REVIEW WEDNESDAY - Sweet September

 Good morning!

Another hot day in the Ozarks. Nothing new this year.

This week, I'm spotlighting author Kirsten Osborne and reviewing her book, SWEET SEPTEMBER.

AMAZON

BLURB:

Trying to find a way to help with the family’s scholarship fund, September “Berry” Calendar joins a cooking competition. Although she’s had no formal training as a chef, everyone agrees she’s the best cook around Cauldron Valley, so she hopes she won’t go down in a pile of burning ash. When a handsome man flirts with her on her first night at the competition, she knows he’ll flirt with any woman, because she is no prize. 

Jack Larson agrees to judge a cooking competition that his mother had been very involved with before her death. He’s dreading having to go and be part of it, but on the first night there, he sees a woman who makes his heart beat faster. Her smile makes him feel like he could catch the stars in one hand, and he wants to give them all to her. When the competition is over, he asks her to help him with a party he’s having—one that he makes up on the spot to be able to see her after they return home to Montana. 

Will Jack be able to use the extra time to convince Berry he’s more than just a playboy? Or will she spend the rest of her life mired in self-doubt?

First off, I've loved every Kirsten Osborne book I've ever read. This is Book 9 of a 12 book series, each written by a different author in a collective of talented writers.

I'm a food competitor and loved the story line. I also appreciated that the heroine was more curvy, wore glasses, and had insecurities. Kirsten brought this out through Jack's point of view during a conversation with her mom on their first meeting when Berry brings him in to the fold like pushing someone into the deep end to see if they'll sink or swim. With ten sisters and a brother, the test was real in Berry's eyes. 

Jack was a man who knew what he wanted the minute he saw her... from the back, no less! He knew she was curvy in all the right places. Watching her ability to wow the judges in the competition against experienced  chefs with her simplistic style, was whipped cream on the dessert. 

I loved this book because in spite of Berry's insecurities, she was able to find her true love with a man that didn't see what she perceived as flaws but as beauty to be cherished and loved.

I'm giving SWEET SEPTEMBER...

Remember to check out Kirsten's spotlight post from yesterday where you'll find all of her links.

All my best!

~ Angela

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT - Kirsten Osborne

 Good morning, friends!

We kick off September with some Autumnal reads. One of them is an unusual read, so we'll see.

This week, we have Kirsten Osborne. I've known Kirsten for many years and featured her a couple of years ago during a Mail Order Bride series she was a part ot.

Here's a bit about Kirsten:

USA Today bestselling author Kirsten Osbourne knows how to write. Each book is an experience that transplants the reader, indulging them in decadence, intense emotion and sweeping love.

 Kirsten was born in Wisconsin, and now lives in Idaho, but she's lived in Minnesota, Texas, and Louisiana along the way.

She writes contemporary and historical romance, venturing into the realm of paranormal romance and women's fiction. She invites you to join her in her world of fantasy, love, and make believe, no matter the location, where there is always a happily ever after at the end.

While you wait for a review tomorrow, you can find out more about Kirsten Osborne by visiting any of her links below.

WEBSITE   FACEBOOK   X   IG   GOOD READS   BOOK BUB

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

All my best!

~ Angela

MONTHLY UPDATE

 Good morning, friends

As I sit here planning out September I realized this is the last day of August and time for an update.

Sadly, there is no update on the writing. I really want to finish this book but life keeps happening. I'm so over interruptions.

I was almost to the point of having the studio in a workable order and already had my desk space to layout the scene printouts and begin putting the final phase of the draft together when this happened:

Above my paper storage we discovered I have a serious leak. Now, this did not surprise us as it's just an extension of a roof leak we've been dealing with for at the very least, a couple of years. We've tried everything tofind/ fix the issue. Bob was sure it had to do with the chimney because that had been an issue before we bought the house. The only time the leak affected us was when we had a pelting rain from the northwest. Well, over time the leak has become a stead drip with any rain and apparently running down a channel and into the addition - my office. 

As you can see, we removed everything from the shelf and now we have this:

Bob thinks he's found the issue and fixed it for real this time, but we won't know until we get a good rain and he can actually see.  So we wait through the next couple of weeks as we are in for nothing but sun and close to 100* temps for the next week or two. 

In the mean time, stuff from those top shelves are all over the office, the living room, and my roll-top desk in the bedroom until we find out. All the spaces I'd sorted/ pitched/ cleared now have those items on them and I'm back to no place to work but the dining room table.

I'll be back to work on the manuscript for a couple of hours each night this week as I ask Earth Mother for rain. 

What life interruptus do you deal with in your writing life? I'd love to commiserate with you.

All my best!

~ Angela

THOUGHTFUL MONDAY

 Good morning, friends!

Can you believe it's the last day of August. If you're counting, Halloween is just two weeks away! 

All my best!

~ Angela

FRIDAY PHOTO

 Good morning!

I hope these photo prompts are inspiring you.

Courtesy of Pixabay

All my best!

 ~Angela

REVIEW WEDNESDAY - The Lighthouse Keeper's Argument

 Good morning!

Ever have those weeks, not days but weeks, where if something can interrupt your flow, it will? That's been my case lately. Balace will be restored. Maybe with the Lunar Eclipse tonight. 

This week, I'm reviewing The Lighthouse Keeper's Argument by Sloane Hart.

AMAZON

This is Book 1 of 2 in the series.

BLURB:

Nora Callahan came back to Cedar Falls for one reason: sell her late grandmother's lighthouse cottage before the ink dries on her promotion offer and get back to her real life in Boston. She did not come back to argue with the infuriating, broad-shouldered harbor master who's filed three injunctions against the sale and apparently has opinions about everything she does. Declan Marsh has spent five years quietly protecting the Cedar Falls coastline — and the lighthouse that anchors it. He's not about to let some city lawyer in impractical shoes hand it over to a resort developer who'll gut the soul out of his town. Even if that lawyer has a laugh that keeps him awake at night. Forced to co-manage the cottage's legal fate through a town heritage review, Nora and Declan wage war in public and wage something far more dangerous in private. But Nora's flight back to Boston is already booked. And Declan learned the hard way that the people you love most are always one tide away from leaving. Something's got to give. The question is whether it will be the injunction — or their hearts.

After three attempts to get into the story and barely making my way through Chapter 7, I had to put the book down. Nothing is happening. I knew as a reader I was going to be in trouble when Nora meets Declan, bringing the two characters together, then the very next chapter Nora is parked in front of the cottage again, thinking about the argument. What argument? We are not privy to the confrontation between Nora and Declan. As a reader, I want to experience that fire between the main characters. We never really see this in as far as I've read. While there is one point where they are in the cottage together assessing potential historical value as well as what is wrong, the content is as foggy and cold as the sea air coming off the ocean. 

Maybe I'm missing something but I can't rate this book. I do encourage Sloane Hart to learn the craft before investing her time, and ours, on a story we can't feel. 

I can't rate this book. We'll see what September brings. I'm in the mood to curl up with a good Autumnal read.

All my best!

~ Angela

REVIEW WEDNESDAY - Delayed

 Quick note, everyone!

Yesterday marked forty-two years of being married to my real life hero. He planned the day so I didn't get to read this week's book. I'll do that today and the review will post tomorrow.

All my best!

~ Angela