2020 Blog Challenges Sign-Up Post

Okay, I'm a day or two later than I'd planned for this. But I was unsure what challenges I wanted to do for sure.  I've settled on just two for the year I think.  Although the first one, The Bookish Resolution Challenge, actually has several parts to it, and will tie into the other one anyway.  So let's talk about them now!

So, there aren't a lot of rules for  this one, just these three guidelines:

The book must have been published in 2019 or earlier to count. It can be in any format (including an ARC/eARC) as long as the release date is 2019 or earlier (i.e. 2020 releases are not allowed).
You have to start and finish the book in 2020 to count it. Any books started in 2019 and finished in 2020 do not count. Any books started in 2020 and finished in 2021 also do not count.

The challenge runs from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020
(your local time)

Everything beyond these 3 rules is COMPLETELY OPTIONAL and designed just for fun so you can put in as much or as little as you want into this challenge.

My goal is to read 2 books a month that are already on my bookshelves.  Books I've purchased and didn't already read as either an e-galley or an audiobook.  I might be more specific and say one YA and one romance a month, but for now I'm going to stick with just two.  I'd love to get around to more than 2 a month, but that is going to depend on my sticking to my goals in how many review books I sign up for this year.  There is also a team mini-challenge, which last year was Harry Potter themed, not that I did that great in it.  You don't have to be a part of that, but I might try it this year since I'm not doing a bunch of other challenges. The team I'll join is the:

The TBR Stackers! For every book you read, you’re adding a bunch more to your TBR. It never ends!

 Because that right there is the main reason I'm joining!  If you want to sign up as well, you can go HERE.

There are a few more guidelines to this challenge than the Beat the Backlist Challenge.  Here they are:

1. Create between 3 or more resolutions related to books/book blogging/writing (there are examples below but you can make up your own)(you can have as many resolutions as you would like, there is no limit) 
2. Create a signup post and add it to the Linky on this post (sign up before Feb 28th)
3. Since this is a year long challenge we ask that you pick goals with some longevity. Pick a goal that will take you no less than 4 months to complete.
4. Twice a year we will have an update to see how you are doing. May 1st and September 1st. The last update will be the wrap up post.
5. For each goal you complete you get one entry into the giveaway that will be in our wrap up post on December 31, 2020
6. The Winner will be picked randomly so the more goals you complete the better chance you have to winning one of the $5 Amazon Gift Cards at the end of the year.

So, let's go over my three main resolutions, although I have parts that make up each one.

1.  Blogging - This year I really want to get more organized and tidy up my blog appearance a bit. So I think I might bite the bullet and sign up with Ashley at Nose Graze for her hosting and setup help.  Which means there may soon be a new web address location for my blog.  I hope I can get all my followers to come along!

On my own I plan to continue to keep up my blogging planner with when I'm reviewing and other posts I've scheduled, etc.  I used a Google database this past year to keep track of my reading, but in the end I don't know how much I used it overall for statistics.  I need to go back and see if it was worth the time.  I plan to cut back on tours.  No more than one review tour a week, unless there are special circumstances, like authors I love having books out at the same time, or else when the next SmartyPants Romance releases come out this spring, I may be reading more than one a week.   I also intend to continue working on commenting on other blogs, and keeping up my weekly posts of Cleaning Up My TBR with a giveaway, and Lisa's Looking Forward To on Wednesdays.

2.  Reading - I will of course do the Goodreads Challenge.  I'm setting it at 220 books again.  And I am going to try to not let the months when I get behind cause me to drop the number to be safe and make sure I reach the goal.  Along with that, my Beat the Backlist Challenge goals above will hopefully help me get my shelves somewhat worked on, as I keep buying books, and not getting to them because of all the reviews I also sign up for.  Not to mention many ARCs I've picked up at past book conventions that I still need to read.

3.  Writing - So, I'm really, really stoked about trying to take one of my stories I've started and get it finished up enough to be able to submit it to be part of the SmartyPants Romance Green Valley world of Penny Reid.  While I know there's probably no way to finish the story and get it all ready to go by the spring submission dates, I want to be getting close to ready with my story by April.  However, I've got my short story, and I feel like over the next couple of months I really want to get it finally ready to just submit as a self-publish title on Amazon.  I'm going to set a word count goal of having 50,000 words by April in my SmartyPants Romance idea though.  I think there was a way to do that on the new NaNoWriMo website, so I'm going to try to keep myself accountable with that.

If you want to sign up for this one, you can go HERE.


Those are my two challenges for the year, are you participating in either?  What Challenges have you signed up for?

Lisa's Looking Forward To #30 - September 17th, 2019

Back to joining up with the Waiting on Wednesday Posts, and the Can't Wait Wednesday posts hosted by Wishful Endings.  There are a ton of books out next week that I'm excited for!

From my ARC list for September 17th, 2019:

I want this one so bad!  It sounds just like one that is going to be a big hit.  And I mean they compare it to The Handmaid's Tale, which I haven't read, but love the tv show.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

A speculative thriller in the vein of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power. Optioned by Universal and Elizabeth Banks to be a major motion picture!

“A visceral, darkly haunting fever dream of a novel and an absolute page-turner. Liggett’s deeply suspenseful book brilliantly explores the high cost of a misogynistic world that denies women power and does it with a heart-in-your-throat, action-driven story that’s equal parts horror-laden fairy tale, survival story, romance, and resistance manifesto. I couldn’t stop reading.” – Libba Bray, New York Times bestselling author

Survive the year.

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE. 
 

I always love stories that have settings or things that we are familiar with even if they are set in the future, like Costco.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

"If you see a beast, and you have the shot, don't hesitate. Kill it."


For seventeen years, fees have lived separate from beasts. The division of the sexes has kept their world peaceful. Glori Rhodes is like most other fees her age. She adores her neighborhood's abandoned Costco, can bench her body weight, and she knew twenty-seven beast counter attack moves by the time she was seven. She has never questioned the separation of the sexes or the rules that keep her post-nuclear hometown safe. But when her mother secretly gives birth to a baby beast, Glori grows to love the child and can't help wondering: What really is the difference between us and them?

When her brother, at the age of five, is snatched in a vicious raid, Glori and her best friend, Su, do the unthinkable - covertly infiltrate the City of Beasts to get him back. What's meant to be a smash-and-grab job quickly becomes the adventure of a lifetime as the fees team up with a fast-talking, T-shirt cannon wielding beast named Sway, and Glori starts to see that there's more to males, and her own history, than she's been taught. Glori, Sway, and a motley cohort of friends will go to the ends of the earth to find her little brother. And maybe save their divided world while they're at it.

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE.

Two of my favorite movies/tv shows are compared to this, although the cover is only so-so for me.  I wish I'd had time to read this one!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Adventures in Babysitting meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this funny, action-packed novel about a coven of witchy babysitters who realize their calling to protect the innocent and save the world from an onslaught of evil.

Seventeen-year-old Esme Pearl has a babysitters club. She knows it's kinda lame, but what else is she supposed to do? Get a job? Gross. Besides, Esme likes babysitting, and she's good at it.

And lately Esme needs all the cash she can get, because it seems like destruction follows her wherever she goes. Let's just say she owes some people a new tree.

Enter Cassandra Heaven. She's Instagram-model hot, dresses like she found her clothes in a dumpster, and has a rebellious streak as gnarly as the cafeteria food. So why is Cassandra willing to do anything, even take on a potty-training two-year-old, to join Esme's babysitters club?

The answer lies in a mysterious note Cassandra's mother left her: "Find the babysitters. Love, Mom."

Turns out, Esme and Cassandra have more in common than they think, and they're about to discover what being a babysitter really means: a heroic lineage of superpowers, magic rituals, and saving the innocent from seriously terrifying evil. And all before the parents get home.

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE. 

Sounds like it could be an emotional read.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
 
Fifteen-year-old Lucky loves her grandparents. True, her grandmother forgets things, like turning the stove off, or Lucky's name, but her grandfather takes such good care of them that Lucky doesn't realize how bad things are . . . until she loses her grandfather and is left caring for her grandmother on her own. When her grandma sets the kitchen on fire, Lucky can't hide what's happening any longer, and she is sent into foster care. She quickly learns that some families are okay, and some aren't. And some really, really aren't. None of them feel like home. And they're certainly not family.

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE. 

Another one that sounds like an emotional read.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

The only thing connecting Sloane to her older sister Talley is a list–random places, unfamiliar names, a phone number that she doesn’t recognize.

Ever since Talley died, Sloane has been completely fixated on it: maybe understanding how the items on list connect is the key to understanding why Talley took her own life. Except the clues on the list seem to be pointing her to California, and Talley had never even been there, right?

Turns out the list of things Sloane didn’t know about her sister is much longer than she realized.

She heads out west in search of Adam, the owner of the mysterious phone number, who claims he’d never met Talley. Even though Adam is clearly hiding something, Sloane can’t deny that she’s drawn to him. Can unraveling the cryptic non-sequiturs Talley left behind – and putting her trust in a stranger – heal the hole her sister’s death has left in Sloane’s life?

From author Courtney Sheinmel comes an engaging and heartfelt novel about the bonds of sisterhood, the imprecision of memory, and the incomparable value of finding something to live for.

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE. 

This an author that I know I really need to read some day.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Juliet Milagros Palante is leaving the Bronx and headed to Portland, Oregon. She just came out to her family and isn’t sure if her mom will ever speak to her again. But Juliet has a plan, sort of, one that’s going to help her figure out this whole “Puerto Rican lesbian” thing. She’s interning with the author of her favorite book: Harlowe Brisbane, the ultimate authority on feminism, women’s bodies, and other gay-sounding stuff.

Will Juliet be able to figure out her life over the course of one magical summer? Is that even possible? Or is she running away from all the problems that seem too big to handle?

With more questions than answers, Juliet takes on Portland, Harlowe, and most importantly, herself. 

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE.  

This is another author I know I need to read, and the story on this is really unique sounding!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Ash gets on a Greyhound bus to the place Bly was last seen: Snowflake, Arizona. Six thousand feet up in the wide red desert, Ash meets Mona; her goat, Socrates; her dog, Cooper; and finds stepbrother Bly, too.


In their ramshackle homes, the walls lined with tinfoil, Mona and her neighbors are all sick. But this isn’t any ordinary sickness: modern life has poisoned them, and when Ash too falls ill, the doctor’s response is, “It’s all in your mind.” Meanwhile, as Ash lives through a cycle of illness and recovery and loss, the world beyond is succumbing to its own affliction: a breakdown of civilization only distantly perceived by Ash and the isolated residents of Snowflake, from which there may or may not be a chance for recovery. This humane and thoughtful novel is about resilience, trust, family, and love, when all seems lost.

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE.

Sounds like a good mystery, with maybe a twist?  And I think maybe this is a Wattpad author?

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Griffin Tomlin is dead. And Clara’s sister killed him . . .

Four months after the murder, the entire town of Shiloh is still in shock. For Clara Porterfield, the normal world has crumbled around her in a million chaotic pieces. Now Clara lives in a new reality, where her sister awaits trial for murder, her mother obsessively digs in a dead, frozen garden, and her father lives and breathes denial. At school, Clara is haunted by her classmates' morbid curiosity—and all of the unspoken questions they won’t ask.

But none of them knows what she knows . . .
Now Clara's sister wants something from her—the one thing in all of this that Clara isn't ready to face: the truth about what really happened that night. Because this story didn't die with Griffin Tomlin. There's another story that needs to be told. And sometimes, the lies we're told are nowhere near as deadly as the lies we tell ourselves . . .

 Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE.


  
Final Thoughts:
The same number as last week  Have you read any of these yet?  Are they on your TBR?  And hey, while you're here, you should go try to win some of my ARCs from Cleaning Up My TBR Post HERE. The US only giveaway is open till Friday at midnight, there are even some 2019 ARCs that can be one of your two choices. 

AND!  You've got one more day to help me celebrate my 10th blogoversary too!  Yep, you read that right, Lisa Loves Literature has been alive and kicking for 10 years now!  Go HERE and enter for more prizes! 

Lisa's Looking Foward To #26 - August 13th, 2019

Back to joining up with the Waiting on Wednesday Posts, and the Can't Wait Wednesday posts hosted by Wishful Endings.  This week there are four on my list.

From my ARC list for August 13th:

Beautiful cover and sounds really good!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Lottie collects dead creatures and lovingly cares for them, hoping to preserve them, to save them from disintegration. Her father understands—Lottie has a scientific mind, he thinks. Her aunt wants it to stop, and she goes to cruel lengths to make sure it does.

And her mother? Lottie’s mother died long ago. And Lottie is searching for a way to be close to her.

The Art of Taxidermy is a heartbreaking verse novel exploring love and death, grief and beauty, and the ways we try to make sense of it all.

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE. 
 

I'm a bit ashamed to say that I got an ARC of this and met the author last summer at ALA in NOLA.  And I have yet to read it.  I'm sure if I had read it,  I'd have needed a copy of this one sooner rather than later.  And just like with the first book, the cover is awesome!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

The witches, beasties, goblins, and Royals return in this spellbinding conclusion to New York Times best-selling author Megan Shepherd’s Grim Lovelies duology. 

Ever since she discovered her affinity for magic, seventeen-year-old Anouk has been desperate to become a witch. It’s the only way to save her friends who, like Anouk, are beasties: animals enchanted into humans. But unlike Anouk, the other beasties didn’t make it out of the battle at Montélimar in one piece.

With her friends now trapped in their animal forms, Anouk is forced into a sinister deal involving a political marriage with her sworn enemy, a wicked plot to overthrow London’s fiercest coven of witches, and a deadly trial of fire to become a witch. The price for power has always been steep in the world of the Haute. Now, it will cost Anouk everything.

Wicked and delightful, this spellbinding sequel and conclusion to Grim Lovelies is perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and The Hazelwood Wood.

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE.

Another deep story, one that I think would be good for my students to read, as well as myself just to know more about this event.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Based on the shocking Beslan school siege in 2004, this is a brave and necessary story about grief, resilience, and finding your voice in the aftermath of tragedy.

On the day she brings her sweet little sister, Nika, to school for the first time, eighteen-year-old Darya has already been taking care of her family for years. But a joyous September morning shifts in an instant when Darya's rural Russian town is attacked by terrorists. While Darya manages to escape, Nika is one of hundreds of children taken hostage in the school in what stretches to a three-day siege and ends in violence. In the confusion and horror that follow, Darya and her family frantically scour hospitals and survivor lists in hopes that Nika has somehow survived. And as journalists and foreign aid workers descend on her small town, Darya is caught in the grip of grief and trauma, trying to recover her life and wondering if there is any hope for her future. From acclaimed author Julie Mayhew comes a difficult but powerful narrative about pain, purpose, and healing in the wake of senseless terror.

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE. 

Sounds like a sweet romance.  And I kind of like trying to support Wattpad authors, especially as much as I loved the After series by Anna Todd.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Everything changed the day Drayton Lahey crashed into Dallas’s life…

Dallas Bryan is a no-nonsense cheerleader who has her sights set on a dance scholarship to CalArts. Drayton Lahey is the bad-boy quarterback from football royalty who’s completely wrong for her—at least, that's what she tells herself. The longer Dallas tells herself she doesn't need Dray, the quicker she realizes it might be time to forget what she needs and go after what she wants.

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE.


Once again, I had one more in my planner, but again, it doesn't seem to be actually coming out, as its lack of cover and any more info on Goodreads seems to say.  It is one of the Entangled Teen books I mentioned last week, so I am hoping this means they are just putting the release off, but not too long.  If I hear more, I'll let you know, but  again it is Sky-Kissed by Pintip Dunn, sequel to  Star-Crossed, which I loved; which looks to have also listed this week as a pub date on Goodreads.
  
Final Thoughts:
Have you read any of these yet?  Are they on your TBR?  And hey, while you're here, you should go try to win some of my ARCs from Cleaning Up My TBR Post HERE. The US only giveaway is open till Friday at midnight, there are even some 2019 ARCs that can be one of your two choices.  I probably won't have a giveaway this coming Saturday because I'll be out of town at Book Bonanza.

Lisa's Looking Forward To #12 - April 16th and April 23rd

Doing two weeks this time because I have a couple posts scheduled for next Wednesday, and since I only have one book I'd post then anyway, may as well combine them!  Will join up with the Waiting on Wednesday Posts, and the Can't Wait Wednesday posts hosted by Wishful Endings.


From my ARC list for April 16th:

The other book I've read by this author I enjoyed, and this is also a retelling, of a poem by Edgar Alan Poe, so that grabbed me as well!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Edgar Poe counts down the days until he can escape his foster family—the wealthy Allans of Richmond, Virginia. He hungers for his upcoming life as a student at the prestigious new university, almost as much as he longs to marry his beloved Elmira Royster. However, on the brink of his departure, all his plans go awry when a macabre Muse named Lenore appears to him. Muses are frightful creatures that lead Artists down a path of ruin and disgrace, and no respectable person could possibly understand or accept them. But Lenore steps out of the shadows with one request: “Let them see me!”

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE. 

Waiting to be abducted by aliens?  Just sounds like it could be unique!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

A high school outcast spends his life hoping to be abducted by aliens in this funny, quirky novel about finding your footing in a world that sometimes feels like Mars.

Convinced his mother has been abducted by aliens, Charlie Dickens spends his nights with an eye out for UFOs, hoping to join her. After all, she said the aliens would come back for him. Charlie will admit that he doesn’t have many reasons to stick around; he doesn’t get along well with his father, he’s constantly bullied at school and at work, and the only friend he has is his 600-pound neighbor Geoffrey, and Geoffrey’s three-legged dog, Tickles.

Then Charlie meets popular, easy-going Seth, who shows him what real friendship is all about. For once, he finds himself looking around at the life he’s built, rather than looking up. But sooner than he expected, Charlie has to make a decision: should he stay or should he go?

Sound good?  Add it to Goodreads HERE. 

I enjoyed the other book by this author that I read, Love, Lies, and Spies, and actually am currently reading this one to post a review on next week.  

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
1833. After young Lord James Ellerby witnesses a near-fatal carriage accident on the outskirts of his estate, he doesn't think twice about bringing the young woman injured in the wreck to his family's manor to recuperate. But then she finally regains consciousness only to find that she has no memory of who she is or where she belongs.

Beth, as she takes to calling herself, is an enigma even to herself. She has the rough hands of a servant, but the bearing and apparent education of a lady. Her only clue to her identity is a gruesome recurring nightmare about a hummingbird dripping blood from its steel beak.

With the help of James and his sister, Caroline, Beth slowly begins to unravel the mystery behind her identity and the sinister circumstances that brought her to their door. But the dangerous secrets they discover in doing so could have deadly ramifications reaching the highest tiers of London society. 

Sound good?  Add it to Goodreads HERE.

This one sounds like it could be a very unique new story.  And that cover!  Now I did DNF the first book I tried by this author, so that's why I didn't go out of my way to try to get a copy of this one.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:


In a novel in two voices, a popular teen and an artistic loner forge an unlikely bond — and create an entire universe — via texts. But how long before the real world invades Starworld?
 
Sam Jones and Zoe Miller have one thing in common: they both want an escape from reality. Loner Sam flies under the radar at school and walks on eggshells at home to manage her mom’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, wondering how she can ever leave to pursue her dream of studying aerospace engineering. Popular, people-pleasing Zoe puts up walls so no one can see her true self: the girl who was abandoned as an infant, whose adoptive mother has cancer, and whose disabled brother is being sent away to live in a facility. When an unexpected encounter results in the girls’ exchanging phone numbers, they forge a connection through text messages that expands into a private universe they call Starworld. In Starworld, they find hilarious adventures, kindness and understanding, and the magic of being seen for who they really are. But when Sam’s feelings for Zoe turn into something more, will the universe they’ve built survive the inevitable explosion?

Sound good?  Add it to Goodreads HERE.


 From my ARC list for April 23rd:

Now this is the third in a series, but I've been intrigued with the premise for it since I first heard of them.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Tristan and Dylan have escaped death and conquered destiny. Nothing is stopping them from being together.

But every action has a consequence, and their exile to the real world has caused an imbalance in the afterlife. It's owed two souls – and it wants them back.

When the world of the dead claims Dylan's parents to restore the balance, Dylan and Tristan are offered a terrible bargain: stay together and condemn innocent souls to death, or return to the wasteland to take their place and be separated. Forever.

Are they willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?

The stunning final instalment of Dylan and Tristan's epic love story, Outcasts is the much-anticipated follow-up to the award-winning Ferryman, and heart-pounding sequel Trespassers.

With more than two million copies sold worldwide, Ferryman is a cult sensation in China, staying in the top 10 bestseller chart for three years before securing a Hollywood movie deal in early 2018.

Sound good?  Add to Goodreads HERE. 


Final thoughts:
Only one of these that I got my hands on early.  Have you read any of these yet?  Are they on your TBR?  And hey, while you're here, you should go try to win some of my ARCs from Cleaning Up My TBR Post HERE.  It's open till Saturday!

March 2019 Wrap-Up Post and Looking Ahead to April

So, I was on top of things, almost way ahead, then, beginning of this month, I got sick.  And that cough/upper respiratory infection/asthma flareup issues lasted for almost all month.  It was just this past week that I was finally able to sleep normally, without having to be sitting up to keep myself from coughing all night.  Now, I'm still pretty close to being on track, but not ahead, at all.  I took a trip during my spring break, and it was a weekend away from my dogs, everyone, it was supposed to be for writing.  But I was sick.  So I just kind of relaxed and kept up with blogging that needed to be kept up with, but didn't get anywhere near ahead.

However, I am still happy that I'm up to date enough to be still on top of an end of the month post.

Let's start with the reading stats again this month.

Once, again, according to Goodreads, I've read 59 of the 215 books I've set as my goal for the year, March  made up 20 of those.  I am 7 books ahead of schedule, but till debating whether to up my goal or not.

Here is a list of books I've read this month, and I'll link to my review if I've finished it:

1. The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton
2. Hold On by Samantha Young
3. Space by Penny Reid
4. The Last 8 by Laura Pohl
5. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
6. Riot by Jamie Shaw
7. Soaring With Fallon by Kristen Proby
8. Pucked (re-read/listen) by Helena Hunting
9. The Hashtag Hunt by Kristina Seek
10. Girls With Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young
11. Misadventures of a City Girl by Meredith Wild and Chelle Bliss
12. Just Swipe Right by Allie York
13. Play (re-read) by Kylie Scott
14. Drunk Dial by Penelope Ward
15. Hissy Fit by Lani Lynn Vale
16. Eyes on Me by Rachel Harris
17. Forever Mine by Kennedy Fox
18. Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell
19. The Roommate Agreement by Emma Hart
20. Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

Any that aren't reviewed are either part of upcoming blog tours, or I just haven't had time yet to review.

Books that I read in February but didn't get reviewed until March are:

1. Within These Lines by Stephanie Morrill
2.  Off Limits by Vivian Ward
3. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
4. The Sweetest Match by Abby Tyler
5. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood:  The Poetry of Mister Rogers by Fred Rogers
6. One in a Million by Jill Shalvis
7. Moonlight Sins by Jennifer L. Armentrout
8. Diary of a Bad  Boy by Meghan Quinn

So, while I will have 50 posts for March after this one goes up, since it is a longer month than February, I'll say that I stayed about the same for not really getting better about less posts.  Still working on that!  I had 18 of those 50 that were review posts, and one of those had 4 reviews in it.  I've been good with my weekly posts I want to keep up with too!  My rating was the same as February, 4.4 stars for the books I read.

Okay, on with my challenges.

1.  As I mentioned above, still working on my Looking Forward To posts once a week, have moved them to Wednesdays to coincide with everyone else's Waiting on  Wednesday or Can't Wait Wednesday posts.
March 13th
March 20th
March 27th

Had a bad time with commenting on other blogs with being sick myself, as well as it seemed I had internet issues sometimes with just responding to comments on my own blog!

Been doing well on cleaning up my Goodreads TBR with my weekly post and giveaway, as well as even my physical TBR a little.  I still only have one person joining in, but feel free to join in as well.  Here are the posts for that:
March 2nd
March 9th
March 16th
March 23rd
March 30th - And this giveaway is still up for the next week!

2.  My Reading Goals are coming along with the Goodreads challenge, but haven't read any of my other specific books that friends suggested yet.  Unless I count finishing The Kiss Quotient.

3.  Writing goals went kind of phooey this past month. The best thing though is that I found a critique partner who gave me some great feedback.  Now I just need time and the health to go back and write and fix those things!

Not so great with this one.  Didn't add a single one from my list this month.

I actually joined in this month!  I posted a discussion about when you start not enjoying your former favorite authors:  I Will Always Love You or Do You Ever Begin to Get Over Favorite Authors.
I even have an idea for a discussion post I hope to do in April, if I get time!

Also, still need some kind of button for the First in the Series Challenge, but since I didn't do any of the ones on my list, no biggie.


Now, yesterday was the coolest day all of the month of March because Planet Comicon is taking place in my hometown this weekend.  So I got to meet some of my idols!  First was the one I spent big money on and am so glad I got to meet!

So cool, but so quick when you do the professional photos, so didn't do much other than pose and move on.  But still, I TOUCHED the Weasley twins!!!!!!

Had a little extra time before my photo op for the Weasley twins took place, so I decided to stop by and see Mark Pellegrino, or who I know as Lucifer from Supernatural.

My sister went with me, and she was there to meet her big idols, Superman and Lex Luthor, but from Smallville.  As we were leaving, she decided to go ahead and stop to see Dean Cain.  He was so nice, complimented her eyes a lot.  As I was standing to the side holding all her stuff so she didn't have to hold it in the picture, he asked who I was and said we should all get a picture, so that was a bonus shot!

Bonnie Wright, who played Ginny Weasley was there, but I was broke, and also William Shatner and Henry Winkler, but they weren't ones I HAD to see, so I was okay with what I saw and did.  I did see Wallace Shawn walking over to do his photo op, and he smiled at me, so that was kinda cool.


Looking forward to in April:
Okay, so here is my proposed TBR based on my blog tours and review requests for this month:

1. Stormy Kind of Love by Tia Lee - reading this one now, supposed to review this coming Friday, but not enjoying it, so it may be a DNF. 
2. Smoke and Key by Kelsey Sutton - Reading the ARC of this one right now, and part of a blog tour scheduled for the 10th.
3. The Stars in Her Eyes by C.M. Albert - review on the 11th
4. Two for Holding by Kay Gordon - review on the 12th
5. The Hummingbird Dagger by Cindy Anstey - review on the 15th
6. All We Could Have Been by T.E. Carter - signed up for a tour, don't know yet if I got it, but could be reviewing on either the 16th or 19th
7. Give Me Fever by Jasmine and Arielle Lockhart - signed up for a review, I think on the 18th
8. The Perfect Dress by Carolyn Brown - review on the 21st
9. Baby Mine by Kennedy Fox - review on the 23rd
10. Lord Have Mercy by Lani Lynn Vale - review on the 24th
11. We Were Beautiful by Heather Hepler - review on the 26th
12. Imperfect Match by Corinne Michaels and Melanie Harlow - review on the 29th
13. Boyfriend Bargain by Ilsa Madden-Mills
14. Romanov by Nadine Brandes
15. #Poser by Cambria Hebert - currently listening to
16. Tinfoil Heart by Daisy Prescott - currently reading
17. First Down by Michelle Sodaro - currently reading
18. Time by Penny Reid - review will be shortly after pub date, they're not sending e-galleys early!
19. Things We Never Said by Samantha Young

There will probably be another audiobook somewhere in there, just not sure what I'll listen to next.  Because things have been so crazy this month, I'm going to skip the Best of the Bunch challenge today and just go ahead and wrap this post up.    One last reminder, don't forget to enter the giveaway on my last Cleaning Up My TBR Post which I linked to up above, the prize is going to be 3 books this week instead of just 2!

Three Adult Contemporary Romance Reviews - Theresa Hissong, Kristen Proby, and Sarah Title

Still playing catch-up!!  So here are three reviews of physical books I had to read.

Fatal Desires (Fatal Cross Live #1) by Theresa Hissong:

Genre:  Rock star romantic suspense
Published:  August 14th, 2015
Source:  Purchased at Kinky in Kansas City Convention 2018
My rating:  4 stars

So this is the first book by this author that I've read, but won't be the last.  I met the author at the 2nd annual Kinky in Kansas City romance author convention this past March.  I didn't get a picture with her, because I usually only do that with authors I already have read and know that I like their books.  This was definitely a book that was hard to put down.  I'd pick it up, and tell myself I was only going to read a chapter or two before bed, but before I knew it, I'd read several more chapters than that.  I liked all the characters, and I like that it seemed like it was pretty realistic the way things were handled.  There were definitely moments that had me crying, based on what what happening to the characters or how they were feeling about things that had happened or things that they'd done.  I like that it puts in the fact that drugs are probably pretty matter of fact in the world of rock stars, but that our characters are all fighting to stay sober and clean.  Of course I also loved that the tour went to Kansas City, my town!  My only real issue with the book, and it is totally silly, is that there were no page numbers.  :-)  It  made it hard for me to keep track in Goodreads how far I was.  I know, that's stupid.  And it isn't anything that made me mark it down in rating.  Just something that bugged my anal reading habits.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
For years, I have worked behind the scenes for my cousin’s band, living my life as simply as possible. Running the inner workings of a rock band is the only thing I know to do. My only saving grace is a long vacation soaking up the sun in some exotic locations around the world between tours. 
One steamy night on an island with Taylor Vaughn, the guitarist for the rock band Fatal Cross, and my world is turned upside down. When he doesn’t return my calls, I end up going through hell alone. Little do I know, he’s fighting his own personal demons. 
 
When he fills in on my cousin’s tour for a few weeks, I am forced to work with the man who stole my heart months before on a private island. It isn’t easy being around him, but I am determined to keep my head low and pray this tour ends soon, but does anything ever go as planned?

Falling for Trouble (Librarians in Love #2) by Sarah Title:
Published:  June 27th, 2017
Source:  Purchased 
My rating:  4 stars 

So, I loved the first book in the series, The Undateable, and this one was pretty good as well.   It was a quick read, and hard to put down.  While I didn't necessarily connect with the female in this one, I did connect with all the stuff about the library funding that the male character was dealing with.  The small town was funny, and I loved how all the women would have to go outside and watch the new hot librarian, Liam, when he was jogging in the morning.  The storyline behind Joanna's band, as well as her problems with the other small town characters was a blast.  A cute fun read.  Definitely recommended!  Not a lot to say on this one other than that, guess it's really a mini-review this time!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
The riot grrrl and the bookworm--just the pair to get the whole town talking... 
Liam Byrd loves Halikarnassus, New York. He loves its friendliness, its nosiness, the vibrant library at the center of it all. And now that Joanna Green is home, the whole town sizzles. A rebel like her stirs up excitement, action, desire--at least in Liam. 
Joanna never thought she'd have to come back to her dull, tiny fishbowl of a hometown ever again. She almost had a record deal for her all-girl rock band. She almost had it made in L.A. And then her deal went sour and her granny broke her leg . . . and now here she is, running into everybody's favorite librarian every time she heads to a dive bar or catches up with old friends. 
He has charm, he has good taste in music--and the sight of him in running shorts is dangerously distracting. But when he loves her old town and she can't wait to check out, their new romance is surely destined for the book drop...

Savor You (Fusion #5) by Kristen Proby:

Published:  April 24th, 2018
Source:  ARC won from Goodreads giveaway
My rating:  5 stars

I've only read one other book by this author, Easy Love, which is part of an entirely different series. But I've wanted to read this series for awhile.  I've met the author, I believe it was at Apollycon, or maybe it was at NOLA Storycon the year before that.  I was excited to win a copy of this book from Goodreads, and I was not disappointed with it at all.  In fact, I'm now so excited to get my hands on the earlier books in the series so I can learn where all the couples mentioned in this book got their starts and what their stories are.  About 30 pages in I was giggling at the "twitch" moment.  It's an inside joke from NOLA Storycon.  Not sure I'll ever be able to read that in a book and not giggle these days.  Then there was the moment when I learned that shower sex may not be as glorious as it is made out to be in romance novels.  That's something I've never tried, so I'll have to take the word of the character in the book about how it's not that great for the girl a lot of times.  And then there was a quote towards the end that was perfect.    "When a person tells you that you've hurt them, you don't get to decide that you didn't".  That's something I feel like I've dealt with.  People tell me they didn't hurt me when I tell them what they've done.  Instead of apologizing and realize I felt that way, they don't get to decide that they've hurt me. They can say they didn't mean to, and they're sorry that it hurt me, but they can't say they didn't hurt me.  Sorry, a little soapbox moment for me.  

I loved our slightly overweight heroine, totally identified with her. And I loved her guy.  I loved the story, and loved the whole world this book was a part of.  I'm sure you'll see me review more of these books in the future.  I'll have to even check to see if they're available as audiobooks from my library.  I'll be getting the chance to see this author again at Book Bonanza, will have to get this ARC signed!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
In the next sizzling romance in Kristen Proby's New York Timesbestselling Fusion series, two celebrity chefs compete in a culinary competition, but resisting each other will prove to be the greater challenge.

Cooking isn't what Mia Palazzo does, it's who she is. Food is her passion . . . her pride . . . her true love. She's built a stellar menu full of delicious and sexy meals for her restaurant, Seduction. Now, after being open for only a few short years, Mia’s restaurant is being featured on Best Bites TV. To say Seduction is a wild success is an understatement. All the blood, sweat, tears, and endless hours of work Mia has put into the restaurant has finally paid off. 

Then Camden Sawyer, the biggest mistake of her life, walks into her kitchen . . . 

Camden's celebrity chef status is world-renowned. He's the best there is, and the kitchen is where he's most at home. He can't resist the invitation to Portland for a showdown against Mia for a new television show. Mia was in his life years ago, and just like before, he's met his match in the beautiful Italian spitfire. The way she commands the kitchen is mesmerizing, and her recipes are clever and delicious. He's never had qualms about competition, and this is no different. He can't wait to go head to head with Mia. But can he convince her the chemistry they share in the kitchen would be just as great in the bedroom as well?

As Mia and Camden face off, neither realizes how high the stakes are as their reputations are put on the line and their hearts are put to the ultimate test.