#NetGalley Book Review: Once Upon A Heartbreak by Cassie Rocca

This is a cute second chance romance although a little annoying at times.
Once Upon a Heartbreak
by Cassie Rocca

File Size: 2432 KB
Print Length: 243 pages
Publisher: Aria (May 1, 2018)
ASIN: B07BMHDDJ2
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Second Chance
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

Is true love really out there? A hilarious, heartwarming romance: perfect for the fans of Jo Watson, Debbie Johnson and Holly Martin.
Liberty Allen used to be a hopeless romantic, that is, until Zack Sullivan unwittingly broke her teenage heart.
Fifteen years later, Liberty has her life together in New York City, running a successful business and engaged to be married in just a matter of months. But something just seems to be missing...
All of a sudden, Liberty runs into Zack out the blue, forcing her to question everything she thought she knew about her life, her happiness, and even her feelings on true love...

Review:
Liberty was an overweight 15-year-old when she met Zack, a 17-year-old who was more interested in baking than partying and girls. Both suffered through teen mocking and bullying so it isn’t surprising that they developed a friendship with Liberty being the tester for many of Zack’s baking projects. An event caused Liberty to feel humiliated and abandoned by Zack. Liberty moved away the next day, changing her life to discipline herself to not eat sweets and to exercise rigorously in order to achieve and maintain an attractive body image. Liberty also disciplined herself to close her heart to true emotions and settle instead for rational emotional responses.

Fifteen years later Liberty is engaged to be married to her unemotional, lawyer boyfriend whom she has dated for several years. His sister is getting married and he asked Liberty to marry him and have a double wedding. The wedding is still several months away when they agree to visit Cape May with Liberty’s employees. Liberty is thrown for a loop when she discovers their host is none other than Zack.

Zack, now a single dad of a five-year-old daughter, is thrilled! He is awed at how beautiful Liberty is but he is dismayed that she tries to avoid him and won’t eat the meals and desserts he has prepared. He realizes she has lost the sparkle he cared for so many years before. Liberty tries to hold onto her anger from the loss of her first teenage crush but part of her wonders if Zack could really care for her as she is. Can Zack convince Liberty that he truly does care for her before she walks down the aisle to a ‘comfortable’ but uninspired marriage?

It was frustrating and sad to read Liberty’s lack of confidence and the extremes she took to change her nature. Zack and his daughter are lovely characters and Liberty’s friends are nice additions with their own romances. I found the ending a bit strange as it veered to cover the romances of Liberty’s friends in addition to her own romance. I didn't realize that this is the third story and the other romances were wrapped up here.

I found the story an easy read, and mostly fun if you can get beyond Liberty’s insecurities. I recommend this to readers who enjoy second chance romances.

Source: NetGalley 2018. This qualifies for NetGalley Challenge.

Audible Book Review: The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

This is wonderfully well written and creative story telling.

The Emperor's Soul
By: Brandon Sanderson
Narrated by: Angela Lin

Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 11-02-12
Language: English
Publisher: Recorded Books
Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, Thriller
My Rating: 5.0 0f 5.0 Story and Audio.

Publisher's Summary
When Shai is caught replacing the Moon Scepter with her nearly flawless forgery, she must bargain for her life. An assassin has left the Emperor Ashravan without consciousness, a circumstance concealed only by the death of his wife. If the emperor does not emerge after his hundred-day mourning period, the rule of the Heritage Faction will be forfeit and the empire will fall into chaos.
Shai is given an impossible task: to create—to Forge—a new soul for the emperor in less than one hundred days. But her soul-Forgery is considered an abomination by her captors. She is confined to a tiny, dirty chamber, guarded by a man who hates her, spied upon by politicians, and trapped behind a door sealed in her own blood. Shai's only possible ally is the emperor's most loyal counselor, Gaotona, who struggles to understand her true talent.
Time is running out for Shai. Forging, while deducing the motivations of her captors, she needs a perfect plan to escape...
©2012 Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC (P)2012 Recorded Books

Review:
Shai is a magical “forger” using mediums and soul stamps to forge art, both small and large. If she knows the make-up elements of her subject she is able to recreate it. She is caught as a result of a betrayal. On the eve of her scheduled execution the official arbiters, offer Shai a deal if she will forge a new soul for the secretly comatose Emperor. Although her Soul-Forgery skill is considered an abomination, the arbiters are willing to use it to help them retain their positions of power.

Shai agrees to the project which would allow her freedom… and life. She is ever the opportunist. The arbiters are cautious about her skills as several believe that she is skilled enough to change even the fabric of her cell to make an escape. They go to great lengths to secure her. Shai does plan to forge an escape but she is under constant watch. She is supervised by Gaotona, a man who respects the quality of her skills but disdains her use of them for forgery – not recognizing her form of art.

Shai is offered secret deals by a power-hungry arbiter. She fears that even if she accepts the offer the woman will have her killed before letting her go free. It may take all of Shai’s excellent skills to fashion a way out of her situation and she has a limited amount of time and resources.

This story is wonderfully creative, imaginatively plotted, beautifully written and executed. I kept seeking times to listen as I was fascinated by Shai’s mind maneuvering and the rapport she builds with Gaotona. The story is full even though it is short. By the end my thoughts were “author Brandon Sanderson is an artist”. I recommend this to readers who enjoy a skillfully crafted mystery and fantasy.

Audio Notes: Angela Lin is a narrator who is new to me. Her voice captured the character of Shai and the twisting nuances of the story. The narration enhanced an already excellent work. I would be glad to listen to other books she has narrated.

Source: Audible March, 2017 Daily Deal $1.95 (a bargain). This qualifies for 2018TBR and Audio Challenge.

Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway November 9, 2018

Happy Friday and Welcome to a month of Thanksgiving and November Anniversary of Friday Pick!
Every November I pick 4 random winners to celebrate the anniversary of Friday Pick.

I forgot about pulling together a set of books at office so I pulled a new set out at home.

TO ENTER FRIDAY PICK

US Entrants: Leave a comment and tell me WHICH BOOK you would like to get from the Friday Pick lists.

INTERNATIONAL: Leave a comment indicating "Gift Card" (see further comments near the end of the post.)

CUT OFF TIME IS THURSDAY NIGHTS AT 9:00 PM CENTRAL so I do not have to stay up too late to do the winner post! I will randomly pick two winners to announce Friday mornings with the next Pick post.

Thank you to all who entered the November 2 Pick. There were no automatic wins this week. Automatic wins are those who requested the book four times without other people asking for that book during those weeks. No titles were blocked.

CONGRATULATIONS
to Random.org picked Winners from October 5 Pick:
MIKI, ALINA and FAITH HOPE AND CHERRY TEA each get a GC and
ELIZABETH gets No One Left to Tell MP3

All winners please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form or email me to confirm your win, send your snail mail address information and let me know if you would like bookmarks - sensual, sexy or sweet bookmarks. {The form is new because Google changed their forms and the old one wasn't letting me print out the responses.}

 I give thanks for books and blog friends! 
Image found at Dribble

New Book Group #82 November 9, 2018

Pairs:
Stella Cameron: French Quarter and Key West
Jude Deveraux: Mulberry Tree and Wild Orchids
SINGLES:
Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
Unmasked Anthology - Jennifer Blake, Janet Dailey and Elizabeth Gage
Plum Lovin' by Janet Evanovich
Killing Time by Linda Howard
The Finer Things by Brenda Joyce
Wicked Promise by Kat Martin
Countess of Scandal by Laurel McKee
The Leopard's Woman by Linda Lael Miller and White Wolf by Lindsay McKenna
Eagle and the Dove by Victoria Morrow
To Love Again by Bertrice Small
The Wedding Night by Barbara Dawson Smith
Primal Obsession by Susan Vaughn

New Book Group #81 August 17, 2018

There are three audios at the top:
No One Left to Tell is MP3
Kisscut is Cassettes
Dark Summer is CDs
Pairs: Kay Hooper and Carla Neggers Red Clover Inn
The rest are singles
Cold Pursuit by Carla Neggers
Zombies of the Gene Pool 
Pretty Poison
Bound For Murder 
Don't Tell a Soul


New Book Group #80 August 17, 2018

Pairs: Fern Michaels and James Patterson
The rest are singles
Note:
The Final Judgment and
The Book of Fate are Audio Cassettes
The Green Trap
Secrets of Paris



New Book Group #79 July 13, 2018
I found this box of books buried under some other boxes.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lenox by Maggie O’Farrell
P.S. by Helen Schulman
Her Sexiest Surprise by Dawn Atkins (personally autographed)
The Maverick Preacher by Victoria Bylin (personally autographed)
The Broken Window by Jeffery Deaver
The Doctor’s Forever Family by Marie Ferrarella
Dakota Child by Linda Ford
Branded by the Sheriff by Delores Fossen
The Italian’s Inexperienced Mistress
Calling the Shots by Ellen Hartman
Promises, Promises by Amber Miller
This Time for Keeps by Jenna Mills
Rhapsody in Time by Judith O’Brien
A Daughter’s Legacy by Virginia Smith
Another Man’s Baby by Kay Stockham
The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle by RaeAnne Thayne


New Book Group #78 April 27, 2018

Midnight Rainbow
Betrayed
Indigo Blue
By a Spider's Thread 
Johanna Lindsey Pair 
Judith Krentz Pair
Breaking Point 
My Dark Prince
Fatal Defect

New Book Group #77 February 16, 2018- All gone

New Book Group #76 November 3, 2017
13 books remain of the original 37:

I finally Have them Listed!
Boots & Booties by Kristine Rolofson
Saucer the Conquest by Stephen Coonts
Echo Burning by Lee Child
The Scorpion Seducer by Bonnie Vanak
Hell On Earth by David L. Porter
Tempted All Night by Liz Carlyle
Day of the Dead by J.A. Jance
White Night by Jim Butcher
Five Gold Rings Anthology Constance O’Banyon and three others
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton
Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell
Crisscross by Harmon Henkin
Wizard’s Daughter by Catherine Coulter
Pearl Beyond Price by Claire Delacroix
Maelstrom by Anne McCaffrey
The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks
The Wicked Wyckerly by Patricia Rice
Inhuman Condition by Clive Barker
Night Whispers by Judith McNaught
101 Commonsense Rules for the Office by John R. Brinkerhoff

 THESE BOOKS CHOSEN/WON ARE THE ONES STRICKEN HERE:
Finger Licken' Fifteen
How to Tame a Highland Warrior
The Texan
Total Control
Atlantis Found
Stephanie Laurens Pair
Desperado 
Rebellious Desires 
Forget Me Not 
The Eighth Commandment
Ghost Riders
The Manning Brides by Debbie Macomber 
Shadow Music 
Corbin's Fancy 
Hawk's Lady

This shelf of 35 books are what is left from Groups #1 (11/27/09) through Group #75 September 29, 2017

(Title list reads left at bottom to right at top - 14 titles.)
Rehabilitation
Secret Blessing
Named of the Dragon
Daring
Aunt Erma's Cope Book
JoAnn Ross: Confessions
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
The New Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman
A Kiss Before Dawn by Kimberly Logan
The Fireman’s Fair by Josephine Humphreys (Hardcover)
Bound by Destiny by Rayka Mennen
Rainbow Mars by Larry Niven
There Was A Little Girl by Ed McBain (Audio Cassettes)
Love's Brazen Fire by Betina Krahn 

(Title list reads left at bottom to right at top - 21 titles.)
Plan of Attack by Dan Brown
(*Three more very old books from my Gothics box.)
*The Man in the Garden by Paule Mason (1969 - yellowed)
Fire Dancer by Ann Maxwell
*Four books are very old; pulled from a box of gothic novels I found.
*Maggie – Her Marriage by Taylor Caldwell (1953 very old, yellowed pages, some stain damage doesn't effect reading)
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey- Audio Cassette
Trilogy Of Mysteries Audio Book Shadow Prey, There Was A Little Girl, Smokescreen Audio Cassettes (NOT CDs)
Raintree Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones (spine creases)
The Shadowing by Joan Overfield
The Sweetheart Dance by Patti Ann Colt
BOX 4 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 47-53)
Undateable by Ellen Rakieten & Anne Coyle
Jezebel by Katherine Sutcliff
The Hidden Truth of Cytech's Randall Forty by Vickie Kennedy
Breakfast in Bed by Sandra Brown - Audio Cassette Tapes (link is for mass media version)
BOX 3 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 39- 47)
Shetland Summer by Janet Lynnford
BOX 2 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 24- 38)
The Trailsman: Texas Lead Slingers by Jon Sharpe
A Courtesans Guide to Getting Your Man by Susan Donovan and Celeste Bradley -- NOTE This book has dog bite damage; it is missing half back cover and the edges of pages in the back third of the book... it does not effect the text but I will understand if no one wants this one
An Honorable Man by Rosemary Rogers (spine creases)
The Willful Widow by Valerie King (spine wear)
Foundation (Foundation Novels) by Isaac Asimov
BOX #1 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 1- 23)
Ghost Writer (Shivers #3) by M.D. Spenser
Alien Chronicles - The Crimson Claw by Deborah Chester

If you saw the pictures posted of my bookshelves and boxes you know I do have lots of books! And that doesn't include the other eight or so boxes at my office!! And more books as I find deals too good to pass up! I am sharing my book bounty by these Friday Pick Giveaways.

I started Friday Pick on November 27, 2009 and in almost EIGHT years I have posted 81 groups of 16 plus an additional 21 totalling 1,317 books to find new homes! (as of November 2, 2018).

I am happy to say that so far about 1,193+books have found new homes through this feature! YAY. [A year or so ago I posted I had reached 2000 books given away. As I calculated the numbers 11/2/17 I realized that had to be an error. I realized I went from 1098 to 2001 instead of 1101. Guess I was tired; sorry for the error.] I have to update my print out to check the exact number sent out - a few were never claimed. I periodically update the lists - deleting those won. You can still go to the Friday Pick list link to see older posts and the older lists book pictures if you want!

Note rules here regarding international entries.

Because postage to overseas can be prohibitive I am willing to give a $5.00 book certificate to international winners - Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, ARe, TWRP, ClassAct Books, eTreasures, Desert Breeze, etc....you tell me where and I'll set it up. So for my overseas visitors your comment may indicate a smaller book and I'll check postage or note your choice of gift card.

I learned that The Book Depository does not ship to everywhere. The postage for some of the books to far away places runs between $7.00 and $10.00 and up. Since I would award $5.00 for The Book Depository to an international winner, as an alternative you may choose a smaller book and we will hope the postage will not exceed $6.00. If the postage is more, or if you want to pick a larger book and you are willing to pay any extra postage beyond the $6.00 I will work with you on that. This may not make a difference to many but if it helps one or two of you to give one of my books a home that will make me happy too. :o)

Repeating this helpful blog tip: You can right click on a link and you will be given the choice to open the link in a new window or tab so you do not navigate away from the screen you are on!! I use this all the time!

Book Review: To Thine Be the Glory by Angela D. Martin

Although this is interesting as a memoir, it needs a solid editing.
To Thine Be the Glory
by Angela D. Martin

File Size: 141 KB
Print Length: 50 pages
Publisher: AuthorHouse UK (April 17, 2018)
ASIN: B07D5T5G25
Genre: Christian, Memoir, Religion
My Rating: 3.5 of 5.0

This is a book that outlines the testimony of the authors life and how she officially came to faith and realized that there was a call of God on her life.

Review:
This is an interesting sharing of the author’s introduction to God during her childhood and her mature choice as an adult to recognize the call of God in her life and to seek a closer relationship with Him. I give the author kudos for sharing her personal journey through life's struggles and mistakes.

I would love to give this a higher rating as the content is meaningful to me. However, although the situations are interesting, the telling is terribly disjointed. English may be a secondary language for the author but, more importantly, the work is in desperate need of editing. The events do not appear sequentially which adds to the incohesive and awkward nature of the reading. I did read from a proof version, but I wouldn’t expect even a proof to have the extent of editing errors. I think with solid, proper editing this would make an appropriate memoir of a faith journey.

Source: Review Request from PublishingPush. This qualifies for 2018 Alphabet Challenge.

#NetGalley Book Review: The Rancher's Gift by Dennis Worden and Jeff Dunn

This is a well written story presenting solid life lessons.

The Rancher's Gift: A Modern Day Parable

of Living a Life on Purpose

by Dennis Worden (Author), Jeff Dunn (Author)

File Size: 4668 KB
Print Length: 95 pages
Publisher: BroadStreet Publishing Group LLC (May 15, 2018)
ASIN: B079WDL1H2
Genre: Christian, Inspirational, Religion
My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0

We are not promised more than today.
Thus we need to live our legacy now, with focus and integrity.
Ryan Westcott is ready to step into the family business, armed with a fresh MBA degree from a prestigious business school. Yet his father has other ideas. He feels Ryan needs more education—but not the kind one gets from a school. Ryan is sent to his uncle’s Montana ranch to learn, in short, how to be a man.
While Ryan helps his uncle build a barn, he learns life lessons about health, work, finances, education, selfessness, humility, and most important of all, love.
Ryan meets the richest man in the county, only to find riches are not always counted in dollars and cents. And then there is Kayla, the pretty country lass who awakens deep feelings in Ryan he never knew he had, and challenges him to live a life of true purpose. Along the trail, Ryan meets one more person, one who will upend all else and change his life forever.
There is more to life than just what we see in our limited view. Come travel the “Big Sky” country with Ryan, and find the purposeful life that awaits you.
Bonus: Also included is The Rancher’s Guide to Living Life on Purpose to help you reflect and discover your purpose in living.

Review:
Ryan is a young businessman ready to step in to help his father’s finance business. Although Ryan is eager and has graduated with an MBA, his father senses that something is missing. His father recognizes that he has spent so much time building his business that he hasn’t spent enough time with his son. He sends Ryan to his uncle’s Montana ranch where he can get hands on lessons in life.

Ryan is surprised and not quite ready to get up with the break of dawn. But as Ryan helps his uncle build a barn and help in the community he learns how to become a compassionate nephew, friend, community member and even potential husband. The basis of the lessons about health, work, finances, education, selfessness, humility, and love are built on Biblical foundations. And Ryan is challenged to accept the most precious gift of all.

I enjoyed the wonderful wisdom for living “a good life” with purpose which is shared in this novella. It is an easy read and shows that life isn’t all roses and smooth paths. There are questions and decisions to be made. It is important to have the right foundation and look to the right resources for advise to help make the right decisions. I recommend this to anyone who seeks to learn how to live a full life that is rich in more than money.

Source: NetGalley 2018. This qualifies for 2018 NetGalley and Alphabet Challenges.