Pleasure in the Unexpected by Liz Flaherty

I posted this on a Facebook page yesterday: As a reader, I avoid present tense--not because I think it's wrong in any way, but because it's not my preference. First person isn't my first choice, either. So, I just wrote a five-star review on a book that is written in present tense and first person. Some of life's greatest pleasures are in the unexpected.

The book was Laura Drake's The Road to Me. There's a link there in case you want
to jump over and pre-order it. I already did, because even though I read a NetGalley copy, I want one of my own on my Kindle so I can go back and savor.

However. 

My original plan for today's post was on the whiny side. Okay, it was whiny on all sides. I was going to talk about, for starters, present tense and first person. Because I avoid them. 

And I was going to talk about the term clean, in reference to sweet romances, because I find the word inciteful and mean. As in clean is the opposite of dirty, right? 

I thought I might mention passive-aggressive behavior, like on FB when a writer was espousing tolerance of subgenres and heat levels different from one's own preference. In her defense of sweet romance, she said, paraphrasing, that it was important to have sweet books available because some people liked to read them, but--and this isn't paraphrased--"what's the point?"

Instead of mentioning any of those things--see what I did there? Maybe a little passive-aggressive...--I'm going to stick to what I said in the first paragraph. Some of life's greatest pleasures are in the unexpected.

I don't finish a lot of books I start, because life is too short. There is much in romantic fiction's changing face that I don't like. I complain because it's hard for me to find author voices I...

Oh, squirrel. A gorgeous bluebird just landed on the clothesline. The first one I've seen this spring. He didn't hang around long enough for a picture, but...it's going to be a good day.

Where was I? Oh, right, it's hard for me to find author voices I want to sit and drink coffee with. And maybe I'm looking too hard. Maybe I think in order to enjoy the coffee and the book and the conversation, I have to like everything about them. 

I don't. I can have a great afternoon with first-person, present tense, passive-aggressive, and "dirty" voices. Just as I don' t have to have Green Mountain Nantucket Blend coffee with sugar-free hazelnut creamer. I'll probably learn something, and thrill to the unexpected. Like a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ book and a bluebird on the clothesline. 

~*~

Life's Too Short for White Walls will release April 20 from The Wild Rose Press, but it's available for pre-order no. It's one of my favorite stories ever. I hope you like it, too. 

Joss stopped under the canopy of trees that led back to the campground, opening her car window so she could breathe in the scent of early autumn. It was a hard thing for a person as busy as she’d always been to stare the future in the face with no idea what she was going to do with it. She would give herself time to decide, time to take more deep breaths and get over the feeling of dread that seemed to accompany her everywhere. Although she didn’t have enough money to last forever, it would carry her for a while.

She looked up at the trees, noting that the colors of the leaves were already changing and that the air smelled different—it wasn’t just the day’s lack of humidity. It was, she supposed, the scent of things dying, but she wasn’t going to think of it that way. To her, it was going to be all about starting over. Starting new in this beloved place that still felt like home.

Blurb: Still reeling from her divorce, Joss Murphy flees to Banjo Bend, Kentucky, where she'd been safe and happy as a child. The family farm is now a campground. Weary and discouraged, she talks owner Ezra McIntire into renting her a not-quite-ready cabin.
With PTSD keeping him company, Ez thrives on the seclusion of the campground. The redhead in Cabin Three adds suggestions to his improvement plans, urging color and vibrancy where there was none.

Neither is looking for love, yet the attraction they share is undeniable. Can the comfort of campfires, hayrides, and sweet kisses bring these two lost souls together?

Buy Links:

B & N: https://tinyurl.com/yc7xyprw

Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y4ecw5vh

Apple Books: https://tinyurl.com/yc75va4n

Giveaway!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway