Monday, June 18, 2012

Dum-dum-da-dum...


Weddings are extremely important occasions in most people’s lives. Some little girls spend their childhoods dreaming of their prince charming, his proposal, and have planned out every detail of their dream wedding before they have even met Mr. Right. But for those of us who need a little more help, thankfully there are a number of books that can provide advice about every aspect of the big day!

Planning Your Wedding: Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Perfect Day by Blair deLaubenfels, Christy Weber, and Kim Bamberg is a good book to start with if you’re just beginning the planning process. Bamberg, deLaubenfels and Weber met in Photography School and are the creators of Junebugweddings.com. Their book is organized into chapters by topic and provides a wealth of information in an easily digestible format. You can read the book from cover to cover, or go directly to the chapter that focuses on the topic that addresses your current concern. For the visually-oriented, the text is punctuated with lots of photographs to illustrate the topics discussed and give the reader some specific ideas.

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words! If you’re planning your wedding, helping with your child’s wedding, or are just a romantic who enjoys reading about weddings, The Knot Ultimate Wedding LookBook: More than 1,000 Cakes, Centerpieces, Bouquets, Dresses, Decorations, and Ideas for the Perfect Day by Carley Roney is the book for you! Carley Roney is the founder of The Knot.com and has compiled more than 1,000 color photographs into an inspirational idea book. The book starts with an introduction about “Finding Your Style” and is then organized into topical chapters. Of particular interest to brides who need help picking their color(s) are the chapters that suggest possible color combinations. In addition to the gorgeous photographs, every chapter is filled with detailed information on each topic as well as practical advice to help the reader navigate or avoid tricky situations and decisions.

For creative brides with time to spare, The DIY Bride: An Affair to Remember –40 Fantastic Projects to Celebrate Your Unique Wedding in Style by Khris Cochran provides design ideas and instructions for a variety of wedding styles and budgets. Whether you’re trying to save cash by doing it yourself, or just want to personalize your event, the projects in this book will inspire you. Organized into thematic chapters, a minimum of five projects are provided for each section. Before launching into any of the projects, however, Cochran includes chapters on recommended tools and troubleshooting techniques. Each project includes an estimate as to how long the project will take, whether or not the project can be done alone or if help will be required, the price breakdown, and detailed instructions complete with illustrations.

Choosing the flowers for your wedding can be very exciting, but once again, there are so many options that it can be hard to make a decision! Smart, budget-conscious brides may want to consider not only their favorite flowers, but should also take into account what flowers are in season at the time of the wedding.  Author Diane Wagner has tackled the topic of flowers in her book, Beautiful Wedding Flowers: More than 300 Corsages, Bouquets, and Centerpieces. Broken into five chapters, the book covers the basics, flowers for the wedding party, flowers for the ceremony, flowers for the reception, and includes a DIY section for the creative bride. Color photos adorn nearly every page of this book, and the accompanying text describes the ideas presented in each photograph. 

Although you may not want to read this in the midst of your wedding planning, author Rebecca Mead has written a fascinating book about the history of the American wedding titled, One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding. For example, it may interest readers to know that the multi-billion dollar wedding industry of today is recognized by social historians to have started sometime between the 1920s and 1950s. Although Mead admits that she enjoys weddings as much as anyone else, her premise is that American weddings are shaped as much by commerce and marketing as they are by other social, religious, or familial influences. To prove her point, she takes a close look at the wedding industry and how it has transformed the American wedding into an increasingly commercialized affair.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Sizzling Historical Romances from my Never-Get-Rid-Of List


This week, I was going through my romance paperbacks in anticipation of the Sizzling Romance Swap at the Cartersville Public Library on June 7th, and it brought back so many memories of some great books that I loved.  I have read romances for over 30 years so I have quite a collection in my closet, on bookshelves, and in boxes.  I have read all the sub-genres--historical, contemporary, romantic suspense, paranormal, etc..., but the ones that I have trouble letting go of and have reread many times are historical.   These books go on my Never-Get-Rid-Of List.

If you ask romance readers of my generation what book got them started reading romances, chances are you will hear a title by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss.  Considered the mother of the modern historical romance novel, her first book was The Flame and The Flower. I have been hooked on romances after I read it in high school.  Set in Georgian England and in the Carolinas, it is the story of Heather Simmons and ship captain Brandon Birmingham.  Less politically correct than today’s historical, Brandon mistakes Heather as a wharf prostitute on his trip to England; her weak protests seem like part of her act to him.  When she later turns up pregnant, the two are forced to marry.  The story is about two very different people trying to make a marriage work and finding love in the process.  Woodiwiss’ writing captivates the reader and transports you to a time and place different from our own.  Romance novelist Teresa Mederios wrote, “Whether you love The Flame and the Flower or hate it, we're still talking about it almost 40 years later.  How many other romances will be able to make that claim?”

Another favorite on the historical scene is author Johanna Lindsey.  Her 50th novel, Let Love Find You, comes out this month.  My favorite of hers is the 2nd in the Mallory series, Tender Rebel.  Set in England in 1818, Scottish heiress Lady Roslyn Chadwick needs to find a husband quick to save her fortune from a greedy cousin.  At a ball she meets Sir Anthony Mallory, London’s most notorious rake.  He’s everything she has been warned against but everything she can’t resist.  Anthony will do anything, tell any lie, to seduce her but has sworn never to marry—what he does not count on is falling in love.  When the greedy cousin finds her, she is forced to make a choice that may ruin her life or turn it into an enchanting dream if she can only trust Anthony.  The book sizzles with the chemistry between the two and is great escapism reading.

Next on my Never-Get-Rid-Of List is Mary Jo Putney’s Fallen Angel series.  This series takes place in England during and shortly after the Napoleonic Wars and features men who were friends in school and in war.  It is hard to pick my favorite but I’ll go with River of Fire.  Bearing both physical and mental scars, Kenneth Wilding returns from the war to an impoverished family estate.  A stranger offers him an unusual proposition: prove Anthony Seaton (England’s most famous artist) killed his wife and all debts will be forgiven.  Kenneth has no choice but to go undercover as Seaton’s secretary to investigate.  While there he meets Rebecca Seaton.  Rebecca is Anthony’s socially ruined spinster daughter and a talented artist.   Kenneth must choose between love, honor, and saving his family estate.  Putney brings an added element of the art world into this historical novel.  Her novels are well-researched, historically accurate, and just great reading.

I could go on with many more that are on my Never-Get-Rid-Of list, but I’ll stop with just one more, For the Roses by Julie Garwood.  Four orphaned street boys in New York City, just prior to the Civil War, find a baby girl in the trash heap.  They name her Mary Rose Clayborne and decide to raise her.  They head out West eventually settling in Blue Belle, Montana.  Mary Rose grows up being a well-loved, soft-hearted, but stubborn young lady.  One day Lord Harrison MacDonald comes to town, sticking out like a tenderfoot.  Mary Rose convinces her brothers to help him survive in the American West.  As Mary Rose and Harrison fall in love, he has a secret that could destroy them; he is searching for a woman who was kidnapped as a baby and never found.  What makes this novel first-class is the letters inserted between chapters that the boys wrote as Mary Rose was growing up; imagine four young street urchins learning how to raise a child, and the trials they must overcome.

Additional Sizzling Historical Romances from my Never-Get-Rid-Of List:
Rose by Leigh Greenwood
Deception by Amanda Quick
Nobody’s Angel by Karen Robards
To Taste Temptation by Elizabeth Hoyt
Devil’s Bride by Stephanie Laurens