Hello, and welcome back! I just made a batch of soup with some of our leftover turkey from last week's Thanksgiving feast, so the house smells delicious. The weather today was wet and gloomy, so it was a perfect day for staying curled up somewhere warm with a good book. The December books are stacking up here on the desk, so I need to clear off the last few November titles.

Tracy Anne Warren kicks off a new trilogy with My Fair Mistress (Ballantine). The widowed Lady Juliana Hawthorne is determined to pay off her brother's debt to Rafe Pendragon, but she can't afford it. Rafe offers an alternative: be his mistress for six months. He doesn't expect her to agree, but she has to take care of her family. She doesn't expect to enjoy the liaison, nor to have her emotions get involved. But when Rafe rebuffs her emotional declaration, she's heartbroken. And when he comes to her, demanding her hand in marriage, she might not be able to refuse--again, to take care of her family--but that doesn't mean she's going to let him into her heart again. Or at least, that's the plan. The man is infuriating, and, despite her best intentions, she can't deny her feelings for him, no matter his own for her. Like her last trilogy, this one is sweet and charming, but not a keeper for me. With just a little bit of intrigue shadowing their romance, this one is a very light read. It just didn't make me fall in love along with the characters. Rafe is overbearing at times, and this pair could have solved their biggest problems if they'd just talked to one another, rather than simply assuming the other continued to remain distant. Frankly, I thought it could also have ended a tad sooner, and, for a tale based on an affair, it's not nearly hot enough to suit me. The story is cute, but I didn't love it. It's earned only three of Cupid's five arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!