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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Thankful Thursday #6


I nearly forgot about this.  Well, this week I'm grateful for eye glasses.  I'm near sighted and need corrective lenses to see well.  This weekend I put on my contact lenses and two days later I took them off and shortly thereafter I was rubbing my left eye like crazy.  I go to look in the mirror and wow, the surface of my left eye ballooned!  So I washed my hands and eyes.  I went to bed early (8pm) to sleep it off and planned to see my doctor the following morning.  My doc squeezed me in the next day and he prescribed antibiotic eye drops and told me to hold off wearing contact lenses for the next several days and use my glasses.  Thus, my gratitude for my eye glasses.  They may not be my ideal go to look but it's hard to get an eye infection from them!  Plus, they're really great at correcting my vision and thankful that such a device was invented.  Hurray for corrective lenses!!

Oh, my eye's alright now.  It didn't affect my vision for the bad and no more irritation.

Review: The Inn at Rose Harbor


The Inn at Rose Harbor by Debbie Macomber, AF, 2012, Playaway digital audio, 9.5hr, Rating=3
Source: library


Jo Marie Rose first arrives in Cedar Cove seeking a sense of peace and a fresh start. Coping with the death of her husband, she purchases a local bed-and-breakfast—the newly christened Rose Harbor Inn—ready to begin her life anew. Yet the inn holds more surprises than Jo Marie can imagine.

Her first guest is Joshua Weaver, who has come home to care for his ailing stepfather. The two have never seen eye to eye, and Joshua has little hope that they can reconcile their differences. But a long-lost acquaintance from Joshua’s high school days proves to him that forgiveness is never out of reach and love can bloom even where it’s least expected.

The other guest is Abby Kincaid, who has returned to Cedar Cove to attend her brother’s wedding. Back for the first time in twenty years, she almost wishes she hadn’t come, the picturesque town harboring painful memories from her past. And while Abby reconnects with family and old friends, she realizes she can only move on if she truly allows herself to let go.

Yay, I caught a first book from one of Debbie Macomber's book series!  I've seen tons of her books and read a few but never in order, so this new series was a treat to stumble into.  I look forward to the continuing installments to come (next one in August).  Though, I feel kinda silly to be excited about this but I am.  I suppose it's the thought that I'd know the story from the very start and not come into it on the 10th book!

I'm already liking the set up, a bed and breakfast inn.  Just from that, I see many possible adventures that could come from the guests that will be coming in.  But before the guests, we are introduced to Jo Marie, a fairly new widowed woman who takes on a fresh adventure of taking over a B&B and ventures to make it her own, dubbing it The Rose Harbor Inn, after her husband (Rose is her surname).  So we meet a handyman and few other local townees willing to put in their two cents.  Moreover, Jo Marie still "talks" to her husband and convinced that he had sent her first two guests her way (and the dog) because as at it turns out, they had history of tragedy or wounded heart.  So first comes Joshua, who reluctantly came to town to see his ill stepfather and then Abby, a former Cedar Cove resident in town to attend her brother's wedding.  Both back to a town that held terrible memories for them.  Of course, this made for a conversational sit down with Jo Marie because she too had hurts that qualified her to empathize with her guests, right?  Possibly an awkward moment but she was figuring out her place as the inn taker.

Overall, a potentially entertaining series.  This book started a pace that hinted mystery, upcoming romance, and emotional heart tugging moments.

By the way, I understand that Ms Macomber will be toning down the number of characters in this series to avoid potential confusion.  That sounds like a good plan.  I think a small cast would mean a tighter relationship between characters and readers.



Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Leap into Books Giveaway: $15 to Amazon or TBD


I'm thrilled to be co-hosting this giveaway hop with Kathy @I Am A Reader.  It's a wonderful opportunity to reach out to the book blogging community to offer more books to add to their ever growing TBR pile.  Can one ever have too many books?  Nah!  So for this hop, I'm simply giving away up to $15 worth of book(s).  Winner will choose a $15 eGift card to Amazon.com or up to $15 toward a book from The Book Depository (winner must live in country that TBD ships free to).

Since I'm trying to build my GFC and FB Page, I'm making it a requirement that entrants be a GFC follower of this blog and those who "Like" my FB Page, Books That Tug The Heart, will receive 2 extra entries.  You must also be at least 13yo and fill out the form below.  Other extra entries available for "sharing" (spreading the word about this giveaway) ..see form for details.

Contest ends 3/7/13, 9pm PST.  Winner will be chosen within 3 days post contest using the services of Random.org and will be sent an email.

Thank you for the follows and good luck!

*One person per entry.  No multiple accounts for the same person.


Now head on over to the rest of the participating blogs for your chance to help make your TBR reach the sky, if it hasn't already.  :)




Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Top Ten Authors That I'd Put On My Auto-Buy List


Oh, I love authors so much I thought I'd double my Top Ten plus two more for good measure (this of course if I actually wasn't frugal). So here they are in alphabetical order (I probably could come up with 22 more!).


1. Mitch Albom

2. Orson Scott Card

3. Cassandra Clare

4. Paulo Coelho

5. Suzanne Collins

6. Kate Evangelista

7. Richard Paul Evans

8. Gordon B. Hinckley

9. Kittie Howard

10. Cameron Jace

11. David Levithan

12. C. Lee McKenzie

13. L.M. Montgomery

14. Rachel Morgan

15. Haruki Murakami

16. Stephenie Myer

17. Janette Rallison

18. J.K. Rowling

19. Nicholas Sparks

20. Katherine Stockett

21. Dieter F. Uchtdorf

22. Jason F. Wright


Saturday, February 23, 2013

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, YA, 2011, audio CDs, 9hrs, Rating=2
Source: library

"You're going to fall in love with Lola and the Boy Next Door. Madly in love!"
--Sarah Mlynowski, author of Bras & Broomsticks and Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have)
Lola Nolan doesn't believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit--more sparkly, more fun, more wild--the better. But even though Lola's style is outrageous, she's a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.
When Cricket--a gifted inventor--steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy
next door. (Goodreads)

According to Goodreads stats, over 23,000 people rated this book and currently ending up with the average total of 4 stars (really like it).  Looks like I'm in the minority. 

I was quickly annoyed by Lola's character.  Her reminiscent days with dear handsome Cricket turned into a whining song throughout the book.  She was definitely different from others all right.  It seemed like she tried so hard to be out of the box that she ended up being a wishy washy and unfaithful person.  Bummer!

The love triangle story here just didn't click for me.  Also, I'm not sure how accurate of a depiction of a teenage spirit this was.  Perhaps, I'm just hoping this isn't what I have to look forward to when my six year old daughter turns 16.  She'll be an angel, right?  But seriously, the flaw in the book was character quality and not Ms Perkins's writing style.  There was fine writing that outfitted each character with adequate depth.  That's why I'm able to be critical of Lola. 

Overall, this companion book didn't measure up to it's predecessor Anna and the French Kiss in quality story.



Book Loot Giddy


I got book hungry as you will see. Oh, the joys of a bookaholic. --How about you? What fun stuff did you get this week?

Bought:
Divergent; Finding June; Harry Potter

Borrowed from the library:
Data 4
Data 5 Data 6
Eat to Live; The Maze Runner; Water by the Spoonful

Kindle Freebies:
The Princess of Las Pulgas; How to Draw Vehicles; How to Draw Pirates; How to Draw the Farm; I’ll Be There; The Buggy List; The; Torn Wing; Jokes for Kids; Watched; Playing the Genetic Lottery; Don’t Let Me Go; Zombie Kids

Smashwords Freebie:
Swim the River

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