THINK THIN THURSDAY - a fun snack tip

I've thought for some time that I needed to get back on track with Think Thin Thursdays and had even started this particular blog about a week ago, saving it to post later. My pal Sasha White indicated that she's starting her Thursday Slim Camp blogs up again today so I decided this was a good time to get my extra grande ass back in gear too - solidarity, you know?

I'm sure you've probably all seen the commercials for The Laughing Cow cheeses on television. I think I've mostly seen them on The Food Network - they make the mini Babybel cheese rounds and little individual serving cheese wedges in different flavors. I've recently discovered the Light Swiss wedges, which make an excellent afternoon snack on Reduced Fat Wheat Thins, with pretzels, or on a mini bagel. Don't be put off if you don't like swiss cheese - I don't care for it myself, but I love these. They're so rich and creamy, you would never know that they're only 35 calories, two grams of total fat, 1 gram of sat. fat. The round (eight wedges) is a little over $3. at my grocery store - very reasonable for eight days' worth of snacks - if you can make them last eight days, that is!
So check it out - and let me know how you like it!
Laurie
P.S. - Don't forget the contest that's running until the 30th - scroll down!

Celebrating BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH!

I doubt very much that there's anyone who stops here who hasn't been touched by cancer of some sort. I know my family and friends seem to have had more than their fair share of it. I'm a little late in getting this post up, I know, but better late than never, right?
I wanted to do something to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure, but also wanted to give all of you the chance to benefit too. I finally decided to buy something from the Promise Store on the Susan G. Komen site and offer it up here as a contest. But what to choose? Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to buy one of the beautiful watches or an interesting piece of furniture, but I liked the looks of the Garth Brooks Ultimate Hits album, especially when I saw that $10 from each purchase goes towards the cure. I bought two - one for myself, although I'm not a huge country music fan, I do like a couple of Garth Brooks songs a bunch, and I'm offering one for giveaway here.
Check out the description below and if you're interested, just say so. If you're not a country music fan, you could always gift it to someone who is - gift-giving holidays are just around the corner, you know! Feel free to share your cancer stories if you'd like, but please don't feel pressured to do so - I don't ever want to make anyone uncomfortable here.

I'm going to let this contest run a little longer than usual because I have a couple of reviews that I'm terribly behind on (I have yet to finish both books - yikes) - I'll draw a winning name on Thursday, October 30th. Send a friend and you'll be entered an extra time if they mention your name.
I hope you'll all check out the Susan G. Komen site - if you don't know how this wonderful effort began, read the story on the website - you'll be teary by the time you get to the end, I guarantee. It's a beautiful testament of the love between sisters.
Hugs,
Laurie


Garth Brooks has joined forces with Susan G. Komen for the Cure® in the promise to end breast cancer forever, with the release of the “Pink Edition” of The Ultimate Hits album. The album is a new 3-disc set, and contains 30 classics, 3 new songs and a bonus track on two CDs. The set also includes a DVD with videos for all 33 songs, including new and never-before-seen footage.

AND THE WINNER IS . . .

ddurance! Congratulations! Please email me at ljodamron@gmail.com with your mailing info by Monday evening.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Laurie

NOT a political statement - but we're going to see Hillary Clinton

I commented here a while back that I hate politics - I still hate politics and would never put anything political on my blog. I'll go so far as to say that I'm still very much undecided in the presidential race, still doing my own research and detail-checking - and that's all I have to say about it!

Hillary Clinton is coming to our small city in Ohio this afternoon and Linny and I are going to go hear her speak. I think it will be monumental to see someone who has gone where no other woman has gone before in the political world and who knows, maybe she'll have something to say that will sway me one way or the other.

I hope everyone has a great weekend - don't forget the latest contest - scan down a post or two for details!

Laurie

I'm at Romancing the Blog - please stop over!

I'm the columnist at Romancing the Blog today - I invite everyone to stop by and check it out! Please share your thoughts!
It's Hump Day! The weekend will be here before we know it. They're predicting a high of 59 degrees in my neck of Ohio for the weekend - sweatshirt weather, yay!!
See you at RTB!!
Laurie

Jo Leigh's MS. MATCH - Your chance to win a copy - and more!

Jo Leigh's latest Blaze (from her "The Wrong Bed" series), MS. MATCH, is an excellent romance. While I'm not doing a review because I'm behind on a couple of review obligations for Romance Junkies, I still wanted to give a shout about this book. Sometimes I find books in the Blaze series to be frivolous, with the silliest excuses for characters to have sex (and lots of it!). This book is fluff-free - it has great emotion and steamy passion - a very meaty romance! Ms. Leigh reaches right in and touches your heart with this one.

I'm giving away a copy of MS. MATCH and because I've been cleaning out some series romance that have been collecting in a grocery sack in my closet, I'm going to throw in five other books too, some older/some newer. I'm not posting covers for them or even chatting about them, but I'll name the titles and authors - you can decide if you're interested in them.

Titles/authors:

Heated Rush by Leslie Kelly

Slow Hands by Leslie Kelly

The Player by Rhonda Nelson

In the Flesh by Rita Herron

With the Material Witness in the Safehouse by Carla Cassidy

If you're interested, simply leave a comment saying so - I'll draw a name this Saturday (10/18) in the evening.

I would encourage you to check out Jo Leigh's books - I'm fairly certain that I've read everything she's ever written and there's not a stinker in the bunch!

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Laurie

Suzanne Forster's THE PRIVATE CONCIERGE - celebrating with a giveaway!

UPDATE: Ok, I didn't hear from Deb so I've drawn another name - the new winner is Jen in Wa! Jen, please email me by Weds. I hope everyone has had a great weekend!

The winner of TEASE is deb! Congratulations, Deb! Email me at ljodamron@gmail.com with your mailing info by Sunday evening. Thanks to everyone who stopped by - I loved reading your comments about Suzanne's books. I hope you'll all get a copy of THE PRIVATE CONCIERGE!

Suzanne Forster has a new release, THE PRIVATE CONCIERGE, and while I haven't had time to read my copy yet because of review obligations, early reviews and chatter have been especially good, so I wanted to spread the word - you know how important those early sales numbers are to authors.

A blurb:
L.A.'s rich and powerful rely on Lane Chandler's company, The Private Concierge, to anticipate their every whim…and to guarantee unparalleled discretion. But then one of Lane's celebrity patrons is found murdered in the most undignified manner imaginable. In rapid succession, three other prominent clients become embroiled in separate scandals, thanks to what looks like a security breach of TPC's communications systems.

As word gets out, clients drop Lane like last week's gossip. She's bent on keeping TPC's name out of the papers, but when former police officer Rick Bayless starts nosing around, she has more to worry about than bad PR. Rick knows about Lane's shadowy past, and he's certain she's hiding new secrets. With no other options, Lane must face a dangerous conspirator who knows more about her every move than she does.

Sounds great, don't you think? If you think so, pop over to Amazon and order your own copy!



To celebrate the release of THE PRIVATE CONCIERGE, I'm giving away a copy one of Suzanne's earlier releases, TEASE. If you're interested, leave a comment and you're entered! As always, chatter is encouraged! Let us know if you've read any of Suzanne's work, what's your favorite of her books, etc. - I'll draw the winning name sometime Thursday evening.
Thanks for stopping!
Laurie

Random silliness

I'm catching up on some review reading these days and don't really have anything worthwhile to chat about, but as I carried some clean laundry in my oldest daughter's room last night I spotted her strongman light switch cover and thought you all might get a chuckle out of it. A single friend of mine has one in her apartment and Lindsay always laughed about it. When we went to visit her for a Christmas lunch, she gave Linny one as a gift. At the time, Linny was still in school and couldn't put the cover where her roommate's parents would see it because they would not approve. Which brings us to Trixie . . .

Trixie is a mannequin we picked up at an antique/flea market a few years ago. Trixie has taken up residence in various places throughout our home - the basement, the sunroom, Lindsay's room; she has moved with Lindsay from the dorm room to a rental house to an apartment and now she sits on top of stacked boxes of Lindsay's belongings in our garage. When Lindsay's roommate's parents would come to visit, they would throw a pair of shorts on Trixie. When my friend Carly and I went to visit for Mom's weekend in May, Carly stuck a dollar bill in Trixie's thong - it's still there. Big difference in families, huh? I guess we're just not very sophisticated people!
Does anyone have anyone have any special weekend plans? Will you take a moment to share your whereabouts? Are the leaves in your area beginning to change? Ours have started to change in Ohio and the mornings are nice and crisp - my favorite time of year!
I'll see what I can come up with for a new contest in the next day or two, so stay tuned!
Laurie
xo

BLOGS, TRAILERS, WEBSITES, OH MY! - Please welcome DENISE AGNEW!!

Amazing how lack of electrical power can give a person an idea for a blog.

On Friday this summer the power went off about six o’clock in the morning just as my husband was brushing his teeth. He goes to work early to avoid traffic and to concentrate on his deskwork before many other people get to work.

The phone rang once and the ABS on my Mac starting chirping, which woke me up. I try not to rise early in the morning, but both those sounds jerked might right out of bed. I decided to stay in bed. Soon the persistent bleeping of the ABS and the fact that I was just plain awake gave me an idea. Lack of electricity meant I couldn’t turn on my computer, but I could whip out my handy dandy AlphaSmart and write a blog!

Plus, it made me ponder the days before electricity (being a sometimes-historical-writer, I often ponder lack of electricity). It also made me cogitate on the technology we rely on as writers to promote our work. Most writers these days have websites, and we also blog, use MySpace, Facebook, Shelfari, and an array of other technology to stay current with the world.

Me? I have my website, I blog and this year I broke down and have a My Space page (sorry, I’m not doing the other pages...too much of a time suck for moi.) I’ve also contemplated a trailer for some up and coming books.

Plus, I have a song on my MySpace page called Darling Denise on My Space page by independent music artist Val Emmich. Val contacted me one day to say I could use the song on my website if I wanted. A great marketing tool for us both. (Hey, check out Val on UGLY BETTY. He’s got a recurring roll on there this season.)

So what do you think of technology? How does it help or hurt you? You’ll have two days to comment. I’ll pick one person to receive a trade paperback copy of MEANT TO BE, my contemporary romance from Cerridwen Press.

Thanks to Laurie for allowing me to stop by and say howdy. I invite you to stop by my website, and read all about my latest releases, INTIMATE MOMENTS and WITHIN HIS SIGHT and visit MySpace, and listen to Val Emmich’s song Darling Denise.

Here’s to technology!

Check out what's going on with DENISE AGNEW!

Denise Agnew has two new books out - INTIMATE ALLIANCE and WITHIN HIS SIGHT. Great covers, huh? INTIMATE ALLIANCE is published by Samhain Publishing and combines previous releases MALE CALL and UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER. I haven't read MALE CALL yet, but I have read UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER as well as all of the other books in Denise's Hot Zone series, and I can vouch for them all!
WITHIN HIS SIGHT is new from Liquid Silver Books (to be released in the next few days) and is the first in Denise's new Heart of Justice series. I'm looking forward to reading it!
Denise's characters aren't larger than life or over the top - always realistic and believable - but at the same time, her heroes never fail to be completely capable of taking care of their women and keeping them safe. They simply get the job done. Period. Add steamy, passionate romance and you've got what I consider a well-rounded romantic suspense!

IMTIMATE ALLIANCE:
MALE CALL (2007 PASSIONATE PLUME AWARD WINNER-BEST NOVELLA)
Her sexy letters are his only lifeline in his dangerous world…Eve Carmichael can't take the thought of Reserve army soldier Sean O'Callahan in danger overseas. She hasn't received a letter from him in too many weeks. And oh, how she longs for those flirtatious, hot letters. When Eve receives a letter from Sean saying he's been wounded, her fears are realized. But fate and a little mischievous planning by her friends will serve up the greatest surprise of all.
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER
She wants the adventure of a lifetime and isn't willing to sacrifice it for any man…Archaeologist Fredricka "Freddie" Bodine returns to her hometown for her high school reunion. A single memory is etched deeply on her brain—the high school prom where she shared an emotionally revealing dance with Keith Wallace. All Captain Keith Wallace wants is to keep the girl he loved and lost safe, even if she hates him for it…Keith doesn't want her to travel to Los Diablos, a lawless area he feels in his gut isn't safe, and the place where his sister was killed years ago. As they grapple with exploding passion between them, their battle of wills may just lead them to the truth living in both their hearts.

WITHIN HIS SIGHT:
Women respond to a man's testosterone without any thought…
Tainted by bad memories of past betrayal, Mary Wickes knows getting involved with SWAT team member Dace “Hard Man” Banovic would be a big mistake. Yet working with him for six months at the sheriff's department has proven that her hormones don’t care what she thinks--only what she wants.
Men respond to a woman's softness without any thought…
Dace is puzzled by Mary's avoidance tactics, and although he's tried to ignore the powerful attraction he feels for her, he can't help wanting to learn everything about the woman he's desired for months.
When danger comes, sometimes it takes a special man and woman to see it through to the end…When a hostage situation forces them to confront their fears, Mary and Dace must find the courage to face the feelings they’ve tried so hard to deny.

Check out Denise's website for her booklist, excerpts, purchasing info and where to find her on Myspace!
To celebrate the release of INTIMATE ALLIANCE and WITHIN HIS SITE, Denise is going to be a guest blogger here tomorrow - you're guaranteed lots of fun chatter with her and an exciting giveaway, so be sure to check back!
Thank you, Denise!
Laurie