The new flowers came through the hail storm just fine--including the peony tree, which I'd kind of forgotten about until the next day. Whew! The pathetic plant still looks pathetic and I don't know if it's going to pull through, but that had nothing to do with the storm.
My deck is now stained and sealed. Hurrah! But they have to come back today to touch up some light spots. I'm hugely relieved that this is done and that I can start putting things out on my deck soon. Like the other flower boxes I have planted and ready to go and my lawn furniture.
I read the best book the other day. Raintree: Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones. This is a June release from Silhouette Nocturne and the second book in a series that opened with Linda Howard's Raintree: Inferno.
Gideon, the hero, sees and talks to ghosts. He also has an affinity for anything electrical like lightning and tends to blow out computer chips, televisions, cell phones, etc. He works as a homicide detective and his latest case is the murder of his cousin's roommate. This is also where he finds out he has a new partner. Hope Malory has moved to town to be closer to her mother because she's concerned about her. She was a police detective in a bigger city and now she's working homicide with Gideon.
Because of the crime scene and the skill with which the murderer struck, Gideon thinks they have a serial killer on the loose. Little does he know that his serial killer is Ansara. The Ansara and the Raintree have been at war with each other for hundreds and hundreds of years. They, too, have magical abilities like the Raintree, but they use their power for ill. A couple of hundred years earlier, they tried to destroy the Raintree and failed, but now they've recouped their numbers and are set to attack again. The serial killer, Tabby, was sent to murder Echo (Gideon's cousin) and mistook the roommate for the cousin. She's also supposed to kill Gideon, a job she's looking forward to with relish.
I really enjoyed this book--tons. Gideon is sexy and honorable and it didn't take me long to like Hope either. You see, I have this prejudice. I hate reading about female cops. I don't know why since I like strong heroines, but that's a personal bias I developed. It didn't last long. Hope was a well-rounded, three dimensional character and that overcame my predisposition. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but there's a really cool part farther into the book that has to do with Hope's name that I totally loved.
This was a book I couldn't put down. Even though it was getting late, I had to finish it. Tabby was a great villain and the tension was high. I loved Gideon and thought Hope was perfect for him. I just wish that I didn't have to wait for the final Raintree book. I want to find out what happens in the final story. :-)
