REVIEW: Cruel Winter by Sheila Connolly

CRUEL WINTER by Sheila Connolly is an entertaining mystery that unravels in a pub in Ireland during a snowstorm. Upon her grandmother’s death, Maura Donovan from Boston inherits a pub in Ireland from a distant relative. When a bad snowstorm detains Maura and her staff, plus several locals in the bar, an unsolved murder begs…

Category: Books, Life through the Lens, Reviews, TBR Mountain Range Challenge 2017, Travel, Travel Highlights

REVIEW: Beauty and the Wiener by Casey Griffin

BEAUTY AND THE WIENER by Casey Griffin is a cute story that’s part mystery mixed with the right amount of warmth and emotion at the end. Animal lovers will appreciate this mad little caper for its suspense and humor. Addison Turner is looking for love in all the wrong places. Can being forced to work…

Category: Books, Reviews, TBR Mountain Range Challenge 2017

REVIEW: The Memory of You by Catherine West

THE MEMORY OF YOU by Catherine West seized my interest from the beginning with its vineyard setting, then riveted me with its emotional journey. An excellent character-driven story of broken faith transformed, THE MEMORY OF YOU is packed with thought-provoking issues. Listed as women’s fiction, this novel also excels in the inspirational romance category. Fans…

Category: Books, Reviews, TBR Mountain Range Challenge 2017

REVIEW: Fields of the Fatherless by Elaine Marie Cooper

FIELDS OF THE FATHERLESS by Elaine Marie Cooper is a realistic reenactment of the first day of the American Revolution in 1775 from a young woman’s point of view. Eighteen-year-old Betsy Russell grows up fast when forced to protect her family during an unexpected turn of events. Caught between the British and the American militia,…

Category: Books, Reviews, TBR Challenge 2017, TBR Mountain Range Challenge 2017

January 2017 Farm Share

Our January 2017 farm share was just enough to eat in-between our travels. Winter share is a bit harder to split in half, and that’s probably because I want the carrots all to myself! HA Carrots go fast in our household in the winter, especially when we have colds. That homemade chicken noodle soup isn’t…

Category: Food, What's for Dinner?

New Year / New Challenge with a Capital C

I like goals and usually set them in January. This year is different. My pursuit of a zestful life has challenges. It’s the New Year / New Challenge with a Capital C. It has roadblocks. It prevented me from my posting goals. And — it sucked the joy right out of them. Not that I’m…

Category: Books, Food, Garden, Hiking, Life through the Lens, Movie Review, Recipe, TBR Challenge 2017, TBR Mountain Range Challenge 2017, Travel

REVIEW: The Illegal Gardener by Sara Alexi

THE ILLEGAL GARDENER by Sara Alexi is the perfect title for this book. Gardening is one of my favorite themes in books, and this one made me happy with vivid descriptions in Greece. Why was this book in Dorine’s TBR? I collect books with gardening, healing, or farming themes and locations. This cover caught my…

Category: Books, Reviews, TBR Challenge 2017, TBR Mountain Range Challenge 2017

REVIEW: Juliet’s Answer by Glenn Dixon

Completely unexpected and delightful, JULIET’S ANSWER by Glenn Dixon is full of wit, heartfelt emotion, quandaries, love, and the quintessential happy-ever-after. This book sounded like it would be a travelogue with a man’s observations on love, but it’s not. Mostly memoir with some fiction to protect the innocent, JULIET’S ANSWER is one of the best…