Cover Reveal – Rock Redemption

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You might remember that I LOVED book two…I have high hopes for this one!

rock redemption cover

Kit and Noah’s rock star romance is finally here in the newest addition to Nalini Singh’s Rock Kiss Series!!  

PRE-ORDER AVAILABLE

Releasing: October 6th

From New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh comes the next contemporary romance in the Rock Kiss series…

Kit Devigny could have loved rock guitarist Noah St. John. Their friendship burned with the promise of intense passion and searing tenderness…until the night Noah deliberately shattered her heart.

Noah knows he destroyed something precious the night he chose to betray Kit, but he’d rather she hate him than learn his darkest secret. All he has left is his music. It’s his saving grace, but it doesn’t silence the voices that keep him up at night. Chasing oblivion through endless one-night-stands, he earns a few hours’ sleep and his bad boy reputation.

When a media error sees Noah and Kit dubbed the new “it” couple, Kit discovers her chance at the role of a lifetime hinges on riding the media wave. Wanting–needing–to give Kit this, even if he can’t give her everything, Noah agrees to play the adoring boyfriend. Only the illusion is suddenly too real, too painful, too beautiful…and it may be too late for the redemption of Noah St. John.

Meet the Author

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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Psy-Changeling, Guild Hunter, and Rock Kiss series Nalini Singh usually writes about hot shapeshifters and dangerous angels. This time around, she decided to write about a beautiful, charismatic guitarist with a dark past. If you’re seeing a theme here, you’re not wrong.

Nalini lives and works in beautiful New Zealand (EDIT: in MY beautiful city!!), and is passionate about writing. If you’d like to explore her other books, you can find lots of excerpts on her website. Slave to Sensation is the first book in the Psy-Changeling series, while Angels’ Blood is the first book in the Guild Hunter series. Also, don’t forget to swing by the site to check out the special behind-the-scenes page for the Rock Kiss series, complete with photos of many of the locations used in the books.

STALK HER:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, round robin, steptember 2015 by

Well for today I don’t have much to show at all. I managed a few days on the wallpaper of Persephone (while bingeing on SOA). The left top corner now only needs the beads, which I will do much, much later. It’s a carrot to keep stitching along, especially as I wasn’t sure about doing the background initially.

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Then one of the NZ round robins I am organising went to custard. I have picked up the two pieces that were at one person’s house and now have THREE robins I’m stitching in. Luckily I don’t have the latest Mira one yet (probably next week) but the person hadn’t stitched much on the other pieces – one is due to be posted next Friday (not even opened!) and the other was a couple of weeks ago. Part of the issue was out of her control but I’m still disappointed.

I’ve decided to work on Andi’s piece this week (in between work, rep footy and walking) – it’s a Shannon Wasilieff piece called Gingerbread Houses. It’s available in her etsy store. I found this image on Google from another blog (mylifeisinstitches.blogspot.com which now looks like it’s been abandoned).

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I’m going to start the top left house & I’ll probably ignore the border – but the goal is to get a house done quick smart and off to Kathryn as soon as I can!

Steptember Update

Posted in cross stitch, Project Life, steptember 2015 by

Well, given that the average office worker hits about 3000 steps a day, I’m nailing it. However I’m not quite at 10K a day yet.

Wednesday – 6121 steps or 2.9km

Thursday – 7547 steps or 7.2km

Friday – 14564 steps or 7.9km

Saturday – 10470 steps or 5.3km

Sunday – 17421 steps or 9.5km

Monday (yesterday, back in the office) – 9584 steps or 5.1km

Sarah & I have plotted out some longer lunchtime walks for this week & I’m looking at taking a photo of something that catches my eye every day. A good Project Life mini theme album! Yesterday we saw this:
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and if you wish to donate or sponsor me, click here. NZ peeps, you’ll get a tax cert for next year’s refund. I’m very grateful for any donation, no matter how small. Email me your receipt confirmation and you’ll get a individual Christmas ornie too 🙂

You Can Quote Me – Exhibition Drive walk

Posted in books, family, steptember 2015, You Can Quote ME by

As always, YCQM reflects some portion of my One Little Word for 2015, Serenity. This week it was about re-charging myself, body and soul, ready for the new working week.

exhibition drive mapYesterday we combined family time (sans B, who spent the weekend at his friend’s new home & told me this morning (by phone thankfully) that his clothes really need washing and they are really, really ripe due to helping carry a dead sheep – oh yay!) with Father’s Day, Steptember and my love for the Ignite shoes that Puma gave us last week. Zac found a walk in the Ranges book that I brought Si a few years ago (it’s here: https://www.paperplus.co.nz/book/walking-the-waitakere-ranges-9781869664268 or you can google search individual walks) and we drove over the hills to Titirangi.

Because Si has his knee strapped up, we parked at the Shaw Road carpark, which is roughly halfway along the walk (the red marker). We walked towards Titirangi, turned around then completed the walk.

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Exhibition Drive is now closed off, but it used to be part of the road from Titirangi village, over the Waitakeres to Swanson. It’s now been replaced by Scenic Drive, but a few driveways still come off it. But because it was a road, it’s wide enough & smooth enough for running, pushchairs, wheelchairs and cycling. There are a few parts when you can see the old road base poking thru but it’s very safe for the whole family.

The road follows the old tramway, which was set up to transport parts of the pipeline that used to bring water down from the hills. The cast iron pipes are visible for most of the walk; they were forged in England in 1912, shipped to Auckland port, railed to New Lynn, horse & dray to Titirangi village then the horse-drawn tram finished the journey to the site.

20150906_135504At Jacobson’s Tunnel (length 527m, all by hand!!) you can still see part of the tram tracks. There are valves along the pipeline that the kids had to play with, either for removing caught air or isolating water at that part of the pipeline. It’s OK – these sections aren’t in use!

20150906_125322One of the felled trees on the path – Zac & Mase look like midgets! We couldn’t count all the rings.

20150906_140502And the view at the end over the Manukau Heads. Gorgeous.

And she’s done!

Posted in conversion details, cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett by

Yay for Saturday mornings with no sport.

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And a close up:

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I did change out some beads, more because I had them to hand but they fit so well on this fabric. Everything is still Mill Hill.
16603 became 03016.
18828 became 00143 (happily the packet I didn’t use for Stargazer).
In the bubble trails from her fins, I used 00150 instead of silver and 00161 instead of 02010.

I do feel a little stupid in that she’s been sitting in a bag for a year, and it was only a week to get a finish!

Book Review: Anchored by Kayla Aimee

Posted in books, grateful by

Subtitle: Finding Hope in the Unexpected

Publisher: B&H Publishing Group

Subject: 234.2 Christianity, grace

Recommended by: Jessica Turner @  www.themomcollective.com

Author blog/website: www.anchoredhopebook.com/

I love this book. Love love love. Not only is KA informative, sarcastic, clever & so obviously real, she’s funny too.

Blurb: Poignant and humorous, Anchored recounts Kayla’s gripping story of learning to navigate her newfound motherhood in the most unexpected of ways. With vulnerability and plenty of wit, Kayla lays bare her struggle to redefine her faith, her marriage, and herself in her search for hope.

For anyone who has felt their faith in God falter, Anchored extends a gentle invitation to join her as she uncovers a hope that holds.

ForParty

There isn’t any hiding of the pain – and with any premature birth there is always going to be pain and uncertainty – but a 25 week birth? I can’t imagine the terror. I have been lucky to have relatively easy pregnancies and births – and even luckier to be able to take my children home soon after. Not 100+ days after.

A good lesson that I took from this was that having FAITH doesn’t protect you from pain (I know, should have paid more attention to Paul’s journey, right?). That FAITH is holding onto God even through the pain – or most especially during the pain.

A keeper – 4 stars. You can start it now by going to KA’s blog and downloading the first chapter.

Non-affiliate links are used in this blog post.

High 5 4 Friday!

Posted in family, grateful, High Five For Friday, me, steptember 2015 by

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My list is a little late today but that’s because I have so much to be grateful for!

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A day off. It meant walking to school with Mase ( in my new Puma Ignite shoes, I love them already). Talking. Taking time to smell the flowers (he’s hamming it up for y’all. I told him I’d post it on the blog). Unexpected time with my daughter and watching then play. Getting to 10000 steps for Steptember.

It’s been a really good day.

Book Review: The Dirty Life by Kristen Kimball

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Subtitle: On Farming, Food & Love

Publisher: Scribner (Simon & Schuster)

Subject: 631.584 – agriculture biography

Recommended by: Elise Cripe @ www.elisejoy.com

Author blog/website: www.kristinkimball.com/

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Well, there was precious little food in here – certainly no recipes like in “The Feast Nearby”. Kimball still writes as if for a magazine audience and at least she isn’t shy of writing about her failings (especially emotionally) but there were many times I just wanted to shut the book and move on. I do think that I would have been better to leave a decent gap between Feast and Dirty – more because I enjoyed Feast so much – so that’s my take-away lesson. Leave gaps!

However she does describe the characters beautifully and I really did enjoy that aspect of the book. 2 stars from me.

WIP Wednesday

Posted in cross stitch, Mirabilia, Nora Corbett by

So as I’m in between round robins and I felt kind of stupid having all those beads and something that was nearly a finish so…

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I finished her hair this morning. Just a tip: of you’re planning on stashing a WIP for any decent period, highlight where you get up to. That’ll save you a few hours!

Her tail is beading up quickly, as I’m only attaching them with a half stitch. All shiny!

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