MURDER AT THE PTA - Laura Alden

From the back of the book: Single mom Beth Kennedy gets a lot more than she bargains for when she becomes the PTA secretary-----and discovers a killer is running rampant in her small town....

As the owner of a children's bookshop in the quaint town of Rynwood, Wisconsin, and a mother of two, Beth Kennedy has a full plate. So when her best friend, Marina, asks her to become the secretary for Tarver Elementary School's PTA, Beth can think of better ways to occupy what little free time she has. But after some arm-twisting (Marina's favorite activity), Beth agrees to come on board.

The course of PTA meetings never has run smoothly, but when Tarver's unpopular principal turns up dead, Beth realizes that making bake sales wheat-free and funding class trips weren't the only things on the agenda. Then the local gossip blog, WisconSINS, starts fanning the flames of speculation, and it seems like everyone is a suspect----especially certain members of the PTA. Beth knows she must race to find the killer before he teaches another fatal lesson....

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I had high hopes for this after reading a review from trusty reviewer harstan, but I didn't get a whole lot of enjoyment out of this cozy. I think mostly a lot of characters to contend with, characters I didn't care too much about, even the murder victim had it comin'. There were a lot of little bits of info thrown in that didn't seem to have too much to do with the progress of the story.

It may also have been the inane blog that has the small town abuzz and the friend that gets Beth into more than she can deal with as a single mom. I may have been projecting, though. I don't have a lot of tuck with anyone, female or otherwise, who butt in and try to get me to do more than I am willing to put forth.

I did finish the book and may give the next in series, FOUL PLAY AT THE PTA, a chance. It looks to be a stronger tale with a more interesting premise. The book won't go to the 'must get' section of WWBL, but it will be on the WWBL.

Three meh beans....

EVIL WAYS: A Morris and Chastain Investigation - Justin Gustainis

From the back of the book: Supernatural investigator Quincey Morris and his partner, "white witch" Libby Chastain, are each in pursuit of a vicious killer. One is murdering small children for their bodily organs; the other is hunting down white witches----and Libby may be next. Along a trail that leads from Iraq to Turkey, to the US, all clues point to crazed billionaire Walter Grobius, a man obsessed with harnessing the ultimate evil. Morris and Chastain, teamed with the deadly Hannah Widmark, must fight desperately to stop a midnight rendezvous between forces so powerful that the fate of the world may be at stake. And the clock is ticking.....

*************************************

EVIL WAYS is a fab mixture of grim and humor, just the way I like my UF. A little snark, a lotta magical mayhem. And the good guys to step in and stomp on Evil after proving to the nonbelievers that Evil, magical Evil, exists and it needs eradicating.

I had a difficult time with an aspect of the story, the child mutilations and murders. It was handled as well as could be expected and I kind of skimmed those.

This is one of the best UF series out there. Justin Gustainis adds these neat little touches thoughout the book. Like the mention of Harry Dresden when Morris and Chastain reach Chicago as well as meeting in Mac's pub that Harry likes to frequent.

Or that news reporter in Chicago, Carl, is mentioned. A reporter who investigates supernatural stories when his boss isnt' sending him out to cover flower shows. Could this be Kolchak?

Black witch, Christine Abernathy, mentioned....she died of snake poison, but no snakes anywhere....from BLACK MAGIC WOMAN. *shudder*

I do love this series and can't wait to read the third, SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL. As well as really anything that Justin writes. http://www.justingustainis.com/ to keep up with his goin's on.

Five Evil stompin' beans.....

THE MISSING INK: A Tattoo Shop Mystery - Karen E. Olson

From the back of the book: Brett Kavanaugh is a tattoo artist and owner of the Painted Lady, catering to high-profile clients in Las Vegas. But in her free time she does a little investigating too, because murder really gets under her skin.....

When a girl makes an appointment to get devotion ink with the name of her fiance embedded in a heart, Brett takes the job, but the girl never shows. The next thing Brett knows, the police are looking for her mysterious client...and the name this woman wanted on the tattoo isn't her fiance's.

An alliance with an unlikely partner leads Brett to a dead body, a suave Englishman, and Elvis karaoke bar. And who is the tattooed stranger stalking her? Brett draws lines between the clues, unwittingly putting herself in danger. But she intends to see justice done, since death, like a tattoo, is permanent.

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Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!! I have another favorite series! One I that's on the next order email to Cynthia and read in order all the books in the series (and possibly back-to-back) ASAP.

The premise is very cool, a tattoo artist in Las Vegas and the way she gets drawn into the mystery solving is believable. That last part is always huge player for me, almost as much as getting into the story and feeling connected to the characters.

And the characters make up a whole bunch of the book's charm.

I soooo wish I could get my next tattoo at Painted Lady on my next visit to Vegas. No flash tattoos, all original art. Perfection.

Please read this series, if you haven't started already. As soon as I get the next in series, they are on the nightstand, in the purse, quickly read.

Five sparkly original art diamonds.....

Blooms on Sunday - 28 Aug 2011

The season is winding down. It's been smokin' hot, in the mid to upper 90s the last several weeks and not much that we'd call rain and the plants are showing it. Still some going strong, though....The sunflower getting some bee lovin'... And getting heavy with seeds to make the critters jump for joy...

The ten cent rescue geranium is happily blooming

Lady K hookin' up the front patio containers with some much needed moisture

And now we have a rogue canteloupe to go with the rogue pumpkin in the veggie garden

Guilty Pleasure Flick Saturday - Major League

Oh, how I adore this Guilty Pleasure Flick! Released in 1989 and starring Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernson, Wesley Snipes, a not-yet-bonkers Charlie Sheen, the gorgeous Renee Russo in her first film role, and one of my favorite voices in movies and TV, James Gammon.

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From Amazon.com

A baseball comedy and slob comedy rolled into one, this one actually works as entertainment, if not as a piece of cinematic mastery. James Gammon is the has-been manager hired to lead the last-place Cleveland Indians whose owner wants them to lose so she can sell them. But the team of has-beens and never-wases that he assembles (including Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, and Wesley Snipes) develops a sense of pride and turns the team around. There's plenty of rowdy humor about sex, race, and whatever else they can make fun of. Look for Rene Russo (in her first film role) as Berenger's romantic interest; Snipes also had his first showy role as Willie Mays Hayes, the team's base-stealing ace. --Marshall Fine

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Probably my most favorite scenes in the flick is when Charlie Sheen's character, Ricky 'Wild Thing' Vaughn, steps out of the pitchers' dugout during the pivotal playoff game against a powerhouse team and especially against a player he's had issue with in a past game. He's nervous, yet steps out as confidently as possible and the stadium bellows out the tune 'Wild Thing' The whole stadium goes nuts, stomping, cheering, yelling. It raises the hair on my arm (and the speaker volume on the TV) each and every time...

Favorite lines (thank you IMDB.com):

Harry Doyle: In case you haven't noticed, and judging by the attendance you haven't, the Indians have managed to win a few here and there, and are threatening to climb out of the cellar.

++++++++++++++

Jake Taylor: That's my wife...

Willie Mays Hayes: Does she know that?

Jake Taylor: Well, she would've been if I hadn't screwed it up... who's that guy she's with?

Willie Mays Hayes: I don't know. He's not wearing a nametag.

Rick Vaughn: Want me to drag him outta here, kick the shit out of him?

++++++++++++++++++++

Harry Doyle: That's all we got, one goddamn hit?

Assistant: You can't say goddamn on the air.

Harry Doyle: Don't worry, nobody is listening anyway.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Willie Mays Hayes: What the hell league you been playing in?

Rick Vaughn: California Penal...

Willie Mays Hayes: Never heard of it. How'd you end up playing there?

Rick Vaughn: Stole a car.

+++++++++++++++++

Harry Doyle: JUST a bit outside.

+++++++++++++++

Lou Brown: [Cerrano arrives at spring training] Who is that?

Charlie Donovan: Must be Cerrano. Defected from Cuba, wanted religious freedom.

Lou Brown: What's his religion?

Charlie Donovan: Voodoo.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Pedro Cerrano: I'm pissed off now, Jobu. Look, I go to you. I stick up for you. You don't help me now. I say "F*&k you," Jobu, I do it myself.

C M Wendelboe - Author Appearance and Book Signing

Lady K and I had a really good time last night at the Oriental and Navajo Rug Gallery in Longmont, CO where we got to listen to and meet author C M Wendelboe. His debut book, DEATH ALONG THE SPIRIT ROAD, has received excellent reviews so I was especially looking forward to the event.

Curt spoke for 45 minutes on his life of writing, his 38 year career as a sheriff in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. His life of lawkeeping gave the book it's sense of reality to the characters.

He started out the talk by greeting us in Lakota. I was immediately enthralled and completely forgot to ask how he came to learn the eloquent language.

I bought two copies of the book, one for my keeper shelf and one for Dad who I know is going to be a big fan. I had hoped he'd either stayed out here longer or come back out so he could come with me to meet the author and Cynthia, owner of High Crimes.
I have DEATH ALONG THE SPIRIT ROAD up next on the nightstand. I cannot wait to read it.

CLAIRE DEWITT AND THE CITY OF THE DEAD - Sara Gran

From the back of the BOCD:Claire DeWitt is the world's greatest PI and a follower of the enigmatic French detective Jacques Silette, whose mysterious handbook DETECTION has led Claire to use the I Ching, omens, prophetic dreams, and mind-expanding drugs.

Claire also has deep roots in New Orleans. When a respected DA goes missing during Hurricane Katrina, she returns to her newly wrecked former city to find out why. Finding old friends and making new enemies, Claire solves the case, but she's haunted by others gone missing: her best friend and partner in detection, and Jacques Silette's daughter, Belle.

Sara Gran is the author of three critically acclaimed novels, including COME CLOSER and DOPE. A former bookseller and native of Brooklyn, she has since lived in New Orleans, Miami, and northern California.

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I will first comment on the narrator, Carol Monda. Whoever chose her to narrate this suspenseful tale had excellent taste and discernment. Carol was the absolute perfect narrator for the voice of Claire and the rest of the characters, but especially Claire. Gritty, sultry, matter-of-fact-bordering-on-deadpan. Think grittier than C J Critt. That's gritty.

Claire has the most intriguing style of detecting. She says she is the world's best detective in her matter-of-fact tone by following the clues as they present themselves, however they present. Sometimes as a matchbook, piece of paper with the bill at the diner, or a dream. She takes smokes weed, drinks, cusses, is strangely maternal and I like her a lot. I would love to have her on my side or working on my investigation. She doesn't stop even when the client tells her she's fired (they all say that, she tells us). She needs to know whodunnit, no matter how long it takes.

The book is told in sequence, but with sporadic flashbacks to her youth with her friends Kelly and Tracy and with her mentor, Constance. All have been inspired to be detectives because of the book written by the French detective Jacques Silette. The book is found in various locations throughout the book, almost like a touchstone for Claire to pay heed.

I got to see a side of New Orleans I'd not seen before in any other book I've read or any visits.

I hope many people read this book, especially if you can listen to this with Carol Monda narrating.

Thank you Library Thing (http://www.librarything.com )for entrusting me with this hellah noir story!

Five grittier than anything beans......

Book Signing Tonight for C M Wendelboe - DEATH ALONG THE SPIRIT ROAD

High Crimes Mystery Bookshop (http://www.highcrimesbooks.com/) is hosting author C M Wendelboe and his debut novel, DEATH ALONG THE SPIRIT ROAD, at 7:00 P.M. at The Oriental & Navajo Rug Gallery,927 MAIN STREET, LONGMONT, CO .

I looked the book up and Publisher's Weekly called it " the absorbing first in a new Native American series" and harstan/Harriet Klausner said, "This Native American police procedural is a strong whodunit."

Lady K and I are taking off in a few minutes. I hope to take photos and definitely getting a copy (or two) of his book. Cannot wait to read it!

A KILLER PLOT: Books by the Bay Mystery - Ellery Adams

From the back of the book:
In the small coastal town of Oyster Bay, North Carolina, you'll find plenty of characters, ne'er-do-wells, and even a few celebs trying to duck the paparazzi. But when murder joins this curious community, the Bayside Book Writers are there to get the story...
Olivia Limoges is the subject of constant gossip. Ever since she came back to town-a return as mysterious as her departure-Olivia has kept to herself, her dog, and her unfinished novel. With a little cajoling from the eminently charming writer Camden Ford, she agrees to join the Bayside Book Writers, break her writer's block, and even make a few friends...
But when townspeople start turning up dead with haiku poems left by the bodies, anyone with a flair for language is suddenly suspect. And it's up to Olivia to catch the killer before she meets her own surprise ending.

*************************************************

I read A DEADLY CLICHE, second in the series, in March (http://iyamvixenbooks.blogspot.com/2011/03/deadly-cliche-books-by-bay-mystery.html) and highly enjoyed it (five sparkly diamonds).

A KILLER PLOT is first in the series and it's only the eensiest bit less polished than the follow up and I know the third, THE LAST WORD, out 6 Dec 2011 (and already on the WWBL), will be even better. That's what I like about a good writer with a good mystery series, each book gets niftier and more unputdownable (it's a word, dagnabbit)

Ellery Adams makes me want to move to Oyster Bay, North Carolina and have a standard poodle like Captain Haviland as my trusty sidekick as I walk along the beach with my metal detector looking for treasure.

I liked watching how Olivia Limoges, the main character, grow from cautious and rather reclusive wealthy woman to coming out of her shell to become a member of a writers group and making more friends. Except that the one joyously flamboyantly charming man who helped bring her out is killed and she is both saddened and angry enough to want to find the killer herself.

The mystery and clues move the story along and I really enjoyed my quiet shift that allowed me to read and finish the book in one sitting.

Four sparkly treasure huntin' diamonds.....

Lady K - First Day of School - 3rd Grade

A little nervous, a lot excited...

Blooms on Sunday - 21 Aug 2011

Prairie sage from Suburban Gardens (http://www.suburbanlg.com/) Planted in June and it's growing fastShasta daisy we 'rescued' last weekend from the distressed plant rack at Lowes...we love rescuing plants'Pink Double Delight' echinacea...another 'rescue'

Pumpkin bloom with a happy bee gettin' its pollen on

Pumpkin update....

Bigger sunflower varietal just before bloom

And ta-dah!! It opened this week. I love my sunflowers

Guilty Pleasure Flick Saturday - Tremors

Guilty pleasure flicks. That's what I call those movies that, if I were to get stuck on a desert island (with electricity and a DVD player, of course), these would definitely be in the 'save me' bag that goes over the side of the sinking ship with me.
This week's guilty pleasure flick is Tremors.
From B&N:
Tremors is actually two movies in one. On its own terms, it's an enjoyable modern sci-fi horror-thriller, with good pacing and a sense of humor; but it's also a loving tribute to such 1950s low-budget desert-based sci-fi-horror films like Them!, It Came From Outer Space, Tarantula, and The Monolith Monsters. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward are the stars, a pair of small-town handymen living in a small desert community, who stumble upon several difficult-to-explain phenomena, including a couple of people who've died under extremely strange (and, in one instance, very grisly) circumstances. Eventually, they and a handful of their neighbors find the cause: gigantic prehistoric worm-like creatures that streak under the desert the way fish swim through oceans, reaching up and grabbing anything they need for food. Cut off from the outside world, they have to figure out how to get across the desert alive while these creatures -- that are smart as well as fast -- close in on them, stalking them like monster sharks. The film benefits from the presence of special effects that are good enough to pull this all off, keeping the shock value high, and also from a subtly humorous script and performances to match by the entire cast, and director Ron Underwood's breezy pacing of the whole picture. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi All Movie Guide
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Favorite quotes:

Earl Bassett (Fred Ward) : Hey, Rhonda you ever seen anything like this before?

Valentine McKee(Kevin Bacon): Oh, sure Earl. Everyone knows about them we just didn't tell you.

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Valentine McKee : What the hell is going on! I mean what the hell is going on!

**********

Valentine McKee: We decided to leave town just one damn day to late!

******************

Earl Bassett: Run for it? Running's not a plan! Running's what you do, once a plan fails!

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BLACK WINGS: Black Wings Book One - Christina Henry

From the back of the book: As an Agent of Death, Madeline Black is responsible for escorting the souls of the dearly departed to the afterlife. It's a 24/7 job with a lousy benefits package.
Maddy's position may come with magical powers and an impressive wingspan, but it doesn't pay the bills. And then there are her infuriating boss, tenant woes, and a cranky, popcorn-loving gargoyle to contend with.
Things start looking up, though, when tall, dark, and handsome Gabriel Angeloscuro agrees to rent the empty apartment in Maddy's building. It's probably just a coincidence that as soon as he moves in demons appear on the front lawn. But when an unholy monster is unleashed upon the streets of Chicago, Maddy discovers powers she never knew she possessed. Powers linked to a family legacy of tarnished halos.
Powers that place her directly between the light of Heaven and the fires of Hell...

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BLACK WINGS has been on the WWBL since I read the first glowing review on Dark Faerie Tales (http://darkfaerietales.com/review-black-wings-christina-henry.html)

Then many more glowing reviews after that confirmed that I needed to highlight it as a soonest get. But I didn't get it until a few weeks ago at the now defunct Orchard Books (dadgum economy)

I made up for my slow pace of purchasing it by mowing through it pretty much as soon as it got home with me.

What I love about urban fantasy is the myriad of premises that are out there to explore and BLACK WINGS series has to be one of the coolest storyline and set of characters.

Madeline's career path took a swerve when she inherited her position as an escort for souls of the newly deceased to the Door, which apparently leads to the Afterlife.

One of the funny (to me) aspects of Maddy's life as an Agent of Death was that Death as an organization is as red-tapey as any other bureaucracy. There's paperwork to file, a Hall of Records to keep track of departed souls and their decision to either go through the Door or be stubborn for whatever reason and remain on Earth as a ghost. There are Agents and Supervisors with quotas to fill. See? Red-tapey like other bureaucracies.

Maddy's buddy, Beezle, is a gargoyle after my own heart. His two favorite foods are popcorn and chocolate. He's ornery, a wee bit grumpy, and cares for Maddy. I want a gargoyle like Beezle.

There are quite a few twists and turns and holey crappe moments throughout the story. Read this highly recommended book and find out for yourself. And I really can't wait to read the next in series, BLACK NIGHT. I feel a shopping trip coming on.....

Five sparkly Agent of Death diamonds.....

Books in the House Monday - 15 AUG 2011

From Marie-Louise:
SHADOW MAN: Smokey Barrett #1 - Cody McFadyen, thriller, MPB
THE FACE OF DEATH: Smokey Barrett #2 - Cody McFadyen, thriller, MPB
THE DARKER SIDE: Smokey Barrett #3 - Cody McFadyen, thriller, MPB
ABANDONED: Smokey Barrett #4 - Cody McFadyen, thriller, MPB

From Rachel Caine via Fresh Fiction contest (http://freshfiction.com/contests.php):
CHICKS KICK BUTT - UF anthology, TPB, signed by Rachel Caine

From Jeri Smith-Ready
signed bookmarks (a whole bunch, so I can share!) and a cool button

B&N
DEAD IRON: The Age of Steam #1 - Devon Monk, steampunk, TPB

LibraryThing June win:http://www.librarything.com
CLAIRE DEWITT AND THE CITY OF THE DEAD - Sara Gran, paranormal mystery, BOCD

Blooms on Sunday - 14 Aug 2011 - Veggie Garden

Tomatoes are starting to come in, but yet to ripen

The peppers are keeping up, though

Tassle on the corn

And orange on the pumpkin...

Guilty Pleasure Flick Saturday

I have a lotta lotta what I call 'guilty pleasure flicks'. These are the movies that, no matter that I've seen it a gazillion times, no matter that it's in the middle of the movie when I see it on the lineup as I flip through what's playing, I will change the channel to watch that guilty pleasure flick. They make me smile, grin, cheer, laugh out loud, maybe sometimes even cry a bit. I love my guilty pleasure flicks.

As I remember to do so, I'll post one of the lotta lotta on Saturday.

I start with one of my absolute favorites, 'Big Trouble in Little China'. It's been a classic guilty pleasure flick since the first time I saw it when it came out in 1986. I was stationed at Hurlburt Field AFB in Florida and I would take myself to the movies on a Saturday. I used to map out each movie at each theater and figure out how to see as many as I could on any given Saturday.

I saw the previews for 'Big Trouble in Little China' saw that it starred my 'boyfriend' Kurt Russell and knew that I had to see it.

It's funny, full of action and it stars Kurt Russell.

***************

Here's what Barnes and Noble review had to say:

Editorial Reviews http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/Big-Trouble-in-Little-China/Kurt-Russell/e/24543044758?itm=1&USRI=big%2Btrouble%2Bin%2Blittle%2Bchina
Long before Jackie Chan teamed up with Chris Tucker in Rush Hour, East met West on the big screen in director John Carpenter's celebration of everything chop-socky, Big Trouble in Little China. Carpenter mainstay Kurt Russell stars as Jack Burton, a straight-shooting macho trucker -- is there any other kind? Burton and his old pal Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) head to the airport, where Chi's fiancée, Miao Yin (Suzee Pai), is due, and when she's kidnapped upon arrival, the adventure begins. Equipped with a trademark mullet hairdo and a one-liner for every occasion, Burton teams up with Chi and feisty, know-it-all attorney Gracie Law (Sex and the City's Kim Cattrall) for a rescue mission in Little China's seamy underground, a world ruled by martial arts and sorcery. The film uses kitsch and camp to supreme advantage, mocking the martial arts and action genres while simultaneously adoring and reinventing them. Among its truckload of extras, the two-disc Special Edition DVD includes deleted scenes, an extended ending, and an unforgettable audio commentary track with Russell and Carpenter discussing everything from learning to drive a rig in San Francisco to their children's hobbies. This chumminess is no surprise, as the old friends have worked together on several films, including the 1981 cult classic Escape from New York, its 1996 follow-up Escape from L.A., and 1982's The Thing. Packed with action and laughs, Big Trouble in Little China is a dizzying, hyperkinetic delight. Jason Bergenfeld, Barnes & Noble

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So if you like action, cocky slapstick humor, and Kurt Russell with an interesting take on John Wayne's swagger...this is the guilty pleasure flick for you.

New Guilty Pleasure Show.....Hillybilly Handfishin' on Animal Planet

O...M..G! I have me a brand new guilty pleasure show!! Hillybilly Handfishin' on Animal Planet premiered on Sunday night. From Animal Planet / Hillbilly Handfishin' site http://animal.discovery.com/tv/hillbilly-handfishin/ :

"Led by Oklahoma hand-fishermen and self-proclaimed hillbillies Skipper Bivins and Trent Jackson, get a taste of the redneck lifestyle by going through the paces of noodling catfish in Hillbilly Handfishin'. Think you're cut out for Noodling?...."

The show is on Sunday nights at 9pm (I guess Eastern). We caught it last night flippin' through the channels at work. I asked if we could take a look at the show with the highly intriguing title. I believe Bravo Crew is hooked (for lack of a better, less punny term).

Skipper and Trent lead three or four teams of two peeps each from all over the country and teach them to noodle a catfish. This means getting in muddy bodies of water and sticking your hand into holes in the mud and see who catches the biggest catfish with their bare hands (or foot as the case may be)

The show we watched had a team of two Chicago cops, two women with big breastesses in tank tops, and a brother and sister team. Lots of squeals about bugs and mud and snakes and mud.

TOO MUCH FUN! Next Sunday's show "Catfish are Wicked Cute".

Blooms on Sunday - 7 Aug 2011

If you play a little 'Where's Waldo', see if you can find the wee finch having a Saturday night dinner among the sunflowers (you can click on the image and enlarge it...the finch is on top of a sunflower towards the bottom left of the photo)

I love this plant even though I cannot remember the name...my dad made the concrete pot it's in...

The echinacea is blooming like crazy this year

I didn't think this hummingbird vine would do much this year, then it started taking off the hotter the temps got

The clematis keeps on blooming...

The hibiscus is in full bloom!!! I want a blouse in this color!

Movie review: Crazy Stupid Love

Went to see Crazy Stupid Love this morning. SUCH a sweet funny wee bit sad movie! I laughed so hard, had tears in my eyes, and smiled a lot. I can highly recommend this romantic comedy as a see it by yourself, with your buds or your date. My favorite scene. But it might have been this one.....

DO UNTO OTHERS: A Jordan Poteet Mystery - Jeff Abbott

From the back of the book:

Jordan Poteet has left the big city to work as a librarian in his hometown of Mirabeau, Texas. But his dream of the quiet life is shattered when he locks horns with Miss Beta Harcher, the town's prize religious fanatic, in a battle over censorship.

When Jordan finds her murdered body in the library, he becomes the prime suspect. And when the police find a cryptic list stashed next to her fanatical heart, it seems as if Beta Harcher has the whole town in a death grip . . .

************************************

What I learned from this fine amateur sleuth mystery:

1. Be careful what you pick up on your walks

2. Beware of sweet smiles.

3. Being a librarian can be more exciting than one might think.

4. Those little Texas towns can be full of mystery and murder.

This is Jeff Abbott's first book published and first in this series. I've been on the hunt for it since reading and highly diggin' THE ONLY GOOD YANKEE a few years back (apparently before I started blogging, so no review link).

I like Jordan Poteet's style. I feel for him. His mother has Alzheimer's, his sister is a single mom to a sullen teen and Jordy has moved back to help as well as he can. He's been accused of murder and he sets out to prove he didn't do it.

I will continue to search out this series and this author. He has several stand-alones and another fab series, Whit Mosley. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/jeff-abbott/

Five mysterious Texas beans.....