Shoulder Bags & Shootings (Book Review)

As many of you know murder mystery books are my favorite to read. I love to figure out who done it, and along with a great story line that makes me feel like apart of.

Shoulder Bags and Shootings is the third book in the Haley Randolph Mysteries Kensington series. In this book you pick up the story with Haley who is minimum wage associate in a department store. This department store is the same one own by her new boyfriend Ty. She has just returned from a wonderful trip in Europe where the only thing she didn't return with was her rent money!

With an obsession for the newest hot "handbag" she borrows her boyfriends grandmothers car. A quick stop at her job she despises and back out to the car to find a not so nice treat in the trunk ... a dead body. Come to find out this is not the first time she has found a dead body.

Follow along while Haley while she becomes the sleuth to find out who the real murderer is along the back story that she didn't know about the people around her.

The only thing that I missed was some back story on the previous books. One thing about reading series is if you haven't read the previous ones you can be a little lost or feel like your missing something. I am now on the hunt to find the previous books, I just loved the story and the lead character Haley. I truly enjoyed this book, it is a fast read that you'll be wanting more when it's over.

BUY IT: Shoulder Bags and Shootings by Dorthy Howell in hardback for $22.00 or currently on Amazon for $15.84 or on Kindle for $9.49.

Thank you for FSB for yet another amazing book for my collection.

My amazing friend at Firefly has the best disclosure, It about sums it all up :). Thank you sweetie for the disclosure.

Disclosure – The product featured in this review was provided to me free of charge, by the manufacturer or representing PR agency. Opinions expressed are my own and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation.

Lumby on the Air Book Review

I'm a mixture of sadness and joy the latest Gail Fraser installment in the Lumby Series is about to hit stands on July 6th! This series is like a good tv series that you look forward to each week and feel like you know each characters. I wanted to stay up and read this book in one night but then remembered this is the newest addition and probably won't have a new one in 6 months to a year. I couldn't help it, I tried to read it slow but it didn't work I couldn't put it down.

In Lumby on the Air Mark and Pam are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and decided to have a family reunion ending with the renewal of their vows. They shut down the inn for a week and bring on the family members. As most of us know family reunions don't always go the way we would expect them to and then add in everyone staying for a week! Tempers will fly, secrets will come out and the past will be dealt with.

Along with the family reunion you have the county fair happening. Mark of course being the silly man he is will try to enter all the contest he can. Like a duct tape model, sheep shaving and bull obstacle course, not that he is in shape or form ready for these events but he sure will try. Did I mention he will also entered the chainshaw sculpting contest, two words that should put fear in the others is Mark and chainsaw.

Not only do they have on their hands Mark and his crazy antics they have family members. Mark Sister who's husband stole money from Mark was invited along with his brother in law who is a shock jock and then a teenager niece that is addicted to the internet and chat rooms. Oh yes then you add in Pam's mom with her mystery guest who will be a big surprise also.

While the Walkers are dealing with their guest and the once upon living room that is now turned into a radio show for their obnoxious brother in law that is saying horrible things about the town and their town people. The town is dealing with the one of the founders of the town is about to sell his land to the highest bidder. The amount of land he has could lead to a commercial developer buying it up for a ski resort. Can Lumby be saved from this horrible fate?

Along the way some will forgive, along with fall in love, see where they went wrong and see how dangerous trying to fit in and going to meet places they don't know can lead to a bad situation. Parents will grow, children will forgive and grow also and family will come together.

Enjoy I promise you will!

BUY IT: Lumby on the Air July 6, 2010 reserve your copy right now on Amazon for the sale price $10.12, regular price $15.00 or. Make sure to check out Lumby Books Series by Gail R. Fraser

Thank you again FSB you have given me the gift of the best series I've read in YEARS.

I was not paid for this review these are my opinions and experiences, I received products to try and to tell how I liked them. No monetary or any other form of compensation was given to me. I review products free of charge to give my experience and opinion.

Check it out I'm famous ...

Hehe well maybe not famous but I sure feel special :). You know on the back of books how they have snip-its from authors and critics saying what they think? Well My favorite book has a slider that has snip-its from us bloggers and other people who loved the Lumby Series. Yup I made it on the list!! LOVE it. I feel so special!! Plus I love this series so you know it's even makes me higher on cloud nine :).

Praise for the Lumby Series

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The Promise of Lumby Book Review

The fourth addition in my favorite series is great, they just keep getting better and better! I'm telling you this is a series I could read and read again. Usually I'm a read once and I'm done, but these characters have grown on me and I feel like I know them personally. Gail Fraser has the best way of writing that makes you feel like you're sitting down with some old friends talking about what is new in town.

The newest addition to The Lumby Series is "The Promise of Lumby". When the beloved vet has gone threw with her promise to retire the town just doesn't want to hear it. They don't believe she would actually leave them. Weeks before leaving the town for good for a long overdue vacation and then on to move closer to family her clinic still hasn't sold and it's looking like the town may not have a vet anymore. That is until a stranger comes to visit. Dr. Candor is a mystery and is looking into buy the practice. The town that usually doesn't like anyone new is opening their arms wide open to fill a much needed spot in there town.

Dr. Candor keeps to himself doesn't answer many questions which leads Dennis the owner of the local newspaper to want more answers. Can this man be for real or is he hiding a deep secret? While Dennis and the Mayor Jimmy D start to question Tom and his past, Tom falls for Mac the towns best craftsman or should I say craftswoman. Tom tells her about his past the accident that his wife was in that lead to a mishap while he was performing surgery on a very rare panda. That one moment led to so many things that went wrong, he lost his job, his wife who was pregnant by someone else and the life he knew so dearly. He paid his dues and earned back his license, all he wanted to do was to start over and leave the past behind him. He didn't want pitty so he never told the town about what happened and when the newspaper detailed only about he loss of his job and the poor panda, it looked like the town turned on him.

Going back to face his past and leave Lumby forever he asked Mac to come with him. Will the town figure out what happen and know that they pushed away a great man? Tragic events may just lead him back to Lumby and for good. Add in the monks from Saint Cross who are receiving exotic animals as gifts and you may just have a zoo on your hands! Trust me I was laughing out loud yet again reading this. The people at the gym think I'm nuts, I'm giggling in the corner holding a book and trying not to fall off the machine.

Thank you again FSB you have given me the gift of the best series I've read in YEARS.

BUY IT: The Promise of Lumby paperback for $15.00, currently on sale at Amazon for $6.00 or on Kindle for $12.99.

I was not paid for this review these are my opinions and experiences, I received products to try and to tell how I liked them. No monetary or any other form of compensation was given to me. I review products free of charge to give my experience and opinion.

Lumby's Bounty Book Review

As you know I'm in LOVE with the Lumby books, I've already made it a goal to meet Gail Fraser the author of this amazing series. Lumby is set in a small town in my home state Washington. Just one of the reasons I love the series. The other is Gail's writing style it just keeps you wanting to turn the page and find out more about this unique town. I promise you will laugh the whole way threw these books!

Lumby's Bounty is centered around a hot aired balloon festival. Turns out the towns misfit son signed the town up to hold the festival. Not knowing anything about hot air ballooned they form a committee with Mark (the owner of the Montis Inn) as the leader. Mark can never do a project with out something going wrong. Of course the first balloon attempt goes terribly wrong, let's just say the Monks at the Saint Cross Abbey an hour away had some roof damage from a fly away balloon.

Thankfully two men visiting Saint Cross come to the rescue who have experience with building and flying Hot Air Ballooned. The small town of Lumby don't always take kindly to new people and this is no exception. A romance blossoms with one of the foreigners and one of the most prominent ladies.

The first balloon sewn by the Mayors wife sadly didn't survive a mishap, can she make a second one in time for the big event? Along with the goings on of this huge event they will encounter bad weather, rumors and a budding romance. This was a fast read that I was sad to put down! Hank the plastic flamingo that is the town mascot of course makes several appearances and helps keep the humor and the town never having a dull moment.

Enjoy I promise you'll love it and even better you'll find some amazing recipes in the back of the book! Thank you again FSB, I truly cherish this series and think Gail needs to write them faster because I'm not sure what I'll do when I reach the latest one.

BUY IT: Lumby's Bounty paperback for $15.00, currently on sale at Amazon for $10.20 or on Kindle for $12.99.

I was not paid for this review these are my opinions and experiences, I received products to try and to tell how I liked them. No monetary or any other form of compensation was given to me. I review products free of charge to give my experience and opinion.

The Happy Stepmother Book Review

As a step daughter I know the unique dynamic of the role of being a stepmother. We fit right into the percentage of what is now called "the blended family". As we know it doesn't always go smooth. Stepping into the role as a stepmom is a hard role to fit into, the mold that was left behind may just not be the same shape of the new mom to be.

Being a stepmother is a hard balance between knowing were you fill and where you step back. Many families with stepmothers find themselves caught between trying to please both the children and of course their husbands.

Dr. Rachelle Katz, Ed.D., LMFT founder of the website stepsforstepmothers.com created a book to bring you to the Happy Stepmother faze. Full of stepmom stories, tons of tips, strategies to help find that happy place you've longed for. As for all mom's one of your the tips that is a must take care of yourself. Stepmom or not you feel better if you have a positive outlook things around you are better. I know most of you are saying yes you say take care of yourself easier said then done. Believe me it's a hard one for me too, but as she points out in the book there are simple and easy ways to make this part of your life. One of the things threw out the book is the importance of journaling. Along with that are questions for you to answer during different chapters of the book.

You're not alone and believe me there are many things that can help you become a happier person and stepmother. Even though I'm not a stepmom I found several things in the book that was very helpful for just being a stressful mom on the go.

BUY IT: The Happy Stepmother: Stay Sane, Empower Yourself, Thrive in Your New Family for $15.95 or currently on sale at Amazon for $10.85 and on Kindle for $9.99.

Thank you again for FSB for another book that is close and dear to my heart.

I was not paid for this review these are my opinions and experiences, I received products to try and to tell how I liked them. No monetary or any other form of compensation was given to me. I review products free of charge to give my experience and opinion.

Queen of Your Own Life Book Review

Awhile back I caught a Kathy Kinney & Cindy Ratzlaff on a talk show talking about their new book Queen of Your Own life. I just had to read it. First off I just LOVE Kathy Kinney, who played Mimi for years on "The Drew Carey Show". She has the best sense of humor in all the interviews I've seen her in and of course who could not laugh at Mimi and her troll dolls?

Currently I am not at the middle point in my life but as we know time flies and who doesn't want to read up and humor to what I need to look forward to. The book is written with the perfect spice of humor and life lessons.

How the book started, this is what made me laugh because my mom has said this same thing! Kathy couldn't sleep one night because her feet where hot, so of course what does one do when we can't sleep we hope on the internet. Yup I've never done that (as I write post at midnight ... lol). As she searched about hot feet she found that sites said she was in the "Crone Stage" get ready sit back and just except your in the ugly part of your life. Nothing like being told you're a Crone Aged women to set out to write the book to let others know you're just at a new and exciting part of your life!

Kathy & Cindy met up for a Girls Getaway (I so need one of these) for travel and dinning and the thoughts came together became the hilarious book Queen of Your Own Life: Welcome to the Rest of Your Life!.

A taste of what you will find in this book:

Seven gifts
Here are the seven gifts you’ll give yourself by reading our book:

1. Claim your beauty and feel your power

2. Clean your mental closet and find your Queen voice

3. Admire yourself for who you’ve become

4. Build deep, fulfilling friendships with other women

5. Establish firm boundaries that will strengthen all of your relationships

6. Discover the simple trick to finally being happy

7. Proclaim yourself Queen of Your Own Life

Enjoy I promise this is a perfect book for yourself or a GREAT idea for a Mother's Day Gift!

BUY IT: Queen of Your Own Life for $18.95 currently at Amazon on sale for $11.07 or Kindle for $9.99.

Thank you again to FSB for another funny book to my collection!

Mimi (Funny Lady) Of course Kathy in real life with Cindy!

I was not paid for this review these are my opinions and experiences, I received products to try and to tell how I liked them. No monetary or any other form of compensation was given to me. I review products free of charge to give my experience and opinion.

Eat & Beat Diabetes with Picture Perfect Weight Loss (Book Review)

As many of you have heard me say before Diatbetes is something that hits very hard at home at our house. Having lost my grandmother and poor Rick's side has lost a grandmother and four of her children from it. Thanks to reality shows like The Biggest Loser and others like the Food Revolution diabetes has had the covers taken off it and revealed to the world for the big bad wolf it is.

Diabetes can be controlled by many factors one being weight loss and food. As many know I'm on a path to loose weight along with not go down the same path as my grandmother. Doing so I have been cooking more meals at home and watching what goes into those meals. I have found another book that can help all of us with our path to being a healthier version.

Eat & Beat Diabetes with Picture Perfect Weight Loss is a wonderful book with helpful types on ways to substiute along with things you think may be good for you but really are not! I know sneaky little things!! Now most recipes book I get come from one great chef this book has recipes from SEVENTEEN top chefs! Believe me you won't be disappointed. And for people like me who love pictures this book is full of them for the recipes to the tip pages!

A part that touched me even more is that it focus and makes it a point to bring more light to a subject that so many don't want to see. Our youth right now have a shorter life span than the kids before them! Let's do our part to keep our kids healthy with better foods!

Fact: Every day in the United States 2,200 Americans are diagnosed with Diabetes. Let's not be part of the fact, let's be the ones that break out of the mold.

Of course I must leave you with some recipe! Click on picture to enlarge to get recipe sorry blogger was being a pain and wouldn't let me do these correct.

Thank you FSB for more yummy recipes to try out! I received a book to review and give my opinions on, I was given no compensation was given.