Surprise!

On their wedding night, the young bride approached her new husband and asked for $20.00 for their first lovemaking encounter. In his highly aroused state her husband readily agreed. This scenario was repeated each time they made love, for the next 30 years, with him thinking that it was a cute way for her to afford new clothes and other incidentals that she needed.

Arriving home around noon one day, she was surprised to find her husband at home in a very drunken state.

During the next few minutes, he explained that his employer was going through a process of corporate downsizing, and he had been retrenched. It was unlikely that at the age of 55 he'd be able to find another position that paid anywhere near what he'd been earning, and therefore, they were financially ruined.

Calmly, his wife handed him a bank book which showed thirty years of deposits and interest totaling nearly $1 million. Then she showed him certificates of deposits issued by the bank which were worth over $2 million, and informed him that they were one of the largest depositors in the bank.

She explained that for the 30 years she had charged him for sex, these holdings had multiplied and these were the results of her savings and investments.

Faced with evidence of cash and investments worth over $3 million, her husband was so astounded he could barely speak, but finally he found his voice and blurted out, "If I'd had any idea what you were doing, I would have given you all my business!"

That's when she shot him.


You know, sometimes men just don't know when to keep their mouths shut.

Neat book.

I just finished "A Brother's Price" by Wen Spencer.

It's set in a world much like ours. Could be the distant future, more likely an alternate history. Technology is about US Civil War level. There are six-shooters, rifles using cartridges, steamboats and even some ironclads.

But the very different culture is based on one simple fact. Less than 10% (a guess, she doesn't give any figures) of all babies that survive are male. Most male babies miscarry or are stillborn. And apparently there are enough problems with inherited diseases that bloodlines are *very* important.

So the *men* are the ones kept home and protected.

The protagonist is a boy, just reaching the age when he'll have to marry whoever his sisters pick.

I might as well let you in on a "secret". It's a fairly typical (but enjoyable!) *romance* novel, but stood on its head due to the culture.

It's also an adventure novel of sorts.

I'm looking forward to the other books she's said she intends to write in this world. :-)