What I'm Reading...

I got this book as soon as it was released and can't believe it's taken me so long to read it. At first, I was working on a deadline so I wouldn't let myself even crack the cover. Then, I'm ashamed to admit this...I put it aside and forgot it. *Bad, Alannah*




Here's the cover and blurb from Julie's website:



PHANTOM'S TOUCH
Signet
ISBN: 0451224906
December 2, 2008

New York Times bestselling author Julie Leto delivers an exciting new novel in her series about brothers who were cursed by Gypsies--and the modern women whose seductive touches are their destinies...

One more movie and Lauren Cole will be free of her role as an action heroine—and of her producer ex-husband...except that he still has her beloved antique sword. Nothing a little breaking and entering can’t fix, but nabbing the weapon unleashes a magic that reignites her love life and puts her in grave danger.

In 1747, Aiden Forsyth stormed a Gypsy village to save his sister, only to fall victim to a powerful spell that has held him captive for more than two centuries. Finally liberated by a sword-wielding beauty, Aiden learns that in the future, all the world’s a stage—and he cannot tell if this maiden’s affections are genuine or naught but an act. But she holds the key to his freedom, so he pledges to do whatever she asks.

Lauren has never needed a protector—until she’s forced to rely on the sexy warrior who has mysteriously appeared in her life. After all, it may be his age-old enemy who is trying to kill her...


I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!!
Peace and Love,
Alannah

"As you're on your journey to success, do remember to enjoy the trip. Stick your head out of the car window, just like a dog does, and let the wind blow through your hair."

Peggy McColl
New York Times Best-Selling Author.

OK, this one made me laugh...not just a little smile on my face at the imagery but downright laugh. Some of you may know that my husband is on medical restriction and can't drive. Since last February, if he goes anywhere, someone else has to take him. And normally that someone is me.

One of the things he does to keep himself occupied is look in bean fields for deer. About a month ago, on the way to work, the windows were frosted over and he couldn't see without rolling his window down. So every time we came to a bean field, he'd roll the window down a few inches then sit up high in his seat, stick his nose almost out the window and look for deer.

He looked just like a dog trying to stick its head out the window!

I laughed so hard I was crying. Of course, he was doing it that way so he didn't roll the window down too far and make me cold. But after my ginormous outburst, his consideration flew out the window at the next bean field and the window went all the way down.

It was worth getting cold though because it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Right up there with the time he saw a friend standing in his yard and as we drove by he knocked on the passenger window to get his attention. ROTFL - Humor helps tremendously!!

Have a great day!!
Peace and Love,
Alannah

What I'm Reading...

I'm a huge fan of Janet Evanovich and especially Stephanie Plum. Normally, I'm at the bookstore on the day the new Plum novel releases, waiting for them to unlock the door and let me in. But this month I had so much going on I was a little late in getting there...like weeks late. But I picked up the new "between-the-numbers" Plum book yesterday and, lucky me, I had to wait for hubby to get off work last night so I got to start it.





Here's the cover and the jacket cover copy from the evanovich.com website:

Turn on all the lights and check under your bed. Things are about to get spooky in Trenton, New Jersey.

According to legend, the Jersey Devil prowls the Pine Barrens and soars above the treetops in the dark of night. As eerie as this might seem, there are things in the Barrens that are even more frightening and dangerous. And there are monkeys. Lots of monkeys.

Wulf Grimoire is a world wanderer and an opportunist who can kill without remorse and disappear like smoke. He's chosen Martin Munch, boy genius, as his new business partner, and he's chosen the Barrens as his new playground

Munch received his doctorate degree in quantum physics when he was twenty-two. He's now twenty-four, and while his brain is large, his body hasn't made it out of the boys' department at Macy's. Anyone who says good things come in small packages hasn't met Munch. Wulf Grimoire is looking for world domination. Martin Munch would be happy if he could just get a woman naked and tied to a tree.

Bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has Munch on her most-wanted list for failure to appear in court. Plum is the all-American girl stuck in an uncomfortable job, succeeding on luck and tenacity. Usually she gets her man. This time she gets a monkey. She also gets a big guy named Diesel.

Diesel pops in and out of Plum's life like birthday cake - delicious to look at and taste, not especially healthy as a steady diet, gone by the end of the week if not sooner. He's an uber bounty hunter with special skills when it comes to tracking men and pleasing women. He's after Grimoire, and now he's also after Munch. And if truth were told, he wouldn't mind setting Stephanie Plum in his crosshairs.

Diesel and Plum hunt down Munch and Grimoire, following them into the Barrens, surviving cranberry bogs, the Jersey Devil, a hair-raising experience, sand in their underwear, and, of course . . . monkeys.

Food For Thought...

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think."

Benjamin Disraeli
1804-1881, British Prime Minister

What I'm Reading...

I have heard nothing but fantastic things about this book and I'm excited to finally get the chance to read it.



Here's the blurb from Amazon:

Do Blondes Have More Fun?

Newly divorced Roxie Treymayne is dying to find out. After years of being the perfect Southern lady, all she ended up with was a cheating husband. So she goes bombshell blond, gets a provocatively placed tattoo, and prepares to live it up as a Bad Girl. But then her mother falls ill...and Roxie is forced to return to Glory, North Carolina.

He'd Love to Know.

Once the town bad boy, Nick Sheppard is now Glory's highly respected sheriff. When the hot blonde he stops for speeding turns out to be formerly prim Homecoming Queen Roxanne Treymayne, Nick doesn't quite know where to look -- though he'd like a much closer one at the tattoo peeking from her shorts.

But It Takes Two to Tango.

Roxie and Nick had a steamy fling in high school, but a love affair between a Southern princess and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks was doomed from the start. Now they have a second chance. Can they get it right? Or will they just end up...the talk of the town?


Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
Peace and Love,
Alannah

Thesaurus Thursday

I love a good play on words....and this is great for Thesaurus Thursday!

From a Blonde.....

Yesterday I had a flat tire on the interstate. So I eased my car over to the
shoulder of the road, carefully got out of the car and opened the trunk. I
took out 2 cardboard men, unfolded them and stood them at the rear of my car
facing oncoming traffic.

They looked so lifelike you wouldn't believe it! They were in trench coats exposing their nude bodies and private parts to the approaching drivers. To my surprise, cars started slowing down looking at my lifelike men. And of course, traffic started backing up.

Everybody was tooting their horns and waving like crazy. It wasn't long before a state trooper pulled up behind me.

He got out of his car and started walking toward me. I could tell he was not a happy camper! "What's going on here?"

"My car has a flat tire," I said calmly.

"Well, what the hell are those obscene cardboard men doing here by the road?"

I couldn't believe that he didn't know. So I told him, "Hellooooo, those are my emergency flashers!"


Happy Thursday!
Peace and Love,
Alannah

Hump Day Humor...

This is too funny! As Paul Harvey would say, now you know the rest of the story....






You're half way through the workweek. Hope the second half is fantastic!
Peace and Love,
Alannah

Food For Thought...

This is kind of long, but it's along the same vein as last week's quote. It's from Nelson Mandela's 1994 Inaugural Speech (although I think he actually got it from Mary Ann Williamson's A Return to Love). Hope you enjoy it!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of the Universe. Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing so enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are born to make manifest the glory of God which is within us. It is not in just some of us, it is in all of us.

And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others."


Let your shine and have a wonderful week!
Peace and Love,
Alannah

What I'm Reading...

Okay, more specifically, what I'm trying to work up the courage to read. Fellow Plotmonkey jungle buddies have already heard about the new Leslie Parrish books. But I wanted to post Leslie's new website here for anyone who might have missed it.

Excerpted from her website: Leslie Parrish is the pseudonym for multi-published, award-winning romance author Leslie Kelly. The author of more than thirty light, sexy contemporary romance novels, her new Leslie Parrish books are an exploration of her second genre love--dark suspense.

I have a few friends who I think will really enjoy the Leslie Parrish books, so I wanted to introduce them to her now.

Here's the link for her new website. And hopefully I'll work up the courage to buy these books - and then actually read them - once they go on sale!

Hope it's a great weekend for everyone!
Peace and Love,
Alannah

Clear Communication

Words are the tools a writer uses to convey a message. This is what happens when pictures are added for clarification:



But, hey, I'm open-minded. If anyone can explain this to me, I'd love to hear the explanation!



Have a fantastic day!
Peace and Love,
Alannah

Hump Day Humor...

A large, powerfully-built guy meets a woman at a bar. After a number of drinks, they agree to go back to his place. As they are making out in the bedroom, he stands up and starts to undress.

After he takes his shirt off, he flexes his muscular arms and says, "See that, baby? That's 1000 pounds of dynamite!" She begins to drool.

The man drops his pants, strikes a bodybuilder''s pose, and says, referring to his bulging thighs, "See those, baby? That's 1000 pounds of dynamite!" She is aching for action at this point.

Finally, he drops his underpants, and after a quick glance, she grabs her purse and runs screaming to the front door.

He catches her before she is able to leave and asks, "Why are you in such a hurry to go?"

She replies, "With 2000 pounds of dynamite and such a short fuse, I was afraid you were about to blow!"



Have a wonderful day!
Peace and Love,
Alannah

Food For Thought...

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it."

Michelangelo Buonarroti
1474-1564, Italian Renaissance Painter and Sculptor


I have always loved this quote and think it's so true. Hope it speaks to one of you, as well. Have a fantastic Tuesday!!!

Peace and love,
Alannah

What I'm Reading....

Santa was very kind to me this year and brought me three new books in my stockings. I started with the one that had a Christmas Theme:



Yule Be Mine, by Jennifer LaBrecque

I really enjoy Jennifer's books. She has a fun, light-hearted voice and she's also a darned nice person. You can hang with Jennifer and her friends, Rhonda Nelson and Vicki Lewis Thompson each weekday at the Soapbox Queens. It's always a lot of fun in the castle and I'm usually hanging around there at some point during the day myself. Maybe I'll see you there.

Here's the info on Yule Be Mine:

This is going to be a Christmas to remember for journalist Giselle Randolph! Especially when she meets her new photographer. Because she'll be working—in very close quarters—with the man she's lusted after for years.
Sexy Sam McKendrick…her former brother-in-law!

Sam's been in love with Giselle from the first moment he met her. Too bad he was married to her sister at the time. But he's not married now…and he's going to make sure Giselle knows how he feels. With a little help from a native shaman, he tunes in to her fantasies…and makes it a point to fulfill every one!

But perfectly taboo sex always has a price. And fantasies can take a guy only so far….


Hope everyone's 2009 is off to a great start!!
Peace and Love,
Alannah