Friday, January 22, 2021
Hey, It's Okay ~ 1/23/2021
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Book Review ~ The Loneliest Cottage by Melissa Storm ~ 1/21/2021
Lauren Dalton’s world shattered the day her father died. It shattered again when she found a box of old keepsakes commemorating a life she’d never even known he lead.
Heartbroken but determined, she accepts a seasonal job in rural Alaska to look after an injured musher’s dogs while searching for the truth about her father’s hidden past. But her cantankerous new boss comes with dangerous secrets of his own.
When a fire ravages part of the property, all will be revealed—and four-thousand miles away from the only home she’s ever known, Lauren will discover just how quickly everything can change.
Don’t miss the chance to lose your heart to Lauren, Shane, and their courageous team of sled dogs in this unforgettable tale of love, loss, and finding where you belong.
My Weekly Bookishness ~ 1/22/2021
For John, it was love at first sight. He and Maggie had a rare connection, and it wasn’t every day someone understood his humor. He never minded playing the part as livery owner by day and outlaw by night at Summit Springs—until now. His other job came with a nice paycheck, but people normally treated him differently when they found out about it. John didn’t want a thing to change between him and Maggie.
Will Maggie let John steal her heart or will past fears foil the heist?
Faced with her stepbrother’s betrayal and an unwanted marriage, Alice Rosemeyer accepts an invitation to the estate of Larkhall. Determined to earn her future security without a husband, she begins operating as the anonymous Ace of Hearts, writing love letters on behalf of the men eager to secure a match at the close of the London season. If she can manage to keep her identity secret, her reputation intact, and avoid the arrogant house guest, Mr. Thomas Herring, she might just call herself successful.
When Thomas Herring's sister marries an indebted man because of a love letter, he has no choice but to marry into money himself. Invited to stay at Larkhall, he sets his sights on the wealthy sister of his host. When she appears indifferent, he stumbles upon an advertisement: a gentleman offering assistance in matters of the heart. An ace, so he is called. But when he turns out to be she, and also a guest at the same house, his task is further complicated—especially as Alice proves herself to be as captivating as she is clever.
With reputations, secrets, and more than one heart at risk, Alice and Thomas become trapped in a game with no rules, a game neither intended to play. Had they been wrong to play love for a fool?
The Ace of Hearts is a sweet regency romance novel, book one in the Larkhall Letters series by Ashtyn Newbold.
Wyatt McQuaid is struggling to get his new ranch up and running and is in town to purchase cattle when the mayor proposes the most unlikely of bargains. He'll invest in a herd of cattle for Wyatt's ranch if Wyatt agrees to help the town become more respectable by marrying and starting a family. And the mayor, who has promised to try to help Greta, has just the candidate in mind for Wyatt to marry.
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Thankful Thursday ~ 1/21/2021
Colletta
Three Things Thursday ~ My Inspiration ~ 1/21/2021
~Back in 2016, I participated in a linkup called...."Three Things Thursday" and loved it. It is no more, so I thought I'd resurrect it here on my blog. You can see a sample HERE of Three Things I Love About Being a Mom.
~Back in 2012-2013, I participated in a linkup called..."Listicles" and loved IT, too. Sadly, it also ended. Listicles was all about making lists. It was so much fun! You can see a sample Listicle HERE of 10 Things Summer.
~Back in 2012 (yes, 2012), I participated in a linkup called... "3 on Thursday" and had a blast. Again, it ended and I couldn't even find blogs for the hosts anymore. You can see a sample HERE of 3 on Thursday of What I Would Do If I Won the Lottery.
Wednesday Blogging Challenge ~ My Childhood Collection ~ 1/20/2021
This week's topic is: Something I Collected As A Child
My love of reading started at an early age. I remember even in Primary School my favorite class was library! So my "something I collected as a child" should be no surprise: BOOKS!
Two of my very favorite things were the Bookmobile and Book Fairs :)
I thought I would share some of the books I collected that are now packed away but still loved:
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Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter.
E. B. White's Newbery Honor Book is a tender novel of friendship, love, life, and death that will continue to be enjoyed by generations to come. This edition contains newly color illustrations by Garth Williams, the acclaimed illustrator of E. B. White's Stuart Little and Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, among many other books.
Felicity, a spunky, spritely colonial girl, full of energy and independence Josefina, an Hispanic girl whose heart and hopes are as big as the New Mexico sky Kirsten, a pioneer girl of strength and spirit who settles on the frontier Addy, a courageous girl determined to be free in the midst of the Civil War Samantha, a bright Victorian beauty, an orphan raised by her wealthy grandmother Molly, who schemes and dreams on the home front during World War Two
You can share their worlds - their friends and families, their struggles and successes, their sad times and celebrations, their secrets and adventures. You'll see that some things about growing up have changed, while others - like families, friendships, and feelings - haven't changed at all. These are the important things that American girls will always share. They come alive for you in the American Girls Collection.
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It is no secret that Alcott based Little Women on her own early life. While her father, the freethinking reformer and abolitionist Bronson Alcott, hobnobbed with such eminent male authors as Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne, Louisa supported herself and her sisters with "woman’s work,” including sewing, doing laundry, and acting as a domestic servant. But she soon discovered she could make more money writing. Little Women brought her lasting fame and fortune, and far from being the "girl’s book” her publisher requested, it explores such timeless themes as love and death, war and peace, the conflict between personal ambition and family responsibilities, and the clash of cultures between Europe and America.
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Written by the beloved author of Little Women, Eight Cousins is a masterpiece of children's literature. This endearing novel offers readers of all ages an inspiring story about growing up, making friends, and facing life with strength and kindness.
So, what is something you collected as a child?
Wednesday Hodgepodge ~ 1/20/2021
1. What's something we'd find you doing most afternoons?
Most afternoons you'll find me sending off Kaylee to work. She works 2nd shift. Ideally, I will be on the treadmill around 2:30 pm and then making supper thereafter.
2. Who do you take after? In what way(s)?
I take after my Dad's side of the family. I got his "big-boned" genes :)
3. 'After every storm comes a rainbow' or 'the calm before the storm'...which phrase do you relate to more right now? Tell us why?
"the calm before the storm". We've had a very mild winter so far. I'm waiting for a "big snow". Laken would love to have a lot of snow. Her birthday is February 2nd and she loves EVERYTHING about Winter!
4.What are your plans for the day after tomorrow?
The day after tomorrow would be Friday. I'll be finishing up laundry and going to Bible Study in the evening.
5. Complete this sentence-"After all is said and done_____________________."
"God is still in control!"
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I'd love to return the visit! Please leave a comment and a link!
Monday, January 18, 2021
Top Ten Tuesday ~ Books I Meant to Read in 2020 ~ 1/19/2021
Tuesday 4 ~ Let's Talk About Work ~ 1/19/2021

Let's talk about work!
1. What kind of work does not bother you at all?
I actually don't mind folding laundry. I love taking a pile of clothing and putting it into neat orderly piles. I think I may be strange!
2. What kinds of work do bother you and why?
I hate washing dishes! We don't have a dishwasher so I abhor sticking my hands into yucky water to hand wash dishes. Even if the water is clean it still turns my stomach just thinking about touching something disgusting! lol
3. Is there a job you've had you loathed or perhaps one you loved? Why was that?
Before I got pregnant with Laken, I was a volunteer at a Christian Academy. I loved it! It was something I enjoyed and didn't HAVE to do. I did it because I wanted to be there.
4. Do you have a job or kind of work you wish you were doing? What would make it attractive to you?
I'm a stay-at-home-mom and there is NOTHING I'd rather be doing. I guess if I got paid to read books that would be OK :)
Book Review ~ Wyatt by Susan May Warren ~ 1/18/2021
NHL Hockey Goalie Wyatt Marshall has everything--fame, money and a thriving career. But he’s hiding the two things that matter most...a career-ending injury, and his broken heart. He’s been in love with Coco Stanley since she walked into his life at age fourteen, a foster child for the Marshall family. She stole his heart years later, when, after a secret tryst, she returned to her home country of Russia. But she won’t let him back into her life—and he can’t figure out why.
She’s harboring a secret that could cost lives...
Coco Stanley is tired of living her life undercover. Or at least, with an assumed name, always pretending to be someone she’s not. And that’s not the only secret she’s harboring. If Wyatt discovers the real reason she left him, it might just destroy him. She’s resigned herself to loving him from afar...
But when he discovers she’s in danger...
Wyatt is horrified when he learns Coco has been shot and left in Russia, her fate unknown. There is nothing—nothing—that will stop him from finding her. So what if he’s not one of his super-heroic brothers, not a Ranger, not a SEAL...Wyatt is a hockey goalie, a special kind of crazy brave. Except, is he brave enough to face the secret Coco is keeping, or will it destroy everything he’s hoped for?
What will it cost them to save her?
What Wyatt and Coco don’t know is that revenge is stalking her and bringing her home just might cost them their long-awaited happy ending.