Somber as it was during its primary episodes – as the Masterpiece Theatre viewers are discovering (Annie, seriously, your tweets on Sunday made me giggle and spike curiosity of your thoughts), I was still transfixed by the delights of the fourth season of Downton Abbey. With the U.S. DVD release finally happening this week, I figured it was time to share my thoughts on what was the proper finale for season four – the always anticipated Christmas special. 

Ever since reading my first Susan May Warren novel (Happily Ever After – way to hook a teenage romantic!), I have been a committed fan of Warren’s wordsmith. Since that very first Deep Haven book, this girl has been willing to return to the beloved north of the rustic Minnesota town. The second novel in Warren’s “spin-off” series (following the six novels in the Deep Haven series), It Had to Be You is Eden Christiansen’s story. As the responsible daughter of the family, Eden has always put aside her feelings and aspirations in favor of keeping baby brother, Owen in line during his pursuit of a career in the NHL. Wild and determined to push his sister out of his life, Eden is devastated when Owen is injured with the possibility he may never play again. This leads her into the life of team captain Jace Jacobsen. Jace is the Blue Ox’s “bad boy,” every stereotype of the image has been written about him and because of that neither Eden nor Jace knew each other beyond recognition when passing in the stadium halls. Eden has made assumptions about Jace and Jace never thought of Eden as anything other than Owen’s bossy cheerleader, but now these two unlikely people are about to discover there is more to a person than first impressions.

In many ways, Susan feels like the matriarch of contemporary fiction. She has a talent beyond any author I’ve read because of the poignant ways she strings words (emotions) together and secondly, she knows how to do all the genres with effortless grace – she’s tackled suspense, historical and contemporary, each one more beautifully than the last. If memory serves me correctly, Eden was a character who interested the reader from Take a Chance on Me and her story doesn’t disappoint. Book two tells her story in such a way that most if not all readers will relate to the heartbreak of Eden – she’s the one sister and daughter who feels “misplaced.” As if she hasn’t found her way in a family that already is confident in their place in life, society and Christ. Eden’s struggle felt genuine and her full circle realization was just as I’d have wished it to be – it took her “letting go” to realize where she was supposed to be was exactly where she was. Kudos to Susan for surprising the reader! I have to say that I didn’t expect Eden to make the decisions she did and it’s refreshing whenever the writer switches up the obvious. The second thing that was unexpected was Jace’s feelings of inadequacy. I didn’t expect him to also be struggling with past scars of belonging and finding out who he was. With Eden he became the best version of himself and the scenes between them took time to cultivate a healthy, sweet relationship anyone could root for – there’s a particularly lovely scene of the whole family together at their home up in Deep Haven. The Christiansen family is not just a fun group of people to know for 300+ pages, they’re a warm, big-hearted family that seems like good friends and whether or not it’s acceptable, I am floored by all these authors crafting genuine, crazy families for us to fall in love with.

Morning! Today, we celebrating the upcoming February 1st release of Susan May Warren's novel, It Had to Be You. The review has been up on Fiction Addict (thanks for the opportunity to review this!) for a few days now and is today up on the blog for those of you who are unfamiliar with the story and also, here's a chance for you to win a copy of said novel - if you haven't read it, peeps, it's seriously beautiful. Better yet than Susan's prior books methinks. I've again made the mistake of not cancelling my pre-order which means, I already had a copy via Fiction Addict so what does that mean for you...? Of course, I have an extra copy on my shelf and I'd love for one of you to have it!

First things first, here are those pesky rules.

Due to shipping costs, the giveaway(s) is open to U.S readers. Also, please I will just ask that anyone who leaves a comment under "anonymous," please leave the same name you enter into the widget in your comment - it's not nearly as easy to try and match comments when there is no name and in fairness to everyone else, I want to be able to be sure everyone who used the Rafflecopter correctly has a fair chance at winning against those who abuse it - believe it or not, there have been a couple people that I could not verify. So please, I don't mean to overwhelm, but just keep this in mind when entering future giveaways. I'd sure appreciate it!

To be entered in the giveaway, just enter as much or as little as you like into the Rafflecopter widget... and good luck everyone! This ends on February 6th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Intelligent shows are hard to come by. Sometimes even a concept that has been done before can still be clever if it’s covered by a bushel of talent and good “magic.” Fortunately, The Mentalist has both.

Living a lie is what Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) does best. Or he did. For many years, he masqueraded as a high-profile medium who could communicate with deceased loved ones. Off of other’s pain he made a good living for his family. Years later, his new role, as a consultant for the California Bureau of Investigation (or the CBI) has ulterior motives attached.

What is blogging?

That seems a valid question for which the answer is never just black and white. Prior to jumping into the world of blogging, I’d not had had any sort of answer or notion of it. Before I became serious about it, I really wasn’t versed on its ins and outs and in the two years before that, I actively read a select few – perhaps two or three max, and was impressed that they were not “professional” web pages but “merely” writers who were able to put their passions, expressions and a dramatic sense of their fandoms into a blogger format with subjects that brought it all together. (Plus a patience for HTML coding. *wink*) These writers did not just provide a place where I found helpful information but they were an inspiration to my aspirations of someday writing more “seriously.” Following my nearly three year blogging journey, it seemed like a fun test to share some of the things I’ve learned along the way. Plus I figured the fact that I began this blog post exactly a year ago meant I should either ditch it or hit that intimidating "publish."

One thing in blogging that keeps cropping up is the importance of being inter-active in the circle you’ve designated as blogs you are inclined to trust or enjoy. I hear this in many social media avenues and think it also applies to blogging. Don’t be afraid to join in conversation. Or to share a differing opinion – so long as it’s respectful of the writers and fellow commenters, there is nothing wrong with that. Introduce yourself as a new reader and/or follower. As a friend recently phrased it, “you talk, I talk.” In other words, my stance on comments and conversation is personal. If you take the time to read these ramblings – and many of you have offered an abundance of conversation which I’ve enjoyed every second of, I am eager to join in your conversations, plus I’ve found many dear bloggers and friends.

This never used to be something that I thought was necessary to blogging and perhaps I should specify that it's one thing that works best for my blogging. My motto has become something about blogging being a reflection on each individual writer and that it should be whatever the writer wants of it – and I still believe that 100%. However, for me consistency is something to consider prior to setting up a blog. Are you the sort of person who will have material to post twice a week? That’s not to say that for 52 weeks, you should post twice a week but there does need to be some form of patterns. It proves you are “serious” about what you are sharing and also informs your readers when there will be new material up and how often. If there are ideas floating in your mind, find the time when you get the most writing done and get some posts written up – even if they aren’t “exactly” what you want to say at least you’ll have something to work off of, and in this instance, the schedule tool can be the best bet. For example in addition to still having review archives from before blogging, I find I do all of my best "new," most efficient writing late at night when I pop in the earbuds and have no other “daily” distractions.

If you visit a blog with a neat idea (say a meme that's new to you) or an idea that you are interested in expanding on, unless the blogger holds a patent on it, don’t be afraid to ask if the idea is something you can use for your blog. When I’ve “stolen” bloggers  - and I say this with the stipulation that usually it's been after asking them - concept, most of them are happy for another blogger to run with their ideas. With that being said, I do want to clarify, I don't in any way think it's right to use other's work as your own... this is simply an idea to consider if a blogger is using a meme-like post or it's something similar other bloggers have been participating in the blogosphere.

I never thought I’d say this but social media is a great asset to any blogger. If you’re looking to drive more traffic to your blog, it’s a huge incentive to be on Twitter or even Pinterest. As a reviewer I appreciate using it to assist authors in any small way in getting word out on their recent novels. Plus so long as you’re disciplined not to let Twitter become an unhealthy obsession, it’s a wonderful place to interact with favorite authors or ask questions about certain issues that may have you stumped – issues related to blogging or various technical snags on favorite websites (like password lock-outs or the like).

Synopsis: Spunky Allison McClare is determined to be a fearless, independent woman, resorting to a mammoth hat pin for protection on her way to and from the school where she teaches. But when she takes a notion to explore the wild Barbary Coast she quickly discovers she is no match for rum-soaked brute strength.

Detective Nick Barone would rather do almost anything than teach this petite socialite jiu-jitsu, but it seems he has little choice in the matter. Sparks fly every time the two meet until a grudging friendship develops into something deeper. But when Nick suddenly leaves town, Allison realizes he’s a fraud just like all the rest of the men she’s cared for. Does she dare love again?

Sincere thanks to the publisher, Revell for providing a complimentary copy of this book for reviewing purposes.

Morning! Today, we celebrating the recent release of Julie Lessman's latest novel, Dare to Love Again. The review is up on the blog for those of you who are unfamiliar with the story and also, here's a chance for you to win a copy of said novel on the off chance you haven't read it. Which we know is highly unlikely. *wink* I wasn't expecting to review this book so when it showed up from the lovely folks at Revell, I already had a copy on its way from Amazon so what does that mean for you...? Of course, I have an extra copy on my shelf and I'd love for one of you to have it!

First things first, here are those pesky rules.

Due to shipping costs, the giveaway(s) is open to U.S readers. Also, please I will just ask that anyone who leaves a comment under "anonymous," please leave the same name you enter into the widget in your comment - it's not nearly as easy to try and match comments when there is no name and in fairness to everyone else, I want to be able to be sure everyone who used the Rafflecopter correctly has a fair chance at winning against those who abuse it - believe it or not, there have been a couple people that I could not verify. So please, I don't mean to overwhelm, but just keep this in mind when entering future giveaways. I'd sure appreciate it!

To be entered in the giveaway, just enter as much or as little as you like into the Rafflecopter widget... and good luck everyone! This ends on January 28th.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Afternoon, peeps! In the last couple of weeks, there was a giveaway going on here for a recent BBC DVD set. Up for grabs was everything from the recent Downton Abbey season to the recent BBC popular series, Call the Midwife. Now we have winners (there was also an Amazon gift card) and the decision making begins.

Drumroll, please...

Winner of the BBC series is,

 ■ Valerie G.

Winner of the Amazon gift card is,

■ Amy C.

Hooray! Congrats, Valerie and Amy. Both of you ladies should now have an email (that you shared in the Rafflecopter) asking for a mailing address in your inbox; please just get back to me by January 23rd with that information. For everyone else, I am thrilled you participated in this giveaway  - thank you for sharing about them and joining in the fun!

This week, we'll also be offering a copy of Julie Lessman's latest so if anyone out there hasn't read the novel yet (which I doubt *wink*), here's a chance to nab a copy.

Hope your week is off to a smashing start. Be happy, friends.

                       

Moving the story to a location or situation that we’ve not seen Logan – or any of his fellow mutants, conquer was interesting. I didn’t love nor hate it and was a bit disappointed at the start of the movie to find Logan moping… again. Once I adjusted my expectations, I enjoyed this installment. As usual, the stunts are a-m-a-z-i-n-g and probably in some respect “bigger” than its predecessors (not just by literal reasons). The climax is not only big in its scope but also manages to weave an emotional connotation into its reveal. Save for the beginning, the movie jumps right into the pulse-pounding action, and barely stops. Again, the acting is wonderful; it’s been ideal to watch a series keep the same person as a central character rather than a hero who comes in for one or two movies only to bow out eventually. Writers seem conflicted over whom they want Logan to be… and that is growing demeaning. Every cloud does have a silver lining and we accept the good with the bad; I like Logan being still at the forefront of this series but am beginning to feel like his story should be devoid of romantic entanglements. For me, just admitting this is unusual because I usually like the hero to find happiness, yet with the way things are going, Logan seems to always be saying good-bye.

Catch the premiere of When Calls the Heart this Saturday, January 11^th. Take a look at the promo video: