Confessions of an Author
So, despite all my good intentions to write lots, there has been so much weighing me down that my brain broke last week, and I quit.
I mean, completely, utterly, quit. Instead of being a responsible adult, I sat on my couch and read nine romance novels and two scifi books in one week.
In case you're numerically challenged like me, that's 11 full-length novels and equates to zero laundry washed, zero dishes loaded in the dish washer, and we won't talk about what my family resorted to eating since I wasn't cooking in the already over-heated house. I literally lay on the couch like a slug with my kindle.

It was heavenly. :)
I won't go into a ton of details, but I did want to tell you about the books I read. They were all part of series.
The romances were clean reads that were also well-written, humorous (because I really needed to laugh), and one touched on subjects many shy away from. The author did it in a thought-provoking way that engaged my emotions without sending me to a dark place--just a contemplative 'how can I make things better' kind of place.

First, there were three books in a series by M J Padgett (Life in Chatswain City). Seriously, ridiculously funny, laugh out loud, that would never happen but I wish it would, and then the last book was the eye opener. That's all I'll say. I'd give them a PG rating, but I don't remember any language and there was no on-screen intimacy.

Then there was a five-book series about a group of friends (Falling Into Happily Ever After Rom Coms) by Ellie Hall. All were a lot of fun and exactly what I needed. I don't remember language with these and there was no on-screen intimacy. I actually don't think there was any implied off-screen intimacy in any of them either. Both series are free in KU so check them out!

After all of that light-heartedness, I was ready to finish the five-book Girl From the Stars series by Cheree Alsop. I started it a while back but stepped away in book 3 or 4 because even though it was excellent, it was battle after battle after battle. I felt very little hope for a happy ending. When I came back, the author ripped my heart out, stomped on it, set it on fire, sunk it to the bottom of the ocean, and while I was still crying gave me a different "sort of" happy ending than I wanted. I hated it and loved it all at the same time. (Note: while there is a lot of death and violence, there is no swearing or graphic intimacy.)
So Yeah, good week/rough week.