You can make a little eight-foot jump onto a rock.” His smile faded as he stared down at me. “Last night you turned into a big bad-ass jaguar. Even though I watched it happen with my own eyes, the jump looked so effortless it was still hard to believe it was real. “Unbelievable,” I gasped under my breath. He turned and smiled down at me from the top of the boulder. Without a word, he sprinted toward the rock and leapt into the air. Other than the fisherman out on the lake, there didn’t appear to be anyone else around. “Watch me.”Īdam walked back a few paces, and gave the area a quick look-over. He leaned in with a crooked smile and kissed my cheek. “You can’t possibly jump that high.” I crossed my arms over my chest. Nope, it was still much taller than I was. I checked again to see if maybe I exaggerated the height of the rock. I looked way up at the boulder that towered over us. The sound of Adam’s voice jolted me out of my thoughts and back into reality. What was it about this guy? It wasn’t like I’d never had a boyfriend, but none of my boyfriends in high school and college made me feel so aware of their touch. I tried not to notice the electricity that sizzled up my arm the moment our skin touched. A patient fisherman sat at the bow, toying with the line of his fishing pole, and all around us the breeze moaned through the pine trees.Īdam took my hand, and led me along a trail toward a large granite boulder. A small orange fishing boat floated out in the center of the water. The sunlight sparkled on the deep blue surface of Lake Tahoe as we walked along the water’s edge. Thanks for reading and commenting and voting!!! I couldn’t have made it this far without all of you!!! I hope you enjoy the sneak peek inside Moonlight! You can also leave a comment too if you’d like… If you haven’t voted yet, there’s still time… Since we made it to the second round of the Writing with the Stars contest, I thought I’d share an excerpt from the book. I had a lot of fun with the villain in Moonlight. The villains keep pushing the story, raising the stakes. Even though their reasoning might seem flawed or twisted, they’re the ones making things happen. That’s why I love writing a good villain too! So often in stories the hero or heroine are “reacting” to dire situations, but a good villain is planning it out. I like villains because there’s something so attractive about a committed person - they have a plan, an ideology, no matter how twisted. I groped about for an answer, but Russell Crowe really nailed it… Someone asked me why I enjoy Disney villains so much. Panda and I have a list of improvements so it’ll be even better, or at least more comfortable! I’m already looking forward to donning my Evil Queen costume again next year. The costumes are put away (mostly) and I’m left feeling like I don’t have a thing to wear! LOL Well the Halloween decorations have come down.

Moonlight by Lisa Kessler

I’d highly recommend this great read that will transport you to the adventures and attempts for redemption of the young men involved. I loved that the book switched between different points of view, and particularly loved when we heard from Billy and Ulysses- both heroes in their own special ways. Each of the characters have been created with care and depth, from the main protagonists that we follow throughout, to the supporting cast who add richness to the story line, intrigue and suspense. But their plans are scuppered by the arrival of two escaped inmates from Salina - Duchess and Woolley, and their escapades take a very different turn. So the boys hatch a plan to travel the Lincoln Highway, the first road to cross the USA coast to coast, to see if they can find their mother who left them eight years before. He is returned home to take guardianship of his younger brother Billy, but knows they can’t stay in their home town of Nebraska after the crime that sent him away. It’s 1954 and Emmett Watson has just been released from a young offenders institute, Salina, following the death of his father. So I was very excited to have the opportunity to read The Lincoln Highway via #netgalley I read A Gentleman in Moscow a few years ago and loved the rich characters and the way the book captured the times within which the story was set.  Overall, another delightful novel from Towles who continues to be an author who is an automatic must-read for me and in spite of the minor gripes above, is on my list of Highly Recommended novels for 2021.  On the other hand, there are certain elements of the book that feel unbelievable - whether that's by virtue of the coincidences along the way or because we the readers are asked to believe that literally all the characters are well-read and beautifully articulate, in spite of their backgrounds. There are literary allusions throughout and the book feels pacy, even though it's in excess of 550 pages, which is no mean feat. Rules of Civility, another for Towles's books had the beautiful setting (that I seem to need?) but I don't think the writing was quite as well-developed as these last two books. While both books are beautifully written and have incredible, well-developed characters, there was a quirkiness, warmth and an almost-magical setting in A Gentleman in Moscow that for me is missing here. So why the 4*? I'm comparing this, inevitably, with Towles's previous work: A Gentleman in Moscow, which is one of my all-time favourite books.  This book is certain to win awards and be on bestseller lists (deservedly so) for some time.

One of us is lying book 3