"And Then I Read..." By Merry at Annie's Book Stop

Honestly, I have got to get organized and write these little gems on a more-regular basis! Of course, I've been trying to get organized for years now, with always-the-same results - no organization. What is it they say about doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome? Yeah, that.

I have been reading a lot lately - what else can you do during multiple snowstorms? Watch the lights flicker as the weatherpeople gleefully outline fronts and outlooks again and again, while their newspeople friends show us the same reporters standing in the same snowpiles alongside the same highways every twenty minutes?

I recently finished local author Ashlyn Chase's forthcoming (April 2013) paranormal romance, "Flirting Under a Full Moon", set in the same slightly off-center Boston as her "Strange Neighbors" trilogy - featuring One-Night Nick Wolfenson, the twin brother of Konrad from that series. Nick never dates the same woman twice - until he meets waitress Brandee Hanson at the paranormal bar in Boston where everyone is strange in one way or another; except for the waitstaff. His werewolfish heart is immediately captured by the beautiful Brandee, who's a little skittish around men just now - her latest boyfriend just broke up with her by text message, and she's ready for a little "alone time" to lick her wounds, even when the resident Tarot reader insists her true love will be the next man through the door. And he's...Nick! He's a former-cop-turned-private-detective, and of course, Brandee winds up entangled in one of his cases, even while denying her attraction to the big lug. By the time everything is straightened out, a lot of attitudes have changed for good. This book is as much paranormal fun as the prior books in the series - I would highly recommend it to those who like characters who -um- growl in the night.

Also read Jenn MacKinlay's newest Library Lovers mystery, "Book, Line and Sinker". The small-town library in Briar Creek once again becomes the lynchpin of a mystery that only Lindsay Norris and her friends can solve. When a famous treasure hunter applies for permits to dig up an offshore island, looking for pirate treasure, murder follows close behind. Is the treasure map real? Is there treasure to be found? Is it possible that a solution may finally be found for a family tragedy from years gone by? And just how many killers are lurking in quiet little Briar Creek, anyway? All in all, this was a delightful read - a good "cozy", with interesting and eccentric citizens, old and new lovers, a sneer-worthy villain, and pirates, too! What else could you ask for?

I have a stack of library offerings at home; now I have to make the Big Choice - what to read next? An Aaron Elkins mystery? A paranormal mystery? A space opera? Decisions, decisions, decisions...

At least they're predicting more snow this weekend - I'll have a good excuse for cuddling under a blanket with an armful of escapism. What are you reading this weekend? C'mon, share!

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