I'm not old, I'm vintage!

VERY vintage! I'm a half century old today. Because I (mostly) don't feel that old, I've decided to declare instead that I'm starting on the second half century of my life! No special plans to celebrate. I'll be working all day and then going to a local pub for half price appetizers and maybe a beer, more likely a Diet Coke, with the girls and my mom.
A quick Google search indicated that Alaska, Barbie and Legos turn 50 this year too. When I mentioned this to my best friend and asked why Barbie has held up better than me, she said "Well, I think you and Barbie could be sisters." I'm not going to dissect that, but think there's a compliment there somewhere! Hey, the way I look at it she could have said "Well, your ass is the size of Alaska!"
Tomorrow I'm going to Athens in southeastern Ohio with Lindsay and my best friend Carla for "Boogie on the Bricks" - more about that in a post tomorrow. It should be a great time and I'm looking forward to it.
I hope everyone has a great day and a terrific weekend! As always, please be careful if you're out on the road.
Laurie

AND THE WINNER IS . . .

Comment #13 - Robyn L! I asked Kelsey for a number between 1 and 25 - my regrets to all non-winners, but thank you all for stopping by and taking time to comment! Congrats, Robyn! Please email me at ljodamron@gmail.com with your mailing info so I can get your books out! If I don't hear from Robyn by Monday, I'll have Kelsey give me another number.
Laurie

HEY STRANGERS! (sneaking in a giveaway)

I hope everyone had a great week last week and that the weekend is treating you right! We were on vacation all last week and while we didn't go anywhere far away, we kept busy enough that the week flew by in a blur. Back to work tomorrow, which totally sucks.
Last Sunday we went to Cincinnati to watch the Reds get absolutely creamed by the Cardinals. That beating was nothing compared to the beating they took a night or two later though, the poor guys. They've won their last couple of games though, which has to be a bit of a balm for them.
Monday morning Tim and I went to pick red and black raspberries. We froze some, ate some, and I made a one egg cake w/berries that was beautiful and yummy!
We spent took the Jet Express out of Port Clinton and went to South Bass Island for a day. We always have fun there. Spent time at Put-In-Bay, rented a golf cart to buzz around the island, went in some shops and sat by the water. Lake Erie is so beautiful these days - especially compared to the toxic disaster it was about 35 years ago.
On Friday we rented a pontoon boat at our local state park and took my mom, my best friend and her mom out for the day. It was incredibly hot, but there was a decent breeze on the water so we didn't suffer too much! We took picnic foods, sang the theme from Gilligan's Island (all but Tim, who laughed at our silliness), and we did word puzzles, read books and put our feet up while those who wanted (no thank you!) fished off the sides. It was a perfect day.
One thing I did that stretched out all week long was READ! I have reviews to write, review books to read, but did I touch them? Guiltily, I did not. I dipped into my TBR pile and devoured five books - I was on a serious romantic suspense kick. The books I read were:

• Brenda Novak's TRUST ME and STOP ME - I've put WATCH ME on my birthday wish list, but will have to add the next three in the series too, releasing in August, September and October - THE PERFECT COUPLE, THE PERFECT LIAR, and THE PERFECT MURDER. The first two books in this series are excellent and I'm looking forward to the rest!
• Bella Andre's WILD HEAT - the second in this series, HOT AS SIN, will be coming out in October and I absolutely cannot wait!
• Jo Davis's UNDER FIRE, which follows TRIAL BY FIRE, both excellent. UNDER FIRE has a virgin hero, which was a first for me and I have to admit that while I looked forward to reading it (I've had it since the week it released, some time ago), I also dreaded it just a tad The whole virgin issue was nicely, sensually written. Next in this series is HIDDEN FIRE, and I am especially looking forward to it!
• Cheyenne McCray's MOVING TARGET, which was enjoyable, but honestly? It wasn't anything spectacular.

I'm not keeping many books these days, having taken about six copy paper boxes crammed full to the library two weeks ago for their Friends of the Library annual sale, and I've decided to do a giveaway here for these five. It'll be up to you to check them out to determine if you're interested in them, I'm not taking time to put up any additional information. Now keep in mind that I've read these books so they're not pristine. They are clean but I'm pretty certain that all of the spines have creases and there are probably a couple of page corners w/fold lines. Sorry, but when I read a book I like to dig in and don't like worrying about being gentle, unless the book belongs to someone else, in which case I'm respectful and careful! If you're interested in these five books, simply leave a comment saying so. If you want to talk about your vacation plans, recent reads, etc., feel free! I'll draw a name on Thursday. Given the comments, I think I need to clarify here that the giveaway is for ALL FIVE books. If you're the winner and don't want a particular book or two, feel free to say so and I'll draw another name for them. I hope to have reviews for MATING GAME by Janice Maynard and DOUBLE PLAY by Jill Shalvis sometime this week, followed by a handful of Romance Junkie review books and Karin Tabke's MASTER OF CRAVING. No rest for the wicked, huh?
Have a great week!
Laurie

Happy July 4th!!

Anyone have big plans for the holiday weekend? We'll be taking in our local parade, good wholesome fun, and then we're going to a cookout at my cousin's house this evening - I love getting out my stars and stripes platters and bowls!

My office was closed yesterday, which was especially nice, and tomorrow we're going to Cincinnati to watch the Reds play St. Louis. We haven't been to a Reds game for several years so we're really excited. Top all of that off by being on vacation next week and life's pretty good right now!

Have a great holiday, everyone! Please be careful if you're out on the road and whatever you do, don't drink and drive!

Laurie

TAILS OF LOVE Winner!!

No kids home tonight to give me a number or draw a name so I drew the name myself, and the winner is SANDI! Yay, Sandi - congratulations! You're going to love TAILS OF LOVE - and it comes with the cutest book thong made by Carolyn Dietsch from Lori Foster's Bookjunkie group. Carolyn makes these every year for the "benefit book" - this year she came with over 200 of them. Please contact me with your mailing info by Monday, Sandi, so I can get your book in the mail - ljodamron@gmail.com .

Thanks to everyone for your fun pet stories - I loved readin them! Booklover, it's so good to have you here - I hope you'll be a frequent visitor!

Vacation plans, anyone?

We're spending yet another vacation week (next week) mostly at home this year. Kids in college and cutbacks at Hub's work have forced us to cut back too.

We honeymooned in Gatlinburg (many, many moons ago) and returned to the Smoky Mountains for vacation almost annually for several years, even after we had the girls. A trip to Myrtle Beach was enough to hook us on the beach and we went there for several consecutive years. Sometimes we would venture on down to Charleston, SC and from there to Savannah. It's always obvious who are locals and who are visitors when you head that far south because the visitors are the ones who are red-faced, chugging water, and miserably wet with perspiration, while the locals are going about their business, dry and happy as can be. Another year we stayed someplace different every night for the week of our vacation - Mammoth Cave in KY, Graceland, the Gibson guitar factory and Beale Street in Memphis, The Hermitage in Nashville, a night in Gatlinburg, and lastly, the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC. Not very relaxing for Hub, who is our designated driver, but great fun for the girls and I!

We visited Niagara Falls a couple of years ago and had a fun time there, but it just wasn't the same as our preferred trips to the beach. I did go in a casino for the very first time there though, and that was sooo fun - I can see how gambling is addictive for some. I was certain that the next pull of the arm on the slot machine was going to be the lucky one - every single time!

I grew up in a camping family and my parents would plan year-long for two week camping vacations every summer. I've been to 40 states as a result of those trips and have so many unforgettable memories. These days I'm admittedly NOT a camper, but I still love to plan vacations and travel the highways. Funny thing, no matter where we go or for how long, I love to get back home!

One thing about being smack-dab in the middle of Ohio is that you can drive about two hours in almost any direction and be in another state. I think we'll be taking some "day trips" next week that might take us to the aquarium in Newport/Cincinnati, maybe to Lake Erie for an overnight stay, and the remaining days will be spent in leisure at home. Hub's employer has a gorgeous recreation facility for their associates that includes a beautiful pool - odds are pretty good that we'll be spending a couple of days at the pool, lounging in the sun and dripping water on our paperbacks. Not quite the same as being poolside w/an ocean view, but relaxing just the same.

So what are your vacay plans? Anyone have any exciting trips planned? How many of you are forced to downsize your trips for now, just like the Damrons?

Welcome, KARIN TABKE!

Karin Tabke is guest blogging today, celebrating with us the release of her latest novel, MASTER OF CRAVING, available now from your favorite bookseller! This is the third in Karin's Blood Sword Legacy series and I seriously hope that you'll all check it out!
Karin will be here to chat about her work - backlist, current and future releases included, and anything else that pops up, and will be taking your questions! No reasonable question will be refused! At the end of the day, Karin will be choosing one winner to receive their choice of a copy of JADED or a copy of MASTER OF SURRENDER (first in the Blood Sword Legacy) - good luck to all!
I would remind everyone that Karin is in California, so those of us who are up and cracking with the early birds on the East coast and in the midwest, we'll have to be patient as we wait for her to get here!
Welcome, everyone, and a big welcome to Karin!!

Guest blogger Thursday, July 2nd, KARIN TABKE!

Karin Tabke is guest blogging this Thursday, July 2nd, to celebrate her latest release, MASTER OF CRAVING, available now from your favorite bookseller! This is the third in Karin's Blood Sword Legacy series.

Romantic Times says:
"Tabke's alpha heroes and strong-willed women captivate. Her third Blood Sword Legacy novel is a powerful battle-of-wills love story that resonates with the atmosphere of the era and simmering passion, betrayals and politics that add depth to a stirring tale."
I've read the previous two books in this series and both were top-notch. Sadly, I haven't read MASTER OF CRAVING yet, but it's going to the pool with me while I'm off work next week. I have yet to be disappointed with any of Karin's work and highly recommend her to all romance readers with no hesitation.
A blurb about the series:
Eight mercenary knights, each of them base born, each of them bound by unspeakable torture in a Saracen prison, each of them branded with the mark of the sword for life. Each of their destinies marked by a woman.
‘Twas whispered along the Marches the demon knights who rode upon black horses donned in black mail wielding black swords would slay any man, woman or child who dared look upon them. ‘Twas whispered their loyalty was only to the other and no man could split them asunder, nor was there enough gold or silver in the kingdom to buy their oath. ‘Twas well known each of them was touched not by the hand of God but by Lucifer himself.
‘Twas also whispered, but only by the bravest of souls, that each Blood Sword was destined to find only one woman in all of Christendom who would bear him and only him sons, and until that one woman was found, he would battle and ravage the land...
…but the darkest secret whispered was that there was one among them whose violent craving for the one woman he could not have would be the spark that would set an entire region on fire, and nearly bring down a kingdom, with the aftermath to be felt for the next thousand years.
Want a delicious excerpt? Seriously now, if it doesn't make you want to snatch this one up, I don't know what will!
I hope you'll all take a sec and put MASTER OF CRAVING on your bookstore shopping list. If your bookseller doesn't have a copy on the shelf - please ask them to order it in for you - we need to make sure they know the authors that we're wanting to read. Sometimes they just need a little nudge! And here's a link to Amazon for all of you who want to put a copy in your cart!
Be sure to stop back Thursday - Karin's going to answer your questions (reserving the right to ignore any that are too personal!), and she's generously offering a copy of JADED or MASTER OF SURRENDER to one lucky reader, so get your questions ready! I would note that Karin is on PT, so those of us in between the east coast and California will have to be patient for her to get here!
Laurie

JILL'S WINNER IS . . .

Pam P.! I'm sorry to be late on this one - we had a tag sale yesterday and what a lot of work those are. I was reminded of why we hadn't had one in the past oh, say, 12 or 13 years. I've just had Kelsey give me a name between 1 and 28 and (in between bites of Fruity Pebbles) she said "17" - congrats, Pam! Please contact me at ljodamron@gmail.com with your mailing info and two or three titles from Jill's backlist by Wednesday evening. I'll pass your info on to Jill and your book will come directly from her.
Thanks to everyone who played - I loved all of the comments. It looks like Jill's blog brightens all of our days!
Laurie

TAILS OF LOVE - want to win an autographed copy?

This year's "benefit" book at Lori Foster and Dianne Castell's Reader/Author Get Together, was TAILS OF LOVE, a ten author (Lori Foster, Stella Cameron, Kate Angell, Dianne Castell, Ann Christopher, Marcia James, Donna MacMeans, Sarah McCarthy, Patricia Sargeant, and Sue-Ellen Welfonder) anthology benefitting the AAF (Animal Adoption Foundation) in Hamilton (near Cincinnati), Ohio. I bought an extra copy for giveaway here and was able to have it autographed by all of the contributing authors.
If you're interested in this signed copy, simply leave a comment and you'll be entered in the draw. Because these are charming little stories about pets of all shapes and sizes, if you'd like to tell us about your pet(s) past and/or present, feel free! Send a friend over who mentions you in their comment and I'll give you an extra entry! I'm going to let this one run a while and will draw a winning name on July 3rd.
Here's a blurb for TAILS OF LOVE:
Ten all-new stories that celebrate our animal friends, by bestselling and award-winning authors. All Author and Agent proceeds from sales of the book will benefit the AAF - Animal Adoption Foundation - a no-kill animal shelter in Hamilton, Ohio. From Seeing Eye dogs to the cat who cuddles in your lap, animals are there for us in more ways than we can count. Helping us get through the day with a wag of the tail and a tilt of the head, they let us know that someone is on our side—no matter what. They also have an amazing ability to break down barriers between people; bringing families and loved ones closer, and giving strangers an excuse to strike up a conversation. In Tails of Love, each writer draws from her own unique perspective on our loyal friends—exploring the many mysterious ways they bring love into our lives.
Go here - TAILS OF LOVE - to watch a fun video, read an excerpt, and for ordering information. Thanks!
Laurie