The Lily Cafe is thrilled to welcome I. L. Cruz! She is the author of The Enchanted Isles series, an enchanting Latin-inspired fantasy series. Currently, the first two books, A Smuggler’s Path and A Noble’s Path, are available for purchase (see below). I adore I. L. Cruz, her books, and her blog, Fairy Tale Feminista, because she takes a different approach to looking at and understanding fairy tales. Her posts are fun, informative, and thought-provoking. Enjoy her guest post below about fairy tales and romance, just as I did! Fairy Tale Romance We are quickly approaching Valentine’s Day (what happened to January?) and that means thinking about love and romance. For some, it…
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Book Review: The Cottage at Plum Tree Bay by Darcie Boleyn
Title: The Cottage at Plum Tree Bay Author: Darcie Boleyn Publisher: Canelo Publication date: July 25, 2019 Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction Summary: Catherine is thirty-four, works as a teacher, lives with and takes care of her needy mother, and has only had one romance, which she gave up in order to stay with her mother. Mark is recently out of a very long-term relationship and has gone to stay in Penhallow Sands to recover and fight through writer’s block. Neither are looking for romance, but neither can deny the attraction between them. If you’re looking for romance, you’ll find it in spades. If you’re looking for women’s fiction, you’ll sort of find…
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Book Review: Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen
Title: Here and Now and Then Author: Mike Chen Publisher: MIRA Publication date: January 29, 2019 Genre: Fiction Summary: Kin Stewart is a time traveling secret agent from 2142, except he becomes severely injured during a mission and gets stuck in the 1990s. Without proper medical intervention and no sign of help coming from the future, Kin slowly begins to forget his life in 2142 and starts a family. Eighteen years later, where only two weeks have passed in the future, Kin’s retriever agent comes for him, forcing him to return home and inevitably tearing him between his two families. When his attempts to keep both families are discovered, and his daughter from the…
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Book Review: The Enchanted Garden Cafe by Abigail Drake
Title: The Enchanted Garden Cafe Author: Abigail Drake Publisher: Kindle Press Publication date: May 1, 2018 Genre: Fiction/Romance/Light mystery Note: It’s entirely possible I received this book for free through the Kindle Scout program, but since it is now closed I have no way of checking for sure. Summary: The Enchanted Garden Cafe is the story of Fiona and her mother Claire as they run the cafe and try to fight back against a corporation seeking to purchase the entire block to build a parking garage for the South Side of Pittsburgh. The Cafe plays host to a number of interesting events, including yoga, tarot readings, refined Sunday teas, and…
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The Bottom Line, or 30 Second Book Reviews
Welcome back to The Bottom Line, where I quickly review a book. It’s not because the book is that bad or good, but because I’m often too busy to write a full review of every book I read. Glass Hearts by Autumn Doughton Rating: 3.5 stars A college romance story between Ellie and Ben, a pre-law student and musician, who find themselves as new roommates after having a spark in a coffeehouse. This is a sweet story involving the changes in life goals that so often happens during college. But it was also predictable and follows the formula for a romance. Sweet, but not terribly different from any other romance.…
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Creation knows no bounds
Creation knows no bounds Hell has no walls Awaken to the night for darkest romance Soaring to the pale moon full of promise Raising shadowed wings to fly Over hills and lakes, forests and mountains To live, to die To heaven, to hell Eternal she lives on darkest dreams.
