My fifth Essex story. And I'm confused. The main character doesn't seem to be a bundle of emotion. Overly emotional. Or whatever. I kid.

So. Single woman. Is given a gift certificate for a week at a yoga retreat. For Valentine's day (I assume the week around it). Sorry, I should have said a "singles yoga retreat" or "yoga singles retreat."

Ah, there we go. Finally dug up the name. Trish. The woman's name is Trisha 'Trish' Dalton. (Sister's name is Jackie, but that's less important).

Trish doesn't want to go but as the gift is given on Christmas day, she has a lot of time to turn it down. So, she ignores it. Until it comes time to go on the retreat and she can't get out of it now. So . . . she goes. 'It'd be stupid not to go.' (p. 13).

-- notes as reading -- she lives in Florida. Retreat is in Boulder Colorado. She doesn't exactly have much in the way of winter gear. Realizes this at last minute - - -

'Okay, so I think I should send my sister more than just a thank you card as I race after the tall chauffeur.' (p. 20). - note: you, apparently, got the "elite package", I assume that being able to leisurely follow your chauffeur is part of eliteness. Don't run after your driver. mmphs. heh.

-- more notes -- the gorgeous woman who walks like wolf is named Kennedy Butler; “'So, what brings you to our retreat weekend?'” (p. 28). - wait, I thought it was a retreat week? I confused.; okay, they said weekend again. She arrived on a Monday.

A retreat weekend that starts on a Monday? I actually went back to the beginning to see if they ever said week; other than stuff about being too busy for a week, and schedule cleared for a week, and see you next week, I don't see that the retreat is actually a week. But, what weekend starts on a Monday? I'm annoyed that I just got pulled out of this story to spend twenty minutes trying to figure out week/weekend issue. mmphs.

'Kitted out like this, I look a little bit like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.' (p. 47). - hehe, see, I can find humor in stuff. *nods* - -

'The electricity that has been crackling all over my skin roars through me like a bolt of lightning as we kiss each other now. I shudder against Kennedy as the electric kiss devours the both of us in waves of need. This is not a simple little kiss. This is energy, this is want and desire as our lips merge, as our tongues entwine, hers sneaking into my mouth even as I smile against her, breathing out in a hiss of want.' (p. 64).

'Like she knows what's inside of me, what makes me.... me.' (p. 65). - hmms, that's beautifully put.

hmms. Well. That's kind of embarrassing. Well, I haven't actually said the embarrassing thing yet. And I'm not sure I want to. I'm fairly certain that I don't want to. Course now I'm vaguely curious as to what some reader might think I might mean. hehe. So I'll just blurt it out, since it isn't really anything that should be embarrassing. This story might be the best one I've ever read. I've said that once before, I believe. But, even taking that once before into consideration, I still make the comment. It was a beautiful story. I feel vaguely at peace, content, and happy to have read this story. I'm not 100% sure I can write coherently at the moment, but that's okay. A perfect beginning middle and end.

And this time I'm not completely saddened by the knowledge that I'm highly unlikely to meet these characters again. I'm just happy to have been able to see this glimpse into their lives. Though, if they did suddenly turn up again, I'm almost completely positive that I'd gobble it up. The story.

Hmms. My third Essex of the day. And two of them end up being five star reads. And one of those two feels more than five plus somehow or another. This one. Then the third one which was a 3 star, but I still liked it. Heck, it was the first one I read today, so if I'd disliked it, I'd not have continued reading Essex.

(oh, and I never did found out if it was a weekend or a week retreat, as the story ended before I could find that out) ( )