Breanna Reads Berks

Southern Belle is out NOW!

I’m a year overdue on publishing a book, but Southern Belle, the sequel to Southern Rebirth is available now on Amazon! I’m currently writing book three of the series for Camp NaNoWriMo. But for now, go check out book one and book two on Amazon!

  The Long-Awaited Sequel to Southern Rebirth:

Lee Ann Hart is having a lot of firsts this summer:

First boyfriend.

First heartbreak.

First taste of…

So what am I reading right now? I’m in between three books currently, one of them I had to put on pause because of the spooky vibes but I will be finishing it eventually! Probably after vacation. I

  I’m most of the way through the Carlino book and it took a turn that I wasn’t expecting at all, I’ll probably be finishing this one while on vacation and getting back to the others when I return. I have them in paperback, so I won’t be toting any books with me, just my kindle!

As for my writing, I’m really enjoying this novel I started a few months ago. It’s more mature than my other two that I already have out and I can’t wait to see this one out there. I’m hoping to have it out before December! I’ve also started the sequel to Southern Rebirth that will be titled Southern Belle. The sequel will be focusing on Max and Lee Ann’s love story, I’m only about a chapter in this one. I’m also trying to get a sequel to The Last July out, but I have no idea what I want to do with it, I just know I’m dying to get back into the world of Camp Arthur.

If you’ve read either of my novels, let me know what you would like to see in the sequel!

-B

Potato Diet (on pause)

We’re taking a little pause on the potato diet. I plan on doing it again. Maybe for a cycle, three days on, three days off or something. I have some goals to achieve that I just can’t do while only eating potatoes. Plus, Father’s Day is Sunday and I really want to enjoy some nice, grilled salmon!

One of those goals I mentioned is reaching my 100th class in Pure Barre! I’ve noticed I’m just way…

Potato Diet Day 4

Day 4

My cravings are starting to settle down and instead of wanting sweets, I’m wanting a nice fruit smoothie. Which would be a shock to people who know me because I hate fruit. I’m thinking our fridge going out might have been a blessing to my diet (partly). Once we get the new one in, I can stock it up with healthier items. I’ve decided I’m just going to do this diet until Sunday. I have a…

Potato Diet Day 3

Day 3

I’ve noticed I have a few more followers of the blog since I started the potato diet, so I’d like to say welcome to you guys today! I hope you follow along on this journey with me. Last night I was feeling like giving up on this task, but ya’ll are making me feel more accountable for my meals (which is a good thing). Last night I was VERY hungry and ended up eating a Chewy bar, but I don’t…

Potato Diet Day 2

Day 2

So, it’s Monday… and after waking up I wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of only eating potatoes today, especially after having so many temptations come up yesterday after dinner. I’m addicted to sweets. I was binge-watching The Good Placewith my husband and the characters are constantly eating froyo. I wanted anything but potatoes this morning. I also had to remove my Facebook app from my…

Yes, the potato diet and no, potatoes are not bad for you. I’m not going to go into the nutritional facts because I’m not a dietitian, but from the research we’ve done, potatoes only get a bad rep because they’re usually fried or loaded up with bad things.

We got the idea to go on a potato diet from Kevin Smith, who recently had a heart attack and went on this diet and lost a decent bit of weight.

  I get it, it sounds crazy eating only potatoes but it’s worth a shot! Worse case scenario, I gain weight and get sick of potatoes. So, I’m going to go on a potato only diet for 21 days, the rest of June. If this doesn’t work, I’m going to jump on the Keto diet.

So, here are the guidelines for our new diet:

You can only eat potatoes, they can’t be fried or slathered in bacon, butter, and/or sour cream.

You can have a protein shake after a workout in order to get more protein in.

Since we can’t have sour cream, butter or oil, we can add whatever spices we want.

No drinking your calories! Water is your bff.

I’m allowing myself 5-10 potatoes a day.

I’ll be journaling/blogging everyday and posting pictures. I’m going to share a before and after picture on the final post.

My day one starting health stats are the following:

Weight: 152.6

Waist (at my muffin top): 42.5 inches

Actual Waist: 37 inches

Arms/biceps not flexed: 12.5 inches

Chest: 41 inches

  Day 1

  Breakfast: Two small Idaho potatoes chopped and baked in the oven, tossed with garlic salt, Grill Mates and Big Axe Spice. About a table spoon of reduced ketchup over top of them.

On the baking sheet we have about four diced potatoes. This was for me and my husband and we made another sheet for tomorrow’s breakfast also.

About an hour after breakfast, I went to Pure Barre for their classic workout. I was very hungry when leaving barre, so I came home for another potato and then did a little lifting with my husband. He’s trying to help me on my upper strength with some barbell exercises. He kicked my butt!

Lunch: One smashed red potato with Tony’s seasoning. One scoop of chocolate Muscle Milk mixed with water.

Dinner: Two small Idaho potatoes, no skin, with a table spoon of light sour cream on each. I had one around 3 to hold me over until later that night. I hate going to bed hungry.

  Today’s potato count: 5

    I managed to get all five of my Katie Cotugno books signed! Which, if you’ve ever been to a book signing like this, they usually limit the number of books you can have signed.

  I was super nervous but very excited to meet Katie. She’s been a huge inspiration for my writing. My husband convinced me to bring a copy of my novel, The Last July, as a gift for her. I was terrified she wouldn’t accept it or that it would be weird to hand her a book while others were standing behind me. You see, I’m terrified of rejection, so all I could imagine was her saying she wasn’t allowed to accept books written by fans. To my surprise, she was thrilled. Our conversation basically went as follows:

Me: Do you accept gifts?

Her: *smiles* What?

Me: Can I give you a gift?

Her: Of course!

Me handing over my novel: So I’m a huge fan of your writing and you’ve been a huge inspiration of mine and I’d like you to have a copy of my novel if that’s okay.

She then asked if she could hug me and it was up there with the top five best moments of my life (along with meeting Joey and Chris from NSYNC and my wedding day). We then took a picture of her holding her recent release and me holding mine (her idea!) and I walked off giddy as can be. Best. Day. Ever.

Photos courtesy of my husband:

Thank you, Joseph Beth Booksellers Cincinnati and Epic Reads for putting together this tour and allowing me to meet my role model!

  Since Cotugno’s recent novel came out earlier this month, I thought it would be fun to rate her novels and give a review for each one!

    5. Top Ten

3/5 Stars

This one fell short for me. Possibly because at the time, all I wanted from Katie was the sequel for 99 Days.

4. Fireworks

4/5 Stars

Fireworks wasn’t my favorite book of Cotugno’s, it fell a little short but I didn’t hate it. The characters were slightly hard to relate to, but Alex was one of the best fictional boyfriends I’ve ever encountered in a YA novel.

As someone who grew up in the 90’s (I was born in 1990), I wish there had been more 90’s nostalgia worked into the plot. Some 90’s lingo and what not. Aside from the rise of boy and girl bands during this time, you wouldn’t really know this book was set in the 90’s.

What I find funny is I’ve never liked the main characters best friend in any of the books Cotugno has written. Is this something everyone notices? How the characters friends are down right mean and not right for them? Olivia was by far my least favorite friend.

3. 9 Day and 9 Nights

5/5 Stars

I’m obsessed with Katie’s writing style. 99 Days was the first book I ever read of hers and I loved it so much but I felt like something was missing, so when I heard she was finally writing the sequel, I was beyond happy. 9 Days and 9 Nights met my expectations and then some! I spent the entire book with so many questions, but by the end, everything is answered. There are no crumby cliffhangers and I am so thankful for that but also a little bummed because of the possibility of not getting to hear anymore of Molly and Gabe’s story.

2. How to Love

5/5 Stars

I can’t get enough of Katie Cotugno’s novels. It took me awhile to pick this one up (99 Days was the first book I read of hers), and I’m so glad I picked it up. I loved Sawyer (expect when he was being a ‘dickhead’) and Reena so much! I finished this book in three days, it was a page turner!

1. 99 Days

5/5 Stars

If I died tomorrow, I would die happy with this book being the final one that I read. The dust jacket is adorable and I’m not going to lie, I might have only bought it because of the cat picture inside.

Now, let’s be real. I feel like this book was written for me. There’s not many books that have made me feel that way, but this was one of them. Cotugno, created so many 4-diminsional characters, me relating and understanding all of them. I had this huge hatred for Julia though. I’d describe this book as the ‘what happens after a love triangle goes to shit’ book. I’ve read so many young adult love triangles that end with a ‘happily ever after’, but this book… this tells you the messy truth. I wanted to defend Molly Barlow’s actions so much because I’ve been in her shoes. IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO! It wasn’t the ending I was hoping for, but I think it’s the ending the book needed.

Southern Rebirth Cover Reveal

Guys! Great news! I have a cover reveal for my new novel!

Tada!

  I’m so excited for this one! It will be the first in the series, I’m currently writing the second one, they will be focused on different characters in the novel.

The ebook is currently up for pre-order on Amazon here for 3.99 currently. Its release date is May 24th, just in time for Memorial weekend at the lake! I’m really…

The Fortunate Ones by RS Grey Book Review

Title: The Fortunate Ones

Author: RS Grey

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Rating: 5/5 Stars

  At Twin Oaks Country Club, there are the fortunate ones, and then there are the rest of us: the waiters, the caddies, the valets, and in my case, the cabana girls. Most days, I’m poolside in a pleated skirt, dishing out margaritas to tycoons and titans. It’s not exactly my dream job, but it does come with one…

shelved in my library with no intention of ever opening it up again but I just love looking at my collection.

But why won’t you reread a book? If it’s your favorite, wouldn’t you want to reread it?

I think the main reason I don’t choose to reread books is because there are so many other books out there that I have yet to read and want to read! I have an ever growing TBR list on my Goodreads page (add me on Goodreads!), books I want to get to but something always comes ahead of them. Literally, I have books on that list that have been there for three or more years, but one of my favorite authors is always putting out another one or I get a recommendation from a friend.

But guess what… I’m currently rereading one of my favorite books…

This is the very first time! But thinking about it, I’m nervous. Here’s the thing, my favorite book is 99 Days by Katie Cotugno and it got mixed reviews from what I remember. When it first came out, I think I might have been one of the only people who actually enjoyed it (apparently people don’t like teen love triangles anymore).

I’m terrified that rereading it is going to make me not like the book as much as I did two years ago when I first read it. I’ve grown up a little since then, and my style of reading has matured. I’ve gotten more into adult romance. I’m terrified that if I don’t like it as much as I liked it the first time, that I’m not going to want to read the sequel that comes out next month. Which would put me in a bad spot since I bought tickets to Cotugno’s Epic Reads book signing next month as well!

I’ll continue with the reread of 99 Days because I need a refresher before I read the sequel and there will no doubt be a book review up for the sequel.

What about you? Do you reread books? What’s your opinion on the subject? Leave a comment and let me know!

The Beau & the Belle Book Review

Title: The Beau & the Belle Author: R.S. Grey Genre: YA/NA/Romantic Comedy Rating: 5/5 stars   Beau Fortier starred in most of my cringe-worthy teenage fantasies. I met him when I was a junior in high school, a time that revolved exclusively around bad hair, failed forays into flirting, and scientific inquiries into which brand of toilet paper worked best for stuffing bras. That is, until Beau…

January was a slow month of reading for me, you could call it a reading slump, but it was more like a life slump. I didn’t feel like doing much at all, but I was doing a ton of editing on my next novel. I managed to read two romance novels this month. I don’t know about you, but I really like reading adult romance during the winter!

Darker by EL James– 3/5 Stars

This is the second Fifty Shades of Grey novel in Christian’s perspective. I loved the first one from his POV, but this one lacked something for me. Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t really like Ana in this version, she seemed like the shell of a character, not fully developed at all. On a side note, who else plans on going out to see the new movie in February?

  Blaze by Rachael Herron– 2/5 Stars

So I started watching the show 9-1-1 on Fox and then it got me on a steamy firefighter kick, so I bought this one because it was free on Kindle. This isn’t a BDSM erotica like Darker, more of a sweet romance with a non-detailed sex scene, so if you’re looking for smutty stuff, go elsewhere. This was cute, but I couldn’t see Tox as the sexy firefighter he was supposed to be and I wasn’t sure if that was the author’s lack of physical details on him or me. It was a super quick read, but I just wouldn’t get into it. The climax was very predictable and after that, I wasn’t too interested in finished the novel. There are more in this series, but I think I’ll be saying goodbye to the residents of Darling Bay.

        February TBR

  Three Sides of a Heart by Natalie C Parker and others-

This is a bunch of short stories about love triangles by various authors. I bought it just because Katie Cotugno had a short story and I already read hers! Planning on finishing all of them in honor of Valentine’s Day.

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Yes, for the hundredth time, I’ve added this to my TBR. This one has been a struggle for me to sit down and read, so now I’m just listening to it on audiobook while I’m driving to various places. I’m ten chapters in, so I am making progress!

Unashamed by Christine Caine

Part of my bookish resolutions this year was to read more faith-based books, so twice a week I’ve been trying to do just that. This month, Unashamed is that book. I’m not too far into it, but hoping to finish it before March.

The Ones Who Got Away by Roni Loren

I received this book via NetGalley months ago, and kind of forgot that I need get to read it and review it for free! I saw Colleen Hoover recently read it and loved it! So I’m going to make sure I read that in February, for sure.

So I completed my 2017 Goodreads Challenge and even went an ‘armful’ of books over! I thought I’d share with you the stats of the books I read over 2017 because it’s fun for me to look back on all the books. Some of them feel like I read them YEARS ago!   No-where But Here was sooooo good!     Loved Everything, Everything but the movie fell short for me. Of course, my novel was the least…

  2.) Read some classic books. I stick to YA and romance most of the time because they’re easy reads, but I’d like to read some classics that I’ve been trying to get around to.

    3.) Read without feeling pressured to read. I got into doing a lot of ARC reading last year and I’m going to stay away from that this year. I’m not against ARC’s, but I feel like I have to enjoy them and write a good review for the author.

  4.) Finally finish The Raven Cycle. Yes, I still haven’t read The Raven King yet. It’s on my TBR pile. I swear.

  5.) Publish two of my own novels. I just finished my first set of edits on a novel I’ll be co-authoring with my husband and I just started editing another contemporary YA. Looking forward to getting those done! I just have to kick myself to sit down and complete this.

  4.) Finish reading all the hardback/paperback books I bought in 2017 but didn’t get to. Here’s my current TBR pile of those novels:

Title: What Light Author: Jay Asher Rating: 5/5 Stars Sierra’s family runs a Christmas tree farm in Oregon—it’s a bucolic setting for a girl to grow up in, except that every year, they pack up and move to California to set up their Christmas tree lot for the season. So Sierra lives two lives: her life in Oregon and her life at Christmas. And leaving one always means missing the other.  Until this…

Now, let me tell you, I was nervous. I was shaking like crazy on the way to the venue and I get this weird voice when I’m going to have to talk to strangers in person, where I sound like I’m going to burst into tears. I’m fairly sure I have a mild case of anxiety that I haven’t been able to shake since middle school, but I refuse to admit it sometimes.

My husband was running late, so it was up to me to get everything ready to go, I’m used to following his lead when we go to shows like this.

When I got to the venue though and set the table up, I felt a lot better. It wasn’t too crowded so there weren’t many people I could make a full of myself in front of. It’s a lot different when you’re trying to sell your own book, versus someone else’s. I was honestly surprised about how confident I was talking to people, the pride I felt for accomplishing something I’ve always wanted to do. But… I did have some trouble finding the words I wanted to say when someone asked me a question. I’m not a good BS’er or salesperson, I’ll admit that right now. I don’t know what to say to convince someone that they must read my book, but honestly, that doesn’t bother me.

I’m not writing for money or fame. Even if only a handful of strangers love my novels and writing style, I’d say I was successful. I write because it’s my passion, I want to write the perfect book boyfriend that you’re going to fall in love with and beg me for a sequel.

I didn’t sell out at the signing, but my husband and I managed to make back what we paid for the booth and then some. If anything, it was a great learning experience and I found some stuff I want to work on for the next signing. I totally need to improve on my selling pitch and get my next novel out ASAP. It was still fun. I had my very first in person sale to someone who wasn’t a friend or family member! Can’t wait to sign up to do some more next year!

If you want to stay up to date on signings and specials, follow my FB author page.