TWW's Book Review: Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

This book was read for the July, 2012 Reading Romances Challenge.

It's really not Meg's fault. It's not her fault at all. Ted is all wrong for Lucy and Meg knows it. It's not that she wanted to break up the wedding and have Ted all for herself. It's really isn't, but once it happens, the entire town of Wynette, Texas has it out for Meg.

Now Lucy has run away and Meg is left to clean up the mess. Left without any money, and cut off by her family because of this huge misunderstanding, she must know use her wits to get what she needs in order to move on with her life.

Ted Beaudine is what every woman would call, Mr. Irresistible. He is the hometown hero as it were and a professional golf player who is trying to do something to help Wynette by building a "green" golf course to entice more tourists to the area while also being "kind" to the environment.

So what's a girl to do? Well, she'll scrub toilets, make beds, live in a renovated church and drive the drink cart around the local country club golf course. Oh and let's throw in a little mystery while we're at it! Along the way, Meg really does fall in love with the heartthrob and ends up saving the whole town to boot! Rating:

Wishing you moments of great reading!

 



Liked anything you see here? Then contact me, Susan Dusterhoft at todaysworkingwoman@hotmail.com. I am always looking for more books/products to review. I can also provide assistance with blog writing!

TWW's Book Review: The Summer Garden by Sherryl Woods

This book was read for the May, 2012 Reading Romances Challenge (just a little late getting it posted!)

And so we go back to yet again another O'Brien family story. This time is is about Luke O'Brien, his discovery in Ireland and the woman he met while he was there "Maddening Moira" O'Malley.

Luke has come home from Ireland and has finally decided what he wants to do with his life...open up a truly authentic Irish Pub. While some members of the family doesn't necessarily support his idea, he really feels that this is his shot to prove to everyone (and I think to himself) that he is ready to settle down and be responsible. 

Meanwhile, Moira is finally coming into her own and has an opportunity of a lifetime in pursuing her own dreams, but decides to go with her grandfather to the states to visit the O'Brien Clan. This is her chance to see if Luke is really the one for her and decide if she wants to pursue the opportunity that has just been presented to her.

As a wonderful back story, we see Luke's Grandmother and Moira's Grandfather pursuing their own dreams of love and togetherness. Truly lovely to see the lovebirds come together in the twilight of their years and overcome all the obstacles to be together.

As in all of Ms. Woods stories about the O'Briens, the characters must work thru their fair share of family interference and concern in order to make it to the end and realize that yes indeed, they were truly meant for each other. While all of these books are meant to be stand alone, they have and will always be a part of the great Chesapeake Shores series. Rating:

Wishing you moments of  great reading!

 


Liked anything you see here? Then contact me, Susan Dusterhoft at todaysworkingwoman@hotmail.com. I am always looking for more books/products to review. I can also provide assistance with blog writing!

TWW's Book Review: Sending You Sammy by Sarah Butland

For those parents that have a hard time getting their children to eat better, then this is the book to read to them.

At ten years old, Sammy is the perfect age to show his independence and the fact that he's growing up and making more responsible decisions. For his birthday this year he's asked for fruit instead of the usual junk food at his party. Clearly Sammy isn't a little boy anymore...he's growing up.

To make this fun, the author Sarah Butland adds a unique twist. She reinforces the story line by introducing a magician (what kid doesn't like this!) who offers Sammy the opportunity of a lifetime - the chance to be a Superhero! And his name shall be...wait! I'm not going to tell you yet!

What I will tell you is that this is such a great story to share with children on the benefits of making good choices, such as eating healthy fruits and vegetables. There are so many great choices, as Sammy the superhero explains to his friend Jason one evening. Why not make it fun! He's right...there are so many wonderful choices and this story explains it really well, especially in a way that kids will understand.

Ms. Butland takes a difficult topic and makes it fun and relatable! Simple choices, introduced slowly, shows  kids that by exchanging one or two unhealthy junk foods with either a fruit or vegetable will give them more energy and make them feel better. Sending You Sammy makes eating cool! So what's Sammy secret identity? Well he's B...oops! Sorry! You'll just have to read the book! Rating:

Wishing you moments of great reading!

 

Liked anything you see here? Then contact me, Susan Dusterhoft at todaysworkingwoman@hotmail.com. I am always looking for more books/products to review. I can also provide assistance with blog writing!

TWW's Book Review: Kiss the Crystal Sun by Penelope King

This book was read for the April, 2012 Reading Romances Challenge (just a little late getting it posted!)

Kiss the Crystal Sun is the second book in the Spellbound Trilogy. Calista's story continues where we left off in Witchy, Witchy. Justin and Nicholas are gone and Calista is left to wonder what will happen and we are left to ponder how she will deal with them the situation.As any true reader will know, there is always going to be more to the story than just the current story line.

Penelope King must begin to reveal more about Calista in order for us to find out who she really is...and so she did. Unfortunately, Calista is about to discover all that was once true is now, in fact, a lie. The reasons behind her mother's death, her birthright, the reason she can no longer see into the future...all of it is revealed in this book.

The heroine's desire to learn more about her past drives her to find the answers...no matter the cost. Since she has only recently found out about her powers, she still struggles to find a sense of normalcy. However, her longing to find the truth is challenged by her youth and she must rely on her instinct to see her through the challenges she faces, no matter what the wisdom influences in her life tell her.

In keeping with consistency of the previous book, Witchy, Witchy, the author has waited to the very end to deliver the awaited cliffhanger, which can only be described as "like mother, like daughter". Or not...

I had originally thought I wouldn't like the series, merely because of my history with another famous witch/wizard storyline. However, I have to say that I have been captivated by this one and only hope that Ms. King will hurry up and finish the last book of the trilogy so I can see how it ends. Rating:

Wishing you moments of great reading!


 



Liked anything you see here? Then contact me, Susan Dusterhoft at todaysworkingwoman@hotmail.com. I am always looking for more books/products to review. I can also provide assistance with blog writing!

TWW's Book Review: Moving On by Summer Foovey

It has been my pleasure to read Summer Foovey's book; more than you can possibly know. Moving On is the story of Melanie, who sets out on an adventure in her kayak down the Equani River. Totally on her own, she leaves behind her friends and other comforts (well at least what we would call comforts) in search of...well...in search of herself.

In the beginning, I didn't know what I was getting myself into as the author made it seem like the main character was not only saying goodbye to her friends and everything, but really saying "Good Bye". I kept thinking that something of irreversible proportions was going to happen, but it never did. And when I finally figured it out that nothing horrible was ever going to play out, I could finally relax and find the emotional connection that was calling out to me.

Traveling down the river in PJ (her kayak), she says goodbye for one last time to places she's been and animals she has met. Weaving in flashbacks from her past, you see all of Melanie's pain, all her struggles, and every possible heartache she has had to endure. It's here on the river that she lets go of  her past and allows the pain to float away; she becomes more relaxed and confident in her decision to move on with her life. When she stops to visit one of her favorite places, the home of one of the most elegant water birds, The Great Blue Heron, I began to realize why I had been drawn to this book. It was if I, and I alone, needed to read it.

Sometimes a person's pain hides in very unusual places and then suddenly reappears for no reason at all, if only for the sole purpose of  finally being released and let go forever. While I can truly say that I have never experienced any of the exact trials and tribulations that Melanie has gone through, I can, however, relate to some of the feelings. And as we see Melanie letting go of her past, I too, found myself letting go of my past, of my pain, with each turn of the page. I remembered things that I haven't thought about in so long. While it was troubling to relive some of these feelings, I knew that I had to in order to finally feel the wonderful cathartic release that had been so elusive in my life.

Ms. Foovey's writing is raw, even graphic at times. I have to wonder if there is a part of her somewhere inside of Melanie. The only reason I say this is because I sensed a pain there, calling to me from the pages, that maybe wasn't even Melanie's, especially during the dialogs where Melanie offers the reader advise. Whether that was her intention or not, I hope that by the time Summer finished writing, she also found a way to "move on".

Summer Foovey's book, Moving On is available in an e-reader format and should be added to the top of your list. It's also currently in print under the title, The River Way. Rating:

Wishing you moments of great reading!

 



Liked anything you see here? Then contact me, Susan Dusterhoft at todaysworkingwoman@hotmail.com. I am always looking for more books/products to review. I can also provide assistance with blog writing!

I Have A Latex Food Allergy...

...and I just wanted to take a moment to talk about it. While some of you probably have not heard of this before, I can assure you that it does exist, is very serious, and in some cases, it can be deadly.

The first sign of it showed up over 10 years ago when I had my surgery. While I had many internal sutures, I had no external ones and was only held together with surgical tape. During the healing process, I had to have the tape removed and new tape put on many times. I was in horrific pain because I had decided to go cold turkey on the pain meds, but the ensuing allergic reaction to the tape just added to my misery and healing process.

Recently, I've noticed more and more that my skin has become very sensitive to certain clothing, soap and even my headboard that is made out of redwood (you should see what my hands look like when I wake up in the morning and they have come in contact with the wood all night...yikes!) In fact, last year I broke out in a severe case of hives from some laundry detergent residue left behind in the washers that I used at a local laundromat. Not only was it embarrassing, but it took almost two months for it to heal and disappear. I thought I was going to have to get stock in Cortaid!

I started to really connect the dots when my husband and I would eat seven layer dip. Now mind you, the ingredients in that seem fairly harmless, or so I thought. However, every time I ate it, I would get horrible stomach and digestion pain that would literally lay me out on the floor. It lasted for hours. I tried it several times and each time, I had the same reaction.

After some research and sorting out the individual ingredients in the dip, I found out that I had a latex food allergy to avocados. What solidify this was another reaction that I had to the latex in my sports bras. Every time I where them, I have another skin reaction where the latex in the bra touches my skin. Let me tell you, how not pretty that is...ugh! Oh...and lets not forget trying to use surgical tape with gauze to cover up large scrapes, burns and other assorted whatnot when I get into trouble from time to time.

So, needless to say, I don't eat avocados anymore, despite the latest health craze about them (the counter person at Subway tried to put it on my sub today and I  had to yell out at him to STOP! Good gravy! What does a person have to do in order to communicate the fact that I cannot eat avocados, especially to those who can't speak English very well? That's a topic for another post later.) Since I've stopped eating avocados, I've had no issues. I even eat dip (made without it) and have had no problems.

But my skin reaction to the latex...well that is still an issue.  I am going to see an allergist and a dermatologist after my holiday to see what can be done about this and a few other things that have been bugging me.

In the meantime, if any of you have experienced similar reactions to the ones I've described, please take them seriously. For more information, please see this website here, and for heaven's sake, go see your doctor!

Who'd have thought this little food could cause so much trouble?!!

Wishing you allergy-free moments!


 



Liked anything you see here? Then contact me, Susan Dusterhoft at todaysworkingwoman@hotmail.com. I am always looking for more books/products to review. I can also provide assistance with blog writing!