Laydowns for 11/30/10

The Most Scandalous Engagement - Gayle Callen (in my To Be Read journal)

The Duke's Night of Sin - Kathryn Caskie (Started out pretty good, but kinda crapped out towards the end)

Treasure of the Sun - Christina Dodd (Reprint)

Stay a Little Longer - Dorothy Garlock (QP release)

Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman - Lorraine Heath

Wicked Nights with a Lover - Sophie Jordan

Taken by Desire - Lavinia Kent

Shield's Lady - Jayne Ann Krentz (Reprint. One of my favorites.)

In the Dark of Dreams - Marjorie M. Liu (I teared up at the end of this book. There was no sense of time passing, nothing but the story. You need to have a passing familiarity with the Dirk & Steele books, but it's not really a continuation of anything. This was a story about a young boy who meets a young girl for minutes before they are separated for years. They share dreams and grow together until he is affected by a trauma eight years ago. Now he's found her again and together they have to save the world. The fact that she's human and he's a merman is certainly crucial to the plot, but it feels almost extraneous. The point is their journey to find each other and their struggle to stay together. Loved it. Highly, highly rec'd.)

His Christmas Pleasure - Cathy Maxwell

Duchess of Sin - Laurel McKee

Tempted by Fate - Kate Perry (The latest addition to an interesting paranormal series that has a twist on Chinese mysticism. I went back to get the first 2 books after reading this one. Rec'd.)

The Other Side - J.D. Robb (in my To Be Read journal)

Hungry for You - Lynsay Sands (Was the same old, same old. Okay if you liked the previous books, but don't expect anything new.)

Lover Mine - J.R. Ward (MM release)

Weddings & Black Friday

As it turns out, I won't be working this Black Friday. Instead, I'll be trailing around after my sister-in-law-to-be while she picks up her wedding dress and goes shopping for my bridesmaid dress. There are quite a few romances, usually contemporaries, about a bride/sister of the bride/brother of the groom/bride's best friend/wedding planner/yadda yadda. However, I don't think I've ever read anything about the sister of the groom. The older sister, to boot. You occupy an odd place in the wedding hierarchy. You're classified as family, but since you're not really family yet and you're only in the party because she's marrying your little brother, you rank below her mother(s), her sister(s) and her best friend(s). Yes, my Black Friday will be spent in wedding shops.

I don't feel too guilty for abandoning my store because our foot traffic is usually spread out over the day. We rarely offer doorbusters or any sales that can compete with the other big box stores. Also, I've noticed that since the economy crashed, the sales usually get set-up on Wednesday. Then it's just a matter of swapping out the signage before opening on Friday. This makes our lives a little simpler and doesn't require us to show up at an ungodly hour on Friday morning.

I've really only done Black Friday shopping as an adult once. It was like a novelty. It was an interesting experience and, if I ever need to buy toys or large electronics, I'll probably do it again. For the time being, however, I shop on the Internet. What most people don't realize is that the same brands are on sale across the board. The manufacturers are the ones who determine what goes on sale and the range of discounts allowed. If you frequent a site like BlackFriday.info, you can see the pattern. For example, the Canon A3100 digital camera is on sale at Toys 'R Us, Amazon, Office Max and Best Buy for $99. I can buy it online for the same price as I would find it in the store without changing out of my comfty pajamas. You just have to know what you want and do a little research. A spin through Google Shopping  shows the likely tax and shipping costs, plus any other retailers you may have missed.

Books are an exception to this. A comparison of Bookstore's and Competitor Bookstore's Black Friday sales shows they have differing discounted books and coupons. E-books rarely qualify for Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals.

I'll leave you with a couple of my favorite wedding/marriage related romances.

My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, ed. P. N. Elrod
The Bride Quartet, Nora Roberts
Keegan's Lady, Catherine Anderson
Wildest Heart, Jayne Ann Krentz
Saving Grace, Julie Garwood
Immortal in Death, J. D. Robb