Book Blitz for Chaos and Cranberries by Joann Keder with a GIVEAWAY

 

Chaos and Cranberries

Joann Keder
Publication date: November 1st 2022
Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery

Synopsis:

Paranormal investigator, Feather Jones and her boyfriend, Tug have arrived in picturesque Piney Falls for their Christmas getaway. To their dismay, they learn that their suite isn’t available because the last guest, author Dash Vixen, never checked out.

Dash was murdered when a copy of his own horror Christmas anthology was used to beat him to death.

Coming to their rescue is local sleuth, Lanie Anders, who invites them to spend the holiday with her and her husband. Unbeknownst to all of them, the murderer has bigger plans. Soon Lanie, Feather and their respective other halves are embroiled in a mystery that will stretch them both to their crime-solving limits!

This is a crossover book: Feather is a sleuth from the Charming Mysteries series and Lanie is a sleuth in the Piney Falls Mysteries.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63007661-chaos-and-cranberries

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Se8yRZ

Excerpt:

Vem stood uncomfortably close and read aloud:

Ivy Merrilee Globe was a prolific author, completing seventy-nine books in her twenty-six years of life. Her most recent, Snowily Severed, was a short story featured in the massively popular Christmas horror anthology, Strung by the Fire. 

She recently signed a contract with Brain Gravy Pictures to turn her short story into a movie.

Driving home from physical therapy, she stopped for children crossing three blocks from her home, when her neighbor's sleigh ornament slid off the roof of their home and through her car windshield, impaling her. Ivy herself couldn't have written such a dramatic end.

Ivy leaves behind three brothers and a cat named Ice.

"She didn't die on the twenty-second like the other two. Find the date of the Frosty attack, Lanie," Vem urged.

I typed in the information and when the page came up, our mood was somber. "Ivy was attacked on the twenty-second by the Frosty wannabe. They intended to kill her that day, and when it didn't work, they came back to finish the job."

"Poor Ivy," Vem lamented.

My phone rang and I jumped up to answer. Even though we'd been together for several years, I was always expecting his call.

"Babe?"

"Mrs. Hill? This is the Tucson police department."

 

AUTHOR BIO:

USA TODAY bestselling author, Joann Keder spent most of her years in the Midwest, growing up and raising a family on the Great Plains of Nebraska. She worked for sixteen years as a piano teacher before returning to school to receive a master's degree in creative writing. A mid-life move to the Pacific Northwest led her to re-examine her priorities. She now creates stories about life and relationships in small towns while her ever-patient husband encourages her on.

Author links:

https://www.joannkeder.com/

https://www.instagram.com/joannkeder_author/

https://www.facebook.com/jkederauthor/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3266457.Joann_Keder

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Release Blitz for Snowed in with the Player by Rebecca Jenshak

 

Snowed In with the Player by Rebecca Jenshak is now live!

 

It was supposed to be a weekend of holiday cheer.
Just me and my twin sister, watching Christmas movies and baking cookies.
My brother was absolutely not supposed to show up with half the football team.
Including Teddy. My brother's best friend and my secret crush.
I'm the shy sister. The one with her nose stuck in a book and quoting every word of Elf, not the one getting attention from guys like Teddy.
He's cool and smart and so handsome I could die.
The only thing that could make things worse is if I got snowed in with him.
Alone.

Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and Kobo!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3CJOGSm

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3CujwNA

Nook: https://bit.ly/3esdeWq

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3fWyXGx

Google Play: https://bit.ly/3SUKDIC

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3ywvnt0

 

Meet Rebecca

Rebecca Jenshak is a USA Today bestselling author of new adult and sports romance. She writes sexy, feel-good stories with lots of swoon-worthy moments.

Rebecca lives in Arizona. When she isn’t writing, you can find her cheering on local sports teams, hanging out with friends and family, or curled up with a good book.

Sign up for her newsletter to be notified of new releases: https://rebeccajenshak.com/newsletter/

Connect with Rebecca

Website: https://www.rebeccajenshak.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16681160.Rebecca_Jenshak

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rebecca-Jenshak/e/B074F258NP/

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

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1523746940998401

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

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/rebeccajenshak

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rebeccajenshak

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rebecca-jenshak

Book Blitz for Son of the Salt Chaser by A.S. Thornton with a GIVEAWAY

Son of the Salt Chaser by A.S. Thornton

(Salt Chasers, #2)
Publication date: November 8th 2022
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Synopsis:

The gift of magic may be a curse.

After her desert-transforming wish, Emel follows Saalim to Madinat Almulihi to reclaim all she has lost. But the seaside city is not what she expected. When she is tasked with assisting the palace healer, she is faced daily with the reminder that Saalim—focused only on seeking the revenge of those who killed his family—does not remember her at all.

Cursing the magic that destroyed her love and brought her to an unwelcoming city, Emel regrets her decision to leave her settlement. That is, until she meets Kas. Though inscrutable, he is the first person to help her forget her past, and the pull of finding happiness with him tempts her from the life she wished for with Saalim.

But darkness waits in the desert, and not all people in Madinat Almulihi are what they seem. When Emel understands she is entangled in the fate of the city—and of Saalim—she is faced with the realization that magic may be the most powerful card in her hand. It might be the only way to save all that she loves, but if she plays her hand wrong, it could destroy everything.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56953543-son-of-the-salt-chaser

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3TDxOCh

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/son-of-the-salt-chaser-a-s-thornton/1141001567?ean=9780744305678

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/daughter-of-the-salt-king/id1608097868

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/son-of-the-salt-chaser

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=CGR7EAAAQBAJ

Excerpt:  Leaning back onto my hands, I pushed my feet into the cool water. My raw, blistered skin welcomed the relief.

“What do you think they’re doing?” Firoz asked, nudging me with his own submerged foot.

Soldiers from Madinat Almulihi stood across the large pool. I would have assumed they were cooling themselves, too, but the longer I watched, the more I saw that there was a pattern—almost a rhythm—to the way they dipped their hands into the water and pressed it to their brows, wrists, and necks.

“Praying,” a voice said from behind me. A voice so achingly familiar it took all of my strength not to jump from the ground and rush to him.

Slowly, I turned to Saalim.

In our few days of travel, I had come to understand that he and his men behaved differently from my father and his court. It still surprised me that their king—my king—could appear so unlike a royal. His dark sirwal was rolled at his calves, his feet bare. He wore no weapons, and the black tunic across his chest was dust-covered and almost tattered at the edges; the guthra that loosely wrapped his face, equally worn. Had Saalim himself not told me tales of the wealth and allure of Madinat Almulihi, I would not believe that it was a city worth seeing at all.

“Eiqab will strain to hear,” Firoz said.

Saalim looked away from his soldiers down to Firoz. “We worship the giver, not the punisher.”

“Wahir,” I said. How strange it was to see someone praying to the lesser god. How wrong.

Saalim’s gaze met mine.

A rush of cold and hot, longing and desperation, and . . . Sons, how didn’t he feel it? Couldn’t he see me as I saw him? I felt as I had the first time he looked at me after he became human again, when he had killed my father and his eyes locked on mine. I stared back, willing him to feel, to remember as I did . . . the set of his jaw hard beneath my fingers, his lips against my own, his breath warm as I pulled it into my lungs. His hands so careful against my skin, his heart beating against my breast, the tremor of his voice as he said my name.

“Emel, isn’t it?” he asked.

The memories scattered. I bent my head to the ground, not wanting him to see my grimace. He felt nothing, remembered nothing. Sons, he did not know me at all.

Masira was a devious goddess, giving so much but taking as much in return. Damn her magic that she unfurled like a woven rug! Something beautiful to cover all of the ugly scars and secrets, to distract from them. But that was all the magic did, wasn’t it? What it tried to remove, it did so sloppily. Everything still lay underneath the threads.

“Yes, she is Emel,” Firoz said loudly.

I looked back to Saalim, brushing away my thoughts like sand on my palms.

Saalim continued. “Today, you and . . .”

“Firoz,” he said.

Saalim paused at the name, his brow pulling together slightly before he continued.

“Firoz. I am still learning. You both will help with the cook-fires.” Then he turned from us and continued around the water’s edge.

“Well, I at least know food is cooked on a fire. What do you know about cooking?” Firoz chuckled. His mother always cooked for his family, and I had had no business working in the palace kitchens as an ahira.

I forced a laugh as I watched Saalim walk away.

“What bothers you?” Firoz asked.

I shook my head.

“He’s just a king, Emel. Same heart that can be pierced by blade.” He stabbed the air with an invisible blade.

AUTHOR BIO:

A. S. Thornton is the author of award-winning Daughter of the Salt King (CamCat Books, 2021), the first book in the Salt Chasers duology. She has evolved from book blogger to author with a particular fondness for writing forbidden love in ancient deserts. She lives with her family in Northern California. When not writing, she’s taking care of dogs and cats as a veterinarian. You’ll never find animals at the center of her writing, though. Those fictional worlds don’t have veterinarians and her literal brain can’t accept that the poor critters would be without parasite prevention. 

Author links:

https://asthornton.com/

https://twitter.com/AS_Thornton

https://www.facebook.com/asthorntonauthor

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20385053.A_S_Thornton

https://www.instagram.com/as_thornton/

https://www.pinterest.ca/AS_Thornton/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Excerpt from All This Time by Annabelle McCormack with a GIVEAWAY

 

All This Time by Annabelle McCormack

(Brandywood, #1)
Publication date: October 25th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

Almost ten years ago, Samantha Redding swore off her hometown of Brandywood, Maryland. Sure, she misses her family, but she’s over the gossip and drama that came with small-town living. Besides, she has the photography career she always dreamed of now.

Then her mom gets sick. Faced with a long stay at home, Sam is forced to relocate a holiday photoshoot to Brandywood to meet a tight work deadline. Only problem is, she needs help from the townspeople she’s spent years distancing herself from. Strangely, Sam finds an ally in someone who kept her at arm’s length all his life: brooding and sarcastic Garrett Doyle—the guy that dumped her best friend at the altar years before.

But Sam never knew Garrett tried to keep his distance because he was really in love with her. And he’s just come back to town after trying to get his life together. Garrett knows he ought to stay away—but the sight of her brings back all those old feelings. Anyway, she’s leaving Brandywood soon enough, and then he can go back to trying to forget her.

. . . except, Sam’s about to discover that everything she thought she knew about home—and Garrett—was wrong.

A contemporary romance with steamy, open door romance and tear-jerking moments about facing the past and finding forgiveness, All This Time is the first book in the Brandywood Small Town Romance Series. CW: alcoholism, abuse, cancer, language

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61713255-all-this-time

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3VyFKXe

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-this-time-annabelle-mccormack/1141709515?ean=9798986529400

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/all-this-time/id6443043602

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/all-this-time-14

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Annabelle_McCormack_All_This_Time?id=w_F3EAAAQBAJ

Excerpt:  Driving Lessons (Garrett’s POV)

 “All right . . . foot on the clutch, slowly lifting. When you feel the engine engage, you drop your weight on the gas and lift the clutch.” Garrett leaned back in his seat and popped open a can of energy drink.

Charlotte Redding’s old truck lurched forward, the transmission grinding, sending a spray of the newly opened soda across his lap.

Sam grimaced at Garrett. “Sorry.”

“I’m officially out of extra clothes in my truck so you better take it easy.” Garrett chuckled and took a sip. “Of course, it’s my fault for opening the can just then.”

“Can’t I learn an automatic?” Sam attempted to push the shifter into gear again and the engine screeched.

“If your mother drove automatic, yes. To be honest, she might be the last person left on earth that doesn’t drive automatic.” Garrett leaned back in his seat and crossed one foot over his knee.

“How’d you learn?”

Garrett threw her a cocky glance. “I know everything, Redding.”

A smile hinted at her eyes. He had called her that nickname his whole life, but they hadn’t really spent much time together since high school. She seemed to remember it with some level of fondness, if she was smiling. “You know”—Garrett set the drink in the holder and put his hand over hers before she tried to shift improperly again and ruined the truck—“I remembered earlier this morning that Eli once said he was going to teach you to drive.”

“It didn’t go so well. He wasn’t exactly patient.” Sam rolled her eyes. That was valid. Eli was not a patient man.

“I talked to him this morning. Apparently, you blocked him?” Eli’s words had piqued his interest. Eli had been talking about Sam as though they were done for good. Did she feel the same way?

“Yup.” She pulled her hand back from the shifter and set it on the wheel. “And Katie actually set me up a date this Saturday with some guy she knows. Mike Jarvis. I’m moving on.”

Mike? The firefighter? He didn’t know what surprised him more—Sam going on a date . . . or that she appeared to be planning to stay after Thanksgiving. “Are you staying in Brandywood?”

She grimaced. “For now.”

“That doesn’t sound like you’re entirely convinced it’s a good thing.”

“I’m not sure it is. I sort of volunteered to do a big social campaign here. My boss wants me to find home bakers from Brandywood for it to feature classic Americana cookie recipes. Twelve of them. The cooks are supposed to make their recipes on a live feed and we’ll feature pictures and recipes on our social channels.”

“Sounds intense.”

She covered her eyes with one hand, peeking through her open fingers. “I don’t know what the heck I was thinking,” Sam sighed. “So anyway, I’ll be here at least until mid-December. Then we’ll see how things go with my mom.”

He approached the other bit of news more cautiously. “And the date?”

She smiled, her eyes sparkling with humor. “Someone Katie claims is ‘perfect for me.’ A firefighter—I think. We’re going to Yardley’s on Friday night.” Then she added, “I mostly said yes to get Katie to stop pestering me.”

Why do I feel relieved about that? He kept his face blank.

She drew a deep breath and looked out the windshield. “Ready?”

Garrett gave her a teasing look. “You should probably start the engine. It stalled after last time.”

She turned the key sheepishly. “You know, I’m not the one who said I needed to drive. I was fine with rideshare.”

“You won’t be so fine with it if you’re staying in Brandywood for a while. Those bills add up.” Garrett stopped her again as she reached for the shifter. “Don’t rush it. Push the clutch down, then shift, then worry about the pedal switch.”

Sam stared at her feet. “Driving with two feet seems ridiculous. And then my hands are doing separate things too. How is anyone supposed to do four different things at the same time?”

“Ask a drummer. They’re the masters of it.” Garrett leaned back again, watching her. Something about her approach to the lessons put him in a good mood. It could be the furrow of concentration in her brow, or the way her lips drew tighter. When she’d been learning photography as a teenager, she’d often posed him and Katie for pictures. That same look of focus had been on her face.

The truck stalled again and he held back a laugh as she threw her hands up in the air and swore. “This is impossible.”

AUTHOR BIO:

Annabelle McCormack spins you tales of epic historical adventure, heartfelt romance, and complex family dynamics with strong female protagonists to make things interesting. She graduated from the Johns Hopkins University’s M.A. in Writing Program. She’s a sucker for pizza (cheese, bread, and tomatoes are the perfect foods) and mangoes, loves baking and photography, and never wants to do laundry again. She lives in Maryland with her hilarious husband, where she serves as a snack bitch for her (lucky-they’re-cute) five children and three boxers.

She’s half-Costa Rican and speaks fluent Spanish, so you can always drop her a line in either English or Spanish. Pura vida!

Author links:

https://www.instagram.com/annabellemccormack/

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/annabelle-mccormack

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21418629.Annabelle_McCormack

https://www.facebook.com/annabelledmccormack

https://twitter.com/annabelledando

https://annabellemccormack.com/

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz for Letting Go by Jacquie Biggar with a GIVEAWAY

 

Letting Go

by Jacquie Biggar
(The Defiant Sisters, #1)
Publication date: October 21st 2022
Genres: Coming of Age, Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

A coming-of-age novel about the pain of misconceptions and learning from them.

When life gives you lemons…

Izzy

Mom is barely in the grave and the prodigal child is here to pick the bones clean.

I don’t want her here. My sister’s defection is a wound that won’t heal, and her return simply rubs at the scabs covering my heart.

I’ve managed just fine without her. She can go back to her fancy college and forget about us- that’s what she does best anyway.

If only I didn’t need her help. Or miss her so much.

Renee

The day my dad committed suicide I ran. I’ve been running ever since.

Going home is supposed to be the answer. Instead, it makes me question every thoughtless decision I’ve made.

My sister hates me. My little brother barely knows me. And Simon… is engaged.

None of it matters- or so I tell myself. I’m here to make amends and face a past haunted by regret.

As long as I can convince myself to stay.

Letting Go is a young adult romance dealing with tragedy, restitution, and love in all its aspects. The story relates to sensitive topics that may be triggering for some readers.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61269995-letting-go--the-defiant-sisters-book-1

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3TcZBtz

AUTHOR BIO:

Jacquie Biggar is a USA Today bestselling author of romance who loves to write about tough, alpha males and strong, contemporary women willing to show their men that true power comes from love. She lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and loves to hear from readers all over the world!

In her own words:

“My name is Jacquie Biggar. When I'm not acting like a total klutz, I am a wife, mother of one, grandmother, and a butler to my calico cat.

My guilty pleasures are reality tv shows like Amazing Race and The Voice. Every Monday night, I can be in my armchair plastered to the television laughing at Blake's shenanigans.

I love to hang out at the beach with DH (darling hubby) taking pictures or reading romance novels (what else?).

I have a slight Tim Hortons obsession, enjoy gardening, everything pink, and talking to my friends.”

She has been blessed with a long, happy marriage and enjoys writing romance novels that end with happily-ever-afters.

Author links:

http://jacqbiggar.com
http://Facebook.com/jacqbiggar
http://Twitter.com/jacqbiggar
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8445812.Jacquie_Biggar

http://Pinterest.com/jacqbiggar

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jacquie-biggar

https://amzn.to/3yQX4wY
http://instagram.com/jacqbiggar
Newsletter-
http://www.subscribepage.com/jacqbiggar

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blitz for In the Shadow of the Apennines by Kimberly Sullivan with a GIVEAWAY

 In The Shadow of The Apennines

by Kimberly Sullivan
Publication date: October 21st 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Historical, Women’s Fiction

Synopsis:

An American divorcée. An Italian shepherdess.
Separated by a century, united by common dreams.

The sleepy little Abruzzo mountain town of Marsicano seems about as far as Samantha can flee from her failed marriage and disastrous university career. Eager for a fresh start, Samantha begins to set down roots in her Italian mountain hideaway.

At first, the mountain retreat appears idyllic, but an outsider’s clumsy attempts at breaking into the closed mountain community are quickly thwarted when the residents discover Samantha’s snarky blog ridiculing the town and its inhabitants.

Increasingly isolated in her mountain cottage, Samantha discovers the letters and diaries of Elena, a past tenant and a survivor of the 1915 Pescina earthquake. Despite the century that separates the two women, Samantha feels increasingly drawn into Elena’s life, and discovers startling parallels with her own.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61629187-in-the-shadow-of-the-apennines

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3yLyrS7

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-shadow-of-the-apennines-kimberly-sullivan/1141833536?ean=2940185575116

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/in-the-shadow-of-the-apennines

AUTHOR BIO:

Kimberly grew up in the suburbs of Boston and in Saratoga Springs, New York, although she now calls the Harlem neighborhood of New York City home when she’s back in the US. She studied political science and history at Cornell University and earned her MBA, with a concentration in strategy and marketing, from Bocconi University in Milan.

Afflicted with a severe case of Wanderlust, she worked in journalism and government in the US, Czech Republic and Austria, before settling down in Rome, where she works in international development, and writes fiction any chance she gets.

She is a member of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) and The Historical Novel Society and has published several short stories and three novels: Three Coins, Dark Blue Waves and In The Shadow of The Apennines.

After years spent living in Italy with her Italian husband and sons, she’s fluent in speaking with her hands, and she loves setting her stories in her beautiful, adoptive country.

Author links:

https://twitter.com/Kimberlyinrome

https://kimberlysullivanauthor.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kimberlyinrome/

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kimberly-sullivan

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21814220.Kimberly_Sullivan

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Audiobook Review for In for a Penny by Melissa Foster

 In for a Penny 

The Whiskeys: Dark Knights at Peaceful Harbor, Book 8  

 By: Melissa Foster

Narrated by: Ava Erickson, Tor Thom

Series: The Whiskeys: Dark Knights at Peaceful Harbor, Book 8

Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 03-12-21

Language: English

Publisher: Melissa Foster

 

Publisher's Summary

Friendships and family abound during a week of love, laughter, and happily-ever-afters.

Catch up with your favorite characters and enjoy Bones and Sarah’s wedding, while falling in love with the newest Whiskey-world couple: Penny Wilson and Scott Beckley, in this Whiskey series novella. 

When everything you want is right in front of you, but it's still out of reach....

Penny Wilson has a successful business, more friends than a girl could ask for, and a boyfriend she’s madly and passionately in love with. Scott Beckley is honest, loyal, hands down the best lover on the planet, and absolutely gaga over his nieces and nephews. Scott’s a keeper...as long as Penny doesn’t ever want to hear those three magical words that would take their relationship to the next level. Scott escaped abusive parents at 17, and was forced to find his way alone in the world. Even though it’s been more than a decade and he’s reunited with his estranged sisters and built a good life in Peaceful Harbor, Maryland, he’s still tortured by his past. Penny knows he loves her with everything he has, but for a girl who wants a family and a guy who is afraid of having one, love might not be enough.

The Whiskeys are perfect stories to enjoy at the beach, with depth of character, strong family ties, and a wealth of emotions. Small-town love stories with happily-ever-afters guaranteed. 

©2021 Melissa Foster (P)2021 Melissa Foster

Audiobook Review:  AMAZING!   Melissa Foster chooses just the right narrators for Penny and Scott’s story.  Ava Erickson has the perfect voice and tone for Penny’s part of the story.   She has the voice that I can hear Penny’s love for Scott while also hearing her angst at the feelings she has.  Tor Thom is rough and tough as Scott.  He shares the difficult past that Scott has while showing his softer sexy side he has when Penny is around.  

 

eBook Review:  Have you ever read a book and wondered about the characters that were not the main one? In for a Penny is the story of Penny Wilson and Scott Beckley, who have been secondary characters in many of Melissa Foster’s book. They are two of the many characters that add so much to the books they are in but have not been featured in their own book. Today that ends! Penny and Scott have gotten their own novella and I devoured it.

In for a Penny is a novella but it tells a complete story. The story of Penny and Scott enjoying their relationship, opening their hearts, and learn to let each other in. Scott’s history is holding him back from letting Penny entirely into his life. Penny knows that he is holding back and is not willing to settle for anything less then everything. Theirs is an emotional story filled with fun, flirting, steamy encounters, trust, and tears.


The bonus, we get to witness Bones and Sarah’s wedding. The cute little ones dressed up, the love in their eyes, and the joining of two beautiful loving people.

*I received this book from Audible in exchange for my honest review.

 

Buy Links:

Audible:    KINDLE:    APPLE BOOKS:     NOOK:   KOBO:    GPLAY:    PAPERBACK:  

 

Book Review for The Color of Ice by Barbara Linn Probst

 The Color of Ice by Barbara Linn Probst 

Genre:  Women’s Fiction

Paperback

Publication: October 18th 2022 by She Writes Press

 

Taken from Goodreads:  A story of love and redemption set among the glaciers and thermal lagoons of Iceland, and framed by the evocative art of glassblowing . . .

Cathryn McAllister, a freelance photographer, travels to Iceland for a photo shoot with an enigmatic artist who wants to capture the country's iconic blue icebergs in glass. Her plan is to head out, when the job is done, on a carefully curated "best of Iceland" solo vacation. Widowed young, Cathryn has raised two children while achieving professional success. If the price of that efficiency has been the dimming of her fire--well, she hasn't let herself think about it. Until now.

Bit by bit, Cathryn abandons her itinerary to remain with Mack, the glassblower, who awakens a hunger for all the things she's told herself she doesn't need anymore. Passion. Vulnerability. Risk. Cathryn finds herself torn between the life--and self--she's come to know and the new world Mack offers. Commitments await her back in America. But if she walks away, she'll lose this chance to feel deeply again. Just when her path seems clear, she's faced with a shocking discovery--and a devastating choice that shows her what love really is.

 

My Thoughts:  I felt like I was on a vacation to Iceland.  Barbara Linn Probst wrote a book that took me on the trip of a lifetime.  Cathryn decides on this vacation as part of a work assignment.  Little did she know that her entire life would change.  Her perspective on her life in the USA change, her view of her children’s lives and what they needed from her change, and what she wants in life changes.   While this was a vacation, it was really a life changing event.

 

Mack was a unique character.  He was an artist or actually an artisan (read the book to find out the difference).   He was closed off, living a singular life.  I felt like he was just going through the motions.  The only time he was truly living was when he was blowing glass.  Then he met Cathryn and his heart started to open.  I enjoyed them together; Cathryn was patient and questioned him but did not always push him to give more than he could.  Somehow, without knowing the reasons, she understood that he was not available to give all of himself and was able to accept that.   With that acceptance, she learned more about what she wanted in life. 

 

This is my first book by Barbara Linn Probst, I will now be reading more of her books.  The ride she took me on, the wonderful descriptions of Ireland, and the small twist at the end made this a perfect read. 

**Thank you GetRedPR for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Meet Barbara Linn Probst (taken from Goodreads):  Barbara Linn Probst is an award-winning author of contemporary women’s fiction living on an historic dirt road in New York’s Hudson Valley. Her acclaimed novels QUEEN OF THE OWLS (2020) and TTHE SOUND BETWEEN THE NOTES (2021) were medalists for prestigious national awards, and THE SOUND BETWEEN THE NOTES was selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Indie Books of 2021. Barbara has also published over fifty essays on the craft of writing for sites such as Jane Friedman and Writer Unboxed, along with two nonfiction books. Her third novel THE COLOR OF ICE will be released in October 2022.

FUN FACT:
Barbara's first book was framed around the art and life of iconic American painter Georgia O'Keeffe, and her second book was framed around music and the piano. THE COLOR OF ICE, set among Iceland's thermal lagoons and blue icebergs, is framed around the magical art of glassblowing.