February 2020 – Page 2 – Writer of Sweet Small Town Stories of Love and Family

Book Talk Tuesday on a Thursday: THE STORY OF US

Published on February 6, 2020 by Live Vi-Carrie-ous

It’s a twofer this week. Because I have a review already scheduled for next Tuesday, and I don’t want to let this one go another week.

THE STORY OF US is a charming tale that would be a perfect Hallmark Valentine’s movie. Oh wait! It is a Hallmark Valentine’s movie!

TSOU Jamie Vaughn owns the perfect bookshop, True Love books, in the perfect town, Waterford, Oregon. Okay, maybe life isn’t perfect. The downtown business district has been losing stores and a redevelopment company is poised to swoop in and buy up the area, closing her shop. And she’s on a romantic hiatus. Her heart just can’t seem to get over her high school boyfriend who broke up with her when he left for college across the country while she stayed in Oregon for school. Her most recent sort-of-boyfriend took a job in Texas. He asked her to move with him, but she couldn’t leave her bookstore.

Sawyer O’Dell has to nail this next job and he’ll be offered a permanent position with the company. No more freelancing and living out of a suitcase. If only it didn’t mean returning to Waterford, where he graduated from high school and left behind his high school girlfriend. They were too young to be that serious, so he knew it was for the best, even if it hurt and even if he’d never met anyone else who made him feel like Jamie did. So he has to get this bid accepted. His design for the business district redevelopment is good and he knows he can sell the business owners on it.

Except he hadn’t counted on running into Jamie as soon as he arrives back in town. And he hadn’t counted on her determination to save her shop–and the business district.

The plot of THE STORY OF US is somewhat formulaic. This is a Hallmark romance, after all. We know how it’s going to end. But that doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of the story. There’s a lovely secondary plot about Jamie’s friend, Lucy, and Sawyer’s friend, Rick.

Overall, I quite enjoyed this book, and I can whole♥edly recommend it.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, but it did not induce me to review it, either favorably or not.

The Great Adventure: Part 2

Published on February 5, 2020February 5, 2020 by Live Vi-Carrie-ous

Yes, we’re getting ready to head out on the road again. The groups sponsoring the Code 3/RALICares/PhRMA trailer decided to do another season and offered us the opportunity to continue with the trailer. We accepted. We loved the job last year and are looking forward to what God has in store for us in 2020.

We’ve had a lovely two+ months at home. Well, mostly lovely. We spent a good part of the first six weeks sick, but once we got past that, it’s been lovely. We’ve gotten to love on our grandkids and spend time with family and friends. We’ve worked a lot around the house and on other projects.

The trailer stayed at our house for the winter. We did two local events in Fresno while we were home. One at the local Code 3 Ministries/JARON Ministries, and one at a 5K run for a local treatment/recovery program.

At the first event, at Code 3, we had about a dozen people come, most of them friends who wanted to see exactly what we’ve been doing. It was so fun to show them the trailer and give the tour. We had a great time! Dave even stayed and hung out with his buddies for a while after the event was officially over.

The second event was last Saturday. We induced Taryn to come and help us. She took the place of a RALI Cares consultant and passed out tote bags for us. She was a huge help! Everyone at the 5K was interested in what we had as they were impacted by drug use in one way or another, either as an addict or a family member.

We arrived at 7 AM to be set up by 8. I gave my first tour at 7:45 to an eager group. But they weren’t quite sure what to expect and as I showed the signs of drug use that I pulled from the trash, one man left suddenly, taking two other men with him. That happens occasionally. Someone may get a phone call, or they see something that reminds them of a loved one they lost. I didn’t think much of it, just continued on. He came by later to tell me that he runs a recovery program and the two men with him were new in the program and he realized that they may see items that would be triggers and he decided he needed to get them out and get them out quickly.

We gave 30 tours in just two hours. We were hopping the whole morning. But it was great. We were home by 10:30.

Then we left again Sunday morning, headed to watch the Super Bowl at my brother’s home near Sacramento. We stopped for gas and David took the driveway at an awkward angle, a little too fast, and … we had to change a tire on the trailer. It didn’t take long and we were soon on our way again. We’ve spent a few days in the Sacramento area after watching the 49ers lose.

We have an event at the Capitol this afternoon, then we’ll drive home tonight. We’ll be heading back to Oregon and Washington next week sometime. We were told our first event is near Portland on the 15th, but I got an email this morning that it may be as early as the 12th, so who knows? I’ll keep you posted!

Book Talk Tuesday: Country Hearts

Published on February 4, 2020 by Live Vi-Carrie-ous

Sweet but not Gooey, is how I titled this review on Amazon.

CH_CM_ This is a charming story of big city gal Jemma who takes a temporary job in a small country town as a substitute teacher. She arrives woefully unprepared for the weather, the roads, and her sometimes charming/sometimes gruff neighbor, Wyatt. And his sweet daughter, Bailey Rae.
I enjoyed this sweet romance a lot! Jemma has some sass and she didn’t let being in an uncertain and unfamiliar situation get her down. Wyatt was guarding his heart, but allowed himself to be drawn to his pretty neighbor, who also happens to be his daughter’s new teacher.
I’m not usually a fan of child characters being labeled “precocious.” To me, it’s a way for the author to get away with writing a child with adult sensibilities. I cringed when Bailey was described as precocious. But, I have to say, I didn’t hold it against her. She was still enough of a child that I ended up not minding the label. Bailey worried about her dad being lonely. She had some insecurities, but also some confidence in her self.

Overall, I really liked this book and I highly recommend it.

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I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, but it did not induce me to review the book favorably.