Category: Blog Review

  • Prickle Forrest Chronicles Knocks it out!

    Prickle Forrest Chronicles

    Special Edition – Book Review

    By Chrissy Hartmann

    Title: Things We Never Got Over

    Series: Knockemout Series – Book 1

    Author: Lucy Score

    Pages 599

    Well, in two days or less I knocked out this 599+ page contemporary romance by the highly successful Indie Author, Lucy Score. If, you haven’t heard of her, well, read below. And please don’t hesitate to leave your own comments about the book. I’d love to hear your opinion. And suggestions on other books are welcome too!

    sunshine and Grumpy? No, more like Grumpy and Grumpy, which I’m not opposed to at all. Well, for the most part. Just at least make the guy like “the Viking” a little more grumpier, which Lucy Score did.

    Only “the Viking’s” grumpy endearing character propelled me to read on. and the other? At first, a “likeable” bitchy tude, but then turned into a wilting daisy for the most part.

    Didn’t quite follow the sunshine trope if that’s what the author intended. The grumpiness worked though, especially one with a great heart.

    I will have to admit somewhere after Lucian had been introduced I started to daydream about him… and I’ll admit, lost interest in the MMC, Knox whenever he entered the scene. Oops! Disappointed will need to wait until book three comes out to read his story with Sloane.

    Had a little trouble believing Knox having the what I like to call “authority,” “command,” or whatever you want to call it that he had over what seemed like the town folk with only being a tatted up barber and lottery winner. Hmm? In almost 600 pages would like to have seen more about that side of him come out than some of the other stuff. But, hey, maybe, I just missed it. I’ll reread it, maybe? I. Doubt it, but maybe.

    Naomi, I liked… at first. Liked her attitude when she tried to get her coffee. I really thought, hey, now here’s someone different. I’m going to like her. After all, I might act this same way when I’m in need of some coffee. But nope, she just seemed to get worse. And no, you can’t blame the lack of caffeine on her character. How anyone might think at the start she’s the sunshine I’ll never understand.

    The supporting cast are the ones to keep an eye on. Well, except if you’re the dog. I only suggest next time, the author NOT name the dog similar to one of the supporting characters. Got too confusing to keep track of who was who. But the Way and Way’s relationship warmed my heart. Well done!

    and speaking of the supporting cast, Nash, I’ll read, but only because it gets me one step closer to Lucian. Good Lord, I hope Lucian’s not a disappointment.

    Stef, the parents, the bar crew and coffee shop drinkers definitely added flavor to the story and can relate to some of those characters in a small town, which Knockemout had no lack of and which made the whole small town setting believable.

    And let’s not forget the “bad twin” Tina. glad to see she’s not so horrible Now, she, would be an interesting character to develop into her own book with a “bad girl” and “nerd” trope once of course she gets out of prison and reunites with her family, but at her age, might have to tone down the sex and develop the storyline in order to compensate for her age. What, she might be 50+ once she gets out of jail? Right? Would have loved to see these characters a little younger, not by much, but a few years might have helped with the whole “sunshine and grumpy” approach and a story for Tina. But if anyone could write a fun romance for Tina and some unsuspecting Knockemout” guy, then I have every confidence that Lucy can write one without too much trouble with the logistics. She’s got the talent to do it.

    All in all, it was a fun read, but to be honest, not the trope I would have gone for. The Sunshine Grumpy thing just didn’t work here. I’d say a strike out, but, with Knox’s appeal, I think he got a walk. But, hey, Nash is on deck and Lucian’s in the whole. So will I keep going with the series? You bet your bottom dollar. Authors tend to get better with their series and I have every confidence in Lucy on hitting a grand slam by the time she’s done. And if a book can make me laugh more than once, I’ll be happy to give the other’s their time on the field. And let’s not forget the Lucian factor. I mean, who wouldn’t want to read a romance about a mysterious bad guy and a librarian? Hmm?

    Now to crack the whip! After all, my novella, a contemporary western romance, Cherishing Whiskey’s Salvation comes out February 14th on KDP and KU.

    For more info on Lucy’s books you can find her on Amazon and probably tons of other places Plus you can go to https://lucyschore.com.

    For me, check out my website, https://chrissyhartmann.com

    And even sign up for my newsletter, which you do automatically get my special blog updates. Just click on the link below to sign up.

    https://chrissyhartmann.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=d0f01c8348dea41f224ec4ca7&id=cc4adb5682

    Thanks Pricklers!

    Chrissy Hartmann

    www.chrissyhartmann.com

    chrissyhartmann

    Don’t miss out on Chrissy’s debut novel now available on digital and paperback…

    RESCUING WHISKEY’S SALVATION

    What could possibly bring a cosmetic heiress and a land developing cowboy together, yet at the same time… destroy them? A “dead” uncle? A closed shelter? Maybe an unruly Troupe of clowns? Or all three?

    Only one way to find out…

    Amazon

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/1737928817?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

    Prickle Forrest LLC 2023©

    All Rights Reserved

  • The January 2023 Freeze

    PRICKLE FORREST CHRONICLES

    The freeze is on. Happy New Year! Yes, it’s January 2023 and at the moment even though there is a roaring fire, it’s heading to 23 degrees tonight. The weighted blanket, heating sheet, and wool socks will be on before the pillow gets fluffed. In other words, it’s cold, freezing cold here in northeast Ohio. Not even trying to get a cuddle from my long-haired bobtail kitten is warming me up. Probably doesn’t help either when she’s not in the mood to cuddle.

    Chrissy and Punkin cuddling… Sort of.

    The Past…

    Managed to win a bet with another author friend and her hubby. We had to see who could lose the most weight between us. Didn’t look like we would win, but hubby managed to get the flue the last two weeks of the contest and we pulled it off by losing 20.4 pounds between the two of us. Woohoo! Woohoo! Not the way to do it though. I expect a rematch this spring though. And our prize? Since, chocolate is not tops on the list, it might have been something called a “chocolate stampede” from Longhorn. Our secret? Rowing machine, treadmill, and smaller portions. Well, at least for me. The hubby? Smaller portions and the flue. HaHaHa! But hey, we won.

    The Present…

    Finished edits for Cherishing Whiskey’s Salvation.

    The Cherishing Whiskey’s Salvation book cover

    I think. Manuscript at the editors for one last review of formatting. Hope to have it up on Amazon by the end of the month as long as my copyright gets submitted in time. then will officially start back to work on book 2 of the Whiskey Salvation Series. Yeah baby!

    Started to new craft books. Structure for novel writing by James Scott Bell. He teaches one of those Great Works/Master classes and it’s fabulous. If you can’t take it, which you could just ask your library to see if they can get it. If they can’t then get his book. It’s exactly like the course. Love those kinds of classes.

    Superstructure, The key to unleashing the power of story by James Scott Bell

    The other book is on newsletter marketing. It’s a top seller, but at the moment I’m not fond of it. I just started it, so hopefully once I get deeper into it, it will get better. Right now only would give it 3 stars, the other book on structure gets 5 stars. It’s actually the first craft book that puts plotting all in layman terms that makes it actually understandable. Woohoo! Woohoo! Saved by the Bell!

    The Future…

    February is coming up. Ground hog day and St. Valentine’s day too. Might possibly host the Wayne NOvelist Guilds Christmas party since we had to cancel it due to a few getting sick. If I host it, will make it into a romance one. Sorry, but Christmas is over. No rewinds.Got to keep moving forward.

    Looking forward to a euchre party on the 17th, even got a new deck of cards. And yes, they have Braille marks on them. Should be interesting and a lot of fun unles of course the couples bring the same appetizers and desserts. I plan to take my stuffed mushrooms and possibly frozen raspberry oreo fluff, but only if The Muses can stay out of the Oreos.The rotten thieves pick the lock to the pantry every time they find out Oreos are in the house.

    Also will be planning on the author book signings I’ll do in March, June, August, and possibly October.

    The news…

    Barns and Noble will be opening a number of new stores this year.

    A presumed dead author is alive, at least that’s what she is telling her fans now. Isn’t that fraud? I think Sherlock would agree. AI is making its presence known in the writing community. Lots of writers using it. Maybe will consider it for those sticky Act 2 problems I seem to always have. Rumor has it that the Twitter tweets might be going to 4000 characters a post. Hopefully, it’s true. I know a number of authors that would help out greatly with advertising for their books.

    Other news…

    Politics are heating up. Now that the Republicans have control of the house, it might just get a little more exciting. Maybe even more than the election of the Speaker of the House. I’ll bet even more if the CSpan cameras are reinstalled. Might be more exciting than Monday night football. And don’t get me started on “carlargo.” Wow! That’s a mess, probably as bad as the whole thing with DOT. Don’t look to fly off anywhere in a hurry. That looks like a no go. Sheesh!

    Speaking of football or even sports, whats with these healthy athletes having hart attacks and dying on the field?Heard even some were dying as they walked to class? Holy smokes, not good! This is got to stop. And honestly, it’s not from climate change, but I’ll bet instead it’s from MRNA jabbs. And what’s with the inflation? Has anyone ever done an audit on the Federal Reserve? Are they even managing it correctly? Don’t they know economics there? Sure doesn’t seem like it. Okay, finally on my top five, the border? Wow! I have friends and family down there and they say it’s bad. This is got to stop. Did find a couple of alternative news sources just to see what the other side is saying and I’ll admit, they are quite entertaining. Some say they are On the Fringe and talk with some sort of X22 report factor.then there are those “107” other spots.Definitely, see the truth in them.

    An Finally, Me…

    Author book signing March 11th at the Akron Public Library from 11 am to 3 pm. I’ll be there with Rescuing Whiskey’s Salvation and Cherishing Whiskey’s Salvation books and merchandise.Then the next weekend, on the 18th, I’ll be signing books at Massilon Public Library from 11 am to 2 pm, and tentatively will be attending the Orrville Public Library book signing on the 25th. Later to be announced will be the dates for the Dover Public Library and the Coshockton Write-On Writers Guild book fair. Plus hoping to get our local library to do a book fair for local authors too, but those dates as mentioned before will be posted on a later date. In the meantime, it’s back to the keyboard for novel writing. Woohoo! Woohoo!

    Tootles for now. Got to locate my wool socks and turn on the electric blanket because once I’m done working on book 2, my weighted blanket won’t be enough.

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    Again happy 2023!

    What could possibly bring a cosmetic heiress and a land developing cowboy together, yet at the same time… destroy them? A “dead”uncle? A closed down shelter? Maybe an unruly troupe of clowns? Or all three? Only one way to find out… 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 Rescuing Whiskey’s Salvation

    The Rescuing Whiskey’s Salvation book cover

    http://www.books2read.com/Rescuing-Whiskeys-Salvation

    http://www.ChrissyHartmann.com/books

    Written by Chrissy Hartmann

    Prickle Forrest Chronicles Blog

    Prickle Forrest LLC

    Copyright January 2023 All rights reserved

    https://chrissyhartmann.com