Thursday, October 27, 2016

A Week of Werewolves, Faeries and Fancy Dresses by Nicki Chapelway

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To purchase your copy, click here.

About the Book


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Chelsea Welling is a completely normal fifteen year old girl… well normal except for the pesky fact that she thinks she is going crazy. Either that or she really is being transported to a magical world known locally as Amar. However when Chelsea is transported to Amar with her friend Easton, she knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that these little trips are more than figments of her imagination. Then the unthinkable happens. Chelsea, Easton, Chelsea’s brother Clint, and their mutual friend Bobby are all stranded in Amar. They cannot return to Earth until they finish a dangerous quest that their fathers set out on over twenty years ago.
Chelsea is in for one trying week as she flees from werewolves, faces down faeries, and fits into fancy dresses- all while she struggles alongside her friends to fulfill the all-but-impossible tasks of finding out what the quest their fathers set out on was, and succeeding where their fathers failed. 

My Review: 
This young author has some promising work ahead of her. I loved the premise of this book, which drew me in very quickly. This book is written in a first person teen-age style. Most of the time, I found that fun. 

 My only issues with this book came from places where the entire story line jumped without a clue as to why, or what really happened. That bothered me a good bit, it made me feel very lost at times, and I still have questions that don't have answers. I hope those answers will be addressed in the next book so that I can understand why several things were out of sync. Those parts left me feeling like something got deleted or moved and that is confusing. A few characters vanished and reappeared without explanation. 

 Past that, this book has plenty of fantasy creatures, and four very determined teens who have been sucked into another world in order to finish a mysterious quest that was started by their fathers. What a mission they are on! They don't even know all the details, so we are learning them along with them. It's a mystery that will not be solved without the rest of the story, which  I hope I will be able to read in the future.It's the first installment of much more to come! 

Carol :)

About the Author 
Nicki ChapelwayNicki Chapelway is the pseudonym used by a completely ordinary- as in you could pass her in the street and not be the wiser- teenage girl. She is only fifteen years old- I know, a real child prodigy- and this is the first of- hopefully- many stories written by her. She enjoys reading, writing (she wrote this book for her own entertainment- not yours; you just get to benefit from her hobby), swimming when she can, and obsessing about other peoples’ stories almost as much as her own. She also enjoys watching TV, her favorite movies and TV shows include: Doctor Who, Avengers, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Nicki currently resides in Ohio with her family of eight and two dogs, Rylie and Zoey. She is now working on the next books in this series- when she’s not distracted by other stories (both hers and others’). You can contact her at http://pausefortales.blogspot.com

Guest Post from Nicki Chapelway
For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to write. I wished this even before I enjoyed reading (I actually spent the first half of my childhood hating to read and avoiding books like the plague).
I believe that the desire to write was inspired by my older sister (an author herself). When I as younger she would tell me stories that took place in the books that she was writing. In my eyes these books were the coolest things in the whole wide world, and my sister was one of the smartest, cleverest, most ingenuous people I have ever known (besides my parents of course) to have come up with them. I wanted to be just like her. The only problem?
I couldn’t write.
While my sister was writing great works (at least to my young mind) like Julien and Juliet I was trying to write lame stories such as The Princess in the Sewer. I thought it would be a great idea to write about a princess living in a sewer (you know ignoring the whole disgusting-ness of it all). However, that was as far as I ever got. As soon as I tried to come up with the prince and the villain, or at the very least an explanation what the princess was doing living in a sewer I realized that I was in way over my head.
After that I didn’t give up on writing per se but I certainly stopped trying so hard. I contented myself to simply play with myself, devising worlds and making up bad guys for myself to fight. I acted this all out, using my imagination to transform my Living Room into an enchanted forest. I devised whole worlds with interesting characters, strong heroines (played by mwa), and evil villians. Little did I know that I was world building and creating stories, something that I had previously thought impossible for me to do.
Fast forward some years and now I’m eleven years old. It’s two months till my sister’s birthday and a crazy idea comes to me. I can write her a story for her birthday based off of a game we played together called The Blue Butterfly. I figured that since it was already a reasonably well-developed story I would be able to just write the story without getting caught on the thing that always got me every time I tried to write a book, my inability (or so I thought) to come up with a story and a plot all my own. But it didn’t exactly work like that, I surprised myself by taking my own path while writing the story, changing some things and developing a different plot. I was shocked that the ideas for writing a story actually came to me. Then I realized something, I had been doing this all along when I had been playing my games, and if I truly wanted to be an author I could just write what I had been playing all these years.
At this realization, flood gates opened. Suddenly whole worlds- worlds that I never thought possible for me to see- were opened to me. All at once I got ideas for half a dozen books, and it seemed that everything I looked at gave me at least two other ideas. To a person who had spent her whole life up to this point in time simply languishing to come up with one doable idea this was all quite overwhelming.
I no longer had problems coming up with ideas, no my problem was now quite the opposite. I was bombarded by ideas. I spent three years simply flitting from idea to idea never able to settle on one long enough to actually write it before I was distracted by something new and shinier.
Finally the summer of my fourteenth year I sat myself down and told myself that I was going to have to come up with a book idea and stick with it until I finished it, and so My Time in Amar book one A Week of Werewolves, Faeries, and Fancy Dresses was born. Which I am so excited to have on a blog tour at Celebrate Lit. I really want to thank everyone on the Celebrate Lit team who made this possible, most especially Sandra, as well as everyone who is a part of this tour.
And to all my future readers, I hope you enjoy the book!

Blog Stops

October 26: Simple Harvest Reads
October 27: Blogging With Carol 
October 28: Book Babble
October 31: Genesis 5020
November 1: Ashley’s Bookshelf
November 2: A Readers Brain
November 3: Bukwurmzzz
November 6: The Power of Words (Spotlight)

Giveaway

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In honor of her tour, Nicki is giving away a signed copy of A Week of Werewolves, Faeries, and Fancy Dresses as well as a signed copy of Nicki’s soon-to-be-released second book! Click the link below to enter; be sure to comment on this post to claim your nine bonus entries for this giveaway! https://promosimple.com/ps/a5f0

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The Domino Effect by Davis Bunn

Finances, we have them, use them, the world runs off them, but just how deep can one financial thriller go? This book took the concept and ran with it.

Esther is trapped in a job where she is a "yes" girl. She just says yes to high stakes risks in a massive financial market when her boss says for her to do so. Thus is her life as a risk assessment person for Charlotte First Mercantile Bank. The problem, she sees so much more risk than anyone would admit to. In fact, Esther sees the beginning of the end coming.  When she starts presenting what she sees, she pretty much becomes a whistle blower. The problem being a more global one, and if the first domino falls.... Well, we all know what that leads to; udder and total economic and financial collapse. 

So, can one woman, who is an introverted highly stressed genius stop the entire domino effect from happening? Will people listen? Will anything change? Is Esther Larson a modern day biblical Esther, or is it all going to fall apart? 

This was a interesting book, a rather scary book, and deeply financially based. I understand the stock market, but this takes it very deep, as well as other major things that were happening. It's like a behind the scenes into big banking and global and world economy. I did get a little lost a few times, but recovered quickly. 

Over all, a way too real scenario to be an easy reading book, or even a thriller. It's a deep thinking read. 


About the Book:

Esther Larsen, a top risk analyst at one of the country's largest banking institutions, is becoming more and more convinced that she has uncovered a ticking bomb with the potential to make the 2008 market crash look minor by comparison. And as her own employer pursues "investment" strategies with ever-increasing levels of risk, she becomes convinced she must do something. But Esther is only one person; can she stand up to an international conspiracy of greed? And if she does, will anyone take her seriously? 


Every moment of indecision edges the markets closer to a tipping point--the teetering first domino in a standing row that circles the globe. And when Esther finds her voice, those she seeks to expose will not sit idly by. With global markets on the brink, and her own life in danger, Esther is locked in a race against the clock to avert a financial tsunami that threatens worldwide devastation. 



Davis Bunn is the award-winning author of numerous national bestsellers with sales totaling more than seven million copies. His work has been published in 20 languages, and his critical acclaim includes four Christy Awards for excellence in fiction. Davis also writes fantasy under the pseudonym Thomas Locke (tlocke.com). He and his wife, Isabella, divide their time between England and Florida. Learn more at www.davisbunn.com

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

The Devoted by Suzanne Woods Fisher



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About the Book


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Restless and adventurous, Ruthie Stoltzfus is right on the cusp of leaving her Amish home. Secretly, she’s earned her GED, saved her money—but she can’t quite set her journey into motion. Just as everything falls into place, along comes Patrick Kelly.
Patrick is a young man on a journey of his own. He’s come to Stoney Ridge to convert to the Amish and has given himself thirty days to learn the language, drive a buggy, and adapt to “everything Plain.” Time is of the essence and every moment is to be cherished—especially the hours he spends with Ruthie, his Penn Dutch tutor.
Ruthie’s next-door neighbor and cunning ex-boyfriend, Luke Schrock, is drawn to trouble like a moth to a flame. Rebellious, headstrong, defiant, Luke will do anything to win Ruthie back—and Patrick Kelly is in his way.
Bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher invites you back to Stoney Ridge for a story of dreams deferred—and the promise of hopes fulfilled. 

My Review:

I'm happy to return again to the world of the Inn of Eagle Hill. I have throughly enjoyed the other books in this series, and frankly, most of what I have read from this author. This book got my attention in the first few pages. A strange man needs shelter for the night. In the morning he is dead. Was he murdered? Boom! That is the start and just the very start of this book. Ruthie doesn't feel like she fits in anymore. Her feelings of what to do with her life are ones that many of us, myself included, can relate to from at least once in our lives. Sometimes when you think things are going to go one way, they go another way. I have had that happen more times than I can count, and on those levels I connected to Ruthie. 

Patrick Kelly has left the "world" to come be one of the Plain. He is doing just the opposite of what Ruthie has been wondering if she should do. He has come and given up his old life, and has decided that in a tiny thirty day time frame, he will be able to speak this new language and become as Amish as possible. My first thought were what is this man running from for him to become Amish and hide in this town. Then things are even more complicated, because Ruthie is the one teaching him, and he could be the right man for her. Well, that is IF he becomes Amish, and IF he turns out to be who he should be, and IF....  Patrick was instantly likable to me, and also instantly someone to be a wee bit suspicious about. Devotion being a huge theme in this book, it takes some major devotion to leave a life behind and transform into another life in any length of time, much less in just one month. 

Now this is just the tip of the depth of so much more in this book. Life, death, reconnecting with characters from prior books, and more. Yes, Hank still yells. LOL! Dok was amazing. 

This was an excellent read, that didn't disappoint me at all. 
5 stars for sure! 

Carol :) 

About the Author
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Suzanne Woods Fisher is an award-winning, bestselling author whose most recent novels include Anna’s Crossing and The Inn at Eagle Hill series, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace and The Heart of the Amish. She lives in California. Learn more at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com and follow Suzanne on Twitter @suzannewfisher.

Blog Stops

October 18: cherylbbookblog
October 18: Blogging With Carol
October 18: Mary Hake
October 19: Books,Dreams,Life
October 20: D’S QUILTS & BOOKS
October 21: Daysong Reflections
October 22: Back Porch Reads
October 23: Lighthouse Academy
October 23: The Power of Words
October 24: Bigreadersite
October 25: Artistic Nobody
October 25: Donna’s BookShelf
October 26: Pause for Tales
October 26: Bukwurmzzz
October 27: Splashes of Joy
October 27: Bibliophile Reviews 
October 28: ASC Book Reviews
October 28: Vic’s Media Room
October 28: inklings and notions
October 29: Jeanette’s Thoughts
October 30: Book by Book
October 30: Quiet Quilter
October 31: Two Girls and a Book

Giveaway

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To celebrate her tour, Suzanne is giving away a copy of The Devoted and an iPad Mini 2 16GB! Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/a60b

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Time Trap by Danele J. Rotharmel

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About the Book


TimeTrap cover (1)
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When problems arise during a field exam, Director Peter Matthews and Dr. Laura Nelson are sent through a time portal to investigate. While they search for their missing cadets, they encounter an enemy who is calculating and brutal—a mysterious nemesis who is holding a grudge against the TEMCO program. As Peter and Laura race to unravel clues directing them to their kidnapped cadets, their own survival comes into question. A deadly trap has been set, and they are forced to pit their wits against a serial killer who is intent on playing a deadly chess game through time itself. 

My Review:  

WOW! So, when I started this book I though that it was a wee bit confusing. A few chapters later, I was becoming familiar with characters and was sucked into the plot. Chapters later it was so incredible I didn't want to put it down. This book has many characters. Multiple couples and a mystery as well! There are time travel cartages and Cadates in training for time travel, and Time Trapper devices and that is the tip of things. Of course, no one traveling can do the wrong things, or it will set off a Time Tunisia. That is a familiar concept from time travel, and a rather logical one. This one is a bit different, you could meet the younger version of yourself. 

So, while Gil and Dan are having a baby, we have two missing Cadets. Now things pick up like crazy! Someone is targeting Cadets, and or time travel members of this group. (TEMCO)  It shouldn't be someone from the future, but who this could be, an why, it a total mystery. Peter and Laura go to find out why, and now your not going to be able to put this book down during the action and mystery part. A murder is on the loose, traps are set, a mystery to solve, people to protect, relationships falling apart, relationship coming together, and in the middle of all this there are scriptures and lessons to learn. 

This is a long book, and I had not read the first one. That is probably why I was lost at the front, but trust me, this can stand alone. Once it is rolling, the long part is a boon! The characters are very realistic and I love the way they are working to council youth and keep them out of jail in the future, etc... Most of the theology was pretty good, and the scripture and people working on forgiveness was excellent. 

I found a new series, a new author, and I want to read all of them! Totally a 5 star read. 

About the Author
Danele RotharmelDanele Rotharmel grew up with a love of the literary word, and by age five, she knew she wanted to be a writer. However, her life took an unexpected turn when a mysterious illness brought her close to death. Eventually, she learned that a low-level carbon monoxide leak from a faulty furnace in her home was slowly poisoning her. This poisoning triggered severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and partial amnesia.
During this time, the hardest thing she faced was a crisis of faith. She had to quit her job and stop going to church. She couldn’t write, couldn’t drive, and could barely remember who she was. To say she was upset with the Lord was an understatement. She began reexamining her faith in light of her illness, and eventually, she came to the firm conclusion that God is real, God is good, God is interested and involved, and God is trustworthy regardless of tragedy.
When her illness became even more severe, she was put into quarantine and could only talk to friends and extended family through the glass of a window. This quarantine lasted for seven years. During this time, she wrote the first six books in The Time Counselor Chronicles.
Danele currently lives in Colorado where she continues to write. Although her journey back to health was long and difficult, it provided her with the opportunity to grow closer to God and to write her books. For that, she is forever thankful.
You can learn more about Danele by visiting her blog at https://dragonflydanele.wordpress.com/

Guest Post from Danele Rotharmel

I’ve always loved to read, but I hate that horrible moment when a good book comes to an end. It’s torture saying goodbye to characters I’ve come to love. One of the best things about being an author is having control over your own stories. I wrote The Time Counselor Chronicles while I was extremely ill and enduring seven years of quarantine. During that time, I didn’t have control over many aspects of my life, but I did have control over my fictional characters. I found extreme pleasure in the fact that since I was the author, I didn’t have to say goodbye to the TEMCO crew—I could just write them another story.

Time Trap is the second book in my series. It can be read as a sequel to Time Tsunami, or it can stand alone. Time Trap was written for one reason only—I was enjoying myself, and I didn’t want to say goodbye to the people I’d created in Time Tsunami. And that’s why the other books in my series were written as well. By the time I finally sought publication, I’d completed six books. Writing, for me, was an act of pure enjoyment. When I began, I wasn’t thinking about publishers or reading audiences, I was simply thinking about what type of adventure I wanted to write next. My books brought me joy, and that was all that mattered. For years, I didn’t let anyone know I was writing. TEMCO was my personal world—my escape hatch from illness and pain. I was afraid that if I let others into my imaginary world, it would crumble away. As it turned out, the exact opposite was true. Knowing that people were enjoying my stories filled my life with incredible happiness!

I always fill my books with suspense, romance, action, faith, and comedy. I keep them clean, and I work hard to make them full of page-turning fun. Communication is such a wonderful thing. I love that fact that we can relay our ideas, hopes, and dreams to each other. My books are more than just stories, they symbolically chronicle the way I stood up to my illness and fought it. They speak about the value I place on love and friendship. They show that humor can be found even in the midst of great difficulty. And most of all, they demonstrate that a crisis of faith isn’t the end—it’s simply the first step to understanding God on a deeper level. Life isn’t easy, but I’ve learned that even in the middle of tragedy, God is faithful and trustworthy. That’s what each of my characters eventually learn, and that’s what I hope my readers will take away from my books.

Blog Stops

October 6: A readers brain
October 10: CTF devourer
October 12: Pause for Tales
October 13: Blogging With Carol
October 14: Donna’s BookShelf
October 15: Carpe Diem
October 16: Petra’s Hope
October 17: henry happens
October 18: Vic’s Media Room

Giveaway

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To celebrate her tour, Danele is giving away a package that includes an autographed paperback copy of both Time Tsunami and Time Trap, a Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord” journal, a lovely coffee cup, and a 4X4 picture frame. Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/a5da

Monday, October 3, 2016

A Lady Unrivaled by Roseanna M. White

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About the Book





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Amid the Unforgettable Cotswolds, the Final Grasp for the Fire Eyes Diamonds Could Threaten Them All

Lady Ella Myerston can always find a reason to smile–even if it’s just in hope that tomorrow will be better than today. All her life everyone has tried to protect her from the realities of the world, but Ella knows very well how the dangerous Fire Eyes diamonds have haunted her brother and their friends, and she won’t wait for it to strike again. She intends to take action . . . and if that happens to involve an adventurous trip to the Cotswolds, then so much the better.
Lord James Cayton has already broken two hearts, including that of his first wife, who died before he could convince himself to love her. Now he’s determined to live a better life . . . but that proves complicated when old acquaintances pull Cayton into their desperate attempt to seize the jewels. He does his best to remove the intriguing Lady Ella from danger, but the stubborn girl won’t budge. How else can he redeem himself, though, but by saving her–and his daughter–from those intent to destroy them all?

My Review:

The more of Roseanna White's books I read, the more I love them. Ella is doing her best to avoid falling for anyone, much less Lord James Cayton, aka Cayton or Cay. He's broken the hearts of at least two women, one who was his wife. Well, maybe it wasn't exactly that way, but she is deceased and his beyond adorable little girl has taken a deep liking to Ella.

Ella has one solid goal, and I love her steadfastness in working towards that. She has every plan to save the mystery of these missing red diamonds. Yes, RED diamonds. If she can find them, she feels she can free her family from all kinds of things. Will her steadfast comment to this be everyone's undoing?


I like Ella, and Cayton is amazing too. I love his panting skills, and his dedication to his child as best as he can. The cute way they tease each other starting with the color of Ella's hair, and her preferred naming of the color of her hair was so funny!


I connected deeply with the plight of Kira Belova in some ways. I loved that she was a ballerina, a Prima at that. My heart hurt with her over her injury and I felt horrible about her being controlled by the man who was treating her so badly. (That was so well written though!) I could have read an entire book just about her life before this situation.


This was the third and final book in this series and I'm sad it's over. Even so, they were all so very good that I can easily recommend them to anyone. They are best read in order.


My copy came from Celebrate Lit in exchange for my honest review and nothing more.



About the Author:
Roseanna M. White pens her novels beneath her Betsy Ross flag, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two children, editing and designing, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels and novellas, ranging from biblical fiction to American-set romances to Edwardian British romances. She makes her home in the breathtaking mountains of West Virginia. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

Guest Post from Roseanna White

So Very Ella
Back in 2008, I went to my first writers conference, where I met my current best friend and critique partner. I’d been pitching the first book in a series I was rewriting from my childhood, so this was the first project of mine our newly formed critique group did together. Specifically, the third book in the series, which I was then calling Diamond Blaze.
It was about a girl very much like me. Optimistic in the extreme. Always looking for a reason to smile. Her name was Lady Ella Myerston, and though she was the heroine in the third novel in a series—friend to heroine from book 1 and sister of hero in book 2—Ella stood on her own. Or I hoped she did. You see, it’s not very often I try to write a character so much like me, and I wasn’t sure what my new critique partners would think.
I was delighted and relieved when my critters, as I call them, loved her—it felt a little like them loving me. 😉 With Stephanie, that BFF/critique partner, Ella became part of our language. “That’s so Ella” meant “that’s so hopefully and optimistic.” It’s a phrase we used for years, long after that series got shelved and we focused on other projects.
When I finally sold a rewrite of the first book to Bethany House and The Lost Heiress released last September, I was so excited to get to breathe new life into the other books in the series as well. I gave some new twists and turns to Brice’s and Rowena’s story in The Reluctant Duchess, took it to new depths, but it was still largely the story I’d first written seven years before.
Ella’s story, though . . . we eventually settled on the title A Lady Unrivaled, but it was the hardest one in the series for us to name. And writing! Ella’s story didn’t work anymore as I’d had it. I had to toss out the entire thing and start fresh, with a new premise and new plot. But Ella—Ella had to remain Ella. I learned more about her as I rewrote the series, of course, and I added a few things not like me, naturally. But Ella still seeks a reason to smile, always. She still believes in hope, in every situation. And her knack for misplacing things—herself included—might be borrowed (and exaggerated) from my remarkable ability to lose things that I sat down right there two minutes ago.
Ella got new adventures, new goals, new excitement in her life—but she’s still the Ella I got to know all those years ago. And her hero, Cayton, is still the sometimes surly, too-realistic, very different-from-Ella man he has to be to counteract her.
My editor, in her notes to me, said, “Cayton and Ella are so very different. In a way, you wonder how they’ll make it work. And yet you can’t help think they will, and want them to.”
The love story in this book is partly mine, too. Because though on the surface my husband isn’t much like Cayton, in the ways that matters, he is. He’s my opposite, but my perfect complement. He doesn’t always see the bright side I cling to, but he’d never ask me not to cling on anyway. We view the world very differently—and can face it because we’re together.
I love all my books, all my characters. But A Lady Unrivaled . . . well, it’s just so very Ella. I hope you love it just a fraction as much as I do!

Blog Stops

September 22: 100 pages per hour
September 22: Smiling Book Reviews
September 23: Book by Book
September 23: Bibliophile Reviews
September 24: bigreadersite
September 24: Jeanette’s Thoughts
September 25: The Power of Words
September 25: Pause for Tales
September 26: Reading Is My SuperPower
September 26: Faithfully Bookish
September 27: Back Porch Reads
September 28: cherylbbookblog
September 28: D’S QUILTS & BOOKS
September 29: Blossoms and Blessings
September 29: Heidi Reads…
September 30: The Scribbler
September 30: Karen’s Krayons
October 3: Colonial Quills
October 3: Blogging With Carol
October 5: Books and Beverages

Giveaway

I’m giving away a complete set of the Ladies of the Manor Series PLUS a special surprise straight from England! (US addresses only for paperbacks; an international winner is eligible for digital gifts, though!)