Dreaming in Fiction

2010-10-02T00:36:00.004-04:00

Books read so far in 2010:

Must Love Mistletoe by Christie Ridgway - 2 stars

Not Another New Year's by Christie Ridgway - 2.5 stars

The Perfect Christmas by Debbie Macomber - 4 stars

Can This Be Christmas by Debbie Macomber - 5 stars

Return to Promise by Debbie Macomber - 4 stars

Mail-Order Bride by Debbie Macomber - 3.5 stars

Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber - 3 stars

The Christmas Basket by Debbie Macomber - 4 stars

The Snow Bride by Debbie Macomber - 4 stars

The Lover's Knot by Clare O'Donohue - 4.5 stars

Secret Vampire by L.J. Smith - 5 stars

Daughters of Darkness by L.J. Smith - 3 stars

Spellbinder by L.J. Smith - 4.5 stars

Ghost a la Mode by Sue Ann Jaffarian - 5 stars

The Inn at Eagle Point by Sherryl Woods - 5 stars

Killer Crab Cakes by Livia J. Washburn - 4.5 stars

Apple Turnover Murder by Joanne Fluke - 4.5 stars

A Mother for the Tycoon's Child by Patricia Thayer - 4 stars

Case File: Canyon Creek, Wyoming by Paula Graves - 4 stars

A Man She Couldn't Forget by Kathryn Shay - 4.5 stars

Wedding Bells at Wandering Creek Ranch by Patricia Thayer - 5 stars

Brady: The Rebel Rancher by Patricia Thayer - 4.5 stars

I Scream, You Scream by Wendy Lyn Watson - 4.5 stars

Never Say Goodbye by Irene Hannon - 5 stars

Crossroads by Irene Hannon - 4.5 stars

Millionaire Dad, Nanny Needed by Susan Meier - 4 stars

The Bridegroom's Secret by Melissa James - 3.5 stars

A Drunkard's Path by Clare O'Donohue - 4.5 stars

The Proof is in the Pudding by Melinda Wells - 4.5 stars

Vanished by Margaret Daley - 4.5 stars

What the Lady Wants by Jennifer Crusie - 4 stars

The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie - 4 stars

Coming Home to the Cowboy by Patricia Thayer - 4.5 stars

Out of Body by Stella Cameron - 3 stars

Whiskey on the Rocks by Nina Wright - 0.5 star

April in Bloom by Annie Jones - 4 stars

Among the Tulips by Cheryl Wolverton - 4 stars

In His Sights by Carol Steward - 2.5 stars

Four Little Blessings by Merrillee Whren - 5 stars

Beg for Mercy by Toni Andrews - 5 stars

Heatwave by Richard Castle - 3.5 stars

Heaven Sent by Jillian Hart - 4 stars

Dark Angel by L.J. Smith - 4.5 stars

Sprinkle with Murder by Jenn McKinlay - 5 stars

The Chosen by L.J. Smith - 3.5 stars

All She Ever Wanted by Barbara Freethy - 4.5 stars

Soulmate by L.J. Smith - 4 stars

The Sweetheart's Knitting Club by Lori Wilde - 4.5 stars

Double Minds by Terri Blackstock - 5 stars

Down River by Karen Harper - 4.5 stars

Stuck on Murder by Lucy Lawrence - 4 stars

Sew Deadly by Elizabeth Lynn Casey - 4.5 stars

The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse by Leann Sweeney - 3.5 stars

Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck - 4 stars

The Diva Takes the Cake by Krista Davis - 4 stars

Dropped Dead Stitch by Maggie Sefton - 5 stars

Tressed to Kill by Lila Dare - 4 stars

Dead and Kicking by Wendy Roberts - 4.5 stars

How to Wash a Cat by Rebecca M. Hale - 0.5 star

Death Threads by Elizabeth Lynn Casey - 5 stars

Fatal Fixer-Upper by Jennie Bentley - 4 stars

Dead Girls are Easy by Terri Garey - 4 stars

Cut to the Corpse by Lucy Lawrence - 4 stars

I'm the Vampire That's Why by Michele Bardsley - 3 stars

Dead Air by Mary Kennedy - 3.5 stars

Since You're Leaving Anyway, Take Out the Trash by Dixie Cash - 4 stars

The Diva Paints the Town by Krista Davis - 4.5 stars

The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene - 4 stars

2010-09-29T00:20:00.005-04:00

What I read in 2009:

Santa Baby by Lisa Jackson, Elaine Coffman, Kylie Adams and Lisa Plumley - 3.5 stars

Double Threat Christmas by Terri Reed - 3 stars

Eclipse (Twilight Saga, book 3) by Stephenie Meyer - 4.5 stars

Single Mom Seeks.... by Teresa Hill - 3.5 stars

Her One and Only Valentine by Trish Wylie - 3.5 stars

Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton - 1.5 stars

Falling for the M.D. (Wilder Family, book 1) by Marie Ferrarella - 4 stars

First Time Valentine (Wilder Family, book 2) by Mary J. Forbes - 4.5 stars

Paging Dr. Daddy (Wilder Family, book 3) by Teresa Southwick - 4.5 stars

Baby Twins, Parents Needed by Teresa Carpenter - 4 stars

Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga, book 4) by Stephenie Meyer - 4 stars

Once Upon a Pregnancy (Wilder Family, book 4) by Judy Duarte - 4 stars

Her Mr. Right (Wilder Family, book 5) by Karen Rose Smith - 4.5 stars

A Merger... Or Marriage? (Wilder Family, book 6) by Raeanne Thayne - 4.5 stars

Some Like it Hot Buttered by Jeffrey Cohen - 2 stars

The Mournful Teddy by John J. Lamb - 3.5 stars

Winning the Single Mom's Heart by Linda Goodnight - 4 stars

The Rancher's Doorstep Baby by Patricia Thayer - 4.5 stars

Her Baby, His Proposal by Teresa Carpenter - 4.5 stars

A Mother in a Million by Melissa James - 3 stars

Having Justin's Baby by Pamela Bauer - 4 stars

Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris - 3 stars

Sweetheart Lost and Found by Shirley Jump - 4 stars

The Heir's Convenient Wife by Myrna Mackenzie - 3.5 stars

SOS Marry Me! by Melissa McClone - 4.5 stars

All That Matters by Stef Ann Holm - 4.5 stars

Lavender Morning by Jude Deveraux - 4.5 stars

Death in Daytime by Eileen Davidson - 4.5 stars

Your Planet or Mine? by Susan Grant - 1 star

A Date with the Other Side by Erin McCarthy - 3 stars

Heiress for Hire by Erin McCarthy - 3.5 stars

How to Murder a Millionaire by Nancy Martin - 2.5 stars

The Sacrifice by Beverly Lewis - 4 stars

Naughty Neighbor by Janet Evanovich - 4 stars

The McCafferty's: Thorne by Lisa Jackson - 4 stars

A Peach of a Murder by Livia J. Washburn - 4 stars

Murder by the Slice by Livia J. Washburn - 4 stars

A Murderous Glaze by Melissa Glazer - 1 star

Cooking Up Murder by Miranda Bliss - 4 stars

The Shack by William P. Young - 4.5 stars

Vision in White (Bride Quartet, book 1) by Nora Roberts - 4 stars

Wanted Man by Ellen Hartman - 4 stars

Hot Case by Patricia Rosemoor - 4 stars

Dial Emmy for Murder by Eileen Davidson - 5 stars

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen - 3.5 stars

The Single Dad's Patchwork Family by Claire Baxter - 3.5 stars

I'll Love You Till I Die by Meg O'Brien - 2.5 stars

Permed to Death by Nancy J. Cohen - 3.5 stars

The Bridesmaid's Best Man by Barbara Hannay - 4 stars

A Slice of Murder by Chris Cavender - 3.5 stars

Texas Ranger Takes a Bride by Patricia Thayer - 5 stars

The Italian's Cinderella Bride by Lucy Gordon - 3 stars

Caring for His Baby by Caroline Anderson - 4 stars

Candy Apple Red by Nancy Bush - 3.5 stars

Hounding the Pavement by Judi McCoy - 5 stars

Asking for Trouble by Millie Criswell - 4 stars

Killer Mousse by Melinda Wells - 5 stars

Cattle Rancher, Secret Son by Margaret Way - 3 stars

Coming Home to the Cattleman by Judy Christenberry - 4.5 stars

Adopted: Outback Baby by Barbara Hannay - 3.5 stars

Expected a Miracle by Jackie Braun - 5 stars

The Millionaire's Nanny Arrangement by Linda Goodnight - 4 stars

A Total Waste of Makeup by Kim Gruenenfelder - 2 stars

Gotcha! by Christie Craig - 5 stars

Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell - 4 stars

Dying to Sell by Maggie Sefton - 3.5 stars

Chicks with Sticks by Elizabeth Lenhard - 3.5 stars

Married to the Mob by Ginny Aiken - 4 stars

Devil May Ride by Wendy Roberts - 4.5 stars

Dead Over Heels by MaryJanice Davidson - 3 stars

Love You Madly by Linda Palmer - 3.5 stars

Death Takes the Cake by Melinda Wells - 4 stars

Mistaken for the Mob by Ginny Aiken - 4 stars

Mixed Up with the Mob by Ginny Aiken - 3.5 stars

Cream Puff Murder by Joanne Fluke - 4.5 stars

Sleeping with the Fishes by MaryJanice Davidson - 3 stars

The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis - 5 stars

Dyer Consequences by Maggie Sefton - 5 stars

Kiss and Tell by Suzanne Brockmann - 5 stars

The Kissing Game by Suzanne Brockmann - 4 stars

Otherwise Engaged by Suzanne Brockmann - 5 stars

Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke - 5 stars

Home in Time For Christmas by Heather Graham - 4.5 stars

A Dog Named Christmas by Greg Kincaid - 4 stars

Fleece Navidad by Maggie Sefton - 4.5 stars

Delivered by Christmas by Linda Howard, Joan Hohl and Sandra Steffen - 3 stars

The Christmas Cookie Killer by Livia J. Washburn - 4.5 stars

2009-02-11T23:10:00.003-05:00

I'm being a bad blogger again! Well the last time I had a perfectly good excuse lol I had no internet where I was living for 8 months. But this time, I have my laptop and no excuses lol.

This is what I read the rest of 2008: (I will do proper updates soon)

His Mistletoe Bride by Cara Colter
Silver Bells by Fern Michaels & 3 other authors
Wanted: Christmas Mommy by Judy Christenberry
A Stone Creek Christmas by Linda Lael Miller

2008-12-04T23:58:00.002-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 56
Book From: Own
Date Started: 12/03/08
Date Finished: 12/04/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Judy Christenberry
Title: Cinderella and the Cowboy
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 256

My Comments:
I loved the 2 holiday books I read by this author last Christmas season, and I'm happy to say that I was not disappointed this year either!

Her characters really come alive on the pages... She draws you into their world and you become so caught up in their emotions and relationships. :)

I cant wait to read more of her books soon!

Description from the publisher:
The hardheaded, dyed-in-the-wool cowboy had been called many things…but could he ever be called husband and daddy?

With her newborn and toddler in tow, struggling widow Elizabeth Ransom stepped onto the Ransom Ranch looking for the family she'd never had. Luckily the children's grandfather welcomed them with open arms. But it was the blue-eyed ranch manager whom Elizabeth dreamed of….

Jack Clayton had to leave now that the Oklahoma ranch was no longer for sale. But the lovely Elizabeth would be tough to walk away from….

2008-12-03T23:31:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 55
Book From: Own
Date Started: 11/30/08
Date Finished: 12/03/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Marin Thomas
Title: The Cowboy and the Angel
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 210

My Comments:
Oh wow... This was truly an amazing story full of romance and emotions along with holiday spirit.

Reminded me of a made for TV holiday movie. Sure wish it was!! I could see a few of my favorite soap stars playing the parts. ;)

I'm looking forward to her next book due out in April 2009. :)

Description from the publisher:
Renée Sweeney will do whatever it takes to keep a roof over the heads of Detroit's street kids. Even if it means stepping in front of a ten-ton wrecking ball aimed at their temporary home. And especially if it means clashing with gorgeous corporate cowboy Duke Dalton.

To Duke, the blue-eyed blonde seems more like an angel than a social worker. Until he discovers a group of runaways camping out in his warehouse! The Tulsa businessman came to set up shop in a new town, not provide free housing for the masses. But Renée and the kids are making him rethink his bottom line…and what the spirit of the Christmas season really means.

Now this cowboy Santa is looking to give Renée—and her young charges—a gift straight from his heart!

2008-11-30T23:17:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 54
Book From: Library
Date Started: 11/26/08
Date Finished: 11/30/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Cynthia Reese
Title: The Baby Wait
Series: Harlequin Superromance (Suddenly a Parent)
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 275

My Comments:
I had a hard time getting into this story at first, the writing seemed a bit jumpy to me... And the story was much heavier than I thought it would be for a Harlequin Superromance. But I loved Sara and Joe right away and I enjoyed watching their story unfold. And I cried with them at every setback.

This story really made me think about what couples must go through to geth their babies when they adopt from from China. Sure does make them special to go all the way accross the planet for these beautiful babies. :)

Description from the publisher:
Sarah Tennyson has it all planned. In two months she'll travel to China to adopt the beautiful baby girl she's always wanted. Even after a mountain of setbacks, she has the faith that one day she'll hold her daughter. But that's before the man she loves starts to doubt….

Joe is Mr. Fix-It. The only thing he can't do is get Sarah her baby. Now, after all the disappointment they've faced, he's begun to wonder if their little family was really meant to be.

Sarah can't give up her dream, but what if waiting for her baby means losing Joe?

2008-11-25T22:49:00.002-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 53
Book From: Own
Date Started: 11/24/08
Date Finished: 11/25/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Janet Evanovich
Title: Foul Play
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 228

My Comments:
I so love her cute little romances! My friend Kym and I decided we would read more of them together really soon. :)

Her humor is just so real.. And it strikes your funny bone over and over, all through the stories.

I thought the ending was rather abrupt though.. It could have been a little longer of a story and probably would have gotten a 5 star rating from me instead of a 4. But doesn't matter.. I still can't wait to read the next one!

Description from the publisher:
When Amy Klasse loses her TV job to a dancing chicken, handsome veterinarian Jake Elliott rescues her with an offer to be his receptionist. Jake just can't resist a damsel in distress, and Amy certainly doesn't mind Jake's charming sincerity.

Then, the job-stealing chicken suddenly disappears and Amy is suspected of foul play. Amy and Jake search for clues to prove her innocence. But will Jake be able to show Amy that love, too, is a mystery worth solving?

2008-11-23T20:32:00.001-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 52
Book From: Library
Date Started: 11/19/08
Date Finished: 11/23/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Susan Mallery
Title: Sweet Talk
Series: 1st in Keyes Sisters Bakery series
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 370

My Comments:
I really enjoyed these cute characters and I look forward to reading Nicole and Jesse's stories as well.

I felt a lot of this story was solved too quickly and wrapped up tight with a little pink bow. But I still enjoyed the story and fell in love with little Amy... I hope we get to read more about her in the next 2 books as well.

I could also hear Claire playing the piano in my mind while reading.. Was a nice touch to the story. :)

Description from the publisher:
Don't ask Claire Keyes. The twenty-eight-year-old piano prodigy has never had a regular boyfriend, much less a real romance. Her music career has left little room for friends or family—which is just part of the reason she hasn't seen the family bakery or her two sisters in years.
But now Nicole is sick, and Jesse is AWOL. Despite the fact that Claire can't boil water, she's determined to play caretaker. Connecting with her sisters tops her to-do list…along with falling in love, or at least in lust, for the first time.
Ruggedly sexy Wyatt just might fit the bill. Although he keeps saying that he and Claire come from entirely different worlds, he lights up hotter than a bakery oven whenever Claire is near. If this keeps up, she just might sweet—talk him into her bed…and her life.

2008-11-18T23:46:00.005-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 51
Book From: Library
Date Started: 11/10/08
Date Finished: 11/18/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Stephenie Meyer
Title: New Moon
Series: Twilight Saga, book 2
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 563

My Comments:
I was not as over-the-top-thrilled with this second book as I was with the first. But I still really loved it.. If that makes sense? ;)

I've never been so emotional over a book that I cried so hard even after I put it down! What a powerful beginning.. And I felt Bella's pain all through the story.

I'm a little unhappy about some of the outcome.. But thrilled about the main outcome! :)

For a young adult book I'm finding this story to be pretty heavy on my emotions, so I think I need a little bit longer of a break between them this time... However on the other hand, I'm still really looking forward to reading the next book!

Memorable Quotes:
"Before you, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars - points of light and reason. ...And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything."

Description from the publisher:
Legions of readers entranced by Twilight are hungry for more and they won't be disappointed. In New Moon, Stephenie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural twist. The "star-crossed" lovers theme continues as Bella and Edward find themselves facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest in Forks, a terrifying threat of revenge from a female vampire and a deliciously sinister encounter with Italy's reigning royal family of vampires, the Volturi. Passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.

2008-11-08T23:32:00.001-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 50
Book From: Library
Date Started: 11/3/08
Date Finished: 11/8/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Leslie Meier
Title: Trick or Treat Murder
Series: 3rd in Lucy Stone series
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 245

My Comments:
I adore this series. :) I love the family and always look forward to reading more.

I noticed a change in the character of Lucy's husband Bill in this story.. He seemed less "grumpy". I liked it, but also liked the edge he had in the previous books.. It seemed to make the story more real with a grumpy man. LOL But it was nice to see him being so sweet too :)

Can't wait to read Back to School Murder!! I wonder what kind of trouble Lucy will get into next?

(I'm a little amused by the description below.. Though it is found on the back of the book, it's not exactly all accurate. From what I know after reading this book..
The Halloween party is the first one they had and wasn't called the All-Ghouls festival.. but was just a party in an abandoned mansion.)

Description from the publisher:
It's October in Maine, and everyone in Tinker's Cove is preparing for the annual Halloween festival. While Lucy Stone is whipping up orange frosted cupcakes, recycling tutu's for her daughters' Halloween costumes, helping her son with his pre-teen rebellion, and breast feeding her brand new baby girl, an arsonist is loose in Tinker's Cove. When the latest fire claims the life of the owner of the town's oldest house, arson turns into murder.
While townsfolk work to transform a dilapidated mansion into a haunteded house for the All-Ghouls festival, the hunt for the culprit heats up. Trick-or-Treat turns deadly as a little digging in all the wrong places puts Lucy too close to a shocking discovery that could send all her best-laid plans up in smoke...

2008-11-03T22:53:00.002-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 49
Book From: Book I own
Date Started: 10/28/08
Date Finished: 11/3/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Heather Graham
Title: The Seance
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 371

My Comments:
As always, I love Heather Graham's story telling! She is such an amazing author and really sucks me into the worlds of her characters. And I loved the characters in this story. The story was chilling, yet once we "met" the ghost we learned to like him too! And another really great thing is that it kept me guessing right till the end! Gotta love it when you can't predict a story lol :)

Description from the publisher:
A chill falls over Christina Hardy's housewarming party when talk turns to a recent murder that has all the hallmarks of the so-called 'Interstate Killer' murders from fifteen years before. To lighten the mood, the guests drag out an old Ouija board for a little spooky fun—and that's when things become truly terrifying.
Summoned by the Ouija board, the restless spirit of Beau Kidd, the lead detective—and chief suspect—on the original case, seeks Christina's help: the latest killing isn't a copycat crime, and he wants his name cleared. Back in the real world, cop-turned-writer Jed Braden is skeptical of Christina's ghostly encounters, but his police sources confirm all the intimate details of the case—her otherworldly source is reliable, and the body count is growing. The spirits are right. The Interstate Killer is still out there, and Christina's life is hanging in the balance between this world and the next.

2008-10-27T23:57:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 48
Book From: Library
Date Started: 10/23/08
Date Finished: 10/27/08
My Rating: 5+

Author: Stephenie Meyer
Title: Twilight
Series: Twilight Saga, bk 1
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 498

My Comments:
I don't know what to say... I gushed and gushed in a post last night on my Book Girl's Babble Blog... That sure did say a lot!

But tonight, now that I've finished the book.. I'm sad.
My friend Kym read this book with me.. Her words after reading the last page were: "I feel like I've lost some friends.".. And I can definitely relate to that thought!
I've thought about the next book I planned to start.. And I've looked forward to reading this book for 1 year now.. But every other book seems to pale in comparison to what I've just read.

I've never been so emotionally involved with the characters of a book... I've never been able to see every move the characters make so clearly in my mind the way I did with this one.

OK.. In all that I'm sure you've figured out that I really loved this book! And I've already requested from my library the next book in the saga, New Moon. I hope it doesn't take 2 months to get to my turn! Because I don't think I can wait that long. I wish I could afford to buy these books for my collection.. But I can honestly say that some day I will. Some day I want to buy them new so that I can give just a little bit to an author that deserves every penny and then some!

Memorable Quotes:
These 2 quotes were spoken by Edward to Bella and really touched me:

"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb...."

"It's like you've taken half my self away with you."

Description from the publisher:
About three things I was absolutely positive:
First, Edward was a vampire.
Second, there was a part of him–and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be–that thirsted for my blood.
And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

“I’D NEVER GIVEN MUCH THOUGHT TO HOW I WOULD DIE– I’d had reason enough in the last few months –but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this. . . . Surely it was a good way to die, in the place of something else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.”
When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret.
What Bella doesn’t realize is the closer she gets to him, the more she is putting herself and those around her at risk. And, it might be too late to turn back. . . .
Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight will have readers riveted right until the very last page is turned.

2008-10-22T23:51:00.001-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 47
Book From: Library
Date Started: 10/20/08
Date Finished: 10/23/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Maggie Sefton
Title: A Killer Stitch
Series: A Knitting Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 260

My Comments:
I love the characters in this series.. They really feel like friends I could actually know and love. :)

The author really has a way of dragging you into their friendly world of knitting, yarns and emotions. I really felt for Lucy and Diane in this story.. And just love how their circle of friends expand to help new friends in each book of the series. :)

And I really can't wait to read the next book in the series! I have all I can do not to run out and get the next book in the series, since this one ended with this sentence:
"But in the pit of Kelly's stomach, there was a bad feeling that she just couldn't shake."

Memorable Quotes:
There are so many quotes and comments in this book that had me giggling.. But it's like a group of old friends! The kind of jokes you just have to be there for to understand why they are so funny. :)

Description from the publisher:
'Tis the season for knitters in chilly Fort Connor, Colorado: scarves, sweaters, mittens—and murder. Amid the seasonal cheer of her local family of cowboys and yarn weavers, Kelly Flynn's intent on trying to separate innocence from icy deceit.

2008-10-19T20:19:00.003-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 46
Book From: Library
Date Started: 10/18/08
Date Finished: 10/19/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Title: Spells & Sleeping Bags
Series: 3rd in Magic in Manhattan (All About Rachel)
Genre: Young Adult Chick Lit
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 293

My Comments:
This series is so adorble! A great pick-me-up for a rainy day.. Or any day for that matter! :)

I love Sarah Mlynowski's fun characters and this book was a great addition to the series with lots of twists and turns that had me guessing and shocked! :)

I can't wait to read the next one when it comes out i a couple of months!

Description from the publisher:
At long last, Rachel's powers have arrived and she's a bona fide get-your-broom-ready witch! And it's happened just in time. No Manhattan for her this summer—she's spending her vacation at Camp Wood Lake.

But she's having some serious issues:

Mosquitoes in the Adirondacks are incredibly thirsty.

Her stepmom keeps sending embarrassing feminine hygiene care packages.

She accidentally zapped away all her clothes.

And there's a backstabber in her cabin intent on making life miserable.

Good thing Rachel's a witch.

2008-10-17T23:28:00.006-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 45
Book From: Library
Date Started: 10/13/08
Date Finished: 10/17/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Terri Blackstock
Title: Dawn's Light
Series: 4th and final in the Restoration series
Genre: Christian
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 406

My Comments:
Wow.. I just finished. I'm not even sure what to say. What I want to say I can't say because I've got a little promise at the top of this Blog stating that I will never give an ending away! :)

I was blown away by how gripping this book was! Terri Blackstock is really an amazing author..
But I can't say I was fully OK with all of the outcomes in the story... But hey, that's just me being me. ;) We can't always get what we want lol

But even though I am unhappy about some of it, the rest of it was just so darn good! :) So good in fact that my friend Kym and I have already put a request in at our libraries for Cape Refuge... which is the first book in another series by this same author.

Memorable Quotes:
"Don't worry about the food, we have apples galore. We'll have apple pie, apple hors d'oeuvres, apple cider.. Do I sound like that guy in Forrest Gump with the shrimp?"

Description from the publisher:
In the final book of the Restoration Series by bestselling author Terri Blackstock, the end of a global electrical blackout signals the beginning of the Branning family’s ultimate test. Murder and affairs of the heart form the backdrop for a family sifting through the lessons they have learned—and how well they have truly learned them.

2008-10-13T23:43:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 44
Book From: Library
Date Started: 10/09/08
Date Finished: 10/13/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Vicki Myron
Title: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Non-Fiction
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 271

My Comments:
A really touching story about a librarian and "her" cat who lived his 19 years in a small-town library in Iowa.

I fell in love with Dewey in the pages of this book.. His story really touched me and I found it very inspiring how a whole town and eventually even some people much further away could love one animal so unconditionally. :)

I will say that I wasn't really into the parts of the story telling of the town history.. But it did help bring together the story nicely. I did however, really enjoy reading about Vicki's family. And I found it so cute how Dewey loved her daughter Jodi so much that he stuck to her side like glue every time he saw her. :)

This book had me smiling so much my face hurt!
But it also had me misty eyed quite a few times through out the story as well... from tears of joy to tears of sadness. As we all know the story of anyone's life will also include their death.. Hearing of Dewey dying just broke my heart in two for Vicki and all those who loved such a wonderful animal like him. :'(

Memorable Quotes:
I really got a laugh at the comment about Vicki's daughter Jodi saying that someone "Burps in their pants" when she was a kid. :)

Description from the publisher:
How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can't even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa.

Dewey's story starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director, Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility, (for a cat) and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.

As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state, and finally, amazingly, worldwide, Dewey became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming town pulling its way slowly back from the greatest crisis in its long history.

2008-10-09T23:52:00.003-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 43
Book From: Library
Date Started: 9/25/08
Date Finished: 10/9/08
My Rating: 5

Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson
Title: Nerd in Shining Armor
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 324

My Comments:
What a cute story! I found myself all wrapped up in the building relationship of Gen and Jack and having them stuck on a deserted island made it all the more fun! :)

I also found it nice that there was a side romance story going on with Gen's mother Annabelle and her boss Matt. :) Made it more interesting and more real.

Hope all of this authors books are this good! I'm already dying to read more soon.

Memorable Quotes:
She wasn't sure what all the kinds of martial arts were and she got the names mixed up with Chinese food. Kung Fu sounded like something you ate and Kung Pau sounded like breaking boards with your hand, but she thought maybe she had that backward.

Description from the publisher:
For Genevieve Terrence it seemed like a dream come true: a weekend alone on Maui with her sexy boss, Nick Brogan. But little did she know that Nick had dreams of his own--a nefarious scheme that nearly got her killed on the flight over the Pacific.

2008-09-24T23:43:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 42
Book From: Library
Date Started: 9/9/08
Date Finished: 9/24/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Beverly Lewis
Title: The Betrayal
Series: 2nd book in the Abram's Daughters series
Genre: Christian/Amish
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 358

My Comments:
I wasn't quite as taken by this story as I was with the first, but I am still in love with this family and enjoy learning about their ways.

I think my reasons for not enjoying it as much were more personal rather than the story itself. The story was a little deeper (or more emotional) than I probably should be reading right now during some hard family times.

I'm really looking forward to reading more from this series sometime not too far off I'm sure. :)

Memorable Quotes:
Books are like friends to me. Words come alive on the page.

Description from the publisher:
Book 2 of Abram’s Daughters. Though confident that their love will survive a separation, Leah, Jonas, and their families will face a bitter test.

2008-09-19T23:29:00.001-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 41
Book From: Library
Date Started: 9/15/08
Date Finished: 9/19/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Wendi Lee
Title: The Good Daughter
Series: 1st book in the Angela Matelli series
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 211

My Comments:
This was so much fun to read since I live so close to where the story took place! I was smiling at every mention of places and streets that were known to me.

But besides all that the story was really great.. The lead character is a private detective named Angela, and she had me laughing and coming back for more!

I'm looking forward to reading more from this series soon. :)

Description from the publisher:
Angela Matelli, a good Italian-American girl from East Boston, leaves the Marines to return to the bosom of her family and begin a new career as a private investigator. Her first client (a referral from her Uncle "No-Legs" Charlie) is retired policeman Tom Grady, who hires Angela to check up on Brian Scanlon, his daughter's new boyfriend. This simple background check, however, soon becomes a confusing tangle of murder, cover-up, and intrigue when Grady is found dead outside his favorite bar and Scanlon is seen keeping company with the suspected leader of a terrorist group. With a dead client and a bag full of loose ends, Angela starts to investigate Tom Grady's suspicious death and continues to dig into Brian Scanlon's checkered past, inquiries that lead her to an organization whose seemingly idealistic waters run deceptively deep, a daughter who is torn between her father and her lover, and someone who is out to kill Angela before she is able to find out the truth.

2008-09-12T13:55:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 40
Book From: Library
Date Started: 9/8/08
Date Finished: 9/12/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: C.J. Carmichael
Title: The Dad Next Door
Series: Three Good Men
Genre: Romance
Format: eBook
Pages: 282

My Comments:
Cute, typical Harlequin feel good Romance. :)

This one could be a made for TV movie :) Gavin Gray is a single dad that loses 1 of his young twin daughters in an accident.. This story picks up as they are finally starting to cope with their loss and move to a new small town where they both find some comfort in their new neighbor Allison. :)

I really enjoyed this story and was touched by the relationships that built between Gavin and Allison and also between his daughter Tory and Allison.

Description from the publisher:
His daughter needs her mother. And Gavin Gray will do anything for Tory--even reunite with the woman who abandoned them. That's the only reason they've moved to Squam Lake, his ex-wife's last known address. Now it's a waiting game.

That game has suddenly gotten more complicated. Because of Allison Bennett, the next-door neighbor he never expected to fall in love with. Just as their future looks promising, his ex-wife returns with a past that haunts them all.

2008-09-07T13:45:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 39
Book From: Library
Date Started: 8/31/08
Date Finished: 9/7/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Title: Frogs & French Kisses
Series: Magic in Manhattan/All About Rachel
Genre: Young Adult Chick Lit
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 277

My Comments:
I love this series!! It's just too cute and funny. And also, like the 1st in the series, I felt it had a strong message on how people should be treated.. Which is important for all of us to think about at times. :)

Rachel really matured in this story and I'm curious to see how that goes in the next book considering the surprise ending in this one. :)

Read this one with my friend Kym too.. We're going to read the next one real soon! Sarah Mlynowski is quickly becoming of a favorite for me..

Description from the publisher:
Rachel has finally come to terms with the outrageously unfair fact that her younger sister, Miri, has inherited magical powers from their mom. But now the whole witchcraft thing is spiraling out of control. Mom is a magicaholic, Miri's on a Save the World kick, and the one teeny tiny love spell that Rachel begged for has gone embarrassingly, horribly wrong.

Suddenly, the fate of everything is in Rachel's hands.

Her family.

The world.

Senior prom.

2008-08-31T13:33:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 38
Book From: Library
Date Started: 8/27/08
Date Finished: 8/31/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Leslie Meier
Title: Tippy-Toe Murder
Series: 2nd in Lucy Stone series
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 227

My Comments:
I'm really enjoying this series and look forward to the 3rd book soon..

It really captures true to life family lives rather that a phony "perfect" family.. We get it all complete with husband being a pain in the butt and whining kids. ;)

Description from the publisher:

When Lucy Stone's neighbor, Caro Binney, a retired dance teacher, disappears, and Morrill Slack is killed with a video camera, Lucy sets out to track down Caro, who could be linked to Morrill's murder.

2008-08-27T13:17:00.001-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 37
Book From: Library
Date Started: 8/21/08
Date Finished: 8/27/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Jonnie Jacobs
Title: Murder Among Neighbors
Series: 1st in Kate Austen series
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 299

My Comments:
This was yet another buddy read with my friend Kym. :)
I'm already looking forward to reading more of this series.

The ending was a real shocker, which is unusual in most "cozies".. though this book had a few un-cozy parts, it did appear to be one for the most part.

Normally a shocker ending is a good thing... But this time I'm left with an unsatisfied feeling.. I wasn't really happy with the outcome and probably would have given it a better rating had it been different since I felt the story was very well written and loved the characters. :) And I'm very curious to find out where the characters personal stories go from here.

Description from the publisher:
Abandoned by her husband, Kate Austen has all she can handle carpooling her five-year-old daughter to pre-school, baking for good causes, keeping her lawn mowed and devising survival tactics. It looks like everyone else in her affluent suburban neighborhood has it ultra-easy--until her fabulously wealthy next-door neighbor is found murdered.

2008-08-15T13:11:00.004-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 36
Book From: Library
Date Started: 7/31/08
Date Finished: 8/15/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Terri Blackstock
Title: True Light
Series: 3rd in the Restoration series
Genre: Christian
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 284

My Comments:
Didn't find this one as gripping as the previous two.. But still adore this family and am looking forward to reading the final book of the series with my friend Kym as a buddy read in about a month or so.

Description from the publisher:
Still in darkness, the Brannings help to start a government system in their neighborhood, and establish a church and a school, but a new outbreak of murders threatens their work. Book Three in the Restoration series.

2008-07-31T01:11:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 35
Book From: Library
Date Started: 7/24/08
Date Finished: 7/31/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Terri Blackstock
Title: Night Light
Series: 2nd in Restoration series
Genre: Christian
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 352

My Comments:
I'm really enjoying this series. This book was a little more "preachy" than the last one, but not so much that it affected my enjoyment.

I wished for a different outcome for one of the story lines, but all in all a great story.

Really makes you think.. And very inspiring the way the families and neighbors come together to help each other during these hard times.

Description from the publisher:
As the power outage continues, the Brannings struggle to bring their neighborhood together into a functioning community where everyone helps each other make their homes ready for winter, and fight the crime that is running rampant among them. Book Two in the Restoration series.

2008-07-24T00:48:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 34
Book From: Library
Date Started: 7/18/08
Date Finished: 7/24/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Linda Howard
Title: Kill and Tell
Series: 1st in John Medina
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 305

My Comments:
Very good, very gripping story! An amazing tale of mystery, romance plus thrills and chills! :)

Like the last book I read by this author (Cover of Night) we read both the good guys and the bad guys stories. I find the bad guys to be a bit boring and too much extra info. But the good guys have me hooked in minutes!

A little too much graphic sexual details for me again.. but it isn't a main focus and I'll choose to get past that part to enjoy the greatness of this author's writing in future books! :)

Description from the publisher:
Some secrets need to be told...

Still reeling from her mother's recent death, Karen Whitlaw is stunned when she receives a package containing a mysterious notebook from her estranged father, whom she has barely seen since his return from the Vietnam War decades ago. Then, a shocking phone call: Karen's father has been murdered on the gritty streets of New Orleans.

Even if they lead to murder....For homicide detective Marc Chastain, something about the case of a murdered homeless man just doesn't add up -- especially after he meets the victim's daughter. Far from the cold woman he expected, Karen Whitlaw is warm and passionate. She is also in serious danger. A string of "accidents" have shaken Karen to the core, and forced her into the protective embrace of the charming detective she vowed to resist. Together they unravel a disturbing story of politics, power, and murder -- and face a killer who will stop at nothing to get his hands on her father's secrets.

2008-07-17T23:54:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 33
Book From: Library
Date Started: 7/13/08
Date Finished: 7/17/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Title: Bras & Broomsticks
Series: 1st in Magic in Manhattan/All About Rachel
Genre: Young Adult Chick Lit
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 310

My Comments:
I'm so in love with this book! It was so adorably cute and funny, but with some strong morals. :)

Rachel was a blast! :) I laughed through most of the book and can not wait to read the next one.. I think it's so great that a story with an important lesson can be told with such humor and fun. :)

Memorable Quotes:
How sweet is he? He's like chocolate mixed with cotton candy mixed with Kool-Aid. If I weren't so in love, I would get a cavity.

Description from the publisher:
Hilarious, fast-paced and bewitchingly clever, this is the first novel in a big new series for teenagers. Fourteen-year-old Rachel Weinstein just can't believe it. Her younger sister, Miri, and her mum are both witches! How come SHE didn't get the powers that could have propelled her effortlessly into school superstardom? Miri refuses to use her witchy skills for the benefit of humankind (i.e. Rachel). Which is a drag, given that Rachel has an urgent need of some supersonic dance talent - not to mention a boyfriend like gorgeous, unobtainable Raf. But maybe there's one cause Miri just CAN'T refuse. With their dad about to marry awful STB (aka Soon To Be Step-Monster), some witchy wiles may be the only way to derail a major family disaster...But a charmed life has its problems - as Rachel is about to find out!

2008-07-13T20:34:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 32
Book From: Library
Date Started: 7/7/08
Date Finished: 7/13/08
My Rating: 5

Author: Beverly Lewis
Title: The Covenant
Series: 1st in Abram's Daughters
Genre: Amish
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 318

My Comments:
What a wonderful-gut story! I will for sure and for certain be reading the rest of this series soon. And probably continue on with her other series soon after that.

You totally get sucked into their world and don't want to put the book down! So simple, yet hard their lives really are.. So close the families stay... It's how families should always be. :)

Description from the publisher:
Book 1 of Abram's Daughters series from bestselling author Beverly Lewis. Years of secrecy bind the tiny community of Gobbler's Knob together more than the present inhabitants know, and the Plain folk who farm the land rarely interact with the fancy locals. So when Sadie is beguiled by a dark-haired English boy, it is Sadie's younger sister, Leah, who suffers from her sister's shameful loss of innocence. And what of Leah's sweetheart, Jonas Mast, sent to Ohio under the Bishop's command? Drawn into an incomprehensible pact with her older sister, Leah finds her dreams spinning out of control, even as she clings desperately to the promises of God. The Covenant begins a powerful Lancaster portrait of the power of family and the miracle of hope.

2008-07-07T20:21:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 31
Book From: Library
Date Started: 7/1/08
Date Finished: 7/7/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Jessica Conant-Park with Susan Conant
Title: Steamed
Series: 1st in Gourmet Girl Mystery
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 287

My Comments:
What an adorable story! Had it all.. Mystery and Romance.. Was a cross between Cozy Mystery & Chick Lit.

Loved Chloe and Josh and look forward to reading more of this series soon. Really enjoyed reading about cooking and all the great sounding food Chloe had throughout the story. :)

Plan to check out Susan Conant's Dog Lovers series soon as well.

Description from the publisher:

Susan Conant, the acclaimed author of the Dog Lover's mysteries and the Cat Lover's mysteries, now teams with her daughter for a new culinary mystery series featuring Chloe Carter (known in the chatrooms as GourmetGirl), food connoisseur and survivor of failed romances. On a quest for the perfect meal-and man-she risks a blind date with a fellow food lover who's stabbed to death before the check comes.

Talk about a rocky love life. Chloe's first date of the week is murdered. Her second date is with the prime suspect. The investigation plunges the amateur sleuth into the gourmet restaurant scene to discover a cutthroat world of killer competition, stormy love affairs, and a recipe for Baby Bok Choy Slaw to die for.

2008-06-30T16:12:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 30
Book From: Library
Date Started: 6/20/08
Date Finished: 6/30/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Kat Martin
Title: Scent of Roses
Series: 1st in Paranormal II
Genre: Paranormal Mystery & Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 414

My Comments:
Very slow start, about 100 pages in is where it picked up and left me dying to know more!

There were some really gripping (sometimes scary) moments too! :)

I really loved the couple and look forward to reading more from this author soon.

Description from the publisher:
Elizabeth doesn't believe in ghosts.
But this time she has no choice.

Family counselor Elizabeth Conner isn't sure what to think when Maria Santiago comes to her for help. Pregnant and terrified, Maria claims to be visited each night by the ghost of a little girl, warning her to flee. Her husband, Miguel, a migrant worker at Harcourt Farms, dismisses her fears as hormonal changes, but Elizabeth agrees to help by contacting Miguel's employers who own the cottage where the young couple lives.

Elizabeth immediately picks up on the deep enmity between the two Harcourt brothers: Carson, the handsome scion running the estate for his incapacitated father, and Zack, the rebellious black sheep. While Carson is more interested in Elizabeth than in her concerns, Zack grudgingly agrees to help her look into the history of the house.

But even as unexpected desire draws them together, Elizabeth and Zack feel something dark and disturbing at the house, a cloying scent and lingering chill of pure evil. Elizabeth knows something terrible has happened here before, something that has its roots in murder

2008-06-19T15:55:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 29
Book From: Library
Date Started: 6/14/08
Date Finished: 6/19/08
My Rating: 3

Author: Blaize Clement
Title: Curiosity Killed the Cat Sitter
Series: 1st in Dixie Hemmingway series
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover (large print)
Pages: 437

My Comments:
My friend Jackie told me a couple of weeks ago that she's been reading this series and thought it was pretty cute.. I figured I'd give it a try too. :)

I'm not sure if this book is considered a Cozy Mystery or not, but I had thought it was when I picked it up.. But after reading it I would say it isn't since I found there were some gruesome details and a few crude/rude comments.. Just didn't have a cozy feel to it.

That aside, the story really kept me reading.. I really liked Dixie and would like to know more about her.. I may give the next one a try sometime in the future.

Description from the publisher:
Dixie Hemingway knows first-hand that many things in life are worse than a dirty litter box. Once happy as a Florida sheriff's deputy, she lost everything when senseless tragedy shattered her world. Now Dixie laces up her sneakers, grabs some kitty treats, and copes with one day at a time as a pet-sitter. Her investigations deal strictly with “crimes” such as who peed on the bed . . . until she finds a dead man face down in an Abyssinian's water bowl. With the local cops stymied—including a handsome detective who catches her eye—she decides to clip a leash on a lead or two and go sleuthing herself. Dixie soon finds out that the Abyssinian's pretty owner has vanished and left behind a shocking past, a lonely cat, and a chilling reason for Dixie to start running when she's out walking the dogs.

2008-06-13T15:20:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 28
Book From: Library
Date Started: 6/10/08
Date Finished: 6/13/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Terri Blackstock
Title: Last Light
Series: 1st in Restoration series
Genre: Christian
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 367

My Comments:
Wow! What a powerful story... Really makes you stop and think about our lives and the technologies that we've all become so used to. What would we do if all we ever knew just stopped working? No lights, no clocks, no cars, no stoves, or fans or even TVs... None of anything most of us just take for granted..

When we lose power due to electrical storms or snow storms I feel so lost without a light to read by, a computer to use or TV to distract me.

How would we feel, what would we all do if it just stopped working?

Hurricane Katrina comes to mind... And a lot of people behaved similar to this story... stealing for food or other needed items. I can't even imagine the desperation if the whole world were to lose power and the use of anything mechanical at all for months or more!!

Kym recently read this book and told me how amazing it was.. I didn't even know the half of it till I actually began reading it for myself. :) Here is the link to her review on this same book.

Description from the publisher:
After an unexplained catastrophic event in the atmosphere knocks out all electronics in the world, materialistic, well-to-do Americans are suddenly left helpless. And as they get down to the essentials of life, they learn to lean on God as they never have before. Book One in the Restoration Series.

2008-06-09T15:06:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 27
Book From: Library
Date Started: 6/7/08
Date Finished: 6/9/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Maggie Sefton
Title: A Deadly Yarn
Series: 3rd in A Knitting Mystery
Genre: Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 259

My Comments:
How weird is this? I noticed in the last book I just read that names of actual people were used for characters and now it happened again in this book LOL This time it was Allison Dubois, who is a psychic that the tv show Medium is based on.

I guessed the killer from very early on in the story.. But you know what? When a series is THIS good it just doesn't seem to matter all that much! The characters are written so well that I feel like I actually know these people.. And I just love the relationships and friendships as well. :)

Every time I finish one of her books I say this, but I'll say it again anyway lol It really makes me want to learn how to knit! I don't know what the heck I'm waiting for. ;)

Description from the publisher:
Knitter Kelly Flynn is thrilled that her friend Allison is joining a New York designer's studio. But when the young artist's new life ends before it begins, Kelly must unravel Allison's messy, fast-track social circle-and its lethally wound threads.

2008-06-06T14:55:00.001-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 26
Book From: Library
Date Started: 6/3/08
Date Finished: 6/6/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Kate Collins
Title: Mum's the Word
Series: 1st in A Flower Shop Mystery
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover (large print)
Pages: 418

My Comments:
Another buddy read with my friend Kym :)
This book started out slow... I was having trouble with all the extra details that didn't really seem to matter to the story... However once past all that from the middle to the end was really very good! Had you guessing and really thinking how it would all come together...We clearly knew who the bad guys were, but not the how or whys till the very end.. :)

And this may seem silly to even mention, but I loved how Marco kept calling Abby "Sunshine" :) It was just so sweet.

Another part though that really annoyed me were her brothers names.. Their last name is Knight... Her brothers names were Jordan and Jonathan... I mean come on? Get original and not borrow the names of brothers in a long ago boy band lol ;)

Description from the publisher:
Abby Knight is the proud owner of her hometown flower shop, but a new low-cost competitor is killing her profits-and a black SUV just rammed her vintage Corvette in a hit-and-run. She's determined to track down the driver, but when the trail turns deadly, the next flower arrangement might be for her own funeral.

2008-06-03T14:06:00.001-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 25
Book From: Library
Date Started: 5/29/08
Date Finished: 6/3/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Linda Palmer
Title: Love Her To Death
Series: 2nd in Daytime Mystery series
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover (large print)
Pages: 437

My Comments:
Another really fun and cute series! I love reading about a Daytime Drama show! Even if it is made up. ;)

The main character, Morgan Tyler, is the head writer for a fictional daytime drama called Love of My Life.. cute title. :) She's finding herself getting caught up in murder mysteries and trapped between choosing to get serious with 1 of 2 great guys.. No wonder she can write for daytime tv!! ;)

Description from the publisher:
Soap writer Morgan Tyler has a new title--co-executive producer--and a new responsibility: take care of everything. When an actress on the show is murdered, Morgan better find out who's behind the bloodshed before someone else is written out of the picture.

2008-05-28T13:48:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 24
Book From: Library
Date Started: 5/26/08
Date Finished: 5/28/08
My Rating: 4

Author: JoAnna Carl
Title: The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle
Series: 4th in the Chocoholic series
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover (large print)
Pages: 323

My Comments:
I really love this series!! Lee and Joe are such a cute couple and Aunt Nettie should be my aunt!

You get a little of everything with this series, happy & lots of laughs, chills with the mystery and always edge of your seat endings! :)

Can't wait to read the next one, maybe I'll get it real soon! :)

Description from the publisher:
Hollywood comes to Michigan when a film producer decides to turn a local author's romance novel into a blockbuster. Although the movie mogul's chocolate labrador is charming, Lee McKinney thinks the producer's talk is a bunch of sweet nothings-and she grows even more suspicious when she stumbles upon a dead body.

2008-05-25T13:24:00.001-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 23
Book From: Library
Date Started: 5/25/08
Date Finished: 5/25/08
My Rating: 4

Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Title: Undead and Uneasy
Series: 6th in the Betsy Taylor Vampire Queen series
Genre: Paranormal
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 272

My Comments:
Even though I recently said I was sick of Vampire stories I still LOVED this book! :) And love this series as well . :) It's just too cute and funny for words. lol

I can't wait for the next book to come out in July and hope to read it soon after..

No more unwed for this vamp couple :)

Memorable Quotes:
There were SO many quotes! I was texting them to my friend Kym the whole time I was reading the book.. But I didn't write any of them down. :(

Description from the publisher:
Betsy Taylor, undead vampire queen, has been given a new nickname by her nearest and dearest: Bridezilla. Because whether you're alive or undead, planning weddings is a bitch - especially when your groom thinks the whole thing is a waste of time. Betsy's also dealing with a full house: she lives with a ghost (Cathy), a werewolf (Antonia), a gay physician/human (Marc), her fiance and vampire king (Eric Sinclair), her best friend (Jessica), a recovering Fiend (Garrett). But when Sinclair disappears, Betsy begins to get seriously unnerved...

2008-05-24T13:07:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 22
Book From: Library
Date Started: 5/21/08
Date Finished: 5/24/08
My Rating: 2.5

Author: Tori Carrington
Title: Sofie Metropolis
Series: 1st in Sofie Metropolis series
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 280

My Comments:
I had such high hopes for this series.. I wonder if that is part of why I was so disappointed? It also reminded me a little too much of another series and that also might be what turned me off a bit.

The whole time I was reading I felt like it was a bunch of nothing... Meaning, there was too much going on all at once, but nothing really being solved.

In the end most of story lines were resolved though. :) I did enjoy the main character.. I don't think I will be reading the next in the series right away, but I do plan to eventually.

I read this book as a buddy read with Kym, and she pretty much agreed with my feelings too.

Description from the publisher:
On her wedding day, right before the ceremony, right there in the Greek Orthodox church, Sofie Metropolis discovered her groom and her maid of honor in each other's arms. Sofie took this as a sign, and since then, she's been doing her best to confound her own, and her family's, expectations.
First, she is no longer waiting tables at either her father's or her grandfather's dueling Greek restaurants in Astoria, Queens. Second, she kept the engagement ring (the garbage disposal choked on it) and all the wedding presents, including the small apartment building that was a gift from her parents. It's not easy to collect rent from an eccentric group of tenants that includes a trio of lackadaisical business school students and a nice little old Jewish lady who plies Sofie with ethnic delicacies, but at least Sofie has a roof over her head. And her ex-fiance's recliner in the living room.
Sofie also has a new career, thanks to uncle Spyros's detective agency. Okay, so far, the cases haven't been all that exciting-mostly, Sofie's been tracking down lost pets and cheating spouses-but at least she's in control of her life. And even Sam Spade had to start somewhere.
Then Sofie's mother's best friend, Mrs. Kapoor, who seems to dose everything, even tea, with curry, reports that her dog has been stolen. Sofie must drop everything to search for the meanest mutt on the face of the earth . . . .
The agency's usually unflappable office manager comes to Sofie in terror because the neighborhood "vampire" has disappeared, replaced by his even creepier nephew . . . .
Tailing a wayward wife, Sofie is caught in a shoot-out and is rescued by Australian man-of-mystery Jake Porter, who might be a bounty hunter and who definitely gets Sofie's engine started . . . .
And what is Jake Porter doing in the middle of Sofie's adultery case anyway, and why is the cheating wife now on the run?

2008-05-20T12:33:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 21
Book From: Own
Date Started: 5/17/08
Date Finished: 5/20/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Wendy Roberts
Title: The Remains of the Dead
Series: 1st in Ghost Dusters series
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 272

My Comments:
This book would have gotten a 4.5 rating if I didn't have such a weak stomach for gory details! Most of the descriptions in the crime scenes were just thoughts I'd rather not know. ;) But I should have expected it, given that the lead characters profession is to clean crime scenes...

A really great story and lovable characters that leave you wanting more. :) A little predictable, but didn't bother me in the least!

I'm not sure that I will run right out to get the next in the series, but I am sure that I will eventually read more. :)

Description from the publisher:
The first book in a new paranormal mystery series featuring Sadie Novak, a professional crime scene cleaner and amateur medium.

2008-05-16T23:54:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 20
Book From: Own
Date Started: 5/09/08
Date Finished: 5/16/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Heather Graham
Title: Blood Red
Series: Stand Alone Novel
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 341

My Comments:
I really enjoy her writing style.. But I was not thrilled with this particular story. I didn't hate it by no means.. I blame myself, really.. I've gotten kind of sick of these intense vampire stories (yet I have another vampire story checked out from the library right now!)

I really loved the characters and the relationships in the story.. Heather Graham has such an amazing way to really suck you in (no that's not a vampire reference lol) to her stories and characters lives..

Though what should have been a shocking surprise at the end I figured out within the first few chapters LOL...It didn't really ruin it for me though.. I think I just love her writing so much that I'm starting to think her way. ;)

Description from the publisher:
When a fortune-teller shows bridesmaid Lauren Crow an omen of her gruesome death, she and her friends laugh it off as cheesy theatrics—until women begin disappearing in the night.

Even as the streets become more dangerous, Lauren finds herself lusting after a man who is himself dangerous— and quite possibly crazy. Mark Davidson prowls the city by night armed with crosses and holy water, in search of vampires, whose existence, he insists, is real. He is as irresistibly drawn to Lauren as she is to him, and not only because she's the image of his murdered fiancée. But Mark's frightening obsession with finding his lover's killer merely hides a bitter vendetta that cuts deeper than grief over a lost love.

As Lauren wrestles with desire and disbelief, sinister shadows lengthen over New Orleans, threatening her friends and foretelling a battle that may spell the end of the city's uneasy truce between the living and the undead.

2008-05-08T23:28:00.001-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 19
Book From: Library
Date Started: 5/06/08
Date Finished: 5/08/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Tracey Bateman
Title: Catch a Rising Star
Series: 1st
Genre: Christian Chick Lit
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 271

My Comments:
Her cell phone ringtone is the theme song to Friends! What's not to love about that??? :) I was so jealous I had to go buy it for my own cell!

My friend Kym and I read this book together.. I thought it was a very cute, easy read. It had me laughing, yet at times brought tears to my eyes as well.. Who could ask for more??

I love the friendships in the story and am happy to know that there are other books telling her 2 friends stories as well. :) I also loved seeing how Tabby grew to love David's children and she really seemed to mature by the end of the story.. :)

Description from the publisher:
When thirty-something Tabby Brockman has the opportunity to reclaim her role as a killed-off character on the nation's #1 daytime soap opera, she figures this must be God's reward. But back on the set, she's faced with the same hateful head writer who killed off her character in the first place, kids who drive her crazy, a stage dad who rubs her completely wrong, and and an unwanted boyfriend who can?t seem to get the message. Faced with this dizzying rollercoaster of challenges, Tabby has to wonder: is she finally a star on the rise or just on the brink of another spectacular fall?

2008-05-06T23:08:00.001-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 18
Book From: Library
Date Started: 5/03/08
Date Finished: 5/06/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Margaret Chittenden
Title: Dying to See You
Series: 5th (and last) in the Charlie Plato series
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 311

My Comments:
I'm really going to miss this gang!! I can't believe that Kensington pulled the plug on such an amazing series! What complete dummies if you ask me!!
It's such a great combo:
The leading guy is an out of work, well loved actor who half owns a country western club with 3 partners splittling the other half. And instead of the usual cat or dog pet, our leading lady sleuth has a pet bunny named Benny! How cute is that?? :)

This was a great addition to the series, but obviously was not meant to be an ending to a series since there are so many questions left unanswered. :(

I actually emailed Margaret Chittenden a few months ago when I noticed there were no more books coming out... I was so very sad to hear that there will never be more. I want to go to Kensington and have a temper tantrum like my 2 year old nephew does when he doesn't want to leave the park! ;)

Description from Publisher's Weekly:
Fans of Chittenden's previous Charlie Plato mysteries (Dying to Sing; Dead Men Don't Dance, etc.) will find this fifth entry in the series just as sassy and full of fun. The vivacious California redhead is still trying to keep Chaps, her country-western nightclub, afloat and her innards from going whomp at the thought of partner Zack Hunter, a former TV star and a major hunk. Savanna Bristow, another partner, wants to throw a party at Chaps to celebrate both her 20th high school reunion and the 50th birthday of everyone's favorite teacher, Reina Diaz. Forty of Reina's old students, all purportedly devoted to her, attend the party, but when Reina is found strangled in a stall in the ladies' room, it's clear that at least one member of the class is no fan. Charlie and Zack investigate with nothing to help them but a crumpled piece of paper clutched in the corpse's hand. The sleuths soon learn that many of her students had reason to hate and fear Reina. Suspects abound, each with a better motive than the last, and mayhem reigns. Another murder, arson, guilty secrets and lying all around complicate Zack's and Charlie's efforts.

2008-05-03T22:45:00.003-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 17
Book From: Library
Date Started: 04/30/08
Date Finished: 05/03/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Joanne Fluke
Title: Carrot Cake Murder
Series: 10th in the Hannah Swenson series
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 324

My Comments:
As usual this series never disappoints me! I Love my "friends" at Lake Eden. :) And I really needed the fun story right now to escape the crap going on in my own life at the moment..

The only things stopping this from being a 5 rating was that there were quite a few typos which made me nuts..

I'm already anxiously awaiting the next installment! Last night my friend Kym and I had a guessing game going on what the next title could possibly be :) We came up with a couple and even a plot for one of them. ;)

Hot Brownie Sundae Murder
or Smores Galore Murder -- How about a camp setting with Hannah's niece? I can picture Hannah teaching Tracey and her troops how to make Smores and then tripping over a dead body in the woods, can't you?? Hey, Joanne Fluke?? Are you reading this?? ;)

See how much I can't wait for the next one? I'm dreaming up my own! haha

Description from the publisher:

Summertime has finally arrived in Lake Eden, Minnesota, and Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar bakery, is looking forward to warm, lazy days, eating ice cream, and sharing picnics with friends. But when a family reunion takes a deadly turn, it's up to Hannah to find a killer... Between baking up a storm for The Cookie Jar and unraveling the mystery of her cat Moishe's recent strange behavior, Hannah Swensen has a lot on her plate. But she'll always make time for her business partner, Lisa, who's in the midst of preparing for a big family reunion. Everyone is delighted when Lisa's long-lost uncle makes a surprise appearance. No one has heard from Gus in twenty-five years--and his arrival has everyone buzzing with excitement.

Uncle Gus is immediately the hit of the reunion, telling tales of his great success and flashing money for all to see. He's almost as popular as Hannah's scrumptious carrot cake, which is also Gus's favorite dessert. But the next morning, as the whole family gathers for the group photo, one person is missing. Hannah offers to track down Uncle Gus, but her search leads to a shocking find. Over by the bar at the pavilion, she spots two slices of her infamous carrot cake, frosting-side down on the floor--and Gus's corpse with an ice pick jutting out of his chest!

A little snooping reveals that not everyone was celebrating Gus's return. And when Hannah unearths more secrets from Gus's past, she discovers even more people with an axe to grind. Now Hannah's got to sift through a long list of suspects to find a killer--even if it could mean a recipe for her own demise...

2008-04-28T22:12:00.003-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 16
Book From: Owned, gave to a friend
Date Started: 4/23/08
Date Finished: 4/28/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Jennifer Greene
Title: Blame it on Paris
Series: Stand Alone Novel
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 377

My Comments:
Cute, predictable romance.. I just love the comfy feeling you get from books like this. :)

Girl goes to Paris... Meets Boy when he "rescues" her. They fall in Love. They end up being from the same American town. They meet up back home after saying their tearful good-byes... Have lots of family/personal troubles. Fall in love all over again. The End.

An all in all adorable romance with lovable character. :) Who could ask for more?

Description from the publisher:
Kelly Rochard is determined to have one last adventure before settling down to married life!

Still, being mugged at the Louvre is not what she had in mind for her long-awaited trip to Paris. Until Will Maguire comes to her aid, and she finds herself completely distracted by the handsome stranger in the Notre Dame sweatshirt.

Kelly can't seem to resist the world's most romantic city or Will, who is determined to show her all its treasures, from the top of the Eiffel Tower to strolls along the Seine.

But will their love last when they're back in plain old South Bend, Indiana, or will they end up blaming their breathless fling on the city of love?

2008-04-22T19:36:00.003-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 15
Book From: Owned, gave to my cousin
Date Started: 4/18/08
Date Finished: 4/22/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Linda Howard
Title: Cover of Night
Series: Stand Alone Novel
Genre: Romantic Suspence
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 428

My Comments:
This book had everything! Suspense, Romance, action, laughs and tears! The only part that I didn't care for was that the sex scenes (though only 2) were a bit too graphic for my tastes.

This was another buddy read with my friend Kym.. We both loved the little 4 year old twins Conner and Tanner and I sure wish we got to read more about them.. They had me in fits of giggles. :)

Linda Howard did extremely well telling all sides of every story! The good, the bad, women, men and of course the children. :)

I'm really looking forward to reading more from her soon.

Description from the publisher:
In a picturesque small town, young widow and mother, Cate Nightingale owns and operates a struggling guest house. Occasionally, she enlists the aid of a mysterious, strong, and enigmatic handyman, Calvin Harris. When a trio of brutal thugs invade her inn, demanding the possessions of a guest who vanished days before, Cal proves much bolder than Cate would have ever expected. Though Calvin manages to disperse the intruders, the men regroup and shut down phone access to the entire village, holding its citizens hostage. In a desperate bid for survival, Cate and Cal strike out on their own, seeking help from a neighbouring town. As their daring journey unfolds, Cate is astonished to witness Cal's evolution from reticent carpenter to fearless protector. Is there more to her mysterious handyman than meet the eye?

2008-04-18T19:21:00.001-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 14
Book From: Library
Date Started: 4/15/8
Date Finished: 4/18/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Rebecca Winters
Title: The Italian Tycoon and the Nanny
Series: Stand Alone Novel
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 249

My Comments:
Would have gotten a 4 if I didn't feel there was inconsistencies in the writing style. A few times it felt as if the author was throwing in some "big words" to appear "smart". I just found it distracting.

The story however was very very good :)
It had it all, from tears to joy! And I really enjoyed reading a story set in Italy and the characters were just so easy to love. The beginning of the book was so emotional and had me in tears... its very rare that I connect with characters that fast. :)

Description from the publisher:

A new daddy to his orphaned nephew, Massimo needs help. Bringing the baby's beautiful aunt Julie Marchant to Italy as a nanny seems the perfect solution.

Plucked from her quiet, suburban existence, Julie is a fish out of water in Massimo's glamorous, wealthy world. But she's thrilled to be part of her nephew's life, even if it means being the hired help! More of a challenge is spending every day with Massimo, trying desperately to ignore her attraction to this brooding tycoon.…

2008-04-14T19:03:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 13
Book From: Library
Date Started: 4/10/08
Date Finished: 4/14/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Donna Alward
Title: The Soldier's Homecoming
Series: Stand Alone Novel
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 249

My Comments:
Would have gotten a 4.5 had there been less typos.. That really distracts me. :( Not that I'm perfect, far from it in fact!!! I'm just picky about my reading I guess lol

But that aside, what an adorable romance!! It's the kind of story you know the ending to before you start reading... But sometimes that can be a real comfort, and reading about how they get to their happily-ever-after can be very entertaining. :)

I really needed a book like this after a really bad week.. and I plan to start a new comfort story tonight. :)

Memorable Quotes:
I loved you then. I love you more now. Even more today that I did last week. And I want to spend the rest of my life proving it.

Description from the publisher:
A hero for his country--home to win her heart!

Jonas Kirkpatrick left town to be a soldier without ever looking back. But Shannyn saw him every day in her little girl's green eyes.…

Six years later, Jonas has come home, changed utterly from the carefree boy Shannyn once knew. Hardened by war, Jonas can't allow himself to open his heart.

Until he discovers what he left behind--the unbreakable bond with a child he never knew existed, and the enduring love of the only woman who can make him whole again.

2008-04-09T18:48:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 12
Book From: Owned, donated to library
Date Started: 4/06/08
Date Finished: 04/09/08
My Rating: 3

Author: Meg Cabot
Title: All American Girl
Series: Stand Alone Novel
Genre: Chick Lit
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 398

My Comments:
My friend Danielle recently read this book and commented on how good it was, so my friend Kym and I decided we would read it together as a buddy read.. I thought it was a really cute story with cute main characters.. I love the way Meg Cabot writes, but I'm feeling like I should think about reading less young adult books with this one lol.. I didn't feel like I was relating to the main character that well (even though I found her to be cute and fun) and it ended up making me feel a bit on the old side! ;)

Description from the publisher:
Samantha Madison is just your average disenfranchised sophomore gal living in DC when, in an inadvertent moment sandwiched between cookie buying and CD-perusing, she puts a stop to an attempt on the life of the president. Before she can say “MTV2” she’s appointed Teen Ambassador to the UN and has caught the eye of the very cute First Son.

2008-04-06T15:42:00.002-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 11
Book From: Owned, gave away (Early Reviewer book)
Date Started: 3/15/08
Date Finished: 4/06/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Kristin Hannah
Title: Firefly Lane
Series: Stand Alone Novel
Genre: Women's Fiction
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 479

My Comments:
Let me start by saying this is not the typical style I normally read... Not that it was bad, it wasn't... The characters were very likable and I found myself wanting to know more about their lives.. However that was also what bothered me. To me it seemed to be a bit drawn out, plus there didn't seem to be enough of an actual plot, and that is what usually keeps me entertained.

This is a story of a 30 year friendship between two women from when they were teens into their adult lives.. Was inspiring to watch their friendship grow stronger as they grew older.

*I read this during some emotional family difficulty and believe that might be why I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have... Maybe I will read it again someday :)

Memorable Quotes:
That was the thing about best friends. Like sisters and mothers, they could piss you off and make you cry and break your heart, but in the end, when the chips were down, they were there, making you laugh even in your darkest hour.

Description from Publishers Weekly:
Hannah goes a little too far into Lifetime movie territory in her latest, an epic exploration of the complicated terrain between best friends-one who chooses marriage and motherhood while the other opts for career and celebrity. The adventures of poor, ambitious Tully Hart and middle-class romantic Kate Mularkey begin in the 1970s, but don't really get moving until about halfway into the book, when Tully, who claws her way to the heights of broadcast journalism, discovers it's lonely at the top, and Katie, a stay-at-home Seattle housewife, forgets what it's like to be a rebellious teen. What holds the overlong narrative together is the appealing nature of Tully and Katie's devotion to one another even as they are repeatedly tested by jealousy and ambition. Katie's husband, Johnny, is smitten with Tully, and Tully, who is abandoned by her own booze-and-drug-addled mother, relishes the adoration from Katie's daughter, Marah. Hannah takes the easy way out with an over-the-top tear-jerker ending, though her upbeat message of the power of friendship and family will, for some readers, trump even the most contrived plot twists.

2008-03-14T23:29:00.001-04:00

Book Number in 2008: 10
Book From: Library
Date Started: 3/4/08
Date Finished: 3/14/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Kendall Hart (though I'm not convinced since she's a character!) ;)
Title: Charm!
Series: stand alone
Genre: Romance/TV tie-in
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 263

My Comments:
This was a very soap-like story :) Very likable characters and a great twisting plot. I enjoyed it, and I saw a lot of the similarities from All My Children and the character of Kendall Hart.
All in all: Cute.

Description from the publisher:
Avery Wilkins is in her prime: 30-years-old, living in Manhattan, and working tirelessly to make her cosmetics company, Flair, a success. As she works to introduce her first perfume, multitudes of complications begin to infiltrate Avery's life. Trying to get things done at work, she constantly has to play babysitter to her partner Parker, who is little more than a partying socialite who used her nepotism to get undeserved equal-footing with Harley at the top of the company. She relies on the comic relief and smart perspective of her delightfully flamboyant friend, confidante, and co-worker Justin who helps Avery keep her head on straight amidst the drama that is her life. After being informed by a gleeful Parker of her boyfriend Marcus' infidelity, Avery meets the intriguing and successful Brad" but her hope for pleasurable preoccupation is extinguished when she is confronted with a startling truth about the woman she had always believed to be her mother.

Torn between reconciling with a cheating boyfriend or taking a chance on new love, trying to make sense of the new developments regarding her family, and all the while toiling endlessly to make her perfume launch a triumph, Avery's open heart and ability to trust is tried and tested as she is incessantly betrayed. A chaotic chain of events ensues" brimming with scandal, back-stabbing, and even a kidnapping" all the scintillating components necessary to make this immensely engaging story the ultimate soap opera tale!

2008-03-03T23:05:00.003-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 9
Book From: Library
Date Started: 2/23/08
Date Finished: 3/03/08
My Rating: 3

Author: Diana Palmer
Title: Winter Roses
Series: 35th in Long Tall Texans (though I've never read any of the others)
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 244

My Comments:
This was a nice story. The sister in the story reminds me so much of my own sister that at times it was hard to read... Also I found it to be a little drawn out in parts, but the story was too interesting not to finish!
I'm really enjoying these little Harlequin Romances. :)

Description from the publisher:
Handsome, eligible ranch owner Stuart York was not one to mince words. Ivy Conley, his younger sister's best friend, found out the hard way. During a night's stay at his Jacobsville ranch, Ivy wound up in Stuart's arms. The resulting fireworks singed them both…and knowing she was too young, Stuart closed his heart to her.
Now, years later, Ivy is determined not to be treated like a little girl anymore. Although still an innocent, Ivy knows she has to fight her own battles, but for some reason Stuart is always fighting them for her, and keeping her from harm. And, safe in Stuart's arms, Ivy feels like a woman—a woman who belongs to him.

2008-02-22T00:10:00.001-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 8
Book From: Library
Date Started: 2/13/08
Date Finished: 2/22/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Shirley Jump
Title: Miracle on Christmas Eve
Series: stand alone
Genre: Holiday Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 241

My Comments:
This was a really cute story :) I think I'm getting sick of Christmas though.. well it is the end of Feb!
The characters were really cute, I just felt like the story was trying a little too hard to make everything come together perfectly.

Description from the publisher:
Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is a family…
Jessica Patterson has tried to put on a brave face, but she misses the joy that love can bring at Christmastime. Until a handsome stranger in need of a Christmas miracle touches her heart.…
Single dad C. J. Hamilton has discovered fatherhood is a little harder than bachelorhood! But he's mesmerized by Jessica's enchanting beauty and sincerity. She's perfect with his daughter—is it possible she's perfect for him?
It's lucky that Jessica can't resist a plea for help, because C.J. has a twinkle in his blue eyes that suggests her Christmas dreams will come true.…

2008-02-12T23:51:00.002-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 7
Book From: Library
Date Started: 2/3/08
Date Finished: 2/12/08
My Rating: 3

Author: Fern Michaels, Linda Lael Miller, Theresa Alan & Jane Blackwood
Title: Jingle All the Way
Series: stand alone
Genre: Holiday Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 350

My Comments:

A Bright Red Ribbon:
I loved the beginning of this story.. But by about 25-30 pages into it I couldn't even deal with it anymore! Go figure? I finished it, but I had to force myself. It has so much promise and then all of a sudden it just got so whiny and weird.

The 24 Days of Christmas:
This one was really cute. :) I loved the kids in the story, and it ended sweet. It was a nice addition to the book and a cute Christmas story.

Santa Unwrapped:
Story was cute, but felt the writing style was a little jumpy and repetitious. Also felt the story was cut WAY short.. There was so much more I wanted to know.

Maybe This Christmas:
I enjoyed most of this one.. found it to be a little vulgar in the beginning, and sort of hit home a little bit with the situation and reminded me of a family member of mine. But I liked the outcome and thought it was full of faith and hope. A good Christmas message. :)

Description from the publisher:

Feeling the chill of winter? Then grab a glass of egg nog, take a seat by the yule log, and warm yourself heart and soul with these four captivating tales of passion that make mistletoe seem so unnecessary...

A Bright Red Ribbon Fern Michaels Being dumped by your boyfriend on Christmas Eve has got to be the worst. Still, Morgan Ames promised she'd wait two Christmases for his return -- tonight -- and she always keeps her promises. But a sudden snowstorm has other ideas, including a romantic turn Morgan never imagined...

The 24 Days of Christmas Linda Lael Miller A matchbox advent calendar first brought Frank Rayner and Addie Hutton together. But that was years ago. There's no way the miracles of Christmas -- and the magic of true love -- —could possibly be hidden under one of its tiny flaps. Or could they?

Santa Unwrapped Theresa Alan When Aimee Lachaussee offers to drive three volunteer Santas to a children's hospital, she finds herself stranded in a bar with two really obnoxious playboys -- and the quiet, hunky, wheelchair-bound Ryan, who's about to show Aimee that the very best presents come in unexpected packages...

Maybe This Christmas Jane Blackwood Laura Randall thinks life has passed her by, until a Christmas angel grants her wish to live one, important, destiny-shaping Christmas over. Now that she's got her second chance, can she manage this time to hold on to the love that got away...?

While the weather outside is frightful, unwrap a gift of your own, and delight in these sparkling stories of holiday romance!

2008-02-02T23:25:00.005-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 6
Book From: Own
Date Started: 1/24/08
Date Finished: 2/2/08
My Rating: 3

Author: Jennifer Crusie
Title: Charlie All Night
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Romance (Mira)
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 251

My Comments:
The characters in this book were really cute :)
But the love scenes were on the awkward side and for most of the story, especially the ending, I had the feeling as if I was missing parts of the story.

Description from the publisher:
Dumped by her boyfriend and demoted from WBBB's prime-time spot, radio producer Allie McGuffey has nowhere to go but up. She plans to make her comeback by turning temporary DJ Charlie Tenniel into a household name. And if he's willing to help her cure her breakup blues with a rebound fling, that's an added bonus.

Charlie just wants to kick back, play good tunes and eat Chinese food. He's not interested in becoming famous. But he is interested in Allie. And after all, what harm in a little chemistry between friends?

But suddenly their one-night stand has become a four-week addiction. Night after night on the airwaves, his voice seduces her. . .and all the other women in town. He's a hit. It looks as if Charlie's solved all Allie's problems. . .except one. What is she going to do when he leaves?

2008-01-23T22:33:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 5
Book From: Library
Date Started: 1/20/08
Date Finished: 1/23/08
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Barbara McMahon
Title: Snowbound Reunion
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Harlequin Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 244

My Comments:
Another great Harlequin Romance! I'm SO glad I decided to try these books..
My biggest thing with romance novels is that I don't enjoy to read too many "sex details" and I always assumed (bad me!) that these were filled with that type of story.. Boy was I WRONG! This is my 5th in the past 2 months of this line of Harlequin and so far I have not encountered anything like that! It's not that I don't enjoy some ever lol, but I prefer to read lighter romances.

This particular story was about a married couple who spent more of their marriage apart then together for the past 6 years due to the husbands job. She went away to a house she was left when a family member passed on, leaving a note for him saying that she felt they should end their marriage.

While at this family home she learned the house has been in the family for hundreds of years and found journals in the basement written by a woman who was missing her husband during a war. I really enjoyed this secondary story and wished there was a little more of it.

But all in all I was left with a satisfied feeling after finishing this book late last night.. I'm really looking forward to reading more from this author as well as others in the Harlequin Romance line.

Description from the publisher:
Watching the snowflakes fall and make everything look perfect, Cath Morgan knows she's made the right decision to spend Christmas alone, far away from the city and her husband, Jake. For six years Cath has dreamed of more from her marriage--a husband who isn't off globe-trotting around the world and a home ringing with children's laughter.
Only Jake isn't about to let his wife go so easily. He has one Christmas to show how much he loves her--to share the secrets that have kept him away.
They just need this one chance to make their marriage beautiful again....

2008-01-20T22:10:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 4
Book From: Library
Date Started: 01/17/08
Date Finished: 01/20/08
My Rating: 5

Author: Cara Colter
Title: Their Christmas Wish Come True
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Holiday Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 249 - Large Print

My Comments:
This one was such a beautiful and emotional romance too! Even though they are all very predictable from the start, these little romance books are just so great! I'm hooked! Here it is way after Christmas and I'm still hunting them down now! (as a matter of fact I finished this one this morning and I'm already 1/4 into the next one!) I think soon I'll venture away from the holiday ones and try other's in the same Harlequin Romance line.

This one got really deep into the emotions of both characters. Really made you feel for them and hope for the best outcome. Cara Colter is an amazing writer and I look forward to reading other stories by her.

Memorable Quotes:
A man like that would be just like too much eggnog -- the first few sips were as heady as wine, and then it seemed too sweet, and then it was just sickening, and by the last few drops you wondered how come you ever thought you liked it in the first place.

Description from the publisher:
Forty days till Christmas—can they open their hearts in time?
Kirsten Morrison runs the Secret Santa Society and loves making others happy. Although she knows opening your heart can be painful, her secret wish is to find a special man to share Christmas with.—Volunteering to wrap children's gifts isn't something Michael Brewster would normally do. But, facing his first Christmas alone, he finds himself on Kirsten's doorstep.
As they work together, an undeniable attraction fl ares between them. Is a kiss under the mistletoe the start of their Christmas wish come true?

2008-01-16T18:31:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 3
Book From: Library
Date Started: 1/11/08
Date Finished: 11/16/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Michelle Douglas
Title: His Christmas Angel
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback - Large Print
Pages: 242

My Comments:
What a cute little romance! It was different then the normal holiday romance, since it was set in Australia.. which by the way is where the author lives.
The only reason I gave this book a 3.5 and not a 4 rating is because I was distracted by the different spellings used and a few of the wordings & phrases that are not common to me.

But all in all this was such a sweet and emotional romance! I stayed up (WAY) late finishing this up and the ending was so good that I had tears streaming down my face :)

Description from the publisher:
Once Sol Adams and Cassie Campbell had been inseparable, drawn to each other when times were tough. Cassie has spent the last ten years trying to move on from her life back then, but now Sol is home for Christmas, more gorgeous than ever, and she can't avoid him—or her memories… Sol can see Cassie's changed—she's now a widow, a woman who tirelessly cares for others. But he knows her too well—he can see the hurt and yearning behind her cheerful smile. Can he get to the bottom of her troubled heart and make this Christmas angel his much-loved wife?

2008-01-10T16:59:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 2
Date Started: 12/13/07
Date Finished: 1/10/08
My Rating: 4

Author: Meg Cabot
Title: Queen of Babble
Series: book 1
Genre: Chick Lit
Format: eBook
Pages: 308

Book From: First part from an eBook from from the library web site, 2nd part as a Hardcover from the library.

My Comments:
Was an enjoyable book and the characters were cute and fun. Wish we could have heard more about France and England and not just the estate they stayed at, but all in all a well written, humorous story.
I'm really looking forward to reading the next in the series and learn more about the relationships of the characters and how they get along in a new place (NY)

Description from the publisher:

What's an American girl with a big mouth, but an equally big heart, to do?

Lizzie Nichols has a problem, and it isn't that she doesn't have the slightest idea what she's going to do with her life, or that she's blowing what should be her down payment on a cute little Manhattan apartment on a trip to London to visit her long-distance boyfriend, Andrew. What's the point of planning for the future when she's done it again? See, Lizzie can't keep her mouth shut. And it's not just that she can't keep her own secrets, she can't keep anything to herself.

This time when she opens her big mouth, her good intentions get Andrew in major hot water. Now Lizzie's stuck in London with no boyfriend and no place to stay until the departure date written on her non-changeable airline ticket.

Fortunately, Lizzie's best friend and college roommate is spending her summer in the south of France, catering weddings in a chateau. One call and Lizzie's on a train to Paris. Who cares if she speaks only rudimentary French? One glimpse of gorgeous Chateau Mirac -- not to mention gorgeous Luke, Chateau Mirac's owner -- and she's smitten.

But while most caterers can be trusted to keep a secret, Lizzie's the exception. And no sooner has the first cork been popped than Luke hates her, the bride is in tears, and it looks like Chateau Mirac is in danger of becoming a lipo-recovery spa. As if things aren't bad enough, ex-boyfriend Andy shows up looking for "closure" (or at least a loan), threatening to ruin everything, especially Lizzie's chance at ever finding real love -- unless she can figure out a way to use that big mouth of hers to save the day.

2008-01-06T16:52:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2008: 1
Date Started: 12/01/07
Date Finished: 01/06/08
My Rating: 3.5

Author: Lisa Kleypas
Title: Secrets of a Summer Night
Series: First in series
Genre: Regency Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 375

Book From: Read part as an eBook and most from a library copy.

My Comments:
I haven't read too many Historicals/Regency Romance in my lifetime.. And the bulk of what I have read was read probably about 15 years ago. From what I remember of those stories most is that one of the 2 main characters is always head over heels in love (need) with the other.. And the other one usually either despises them for some reason, is in denial or just plain out won't admit their feelings out of stubbornness or some other crazy reason lol.
This particular story was NOT unlike those in that respect, however I found it to be a little more interesting then others I've read because the leading lady, Annabelle (love that name by the way), was a little more strong willed then most. And our hero of the story, Simon, actually needed her as much as she needed him at times.. It was a rather nice change from the usual "Night in Shining Armor come to rescue his Damsel in Distress".

Part of the middle of the story I felt was dragged out with a lot of unnecessary details .. But after completing the story I realized that those parts were needed in order to fully understand their growing love for each other. :)

So all in all I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Description from the publisher:
Four young ladies enter London society with one common goal: they must use their feminine wit and wiles to find a husband. So a daring husband-hunting scheme is born.

Annabelle Peyton, determined to save her family from disaster, decides to use her beauty and wit to tempt a suitable nobleman into making an offer of marriage. But Annabelle's most intriguing—and persistent—admirer, wealthy, powerful Simon Hunt, has made it clear that while he will introduce her to irresistible pleasure he will not offer marriage. Annabelle is determined to resist his unthinkable proposition . . . but it is impossible in the face of such skillful seduction.

Her friends, looking to help, conspire to entice a more suitable gentleman to offer for Annabelle, for only then will she be safe from Simon—and her own longings. But on one summer night, Annabelle succumbs to Simon's passionate embrace and tempting kisses . . . and she discovers that love is the most dangerous game of all.

2007-12-28T15:41:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 39
Date Started: 12/20
Date Finished: 12/28
My Rating: 4

Author: Judy Christenberry
Title: Snowbound with Mr. Right
Series: book 2 of 2
Genre: Tender Romance (Holiday)
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 244

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Holiday theme

My Comments:
I really enjoyed this story as well! What a wonderful new author to discover :)
Her characters are written in such a way that you feel as if you are reading stories about people you actually know. And what a beautiful holiday romance this one was as well!
I also loved how the end of this book really tied into the last book by having all the characters come together for Christmas dinner. :)

Description from the publisher:
Tempting the tycoon out of the city… just in time for Christmas!
Sally Rogers's family store is the heart and soul of the small town of Bailey, and she's working all hours to keep her business afloat. So when city slicker Hunter Bedford arrives, determined to buy her out, Sally is furious. No way will she sell to a ruthless businessman like Hunter!
Instead, with Christmas approaching, she'll show him the warmth and spirit of Bailey. But as the snow falls thick and fast, they are trapped together, and Sally begins to wonder if she's snowbound with Mr. Right.…

2007-12-20T16:06:00.001-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 38
Date Started: 12/18
Date Finished: 12/20
My Rating: 4.5

Author: Judy Christenberry
Title: The Cowboy's Christmas Proposal
Series: book 1 of 2
Genre: Tender Romance (Holiday)
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 241

Book From: Own
Why I Read it: Holiday theme

My Comments:
The book description doesn't even begin to give it justice! This was such a beautiful romance with a nice holiday theme.

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who might decide to read it.. So I'll just say that I was very taken by this emotional love story and I'm going to start the 2nd book tonight!
I'm also already planning to read more of her books in the future!!

Description from the publisher:
One snowy Christmas, wedding bells ring!
Penny Bradford has inherited her family ranch, but she has no idea how to run it! So she hires rugged rancher Jake Larson to train her up and show her the ropes.
Jake thinks it will be easy—he'll run the ranch and hold Penny's hand until she realizes she isn't cut out for ranching. Trouble is, Jake realizes he doesn't want to let Penny's hand go!
As the snow falls thick and fast, Christmas begins to work its magic on the boss and her rancher.…

2007-12-17T21:26:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 37
Date Started: 12/15
Date Finished: 12/17
My Rating: 3

Author: Jennifer Crusie, Lori Foster and Carly Phillips
Title: Santa Baby
Series: stand alone anthology
Genre: Holiday Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 298

Book From: Book I own
Why I Read it: Christmas season, and read with a friend

My Comments:
The first story by Jennifer Crusie "Hot Toy" was cute and full of suspense. This was my first time reading anything by her and I'm looking forward to reading more.

The second story by Lori Foster "Christmas Bonus" was a very erotic story.. And to me there was a lack of a real story, (except for he wanted her, she wanted him, they finally got what they wanted) and there was not really much of a holiday theme either.. (well I guess there was as much as there can be while "getting it on"!). OK I'm not gonna rant anymore.. don't want to be a total party pooper here lol.
This particular story was good for what it was, but in my opinion it was not for this book.. That's all I really mean to say.

The third story by Carly Phillips "Naughty Under the Mistletoe" was an adorable romance with a nice holiday theme.. It was my favorite in the book.. I really loved their characters and wished this one was told in a full length novel. This was my first story by this author as well, and I will be reading more by her soon for sure!

Description from the publisher:

Get ready for a holiday season you’ll never forget with three of today’s most sensational writers who know what every woman wants for the holidays. You’ll believe in Santa all over again with these seductive stories from:

JENNIFER CRUSIE
Mayhem ensues under the mistletoe as a determined shopper grabs the very last hot toy action figure off the shelf, only to find herself plunged into the middle of a real-life spy game—in the arms of a sexy secret agent...

LORI FOSTER
Two dedicated coworkers with a lot of secrets (and fantasies!) between them must plan a Christmas party side by side—and discover a love worth celebrating—in this steamy office romance.

CARLY PHILLIPS
A “mistletoe moment” begins when a no-nonsense lawyer intent on seducing her boss meets his twin instead—after giving him a scintillating kiss that leaves him begging for more. . .

2007-12-06T23:23:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 36
Date Started: 11/28
Date Finished: 12/06
My Rating: 4

Author: Janet Tronstad
Title: The Sisterhood of the Dropped Stitches
Series: book 1
Genre: Inspirational
Format: Mass Market Paperback (large print)
Pages: 299

Book From: book I own
Why I Read it: Read with a friend

My Comments:
I really enjoyed the characters in this book.. I'm looking forward to reading the next few in the series.
These 4 young girls met as teens with cancer and formed a knitting/bonding group that meet once a week. So each girl will get to tell her story in a different book.
It's the kind of book that really makes you think about yourself and about life in general.. My friend and I are reading the next book in the series now and then we'll be reading something light and happy. :)

Description from the publisher:
My three friends and I met as teens living with cancer and started The Sisterhood of the Dropped Stitches knitting group. Five cancer-free years later, we were still meeting weekly. To celebrate, we each set a goal for the year. Lizbett dreamed of being a dancer, Becca needed an internship, Carly wanted her first pet and I, Marilee Davidson, challenged myself to go on three dates.

That was easier said than done. I hadn't let any man get close to me since my diagnosis. But with the help of my friends, I put myself out there...and learned that sometimes love can be found in the most unexpected of places.

2007-11-30T00:27:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 35
Date Started: 11/9
Date Finished: 11/30
My Rating: 4/5

Author: Claire Cook
Title: Life's a Beach
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Chick Lit
Format: eBook
Pages: 250

Book From: Library OverDrive program
Why I Read it: Enjoyed a book by her a couple of years ago and this one seemed light and cute.

My Comments:
I love reading books that are set in Massachusetts, and this one was a really great one!
This book actually took place mostly at Cape Cod where they were filming a shark movie on the beach. fun fun!

I also enjoyed all the talk about crafts such as glass blowing and jewelry made with sea glass. I love making jewelry and this book really made me want to start that up again. Never thought of using sea glass.. but sea glass is something that has always intrigued me.

The characters were all so real they felt like people you could actually know. As a matter of fact, Ginger's father reminded me of my grandfather so much and he had me laughing my butt off with every conversation she had with him. I also loved the interaction with Ginger and her nephew Riley, it reminded me of myself with my nephew and I hope that him and I will have as much fun together when he's older as these 2 did. :)

Description from the publisher:
Life's a bit of a beach these days for Ginger Walsh, who's single at forty-one and living back home in the family FROG (Finished Room Over Garage). She's hoping for a more fulfilling life as a sea glass artist, but instead is babysitting her sister's kids and sharing overnights with Noah, her sexy artist boyfriend with commitment issues and a dog Ginger's cat isn't too crazy about. Geri, her BlackBerry-obsessed sister, is also nearly over the deep end about her pending fiftieth birthday (and might just drag Ginger with her). Toss in a dumpster-picking father, a Kama Sutra T-shirt-wearing mother, a movie crew come to town with a very cute gaffer, an on-again-off-again glassblower boyfriend, plus a couple of Red Hat realtors, and hilarity ensues.

2007-11-26T22:12:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 34
Date Started: 11/22
Date Finished: 11/26
My Rating: 3

Author: Janet Evanovich
Title: Thanksgiving
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 228

Book From: Book I own
Why I Read it: Read for the Thanksgiving holiday

My Comments:
Really cute story.. Was a bit annoying at times, but all in all a cute & silly holiday romance.

Pat's attitude towards Megan bothered me for a good amount of the story.. he seemed so full of himself and pushy and it made me crazy! But she was also very stubborn lol so it evened out.
As I got into the story more I became used to their silly ways and realized they were actually really perfect for each other.
The meddling family, cute rabbit, silly Thanksgiving troubles and ex-boyfriend dramas had me giggling out loud and sharing parts of the story with family in the room with me.

Description from the publisher:
When it comes to men, Megan Murphy has an aversion to "I do".
Then she meets irresistible pediatrician Pat Hunter. Add in a cozy colonial cottage, the world's biggest turkey, two hopeful families, and a skirt-chomping rabbit, and you've got a feast of fabulous fun!

2007-11-24T00:58:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 33
Date Started: 11/9
Date Finished: 11/24
My Rating: 4

Author: Erica Orloff
Title: Do They Wear High Heels in Heaven?
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Chick Lit
Format: eBook
Pages: 248

Book From: Downloaded from the Overdrive Library program
Why I Read it: Enjoyed a book by this author earlier this year. Also, I heard this was a real great tear jerker.

My Comments:
What a great book! It had it all from laughs to tears ..
Not sure it should be considered Chick Lit though, I really didn't get the same feel from it then the typical Chick Lit books.

This is my second book by Erica Orloff this year, and I enjoyed both books completely even though they were very different from each other.. I will not hesitate to read other books by her in the future.

Description from OverDrive:

Lily Waters is a spitfire magazine columnist raising her two children after her husband left her for a college student in his history class. And then he departed for London shortly after that--not seven weeks after her youngest child was born.

As the book opens, Lily is facing her 40th birthday with dread--along with her trademark humor. She also, as a writer, tends to see the bigger themes in life. But, to help her ring in her 40th year, her best friend of 20 years is determined to embarrass her with every "over the hill" trick in the book.

Michael, Lily's openly gay best friend, narrates half the book. He watches as shortly after this "huge" birthday in most people's lives, Lily gets a baseline mammogram and discovers she has cancer. Together, they assume they can weather this...just as Michael has assumed a lot of the co-parenting duties of Lily's sullen 16-year-old and baseball-loving 9-year-old. However, as things look bleaker, both friends begin to question life, love, sex, and death.

Eventually, Lily has to face the concept of declaring a guardian for her children when her ex seems both unfit and unwilling to relinquish his life in London. However, her trademark wry philosophy means she is far more prepared for whatever comes next than the people around her.

The book is told by both Lily and Michael...and woven throughout are her magazine columns, and his life's work, a novel. A story to make you laugh, make you cry…and make you want to read it again.

2007-11-21T23:54:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 32
Date Started: 11/16
Date Finished: 11/21
My Rating: 4

Author: Mindy Klasky
Title: Sorcery and the Single Girl
Series: 2nd in the Jane Madison series
Genre: Paranormal Chick lit
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 394

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Enjoyed the first one, like chick lit and love the paranormal

My Comments:
I'm really enjoying this series! Can't wait till next Oct. for the next book!
I figured out what I think was supposed to be a shocker towards the end way before it happened, but it didn't matter to me at all. :) Reading about Jane, her Mom, Grandmother, best friend Melissa and her gay familiar Neko is just SO much fun! This book was a little deeper with the magical stuff then the last one, but was still a fun light read.

Synopsis

Those TV witches have got it made . . . Wiggle a nose. Dinner's on the table! Hop on a broom. Next stop, Tahiti!

Unfortunately, nose-wiggling doesn't cut it in real life. So witch or not, Jane Madison must deal with her insane work schedule, best-friend drama and romantic dry spell like everyone else.

But now the exclusive Washington Coven wants Jane to join. This could be a dream come true for the magical misfit, or it could be the most humiliating experience of her life. Either way, the crap's gonna hit the cauldron because Jane is about to be tested in ways she's never imagined -- and, pass or fail, nothing will ever be the same.

2007-11-15T22:36:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 31
Date Started: Nov. 11
Date Finished: Nov. 15
My Rating: 3

Author: Cecily Von Ziegesar
Title: Gossip Girl
Series: 1st in series
Genre: YA
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 201

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Been enjoying the new show on The CW

My Comments:
Well as usual when books are made into film, the film is very different .. But in this case I'm not really sure which I like better. They were different, but good in their own ways.

When it comes to Serena's character, I will say it's the show I like better.. only because in the show the character we seem to identify most with is Serena, and she is a bit of a snob yes, but she's pleasant and nicer about it... But in the book, even though Serena is also the main character she comes off in such a way that I know if she were real I wouldn't like her very much! She is an all around bitchy snob.. but since this is the main focus of the story I guess I shall let that slide ;)

All in all I enjoyed the story and will read more from the series eventually (I will probably wait a bit though, since the differences confused me with the show last night!)

The only real problem I have with this book is the fact that it is considered a Young Adult book (which I understand to be high school age teens) But in my opinion, I really don't think it should be considered a YA book.
The kids in this book are between the ages 14-17 and all of them are handed alcoholic drinks by parents and are also served drinks in bars/clubs/restaurants without even checking for IDs. Now I'm not from the rich society, but I don't see how this could actually be true. And the fact that it is considered "cool" along with all the sex talk, drugs taken, curse words and cool attitude about eating disorders, it just seems wrong to me and I don't understand why the book is considered good teen reading?

OK I will jump off that soap box now and climb off my high horse too ;)
What do I know, I don't have any children, let alone a teen.

Memorable Quotes:
This quote probably wouldn't have struck me as funny if I hadn't had an hour long argument with one of my closet friends last week about this exact same thought.

Blair Waldorf had this to say when her mother told her to eat her eggs at the breakfast table:
"I don't eat chicken abortions," she said stubbornly. "They make me gag."

Description from the publisher:
Welcome to New York City's Upper East Side where my friends and I live, and go to school, and play, and sleep- sometimes with each other. We all live in huge apartments with our own bedrooms and bathrooms and phone lines. We're smart, we've inherited classic good looks, we have fantastic clothes, and we know how to party. . .

Introducing Gossip Girl, a wickedly funny and risquè novel about the provocative lives of New York City's most prestigious private school young adults. Gossip Girl herself is an anonymous narrator with the ultimate insider scoop on the inner-workings of this privileged society because she's one of them. Sharp wit, intriguing characters, and high stakes melodrama drive the action of this addictive novel that will make Gossip Girl the lit world's new "it" girl.

In Gossip Girl, when the beautiful Serena van der Woodsen returns to private school after mysteriously getting kicked out of boarding school, the whole school is talking. All Blair Waldorf knows is that there's no freaking way Serena's going to just waltz back in with her Jimmy Choo mules and Kate Spade bag and steal everyone's heart again. But Serena's got other things on her mind, like college pressure and living up to everyone else's extreme expectations. Plus there's that Ryan Phillippe-looking guy who stands across the street and stares at her all the time.

It's going to be a wild and wicked year, I can smell it.

Love, Gossip Girl

2007-11-11T16:04:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 30
Date Finished: Nov. 11, 2007
My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Charlaine Harris
Title: Grave Sight
Series Number: 1st in series
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 263

Book From: Library copy
Why I Read it: Was just before Halloween when I started it, and thought it would be fun to read something spooky :)

My Comments:
I enjoyed the story, didn't move along as fast as I had thought it would though. I got slowed down a bit in the middle because I found the main character to be a bit on the weird side (guess this should be expected from someone who was hit by lightening and finds the dead! lol) and the story was dragging a bit at that point.
I also found myself re-reading parts because the authors choice of wording was sometimes confusing to me.

But all in all I enjoyed the story. And though I won't run out to get the next book in the series right away, I do plan to read the next ones in the near future. :)

Memorable Quotes:
There was one quote I found extremely funny, but it didn't quite seem appropriate for a blog post LOL

Description from Publishers Weekly:
Ever since Harper Connelly survived a zap from a lightning bolt, she's been able to find dead people, a skill that makes the protagonist in the first installment of Harris's new series a tad more bizarre than the mind-reading heroine of the author's Sookie Stackhouse books (Dead as a Doornail, etc.).

Harper travels to the Ozark town of Sarne, Arkansas, to find a missing teenage girl's body, accompanied by her stepbrother, Tolliver, who acts as her manager and bodyguard and with whom she shares a thinly disguised physical attraction that they manage to keep at bay by engaging in casual sex with various partners.

Finding the body takes no time at all, but leaving town afterward isn't so easy. When Harper's life is threatened and Tolliver ends up in jail on trumped-up charges, it quickly becomes apparent that something sinister is going on in Sarne.

2007-10-23T23:24:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 29
Date Finished: 10/23
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Author: Carolyn G. Hart
Title: Death on Demand
Series Number: 1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 195

Book From: Own
Why I Read it: Read with my friend Jackie as a Buddy read

My Comments:
For me, the beginning of this book didn't have enough information... For the first few chapters I felt like I was missing something.. like someone tore out pages from my book or something! Of course they did not and in the end it did mostly come together, but I almost didn't stick it out at all. And if that wasn't bad enough, I also had trouble with all of the mentions of past books and characters by many authors that I have never read or even heard of. This had me once again feeling as if I was missing something. And to top off all the feelings of being "dumb" were the use of words that were not quite common. I have nothing to against authors expanding their vocabulary a bit.. however if I'm reading a book I need to look words up from every page (sometimes a few each page) is very distracting. This didn't continue after the first 35 pages or so and once past that I accepted the other issues and enjoyed the story :)
I really liked the characters of Annie and Max and I do look forward to trying more books from the series soon.

Memorable Quotes:
"She had a sign at the front of the store, of course, that said NO Food, NO Drinks Except for coffee in the Rear. It was fascinating that people who seemed to be shopping for books were apparently selective in their reading skills."

Description from the publisher:
At Annie Laurance's Death On Demand bookstore on Broward's Rock Island, South Carolina, murder most foul suddenly isn't confined to the well-stocked shelves. Author Elliot Morgan's abrupt demise during a weekly gathering of famous mystery writers called the Sunday Night Regulars is proof positive that a bloody sword is sometimes mightier than a brilliant pen. With Annie in the unenviable position of primary police suspect, the pretty young mystery maven and her wealthy paramour, Max Darling, embark on an investigation into a classic locked-room mystery with high stakes. For failing to unmask a brutal and ingenious killer could mean prison for Ms. Laurance. While success could mean her death.

2007-10-12T16:49:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 28
Date Finished: 10/12
My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars (maybe even 5 & 1/2 stars!)

Author: Harlan Coben
Title: The Woods
Series Number: Stand Alone
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 404

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Group read in my Women's Reading Group

My Comments:
I loved this book!
I just can't believe how good this was! I didn't want to stop reading it :)
And I put off reading it because I don't typically enjoy books by men with men lead characters. (Nothing against men or anything lol, but I just identify better with women and find reading more enjoyable when I can identify with the characters.)
I'm sure you'll be seeing at least one more book by this author on my read list soon :)

Description from the publisher:
Twenty years ago, four teenagers at summer camp walked into the woods at night. Two were found murdered, and the others were never seen again. Four families had their lives changed forever. Now, two decades later, they are about to change again.

For Paul Copeland, the county prosecutor of Essex, New Jersey, mourning the loss of his sister has only recently begun to subside. Cope, as he is known, is now dealing with raising his six-year-old daughter as a single father after his wife has died from cancer. Balancing family life and a rapidly ascending career as a prosecutor distracts him from his past traumas, but only for so long. When a homicide victim is found with evidence linking him to Cope, the well-buried secrets of the prosecutor's family are threatened.

Is this homicide victim one of the campers who disappeared with his sister? Could his sister be alive? Cope has to confront so much he left behind that summer twenty years ago: his first love, Lucy; his mother, who abandoned the family; and the secrets that his Russian parents might have been hiding even from their own children. Cope must decide what is better left hidden in the dark and what truths can be brought to the light.

2007-10-10T21:36:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 27
Date Finished: 10/09
My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Author: Madeleine Wickham
Title: Cocktails for Three
Series Number: stand alone
Genre: Chick lit
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 301

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Read with my friends Kym & Jackie

My Comments:
It had a very slow start (and middle!). .. But the pace did pick up the last quarter of the book.
The characters were not exactly as friendly as I had pictured for this story and I think that might have been what disappointed me most.
I also found myself left with a few unanswered questions in the end and wonder if maybe this book was intended to be the start of a series or maybe will have a sequel.

Description from the publisher:
Three women, smart and successful, working in the fast and furious world of magazines, meet for cocktails and gossip once a month.

Roxanne: glamorous, self-confident, with a secret lover – and hoping that one day he will leave his wife and marry her.

Maggie: capable and high-achieving, until she finds the one thing she can't cope with – motherhood.

Candice: honest, decent, or so she believes – until a ghost from her past turns up, and almost ruins her life.

A chance encounter in the cocktail bar sets in train an extraordinary set of events which upsets all their lives and almost destroys their friendship.

2007-09-22T21:35:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 26
Date Finished: 9/22
My Rating: 2 out of a 5 star rating

Author: Kaye Morgan
Title: Death by Sudoku
Series Number: 1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 199 (for actual story.. sudoku tips at end of book)

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: I really like Sudoku puzzles

My Comments:
I know this is going to sound negative, but I didn't hate this book by no means...
I actually really enjoyed reading about the Sudoku puzzles and tournaments and even enjoyed the mystery.
I just felt it wasn't as friendly as most "cozies" normally are, and the writing style just didn't flow right for me. I found myself re-reading certain parts because it either lost my interest or it didn't make sense the way I read the words.

Description from the publisher:
Maiden's Bay is a small, scenic town on the Oregon Coast where citizens get their number fix thanks to Liza Kelly-Sudoku Maven with the Oregon Daily. Her challenging puzzles sharpen the mind, and her deductive skills unravel even the most enigmatic clues.Liza enters a Sudoku tournament in which her old friend and competitor turns up dead. Now, she must think outside the boxes to find a murderer.

2007-09-12T14:21:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 25
Date Finished: 9/12
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Author: JoAnna Carl
Title: Chocolate Frog Frame-Up
Series Number: 3
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Hardcover (Large Print)
Pages: 339

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Enjoyed past books in the series

My Comments:
This was my favorite in the series so far! I really loved reading about Lee & Joe connecting more. Full of edge of your seat suspense!
I love reading about chocolate history between some of the chapters as well :)
I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of this series soon.

Description from the publisher:
For the Fourth of July, Lee McKinney and her aunt debut their latest confections-chocolate frogs-at TenHuis Chocolade. The first customer to buy a croaker is the town crank. But when he later disappears and police suspect foul play, it's a chocolate clue that leads Lee to the killer.

2007-09-02T14:09:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 24
Date Finished: 9/2
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Author: Margaret Chittenden
Title: Don't Forget to Die
Series Number: 4
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 293

Book From: Library (but I hope to own this series someday)
Why I Read it: Originally started this series because I love Country Music, but the stories are WAY more than that, and you don't have to be a fan at all to love the series!

My Comments:
I love all of the characters in this series! Even (and sometimes especially) Benny the Bunny!! :)
This was a really great addition to the series, full of suspense and friendship that really sucks you right into their world.

Description from Publishers Weekly:
Charlie Plato, part-owner of CHAPS, a western bar and dance hall outside San Francisco, engages in an affable fourth outing (following Dead Beat and Deadly). Charlie's business partner, tight-lipped Angel Cervantes, has always thought that his father, Vic, killed his mother before running off with another woman many years ago. When Vic's body is found in a storage locker, Angel and his brother, Miguel, become prime suspects--and it doesn't help that Miguel once vowed to kill Vic to avenge their mother's death. Angel says they didn't do it, however, and asks Charlie and Zack Hunter, a CHAPS senior partner and former TV star, to investigate the murder on the siblings' behalf. At Vic's wake, the two sleuths meet Roxy, the girl Vic ran away with, and Hank, her sleazy brother. Roxy claims she and Vic were a loving, committed couple, even though he had recently left her for a younger woman. Vic wasn't as loved by his boss, the contractor in whose locker the corpse was found. As she pieces together the deceased's life, Charlie gets threatening e-mail messages and is ambushed with rocks while driving. These mishaps only convince the indefatigably upbeat heroine that she and Zack are on the killer's trail. Meanwhile, the duo's on-again/off-again relationship heats up, despite Charlie's assurances that she's over Zack. The ongoing flirtation is lightly enjoyable, and though Chittenden's breezy prose prevents the buildup of any serious suspense, series fans will find the novel an amenable romp.

2007-08-21T14:01:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 23
Date Finished: 8/21
My Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Author: Laura Levine
Title: Shoes to Die For
Series Number: 4
Genre: Chick Lit "Cozy" Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 228

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Need to finish series before reading Candy Cane Murder

My Comments:
The only thing I can say without repeating myself totally is look below at the previous post to see my comments on how I feel about the writing style, formula and jokes.

However the stories are still really great! I just need to get over the style/jokes that bug me lol

Description from Publishers Weekly:
When the owner of an upscale L.A. boutique catering to the slightly anorexic winds up dead with an imitation Jimmy Choo stiletto to the jugular, freelance writer Jaine Austen must prove sweet salesgirl Becky innocent of the crime by tracking down the real killer. Cozy fans will find Laura Levine's Shoes to Die For: A Jaine Austen Mystery, the fourth installment in the series (after 2004's Killer Blonde), the ideal beach read.

2007-08-14T13:59:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 22
Date Finished: 8/14
My Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5

Author: Laura Levine
Title: Killer Blonde
Series Number: 3
Genre: Chick Lit "Cozy" Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 234

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Need to finish the series before reading Candy Cane Murder

My Comments:
Suspected who the murderer was from the very start because it seems her formula is the similar in each book (look for the one you least expect! lol)
I really loved the connection that was made with Heidi (the teenage stepdaughter of the victim) I'm guessing we won't hear from her again, but I wish we would!
I did miss Kandi (her best friend) in this book, she didn't seem to have much of a part in this one..

I was still a little annoyed with the writing style... 1 example: adding "ads" in each story about the previous books. Another example would be the over told jokes and comments about her cat (that I find a bit rude or offensive rather then funny).
But it's probably just me, I haven't been in the best of moods lately and I guess the humor is just not coming across as intended.. However, don't get me wrong.. there are many parts in all her books that DO get me laughing out loud! :)

Description from Publishers Weekly:
In Laura Levine's Killer Blonde: A Jaine Austen Mystery, her third cozy to feature sassy freelance writer and sometime sleuth Jaine Austen (after 2003's Last Writes), Jaine agrees to ghostwrite a book of hostess tips for SueEllen Kingsley, a Beverly Hills socialite. When the abusive, self-centered SueEllen gets electrocuted in her bathtub, Jaine must do what she can to exonerate the chief suspect in the murder, the victim's endearing, chubby teenage stepdaughter. The identity of the real killer comes as an abrupt if smart surprise.

2007-08-09T22:05:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 21
Date Finished: August 9th
My Rating: 4/5

Author: Danielle Steel
Title: Johnny Angel
Series Number: Stand Alone book
Genre: Women's Fiction
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 181

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Originally because the title caught my attention, but more recently a friend told me she loved it.

My Comments:
What a great story! Not very realistic, but it didn't much matter :)
The only thing that bothered me about this book was all the repetition.. A lot of the comments were said over and over again to the point where it was a bit distracting. But it didn't stop me from plowing through the book fast and feeling every moment we shared with this family... from tears to joy.

Description from the publisher:
With a word or a smile, seventeen-year-old Johnny Peterson could light up a room, fill his mother’s heart with pride, and inspire the best in those around him. A star athlete and class valedictorian, tall, lanky Johnny had a future filled with promise--until he stepped into a car on prom night, dazzling in his rented tux, and in an instant, it was all taken away.
In the months that follow, Johnny’s family and high school sweetheart, Becky, struggle to put together the pieces of their shattered lives. No one is more devastated than Johnny’s mother, Alice, whose oldest son owned her heart from the day he was born. But amid the heartache, something miraculous is about to happen to the Peterson family, something that will alter the course of each of their lives. When a sudden illness sends Alice to the hospital, a glorious vision comes to her in her dreams. There, standing before her, is Johnny himself, with that familiar twinkle in his eye, gently urging his bewildered mother to be strong for her splintered family. For Alice, seeing her marvelous lost boy is a miracle she can’t quite believe but is more than willing to embrace. In the weeks to come, Johnny will appear in the most unlikely places, visible only to the two people who need him most: his nine-year-old brother, locked in a silent world, whose special needs Johnny always seemed to understand…and his mother, who has always nurtured her family, but who now needs a guardian angel of her own.
Through a season of hope and healing, Johnny will walk by his mother’s side, leaving miracles in his wake, leading his parents, his girlfriend, his sister, and his brother out of their grief. But as Alice is about to discover, Johnny has returned not just to help those he loves, but to uncover a purpose even he cannot comprehend--one that will change them all forever.
An unforgettable story of loving and letting go, of mixed blessings and second chances, Johnny Angel is a celebration of life, hope, and forgiveness. It will make you laugh and cry…and hold your loved ones just a little bit closer.

2007-08-06T23:49:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 20
Date Finished: August 6th
My Rating: 3/5

Author: Karen Robards
Title: Vanished
Series Number: Stand Alone book
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 369

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Read with Kym

My Comments:
I really liked the story itself, it kept me coming back and some parts were so good I sat on the edge of my seat with my eyes wide and mouth open. LOL
However, there were many times that I had a very hard time keeping my mind in this book at all... There were way too many descriptions and details of things that to me, had no real purpose. At least not that I could see.. (one example would be 2 full pages about letting the dog outside!!).
This was my first Karen Robards book.. It was good enough to get me to try her again, but I think if other books are as drawn out and over detailed as I found this one to be, I may not try too many more.

Description from the publisher:
Seven years ago, Sarah Mason's five-year-old daughter vanished during an outing at a park in Beaufort, South Carolina. Despite a frantic search, little Lexie was never found, and Sarah was left to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and go on the best she could.

Then, one hot August night, Sarah comes home to hear the phone ringing. When she picks it up, a child's terrified voice whispers, "Mommy, help, come and get me . . ." The call is cut off, but not before Sarah's heart goes into overdrive: she is sure the voice belonged to Lexie. Five-year-old Lexie. Though seven years have passed, she sounds exactly the same.

Frantic, Sarah turns to the police, the FBI, and her co-workers at the County Prosecutor's office, none of whom takes the call seriously. The only person she can count on to help her is Jake Hogan, her closest friend in the world, the man who has provided a strong shoulder for her to lean on throughout the long search. A former FBI agent, Jake is now a P.I., and though he is skeptical about the authenticity of the call, the attraction he feels for Sarah pushes him to help her. He is convinced someone is deliberately tormenting the grief-stricken mother.

Their long friendship explodes into a romance as they try to figure out who, and why - and what happened to Lexie. When the torment escalates to murder, Jake is the only one who can keep Sarah safe. Together, they are caught up in a nightmare search for Lexie that just might end with Sarah's death.

2007-07-22T22:20:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 19
Date Finished: 7/22
My Rating: 3/5

Author: Cheryl Wolverton
Title: Once Upon a Chocolate Kiss
Series Number: part of the Hill Creek, Texas series.. not sure of the number
Genre: Inspirational Romance (Love Inspired)
Format: mass market paperback
Pages: 250

Book From: own
Why I Read it: So I could pass it on to a friend who wants to read it too.

My Comments:
I enjoyed this story.. It was a little on the far fetched side, but it was a cute love story and I would like to read more about this little town and these characters someday :)
My only issue with this book was the confusion about ages.. I don't think I missed anything, but it seemed odd to me that Angela is 10 years younger then Samantha but Samantha went to school with Angela's father.. how is that possible? lol That made me stop and think about it and go back and re-read parts, so that is why I gave this a 3 star rating.

Description from the publisher:

Sweeter Than Honey

When candy shop owner Samantha Hampton nursed an injured stranger and invited him into her home, she thought she was being a Good Samaritan — after all, it was the least she could do after breaking his foot. Richard Moore's charm put her at ease and made her heart pound. But Samantha didn't know that she was aiding the enemy!

Richard Moore had no more control over his attraction to Samantha than he did the fact that his family's confectionery chain would put Samantha's small shop out of business. Despite being her competition, Richard had no intention of breaking her heart. Would Samantha forgive him when she learned the truth of his identity . . .?

2007-07-14T12:25:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 18
Date Finished: 7/14
My Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Author: Laura Levine
Title: Last Writes
Series Number: 2
Genre: Cozy/Chick Lit
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 234

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Read the first book in the series and enjoyed it.

My Comments:
I'm really enjoying this series, it's funny, light and fluffy.. Just what I need during hot humid nights when I can't sleep! LOL I've already requested the next 2 in the series from the library.

The author certainly does have a style all her own.. it's very different from other cozy mystery & chick lit I've read. And I think anyone who likes cozy and/or chick lit will really enjoy reading this series. :)

Description from the publisher:

Wisecracking pen-for-hire Jaine Austen is back—and she’s about to discover that working on the set of a Hollywood sitcom is no laughing matter…

Jaine still hasn’t found a good man—or a way to keep all those sugary snacks from going straight to her hips. But—with a little help from her best friend Kandi—she’s finally landed a gig as a sitcom writer! True, Muffy ‘n Me (aka “Bewitched with Tits”) isn’t going to win any Emmys. And her office at Miracle Studios needs a little sprucing up, and a few dozen rat traps. But it sure beats writing boring brochures and bad resumes, so Jaine’s not complaining. Until the plot thickens—with murder…

Jaine figures the trouble all started when Muffy ‘n Me’s hottest star, gorgeous Quinn Kirkland, seduced the head writer—whose husband also works on the show. But when Quinn’s caught in bed with the barely-legal actress who plays his niece, things really heat up—and his many jealous girlfriends start to figure things out…

So when the no-good heartthrob drops dead after nibbling a poisoned doughnut, Jaine isn’t terribly surprised. But who could have done it? A competitive co-star and a couple of scorned lovers top Jaine’s list of suspects, but the police have zeroed in on her man-crazy pal Kandi. She fell hard for Quinn—and nearly fell apart when she learned of all his other women. Now Jaine has to figure out who finally stopped Quinn’s cheatin’ heart—before her best friend ends up behind bars…

2007-07-09T22:08:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 17
Date Finished: 07/09
My Rating: 3/5

Author: Laura Levine
Title: This Pen for Hire
Series Number: 1
Genre: Cozy/Chick Lit
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 203

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: My friend is reading the series and suggested I try it too.

My Comments:
I really enjoyed this book..
It was a little oddly written, sort of like it was someone telling me a story at times and other times the interaction between characters. And I gave it a 3 instead of a 4 rating only because I felt like some of it was a little over the top and somewhat annoying. But a lot of it was sure funny! And the mystery kept me guessing.. I think I suspected everyone at one point in the book LOL
I'm already more then half way through the next book in the series and requested the 2 after that from the library last night :) So they do have my attention that's for sure.

Memorable Quotes from the book:

Detective: "Look Ms. Austen. I've been very patient with you. But my patience is running out. Leave the detecting work to the police. Believe it or not, we know what we're doing."
Jaine: " Yeah, right. That's why O.J. Simpson is spending the rest of his life playing golf in Florida."

The murdered victims ex-boyfriend said: "Stacy needed someone to take care of her."
Jaine thought to herself: "Yeah, right. Like Hells Angels needed training wheels."

Jaine (a conversation with her cat, Prozac): "How do I look?"
She gazed up from where she was napping on the sofa, and yawned.
Jaine's thoughts: "That's what I get for asking fashion advice from someone who has been known to walk around with dried pieces of you-know-what on her fanny. "

Description from Publishers Weekly:
Humor is the key ingredient in this slick debut by television comedy writer Levine. Freelancer Jaine Austen (her mother loved the classics but couldn't spell) makes a living writing love letters, personal ads and industrial brochures, but she never expected her work to involve her in murder. When geeky Howard Murdoch hires her to pen a letter proclaiming his love for gorgeous fitness instructor Stacy Lawrence, no one is more surprised than Jaine when Stacy agrees to go out with Howard on Valentine's Day. But Harold arrives for their date only to find that someone has bludgeoned Stacy to death with a ThighMaster. Feeling some responsibility for the hapless Howard, now the police's only suspect, Jaine starts digging. Stacy might have been beautiful, but most people disliked her. Elaine Zimmer wanted the corner apartment Stacy had just moved into, and the building superintendent seemed besotted with her. Then there's the volatile, married producer, not to mention the girlfriend Stacy stole him from. Handsome neighbor Cameron Bannick, a straight antiques dealer, piques Jaine's interest (she hasn't had a good date in a long time), and becomes a dashing Watson to Jaine's Sherlock. Though her life is in danger, Jaine never loses her sense of humor as the story zips along to an action-filled and surprising climax. Levine delivers the goods, and readers who appreciate a heroine with wry, self-deprecating humor will hope Jaine soon gets caught up in another murder.

2007-06-28T21:34:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 16
Date Finished: 06/28
My Rating: 3/5 stars

Author: Nero Blanc
Title: The Crossword Murder
Series Number: 1
Genre: Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 295

Book From: Used book store
Why I Read it: Got it for a friend and decided to read it first since it's the first in the series.

My Comments:
I wasn't thrilled with the wording in the first few chapters.. It seemed forced, as if the author was saying since this is a crossword puzzle theme, you are supposed to talk/think using uncommon words.. I felt like it was mocking me for not knowing some of the words!
But once past that part and into the rest of the story I really enjoyed it :) I loved Rosco and Belle and how well they worked together to solve the mystery. I'm not going to run right out and get the next books in the series, but I will read more at some point. :)

Description from the publisher:

Thompson C. Briephs is dead. D-E-A-D. The body of the flamboyant crossword puzzle editor was found under suspicious circumstances—and his grief-stricken mother, a wealthy dowager, has hired P.I. Rosco Polycrates to come up with some answers.

To understand the victim's death, Rosco must understand his life. So he consults with the other crossword editor in Newcastle, Massachusetts—beautiful, brainy Annabella Graham, who spends her time creating conundrums for the town's rival paper.

Now this mismatched pair has discovered that a series of puzzles—written by Briephs before his death—may help them fill in the blanks in this investigation. And they'll need to look everywhere—including up, down, and across—to stop the killer from striking again...

2007-06-19T21:43:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 15
Date Finished: 06/19
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Author: Joanne Fluke
Title: Key Lime Pie Murder
Series Number: 9
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 352

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: I am in love with this series and the characters.

My Comments:
I enjoyed this book much better then the last one.. And I already can't wait till the book comes out! I'm dying to know the secrets that were hinted in the end of this book :)
I'm still leaning on the Norman side, but Mike was really great in this one too :) How will she ever choose? Will she ever choose?

Description from the publisher:
It's Tri-County fair time and Lake Eden, Minnesota, is buzzing with more than mosquitoes. Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar, is hot on the trail of a killer whose perfect carnival prize would be getting away with murder...

It promises to be a busy week for Hannah Swensen. Not only is she whipping up treats for the chamber of commerce booth at the fair; she's also judging the baking contest; acting as a magician's assistant for her business partner's husband; trying to coax Moishe, her previously rapacious feline, to end his hunger strike, and performing her own private carnival act by juggling the demands of her mother and sisters.

With so much on her plate, it's no wonder Hannah finds herself on the midway only moments before the fair closes for the night. As the lights click off, she realizes that she's not alone among the shuttered booths and looming carnival attractions. After hearing a suspicious thump, she goes snooping - only to discover Willa Sunquist, a student teacher and fellow bake contest judge, dead alongside an upended key lime pie. But who would want to kill Willa and why? Before long Hannah is sifting through motives and a list of suspects which include a high school student Willa flunked, the hot-blooded brothers of a disqualified beauty contestant, a rodeo cowboy, a baking competitor who failed to win her yearly blue ribbon, and the college professor Willa was dating.

As fair week draws to a close, Hannah cranks up the heat, hoping that the killer will get rattled and make a mistake. If that happens she intends to be there, even if it means getting on a carnival ride that could very well be her last...

2007-05-29T21:51:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 14
Date Finished: 05/29
My Rating: 5/5 stars

Author: Joanne Pence
Title: Something's Cooking
Series Number: 1
Genre: Romantic Suspence/Cozy Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 328

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Because I had one of the later books in the series.

My Comments:
I really enjoyed this book! It kept me coming back for more fast ... I loved the mystery and the romance and thought it was written perfect :) Angie and Paavo are just so cute together.

Description from the publisher:
The heat is on

Life's a banquet for Angelina Amalfi—a gourmet chef and food writer with enough sass and spunk for two. But things start to go really bad really fast when the man who's been contributing unusual recipes to her column is discovered dead and Angie suddenly finds herself being stalked by a killer whose appetite was merely whetted by the first deadly course. On the plus side, Paavo Smith, the homicide cop assigned to the case, is one delectable dish. But when more people start to fall all around her like ruined soufflés, ever-resourceful Angie realizes she'll have to cook up a survival scheme quick before her personal goose gets cooked. This case may be too hot to handle and the stakes are high, for she's about to take on deadly arms smugglers and lethal food fanatics. But if anyone can keep her cool, Angie can.

2007-05-25T23:59:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 13
Date Finished: 05-25
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Author: Heather Graham
Title: The Dead Room
Series Number: 2 (I think!)
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 3 84

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: I read Ghost Walk last summer and saw it had a character connection and decided to read it since I enjoyed the first so much.

My Comments:
I really enjoyed this book and the way it was written. Heather Graham, as I've said before, is a wonderful storyteller and has a wonderful way with words! The only thing that stopped me from giving this book the 5 stars it really deserved was the way it ended. I'm writing my thoughts here a month after I finished the book and thinking about it now I can understand why she went the way she did with the story.. but I'm still feeling a little let down anyway.

Description from the publisher:
A year ago, archaeologist Leslie MacIntyre barely survived the explosion that took the life of her fiancé, Matt Connolly. In the long months since, sh's slowly come to terms not only with her loss but with her unsettling new ability to communicate with ghosts, a dubious 'gift' received in the wake of her own brush with death.

Now sh's returned to lower Manhattan's historic Hastings House, site of the explosion, to conquer her fears and investigate a newly discovered burial ground. In this place restless spirits hold the secrets not only of past injustice but of a very real and very contemporary conspiracy with deadly designs on the city's women—including Leslie herself.

By night Matt visits her in dreams, warning her and offering clues to the truth, while by day she finds herself helped by—and attracted to— his flesh-and-blood cousin Joe. Torn by her feelings for both men, caught between the worlds of the living and the dead, Leslie struggles against the encroaching danger that threatens to overcome her. As she is drawn closer to the darkness at the heart of Hastings House, she must ultimately face the power of an evil mind, alone in a place where not even the men she loves can save her.

2007-05-20T23:48:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 12
Date Finished: 05-20
My Rating: 5/5 stars

Author: Erica Orloff
Title: Mafia Chic
Genre: Chick Lit
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 288

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Love stories about Italian families and the mob!

My Comments:
I really enjoyed this story and wish that it would be made into a TV series!
The characters were so real, and being Italian myself a lot of the stories she told about her family were pretty familiar to me. :)

Memorable Quotes: There were so many quotes I didn't save! One that had me cracking up was about the Jimmy Choos "falling off the truck"!

Description from the publisher:

Goombah to Gucci

As the only granddaughter among seventeen grandsons of one of New York's refuted Mafia dons, Teddi Gallo has been surrounded by overprotective men all her life. . .not to mention those FBI agents tailing her family. But now, determined to live her own life, she has decamped to Manhattan with dreams of making it n the brutal restaurant business.

Soon, however, she is finding her dinner plate is more full as she juggles an old-money, news-anchor boyfriend, a devastatingly handsome FBI agent trailing her 24/7, a nervous accountant concerned her business is failing and her cousin Tony acting as her bodyguard. Toss in bringing her new beau home fro Sunday dinner and trying to explain the hundred pairs of stolen Jimmy Choos in her Uncle Vito's living room. . .and Teddi Gallo's already chaotic life is made all the more messy. Maybe a few well-hatched plans, a bit of matchmaking and a dose of Mafia Chic will get her out of this jam.

2007-05-07T23:32:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 11
Date Finished: 05-07
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Author: Jennifer Greene
Title: Blame it on Cupid
Series Number: 2
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 384

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Loved the book before it

My Comments:
I really fell in love with all the characters of this book! Merry and Jack were such a cute couple, and Charlene really broke my heart in the beginning of the story. This book really had it all and Jennifer Greene has impressed me once again!

Description from the publisher:
Eleven-year-old Charlene is not impressed with Merry, her new guardian. Clearly the woman needs some major help in the parenting department. Their neighbor Jack could be the right man for the job--but it doesn't look as though the two grown-ups are ever going to get together without help.

Jack recognizes a short-distance runner when he sees one, and Merry fits the bill. The gorgeous party girl is so unprepared to take charge of the totally fun-proof Charlene, he almost feels sorry for her. Almost.

Merry is in way over her head. Who would have thought that a vow written on a cocktail napkin would make her a parent long before her time…or that a rock-solid man and a serious little girl would ever become the two most important people in her life?

Merry has finally found something worth fighting for. Now all she has to do is figure out just how to fight!

2007-04-28T23:32:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 10
Date Finished: 04-28
My Rating: 4/5

Author: Victoria Laurie
Title: What's a Ghoul to Do?
Series Number: 1
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Format: Paperback
Pages: 304

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Loved Abby Cooper: Psychic Eye and this one sounded so great I couldn't wait!

My Comments:
This was such a great book! Not that I expected anything less since I already love this author's style, now I really need to catch up on those Psychic Eye books!

Also loved the addition of a pet parrot! :-)
I forgot to write down some of the quotes, but that parrot had me cracking up laughing quite a few times!

Description from the publisher:
M.J., her partner Gilley, and their client, the wealthy, de-lish Dr. Steven Sable, are at his family's lodge, where his grandfather allegedly jumped to his death from the roof-although Sable says it was foul play. But the patriarch's isn't the only ghost around. The place is lousy with souls, all with something to get off their ghoulish chests. Now M.J. will have to to quell the clamor-and listen for a voice with the answers...

2007-04-18T23:12:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 9
Date Finished: 04-18
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Author: Jennifer Greene
Title: Blame it on Chocolate
Series Number: 1
Genre: Romance
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Saw info for "Blame it on Cupid" on my library site, and then saw that this book was supposed to be read first.

My Comments:
This was such a sweet story.. I really enjoyed the characters of Lucy and Nick. I also found reading about how they made a new type of cocoa bean really interesting. Jennifer Greene has found herself a new fan in me if all her books are this great!

Memorable Quotes: "There was ample free time, only none of it was really free." (this just struck me so funny because I had recently said something similar about myself)

Description from the publisher:
Lucy Fitzhenry didn't just wake up one morning and decide to do something stupid . . .

But when an experimental strain of chocolate that she'd developed needed testing, someone had to do it. Who knew that overindulging in her creation would turn an introverted plant lover into a wild nymphomaniac? Or that a celebration with Nick, her boss, would lead to a shocking kiss . . . and a whole lot more.

She blamed it on the chocolate. Her new discovery was supposed to have made her career. Not turn her practical, logical, normal life upside down and get her pregnant with her boss's baby! Though she and Nick butted heads at work, if their one night together was any indication, they were a great match in bed. With a little luck (and chocolate!) maybe they could turn their one-night stand into the chance of a lifetime.

2007-04-03T23:04:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 8
Date Finished: 04/03
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Author: Jill Churchill
Title: Anything Goes
Series Number: 1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Paperback
Pages: 246

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Heard Jill Churchill was good and was in the mood for a historical mystery

My Comments:
I really enjoyed this cozy mystery and I can't wait to read more of this series!!

Description from the publisher:
They Have Inherited a Lovely Upstate Mansion. . .

The crash of 1929 has ended the party for high-living New Yorkers Lily Brewster and her brother Robert and takes them from the upper echelons of the idle rich and deposits them to the lowly depths of the disillusioned poor. However, rescue arrives in the form of their recently deceased great-uncle Horation who bequeaths to them Grace and Favor "Cottage" which is really a great sprawling mansion. And there's a fortune to go with it, but only if they reside there for ten years.

And an Inconvenient Corpse

With no other alternative, the spirited Manhattanites move to a quiet and quaint Hudson River community and try to fit in. But they soon find out that great-uncle Horatio didn't die peacefully. He was murdered while on an elaborate sailing party on the Hudson River aboard his yacht -- and Lily and Robert are suspects. But when another corpse appears in the kitchen of the mansion, the siblings are determined to clear themselves. Without a clue how to begin, Lily and Robert start snooping, unaware that their savvy sleuthing could make them the killer's next targets.

2007-03-25T14:35:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 7
Date Finished: 03-25
My Rating: 3/5 stars

Author: Alina Adams (as told by Katie Peretti)
Title: Oakdale Confidentials: Secrets Revealed
Series Number: stand alone
Genre: Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 384

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: As The World Turns is one of my fave soaps

My Comments:
I enjoyed this story a lot.. found it a bit jumpy, not unlike an actual soap opera! But it didn't work as well in book format. But I liked it enough that I'd read more if it was made into a series!

Memorable Quotes:
"Was it the 'Oh', the 'my', or the 'God' that you found unclear sweetheart?" - Henry to Maddie (you'd have to watch the show to fully appreciate how funny and like Henry that is)

"For today, at least, the world was still turning." - Nancy Hughes (this was a perfect way to end this book)

Description from the publisher:

It's a major event in Oakdale -- a black-tie gala honoring the Marron family's fifty years of support for Oakdale's Memorial Hospital. But high spirits are cut short when patron of honor Gregory Marron Jr. is delivered in his limo dead on arrival, from an apparent heart attack. Three women in the crowd have reasons of their own to suspect murder. . . .

Event organizer Katie Peretti never understood her boyfriend Mike Kasnoff 's reasons for not attending the party -- until now. After being wrongly implicated in a crime against the Marrons and serving a stiff sentence, Mike has nursed a simmering rage ever since. Maddie Coleman, the teen-aged sister of the limo's driver, Henry, knows that her brother owed Marron thirty thousand dollars. She also knows he couldn't pay him back and had only one recourse for permanently erasing the debt. Carly Snyder's suspicions are more personal. The wife of police detective Jack Snyder, Carly was one of Marron's mistresses. In a heated moment she wanted her shameful past dead and buried -- a wish her husband possibly honored.

Now Katie, Maddie, and Carly, all three of them desperate to protect the men they love, are crossing paths in an investigation that's uncovering more poisonous secrets in Oakdale than they ever imagined. The means, motives, and suspects are shifting with each new twist -- and one of these determined women may not live to see the killer revealed.

2007-03-11T21:38:00.000-04:00

Book Number in 2007: 6
Date Finished: 03-11
My Rating: 2/5

Author: Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Title: How Nancy Drew Saved My Life
Series Number: stand alone
Genre: Chick Lit
Format: Trade Size Paperback
Pages: 295

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Read with a friend

My Comments:
This should sum it up - I'm not sure how I even finished this book!
I had high hopes for the story and I think that might have had something to do with my disappointment.. But if I had to read the character say "What Would Nancy Drew Do?" one more time I think I may have thrown the book out the window! It had some cute parts, but I'm not sure if they were worth reading the whole book.

Description from Amazon/Booklist:
At 23, Charlotte Bell has just had her heart broken by the married man she unwisely fell in love with. She decides to take another position, as nanny for the American ambassador in Iceland. Once she takes up residence in the large, creaky house and meets her imperious, forbidding employer, Edgar Rawlings, she can't help but feel like literature's most famous governess, Jane Eyre. But Charlotte turns to Nancy Drew (channeling the girl detective) for help investigating the more puzzling aspects of her situation, such as the silence surrounding Edgar's mysteriously absent wife and the strange laughter she hears coming from behind a closed door. To make matters worse, Charlotte is starting to fall for Edgar, whose engagement to an Icelandic ice queen seems imminent.

2007-03-06T22:39:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 5
Date Finished: March 6
My Rating: 3/5 stars

Author: Fern Michaels, Beverly Barton, Joanne Fluke & Shirley Jump
Title: Sugar and Spice
Series Number: Between 8 and 9 in the Hannah Swenson series by Joanne Fluke
Genre: Romance
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 431

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: I wanted to read Joanne Fluke's story since it is part of the Hannah Swenson series

My Comments:
Enjoyable, cute, Christmas stories.
My favorite in the book was by Beverly Barton.. I have never read any of her books before, but you can be sure that I will be soon! And according to the review below, I guess I'm not alone!!

Description from Publishers Weekly:
Sweet is the word for this anthology from four top Kensington writers.

Beverly Barton's contribution, about two strangers snowed in after a Tennessee storm, is the steamy standout.

Fern Michaels creates a paean to childhood disappointment, but the romance gets short shrift.

Joanne Fluke's near-innocent tale of two teachers is clunky, but the dessert recipes make up for it.

Shirley Jump's office romance gives the collection a kick, with fiery writing.

2007-03-06T21:31:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 4
Date Finished: March 6
My Rating: 4/5 stars
Author: Kyra Davis

Title: Sex, Murder and a Double Latte
Series Number: 1
Genre: Chick Lit Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 298

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Reading with a friend

My Comments:
It took me a couple of chapters to get into the story.. But once I did I really loved it! Kept me guessing and I never did figure out who the murderer was till right before it was told. I did however figure out the secret of one suspect long before it was revealed. And I also thought that the description of the murder scene was way too gory for a chick-lit book.
But all in all a very good book! And I look forward to reading the 2nd book in the series soon.

Memorable Quotes:
"If he climbed in through my window and killed me, I was going to sue my landlord."

Description from the publisher:
When a mystery writer cries bloody murder, everyone blames her overactive imagination . . .

Thriller scribe Sophie Katz is as hard-boiled as a woman who drinks Grande Caramel Brownie Frappuccinos can be — maybe it's from a lifetime of fielding dumb comments about her half-black, half-Jewish ethnicity. ("My sister married a Polynesian! I just love your culture!") So Sophie knows it's not paranoia, or post-divorce, living-alone-again jitters, when she becomes convinced that a crazed reader is sneaking into her apartment to reenact scenes from her books. The police, however, can't tell a good plot from an unmarked grave.

When a filmmaker friend is brutally murdered in the manner of a death scene in one of his movies, Sophie becomes convinced that a copycat killer is on the loose — and that she's the next target. If she doesn't solve the mystery, her own bestseller will spell out her doom. Cursing her imagination (why, oh, why did she have to pick the axe?), Sophie engages in some real-life gumshoe tactics. The man who swoops in to save her in dark alleys at night is mysterious new love interest Anatoly Darinsky. Of course, if this were fiction, Anatoly would be her prime suspect . . .

With a story as delicious as designer coffee — and with twice the jolt — Davis and her muse, Sophie Katz, will blow you away with sex, murder and hilarity!

First-time novelist Kyra Davis has spent her life in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area, where she currently lives with her young son. Now a full-time parent and writer, Davis previously divided her time between a career in the fashion industry and various artistic endeavors such as acting, singing and creative writing. In her free time she indulges in lattes, Frappuccinos and anything else that will feed her caffeine addiction.

2007-02-13T17:18:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 3
Date Finished: Feb. 13
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Author: Mindy Klasky
Title: Girl's Guide to Witchcraft
Series Number: 1
Genre: Chick Lit
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 426

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Saw on eharlequin.com and thought it looked cute.

My Comments:
I really enjoyed reading about Jane and her discovery of being a witch. Cute, easy read.

Description from the publisher:
Which is more unlikely?

Meeting a single, straight, reasonably attractive, willing-to-commit man?
Or discovering a secret cache of magic books?

For good-girl Jane Madison, neither has a shot in hell of coming true -- until the day she finds a hidden room . . .

Now she's done a bit of experimenting and found a spell that makes her irresistible to men -- even those who have previously ignored her. And another that turns a cat into her witch's familiar (a snarky, critical, self-absorbed man -- pretty much a typical male). Though her impulsive acts of magic have brought a warder (sexy, grouchy, elusive and determined to stop her from using magic) down on her, Jane's not willing to let go of this fantastic new life.

Though she wonders about having things that aren't "real," she's having too much fun to stop. After all, no one ever said being a witch was easy . . .

Mindy Klasky is a librarian in Virginia and she swears she's never found a secret room filled with spell books . . . yet.

2007-01-28T17:09:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 2 (though just a short story)
Date Finished: Jan. 28
My Rating: 4/5 stars

Author: Joanne Fluke
Title: Candy for Christmas
Series Number: between books 1 & 2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 119

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Part of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swenson series

My Comments:
This was cute..
No murder, but a mystery of a teen runaway who breaks into Hannah's cookie shop looking for a warm place to stay over-night.

2007-01-19T22:49:00.000-05:00

Book Number in 2007: 1
Date Finished: Jan. 19
My Rating: 3/5 stars

Author: Joanne Fluke
Title: Cherry Cheesecake Murder
Series Number: 8
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 356

Book From: Library
Why I Read it: Love this series

My Comments:
I wasn't as impressed with this book as I have been in the past.. I felt we had to wait too long to get to the murder and then it was solved too quickly. But still love the characters!!

Description from B&N:
Even the murder of its cranky director can't stop the filming of Crisis in Cherrywood or halt the snooping of Lake Eden's premier baker. Just when Hannah Swenson's decided to accept neither of the marriage proposals tendered at the end of Peach Cobbler Murder (2005)-turning down both sweet-tempered dentist Norman Rhoades and hot-blooded lawman Mike Kingston-another suitor turns up. Her old college classmate Ross Barton, now a Hollywood producer who thinks Lake Eden is just the spot to shoot his new movie, recruits Hannah's mom Delores as set designer, her younger sister Michelle as production assistant and her middle sister Andrea as an extra. He even casts Andrea's five-year-old, Tracey, to play heroine Lynne Larchmont as a child and presses Hannah's cat Moishe into service as her childhood pet. For Hannah he reserves the role of constant companion, escorting her to dinner, inviting her to view the dailies and letting her watch the filming-which gives her a front-row seat as Dean Lawrence, instructing leading man Anson Burke on how to use a prop pistol, shoots himself fatally instead. Since Mike has made it clear to Hannah that she must leave investigating to the professionals, she can't investigate, she can only snoop-much to the delight of Andrea, Norman and Lake Edenites everywhere. Fluke lavishes so much attention on the mechanics of location shooting that there's scant time for the murder, much less its solution.

2006-12-31T20:40:00.000-05:00

Book #35 in 2006
Finished: 12/31
Title: Mistletoe Murder
Author: Leslie Meier
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 224
My Rating: 4/5
(book 1 in series)

Description from the publisher:
Lucy Stone, the delightful heroine of Leslie Meier's mystery series set in rural Tinker's Cove, Maine, makes her crime-solving debut in "Mistletoe Murder".

As if baking holiday cookies, knitting a sweater for her husband's gift, and making her daughter's angel costume for the church pageant weren't enough, Lucy is also working nights at the famous mail-order company Country Cousins. But when she discovers Sam Miller, its very wealthy founder, dead in his car from an apparent suicide, the sleuth in her knows something just doesn't smell right.

Taking time out from her hectic holiday life to find out what really happened, her investigation leads to a backlog of secrets as long as Santa's Christmas Eve route. Lucy is convinced that someone murdered Sam Miller. But who and why? With each harrowing twist she uncovers in this bizarre case, another shocking revelation is exposed. Now, as Christmas draws near and Lucy gets dangerously closer to the truth, she's about to receive a present from Santa she didn't ask for.

My Comments:
This book was So much fun!! I loved the way it made you feel like you really knew Lucy Stone and could be a part of her family. And the mystery was very well written.

2006-12-27T13:39:00.000-05:00

Book #34 in 2006
Finished: 12/27
Title: Love is Murder
Author: Linda Palmer
Genre: Mystery
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 275
My Rating: 3/5
(book 1 in series)

Description from the publisher:
Soap opera writer Morgan Tyler's life begins to look like one of her scripts when her boss is found dead—and Morgan is left his fortune. Now a real-life killer is after her. And her time is running out—like sands through the hourglass.

My Comments:
This was a fun book! Since I'm a soap opera fan (GH & ATWT) I really enjoyed reading about a soap opera writer. I gave it a 3 star rating only because I figured out the "killer" long before I should have been able to... and I thought parts were a little too drawn out, but all in all it was a good story.