Sunday, September 30, 2007
Face to Face
***½ Face to Face by Rebecca York. Romantic suspense.
I've been slowly collecting Rebecca York's backlist. This one is from 1996, when Rebecca York = Ruth Glick + Eileen Buckholtz.
I'm a sucker for amnesia stories, and while this won't go on my list of favorites, it was still a fun read.
After her car is forced off the road in an attempted murder, our heroine wakes up in a hospital room with amnesia. The only things she knows about herself are that she's pregnant (the doctor told her) and that according to the man who rescued her, her name is Justine Hollingsworth. The pregnancy seems familiar; the name doesn't, so she asks everyone to call her "Lisa."
Mike Lancer is a private investigator, and Mrs. Hollingsworth had offered him a mysterious job a week ago, saying she'd return in a week with the details. He saw her leaving his office building, and when she ignored him when he called her name, he followed her, which is why he saw the car force hers off the road and was able to rescue her.
The two work together to recover her memories and find out who was trying to kill her, and in the process, they become close. Mr. Hollingsworth is a mystery, and Lisa feels increasingly uncomfortable in Justine's life, yet she's hesitant to become too involved with Mike because whether she really is Justine or not, she is pregnant, which means there's a father out there somewhere, possibly someone she loves.
My main problem with this story is that there was just a little too much going on. The solution had just too many elements that weren't particularly necessary and just complicated matters. Still, it was a fun, quick read, and I'm always game for an amnesia story, even if they are unrealistic.
...more
Categories: Books, 3.5stars, RomanticSuspense
Labels: 3.5 stars, books, RomanticSuspense
Link of the Week #46
This article is a bit old, but it's also timely, if you've read the latest Harry Potter book--here's your chance to have your very own Deathly Hallow! It's just a start, of course--you'll have to come up with the resurrection stone and unbeatable wand on your own.
Categories: LOTW
Labels: cool links
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Kiss from a Rogue
***½ Kiss from a Rogue by Shirley Karr. Historical romance.
I had zero expectations for this book. I'd ordered a boxful of books from one seller on Half.com, and she sent along a handful of freebies. This was one of them. I wasn't overjoyed--historical romance isn't my favorite genre--but I'd just finished re-reading White Night, and anything else was going to suffer in comparison, so I figured I'd read something I wasn't expecting to love.
Widow Sylvia Montgomery has been left with a bankrupt estate and with the whole poverty-stricken village depending on her, the only way they can survive is to continue their smuggling. The problem is that their only ship sank, killing her husband and most of the village's able-bodied men. So they have to deal with a lecherous, unscrupulous captain and a rival gang that's trying to take over their business.
Tony Sinclair has been running his family's estate, but now that his elder brother has returned from the war, it's his job, and Tony's at loose ends. He decides he's been respectable and responsible long enough, so rather than take a job in the city, he goes traveling, and finds himself stranded in Sylvia's village, and decides the attractive widow would be a perfect start to his life as a rakehell.
It's a fun story--warm and delightful. Sylvia's concern for the village and her acceptance of the responsibility, as well as her reactions to Tony, make her an appealing heroine. Tony's determination to become a rake, in direct contrast to his honorable and responsible nature is entertaining as well--there's something about a self-deluded hero that always appeals to me, I'm not sure why.
Tony's solution to the village's dilemma is a little too facile, I thought--along the lines of the divorced woman in a contemporary being able to support herself and her extended family by baking cookies in her kitchen.
Oddly, I guess the reason why this didn't grab me that much is that it was just too sweet--it felt like a Disney movie. (It's no coincidence that the product description on Amazon calls it a cross between Pirates of the Caribbean and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.) The villains were a bit too 2-dimensional and easy to defeat; the conflicts were there, but there just wasn't a lot of meat to them.
Still, it was a very pleasant read.
...more
Categories: Books, 3.5stars, HistoricalRomance
Labels: 3.5 stars, books, HistoricalRomance
Thursday, September 27, 2007
TT #67
Part 1: Italy
I've been meaning to do this for over a month now. Better late than never, right?
1.  | 2.  | 3.  |
4.  | 5.  |
6.  | 7.  | 8.  |
9.  the road to Pisa | 10.  the nicest rest stop in Italy |
11.  Italian countryside | 12.  double rainbow in Italy after the storm that made us miss our exit | 13.  view from a rest stop in Switzerland |
This was one of the best vacations ever--gorgeous weather, relaxing, and fun. Unfortunately, we were having too nice a time to take many pictures, but at least I found thirteen.
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
- what Jenn loves
- Tempest Knight: women in rock
- Xakara's character crushes
- Babystepper: kitchen mixes
- Busy 91: Irish celebs
- Christine D'Abo: YouTube faves
- Susan Helene Gottfried: returns on investments
- .:Mar: random
- Tilly Greene: doing something to help
- Tink's Tinkerbell collection
- Samulli: blog annoyances
- Robin: Sukkot
- Carrie Lofty: ways to say "I love you"
- Puss Reboots: wallbangers
- Thomma Lyn: self-discovery
- Heather: banned books week
- Lisa Andel: nekkid men (& women!)
- Joyismygoal: hands
- Doug:
133 ephemeral thoughts - Rhian/Crowwoman: failed
boobboot pix - Frigga: what's your favorite...?
- Julia: Booking Through Thursday
- Julia's Robbie Flynn
- You're next!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
...more
Categories: ThursdayThirteen, AboutMe
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
White Night
*****+ White Night by Jim Butcher. Contemporary fantasy. Re-read.
Oh. My. God. You know a book is damn good when you've picked it apart, word by word, you know it inside and out, and it still takes your breath away when you re-read it.
This is the ninth Dresden Files book, and yes, it's White Night, not White Knight or White Nights. Easy way to remember: every single one of the Dresden Files titles is two words, with the same number of letters in each word--which is why Death Masks isn't Holy Sheet.
Anyway. The have-nots of Chicago's magical community--those people with just a bit of power--have been going missing. Several have turned up dead, mostly in apparent suicides. And somebody's left a message with the bodies: Exodus 22:18. Harry Dresden isn't religious, but that's a verse he knows by heart: "suffer not a witch to live."
And what makes things worse, for Harry at least, is that a lot of the missing women were last seen with either a very handsome man with dark hair or a very tall man in a gray cloak. Wardens of the White Council wear gray cloaks, which makes Harry himself a suspect, and the other man sounds very much like his brother Thomas, who's been secretive about the his new job.
The plot is convoluted, but it makes sense once you get all the pieces, and what's really cool is that it's convoluted because that's the way the people involved do things. It's that level of detail that prompts the + on the five stars. Everything in the book has a reason for being there, usually several reasons.
Harry's still training his new apprentice Molly, and that's got a bunch of layers as well--her strengths fit everything we know about her from previous books, and the effects on Harry show, too. Another reason for the +. It's not just "let's give Harry a teenage girl for a sidekick." It has so much consistency you'd believe they were real people.
Several characters from earlier books show up, ones we haven't seen for a while, and that's fun, and completely plot-driven. No Mouseketeer role calls here.
As you can probably guess from the fact that his brother is a suspect, the emotional intensity is up there. There's also a lot of emotion involved with Harry dealing with anger issues and with Lash, the shadow of a fallen angel who's living in his head. I needed tissues.
There were also plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, and dozens of quotable lines, like "...age is always advancing and I'm fairly sure it's up to no good."
And some very cool special effects, which the TV show will never get a chance to use because it's been canceled, dammit. Ah, well, they probably work better in my head anyway. Stupid SciFi Channel.
One caveat: this is a planned series: 20 books and then a big old apocalyptic trilogy, because who doesn't love apocalyptic trilogies? Which means that even though the books are complete in themselves, there is something going on that's leading to that apocalyptic trilogy. In other words: read the series in order. You'll get more out of it that way.
...more
Categories: Books, 5+stars, ContemporaryFantasy
Labels: 5+ stars, books, ContemporaryFantasy
Familiar Tale
** Familiar Tale by Caroline Burnes. Romantic suspense.
Someone, a long time ago, suggested that if I liked the Midnight Louie series, I's also like the Fear Familiar Mysteries. If this book is any indication of the series as a whole, they were wrong.
It starts out with a feud between popular children's author Eugene Legander and acerbic radio talk show host Crush Bonbon, who asserts that Eugene must be responsible for a missing child because his books are full of eeeevil things, like children turning into animals and disrespecting their parents. (shock, dismay)
The problem is, more children are disappearing, and Eugene's been seen near each of them before their disappearance.
Jennifer Barkley is Eugene's publicist and friend, making the situation doubly important to her, and making her especially eager to prevent reporter James Tenet from writing the story that could ruin both Eugene's career and her own.
And every once in a while we hear from Familiar, a cat belonging to a friend of a friend. This is where the similarity to the Midnight Louie stories comes in--Familiar doesn't have nearly as large of a role, but he does do similar things: nudges the humans in the direction of the solution. He's like a cross between Midnight Louie and Koko from the The Cat Who... books.
Basically, this book tries to be a light mystery with a romance, and it just doesn't work. The missing children are treated almost as an afterthought, everyone being much more concerned with promoting their own agendas. So much just doesn't add up. The police seem to be just reacting to whatever the town's prevailing mood is at the time rather than actually investigating--when most people believe Eugene is innocent, they ask him one or two desultory questions and accept his answers without further elaboration; when the town believes he must be guilty, they haul him away in handcuffs. And the clues--pages from Eugene's book left at the scene of each abduction--make no sense. But then, neither does the motive fit the crimes--in general, maybe, but there were some specifics that were never explained.
Eugene himself is either ridiculous or pitiful. He reminds me of Mr. Rogers--if Mr. Rogers would refuse to defend himself against kidnapping charges, that is.
The romance between Jennifer and James should have been a decent one--they've got a good conflict there, with opposing goals, but they didn't really spend much time falling in love. They, like the book, concentrated on proving Eugene's guilt or innocence. Fortunately for the children, the best way to do that was to find out who had abducted the children, because nobody seemed really concerned about them, other than in a theoretical way. When they did focus on the romance, the dialogue and thoughts were stilted and almost embarrassing to read.
I got the distinct impression that the book was a mystery with a bit of a rivalry/romantic tension between Jennifer and James and that the romance was added later, possibly by someone else. I know, I know--it's not fair speculating like that. I'm really not saying that's what happened, just that it's how it seemed to me.
This book was only 249 pages long, and even so, I found it a chore to finish. I'm not going to be looking for more of this series.
...more
Categories: Books, 2stars, RomanticSuspense
Labels: 2 stars, books, RomanticSuspense
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
High Noon
**** High Noon by Nora Roberts. Romantic suspense.
Assuming I get this posted in a somewhat timely manner, High Noon is the latest blockbuster from the prolific Nora Roberts.
Police Lt. Phoebe MacNamara is a hostage negotiator. She meets Duncan Swift while trying to prevent the suicide of a bartender Duncan just fired. It's love at first sight for Duncan--or at first acquaintance, anyway, because he's entranced with her strength and skill (and beauty, of course). It takes Phoebe a little longer.
Phoebe really has too much going on to think about romance, anyway: a house she can't afford but can't move out of, a mother who's severely agoraphobic and can't leave the house, a 7-year-old fashionista of a daughter... to top it off, she's training cops in rudimentary hostage negotiation, and is catching a lot of flack from one particular misogynistic but well-connected cop.
And then she's brutally attacked in the stairway of the police station, and threatening messages and dead animals start showing up on her doorstep.
Duncan, well... Duncan won the lottery a few years ago. And he owns parts of several businesses. His best friend is a lawyer, and he's adopted his friend's family as his own. Basically, he's got plenty of free time to spend acting like the perfect man.
*sigh* Yeah, we're getting to why I'm giving a new Nora Roberts book only four stars. I... you could say I'm a fan. I'm not a squeeing fangirl for Nora the way I am with Crusie or Butcher or Pratchett or Kinsale or Gaiman, but I own every single one of her books and have read most of them multiple times, I moderate an email list, used to run a fan website, did a short stint as a moderator on ADWOFF, and have been to several signings at TTP. Yeah, I'm a fan. I tend to like her books a lot.
But too many things in this book just went nowhere. Phoebe's mother's agoraphobia, for example. Okay, she has agoraphobia, she can't leave the house. It eventually gets explained why she's not doing anything about it, but then it's just left hanging there. The house is apparently completely impregnable, so there's never a worry that she'll HAVE to leave the house for her own safety, and we never find out the terms of the will, so there's never a worry that if Phoebe marries Duncan she'll lose the house. I don't consider that a spoiler--it's not a major part of the plot--I consider it fair warning.
And the romance... just wasn't. It was
Part of that, I admit, is my own preference--I can't think of anything more boring than a "perfect" hero. Never argues, never complains, never has a thought in his head that doesn't mesh exactly with the heroine's. *yawn* I can see how this fantasy would be appealing to some people. Just not me.
Worse yet, the romance/family plot and the suspense plot really didn't overlap except only briefly. I'd expected the villain to break in or bomb or burn the house, so that there would be a point to Phoebe's mother's agoraphobia, but there wasn't. There wasn't a point to the daughter being obsessed with shoes, either, and that could have tied in so easily. There wasn't even a romantic conflict over the danger in Phoebe's job. Perfect man Duncan just calmly supported her.
The suspense plot was great, though. It kept me guessing, and I enjoyed the resolution very much.
It's as if this were two stories, loosely connected: a suspense novel, and a slice-of-life women's fiction story. I'd have preferred the suspense novel to stand alone. Cut out all the agoraphobia, and Duncan's friend's family picnics, the fashion-conscious 7-year-old (that's my own prejudice, but it got on my nerves), and the romance, such as it was. That would bring the suspense story down to 350 pages, and I'd probably have given it 5 stars.
...more
Categories: Books, 4stars, RomanticSuspense
Labels: 4 stars, books, RomanticSuspense
Beyond Seduction
**** Beyond Seduction by Kathleen O'Reilly. Contemporary romance.
Kathleen O'Reilly is one of the few authors I read in category. This is the last book of a trilogy--something I wasn't aware of, though I believe the others are in my TBR pile. Oh, well. I didn't get the feeling I was missing anything.
It seemed like a win-win situation. Mercedes Brooks's first book of erotica needed some publicity if it was to become a success, and Sam Porter's talk show needed a guest. Except that Sam prefers a little more seriousness to his topics, and Mercedes has been on his show before (ah--obviously something I did miss, in the earlier books), and it ended in disaster.
But part of the reluctance on both sides was their uncomfortable attraction for each other, and after a sexually-charged show, they act on that attraction.
Unfortunately, Mercedes's book came about because of her very popular sex blog, and even though she changes the names and identifying details, she blogs about their encounter the next day.
Which causes Sam no little consternation. Particularly since he's decided to run for congress.
This is a fun and sexy story with a serious side, as Mercedes and Sam's lifestyles conflict and they have to make some difficult decisions.
Mercedes's slew of posts after she realized she'd been modeling all her heroes after Sam were hilariously sexy... or sexily hilarious. And it's poignantly sweet (sweetly poignant--argh. make it stop!) how they're both willing to give up their dreams for each other.
It's not easily resolved, and the solution takes courage and determination from both of them, but the tension persists until the last page.
I believe I have all of Kathleen O'Reilly's books in my TBR pile. I'm looking forward to finding the first two of this trilogy... and maybe reading them in order this time.
...more
Categories: Books, 4stars, ContemporaryRomance
Labels: 4 stars, books, ContemporaryRomance
visual dna
Monday, September 24, 2007
Theory #38: It's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate
It's Smart Bitches Day!
When I was writing about Beauvallet, it really started me thinking about the books that have mortal enemies falling in love, and the concept of love being akin to hate.
I've since read a handful more romances with couples who start out with at least one of them hating the other. I'm not buying it.
I know conventional wisdom says love and hate are two sides of the same coin, and that it's not that hard to go from one to the other, and it's true that nobody can make you as furious as someone you love, but I'm thinking of people I truly loathe, and they're without exception loathsome--hypocritical, violent, and vile--and there's not a chance in hell that I feel that way about them because I secretly love them.
I think love can turn to hate easily enough, and I can see how if you loved someone, then they betrayed you and you hated them, and if they made amends or you found out it wasn't their fault or something, I can believe that hate turning back to love. But someone you hate as soon as you get to know them? I don't think you're ever going to love them (other than possibly in the "love your neighbor" sense).
I'm not talking about the playground game of hitting a boy because you like him, or being irritable because you're too attracted to someone and you don't want to be. That's not really hate. I'm also not talking about someone you hate in theory without knowing them--like when a friend of a friend has bad-mouthed them, or you hate men who wear red shirts or something.
I used to just accept the convention in books and go with the flow, generally finding it amusing to see characters falling in love with their worst enemies. But then I started thinking about it (probably not a good idea), and I've found myself unable to believe it. I don't know anyone in a happy successful romantic relationship who really hated their significant other initially--before loving them.
So, is it a real phenomenon? Do people really fall in love with people they hate? Or is it just a literary convention--a way to make a more interesting story by raising the romantic stakes? I kind of miss enjoying those stories, but I can't stuff my disbelief back in its closet and lock the door.
...more
Categories: Theories, Reading, SBD
When I was writing about Beauvallet, it really started me thinking about the books that have mortal enemies falling in love, and the concept of love being akin to hate.
I've since read a handful more romances with couples who start out with at least one of them hating the other. I'm not buying it.
I know conventional wisdom says love and hate are two sides of the same coin, and that it's not that hard to go from one to the other, and it's true that nobody can make you as furious as someone you love, but I'm thinking of people I truly loathe, and they're without exception loathsome--hypocritical, violent, and vile--and there's not a chance in hell that I feel that way about them because I secretly love them.
I think love can turn to hate easily enough, and I can see how if you loved someone, then they betrayed you and you hated them, and if they made amends or you found out it wasn't their fault or something, I can believe that hate turning back to love. But someone you hate as soon as you get to know them? I don't think you're ever going to love them (other than possibly in the "love your neighbor" sense).
I'm not talking about the playground game of hitting a boy because you like him, or being irritable because you're too attracted to someone and you don't want to be. That's not really hate. I'm also not talking about someone you hate in theory without knowing them--like when a friend of a friend has bad-mouthed them, or you hate men who wear red shirts or something.
I used to just accept the convention in books and go with the flow, generally finding it amusing to see characters falling in love with their worst enemies. But then I started thinking about it (probably not a good idea), and I've found myself unable to believe it. I don't know anyone in a happy successful romantic relationship who really hated their significant other initially--before loving them.
So, is it a real phenomenon? Do people really fall in love with people they hate? Or is it just a literary convention--a way to make a more interesting story by raising the romantic stakes? I kind of miss enjoying those stories, but I can't stuff my disbelief back in its closet and lock the door.
...more
Categories: Theories, Reading, SBD
Labels: reading, sbd, theories
The Bourne Identity
***** The Bourne Identity. Action/adventure.
Directed by: Doug Liman.
Starring: Matt Damon, Franka Potente.
We watched the DVD in preparation for going to see The Bourne Ultimatum. For some reason, we'd neglected to buy the 2nd DVD--I've since ordered it.
The story, in brief, is a man is rescued by a fishing boat, with amnesia and bullet holes. In his quest to discover his identity, people try to kill him, and he reacts with professional swiftness. He teams up with a young woman, and together they elude the killers while searching for answers and falling in love.
This was obviously written with me in mind. I mean, come on--it's got almost every one of my favorite things: a spy story, action/adventure, amnesia, a romance--heck, the romantic interest is even German. What baffles me is that I'd never read Ludlum's book even though it came out at a time when I was reading a lot of spy novels. I've ordered that, too.
At any rate, I can't say yet how the movie compares to the book, but the movie is excellent. Matt Damon plays a man who doesn't realize he's a professional assassin perfectly--the combination of good-intentioned searching for his identity with the growing realization that he's not just some nice guy who works in an office is very convincing.
Franka Potente, too, is very realistic as an adventurous young woman who ends up in over her head, but is reluctant to leave because of her growing feelings for him.
The action is nonstop and exciting, and the mystery of who he is and why people are trying to kill him is compelling.
This is one of those rare movies I can watch over and over again. One of my favorites.
...more
Categories: Movies, 5stars, ActionAdventure
Labels: 5 stars, action, Movies
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Link of the Week #45
Woo-hoo! I actually finished my Thursday Thirteen... it only took 4 days. I'm not going to say how many books I still have that I've read but haven't written about yet. It's too demoralizing. But now that I've reached my goal, this week's link is a good place to chill out:
Eternal Sunset
http://www.eternalsunset.net/index.php
Categories: LOTW
Eternal Sunsethttp://www.eternalsunset.net/index.php
From the site's own description:
By its very nature, it's a nice, quiet site to spend some time at whenever you need some serenity.
Eternal Sunset endeavours to ensure you can enjoy the sunset live from any location, at any time. As the sunset moves westward, Eternal Sunset continuously tunes into different webcams, chasing the sunset around the globe. This service is currently provided through the use of 265 west-facing webcams across 51 countries.
By its very nature, it's a nice, quiet site to spend some time at whenever you need some serenity.
Categories: LOTW
Labels: cool links
Thursday, September 20, 2007
TT #66
What with one thing and another--kids back in school, dogsitting, senior pictures (OMG, the kid looks so grown up in a suit!), Carl gone for the week, and of course the ever-entertaining CFS relapse brought about by lack of sleep and all the aforementioned busy-ness--I'm really, really really behind on book reviews. So I was contemplating just skipping a TT this week and trying to knock out a few reviews. Then it occurred to me--why not kill two birds with one stone... or rather 13 birds?
Here are the next 13 books on my list that I've read but haven't yet reviewed. As I finish the reviews, I'll link them to the book cover picture. Wish me luck.
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
- PussReboots: party!
- Grace: cows
- Angela/SciFiChick: upcoming sf/f novels
- Carrie Lofty: the Police
- Ann Aguirre: southerners
- Ann: mythical creatures
- Robin doesn't want to go to the gym
- Tempest Knight: mellow writing songs
- Moondancer: marketing
- Susan Helene Gottfried: the supporting cast
- L. A. Day: mostly-nekkid men
- Lisa Andel: it's nekkid men day!
- paintings by Julia's mom
- Mama Pajama: kids' books
- Spyscribbler: strange truths and neurotic whisperings
- Elle Fredrix: quotes on writing
- Lisa's under the weather
- Frigga: the Smashing Pumpkins
- You're next!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
...more
Categories: ThursdayThirteen
Labels: TT
TBR Challenge for August
Yes, this is how far behind I am.
First, a little explanation of the TBR Challenge. I have a huge TBR pile--about 400 books, more or less--and obviously, I wanted to read all those books when I bought them. But I noticed that when I just reach for a book to read, I tend to stick to the same kind of books, and overlooking some books so often that I don't even see them anymore.
Then somebody told me about the TBR Challenge concept, which sounded like a great way to get those overlooked books out of the pile, so I surfed around for a while looking for ideas. The problem was that all the ones I found were something like "read a romantic suspense," or "read a cozy mystery." Not very helpful. I already alternated genres, and I knew I'd just keep looking at the same romantic suspense books I looked at every time I browsed the TBR pile. I wanted something more random.
So with the help of the wonderful people of McNab, I came up with a monthly TBR Challenge that's fun and random. And that's where it really belongs, and why I took it off my sidebar--the sidebar was getting too long, and only people on the list really play anyway. (although it might go back on, now that Julia's put it on her sidebar) You're still welcome to play, if you like--you can find the various challenges by clicking TBR Challenge under Categories.
August's challenge was to read a book containing your name or the name of a friend or family member. My name isn't all that easy to find in books, so I took the second option and chose...
**** The Simple Truth by David Baldacci. Mystery.
...because the name of the first victim is Michael, which is the name of my brother-in-law.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Rufus Harms has been in a military prison for 25 years of a life sentence for killing a young girl. But he's been having flashbacks, and remembers now what really happened. So he sends an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Michael Fiske, a Supreme Court clerk, finds the appeal, which doesn't follow the proper procedures and should be turned down, but something about it interests him, so he takes it with him to check it out. One of the calls he makes is to his semi-estranged brother John, who's an ex-cop turned defense lawyer.
Before John returns the call, though, Michael is killed, and Sarah Evans, the Supreme Court clerk Michael had proposed to shortly before his death, contacts him, and they begin an investigation that brings them closer together and deeper in danger.
I really enjoyed the conspiracy plot, but the backstory and the Supreme Court tutorial went on too long and interrupted the story too much. It was interesting, but it really wasn't part of the story.
The romance plot, too, bugged me in spots. I had a very hard time understanding why Michael would propose to Sarah, when they'd only dated casually and hadn't even slept together. I also had trouble believing that Sarah fell in love with John at first glance.
But overall, the complex conspiracy and John's complex character saved the story for me.
...more
Categories: Books, 4stars, Mystery, TBRChallenge
First, a little explanation of the TBR Challenge. I have a huge TBR pile--about 400 books, more or less--and obviously, I wanted to read all those books when I bought them. But I noticed that when I just reach for a book to read, I tend to stick to the same kind of books, and overlooking some books so often that I don't even see them anymore.
Then somebody told me about the TBR Challenge concept, which sounded like a great way to get those overlooked books out of the pile, so I surfed around for a while looking for ideas. The problem was that all the ones I found were something like "read a romantic suspense," or "read a cozy mystery." Not very helpful. I already alternated genres, and I knew I'd just keep looking at the same romantic suspense books I looked at every time I browsed the TBR pile. I wanted something more random.
So with the help of the wonderful people of McNab, I came up with a monthly TBR Challenge that's fun and random. And that's where it really belongs, and why I took it off my sidebar--the sidebar was getting too long, and only people on the list really play anyway. (although it might go back on, now that Julia's put it on her sidebar) You're still welcome to play, if you like--you can find the various challenges by clicking TBR Challenge under Categories.
August's challenge was to read a book containing your name or the name of a friend or family member. My name isn't all that easy to find in books, so I took the second option and chose...
**** The Simple Truth by David Baldacci. Mystery.
...because the name of the first victim is Michael, which is the name of my brother-in-law.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Rufus Harms has been in a military prison for 25 years of a life sentence for killing a young girl. But he's been having flashbacks, and remembers now what really happened. So he sends an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Michael Fiske, a Supreme Court clerk, finds the appeal, which doesn't follow the proper procedures and should be turned down, but something about it interests him, so he takes it with him to check it out. One of the calls he makes is to his semi-estranged brother John, who's an ex-cop turned defense lawyer.
Before John returns the call, though, Michael is killed, and Sarah Evans, the Supreme Court clerk Michael had proposed to shortly before his death, contacts him, and they begin an investigation that brings them closer together and deeper in danger.
I really enjoyed the conspiracy plot, but the backstory and the Supreme Court tutorial went on too long and interrupted the story too much. It was interesting, but it really wasn't part of the story.
The romance plot, too, bugged me in spots. I had a very hard time understanding why Michael would propose to Sarah, when they'd only dated casually and hadn't even slept together. I also had trouble believing that Sarah fell in love with John at first glance.
But overall, the complex conspiracy and John's complex character saved the story for me.
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Categories: Books, 4stars, Mystery, TBRChallenge
Labels: 4 stars, books, mystery, tbr challenge
The Stone Flower Garden
**** The Stone Flower Garden by Deborah Smith. Women's fiction.
Hmmmm. I have no idea why this book was in my TBR pile. As far as I can tell, the only thing I've read by Deborah Smith previously is the first two or three Mossy Creek anthologies, and I doubt I'd have bought a book based on that.
Darleen Union and Eli Wade meet as children when the town princess defends the dirt-poor newcomer from bullies. Darl's family owns the Hardigree marble company, which owns the town, and when Darl's grandmother, the matriarch, learns about the Wades, she gives Eli's father a job, and the family a house to live in. When Eli's mathematical genius becomes evident, she puts him to work, too, training him and offering him an education.
Darl and Eli become close friends, and as they grow up, the friendship shows signs of developing into something more. Then Darl's aunt Clara, the black sheep of the family, arrives and makes everyone nervous and upset until she's killed and Eli's father is blamed, and the family leaves town in disgrace.
Twenty-five years later, they're reunited when Eli's sister is determined to find out who really killed Clara, and to clear their father's name. In the process, a lot of secrets people have killed to keep are revealed.
This is a very intensely emotional story, and one that's quite easy to get caught up in. The deep friendships, and the heavy weight of secrets permeate the story from the beginning. The characters are wrenched with guilt and shame, torn by love, and tend to waver between tyranny an martyrdom.
Ultimately, it got to be a bit much for me. I enjoyed the story and the emotional ride up to a point, then I hit emotional overload, and I just wanted it to be over. I admit I have a low tolerance for emotional intensity, so YMMV.
I'll probably look for more Deborah Smith books, though--I like reading something intense and complex like this, just not all that frequently.
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Categories: Books, 4stars, WomensFiction
Labels: 4 stars, books, WomensFiction
Sight Unseen
****½ Sight Unseen by Samantha Graves. Romantic suspense.
I got this book for the Cherry Forums Book Club discussion, to which I actually contributed--my usual reticence got overruled by the fact that I was nominally "in charge" of the discussion. Which is archived here if you're interested.
Raven Callahan is blessed (or cursed) with the gift of psychometry--that is, she can read the history of an object by touching it. It comes in handy in her job: recovering and authenticating stolen artwork.
Dax Maddox was a cop, until a burglary left his partner dead and himself no longer able to see color. Now he's searching for the thief responsible. He knows it wasn't Raven, but he'd caught her casing the same place the unknown thief hit, and now they're after the same painting.
The Raven's colleague is kidnapped, and Raven has to steal a priceless painting as ransom, and she and Dax are forced to work together.
Sight Unseen is fast-paced and exciting, and I don't normally pay much attention to settings, but they go to Cuba in their pursuit, and that was pretty darn fascinating. The suspense plot is nicely convoluted, with some twists I didn't expect, and the romance develops along with the suspense plot. There's also personal growth and change--it hits the mark on all three things I look for in a romantic suspense.
I enjoyed both Raven and Dax, and it was a nice switch to have a bad-girl heroine (she's not the only bad-girl heroine I've ever read, but the bad boys vastly outnumber the bad girls in this genre). Raven's adventurous spirit was infectious, and her aloneness and discomfort with her gift made her sympathetic. Dax was damaged and guilty, but he was also honorable and determined. It was wonderful watching both of them become more at ease with themselves and heal emotionally.
The secondary characters, too, were interesting and three-dimensional. I loved Raven's young protégé Paulie, who I'm thrilled to hear will also make an appearance in the next book. The villains, too, were fleshed out, with believable actions, and more motive than "he's a bad guy."
I'm not going to reveal the romantic climax (heh--not that kind of climax), but I will say that it was one of the loveliest I've ever read--entirely specific to these two characters, and with layers of meaning. I'd read the book again just for that scene, even if I didn't love the rest of the story.
I can't wait for Out of Time next summer, but in the meantime, I think I'll be checking out her work as C. J. Barry. I know there's at least one of her books in my TBR pile.
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Categories: Books, 4.5stars, RomanticSuspense
Labels: 4.5 stars, books, RomanticSuspense
Love and Other Near-Death Experiences
***** Love and Other Near-Death Experiences by Mil Millington. General fiction.
First, a Public Service Announcement: Do not click on the author's name. Normally, on this blog, doing so will take you to the author's website. It does that here, as well, but Mil Millington's website is Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About. It will make you laugh aloud (so your boss will realize you're surfing the internet at work), and put you at risk of snorting coffee through your nose and/or spitting it all over your monitor and keyboard. If you click anyway, it's not my fault. You've been warned.
ETA: by the way, it appears that TMGAIHAA is currently unavailable, so you're safe for the time being. If you're determined to risk it, though, you can get most of the same content at Mil's Apology Homepage. It just takes a little more clicking.
Like Millington's previous two books, Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About (#4), and A Certain Chemistry, Love and Other Near-Death Experiences had me laughing aloud every other page, frequently laughing so hard I'd have tears running down my face and I'd feel compelled to quote funny bits aloud to whoever was handy at the time.
But that's where the similarity ends. If possible, I think this is even better than the first two, and I absolutely loved the first two.
Late-night disk jockey Rob Garland is losing it. Ever since... okay, it's not a spoiler because it's all right there on the cover, but since I make it a policy not to read the back covers of books because I want to get the full effect, it was a little bit of suspense you won't get if I tell. Still, if you're reading this about a book you haven't read yet, you'd likely read the back of the book anyway, right? Okay, then. I feel better now. On we go. Ever since returning some towels made him late for a lunch interview, thereby saving his life when a tanker truck crashes into the restaurant, killing everyone inside, he's been crippled by indecision: which decision was it that saved his life? Was it returning the towels? Or was it buying the towels in the first place? Or maybe it was whatever made him turn and see the towels in the shop window. Or something even more mundane. And what about the future? What if choosing black over blue ink sets in motion the events that will end up killing him? What if it's the blue ink that does it? How can he choose?
It finally gets to be too much for him one night, and instead of playing jazz, he blurts out the whole story on-air. Rather than losing his job, though, he becomes instantly popular, and his show turns into a freak-show talk show with Rob as the main attraction.
But this isn't a case of talking making things better, and his fiancee Jo finally tells him the wedding is off unless he gets his act together, and Rob goes off on a quest, accompanied by three people who also didn't die when they should have: a young American soldier who's appointed himself Rob's bodyguard, an acerbic and suicidal 40-year-old English teacher, and a gorgeous young Welsh Wiccan woman with warnings about a group trying to wight...er, right... the wrongs of unwarranted survival.
I've always loved the butterfly-effect concept anyway--the idea that some minuscule detail could have a huge effect, and the idea that this otherwise normal person is literally paralyzed by indecision is compelling. We get pretty thoroughly inside Rob's head, and it's fascinating how normal a place that is.
There's the mystery and suspense--is someone really after them, or is that just psychological, too? And the developing and changing relationships between the characters--love and friendship and romance. And the slightly askew way of viewing it all that marks Millington's writing and would make me snort tea out my nose if I didn't know better than to drink while reading his books.
Just a complete joy to read.
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Categories: Books, 5stars, GeneralFiction
Labels: 5 stars, books, GeneralFiction
An Unladylike Offer
****½ An Unladylike Offer by Christine Merrill. Historical romance.
I read this for the Cherry Forums Book Club. Unfortunately, I missed the discussion. You can find it here.
Esme Canville is desperate. She's been subjected to her father's abuse since her mother abandoned them, and now her last hope for escape through marriage is gone: the man her father has chosen to marry her off to is old, and just as cruel as her father.
Banished to her room, she watches out the window and sees a shocking scene: Cpt. St. John Radwell and his mistress having an argument. St. John has let his mistress go, but what's so amazing to Esme, giving her an idea and a glimmer of hope, is that despite the mistress screaming and throwing things, St. John remained calm and never laid a hand on her.
St. John needs a mistress; Esme needs an escape. He's a kind man, and while becoming a mistress will ruin her in the eyes of society, she's been kept from society anyway, so it's no great loss.
So she sneaks out of the house at night and propositions him.
St. John, however, has been trying to turn over a new leaf. He's tired of war, and semi-estranged from his family after trying to seduce his brother's bride (in the preceding book, which is still in my TBR pile). The last thing his reputation needs is to seduce a virgin, and a lady. Adding to the urgency is his last chance to make something of himself: an inheritance he'll receive only if he remains scandal-free for a year. So he swallows his pride and bundles her off to his brother's house for safekeeping.
This pair is just so.... likable, and easy to sympathize with. St. John is truly trying to make amends to his family, and he doesn't deny or minimize his sins--in fact, he accepts more blame than he's really due, understanding that his past is the cause of the suspicion.
Esme, too, is strong and brave and... I was going to say self-effacing, but that's not really it. Both of them are distinctly lacking in a sense of entitlement that I found very appealing. They're both trying to improve their lives, but they're trying to do so by their own efforts. I fell in love with them both.
I also really liked the authentic feel of this story. So often in Regency romances, the characters end up flouting society's rules with impunity. Not so, here. For example, they have to come up with ingenious ways to keep Esme out of her father's and his choice of bridegroom's clutches, and to explain her absence, rather than just spiriting her away.
I'm looking forward to digging An Inconvenient Duchess out of the TBR pile, and I'll be keeping an eye open for Chris's next book: A Wicked Liaison.
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Categories: Books, 4.5stars, HistoricalRomance
Labels: 4.5 stars, books, HistoricalRomance
Innocence
****½ Innocence by Suzanne Forster. Romantic suspense.
I got this at the flea market, years ago, and it just made its way to the top of the TBR mountain. I was underwhelmed by the other Suzanne Forster books I'd read, so I didn't expect much from this one. Turns out it appears that Forster is one of those authors with a steep learning curve.
Despite its innocent (heh) title, Innocence is really dark. Sort of on the order of Anne Stuart or Laura Kinsale. In fact, it's as much a psychological thriller as it is a romantic suspense. Which is why I enjoyed it so much--I love that sort of thing.
Mary Frances Murphy was the "good" sister. So much so, that she planned on becoming a nun. Until she was kicked out of the convent.
Her sister Brianna was the "bad" sister. And she became a call girl with the Cherries agency. When Brianna is killed, Mary Frances poses as a call girl herself to find the killer, with some help from an old school friend, Blue.
While Blue's helping Mary Frances, she meets and is attracted by the local priest, and her reaction is "what a waste!" So she sets about to seduce him.
Mary Frances, meanwhile, is irresistibly drawn to the cruel and powerful Webb Calderon, who's suspected of killing her sister. She knows he's dangerous, but she can't stay away.
Webb is cold and cruel, and Mary Frances's innocence may be the only thing that can save him.
The whole book is, as I said, dark, dark, dark. No assassins with hearts of gold here. Webb's reputation is well-earned. There are no easy answers, either. Blue's priest, for example, doesn't reveal that he's actually Episcopalian. The characters all struggle with desire and duty and right and wrong, and especially with their own natures. By the time I got to the ending, I was wrung-out, exhausted, and exhilarated.
This is also one of those times when an epilogue (also known as the last half of chapter 28, seven years later) is not only okay, it's pretty essential. It's not one of those checklist epilogues--2.7 kids, a dog, still hot for each other, check, check, check,--it completes the story.
I've really got to look for more Suzanne Forster books. Anyone have any recommendations?
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Categories: Books, 4.5stars, RomanticSuspense
Labels: 4.5 stars, books, RomanticSuspense
