Lost My Feed Addresses - HELP!

Santa delivered a new notebook computer for me. I know - totally awesome! But there was a catch - transferring all my important information. No real problem because I had a plan. I was going to set up the notebook next to the desktop, send what I could and copy the rest. Unfortunately, on the day I was going to do this the desktop decided to throw a fit and not start.

Not the end of the world because I still had most of my feeds listed in a widget on the sidebar of my blog. That is until tonight when I changed my blog background. My widget with your blog links were lost.

Please help me keep in touch. Leave me a quick hello in the comments so I can visit your blog and add it to my Sage Reader. Thank you so much.

Your Heart Belongs To Me

by Dean Koontz

This was the first real letdown I've had reading a Dean Koontz novel. The book just never took off. Finally, at page 200 I began to be interested, but interest was soon replaced with the 'ho hums.'

A very disappointing book.

The Firemaster's Mistress

by Christie Dickason

This was a beautifully written, immensely satisfying novel set in Jacobean England after Queen Elizabeth I's death and in the early years of the reign of James I. At the heart of the story is the conflict between religion. Many of the people want to be able to worship as they and their forefathers had done for years, as Roman Catholics. Even though King James promised to be tolerant of those with beliefs different from the Anglican Church, he became less tolerant with each year he was King.

Thus the stage is set for a handful of desperate men who devise a treasonous plot to assassinate the king and all of Parliament by blowing up Whitehall with gunpowder. The plot was foiled by an anonymous letter. Today November 5, known as Guy Fawkes Day, is celebrated in many nations because the king was saved.

The main characters of this historical novel are Kate Peach and Francis Quoynt. Kate lost her family to the plague and makes gloves for a living. Francis is a firemaster who wishes only to make fireworks, but who is drawn into a world of espionage and treachery. His life as a spy puts both Kate and his father's lives in peril.

As I mentioned earlier, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The time period was a new one for me and I learned many interesting bits of history as they were richly woven into a fascinating story. I did some internet delving to learn more and to answer some of my questions, such as, why wasn't James I a protestant if his mother was Queen Mary of Scotland, a Catholic?

I also needed to know if Dickason had written anything else as I am most eager to read more of her work. My search was rewarded. She has also written a second novel The Princepessa set in Jacobean England that feactures Francis Quoynt. Oh, YAY! I am thrilled to be able to continue reading about Francis and his plight at the hands of Robert Cecil, Secretary of State to King James. It's on order - Merry Christmas to me! Dickason has also written a trilogy that begins with The Lady Tree, which is a 17th centruy romantic financial thriller based on a real but incredible 17th century craze for speculating in tulip bulbs. I have already ordered that first book as the title and subject matter are appealing to me and I am quite besot with Dickason's writing.

Check out Christie Dickason's website to learn more about her and her books. Let me say, too, that I think Harper's selection of historical novels is wonderful. I've read several (5 or 6) and have enjoyed everyone. I'm going to pay attention to books that have that little red seal in the lower right corner of the cover.

The Tenth Case

by Joseph Teller

The number one advise I hear for writers is to write about what you know. That's what Teller has successfully done. He was a criminal lawyer for 35 years before retiring and writing his first novel featuring defense lawyer Harrison J. Walker, better-known as Jaywalker.

The Tenth Case is a top-notch debut with the second in the Jaywalker series planned for release in 2009. That is very good news to me. I thoroughly enjoyed this court drama, meeting the intense Jaywalker, learning so much more about court 'footwork' than I already knew, and wondering clear to the end of the book who the guilty party was.

There were two main characters: Jaywalker and the case, more than the woman, he was defending. I found Jaywalker to be very likable. He is excellent at his job, preparing and working out every wrinkle that may present itself in court. He is obsessive in his desire to win each case, but he's also willing to put in the time to do so.

As the book begins Jaywalker has just been suspended for using "creative" tactics and receiving "gratitude" in the courtroom stairwell from a client charged with prostitution. He convinces the judge to let him complete ten of his cases. It's his last case that truly tests his abilities - and his acquittal record.

The tenth case is defending a young , petite and sexy woman accused of stabbing her 61-yr-old, billionaire husband. The major part of the book deals with Jaywalker's methods in solving this case with it's overwhelming evidence against the defendant. We learn much about Jaywalker as he deals with the ups and downs, the twists and turns, and the defending of such a case.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves mystery, court drama, and good writing. This is an author you are going to be hearing good things about. I think he'll be in the bestseller category real soon.

Sisters of Misery

by Megan Kelley Hall

I picked this book off the shelf on Halloween day so I could get a little dose of 'SPOOKY' this season. It was a good choice.

Hall's first YA mystery/thriller is set in a small town near Salem, Massachusetts with witch stories to rival those of Salem. There are the 3 faces of the Pickering sisters who keep mysteriously showing up on the Insane Asylum's wall even though it's been plastered and rebricked.

Maddie doesn't believe in witches, but she still won't look at the pictures. She begins to question their authenticity after her beautiful, but eccentric cousin moves in with her family. Her close girls friends don't like Maddie's cousin and try to make things miserable for her.

The title of the book comes from an agreement that select, popular girls make on the Island of Misery. This sisterhood is older than their mothers and grandmothers. The big question is how far is Maddie willing to go to protect her claim to the sisterhood.

I wasn't sure I was going to like this book when I started reading. It was obviously aimed at a high school/college age group and there was the regular bits about not feeling as good as the other popular girls, along with the problems of mother/daughter relationships. Once the cousin and her mother enter the picture the book becomes more intense. The story builds upon unanswered questions, devious schemes, mysterious people, and hidden secrets - very gothic and good. I am anxiously looking forward to the next installment of the Sisters of Misery.