Friday, June 07, 2024

#BookReview: Looking for a Sign by Susie Dumond






Synopsis: A newly single queer woman moves to New Orleans and sets off on a mission to find her most compatible match by going on a date with someone of each astrological sign in this rom-com from the author of Queerly Beloved

With her twenty-ninth birthday approaching, Gray is determined to meet someone, settle down, and build the loving, accepting family she’s always wanted—and didn’t grow up with. But having just moved to New Orleans for a new job working for a demanding boss, and with her last first date a decade in the past, Gray has no idea how to go about finding her future spouse. 

When her best friend Cherry suggests Gray look for answers from Madame Nouvelle Lune, an astrologer, Gray’s skeptical. But she’s also desperate. So when Madame encourages her to look to the stars, she finds herself in Cherry’s kitchen, mapping out a plan: go on a date with someone of each sign before her birthday, when Saturn will make its first return to the same celestial alignment as her birth (a major turning point in every person’s life, she’s learned). As Gray moves through this quintessentially queer dating challenge while juggling her new job, she learns a lot about the Zodiac—and even more about her own needs, desires, and sense of adventure. Even when it begins to threaten everything she thinks she believes, Gray is determined to finish what she started while the planets are still on her side.


#ReviewTour: The Handshake Agreement by A. Akinosho #TheIndiePenPR



He promised her the world,
Then, abandoned her at the altar.

Anne
I’m a realist, cynical about falling in love. Until I met Declan - the rich and powerful player. With his quiet determination, he dismantled my cynicism and made me believe.
Before I know it, I’m flashing a radiant smile, dressed, and eagerly awaiting him at the altar.
Only, I got the text - "I'm not coming" – shattering my world.
Regret is a waste of time; I stand by my original convictions.
Years later, he’s back demanding a second chance, how dare he?

Declan
I shook on the agreement without hesitation because I had zero plans to marry for love. Ever.
Years later, Anne crashed into my life. I find myself craving what I thought I didn't need or want.
Unexpectedly, the agreement I made resurfaced, presenting me with a dilemma:

Marry as agreed or Lose Anne forever.

Deal accepted, regardless of hurting Anne.
When I find Anne again, she’s engaged, far as I’m concerned, she’s still mine.
I’ll cheat, steal, and fight before I let Anne marry another.
All is fair in love and war. And this is war...hope he’s ready to fight?

The Handshake agreement is a contemporary, age gap, second chance romance with a Possessive MMC.

#BookReview: You’re So Vine (Flora Valley #2) by Catherine Robertson






Synopsis: Whoever invented love at first sight should have left instructions for what to do when it only strikes one of you…

…is all Ava Durant can think as she watches the man of her dreams from across the room at her brother’s wedding. Handyman Cam Hollander takes the ‘strong, silent type’ label to new extremes and getting more than four words at a time out of him is Ava’s primary life goal. But when Ava’s health takes a hit it’s Cam who unexpectedly steps in to nurse her, and the dynamic between them is forever changed.

Ava may be impatience personified and Cam may be the steadiest man she’s ever met, but when they’re alone in Cam’s cosy quarters it’s soon not just the fire in the grate that’s burning between them.


#BookBlitz: What Once Was Promised by Louis Trubiano @RABTBookTours



 

Coming of Age Fiction

Date Published: May 6, 2024

Publisher: MindStir Media


 

He came for a better life, but it didn't turn out to be an easy one.

Sixteen-year-old Domenic Bassini sets out alone for America from his small village in Italy in 1914. He falls in love during a brief onboard affair with the beautiful Francesca, the wife of a man with Sicilian Mafia connections. But he loses her and arrives in Boston instead with an orphan stowaway named Ernesto Lentini in tow.

Domenic and Ernesto stay at the home of old family friends in Boston's Italian North End neighborhood, sharing a room with their son, Joe. Domenic becomes like a big brother to Joe and Ernesto, who become inseparable friends.

As the years and decades pass, youthful rivalries and fateful decisions lead to unpredictable and sometimes unsavory outcomes. Between moments of joy and great tragedy, the three friends' lives take very divergent paths amidst the turbulence of factions vying for power in the early 20th century Boston where the lines between politics, crime and policing are blurred.

But after all that has kept them apart, can Domenic, Ernesto, Joe and even Francesca, come together to settle the score with those who have spent a lifetime fighting against them?

One#BookReview: Corkscrew You (Flora Valley #1) by Catherine Robertson






Synopsis: Could the guy she loves to hate turn out to be her perfect pairing? If Shelby Armstrong wants to keep her late father’s beloved Flora Valley Wines in business, she’ll have to listen to Nathan Durant’s advice. But given the fact that Shelby is all heart and Nate is nothing but tough love, bringing the winery back to life quickly becomes a battle of wills.

And yet, Shelby and Nate aren’t incompatible in every way – in fact, an unexpected (and unexpectedly hot) kiss shows Shelby that they’d make a very good team – in the bedroom! But as is always the case when it comes to love and money, things quickly get complicated…


#BookTour: Field Mouse Fairy Lights by Emma Brown @RABTBookTours




 

Children's Book / Healthy Eating / Parenting

Date Published: 2/13/2024

 



Does your child refuse to try new foods?

Do they go off foods they used to like?

They don’t want to help with meal prep?

They become impossible at mealtimes and say they don’t like it before seeing it.

Why are dinosaur-shaped nuggets so popular? They taste just the same as normal nuggets, but they are shaped for fun.

 

If you put a sticker of your child’s favorite cartoon character on an apple, they will want that apple, not the identical one next to it.

 

What if there was a fun game to play at mealtimes that also helps with picky eating?

 

This book gives you just that. Imagine if you stood in the middle of the kitchen and said in a funny voice, “I think Kiwi fruit looks like troll boulders, and they’re all mine,” or “Brussels Sprouts look like cannon balls, so tonight we’re eating like pirates,” or “This rice looks just like snowflakes, can you sprinkle the snowflakes on that plate for me?” Do you think you’d have your child’s attention and possibly get a giggle?

 

Children have amazing imaginations, so let’s use them to reduce the stress around mealtimes and create a play environment.

 

Written by a Nutritionist and mum of two who has helped many children overcome picky eating and families reconnect at mealtimes, this little book takes you into a food fairytale. It encourages children and adults to come up with their ideas of what food looks like to them.

#BookReview: Just for the Summer (Part of Your World #3) by @AuthorAbbyJim @readforeverpub






Synopsis: Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it's now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They'll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work. 

Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?