Bride, by Ali Hazelwood

This book!  I led a book discussion on this book back in October.  I read it in August, right after having surgery.  I was still pretty high on the drugs when I read the book.  I told the attendees at our Book Club that "At the time, I felt that this book is the highest quality of literature.  Better than Jane Austen.  Better than Shakespeare"..... One of the attendees replied "It's a good book, but..."  Anyway...

I love the protagonist - Misery.  She is a take charge kind of Vampyre who will do whatever it takes to get the answers that she needs. In this story, she has become the forced bride of Lowe, an alpha werewolf, in order to secure a peace treaty between the Vampyres and the Werewolves.  Misery might not have agreed to the marriage (as if she really had a choice), but she was hoping to find clues about what happened to her best friend.  And she believes that the key lies with the werewolves.

This paranormal romance starts out fast and only gets better as it goes.  Be forewarned, this romance has some very spicy parts.  Personally, I loved the way that the romance and friendship of Misery and Lowe play out.  The driving deeper plot that plays out around the romance involves deep fakes that the Werewolves and Vampyres have engaged in to help bring about the end of each other's realms is very well written and deeply engrossing.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book.  I put the sequel to this book - MATE - on hold after finishing BRIDE.  Mate was published in October of this year.  My copy arrived on the hold shelf just yesterday, and it went to the gym with me this morning.   I'm still impressed with myself for not falling off of the elliptical machine while reading.  It's a skill!

One last thing - just look at the beautiful art work on this cover. So simple, and yet there's a layer of complexity in the overlay of Misery and Lowe. Kudos to the artist. 

Trigger Warnings for this title: graphic violence, blood (including consensual biting/drinking), explicit sexual content (with knotting), kidnapping, war themes, death (parental, off-page), poisoning, arranged marriage, and fantasy racism, plus minor mentions of gun violence, bullying, pregnancy, and emotional abuse. 

Note - this book + mocktail. The mocktail is a half and half mix of cranberry juice and sparkling cider.  The combination was good! Our group suggested that sugared cranberries would be an excellent addition!

Good Bye 2025, and Good Riddance

 I had thoughts of going back to publishing this blog about once a week this year. 

And then the year began.  It has been an ugly one.  I've had several unexpected health issues, culminating in a breast cancer diagnosis.  I was very lucky. It was caught very early. No chemo, no radiation, but I did have surgery and will have drugs for several years to come. The end result has been a very hard look at my life and what I hope to accomplish.  I've come to the conclusion that one thing I really enjoy is writing out into the great internet void.  I don't honestly know if anybody will read this, but I like putting everything out into the world. My thoughts, down somewhere and no longer swirling around in my head.

I no longer drive the mini-van.  It has long since been retired.  I drive a cross over mini SUV now.  It doesn't have the memories that the mini-van had, but it is all set for our Empty Nest adventures!  I've been debating changing the name of the blog to The (almost) Retired Mini Van Mom.  Or maybe The Mini Van Retired.  Or "I Finally Retired the Mini Van" Or Empty Nester Mom?  Who knows?

Our kids have all grown  up and moved out.  2 of them still live in the Mid-Atlantic.  One lives in the Mid-West.  All of them are happy, and all of them are employed in their fields.

Who knows where this wild and wonderful world will take us next? 

I hope you'll join me as we navigate through the unknown.

Spring 2025

It's been a while since I've posted.  I spent a few days in the hospital in January with the flu.  It hit me very, very hard. To add insult to injury, I had the flu shot in October. Unfortunately, the vaccine for this year's flu wasn't the flu that ended up running amok.

It's been a long 8 weeks since my time in the hospital, but I finally feel like I'm back up to 90% of my normal - and just in time for spring!

This year, I've decided that I'm going to attempt to grow a few veggies up close to the house and hope that the deer stay away from the "all you can eat salad bar" since it will be closer to the house.

I ordered two large, raised planters to put in the screened in porch. Now that the weather is finally warming up, I have plans to get them assembled this week. These are going to be my salad tables!  I'm planning on planting peas (one of my favorites), lettuce, some radishes, and spinach.  I have dreams of walking outside this spring and being able to pluck some leaves for a tasty salad every day!  Honestly, if I can save a little bit of money by not buying a bag of salad from the store every couple of days, I consider that a major win!

The forsythia has started to bloom!

The daffodils my mother in law planted 50 years ago when they moved into our house are starting to bloom.  I love seeing their joyous faces poke up out of the ground!  They remind me of her - so quiet and unassuming, but with a heart full of joy.

All images (c) Library Nut, 2025.