Fed up with a string of bad blind dates, health blogger Alyssa Wu wants to drown her sorrows in ice cream. But there’s one more evening she must endure—a fake date with her best friend Barry Chang. They must convince her family they're in love, an act which may (or may not) be easy to pull off, thanks to the magic of some mistletoe.
​
Amazon link here
https://www.amazon.com/More-Merrier-Wholesome-Romance-Seasons-ebook/dp/B016V85D3S/

Short and sweet. I don't know about you, but I've been in a reading funk lately. I'll pick up a book, get halfway through it and put it down. Last year, most of my books in my TBR were "DNR" (did not finish). This year, knowing what to expect and making sure we take care of our mental and emotional health by leaving our house and our bubble safely, I went back to my first love: romance novels.
Now, I had promised to read a parenting book and review it, so I did that first....while looking through my kindle for the books that I didn't have the heart and mental capacity to read over last year. 
​
Liwen Y. Ho has written so many sweet and clean romance books and I knew I wouldn't be disappointed when I chose this book, "The More the Merrier," as my springboard, if you will, into a deeper dive of reading again. I wanted to be able to fall in love with books and I knew romance - with its' likeable and flawed characters, their 'meet cute' and 'happily ever after's would give me the comfort I so desired. 
This was such a short and quick read. We meet Alyssa and her "dilemma." Classic fake boyfriend/next door neighbors/friends turned lovers. I'm pretty sure I smiled through the entire exchange between Barry, the next door neighbor who cleans up nice, and Alyssa, our by-the-book, serious heroine who needed a little fun and merry in her life. Bonus: this reminded me of a Hallmark movie and one where Asians were the lead and knowing that certain professions (doctors, engineers, lawyers) are accepted in an Asian community and some are not. For a blogger and writer like Alyssa, I completely related to her, right down to the ice cream choices and stress eating sweets. 

SIDENOTE: Thank you to Liwen for getting me excited about writing my Filipino romcom and knowing how much (or how little) to share my roots and culture. And then as I struggle to describe my characters, I had to reread Alyssa and Barry. Liwen didn't do specific descriptions for them. She wrote Korean American and I pictured my Korean American friend. I knew the "looks" that Alyssa worried about getting from family and friends, having gone to so many Filipino or Asian parties where you have to introduce your person and hope to God that they pass the "they're good enough" test. I remember the struggle and having to justify my own career choices. 
This was both refreshing to read but also made me realize that there aren't very many Asian romance books that I've come across or read. Or maybe I'm not trying hard enough to look. At any rate, I've got another book from Liwen that I can't wait to dive into! 

This is my stop during the book blitz for Deck The Malls with Purple Peacocks by Amy Gettinger. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 7 till 20 December. See the tour schedule here: http://www.lolasblogtours.net/book-blitz-deck-the-malls-with-purple-peacocks-by-amy-gettinger

Get this book for free!
From 9 till 10 December and from 15 till 17 December the book will be free on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Malls-Purple-Peacocks-Alice-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B0778999M9/

​Deck The Malls with Purple Peacocks (Alice Chronicles #2)
By Amy Gettinger
Genre: Chick-lit/ Women’s Fiction/ Sweet Romance
Age category: Adult
Release Date: November 18, 2017

​Blurb:
It’s Christmas in Orange County, California, and the mall is full of purple peacock decorations, large and small. Department store employee Aracely Martinez has a goofy Cuban friend, Quito (who’s awfully cute in his mall Santa suit), distracting her from her night-shift restocking job. But Aracely has a long-held secret, which her supervisor at the store, Jacob Thinnes, is holding over her head to make her do his bidding.
 
Which is too much bidding.
 
Enter Aracely’s oldest friends: Alice Chalmers, Georgette Jones and Julie Bowers. The group’s “Venus Warrior” bond from the 2003 production of The Venus Monologues at Garden Beach Community College is still very strong, and these women are ready, willing, and able to kick some butt to help Aracely out of her difficult bind. Join Aracely’s “Three Wise Women” plus her ever-present trickster hunk, Quito, in one adventure after another as they work against the odds to give Aracely a fabulous, nearly impossible Christmas gift: the life of her dreams.
 
You can find Deck The Malls with Purple Peacocks on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36559083-deck-the-malls-with-purple-peacocks
 
You can buy Deck The Malls with Purple Peacocks here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Malls-Purple-Peacocks-Alice-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B0778999M9/
From 9 till 10 December and from 15 till 17 December the book will be free!

Amy Gettinger, once a community college ESL instructor, now writes novels and reader’s theater plays and coaches Reader’s Theater for Seniors. She’s a member of the Los Angeles Poets and Writers Collective. She lives in Orange County, California underneath a eucalyptus windrow full of parrots and crows. For fun, she walks the local beach cliff path with her husband and dogs--and thinks up perfectly ridiculous characters and crimes to write about.
 
You can find and contact Amy Gettinger here:
- Blog: https://amygettinger.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Amy-Gettinger-1412625005719904/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmyGettinger
- Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7793380.Amy_Gettinger
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Amy-Gettinger/e/B00S9Y99II

​There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of Deck The Malls in Purple Peacocks. These are the prizes you can win:
- a peacock Christmas tree ornament (US Only)
- an e-copy of Roll with the Punches by Amy Gettinger (International)
- an e-copy of Alice in Monologue Land by Amy Gettinger (International)
- an e-copy of Pranks and Poodles by Amy Gettinger (International)
 
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:

Synopsis:
Twenty-four-year-old Jen Reid had her life in good shape: an okay job, a tiny-cute Seattle apartment, and a great boyfriend almost ready to get serious. In a flash it all came apart. Single, unemployed, and holding an eviction notice, who has time to remember trying out for a reality show? Then the call comes, and Jen sees her chance to start over—by spending her summer on national TV. Luckily The Fishbowl is all about puzzles and games, the kind of thing Jen would love even if she wasn’t desperate. The cast checks all the boxes: cheerful, quirky Birdie speaks in hashtags; vicious Ariana knows just how to pout for the cameras; and corn-fed “J-dawg” plays the cartoon villain of the house. Then there’s Justin, the green-eyed law student who always seems a breath away from kissing her. Is their attraction real, or a trick to get him closer to the $250,000 grand prize? ​? Romance or showmance, suddenly Jen has a lot more to lose than a summer . . . 

Buy Links:
www.amazon.com/Americas-Next-Reality-Laura-Heffernan-ebook/dp/B01HA426MI/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/americas-next-reality-star-laura-heffernan/1124485176?ean=9781516101535

Once in awhile, I'll get a fun little read; the kind that makes me forget about stress and instantly put a smile to my face. Some people have their go-to quick reads and my pile will always have a contemporary romantic comedy because that's my escape. Want to know what my other go-to escape, as of late? Reality television.
This book took my love with movie/book "fluff," as my husband calls it, and my current must-see obsession and it's just as much a page turner as it is a "I-can't-watch-but-can't-look-away," type of thing. Jen is  likeable, smart and seemingly normal 24 year old who unfortunately, through a series of one event to another, finds herself broke, single and homeless. I rooted for her to have a better summer and walk away with the grand prize. We have the "necessary" cast of characters - the villain, the drama queen, the family man, the gay guy and the quirky but loveable weirdo, etc. (I mean that nicely because if I were to even go on national television, that would be me, quirky, weird, lovable).  
But I enjoyed the fact that Laura took the time for us to get to know them, through the "confessional" zingers, challenges and their interactions with everyone. They were and weren't boxed in a cliche. Even if Jen was our main girl, we didn't feel at all like traitors if we rooted for (some of) the others! What a fun summer read, and as I found out there is definitely a sequel to this reality "show" I can't wait to reread this again in anticipation for the next one. This kept up with old adage of "expecting the unexpected," in America's Next Reality Star. 

*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.***