WEDNESDAY REVIEW - His Holiday Family

 Good morning, friends!

I'm finally getting in here with the review of the Love Inspired Christmas Collection headlined by Margaret Daley.

With everything going on here, I've only had the opportunity to read His Holiday Family. Next week, I'll bring my review of the second story in this book, The Christmas Children - by Irene Brand.

HIS HOLIDAY FAMILY is a well-constructed, emotion-packed driven story. The internal conflict drives the events in this story and pairs well with the hurricane aiming for the small town of Hope.  The town is aptly named for the hope Gideon and Kathleen are both searching for.

I enjoyed this story immensly and am giving:  

You can purchase your copy where ever books are sold or on AMAZON

In the mean time, you'll find Margaret on the following social media locations:

WEBSITE    FACEBOOK    TWITTER    AMAZON

TOP 3 - October 26

 Good morning, friends!

After a very productive week last week, I'm hoping to build on that momentum and really prep for NanoWrimo this week. 

When National Novel Writing Month changed their format last year I was totally lost. For me, the site just is not user-friendly any longer. I ran The Cauldron Cave thread over there for eleven years. Last year, I just could not get into it.  So this year, I've decided to do things a bit different. The biggest change is I will no longer be running the cafe there. Someone else is welcome to do so. 

NOTE: That thread on the NanoWrimo sight is NOT connected to this blog in anyway.

I'm launching my AuthorTube Channel on YouTube as well as putting my own word count bar of some type on the blog. I'm looking at one of these from Tracy Lucas.

That's it for me this week. I'm off to do a serious house clean!

All my best

~Angela

WEEKLY RECAP

 Here's a post never seem to be able to write but I want to get better at following through with my TOP 3 post - so here we are.

Refresher:

Once I got started this week, I did really well.

As we know, Monday was a slow-to-start day but by about 5 p.m. I was ready to rock the world. I wrote Monday and Tuesday's blog posts then set myself up to write the rest of the week on Wednesday. The plan worked well.

I spent all day Tuesday watching the Plannathon videos. The series began the first week Bob was home and we took a three-day belated/ early anniversary trip. If  you're a follower of this blog than you know that when Bob is home, my time belongs to him. The only exception is Nano.

I am also working on a business plan for my creative business. I did contact Alexis Giostra about a collab with her using her CEO Planner. Once I fine-tune being able to use that for the creative side of my busines, I want to show authors how the same plan can work for them. 

So that's my week. I'm taking the weekend off to do some serious house cleaning then I'll be back on Monday with another Top 3.

All My Best

~Angela

WRITER TIP THURSDAY -

Good morning, friends! I hope your week is going well and that you've been productive on whatever you had planned to accomplished. 

This week, we continue our series from:

AMAZON

Here is this week's tip:

"I make a deal with myself. If I work for such and such a time or I do so many pages, I'm allowed to play a video game, or shop, or go to the casino or take a nap or whatever else I think it is I want to do."

~Tara Taylor Quinn

 

WEDNESDAY REVIEW - The Cowyboy Who Saved Christmas

 Goodmorning, friends!

If you were here earlier, I apologize. I had the post set up weeks ago just didn't get in here early enough to post the actual review.

This book was worth the wait! Of course, Jodi Thomas headlines this great Christmas read so everything else is just icing on the sugar cookie.

The three authors in this book, Jodi Thomas, Sharla Lovelace and Scarlett Dunn, take us back to what we now think of as 'simpler' times. The romantic West when cowboys were the real heroes. 

FATHER GOOSE  (Jodi Thomas) - I love a good romance where the characters had a rough life yet still find their way to a Happy Ever After. This is the case with Trapper and Emery. Each awaken something in the other, with the help of five little girls. I love children in romance novels and Jodi Thomas brought us five, each with their own personality that plays into bringing Trapper and Emery to find what's been missin in their independent lives.

THE MISTLETOE PROMISE (Sharla Lovelace) - I've read Sharla Lovelace for several years. She never fails to turn challenges into an award-winning story. HEre, she brings us a true Christmas miracle in this story with Josie and Benjamin. Women can be so hard-headed, but then so can men. These two have to learn to get beyong their shattered past to build a future together. 

CHRISTMAS ROAD (Scarlett Dunn) - Even more so than spring, I have always felt Christmas was the time for new beginnings - for miracles. Scarlett turns a family tragedy into a blessing for Clint as he fulfills his mother's promise to help Amelia. He has a long road to travel before finding what he never knew he needed. Sometimes, mother does know best. 

THE COWBOY WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS releases October 27th but you can PRE-ORDER your copy now!

In the mean time, you can catch up with any of these talented ladies via their social media:

JODI THOMAS

WEBSITE   FACEBOOK   TWITTER   INSTAGRAM   BOOK BUB 

GOODREADS    AMAZON

SHARLA LOVELACE

WEBSITE   FACEBOOK   TWITTER   INSTAGRAM   PINTEREST   

GOODREADS   AMAZON

SCARLETT DUNN

WEBSITE   FACEBOOK   TWITTER   AMAZON   

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT - Shea MacCleod

 

Good morning, friends!

I'm shining the Author Spotlight on Shea MacCleod. 

As I said yesterday, I first met Shea through a Savvy Authors class I took on Write Novels Fast through Art Journaling. I loved the class and have the printed class materials as well as one completed journal for Book 2 in the Planned To Perfection series. I'm hoping my journal work will help walk me through completing the first draft during NanoWrimo. (Stay tuned to this blog for that journey!)

Whad I've learned since about Shea MacCleod is she writes fabulous Urban Fantasies, Cozy Mysteries and just about anything containing witches and dragons - because as she says in her bio - everything is better with dragons! 

On October 6th, she released:

COLD CASES and HAUNTED PLACES is ranked #1 on Amazon for Short Story Anthologies & Collections! If you like quick reads, cozy mysteries and all things with past lives, you will love this book!

Don't let the small price of .99 fool you. Cold Cases and Haunted Places features fourteen fabulous authors coming together for the perfect 'snuggle up with a cup of mulled wine' collection of stories. 

For other great Halloween quick reads be sure to pick up Potions, Poisons, & Perils as well as The Ghosts in the Graveyard.

You can catch up with Shea on the following social media platforms:

WEBSITE    FB    TWITTER    INSTAGRAM    GOODREADS

    

TUMBLR    PINTEREST    AMAZON

TOP 3 - October 19

 Hi, Everyone!

I'm getting a really late start today.

I woke up at 4:30 this morning to loud rounds of thunder, buckets of rain and a lovely lightning show. I rolled over and went back to sleep until 8 a.m

I had almost 2" of water in the rain gauge and still coming down. 

Cold, wet, overcast and just not very inspiring.

The weather also meant I was without internet for the morning. By the time internet was back, I had a long meeting.

Apparently, we're moving into the wet season about three weeks ahead of the norm so I'll be batching blog posts this week so I won't have any coming up late. I especially want to get ahead of the game before Nano hits.

Tomorrow I'm shining the Author Spotlight on Shea MacLeod

I first met Shea through a Savvy Authors class on journaling your novel. As my husband said, that class was made for me. I took the class, have journals Book 2 in the Planned to Perfection series and since bought the book of the class - Write Novels Fast   She also writes great cozy books. I'll introduce you to her latest one tomorrow. I hope you'll join us!

All my best

~ Angela

WRITER'S TIP THURSDAY -

 

Lots of stuff going on the past couple of weeks. As a result I failed to post in this new series from Time To Write.

 I will continue to showcae author quotes from Kelly L. Stone's book TIME TO WRITE. Clicking on the title will take you to the book on amazon. I'm also checking in with Kelly about guesting here to provide her insite behind the book.

Here is this week's tip:

"Time to write was made by stealing it from other things, 

such as watching television,

reading or lunching with friends."

                                             ~ Jennifer Blake

                                                                                            New York Times bestselling author

All My Best

~ Angela

WEDNESDAY REVIEW - THE COWBOY WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS

 Hey Book Fans!

I will be reviewing THE COWBOY WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS anthology next Wednesday (10/21/20)  

Why wait for the review? You know with these authors, the book is a guaranteed awesome read! 

THE COWBOY WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS releases October 27th but you can Pre-Order now!

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT - Jennifer Griffith

 

Today, I'm shining the spotlight on Jennifer Griffith.

Jennifer writes what she calls 'Cotton Candy for the Soul'' romances. They are sweet and you can't stop reading them. I guess she can't stop writing them either by the very prolific book list on her Amazon Page. I encourage you to check out her page and see what she ate on a dare. ;-)

Her most recent release has already been added to my Christmas Reading List on my Kindle.

AMAZON

You will find Jennifer on the following social media locations:

WEBSITE    FACEBOOK    TWITTER    GOODREADS    BLOG    AMAZON

TOP 3 - October 12, 2020

 Good morning, everyone!

Busy week here in the studio. Bob leaves tomorrow morning so I'm not doing much today other than get the blog posts for the week scheduled.

The rest of the week (through Friday) is dedicated to finishing two baby albums for shower gifts (Saturday) Then the weekend is all about catching up on Plannerthon videos. They're only live til the 20th or so and I've not watched any since Bob got home. Maybe by then my hard copy of the 2021 PlannerThon Planner will have arrived. (positive vibes to the postal service appreciated)

So here's my week:

I still need to read and post a review of Jodi Thomas' new Christmas book but Netflix and Kindle are not playing nice so I can get my review copy. I've already pre-ordered my print copy. I believe the release is this week.

The holiday books are hitting the shelves. My print copy of June Faver's THE BEST COWBOY CHRISTMAS EVER released on the 29th. This is the first of two books added to the Garret Family saga we've come to love. 

What are you reading? 

All my best

~ Angela

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT - Margaret Daley

 

As the temperatures begin to turn cooler, my thoughts turn to both Halloween/ Magic inspired romances and of course, the Christmas books start appearing on the shelves.

While in walmart the other night, checking to see if one of my bestie's new Christmas book had hit the shelf, I spotted a 2-4-1 Love Inspired.

Headliner, Margaret Daley has been one of my favorite reads for several years so I quickly grabbed up a copy of ~

AMAZON

I'm currently reading this book whenever my fingers need a break from the crochet hook and hope to bring you a review in the next couple of weeks.

In the mean time, you'll find Margaret on the following social media locations:

WEBSITE    FACEBOOK    TWITTER    AMAZON

TOP 3 - October 5, 2020

 

This week is all about family. 

This is Bob's final week home before he goes back out on the boat. Now that the temperatures feel more like fall outside (we were 33*F at 5 a.m. today!) we need to get some things prepped in the garden for winter.

As you can tell by the bright pink box, I have baby stuff to finish. Kassie's due date for the twin girls is fast approaching (Thanksgiving-ish) I have so much to do to be ready for these new 'grandbabies' coming into our life. 

I am sharing a Spotlight Author with you tomorrow. I hope you'll come back and meet Margaret Daley

All my Best

~ Angela

A TEXAS KIND OF CHRISTMAS- Review

 

I do sincerely apologize for this review being late. I think I'm finally over the worst of the sinus infection. I'm down to just a daily dose of allergy meds and I've been able to work mostly clear-headed for the past two days. Now it's all about getting caught up before the weekend.  Time is short!

I Loved this book. I can see why A TEXAS KIND OF CHRISTMAS won first place in the National Federation of Press Women's Fiction  The book was re-released on September 29th for the honor. 

The three authors, Jodi Thomas (headliner), Celia Bonaduce and Rachael Miles, wove a set of stan-alone stories with the St. Nicholas Hotel in Dallas, Texas as the common thread. As we know, things are not always what they first appear and these three authors have done a marvelous job of keeping us turning the pages. 

One Night at the St. Nicholas (Jodi Thomas) opens up as folks from the middle and upper echelon of Dallas arrive on Christmas Eve 1859 for the most talked about ball of the season. Heiress Jacqueline Hartman is determined not to allow her stepmother to marry her off. Through circumstances both created by the young lady and those beyond her control, Jacqueline finds herself in love with Nathaniel Ward - an accused bank robber. 

BIRDIE'S FLIGHT (Celia Bonaduce) introduces us to a young Irish seamstress running from something... and into the arms of Captain Douglas Newcastle. Secrets in Birdie's past could prevent the happily ever after we all long for. 

SPIRIT OF TEXAS (Rachael Miles) brings us to the final arena of the ball by way of a stage coach across the Texas frontier. Eugenie Charpantier travels from Londan to answer the distress call from her estranged mother. With her, she carries a book written by a Texian so vivid that she feels she and the author's hearts beat as one, until she feels a strong attraction to former Texas Ranger Asher Graham. Will the magic of the ball bring them together, in spite of their secrets?

The one thing I loved msot about this anthology was the history recap in the back of the book. As I read the stories, I imagined the Adolphus Hotel (built in 1911) in it's early days. The granduer of the hotel helped me to really see the details of The St. Nicholas - right down to the grand staircase. Hearing that the St. Nicholas actually existed as did the female tycoon, Sarah Horton Cockrell. 

If you want a curl-up Christmas read, I recommend A Texas Kind of Christmas! If you missed the first release, grab the re-release with a brand new cover!

WIN!  WIN!  WIN!  WIN!

Monday, October 5th at midnight CST is your last opportunity to leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of A TEXAS KIND OF CHRISTMAS!  Make sure to leave a comment below.

 I will announce the winner on Wednesday, October 7th!

All my best 

~Angela