A FORGOTTEN TRUTH I’ve been waiting for this latest book in The Agency Files series. As a fan of romantic suspense (light on the romance and heavy on the suspense), I’ve devoured Ms. Havig’s Agency Files books. Her versatility amazes me; she writes across genres and does all of it well. I especially like this series and her Hartfield Mysteries. This one is being released tomorrow, but I’m pre-ordering it tonight. One man holds the key to a secret that has the potential to rock the core of the American government. The FBI, Homeland Security, and The Agency all compete to find Ryan West before those who seek to silence him succeed. For Dan Abney, everything’s a blur. On the run from people he can’t name, Dan has one goal in mind: Stay alive and find out who he is. The North Koreans have stepped up their game, and Mark, in between trying to find Ryan and keep his ex-girlfriend safe, is split between keeping Shin Kim and family safe and extracting all damaging information from him before the country is at risk. From Portland to Oklahoma, Michigan to Rockland and it surrounding areas, The Agency Read More
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Love Comes Calling – A Book to Chew On
I chose that catchy title because I normally write bite-size book reviews, and I have a little more to say about this one. A few days ago, I needed a pleasant story – nothing too thought-provoking – to listen to while I did some sewing. Siri Mitchell’s book Love Comes Calling looked perfect. And I loved it. Just loved it. I didn’t need the author’s note at the end to tell me that the heroine had ADHD. Any mother or teacher (and many adults who don’t even have children) recognized it on page one. When I read the Amazon reviews later, I was surprised to see that not everyone enjoyed it as much as I did. They found the heroine: confusing, annoying, immature, flighty, scatterbrained, selfish, insecure, irresponsible, repetitive, foolish and impulsive. Well, then… the author did a fabulous job of creating an authentic heroine. That is exactly how such a girl would feel and appear to others. Some reviewers found the stream-of-thought style confusing because the heroine’s thoughts were so random and jumpy, and I think it is likely that her personality is better captured in the audiobook than in the written format. The reader, Morgan Hallett, is good. She Read More
6 Reasons to Buy an Erin Condren Life Planner
Erin Condren Life Planners rock. There are many other planners, and some of them are almost as good as the Erin Condren planners, but they aren’t the real thing. Some people prefer FranklinCovey (which is more formal), or other fun ones like Filofax, Plum Paper Planners, or The Happy Planner. You can also find nice planners from a variety of sellers on Etsy or you can even buy one at Walmart and dress it up. I haven’t seen any I like as well as my ECLP, though. ATTENTION: The link below is my affiliate link. If you purchase a planner through that link, you will receive a $10 discount. And I will receive a $10 credit toward my own next purchase. 😀 ~~**ERIN CONDREN LIFE PLANNERS**~~ Reason #1: It makes me happy. All the other reasons are really justifications. It makes me smile to see my planner. I’m just an amateur planner, but I enjoy decorating it with stickers and washi tape, making inserts for it, using different colored pens and showing it off, especially to my granddaughters, who love it as much as I do. It’s pretty, and they can find their birthdays and special events in Read More
Doesn’t Dad Deserve a Mother’s Day?
It’s not fair. We all know that moms and dads are equally important in their children’s lives, but the days we set aside to honor them – Mother’s Day and Father’s Day – are very different. I read online (so it must be true) that Americans spend $7 billion dollars more on Mother’s Day than on Father’s Day. The Hallmark cards are funnier on Father’s Day. Churches treat Mother’s Day with reverence and sensitivity and Father’s Day is an opportunity for sermons on “how to do it better.” I know it probably bugs me more than it does the men, but it does bug me, so I wrote about it in one of my books. That’s an advantage of being an author. You can spout off your opinions and attribute them to fictional characters. In my story “Baggage Claim,” Ben Taylor goes in search of his biological father. He finds Jonah Campbell, who is delighted to learn that he has a son and four young grandchildren – and he especially likes the children’s nanny, Agatha. This is a scene between Agatha and Jonah, getting in the car after church on Father’s Day. It’s a work in progress, before editing. Remember: Read More
Bite-size Book Reviews
These were all new, first-time reads for me, from some of my favorite authors. It was a nice variety of styles and time periods. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Random Acts of Murder, audiobook by Christy Barritt, read by Sandy Rustin This book is the first in a new series. The heroine is appealing, with her good intentions, insecurities and quirky personality. She fled the scene of a murder and now she’s being framed for it. The hero is an old high school classmate, all grown up and in charge of the murder investigation. Ms. Barritt does a good job of pacing the mystery and concealing the identity of the killer. I would have liked to see more about the heroine’s spiritual and physical conditions, but it is a light-hearted story with lots of other action. The supporting characters seem interesting; I hope they are developed further in the rest of the series. Snow on the Tulips, audiobook by Liz Tolsma, read by Susan Denaker Ms. Tolsma has created a vivid portrait of a small Dutch village and its residents near the end of WWII. This is an intense, suspenseful story as much as Read More
This is what it’s all about.
Grandmotherhood. Granddaughters. I’ve made several of these skirts for my two granddaughters. It’s a simple swing skirt with a yoke and bound hem. The binding at the hem gives it better twirlability and a nice flared shape. It’s a quick skirt for me to make, and I have done several for each of them. They like having matching ones. This week, while Alanna was visiting, she made the skirt all by herself. I cut it out and basted part of the binding at the hem, but she did all of the sewing, using the serger as well as the regular sewing machine. It’s quite an accomplishment for a ten-year-old! Teaching granddaughters to sew and quilt is a joy to me!