New Digs...

Well, I have spent a good portion of the day working around my blog. Trying to come up with something different and new. So...

Thanks to The Cutest Blog on the Block for the wonderful background. I have used many of their backgrounds throughout the months, but I really like this new one that they have. It is best to keep checking back because they add new ones all the time.

My best accomplishment - due to the help I received at The Blogger Guide - was to add a third column to my blog!!! Wheeee - I actually did it on the first try and it worked. They have all sorts of help, and the instructions are very easy to follow. Check them out.

Another fun thing I tried was to put my LABELS in a drop down box. The list had become so big that it was taking up a lot of room on my sidebar...so, many thanks goes out to the help I received from Blogger Buster...with a quick cut and past - my labels are now in a drop down box.

They last thing I did was to make up a cute name signature. To keep in the same theme as my rating koalas - I decided to add one to my signature. Thanks goes to Cute Colors for their free clipart.

That is what I have been working on today. Stop on by and take a look.

New Digs...

http://worldaccordingtobooks.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-digs.html

The Inn at Eagle Point - Sherryl Woods

Title: The Inn at Eagle Point
Author: Sherryl Woods
Publisher: Mira
Published: 2009
Pages: 384
Genre: Romance
Series: Chesapeake Shores - Book #1

This is the second book that I have read by Sherryl Woods - it is her new Chesapeake Shores series. It is about the O'Brien family and they have many issues regarding relationships, getting close to one another, and facing and getting beyond the past. Abby, the oldest of the five siblings was left to raise her brothers and sisters after their mother left when she was just seventeen. Now a divorced mother of twin girls, Abby is a successful financial whiz on Wall Street.

She comes home to help her younger sister, Jill, with the Inn she is renovating. Jill has gotten herself into financial trouble, and the bank is threatening to foreclose. In steps Abby, always the one everyone relies on, to help straighten out the financial mess. Unfortunately Trace, the teenage boy she loved then deserted at eighteen, holds the mortgage papers.

This story is about a fractured family trying to come together again, forgiving the past, and building a new future. This was a good read, but I had trouble with one of the characters. Jill, the sister, has ADD which I am quite familiar with as my son has it too. She frantically calls her sister and asks for her help in straightening out the finances of the Inn. Yet, when Abby makes financial decisions, Jill gets extremely angry, makes hurtful comments, and storms off. Not the actions of a mature Inn owner. I can understand her anger at the mother who deserted them when she was only seven. I can understand the anger at the father who was always traveling with his work, and she felt like she never measured up because of her difficulties with her ADD. However, I couldn't understand how she treated Abby. I mean, the woman uprooted herself and her children at the drop of a hat to help her save the Inn. Ah well, I guess it made for more tension in the book.

Forgiveness seemed to happen too quickly. I mean, Trace falls right back in love with Abby not really understanding why she left him ten years ago. The family seems to welcome the mother back into their lives without really understanding why she left all those years ago. For me, I would have to have some answers first. I am one of those people that need to know why. Why did you leave me...why didn't you send for me like you promised...This story did flow smoothly and character development was good. The dialogue was engaging, and I really enjoyed the Grandmother's insight.

Like I said, I enjoyed the book and will be reading the second in the series to see if we learn more of the whys. The next book is about the sister Bree and Sherryl Woods left me with just enough curiosity about her story that I want to read more. And I will probably be looking for more of this author's books from her backlist.



Rating: 3/5
Pages: 384
Completed: 5/7/09

The Inn at Eagle Point - Sherryl Woods

http://worldaccordingtobooks.blogspot.com/2009/05/inn-at-eagle-point-sherryl-woods.html

Hot Flash - Kathy Carmichael

Title: Hot Flash
Author: Kathy Carmichael
Publisher: Medallion Press
Published: 2009
Pages: 371
Genre: Romantic Comedy

This is an area of romance that I haven't read before. Hot Flash is a romantic comedy filled with hilarious characters and witty dialogue. The entire story is told in first person from Jill's point of view. Looking at life through Jill's eyes is a fun ride through the trials and tribulations of a forty year old single mom of a teenage son. The situations she gets entangled in are amusing, and the interactions she has with the other characters are entertaining.

Jill is trying to find the secrets of a good marriage. She has come to the conclusion that she needs a husband in order to be able to pay for her sons's college tuition. After creating a survey, she sends them out to all the couples she finds in the newspaper that are celebrating a momentous anniversary. Even though all the responses are different, there is one underlying theme - the husband is a traveling salesman or travels extensively for their jobs - meaning they were rarely home. Armed with this information, she devises a plan to catch a successful salesman thus solving her tuition problems.

What ensues is a fun read of bad dates, job crisis, son troubles, and Davin Wesley. Davin is the exact oppostie of the type of man Jill is looking for - elementary school teacher whose kiss is "pure fire."

This book had me laughing out loud - her problems are so real life - any woman of any age would enjoy this read. Not only are her dates hysterical - but her family is eccentricly entertaining as well. This is definitely on my reread shelf.



Rating: 3.75/5
Pages: 371
Completed: 4/30/09

Hot Flash - Kathy Carmichael

http://worldaccordingtobooks.blogspot.com/2009/05/hot-flash-kathy-carmichael.html

The Secret Hour - Luanne Rice

Title: The Secret Hour
Author: Luanne Rice
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 2003
Pages: 395
Genre: Suspense/Romance

The Secret Hour is a different kind of book than the other ones I have read by Luanne Rice. It was filled with suspense and mystery, as well as family relationships and romance. I loved the underlying story with its twists and turns. I honestly didn't know how it would end. I went completely down the wrong path with this one. Which is one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much - I like it when an author can keep me guessing.

Kate's sister has been missing for six months. She had fled from home after a devastating confrontation with the family. Kate has received a postcard from New England, and with only a postmark to go on she travels to the seaside in search of her sister. There she discovers the one man who may be able to help her...but is he willing?

Attorney John O'Rourke is trying to hold his family together after the death of his wife. Not only is he struggling to raise his two children...but he represents a serial killer, and he must contend with the hostility of the town. The book opens with a brick through the window and another babysitter who has quit.

John was my favorite character in the story. I love a tragic hero, and he fits the bill. Not only does he have to help his children through recovering from losing their mother, but he struggles with his decision to defend a killer. Single parenting is never easy...no one to share the heartaches, triumphs, and everyday experiences with. He has such a demanding career that babysitters are quitting left and right. The children not only have to deal with changes in their family life, but they are put in the position of having to defend their father and shouldering the wrath of the town.

Kate is desperate to find her sister. Raising Willa after their parents death, she is torn between the love she feels for her as well as the hurt from her sister's betrayal. Determined to know the answers of her sister's disappearance, she confronts John with her suspicions and demands to know the truth. Even with the turmoil between them, they can't deny their attraction to one another. Kate brings a light into John's life that has been missing for some time.

Another aspect that I really enjoyed was the fact that the kids were typical kids. They were not the goody goody kids you read about in some romances. They had their fair share of troubles, disobeyed the rules, and their thoughts and feelings were normal and age appropriate.

The romance was sweet, the mystery intense - another satisfying read from Luanne Rice.



Rating: 3.5/5
Pages: 395
Completed: 4/25/09

The Secret Hour - Luanne Rice

http://worldaccordingtobooks.blogspot.com/2009/05/secret-hour-luanne-rice.html