Twas the Night by Sandra Hill, Kate Holmes and Trish Jensen

It takes someone special to plan a wedding in Maine during winter and expect people to just come, but George is just that someone special to three best friends - and orphans - Sam, JD and Stan. Growing up, it was George who got them out of many a tight spot and became their father figure.

But when Sam Merrick's plane out of Philly gets grounded due to a snowstorm, he's forced to join the Santa Brigade - a group of senior citizens dressed up as Santa on a mission to spreed cheer to homeless shelters up and down the Northeast - since their bus is pretty much the only vehicle that seems to be able to make it to Maine by Christmas. First unenthusiastic, Sam quickly warms to the idea of joining the Brigade when he learns that his former girlfriend, Reba, is with them.

JD - a.k.a Kevin Wilder- is a former cop turned bounty hunter, who's on a quest to capture Callie Brandt, but with snow falling hard all over the northeast, JD quickly discovers that the only way to get her to a police station is to take her into the Satan Brigade bus with him. Only that then he starts to get to know her... and like her.

Stan -a former NFL start quarterback - was picking up park ranger Dana Freeman as a favor to George, but snow caught up with them too and they joined the Santa Brigade as well, as something blossomed between them.

I was surprised at the way this anthology was written, all three stories were so deeply interwoven that the authors, rather than separating them, told them in alternating chapters, each from one of the men's perspective; so it reads like one single story even though its written by three authors, and each one of the men has it's own voice but the story flows seamlessly. I liked it.

The story was funny and sexy and the characters felt very real, it was a lovely contemporary story aside from being a lovely christmasy read.

I think I liked Sam's story the most, maybe because he was the first one of the three friends that I met, maybe because I liked Reba the most as well, but over all, it was so nice to read this story on Christmas morning, cozied up in bed and nursing a cold - even with the general sickly feeling I had, 'Twas the Night cheered me right up.

Cover Love #18 - Queen of the Dead

Haven't done one of these (Cover Love) in a while and when I saw the one for Queen of the Dead, I just thought it was cute. I have yet to read The Ghost and the Goth but I got it in my TBR pile. I love both covers, actually. And I hope I like the books.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Sophie Hatter always thought she was destined to failure if she ever tried to do anything out of the ordinary, as she is the eldest of three sisters. So, instead, she tried to be a good daughter and to be content with her lot in life: to one day inherit the hat shop and live pleasant, but dull life.

When her father dies, her stepmother makes arrangements for Sophie's sisters. Lettie, the middle, beautiful sister, is sent to a bakery, where she's expected to meet a good man and marry well. Martha, the youngest, is sent to apprentice with a witch. And Sophie stays home, making hats.

Around their little town, there are rumors of two evils: one, the witch of the waste, who's not someone to be crossed. and two, Wizard Howl, said to eat young girl's hearts and steal their souls. When the witch of the waste casts a spell on Sophie - aging her to look and feel like a old, old woman - she unwittingly puts her in the path to Howl and his moving castle.

Once there, she makes a bargain with Calicifer (Howl's fire demon), annoys Howl with her need to clean, and befriends Mark (Howl's young apprentice), all while trying to break her own curse.

I was so excited to read Howl's Moving Castle because I'm a huge fan of the movie. There were many differences between the two, but I still liked the book. I did, however, find it a bit convoluted. I think it was, in part, because of all the background information on Howl, and because of the added story lines of Sophie's sisters.

In this case, I think I liked the movie better - it was easier to understand, and the romance was more believable. The book was beautifully written, though, it was almost lyrical at times.

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List Maniac #11 - Favorite Covers of 2010

Well, it seems like everyone is doing lists lately, I guess it's part of the whole getting closure on a year that it's practically gone (7 days until my birthday!!!)

So, I decided to join the trend, and so here you have my List of Favorite Covers of Books I read in 2010.

*Paranormalcy by Kiersten White - Bold and pink! Just like the protagonist of the story, this cover made me crave this book. And it really suits the personality of Evie and of the book - with the darkness surrounding this girl who might look frail but who can totally kick your butt.

* Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr - Spare and beautiful, very much like this story about losing and finding faith. It's very simple, but beautiful in it's simplicity, the flowers and muted colors should make it boring but I just liked it.

* Jane by April Lindner - Evocative, haunting and beautiful. It just puts you in the mood of the book, even if that's not exactly how I pictured Jane to look like, this cover makes a great job of showing the feel of the book.

*Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts- Truly, the whole packaging of this series (The Bride Quartet) has been beautiful, but I loved this cover most of all because of the wedding dress, the kiss, the fact that it's the only one where the groom is in the picture!!

* Goddess Girls by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams - I'm putting all three covers in here. I love them, they are graphic, they are cartoons really, but they fit so well the plot of each of the books and the way the Goddess Girls look/are described.

Special Mention: Five Flavors of Dumb by Anthony John and Bloody Valentine by Melissa de la Cruz. I haven't read these but I love the covers. Bloody Valentine's cover fits in with the rest of the Blue Bloods series, and does the Vampire theme in a way that it's elegant. Five Flavors of Dumb is just rock and roll - love it!

That's it for today but more lists will come along shortly!

Aphrodite the Beauty by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

Aphrodite is used to godboys looking at her and trying to impress her, and though she finds it a bit a annoying on occasion, she isn't prepared for the feelings of jealousy that assault her once she gives her friend Athena a makeover.

Suddenly, all of her male-fans are hanging around Athena, leaving Aphrodite feeling a bit ignored. There is only one guy still trying to get her attenton: Hephaestus. Is not that Hephaestus is not nice or anything - because he is nice, and he's makes the most beautiful things out of metal - but he's nothing like handsome Ares, on whom Aphrodite has a bit of a crush.

At the same time, Aphrodite must attend her duties as goddess of love and help a mortal win the heart of a princess...

Aphrodite the Beauty is the third book of the Goddess Girls series (Though each can be read on its own) and it fits right in with the awesome of it's two predecessors.

I was really looking forward to read this one, partially because Carrie@In The Hammock said it was the one she had liked the most so far; and partially because I wanted to see the authors' take on this goddess whom I've always known to be a bit vain, in fact, I admit I have not always liked her much until I began to read the Goddess Girls books.

I really liked Aphrodite in this book. I love that she sounds like 13-year old and yet is a goddess at the same time. I loved what she learns about herself and how her feelings are portrayed. And I loved that Athena and Aphrodite work at their friendship instead of let misunderstandings -and godboys - get in the way.

Favorite Quote: "...but there was something about the sparkle in his eyes that made him attractive none the less. Inner beauty, she realized. That's what the sparkle was."

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PS - Please check out my giveaway of the 4th book of this series, Artemis the Brave.