Frankly, I have a personal issue with buying anything to put on my finger that's going to cost something in the neighborhood of a new car. Not to mention, while diamonds are gorgeous (See Ooooh, shiny! above), I must admit I find semi-precious amethyst, topaz, aquamarine, and garnet jewelry just as beautiful.

Plus - big plus - I can own 7 or 8 really nice 5-carat amethyst rings for the price of a 1-carat, marquise-cut, H color diamond.

It occurs to me, as a bit of an afterthought, that if one was looking for a diamond or diamond ring - less than $4K/carat for the stone is probably not such a bad deal. But, until you see the stone ... less expensive may just be an object lesson in caveat emptor.

In a nutshell, this was intended to be similar to the Pizza Hut pasta switch. You've seen those commercials, right? People are invited to a nice restaurant for a pasta dinner, only to find out - after the fact - that it wasn't haute cuisine, but Pizza Hut's new pasta offerings.

Chuckle, chuckle. "Ooh, you fooled me." New ad campaign is launched.

In this case, the bloggers invited to dinner were somewhat seduced with talk of preservative-free food and community-supported agriculture prior to the meal. The implication was, apparently, that the food they would be served would exemplify those concepts. Instead, the diners were treated to Marie Callender's new lasagna meal and Razzleberry pie - soon to be found in the freezer section of your local market.

It wasn't so much the deception by ConAgra/Marie Callender's that I found upsetting. They were attempting to prove that, if you removed the labels, most people couldn't tell chef-made from frozen. Unfortunately, they also scripted and controlled conversations, leading people to believe that they were not just getting chef-made, but healthy chef-made. That was the hook for the ad campaign.

While we don't know if there were outraged consumers after the Pizza Hut pasta meal, we do know that the bloggers (by and large) were not amused by what many felt was a bait-and-switch. There are posts all over the 'Net attesting to their dissatisfaction. And a great number of comments attached to those posts.

The comments are what triggered my ire. Many of them read like plants; highly negative, personal attacks on the bloggers. I don't know if they're damage control by ConAgra or not. But if you look at Chubby Chinese Girl or Mom Confessionals or Food Mayhem, all quoted in the NYT article, there are a number of snarky commenters jumping from blog to blog.

This was a PR stunt that went badly. Bloggers who pride themselves on the veracity of their work were duped. They have the right to voice an opinion of the event; a responsibility, in fact.

They don't deserve to be attacked for expressing their displeasure. Well, I don't think they do, anyway. What do you think?

As party plans progress and Wren fights for her job, she is forced to relive the tragedies that split her family apart. And face a growing attraction to a local man at the same time her ex-husband appears to be stepping back into their lives.

Will she be able to give her son what he needs; and where will that be? Can she let go of old hurts and resentments to make peace with her siblings? What should she do about her feelings for Paul, and for Charlie's dad? And what has Charlie been praying for?

*****

Sweet Sanctuary is a good read. The characters are, by and large, well-written and well-rounded; Charlie is just a joy. It was easy to lose myself in the story, curious how all the problems would resolve.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

But you have to wade through a lot of information to get to what you need to know. How reliable is the company? How stable? Will they be around in 20 (or more) years, when you shuffle off this mortal coil?

And, from my experience, once you fill out those send-me-a-quote forms, you run the risk of being inundated - for the foreseeable future - with information from companies who are dying (pardon the pun) to take your monthly premium payments.

So, circling back around to where we started, I believe that everyone should plan for their future - and what happens when they're no longer around to pay the bills and care for their families. It just isn't quite as clean and easy as it seems.

While the components are perfect for competition riding, they also make for a tremendous casual-with-jeans option for anyone. There is a removable vest liner and a ventilation system for cold and not-so-cold weather. The shell is heavy-duty nylon, meaning it's going to last more than one season.

Did I mention it comes in black or white? And it's absolutely gorgeous?