We Interrupt Our Christmas Preparations So That I Can Do a Little Happy Dance

I've got to bring this video out of the archives for my Christmas happy dance today.  When the kids brought the mail inside today I found a very awesome surprise . . . my autographed copy of My Tattered Bonds, by Courtney Cole.  I had to stop cooking to do my little happy dance in the style of Snoopy:

This was the first opportunity I've ever had to be a beta reader for an author, having the chance to read a book before publication and give my opinion to her of the strengths and weaknesses of the story.  Luckily My Tattered Bonds was a wonderful book to review.  Here's the link to my review here. 

Here's Courtney's autograph on the first page.

And there's my name on page 200.  Yea!

I do highly recommend this series.  It throws a bit of a supernatural time travel sort of element together with great ties to important historical and mythological events.  It definitely won't appeal to everyone, but I did enjoy it a lot, and it caused me to re-acquaint myself with mythology, Cleopatra, and King Arthur throughout the four books in the series.  It is ultimately a love story about all that a woman will do to save her family -- her husband and her daughter -- from the forces that fight against them.  Check out the series on goodreads here.

What a fun thing to find in my mail the day before Christmas!  Thank you Courtney for adding to my smiles today!