Five on Friday

Hello and welcome to my Five for Friday! Today I am linking up with Andrea!

1. Last week my mom and I drove up to DC to see the cherry blossoms at the National Arboretum! We weren't able to go last year since it was closed, but we visited two years ago and it was nice to be able to visit again. The cherry blossoms were at their peak and I was able to get quite a few pictures. 

There really wasn't anything else in bloom except for the cherry blossoms and magnolias. The weather was really nice and warm and the cherry blossoms were really beautiful to see!

2. Since it's spring that means it is pollen season here! Yikes! Maybe not super noticeable, but that yellow dust all over my car is pollen. Everything is coated in a light dusting of pollen which gives everything a yellow tint. 

I'd never seen anything like this until we moved to Virginia, but apparently it's just how it is in the spring in the south! 

3. We had a very nice Easter. My brother and sister came down and then we had a friend of my sister's over for brunch. My brother and sister had to drive back Sunday afternoon so it worked out better to just do brunch. 

We had cinnamon rolls, quiche, bacon, deviled eggs, baked oatmeal, and strawberries! It was all really delicious!

4. This week my mom and I went out to the Norfolk botanical garden to see what was in bloom there and we were glad to see that pretty much everything was in bloom! I took quite a few pictures and will share those soon! 

I dread summertime because I really hate the heat and humidity, so I really try to enjoy springtime and seeing flowers blooming everywhere! 

5. In case you missed it, on Monday I shared a Currently post, and then on Wednesday I shared a review of the book Is It Any Wonder by Courtney Walsh!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Is It Any Wonder by Courtney Walsh Book Review

Is It Any Wonder by Courtney Walsh

From back cover:

Twelve years ago, Cody Boggs and Louisa Chambers made a pact that no matter where their lives took them, they'd return to Nantucket Island's Brant Point Lighthouse on July 30, their shared golden birthday, and continue their tradition of exchanging birthday wishes. But that was before a tragic accident upended both of their lives, irrevocable pulling them apart. 

Their worlds collide just months before that particular day when Louisa's fledgling event planning company  is hired by the local Coast Guard station, where she discovers Cody has recently returned to the island as the second in command. As they plan a regatta fundraiser, hoping to promote positive PR in the community, neither can deny the fireworks each encounter ignites. But working together also brings up memories of the day Cody's father died, revealing secrets that have Cody and Louisa questioning everything they thought they knew and felt about their families and each other.

I really enjoyed this book! I would not really consider myself much of a fan of the romance genre, I mean, I don't mind it sometimes but typically I find them to be pretty cheesy. That is not the case with a Courtney Walsh book! She just writes such beautiful, true-to-life, relatable characters.

Both Cody and Louisa have their flaws and issues they have to work through, but this is just a beautiful story of redemption, forgiveness, reconciliation, loss, love, and friendship. 

I was intrigued from the very beginning and it kept me interested until the very end. Even though I figured out a couple of the plot points, I was anxious to find out how it was all going to come together. And I wasn't disappointed!

The only negative thing I can say about this book is that it felt like it needed another page or two at the ending! It just felt like it ended a bit abruptly. Or maybe I just wasn't quite ready to let go of the characters.

This is a story I won't soon forget and one I would definitely recommend! 

I received a complementary copy of this book from Tyndale through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Currently

Working on - Finishing up my March photo a day. I kind of struggled with it again this past month so I need to get it done so I don't get behind on April!

Watching - We watch a wide variety of shows! We got 6 months of Discovery+ for free with our TV provider, so we have been watching stuff on there. Mostly some ID channel shows, and we recently finished Race Across the World which we really enjoyed! It's similar to The Amazing Race, as it's a travel show, but the difference is they start in one country (London, England for season 1) and have to travel to Singapore. The catch is they can't fly (so they have to rely on train, bus, or even hitchhiking!) and the only money they have is what a flight would have cost (which leaves them with a very tight budget so they have to work odd jobs along the way.). We really enjoyed the show and were disappointed that there were only two seasons! Season 2 starts in Mexico City and ends in Ushuaia, Argentina.

Besides that we've been watching Shark Tank, Dateline, American Idol, and a new show called Race to The Center of the Earth that just started on National Geographic channel. It seems interesting so far although the format/rules of the show are kind of weird. Not sure if I really like it but we enjoy travel shows so the scenery is interesting in that regard.

Reading - I just started The Secret Stealers so I'm looking forward to getting farther in it.

Starting - To work on my photos from our visit to the National Arboretum last week. My mom and I drove up to DC to check out the cherry blossoms as they were at their peak, and I took quite a few pictures! We visited the National Arboretum two years ago (we weren't able to go last year as it was closed!) so I was really looking forward to visiting again. I was kind of surprised that there wasn't anything else blooming except for the cherry blossoms and magnolias, but I'm still glad we were able to go. The cherry blossoms were so beautiful and it's incredible to see so many different varieties! Although I end up with a TON of pictures to sort through afterwards!

Buying - Some new spring clothes. Spring time is my favorite time to purchase clothes as I like the styles, prints, and colors that are available this time of year, but so far I haven't been having much luck! I ordered 6 items from Old Navy about a month ago and had to return it all because the fit was so horrible on all of them, and I just received a second order from them and will probably have to return about half of what I ordered this time. I really wish fitting rooms would open up again. It's really frustrating not being able to try stuff on! 

Besides all that I haven't really had much going on! The weather here has been odd, up in the 70's one week and then down in the 30's the next. But that is just spring! It's going to be warm this week so I'm looking forward to getting outside for walks again. 

What have you been up to lately? Anything interesting?

Unknown Threat by Lynn H. Blackburn Book Review

Unknown Threat by Lynn H. Blackburn

From back cover:

US Secret Service Special Agent Luke Powell is lucky to be alive. Three of his fellow agents have died in unusual circumstances in the past ten weeks. Luke is devastated by the loss of his friends and colleagues, and his inability to locate the killer feels like a personal failure. He and his team are experts at shielding others, but now the protectors are in need of protection. 

FBI Special Agent Faith Malone is driven to succeed and confident in her ability to solve every case she's assigned. She's been put in charge of the investigation into the unprecedented attacks, and with Luke's life in danger, the stakes have never been higher. But it's hard to know how to fight back when you don't know who the enemy is. 

Luke has teamed up with Faith before, but he's not convinced she's up for the job and she's not convinced he's telling her everything he knows. As more agents are targeted, Luke and Faith will have to learn to trust each other and work together to bring a killer to justice and prevent any more names from joining their fallen brother and sisters on the Secret Service Wall of Honor.

I unfortunately found this book to be very disappointing. The suspense/investigative part of the plot just felt really weak. Way too much of the book was focused on relationships (friendship and romance) and feelings than on actually solving the case. 

The romance was really unfortunate too. There just wasn't much there. There is a lot of them thinking about their feelings. Luke hates the FBI, but since Faith is attractive to him that is enough for him to overlook his hatred of the FBI. And apparently all Faith needed was someone to buy her cherry Coke and that's all she needed to fall in love with him. That's really about it. They just didn't have much chemistry, tension, or personality between them. 

They had plenty of meetings to discuss what was going on with the case, lots of empty dialogue, but nothing happens to propel the plot forward. There are never really any clues or leads. Sabrina (from the Dive Team series) was brought in but she really didn't need to be brought into the story. With the exception of her source, I didn't understand how she was able to dig up information that the FBI wasn't able to. I appreciate the fact the author wanted to bring in characters from the Dive Team series, but Sabrina felt forced whereas Gabe actually felt like a natural addition to the story. 

I had my issues with the story but I was still hopeful that the conclusion would be good and leave me feeling somewhat satisfied that the killer was finally caught and we could get some answers; but the ending was a huge letdown for me.

I was left feeling like "Really? All of this for that reason?" I could have maybe understood one death for the reason given, but the lengths the killer went to and for the reason they went to them was just ridiculous. 

I really enjoyed the Dive Team series but found this book to be a sad followup. Too much focus on romance and a disappointing plot really left me wanting more. 

I received a complementary copy of this book from Revell. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

February 2021 Photo A Day Pictures

I really struggled with the prompts for this month. So many of them were just very difficult to photograph! It took me forever to get through these, and I really had to think outside the box for a lot of them. 

So while I'm not too excited about this group of pictures, I'm just glad I got this month done and can continue onto March. I guess I just prefer prompts that are more straight-forward and not vague. Like, what do you do for "a love story?" That one really had me stumped! I ended up just picking a random family picture because I really had no idea!

Anyways, I'm glad to be done with February and need to get caught up now on March since we're already half way through the month!

(source)

My January Photo A Day Pictures

Have you ever done a monthly challenge? Or maybe a photo challenge?