It Came From the TBR

Shamelessly swiping this from Wendy, Super Librarian Extraordinaire. I have plenty of books in my TBR pile that have been there for ages. So I'm going to play along and try to get as many read as possible this year.



First up is Charmed by Beth Ciotta. About halfway through and really wondering why I didn't read this before now. I'm sure I bought it when it first came out in 2004! I remember reading and enjoying the first book, Jinxed. And I'm really surprised at just how much of that book I remember after all this time, as characters from that book appear in Charmed.

Ceiling fans...

They are a bitch to install! Ooph, it took us four evenings to finally get it completely installed. There was attic work involved for poor Nick, too.



But it's pretty. :-)

Hot by Julia Harper

Oh, this was such a fun book! So here's Hot by Julia Harper (who is also Elizabeth Hoyt, but you all know that already):

A Woman With a Plan
For most people, being held at gunpoint by inept bank robbers disguised as Yoda and SpongeBob SquarePants would make for a bad day. For local librarian Turner Hastings, it's an opportunity. Using the distraction to pull a little heist of her own, she dives into a new life... on the run.

A Cop on a Mission
FBI Special Agent John MacKinnon always gets his man... or woman. After watching Turner Hastings dump the contents of a safety deposit box into her purse on a surveillance tape, he knows this case won’t be run of the mill. What he doesn't expect is how the cellphone contact between him and his bounty is about to blur the line between professional ambition and personal desire. When bullets from a hired hitman start flying in Turner's direction, giving weight to her claims of injustice, John is willing to cross any line to save her life...even if it means losing his own.

Things Are Getting HOT

I just whipped through this book. It's so much fun. Sexy, cute, fast-paced. I really liked both of the main characters. I also liked that the author didn't decide to make some silly mystery of everything. The plot just zips along. Anyways, I highly recommend this one. And Squeaky is so cute. And the bank robbers are too hilarious. Yes, some of John's actions aren't exactly what an FBI agent should do, but within the book, it works. I thought about it while I was reading and wondering to myself why it works in this book, but not in others. I think it's just the writing style that makes it work. Anyways, lots of fun.

Look at all the pretty covers!

I want all of these. Oh yes indeedy I do. Especially the Vaughn and Aguirre ones.

When did I miss this?

I love this whole emailing follow-up comments on Blogger. It makes life SO much easier.

Cross your fingers that we finally get Directv today. It warmed up enough so the snow is off our roof, so the guy is supposed to come out today.

Finished up Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts. Why oh why do we have to wait so long between books? But then I think about how many books La Nora writes and I don't mind quite as much. I'd rather have quality over quantity, anyways.

There's a sidebar update

SO there you have it, a list of books I'm anticipating. I'll get the currently reading thing up soon. Right now it's Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts and Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear.

Oh, and I scored a copy of The Wrong Bride by Susanna Carr from work. I've been wanting to read this one for awhile. And bought the DH a Suicide Girls book that came in. I got some serious wife brownie points for that one. Not to mention it's just a cool book.

Need some help!

As you can see, there is room on my sidebar for some stuff. I need ideas of what I should put there! Come on, I know you guys have seen stuff. Please? I'll be on the lookout, too.

We can't forget Tux

Poor Tux. Luckily it looks worse than it he seems to think it is. He hasn't touched it at all and is acting completely normal. He does hate getting pilled, of course. And he still has those pesky eye drops, too. They did do the mass removal while he was already out for his teeth cleaning, so that was nice.

Kitty love!

It's been awhile since I've put a Gambit picture up here, it seems. So here you go!

Oh UPS man, why?

Why did you stop in front of my house and go to the neighbor across the street? Why didn't you deliver the really large package I've been waiting for? You know, the one you tried to deliver yesterday in the 45 minutes I was at the vet? Why did you not deliver it when I will now have to wait until Monday? A day that I do NOT have off like today. I hate you, UPS. I really do. I want my damn package and I want it NOW.

Cats, cats, cats, they are expensive!

Ah yes, those lovely vet visits. Had to take BOTH cats in today. And because we haven't acquired two carriers, it was two different times. First Tux went in for his boosters and a follow-up visit. Still have to give him eye drops, but now only twice a day instead of three. And he's getting his teeth cleaned tomorrow. And while he's getting that done, they're going to remove a lump under one of his front legs. Oops, forgot to ask how much that would be before today. Just said, yup, we'll do it. So yeah, that'll be a few hundred extra.

The Gambit went in for his six-month checkup. Usually he is so extremely mellow at the vet that they compliment him a lot. Not this time! He was so squirrelly I could not believe it. At least he didn't get mean, just squirmed a whole lot. And because one of his eyes was a bit weepy, they did an eye check. Drops for him, too! Ooph. Between the two cats, in the past thirty days we'll spend around $750. Ah well. The things you do for your pets.

AND now Gambit's in a mood and even is snubbing food so we're watching him. He may have landed wrong sometime tonight and be sore, or something else. We'll see. He was fine this morning for the vet, so it's something new. Ugh. Poor guy. He also isn't liking Tux very well. They have been getting into fights. No blood drawn, but lots of growling and yowling. We are going to put Soft Paws on Tux to even the odds a bit as Gambit is declawed (not by us). At least they weigh the same. Gambit just isn't much of a fighter. I hope they work things out soon. But as the vet said, it's only been a few weeks. Uff da.

Head Over Heels by Susan Andersen

Summary swiped from Susan Andersen's site:

Veronica Davis swore she'd never voluntarily step foot in the family honky-tonk again. But now circumstances have brought her back, and it's even worse than she remembers… thanks to Cooper Blackstock, a bossy pseudo-bartender with an agenda all his own.

I really enjoyed this one. The characters are both really great and Coop and Ronnie are great together. Ronnie has good reason to want to stay away from home, but she knows she has to stay for her niece's sake and does what has to be done. I like that in a character. She doesn't whine and pull out her chair, she just gets things done. And I also liked how any misunderstandings between Ronnie and Coop are handled really well and fairly quickly. Things that I hoped wouldn't become a huge problem didn't. There's also a great secondary romance with one of Ronnie's friends. Even the kids that are secondary characters were written well.

This is the first of the Marines series and I have all the rest and plan to read them eventually.

Now I'm on to Iron-kissed by Patricia Briggs.

Brrr....

There is a high of NINE degrees today.

Though if there isn't much wind, that'll be okay. It's that damn wind.

Let's see...started reading Head Over Heels by Susan Andersen last night and am enjoying it.

Also read Her Secret Fantasy by Gaelen Foley earlier this week. And The Christmas Kiss by Elizabeth Mansfield right before Christmas. I enjoyed each of them, though the Mansfield one more than Foley's. Foley's was more of a C for me. Readable, but not rereadable. I actually think it might be the first of her books that I've read. But I have The Duke in my TBR pile.

Well, time to get to work. Ugh. And though I have tomorrow and Friday off, tomorrow morning will be filled with TWO vet appointments and an allergy shot. And a couple other errands to run. Luckily Friday can be spent in utter relaxation. Perhaps I will curl up with the new Mercy Thompson book. Or get the Joanna Bourne book I've been hearing so much about. Or...well, lots of books on tap to read.

Tux and Gambit on the back of the couch

Cats 009
Originally uploaded by kelley899

Starting off the new year right...

With two books finished already. Finished up Sea Swept by Nora Roberts (or whatever is the first in the Chesapeake series) and I Do, I Do, I Do by Maggie Osborne. And thank you thank you thank you Wendy for recommending this author! I read The Best Man before I Do and I loved both of these books. I plan to read more. And I'm on a western kick. But I want a real western, not one that's just a wallpaper western.

I enjoyed the NR book and will continue the series, but I felt there was a bit missing from the romance. It just seemed so rushed. I do want to learn more about the story and the other brothers, though.

I just loved how Osborne managed to put in three complete romances in I Do without making it feel like some were lacking. They were all equally important, it seemed. Such a good book! I suspect an Osborne glom is upon me. Any ideas of what I should read next? And why oh why does she not have a website? Or new books? I suppose there's some gossip somewhere that I've missed.

Happy New Year!

May it be filled with lots of good books, good friends, great moments, and fabulous entertainment!