Books read dec 2012

Why Animals Don't Talk by Eric Pullin
Illustrated colorful children's book, series about 'why' and the answers.
Talks about how the animals used to say real words and what happened so now they make noises.
Love that this book has a mystery Barney the Owl to locate while reading it and you can send in your answer for the monthly drawing...
The dog used to chew on wood, then he lost his voice and not even the doctor could help. All the animals came to an agreement that they would stop talking also...




read 12/28/12  Island Light by Katherine Towler
I love this series because it's about the island where I grew up in the Narragansett Bay, RI area.
This one starts out with Ruth and her camera. She lives at the inn on the east side. I was a waitress there when it was a restaurant.
Nick lives on the west side and takes care of the twin houses-which are still standing for real on the west side of the island.
There is the lighthouse and also the schoolhouse but I don't recall the lookout tower-maybe it's the one on the Navy Base section as we were friends with the commander in the 60's we were able to go there often to meet up with our girlfriends.
Starts out in Sept and when I started reading this last book of the series it was Sept, the island had just suffered a loss of a house built in the 1800's and one islander died. He was the grandson of a character in the previous books. So sad.
I keep putting off finishing this book because I do not want it to end. It's about a place in time that is no longer. I see the island every month and it's charm in the winter is great, but as summer approaches it loses some of what it has left.
Love reading about the rogue radio broadcasts and can just picture them from the house on the west side...
A hard life to those who winter there but to them it's life simplified...
I still travel to the island once a month for a few days and can picture myself retiring there...



pub Jan 4, 2013 Kiss River by Diane Chamberlain
I already love this book, about a lighthouse and a clue in the diary and the outer banks.
Bess's diary is written while she is a girl living in the lighthouse keeper cottage on the East Coast, Outer Banks of NC during the WW2 and the German boats are nearby blowing up US vessels and she sees them out her window.
Present day she is there and the residents of the house ask her, Ginny Higgins to stay for a night which she does and it brings back all the memories of what's written in the diary. She can picture the room without ever having seen it, it's that familiar. And she's on the hunt of the light of the lighthouse that was destroyed in the hurricane and the light is at the bottom of the ocean. She can't figure out why the authorities never went to get it, but left the light in the water all this time. She will track down
Lacey and Clay's father and ask him as he's from around that time it happened. She recalls from the diary all the talk of the prisms. I remember being so fascinated with the way the light shone through a prism I was given once.
Love the talk about the stain glass windows in the many times that they appear, sound so pretty and it's a great art form.
Mysteries about Clay's wife passing away, his father and why now he is not interested in the lens and Gina has secrets of her own as well.
This makes for not only a good mystery read but romance as things are told and you can piece the puzzle together til the whole story comes out and how the past is connected to the present...
Love hearing about all the research about the light, the fly over and if they think they will be able to find it. Even if they do there are still others who won't allow it to be raised.
There are other personal things going on in their lives that they tend to keep to themselves.
Love the lesson the family gets when they look up at the stars...
Love that this is a book in a series and can't wait to read the next one..


Casting About by Terri Dulong
This book is about Adam who is recently married to Monica. Her mother has left with her new man to Paris and France and left the yarn shop to her to run.
Adam teachs at a nearby college and one phone call from the social worker changed their life. He now will have full custody of his daughter, Clarissa. Ever since she's moved in with them she experiences a ghost type person who guides her with what she should try.
Love being able to catch up with the others in the town and find out what's going on in their lives.
Most particularly interested in hearing how they plan to expand the shop with knitting trends.
Other realtionships also go through some up and down times...There are very touching moments and some frightful as they go through serious health issues...
Love the knit chat especially, just all the everyday living, and the story of Adam and his family, kinda fills in the missing pieces as I've read this series out of order.


Perfect by Autumn Jordan
Darcy Witherspoon has just watched her restaurant burn and now there was nothing left to do.
Dylan Kincaid is watching his two nieces as their parents are off fighting the war overseas. He has to pull off Christmas for two girls and has no idea what their interests are. He is a VT maple tree farmer.
Knowing the general area this is going to be a great book. Love reading about the area and most particularly trees as my relatives were nurserymen. Love all the jobs he has and learning about them all.
They met at Tom's restaurant, the old grist mill and she had just driven up from SC and would be staying there getting things settled after the fire. Loved hearing about the history of the grist mill and all the detailed descriptions of the rooms and outside area.
Tom will work his skill with matchmaking them together and hopefully keep her there longterm because they'd be perfect for one another.
Dylan and Darcy come to an agreement, she will help him decorate and bake and cook dinner and he will teach her to ski.
They take things slow but each are on the others mind.
Problem: his parents show up to help out with the girls...
Tom and the grist mill restaurant have a new dream now, maybe she can have a new dream also....
Just when things are sexually heating up and you think nothing else bad can happen, it does...
Awesome book for this time of year, just the right touch of things I look forward to in a book. Baking, travel=locale, nature with a bit of romance/sex.


The Great Escape by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
After running away from going down the aisle, Lucy is the adopted daughter of the president, to Ted Bodine she gets on the back of a motorcycle with Panda. He is one of Ted's friends and looks scruffy.
He's agreed to take money and go with him, she can't go back home.
She arrives in Wisconsin at Panda's house. He's yet to arrive. She does know that after that one night of lovemaking she wants more of him and it never felt like that with Ted.
Love all the detailed descriptions of the places she traveled through to get to Wisconsin and the island.
She needs to toughen up when she finds herself meeting others at his waterfront home. There is so much to learn about their jobs, very interesting.
She finds out the truth-her parents had hired him to protect her.
They have a houseguest that is paying for Panda to help her lose weight before she has to go on a TV shoot. She can't be seen at all on the island so Viper/Lucy will have to help.
They all have to learn to get along, together, with good healthy diet food and the house reorganized...
He opens up to her about his past and she has a plan ...
Enjoyed this book for the action, it didn't put me to sleep and there was a lot going on, easy to follow along.


 Body Heat by Susan Fox
Maura decides to catch up on work as she's doing not only her job but others. The community service man is shown in, as he gets off his motorcycle and is in black leather-the bad boy. To stay out of jail he has to give so many hours to the retirement center, where she does not only HR work but the accounting.
As he doesn't want to read to the residents she comes up with sprucing up the garden and he jumps at the idea. Can't wait to hear about what he does to rejuvenate it. I love gardening and as they butt heads over details I'm sure this is going to be a steamy read. Hope it will give me more ideas for the center as
we do travel to visit with my husband's mother every sunday to spend time with her. Gardens there are such a peaceful part of her time there.
While he works at gardening she can watch him from her office window and often fantasizes about him. He is having a hard time focusing on his work because her looks have turned him on.
He looks after Con and her son and gets to spend family time with them although they are not related. We find out the dark secret Jessie is hiding behind. He finds ways to keep it hidden as he's done in the past.
When he pays her a compliment they kiss and then she wakes up to the reality of what they've done. He's a worker for her and they crossed the line.  He understands they can't be a couple yet because of her potential promotion and also because of his community service. They just have to wait it out...
Love hearing of all the plans and ideas for the senior home garden area, and learning about the tools of the trade.
This book needs a 'blazing hot' sticker on the front cover, whew...
When the jewels go missing Maura and Jesse both are the main suspects...
The book also has an except for Susan's latest: Yours, Unexpectedly

animal attraction by jill shalvis
Jade Bennett is heading to Chicago and back home but helps out in the animal shelter in Idaho.
Dell is the native American vet and loves all the animals.
A bunch of the locals hang out together, some in pairs, some as singles and they all enjoy their time. As the book goes on we find out just how secure she feels and what she ran away from in the city.
She finds it hard to let others into her life and he's determined to crack her shell. They had a break in and some drugs were stolen. one that they use for a date rape drug and it sends shivers in her body. It's also a horse tranquilizer.
He's witnessed a few of her panic attacks and tries to hold her and talk softly to her to help her get over them. Her solution is to get in the car and drive, move away.
Because of his training in the military he can help her with learning how to protect herself and he takes her to the gym and tells her the moves she makes wrong.
Love catching up with the others in town who were also in the previous book of this series. Hot steamy sex just adds to this story..
He opens up and shows her his personal hidden world and she understands what makes him tick.

blog tour Jan 17  The Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman
Love where this one takes place, in snow country. After she wakes up and goes searching for her policeman husband and finds he's committed suicide she is beside herself.
Things don't fit in as to why he did it. He's had many secrets over the years that he never told her about and she finds out over time. Every little clue she uncovers leads to
answers to some but opens more possibilities.
Never imagined all she went through to piece this puzzle all together.
And just when I thought it was over, it's brought to more conclusion that I didn't see coming.
Like that there are not many people involved to keep up to date with but just enough to make this a worthwhile story.
Beauty of the snow and locale I really appreciated. Love how she hooks up with some to help her gain knowledge of past events and they in turn were using her to gain knowledge of the present events.

Counting Creatures in the Garden by Jonathan Mathews
Illustrated colorful children's book about not only counting but insects and bugs you might encounter in the garden.
Shows the picture of the creature then on the next page talks about the creature. Good and bright colors and easy numbers.
Goes up to 10.


ONE STEP AT A TIME (HUGO THE HAPPY STARFISH) by Suzy Liebermann 
Illustrated colorful children's book about a starfish that is walking around on the bottom of the ocean and comes across a shiny candy wrapper showing a big chocolate mountain. The manta comes by and tells him about this real life mountain in Switzerland and makes a list on how to get there. One step at a time, as he goes down the list getting his other friends to help him, but it's brought him to the other mountain. So he strives onward to get to the other bigger
one in the distance as others tell him 'do not give up'. The journey is long...
Some phrases are in German and they are translated into English. Love the journey and what happens at the end.
Also there are bonus summaries of the other Hugo stories.

Evergreen A Christmas Tale by Richard Taylor
Starts out with a boy remembering when his grandfather had spent his last Christmas with them in CA, slept at a friend's house and with four young boys, it was chaos.
While their mother prepared dinner the grandfather told the boys about the first ever Christmas tree. No matter what names are used it brings the family together...


Who is who at the zoo by Olga Kilicci
Illustrated very colorful children's book about the animals at a zoo.
It shows you a picture of the animal, gives a description of the animal and a major characteristic about them and then asks you to guess what animal it is.
Shows 10 animals and states who is who at the farm is another book out soon.

Who's in the Snow? (Who Are You? Series)  by Kari and VonLogan Brimhall
Illustrated very colorful children's book about the creatures in the snow.
Clues are given about the animal and you guess and the next page shows the answer.
9 animals and one surprise page at the end. Very arctic animals.






Any Man of Mine by Rachel Gibson
Autumn Haven marries Sam LaClair hockey player, who is raising their son and asks for another chance.
What happens in Vegas, she just wanted to take in a show and gamble a bit. That's not quite what happened. She's a wedding planner and one of her jobs is Sam's friend.
Veronica who chases him from town to town as the hockey team plays and travels, she is wanting more from him...
Book travels back to when they met, love Las Vegas strip and the different places there that I also have fond memories of.
Back to the present day he also gets their son some nights when he's in town from the hockey season. She remembers what she loved about Sam even now.
Love the 'any man of mine isms' at the beginning of every chapter, sets the mood.
With his injury they get to spend a lot more time together and Autumn and Sam have much unfinished business to finish...
Love the hot steamy sex, it's just the right touch...


Love On The Run by Elizabeth Cole
Callie, Calista Reed is on the road when Jake Brand the cop, or is he a cowboy gets her attention and she hands over the license. Problem is he saw her cut and knows it needs to be tended to, just before she fainted.
She gets driven to the medical center where the doc gets the bullet out of her leg and Jake states he will take her back to his house to watch her for the next several days and swears he will get the man who did this to her.
Montana is wild country but her plates had CA on them. With the heavy drugs she was on she woke up once and kissed him deeply and he tries hard to resist her. She dreams of her other life, with Malcolm and how she got shot by a gun...
Love the descriptions of not only the house and it's furnishings but the outside landscape, breathtaking!
Finding clues and working them out to solve the mystery of what she was hiding, he was good at. Love how he dealt with the kids he found at school.
As they spent more time together she trusts him now and she tells him what happened to bring her to Montana. He is honest with her and tells of his past life. He can't deny he wants her and she knows she wants him but it can't be...
Parts I liked the best were when they were outside enjoying the natural beauty of the land and just the simple things, a walk or sitting on the porch.
Besides being a romance book that heats up nicely it is also a mystery book. If she is to tell her side of the story she'd be put under FBI security til trial and taken away and she's not sure that is what she wants in her life..
He just wants to keep her happy and safe... Love all the action and the escape...



Dianna’s Way by John Catenacci ISBN: 978-0-985247-90-4
Book starts out with John meeting Dianna and getting to know one another. Very silly times at the very beginning-how he chose his parents.
They discuss religon and how it has helped guide them in the direction their lives have taken them.
Love what she does at the wedding with the stained heirloom placemat, such caring! Love how he surprises her at the end of the day.
Their early life together goes on with everyday normal things and some not so normal as they grow together over time.
Book is not only broken up into chapters but larger sections with dates enclosed. Like smaller chapters and they stay true to their headings.
The sections broken up by dates also tend to keep you on track with the storyline.
It's now 1990 and she's discovered a lump in her breast. This section is where after surgery she does get a second opinion, wish I had done that but I was so anxious to get it out of my body.
We learn about everything she and John go through as the time when she makes her decision as what to do. She has many wig stories and continues to work missing just hours on her schedule every so often.
Love how the story tells of all he does for her from his perspective and then we hear from her side.
Things are looking up as John gets a new job, and they agree to relocate, build a new house and Dianna can work anywhere with her career.
Love how they celebrate the different holidays in their new house and the quiet peace of sunset on the lake in the summer months.
Next section is discovering a lump under her arm and they go into defend mode once again to combat the problem.
Glad to learn of the drugs used and the many many forms of breast cancer there really are.
Love the pictures along the way.
Next part is keep on smiling along the way...
Besides learning all about breast cancer we are also able to follow John's career and how things have changed since he joined...
Love how finding her religion helps her to teach her granddaughter about charity and what a huge part it plays in her happiness and outlook in life..
Wow never knew this much about the drugs, their names and all the side effects.
Wish there was more dialog, when she's with her friends for support or she gives them support.
Love the detailed descriptions of the places overseas, stunning!
Like how John deals with all the medical things and everyday life...
Such a powerful, passionate, tearful, sorrowful, heartwarming story, thanks for sharing John.

  The Fart That Saved Christmas by Jacob Morningside
 Adult Humorous Christmas Tale/Dec. 2012
Starts out where the reindeer are on strike. They tell Santa why too.
They had it with the rules, no cussing, no girls in the stalls, no leaving the toilet seat up and they are tired of dragging his sorry ass all over the place.
Cute rhyming tale for adults. They blame the elves and Mrs. Claus.
Santa has had it with the reindeer, they only work one night a year. He takes out his Vermouth and complains: he's had enough of going down sooty chimneys and he's tired of the laws he's getting a divorce and he's had it with Christmas.
After it happened the whole town came out worked together, there was no more tension.  It was a miracle!
I can see this being passed around at an adult party for all to say a page or two, while taking another swig. Total blast!


read 12/17 Lucky Penny by Catherine Anderson
Story is about a women and her daughter. She works for a local rancher and he's wanting to marry her and have more kids but she tells him she's married to David. She thinks David Paxton might be at a mine in Colorado and she's sent him letters.
She gets no replies but a man with the same name shows up and claims the daughter as his own-maybe he was drunk one night and took her for his own. He never knew the girl existed.
He files for custody and it goes to court and the judge ends up marrying them. There are many instances of a penny throughout the book that really bind this whole book together in such a caring way.
Brianna is shocked when Daphne, her daughter announces her mama and papa are now married and she is SO happy.
Love their connection with the birthmarks but he just can't put on where he knew her from.
David is such a caring person and has worked his way into the girls heart.
She plans to make a run for it after they've left town on horses. He's onto her and will keep an extra eye on her. When you find out what their real relationship is you will be surprised. For now she must act like David is her husband...
She finds him so resourceful on the trail and he's very knowledgeable as to the herbs and plants
he's put into the rabbit stew. Having only themselves to entertain they are able to talk about their pasts for many days.
Love how the penny keeps reappearing in the book!
They come to an agreement when traveling on the train to his hometown. She will run a dressmakers shop and he will stay there and travel to and from his ranch. She had stipulations but just wanted love.
By them keeping secrets from one another it will eventually cause harm to them both...
Love the sex scenes, so tender.


THE SECRETARY’S SEDUCTION by Jane Porter
Winnie Graham was to wed Morgan Grady, the contract was signed and as she started down the aisle with 450 looking on and with her $40k dress, never mind the other adornments, she turned and left the church and got into a cab. She just wasn't in love with him and it was to be a business arrangement that she wanted out of.
The story goes back to the beginning when she worked for him as his personal assistant secretary. He found her crying one day and she opened up to tell him she had fallen in love with one at work but the man didn't even know she existed. She was set to go to another job interview in SC on Friday and her boss had told the employer that she was the best secretary he ever had.
He told her he'd fire them and she didn't tell him because of the business call he had to take...
When he was nameed Man of the Year she signaled him at the elevator to escape and he did. She flew for her job interview and he was waiting for her when she got back into NY and took her in the limo to dinner. They were the only customers after they got in and she was terrified when the cameraman took their picture.
He had an idea that might work for them both: marry him. 
The story also tells what he's feeling, his past life and how this is the second time a woman left the aisle on their way to wed him.
He caught up with her and they headed to where they were to honeymoon: the island of St. Jermaine. Just hearing about all the luxusiers and detailed descriptions made me think of warmer weather. So cozy and breathtaking...
She really does love him but ...She wanted him to teach her about all kinds of things that she didn't know about. He is capable of that and then some...
She jumps to conclusions many times more in the book that in her mind proves he doesn't love her at all...


The Snow Globe by Sheila Roberts
Love that this is a holiday book, can't seem to get enough of them. This particular one is about a snow globe and it interested me as my dad had once given me one when he returned from a nursery convention in Boston, MA.
Remember just sitting in front of it, in the sun and just being so taken with the snow falling all over the scene.
This one is about a legend that comes with a snow globe that Kiley finds while at an antique shop, so she buys it and the shop owner tells her about the legend.
She's not really sure she believes it but knows with her luck of men and her job and everything she could use a miracle. Her girl friends also just don't believe
in its' powers as well. Really great book to read and enjoy on a wintery night.


 Porch Lights by by Dorothea Benton Frank
Jackie has lost her firefighter husband Jimmy and she and Charlie travel back south to visit with her mom for the summer months.
Charlie adjusts and even gets a job and makes a map with treasure at the end and weeks later he doesn't want to leave. Jackie has nightmares of the war she was in and knows that she has to get back to NY soon.
There are romances that keep things light. Love the things I learned in this book about the sealife.  Love how the book got it's title.
Love talk of Poe and pirates, catching up with others on Sullivan's Island but sad to see those who are gone now. Love hearing of the typical hurricane preparedness and the food preparations for a meal are to die for! Cedar Planks, gonna have to try those out!
Charlie tries to talk his grandmother into letting them stay ...
Things rise up to a new level of fear when Charlie goes missing and the hurricane is on their doorstep...

 Doc Holiday by Debra Dixon
Mouse and Hayseed, their pet names for one another while they were teens and growing up in the same town. He had lived at their house more than his own. She was there to decorate her dads house and to restore order to the misfits.
She opened up to Drew on their walk around town after her dad told Taylor Bishop the town had changed. He's there to get away from his ex wife. Harvey, AR is not a place she'd even consider looking for him.
He just needs one favor for her-to make a Christmas his son Noah will never forget, her style. Yes the ones where the tree was attached to the wall with wires, lopsided with homemade decorations on it.
She has to turn him down cuz she's so busy with the decorations, presents, the food, float for the parade and everything else involved with pulling off a typical holiday season in a few days time. Problem is she just might have some time now that her brother Clay's wife, Martha has taken over the kitchen.
Drew showed up to ask questions and she was there to answer them: her mother had a special ornament for each of the kids with their names on them so they'd each have a memory of childhood. He would have to do a lot of shopping to catch up while she told him just get a few special ones per year. I also have
special ones that go on our tree and they do make it very special every year. She doesn't have time to help him with Noah til Martha finds out and shoos her out of the house.
Love how the book got it's title... There are many moments of hand holding and kisses and hugging but she gets rescued when Noah is nearby. She says it's all a mistake and he informs her even from a distance he can carry on a relationship with her. No matter what goes wrong, Doc is there to fix it.
Loved hearing of the cookie baking as i've yet to make gingerbread men and never thought of how to decorate them...


A Christmas Surprise by Janelle Taylor
Betsy and Tommy were just packing up to head to her parents cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains for Christmas. She had gone through some medical problems but the latest results from the nurse made her think everything was going to be ok.
She had tried to get pregnant but the medical procedures made it almost impossible for her to conceive.
The plan was for her to cut back on her hours at the hospital being a nurse and to take more college courses but she couldn't tell him yet if she got the classes she wanted.
He got secrets and a surprise for her and she has secrets and a surprise for him.
They get a surprise first thing the next morning from the Peters, next door...and she guesses what Betsy's gift is.
Lots of hot steamy romantic sex in this one make it a really good short story.


Dream Lake by  Lisa Kleypas
This book is about the house where the ghost lives. The ghost attached himself to Alex who's now broken up with his wife and he has no idea why.
The story not only follows the ghost, Alex but his other brothers and others on the island as they rebuild a cottage on dream lake road.
After just being introduced to Zoey, Alex Nolan starts having visions of a picnic lunch on Dream Lake with her.
The ghost was stuck with Alex and it was time for him to make his move so he could break free of the alcoholic. He starts talking to him and he is able to see him now and they talk.
Lucy, a glass artist had gotten sideswiped and was recovering at Sam's house when Zoe came to help her.
Justine runs the local B&B and Zoey does the cupcakes and desserts.
Artist's point sounds just the right thing to turn into the Bed and Breakfast in Friday Harbor.
Alex helps the ghost find out who he is so he can maybe free himself. With letters and other things found at the dream lake cottage that Alex is renovating, they do find some clues...
Zoey has opened up to Alex about her marriage...Love all the chat about her cooking and his work on the cottage, such details!
She also has told him of her taking care of Emma, her grandmother with all her health declines.
As Emma's life became more difficult he was there to aid her, she did remember him and their time together.
Hot steamy sex add a great deal, but I really love the chat about the baking ingredients, vanilla, the real good stuff, new things to learn about.
They see the glass that was made and it all came together, the winter tree...it sparks the full memory of what happened to Emma and her man..


The "What if" Guy by Brooke Moss
Autumn Cole after high school broke up with her boyfriend Henry because she was pregnant with another mans baby. She left Fairfield, WA for Seattle and got enrolled in art classes and 12 years later she left there to go back home to tend to her father. The town drunk who had health issues. She brought her son Elliott with her and when he showed up at school she was introduced to one teacher, Henry. Yep the love of her life that she had to let go.
He's as surprised to see here there also, going through a divorce himself. by the time she's left her son in the class she had given Henry a bloody nose as well. What else could go wrong? She had met up with one of her bff's well they broke it off after a few months-she had stopped replying to her letters and calls-she wasn't a good friend.
When her father makes a spectacle of them at Halloween, Mr. T steps in and helps get him home to the couch and has promised to watch out for the bullies at El's school and put a stop to that. She's working at the pharmacy now because she has no other choice.
She's made amends with her BFF also. She spends more time with him and discovers about his past life and what made him come to the town to live in. The surprise holiday meal turns out HOT in many ways...the holiday season is growing on her.
She is devastated to learn of the true nature of all the doctor visits her dad takes when she finds him on the floor in the bathroom and goes with him in the ambulance...
She is able to confide in her friend Holly about her true feeling for Henry as they try to figure out why he runs away after he kisses her..
When she watches Henry leave with the town lady who has it all she goes off on a roll and after watching her friend in the hospital she acts fast, so much time has gone by...
besides sex scenes there is also a birthing that led me to shed some tears, it was so fast paced and serene.
Love that she can do your job and also take care of her career and Layla hires her to do her daughter's bedroom and the town hires her, such an accomplishment!
Also love how she connects with her dad and her son gets lessons from him. Just when things are going right everything goes wrong...


One Santa Snowglobe by Adam Casbarian
Illustrated very colorful Christmas children's book about all the things surrounding Christmas.
Starts out with one Santa in a snow globe and then onto #2. Not only is this book about the things
with Christmas but numbers. Counts up to 12 with a bonus letter to the child to practice counting every day...


My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick
Samatha watches as the new neighbors arrive and over the years they seem to multiply. She lives next door with her mom and sister. Her mother gets a new boyfriend and she escapes to her roof and watches the stars. One of the boys next door climb up and they start hanging out.
They become very close as time goes on and they contemplate having sex together. They've thought of all different things prior to the physical act. Her mother is so into her political campaign that she hardly even knows her daughter any more.
Jase is buy working out for a football scholarship and working on cars and motorcycles. She brings him over to meet her mother in hopes they will become friends.
They have experienced a bit just not gone the whole way and find it so hard to not go all the way.
Love that his father has a talk with him about being responsible.
She also doesn't know what to do with her friend who she finds out something that isn't right...
When she confides in her boyfriend about the car accident that could ruin her mothers career he tries to help her. So many tough decisions...


Grandma, Please Don’t …   By Dani Bull
Illustrated colorful children's book about a little girl who has a grandmother that lives nearby and she visits often. She'd rather do other things but grandmother makes her try thing by doing something different to them and then she likes them: Brussels sprouts.
She'd rather get a book than socks, so grandmother gets both. She helps at the grandmother's house also and a new baby brother is born that she asks her to help her hold because she doesn't want to drop him. She knows her grandmother loves her. When they have to
move because her dad gets a new job she is still able to call her and talk and they both miss one another.
Her grandmother makes everything alright.


Unconscionable (Rich Coleman Novel) by William Manchee
Won this via a Goodreads contest and think I will be sorry I've not read the other books prior in this series. The storyline sounds like something that I find fascinating.
The story picks up when his son is graduating from college with hopes of getting all 3 into the law business.
Ryan's girlfriend Amanda is heading towards being a literary agent. Knowing nothing at all about the details, this is going to be an educational read for me because I like the field.
The law business is gearing towards handling house foreclosures and companies that wrote bad mortgages for customers. I've read of this happening but now I get to find out all the nitty gritty details of behind the scenes and how one company hopes to sue another over what transpired.
Relationships also have gone through many phases as time goes on. Some are grieving over lost ones and struggling to survive, sometimes with drink and drugs.
Amanda was going to get a manuscript from Ryan's father, Rich about how his mother got off on a murder charge and it goes into detail about a death pact.  She even is negotiating a deal with a NY publisher that includes a signing tour and one TV show appearance of the husband and wife.
There were revisions made that made it look like he was the murderer but the first edition is what they want published.
After Amanada finds and reads the other revisions she doesn't keep them to herself and I have to ask myself why would she want to potentially ruin others life's, so she can gain in her own?
With the discovery of a dead body the police start questioning a lot of people that could be heavily involved.
Lots of scheming on both story lines in this book to make things work right.
A fast paced drama, lots of action, travel and scheming in the housing and publishing fields have made me go out and buy the other books in the series. The style of writing has kept me interested throughout, even enough that dinner was late one day and I didn't watch late TV so I could read more.
I know the other books in the series will be just as good as they will go into more depth of what has already been summarized briefly in this one.
This is one of the top 10 favorites out of 560 this year!



read 12/6/12  pub FEb 13, 2013 The Golden Shore by David Helvarg
This book has so much to offer: the history of parts of the west coast, mainly CA and so many parts I was aware of and have been to and so many more I wasn't really aware existed there and the reason why they are there.
Love hearing how they rebuilt many parts from major diasters using their own resources.
To me this book is like a National Geographic encylopedia of the area from earlier than the Ice Age and everything that shaped the coast and had any influence.
There is SO much knowledge you can gain from reading this.
Have watched and visited over the years various measures taken to bring back some fish to the area: dam near a power plant near Hurricane Ridge in the state of WA. Also very interesting to see the west coast with same issues as east coast had with fishing for whale and it's byproducts.
And most recently the overfishing til a species is just about deplete.
Love the references to John Muir and John Steinbeck, didn't know he played such a major role in things.
Chapters on the Navy and oil industry and how each of them has taken a part of the gold coast.
Parts of this are also better than a guided tour as details and names of other places to visit, where a tourist would never know about, are spoken about on the journey.
Besides the oceangraphic and surfing there are throughout talks of saving the land, plastic bags and other garbage to perserve the land for the future.





Slipping by Shandy Kurth
Miles had lost his mother and sister in a car crash. He had just got dumped from Jordan his girlfriend. He couldn't wait to graduate and
leave this town for good. He lived with his father and had some friends but he had a recurring dream. His sister was almost real, led him to
a place behind town and told him to remember one time there. She mentioned a murder and he was trying hard to piece it all together.
Rayla keeps appearing during the time he's awake and while he's trying to figure it all out she's asking him to find Liam. He has no clue why though.
Things just don't add up and he's got an essay to pass in that he's not completed.
Interesting thing about this book is the main character is a guy, not a typical teen female so hearing from that point of view is interesting, as to what happens during events that set him off, etc.
Never suspected what really happened but like the way Miles handled it. Really like where this book takes you and how the title comes about.


 Shapes and Colors ready to print Romanian version by Mary Monette Barbaso-Crall
Illustrated very colorful babies first book collection showing shapes and colors. This version is in Romanian but
it also has English under it. The thing I like the best are not only the shapes and very bright colors but these are basic things
that every child should know about. 8 pages

Opposites Romanian version by Mary Monette Barbaso-Crall
Illustrated very colorful babies first book collection showing babies with
various facial expressions and moods. Not only is this in Romanian language but there
are English right under them. 10 pages

Face Parts Romanian Version by Mary Monette Barbaso-Crall
Illustrated very colorful babies first book collection showing different parts of the face.
Each of the 10 pages shows a baby face in a different face parts. The book asks where certain
parts are where the baby can then point to them and when you turn the page you find out if they are right.
Cute basic baby book. Good learning tool. Not only is this in Romanian language but there
are English right under them.

Baby's First Book - Parts of the Body  by Mary Monette Barbaso-Crall
Illustrated colorful very easy to understand children's book showing the basic parts of the body.
They are highlighted using stars to point to the part or red circles.
Even though this is in the Romanian language there are English translations showing as well.
This one also asks where a certain section is on one page, and then shows you on the next page so you can see if you are correct. 10 pages.

Baby's First Book - Emotions and Feelings (BASIC CONCEPT)  by Mary Monette Barbaso-Crall
14 pages illustrated colorful baby's first book showing face expressions. Not only are these in the Romanian language
but there are English translations on the same page making it easy to follow along. There are some very basic ones and others that are used but maybe not every day.


read 12/2 The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
Their mother had to leave them at the convent as she had no more money after her husband died in the mines and she had sold everything. Edwardo and Cheero did the best they could under the circumstances.
This book also follows another family, Ineza who has lost her sister Stella. She was covered with bruises.
When he sees the priest with a girl he is sent away to the US to a shoemaker's shop. The worst part is he is separated from his brother.
There's a lot of Italian phrases throughout the book that are not always interpreted.
in the US he's an apprentice for a shoemaker and now that she's in the US-they met at the hospital, she works as a dress designer/sewer hoping to save money so they can buy the house in their homeland.
She tells him the next move is his and where she is located. She moves after a bit of time as her and a friend get a better job and move as he's not come for her.
He joins the army to gain citizenship and dreams of her and she's not where she was once when he went for her...
As time goes on we follow each of them and Edwardo's lifes and her father who went to the west to the mines to gain fortune for the family back home...



Devastation by Shandy Kurth
The Marquerings: starving and Fallon can't wait for things to get back to normal. His mother and sister live there also. His mother urges him to go with his sister and find the army as they can feed them.
The Flories: Emery and her brother lived in the basement-where their mother left them, just about out of food.
Desiree Baldi hid in a storm drain pipe in shock remembering the disfigurement of her father. Like how she uses phrases from the Bible to get her through her journey.
Guy Gallagher is with the Canadian army and has been told to just find those who can walk on their own. When he finds an injured woman he has to leave her behind...
The first two groups of kids do meet and travel together to WVA after the escaping the bombing.
Love how the story goes from group to group and what's happening at the same time from their area.
Fascinating part to me is that some of them have traveled through Ohio, towns I know because relatives live there.
Love where they get their ideas from and put them to good use. Difficult at times to see how they are suffering but it's almost like they were trained to take care of themselves with what they find. Even what we would think is a useless they find a worthwhile use for.
Some get captured and are brainwashed and work in the medical tent, some packaging foods from the troops. Tough to see what they go through to survive.
Throughout the book some are praying, others have given up on being saved from God but after a time they are all praying in their own way, they believe in God again and he will help see them through this til they reach the safe zone.
Glad there is another, if not several others.



 

Sleigh Ride: A Winter Anthology by Malena Lott and others
Wanted to read this particular book because it has a lot of authors I'm not familiar with, except one.
Always find I have time for new authors and their works of words. The kindle version just started right up but I pulled up the contents and ran into Monkey Bread recipe so with Thanksgiving coming up and I'm hostessing it this year I was looking for something quick and easy to make and this is it! Love how there is magic with each sleigh story.
Love the idea of all the recipes from the authors included. Now to the other parts of the book, the stories. Just even the names of the stories a calm has come over my mind and body as I sit back and relax to start reading them all. I hate to read books like this also because I never want them to end...
...
Monks and Musicians by Samantha Wilde
Rev. Jeff Winsted had sex with his church secretary and told his wife and sleeping daughter on the sleigh ride.
She ousted him out of the house the day after...and she is pregnant.
She works through it with her step mother as the days go by.  Jeff has left with Lynn to go to Florida, left his family, job, everything til he thinks about it all...
.
Noche Buena by Maria Geraci
Maggie Cartwright is the local welcomer from the Chamber of Commerce. She had given Nestor Vegas, a restaurant owner his annual fruitcake and they talk about past Christmases.  Her favorite was the empty doll box that was turned into a sleigh.
She talks about going back to TN to stay at her grandfathers cabin in the woods and just relaxing, reading, thinking of what to do with her life...
Her sister comes over and they gossip and she finds out details about Nestor that she didn't know about...
Laughed at the holiday sweaters they must wear. I used to make them for the family, but not holiday themed.  Murals sound gorgeous.
.
Fairy Lights by Jenny Peterson
Allison lives and works in Sweden and her sister is there to visit from Ohio and other parts in the US.
While on a sleigh ride the memory of their brother comes up and she gets off the moving sleigh.
Willow explains why she can't make her mother happy...she never met her brother nor does she know how he died...
She wanted to be the twin to Allison after the brother died and she thought her mother was the one to kill him, til Allison learns the truth..
Love the folklore, just what needed to heal the two together again...
.
No Place Like Home by Dani Stone
Brian had accepted a job 2 years ago and told Stacie without even asking for her opinion. That was one reason why they broke up.
She confided in her friend Audrey about his phone call that they needed to talk. The women had spent a weekend at Las Vegas mourning her grandmother Jordan passing and the breakup of Brian.
She thinks he might want to get together with her so she goes through the pictures they took as a couple and remembers how comfortable they were.
She also looks at a picture of the sleigh ride her grandparents took together when they were dating.
With the snow just falling her friend picks her up in a sleigh and has yet another surprise for her when they reach the bookstore..There is magic with the sleigh...
.
The Escape by Megan Barlog
Hans is in charge of the animaltrons at the Stable. A girl with red hair is being chased by many men and he helps hide her. After some time has gone by she appears again and he hides her again and she tells him her story.
Her father is forcing her to marry an old man, as in his age.
He was just finishing welding the steel on the sleigh. it had instruments in it that would make it fly, like an airplane.
Beka's father and her intended want a tracking chip implanted and she runs to the Stable for Hans to help her. He has an idea that involves the sleigh...
She agreed to meet him on Friday night for their escape but soemthing went wrong. She used Morse code to contact him and he took it into his hands to solve the problem, with his sleigh...
.
Dashing Through the Snow by Maggie Marr
Ella Brighton and her dog Bovis were far from LA, in the snow in Vermont when the dog jumped out the window. She went after him and after not finding him went back to the rental SUV where she had the keys locked inside, with her purse and watch.
A man in a sleigh had her dog as she walked around for a bit...
He was divorced also and they got to talking and laughing ...
.
Snowflakes and Stones by Malena Lott
Moria was hand delivering the divorce papers to Grayson where he waited in the sleigh, all set with Dancer and Dasher... Her job used to be hot cocoa and Layla would handle the sugar cookies.
She recalls the accident that took their daughter and I loved hearing how the one who was at fault spent their time telling others about it-in hopes nobody else would ever die from it.
Love hearing of all the nature and just pristine setting of the family homestead...
ISBN-10: 0615552331