Finished “Blind Temptation” and More Itinerary Changes

So… there are apparently storms to and around Japan. So much so that two of our ports were cancelled, one was moved to another day, and one (maybe another) was added. We were supposed to dock on our first stop on Oct 3, but now we get another sea day and won’t dock until Oct 4. Boy, this cruise is something else, isn’t it? I just hope we don’t experience any of the tropical storm they hope to go around tonight. I can’t imagine that would be fun to cruise through.

Here’s what I read since my last update:

Book 26

Dates read: September 29 - October 1, 2026
Title: Blind Temptation
Year of publication: 2015
Author: Stacy McKitrick
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: Bitten by Love #3
# of Pages: 263
Paper or plastic: Nook
How obtained: I wrote it
Blurb from Goodreads: Dreading the prospect of losing her position on the Vampire Committee, Victoria is forced to integrate with the mortal population. She hasn’t stepped outside since her husband died over 40 years ago and the thought of being treated like the 17-year-old she resembles frustrates her. But when she discovers that Ben, her hot & sexy driver’s ed teacher, is blind, she gives into temptation and flirts. She never expects to fall in love.
    Ben knows he shouldn’t get involved with Victoria—she’s his student. But something compels him toward her. She makes him feel young, alive, and more importantly, whole.
    Victoria would love nothing better than to have Ben as a mate, but fears he wouldn’t want to be blind forever. As she struggles to keep her identity hidden from him, an old acquaintance of Victoria’s turns up and is willing to do anything to win her love, including disposing of her boyfriend.
Recommend: Yes (duh)
My thoughts: I’m rereading some of my books to help me write book 7 of this series. I couldn’t remember the small details I need to write Susannah’s and Barnet’s story. And Susannah first appeared in book 3. After reading this, I realized I probably need to reread books 5 & 6, too. Not that it will be a chore. Far from it. I LOVED rereading Blind Temptation. I will LOVE reading those other books too. I almost forgot how much fun I had in writing those. But then, Perry was in them and he always made a scene fun. Should I have him in book 7? Technically, he’s on his honeymoon, but hey… how can I not have him? Especially with it being Susannah’s book. Something for me to think about.

Do you think it’s cheating when I reread my own books and count them toward my reading goal of the year? I mean, I am READING them. I never did count them when I wrote them (and I read them several times!), so why not count them now?

FYI: I know it says I posted this at 1:40am, but it's 3:40pm where I am now, so I'm not up that late!

Happy Reading!

Stacy

Finished “The Tuesday Night Survivors' Club” and Crossing the International Date Line

Yesterday or last night we crossed the International Date Line. I was afraid my phone would have a fit, but it turned out that the Carnival App had the fit instead.

I woke up with the time on the app being different than the time on their map channel (which I usually have on all the time) and my phone (which I changed exactly as instructed last night). In fact, the app was indicating it was the wrong day, even. I wasn’t sure what was correct!

But it all worked out around 7am. The app matched my phone and the map channel. Whew! I can’t imagine what mess that would have caused if it wasn’t figured out.

So, we technically missed Sep 29 (went from Sep 28 to Sep 30). But my laptop still shows the time and day from home (EDT), so do I mark the date I finished reading EDT or Vanatu time (which is the time zone we’re in right now)? I think I’ll go with EDT, because that’s what my laptop says. I’m confused enough as it is!

Here’s what I read since my last update:

Book 25

Dates read: September 24-29, 2026
Title: The Tuesday Night Survivors' Club
Year of publication: 2022
Author: Lynn Cahoon
Genre: Mystery
Series: Survivors' Book Club Mystery #1
# of Pages: 203
Paper or plastic: Nook
How obtained: Free from B&N
Blurb from Goodreads: Survivors become sleuths to find a missing member of their book club in new-age Sedona, New Mexico . . .
    Two things got Rarity Jones through her breast cancer treatments: friends and books. Now cancer-free, Rarity is devoting her life to helping others find their way through the maze to healing. She’s opened a bookstore focusing on the power of healing—Eastern medicine, Western medicine, the healing power of food, the power of meditation, and the importance of developing a support community. To that end, she’s also started the Tuesday Night Survivors book club. With its openness to new-age communities, Sedona, Arizona, is the perfect fit for Rarity’s bookstore and the tightly knit group.
    But their therapeutic unity is disrupted when one of their members suddenly goes missing. Martha has always kept to herself, never opening up much of her personal life to the group. Now she’s nowhere to be found. With her car abandoned on a trail and her dog left with a friend, Rarity is sure something terrible has happened—but will she be able to uncover Martha’s secrets before it’s too late?
Recommend: Yes
My thoughts: I picked this book (when B&N used to offer me a free book each month from a list of 5-6) because I sort of knew the author (I was with Lyrical Press at one time). But I discovered after a few chapters that cozy mystery is not my jam. The book is cute, but I just like a little more danger for my reading pleasure (also a reason why I don’t always read contemporary romance, too). But if you like cozy mystery then give this a try.

I finished the edits on The Alien’s Change of Heart and it is now back with my editor. Yay! Which means I’m free to work on the seventh vampire book. But to help me with some of the details, I’m re-reading Blind Temptation because that’s where Susannah started (since book 7 is hers and Barnet’s story) and I just couldn’t remember the small details. Hey, I don’t mind getting credit for re-reading a book. One that I enjoy soooooo much, too.

Makes me think I write pretty good books when I can go back and just get lost in the world again.

Happy Reading!

Stacy

Finished “By Way of Sorrow” and Port Changes

Well, just as we were afraid, two of our Alaskan stops have been cancelled. Of course, they are two stops we had never been to, but when weather strikes…

Seems there is gale-force winds in our northerly route to Japan. In order to avoid that (and probably keep a majority of the people free from sea sickness), the captain is taking a more southerly route to Japan. But, because the southerly route takes longer, they had to cancel Icy Strait Point and Hubbard Glacier. Maybe someday we’ll be on another Alaskan cruise that will take us there. We did get to stop in Ketchikan and get our grocery store run in. And we also said goodbye to land for about 8 days (I’m not sure if it’s 8 or 9, since we cross the International Date Line and I’m not sure how that counts in everything—I’ll let you know when I do!). Good thing we don’t mind so many sea days.

Here’s what I read since my last update:

Book 24

Dates read: September 21-24, 2026
Title: By Way of Sorrow
Year of publication: 2021
Author: Robyn Gigl
Genre: Mystery thriller
Series: Erin McCabe Mysteries #1
# of Pages: 288
Paper or plastic: Nook
How obtained: Free from B&N
Blurb from book: Erin McCabe has been referred the biggest case of her career. Four months ago, William E. Townsend, Jr., son of a New Jersey State Senator, was found fatally stabbed in a rundown motel near Atlantic City. Sharise Barnes, a nineteen-year-old transgender prostitute, is in custody, and given the evidence against her, there seems little doubt of a guilty verdict.
    Erin knows that defending Sharise will blow her own private life wide open, and doubtless deepen her estrangement from her family. Yet as a trans woman, she feels uniquely qualified to help Sharise, and duty-bound to protect her from the possibility of a death sentence.
    Sharise claims she killed the senator's son in self-defense. As Erin assembles the case with her partner, former FBI agent Duane Swisher, the circumstances hint at a more complex and chilling story with ties to other brutal murders. Senator Townsend is using the full force of his prestige and connections to publicly discredit everyone involved in defending Sharise. Behind the scenes, his tactics are even more dangerous. His son had secrets that could destroy the senator's political aspirations--secrets worth killing for. And as leads begin mysteriously disappearing, it's not just the life of Erin's client at stake, but her own . . .
Recommend: Yes
My thoughts: I gobbled this one up. Great read! I really enjoyed it. And to think I got it as a freebie at B&N (at least, I’m pretty sure that’s where I got it since I don’t believe I would have found this otherwise). I liked the characters very much and will put the next book in the series on my wishlist.

I finally got through the edits on The Alien’s Change of Heart. Now I just need to do another read-through before sending it back to my editor. It’s almost done!!! Yay!!!

Happy Reading!

Stacy 

Finished “Sirens of the Past” and Cruising to Japan

Cruise #1 to Alaska was great. I loved spending time with my son and daughter-in-law. I especially loved playing bingo and trivia with them. We took two excursions with them, the best being the dog sled summer camp in Juneau. We got to hold puppies! I could definitely cruise with them again. Hopefully they feel the same way about us.

Now Hubby and I are on cruise #2 to Japan. It’s the first sea day and the ocean is rough. We were warned that we may not make some of the Alaskan ports due to weather. Fingers crossed that we do since we’ve never been to one of the ports (Icy Strait Point).

There are a lot of sea days on this cruise (only 7 ports in 18 days—you do the math), so I’m hoping to finish the edits on The Alien’s Change of Heart. Yeah, I know. I should have been done by now. But I had so much fun on cruise #1, that I just never got into writing.

Here’s what I read since my last update:

Book 23

Dates read: September 12-20, 2026
Title: Sirens of the Past
Year of publication: 2021
Author: Aimee Robinson
Genre: Time-travel romance
Series: Spirits Through Time #2
# of Pages: 249
Paper or plastic: Nook
How obtained: Free from B&N
Blurb from book: He thought he was falling into hell...until the voice of an angel offered him redemption.
    Corporal Richard “Dick” Stevens, a foul-mouthed retired soldier who fought in the Great War, learned to make his way by playing the villain. But when a near-death skirmish thrusts him sixty-nine years into the future to 1988, he lands on a horse-breeding farm tended to by a beautiful, feisty woman.
    Camilla Foster spends her days training to be an opera singer while her nights are spent mucking out horse stalls in exchange for free room and board on the farm. Frustration gnaws at Cami since her inheritance would cover the training she’s desperate for, but she can only receive it once she’s married.
    When Dick disrupts her check on the horses one evening, the sexy stranger immediately gets under her skin. She’s determined to brush him off—until he’s employed as the new stable hand and cunningly persuades her into marrying him as a means to his own end.
    Dick is everything Cami despises in a person. But with her dreams on the line, a plot surfacing to end Cami’s career, and a growing attraction to this infuriating mystery man, a marriage of convenience may be the only thing to save them both.
Recommend: Maybe
My thoughts: The cover of this book is sooooooooooooo deceiving. Yeah, the book description says what year it’s set in, but that cover definitely does NOT. I got this book free when B&N used to give their members a free ebook a month, and I picked it because it looked interesting. Instead, I was confused for a good portion of it, and then a ghost shows up. In their POV. Supernatural? Paranormal? Not really. The pacing was slow and the beginning read like a contemporary romance in the “I hate you, I love you” trope (a trope I do not enjoy). Which is why I put a “maybe” under “Recommend.”  But a lot of people LOVE that trope, and if you’re one of them, have at it. Then let me know what you think of it.

Hopefully I enjoy the next book I chose to read. The selection in my Nook isn’t all that extensive, since I prefer to read paper books, and sometimes I wonder, “why did I get that book?” That’s usually when I realized I got it free on B&N. Unfortunately, I didn’t always mark them that way in Goodreads.

Have you ever found a freebie that you enjoyed? I have, but it sure isn’t all that often.

Happy Reading!

Stacy

Finished “Friction” and Cruising to Alaska

Been cruising since September 10 and will dock in Juneau tomorrow afternoon, when our excursion will take us to the dog sledders and…PUPPIES! I’m really looking forward to that. So far the weather has been cool, but dry.

Our time in San Francisco only enhanced my dislike of that city. I can’t believe it now costs $8.50 to cross on a bridge INTO the city. And if you don’t want to pay the toll, you’ll pay it in gas to get around the bay. And it wasn’t the toll so much that bugged us, but that they don’t take cash (or credit) anymore. We had a rental and no way to pay the toll ourselves, so now we’ll probably get hit with fees because we had to rely on the plate reader.

Of course, that’s not the only reason I dislike the city. It’s just too damn crowded. I can’t believe I used to drive to that city to visit my great aunt (all by myself, too!). But that was back in the 70s, before all the freeways were in and around the city. I can’t believe how much traffic is there now. It’s unreal!

Here’s what I read since my last update:

Book 22

Dates read: September 11, 2026
Title: Friction
Year of publication: 2015
Author: Sandra Brown
Genre: Romantic suspense
Series: N/A
# of Pages: 452
Paper or plastic: Mass market paperback
How obtained: Free from a convention
Blurb from book: Following the death of his wife, Crawford Hunt, a Texas Ranger, fell into a downward spiral that left him relegated to desk work and with his five-year-old daughter in the custody of her grandparents. But Crawford has cleaned up his act and now the fate of his family lies with Judge Holly Spencer. Ambitious and confident, Holly temporarily occupies the bench of her recently deceased mentor. With an election upcoming, she must prove herself worthy of making her judgeship permanent. Every decision is high-stakes. When a masked gunman barges into the courtroom during the guardianship hearing, Crawford reacts instinctually, saving Holly from a bullet. But his heroism soon takes on the taint of recklessness. The cloud over him grows even darker after he uncovers a horrifying truth about the courtroom gunman and realizes that the unknown person behind the shooting remains at large—and a threat.
Recommend: Yes
My thoughts: I’m pretty sure I got this book at a book convention. Which one? I have no idea. But the author is well known, so why not take one of her books. Of course, it has taken me this long to actually read it and surprise! I enjoyed it. I could probably read any of her books because I do love romantic suspense. Even if it doesn’t have any “woo-woo” in it. Haha!

Have you ever been to San Francisco? Saw my first Waymo there. Even followed one as I was driving around while Hubby went to get his stamp and our magnet at two of the sites in SF (I wasn’t about to use my phone to pay for street parking—even if I could find a spot to park in). But those cars scare me. I don’t think I’d be brave enough to get in one. Would you?

Happy Reading!

Stacy