Sunday Post #160

Posted January 10, 2016 by Lola in Sunday Post / 46 Comments

sunday post

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
It’s a chance to share News. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.

What happened this week?

Whew what a week! It was a busy and exciting week! On monday I launched my new feature Lola’s Advice. I was so excited and nervous, but so far everyone seems to like the feature and I got some great comments from both bloggers and authors. It definitely sparked some great conversations! I also made a new page called Author Tips, where I’ll be listing links to all my Lola’s Advice posts.

On Lola’s Blog Tours things are going great too! I already put my first review opportunity and cover reveal of the new year on the site. Both for different authors. And next week another review opportunity and cover reveal will go live. So that’s an exciting start of the new year, certainly compared to last year where I had almost no new tours and events in january.

And I won two giveaways this week! It seems like I had a lucky streak with winning giveaways. I won a handmade bookmarks in a giveaway from Tonyalee at LilyBloomBooks! I can’t wait till it arrives and I get to see how it looks in real life!
And then later in the week I won a 5$ amazon gift card as part of the 2015 new release challenge wrap up thanks to Lexie at Unconventional Book Views and Stormi at Books, Movies, Reviews, Oh My. And I am exicted to be participating in their awesome challenge for new releases again this year!

And I got way too many new books this week and then ofcourse went to netgalley and requested a few more. I just can’t resist all those awesome sounding books.

Random Picture(s) of the Week

Donuts
The donuts where discounted this week. I couldn’t resist grabbing a box. The yellow banana flavoured donut is my favourite of these 5, so I ate that one first, but I like the other flavours too and the whole box is gone already. What’s your favourite donut flavour?

Chocolate pop corn
I just had to buy this for my boyfriend as he likes trying out new chips flavours. And chocolate flavoured pop corn, that just sounded so weird and original. My boyfriend really liked them and alreadye ate the whole bag. I thought the flavour combination was a bit weird, but they tasted okay. What are some weird pop corn flavours you have where you live?

What did I cook for dinner this week?

  • Sunday:leftover vega pie
  • Monday: Storebought salad
  • Tuesday: Indian Cauliflower Mash with tortilla wraps
  • Wednesday: leftover Indian Cauliflower Mash with tortilla wraps
  • Thursday: baked onion and red bell pepper in soy sauce with couscous and veggie sticks
  • Friday: storebought soup and french bread
  • Saturday: Japanese Curry

This week I blogged about:

Lola’s Advice: How to get more Reviews for your Book
Review: Thief of Lies (Library Jumper #1) by Brenda Drake
Lola’s Ramblings: Ten New Releases I Want to Read in 2016
Lola’s Kitchen: Recommend me a Recipe!
My To-Be Read List #17: chosen book

What to expect next week on the blog:

– Review: Yarned and Dangerous by Sadie Hartwell
– Review: Indestructible by Emma L Adams
– Lola’s Ramblings: Do You Visualize When Reading?
– Lola’s Kitchen: Lentils and Veggies in Peanut Sauce Recipe
– Review: Crystal Cadets by Anne Toole and Katie O’Neill (Illustrator)

Tours open for sign-up on Lola’s Blog Tours:

Review Opportunities:
Link by Summer Wier
A Bramble House Christmas by CJ Carmichael
Maisy and the Mystery Manor by Elizabeth Woodrum
Indestructible by Emma L Adams
Saven: Deception by Siobhan Davis
Summer Haikus by SJ Pajonas
Buried and Forgotten by CJ CarmichaelNew!
Check the full list of open review opportunities here.

Cover Reveals:
A Shot of Bourbon by A.C. Land – February 16 – New!

Tours:
None open for sign-up at the moment

Book Haul:

The Madness of MercuryThe Madness of Mercury (A Zodiac Mystery #1)
by Connie di Marco

Format: e-copy
Source: for review through netgalley
You can find The Madness of Mercury on Goodreads

Blurb:
San Francisco astrologer Julia Bonatti’s life is turned upside down when she becomes the target of the city’s newest cult leader, Reverend Roy of the Prophet’s Tabernacle. Driven out of her apartment in the midst of a disastrous Mercury retrograde period, she takes shelter with a client who’s caring for two elderly aunts. One aunt appears stricken with dementia and the other has fallen under the spell of the Reverend Roy. To add to the confusion, a young man claiming to be a long lost nephew arrives. The longer he stays, the more dangerous things become. Is the young man truly a member of the family? Can astrology confirm that? Julia’s not sure, but one thing she does know is that Mercury wasn’t merely the messenger of the gods—he was a trickster and a liar as well.

The HalflingThe Halfling (The Aria Fae Series, Book 1)
by H.D. Gordon

Format: e-copy
Source: for review
You can find The Halfling on Goodreads

Blurb:
Being seventeen and an outcast is hard. Being seventeen and only half human is harder.

When Aria Fae gets casted out of the Peace Brokers, a secret supernatural organization that’s trained her since infancy, and is left to fend for herself in the human world, she finds herself in Grant City, intent on attempting a normal human life.

As a Halfling, Aria has abilities that are a little underused in the flower shop she lands a job at. And when her new friend Samantha Shy enlists Aria to help investigate her mother’s death, the two girls decide to become vigilantes.

A new drug called Black Magic is running rampant in the streets of Grant City, turning people into supercharged maniacs. With Sam’s mad computer skills, and Aria’s Faevian abilities, they may be just the heroes Grant City is in need of.

Or they may find out they’re in way over their heads, and their mutual crush on the same guy is the least of their worries.

Dead in a DumpsterDead in a Dumpster (Leah Norwood Mysteries #1)
by B.L. Blair

Format: e-copy
Source: for review through netgalley
You can find Dead in a Dumpster on Goodreads

Blurb:
When Leah Norwood finds the body of Isabel Meeks in the dumpster behind her store, she can’t believe the police consider her a suspect. Sure, she didn’t liked Isabel, but then again, neither did anyone else. Isabel had a condescending attitude and a bad reputation. As manager of the antique store, Patina, she had made a lot of enemies. There is Patina’s assistant manager, the handsome and charming Trent. Isabel was blackmailing him. There is Patina’s owner, the aloof and influential Anthony Thorpe. Isabel was smuggling drugs through his store. And there is the entire drug dealing Cantono family. Isabel had lost a box containing heroin from one of their shipments. That is just to name a few and didn’t even include the stranger who was seen arguing with Isabel just hours before her death. The police have too many suspects and too many soft alibis. Leah needs to prove to the sexy new chief of police that she had nothing to do with Isabel’s death. Leah loves a good mystery. Can she find the killer before the police arrest her for murder?

Extreme HonorExtreme Honor (True Heroes #1)
by Piper J. Drake

Format: e-copy
Source: for review through netgalley
You can find Extreme Honor on Goodreads

Blurb:
HONOR, LOYALTY, LOVE

David Cruz is good at two things: war and training dogs. The ex-soldier’s toughest case is Atlas, a Belgian Malinois whose handler died in combat. Nobody at Hope’s Crossing kennel can break through the animal’s grief. That is, until dog whisperer Evelyn Jones walks into the facility . . . and into Atlas’s heart. David hates to admit that the curvy blonde’s mesmerizing effect isn’t limited to canines. But when Lyn’s work with Atlas puts her in danger, David will do anything to protect her.

Lyn realizes that David’s own battle scars make him uniquely qualified for his job as a trainer. Tough as nails yet gentle when it counts, he’s gotten closer to Atlas than anyone else—and he’s willing to put his hard-wired suspicion aside to let her do the same. But someone desperate enough to kill doesn’t want Lyn working with Atlas. Now only teamwork, trust, and courage can save two troubled hearts and the dog who loves them both . . .

The Metaphysical DetectivThe Metaphysical Detective (Riga Hayworth #1)
by Kirsten Weiss

Format: e-copy
Source: bought it with amazon gift card
You can find The Metaphysical Detective on Goodreads

Blurb:
When Riga Hayworth finds her new client, Helen Baro, dead, she smells a set up of metaphysical proportions. Now, to find a killer, Riga must travel from San Francisco to the underworld – and make it back alive…

Helen believes her husband is trying to kill her. One problem: Helen’s husband died in a car crash last year. Riga isn’t sure what to think. Is Helen mad? Is someone else trying to harm the woman? Or is this really a case of attempted murder from beyond the grave? But then Helen is found dead, leaving a strange haiku and tarot for a clue, and Riga is hurled into an investigation that threatens the detective and those she loves.

A noir paranormal mystery based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Metaphysical Detective explores the power of the archetypes through the double lens of tarot and Greek mythology.

Happily Ever AfterHappily Ever After: A Day in the Life of the HEA (Rook and Ronin #3.5)
by J.A. Huss

Format: e-copy
Source: bought it with amazon gift card
You can find Happily Ever After on Goodreads

Blurb:
Life in Rook & Ronin’s world has been bliss for fifteen years. Rook, Veronica, and Ashleigh are still BFF’s raising their kids together. Ronin, Spencer, and Ford have managed to go legit and stay out of trouble. And they have a pack of kids running around the eight thousand square foot Vail mansion they all share for the holidays–begging for gifts, and fun, and love.

But every HEA has problems.

Five is fifteen and getting ready to go off to college. He’s put it off as long as he could in order to stay close to Princess Shrike, but his stay of execution is over and in three weeks he’s off to Oxford. But Five can’t leave until he gets the only thing he’s ever wanted. The heart of his Princess.

Ford and Ashleigh never had any more children after Five. And now that Kate is sixteen, Ashleigh is out of her head with desire for just one more chance to have a baby in the house.

Rook and Ronin have two beautiful daughters, but Sparrow is growing up too. And she just got a job offer that has Ronin crazed with paternal worry.

And Spencer is the father of a fifteen-year-old princess who looks way too much like her Bombshell mother for his comfort level.

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46 responses to “Sunday Post #160

  1. Congrats on the wins. Winning something is always fun. I love donuts and would have to say that the devils food with chocolate icing or the Bavarian cream donuts are my favorites. I had cheddar cheese popcorn and didn’t think I would like it but I loved it. The only other flavor pop corn I tried was caramel and I didn’t care for that.
    Mary Kirkland recently posted…Count to 10 with a Mouse by Margaret Wise BrownMy Profile

    • Yes it’s was so fun to win two things in one week :). We don’t have that many flavours of donuts here, unless you go to a store that specializes in them. Those donut flavours you listed sound delicious! I think they sell caramel pop corn here too, but haven’t tried those. I don’t think I’ve seen cheese pop corn before.
      Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #160My Profile

    • I only have read a few of H.D. her books, her first series I think. I am really curious about this one. I read another one of the author her books and decided to buy the first Riga book as it was so cheap. I saw your review on goodreads and decided to give it a try :).
      I just can’t resist checking netgalley, there are some books where I am hoping the sequels show up and then I go there and end up requesting some other books that catch my eye.
      Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #160My Profile

  2. We have chocolate covered popcorn that has caramel and nuts in it. It’s soooooo good. But I prefer regular caramel covered popcorn, mhm. I have the worst sweet tooth lol

    Oooh I’m looking forward to your post about visualising when reading (I do it! Movies play in my head when I read, it’s great).

    Looks like you had a great book week too, The Metaphysical Detective sounds interesting!
    Wattle recently posted…Book Review: Sword by Realm LovejoyMy Profile

    • I haven’t seen as many flavours of pop corn, until I saw this one. I’ll have to check if they sell caramel popcor here as well.

      I am really excited for that post and am looking forward to the responses. I also have movies play in my head, although I do visualize some parts more than others.

      I read another book by that author and decided to give this series a try as well and the first book was really cheap.

    • I need to leanr to stay away form netgalley if I want nay hope of upping my percentage instead of getting it downwards, but there are so many good books and as I don’t have a lot of cozy mysteries yet as I am new to the genre I am still requesting a lot of those.
      I don’t buy donuts often either, because they are pricey, but I do like them. I am not a fan of chocolate glaze on my donuts for some reason. My boyfriend ate the chocolate one, I the other 4.
      Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #160My Profile

  3. I don’t think I could eat chocolate flavored popcorn however you can find the Popcorn Factory on-line and they have all different flavors of popcorn some are better than others. I prefer my popcorn plan or caramel corn.

    I don’t eat donuts, for some reason I just don’t like them. But when I go to Dunkin Donuts for coffee they always look so yummy.

    Congrats on your wins!

    Have a great week, Lola! Happy Reading! ox

    • Here chocolate popcorn is as weird as it get’s. I went to the popcorn factory and I wa ssurprised at all the different flavours. I didn’t reven realized they made such weird flavours for popcorn. I do think we have caramel popcorn here, so I might have to give that a try once.

      We don’t have a donut shop close by, so when I get donuts I usually get them from the supermarket, luckily they are pretty good.
      Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #160My Profile

  4. I’m glad to hear your year is off to such a great start! Congrats on the giveaways and the blog tour stuff 🙂

    YUM! I haven’t had donuts in years, but I always liked simple glazed or the typical frosted one (I guess the frosting was vanilla?). I’ve definitely never had any with banana flavor, but it sounds good.

    There’s this one popcorn company that, in the fall/winter, they come out with seasonal flavors that are AMAZING like white chocolate peppermint, gingerbread, dark chocolate, etc. The popcorn will have some sort of flavor, but it’ll also have frosting or chocolate drizzled on it. So good!

    Anyway, have a great week 🙂
    Kristen Burns recently posted…The Weekly Update: 1/10/16My Profile

    • It’s great to start the new year like this :). I like the sugared donuts and the glaxed one, this time I was in the mood for the glazed ones. The glaze of these is flavoured, there’s one with banana and one with strawberry as well.

      I recently saw a cozy mystery about a popcorn company (I pre-ordered the book), up until then I didn’t even realize there was such a thing as a popcorn company. That sounds so awesome they have all those different flavours and come up with seasonal flavours. I really would like to try one of those popcorn flavours.
      Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #160My Profile

    • We don’t really have weird flavours here in most supermarkets, but I like this set with 5 different flavours.

      I am not really a pop corn fan, but my boyfriend liked these. It’s interesting to see with what kind of flavours they come up.
      Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #160My Profile

  5. Congrats on the giveaways, and on Lola’s advice. For donuts, I think my favorite would be the chocolate glazed ones from Krispy Kreme. Mmm so good…

    The Madness of Mercury looks fun.
    Greg recently posted…Sunday Post #124My Profile

    • I wa sso excited to win so many giveaways in a row, it’s fun to win :). And I am glad the start of my new feature went well. We don’t have Krispy Kreme over here as far as I know, although we do have a few donut shops here and there, I usually buy them in the supermarket. I am looking forward to reading The Madness of Mercury!
      Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #160My Profile

  6. The new advice posts sound great Lola, I’ll have to check them out. (I’m just back after a month off!)

    As for the chocolate popcorn. Oh. My. God. DELICIOUS!!!!

  7. ahh your killing me with those mysteries! This is the second blog I have seen the Madness of Mercury, so not I have to go check it out…lol. 🙂 Sounds like you have been a bit lucky lately I hope it rubs off on me. 🙂

    Stormi

    Week in Review

  8. Productive week, that’s great!

    I love donuts, too. My favorite are maple old-fashioned style, but I would never say no to a cake donut. 🙂 Chocolate covered popcorn is good. We have a brand here, Harry & David’s Moose Munch that has many flavors of dipped popcorn and I haven’t tried any I didn’t like.

    Yay for a few giveaway wins. Always fun to pick with a gift card. Hope the books are enjoyable.
    Sophia Rose recently posted…Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff #YoungDelightMy Profile

  9. Sounds like you’ve had a good start to the year! Tours can be so hit and miss sometimes. I’ll go check out the CR for Feb. Great haul too! The holidays and having so much laziness and playtime really put my menu prep out of whack. I need to start planning dinners again. My week goes so much smoother when I do. I did get today’s already done in the crock pot. I’ve been sick, so I’m not cooking tonight. :/

    Have a fabulous week! My Weekly Update
    Tressa @ Wishful Endings recently posted…A Midwinter Ball by Heidi Ashworth, Annette Lyon, & Michele Paige Holmes (Review)My Profile

  10. I have a tie for favorite donuts. The normal chocolate iced ones, and the old fashioned cake donuts with no icing/glaze. I picked up a box of old fashioned donut holes at the store tonight because they were on sale!

    They’re making all kinds of weird chocolate-flavored things lately! One of my Aunts was given a bag of potato chips for Christmas. The potato chips had chocolate drizzled all over them. As much as I love chocolate, I don’t think I’d want to eat chocolate potato chips!
    Silvara recently posted…How Many Books Do You Read At Once?My Profile

    • I also like the no icing/ glaze donuts, this time I was more in the mood for the glazed version so I bought those. I love it when things I like and hardly buy are on sale :).

      I also love chocolate, but chips with chocolate does sound a bit weird, but who knows maybe it tatses better than expected.

    • Truffle flavored popcorn does sound interesting, that’s and it wasn’t a hit. The chocolate popcorn worked pretty well.
      I hadn’t heard of that author before, but I am trying to read more romantic suspense this year, so I decided to request it when I saw it on netgalley :).

  11. It sounds like you had such a great week, Lola. I’m glad 2016 is off to a wonderful start for you! 🙂 Congrats on your wins and just know that there is no such thing as too many books! 😉 I’m happy to see HEA on your list of grabs. I adored it. Thanks too for sharing your pics of food. The donuts look good but I’m more of a cinnamon roll gal. 😉 But the chocolate popcorn is something I don’t think I could pass up. Have a fantastic week!
    Bookworm Brandee recently posted…Beyond the Books ~ My Planner, a Funny StoryMy Profile

    • Thanks Brandee! It definitely was a great start of the new year :). I agree, there’s no such a thing as too many books ;). Although I am hoping to make a dent in my review boks pile this year.
      I saw HEA on Lexie her blog recently and as I loved that series, so I decided to grab HEA with some remaining gift card money.
      Cinnamon rolls are great too, sadly they don’t sell those a lot over here. Donuts are pretty common, but cinnamon rolls not so much. I can make them myself, but it’s so much effort, so I don’t do that often. The chocolate popcorn was retty unique and my boyfriend really liked them.

  12. Sounds like you had a great first week. Congrats on winning those giveaways. It really sounds like you’re having a lucky streak. Awesome!! 😉
    Ow I loooooove donuts! I don’t think I have a favorite one. I love them all. But I try not to buy them because I can’t stop eating them till there all gone. And since one of my new year resolutions is eating healthier.. Donuts aren’t on the list. LOL!!
    Awesome looking new books Lola!! 😉 Have a great week!
    Maureen Hinten recently posted…Review ‘Coming Back’ by Lauren DaneMy Profile

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