Book Review *& Giveaway: Moving In, Tales of an Unlicensed Marriage

*** Product was received for free in exchange for an honest review. ***

Let’s get personal! There’s a lot of talk about marriage these days. And about who should and should not be doing it.  NY Times best-selling author Bruce Littlefield's latest book, MOVING IN: Tales of an Unlicensed Marriage, is a comedic exposé on relationships and that bonding experience - home renovation.

As they say, marriage may be made in heaven, but so is thunder, lightning and hail.

This marital story shows that, no matter same or opposite gender, there’s one in every couple who likes to make things look pretty and one who’ll walk across a newly cleaned kitchen floor in muddy shoes to see the results. MOVING IN features the tale of Bruce and Scott’s freshman year of happy homemaking, fixing up a historical old house.

Check out Bruce's website! http://www.brucelittlefield.com/
Keep up with Bruce on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bruceilla
Buy Moving In: Moving In - Amazon

And now onto the fun stuff! 

GIVEAWAY!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Our Thoughts:
My husband and I are seasoned renovators living in (and renovating) a 1901 house and I love to read, watch, or just talk about renovating!  Especially old houses.  So when the chance to review Moving In came up, I jumped on it because frankly it sounded hilarious.  And I wasn't disappointed!

Moving In isn't just about renovating and the things that go wrong (and right!) but the trials it puts on relationships. Bruce and Scott have a lot of arguments through the renovation process but come out just as committed, if not stronger.  I really enjoyed all the tales - getting to the house with the U-Haul, the hot tub, the pergola, the wild animals, the antique stove, the bees in the kitchen, the terrible roofers, the garage sales, and all the gardening.  My husband and I both grew up out in the country and are no strangers to the wild animal adventures. We both long to get back out there and this book just fuels my imagination about finding another old house (preferably Victorian) to restore - although my husband would prefer we build new!  I also enjoyed reading about Jasper, because I have a special love for dogs.

While I laughed my way through this book, I really appreciated the last chapter, The Gift.  Bruce recalls meeting the original matriarch of the place and was able to show her what it looks like now, while she was able to show him with pictures, brochures, and post cards what it looked like when she and her husband ran it as a resort.  We got to have a similar experience; back in 1997 when we completely gutted the kitchen - the first time - one of our neighbors, who has lived next door for many decades, brought us a surprise: an elderly lady that had grown up in our house, who saw all the big orange renovation permit signs in the windows and was curious to see what was going on.  They came over and we gave a tour of the house. She described to us how it looked when she was there; which was vastly different (and certainly explained some oddities of the house!) from the many changes that had taken place in between her family leaving, others moving in and changing things, and us now. I wish she could see it now; we've done a lot more to it since then! 

I enjoyed Bruce's writing style so much I am really looking forward to getting more of his books, especially his new one in the works, and one that is already available, The Bedtime Book for Dogs.

*** Please note that I received no form of monetary compensation for this post. Please note New Age Mama is not responsible for the delivery of this prize and cannot be held accountable if, for any reason, it is not received. Furthermore, New Age Mama is in no way liable for any injuries that may result from the use or misuse of this product. ***