Red Wolf's Room

Cliffs of Moher - Photo by  Sarah Donisi  on  Unsplash If I were writing a travel brochure for Ireland, I start with what it smells like. It's a combination of just-fallen rain mixed with earth and something else, something secret. For me,  Love & Luck  by Jenna Evans Welch is reminiscent of the movie Leap Year because it follows the protagonist on a road trip across Ireland and she encounters many ups and downs along the way. But the plot of Love & Luck is quite different as it's a coming-of-age story. Its genre is YA fiction. I picked up this novel because I'm part Irish and would love to explore the country one day. I am fascinated by Irish lore and love getting swept up in the magic of the tales.  Love & Luck seems to be the unofficial second book since Welch's previous novel, Love & Gelato , follows Lina, Addie's best friend, and explains why she's in Italy. But readers, like myself, who have not read Lina' story are given enoug...

So, I ordered four sweet potatoes in my online grocery order. Ordering groceries online is full of surprises. Maybe you get all of your items, maybe you don't or maybe you get substitutions and find new brands and items you wouldn't have tried otherwise.  It was the first time I've ordered sweet potatoes. They weren't in a bag; they were like other veg at the store where you pick the ones you want.  Well, I got a surprise. All four of them are the size of grapefruits.  Now, you might be thinking that it's funny, but so what? Why are you writing a blog post about it? Well, I'm a writer and a partly Irish one at that, so I kind of see them as a sign. As something worth noticing. Maybe I'm looking for meaning where there isn't any. All of the stock at the store may have been like that. Or the grocery store worker picked whatever as they silently counted down the seconds until their shift ended.  But I'm a writer who believes in Fate, who is maybe lookin...

  I think this novel is appropriate for International Woman's Day (March 8th) since it helps the protagonist go from accepting her life as is, mundane and unfair, to knowing the power she holds within herself. No, it's not a fantasy novel with a woman who can accomplish the impossible with powers, gadgets, or talking animals. But it does have some spiritual awakening, so by the end, Kelly has the confidence and power to #choosetochallenge .     You Should Read For the Love of a Pirate  if... You love pirates, specifically Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy You enjoy time-travel and reincarnations. You're psyched when spirits and ghosts are involved. Want a short, spoiler-free review? Check out  my review  on Reedsy Discovery! Summary  For the Love of a Pirate  by Laura Nelson introduces us to Kelly Hunter, your average woman who works a nine-to-five job for the State of Colorado. Working in the fraud section of the unemployment department, Kelly keep...