Of the many thousands of photos I’ve taken in my lifetime, surely this one will remain the I-was-in-the-right-place-at-the-right-time winner. (The lush spring grass bathed in the sun's glow lasted only minutes.) It was three days after losing my precious Lizzie, and I was crying as I walked. (I remember having to wipe the tears from my eyes to see the image on my phone.) I normally do whatever I can to avoid capturing power lines, but in this photo, they starkly represent the dichotomy of humans vs. nature. One year later and I still feel blessed that I was there, at that precise moment, to experience it.
Digital photograph of a rural San Diego road by Virginia Hill taken with an iPhone 8 Plus on 03/31/2018. Some Rights Reserved (please see Creative Commons License in the sidebar.)
A track star with nothing to lose. A college coach who may lose everything to save her. Will Langstrom has too many responsibilities, and the last thing he needs is Olivia Finnegan, a beautiful but troubled new transfer student. Olivia is her own worst enemy, with a smart mouth and a past she can’t seem to escape, and the last person she wants help from is a cocky track coach she can never seem to please. Refusing to be pushed away, Will is determined to save her...and determined to resist an attraction that could destroy them both. You don't want to miss Waking Olivia, winner of the IBPA's gold medal for romance. Buy this seat-gripping story of forbidden love today.
MY THOUGHTS
When I say I really needed this book now, I am not exaggerating. I wanted to escape my problems—the world's problems—and be swept away. I can't imagine a better fictional landing-place, where I would have been more emotionally involved, than within the breath-stealing story of Olivia and Will. The enormous amount of highlighting and the notes I was compelled to write are a true testament to the skills of the author. I alternately chuckled, full-out laughed, sighed, gasped, cursed, cried, and ranted all the way through. I have a rather low threshold when it comes to in-your-face heroines. The too-tough women who come across as one-dimensional victims of their traumatic pasts. Right away I was intrigued by how the author portrayed Olivia. With her smart mouth, sharp wit, stinging comebacks, and tough persona, I found myself captivated with her character. She was a fascinating and multi-dimensional young woman I just had to find out about. With the introduction of Will, I knew this story was going to do me in. The word "chemistry" is thrown about so commonly in romance books, but the push and pull between Olivia and Will couldn't be contained or described with such a commonly used word. They were dynamically charged right from the start: intellectually, emotionally, and physically. Hence all of my effusive emotions! I'm not one for manufactured angst and often get so frustrated by how much an author thinks that I, as a reader, should be induced to fits of empathy. When, in reality, all of their excessive but-not-warranted turmoil does nothing other than irritate me. I think Elizabeth O'Roark precisely balanced the drama, humor, torment, and passion to create a memorable and extremely gratifying "forbidden love" story.
I would love to thank the person, gods, or algorithm that put Waking Olivia in my sights, but I can't remember where I was made aware of it or its previously unread-by-me author. I've certainly been positively consumed by this work and am eager to feel the same with her other books.
HIGHLIGHTS
"Yeah, you'd love that, wouldn't you? I’m apparently the only person on this team who needs constant correction." "Has it ever occurred to you that I ask more of you because I think you’re capable of more?” he demands. “The rest of those girls are giving me everything they have, but you are not. Do you want me to just let you plod along and get through college having never taken first when you know you have the potential to?"
~Olivia and Will
*~*
“Yeah, I mean, can you imagine yourself as, say, an oncologist? I'm pretty sure saying things like 'your healing is crappy' and 'get better faster' wouldn't be as well-received by patients as it is by me."
~ Olivia to Will
*~*
"Get in the car. My mother likes you. She's excited you're coming today." I glance over at him in surprise. Will doesn't lie, I know he doesn’t, but this seems hard to believe. He sees the look I've cast his way and shrugs. "It's as much a mystery to me as it is you."
~ Will to Olivia
*~*
“I would do anything to fix this for you,” he says quietly, “and it kills me that I can’t. Tell me what to do.” It takes me a minute to reply. “You already make everything better,” I tell him. “And you’re the only one who ever has.”
~ Will and Olivia
For fans of Pamela Clare’s acclaimed I-Team and Colorado High Country series…
An I-Team/Colorado High Country Crossover Novel
Fire chief Eric Hawke knows it’s only a matter of time until the next big wildfire. He’s done everything he can to prepare his crews for the inevitable. When high winds turn a small blaze into a raging crown fire that threatens Scarlet Springs, he, Brandon Silver, and the rest of Scarlet FD put their lives on the line to save the town and its citizens. But the one thing Hawke hadn’t planned for was bureaucratic red tape and waffling from higher-ups that could turn this crisis into a catastrophe. When his requests for support go unheeded, he’s faced with the prospect of watching the town he loves burn to ashes.
But sometimes help comes from unexpected places.
Marc Hunter, Julian Darcangelo, and Zach McBride are in the mountains above Scarlet Springs for an interagency training exercise when they see a single wisp of smoke to the west. What begins as a fun day of playing cops and bad guys soon becomes a battle against time, as they join forces with Hawke and members of the Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team to save friends trapped by the fire.
Together, they pit their strength and courage against a terrifying and unforgiving force of nature. Will it be enough? Or will the ravenous flames claim lives—and leave the people of Scarlet Springs forever scarred?
MY THOUGHTS
Chasing Fire was an immersive read like no other I can recall. Throughout the entire book—from the raging beast of the fire, the numerous close calls, the extreme acts of heroism, the rescues, the injuries, and the losses—I experienced rushes of adrenaline, chills, tears, and finally relief. (Gosh, I’m worn out!) For those of us who have met and known Pamela Clare’s I-Team and Colorado High Country heroes (and heroines) for years, we totally expect and get why they do what they do. For those readers who are just meeting them in this crossover novel, she’s got you covered with brief, yet informative, introductions. As far as their incentive to be the best and truest kind of heroes just read, gasp, sigh, and find out!
"You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend." ~ Paul Sweeney
Reading provides a special kind of escapism to me, something I have found to be vital to my existence, especially during trying times.
As I haven't discovered a better way of expressing the following, I shall repeat what I said in previous years...
The books I select as my favorites each year are those that: I get lost in; the ones that while reading, I lose all track of time; the ones that evoke the strongest emotions; the ones that make me laugh, cry, blush, gasp, and sigh. Yeah, those books!
Each year I meticulously review my database and Goodreads shelves to select my favorites. Even though I arbitrarily decide upon the categories, I am careful in considering which books deserve each designation.
To all the authors whose stories entertained me this year, and especially those who wrote my favorites below, you've earned my highest esteem, gratitude, and adoration. Thank you!
Sadly, no matter how much I love a book, I am unable to recall details. In other words, although my devotion is clear, my memory is not. I would, indeed, like to attempt to explain my choices to anyone who may be interested.
(Note: I receive no monetary compensation. I only wish to show my appreciation!)
Here are my stats for 2018:
My Goodreads Challenge total was 247 (first reads and rereads of single titles).
My database total was 220 (book bundles are counted as a single title).
There are several books that were published in 2018 that I was unable to read this year, some of which were published late in the year. I may have to make an exception for some of them and include them in next year's list, just as I made an exception this year for three books that were published in 2017.
My favorite genre remains romance, but I also enjoy select mysteries, thrillers, biographies, and popular fiction.
In 2018, I finished a total of 96 digital library books and didn't finish an additional 10. I was gifted with a Kindle Unlimited Subscription and finished 43 of those, and during the short time I had the Audible Romance Package, I listened to 26 audiobooks.
I'll be starting out 2019 with well over 200 books on my to-be-read shelves—primary and secondary—and nearly 100 books on my library wish list. I've chosen Verity by Colleen Hoover as my first read of 2019 and set my Goodreads Challenge goal at 200 books.
Here's to 2019 being an exceptional year in books!
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone (Outlander, #9) by Diana Gabaldon (Author announced 2019!) The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis-Graves (publish date 04/02/2019) Blood Apprentice (Elemental Legacy #2) by Elizabeth Hunter
The Blessings of Ethan Blackstone (Blackstone Affair #5) by Raine Miller (Fingers crossed!)
My Lord (Rothvale Legacy, #2) by Raine Miller (Hopefully this year!)
Amped (Trent Brothers #2) by Tina Reber (I hope this one will finally be released in 2019!) Gabriel's Promise (Gabriel's Inferno #4) by Sylvain Reynard When August Ends by Penelope Ward
Book Bundle I Read in 2018
Since my book database counts a multi-book bundle as a single book, the following is a list of the 4 individual books from within the book bundle I read this year. The remainder of my 2018 book database follows that.
Dirty Sexy Series (4 Book) Bundle by Carly Phillips
Dirty Sexy Saint (#1) 05/22/2018 (8 out of 10 stars)
Dirty Sexy Inked (#2) 05/23/2018 (6 out of 10 stars)
Dirty Sexy Cuffed (#3) 05/23/2018 (6 out of 10 stars)
Dirty Sexy Sinner (#4) 05/24/2018 (6 out of 10 stars)
Individual Books I Read in 2018
(The (a) following a book's title designates an audiobook.
Table best viewed in landscape mode on mobile devices.) All the Books I Read in 2018
There are NO words to express my grief over losing my precious girl. We hadn't reached our ten year anniversary, and she had not yet reached her fifteenth birthday. No matter how long we have our beloved companions it's not long enough. She was SO precious to me and was my constant companion. For being such a quiet little dog she had a huge presence in my life. Now there is sadness, loneliness, and a constant fear that I'm forgetting something important (she required a lot of care). I want to believe with all of my heart that her sweet soul is keeping company with those of my other darling doggies. I know how blessed I've been with my canine companions, but right now I'm just missing my sweet Lizzie. I expect to miss her forever since that's the way I've always been.
Known as South Haven's Virginia Woofer "Ginny" 2003 - 2008
Rest in Peace, my precious girl. Mama will love you forever.
