bad guys, shoot outs, and narrow escapes.

The Sheriff Walt Longmire mysteries are similar to the Stephanie Plum novels in the sense that you can't expect me to review all of them because there are just too many, that's pretty much where the similarities end, other than the fact that both series are fantastic. Craig Johnson is back with his tenth installment titled Any Other Name, and I'm here to rave about it just like I did last summer with number nine.

The third season of A&E's "Longmire" premiered in June, so coming out with Any Other Name in May was pretty smart, I wish I would have thought to read it then, would have made much more sense, but when you're planning a wedding you just hope the people in your life let things slide. Anyways, in this modern day western Longmire travels to a neighboring county to investigate the alleged suicide of a police inspector. We have our typical gang of Lucien, Vic, Henry, and Dog plus some new characters from the Campbell County Sheriff's department, and other places traveled to in the book. Included are some hilarious one liners, and a storyline that is fresh and original.

if you don't know rodney walther, you should.

I am constantly picking up books by authors that I've never heard of because let's be honest, I read too much (and drink too much, and eat too much, etc.). About 50% of the time an unknown writes something that I truly enjoy, and Rodney Walther is one of them. His latest, with the very clever double meaning title, Space in the Heart, begins and ends with real life difficulties humans can face in a lifetime, making the book not only relatable, but a major page turner.

Former astronaut, Garrison Sterling lost his wife and his young daughter ended up in a wheelchair in one fell swoop, along with his dreams of going to space. Zoey is now an extremely misunderstood teenager unable to live like normal kids her age. Life is hard. Then Garrison meets Danica Cortez, a vivacious television news anchor who is his first real attraction since his wife died, and almost as dysfunctional in love as he is. These three characters are the perfect mix of comedy and drama.

a memoir about not losing yourself in love.

As a recently married woman, it is hard enough making a relationship work with a natural born American man, six years older than me who grew up 20 minutes outside of the city I grew up in, let alone if he was fifteen years my senior, Muslim, and grew up in an impoverished Libyan village. Confused? I just read Krista Bremer's memoir titled My Accidental Jihad where she shares how she met her husband (while jogging), who reflects the second characteristics I mentioned in my intro, and how they make their bi-everything relationship work, with kids, in-laws, and their very different cultures IN the dirty south (North Carolina). Bremer is a great storyteller, I loved the way she wrote about her daughters so honestly, allowing them to decide for themselves what part of their American and Muslim cultures they would embrace, and then worrying when Aliya decided to cover her head like so many other modest Muslim women. Definitely one of the more interesting memoirs I have ever read.

jackson keeps you reading.

Shandi Pierce is a young, single mother just trying to finish college and raise her kid at the same time. Sounds pretty normal right? Well, she also thinks her three-year-old is the product of immaculate conception, but let's not judge a character by their crazy. Now that she has her degree, Shandi has packed her car with her son Natty, her best friend, and all her worldly belongings to move to Atlanta to be closer to family. On the road trip, she crosses paths with William Ashe at a highway convenience store just as a gunman holds the place up, and William steps between the robber and her son. Shandi is beyond grateful for this act of heroism, as you can imagine, and falls in love with the man. William is a scientist, on the autism spectrum, and didn't think that he was being brave so much as he thought it was his destiny. Basically, Joshilyn Jackson's Someone Else's Love Story is a love story revolving around people who are a bit outside the norm, which are always my favorite people.

grandma mazur has a bucket list.

The second book I read on my honeymoon was Top Secret Twenty One of the Stephanie Plum Novels by Janet Evanovich. Not quite as romantic as Nora Roberts seeing as Steph's still a bounty hunter chasing random bail jumpers with her partner, Lula who is a large dark complected former ho who dresses in spandex. But hey, Ranger always gets my juices flowing.

Anyways, Stephanie's life hasn't changed much since the previous installment. I do kind of wish that Janet would get a move on with the love triangle between her, Ranger and Morelli. I mean, who's it gonna be? For real? Moving on to the story. The skip that Stephanie has to deal with this time around is Jimmy Poletti, who was jailed for selling both cars and young girls out of his car dealership. Little guy Randy Briggs asks Stephanie for help because Jimmy allegedly bombed his apartment and car, so she let's him stay with her even though he's impossibly annoying because she's hoping Jimmy will catch his scent and come after him. Meanwhile all of Jimmy's friends are turning up shot dead, and no one exactly knows who's to blame, or who's next.

Stephanie still works for Ranger on the side, helping him with the jobs that require boobs, all while trying not to take his clothes off. When Rangeman is almost taken down by a deadly gas that I forgot the name of, both Ranger and Stephanie figure out it's a blast from Ranger's past out to get him. The guy is still pretty upset about the time Ranger took one of his eyeballs out. That turns into something that I'll just let you read about yourself. The good news is Lula is dating a 300 pound skipee and Grandma Mazur got to see Ranger naked in Atlantic City.

I love this series.

i'd like a shot of the red drink.

Since I waited until the respectable age of twenty-eight to get hitched and my new hubby is 6 years older than me, the discussion of when to being trying for kids has already started (waiting until next year, if you were wondering). In my opinion, it's never too early to start training for parenthood, so when I receive books like The Honest Toddler: A Child's Guide to Parenting by Bunmi Laditan, I take notes and laugh a lot. First of all, you should check out the Honest Toddler Facebook page, because it's pretty enjoyable. I don't laugh about it as much as an actual parent would because let's be honest, I don't get it yet, not really. I've never been pooped on. Back to the book...

It is a collaborative book on parenting, written from a child's point of view in mind, basically telling you how to live up to their expectations. Toddlers are perpetually misunderstood creatures, and The Honest Toddler is here to clear up the communication barrier between parent and child. There are a couple of pretty amazing old school ideas running around through this book. Like how to leave your kid alone so they can be themselves, and how to understand their behavior, rather than freak out about it. Going grocery shopping? Leave your kid at home! No matter how good natured they are, they do not want to go to the store with you and not be able to pull everything off the shelves. Get a fricken babysitter, for everyone's sake.

At first, I didn't know for sure if I agreed with every strategy in this book, as I am the most stubborn person alive and will have a hard time giving in to my crazy offspring who will probably be exactly like me, or that one daughter of the Teresa New Jersey Housewives lady. But then I got to thinking that this book makes the parent look much less crazy than any other parenting book I've ever read. So there's that.

i want to be justine montgomery when i grow up.

While scowering the ridiculously over priced airport convenient stores for my obligatory airport mass paperback (it's my favorite tradition), I was SOOOO excited to discover that the third installment of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy was available in tiny copy! I loved the first two books but lost touch with the series, I blame Stephanie Plum and Cathy Dollanganger for taking over my life. But anyways, The Perfect Hope was THE PERFECT book to read on my honeymoon. Super romantic and adorable, and an excellent finish to the trilogy. The first two books covered the budding relationships of Claire and Beckett and Avery and Owen, which leaves the third Montgomery brother Ryder, and the last of the bestie threesome, Hope to fall for each other even though they are total opposites. Ryder is super rough around the edges, musky, sexy, moody, doesn't like to talk about his feelings. Hope is the classiest broad ever, organized, sweet, former beauty queen. Hope is the manager of the inn, and Lizzy, our inn ghost plays matchmaker again, pushing these two together just as she did to the other couples.

The Perfect Hope is a wonderful continuation of The Last Boyfriend, the small town of BoonsBoro is expanding with Avery's new restaurant and tap house, also a bakery and gym are being built in town, keeping the Montgomery boys very busy, but not busy enough for Ryder and Hope to stop the urge strike up a casual sex relationship that turns into something so much more. Hope also finds more information on Lizzy's past, and what's keeping her in the inn, who is she waiting for?