June 2020 Book Notes & Writing Challenge Wrap-up

As of today, my website & blog are officially under construction. This is my final post before that begins. I'll be working through July and August. My goal is to host a virtual grand opening on September 2, 2020 and I have a surprise for all those who have signed up for my newsletter!

A New Giveaway For My US Newsletter Subscribers Only!

Newsletter subscribers in the United States (including US military stationed anywhere), please take note! Earlier subscribers who've been on my list for a while especially need to check this out. If you haven't been opening my newsletter to read it, now is a great time to start! Only active subscribers will be entered in this giveaway. Also take note, this giveaway is only available to subscribers in the United States and US military stationed wherever. I don't know yet what I'll be giving away or how many prizes there will be, but I have two months to put it all together. If you don't want your name in the drawing for the giveaway, please send me an email letting me know your name and the email you subscribed with to remove you from the giveaway. (This will not unsubscribe you from the newsletter. Only from the giveaway.) I'll have more info to share with you in the next couple of newsletters, as well as a more detailed Terms & Conditions form.

Now on to the book reviews!

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Book Reviews: Twin Brides for the McKean Brothers by Charity Phillips & Outlaw's Bride (The Western Sky Series, #1) by Lori Copeland

Twin Brides for the McKean Brothers by Charity Phillips
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cute story, but a bit too perfect where the plot is concerned.
What I didn't like: 1. So much fluff! A lot of concepts and thoughts were repeated several times. 2. Twins for twins? And without a single real struggle? 3. Cliches... 4. No antagonist. Where's the struggle? How have the characters grown?
What I appreciated: 1. It's a clean story. Squeaky clean. Any MG daughter who is a voracious reader could read this and possibly enjoy it. 2. The characters seemed interesting, but could've been more so if the fluff had been exchanged for some backstory or real struggle to make them more relatable.
If this is an example of the author's writing, then I probably won't read more. It wasn't bad, just seemed like it was unfinished and hurried.

View all my reviews

Outlaw's Bride by Lori Copeland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Outlaw's Bride was an enjoyable book in many ways. I loved the characters, and thought their stories were really interesting. What happened to them during the story kept me turning pages. How they came to be in their respective circumstances was also tackled in a way I hadn't read before. The interaction between the hero/heroine and villain was well done. I felt like there was definite closure. This book gave me the feeling that while it ended on a positive note, there was still enough reality in the tale to know that HEA is in the mind of the beholder and life, though full of struggles, can be much improved when we have someone by our side to love, help, support, and encourage us.
I almost gave it four stars but since I would definitely read it again if possible, I upped by rating. This book would be enjoyable, I think, for any reader who likes historical romance, western romance, inspirational romance, and/or clean reads.

View all my reviews

I linked the authors' names to the sites I found safest and most informative for them. Charity Phillips is linked to her publishing website page and Lori Copeland to her Goodreads author page. I hope you'll check out some of their work.

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#TBR: The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor & The Story of my Life by Helen Keller

The first book in this section has been on my list for years and I still haven't had a chance to read it. I wonder if it was one of the first retellings of Alice in Wonderland. Do any of you know? The images below are from Goodreads and are linked to the appropriate Goodreads page for each book.

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#1WordPromptChallenge Final Days

Here are the final prompts for the writing challenge I tackled in June. I hope you'll enjoy these and keep following my writing challenges through my Instagram account while I'm taking a break from the blog.

• Day 26 - Border - She'd told him the two-tailed, graceful beast foraged the southern forests of Genzet and migrated along the northern border of Bot'ha.
• Day 27 - Center - She walked to the center of the training ground, then turned to face him.
• Day 28 - Skyscraper - He'd seen her house, perched so high up in the canopy it almost made him dizzy to look at it.
• Day 29 - Factory - He led her to a long counter and pointed to one of the barrels lined along it. They would've been uncomfortable seats if not for the lush pillows affixed to the top. The Serafin'an reached out to one of the golden tassels and let the strings fall through her fingers. Her parents would be disappointed in her for entering an alehouse. Tears gathered in her eyes and she cleared her throat, quickly stemming the flow of sadness. It wouldn't do to show weakness in a place like this. There were few inns and alehouses in M'Neshunnaya but she'd heard enough to know they were often frequented by troublesome people.
  
• Day 30 - Back - Outh'n growled back at him, "Don't think for a moment I won't, Ammir." The title rolled off his tongue like oil. To emphasize his point, he took the open seat beside the Serafin'an.
  

"Skyscraper" and "factory" almost stumped me. There are no modern cities in my series. The tallest buildings are probably in Genzet, Bot'ha, and Shinnoah, but they'd be more limited in the latter two. The inhabitants of Y'Dahnndrya don't really have the desire to build super tall buildings, but the Tanderali Genzetti almost have to because of the confines of the cave cities they live in.
Also, I shared a larger portion for day 29, since there were only five and I won't be sharing snippets on the website for a while. Besides that, this part and the snippet for day 30 are from one of my favorite scenes. It was hard to chop it up to share it with you but I don't want to give too much away. If you're reading this, you're one of the few who gets to read the whole snippet. I only shared the one relevant line for day 29 when I posted on IG.

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Thank you so much for coming back to read through this final post before my haitus begins. Remember, things will be back up and running (hopefully) by September 2nd.
Please don't leave without signing up for my newsletter! When you do, you'll gain access to all the freebies I've created for my subscribers. I think I'm up to six or eight free downloadable items now and I add more every now and again. This will also give you the opportunity to have first notice of any updates and news I wish to share with my readers.
As another perk, you'll get automatic entry into any giveaway I host, except for international readers...I'm super sorry about that! I don't have all the necessary items which would allow me to extend the giveaways beyond the United States. :( Another exception to this would be any giveaway targeted toward those who are active newsletter subscribers, those who are opening and reading my newsletters. Exceptions will be noted on all giveaways and in the Terms & Conditions.
Thanks again for your continued support and encouragement, as well as your continued prayers. You are appreciated and I thank God for you!
Y'all stay safe and healthy until we meet again!