HOW'S ABOUT SOME HOT STUFF?

My husband, John, and I got more hot stuff than we bargained for this week when our house caught fire! A faulty light switch shorted out, and unfortunately, the switch turned out to be jammed up against an old dryer vent. The vent hadn't been used in years, but it was apparently still full of old lint, which ignited from the electrical sparks. Smelling smoke, we realized we had a fire of some kind inside our wall. John quickly began tearing the wall out, while I ran to call the fire department.

By the time the firemen arrived, John had ripped open the wall, cut open the vent, and yanked half of it from the wall, so that we had the fire out. But the firemen tore the rest of the vent out later just to be sure, since it continued up between the ceiling and floorboards of our first and second stories---right under our bedroom! I had visions of being toasted alive later that night by smoldering embers blazing up, and the firemen said they didn't want me worrying about that all night long!

I thought it was too bad I wasn't writing a Silhouette Desire right now, because I could have used any of those guys as a model for a fireman hero! They were all wonderful---and also full of praise for my own handsome hero, John, at acting so swiftly and fearlessly to prevent the fire from erupting into a major blaze that might have burned down our house. So thanks to all the firemen of Fire Engine #14 here in my hometown, and to John. Now, you know some of the reasons why I married him! *g*

Speaking of hot stuff, in a recent survey, women voted the dashing Mr. Darcy, from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, as their #1 dream date! Mr. Darcy beat out such other fictional contenders as James Bond, Heathcliff, Rhett Butler, and Prince Charming. Read all about the survey here. Mr. Darcy was also selected as the most desirable guest for a dinner party, and Pride and Prejudice was chosen by women over 40 as the top book by a woman. Women under 40 picked Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary as their own favorite. What does that say about the generational gap? In my own survey here at Ravenscroft Castle's Jousting Field, Wuthering Heights is currently leading as the greatest romance of all time.