Stories Of the Heart-Amanda at the Fair & Giveaway

"Our  State Fair is a great State Fair,

Don't miss it, don't even be late!"~ Rogers & Hammerstein

Of course, I'm talking about the granddaddy--the oldest and largest agricultural and industrial expositions in all of America...

The Iowa State Fair!

A bit of trivia: 

Originally published in 1932, Iowa native, Phil Stong wrote the novel "State Fair", inspiring three movies, one written by the famous duo of Rogers &

Hammerstein.

Moved to its current location in Des Moines in 1886, it encompasses 445 acres, 160 of which are beautiful, wooded campgrounds.

The Iowa State Fairgrounds were added to the National Registry of Historic Places in 1987.

The fair is held during the second week in August annually and kicks off with a spectacular Fair parade in downtown Des Moines, the Wednesday before the opening day.

 The majority of the schools in Iowa do not start until fair time is over--in part, due to the high numbers of families participating in the fair in various competitions.

Over 40,000 ribbons, banners, and rosettes are handed out during the fair from sheep, pigs, horses, and rabbits to photography, art, pies, jellies and jams!

This year the State Fair boasts over 70 foods on a stick! From giant pickles to fried twinkies and hard-boiled eggs to turkey legs as big as the Rock's bicep!

The Iowa State Fair is listed in the N.Y.T best-selling book, 1000 Places to See Before You Die

The atmosphere is Americana at its best. Even with the changes and improvements made each year the fair endeavors to keep as much of the 1800's "feel" to the fair as possible. There's the midway lined with vendors offering food for every palette, the multi-colored neon signs and lights of the fair and carnival rides, and bright colored sky glider gondolas drifting lazily overhead.

Butter sculptures have been a part of the Iowa State fair since 1911. Fun fact: The former butter sculptor, Duffy Lyon was nephew to Phil Stong, author of the book, State Fair.

Memories for me include seeing the Jackson Five for the first time at the Grandstand. Taking my kids to the fair when they were young and seeing the animals, tasting the honey lemonade, scoping out the fresh-baked bucket of gooey chocolate chip cookies in the Varied Industries building.

(*my thanks to good friend, Kathy Francis for the photography)

And as the sky turns a cotton-candy pink and blue, we'd sit on the retaining wall of at the end of the Midway savoring a pork chop on a stick dinner washed down  with an icy cold sarsaparilla from the old time market. 

Now my kids are grown and I have the privilege of watching my grandchildren's eyes wide with amazement at the sights and sounds of the fair and enjoying those same cookies as much as ever.

For others memories may include competing in the fair queen pageant, performing on the Bill Riley stage, competing in the pie-eating contest, the beard growing competition, or the cow chip throwing. Oh, and there is the pig-calling contest! Of course, if you miss a day or two you can always catch up with the IPTV recap of the fair, including visits by political candidates and on occasion, over the years, our nations presidents have flown in to check things out.

The sights, the smells, the fireworks blasting in the sky after the grandstand performances is all part and parcel of the Iowa State Fair experience! I invite you to our Iowa State Fair. I promise its worth the trip!

Do you have a favorite fair time experience?

Share here for a chance to win your choice of a digital or print of the book, "State Fair" by Phil Stong!

*Winner announced here on August 21st!

Be sure to include your email address!!

First Friday with the Crew: Great Beach Reads for This Summer!

Hi GLIAS fans! It's First Friday with the Crew. Now that you’ve celebrated Independence Day and have a picnic or barbecue under your belt, perhaps you’ll have some time to read. Maybe you’re even planning a day at the beach or a vacation. Well, we can’t leave you without a few books to take along, can we?

Today we’re recommending our books that we think would make great beach reads or books you’ll want to take with you on vacation.

So, let me start…

Regan

 

I recommend To Tame the Wind and Echo in the Wind from the Donet Trilogy because as long as you are reading by the water, why not take a romantic voyage? To Tame the Wind won the 2017 International Book Award for Romance Fiction and Echo in the Wind has just been released!

"Masked balls, handsome sea captains, and a plot that will keep you hooked. What's not to love? 5/5 stars!"   – Good Friends, Good Books

 

See them on Amazon

Amanda  

Amanda recommends her contemporary novel, Georgia on My Mind

The road leads back to you....

Like an old sweet song, sometimes the past returns not to haunt, but to offer the heart a second chance.  

See the book on Amazon.
 

E.E.

E.E. recommends Maybe Baby (Texas Hardts), a lighthearted, humorous, quick read (it will take you about 3.5 hours to read--long enough to work on your tan and finish a margarita before getting another drink, and starting on the next book!).

 



The story features an uptight workaholic with trust issues who hires a laid-back cowboy to help her achieve her dream of having a child. Will a contract between them lead to more than a baby? Maybe.

See it on E.E.'s website.

Avril

Avril recommends Kiss Don't Tell and The Dating Game for a touch of sexy craziness. 

They are funny, steamy, ultra modern romantic comedies about two friends who hire two guys to teach them a thing or two...and end learning a whole lot more than they bargained for!

See them on Amazon: Kiss Don't Tell and TheDating Game

Nan

 

Nan recommends the Fitzgerald House series…  

Spend the summer visiting Fitzgerald House set in lush, quirky Savannah. The Fitzgerald sisters are fighting to make their family mansion into a successful B and B. 

See them on Nan's website.

Jillian 

Jillian recommends her latest release, Wolf, Interrupted, one of two sinfully sexy shapeshifter novellas in the just released Urban Wolf anthology. Both novellas are fast, entertaining reads and perfect for the beach or your backyard hammock!  

See it on Amazon

 

Liz

Liz recommends her Seven Brides for Seven Cowboys series, beach reads that are fun and funny, heartwarming and poignant, silly and important. This contemporary series is set on a 50,000-acre Wyoming ranch, but these aren’t your typical Westerns. There are cowboys, of course, but also military heroes, even a poker-playing hero! And the women are strong, feisty, and perfect matches for the men they fall for. Throw in some wild mustangs, a lot of crazy animals, wonderful steal-your-heart kids and you have great reads.

On Amazon.

Angi

Angi says if you’re taking your kindle with you to the surf and sand, try her new mash-up of her favorite genres: a little suspense, a little laughter, a little woo-woo and a whole lot of love.  You can find all her Bodyguards in Heels books along with her upcoming 2018 Intrigues on her website.

Wherever you spend your summer, we hope you have a wonderful time!

 

Fun Summer YA Read: Trouble from the Start

Remember those book reports you used to do when you got back to school in the fall. I’m going giving you a before summer ends book report. Here’s a delightful YA I read last month that would be a fun summer read. It features an absolutely dreamy hero, he’s wounded and yet noble, and when he watched graduation from under the bleachers I cried. I’ve included an excerpt that’s written in his POV.

 

TROUBLE FROM THE START

Companion book to The Boyfriend Project

Harper Teen

Some boys should come with a warning label.

Meet Avery: six-foot-tall college-bound brainiac (just don't call her that to her face), and daughter of a cop—which is not helping her dating life. Currently playing third wheel to Kendall, her best friend, and Kendall's boyfriend.

Meet Fletcher: six-foot-three motorcycle-riding bad boy, who is one class shy of a diploma. He can ruin a girl's reputation just by saying hi, but one flash of his grin and they usually don't mind.

Coming from such different circles, it's no surprise that Avery and Fletcher don't cross paths until the end of senior year. But once they do, neither of them can ignore the tug they feel.

On paper, they make no sense, but sometimes you have to throw out the rule book and let your heart lead the way . . . even if it's flirting with disaster.

***

“This novel would appeal to female readers who enjoy romance as well as high school drama, which makes it a positive addition to teachers’ and librarians’ shelves.” --Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)

“...the perfect formula for a lazy afternoon.” –Booklist

EXCERPT:

 FLETCHER

I did know her name.

I'd known it since sophomore year when I'd gotten held back because I'd missed too many classes to meet the state requirement for attendance. Even when the counselor warned me that I couldn't have any more absences, I hadn't cared. I'd been too embarrassed to show up to school with bruises.

When I was a sophomore for the second time, I'd spotted her in the hallway, all bouncy and happy. Pretty in a simple way. She didn't. paint her eyes or her lips or her cheeks. She didn't look like a plastic doll. She appeared real and touchable.

She'd said hi to me in the hallway as though I didn't have a reputation for trouble, as though I wasn't a year older than everyone else in the class, as though I mattered.

But then slowly the wariness crept in. I knew she was hearing the rumors, accepting them as truth. The smiles and greetings became fewer. Then they were completely gone.

I didn't know why I'd come to her rescue tonight. The irony was that she'd never realize that I had. Which was probably for the best. Most girls loved when I gave them attention. But not Avery Watkins. She was smarter than four hundred and forty-eight people in our graduating class. And she threw
around fancy words like novice. She was probably waiting for Mr. Right-someone equally good, naive, and smart, which I definitely was not.

We hadn't had many chances to talk over the years. Had no classes together, and other girls were usually occupying my time in the hallways. I hadn't expected Avery to stand up to me the way she did. Or maybe it had all been the booze talking, making her daring.

Didn't matter. It wasn't like we'd be crossing paths in the future.

I needed to stop thinking about her, figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of the night. I could always go back to the party, but it had been kind of boring, and none of the girls there had really caught my interest.

Except for Avery. And here I was thinking about her again. Her long, willowy body, the way her head fit in the crook of my shoulder, the way I could slip my arm around her without having to hunch over. I liked that she was tall. I liked the way her blond hair caught the moonlight. There hadn't been enough light for me to see the color of her eyes, and I'd never paid particular attention before. But I'd still seen the irritation in them when I first approached her-and the sparkle when she climbed off my bike.

The sparkle made me want to kiss her. I almost had.

What a mistake that would have been.

Read a Longer excerpt at Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00MEJP2QM

★Win the ebook★

If you would like be put in our drawing to win an eBook copy of TROUBLE FROM THE START just make comment and tell us what book (or books) you plan to read this summer.

 (Don't forget to leave an email if it isn't part of your blogger profile.)

 About Rachel Hawthorne

Rachel Hawthorne  is the daughter of a British beauty (her mom won second place in a beauty contest sponsored by Max Factor® during which she received a kiss from Caesar Romero--Joker on the original Batman TV series) and a Texan who was stationed at Bovingdon while serving in the air force. Lorraine was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, but soon after moved to Texas. Her "dual" nationality has given her a love for all things British and Texan, and she enjoys weaving both heritages through her stories.

When she received her BA degree in psychology from the University of Texas, she had no idea she had gained a foundation that would help her to create believable characters—characters that are often described as “real people.”

In addition to writing as Rachel Hawthorne, she writes as Lorraine Heath, Jade Parker, and with her son as J. A. London. 

★Win the eBook★

If you would like be put in our drawing to win an eBook copy of TROUBLE FROM THE START just make comment and tell us what book (or books) you plan to read this summer.

 (Don't forget to leave an email if it isn't part of your blogger profile.)

Your host today, Kathleen Baldwin, has also written a great summer read: A SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS, which New York Times Book Review says is “enticing from the first sentence.”
See it on Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00OXHDPS0/