New Projects

 I finished working on a new throw blanket. It is a beautiful Rubbed Sage color and it will be so warm. My timing is good as there is snow on the ground as I write this.

I was working on a different blanket but the yarn was so plushy, it messed up the tension of the whole thing and caused the yarn to snap twice. I was so frustrated that I scrapped the whole project. Yes, there may have been some screaming involved. My mom and siblings gave me a wide berth and mega side eye. They said that it felt like I was mad at them, not the yarn. 

For the sake of my mental health, I switched to the sage yarn. I didn't give up on the other yarn. I just needed some time away from it so I could figure out how I should work with it. I think I might have figured it out. Time will tell, though.

Anyway, I over did it in the beginning by knitting like my life depended on it. I was trying to make up for all the time I felt that I had wasted. Now my body is sore. My mom said I probably need to do a workout to warm-up my body before I start knitting.

Oh, before I forget, a picture of the blanket is below.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

Open Letter to the Ladybug in my Room

 Dear Ladybug,

Last week, you kinda creeped me out. Why were you flying so aggressively and slamming your tiny body into my light? Why were you buzzing so loudly that I almost mistook you for a bumblebee?

I was wondering if you were hopped up on some kind of ladybug juice. You know, the kind that leaves you a bit loopy. I was mildly hurt that you wouldn't crawl onto my hand but I got over it after seeing how out of it you seemed. I haven't seen you since then and I hope you are better.

Your inadvertent roommate who was there first,

Yafania

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

Second Hand Embarrassment

 Have you ever had a moment when reading a book when you have to walk away? Not because you were busy or had someone call you away. The character(s) just made you so embarrassed that you had to walk away. I am experiencing as I write this post.

I really want to finish this book but our female lead is such a wild card, I'm a little scared. She might be more than I am used to handling. I know her plans are going to fail but watching her try so hard is kinda pitiful in a way. It's embarrassing because she doesn't see until later that plans A,B,C,D,E,F,G and H  were all for naught.

Please if there is any one out there reading these posts, if someone you know is that bad, just stop them. If you can't do that because they won't listen, quietly film it to remind them later to behave better. They're going to act like it never happened. So video evidence is need.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

When You're Hooked

 On a Saturday night whim, I started a novel. It was book one out of nine and I had low expectations. It is currently Wednesday evening and I am about to start book eight.

To be honest, its name is a bit corny. The synopsis was a bit interesting but the name threw me off for a long while. If I wasn't bored at the time, I probably wouldn't have even bothered picking it up. So thankful I did.

I guess, what I am trying to say is this: Not only should you not judge your books by the cover, you also shouldn't judge them just by their name and synopsis. They might actually be incredible but just have a really hard time telling you how.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

The Colors and Scents of Fall

 I looked outside today and saw that Fall is well and truly here. Yes, the weather has been cold enough for me to have to throw layers on. Yes, the trees in my neighborhood have mostly turned. What I mean is there are leaves on the ground.

One of my favorite childhood memories is that of jumping into a pile of leaves. That is what would get me excited when I would see the trees changing colors. Of course, I don't do that now. My knees won't like afterwards and I really need them to like me.

I also always enjoyed how crisp the air would get as Fall slides into Winter. And the scents! The faintest hint of wood smoke. The spicy scent of basil going to seed. Cinnamon Apple candles and air spray perfuming the air. The sweet and savory scents of baked goods.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

Fake it til it's real

 I do enjoy a good romance story. One of my favorite tropes is that of the "fake relationship". There is.something about watching two people fall in love with each other as they pretend to be lovers in front of others. Below are a few of my favorites. All blurbs from Goodreads.

Fauxmance - Cookie O'Gorman

Fauxmance (foh-mans): Term for a romantic relationship that is fake. Real feelings, like love, are strictly prohibited. See also: Why would anyone enter a fake relationship?

Eighteen-year-old Magnolia believes in true love.

Or she did.

When her boyfriend dumps her the day before her sister's wedding, Maggie is devastated—but her broken heart is only part of the problem. Maggie is the maid of honor, and her sister insists: Every member of the bridal party must have an escort. No exceptions.

Thank goodness for Hayden Davenport.

Sarcastic, cocky, a surprisingly good listener and self-professed player, when Maggie gets stuck in an elevator with the handsome stranger, she thinks she's found the perfect wedding date. Unfortunately, Hayden hates weddings. Like really hates them.

But one soul-shattering kiss changes everything.

Maggie needs a fake boyfriend. Hayden wants to prove he's changed his playboy ways. Faking it should be easy. The hard part?

Remembering it's all pretend and not falling in love for real.

This book features two opposites with sizzling chemistry, a sweet, hopeless romantic and a cynical bad boy who'll steal your heart. Elevators, fake romance, and weddings, oh my! Get ready to swoon, laugh, and say 'I do' to this heartfelt YA romance.

Quirky-Cute Heroine + Charming Hero with major bad boy vibes = A fun novel you will find a favorite. Their chemistry sizzles on the pages of this teen romance.

Honestly, I'm Totally Faking It - Amanda Gambill

Rach is a down-on-her-luck, happy-go-lucky kind of lady … Sure, she may be an assistant to personal assistants, crashing on her ex-boyfriend’s couch, and have a whole secret past, but mostly, things are great.

Until she:

1. Meets Pres — an aspiring politician, certified Capricorn, and a definitely “unlikable” dude (he knows, he had a poll done on it) —and

2. Accidentally goes viral at the same time. (The internet is calling it “Boobgate.”)

His PR person says they should capitalize on the fame. Pres only wants to win an election. And Rach, well, she really just wants to keep her job.

Now she must decide if she can be herself and get the guy, too, or if faking it until you make it is all it’s cracked up to be…

Boobgate will now enter my vocabulary. Fudge Nuggets is already there. Prepare yourself for a workout. Your stomach muscles will be sore after reading this one. This is a novel for mature readers.

 #Awestruck - Sariah Wilson

A sweet all-American story of love and revenge.

Ambitious intern Ashton Bailey is about to get closer to her dream of being a sports announcer. All she has to do is prove that too-perfect-to-be-true NFL quarterback Evan Dawson isn’t quite as wholesome as his contract requires. It’s also the perfect opportunity to get delicious payback on the boy who broke her teenage heart. At least that’s her plan. But she forgot just how easy it is to crush on the irresistible charmer. #OhNoNotAgain.

Evan has a knack for getting through the opposing team’s defenses, and he won’t let this tall, redheaded knockout be the exception. He’s determined to make things right between them and earn back Ashton’s trust—and maybe her heart, too.

Then the press mistakenly announces their engagement, and Ashton and Evan find themselves going along with the lie. Now the whole world is watching as Ashton flirts with attraction and disaster. But while revenge is sweet, it just might come at the cost of something sweeter still.

I binged read the series this book belongs to a few years ago. It is still a favorite of mine. A sweet, clean read. Definitely time enjoyed.

Accidentally Married - Victorine E Lieske

Madison Nichols, aspiring actress, is floundering. Her rent is due and she needs a job. Desperately. After getting a tip about an open position, she rushes to Jameson Technologies and meets CEO Jared Jameson. Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding, she is put in the awkward position of pretending to be his girlfriend. Not the job she was applying for. And when she finds out Jared lied to her to get what he wanted, she decides to get back at him. In front of his family.

Jared is stunned when Madison announces they are getting married. She pushed her revenge too far. How can he tell them it’s all a lie? And when his sick aunt asks them to be married before she dies, Madison comes up with a hair-brained plan to hire an actor and stage a fake wedding.

What they both don’t know is Jared’s father has found out about the fake wedding. And he’s got his own hair-brained plan.

This is a sweet romance, appropriate for any age.

Oh, this one was a family favorite. I read this one aloud to my mom when she was doing my sisters hair and we were just cracking up. A funny clean read.

Acting Married - Victorine E Lieske

Tara McDermott needed a job, so she took the only thing available--cleaning house for the swoon-worthy actor, and Hollywood Bad Boy, Rick Shade. When he comes up with a crazy plan to tame his wild reputation by marrying her, she reluctantly agrees so she can pay off her debts and move her daughter back to the Midwest where life is simpler. If only he wouldn't make her heart pound every time he kisses her. 
Rick's reputation is in the toilet and it's affecting his job. In order to get a good role, he needs to show Hollywood he's now a family man. After enticing Tara with a large sum of money to go through with the farce, he sets out to show the public he's in love. But Tara's soft lips keep calling to him and soon he doesn't know what's pretend and what's real.

Part of the same series as the one above. This one is more angst-filled. Still a clean read. Just, meatier.

The Cinderella Deal - Jennifer Cruise

New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Crusie brings humor and storytelling magic to this modern-day romance of a match made anywhere but in heaven—but destined for a fairy-tale ending.


Daisy Flattery is a free spirit with a soft spot for strays and a weakness for a good story. Why else would she agree to the outrageous charade offered by her buttoned-down workaholic neighbor, Linc Blaise? The history professor needs to have a fiancée in order to capture his dream job, and Daisy is game to play the role. But something funny happens on their way to the altar that changes everything. Now, with the midnight hour approaching, will Daisy lose her prince, or will opposites not only attract but live happily ever after?

Quirky Queen + Uptight Professor = Beautiful Mad Match. They work cause no one thinks they work. Hilarious perfection.

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.

Christian Time-Travel Romance

Do you want a clean, faith-based time-travel romance to dig into but don't know where to look? I have a list of series(and or novels)for you. So without much ado, here it is. All blurbs from Goodreads will be for book one of the series unless otherwise mentioned.

Jody Hedlund's Waters of Time series

Come Back to Me

The ultimate cure that could heal any disease? Crazy.

That's exactly what research scientist Marian Creighton has always believed about her father's quest, even if it does stem from a desire to save her sister Ellen from the genetic disease that stole their mother from them. But when her father falls into a coma after drinking a vial of holy water believed to contain traces of residue from the Tree of Life, Marian must question all of her assumptions. He's left behind tantalizing clues that suggest he's crossed back in time. Insane. Until Marian tests his theories and finds herself in the Middle Ages during a dangerous peasant uprising.

William Durham, a valiant knight comes to Marian's rescue and offers her protection . . . as his wife. The longer Marian stays in the past, the more she cares about William. Can she ever find her father and make it back to the present to heal her sister? And when the time comes to leave, will she want to?

Bestselling author Jody Hedlund is your guide down the twisting waters of time to a volatile era of superstition, revolts, and chivalry in this suspenseful story.

Let's travel to 1300s England! There are four books in this series. I loved each one. I have re-read this series a few times. 

Tamara Leigh's Beyond Time Duology

Dreamspell

A TIME TO LIVE. A TIME TO DIE. A TIME TO DREAM.
Sleep disorders specialist Kennedy Plain has been diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor. When her research subject dies after trying to convince her he has achieved dream-induced time travel and her study is shelved, she enlists herself as a subject to complete her research. But when she dreams herself into 14th-century England and falls into the hands of Fulke Wynland, a man history has condemned as a murderer, she must not only stay alive long enough to find a way to return to her own time, but prevent Fulke from murdering his young nephews. And yet, the more time she spends with the medieval warrior, the more difficult it is to believe he is capable of committing the heinous crime for which he has been reviled for 600 years.

Baron Fulke Wynland has been granted guardianship of his brother’s heirs despite suspicions that he seeks to steal their inheritance. When the king sends a mysterious woman to care for the boys, Fulke is surprised by the lady's hostility toward him--and more surprised to learn she is to be his wife. But when his nephews are abducted, the two must overcome their mutual dislike to discover the boys' fate. What Fulke never expects is to feel for this woman whose peculiar speech, behavior, and talk of dream travel could see her burned as a witch.

Angst-filled, that is the two words that popped into my head when I think of this series. It is good though. This is set in England during the War of the Roses.

Sara Blackard's Vestige in Time series

Vestige of Power

Joseph, a man of the wilderness…

…thrown into the wilds of the city.

Born and raised in the heart of the Rockies, Joseph can’t imagine a more exciting life. But when one wrong step lands him in the alleys of an unknown city, excitement takes a new turn. Will he get his bearings in time to help a stranger whose life’s about to be threatened?

Though Victoria grew up in high society, her father encouraged her to follow her dreams. Now she wants everyone to have the same freedom she’s had. Freedom to an education, no matter your gender or social rank. Little does she realize speaking at a rally will change her life completely.

Can Joseph and Victoria look past those grasping for power around them to their true destinies or will the shadows of doubt keep them from all God means for them?

Insta-love meets time-travel, at least in book one. I haven't read book 2 yet. Good book, though.

MaryLu Tyndall's Legacy of the King's Pirates book 5 - The Reckoning

When Morgan Shaw crept into the hold of an old pirate ship replica at San Diego’s Annual Tall Ship Festival, her only intention was to avoid the guy who had just dumped her and who was now boarding the ship with two women on his arm. What she didn’t expect was to wake up aboard a real pirate ship three-hundred years in the past. But of course, it wasn’t real. Her wealthy father had obviously staged it all in an effort to get her mind off her upcoming chemo. Or had he?

Pirate Rowan Dutton seeks enough treasure to repay a debt to his sister and reinstate the Dutton name among British Jamaican Society. He is but one major haul away from accomplishing his goal when a strange woman appears on his ship and causes him to lose his prey. Despite his anger, he is enthralled with the little minx, her strange clothing, odd speech, and her insistence that they are all actors playing a charade paid for by her father.

Yet when the brazen little lady divulges Rowan’s secret to a longtime nemesis, events are triggered that could cost them both their lives and change the course of history forever.

I can't tell how many times I've read this one book over and over. I adored it so much. As it is part of a series, there will be some characters who appear in other books. Despite that, it can be read as a standalone. 

Lisa T Bergren's Rivers of Time series

Waterfall

What do you do when your knight in shining armor lives, literally, in a different world?

Most American teenagers want a vacation in Italy, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives among the romantic hills with their archaelogist parents. Stuck among the rubble of the medieval castles in rural Tuscany, on yet another hot, dusty archaeological site, Gabi and Lia are bored out of their minds...until Gabi places her hand atop a handprint in an ancient tomb and finds herself in fourteenth-century Italy. And worse yet, in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces.

Suddenly Gabi's summer in Italy is much, much more interesting.

This series is set in early 1300s Italy. I am going to reread this series soon. LB2 is a fan of this series as well as me.

Lisa T Bergren's Rivers of Time California Duology

Three Wishes

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR. BECAUSE YOU JUST MIGHT GET IT.

Zara Ruiz is a normal California girl on the verge of graduating from high school and thinking about her dawning future. But when dusk brings a shattering loss—and she discovers a priceless object in the shallows of a tide pool—she is thrust a hundred-and-eighty years into the past. There she meets handsome ranchero Javier de la Ventura—who has big dreams and secret sorrows—along with his enchanting family, in a land that is at once familiar, and yet utterly foreign.

Between cattle rustlers, pirates and a growing call for statehood, it is not a peaceful time to be a Mexican settler in young Alta California. But Zara must decide if she's discovered what she longs for most in the past, or if her heart's THREE WISHES can only be found in the present.

Set in 1840 California. I have re-read book one way too many times. And I plan to do so again.😊 Book two is good. I just love book one more.

Lisa T Bergren's Oceans of Time series

Estuary

Can a family bond stand the test of time?

Lady Tiliani Forelli is the epitome of the She-Wolves who raised her, an adept archer with a mind of her own. It is long past time for her to wed, but she deems each young lord who comes to bid for her hand lacking. With battles upon their border, and rumors of war growing louder on every front, Lady Forelli’s decision could secure her kingdom’s peace...or bring about its destruction.

Centuries later, history major Luciana Bettarini takes a summer job alongside her twin, Domenico, as a period actor at Castello Forelli in Italy. As incoming college seniors, this might be their last chance to spend meaningful time together, so she’s soaking up every minute. But when Dom’s theory that their lost Bettarrini relatives have traveled through time becomes potentially real—and they might be able to follow—Luci fears they’ll be forever divided.

Want to go to 1372 Italy and visit some old characters? This is a incomplete sequel series of Rivers of Time. No, I did not start it. It isn't finished yet and I don't do well waiting for the next release of a series I decided to read. I need the next book to be right there at 4:57am so I can sleep knowing I can start it the moment I have time after waking. Is that healthy? No, maybe not. Am I comfortable this way? Yep.

Gabrielle Meyer's Timeless series

When the Day Comes

How will she choose, knowing all she must sacrifice?

Libby has been given a powerful gift: to live one life in 1774 Colonial Williamsburg and the other in 1914 Gilded Age New York City. When she falls asleep in one life, she wakes up in the other. While she's the same person at her core in both times, she's leading two vastly different lives.

In Colonial Williamsburg, Libby is a public printer for the House of Burgesses and the Royal Governor, trying to provide for her family and support the Patriot cause. The man she loves, Henry Montgomery, has his own secrets. As the revolution draws near, both their lives--and any hope of love--are put in jeopardy.

Libby's life in 1914 New York is filled with wealth, drawing room conversations, and bachelors. But the only work she cares about--women's suffrage--is discouraged, and her mother is intent on marrying her off to an English marquess. The growing talk of war in Europe only complicates matters.

But Libby knows she's not destined to live two lives forever. On her twenty-first birthday, she must choose one path and forfeit the other--but how can she choose when she has so much to lose in each life?

I haven't started this one yet either. It looks super cool though. 

As always, feel free to leave me a message below.