Barnes & Noble Book Buy

After spending the morning working, my twin and I hopped in the car to have a late lunch. Always trying to work an angle, I suggest a trip down Reisterstown Road toward the B&N by proposing a visit to Trader Joe's and lunch at Panera Bread. (Gentle reminder, I have a fatal fascination with bookstores and am addicting to buying books which I do not necessarily read right away. This sometimes causes conflict with my sister's sense of economy.)

My sister--"Don't you already have all the books on your list? Is something new out?"
I reply--"Yes, that's just it. It will be a cheap trip because there's nothing I need to buy."
"Ok."
Yes! Score! Inwardly, I exult. I have convinced the poor patsy to hit the Barnes and Noble. As if I would ever visit a bookstore and come out without any books. Hah! I laugh with quiet glee, very quiet so she cannot hear me--we haven't actually gotten to the B&N yet and she is driving, after all.

In the parking lot, walking up to the cathedral of books, she says, "Here are the rules, you have to justify anything you buy and if you buy anything then I'm getting the Doris Kearns Goodwin book I've been wanting about Lincoln."
Casual me--"No problem. I already told you that you should just buy that." Hmm, I recognize that she hasn't really been fooled by my assertion that there's nothing to buy, maybe she's smarter than I think.

Inside, I hit the romantic fiction aisle after a quick trip down the Just Arrived aisle. I'm looking for the new Susan Kearney, "The Ultimatum". No luck. It's not out yet. I find the Georgette Heyer I've been waiting for the reissue on. As I stand there rather mournfully checking up and down the row, a lady with an armful of books approaches me. "So many books to buy, " she smiles. "Yes, but not the ones I want." With that comment she's off and running, suggesting authors that she has read and asking me for my opinion about authors. We feed off each other and I end up with an armful of books where moments before I had only one.

They were:

Georgette Heyer's The Quiet Gentleman. I discovered Heyer last spring/summer and her books are excellent and timeless. She is, after all, the originator of the modern Regency romance after Jane Austen.

Suzanne Enoch's Don't Look Down. I'm sold on the book the minute I read about the heroine's British billionaire boyfriend. The 3's bees that are best, imho--British, Billionaire, Boy. I'm suspicious though that this may be the second in the series. I check the flyleaf--the previous contemporary written by Enoch is Flirting with Danger. Barnes & Noble doesn't have that one the shelf. I'm aggravated because I'm convinced that that has to be the first book. Most romances just don't start with the heroine already involved with the guy she ends up with. (At home I check on Amazon--I was right. My instincts didn't fail me.)

Susan Mallery's Delicious. I read an excerpt of this in another book last month and I've been waiting for it. It's a romance and it's about a chef. Food and romance--another perfect matchup to my way of thinking.

Cathie Linz's Good Girls Do jumps into my hand when I read the cover quote by Jayne Ann Krentz, "The author that readers of romantic comedy have been waiting for." If Jayne thinks this one is good and funny that is good enough for me.

When I finally run into my sister again, I'm expecting a lecture about not buying books on speculation. I get nothing of the kind, however. She justs hands me two reprints by Betty Neels. Betty Neels wrote for Harlequin for a kajillion years and all her books are practically identical. They are littered with nurses, doctors, and the Dutch. I protest the purchase. (I know, hypocritical of me, but we have, like--a hundred books by Betty.) My sister insists she doesn't have these two--she doesn't remember a book with a nurse in Norway. She can't give me that same assurance about the nurse in England--trust me but I stop fighting the inevitable.

I'm still expecting her to pick up the DKG book on Lincoln, but another book has caught her eye. Striking Back The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response by Aaron J. Klein. Okaayy--not in the romantic comedy theme but with Speilberg's new movie, Munich out there, it's timely I guess.

Final score-- Robin: 4 books at $26.96 Sister: 3 books at $34.93. Winner? Barnes & Noble.