What am I Reading? (continued)

Here are the rest of the books that I've read over the past 6 weeks.


My 11 year old daughter picked out One Fine Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy for me to read. She was buying books for her Kindle with an Amazon gift card that she had gotten for her birthday and wanted to buy me a book. I told her that she didn't have to buy me one because most of my books cost $10 or so and she only had about $10 left on her gift card. We were browsing through some of the different genres and she saw this book for just 99 cents. Hannah says she wants to marry a cowboy someday, so she thought I should read it. I actually have read several different cowboy romance stories, so I let her buy it for me. It was quick and fluffy, a little predictable, but enjoyable.

Back to the Bedroom is another one of Janet Evanonvich's older books. This was was very difficult for me to get into. And of all the Evanovich books that I have read, this has been my least favorite.

Mr. Darcy Brok My Heart was about a young woman who goes to England for a Jane Austen seminar. She is not a fan of Jane Austen and is only attending because she was unemployed and her sister was unable to attend. The story revolves around an original manuscript of Pride and Prejudice which is read in bits and pieces through the novel. I enjoyed reading the bits of the alternate Pride and Prejudice and overall I enjoyed this story.

I read the first five books in the Flower Shop Mystery series about a year ago. I have so many books waiting to be read, that I hadn't gotten around to reading any more. So I picked up the 6th one and read that in about a day. A Rose from the Dead was charming and fast paced. Even though it had been a year since I last read about Abby Knight and her flower shop, everything fell right into place.

As soon as I finished with with #6, I began #7. Shoots to Kill was a little harder for me to read, but only because it was about a woman who is gradually trying to take Abby's identity by dressing like her, driving a similar car, becoming friends with her friends and no one would believe Abby when she suspected it. I just felt so badly for Abby and I really hate it when bad things happen to good people. Everything worked out in the end, just as it should in my happy little world.

I took a little break away from the flower shop and read a novella called Accidentally Married to the Billionaire. I read through it quickly. It was about a woman who woke up in Vegas with a hangover and no memories of the night before. It turns out that she got married to a sexy billionaire. The premise was a little far fetched in my opinion. However, it did entertain me and isn't that the whole purpose of reading books?

Then I went back to reading another Flower Shop mystery. I love the clever titles that Kate Collins comes up with! It was another fun, cozy mystery.

I read Sleeping with Anemone, too. There are 12 in the series so far. This one is number 9. These are fun romantic mysteries.

I was all set to continue reading another Flower Shop mystery when I discovered that while I was on the cruise, a new Southern Roads novella by Stephanie Bond came out. I couldn't believe that I wasn't aware of it! I even follow Stephanie on Twitter!! I immediately purchased Baby, Hold On for my Kindle and curled up on my recliner to read it. The Southern Roads books take place in fictional Sweetness, Georgia which is a town that was rebuilt after being completely leveled by a tornado many years ago.  The story was cute and sweet (just like I like it!). There are interactions with many characters from her previous books which I enjoyed.

At the same time that I found out that Stephanie Bond had a new title, I learned that another favorite series of mine released a new book. Meg Cabot grew up in Bloomington, Indiana and attended Indiana University, which is where I went to college, so I feel this kinship to her. The Heather Wells Mystery series is about a former teen pop star who now works as residence hall coordinator at New York College. The last Heather Wells book came out about five years ago, so I was pleasantly surprised to see another title released. Because it has been so long in between titles, it did take a little bit of reading for some of the characters and back story to come back to me, but that didn't interfere with the story line. Most of the action takes place in the college dorm, so whenever I read these books, I picture Wright Quad at Indiana U. I really liked this new title and am so happy that next one is slated to come out in 2013.

And I believe that brings me up to date!
Happy Reading!

What am I Reading?

I have gotten way behind with my "What am I Reading" posts.  I may have to catch up with more than one post.

My Last Blind Date is a short story by Susan Hatler. It was a cute romantic story about a woman who accepts a blind date on Valentine's Day.

Believe it or not, The Glass Case by Kristin Hannah was my first book by this popular author. It is also a short story. I enjoyed reading it and may venture to read a full length book by Hannah one of these days.

Sealed Forever was number 4 in Mary Margret Daughtridge's "Sealed" series. This one involves a Seal who discovers an abandoned baby. A little slow at times, but entertaining.

I really liked Janet Evanovich's Foul Play. It's one of her earlier books that was re-released a couple of years ago. It was very funny and at times a bit silly.

Lucy Kevin's Fall Fast is about a woman who is sent by the magazine that she works for to go undercover on a new reality tv show called "Fall for Mr. Right". I enjoy watching several different reality tv shows, so I enjoyed reading this fictional behind the scenes story. It was a cute love story.

Holiday Rush is a short story about a woman who works in retail during the holiday season and finds romance somewhere between Black Friday and the holiday sale season. It was a fun story.

His Secret Agenda by Beth Andrews was in my opinion, a typical Harlequin romance. It was quick, and easy to read. There's a lot of resistance between the boy and the girl, but it all works out in the end.

Katie Fforde is one of my favorite authors of all time. Summer of Love is one of her newer titles that hasn't been available (or at least that I could find) in the US. I bought a copy through the used books on Amazon. It was a bit hard to get into, but definitely worth it. It takes place in England and I had a bit more difficulty with some of the English slang than I usually do. It's about a single young mother who moves to the country and rents a little cottage next door to an older woman who is a friendly, motherly/grandmotherly type and who happens to have a handsome son who had a one night stand with the lead woman a few years ago.

 Friends with Partial Benefits is part of the Friends with Benefits series by Luke Young. It's about a 39 year old divorced woman who develops a relationship with the friend of her 21 year old son.  The friend is a few years older then the son and even though there was still a 13 year age difference between the couple, I was rooting for things to work out with them. I liked the story a lot. The other books in the series seem to revolve around some of the other characters that are introduced in this one. 

I read Michelle Betham's Bon Voyage in preparation of my recent cruise. This was about a woman who goes on a two week cruise with her mother and her best friend. It just so happens that the band "Bon Voyage", a popular boy band from the 90's is playing on the cruise and filming a reunion/reality tv show. Of course, the young women had huge crushes on the band members back in the day. It was a fun, light read and help to heighten the anticipation of my very own cruise.

Happy Reading!

More Cruise Pictures

These are some of my favorite cruise pictures that our friend, Eric took. There are a few pics of Eric that I took using his camera. I've said this many times before, everyone should bring a photographer along on vacation!

Cruise {Day 6 - at Sea}

Headed back to Tamp on Day 6. Hannah, Sue & I attended the towel creature class so we could learn how to make our own towel animals.

We found it worked better if we used our seats instead of the little tables.

Ta-da! An elephant!

Sue with her towel animal.

And Hannah with hers.

Here's Hannah with a bird.

After our towel class, Hannah wanted to try the slide. She hadn't made it over to it before and it was something she felt compelled to do before our trip was over.

After her slide.

We went back to our room to pack, but Hannah worked on more towel animals. This one is a blurry iguana wearing sunglasses.

Hannah decided she needed to borrow the camera and take a few pictures. Here's Chris with the large chess set.

Swirls was where the 24 hour ice cream machines were located. It was a popular spot for James, Hannah, & Tyler.

Here is a picture of Hannah and the elevator. You can see her reflection in the center.

So that's our last day. I didn't get many pictures on our last day at sea. I'm not really sure why! I plan to post one more entry with some of the pictures that Eric took with his fancy camera.