The Princess Trap - by Talia Hibbert

 

A twist on the fake-girlfriend trope, this romance has Ruben, a Danish Prince, convincing Cherry, an English citizen, to pretend to be his fiancée for one year. He offers to pay her an exorbitant sum of money in exchange for this service. The amount is never disclosed to the reader, but it is enough to pay for the expensive medical bills, tuition, and living expenses of Cherry's younger sister who is attending Harvard. Although they arrange a fake engagement, the sex is real, and pretty explicit. The ending is as anyone would expect.

Although Ruben is royalty he prefers living in a small house, rather than his mansion. But of course this is a fairy tale and what kind of fairy tale would Cherry be living in if their were no library in the house? Ruben offers to let her redecorate it, but Cherry apparently doesn't take him up. She does however find a bodice-ripping romance to read there, which she assumes was originally procured by Ruben's grandmother (something Ruben would rather not think about). Of course a woman reading is a rather sexy sight, so when Ruben discovers Cherry in the library reading it doesn't take long for the real bodice ripping to begin, right there amongst the books.

The Little Book of Hygge - by Meik Wiking

Probably I should be living in Denmark. Free healthcare and four-day workweeks are enough to entice me. The cozy lifestyle described in Wiking's book sold me.

Hygge is typically a group thing, with conversation and games, but books and warm beverages (two of my favorite things) enjoyed alone figure prominently in the hygge lifestyle as well.

One suggestion the author provides under the heading "Ten Inexpensive Hygge Activities" is to "Set Up a Mini-Library in Your Shared Stairway or Elsewhere in the Neighbourhood". Essentially, he is telling us to set up Little Free Libraries. Wiking also gives a shout out to Copenhagen's Library Bar in the Plaza Hotel. I looked online at some pictures, and it does appear to be lined with books. I couldn't really tell if they were available for browsing, and the lighting may not be conducive to reading. It does look rather hygge though.

And a funny thing happened just as I finished this book. James and I took a trail hike that I'd discovered while riding my bike. We followed the short, well-marked trail to its end, and then weren't sure where we were. We knew of course that we could simply go back the way we came to get to our car, but I was sure that we could also just follow the road. James got out his cell phone, and opened the GPS app and tried to pinpoint where we were all the while we were looking up and down the road trying to figure out which direction to take. This was all happening in a regular neighborhood across the street from where a man was playing basketball with his two children in their driveway. After some frustration with the cell phone I simply walked over and asked for directions. The man was happy to provide them, and the kids were actually thrilled to be able to help telling us what landmarks to look for along the way. People want to connect, and we too often just want to solve everything will our cell phones. 

The only thing I really found off-putting was the propensity of the Danes to wear a lot of black. People should wear more bright colors. Remember how cool the '80s were?