Review

As a rule I don't generally read romance novels.  It's not that I have anything against them, but take away the historical or the paranormal aspect, and a straight up romance is not normally something you will see me talking about. 

That being said, those that follow me regularly know that I can't resist a Hallmark Movie.  Christmas movies especialy, but pretty much anything Hallmark in general is fair game, so when Leigh reached out and asked if I would like an ARC of her new Hallmark Romance book, I couldn't say no ...... and I was really glad I didn't.

This is literally a Hallmark movie in a book.  When you read it you can see it playing out exactly as if it was on TV.  In fact, I REALLY hope that the plan is for Hallmark to MAKE these into movies, because I feel it needs to happen.  The story is pretty much your typical Hallmark romance, with the expected misunderstandings, and it is clear from early on what it going to happen. Well I never let that stop me with a Hallmark movie and I didn't let it stop me with the book either. 

If you like romance novels (or Hallmark movies), then you should check this out.  There is a lot of "cake talk" (the main guy is a baker), and some of the stuff mentioned just sounds delicious.  There is even a recipe for Lemon Bars in the back, which look AMAZING, so much so that I might have to ask Greg to attempt them.

This actually gets a solid 5 stars from me.  The writing really is excellent, and I felt transported into the story,  and although I personally would have had a slightly different ending (no spoilers - but feel free to ping me if you read it), I would never remove stars purely for their creative vision not matching mine. 

A Simple Wedding releases on March 10th but it is available for pre-order pretty much anywhere that sells books.  Simply click your preferred buying destination below. 

And add it to your Goodreads shelf here - 

Review

This is not the first book I have read by Cindy Cipriano, having previously been introduced to her work by her YA Fading series, but this is the first that would technically be classed as "Middle Grade" for the purposes of marketing. 

Let me start by saying that even though this is a story based around 6th graders, at no point does it feel like a "young" book.  Remember Harry Potter? Well his first book is technically Middle Grade as well.  If you want to buy a copy you will still have to venture into the children's section despite the world wide adult appeal.  The Circle has the same sort of feel, except with a lot of Fae mythology rather than "Wizard School".

The story is well constructed and it is definitely an easy read, and any time an author can work in new supernatural mythology which keeps me guessing, that always gets the thumbs up from me. 

I like to keep my reviews non-spoilery so I will finish up by saying if you like anything to do with the supernatural, don't let the fact that this is a Middle Grade book deter you.  The story is intriguing, and although technically it doesn't end on a cliffhanger - there is a snippet from book 2 which definitely leaves you wanting more. 

Overall I give this a solid 4 stars and will definitely be reading the next one! 

Scroll down to see how you can win a Signed copy AND exclusive charms from the series during our Facebook Live Show on January 19th 2020!

Happy New Year Musers! I am sure you are reading the title and wondering what on Earth that could possibly mean, especially as followers of my Facebook Page know that I was of course at home with Greg and the girls!

Well Emily had heard that the commentary on the original Twilight movie was something that shouldn't be missed.  I mean I LOVE a good commentary AND I love this movie (go ahead and judge, I don't care), so we decided to give it a shot - at 10pm - on New Years Eve. In case you couldn't tell we really know how to party in this house!

As the commentary starts we learn that the narrators are in fact Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Director Catherine Hardewick.   There's a pretty big clue that Robert doesn't plan on taking this all too seriously as he actually introduces himself as Kristen, but what we didn't expect was how much he would steal the whole show.   Unlike his Edward character, Robert is pretty hilarious, and it seems often that Catherine and Kristen are just trying to keep up.  From quips about eyebrows, to wondering what happened to his un CGI'd abs, and generally questioning the physics of certain things, his self depreciation is hilarious!  Honestly, if you picked Greg to do a running commentary of what he thought was going on - it probably wouldn't be far off from what we got.  Kristen and Catherine try, but other than a couple of interesting bits of behind the scenes info, the main takeaway from them was that EVERY scene was either Catherine's favorite, or had her favorite line, and that Kristen is obsessed with how much she didn't actually eat in the movie, and then their weird responses to Robert's off the wall reactions, including his building obsession with his eyebrows and "inside out face"

​Whilst this may not have been the original plan to bring in 2020, I will say it ended up being pretty perfect.  Lots of laughs, a new insight into a movie I love, and surrounded by family as the ball dropped.  If you own Twilight and haven't watched with the commentary on - I highly suggest it.  For those that have got this far through and think no way - look up Twilight "Bad Lip Reading" for the same level of entertainment without the movie commitment!