Ramblings on Romance Etcetera, Etcetera

Gotta love this

2012-02-06T12:36:00.002-05:00

I always feel ripped off on during the Superbowl. I have cable and Canadian stations take over so we never get to see the famous commercials. But kudos to Budweiser because while we didn't get many of the great ones, we did get this one and it's a real treat!

Recent Reads - a 3fer!

2012-01-24T22:44:00.006-05:00

The King’s Courtesan by Judith James

Why this one: Ever since I was blown away by Broken Wing, there’s not a chance I won’t read anything this author writes. Although it sat longer in the TBR pile than originally planned, I think the reason was I’m so taken with reading on my IPad now that it wasn’t until I bought this digitally that I finally started reading it.

Steam Level: It’s cold. It’s winter. This book will help warm one up on a cold winter day

Blurb: Sensuous, beautiful and determined, Hope Matthews is a favored mistress of the king.

Her many charms have helped her rise from the gutter to the king's bed. But with the new queen's impending arrival, her nights in the royal chamber-- and her hopes for security--will swiftly come to an end.

His honor a distant memory

Haunted by his past hardened by the recent civil war, Captain Robert Nichols lives only for revenge. When told he must marry the king's courtesan to provide a cover for their affair,

he's faced with a new low. Both are pawns of a great man, but married to their dreams of independence, their clash is inevitable. Can these two wounded souls realize the answer to all their dreams might lie in each other's arms?

My Thoughts: While this one didn’t blow me away like BW did, it’s certainly in the upper levels of books I read in 2011. Robert Nichols was in the previous book, Libertine’s Kiss where he was a rather dour, severe kind of character; of course any one would be after the larger than life persona of William.

I might have worried, but this is Judith James who writes such wonderful, multidimensional characters. And I just adore the setting and time period.

Although it’s England, this book as well as Libertine’s Kiss is set during the Restoration period. I’ve been so intrigued and wanting to know more about this underwritten time in English history.

As I said, while Robert comes across as stern, much of that can be attributed to the fact that he was on Cromwell’s side during the civil war and those Puritans weren’t know to be party animals. But the fact that he fought for Cromwell was more that it was expedient then the fact that he followed their beliefs. His lands had been stolen and he wanted them back. He is a good and honourable man and I liked him a lot.

But it’s Hope who is the one full of life here. In Broken Wing, it was Gabriel who was the stand out character; in The King’s Courtesan, for me, it’s Hope. What a wonderfully written character she is. She’s grown up in a brothel, her mother the Madam who sells her young daughter, Hope still manages to maintain certain innocence about her. She first meets Robert when she is young and quite literally falls into his lap during a march of the soldiers. She’s smitten with him and sees him as someone who will rescue her from her sad circumstances only to be sold later that same day. The book then moves forward in time to when Charles II has taken the crown and Hope as one of his

mistresses. He is about to be married and Hope realizes that he can’t keep her because of her low birth. All she wants from Charles is her freedom to live her life the way she wants to. Instead, like so many other people in her life, he ‘sells’ her to Robert for the price of Robert’s land back. Charles thinks once the newness of

marriage wears off, he will want Hope back again and Robert will be a compliant cuckold. But things don’t turn out quite that way.

Once they get past their initial misunderstandings, they begin to truly care about the other and fall in love.

And now it hangs over their head – what do they do when the King wants her back

And while Hope is more of a stand out character, Robert is no slouch himself. He never holds Hope’s past against her, realizing she did what she had to do in order to survive.

He is smitten with the dichotomy of her being the King’s mistress on one hand and so seemingly naive and innocent on the other hand.

The setting is also such an attraction for me with this book. There are so few in this setting and I know so little, that a few times while reading, I went back and did a bit of research on the time. As history was one of my favourite subjects in school, I simply loved that I had this reaction.

I just love EVERTHING about Ms. James writing, her characters, her settings, her detail to history, you name it and I give it a thumbs up. As I think I mentioned earlier this one didn’t quite come up to Broken Wing, but since I gave that book higher than a 5 out of 5, this one does get a

Grade: 5 out of 5

When A Duke Says I Do by Jane Goodger

Why This One: There was some discussion on it on the AAR board, I looked it up, it sounded interesting,

I’ve read and enjoyed some older books by this author so I decided to give it a try.

Steam Level: Fairly toasty!

Blurb: Miss Elsie Stanhope resided in Nottinghamshire, an area so rich in titled gentlemen, so felicitous for marriage-minded mamas, it was called

"the Dukeries." Indeed, Elsie had been betrothed since childhood to the heir of a dukedom. She had no expectation it would be a love match.

Still less that she would enter into a shockingly scandalous affair with an altogether different sort of lover. And the very last thing she imagined was that the mysteries of his birth would be unraveled with as many

unforeseen twists and turns as the deepest secrets of her heart.

My Thoughts: Do you ever read a synopsis and just something you can’t really put your finger on precisely calls to you and you just want to read this book?

That’s what happened to me with this one and I’m glad I listened to ‘the call’. I really enjoyed this book. In these times of fewer historical reads, this book helped to remind me why I used to enjoy them so much.

Elsie is a naturally happy young woman. Betrothed since she was very young, she doesn’t really want to get married and move away from all that she knows and loves including her very young sister.

But she is ready to do it since she is if nothing else, an obedient daughter to her widowed father.

But her plans are thrown into disarray when she finds herself very attracted to the mute young

assistant to the mural artist her father has hired. Elsie has troubles sleeping and late at night when

everyone else is abed, she slips down to where Andre or Alexander is working late into the night.

It turns out he’s hiding a few secrets. First off, he is the real artist, not his boss. His boss has been unable to paint for a while and Alexander is covering for him. In addition,

Alexander is not really mute; he just has very real and strong issues, dating back to a horrid childhood in speaking in public. Indeed,

not even his artist boss knows he can really speak.

Alexander and Elsie develop a strong bond built in friendship

and it leads to much deeper feelings on both their parts. But both realize that their blossoming love is impossible. She

is engaged to someone else and he is nothing more than an artist’s assistant. But is he really only that?

This is a romance novel so of course he’s actually more. But in order to have any chance to claim the young woman he has come to love more than life itself, he’s going to have to rise above his very real issues.

This book reminds me a little of another book I loved to pieces and pieces, Broken Wing in that the hero is severely damaged and needs the

heroine to help heal him. While I didn’t have quite the same reaction to When A Duke Says I Do, I still thought it a very fine way to spend hours reading.

Alexander was deliciously wounded and I do so love a wounded hero. He suffered from a very abusive childhood which together with his speech issues, made things

very bad for him. But he felt comfortable enough with Elsie to be free and speak to her. Because of the healing effect she had on him, he was ‘gone’ for her, another characteristic I love about a heroine; when he is totally smitten with the heroine. I also quite enjoyed the character of Elsie too. She was alternately pragmatic, naïve, optimistic, accepting, compassionate and understanding. When she discovers Alexander’s secrets, she is willing to wait until he is ready to tell her the stories behind them.

Although very curious, she doesn’t pressure him. Towards the end of the story, she made one decision I wish she hadn’t, but considering the pressure she was under, I could see why she capitulated.

The villain of the story was a bit over the top and it wasn’t really

explained to my complete satisfaction why he did the things he did and there was no real closure for the hero. But those were small issues

when measured against how much I enjoyed this book.

Grade: 4.25 out of 5

Changeling Dream by Dani Harper

Why This One: I read the first book in this series and liked it

Steam Level: We haven’t had much of a winter so far this year, but if we had this would have helped keep me warm

Blurb: In times of stress Jillian Descharme has always found calm in her dream of a great white wolf with haunting blue eyes. But she is startled when the visions return and this time seem so real. Late at night he comes to her, speaks to her, touches her. It's almost as if he's alive...

Thirty years ago James Macleod lost his wife and unborn child to a killer bent on destroying the Changelings. Though he longed for death, his animal instinct fought for survival and James has been a wolf ever since. Yet now a woman has reawakened the man in him, taming wild instincts but arousing still wilder needs. With his ancient enemy hunting the legendary white wolf, James must fight for new life, new hope, new love.

My Thoughts: I’ve said a few times when it comes to either werewolves or vampires, I pick the werewolf. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been reading this series. I like the first book, thus I wanted to continue. The hero of this book is James MacLeod, the older brother of the hero of Changeling Moon. As it says in the blurb, James suffered a great tragedy when his young wife and unborn child were murdered and because he couldn’t deal with the horror of it all since he felt responsible, he remained in his wolf form for the next 30 years.

The heroine, Jillian Descharme, a young vet hired by Duncan, the hero of the first book, to help in his practice is the catalyst for James finally taking back his human self. It turns out many years ago that his wolf form rescued Jililan and the wolf side has considered Jillian ‘his’ ever since then. And Jillian has never forgotten the white wolf that rescued and comforted her from a horrendous attack when she was very young.

When the white wolf realizes that Jillian has come to his neck of the woods, he claims Jillian as his even though James does not want to become involved with anyone again. He is astonished when he does come back to his humanity to realize that so much time has gone by.

I liked both these characters. James is kind of unusual as there is an internal battle going on inside him for most of the book as to who was going to get what they wanted, him or his inner wolf. I thought that dynamic was quite unique. And I liked the character of Jillian although I felt at times that she was a bit too much of a ‘super’ woman. I preferred the first book just a tad more, but I liked them both enough to get the third one, Changeling Dawn.

There were a few things that I thought weren’t explained enough though. When James rescued Jillian many years ago, she lived in mid-Ontario and yet she moved thousands of miles to the exact location that James called home. It was never explained how James traveled such a long distance or why when in wolf form and then I thought it was just a tad too coincidental that Jillian would end up in the very small Alberta town that the MacLeod family called home.

But for a werewolf or changeling as they prefer to be called, I thought it not too shabby a book at all.

Grade: 3.75 out of 5

Author Spotlight - Redux

2012-01-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

I don't often repost previous posts I do, but things have changed in the electronic world since I did this one back in 2009. More and more of her Ms. Weir's books are available as ebooks now so readily available. I've been getting them myself as I'm finding it very comforting to have my very favourite books so close all the time in case of a sudden urge to reread. They are also on for quite a good price. As it was back in 2009, she is still an author I highly recommend and am glad to do this rare repost.

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I’ve had all kinds of interesting ideas since I first started this blog. Unfortunately I’ve never got around to many of them. But one of the better ideas I had was an Author Spotlight feature. It’s been percolating around in my brain for a while – just waiting for the right author to pop into it. And finally one has. So here we go – Ramblings on Romance, etc.’s first Author Feature!!

The author I want to feature in this – the inaugural post………..

Theresa Weir

She first came to mind when I did a recent reread of her book Cool Shade (review here). I was reminded again of how unusual her books are. I like authors who write outside the box of romance ‘rules’; authors who take chances and take readers to places they’ve never been. I can’t think of a better author who does then Theresa Weir. Many reading this have probably never read a romance written by her. Her last published romance was back in 1999 before she switched to writing suspense as Anne Frasier/

Now she doesn’t not only write outside the box; with some of her books I don’t think there even is a box! Her stories are different and her heroes and heroines have problems and issues I’ve never seen before. And I can’t say enough about how refreshing I find that. I’ve been on a reading glom of her books ever since I finished Bad Karma – I’ve read two and I’m currently reading a third one. I sent for her entire back list once I finished Bad Karma although I did have a few of them already. Her writing is so vivid and so real and she writes such believable characters, it’s almost impossible to not be drawn into the world of each of her books.

The first one I read after Cool Shade was One Fine Day:

SHE THOUGHT SHE COULD ESCAPE THE PAST...
After too many years of heartache, Molly Bennet had packed her bags and run away ... from her memories, her husband, and the woman she had become. But just as she found herself on the brink of a brand-new life, an unexpected tragedy called her home. Now the man who had always been so much stronger than Molly needs her in a way she'd never thought possible....

BUT YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM LOVE...,
No woman had ever appealed to Austin the way Molly did; from the day she left, all he knew was emptiness and the ache of losing her. He would have given anything to have her back—but not this way. He didn't want her pity. He couldn't expect her love. Yet as the walls of pride and fear come tumbling down, Austin and Molly will be given a second chance at happiness—if only they have the courage to take it.

This was the story of a marriage that had crumbled and fallen apart because neither Molly nor Austin were able to really ‘talk’ to each other. They both had barriers and walls up to keep the other out. Molly had finally left Austin the year before only to be drawn back when he suffers a stroke and needs, though not wants her help. This book deeply resonated in me as I too left my husband for a year to cliché as it sounds ‘find myself’. Molly returned a stronger person then when she left and Austin had become a much more vulnerable person due to his infirmity and they were finally able to really ‘see’ the other person. I was deeply moved by their story – to the point I found myself welling up in a number of places and that rarely happens.

I found the writing to be so realistic and moving, I felt that I really came to know these people.

Forever

This was the next one I read and I didn’t realize it at the time, but this book was written first and was about Sammy, Molly’s light hearted brother:

THEY SAID HE WAS A LOST CAUSE But from the moment Dr. Rachel Collins first saw her newest patient, she knew her colleagues were wrong. For beneath the pain and defiance in Sammy Thoreau's stormy black eyes she sensed a vulnerability that tore at her heart—and an amazing inner strength that made her all the more determined to help this bad-boy journalist learn to live again.

THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT LOVE COULD DO
She couldn't know that Sammy, wit

h his sexy smile and biting humor, would reverse their roles with a vengeance... exposing the secret pain she'd tried so hard to hide... igniting emotions no doctor should ever feel for a patient. All she knew was that she had to win this man's trust, to heal his hurts. Only then could they face the promise of their love, forever.

But Sammy had been in a terrible accident and wasn’t the same person he was before. After Molly rescued him from a terrible mental institution, this is his story and his slow road to recovery. Rachel also had her own sorrows to overcome. Again I was very emotionally involved in their tale.

The book I’m

reading now is Long Night Moon:

To the world, Sara Ivy had it all: a handsome husband, a manicured estate, the kind of ethereal beauty that drew all eyes to her. So when hard-bitten reporter Nash Audubon crashed a party to get an interview, all he expected was another run-in with a bored socialite. Instead, he got the surprise of his life. For Sara Ivy possessed an innocence that had no place in the sophisticated world of Chicago high society. Tempted to learn her deepest secrets, he followed her into the night...and in one dangerous moment discovered the real Sara—sexy, brave, and heartbreakingly defiant. She was ready to end the charade of her marriage to a brutal man, and Nash would move heaven and earth to cherish and protect her—even if it cost him his life....

Again I’m in awe at how Ms. Weir is managing to bring me into the story. I’m not very far into it yet, but although hard to read; the subject is spousal abuse, it’s even harder to put down. It’s breaking my heart, but in a very good way.

The previous books of hers that I’ve read:

The above mentioned Cool Shade where the hero suffers from Agoraphobia. And as a note of interest, this book was a RITA winner in 1999 for Best Romantic Suspense.

Bad Karma

where the heroine is a true physic and suffers from a severe eating disorder

SHE HAD NOT IDEA WHAT SHE WAS LOOKING FOR…UNTIL SHE FOUND IT.

She's the most exotic thing Egypt, Missouri, has ever seen—and Daniel Sinclair mistrusts her instantly. A small-town cop with big-city suspicions, Daniel figures that Cleo Tyler, a psychic hired to locate the town's missing master key, is a fraud. He'd be surprised to discover, though, that Cleo wouldn't disagree. While she longs to believe psychic abilities don't really exist, she can't seem to explain those odd glimpses she gets into other people's lives, nor can she control the terrible flashbacks from her own past. All she wants is to put on a good show, collect the money, and hit t he road—and the sooner the better, for behind Egypt's quaint facade is a chill Cleo can't shake. She's not sure where it's coming from, only that it frightens her terribly … almost as much as her confused feelings for a certain skeptical cop she'd like to keep at arm's length, yet draw closer at the same time.

Last Summer

HE SPENT HIS LIFETIME RUNNING FROM HIS PAST Right from the start Maggie Mayfield knew Johnnie Irish was trouble. The sexy Hollywood star had returned to his home town of Hope, Texas, to a hero's welcome. But for Maggie the notorious bad boy was nothing but bad news - until she discovered the tragic secret behind his reckless ways, until she found the hidden sweetness in his cynical smile... SHE RISKED HER FUTURE ON THE PROMISE OF HIS LOVE Johnnie knew he shouldn't have come back, knew he could never forgive this stark desert town for turning its back on a boy just struggling to survive. But all thoughts of revenge faded when he met widowed schoolteacher Maggie Mayfield. Passionate and caring, she seemed to sense the yearning behind his cocky swagger, the pain and loneliness he had tried so hard to escape. Against all reason Maggie believed in him. And now he had to find the strength to confront his demons - or lose the only woman he could ever love...

Renee did a review for this one a couple of years ago. I know I have it somewhere and I’m going to do a concentrated search for it soon.

Some Kind of Magic

its been a while since I last read this one, but I’m really looking forward to reading it again after I finish reading the ones I haven’t read yet

BE CAREFUL
Not much is duller than winter in sleepy Fallon, Ida ho. So on her thirtieth birthday, Claire Maxfield wished for the one thing--well, one of the things--missing in her life: some excitement. Besides that voodoo doll from her best friend, she has no idea what she's about to get.

WHAT YOU WISH FOR…
That very night a mysterious injured man named Dylan carjacks Claire at gunpoint, ordering her to hide him. But once inside her secluded cabin, something strange occurs. Claire's powerfully attractive captor somehow becomes the captive--and Claire winds up taking care of him!

IT MIGHT COME TRUE
Just how did it happen, she wonders. Maybe that voodoo doll, now sporting one of Dylan's hairs, had something to do with it. Or maybe it was a different kind of magic, a spell that is mystifying, unbreakable, and absolutely irresistible.

Amazon Lily

This is probably her most well know book.

HE GUIDED HER THROUGH STEAMING AMAZON FORESTS...TO THE PARADISE OF LOVE!
On a mission to aid the native Indians, lovel y Corey McKinney met up

with Asher Adams, the rugged and strikingly handsome pilot who would take her deep into the jungle...and to unknown dangers and desires. He was a man hardened by the wilderness and by life, drawn to protect the delicate Midwestern beauty, destined to love her with all his soul. But as proud Corey proved her daring, guts and strength, she fought her wild attraction to this powerful, sensuous man…and adventurer whose rough manner hid a gentle heart and a heroic mission...Far from civilization, his passion carried her to unknown lands of rapture, to adventures of ecstasy that left her thirsting for more. Then, in love and courage, she would risk her life for his...But only when fate threaten ed to part them forever would they face the greatest challenge of all...

And now I have a few more to read

American Dreamer

Loving Jenny

Iguana Bay

The Forever Man

Pictures of Emily

I hope anyone who has read and enjoyed any of her books will pop in and share which ones they have read and their thoughts on the book. I know she is a favourite with many of us ‘older romance readers’.

And now there is a whole new generation of romance readers who have probably never heard of her or never tried her.

If you are looking for an author who writes books where the characters come alive on the pages you must try her.

If you are looking for books where the hero and heroine are truly ‘broken’ and healed by the strength of love, you must try her.

If you are looking for books with stories way ‘outside the box’ of most romance you must try her.

If you are looking for books where each and every one is unique and heartbreaking you must try her.

I know I am so glad I have more of her books that I haven’t read yet – but even if I didn’t, I would have them to reread and reread again.

There are other favourable reviews of her books too. I'm not the only one who loves her. AAR gave Some Kind of Magic a B+. They gave Bad Karma a DIK grade. And they also rewarded Cool Shade with the same. If you check out the Amazon reviews (even though I don't always give much credence to them) all of her books have received high praise.

TBR Challenge for January - The Series Book

2012-01-18T11:54:00.006-05:00

I haven’t done one of these for a couple of years. I find as soon as I sign up, I have no desire to read a book from that particular pool of books. But I thought I’d give Wendy, our SuperLibrarian’s challenge a try. See, when it comes to a theme I know she has a book in that I might have read and loved, I might make a suggestion. Plus she’s been my ‘roomie’ at RWA a number of times so I’m doing it for my ‘roomie’.

Much to my great surprise and astonishment, most of the books I read these days are eBooks. I don’t have as great a TBR electronic pile, but I do have some. This month’s challenge, a series book, has been sitting on my IPad for over a month and may have sat there longer if not for this challenge

All They Need by Sarah Mayberry

Blurb: After all Melanie Porter has been through recently, it's time to put her dreams first. And she starts by opening a vacation retreat outside of Melbourne. As she considers her next step, the unexpected happens. One of her guests -- a friend -- the very attractive Flynn Randall makes it clear he's in pursuit.

Mel is definitely tempted. Who wouldn't be?

But Flynn comes with strings that could derail her plans. First, he's part of the world she eagerly left behind. Second, he's ready for a commitment, while she's still embracing life on her own.

A resolution seems impossible until Flynn proves that she's still in the driver's seat!

My Thoughts: Ever since I discovered the Harlequin SuperRomance line not all that long ago really, Sarah Mayberry is an author I snatch up as soon as I see her newest release. Some are good and some are incredibly wonderfully good. This book for me, falls somewhere in between.

I found Melanie to be a very unusual heroine. She’s taller than normal, and bigger than life though her ex-husband has tried his very best to drum that out of her. It was a very emotionally abusive relationship and understandably Melanie is very wary of getting into another one with Flynn so shortly after getting out of it. She has taken her money and opened a B&B. While she’s met Flynn a few times in the past and he has certainly noticed and been attracted to her, Melanie doesn’t know him that well. At the beginning of the book, Flynn stays at her B&B with his girlfriend at the time. But he realizes he admires and is developing deep feelings for Melanie so breaks with his girlfriend in a real emotional scene.

As I said, Melanie is very gun shy about getting involved with Flynn, and then when they do begin a relationship, she is most reluctant to let it progress further. But Flynn is the definition of patience and understanding and doesn’t pressure her at all.

And Flynn – what a hero. He’s almost too good to be true. He is dealing with his fathers advancing Alzheimer’s, a wonderfully written, realistic side line story, and gives up his own business to take on his fathers company. His feelings and admiration for Melanie keep growing and although he finds it difficult not to push her, he manages not to. Instead he allows her to make her own choices in her own time, not even sure she will take the relationship the distance he wants it to go. I really appreciated that about him.

This is not my very favourite Sarah Mayberry book, but it is up there in top percentile of them. I’m glad this challenge pushed me to read this book sooner than I might otherwise have gotten around to reading.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

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As Wendy said on Twitter last night, this TBR challenge was planned before the black out of the WWW by many sites in protest of the proposed SOPA/PIPA bill that's in Congress now. I don't claim to understand a lot about it and as it's a bill proposed in the US, there's not a lot I can do anyway. But I stand in support of those who are.

I'm as much against piracy as anyone. I ache for authors whose works have been pirated and put up on sites for people to steal. It's an outrage to me that all the talent and effort and love they have put into their writing is being reduced to nothing so someone somewhere can get something for free.
I cringe whenever anyone tells me about movies they've watched on line before they are officially 'out' on video (or DVD or BlueRay any more). I have gotten into serious arguments with my oldest son over the fact it's not the George Clooney's and Meryl Streeps who are being ripped off - it's the small guys you never hear about that contribute to the making of a movie.

But from what I can understand, SOPA/PIPA is NOT the way to try and combat this. Instead it takes even more away from our freedom. So though I am posting this today, my heart is also with those who have gone black.

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And while I'm at it - an update on the cats. Zina - the attack cat - has gone back to being her normal timid self. The Little Shit aka Cally the Tortoise Shell Cat is doing her business outside so that's not an issue - and if she doesn't well, I really do need to get them each their own litter boxes.

A rather unnerving experience

2012-01-07T20:17:00.004-05:00

So! I had something happen today that has me very torn. I have to preface by saying I love cats. I've almost always had a cat and I think they are the coolest animals. They don't really give a damn about anything as long as they get what they want, whether it be food, being pet, or the right to lie on the newspaper, in just the section they're servants are trying to read. And I admire that.

I have two of them now and I love them both dearly, but, and here's where I'm torn to pieces, I think I'm going to have to get rid of both of them. And by getting rid of, I mean that final journey.

The Little Shit, I call The Little Shit for a reason. She doesn't like to use a litter box. She likes to go anywhere but a litter box and I just can't seem to break her of the habit. And although I love her so much, I can't really justify keeping a cat that shits anywhere her little heart pleases.

And today they other cat, Zina the Princess Nota Warrior Cat attacked me - and I mean a vicious and terrifying attack. Terrifying to the point where I locked myself in a room to keep away from her attack. I have never seen a cat do this kind of thing before in all the cats I've had over the years. This wasn't just a cute, puffy fur ball kind of attack. Nope it was a wild animal in full postal mode.

Zina is timid! She is the DEFINITION of the word Scaredy Cat. But not today. I'm not sure, but probably I mentioned I had a rather major flood in my basement a while ago. The root cause was a broken washing machine and I finally got a new one and two guys were delivering it today and banging around in the basement. At the same time, I had a technician show up at the house as I've been having major IPad/laptop computer issues. So I had 3 complete strangers in the house for some time and I don't know if it was that or something else that caused her to turn into Possessed Cat, but I was truly frightened of her.

She seems to be calm now, six hours after I managed to escape with my life, but I'm still extremely nervous to have her wander around and I don't dare try and pick her up to put her in a room by herself.

And now I don't know what to do. I got her to keep Ron company when he was sick and she has been an animal lifeline to me in combating loneliness since then. She has turned on a dime like this a couple of times, but NEVER to the extent that I was terrified of her like I was today. I don't want to get rid of her, or the other one. It will break my heart to do so. But I'll never be able to trust her again after today. I'm kind of looking at her right now thinking "I don't know you anymore."

I know there are a lot of people who don't like cats whose advise would be to just get rid of them both, and I feel not unlike those really stupid women who stay with horrid men because they "loooovvvveee" them (all the while I'm thinking 'you idiot, just leave! Get rid of him')

But now I'm thinking the same thing.

UPDATE

Well, whatever emotional damage Zina did to Cally, the Tortise shell cat (I thought she was a Calico cat so it sounded good, but it turned out she's a Tortie and it just doesn't have the same ring to it) has been forgiven. They are once again washing each others ears. But while Zina was in her wild animal phase, she really attacked poor Cally too.

It will take longer for me to get over it though. I think she can feel my cool attitude. As my sisters joke at me, I did NOT give her a friendly hello and her overtures of restoring the cat/servant are being rebuffed at the moment by the servant member of the equation.

I debated taking this down as I posted in the aftermath of fear, both of the one cat and for the other, having to leave her alone with Zina. And while it will take time for me to take up the mantle of servant again, I will give her the benefit of the doubt and accept she had just one too many strange people invade her domain.

But I may ask the vet about some kitty cat Zoloft. She is a nervous nelly, high strung as it were.

A few long awaited wedding pics

2012-01-04T10:52:00.007-05:00

The "official" wedding pictures of The Accountant Son # 2 whom we shall call Ryan and his wife, my daughter in law whom we shall call Kara still haven't come back from the photographer yet but I spent Christmas with Kara's family who adopted me and they have some Most Excellent Photographers in their family. Kara's mom and I spent some excellent hours going through the photos she has and she emailed me some. I don't often post family photos - specially of me - but in this case I'm such a darn proud mama, I'm making an exception..

(That went well I thought, enough for the day)

They had taken dancing lessons for months and this is them after they rehearsed their dance the day before

(Sands through the hourglass)

Kara is really into symbolism so this is their sand pouring ceremony. Kara's mom and I both carried a vase of different coloured sand in with us. During the ceremony, Kara and Ryan each poured them into a bigger vase to symbolize that once mingled together, it was impossible to separate.

(Before he is ringed and after. Now he is mine)

When I saw these pictures, I thought they were so beautiful even though you don't see their faces.

(A man and the two women in his life)

I hate having my picture taken with a passion, but am including this one - just cause you can see me dress I guess. Also, Kara and her mom arranged to have a couple of hairdressers and a makeup artist come to her house before the wedding so the two mothers and wedding party and bride could all get ready together. It was great fun and the first time I ever wore false eyelashes. They took a while to get used to though :-)

(The Queen's Speech)

I had to give a speech. Whey they asked beforehand if I thought I'd be able to do it, I said it depended on if it was me or Krisite giving the speech. Ryan said if I got up there and started referring to myself in the third person like that, well, he would make me sit down. I practiced and practiced and practiced. In the end it was me and I was indeed a nervous wreck. My oldest son - the one I shall call Brent is standing behind me as well as Kara's uncle who was the Master of Ceremonies

(My brand new daughter in law can be "saucy". I like that)

Kara also had an adorable little red bolero that matched her flowers perfectly that wore it after the wedding.

(Taking a moment's rest before the festivities begin)

Here she and Ryan are sitting on this old fashioned love seat. They had everyone sit in it and have their picture taken with a Polaroid camera. They are going to include the pictures in the thank you cards

(Getting their groove on)

As I said, Ryan and Kara took months of dancing lessons preparing for their first dance. I was thinking "Way to Go Kara!!" for talking Ryan into them. The did the fox trot and did it beautifully. I and everyone else was most impressed. But Kara was worried about ruining her wedding gown so she had a short, back up gown. Here they are during their first dance, a Michael Buble remix of an old Nat King Cole song L.O.V.E.

(This has to be the mother of all cupcakes!)

Kara had a number of unusual ideas for their wedding and Ryan, being a laid back kind of dude who realized his bride (and my wonderful daughter in law) had some great ideas, let her have her way in many of them. So instead of the typical wedding cake, Kara being a love of cupcakes, had a cupcake wedding tower. This is the two of them after the wedding cutting into the top cupcake.

My Reading Year in Review

2012-01-03T22:34:00.005-05:00

With my handy dandy, love it to pieces, work of art spread sheet, there are all kinds of things I can track. I don’t know how many are into numbers and things but for any interested but I find it fascinating so here goes.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here’s a visual of the number of books I’ve read this year compared to the previous 7 years ago when I first started tracking the number read. As you can see, this is my best year ever with 135 read!

(if you click on it, it's magnified)

Another interesting graph is a comparison of the genre read this year and comparing it to previous years. Again as you can see, by far the highest number of books read were contemporaries, followed by Westerns, then RS, then Historicals and so on. Although it looks like Contemporaries has always been the most read, there has been a real turnaround in the number of Historical European set romance over the years.

Now here are a few more interesting (to me) tidbits about my 2011 reading year. I’ve seen other readers say they don’t read on anything except their ereaders. I didn’t think I would ever be that reader, but statistics don’t seem to bear that out! Of the total of 135 books that I read in 2011, 110 of them were ebooks. I knew I’d read a lot but I was actually shocked at how many of them.

I reread 16 books. I think that’s down a bit; I usually reread more than that. I guess that doesn’t hold much hope that I’ll get around to rereading many of the over 2,000 books I have (once again) boxed up.

I got a lot tougher grading this year. I only gave 5’s to 5 first read books this year

Mayberry, Sarah The Last Goodbye

James, Julie A Lot Like Love

Wolff, Veronica Devil's Own

Ashley, Jennifer The Many Sins Of Lord Cameron

O'Connell, Ellen Dancing On Coals

I’ve listed all the books I’ve read below, but in case one doesn’t feel like going through them month by month, the two authors I glommed the most were Felicity Heaton who wrote a number of quite well done Sci-Fi novellas and Ingrid Weaver. I discovered Ms. Weaver when I read Delaney’s Shadow and was delighted to see she had quite a backlist of Harlequins I scooped up and read. I still have a few more of hers to read.

There were 2 books I read twice this year and interestingly enough, both by the same author

Dancing on Coals and Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold – both written by Ellen O’Connell

And if you aren’t bored yet, here’s the promised list of books read in each month.

No. of books read in Jan/11 – 7

Howard, Linda Now You See Her

Fraser, Susanna The Sergeant's Lady

Blake, Toni Whispering Falls

Bliss, Karina Here Comes The Groom

Gray, Ava Skin Heat

Janzen, Tara Cutting Loose

O'Connell, Ellen Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold

No of books read in Feb/11 – 8

Howard, Linda Midnight Rainbow

Shalvis, Jill Messing With Mac

Shalvis, Jill Animal Magnetism

Ware, Joss Night Betrayed

Sylvan, Dianne Queen of Shadows

Talley, Liz A Little Texas

Kelley, Inez Sweet As Sin

Robb, JD Treachery In Death

No of books read in March/11 – 11

Janzen, Tara Loose And Easy

Milan, Courtney Proof By Seduction

Shalvis, Jill Roughing It With Ryan

Eden, Cynthia Hotter After Midnight

Mayberry, Sarah The Last Goodbye

James, Julie A Lot Like Love

Force, Maria Everyone Loves A Hero

Admirand, C.H. Tyler: The Secret Life of Cowboys

Renzi, Rae River Time

O'Keefe, Molly His Wife For One Night

Lee, Jade Wicked Seduction

No of books read in April/11 – 9

Ashley, Jennifer Primal Bonds

Sorenson, Jill Stranded With Her Ex

Clare, Tiffany Surrender of a Lady

O'Connell, Ellen Sing My Name

James, Julie Something About You

Weir, Theresa Amazon Lily

Boyce, Kelly The Outlaw Bride

Ranney, Karen A Promise of Love

Wolff, Veronica Devil's Own

No of books read in May/11 – 12

Wolff, Veronica Devil's Highlander

Lang, Emma Ruthless Heart

Walker, Shiloh No Longer Mine

Burton, Jaci Dare to Love

Jacobs, Delle Loki's Daughters

Clare, Pamela Breaking Point

Colgan, Jennifer Flight of the Valkyries

Tenorio, Dee Midnight Sonata

Walker, Shiloh Always Yours

Tenorio, Dee Betting Hearts

Jacobs, Delle Fire Dance

Heaton Felicity Heart of A Prince

No of books read in June/11 – 15

Warner, Kaki Chasing The Sun

Rogers, Moira Freeze Line

Roberts, Lynne Creative License

Heaton Felicity Runaway Hearts

Barnett, Jill Wonderful

Kernan, Jenna Moon Shadow

Barrett, Jo McCormick's Prayer

Tenorio, Dee Midnight Temptation

Mazzuca, Debbie Lord of the Isles

Tenorio, Dee Midnight Legacy

Heaton Felicity Heart Of An Assassin

Heaton Felicity Sons of Lyra: Stranded

Heaton Felicity Sons of Lyra: Slave Princess

Heaton Felicity Daughters of Lyra: Heart of an Emperor

Heaton Felicity Daughters of Lyra: Heart of a Commander

No of books read in July/11 – 15

Burrowes, Grace The Heir

Brown, Carolyn One Lucky Cowboy

Warner, Kaki Heartbreak Creek

Milan, Courtney Unlocked

St. John, Cheryl Child of Her Heart

Black, Liza Curtis Salvation For Three

St. John, Cheryl Her Wyoming Man

MacLean, Julianne Taken By the Cowboy

Lane, Soraya Soldier on Her Doorstep

Grant, Susan The Last Warrior

Burton, Jaci The Perfect Play

MacLean, Julianne Prairie Bride

Lovelace, Merline Somewhere in Time

Shay, Kathryn After the Fire

St. Claire, Roxanne Edge of Sight

No of books read in August/11 – 10

Bliss, Karina Stand-in Wife

Hale, Deborah Whitefeather's Woman

Gideon, Nancy Bound By Moonlight

Agnew, Denise A Before the Dawn

Holland, Debra Wild Montana Sky

Ashley, Jennifer The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie

Ashley, Jennifer The Many Sins of Lord Cameron

Lane, Soraya The Army Ranger's Return

Mayberry, Sarah One Good Reason

Evans, Misty Soul Survivor

No of books read in September/11 – 15

Mayberry, Sarah All Over You

Agnew, Denise A For a Roman's Heart

Mayberry, Sarah Take On Me

Graves, Jane Black Ties And Lullabies

Kery, Beth Liam's Perfect Woman

Willingham, Michelle A Wish to Dream On

Shalvis, Jill The Sweetest Thing

Weaver, Ingrid Delaney's Shadow

Spencer, Lavyrle Morning Glory

Hardy, Kristin Always a Bridesmaid

Weaver, Ingrid Eye of the Beholder

Weaver, Ingrid What The Baby Knew

Robb, JD New York to Dallas

Andersen, Susan Playing Dirty

Weaver, Ingrid The Angel and the Outlaw

No of books read in October/11 – 12

Howard, Linda Prey

Weaver, Ingrid Loving The Lone Wolf

Graves, Jane Heartstrings And Diamond Rings

Wind, Ruth In The Midnight Rain

Weaver, Ingrid Engaging Sam

Dahl, Victoria Good Girls Don't

Samuel, Barbara Heart of A Knight

Samuel, Barbara Dancing Moon

Goodman, Jo Kissing Comfort

Croft, Nina Tiger of Talmare

Styles, Michelle The Perfect Concubine

Jacobs, Delle Siren

No of books read in November/11 – 8

Canham, Marsha Swept Away

O'Connell, Ellen Dancing On Coals

Gideon, Nancy Midnight Enchantment

McCall, Mary Reed Secret Vows

O'Connell, Ellen Rachel's Eyes

Devon, Summer Futurelove

O'Connell, Ellen Dancing On Coals

O'Connell, Ellen Eyes Of Silver, Eyes Of Gold

No of books read in December/11 – 13

Harper, Dani Changeling Moon

Gideon, Nancy Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Plumley, Lisa The Bride Raffle

Michaels, Kasey The Taming of the Rake

Fredrick, MJ Star Power

Agnew, Denise A Love From the Ashes

James, Judith The King's Courtesan

James, Judith Broken Wing

Calhoun, Anne Liberating Lacey

Katz, Ali Damon's Price

Ashley, Jennifer Bodyguard

Canham, Marsha Under the Desert Moon

Rice, Lisa Marie Fatal Heat

I am amused by odd things sometimes

2011-12-22T14:40:00.008-05:00

Sometimes I think we live in a bizarro world; a bizarro city in particular. I was on my way to work this morning, listening to the radio when there were two stories that rather tickled my funny bone.

The first one: as with many a city throughout Canada and the US, we had a Occupy (fill in the blank) group occupying our main park. Now while I certainly appreciate their passion, I think their focus is pretty nebulous. They planned to stay there until…..until what they were never quite sure. I think, at least according to local news reports, our city was the first to turf them peaceably. They did in the middle of the night and nary a soul was injured. The excuse the city used for removing them was the group was breaking a civil by-law by camping in the city park where overnight camping is not allowed. Needless to say, the group did not take their evacuation well.

They were protesting don’t you know. Well, now they have a "plan". They put out a newspaper – I’d love to read it since as I said they or any of the other “Occupy” groups don’t seem to have any real achievable goals – so it would be interesting to read their ‘manifesto’.

But what really tickled me is they plan to take their paper and protest against the by-law enforcer for breaking a by-law himself. The crime; nailing a copy of the by-law the protesters broke into a tree in park they were illegally demonstrating in. Again, they are calling this guy to task for nailing a piece of paper into a tree.

The second one: Apparently there is a school in our area that expelled a young student, well, they didn’t expel him exactly, he could still attend class but he had to sit in a room all by himself and do his schoolwork but not interact with his fellow students. What did he do wrong you wonder? Well, it was his dress or more specifically a bracelet (or whatever guys call it) a “boobie” bracelet to be exact.

It seems this is a fundraiser for awareness of breast cancer aimed more for the younger set. But I gather the school thought it crossed the line of decency. I guess wearing a bracelet for cancer with the word Boobie on it is too stressful for high school students to bear.

I’m not sure what I found funnier/ironic, the fact that 14, 15, 16 etc year olds should be protected against ‘that’ word, or listening to the news jockeys’ telling the story.

Thought for the day

2011-12-20T22:30:00.004-05:00

I have a lot of apps on my IPad now. I love many of the apps. One of my favourites is IMDb where one of the many features is upcoming movies for quite a few months in advance. I love watching movie trailers and this one really caught my eye!

Does it look like a romance book based movie or what?? The thing is, it's based on a book by Nicholas Sparks and I don't consider him a romance writer. A writer of romantic stories yes, but I'm still, many years later, still trying to get over the ending of Message in a Bottle. And I haven't seen the movie (even though both stars are from the city I call home) or read the book, The Notebook since I'm not sure, but I think they die in it too.

So although this one, The Lucky One looks very good, I dunno if I'll go see it or not. I'll have to hear how it ends first. If it's a typical Nicholas Sparks ending - not a chance!

Recent Read

2011-12-16T22:11:00.005-05:00

The Taming of the Rake by Kasey Michaels

Why this one: It was an impulse purchase. I’ve read her in the past and quite enjoyed her books but I’m not reading as many historicals these days so she kind of slipped my radar

Steam Level: Nice and toasty warm

Blurb: Charming, wealthy and wickedly handsome, Oliver "Beau" Blackthorn has it all…except revenge on the enemy he can't forget. Now the opportunity for retribution has fallen into his hands. But his success hinges on Lady Chelsea Mills–Peckman—the one woman with the power to distract him from his quest.

Desperate to escape her family's control, Lady Chelsea seizes the chance to run off with the notorious eldest Blackthorn brother, knowing she's only a pawn in his game. But as Beau draws her deep into a world of intrigue, danger and explosive passion, does she dare hope he'll choose love over vengeance?

My Thoughts: While I was reading this book I wondered why I hadn’t been reading as many historicals in recent times as I really enjoyed this book – everything about it. From the stubborn but not annoying (to me) heroine Chelsea Mills-Beckham, to the scrumptious hero Oliver (Beau) Blackthorn to the well drawn secondary characters, this book was such a pleasure to read.

Beau and Chelsea first meet years earlier when he is coming to call on her older and very spoiled sister. But alas, his suite is not at all welcome as he has the unfortunate stigma of being a bastard born. Not only is he thrown out of the home, he is whipped like a dog by the older brother.

Fast forward to years later and Chelsea is all grown up and about to be married against her will and wishes to a wet-mouthed dour reverend who has a secret hate on for women. Her brother, still a nasty piece, has changed his ways after a real scare with chicken pox and embraced the horrid man of the cloth. In order to escape this farce of a wedding,

Chelsea high tails it to the home of Beau and suggests they elope to Gretna Green, she to avoid marriage and to Beau’s benefit a way to get back for the humiliation done to him years ago. Beau agrees to the scheme to ‘get even’. Beau is currently being visited by his devil-may-care brother Puck and the three of them set off on a road trip to Gretna Green.

I found this book charming. I loved the character of Chelsea. I can see why she might get on some readers nerves, she’s quite bossy, but Beau or Oliver as she kept insisting on calling him, thought she was a ‘character’ and when the readers sees her through his eyes, well, I thought she was one too.

And Beau makes for a most fine hero. Although he’s been limited in society by his bastard status, he’s still managed to make a good life for himself. He made good friends when he joined the army after being treated so cruelly years earlier. He’s making a successful living looking after his fathers estates even though he can’t inherit them. While not wild about his situation and he does hold a certain anger at his parents because of their selfishness, especially his mother, he doesn’t hold any bitterness.

I also love the character of Puck, the youngest brother. He is with Beau and Chelsea much of the time and seems to be a real hoot. His book is out now too and although it didn’t get that high a grade at AAR, I still think I’ll give it a go if only to read more on the third rather mysterious black sheep brother Jack.

With books like this one out there, I think I’m going to have to rethink my reading habits and take up reading more historicals.

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

It's been a while - but it's that time again

2011-12-15T22:34:00.005-05:00

It's time to answer my email again so I bring you

Spam Time!

Well, it’s that semi-annual spam time again, the time when I take one post to answer much of my spam e-mail. So here come the email and my answers.

Penis Growth Promo says “Vids from yacht party

To which I say: Since you didn’t bother to invite me to your damn yacht party, I really don’t want to see the videos of the great time I missed ‘cause I wasn’t invited

Penis Growth Free Trial says “So hard you can break an egg”

To which I say: Huh???? Why would anyone with one want to break an egg on their penis? That makes no sense. Those shells are sharp and the rim of a bowl would work ever so much better I would think.

Penis Growth Free Trial says “She will surely pounce on you.”

To which I say: I don’t really like it when my cats pounce on me. I like it much better when my ‘girls’ just jump and purr rather than pounce and bite and scratch. And right now The Little Shit is pouncing all over the living room. I can hear her. And I can hear things she's pouncing on falling.

Penis Growth Free Trial says “Increase your level of confident”

To which I say: Confident what??

Penis Growth Free Trial says “Funny Naked Girls”

To which I say: that’s not really a clear statement. Do you mean they are funny people in general who just seem to be of the female naked gender, or do they look funny naked. I can think of a better word or two to replace “Funny”

Enlargement supplement Sample says “Attain you desired proportion and size.”

To which I say: First off, why is Sample capitalized and supplement not? That seems odd. And your first word Enlargement doesn’t go along with my particular desired proportion and size. I prefer to be minimized not enlarged.

Sample Men’s Supplement says “Crazy girls gone wilder.”

To which I say: I wonder if they know the funny naked girls?

Penis Growth Free Trials says “Portugal regrets not bring herbal supplements

To which I say: No problem. Spain brought more that we needed.

Trevor Lewis says “Your job application is pending

To which I say: Liar, liar pants on fire!! I never sent you a job application. I’m quite content where I am.

I dunno – it seems like I got a lot of enlargement, growth, sample type spam this time. What’s up with that I wonder?

Thought for the Day

2011-12-14T22:23:00.009-05:00

How do I put this nicely? Sometimes I wonder how some readers can add 2 + 2 and not come up with 4? I'm reading a book and really enjoying it - probably more on that later. But as I often do, when reading a book by an author where I don't have many of her backlist, I'll do a bit of investigating to see what else she has. I was on Amazon last night (while at my sisters since I had no hydro but that too is another story) checking out this particular author's books when I came across this interesting dichotomy.

Check out the book on the left. What kind of book do you think this might be?

Check out the title of the book. What kind of book do you think this might be?

Check out the product description.

Her sexy letters are his only lifeline in his dangerous world…

Successful computer software engineer Eve Carmichael melts under yet another hotter than hot letter written by Reserve army soldier Sean O’Callahan. Yet Eve can’t take the thought of his life in danger overseas, and she resolves to get a sex life—and a life period. That means forgetting Sean before anything bad can happen to him. To celebrate her thirty-fifth birthday, Eve plans a trip to Male Call, a male review club. Still, she worries about Sean. She hasn’t received a letter from him in too many weeks. And oh, how she longs for those flirtatious, hot letters.

Sean finds Eve’s letters to be the only lifeline in his increasingly chaotic world. As their feelings grow hot and heavy, he can’t wait to return home and kindle that pure firepower.

When Eve receives a letter from Sean saying he’s been wounded, her fears are realized. But fate and a little mischievous planning by her friends will serve up the greatest surprise of all.

Warning: Contains explicit sex, some graphic language, and mild violence.

What kind of book do you think this might be?

I'm thinking it will be a book with - and I quote "explicit sex, some graphic language, and mild violence." Now check out what some 'reviewers' wrote about the book:

"One star because you can't give none and anyway it was free. Was expecting short romance, got bad porn. Didn't bother to finish it, but I'm sure I'm not missing anything."

(first example of someone who tried to do a simple 2 + 2 and came up with 17 or something.) Here's another case of a 2 + 2 = 7

"I have gotten some good books for free for my Kindle so I decided it would be good to try Male Call. I am sad to say I am very disappointed. It is extremely smutty and the use of fowl language is horrible. I believe the author didn't spend enough time on creating a history for the characters and you are just thrown into what feels like the middle of a book. This book is so short, I read it on my lunch hour start to finish (after skipping about what felt like 20 pages of smut) Not good... But I guess if you like smut, this would be a good read"

And one more where I think 2 + 2 = 33 or something.

"pure and complete trash. I dont mean that in a good way. Even for free this book is a bad value."

What were these readers expecting???? It couldn't be more clear. This is a book that has sex scenes and some swearing . It's going to have a high level of steam. The cover tells you that. The title tells you that. The product description tells you that. So how clueless can these "reviewers" be? 2 + 2 = 4. It's that simple. I get that some readers can be offended when there is some or a lot of sex in a book. That is their preference and their right to read that kind. Heck, when I first started reading romance again, I only read kisses only books and didn't want to read anything stronger. And with that in mind, at the time I wouldn't have bought the book with all the warnings and then been shocked when there was heat.

Get a clue you "reviewers" who are shocked when a book has a naked chest, a provocative description and a racy title. I find you annoying. And yes, in case your wondering, the book I'm reading is by Denise Agnew. I'm loving it and I've loved the previous two books I've read of hers. And yes, I bought Male Call as well as another book by her. And yes, I am expecting it to be steamy.

And yep, I've had a few days which have helped give me a case of the crankies

Recent Read

2011-12-11T11:39:00.003-05:00

The Bride Raffle by Lisa Plumley

Why this one: I’m not really sure. I had a code and it was an impulse buy. I have read books by her previously and enjoyed them, was ready for a Western so I just went for it.

Steam Level: There really wasn’t really any steam created in this book. It was more warmish

Blurb: Famous home-keeping expert Daisy Walsh is overwhelmed by the warm welcome she receives in Morrow Creek, and then she realizes she's the star prize in the town raffle! She can bet the lucky winner's not expecting a pregnant woman who needs a place to stay.

Single father Owen Cooper suspects he's been set up because his daughter is thrilled to have a woman around the house. He could get used to the smell of home baking tempting his taste buds, but the sight of Daisy's stockings is one temptation too far!

My Thoughts: As I said, I’ve read books by Ms. Plumley before and enjoyed them. This is an author you don’t really hear that much about. Again this is going to be a damned with faint praise kind of review. I really want to love every book I start reading but alas I didn’t with this one. I liked it, but it’s one I know I’ll never read again.

There were parts I liked and parts that I had issues with. The parts I liked; I really liked Owen. He’s a gruff, grumpy bear kind of guy and I liked that about him. He’s a widower whose been told again and again and again by his late wife he must improve his ways until he’s convinced he’s not good enough and must not let any fun into his life. He’s a wonderful, all thumbs kind of father who adores his little girl and will do anything to try and make her happy.

Daisy is equally interesting as a heroine. She’s been emotionally and verbally stomped on by her tour manager until she believes that she pretty incapable of doing anything on her own. But Owen is the opposite, admiring everything about her and making her believe in herself again.

Élodie, Owen’s daughter is a charmer. She wants her father to be happy, she wants to see him smile and she wants a mother. Daisy is the answer to all of these.

And you are asking yourselves what’s wrong? Why isn’t a love it book? Well, the things that didn’t work are what took it down a number of levels. One of the silly reasons is I could never figure out how to pronounce Élodie’s name in my head. Really dumb reason, I know. But I found it annoying and distracting

Another issue I had is the fact that Daisy is pregnant and all the issues around that. It wasn’t that she was pregnant in itself that bothered me. It was that she had no feeling for the father and I don’t know why she would have slept with him in the first place. He didn’t force her, but she had no attraction to him. It was like the only reason she was pregnant in the first place was to make it part of the storyline and that was a fail for me. I also had an issue with the fact that she couldn’t clue in that she was pregnant. It was up to the hero to tell her. Another issue is Owen never had even a nanosecond qualm about the fact that this woman he was falling for big time was preggers by another dude. Owen was a good guy and I could see him accepting the fact that she was, but only after at least a slight struggle certainly.

Another thing I just didn’t get was after a certain time, they lived like man and wife and no one seemed to object. This is a historical and I may be wrong, but I would think the townspeople would at least insist they get married or something. And they were living like this in front of Élodie and neither had the slightest thought that ‘oh, maybe this is wrong for the child to see’. Again, if this were a contemporary it would be a different thing, but it isn’t and it bothered me.

Then at the end they had this convoluted conflict that I didn’t get. I don’t even know if one could call it a misunderstanding exactly but I was scratching my head wondering what their problem was.

The writing was good, it made me smile at times, I liked both the hero and heroine, but ultimately the issues I had kept me from enjoying the book the way I hoped I would. But I do like her writing enough and have in the past, to read other books by her and the issues that tripped me up might not bother others.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

Thought for the day

2011-12-05T14:35:00.008-05:00

I'm not sure if I've ever come right out and said this before, but I have made a conscious choice NOT to accept books from publishers or authors to review on Ramblings. I kind of made it a while ago, but haven't really come out and said so. I've received a number of requests from both asking me to read and review a book.

I love the thought of free books as much as the next red blooded romance book addict and I was more open to it a few years ago. I didn't take many but I did on occasion. But I've become more firm in my decision as time has gone by.

Are you NUTS some of you ask? Why NOT take books that are offered? There are a few reasons. By the lack of reviews here lately, I seem to be doing a rather poor job of writing them! The number of books read this year has already passed all the years since I've been tracking the number, but the books I've written about has decreased. Not quite sure what that is. My plans don't quite seem to match up with my actions I guess. But the reason I've decided NOT to take any books for review other than those I buy myself is twofold.

First, I'm very much a 'mood' reader. I read a book from a particular genre when I'm in the mood for that genre. And if an author sends me a book in a genre that I'm not in the mood for, well, it can sit there and sit there until who knows when I might feel like reading it. And this doesn't strike me as particularly fair to the author. They have taken the time and energy and money to send me the book and the least I can do is read it. But if I do try and read a book that I'm not in the mood to read, it probably won't get a decent review. The author would be better off sending it to someone else.

Another reason is, knowing me, I would feel a sense of obligation to give it a good review because it was a freebie. And then I'd be caught up in a catch 22 of my own making if I didn't like the book. I have to stress that I'm only applying this to me because I know me. If other readers/bloggers accept books from authors and/or publishers, I don't have a problem with that at all. Good thing really as I think most do *g*.

There was a small brouhaha a couple of weeks ago over a letter one of the big name publishers sent stating they expected that the recipients of the ARC's they sent would review the books and if it turned out that they weren't then said publisher would stop sending them. This was a total non-issue for me. And I must say it was a good feeling that I didn't have to get on that particular horse.

Another reason for rejecting books is I read for enjoyment. I read to get away. I read to destress. I read to visit other places and times I know I'll never get too. And I don't want any of those reasons diluted by reading for obligation. That would take all the wonder out of it for me.

I have taken a few books on occasion in the past; thank goodness I really don't get asked all that much. In a few cases, one in particular, Broken Wing by Judith James, I was so glad that I did as I discovered such a treasure of a book that I might not have found otherwise. But in all honesty, there are more I think that either I didn't start or that I started and didn't like and was stymied as to what to do; so I did nothing. And that didn't strike me as right. It's been quite some time now since I have accepted any. I do have a number in my mail box though. So I think I'm going to just link this post as I refuse and say 'thank you very much for the offer, but I'm just not comfortable accepting it.'

My newest obsession

2011-12-03T11:09:00.004-05:00

I often wish I could do things like normal people, but alas, I sometimes can't. It's a manifestation of the obsessive type personality I have self diagnosed. I seem to have a new obsession. This is probably the number one reason why:

or another reason

to watch Stargate Atlantis

The show comes on three times a day: 8:00am, 2:00pm and 7:00pm and I embarassingly confess that if I have the day and it's good episode, I've been known to watch all three - on the same day. *sigh*

This vid is even better, but alas, embedding has been disabled by request so this is the not so good way.

http://youtu.be/NkYjMh3nqIk

His character on the show is so very intriguing and, well, romance hero typish.

From Stargate Wiki:

Ronon was a native to his homeworld of Sateda, an industrialized planet. Little is known about his childhood. He had a grandfather, who was suffering from the Second Childhood when Ronon was six years old. He was taken to the shrine on Talus, where his grandfather was temporarily cured. There, his grandfather taught him hand-to-hand combat tactics until he died. He also had the Kirsan fever when he was ten years old and claims he played with a triple barreled shotgun when he was little as a childhood toy. He also wrote poetry and did art when he was younger

When he grew older he became a member of the Satedan military where he held the rank of Specialist. It is likely that this is their version of the Specialist in the United States military, yet it is unclear exactly what this position does. He was also very close to a woman named Melena, although it is unclear what their relationship actually was.

Throughout his time as a member of Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team, Ronon's incredible physical abilities and fighting instincts have set him apart. He consistently subdues his enemy with relative ease in hand-to-hand combat or with his trademark gun, a Particle magnum. Ronon is fond of gun play, spinning the pistol around rapidly. In addition, he carries a sword. He also has a number of knives for use in emergencies, most of them hidden about his person. The exact number of knives and from where he gets them (or whether he fashions them himself) has never been revealed, and Ronon's seemingly unlimited supply has been a source of the occasional comic relief.

About seven years before his first contact with the Atlantis expedition, the Wraith attacked Sateda because the people showed resistance. He tried to get Melena through the Stargate before the Wraith attacked. Her refusal to leave the Satedans that would be unable to evacuate forced him to remain behind and fight the Wraith. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain, as the Wraith defeated Satedan forces and Melena was killed before Ronon's eyes in an explosion.

After that point, he was captured by the Wraith while they wiped out the planet. Ronon was placed in a cocoon and a Wraith started to feed on him but stopped for some reason. Instead they made him into a Runner and implanted a tracking device in his upper back and set him loose to be constantly hunted. During the first few years of this, however, he learned several new tricks and decided to hunt them back. He survived for seven years, until he eventually met up with the Atlantis expedition.

His journey brought him to the planet P3M-736 where he was perused by a single Wraith. While trying to evade the Wraith, he came face to face with Lt. Aiden Ford. While they aimed their weapons at each other the Wraith shot him in the back with a Wraith stunner and Ford killed it with his P-90. Ronon managed to escape into the forest. During the night, he stunned Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan, who were tracking the missing the missing Ford. He brought them to a cave and Sheppard was able to convince him they were not his enemy. He made a deal with them; if Dr. Carson Beckett could remove the tracking device in his back, he'd help them capture Ford. Beckett managed to extract the device despite the fact that he refused anaesthesia. After the surgery, he passed out but not for long. He escaped the cave and attacked Ford, who was about to kill Dr. Rodney McKay. The two of them both pulled knifes and attacked each other. Sheppard interrupted them and Ford ran off. Sheppard followed him and he cut McKay out of the trap. He returned with them to Atlantis. When they sent a MALP to the gate address he gave them, he discovered that his civilization had been completely destroyed. (ATL: "Runner")

Lt. Colonel John Sheppard offered Ronon a place on his team after he proved his worth against the Marines and Teyla Emmagan in hand-to-hand combat and passed the shooting range tests without any signs of hesitation or inexperience with various firearms presented to him. Dr. Elizabeth Weir was initially hesitant but ultimately agreed.

Thoughts for the Day

2011-11-29T21:11:00.006-05:00

The first couple are more annoyances than rants, but annoyances they are!! I don't know if they have done this in the US or not, but here in Canada, at least in London Ontario, they have converted just about every McDonalds in the city into a - pardon moi - café don't you know, with WiFi and the lot. It was handy before I FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE MY WIFI WORK (yep, I yelled that in excitement I figured it out - ME). I'm not into these smancy fancy coffees. Just give a regular coffee. And I like McDonalds coffee much better than Tim Hortons. There is a McDonalds on the way into work so every day I work, I stop and get a large coffee. But with these new cafés,
every single time, that mechanical voice asks me if I would like to try a McDonalds McCafe. My answer - NO! Now I was raised to be polite; to say please and thank you but every day it annoys me that I find myself being polite and saying no, thank you - to a canned voice. I've tried to stop. I have tried just saying no, but I'm not wired that way. Even as I know I'm adding 'thank you' to an inanimate voice not coming out of a real person, I can't stop. It just comes out of my mouth. I wish the lady voice would stop asking me. If I wanted a McCafe Mocha or Latte or Cappuccino or any of the other ones the canned mechanical voice asks me, I would order it. STOP ASKING ME LADY VOICE.

~~~~~~~~

The second annoyance, not rant level, but annoyance, is how the radio announcers have to DRAMATIZE everything! We had rain today. A lot of rain. I'm sure many, many others were also experiencing rain today. One could almost say it was raining cats and dogs.

But listening to the radio announcers one would think it was almost like a blizzard out there with horrendous driving conditions. IT WAS ONLY RAIN RADIO ANNOUNCERS! Yes, I drover slower on my way to work. Instead of driving my normal 5 kilometers over the speed limit, I drove 5 kilometers under. And not once did I worry about hydroplaning all over the road. But the radio dudes sure did warn about it. It was the lead off story on the news. Errrgggg.

~~~~~~~~

One show I've watched quite a bit of surprisingly is Sister Wives. And even more surprising is I like it. I'm very much against polygamy. I just don't think it's biblical in the New Testament sense. I really believe in "forsaking all others." But I'm hardly one to judge others beliefs. And despite what my own beliefs are, I really like these women. I would love to have the opportunity to sit around with them and have coffee. I can identify with all of them in one way or another. And the really do work hard to make this unusual life style work. They are deeply committed and they certainly do practice compromise. I was rather surprised to find myself really welling up while watching this seasons finale. One of the ongoing topics has been Meri, the first wife's inability to get pregnant. The other wives have a number of children but Meri only has one and you can really sense her pain in the situation, especially this past season when Robin, the youngest and newest wife got pregnant. So I found it very emotional at the end of the season finale, right after Robin delivered her son, that she offered to be a surrogate for Meri so that Meri could have another baby. Robin has always struck me as being such a warm and caring person and that she would offer to do this because she really loves her sister wife and senses Meri's pain, well, it made me tear up.

~~~~~~~~

And finally, I don't know what got me started this morning. And it says that there is a mean streak in my, but this morning I was telling my coworker a story about when I was a kid. For some reason, when I was playing with a bunch of my friends I got it into my head to grab a tube of toothpaste and bring it out and start eating it. And low and behold, all the other kids did the same thing. There we all sat, eating out of tubes of toothpaste. One can only wonder what our mothers thought. This one younger brother didn't have a tube since his sister had already nabbed the tube from their house. So I very generously went in and grabbed a tube. Now I could read at the time though he was a couple of years younger and couldn't. So he didn't realize that wen he squeezed that tube, got the past on his finger and went to eat it that rather than toothpaste, he was eating Brylcreem.

I don't know why, but that story struck me as particularly funny this morning even as I admitted to Becky how mean I was. I was laughing so hard my stomach hurt and tears were running down my face. The makeup I had so carefully put on at 7:30 this morning was pretty much all gone by 9:00. And to you David Hogg, wherever you are, I am so sorry I pulled such a rotten trick on you all those years ago. And to think, I laughed about it!

I haven't got a whole lot

2011-11-28T22:14:00.009-05:00

Last week was a Very Busy Week. I had my Hospice orientation all day Monday and Wednesday and the final day today. The rest of the days I worked. I don't know how soon they will find someone for me, but I hope it doesn't take too long. It was a very good orientation and I got a lot out of it, but it did bring up memories.

I heard back from the police on the background check I had to have done. I passed and I gather I'm considered a good law abiding citizen.

One thing I don't think I've mentioned is I've been going to a chiropractor three times a week for 3 months now. I have Vertebral Subluxation. Yes, long word isn't it? What it means for those not in the know; most people's spines are an S curve. It looks weird but that's the way it's supposed to be. But in my case, my spine is straight, no curve. I've know for quite some time now that things weren't quite right, but the thoughts of going to a chiropractor scared me. But my Now Married Son and my Now Daughter in law both go to one and have said it's really made a difference. It first started years and years ago when my oldest son, let's call him Brent, the one who was responsible for me breaking my leg over a year ago now, jumped on me in a swimming pool, years and years and years ago now. The chiropractor said the damage looks like it's been about 25 years in the making and that was right around the time the son I'm calling Brent jumped on me.

By having a straight spine instead of the curved one, all kinds of nerves are being compressed and that results in all kinds of side effects. So I've been going 3 times a week to be 'adjusted'. This means lying on my stomach and he presses down on different places on my spine that make me go "ooof" and want to burp and fart - though I do resist doing those things. Then I turn onto my back and he twists my head in both directions which freaks me out every single time he does it.

I had my second x-ray last week and mine spine has moved 6 degrees. He seemed quite happy with that progress though the spine is supposed to be 45 degrees. I only have 39 more degrees to go *sigh*. But I'm also down to only two visits a week, which is a little better since his office is close to neither where I work or where I live.

I'm working on some reviews, but until I have them, I shall leave you with a movie preview I'm looking forward to off the first book of a series many of us are reading/have read. I wasn't sure when I heard this was being made into a movie, but having watched the trailer, I think I'll like it

So - Joe or Ranger?????

Recent Reads

2011-11-25T13:46:00.006-05:00

Dancing on Coals by Ellen O’Connell

Why this one: Adoration for her previous books

Steam Level: Just about perfect

Blurb: After escaping robbers intent on murder, Katherine Grant says, "I jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Before long I'll be dancing on the coals." The highwaymen were the frying pan; the handsome young Apache who saved her from them was the fire; and the coals? Gaetan.

Rage against the enemies of his people has consumed Gaetan from boyhood. The only use he ever found for any white was to test the sharpness of his knife. Forced by his brother to endure Katherine's company, Gaetan tries to deny what he sees - the white woman has a man's temper and a lion's courage. She has an Apache heart.

In spite of hate, distrust and fear, surviving in the rugged country of southern Arizona and northern Mexico forges a strange bond between Katherine and Gaetan. When the bond turns to love, can they admit it? Can they bear the consequences?

My Thoughts: One of my very best discoveries last year (or was it the year before? Hmmm – aging is a bitch) was Ellen O’Connell. I loved Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold and Sing My Name. I’ve read both 3 times now. She is a self-published author so she doesn’t come up when I check Fiction DB for upcoming releases, but thank goodness someone at AAR posted that she has a new book out now. The same day I read that, I visited my local coffee shop, since my Wi-Fi doesn’t work with my IPad at home and any e-book purchases have to be done somewhere else, which at the rate I’m buying them is for the best. I bought the book that day and started it last night.

I probably said it about EOS, EOG and Sing My Name, but wow this author awes me. She is self-published and more technical type readers may find errors, or others who read it may not be entirely happy that the story takes a while to get going, but once it does, my goodness does it pack an emotional wallop for an emotional type reader. And since I am, it did.

A bit of a note to begin with. This is an ‘Indian Romance.” Now this particular genre has gotten a bad rap in many ways because of some of the truly horrendous books written. Cassie Edwards comes immediately to mind. There are other authors who do a bad job in this job, very bad. There are also authors who write wonderful of cross cultural love stories. Of those authors, I think Kathleen Eagle and Roseanne Bittner are the best. Pamela Clare also does wonderful portrayals in her historical romances I think.

So I wasn’t quite sure where this book would fit it. I didn’t have many worries though as she had done such excellent writing previously. And I was RIGHT! This book is such another true winner. It’s everything I love in a romance.

I adored Katherine. She behaved just as a heroine should when faced with the kind of situation she was faced with. First her stage coach was robbed, then she taken hostage by an Apache raiding party, one of whom was particularly hostile to her. She’s justifiably scared but never acts stupid about it. She gives in when she needs to and stands up for herself when she can. She really is a wonderfully written character.

Gaetan, the hero is an equally richly written character. He hates whites with good reason. He and his younger brother were taken away from their people and raised in a missionary where they were looked down on and scorned. Although he does know both English and Spanish somewhat, he refuses to speak the language of the people he hates and for much of the first part of the book, until Katherine learns to speak Apache, there isn’t much verbal communication between them. But there is PLENTY of communication going on non-verbally wise. Despite the fact that Gaetan hates the white man, Katherine is different. He admires and respects her courage. And he is forced to follow up on a promise in regards to taking care of her.

This book is outstanding, outstanding, outstanding. The author doesn’t make a caricature of Gaetan, which often happens with less talented authors. He is a stoic kind of guy and stays in that character throughout the entire book. But although he keeps many of his feelings to himself, he expresses how he feels towards Katherine through his actions, even if they are misinterpreted at times.

At times this isn’t an easy book to read. It’s very realistic and true to the times. Something happens to one character in particular that almost had me in tears. But I highly recommend this book to all who are even the slightest bit curious about this often poorly written genre. At only $2.99 at Amazon or same price at Smash words, it’s a great opportunity.

Although most of me wants to give this a 5 out of 5 and in some ways I am, it gets a 4.99 only because the interaction between Katherine and Gaetan takes so long to get going, though I could understand why. It’s my own personal impatience waiting for their poignant love story to begin that got in the way. In fact, after having written up this review, I started reading it again even though it wasn't that long ago that I read it.

Grade: 4.99 out of 5

Thought for the day

2011-11-23T20:14:00.009-05:00

Extreme Couponers are odd. I've been watching the show and yes, they are odd indeed. In the one episode I just watched, the extreme couponer would spend time in giant recycle bins looking through old newspapers and stuff for coupons. She was dumpster diving right inside the dumpsters. In the one shopping trip highlighted, she had 17 separate transactions. SEVENTEEN!! She took the entire day to do it and 2 cashiers. It took over 2 hours just to ring in her groceries alone.

I worked as a cashier in a grocery store for almost nine years and if I had had to ring through an extreme couponer, I would have flipped out. We had to add those up at the end of each shift!!

It would have been one thing if she really needed all the stuff she bought, but she had enough toothbrushes to last her for the rest of her life!! She had enough laundry detergent to last over 5 years - if she did a load of laundry Every Single Day. The other extreme couponer in the same episode had enough medicine to last years. But that stuff has a shelf life. I'm sure most of it would long be expired by the time she ever got around to using it!

Now, having said that, I won't bother mentioning the 35 BOXES of books I have sitting in my living room piled up higher than I am. I'm only 5'2". Nope - don't see the point of mentioning that.

Don't be givin me 'tude Be-yotch

2011-11-22T22:21:00.007-05:00

sub title

A Rant

(warning - bad language ahead. A LOT of bad language. My mamma would wash out my mouth)

I've said before that I love my job. And I do, I truly do. But I think everyone including those who have the bestest job in the whole world will have a bad day or two. That was the case with me today. First off, I couldn't get on my computer and when the IT dude came over to my desk, he told me that it was my fault, that I had to have used the wrong password. I Very Carefully typed it in after the first time it was rejected. Very Carefully. And I knew I hadn't used the wrong password. Turned out it was a glitch in the system. But that was my first "fuck the hell off" thought of the day towards someone else. Arrogant IT people. Not all mind you, most are very helpful but obviously not all.

Then I was on the phone and the person on the other end was telling me in the snottiest of tones, that their records didn't match our records and what was I going to do about it? Since we had just got this client in our department and the person wasn't on my particular caseload and I was just reading the notes for the very first time as I was talking to her and she was giving me definite 'tude, that was my second "fuck the hell off" thought of the day.

Later I answered another call from the relative of a client with a concern, a legitimate concern. I told her that I would have the Case Manager give her a call as soon as she got in. Then before the Case Manager returned, I got another call on this same client and the person on the other end gave me 'tude. That was my third "fuck the hell off" thought of the day.

Because it was so Very Busy today and I wasn't comfortable leaving until I had reached that certain point where I felt I had done all I could for the day, I ended up staying an extra hour. This will be an hour without pay since we have to have all overtime PREapproved and I didn't realize it would take so long until nearly the end of the day and our manager had left for the day.

Sometime during the day, the crankies were really catching up with me and I thought I could either get cranky or in reverse physicolical (yes I know that is spelled so wrong but not even spell check can figure out the word I mean), do something to make me feel better. So I called the blood donor clinic to make an appointment to donate blood. And guess what? There was no time available!! Here I was trying to give blood to some anonymous person who needed it and I couldn't get in to donate!! The soonest time I could is on Thursday at 5:30.

So you would think a bad day was finally over at 5:30 (not 4:30 mind you) but you would be wrong. When I got to the home and up to the back door, there was this large piece of paper taped to it and this is what it said

PLEASE TAKE CARE

OF YOUR CAT

(LET IT IN) WHEN

COLD OUT OR

PLEASE GET RID OF IT

THANK YOU

NEIGHBOUR! 48

Know what I say to Neighbor 48?

JUST FUCK THE HELL OFF,

A) I called and called The Little Shit ( and I call her that in the most loving of ways) before I left for work this morning but she didn't come when I called. The reason I let her out first thing was so she could do what her name implies - shit.

B) It wasn't that cold out today and Hello - she has a fucking fur coat.

C) Who the FUCK do you think you are telling me to get rid of my cat??? You have TWO Jack Russell terriers that do nothing but fucking bark all day long so just bloody well FUCK OFF.

D) Passive Aggresive much telling me THANK YOU.

There! I feel so much better know that that's out of my system! Sometimes nothing works but using that ol' F bomb.

Oh, Those Crazy Hybrids!

2011-11-22T18:50:00.007-05:00

One of those quirks I have that I'm sure are shared by many who catalogue their books is how does one categorize some books? These days so many can be put in a number of different genres.

Such is the case with the book I'm reading now. I'm stumped by where to put it!

Time-travel agent Collins is preparing for a routine assignment to the past when rebels kill his commander and force him back in time unprepared. With no sex-suppression drugs and incomplete training he's stranded in a strange old world.Candy was almost resigned to her humdrum life until a man in a strange black get-up dropped onto her park bench. If he wasn't gorgeous and wounded she might listen to her common sense and run. But curiosity and kindness have always been her weaknesses and the fact that this guy rouses her long-dormant libido doesn't hurt either.Overwhelmed by the novel sensation of lust Collins can't resist Candy's sensual sweetness. But every fevered joining of their bodies breaks the stringent laws to which he's sworn allegiance. Being trapped in the past is bad enough. Committing carnal crimes with an irresistible 21st century indigenous could destroy his future and hers.

I could put it under Time Travel as the hero travels through time.

I could put it under SciFi/Futuristic as the hero comes from the future.

I could put it under Erotic since Ellora's Cave is the publisher.

I don't know how to classify it! I can add tags for all three in Good Reads and the other online book catalogue places but I only have one choice in my spread sheet.

Any ideas?

And in case you're wondering, other than the Really Bad Cover (really, really bad) so far so very good!

Outrageous

2011-11-19T14:16:00.002-05:00

I was just checking out Amazon for some good book deals and came across this. Who in their right mind would buy it. Check out the Kindle price!

OK - unless you click on it, you can't really see the price. But they are asking $19.56 for the ebook and $10.20 for the print book.

Wonderings

2011-11-15T22:20:00.006-05:00

I happened to check in with Ramblings and discovered much to my horror that I haven't blogged yet this month!! That's terrible of me. I have any number of topics these days that come to mind, from the really hot guy who is doing my basement to fact that *sigh* I have to get rid of The Little Shit as she, well, shits in the basement and now that I have a really hot guy coming in to do the basement, I can't really have her doing what her name implies she's doing.

Or I could mention that I am very seriously considering selling my house and living the apartment condo lifestyle which means no raking of leaves from numerous trees in the fall, no shoveling snow in the winter and no mowing the lawn in the summer. But then I kind of freaked at the thought of moving out of the house so soon and realized I'm not emotionally ready to let go of it. And of course I'm getting this brand new basement....

Then there was the trip I made yesterday to our local police hangout - the police station. No, I'm not in trouble. But apparently I have to have a background check done on me in order to do volunteer work. I also stopped and had an interview with our local hospice centre. She seemed to think I'd be a real asset. I did get a secret chuckle though. It cost me $10 to have the police check me out. That's a discount since it's for volunteer work. It also cost me me money for administration type costs to start volunteering. By the time I got home yesterday I had shelled out $50. For some reason that greatly amuses me.

But the real thing I was pondering today was concerning the book I just started reading. Well not the book in particular as I've just started reading it, but more the experiences about reading the book. I can tell that it's going to be a painful book to read and I'm wondering if anyone else has the same kind of experiences while reading. I think I do because I have a tendency to jump into the deep end in some areas and reading is one of them. At times I become ONE with the book.

In this particular story, it's a medieval and the heroine has been terribly abused, first by her father, then her late husband and finally by her husband's brother. Her children were taken far away to be fostered and now her brother-in-law is threatening to do the great harm unless she goes along with his very nasty scheme to try and help murder her most recent husband, a bitter rival of the b-i-l, that she is forced to marry. And she is expecting the worst. I'm not very far into the book and already I HURT for the brutal life she has lived so far and I want nothing but good things to happen to her. Of course this is a romance so naturally they will, but at the moment I'm so immersed and feeling so hurt for her that I'm just going to take small bites of this book until things start turning around for her.

Don't get me wrong. This isn't a bad thing. In fact it's a Very Good Thing that I can get so emotionally invested in a book. But it's not an easy thing. Depending on how the author can bring me out of a painful situation is often the mark of a real keeper. If the author can make it so I'm almost brought to tears, well, this is a book I will want to read over and over.

So does anyone else ever feel this way about a book? That it is almost too painful to read, not because it's bad as in the case that Animie June recently experienced, but because you get so involved in what the author is putting her characters through. If you have felt this before, did the author manage to make you feel uplifted by the end and did it become a real treasure of a book? And can you name any book that this has happened with?

I'm discovering that many of us who are addicted to romance share a lot of the same traits, so I'm betting that this has happened to some of you. Care to share????

Ponderings

2011-10-24T01:05:00.002-04:00

I'm sure there has been much written about this and more times than I can imagine, but I'm looking to add some of my favourite books to either Kindle or Kobo on my IPad so I have them with me always. I LOVE this idea. So far I have Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase, Conor's Way by Laura Lee Guhrke (I am looking at you Wendy - heh heh), In the Midnight Rain by Barbara Samuel, the first two books by Pamela Clare, Sweet Release and Carnal Gift.

This is one of the huge pluses to having an eReader. Good books at Great prices. So it is with a great deal of confusion and wit quite a dash of anger thrown in, that there are some that will not be loaded onto my eReaders. And the reason you ask? Simple.

PRICING!!!!

How and why on earth are there many (many) ebooks at Kindle for either the same price or even MORE? How can the publishers possibly justify that? Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas for example, in my top 5 list for years now, is at Kindle for $9.04. Paperback is $7.99. It makes no sense to me why they would charge $1.05 more for an ebook than a paperback. $9.04 seems to be the standard price for ebooks from Avon.

I was looking at getting the ebook of Animal Attraction by Jill Shalvis, but it's even WORSE! They are asking $10.24 for the kindle version but only $7.99 for the paperback. It means they actually have the nerve to charge $2.25 more for a book that doesn't cost them in printing or distribution - $2.25 more for a book we can't actually hold in our hands. How can they do that? I looked at a couple more examples and that seems to be the difference in many Berkley books.

And that got me curious about some of the other publishers and how the prices compared from print form to eform. Grand Central (publisher of Elizabeth Hoyt for example) seems to be the same in either format. This is better than charging more and given a choice these days I'd probably go digital.

Now Ballantine's pricing is starting to make sense. Their print books are, on average, $7.99 and their ebooks $6.39, so with a savings of $1.60, digital is definitely the way to go. A few of the more well known authors with them that I've read are Monica McCarty, Christy Reece.

And then we come to Harlequin/HQN. Their prices seem to be all over the map. In my very unscientific poll, I had 3 different price differences for 3 different authors. But as all 3 were over $2.50 LESS expensive for Kindle, my days of buying HQN print books are pretty much over. The exception is Judith James as I love her books so much I buy both - speaking of which - for anyone interested, Broken Wing can be purchased for the Kindle for only $6.15. I know this because I bought it so I can have it with me wherever I go.

Harlequins aren't quite the squeal of a deal that HQN are, but they are still cheaper. And since they are less expensive to begin with than single title books, it's all good.

And I just recently discovered another good reason why ebooks wins out over print books. Say one's basement were to flood and they had several thousand books in the basement. Thankfully they could be up a bit high so they don't get wet. But the bookshelves themselves are toast. That could mean that one might have 35 boxes of books sitting in one's living room when the restoration people the insurance company sends out. These are books that used to be boxed up and then were released, set free as it were, in their very own room, only to be shuffled off when their owner allowed her son to be move back home for a while. The son had promised to rebuild the room the books loved so much and felt so free in, but the son lied and never did rebuild for them.

And now they sit, imprisoned once more. Only this time they are 'boxing in' their fellow books, the upstairs, younger books that are in the upstairs living room book shelves. So right now, the IPad is probably the best place to read books.

My Baby is Now a Married Man!!

2011-10-12T12:31:00.007-04:00

I have been a terrible, just errible blogger lately. I could blame my son's wedding but since my (now official) daughter in law has been in total control of everything since Day 1, I can't really blame that. I have started quite a number of posts but didn't get any of them finished. I have read aLOT of books and have a number of reviews in different stages of completion.

Nope - no excuses for not updating more often. But I plan to do better from here on in, yes I do. Until my next post though, here are some pictures of my baby's wedding last Saturday. It was a gorgeous day - the weather couldn't have been better. And everything went off without a hitch. The ceremony was beautiful, the venue was a big armory with the ceremony being in one part and the reception in another. So what they did with the seating was to have it in a circle, signifying being surrounded by their circle of friends and family. They also did something differerent. Both her mom and I walked Rye up the aisle carrying jars of sand which the two of them poured together into one vase. That was to show their lives were mingled now and could no longer be seperated, just like the two colours of sand couldn't be separated any longer. That is what they are doing in the first picture.

His wife is perfect for him and I lucked out so much too with her. She makes him SO happy. I got almost weepy a couple of times and real did at one point, wishing that Ron was there to see them. But overall, it was a great day.

Recent Read

2011-08-13T16:15:00.004-04:00

The Many Sins of Lord Cameron

Why this one: I mostly love this author's books and the first in this series, The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie totally blew me away so it's a no brainer I'm continuing to read this series!!

Steam Level: Wowzers! She writes good steam

Blurb: Cameron MacKenzie is a man who loves only horses and women - in that order - or so his mistresses say.

Ainsley Douglas is a woman with a strong sense of justice and the desire to help others - even if that means sneaking around a rakish man's bedchamber.

Which is exactly where Cam finds her - six years after he caught her the first time. Only then, she convinced Cam she was seeking a liaison, but couldn't go through with it because of her husband. Now a widow, she's on a mission to retrieve letters that could prove embarrassing to the queen. Cam has no interest in Ainsley's subterfuge, but he vows to finish what they started those many years ago. One game, one kiss at a time, he plans to seduce her. And what starts out as a lusty diversion may break Cam's own rules - and heal the scars of a dark and damaging past....

My Thoughts: I'll be honest here and say when I read the first two books of this series, Cam didn't make that big an impression on me. And my main thought was that I would have to read his story before I got to Harts' the one I wanted most after reading all about Ian and the rest of his MacKenzie brothers. So going into this one I wasn't expecting a whole lot.

I don't know if that's the reason or what it might be, but this one turned out to be, as Tony the Tiger says, GREEEEAAAATTT!! I LOVED it - almost, but not quite as much as Ian and Beth's book.

It starts out with a bang when Ainsley is scoping out Cam's bedroom for some missing letter stolen from the queen when in walks Cam and the thieving woman who is using the letters to blackmail the queen. She has hidden them with Cam, though he doesn't know it and as one of the queens lady's, Ainsley is trying to find them and give them back. Cam of course, discovers Ainsley's hiding place and is wickedly delighted. You see, they had a similar kind of meeting six years previous when Ainsley was trying to find something in Cam's room. They had an immediate attraction to each other though Ainsley refused to act on it as she was married and while not in love with her much older husband, respected and cared for him a great deal. But neither has forgotten the other over the year and now that Ainsley is a widow, Cam is determined to 'get in her skirts' this time 'round.

For not being a character who made me sit up and take notice in the previous books, with his own story it was an entirely different matter when reading it. Cam is a man who was betrayed beyond belief by his first wife. Not only did she take many, many lovers over the time they were married, but she also tried to kill both Cam and their son Daniel and indeed ended up taking her own life. She was clearly mad but that didn't keep her from leaving deep, deep scars on Mac, both physical and emotional. He uses his gift with horses and meaningless sex to try and escape his demons. But when he's with Ainsley, he feels a deep sense of peace though it takes him a while to recognize it as love he is feeling. I just loved this poor tortured man to pieces and pieces. He loves his son deeply, and Daniel is a wonderful secondary character by the way who will be getting his own story, but doesn't really understand how to be a father. His own father was a monster and all the MacKenzie heroes have a lot to overcome with their horrific childhoods.

Once he gets Ainsley into his orbit again, he is so gone for her. I've said on many occasions I love a hero who is so gone for the heroine.

And Ainsley is exactly the kind of heroine I enjoy. She's sharp and she's funny and she's intelligent. No false miss is she. After a bit of hesitation and then consulting with friends, when Cam wants to take their relationship much further, she goes for it, with no second thoughts. She has very fond thoughts of her first husband and admired him even though he was much, much older than her.

I love that the author didn't go down the cliched route and make her first husband evil. Even the character that was blackmailing the queen didn't turn out to be evil, evil. She just wanted the money to desperately escape an unhappy marriage. The most evil person in the book was Cam's first wife Elizabeth and her evilness was needed to turn Cam into the kind of person he was.

I finished this book in a very short amount of time as I couldn't bare to put it down. I, um, ah, may have taken longer breaks and lunches than I'm allowed as work since I really didn't want to stop reading this Very Enjoyable Book. I still like the first one better, but just by a shade. But this one also is getting very high marks!

Grade: 4.95 out of 5

Recent Reads

2011-08-12T12:50:00.010-04:00

Bound by Moonlight by Nancy Gideon

Why this one: I have been LOVING this series

Steam Level: The story takes place in New Orleans and let’s just say the steam in the story and the steam in the city match!

Blurb: POLICE DETECTIVE CHARLOTTE CAISSIE AND HER SHAPE-SHIFTING PARAMOUR MAX SAVOIE THOUGHT THE PAST WAS BEHIND THEM. BUT IN NANCY GIDEON’S IRRESISTIBLE NEW ROMANCE, THEY DISCOVER IT MAY NEVER LET THEM GO. . . .
THEY SWORE THEY’D BE TOGETHER FOREVER.

Detective Charlotte Caissie is suddenly sharing drawer space and making local news with her shape-shifter lover, Max Savoie. He’s determined to be accepted by her peers—so how can she ask him to return to his criminal roots to help her solve a complex case?
BUT THOSE THEY TRUST THE MOST . . .

Working undercover with her partner to find the serial killer who’s kidnapped a colleague’s daughter, Cee Cee is caught between her job and her fiercely possessive lover. And when she calls on Max’s preternatural talents to aid his hated enemy, she crosses a line that strains their relationship to its limit.

. . . WILL DO ANYTHING TO TEAR THEM APART.

With his secret spreading, Max is forced to protect his family and his clan. The only certainty is his love for his human mate . . . unless the loyalties that define them divide them forever.

My Thoughts: As I said at the beginning, I LOVE this series. The hero Max Savoie is like no other hero I’ve read before and he just leaps off the page with his presence. A bit of background for those who haven’t read the first few books. Max was the ‘enforcer’ for a very influential, very bad crime lord. Jimmy Legere ‘rescued’ Max when he was just a child hiding in the swamps of Louisiana after his mother was brutally murdered. But Max wasn’t an ordinary child; he was a shape shifter who because of circumstances didn’t know anything about his heritage. Jimmy used Max, aimed him, pointed him, and sent him after anyone in Jimmy’s way and Max was so grateful to Jimmy, he would have done anything for him.

This was the situation at the start of the first book, Masked by Moonlight. It begins when Max meets up with Charlotte Caissie or CeeCee, a detective with the NOPD. Max’es loyalties are tested. The first three books are wonderful and CeeCee and Max try and work out a relationship with both of them on either side of the legal fence.

Max is, well, Max is unique. He’s a criminal with a strong sense of right and wrong and a sense of loyalty that won’t quit. And he is so totally wrecked for the heroine. He doesn’t see how she can love him as he considers himself part monster and in some ways he is. He breaks the readers heart with his damaged soul. When he is in his animal form, he almost repulsive, but so broken up by who and what he is when he’s not. The author never really explains what animal he is, but whatever it is, Max has powers that no other has; powers that even he isn’t aware of. He is so lost as to what he is considering his mother died when he was very young before having a chance to explain what he is and his father is a mystery.

CeeCee comes from an equally horrific background. Second generation cop, she was captured, held prisoner and tortured when she was young and it was in fact Max who saved her, though she hadn’t been aware of it until after the start of the first book.

In some ways, these books can be compared somewhat to the In Death books by JD Robb in that both heroines are cops and both heroes are or were part of the criminal element. But in other ways they are vastly different. Unlike Eve Dallas, CeeCee doesn’t have the same moral code when it comes to police duties. She’s a rule bender with an attitude that the ends justifies the means and Max, unlike Roarke, is still involved in the criminal element. And he’s not a cultured or suave as Roarke. And unlike Roarke he is very conflicted about everything except those he is loyal to.

All this so far and I haven’t even got to this particular book. But I’ve very enthused about this series and background is needed. As this book opens up, CeeCee and Max are finally taking their relationship to a more open level. They have shown up together at a charity event. As one can imagine, this sends shock waves throughout both the criminal and cop element. CeeCee is called away to work on a case where women have been kidnapped, tortured and murdered. When the daughter of a rather bully of a cop disappears, CeeCee fears she has been taken by the serial killer and races to find her. Because of some of Max’s supernatural powers and his more than willingness to bend rules and out and out break the law, he helps CeeCee in unobtrusive ways. But he has history with the bully cop. Which makes for some wonderful conflict.

Unlike the other books in this series, we don’t learn too much more about Max’s mysterious background. Rather this is more concentrated on solving the case as well as CeeCee and Max trying to establish the boundaries of their relationship.

There is a real shocker of a twist towards the end that I did not see coming and I think will have huge ramifications in future books. Books I will be reading.

For me, this is a great addition in a great series and it gets a real thumbs up from me for a very unforgettable hero. I just noticed she has a number of books written for Harlequin. I’m going to see if they are available as ebooks so I can get my fix until the next book comes out.

Grade: 5 out of 5

Stand-in Wife by Karina Bliss

Why this one: Karina Bliss burst onto my radar with the wonderful What the Librarian Did last year and I’ve bought all her books since then.

Steam Level: Warm

Blurb: Playing with dynamite, a girl could get burned…
What does he know about love and marriage? And exactly how did he, Ross Coltrane—a special forces elite soldier and demolitions expert—end up playing middleman to his kid brother and the estranged wif And most important, why is he suddenly noticing how beautiful his sister–in–law is? He's never thought about his brother's wife…that way…before.
Then he figures it out and everything makes sense. This tantalizing woman is the other twin! The identical sisters have pulled a swap and duped everyone around them. Furious much? Oh, yeah. Poised to bring down their plan, Ross hesitates. Something about Vivienne Jansen's courage and zest for life gets to him. Except, he's not a man who has feelings. Everyone calls him the Iceman. He doesn't know how to be anything else…

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I read it a week or so ago now and need to read the blurb to remember it, but that’s more of a case of declining short term memory retention then the book not being memorable.

Ross Coltrane, our hero, was first introduced in Here Comes The Groom. He is part of an elite Special Forces group – think Seals – only a New Zealand company, who were attacked and lost two of their own in Afghanistan. Each surviving member has reacted differently. In Ross’ case, he is hell bent on getting himself back into fighting shape and avenging his lost friends. He hasn’t time for anything else and holds all feelings in to the point that his nickname is Iceman. His plans are thrown into turmoil though when his step-mother perishes while exacting a nasty revenge on him. He’s had a ‘fractious’ to say the least relationship with her for years, though he is very fond of and close to his younger step brother, Charlie.

The heroine of this book, Vivienne, is walking a fine line. She is a designer in New York, but has taken time out to help out her twin sister, Merry a wife and mother to the nth degree, who has broken her leg and needs surgery. Her twin is married to Ross’s step brother but they are currently separated. Ross is taking his brother’s side and Viv, her sisters. In order to help, it’s too complicated to go into detail, Viv impersonates her sister and I had a number of laugh out loud moments while reading this book with the complications that come along with this deception. Ross is decidedly angry at his sister-in-law for what he considers a betrayal of his brother and when he thinks Viv is Merry is not the warmest cube on the block. It doesn’t take too long though before he realizes it’s not Merry he’s dealing with, but her twin Viv. Viv, the sister he’s lusted after for years.

Viv pleads with him to go along with her plan and he reluctantly agrees to – for a short while.

This book, as I said is delightful and I’m so very happy I discovered this author. She writes believable characters, people you wish were real so you could meet them. I liked this book better than the first one, Here Comes the Groom.

One thing I have to add, please, please, please do not judge this book by it’s completely horrid cover. I never would have read this one if I based picks on covers alone. The cover of this one is a real eye sore. So IGNORE it. Please!

Grade: 4.25 out of 5

I really don't know why

2011-08-06T13:15:00.001-04:00

Except that I always did love this song - my love of all things history don't you know - and this was just too cute

Recent Reads

2011-08-02T18:56:00.003-04:00

Soldier on her Doorstep by Soraya Lane

Why this one: I read Wendy’s review and her review and the book called to me. Being unable to refuse to answer when a book calls me, I downloaded the eBook

Steam Level: There is no steam with this book but since we are in the middle of one of the nastiest heat waves I can recall in years, that’s OK with me.

Blurb: Soldier Alex Dane promised his dying comrade he'd make sure his wife and daughter were okay, and so he finds himself on a doorstep with his heart in his mouth.

Lisa Kennedy loved her husband, but she must focus on her daughter, Lilly, who hasn't spoken since her daddy's death. Still, the least she can do is offer this battle-weary hero a place to rest.

When Lilly's little hand reaches for Alex's big, strong one, for the first time Lisa feels her buried emotions begin to stir.…

My Thoughts: First off, read Wendy’s review. She does a great job as evidenced by the fact that she made me want to read this book.

As for my thoughts here goes. This is another line of Harlequin’s that I hadn’t tried before. I gather it’s more of a kisses only line. I’ve really run the gamut when it comes to sensuality levels of books. I used to like the real hot oh so many years ago when I was reading the likes of Rosemary Rogers, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Jennifer Blake and the like. Then I was turned off romance for a number of years and when I came back, it was kisses only. Then I slowly entered the sensuality pond until I wouldn’t read kisses only. Now I’ve completely confused the circle as I’m now reading and enjoying both. So despite the fact that there are no explicit sex scenes, in fact no real sex scenes at all, the author manages to convey a great deal of longing both the hero and heroine feel for each other.

My heart broke for Alex, the hero and I love when I experience that kind of feeling for either of the main characters. He’s so alone and needs Lisa and her daughter Lilly so bad. And they need him too. His family were killed when he was very young and he grew up in foster care. He has great feelings of guilt for both their death and the death of William, Lisa’s soldier husband. He died saving Alex. Alex is following up on a promise he made to William and delivering some personal items to Lisa in Alaska. He has left the services and as the army was his family, he is at very loose ends. When Lisa picks up on this and offers to let him stay in a small cottage on her Alaskan lake property, he is reluctant but agrees anyway. He is drawn to her daughter Lily; understanding the loss Lily if feeling. He is also very attracted to Lisa.

And in return, Lisa is very attracted to Alex though she is torn between her growing feelings for him and the feelings she still has for William. To be honest, I was kind of wondering how I would feel about this as William hadn’t been gone for that long. But the author wrote the story in such a way as it was very believable. William and Lisa hadn’t spent much time together as he was so often deployed on missions. And both men are complete opposites of each other so there is no comparison between them. I truly bought how she could develop such deep feelings so quickly.

And with troops returning, I think it’s a very timely book too. And I love the setting. As a heat hating reader going through a heat wave like I can’t remember, somehow reading a story set in Alaska made me feel just a little bit cooler – that and the fact that I have my air conditioning set way lower than the hydro people want me too. I am a heat hating reader after all.

This book was a wonderful surprise and thumbs up to Wendy for helping me find this heartwarming story. It was a win/win/win – new line, new author and very good book.

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton

Why this one: I remember when the cover of this book was held up and one of the best and hawtest covers going – deservedly so. I’ve read and enjoyed her books in the past and have had the chance to meet her in person a few times now. So when I saw her signing this book at the publisher signing in NYC- the signing where the books are free – I picked it up.

Steam Level: While the above book made me feel cool – in a good way, this one had the opposite effect. This one was hotter than the abnormally hot weather outside!

Blurb: The last thing event planner Tara Lincoln needs is the jet-set lifestyle of a football pro like Mick Riley; even though their steamy and passionate one-night stand proved that Mick is an all-star-both on the field and in the bedroom.

Tara played the game of love once and lost big, and she doesn't intend to put herself out there again, especially with a certified heartbreaker. But when Mick sets his mind to win, nothing will stop him. And he has the perfect play in mind to catch this sultry vixen.

My Thoughts: I liked this one – I really did. But since that’s not very helpful, I’ll going into why *g*

Mick was a great hero!! A star quarterback, he’s sowed a lot of wild oats in his day, but when he meets Tara Lincoln in the bowls of the stadium, as she is trying to find a way to a meeting, he’s smitten. And then when he sees her again at a social event she has planned, he’s even more smitten. They spend a wild and a very hawt night together, but Tara scoots out as she doesn’t think she can handle any kind of relationship due to fairly new company and her role as a single mother to a teenage boy.

But Mick isn’t one to give up on something he wants and what he wants is to see more of Tara despite the barriers she’s putting up. Mick has done the dating scene with Hollywood actress and super models and he’s very drawn to this ‘real’ woman. He makes for one dreamy hero – hawt, handsome and really wanting the heroine.

Tara I found a bit harder to relate too. I never did understand her reservations in getting involved with Mick. I get that she had a lousy childhood and after the father of her child was a young teenage thug, she was a bit hesitant. But dudette, this guy is a dream come true!! Guys like this don’t come round every day. Thank goodness her friends saw this and did what they could to convince her to get it together!! I did have some reservations about how quickly they ‘got together’ but that’s me and my morals. I would have preferred they spend more time getting to know each other before they ‘get it on’.

What I really liked about this book is the relationship between Mick and Nathan. Nathan has no significant father figure in his life and so when this NFL quarterback enters his mother’s life, he is over the moon. And Mick makes for a great friend. Though he is after Tara, he treats Nathan very well.

I catalogue my books and some I have a hard time determining. I wavered on how to classify this one but ended up going with erotica for this one.

Grade: 3.75 out of 5

Somewhere in Time by Merline Love lace

Why this one: Someone was looking for the book at AAR and being the curious sort, I looked it up. I’ve enjoyed Merline Lovelace in the past and the thoughts of a time travel where the heroine is an air force pilot who is transported back to the time when Rome ruled the world just sounded appealing. So I decided to try this unusual setting and storyline

Steam Level: Warm

Blurb: Long ago and far away.

Air force pilot Aurora Durant was lucky to be alive. It hadn't been easy to bring her jet down in the bizarre windstorm, but the savvy captain had managed. Now she had to figure out where she'd landed -- and when.

Lucius Antonius, senior centurion of the Roman Empire, couldn't believe his incredible fortune. A beautiful woman had literally dropped out of the sky. But before Lucius could claim the willful, impertinent creature, he had to tame her.

Soon Aurora discovered the true test of her spirit wasn't learning to live in a time two thousand years in the past, but resisting the powerful allure of an ancient warrior. Her agenda could only be returning to her own time, and falling for Lucius could make that mission impossible to accomplish.

My Thoughts: I’m glad I decided to try this unusual setting and storyline. It wasn’t a perfect read, but it was very entertaining. And I did like the setting. I watched a bit of Spartacus – God’s of the Arena until I blushed so hard and it was an interesting time period. I also watched a bit of the series Rome, but not that much.

Aurora had herself a good job flying the muckety mucks around in her air force jet before she flew into a sand storm one evening over the Iraqi desert. Her plane crashes and her team member is hurt. She is discovered by a dude in a leather breast plate and skirt – I’m thinking think Brad Pitt in Troy for a nice visual. For a while she thinks he and his men are some kind of desert tribe, but she can’t be sure and they don’t have a common language. This dude and his men take her back to a small desert city, bring in a scholar and Aurora slowly begins to realize she’s not in Kansas anymore. Instead she has been transported back when Rome ruled the universe and the skirt dude was, in fact, a Roman general in charge of the city.

As you can imagine there is quite the culture clash. Aurora is a woman raised and living in 2003 who’s met her match with a commander of the
Roman Army who is used to command and used to owning slaves and used to getting his own way and used to women being of lesser importance. So one can imagine the clashes between the two.

Often I get cranky with this kind conflict – they hero being a ‘know it all, me Tarzan, you Jane’ type attitude and the heroine being kind of a ball busting bitch. But it worked with this book for me. I think in part Lucius didn’t hold negative views per se; he was a product of his time. He was autocratic because he was a commander and that was what he HAD to be. He didn’t hold a lot of respect for women because that’s the way it was. He didn’t hold them in disrespect, it was more that women held very few position of power. When Jane got carried away in a fit of imperiousness, she really did need to be punished according to the times, but Lucius recognized that there was something very different about Aurora and despite getting frustrated with her lack of respect, he did get kind of a kick out of her nerve. And of course once he started getting a kick out of her, he started developing deeper and deeper feelings for her; to the point where he takes her punishment as his own. Gotta love a hero who will do that for his heroine.

So, in conclusion, I quite enjoyed this rather unique storyline. I check out Kindle to see if she wrote any more along this line but I didn’t see any. Though I think I will check and see if I can find any more books set in Ancient Rome – all suggestions welcome

Grade: 4.25 out of 5