Hello, dear readers! Today I decided to go with a different prompt from Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl, and since I missed last week’s TTT, I'm going with my favorite new-to-me author discoveries of 2025. Happy Tuesday! 

TITLE: Life’s too Short (audiobook) 

AUTHOR: Abby Jimenez 

NARRATORS: Christine Lakin and Zachary Webber

REVIEW: If you haven’t noticed yet, I’ve been on an Abby Jimenez kick lately, and I’ve been having so much fun with it. It’s good to switch things up every once in a while, you know? I’ll get back to my historical fiction soon, but right now I'm just enjoying all the laughter and love of rom-coms. Jimenez has jumped right up there on my favorite rom-com author list alongside Lucy Score and Christina Lauren, and the main reason I’ve listened to a lot of her books lately is because I adore the narrators, especially Zachary Webber. I would happily listen to that man read Old McDonald Had a Farm over and over again and be perfectly content. He has a very sexy voice, and when he does women’s voices it is SO hilarious. Life’s too Short is a great book, and as with all of Jimenez’s books, it packs a ton of emotions. One minute you could be laughing your butt off, and in the next breath you could be crying. The heroine, Vanessa, has a family history of people dying young from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), and she worries this may be her fate too, especially when she starts showing the symptoms, so she’s determined to live her life to the fullest. The hero, Adrian, is a strait-laced, very Type A personality lawyer, and Vanessa helps him loosen up and have fun. They’re adorable together, and the secondary characters are lovable too. I would highly recommend Life’s too Short, especially the audiobook version. 

Hello, dear readers! Happy Tuesday! Today's prompt from Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl is goals for 2026. So, in no particular order, here are mine: 

📗 READING GOALS: I would love to read four books a month, but I don’t know how attainable that will be, so we’ll see. I’ve already read four books this month so it’s a start. 

🖊️ WRITING GOALS: One of my two words for 2026 is AMBITION. I just recently started writing again, and my goal for this year is to submit my manuscript to Harlequin for their Love Inspired line. I have almost 28,000 of the 55,000 word requirement so I’m getting there, slowly but surely. 

🏠 HOME IMPROVEMENT GOALS: My biggest home improvement goal this year is to turn one of our three bedrooms into a home office. 

📚 LITTLE FREE LIBRARY GOALS: I plan on repainting the Sullivan Book Nook within the next couple of months. I’ve had it since December 2021, and it’s past time for a refresh. 

❤️ MARRIAGE GOALS: My other word for 2026 is ADVENTURE. Our youngest son got married last week, so my husband and I are officially empty nesters. We’ll celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary on January 29th, and we want to start planning more adventures. Just the two of us. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy either. We just want to get out and explore new places and have some fun. 

What are your goals for 2026? 

AUTHOR: Abby Jimenez

NARRATORS: Christine Lakin and Zachary Webber 

RATING: ★★★★

REVIEW: Man…this was a tough one. Don’t get me wrong - I actually LOVED this book, but there were parts of it that hit a little too close to home. I could sympathize with the main character, Emma, in so many ways, and I went through all the emotions while listening to/reading this beautiful story. I laughed. I gasped. I cried. I really admire Abby Jimenez for tackling such tough subjects, like childhood trauma and dysfunctional families, and I would highly recommend this book to everyone, especially the audiobook version. The narrators are incredible, and I lost count of the many times I literally laughed out loud listening to Zachary Webber, especially when he portrayed drunk Leigh and Christine. It was so funny I even went back and replayed it a couple more times. I will definitely seek out more of his audiobooks in the very near future. 

DIRECTIONS: Heat a large, deep skillet on medium high heat and add the beef and taco seasoning. Cook, breaking the meat up into small pieces, until browned, 5-6 minutes. Add the onion and bell peppers; cook until aromatic; 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the canned tomatoes and beef broth and bring to a boil. Add the macaroni and make sure to submerge pasta into the liquid. Lower heat to medium-low and cover. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring halfway until the pasta is almost tender and the liquid is mostly absorbed. Uncover, add the milk, and cook, covered, stirring periodically, medium-low until pasta is al dente and most of the liquid is absorbed, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover and add cheese. Stir to combine. 

NUTRITION INFO: Serving: 1 ½ cups, Calories: 510 kcal, Carbohydrates: 53.5 g, Protein: 34 g, Fat: 15 g, Saturated Fat: 8 g, Cholesterol: 83 mg, Sodium: 920 mg, Fiber: 4.5 g, Sugar: 7 g

(Recipe and photo courtesy of Skinnytaste)

AUTHORS: Riley Keough and Lisa Marie Presley

NARRATORS: Riley Keough, Lisa Marie Presley, and Julia Roberts

REVIEW: Lisa Marie Presley was only a couple of years older than me, so I grew up hearing her name often on television and reading about her in newspapers and magazines. Like everyone else, I imagine, I got the impression she must have led a very tumultuous life, but I never realized just how bad it was until I listened to her daughter, Riley Keough, tell her story in this audiobook. Let me just say...it will break your heart. 

I can't imagine being the daughter of Elvis Presley, and it was very eye-opening learning more about him and his personality. As is always the case, what you see on TV can be entirely different from firsthand witness accounts, and there was so much that shocked me - not just about Elvis but the whole Presley family. The audiobook has three narrators - Lisa Marie Presley (from some old tape recordings), actress Julia Roberts (as Lisa Marie Presley), and Riley Keough (as herself). I enjoyed listening to all three of them, especially Riley, who is very softspoken. You can hear the pain in her voice as she describes losing her younger brother, Ben, to suicide and Lisa Marie to her addictions, and coming from a family of addicts, I know this pain all too well, so that really hit home with me. 

Overall, I would recommend this book to everyone, but it does have a lot of bad language, so consider yourself warned. I feel like I should also mention there are several topics in this book that might be triggers for some people, including abortion, suicide, and drug addiction. 

AUTHOR: Lisa Carter

RATING: ★★★★

REVIEW: This was a great little story that I was able to read in one day. I loved the two main characters, Will and Kara, and their backstories really added to the emotional depth of the plot. I also loved the secondary characters, especially precious little Maddox and Kara’s foster mom (the barbecue queen). I would happily recommend this book to everyone. 

AUTHOR: Debra Dixon

REVIEW: This book has been recommended to me by several of my author friends over the past few years, and I finally got around to reading it. It's very thorough, and Debra explains goal, motivation, and conflict in a way that's easy to understand. I'm glad I purchased this book, especially now that I'm writing again, and I would recommend it to any other authors who might be struggling in their writing journey.