Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Contentment Reading Challenge 2013: February

February is a "sweet" month - it's short and full of Valentine's Day desserts and candy. So what better book to re-read this time of year than Love Finds You in Hershey, Pennsylvania by Cerella Sechrist? (A love story and chocolate? I'm so there!)

Here's a description of the book from Summerside Press:

"Sadie Spencer has learned that in life, as well as in food, sour balances sweet. Returning to her hometown of Hershey with a five-year-old daughter, she manages to rise from the ashes following the death of her husband, the passing of her mother, and the dissolution of her career as a TV chef. With the help and encouragement of her best friend, Jasper, she opens a restaurant and looks forward to savoring the sweet side of life. That is, until a handsome Russian entrepreneur arrives in town, apparently intent on opening up his own restaurant in direct competition to hers. Sadie becomes obsessed with honing the one skill she’s never had—creating desserts—to keep up with her adversary, and in the process, she finds a love that’s simply icing on the cake."

 Doesn't this look like it's begging to be read in February? 

I read this for the first time in April of 2010. The lovely and super encouraging Renee of Black 'n Gold Girl's Book Spot hosted the author, Cerella Sechrist, for her blogoversary that year, which is how I won a copy of the book. Definitely a sweet treat! 

I really enjoyed re-reading Love Finds You in Hershey. The characters are what make the re-read so delectable - from the super sweet boys, Jasper and Dmitri, to Sadie's forgiveness-seeking father. You can see that the characters made a great impression on me the first read-through in my review from 2010. (Forgive the formatting issues in that post...my blogging expertise has grown a little since then!)

The personalities of these characters and their transparency are awesome, and I loved the feeling of re-visiting old friends and watching them find their happily-ever-afters all over again. And the descriptions of the town of Hershey, the food, Sadie's restaurant, etc., rounded out the experience. Such a great read (and re-read)!

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So, what have you re-read lately? If you're signed up for the challenge, I'd love to hear about your progress or your future re-reading plans! If you're not yet signed up, it's not too late to join us! Click HERE to learn more about the Contentment Reading Challenge.

Feel free to share your own February challenge-update blog post here: 

8 comments:

Michelle said...

Hello Amber!

So happy to have a chance to catch up here, and see what you've been up to. : )

I have this book on my shelf, and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! I have it at the top of my TBR pile, but with the slow pace that I read these days . . . who knows when I'll get to it.

Hope you're having a blessed day! : )

Amber Holcomb said...

Michelle,

It's great to "see" you again! Thank you so much for visiting and catching up on my blog posts! :)

LFY in Hershey is a great one - I think you'd really enjoy it! I know what you mean, though... I have a box of books that I've collected over the past few years that didn't *need* to be read for review or anything, so I just haven't gotten to them yet. Hoping to catch up on some soon - but we shall see! I get a little too "eager McBeaver" when it comes to new review books... *sigh* ;)

Today is a nice, quiet day. :) Did my video work-out, and I've been spending a lot of time online... Hoping to get some reading done later, plus I want to watch "Survivor" tonight! Hope you are having a blessed day, as well!

~Amber

Sandra Leesmith said...

Nice blog Amber, I like the idea of a reading challenge. Like speedbo for writers only one for readers. woo hoo.

Amber Holcomb said...

Hi, Sandra! :)

Thank you for the kind words! And yes, reading challenges are fun - and sometimes quite helpful, as I'm not very good at motivating myself to re-read books, generally!

I'm a little bit nervous about Speedbo...hoping that I don't give up too easily. It's daunting, but I really do want to try to get back to my WIP. :)

Thanks for visiting!

~Amber

Beth said...

My February post is up, and I have a give away for Aussie readers!

Amber Holcomb said...

Beth,

Thanks so much for linking up! Your re-reading numbers are always awesome - nice job on re-reading 4 books this past month! :)

And that's sweet of you to offer a giveaway for readers in Australia. Thanks for letting my readers know!

~Amber

Michelle said...

Hi Amber! LOL on "eager McBeaver!" That's how I was, too, but I haven't accepted any books to review in quite awhile. Maybe if I was a faster reader, or if I had more time to devote to reading. But I have SO many books on my Kindle and bookshelf, that I think it would seriously take me 10 years to read them all, lol.

Regarding Survivor: yet another thing we have in common! I watch very little TV, but Survivor is one of the few shows that I watch. Hubby and I have been tuning in every season since season 2! I really enjoy it! The other shows that I watch occasionally are Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Everybody Loves Raymond, and I just recently discovered Duck Dynasty. Have you watched that one? Those guys are such a hoot, and to make it even better, they're Christians (which I hadn't realized when I first tuned in).

Anyway, I'm rambling. ;-)

Hope you're enjoying your Sunday!

Amber Holcomb said...

Michelle,

LOL! I have a ton of books, too...but I still request more! ;) I probably devote more time to reading than I should, but I do so love it! :)

And that is too crazy! You're a Survivor fan, too?? I got into it when I was in college, and now I find it quite intriguing and interesting to watch. :) And I don't always watch them, but off and on I'll catch some of Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy, as my dad loves to watch them, and he always has to check to see if our Spin IDs come up. ;) And we watch Everybody Loves Raymond, too!! But I haven't seen Duck Dynasty, but it sounds interesting!

Thanks for the comment! (I can ramble, too - no worries!) I had a great Sunday. :) Got some writing done for Bleeding Heart, went to church this morning and went out to dinner with my family this evening. :) Hope your Sunday was great, too!

~Amber