Lin Ryals's Blog, page 27

Reckless Intentions

From Goodreads: She doesn’t do flings. He doesn’t do relationships. Seven days in the sun has never been so much fun. Olivia Cole calls it quits when she overhears her boyfriend telling his friends he'd never marry her. To help mend her heart, she takes a short working holiday in Mallorca to assist in the renovation of her best friend’s club. She didn’t expect to meet the hotter-than-hell, totally arrogant playboy Brody Fox—the architect on the renovation project who thoroughly lives up to his name. Brody Fox doesn’t understand why someone’s been sent to snoop on him as he renovates The Roca Bar. Working on the island in Mallorca gives him ample opportunity for one holiday fling after another. But when the spy is the super-efficient, effortlessly gorgeous Olivia Cole, he finds himself questioning his playboy lifestyle. For the first time in his life, he finds himself thinking a relationship could be just what he needs. Although they seemingly want different things, fighting their mutual attraction is a good way to start, even if it doesn’t come with the best of intentions. If I had gone to this author's website, I would have realized she likes to write steamy romances. Unfortunately, I didn't do that. I generally don't have time to do that before agreeing to read a book. This one was definitely steamy. I had to skip a lot of sections because I don't read sex scenes. So... there's that. The story itself was cute, but not something I'd want to reread. The characters were kind of boring and predictable and, apparently, only think about sex. I think if I wanted a steamy romance then this would be fine. It would be a cute little read to just get out of my head for a couple of hours. Sometimes, as a mom, we need quick and easy reads. I give this book 3 stars: *** I do think that if I liked steamy romance, this would be a fun read. Julie Archer is the author of contemporary romances, with steamy times and drama, but always a happy ending! She lives in Devon with Mr A and two feline children, Corey and Elsa. Also metal and COYS. “Strong, sassy, sexy…and that’s just the characters!” To learn more about Archer, check out her website here: https://www.juliearcherwrites.com I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Until I Die

Warning!!! SPOILERS to book one! Go there first: Die For Me Kate and Vincent have overcome the odds and at last they are together in Paris, the city of lights and love.


As their romance deepens there’s one question they can’t ignore: How are they supposed to be together if Vincent can’t resist sacrificing himself to save others? Although Vincent promises that he’ll do whatever it takes to lead a normal life with Kate, will that mean letting innocent people die? When a new and surprising enemy reveals itself, Kate realizes that even more may be at stake—and that Vincent’s immortality is in jeopardy. My thoughts: This book was so much better than the first. The plot moved quick enough so I didn't feel like it was dragging like I felt at the beginning of the first book. I love the characters and the plot and the information about French culture. It's just such a wonderful book. Rating: ***** Five stars! Author: Amy Plum is the author of DIE FOR ME, an international bestselling Young Adult series set in Paris which comprises of three novels (DIE FOR ME, UNTIL I DIE, IF I SHOULD DIE) and three novellas (DIE FOR HER, DIE ONCE MORE, INSIDE THE WORLD OF DIE FOR ME). Her second series is a duology. Amy describes AFTER THE END and UNTIL THE BEGINNING as “a faux-post-apocalyptic, road trip, adventure, romance, thriller with a bit of magic.” Her third series is the DREAMFALL duology, which was optioned for television by DiGa Studios. (MTV’s Teen Wolf, Scream). The second book, NEVERWAKE, releases in August 2018.Her books have been translated into thirteen languages.After being raised in Birmingham, Alabama, in a rather restrictive environment, AMY PLUM escaped to Chicago to an even more restrictive environment at a university that expelled people for dancing. (And where she was called to the dean’s office for “wearing too much black”.) After all of that restrictiveness, she was forced to run far far away, specifically to Paris, France, where she only wore black and danced all she wanted.After five years in Paris, she ventured to London, where she got an M.A. in Medieval Art History, specializing in Early Sienese Painting (1260-1348) mainly because it promised almost no hope of finding a paying job afterward.Amy managed to find work in the world of art and antiques in New York. But after almost a decade of high-pressure lifestyle in the Big Apple, she swapped her American city for a French village of 1300 inhabitants.After signing with HarperCollins for the DIE FOR ME series, Amy left her job as an English professor at Tours University to write full-time. She now lives in Paris with her two children.She is a huge fan of Edward Gorey and Maira Kalman (and collects both of their books and art), as well as David Sedaris, Amadeo Modigliani, and Ira Glass.For more info on Amy and her books, go here: http://www.amyplumbooks.com/

People are asking...

Charmed and Lethal will be available for purchase.... very soon! haha! Hey, anticipation is good. No, seriously. We are having a launch party on FACEBOOK!!! We have authors lined up to takeover on Feb 23rd, but the party starts on Feb 11th and the book will be available for purchase then, too!!! YAY!!!! If you are interested in joining the party, being entered in giveaways, and get to talk to some awesome authors, then CLICK HERE to join. You will have to have a FB account. It will be way fun! If you are interested in purchasing a copy, the links will be up here: http://smithlinda60ls.wixsite.com/lin... So be sure to check there. I'm super excited about it!!!

Life with Lin: Birthdays

My birthday was this past week. I'm thirty-six. In case you missed that I said, I kind of can't believe it myself. I can't believe how old I am or how little I've accomplished. I feel like I should be able to say I've done so much more. The thing that is most surprising though, is how lame birthdays get once you're grown. I kept getting asked, "What are you doing for your birthday?" My response was, "I'm taking my kids to the places they need to go, we have to do school (I homeschool my kids), and really need to clean the house because the young men from church are coming over for an activity." On top of all of that, it was New Beginnings for the young women at my church and guess who was in charge. ME! (Can you tell it was pineapple themed?) I don't mind. I love my children, I love my home, I love the youth at church. None of it were things I minded doing. It was just there was NOTHING special about this day. I think the most exciting thing for me was when Google Home sang "Happy Birthday" to me and called me the most amazing person in the world. I actually felt a little teary eyed in that moment. What kind of crazy person does that? After I answer that question, the next question is always, "Well, then what are you doing this weekend?" I think on it a minute and say, "My car really needs an oil change and new tires." Y'all, that's an expensive expense! It needs to be done, and it takes some time. So, my weekend will be that. When this posts, my weekend will be over, but at the time I'm typing this, it's Thursday night. ;) All of this made me think about my birthdays when I was younger. I think the biggest one was my 16th. I was at basketball practice. We had just finished and I was sweaty and nasty. I was going for water from the water fountain and my friends grabbed me a blindfolded me. They put me in the back of the car and took me around town. They walked me through the woods and Wal-mart and all kinds of places completely blind folded. They did buy me some Rolos though, so at least I had chocolate. I still wonder why no one questioned why teenagers were leading a blindfolded teenager through town. Maybe I didn't seem scared so they assumed it was okay. Finally they took me out somewhere, lead me inside, and removed the blindfold. I was in my basketball shorts, t-shirt, and covered in dry sweat, but that didn't seem to matter. All of my friends and even some people I didn't think cared about me too much, but were there for a party, were there. They were yelling, "Surprise!" We spent hours hanging out and watching movies. It was so much fun! Of course, I don't want anyone kidnapping me. I have too much to do for that. I also don't mind doing nothing for my birthday. I just think it's interesting how it was once this huge thing in my life and now it's just a day that comes and goes and hardly gets any attention at all.

Ten Nasty Little Toads

From Goodreads: A full-colour gift book of ten darkly-comic and hilarious cautionary tales by Astrosaurs author Steve Cole, illustrated by Tim Archbold.


In these delightfully humorous tales of a decidedly blackish hue, ten follysome toads can never change their beastly habits despite the efforts of goodly witch Madame Rana who reminds them 'It's never too late to change.


'The Toad With Square Eyes develops mutant thumbs and fingers and finds himself on the other side of the screen; Cherry Oddfellow, the Dirty Little Toad, is part-girl, part-mudslide; and Jeremiah Bratson, the Spoiled Little Toad, finds himself face-to-face with a perfect robot replica.


Featuring toady facts, quizzes and games, this collection of tales is a warning to certain children that there must come an hour when they pay the price... My opinion: This was a cute book with funny stories and tales in it. The illustrations were kept simple but enough to ignite the imagination. My 10 year old daughter was very excited to read this book. It looks like something she'd absolutely love. Unfortunately, it couldn't keep her attention. She bored of it quickly and moved on to a different book after only reading 13% of it (I'm not one of those parents who makes her kids complete a book because I'm afraid it will cause them to no longer love book.s They must read 10% and if not hooked they may put it down). I thought the stories were fun, however it was something I would read when bored and not necessarily excited to get back to. They really are cute stories though. The first story is about Cherry Oddfellow who hates bathing! There were moments when I smirked as I read because it is funny. I just didn't LOVE these stories though. For that reason, I'm giving this Three Stars. ***

Indie Author Day

Today was Indie Author Day. It is a national day to recognize independent authors. I haven't been involved much in the book world lately. I have been focused on arts. I think it's because I've been in a funk. We've had a lot of stress going on lately. It's still going and luckily not the same thing. The stress is constantly evolving. Nevertheless, it still exists. Long term stress puts me into a funk and I'm in it and have been in it. I haven't felt like writing. I get my feelings out through art. Art journaling specifically. I have been arting so much that there hasn't been much time for writing or even reading. I have always been a voracious reader, too. It's weird only reading a book or two each month. I went to the Indie Author Day even at the local library here in my town. I realized how much I miss the local writers here and the book world in general. Some of the speakers were discussing marketing and book reviewers and my heart pounded with joy. I had forgotten how much I loved doing what I did. I need to find the balance so I can do all the things I do in my life and still write. How does one manage their time efficiently? I think it's time for some Ted Talks. ;) If you still follow this blog, don't lose faith in me. I'm determined to come back as a reviewer and author. I'm pretty sure I'll be starting from scratch though. Nevertheless, I'll be back! :)