I’m an angry, little person. It’s really the best introduction I can give myself, but it’s probably not what most people would use to describe me. Roughly the size of an Umpaloompa and in possession of a serious case of chipmunk cheeks, older people are prone to calling me “sweetheart.” Everyone else wants to know when I’m going to graduate from high school and if I really am old enough to be swilling Asti straight from the bottle. Which only makes me drink more. It also makes me want to set their hair on fire. But I must manage to [...]

  Midnight Caller   by Leslie Tentler http://leslietentler.com/   Mira ISBN: 0778329348 EAN: 9780778329343 Romantic Thriller   Dr. Rain Sommers, host of a New Orleans late-night radio talk show that caters to the Goth community, is shaken up by a mysterious caller who is obsessed with her mother, the popular Goth singer, Desiree Sommers, murdered by Rain’s father when she was two years old   Trevor Rivette, a special agent with the FBI’s Violent Crimes Unit, has been following the serial killer dubbed “the Vampire”, also known as Dante, for eighteen months. It’s gotten personal, with Dante sending him mementos [...]

The Sinner   By Tess Gerritsen             http://www.tessgerritsen.com/ Ballantine ISBN-10: 0345458923 Suspense/Mystery   I know I’m late to the party for Tess Gerritsen.  I also know she doesn’t need any good reviews from me to sell her books.  I have to tell you, however, how much I have loved her Rizzoli & Isles series.  The Sinner is book three in the series, and my favorite so far.  As a writer, I am intrigued by how much Gerritsen can make the reader care about her characters with so few words.  Most of her novels are plot driven, so she really develops her [...]

By Susan May www.grits.com I’ve never liked grits. I didn’t grow up with my mother preparing grits for breakfast. I like oatmeal and cream of wheat but never found an appreciation of grits. I know many people that think grits are the end all and be all of eating southern. I’ve been told that I’m the quintessential southern lady. I show warm hospitality, drink Coke, talk super slow, love SEC football and believe the only true drink is sweet tea. The one area I failed to be “Southern” in was that I hated grits.                 If I did eat grits, [...]

by Maxine Davis To me, gathering roses in winter is finding something beautiful even in the bleakest of times. Sometimes winter chills me to the bone, and I long for sunshine and sitting by the pool with a good book.  I find myself procrastinating and sitting on the sofa, knowing there is much to be done but somehow not caring enough to get up and do it.  Does that mean I have SAD…Seasonal Affective Disorder? But the things that get me through the bleak days of winter are the small things…like finding a wonderful book, seeing the smile of a [...]

Please join us in welcoming today’s Guest Chef, Vicky Dreiling in this month’s last installment featuring “The Call”. Vicky Dreiling is a confirmed historical romance junkie and Anglophile. Frequent business trips to the UK allowed her to indulge her passion for all things Regency England. Bath, Stonehenge, and Spencer House are among her favorite places. She is, however, truly sorry for accidentally setting off a security alarm in Windsor Castle.  That unfortunate incident led her British colleagues to nickname her “Trouble.” When she’s not writing, Vicky enjoys reading, films, concerts, and most of all, long lunches with friends. She holds [...]

By Marilyn Baron Didn’t someone once say, “Only a fool acts as her own contractor?” If they didn’t, they should have. Actually, my experience acting as a contractor to remodel my laundry room was not as snake-bitten a project as I anticipated it would be. But there were a lot of moving parts to what my husband considers my “money pit.” My laundry room is about 24-years-old, so it desperately needed a facelift – really an overhaul. It is a fairly big room, therefore capable of storing a lot of JUNK. My laundry room has been the dumping ground for [...]