Gimme A Break

Hearts in Hiding is Betsy Brannon Green’s first published novel and it is one of my favorites. She introduces Kate Singleton whose husband, Tony, is an undercover FBI agent.

Unfortunately, he’s been killed and Kate’s life and the life of her unborn child are now in danger. Mark Iverson is assigned to keep her safe and they pose as husband and wife in the small town of Haggerty, Georgia. There they meet Miss Eugenia, a lovable busybody.

The setting makes up a large part of the story’s charm, and the characters are so real you feel like they could really be your neighbors. The story is fresh and spine-tingling, with unpredictable twists and turns that leave you shaking your head in amazement.

Betsy Brannon Green has an incredible talent for creating a believable story with well-rounded characters that quickly find a place in your heart. Her setting is particularly well done, and proves to be the setting in several more of her subsequent books.

My copy of this book is well worn because I have read it many times over, just because it feels like coming home every time I open it.

My other favorite of Betsy’s is Until Proven Guilty. Beth Middleton suffered a horrific tragedy on what was supposed to be her wedding day, and since then she has practically hidden from life. She is asked to do a favor for her former boss, and meets Jack Gamble, a defense lawyer involved in a high profile case.

This story has so many layers to it, it was truly enjoyable to me to try and figure them all out before the story ended. Is Jack’s client truly guilty? Is someone trying to kill him?

Besides the mystery, there is also the question of Jack’s ability to be a good parent to his daughter, especially when he is a single parent with an intense job. Beth steps in to evaluate him to a family court judge and finds herself caught in the whirlwind that is Jack Gamble’s life.

Miss Eugenia also appears in the book, with her sister Annabelle, and they are as winsome as ever. The mention of the soap opera, the Brave and the Relentless, and the formation of the Genealogical Society is particularly unusual and funny, providing another thread throughout the book that eventually leads to wrapping up the story.

You also get to peek in on Mark and Kate and how their life has progressed which is gratifying as a reader. I have also read this book many times, and see something different in it every time I read it.

Sometime I hope that Betsy will do a sequel on this one, just because the characters were so memorable and I’d love to see what she could do with them and how they settle into their new life.

Betsy is one of the most entertaining mystery writers in the LDS genre today and I highly recommend any of her books. Her newest one is Poison, however her website http://www.betsybrannongreen.net/ has a sample chapter of an upcoming release Double Cross that left me waiting with bated breath for it.

About the author: Julie Coulter Bellon is a Canadian-born LDS Romantic Suspense novelist who loves incorporating her native country with its complexities into her writing. Julie and her husband Brian are the parents of six children and her greatest joy is being a mother. She graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education–English teaching, and she currently teaches a high school journalism course for BYU Continuing Education. Visit Julie’s site at http://www.juliebellon.com/ 

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It finally rained – yesterday and the day before – for hours straight. Whew! Today started out bright and sunny but it’s toned down to a somewhat cloudy overcast day. So it’s a pretty nice day out. Not that I’m planning on going anywhere except maybe …

down to the river? I’ll tell you why in a minute. Today’s the last day of Chinese New Year, what we call the Fifteenth Night. What’s more exciting about it is that it’s also Chinese Valentine’s Day.

In the old days, this was the one night of the year when the single maidens would come out in public (which isn’t very often) and head to the river to cast their mandarin oranges in the hopes of finding the man of their dreams.

The eligible men would wait downstream to fish out the mandarin oranges. If they happen to pick an orange cast by one of the maidens upstream, it meant they were fated to be together and would end up marrying and living happily ever after.

Oh, don’t you just love this story? Though I’m not quite sure how they’re supposed to meet as there’s no way of telling who cast which orange. But apparently fate will take care of that and they will meet… somehow somewhere.

If you see someone giving you the ‘eye’, don’t be surprised if he turns out to be the guy that picked up your mandarin orange, eh ?

Hey listen, I’m not going to hang around here much longer. I’m headed to the river right now, right this minute with my armful of oranges. Hope I’ll have some left to cast into the river by the time I get there .

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1. The lion dances

These are so good to watch. I think it’s the drum beat and the precision kungfu footwork of the dancers. There’s one guy holding the head of the lion and the other one works the tail end of the lion.

Watching them, I’m constantly amazed at how they balance themselves up there on those poles, wearing these large shoes shaped like lions paws and with what looks like very heavy pants and a very heavy lion head and skin to work into the act.

They must’ve spent endless hours perfecting those steps. Gosh, they’re really a joy to watch. I try to catch every single one of them whether they’re being performed at the shopping mall or at someone’s home or business location.

2. The food that’s only available during CNY

The raw fish salad is to die for – oops, sorry, shouldn’t be saying ‘die’ during CNY, it’s a no-no to utter unlucky words like that . But well, for lack of a better word then…

I bought eight crates of mandarin oranges this year. Each crate contains between 24 to 36 fruits. Gave some away as gifts but am gobbling about five or six of these a day . Greedy me!

There’s so many varieties of crunchy snacks to savor. The miniature spring rolls with dried prawns inside are my favorites. The chestnut crackers (very thin slices of deep-fried chestnuts) are super – haven’t tasted any this year but I still have the rest of the 15 days of CNY to sniff them out when I go visiting.

The ‘love letters’ (crispy round batter folded into quarters) are mmm… just don’t try to open them up to read or you’ll end up scooping crumbs off the floor . These are waaay too much work to make at home, so I just have to pay for these through my nose.

3. The catching up

It’s great to catch up with people that you otherwise only see once a year. There’s obviously one or two that I’d rather not see but then… for the most part, it’s a good opportunity to hear what someone else has been up to, exchange ideas and viewpoints and laugh a lot.

4. The invitations to scrumptious dinners

Suddenly the phone rings and we’ve got an invitation to dinner. I love surprises. I’m not a big eater but I love good food and good company. So I’m ever ready to get up and go at a moment’s notice .

5. The lulls between visits

The days around CNY are always stifling hot. So we try to stay indoors as much as possible, watch some TV, munch on the goodies, laze around the house while waiting for visitors to come. Just having the kids around me, you know, without having to rush around – it’s really nice and cozy.

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