The Road She Left Behind by Christine Nolfi


The Road She Left Behind by Christine Nolfi
Publisher: Lake Union
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (298 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

Crushed by guilt over the car accident that killed her father and sister, and torn apart by her mother’s resentment, Darcy Goodridge fled her family estate eight years ago and hasn’t looked back. Now an unexpected phone call threatens to upend what little serenity she’s found. Her nephew, Emerson, who was just a baby when his mother died, has gone missing. Darcy must return home and face her past in order to save him.

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She and her mother had a violent argument after the death of her father and sister. Her mother said ugly things, so she moved out and started a new life on her own. She does each job for a year and then moves to another city in another state. She never gets close to anyone and she never talks about her past. Then the housekeeper calls and says she needs to come home. She refuses until she hears that Emerson, her sister’s son, is missing. He’s been gone longer than usual and everyone is worried. She decides to return but she ends up with a passenger. He’s just graduated from high school and has been in and out of foster homes. She’s his security right now.

This author understands family dynamics and how people respond to grief. There are several unforgivable moments in this story. The story flows smoothly and reads well. It’s full of family drama.

Her mother doesn’t want her back but she’s not backing down. When she meets her nephew, it’s instant love for both of them. And she finds her first love is home again and divorced. She tries to stay away from him but that doesn’t work. After all he lives next door and Emerson loves him.

The worst part of being home is learning old secrets and remembering her sister. There is one more secret she’s going to learn about that will hurt her as well as one that will bring her joy.

This author toys with your emotions through the whole book. A good and memorable read.

Scenes from the Heartland: Stories Based on Lithographs by Thomas Hart Benton by Donna Baier Stein


Scenes from the Heartland: Stories Based on Lithographs by Thomas Hart Benton by Donna Baier Stein
Publisher: Serving House Books
Genre: Historical, anthology
Length: Short story (142 pages)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

When a contemporary writer turns her imagination loose inside the images of an iconic artist of the past, the result is storytelling magic at its best. Here are nine tales that bring to vivid life the early decades of the 20th century as witnessed by one of America’s most well-known painters. Thomas Hart Benton sketched fiddlers and farm wives, preachers and soldiers, folks gathering in dance halls and tent meetings. Though his lithographs depict the past, the real-life people he portrayed face issues that are front and center today: corruption, women’s rights, racial inequality.

In these stories we enter the imagined lives of Midwesterners in the late 1930s and early 1940s. A mysterious woman dancing to fiddle music makes one small gesture of kindness that helps heal the rift of racial tensions in her small town. A man leaves his childhood home after a tragic accident and becomes involved with the big-time gamblers who have made Hot Springs, Arkansas, their summer playground. After watching her mother being sent to an insane asylum simply for grieving over a miscarriage, a girl determines to never let any man have any say over her body.

Then as now, Americans have struggled with poverty, illness, and betrayal. These fictions reveal our fellow countrymen and women living with grace and strong leanings toward virtue, despite the troubles that face them.

Now about 40% of men between the ages of 40 and 70 faces erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation.Article from From PenisProducts.org Seventy percent cases of infertility are contributed by ovulation troubles. sildenafil prices Do make sure that you take the help of best viagra in uk; as it is an easy medication to fight the condition.Before we understand the function and mechanism of the bacteria inside the body that instantly interrupted in the mechanical work patterns of various body mechanisms and creates various health disorders. In all cultures and throughout mankind’s history, sex has always been a very controversial topic both in the personal and the public sphere, specifically among men whose upbringing created a universal culture that shop viagra online equates masculinity to sexual vigor and the size of the penis will shrink to its natural size. Before all these treatment sildenafil tablets india options, men have to be about the various reasons for erectile function, after all it is not the only cause for most men. To look at a lithograph and imagine the story it tells takes imagination and creativeness. Ms. Stein has this down. Here she creates nine tales that take you back in time to the era the pictures represent. Everybody was more down home types and all had their private struggles. You’ll remember these tales.

One story is about a schoolteacher who doesn’t approve of the woman chosen for bible classes. When both their boys go on mission to save the ones flooding, they both have more to worry about.

If you were black, you could be beaten up and killed and no one cared. The poor fiddler knew that but folks liked his playing and usually left him alone…

You feel the anguish of the mother watching her son go off to war. Ms. Stein’s words are concise and earthy. You feel the emotions of the characters.

She makes you feel the fear of a woman who thinks she might lose her husband to another woman. There are several stories about young girl’s and their emotions. You can relate to their fears and anxieties.

The story that was the most poignant was the one where the father lost his hands and his lower arms in a piece of farm equipment. He keeps on with metal hooks but there is a final confrontation at the end of the story. You won’t forget that one easily.

All the stories are down to earth and have the feeling of family history being shared. What you read will stick with you long after you put the book down.

Jaclyn and the Beanstalk by Mary Ting


Jaclyn and the Beanstalk by Mary Ting
Publisher: Vesuvian Books
Genre: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Full length (276 pages)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

What fate awaits a girl who hears monsters at night …

Sixteen-year-old Jaclyn looks up to her father. An honest man who once fought for the king, he now teaches Jaclyn how to use her wits—and her sword. But he has a secret. And his secret may have a connection to the one thing Jaclyn is hiding from him.

Upon hearing “monsters” are terrorizing the small villages around Black Mountain, Jaclyn’s father and his friends head out to hunt them … but they don’t return. Armed only with her sword and three magic beans—a gift from a mysterious old woman—Jaclyn sets out for Black Mountain to save her father.

On her climb, one bean drops and grows into a beanstalk, catching her when she falls.

She isn’t the only one that takes the ride. Jack, her childhood friend and secret crush, is following her.
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Together, Jaclyn and Jack must battle to save not only their fathers, but the townspeople the beasts plan to lay waste to before it’s too late.

She has nightmares. She hears people screaming and sees monsters. Why does she have these dreams?

This is a revamp of the traditional fairy tale and Ms. Ting gives us a much more lengthy tale with lots of detail. This is a full bodied read.

Jaclyn lives with her parents on their secluded farm. Her parents are loving and they have a good life together. Her mother is suggesting it’s time for Jaclyn to find a husband and settle down but Jaclyn is happy where she’s at and has no interest in men.

When she hears her father having a secret meeting in the barn, she listens. There are sheep missing and the monsters are walking again. Maybe that’s why she’s dreaming about them. Her father is going to take three sheep with him and set a trap. A few men are going to go with him. When he leaves in the morning, she’s in the back of the wagon, hidden.

There’s a battle with the monsters that mimics her dream but she didn’t foresee her father and his friends being taken prisoner. How is she going to save him?

Ms. Ting writes a story that keeps your attention and makes you wonder how it’s going to end. She even introduces Jaclyn to her love before the tale is over.

The author has added a religious base to the source of the monsters that’s a bit unusual for a fairy tale but the way she did it made sense.

This was an enjoyable read even with the sad parts. This story will stick with you after you’ve finished the book. Ms. Ting has a good touch with fairy tales.

Lucky by RH Webster


Lucky by RH Webster
Publisher: Outer Boundary Press
Genre: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full length (256 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

Life in the space lanes isn’t the easiest, but for Trigg Donner, commander of the space freighter Rosebud, it’s more than a steady paycheck–it’s home. But when a routine landing on San Pedro unearths a mystery simmering on his own ship, Trigg comes face to face with his own fears and distrust.

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Trigg is commander of the spaceship. He has a good crew, a very good pilot and his load of passengers. One more passenger joins them. She’s been working on the planet and finally has enough funds she can go home. She’s earthbound by a circular route. The commander does not want to get the news they are one staff member short. He got shot in a bar fight. Now he has to find someone to replace him quickly. They are due to take off…

Ms. Webster creates a grand space adventure with lots of varied characters. She keeps the story tight and the tension up and suspicions abound.

Trigg hires Lucky to be his new administrative aid. He assigns the other one to the cargo area to replace the dead man. When they just barely get off the planet and the steel plates they walk on start to move, it’s not unusual but it’s early. Why do they do that?

This flight is unusual in other ways, too. They find a stowaway, they learn of a smuggling plot, and things go downhill from there. The commander gets shot by his captain in the local bar so he’s not surprised when he finds he was part of the smuggling ring. But he’s not prepared to see who the other major player was.

As they try to survive the various attacks and get back on track, Lucky and the commander find themselves falling in love. This is a very nice touch that adds some heart to the story.

Not everyone survives but it ends on a positive note and it is great fun to read.

Bespoke by Jayne Fresina


Bespoke by Jayne Fresina
Publisher: Twisted E-Publishing
Genre: Action/Adventure, Historical, Suspense/Mystery
Length Full length (452 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

He’s been sent from Scotland Yard to solve a case of blackmail in the Yorkshire Dales; she’s just opened her own business in York baking bespoke cakes. He wants a peaceful life; she’s aiming for revolution. He likes to keep both feet on the ground; she dreams of scandalizing the neighborhood on a bicycle. He prefers to fade in with the wallpaper; she’s proud to be a black sheep that stands out in the crowd.

He’s never getting married again—most women ought to be stamped on the forehead with a danger warning and clapped into handcuffs. She thinks men are simply an obstacle to her ambitions and if it’s true that the way to a man’s heart is through his digestive system, that explains why a great deal of gaseous waste frequently finds its path out of the wrong end.

Effects may take longer levitra 20mg price to appear than alpha blockers, but they persist for many years. The doctor also works to recognize the viagra properien current issues with an erection, ejaculation & sexual wish. Regular massage of the male organ using Mast Mood oil, the best and effective herbal erection oil to prevent ED, from reputed online stores using a credit card. canadian viagra no prescription Appearance tadalafil in canada has a lot to do with blood circulation. The two of them might appear to be mismatched flavors in an unlikely recipe, but when blackmail turns to murder, it’s the start of a remarkable partnership in crime-solving. And a match made in chocolate.

It’s late Victorian England and the world may be on the cusp of change, but is it quite ready for this pairing? They’re not even prepared for it themselves. Nevertheless, some wayward kind of chemistry keeps drawing them together and it can’t be blamed entirely on the cake.

Or the corpse in the conservatory.

He’s a detective. His wife and child have died, he almost dies from gunshot wounds and when he comes back to Scotland Yard, they send him to another district to help a rich man find out who is blackmailing him. All he wants to do is solve it and get back to Scotland Yard. Then it turns into murder. And there is an unexplained leg that fell out of the sky into the middle of a tea tray a maid was carrying to the outdoor party. It doesn’t go with the dead lady. Does that mean there are two bodies?

When it appears she might have been poisoned by a piece of cake, he goes to the bakery to check it out. Miss Greenwood is highly insulted he would suggest such a thing. Most women her age would be married but she is an independent woman making her own way and doesn’t feel she needs a man. She even tells him that. Tolly tells her he’ll let her know if the woman was poisoned and gets ready to go on his way. Lucy offers to help him solve the case. After all, she’s read all the Sherlock Holmes novels. He tells her real life is not like a novel and he doesn’t need her help. He gets it anyway.

Ms Fresina writes a complex mystery with many secrets. She also adds a bit of romance. Tolly thinks women should have danger stamped on their forehead and handcuffs on. Lucy needs no man to get through life or hold her back. Yet they both find an interest in each other. Their cautions and differences seem to make them come together.

This was an enjoyable read with a growing romance and a case that isn’t solved until the inquest. This author is worthy of being read again.

The Christmas Star by Judith Keim


The Christmas Star by Judith Keim
Publisher: Wild Quail Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Holiday
Length: Short Story (130 pgs)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

Two years ago, Noelle North’s then-fiancé left her waiting at the church on Christmas—her wedding day and birthday. Now, she knows she cannot endure another holiday season at home in Boston. At the urging of four women at the assisted-living community where she serves as health director, Noelle decides to rent Seashell Cottage on the Gulf Coast of Florida for the holidays. She meets Silas Bellingham, the cutest seven-year-old boy she’s ever seen, and his great-grandmother, Althea. Noelle discovers Althea’s caretaker has been abusing her and goes into action, ending up with the temporary care of both Althea and Silas. Becoming part of the Bellingham household has an entirely different series of challenges when it comes to Althea’s grandsons, Jake and Brett, who are having problems of their own with hotels to run and their parents missing in a plane crash. But after sparring with her, Silas’ father, Jake, realizes Noelle is just what he and his family need, and when she finds the perfect Christmas star for Silas, they both know he’s right.

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Ms. Keim makes her characters feel like real people. They have personalities and they respond in appropriate ways. It makes the book more fun to read and you get invested in the story quickly.

When Noelle sees the bruises on his grandmother, she sends the caretaker away. She knows the caretaker is the one who has been hitting the old woman and she’s in the same mode of work in Boston so she takes charge. Of course, Silas’s father is not pleased. She’s a stranger, what does she know about his family? Even worse, she’s given the downstairs bedroom to grandma and he was using that one. She’s a disruption to his ordered life. But when he finds out what the caregiver was doing, he’s thankful she got rid of the bad one. She helps him pick the new one.

As she sees more of him (he’s often gone because he’s managing hotels), she finds herself attracted to him. The feeling is mutual. They both agree they never want to get married again. But love doesn’t always work that way…

This is a feel good story that made me smile and the ending is perfect. Wait until you learn the secret of the Christmas tree Noelle and Simon put up. That will make you smile, too.

Haunted Hearts by Kimberly Dean


Haunted Hearts by Kimberly Dean
Publisher: Tiger Eye Productions
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Historical, Paranormal, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full length (186 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

Does a ghost from the past want the man of her future?

Callie is thrilled when she inherits a house in the small town of Shadow Valley. The house is old and creaky, but she’s not afraid of hard work. Unfortunately, no matter how many repairs she makes, the strange noises won’t go away. Cold spots appear. Lights flicker. Footsteps sound down the hallway. Her nerves are soon so frayed that she resorts to calling the one person in town she hasn’t been able to get along with, bullheaded police chief Carter Landry.

Carter doesn’t have time to investigate things that go bump in the night—although, with Callie, the idea is tempting. He’s busy working with the governor’s task force on a major case and dealing with a rash of petty Halloween crimes. He knows that Callie’s house isn’t haunted… no matter what town legend says.
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Still, when her distress call comes in, Carter is quick to respond. He may not believe in ghosts, but someone is intentionally scaring the sassy blonde. And he doesn’t like it. As he investigates, the friction between the two of them ignites into passion… and the strange occurrences in the house subside. But could Carter’s presence be the reason? Callie fears that her sexy cop may be the one the ghost has wanted all along.

She’s on her way to see her inherited house. She’s excited to have her own home and doesn’t want to see a cop car behind her. She stops, he tickets her for driving over the speed limit. He’s not excited to see her coming to town. She’s pretty, blonde, and looks like trouble. And she drives like a demon. She gets another ticket the next day when she parks next to hydrant. She’s really beginning to dislike the police chief…

This author writes a good ghost story. She makes it sound reasonable and even gives the ghost a motive for her actions. She also adds some danger to the story to keep you reading. Her writing style is smooth and easy to read. I enjoyed this read.

The first thing that Callie discovers is that there’s something odd about the house. Not just the fact that it’s run down and needs repair, it seems to have a reputation. But no one wants to tell about it. That is, no one until she goes to lunch and the two old ladies working there are happy to share the gossip. The house has a ghost. A ghost from long ago. Callie decides if there’s a ghost there, she’ll try to befriend it.

With a boy the police chief doesn’t like helping her, she starts to put the place back together again. She thinks the boy is OK. The chief just sees all the trouble he’s been in. He is a good kid, he just experiences things he can’t understand or explain. He sees ghosts…

With a creaking rocker, a bedroom door that locks itself, and other oddities, Callie begins to feel afraid in the house herself. There’s a good reason for that. There’s one more secret about the house and it’s become the most dangerous thing in town.

The antagonism between the chief and Callie suddenly disappears and they realize they are attracted to each other. Is that a good or a bad thing? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Ten Kisses to Scandal by Vivienne Lorret


Ten Kisses to Scandal by Vivienne Lorret
Publisher: Avon Books
Genre: Historical
Length: Full length (372 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

The Bourne Matrimonial Agency has one rule: Never fall in love with the client. However, they never said anything about kissing a rake…

Briar Bourne’s matchmaking career could be summed up in two words—comic disaster. Unless she can learn about the irresistible forces that draw men and women together, her professional future looks rather bleak. But Briar has an intriguing plan—enlisting London’s most irredeemable rake to teach her everything he knows about attraction. Given his notorious reputation, it’s no surprise that Nicholas Blacklowe, the Earl of Edgemont, requests one thing in exchange for his tutelage. For every lesson, he wants a kiss in return. And what harm could there be in a simple kiss? After all, Briar would never fall for a scoundrel…

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Ten lessons. Ten kisses. And a million ways to fall hopelessly, scandalously in love.

He’s been mistreated by two women and has no intention of marrying again. She’s a matchmaker but isn’t looking for own husband. She’s planning on working and taking care of herself. But she has a really good imagination and it soon backfires on her.

This is part of the Misadventures in Matchmaking series and she’s still learning her job. Her matchmaking techniques haven’t netted any success yet. But when she meets her friend’s cousin, she recognizes where she met him before. He was the one in the carriage smooching with a lady. He offers to teach her how to read people’s actions and learn more than they write on their applications for matchmaking. She just has to pay with kisses. Since she’d never been kissed before and needs the knowledge, she agrees.

She calls him arrogant and he tells her she’s naïve. They are both stubborn and persistent and in time, it sparks a romance between them.

The story flows well, you feel bad for the main female character because her matrimony prospects keep fall through, and you want to help Nicholas understand why he likes her so much. The author does a good job with personalities and characteristics. It sounds like something people would do and it’s a down-to-earth relationship. Soon people are falling in love everywhere.

Not only do you get to follow the courtship, the author gives an epilogue to let you know everything worked out well. I appreciated that. Here’s a good old fashioned romance with not quite enough chaperones…

One Taste Too Many by Debra H Goldstein


One Taste Too Many by Debra H Goldstein
Publisher: Kensington
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full length (323 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

For culinary challenged Sarah Blair, there’s only one thing scarier than cooking from scratch—murder!

Married at eighteen, divorced at twenty‑eight, Sarah Blair reluctantly swaps her luxury lifestyle for a cramped studio apartment and a law firm receptionist job in the tired hometown she never left. With nothing much to show for the last decade but her feisty Siamese cat, RahRah, and some clumsy domestic skills, she’s the polar opposite of her bubbly twin, Emily—an ambitious chef determined to take her culinary ambitions to the top at a local gourmet restaurant . . .
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Sarah knew starting over would be messy. But things fall apart completely when her ex drops dead, seemingly poisoned by Emily’s award-winning rhubarb crisp. Now, with RahRah wanted by the woman who broke up her marriage and Emily wanted by the police for murder, Sarah needs to figure out the right recipe to crack the case before time runs out. Unfortunately, for a gal whose idea of good china is floral paper plates, catching the real killer and living to tell about it could mean facing a fate worse than death—being in the kitchen!

Includes quick and easy recipes!

Sarah has divorced and moved into a studio apartment. She works at a local law firm as a receptionist. Her twin, Emily, works at a local restaurant as a chef and has plans for bigger things. Those plans get thrown off course when Sarah’s ex-husband is found dead in the booth they are setting up for a Civic Center event. Emily is tagged as the potential murderer because she found him. She knows Emily didn’t do it, but how is she going to prove it. There were no witnesses.

Kensington always picks authors who write a good story and make you care about their characters.

This author gives you plenty of challenges in finding the bad guy. There’s a variety of shady deals. Her lawyer has documents she hasn’t seen before that give her some clues. She tries to work with the police chief but he doesn’t want her involved in the case. He’s afraid the killer might come after her.

In with all these problems, another woman is suing to get the cat she got from her mother-in-law. It seems that there was a trust fund for the cat and a place to live to care for him. She didn’t get any of that money, her ex kept it, but his last girlfriend wants it…

Ms. Goldstein dishes out clues slowly, gives you a lot of variables to consider, and there’s plenty of tension. The best part is that no one surfaces as the murderer until the very end and the reveal is most unexpected. It’s a very suspenseful story.

The Colonel and the Bee by Patrick Canning


The Colonel and the Bee by Patrick Canning
Publisher: Evolved Publishing
Genre: Action/Adventure, Historical, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery, YA
Length: Full Length (279 pgs)
Age Recommendation: 12+
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

A peculiar explorer and downtrodden acrobat span the globe on a building-sized hot air balloon, in search of a precious artifact and the murderous treasure hunter who seeks it.

WINNER: Pinnacle Book Achievement Award – Summer 2018 – Best Adventure

Beatrix, a spirited but abused acrobat in a traveling circus, seeks more than her prison-like employment offers. More than anything, she wants to know her place in the world of the halcyon 19th century, a time when the last dark corners of the map were being sketched out and travel still possessed a kind of magic.

One night in Switzerland, the mysterious Colonel James Bacchus attends Beatrix’s show. This larger-than-life English gentleman, reputed to have a voracious appetite for female conquests, is most notable for traveling the world in a four-story hot air balloon called The Ox.
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Beatrix flees that night to join the Colonel, and the two of them make a narrow escape—Beatrix from her abusive ringleader, the Colonel from a freshly-made cuckold. Beatrix, feeling the Colonel may have the answers to her problems, pledges to help him catch the criminal he seeks in exchange for passage on his magnificent balloon.

The criminal seeks a precious figurine, The Blue Star Sphinx, but he’s not alone. The Sphinx’s immense value has also drawn the attention of the world’s most deadly treasure hunters. A murder in Antwerp begins a path of mystery that leads all the way to the most isolated island on Earth.

What dangers await the Colonel and the acrobat?

Beatrix is an orphan who works as a trapeze artist in the circus. She performs over bare ground to make it more dangerous. Her boss uses a whip to punish any employee that acts out or gets mouthy. She gets her fair share of correction because she talks back to him. But one night she sees an Englishman at the show and finds out he rides around in a hot air balloon. She likes the trapeze because it reminds her of flying. Imagine what it would be like to ride in a hot air balloon!

Beatrix begs to ride on the hot air balloon. She wants to escape the circus. The Colonel refuses but when she offers to help him find the criminal he’s hunting he finally decides he’ll take her. He doesn’t intend to keep her long.

It’s a four-story hot air balloon. He soon teaches her how to fly and manipulate the balloon. She’s not real good at it, but she learns to stay afloat. The only thing she doesn’t like about the Colonel is that he’s a womanizer. Every time they stop somewhere he’s out looking for a woman.

She meets the other members of his team and they all become friends. They’re looking for the mysterious Christopher and he’s hard to find. Bee doesn’t know but the Colonel has more secrets. It’s a good thing she had acrobat training. It’s the only thing that keeps her alive…

Mr. Canning writes a very good story. It starts with a fast pace and that lasts the whole story. There’s plenty of danger, lots of excitement, and two unlikely characters become a team. There’s not a boring part in this story. The story flows well and you almost think you’re losing a character or two but not to worry. It ends unusually but happily.