Hello, and welcome back! The bread machine is getting a break today, but by Thursday when I'm off, we'll need more fresh bread again. Probably soup, too, if it stays nice and cool as it's been recently. I hear there might be snow north o us, and I'm going to hope it makes its way here before the month is over. I'm also going to hope the month gets better than it began. Good thing I have some good November romances waiting to be read.

This time out, I have the final book in Nora Roberts's 'Bride Quartet', Happy Ever After (Berkley, purchased). It's finally Parker Brown's turn to meet her match, and she actually met him several books ago: Malcolm Kavanaugh. The stuntman turned mechanic is far from her usual type, but she has to admit to an attraction. But she doesn't have time for a relationship with her crazy work schedule. Brides-to-be call at all hours of the day and night, and now she's in the midst of planning a wedding for one of her very best friends, and she wants to get it right. But Mal is underfoot, and often. He makes himself useful when it's an event day, and he makes Parker think she really does want to work him into her life a little. For his part, Malcolm wants to figure out how Parker works, just like the automobiles he repairs and tinkers with on a daily basis, and he wants much more of her. But Malcolm doesn't see the point in talking about the past when it's already over, and Parker wants to understand the things that made him into the strong, sexy man he is, so they're bound to clash over that, no matter how well the rest of their relationship progresses. This has been an absolutely fabulous series from the start, with all the focus on the relationships, both the romantic ones and the friendships. It was so much fun to watch the preparations for Mac's wedding, and to revisit Emma and Laurel and their wonderful heroes. Malcolm is such a guy that there are things he says and does that every reader will recognize from dealing with the men in their own lives. And they'll still fall in love with him. If you're a softy at all, you're going to need tissues when you get to the end, as I did. I hated saying goodbye to this terrific bunch of characters. But perhaps I'll get to revisit them again sometime soon. I'm borrowing four and a half of Cupid's five arrows for this one.

Until next time, happy reading!