Cooper Armstrong, Coop to his friends comes back to Mistletoe Bay region when his father has a heart attack and he discovers his girfriend in bed with his best friend.  He’s now the UPS man or as he’s known to Jenni’s children Mr. Brown.  Together Coop and Jenni find true love.

I’ve read some other books by Ms. Evanick and have loved them all.  I truly enjoy her voice and great characters.  This book was no exception.  I have to say Tucker the most mischievous son was a riot to read.  I couldn’t wait to see what trouble he’d stir up next.  I can’t wait until he grows up and gets his own story. Until he does get one pick up a copy of MISTLETOE BAY at your nearest bookstore and bunlde yourself in your favorite reading place.  You’ll be entertained for hours.

How would you feel if you were obliged to do the very thing you never wanted to, but too many people depended on you to do it?  That’s exactly how Bailey Sullivan feels in MUST LOVE MISTLETOE when she returns to her home town to take over the Christmas store that’s been in her family for generations.  At the same time her first love, Finn Jacobson, also returns to town, except he isn’t the same man she once knew.  The boy she loved was rebellious and carefree.  The man in his place is reserved and broken not only physically due to an injury that left him without an eye but because he lost faith in love.  He is forced to lick his wounds and his family decides the bets place for him to d o this is with his ailing grandmother.  Not only do both have to answer to their past but must look towards an uncertain and unchartered future.

I truly enjoyed this book.  I’ve read quite a few of Christie Ridgway’s books but none hit my reading pleasures quite like this one did.  Only she can lock two cynics in a room and make believers out of them.  If you are in the mood for a great story pick up a copy of MUST LOVE MISTLETOE.

Merry Christmas fellow bloggers!  I hope you have a fun packed day whether it’s with family, friends.  I hope you get to spend this day with loved ones.  I have a full day planned, in a little bit I’m heading out to my parents where I’ll meet up with some of my sister’s family to exchange gifts. Then later this afternoon we head out to a cousin’s for our annual family dinner.  The only blemish in this day is that my great-Aunt, Tante Therese won’t be there. We lost her this past year. We spent Christmas morning with her for the past 21 years.  However we have new additions to the family, my sister’s boyfriend and his son who will be returning in a few days from Calgary.  

Enjoy this wonderful day!

Today is a good day.  I got home last night to the surprise of not one but two checks for me to deposit.  I went over to my bank during my morning break, deposited them and paid off my credit card. Yep you read that right, I paid it off. For the first time ever I have paid off my credit card during the Christmas season instead of months and months afterwards.  It’s a great feeling!

However the day just got better. How? Well when I got back to work I had an email waiting for me from the radio station I listen to 105.3 KISS FM Ottawa (best radio station in Ottawa) letting me know I won one of their draws.  What did I win?  A CD, The Greatest Hits from the Spice Girls. I’m a huge fan of theirs and haven’t had a chance to go and buy this CD. So it’s a bonus gift for me.

Here’s hoping your day is going as great!

Last night around 10 or 11 pm I found myself surfing the TV and fell upon a report/special from CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) called FALLEN SOLDIERS.  This special was about the 29 Canadian soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan in 2007.  What was interesting about this special is that they asked questions of loved ones about these soldiers.  So for us regular Canadians they became more than just a casualty of war or a name.  They became someone’s son, husband, brother, boyfriend and father. 

Last night was the first part, tonight they are to run the second part.  I’ll be watching, prepared with my box of Kleenex.  If any of you would like to see part of last night’s presentation go to http://www.cbc.ca/news/ on the right hand section you’ll see a man holding his son’s hand on a beach.  By the way the man is one of our fallen soldiers.

Who overpaid the latest J K Rowlings release, The Tales of Beedle the Bard?  Why did they pay so much?  What will they do with it?

Well the buyer is none other than Amazon.  For those interested in getting more information on this title you can also go and see editorial reviews of The Tales of Beedle the Bard.  I wasn’t able to find the link on Amazon but I’m sure it’ll be up any day soon.  Why did they purchase the book at such a high price?  Well according to publisher’s Lunch they want to thank the author.  They announced today that Amazon alone have sold over 12 million copies of her books.  This is every author’s dream, to sell that many copies of their book at one location.  

For my book my expectations would be a lot, a heck of a lot lower.  I’d be happy with a 3 digit number of sales through Amazon. However I wouldn’t refuse more though. LOL

How much would pay for a book?  I don’t include text books for school.  You can run in the hundreds for those.  No I mean fiction book, in any genre.  I have paid over $20 for a book a few times, but I refuse to pay more.  I’ll even wait out the year to get my favourite author’s new release in paperback instead of buying the hard cover.  I know there are quite a few out there who aren’t like me. Which is why publishers are still producing hard covers.

Now would you pay $1,000, $10,000, $100,000 or how about $4Million?  To me that sounds insane, but someone has purchased the only copy sold of The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J K Rowling.  I know she has tons of fans and has inspired thousands of children to put down their gameboys and TV remote and pick up a book, but that is a lot of money for one small book.  The good thing is that it’s going to charity.

I had the pleasure of finishing a great book on my trip to Kingwood TX last week.  I picked SECRETS AND SACRIFICES by Diane Wylie from my “to be read pile” before leaving Ottawa.  I found myself captivated and finished it just as I landed in Houston. What great timing!

This sweet civil war romance was simply fantastic.  It tells of the story of a strong woman fighting along her countrymen and a doctor who tries to save as many men as the war tries to kill them.  The sadness of war strengthens this story instead of making it a somber part of the book.  Ms Wylie gives you a glimpse in to what people, every day people felt and went through during the war.  I truly recommend SECRETS AND SACRIFICES. It’ll make a great Christmas gift to the reader in your family.

I had a blast in Kingwood (near Houston) this weekend.  Tracy’s launch was a HUGE, Humongous success. She nearly sold out and when we returned the day afterwards they’d sold more copies after the event.  I wish I had pictures to share of the event but I don’t.  Greg, Tracy’s husband and I shared picture duty with their digital camera. I’m hoping she’ll send me a few pictures so I can share them with you guys.

Getting up at 3:30 am to make a 7 am flight wasn’t fun.  I had to be at the airport by 5 am so we had to leave their home by 4:30.  Next time I’ll try and get a later flight.  The good thing is that I slept for most of my first flight, but Tracy and Greg had to go to work so they were probably exhausted last night. The good thing with this trip is that I did a lot of reading. I’ll be reviewing both books later on this week.  I have to say I liked taking some R&R.  I might just make that one of my new years resolutions.

When will my trip be? Well I probably won’t be flying until this summer when I attend the RWA nationals in late July/early August 2008. However I plan to drive down to Natick, MA for the New England Conference and to Pittsburgh for the Romantic Times convention in April 2008.

2008 looks to be a fun year!

There is a reason why I haven’t been blogging.  I had to keep a secret from a friend of mine What secret you ask?  That I’d be coming down for a surprise visit.  My best friend, Tracy Goodwin, is launching her book DANCE WITH DECEPTION this weekend.  I decided a few days ago that I would leave the cold and the snow behind and head about to the warmth of
Houston TX. 

I arrived last night after a full day of flying.  It was perfect.  She was completely surprised. It was priceless. Yep one of those moments that MasterCard makes commercials about.

Today we did some shopping and tomorrow we are going to take it easy in the morning and then head out to her launch in Humble at their BN location.  If you are in the area please stop by. Tracy has a great draw for all who purchase a copy of the book.