Hog Happnin BBQ and Craft Festival ~TODAY!

Picture compliments of Bing, not the actual event

I’ll be participating in my first ever CRAFT show! If you live near Shelby, NC, stop by the Hog Happnin festival today, (Saturday, 11/2) from 9-4. There’s a lot going on, including a Car & Cycle Show, Arts & Crafts and what else? BBQ! 

Hubby will be judging for the KCBS Sanctioned BBQ Competition, and you can find me under the Heart Racing, God-Gracing Romance Author banner! Come on out for fun, BBQ, and maybe find some awesome Christmas gifts! > Shelby City Park, 850 W Sumter St, Shelby, NC.

Hope to see you there! 

What are your plans for the weekend?


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Have you read FOR LOVE OR LOYALTY by Jennifer Hudson Taylor?

Purchase Link

For Love or Loyalty ~Book 1
One conquest could destroy her, but avenge his family.
Scotland to Carolina, 1760

For Love or Loyalty is the story of a highlander seeking revenge, but when the bargaining price becomes too great of a moral sacrifice, he must find a way to reverse his deeds and save the woman he loves.

Malcolm MacGregor vows to free his family and exact revenge against Duncan Campbell. When the opportunity arises, Malcolm decides to use Duncan’s daughter as the bargaining price. Lauren Campbell is the perfect answer, until she begins chipping away at the bitterness in Malcolm’s heart and changing everything. Her bold faith and forgiveness ignites guilt he would rather avoid and a love he doesn’t deserve.

Lauren Campbell never expected to discover such a caring and protective man behind the façade of Malcolm MacGregor’s fierce reputation. When they arrive in America, things turn against them, and Lauren finds herself in a fate worse than death. Now Malcolm has the dilemma of freeing the rest of his family or rescuing Lauren, but time is short and with little means, he needs a miracle. 

Sharing my thoughts~

“I shall get revenge for our family an’ the whole MacGregor Clan. The Campbells have wronged us for two centuries.”

Revenge is an age old plot driver, but Hudson Taylor breathes fresh life into it. And she does it sooo well. Exciting conflict rages through the start of this book. The Campbells have always treated the MacGregor clan as unworthy peasants, but this last atrocity sends Malcolm to the Carolinas, bent on exacting revenge while he attempts to rescue his family. Even while revenge and conflict ravages his heart, he makes an appealing hero, and I can totally see why Lauren falls for him.

Don’t let the Scottish brogue stop you from picking up this book. After a few minutes, reading it becomes easy and comfortable, but that’s not so with other elements of the book. Many times I found my fingers clenching the arms of my recliner, especially during a particularly intense predicament Lauren found herself in. Normally rock-solid in her faith, Lauren questioned why God left her in that awful spot, a reaction I think most of us can relate to.

“Lord, please have mercy on us, ” Lauren whispered.

“I see ye’re on speaking terms with God again.” Malcolm rubbed his chin as he continued to stare at their company.

How could he tease her at a moment like this? 
“I have always been on speaking terms with God, especially now.” Lauren wrung her hands together and took a deep breath to ease her trembling. She feared her ribs would soon start aching again. “God and I just had a few weeks of silence. “‘Tis now over.”

Just loved that excerpt! While For Love or Loyalty is a historical, I believe readers of all romance sub-genres will enjoy it as much as I did. Fraught with excitement and danger, bursting with sweet romance, and a promise of two more yummy books in the series, you’ll want to scoop this one up fast!

Disclaimer: Sending a huge thank you to Upon the Rock Publishing and Jennifer Hudson Taylor for providing me with an advance review copy of For Love or Loyalty. This review is my opinion, and I received no compensation.

Have you read For Love or Loyalty?
What are your thoughts?
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N for NOISE

Photo courtesy of Bing Images

Hyperacusis …

a health condition where a person is overly sensitive to noise, possibly every day sounds, that may be loud and painful to them, but not necessarily to others.
So that’s what I have? 

I’ve never been diagnosed by a physician with hyperacusis, but it wouldn’t take a doctor visit to confirm my hypersensitivity to noises. 

No, my diagnosis comes from years of wincing at various noises, of asking my hubby to turn the tv down or off, of him telling me that I’m speaking so softly that he can’t hear me. But when his voice booms, I feel like the whole restaurant can hear him, not just me. 

Can you listen to music in the car if there’s a conversation going on around you? Shaking my head here. I can’t even follow a GPS instruction if someone’s talking in my car.

Here are some noises I find soothing:
Clomp clomp of a horse’s hooves

Gurgling creek

Fountain
Peaceful nature sounds around a lake

Obviously, water sounds soothe a person with this condition, but what about the opposite? What’s annoying?
A bus’s belch
Lots of people
More annoying noises:
Any siren
A saw blade’s whir as it slices through wood
Silverware clinking
An air conditioner that rattles
Any noise my car makes
Garbage truck as it empties cans or dumpsters
And a constant drip or a person chomping gum really sets me on edge. 

It’s not from aging because I’ve lived with it forever. I hope it’s not hereditary because just recently my grandson has been asking…

“What’s that noise, Meme?”

Uh-oh.
Can you relate to hyperacusis? What sounds do you find soothing? What about annoying?
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