Review - Renovated: A Workplace Romance by Nikki Kiley

I love reading books in new series or by new (to me) authors. With Renovated: A Workplace Romance by Nikki Kiley, I get the best of both worlds! 

Renovated is the debut book in a new series of romance novels featuring the Chance Brothers. Levi Chance is one of 6 brothers who work in construction / home renovation business who has done work for a popular Home TV Network. Marisa Sanchez, is a designer and contractor known for her popular social media presence. 

Sparks fly when they're thrust together for a new home show, Renovated, at the last minute after the original team of hosts fell apart. 

With a tight timeline, they have to work through their differences and doubts about each other's abilities while at the same time learning what motivates each. Levi runs a family business with his 5 brothers and as the oldest, feels a certain responsibility to make sure they're all taken care of. Marisa runs her business with the hope of earning enough money to buy the building to help save her Nana's business.

The story keeps you updated on the progress of the renovation, but more importantly, it keeps you up to date with their familial obligations all the while as they're undeniably attracted to each other. When a huge curve ball is thrown Marisa's way that may put the entire show in jeopardy, the families come together and do what families do best, which is to support each other.

Throughout the book we get to enjoy Marisa and Levi's steamy romance as well as meet Levi's brothers and Marisa's sweet Nana and her best friends who stood by her through all her ups and downs. I can't wait to read more stories to get to know all those characters even better.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was very readable, the story flowed, and I just had to keep turning my digital pages to see what happened next. It was a pretty quick read that will leave you longing for more. And... you get a sneak peek into the next Chance Brother romance, so be sure to pick this up!

Find Nikki Kiley online and her books at these and other locations.  Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Amazon - Bookbub 

Happy Reading! 

        - Heather


Twitter - @GrantsCrossing 

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing 

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown - for this and all my book reviews

Review - The Cider Shop Rules

I just finished the Cider Shop Rules by Julie Anne Lindsey and while the wait seemed to last forever and ever! (Imagine a little kid’s wanting to open Christmas presents but Christmas was still three whole days away!) Fine - it wasn’t forever, but I’m thrilled it’s nearly here! This is a terrific whodunnit in which the murder suspect didn’t even appear on my radar until Lindsey was ready for me to start suspecting that particular killer. 

That particular killer, you ask? Yes. There are two. Heh heh heh. 

Imagine a beautiful fall day in the midst of pumpkin and cider festivals where families and friends are gathered to celebrate the season. Nearby, a Civil War reenactment is going on throwing more interesting characters. When it’s time to leave the festival, our Cider Shop friends take off for ice cream only to discover a body in the back of their truck. Oops. The best part? I didn’t know who it was until the author revealed it. 

Love me a good whodunnit!

I love cozy mysteries by Julie Anne Lindsey. She’s an author who’s books I pick up as soon as they come out. Well, actually, that’s not true. 

I’ve now taking to pre-ordering her books because I’m clearly not patient enough to wait for release date. Can’t help myself. She writes great whodunnits and likable, intelligent and yes, quirky characters, that you can’t help but fall in love with. 

See? Four of these pre-orders are books by Julie Anne Lindsey (aka Bree Baker for Partners in Lime). I just don’t want to miss them. 

The Cider Shop Rules in the latest in the Cider Shop cozy mystery series. I received the book as an ARC from NetGalley and posted this review both there and on Goodreads. 

I loved going back to Blossom Valley to spend time with Winnie, Granny, and Colton. Blossom Valley is knee deep in autumn festivals when the owner of the pumpkin farm is found dead in the back of Winnie’s truck. The town is all aflutter with the news and the community’s expectations that Winnie will help find the killer.

Naturally, Winnie doesn’t want to find anything out, but when threats find their way to her Cider Shop, she has no choice but to step in, much to the chagrin of Sheriff Colton Wise.

It certainly doesn’t help that Winnie is being stalked by an escaped serial killer on top of receiving warnings to stay away from asking questions about the man whose body was found in her truck.

I’ll be honest, there were a couple of times when I agreed with Colton about her promising him one thing and turning right around and doing the opposite and kind of wish he’d tried to drive that further into her head, but for the most part, she did alright and had me on the edge of the seat to find out what what she could learn. I could not stop turning those pages!

I enjoyed the expansion of characters in this book. Along the way, we meet some of Colton’s family, including his brother, Blake, a sheriff in a neighboring county, and his parents. We were also treated to a cameo from a couple characters in another cozy series by Lindsey, one I’ve not yet read, but will binge-read soon!

Be sure to pick up this latest / third installment of the Cider Shop Mysteries by Julie Anne Lindsey. I promise you won’t be disappointed. And the ending… GAHHH! Loved it. (I.e. FINALLY!) Ahem. :-)

Full disclosure - whenever I see a book by Julie Anne Lindsey, I pick it up. If you’ve not yet read her books, I highly suggest you check out her website and start reading. They’re all good!

Ebook was provide as an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks very much to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for this opportunity.

The Cider Shop Rules is due to hit the shelves on July 27 but is available now for pre-order. The first and second books in the series are Apple Cider Slaying and Pulp Friction and yes - I absolutely love the punny titles. (Is punny a word?) 

I strongly encourage you to take a look at her website and try some of her books if you haven’t already. She writes Cozy Mysteries, including a new series, Bonnie and Clyde, starting with Burden of Poof coming out this fall. 

Julie Anne Lindsey official website - Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Amazon 

Read my Goodreads review. 

Happy Reading! 

        - Heather


Twitter - @GrantsCrossing 

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing 

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown 

Review - The Layover

I picked up book last week to listen to at work and discovered this new gem by Lacie Waldon. The Layover is her debut novel, an enemies to lovers romantic comedy. I originally read about it in a Goodreads giveaway (which I didn't win) so I was delighted to find it on audible. I listened to it all in a day and loved every minute of it. 

I absolutely loved this book! I think it’s because I love to fly, but also because I have a couple of friends who worked as flight attendants and they always came back with some fantastic stories about the various goofy people on their flights. While the passenger antics make up a small part of the book, it adds depth to the overall story. 

Ava is a newly engaged flight attendant working her last flight which includes a 24-hour layover at a beach resort in Belize. She’s been working the skies for nearly 9 years now and has her job down to a science. Typically unflappable, her professionalism is pushed to the limit with an eccentric, yet lovable, young flight attendant who traded for this layover flight and Jack, a former Air Force pilot who is now working as a flight attendant in the civilian world. Never mind that he has a reputation as a player looking to date as many flight attendants as he possibly can. 

Sensing a spark of romance, Ava and Jack team up to play matchmakers to two other coworkers on this flight resulting in some laugh out loud exchanges between all the characters. 

Maintenance problems add an extra 24-hours to their layover on the beach in Belize which is when it becomes more and more apparent that Ava and Jack are falling for each other. Add a fiancé that wants her to be nothing more than a trophy wife and romance ensues.

I love the way they come together at the end, especially with a little help from the Captain along the way. 

In all honesty, the fact that her brand new engagement ended up being called off was a tad predictable. We knew it was coming from the beginning, but it was quite satisfying when it did.

This is the debut novel by Lacie Waldon that keeps you grounded with fun, but leave you flying high. I look forward to reading more! 

Now… where can I get my hands on some deep dish pizza?

Find Lacie Waldon on line - Website - Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Amazon

This book just hit the shelves last week. I highly recommend adding it to your summer reading list! In the meantime, happy reading!

 - Heather

Twitter - @GrantsCrossing

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown - Find this and other book reviews here

Review - The Man From Darke County

This book was awesome! 

Have you read The Man From Darke County by N. Sullivan? If you haven’t, pick it up today and read it this week. It’s a fun, super quirky, well-written detective novel that touches on a bit of the paranormal. And, it’s set right here in Ohio.

Last summer, I just wanted to read a few pages so I could reference this book in my own book that I’m writing and two hours later, I’d read the whole thing. I couldn’t put it down it was so much fun to read. 

The Man From Darke County was an enjoyable read that did not at all go a direction I expected it to go, which is probably why it was such fun. 

A detective, deemed crazy by his fellow policemen, is pulled off suspension to join in with a police detective from a neighboring county filled with a most unusual populace. 

Be warned: there’s a lot of snark in the dialogue which is part of what appealed to me. Anytime an author can fill a character’s dialogue with copious amounts of sarcasm, I’m a happy camper. 

If you like detective novels and are looking for something a little different, I highly recommend you read this book. 

As for me, I’m looking forward to reading the sequel!

Find N. Sullivan online at Amazon - Patreon - Twitter 

If you’re unfamiliar with Patreon, as I was, it’s a digital subscription service that allows you to support your favorite indie authors with their audio stories, podcasts, behind the scenes footage, and all sorts of other fun content. You’re welcome to support at a variety of levels established by the various hosts. I encourage you to follow the link above and learn more. 

Read my original Goodreads review.

In the meantime, thanks and happy reading!

     - Heather 

Twitter - @GrantsCrossing

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown

Review - Anchored Hearts by Priscilla Oliveras

May 11, 2020 - that's when I read my first romance novel since I was in high school. If you're wondering how long that's been, I graduated from high school in 1987. 

So yeah. It had been a while. 

The book I read was by an author whose books I'd never read before named Priscilla Oliveras. I had heard of her only because I'm in the Between the Chapters Book Club, a Facebook group hosted by Kensington Books, a publishing house under the umbrella of Penguin Random House. So for fun, I decided to try the book. It was one of the May books of the month. I liked the cover. I'd seen it in a couple of Emails. Why not? 

Why not, indeed! Island Affair is a fake boyfriend/girlfriend romance that was a ton of fun and turned into the real thing for a happily ever after at the end of the book. Sara and Luis. Swoon. How could you not love it? It's a fantastic book - filled with a woman in Key West whose boyfriend basically stood her up on this trip and Luis, a dreamy Latinx firefighter paramedic whose family is big and accepting and more than happy to see their son find love. (This is Book 1 of why you should never go up against a Cuban mami. You won't win. Just smile, nod, and say Si, Señora! For book 2 of this lesson, read Anchored Hearts. No. Really.)

Thanks to this book, I've been hooked on reading romance novels nearly non-stop since last May11. No really. It's true. 

Her latest book, Anchored Hearts, book #2 of the Keys to Love series just came out and does not disappoint! 

There’s nothing better than returning to Key West to visit the Navarro and Miranda families. Oliveras’ earlier book, Island Affair was my visit visit to the Keys (in real life or fiction) and it’s also the book that piqued my interest in romance novels. Island Affair was the first romance novel I had read since high school and I graduated in ‘87. 

In Anchored Hearts, we return to spend time with Annamaria Navarro as she’s working hard as a paramedic / firefighter but also doing a fabulous job building her own business that centers on fitness and good nutrition. She’s making a name for herself in that industry and is making great progress at growing her business. 

Enter Alejandro Miranda, her first love who ran off to Europe after high school to pursue his dream of photography - breaking her heart in the process. Now, 10-12 years later, he re-enters her life after a serious accident that has him laid up at his parents’ home. It’s definitely a challenge since he doesn’t get along with his father who still harbours resentment towards his son for not joining the family business. 

Now, combine two broken hearts with their Cuban Mamis and there is sure to be a lot of fun and friction. 

Remind me never to say anything but yes, ma’am to any Cuban Mami who crosses my path. They sure are forces to be reckoned with - especially when they’re right! 

I love the rekindling of emotions between Annamaria and Ale that built throughout the story. Priscilla Oliveras’ writing style drew me in from the first page, as she has on all her other books I’ve made a point to read in the last several months. 

Following a constant theme of familia present in all her books, Anchored Hearts did not disappoint. I look forward to her next book. Definitely an author whose books I pick up on sight.

Priscilla Oliveras' other books include: 

* His Perfect Partner (Matched to Perfection #1)

* Her Perfect Affair (Matched to Perfection #2)

* Their Perfect Melody (Matched to Perfection #3) 

* Resort to Love (Paradise Key #2) 

* Holiday Home Run (which has a main character who played for the Chicago Cubs. Fictional main character, yes, but whenever my favorite baseball team makes an appearance, I like it that much more!)

Her books can be found most everywhere. Click here for a complete list. 

On social media, Priscilla Oliveras is always super friendly and is happy to welcome new romance readers into Romancelandia. I'm a romance novel convert thanks to her. Find her online here: Website - Twitter - Goodreads

Thanks and happy reading!

         - Heather

Find me online

Twitter - @GrantsCrossing

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown

Book of the Month - May

Subscription boxes are all the craze these days, especially since so many of us haven't been going out in the last year, opting instead for a lot more delivery services than usual. Subscription boxes ranging from wine to coffee to makeup to pizza to cleaning supplies are becoming more and more popular. Not wanting to be left out, I happily jumped on this bandwagon!

Last month, I signed up for a monthly subscription box of books. It's aptly named the Book of the Month Club. 

It's super basic and I love it. Each month, I choose one of five books and it's mailed to me. Simple as that. I'm welcome to pass on a month, cancel, keep it going. Whatever I want. 

This month's box arrived today. 

The book I chose is a thriller by Laura Dave: The Last Thing He Told Me (Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Amazon) 

As with every month, I also get the option of grabbing an extra 1-2 books leftover from previous months. I did that this time around and ended up receiving these two gems. 

Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore (Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Amazon)

The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon (Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Amazon) 

Yes, my new addiction to romance novels continues. I can't help it. I can't not read them. 

April's book was People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. (Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Amazon). It's an early release, available for purchase starting May 11, 2021. I'm just now getting started on this book and am really enjoying it so far. 

Emily Henry is also the author of a bookI loved called Beach Read. (Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Amazon). Beach Read is classified as a romance novel, yes, but I love how it follows two writers, each encountering writer's block for their own respective genres. Along the way they share with each other what typically inspires them to write. The romance is there, but takes a back burner to the friendship and mutual respect as writers that develop. It's a fantastic book! 

Have you signed up for any subscription boxes I our pandemic world? If so, I'd love to know what goodies you're having delivered to you every month!

Book of the Month is a fun club to join and while I'm barely into my second month, I can already tell I'm going to enjoy it. I look forward to sharing my reviews of these books in the coming weeks.

Take care and happy reading! 

             - Heather

Find me in your favorite places!

Twitter - @GrantsCrossing

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown

Greetings!

HELLO! It's been since October since I last gave you an update on my book writing adventures here in Columbus, Ohio.

Well...it's been a tad crazy. Sure. That's the pat answer folks give when they've been too busy to care about things and totally forgot. "Oh man. Uh...it's been crazy." Translation: "Oh shit. Totally forgot, dude."

In all honesty, I haven't forgotten. 

Have I been busy? Yes. Absolutely. 

Some of that is for work. I'm still working my logistics job from a 6-foot, fold up banquet table set up in the living room of my 650-square foot apartment near the awesome neighborhood called Grandview. I really like my job and I absolutely love the people I work with. We're a tight-knit group and we all get along fabulously well which makes this whole job worth it. We're also fairly compensated for the jobs we do. Did I get that $3 million signing bonus? No. Maybe I need to work on my negotiating skills. Or maybe, it's because people don't buy tickets to see me do my job like they do for athletes. 

Note to self: Cancel plans for merchandising rollout. 

Some of it has been because I work and then I read. That's pretty much it. I've read 109 books so far this year. And no - I don't mean in the year since the lockdown went into effect. (Because we're officially past a year now) I mean 109 books since January 1, 2021. No really. It's true. Check out my Goodreads page. While you're there, friend me! I like friends!

I have a cat and sure, like all self-respecting cats, she judges me nonstop, but that's it. No kids, No husband. A pandemic which has kept me at home - and I'm totally good with that. My being careful means I haven't gotten sick. But in non-pandemic times, I usually spend a lot of time at cafes, inevitably running into people I know. I go to my knitting group. I get together with friends for dinners. I go to the movies a lot. All that stopped last year. All of it. My knitting friends zoom on occasion, so we still "see" each other, but that's it. I have no commute, except for the few seconds it takes me to walk out to my living room. So how do I spend my time? I read and I write. 

Which brings me to writing. I received my book back from my editor, who is awesome. And she's honest. Before June 11, 2020, I'd never attempted any sort of creative writing. One exception: The Weaving Loom, which I wrote as a fluke in response to another Peace Corps volunteer who described the region to which I'd be moving in story form. I answered in kind. That was it. So when the editor got back to me with a paper that, if written in red ink would have made it look like it was bleeding, I knew I had my work cut out for me. 

Good parts, bad parts, indifferent parts and yes - I needed to hear it all. Basically - I had three entirely different story lines going. She articulated about my project that which I could not. So since then... I've removed 2/3 of the book and started again. I've kept some, I've added a lot and now it's turning into a book where the main character is more obvious. And more fun to write. And also a book I can be proud of. I'm pretty excited. 

So since Thanksgiving, when I got it back and yes - I was thankful for her quick and honest turnaround - I've been working on it. Of course - I've had several weeks when I couldn't decide what I wanted to write. I think I seriously got back into it in February or March. 

Along with working on my Grant's Crossing Book 1, which teeters between contemporary fiction and romance, I've started 3 others. I'm currently working on a RomCom with two characters pulled from book 1. I have another romance and another contemporary fiction that are just in the note-taking stages. I'm not sure that when Mom challenged me to write a book she meant to create a monster. 

Anyway - that's it with what I've been doing. I hope to finish up book 1 by Memorial Day so I can start editing the heck out of it. Then, I'm really excited about my RomCom and hope to get it to the editing-ready stage by July 4th. We'll see where I go beyond that. No idea if I'll stick to those dates, but whether I finish or not, it'll help prompt me to work on them. I know myself. I need the push. 

With this blog, since I'm the type that likes to review a lot of the books I read, I plan to start sharing them in here along with links to where they'll be online. I hope you enjoy them. 

Until then, Happy reading! 

 - Heather

Twitter - @GrantsCrossing

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown

First Draft Complete!

HOLY COW! I WROTE A BOOK!

I just finished my first draft of Grant’s Crossing!

Sure, I’m still obsessing over it, but now I’m going to print a hard copy of the manuscript and will start reading it from cover to cover for my first full round of edits. 

It goes to my actual editor next month. 

I actually did it! Wow! 

Happy Reading! 

        - Heather

Twitter - @GrantsCrossing 

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing 

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown - for this and all my book reviews

Keyboards and Spin-offs

Things have been pretty quiet on the blog front since I’ve been doing so much writing of late. Plus - working a lot of hours for my day job! 

My book is coming along really well. I’m about 87,000 words in which is roughly 300 pages of writing. Crazy, right? I never though I could come up with a fictional story on my own - probably because I’ve never tried, but here I am. I love where it’s going and have been doing a lot of research on various subjects so that I may portray them more realistically and more honestly. Yes, the story is fiction, but the professions of my characters are not, so I want to be true to those who work them in real life. 

As a result of meeting with one professional this past week, I’m working on some corrections and rewrites. I’m learning a lot in the process of writing a book and am loving every step of the way so far. Now - whether or not I’ll love trying to market my book, that remains to be seen, but the writing portion - is fantastic!

My book started when my challenged me to write my own after having read a couple of bad romances. (Don’t ask me the author - I don’t even remember!) I’m really getting into this because I have ideas already for a sequel or two as well as a book set during early last century. Plus, my biggest and most amazing surprise, is a young adult spin-off book that I’m creating with my nephew. He helped me come up with some of the names in my book and then told my mom, his grandmother, that he wanted to help me write a book. (He’s in high school). 

Well - we both came over to my mom’s for dinner (She’s the best cook ever!) and while I was expecting him to want to talk about it for maybe 20-30 minutes, we ended up planning out characters and story lines for 3-4 hours. I’m so excited by this! 

Watch for more details, but I’m hoping to have my current draft done later this month or next and then work on the YA spin-off book during November for NaNoWriMo. We’ll see how it goes! 

In the meantime, I’ve been working at home since the lockdown, so I was amused when I looked at my keyboards. This is probably far funnier to me than the rest of you, but I thought it would be fun to share, anyway! 

It seems I always shift with my left hand and use the space bar with only my right hand. I tend to wear down the same letter keys as well.

    1st-my writing keyboard for my iPad.

    2nd-for my day job.

Apparently I wear down the same keys on each! Lol! 

Anyhoo - there’s my writing picture of the day. 

Be well and take care! 

Happy Reading! 

        - Heather

Twitter - @GrantsCrossing 

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing 

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown - for this and all my book reviews

Welcome to Grant's Crossing!

Hello! 

I'm Heather and I love to read. Thanks to the pandemic, I've been reading a lot more than usual, especially with being furloughed from my job. 

During those 8 long weeks, I read like it was going out of style. Mostly mysteries, but also some classic American lit, fantasy, current events, history, romance, you name it. And yes. I started to read some romance novels! My favorite two are Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras and Breakfast at the Honey Creek Cafe by Jodi Thomas. Both are nice stories without any real unwanted drama. They're filled with likable characters and the best part? They each have a happy ending. Can't go wrong! Definitely what the doctor ordered during these difficult times. 

Michonne, my current editor. She loves everything I write as long as I keep refilling her food dish.

While on furlough, my mom challenged me to write a book. I had read one particularly bad romance (Not included on my Goodreads page!) and sarcastically asked her, "Seriously - how hard could it be to write one of these?!". Well - her response was simple. If they're so easy, write one yourself! 

Uh...um... ok? Uhhhh...OK! Challenge accepted! 

And with that, Grant's Crossing was born! I started by creating a town and making a list of characters I thought would be fun to include, though mostly by title - diner owner, bar owner, shopkeeper, primarily female lead, primary male lead, etc etc etc. This was fun!

After that, I started drawing out the town square, but also figuring out where it was. I wanted a small town in Ohio, near a body of water and near real towns and cities. 

After a few days, my characters started developing names and bits and pieces of background stories. 

From there, the actual story started to reveal itself. 

I started writing and now I have a prologue, my opening scene. I don't think this is going to be a romance though because it turned out to be darker than originally envisioned, but I'm good with that. I like it a lot and I definitely like where it's going, though I'm not yet sure where that'll be. 

The story is leading me. I'm just the one taking notes. 

Regardless of where this goes, I really look forward to bringing the town, and its residents, to life.

As I go along, I plan to introduce you to some the characters in Grant's Crossing as they develop and promise to keep you updated with my progress on the actual writing. 

I was challenged on June 10. Today is June 21 and I have a 600-word prologue. No idea how long it will be when it's all said and done, but I feel great knowing I've moved beyond the first sentence! 

Until next time, thanks very much and happy reading! 

 - Heather 

Please follow me on Twitter and like me on Facebook! 

Twitter - @GrantsCrossing 

Instagram - @GrantsCrossing 

Goodreads - H.M.S. Brown - for this and all my book reviews