So...I'm not good at this yet. :) Let's catch up.

If you are one of the few who follow my Blog, I offer my deepest, most heart-felt apologies for not posting anything in about a millennium.  So often I say to myself, "Self, you need to get on there and update that blog you crazy nerd." I inevitably agree with myself, but obviously I do nothing about it. Truthfully, there has been so much going on in our lives that I really can't share with the online universe yet. So, it was a little taxing to try to come on here and try to mentally sift through it all and find something I could tell you about.  I'm sure you are now wondering what spurred me to finally pop on here. It was the lovely email I received from Erica over at  Confessions of a Homeschooler. Among many others things, she offers these beautiful little planners and organizers for Blogging, and today's email sent me a link to the 2012 and the 2013 versions. It was inspiring, really. (You can get them for yourself and check out her great site here.) So now, armed with a plan and a schedule in my home organizer (my giant pink binder that pretty much keeps this house running) I have come up with some ideas for posts this month. But first, I have to take care of business...I owe a book review to the wonderfully kind and patient folks over at Bethany House. Hopefully, they'll let me continue reviewing their books despite my tardiness.

 So, finally, I give you my thoughts on "To Love and Cherish" by Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller. 

The book is described as following on Tracie Peterson's website :

When Melinda Colson's employer announces they'll be leaving Bridal Veil Island to return to their home in Cleveland, Melinda hopes her beau, Evan, will propose. But Evan isn't prepared to make an offer of marriage until he knows he can support a wife and family. Evan works as the assistant gamekeeper on Bridal Veil but hopes to be promoted soon.
Letters strengthen their love, but Melinda remains frustrated at being apart from the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Then she learns of a devastating hurricane in Bridal Veil and knows she must give up her position as a lady's maid and make her way back to Evan.
The destruction on Bridal Veil is extensive, meaning every available person is needed to help with cleanup and repairs. Melinda finds a new job on the island, but Evan seems even busier than before, meaning she still never gets to see him. Has she given her heart to the wrong man?
And when Melinda overhears a vicious plot against President McKinley, who is scheduled to visit the island, is Evan the one she should turn to? Will Melinda and Evan ever get the chance to stand at the front of a church and promise "to love and cherish"?

This book is the second in the Bridal Veil Island series. I didn't read the first book, "To Have and To Hold" but "To Love and Cherish" was written in such a way that it didn't really matter. The setting was the same but the characters were all different, so I wasn't lost in some previous plot, nor did the authors have to rehash the plot of the previous book. I like that. It annoys me when the first half of books I'm reading are catch-ups to other books...but I digress.  I felt the characters in this book were very likable, though they seemed fairly modern to me. They presented interesting points of view on marriage and how men and women see things differently.  The thing I didn't like about this book was that I didn't get the sense of history I usually get from Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller's work. There was certainly some mention of historical markers, but I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more. Over all, I did enjoy the book and if I were to have the chance to read the third book in the series I would certainly do so.


And that's it for today folks. The littlest one just woke up from her nap and is now snuggled up in my arms. That is wonderful for my mommy-heart, but it makes it super-hard to type with any kind of accuracy or speed.  My plan is to post more tomorrow. If I do, make sure you cheer for me. :) What an achievement it would be!