Viking in Love by Sandra Hill

Sandra Hill, I love you.

I love you because you gave me fluff and silly when I needed both.

Want hot fluff and a portrait of how relationships happen?  Read this book.

Want scholarly, scientific discussion and "theology."  Read a bunch of stuff.

Want to escape today for a few hours?  Read this book.

Want to work to read?  Read a bunch of stuff.

I loved this book.  I giggled.  I sighed.

And I don't care what that says about me.

Not even a little bit.

The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide

This book deserves better than what I'm about to give it. 

But, seriously, I've read SO many books and am SO far behind, I'll have to make do.

Delia is a writer.  She's dying of cancer.  She's the mother of three, only two of whom are living.  That's not a spoiler.  I knew LONG before the big revelation that she'd lost a child. 

I liked this book.

I'm not sure why.  The speaker is not a Christian and doesn't care about the afterlife.  She suddenly leaves her family to revisit her past without warning or explanation.  She is far too profane.

And yet, I liked this book.

Delia has been writing "guides" and answer columns her entire professional career, including one entire guide to laundry.  Not only does she find laundry sexy, she finds poetry in keeping her home and in teaching others to do the same.  And let's admit it, housekeepers are a dying breed.

Upon hearing that she's dying of her cancer, she proposes to write The Household Guide to Dying, which is different than proposing a book about the hereafter or about death. 

The Guide is awesome.  The book is awesome.  The result is awesome. 

I liked this book. 

Read it.  If you ever do, and if you ever happen upon this blog, post your thoughts.

Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts

First, let me say, I love Nora Roberts.  Don't care what the scholars think!

Second, let me say, this is an outstanding work of fiction.  Outstanding. 

It's outstanding because I FEEL for the characters, all of them - not just the ones highlighted in this, the third in the series. 

In the first series book, Vision In White, Mac (photographer) and Carter (English Prof) connect.  Mac is friends with three other talented women: Emma, Laurel, and Parker.  All four of them spent their childhood playing "wedding" and loving it.  Each had a role to play in their dramas, and each eventually has a role to play in their business, Vows, a bridal fantasy company.

In the second book, Bed of Roses, Emma (florist) and Jack form their own bond.  And it is SO beautiful.  Honestly, if you love love, you love Nora Roberts.

In this, the THIRD book, Savor the Moment, Laurel (baker of cakes) and Del (Parker's brother, OMG!) find each other after many, many years of unrequited longing on the part of Laurel. 

All I can say is, I want to taste Laurel's cake.  And I don't even like sweets.

This is not great literature.  It's not even something I want on my post-mortem shelf.  But it is fun and moving and genuine.  Read it if you love a good love story.

Happy Reading!

Not "Just Friends" by Dr. Shirley Glass

Not "Just Friends" by Dr. Shirley Glass is one of the few non-fiction books I've read cover-to-cover. 

She offers great advice for people who want to protect their marriages from infidelity, both physical and emotional, and practical tips for weathering the storms that strike marriages.

Over the last decade I have watched far too many people struggle with the pain of infidelity, both physical and emotional.  When I saw a book review of this book by Dr. Glass, I opted to read. 

Dr. Glass offers reasonable advice.  "Make sure your doors (sealed to the outside and only opened at certain times) and windows (always open) are in the right places.  Your windows belong between you and your spouse and friends of your marriage.  Your doors belong between you and... well, everyone else." 

Value your marriage?  It's worth a read.