Blog Archive

the ask@AAR: Do you care how you look? (I do!)

I grew up in peak beauty tip times. Every magazine, newspaper, and friend’s older sister shared how to look better. Starting in junior high, my friends and I spent hours in the drugstore cosmetics aisles, spending…

A (personal) history of Valentine’s Day

Today, in the U.S., hundreds of thousands of Valentine’s Day cards will be exchanged. Americans will spend close to thirty billion dollars on Valentine’s Day gifts. Close to 300 million roses were grown just for this…

An interview with Susan Elizabeth Phillips

There’s a new Chicago Stars book coming out which I, of course, had to read. I have always enjoyed the chance to chat with Susan, so when her team asked if I’d like to do an…

the ask@AAR: What have you been reading lately?

Goodreads tells me I’ve read eleven books thus far this year. They are: The Woman on the Ledge by Ruth Mancini Never Blow a Kiss by Lindsay Lovise Devil’s Kitchen by Candice Fox The Duchess Takes…

What do we think about Linda Howard?

Yesterday’s Steals and Deals offered a twofer: Linda Howard’s Dream Man and After The Night, bound in one book. It was fascinating to read the reviews and the comments on these two books. Several readers found…

the ask@AAR: What song is YOU?

Lately, Dr. Feelgood and I have been listening to a lot of music. I think it’s because he retired and we can’t TALK ALL THE TIME. When we want to jam, I go to Spotify and…

In which a headline from the Washington Posts irks me….

Yesterday, I returned from trying on possible Mother of the Groom lehengas to read this crap headline from Washington Post: At 59, I needed a fancy gown. Should I go for sexy or mother of the…

the ask@AAR: Have you seen any of the Best Picture Nominees? What did you think?

It’s Oscar time and, as usual, I have seen almost none of the nominees–currently I’ve only seen Barbie. The nominees are: American Fiction Anatomy of a Fall Barbie The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro…

Chatting with Kami Tei, Amazon Senior Editor, about the Top Romances of 2023

I was interested in Amazon’s list of the top romances of 2023. (Of these, we’ve reviewed Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, Happy Place, Hello Stranger, Love, Theoretically, Forget Me Not, The Love Wager, The Blonde Identity, and…