Booked 2013 - 47

Next year, I need to lay off the non-fiction and get my romance reading on!

1. Getting Things Done by David Allen - a
2. The Schwarzbein Program by Diana Schwarzbein - p
3. A Course in Weight Loss by Marianne Williamson - a
4. Archetypes by Caroline Myss - p
5. Sweet Surrender by Maya Banks - p
6. Choose More Loose More by Chris Powell - p
7. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg - a
8. It Takes Balls: Dating Single Moms and Other Confessions from an Unprepared Single Dad by Josh Wolf - p
9. All Is Well: Heal Your Body with Medicine, Affirmations, and Intuition by Louise Hay - a
10. 1 Pound a Day: The Martha's Vineyard Diet Detox and Plan for a Lifetime of Healthy Eating by Roni DeLuz - p
11. Natural Alternatives to Nexium, Maalox, Tagamet, Prilosec & other Acid Blockers by Martie Whittekin - p
12. The Acid Reflux Solution by Jorge Rodriguez, MD - p
13. Clean Gut by Alejandro Junger, MD - p
14. Energy Anatomy by Caroline Myss - a
15. What Makes Us Healthy by Caroline Myss - a
16. Three Levels of Power by Caroline Myss - a
17. Northern Exposure by Jennifer LaBrecque (Blaze) - p
18. Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling - p
19. Laced With Desire anthology by Jaci Burton, Jasmine Haynes, Joey W Hill & Denise Rosetti - p
20. How To Get Over Your Ex by Nikki Logan (Kiss) - p
21. The Last Best Cure by Donna Jackson Nakazawa - p
22. Big Sky Country by Linda Lael Miller - e
23. Gerry Frank's Oregon by Gerry Frank - p
24. Simply Sensual by Carly Phillips (Temptation) - p
25. Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan - p
26. Simply Sinful by Carly Phillips (Temptation) - p
27. The Skinny Rules by Bob Harper - a
28. The Three Day Cleanse by Zoe Sakoutis - p
29. One Perfect Word by Debbie Macomber - a
30. Taken Beyond Temptation by Cara Summers (Blaze) - p
31. Your Primal Body by Mikki Reilly - p
32. Beloved Enemy by Terri Reed (LIS) - p
33. Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes - a
34. Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes - a
35. Bachelor Undone by Brenda Jackson (Kimani) - p
36. Bachelor Untamed by Brenda Jackson (Kimani) - p
37. An Outrageous Proposal by Maureen Child (Desire) - p
38. The Argentinian's Solace by Susan Stephens (Presents) - p
39. Impossible to Resist by Janice Maynard (Desire) - p
40. Dating and Other Dangers by Natalie Anderson (Presents) - p
41. An Idiot Girl's Christmas by Laurie Notaro - p
42. Reckless Night in Rio by Jennie Lucas (Presents) - p
43. The Untamed Argentinian by Susan Stephens (Presents) - p
44. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson - a
45. Autobiography of a Fat Bride by Laurie Notaro - a
46. The Deeper the Passion by Jennifer Lewis (Desire) - p
47. Cracking the Dating Code by Kelly Hunter (Presents) - p

Hot Holiday Hunk Blog Hop

Romance at Random is hosting the Hot Holiday Hunk Blog Hop from 12/10 'til 12/20. If that's not fun enough...it's also a fantastic giveaway! Check it out.

Happy Holidays to everyone – what better way to celebrate this time of year than to heat it up with hot hero hunks?  

Ladies meet Ethan (Ruined) and Evan (Wanted) — these are two hot, to-die-for hunks that you’ll definitely want to get to know — both of their books release January 7, 2014. More details here: RUINED ; WANTED

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more chances to win, follow along throughout the blogosphere.

Heat Up Your Holidays with Caribbean Christmas

Caribbean Christmas launched the Under the Caribbean Sun series. Now is a great time to revisit where it all began because everyone enjoys a little holiday escape.

’Tis the season for unwrapping the gift of pleasure.

Under the Caribbean Sun, Book 1

When Saskia snags a last-minute ticket home to the Caribbean isle of Anguilla, she intends to surprise her workaholic father and to reconnect over Christmas. When she finds he’s away on business, there’s still plenty to fill her time while she waits. Sailing, snorkeling…and an unexpected, very adult attraction to her girlhood crush.

Joe Prinsen is certain Saskia has returned to the island only to ask for money. He feels it’s time she learns the truth about her father’s depleted financial situation from the man himself. And he intends to make sure she sticks around long enough to hear it.

Except the girl he remembers has matured into a devastatingly sexy woman. She's taking all his noble intentions and unwrapping them, one by one, until their shared desire is revealed in the warm Caribbean water. Saskia’s only home for Christmas. And once she finds out the secret he’s hiding, she’ll no doubt leave the Caribbean, and him, for good.

---

Product Warnings

The only thing hotter than the tropical sun is the sex—in the surf, on the water, against the bookcase… Readers will be wise to monitor electronic devices, and themselves, for overheating.

 

Excerpt 1

"I can't go to sleep before I've been in the ocean. Drop me off before you head
up the hill, will you?" Saskia gave a languid stretch that pressed her breasts
against the thin silk of the scarf she called a dress.

If he got any sleep tonight it would be a miracle. Every time he blinked, he
kept imagining undoing the simple knot holding the dress on her shoulder and
finding she wore nothing beneath it. He had a semi and he was simply driving a
girl home.

Continued...
http://jennabayley-burke.blogspot.com/2012/11/caribbean-christmas-excerpt_24.htm\
l

Excerpt 2

By the time they got their clothes on and made it back to his truck, Joe knew
he'd made a critical error. She'd taken off her dress and his brain had shorted
out. That never happened. Even as a hormonal adolescent he'd been able to think
with the right head.

As he jammed the truck in gear and climbed the gravel road up the hill, he tried
to think of anything but that Saskia wore nothing beneath the wisp of a dress
currently plastered to her lithe body. His dick was still telling him to race
home, and his brain had to agree. He needed to get home and get his ass in a
cold shower.

Continued...
http://jennabayley-burke.blogspot.com/2012/11/caribbean-christmas-excerpt.html

The idea came from...

 

 

Meal Plan Monday

Monday - Meatball subs & salad
Tuesday - Chipotle chicken tacos, Mexican rice & cornbread
Wednesday - HANUKKAH - Roast beast and latkes
Thursday - THANKSGIVING - Roast turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, broccoli & cauliflower
Friday - Turkey tetrazini
Saturday - Quesadillas - beef, chipotle chicken, turkey
Sunday - Leftovers!

See what the rest of the world is serving up at Org Junkie Meal Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - chicken soup
Tuesday - chicken tacos
Wednesday - salmon, cauliflower, salad.
Thursday - baked chicken strips & mashed potatoes
Friday - pizza
Saturday - baked sausage penne
Sunday -  meatloaf and scalloped potatoes

See what's cooking :: Menu Plan Monday

Getting Things Done

My ADD is a thing of beauty. Really, a textbook case that allows me to juggle so many things. But there are times when I want to stick a hot poker right in ADD's eyeball. This is never so apparent as when I open my email inbox.

Over a hundred new messages come in every day. So many that I often forget who sent me what and sometimes...when I am really frustrated...I hunker down and spend an hour taming the email tally to under 100.

Then I spied this article on David Allen's Get It Done website, called Getting Your Inbox to Zero. Zero? I don't think it has ever been there. I mean, you start with the welcome message. I high-five myself if I can get it in double digits.

Step one is to go through the email and ask - is it actionable. If no, then you delete or file it. So I started with 685 emails at 5:45pm. By 6:15 I was at 535. But I had bought a Groupon...yeah. Squirrel!

I redoubled my efforts. 6:45 brought 440. So in an hour I had figured out over 200 emails. Not bad, since 10 came in. But still, that's not 0. By 7:15 I'm down to 246. That is not 0. 192 by 7:45. Quite the improvement, but it's been TWO HOURS. Dude.

And then I realized... I have emails from 2006. Now some are sentimental. The email from my aunt the day before she passed. OK. My husband's ski retreat from Nike...two jobs ago? Yeah, that's gotta go. By 8:15 I had just 43. And I stopped. It was down to one page. I had rid myself of over 600. And...two and a half hours. Egad.

So...way to go Get Things Done. Not quite a win. But a great improvement.   

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Seriously, my cousin won a chicken dinner at a restaurant last weekend. After cracking up, I thought a giveaway to celebrate Caribbean Crush was in order!

Enter my Rafflecopter giveaway for a chance at $5 gift certificates to Amazon. The more entries, the more I'll give away, so be sure to share the contest with your friends.

Did I miss something on the giveaway? Let me know in the comments how you helped spread the word for a chance at a special prize!