By the Book Tag!

Today is the first day of summer!! Summer is perfect for going outside and reading a good book, wearing flip-flops, grilling hamburgers, eating watermelon, and lots of other fun summery stuff!
Today I am doing a tag that Victoria from Victoria’s Book Nook tagged me to do. I did this tag 2 summers ago, but obviously some of the answers have changed since then so I definitely had to do it again!

1. What is on your nightstand right now?
Love Finds You in Victory Heights, Washington by Tricia Goyer and Ocieanna Fleiss and Tearoom in a Tempest by Leslie Gould is what I’m currently reading.

2. What was the last truly great book you read?
I'm not sure, maybe The Accidental Guardian. That one was pretty good, but I wouldn't call it a truly great book, but I still liked it. :)

3. If you could meet any writer - dead or alive - who would it be and what would you want to know?
Beverly Lewis!! I would so love to meet Beverly Lewis and I would definitely ask her to sign some of my books and of course, get a picture with her. :)

4. What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?
Maybe my Full House books. ;) Although if you’ve been reading my blog lately you most likely know I really like the show Full House. I was quite excited when I found out that there were books. I’ve found quite a few at thrift stores. :)

5. How do you organize your personal library?
I organize my books alphabetically by authors last name. Although I put my American Girl books with the A’s and Dear America books with the D’s. I also have a small bookshelf by my bed and that has my Circle C and A Life of Faith books on it.

6. What book have you always meant to read but haven't gotten around to it yet?
I have meant to read the Dear America book The Winter of Red Snow but have yet to do it.


7. Anything you feel embarrassed never to have read?
There’s not really any book I feel embarrassed not to have read. I haven’t read all of the Little House books though. I sort of feel like I should’ve read those books by now, but I’ve only read Little House in the Big Woods so far. I want to read the rest of the series sometime.

8. Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel you were suppose to like but didn't?
Maybe The Blades of Acktar series? I heard a bunch of people saying how good they were so I was curious to try them. Don’t get me wrong, I found them to be quite intriguing, but they were a bit too violent for me. I’m really sensitive about violence and seriously can’t handle much and because of that I didn’t enjoy them as much as I would’ve.

9. What kind of stories are you drawn to? Any you stay clear of?
I am drawn to pioneer/Oregon Trail books and Amish fiction.
I tend to stay away from fantasy. I prefer real-life stories.

10. If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?
The Bible.

11. What do you plan to read next?
I really want to read Grace and the Preacher by Kim Vogel Sawyer. I’ve been wanting to for quite some time now, but I definitely need to read it this summer for sure!



Also if you need a good book to read this summer keep your eye out for the release of Jonathan Hangstefer’s debut novel, Royal Fire! It is fantasy and I’m not too fond of that genre, but this one is worth checking out. You can read about the progress of it here.

Movie Recommendations // Hallmark Movies

I'm back with more movie recommendations! Today I will be talking about some of my favorite Hallmark movies. I really enjoy Hallmark movies. :)

A young caterer’s life suddenly changes course when she inherits a country home and learns she must share it with a career-obsessed Wall Street trader. At first, these opposites do not attract, but feelings begin to change when they find themselves having to work side-by-side to restore their newly acquired home.

All of My Heart is one of my all time favorite Hallmark movies. It's a romantic comedy, but it also has those really sweet parts too. The main two people are just so fun and I really like their relationship. They don't exactly like each other in the beginning and that definitely makes it pretty funny. The sequel All of My Heart: Inn Love is a fun continuation.

Uptight French chef Sara Westbrook gets fired up when her upscale café, Chez Varenne, is suddenly overshadowed by a new restaurant moving in next door run by a group of rowdy firemen. Led by handsome former fire fighter Gill Callahan and his friend Danny, The Five Alarm Grill is soon a big success while Sara and Patsy, her pastry chef, struggle to bring in customers.
Sara suddenly softens when she meets Gill's ten-year-old daughter Hannah who she can't help but take under her wing when she learns Hannah is growing up without a mom. Ignoring the obvious tension between her dad and Sara, Hannah is soon playing matchmaker. As Gill and Sara slowly begin to stir up romance, their relationship is tested once again when a local food critic gets in the mix. Can the couple resist the temptation to compete with each other, or will the heat of competition drive them apart?

This movie has a great mix of funny and sweet parts in it. It's really great and one I've seen numerous times.

Fitness trainer/former marriage counselor Molly White runs Bridal Boot Camp classes combining fitness and yoga with pre-marital counseling exercises to brides and grooms before their big day. While struggling with marital issues from her past, Molly meets the handsome Nick Dyson, a talented photographer who seems to be having doubts about his upcoming marriage to Molly’s client, an overbearing perfectionist. While helping couples find their happiness and begin their new lives together, Molly discovers she, too, needs to learn how to forgive herself from her past so she can move forward with life – and love – in her future.

I think any When Calls the Heart fan will like this movie. The main couple in in The Perfect Bride is "Lee" and "Rosemary".  It's so fun seeing them in another movie and this is such a great one. The sequel, The Perfect Bride" Wedding Bells is also great and definitely something you should see if you watch this one.

Feeling disconnected from her teenage son, a protective mother decides to step outside of her comfort zone and take him camping. But as soon as she arrives, she begins butting heads with her handsome cabin neighbor, a single father and outdoorsman who is also in search of a connection with his teen daughter. Friction soon sparks a flame as these opposites attract.

Campfire Kiss is super funny! It had me dying of laughter at one point. The main two people also don't get along at first (I love movies like that. ;))

Potential Northwestern fellow Tess Harper lasers through her best friend’s wedding planning like the star doctor she hopes to soon become. In fact, Tess puzzles through any problem – provided it’s not her own. When she meets divorce lawyer and groom’s best friend, Michael, Tess maneuvers around him like a gurney in the emergency room until she discovers this best man has a few moves of his own.

My Favorite Wedding is another great romantic comedy. I watched this one last summer and it's definitely a favorite! Unfortunately this one is not on DVD but I really hope it will be sometime!

Romance novelist Liam Bradley has already found massive success with three books written under the pen name Gabriel August, but he's mysteriously unknown to his legions of readers. With his first book written as a way to heal after a broken relationship, Liam has slowly become disheartened with writing strictly for romantic fantasy, something evident to a sweet, but honest, journalist who reviews books, Sophie Atkinson, whom he meets by chance on a plane. The two begin a tentative relationship in Sophie’s home town of Portland, Maine, where Liam has come to find inspiration for his newest entry.

Liam’s agent puts him on the spot with a long-planned reveal of Gabriel August’s true identity, but Sophie doesn’t know of his public persona. The longer Liam avoids telling her the truth, the deeper a hole he digs for himself. Will their romance survive once his true identity comes to light?

It's been a little while since I watched this one, so I definitely need to re-watch it soon! A Novel Romance is just so fun and very sweet. 

Have you seen any of these before? Do you have a favorite Hallmark movie?

My First Post Revisited Tag

Awhile back Faith tagged me for the My First Post Revisited Tag. So I’m just supposed to highlight my first post…Okay, there's not much to my first post, so yeah...

// Rules
>> You must highlight your first post and nothing else. Otherwise will be cheating.  
>> Link back to the person who tagged you and thank them if you feel like it.  
>> Cut and past your UNEDITED first post into this post. 
>> Put the #MyFirstPostRevisited in the title.
>> Tag five other bloggers to do this.  
>> Notify those you tagged in their comments section so they are aware and can't get out of doing the tag. 

Okay, so my first post was done on October 19, 2015. It was very short, sweet, and to the point. ;) Here it is:

Hi! Welcome to my blog. I will be writing reviews on various books and other fun stuff. I hope you enjoy. : )  


Yep, that’s all. Just a few sentences. I didn’t even introduce myself, but then again I did have a profile so that said some things about me and I figured if people wanted to know more they’d check back. ;)
So yes, I’d definitely say that I stuck with what I originally planned for. I do book reviews and other fun stuff like tags, blog tours, book recommendations and such.

Okay, so I'm going to kinda bend the rules and not tag anyone for this one. If you want to do this one though, go ahead!

The Accidental Guardian // Book Review

From the Back Cover:
When Trace Riley finds the smoldering ruins of a small wagon train, he recognizes the hand behind the attack as the same group who left him as sole survivor years ago. Living off the wilderness since then, he'd finally carved out a home and started a herd--while serving as a self-appointed guardian of the trail, driving off dangerous men. He'd 
hoped those days were over, but the latest attack shows he was wrong.
Deborah Harkness saved her younger sister and two toddlers during the attack, and now finds herself at the mercy of her rescuer. Trace offers the only shelter for miles around, and agrees to take them in until she can safely continue. His simple bachelor existence never anticipated kids and women in the picture and their arrival is unsettling--yet enticing. 
Working to survive the winter and finally bring justice to the trail, Trace and Deborah find themselves drawn together--yet every day approaches the moment she'll leave forever. 


The Accidental Guardian is the first book in Mary Connealy’s newest series, High Sierra Sweethearts. This was the first book I have read by this author so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. It sounded like a really good book though and I loved the cover, so I gave it a try. I ended up enjoying it quite a bit! The romance moved a little faster then I would’ve thought, but it was still a good book. It was a sweet story and it also had some funny parts as well as some suspenseful parts. Everything wasn’t all wrapped up in the end of the story, but book 2 does come out this fall so the story will continue on and probably wrap up the loose ends from book 1.


I give this book 8 out of 10 R's