Friday, April 23, 2021

Dear Abby - Videos Abby Likes: A Deaf Puppy Finds The Perfect Rescue Home


Dear Friends,

I hope this note finds you enjoying some warm days and sunshine.  (No snow! Never any snow, especially in Spring.)

My friends Aliceson and Emily (Emily is a little dog like me) sent me a sweet video and I want to share it with you.

This is the story of Moz, a little deaf puppy. Moz was living with a foster dad and walking every day and he met a little 2 year old girl named Lillian and her family. Lillian just LOVED Moz. She learned to walk him, and puppy-sat him ... and eventually he found the perfect home with her family.  There is a line in the video: "The girl who can't stop talking and the guy who can't hear anything."

I love this story and hope you will too:

Wishing you a good day! Thanks for stopping by.

Love,

Abby xoxoxo  (ALWAYS a fan of a sweet rescue story!)



Book Review and Giveaway - An Invincible Summer by Mariah Stewart


My Review

An Invincible Summer is the story of Maggie Flynn. Recently widowed, she returns to her hometown of Wyndham Beach for her 40th high school reunion and finds a connection with her best friends Liddy and Emma and an uneasy spark with her high school boyfriend, Brett Crawford.  When Maggie decides to relocate back to her hometown - along with her grown daughters, Emma and Natalie - she reopens some unfinished business from the past, with surprising results.

I wanted to read this novel because it sounded like such an appealing beach read.  It even has a beach setting!

This was a delightful read with warm, sympathetic characters and a charming small town beach community. I am close Maggie's age and found her high school memories and the reunion aspect of this story especially fun. I loved her friendship with Liddy and Emma.

Maggie and Brett's story is the heart of the book. They were high school sweethearts in the 1970's but a secret separated them. When the secret unexpectedly resurfaces in present day, they are thrown back together ... with the same old connection, and choices to make.

This is the first book in a new series, and I already look forward to reading the upcoming books. I would love to read more about Maggie's friends Liddie and Emma, or her daughters Grace and Natalie. It will be interesting to see where Wyndham Beach leads in future books!

I thoroughly enjoyed An Invincible Summer and recommend it - as a beach read, or weekend read, or a perfect "staycation" treat. It is the heartwarming, engrossing story of characters readers are sure to care about.

Book Synopsis

It was a lifetime ago that recently widowed Maggie Flynn was in Wyndham Beach. Now, on the occasion of her fortieth high school reunion, she returns to her hometown on the Massachusetts coast, picking up right where she left off with dear friends Lydia and Emma. But seeing Brett Crawford again stirs other emotions. Once, they were the town’s golden couple destined for one another. He shared Maggie’s dreams—and eventually, a shattering secret that drove them apart.

Buying her old family home and resettling in Wyndham Beach means a chance to start over for Maggie and her two daughters, but it also means facing her rekindled feelings for her first love and finally confronting—and embracing—the past in ways she never thought possible. Maggie won’t be alone. With her family and friends around her, she can weather this stormy turning point in her life and open her heart to the future. As for that dream shared and lost years ago? If Maggie can forgive herself, it still might come true.

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Author Bio

Mariah Stewart is the New York TimesPublishers Weekly, and USA Today bestselling author of several series, including The Chesapeake Diaries and The Hudson Sisters, as well as stand-alone novels, novellas, and short stories. A native of Hightstown, New Jersey, she lives with her husband and two rambunctious rescue dogs amid the rolling hills of Chester County, Pennsylvania, where she savors country life, tends her gardens, and works on her next novel. She’s the proud mama of two fabulous daughters who—along with her equally fabulous sons-in-law—have gifted her with six adorable (and yes, fabulous) granddarlings.

Connect with Mariah

Website | Facebook | Instagram

 

Giveaway 

One lucky reader will win the book An Invincible Summer. Giveaway is open to readers in the U.S. and Canada. Giveaway closes midnight on 4/28. Winner will be notified by email and needs to respond within 48 hours or another name will be drawn. Enter at the Rafflecopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Book Review, Spotlight and Excerpt - Before Summer Ends by Susan Mallery


My Review

Before Summer Ends is the story of Nissa Lang, a teacher who decides to work extra jobs over summer to finance her dream trip to Italy. She even rents out her home, but then finds herself surprisingly in need of a place to stay. Her brother arranges that she can stay with his best friend Desmond Stilling. The problem? Nissa has had an unrequited crush on Desmond since high school.

I wanted to read this novel because I always enjoy Susan Mallery's books. 

This is a relaxing read, a sweet love story about two people who so clearly belong together. At first I wasn't sure about Desmond; I was put off a bit by his wealth and privilege. However, as the book went on, I came to like and admire him for his decency and kindness, and I found myself really hoping that Nissa and Desmond would work things out.

Before Summer Ends is a heartwarming story, with Nissa's wide-ranging summer jobs (doggy day care worker, florist helper, bakery worker, sign spinner), two very different families (Nissa's and Desmond's), and Nissa and Desmond working together to help her friend Marisol's family when Marisol undergoes life-saving surgery.

This would be a wonderful Hallmark movie! It's a real feel-good story. I recommend Before Summer Ends for fans of heartwarming romance. It is a light, relatively short read, perfect for a weekend or a couple of reading evenings.

Spotlight

A long, hot summer with her secret crush…

What could possibly go wrong?

Nissa Lang knows Desmond Stilling is out of her league. He’s a CEO, she’s a teacher. He’s gorgeous, she’s…not. So when her house-sitting gig falls through and Desmond offers her a place to stay for the summer, she vows not to reveal how she’s felt about him since their first—and only—kiss.

Desmond should’ve known better than to bring temptation into his house. He decided long ago that his best friend’s sister was too sweet, too good, for him. She deserves a guy who can give his heart. For her sake, he’s stayed away. But as her laughter breathes life into his lonely mansion, he’s not sure how long he’ll be able to resist.

From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.

Purchase Links

Harlequin | Amazon | Barnes and Noble 

 

Excerpt

    He tried to shake off those thoughts and return his attention to his work, but quickly realized that wasn’t happening. He obviously wasn’t going to get anything done until Nissa arrived and got settled. For some reason, he was more focused on that than the Asian sales report.

 

    He got up and crossed to the large window in his study. The late-June days were long and sunny, and the garden flourished. The grass was dark green, flowers provided plenty of color in the planting beds, the trees looked healthy. The gardeners did a good job, regardless of the seasons, but in the summer, their hard work paid off.

 

    He turned at the sound of the vacuum cleaner being turned on somewhere upstairs. Hilde had been in a state since he’d told her Nissa was coming to stay. There had been cleaning and washing and other tasks he couldn’t begin to imagine. The refrigerator overflowed with food and there were fresh flowers everywhere in the house.


    Her burst of happy activity made him feel guilty. His housekeeper obviously didn’t have enough to do in a day. The house was large, but there wasn’t any­one to make a mess. He rarely ate dinner at home, so she wasn’t spending much time cooking. He would guess she was bored working for him—a problem he didn’t know how to solve. If he’d stayed mar­ried to Rosemary, they would have had kids by now. That would have increased the workload. Of course if they’d stayed together, he and Rosemary would have been living in different wings of the house, barely seeing each other, except when they passed in the hallway.

 

    His phone buzzed. He pulled it out, then smiled when he read the text.

 

I’m here. Just giving you a heads-up because the house is so big, I thought you’d need an extra min­ute or five to walk to the door and I really don’t want to be kept waiting.

 

    He was still chuckling when he heard the doorbell ring a few seconds later.

 

Author Bio

No.1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery writes heartwarming, humorous novels about the relationships that define our lives – family, friendship, romance. She’s known for putting nuanced characters in emotional situations that surprise readers to laughter. Beloved by millions, her books have been translated into 28 languages. Susan lives in Washington with her husband, two cats, and a small poodle with delusions of grandeur.

Connect with Susan

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram