Author Guest Post
1. As much as you and your husband love each other, you will both fake sleep to make the other get up in the night with the kids.
2. You will not correct your child when he/she mispronounces a word, just because you find it so darn cute and/or funny. Sometimes you’ll forget to correct them at all and then they will give you grief later for not being corrected and they said such word in public (you can’t win.)
3. You will guard a special toy/blanket with your life if it is the one thing that brings your child joy/security.
4. You will become a proponent of the 3/5/10 second rule.
5. If money is tight, you will willingly go without Christmas presents if it means the money goes toward your children’s gifts.
6. You will work your backside off to make them laugh.
7. Even though you said you wouldn’t (when you didn’t have kids) you will make/modify meals so everyone gets what they like and they will eat.
8. You will count to three. (And hope you never have to get to three and make good on your threat.)
9. You will feel a bond with humanity you never had before your children were born.
10. You will apologize to your mother.
11. You will be brought to tears by so many more things than you did before they were born.
12. You will discover that nothing brings you more joy than that of your child’s joy. Nothing.
13. Watching your children grow and become themselves will be the most mesmerizing experience of your life.
14. You will have days where you will want to be nowhere else and you will have days where you’d like to be anywhere else.
15. The songs from their children’s shows will stay in your memory looong after they’ve stopped watching them. So long, in fact, you’ll fear they are permanently lodged in your brain. (They probably are.)
16. You will learn more from them than they ever will from you.
Thank you, Kathleen, for inviting me to be a guest on your blog and doing me the honor of participating in the blog tour for Tales from the Laundry Pile. Cheers! xxx
About The Author
Kathleen lives with her husband, son and dog in the beautiful Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada.
AUTHOR WEBSITE
GOODREADS
Tales From The Laundry Pile by Kathleen Kole ~ Virtual Book Tour Page: Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours
Book Review
Tales From The Laundry Pile by Kathleen Kole
Publisher: Sublime Coyote Media
Publication Date: April 7, 2013
Format: Paperback - 293 pages / Kindle - 379 KB / Nook - 560 KB
ISBN: 0986895695
ASIN: B00C92TNKK
Genre: Chick Lit / Women's Fiction
BUY THE BOOK: Tales From The Laundry Pile
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.
Book Description:
Claire had always thought that once she'd left the nest, she'd never return. Now that she has, she's wondering what type of bird that makes her... Cuckoo?
When she has a moment to pause and catch her breath, she'll let you know.
Tales from the Laundry Pile, an engaging, thoughtful story of motherhood, family tangles, new friendships and self-discovery.
The Boxwood Hills novels take place in the same picturesque mountain town, they have been written to stand alone; each story one in a set of many. That being said, don’t be surprised to see characters you recognize from other books within each other’s tale. They love to make cameos. Welcome to Boxwood Hills!
Book Excerpt:
Claire’s sandals slapped sharply against the pavement as she walked stiffly behind Noah and Evan, the cat still in her grasp. The two of them chatted back and forth to one another, oblivious to the fact that their mother was becoming more and more vexed the further they walked. Under normal circumstances, Claire might have been admiring the thick foliage in her neighbor’s yards and appreciating the way the warm yellow sunshine dappled across the green leaves. Or, she might have been savoring the sweet smell of blooming lavender on the breeze. Possibly, she’d even be enjoying the melodic song being sung by the robins in the treetops. But, she wasn’t. Instead, tension pulled across Claire’s shoulders as Evan and Noah led her not down their own street, but around the corner and into the neighboring, skeleton key shaped crescent that backed on their own.
My God! They were so far from home! Claire was becoming increasingly concerned she might start to hyperventilate if they didn’t soon stop walking. They were in so much trouble for wandering off. She wanted to jump up and down and stamp her feet in agitation. However, first things first. The cat, or evidence as she’d been starting to think of it, needed to be dumped.
“Over there.” Noah pointed ahead of himself, while skipping along the hot sidewalk in his red and black Velcro sneakers.
“The cool looking one,” Evan added, his legs moving at speed as he gave it his all to match Noah step for step.
Claire glanced at the homes on the street. In her opinion, they all were pretty ‘cool’ looking. Much like the houses on her block, the residences were cottage style with brightly painted, shutter framed windows, deep front porches, cobblestone paths, lots of green grass and flowers....
Well, all except for that one up ahead on the right.
Claire grimaced as they traipsed closer to the house. With its weathered grey paint, dirty windows and peeling white frames, it had definitely seen better days. And the yard? Whew. Branches from overgrown oak trees swept across the front sidewalk, weeds were growing between the path stones, gnarly looking bushes sat in unkempt clumps, the lawn hadn’t seen a mower in a good long while; the entire property appeared to have been left to do as it pleased.
Evan and Noah halted on the sidewalk and turned around to face Claire.
“Whoops!” She was unprepared for their abrupt stop and swiftly stepped to the left so as not to run right smack into them and send them tumbling down onto the pavement. She squinted into the sunshine as she read the expectant expressions on their identical faces and sighed. Of course. She took one more glance at the derelict house and asked, “This is the cool one, right?”
My God! They were so far from home! Claire was becoming increasingly concerned she might start to hyperventilate if they didn’t soon stop walking. They were in so much trouble for wandering off. She wanted to jump up and down and stamp her feet in agitation. However, first things first. The cat, or evidence as she’d been starting to think of it, needed to be dumped.
“Over there.” Noah pointed ahead of himself, while skipping along the hot sidewalk in his red and black Velcro sneakers.
“The cool looking one,” Evan added, his legs moving at speed as he gave it his all to match Noah step for step.
Claire glanced at the homes on the street. In her opinion, they all were pretty ‘cool’ looking. Much like the houses on her block, the residences were cottage style with brightly painted, shutter framed windows, deep front porches, cobblestone paths, lots of green grass and flowers....
Well, all except for that one up ahead on the right.
Claire grimaced as they traipsed closer to the house. With its weathered grey paint, dirty windows and peeling white frames, it had definitely seen better days. And the yard? Whew. Branches from overgrown oak trees swept across the front sidewalk, weeds were growing between the path stones, gnarly looking bushes sat in unkempt clumps, the lawn hadn’t seen a mower in a good long while; the entire property appeared to have been left to do as it pleased.
Evan and Noah halted on the sidewalk and turned around to face Claire.
“Whoops!” She was unprepared for their abrupt stop and swiftly stepped to the left so as not to run right smack into them and send them tumbling down onto the pavement. She squinted into the sunshine as she read the expectant expressions on their identical faces and sighed. Of course. She took one more glance at the derelict house and asked, “This is the cool one, right?”
My Book Review:
In Tales From The Laundry Pile, author Kathleen Kole provides the reader with an entertaining tale that follows Claire Jamieson as she juggles the trials and tribulations of motherhood and family.
After four years of living in the city, Claire and husband Jake pack up their four year old twin sons Noah and Evan, and move back to their hometown of Boxwood Hills. But moving back to the small town proves to be anything but a stress free experience when Claire finds herself constantly running after her energetic twin sons, handling household obligations, and dealing with family ... all the while striving to provide a perfect and orderly life!
Author Kathleen Kole has created a lighthearted story that portrays a mother's desire to have a perfect and orderly life for her family, only to discover that her obsessive desire is unrealistic when life throws curve balls, leading her to change the way she views and handles her relationships and daily obligations in life.
This is a story that everyone can relate to, especially mothers. We all desire to have a perfect life, but life has a way of sneaking up on us and kicking our butts back into reality with daily trials and tribulations, the goal is to learn how to manage the stress and enjoy our lives. In a sense, the author's humorous tale pokes fun at the stressors, obsessions and insecurities in our lives, while playfully reminding us to lighten up, go easy on ourselves, and to stop and smell the roses along our life's journey.
With a quirky cast of characters who provide a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, silly mishaps and madcap adventures, and a familiar setting with cameo appearances from characters in previous books, Tales From The Laundry Pile is a refreshingly fun and whimsical tale about dealing with the craziness that occurs in one's life!
RATING: 4 STARS ****
Virtual Book Tour Contest Giveaway
Win 4 Print Copies of Kathleen Kole's Books!
Breaking Even ~ Dollars to Donuts ~ Favorable Conditions
Tales From The Laundry Pile
***
Bonus Prize: Win A $20 Amazon Gift Card
Contest Dates: July 8-29, 2013
Everyone who leaves a comment on Tales From The Laundry Pile by Kathleen Kole ~ Virtual Book Tour Page: Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours will be entered to win a four print books from Kathleen! Titles are: Breaking Even, Dollars to Donuts, Favorable Conditions and Tales From the Laundry Pile. One bonus winner will win a $20 Amazon gift card! Anyone who purchases their copy of Tales From the Laundry Pile before July 29 and sends their receipt to Samantha@ChickLitPlus.com, will get five bonus entries.
Virtual Book Tour Schedule
Tour Schedule:
July 8 – Books Etc – Review
July 11- Books Etc – Guest Post
July 15 – The East Village – Review
July 15 – Change the Word – Review
July 16 – Chick Lit Goddess – Review & Guest Post
July 17 – Karma for Life Chick – Review
July 18 – Lost in Literature – Review & Excerpt
July 19 – Change the Word – Q&A
July 22- Keep Calm and Blog On – Review
July 23 – Chick Lit Central – Q&A & Giveaway
July 24 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review, Guest Post & Excerpt
July 25 - Every Free Chance Book Reviews – Q&A & Excerpt
July 26- Steph the Bookworm – Review
July 29 – Chick Lit Plus – Review
Kathleen's books are great!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading her books, they are so much fun. :)
DeleteThank you for visiting my blog.
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