Lisa Kleypas – Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor (re-read)

The first book in the Friday Harbor series, published in 2010.


Entrusted with the guardianship of his orphaned niece Holly, Mark Nolan plans to marry his longtime girlfriend Shelby. But an unwelcome and tantalizing distraction appears in the form of Maggie Conroy, a young widow who has recently opened a toy shop at Friday Harbor. Mark is a cynic and a realist, but Maggie is a dreamer who hopes to make him believe in magic . . .


When Holly’s mother dies in a car accident, her brother Mark is stunned to find out he is appointed as Holly’s guardian. How on earth is he going to manage a 6 year old girl? It is not like he and his brothers had a good example growing up. Their parents fought constantly, and punished their children without much thought. His bachelor one-bedroom condo in Friday Harbor is no place to raise a child, so he convinces his younger brother Sam to let them move in with him. Sam has bought a vineyard with a huge rambling Victorian mansion, which has room enough for the both of them. It only needs an enormous amount of work to make it habitable and safe for a child. Of course, the very first rooms that are finished, are Holly’s bedroom and her bathroom, and then the kitchen.
Both men become attached to Holly very fast, never knowing they could actually feel love. And the brothers become closer to each other as well. But one thing worries them: since her mothers death six months ago, Holly hasn’t spoken a single word. The paediatrician tells them it will take time, and not to force anything, but Mark is worried about Holly.
Then one day, they are visiting the local toy store. Holly becomes entranced with a faery house up on display, and the owner of the toyshop explains everything about faeries to Holly. Mark is not so happy with that, as he sees no point to let Holly believe in things that are not real, like magic. But he has never seen Holly bond with a woman so fast, even taking her hand. He himself is also very attracted to Maggie, even though he has a steady girlfriend whom he is even contemplating marriage to. Of course he is not in love with Shelby, but still they could have a good life together.
Then Maggie gives Holly a large seashell, and tells her to whisper her secrets in it, to hear them come back at her, and after a while, Holly really does whisper, and suddenly starts talking to her uncle. Mark is so very relieved and happy with it, he doesn’t object any more.
Maggie is a widow of 28, who lost her husband to cancer. It was hard to see him die, and to stay strong for him, she doesn’t know if she can go through that again, but Mark and Holly are getting to her. Even though he has a girlfriend, she is attracted to him, something she hasn’t felt for a long time. Her family and friends want her to start dating again, after all it has been two years now, time to get on with her life.
When one night Holly gets very ill, Mark finally realises Shelby is not meant for him. It is Maggie he wants, and Maggie he needs in his life, and in Hollies too. But convincing Maggie of that, is not going to be easy.


I liked this little book, a lovely contemporary romance, with no suspense whatsoever. It has been a long time since I read something like it. I fell for the characters right away. Lisa Kleypas has a great writing style, she makes them come really alive for me. Humor and compassion are tightly interwoven. No rush rush romance, where they fall into bed at once, and are almost married at the end of the week. They have time to get to know each other, to know their own feelings.

I am really looking forward to the rest of the series, though I will always prefer her historical romances.

8 stars.

New additions to my addiction

Yesterday I received Pamela Palmer - A warrior's desire, which I won over at Preternatura book blog. Thanks Suzanne!
And today I received Shannon Stacey - Exclusively Yours, which I got from Christi from Smitten with reading book blog. Thanks Christi!

Kate Collins – Mum’s the Word

The first book in the Flower Shop Mystery series, published November 2, 2004.



I don’t meddle, honest! But can I help it if my nose for injustice is as keen as my green thumb? Now I, Abby Knight, law school dropout, am the proud new owner of Bloomers, my hometown flower shop. I’m devoted to making my business grow, but I’m no shrinking violet if someone needs my help to right a wrong – even if that person is already dead!
A thorny predicament.
So maybe Abby’s life isn’t the bed of roses she was hoping it would be. She adores her job, but a new low-cost competitor is killing her profits – and a black SUV just rammed her vintage Corvette in a hit-and-run. Determined to track down the driver, she accepts the help of hunky ex-cop Marco Salvare. But their budding relationship is threatened when the trail turns deadly. Now Abby is caught in a tangle of menacing phone calls, police corruption and murderous road rage. If she’s not careful, the next flower arrangement might be for her own funeral…


When Abby witnesses a big SUV bumping into her beloved yellow vintage Corvette, she is furious that the driver just goes of! The police don’t appear to be able to solve it soon, even though she has a partial numberplate, and there won’t be that many SUV’s in their small village. Abby’s father was a cop until he became disabled when chasing a drugdealer, who shot him. Which is one of the reasons Abby hates drugs, and drugdealers. So when she finds out, that the man she saw come running out of the ally, into his SUV and hitting her car in the process, might have been involved in a drug related murder, she intends to find him. She knows most of the cops in town, which ones are good cops, and which ones are not. And she just knows that one of them knows who that number plate belongs to, and won’t do anything about it. The police is certain that the murderer is a well known homeless man, by the name of Elvis, and set their caps for him, not listening to Abby when she tells them what she saw that morning.

With a little help of the new owner of the Bar and Grill next door, who is a retired cop and private eye (and veritable eye candy!), she sets out to find the person responsible for hitting her car, and who might also be the murderer, herself! Marco keeps trying to dissuade her from her “meddling” and to leave things to the cops, but Abby just won’t give up. If he cannot help her, she will investigate herself!
Then the harassment begins. Parking tickets for bogus reasons, nasty phonecalls in the middle of night, and it escalates when her brakes are cut, and when someone tries to run her off the road into the river. But still, Abby won’t give up.

There is also a second storyline involved, when Lottie’s cousin Pearl needs legal advice. Even though Abby warns Lottie (who used to own the flower shop first, and now works for Abby) warns her that she is not a lawyer, and not qualified to give legal advice. As it happens the woman, Pearl, and her handicapped son Tommy are abused by her husband. He does not hit them, but he punishes Pearl for every little thing. Taking away her grocery money, or her car. She knows absolutely nothing about their finances, her husband deals with all that. She doesn’t even own a creditcard or has a bankaccount herself. Pearl doesn’t want to go to a real lawyer, until Abby sets her up with Dave, the lawyer she was interning for while in law school. The husband of course doesn’t let go easily, he threatens Abby every time they meet, and he keeps pestering Pearl to come back home, and give up this foolish divorce (even though he has another girlfriend he is staying with).

Of course, there is a romantic element involved as well. Lottie fancies herself a matchmaker, and she wants to fix Abby up with the cute assistant DA on the case, who also happens to be Abby’s secret crush in high school. But he quickly looses his points when she is acting just like her former fiancée. Too full of himself, and he does not even remember her from high school! But she will need to be nice to him to find out what the police has as evidence against Elvis.
And there is the handsome Marco, the PI. He has a bad history with the police, which made him resign, and he hates dirty cops. Which is why he keeps helping Abby and of course because she is landing in too much trouble on her own already.


I have been looking forward to reading this series very much, as I love the Cozy Chick Blog, and Kate Collins is one of the lovely ladies on that blog. Unfortunately, I am a bit disappointed with this first book. I had the story figured out pretty soon, but our heroine could not even see the clues right in front of her. Only at the very last moments of the book, where she might have been killed, did she learn the truth, because she was told what happened. Not even that she figured it out herself. I really do like my heroines a fit smarter and faster!
I also really disliked that Marco kept harping on her “meddling” ways. Because she is a girl, she is meddling instead of investigating? Abby does have the right ideas, even if she cannot see the plot.

Abby also has her father, whom she loves, and a mother, who is extremely disappointed that Abby is not a lawyer or a doctor like her older brothers, but “just” a flowershop owner. But her mother still expects Abby to sell her very ugly pottery/art products in her shop. And she is expected for Friday dinner at the country club with the whole family. She reminds Abby of that multiple times a week, like she could forget. She hates those dinners, with the sisters in law who look down on her, and of course her ex-fiancé and his family having dinner there as well. Of course her mother still tries to bring them back together which is not something that will happen, ever.


Still, I did like the writing style a lot. Kate Collins has a nice style; it keeps flowing and never gets boring, even though Abby does some stupid things. It is never over the top. Abby is a nice heroine, she does whatever she can to help Pearl, even when it gets dangerous. She likes working with flowers, and doesn’t care what her mother thinks of that. I also liked the secondary characters, but I will have to get some feeling for Marco yet. Yes, he does save Abby in the end, but that is not enough in my book to fall for him.
I already mentioned Lottie, but there is also an older English lady who runs the coffee/tearoom that is part of the flowershop, as Abby keep trying new things to lure more clients.

I will read the rest of the series, as those are already on my shelf, but I do hope Abby gets a bit smarter in the next books. I like to be surprised by the plot, and not figure it out in the first half of the book.

6 stars

Susan Sizemore – Wings of the Storm

A novel, published February 1994. Don’t you love this cover? I have at least 4 books with this same cover!



What was a woman to do?
When an experiment gone wrong landed Dr. Jane Florian in the Middle Ages, she vowed to make the best of things. And if that meant posing as Lady Jehane from the Holy Land, cleaning the castle from tower to dungeon, ousting the hounds from the banquet hall, and giving the mistress of the caste a makeover, then she would. Unfortunately, she hadn’t counted on her reaction to her new neighbour – the magnetic Sir Daffyd.
The Middle Ages might lack modern conveniences, but Jane had no complaints about the men. Sir Daffyd’s arrogant masculine sensuality fired her senses as no man from her own time had ever done. And yet, Jane’s secrets weren’t the only ones, for Sir Daffyd was a man of mystery himself.


Jane is working in an university lab studying energy signatures through time. Suddenly something happens, and she gets a glimpse of the future. Her young boss David Wolf is not happy with that, and before Jane knows it, he stuffs her in his timemachine, and sends her to the past, where she can do no harm. Unfortunately, the timemachine is not yet fully functioning, and she does not end up near a convent in France as was his intention, but somewhere in England. As Jane is an historian, and loves re-enactments and such, she is not lost. After all, David did sent her clothes appropriate for the timeperiod, and lots of trade goods that were worth a lot of money, like spices and jewellery and silk. So Jane makes up a story of having travelled from the Holy Land once she was widowed, to England to find a relative of her late husband. Unfortunately, all her servants have succumbed to a fever, and she is the last one standing. Her horse has run of, leaving her stranded in this fallen down tower.
Lucky for Jane, who changes her name to Jehane, he believes her, and he taker her home with him, as he is in need of a chatelaine. And Jane sure has her work cut out for her! His keep is a pigsty! And while Stephan goes of to secure his bride from his evil neighbour Hugh of Lilydrake, Jane goes to work. Getting the keep cleaned, the buildings repaired, and everything else that is needed. And when a very gloomy Lord Stephan comes home with his bride, and leaves almost at once to visit his liege lord, it is up to Jane to make Sibelle more attractive. The young woman was intended for a life in the convent, and now she has to be a bride. Which she doesn’t regret at all, as Lord Stephen is sure goodlooking, and she is already halfway in love with him. And so Jane puts Sibelle on a diet, and gives her plenty of exercise, making the young girl loose weight fast. And she puts her in a bath, so she finally discovers her one great feature: her long golden hair, which is shiny once it is finally clean. The nuns were not so big on bathing, but Jane sure is, and Sibelle grows to like it as well.

All would be well in Jane’s life, if it wasn’t for lord Daffydd, who keeps turning up in the most unfortunate events. He is some sort of landless knight, hunting for villains and marauders in the kings’ woods. He is good friends with Sir Stephan, and always welcome. But he sure rubs Jane wrong, and she just cannot hold her tongue as she is supposed to do around men. After all, a woman was only a possession back then.

And then King John (from Robin Hood!) is visiting. Jane really does not want to meet him, she knows too much about him, and she is just the type of woman he likes to “take his pleasure” with. And the King is so paranoia, he sees plots everywhere, and he kills whenever he likes it, guilty or innocent alike. So she does not want to meet him! What if she somehow changes history? Can Daffydd safe Jane from the King?


I sure did notice the age of this book, it was a bit dated. And it was also her very first book, according to my book bible, fantasticfiction.co.uk. It is a mix between historical romance and science fiction, due to the time travelling. Usually, this is done by magic, the fae, a curse, an object. But this time, by machine. And the machine really does work both ways after all.

I did like Jane, she made the best of the situation. She did not want to marry, but start her own convent, which was tricky in that time, as convents and priests were banned. Praying was not Jane’s thing, but she could do some good work every day. And of course, as Abbess/Prioress she can make her own rules. But fickle faith has other plans for her.
She dreadfully misses her coffee and chocolate, and proper sanitair. She would love a shower instead of taking a sponge bathe with cold water in the morning. Thanks to her hobby/study, she speaks the local language, which is not English nor French.
I love Susan Sizemore’s Prime series, mainly about vampires, and as I am a glommer, I just want her whole backlist. So I have some more historical romances on the shelf, waiting to be read. It did take me a while to finish this book, I just could not get into the story at first. So every now and then in the bath tub I read a few pages, until the story finally grabbed it, and I took it downstairs with me to finish it.

There was a lot I did like in the story, but also things I did not like. Some things were too modern I though, and everything went so easy for Jane. I did like the ending a lot though, and won’t be spoiling that for you. Susan Sizemore has a nice writing style, but I still prefer her paranormals. Still, I will read the other books I have someday 

6 stars

Yasmine Galenorn – Shaded Vision

Book 11 in the Otherworld / Sisters of the Moon series, published February 7, 2012.



We’re the D’Artigo sisters: sexy, savvy ex-operatives for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. But being half-human, half-Fae means our powers could go haywire at any time – usually the wrong time. My sister Camille is a wicked-good witch with three sexy husbands. My sister Menolly Is a vampire who’s dating a werepuma. And me? I’m Delilah, a two-faced werecat and a Death Maiden. I watch over things in the Supe Community, where trouble is about to go down hard…
It’s the night before Valentine’s Day and we’re preparing for our friend Iris’s wedding. But when we get word that the Supe Community Council has been bombed, things get really ugly. The coyote shifters – the Koyanni – are back and Newkirk, their new leader, has joined forces with a group of rogue sorcerers. Then, just as we think things can’t get worse, the demon lord Shadow Wing sends in a new front man, and life really goes to hell…


Short series update: Camille, Delilah and Menolly are send to Earth from Otherworld to find the 9 spirit seals that protect the portals between the Earth, Otherworld and the Subterranean Realms, which is where the Demons live. The Demons want to take over Earth as their own personal pleasure dome, and after that, Otherworld.
The sisters are half human, and half Fae, with Camille being a Priestess of the Moon Mother, Delilah a Death Maiden for the Autumn Lord, and Menolly is a vampire, and the official consort of Roman, the son of the Vampire Queen Blood Wyne, the head of the race.
They have to find clues to the spirit seals, retrieve them, and fight off the demons also looking for them. And of course, their adversaries are getting stronger and harder to fight. But also their friends and allies increase, adding more and more characters to the storyline.
Otherworld is the Realm where the Fae live, the Elves, and almost every other creature you can think of, though Earth has its own population, especially of Were’s. They are called Supes. And it is the Supe community who is helping them fight.
The books are told from different point of views, first book centers on Camille, the second on Delilah, and the third on Menolly, and so on, with them taking the lead and focusing on their feelings and private life.

This book has Delilah as the leading lady again, and although I like the bits with the Autumn Lord and her duties as a Death Maiden, she is not my favourite sister. Although she is growing up and facing more of life’s unpleasant reality. In this book we learn a bit more about Shamas, their Fae cousin. He is a sorcerer, which Camille finds a personal blow, as sorcerers and those who serve the Moon Mother are on opposite sides. Their last big war destroyed a big part of Otherworld. And Chase also finds out more about himself, and his heritage. Drinking the Nectar of Life has changed him, and he is no longer a FBH. The Triple Treat has been testing him, and he is still recovering from what they have told him.

The book started in a good way, with the preparations of Iris’ wedding. Of course, things could never go smoothly, not even for a day, as bad things start happening. The Supe Community Hall is bombed, and 5 of their friends are killed. Otherworld’ firebombs have been used, and rumors about sorcerers are floating. Camille, Delilah and Menolly thought they had gotten rid of Jaycee and Van, the sorcerers who where making and dealing in Wolf Briar, but they were wrong. They never left, nor did they work for Stacia Bonecrusher. They have been allied to Shadow Wing al along. And now they are creating hate groups, and stirring unrest between the Supes and the humans, culminating in hate crimes. It is not pretty, but thanks to some new friends and old friends, the public eye is being opened, and counter measures are taken.

As usual, this book is fast paced, lots of action, and little time for sleep and leisure activities, though Delilah and her boyfriend Shade, who is half dragon, and half something else, do have time for some nice love scenes, but also some serious talks about their relationship. I like those parts of the series, the evolving of their personal lives even against all the danger and action they are in.


I liked this series from the start, even though the amount of secondary characters seem to grow too much to remember everything. For instance, it took me a while to remember Hannah, and she has a big part in the previous book. And then there are the many guys living with them, someone always has to stay home to protect the house, Menolly’s lair and their baby gargoyle Maggie. (She would be a favourite demon snack).
The three sisters are great characters, they all have a bigger destiny though I am not sure about Menolly yet. The people they fall in love with are totally different and awesome, each in his/her own way, and so are their friends. The bad guys do not tend to stick around long, but they sure are something else. Mostly demons of course, but also really evil people.
And this book even had zombies to fight! I hate reading about zombies, I really do, but Yasmine Galenorn made it not too icky for me, thank you for that.

I really advise you to start reading this series from the start, don’t fall in the middle of it, because you won’t be able to follow everything, and I want you to like this as much as I do. What happens in their personal lives is as important as the overall story arc to understand and enjoy it all.

8 stars.

New addition to my addiction

Only one little book to add to my collection this week: Lisa Kleypas - Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor. I have already read it when it came out, but have now bought the paperback myself. Perhaps I will reread it, I did love it.

But the coming weeks will be busier I hope, as I have bought way too many books at Bookdepository.com lately. Even some series from new to me authors I have heard great things about.

J.D. Robb – Celebrity in Death

The 34th book in the In Death series, published February 21, 2012.



Lieutenant Eve Dallas is no party girl, but she's managing to have a reasonably good time at the celebrity-packed bash celebrating The Icove Agenda, a film based on one of her famous cases. It's a little spooky seeing the actress playing her, who looks almost like her long-lost twin. Not as unsettling, though, as seeing the actress who plays Peabody - drowned in the lap pool on the roof of the director's luxury building. Talented but rude, and widely disliked, K. T. Harris had made an embarrassing scene during dinner. Now she's at the center of a crime scene - and Eve is more than ready to get out of her high heels and strap on her holster, to step into the role she was born to play: cop.

After the Icove mystery, Nadine Furst wrote a book about it, starring Eve, Roarke and Peabody. And now that book is made into a movie, and Eve and friends are invited to the set to meet the actors and everyone. Peabody is thrilled of course, she is a big fan of the actress who is playing her, but Eve could not care less. Unfortunately, there is no getting out from the obligations. That evening, there will be a dinner party. It still feels creepy, meeting her double, or the actor that plays Roarke, especially when he hits on her. But he is just a weak copy of the original.
The actress playing Peabody, named KT Harris is a mean character however. And when she ends up dead in the pool on the roof of the apartment, there are suspects galore. She picked fights with everyone, trying to get a bigger part in the movie, give herself more screentime, and did not hesitate to blackmail whomever she could.
And as the actors starring in the movie are very good ones, it is difficult to tell who is lying, or why. They all seem to have something to hide, but Eve will find out eventually. With three cops at the scene, a crime reporter, a psychologist, the murderer still is getting away with it. How come no one admits to having seen someone else go up to the roof, while they were watching some kind of promo film?
So Eve and Peabody will have to dig deep, to find the truth at last, and then to find the evidence to convict the person responsible. Even though KT was a horrible person, she did not deserve to get murdered because of it. And of course because of all the celebrities involved in this new murder case, the press has a field day, and Dallas and Peabody will have to face them. To Eve’s surprise, the new media liaison is actually some one she can work with, instead of pushing all the wrong buttons.


As always I loved this book, and read it in evening. Which made me way past my bedtime on a Wednesday evening, so today I was a bit groggy at the office. Still, no regrets, the book is worth it.
All the usual crew is there, Eve and Roarke, Peabody and McNab, Mavis, Leonarda and their Bella, even Trina makes a threating call to Eve about what to do with herself before the party. Mr and Dr Mira, Nadine Furst, Feeney and Whitney and Reo. It is just like visiting friends you don’t see all that often, immediately nice and cozy to catch up with them, but of course the book has its moments of suspense and action. Some nice love scenes between Roarke and Eve, some new toys to play with, but also a very beautiful moment with Peabody and McNab.

A good murder mystery, against a cast of great main and secondary characters you will grow to love over the course of this very long series. But they don’t bore me for a second, never do I have that same old, same old, feeling. Somehow, the mysteries stay fresh, and the personal relationship keeps evolving, getting better. JD Robb is an awesome author, and I can predict I will still be reading her books, this series, over 10 years.

If you are new to this series, I think you can read almost all the books as stand alones, but to get to know the characters best, and get a feeling for their relationships, I do recommend to start with book 1. You won’t regret it, even though I know it takes a lot of time to catch up with the series, and to stay catched up.

9 stars.