Sherlock Holmes - the TV Series

Whoever thought that the modernised version of Sherlock Holmes could introduce us to one of the most surprising love stories of the 21st century? I'm talking about Season 3, Episode 3. If you haven't seen it yet, you'll be in for a treat.

Red Sparkling Wine

I've discovered a new type of sparkling wine: red. Nor rose, not pink. Deep, dark red. Usually made from shiraz grapes. Served at wine cooler temperatures. Distinctly different, heavier in taste, but just as wonderful as a celebratory drink.

Goes a treat together with Something Spicy. Or Spicy Somethings.

Love poems by Yvonne Walus

today i daydream in ochre

sepia memories faded and pale

bending to will

supple with age

masterpieces of times passed

masterpieces of times faked

masterpieces of faked times

that truly never were

today i daydream in lies

***

you and i and our relationship

we bank the fire of passion

fuel the fever of disease

we paint over the rosy past

spotlight the pain

and every now and then

we taste a morsel of regret

***

the obligatory white dress

a walk down the aisle

a glitter of gold

and a three-tiered cake

besides

like a fairy tale

or a cliché

three decades later

dreams snapped like a twig

the heart too indifferent

to care

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else by Erin McCahan (the author of Love And Other Foreign Words) is an unusual book. Although the heroine is a high school student, I wouldn’t place it in a Young Adult or New Adult section of a bookstore. (Remember bookstores? Those magical places that helped you discover new authors, new genres, new releases?) The message is surprisingly deep, and the narrative voice mature. No irritating teenagers here, I promise!

The blurb doesn’t really do the book justice, but here it is:

Here Comes the Bride -- If She Can Pass Chemistry.

Eighteen-year-old Bronwen Oliver has a secret: She's really Phoebe, the lost daughter of the loving Lilywhite family. That's the only way to explain her image-obsessed mother; a kind but distant stepfather; and a brother with a small personality complex. Bronwen knows she must have been switched at birth, and she can't wait to get away from her "family" for good.

Then she meets Jared Sondervan. He's sweet, funny, everything she wants -- and he has the family Bronwen has always wanted too. She falls head over heels in love, and when he….