Friday Fun

Men’s Rules for Women

Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say what you want!
We don't remember dates. Mark birthdays and anniversaries on a calendar. Remind us frequently beforehand.

Men’s Rules for Women

Shopping is not a sport. And no, we are never going to think of if that way!

Little Johnny

Teacher: If I gave you 2 cats and another 2 cats and another 2, how many will you have?
Johnny: Seven, Sir.

Teacher: Let me put it to you differently. If I gave you 2 apples, and another 2 apples and another 2, how many will you have?
Johnny: Six.

Teacher: Good boy, now you got it! So now if I gave you 2 cats, and another 2 cats and another 2, how many will you have?
Johnny: Seven!

Teacher: Where do you get seven from?
Johnny: Because I've already got a cat at home!

 

A Woman's Prayer

I pray for:
Wisdom, To understand a man.
Love, To forgive him and;
Patience, For his moods.
Because if I pray for Strength
I'll just beat him to death.

Between The Pages - The Last Woman He'd Ever Date

The Last Woman He’d Ever Date

By Liz Fielding
Harlequin
July 2012

     Claire Thackeray: Hardworking single mom and gossip columnist. Hoping for the inside scoop on sexy billionaire Hal North, aka her teen crush Most wary of: Gorgeous men who set her heart racing. (Been there, got the T-shirt--and the baby )
     Hal North: Bad boy made good. Back in his hometown as new owner of the Cranbrook Park estate. Determined to put his troubled past behind him.
     Most wary of: Journalists--especially pretty ones, like new neighbor and tenant Claire Thackeray.

Between The Pages of this story is a beautiful love story with a splash of humor. A smooth plot and charming characters with wit and sizzle that have you wanting more. A perfect summer read that will draw you in from the first page.

Review Rating: 4.5 Stars

Book Promo - Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Something Borrowed, Something Blue

 

Always a Bride by Darlene Henderson

Alex has walked down the aisle a hundred times in as many wedding dresses, she is “Always a Bride” but somehow she's still single. When her high school sweetheart, Harvey shows up will Alex’s walk down the aisle finally end at an altar?

Sleepless in St. Lucia by Denise Moncrief

Elise Cameron thinks the hardest thing she’ll ever have to do is watch her best friend, Trish, marry the man of Elise’s dreams. When her high school crush, Ryan Morgan, shows up at Trish’s wedding to be the best man, Elise and Ryan have to confront some old misunderstandings to find their own happily ever after.

The Ring Toss by Liv Rancourt

A last minute switch lands Mack in a long white dress, but can she commit?

An Island Wedding by Tudor Robins

When Jessa’s best friend calls off her wedding at the last moment will it be a case of “nearly a bridesmaid, never a bride?” Or will Jessa manage to stop worrying about other people’s weddings long enough to land her own true love?

http://www.stillmomentspublishing.com/2012/07/something-borrowed-something-blue.html

Book Promo - Threat to our Forever

Threat To Our Forever (Moonlight Mysteries Series - Book 2)

by Em Epe

Finding the unknown threat…

Lilly and Sam Kendells’ marriage is strained to the point of breaking when their daughter becomes a victim of a brutal attack for unknown reasons. Angry and feeling betrayed, Lilly doesn't understand why Sam won't use his skill as a hired militia to exact revenge for the atrocity committed against them. Sam focuses on facts and protecting Lilly from holding the wrong culprits responsible. Will their marriage survive as they search for the unknown assailant and try to stop the threat to their forever?

http://www.stillmomentspublishing.com/2012/06/threat-to-our-forever.html

Between The Pages - The Ice Bridge

The Ice Bridge
By Kathryn Meyer Griffith
Eternal Press
November 2011

     This was an interwoven story of three generations of women and their love for Mackinac Island. I adored the eccentric neighbor, Hannah as she played the role of a grandma of sorts and took up the friendship basically where she and Charlotte had left off from summers gone by.
     Then there was Aunt Bess, a strong woman who took her niece Charlotte in no questions asked but had her own unique love tragedies throughout the book which she overcame with the help of her loved ones. 

     I felt bad for the main character Charlotte and the reasons she went to the Island initially. Being jilted at the alter is nobody’s idea of fun especially when it’s her groom and Charlotte’s best friend. She needed some solitude and the comfort of her aunt and friend in the place that always felt like home to her.
     I also like the way the author incorporated island ghost stories told by the residents, making me wonder if the stories may just be true. Charlotte had been suggested to write a book including those stories while on the island by police officer Mac Berman, someone she never expected to meet but who would end up playing a crucial role in all three women’s lives.
     I was drawn by the intrigue and focus on the mystery of the Ice Bridge as well. Once spectacle I have yet to see myself but all through this book it was definitely an eerie presence that made me think twice about taking myself to in the dead of winter, no pun intended. No doubt there was a strong pull that kept me riveted to the pages ‘til the early morning hours waiting to see what would happen next.
     I’ll admit that I mostly read romance but I was eager to read this because of an extreme love I have for Mackinac Island. Ms. Griffith definitely didn’t disappoint in making me feel like I was right back on Main Street looking for the tasty ice cream cones and homemade peanut butter fudge I love so much. She has a unique way of making the people and places come to life and stayed true to the Island traditions.   
     The author did a great job of making this story a believable reality and I would recommend it to anyone interested in a mystery of murder and ghost stories blended with a few mild romances.

Review Rating: 4 Stars 

Book Promo - Love By The Book

Love by the Book

by Angela Scavone

http://angelascavone.com

Book Promo - Unearthed

Unearthed

by J.S Marlo

https://sites.google.com/site/jsmarloauthor/books

A Writer's Words - Those Pitch-Black Mornings

Those Pitch-Black Mornings
By Nan Russell

     I woke at 4:00 a.m. for a final practice before delivering a morning keynote at a professional conference. But my normal speaking preparations, including a mindset routine, changed abruptly when I found myself showering in total darkness as three bathroom lights suddenly went out. It wasn't just dark, it was pitch-black. Not even a light-sliver seeped under the doorway from the bedroom where my husband slept soundly.

     I wasn't sure how to climb out of the shower/bath combination into blackness to avoid hazards. As strange as that sounds, I couldn't remember the bathroom layout. We'd arrived late the previous night and I hadn't paid attention to yet, another, hotel room.

     Like a robot delivering programmed movements, I'd executed mine. Mechanical on-the-road routines the night before, and sleepily at 4:00 a.m., left me with an inability to navigate in pitch-black. If I'd been paying attention as I brushed my teeth, it might have been different. But I wasn't. I lost my bearings in the dark because I'd never focused.

     I could say that life is like that, too, and discuss the merits of staying in the moment. Or I could comment that life sometimes leaves us wet and in the dark, grasping for some light to find our way. But those thoughts are way too philosophical for pitch-black mornings.

     These are the mornings (or days) when your child throws up on the new outfit you're wearing for a big presentation that isn't going to happen now because you're going to stay home with a sick child; or the dog runs away just as you're leaving for an important appointment making you rudely late; or the dishwasher overflows on the new carpet. We all know these mornings. They take our plans and render them (and us) scrambling.

     I was definitely scrambling as I arrived at the event. The time it took to wake my husband for help, get hotel maintenance to fix our room's electrical problem, and finish getting dressed put me in a harried and less than positive state.

     Yet, as I took the stage and looked out at the audience, it hit me - this wasn't my morning. The audience

didn't care that I had one of those mornings. They didn't care why I was cranky and out of sorts. They didn't care that my hair wasn't styled perfectly or my jacket could have been pressed better. They didn't care because their morning wasn't about me, it was about them. It was their kick-off, their event, their day.

     It was that ah-ha that shifted a pitch-black morning into a bright-day one. In the scheme of things, a day isn't mine. It's ours. We share it. How I show up and bring that awareness and energy to others, whether it's in passing at a store or an encounter on a roadway, and how you do, matters.

     We decide if we turn a trivial occurrence into a rain cloud, or we let it pass. In the words of author Annie Dillard, "How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." And how we impact others' days is, of course, how we impact our own.

© 2012 Nan S. Russell

All Rights Reserved

Nan Russell left the corporate world in 2002 to pursue a life dream to work and write from the mountains of Montana. Today she is the award winning author of Hitting Your Stride, a syndicated columnist, and motivational speaker. More about Nan and her work at  http://www.nanrussell.com/ or follow her insights and tips on  twitter @nan_Russell 

Book Promo - Roses

Roses

by Karen Cino

http://store.secretcravingspublishing.com/index.php?main_page=products_all&filter_author=116&zenid=523cd72bb9c450cffaa15b9ace5080b4

On The Menu - Cosmonaut & Pink Lemonade

Cosmonaut
Ingredients:
1 oz. Vodka
½ oz. lime juice
5 oz. cranberry juice
Lime wedge

Combine Vodka, lime juice, and cranberry juice in an ice-filled glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Pink Lemonade

Ingredients:
1¼ oz. Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum
3 oz. cranberry juice
2 oz. club soda
Splash of lemon juice
Orange slice

Combine Rum and cranberry juice in an ice-filled glass. Top with club soda and lemon juice. Garnish with an orange slice. 

Between The Pages - Cowboy's Toughest Ride

Cowboy’s Toughest Ride

By Jeanine McAdam
Secret Cravings Publishing
May 2012

Katie Bliss loves her rodeo bulls and is eking out a living as a stock contractor. Cord McCoy is a bull rider whose pleasures include whiskey and buckle bunnies. Except this season, Cord is tired of carousing and finds himself attracted to the bespectacled and blunt bull owner. After riding Katie’s Gunslinger and almost hurting the animal Katie decides to show this cocky cowboy how to wrap a bull rope. An unplanned part of the demonstration includes McCoy’s tongue in her mouth and a roving hand down her pants. Even though she doesn’t want to be another notch in this cowboy’s belt Katie succumbs to Cord’s charms. Except something like that can never happen again, when Katie confronts Cord, he expresses an interest in pursuing a relationship. Katie’s not sure what to do with her new ‘boyfriend’ until McCoy rides her bull again and hurts the animal this time. Now Cord needs to prove his commitment to the young bull owner with more than just sweet sounding words and fancy fingers.

 Between The Pages of this story is a humorous rodeo love story. A well-written plot with a sensual heat level keeps this book a page-turner. The hero is sexy and the heroine is strong and independent...a great combination to intertwine emotion and conflict. The only downside was that I wanted more from this short story, to see the hero and heroine develop their relationship further.

Review Rating: 4 Stars

Book Promo - Forgiveness

Forgiveness

by AJ Best

http://ajbestwrites.com/

Book Promo - Gini Rifkin

Special Delivery

by Gini Rifkin

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=176_146&products_id=4838

A Writer's Words - Up, Up, and Away

Up, Up, and Away

A Life Without Adventure is No Life At All

By Vicky Decoster

“Adventure without risk is Disneyland.”

 ~Doug Coupland

      I don’t know how it happened. For the past seventeen years, I thought I was residing in suburbia but as it turns out, I’ve quietly been living in a comfort zone. Truth be known, I never used to live this way. I backpacked in the High Sierras during a blizzard; sailed on the Pacific Ocean; and spent the night in a sleeping bag on a cliff in Death Valley. I lived by the mantra that a life devoid of adventure was no life at all.

     Then I became a mother.

     My life became a series of worrisome moments as I became a poster child for the secret organization Overly Protective Mothers United. On a daily basis, my dialogue with my children contained at least three “Watch outs!”; two “Be carefuls!” and one “You’re going to get hurt!” Oh, I still hiked, camped, and sailed with my children—but not in bear country, a desert that has lived up to its name more than once, and in an ocean known for taking human prisoners during sudden storms.

     But now that my children are older and I am on the cusp of what appears to be one of those big birthdays, I have decided that living my life without adventure is no way to live at all.

“Somebody ought to tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit every minute of every day. Do it, I say, whatever you want to do, do it now.” ~Michael Landon

     The opportunity for change finally presented itself one recent evening when my husband came home and casually mentioned one of his co-workers is a licensed hot air balloon pilot.

     “That’s it!” I exclaimed without hesitation. “I want to go on a hot air balloon ride for my birthday.” And with that proclamation, I officially escaped from the confines of my comfort zone.

      My teenagers grinned. “Rock on, Mom!” they said as they high-fived me over the dining room table.

     As they say in the world of hot air balloons, I am now on the list. Because of weather conditions, everything is literally up in the air. I may be riding in a hot air balloon next week or months from now. I can’t wait to soar high above the earth in a tiny basket where I will surely gain a new view of not only the countryside, but more importantly, myself.

     Suddenly, life is not just black and white. It is full of color, excitement, and anticipation. I am going to have another great adventure—and better yet, another entertaining story for the rocking chair one day.

     As this monumental birthday approaches, I am vowing to once again live a life with few regrets and more adventure.

     Stay tuned. It’s going to be a wild ride and that’s exactly how I like it.

© 2011 Vicky DeCoster All Rights Reserved.

Award-winning humor writer Vicky DeCoster is the author of Husbands, Hot Flashes, and All That Hullabaloo! and The Wacky World of Womanhood. Vicky lives in Nebraska with her husband and two children where she is working on her third book of humorous essays. Visit her at www.wackywomanhood.com.