Stuff and Nonsense

Hey everyone! Sorry for the lack of post yesterday, I had one of those crazy days at work!

So here are some random thoughts about...stuff.

1- Reading: I just finished reading Jill Shalvis's Instant Temptation. I'm kind of torn about the book. It's the final book in the Wilder Brothers series, and is TJ, the oldest Wilder boy's book. The book started off really strong, with one of my favorite premises: "We had sex one night, but the hero was so drunk he doesn't remember it" storyline. So of course, the heroine, Harley, has been pissed with TJ for years. Because even though he doesn't remember it, she's still crazy attracted to him. I love storylines like this. Well, any storyline where the hero and heroine have a good history. Anyway, the story proceeds, but TJ very quickly learns what Harley's issue with him is. Of course, he feels terrible. And sets about making things right. Except that circumstances are such that the two of them probably shouldn't start a serious relationship because Harley is up for a job in Colorado, and TJ often hosts long wildlife adventures for clients, and he has two three-week stints coming up in Alaska. Anyway, the we had sex and you don't remember storyline gets dispensed with very quickly. Then there's the we shouldn't get serious storyline, the someone is shooting coyotes storyline (Harley is studying to be a wildlife biologist), the I have a boyfriend, but not really storyline. The unfortunate thing is, Shalvis never really capitalized on any of them. They all offered what I would call minor speedbumps in the relationship. But never a real impediment to the couple being together. Therefore, I really didn't buy into their conflict. The story itself featured Shalvis's deft hand, lots of sweet interactions between the two, smoking chemistry and explosive sex. But the reasoning behind why the couple was having such a hard time connecting just never really gelled to me. Final grade: C+

Now I'm reading In for a Penny by Rose Lerner. This is an Ana recommended book, so of course, I love it. It features a fascinating hero, one who is neither alpha nor beta. I can't really put my finger on why he works so well for me. But I'm on chapter 8 and am definitely loving the book thus far.

I'm going home tonight to buy the new Kristan Higgins and next week for sure I'll be buying Hot Finish, the new Erin McCarthy. Love her NASCAR series! I still have three books left over from the cruise that I haven't read: The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne, by Sherry Thomas and His at Night, and The Conqueror by Kris Kennedy. I also bought Love's Fortress by Samantha Kane, which I still need to actually load onto my eReader.

2- Watching: Last night I watched the first episode of a show on BBC America called The Choir. It's a fascinating show set in Surrey, England about a classically trained choral director who has decided to attempt to train a high school choir with literally no musical culture to compete in the World Choir Olympics. It's a reality show, and it's really interesting to watch these kids, many of whom are living at or close to poverty level try to grasp onto the idea of competitive singing. I quite enjoyed the first episode and will watch episode number 2 tonight when I get home.

3-Technology update: Well, Verizon showed up on Sunday and replaced a couple of things and my new DVR is now working. That being said, I definitely did lose all 10 of my unwatched episodes of Friday Night Lights. The good thing is that the DVDs will be out in September some time, so I'll just gobble them up then. This is what I get for delaying my gratification. LOL!

4- Movies: Scott and I have both been fastidiously avoiding all Inception spoilers. We're headed to see it on Saturday afternoon. I was *really* excited to see it, until someone told me it was very Matrix-esque. I thought The Matrix was just OK, so now I'm less excited about Inception. We'll see. We never did go to the movies last weekend. It was so damn hot in DC pretty much we plunked the kids in the pool at about 2:00, pulled them out at 7:00 on Saturday, and they were back in the pool by about 10am on Sunday. Both Scott and I spent most of the day alternating between being in the pool and reading. The kids had a blast though, and they wore my little puppy dog OUT! She was absolutely knackered Saturday night and Sunday.

5- RWA: I'm not going this year, and am now suffering pea-green envy towards everyone who *is* going. Especially Lisabea and Rosie, whom I desperately want to hang out with. I'm counting on Kristie J, Jane from Dear Author, Sarah from Smart Bitches, Wendy the Super Librarian, the Dishes and AnimeJune to give lots and lots of recaps. And I'm desperately sad to be missing the Blogger Bar Bash, which is being organized by Wendy. Have fun, girls! And write lots of recaps so we can all live vicariously.

That's it for me. What's going on with you guys?

Figuring Out My Top 10 Romances

It's about that time again. AAR has announced that they'll open the polling for their Top 100 list this October. This is my absolute favorite AAR feature, and a poll that I participate in every time they open it.

The last Top 100 poll was conducted in 2007, and the top 10 were:

1. Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
2. Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas
3. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
4. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
5. Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale
6. Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh
7. Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
8. Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
9. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie
10. The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

Almost all of these titles appeared on my Top 100 list, although only LoS and Slightly Dangerous were in my Top 10.

As I start to think about my list, I'm realizing that there have been a ton of books released in the last three years that will be added to my Top 100 poll submission. Although I don't believe any of them will edge out my regular Top 10, some of them will rank very highly.

Here's my Top 10 from my 2007 poll submission:

1. The Windflower – Tom & Sharon Curtis
   
2. A Kingdom of Dreams – Judith McNaught
   
3. Dream Man – Linda Howard
   
4. All Through the Night – Connie Brockway
   
5. Sea Swept – Nora Roberts
   
6. Dreaming of You – Lisa Kleypas
   
7. Over the Edge – Suzanne Brockmann
   
8. See Jane Score – Rachel Gibson
   
9. Lord of Scoundrels – Loretta Chase
   
10. Slightly Dangerous – Mary Balogh
    

It's interesting, several of these books will drop off my 2010 submission, including Dream Man, Over the Edge and See Jane Score. All three will probably end up in my Top 25, but not in the Top 10.

So that gets me to thinking, have my tastes changed? Because while three recent releases will make it into my Top 10 (Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh, Scandal by Carolyn Jewel, and Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas), it's not like the 2007 list doesn't have awesome books in it.

But one of the main criteria by which I judge my Top 10 is re-readability. Not the writing, the prose, the characterization. I judge my Top 10 by how often I reach for the book. How much emotion it evokes from me, how much I look to it for comfort.

I realize that this is definitely NOT how other readers judge their Top 10 romances of all time. But for me it works.

YOUR TURN: What romance novels are in your Top 10? How do you decide on which books make your list? What criteria do you use?

In Which Kati Posts Deep Thoughts

...or not.

Here's what I'm thinking about this week:

1- I have a vacation hangover. On Monday when I got up to come to work, I thought, "I should have taken Monday off." Same thought on Tuesday, Wednesday and this morning. I just need to win the lottery so I don't have to work anymore. It helps if one plays the lottery to win it.

2- I've started watching USA Network's Covert Affairs. It's kind of an Alias knock off. I adored Alias, and Sydney Bristow's kickassness. And this show is Alias Light. A little funnier, less angst, and so far the mythology isn't quite as ridiculous (Alias jumped the shark when they created "remote encephilography"). But it's also not quite as well written. Plus it's set in the DC area, and thus far, other than recreating the gate at Langley (CIA Headquarters), they're really not doing a great job with the location. I do like Piper Perabo though, and I think the show shows promise.

3- Technology fail. On Tuesday, my bank card's magnetic strip went dead, and worse, I came home to find my DVR was not working. With 10 unwatched episodes of Friday Night Lights on it. Ruh-roh. The good news is the DVR was mysteriously working last night. The bad news? I need to get all of those episodes watched ASAP so that I can set up the new one, which should be arriving today.

4- I'm reading Ava Gray's Skin Tight. And am adoring it. Gray is, of course, Ann Aguirre, and I think she has such a deft hand with romance. She's better known, perhaps for her UF/Sci-Fi writing, but man, this woman pens the hell out of a good romance. And she knows how to employ action and tension in a way that only enhances the romance, doesn't detract or seem like an added conflict for no reason. This book kind of vaguely evokes Nalini Singh's Psy series to me, but in the best possible way. And, added bonus, it features a very, very dark hero who seems irredeemable. It's a yummy read thus far.

5- I think that Scott and I are taking the kids to a movie this weekend. Not sure if it will be Despicable Me or Toy Story 3. Has anyone seen both and do you have a recommendation?

6- Speaking of movies, I'm desperately avoiding Inception spoilage, and we can't go see it til next weekend. It's been tough, I tell you! Entertainment Weekly should just rename itself Twilight/Inception weekly, as that's all it has been talking about for the last week. I've gotten to the point where I don't even visit there anymore for fear of spoilers.

7- Football season is about to be upon us again. The Redskins report for training camp next Thursday. I do NOT have high hopes for this season. They had too many needs that they just haven't been able to fulfill. If they break .500 it will be a miracle.

8- I find Katy Perry's song California Gurls to be a combination of annoying and total earworm. Just typing the name of the song caused it to jump back into my brain. SIGH. I love/hate it.

9- I'm on the hunt for silver sandals this weekend. I need to pick up some pretty strappy sandals to wear to my friend Amy's wedding. If they could be comfortable too, that would be fabulous. I'm not holding out too much hope on that front though.

10 - I'm already starting to think about next summer's vacation. We're thinking of renting a beach house in North Carolina. Scott's family likes the Outer Banks, my family is partial to Holden Beach. Anyone have any other really great beach towns in NC where we could go?

That's it for me. What's going on with you guys?

Cruisin' on the Carnival Pride

So, I've realized that I'm old. Mostly because I rarely remember to take my camera anywhere with me. So I'll drop in a few pictures from the cruise, but mostly, y'all are going to have to make do with my descriptions.

Scott & I cruised with his best friend, Josh, and Josh's wife Julia last week on the Carnival Pride. The ship left out of Baltimore, which was super convenient, because we could just drive up to Baltimore and park our car.

SUNDAY: We got to the port terminal about 1:00 p.m. or so, traffic was super easy and we basically flew up there. Josh had a walking boot on due to some torn ligaments in his ankle, so we were pretty much whisked to the front of the line and were on the ship within about 20 minutes of arrival. We set up camp in the Sports Bar because the World Cup finals were going on. Within moments of arriving, beers were ordered, cigarettes lighted, and were all happily watching the game. At about 3:00, we were able to get into our staterooms. We were on the Verandah deck, and had a balcony room. It was surprisingly roomy for a stateroom. As an added bonus, when we got there, all three pieces of checked luggage were sitting outside our door. So, we quickly unpacked and were delighted to find that the liquor that we'd smuggled on board all made it. Woohoo! After unpacking, were were off to explore the ship and then on to dinner. After dinner we made the first of many, many visits to the Starry Night lounge, which was were karaoke was taking place. The boys found the music lists to be very limited and the DJ, Jay to be very annoying. It would be hard to overstate how annoying Jay was. Picture a slight, asian gay man dressed in white pleather pants, and shiny white shirt, ascot and way too much eye make-up. He spoke with the "gay lisp" and finished every song by yelling out this phrase: "Two words...Absolutely Brilliant". Which was funny the first three times, then it just because annoying. Needless to say, it didn't take long for me to be all done with Jay. I pretty much avoided him like the plague after that. Anyway, off to bed about midnight, and ready for our first day at sea.

Jay - The Karaoke DJ

MONDAY & TUESDAY: At sea days. On Monday we enjoyed the sun, gambled, took the first of many, many naps and read. Monday night was the first formal night. Scott was NOT thrilled to be wearing a tie, but he just cleans up so pretty. See?


Tuesday it rained, which presented even more incentive to nap. We spent most of the day either in the cabin reading or napping, or in the casino playing a version of Blackjack called "Fun 21". Scott managed to win a bundle of money that day playing it.

WEDNESDAY: We hopped off the ship as it docked and ran over to Avis to pick up a rental car. We then went to Universal Studios. My hope had been to get to see the new Harry Potter land, but once we got there we realized that there were VERY long lines (one woman I spoke to had been at the park the day before and had waited 11 hours to try to get in to the Harry Potter land area to no avail). So we skipped that and just rode the rides available to us. We managed to get utterly soaked on the log flume and spent the rest of the day drying out. It was very crowded and very hot. We left about 3pm and headed back to the ship.

THURSDAY: This was my favorite day of the cruise. We arrived in Nassau, Bahamas at about 11:00 am and got off the ship to meet our excursion, which was to Atlantis, which is this super posh resort on Paradise Island, which is part of Nassau. The resort boasts a giant water park, and we had tickets for it. It took us a while to get in, but once we did, we got to the water park, rented a locker, and Josh, Julia and Scott headed off to ride the water slides. Me? I waded out into the water and grabbed an inner tube and spent the next four hours floating on the lazy river. The river itself if a mile long and circles a big portion of the water park. It's filled with rapids, waves and an opportunity to ride up a conveyor belt and go down about four different water slides. It was a perfect day. Gorgeous weather, and a perfect ride. Atlantis itself is incredibly posh. The casino is ginormous and the resort has about six or seven hotels on its property. We went to a bar to pick up diet cokes and while there met up with a retired football player who used to play for the Redskins. You can imagine my absolute delight. He couldn't have been nicer and signed autographs for Josh and Julia's kids. Anyway, on the way out, I managed to stop in the casino to take photographs of the three gigantic Dale Chihuly glass sculptures. They were absolutely mesmerizing.

Chihuly: Temple of the Moon sculpture

Chichuly: Temple of the Sun sculpture

Chihuly: The Crystal Gate sculpture

FRIDAY: On Friday morning we went to Freeport. Freeport is pretty much an armpit. The area you arrive into is industrial, and the shopping there is mediocre. We took a taxi over to Port Lucaya and did some shopping and ate at a Bahamian restaurant called Zorba's, which was unbelievably meh. But hey, at least I had conch fritters. Anyway, we got our shopping done and headed back to the ship. Friday night we had dinner at David's the fancy steakhouse on the ship to celebrate Julia's birthday. Dinner was delicious, but it was even more fun to see Josh and Scott dressed exactly alike (they were both in a wedding last year and had to buy groomsmen suits, which they wore that night).

The boys with David...and his package.
The smiles are what they called a "Hancock" smile, which I believe is a Will Smith movie reference. I have a ton of them both making this exact face.
Which they claimed "Never got old." Whatever.

Scott & Josh in their Wilson's wedding suits. How cute are they?

Boy love.

SATURDAY: Our last at sea day. It was sunny and lovely and again we spent a good portion of the day lying around or napping. We also lost a bunch of money in the casino (which was expected) and watched the British Open in the sports bar. That night was the Carnival Legends show. I went to rehearsal with Scott and Josh (who were Garth Brooks and Elton John in the show) and then we went to the show that night. Josh was hysterical as Elton John and Scott knocked Garth Brooks out of the park. It was a ton of fun.

Scott as Garth Brooks.
I wanted to jump his bones in that cowboy hat. :wink:

Josh as Elton John. It was kind of scary how well he worked that feather boa.

SUNDAY: We got up and out of our rooms early and then spent the morning in the restaurant waiting to disembark the ship. We were home by about 1pm.

Carnival Legends

I'll post an entire recap of the cruise tomorrow some time. But this evening I'll post a bit about Carnival Legends.

You see, Scott loves to sing. Loves it. And he and Josh are pretty hard core karaoke singers. They both have terrific voices and great senses of what best fits their voices. So we chose Carnival mostly for the karaoke. We found out a few weeks before the cruise that this particular cruise had a Carnival Legends show on it. The DJ for karaoke picks a variety of the best singers to participate in the Carnival Legends show the last night of the cruise.

Scott was chosen to be Garth Brooks. Here's a snippet of his performance of Friends in Low Places (he was, as you can see, awesome!). My camera ran out of memory, which is why there isn't more.

Mini Reviews - Roberts, Ashley, Kleypas, Gregg and Kleypas

Hey everyone! I'll do a cruise wrap up this afternoon, but I wanted to get down what I read on the cruise.

First, sorry, I did WAY less reading on this cruise than I have on others. I only got 5 books read, rather than my usual 8-10. I'll review them in order of reading:

The Search, Nora Roberts - Fiona Bristow is a dog trainer. She works Search and Rescue with any of her three faithful Labrador retrievers, Peck, Bogart or Newman and also teaches obedience and high level training classes to other dog owners. Fee is also a survivor. She is the only person to have escaped the famed Red Scarf Killer and was influential in his capture and putting him in jail. But at no small loss to herself. Before he was captured, the Red Scarf Killer captured and killed both her dog and her fiance. She decides to move her life to Orcas Islands in the Puget Sound. She meets Simon Doyle when he shows up on her doorstep with a very naughty puppy, aptly named Jaws in tow. Turns out Simon's mother thought he needed some companionship and gave him Jaws as a gift. The attraction between Fiona and Simon is not immediate, but it percolates slowly as they get to know each other. As Fee and Simon are busy falling in love, a copycat serial killer has begun to follow the Red Scarf Killer's pattern, and he's out to finish what the first guy started. The Search is what I would call a very typical Roberts. Fiona and Simon are immensely likable characters who have very real lives. They're emotional, can be difficult but remain almost "real" as they interact. It's been said by other reviewers, but the real stars of this book are the dogs. They're not just a literary device utilized to bring the cute, but are integral to the plot. The story itself does not hold a lot of twists and turns, but it is well written and engaging, and was a very easy way to spend several hours. Is it worth hardcover prices? I'd say no. But I enjoyed it none-the less. Final Grade: B

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage, Jennifer Ashley. Lady Isabella MacKenzie is in love with her husband. And Lord Roland "Mac" MacKenzie is in love with his wife. And yet, they've been estranged for three years. You see, Mac is an artist, and frankly, a drunk. He rolls in and out of Isabella's life making tempestuous love to her, and then aggravating her to death. The two love and fight passionately. Mac stays until things get tense, and then leaves Isabella a note telling her not to worry about him, he'll be home eventually. Isabella lives her life waiting for Mac. Until he chooses the wrong time to leave her, and he is tracked down and brought home to find Isabella despondent over the loss of a pregnancy. That loss, and Mac's reaction to it is the catalyst for their estrangement. But when Isabella finds that someone has been impersonating Mac and selling paintings signed with his name, she goes directly to Mac to let him know. Mac has spent the three years of their estrangement sobering up, but has not been able to paint a thing since Isabella left him. His instinct is to use Isabella showing up at his door as the opening he needs to get back into her life, bed, and heart. I'll be honest, I liked this book more that I liked The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie. I know, I know, I'm probably the only one. But I adore romances where the couple is already in love and yet the impediments to them getting back together seem insurmountable. I found both of them to be really likable, particularly Isabella, who was smart, loving, and very funny. This was another diverting way to spend several hours. Final grade: B+

Married by Morning, Lisa Kleypas. I'll be honest, I've enjoyed but not adored the Hathaway series. But I kind of figured if I was going to love one of the books, it would be Leo's. So I started this one with great anticipation. Kleypas has been slowly raising the attraction and tension between Leo and Catherine Marks, his sister's governess for the last couple of Hathaway books, so I figured that this one would be really great. It was...serviceable. Catherine was a bit of a harridan, I thought. And Leo, a bit of an ass. It was clear from almost the beginning, as soon as we got inside Leo's head, that he was attracted to Marks, but it took them quite a long time to get around to doing anything about it, mostly because Marks was a whole lot like Beatrix's hedgehog, Medusa -- prickly as hell. I thought that Kleypas never really capitalized on the actual reason why Marks thought she couldn't be with Leo, and it was a missed opportunity. The romance itself was sweet enough, just not up to the standard that I usually expect from Lisa Kleypas, which was disappointing. Final Grade: C+

Trust Me if You Dare, LB Gregg. Don't hate me, I begged LBea to let me take the latest Romano and Albright book on my cruise with me. Yes, Caesar is back. And in full, delightful, bitchy, fabulous, gay form. This time, his new boyfriend, Dan Albright is working a case that involves a hunky German soap star and his missing assistant. Of course, Caesar can't stay out of Dan's business, a situation exacerbated by the fact that Ce's best friend Poppy has accepted a gig hosting a party at Ce's ex-boyfriend Shep's house. All this so that Poppy can score tickets to the Soapies, the Soap Opera awards so she can ogle Gunther Heidelbach, daytime's newest hunk. Many, many hijinks ensue. OMG, do I love this series. Gregg has such a light and hilarious hand with comedy and Caesar remains my favorite gay hero ever. His internal monologue is hysterical and his chemistry with Dan Albright incendiary. There's this scene in an alley that will make you lose your mind! There's little more entertaining than an LB Gregg book, and this entry leaves me wanting more, more, more! Final grade: A

Love in the Afternoon, Lisa Kleypas. One of my least favorite romance tropes is "love by deception," but in this case, Lisa Kleypas handles it in a way that is utterly believable. Beatrix Hathaway begins a correspondence with Captain Christopher Phelan on behalf of her vapid friend Prudence. Captain Phelan is the commanding officer of the Rifles, an elite army unit fighting in the Crimean War. Christopher is a war hero many times over, and yet feels like an utter fraud. When he left home, he was a second son, a rake and someone who had no responsibilities. But the war has wrought changes upon him, making him a dark soul, someone who sees the faces of the men who died under him and at his own hand. He begins a correspondence with Prudence, sure that she is the woman he is meant to marry. Their letters become his lifeline, the thing he looks forward to most. What he's unaware of is that Beatrix is corresponding on Prudence's behalf. And as the two get to know each other, they each fall in love. Beatrix with Christopher, and Christopher with Prudence. When Christopher returns from war, he's suffering horribly from PTSD, and is struggling to reclaim some semblance of the life he had. Yet, nothing is the same. He's now the heir to his family's fortune, a role he never wanted, and a celebrated war hero, who wants none of the adulation that comes with it. He decides he must seek out the only lifeline he has, Prudence, and court her immediately. Imagine his surprise when he finds that she is completely clueless about the letters she wrote him, and on top of that is about as deep as a puddle. He's further confounded by his stunning attraction to Beatrix Hathaway, who is nothing if not an odd bird. Soon Christopher realizes that indeed Prudence did not write the letters to him. And he vows vengeance on the person who deceived him while he was at war. This story is quite dark for the series. Christopher's symptoms of PTSD are very real, and he's a hardened and difficult man. In fact, the PTSD is probably the biggest hurdle for he and Beatrix to overcome, even once he realizes it was she who wrote the letters. But Kleypas manages a lovely balance between humor (the Hathaways are nothing if not funny) and the darkness of Christopher's war wounds. And Beatrix is a funny and genuine character. The juxtaposition of Beatrix's lightness and Christopher's darkness made this book a really interesting read, and it is, in my opinion, the best entry of the series. Final grade: A

And there you have it, what I read on the cruise. Have you read any of these books? Agree? Disagree? What are you reading now?

And away we go....

You kids be good while I'm sailing the high seas.

Oh whatever...

Friday Laugh

Go here for a hysterical email thread between a woman who has lost her cat and the guy she asked to help find it.

Seriously, I had to muffle my laughs reading this.

In Which Kati Starts in the Middle

**SPOILERS AHOY**

Confession is good for the soul. At least, that's what I keep hearing. So here's my latest reader's confession: when I re-read a book, I rarely start at the beginning of a book. In fact, it's been a bit of a trial for me re-reading the McNaught books from the beginning.

When I re-read Sugar Daddy by Lisa Kleypas, I start at the scene where Gage has the flu and Liberty goes to take care of him.

When I re-read Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan, I start when Xylara arrives at Keir's camp after she's been given to him as the Warprize.

When I re-read Lover Eternal, I start at the scene where Rhage comes to Bella's to check on Mary.

When I re-read Slave to Sensation, I start at the dream scenes.

See? The middle. Oh, I've read each book in its entirety, but when I re-read, I start at my favorite part of the book, or the scene that resonates with me.

Ah, I feel better already.

YOUR TURN: Do you ever start in the middle of a favorite book? If so, what books and what scene?

It Lives!

...and we're back!

Hi Everyone! Hope you had a lovely holiday weekend, if you're in the States. If you're international, I hope it's shaping up to be a lovely week for you.

Five Things:

1- The McNaught tear continues. To date, I've read: Double Standards, Tender Triumph, Remember When, Whitney, My Love and am now reading Until You. Up next, Paradise, then A Kingdom of Dreams. Here's what I'll say about McNaught, in reading so many of her books back to back: she has some interesting writerly "ticks" that come through when you read her books back to back. My favorite being that her heroes are constantly "roaring" - either their pleasure (that would scare the sh*t out of me if my hero decided to roar at me) or their laughter. They are also constantly described as being "grim". They smile grimly, frown grimly, say things grimly. It's getting to the point that I could create a drinking game for it. Also, McNaught likes her heroines sassy with a side of fiesty. Except, not really. Her heroines rarely "really" stand up for themselves. And they tend to have the heroes constantly marveling at their strength, except that they aren't really strong. Frankly, I find myself fascinated. Don't get me wrong, I *adore* McNaught books. I love her asshat heroes, and her hair tossing heroines. But it's startling to read them in a row and find McNaught's ticks. Which really don't effect my total enjoyment of her books, it's just something I've noticed.

2- Scott and I leave on our cruise this Sunday. We depart from Baltimore on the Carnival Pride, and sail to Cape Canaveral (seriously! I can't get away from there!) and then on to Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas. We booked the cruise in November of last year, so to say that I've been anticipating this for a long time is an understatement. Now that it's finally here, I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off to get everything done. This will be Scott's first cruise, so let's hope he loves it! We're going with his best friend, Josh and Josh's wife ,Julia. We tend to have a very good time with them, so I think it'll be great. Now, if we can just have great weather, and smooth seas, that would be awesome! It's also Scott and my first vacation together. I'm not expecting any issues, but keep your fingers crossed for us.

3- In preparation for the cruise, I've downloaded a ton of books to my eReader. Thus far: Skin Tight by Ava Gray, His at Night by Sherry Thomas, both of the new Lisa Kleypas books, The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne, Instant Temptation by Jill Shalvis. Apparently this week, the eReader store with have Nora Roberts new book, The Search, and I still need to pick up Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley. I'm also taking Eat, Pray, Love, which I read a couple of years ago, but I found it to be transformational in the way I think about faith, so I want to read it again. Anyway, I've been re-reading McNaught so as not to be tempted to pick up any of my new books to read before the cruise.

4- Julia and I have been informed by the boys that we "must" be on the ship by 2pm on Sunday so that we're able to watch the World Cup final. Likewise, the British Open kicks off on the Thursday of our trip. I'm assuming we'll lose the boys for long hours during which they're watching sports in the Sports Bar onboard.

5- We're also on a search, once we get to the Bahamas for "real" Bahamian food. I've heard that there is a place in Nassau called Zorba's that is supposed to be fantastic. Has anyone heard of it? If not, do you know of someplace where we can get Bahamian food?

That's it for me. What's everyone reading? Thinking about? Seen any good movies lately? Tell me what's up with you!