A Few of My Favorite Things Right Now

I'm reading:

Fiction: Martha's Patience by Sally Brinton
 

A sweet, historical romance novella.

Martha Gilbert's third London Season looks no more promising than the previous two. Despite her best efforts, she has yet to receive an offer of marriage from the one man who matters, her escort and friend, Mr. Brody.

George Brody returns to London every year, going to the same parties, balls, and seeing the same people. The one bright spot to fulfilling the role expected of him by society is squiring Martha around town.

This year, Martha is determined to wed, and George must to decide if he wishes to remain friends or become something more.





Audible: Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?

Nonfiction: Writing Deep Scenes: Plotting Your Story Through Action, Emotion, & Theme by Martha Alderson & Jordan Rosenfeld

Take a Deep Dive into Plot and Scene and Improve Your Writing

Whether you're planning your first novel or have already written a first draft, you need to master the concepts of plot and scene to truly realize your story's potential. Writing Deep Scenes teaches you how to write strong, layered, and engaging scenes--the secret to memorable, page-turning plots. It's filled with practical tools for building layers and nuance into your scenes, employing the right scene types at the right junctures, and developing a profound understanding of how plot and scene intertwine.

I'm watching:  Sweet Magnolias

Lifelong friends Maddie, Helen and Dana Sue lift each other up as they juggle relationships, family and careers in the small, Southern town of Serenity.

I'm writing/editing: Snowy Kisses

Passing out while trying to help a woman in a car accident wasn't what Mason McCormick had in mind. Asking her to be his plus one at his estranged family's Christmas party wasn't what he had in mind either. 
Will his family forgive him and let him in again?

Goldie Sanderson was only driving a little over the speed limit when she hit black ice and slid into a snowbank. Now, she's strapped with babysitting a baseball player with a concussion and a chip on his shoulder. Why would she say yes to going to Juniper Valley to his family's Christmas party? It's only for the weekend, right?
But as she gets to know Mason and his family, she finds she's falling in love with them. Or is she falling in love with the idea of having a family again?



FOOD: Brie Cheese & Almonds


I'm loving this new snack!





What about you? 
What are you reading? 
What are you watching? 
What are you working on?



This post has affiliated links

A Few of My Favorite Things Right Now

I'm reading:

Fiction: The Paper Daughters of Chinatown by Heather B. Moore
 

A powerful story based on true events surrounding Donaldina Cameron and other brave women who fought to help Chinese-American women escape discrimination and slavery in the late 19th century in California.
hen Donaldina Cameron arrives at the Occidental Mission Home for Girls in 1895, she intends to teach sewing skills to young Chinese women immigrants, but, within days, she discovers that the job is much more complicated than perfect stitches and even hems. San Francisco has a dark side, one where a powerful underground organization--the criminal tong--brings Chinese young women to America to sell them as slaves. With the help of Chinese interpreters and the Chinatown police squad, Donaldina becomes a tireless social reformer to stop the abominable slave and prostitution trade.





Audible: The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows

In the summer of 1938, Layla Beck’s father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal jobs program. Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West Virginia, and destined, in her opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. But once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty.




Nonfiction: Just Mercy: A Story of Mercy and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

There was also a movie made based on this book, Just Mercy, with Jamie Foxx!

Kindle: Her Three Suitors by Anneka Walker

Sophia has three suitors vying for her hand, but the scandal behind her birth could ruin her reputation and her chance at love.

Sophia never expected to grow out of her awkwardness and be nicknamed society’s darling Golden-locks during her first London Season. Now, three of the most eligible men of the ton are invited to her house party in hopes of securing a most advantageous match. Shortly before they arrive, Sophia stumbles upon her birth record and an alarming discrepancy. She is determined to discover the identity of her real mother at all costs. Can she choose someone to marry before her secret is out, and her reputation is ruined forever?



I'm watching:  Hallmark Spring Movies!



You're Bacon Me Crazy

Cleo, a spunky young chef with a popular food truck, becomes a favorite among the bustling and competitive local food scene. But when Gabe, the handsome chef of a rival food truck, parks across the street, Cleo's goal to win a local food truck competition takes a turn.

https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/spring-fling



I'm writing/editing: Snowy Kisses

Passing out while trying to help a woman in a car accident wasn't what Mason McCormick had in mind. Asking her to be his plus one at his estranged family's Christmas party wasn't what he had in mind either. 
Will his family forgive him and let him in again?

Goldie Sanderson was only driving a little over the speed limit when she hit black ice and slid into a snowbank. Now, she's strapped with babysitting a baseball player with a concussion and a chip on his shoulder. Why would she say yes to going to Juniper Valley to his family's Christmas party? It's only for the weekend, right?
But as she gets to know Mason and his family, she finds she's falling in love with them. Or is she falling in love with the idea of having a family again?



FOOD: That's It. Fruit Bar

I'm loving this new, all natural, fruit bar! There are usually two fruits in each one. I think they literally grind up the fruit and shape into a bar.





What about you? 
What are you reading? 
What are you watching? 
What are you working on?



This post has affiliated links

A Few of My Favorite Things Right Now

I'm reading:

Fiction: A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmmerer

Find the heir, win the crown.

The curse is finally broken, but Prince Rhen of Emberfall faces darker troubles still. Rumors circulate that he is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers.

Win the crown, save the kingdom.

Rumored to be the heir, Grey has been on the run since he destroyed Lilith. He has no desire to challenge Rhen--until Karis Luran once again threatens to take Emberfall by force. Her own daughter Lia Mara sees the flaws in her mother’s violent plan, but can she convince Grey to stand against Rhen, even for the good of Emberfall?


Audible: Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Anidora-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree spent the first years of her life listening to her aunt's incredible stories, and learning the language of the birds. Little knowing how valuable her aunt's strange knowledge would prove to be when she grew older. From the Grimm's fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become a queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original and magical tale of a girl who must understand her own incredible talents before she can overcome those who wish her harm.



Nonfiction: The Beginning of Better Days: Divine Instructions to Women From the Prophet Joseph Smith by Sheri dew and Virginia H. Pearce

The Beginning of Better Days includes Joseph Smith's six timeless sermons to the women of Nauvoo, along with personal essays from Sheri Dew and Virginia H. Pearce that help us better understand the sermons and their relevance for Latter-day Saint women today. "We have attempted to share a little about our own processes of discovery regarding the sermons," writes the authors. "This is what worked for us. What works for you may be similar—or it may be completely different. The important thing is to dig in."





Kindle: Keep Holding On by Melissa Tagg

Beckett Walker hasn’t stepped foot in Maple Valley in years. There’s no getting past the painful memories, and there’s every chance he’ll be arrested as soon as he shows his face. Which is exactly what happens when he finally returns. Suddenly his dream of adventure as a military lawyer comes skidding to a halt.

Horticulturist Kit Danby has spent too much time missing home and her childhood best friend—Beckett Walker. Now she might have a shot at reclaiming both. After years of living abroad, she returns to run her family’s apple orchard. She has one season to turn a profit and impress the father she barely knows. But she can’t do it alone.




I'm watching:  Hallmark Spring Movies!


You're Bacon Me Crazy

Cleo, a spunky young chef with a popular food truck, becomes a favorite among the bustling and competitive local food scene. But when Gabe, the handsome chef of a rival food truck, parks across the street, Cleo's goal to win a local food truck competition takes a turn.

https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/spring-fling



I'm writing/editing: Snowy Kisses

Passing out while trying to help a woman in a car accident wasn't what Mason McCormick had in mind. Asking her to be his plus one at his estranged family's Christmas party wasn't what he had in mind either. 
Will his family forgive him and let him in again?

Goldie Sanderson was only driving a little over the speed limit when she hit black ice and slid into a snowbank. Now, she's strapped with babysitting a baseball player with a concussion and a chip on his shoulder. Why would she say yes to going to Juniper Valley to his family's Christmas party? It's only for the weekend, right?
But as she gets to know Mason and his family, she finds she's falling in love with them. Or is she falling in love with the idea of having a family again?



FOOD: That's It. Fruit Bar

I'm loving this new, all natural, fruit bar! There are usually two fruits in each one. I think they literally grind up the fruit and shape into a bar.





What about you? 
What are you reading? 
What are you watching? 
What are you working on?



This post has affiliated links