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Just got home from our 4 day mini-vacation to Winthrop, Washington. We camped with our RV at Pearrygin State Park where the deer have taken over the park. They came strolling through the campground at all hours of the day and had no fear of humans. They were mostly mama deer and their babies but we did see one buck. At any given time all you had to do was look out the window and spot a deer. I attempted to take a pictures to show you but the battery on my camera went dead. Figures!

Winthrop is the cutest little western town complete with wooden sidewalks and touristy shops and lots of restaurants. It seemed like all we did was eat, eat, eat. There is a fabulous little bakery/candy store with homemade cinnamon rolls and caramel apples. We ate dinner at Jack's Saloon (the oldest saloon in Washington - so they say) which had wonderful food.

Bob golfed twice and I finished three books (YAY!), all three were enjoyable with two of them keepers.

Marriage By Design by Lynn Michaels
Very cute, funny book with a large cast of characters. I'm usually a tough sell when it comes to humor in romance but this one worked for me. No silliness or slapstick (which I normally dislike), just lots of snappy, witty dialogue. In fact, some of it went over my head at first causing me to stop in puzzlement, re-read a passage, and chuckle a bit at the clever writing.

The plot takes place in Kansas City, MO, and gives the reader a glimpse into the world of high fashion bridal design. Mia Savard is a top designer in her father's bridal design company. But she is tired of designing bridal gowns and is trying to convince her father to move her to the trousseau department where she can design a variety of garments. Unfortunately, there is a traitor in their midst. Mia's newest bridal gown design for the govenor's daughter is stolen and appears in an ad for their competitor. Mia's father, Lucien, hires Joseph Kerr, a private investigator, to find out the identity of the traitor. Mia and Joe are immediately attracted to each other and love soon follows.

I liked Mia who was rather sassy but very intelligent. Joe was harder to figure out but I think the problem was that there was not enough story from his POV. The underlying mystery of who stole the design was pretty good. One of the villains was obvious but his accomplice took a bit longer to figure out. My biggest complaint is that there were too many confusing characters to keep track of but I still found this a light, humorous, enjoyable read.

My grade: B

I'm running out of steam. More to follow on those two keepers.