Reading "Savor the Moment"

I love love stories ... I've worked in the wedding business and enjoy reading about wedding professionals so this book and series is my idea of a good time.

Nora Roberts' series called the Bride Quartet is about four female friends -- a photographer (Mac), florist (Emma), baker (Laurel) and wedding coordinator (Parker) -- that have formed Vows, a wedding business run out of a beautiful old mansion. The girls have known each other all of their lives and grew up together playing Wedding Day. Sister and brother, Parker and Delaney Brown, inherited the mansion upon the unfortunate death of their parents. Mrs. Grady, housekeeper and house mother to the girls, is a wonderful addition to the mix.

The first two books in the series, Vision in White and Bed of Roses, are stories about the photographer and florist in the group. This third book, Savor the Moment is about Laurel McBane, cake baker/decorator extraordinaire. In each book, the featured member of Vows explores dating and love while running her end of the business. Laurel has always had a crush on attorney Del Brown, which may not be a good thing since he treats her like a sister, protective and overbearing.

This, like the first two books, is a sweet story that includes fun interaction with bridal parties as well as each other. Their friendship is wonderful and powerful and beautifully written. When it comes to their wedding business, they have their own language that includes abbreviations for members of the wedding party - MOB Mother of the Bride; SMOG Stepmother of the Groom; MOH Maid of Honor.

A few excerpts ...

     "Stop that nonsense and sit down before the food gets cold." Mrs. G gave him a flick on the arm as she carried the coffeepot to the table to fill the mugs.
     Mrs. G was in her element, Laurel knew. She had a full brood to fuss over and order around. She'd revel in the number and the noise of them, and when she'd had enough of both, she'd kick them all out of her kitchen. Or retreat to her rooms for some peace and quiet.
     But for now, with the scents of coffee and bacon and cinnamon, with platters being emptied and plates filled, Mrs. G had things just as she wanted.
     Laurel understood the need to feed, the desire - even the passion - to put food in front of someone and urge them to eat. It was life and comfort, authority and satisfaction. And if you'd prepared that food with your own hands, your own skill, it was, in a very real way, love.

♥  ♥  ♥

     "Cut it out! Stop it now!" Laurel dodged a fist, then blocked an elbow with her forearm. The force of the contact sang straight up to her shoulder. "I said stop!" For God's sake, it's your daughter's wedding."
     "It's my daughter's wedding," the woman Parker and Emma struggled to control shouted. "My daughter. Mine! Not this home-wrecking bimbo bitch's."
     "Bimbo? Bimbo? You tight-assed lunatic, it's your last face-lift I'm going to wreck."
     Emma solved the mother of the bride problem by sitting on her while Laurel grappled with her opponent.

♥  ♥  ♥

     Confidence, she reminded herself, was like lip gloss - all you had to do was put it on.

♥  ♥  ♥

     Vacation. Laurel could scent it, nearly touch it. She would be on it if this damn event would ever end.
     Sunday afternoon events tended toward smaller affairs. Sophisticated or casual, fussy or freewheeling, weddings or anniversary parties booked on a Sunday afternoon leaned toward a pretty brunch or an elegant tea, most often ending early enough for guests to go home, maybe catch a ball game or a movie.
     But not this one. Not the last event before the glories and raptures of vacation began. At four on Sunday afternoon, the Ballroom rocked. Champagne flowed. The bride and groom - second-time arounders in their early forties, danced to the oldies the DJ spun like a couple of teenagers on spring break.
     "Why don't they want to go home and have sex?" Laurel muttered to Emma.
     "They've been together for three years - over a year of that living together. They probably have sex whenever they want."
     "But it's Wedding Day sex, and they can only have Wedding Day sex today. At midnight, that ship has sailed. They should want it. Maybe we need to mention it."

If you love love (with a bit of sizzling sex thrown in), you won't be disappointed by this book or series. I'm really looking forward to the last one, Happy Ever After, coming out in November 2010. This would make a fun movie!

Reading "Kindred in Death"

Finished J. D. Robb's latest paperback release in the In Death series last night. I just LOVE these characters!

"Kindred in Death" is the 29th book in the series and, as usual, the story line was great. Here is the description given in the book:

A recently promoted captain of the NYPSD and his wife return early from their vacation.


Not even their worst nightmares could have prepared them for the crime scene awaiting their arrival. Deena, their bright and vivacious sixteen-year-old daughter who stayed behind, had been brutally murdered in her bedroom. Her body shows signs of trauma that horrifies even the toughest of cops, including Lieutenant Eve Dallas.


As evidence starts to pile up, Dallas and her team believe they are about to arrest the perpetrator. Unbeknownst to them, someone has gone to great lengths to tease and taunt them by using a variety of identities.


Overconfidence can lead to mistakes. For Eve Dallas, one mistake is all she needs to serve justice.

Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb, just pulls you into this future world of crime in New York City. And Dallas' husband, Roarke ... whew, was that a hot flash or was I imagining Roarke? Dallas is a hard core cop who never worries about things like how she looks or breaking a nail. She is very inept when it comes to social niceties and it's completely entertaining to see her stumbling along as her friends get married and have babies. In Kindred, she has agreed to be the matron of honor for Dr. Louise Dimatto, and has no idea how to carry out the duties involved. I am so looking forward to the book when she and Roarke decide to start a family. Oh, and how I wish they'd make these books into movies!

Here are a couple of passages from this book ...

A conversation between Roarke and Dallas at Cop Central:
     He picked up her coffee, handed it to her. "Taking a blocker for the headache would be better yet."
     It's not so bad, not so bad now. I'll work it off."
     "The pizza I ordered should help."
     "You ordered pizza?" The part of her that yearned warred against the part of her that wanted to maintain discipline. "I've told you not to keep buying food for my cops. You'll spoil and corrupt them."
     "There's only one cop I'm interested in spoiling and corrupting, and pizza happens to be a weakness of hers."
     She drank her coffee doing her best to scowl at him over the rim. "Did you get pepperoni?"

Dr. Charlotte Mira, psychologist and profiler:
     "Most rely on the natural order. Children bury their parents, not the other way around. Those of us who do what we do know murder, even death, has no respect for the natural order. This is a burden McMasters and his wife will never lay down. In time, they'll live, work, play, make love, laugh, but they won't ever lay this down."

A comment by Dallas:
     "I don't have to eat sarcasm to recognize the flavor."

"Kindred in Death" was a great read with a satisfying conclusion.

http://jdrobb.com/

Reading the "In Death" Series

Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors -- I've probably read everything she's written. In fact, I'm finishing one of her trilogies right now. But she also writes under the pseudonym J.D. Robb and I'm absolutely hooked on the "In Death" series. I've never been a fan of science fiction and the series is set in the late 2050s, complete with interplanetary travel and hover cars, but they're more about the people, their relationships and the murders to be solved.

I think I picked up my first book, which was actually book #7, "Holiday in Death," in 1999 at the used  bookstore -- because it had the word Holiday in the title, right? I enjoyed it so much, I went back and got books 1 through 6 and have been buying them ever since. Two per year are released and I generally prefer paperbacks so I've collected them all as the paperback editions come out.

I was thinking this morning that it must be about time for the next paperback release and I started gathering up my copies. They were all over the place, on different bookshelves and in different rooms. When I got done, here's what I had ...

28 books containing murder, mayhem, bad guys and good sex.  The main character is New York City Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas. She never had a childhood, which fine tuned her street smarts and made her tough as nails. In the first book, "Naked in Death," she encounters Roarke, billionaire owner of Roarke Industries, who had a rough and tumble childhood in Ireland, now lives in New York and is single-handedly working on owning just about everything on multiple planets. The sparks flew and they're still flying!

All I can say is I love these books and someday I'm planning to read every one of them again, one after the other.

• Naked in Death
• Glory in Death
• Immortal in Death
• Rapture in Death
• Ceremony in Death
• Vengeance in Death
• Holiday in Death
• Conspiracy in Death
• Loyalty in Death
• Witness in Death
• Judgment in Death
• Betrayal in Death
• Seduction in Death
• Reunion in Death
• Purity in Death
• Portrait in Death
• Imitation in Death
• Divided in Death
• Visions in Death
• Survivor in Death
• Origin in Death
• Memory in Death
• Born in Death
• Innocent in Death
• Creation in Death
• Strangers in Death
• Salvation in Death
• Promises in Death

"Kindred in Death" will be released in paperback on March 30th. Yay!

http://www.jdrobb.com/index.html