Wreader Fun

To Win Her Heart by Karen Witemeyer, Bethany House, May 2011 Karen Witemeyer’s suburb story skills shine in this second-chances tale that caught my attention at the first paragraph and kept me enthralled until the very end. Little details on every page gripped my heart and drew me into the lives of a man seeking a new life and a woman trying to shed her old one. I agonized between writing my own story and reading To Win Her Heart which I kept close so I could snatch a peek at every chance. I believe Karen Witemeyer reached new heights with her choice of strong, yet vulnerable characters - social opposites who believe past errors have ruined their chance for a family of their own. Eden Spencer is only in her late twenties, but in 1887 she’s considered a spinster. She lives with a small staff - people who’ve known her forever, and opens her personal library to the town. Church, good works for orphans and reading at her weekly children’s story hour fills her with joy, but it’s n...

It's history day at the Inkwell and I'm blogging about dining cars and meals on the old Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) back in 1888. I've included a the modern VIA Rail video to show train interiors and the Canadian landscape. The questions for discussion are: Have you ever eaten on a train? When and where? What did you think? Today's photo is a bison cow and calf. As you can see, momma is shedding her winter coat to stay cooler during our short summer.  

I'm blogging over at Inkwell Inspirations today with a book review on Karen Witemeyer's book To Win Her Heart . I'm giving this historical romance a 5 star rating because of it's such a great story I had a hard time putting it down. Come over and join our discussion if you get a chance. I wanted to give you another look at the Cedar Waxwing that's hanging around our crabapple trees. Actually, there are a couple of them, but this is the one I caught in action. I thought they were going after the nectar. Apparently, it's the blossoms they like. While I was out taking pics of the Waxwings, other birds caught my eye which I hadn't seen since last year. These included an American Goldfinch, Baltimore Oriole and a Hummingbird. They all flitted about so fast I didn't get a chance to zoom in close, but I'll try again tomorrow. Hopefully I'll see you over at the Inkwell. :)

I have a free book draw and a whole bunch of my duck, crane, avocet and sandpiper photos over at Inkwell Inspirations today. Not much talking, just photos of birds. It's self-help day so I figured I'd give everyone a few minutes of just looking at pics. :) Here's a teaser for you... So grab a cup of coffee, tea, latte, etc, sit back, and watch the pictures. :) My question for today is... did you actually just sit and watch, or were you multi-tasking at the same time? And here's a video I made about these birds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVMiMJKegmM Free Book Draw: And for a little something extra, I need your opinion and I'm giving away a new copy of Marilyn Meberg's Love Me Never Leave Me (non-fiction) for helping me decide. If you wish to be entered for this draw, please leave your email address in your comment over at the Inkwell only . (Comments left here can't be in this draw). Draw closes midnight, Sunday, June 5th, 2011. I'm trying to dec...

I've been remiss! On Tuesday I blogged at the Inkwell about a fascinating 19th century Mission Coffee House which served the area near Blackwell's Island in Yew York and I forgot to mention it here. Eeps! Blackwell's Island sits between Manhattan and Queen's.   It's now known as Roosevelt Island.    Opened in 1856, a smallpox hospital on the southern tip of Blackwell's Island was part of a multitude of public institutions to care for New York City's unfortunate and destitute. This 2002 photo shows the roofless Renwick Ruins. There are trees growing inside as well as around the abandoned hospital.      An ongoing restoration and stabilization effort is in place. Here, the stones of the former smallpox hospital on Roosevelt Island are being removed and numbered.  The building will be put back together again at a later date.  It seems the restoration of the Renwick smallpox hospital is a mystery at the moment. A high fence has been placed acr...

Book Recommendation Finally a Bride (Book 3 Texas Boardinghouse Brides) by Vickie McDonough Barbour Books, May 2011 "He made her want to be a woman for the first time in her life." Jack’s story in Finally a Bride was worth the wait. It's the tale of grown up Jacqueline (Jack) Davis who now wears dresses and looks like a lady, but still acts like the 10 yr old tomboy we met in the first book of this series. Consider the opening… Jack is after a story and climbs on the mayor’s roof to eavesdrop on his conversation with two strangers. No, I won’t tell you if she accomplishes her mission, but I will say pain is involved. Because she’ll do anything to uproot the truth. If you remember book 1, you’ll remember Butch Laird who wrote “ Jack is a liar” across every paintable surface in town. Bully that he was, he even locked Jack up in jail and left her there. Man, she detested that kid. Never mind that he had a point, he still shouldn’t have done it. And after he left town, th...

Happy Friday, folks. I was thinking of changing my header photo since the road is no longer flooded, but with all the rain we've had water started coming in the basement. And it's still coming! I wanted to draw your attention to the website of Sandra Ardoin who mentioned me in her High Five Friday!! post. Thanks, Sandy. :D Tomorrow, my post will be a book review on Vickie McDonough's 3rd book in her Texas Boardinghouse Brides series, Finally a Bride . There will be a book discussion going on, but it'll be over on the  Inkwell Inspirations blog. Now that I'm finally back in my office out in the garage, I'll be writing all weekend. The boys can play all the video games they want and I won't hear a thing. Except the rain. If you look at the header photo, today's picture would've been taken a few feet before the water's edge where the ground was soft and wet. It's the paw print of a coyote and that's my shoe, so those tracks are big! Nelson...