The Quick and Dirty Career Test

Your Career Personality: Independent, Insightful, and Ingenious

Your Ideal Careers: Architect Artist Business strategist College professor Computer programmer Mathematician Neurologist Philosopher Photographer Video game developer

The Quick and Dirty Career Test

Buying More Than You Can Read

It has been brought to my attention that I'm always getting books every week but I don't read as many as I receive. The question was why do I need so many?
I suppose there is no logical answer for someone who is not as fond as books as I am. The thing is I like books, I like to browse and look for new books that may seem interesting. If I find them I want to have them! It doesn't matter that I wont read them this week or this month or even this year. I have to have them in my shelves so when the mood strikes I might get them out and read them.

Doesn't this make sense for you bookaholics out there?

Cataloguing and Organising Books

This is something I've been thinking about for a while now. When I started having too many books to remember them all I started writing them down in an excel spreasheet (courtesy of Rosario). Later and because it was easier to have a link to send whenever I wanted to show my books I started a page on Librarything and now I discovered I can do much more at Goodreads. Although I know there are more sites out there I think I'll stop with this one.

It allows me to mark books to be read, currently reading, traded or whatever else I choose. Then I can post my reviews and read the reviews of other readers and finally I can have my network of friends to easily check their bookshelves and see what they are reading. If you want to check the books I have, read, traded etc go here: Goodreads

I wanted to post the link sooner but then decided to add some books first and ended up not posting it till now. I have more books to add so you can consider this a work in progress!

Texas Splendor - Lorraine Heath

Another reread this final book in Heath's Texas trilogy and another A read. However this one had a few things I didn't like.

The trilogy of the Leigh family about three Texas-born brothers continues. After spending five long years in a Texas penitentiary, Austin Leigh is free to return home, only to find his sweetheart is now married. Despondent and alone, Austin sets out to clear his name of the crime he didn't commit. En route to the state capitol, he meets a young girl and her dog, the survivors of a mysterious tragedy. Together, the young couple will find redemption, forgiveness, and a true love greater than either could have imagined.

What I did like was Loree and Austin! I liked both their personalities, how they got to know each and fell in love. How knowing and understanding each other was a big part and important part of their relationship and how Heath made it slowly happen. do feel Heath is particularly gifted in conveying the characters emotions. We really feel what they feel so to speak.

Loree and Austin are forced to marry after they spend a night together and she finds herself with child. Not one to run aways from his responsabilities Austin decides to marry her and build a relationship with her. They return to Leighton where they plan on staying with his family but also where he has to face a city who believes him a murderer and where his best friend who betrayed him with his girlfriend also live.

What I didn't like was exactly how that situation was handled. Austin is scarred by 5 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit and when he is released he discovers the woman he went to prison to protect didn't even wait for him and married his best friend. I was first annoyed that when Becky saw Austin the first thing she does is scream at him because he hit her husband. There was no I'm sorry I didn't wait for you? Life happens and 5 years is a long time, I understand that she married Cameron. But Austen spent 5 years in prison just to save her reputation and she can't show him any kindness or understanding when she meets him again? I wish he had posted that announcement in the paper about having slept with her!! Besides they never attempt to talk to him and explain. He is the one who does all the work of understanding and finally making the peace with them. I did not like it! I'm tired of characters too good for their own good!

Fortunately Becky and Cameron are kept in the background for most of the book but even so the influence of their actions is felt through most of it. Loree is unsure of herself after she sees how beautiful Becky is, she is unsure of Austin's love for most of the book. But I also felt Heath dealt really well with all this. It never leads to a misunderstanding but to Loree and Austin getting to know each other better. After he buries his past Austin is the most atentive husband and never leaves Loree in any doubt that he really loves her.

From the beginning we are subtly told that Loree is hiding a secret and near the end it all come to light to provide a neat ending. I was annoyed again because if Duncan could ask for a conviction why couldn't Cameron and Dee say something for the defense too? But this is just to show how involved I was in the story.

I've read other Heath books but I never again felt the magic we have in this Texas trilogy. Couldn't she just write about the Leigh children? There is a whole lot of them and I would like to know more!

Grade: A-

New Additions to the TBR Pile

3 more this week!

Carla Kelly - Beau Crusoe
Mario Puzo - The Godfather
Amy Tan - The Hundred Secret Senses

Dreaming of You - Lisa Kleypas

Derek Craven is one of the most beloved heroes of Lisa Kleypas, I read his story a long time ago and this month I decided it was time for a reread.

In the shelter of her country cottage, Sara Fielding puts pen to paper to create dreams. But curiosity has enticed the prim, well-bred gentlewoman out of her safe haven—and into Derek Craven's dangerous world.

A handsome, tough and tenacious Cockney, he rose from, poverty to become lord of London's most exclusive gambling house—a struggle that has left Derek Craven fabulously wealthy, but hardened and suspicious. And now duty demands he allow Sara Fielding into his world—with her impeccable manners and her infuriating innocence. But here, in a perilous shadow-realm of ever-shifting fortunes, even a proper "mouse" can be transformed into a breathtaking enchantress—and a world-weary gambler can be shaken to his cynical core by the power of passion. . .and the promise of love.

The thing with Derek Craven is that he totally steals every scene he is in. He is almost larger than life. Having a very shadowy past behind him and having amassed a fortune that never seems enough he doesn't apologize for what he is.

Sara Fielding would at first seem very unsuited to be his life partner. She is a genteel young lady born and bred in the country and naive in the ways of the world even if she writes about it's worst aspects.

We they meet we can see the differences but also believe the attraction. They complement each other and each of them has something the other wants and needs. They both fight it at first, Derek because he is unused to have feelings for a woman and finds his attraction to the "mouse", as he calls Sara, something he has to fight against. And Sara because she is engaged to someone else. It's interesting that when that mutual attraction is acknowledged by them it's Sara, the shy mouse, that wants to live up to them, and not Derek, who despite being much more forward doesn't believe he deserves or will be able to make her happy. I think one of Kleypas strong points is the chemistry between her heroes and heroines. She always makes us believe the love story no matter how unlikely it may seem at first.

I remember that when I first read the book one of the things that kept it from being totally perfect was the presence of the evil villain. I had read my share of evil villains by then and it's something I don't enjoy. I must say I wasn't bothered this time especially because she allowed shy mouse Sara to reveal helself a tigress in the end. In a way Sara becomes more real than Derek as she seems to have, to me, more familiar emotions and she grows through the book to become totally confident in her own skin!

Grade: A

Chocolate and Cookies Cake

I've been reading slower this month but hopefully tomorrow I'll have a review ready. In the mean time I leave you a picture of the cake L. made last weekend. It was yummy and of course now it's all gone!!

If You Can't Get Enough of P&P...

I really enjoyed this movie with a modern P&P plot! Highly recommended for an entertaining afternoon!!

Dr House - Season 3

Just finished it last night... I want more!!!!

Beautiful Bookstores

The Guardian has made a list of the 10 most beautiful bookstores in the world. Livraria Lello in Oporto got the 3rd place! It really is a beautiful place and people go there to visit the building as much as to buy books!

The Duke and I - Julia Quinn

I was a bit undecided about how to grade The Duke and I. I had fond memories of my previous reading of Quinn's Bridgerton books. They were, I believe, my first family series and among my first keepers. I still remember how excited I was when the first ones came out and we were all trying to guess who Lady Whistledown was! I had never reread them and so, naturally, the first one became a part of my rereading challenge.

Simon Basset, the irresistible Duke of Hastings, has hatched a plan to keep himself free from the town's marriage-minded society mothers. He pretends to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. After all, it isn't as if the brooding rogue has any real plans to marry-though there is something about the alluring Miss Bridgerton that sets Simon's heart beating a bit faster. And as for Daphne, surely the clever debutante will attract some very worthy suitors now that is seems a duke has declared her desirable. But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, she soon forgets that their courtship is a complete sham. And now she has to do the impossible and keep herself from losing her heart and soul completely to the handsome hell-raiser who has sworn off marriage forever! Simon Basset, the irresistible Duke of Hastings, has hatched a plan to keep himself free from the town's marriage-minded society mothers. He pretends to be engaged to the lovely Daphne Bridgerton. After all, it isn't as if the brooding rogue has any real plans to marry-though there is something about the alluring Miss Bridgerton that sets Simon's heart beating a bit faster. And as for Daphne, surely the clever debutante will attract some very worthy suitors now that is seems a duke has declared her desirable. But as Daphne waltzes across ballroom after ballroom with Simon, she soon forgets that their courtship is a complete sham. And now she has to do the impossible and keep herself from losing her heart and soul completely to the handsome hell-raiser who has sworn off marriage forever!

The story is still as I remember it but after the tons of books I read since I read these it seems more an average read than keeper material. Not only that but for the first half of the book the jokes seems too modern and almost forced. I also didn't feel the angst that Simon's past (ok, maybe a little bit from his past) and present actions should provoke. Maybe because of not feeling that angst I didn't really feel that Daphne's action deserved what he did. Yes she did a bad thing in not allowing him to stop when he wanted but at the same time she did not plan it and I'm afraid I have a hard time believing someone can be asleep and making love at the same time. And if he was awake he should have been able to control himself. And if he was that scarred by his past didn't he came around too quickly?

So my empathy with the characters was limited and since I couldn't feel Simon's pain I liked Daphne's level headedness a lot more. But in the end it was nothing special! And what was it with her brothers always acting like cavemen? It felt a bit riiculous at times!

Grade: B- (but just because I remember liking it so much the first time, or else...)

And now I really must reread the others...

New Additions to the TBR Pile

6 more books, I did well this week!

Anthology - Regency Christmas Wishes
Elisabeth Fairchild - Marriage a la Mode
Rachel Gibson - Sex, Lies and Online Dating
Victoria Laurie - What's a Ghoul to Do?
Victoria Laurie - Better Read Than Dead
Jacqueline Winspear - Birds of a Feather

Fish Puff Pastries

I was looking fot something original to cook for dinner using fish when I saw A. post about the spinach pastries and had an idea. What if I adapted them to fish? I was a bit worried as my adventures in the kitchen don't always end well but this time they did and L. loved it...



Recipe:
2 fish fillets
Cockles
Schrimps
1 leek
1 onion
salt and pepper
2 egg yolks
olive oil
1 piece of frozen puff pastry

What I did was to boil 2 fish fillets for 5 minuts with little schrimps and cockles and then cut the fish in small pieces.

Then in a frying pan I cooked 1 onion and 1 leek cut in small pieces. When they were golden I added the fish, seasoned with sal and pepper and pour white wine on top of it. In a separate pan stirr 2 egg yolks and then mix it with the fish and vegetables.

I spread the puff pastries and cut it in 2. In each of the halves I put half of the fish then closing them and taking it to the oven for 30 minuts at 200º.

We ate it with spinach and cheese so not that far away from the original recipe!

Yorkshire - Lynne Connolly

Another of my rereads this Yorkshire and another very good read.

Rose Golightly accompanies her family on a visit to their cousins in Yorkshire, she finds a run down house, not the society gathering she and her sister are hoping for. Lord Hareton has deliberately run down the once great Hareton Abbey until it’s a near ruin. The only other guests at Hareton are the twin Kerre brothers, intimidating and haughty leaders of society, together with the fiancée of the older brother.

When the Earl of Southwood’s son and heir, Richard, Lord Strang is badly injured in the same accident that kills her cousins, Rose is forced into the position of nurse--and detective. The attraction between Richard and Rose is instant and undeniable, but Richard is to marry the frigid Julia Cartwright in a few weeks, and has deliberately closed his heart to love. In order to offer Rose his heart he must extricate himself from an engagement he has long come to regret.

When they discover that what at first appeared accidental was in fact a deliberate act of sabotage Richard and Rose set out to solve the mystery. Can Rose trust her instincts, ignoring Richard's reputation as a seducer and give him everything she has to offer? Can they clear Rose's family name by discovering her cousins’ murderer?

The book is written in the first person from Rose's point of view. it doesn't work with every story but in the right one it can be just the thing and I quite liked it. Rose Golightly and Richard Kerre meet in unusual circumstances. While she is already on the shelf and a country girl he is used to go about seducing married ladies in society and is presently contracted to marry another young lady. We get to know Rose's thoughts and her surprise at Richard's feelings towards her and how she deals with it. Especially how difficult it is for her to believe he loves her and how could there be a happy ending when he is supposed to marry someone else. One thing about Richard is that he is determined to win Rose and marry her no matter what. I liked that! Another thing I liked in the book is the atmosphere, manners, behaviours and conversations nothing is out of place. Rose is a very sensible girl, she analises her feelings and proceeds accordingly.

The book is also centered around the mystery of who provoked the accident that killed the Earl of Hareton, his heir and injured Richard. I found the mystery was very interesting and added something to the story without overwhelming the romance. All in all a very solid story with interesting characters and I'm hoping the other books in the series will be released soon.

Grade: B+

Work Related Stuff

I'm off to BTL - Lisbon's Travel Market - so I wont be much online today. It used to be exciting to go and visit all the different countries, the tour operators and airlines and to end the visit in the gastronomy area dinning or simply eating something sweet.

Nowadays it's not that exciting but it's still great to see some friends, in some cases it's the only time I see them, and of course it's part of the business and it's necessary to meet with some of our suppliers.

I've been a bit discouraged lately as I realise we will be "an endangered species" soon. People tend to buy more and more online and we might have to think of a change in careers one of these days.

Cooking Again

Although Holly's cooking challenge is over I'm still trying to cook some new (and healthy) recipes. One of these days it was Salmon with Orange and Leeks:

3 Leeks shopped in slim slices
3 onions shopped in slim slices
6 soup spoons of olive oil
1,5 dl water
Salt & Peper
4 Salmon fillets
2 soup spoons of shopped parsley
1 orange
Saffron
2 laurel leaves


Pre-heat the oven at 220º Put half the olivel oil in a frying pan with the onion slices and let it fry for 2 min. Add the leek slices e 1 dl of water. Season with salt and pepper and let it cook till the water evaporates. Season the fillets with salt, pepper and the chopped parsley.
In a bowl mix zest and juice from 1 orange. Add the rest of the olive oil, the laurel, a pinch of saffron, the, the rest of the water, salt and pepper. Mix everything.

Put the leek and onions on a baking tray. Over it put the salmon fillets and then pour the orange sauce on top of it. Bake in the oven for 20-25 min at 220º.

I served it with a boiled vegetables with mayonnaise.

Dr House - Season 2

Just finished season 2! I was a bit annoyed with the ex-wife plot for half of it but the second half made up for it: Foreman got sick and shown his true colors, Cameron is getting stronger and answering back... still a bit unsure about Chase and him wanting to be ok with everyone. I love the weird cases they find to try to solve and the way they interact with each other.

Anyway the big star of this show is House, like one of the characters says he only talks with people when he has to and even then to insult them and show how insightful he is! And he really is insightful and brilliant!!! And rude, sarcastic, annoying, out of line, often right, sometimes wrong....and brilliant! Did I say brilliant yet?

And they left us with a HUGE cliffhanger in the last episode! Fortunately I already have season 3 waiting for me!

Dark Desire - Christine Feehan

Ever since i finished Dark Prince a few months back I've been wanting to continue reading the Carpathian books, this rereading challenge seemed just the perfect opportunity!! And as soon as I started reading it I was again under the spell of Feehan's writing.

The stranger silently summons her from across the continents, across the seas. He whispers of eternal torment, of endless hunger...of dark, dangerous desires. And somehow American surgeon Shea O'Halloran can feel his anguish, sense his haunting aloneness, and she aches to heal him, to heal herself. Drawn to the far Carpathian mountains, Shea finds a ravaged, raging man, a being like no other. And her soul trembles. For in his burning eyes, his icy heart, she recognizes the beloved stranger who's already become part of her. This imperious Carpathian male compels Shea to his side. But is she to be his healer...or his prey? His victim...or his mate? Is he luring her into madness...or will his dark desire make her whole?

Once again she gives us a strong heroine, a doctor this time, and a very damaged Carpathian male. Shea is a doctor who has been hiding a secret, she believes she has a blood disorder inherited from the father she never knew. She also has psychic habilities which have made her aware of a man being tortured. She could feel his pain but she could not help. Now 7 years after she is determined to find and save him. Jacques discovered while being tortured that he could connect with a woman, in his disoriented state he believed her responsible for his pain and is now determined to bring her to him and make her pay.

This book is about Shea and Jacques but it's also about setting up the world and the rules that we will revisit in future books. In that sense the love story suffers a bit. There are more than just the 2 of them on center stage for a big part of the book but that didn't slow me down as I really wanted to know more about Carpathians in general. Shea and Jacques are both very damaged characters, she was ignored by her mother for most of her life and became an orfan at 18 when the mother felt she could be on her own and killed herself. Jacques used to be one of younger Carpathians light and more care free as he still remembered his emotions but 7 years of torture have changed him and made him almost insane. After he realises Shea is trying to help him she becomes his only link with sanity as he doesn't even recognise Mickail and Gregori as family and friend.

I really like the Carpathian society we are still getting to know about here. One thing that is clear from the beginning is how children and women are loved and cherished and how wrong it was that Shea couldn't have that. Knowing how a female child is important to the men makes the baby Raven is expecting even more important. Feehan even deals with the subject that some females wont have a choice in who their lifemates will be but the scenes where Gregori and the baby interact are so lovely and tender that one just ends up wishing for their book to come quickly. As I finished the first book anxious to start the second I now finish this one eager for the next. But I, that am no fan of vampires, consider them such comfort reads that I'll be saving them for a special moment.

Another interesting thing about Feehan's storytelling is how she gets us all interested in characters that haven't even shown up yet. But after hearing about them I'm looking forward to Aidan, Lucian, Dimitri and the others stories... Yep I love Carpathians!!

Grade: B+

New Additions to the TBR pile

Only 3 books this week but 3 that come very highly recommended:

Fannie Flagg - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Morag McKendrick Pippin - Blood Moon Over Bengal
Sandra Schwab - The Lily Brand

About Crafts & Helping Others

As I've mentioned here previously I've been very lazy lately in the crafts department. However I still had some things I had done last year and this month I decided to put them to good use. I donated 2 cloth bags decorated with decoupage to that charity auction I've mentioned previously Leilão Mão a Mão. I just hope someone likes them enough to offer some money for them!

The Devil In Winter - Lisa Kleypas

The first of my rereads and, I'm happy to say, a winner! I really like the "bad boy saved by the love of a good woman" story. If said bad boy doesn't take himself too seriously and has a bit of self deprecating humour all the better. This book has that and also an innocent heroine who proves that she can be shy but she is definitely not stupid.

Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!

Sebastian’s reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden’s good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.

But Evie’s proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine’s callously discarded broken hearts—which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions…or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love.

Both these characters have shown up previously in the two books of the Wallflower series. Especially in the last one Sebastien shows a dark side that leaves us wondering if he will ever be redeeemed. In this book not only do we realise that he is sorry for his actions but he also did it a bit without thinking it through and without the heart to really go through with his threats. Now he is slowly destroying himself with guilt and drink when Evie arrives. I write this review thinking I really must go and reread the other wallflower books, Sebastian doesn't really show a dark side in this book, he is more like a naughty boy and I'm left wondering if Kleypas lightened his character a bit.

From the moment Sebastian accepts Evie's proposal of marriage and they are off to Gretna Green two things happen. Evie decides she must avoid physical contact to better be immune to his charm and shows a strong will that we wouldn't have guessed she possess. And Sebastian shows more and more concern with her well being even before he starts to show a very obvious physical attraction to her. As Evie reveals herself as a very determined and strong willed young woman Sebastian let's his guard down and not only admits to his attraction to Evie but undertakes the job of putting Jenner's Club working again thus admiting a need to fulfill his life with more than just pursuing women and gambling.

There are a few villains in this story, first Evie's family and then an ex-employee of Jenner's with a mysterious grudge, who will add some exciting moments to the story and provide the opportunity for Sebastian to reconcile himself with his old friend Westcliff and with Lillian. But the story would be perfect even without the secondary mystery as the main thing is Sebastian's growth as a person and how that is accomplished through is relationship with Evie and her actions that force him to admit his feelings for her.

Another thing I greatly enjoyed in this series is the friendship between the four women. They are really different from one another and their scenes together work just great.

An A.

Which Austen Heroine Are You?

Take the Quiz here!

I wasn't too happy about being Marianne. I wanted to be someone sensible like Elinor or Anne. Sadly the quiz didn't think so...

A Regency Christmas VIII - Anthology

This was the last Christmas book I read in 2007. I still have a few in the TBR pile but maybe I'll save them for next Christmas.

In Barbara Metzger's THREE GOOD DEED three boys who are trying to make up for having broken one of the church's windows have to do 3 good deeds and end up matching their widowed mother with her childhood love. A B.

In Elisabeth Fairchild's FELICITY'S FORFEIT we almost have a big misunderstanding story. A ruined lord has to marry for money and doesn't realise the woman he is falling in love with is an american heiress so he tries to avoid her. The american accent that was written down as it sounded annoyed me a bit as I almost had to read out loud to understand at time. A C+.

In Allison Lane's SECOND CHANCE I felt the story had potential but having it hanging on one or two big misunderstandings was a bit too much in my view. And it was too obvious why Alice had to marry in a hurry. A C+

In Carla Kelly's THE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT we have a really sweet story about two parents who decide to match up their children and how the said children fall in love with each other but seem to have problems actually talking about it. A B+.

In Edith Layton's HOUNDS OF HEAVEN a dog brings a Lord and his loved one together after she first refuses his proposal believing he wont be faithful. It was my favorite story and I must say I'm really curious to know if Layton's wrote the other dogs's stories. It's a litter of 4 and we only know about 2 of them... An A.

Grade: B

January's Rereading Challenge

A. challenged me to reread some of my old favorites during January as we keep talking of doing that but never really getting around to it. I decided to take it seriously this time and this month I plan to reread the following books:

1 - Dreaming of You - Lisa Kleypas
2 - The Devil In Winter - Lisa Kleypas
3 - Dark Desire - Christine Feehan
4 - Yorkshire - Lynne Connolly
5 - Texas Splendor - Lorraine Heath
6 - The Duke and I - Julia Quinn
7 - This is All i Ask - Lynn Kurland
8 - Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

Wish me luck!!

A Christmas Visitor - Anne Perry

Another novella about Christmas and in this case about doing the right thing...this is my second novella by Perry and once again it's very good.

Henry Rathbone arrives to spend Christmas at the Dreghorn family manor house near Ullswater. He is greeted by the news that the master of the house, Judah Dreghorn has slipped while crossing a stream in the grounds of the estate in the middle of the night, and drowned. Not only this, but Ashton Gower, recently released from prison, is slandering Judah's name, claiming that his family rightfully owns the estate and that the forged deeds for which he was imprisoned were in fact genuine. To Rathbone and the two remaining Dreghorn brothers, also returning to the Lakes for Christmas, Judah's mysterious death and Gower's outrageous claims seem inextricably linked

From the beginning we know that there is some mystery to uncover. Everyone believes Judah was a good person and there could only be another explanation to his actions than dishonesty. At the same time his death might not be accidental, but is the one responsible the most obvious suspect. To find the answers to these quenstions Henry Rathbone investigates what really happened 11 years before and what knowledge Judah had of it and which course of action was he planning. The part I enjoyed the most was precisely after the truth is found out the dilemma the characters face in to do or not to do the right thing. Especially because it was not their fault that the wrong thing had happened but they will be the one's to suffer the consequences. I really like the psycological "games" Perry makes the characters play and my only regret is that these are not the center of the story.

Grade: A-

New Additions to the TBR pile

A few good ones this week:

Jo Beverley - Lady Beware
Liz Carlyle - A Woman Scorned
Colm Toibin - The Master
Shannon Hale - Austenland
Madeline Hunter - Rules of Seduction
Georgette Heyer - These Old Shades

Holly's Cooking Challenge

Ok so I ended up cooking new things but not taking photos nor posting recipes as the weeks of Christmas and New Year were pretty hectic around here. Since the challenge was just for December (although I must say I really enjoyed planning and cooking new things and I'll probably keep doing it) I decided to finish it by sharing the recipe of the Pear Crumble I made for New Year's Eve:

3 pears (you can also do it with apples)
150g sugar
200g flour
150g butter
Cookies
Port wine
Cinnamon


Melt the butter and mix it with the flour and the sugar. You should mix it with your fingertips so it will look like breadcrumbs. Peel and cut the pears in small pieces and put them on a previously buttered baking tray. Pour the port wine on the pears and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cover the apples with the crumble topping and take it to the oven for 30 min on a 180ºC temperature. Smash the cookies and cover the top of the crumble with it.

A Christmas Baby - Annette Blair

Although the story is called A Christmas Baby it's not set during the Christmas season. It refers to a baby that should be born before Christmas.

A desperate rogue, a consolation prize of a guttersnipe bride, and an untimatum to be met... a bride with a babe in her belly by Christmas. Not an easy task when the bride's been riding a pig.

What's a rogue to do? Give her a bath... to begin with...

I had read two books of this series previously and found them too modern in tone for my tastes. This one was no exception. Lord marries inkeeper's daughter that he "wins" in a game of cards where everyone was drunk and her father cheated. He proceeds to make her his bride because he will only receive his grandfather's fortune if he gets married and has a baby till Christmas. It's the kinf of plot that I could read and enjoy if the dialogue, the setting, the behaviours were according to their time. Unfortunately none of that happens here and to top that we are introduced to a 6 year old child who talks like she is 15...

Grade: C

Year in Review & New Year Resolutions

Checking the resolutions I made last year I'm reasonably happy with the results.

I do eat better but I don't exercise as much as I wanted to.

I still have to do some work on the "accept what you can't change" department.

Yes I did cut back on book buying and I'm more dependent on Bookmooch for books these days.

Sadly I haven't crafted much this whole year.

But I do have posted very regularly on this blog!

So for next year:

1 - Keep eating good but also to do some exercise!

2 - Work some more on acceptance. I always get mad at other people's stupidity (especially at work) and I have to learn to let it go because they don't change and I get exhausted.

3 - Read more books from the TBR pile! Yes!

4 - Not to be so lazy concerning hobbies other than reading, crafting or others (I wish I could consider exercising a hobby).

5 - Be a nice person (I don't think I'm a bad person but there's always room for improvement).

6 - Be more in touch with my friends.

And I guess that's it! I'll change and adapt them as need be during the year!

A Western Winter Wonderland - Anthology

I bought this anthology because it had a Cheryl St John story and I've been hearing so much about her lately. I'm afraid I ended up not being very enthusiastic about it and my favourite was Pam Crooks story.

Christmas Day Family by Cheryl St. John
Marvel Henley thought she was content until the new handsome doctor Seth Paxton and his adorable kids crashed into her life! Suddenly she began to yearn for things she had long stopped wishing for…


This story started really nicely and I was really enjoying how the characters were developed and the way the story went. But suddenly I realised that Marvel is actually hiding a secret and that's why she doesn't want to get married. I didn't feel that was in accordance with her previous behaviour and character and that kind of ruined the story for me. I wanted her to show previously some kind of inner conflict and I never felt that. A B-.

Fallen Angel by Jenna Kernan
When Abby March is accidentally shot she and her young boy are taken into a rugged stranger’s care. Dark and mysterious, Ford Statler hides a softer side and offers much more than just a Christmas to remember…

This story was also a nice one but overall it had a modern feel that I couldn't shake off, I think it was the dialogue and how Ford immediatelly starts treating Abby by endearments that prevented me from enjoying it more. And the whole wanted poster idea sounded to weird... A B-

One Magic Eve by Pam Crooks
Chet Lattimer is attracted to Sonja Kaplan despite local Gossip, and he finds himself asking Sonja for help with his motherless little boy. With Christmas on the horizon and magic in the air, their lives just changed…forever!

This was my favorite story. Chet believes some malicious gossip about Sonja but due to his son's actions he is forced to spend more time with her and realises that none of what he believed is true. Sonja has always been attracted to him and being forced to spend Christmas Eve together will allow them to show their feelings for each other. A B.

Grade: B-

Happy New Year

Photo of the Pear Crumble I made for last night, recipe to be posted soon.