Book Review: Ricochet

You know, as much as I love Sandra Brown's '80's genre romances, I haven't been too crazy about her recent mysteries, and here's why:

The characters are all the same, just with minor variations.

Her heroines almost all come across as ice queens to me! Ironically, the exception to that is the heroine from Chill Factor. But anyhoo, they're always rich, gorgeous, and aloof. BORING! (They really are. They're boring, no personality). I do like her heros, though, because they're alpha males and alpha males are hot.

In this book the hero is Duncan, a Savannah, GA, police detective. He gets into a verbal argument with a prominent local judge after the judge declares a mistrial in the case of a crime lord that Duncan desperately wants to see behind bars for good. Duncan goes to jail for 48 days on a contempt of court charge because of the argument. When he gets out he goes to a benefit with his partner and spots a cool, elegant, sexy blonde that turns him on at first sight. Turns out she's the judge's much younger wife! He says something sexual to her while drunk.

Cut to about a week later. Duncan and his partner get called to the judge's house because the wife, Elise, shot and killed an intruder in the middle of the night. She says self-defense, but was it really?

Duncan's attraction to Elise made me want to tear my hair out. It is really hopeless for me romantically, apparently. These books just keep reinforcing that men fall in love (in love, not lust) with women just because they're insanely hot. Duncan knew almost nothing about Elise, and he suspected her of murder, and he was obsessed with her sexually! I mean, that's a little far-fetched for me to believe, but okay, whatever, men like sex. But love? He thinks he falls in love with her after only the one encounter (the benefit) between them that was not related to the case! (Okay, so they talked about the case and then had sex once, but still). Elise never really redeemed herself to me, either. She stayed kind of dull all the way through. Where was her spark? Her energy? I never saw it. But lucky for her she can nab a terrific guy because she's got a great rack. So encouraging.

Lindsey's Grade: C+

Book Review: If You Deceive

I'd say this was not as good as If You Dare, but better than If You Desire. I really liked Madeline, the heroine, and Ethan's defrosting was kind of sweet, too.

I've written like eight full reviews already tonight so I don't have much more to say.

Book Review: Iran Awakening by Shirin Ebadi

Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope by Shirin Ebadi

I was drawn to this memoir because she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 and I had never heard of her or her work. I guess that would seem normal as she is Iranian and we are cut off from much of Iran.

Memoirs are memoirs. They either tell us too much or not enough. This one falls into the later category and left me asking several questions. Ebadi is vague about her work and I believe this is because she cannot discuss it in its entirety out of fear for her life. She goes from a stint in prison to winning the Nobel Peace Prize and I found myself questioning why she received it.

I'm not saying that she doesn't deserve it, I just wanted more details on her accomplishments up until that point. I believe the vagueness also has to do with the difficulty of having an Iranian author publish within the U.S. as well. She had to sue the Treasury Department for the right to publish her memoir.

Overall I would recommend this memoir as it discusses the 1979 Iranian Revolution from a female perspective and gives great insight into Iranian politics over the last fifty years.

Kim's Grade: B

Book Review: Baghdad Burning

Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog From Iraq by Riverbend


Whenever my friend Delia recommends books I always jump to read them. She always suggests great books. However this one was different. I kept putting this book off, it sat waiting to be read for at least six months, with the only reasoning I can offer is that it is a blog book.

Its true. Someone took Riverbend's blog "Baghdad Burning" and published the first year of her posts. Every so often she would provide her readers with political commentary and the daily occurrences of her life during the war without an end in Iraq. Her posts have helped me clear away some of the confusion surrounding the post-war Iraqi governing council and helped shine light on the fact that most Americans' believe the Iraqi people to be dumb sheepherders stuck three centuries back. She has humanized this war for me, if that makes sense.

She has also stopped posting for the time being. I won't state why but as the link is above you can find out yourself. I wish I had her writing talent. This is well worthy of reading.

Kim's Grade: A A slow, but good read.


For those of you who don't know, I don't choose what books to read anymore. I have left that up to Temporary who chooses them randomly from the shelf. So again I will be reading Middle East subject material. I'm not necessarily on a Middle Eastern kick.

Book Reviews: Stephanie Laurens

I'm not particularly a fan of Stephanie Laurens's books. Before this summer I had only read two of her books and neither one of them appealed to me. But Shannon must like something about her because she gave me three Laurens books recently:




The Truth About Love was just way too slow-paced for me. Everything moved at a snail's pace—the romance, the mystery, the day-to-day activities of the characters. I was bored to tears—because of that and because Jacqueline, the heroine, was so dull! I understand the reason Laurens characterized her the way she did, and it made sense, but it did not make for an entertaining read. Lindsey's Grade: C

What Price Love was an improvement over The Truth About Love in the sense that I was able to stay interested in the romance portion of the book. But the mystery was completely uninteresting to me and so I skipped over all of that. But again I was frustrated with the heroine because she constantly thrwarted the hero's attempts to make mention of marriage, even though they were well suited in all respects. I'm sooo tired of the cliched "I won't accept your proposal because I think you're doing it about of duty, not love" plot in romance novels. IT IS OVERDONE AND COMPLETELY UNORIGINAL! Lindsey's Grade: C+

To Distraction was such a relief after the previous two books! Finally I understood why Laurens is a bestselling author! I cared about the characters, cared about the mystery, and completely bought the way the book unfolded. And I was DELIGHTED to see that she didn't go for the cliched ending here. The heroine did exactly what I thought she should do at every point in the book, something that is very rare. And I particularly liked the way that the hero's true character was revealed to the reader. I felt like we learned about Deverell (the hero) the way Pheobe (the heroine) learned about him. At first he appeared selfish and arrogant, but as we got to know him more he turned into the perfect romantic hero. Such a treat. Also, there was one line that the hero thought that actually made me say "Aww" to myself. I liked that. Lindsey's Grade: A-

Book Review: Body Surfing

Shannon read this book and really liked it, but after I finished it this afternoon I was left feeling kind of depressed. It was, in a way, an emotionally draining story. Shreve's books are always that way, which makes me wonder what kind of person Shreve is (sad all the time?). I did like the way the story was set up, though. It was extremely well done, with unexpected "twists" that were heartwrenching.

Lindsey's Grade: A-

P.S. Shreve is still one of my all-time favorite authors. She is, in my opinion, one of the most gifted novelists around. She's also the queen of minimalization—she gets the point (beautifully) across without saying much.

To be the Poet

To Be The Poet by Maxine Hong Kingston

This short, simple memoir-of-sorts is refreshing to read. Kingston is best known as a writer, not a poet and her she attempts poetry. The two of us had a conversation about her book about three years ago when I was having difficulties writing, (I still am). Her advice was to just write, if even a couple of sentences or one word over and over, eventually everything will come into place.

Her poetry and writing have a nice smooth calming effect and left me wanting more.

Kim's Grade: B+

Beach Road

Books with a good mystery in the story line are some of my favorites. I especially love twists at the end. Unfortunately I am uncannily skilled at anticipating the twist and only the most skilled and creative of authors can fool me. However, I was completely fooled by James Patterson in Beach Road. I am a big fan of all his books with central character Alex Cross; Kiss the Girls, Along Came a Spider, etc; but some of his very best work is when he branches out a bit and introduces new faces; Beach Road, Beach House, Jester and Honeymoon were all excellent

Promise Not To Tell

This book was somewhat of a disappointment. I had pretty much figured out the mystery by the middle of the book, but had to read another hundred or so pages to find out for sure. It was definately worth reading, in fact I took it to work with me and read it between seeing patients, but it wasn't the thriller I had anticipated.

The story revolves around two murders, separated in time by 30 years. The central character, Katy, has come home to take care of her mother, who has Alzheimer's dementia. When Katy was 10 years old, her friend Del was killed and the murder was never solved. Now another young girl is killed in a hauntingly similar manner, causing the police to question Katy, the only obvious link between the two girls. The text goes back and forth between Katy's experiences in both the past and present. She finds herself questioning the mental stability of her closest friends and family, as well as herself. I found that the unique past/present style in this book really worked. Although it was predictable, the timeline in which the key pieces to the mystery are revealed keeps you interested.

Shannon's Grade: B

Book Review: Three Little Secrets

I so wanted to like this book. I wanted to like it sooooo much. And for about half of it I did like it. As I mentioned, I'm a total sucker for long-lost love storylines. In this book the hero and heroine, Merrick and Madeline, eloped when she was only seventeen. But on the wedding night at Gretna Greene in Scotland her powerful aristocrat father catches up to them. Merrick is beaten half to death and Madeline is told that Merrick only married her to gain access to her dowry. HUGE misunderstanding. Madeline thinks that Merrick has abandoned her and so she agrees to marry an old scholar to save her reputation.

Thirteen years pass by and the two of them meet again, and of course they both hate each other because they both have the wrong idea of what really happened and have grown bitter as the years have gone by. Merrick was the perfect tormented hero, because he was completely, totally in love with Madeline all those years ago. I wanted nothing more than for him to have his wounded heart healed by Madeline, but I never felt like she did it. She was kind of a bitch even after it became clear that her father orchastrated the entire separation. She continued to treat Merrick rather nastily and even at the end I still didn't feel that she at all deserved to be with him. She'd pretty much destroyed him I never really felt like she came close to making amends. I wanted a huge sappy scene where she cried and apologized and professed her love... I never got it. :(

Lindsey's Grade: B

Book Review: Not Quite a Lady

I liked this book. I did. I liked the heroine and her internal struggles seemed totally believable and sympathetic. I also liked the hero, but I did have one problem.

He was supposed to be a complete rake, someone who woos and beds women then walks away. In fact, he doesn't even like women very much because he is a scientist who believes in reason above anything else (especially love) and women are incapable of logical thinking. But for some reason Charlotte, the heroine, completely changes his lifelong beliefs. He does a complete one-eighty. I guess I could believe all of that, but only if all the women the hero has ever encountered in his life up to that point were beyond stupid, because Charlotte was a normal woman from my point of view. Why am I surprised, though? It's not very often that a romance novel has believable conflict resolution.

Lindsey's Grade: B

Book Review: An Invitation to Sin

I wasn't crazy about this book, either. The plot is beyond simplistic. The hero, Zachary Griffin, is the youngest son in a wealthy, powerful aristocratic family and he suffers from the cliche' of all youngest brother—what does he do with his life? He thinks he wants to join the Army, but his brother the duke disagrees and sends him to Bath with their aunt as a companion. But before they get to Bath the aunt wants to stop by and visit a friend of hers from finishing school, who just so happens to have seven unmarried daughters. And all but two of them throw themselves shamelessly at him.

The oldest daughter, however, is unconcerned with matrimony. She's an artist who's greatest dream is to be accepted into an apprenticeship. Unfortunately for her she's a female and no one wants to take on a female painter (it's the early 1800's). But one school does respond to her application. The only problem is that she must paint a portrait of an aristrocrat and get his/her seal of approval for the application process. So when Zachary comes along she thinks her prayers have been answered. And of course with all the time they spend together, romance blooms.

Or does it? I certainly didn't feel like it did. Caroline was kind of annoying and rude, in my opinion, acting like it was Zachary's duty to help her instead of something he was doing out of the goodness of his heart. But apparently they were supposed to be attracted to each other because they eventually start sleeping together, and again, nothing changes in the story. It felt like the sex scenes served no purpose and I didn't like it. Also, the majority of this book took place at Caroline's family home with her incredibly annoying sisters and mothers falling all over Zachary. It moved at a snails pace and the end didn't really make things any better. The conflict just magically went away! Lame.

Lindsey's Grade: C+

Book Review: If You Desire

I'm kind of bummed about this book because I feel like it had a lot of potential that for some reason, it just didn't live up to. This is the second book in the series that included If You Dare, which I loved. And, I'm a total, total sucker for romance novels that feature long-lost/long-denied loves, so I thought that would be great.

One of the premises in the series is that the three brothers it's based on have been cursed for centuries, or rather, their generation has. They have a book in their family that says that they shall "walk in death or walk alone," blah blah blah. Basically the old book says that their father will have three sons who will never know love and never have children and when the sons read the book the father will meet an early death and stuff like that. There's a bloodstain covering up the last two sentences of the curse that made it unreadable. Turns out that the morning after the boys read the verse their healthy father died in his sleep, and the night before the oldest brother was supposed to get married, his finacee died mysteriously. And, apparently the oldest brother is somewhat of a horny bastard, but so far he's never impregnated a woman. So needless to say they all believe the curse.

And poor Hugh, the middle brother. He's been in love with Jane, his employer's daughter, since he was in his early twenties, but he's always thought that he can't have her because he doesn't want to hurt her and he thinks the curse will lead to her death. And this guy is in love. He's tormented by it. It's kinda sad that he's lived alone for ten years denying himself, because Jane was crazy about him, too.

But what brings them back together is a threat to Jane's life. Hugh's employer (Jane's father) wants Hugh to protect her and he thinks that marrying her is the only way he can do it. So now Hugh is tormented even more because he's married to the woman he's always wanted.

Despite this, the chemisty between Hugh and Jane was not all that it could have been. I thought they kept their secrets from each other way too long and then once they were revealed, nothing really changed. But here's my biggest beef—the sex scenes were pointless. Maybe it's becoming a fine art for romance writers to write sex scenes that actually further the story and aren't just there, because more and more often I'm seeing sex scenes that don't appear to serve any purpose.

Lindsey's Grade: B-

19 Minutes

I stayed up late last night to finish "Nineteen Minutes". I had conflicting feelings about this book - it didn't have the "blow-your-mind" twist at the end like my all time favorite, "My Sisters Keeper", but it was still a great book. The story revolves around Peter, 17, a nice sensitive boy from a great family who wakes up one day, takes 4 guns to school and shoots dozens of his classmates, killing ten. His justification for the massacre is clear to him; self-defense, "they started it" he claims. In this book, Picoult delves into the often talked about but seldom understood subject of bullying. While it seems like a trite and weak defense to adults, even those that were unpopular when they were younger, to a teen constant bullying can be the focus of their world. At first I was very skeptical about this, thinking that nothing justifies wiping out 10 lives and forever damaging countless others. While this is undoubtedly true, I can remembered what it was like to be a teen that just didn't quite fit in. In high school I was just outside the edges of true popularity, which is sometimes far worse than being a complete reject because you torture yourself over every single action and interaction with your peers. You can be accepted into "the group" one day and then completely left out the next. The bullying comes in as a way to bind yourself to the group by picking on those that aren't in your circle and could never hope to be. Even the "most popular" kids feel forced to maintain their status by isolating themselves from the "losers". It turns into a vicious circle where everyone is a victim. Thankfully I was saved from that spiral by a close group of friends and my athletic and academic focus. In 19 minutes, Peter endures torture from his peers every day of his live for over 10 years until he meets criteria for PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder), slips into a dissociative state after a humiliating incident and goes on a shooting rampage. You may have thought that PTSD is just for victims of war or rape, but research has shown that a single episode of being bullied can be more damaging to an adolescent than sexual abuse. In a society where beauty, talent and "fitting in" is valued above all else, our youth are developing more and more insecurities that lead to mental illnesses and violent incidents. Unless we find a way to change society, our youth will continue to lose the battle against themselves.

Body Surfing

Complex and engrossing, "Body Surfing" dissects relationships down to their most basic elements. It's starts with Sydney, a likable 29 yo that has recently lost her young physician husband to a brain aneurysm. She takes a summer job preparing the 17 yo daughter of a wealthy family for the SATs at their beach house. While there, she meets their two older sons, Ben and Jeff, who both pursue her, although one is almost engaged. Against her will, Sydney is drawn to one and repulsed by the other, but is it for the right reasons? The complexity of this story stems from the relationships between the family members; father-daugher, mother-sons, brother to sister, and brother to brother...

I loved the characters in this story - Anita Shreve is genius. I read this book in less than a day! This is her best book ever.

Shannon's Grade: A

Book Review: If You Dare

I don't know what it is about finals that makes me want to read a bunch of romance novels instead of studying, but it happens at the end of every semester. I always find myself heading to the bookstore and stocking up.

Good thing I did because I really liked this book! It takes place in the mid-nineteenth century, and much of the plot revolves around the tiny country of Andorra in the moutains between Spain and France (I'm not going to try to spell Pyrenees (okay, so I did try)). The hero is actually a Scottish Highlander who is in Andorra was a mercentary, a soldier-for-hire. He fights for the evil General Pascal who is trying to take over the country. Pascal's plan is to eventually take over the Spanish throne by marrying Lady Annalia, the daughter of an Andorran aristocrat and the last of the female Castillian royal line through her mother. Courtland McCarrick, the hero, decides to stop fighting for the evil Pascal, but Pascal refuses to pay him and has him beaten to a bloody pulp and orders his death. But before he can be executed Court escapes his captors by plunging over a bridge into a river and over a waterfall.

Annalia finds him on the riverbank and nurses him back to heath, even though she despises him because he worked for Pascal. And since this is a romance novel, they're physically attracted to each other, but Court is kind of a jerk at first. Pascal has kidnapped Annalia's brother and says he will kill him unless Anna marries him. When Anna asks Court for help, he asks for her body as payment and she's so infuriated that she turns herself into Pascal, sacrificing herself. Court's not too happy about that, so he kidnaps Anna away from Pascal, sparking the rage of the evil general.

The rest of the book involves Court and Anna moving north to escape Pascal's fury and get to safety, and along the way Anna starts to see the Court might actually be a pretty good guy, and Court sees that she's pretty amazing and brave, etc. I thought that the way they warmed to each other was genuine and believable, probably because it was halfway through the book before it happened, so it didn't feel rushed.

There are other elements in the book that made conflict between the two of them, but Cole thankfully didn't push it beyond the realm of believability (even though there was a curse involved and that's kind of silly in itself). The romance was pretty steamy, and Anna was the perfect romance heroine: not annoying, not stupid, not naive, not overly stubborn. This is the first in a trilogy about the Court and his brothers, and the second book in the serious If You Desire looks pretty good, too.

Lindsey's Grade: A

Book Review: The Wrong Hostage

I have no complaints about The Wrong Hostage specifically. Elizabeth Lowell is one of my favorite romantic suspense authors and she's really good at crafting a phrase (okay, I'm trying to say that I like her writing style). But I do have a beef with a general theme that showed up in this book that often shows up in other and it just makes me so frustrated I'm going to rant about it.

I am so freakin' sick of heroines that are supposed to be smart, confident, strong women who marry complete losers! Unfailingly we're supposed to feel sorry for them or at least think that they're completely in the right. But most of the time I just end up wondering why they were dumb enough to hook up with such a total and complete slimeball to begin with. Sure, I know people do stupid things in the name of love, but romance authors always write about these ex-husbands like they have no redeeming qualities at all, and they've always been that way. It's so frustrating for me to admire a woman that would be so stupid as to (A) marry a guy like that, and (B) stay with him.

In The Wrong Hostage for example, the heroine is a federal district court judge that is so amazing and wonderful that she passed the bar at the age twenty-one. Please. Don't even get me started on that shit in romance novels. If you want to make you almost-forty year old heroine be a hotshot defense attorney when she had her kid sixteen years before, then turn her into a forty-something year old, okay? Don't bend the rules of logic. I'm supposed to believe that she went through college and law school by the age of twenty-one? Not gonna happen. There are not a plethora of Doogie Howsers in the world, yet they all seem to end up in romance novels. ANYWAY, back to the point. Grace, the heroine, was dating her future husband when she had a torrid weekend affair with the hero in the book. They parted ways soon afterwards, and she married her boyfriend and never told him that she wasn't sure that he was the father of the child she carried (don't worry, this is revealed very early on in the book). Turns out he wasn't, and needless to say, he was a little pissed. But she stayed married to him despite his MANY, MANY affairs for years afterwards. Oh, and he was always a shitty father to her son. WHY DIDN'T SHE JUST DIVORCE HIM? Instead she never tells her son the truth and her ex does some terrible things. I'm reading this thinking, She's an idiot. And, she has no right to be full of righteous indignation. What she did was pretty terrible and dishonest herself. The son's biological father, WHOM SHE NEVER TOLD, EITHER, accused her of using him for a stud then marrying a billionaire to be the kid's father. He was spot on! She was a loser! I like flawed heroines, but not immoral, dishonest ones! And I totally didn't feel sorry for her that she married a man she never loved because that was her own dumb choice. Am I too judgmental? Maybe, people do make mistakes, but I don't read romance novels to hear about those kinds of stupid-ass mistakes.

So please, romance writers, if you're going to put an ex-husband in the story, don't completely villianize him. It makes the heroine seem retarded for falling for such a loser in the first place. Linda Howard managed to have a perfectly nice and normal ex-husband for her heroine in Cry No More, so it can be done.

Running with Scissors

This book was very graphic and disturbing, but for some reason I couldn't put it down. It was very entertaining, but not a book that you feel good about reading when you're done. I thought it needed more closure.










Shannon's Grade: B-

Book Reviews

These were all pretty unremarkable. That's all I care to say.

I bought these three books on-line today and I am really excited to read them..."Body Surfing" by Anita Shreve, who is alternatingly disturbing and brilliant; "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Piccoult, which should be very salient due to present events; and finally "Promise Not to Tell" by relative newcomer Jennifer McMahon, which looks to be a deeply twisted mystery. Stay tuned!

Book Review: A Mighty Heart

A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl

This is a heart-wretching memoir. It follows Mariane Pearl before and after her husband, Wall Street Journal writer Daniel Pearl, is kidnapped and beheaded in Pakistan.

Its a page turning, frustrating tale. Frustrating because the circles and run-arounds that she gracefully puts up with.

What a strong woman. To have gone through what she did WHILE PREGNANT! And to never have complete closure would surely drive me crazy.

Read it!


Kim's Grade: A

Book Review: Fear No Evil

I believe that when I reviewed See No Evil my chief complaint was the plot and not Ms. Brennan's writing. Well, I've read the sequel, and I've changed my mind. Fear No Evil had a much better plot, but I still had some major problems with it.

The general plot is that Lucy Kincaid, the eigthteen year old sister to the other siblings in this trilogy, is kidnapped by a sadistic psychopath who airs 48 hours of live video on the Internet for $25,000 of him and his cronies repeatedly raping and eventually murdering their abductees, all under the guise of "consensual porn." He has done this before, but he is some kind of computer genius and the FBI can't seem to nail him. But five years ago an FBI agent named Kate Donovan came very close to taking him down. After her partner and boyfriend were murdered by this guy, known only as "Trask," she comes under fire from the Bureau and goes into hiding, making it her life mission to find Trask and bring him down. So she writes a software program or something that alerts her each time her puts a new video on the web. When she sees Lucy's video come up, she notifies the one person she trusts in the FBI, who notifies the Kincaid family. Dillion Kincaid, a forensic psychologist, eventually tracks Kate down and convinces her to help him find Trask before Lucy is killed.

Okay, so that's an okay plot and all that, but a love story in the middle of all this horror?! Lucy is raped repeatedly by her captors, all on video for her brothers to see, and yet Dillion is still thinking, "Wow, Kate's pretty hot, I'd like to bang her." All right, all right, to be fair to Brennan, there is not acknowledgment of these romantic feelings until after the ordeal is over, but still. Come on. There was just nothing at all to base the attraction on until, suddenly, they were in bed together. But I suppose it could have been there, but they both just kept it under wraps. Yeah, that's definitely a fair assessment, but I just didn't feel it. Dillion's a psychologist and he falls for a woman that has some major issues? That's a little too "let me fix you" for me, even though he doesn't seem to try to do that. I'm a shallow person, what can I say, but I'd run from someone with that much baggage. Run far.

Also, Brennan introduced a Kincaid we've never seen before, Jack, who supposedly left the family twenty years before. But she never resolves anything with Jack or why he left and stayed away, and as far as I know, this was the last Kincaid book. Also, isn't it pretty much a rule of trilogies that the characters in the previous books get some mention? Connor from See No Evil gets a semi-promiment role, but where the hell is Julia? The woman he supposedly loves and wants to marry? She's a no-show when the sister of the man she loves is kidnapped? Seriously, her name was not mentioned once and I started to wonder if I was reading these books out of order (I wasn't).

Lindsey's Grade: C+

Book Review: Simply Magic

Normally I can't say enough about a Mary Balogh book, and I was really looking forward to reading this book because it featured a hero and heroine that appeared in other Balogh books, both of who showed some promise. But for some reason this book, while there was nothing that made me dislike it, didn't seem to grasp my interest like Balogh books usually do.

Susanna Osbourne is a twenty-three year old teacher at a girls school in Bath. She herself was taken in as a charity student when she was twelve and then later was hired on when she was eighteen. Viscount Whitleaf (Peter), is a young and handsome aristocrat who is good natured and polite. But when the two of them meet for the first time, Susanna is instantly put off because she recognizes his title as a name from her past with unpleasant memories. Peter thinks Susanna is beautiful and intelligent, so he keep persuing her.

First of all, Susanna made me more than a little annoyed. In Simply Unforgettable and Simply Love she seemed to be vivacious and fun-loving, but in this book I felt like she was a completely different person. Maybe Balogh was trying to show in this book that there was unhappiness and sadness behind Susanna that she hid to the rest of the world, but I couldn't help but feel let down by her characterizations here. Also, WHAT THE HELL WAS HER PROBLEM WITH IT CAME TO PETER?! Her lifelong dream is to be married with children and a home of her own, yet when a young and handsome man who obviously enjoys her company, respects her mind, and is sexually attracted to her proposes she turns him down again and again? Even though she's supposedly in love with him? Now, I didn't live in early nineteenth century England, so I guess I can't speak for Susanna, but I couldn't help but feel that she was a complete idiot for not jumping at the chance to marry Peter! Balogh's excuse that she was holding about because he didn't love her was just too lame for me to believe. Okay, so he doesn't say that he loves her, but he never acted like he didn't. Jane Austen's books have led me to believe that a poor young woman in those times would jump at the chance to make such an amazing marriage, the husband's verbal proclamations of love be damned (except for Lizzie in Pride and Prejudice, but at least she had a reason for turning Darcy down that made sense). And this, essentially, was the entire hook of the book. The other so called reason for Susanna's hesitance doesn't count because it was never resolved so it couldn't have been that big of an issue.

I liked both characters and all that, but the genuine romance that I like so much about Balogh's book was missing here. It just felt a little empty.

Lindsey's Grade: B-

P.S. Also, enough with the "let's have sex the first time we meet and then go our separate ways" storyline, Ms. Balogh! It's getting old.

Lindsey's Top Ten

Since I will do just about anything to avoid doing homework or studying for my fast-approaching final exams, I decided that I would do my own personal top ten lists. I don't think anyone will argue that the Equal Protection Clause, Hearsay rules of evidence, or a pesky little thing called legal ethics are more exciting than romance novels (okay, and other books, too). Am I right or am I right?

Top Ten Favorite Historical Romances
1. Ransom by Julie Garwood
2. Shanna by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss
3. Only Mine by Elizabeth Lowell
4. The Wedding by Julie Garwood
5. Winter Fire by Elizabeth Lowell
6. For The Roses by Julie Garwood
7. Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh
8. The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orszy
9. Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas
10. Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas

Top Ten Favorite Contemporary Romances
1. Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard
2. To Die For by Linda Howard
3. Mirror Image by Sandra Brown
4. Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockmann
5. Message From Nam by Danielle Steel (I'm counting this as a contemporary)
6. The Reef by Nora Roberts
7. Matchmakers, a novella from The Invitation by Jude Deveraux
8. French Silk by Sandra Brown
9. Simply Irresistable by Rachel Gibson
10. Love's Encore/Love Beyond Reason by Sandra Brown (I'm a total sucker for '80's romances!)

Top Ten Favorite Non-Romance Novels
1. Possession by A.S. Byatt
2. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
3. Fortune's Rocks by Anita Shreve
4. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
5. The Power of One by Bryce Courtney
6. Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
7. Resistance by Anita Shreve
8. Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
9. Fluke: I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings by Christopher Moore
10. The Virginian by Owen Wister

And there you have it. Now, I complied these lists just now from memory, so I'm sure there will be other books that come to me later on.

Book Rant: Paranormals

WTF is up with all the paranormals taking over the romance genre? It seems like everytime I turn around some author I read is either writing or raving about a paranormal romance. Right now all I keep hearing about is Warlord and Lover Revealed, about fantasy lands and vampires, respectfully. There is already a genre for that crap, LEAVE ROMANCE ALONE! Vampires are not sexy! Am I the only one out there who feels this way? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!

It doesn't stop at vampires, either! Now Christina Dodd is writing a series about werewolves! Oh dear God, when will the madness end?!

I've never been crazy about non-realistic stuff in my romance novels. As I've often mentioned, I hate time travel with passion that will never die. Now, time travel has been around a while. I remember when I first picked up Jude Deveraux's A Knight in Shining Armor, about a modern day woman who meets a hunky warrior who come from the past. I was like, "okay, I guess I can deal with this," until the characters spent lots of time together, fell in love, AND THEN SHE WENT BACK TO THE PAST AND HE DIDN'T KNOW HER! WTF?! NOT OKAY! I promptly skipped to the end at that point. Other time travel books such as Linda Howard's Son of the Morning and Diana Gabaldon's Outlander didn't tickle my fancy either.

And magic is not my cup of tea, either, which has led to an estrangement between Nora Roberts and myself, because if there's one thing that lady loves, it's magic and ghosts and shit. When was the last time she wrote a trilogy that didn't involve the supernatural? Wait, has she EVER? Her hardbacks usually stay away from that crap, except Carolina Moon and Midnight Bayou, but I didn't like either of those.

Since time travel and ghosts are too much for me, it should be no surprise that I despise vampires even more. Nothing makes me put a book down faster than reading the word "vampire" on the back. Gross! THEY DRINK BLOOD FOR THE LOVE OF PETE! THAT. IS. NOT. SEXY. But the damn books are everywhere. EVERYWHERE!

I read romance novels for fantasy, but not sci-fi fantasy! Real-life fantasy! It's hard enough to believe that men like romance heroes actually exist, and when you throw in magic and paranormal crap, it's even worse. So I wait and pray for the day when this fad runs dry, because I really, really hate it.

Book Review: Shanna

Good lord, I love this book. It is surely in the top three of my favorite historical romances of all time, and it maybe, maybe is #1. Julie Garwood's Ransom is still holding on tight, though.

I first read this book years ago, after reading quite a few of Ms. Woodiwiss's other works. Everytime I would read reviews on Amazon or a place like that, everyone mentioned Shanna as one of their favorites, so I decided to give it a whirl. I can't remember how I felt about it back then, but after rereading it this weekend, me likes it.

Here's a plot synopsis: The book is set in the 1720's or '30's (I can't remember exactly when). Shanna is the daughter of a vastly wealthy merchant who lives on and serves as governor of a small Caribbean island where he grows sugar cane. Her father is a widower who dotes on his only child, but it is his mission in life to see her married and a mother. He wants grandchildren and he wants them now! Shanna was educated in Europe, but when she returns home after turning away dozens of would-be suitors, her father gets angry and gives her an ultimatum: She's to return to England for a year, and if in that year she doesn't find a man from a respectable family (with a good, aristocratic name), then he will find a husband for her.

Now, Shanna's not the kind of woman to be bossed around, especially when it comes to marriage. She's not only a renowned beauty, but is also the daughter of an obscenely wealthy man, so it's important to her that the man she ends up with loves her for her, and not because she's rich. And as a romantic, she has this ideal man in mind, a white knight who will ride up and save her from all her woes. Unfortunately for her, she's about a month from her deadline when she still hasn't found a man who fits the bill. Determined not to be bested by her father, she hatches a plan. She and her guardian/servant bride the gaoler at Newgate prison to show them the list of names from men condemned to die. When she sees the name Ruark Beauchamp, a condemned murderer, she decides that he will be the perfect husband. After all, the Marquess de Beauchamp is a well-known aristocrat in London, so her father will be well-pleased with the name. However, the prisoner is an American colonist who cannot be related to the powerful family, and he's destined to die in a matter of weeks! Shanna decides she will make a bargain with the man - his name in marriage for her money to make his last days more comfortable. The prisoner agrees, but he adds one condition - he gets a wedding night with his bride.

Shanna agrees because she's desperate, even though her new finance looks awful after three months in a dank cell. But more bribing of the gaoler and Shanna gets Ruark out of gaol for a day so that they can marry respectfully in a small country parish. Much to her surprise, her hubby cleans up quite nicely. Much to his surprise, Shanna has him thrown back in gaol before her part of the bargain is fulfilled, and then tells everyone that she was married and widowed within a week.

Not that the above is ridiculous enough on its own, but it gets even better!!! Shanna's father's stewart (who knows nothing of her scheme) is in London with her, and on the day Ruark is to be executed, he goes to Newgate and purchases Ruark from the gaoler. He plans to take him back to Shanna's island and tell her father that he is a bondsman. Apparently it was common practice for Shanna's father to take in bondslaves and let them work off their debts on his island, but the stewart is going behind his back by getting felons and murderers from Newgate. So low and behold, when Shanna gets home to her father's island and tells everyone she's a widow, she's much surprised to see her supposedly dead husband there as a bondsman! Ruark is determined to get her to fulfill their bargain, but he keeps his identity underwraps while he establishes himself as the smartest, hardest working bondslave on the island.

There are many more unbelievable coincidences, but who really cares? It's a romance novel, and this novel is perfection. I have deep, deep affection for romance novels written over twenty years ago, and since this one was written in 1977, it fits the bill. Plus, Woodiwiss's writing is so grandiose that it's just insanely entertaining. I loved Ruark, mainly because he took endless delight in baiting and teasing Shanna until she screamed at him in frustration and annoyance. And even though Shanna often acted like a spoiled brat, Ruark always called her on it, and Woodiwiss acknowledged it by making her eventually grow out of it. Some reviewers have little tolerance for Shanna's wishy-washiness with it came to Ruark, but I thought it was believable. She was a rich, spoiled woman, and she thought he was a poor, murdering colonial! (Although, it didn't take long to become clear from his character that Ruark was no murderer.) It doesn't surprise me that she didn't yield to him mind, body, and soul right away at the beginning. Instead, she gradually learned to let go of her ideals of the perfect man and accept Ruark despite his humble social status. I think it would have been unbelievable if Woodiwiss had her change everyone overnight.

Also, I disagree with one reviewer who said that there was nothing about Shanna for Ruark to be attracted to except her beauty. She was fiesty and yes, it often came across as bitchy, but I can see why it would interest Ruark. He'd tease and push at her, and she'd push right back! She was not boring or uninteresting in the least, and underneath it all she had a good heart. Of course a man would be facinating by a gorgeous, well-dressed woman who walks into his gaol cell and says she wants to marry him! That takes balls!

This book is painfully long, but it works because Shanna's character needs that much time to completely surrender to the fact that she is indeed married to Ruark. Even after she starts sleeping with him (initially because she feels guilty over cheating him of their bargain), she's still hesitant to admit she married a convincted murderer. I think that is utterly reasonable.

Anyhoo, there's more good stuff that happens at the end (and if you couldn't guess, Ruark really didn't kill anyone, and he's not a poor nobody, either). But my weakness for secret marriage plots, the epic saga-ness of it all, and the enjoyable characters makes this book so very, very fun for me to read. And wow, this was a long review for me.

Lindsey's Grade: A+

P.S. There are pirates, too!

Book Review: See No Evil

Eh. That's how I feel about this book. Eh.

The heroine is a deputy district attorney named Julia Chandler. The hero is a private investigator named Connor Kincade. The two go back about five years, when Julia threatened to prosecute Connor if he refused to testify against his partner and other police officers. As a result, Connor testified and was essentially forced to resign from the police department because of his "betrayal." So there is little love lost between the two of them.

But when Julia's sixteen year-old neice is the prime suspect in the disturbing murder of her stepfather, Julia hires Connor to get to the bottom of the case.

I generally like romantic suspense because at least the female protagonists do something. They're usually always portrayed as smart and assertive, mainly because they're activity involved in getting to the bottom of the mystery. Don't get me wrong, Julia was no different. But even though I liked both Julia and Connor, and their relationship was enjoyable if not a little rushed, the mystery in this book was totally lame. For one, it was completely unbelievable for me. It was just too far-fetched and bizarre. And second, Brennan showed her cards way too early! There was almost nothing left to reveal at the end except the names of the people behind the crimes, and considering that they were characters that didn't show up at all throughout the course of the book until the big reveal, I didn't really care.

I think I will probably give Brennan another try, though, because I do like her voice and her characterizations. It was just the plot of this particular book that I didn't like.

Lindsey's Grade: B-/C+

Book Review: Lady Sophia's Lover

Well, I finally read Lady Sophia's Lover, probably close to a year after I read it's sequel Worth Any Price, and some time after its prequel Someone To Watch Over Me. It was nice to get back to Lisa Kleypas's historicals, because I really enjoy them.

The basic premise of Lady Sophia's Lover is that Lady Sophia, who was orphaned as a young girl and subsequently separated from her younger brother, is seeking revenge from the magistrate that sentenced her brother to work on a ship as punishment (where he later died). Luckily for her, the magistrate is Sir Ross Cannon, the man who is in charge of the Bow Street runners, and he needs a new clerk/secretary. So she goes and applies for the position and gets it, but her intentions all the while are to seduce Sir Ross and break his heart, and also to steal confidential files and go public with them to humiliate him. The seduction part isn't too hard, because he's drooling over her from the minute he sees her, but after weeks together they both start to have genuine feelings of loooooove. Now what is she to do?

Since I had already Worth Any Price, I knew what the big surprise/conflict at the end would be, but that was okay because I still liked it. It's pretty rare for me that Kleypas doesn't write a hero that I don't like, and this book was no different. I really liked Sir Ross because he was the perfect mix of real man and nice guy. Sophia was enjoyable as well, and I'm glad that Kleypas didn't make a huge affair about how Sophia would deal with the fact that her feelings for Ross began to change. She gave it little attention, but at the same time it was completely believable for me, especially because she began to change her opinion on him based upon things other than the fact that she was sexually attracted to him.

Lindsey's Grade: B+

Book Review: Sugar Daddy

I liked Lisa Kleypas's debut in contemporary novels more than the reviews over at Dear Author did, but at the same time I didn't enjoy it near as much as I enjoy her historicals.

Now, Kleypas's is a gifted writer, regardless of whether she's writing contemporaries or historicals. In fact, this book (which was set in Texas and heavily influenced by Texan culture) reminded me a bit of Sandra Brown's earlier work. And I also enjoyed the way the book eventually set itself up - with the heroine, Liberty, torn between two men, one from her past and one from her present. But I wasn't particularly fond of Liberty, which not surprisingly held me back from really enjoying the book. I have a few theories on why this was:

As they point out at Dear Author, Liberty was kind of like a Young Adult book heroine. I personally think this is because Kleypas spent a lot of time with her character as a child and teenager. Basically, we grew up with Liberty, and I've never been fond of books that do that (Susan Elizabeth Phillips's Hot Shot and Honey Moon come to mind as examples of books with that plot device that didn't sit well with me). I don't know what that is. Maybe it just makes it hard to separate the child from the women, especially when there is little time given to showing us how Liberty matured and grew up.

Also, this book was written in first person, and that's a little difficult for me to enjoy in a romance novel. It worked for Jude Deveraux in the contemporary novella from The Invitation, but that's pretty rare. Oddly enough, I felt like the first person ploy actually made me know Liberty less than I would have had it been in third person.

Long story short, I was unsatisfied with this book.

Lindsey's Grade: B-

Book Review: Ashes to Ashes

After finishing Tami Hoag's Prior Bad Acts, I decided to re-read Ashes to Ashes since I'm at home on Spring Break and the book was just sitting there on a shelf waiting for me. After all, the main characters from Prior Bad Acts first showed up in Ashes to Ashes and, luckily for me, I remembered ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT THE BOOK. Seriously. Nothing. I only knew the Prior Bad Acts characters were in Ashes to Ashes because Prior Bad Acts told me so. It's a little disturbing, but then again, I own Ashes to Ashes in hardback and it came out in 1999. So that was about eight years ago, and I think it's understandable if I've forgotten.

Ashes to Ashes is set in Minneapolis, and the plot revolves around a serial killer that is killing women and then setting their bodies on fire to be found in public places. The press has labeled the killer "The Cremator." Lovely.

Kate Conlin is a former FBI agent that left the Bureau five years before to move back to her hometown of Minneapolis to become a victim/witness advocate. The first two bodies that are found burned were prostitutes, but when a third body believed to be the daughter of a local billionaire is found, everyone stands up and pays attention. Kate is called in to work with a young woman who supposedly saw The Cremator dump and light up the third body.

John Quinn is the most famous FBI criminal profiler around, and because of the billionaire's influence, he's called in to participate on this case. And as fate would have it, he and Kate have a history together from her time with the FBI. A sexy history. Do do dooooo.

I liked this book, just like I like all Tami Hoag books. She's a great mystery writer, keeping me interested while still holding back a lot. Seriously, I have read this book before and I STILL didn't know who the killer was. That's a good mystery. Either that or I have early onset Alzheimers.

I would like to read the "sequel" (not really a sequel, just her next book with the same characters) Dust to Dust, but even though I'm sure I've read it before (I remember a little more about this one) and I'm also rather sure that I own it, I can't find it anywhere. It's disappeared, much like a lot of my books do. I suspect that a certain sister of mine "borrows" books and loses them/throws them away/loans them without permission/steals them. But hey, innocent until proved guilty, right?

One Sentence Book Reviews

I've read a lot of quick, paperback books since the last time I posted a real review. So this one is just going to serve the purpose of getting me caught up.

Prior Bad Acts - A good book with a sexy cop, but a telegraphed ending.


Merger of Fortunes - This book was as bad as the cover model's outfit.


No Safe Place - I liked the romance aspect, but could not have cared less about the mystery.


Dead Shot - It was nice to see a heroine that had some major flaws because it made her more believable, but the whole premise of the book was just too out-there.


Tongue in Chic - Well, this was not nearly as horrific as Trouble in High Heels, but still (as always with Dodd books), something just felt "off" about it.


And Then He Kissed Her - This historical romance actually lived up to the hype I had read about it.


Wrong Place, Wrong Time - As usual, Kane's hero and heroine are absolute paragons in every aspect of their lives, but the romance in this book was as boring as the mystery.


How to Abduct a Highland Lord - This book was incredibly simplistic, but for some reason, I still liked it.

Book Review: Prior Bad Acts

I'm reading Prior Bad Acts by Tami Hoag right now. Generally she's an author I enjoy, even though she's a little dark so I have to take her in small does. The plot of this book is best summarized as this: a mother and two children are killed in a really horrifying, disturbing (so disturbing I wonder about Hoag's imagination) manner; the police arrest a suspect; suspect is charged with murder; the prosecution tries to enter into evidence the suspects "prior bad acts" such a larcency, indescent exposure, being a Peeping Tom, etc; the judge refuses to admit the evidence; the police and the community go apeshit over the judge's ruling; the judge gets beaten up in the parking garage on the way to her car.

Okay, so maybe this would seem like a thrilling and exciting read to you, but I'm taking Evidence right now, so it's causing me some problems. The first problem I have with the plot of the book revolves around Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), in which character evidence, as a general rule, is excluded. And "prior bad acts" is character evidence.
Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith.
So I'm kind of wondering how Hoag really expects us to believe that this judge's ruling would be SO controversial that it would cause prosecutors and seasoned cops to lose their minds. THE RULES OF EVIDENCE PRETTY MUCH DEMAND THAT SHE EXCLUDE THE EVIDENCE. It's just beyond my imagination that a prosecutor is that upset over the ruling when it was his job to argue that it should fall under an exception to the general rule.

This is really bothering me. In case you can't tell.

Book Review: the curious incident of the dog in the night-time

the curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon 2003 , 226 pgs.

"Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic."

Having the narrator be autistic and tell this particular story is what makes this book OUTSTANDING.

It was very emotional, humorous and thrilling, a combination that is difficult to accomplish for many writers. Not only do you feel for Christopher there is also a lot of empathy surrounding his parents and those trying to help him.

Kim's Grade: A Simple, kind and fun to read.

Anyone interested in reading this let me know, I'll mail it to you!

Book Review: Bangkok 8

Bangkok 8 by John Burdett 318 pages, 2003.

Murder, Buddhism, karma,
meth,
meth,
meth,
methed up snakes,
jade,
FBI, CIA,
drug trafficking,
meth,
meth,
ganja,
brothels,
more Buddhism,
transsexuals,
meth,
murder
transsexuals wanting revenge,
rebirth.


Kim's Grade: C+ Actually...it wasn't too bad for a mystery.

Book Review: Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy

Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture by Ariel Levy 2005, 199pgs

Raunch culture is like a reflex these days and its everywhere. Breast implants, thongs, and the Playboy bunny are now seen as keen symbols of sexual liberation. But should they be?

Levy delves into not only the commercial side of raunch culture but also the feminist-side where she coins and defines Female Chauvinist Pigs as "women who make sex objects of other women" and of themselves. A good example of a FCP is Robin Quivers co-host of the Howard Stern show. Robin not only objectifies other women, she encourages it and has never spoken out against Stern's racy tactics. She has only benefited from it continuing to occur.

Levy also discusses how raunch culture is vastly becoming a litmus test of female uptightness. It is now a normal reflex for young women to flash their breasts when asked to. In an age of sexual liberation whats the big deal right? "It exudes confidence when people wear little clothes." It seems like for women to be noteworthy these days they must somehow be sexy or be linked to something sexual, i.e. Anna Nicole Smith's death, Paris Hilton, the lack of underwear on young actresses, etc. Britney Spear's can't exude confidence without long hair! Or can she?

If I choose not to bare my midriff will it really make me less sexy and confident? No!

My favorite part is Levy's conversation on the anti porn feminists versus the sex-positive feminists--or the pornography wars. I appreciated this topic because it seems like you can't agree with both sides of this feminist war and still be able to call yourself a feminist. If I am against porn then I must be a sexually repressed woman and therefore not a feminist. If I am in support of sex-positive porn, or stripping, or the increasingly visible stripper culture within the U.S. then I must be supporting sexual violence, the diminishing rights of women, and the control over our bodies--therefore not a feminist.

Also brought up is how many women struggle to escape womanhood and be more masculine, but the fact remains that they ARE genetically female! Condi Rice is an example. She has worked hard to "be just one of the guys" to the point where she is considered more masculine than feminine. She does not support women's issues, she doesn't have to since they don't pertain to her.

Great conversations arise from this book. It "is not a book about the sex industry; it is a book about what we have decided the sex industry means...how we have held it up, cleaned it off, and distorted it. How we depend on it to mark us as an erotic and uninhibited culture at a moment when fear and repression are rampant."

Kim's Grade: A Makes you think about your stances regarding raunch culture!

Book News: Tracy Chevalier

Whoo hoo, Tracy Chevalier has a new book coming out next month!

I love her books, so I will definitely have to get this one.

Book Notes: Laurie R King

Yesterday I came across a piece of paper I haven't seen since 2000. I still am confused as to why it was in this stack of papers, why it wasn't filed away in my 2000 bin and why it was attached to an ATM receipt from London....oh well!

My dear friend Amy Davies suggested Laurie R King's books. That's her over there (--->). I remember Amy devouring these books and thinking whats the big deal?!

Well, they sound great! One of her first books, The Beekeeper's Apprentice (DO NOT CONFUSE WITH "The Secret Life of Bees") was named a 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century.

"Her fiction falls into three areas. First in the hearts of most readers comes Mary Russell, who met the retired Mr Sherlock Holmes in the winter of 1915 and became his apprentice, later his partner, and eventually his wife. Starting with The Beekeeper’s Apprentice and continuing through The Game (June 2005), Russell and Holmes move through the ’teens and ’twenties in amiable discord, challenging each other to ever greater feats of detection.

King’s other series concerns San Francisco homicide inspector Kate Martinelli, her SFPD partner Al Hawkin, and her life partner Lee Cooper. In the course of her four books, Kate has encountered a female Rembrandt, a modern-day Holy Fool, two difficult teenagers, and a manifestation of the goddess Kali.

King has also written three stand-alone suspense novels." (Taken from www.laurierking.com)


Expect to see some reviews of King's work soon!

Book News: "The Higer Power of Lucky" gets Yucky

“This book included what I call a Howard Stern-type shock treatment just to see how far they could push the envelope.” --Dana Nilsson

The S-word? AND NO, IT AIN'T SHIT! Give me a break! This is ridiculous! If it was truly offensive Susan Patron's book wouldn't have won the Newbery Medal! Times are changing, six year olds are dressing like skanks and every library should have this delightfully sounding book.

An award-winning children’s book about a ten-year-old girl seeking answers about life has provoked an uproar in America because it uses the s- word on the first page.

Curious as to what the s-word is? Read the rest of the article here...

Book Review: The Pirates! In An Adventure with Communists

The Pirates! In An Adventure with Communists by Gideon Defoe

This is a great book to read out loud! It is full of smart, quirky philosophical references and a ton of laughs! Its a short read, I read it in about three hours and I can't wait to read more Pirate adventures.

While this is a work of fiction Defoe's knowledge of Marx, Engels, and the ultimate philosopher-villain are somewhat accurate making the story all the more enjoyable.


Kim's Grade: A+

The illustrations are worth it too!

Book Review: Natural Born Charmer

I really like Susan Elizabeth Phillips's books. She's probably the best romantic comedy writer, and I appreciate that her books are always sprinkled with a healthy dose of comedy. Funny is fun, and it keeps things from getting too heavy and serious. But for the love of God, is it so much to ask that she write a book where at least one of the people in the romantic couple have a normal family life?

I understand that she likes to write about families, and things are more interesting when there is conflict and drama, but honestly it's getting a little old! (Although, now that I think about it, I can't remember anything too dysfunctional about the characters' families in Nobody's Baby But Mine. But still, there were some issues.)

But don't pay too much attention to my ranting. Like I said, conflict is more interesting. The characters in this book are Dean Robilliard (sp?), who is a professional football playing quarterback from SEP's earlier book, Match Me If You Can, and Blue Bailey, who's new. Both of them have screwed-up family lives which play prominently in the plot of the book. But I can overlook the predictable SEP family drama here because I really enjoyed Dean's eleven year-old half-sister. SEP does a great job of writing kids, I think. I wasn't crazy about Dean when he was in Match Me If You Can, mainly because I pictured him with bleached blonde hair and diamond earrings which is just tacky on a man, but SEP toned him down here so it was good. She also managed to make Blue appealing to me, despite the fact that my least favorite physical descriptions of romance novel heroines pretty much encapsulated Blue completely. (In case you're wondering it's short, shapeless women with short black hair.)

One of my absolute favorite things about SEP is that she writes romance novels. Not romantic suspense. Not romantic thrillers. Not romantic mystery. No sub-genres, which I like. And she does it without being boring. This book is about people going about their (questionably) normal lives and falling in love. It was a fun read.

Lindsey's Grade: B+