Becoming a Gardener What Reading and Digging Taught Me About Living by Catie Marron

 

Do you like to garden?  Do you enjoy reading in a garden?  I love being in gardens and  am learning to be one.  I always feel peaceful when I garden and love to read by our garden.  

“Both books and gardens give our imaginations a chance to roam and create our own private worlds.  They let us escape time, entertaining us, and offer us pleasure and beauty.  Certainly a garden is a glorious place to read.  It is rich with life lessons-ample ground for any writer to explore.”    Catie Marron 

Becoming a Gardener What Reading and Digging Taught me about Living  by Catie Marron is an absolutely beautiful book.  This book is filled with stunning pictures, beautiful watercolors, and garden art. The author weaves her gardening journey with wisdom, resources, and  practical tips for your own gardening. Her writing is  magical and I found myself reading parts aloud to my husband. I savored this book as I carved out time each day to read the beautiful text and gaze at the pictures and art.  

What makes this book unique for me is that it is not only practical but also beautiful and philosophical.   I believe this is a book you will want to have out in your home to inspire you to garden and live life more fully.  I highly recommend it.  

Thank you @harpercollins @harperbooks for the gifted book.  All opinions are my own. 

Catie Marron is the creator and editor of two anthologies published by HarperCollins which explore the value and significance of urban public spaces: City Squares, Eighteen Writers on the Spirit and Significance of Squares Around the World (2016), and City Parks: Public Places, Private Thoughts (2013). She is currently working on a third book for HarperCollins, which centers on how gardens and the process of their creation enrich lives.

Marron’s career has encompassed investment banking, magazine journalism, public service, and book publishing. She is currently a trustee and Chair Emeritus of The New York Public Library, where she was Chairman of the Board from 2004 to 2011. Marron is also a trustee of Friends of the High Line, where she was also Board Chair, and a trustee of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Marron began her first career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and then at Lehman Brothers. She then became Senior Features Editor at Vogue, where she has been a contributing editor for twenty years. While writing her books, Marron launched Good Companies, a curated, online guide to companies that strive to do good while also making a profit. This venture was shaped in part by the success of Treasure & Bond, a pop-up store that she co-founded with Nordstrom and Anna Wintour in 2011. All of the store’s profits went to charities benefiting NYC children.

Turn to Me by Becky Wade

Turn to Me is the third book in Becky Wade’s Misty River series. It is a standalone, but why would you miss out on reading other Becky Wade books in the Misty River Series? In Turn to Me we meet Luke who is grumpy and brooding. We are privileged to watch him transform in the story. He is one of the elusive members of the Miracle Five who all survived an earthquake in their teens. Finley loves animals and runs a dog rescue. She loves saving and fixing animals and also people. The humor between Finley’s free spirit and Luke’s broody self had me laughing and signing. Their dialogue is amazing, and I loved the chemistry between them.

I felt like I was transported into the story and was walking beside the characters. Finley's friends and co-workers were so funny. If you followed along with Ben's story from the previous novels you will get to see his happy ending as well.

Turn to Me has depth, mystery, suspense, and incredible romance. The author takes you on a journey to watch the characters transform and become who they were meant to be. The themes of redemption, second chances, and forgiving yourself resonated deeply with me. Definitely one of my top reads of 2022. I cannot recommend Turn to Me highly enough.

During her childhood in California, Becky frequently produced homemade plays starring her sisters, friends, and cousins.  These plays almost always featured a heroine, a prince, and a love story with a happy ending.  She’s been a fan of all things romantic ever since.
Becky and her husband lived overseas in the Caribbean and Australia before settling in Dallas, Texas.  It was during her years abroad that Becky’s passion for reading turned into a passion for writing.  She published three historical romances for the general market, put her career on hold for many years to care for her kids, and eventually returned to writing sheerly for the love of it.  She’s delighted to be penning warm, wry, and heartwarming contemporary romances for the Christian market.  She’s the Christy and Carol award winning author of My Stubborn Heart, the Porter Family series, the Bradford Sisters series, and the Misty River Romance series.
These days Becky can be found failing but trying to keep up with her housework, power-walking her neighborhood, carting her kids around town, hunched over her computer, eating chocolate, or collapsed on the sofa watching TV with her husband.

Web site:  www.beckywade.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorbeckywade
Twitter: http://twitter.com/beckywadewriter
Instagram: http://instagram.com/beckywadewriter
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/beckywadewriter/
Blog: http://inspiredbylifeandfiction.com/blog/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5298259.Becky_Wade
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/becky-wade

The Sport of Matchmaking by Jennie Goutet

The Sport of  Matchmaking by Jennie Goutet is the third in the Clavering Chronicles, but a stand-alone  Regency novel.   Lady Alice has vowed to never marry, but loves matchmaking.  George Clavering does not have plans to marry, but enjoys making small wagers.  Our story follows these two new friends as they make a wager and walk a  path neither expected. 

The novel had all things Regency with Almack's Vouchers, boxing  gentleman, and carriage rides.  The characters in the story were delightful, the conversations were enlightening, and the love story was believable and fun to watch. I was charmed with the story.  Such a satisfying historical read that I highly recommend.

I was given a copy and not required to write a positive review.   

 

Jennie Goutet is an American-born Anglophile, who lives with her French husband and their three children in a small town outside Paris. Her imagination resides in Regency England, where her historical romances are set. Jennie is also author of the award-winning memoir, Stars Upside Down, and the modern romances, A Sweetheart in Paris and A Noble Affair. A Christian, a cook, and an inveterate klutz, Jennie writes about faith, food, and life—even the clumsy moments—on her blog, aladyinfrance.com. You can learn more about Jennie and her books on her author website, jenniegoutet.com.  

Author Links:  

  Pinterest | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Jennie’s Blog | Reader Group | Sweet Regency Romance Fans 

Turn To Me by Becky Wade Blog Tour

 

As many of you know I am a huge Becky Wade fan!!  I am so thrilled to be a part of the blog tour for Turn To Me!  In my post we have some Q& A with Becky Wade. 

Q&A with Becky Wade about Turn to Me

 

Please provide a brief summary of your new novel, Turn to Me.

 

In the final moments before his death, Finley Sutherland's father tells Luke Dempsey that he left the first in a series of treasure hunt clues in his will for his daughter.  He asks Luke to protect her until the treasure hunt is complete.  Luke, an ex-con, agrees.  However, soon after he goes to work at Finley's animal rescue charity, he starts to fall for the idealistic, dark-haired beauty.  He begins to wonder.  Is he tough enough to protect her from danger? And if so, who's going to protect him from losing his heart? 

Turn to Me is a contemporary romance novel, but it also has a mystery thread. What challenge did you experience when incorporating both of these elements into your story?

 

Balance was a challenge!  I consider myself a romance writer first and foremost.  So, on one hand, I didn't want the mystery to overshadow the love story.  On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoy driving the plot of my stories forward with a big story question.  In Turn to Me the story question is, "What's waiting at the end of the treasure hunt?"  I ended up using that question as the tie that binds Finley and Luke together long enough for them to fall in love.

In your opinion, what are the essential elements that all great love stories must have?

1) Romantic conflict.  The reason why the couple can't be together is the linchpin that forces them to

face obstacles, to overcome, to sacrifice for their relationship. 

2) A hero and heroine who are ideally suited to each other.  They can be complete opposites and still complement one another in wonderful ways. 

3) Honesty. The more "real" the characters are -- the more they have strengths and weaknesses and true emotions -- the more readers will sympathize

with them. 

4)  Believability. In order for readers to believe in a romance novel's happy ending, they need to know that the characters have had enough time together for genuine love to develop and they want to see their love proven through actions and not just words.

Thank you so much Becky!

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The Green Mockingbird

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Reviews By Erin

May 25th

My Book A Day

A View From Coral Cove by Amy Clipston

The View from Coral Cove by Amy Clipston is a sweet romance story. Maya, a writer, has just inherited a toy store from her great aunt and moved to Coral Cove to run the store. Dr Brody Tanner is the local veterinarian with his daughter Ashlyn. They are two kind people who have been burned in past relationships. It is fun to watch their 

This was the gentle read that was just what I needed. I felt like I was hanging out with old friends as I read the story. I loved the variety of characters in the story and their interactions with each other. I loved the small town beach setting, the sweet romance, and enjoyed watching the characters grow. The author has written a small town romance that has depth and personality. I recommend this great read.

I was given a complimentary copy and not required to write a review.

Amy Clipston is an award-winning bestselling author and has been writing for as long as she can remember. She's sold more than one million books, and her fiction writing “career” began in elementary school when she and a close friend wrote and shared silly stories. She has a degree in communications from Virginia Wesleyan University and is a member of the Authors Guild, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Romance Writers of America. Amy works full-time for the City of Charlotte, NC, and lives in North Carolina with her husband, two sons, mother, and five spoiled rotten cats. You can find Amy at AmyClipston.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AmyClipstonBooks, and on Twitter at @AmyClipston.  IG  https://www.instagram.com/amy_clipston/

Set On You by Amy Lea

 

Blurb: Curvy fitness influencer Crystal Chen built her career shattering gym stereotypes and mostly ignoring the trolls. After her recent breakup, she has little stamina left for men, instead finding solace in the gym – her place of power and positivity.

Enter firefighter Scott Ritchie, the smug new gym patron who routinely steals her favorite squat rack. Sparks fly as these ultra-competitive foes battle for gym domination. But after a series of escalating jabs, the last thing they expect is to run into each other at their grandparents' engagement party.

In the lead up to their grandparents' wedding, Crystal discovers there’s a soft heart under Scott’s muscled exterior. Bonding over family, fitness, and cheesy pick-up lines, she just might have found her swolemate. But when a photo of them goes viral, savage internet trolls put their budding relationship to the ultimate test of strength.

Review: Set on You by Amy Lea is her debut novel. Crystal Chen is a curvy fitness Instagrammer who shares a body positive image. Scott Ritchie is a firefighter whose Grandfather is marrying Crystal’s mom. We follow their enemies to friends to lovers story.

The author has written great banter between the characters, funny and relatable relatives and friends, and she touches on issues that are not often talked about in romance fiction. I appreciated the authors perspective. The story walks us through the digital age of sharing your story, the following onslaught of people’s comments, and how different people deal with that.  I look forward to reading more books by Amy Lea in the future!  

I was given a complimentary copy by the publisher, Berkley, and not required to write a positive review.  

Photo Credit Amy Lea

Amy Lea is an Asian-Canadian government analyst who runs the “Bookstagram” account @amyleabooks, where she promotes and reviews contemporary romance novels. Set on You is her debut novel. Learn more online at amyleabooks.com.

Photo Credit Amy Lea

Big Apple Atonement by Carolyn Miller

❓QOTD? Have you been to New York City? I have not. I have family in Western New York and have visited. My dream is to visit NYC and see a show.

Review: Big Apple Atonement by Carolyn Miller is the 5th in her Original Six Hockey series. The story is a stand alone, but we do hear about characters from other stories. Hockey player TJ Woensky causes problems by hurting other players, losing his temper, and having a bad attitude. Margarita (Emma) Moritello, Saint Margarita, runs a children’s home.  She is seen as a saint, but doesn’t feel that way.  

There is nothing like a wonderful redemption story.  I love a story where someone changes their life and becomes a better version of themselves. It is a good reminder to me that God offers incredible grace to all of us.  The characters in our story were interesting, thoughtful, and I enjoyed watching them work through their issues.  Fantastic secondary characters gave the story depth and made me want to visit them for Thanksgiving!  

I am becoming more of a hockey fan as I read this series, but know that you do not have to be one  to enjoy the story.  The themes of redemption, giving away your life, and extravagant grace spoke to my heart. The author has the gift of telling a story that speaks truth in a non-preachy way.  I highly recommend it. 

I was given a complimentary copy and not required to write a review.   

I'm an Inspirational romance author who lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia with my husband and four children. Together with my husband I pastored a church for ten years, and I've worked as a high school English and Learning and Support teacher. I love reading (especially Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer), music, films, gardens, art, travel and food. I really enjoy creating worlds where flawed people can grow in faith, hope and love. I am represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube agency