Alcatraz is such an eerie place. I wanted to do it justice on a layout. Impossible to do by the way. I researched many sites looking for inspiration. I found this post and thought it was perfect….so I scraplifted….yes I did….I admit it!!
I also took a huge amount of pictures so I created a waterfall album on the lay out at the top of the post
Here is a collage of the album
Looks better in person but, I am very pleased with how this turned out.
Thanks for stopping by!!!
OVERVIEW
This 100 page prequel novella to Mary Kay Andrews’s bestselling novel Beach Town is sure to delight fans and new readers alike.
Greer Hennessy is a movie location scout whose latest project has literally gone up in flames. After an avocado field accidentally catches fire on the set of her new movie, she is out of a job and practically run out of town. With her feisty grandmother Dearie, a Golden Age starlet who still has a lot of vigor left in her, complicating her life, Greer needs a bit of a rest. But Greer’s own mother then drops a bombshell on her that will change Greer’s life completely, and raise questions about her own father that she can’t ignore. In desperate need of a second chance, can Greer find what she’s looking for in the one last job she can get: a movie called BEACH TOWN? But first, she needs to find the perfect spot…
REVIEW
First of all…lightening fast read. Of course, it is a novella!
This started a little slow for me. But, in true MKA fashion, the story twists and turns and soon the reader is enveloped into the plot and there is no turning back.
Greer has made a huge mistake as a movie location scout. And as a result, she looses her job. This leaves her NO MONEY but plenty of time to reconnect with her family.
Dearie is her grandmother and BOY is she a pistol. After getting kicked out of one nursing home, Greer must find her a new place to live. On top all this, Greer finds out her mother has cancer.
I love MKA! All her books are awesome. Great characters, funny and serious all at the same time. This mix is classic MKA and extremely entertaining. I have met her a few times and she is as magnificent as her books.
This is a prequel to MKA’s novel Beach Town. Beach Town will be released in paperback on May 3, 2016.
I received this book from Netgalley for a honest review
Purchase Here
OVERVIEW
New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards continues her penchant for “fantastic storytelling” (RT Book Reviews) with this next heart-pumping romantic suspense novel, the tale of a brilliant ornithologist trapped on the remote Attu Island in Alaska, fighting for her life—and that of a handsome stranger—before they’re swallowed up in darkness forever.
BOOM. That’s the sound that changes everything for Dr. Gina Sullivan, a renowned ornithologist on a group research grant trip on the remote island of Attu, Alaska. When an everyday outing turns sinister at the onset of one of Attu’s infamous storms, Gina expects thunder and lightning—but what she doesn’t see coming is the small jet plane that drops out of the sky and into the water mere feet from her boat. Even more unprecedented: there’s a sole survivor from the crash, and he needs Gina’s help. But it turns out that rescuing the stranger and getting them both out of the oncoming storm is just the beginning. Because the more Gina learns about James “Cal” Callahan, he of brooding eyes and muscled frame, the more she fears—for herself, and for him.
Cal has made a career of trading on government secrets and emerging unscathed—until a routine pickup goes horribly wrong and lands him in ice-cold water. Literally. He knows the plane crash was no accident and that there could very well be an enemy force currently combing the Alaskan island ensuring there were no survivors. Now if only the arrestingly beautiful bird-watcher with the clear-blue gaze would stop watching him, well, like a hawk. Cal convinces Gina to return to base camp and help him covertly get off the island. But when Gina makes it safely back to camp and finds her entire team murdered, all bets are off, and as darkness envelops the island, she must decide: trust a man she barely knows, or go it alone and risk running straight into the arms of a killer?
REVIEW
Gina is a professor studying birds on the island of Attu. She witnesses a plane crash. This is just not any plane crash! This is all about the murder of one of the plane’s passengers. When Gina finds a survivor, it turns her life around in more ways than one.
I have been in a reading slump lately. Started several, just couldn’t finish. When this novel came in my XOXpert shipment, I knew this would be a great read to move me out of my slump. I have not read a Karen Robards novel in a long time. This was like visiting an old friend.
This is the perfect beach read….it is set in on a COLD Alaska island called Attu. Perfect for a hot summer day!!!
The setting is amazing. I did not realize Attu was the only place a WWII battle was fought on American soil. Of course, I had to google it. I really want to visit this place someday!
Gina and Cal are at odds on many levels. They can argue with the best of them….then, as you can guess, they heat up the pages nicely. Gina takes no crap off of Cal! Makes the whole story very entertaining!
Start to finish, this is a divine read. The setting, the characters and the chase reveal an absorbing story!
I received this novel as part of the XOXperts.
Purchase here
Flare-UpBy Felicity Young
Genre: Fiction / Crime
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
Outback murders, dodgy thieves, organised crime and arson – a small outback community is crackling with nerves, as Cam Fraser investigates.
Sergeant Cam Fraser’s letter of resignation is signed sealed but as yet undelivered. It’s sitting in the car when he travels out to help the wife of an old acquaintance with a bit of shearing. Rita’s husband Pizzle has gone missing so Cam is lending a hand, but there’s a stench around the shearing shed that he can’t ignore. What Cam finds when he searches inside will derail his plans for retirement and set a rural community — already on alert for an arsonist lighting bushfires — on edge.
Author Bio
Felicity was born in Germany and attended boarding school in the UK while her parents travelled the world with the British army. She thinks the long boring plane trips home played an important part in helping her to develop her creative imagination.
Felicity settled with her parents in Western Australia in 1976, became a nurse, married young and had three children. Not surprisingly, it took ten years to complete an Arts degree (English lit) at UWA.
In 1990 Felicity and her family moved to a small farm 40 kilometers NE of Perth where she established a Suffolk sheep stud, reared orphan kangaroos and embarked upon a life of crime writing.
https://www.facebook.com/felicityyoungauthor/
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Felicity_Young_Flare_up?id=TnkkCwAAQBAJ
https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/isbn9781460706251?at=10l7rh
I guess it is good to have diversity. I didn’t even realize I was doing this!!! I bought these two books at The Southern Festival of Books and I just put them on my TBR shelves to be picked up later….well…I guess it’s later!!
As most of you know I am a huge baseball fan. I enjoyed this book immensely. Doc Graham was a generous, smart, and talented man. This is a very well written and informative book. Well researched and it covered his medical career as well as, his baseball career.
This touches on the many haunted places in different souther states. It is not limited to hospitals as the title says. This is a unique read. I enjoyed reading about the many haunted places in the south, especially Mississippi. However, this is not well written. I wanted more information…or something was missing.
Thanks for stopping by!!
These are just a few of the pages I have done for the senior album. I have so much more to do!!! Sorry about the shadow on some of these….didn’t get out of the way….oops.
The bottom left…..was when she found out the band won the state championship…completely unexpected!!
Most of the letters are rub ons and the top left I have stickles on the polka dots. Does not show up well….
Thanks for stopping by!!!
Overview
Diane seems to have the perfect life. She is a wife, a mother, and the owner of Happy People Read and Drink Coffee, a cozy literary cafe in Paris. But when she suddenly loses her beloved husband and daughter in a tragic car accident, the world as she knows it instantly vanishes. Trapped and haunted by her memories, Diane retreats from friends and family, unable and unwilling to move forward.
But one year later, Diane shocks her loved ones and makes the surprising decision to move to a small town on the Irish coast, finally determined to heal and rebuild her life alone—until she meets Edward, the attractive yet taciturn Irish photographer who lives next door. At first abrasive and unwelcoming, Edward initially resents Diane’s intrusion into his life of solitude . . . until he can no longer keep her at arm’s length, and they fall into a surprising and tumultuous romance. But will it last when Diane leaves Ireland, and Edward, for the home she once ran away from in Paris? At once heartbreaking and uplifting, Diane’s story is deeply felt, reminding us that love remembered is love enduring.
Review
First of all let me start with saying I LOVE THIS COVER!!
Diane has suffered a terrible loss. She is struggling to even get out bed! Through a determined will to live and survive, she moves to the coast of Ireland to heal. She realizes that life is worth living and she is worth giving life a chance.
Now, if you need a good book for one sitting, this is it. This is an uplifting tale about survival.
I immediately connected with Diane and her plight. I wanted her to overcome, succeed and learn to love again. She is a tough woman, she has some very depressed moments but, overall she pulls herself through.
Edward is her next door neighbor. I absolutely HATED Edward! I am completely shocked Diane develops a relationship with him. He is unapproachable, crass and downright scary at times. I feel like there is more to the story….you know…left for the sequel. I also understand he is a different character seen in a romance novel. He is NOT a knight I shining armor. So, kudos to the author for stepping out on a limb with this character. I am not saying he worked but, it was very different for a change.
I will definitely want to read the next installment just to see changes(if there are any) in Edward.
Good, quick read!
PURCHASE HERE
Let me start with saying….I am going to Kill my friend Susan!! She started me on this and now I can’t quit….I have to buy all the stuff!!!!! More stuff!!! She is dead meat!!!
Thanks to my friend (which I am going to disown). I now have a new obsession. I can make ribbon book marks and they ARE SO MUCH FUN!!! AND EASY!!!
Thanks to a you tube video…the fun never stops!!!
THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!!!
Always With YouBy Andrea Hurst
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Overview
1977 is a glorious time to be alive in the beautiful wine country of Northern California, and Cathy has everything she thought she wanted – from a thriving health food café to loyal friends.
Since the devastating failure of her short-lived marriage, Cathy has buried herself in her work and kept men at arm’s length. But when an old high school friend, Pam, brings her family for a short stay, Cathy’s stone walls begin to crumble when she meets Jamie. Jamie, whose compassion and warmth slowly break down her defenses. Jamie, whose devotion to his four-year-old daughter melts Cathy’s heart and makes her desperate for a family of her own. Jamie… who is married to Pam.
A profound love that transcends time and place is impossible to resist. But is love more important than friendship? Are loyalty and fidelity an anchor or a chain? In the end, it’s all about choices – tough ones that can break hearts. Now Cathy must make the most difficult choice of her life.
REVIEW
The setting is wonderful! We visited Sonoma County this summer and it is superb. The author hit the nail on the head with this part of the country.
Cathy is a hard working, lovely woman. She is content with her life until……Pam, Jamie and their daughter move in. This changes her out look! She wants more!
I enjoyed Cathy. She is a tough woman and like I have said before, I love strong female leads. Pam is NOT my favorite character. She is mean and witchy at times.
This is a love story with a happy ending. However, it is a little stilted in the conversations and story is rough around the edges. However, it moves quickly, especially when the reader gets vested in the characters.
Author bio
When not visiting local farmer’s markets or indulging her love for chocolate, Andrea Hurst is an author and literary agent. Her passion for books drives her to find and write stories that take readers on a journey to another place and leave them with an unforgettable impression. She is a developmental editor for publishers and authors, an instructor in creative writing at the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts, and a webinar presenter for Writers Digest. She lives with her dachshund in the Pacific Northwest, on an island much like the fictional Madrona, with all of its natural beauty and small town charm.
Her published books include The Guestbook, Tea & Comfort, and Always With You, The Lazy Dog’s Guide to Enlightenment and Everybody’s Natural Food Cookbook, and she co-authored A Book of Miracles. To learn more about Andrea and her books, visit http://www.AndreaHurst-author.com or http://www.andreahurst.com.
Join her on Facebook for book giveaways and more delicious recipes and scenic photos from Madrona Island at http://www.facebook.com/andreahurstauthor
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndreaHurst_
On Amazon: amzn.to/1PL98Sv
Website: http://www.andreahurst-author.com/
Overview
Lauded for her “astute and engrossing” (People) writing style imbued with “originality galore” (RT Book Reviews), Kim Wright channels the best of Jennifer Weiner and Sarah Pekkanen in this delightful novel of self-discovery on the open road as one woman sets out for Graceland hoping to answer the question: Is Elvis Presley her father?
Blues musician Cory Ainsworth is barely scraping by after her mother’s death when she discovers a priceless piece of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia hidden away in a shed out back of the family’s coastal South Carolina home: Elvis Presley’s Stutz Blackhawk, its interior a time capsule of the singer’s last day on earth.
A backup singer for the King, Cory’s mother Honey was at Graceland the day Elvis died. She quickly returned home to Beaufort and married her high school sweetheart. Yearning to uncover the secrets of her mother’s past—and possibly her own identity—Cory decides to drive the car back to Memphis and turn it over to Elvis’s estate, retracing the exact route her mother took thirty-seven years earlier. As she winds her way through the sprawling deep south with its quaint towns and long stretches of open road, the burning question in Cory’s mind—who is my father?—takes a backseat to the truth she learns about her complicated mother, the minister’s daughter who spent a lifetime struggling to conceal the consequences of a single year of rebellion.
Review
Cory is an wayward adult looking to discover who she is and where she is going. Cory discovers Elvis’ Blackhawk car in her dad’s shed. She decides to drive to Graceland via a circuitous route. What she discovers about herself and her family lead to a great story!
I love Cory! She is such a misguided individual with a kind heart. Very few characters touch your soul, Cory touched mine. She is a REAL person and her struggles pull your heart strings. I think it is because she has such a low expectation out of life, when she succeeds at anything, the reader CHEERS!
This is an engrossing read from start to finish. The mystery surrounding the Blackhawk, Cory’s adventure to find out about her mother and Elvis! This combination envelopes the reader and never lets go!
Being an hour south of Memphis and 45 minutes from Tupleo, this book was like reading about home. The stories about the life inside Graceland had me completely fascinated. And I am not a huge Elvis fan. I actually had misgivings about this book. No way could the author do Elvis or Graceland justice. I praise the author for a fabulous job. What a huge undertaking and to do it correctly- KUDOS!!!
Purchase Here
reecaspieces 