Wordless Wednesday - The Summer of Landon, A Baseball PhotoJournal

Last week we were on vacation. And not just any vacation, but the long anticipated The Summer of Landon vacation! When our kids graduate high school, we like to let them have a big say in choosing our summer vacation. Landon wanted to see some Major League Baseball in other cities, and to visit Cedar Point. After checking schedules (ours and those of the teams!) and figuring out a route and budget, we decided on a road trip that took us to Columbus to visit our oldest son, to Cleveland and Pittsburgh for baseball games, to Cedar Point, and to southern Ontario to visit family and to see a baseball game in Toronto. This collection of photos relates to the baseball part of our trip.

Huntington Park, Columbus Clippers (minor league) hosting the Toledo Mud-Hens

Progressive Field, the Cleveland Indians hosting the Toronto Blue Jays

PNC Park, Pittsburgh Pirates hosting the Houston Astros

Rogers Centre, the Toronto Blue Jays hosting the Minnesota Twins

This post is linked at Wordless Wednesday, hosted by Life at Rossmont, and the original (more wordy!) version of this post is on Homeschool Coffee Break and is linked at Sometimes Wordless Wednesday, hosted by Tots and Me . . . Growing Up Together!

©2008-2016 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Teaser Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - Charity's Cross

This post contains affiliate links. 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jenn at Books and Beat. To play along, just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers!
• Share the title and author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers! 

I purchased this book months ago, and it has been on my "coming up next" list for that whole time, but I keep putting it off because I have books for review or books that need to go back to the library that I "need" to read first. I'm moving it up on the pile and hopefully will be able to get started on it in the next week or two!

 "Who are you?" She cocked the gun. "You are no preacher, Sir, for no preacher I know could have commanded this ship and beaten those pirates against such overwhelming odds."

~Charity's Cross (Charles Towne Belles) (Volume 4) by MaryLu Tyndall, page 77

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First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is a weekly link-up hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or two) of a book you're reading, or thinking about reading.

Portsmouth, England, September, 1718

   Charity killed her husband. She knew it the minute the pistol fired. She knew it the minute he froze and his eyes widened in horror. His grip on the barrel of the gun remained strong as he stared at her, the life spilling from those eyes like water from a glass tipped over. She trembled and sought her breath, but only gun smoke filled her lungs. She couldn't cough . . . couldn't move. And still he stood there, frozen in time, as if unwilling to accept his fate.

   Jerking the pistol from his grip, she nudged him back before he used his remaining energy to strike her again. her mind spun as she rubbed the bruise forming on her cheek. The gun clattered to the floor, though she barely heard it . . . or her husband's moan as he stumbled backward, clutching his chest. He toppled to the Persian rug he loved so much and breathed out his last words, "I'll see you in hell."

   'Twas the only truthful thing the man had said in their two years of marriage.

Here's the blurb:

Suspected of killing her husband, Charity Westcott flees on the first ship out of Portsmouth, England heading for the colonies. Loathing all men after her abusive marriage, she hopes to reunite with her family in Charles Towne, but she ends up in Nassau. When she spots her husband's brother, who is intent on seeing her hang, boarding her ship, she jumps overboard.

Pirate turned preacher, Elias Dutton, must get to Barbados as soon as possible. His sister is in danger, and his parents have charged him with her safety. He cannot let them down - again. But after rescuing a madcap woman from the bay, he now finds himself tricked into masquerading as her husband so they both can procure passage to Barbados.

Pirates, storms, shipwreck and betrayal threaten to delay the couple in their journey even as sparks fly between them. With her brother-in-law in fast pursuit, the last thing Charity wants is help from a man, especially a religious one, but she has no choice. After Elias' heart was broken by a sordid woman who nearly ruined his life, he seeks a woman as pure as the virgin sands of the Caribbean. He believes he has found such a woman in Charity. Until he discovers she is a murderer and is now faced with two choices: letting her go or turning her in to the authorities.

What do you think? Would you continue reading?

©2008-2016 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Bookshelf Review - August 2016 (What I'm Reading - August 29, 2016)

This post contains affiliate links.

August's Books Completed and Reviewed

The Boden Birthright: A Cimarron Legacy Novella - an interesting novella introducing the patriarch of the Boden family, whose story continues in No Way Up. (Read my full review HERE.)

It was early afternoon when Pa died, though Veronica felt as if she'd lived an eternity. The rest of that day was a blur of pain and loss and, for heaven's sake, marriage.

A Pressing Engagement (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber - a short prequel to the fifth novel in this series, which I hope will arrive for me to read soon! (Read my full review HERE.)

By the time the coach pulled to a stop outside St. Giles Cathedral, the time had grown far later than either of us had anticipated. The square to the east of the cathedral was empty, and for a moment I worried that Bonnie Brock had given up on us.

During August I continued reading:

The Winter Crown: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Elizabeth Chadwick - I'd hoped to finish this during the past week on vacation, but didn't do much reading after all.

"Yes, Mama. Only give power to men you trust, and always make sure you have more than they do." Alienor smiled. "Just so," she said. 

During August I started reading:

A Tapestry of Secrets by Sarah Loudin Thomas - This read is from a series I have really enjoyed, and is for a Bethany House review coming soon.

Perla squared her shoulders as best she could. Life was a journey, and she was determined not to let this stroke business sidetrack her. She needed to get her voice back so she could tell Ella and Sadie what they needed to know.

   


The Circle of Ceridwen: Book One, by Octavia Randolph - I got started on this on a recommendation from a friend, but I'm not sure I'll enjoy the writing style. I'm not very far into yet, though, and have enough other things on my plate that I will probably shelve it for the time being and come back to it a bit later.

And we nodded at this, and then I thought of the men outside and their swords and spears, and thought also of my dead father and kinsman, and said inwardly, Yes, and yet those thegns will take cold iron every time, for by their iron is life or death.

During August I shelved:

The Pharaoh's Daughter: A Treasures of the Nile Novel by Mesu Andrews - I set aside this novel about the Egyptian princess that adopted Moses for a little while. I was enjoying it, but couldn't keep up with the number of books I had going during this busy month.

Timebound (The Chronos Files)by Rysa Walker - this just never grabbed my attention the way I'd hoped. I may pick it up again sometime, but I had too many other things to read and do lately.

Coming Up in September!

Charity's Cross (Charles Towne Belles) (Volume 4) by MaryLu Tyndall

The Reckoning (Legacy of the King's Pirates) (Volume 5) by MaryLu Tyndall

Swept Away (Trouble in Texas) (Volume 1) by Mary Connealy
The Pray-ers, Book One: Troubles by Mark S. Mirza

  

    


This post will be linked at 5 Minutes For Books - What's On Your Nightstand?
and at The Book Date - Month In Review for August 2016.

I'll be linking this post up for the weekly reading list meme is hosted at Book Date, and at Tales of a Pee Dee Mama for D.E.A.R. Monday (Drop Everything And Read).

©2008-2016 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Scripture and a Snapshot - Heirs Having Hope

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us by the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

~Titus 3:4-7~

Scripture & a Snapshot is hosted by A Glimpse of Our Life.

Glimpses is hosted by Embracing Every Day, a lifestyle blog by Barbie Swihart.

©2008-2016 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/