Sunday Post #167

Posted February 28, 2016 by Lola in Sunday Post / 38 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?

Another busy week in a good way. It was a busy week on the blog with 7 posts. And a busy week for Lola’s Blog Tours as well. A cover reveal I organized took place this week, a new review opportunity went live and the first blog tour sign-up post of the year is live! The blog tour is for SJ Pajonas her book The Daydreamer Detective, the first book in her cozy mystery series. And it’s not only the first blog tour sign-up post that went live this year but also the first cozy mystery blog tour I am organizing, which is exciting!

I also got some blog posts written, did some baking (brownies, cheesecake and lemon bars) and worked on another blog tour sign-up post that will be live next week probably. Then on friday morning I came out of bed with a light headache that grew into a really bad headache by that evening and stayed most of saturday as well. So those two days weren’t as productive as I would’ve liked.

I did a guest post on Because Reading is Better Than Life her blog. She was doing a series of people who talked about their favourite book couple in a certain genre. I picked Contemporary Romance and talked about Isa and Masa from Summer Haikus by SJ Pajonas. I love them as a couple and the book was one of my favourite books I read last year.

Remember how I didn’t got any new books this week, well ofcourse I already broke that streak this week. I requested a romance trilogy on netgalley written by three different authors and I got approved for all three of them. I liked the sound of the concept and have been more in the mood for romances lately, so I decided to request them. And I got a book for beta read (not listed), lended a book from Berls and got a review copy fo The Daydreamer Detective. So lots of great new books.

getting cozy with a mystery
I have read 5 books for this challenge so far and will finish one other, so I think 6 will be my total, I do a recap post tomorrow :). I had a lot of fun reading mysteries this month!

Random Picture(s) of the Week

Cheesecake-close-up
I am in a baking mood lately and trying out lots of new things. I’ve almost reached my goal of making four pies this year already. I thought I was going to have trouble with this goal, but I am doing great so far. I made cheesecake this week, the top didn’t look pretty, so I was afraid it was a failure, but yum it was delicious. I also made pictures, so keep an eye out for this recipe late April. Do you like cheesecake?

What did I cook for dinner this week?

  • Sunday: leftover Lemon risotto with spinach and red bell pepper
  • Extra: Brownies
  • Monday: Fried Rice
  • Tuesday: leftover Fried Rice
  • Extra: Cheesecake
  • Wednesday: leftover Fried Rice
  • Thursday: Mashed Potatoes and red bell pepper and onion baked in soy sauce with fish sticks
  • Friday: Mashed Potatoes with Sauerkraut, lentils and celery
  • Saturday: leftover Mashed Potatoes with Sauerkraut, lentils and celery

This week I blogged about:

Review: Tea with Milk and Murder by H.Y. Hanna
Review: Happily Ever After by Jen Meyers
Review: Amanda Lester and the Purple Rainbow Puzzle by Paula Berinstein
Cover Reveal: The Daydreamer Detective by SJ Pajonas
Lola’s Ramblings: What do you Remember about a Book?
Lola’s Kitchen: Lasagna Recipe
Review: By Book or by Crook by Eva Gates

What to expect next week on the blog:

– Getting Cozy with a Mystery: recap
– Review: City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong – 5 stars!
– Lola’s Ramblings: What’s the Right Lenght for Reviews and Blog Posts?
– Coyer Winter: Recap post
– My to-Be Read List #19: poll

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

Review Opportunities:
Maisy and the Mystery Manor by Elizabeth Woodrum
Indestructible by Emma L Adams
Saven: Deception by Siobhan Davis
Summer Haikus by SJ Pajonas
Dominic’s Nemesis by D. Alyce Domain
Secret Baby Scandal by Joanne RockNew!
Check the full list of open review opportunities here.

Cover Reveals:
Amanda Lester and the Blue Peacocks’ Secret by Paula Berinstein – March 14
She laughs in Pink by Jessica Calla – March 15

Tours:
Blog Tour: The Daydreamer Detective by SJ Pajonas – 4 – 8 April – New!

Book Haul:

A Heart Stuck On HopeA Heart Stuck On Hope (A Dollar For a Dream #1)
by Jennie Jones

Format: e-copy
Source: for review through netgalley
You can find A Heart Stuck On Hope on Goodreads

Blurb:
Move to the country for $1 a week.

Dulili is suffering a people drought. Over the years more people have moved away than have arrived to stay in this old New South Wales farming town, and now only a handful of young families and elderly residents are left. The locals put a plan into action to entice newcomers: offering the town’s empty houses to newcomers from anywhere in Australia. Who could resist renting a beautiful homestead for a dollar a week?

There’s nothing left for Adele Devereux in Sydney: no job, no relationship, no hope, and no diagnosis for her shy, uncommunicative daughter Ali. So she packs her bags, takes her meagre savings, and moves her small family to the country. She never expects to meet Tom Wade, a man facing his own hopeless situation, but whose kindness reaches her daughter in an unexpected friendship. As the small town of Dulili attempts to regenerate itself, Adele finds herself drawn further in to the community – and into her attraction to Tom.
Tom is not back in Dulili to build a relationship. He’s there to heal wounds, help his grandmother, and make new plans. Plans that don’t come with his grandmother’s new tenant, part of the Dulili dollar scheme. But as Adele and Ali effortlessly work their way into his thoughts and his heart, he realises that there are two crucial elements that he left out of his long-term plans – the chance to find love and renewed hope for the future.

Honey Hill HouseHoney Hill House (A Dollar For a Dream #2)
by Lisa Ireland

Format: e-copy
Source: for review through netgalley
You can find Honey Hill House on Goodreads

Blurb:
Move to the country for $1 a week

Dulili is suffering a people drought. Over the years more people have moved away than have arrived to stay in this old New South Wales farming town, and now only a handful of young families and elderly residents are left. The locals put a plan into action to entice newcomers: offering the town’s empty houses to newcomers from anywhere in Australia. Who could resist renting a beautiful homestead for a dollar a week?

Newly divorced Bea Elliot needs Honey Hill House for more than just a quaint project – restoring a ramshackle old farm house to a successful B&B will prove to her family – and herself – that she is strong enough to make a go of things on her own. She doesn’t need anyone to help her, even if the guy next door is remarkably obliging, delightfully generous, and terribly charming.

A city girl won’t last six months in the country, but Callum ‘Mitch’ Mitchell has good manners and loves his town, so he’ll be neighbourly, but keep his distance. Experience has taught him not to get involved with out-of-towners. Even if this out-of-towner is surprisingly resilient, unexpectedly tough, and unpredictably fond of local football.

Good fences make good neighbours, but in Dulili, it seems like barriers might instead be breaking down…

The Healing SeasonThe Healing Season (A Dollar For a Dream #3)
by Catherine Evans

Format: e-copy
Source: for review through netgalley
You can find The Healing Season on Goodreads

Blurb:
Move to the country for $1 a week.

Dulili is suffering a people drought. Over the years more people have moved away than have arrived to stay in this old New South Wales farming town, and now only a handful of young families and elderly residents are left. The locals put a plan into action to entice newcomers: offering the town’s empty houses to newcomers from anywhere in Australia. Who could resist renting a beautiful homestead for a dollar a week?

Alicia used to know exactly what her life would look like: marry her best friend, manage her home town agricultural store, and live in her grandparent’s old house. But life never goes to plan, and Alicia is left with nothing more than the store to keep her going. Until a new employee walks through her door and offers a new friendship – and potentially something more.

Lachlan has spent his life running, and Dulili is just far enough away for a new start. But small towns have few secrets, and running from the past is a surefire way to guarantee no hope for a future.

The Daydreamer DetectiveThe Daydreamer Detective (Miso Cozy Mysteries #1)
by S.J. Pajonas

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

Blurb:
Luck? Forget it. Mei Yamagawa is fresh out of it. She’s just been downsized from her 3rd job in five years and her bank account is dry. Now, to keep her head above water, she must leave Tokyo and move back to her rural Japanese hometown. And there’s nothing worse than having to face your old rivals and ex-boyfriends as a failure while starting life over as a farm girl.

But when her best friend’s father is murdered, and her best friend is named the main suspect, Mei turns her daydreaming ways towards solving the crime. Between dates disguised as lunches with the town’s hottest bachelor chef, searching for clues, and harvesting sweet potatoes, Mei has a lot of non-paying work cut out for her.

Will she catch the killer before her bad luck turns worse? Or will she fry in the fire with the rest of her dreams of success?

May May (Calendar Girl #5)
by Audrey Carlan

Format: e-copy
Source: lend to me by Berls
You can find May on Goodreads

Blurb:
Swimsuits, sun, surfing, and a sexy Samoan.

I headed to the island of Oahu, Hawaii to meet with cutting-edge swimsuit fashion designer, Angel D’Amico, to serve as head model for the “Beauty Comes in All Sizes” swimsuit campaign. The designer wants to show the world that beauty is not just a size two. My curves got me into this gig, and, the moment I laid eyes on my modeling “partner,” I’d never been happier with my buxom form.

Tai Niko had everything the average man lacked. Height, broad shoulders, a nipped in waist, square pecs, tree trunk thighs, and a look that rivaled “The Rock.” The part that made me drool and weakened my knees, was the thick, intricate tribal tattoos running down the entire left side of his muscled frame from shoulder to ankle. The design was unlike anything I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t wait to trace the tips of my fingers over every inch.

***
In the fifth book of the Calendar Girl serial, Mia is sent to Oahu, HI. Still on her mission to save her father, she embraces the model life to prove beauty really does come in all sizes.

Each installment in the Calendar Girl Serial will release every month throughout 2015. The stories will feature Mia’s journey as an escort to twelve clients in twelve different locations.

Warning: This book is designed for audiences 18+ due to language and graphic sexual content.

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38 responses to “Sunday Post #167

    • It was nice to have so much time to bake and everything turned out great! I usually eat everything too, but do try to space it out over a few days.

  1. Busy week for you! Sometimes I like busy weeks because they keep me in a productive mood. Sorry you didn’t feel well. I had a headache on Saturday night, my sinuses are kicking my butt the last few days and I am not happy about it.

    Just the mention of Netgalley makes me realize I haven’t been there in a few days so I guess I will have to stop by. lol

    Thank you so much for doing the post for me. I plan to do another in the summer if your interested! I do loving having you on my blog 🙂

    Have a great week, Lola! Happy Reading xo
    Michelle@Because Reading recently posted…Congratulations, it’s a slump ~ WIR & TSPMy Profile

    • It definitely was the right kind of busy and kept me productive. Too bad the week ended with a headache and two not so productive days :(. I am sorry to hear you also had a headache this week.

      I am visiting netgalley almost every day, I think I really am addicted.

      Looking forward to hear what you have planned for summer and I would love to write another post for you if it’s a topic I can write about.

  2. I’m looking at the possibility of making my own bread, growing some veg and experimenting with varieties of home made soup. I’m not exactly Masterchef but I feel it is worth learning a few new things to help save money! I’m looking as well at canning but I’m not sure of the cost of buying all the equipment. Need to think about that a bit more!
    chucklesthescot recently posted…Book Review: Holding On by Jo GambiMy Profile

    • It can be fun to learn new things and yes sometimes baking your own things from scratch can save some money. I especially noticed that with bakign cookies, cakes and such. I dislike making bread for some reaosn, probably because of the rising part. The initial investment for something like canning does sound pricey, I wonder how fast you would get the costs out of it?

  3. I’ve had a headache for a few days and haven’t been able to figure out what’s causing it, so I feel you there :-/ But yum, the brownies, cheesecake, and lemon bars sound delicious! Cheesecake is very hit-or-miss for me, but I still like it sometimes. Sounds like you had a great week on the blog though and got some books you’re excited for!
    Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…The Weekly Update: 2/28/16My Profile

    • I probably have migraines, but not 100% sure as I never actually went and got it diagnosed, but it runs in my family. Once I have a bad day of sleep or a lot of stress they usually hit me. I hate headaches, they are the worst, especially when they last long.
      All the baking this week definitely was fun and yummy. I really like cheesecake, we have a cheesecake store in a city close by us and they sell the best cheesecakes in all kinds of different flavours.
      And all the books I got this week all sound so good. I already made some good progress with the beta read book I got.

  4. The Daydreamer Detective looks good, I love that it’s set in Japan. I don’t think I’ve read a mystery set there. And it’s a great cover too. I’ll watch for your posts on City of the Lost and your review length post too, both sound interesting.

    You did great w/ the cozy mystery challenge too, I wanted to do that one but I just didn’t get enough books read this month. Should have prioritized the cozies I guess…
    Greg recently posted…Sunday Post #131My Profile

    • I love the sound of The Daydreamer Detective and Pajonas is one of my favourtie authors, so I am looking forward to reading it. I don’t think I’ve seen a amystery book set in asia before, so that should be interesting. The author is giving away review copies and I am organizing a blog tour if you are interested in a review copy.

      I hope you stop by my City of the Lost review (I loved that book!) and the review lenght post. I didn’t get as much cozies read as I hoped, I had hoped to read 8, but I still did well overal.

    • Oh that sounds so awesome that you won a 50$ gift card for the Cheesecake Factory and got them to deliver cheesecake to you. I love cheesecake too, it’s so delicious!

    • I never cooked when I was younger, but then we moved out and my sister wasn’t able to cook every day anymore, so I started cooking and baking more and grown to love it. I also go for easy sometimes, especially when I eat alone, I grab a pizza or storebought soup or make an easy pasta salad, but most days I cook. And making pies takes a lot of time and effort, but if they turn out well it’s great and you have yummy pie for a few days.

    • I do read the e-mails, but rarely request any of those and usually just go straight to the site and check the recently added books. I really should stay away, but I can’t, I enjoy netgalley too much.

      Good luck with raiding your frigde, I hope you find something good 🙂
      Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #167My Profile

  5. It’s great to hear that Lola’s Tours is doing good. You were busy and still had time to bake. The cheesecake looks yummy. I have got to start the Calendar Girl series. I bought the first book and it looks really good. I hope you have a great week!
    Kathy recently posted…Weekly Wrap-Up #90My Profile

    • Yes it’s been a few good weeks for Lola’s Blog Tours and I hope it continues :). And it was nice to have some time to bake as well, the cheesecake was delicious. The Calendar Girl series is a lot of fun so far! I am looking forward to hear what you think of it once you get around to reading the first book!

  6. I love cheesecake! There’s a rather famous cheesecake shop in Brooklyn called Junior’s that I used to get cheesecakes from for special events. They were really decadent. A lot of the quick, FB videos on baking are all cheesecake related because it’s a fairly easy recipe and can be mixed up in lots of different flavors. Yum! I’m excited that we’re working together on The Daydreamer Detective! I hope we can find some new readers interested in mysteries in Japan. 🙂
    S. J. Pajonas recently posted…Sunday Update – February 28, 2016My Profile

    • There’s one cheesecake shop in The Hague ran by an american who makes cheesecakes, but besides that you usually can only find cheesecakes in a few places or bagel shops. I wouldn’t call cheesecake quick as it took me about half a hour to crumble all those cookies, but it was worth it. It isn’t too hard to make though and indeed you can make different flavours, but the standard cheesecake is usually my favourite.

      I am really excited about The Daydreamer Detective tour! I hope we can find some new readers too. I think you have a very original concept here as most cozy mysteries are set in the USA and a few in the UK.

    • Yes the A Dollar for a Dream series sound so good and exactly like what I am in the mood for. It was the good kind of busy week. Normally I don’t bake as much in one week, but I was in a baking mood this week, which was kinda nice and I got pictures for some new recipe posts.

  7. Yum, love pies and cheesecake. I can’t get mine to look right most of the time, either.

    Glad to see all the work projects you have going on.

    I thought that romance series looked good, too. Hope you like it. And the new cozy mystery sounds good. Way to go on the challenge!
    Sophia Rose recently posted…The Book Report February 2016My Profile

    • I am glad the cheesecake turned out well even though the top looked a bit weird when it came out of the oven, the taste was delicious.

      I couldn’t resist the romance series, it sounded so good! And as eveyr book was written by a different author I just went ahead and requested them all. I can’t wait to read the new cozy mystery, it will be my next read after I finish my current book.

  8. I wish you were close enough that I could pop by for some cheesecake, Lola. Or any of your other baked goods. 😉 I’m glad you had a good week for the most part. I am sorry you had a headache – I know how debilitating those can be. Congrats on your book haul. That trilogy does sound good. I can’t wait to see what you think.
    I hope this week is off to a great start! 😀
    Bookworm Brandee recently posted…Bookish Bingo w/Chapter Break ~ FebruaryMy Profile

    • That would be nice if you lived close by to stop by for some baked goods and book talk ;). Headaches are the worst, it’s so hard to do anything when I have a bad headache like that.
      I am hoping to start the first book of the trilogy after I finish my current read, I am so curious about this series and the premise sounds fun!

    • Sometimes it’s so weird how baking can look a bit off, but then still taste great. I was so sad because I thought my cheesecake had failed and then it turned out it it tasted delicious.

      I hope you give one of Pajonas her books a try! I really love her books and I can’t wait to read The Daydreamer Detective!
      Lola recently posted…Review: City of the Lost by Kelley ArmstrongMy Profile

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