On October 6, Sarah Sutton released her third book titled, If The Broom Fits! I've read and reviewed Sarah's other books so I thought I'd continue to support the young indie author. Unlike her other books, I decided to review this book right away. With her other two, I reviewed them way after their release dates. That being said, let's start the spoiler-free review!
If the Broom Fits is a Halloween contemporary romance. The main character, Blaire hates Halloween, and her best friend Donnie, and her ex-boyfriend Lucas decided to try to change her mind about the holiday. After watching scary movies, going to a corn maze, and pumpkin carving all fail. Along with Blaire's constant negativity, the boys gave up. What the boys didn't realize was that Blaire was hiding something. What she was hiding was the reason behind her hatred of the holiday and her negative attitude toward the people in her life. Blaire realized she couldn't continue to isolate herself and came to terms with her emotions then did right by coming clean about her feelings. Once I started reading I couldn't put it down. I fell in love with the characters and the story. I felt connected to Blaire on so many levels. If you're curious about why you'll have to read the book. Donnie was my favorite character. His personality is all I want in a best friend. He was the light-hearted comic relief I never knew I needed. I also fell in love with Lucas. He was kind and loyal. Even though he and Blaire had broken up, he still cared enough about her to partake in changing her mind about Halloween. He even had a little secret that showed he still cared about her. If I had to choose between Lucas and Walsh (from Out of my League) I would still pick Walsh but Lucas is definitely up in the ranks. This is a shorter book than I'm used to but it's still worth 5 out of 5 stars. If you're a Halloween and Romance lover, this is the book for you! If you're interested in scoring a Sutton original check out her website! https://www.sarah-sutton.com/
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Out of my League is a novel written by indie author Sarah Sutton. It's a summertime YA contemporary romance. The main character Sophia Wallace is super bummed about her high school cutting the journalism program all because the baseball team needs more funding. Sophia's dreams of getting an internship at the Bayview Blade, the biggest newspaper company in the county, during her senior year are slowly fading away. That is until her former journalism teacher gives her the opportunity to write up an article to submit to the Bayview blade. Sophia has until the end of summer vacation to write her submission and she knows exactly what she wants to write about. Sophia decides to write an expose on the baseball team.
Sophia's day can't get any worse, right? Wrong! To make things worse, Sophia's boyfriend publicly breaks up with her at a party. In an attempt to rescue her, Walsh Hunter (the captain of the baseball team), declares his love for her in front of everyone embarrassing Sophia further. Sophia was officially fed up with her day and just wanted to be alone. Walsh followed her and checked up on her. After a few minutes of banter back and forth they decided to start a fake relationship. This would benefit Sophia in the end because while "dating" the captain of the baseball team she could get the inside scoop for her article. They play a fake relationship game well. They play so well that they begin to develop feelings for each other. Walsh is much more open to his feelings than Sophia is. She is the one who reminds him that their relationship is fake quite often. She gets some juicy information for her article, but struggles with the idea of writing and submitting it because of her newfound feelings for Walsh. The information Sophia found about the baseball team causes issues with her and Walsh because he was completely unaware of what was going on and Sophia wasn't convinced the captain wouldn't be part of the scandal. She decided to write her article and before she submitted she found out Walsh was telling the truth and had nothing to do with the scandal. She then decided to not turn in her article and tell Walsh about her feelings for him. She goes to the championship game and makes a sign that says, "He stole second and stole my heart." After reading the first few pages of this book I fell in love and refused to put the book down. I empathized with Sophia because I've had school programs cut because sports teams needed more funding. All she wanted was justice for her favorite elective being cut. She had the guts to stand up for what she believed in. I think that is what made her such a relatable character. Walsh was a sweetheart who was completely supportive of Sophia's dreams even though their relationship was fake. He's all I ever want in a partner. High key, I wish my partner would read this book so he can see how it's done. I'm only joking but Walsh is a lovable character throughout the entire book. I think Sarah did extremely well bringing these characters to life. I never once thought these characters were cliche or cheesy. Don't get me wrong, I love cheesy characters and stories but there is such a thing as too cheesy and this story and these characters are not. I felt so many emotions while reading this book. There were times I was on the verge of tears, laughing my butt off, and smiling so hard my face hurt. I would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars. I fell in love with the story, characters, and outcome. If you're a fan of romance novels I would highly recommend this one! For those of you who don't know, Sarah has a new book coming out tomorrow October 6, 2020 called If The Broom Fits. It's a Halloween romance and I will do my best to write a review a lot sooner than her last two books. It's September 1st I cannot believe we are already 9 months into this year! A majority of our year has been indoors because of the pandemic but each month I've been trying to find positive things that happened during the month. August was a fun month for me. It was probably my favorite month thus far. So, here are five positive things that happened in the month of August. 1. I got a new job! On August 10, I started working at Hopeworks! I am part of the outreach team. My team and I go out into the community and engage the homeless community while getting demographic information and providing referrals for resources (housing, ID vouchers, etc). We also hand out water bottles, hygiene packs, and snacks. I'm enjoying my new job so far. 2. I broke 20 followers on Twitch! I'm sure most of you don't know but I stream on Twitch. I started streaming when COVID hit New Mexico. I started streaming because I love playing video games and it kept me in contact with the outside world. I'm a console streamer, so I don't have anything fancy like overlays or other things like that, but you get to hear my lovely voice and watch me fail at gaming. I don't see myself becoming an affiliate any time soon, but I enjoy streaming and will continue to learn and grow as a streamer. If you're interested in seeing my stream follow me at: Twitch.tv/jokerloveshq43. 3. I've gotten closer to finishing the first draft of my manuscript. Again, I'm sure most of you aren't aware I'm writing (attempting) to write a novel. I had a strange dream one night and thought it would be a cool idea for a book. I wrote down the super basic plot in my journal and have been developing it ever since. I've had a lot of support from the writing community on Twitter and Instagram and I even attend writing sprints with Author Sarah Sutton every Wednesday. These sprints have been my motivation to continue to write my manuscript. I wouldn't be where I am in the story if not for the writing community so thank you! 4. I completed a 30-day fitness challenge! For the month of August, I did the 100 Ab challenge by Blogilates. I've done it before, but this time around it felt ten times harder! It's probably because I gained the COVID 10… Anyway, I decided to do this challenge and complete it and I completed it except for one day because due to back problems I struggled to do it. I intend to do another 30-day challenge in September. Stay tuned for the outcome of that! 5. I turned 25! On the 19th I celebrated my 25th birthday. Usually I don't care for my birthday because to me it's just another day, but this year, I felt it was significant. I celebrated this significance by ordering myself a round cake decorated like a quarter! A lot of people were confused on why I chose to decorate my cake like a quarter so I simply replied with, "I'm turning 25." Some understood, some still were confused so here is the reason why I chose to decorate my cake like a quarter. How was your August? What were some positive things that happened to you this past month? Let me know in the comments!
I recently read What Are Friends For? By indie author Sarah Sutton. This book is a young adult friends to lovers romance trope. This review will contain spoilers to plot points in the book so this is your spoiler warning. Read at your own risk!
Summary: The book starts with the main characters Remi and Elijah shopping together. Remi and Elijah have been best friends since the third grade. They do everything together and have amazing chemistry together. Right off the bat, you see the potential for these two to fall in love then you find out that Elijah has a girlfriend named Savannah, Sav for short. Remi feels indifferent toward Savannah. She's unsure whether to try to be her friend or if Savannah is being salty on purpose. The rest of the shopping trip consists of going to the underwear section. All while making Elijah uncomfortable because he knows his best friend’s bra size. Then to the perfume section. Where Remi forces her best friend to smell her leading to him getting uncomfortable again. They then go get ice cream together in the middle of winter. (Elijah is a lot like me in the sense that ice cream is perfect any time of the year!) While reading this first chapter you can definitely see a potential of feelings build up. There is conflict in the first chapter when Remi asks Elijah how he is doing after his older brother was recently arrested. Elijah gets cold with Remi and doesn't know how to express his feelings toward the subject. (This conflict will arise throughout the rest of the book. I just wanted to give you a heads-up of what's to come.) Chapter one sets up the story nicely. You meet our main characters, you get to know about their past, conflict arises and you get a light-hearted fun read. I won't be breaking down the rest of the chapters like I did the first but I will continue to bring up parts of the story to convey a point. Remi is in her senior year and all she wants is to date her crush Jeremy. She decides to go to his house party that evening and do some flirting. Her other best friend, Eloise joins her. Drinks, talking and simple flirting leads to Eloise suggesting to play a game of Lip-locker. (A game similar to 7 minutes in heaven but the difference is your blindfolded). Eloise convinced Jeremy to play with Remi. Eloise walks Remi to the room and Remi waits. She feels nervous but excited to finally kiss her long time crush. When he enters the room they kiss. She claims it's the best kiss she's ever had. It goes well until she hits her head on a shelf. When Jeremy checks on her she realizes that Jeremy doesn't sound like himself. She takes off her blindfold and sees Elijah standing in front of her. Her stomach churns and she assures him she's okay then runs for it. It was at that point that her feelings toward Jeremy depleted and she struggled with the feelings she is developing for Elijah. Remi and Elijah’s relationship drastically changes from just friends to extremely awkward, especially on Remi’s end. However, certain events take place where Remi starts to notice Elijah is acting weird too. Remi ends up going on several dates with her former crush Jeremy and realizes she doesn’t like him anymore. They get into a car crash and they call Elijah to help get Jeremy’s care out of a ditch. Elijah helped Remi out of Jeremy’s car and began to scold Jeremy for being so careless. After pulling Jeremy’s car out and Elijah took Remi to her Dad’s. While spending time with her Dad Remi gets real and asks him questions about love. Her Dad caught on quickly and assures her that her feelings are valid and if this guy she loves doesn’t feel the same he will make sure to buy her military-grade binoculars to watch him from afar or at least from across the street. After expressing her feelings toward Elijah to her Mom and Dad she felt a sense of relief she hadn’t felt in some time since the kiss she shared with Elijah. She felt closer than ever to her family and was extremely grateful that they understood her feelings and supported her. Remi knew Elijah’s art show was coming up and she wanted to go. Her Mom offered to drive her to the Library where it took place but Remi declined and chose to walk instead. She chose to walk with the hope that Elijah would offer to take her home. Once she got to the art show she walked around looking at each sculpture and was in awe when she saw Elijah’s. (If you want to know what he sculpted, you’ll have to read the book!) Elijah was grateful to see Remi at his show and indeed did offer to drive her home. On the way home, Elijah confessed that he knew it was her he kissed at Jeremy’s party. He admitted he didn’t know for sure until the week prior after he helped her after the accident Jeremy got into. She was wearing the same perfume that night as she did the night of the party. After some back and forth between the two they kissed. Unfortunately, after their kiss, Elijah and Remi got into an argument about Savannah. Remi is heartbroken and leaves. All while these forbidden feelings Remi is trying to comprehend there is a side story going on as well. Remi is failing Art and is at risk of not graduating. She required to do an extra credit assignment of hand-making 150 large snowflakes for the winter dance. Remi with the help of her family and friends ends up making all 150 snowflakes. When she goes to turn in her extra credit assignment, Mrs. Keller is not in her classroom then she runs into another teacher who tells Remi she needs to go to the Principal’s office. She is confused about why the Principal would want to see her. She came up with a theory of why the Principal would want to see her but when she got to the office she found out her theory was completely wrong. Mrs. Keller and Principal Martinez accused Remi of attempting to change her failing grade to a passing grade in Mrs. Keller’s electronic grade book. Remi was shocked at the accusation because she had never done such a thing. Remi worked way too hard on the snowflakes to throw it all away to change her grade. She tried to prove her innocence but the two adults refused to listen to her and she was suspended until her and her family can meet with the Principal. This meant Remi could not graduate and or attend the winter dance. Remi refused to let her hard work go to waste and went to the school to turn in the snowflakes in and told Mrs. Keller she would have never worked on those snowflakes if she had intended to change her grade. She also ran into Savannah who Remi did not intend to talk to. Remi apologized to her for kissing Elijah and called her out for changing her grade then she went home. The last part of the book consists of a party after the dance and Eloise convinces Remi to go with her. She runs into Elijah and he confesses he loves Remi too. At long last, the two feel safe to share their feelings toward one another. Finally, it’s time for Remi’s meeting with the Principal. To everyone’s surprise, Remi was cleared of her accusation because Savannah confessed to changing Remi’s grade. After being cleared, Remi caught up to Savannah and they had a heart to heart. In the epilogue, Elijah and Remi are going to visit Terry (Elijah’s brother) and she helps ease his anxiety about going. Review: I loved this book! Elijah and Remi are completely relatable and likable. I was hooked after only reading two pages. I was jealous because my high school experience wasn't near as exciting. There are parts where I thought the story was cheesy, but that is what I loved about it. It wasn't cringey, it was cute and brought a smile to my face. It's a well-crafted story that is easy to follow and understand. There were no plot holes that I could find so that's a plus! It’s only 25 chapters and an Epilogue so if you’re a binge reader like myself, you could finish it in a day or two. If you are a fan of the romance genre I highly recommend this book. 5 out of 5 stars. My review is a little late. This book takes place in winter and I'm reviewing it in the middle of the summer. Oops! It's still worth the read in my opinion. Stay tuned for my review on Sarah's second book Out of my League. Life is a surrealistic enigma.
The definition of surreal is: "Having the qualities of surrealism; bizarre" The definition of enigma is: "A person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand." Does this not explain life? Most of us have no idea what to do when it comes to our lives. Choosing which path to take can be mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand. Some may even find it bizarre. In my experience, the lows have outnumbered the highs. Anxiety. The feeling of the world on your shoulders. Suffocating you every second of every day. Finding the strength to take another breath. Your mind is your own worst enemy. Unable to determine reality from fantasy Determining reality from fantasy is subjective, to say the least. Being called odd or strange because of your beliefs Forced to take medication to keep you "stable" People simply don't understand your mind Forced to look a certain way Act a certain way Work a certain way Because of societal expectations, The idealistic version of adulthood and responsibilities. We are imprisoned Freedom of expression is limited. Putting together a front for society to accept. All while trying to keep to your authentic self. It's exhausting. I’ve had a lot of free time since the start of the quarantine, and I’ve done a bunch of random tasks to keep busy. I have not been posting to the blog as much and I finally decided to stop neglecting my blog and start writing more blog posts. Those will be coming soon for your reading pleasure. Anyway, for this specific blog post, I decided to listen to a song and describe how the song relates to me. Music is amazing! We all listen to music for various reasons. Most people will even agree that they can relate to some of the songs they listen to. The song I chose to listen to on repeat and write about is, “Doin’ Time by Sublime. I absolutely love this song and I even like the cover Lana Del Rey did. If you’ve never heard the song, here it is: (Just a fair warning, this song is the explicit version so don’t play it around children.) Did you listen? Well, I hope you did because I am not going to explain the song except for the verses I feel relate to me. Here are the first few verses that I relate to: “Me and my girl, we got this relationship I love her so bad, but she treats me like shit On lockdown, like a penitentiary She spreads her lovin' all over And when she gets home, there's none left for me” Okay, the relationship I am talking about is not the one with my co-conspirator, Anthony so please get that out of your head. I am talking about the relationship I have with myself. It’s not a secret that I have a lot of negative feelings toward myself. I am working on that. If you are a long time reader of the blog you know my constant struggle with my mental health. Well, like anybody else, I have toxic traits that I am not proud of and sometimes I feel my toxicity embodies who I am as a person. Sometimes toxic Drea has a lot more power than I am willing to admit. She has gotten me into a lot of trouble in the past. I am working on loving myself as a whole, but my toxic traits make it difficult. I continue to do stupid things I am not proud of and sometimes my choices or actions cause me to self-isolate because that is one way I cope comfortably. Now, on the other side of the spectrum, I am kind, I do everything I can to help and support others, but I don’t take care of myself in the end. Then I fall into the vicious trap of people-pleasing. It feels like a never-ending cycle. The next verses that speak to me are:
“Evil, I've come to tell you that she's evil, most definitely Evil, ornery, scandalous and evil, most definitely The tension, it's getting hotter I'd like to hold her head underwater” As mentioned I’m working on loving myself and putting myself first, however, breaking this cycle of negative feelings toward myself that I’ve had for many years isn’t something that can be done overnight. I’ll be blunt, these verses hit the nail on the head of how I would describe my toxic self. The last two verses describe the struggle I have burning inside, and sometimes I wish I could hold toxic Drea’s head underwater so she would be gone for good. Unfortunately, we are two sides of the same coin and in order to get rid of my toxic side, I need to continue to work on myself, not just kill her off. We are all toxic in some way or another but we have a few choices, we could either let our toxicity control our lives or take control and try to change. What do you think? Do you feel you relate to certain songs? Which ones? Let me know in the comments! ***I do not own the rights to this song. All rights belong to Sublime. I was simply using the song and its lyrics to talk about my personal opinions.*** I find solace walking through the cemetery.
I don’t know what it is about being at the final resting place of my loved ones and so many others that bring this feeling. The crisp fresh air, the smell of freshly mowed grass, the bright colored arrangements placed on gravesites, and the silence. A peaceful silence resonates everywhere I walk. I feel the warm pavement through my shoes as I walk. I feel as if I am no longer a stranger, an outcast. My anxiety is at ease. Is this what normal feels like? Being surrounded by the spirits of my deceased loved ones brings me inner peace. Walking through the cemetery feeling their spirits walking beside me I close my eyes and take it all in. Solace becomes serenity. I am free. While on stay-at-home orders I've been trying to keep busy by doing mindless tasks. I recently noticed that on a few of my T-shirts I had grease stains from cooking without an apron. Well, rather than continue to rock grease-stained T-shirts I decided to do a little bit of research on how to remove set-in grease stains from clothes.
On Google, the first search said to create a paste by mixing one part baking soda to one part white vinegar. Rub the paste directly onto the stain and let it sit for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, put clear dish soap onto the stain and rub vigorously for a few minutes. Lastly, rinse the clothing in hot water. After all of that, the stain should be gone. However, if the stain does not disappear, repeat the steps until the stain is gone. I decided to give it a try, and I must say I was pretty impressed with my results! I did it on one of my shirts and it was free of the stains afterward. I am excited to try it on my other shirts! I didn't follow the recipe exactly, rather than use clear dish soap I just used Dawn. I figured it wouldn't cause any harm. I learned a new chemical-free method to stain removal! The huge lesson in all of this is I need to start wearing an apron when I am cooking. Do you know of any stain removal methods? Let me know in the comments! Hi everyone,
I just wanted to give you all an update on what’s been going on in my life. Well, since March 11, New Mexico was officially exposed to COVID-19 (commonly known as the Coronavirus) with three confirmed cases. As of April 7, we officially have over 700 cases. Our state is officially on a stay-at-home order. Our local government has ordered non-essential businesses to close and has put a lot of restrictions on the essential business still open. This pandemic has gotten out of hand quickly and let me be the first (not really) to say that this sucks! In the past four weeks, shit has truly hit the fan. People, (including myself), have been laid off from their jobs and are desperately trying to apply for unemployment. We have been forced to wait outside in lines, six feet apart from each other, just to get into the grocery stores, and find nothing on the shelves. Social distancing has been extremely hard and I thought I was an introvert. I’ve missed out on so many things because of this virus and I feel bad when I want to vent about how much this virus has affected me. But, this blog post isn't about the negative. I wanted to share a few positive things that have happened since this pandemic started. First and foremost, I may have been laid off from my full-time job, but I managed to get a part-time job shortly after. I’ve also started supporting local small businesses with my daily local shout out on my Facebook and my Instagram. I may not be able to do much to help these businesses but spreading the word that they’re still open for business is a good start. Since the gyms closed I’ve been continuing my weekly workouts at home. I try to go for a 30 minute walk daily. Then I do HIIT or PIIT workouts three times per week. Working out at home along with journaling has helped keep the cabin fever to a minimum. I also got an amazing drawing and note from my friend Melanie. I know this time is difficult and can be daunting, but I just want you all to know that we will overcome this. Try to find one positive thing in each day and it will get easier. We are all in this together and we need to support each other in any way we can. Stay strong everyone! XOXO, Drea If I could sum up my love and admiration for you
I would have nothing more than a deep breath or two, a close of the eyes and whisper to you That never have I ever felt a love so true. If I could give you the depths of the ocean so blue Or if I could climb to the top of a mountain that constantly grew. If I could sore like an Eagle and dive like a Seal If I could climb like a Lion and hunt like a Killer Whale If I could cover you like an umbrella in the pouring rain If I could light up your candle and make the darkness less dim If I could take away your worry and take away your fear If I could just make you smile when you almost couldn't bear If I could show you your beauty and show you your worth If I could hold your hand every second from birth If I could keep you from ever crying and numb all the pain If I could make you feel special by just saying your name If I could always keep you safe and ensure your well-being If I could give you all the answers and tell you everything If I could help you believe and show you God’s plan If I could take you to the moon on an Eagles wingspan If I could gather you all the most beautiful flowers in the meadow If I could express how I was immediately shot by Cupid's arrow If I could hug you every second and kiss you every day If I could take you on the most beautiful ocean cruise I would sum up my feelings by letting you know you are my Muse My children, my babies, my best accomplishments ever My dearest blessings, my oh how clever! My darlings! My lovebugs! My luckiest hour! My Angels on Earth my God's greatest gift Without having you my life doesn’t exist. Your all I could dream of, your all I can see When all else in the world fails still standing we will be I'll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, your what my dream come true portrays! You'll guide my inspirations today, my motivations tomorrow And be the lifelong praises that get me through the sorrows. |
DreaAlways remember to love yourself. Archives
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