Today our son, Bart, is 26! Happy Birthday, Bart. His lovely wife, Lea, had us over last week to celebrate his birthday. She cooked a delicious dinner and I made carrot cake - everything on the menu was Bart’s favorite. It was fun watching Amanda play games on their Wii with different family members. I want to get one - maybe this next Christmas!

I enjoyed work today because it was the last day of this scoring project. I want to get busy on finishing writing my Christmas story for an anthology. I also need to declutter the basement. This time it was a pilot test project for Washington so we were able to train, score, and evaluate each set. We also made suggestions for the rubric guidelines so hopefully the tests will be ones the students understand what is expected of them and it will be easier to score the tests with revised rubrics. I never worked on a pilot before so it was interesting.
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A Review of Your Place or Mine by Stephanie:
Rating: 4 Stars
Craver pens a feisty contemporary tale of dating and falling in love with “Your Place or Mine.” Blake Smith is in the market for a house. So is Sydney Smith, no relation to Blake. Imagine their surprise when the realtor schedules them to seethe house together. Can Blake and Sydney work out a win-win situation?

Blake Smith is a widower with a young son who is looking to move into a house. Sydney is single and looking for a change. She decides to buy a house. The realtor mistakes them for being married and invites them to see the house at the same time.

Blake and Sydney make the best of the situation, since the house is a duplex. However, there’s no denying the chemistry between the two. Blake proposes they each move into one side of the duplex.

Sydney hardly knows Blake and has some reservations, especially when she knows she wants to kiss him senseless. She proposes a set of rules for her and Blake should they go through and buy the house. Blake stresses he wants a platonic relationship and agrees to the rules. Can Blake and Sydney keep the sparks at bay once they move in together?

Craver’s writing is crisp and spot on. The dialogue is modern and witty. The plot flows smoothly and keeps the reader cheering for Blake and Sydney. The writing alludes to a deeper premise - when you meet the one you’re going to spend the rest of your life you just “know.”

The story is sophisticated for readers. Craver’s love scenes are graphic and tasteful. Overall, “Your Place or Mine” is a nice romantic getaway.

BUYING LINKS:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/18253
http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/your-place-or-mine/11722097
http://www.amazon.com/Your-Place-or-Mine-ebook/dp/B003UV8ZHQ/
http://barnesandnoble.com/

I enjoyed escaping recently to Canada, Idaho, and New York. I managed to visit all these scenic and action packed locations within a few short days. I know – it seems hard to believe that I could make these trips so quickly. I did it by reading about the thrilling lives of tracker, Stacey Parker and hostage rescuer, Cord McConnell. Rebecca Vickery writes about these two memorable characters in her book, Surviving with Love. Great secondary characters add to the richness of the story.

You’d think a tough ex-military guy, like McConnell, could handle the petite tracker, but it’s a lost cause from the moment they meet. Both were hired to find two young boys taken hostage by dangerous criminals. Although Stacey’s tracking skills impress Cord, he’s also attracted to her physically and emotionally. Stacey’s a sassy, smart, tough and sweet woman with amazing outdoor skills. Even though Stacey doesn’t like Cord bossing her around on the Canadian trail to find the boys, she falls hard for him anyhow. Not only does she have to protect herself from the kidnappers, but also from her lustful and romantic feelings for Cord. The dialogue between these two characters is so much fun to read.

If this book should be made into a movie, I’d cast Reese Witherspoon as Stacey. Of course, her hair color would need to be changed to strawberry blonde. A possible actor for Cord’s role might be Gerald Butler. He’s tough but compassionate at the same time.

I highly recommend Surviving with Love, but only if you enjoy reading the following in a novel: explosive sexual tension between the hero and heroine, an action plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat, a developing romance between two strong-willed individuals, dynamic dialogue, and last but not least, feeling the experience of tracking criminals in a wilderness. I hope you read this outstanding book, you won’t be disappointed.

click here to buy from Amazon Kindle for only $3.99! For paperback, click here! To purchase at Smashwords, click here!
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CONTEST for Creative Writer Blogger Award: Don’t forget I’ll be drawing a lucky winner on Monday morning. You don’t have to be correct about which one is the lie. If you left a comment, you’ll be entered.

REMINDER: If you’ve left a comment on any posts for the week, your name is entered for the drawing on Saturday morning. The winner gets Shawna’s brand new release, No Other and a pair of freshwater pearl earrings!

Here is my review of Shawna’s book, No Other:

No Other by Shawna K. Williams has a rich cast of memorable characters. I instantly felt empathy for Jakob Wilheimer as he goes back to high school where he had left three years earlier to take care of his younger siblings. Once his wronged parents are able to return from the internment camp, he can resume his education. One problem – his teacher is Meri Parker, a former schoolmate. The teacher-student relationship becomes complicated with Jakob falling in love with Meri.

As his love deepens for his teacher, he feels compassion for Meri’s unpleasant situation with her parents. They don’t seem to care for Meri but just are interested in their status in the political and upper class world. In spite of her corrupt parents, Meri is a decent and caring young woman. However, she doesn’t hold the same Christian values as Jakob, but he’s not judgmental and has unconditional love for her. He’s sweet when he invites her to attend Bible studies with him. When Jakob does something he regrets, I felt this made his character more realistic because Christians aren’t perfect and make mistakes. Readers will relate on a deep level to Jakob’s personal struggles.

There are many big moments that touched my heart. One that especially did happens in the deserted farmhouse Jakob’s family lost. During this important scene, we see the joys and laughter Jakob shared with his family in their beloved home. Meri tells Jakob how awful her father treated her. She was robbed of her first career dream by her cruel father.

Shawna Williams brilliantly stirs profound emotions throughout No Other. It’s filled with wonderful drama, romance, and history. I highly recommend No Other. I’m looking forward to reading her sequel, In All Things, in November.

Beautiful weekend - I loved the weather. It started off great because I got paid on Friday from my scoring job - first paycheck for this project. I treated my hubby and our two daughters to dinner at O’Charley’s on Saturday night. We thought about going on Friday but I was too tired. Our supervisor always says, “Score like the wind.” I scored 978 tests in one day and they were 4 pointers. I wish I could write as fast as I score. I need to write like the wind! I can do it. I get distracted easily but I’m going to try and stay focused and use my time wisely.

Rebecca Vickery posted a wonderful review about my inspirational romance, Marrying Mallory this past weekend.

Rating: 5 Twists

Review: (link to review and Rebecca’s great blog. http://www.rebeccajvickery.blogspot.com
She has other book reviews posted.)

Author Diane Craver dealt with several difficult topics in Marrying Mallory with flair, tact, and scripture while telling an interesting story of sweet romance.

The topic of divorce was particularly difficult for the heroine, Mallory, a true believer in the “till death do us part” vows she had taken when she married. Add to that her desire to have cosmetic surgery as well as falling for her plastic surgeon and Mallory is nose deep in problems. A five year-old son, two meddling best friends, and a new romance for her mother complicate her life even more. Ms. Craver reveals Mallory’s doubts and confusion plus her never failing belief as she resolves these problems and attempts to move forward with her life.

Ms. Craver’s style of writing impressed me with her believable dialogue, realistic characters, and ability to wrap up all the problems for her characters in a limited number of pages.

I look forward to reading more books by Diane Craver.

HAPPY MONDAY and will definitely have a hottie this week for you to drool over.

Celia Yeary wrote a blockbuster of a story. Marilee Weston is a larger than life character. I was stunned with how she survived at such a young age when abandoned by her father. She was only fourteen years old when her father’s friend raped her. Marilee’s reserved father takes her to an isolated place to live and to give birth to a baby girl. He never visits her or gives her any love. He blames her for his friend’s assault. Marilee is filled with warmth, strength, savvy and soft–heartedness. I felt like I was in Texas because of Yeary’s descriptions of the scenery. Buck Cameron is a vibrant and wonderful hero. There are several secondary characters that add to the richness of this book.

I highly recommend this historical western romance. I’m looking forward to reading future books by this author. If you’d like to learn more about Celia Yeary’s writing, visit her blog and website.

BLURB:

She wasn’t a fit mother…
So said the county judge who hired Buck Cameron to retrieve his little daughter. But when Buck finally locates the pretty mother and child, he finds the claim very hard to believe. Now, he faces a dilemma. Should he obey the order? Or should he defy the judge and rescue Marilee and her child from isolation?

She’d been banished…
Rejected and abandoned by her father, Marilee Weston used the pain of betrayal to survive. Now, she needs a way out of the forest, where she and her daughter had lived for five years. But the towering pines and fear of the unknown imprisoned her. How could she begin a new life for herself and five-year-old daughter? Will the alluring stranger free her, or prove to be even more dangerous?

(276 pages) Spicy
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press - Click here to buy!