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

Meet Bitten's reviewers

Founder Laurie 

I’m a mom that loves to read romance. I started this blog back in 2009 when paranormal was so hot and since then I have found a love for all things romance, hence the name change from Bitten by Paranormal Romance to Bitten by Romance. 

My favorite romance sub-genre is paranormal, but I like to mix it with historical and sci-fi romance. I also read cozy mysteries and cookbooks. I'm picky when it comes to endings in romance, I like them to be “Happy Ever After” so I tend to steer clear of reading Urban Fantasy and I also don’t care much for head-hopping. 

When I review romance I’m looking for the romance to be the main focus of the story and connection between the main characters and so on. I also look for uniqueness for plots and grammar. 

Besides reading I have an addiction for gaming, baking, gardening, and writing.

Happy reading!

my read shelf:

LaurieGoodreads

Jasmyn
Reviewer/Writer 

I am a mom, full-time employee, and part time student.  With so much of my day taken up by others, I have found that reading is the perfect way for me to relax, unwind, and take a deep breath.  I was lucky to have parents that encouraged my reading from a very young age, and I only hope I can do as well for my own two little ones.  I grew up reading fantasy and contemporary fiction, but once I got a little older I discovered how much fun romance could be.  The best part was I could find romance books that over-lapped in just about every other genre, including my favorite - fantasy.  Paranormal romance has begun to overtake my library at home where I have about 800 or so paper books, and 300 or more in electronic format.  It may sound strange, but I really have a hard time picking them up or getting rid of them - I never know when I'll want to pick one up again.

When I'm not reading, you can find me playing computer MMORG (massively multi-player online roleplaying games).  My current game of choice is EverQuest II.  I may even occasionally pick up the good old Rock Band or Guitar Hero on the xBox and "jam" for awhile to expend some extra energy.  You'd be surprised how much exercise you can get on the drum kit!

JasmynGoodreads  

Reviewers that pops in every once in a while

 Artemis

Reviewer 

My love of reading developed in high school with the dreaded Eng Lit 101. I was enthralled with the heroes, monsters, gods and goddesses of Greek mythology. I also had a keen interest in the classic movie monsters: Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The Mummy and Dracula. It was the vampire myth that intrigued me the most. My reading would consist mostly of mainstream fiction (never a romance) with a sprinkling of history, biography, and a few others thrown in. There was little time for reading though when it came to raising a family and working full-time. I was lucky if I read four books a year.

The year 2009 was a revelation for me: I discovered TRUE BLOOD and Charlaine Harris. (I like the books better and I’m an Eric Babe!) Shortly after 2009 began, I was no longer gainfully employed - having a grand time being a SAHG, with time to R-E-A-D! After devouring what Sookie Stackhouse books were available at the time, I researched paranormal series and headed off to B&N with list in hand. They didn’t have the first book of the series that I really, really, really, REALLY wanted to read. But while I was in there lollygagging around, I struck-up a conversation with a lovely young woman. She had the book I was looking for in her pocketbook and she gave it to me - YES - GAVE IT TO ME! True Story! I never got her name, but I will never forget her because that book was my introduction to the romance genre. (And I have found the generosity, kindness, and friendliness of the romance community since then too.)

Now, there isn’t much I don’t read in the romance genre; well, except for inspirational and in a pinch I might read that. I still like to read all types of fiction and non-fiction, but I have found myself caught up in this romance roller-coaster and I’m having a blast! If I had to list my romance reading preferences, I guess it would look something like this: suspense, paranormal, historical, m/m, contemporary, sci-fi. And of course, you can pair the sub-genre of erotic with any of those.

A Little Bit More

Vanilla or Chocolate: Rocky Road

Favorite Paranormal, not romance, Book: THE VAMPIRE LESTAT

Astrological Sign: Scorpio

A Hobby besides reading: Gardening; then canning & preserving the harvest

One Unusual Thing About Me: I have a CWP

One of my many Witty Isms: I’m old enough to know better - young enough NOT. TO. CARE.

I bet you’re still wondering the title of that book - huh? It will remain one of my favorite paranormal romances and first loves. My Blind King, Wrath, DARK LOVER by J. R. Ward.

Artemis Goodreads 

Below are reviewers that are no longer reviewing, but you can still find their old reviews postings. 

Retired reviewers 

WildAboutBones

I love to read! I don't read books, I devour them voraciously. My current favorite genres are Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Erotica, Fantasy, Horror, Young Adult (even though I haven't been one of these in a long time), Sci-Fi and Mainstream and "Blockbuster" Fiction.

I grew up watching the wonderful old Universal Studios & Hammer B-movie monster films on Friday nights - Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The Mummy, The Thing, Cat People, I was a Teenaged Werewolf, The Day The Earth Stood Still, etc. Then something wonderful happened when I was in the 8th grade. I was lent a copy of Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire and I was hooked. At summer camp that year, I borrowed a copy of The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. I then found Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Saint-Germain vampire series and there was no turning back. (LOL, No, Mom did not know I was reading these.) Thereafter, I couldn't get enough of Anne Rice, Stephen King, Brian Lumley (his Necroscope series rocks!), Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Robin Cook and Clive Barker just to name a few. I still read these authors, but once I found Laurell K. Hamilton in 1993 and J.R. Ward in 1999 my tastes turned more to the Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance genres - L.A. Banks helped too.

Professionally I've done many things such as customer service, technical support, marketing design and copywriting, webmaster, UNIX system administrator, programmer, application designer, database architect and programmer and lipstick lady {grin} to name a few.

Currently a freelance editor & proofreader, I read a lot. I read very fast. I average a book (400-500 pages) a day - the ladies at the Library know me by name since I'm in there so often. LOL! This lets me catch continuity issues easily. And as an added benefit, because every thing is fresh in my mind, I can write my reviews quickly.

What's up with "WildAboutBones"? No, I don't have a skeleton fetish. I do however adore Jeaniene Frost's Bones character in her Night Huntress series.

Other tidbits you may find interesting:

Dream Job: Getting paid to read books

Favorite Author: There are just too many to name here

Favorite Supernatural Being: Vampires & weres/shifters

Stand Alone or Series: Series

Print or eBook: Print but eBooks are handy

Movies, TV or Books: Books

Favorite Music: R&B, Classic Soul, Hip Hop, Southern Rock & recently found Country again

Favorite Desert: Cheesecake

Favorite Sport: American Football (Go Browns, Buccaneers & Ohio State Buckeyes)

Authors: Need someone to find continuity issues, grammar, spelling and other problems in your works before publishing? I have helped several authors with this and I am a freelance editor & proofreader for three publishers as well. Very reasonable rates. If you're interested, contact me at

WildAboutBonesEditing {at} gmail {dot} com or here.

(Please do not use this email address to make review requests for this blog. Instead please go to the

Review Request page to do this.)

Check out my new Cover Reveals blog at http://CoverReveals.blogspot.com Twitter: @CoverReveals

Goodreads.com profile

Special Note from Laurie: WildAboutBones has permission to contact authors for review requests but I am not guaranteeing the review will get on the blog. {wink} She wears her big girl panties and is responsible for any review requests not going through me. So, if she doesn’t get it on the blog, please email her; don’t email me. She hasn't missed one yet, but you'll need to deal with her directly.

 Ollie
Reviewer

She has a B.Sc. (Honours) in Psychology/Sociology and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology where she has over 15 years experience in the mental health care field and has worked in administration, research, teaching at various organizations and had her own private practice as a psychotherapist.

She is also one of the co-founders of TrueBloodNet.com where she was the Editor/Administrator and a regular contributor to the news and editorial pages.

Ollie enjoys reading paranormal romance/erotica books with a special preference for Vampires, Immortals, and Fallen Angels. If the book has those elements plus characters that she can develop an emotional connection with and lots of hot sex included, then she is glued to the pages and is on cloud 9. Nothing is better then cuddling up on the sofa with a hot paranormal romance/erotica book, well almost. ;)

Ollie's Goodreads

 CaroleDee

I'm a 28-year-old domestic goddess that loves to live vicariously through books. I'm happily married to a man who is as obsessed with music as I am to books. We have a six-year-old son that is fascinated with zombies.  Our family currently lives in England, but thanks to good 'ole Uncle Sam we have resided in 4 states and 3 countries. Originally from the South, I'm on the receiving end of a lot of laughs when I say things like "you'll" and "sweet tea". I love all romance books but have a particular affection for paranormal and sci/fi :)

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Carridwen

I'm a 33-year-old married mother of 2 teenagers. I am a full-time teacher, part time student as well. I also have a small addiction to reading and books. I will read anything and everything. I have yet to find a genre that I can't handle. My ultimate downtime is sipping a few glasses of wine on my front porch while escaping to another world and life.

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Emi
Reviewer 

I am a 32-year-old stay at home mother of two girls. I've only been home with my second child so it's only been a little over 1 year and it's been a wonderful experience (I didn't really have a chance to do so with my first). As far as my work experience goes I've done so many things in quite a few industries, I've been a sales associate in clothing stores, hostess at restaurants and a front desk manager and makeup artist at a salon and recently a sales assistant for a seafood wholesale vendor. I've pretty much always been in the food industry with restaurateurs being family friends and such. I've always loved reading but got really into it in my teens. I absolutely love paranormal books whether thriller, romance or erotica. I love mystery and thrillers and crime as well. Anne Rice is my favorite and my intro into the genre. I also love Larissa Ione, Heather Killough-Walden, Charlaine Harris. I'm currently reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood and I'm sure there are many more authors out there I need to acquaint myself with lol. Out of all of the sups, I would say vampires are my favorite, least at started my love for them, there is just something I love about the dark brooding sexy mysterious beings, but I love all supers.  My only hobbies other than reading are word games, yes I know total nerd lol, but I love word search games and words with friends and stuff like that. I also like to cook, it's so much fun preparing a meal and then devouring it. Lol. My favorite seasons are fall and spring just sitting outside in the beautiful weather reading a book. My favorite shows are True Blood, CSI, The Closer and recently Grim, and most of the shows on ID Discovery. As far as having a favorite book there are just way too many for me to decide lol, but if I really had to choose it would be The Vampire Lest at by Anne Rice. I mostly prefer paranormal books but will read almost anything.  There's not really much else I can say.

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