Since the conference in September, I’ve been avidly reading the books I brought home. (One cannot go to a conference and return without at least a few books.) I wish I could have afforded more – there were SO many good-looking books to choose from, but my budget won out in the end. Here are a few I’ve finshed so far:

Fire Dancer by Colleen Coble. WestBow. This romantic suspense is one of Colleen’s best. Compelling characters and enough suspense and mystery to keep me turning pages – not to mention she kept the villain from me until near the end. Good job, Colleen!

The Trouble With Tulip by Mindy Starns Clark. Harvest House. I met Mindy in Dallas and listened to her late night chat on mystery writing. She gave some great tips on writing, so I picked up one of her books. This romantic mystery is more of a cozy mystery with suspense sprinkled throughout. She kept me guessing and her characters are thoroughly engaging. My mom really liked this book as well and is looking forward to reading the sequel.

The Guy I’m Not Dating by Trish Perry. Harvest House. This book is Trish’s debut novel, and it is a good one! As a homeschooling mom, I was very familiar with the non-fiction book the characters were reading, I Kissed Dating Good-bye and found Trish’s way of putting those principles into a story compelling and believable. Her characters are three-dimensional and they stay with you when you close the book. I absolutely loved the ending – but no peeking until you’ve read the whole thing! You’ll ruin the ending if you read it first. A very well done debut novel. I’m looking forward to more of Trish’s books.

Harvest House appears to be expanding their fiction line with both Mindy and Trish among many other authors. B.J. Hoff’s recent series is with them – and if you haven’t read A Distant Music and The Wind Harp don’t wait!

The artwork on all of these books is awesome – a perfect fit for each genre – and the stories are compelling and page-turning reads.

Of course, I can’t be without a book in my hand, so I’m currently reading:

Reluctant Burglar by Jill Eilzabeth Nelson. Multnomah. Jill used to be one of my critique partners several years ago, so I knew her book would be good. So far, I’m right. Jill drew me in immediately, snagging my attention. This is also Jill’s debut novel. I expect much more from her in the future!

Other stuff…we saw the movie “The Prestige” last night. I must say it was a compelling story. Lots of twists and turns, and even though I called some of it before it happened (and Ryan called more than I did), we were still figuring parts of it out after it ended. A descent movie – worth the ticket price, in my opinion.

They showed the trailer for “The Nativity” coming in December. I hope it’s good. I’m really looking forward to it. “Haddasseh, One Night with the King” is also out. I haven’t seen it yet. The reviews aren’t good, but I’ve read the book and still want to see it.

Randy bought me several bags of apples and some pumpkins (do you think he’s hinting for apple and pumpkin pie?) In any case, I am planning to make apple pie squares today. Should be fun.

Now if I can just not eat too many…you know it wasn’t the apple that got Eve in trouble – it was being told not to eat it. Diet (dare I eat this?) has been our downfall since the beginning… :)