Blog Tour: Folk Around and Find Out by Penny Reid

She’s about to teach him a lesson he won’t soon forget.

Folk Around and Find out, an opposites attract, single parent contemporary romance set in a small town from New York Times bestselling author Penny Reid is out now!

He needs to get her out of his system. Just once…


Hank Weller doesn’t help people. He leaves that do-gooder nonsense to his best friend, Beau Winston. Hank does what he wants, when he wants, with whomever he wants—and Hank does not want to hire Charlotte Mitchell to be an exotic dancer at his club, The Pink Pony. Sure, he can’t help noticing the dips and curves of her, how shrewd, smart, and funny she is, the fire in her hazel eyes. He’s always noticed. She’d probably draw a crowd and entice the regulars. But after Charlotte’s messy, public divorce made Hank’s club out to be the culprit—and made her the single mother of four kids—he doesn’t need or want any additional bad press courtesy of Charlotte Mitchell. Or the distraction. Unfortunately for him, the town’s prettiest charity case doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of the words nope, no, and never.

Charlotte Mitchell doesn’t much like Hank Weller. Once upon a time, she used to. Years ago, she liked him a whole heckofalot despite other folks in town labeling him as “eccentric” and “nonconformist,” which were polite southern alternatives to “filthy rich” and “self-centered douchebag.” Her opinion of him changed dramatically after he volunteered to be her date to junior prom and then promptly stood her up. They haven’t so much as acknowledged each other in over a decade. But a sudden family emergency means Charlotte needs access to Hank’s club ASAP. Unfortunately for her, the narcissistic fancy-pants doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of the words help, generosity, and compassion.

But he’s about to find himself schooled. Charlotte is going to teach Hank a lesson once and for all about basic human decency, whether he likes it or not.

Spoiler alert. . . he likes it. 😉

My Thoughts

I don’t think it will come to surprise to anyone who has read my blog before that I LOVE Penny Reid and will read anything that she writes but when we finally get a character we have been reading about for yours it is fantastic! I have always loved Hank from way back in Jethro’s book Grin and Beard It when we get to Hank’s friendship with Sienna. Then you get to love him even more in Beau’s book when you see a little of his inner feelings. I was so happy to hear that book 2 in the Good Folk series was going to be about Hank! I loved getting more of Hank’s background and seeing his character grow was so much fun, I also really loved the relationship’s that Hank builds with not only his love interest Charlotte but also her three kids! One of my favorite scenes is when he goes over to their house and sees the chaos and just takes charge! As they say in Penny books this melted my butter! Also I will now never think about eating pizza the same way again, this made my heart hurt!

One of my favorite things about Penny is her writing, she makes me feel like these characters are real and you can just sit down at any time and talk with them. Her words are not only sweet and tender but they are also so funny! Here are two of my favorite quotes in the book:

“Sure, excluding the kitchen staff and bouncers, my co-workers were all mostly naked and covered in glitter, but that didn’t bother me any. I worked with kindergartners nine months out of the year. They also liked to take off their clothes and paint their bodies with glitter.”

“You don’t have to give people things in order for them to like you. You just have to be yourself and hope their kind of weird matches your kind of weird. Like us.”

You don’t need to read any books by Penny before starting this one, it is a stand alone story in her universe so characters are interconnected. Basically I can not say enough god things about this book so if you are looking for a fun and slightly steamy romance set in a small town then I would recommend checking this one out! Thank you Social Butterfly PR for my gifted copy for review!!

Read today!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3gijnp1

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/FOAFO

Apple Books: https://apple.co/39feVnq

Nook: https://bit.ly/3w6Dpby

Kobo: https://bit.ly/39egHoz

Google Play: https://bit.ly/39UKTWk

Smashwords: https://bit.ly/39btc4m

Add Folk Around and Find Out to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/37B833f

Keep reading for a look inside Folk Around and Find Out!

My day hadn’t been great even before she walked in.

I’d just returned from the funeral of my longtime bookkeeper. He’d died from old age in his sleep surrounded by his five kids, loving wife, and eighteen grandchildren while leaving me with a reconciliation mess and this month’s payroll to finish.

My newly trained bartender had sent a manifesto via text message, blaming his decision to quit on my unwillingness to build a dedicated meditation room and give him four paid half-hour breaks per shift to use it.

Three Diamond Whiskey bottles out of the six that had shipped from the distributor were broken in the crate. If you’re keeping score, that’s seven hundred dollars in Tennessee Whiskey and a crime against humanity.

On the plus side, the suit I’d worn to my parents’ funerals fit and I still looked damn good in it.

Of course, I didn’t know the newcomer was her at first. The door opened and closed, same sound as normal no matter who was coming or going. It was a Sunday mid-morning, still early yet for any of the dancers or bouncers and way too early for any customers.

But the moment she turned the corner and came into view, I gritted my teeth. Here we go. What could she want? She better not be selling Bibles.

“Charlotte.” Standing behind the bar, I crossed my arms and sounded unfriendly. She’d caught me restocking paper products and the three surviving bottles of Diamond Whiskey. I was only half finished with my current task, but nowhere near half finished with my task list for the day. I did not have time for pious Charlotte Mitchell.

As a rule, I had time for two types of folks: people I paid, and people who paid me. A small number of exceptions to this rule existed: a few friends from college and in town, like Beau Winston or Patty Lee, and any woman I’d set my mind on seducing, but even then, I made sure the scales remained balanced—give and take, tit for tat, even-steven. Point is, Charlotte was obviously not the former exception, and there was no way she’d ever be interested in becoming the latter.

“Hank.” She didn’t look at me, but she did paste on an obligatory-looking smile that pulled her full lips tight and came nowhere close to her green eyes. Tracking Charlotte Mitchell’s slow approach, I didn’t miss how she took her time and peered around.

I wanted to snark, “Lost? I believe the wallpaper and sanctimony store is closer to downtown.”

Instead, I ground out, “What do you want?”

Meet Penny Reid

Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she writes kissing books. Penny is an obsessive knitter and manages the #OwnVoices-focused mentorship incubator / publishing imprint, Smartypants Romance. She lives in Seattle Washington with her husband, three kids, and dog named Hazel.

Connect with Penny 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PennyReidWriter/

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lakzsD

Twitter: @ReidRomance

Mailing List: http://pennyreid.ninja/newsletter/

Website: www.pennyreid.ninja

Reading Round Up: October Part 4 Weekendween Monster Mash!

Happy Sunday Friends! How is everyone’s going? Mine was busy yesterday but pretty lazy today and I am ok with that! This is my final round up for October and these are the books I read for Weekendween that ran from October 28-31.

Let a coin toss decide your first read

  • Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs – 4 Stars (Re-Read) This is a novella tis the beginning of a spinoff series of Mercy Thompson hat follows another set of werewolves Anna and Charles. Im hoping to continue in this series soon.

Read a book with a monster in it, or a monster on the cover

  • Moon Called by Patricia Briggs – 4 Stars (Re-Read) I have been wanting to pick up this series again and I thought Weekendween was the perfect chance to do. this. This is book 1 in the Mercy Thompson series that follow Mercy who is a Walker and can change into a coyote as she deals with Fae, Werewolves and Vampires.

Listen to a spooky audiobook or read a horror graphic novel / manga

  • Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Vol 1 – 3 Stars – This is a darker take on the Sabrina comics from the Archie universe. This was pretty dark and while I liked the art style I never really got into the story.

Read a book in the dark or at night – All of them! I always read at night and in the early morning when it is dark.

  • Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs – 4 Stars (Re-Read) Book 2 in the Mercy series.
  • Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs – 5 Stars (Re-Read) Book 3 in the Mercy series.
  • The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling – 4 Stars This is the second book in a series but you don’t really have to read them in order but it does help. We are following Gwen who is the cousin of the main character from the first book as she sets up a rivalry with the man who set up a shop very similar too hers just across the street. This book was fun not too heavy and perfect to read around Halloween time.

October Reading Stats

Hello Friends! How was everyone’s October reading? Mine started out really slow but picked up at the end of the month when I started re-reading an urban fantasy series.

What was your favorite book this month?

Books I read in October

  • Total Books – 21
  • Physical Books – 5 Books
  • E-Books – 14 Books
  • Audio – 2 Books
  • ARC’s – 6 Books
  • Library – 4 Book
  • Backlist – 0 Book
  • DNF’s – 0 Books
  • Re-Reads – 2 Book
  • Pages Read – 7,331

Genres

  • Contemporary Romance – 5 Books
  • Paranormal Romance – 2 Books
  • Sci-fi – 1 Book
  • Historical Romance – 4 Books
  • Urban Fantasy – 4 Books
  • Fantasy – 3 Books
  • Graphic Novel – 1 Book
  • Horror – 1 Book

( I am only putting each book in what I think is the most prominent category )

Year Book Was Published

  • 2006 – 2019 – 8 Books
  • 2020 – 1 Book
  • 2021 – 1 Book
  • 2022 – 10 Books
  • 2023 – 1 Book

Star Ratings

  • 2 Stars – 1 Book
  • 3 Stars – 2 Books
  • 3.5 Stars – 2 Books
  • 4 Stars – 12 Books
  • 4.5 Stars – 1 Book
  • 5 Stars – 3 Books

2 Stars

3 Stars

3.5 Stars

4 Stars

4.5 Stars

5 Stars

ReCap on my May Challenges

  • For Kayla’s Buzzword – This month’s word was creatures and I went with The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.
  • Goodreads Goal209/100
  • Backlist Books – 26/25 = 104%

Until Next Time, Happy Reading!

WWW Wednesday – 11/2

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived by Sam on Taking on a World of Words. All you have to do is answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

What are you currently reading?

  • Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs – Book 4 in The Mercy Thompson series, I am enjoying my re-read of this urban fantasy series.
  • Lizzie Blake’s Best Mistake by Mazey Eddings – Just started this audio and not very far in.


What did you recently finish reading?

  • Partners In Crime by Alisha Rai – 4 Stars
  • In Her Highlander’s Bed by Lynsay Sands – 4 Stars
  • Moon Called by Patricia Briggs – 4 Stars
  • The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Vol 1 – 3 Stars
  • Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs – 3 Stars
  • Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs – 5 Stars
  • Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs – 4 Stars
  • The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling – 4 Stars

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • Honor and Shadows by Jessie Mihalik – Novella that just came out in a space opera series that I am enjoying.
  • Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson – One of the last few books I want to try and read for October.

What are you currently reading? Let me know in the comments below!

Top 5 Tuesday: October 4th 2022

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah @the Bionic Bookworm and is now being hosted by Meeghan @Meeghan Reads. This weeks is: Top 5 books set in the past.

  • Bringing Down The Duke by Evie Dunmore – 1879 – Historical romance set in England.
  • A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raebourn – 1887 – Historical mystery series set in England, I can not say enough good things about this series.
  • The Haunting of Maddie Clare by Simone St. James – 1920’s – Historical romance set in England about a woman who takes a job helping a man as he tries to find a ghost.
  • When We Left Cube by Chanel Cleeton – 1950’s Cuba and Florida – Follows a woman as she deals with the aftermath of her family leaving Cuba.
  • The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah – 1970’s Alaska – Historical Fiction about a woman and her life as she lives in Alaska with her family off the grid.

I have two honorable mentions because I couldn’t not add them.

  • Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia – 1950’s – Historical Horror about a woman who goes to check on her cousin and the creepy house she lives in.
  • The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James – Dual timeline of present day and the 1980’s – Horror about a woman who looks into the disappearance of her aunt.

Reading Round Up: October Part 3

Hi Friends! This round up is a bit bigger than usual because I am going to save the books I read for Weekendween as their own round up. I had a good assortment of books this time with 4 ARCs and a good mix of genres. Have you read any of these books? If so let me know in the comments below!

Breath Of Fire by Amanda Bouchet – 2 Stars This is book 2 in The Kingmaker Chronicles series and I was very disappointed in this one, so much so that I am going to pause on reading the next books. I didn’t like the storyline, I felt there was a lot going on and that the pacing was just off. I also got real tired of the main character almost dying every couple of chapters and her saying I will be more careful and then almost dying again. Way to repetitive for me. Hopefully I can pick this series back up again in a month or two.

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison – 3.5 Stars After not really enjoying Cackle by this author last year I was a little worried about reading this one but I actually really enjoyed it. This is about a woman who moves back to her home town temporarily and gets turned into a werewolf. This story was at times funny and creepy, the scenes where the wolf is described really got me! Over all I enjoyed this one and would recommend if you are looking for a creepy read.

Never Fall For Your Fiancé by Virginia Heath – 4.5 Stars After reading book 2 in the Merriwell Sisters series and loving it I went back and read book 1. In this one we are following Minerva who is hired by Hugh, The Earl of Fareham to pretend to be his fiancée while his mother is visiting from America. This book was just as funny as the second one and I loved the author’s writing style so much. I literally laughed out loud the entire time I was reading this. Not only is the relationship between Hugh and Minerva good but so is the other relationships that are present in the book. Hugh and his mother’s interactions might have been my favorite, their banter was so good! I don’t think I could enough good things about this one and if you are looking for a fun historical romance than I would highly recommend this one. Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my #gifted copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Two Wrongs Make A Right by Chloe Liese – 3.5 Star This one was a slight disappointment for me but you can have my full thoughts when I post for my blog tour. Still recommend any book by this author though!!

Partners In Crime by Alisha Rai – 4 Stars This is a second chance romance which is not a favorite of mine but it does include jewel thieves, kidnappings and Vegas. This book was so much fun and I highly recommend if you are looking for a romance a little outside of the box. Thank you @avonbooks and @librofmfor my #gifted copies!! This one came out last week so you can get it now! I have been in a contemporary romance reading slump lately but this book may have taken me out of it!

In Her Highlander’s Bed by Lynsay Sands – 4 Stars This is book #11 in The Highland Bride series and this series doesn’t need to be read in order but the characters do overlap in this series. Calan Campbell is taking a dip in the loch when he notices his plaid is being stolen, once the culprit is captured he realizes the thief is a young naked woman who looks to have been abused. After being kidnapped and assaulted Allissaid flees her captures and wakes up in the bed of an unknown man. Calan and Allissaid quickly come to the decision that it would be best for if she can remain hidden until they can find the men responsible for her kidnapping. I always enjoy Lynsay Sand’s books, whether that be her Argeneau Vampire series or her Scottish historicals. Her writing just always works for me and I love the characters that she builds as well the journey she takes us on. Thank you Avon for my #gifted copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

November (Maybe) TBR

Hello Friends! I am here with my November TBR! I tried to not over extend myself this month because I have a pretty busy schedule this month so I am not sure how much reading I will actually get done. I know I will have some buddy reads as well but we haven’t voted on them yet but those will be romances. I also have some books from KU that I keep eyeing and those might get picked up as well. Basically who knows what I am going to read! What books are on your radar this month?

ARC’s For October that I need to read.

  • Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan – Contemporary Romance – Out 11/15
  • The Prisoner by B.A. Paris – Thriller – Out 11/1

For Kayla’s Buzzword – This month’s buzzword is a word containing “ing”

  • The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor – I have had this one on my kindle for awhile and I think November is still a good month to try and get this one read.

Other Books I Would Like To Read in November

  • The Family Game by Catherine Steadman – New Thriller release that I would like to get to this month.
  • The Vicious Circle by Katherine St. John – Another new release thriller that I really want to get to this month.
  • The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead – Im starting to get a little nervous about this one with the feedback I am seeing on it but I am hoping to at least attempt it this month.

Again these are all books that I would like to read soon but I know I probably won’t get to most of these. What are you reading this month? Are you participating in any fun reading challenges?

November New Releases

Hello Friends! I am here today with new releases I am excited for to come out in November. There are so many good books coming out and I am pretty excited for the memoirs that I have on my list plus a few series continuations. What books are you excited for this month?

  • Ocean Echo by Everina Maxwell – Out 11/1 – Scifi romance, I enjoyed the first book by this author and am excited to try this one.
  • Flight Risk by Cherie Priest – Out 11/1 – Mystery, again I really enjoyed book 1 in this series and I have been waiting for book 2 to come out.
  • Honor and Shadow by Jessie Mihalik – Out 11/1 – Scifi Novella – This is a prequal novella set in the Starlight shadows series which I have been loving lately!
  • The Prisoner by B.A. Paris – Out 11/1 – Thriller
  • Friends, Lovers, and The Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry – Out 11/1 – I love Matthew Perry and I am really excited for his memoir!
  • Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger – Out 11/8 – Thriller
  • A Sliver of Darkness by C.J. Tudor – Out 11/8 – Short story collection by the author
  • Some Dukes Have All The Luck by Christina Britton – Out 11/8 – 3 Stars – Historical Romance
  • Sugar Plum Spies by Jennifer Estep – Out 11/8 – Novella – Mystery
  • Never Rescue A Rogue by Virginia Heath – Out 11/8 – 4 Stars – Historical Romance
  • Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade – Out 11/15 – Contemporary Romance, I am really excited for this one!
  • To Each This World by Julie Czerneda – Out 11/15 – Scifi, I have enjoyed this author in the past so I am excited to try this one.
  • Before I let Go by Kennedy Ryan – Out 11/15 – Contemporary Romance
  • Have I Told You This Already by Lauren Graham – Out 11/15 – Non-Fiction, I enjoyed her first memoir plus just love her so I am excited to get this one.
  • Two Wrongs Make A Right by Chloe Liese – Out 11/22 – Contemporary Romance, not sure on my thoughts yet.
  • Forever by J.R. Ward – Out 11/29 – Paranormal Romance

Halloween Book Covers Tag

Hi Friend’s! I am here with another Halloween tag that I found and thought it looked like fun! I found this one on Kristin Kraves Books and the tag was originally created by Kit @ Metaphors and Moonlight.

 Skull/Skeleton/Bones 

Pumpkin

Blood

 Spider, Bats, or other Creepy Creatures 

 Something Witchy 

 Severed Body Part 

 Full Moon 

Cemetery

 Haunted house 

Ghost

 Classic Monster (vampire, werewolf, mummy, etc.) 

Candy

 Someone in a Costume/Mask 

 Orange and Black 

 Something Creepy 

WWW Wednesday – 10/26

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived by Sam on Taking on a World of Words. All you have to do is answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

What are you currently reading?

  • Malice House by Megan Shepherd – Listening to the audio and I am about 60% into it. This is a thriller/horror about a creepy house. It is a very slow book but when I am listening I do enjoy it I just find it hard to pick up after putting it down.
  • Partners In Crime by Alisha Rai – I started this one before I went on vacation but didn’t take it with me so hopefully can finish it this week. I got about 45% into it and I am really liking it. Hoping to finally pick this one back up after finishing all the other half read books I had that I was reading.


What did you recently finish reading?

  • Folk Around And Find Out by Penny Reid – 4 Stars
  • Breath of Fire by Amanda Bouchet – 2 Stars
  • Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison – 3.5 Stars
  • Never Fall For Your Fiancé by Virginia Heath – 4.5 Stars
  • Two Wrongs Make A Right by Chloe Liese – Still thinking about my rating

What do you think you’ll read next?

  • Into The Drowning Deep by Mira Grant – One of my picks for Monster Mash that starts on Friday.
  • Sabrina Vol 1 – Another pick for Monster Mash
  • Her Majesty’s Royal Coven by Juno Dawson – One of the last few books I want to try and read for October.

What are you currently reading? Let me know in the comments below!