Sorry for not keeping up – life is kind-of hectic, altho I look back and think that really, I’m just dog-paddling like a mad thing, trying to stay in the one spot. I feel sorry for Mase, as he is not playing a team sport this winter, solely so that I can support Bran & his refereeing. Si is running around with Zac in tow – who STARTED in the run-on 15 this weekend. Woot! Mase is lovely and while a little upset, is just getting on with everything else. I brought him a Lovett’s kids puzzle book as it was persisting down on Saturday (no park playground time) & he ripped thru it. His spelling list is year 5/6 – he’s technically a year 2. Words like acclimate, estimate, zootopia – and he’s expected to know the meanings too. Have you ever tried to explain Zootopia to a 6 year old? I think it could have been easier to explain the U2 album of the same name…

Anyway, I have made time for reading. Right now, I’m in Firefly Lane by Kristen Hannah, but I’m kind-of hungover from back-to-back Susan Mallery. I came across her Mischief Bay series and wow.

Book ONE: The Girls of Mischief Bay:

Nicole Lord wants to be a good wife, but there’s a difference between being supportive and supporting her husband, who quit his job to write a screenplay she’s never seen. He won’t even help take care of their son, leaving Nicole to run the house and work full-time at her Mischief Bay Pilates studio. Can she say enough is enough without losing the man she loves?

Sacrificing a personal life for her career is how Shannon Rigg rose to become vice president in her firm, but she wonders now whether she made the right choice. An exciting new relationship with a great guy convinces her that it might not be too late—until he drops a bombshell that has her questioning whether she can have it all. And if she can, does she want it?

Although Pam Eiland has a beautiful house and a husband she adores, she feels… restless. She wonders who a stay-at-home mom becomes after the kids are grown. Finding sexy new ways to surprise her husband brings the heat and the humor back to their marriage, but when unexpected change turns her life upside down, she’ll have to redefine herself. Again.

Book TWO: The Friends We Keep

After five years as a stay-at-home mom, Gabby Schaefer can’t wait to return to work. Oh, to use the bathroom in peace! No twins clamoring at the door, no husband barging in, no stepdaughter throwing a tantrum. But when her plans are derailed by some shocking news and her husband’s crushing expectations, Gabby must fight for the right to have a life of her own.

Nicole Lord is still shell-shocked by a divorce that wasn’t as painful as it should’ve been. Other than the son they share, her ex-husband left barely a ripple in her life. A great new guy tempts her to believe maybe the second time’s the charm…but how can she trust herself to recognize true love?

At times these characters are someone you’d like to know IRL, then at other times I wanted to smack them. I guess that’s the sign of a good book – you get engrossed and you have real feelings. The growth and changes are realistic, the sub-characters are well crafted, the location (the other side of the earth from me) sounds real; I’ve already added book 3 to my diary so that I definitely don’t miss it next February.

Sadly, not the same with the latest Nora Roberts trilogy. Blah blah boring.

And lastly – go ICELAND! Love a good under-dog story.