Tag: suicide

BLOG TOUR – Black Arts, Tarts, and Gypsy Carts – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's Musings3 Comments

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4.5 out of 5 stars.

Welcome! Today, I’m hosting another blog tour from Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours. This time it’s for the book Black Arts, Tarts, & Gypsy Carts, the 2nd book in the Spells & Caramels series by Erin Johnson.  I absolutely love these books!

BLACK ARTS TARTS AND GYPSY CARTS

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Synopsis

With the Summer Sea Carnival visiting the enchanted island of Bijou Mer, Imogen jumps at the chance to help run the royal bakery booth. It’ll get her out of the palace and allow her to continue avoiding her feelings for a certain engaged prince.

Imogen’s plans to lay low are shattered when the world-famous necromancer, Madame Zerna, is found dead, sawed in half on the dark magician’s table and Imogen’s friend Rhonda is caught red-handed. With incriminating evidence piling up against Rhonda, Zerna’s rival, Imogen promises to help clear her name by finding the real murderer.

But between running the booth, encouraging Maple as she struggles to lead as head baker, and taking spell lessons from the friendly strong man, Imogen’s got her hands full. And it’s no easier getting information from the evasive dark magician or Madame Zerna’s secretive assistant. Even Rhonda’s hiding something.

With the Night of the Dead fast approaching, and Rhonda headed for a maximum security witch prison, Imogen races to unearth the real killer in time to save her friend. But in a mysterious carnival where nothing’s as it seems, will Imogen have the magical powers to keep from being on the chopping block herself?

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Review

I loved this book and even tho’ it doesn’t quite have that extra pizzazz to put it up to a 5-star rating, it’s a solid 4.5 in my opinion.

I adore the characters in this series. Imogen, Maple, Iggy, and Hank have all become almost like friends to me and I really care about what happens to them and how they react to situations. Imogen’s a little too impulsive for my personal taste, but she at least does slow down and think sometimes, just not all the time. I still love her though. I love her enthusiasm and her intelligence. She’s a good friend to Maple and Iggy as well.

The setting of Bijou Mer is great. I love the descriptions of the area and buildings. Ms. Johnson does a nice job of discussing the settings without going overboard with her descriptions. I’m able to easily imagine the carnival grounds, the cemetery they visit, etc.

The plot line moves along steadily.  There were two villains. One I knew from the start. The other wasn’t quite as obvious and I was actually disappointed because I had liked the character a lot and hated to see him as a villain.

All in all, it’s a fantastic installment in the series and I highly recommend it! I do recommend starting with the first book, Seashells, Spells, and Caramels as there is backstory that you need to understand. You can find my review for that book here.

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About the Author

ErinJohnson

 

A native of Tempe, Arizona, Erin spends her time crafting mysterious, magical, romance-filled stories that’ll hopefully make you laugh. In between, she’s traveling, napping with her dogs, eating with her friends and family, and teaching Pilates (to allow her to eat more).

 

 

 

Author Links

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Thanks for joining me today for another wonderful blog tour about a fantastic book! If you wish to visit other sites on the blog tour, please click on the banner below!

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Going Green for Mental Health Awareness

Valerie @ Valerie's Musings5 Comments

Today, I’m going green for Mental Health Awareness. May is Mental Health Awareness month here in the United States. This is something near and dear to my heart because I live with five (5) mental illnesses every day of my life and I have a tendency towards a sixth (which just means that my symptoms aren’t bad enough for full diagnosis). 

  • 1 in 5 adults (60 million people) in the United States lives with a mental health condition.
  • 1 in 25 adults (10 million people) in the United States live with a serious mental health condition. 
  • 60 million adults in the United States face the day-to-day reality of living and dealing with a mental illness. 
  • 90% of all suicides are committed by people with a mental health condition, but it doesn’t have to be this way. 70-90% of all sufferers experience a significant reduction of symptoms if they are getting the right treatment and have good support.
    (All statistics are from NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)

I am one of those 60 million people. Day-to-day living with a mental illness is not easy, to say the least. Some days, it’s debilitating. Other days, it’s just simply hard. On those days when it’s just simply hard, I’m able to go to work, able to blog, able to get together with friends, able to have a life. The days in which it’s debilitating, it’s just that – debilitating. I cannot work, cannot blog, cannot hang out with friends. About the most I can do is maybe make it out of bed to the couch. Maybe.

Mental health isn’t something that’s easy to talk about and yet, it should be. One should be able to say, “My anxiety is really high today” just as easily as one can say, “Man, my allergies are really bad today”. They’re both illnesses. Neither is more “legitimate” than the other. Unfortunately, there’s a stigma attached to mental illnesses. Stigma refers to not only the tangible reasons that most people stay silent such as bullying, rejection, and discrimination, but it also refers to the intangible reasons, feeling isolated, being blamed for your mental illness, and feeling shame for having a mental illness.

If you notice, while I’m open about the fact that I have five (5) mental illnesses, I did not name them. That’s because of the stigma associated with them. It’s become more acceptable to talk about having depression and anxiety, both of which I have. But there are still some very severe mental illnesses where the stigma attached is so great that people automatically assume that if someone has one of those illnesses, they’re a danger to society. Unfortunately, I have one of those. Consequently, I don’t usually talk about what specific mental illnesses I have.  

However, let me be candid and frank. Any mental illness, no matter how severe, does not automatically mean the person is a danger to society. I’m not saying it’s not possible. We all know it’s possible. I watch the news as much as the rest of you. But simply having a mental illness should not be the sole component that an individual is judged on. Period. Do you automatically think that someone with diabetes or multiple scleorsis or cancer is a danger to society? No, you probably don’t because most people don’t. Similarly, those with schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities), antisocial personality disorder, or any other mental illness should not automatically be considered a danger to society.  With the proper treatment (which is usually a combination of medication and therapy), people can learn how to cope with their mental illness and can be productive members of society, but many don’t seek help because of all the stigma attached to mental illness. We as a society need to work together to change that.

My challenge to all of you today is two-fold:  

  1. I encourage you to educate yourself, learn about the disorders that people have, and then go out and start conversations with people about mental illness. Help end the stigma that people with mental illness feel. Help end any stigma you may feel against someone with a mental illness. Only by working together can we end all stigma. 
  2. If you have a mental illness and you’re currently not seeking help for whatever reason, please do yourself the favor and seek help. It is the single best thing you can do to change your life. It’s not easy. I know it’s not, but it really is the single best thing you can do to learn how to cope with your mental illness. 

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Home Sweet Love – REVIEW

Valerie @ Valerie's MusingsLeave a comment

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Home Sweet Love by Ava Miles is the 10th book in the Dare Valley series. While it is not my favorite in the series, it was very good and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

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Purchase Links: Amazon – B&N – Kobo

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Synopsis

Hardened billionaire Chase Parker lost his home tragically at a young age. Will sweet and sassy businesswoman Moira Hale be able to convince him he can make a home with her and trust in something as sweet as love?

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Review

Moira and Chase are both strong, independent personalities. Watching them learn how to balance trust and love with still remaining independent was fascinating. I loved the fact that when Chase was opening up his heart and soul to Moira, she didn’t try to use platitudes or pat answers to make things better. Instead, she sat with him, held him when he cried, and was just there. As a survivor of trauma, I can testify that there is no better feeling than to have someone you love, whether relative, friend, or significant other, just be there. There’s no need for words or reassurance. There’s just a need to have someone to listen. That’s exactly what Moira does for Chase and it’s one of the greatest gifts she could give him.

Being back in the familiar setting of Dare Valley was lovely. When you read a book in a favorite series, it’s like “coming home” in a sense. This book was no exception to that. Similarly, it was great to see the majority of the extended Dare Valley family.

The only thing I didn’t like in this one is that I didn’t like how Evan was “handling” Chase. Forcing someone to face their past is not always a good thing; it’s easy for such “good intentions” to backfire and for the intended person to become even more embittered and hardened. Luckily, it worked out this time around and Chase was able to heal, not only from this newer trauma, but from the trauma in his earlier life.

As is usually the case, we got a “sneak peek” at the next book in the series by seeing interactions between the next couple to be featured. After seeing how J.T. & Caroline interacted together, I’m very excited for their book!

All-in-all, it was a great book and I highly recommend it!

** I received an eBook copy from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all opinions and conclusions are my own.**

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