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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Jul 30, 2021  
Check out this great book trailer for the cozy mystery 70% DARK INTENTIONS by Amber Royer Author on my blog, and enter the giveaway to try to win an autographed copy of the book!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/07/book-blitz-and-giveaway-70-dark.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
An Idyllic Chocolate Shop. An island with endangered species. And a murder.
Felicity Koerber’s bean to bar chocolate shop on Galveston’s historic Strand is bringing in plenty of customers – in part due to the notoriety of the recent murder of one of her assistants, which she managed to solve. Things seem to be taking a turn for the better. Her new assistant, Mateo, even gets along with Carmen, the shop’s barista turned pastry chef. Felicity thinks she’s learning to cope with change – right up until one of her friends gets engaged. Everyone’s expecting her to ask Logan, her former bodyguard, to be her plus one. But even the thought of asking out someone else still makes her feel disloyal to her late husband’s memory -- so maybe she hasn’t moved on from her husband’s death as much as she thought.

Felicity isn’t planning to contact Logan any time soon. Only, Felicity finds ANOTHER body right outside her shop – making it two murders at Greetings and Felicitations in as many months. That night, Mateo disappears, leaving Felicity to take care of his pet octopus. The police believe that Mateo committed the murder, but Felicity is convinced that, despite the mounting evidence, something more is going on, and Mateo may actually be in trouble.

When Logan assumes that he’s going to help Felicity investigate, she realizes she’s going to have to spend time with him – whether she’s ready to really talk to him or not. Can Felicity find out what happened to Mateo, unmask a killer, and throw an engagement party all at the same time?
     
Brightley & Glow
Brightley & Glow
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I don’t often read Children’s Bedtime stories, as I think myself to be a grown up person (sometimes). But I couldn’t ignore Brightley & Glow by Sophie Carmen, as the cover was too gorgeous.

Even though I am past this whole bedtime story moment, I sometimes do read children's books. Maybe because I get nostalgic. Or maybe, because sometimes, we forget to look and remember the little things. And Children's books are all about little things in life. Moments and fragments that we often remember to forget as adults. Take a moment to look in the sun. A moment to smile to a person. Create a little space for yourself. Breathe. And be happy!

Brightley & Glow is quite short, but full of amazing art. I loved the way everything was represented, the dark background and the bright colours surrounding it. The story was also really cute. Brightley is a shooting star and his job soon will be to start bouncing and slowly fall out of the sky, so children can make their wishes. But his brother, Glow is a shining star. And his job is to stay close with the Moon and keep shining at night. When it’s time for Brightley to leave, both him and his brother become very sad and try to solve this unfairness so they can stay together.

I found the story in Brightley & Glow quite moving and absolutely adorable. It brought out many feelings inside me. How it feels when you see a loved one leave, and you know they have to go, and you have to accept the fact. But it also shows us how you can still love someone so fiercely and innocently that you are willing to give up everything for them.

If you have little ones, I highly recommend this Children’s Bedtime Story. It is short, but adorable, and the images are really cute as well!
  
We all have struggles and challenges in life. Whether they are of our own making or not, things don’t always work out. Sometimes, we just give up on our dreams and goals. But it doesn’t have to be that way! God is a God of new beginnings, and throughout the entire Bible, we read about people who were stuck, disappointed, and faced impossible situations—people God freed. Rosalinda Torres Rivera challenges us to Dare to Begin Again. Using stories from her own life, other people, and biblical times, Rosalinda offers inspirational, down-to-earth advice on beginning again. Each chapter tackles a different issue where you may be “stuck”—such as an inability to forgive, trust, or hope—and examples of people who overcame similar challenges. Practical tasks at the end of each chapter walk you through a DARE challenge (Decide, Allow, Rise, Enjoy) to help you move closer to a fresh start. Rosalinda is the daughter of Victor Torres, an ex-gang member from Brooklyn, New York, and his wife, Carmen, founders of the New Life For Youth ministry. She has seen more than twenty thousand people get out of tough situations and turn their lives around. “They’re people whose tales of transformation prove God is still at work,” she says. “He’s written and re-written their life’s chapters—and He’s willing to do the same for you.” It takes a commitment, but with the help of God, inspiring, true stories, and practical applications, you can Dare to Begin Again.



My Thoughts: Everyone struggles with life. It doesn't matter if you're coming out of addiction, a bad marriage, or just coping with change. Maybe you are having difficulty making a dream come alive; stuck in a rut. This book is full of encouragement! The author Rosalinda Torres Rivera, takes a real-life example and then examines a similar situation through the Bible, on topics such as hope, forgiveness, sacrifice to name a few. The reader learns to let go and to rely on God to help them through the struggle.



Such a well written and useful book, that I think every reader could use at some point in their lives or know someone who does.
  
IM
Infinitely Mine (Incapable, #3)
Marie Skye | 2016
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
WTH! It’s over! I am sad but extremely happy that the book is over. Sad because there is no more Grayson Mandrake. This conclusion is everything you could hope for at the end of a series. It wasn’t an instant HEA. The author made them work for their fairytale ending.
Just like the first two book you develop love and hate emotions for Emmalin. I don’t understand why she is so stubborn. I wanted to rock her in my arms and tell her it would be ok. But then I would want to slap her because she wouldn’t be in the situation if she would’ve talked to Grayson. So much unnecessary pain she caused herself because she wanted to run. Her self worth was so low she believed that the man who would do anything for her would want someone else. There’s no way she believed he loved her if she could do what she did so easily. She was amazing at times and in those moments she was invincible to me. She could do no wrong because she did everything genuinely and without hesitation.
What can I say about Grayson? He is amazing, stubborn, bullheaded and loyal. I was so ped off at him for letting her leave. Then he gets her followed but doesn’t go after her. Instead he acts like a child and deliberately sets out to hurt her. But praise the lord he came to his senses. The while Carmen thing was crazy. How anyone can fake loving someone like Grayson is beyond me. I wanted to hug him for understanding and loving Emma so patiently. To put up with all her moods and still come out loving her.
This couple couldn’t catch a break but it all turned out amazingly at the end. If it hadn’t I would’ve had to do something crazy. If you haven’t started thus series you don’t know what you are missing. The ups and downs alone will have you on edge. But the drama, explosive emotions and love will be what keeps you turning the page.
  
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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Her Body and Other Parties: Stories in Books

Nov 22, 2017 (Updated Nov 22, 2017)  
Her Body and Other Parties: Stories
Her Body and Other Parties: Stories
Carmen Maria Machado | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+
7
6.0 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
Good writing but fairly disappointing
Her Body and Other Parties is like most short story collections I have read in that some of the stories worked for me far more than others.

Carmen Maria Machado mingles fabulism, body horror, erotica and 'feminist' commentary in her debut novel. The thrust of this book is perhaps best encapsulated by the second story in the book, 'Inventory'. It starts with the narrator cataloguing everyone she's slept with, taking on that now-near-compulsory clinical tone, that Muumuu House type of thing of talking endlessly about sex but doing so in an affectless style that doesn't communicate any passion or joy or pleasure. It suddenly becomes more interesting when a hidden narrative emerges: as the narrator progresses through her later conquests, she talks of a pervasive virus, family members lost, a quarantine zone, evacuations and refugees. It's an unexpected approach to the dystopian theme and a pleasing subversion of first impressions, yet the story as a whole remains unsatisfying.

Among the weaker stories is 'Especially Heinous', which reimagines plot summaries of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes through a surrealist lens, playing on the ubiquity of violence against women in such shows. Except it was far too long, going through an entire seven series, becoming increasingly bizarre.

My favourite was 'The Resident'. While the subject matter is slightly more staid than some of the others – presumably semi-autobiographical in its portrait of a writer unravelling during a retreat – it's a relief that it isn't told at a cold, impersonal remove. It actually has heart and a personality, unlike so many of the others, and contains one of the few truly rousing scenes in the book, when the narrator lashes out at a patronising acquaintance and defends her right to write about 'crazy' heroines and madwomen in attics.

Nevertheless, there's something I find so depressing about the kind of writing that's ostensibly feminist but seems to focus incessantly on the negatives of being a woman. In fiction such as this, the approach is often paired with candid-yet-detached writing about sex that I also find off-putting (not to mention extremely unsexy). The stories are well-crafted and (when they don't feel workshopped to death) spark with strong ideas and entertaining metafictional touches, but Her Body and Other Parties didn't work for me the way I hoped it would.