A big family, a reading addiction, and the occasional celebrity scandal are the ingredients of life that create one woman's opinion on just about everything.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Dearly Beloved

Yes, once again I'm marrying someone. As God is my witness I think I feel as nervous as the bride and groom. Almost.

Beach themed wedding this time so I will be making lots of analogies to nature and storms and currents... And, of course, that potent little word L-O-V-E.

For now I'm off to eat tacos and maybe indulge in a margarita with that fabulous guy I live with, GG.

Thought for today... There's something grand about being married to someone and still feeling surprised and interested after 30 years. Wish I could somehow share that with my newly weds.






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Friday, August 20, 2010

Who's Reading

and what are you reading?

I've had a busy streak again and haven't had the time I'd like to read. C'mon share. Give me a vicarious thrill.

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Monday, August 16, 2010

I was in the mood for this...

Too bad the guy who recorded this had to sing-along. I hadn't heard this one and fell in love with it today. Look at these awesome lyrics!

There's a wonderful world where all you desire
And everything you've longed for is at your fingertips
Where the bittersweet taste of life is at your lips
Where aisles and aisles of dreams await you
And the cool promise of ecstasy fills the air
At the end of each working day she's waiting there

I'm in love with the Queen of the Supermarket
As the evening sky turns blue
A dream awaits in aisle number two

With my shopping cart I move through the heart
Of a sea of fools so blissfully unaware
That they're in the presence of something wonderful and rare
The way she moves behind the counter
Beneath her white apron her secret remains hers
As she bags the groceries her eyes so bored
And sure she's unobserved

I'm in love with the Queen of the Supermarket
There's nothing I can say
Each night I take my groceries and I drift away
And I drift away

Guidance from the gods above
At night I pray for the strength to tell her
When I love I love I love I love her so
Take my place in the check-out line
For one moment her eyes meet mine
I'm lifted up, lifted up, lifted up, lifted up

I'm in love with the Queen of the Supermarket
Though her company cap covers her hair
Nothing can hide the beauty waiting there
The beauty waiting there

I'm in love with the Queen of the Supermarket
I'm in love with the Queen of the Supermarket

As I lift my groceries in to my car
I turn back for a moment and catch a smile
That blows this whole fucking place apart

I'm in love with the Queen of the Supermarket
I'm in love with the Queen of the Supermarket
I'm in love with the Queen of the Supermarket
I'm in love with the Queen of the Supermarket






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Thursday, August 12, 2010

W-O-M-A-N

Are women too hard on one another? Judge-y? I'm talking about it today over at Reader's Gab at Access Romance.

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Monday, August 09, 2010

July 2010

After months of not getting my lists out on time I planned to have this one post while I was at RWA. What can I say, I'm a planner. Having been to the conference before, I was fairly confident I wouldn't have any books to add to the month of July. Unbelievably, I finished a book on the plane to Florida. Crazy, huh?

Like the month of June, I don't have many books here, only seven. July like June was incredibly busy at work and the fatigue factor made reading a slow process. Plus I was blogging and blog hopping more, and that always has an impact on my reading.

With fewer books, I have longer review-blurbs. It's a curse. A woman of few words I am not.

WELCOME TO HARMONY by Jodi Thomas
The first book of what appears to be the Harmony books, WELCOME TO HARMONY introduces us to the town, and our narrator from whose POV we view much of what's happening. Sixteen-year-old Megan climbs on a bus and heads to Harmony, Texas, with little money. She does, however, have the many stories told to her about Harmony by Miss Beverly. The two became fast friends while Megan worked in the nursing home where Ms. Beverly lived.

This story focuses on Alex McAllen the town sheriff who continues to be tortured by her brother's brutal murder and the volunteer fire chief Hank Matheson. Hank not only happens to be in love with Alex, but he was also her brother's best friend.

This is Ms. Thomas at her best. I'm already buying copies and giving them away to friends. I can't wait for the next book.
My Grade = A

LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON by Lisa Kleypas
Fifth and final book of the Hathaway series. This is the youngest Hathaway sibling, Beatrix's book. Bea finds herself falling in love with Christopher Phelan via his letters. Letter that were written to Bea's flirty and shallow friend Prudence. If Pru won't answer his letters, Bea simply must.

This was an enjoyable addition and final installment to this series.
My Grade = B

WELCOME HOME, COWBOY by Karen Templeton
Ms. Templeton continues to amaze me with how much power she can pack into a category romance. This Silhouette Special Edition (#2064 July 2010) was wonderful, and a top notch addition to her Wed in the West series.

Here we find country music star Cash Cochran returning home to face some demons. He arrives at his family ranch to find his best friend's pregnant widow in residence.
My Grade = B

THE TEMPORARY WIFE by Mary Balogh
Reviewed here.
My Grade = A

BONDS OF JUSTICE by Nalini Singh
While I like the H/H in this story very much. I really felt this book was a catalyst and excellent pre-shadowing for the rest of the series. Don't mistake me, Max and Sophie are powerhouses in their own right and very unique, but I really felt like there was a lot with the "world" in which they lived was set up for future stories.

Second, it was nice to have a break from the shifters (changelings) having the center stage. With the next book being Indigo's we will be back in the thick of things with the wolf pack.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is one of the most solid and enjoyable series I've read. Ms. Singh continues to grow, change and build her world.
My Grade = B+

MISSING by Shiloh Walker
One of the highlights of last year's RWA conference in Washington DC was meeting the author Shiloh Walker. Back in 2003 when I first began finding other romance readers online, I frequented Lora Leigh's forum which Ms. Walker frequented. As it sometimes happens, I felt a little like I "knew" her when we actually met. She's a very nice lady and was part of a fun evening of readers and writers I had the good fortune to be a part of in DC.

This year I had the good fortune to have a wonderful, if brief, conversation with Ms. Walker about BROKEN and FRAGILE at the Literacy signing. That was so much fun!


It so happens, I'm a fan of her work. I've read all of her HUNTER series, and more recently the aforementioned BROKEN AND FRAGILE. Back to back and out of order I read them, but it didn't hurt my enjoyment of the books a bit. Anyway, I always have her on my radar for new releases and was very much looking forward to MISSING.

The characters she creates are Ms. Walker's strength. Cullen and Taige are no exception. Fascinating and intense, I wanted them in every scene, word, and page. The plot is not a new one, at least for me it wasn't. Competent to be sure, but it was all about the characters' personal journey in MISSING.
My Grade = B+

LADY ISABELLA'S SCANDALOUS MARRIAGE by Jennifer Ashley
This is the second book in the MacKenzie quartet. While characters from its predecessor THE MADNESS OF LORD IAN MACKENZIE appear in this book, the story isn't dependent on what's happened previously and I think could be easily read as a stand alone or out of order. Of course, once you read about the MacKenzies, you'll want to read the other books.

In this book we have Roland (Mac) MacKenzie a talented artist and notorious scoundrel who, years previous to the story taking place, married Lady Isabella Scranton within hours of meeting her. Now, once again residing in the same city, Isabella breaks her silence with Mac to let him know she believes his paintings are being forged.

I really liked the way the history of the couple unfolded with snippets from gossip rags at the beginning of each chapter and then in the character's own recollections in the present with the distance of their past behavior to look back on with a different and more mature eye.

It's not often we read about a separated couple who both admit to loving one another, but are sadly unable to find a way to live together. I don't think I've read a better example of that than in this story.

A very good read, even on an airplane.
My Grade = B+

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Friday, August 06, 2010

Final Thoughts - RWA

I'm home. I'm back in my routine and have had the last five days to sort through another whirlwind trip to RWA.

Each time I've gone to the conference the night before I leave, as I finish packing for the trip, I'm always swamped with anxiety. Why am I going? Does anyone REALLY care that I'm there? Will anyone remember me? True story, just ask GG.

As has been discussed on many other blogs and forums in the past, there are both pros and cons to attending this national conference for romance writers. However, at the end of the day, for a person who does not intend to write a book, like myself, one has to decide why they would use their vacation time, money and make all that effort into going to this (or any other) conference.

More and more each year it becomes about seeing friends. Each time I've gone I've met more readers and made more friends in the romance reading world, with a few authors too. This year was no exception.

Five years ago this week (August 4, 2005) I began this little blog. If you would have told me then that I would attend an RWA conference, let alone three of them now, or that I would be making the friends I have and meeting up with a blogging group several times a year, I would NEVER have believed it. Yet here I am... Surreal doesn't even begin to cover it.

So, final impressions and thoughts of Orlando?

Sultry, swamping heat

Sherry Thomas asking me to talk to a lady at her table at the Literacy Signing about how fantastic HIS AT NIGHT is. Who knew people came to shop at the literacy signing?

Some of the most amazing FMPs I've ever seen on women of all sizes and ages.

Kristie(j)'s laugh. Especially when she's making reading lists for SL Wendy.

Chicken, chicken and more...chicken.

LB Gregg in her writing sweater, propped up in bed, munching fruit, hunched over her laptop and muttering, "But what's it about????"

Women--authors, readers, bloggers all gathered at the Cabana Bar talking about books and men.

Women shaking hands and introducing themselves.

Everything you have ever heard about how nice author Jill Shalvis is? So true! Such a nice, nice lady. She's the one person I kept running into everywhere at the conference and then on the plane coming home.

Photo booth on the Boardwalk.

SL Wendy's blue dress for the RITA dinner.

Sharing anecdotes and book commentary with Aztec Lady at RITAs and weeping together at some of the acceptance speeches.

Dancing with LB at the Harlequin party. We'll always have Orlando, and DC, and San Francisco...

Drinks in the Swan Lobby and almost every other watering hole on the property.

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