Book Review - Captain Andrew's Flying Christmas

Heather Hiestand's Captain Andrew's Flying Christmas is my first foray into the Steam Punk genre.  I have to say that if this is a good example of the genre - I will definitely be reading more of it.  The e-book was a quick but enjoyable read; set in mid 1800's London and filled with romance and adventure.

Linet Fenna is forced into a life of servitude when her adventurous, pirate sort of father is captured and hung for his supposed crimes.  Three years later, on Christmas Eve - she is sitting at her bedroom window, wishing for a different life when a ladder falls from the sky.  Looking up, she sees her father's flying ship and grabs hold of the ladder and her destiny with both hands.

To her dismay, the man at the top of the ladder, one Captain Andrew, is the son of the man she believes is responsible for her father's death and the demise of her family.  What follows is a quick paced, romance filled adventure that brings with it the truth, love and a new and emotionally richer family.  I read this in an evening and would highly recommend it to anyone in the mood for a fun, lovely story with a happy ending.  I know that I will also be searcing for more in this genre.

Musing Monday's - Book Giving

Musing Monday's is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. This week’s musing:

Will you be buying books for the holidays, this year? If so, for whom, and why?


Why yes; yes I will be buying books for the holidays this year.  I will definitely be buying books for my daughters as I always do.  They know they can ask Mommy for books at any time and get them - to be completely honest.  My girls know that I want them to be readers and they bat their lashes and ask sweetly for a new book and I'm completely defenseless to say no.  Anyway, they hhave recently gotten into the American Girl books and they both want some of the series for Christmas.  They'd love to have the dolls too but oh my, the dolls are expensive.  In my opinion, over prices.  So, yes to the books and probably not to the dolls. 

I may also buy something for my husband but he's more difficult to shop for in regard to books.  He's not much of a book reader and therefore super selective about what he will read.  So, if I see something I know he'll love (and actually read) then I'll pick something up for him, too.

That's pretty much it for book gift buying.  Not a lot of people in my in-person life are readers so there aren't a lot of people for book gifting.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone (in the United States) has a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving day spent with family and possibly friends, too.  I hope everyone else has a happy day leading into the final weekend of November; the holidays are right around the corner! I know I am super thankful for my family, friends and the connections I've made with wonderful people through blogging! I am so grateful for the wonderful people I am fortunate enough to have in my life.

Teaser Tuesday's - Heartwishes

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:


- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 103 of Jude Deveraux's Heartwishes:

She needed to meet more people in Elilean besides the Fraziers.  As it was, she'd already spent too much time with Colin.

Musing Monday's - Collecting

Musing Monday's is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. This week’s musing:

Are you currently collecting any authors? Why?



Do you have all of their books? If not, why not?


Did you buy all the books in the collection at the same time, or did you buy a book here, a book there? Have you actually read all of the collection? If not, why not?

I like this set of musings.  Authors that I collect without hesitation or doubt are J.K. Rowling and Nora Roberts.  I have all of the Harry Potter series by Rowling and all of the little, related books by her, as well.  Such as Tales of Beedle the Bard.  I am slowly collecting all of Nora Robers/J.D. Robb's books.  She had many (I don't know the exact number) and it is taking me some time but that is all right.

I also have most but not all of the books written by John Steinbeck.  I just adore him and his writings.  He has such a way of getting at the heart of humanity - even the grittier aspects of human kind.

As for collecting just to have a series - I don't really do that.  If I am curious about a series - I'll check out the first book or two from the library and go from there.  If I like them a lot then I'll probably get the entire series but only if I can do so in an inexpensive fashion.

How about you? Do you collect books for the sheer sake of having them? Or are you picky about the ones you gather and keep?

Book Review - The Next Always by Nora Roberts

Nora Roberts is an absolute favorite of mine and she did not disappoint with the first book in her Inn Boonsboro trilogy - The Next Always.  I have been so intrigued by the idea of this book since I first learned of it a while back.  You see, Inn Boonsboro is a real place that is owned by Ms. Roberts and her family.  I have perused the website for the Inn and my husband knows that I would love oh so much to go and have a romantic and relaxing stay there.  With him, of course.  Considering that it's in Maryland and we live in California - it'll be a bit of time before we can actually go there.  So, I lived slightly vicariously through this book, and loved every moment of it.

Clare Murphy Brewster is the hometown sweetheart who left, married young, had two children rather quickly and then became a war widow - right as she learned she was pregnant again.  With two small boys and a third on the way she returned home to her parents and the small town she always loved.  In order to survice the death of her husband and create a way to support herself and her children - she opened the town bookstore Turn the Page (again, a real place in Boonsboro).  Five years later and she has made a happy family for herself and her boys and a successful business out of the bookstore.
Beckett is the youngest son of the towns beloved and much admired Montgomery family.  Together with his mother and two brothers, they are taking a crumling, historic building in town and turning it into a gorgeous Inn.  Each brother, and their mom, has their talents and they all work equally hard in bringing Inn Boonsboro to life.  And oh yes, Beckett has a very strong thing for Clare.  He has since high school but figures he'll just have to suffice with being her friend.

Fortunately for Beckett, the Inn has a resident ghost who gives Clare and Beckett a slight match making hand.  Nora Roberts has created a really lovely story about a second chance (in Clare's case) and finally getting the chance (in Beckett's case) at true love.  Toss in all of the wonderfully accurate and funny family moments that she is so talented at conveying and the mysticism of a ghost and The Next Always is a sure fire winner.

Oh, and did I mention that the cover is completely gorgeous? It is, as you can see for yourself.

It Must Be Said --

I miss writing in my blog! You can't see me - but I am smiling as I write this post.  My family and I moved last weekend and while I am most happy about the move - and settling in - it is a major time suck on the things I love to do: writing in my blogs, writing my NaNoWriMo novel.  We don't even have the internet at home yet.  On one hand, it's amazing to me how the internet has shrunk the massive size of the world and opened doors to friendships that may never have occurred before.  On the other - it is admittedly a bit weird to feel so cut off from the world just because of lacking an internet connection.  Oh well, it is what it is and thank God for free WiFi at Starbucks.  I wonder, do others feel the way I do? Or am I just a little bit odder than I believe? I'd love to know although I think I already know the answer.

I'll be back on a regular basis soon.  Until then - I hope everyone is happy and doing well!

Booking Through Thursday - Light or Heavy

Booking Through Thursday is a fun, weekly, bookish question and response event.  This week we ponder:
Honestly, it depends on my mood whether I want an easy or challenging book.  It also depends on what else is going on in my life and what my stress level is hovering at.  Right now, I would definitely take a light, enjoyable easy read over a hard one.  To me, enjoyable is just as rewarding as challenging - but on a different level.

Short and sweet but it's late and I'm tired and the next few days are going to be crazy around here.

All other things being equal, would you rather read a book that’s hard/challenging/rewarding or light/enjoyable/easy?

NaNoWriMo Has Begun

Here we are, at the end of day two of National Novel Writing Month and I am doing pretty well.  I'm at 3,700 words and should have had 3,333.  I'm happy that I am slightly ahead but honestly, i was hoping for more.  It's all right though.  I am happy to be a little ahead.  I just know that the next several days are going to be insane as we are moving and was hoping to have a bigger chunk done.  Oh well, it'll be all right and if need be - I'll play catch up once we're in our new place.  I had to do plenty of that last year and still managed to get just over the required 50,000 words.

As a bonus, I am happy with my story so far.  And oh yeah, two hours before NaNo was to start, i had a completely new idea and decided to go with it.  So my previous planning is not being put to use for this novel.  How is everyone else doing with their novels so far? Great, I hope!

Teaser Tuesday's - Witches of East End

Teaser Tuesday's is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:


- Grab your current read

- Open to a random page

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser.

My teaser this week is from page 73 of Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz:

"No one knew exactly how Ingrid helped people, only that it worked without any obvious medical or scientific explanation.  So it had to be some sort of... magic?"