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Showing posts from 2018

My Brother's Bride Review

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My Brother’s Bride by Rachael Anderson Abigail Nash leads a lonely existence. Her mother died giving birth to her, her father’s business dealings took him away more often than not, and her ailing great-aunt, unable to provide much in the way of companionship, was a lack-luster guardian at best. So when her dear friends offered to launch her into London society, it appeared Abby’s life was taking a turn for the better, with suitors and social engagements aplenty. When she marries a proclaimed darling of the ton, it seems she will at last settle into the life of her dreams. But appearances aren’t always what they seem, and dreams often become disappointments. Just months into her marriage, Abby finds herself widowed, penniless, increasing, and determined to never hope again. But when her late husband’s brother, the Earl of Brigston, attempts to thaw the numbness surrounding her heart, Abby must decide if she has it in her to risk another chance at happiness, knowing the ...

The Songs That Brought Me Back Review

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The Songs That Brought Me Back Have you ever made a mistake? One so monumental you lost everything? I did, and I hate myself for it! All I want to do is close my eyes, and let the darkness consume me. Make it all go away. The end. Ainsley is drowning in the depth of her despair. One wrong decision left her alone, with only regret as her constant companion. To escape it all, she makes another choice. One she hopes will end everything. Instead, she’s thrown into a whole new world filled with opportunities she doesn’t believe she deserves. Ethan gives the appearance of breezing through life. But underneath his bright facade, he’s scarred by loss. When fate leads him into Ainsley’s world at the exact moment she needs someone the most, he can’t ignore the chance to right the wrongs of his past. Ainsley and Ethan will struggle to help each other heal and start anew. They’ll learn that the secret to conquering their pain lies within their power, if only they can do it together. ...
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My Brother’s Bride by Rachael Anderson Abigail Nash leads a lonely existence. Her mother died giving birth to her, her father’s business dealings took him away more often than not, and her ailing great-aunt, unable to provide much in the way of companionship, was a lack-luster guardian at best. So when her dear friends offered to launch her into London society, it appeared Abby’s life was taking a turn for the better, with suitors and social engagements aplenty. When she marries a proclaimed darling of the ton, it seems she will at last settle into the life of her dreams. But appearances aren’t always what they seem, and dreams often become disappointments. Just months into her marriage, Abby finds herself widowed, penniless, increasing, and determined to never hope again. But when her late husband’s brother, the Earl of Brigston, attempts to thaw the numbness surrounding her heart, Abby must decide if she has it in her to risk another chance at happiness, knowing the odds ar...

Getting to Know You Tag

Hi, lovely readers! I stumbled across this tag on Maggie's blog, The Caramel Files , and swiped it!  Something to liven up the blog. Vital Stats Name - Melissa Ann. Nicknames - Missy, Mel, Lissa. Birthday - April 1 (April Fools Baby!!!!) Star Sign - Aries. Occupation - Dental Office Manager. Appearance Hair Color - black with blue half way down and my fair share of silver. Hair Length - shoulder length. Eye Color - Brown. Best Feature - I am tall. Braces - nope, never needed. Piercings - just my ears, had a belly button piercing but had to take it out.  Would love to get it pierced again. Tattoos - two.  A ram between my shoulder blades and a heart with my son's initials on my thigh.  Right or Left - Right. Firsts Real Holiday - The first holiday I can remember with great clarity is the Easter that my Great Aunt passed away, it is not a pleasant memory. Best Friend - Lindsay, she lived down the street. A...

Currently

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Currently.... It's been a while since I have posted one of these for you guys.  I miss it, updating you on all the random things that I have going on.  I am hoping to have the time to get it up and going again. As well as the rest of my blog since I have been neglecting it just a wee bit. Loving... It's almost fall again, the weather is cooling down, I can wear boots everyday and jackets and hoodies.  This is my best time of year.  I was given both new boots and a new hoodie recently so I will be wearing the heck out of both. Reading... Right now I am reading The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead by Max Brooks and listening to Chainfire by Terry Goodkind on Audible. Watching... Right now I am binge watching a lot of Criminal Minds and Supernatural while I study.  Not sure what works for you but I am on fire with my marks so I am going to keep it going for now. Making... Working on my Chri...

Friendly Fill Ins 103

Hi everyone! Time for the Friendly Fill-Ins. Be sure to leave your link at McGuffy’s Reader. 1. I could really use ____________________. 2. ________________________ is a charity that I like to support. 3. One time, I broke                            , and                           . 4. I wish that I had                     , when I was young(er). My answers: 1) I could really use a workout buddy to motivate me to stick with my scheduled workouts. 2) Big Brothers Big Sisters of York Region is a charity that I like to support. 3) One time, I broke my thumb, and my dad had a heart attack on the same day. 4) I wish that I had cared more about school, when I was younger.    

Throwback Thursday

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A snapshot from a few months ago which will just give an idea of my starting point for my She-Hulk transformation.  There is quite a bit of work to make it to that point but I am excited for this project.

Cosplay Plans: She-Hulk

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 I have never before felt the urge to cosplay a super hero, usually I stick to easy to cosplay with out much criticism characters.  But I am on a huge kick to get back in shape and something about She-hulk calls to me so I thought that she would be a great goal for getting into shape.  Going through pictures on the internet I have found quite a few different costumes that I have varying degrees of fondness for.  There will be lots of research till I find something that suits my comfort level for wearing to a convention I am sure. The bigger part of these plans though is to get into a cosplaying She-Hulk kind of shape.  I know that a year is no where near enough time to go from my current shape to body builder shape.  However, I think that with a lot of hard work and dedication I can get into decent enough shape to feel comfortable with it. There will be periodic updates here on the blog but if you want to hear all of the nitty gritty follow @...

Kindle Book Review: Kiss Me, I'm Irish

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Emily Musgrave is heading a direction she never wanted to go in Regency England--namely a convent to turn her from her waywardness. But it's more loneliness than rebellion that motivates her to escape her certain fate. Liam Jackson is going nowhere fast in modern-day Tennessee. Playing his Dobro in seedy bars and backward dives along with his fiddling sister, Tinker, is doing nothing for his music career--and even less for the dark places in his soul. Pixie mischief can not only change time-lines, it can change hearts. Because sometimes a girl just needs a little magic in her life. I found this book to be an interesting time travel fantasy story. Would I have picked it out on my own from a bookstore?  No way.  Did I enjoy reading it? Yes. Tinker was my favourite character in this book, sheis a mischievous sort of fun which is always lovely.  Besides a punky, pixie?  Totally my spirit animal! (person?)  I did not relate to Emily very well, I unde...

A to Z Challenge 2018: H

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Happiness can be faked. What?  I know that was what I said at first.  However it really does work. One of my favourite take aways from Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project is that a part of being happy is acting happy.  Playing the part of what you want to be is advice that people give you all the time in so many areas of life.  Why?  Because it works.  Dress for the job you want, act professional etc. Acting happier works as well, when you start acting happier you are training your mind to be happier with what you have right in the moment and and it becomes a habit.

A to Z Challenge 2018: G

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Good begets good. Feeling down?  Hold the door for the lady behind you juggling three bags and a toddler.  Instant mood boast.  Putting good out into the world makes you feel good.  Hold doors, smile at people you interact with, say hello or good morning.  Wave to small children. You don't need to know how those actions effect other people (they won't hurt them) only how they effect you.

A to Z Challenge 2018: F

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Fear. In my younger years, much younger, I was afraid of nothing.  Except giant ants, and that was only because I once trampled an anthill in my step father's eyesight and he, an excellent storyteller, assured me that giant ants would come get their retribution. Other than that it was not until I got older that I started to develop a fear of doing things, speaking in front of people, social engagements, phone calls, going out in public, wearing bright colours. As I started to get older than that I realized that most of my fears are deeply rooted in what people think of me.  The older I get the more I realize that people judge you a lot less than you think because they are mostly caught up in their own shit.  Or you might be scared they are think something of you when really they are think something totally different. Have I become any less afraid of those things?  No.  But now I embrace the fear and take the plunge most days.  Some days I st...

A to Z Challenge 2018: E

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Eat to fuel your body. Sluggish, tired from eating junk because I was always so busy me was not a fun person to be around at all.  She pretty much just worked and slept and occasionally snapped at people because they tired to make her do other things. A part of the course I am taking is fitness and nutrition and a part of learning about that is learning how food fuels your body.  IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.  You have to stick with it though to get through the bad parts.  The first few weeks of cutting out processed foods and cutting back on sugar were a nightmare, I felt like I was dying. DYING!!!! I feel great now though and it takes some planning to work out days when I am busy or we are going out but so worth it.

A to Z Challenge 2018: D

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Don't delay. One of the biggest things that has impressed me in my research for bringing more happiness into your life is to not delay unpleasant tasks just because they are unpleasant.  In the words of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt "you can do anything for 30 seconds" and you can. Think about how many thinks that we put off and put off that would only take 30 seconds if we just did them.  My biggest is folding and putting away laundry.  What is yours?   

A to Z Challenge 2018: C

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Change. In general we tend to fear change yet without it nothing can move forward.  I am hugely guilty of this one.  I often deal with a status quo that does not make me happy because I am afraid of the unknown.  What will happen if I get a new job?  What is the dating scene like these days?  What happens if I try to make friends with the other parents at karate? There is nothing all that great about the status quo, and who knows what that change might bring?  More money? A trip?  More time with you family?  Take the plunge, change something small today.  Small change makes big ripples. 

A to Z Challenge 2018: B

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Be yourself.  Every book that I have read so far on how to bring more happiness into your life or reduce your stress at some point has this same message in some way.  Stop trying to be something you don't want to do and just be yourself. This is something that I struggled with a long time before finally starting to come to my own now in my late 30's.  Even now I feel the pressure to conform to something I am just not.  I get it from my parents especially who are constantly telling me I need to grow up.  I used to try to please them all because I love them but know I have figured out that if I am constantly trying to please them instead of just being me then when it really matters I tend to balk at doing the stuff they need from me.  It's much better to have an 80/20 balance where 80% of the time they call except me for me and 20% of the time I act like as reasonable human being and don't wear a tutu to the theater. I find it much more freeing to...

A to Z Challenge 2018: A

So here I am at my A post and I never even gave you guys a theme.  I do have one this year and I was all set to announce it but life got in the way.  Am I stressed about that?  More then you will ever know but I am working on letting it go.  Because my theme for this year (and the challenge) is self.  Discovery, improvement, finding happiness. For the letter A I was going to record a brief video about attitude and why I feel it is the most important factor in any journey to improve your life.  But said life through me some road blocks and instead you get a written post about it while my cat cries because the kids stole all her Easter eggs. My parents used to tell me when I was a kid that attitude towards other people was important and effected how people treated you.  And it is.  However,  at no point in my 30 plus years on the planet did anyone mention that attitude towards yourself is equally important.  Everyone talks about loving you...

Blog Tour Review: My Sister's Intended

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Blog Tour - March 28th to April 12th My Sister's Intended by Rachael Anderson For as long as Prudence can remember, it has been understood that her sister will one day wed the eldest son of their nearest neighbor. Such an alliance will benefit both families and bring a great deal of joy to all parents involved. Unfortunately, Prudence has never been able to feel as joyful. She believes her sister is mad to consider marrying a man she hardly knows, even if he will one day make her a countess. Titles and wealth shouldn't factor into matters of the heart, and as an aspiring romance novelist, Prudence cannot fathom how anyone could even think of settling for less than love. She certainly wouldn’t, and she doesn't want her sister to either. Unable to stand by and do nothing, Prudence sets out to help the awkward couple discover the best in each other with the hope that they will eventually find love. What she neglected to foresee, however, was the possibility...

My Sister's Intended Release Day

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Happy Release Day to My Sister's Intended by Rachael Anderson. We're celebrating with a $50 Giveaway! My Sister's Intended by Rachael Anderson For as long as Prudence can remember, it has been understood that her sister will one day wed the eldest son of their nearest neighbor. Such an alliance will benefit both families and bring a great deal of joy to all parents involved. Unfortunately, Prudence has never been able to feel as joyful. She believes her sister is mad to consider marrying a man she hardly knows, even if he will one day make her a countess. Titles and wealth shouldn't factor into matters of the heart, and as an aspiring romance novelist, Prudence cannot fathom how anyone could even think of settling for less than love. She certainly wouldn’t, and she doesn't want her sister to either. Unable to stand by and do nothing, Prudence sets out to help the awkward couple discover the best in each other with the hope that they will eventually find...