EmpowerMoms

The Fortune Café
A Tangerine Street Romance
(a novel in three parts)

Welcome to Tangerine Street

Tangerine Street is a must-see tourist stop with a colorful mix of one-of-a-kind boutiques, unique restaurants, eclectic museums, quaint bookstores, and exclusive bed-and-breakfasts. The Fortune Café, situated in the middle of this charming collection of shops and cafés on Tangerine Street, is a Chinese restaurant unlike any other because, well, to be honest, the fortunes found in the cookies all come true…

MIS-FORTUNE: Emma, a waitress at The Fortune Café will do anything to avoid opening a fortune cookie. Each fortune is rumored to somehow magically come true. Being a girl grounded in reality, she doesn’t have time for that kind of nonsense. But when trying to prevent a food fight at the café, Emma accidentally cracks open a fortune cookie: “Look around, love is trying to catch you.” If there is one thing that Harrison, her former best friend in high school is good at, it’s catching her unaware.

LOVE, NOT LUCK: Lucy has always been lucky . . . until her parents meet her fiancé’s parents at a disastrous lunch at The Fortune Café, and she breaks her lucky jade necklace. Even worse, her fortune cookie reveals that “True love is for the brave, not the lucky.” How is she supposed to read that? She’s always considered it lucky how she met her fiancé. But after breaking her necklace, Lucy’s luck takes a dive. And when her fiancé dumps her, the only person she can turn to is Carter, the unluckiest guy she knows.

TAKEOUT: Stella is content in her new life of taking over her mom’s jewelry shop. No more boyfriend to worry about, and as long as she stays busy, she doesn’t have to dwell on her non-existent love life. When Evan comes into the shop with his young daughter, Stella is charmed. But she is reluctant to complicate her straightforward life, so when she reads her fortune after ordering takeout from The Fortune Café, she completely ignores it. After all, how can a fortune as vague as “Do the thing you fear and love is certain,” apply to her?

Other books in the Tangerine Street Romance series:
The Boardwalk Antiques Shop
The Mariposa Hotel
Delilah’s Desserts

JUST RELEASED THIS WEEK!! I love books by this author so I’m really excited to share with you her latest book! Doesn’t it sound awesome??

Be looking for my review in the next couple of weeks…

About the book:
A bachelor auction, a hot football player, and the right woman to bring him to his knees.
Izzy Knight walked away from her father’s billions and his Titans football team to become a nurse practitioner at a children’s hospital. She’s busy and accomplished and certainly has no room in her life for a larger-than-life football player who goes through women faster than she completes a shift at the hospital.
Xavier Newton loves football but hates the games that go along with it. When the owner of the Titans forces him and his buddies to be sold like cattle at a bachelor auction he barely endures the event, until a feisty brunette bids half a million dollars for him. He’s completely drawn to Izzy, but when he finds out her father is the owner of the Titans sparks fly and everybody’s loyalties are challenged.
Can these two find love when they don’t know who’s waiting to tackle them from the blindside?

Find The Fearless Groom on Amazon here:

“Love You Always” by Eileen Spinelli & Gillian Flint

My son and I read the book before bed and we both really enjoyed it! It has simple words so my son was able to read it himself and out loud to me. The pictures are soft pastel colors which made it very calming to read before bed. A sweet book about unconditional love.

I received a copy of this book complimentary for blog and social media review. All opinions are my own.

About the Book:
A love poem to a child from all the people whose love surrounds him or her
A child is a treasured leaf on a family tree, surrounded by love from mom, dad, doting grandparents, aunts and uncles, and family friends too. This sweet, reassuring picture book from Eileen Spinelli acknowledges the whole tree — the many who are invested in a child’s life — with expressions of unconditional love from each. Heartwarming verse and charming artwork will make this book a must-buy for baby showers, birthdays, and other occasions. Ages 4-7.

Purchase your copy here:

Author Bio
Eileen Spinelli spent Saturdays at the public library as a child, and it was there that she decided to become a writer. She’s authored more than fifty children’s books, including Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch; The Best Story; and Two to Cuddle. Eileen lives in Media, Pennsylvania. When she and her husband, Jerry, who’s also an author, are not writing, they are hanging out with their grandkids (30 and counting), playing Scrabble, reading, watching old movies, and raising Monarch butterflies.

Illustrator Bio
Gillian Flint has had a passion for drawing and creating characters for as long as she can remember, so a career in illustration was a natural path for her to take. Her work has been published in the UK, USA, and Australia for clients such as Highlights, Five Mile Press, OUP, and Little Bee Books (book forthcoming). She enjoys using watercolors, crayons, ink, and digital illustration to create a variety of artistic styles. In her spare time, Gillian enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and pottering about in the garden on sunny days.

“The Pretender: A Blackguard in Disguise” byTa`Mara Hanscom
Book 1 of 5 in the Caselli Family Series

I really wanted to like this book because the description sounded good. However, I struggled through most of it because there were so many characters mentioned and the story line kept jumping back and forth between people. Half the time I didn’t know what was going on. I also felt like the story was way too long even though the book was divided up into 2 parts- Noah and Ty’s story (356 pages). I am interested to know how Noah and Tillie’s romance will progress, but unfortunately not enough to read the other books. This is book 1 of 5 in the Caselli Family series. There was a lot of potential for this series because of all the family members and setting, but I felt there was way too much going on for a reader to keep track of it all.

I would consider this a Christian romance book along with some drama and intrigue.

I received a copy of this book complimentary for blog and social media review. All opinions are my own.

About the Book:
Set in South Dakota in 1975, where eighteen-year-olds could order 3.2 beer in a bar, and loaded guns were kept under the counter.
Frankie Valli sang “My Eyes Adored You,” and American soldiers returning from Vietnam struggled with their new reality.
It’s within this tumultuous season of American history that Tillie Caselli meets Noah Hansen, and they are never the same again. Their lives were mysteriously intertwined-and had been for many years-yet they had no idea. 
From the moment they met, Tillie and Noah wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, but a deliberate omission will keep them apart—and that same omission will be responsible for the escape of a murderer, and a bride’s deception.

Purchase your copy here:

About the Author:
Born and raised in South Dakota, Ta`Mara loves to write about the Great Plains and the beauty and people of Italia. While her husband and children manage their two pizza ristoranti, Ta`Mara works full time on The Caselli Family Series, and ministers to women. It is Ta`Mara s prayer that as the readers explore the truths in these volumes, they will come away with a new perspective on love, forgiveness, obedience, and God’s plan for marriage
Find out more about Ta’Mara at https://www.tamarahanscombooks.com.

Despite just meeting each other, Tillie and Noah’s lives have been mysteriously intertwined for many years in Ta’Mara Hanscom’s The Pretender. From the moment they met, Tillie and Noah wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, but a deliberate omission will keep them apart-and that same omission will be responsible for the escape of a murderer, and a bride’s deception.

Join Ta’Mara in celebrating the release of the second printing and new covers by entering to win her $75 prize basket giveaway!

 

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of The Pretender
• A $75 Amazon gift card
• A decorative box containing measuring cups, ten recipes from the book, a potholder, a kitchen towel, pepper and salt grinders, kitchen utensils, and an olive oil dispenser

 

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on October 11. The winner will be announced October 12 on the Litfuse blog.