Sharon

Mars…with Venus Rising – Book Review

May 15, 2016 By Sharon

Penn Davenport, the book’s heroine, has dreams of moving out of her small town of Mars, and being a CPA in the big city. Penn experienced terrible tragedy in her life when she lost both her parents in a plane crash and now lives with her two Great Aunts. She struggles with her faith and her meaning in life as she falls in love with with the new guy in town, John Townsend, an airplane pilot.

Mars…With Venus Rising is a Christian Romance novel by Hope Toler Dougherty. It is a slow developing love story that I wish had just a touch of spontaneity in it. I found myself yelling internally at the main characters at almost every turn. Penn is fearful to the point of ridiculousness. For example, she was shocked at her first encounter with John because he was wearing head-to-toe black and rode a motorcycle. *rolls eyes* John has a zest for life but absolutely no social skills when it comes to interacting with women. If the hero of the story is going to ride a motorcycle you have to give him at least a touch of suave.

The story however, is saved by Penn’s Great Aunts, Winnie and Janice. They are the types of grandma figures you want to have in your life. They bake and cook for you, advise and interfere even when you don’t them to, and you love them for it all anyway. The best part is the fact that the author included recipes from the story in the back of the book. I plan on trying every recipe, as soon as I can convince my children’s Grandma to make them all.

Overall, I thought Mars…With Venus Rising had a lot of potential but wasn’t my favorite. The Christian notion of “anything worth having is worth waiting for” seems to be the message here and I can appreciate that.

A meddling horse, paper bag floors and a flying saucer on the town square. The little town of Mars has it all—including a brand new resident who might spell heartache for one of its own.

Twenty-something Penn Davenport yearns for an exciting life in the big city and wants to shed the label of orphan that she’s worn for years. To achieve that dream, she must pass the CPA exam then move away from the two aunts who reared her after her parents died in a plane crash.

When John Townsend—full of life and the joy of living—moves to town, he rattles Penn’s view of herself, her life, and her dreams . . . which isn’t such a bad thing until she falls for him and discovers he’s a pilot.

Purchase a copy:http://bit.ly/1VE0NoV

Hope Toler Dougherty holds a Master’s degree in English and taught at East Carolina University as well as York Technical College. A member of ACFW, RWA and SinC, she writes for Almost an Author. Before writing novels, she published non-fiction articles on topics ranging from gardening with children to writing apprehension. She cheers for the Pittsburgh Steelers, ACC basketball, and Army West Point Football. Hope and her husband, Kevin, live in North Carolina and chat with their two daughters and twin sons through ooVoo.

See more reviews here:

http://litfusegroup.com/author/hdougherty

Sharon

My name is Sharon Geyer. I am originally from New York City and currently live in beautiful Ponte Vedra, Florida. My husband and three kids keep me very busy as a stay-at-home mom. I also teach ballet, organize community events, and I love to read books. I typically choose historical fiction when reading something new but I also enjoy science fiction and fantasy, and the occasional romance novel.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

September 11, 2015 By Sharon

If you know me, you’ll know that I’m a total sci-fi nerd. I watch everything sci-fi. Star Trek? Yup. Orphan Black? Yes. Doctor Who? Of course. Battlestar Galactica? Oh. My. Gawd. Yes!!! But Star Wars is and always will be my favorite which also tend to be one of the favorites this year to collect more at the box office with a 4/1 prediction for this year.

I beg my kids every year to dress up as Star Wars characters for Halloween. I succeed once. My twins were Luke and Leia and my toddler was an Ewok. It was awesome.

I agree with most Star Wars fans that say episodes 4, 5, and 6 (the originals) were fantastic. Instant classics. Episodes 1, 2, and 3, not so much. Good, but not great. So when I heard that Disney was taking over Star Wars, I was MAD. My first thought was, “Great. They’re going to turn Star Wars into a Disney Movie. It will be like Frozen but with outer space and light sabers instead of ice and…ice.” If you can’t tell, I don’t like Disney. Yes, I said it. Don’t judge me. After seeing the latest trailer for The Force Awakens, though I’m not really mad anymore. I’m actually super excited about it now. It looks dark, but in a good way.

It looks like a movie I could really love. But it also looks like my kids would love it too, which is great because then I won’t have to bribe them with $10 popcorn to come see the movie with me. I really hope The Force Awakens is as good as the trailers so far have been. This movie has had a ton of hype and there are a lot of doubters out there and we all have very high expectations. Despite my doubts, I’m super excited about this and I’ll be the first in line at the movie theater in December!

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS arrives in theaters everywhere on December 18th!

Sharon

Ransom Canyon By Jodi Thomas

September 8, 2015 By Sharon

Ransom Canyon is hard to categorize. It seems to combine a romance novel, a teen novel, and a thriller
and somehow does it really well! I was drawn in emotionally at the start and hooked to the characters throughout.

The story follows several characters in a small town. Staten is a rancher and a widower, and is finding love with Quinn, a lonely woman with secrets. Lauren and Lucas are teens having their own life changing adventures. And Yancy is fresh from prison and discovering he doesn’t have to break the law to survive in Ransom Canyon. When his past comes back to haunt him though, all the characters are affected.

Ransom Canyon is well written and Jodi Thomas really brings her characters to life and gets you invested. This book is the first in a new series by the author so I’m eager to see what happens next!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A fifth-generation Texan, JODI THOMAS sets the majority of her novels in her home state. With a degree in Family Studies, Thomas is a marriage and family counselor by education, a background that enables her to write about family dynamics. Honored in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Thomas enjoys interacting with students on the West Texas A & M University campus, where she currently serves as Writer in Residence. When not working on a novel or inspiring students to pursue a writing career, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband, Tom, renovating a historic home they bought in Amarillo, and “checking up” on their two grown sons.

Sharon

Slow Cooker Corned Beef

September 2, 2015 By Sharon

This super juicy, tender corned beef can be prepared the traditional way by adding cabbage and carrots to the slow cooker. No one in my house eats it that way though so I make sandwiches on rye bread with a swipe of mustard, or, our favorite, hash and eggs.

Corned beef with spice packet
1/4 cup Mustard (I prefer Grey Poupon)
1 cup water

Put the beef in the slow cooker fat side up. *This is important since the fat cooking down into the meat is what’s going to make it so juicy and flavorful.*

Mix the mustard and water together until blended. Pour it over the beef. Sprinkle the flavor packet over the beef.

Cook for at least 8 hours on low. *this is also important. If you cook it on the high setting, you’ll be stuck with a corned beef brick. Booooo!

Remove the corned beef from the slow cooker and let in rest for at least 20 minutes.

Slice for sandwiches or… Make corned beef hash and eggs!

For the hash, slice about half of the corned beef and then chop it up into small pieces. It should just fall apart from it being so tender. I use “country style” frozen hash brown potatoes but you can use any style or fresh potatoes. Cook the hash browns until brown and crispy and then add the chopped up corned beef straight on top. Mix it around and let the beef brown a bit too. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook your eggs. I prefer sunny side up or over easy so the yolk is runny and the hash soaks it all up.
YUM!!! Enjoy!

Sharon

Resist – The Resistance Series Book Two By Tracy Lawson

August 27, 2015 By Sharon

Spoilers!

“…[the OCSD] is a modern Leviathan, and if people aren’t afraid of it, they should be. It squanders the fruits of the labors of others to remind us of its power. We are forced to bow before it and accept the crumbs it offers.”

Resist, the second installment of The Resistance series, picks up right where book one, Counteract, left off. The country has been on lockdown for decades after the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense (our villain) was established to protect the people from ongoing waves of terrorist attacks. At least that’s what the OCSD tells the public. The masses sheepishly go along with endless restrictions and are willingly drugged to “stay safe” from terrorist use of chemical weapons. Life is now one long acid trip. The director of the OCSD is poisoned and Careen (our heroine), and her cohorts are blamed.

Cue The Resistance!

A new OCSD director, Dr. Madalyn Davies, is put in place, this one even more power hungry than the last. The Resistance fights the system by rallying the public to their side. Peacefully and successfully at first. But when Davies makes drugging and controlling the public again a priority over feeding them, all Hell breaks loose. There are riots and looting and innocent people die. In response, the Resistance sprinters off and makes countless mistakes, because they, “have to do something”. This tactic doesn’t end well. With the evil government agency breathing down their collective neck, how will Careen and the Resistance continue to fight?

Resist is a great story. Sometimes, important things happen with little or no pomp, so you have to pay close attention to what you’re reading. Resist pulls the reader in with a dose of tense action. But for me, when reading a book, it’s all about the ending. I felt defeat and disappointment at the end of the book. But that’s because I was finally throughly invested in the main characters. And I’m dying to read book three.

Tracy Lawson is an award-winning author of two nonfiction books. She’s enjoyed creating the characters Tommy and Careen and looks forward to continuing their story in more volumes of The Resistance Series young adult novels. Tracy lives in Dallas with her husband, daughter and three spoiled cats.