My husband and I just binged watched Reacher on Amazon Prime. He's a fan of the books. I haven't read them, but I did see the author, Lee Childs at a book event once.
I enjoyed the Tom Cruise movies, but that might be because I didn't read the books. The new show apparently has a better representation of Jack Reacher, who is something like 6 foot 4 and 250 pounds of muscle.
I can forgive some changes from book version to film, as long as the essence and spirit of the book remain intact. One of the worst I ever saw was One for the Money based on the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. The movie lacked everything that made the book great. If you don't want to read it, get the audio version, as Janet has a great reader.
I loved The Hating Game and was looking forward to the movie. My daughter told me not to bother. The movie didn't capture what was great about the book. Bummer.
I have enjoyed some adaptations. The Fault in Our Stars was great. I love the 1996 adaptation of Persuasion.
Some adaptations I like better than the book, like Agatha Raisin.
What about you? What are your thoughts on books adapted to movies or TV?
Cover Reveal!!
It's been a busy week. I received the mockup cover for Death of a Miser, the final book in the Sophie Parker Coupon Mysteries. I'm pretty happy with it.
In this mystery, it's the holiday season and Sophie's great-aunt Rose is accused of poisoning someone with her prized pie. What do you think of the cover?
You can check out the other Sophie books on your favorite retailers here.
Forced to move back home to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia after her father and brother end up in jail for running a Ponzi scheme, Sophie Parker does the best she can. While living with her curmudgeonly aunt, she works as a wench waitress at a pirate-themed restaurant and learns the ins and outs of discount shopping through a coupon group.
Life goes from bad to worse when an innocent airplane ride with her former teenage crush, AJ, leads to her being picked up by the police. The plane’s indebted owner has been murdered, and he’s the man who helped put her father in jail.
What started as a curiosity has now turned into a quest to make sure she isn’t arrested. Armed with gossip from the women in her coupon group, and her cantankerous aunt, Sophie sets out to find out who killed the ruthless businessman minutes after she flew off with AJ.
Sophie Parker's life is looking up. She's getting along with her curmudgeonly great-aunt, dating a hot airplane repo man, working part-time at the library telling fairy tales, that is until she finds her coupon queen mentor dead with coupon shears in her neck.
I finally settled on titles for the Valentine train novella and book 7, which means I was to order covers for them as well. They need a couple of tweaks, but I'm pretty excited about them. Watch for those cover reveals.
That brings me to a big thank you to everyone who sent me recommendations for the title of the Valentine train novella. I received many brilliant suggestions. Ultimately, I've settled on Lost in Transit.
I hope to have Lost in Transit to you soon and it will probably be free initially for you and SweetHarte group members.
Dead But Not Forgotten: Valentine Mystery #7 has a May release. I plan to share some exciting news about that book shortly. (I know, I keep teasing that!).
If you haven't read the other books in the Valentine mysteries, you can get the entire series (6 books and one novella) for half the price you can anywhere else. You can pick up the complete Valentine Series here (note this page assumes you already have Deadly Valentine, but if you don't, it's included in the package.)
FREE ROMANCE BOOKS
These two free romance book giveaways are still on. If you haven't picked up any yet, go check them out now.
Contemporary Romance Giveaway has a ton of romances in a variety of categories and tropes. I can't imagine you won't find something or several somethings to grab for free in this giveaway.
It Must Have Been Love also has a lot of romances. Most of them look to be contemporary.
Don't forget...
I know I've mentioned the Suffolk Mystery Book Festival before, but since it's virtual and free, I wanted to make sure you know you can attend, no matter where you are. This is always a super fun event.
I'm going to be on the, “Do Not Disturb: Fashioning the Perfect Romance” panel with Nancy Naigle, Kelsey Browning, Caridad Pineiro, with Nan O'Berry moderating.
There are other panels related to mystery, as well. I'm very excited to see the interview between my friends, Betsy Ashton and Diane Fanning, who you might have seen on true crime TV shows like Deadly Women. They are each witty in their own right, but together, they are a hoot.
The event is on March 5th. Again, it's free, but you need to register. You can learn more here: Suffolk Mystery Author Festival.
Thank you for all your support!
Until next time...Peace, Love, and Happily Ever After
