Field Guide to Urban Gardening: How to Grow Plants, No Matter Where You Live: Raised Beds - Vertical Gardening - Indoor Edibles - Balconies and Rooftops - Hydroponics by Kevin Espiritu

Title: Field Guide to Urban Gardening: How to Grow Plants, No Matter Where You Live: Raised Beds - Vertical Gardening - Indoor Edibles - Balconies and Rooftops - Hydroponics 
Author:  Kevin Espiritu
Genre: Gardening 
Source: Netgalley
Reviewed by Laurie
Rating: 5

In Field Guide to Urban Gardening, author Kevin Espiritu of Epic Gardening shares the basics of growing plants, offers tips on how to choose the right urban gardening method, and troubleshoots the most common problems you’ll encounter.

If you think it’s impossible to grow your own food because you don’t have a large yard or you live in the city…think again. There is a plethora of urban gardening options to create beautiful, productive edible gardens no matter where you live. The key to succeeding as an urban gardener is to choose the method(s) that make sense for your unique living situation and then give your plants what they need to thrive. Kevin helps you do just that.

But he doesn’t stop there. He also provides in-depth garden plans, from upcycled DIY projects and intensive hydroponic systems to beautiful and functional raised beds. Urban gardening is a real, growing, and important movement in today’s world. This fact-packed book is your roadmap to get growing today.

Urban gardening techniques featured include:
Container Gardening
Raised Beds
Indoor Edibles
Balconies and Rooftops
Hydroponics

No matter how small your space is you can always find ways to have an urban garden. I have resided beds and containers so I had to see if this book could help me advance more into smaller spaces since my husband always complains about mowing around my gardens. LOL

This book is very detailed and will help you get into the new age of urban gardening, it’s so much better to know where your food is coming from and gardening in any form can help relieve stress. You get great images along with detailed information that will walk you through step by step and if you look up the author he also has a website with tons of information that will help you.

I highly recommend this to anyone that is new or advance gardening.

Book review of Edibles and Ornamentals for Small-Space Gardening by Jessica Walliser

 Title: Edibles and Ornamentals for Small-Space Gardening 

 Author: Jessica Walliser
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Gardening 
Reviewed by: Laurie
Rating: 5

Covering a broad array of landscape plants, including edibles, flowering, and fruiting trees and shrubs, evergreens, and perennials, horticulturist Jessica Walliser takes a deep dive into the emerging category of compact plants.

Whether short, narrow, columnar, or dwarf, this new and exciting group of plants provide the same decorative functions full-sized ornamental plants, but in a fraction of the space. Plus, edible compact plants offer comparable productivity, without having to add more square footage to the garden.

In this comprehensive guide, Jessica uses her numerous contacts in the seed and plant production world to give space-challenged gardeners a heads up on what's new, as well as re-introducing a few traditional small-footprint favorites.

In both urban and suburban neighborhoods, yards are shrinking, and big plants and gardens require too much maintenance for today's time-starved homeowners. If you're searching for plants that require less space and reduced day-to-day maintenance, dwarf shrubs, and other compact plants to the rescue! With little to no pruning required, columnar trees, dwarf shrubs, mini veggies, short-statured perennials, and other compact plants fill a much-needed niche.

In the Gardener's Guide to Compact Plants, you'll discover fantastic, brand new dwarf and compact plant varieties you didn't even know existed. And, you'll learn how to grow more flowers, fruits, and veggies than ever before, no matter how much—or how little—space you have. It's the perfect book for homeowners with small yards, urban gardeners, container growers, or anyone looking to grow a beautiful and productive small-scale garden.

Need some great garden designs for your small space? No matter if you want to have a fruit, vegetable, herb or just to add a few pollinators flowers to your small yard this book will help you not only design but to also buy plants ideal for small spaces.

For some reason, we have it in our heads that gardening in any form no matter if its flowers, vegetables or just some simple herds that we need tons of space in order to have these things, but that is not the case whatsoever. You can use containers to grow tons of different vegetables and even perennial flowers. Herbs are really great for containers, so get to researching with books like this and get out and plant and this book will help you achieve your goals in any form of gardening in small spaces. 

Gardening book review of Starting & Saving Seeds: Grow the Perfect Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs, and Flowers for Your Garden by Julie Thompson-Adolf (Goodreads Author)

Title: Grow the Perfect Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs, and Flowers for Your Garden 

Author: Julie Thompson-Adolf 

Genre: Gardening 

Source: NetGalley

Reviewed by: Laurie 

Rating: 5

Grow fabulous food and flowers from seeds, then save seeds to make next year's garden even better.

Creating dinner from food you’ve grown provides a fantastic sense of accomplishment. Now, imagine the pleasure of starting plants from seeds, tending them, planting them in your garden, harvesting their fruits, and enjoying a delicious meal or bouquet. But that's not the end of the journey. Now you can turn around and save the best seeds for next year’s garden. Suddenly, you’re self-sufficient; you’ve grown your own garden from seed to seed.

In this book, you'll find the tools you need to become a seed starting and saving champion. Author and gardening expert Julie Thompson-Adolf walks you through every step of the journey, making the entire process a joy. You’ll find hints to encourage stubborn seeds to germinate, lists of varieties to add to your garden, charts for quick growing reference, and simple DIY projects to aid your seed starting and saving adventure. (Learn how to make seed bombs and an indoor seed-starting station.) The extensive plant entries inside cover all the most popular vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers. Get started with tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and melons, or chamomile, cosmos, sweet peas, and poppies—accompanied by beautiful photography from Libby Williams.

Whether you’re an experienced gardener new to seed starting and saving or a brand-new grower, you’ll soon have healthy, productive, beautiful plants for your garden.

Awesome reference from starting seeds to saving seeds book, I for one will be buying this book for my future gardening journey.

When I put in a request for this book I didn’t expect to get approval being a romance book blog but when I see the book in my Netgalley shelf I jumped for joy and I was not disappointed.

I started raised beds for my vegetables a few years back and had figured out how to save several seeds myself and have been pleased with my progress, but as I bring in new vegetables there are some I have no clue how to save the seeds so, I need some kind of reference or help to figure out how I save seeds for them plus, this year I expanded my gardening and bought over 300.00 dollars worth of flowers this summer so I knew I had to do something to save the seeds because I refuse to spend that kind of money each year. So, when I saw this book on Netgalley you know how happy I was to see it on my approved shelf.

Now, for the book review, I really loved how the author starts with simple sowing technique and brings you to save the seeds. No, she does not go into each plant on how to save the seed of that plant but she gives you both methods and she lists the way to save the seeds in each plant reference in the back of the book.

I’ve been direct sowing my seeds because my indoor seeds were a flop the first year, so I am hoping the simple tips will help me try indoor sowing again and succeeded next spring.   

This is a great book for any gardener to have on their shelf. 

Bird-Friendly Gardening: Guidance and Projects for Supporting Birds in Your Landscape

 

Bird-Friendly Gardening is the definitive guide to planting a wildlife-welcoming home landscape filled with a diversity of native plants that feed, shelter, and support birds. With hundreds of North American bird species facing population decline or at risk of extinction, right now is the perfect time to create a home-based habitat garden that offers birds the resources they need to safely feed, migrate, breed, and thrive. Thankfully, making your outdoor space a secure and comfortable haven for many different bird species isn’t a Herculean task. It’s a matter of understanding the needs of our avian friends and how native plants, combined with purposeful garden design, can help meet those needs. And that’s exactly the know-how you’ll find here, outlined in a simple-to-follow, actionable format by author Jennifer McGuinness.  Step beyond the seed-filled bird feeder and suet block, and learn how to further provide for birds. Some of the topics covered in the book   How to design a bird-centered habitat garden in spaces large and small  Advice on providing fresh water year-round Understanding the connection between native plants and insects and the birds that rely on them How to design and plant a fruit garden, a bird seed garden, a runoff-absorbing rain garden, or even a container garden that nurtures birds Meet dozens of trees, shrubs, and other plants that support the insects almost all adult birds need to feed their young 18 step-by-step garden design projects and plant lists for creating a diversity of bird-friendly spaces Tips for preventing window strikes and cat kills Best practices for including bird feeders, nest boxes, and bird baths in your landscape Whether your “spark bird” was a lightning-fast Ruby-throated Hummingbird, a brilliant Indigo Bunting, or a petite Hammond’s Flycatcher, it’s time to put out the welcome mat for birds in your home garden. YOU can make a significant impact on the lives of thousands of birds, whether they’re just passing through during migration or making a feather-lined summertime home for raising the next generation. It’s time for gardeners from coast to coast to heed the call and welcome their flighty friends home with Bird-Friendly Gardening. 

Bird-Friendly Gardening gives newbies quite a bit to get started, but there is so much more than what this book offers. I was hoping to find more projects for landscaping ideas but there are only a few diagrams of gardening guides and hardly any for small spaces. This book failed to tell readers of the threat of invasive birds such as House Sparrows and Starlings. If you're truly passionate about native birds you must get to know how to control these birds from killing native birds. 

The upside to this book is it covers a lot of native plants to bring into your yard to help keep birds coming for years to come. What most people fail to realize the majority of our American home's landscaping is all Asian plants that offer no benefit to our native birds or pollinators, for that matter, and Yes, your amazing Crape Myrtle is an Asian plant that offers no benefits to our birds.

Another tip I wished this book would have covered. The majority of our major box stores in the US only offer Asian plants, you'll have to research in your area to find places that sell native plants, and some natives carry crazy expensive price tags. Through the years, I have found that my Masters Gardeners offers a yearly native plant sale that I attend and, Etsy is also a great resource to buy native seeds. 

Go and explore a birding world that will amaze you for years to come. 

Thank you, Netgalley for providing this title for review 

Amazon Affiliate link https://amzn.to/4aPdKWR

The New Gardener's Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Grow a Beautiful and Bountiful Garden by Daryl Beyers

Title: The New Gardener's Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Grow a Beautiful and Bountiful Garden 

Author: Daryl Beyers

Source: Netgalley

Genre: Gardening

Rating: 5 

“Gardeners just starting out will earn a sense of accomplishment and a good dose of knowledge.” —Booklist

Every new gardener has to start somewhere—and the process can be intimidating. Knowing when and what to plant, how to care for the plants once they’re in the ground, and how to keep pests and diseases away is a lot to take on. Luckily, Daryl Beyers—an expert from the New York Botanical Garden—has written what will be a  go-to resource for decades to come. The New Gardener’s Handbook is a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of gardening, based on the introductory gardening class that Beyers teaches at NYBG. Readers will learn about soil, plant selection, propagation, planting and mulching, watering and feeding, pruning, and weeds, pests, and diseases. The information applies to both ornamental and edible plants. Featuring inspiring photography and helpful illustrations, The New Gardener’s Handbook gives home gardeners a foundation upon which they can grow, and encourages them to apply the lessons they’ve learned in an intuitive, natural way.

This book is a must for any new gardener!

I really enjoyed the detail the author went into for this book, he covered everything including trees. I wished I had this book years ago when I first started out; it would have made things a lot simpler for me.  

This book covers everything from soil, growing plants, pruning plants, to pest control. Easy to understand and I love the images and graphs included.

I consider myself an intermediate gardener, I have raised garden beds, fruit trees and lots of flowers to help bring in pollinators and after reading this book I have found help for some simple solutions I have desperately needed so, even if you consider yourself an intermediate gardener this book might help you advance even more.

Book Review of The Pollinator Victory Garden: Win the War on Pollinator Decline with Ecological Gardening; Attract and Support Bees, Beetles, Butterflies, Bats, and Other Pollinators by Kim Eierman

Title: The Pollinator Victory Garden: Win the War on Pollinator Decline with Ecological Gardening; Attract and Support Bees, Beetles, Butterflies, Bats, and Other Pollinators 

Author: Kim Eierman

Source: Netgalley

The passion and urgency that inspired WWI and WWII Victory Gardens is needed today to meet another threat to our food supply and our environment—the steep decline of pollinators. The Pollinator Victory Garden offers practical solutions for winning the war against the demise of these essential animals.

Pollinators are critical to our food supply and responsible for the pollination of the vast majority of all flowering plants on our planet. Pollinators include not just bees, but many different types of animals, including insects and mammals. Beetles, bats, birds, butterflies, moths, flies, and wasps can be pollinators.

But, many pollinators are in trouble, and the reality is that most of our landscapes have little to offer them. Our residential and commercial landscapes are filled with vast green pollinator deserts, better known as lawns. These monotonous green expanses are ecological wastelands for bees and other pollinators.

With The Pollinator Victory Garden, you can give pollinators a fighting chance. Learn how to transition your landscape into a pollinator haven by creating a habitat that includes pollinator nutrition, larval host plants for butterflies and moths, and areas for egg laying, nesting, sheltering, overwintering, resting, and warming. Find a wealth of information to support pollinators while improving the environment around you:
 •  The importance of pollinators and the specific threats to their survival•  How to provide food for pollinators using native perennials, trees, and shrubs that bloom in succession•  Detailed profiles of the major pollinator types and how to attract and support each one•  Tips for creating and growing a Pollinator Victory Garden, including site assessment, planning and planting goals•  Project ideas like pollinator islands, enriched landscape edges, revamped foundation plantings, meadowscapes, and other pollinator-friendly lawn alternatives
 The time is right for a new gardening movement. Every yard, community garden, rooftop, porch, patio, commercial, and municipal landscape can help to win the war against pollinator decline with The Pollinator Victory Garden.

I look for ways to help win the war for the decline of our pollinators because I really need those pollinators for my vegetable garden. When I started my raised beds over 6 years ago I had tons of bees in my garden so I had a great harvest but over the past couple of years I am lucky to see one lone bee on my vegetable flowers so I know there is something wrong.

I work in a garden center and I have increased my flowers over the past few years, I have increased in butterflies, birds and I even have some hummingbird months each year but my bees are just not increasing. I was hoping this book would help and I think it has, I have failed to add house for the bees so this is my project for this year.

This book does not give you a list of each flower that will attract each pollinator, this book is to help you make better choices. We see a pretty flower and just automatically think it will attract pollinators but they don’t. This book will help you chose better flowers that they will like, better water sources and housing sources. 

Review for Growing Winter Food: How to grow, harvest, store, and use produce for the winter months by Linda Gray

Title: Growing Winter Food: How to grow, harvest, store, and use produce for the winter months
Author:  Linda Gray
Genre: Garden
Source: Netgalley
Reviewed by: Laurie
 Rating: 4

Grow Healthy Winter Produce

Grow your own keeper crops for the chilly days of winter—and you'll be sure of putting the freshest, tastiest produce, packed with goodness, on your kitchen table! Growing Winter Food is the essential gardening guide for those who want to enjoy their garden's output all year round. This easy-to-follow book shows you how to grow your own fruit and vegetables for winter use and includes detailed cultivation advice on each crop, along with nutritional value, recipe ideas, and storage suggestions.



Inside Growing Winter Food

• How to choose crops that you can grow and preserve so you’ll have fresh vegetables over the winter.

• Practical information and growing advice for all the most commonly grown winter foods: roots, legumes, green vegetables, herbs and fruits.

• Easy-to-follow instructions for sowing, maintenance, harvesting, and general gardening techniques.

• All the basic techniques you need to know, from preparing soil to using cloches and containers to dealing with pests and diseases.

• Handy plant profiles cover how to grow, plant, care for, save seeds, harvest, and preserve.

• Perfect for those with limited gardening experience, with gardens big or small.

Although some may see this title as a bit misleading if you keep reading you find this book is based on how to grow food and the best methods of storing for winter for your eating enjoyment.

This a book is not only a great reference garden books with lots of helpful tips, but you’ll also find recipes, storing, nutrients, care and maintenance, harvesting and transplanting for each individual vegetable.  I really liked the nutrients, care and maintenance sections, they were all explained very well.

I recommend this book for any level gardeners

Review of : Beginner's Guide to Garden Planning and Design: 50 Simple Gardening Ideas for Adding Style & Personality to Your Outdoor Space (Creative Homeowner) Sustainable Gardening, Using Containers, and More Helen Yoest

 Get all the inspiration you need to plan and design your first garden! Gardeners are generally always looking for inspiration. In the forward this helpful gardening book, P. Allen Smith states, "Helen has outlined 50 ways to add style to express one's personal creativity in the garden — when in fact her 50 will inspire at least 50 more ideas." Rather than force her own creative ideas on you, author, gardener, and horticulturalist Helen Yoest teaches you to recognize and act on your own creativity! Inside this book, easy-to-follow sections are divided into four basic priorities to consider when thinking about your Garden Basics, Garden Styles, Garden Elements, and Your Garden Environment. Chapters include how to create rhythm, scale, and balance along with curb appeal to shape your owns ideas, plus a chapter on creating a sustainable garden environment where plants and animals can live together. You'll also learn about the importance of selecting the perfect space and sketching out your plan first, how to use containers effectively, how to think about fragrance in your garden, and how to incorporate other features including water, walkways, and walls. Let your imagination go wild and create an amazing space that will give back season after season, with Planning & Designing Your First Garden ! "Helen isn't interested in impressing readers with how much she knows. Rather she's concerned with readers impressing themselves with how much they can accomplish once they believe they can."

Are you looking to bring flowers and plants into your garden but don't know where to start? Well, this book would be a great place to start.

I've read all types of garden books and even taken Master Gardners classes and I still learned a few new things in this book I loved how the author covered sounds. Not many garden books cover garden sounds and believe me the more native plants you bring in the more birds, bees, and other wildlife sounds you have in your garden, it beats traffic noise any day. A simple bird splashing in the bird bath is one of the most simple sounds that brings gardens to life.

This book covers a bit of everything even vegetable garden and has wonderful pictures that will get your creative juices going.

About me

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my corner, where you’ll find a fusion of a few of my passions: animals, reading, baking, gardening, and jewelry brought together in one corner.

Growing up surrounded by all kinds of animals, they have become such a huge part of my daily life. Throughout my 56 years, I have never been without an animal around me. Currently, my life is taken over by one Border Collie and 9 cats, of which 8 are rescues, and one sassy Maine Coon named Sookie from one of my favorite book characters.

Over 15 years ago, I went on a romance reading kick and created a blog named Bitten by Paranormal Romance, which changed to Bitten by Romance and is now Laurie's Cozy Corner. I have not given up reading romance, but I have returned to reading cozy mysteries alongside romance. At one time there were several reviewers on the blog, but they all have busy lives, and it's just me left so I wanted to change it and create a blog just for me and my life. 

With the creation of social media, I found so many animals needing homes, so I try to help when I can with local rescues and trapping feral cats in my city to get them fixed. My husband is very supportive because he, too has always been a cat lover. I have one rescue named Roxie, who came from a high-kill shelter. She will have a special spot right here on the blog to help you realize how bad the needs of animals are. All of the other animals, too, will have a special spotlight right here on the blog.

Whatever your passion is—animals, reading, baking, or gardening—I hope you will find something here to help you along your way. 

Here are some details about my clower clan and our crazy schnauzer. 

Roxie came from a high-kill shelter in GA, and yes, my husband drove over 8 hours to get her and bring her back to middle TN. 

Pandora was rescued after her mother was killed on the road. We took the whole family in, thinking we would re-home them all since we had 3 cats already, but Pandora and her brother captured our hearts, and they stayed. 

Wolverine is Pandora's brother. He has a special mark on his belly that looks like a heart. 

Sookie, our Maine Coo,n and yes, she is named after Sookie Stackhouse. LOL 

Trubel (AKA Booboo). We found her on the side of a busy road near starvation. We decided to name and keep her. 

 
Mitten was found at one of the feral colonies. She is a polydactyl cat with horn toes

Spuds, our Schnauzer, was rescued from an abusive neighbor. Sadly, Spuds passed away in 2021. RIP 

 















Daisy is our new sable Border Collie

Interview with one of our reviewers Carridwen

Our next reviewer interview is with Cerridwen. She has been reviewing for about a month now and is really going at it.We meet in person a couple of years back at a local book signing and had became friends on goodreads. Books signings are a wonderful place to make new reading buddies.

 First off please tell the readers a bit about yourself, please.

I am a 33 year mother of 2 teenagers and a preschool teacher with low income children. I have been married to my high school sweetheart for 17 years.

Besides reading what do you like to do in your spare time? 

Hike, gardening, bow hunt, geocaching

What the hardest thing to do when it comes to reviewing a book?

 I don’t like to say when I find a book bad. I know that maybe I just didn’t’ like it and someone where will, but that’s part of it.

What is the biggest thing you look for when you review a book?

 If it can “send me away” If I can fall into the book and not hear what’s going on around me due to the story, it’s a hit with me.

What are some of your favorite authors?

They are not all PNR authors: Sherrilyn Kenyon,  Gillian Flynn, Charlane Harris, George RR Martin, J.T. Ellison,  Anne Rice, Allana Knight, Karen Marie Moning, Deanna Raybourn, Diana Gabaldon

Features for the blog

Features for the blog.

In the Garden with Spuds.

 As most dogs Spuds love the outdoors. This year I was finally able to create a few raised beds and each day I go down to work the raised beds and Spuds is joins me, so I wanted to add him a feature on the blog so we can share our love for the outdoors and gardening.

Sookie’s Romance corner

Sookie is going to cover anything romance. I always find her laying bedside my romance books so I thought it would be fit her taste.

Rescuing with Roxie and Boo

Roxie and Boo are two rescue kitties so “Rescuing with Roxie and Boo” feature fit them just right. Roxie was rescued from a high kill shelter in GA by TLC Pet Rescue and we adopted her from there. Boo was rescued right off the streets of my home town. One day my husband and I were coming back from lunch and someone swung over into our lane to miss a small kitten. I noticed what the person was trying not to hit and had my husband to see if we could fetch the tiny kitten. We were lucky we had leftover fish with us and she was starving, or we might not have caught her. She went straight to my husband and we were able to grab her and take her home.

In the kitchen with Pandora

Pandora is always in the kitchen, I truly believe if she was human she would be a world-class chief. She finds her spot on the island and watches me while I cook and bake. Her favorite food is bacon, cream cheese, and marshmallows. I have to keep the marshmallows locked away because she always finds them. I have caught her countless times coming out of the cabinet with a bag in her mouth. She’s recently found out moon pies has marshmallows in them, so I have had to resort in hiding them too. The funny thing is she won’t eat the cookie, just the marshmallows.  

Pet Talk with Wolverine

Wolverine is Pandora’s brother. By the looks of him, you’d think he would have gotten the kitchen feature. Right? Well, spite his sporting large belly he is a total lover boy that will talk your head off, so I thought it would be fitting for him to bring to us post from authors talking about their pets, pet charities or anything they wanted to post about animals.  If you’re an author and would like to create a post about your pets please email Wolverine and me at lauriescozycorner@gmail.com

Everything cozy relate will be by me, Laurie :)

Cowboy Player by Mia Hopkins ~ Cover Reveal and Giveaway

Check Out the Cover for the Newest Novel from Mia Hopkins, COWBOY PLAYER!

Legendary cowboy player reunited with his brainy, feisty childhood crush—get ready for the sizzle!

About COWBOY PLAYER  

This cowboy and cowgirl sell the steak and the sizzle.

For eight years, Melody Santos played the game of love and lost—big time. Now she’s back in her tiny hometown looking after her younger sister, making ends meet with an assortment of odd jobs. When her childhood best friend hires her to help him sell his family’s grass-fed beef, the last thing she anticipates is falling in lust with the legendary, brown-eyed player.

To put his family’s cattle ranch back in the black, Clark MacKinnon has his sights set on big contracts—gourmet chefs and restaurateurs. If that means long hours traveling from farmer’s market to farmer’s market, Clark doesn’t mind. Particularly since his new assistant is his childhood crush, all grown up and sexy as hell. 

One night in bed leaves them breathless and hungry for more. But when his love-’em-and-leave-’em reputation collides with her trust issues, Clark and Melody must face the truth about what they’ve become: not friends, not lovers, but players in a game that’s impossible to win.

Warning: Contains filthy banter, raunchy sex, excessive Johnny Cash references, and hundreds of pounds of raw beef.

Pre-Order this title at these online retailers:

Samhain  |  B&N  |  iBooks |  Kobo |

Google Play | BAM |  All Romance

Excerpt from COWBOY PLAYER:

Melody shook her head. “You can’t help yourself, can you, MacKinnon? You’re a hopeless flirt.”

“Flirting? Thought I was just drinking beer and being myself.” He looked down at the empty

coaster in front of her. “What about you? What are you having? Gin and tonic, right?”

He remembered her favorite drink. Melody smiled. “No, I’m good. I’m on sister watch tonight.

She really wants to cut loose. Someone’s gotta hold her hair back when the vomit flies. Which it

inevitably will.” She waved her hand at him. “You should go have a good time. Get yourself a nice piece. Enjoy your Saturday night.”

Only Clark could make a shrug look so sexy. “But I’m already enjoying my Saturday night.”

Something about the way he said those words made Melody’s skin tingle.

As an experiment, she uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, resting her arms on the bar. For a nanosecond, Clark’s dark eyes darted to her cleavage before resting on his beer. A sudden, electric thrill shimmied down her spine. Her body clenched with pleasure, knowing she could still get the attention of a man as insanely hot as Clark MacKinnon.

But then…guilt.

That’s Clark. Don’t flirt with Clark.

Author Bio:

Mia Hopkins writes lush romances starring fun, sexy characters who love to get down and dirty. She's

a sucker for working class heroes, brainy heroines and wisecracking best friends.

When she's not lost in a story, Mia spends her time cooking, gardening, traveling, volunteering and looking for her keys. In a past life, she was a classroom teacher and still has a pretty good "teacher voice" and "teacher stare."

She lives in the heart of Los Angeles with her roguish husband and two waggish dogs.

Follow Mia: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads | Pintrest | Instagram

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