Hi!

I won a copy of Christmas on 4th Street from Harlequin Holiday Giveaway.  I already have this so what should I do with this copy once I get it?

Here is the description of the book from Goodreads:

There's nowhere better to spend the holidays than with New York Timesbestselling author Susan Mallery in the town of Fool's Gold, where love is always waiting to be unwrapped... Noelle Perkins just got a second chance at life, and she intends to make the most of every minute. That's why she ditched a frustrating legal career to open her own store in Fool's Gold, California. The Christmas Attic celebrates everything that's magical about her favorite season. Business is booming, and as a bonus, gorgeous army doctor Gabriel Boylan has offered to help out during the holiday rush. 

Gabriel's memories of Christmas past contain more sour grapes than sugar plums, thanks to a drill sergeant father who ran his home like a boot camp. Spending the holidays with his family while he recuperates from injury sounds as appetizing as last year's eggnog. Still, there are some enjoyable distractions in town, including sunny, sexy Noelle...and the red-hot mistletoe kisses they can't stop sharing. 

Gabriel didn't think he was made for happily-ever-afters. But when fate hands you a love as sweet and surprising as this, only a fool could refuse...

Comment below if you think I should have another Giveaway!!  It is a really great book.

Melissa 

Hi!

I am still working on several blog posts.  Ever have that feeling of drowning?  That is what I have been having lately.  The kids' new school schedules is taking us longer to get used to.  3 new schools this year.  Well, actually 2.  Earlier to get up for all of us.  More homework than normal, too.  Lots of changes.

I wanted to share a great giveaway at My Book Addiction and More.  Check HERE to enter for the Susan Mallery Fool's Gold Cookbook.  I love love this cookbook.  I have made about 4 or maybe 6 recipes from the cookbook.  I still need to download the photos so I can finish my blog post.  There is a great story in this cookbook, too.

Happy Monday!  What are you all reading?

Melissa

And the Winner is.....

And the winner is...............

Ada H. 

CONGRATS TO ADA H!!!! 

I am in the process of emailing you.  You have 48 hours to answer me back.  

Melissa

Chasing Perfect Giveaway almost over!

Chasing Perfect Giveaway is almost over!  I will be picking the winner by Rafflecopter tomorrow.  Then, the winner has 24 hours to email me.  I will post my email tomorrow on here.  If you do not email within the 48 hours, I will pick another winner.  

I have a blog post to do for Susan Mallery's Cookbook.  I love love this cookbook!!!  If the cookbook was on the bed with me, I would type the recipes I made at my Cookbook Party, but it is on my desk and I am so exhausted.  I am drinking one of the smoothies, triple berry!  YUMMY!!  Smoothies are big in our home.  In the summer, I make them a lot.  I have my own recipe, which I will share tomorrow when I talk about the triple berry and the Tropical Smoothie, which I made for my son, Noah, which he loved.  

Happy Reading!!
Melissa

Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold Cookbook is here!!

Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold Cookbook: A Story Told Through 150 Recipes 

Fool's Gold #12.1

Coming August 27, 2013

Well Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold Cookbook is here.  It came out today, August 27, 2013!!  Whoo hoo!!  I love this cookbook!!  There are so many recipes I want to make.  If you order or buy this cookbook before 8/31, you can enter to win an amazing mixer by going HERE.

This cookbook makes a great Christmas gift!!  You can also print a coupon for $2.00 off by going HERE.

To read an excerpt from this book, then go HERE.  That is the last link I am going to give you.

Let me know if you order or buy!!  This is a great cookbook!! I love it!  We are having a small party soon to celebrate the cookbook and using some of the recipes.  I will be taking some photos and putting them here.

According to Goodreads, "New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery invites you to taste the local cuisine of her beloved fictional town and share in a year's worth of deliciously seasonal recipes.

Fool's Gold is known as the Land of Happy Endings, but it's also the land of hearty appetites. Throughout the series, the residents of Fool's Gold have found joy, comfort and good times through food. Now two local Fool's Gold chefs will also find love through food! Join them as they flirt, fight and fall in love, one season at a time.
You'll also find favorite recipes from popular characters in the series, such as:
Heidi's Arugula, Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese.
Liz's Spaghetti for the Girls.
Denise's Summer Berry Pie. 

With chapters for summer, spring, fall and winter, you can find the perfect recipe for everything from holiday get-togethers to cozy date nights, always using the freshest ingredients. And the heartwarming love story that is woven throughout is Susan Mallery at her finest.

The more than 150 recipes and dozens of gorgeous photographs in this book will inspire you to find perfection in the simple and the seasonal. And with all of Fool's Gold with you in the kitchen, your every celebration will have a happy ending!"

I hope you have a great day!  I will be looking at the cookbook later to write down which ones we will be making along with the ingredients we need!

Melissa

Author Susan Mallery Answers Readers' Questions, part 1

Have you seen this video?

Melissa

Just One Kiss and Two of a Kind are available now.  Three Little Words is available by pre-order.  If you buy or pre-order, please let me know.  Since I am a Fool's Gold Cheerleader, I can get points if you buy or pre-order Just One Kiss, Two of a Kind, & Three Little Words.  Thanks.

Amazon- Just One Kiss

BN-Just One Kiss

Amazon- Two of a Kind

BN- Two of a Kind

(Comes out July 30, 2013)

Amazon-Three Little Words

BN-Three Little Words

(Comes out August 27, 2013)

Amazon: Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold Cookbook: A Love Story Told Through 150 Recipes

BN: Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold Cookbook: A Love Story Told Through 150 Recipes

(Comes out September 24, 2013)

Amazon- Christmas on 4th Street 

BN- Christmas on 4th Street

(Comes out October 29, 2013- Paperback reissue)

Amazon- A Fool's Gold Christmas

BN- A Fool's Gold Christmas

(No links yet)

I would love to talk about the Fool's Gold Books, characters, and the town.

*Which character is your favorite?
*Which guy is the cutest?
*Which is the cutest couple?

Don't forget about my Chasing Perfect Book Giveaway!!
Melissa

Learn more about Susan Mallery!

Follow your dreams & don't give up!!

Melissa

Susan Mallery on Just One Kiss

I love Just One Kiss!!  Always love returning to Fool's Gold. It is like returning home!! I love starting my summer reading a new Fool's Gold book!!  I love the relationship between Patience & Justice. I love Felicia, too.  She is something, but I think she would be a great friend.  Always there for you no matter what & that is the type of girlfriend we all need.  I love Lillie.  Patience has raised a sweet little girl & she should be proud of herself.  

Looking for a great book.  I recommend Just One Kiss!
Melissa

Giveaway!!

I am going to be having a giveaway for the Cheerleading season!!  I have a copy of Chasing  Perfect, which is the first book of the Fool's Gold series.

To celebrate the cheering season, I want to do a Giveaway for you all!   It starts now & goes to September 1st, 2013.  "Chasing Perfect" is a great book.  It is the first book in the Fool's Gold Series.

This is from Goodreads:
The first in a brand-new series. Fool's Gold, California, is a charming community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. There's lots to do and plenty of people to meet, especially women. There's just one problem: the men don't seem to stick around. The situation needs to be fixed, and Charity Jones may just be the one to fix it. 

Good Luck everyone!  Below is about the giveaway.
Melissa

Here is the Giveaway:

Susan Mallery is a New York Times Best Selling Author.  She lives in Seattle with her husband & her toy poodle.  If you want to read a series, then this is the series to read.  It is that good.  You will fall in love with the characters & the town.  Susan has it set in a town called Fool's Gold, CA.  I love Fool's Gold.  Not sure if I would like living in a small town with everyone knowing everything about myself & my family, but I would love getting some help with everything.  You just left the hospital or had a baby, then the town would be there helping you.  I love that!  You just broke up with your boyfriend then the girls are there cheering you up.  How nice is that?  You are sick with a cold.  The town helps you out.

The Giveaway is:
One person will win 
-1 Chasing Perfect Book by Susan Mallery with a Bookmark, a pen, tattoo, Susan Mallery business card & a little booklet!!
-5 bookmarks for 5 friends so you can pass them out!
*5 bookmarks are from last Cheering Season & 5 bookmarks are from this Cheering Season. So, each friend will get 2 Bookmarks each from you!
-5 little booklets for your 5 friends.
*I have little booklets from All Summer Long, A Fool's Gold Christmas, Just One Kiss, Two of a Kind, and Three Little Words. 
-5 tattoos for your 5 friends.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Halfway There by Susan Mallery

Enjoy this video!!

 

Melissa



Holidays

Holidays?  I know no one wants to think of this in July, but bear with me.  When I was reading Two of a Kind, this quote got to me.  You see we moved into our first real house, which is thanks to my mother in law.  We have her house.  She moved to sunny South Carolina to retire.  (Having fun down there as always!)  We have a fireplace (not working), but it has been years since we have had one.  I do not know how to decorate it the mantle.  So, this quote before got to me.

"I know what you mean," Patience said.  "I'm going to have to figure out when to start decorating for the various holidays.  It's not anything I had to worry about before."- Page 55 Kindle From Two of a Kind.

I know how to decorate our tree, which we have had for many years.  The kids loves our tree to be crafty!  The kids have made ornaments together for our tree over the years. 

I did decorate our mantle, but this year I want to do it better.  Not sure how to do it better, but I will get there. 

How do you decorate a mantle if you have one?  Share thoughts.  Links if you find any.  I need all the help I can get.  I do not want to rush Chistmas here because I am no where near ready. We still have to finish summer, back to school (school shopping then back to school), Halloween,  & Thanksgiving before we get to Christmas.  That is too much to get through to get there.  I am tired just thinking about it.

Enjoy your summer because I am!  Mmm, what should I plan for my kids since it is mid-July?  What are you going to plan?
Melissa

Spiders......No! Please!!

The other day I went into the Holiday room as I call it.  It is a room in our basement where our washer & dryer is located.  We also have our craft table, too.  Plus a bookcase with craft supplies.  Right now this area is under construction since my husband is going to be taking apart an entertainment center & putting together 2 bookcases so it is a mess right now. 

So anyway,  I had to go into the Holiday room for something & there they were. 

I hate spiders.  Are you with me?  I could not stay in the room with them.  All I could think about is the beginning of Two of a Kind & about Felicia.  lol.  If you have not read it, you need to.  It is so funny.  It is a must read.  

To read the excerpt, Click below:

Chapter One of Two of a Kind

Here is my favorite quote:

Felicia Swift stood immobilized in the corner of the warehouse, aware of the web, of the arachnid watching her, no doubt plotting her downfall. Where there was one female American house spider, there were others and she knew they were all after her.

The still functioning logical part of her brain nearly laughed out loud at her fears. In her head, Felicia understood that spiders did not, in fact, travel in packs or scheme to attack her. But intelligence and logic were no match for a true arachnophobia. She could write papers, prepare flow charts and even do experiments from now until the next appearance of Haley's comet. She was terrified of spiders and they knew it.

That is what I was thinking the entire time I was in the Holiday Room.  Our Holiday Room is called this because all of our holiday items is stored there.  I have to keep everything in totes because if it raining too hard too fast then it can flood, which I am dealing with now.  I was in there mopping out the water when I saw them, the spiders.  I told Shawn I will not go in there since there are spiders!  I am not sure if I can go in there.

Happy Reading!!
Melissa

Catching up: Day 1 of cheering for Two of a Kind

Two of a Kind came out end of last month, but I have been a bit sick plus with 3 kids and 2 pups time got away from me.  Our older husky was diagnosed with Lymes Disease so he is on antibiotics.  He gets 3 pills at once.  We give it to him in peanut butter, but he is so picky about who he will take it from.  He will not take it from me, but only Noah.  Sometimes it takes us 20 minutes to get him to take it.  We put the peanut butter/pill in something else like rice or a broken bone.

So, back to Cheering!!  This was at Walmart.  I love going to Walmart.  Visiting with the book rep.  I wish every store had a book rep like our Walmart & KMart has.  She is great!!  I give her some bookmarks to hand out to customers.  I thought I took better photos.

On my way to another part of the store, I saw the end cap.

I finished Two of a Kind last night. I loved it. It is one of my favorites. Felicia is a great character, who is very smart, tells you what she is thinking. Not many of us does that. She is very honest. Felicia just wants to fit in. Gideon went through hell and back, but will he realize what is really important before it's too late?

This book is a great read! I highly recommend it.  I am loving Three Little Words!

Happy Reading!
Melissa

Catching up: Day 2 of Cheering from Just One Kiss

This is a bad photo.  Sorry!!  Just One Kiss is in the center top of the photo.  My husband & I took our kids to our one grocery store.  My children make a habit of checking the books for Susan's books.  "Look Mommy there is the book you are reading " says Noah.  Of course, they helped me put the bookmarks into the books!  

We finished our shopping.  Happy Reading!
Melissa

Behind...

I am behind in everything here.  I have to catch up big time.  Too much to do this summer.  Plus I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, "also known as celiac sprue or gluten-sensitive enteropathy -- is a digestive and autoimmune disorder that results in damage to the lining of the small intestine when foods with gluten are eaten. Glutens are a form of protein found in some grains. The damage to the intestine makes it hard for the body to absorb nutrients, especially fat, calcium, iron, and folate."

I have a couple posts with photos from Cheering Days.  One from the first book, Just One Kiss.  A few photos from the second book, Two of a Kind.  Both awesome books to read.  I have one post I can not to post.  I just need to freeze time!  With 3 kids, 2 huskies, me not feeling well, I do not have enough time in the day.  Boy, I wish I lived in Fool's Gold.  I wonder who would come knocking on my door!!  Denise? Mayor Marsha?  You know the Mayor knows everything, which comes to another important question I have.  How does the Mayor knows everything?  

Since it is summer, share your favorite memory so far this summer!!

My would have to be going to the zoo with my brother, brother in law, & my kids!

Keep on Reading!

Melissa

Blog Hop: Two of a Kind

If you could....

Tell to me....
If you could go cross country with 3 people, who would you go with?

Susan Mallery

Felicia Swift

Shane Stryker

Montana Bradley

Marsha Tilson

Gideon Boylan

Dakota Anderson

Justice Garrett

Ford Hendrix

Tucker Janack

Charity Golden

Annabelle Weiss

Patience McGraw

Ethan Hendrix I would choose a girls weekend.  Sorry guys!!  I would pick of course Susan Mallery because I have not yet met her, but I hope to one day along with Montana Bradley because of her love of dogs and Felicia Swift because I am curious about her.  Who are your 3?  Comment below to tell me your 3! Melissa

Is your town like Fool's Gold?

One of the Cheerleaders, Dyan, said my town sounds like Fool's Gold.  I took my kids, my friend & her kids to a parade for our Fireman.  It is done every year.  Fire Departments can come from a distance.  This parade can be 2-3 hours depending how many Fire Departments are in it along with EMS, Police, and other different things.  Lowe's was there handling out their fire truck kits.  The kids will be building them with their dad.

I started thinking that yes, my town does sound like Fool's Gold.  In the Spring, we have Kaleidoscope Arts Festival, which I have never gone to, but I will have to check it out. 

In our Downtown area, they shut down a side street so they could have Friday Night Concerts.  Not sure what else they do in that area.

This weekend is the Jeep Festival where all the Jeep owners shows off their Jeeps.  It is in 2 different locations.  I don't know much about this Festival since I have not gone to it, but I think their Jeeps do get dirty!!

I took the kids to a Kids Day.  It was where our Farm Show is handled.  The kids had a lot of fun.

We have A Big Fair every July.  We also have a Farm Show every August.  My grandfather used to have his horses pull in a contest there.  He spent so many hours training his horses and traveling around to different Farm Shows in our area.  We also have The Lake's Regatta, too, in August.  I love taking the kids to that especially if they set up the Hot Air Balloons! 

In the Fall,there is a Farm Tour.  In the Downtown area, we have a Fall Festival where there are a lot of vendors with tons of food and things they sell.  The main street is closed off.

How is your town like Fool's Gold?  I would love to hear it.

Melissa

Favorite Things about Fool's Gold!!

 I have loved the Fool's Gold Series since I read book 1, Chasing Perfect, when I read about Charity Jones when she came to Fool's Gold.  I was hooked.  I could not wait until I read all of the books.  But, why?  Here are my 5 favorite things about Fool's Gold

1. The People (Who's Who in Fool's Gold?)
Who is your favorite family?
The Hendrix? Stryker? McGraw?

2. The Town


3. The Mayor, Masha Tilson
I want to know how she knows everything in her town.  Think about it.  Does she have her town bugged?  No!  She reminds me of Gibbs of NCIS.  He knows everything that goes on with everyone on his team.  Mmm! 

4. The Festivals

5. The Lake
I love going to our lake to have a picnic, to get great photos of the kids, to have the kids play, etc.

What are your Favorite Things about Fool's Gold? Let me know.
Melissa