Veterans Day 2011

On Veterans Day

 and every day I would like to say,

thank you to those of you who have stood up to defend this country.

Thank you,

to those who have sacrificed so much to give American's the very freedom we take for granted.

Thank you, and may God bless you.

You are not forgotten.

Halloween Cat Cookies

Halloween is here, and for me it is the beginning of the hustle of the holiday season. There is always so much going on from this point forward that I've found it easier to stick to traditions. For all I know that is how traditions came about. One year a mother tired of being clever, and original decided that it was much easier to do the holiday's exactly the same every year, and traditions were born. 

One tradition we have is making Cat cookies for school. They are a chocolate cookie with candy corn eyes and a M&M nose. I originally found them in the now defunct Hallmark magazine, but I sure they have been around forever.You can find them here at allrecipes.com

The idea is to rapidly place the candy corn and M&M's in while  the cookies are hot. This is where we "traditionally" run into trouble.This year we couldn't get the candy to stick. So we tried putting the candy in before we cooked them, which to be perfectly honest, we've done it that way in  the past and achieved the expected results. If you put the candy in first the candy corn melts, and you have cats with runny eyes.

It's not the end of the world, you can cut the melted edges off, and you have a perfectly lovely cat cookie. But the last batch, we waited to put the eyes and nose in, until there was only two minutes left on the timer. Then we put the cookies back in the oven to finish baking. We piled the cookies into the waiting tray, threw in some loose candy corn and they are ready for school tomorrow.

That is one of our tasty Halloween traditions. What traditions do you rely on to sail through the holidays? 

Magical Mail

I have had another fun filled month of new books arriving almost by magic in my mail box.  Earlier this month, I won Theresa Romain's debut historical novel Season for Temptation from the Vauxhall Vixens during her blog tour. That was a terrific surprise, as I had been following Theresa's journey as a new author on Facebook, Twitter and her blog. I was actual nervous about reading this book, because I had started to get to know Theresa on Twitter, and was concerned that her regency heroine might be packing a light saber and raising a clutch of baby kraken in her rose garden.(Is clutch the proper word for a group of baby kraken? I'll have to ask Theresa as she is somewhat of an expert.) Well, my worries were unfounded as Season for Temptation is a charming tale, with fun characters caught up in an awkward love triangle and nary a kraken in sight. 

Then today, Awakened by a Kiss arrived in the mail from Lila DiPasqua which I had won on her blog. I am excited to read Awakened by a Kiss, because first of all I haven't read any of Lila's books yet, and secondly they are based on Fairy tales. Sounds lovely doesn't it? Did I mention that they were Fiery Tales and reported to be steamy? Now I have your attention, don't I? (How steamy I wonder? Well, I'll just have to read them and find out.) Lila also sent me many bookmarks, and excerpts from her books as well as other authors, which was a wonderful surprise. A little tidbit about Lila DiPasqua is that she has been very close to Gerald Butler. Yes, that Gerald Butler - don't be jealous they were well supervised. Also Lila's husband Mr.D is a frequent guest interviewer on her blog, and has had some very funny interviews with various romance writers husbands. Lila also has a newer book out A Midnight Dance that is getting fabulous reviews.

Both Lila DiPasqua and Theresa Romain have very entertaining blogs and I have posted links to those under Merry Mix of Blogs.

Thanks to both of them for keeping the magic in my mail box. Have you found any magic in your mail box lately? 

Zip Zip and Away

My husband Steve and I just had the good fortune of being able to Zip Line at Piiholo Ranch in Maui. It was one of those life changing experiences where you push your preconceived notions about what you can and cannot do, and literally jump off a platform yelling Geronimo. We had signed up for the Zip Line both wanting to do it, but at the same time feeling nervous about actually jumping off a platform. I tried to psych myself into it by riding things at Disneyland that either had height like the Ferris Wheel, or no feet touching like the Swings. 

The ramp.

Steve coming up.

To get to the platforms you initially cross a suspension bridges or ramps,  like the one pictured above.  Only two people can be on it at a time, and they sway and bounce like something out of Indian Jones. I accused Steve of shaking the bridge and he wasn't even standing on it yet. 

My feet.

At the top is a swinging door to the platform which you don't enter until the guide, in this case Andrew attaches a safety rope to your back. Then you come through the door and he gets you set up on the Zip Line.  He has you lift your feet to test the line set up, and at the count of three you pick up your feet and fly. Your goal is a platform on the other side where two more guides are positioned and who give you hand and body signals to slow down, speed up or break.

Getting ready.

Getting hooked up.

It was hard concentrating on hand signs while your zipping over trees, and for awhile I was watching the wrong guide. Oops! The breaking system makes a pop, and you come to an abrupt stop, then your guide brings over a ladder and you climb up to unhook, and then down.

Jonathan, Kanoa and Andrew

There were nine of us in the group plus the three guides and we did four lines in all. It was very fun and not as scary as you would think. First of all the Zip Line part goes so fast that you don't have time to be scared, and the staff was funny, but also very careful so you never felt like you were in danger.  I would highly recommend this Zip Line to anyone looking for a fun adventure.

Steve and I.

Review of Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen

Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen



My rating: 5 of 5 stars





Lord and Lady Spy by Shana Galen is a wonderfully sizzling action adventure with a delightful pair of characters Lord Adrian Smythe and Lady Sophia Smythe. As, you may guess the main characters are married, and from the title you might have gathered that they are involved in espionage, but all is not as it seems.

One of my favorite things about the book were the beautifully choreographed action scenes which transport the reader right into the midst of the adventure. I also enjoyed the relationship that developed between  Lord and Lady Smythe who had been married for years, but in all the ways that count were virtual strangers. Finally, I appreciated the sensitive handling of the major emotional obstacles that the Smythes faced in the story. When the story came to an end I could only hope that this would be the beginning of many Sophia and Adrian's stories.

The less you know going into Lord and Lady Spy the better so you can enjoy the story as it unfolds. I like to be surprised when I am reading a book, but what about you? Do you like spoilers or surprises?





View all my reviews

Up the Downside

Well, today had it's moments. Some downs and some up. The downs aren't worth mentioning, because the ups are so awesome. I walked down to the mail and found not one, but two packages of books that I had won in the month of August. What? Yes, that's right two books. The first one LORD AND LADY SPY was from the talented and self effacing Shana Galen.

Not only had she sent me LORD AND LADY SPY, but she also sent me A ROMANCE SAMPLER which is a collection of excerpts from a variety of romance writers only two of whom I have read. Oddly enough the two that I have read are Shana Galen and Vanessa Kelly. Why is that odd.? It's odd because they are the only two authors that I have reviewed on this blog. Shana also included book marks, and her darling Baby Galen had put a kitty sticker on the envelope. Isn't that sweet. I was over the moon, and as soon as I am done with this I am off to read LORD AND LADY SPY

How nice you say, and I say . . . wait that's not all. I also had a package from Angie Fox . I won her book THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER when she was a guest on Vanessa Kelly's blog a few weeks ago.Yes, the same Vanessa Kelly who is the only other author that I have reviewed on this blog. We played a game that generated our biker witch name, and entered it to win a book by Angie Fox. It arrived with fun romance trading cards, and looks like are very interesting book. The biker witch name game is on Angie Fox's website and more information about her books as well. My biker witch name is Looney Libby Flat Foot, which seems to fit, though after today I might just have to add Lucky to it.
 

Check out Shana Galen's , Vanessa Kelly's and Angie Fox's websites. Have you been lucky lately? I'd love to hear about it.

Review of Vanessa Kelly's Mastering the Marquess

How did I find Vanessa Kelly's book? I'm trying to recall, but the only thing I can remember is that I read her blog when Angie Fox was guest blogging and I won a book from Angie Fox. Winning always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling, so I added Vanessa Kelly to my TBR list. Yes, I have a real TBR list in notes on my FB page.

Mastering the Marquess is such an enjoyable read, that I hope I can do it justice in a review. It is fast paced story, with complex characters caught up in the midst of family intrigue and strong passions. (Yes, there is intrigue and passion.) It is the story of Meredith and her younger sister Annabel who are thrown into the social whirl of London's season, unprepared for the complexity, and cattiness of the ton. Meredith already has trouble looking on the bright side of things and she suffers the most from the casual cruelty of the social elite. The hero is Lord Silverton who is attracted to Meredith despite their social standings. Vanessa Kelly does a masterful job of keeping the reader in doubt, as to the whether the couple will reach the expected happily ever after.(Will they?) Besides a likeable leading couple, there is a cast of lovely side characters who add their own quirks and make the tale even more enjoyable.

The most convincing recommendation that I can give is that I immediately bought the next book Sex and the Single Earl. Who was the last author that you bought their books back to back?