March 12, 2021
Dear Voracious Readers,
I am so happy to share with you today’s Guest Writer. Indie Author B. Ivy Woods is on the blog today and your Friday is about to get a whole lot better. Let me start off by giving you some background information on Woods. She has Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Environmental Policy and a Master’s Degree in Energy Policy and Law. After working in the environmental field for several years, Woods decided to change course and become a stay at home mom. Even though Woods has been writing for as long as she can remember, it was then that she decided to pursue a career in what she loved best.
Woods competed in the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) multiple times. It was in 2019 that she won, and her writing career took off from there. She self-published her first novel in 2020 and since then has published five more. With two more books on the horizon, this writer is on fire! Although she is originally from New York City, she currently lives in the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia) with her husband, daughter, dog, and cat.
Be sure to follow this gem on all of her writing adventures!
Happy Reading!
Kelly
P.S. Click on the pic below to check out Wood’s amazing books!
Dear Mr. Hemingway,
A book that I read last year that has stuck with me is By A Thread by Lucy Score. Lucy released it in 2020 and it’s a standalone novel. Given what I know about Lucy’s books, I knew I had to prep myself for an emotional ride. I was prepared to laugh, cry, and swoon, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The first thing I did when I saw that Lucy released By A Thread was make sure that my day was clear. I knew that chances were the book was probably going to be 500+ pages and I like to read Lucy’s books in one sitting if I can. The cover immediately grabbed my attention and I couldn’t wait to dive in.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that both the heroine and hero were older (late 30s-early 40s), which is not something you usually find in romance. Ally and Dominic’s sparks and fire hopped off of the page from the moment they met. Literally. Dominic gets her fired from her job and the action doesn’t stop there. The insults and sarcasm they traded throughout the book made me giggle and hooked me to the story.
The sexual tension in the story was thick and once Ally and Dominic got together, the sex scenes were blazing and didn’t disappoint. I also liked how Ally handled Dominic, outside the bedroom. She wasn’t a wallflower and called Dominic out on several of the things he did when he tried to toy around with her. I stopped reading at one point to take a moment to clap at Ally telling him off because of how he was treating her.
I loved the name Grumpy Grump Face and would have cracked up if that ended up being the title of By A Thread. But the words, by a thread, meant so much more. Yes, there is a fashion angle to the story, but the heroine was hanging on by a thread in the book because of circumstances that were beyond her control. That shook me the deeper I dove into the story.
Lucy masterfully transitions between the laugh out loud shenanigans to the heartfelt moments in the book. The strength that readers saw in Ally throughout obstacles that she had to face took the story to another dimension that I wasn’t expecting in a romantic comedy. Some of the pain that Ally felt resonated with me because I had similar events happen in my life. The scenes with Ally and her father hit home because I have seen the effects that someone with dementia can have on themselves and the people that care about them most. I cried so hard at certain scenes in the book that I had to put the book down a couple of times to compose myself before I could continue.
You don’t want to miss By A Thread!
Best Wishes,
B. Ivy Woods
P.S. I’m releasing two books this year so far. Behind the Lies and Betrayal in the Capitol will be released this spring/summer.
Click on the book pic below to purchase!
