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"Reel is alive and pulsing like a beating heart.
This romance is a triumph of art and emotion."
--Talia Hibbert, New York Times bestselling author

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Reel, an all new epic CONTEMPORARY STANDALONE love story from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Kennedy Ryan, is available now!

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One moment in the spotlight.

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For months I stood by, an understudy waiting in the wings, preparing for my time to shine.
I never imagined he would watch in the audience that night.
Canon Holt.
Famous film director.
Fascinating. Talented. Fine.
Before I could catch my breath, everything changed.
I went from backstage Broadway to center stage Hollywood.
From being unknown, to my name, Neevah Saint, on everyone’s lips.
Canon casts me in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic, catapulting me into another stratosphere.

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But stars shine brightest in the dead of night.
Forbidden attraction, scandal and circumstances beyond my control jeopardize my dream.
Could this one shot—the role of a lifetime, the love of a lifetime—cost me everything?

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GRAB YOUR COPY TODAY!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xwekW8
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/Reel
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3dWwUyG
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2QCKcHS
Nook: https://bit.ly/3nsKKfr
Google Play: https://bit.ly/3gHMDUc

Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/2RpXgAe
Order your Signed copy of REEL today>> http://bit.ly/EagleEyePB

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ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO NOW!

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"Bravo . . .A true literary audio experience!"
-- Alexandria House, Amazon & Audible bestselling author

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Narrated by Eboni Flowers and Jakobi Diem
Featuring Nicole Small
Vocal Performance by April Christina

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➜ Audible: http://mybook.to/ReelAudio

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ENTER RELEASE G!VEAWAY ➜ https://geni.us/ReelReleaseGive
$50 G!FT CARD + Signed Paperback

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JOIN THE ZOOM RELEASE PARTY ➜ http://bit.ly/REELPARTY

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About Kennedy Ryan
USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Kennedy Ryan and her writings have been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Cosmo, TIME, O Mag and many others. A RITA® Award winner, Kennedy writes empowered women from all walks of life and centers those who have found themselves perennially on the margins of traditional storytelling.

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Her Hoops Series (Long Shot, Block Shot and Hook Shot) and All the King's Men Series (The Kingmaker, The Rebel King and Queen Move) have been optioned for television.

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An autism mom, Kennedy co-founded LIFT 4 Autism, an annual charitable initiative, and has appeared on Headline News, Montel Williams, NPR and other media outlets as an advocate for autism families. She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son.

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Connect with Kennedy
Text KennedyRyan to 797979 for release alerts!
Subscribe to Mailing List: subscribepage.com/kennedyryan
Reader Group: http://bit.ly/2GY6eyb
TikTok: @kennedyryanauthor
Instagram: http://bit.ly/2TaYiAi
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2GUq0uF
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2Fvhqiz
BookBub: bookbub.com/authors/kennedy-ryan
Website: http://kennedyryanwrites.com

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*bookish meme created by Moonlight Reader

 

Incoming:

+1. Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America by Nefertiti Austin - I have had this on my wish-list for awhile. I first heard of this book from the For Real podcast (from the Book Riot podcast family). It was a Kindle Daily Deal and I didn't think twice before hitting the one-click button. 

 

Outgoing:

-1. Once Upon a Wedding by Various Authors - DNF the first story, skipped to the two stories I bought the anthology for, and DNS the rest. I don't regret the 99 cents I paid for it because the two stories were worth it.

 

-2. Birth of the Butterfly by Mimi Milan - and with this book read, I finished all the Mimi Milan works on my TBR!

 

Needle hasn't moved much but there is progress being made I promise. I might the weekends no-Internet days to catch up.

 

 

Nook: 223

Kindle: 60 books

Print: 51 books

Title: Birth of the Butterfly

Series: Blessings #11

Author: Mimi Milan

Publish Date: June 14, 2019

Publisher: Eaton House

Format: Kindle

Page Count: 118 pages

Source: Own Copy

Date Read: June 18-20, 2020

 

Review

 

This is the finale to the mini-series; the other books in the mini-series are Dueling the Desperado (Blessings #4) and Where Snowy Owl Sleeps (Blessings #9). I recommend reading the mini-series in order to understand the mystery that ties the three books together.

 

Mariposa Sanchez Tanaka is living with her mother in Mexico when two women come to take her mother as an indentured servant in their new teahouse located in Blessings, California. Mariposa takes her mother's place and is an errand girl/servant to the women and to the teahouse girls who are also indentured servants (and possible prostitutes). Shin Bushido left Japan after being the victim of con-people and started his new life in Blessings by apprenticing from the town blacksmith, then owning the forge when the blacksmith retires. He was first impressed that this dusty Old West town would have a teahouse, but he quickly loses that good image as he looks around the place and comes into contact with Madame Fuku (OMG HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THAT NAME!) and some of her girls. But he also notices Mariposa and makes a deal with Madame Fuku to have her clean the ironworks several days a week. This is as much to help Mariposa escape the abuse from Fuku and her partner, Dona Ramirez and to get to know Mariposa better. 

 

I'm going to be honest - Mariposa was a little OTT on the impulsiveness in the beginning and seemed a bit bratty with those around her, without noticing the danger she was in. But with Shin, Mariposa was a lot less impulsive and bratty; somehow he brought out the smart quips and natural curiosity about the world that Mariposa posses. The chemistry is great in this book - the sideways glances and blushes, the banter, and the contact when Shin teaches Mariposa to swordfight. Damn. 

 

Once we get Mariposa, Shin, Chel and Miguel (from the first book) together in the same room and talking about the dragon claw pendant, everything clicked and a plan was formed to put the mystery to rest and rescue someone special to Chel and Miguel. This story was all about family secrets and cultural legends and how the two connect. Snowy Owl and Dr. Edwards (from the second book) join the Sheriff Pete's posse, but this is Mariposa's conflict to end and she does with bravery and smarts. A very satisfying way to end the mystery. The wedding scene at the end was beautifully detailed and softened the relationship between mom and Mariposa. 

 

Seriously, pick up these three books and enjoy spending time in the multicultural Old West town of Blessings.

 

 

It's Juneteenth, the day the last enslaved person was told the war was over and they were free. Yesterday, I attended (via Zoom) a panel discussion organized by Next Gen Climate Action Committee, a political action group my friend works for, on Celebrating Juneteenth and Ensuring Black Voices in Progressive Spaces. It was a great discussion and I am glad my friend invited me, considering I live in Kansas and the group works in VA on VA matters/policies. Rep Don Scott really spoke to my head and heart and he was on for just a few minutes. 

 

It's rainy and much cooler here, so no poolside reading today. I've got a beef soup simmering in the slow cooker for dinner; just have to whip up some cornbread to go with it and I am good to go. Spending the day reading and tonight I am going to watch Soledad O'Brien's documentary on the early days of COVID-19 in the US (it is airing on Hearst stations, so I am hoping to catch it streaming online).

 

Tomorrow is Litha/Summer Solstice and I have plans: including a hamburger picnic (using a plant-based "ground beef") and making Lemon-Ginger-Raspberry Zinger sun tea, while reading in the sunshine. Sunday is Father's Day, so I making a special easy breakfast for the hubby to enjoy, followed by pool time and a nice dinner. 

 

I'm finishing up Birth of the Butterfly for BL-opoly, then taking the weekend off from the game; right after that I want to knock out finally Proper English by KJ Charles. For COYER #BLM RAT, I am reading The A.I. Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole and New Year, Same Trash by Samantha Irby. That's my weekend. 

 

Next week I will be working my way through Beneath a Ruthless Sun and One Person, No Vote for the library's adult SRP prompts. I swapped out Once Upon a Wedding anthology (that first story is a slog and I am still not done with it) with Love by the Letters anthology which I should get done by the end of the week (it is only 3 stories). I might just skip to the Sonali Dev's and Pricilla Oliveras' stories in the Wedding anthology and call it good - those were the reasons for picking up the anthology in the first place. And then whatever the BL game goddesses decide for me to read. 

 

Happy Juneteenth! Happy Father's Day! Happy Reading!

 

 

Man this site is running slower than a turtle walking through peanut butter this morning. 

 

Anyway, happy Friday everyone. My goal today and tomorrow is to finish the COYER Diverse RAT and then on Sunday start the next big anthology. I discovered the world of flosstube, so part of my time was spent going down the rabbit hole of fellow cross stitchers' vlogs. Through flosstube, I found my mojo to stitch again - since moving last summer I haven't felt the urge to pick up my needle and it has been almost a year. So I sit and half-watch the videos while I stitch. Reading has been done mostly when the sun starts to set and the light isn't good enough to continue stitching. With stitching, reading, and just focusing on not being on social media so much - I am feeling more light. Granted the pandemic news here in the US is getting worse and I am worried about this autumn and another looming shutdown/stay at home orders. I've insisted both the kids and I have our masks on whenever we go anywhere. My husband's work provided fabric masks to use in the offices (they have to wear specialty masks when working on the aircraft due to the chemicals) and he doesn't go anywhere but home, grocery shopping, or work. 

 

Speaking of the kids, they finished the first goal (read for 200 minutes) of our library's virtual Summer Reading Program and earned a free book each. Joshua picked up I Survived True Stories: Five Epic Disasters by Lauren Tarshis and Sophia picked Whatever After #7: Beauty Queen by Sarah Mlynowski. For those not into MG fiction, the I Survive series is a fictional series about real historical disasters (the fictional part comes from the MC) and it is HELLA POPULAR with the 3rd-5th graders. The Whatever After series is about two siblings who visit different fairy tales and help out before returning to our world/time. Another series my kids are really digging is the Owl Diaries by Rebecca Elliott - we have read seven of these books in the course of 12 days. I'm just happy Sophia is out of the Junie B. Jones phase. 

 

Here's what I'm reading this weekend/week:

 

The Diverse RAT reading has Where Snowy Owl Sleeps (also for BL-opoly) and Birth of the Butterfly by Mimi Milan and Proper English by KJ Charles.

 

The next anthology is the one with the second most amount of stories - Once Upon a Wedding. 

 

For the adult SRP requirements, I will try to get to On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder.