, the people in each stop, the smells and how the cats behaved or didn't. This book is funny and charming and, did I already say, mouth watering. The way he describes the way the food tastes - oh my, please take me with you! But the way you can tell his love for his Alice is also pretty lovely and puts this book into a sweet, tasty romance. If you're still needing to getaway this summer, then I suggest Dining and Driving with Cats - Alice Unplugged and be prepared to laugh, sigh and salivate the whole way through! *I received this book in exchange for an honest review. However, these thoughts and opinions are my own. I'm not required to write a positive review.*** About the AuthorI was Raised in the South by a pack of wolves - good wolves with a pack leader and lifetime mate that protected the young and taught the three male pups how to survive in a chaotic world without losing the gift of kindness and love for fellow wolves. My love for writing started with a gift from my father. Entering high school he gave me a Norman Mailer war story titled "The Naked and the Dead". For the first time I realized the writer could own the true world and the fictional world in the same story. From that time on writing came easy for me. In high school I wrote a weekly humor column for our newspaper. In college at Chapel Hill my freshman short story about a talking horse who gave advice to world leaders (my version of Mr. Ed) got me an invite to the Thomas Wolfe Creative Writing program. Two years in this program taught me the value of reading other people’s works and developing a critical eye. If you can criticize someone else’s writing you have a good start on improving your own efforts. Upon graduation from University I was invited to join the US Army where I spent three years and served as a Lieutenant in the Field Artillery on the DMZ in Korea during the Vietnam War. After release from service I proceeded to Graduate School for my MBA and fell headlong into the computer trap. My years in the computer industry span the lengthy period from the day Jobs introduced the Lisa computer until Zuckerberg announced his IPO for Facebook. Along the way I was honored as co-creator of the “fuzzy search algorithms” in use as the de facto standard by all of today’s major search engines. I am best known as one of the pioneers of DRM (Digital Rights Management). My innovative Digital Rights Management product for delivering music, photos and video won my company “Best New Start-Up” at the 1998 Internet World Conference. My company was the first to release Julian Lennon’s No. 1 Hit “Day after Day” for Internet only distribution. Six of my patents are currently in relicense to a diverse group of hi-tech companies including, Microsoft, Apple, Sony, Valve, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Zynga, Audible, Intuit, Symantec and MacroVision. My "541" patent is industry famous as the iTunes Patent that was licensed by Steve Jobs to provide digital rights management for all the artists and musicians on the iTunes platform. During my career years I never stopped writing. An early cold-war espionage thriller composed on a Remington electric typewriter picked up a dozen rejects from New York publishers before an Editor at a Harcourt imprint called me for a visit. This was my introduction to book editors. Circumstances of course have changed but at that time the Editor ran the show. After two lengthy consultations it was clear that the only way I would be published was to basically re-write the entire 325 pages. You see the Editor loved my writing but hated my story. That changed me for good. I decided the only way that I could write and keep my story as my story was if I could afford to be independent. I was very good with computers. During the following years I continued to write for my own pleasure while I built an enviable career in the computer software industry. I wrote daily for business of course. In fact I have over 600 pages of published patents covering my inventions and literally thousands of pages of professionally written marketing, sales and technical documents still in circulation with my fingerprints on them. This paid for my passion - creative writing. My favorite unpublished work is titled "Stealing Blake" which I spent the better part of twenty-four years composing and rewriting. It gave me the chance to create a historical fiction about one of my favorite creatives - William Blake. Maybe I will revisit that one after I finish Alice’s story. At last we have today. It started with a love letter. I wanted to tell Alice how much her devotion to me had meant through the years. She was my rock - my confidant and she never found me wanting. We took a trip. We took cats. There were a lot of surprises. I decided our trip called for a love letter. After fifteen pages I realized I couldn’t stop without telling it all to Alice. Now two years later Alice can read the first installment in "Dining and Driving with Cats - Alice Unplugged".
The Thousand Tiny Miracles of Living Twice
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