Hello, and welcome back! We're due for some heavy rain that will probably melt off most of our snow. I guess then I'll have to hope for more before Christmas again to put me back in the holiday mood.

In case you haven't finished your shopping, I have two idea lists for you this year: one for romance readers and one for the romance writers on your shopping list. As I mention in both articles, I have lots more ideas if none of those seem to fit the bill, so feel free to email me about them.

I can hardly believe we're getting to the last romance releases of the year. I'm on my last two December books this week, and the January titles are beginning to trickle in, including one giveaway book! In the meantime, here's the last of my 2003 reviews....

First up is Julie Beard's
Midnight Angel (Berkley). Lydia, Countess of Beaumont, roams the streets of London at night, rescuing young women from a life of prostitution. Her trouble begins when the young girl her late husband fathered illegitmately disappears and she has to turn to Hugh Montgomery, aka Lord Clue, for assistance. This was a pleasant enough way to while away an evening, but I was disappointed with Lydia's "big secret," which wasn't as secret as she believed. I'm borrowing only three of Cupid's five arrows for this one.

The other book I have to share this week is Shirley Jump's
The Bachelor's Dare; Silhouette Romance #1700, with Claire Richards desperate enough to get to her sick father that she'll spend as long as it takes stuck inside an RV with a whole bunch of strangers and one man who isn't a stranger--but who isn't the sort of man she needs in her life right now. Mark Dole needs the RV, too, but for business reasons, and this pair will try any tricks they can come up with to outwit and outlast the other. A fun twist on the "reality" shows so popular now, with some, um, interesting minor characters along the way to Claire and Mark's happy ending. I'm giving this one four arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!