Everything's Coming Up Rosie by Kasey MIchaels

(So... the bare bones of this review was up on Goodreads for almost a year but I had to update after I woke up last night and couldn't go back to sleep. I pulled up an old book thinking it would lull me back into slumber. Two hours later, I was shutting down  my Nook with a happy sigh. Oops. Thank goodness I don't work today.)
So... much.. fun. This book has been in my TBR pile for so long I almost forgot it was there but I am so glad I pulled it out. (And on re-read, it's still fantastic).
Architect Douglas Llewellyn has been named Philadelphia's most eligible bachelor four times. At first, he thought it was fun. But now, at forty, he's starting to see his partner settling down and he's realizing that a different woman every night is starting to wear him down. 
He's off to watch his cousin's young daughter get married. The same cousin who tries to set him up with every desperate woman she knows. Also, the same cousin who's been stepping out on her husband with boys half her age. He's not looking forward to it.
But when he gets to the party, he's attacked by a woman he's never met, someone who's calling him darling. He's game and plays along. It turns out that Rosie Kilgannon is trying to escape her own setup. They decide to band together and escape Bettie's (the cousin) machinations. 
Rosie, at thirty-two, is older than the average age of the women Douglas dates by almost a decade. However, there's something about her that he just can't escape. For her part, Rosie's a love'em-and-leave 'em sort of gal but something about Doug makes her start thinking about settling down. It's a horrifying thought. But the sex is spectacular and she really needs his help to figure out why the groom (the man marrying a dear friend of hers) seems so... hinky.
The main characters are relateable, the secondary characters are adorable but not intrusive.
Loved. It.
(Why only four stars for such a glowing review? There was not only no outright mention of using condoms, when Doug and Rosie are having sex not near them, she offers up the old chestnut, "I'm on the pill." Like that protects you from STDs. Really Kasey Michaels?)

Four stars

This book came out September 1, 2006

Hard copy of mine

Opinions are my own

When Honey Got Married--Anthology

I requested this book from NetGalley and got okayed, but when I went to download the book the next day, it had been archived. I was so intrigued by the premise that I ordered the book from Kobo. And I did NOT regret it. What a fun book, definitely a four-miler.
Grace Felt the Heat by Kimberly Lang
Gracie Lee Duggins got out of Bellefleur as fast as she could on the day she turned eighteen. But now she's back to coordinate Honey Moreau's wedding. Honey was the high school golden girl, and in a refreshing turn, she wasn't a giant bitch. But that's not the now-christened Grace's problem. No, it's the fact that she has to work with well-known chef Beau Vaughn, the man who (as a boy) humiliated Grace and became the reason she was teased for the last three years of high school. And  now he doesn't even recognize her.
But then he figures it out and tracks her down and hotness ensues.
Short, not really enough time to develop a great love story but Lang does a great job with what she has.
Eve Met Her Match by Anna Cleary
Eve Fortescue has been invited to the Moreau-Delacroix wedding even though her family doesn't really get along with the Delacroix's and even though she's hopelessly in love with the groom. However, his cousin Rainer is there to make sure that the delectable Eve is happy to walk out with the better man.
Nina Tempted the Lord by Kelly Hunter
This is sort of a random story in with all the others. One where Honey's sister is the protagonist. A girl who literally ran away to join the circus when she was seventeen. But she's been doing her job now for many years and doesn't need the new finance director, Alex Carradice, telling her what to do. But she will accept his help when she has to go back for the sister-who-she-adore's wedding and will have to face her disapproving parents.
Alex has loved Nina for two years but how can he ask her to leave a life she loves?
Fun story.
Pippa Bared All by Ally Blake
Pippa Montgomery has been traveling around the country writing for her syndicated blog. She used to date the groom and even lived with his family for awhile. Which got awkward when she realized that his brother, Griff, created more of a fire than her boyfriend did. And for his part, Griff knew that Pippa cold be his forever-love but she was dating his brother and wasn't that weird?
But they're both here now and the magic is still there...
Honey Lived Happily Ever After by Ally Blake
Honey has been nervous about this wedding. She's loved Brent since preschool but she knows that he hasn't always been so constant. She's not sure if she's being married for her family connections, her political poise and not just because he loves her.
A great look at the start of "After" in her own HEA.

Memorial Day Run

Gorgeous day

Wonderful ceremony

Good friends

Happy dog

Memorial Day with the Sage Leapers

There is a running group in town that I normally don't really run with. They are fast! I do it for cross-training. And my health. Sort of. But I went out with them today to go out to a Memorial Day Service at the local cemetery. It was a beautiful day and my darling, baby, golden girl getting out and getting all sorts of attention.

2 mile lunch run

Marrying the Marquess by Suzanna Medeiros

The premise described in the NetGally caption intrigued me. Louisa Evans is in danger pf losing the roof over her (and her sister and brother's) head and has to turn to the man whose family ruined her father for help. The Marquess of Overleaf knows that he is going to die soon but doesn't want his cousin to inherit, so he comes up with a scheme to marry some girl then have another man father the child so that his illness isn't passed on.
A great first book in the series with some rather convoluted complications like the Marquess' grandmother threatening to announce his marriage (he had already come up with a plan, why add the extra urgency?). The writing was good and the book brought in some enticing characters for follow-up. I had some frustration with how darn FAST the plot moved which made the romance less believable but, overall, I enjoyed the book and look forward to the rest of the series.

Call of the Wilder by Kris Fletcher

JPG from Goodreads

This was a really interesting take on romance. Rather than following the hero and heroine into love, we start with a proposal and then follow the first-person heroine as she tries to figure out whether marriage, especially to this man, is something that she can do.
Gemini Wilder has an unconventional family, to say the least. Her rock star mother is involved, and has been for a number of decades, with her bandmates, twin brothers. None of her aunts are married either. They're flashy dressers with out-sized attitudes. But the family is all brought together in Vegas when one of her aunts passes away. This includes Gemini's Elvis-impersonating ex-husband to whom she still feels a pull.
This was a surprise enjoyment for me,one of a trio of books I requested from NetGalley on a whim and was happily surprised to enjoy after a string of three and even two star books. Not sure who I'd recommend this book to. Maybe readers who enjoy exploring characters who are coming into their own.