Taking A Break For The Holidays, Then It’s Back To “Bridgerton” To Kick Off 2024!

 I finished my last book of the year this afternoon. “The Christmas Dress” by Courtney Cole was awesome!  Most of the characters were lovable, while others I had to learn to like; and one in particular that I found utterly loathsome!  I really enjoyed the unfolding romance of Meg and Logan, the building’s handyman. Logan’s ex girlfriend, Talia, however, was a loathsome, lying, manipulative BITCH!  And Ellie, one of the residents of the building that Meg inherited from her father, seemed cold at first, but eventually mellowed and became friendly with Meg. All in all, I enjoyed the book, which has the makings of a great Hallmark movie!  I think I’ll take a break for the rest of 2023 and pick up where I left off with the “Bridgerton” clan next year!  I’ve already got most of my reading list—my “Journey Through A Book”— planned for 2024! So HAPPY HOLIDAYS & GOD BLESS!!!!!!!

2024 READING LIST 

1. Because Of Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
2. The Girl With The Make-Believe Husband by Julia Quinn 
3. The Other Miss Bridgerton by Julia Quinn
4. First Comes Scandal by Julia Quinn
5. Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn 
6. Richard Paul Evans 2024 holiday book

I Stand Corrected…There’s Time For Another Journey Or 2 Before Year’s End

 I thought I would have to alter my reading list for this year due to lack of time. However, I was wrong; I finished reading the 30th anniversary edition of Richard Paul Evans’ inaugural book, “The Christmas Box,” only moments ago. It’s still as amazing as I remember from the first time!  I even have time to read Evans’ book, “Michael Vey: The Traitor,” before my newly purchased book, “The Christmas Dress” by Courtney Cole, arrives!

With Tara still in the clutches of the Elite Elgen Guard Unit the Chasqui and their malevolent leader, the Sovereign Amash, Michael Vey and the Electroclan have no choice but to continue the fierce battle that has been waging since their arrival in Peru. But saving one of their own means battling a onetime teammate, as Jack has turned traitor and joined forces with Amash and his men.

At the same time, the clan must work with the Alpha Team to act before the Chasqui can put their plan to destroy the city of Arequipa into motion. And when Taylor makes a bold yet dangerous move to save her sister, the urgency climbs even higher.

With so many lives at stake, the Electroclan has no time to waste, and no room for error as they take on this latest growing threat.  

I’m really looking forward to continue reading the saga of Michael Vey and his friends, which I have followed from the beginning in Idaho to Peru to their latest escapades!  Once again, if I’m lucky enough, I can also read (and finish) “The Christmas Dress” before the year 2023 ends! 

An enchanted Christmas dress brings two generations of women together for the magic of the season in this delightful holiday story from New York Timesbestselling author Courtney Cole. 

One Dress. Two Women. The Magic of the Holiday Season.

When hopeful fashionista Meg Julliard must return to her hometown of Chicago to manage her late father’s apartment building, she thinks her dreams of making it in the fashion business are over. Add in her father’s eclectic roster of tenants who all need Meg’s attention (ASAP!), a host of building related disasters, and a handsome handyman she keeps embarrassing herself in front of, and this has all the makings for the worst Christmas she’s ever had. 

Ellie Wade, one of the building’s longtime residents, is also not feeling the Christmas Joy this year. She is preparing to move into a nursing home (reluctantly), and is in the process of sorting through her belongings to downsize. Every corner of her apartment holds memories, some good, some bad. But there’s one dress she hesitates to pack up as it represents both the best and worst night of her life.

Ellie and Meg strike up an unlikely friendship and the story of Ellie’s dress comes out. Ellie gifts the gorgeous dress to Meg, hoping that it will bring her more luck, on the condition that she wear it to the building’s Christmas party. 

The dress magically fits, and while it eventually leads to the best night of Meg’s life, it also acts as inspiration for Meg to follow a life-long dream of her own, a dream that will help save the crumbling Parkview West, and restore it to its former glory, and keep it as a safe home for all of the current tenants. 

The dress and the magic of the holiday season helps both Meg and Ellie find their own happy endings. 

Once again, I’m going to be busy trying to finish both parts of the last legs of this “journey” before the end of 2023! 

Tying Up 2023 With “Shoes” and a “Box”

 I finished reading The Christmas Shoes by Donna VanLiere yesterday evening.  Yes, I cried!  Robert, like Ebenezer Scrooge, ended up being redeemed. Mercifully, all it took was a little boy with a pair of shoes and not a fleet of ghosts!  Looking forward to reading the rest of the series!  

Christmas Hope Series Order

• The Christmas Shoes Book. 
• The Christmas Blessing Book.
• The Christmas Hope Book.
• The Christmas Promise Book.
• The Christmas Secret Book.
• The Christmas Note Book.
• The Christmas Light Book.
• The Christmas Town Book.

I’m also looking forward to rereading Richard Paul Evans’ inaugural novel, The Christmas Box.   Or maybe I should say reading it again for the first time! (Evans rereleased the book in honor of its 30th anniversary!)  “It may be that I am growing old in this world and have used up more than my share of allotted words and eager audiences.” So begins one of the greatest novels I’ve ever read in my lifetime!

 Maybe I’ll discover something new to appreciate about it!  I guess I won’t know until the end of my “Journey!”

“Lucky” For Me, Christmas Came Early This Year!

 I just finished reading “The Lucky One” by Nicholas Sparks this afternoon.  It was good, but the ending was predictable (Spoiler: somebody dies! It’s a Nicholas Sparks book; I was expecting it!). I’m glad the decedent wasn’t the person I was predicting it would be, but won’t share the name here. I don’t want to spoil the story.  I will say that the decedent was the villain of the story!  Justice is served!  At present, I’m preparing to embark on another “Journey Through A Book” with “The Christmas Shoes” by Donna VanLiere.  The book was inspired by the song of the same name; the song was performed by the group NewSong, and recorded and released about 20-25 years ago!  The song inspired the book, and there was a movie based on the book; there were also several sequels!  I can’t wait to get my hands on those as well! Once a bookworm, always a bookworm!  “The Christmas Shoes” tells the story of Robert, a successful attorney who has everything in life—and nothing at all. Focused on professional achievements in and material rewards, Robert is on the brink of losing his marriage. He has lost sight of his wife, Kate, their two daughters, and ultimately, himself.  Eight-year-old Nathan has a beloved mother, Maggie, whom he is losing to cancer. But Nathan and his family are building a simple yet full life and struggling to hold onto every moment they have  together. A chance meeting on Christmas Eve brings Robert and Nathan together— he is shopping for a family he hardly knows, and Nathan is shopping for a mother he is soon to lose.  In this one encounter, their lives are forever altered as Robert learns an important lesson: Sometimes the smallest things can make all the difference. “The Christmas Shoes,” a tale of our shared humanity, is a universal story of the deeper meaning of serendipity and of how a power greater than ourselves can shape, and even save, our lives.  I’ve seen the movie, and I also love the song! If I’m lucky enough to finish reading this novel in a timely fashion, I’ll probably have time to take a “journey” through the 20th anniversary of my favorite author’s (Richard Paul Evans) inaugural book, “The Christmas Box”. I read it when it first was released, but I would not mind reading again “for the first time.”  "Whatever the reason, I find that with each passing Christmas the story of the Christmas box is told less and needed more. So I record it now for all future generations to accept or dismiss, as seems them good. As for me, I believe. And it is, after all, my story." So begins "The Christmas Box", the touching story of a widow and the young family who moves in with her. Together they discover the first gift of Christmas and learn what Christmas is really all about. "The Christmas Box" is a Christmas story unlike any other.  It looks like I have more than one ”journey”ahead of me before the end of 2023, so I guess I better get started!  

“Two Can Keep A Secret” About “The Lucky One”….Continuing The Countdown!

9/25/2023 might not mean something to everyone, but it marks the day I finished reading another book!  Yes, I finished “Two Can Keep A Secret” by Karen M. McManus just moments ago!  Nothing really to write home about.  It’s something I might have enjoyed as a teenager, but as a woman in my 40s, I found it “meh!”  I’m not sure how else to summarize my opinion, so I’ll just move onto the next book on my “journey”—“The Lucky One” by Nicholas Sparks.  When U.S. Marine Logan Thibault find a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the dirt during his third tour of duty in Iraq, his first instinct is to toss it aside. Instead, he brings it back to the base for someone to claim, but when no one does, he finds himself always carrying the photo in his pocket.  Soon, Thibault experiences a sudden streak of luck, winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat that kills two of his closest buddies. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune:the photograph—his lucky charm. Back home in Colorado, Thibault can’t seem to get the photo—and the woman in it—out of his mind. Believing that she somehow hold the key to a Disney, he says out on a journey across the country to find her, never expecting the strong, but vulnerable woman that he encounters in Hampton, North Carolina— Elizabeth, a divorced mother with a young son— to be the girl he’s been waiting his whole life to meet. Caught off guard by the attraction he feels, Thibault keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate and all-consuming love affair, the secret he is keeping will soon threaten to tear them apart—destroying not only their love, but their lives. As has become the pattern I’ve noticed with all of Sparks’ books, I expect it to end in tragedy.  I’m not sure of what kind, but I guess I have to take this “Journey Through A Book” to find out!

“Three Lives” Mean “Two Can Keep A Secret.” The Countdown Continues!

 I finished reading “The Three Lives Of Alix St. Pierre” by Natasha Lester last month, (the Monday before Independence Day) but have been too busy to blog about it until now.  I honestly enjoyed it, especially the descriptions of the fashions of the World War 2 era.  There were even references to Christian Dior, a fashion icon whose work is still recognized today. Romance, espionage, war…Lester’s book had it all!  Definitely a must-read!  Now, to take a “journey” through “Two Can Keep a Secret” by Karen M. McManus. 

Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery's never been there, but she's heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone has declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.  

After a brief summer vacation from my literary lifestyle, I’m ready to embark on another “Journey Through A Book!”

Ahead of Schedule in the Countdown: 5 Lessons, 4 Doors, 3 Lives!!

I just finished Richard Paul Evans' book, The Four Doors: A Guide to Joy, Freedom, and a Meaningful Life.  

1. Believe there's a reason you were born.

2. Free yourself from limitation.

3. Magnify your life.

4. Develop a love-centered map.  

 I'm going to try to improve my life in any way that I can using these principles, even if I have to go back and re-read this book in the future.  Quoting Evans himself, "The Four Doors is about how to live life joyfully, with freedom, power, and purpose...If you are willing to follow just a few of these principles, you will find immediate, positive changes in your life." 

My next "journey" will hopefully be a bit more lighthearted, especially since It's a work of fiction.  Historical fiction, to be more precise.  Continuing my theme of "counting down," the next leg of my "journey" will take me through The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre by Natasha Lester. 

From danger-filled back rooms in war-torn Europe to the glittering halls of a Paris fashion house, one woman searches for truth...and justice.  Alix St. Pierre.  An unforgettable name for an unforgettable woman.  She grew up surrounded by Hollywood glamour, but, as an orphan, never truly felt part of that world.  In 1943, with World War II raging and men headed overseas to fight, she lands a publicity job to recruit women into the workforce.  Her skills--persuasion, daring, quick wit under pressure--catch the attention of the U.S. government and she finds herself with an even bigger assignment: being sent to Switzerland as a spy.  Soon Alix is on the precipice of something big, very big.  But how far can she trust her German informant?  

After an Allied victory that didn't come nearly soon enough, Alix moves to Paris, ready to immerse herself in a new position as director of publicity for the yet-to-be launched House of Dior.  In the glamorous halls of the French fashion house, she can nearly forget everything she lost and the dangerous secret she carries. But when a figure from the war reappears and threatens to destroy her future, Alix realizes that only she can right the wrongs of the past...and finally find justice.

I know I should never judge a book by its cover, but I confess to find this book intriguing based solely on said cover.  Maybe between the cover and the summary, I can assume that I will enjoy this "Journey Through A Book!"  

5 Lessons Lead to 4 Doors!

 I finished reading "The 5 Lessons A Millionaire Taught Me About Life & Wealth for Women" by Richard Paul Evans yesterday.  It was incredibly informative; I just need to apply what I read to my daily life.  I highly recommend this book to any woman experiencing financial issues.  My next read, "The Four Doors: A Guide to Joy, Freedom, and a Meaningful Life" (also written by Richard Paul Evans), appears to be another self-help book.  

Discover joy and meaning in your life with this inspirational wisdom from #1 New York Times bestselling author Richard Paul Evans.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Walk and The Christmas Box, Richard Paul Evans has met hundreds of thousands of people and heard many of their stories in his travels over the past two decades. Most of the people he meets are hungry for inspiration; they love his novels because his characters are also searching for meaning and understanding.

The Four Doors is Evans’s message to those who seek inspiration in their lives. It began as a talk he gave on the spur of the moment, and over the course of ten years, it has evolved into a message he has shared with successful business people, students, and even addicts and prisoners. It includes stories his readers have told him, stories about great achievers who overcame hardships, and stories about his own struggle growing up in a large family with financial difficulties and a suicidal mother, and about his diagnosis of Tourette’s Syndrome later in life. These inspiring stories are woven through his identification and careful explanation of the four doors to a more fulfilling life:
-Believe there’s a reason you were born
-Free yourself from limitations
-Magnify your life
-Develop a love-centered map

Evans believes that we all want to know the meaning of our lives. In The Four Doors, he shows how even the most quiet life can be full of purpose and joy, if we choose to take that first step over the threshold.

As this is a self-help book, I don't expect to have anything negative to say as I embark on another "Journey Through A Book!"

"Candy Licker" Not So Sweet. Time to Count Down the Rest of the Year....54321!

I can't decide whether I have outgrown urban erotica or if Noire's "Candy Licker" was just badly written.  Whatever the case may be, I'm glad to be done with the book.  Candy sold her body and soul for a chance at fame, but of course fame came with a price!  And Candy sure paid it!  With both her body and the lives of some of her family and friends.  By the end of the book, Candy had lost her mother, her sister, and at least one friend.  Murder!  At least, in the area of love, she ended up happy in the end...Nothing more really needs to be said about this book, so I'm moving on.  Time to start the countdown to 2024...54321! My second book of 2023 will be "The 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me for Women" by Richard Paul Evans.  I read the original book "The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me About Life & Wealth" at the beginning of 2019.  I found that I already knew some of the info provided in the book; I just needed to apply it to my daily life and financial practices.  (Still working on that!  LOL!)  I'm eager to see how different the information will be for a woman as opposed to a general reader....

Easy to understand and simple to apply, The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me for Women is one of the most powerful books ever written about money and essential reading for any woman today.

When Richard Paul Evans was twelve years old, his father fell and broke both of his legs. With no income and no insurance, the Evans family was destitute. At this time a multimillionaire taught young Evans the five secrets to wealth. Evans used those five secrets not only to change his life but that of thousands of others when he wrote The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth. An international bestseller, this essential book interweaves those influential lessons with personal stories from everyday people. Evans explains that money should not be the preoccupation of our lives, but instead our focus should be on the principles that free us to concentrate on God, family, and relationships—life's true riches.

Now Evans has taken years of personal research and coaching to create the perfect money book for women who want a better life. With his classic, motivational voice, Evans offers lessons that are easy to understand and simple to follow. Powerful, proven, and life changing, The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me for Women may be one of the most important books you will ever read.

As this is not a work of fiction, I doubt I will have anything negative to say after reading it, I'm wondering just how the info, specifically targeting women, will differ from the original.... I guess it's time for me to take another "Journey Through a Book!"

Getting 2023 Off To A Sweet Start With “Candy Licker”!

 To me, the hardest part of being a reader is finishing one book and deciding which one to read next!  So I went through my TBR pile and figured out a system.  I’m starting off 2023 with Candy Licker, an urban erotic tale authored by Noire. 

She wanted to be a hip-hop star but the streets got in the way.  Have you ever laid down with a man and wasn’t sure if you’d ever get back up? Tossed the sheets with a bone-knocking fear that only a hard-core hustler could produce? Sexed him like your life depended on it, because in reality it did? You still with me? Then let’s roll over to my house. Harlem. 145th Street. Grab a seat and brace yourself as I show you the kind of pain that street life and so-called success can bring. . . .

Nineteen-year-old Candy Raye Montana, an ex-drug runner for the Gabriano crime family and a former foster child, dreams of becoming a hip-hop superstar, if only someone will discover her talents.  

Someone does. Mega music producer and king thug of Harlem, Junius “Hurricane” Jackson, CEO of the House of Homicide recording studio, cuts a deal and puts Candy on the stage. Suddenly she is a hot new artist on the notorious Homicide Hitz record label. Her career takes off and she blazes the charts, but it’s not long before Candy realizes that the man she thought was her knight is nothing more than a cold-blooded nightmare.  

Caught between the music and the madness, between the dollars and the deals, Candy belongs to Hurricane—body and soul—and must endure his sadistic bedroom desires while keeping his sexual secrets hidden from the world. But Candy has some strong desires of her own that simply cannot be denied, especially when she finds herself turned on by a brilliant investment baller who just happens to be Hurricane’s right-hand man. Candy longs for her freedom, but if Hurricane gets wind of her betrayal the blowback will be lethal—and not only will she risk losing her recording contract, she just might lose her life.  

Whew!  I might need a fan and a towel to help me along this “Journey Through A Book!”