So today, Nick and I went house hunting. We tried a different area–Midtown. Midtown is known for its great historical homes. Some of those homes are way, way out of our price range (think Tara from Gone With the Wind), but others are much more affordable.

We were meandering through one, and I counted five fireplaces inside the house. I’m a huge fireplace fan, so the sight of FIVE really excited me. Of course, the realtor ended my excitement quickly by telling me they were for show. Not one of those five fireplaces actually worked. Sigh. The rooms were all huge, with ceilings over sixteen feet tall, and the doors looked like they were almost twice as tall as the doors in my current house. We took Jack and went upstairs (and by the way, the stairs were these interesting, twisting steps–each step was a different length from the one above it).

Once we left the house, I asked Nick what he thought. He paused a moment and said, “The upstairs kinda reminded me of the Amityville House.”

To which I immediately responded, “I know! Cool, huh?”

The horrified stare he shot back at me clearly said he didn’t think the house was cool.

Oh, well. Better luck next weekend.

And how was your Sunday???

JaynieR was kind enough to interview the authors of The Bradford Bunch. If you get a chance, hop by her blog and check out the interview.

Happy Sunday!

And by the way, I finished reading The River Knows by Amanda Quick last night–excellent book!!

If you get a chance, check out this article. Apparently, some researchers in Japan have come up with a new device that might allow people to control electronic devices with their brains.

Okay…so I’ve decided that, for the next few weeks, I’m going to be profiling books from my keeper closet. I’ll try to post one profile each week. I’ll put up the blurb, and tell you exactly why the book made its way into my keeper closet.

So, the first book I’m going to profile is Mackenzie’s Mountain by Linda Howard.

The blurb:

“Wolf Mackenzie was an outsider, a loner who lived with his son on top of a Wyoming mountain and had no use for people. A false conviction and two years in jail had taught him that no one trusts a half-breed–and that a half-breed should trust no one in return.

But prim and proper schoolteacher Mary Potter had other ideas. For one thing, Wolf’s son was the smartest kid in class, and she was determined to see him get the education he deserved. For another, Wolf himself was dangerously fascinating, and the heart has its own way of meting out justice This man who spurned civilization was about to find himself sentenced to life without parole in Mary’s warm embrace.”

Why this book is in my keeper closet:

Mackenzie’s Mountain was originally published in 1989. I found it a few years later. At that point, Linda Howard was an auto-buy for me based on her other Silhouette Intimate Moments.

I read the book, and the characters were so strong–they grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of the back cover blurb. This book has serious conflict. It’s a romantic suspense with three dimensional characters, a superb relationship story, and a well-crafted villain to round out the plot.

Later, Linda Howard went on to write stories about other members of the Mackenzie family. All were great books. And, ah, yes, all are currently in my keeper closet.

…is up at The Bradford Bunch. I wrote a piece about why I enjoy novellas so much. If you’re a fan of the novella (or even if you aren’t!), drop by and leave a comment. I’m going to select one commenter to receive an autographed copy of Secrets, Volume 18: Dark Passions.