It’s a great Monday!  Why is it a great Monday?  Because I had a wonderful weekend and I only have to work 2 days this week!  Not that I don’t love my job but I love when I’m off too! lol  Today and tomorrow I’ll spend some time with Kris while she’s still in LA.  Hopefully we won’t get into too much trouble!

On Saturday I dragged Kris to a Southern California Blogger/Author get together and we had fun!  We met at the Americana at Brand shopping center and moseyed our way through the 3 story Barnes and Noble there.  Then we all went over to The Cheesecake Factory (where Kris refused to try some of my pumpkin cheesecake!  She totally missed out) and we talked and talked. Then we all gathered in the parking garage as we do and had a book swap/talk fest that lasted quite a while for some of us.  It was a great time!  Of course I forgot my camera and no one else whipped theirs out to get a group picture.  My mom, Judith, did get a picture of Kris eating the lime green hostess snoball that Renee had brought for her.  I’m not sure she liked the pure sugar rush! lol  When I get that picture – I’ll post it.  Let’s see, who was there?  Kris, Renee, Judith, KC, K-Kahn, Wendy, Rachel Jameson, Sabrina Darby, Zoe Archer, me, Vivienne Westlake, Nikki & KB Alan. Can’t wait to do it all again soon!

Oh – here’s a picture of the group that I totally jacked from Kris’s blog (and yes, they waited until I left to do the group photo thing sniff lol).  From left to right – Chris, Jen, Tam & Kris

Yesterday Kris was a brave, brave woman and took my girls to Disneyland!  Poor Kris looked done in when I picked up the kids from her hotel last night.  My kids slept all the way home and then crashed.  It wasn’t easy to get them up for school this morning but it was so worth it.  Until they fell asleep in the car they were talking non-stop. 

Wow those Autopia cars look different from the last time I was there! lol

On Tuesday, November 2nd it was an election day here in America.  I volunteered (although yes, I do get paid a tad bit) to be a pollworker because a friend of mine was short handed for her location.  So Tuesday it was get there at 6am to set up to get the polls open at 7am.  Then the polls stayed open until 8pm and then we cleaned up.  The woman in charge of our location was on the ball and got us all out of there by 9pm which was wonderful.  It was a long, long day sitting in the same spot but it was quite busy so it kept me on my toes. It was interesting to see how the public responded to the election and how they treated the pollworkers.  For the most part people were extremely nice and patient but I have to say there were a few that needed serious attitude adjustments! lol  For me, since I love to people watch, it was a people watchers heaven.  I’d definitely think about doing it again.

Of course I was so tired from Tuesday that my reading got cut way down this week.  I usually do most of my reading at night after the kiddles have gone to bed but I found myself falling asleep not long after they did each night.  I think it was a combo of election day and recovering from SF – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. lol

So what did I read this past week?

First was a book that seemed like it took me forever to read, but it really didn’t.  I started The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook before I left for SF and even read it on the plane.  But once I got to SF I realized that I couldn’t put my full attention into the book – which is what it required.  So I put it away and didn’t pick it back up until I got on the plane to fly home.  I finished it this week and damn it was good!  Meljean Brook’s mind amazes me.    The steampunk world that she built was so great and I kept wanting to read more!  The book centers around a world where England is recovering from the invasion of the Horde.  Mina is an inspector in the police department and she investigates a murder that somehow involves the man they called the Iron Duke.  The Iron Duke was the one who freed the citizens from the Horde’s hold.  The Duke wants Mina but she’s more than resistant for a while – he also gets involved in the murder investigation as the body was found on his doorstep after it had been dropped from the sky.  The story is definitely a romance but there’s such detail about the world and of course the murder investigation that your mind is constantly engaged.  An excellent read.  5 out of 5

Next up was Play of Passion by Nalini Singh.  I kind of choked on my Book Binge reading and reviews last week – aka not reading any – so I tried to catch up this week.  This was another wonderful book in the Psy/Changeling series and one not to be missed.  You can read my review here. 5 out of 5

Next up was The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt.  This is book 2 in the Princes trilogy.  It was the story of an Earl’s daughter and the man who is her land steward.  He’s accused of killing the local sheep in Yorkshire but Georgina doesn’t believe it’s him.  They eventually begin a sexual relationship but he has a problem with her having money and him not having any.  But eventually love conquers all. lol  A good book but I think book 1 is still my favorite of the two so far.  I’ve put a request in for book 3. 🙂  4 out of 5

My next read was for The Book Binge as well – Happily Ever After by Nora Roberts.  This is book 4 of her Bride Quartet series and is Parker and Malcolm’s story.  While I thought it would be a much more romantic story it did end the series nicely.  The relationship between Parker and Malcolm was hot and heavy – fast and furious.  But the book was quite sweet and I enjoyed it.  4 out of 5

Last on the list for the week was, how odd, another book for The Book Binge (I told you I was trying to catch up!).  This one was called Sparring Partners by Leigh Morgan.  It was the story of a billionaire who is directed by his uncle to marry within 72 hours – and not to a model or an actress who are his normal dating partners – but to a real woman.  He finds Reed Mohr and her nutty mixed up family and finds a part of himself that he didn’t know existed.  But can he mix his business with his new family and still be a nice person?  While I didn’t care for the hero in this one for most of the book, I really liked the other characters.  There were some great moments in the book – yes, even with the hero – and it ended up being pretty darned good. 3.75 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted since last Monday:
Quarterback Blitz by Frances Stockton
The Taming of the Wolf by Lydia Dare
Play of Passion by Nalini Singh

Happy Reading!