Month: September 2015

September 22, 2015

A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn

In A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn, a wedding brings two widows together to find love that they thought would never be theirs again.

About A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn

Emma Keim was heartbroken when her husband, Sanford, passed away, leaving her to raise three young daughters alone. Though several years have passed, her relatives have made it no secret that they expect Emma to remain a widow, mourning Sanford indefinitely. But when she meets Jay Hilty, a handsome widower with three young sons of his own. Emma is delighted to have a new friend who understands her struggles. Still, she is dismayed that her family is so opposed to their friendship and the idea of it ever becoming anything more. She honors her husband’s memory every day but is she destined to be alone forever?

Emma’s gentleness with Jay’s boys stirs something in his heart that’s been quiet for far too long. But when his oldest son becomes engaged to a local woman, suddenly Jay, Emma, and their children are swept up in wedding preparations. Witnessing his son’s joy, Jay wonders if it’s time for him to move forward, too, and find happiness again.

Once again, love has come to Pinecraft. But can these two parties of four become a happy, healthy family of eight?

My Thoughts

I love this series of books from Shelley Shepard Gray where we are introduced to new characters but our old favourite characters are intertwined in the new series and evolution of this beautiful town. In A Wedding at Orange Blossom Inn, we meet Emma who is a very young widow who at the time does not feel lonely until she meets a young man, also a widow, with young children.

This is a man who can understand her struggles, her fears and her need for friendship. He understands the way she thinks and how to talk with her. But they both fear moving forward. They fear what others will say and think. That maybe the other person may not love or be interested in them. It is a lovely story of honouring the past but moving into the future, to trust in God and the path that he has set before us.

You can purchase a copy of the book here. You can find more reviews of A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn on the Litfuse Blog tour page.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Shelley Shepard Gray is a two-time New York Times bestseller, a two-time USA Today bestseller, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time Holt Medallion winner. She lives in Southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

September 22, 2015

The Snail’s Castle by Mark Gordon

The Snail’s Castle by Mark Gordon follows the story of Jake who will do whatever it takes to win a prestigious scholarship to study at Oxford.

The Snail’s Castle by Mark Gordon

Jake Milson wants one thing and one thing only, to win the coveted and prestigious
Hollingshead Scholarship to do postgraduate work at Oxford. He intends to travel to England
with his girlfriend, Rebecca. But a problem arises. Professor Gregory Percival keeps getting in
his way. During Jake’s struggle with Percival, the lives of Jake, Rebecca, Percival and Percival’s
wife, Margaret, intertwine. The novel, with its unexpected twists, draws you into the inner lives
of its many captivating characters. It is a story of ambition, love, lust and revenge set against the
backdrop of romantic Montreal in the early 1960’s.

My Thoughts

The Snail’s Castle is an interesting, suspenseful book that I had to give my full attention to. Mark Gordon creates an interesting world of characters whose lives intersect with what started as a goal to achieve a scholarship but led to lust and revenge.

Jake is consumed by the thought of achieving the Hollingshead scholarship. So much so that he puts it above friendship, love, creativity and integrity. His goal is put above all else and it can be even frustrating to watch him put this selfish need in front of emotional needs, friendship and family. It is almost as though he lives in his own world of greed and this is the only thing that matters in the end.

The novel took an interesting twist when Jake is given a book from Percival, a book that he just can’t wrap his mind around. I found when this book is introduced I had to pay closer attention as we are given excerpts of this book and I did not want to miss anything. The Snail’s Castle is an intriguing tale of what ambition, lust and revenge can do to a person.

You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon.

Rating: 4/5

About the Author:

Mark Gordon is a novelist and poet, born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
His published novels are The Snail’s Castle, The Kanner Aliyah and Head of the Harbour. He is
presently living in Toronto, Ontario, and teaches English to newcomers to Canada. He updates
his information regularly at www.markgordonauthor.com

His poetry has been published in numerous literary journals in the United States and Canada,
including Quiddity, Illuminations, Poet Lore, RiverSedge, The Fiddlehead, White Wall Review,
Roanoke Review, and in the anthologies Arrivals: Canadian Poetry In The Eighties, The
Northern Red Oak, and Bright Stars 5, an Organic Tanka Anthology. Online, his poetry has
appeared in Linden Avenue Literary Journal and Versewrights.

Follow the Tour!

http://www.legitlitbooks.com/search/label/Current%20Tours

September 21 – Little Dutch Bookshop
September 22 – Working Mommy Journal
September 23 – The Life of K
September 24 – Kristian Wilson, Writing
September 25 – A Read-aholic
September 28 – The Overflowing Shelf
September 29 – Seraphina’s world
September 30 – TBA
October 1 – Cupcakes and Vodka Book Blog
October 2 – All Things Character It Is

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

September 21, 2015

Week Six of My Healthy Living Challenge

Wow what a week!

This was an awesome week for me goal wise, as I managed to complete a lot of my goals. Week six also leads up to my walk for Sick Kids! I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am for this (and if you have not yet checked out my post on my walk, please do so and consider even donating to my team). This week I plan to continue to work on my endurance and strength training leading up to my walk. I have had a couple of co-workers notice my weight loss which is great (even if the numbers aren’t moving, I can definitely feel a difference in my clothes and shape). This has made keeping up with my fitness routine that much easier.

Here is how I did last week:

1 to 2 pound weight loss.
~~Weight training four times.~~
~~Yoga twice this week.~~
~~Daily squat, lunge, push up and crunch challenge.~~
~~11,000 steps a day.~~
~~Two 3km walks.~~
One 4km walk.

Can I tell you how proud I am of myself? 🙂

Here are my goals for week six:

Weight training four times this week.
Yoga twice this week.
Daily stretching (the stretching is geared towards my back that was introduced to me for physio)
11,000 steps a day – can I beat last week?!
Two 3km walk
The Great Camp Adventure Walk

I am looking forward to week six, especially with my upcoming walk for Sick Kids. Come back next week to see how week six went.

September 20, 2015

Bring Back Family Movie Night with Netflix #StreamTeam

Now that school has started it seems like we have jumped right back into the crazy schedules – soccer practices, swimming, parent council, school meetings, homework and so much more. It is enough to drive any person bonkers trying to keep up with it all. In all of this, it is so important to remember family time. We never want this to be overlooked and always make time once a week for quality family time. Our favourite way to spend this time? Family movie night!

So how do you rock family movie night? Here is how:

Let your child get in on the fun by choosing the show to watch on Netflix. Our boys love to be the official movie pickers (is that even a term?) for our family movie night. The children have their own special sections to log in to on Netflix so that we can find movies geared towards them. Some top family favourites are: Night at the Museum, Shark Tale and Meet the Robinsons.

Popcorn time! Get the popcorn out and ready to go – it is the perfect partner to a family movie night. If you want to go full-out you can create a popcorn bar full of goodies for your child to top off their popcorn with.

Let your child be a movie critic. What child doesn’t like to be a little bit of a critic and tell you exactly what they think (and when I mean exactly, no holding back there!). Let your child use these skills and elaborate on the movie, maybe talk about an invention, what they think happened after the movie finished or maybe even an important historical figure in the movie. These are important skills for children to learn.

Most importantly have fun with your child. Enjoy those precious moments and let their personalities shine.

How do you like to spend family time?

Disclosure: I am a Netflix #StreamTeam member and receive perks with this affiliation. All opinions expressed are my own.

September 18, 2015

One Week To Go: The Great Camp Adventure Walk #WalkForSickKids

The past few weeks have flown by for me after I announced that I will be taking part in The Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure Walk. This was important to me in so many ways. Sick Kids is an incredible hospital that does so much for the children and families that are treated there. They open their doors, hearts and give their all to their patients. I was privileged as a high school student to participate in a research study at Sick Kids. It was this study that sparked my love of medicine and the hope it gives families.

What is The Great Camp Adventure Walk?

The Great Camp Adventure Walk is a challenge by choice event held in Toronto on September 26th. Participants can challenge themselves to a 5km, 10km, 15km or even a 20km walk. It is an event that is open to all: young children, families and even pets! The day is full of fun, camp like activities and more.

Participants can register on the Walk for Sick Kids website. If you would like to donate to my team, you can do so at our team page, Live, Dream, Hope. Our goal is to raise $1,000 and we are a quarter of the way there.

All donations raised go to The Possibilities Fund at Sick Kids Foundation. The goal this year is to raise over $2 million!

You can also enter to win a $100 donation to a team of your choosing and a $100 VISA gift card for yourself. A definite win-win!

The Great Camp Adventure Walk for SickKids Promotion Contest

Disclosure: I am part of the Canaccord Genuity Great Camp Adventure Walk for SickKids campaign with Influence Central and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”