Happy Sunday! I recently learned that my city in Australia, Canberra, has been declared an international tree city of the world, joining 138 cities around the world that have been recognised for their leadership in managing urban trees. The cities that have been recognised are spread across 21 countries, including the cities of Toronto, Auckland, Wellington, Stockholm, and Sheffield in England. 37 cities in the USA are on the list, including NYC, Boise, Fort Lauderdale, and Phoenix. Is your city on the list? Has you your town or city been recognised for an award?
Winners this Week
If you’re a winner, you should have received an email from the author in charge of the giveaway. If not, please email us at: prizes at inspyromance dot com.
Toni Shiloh’s winner is Lori Smanski!
Valerie Bodden’s winner is Shirley Strait!
Congratulations!
Don’t forget… every comment you make qualifies you to win one of the monthly Amazon card giveaways!
Reader Gathering
Did you know Inspy Romance hosts a Christian Romance Reader Gathering group on Facebook? I (Narelle) will be your host this week, so come on over…but don’t forget to answer the questions for admittance!
StoryChats @ InspyRomance
Story Chats releases an all-new episode every Friday. This week, I (Narelle) was in the hot seat and chatted with Elizabeth and Valerie about my rerelease, Her Tycoon Hero, on Episode 71. You won’t want to miss it!
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Last Week on Inspy Romance
On Monday, Elizabeth Maddrey talked about Best Friends in Love
On Tuesday, Toni Shiloh shared about The Not-So Glamorous Life
On Wednesday, Amy R. Anguish discussed a Time to Love
On Thursday, Valerie Comer talked about The Five-Year-Old
On Friday, Sarah Monzon discussed Tropes in Fiction and Real Life
On Saturday, Lindi Peterson shared why It Makes Sense + #giveaway
Next Week on Inspy Romance
Monday: Shannon Taylor Vannatter
Tuesday: Meghann Whistler (Appreciating Angst)
Wednesday: K. Leah (Bookaversaries, Celebrations + #Giveaway)
Thursday: Angela Ruth Strong
Friday: Julie Carobini
Saturday: Jan Thompson (Books Featuring Asian American Main Characters #AsianAmericanPacificIslanderMonth)
New Releases
May 2022
A Wide and Pleasant Place (Farm Fresh Market Romance 1) by Valerie Comer
Big Apple Atonement (Original Six Hockey Romance 5) by Carolyn Miller
From Shore to Shore (Independence Islands 23) by Tabitha Bouldin
Pray for Me (Vacation Sweethearts 5) by Jan Thompson
April 2022
Olive (Rainbow Falls 2) by Heather Gray
Songs of Home (River Falls 2) by Valerie M. Bodden
The 80s Rom-Com Club Collection by Teresa Tysinger, Jaycee Weaver, and others
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A fun loving Aussie girl at heart, Narelle Atkins was born and raised on the beautiful northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. She has settled in Canberra with her husband and children. A lifelong romance reader, she found the perfect genre to write when she discovered inspirational romance. Narelle's contemporary stories of faith and romance are set in Australia and international locations.
I notice 4 of Australia’s are suburbs of Adelaide (all very close together) .
My town has won tidiest town in Australia a couple of times but is more know as being on the world heritage list for the famous Naracoorte Caves.
That is lovely! We need our trees to help us all breathe. Congratulations Canberra.
Hi Jenny, How fun that a few of the places recognised are in Adelaide. The tidy town awards are great, and I’d love to visit the famous caves in your part of the world one day. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Malvina, I will admit I was a little bit surprised. I don’t know if our lovely Arboretum counts (being on the outer suburban fringe) and we lost kilometres of established trees a few years ago when they constructed the light rail along the middle of Northbourne Ave heading into the city. The tree planting program we have here is a great initiative. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Interesting the US cities on the list. Many in the Midwest are suburbs of large metropolitan areas. Areas were trees were removed for Urban expansion – for example Carmel, Indiana. Thanks for sharing, Narelle Atkins. Congrats to your Australian community.
Thank you. Happy Sunday. I look forward to hearing from Toni Shiloh
Mine isn’t on the list, but Florida does have quite a few places recognized!
I live in rural WV with an abundance of trees.
Loving the whole idea of tree cities.
Cool list! According to that, Portland OR (about a 2 hr drive North from me) has been recognized for three years (yay!): 8830 trees planted by 5725 volunteers. I did know that our state does a lot of replanting or reforesting, but I didn’t realize it was a “thing” nationally or internationally recognized :-) Very awesome!
I’m so happy to be back and participating on the blog after a very refreshing eight day vacation with my husband! Our 25th anniversary was in April, but we weren’t able to make anything happen until last week with his work schedule. It was super nice to re-connect as a couple and just spend time doing what we love doing best, traveling & exploring new places. Got lots of wonderful pictures of us and the area we stayed at…Orcas Island WA with a ferry trip over for the day on Friday Harbor WA. What beautiful weather we had and just such a fun time together. Hope to do that again next year! :-)
Happy Sunday IR community!
Happy Sunday
Hi Renate, You’re very welcome. It’s good to see that there are many cities replanting trees that were removed for urban expansion. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Lori, I’m sure you’ll hear from Toni soon. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Trudy, It’s great to hear there are places in your state on the list. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Lucy, Enjoy all your beautiful trees in WV. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Mary, It’s a fun concept. When we had heatwaves a few years ago, there were suburbs in western Sydney breaking heat records. At the time, some of the scientists suggested that too much concrete and a lack of trees, lawn etc. was a likely reason for why it was so hot. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi Trixi, It is a cool list, for sure. I’m so glad you could take a lovely vacation in WA with beautiful weather to celebrate your 25th anniversary. Thanks for commenting. 😊
Hi bn100, thank you! 😊
Congrats!! Our town has been in a lot of movies for Christmas & that season even made in summer.
I would happily show you the caves its been awhile since I last went down one.
Hi Narelle! That’s such a cool list! And a gorgeous picture! I loved finding out different districts from my city on that list. :)
Hope you’re having a great week. :)
Hi Amy, How fun that your town is a Christmas movie setting! Thanks for commenting. 😊
That would be fun! 😊
Hi Priscila, I’m glad there are areas in your city on the list! Enjoy your week and thanks for commenting. 😊