Sandra Nachlinger's Blog, page 35

A Love Beyond - First Paragraph / First Chapter and Teaser Tuesday

In A Love Beyond (contemporary romantic suspense) AJ Owens vows to retrieve the horse stolen from her family by Mike Towers. Chance Landin wants to prove that Powers destroyed several thoroughbreds for the insurance money, a crime for which Chance's uncle has been falsely imprisoned. Both AJ and Chance are pretending to be what they're not, but neither one knows the other's agenda. Their lives intertwine as they work to bring down Mike Towers in this romantic thriller that spans the Texas-Mexico border at Laredo. 

This book is beautifully written and nicely edited, and the plot kept me turning pages from the opening sentences until the very last word.
I'm giving it five stars. 

First Paragraph:
On the banks of the Rio Grande, Laredo, Texas
      The river, black and barely visible, slid silently past. Trees pressed close to the bank, leaving only a narrow strip along the water's edge, and AJ Owens set one foot in front of the other cautiously. She was unafraid of the water, but not eager to be found out, whether by one of the law enforcement agencies screening the river for illegal activity, or by any of the criminal agents plying their trade alongside the fabled Rio Grande. Unconsciously she tightened her hold on the worn leather reins in her hands. Slight rustling in the brush startled her, making her stiffen and stifle a gasp. Alongside her, the chestnut Thoroughbred balked, throwing his head up in alarm. His snort echoed through the still night, sending some unseen smaller animal scurrying off into deeper cover.

Teaser Tuesday (from 64% on my Kindle):
She'd accepted a strange man's invitation to spend "a while" at his ranch in a foreign place. An invitation that came with the implied understanding that she wouldn't come and go, but stay there as tradition dictated. Even her friends would claim that was inviting disaster.

Genre:  Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Length of Book: 214 Pages
Amazon Link: A Love Beyond
Author's Website/Blog: Leslie P. Garcia Blog "Return to Rio"


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Garbage Pail Kids - Saturday Snapshots

Does anyone remember Garbage Pail Kids? These trading cards were originally released in 1985 and meant to parody the Cabbage Patch Dolls that were popular back then. Each one had a picture on the front (it's a removable sticker) and a "Wanted Poster" on the back. When I was looking for something in my storage closet the other day (okay, junk closet), I came across a photo album where my son kept his treasured Garbage Pail Kids. So, of course, I had to share a few of them with you! 

If the group decides to ban me from future Saturday Snapshots postings after seeing these, I'll understand. A little strange, aren't they? 


How sweet! A literary reference!
Inexplicably, this was on the back of
the Charlotte Web card!

And this was on the back of
Fishy Phyllis!

My son is 40 years old now, and I bet
he'll get a laugh out of these cards. Maybe
I'll wrap them up for him for Valentine's Day!Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, click HERE or on the box below. 

Fetching Love - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

 I was entertained and charmed by Fetching Love, a quick light read. The characters are likable, the story is sweet with some steamy parts, and Laddie (Megan's yellow Lab) adds a lot of interest and fun to the story. I'm a sucker for plots where the hero and heroine rediscover each other, and that's what Megan and Chad do in this book. Fetching Love is the third book in the Circle R Ranch series, and I'm sure I'll read the others.

Book Beginning:
Prologue
Seven years ago...
   You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, her dad always said. Unfortunately, he was right. Meg rarely wore makeup, she was more of a tomboy, but today she wanted to look special. Chad and his brothers would be at the dance, and it was probably the last time she would see him before he left for college. He couldn't leave for college still thinking of her as little Megs. God, she hated that nickname.

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle): 
(Megan's dad having a man-to-man talk with Chad.)
   "I may be old but I'm not stupid. I know that Megan had a major crush on you when she was a teenager. I'm not sure she's ever gotten over it. So if you are just playing with her, you can walk right back out that door."

Genre: Contemporary Western Romance
Book Length: 92 Pages
Amazon Link: Fetching Love (Circle R Ranch Book 3)
Author's Website/Blog: Smile, Somebody Loves You
Just Released: Hers to Bear

                             

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Learnin' The Ropes - Teaser Tuesday and First Paragraph / First Chapter

If you enjoy contemporary Western romance, then you'll love Learnin' The Ropes by Shanna Hatfield. It was fun to experience the hero's transition from city guy to cowboy, especially in the Oregon setting. I also liked the fact that the hero is an out-of-work mechanic--a nice change from the wealthy super-suave hero type. By the way, the book also includes a gigantic dog (named Baby) as an important character and for comic relief. 
I recommend Learnin' The Ropes as a fun light-hearted escape (rated G).


First Paragraph - Each chapter starts with a lesson and a quote:
Lesson One
Location, Location, Location
"Git yerself out of that durn city and into God's country."
     Tyler Lewis read through the classified ad a third time, trying to decide if he was desperate enough to apply for the open position.
     Leaning against his truck door with the paper propped on the steering wheel, cold seeping into his back from the rain-splattered window and hunger gnawing at his insides, he concluded he was, in fact, that desperate.

Teaser (from 6% on my Kindle):
"...Baby's a Kuvasz. A Hungarian dog bred to guard livestock. Baby weighs purt near a hundred and twenty-five pounds. She can take down a grown man if she's of a mind to...."

Genre: Sweet Contemporary Romance
Book's Length: 350 Pages
Amazon Link: Learnin' The Ropes
Author's Website: ShannaHatfield.com

Synopsis from Goodreads:
     Out of work mechanic Ty Lewis is homeless and desperate to find work. Answering a classified ad for a job in Harney County, Oregon, Ty accepts when he is offered the position. Saying goodbye to his sister and his life in Portland, he heads off to the tiny community of Riley to begin a new adventure, unsure about his boss Lex Ryan, a man he has yet to speak with or meet. 
     Lexi Ryan, known to her ranch hands and neighbors as Lex Jr., leaves a successful career in Portland to keep the Rockin’ R Ranch running smoothly after the untimely death of her father. It doesn’t take long to discover her father did a lot of crazy things during the last few months of his battle with cancer, including hiding half a million dollars that Lexi can’t find. 
     Ty and Lexi are both in for a multitude of surprises as he arrives at the Rockin’ R Ranch and begins learnin’ the ropes. 


Share the first paragraph (or
a few) from a book you are
reading. Link up here:
Bibliophile By The Sea
  
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somewhere in a book you're
reading. No spoilers, please!
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Should Be Reading

Rime - Saturday Snapshots

Rime: an opaque coating of tiny, white, granular ice particles, caused by the rapid freezing of supercooled water droplets on impact with an object.

Since I walk our dog Rufus every day, I have a chance to closely observe the seasons in our neighborhood. I love seeing rime on plants! Here are some photos from a chilly day last winter. I'm sure I'll see more ice-coated plants soon. (Click on photos for a closer look.)





Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, click HERE or on the box below. 
To participate in Saturday Snapshots: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

The Husband List - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

When I hear "Janet Evanovich," I don't think of historical romance. But she has teamed up with Dorien Kelly to write two books in this genre. I'm about halfway through The Husband List, and it's moving slowly. However, since I don't read a lot of historical romance, maybe I'm not a good judge of the genre. The story has its entertaining moments, but I'm feeling like the first 150 pages could have been written in fifty. It's not bad; it's just not grabbing me. This is the second book in a series and, of course, I haven't read the first one! 


Beginning:
Close your eyes and think of chocolate cake, Caroline Maxwell told herself. It was the only way she could get through this tedious dress fitting. Even in the advanced year of 1894, an American heiress had certain rules to follow, and allowing herself to be a pincushion for the House of Worth seemed to be one of them. What Caroline really wanted was adventure, independence and to see the world. But she doubted her parents would ever come to their senses enough to set her free.

Friday 56 (page 56 in my hardback copy - found on Barnes & Nobles' bargain table):
With the butler ushering the way, Caroline and her sisters followed Mama and her little dog like silk-and-lace-garbed ducklings into the salon, in which someone--likely not Mrs. Longhorne--had shown an admirable restraint in the placement of decorations so that the view of the ocean was the room's focus.

Genre: Historical Romance
Length: 309 Pages
Amazon Link: The Husband List

Synopsis from Amazon:
    Based on the family from the bestselling Love In A Nutshell, the story of an heiress longing to marry for love or not at all     From The New York Times bestselling writing duo Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly, comes the story of a young woman’s search for true love. Caroline Maxwell would like nothing more than to join her brother, Eddie, and his friend, Jack Culhane, on their adventures. While Jack and Eddie are off seeing the world, buying up businesses and building wildly successful careers, Caroline's stuck at home frightening off the men her mother hopes will ask for her hand in marriage.  When her mother sets her sights on the questionable Lord Bremerton as a possible suitor, Caroline struggles with her instincts and the true nature of her heart.  She longs for adventure, passion, love, and most of all . . . Jack Culhane, an unconventional Irish-American bachelor with new money and no title. A completely unacceptable suitor in the eyes of Caroline's mother. But Caroline's dark hair, brilliant eyes and quick wit have Jack understanding just why it is people fall in love and get married.    Set in New York City in 1894, The Husband List is an American gilded age romantic mystery. It evokes memories of the lavish lifestyles and social expectations of the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers—a time when new money from the Americas married Old World social prestige and privilege. Dresses by Worth, transcontinental ocean voyages, lavish parties, a little intrigue, and a lot of romance await in, The Husband List.

                             
Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
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50% OFF - January 1 only

All Romance eBooks is offering a 50%-off rebate on many of its books - TODAY ONLY. So if you've been thinking of buying an ebook copy of Bluebonnets for Elly, now's a good time.

Here's the link:

BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY

In Too Deep - First Paragraph / First Chapter and Teaser Tuesday

In Too Deep, Book 1 of 4 in the Due South Series, takes place in a small town on New Zealand's Stewart Island. After her father's drowning death, Piper Harland fled to NZ's South Island and trained to become a member of the elite Police National Dive Squad. But more than sadness over her father's death had driven her away from her family and friends. When she returns to Stewart Island temporarily to help save her brother from financial ruin, she is confronted by all the conflict she thought she'd escaped, including Ryan "West" Westlake, a man who was once her best friend and lover. Can Piper come to terms with her guilt and the uncertainty of her relationship with West? She's a strong woman, but there are good reasons why she left and why she might choose to run away again. 

First Paragraphs:
      When death revealed a pale hand to Piper Harland she didn't turn away, but kicked toward it and grabbed hold.
      Sixty-five feet below Lake Tikitapu's crystal blue water, she found the seventeen-year-old water-skier who'd disappeared yesterday evening. Now that they had pinpointed his location, Piper would return the boy to his grief-stricken family, huddled above on the shore of one of New Zealand's most picturesque lakes.

Teaser from 77% on my Kindle:
      She'd know him blind, deaf, or in a straitjacket. West was part of her DNA. It took extraordinary willpower to keep her arms tucked under his jacket, when she wanted to rip off his fancy shirt so she could taste him from stomach to sternum.

FYI: The ebook version of In Too Deep is FREE on Amazon right now. Although it's part of a series, it stands alone.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length:  316 Pages
Amazon Link: In Too Deep
Other Books by This Author: Tracey Alvarez Website

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Upcycling - Saturday Snapshots

As I'm sure you know, upcycling is the process of giving old items new purpose. I like to do that with clothing. Here are some upcycled outfits I've made for my granddaughter (and one project for my grand-dog). I think it's a fun challenge to see what I can transform into something useful.
(Click on photos to enlarge.) When Corrina decided to dress as a doctor for Halloween,
I made her lab coat costume out of an old dress shirt
of my husband's. I've made several blouses using this pattern from Etsy. 
The top one was originally an old dress shirt. The cuffs
were frayed but the back and sleeves were perfect.
The one with rickrack was made from
surgical scrubs given to me by a friend. A pair of my son's jeans became a dress. Scraps can always be made into a quilt. This dog mat is
constructed from flannel left over from another project.
That's my dog Rufus trying it out.Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, click HERE or on the box below. 
To participate in Saturday Snapshot: post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky on the host blogsite. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Chorus Lines, Caviar, and Corpses - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

The book's tagline says: Kick up your heels for the first Happy Hoofers Mystery! If you like cozies, then you'll enjoy this one. Five middle-aged tap-dancing women are hired as the entertainment on a Russian Volga River cruise. But the boat is definitely not a luxury liner. Since this is a cozy, there's a murder or two involved, of course. The book also includes several recipes (Beef Strogonoff - yum!) as well as travel tips. But best of all, the main characters are likable, believable, and just plain fun! 

Book Beginning:

"Keeping On Our Toes"
      It all started when Mary Louise decided we needed to exercise. We are five close friends, who've all managed to stay fit over the years. Still, when we moved into our fifties, we knew we had to watch what we ate and become more active. 
      We considered all the ways there are to exercise. What we really loved was dancing, especially tap dancing, so we took a class and worked out some routines. Before long, we were asked to perform at a local senior center ... and then at a community service luncheon... and one gig led to another.

The Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
     The inspector wrote three pages of notes. They were in Russian, of course, so I couldn't even read them upside down. I was getting nervous.

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Length: 304 Pages
Amazon Link: Chorus Lines, Caviar, and Corpses

Coming in February 2015 is the next book in the Happy Hoofers Mystery Series: Flamenco, Flan, and Fatalities
Link for Pre-Order: Flamenco, Flan, and Fatalities

                             
Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
Click HERE to connect to other Book Beginnings posts (sponsored by Rose City Reader)
Click HERE to join other Friday 56 bloggers (sponsored by Freda's Voice)