Tag Archives: reading

Bout of Books 23 Update – Day 4

Posted in 2018, Bout of Books 23, Reading Challenges by

3PKyE93

Yesterday was a busy day, between finishing up all my fair entries and working up at the Fairgrounds all night, there wasn’t a ton of extra time for reading. Today I’ll be up at the Fair working all afternoon / evening. Hopefully can find some time here and there to read through the day today.

Update

Thursday

Time spent reading: (Approximately) 1.5 hours
Number of pages I’ve read today: 127 pages
Total number of pages I’ve read:  528 pages
Books read: Continued reading The Killing Game by Nancy Bush
Challenges: I did not participate in the challenge for yesterday, there’s not enough time in the day!

Stay tuned for continued progress made in tomorrow’s post on my Friday update!!

Bout of Books 23 Update – Day 3

Posted in 2018, Bout of Books 23, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

3PKyE93

Busy day yesterday getting all my entries ready for the Fair. This will continue into today and then we’re working up at the Fair all night tonight accepting entries and doing the judging. Hopefully can find some time here and there to read through the day today.

Update

Wednesday

Time spent reading: (Approximately) 1.5 hours
Number of pages I’ve read today: 119 pages
Total number of pages I’ve read:  401 pages
Books read: Continued reading The Killing Game by Nancy Bush
Challenges: I did not participate in the challenge for yesterday, Ran out of time!

Stay tuned for continued progress made in tomorrow’s post on my Thursday update!!

The Duke of Seduction BLOG TOUR!!

Posted in Blog tour, Book reviews, For the love of books, Historical Romance by

SPBR_BLOG TOUR.jpg

The Duke of Seduction, an all-new historical romance from USA Today bestselling author Darcy Burke is LIVE!

Burke, Darcy- The Duke of Seduction (final) 800 px @ 300 dpi high res

Lady Lavinia Gillingham prefers rocks and dirt to marriage. Her passion is science, and she’s determined to marry if—and only if—she finds a man who supports her interests and intellect. So far, she’s managed to avoid attention on the Marriage Mart, but when the Duke of Seduction pens anonymous letters singing her praises, she suddenly become the toast of the ton and matrimony seems imminent.

William Beckett, Marquess of Northam possesses the reputation of a rake, but is secretly a romantic. Spurned at sixteen, he doesn’t expect to feel the sting of Cupid’s bow a second time, and yet he’s able to woo the coldest of hearts with the anonymous words he publishes. As the Duke of Seduction, he uses his skill to help Lavinia, never anticipating she has no desire for assistance. While Lavinia is pursued by several suitors, Beck is the one who is seduced when he learns that love can strike twice…

DUKE OF SEDUCTION_AVAILABLE NOW

Download your copy today!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2ypnYPL

iBooks: https://apple.co/2tptdJo

Amazon Universal: http://mybook.to/TheDukeofSeduction

Nook: https://bit.ly/2tntIDJ

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2tlGsLf

Add to GoodReads: https://bit.ly/2I8mUzh

Excerpt:

The room wasn’t overly large, and it was—seemingly—empty. It also wasn’t terribly well lit, with a low fire burning in the grate and a pair of sconces flickering on the wall on either side of the fireplace.

She was either beneath the desk or behind the curtain. He couldn’t see the underside of the desk from the door. It wasn’t a pedestal as Lord Evenrude’s had been.

Circling around, he saw no one hiding there. That left the draperies on the window. He moved to the far wall and instantly noted the slight lump behind the blue damask. Moving forward, he reached for the fabric but hesitated before he pushed it aside. What if it wasn’t her?

The fabric moved, and she bared her face. “You found me.” Her dark gaze registered surprise. “Oh, it’s you!”

“It’s me.”

“Are you still looking for a place to hide?”

“I am.”

She reached for his lapel and held the drapery wide, pulling him into the darkness beside her. “He’ll be done counting shortly. If he isn’t already.”

“I should probably hide somewhere else,” he said, though he was loath to move. Ensconced in the dark with Lavinia, he was acutely aware of her heat and the intoxicating scent of lilies and honeysuckle.

“Yes, I suppose you should.” She turned toward him, and they were so close, her breasts brushed against his chest. “Sorry,” she murmured.

God, he wasn’t. He was only sorry he had to leave.

“Before you go, I wanted to thank you again for the fossils.” She whispered, her breath tickling his neck as she spoke. “I can’t stop looking at them. They’re absolutely extraordinary. I hope I have reason to visit Devon one day so I can hunt for my own.”

“I hope you do too. Consider yourself welcome at Waverly Court any time.”

“That’s very kind of you.”

He heard the smile in her voice and resisted the urge to run his fingers over her mouth so he could feel the curve of her lips. He really should go—

But first, he wanted to ask her something. “Do you know the Duchess of Kendal?”

“Yes, but not well. Fanny’s sister is a good friend of hers. Why?”

Why indeed. Beck wanted to enlist Lavinia’s help to see if the Duchess might be able to help him learn who SW and DC might be. However, if the Duchess had been part of a scandal, she might prefer to leave those memories in the past. Furthermore, he wasn’t sure he should include Lavinia in any of this.

And yet, he found he simply couldn’t resist. “Do you know what happened with the Duchess when she was out in Society—maybe sixteen years ago? The Duke mentioned something, and I was curious. Because my sister was out at the same time.” He added the last because he felt he had to share a reason for his inquiry. Still, he hated bringing Helen up since he didn’t want to answer too many questions about her, particularly regarding her fate.

“She was compromised. A gentleman—I can’t remember who—wooed her. They were caught kissing, and he refused to marry her. She was ruined. It was horrible because it wasn’t even her fault. It’s so unfair. Men can kiss whomever they want, and women are blamed for any indiscretion.”

“The key is to not get caught. It sounds as though this gentleman was rather inept.”

“Are you saying it was his fault?” She sounded surprised. “Most would argue they were at least both to blame.”

“Certainly she retains some culpability, but a decent gentleman would ensure they could kiss and not get caught.”

“And how would they do that?” Something in her tone changed. Her voice lowered, and it felt as though she’d moved just a hair closer.

If he leaned just a tiny bit forward, he was sure he’d feel her breasts again. God, how he wanted to. “They might hide themselves behind a drapery in the library.”

“During hide-and-seek?”

Beck’s cock lengthened and grew stiff as the air around them heated. “Probably not. In that case, someone is actually looking to find them.”

“And yet here we are.” Her voice had changed again, going nearly breathless.

“Yes, here we are.”

“Are you going to, then?” she asked, her breasts grazing his chest as she edged herself against him. “Kiss me.”

“By God, I think I am.”

“Oh, good.”

About Darcy:

Darcy Burke is the USA Today Bestselling Author of sexy, emotional historical and contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a happily ever after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations. Join her reader club at http://www.darcyburke.com/readerclub. A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, their two hilarious kids who seem to have inherited the writing gene, two Bengal cats and a third cat named after a fruit.

740B2310 Darcy

Connect with Darcy:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarcyBurkeFans

Twitter: https://twitter.com/darcyburke

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/darcy-burke

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5823441.Darcy_Burke

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/darcyburkewrite/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darcyburkeauthor/

Stay up to date with Darcy by joining her Reader Club today:

http://www.darcyburke.com/join-my-reader-club/

Website: http://www.darcyburke.com

 

Bout of Books 23 Update – Day 2

Posted in 2018, Bout of Books 23, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

3PKyE93
Things are chugging along. I’ve got a whole spreadsheet I’m using to keep track of my schedule this week and so far so good!

Update

Tuesday

Time spent reading: (Approximately) 1.5 hours
Number of pages I’ve read today: 128 pages
Total number of pages I’ve read:  282 pages
Books read: Finished The Duke of Seduction by Darcy Burke and started The Killing Game by Nancy Bush
Challenges: I did participate in the challenge for yesterday, Book Plot Emoji. You can see my Facebook post for this here:

Capture

Stay tuned for continued progress made in tomorrow’s post on my Wednesday update!!

The Duke of Seduction RELEASE BLITZ!!

Posted in Blog tour, For the love of books by

SPBR_RELEASE BLITZ.jpg

The Duke of Seduction, an all-new historical romance from USA Today bestselling author Darcy Burke is LIVE!

Burke, Darcy- The Duke of Seduction (final) 800 px @ 300 dpi high res.jpg

Lady Lavinia Gillingham prefers rocks and dirt to marriage. Her passion is science, and she’s determined to marry if—and only if—she finds a man who supports her interests and intellect. So far, she’s managed to avoid attention on the Marriage Mart, but when the Duke of Seduction pens anonymous letters singing her praises, she suddenly become the toast of the ton and matrimony seems imminent.

William Beckett, Marquess of Northam possesses the reputation of a rake, but is secretly a romantic. Spurned at sixteen, he doesn’t expect to feel the sting of Cupid’s bow a second time, and yet he’s able to woo the coldest of hearts with the anonymous words he publishes. As the Duke of Seduction, he uses his skill to help Lavinia, never anticipating she has no desire for assistance. While Lavinia is pursued by several suitors, Beck is the one who is seduced when he learns that love can strike twice…

DUKE OF SEDUCTION_AVAILABLE NOW.jpg

Download your copy today!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2ypnYPL

iBooks: https://apple.co/2tptdJo

Amazon Universal: http://mybook.to/TheDukeofSeduction

Nook: https://bit.ly/2tntIDJ

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2tlGsLf

Add to GoodReads: https://bit.ly/2I8mUzh

About Darcy:

Darcy Burke is the USA Today Bestselling Author of sexy, emotional historical and contemporary romance. Darcy wrote her first book at age 11, a happily ever after about a swan addicted to magic and the female swan who loved him, with exceedingly poor illustrations. Join her reader club at http://www.darcyburke.com/readerclub. A native Oregonian, Darcy lives on the edge of wine country with her guitar-strumming husband, their two hilarious kids who seem to have inherited the writing gene, two Bengal cats and a third cat named after a fruit.

740B2310 Darcy.jpg

Connect with Darcy:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarcyBurkeFans

Twitter: https://twitter.com/darcyburke

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/darcy-burke

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5823441.Darcy_Burke

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/darcyburkewrite/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darcyburkeauthor/

Stay up to date with Darcy by joining her Reader Club today:

http://www.darcyburke.com/join-my-reader-club/

Website: http://www.darcyburke.com

 

Bout of Books 23 Update – Day 1

Posted in 2018, Bout of Books 23, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

3PKyE93

Yesterday (first day of the read-a-thon) was a busy day, as expected. I have a feeling the whole week will end up being like this but I worked like a 12 hour day yesterday, and I was just barely able to fit in the full 2 hours of reading. Really a half hour of it was technically on Tuesday since it was after midnight. I did the best I could though and I’m determined to keep at it and keep up with my busy schedule!

Update

Monday

Time spent reading: (Approximately) 2 hours
Number of pages I’ve read today: 154 pages
Total number of pages I’ve read:  154 pages (Day one! Ha)
Books read: Read The Duke of Seduction by Darcy Burke
Challenges: I did participate in the challenge for yesterday, Introduce yourself in six words. You can see my Twitter post for this here

Stay tuned for continued progress made in tomorrow’s post on my Tuesday update!! Also today is MY day for the challenges. I had submitted a challenge idea, it was picked, and today is the day for it! Excited to be able to participate today especially.

Bout of Books 23 – Sign Up Post

Posted in 2018, Bout of Books 23, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

3PKyE93.jpg

So for one of my goals this year to help me focus more on reading and having concentrated time for reading, I am participating in all 3 Bout of Books reading challenges / read-a-thons this year! The first one was in early January and I got a good amount of reading done. The next one was in May and between work and personal stuff I didn’t actually get a ton of reading done.

This one though is going to be a doozy. I’m also participating in ARC August this month, plus I have a huge event coming up next weekend, the Terryville Fair, where I’m working up at the Fairgrounds literally the whole weekend sun up to (well after) sun down. Hopefully I can still carve out a little reading time but I’m also going to try and be realistic about this.

For those of you who don’t really know much about Bout of Books, it is basically a week-long, no pressure read-a-thon that has been going strong since 2011! Here is a description directly from the Bout of Books blog:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 20th and runs through Sunday, August 26th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 23 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

The Bout of Books Read-a-Thon was created by Amanda @ On a Book Bender on a complete whim in August 2011. It took on a life of its own and was such a hit that Amanda decided to do it again and turn it into a somewhat regular occurrence.

  • Bout of Books is a week long read-a-thon, usually from 12:01am on a Monday through 11:59pm on a Sunday in whatever time zone you are in.
  • It is low pressure, meaning participants are only asked to push themselves to read more than they normally would during any given week. There is no competition between readers.
  • How much time a reader wants, and can commit, to read, tweet, or network with fellow bloggers is left to individual preference. All challenges and giveaways are optional.
  • Networking with fellow bloggers is actively encouraged, though never required.
  • Use Twitter to post updates throughout the read-a-thon. Everyone will be tweeting with the #boutofbooks hashtag.

I’ve been reading pretty close to on schedule lately and I’m hoping to continue that trend over the next week!

Time Devoted to Reading

I plan to read at least 2 hours each day during the week, with hopefully additional hours on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I’ll be working up at the Fair event all afternoon and evening Thursday and Friday and then all day Saturday and Sunday, but I might be able to take a couple short breaks for reading between shifts.

My Goals

My goals for this read-a-thon are that I’d like to participate in as much as I can: the daily posts plus reading every day. One of the reasons I’m especially excited about this read-a-thon is … I’M ON THE SCHEDULE! I submitted a couple daily challenge ideas and one of them was picked! I’m more excited than ever to participate, hopefully I don’t run too low on time.

Books to Read

List is a little shorter than some of my previous challenges, but I have to be realistic about my time constraints. I would’ve loved to take the whole week off and just read non-stop but work has been consistently busy since just about a year ago. Anyways, I’m really looking forward to this week-long reading challenge devoted to reading ! If you do want to join make sure to add yourself to the page’s Sign Up Post by Tuesday, August 21st at 11:59pm! Happy reading!

ARC August 2018 – Update #3

Posted in 2018, ARC August 2018, For the love of books, Reading Challenges by

ARC-August

What a whirlwind this week has been! Busy week at work, a weekend trip to a wedding in PA with my family and a couple other social dates also, but I was able to make a lot of time for reading still! I’ve been really pushing myself for the reading challenge this month and I’ve been enjoying all the extra reading a lot. And this coming week I’m participating in both ARC August AND Bout of Books, so lots more reading to come! Plus the Fair is coming up this week – so basically I’m planning not to get any sleep this week! Anyways, so here’s where I stand right now:

MY PROGRESS

August 2018 ARC’s

–Good Luck With That by Kristan Higgins – Read and reviewed (Week 1)
–Our House by Louise Candlish – Read and reviewed (Week 2)
–Smothered by Autumn Chiklis – Read and reviewed (Week 1)
-The Duke of Seduction by Darcy Burke
-Maybe For You by Nicole McLaughlin – Read and reviewed (Week 3)
-Cowboy, Cross My Heart by Donna Grant – Read and reviewed (Week 3)
-The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo
-Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia

Additions

-Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone – Read and reviewed (Week 3)
–BuzzBooks 2018 Romance Sampler – Read and reviewed (Week 2)

Backlog ARC’s

I’m actually using a reading challenge to help me whittle away at the 2016 and 2017 backlog list, so for this challenge I’d like to get to the following:

-A book told through letters
-A book with a five-word title – Read and reviewed At the Heart of It by Tawna Fenske (Week 2)
-A book whose cover features nature
-A book whose title begins with K, Q, J, X, or Z
-A book you bought (requested) for the cover
-A book written by an author who wrote one of your favorite 2017 books
-A book with a one-word title

Books Read August 13th – 19th

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone – 5.0 stars
Maybe For You by Nicole McLaughlin – 3.75 stars
Cowboy, Cross My Heart by Donna Grant –  stars

Plan for Upcoming Week

This week is going to be hectic that’s for sure. I’m just going to try and push through and keep at it – I’ve so far been mostly successful at balancing my productivity between work and reading and other. Let’s hope I can keep it up this week!

ARC August 2018 – Update #2

Posted in 2018, ARC August 2018, Reading Challenges by

ARC-August

I was killing it this week! Between getting stuff done at home and at work and also getting my books read, I have been on point and on target! It was a busy work week and this next week is looking busy as well but I’m committed to reading as much as I can this month. Anyways, so here’s where I stand right now:

MY PROGRESS

August 2018 ARC’s

–Good Luck With That by Kristan Higgins – Read and reviewed (Week 1)
-Our House by Louise Candlish – Read and reviewed (Week 2)
–Smothered by Autumn Chiklis – Read and reviewed (Week 1)
-The Duke of Seduction by Darcy Burke
-Maybe For You by Nicole McLaughlin
-Cowboy, Cross My Heart by Donna Grant
-The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo
-Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia

Additions

-Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone
-BuzzBooks 2018 Romance Sampler – Read and reviewed (Week 2)

Backlog ARC’s

I’m actually using a reading challenge to help me whittle away at the 2016 and 2017 backlog list, so for this challenge I’d like to get to the following:

-A book told through letters
-A book with a five-word title – Read and reviewed At the Heart of It by Tawna Fenske (Week 2)
-A book whose cover features nature
-A book whose title begins with K, Q, J, X, or Z
-A book you bought (requested) for the cover
-A book written by an author who wrote one of your favorite 2017 books
-A book with a one-word title

Books Read August 6th – 12th

At the Heart of It by Tawna Fenske – 3.0 stars
Our House by Louise Candlish – 3.25 stars
BuzzBooks 2018 Romance – 4.0 stars

Plan for Upcoming Week

This week is going to be super fun! Work will be crazy, as usual, this week. But this coming weekend my husband, parents, and I will be traveling to PA for my cousins wedding. And we couldn’t be more excited for him and his future bride, and to celebrate with my family. We’ll see how much reading I get done, but even if its none it’ll still be a great time. Happy reading everyone!!

2018 Book #68 – Our House by Louise Candlish

Posted in 2018, ARC August 2018, Book reviews, Fiction, Reading Challenges, Suspense, Thriller by

616b9qldtALTitle: Our House
Author: Louise Candlish
Date finished: 8/10/18
Genre: Fiction, thriller, psychological suspense
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: August 7, 2018
Pages in book: 416
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

There’s nothing unusual about a new family moving in at 91 Trinity Avenue. Except it’s her house. And she didn’t sell it.

When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she’s sure there’s been a mistake. She and her estranged husband, Bram, have a modern coparenting arrangement: bird’s nest custody, where each parent spends a few nights a week with their two sons at the prized family home to maintain stability for their children. But the system built to protect their family ends up putting them in terrible jeopardy. In a domino effect of crimes and misdemeanors, the nest comes tumbling down.

Now Bram has disappeared and so have Fiona’s children. As events spiral well beyond her control, Fiona will discover just how many lies her husband was weaving and how little they truly knew each other. But Bram’s not the only one with things to hide, and some secrets are best kept to oneself, safe as houses.

My rating:  3.25 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. I finished this book for ARC August 2018! Love this reading challenge. And this year I’m especially excited because as part of the challenge they added one of my favorite things, reading Bingo! This book will be checking off my “New to you Author” box.

This book sounded really interesting to me, the idea of what can happen when you don’t really know who your husband is, plus I’ve seem this book featured many times lately as a must read for the summer. I did end up enjoying it but the whole thing just felt overwhelmingly sad. For Fiona to have put so much time and effort into her house, her family’s home, and then to have it torn out from under her so suddenly, must have been unimaginably heart breaking. And the whole “end” of Bram’s story and the tone of his diary entries, you could tell how desperate he was and how hopeless he felt. The author did a really great job (I thought) of projecting the emotions of the characters in the book. And I think many other thriller fans would really enjoy the novel, I just hate feeling so hopelessly sad. There were some pretty good plot twists to the story, and I really liked the uniqueness of the plot line. While it wasn’t quite for me, it was still a really good book and I would recommend it!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page