Hello, and welcome back! It's warm and rainy here at the moment. If it were twenty degrees colder, we'd probably have quite a lot of snow. Oh well. Maybe next week. And while I'm hoping for snow, I've been reading. I've put a rather large dent into the stack of December books already. Is it just me, or are there less romances out this month than we've had recently? Or maybe it's less good romances. Hm....

In any case, I have the latest from Karen Hawkins this time out, and, for those of you who're accustomed to her historical romances set in Scotland, this one is a wee bit different. Talk of the Town (Pocket) is her first contemporary romance. Roxie Tremayne's divorce has just been finalized, and if she can pull herself together, she's about to fly off to some exotic locale and start a new life. Except her brother shows up with the news that their mother's had a heart attack, and they have to leave the city to go back to their very small hometown of Glory to take care of her. Nick Sheppard left the small town, too, but he came back and the former bad boy is now the sheriff. And when he pulls over the sexy blonde for speeding, he can't believe it's his Roxie. Of course, she's not his anymore, but that doesn't stop him from imagining, though that's all he intends to do. Roxie hates being back home, but her new look causes quite a stir. And it turns out the group of senior citizens her mother volunteers with at the local assisted living facility are quite a lot of fun. Then there's the sexy Nick everywhere she turns. This one was so much fun to read. I loved Nick, and, once Roxie adjusts her attitude, she's a pleasure to read. Then there are the feisty, trouble-making seniors Roxie visits with daily, and the mystery of what happened to one of their former members. I haven't been a big fan of Ms. Hawkins's historical romances, but if she continues to write contemporaries, I expect I'll become a big fan. This one is a definite keeper, and has earned four of Cupid's five arrows.

Until next time, happy reading!