Rosemary Mayfield teeters on the brink of ruin. With the murder of her parents she is left the sole guardian of her younger brother and sister. Once a wealthy socialite in New York City, she now finds herself stranded in the untamed wilderness of the American West. When a wounded man comes crashing through her roof, as rough as the savage land, it is against her better judgment to bring him into her home and her heart. But she soon discovers he holds a secret that shatters everything, and she must make a choice, unaware that often destiny hinges on a single moment.
Fresh from an unsavory past and a violent fall through time, Nicolas Ekkridon awakens to find himself cared for by three orphans ignorant of the role he played in their parents’ untimely death. They accept and embrace him, and a lifetime of hardened barriers begin to crumble. On the precipice between good and evil, only Rosemary and her spirited defiance stands between him and villainy. But time and space are against them. As its weaving tentacles envelop them in an indifferent grasp, they are swept into a shattering series of circumstances that threaten the very makeup of their lives. But when time can be bent, nothing is written in stone.
Praise for The Villain
There are very few words that can describe what they’ve accomplished in The Villain. Here are a few that come to mind: magnificent, overwhelming, heart-stirring, and a bit frightening at times.
This author team writes some of the best characters I’ve ever read about and weaves them together in such a fascinating web. Each character has depth and an important role in the storyline (and possibly future storylines). Characters who didn’t particularly interest me, at first, became very significant throughout the book. ~Shannon Keith
The Villain is one of those books you pick up and read in one sitting. The kind that surprises you with its powerful and compelling characters and its poignant message. To say that I was surprised at how much the story touched my heart would be an understatement. ~C.J. Anaya
Reading this book reminded me of the television shows I used to watch when I was a kid. “Little House of the prairie” and “Dr Quinn Medicine Woman”. I can confidently say if you enjoyed those shows, you will enjoy this novel. ~Nina Schluntz
About the Authors
Caroline Gregory and Shawnette Nielson are sisters on a mission. Their goal is to write clean, adventuresome romance stories, full of lovely characters, personal growth, truth, and hope. Although they live miles from each other, and are both busy with the daily needs of their respective families, they carve out time each night to put fingers to keyboard and write. Their goal? Twenty completed books. Set all over the world and throughout time, they thrill at the freedom that writing time travel offers them. From Georgian society, to Ancient Egypt and the Wild Western, the possibilities are limitless.
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
I received this book for free from Cedar Fort in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Liven up your lunch box! Perfect for holidays, birthdays, or any day of the week, traditional Japanese Bento boxes are trendier than ever and they encourage kids of all ages to eat healthy foods by making them cute and colorful! These fun food craft projects let you create themed edible designs that are just as much fun to make as they are to eat!
Lunch + Fun = Bento!
Add some cuteness to your lunches with these adorable bento box recipes. By combining traditional Japanese bento style with familiar Western foods, you get the best of both worlds!
Check out these awesome bento options
Mini Pizzas
Blast off Hippopotamus
Angry Birds
Shark Week
Talk Like a Pirate Day
Colorful, creative, and fun for the whole family, bento lunches are the perfect way to encourage healthy eating by making good foods look even more appealing than junk. So go ahead—open up your lunch box and play with your food!
With Happy Bento in hand, you can say good-bye to boring lunches and hello to healthy, happy food!
My children stole this cook book as soon as it arrived and were busy making shopping lists from the recipes inside Happy Bento. So far we’ve packed a shark and Alice in Wonderland bento to go. Let me tell you we are in love. The author has put together such a wonderful little cookbook with great ideas for school lunches and picnics. It is user friendly, has colorful photos and a small compact paperback size.
All of the ingredients were easy to find and yummy, the lunches nutritious. We enjoyed Anna’s ideas. We packed them on our field trip in fun vintage tupperware containers with cupcake liners. I even ate a sliced raw pepper for the first time! Yes and yes– go get this one.
About the Author
As a child, Anna was a very picky eater. Although she has learned to love new foods, she is still picky. Anna wanted her children to have a well-rounded palate and explore new foods. She discovered bento lunches when her daughter started preschool and needed a packed lunch. Packing meals in a cute and fun way has encouraged her kids to eat healthy and try new foods. For Anna, making bento lunches is a fun hobby that offers an outlet for her creativity.
For many members of the church, the temple endowment remains something of a mystery. Yet when understood, the temple can function in our lives as a modern day Liahona, giving us our bearings in our mortal journey back to our Father. Understanding Your Endowment is packed with insights and keys, which can help you unlock the temple s purpose and meaning in your life. It will help you understand the blessings the Lord offers His children through His temples and will enrich your personal temple worship. Understanding Your Endowment examines topics such as covenant ceremonies, the initiatory ordinances, the endowment, and temple sealings in a manner that is plain and easy to understand while still respecting their sacred and confidential nature. Whether you are preparing to enter the temple for the first time or already attend regularly, your temple worship will be enhanced by reading this book.
Fire and Ice is excited that HARRIET WOLF’S SEVENTH BOOK OF WONDERS by Julianna Baggott releases today and that we get to share the news, along with an exclusive excerpt!
This blitz also includes a giveaway for 5 hardcovers of the book courtesy of Little Brown, and Rockstar Book Tours. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.
About The Book
Title: HARRIET WOLF’S SEVENTH BOOK OF WONDERSAuthor: Julianna Baggott
A brilliantly crafted saga about three generations of women and their secrets, including the discovery of a final unpublished book by the family matriarch, a revered and reclusive author.Harriet Wolf has a final confession. It can be found only in the final book of the series that made her a famous writer. But does that book exist?This absorbing novel spans the entire twentieth century, telling the moving story of a mother, her daughter, and two granddaughters, one of whom is the only person alive who knows the whereabouts of Harriet’s final book. When a hospitalization brings the family back together, the mystery not only of Harriet’s last book, but also of her life, hangs in the balance. Will the truth ever be known, or is Harriet’s story gone forever?A multi-generational tale of long-lost love, motherhood, and family secrets, this is Baggott’s most sweeping and mesmerizing novel yet.
Exclusive Excerpt
Chapter One
The Baby, Twice Born
Harriet
This is how the story goes: I was born dead—or so my mother was told.
According to the physician, good old Dr. Brumus, I didn’t cry. I wasn’t capable of even this innate reflex. I was mute and sallow and already a bleeder, one red bead poised at each nostril. Imagine my exhausted mother—the saint, Irish and Catholic—her legs sagging wide beneath the bloody sheet like two pale, bony wings.
The year was 1900. The world was taking a new shape: the Paris Exposition’s moving sidewalks, Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams, and a tunnel being dug for the subway at Borough Hall, Manhattan. But in our house near the Chesapeake, not far from bustling Baltimore—with its canneries and foundries, its harbor of moaning steamboats, its tenements teeming with typhoid—there was little to do for either my mother or me, medically. Science had come only so far.
But given that Dr. Brumus—winded, permanently overwhelmed—had delivered three stillborn babies from my mother already, it seemed, for the moment, he’d finally won something. He was always watchful, however, always squinting as if in bright sun, even at dusk, the hour I was born, mosquitoes whining past an ear. And Brumus knew, what with my bleeding nose and my pallid, lightly furred skin, that something wasn’t right. He wrapped me in a blanket—though the summer hung wet and steaming outside. Like an aging football captain, he shuttled me down the stairs to the porch, where my father, the banker, was pacing. Dr. Brumus presented me to my father and gave the news: “It isn’t fit.” I wasn’t a girl yet. I was still dangling before my father, midair, a lost pronoun, and it would take years before I would become a child in any real form in my father’s eyes.
“No, it isn’t fit,” my father agreed, perhaps expecting as much, given the three lost before me.
“It may only live long enough for her to get attached,” Dr. Brumus said, teary now.
“The baby’s mother isn’t fit either,” my father said. “Mary has those dark moods. You’ve seen them. She couldn’t withstand that kind of attachment and loss.”
Dr. Brumus tried to hand me to my father, whose face was poised above mine, his nose fat and squat, a boxy fender, though he was youngish and handsome in his taut pink skin and glossy hair. He didn’t like what he saw. “Take it with you,” he said.
Dr. Brumus oversaw the Maryland School for Feeble Minded Children in Owings Mills, long before Baltimore started spilling into it with such ferocity. My father was betting that I wouldn’t make it—but what if I did? Was he asking Dr. Brumus to be my father, or at least my warden? The two men had known each other since they were boys.
“Jackie,” Dr. Brumus said, using the pet name normally reserved for times when he’d drunk a Scotch and soda and was looking slack and heavy-lidded. But that wasn’t his mood now. His eyes raced. “I can’t take the baby with me—”
“You said it’s going to die. You said so!” And my father became a little boy, his face plump and sweaty.
“Where’s the baby?” my mother called, her voice carrying from the open bedroom window above, her Irish accent heavier because she was too tired to fight it. She could have been calling to them from reeds, a marsh with a fog rolling in.
My father shook his head. “No,” he whispered to the doctor, fiercely.
And then my father marched upstairs, past the water stains on the wallpaper and into the bedroom.
“No,” he said to his wife in a lilting voice of his own. Was he going to sing to her? “Darling, no.”
And so, for my mother, I was dead.
But still there was a baby. And this other baby with its dim pulse was bundled and taken away to start its other life at the Maryland School for Feeble Minded Children.
In just over a decade’s time, this child would become a supposed Girl Genius, and, more important, she would find Eppitt in the laundry and love him too much. (You don’t know Eppitt yet, dear ones, but you will.) And then this same child would make her way back here again—to this very porch, to her mother’s bed.
Some of us are born dead, some never really born at all, and others are born fresh every day—as if they’ve had new eyes stitched on overnight—which is the best way to live.
I hope you will understand eventually why I’ve denied all of this for so long. Are you reading this, my Eleanor? My Ruthie? My dear Tilton? Are your eyes catching on these words, fastening one to the next, aware of my life collecting on the page? Are you here with me?
I still desire the veil of fiction, the means to monkey and fidget with the details so I can convince myself that I’m writing about another baby, another mother, another life. If not that, then I wish it were lovely. But what did I learn in writing out the lives of my characters Weldon and Daisy? You can’t have love without knowing sorrow; you can’t have miracles without desperation.
Critically acclaimed, bestselling author, Julianna Baggott — who also writes under the pen names Bridget Asher (The Provence Cure for the Brokenhearted) and N.E. Bode (The Anybodies) — has published 17 books, including novels for adults, younger readers, and collections of poetry. Her latest novel, PURE, is the first of a trilogy; film rights have sold to Fox2000– www.pure-book.com. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Best American Poetry, Best Creative Nonfiction, Real Simple, on NPR.org, as well as read on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” and “Here and Now.” Her novels have been book-pick selections by People Magazine’s summer reading, Washington Post book-of-the-week, a Booksense selection, a Boston Herald Book Club selection, and a Kirkus Best Books of the Year list. Her novels have been published in over 50 overseas editions. She’s a professor in the Creative Writing Program at Florida State University and the founder of the nonprofit Kids in Need – Books in Deed. For more, visit www.juliannabaggott.com.
I received this book for free from Ensign Peak in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Maybe today the sun came up just like it always does, and you rolled out of bed just like you always do, and you knew it was going to be one of those days. But maybe today could be different. What does your soul need? What do you long for? This path that you are on, where is it taking you? How do you fill your unscheduled moments? Is your heart content? Perhaps you feel as if you are missing something. If you want life to satisfy your soul, you have to start living the soul-satisfying life.
Maybe Today describes five holy patterns that, when lived daily, will lead to the soul-satisfying life.
* Tilt Your Soul
* Let Down Your Bucket
* Tune Your Heart
* Take Off Your Shoes
* Be All In
When life gets heavy or monotonous it is so refreshing to have a book to pick up on a moment’s notice. Maybe Today is filled with beautiful principles about simplifying life, filling your days with meaning and choosing the path less traveled. The design is gorgeous…thick pages with photography, quotes and scripture. I came away with a deeper resolved to lift my view and choose purpose
Caught in the middle of a brutal civil war, six Liberian missionaries in Monrovia flee the widespread violence in their native country. Their destination: Freetown, Sierra Leone. With the help of local church member Phillip Abubakar (Henry Adofo), the missionaries make the difficult journey, only to have their troubles compounded by a rebel fighter bent on killing one of their own. Based on incredible true events, FREETOWN is a thrilling and inspiring story of faith, hope and survival.
Cast
Henry Adofo Phillip Abubakar
Michael Attram Menti
Phillip Michael Gaye
Bright Dodoo Selli
Clement Amegayie Nyanforh
Alphonse Menyo Meyers
Great Ejiro Forkpah
Bill Myers Ansa
Godwin Namboh Momulu
Nuong Faalong Akatika
Stacy Mawuse Afful Mrs. Thomas
Dzifa Glikpoe Elderly Woman
Mirabel Norbert Gladys
Ted Johnson Gardia
Faustina Kumesi Ophelia
Maame Dokunu Fearless Woman
William Addo Gas Attendant
Robert Conder President Cunningham
Crew
Garrett Batty Director, Producer, Screenwriter
Adam Abel Producer
Rated PG-13 For Thematic Situations and Violence
Trailer
Giveaway
We have 2 copies of Freetown to give away courtesy of Deseret Book. Must be 18 or older and have a US mailing address. a Rafflecopter giveaway
Fire and Ice is today’s stop on the tour for While You Were Gone hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. We have the author Amy K. Nichols here to answer our questions about the world the book is created in, the music, and the characters behind part II in the Duplexity series. Be sure to stop by all the sites listed on the schedule to learn more!
WHILE YOU WERE GONE
by Amy K. Nichols
Published August 4, 2015
by Knopf Books for Young Readers
304 pages
An artist without a cause meets a rebel without a clue.
Eevee is a promising young artist and the governor’s daughter in a city where censorship is everywhere and security is everything. When a fire devastates her exhibition—years in the making—her dreams of attending an elite art institute are dashed. She’s struggling to find inspiration when she meets Danny, a boy from a different world. Literally.
Raised in a foster home, Danny has led a life full of hurt and hardship until a glitch in the universe changes everything. Suddenly Danny is living in a home he’s never seen, with parents who miraculously survived the car crash that should have killed them. It’s like he’s a new Danny. But this alternate self has secrets—ties to an underground anarchist group that have already landed him in hot water. When he starts to develop feelings for Eevee, he’s even more disturbed to learn that he might have started the fire that ruined her work.
As Danny sifts through clues from his past and Eevee attempts to piece together her future, they uncover a secret that’s bigger than both of them. . . . And together, they must correct the breach between the worlds before it’s too late.
1) While You Were Gone is set in a society with censorship and security, do you see our society moving in this direction. If so, how?
So, the strange thing is I wrote Now That You’re as a standalone novel several years ago, around 2006, and included the idea of an alternate Phoenix that operates as a surveillance state. In 2011 the book sold as a duology, with a second book set in that alternate world. In late 2013 I actually started writing that second book. I remember the day the Guardian published Edward Snowden’s revelations about government snooping, because it stopped me cold. Suddenly the fiction I was writing didn’t seem so fictionalized. Of course the idea of Big Brother has been around both in stories and in the real world for a long time, but While You Were Gone was the first time I’d tackled the subject in my own work. And here it was playing out in real time on the evening news. It really made me stop and think. How far did I want to push the Big Brother aspect of the society in the book? I knew I didn’t want to write a fully dystopian story (a la Hunger Games) , but I also felt I needed to adequately explore the implications of living in a world where everything you say, do, and even think can land you in trouble. In the end, I decided to take what we have in the real world and amp it up using both existing and emerging technologies as well as actual scientific theories. All that to say, it’s hard not to see our society as one moving in the direction of heightened censorship and surveillance. The question is, how far will it go?
2) Danny and Eevee are anomalies. What draws them together?
Danny and Eevee both have to wear masks to get by in their lives, Eevee as the daughter of a powerful politician, and Danny as an imposter of his parallel self. Only when they’re alone are they able to let their guards down and be their true selves. While there’s a strong, immediate physical attraction between them, I think on a deeper level they sense each other’s desire to live out who they really are, without fear of consequences. I really enjoyed writing their relationship, seeing how it evolved. As trust builds between them, they’re able to strip away the layers of pretense and protection until they can just be themselves, together. I loved how they both had such strong exteriors but were really quite vulnerable inside.
3) Tell us about the world your book is set in.
While You Were Gone is set in a parallel Phoenix, Arizona, in a United States that never recovered from the Cold War. As Danny says in Now That You’re Here, instead of ending, their Cold War “turned into an ice age”. The country functions from a place of hyper vigilance against threats both foreign and domestic. In an effort to build a completely secure society, government researchers create the ultimate surveillance apparatus, called Skylar, and choose Phoenix as the testing ground before rolling it out nationwide. Skylar turns out to be problematic on multiple levels. There are other unique and fun things about the world, as well. For example, the Gulf of California extends farther north, giving Phoenix oceanfront property. In many ways it’s the same as our world, and in other ways it’s very different.
4) What artists or musicians inspire both you and your characters?
While music inspires and informs my writing, I tend not to mention actual musicians or bands because it imposes a particular time or age on the work. That said, my characters and books have theme songs. “Renegades” by X Ambassadors is totally the theme song for While You Were Gone. To get into Danny’s mindset, I often listened to “Vicarious” by Tool. Eevee had a couple of songs: “No Light, No Light” by Florence + The Machine, and “She” by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. There’s a more complete playlist of the songs that influenced the book on my website (http://amyknichols.com/?page_id=758). As far as art goes, I felt I could name actual artists and not age the book, particularly given the censorship aspect of the story. Many of Eevee’s favorite artists are the same as mine: Van Gogh, Klee, Picasso. I did take some liberties with the art in the story and included fictional artists alongside real ones.
5) Do you have actors or models chosen that would represent your characters well?
I don’t usually align my characters with specific actors or models, mostly because I’m afraid I’ll end up writing what I know of those actors or models into the personalities of my characters. I’d rather they be unique unto themselves. That said, if I were to cast actors as my characters, I’d choose a young Jared Leto (circa 2004) for Danny, and a current day or slightly older Isabelle Fuhrman for Eevee. A young Ben Whishaw with messy hair would make a perfect Warren.
Book One in the Series
NOW THAT YOU’RE HERE
by Amy K. Nichols
Published December 9, 2014
by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Pages: 304
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
In a parallel universe, the classic bad boy falls for the class science geek.
One minute Danny was running from the cops, and the next, he jolted awake in an unfamiliar body–his own, but different. Somehow, he’s crossed into a parallel universe. Now his friends are his enemies, his parents are long dead, and studious Eevee is not the mysterious femme fatale he once kissed back home. Then again, this Eevee–a girl who’d rather land an internship at NASA than a date to the prom–may be his only hope of getting home.
Eevee tells herself she’s only helping him in the name of quantum physics, but there’s something undeniably fascinating about this boy from another dimension . . . a boy who makes her question who she is, and who she might be in another place and time.
And, coming soon, Duplexity, Part II: While You Were Gone flips this story on its head and tells the tale of the alternate Danny and the alternate Eevee, living in Danny’s parallel world.
Praise for Now That You’re Here:
“The perfect blend of sci-fi and swoons, Now That You’re Here is like no other book I’ve read. Riveting, romantic and utterly original, it kept me up late!” –Amie Kaufman, author of These Broken Stars
“Dynamic, dizzying, and downright daring, Now That You’re Here kept me guessing until the end, and ready for the next.” –Shannon Messenger, author of Let the Sky Fall
“Nichols infuses the story with a smattering of science fiction and science fact, while making a welcome departure from the stereotype of the book-smart outcast trying to fit in. These geeks own their intelligence like a badge of honor, using science to help a friend and explore strange new worlds. Riveting in its own right, the story sets the stage for a mirror-image sequel, which will follow the other Danny and Eevee.” — Publishers Weekly, STARRED
“While the world-jumping is fantastical, the personalities and characters (fully individual, without reaching trying-too-hard levels of quirkiness) ring true…. A debut with great characters and huge nerd appeal.” — Kirkus Reviews
Amy K. Nichols has been crafting stories for as long as she can remember. She is the author of YA science fiction novel Now That You’re Here, to be published by Knopf December 9, 2014. The follow-up, While You Were Gone, will be published in 2015. She is mentored by award-winning crime novelist James Sallis and lives on the edge of the Sonoran desert with her husband and children. Amy is a member of SCBWI and SFWA, as well as the Class of 2K14 debut authors. Visit her online at http://www.amyknichols.com.
If there’s one thing that Bridgette Reynolds has learned recently, it’s that the perfect shoes, the perfect hair, and the perfect dress do not make for the perfect proposal. In fact, sometimes they make for the not-so-perfect breakup.
Now, Bridgette must do everything in her power to win Adam back. She knows they are meant to be. And nothing will stand in her way—not her friends, not her grandmother, not even the fact that Adam is now engaged to Serene after a whirlwind romance.
Focused on her plan to win Adam back, Bridgette isn’t expecting Ian—her college best friend, her love, her big regret—to come back into her life. They sink back into their comfortable friendship as if no time has passed at all, making Bridgette start to question her feelings for Adam. But Ian has a few secrets of his own . . . secrets that could shatter their friendship once and for all.
Bridgette has to make some major decisions—should she speak now? Or forever hold her peace?
Praise for the Book
“Can I give this book a 10? It was so fantastic!” -Taking Time For Mommy
“Speak Now grabbed me from the beginning! This is the perfect escape/beach read – light and fun, amusing with some tearful moments.” -Reviewing in Chaos
“Chick-Lit at its most enjoyable.” – Life With Katie
By day, Becky Monson is a mother to three young children, and a wife. By night, she escapes with reading books and writing. In her debut novel, Becky uses humor and true-life experiences to bring her characters to life. She loves all things chick-lit (movies, books, etc.), and wishes she had a British accent. She has recently given up Diet Coke for the fiftieth time and is hopeful this time will last… but it probably won’t.
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
Six months out of law school, Rachel Pearce is completely disillusioned by her job hunt. Despite pounding the pavement with her Ivy League degree in hand, her job prospects are no brighter than the day she graduated. Then in a chance meeting with a former acquaintance, eccentric young millionaire Henry Walker, Rachel finds an unexpected opportunity: Henry is looking for a personal secretary. Swallowing her pride, Rachel sets aside her law firm aspirations for what she envisions as secretarial work—mountains of paperwork and filing. But when she finds her most demanding duty to be daily cookie runs for her new boss, she’s baffled by her unconventional job responsibilities.
As she’s pulled into Henry’s delightful whims, caught in a whirlwind of private jets and fancy dinners, Rachel finds herself inexplicably drawn to this handsome and charismatic man. But reality always has a way of intruding, and logic tells her that this adventure can’t last. When real life inevitably comes calling, Rachel must decide if she’s willing to trade in her dream of success in the courtroom for a chance at love.
Love on a Whim is not a book to read or pickup on an empty stomach. First, there are the beautiful macaroons on the cover, then the first scene takes place in a bakery, and finally several mentions of gourmet cookies throughout the plot. The yummy storyline follows Rachel Pearce, fresh out of law school and ready to land the career she’s been trained for in a prestigious firm. Times are tough and she has to feed herself, so she settles on a cafe waitress. Luckily, Henry, her best friend’s wealthy ex-boyfriend, offers Rachel a temporary job as his secretary and cookie chauffer. The two of them are so involved in their own self- doubt that they don’t notice the signs all around them pointing to the obvious…they are perfect for each other.
With a fun, light storyline, help that looks like a Muppet character, and a brooding estate and mansion, Aubrey Mace’s writing is a great escape. I finished this one in one day. My only wish was a little bit more insight into and fleshing out of Henry’s character. He was guarded, and as a result I had a hard time getting to know more as a reader. I loved the book and am happy to report it is squeaky clean!
About the Author
Aubrey Mace lives in Sandy, Utah. She attended LDS Business College and Utah State University. When she is not writing, she enjoys cooking, traveling, gardening, playing the cello (badly), and spending time with her family and psychotic cat.
Aubrey has four published novels: SPARE CHANGE, which won the 2008 Whitney Award for Best Romance, MY FAIRY GRANDMOTHER, SANTA MAYBE, and BEFORE THE CLOCK STRIKES THIRTY. She also has a novella, “The Science of Sentiment”, included in the Timeless Romance Anthology Spring Collection.
I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The ANNETTE LYON COLLECTION contains brand new contemporary romance novella OUR SONG, as well as five hand-picked readers’ and reviewers’ favorites of Annette’s popular Timeless Romance Anthology novellas. Readers will love this selection of three contemporary and three historical romance novellas.
In OUR SONG, a charming romance novella, Cassie and Matt have been dating in the Yellowstone area for two years, and things are, well, average. When Cassie meets up with two college friends who are visiting, their love lives like sound like fairy tales: rose petals, chocolates, candles on the beach… Cassie goes home feeling like she’s missing out. After all, repeatedly watching Old Faithful erupt and walking through sulfur-smelling gases at Fountain Paint Pot don’t exactly say “romance.” Maybe things with Matt aren’t going anywhere, and it’s time to move on. Then she discovers that perception and reality are completely different things. Now she can only hope it isn’t too late to show Matt how much she really cares.
In the sweet novella GOLDEN SUNRISE, Natalie takes time out of her crazy schedule to fly to Vegas for her best friend’s wedding. Sierra and Jason, high-school sweethearts, are finally getting married. Fortunately for Natalie, her old high-school flame, Adam, has a work commitment and can’t be there as best man. But when she arrives at the wedding rehearsal—late and ragged—Adam is there. When Adam makes a wild suggestion, Natalie just may take him up on it, even though she knows he’s moved on. A single choice may mean Natalie is taking a shot at reclaiming the past—or that she's putting her heart in harm’s way a second time.
FIRSTS AND LASTS, an enchanting novella, begins with Dani’s last week in New York. She’s failed in her dreams to catch a break as an actress and is now ready to return home and dust herself off. As she visits the places on her final to-see list, she meets Mark, another New York City transplant with big dreams. Except Mark hasn’t given up on his. As they spend the day together, Dani realizes that even though she hasn’t hit the “big time” she might be living her dream after all. Only problem: she has a one-way ticket back home.
In the compelling novella WAR OF HEARTS, Anna, a journalist, is desperate to escape the magazine where Pete, her now-former boyfriend, also works. Heartbroken and still in love with him, Anna snags an assignment to cover the Winter War in Finland. She arrives at a snowy Finnish battlefront only to discover that Pete is already there—as her photographer. She’s determined to be professional about the situation until a battle breaks out in camp, putting her and Pete in harm’s way and putting their love to the test.
The captivating novella BETWEEN THE LINES follows Jane Martin, who is intelligent but extremely shy, especially around men. When the Aid and Cultural Society proposes a letter-writing program, Jane signs up, hoping she can find true friendship. The program doesn’t run as smoothly as expected, and unknown to Jane, one of the men in her city becomes her writing friend. Thomas Allred has always known shy and quiet Jane, but reading her letters written to his secret persona, opens his eyes to what an amazing woman she is. The only trouble is, Jane doesn’t know that the man who she is falling in love with through letters is also Thomas, the man who is falling in love with her in person.
In the charming novella A TASTE OF HOME, we meet Claire Jennings, who’s on her way to spend Christmas with her family. As she rides the train with William Rhodes, who grew up across the street, memories of the past flood her mind. He may be twenty-one now, but she can’t forget his torturous teasing from their school years. At the rail station, Claire discovers her home is under quarantine because her little brother has measles. She's stuck in town, away from her family, on her favorite holiday, with William.
This Timeless Collection is a great way to get a taste of several stories all in one sitting. Annette does a wonderful job of building the time and setting of each novella which I loved. I often struggle with novellas because I want to know more, and would recommend reading these one at a time because they are not inerrelated in any way. I truly enjoyed how unique each one is. Take this on your next trip or leave it by your bedside to enjoy. Clean with some kissing and drinking. Fun, sweet and well-written.
About the Author
Annette Lyon is a Whitney Award winner, a two-time recipient of Utah’s Best of State medal for fiction and the author of nine novels, a cookbook, and a grammar guide as well as over a hundred magazine articles. She’s a senior editor at Precision Editing Group and a cum laude graduate from BYU with a degree in English. When she’s not writing, editing, knitting, or eating chocolate, she can be found mothering and avoiding the spots on the kitchen floor.
About the Authors
