Ack!! Again a long absence :-(

I don't know why I've been away for so long. It wasn't planned or anything. I have a couple of theories as to why I've been absent for all this time. BTF (before the fall) I used to spend hours at the computer and while whiling away the hours, I confess, I did a lot of smoking. Since I'm still one of those reformed ex-smokers, it's been best to avoid places I associate with smoking for a while since though I haven't given in, the urge to give in at times has been very strong.

In addition, I'm back to work full time now. I'd been at my current position for less than a month BTF, and in the time I was off there were a number of changes. So when I went back to work, not only did I have to relearn the job itself since I hadn't had that much time at it, I had to learn all the changes that had been made while I was off. On top of that, my energy level has been way down still so when I got home, not only have I been mentally tired brain learning wise, I've also been tired physically wise.

So - what else has been going on with me?? Not a whole lot. The past day and a half have been snow days here in London. We've been hit by a major snow streamer, the likes of which hasn't been seen for quite some time. The office closed yesterday at two and didn't open at all today. Of course I did not know that and drove all the way into work, only to see 3 cars in the parking lot and no one at reception. I ran into one head person who said the office was closed and hadn't I been notified? Um, no. I couldn't help but chuckle - here I was, the one with the broken leg and all and I made it in only to find out I didn't have to. Still - it gives me an opportunity to update here - long past due.

I haven't been reading that much. So far in this month of December, I've only finished one book - and that one was almost 3/4 read in November.

On the plus side though, I've passed the record set since I started recording the books read back in 2004. My previous high was 105 books in 2005 and so far in 2010, I've read 108 books. The vast majority I've read this year are Contemporaries, followed by Romantic Suspense. The third highest number is Historicals followed by Westerns though I haven't read any Westerns for a while. (once again, great graphs are thanks to Rosario!!)

I checked at Chapters and Jo Goodman's latest, Marry Me is out and the Chapter near me lists 7 copies. When I checked it out, there were none on the shelf. When I asked a clerk, he told me they probably weren't out yet as it wasn't the "official" release date.

That was a lot of hooey of course, they just hadn't put them out yet, but I decided I was too tired to make him go to the back and get me a copy. Next time if the same thing happens, I won't be so lenient *g*. They've always gone to the back for me in previous visits.

My poor Kobo is on the fritz. When last I charged it and turned it on, all book had disappeared off of it, even the pre-loaded books. Since I haven't been reading that much lately, I haven't bothered trying to load them back on. It's going to take greater concentration powers than I seem to have theses days. Though since Oldest Son is also off today, I think I'm going to get him to have a look see if I have problems. Though on second thought that might not be such a good idea. OS manages to break many, many things around here (including my leg). Speaking of OS, he's moving out next week.





While I love him dearly and he hasn't been that bad of a tenant (he's been great at shoveling out the snow), it's time. It's time. Yes, it is time!!

And last for this particular post, AAR posted their Top 100. Once again - for the third time - Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase came in top spot, followed by *drum roll please* Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas! Amazingly, I've read 92 of the top 100. Go visit and check it out? How many have you read? Any books you haven't that interest you now? And what do you think of the list?

The reason I call it Ramblings

is because I ramble and this will be one of the queen of rambling posts.

As you may have gathered, depression has been trying to get a foothold and so far for the most part I've been winning the battle. So quite a bit has been going on lately. Son #2 and his delightful girlfriend came over on Sunday to get me on board HEALTHY EATING. First off, was a cleaning of the fridge. That one hurt a bit. I sat at the kitchen counter as they went through my fridge pitching just about everything that was in there. I suppose there was no reason to hold onto bottles of salad dressing that expired back in 2009 or maple syrup that was so thick holding it upside for almost 5 minutes and it still didn't move were good things to toss, but it did hurt to see the multi packages of wieners head into that green garbage bag. I know that wieners and their sister bologna are the garbage pit of food; that they use the snouts and other real yucky stuff of pigs to make them and that they are loaded with salt and probably one of the worst things we can eat. But dang I love - or rather loved - the taste of them. He did let me keep theGrill'ems though. I think he took pity on me as it wasn't only the hot dogs that had to go but the cookies as well. Now I'm not a big cookie eater so it wasn't as hard to say so long to them, but still - they were the good kind of cookies! Thin wafers topped with chocolate - Mmmmmmmm. And the cruelest cut was the loss of my chocolate mint cookies. They are my comfort cookies. When I was a young thing and went to visit Gramma, she always had these chocolate covered mint cookies 'cause she knew they were my favourite. So to see them thrown out without the respect they so deserved was a bit tough to take I'll admit.

So after that it was a trip to the grocery story for THE HEALTHY food. Why is that healthy food is so much more money and so much more - well - boring, then the junk stuff?? I was a bit worn out by the time we finished getting groceries, after taking time to carefully examine almost everything. I think it took us about 10 minutes on salad dressings alone. You see my favourite - Thousand Island - is higher in fat and calories than some of the other kinds Ryan suggested. But I don't like the ones he suggested. I offered a few other alternatives that he put the kibosh on. So we finally reached a compromise. I could have Thousand Island as long as I didn't drown my salad in it; that I promise to use it sparingly. As I said, it took about 10 minutes to reach this resolution alone! *roll of the eyes here*. I knew Ryan would really enjoy this section of Let's Get Healthy. And absolutely no Cheese Whiz or cheese slices - no processed food at all really - made it onto the belt when it came time to pay. If I want my own version of Egg McMuffins, it's whole wheat English Muffins buttered with calorie reduced margarine and brick cheese slices - and the egg - a normal egg.
So that was my big day on Sunday.

~*~*~*UPDATE~*~*~*

I actually started this post a while ago and meant to finish it and post it much sooner. Since then it's been up and down. I've had a lot of ups and lately a lot of downs. I was on a nice uphill and was just about ready to ditch the walker and graduate to just the cane but then I twisted my foot - my left foot of course - the one with the broken leg attached to it and now I'm back to using the walker again. I'm not to happy about than let me tell you!

Also, while I was in the hospital they asked all kinds of questions about my health in general since I had neglected it really for so long. One of the things I mentioned was that both my hands were numb and tinglish. I hadn't really thought about this - just thought it was another annoying thing to not think about. They set up an appointment for an ENG - a nerve kind of test thingy. I had that late last week and wouldn't you know - they found something. Damn it! They want to send me for an MRI as soon as I can get in for one. They think it's a pinched nerve or something and *grrrrr* one of the options mentioned was surgery. I don't want any more surgery. The leg was quite enough thank you.
As if that weren't enough, I somehow let it slip that's it's been a while (like years) since I've had one of those examinations. You know - the ones us women have. So I have an appointment coming up much too soon with a gynecologist. *shudder*

In the reading front, my reading mojo is slowly returning. A friend took me to Chapters not long ago where I stalked up on books. I have given up smoking though some days it's been a real struggle, and I've pretty much given up soda/pop and for the most part have been eating very healthy with much more fruits and veggies than I've eaten for some time, books are the addiction I won't give up *g*. Hopefully I'll have some reviews written soon. I'm still on track to have my best reading year since I've been tracking this, though not as many as I'd hoped before THE FALL.

So at the moment I'm taking things one day at a time - and doesn't that sound disgustingly cliche-is. Yesterday was a good day. My twisted foot wasn't bothering me too bad so I made my first solo trip to the grocery store and then to the mall for lunch at the food court. Today on the other hand isn't going so good. My foot is hurting again so my goal for today is just to get the kitchen and hopefully the living room cleaned. I am keeping up very good with getting washed and dressed within half an hour after getting up in the morning. That in itself is a goal I set when I got out of the hospital. I haven't got hooked on soaps in the afternoon which is good. But I shamefaced admit that a few times I've watched Jerry Springer and Maury Povich. Yes, yes I know - they are much worse than soaps. But they are trash at it's very finest.

And now - I must do some blog hopping - something else I've neglected for much too long. Sorry for the long absence. I promise I won't stay away this long again!

Oh - and before I go - one more thing. All About Romance has a poll up now for your top 100 romance book poll. I REALLY love everything about this poll. Not only is it fun for me to come up with my favourites, it's also a great place to get rec's for books once the poll is closed and the results are posted. Voting started on Oct 15 and runs until Nov. 14. So far I have 50 of my top listed and I'm working on the next 50. I say everyone send in their list even if you can't come up with 100. I don't think you have to come up with 100 if that's too hard. But I do urge everyone who reads and loves romance to send in what they can. It's fascinating to see what others are reading and loving. The last one they did was in 2007 and I know for myself, I've found some excellent new books since then.

Recent Read

First off - I must apologize for my absence lately. Last week I worked the afternoon shift which really screws up my living/reading/blogging plan *g*. And then we switched to a new database on Monday. In preparation for this, they needed people to work overtime on the weekend. I must have forgotten how old I am anymore, or else I got overtime money hungry as I signed up for both days.

Then yesterday - being Monday - and the new system in place, my brain has reached it's quota. I came home last night and again tonight very zombie like - and just kind of vegged until bed time. Well - in truth not kind of vegged. I totally vegged last night. I didn't even have the energy to make dinner. The day was so stress filled I wanted to smash all the cars in the parking lot at work - my own excluded of course. I really, really wanted to destroy something. I don't often have that kind of reaction. The only consolation was everyone else was feeling the same way!! Thankfully all cars escaped undamaged.

Good thing the following review was 98.7% already written!


Sullivan by Linda Devlin

Why This One: After reading and loving Cash, the final book in the series, I had to go back and start at the first one. Then I skipped this one as it was missing. But the second I found it, I started reading it.

Steam Level: Just about perfect

Blurb: A half breed bastard, Sinclair Sullivan knows he has no place in the world, not with the white men, not with the Comanche - and certainly not with the beautiful Eden Rourke, the sister of one of his only friends. But when Eden meets him on the road to Rock Creek, she insists that he accompany her to town. With two orphaned waifs in her wagon, and and enough determination to fell a much more stubborn man, Eden's demand is irresistible -- and once in Rock Creek, Sullivan finds himself unable to resist stealing more than one kiss. She's certain that their love is written in the stars, despite her brother's objections..and yet, Sullivan must first convince himself that he's the man his lovely Eden deserves.

My Thoughts: I had a feeling from just the blurb of this book that I was going to enjoy it! And I was right - I enjoyed it very much. I love when that happens! It didn't take over the number one spot that Cash holds, but it's now my second favourite of the series.

Sullivan is a member of the Rock Creek Six, a group of men who banded together during the War between the States. When one is in trouble, the all come together. The have made Rock Creek their home of sorts. While most still travel around, Rock Creek is where they head back to. Eden Rourke is the sister of Jed, one of the six, and is on her way to Rock Creek to join her brother whom she hasn't seen for years. While in another town, she spies a gang of men beating up on one man and as she thinks this extremely unfair, she stops the fight and 'rescues' Sinclair Sullivan. Already I was pumped up with this set up. I love it when the heroine rescues the hero. Eden is instantly smitten with Sullivan and he is likewise smitten with her. But there are a number of reasons why Sullivan won't give in to his feelings. Eden is the sister of one of his few friends and he feels she is much too good for him.

But Eden is a force to be reckoned with when there is something she wants and what she wants is Sullivan. Whenever he plans to leave town and leave her, she comes up with some reason as to why he has to stay and help her. In a less likable heroine, this could be downright annoying, but Eden is such a lovely character that her manipulations don't seem like manipulation at all.

And though he protested, Sullivan was a goner right from the beginning. He didn't stand a chance against the force that was Eden and her crew of orphans. Although her protested that he wasn't good enough, Eden just plowed through any objection he threw her way.

There was also some delightful humour in this book. When Jed, Eden's brother and the hero of a future book, comes back to town and discovers Sullivan and Eden wed, he dissolves the marriage, though of course he can't really do that. After some initial issues and a major screw-up by Sullivan, he and Eden try and hide their feelings from Jed, pretending that they've gone along with is declaration of a marriage ended.

This book was adorable from beginning to end and I am SO glad I've finally gotten around to reading them. I know this is another one I'll read more than once.

****~~~~****

And though I'd love to post more - the brain is not up to the task tonight so I will have to wait until it's recovered, but the poll results at AAR are up and I'm a happy camper as my favourite book of 2009 was the big winner!!

I'm adoin' the happy dance for The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie!!!

AAR Poll Results

Well - the results are in for the Annual 2008 All About Romance Reader Poll. What was interesting was how many I read. It's always fun to compare what I voted for to what won. For the first time since I started voting in it, I didn't spread my votes out. Usually I try and get as many books in as I can but since one book in particular stood out more then any other - it was the one that I voted for. So I'm going to add my honourable mention books where they apply

Best Romance
AAR: The Spymaster's Lady by Joannna Bourne
Me: Broken Wing by Judith James

Best Contemporary Romance
AAR: Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
Me: Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
(a match!)

Best Romantic Suspense
AAR: Death Angel by Linda Howard
Me: Unlawful Contact by Pamela Clare

Best Paranormal Romance
AAR: Lover Enshrined by JR Ward
(Honorable Mention - Mine to Possess, Nalini Singh/Dark Desires after Dusk, Kresley Cole)
Me: Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh
(I wanted to vote for Moonstruck by Susan Grant - but it didn't really fit - hopefully next year there will be a category)

Best Historical Romance Set in the U.K.
AAR: The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne
(Honorable Mention - Private Arrangements, Sherry Thomas)
Me: Broken Wing by Judith James
(Honorable Mention - Seduce Me At Sunrise, Lisa Kleypas)

Best Historical Romance Not Set in the U.K
AAR: Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chase
Me: Untamed by Pamela Clare
(This is another category I think is too broad)

Funniest Romance
AAR: Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson
(Honorable Mention -
Like No Other Lover, Julie Anne Long
The Lost Duke of Wyndham, Julia Quinn
Just One of the Guys, Kristan Higgins
Me: Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins

Biggest Tearjerker
AAR: Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
(Honorable Mention - Broken Wing, Judith James)
Me: Broken Wing by Judith James

Best Love Scenes (in a Mainstream Romance)
AAR (tie)
To Seduce a Sinner, Elizabeth Hoyt
Your Scandalous Ways, Loretta Chase
(Honorable Mention - To Taste Temptation, Elizabeth Hoyt)
Me: Flat Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy

Best Debut Author
AAR: Sherry Thomas
Me: Judith James
(Honorable Mention - Meredith Duran)

Best Series Romance
AAR: A Most Unconventional Match by Julia Justiss
Me: I didn't vote in this category

Best Chick Lit/Women's Fiction
AAR: Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins
(Honorable Mentions - Queen of Babble Gets Hitched, Meg Cabot/Remember Me, Sophie Kinsella)
Me: Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins
(Another match!)

Best Erotica
AAR: Wicked Burn by Beth Kery
(Honorable Mention - Dangerous Secrets, Lisa Marie Rice)
Me: Wicked Burn by Beth Kery
(We're on a roll here!)

Best Romance Short Story
AAR: From This Moment On by Candice Hern in It Happened One Night
(Honorable Mention - Spellbound by Mary Balogh in It Happened One Night)
Me: Ritual in Death by JD Robb from Suite 606

Guiltiest Pleasure Romance
AAR: Lover Enshrined by JR Ward (writers note:???????)
Me: Wicked Burn by Beth Kery

Best Romance Hero
AAR: Hardy Cates in Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
(Honorable Mention - Robert Grey in The Spymaster's Lady, Joanna Bourne)
Me: Gabriel St. Croix in Broken Wing by Judith James
(Honorable Mention - Cam in Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas)
(I really miss the Most Tortured Hero category)

Best Romance Heroine
AAR: Annique in The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne
Me: Haven Travis in Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas
(I really miss strongest or most kick ass heroine category)

Best Romance Couple
AAR: Annique and Grey in The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne
Me: Gabriel and Sarah in Broken Wing by Judith James
(Honorable Mention - Marc and Sophie in Unlawful Contact by Pamela Clare)

Author You Gave Up On
AAR: JR Ward
(Dishonorable Mention - Julia Quinn)
Me: Susan Mallery

Worst Romance
AAR: Lover Enshrined by JR Ward
Me: Sweet Talk by Susan Mallery

So there you have it. I always find it interesting and while I certainly wish Broken Wing had won something more then an honourable mention, I don't have anything agains the winners. I love Blue Eyed Devil and The Spymaster's Lady - the two big winners.

So what about anyone else? Did you vote? How do they compare?