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Secrets and heartbreak...

In this sweet Wyoming romance you'll meet Marcela and Natalie, both suffering, both in need of friendship. They're lucky to find one another, but the one thing neither girl is looking for is romance. However, Nick and Oliver are determined to make them change their minds. 

 

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Book Rating: Mild for some suspenseful scenes 

Genre: Clean Contemporary Romance

Review: Dance of Silver and Shadow by Melanie Cellier

I love when an author can retell a classic fairytale and put their own fun spin on it. Melanie Cellier does just that. She has a dozen or so books that retell classics. This is the first that I've read of hers and it didn't disappoint. 

Sometimes I am a 10-year-old girl stuck in a 41-year-old ladies body--as I really do love me princess love stories.

This is about the twelve dancing princesses but focuses on a set of twin sisters who share a bond and are able to project words into each other's minds. It ends mostly happily and sets us up nicely for the next book. :) I enjoyed it a lot!

A Dance of Silver and Shadow receives 5 clean stars as it had nothing in it your 10-year-old couldn't read. :)

And for me, it gets 4 Entertainment stars! 

I really did enjoy this story. I've already started the next book. But it didn't give those- I can't possibly wait for another second to pick up the next book--like Cinder did--feelings. It was a fun read though, and I'm excited to see where Cellier goes.

Review: Walk on Earth a Stranger

I loved Rae Carson's series: The Girl of Fire and Thorns, so I was excited when I found this series by her. Plus the cover is amazing, it totally draws you in! 

Walk on Earth a Stranger is the first in a trilogy and it did not disappoint! Carson writes so beautifully. Leah Westcott is a young girl living in Georgia in the 1800s with a special ability to find gold. When the gold rush breaks out she wants to head west. But heading west isn't easy or safe for a girl all alone. Leah runs into one trial after another, but her character and strength throughout only make you love her more!

Walk on Earth a Stranger kept me turning pages (or listening... as I enjoyed this as an audiobook :)) so much that I finished in just a few days and I'm on to book two!

So, for that it gets

5 Entertaining Stars!

There were a couple Lord's names in vain so it receives

4.5 Clean Stars!

I loved this one, friends!

Go check it out!

I'm Giving God 20

When Timothy was two years old I was called to be in Young Women’s. I was excited to work with the leaders and the girls. I was thrilled to be back where my tender testimony was born. But as I happily accepted the Bishop’s call, the spirit quietly said to me- “If you accept this, you will go to girl’s camp.”

I can honestly say my excitement faltered… just for a moment. I had never left my little boy. I was as attached to him as he was to me. I didn’t go out with my friends unless it was a mommy/child thing, I didn’t work outside my home, and Jeff and I rarely ever went on dates—not something I recommend. The point is, I never left the kid. So, the thought of leaving him for four nights and five days made my stomach churn. But camp was months away and I really did feel like it was where Heavenly Father wanted me, so I took the call.

And I loved it as much as I thought I would. Until camp came. My nerves were on edge, my emotions like a roller coaster. How could I leave this little man who so greatly depended on me? The few times I had left he’d been a wreck. How could I leave him now for days? –dramatic right? Some of you are totally rolling your eyes at my mommy-freakout and that’s okay. It was fairly dramatic, but that’s sincerely how it went down.

The day of camp came and I left strong, only a lump in my throat. I held the tears back and immersed myself in the girls and activities. It was good. I thought of my Timmy at home with his daddy and missed him dearly. I made him a pillow case with a dinosaur on it and stashed other fun treats and trinkets for him. 

When it was time to come home I was beyond ready. We pulled up to the church, in town, just blocks away from my baby, but with an hour of work to do—getting the girls their bags, waiting for parents to pickup, cleaning the trailer, however, Elaine Huntsman being the most beautiful woman on the planet, and knowing that my heart was ripping to shreds with the separation, told me to head home. She didn’t have to offer twice. I couldn’t speed away fast enough. 

When I got home, my house was empty. Empty! I was so angry and then my anger turned to sobs. My husband and son returned home an hour later (they were out buying me a welcome home present J). Still, as I showered the weeks’ worth of dirt off of my body I cried my stinking eyes out. (Seriously… my poor sweet husband!)

It had not been an easy week, to say the least. But I did it because I love God. I love my Savior. And I loved his daughters and wanted to serve and influence their lives too.

Fast forward 17 years and that little two year old boy who loved his momma more than anyone in the world is now 19 and preparing to leave me, our family, his friends, school, and work for two whole years.

I have 10 days… and then for a time he’ll belong to Sacramento. He won’t see his family, friends, so forth. And we won’t see him.

In a weird way this is just as difficult as it was when I left him all those years ago. I know it’ll be harder, but right now, that time is one of the things I think about, that’s how it feels. I keep reminding myself why we’re doing this. Why we want to do this! --Because our loving Heavenly Father has blessed us with more than we could ever have hoped or asked for. Because we want Tim to experience selfless love and service. Because we love the Book of Mormon and know how it changes lives and makes them so much more worthwhile. Because the good news of the Gospel is for all. 

And I know, I know! when Tim comes back to us, he will just be a better version of his already pretty great self. You can never give to God without Him giving back to you ten-fold. I know Tim will be blessed, we’ll all be blessed. I’m honestly excited (and terrified and distraught—all at the same time) for this fabulous change in our lives. So many wonderful lessons to learn, so many blessed experiences waiting for us all. It’s going to be good, people. It’s going to be tough. And it’s going to be worth it.

He’ll leave at 19, he’ll come home at 21. I’m giving God 20. It’s the least I can do after all He’s given me.

Swallowing my Pride and Going Indie

 It’s taken me a while to find the guts to write this post. For so many reasons, friends. One being I’m Facebook friends with my previous publisher as well as my previous editor and the truth is I would hate for them to read this post and feel dissed. I would hate for them to read this and think that I’m not grateful for the investment they made in me.

Because I am.

But the truth is I wasn’t happy under their direction. It was partly my fault, it was partly theirs. They’re a small startup company with few connections and a learning staff. Guess what, I’m pretty much a startup myself. So no judgments. I knew something needed to change, but I was in denial and then my third book came out. Roses Don’t Have to be Red. (Is that not the longest title on the planet?) Honestly, I can’t even remember the exact date—because I wasn’t excited. 

How horridly ridiculous is that? I had worked my tail off and produced a pretty fabulous novel, and I wasn’t excited on release day? 

I couldn’t deny what I had to do any longer. 

And really, the only thing getting in my way at that point was my pride. My stupid, too big for my britches: PRIDE.

I had made a pros and cons list, I had talked to my closest confidants, I had prayed… and prayed… and prayed… all concerning this choice. 

The truth is I knew what I had to do, long before Roses came out. But my darn pride kept saying—“Really, Jen? Really? After publishing three books with and ACTUAL publisher you’re going to go rogue? You’re going to SELF-publish? Yikes.”

I dreaded the day someone asked- “So, you published this yourself?” Because they’d asked before. Many times. It’s hard to find a publisher willing to invest in you and each and every time someone asked that question my pride happily answered- “Of course not. I have a publisher.” I would no longer be able to say that. I would have to own up and say- “That’s right. Boo-ya! I sure did.”

Here’s the other thing, I have friends who are self-published and I feel so happy for them, so excited for them, so in awe at their talent. My pride never ripped them to shreds, only myself.

Why is that? Why do we do that? 

No matter what your “self-published” case is, why do we look at our amazing accomplishments and say to ourselves- It’s just not good enough. When in fact it is! It’s pretty awesome, in fact. 

So, as a side note to this: why I ditched the publisher post, I want to say—STOP IT. Look at your amazingness and smile, don’t find every flaw on the planet in your project. And go with your gut. Deep down you know what you want, find the path that leads you there. If you need to swallow that pride like the great whale swallowed Jonah, do it!

When that first copy of Untouched showed up on my doorstep I cried. Then I laughed and with all the giddiness of a seven year old little girl on the day she finally gets to ride a flying unicorn through a sky filled with rainbows I made a live Facebook video. (Something that scares the pants off of me.) But I had to share with the small world following me what had come. I spent countless hours writing and editing, I had hired a content editor, worked with two amazing proofers, worked with a gifted friend for the cover, hired someone to help with the blurb, and found other author’s to review. And I HAD to share my baby.

It was right. It had the right title, the right cover, the right blurb, the right reviews, and the right sweat, blood, and tears woven into its pages. It wasn’t perfect—it still isn’t. But for all of my knowledge and effort and work—it was beautiful. And I found myself right where I needed to be, I had worked my tail off and it had been worth it.

Would I love to be published by a major publisher? Umm, yeah. Do I still have hopes for that one day? You bet. 

But for now, I am happy doing this work the best way I know how. And I’m happy to not be settling for something that isn’t quite right for me.

Hi, I’m Jen. I have three chick-lit proper love stories published with a nice little publishing house based just outside of Las Vegas. I also have one (and one on the way) Young Adult fantasy romance that’s indie published. 

And that’s pretty awesome. 

So Many Choices...

Making decisions has never been my strong suit. 

It's so hard!! Ugh.

We are in the works for Book two's cover... My friend and cover artist Heidi and I worked on this last year when we had worked on the cover for Untouched. So, I thought I had it narrowed down to three choices... um... none of those three are even pictured here! 

See--I am lousy at decisions. 

There has to be a name for that, right? 

I am a VACILLATOR. 

Yep, that's what I am. I'm not sure that's even a word, I made it up. However, vacillate means you waver between options and struggle deciding. So, that's what I'm calling myself. 

It's my super hero name.

Or not so super name.

Anyway...

Here are some of my options.

Feel free to vote.

Or maybe you're a vacillator too. If so, don't let me cause you pain. If that's the case, feel free to look around and observe the covers as well as my struggle. :)

Picture/word options.

Well, a few... 

Vote with: Top, Middle, Bottom and Left, Right.

Thanks for commiserating with me! haha!

Oh! Guess what? I looked it up, vacillator is in fact a word.

Book Review: The Invention of Wings

The Invention of Wings by the brilliant Sue Monk Kidd earned 

5 Entertainment Stars!

And

3.5 Clean Stars!

I loved this book! It was such a beautiful read. 

Handful, an African slave girl and Sarah, a white Southern girl are unlikely friends and that friendship changes their lives. Kidd starts when the girls are only eleven and journeys throughout their entire lives. Nothing is simple, nothing is fair, no one gives them a chance, but they stand up for what's right anyway.

The Invention of Wings is honest and unforgiving and beautiful in every way.

It lost 1.5 clean stars for the following: swearing, nudity, and one no-scene sex.