Winter reads, Lightning reviews

Well it's been quite some time since I've blogged about anything book related. Dunno how that happens but I claim RL interference and the whole packing/moving shebang that claimed my holiday break. However, I did manage to get through a little stack of library books in between sorting through boxes, and I'm going to take the easy way out and do some "lightning" reviews.

Stephanie Laurens - The Taste of Innocence

Laurens was one of the first authors that got me really hooked on romance and I remember buying each and every one of the Cynster series back in college. Since then, I've gotten rather weary of the way her writing seems to repeat itself. But I figured that it might be interesting to read another entry and see if the magic was still there.

Sadly, no not really. It starts off well enough. Charles Morwellan (the younger brother of Alathea who married Gabriel Cynster in All About Love) decides that he needs a wife and that rather than risk falling in lurve, he'll marry someone sensible and safe. Like the neighboring landowner's daughter, Sarah. She seems nice and sweet and stuff, but he runs into a problem when she refuses to accept his proposal outright. She wants some time to figure out if they'd be a good match and so he is forced to do some courting. In true Cynster fashion, that means seduction and lots of little forays to a secluded gazebo where he can make it to first base, second base, third, etc. This part was pretty good and typically Laurensian hot. Unfortunately, once they get married, Charles turns into a raging idiot and almost ruins the whole story. Apparently he has this thing where he fears that love and passion will destroy him (like his father), so while he'll happily boink his wife at night, he is cold and abrupt with her in the day. Totally cuts her out of his life and is a real ass. Thankfully, Sarah is not too much of a ninny and she figures out whats what and manages to kick some sense into him by the end. Oh and there is a mystery plot about some nefarious land developers. Overall, it wasn't a BAD read, but it wasn't great either. Readers that have not OD'ed on Laurens may feel otherwise, but I'm left feeling that the Cynster glory days are over. I may as well just go back and reread Devil's Bride. The original is still the best.
B-

Linda Lael Miller - High Country Bride

Next, I moved on to something really out of my regular reading zone. I think I've read one LLM book before (I recall it being about a girl who got zipped back to the past and met a pirate...or something) but she's not a go-to author. Nor am I a big fan of Westerns (unless they are the smokin' hawt Sarah McCarty kind, heh). However, the premise of a mail order bride, a handsome cowboy, and a family ranch (ala Bonanza) sounded like it could be good. Crusty old landowner patriarch gives an ultimatum to his three wild sons - "the first one to marry and produce a child gets the whole ranch, the other two get nothing". That's kind of entertaining, no? Unfortunately, this turned out to be a totally wallpaper romance. All of the elements were there but there was no passion and no feeling of the characters being anything other than just that...characters. I didn't care about any of them even after spending 400 pages with them.
C-

Nora Roberts - Morrigan's Cross

While I've read a handful of NR books, I don't usually make a point of seeking them out. Probably because for the most part I avoid contemps and that seems to be the bulk of what she writes. That said, I've always found her to be a very capable storyteller. This book was quite entertaining, and I was surprised to find vampires, shapeshifters, wizards and witches, as well as time-travel and goddesses. An intrepid group is called together by the goddess Morrigan to fight the evil vampire horde. How they learn to get along with one another and become a team is really the bulk of the story. The romance between two of the group members almost feels like a side plot, which would be my main criticism. However, I found myself turning the pages and wanting to know what happens next. I'm definitely going to look for the next two entries in the trilogy when I visit my library.
B+

Marjorie M. Liu - The Last Twilight

This is part of the Dirk and Steele series. I read one previously and remembered it being engaging but also very dark and violent. The heros/heroines all seem to be a bit like the X-men, mutants or shifters with special powers who have to watch out for evil scientists who want to use and abuse them. What drew me to this book was that it was set in Africa and the back blurb indicated that the hero was African. Given that my own romantic interest is from that part of the world, I was eager to read a book that featured an African hero. It was the best part of the book for me. I always try to imagine what characters look like when I read, and I kept getting a little thrill out of seeing MY guy in my mind's eye. Is that shallow? heh. Other than that, the story was certainly action packed and moved along at a brisk pace. What I disliked was the level of gore and how each damn time our characters think they're safe, they get cornered by the bad guys yet again. All seems lost....over and over again. And the bad guys are really sick. Just...ugh. I don't think I'll read any more of this series because my stomach can't handle it. But it may appeal to other readers. Thumbs up for the unique hero though. :)
B-

Sabrina Jeffries - Beware a Scots Revenge

I'm not sure how to grade this one. It's not bad but also not particularly memorable either. Venetia Campbell is visiting Scotland and is kidnapped by a sexy stranger who just happens to be a childhood playmate and her father's sworn enemy. Lots of squabbling ensues during their journey to the Highlands. Some comic, some eye-rollingly formulaic. Of course there are sparks between them but oh noes, she really shouldn't be dallying with him. But then it seems that he's just been misunderstood and perhaps her father is in the wrong in their feud. At a certain point, it's like someone switched a lightbulb and she goes from hating him to wanting to marry him. Which was clearly the way the story had to go, but it happened too abruptly for me. Anyways, it's easy enough to read and has some good moments, but overall this was pretty forgettable.
C+

We're having an inclement weather day here which means that work has been cancelled. I'm not complaining one bit. I may just walk around the corner to the library and pick up some more reading material. *g*

moar tyme off!

I'm enjoying my time off and yesterday I spent most of the morning and early afternoon shopping and not really buying. lol. I went to all the local thrift stores to scope out stuff like furniture and housewares for the new apartment, hit the "bargain" stores where they have overstocks and random selections of things not wanted by the major department stores. You just never know WHAT you'll find and lord knows, I am not too proud to buy no-name stuff. Anyways, it was kinda fun regardless of the traffic (on a Monday?!) and crowds. I picked up a pair of indoor slippers for DF, his Christmas present. We are going very economical this year. Probably just one or two small useful gifts each. Our money needs to be saved for the new apartment and oh yeah, that wedding thing. heh.

One of the stops in my turn about town was at the aforementioned library. I wanted to pick up some books to tide me over during the holiday season. Rather than doing a lot of research, I just grabbed some random titles, some by authors I haven't read and some that aren't in genres that I normally read. It can't hurt...they're library books and free. (yay!) Here is my wee haul...


I've been doing more cooking lately which is both a money saver and also a hobby of mine that actually relaxes me. Last night I whipped up a pizza using all of the leftover toppings and sauce that we had from last week. It kind of amazes me to think that for about $4 in ingredients I can make a pizza as large as a $15 one in a delivery place. I make my crust from scratch (yep, water, yeast, flour, etc. knead and rise) and one never knows exactly how it will turn out. Always an adventure. Anyways, it was good and DF and I devoured the whole thing over a marathon of Little People, Big World. If you haven't seen it, this is a great little show on TLC about a family made up of dwarf parents and their kids, whom are both regular-sized and dwarf. The show basically just follows their lives and how they make their way in a big-sized world. It's very interesting in a 'real life' sort of way without a lot of gimmicky stuff. Last night's episodes included the very sad death of a family friend and it got both DF and I all teary-eyed. If anything, it reminded us that life is short and that it's very important to let the ones you love know how much you care.

Speaking of the people you care about, I'm happy to say that the anticipated conflict with my parents over my engagement has actually not materialized in the way I had expected. They have been pretty circumspect and although I know they wish I would marry a nice Christian boy, they do like DF and know he is a good person. Overall, I think it will be ok. Still a bit uncomfortable and tricky in terms of people not stepping on each others toes and all, but it seems that we're all trying to be adults about it. They want to be at the wedding and my mom offered to send me a bit of money to help defray the costs of the dress. So that is unexpected. And hopefully a good omen for the future. :)

Finally, I share with you all a neat little link to an online radio service I use a lot through the holidays. It doesn't cost anything and requires no special software downloads. You can pick your favorite kind of holiday music (classic, religious, jazz, contemporary, etc.) or make a mix. I like to have it playing on my computer while I blog and surf the web. So for anyone who's interested, I hope you enjoy.

And now I am off to read a bit, sort through my stuff a bit (gotta begin the packing thing) and probably make my Christmas dinner cooking list. Even though it's just DF and me, I am going to make the whole dinner including a turkey. *g*

library take

I really like the whole 'put it on hold using the internet and get an email when it's ready' thing at my library. In this case, the book I snagged was Lisa Kleypas' Seduce Me at Sunrise. Sure it's a hard-cover, large-print edition, but so what? I didn't have to pay for it. heh. I am looking forward to this one. Gypsy heros...yum! I hope it is as good as my expectations. At the very least, the cover is delish. lol.



While there, I quickly scanned the shelves for a few more books to take home and ended up with The Temptation a medieval by Claudia Dain and Confessions at Midnight by Jacquie D'Allessandro. I am trying to remember if I've ever read any Claudia Dain. I don't think so. I do like a well-written medieval, so again...hopeful but cautious. I already sped through the D'Allessandro book this morning. It was cute and hot and a very easy read. A widow who is not only NOT a virgin but who loved her late husband and misses teh sex. How refreshing. *g* I'd recommend it for a low-angst comfort read.


And finally, a pictorial response to my pahtnah's recent James Bond post. hey, lb, here's lookin' at you kid.

showing my true colors

If you hadn't noticed yet, I'm not a blogger that reads a lot of new releases. I do try to get about one a month or so depending on the author and the buzz, but honestly, I can't afford all new books all the time. I'm a huge fan of the library and more recently started using paperbackswap a lot. Oh and then there is always trading with other online bloggers and buddies. (thank goodness for the ARC fairy).

Yesterday, I made it to the library before closing time, and after dropping off the DVDs that were due, I made the requisite head-turned-sideways shuffle down the paperback shelves. For some reason I wasn't in the mood to take chances and instead ended up with a lot of old favorites that were just begging for a re-read.

First off, I made a beeline for the classic Lord of Scoundrels. Apparently, enjoying this novel makes me a woman who is either the equivalent of a 13 year old masochist or who likes abusive heros. Huh? Alrighty then. Honestly, I don't mind people disliking books that I like. Heaven knows I hate a lot of books that get raves. But you don't have to make assumptions about the "kind of women" who read a book you don't enjoy, do you? Oh well. I am determined to make lemonade out of lemons. Last month, I read a thread at AAR about how someone hated The Serpent Prince, so I picked it up and reread it...and loved it even more! That person did me a big favor by getting me interested in the book again. So I will happily reread LOS and feel the lurve once more.

I kept going down the alphabet and saw a group of Jane Feather books. Now back in the day, I used to read Feather a lot. I'm not sure what happened but I haven't read her in years. Well, I seem to remember reading The Hostage Bride and enjoying it. And it was so long ago that it might as well be new to me. Into the stack it went.


Next up, the Kleypas section. Ooh, Dreaming of You was back on the shelf. Our library's copy of this book is tattered and worn and speaks to how beloved it is. It's rarely on the shelf, so when I see it, I often just have to grab it. Yeah, I've read it, but it's always good. A comfort read. And this will be my first time reading it post N&S. Richard Armitage dancing through my head as Derek? Natch.


After K comes L. And what could be a better guilty pleasure (and probably shows how much of a tasteless romance reader I am at heart) than a reread of Stephanie Laurens' Devil's Bride? I think Laurens' Cynster books were the first set of pb romance novels that I actually spent money on and purchased new. They seemed awesome in college. Ok, so that whole Cynster schtick hasn't really aged well and nowadays they all blend together, but going back to the ORIGINAL is always a good time. Devil and Honoria. Alpha male falls in love at first sight. To have and to hold. la ti da ti da....

So far all of my choices were re-reads. Comfort food, so to speak. I thought that I ought to include at least one new-to-me book. I believe I may be the only blogger in romancelandia who hasn't glommed and followed the entire JD Robb In Death series. And I'm not shooting to read all 500 or so books just to catch up with everyone. BUT I thought it would be worth seeing what all the fuss is about, so since Naked In Death was in stock, I semi-reluctantly topped off my stack with it.

Who knows when I'll get a chance to read all of these great books. Manlove Monday is coming up and I need to go away and collect my deep thoughts so that I can be worthy of participating in such a weighty event.