Book Club Pick: Dating By the Book

Dating By the Book
by Mary Ann Marlowe
Kensington Books
2019
336 pages with Book Club Discussion Questions
ISBN: 9781496718211


Available June 2019

Maddie Hanson is nursing a broken heart since being left at the altar by Peter, her almost husband. Pouring her heart, money and time into acquaint indie bookstore, The Mossy Stone, Maddie struggles to keep the business afloat.

When old friend Max stops by every day, almost all day, offering to help and a partnership, Maddie is fierce to keep her store her own. Daily visitor Charlie is a local English professor, but not really love interest material. Enter old flame Dylan, the one who got away and left town to seek fame and fortune in the music industry. Dylan exudes hotness and all the ladies notice.

Maddie has no shortage of bachelors to choose from, but her writing keeps her busy. Her first book is due out soon, and when a reviewer slams it on a blog, Maddie is stunned. The writer, known as Silver Fox, claims the romance in her novel feels stilted and fell flat for him. At first Maddie is mad and sad, then she responds to the reviewer against her friend Layla's advice to ignore the guy.

Friday nights are book club night at the shop where Maddie and MEN read Pride and Prejudice, Gone With the Wind and Jane Eyre. As Maddie continues to respond to Silver Fox online under her pen name Claire, she thinks about meeting him.

Ex-Peter is warning Maddie that he wants to sell the shop, her shop! Maddie had better figure out her tangled finances and her equally tangled online "love life."

Clever cover design screams at romance readers to buy this book. This cover is my favorite of the year so far. Marlowe continues to offer readers spunky heroines, small town "feels," quirky love interests, and fun plots. You'll want to move to Orion after meeting this cast of characters.

Recommended for adult book clubs and all romance readers.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher.  I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

#AMM Connect: MG Contemporary: FAKING IT

I have entered #AMMConnect. 

Hi, I'm (Pamela) Thompson McLeod. I write #MG contemporary. Kyle is an eleven-year old who enters a recipe contest winning a coveted spot on a junior chef show. Just one problem: Kyle can't cook! It's a recipe for disaster unless BFF science nerd Addie and YouTube videos can teach him.

I write to tell stories about characters I've met in life. Kyle and Addie remind me of so many middle school kids I've known in the library!

I'd love to be a great mentee and learn more about writing and story pacing. I consider all feedback and stand up for my story when I feel it needs to stay the same. I'd love to work with my mentor and become writing pals going forward. So much writing is quiet, introverted time that writers need a circle of like friends. I know FAKING IT resonates with  beta readers and CPs I've been lucky enough to find and feel very close to finding an agent. FAKING IT is a Readers' Favourite in the Write Mentor Children's Writing Awards 2019. With a mentor's help and guidance, this story will be the best it can be! #ownvoices for weight issues; #STEM for cooking and molecular gastronomy.

Three of Kyle's recipes are included in the last pages of the book. In fact, Kyle's entry for Grown Up Grilled Cheese is a recipe I created and entered in an online contest. Like Kyle, I NEVER cooked my recipe and yet it won! I've become addicted to entering contests with recipes I create on paper but never cook; I've placed in three contests using my strange method, lol. I share Kyle's addiction for cooking shows and molecular gastronomy.

There is a page of YouTube Molecular Gastronomy channels approved by Addie and Kyle as well.

As a career librarian, I see precocious, genius kids like Kyle and Addie in their natural habitat on a daily basis.

Once again, here's Kyle's and my recipe

Picture Book PIck: Dragon Night

Dragon Night
by J.R. Krause
G.P. Putnam's Sons
2019
32 pages
ISBN: 978525514244

"Cozy. Well-crafted bedtime reading." --Kirkus Reviews

Young Georgie is afraid of the night. The dragon is afraid of the knight. When the dragon steps from the pages of Georgie's favorite book, they form a friendship that is sweet and mutually beneficial. Together they travel through the night until the dragon teaches Georgie that the night is beautiful and full of stars. It's quiet and tranquil and Georgie falls asleep by his dragon.

Next day, Dragon worries because he's afraid to get back in the book. Georgie saves the day and makes the dragon a new story book where the knight is kind.

Quiet, beautiful illustrations in soothing tones are perfect for a bedtime read. A quaint way to teach children and speakers new to English about homophones. Who can resist a book in which a character steps out of a book? Magical!

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.