Hi romance friends!
It’s the last week of January (quite a month in every arena, at least in the Dumas home), so I thought I’d check in with my reviewer friends!
Last November you may recall I had weekly “Best of 2016” posts with PJ Ausdenmore, Scandie from Scandalicious, librarian Lynn Wall, and SOS Aloha.
I touched base with them last week to see if they had any recommendations for recent books they’ve read and here’s what they have to ...
Hi friends!
As some of you know, I was in DC this past week for my father-in-law’s funeral.
I lived in the DC area for twenty years before we moved to Wisconsin 11 years ago, so my husband—who hadn’t been back in ten years (I was there for a quick trip in 2014 for a conference, but didn’t have time to socialize or see the sights)—and I took some time to catch up with friends and wander around.
Matt ...
Hi friends!
So many people make New Year’s Resolutions to start the year, but for the second January in a row, I’ll be contemplating memories and saying good-byes.
My husband lost his father this week.
There’s a lot of emotion to visit, of course, though he suffered from memory issues and so, in many ways, his family has said their long good-byes for years now.
I have a long drive from Wisconsin to DC in front of me, and I’m ...
Hi friends!
I’m writing from a very warm Orlando FL where I am attending a (non-book related) conference with my husband. Believe me when I say it feels surreal to be wandering around in shorts and sandals! I boarded the plane in Madison at 25 degrees with at least 4 inches of accumulated snow on the ground—and landed to a sunny 85. (Not looking forward to the forecast of 11 when we get home on Friday.) At first giddy ...
Hi friends!
As I prepare for another year to roll in, I thought I’d share some of my favorite reads and new discoveries from 2016.
Some of you may know this has been a bit of a tumultuous year for me, but I was blessed to travel to a number of conferences, including RT, RWA, Chicago North’s Spring Fling, and two international romance reader celebrations—Berlin’s LoveLetter Conference and the first ever Paris Romance Novel Festival.
2016 was the year I ...
Wow. Can you believe Christmas is nearly here?
I haven’t had the chance to read many Christmas books this year (sad sigh) but my favorite so far was Christmas in Paris by Anita Hughes.
I find this author completely charming, and since I love Christmas, and I adore anything related to Paris, this was practically a must-read for me. (It got a nice Kirkus review too.)
Hughes’ books usually have a fairy tale quality to them; they’re usually based in ...
I know I recently mentioned my Book Club and how much they mean to me. Last night we had our holiday party, which included dinner (Thanks, Mary!) and treats, plus a Christmas book exchange and, as always, lovely conversation about life and books.
I almost didn’t go. I’m behind on almost everything I’m doing and thought an evening home to get caught up would be a good thing.
And yet…We’ve had all sorts of stressors this year (2016 seems to ...
Moving closer to 2017, I wanted to shout out to public libraries everywhere, and especially mine, the Madison Public Library. I did an article for one of our local papers (nearly three years ago now - wow, time flies!) on one of our area librarians who’s a romance fan.
As many of you know, I’m an avid audiobook consumer, and I’m always pleasantly surprised when I go to find a romance novel on Overdrive and it’s actually there! (That’s a side ...
