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My First 5K: Complete!

I did! My first 5K is complete 🙂 The Color Run was such a fun experience. There were 27,000 people registered in Des Moines, and the atmosphere just screamed party. It was a great way to ease into the running world! I ran with my girlfriend Holly, and we tried our best to look pretty ridiculous – as you can see from our picture! At the end, we were a mess! We ran through four color stations along the run, where people were having a great time throwing the paint on us, and then at the end once we finished we participated in a color throw. The paint wasn’t like what you paint a room with it, it was a more dust-like paint. Everyone who registered got a packet of the paint, and once you finished, you got to throw it in the air and have the colors rain down. Combined with thousands of people doing it at the same time – bananas. I literally lost my vision during the color throw, it was CRAZY!! But overall, a great experience, and I am definitely hooked. Holly and I are running another 5K in November (BRRRR!) and our award at the end – chocolate! The run is sponsored by a chocolate store in Des Moines, and proceeds go to the John Stoddard Cancer Center – a win/win there. I’ve had a lot of fun blogging about my first 5K experience, and I hope to share some more with you after my second race!

Blue Aspen by Tenaya Jayne

Tenaya Jayne is currently on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Blue Aspen. The first half of this book gripped me. We start by getting a quick snippet from a psych doctor and learn that she is reading the journal of a patient, then the story begins. The main character is seventeen year old Dulcee Elders, who gets dropped off at her uncle’s house after her mother decides she doesn’t want her anymore. It’s clear Dulcee has suffered some abuse, and lived in what I would guess to be a hostile environment. It’s at her uncle’s house that Dulcee starts having strange dreams, dreams where she is visited by a Vincent Sands. When her dream-world and reality collides, Dulcee and Vincent are inseparable. But when Dulcee’s uncle starts to wonder about her mental health, Dulcee is taken to psych hospital, and ripped away from Vincent. Only a drastic measure will bring the two together again.
There were parts I really enjoyed in this novel, particularly the beginning. I liked that we knew right off the bat that Dulcee was a psych patient; that really heightened the storyline for me. It was really interesting watching her get sucked into Vincent’s world. As the book continued on, I do wish we could have figured out a few more stories – such as the death of Dulcee’s dad or her uncle’s wife. The ending also had me a touch confused; I think maybe there was too many characters competing for a voice, and that was throwing me off. But if you are a fan of paranormal or fantasy type books, I think you would like this one!
[Rating: 3.5]

In My Mailbox: Week of October 7

In Samantha’s Mailbox:

Title: Enchanted by Starlight
Author: Tina L. Hook
Received: From BookSparks PR
Synopsis: Be careful what you wish for…Grace, Skylar and Alina are connected by destiny when an enchanted comet crosses the night sky. As their most secret ambitions ignite, their ordinary lives take a magical detour down a powerful but dangerous path.

Grace, emerging from her dejected childhood, develops the power to make men fall in love with her. Skylar leaves her impoverished past behind and pursues the social status she has always longed for. Without dreams of her own, Alina covets the power to unravel other lives and seeks revenge. As they crash into and slip away from each other in a cycle of envy, deception and love lost, these three women are forced to look deeper into their own hearts for the true meaning of enchantment.

Title: From Notting Hill With Love…Actually
Author: Ali McNamara
Received: From Sourcebooks
Synopsis: She was just a girl, standing in front of a boy …wishing he looked more like Hugh Grant. Scarlett loves the movies. But does she love sensible fiance David just as much? With a big white wedding on the horizon, Scarlett really should have decided by now …When she has the chance to house-sit in Notting Hill – the setting of one of her favourite movies – Scarlett jumps at the chance. But living life like a movie is trickier than it seems, especially when her new neighbour Sean is so irritating. And so irritatingly handsome, too. Scarlett soon finds herself starring in a romantic comedy of her very own: but who will end up as the leading man?

Title: Meant To Be
Author : Karen Stivali
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Sometimes you’re already committed to the wrong person when fate finally brings you the right one.
When NYU professor Daniel Gardner’s career-obsessed wife convinces him to move to the suburbs, he hopes it’s a first step toward starting the family he longs to have. Instead of domestic bliss he finds his neighbor, Marienne Valeti. She loves her freelance design job, but must contend with a growing sense of isolation created by her husband’s indifference. A penchant for good books, bad movies, and Marienne’s to-die-for brownies sparks a powerful bond between them. Passion simmers, but they resist its lure, surrendering only in the seclusion of their minds. Their friendship helps them weather every hardship, from divorce to widowhood, leaving them both secretly wondering if it can survive a first kiss.
Author’s Note: Meant To Be is listed as Women’s Fiction with Strong Romantic Elements. It strongly crosses genres with contemporary romance and will appeal to many fans of romance novel—it is an atypical friends to lovers story with a strong romantic arc and a happily ever after ending. This book deals with adult issues and contains graphic/mature language and explicit sex scenes. If it were a movie, it would be rated R. Although I am also a published erotic romance writer, this book does not contain erotic content.
Title: Happily Ever Before
Authors: Aimee Pitta & Melissa Peterman
Received: From Aimee Pitta & Melissa Peterman
Synopsis: Two sisters, one drunken pact and a choice that changes their lives forever.

HAPPILY EVER BEFORE is best described as the comedic literary love child of the hit film’s Bridesmaids and Baby Mama. It is the story of two sisters, who while watching a Lifetime movie marathon (of course!) make a drunken pact that has more unconventional consequences than anything Lifetime could program.

HAPPILY EVER BEFORE, a fractured fairytale, tells the story of Grace, the free spirit older sister, who promises Clair, her wound-too-tight younger sister, that she’d have her baby, should the need ever arise. But she certainly never thought she’d have to “deliver”.

Now everyone, from Clair’s WASP-y in-laws to Diane, Grace and Clair’s mom, who has put her own life on hold, to Clair’s husband, Henry, who has a compulsive need to give Grace bizarre and overly personal pregnancy gifts, to George, Grace’s best friend who now needs to find a new drinking buddy, are dealing with situations they never dreamed of.

As the sisters are faced with hormonal surges, new romances, and a calcium enriched diet, they are forced to navigate this new family dynamic and test their sisterly love in ways that keep the reader laughing out loud.

Author Profile: Ellen Byerrum

Author Name: Ellen Byerrum Website: http://www.ellenbyerrum.com/ Bio: Ellen Byerrum writes the popular Crime of Fashion mysteries, set in bustling Washington, D.C., The City That Fashion…

On Tour: That Time of the Month by Emily Shaffer

Emily will be on tour October 8-29 with her novel That Time of the Month Recently fired and almost broke, thirty-year old Ellie decides to…

Downward Dog, Upward Fog by Meryl Davids Landau

I received a copy of Downward Dog, Upward Fog in exchange for an honest review.  Summary: Lorna Crawford has a great boyfriend, longtime friends, and…

Last Minute Love by Romi Moondi

Romi Moondi is a hilarious chick lit writer that I feel fortunate that I have come to know. Year of the Chick was an introduction to Romi Narindra, and the second in the series, Last Minute Love, picks right back up. Romi is still talking occasionally to the guy she met online but who is geographically unavailable, her parents are still trying to arrange-marry her, and Romi still feels a bit lost. But finally abandoning the search for Mr. Right and figuring out what truly makes Romi happy sets her on a path that finally gives Romi hope that maybe self-happiness is just around the corner.
The second in the series is just as fast-paced as the first, and a very enjoyable read. I don’t feel it’s absolutely necessary to read the first in order to read this one, but I definitely recommend it, just because it’s such a fun book. I loved following Romi’s journey and seeing her move on from being a bit man-crazy to searching for self-discovery. I’m fairly positive I’m correct when I say there will be a third in the series, and I will be watching for it!
[Rating: 4]

Blog Tour Sign Up: Mad World: Epidemic by Samaire Provost

Samaire will be on tour in December/January with her YA paranormal novel Mad World: Epidemic. I am looking for bloggers to review the book, or…

Challenge 2012:Post Reviews:October

October Reviews

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Prize for October: Three (3) winners will receive a print copy of Loving David by Gina Hummer. This will be open to US/Canada residents only. In order to qualify, you must post the link to your review in the Mister Linky below. This can be to your blog, GoodReads page, or other sources such as Amazon.