KISSING COUSINS - MARCIA LYNN MCCLURE

Poppy Amore loved her job waitressing at Good Ol' Days Family Restaurant. No one could ask for a better working environment. After all, her best friend Whitney worked there, and her boss, restaurant owner Mr. Dexter, was a kind, understanding, grandfatherly sort of man. Furthermore, the job allowed Poppy to linger in the company of Mr. Dexter's grandson Swaggart Moretti-the handsome and charismatic head cook at Good Ol' Days. Secretly, Swaggart was far more to Poppy than just a man who was easy to look at. In truth, she had harbored a secret crush on him for years-since her freshman year in high school, in fact. And although the memory of her feelings-even the lingering truth of them-haunted Poppy the way a veiled, unrequited love always haunts a heart, she had learned to simply find joy in possessing a hidden, anonymous delight in merely being associated with Swaggart. Still, Poppy had begun to wonder if her heart would ever let go of Swaggart Moretti-if any other man in the world could ever turn her head. When the dazzling, uber-fashionable Mark Lawson appeared one night at Good Ol' Days, however, Poppy began to believe that perhaps her attention and her heart would be distracted from Swaggart at last. Mark Lawson was every girl's fantasy-tall, uniquely handsome, financially well-off, and as charming as any prince ever to appear in fairy tales. He was kind, considerate, and, Poppy would find, a true, old-fashioned champion. Thus, Poppy Amore willingly allowed her heart and mind to follow Mark Lawson-to attempt to abandon the past and an unrequited love and begin to move on. But all the world knows that real love is not so easily put off, and Poppy began to wonder if even a man so wonderful as Mark Lawson could truly drive Swaggart Moretti from her heart. Would Poppy Amore miss her one chance at happiness, all for the sake of an unfulfilled adolescent's dream? 

I read this book and wrote this review right after reading 'Love Me', but I was having problems publishing it and then I forgot about it until now. Which I guess is okay since I haven't read any books after this one so it might have taken me a couple days to post up a new book review. 

Anyhow, this is probably my favorite MLM book yet! It was SO good! And the setting was amazing, definitely my favorite setting yet. To set her book in a quaint little Italian restaurant filled with music from the likes of Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, and others was simply brilliant. I realize that Patsy Cline didn't fit in with the theme Marcia was going for, but I would have been beyond happy if there had been a few Patsy Cline songs thrown in.

And the characters names were so great, Swaggart Moretti and Poppy Amore? Brilliant. And I really liked Poppy, I wanted her to have a little more backbone at times, but I guess it wouldn't have fit in with her 'girl back home' image. And where to begin with Swaggart? 'Sigh' Lets just say that if I was Poppy I think I would be perfectly happy and end it at that before I embarrass myself....

And for those of you who are concerned about the title, let me put your mind at rest and assure you that there were no cousins kissing in this book. In the Authors Note at the end of the book Marcia explained she thought it would be amusing to have this title, and if you read the book you will understand what it really means.

This is a short review but I don't want to ruin anything about this book for anyone so I'm going to keep it this way. I will say though, this is one that I would enjoy having in paperback rather than an e-book. Just so I can have it and watch it wear down from all the times I will be reading it ;)

AN AMAZING CD BY THE AMAZING PATSY CLINE

I know that this isn't a book, but I never said I was restricting my blog to books only and I have to write something about this AMAZING cd.

My birthday was last Friday and on Sunday my family got together and had a 'Birthday Bash' for me and my two siblings since we all have birthdays in March.

Among other great presents I got this CD from my sister. Now granted, I did ask her for it, but that obviously doesn't mean she would get it for me so I was super happy when I opened it. 

This cd is filled with 51 Patsy Cline songs that she recorded during 1960-63. I think I have listened to all of them by now, and although I don't have them all memorized (I will soon!) I'm absolutely loving this cd.

Although I've been familiar with Patsy Cline's music ever since I can remember, since my mom use to play her music on the stereo when I was younger, I didn't really start loving and listening to her music a whole lot until a few months ago. Now I'm convinced that she was and is one of the greatest singers of all time. I can understand if you maybe don't love her music, but I think it is impossible not to like it at least a little bit.....

So this cd is pretty much amazing, it includes some of her most famous songs like 'Crazy' and 'You Belong to Me' but also has a lot of others that I've never heard. If you love Patsy Cline like I do, you NEED to buy this cd, I know you will love it like I do.

LOVE ME - MARCIA LYNN MCCLURE

Jacey Whittaker couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t loved Scott Pendleton—the boy next door. She couldn’t remember a time when Scott hadn’t been in her life—in her heart. Yet, Scott was every other girl’s dream, too. How could Jacey possibly hope to win such a prize—the attention, the affections, the very heart of such a sought after young man? Yet, win him she did! He became the bliss of her youthful heart—at least for a time.
Still, some dreams live fulfilled—and some are lost. Loss changes the very soul of a being. Jacey wondered if her soul would ever rebound. Certainly, she went on—lived a happy life—if not so full and perfectly happy a life as she once lived. Yet, she feared she would never recover—never get over Scott Pendleton—her first love.
Until the day a man walked into her apartment—into her apartment and into her heart. Would this man be the one to heal her broken heart? Would this man be her one true love?

I will be the first to admit that Marcia Lynn Mcclure writes pure romantic fluff for those of us who are hopeless romantics at heart. I will also admit that sometimes her books can be a little repetitive and filled with 'flowery' words. I also thinks she uses the exclamation point too freely, but I'm very picky about exclamation points so I'm probably not a good judge on that point. However despite all this and the fact that I don't really approve of reading books like this, because I think you can get the wrong notion of what love is, I REALLY love her books! I just can't help it, not only does she have like the best kissing scenes ever (while still keeping her books completely clean) but her stories just make me smile and make me believe in happily ever after. So when I saw that she was having a limited e-book sale on her site with EVERY book costing only $1.99, I had no choice but to stock up. I will openly admit I bought five of her books and was going to buy more, but then the sale ended. Which was very sad but probably good since I would have spent a lot more money.....
Anyways, I had to get this one because I love reading about a guy and a girl being best friends and then falling in love with each other. I'm not really sure why, because I wouldn't really want that to happen to me, but I just think it makes for a sweet storyline. This book was no exception. It was romantic, funny, and interesting even if it was apparent what was going to happen at the end. Jacey did start bugging me though when Scott was making it obvious that they should be together, and she was still questioning if she was good enough for him. I really wanted to just enter the book and explain to her that just because he was really good looking and popular didn't mean she wasn't 'good' enough for him. Yes...if it was possible, I would have saved her a lot of worrying....
Back to the book though, I'm going to have to say it's a keeper. Some MLM books I enjoy but would only want to read once, but this one will probably be a re-read (hmm..is that a word?) for me sometime in the future. Still I'd advise either reading it on your Kindle or reading it on your Kindle PC application, since the paperback cost too much for such a quick read.

TIGER'S CURSE BY COLLEEN HOUCK

 

Passion. Fate. Loyalty.
Would you risk it all to change your destiny?
The last thing Kelsey Hayes thought she'd be doing this summer was trying to break a 300-year old Indian curse. With a mysterious white tiger named Ren. Halfway around the world.
But that's exactly what happened.
Face-to-face with dark forces, spell-binding magic, and mystical worlds where nothing is what it seems, Kelsey risks everything to piece together an ancient prophecy that could break the curse forever.
Tiger's Curse is the exciting first volume in an epic fantasy-romance that will leave you breathless and yearning for more

First all, I think I should admit that I currently own three different versions of this book. The first edition that was released that I got as a gift, the ARC edition that I won, and the new hardcover edition that I won also. Colleen Houck has became one of my favorite authors because of this series, and I have been dying in anticipation for almost a year to read the third book in this series (which sadly isn't out until November). For me, this is one of those series that I will pre-order the next book months before it will be released just becuase I already know how much I will love it. Luckily, I started reading these books before Colleen Houck got a new publisher and re-released the two books she already wrote, so I have already read Tiger's Quest unlike the general public who won't be able to read it until June....yes, I am gloating.
This was one of those books that I couldn't put down once I started reading it. The beginning of this book was a little slow for me when I first read it, and there was an excess of exclamation marks (that were thankfully edited out in the new version) but once I got through a couple chapters I was completely hooked. I got absolutely nothing accomplished while I was reading this book until I finished it because I HAD to know what was going to happen. It was just such a great book that it kept me reading for hours without even thinking about it. And the romance was so perfect! More often than not, when the romance is a central or main part of a book I tend to think it is just unrealistic. But Ren and Kelsey together just seem so real and wonderful. As much as I loved the action and learning about Indian religion and everything else in this book, the romance is what I loved the most.
I'm going to stop now before I go on about all the other great things about this book and this turns into a really boring review with me spoiling this WONDERFUL book for you. Just beware, at the ending of this book you will be dying to read the next one and June will seem VERY far away. ;)

TRISH PERRY - THE PERFECT BLEND

If you enjoy the novels of Debbie Macomber, you’ll love this perfect blend of recipes and romance set in a small town with a big heart.

Steph Vandergrift is in need of a job. She left everything behind to elope with Middleburg attorney Rick Manfred, never imagining he would stand her up at the altar. Now, hoping just to get by until she can decide what to do next, Steph thinks she’s found the perfect position at the local tea shop.

Kendall James, one of the kindest and most eligible bachelors in the area, meets Steph  and proceeds to pursue her. But by the time Steph feels able to consider dating again, her runaway fiancé returns and tries to win her back. Steph is wary, but she and Rick always seemed to blend so well. Are they truly meant to be together, or does God have something else in mind?

I have wanted to read a Trish Perry novel for a while now, and because this one is in a setting that includes a tea shop I knew I had to read it. I LOVE tea and because I was so excited about reading a book with a tea shop, I was corny enough to actually make a cup of tea when I sat down to read this book....yeah I might have a slight problem ;)
Anyways, this is the kind of Christian fiction I really enjoy. It was humorous and romantic but was an extremely sweet story that felt real. The characters were not perfect and made mistakes, but in the end turned to God for the answers to their problems. Also, the romance wasn't over the top and although it bothered me a little that Steph could fall all  in love so soon after breaking up with her fiancé, the ending showed how the secondary characters who had extremely interesting characters that were always making me laugh. 
It looks like Trish Perry is writing another novel in this series with different characters but in the same town, which I will definitely be reading.