Furniture is a commitment

We bought a roomful this afternoon, with much debate. Poor Sam. He has such a sense of doom, of "let's get it right, or the sky will fall." And the underlying rules are fuzzy. I go by instinct. Does the color make me feel good, or does it make my stomach roll? Will the carpet make my feet want to dance? My color emotions are strong. And since I never prefer Italian food over Mexican, care where we spend the holidays or what we name the children, my preferences come as quite a shock to Sam. Poor, poor Sam.

And since most of what we have has been scraped together and hoarded carefully, this is scary. But then, so is the new house!

Nora Roberts

...always puzzles me. High Noon is a fabulous, many-layered book with lots of side stories. It feels much less like a cookie cutter book than the "In Death" series. Lots of Roberts' tales don't tempt me to crack the covers. I wouldn't have read this one, except it was handed to me by Heidi. I can't refuse a free read.

High Noon has everything a girl could want--tough heroine looking out for her family, a rich, handsome bachelor, and several chillingly despicable bad guys. And romance--the hot variety. The heroine talks people off ledges and out of hostage situations. Not your everyday skill set!

There is nothing wrong

with reading like the house doesn't need cleaned...and packed. I need my books, want my books. Obsession is not always a bad thing.

Books I won't be reading

I think I'll skip Kleypas' Christmas book--A Wallflower Christmas. I read the review on likesbooks.com, and one of the girls is agonizing over her husband's interest in another woman. I hate that type of storyline.

I won't read anything less than 4 1/2 **** on Amazon, or anything less than a B on likesbooks. Those two rating systems usually run true with my own taste.

Except-- 5 **** don't always guarantee that I'll agree. I like Regency, but not Amanda Quick or Jane Feather.

I like mystery--but not gore. Some of the Eve Dallas books run a little strong in the S and M department for my taste. However, some are just excellent. I'm really liking High Noon by Nora Roberts, and she uses there some of her successful JD Robb techniques.

Readiscovering Julie Garwood

I loved her "Bride" books years ago. My friend Heidi gave me a batch of Garwood contemporaries over the Thanksgiving holidays--and they're even better than the Scottish historicals. Mercy was a fast-paced mystery. I read it while everyone else was crying over the Aggie non-game. On the other hand, Heartbreaker made less sense. I found the heroine a little stiff and the storyline a mite clumsy. Still, quite an enjoyable way to spend time while others shopped and cheered for the teams.