Almost A Christmas Bride

Almost a Christmas Bride by Susan Crosby was read for the Christmas Spirit Challenge.  It is a 2011 Harlequin Special Edition that was among my books.

Shana Callahan is a single mother who has been working for a temp agency called At Your Service doing clerical or domestic jobs.  She is offered a full time job back home by Lance Kincaid.  The job is live in and she is afraid people with get the wrong idea.   Kincaid is good looking and single and has a large house.  he lets Shana select which bedrooms she will occupy.

They try their best to keep the relationship strictly business but they do wind up sleeping together and she could have become pregnant.  The test is negative and they feel they have bitten the bullet, until a friend suggests that the test was taken at the wrong time of day.  When she takes another test, it is positive.  Kincaid asks her out to dinner and she choose this time to tell him that she is pregnant.  He had prepared a surprise for her, he had a ring ready and he asks her to marry him.  She says yes.  He had even arranged with her father to buy his business on Christmas Eve.

I liked the way this book progressed their relationship.  They started off not fully liking each other and wind up in love.  It is a very easy book to read.

The Little Prince

The Little Prince is a classic book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery which was translated from the original French to English.  It is also by book for L in A-Z Challenge.

I had never read this book before even though I had heard about it.  I loved reading the story and enjoyed the illustrations.  I know scientifically that if someone is in the desert that they can hallucinate.  But, was this one or could the events really have happened?  Part of me would like to believe that such an event is really possible.  The other part says that the story can from someone with a wonderful imagination.

You should go read this book and make up your own mind as to which you think is true.

Chistmas Spirit Read-a-Thon 2013

It's time! The 5th year of the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge! Like last year, there are multiple levels for participation, like children's books and watching Christmas movies...and I have an extra special twist this year...so read on!
Details and sign up:

• challenge will run from Friday, November 22, 2013 through Monday, January 6, 2014 (Twelfth Night or Epiphany).
• cross over with other challenges is totally permitted AND encouraged!
• These must be Christmas novels, books about Christmas lore, a book of Christmas short stories or poems, books about Christmas crafts, and for the first time...a children's Christmas books level!
• Levels:

            --Candy Cane:  read 1 book
            --Mistletoe:  read 2-4 books
            --Christmas Tree:  read 5 or 6 books (this is the fanatic level...LOL!)
          Additional levels:
            --Fa La La La Films:  watch a bunch or a few Christmas movies...it's up to you!
            --Visions of Sugar Plums:  read books with your children this season and share what you read
          *the additional levels are optional, you still must complete one of the main reading levels above

• New this year! It's the Christmas Spirit Read-a-Thon to kick us off the weekend of Friday, November 22 through Sunday, November 24! Details and sign-up for the read-a-thon are over at my read-a-thon blog, Seasons of Reading, HERE.

• the most important rule?  Have fun!!!   
• I will start with Candy Cane and hope to watch at least one movie.
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Sentence Starters

Each year, Pop Culture Nerd provides a dozen or so sentence starters which you then use to tell others about yourself using the titles of books you have read during the current calender year.

Here are my responses for 2013

My to-do list looks like: A Novel Way to Die by Ali Brandon

If a peeping Tom peeked into my bedroom, he’d: [see] Cat Spitting Mad by Shirley Murphy Rousseau

If Martians meet me, they’d think: (I was) Hidden in Plain View by Diane Burke

My doctor is always telling me: [that I should make) Dangerous Alterations by Elizabeth Lynn Casey

The weirdest thing that happened this past week: (I saw on Halloween) Ella the Rose Fairy by Daisy Meadows

I often daydream about: (being) Enslaved by Shoshanna Evers

The government shutdown makes me: [think there is] Murder on the Mind  by Jeff Resnick

If I win the lottery, I’d: (have) One Hex of a Wedding by Yasmine Galenorn

My superpower is: Kiss of Fire by Rebecca Ethington

I knew I was a book lover when: [I was] Out of Circulation by Miranda James 

My blogging experience has been: Read and Buried by Erika Chase

*This post is sponsored by Grammarly.com*

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Kneading to Die

Kneading to Die by Liz Mugavero is a cozy mystery that was suggested by one of the yahoo groups I belong to.  I am not using it for any other challege and participation in discussions is voluntary.  I must admit I would have chosen this book to read in any case as I love animals and the title is interesting.

Stan has had her job eliminated.  She fell in love with this house in a small town.  Unsure of what to do best, Stan is taking her time to decide.  One of the things she does do is to cook a special diet for her cat.  She also makes treats for the cat.  These treats become popular among the other animals in town.  She keeps finding a dog on her doorstep.  Of course the dog's owner is a handsome, single guy!

The local vet is killed and Stan was not in the appointment book.  She does suspect her best friend who had been in the area when the doctor was killed.  The friend leaves a dog with Stan and then is out of touch.

It is a very interesting read.

Quite Honestly

 













Quite Honestly by John Mortimer is my Q book for A-Z challenge and is my book for humor at the Eclectic reader challenge..

The back of the book describes it as" A comic novel of middle-class do-gooding gone quite awry.  Lucy Purefoy is a college graduate who joins SCRAP - Social Carers, Reformers and Praeceptons which is an organization to help ex-convicts coming out of prison.  Lucy meets a burglar named Terry Keegan. She become fascinated by him and falls in love.  They move in together.  Lucy things they will become closer if she steals things.  She begins taking small things but then decides to steal a painting belonging to a friend.  She is caught and sent to prison.  At the end of the book, Terry is now the member of SCRAP and he is at the prison to meet her.

This book is told from both points of view.  We get Lucy telling her story and Terry telling his.  I can understand why she wants to have the excitement of burglary even though it is misguided.  Lucy compares prison with the boarding school she was sent to as a child.

I like the endings which mirrors the beginning of the book where the two of them tell of their first meeting.  It is interesting to read the descriptions of the other characters and of the surroundings.  Mortimer does show a sense of humor especially having the head of the burglary ring become the head of SCRAP.  Lucy may be a bad burglar but she does not give up the ones who helped her which is honorable.

Perilous Pranks

 

Perilous Perils is an e-book by Joyce and Jim Lavene.  It is part of their Renaissance Faire series.  I am using it as P in A-Z book challenge and it is a cozy mystery.

Jessie has received her Ph.D. in Historical Arts & Crafts and has been appointed director of a museum at the Faire.  She decides to put blue dye into Wanda La Fey's shower to get back for Wanda's gluing her dress to a chair.  When Wanda does not scream after taking a shower Jessie discovers that she is dead and blue.  Jessie seems to be the main suspect.  However, "Shakespeare" was married to Wanda and Wanda was seeing Marcus who was one of the Knights.  Others told Jessie that Sir Marcus had also been seeing Ginny Stewart at the Tavern.  Wanda's ghost is also been staying close to Jessie and aids her in catching the murderer.

I love this series and this novella is wonderful.  There are some new characters and many of the old favorites.  I love the description of Jessie's wedding gown and look forward to reading about her wedding in the next book in the series.