Wine Walks #wine #uptowngreenwood #festivalofflowers #scfof2018 #greenwoodsblooming #tryittuesday

Jun5

Today’s post of Try It Tuesday is all about wine walks!

There has been an increase in wine walks in the area where I live.

It seems that it has become the trendy thing to do, especially on a Saturday evening in a downtown area. In Greenwood, South Carolina, they have been organizing wine walks for years. There are usually 2 each year: one in the summer during Festival of Flowers (FOF) and one in the fall at the start of the holiday shopping season.

The Official name of the FOF wine walk is called “topiaries and tastings”. The objective is to visit area businesses, taste a sample of a wine, and also view the topiaries that are on display around the uptown Greenwood area during the festival.

I like attending wine walks because they allow me to try a variety of wines and determine which types suit my palate.

This year, there were 17 stops! I think the organizers out did themselves in arranging the stops and wine selections.

The business owners that participated were encouraged to provide some sort of nibbles to accompany the wine. This was needed especially since there were so many wine stops.

The wine walk started at 5:30pm but participants that were encouraged to begin registration at 5:00pm to pick up their glasses and map to plan their route. With about 500 attendees, you can understand how it might get a little crowded. The entire evening was quite festive and fun. Our group started at the “last stop” and worked our way backwards to avoid many of the lines and waiting to be served.

TOW Final Thoughts: The wines were good and my favorite was the Chenin Blanc. Even though there were more stops this year, I think everything moved so smoothly and it was probably the best organized wine walk I attended . I will need to take another walk around the Uptown in order to see all of the topiaries though!

The Donut Experiment #yeahTHATgreenville #foodiefriday

Jun1

Happy Friday!!

The best way to treat yourself after work, is to get a fresh made cake donut.

If you live in Greenville SC or the surrounding area, and you have not been to The Donut Experiment in Greenville SC (on Augusta Rd), you are missing out.

Yes this is a donut shop. Custom made donut combinations let you decide what glaze and topping you want. What you have at the end is a donut that is all you dreamed of. 😂😁

They ensure you have your best donut experience by starting with a delicious, slightly sweet cake donut. Since the toppings are pure sugar, it is good that the donut base is not too sweet. It allows for the toppling combinations to shine.

My favorite is the Maple Bacon donut. My second favorite is Vanilla icing topped with Coconut.

TOW Final Word: I love The Donut Experiment and go there every chance I can because it is delicious. You can make your donut as simple or as decadent as you want.

The Donut Experiment
Address: 2123 Augusta Street C, Greenville, SC 29605

#Review : Badd Luck (Badd Brothers Book 5) #romance #twinsromance #bookaddict

May30

Badd Luck

Synopsis
Two sets of gorgeous twins, a weekend alone together in a remote, picturesque, rural cabin with plenty of alcohol…what could possibly go wrong?

Figuring out the blurred lines and tangled mess of relationships grown out of a deep, lifelong friendship that is now somehow exploding with sexual chemistry…along with a very real subtext of something MORE? A four-way, multi-directional attraction between you and your twin and the other two twins who’ve been your best friends your whole life and are now suddenly sexy as hell and VERY into you, and your twin?

Can it be double the pleasure and double the fun, or is it just double the pain and double the heartache?

Opinion
There is a saying that you cannot have a home run all of the time. I feel that is true with this book. For the first 3 in the Badd Brothers series , there were strong male and female leads. There was realistic conflict and strong emotional situations. Loved them! (See my review of book 3 HERE )

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In the 4th book, it was good. A little too insta-love but fine.

With this book, number 5, it was confusing because it was about two sets of identical twins who KEEP CONFUSING who they are sleeping with! There is physical attraction from being scantily clad or sans clothing so much of the time. Plus, all of the drinking alcohol does not help the situation.

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If there is only a physical attraction, that seems to me that they probably should take a step back and pause the relationship. How can they feel that they have this deep connection, if they cannot even tell their significant other apart from their twin sibling?

In addition to that, the story was all over the place. Sometimes it felt like this story was just about Tate and Corin, but in other parts of the book, it felt like it was about all four of them. I was disappointed because the author did not do much to separate the twins. It is as if she treats them as a unit. And for them to hook up with a set a female twins. UGHHH !!! Even though I usually like friends-to-lovers romances, this did not do it for me.

This series has been so good! It probably was a good idea in her head, but the execution, not so much.

TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
PASS. The story line was so convoluted and awkward. However, if you feel like you cannot skip a book in a series, you might decide to BORROW.

Book details
Series: The Badd Brothers
Heat Level: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
Print Length: 384 pages


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Contract by Emma Alisyn #review #romance #bbw

May25

Contract by Emma Alisyn

Synopsis
It seemed like a good idea at the time. Any publicity is good publicity, right? But when curvy Aiva, owner of Blooms In Yellow, starts a media ruckus outside her flower shop to increase business, the attention brings all the rats out of hiding.

Namely Daniel, her cousin and the loan shark who funded her startup. A loan shark tied to organized crime, who is a bit miffed when Aiva starts attracting attention. Like any good rat, he prefers to stay in the dark. The attention also attracts Leon Sudano, billionaire mogul and reformed crime lord. Of course the Sudanos, under his rule, are completely legitimate. And his interest in Aiviana is perfectly innocent…

…only it isn’t. He’s been watching Aiva for years, waiting patiently to make his first, and last, move. Because when Sudano plays, he plays for keeps. Aiva must balance her pride in being an independent woman business owner with her growing attraction for the sexy, powerful Leon, who showers her with gifts and attention… and steals her heart.

Opinion
This book had promised but then I thought about it too much and realize there were gaping holes in the plot.

Aiva borrowed money from her cousin with “old country” terms, meaning she would be an indentured servant if she defaulted. If Aiva’s family was so concerned with her, why would they allowing her to be low key sexual harassed by her cousin?

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Aiva took the “I’m an independent woman” routine to a ridiculous level. For 90% of the book, it seemed like she would rather drown instead of admitting she needed a life jacket.

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Leon offers Aiva a chance to pay her debt but his interest in her contract is not altruistic. He wants her to be his wife. He knows he needs to handle her outstanding debt or else it’s makes him look bad.

Leon was my favorite character and a real OG with how he handled things, but then my inner feminist balked at his “I choose you to have my babies” attitude. I know he was old school, but I wanted him to help her pay her bills for love and not just so he could get her pregnant.

However to his credit, he did let her come to him after she rebuffed his initial efforts.

Random side note: I don’t feel the book cover matches the story. I thought the book was going to be hotter than it was.

TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?

BORROW if you don’t have KU. At the time I bought,  it was 99 cents. At that price point, it was not going to break the bank. Now the price is $2.99. I will let you decide what you want to do.

Book details

Series: N/A

Heat Level: 🔥  🔥

Print Length: 93 pages

 

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#review Cade (MacKenzie Security) #bookaddict #amreading

May10

Cade (MacKenzie Security Book 1) 

Synopsis
Cade MacKenzie is prepared to give his life to destroy the cartel that killed his lover, but the only way to draw them out is to present them with the perfect bait.

Bayleigh Scott has no idea who her new neighbor is, only that her body is drawn to him in ways she can’t explain, and the danger that surrounds him isn’t the deterrent she knows it should be.

More than fireworks explode between Cade and Bayleigh when she discovers the real reason he relentlessly pursued her, but by then it’s too late, because she’s already been drawn into a deadly game of desire, deception and revenge.

Opinion
I was excited about reading this book because I thought I would be able to identify. My hubby could be described as surly and I am bubbly. I wanted to read OUR story. We have a happy marriage, so I knew I happy ending is possible.

This was not that kind of story.

The start of the story was promising. When a job went wrong, Cade’s cover was blown and his girlfriend at the time was killed by a drug lord. I was still on board. He has angst, guilt, and grief as to why he cannot love another.
Enter Bayleigh. Her brother warns her to stay far away from Cade, but she ignores that to pursue a relationship with her surly neighbor.
She wants the forbidden fruit. OKAY. Still on board.

But then everything fizzled out. It was probably one the most predictable book ever with their insta-lust. If they were in the same room, they had no self-control to get it on.

There were (what I thought) gaping plot holes in the suspense/mystery. It seemed that Cade left himself vulnerable a lot of times. Plus, why did he start a relationship with Bayleigh when he knew the drug lord was capable of doing?

Most notable plot hole was at the end when there should have been a showdown between Cade and drug lord, the drug lord disappears. It was like a Bond movie where the villain is so confident the person is going to die, so he leaves. Am I to believe that? It is like the author did not know who to finish the scene and thought the readers could use their imagination and create their own ending.

By the end, I was soured on Cade and Bayleigh. Yea I get it. They like to have a lot of sex. But that is about all they do.

TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
PASS but BORROW if you like insta-lust stories. To me, the book had so much potential but did not deliver.

Book details
Series MacKenzie Security
Book length: 221 pages
Heat level: 🔥 🔥 🔥


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