Ahhhh - Home Again

And things are getting back to normal. I have a very good, very relaxing time at Lisa's and I don't know how I could have handled things if I hadn't had her place to go too, but after a four day absence, it's very good to be home again.
Zina the Princess (not a) Warrior Cat scolded me for about 1/2 an hour for leaving her and then demanded to be petted for the next half hour. I guess Brent just wasn't as good as me at taking care of her.
Christmas went good although I had my very sad moments.
One present I got from Nance, my other sister, is forcing me into unknown territory! She got each of us an MP3 player. Yes - I shall be downloading music onto an MP3 player - me, the one who still hasn't managed to figure out how to program a VCR! Speaking of which - Lisa got me one of those along with soon-to-come lessons on how to work it.

****Note****

I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!!!
I downloaded a whole bunch of songs from some of my CD's. All by my little ole self! And holy cow does it have excellent sound! And can it hold a lot!! I have 49 songs on it so far and it's not even half way full! I think I like this new toy. I think I like it a lot. (currently listening to Thing for You by Jan Arden)

Anyway - on with the weekend.
I did manage to get quite a bit of reading done. It was great. So without further adieu here goes


Heart of Fire by Linda Howard

From Amazon: A fabulous lost Amazon city once inhabited by women warriors and containing a rare red diamond: it sounded like myth, but archeologist Jillian Sherwood believed it was real, and she was willing to put up with anything to find it -- even Ben Lewis. Ruffian, knock-about, and number one river guide in Brazil, Ben was all man -- over six feet of rock-hard muscles that rippled under his khakis, with lazy blue eyes that taunted her from his tanned face. Jillian watched him come to a fast boil when she refused to reveal their exact destination upriver in the uncharted rain forests -- and resolved to stand her ground. Neither of them could foresee what the days ahead promised: an odyssey into the fiery heart of passion and betrayal, and a danger that would force them to cast their fates together, immersed in the eternal, unsolved mysteries of love....

I must thank my Santa (and she knows who she is!) for this one. I LOVED it. It had Linda Howard's standard Alpha hero. And she does them so very well. Ben Lewis is another Howard hero that is so easy to fall in love with. And Jillian is another great Howard heroine. What I love about both her hero's and heroines is they are equal to each other for the most part. Although the heros are definetly alpha, the heroines aren't afraid to stand up to them. I'm probably one of the few Linda Howard fans who hadn't read this one. If anyone else (such as Cindy) is like me - Read It.
Grade 4 1/2 out of 5


Blindsided by Leslie Lafoy
I've been reading Leslie Lafoy for a long time now and except for one book, I've really enjoyed every book I've read. But somehow I missed this one. I think because it's a Harlequin and I don't pay as much attention to them anymore as I used to. I saw a good review for it at AAR and that set me looking. Unfortunately by the time I read the review it was gone from the shelves - Harlequins having such a long shelf life and all. I looked for it at UBS's but no luck. The I read another good review at Dear Author and I knew I would be ordering this one. I love sports books - hockey in particular and this one sounded good.
It was. I really enjoyed it. Since I've included both links, I won't go over the storyline again, but I thought this one was really sweet. Logan is an ex-hockey player who get's knocked out of the game he loves due to a career ending eye injury. He gets very reluctantly dragged into coaching a minor league team by Catherine Talbot the owner who inherited the team. Both Logan and Cat were very interesting characters and very likeable. I especially liked that Logan - while very disappointed not to be playing anymore, wasn't bitter. This is one worth tracking down.
Grade 4 1/2 out of 5



Dark Defender by Alexis Morgan

From Amazon: Alexis Morgan continues her dazzling paranormal series about larger-than-life warriors and the women they love....

As a Paladin warrior, Blake Trahern fights and dies again and again to keep mankind safe from the Others. Sensing his humanity slipping away with each battle, he retreats from the world...until the one person who still has a claim on his soul needs his help. It's been twelve years since Blake vanished from Brenna Nichols's life, years that have turned her from a love-struck teen into a headstrong, sensual woman. He'll fearlessly give his life to protect her -- yet he dare not risk his heart.


Brenna is stunned by Blake's reappearance, and by a shocking discovery about her father. Everything she has ever believed is thrown into question -- everything except the desire that Blake still ignites. But as they search together for a traitor among the Paladins, danger looms: the next battle could tip Blake into madness, destroying his life, his soul...and the only woman he has ever loved.

Another book I quite liked. I was really on a role! I didn't like this one quite as much as the first one, Dark Protector, but I certainly liked it enough to keep reading the series. I found the heroine a bit weaker in this one. Don't get me wrong, she was still good and almost able to hold her own against a strong alpha hero like Blake, but Brenna wasn't quite as strong as the heroine in the first book. I think it's an interesting series, but I still have questions about the Palladin although some of the questions I had after reading DP were answered so overall I was quite pleased.
Grade 4 out of 5


Missing Magic by Karen Whiddon

From the back:
A Sorceror Prince
Heir to the kingdom of Rune, Cenrick saw it was his responsiblity to seek out the truth. There were disturbing reports of a great evil befalling his people, an evil perhaps due to his cousin. The solution lay in the world of mortals, in a quest that could mean his very soul - and his heart.

A Defender of Justice
Lately Dee Bishop's life was going to hell in a handbasket; Suspended from the South Worth police force, dumped by her fiance...even her best friend had abandonded her. But that hardly necessitated surrender. And when she was told of a conspiracy that threatened a reality she'd never fathomed, she swore to set things right. Looking into this dark stranger's eyes, she could imagine nothing worse than a life without magic.

A Love for the Ages
Metal and mysticism, techonology or sorcery: Two worlds in conflict. The dangers were greater than they'd ever imagined. But so were the rewards.

And then sadly the roll came to an end with this one. *sigh* Normally I completly miss editing errors, but I found them in this book. In one scene the heroine got dressed and put on jeans over pajama bottoms and then later the hero removes her clothes and low and behold the pajama bottoms have disappeared. In another series they are getting dressed and suddenly she has wet hair - no mention of her jumping in the shower. The book was full of these kinds of things and they really stood out - specially if I noticed them. The story line was convaluted to say the least. I couldn't figure out what or why they were doing the things they were doing.
Grade: 2 out of 5

And finally - I may have mentioned I live a couple of blocks from the busiest mall in the city. Why oh why I decided to do this I don't know - too many days without buying new books I guess - either that or insantity - but I decided to stop at Chapters before I went home. In order to get there I had to pass the busiest mall in the city - on Boxing Day. It took me ages to get there and then Chapters was busy too! And the music - yuck!! They were supposed to have 6 copies of Midnight Eyes by Sarah Brophy and I couldn't find them. But the crowd, the music and being away from home for four days; I just wanted to get home. I did get a few consolation books though.

Now I'm off to blog hop - something I really missed doing!

'til later