Weary of the expectations imposed on her by her strict upbringing, eighteen-year-old Mazy Pelfrey prepares to leave her home in the Kentucky mountains for the genteel city of Lexington, where she'll attend secretarial school. She knows her life is about to change--and only for the better. Everything will be blue skies from now on.But business school is harder than she thought it would be and the big city not as friendly, until she meets a charming young man from a wealthy family, Loyal Chambers. When Loyal sets his sights on her, Mazy begins to see that everything she'd ever wished to have is right before her eyes. The only hindrance to her budding romance is a former beau, Chanis Clay, the young sheriff she thought she'd left firmly behind.Danger rumbles like thunder on a high mountain ridge when Mazy's cosseted past collides with her clouded future and forces her to come to terms with what she really wants.

=============================
A good read, but there were some problems. The book starts out with telling the story of Cinnamon who really is a rather minor character in this book. The way it opened up had me thinking that she was the main character. Also, it was fairly obvious that Mazy was going to end up with Chanis, but in the end, it was never really explained how that happened. All in all, a good coming of age story, but one that could have used some adjustments.



I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review.  All thoughts, comments and opinions are my own.
If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

TAKE ALL THE GUESSWORK OUT OF DESSERT! Food Network Magazine editors have picked their all-time favorite treats and put them into one amazing book. In Sweet, you’ll find over-the-top brownies, super fun cupcakes, show-off layer cakes, one-of-a-kind cookies and so much more.

This great collection includes recipes for any occasion, with step-by-step instructions and full-page color photographs to help you along. You don’t need to be an experienced baker to get started. Every dessert in this book is easy to follow—and totally foolproof. Each recipe has been triple-tested, so you know it’ll come out just right. Flip through and you’ll find some fun surprises, too: a bowl made of chocolate, a spectrum of frosting colors and a cake that looks like a giant caramel apple. Check out what’s inside!

=====================
Let's take a poll. Who here knows I love cookbooks? Who here knows I love to bake? I expect that every single hand of every single reader here just went up in the air. As a matter of fact, I have a 6' tall bookshelf in my kitchen full of cookbooks and more that aren't on the shelves. I love cookbooks..new cookbooks, old cookbooks, odd cookbooks...all cookbooks. This one isn't any different. I love this cookbook. Every recipe has a gorgeous full color photo of the completed recipe. The recipes go from the simple cupcake to the more complex croquembouche and all of them look absolutely delicious! Plus, the recipes are easy to read and to follow. If you're a dessert lover, a baker or someone who wants others to make you desserts, I highly recommend you find this book for your shelves or for a gift.




I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review.  All thoughts, comments and opinions are my own.
If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

In 1860, Alexander Ferguson, a newly ordained vicar and amateur evolutionary scientist, takes up his new parish, a poor, isolated patch on the remote Scottish island of Harris. He hopes to uncover the truth behind the legend of the selkies—mermaids or seal people who have been sighted off the north of Scotland for centuries. He has a more personal motive, too; family legend states that Alexander is descended from seal men. As he struggles to be the good pastor he was called to be, his maid Moira faces the terrible eviction of her family by Lord Marstone, whose family owns the island. Their time on the island will irrevocably change the course of both their lives, but the white house on the edge of the dunes keeps its silence long after they are gone.

It will be more than a century before the Sea House reluctantly gives up its secrets. Ruth and Michael buy the grand but dilapidated building and begin to turn it into a home for the family they hope to have. Their dreams are marred by a shocking discovery. The tiny bones of a baby are buried beneath the house; the child's fragile legs are fused together—a mermaid child. Who buried the bones? And why? To heal her own demons, Ruth feels she must discover the secrets of her new home—but the answers to her questions may lie in her own traumatic past. The Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford is a sweeping tale of hope and redemption and a study of how we heal ourselves by discovering our histories.
---------------------------

Dual storylines either work beautifully or they can totally destroy a book. In this case, they really worked. Weaving Ruth's story in and out with that of Rev Ferguson's, you really get a feel for both eras and the house that they've both lived in. I did hear, through the grapevine, that some readers had a problem with some of the language used within this book. Let me tell you that I didn't feel it was an issue at all. If anything, it added to the realism of this story. As someone with PTSD, I understood Ruth in a way that maybe not every reader will. I also understand that in different parts of the world, certain words hold more strength than they do in others. I loved this book. I loved the history. I loved the realism. I loved the descriptions that made me want to  go there. This is one book that won't be leaving my shelf any time soon and I hope that it will be joining other books on some of my readers' shelves.


I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are my own.
If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

During his more than thirty years as a vascular surgeon, Richard Furman literally held clogged arteries and diseased hearts in his hands and wondered why the person lying on the table hadn't been more careful. Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in America, and in most cases it is completely preventable. So why are we slowly destroying our bodies and killing ourselves? And what can we do to turn it around?

The good news is, simple, sustainable lifestyle changes can mean the difference between health and infirmity, between life and death. Putting his three decades of experience and education to work, Dr. Furman gives readers the strategies they need to live not just longer, but "younger." This essential resource to health helps readers :
-achieve and maintain their ideal weight
-reduce their risk for life-threatening diseases
-make exercise a natural part of their lives
-learn what foods to eat and what foods to avoid

It even shows how following the plan can not only eliminate heart disease, but also keep people safe from various cancers, dementia, diabetes, stroke, erectile dysfunction, and other age- and obesity-related problems.

Dr. Furman wants readers to realize that poor health during one's "golden years" is not inevitable. It can and should be avoided at all cost. And with his expert advice, readers can live long, healthy, vibrant lives, enjoying time with friends and family instead of wasting it in doctors' offices and hospitals.
=========================
Recently, I made a decision that I needed to change my life. I've had high cholesterol for as long as I can remember and I've been overweight for nearly as long. So, when this book came up for review, I jumped at the chance. I'm so glad that I did..while it took me a little while to get through (it gives you a lot to think about), I learned a lot too. For years, I've heard that I need to lower one type of cholesterol and raise another, but nobody told me how to do that. This book does. Filled with a ton of information and written in a way that anyone can understand it, I found myself highlighting entire passages and I even have a post it sticking out at one part to remind me where to find a certain chart. If you have weight, cholesterol or heart problems, this book could be a major help to you. Even if you're in perfect health, this book could make you look at  certain things differently. As for me, this one is going into my bedside table so I can pull it out whenever I have a question.



I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review.  All thoughts, comments and opinions are my own.
If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

A comprehensive guide to creating and developing comic book and graphic novel art, from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), one of the world's leaders in sequential arts instruction.

Artists seeking a way to break into the exciting world of sequential art first need to master the tools, techniques, and habits used by their favorite pencillers, inkers, and digital artists for creating dynamic, exciting comic artwork. In Foundations for Comic Book Art, the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)—a leading force in art and design education—enlists one of its top instructors, John Paul Lowe, to provide aspiring comic book makers with a thorough primer for creative comics, featuring must-know concepts like contour drawing, mastering perspective, using photo-reference, and adding digital patterns. Examples from the works of SCAD faculty, alumni, and students are paired with Lowe’s easy-to-follow, step-by-step lessons and exercises for readers, demonstrating the vital processes all would-be sequential artists have to know before joining the ranks of the comic book–making elite.

================
As soon as this book came out of the envelope, there was a mad grab for it by my thirteen year old. He's really the only one of us who has any amount of artistic ability (at least when it comes to drawing) and as he flipped through the pages, I could tell that he would be coming back to this book many, many times. When I had a chance to read through it, I was especially taken with the fact that the author appreciates individuality and leads the reader through the book in a series of chapter leading from easiest to most difficult. So long as you don't skip ahead, anyone with artistic drawing ability should be able to follow along and certainly to learn. I know that I learned a lot and while I had a very solid appreciation for what my artist friends do when they work on comics, this just cemented just how awesome that they are. If you have any interest in comic book art, becoming a comic book artist, improving your own artwork or just want to flip through a book with some amazing work in it, written by someone who is down to earth, pick up this book. It's another that I'm suggesting for the holiday gift giving season.



I received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review.  All thoughts, comments and opinions are my own.

If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

Human life has value. The poor living in the gutter is as valuable as the rich living in a manor. The scoundrel is no less valuable than the saint. Because of this, every life a reaper takes must be redeemed. Raven has lived by this first tenet since she was trained by her father to become a reaper. But since his death, she’s been spending years redeeming the lives she’s taken. By her count, she’s even and it’s time for that life to end. If she settles down and becomes a wife, she might just feel human again. But on the way to the life she thinks she wants, the baron of New Haven asks her to complete a task which she cannot ignore… Just when Raven decides to give up on her life as an assassin, she’s pulled right back in. The Chronicles of Steele: Raven is a steampunk-inspired fantasy set in an alternate universe.


Episode 1 is Free October 7 &8 Episode 4 is Free October 7 Only    

Episode 1 / Episode 2 / Episode 3 / Episode 4

  Pre-order the COMPLETE Story for Only $.99 (Special Pre-order pricing)  

Pauline’s Newsletter Sign Up http://eepurl.com/Oe2Fn

   

If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons:

Granddaughter of a loving, but roguish businessman, Blis Dumas can’t escape a legacy of lies. The time is 1989. The place is San Francisco, where painful stories of gentrification, eviction and relocation still echo within its limits. Clinging desperately to the Victorian home she inherited, she is confronted by a stranger that brings her a life filled with revenge, corruption, and murder. In an unparalleled twist of fate, she discovers that her predicament may have roots buried much closer to home. Blis’ world starts to crumble as she fights the Bureau to save the home she adores; fights the temptation of an incorrigible former lover; and fights the peril threatening the tender passion of a new and budding romance. QUIVER OF THE PURE HEART will appeal to readers that appreciate a social setting that illuminates the universal themes of desire, forgiveness, revenge, and letting go. San Francisco is one of the loves of Blis’ life, and like any love relationship, it is where her emotions will be tested, where romance will live and die, and where people are not always as they seem. Burnita Bluitt offers a spirited and passionate story of love and corruption in the city by the bay.

Put Quiver of the Pure Heart on your TBR list | Buy on Amazon

About the Author:

Born in Mississippi, but raised in San Francisco. As a child I once lived in an Italianate Victorian similar to the one I’ve written about, only it was solid white. I used to like to sit in the bay window trying to hold the newspaper to look at the pictures. Through writing the book I’ve reignited my passion for San Francisco’s rich architecture. Don’t be surprised if you’re the owner of one of these beauties and you see me snapping a picture of your house. Here’s a little bit more about me than you ever wanted to know: I’m a Virgo, favorite color is yellow, love the ocean, adore cats but allergic, if I had been born a boy I’d be Byron Shay instead of Burnita Rene, biggest vice is See’s Candies, won writing scholarships to San Francisco Writer's Conference - 2013 and VONA - 2012, Ben & Jerry are my two favorite guys, degree in history, taught myself to knit, can’t sew, love exercising to audiobooks, delight in gardening and encouraging young things to grow, childhood book I enjoyed most was “Where the Wild Things Are,” can’t believe I don’t have a favorite author, and no kids, so can’t come up with any excuses to put off writing.

Follow the author:

Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Website

Fill out the form below to enter to win a Leather Heart Pouch from the Author a Rafflecopter giveaway




If you like what you've read here, please share it with others using these buttons: