Where did the time go...(yes I'm whining)

EEK..summer is gone, and we are already in the midst of fall.  Boy is it starting to feel it in Northern Michigan!   I love the crisp fall air and the changing of the leaves. The anticipation of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the beginning of the Christmas shopping season!

Now if only things would slow down enough for me to be able to enjoy it all.  This summer was spent driving back and forth from my home in Northern Michigan, to my in-laws in the metroDetroit area. My FIL was in the hospital all summer and only recently got out. 

We made a quick trip to Wisconsin to pick the boys up from my Mom's, to go to my cousin's wedding and we went camping in the UP on our way back home. Then it was time for school to start.  Both of my boys are in football, so I've been running back and forth from work  to practices and games...and this weekend we are going back down to the metroDetroit area.

I've not gotten in much reading or reviewing lately...and now I'm ready to play with my card-making. Football is almost done, maybe I can squeeze in some extra time then.

My husband is on the AWESOME list!!!!

He bought me a nook for no reason other than because he knew I wanted one!!!! I figured it would make a great Christmas present.  How can I not love someone who's so sweet and thoughtful!  So far this is what I've purchased and loaded onto my nook:

Susan Mallery:

CHASING PERFECT

ALMOST PERFECT

Shannon K. Butcher:

BURNING ALIVE

FINDING THE LOST

RUNNING SCARED

Tessa Dare:

THE LEGEND OF THE WERESTAG

Sydney Croft:

UNLEASHING THE STORM

RIDING THE STORM

SEDUCED BY THE STORM

Christina Dodd:

CHAINS OF ICE: The Chosen Ones

Lisa Marie Rice:

DANGEROUS LOVER

DANGEROUS PASSION

Maya Banks:

SEDUCING SIMON

...I may have went a bit overboard...but I LOVE my nook, and I want to use it OFTEN.  Sure I still love the feel of my print books, but this is such an awesome tool. I love that now when I go anywhere, esp. on vacation, I no longer have to pack an extra bag just for my books!!! My husband definately loves the fact that now I won't be taking up so much space with NEW purchases of books, but we all know that I will still stroll the USBs to find great deals. o.O

Jumping off the Band Wagon

Joanna Bourne seems to be a popular author on the top of many bloggers and reviewers  lists...with all the talk I decided to finally giver her a try.  I was given the chance to review her newest book THE FORBIDDEN ROSE for NightOwl Reviews. I figured that since she has been given glowing reviews for this book and her past books that this would be a safe choice.

Boy was I wrong, I was burned bad by this one as it didNOT work at all for me.  I found very little in her writing to like.  Her prose and her characters' conversations rambled on without going anywhere, only succeeding to bore me.  The heroine was lackluster to say the least, she had no passion for the cause she was fighting for and to make matters worse, she seemed to hold those involved in her rescues in contempt.
The most interesting character of the whole book was the street urchin turned spy.  Adrian Hawker has the potential to grow up into a great hero for somebody, I just hope that his heroine gets an exciting personallity.

I've discovered some great authors from the bloggers and reviewers online, just sometimes what works for many doesn't work for me.  Without them I never would have discovered Tessa Dare, Shiloh Walker, Larissa Ione, Maya Banks or Jaci Burton to name a few.

Tessa Dare ... a great New To Me Author...

I just discovered historical romance author Tessa Dare.  Now to be fair, she's only been published for a year, so I'm not that far behind. She's one of the authors that I heard many many blogs praise, so I was a wee bit leery to pick up.


I received a ARC of her up coming ONE DANCE WITH A DUKE (review to be posted closer to the release date -May 25, 2010- @NightOwlReviews.com) Needless to say, I loved the book and proceed to glom onto her first three books and really enjoyed them.
Lucy was my favorite of the heroines and Gray was my favorite hero, though there were all great. Sophia was a bit on the selfish side and Bel was a bit too idealistic, but they were all still great reads.  I can't wait for more!

What I read today was...

SMOOTH TALKING STRANGER (Travis Family #3) by Lisa Kleypas

...and it was freakin' great!!!!  Jack and Ella are now my favorites of this series.   Jack is just so damn yumm-mmm-my!

I love LK's historicals and her contemporaries are even better...that's saying a lot for me, as historical is usually my prefered genre, aslo, I usually hate first person, but she really makes it work.  Her contemporary writing style is very different from her historical, though in both subgenre's she can totally suck you into a character and scene.

I loved this book so much that I hated finishing it.  Now, I want Joe's story!!!!  I really hope we get it ...and we get it soon. :oP