I interrupted my reading of Mercy to pounce on a book my mother brought home yesterday: El Vino de la Muerte (The Wine of Death), by Alvaro Alfonso. The melodramatic title refers to an episode which happened here in Uruguay in 1978, during the dictatorship, when 3 leaders of the National Party received bottles containing poisoned wine. One person (the wife of one of them) died, and the book chronicles the episode and the unsuccessful investigation.

It was an interesting book, especially because it's hard to find books here which deal with things that happened during the dictatorship without showing an obvious bias.

Mercy, by Julie Garwood

The next one I'm reading is Julie Garwood's Mercy (Pandora's Box on this book). Up to now, I've only read her historicals, and they don't work for me. However, lots of people have mentioned they didn't like her historicals but loved her contemps, so I'm willing to give her a try.

Book description:

"In Mercy, Theo Buchanan, the brother of FBI agent Nick Buchanan from Heartbreaker, Garwood's first foray into suspense fiction, meets surgeon Dr. Michelle "Mike" Renard when he throws up on her designer dress at a New Orleans gala. Dr. Mike saves Theo's life with an emergency appendectomy, enabling him to return to Boston and his job as a federal prosecutor.

But Theo can't stop thinking about Mike and her little hometown on the bayou. After concluding an investigation and trial that brings down a powerful organized crime syndicate, Theo receives several death threats and his boss recommends he keep a low profile. What better place to go incognito than Bowen, Louisiana, where the catfish practically throw themselves at your fishing pole and where a certain pretty young doctor is opening her new practice? But when Theo arrives, he finds life in Bowen isn't quite as idyllic as he thought. Someone has ransacked Mike's new office and seems dead set on harming her. As Theo struggles to protect Mike, he uncovers a ring of upper-crust criminals willing to do anything, even murder, to keep their dirty little secret--all $40 million of it--from being discovered. What connection could they possibly have to Mike? And why does everyone under the age of 18 keep calling Theo "Coach"?"

Posted later...

Finished Mercy, and I enjoyed some parts and hated others. The final grade would be a C+.

The two elements that bother me the most about Julie Garwood's historicals were present here, but were less intense. Her hyper-simplistic style continued to bother me, but maybe because of the contemporary setting, it sounded less out of place and I could tolerate it. The idiotic heroine was a bit more problematic, basically because her episodes of idiocy alternated with episodes of bright intelligence. The woman was a surgeon, for heaven's sake! She's usually extremely capable and smart, but in most of her interactions with Theo I wanted to throw the book against the wall. She becomes 15! Luckily, this improves as the book continues, so ok, I could finish it.

Theo, on the other hand, was really nice. My favourite kind of hero. I especially loved his scenes with Noah and with John Paul. Really funny stuff. He does become a bit to much of a warrior in the final action scenes, which wasn't very realistic (for once, I'd like to read about a hero who doesn't have much physical courage!), but in balance, he was great.

I didn't enjoy the suspense subplot. I was very, very bored by all the stuff about the Sowing Club. It sounded too contrived to me. Near the end, I actually skimmed through the final action sequences. And Monk... I don't see the fascination with him. As I said, all very boring. The only bright spot related to this was the final scene, when John realizes what's happening. That was an excellent ending: suggestive and very appropriate.

Finally, though I liked the swamp as a setting, I hated the parasitic, manipulative people of Bowen. They were users, as was Michelle's dad.

All in all, though Mercy was readable, I don't think I'll try Garwood again. I've given her historical's a chance and no luck. I've given her contemps a chance and no luck either. I give up!

I finished My Sexiest Mistake in one sitting. It was GREAT! An A-.

Like Vicki Lewis Thompson's Acting on Impulse, this one is what I though (or wished) the Blaze line would be like. Real adult people, with modern lives. Cade and Ryan were all that (though Ryan was a little bit too inexperienced for my taste). They had interesting jobs, and I actually identified with Ryan, working in a job she didn't like (for the record, I love the job I have now. I'm talking about when I worked in a bank's Marketing department.), and wanting to switch jobs but wanting to be sure of the next one before she left her current job. And it was fun that she was a romance writer. Loved it when Cade asked her what she wrote and she said "Hmm, Women's Fiction"! And when Helene wants her to hire a publicist and she says "I'm not exactly Nora Roberts"? LOL! I only had one little quibble with Cade's job. Hardy never mentions if this is happening before or after the dot-com bomb, so I kept worrying that eTrain.com would go bust in a few months. Do you know how few dot-com IPOs were successful after this?

I also loved the fact that both Ryan and Cade had friends. Becka, especially, was great, so I was happy to find out her story's coming out next year.

But the best part was the great chemistry between Cade and Ryan. Their falling in love was very believable, and the love scenes were HOT!. However, the only thing that I didn't like about the book also relates to their relationship, and it was the ending. I'm realizing I don't like it when it's the heroine who says "I love you" first and the hero who runs away. I don't like it when the roles are reversed either, but at least I can tolerate it. In this case, the ending also felt a little rushed.

Anyway, it was still a great book, in spite of a few little problems.

My Sexiest Mistake, by Kristin Hardy

I started reading a Blaze I got last week: My Sexiest Mistake, by Kristin Hardy. The premise sounds a bit contrived, but I think I'll still enjoy it.

Blurb

A simple mistake... A sexy mistake...

In fact, it would be the most incredibly sexy mistake of their lives. One minute, Cade Douglas, delectable Boston businessman, is signaling for a waitress in the bar of a very fashionable hotel. The next, he's nearly racing upstairs with a beautiful stranger, who'd answered his summons instead.

Gorgeous Ryan Donnelly can't believe it's all happened so smoothly. Before arriving, she had imagined how awkward it would be to meet the gigolo who'd been hired for her. Her gigolo. Her secret lover. The one who would ignite the intense passion she wasn't sure she'd ever experienced.

She was the one, the one who would fill his senses, save his soul. Cade was certain of it.

He was the one, summoning her so casually, so confidently. Ryan was certain of it, of him.

If they'd only known.

Posted later...

I finished My Sexiest Mistake in one sitting. It was GREAT! An A-.

Like Vicki Lewis Thompson's Acting on Impulse, this one is what I though (or wished) the Blaze line would be like. Real adult people, with modern lives. Cade and Ryan were all that (though Ryan was a little bit too inexperienced for my taste). They had interesting jobs, and I actually identified with Ryan, working in a job she didn't like (for the record, I love the job I have now. I'm talking about when I worked in a bank's Marketing department.), and wanting to switch jobs but wanting to be sure of the next one before she left her current job. And it was fun that she was a romance writer. Loved it when Cade asked her what she wrote and she said "Hmm, Women's Fiction"! And when Helene wants her to hire a publicist and she says "I'm not exactly Nora Roberts"? LOL! I only had one little quibble with Cade's job. Hardy never mentions if this is happening before or after the dot-com bomb, so I kept worrying that eTrain.com would go bust in a few months. Do you know how few dot-com IPOs were successful after this?

I also loved the fact that both Ryan and Cade had friends. Becka, especially, was great, so I was happy to find out her story's coming out next year.

But the best part was the great chemistry between Cade and Ryan. Their falling in love was very believable, and the love scenes were HOT!. However, the only thing that I didn't like about the book also relates to their relationship, and it was the ending. I'm realizing I don't like it when it's the heroine who says "I love you" first and the hero who runs away. I don't like it when the roles are reversed either, but at least I can tolerate it. In this case, the ending also felt a little rushed.

Anyway, it was still a great book, in spite of a few little problems.

I finally managed to finish The Stone Forest. Luckily it got moving at the end, when Jenna decides in earnest to really start investigating what happened to Mandi. The solution mostly made sense, and the last quarter of the book was easier to read, so this meant my grade for the book was bumped up from D to C. However, this one still goes on my trade shelf. It was obvious, actually. It's not a good sign when a book takes you 2 weeks to read.

I had lots of problems with this book:

• The dialogue sounded wrong. Strictly the dialogue, the rest of the writting style didn't bother me. Gil (who's supposed to be English) was especially badly done. He sounded like an American trying to sound British and not succeeding very much. A couple of "bloodys", a couple of "blokes" is not enough. Incidentally, I'm no specialist on Brit-speak, but it seems to me you don't call someone "you bloke".
• Mace never really came alive to me. I never understood what made him tick. Jenna I did get, but he remained an enigma to the very end.
• The love story between Jenna and Mace was terrible. It made no sense. When he first kisses her, for instance, I went "huh?, What are they doing". The problem was probably that they had 0 chemistry together.
• Jenna sometimes behaved TSTL.

The only things that I liked were the setting (the caving expedition at the end of the book was great) and Mace and Jenna's occupations, which were fun and original. Otherwise, this book was a waste of time.

I'm done with The Hippopotamus Pool, and it was very good, though not as good as other books in the series, so it gets a B+.

I don't even need to mention what I enjoyed about this, because it was the same as always, the Emersons, the archeology, the Egyptian setting, yadda, yadda, yadda. All that was great. With the added bonus of having the archeological part of this even more fascinating this time and having David introduced as a character.

Problems? A couple. Ramses wasn't such an important character here as in other books. The suspense part was a bit too convoluted, and Ricetti wasn't a very good villain. Otherwise, enjoyable, re-readable book.

I'm still reading The Hippopotamus Pool and have resumed reading The Stone Forest. So far, I've been able to get into it better than last week, though I don't know why that idiot Jenna doesn't treat the harassment she's getting as the grave matter that it is.

I finished The Vicar's Daughter last night, and it was good, though it didn't really live up to all the hype. It would be a B for me.

Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but I didn't love it, and I didn't even think it was Simmons' best book. And I had quite a few problems with it, one of which I've already mentioned, which was having a 17-year-old as a heroine, paired with a hero over 10 years older. Very icky for me. Also, though Max was quite well-drawn, Charlotte's characterization wasn't so good. For a long time, the logic of her thought processes simply eluded me. She kept going back and forth: "I'll try to win Max" - "no, it's no use" - "He might feel something for me, I have some hope" - "He just feels sorry for me". Aghhhhh!!

Oh, and the ending was terrible. First, those last 50 pages, with a tacked on abduction to add conflict (these seems to be a regular problem in Simmons' regency-set books. I had the exact same problem with The Devil Earl and, to some extent, The Last Rogue.) Then, the horrendous epilogue. Poor Charlotte not only has had to wait like 10 years to finally visit Greece, but she finally goes with her 7 brats! Yes, count them, 7!!! I bet she really enjoys that trip. Sorry, too much for me.

Reading what I've written so far, it sounds as if I hated the book. Not so. The protagonists had a lot of chemistry, and I kinda liked them, and there were quite a few funny moments. And the book was quite hot, with lots of internal lusting, which I love. It's just I was expecting more, and got a book that was just nice.

I've just come to a decision. I refuse to keep reading discussions about Sam and Alyssa (from Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooters series). I usually love talking about characters and books I enjoyed, and these two are characters I adored, but I'm sick of hearing about them. I'll refrain from reading any thread about them in AAR message boards, and I'll just read the books in the series.

I'm liking these 2 so far, but I'm having the same problem with The Vicar's Daughter that I had with Cullman's For All Eternity. Basically, that the heroine is 17. Yes, I know, it's historically accurate, but ick! I've decided to pretend she's 5 years older in my head. Otherwise, I just know I won't be able to enjoy this book.

The Vicar's Daughter, by Deborah Simmons

I also started a book I was very much looking forward to reading, The Vicar's Daughter, by Deborah Simmons. It's quite hard to find, and I only got it this week.

Blurb:

"Charlotte Trowbridge has been looking forward to her London season since she was a little girl. It will be her opportunity to meet eligible men and bring home a husband who will help take care of her family. But when she meets the new owner of the Great House, she knows she doesn't need to go to London to find the man she wants to marry. The Earl of Wycliffe is everything she could want in a husband. Unfortunately, she is only a country girl from Sussex and the vicar's daughter -- he would never want her.

Maximilian, Earl of Wycliffe, is charmed by the vicar's daughter-- and her entire family with all its boisterous children. He offers to look out for Charlotte during her time in London and he promises the vicar he will find a suitable husband for her. Yet once Charlotte arrives in London, he finds fault with every one of her suitors no matter what their wealth or title! The vicar's daughter has a strange affect on Maximilian, but he is determined to act as her guardian. So why does he keep ending up in compromising positions with the young lady? Realizing she will never be happy marrying another man, Charlotte sets her sights on Max, even though she knows he wouldn't marry a simple country girl. She wants to help her family, but she loves Max and often finds herself in situations that will bring him to her rescue. His self-control stretched to the limits, Max finds Charlotte's escapades irritating and a disruption to his rigid schedule. Her beauty and intelligence are an attractive combination and he finally decides that the only way to stop the advances of her suitors is to marry her himself. But one of her scorned suitors interrupts their wedded bliss and this time Charlotte can't wait for Max to rescue her!"

Posted later...

I finished The Vicar's Daughter last night, and it was good, though it didn't really live up to all the hype. It would be a B for me.

Don't get me wrong, I liked it, but I didn't love it, and I didn't even think it was Simmons' best book. And I had quite a few problems with it, one of which I've already mentioned, which was having a 17-year-old as a heroine, paired with a hero over 10 years older. Very icky for me. Also, though Max was quite well-drawn, Charlotte's characterization wasn't so good. For a long time, the logic of her thought processes simply eluded me. She kept going back and forth: "I'll try to win Max" - "no, it's no use" - "He might feel something for me, I have some hope" - "He just feels sorry for me". Aghhhhh!!

Oh, and the ending was terrible. First, those last 50 pages, with a tacked on abduction to add conflict (these seems to be a regular problem in Simmons' regency-set books. I had the exact same problem with The Devil Earl and, to some extent, The Last Rogue.) Then, the horrendous epilogue. Poor Charlotte not only has had to wait like 10 years to finally visit Greece, but she finally goes with her 7 brats! Yes, count them, 7!!! I bet she really enjoys that trip. Sorry, too much for me.

Reading what I've written so far, it sounds as if I hated the book. Not so. The protagonists had a lot of chemistry, and I kinda liked them, and there were quite a few funny moments. And the book was quite hot, with lots of internal lusting, which I love. It's just I was expecting more, and got a book that was just nice.

The Hippopotamus Pool, by Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody #8)

I simply couldn't resist and started the next Amelia, The Hippopotamus Pool.

Plot summary:

The prolific Peters' latest features intrepid British feminist and Egyptologist extraordinaire Amelia Peabody Emerson. Amelia, along with handsome husband Radcliffe, precocious son Ramses, and attractive young ward Nefret, returns to her beloved Thebes, this time to excavate a heretofore undiscovered tomb that supposedly contains the remains--and priceless treasures--of Queen Tetisheri. Amelia's old nemesis, the Master Criminal, may be gone, but there are still plenty of obstacles to overcome: heat, bats, rock avalanches, assorted thieves and scoundrels, greedy antiquities dealers, pesky tourists, and ambitious journalists, not to mention a wickedly tricky art dealer with the physique of a hippopotamus and a mousy governess who's not the quiet scholar she first seems. The excavation is progressing satisfactorily if slowly. Then Ramses and Nefret are kidnapped. Terrified for the youngsters' safety, Amelia must use all of her considerable detecting skills--including the dreaded parasol-weapon--to find out who has taken the children and why.

I'm done with The Hippopotamus Pool, and it was very good, though not as good as other books in the series, so it gets a B+.

I don't even need to mention what I enjoyed about this, because it was the same as always, the Emersons, the archeology, the Egyptian setting, yadda, yadda, yadda. All that was great. With the added bonus of having the archeological part of this even more fascinating this time and having David introduced as a character.

Problems? A couple. Ramses wasn't such an important character here as in other books. The suspense part was a bit too convoluted, and Ricetti wasn't a very good villain. Otherwise, enjoyable, re-readable book.

what fun! Shield's Lady was great, an A-! The setting was well drawn and very interesting. It was similar, but not the same as the the ones of her other Futuristics, which could have been confusing. However, she succeeded in making its rules completely clear and everything made sense to me.

The characters, Sariana and Gryph, were perfect for this. Sariana was very intelligent, and I loved the way she reacted when things didn't go the way she wanted them to. She didn't throw temper tantrums. She did what she could to resist, and if she saw there was no way to do so, she simply analyzed the best way to deal with the new circumstances. And Gryph, though a teeny bit more alpha than I usually like, was perfect for her. The thing is, JAK's heroes are always betas inside, even when they are supposed to be warriors. These 2 were great together; I enjoyed seeing how much Gryph truly needed Sariana, and how he felt helpless against his feelings. And the love scenes... I'd say Burning!

The weakest element of the book was the suspense subplot, which was much too predictable. The moment Targyn was mentioned, I was sure he was the one behind the disappearance of the prisma cutter. Still, a great book. I'll be looking for JAK's other futuristics.

Shield's Lady, by Jayne Ann Krentz

I did start something else, an old book by Jayne Ann Krentz, written under her Amanda Glass pseudonym. The title is Shield's Lady, and this is no reissue, it's got the old cover, with no mention of JAK on the cover... probably the reason why I could afford a copy. ;-)

Plot summary:

Born and raised in the far-off East on the Planet Windarra, Sariana Dayne's business expertise is desperately needed by the West sector's flamboyant Avylyn clan, but even her cool logic can't solve a serious business theft. Desperate, she devises a scheme to employ a member of the warrior Shield clan in the recovery operation. Unfortunately for Sariana's peace of mind, her practical plan turns shaky when she gazes into the fierce eyes of the Shield mercenary Gryph Chassyn, and realizes that she may have bitten off more than she can chew.

Gryph takes one look at Sariana and decides that she's one of the few women in the world who could become his Shield mate. Unfamiliar with the West sector's Shield society, Sariana can't even guess what mating with Gryph will do to her life--she only knows he stirs a depth of passion in her that she can't deny. Before she grasps the consequences, Sariana is allied with the powerful mercenary and they set off on a dangerous journey to recover the stolen prism cutter. Along the way, they discover unexpected possibilities in their bonding, even as their lives are threatened with deadly peril. And if they can only survive the obstacles, Gryph and Sariana just may change the future of Shield society forever.

So far, this is great. I'm loving it. This is JAK in top form, and I feel a glom coming up.

Posted later...

What fun! Shield's Lady was great, an A-! The setting was well drawn and very interesting. It was similar, but not the same as the the ones of her other Futuristics, which could have been confusing. However, she succeeded in making its rules completely clear and everything made sense to me.

The characters, Sariana and Gryph, were perfect for this. Sariana was very intelligent, and I loved the way she reacted when things didn't go the way she wanted them to. She didn't throw temper tantrums. She did what she could to resist, and if she saw there was no way to do so, she simply analyzed the best way to deal with the new circumstances. And Gryph, though a teeny bit more alpha than I usually like, was perfect for her. The thing is, JAK's heroes are always betas inside, even when they are supposed to be warriors. These 2 were great together; I enjoyed seeing how much Gryph truly needed Sariana, and how he felt helpless against his feelings. And the love scenes... I'd say Burning!

The weakest element of the book was the suspense subplot, which was much too predictable. The moment Targyn was mentioned, I was sure he was the one behind the disappearance of the prisma cutter. Still, a great book. I'll be looking for JAK's other futuristics.

I haven't been able to get into The Stone Forest and Heaven's Fire at all. Now that the weekend's here, I think I'll just start reading something else. I mean, I have to make the most of my weekend, right? Plus, I got a big bagful of books on Wednesday, and I'm dying to read some of them. I'll continue reading these 2 next Monday.

The Stone Forest, by Karen Harper

The other book I started is The Stone Forest, by Karen Harper. Sounds interesting.

Plot summary:

"On Jenna Kirk's 16th birthday the day of her first kiss from her longtime crush, Mace MacCamon, her charismatic older sister's boyfriend Jenna and her sister, Mandi, are abducted from the yard of their home in a Midwestern quarry town. Several days later, Jenna alone is found wandering in her grandfather's stone forest of eerie carvings, drugged, with her memory gone.

Fifteen years later, Jenna returns to uncover the truth. But as she regains her memory, someone tries to scare her off, and the culprit may be someone she trusts most: Mace, who was the prime suspect in Mandi's presumed death; Jenna's driven mother, who's utilized the tragedy to become Indiana's first female lieutenant governor; a psychiatrist who has urged Jenna to repress rather than work through her past; or a stalker who's either a Norman Bates-type psycho in women's clothes or Mandi back from the dead"

Posted later...

I'm still reading The Hippopotamus Pool and have resumed reading The Stone Forest. So far, I've been able to get into it better than last week, though I don't know why that idiot Jenna doesn't treat the harassment she's getting as the grave matter that it is.

...and posted later still:

I finally managed to finish The Stone Forest. Luckily it got moving at the end, when Jenna decides in earnest to really start investigating what happened to Mandi. The solution mostly made sense, and the last quarter of the book was easier to read, so this meant my grade for the book was bumped up from D to C. However, this one still goes on my trade shelf. It was obvious, actually. It's not a good sign when a book takes you 2 weeks to read.

I had lots of problems with this book:

• The dialogue sounded wrong. Strictly the dialogue, the rest of the writting style didn't bother me. Gil (who's supposed to be English) was especially badly done. He sounded like an American trying to sound British and not succeeding very much. A couple of "bloodys", a couple of "blokes" is not enough. Incidentally, I'm no specialist on Brit-speak, but it seems to me you don't call someone "you bloke".


• Mace never really came alive to me. I never understood what made him tick. Jenna I did get, but he remained an enigma to the very end.


• The love story between Jenna and Mace was terrible. It made no sense. When he first kisses her, for instance, I went "huh?, What are they doing". The problem was probably that they had 0 chemistry together.


• Jenna sometimes behaved TSTL.

The only things that I liked were the setting (the caving expedition at the end of the book was great) and Mace and Jenna's occupations, which were fun and original. Otherwise, this book was a waste of time.

I've again started to read 2 books. The first is Patricia Ryan's Heaven's Fire. I'm always a bit cautious about starting a medieval by an author I've never tried before, but I've heard great things about this one. Also, a guy who's active in the AAR message boards once said that the only romance in which he'd felt the hero really thought like a man was one of hers. So I'll give her a shot.

Blurb:

"Young Constance was practically a slave, waiting to be taken at will by the cruel Sir Roger Foliot. But Sir Roger did not count on her ability to escape from him into the protection of priest, Oxford scholar, and sworn celibate, Rainulf Fairfax.

Now Rainulf and Constance have a lesson to learn about love...how unstoppable it is...what it will cost them...and what the priceless ecstacy of sharing a future--forever--can be."

Manhunting, by Jennifer Crusie

Yesterday, I felt like a fast read, so I decided to go with one of Jennifer Crusie's category books. I've read my favourite, Anyone But You a million times already, so I decided to give Manhunting a go.

Blurb:

"Kate Svenson knew exactly what she wanted in a man - he had to be tall, handsome, distinguished and, most of all, successful. So she went on a serious manhunting excursion at a singles resort, bound and determined to hunt down Mr. Right or die in the attempt!

There was the tall, handsome, distinguished groper whom she ended upo pushing in the pool. There was the tall, handsome, distinguished snob whom she stabbed with a fork. And then there was Jake Templeton.

Okay, Jake was tall, handsome and sexy as all get out. But he didn't have a distinguished or aggressive bone in his body and was content to laze about and enjoy life. He was exactly what she didn't want. Right?

I enjoyed it, and would rate it a B. I really prefer Crusie's categories to her latest single titles. I guess I like the humour better, since it's slightly less cynical. I LOLed at parts, and even liked the physical humour, though I'm not usually a big fan of slapstick.

There's a lot to like here. I always enjoy the "friends falling in love" storyline, and I loved the protagonists. Jake was easy to like, but I soon warmed up to Kate, who seemed to be a little more problematic. Also, the story was completely character driven, which is the way I prefer it.

I had two problems with this book. First, I didn't like the ending. It just didn't jibe with the rest of the book. Second, it had an anti-business undertone which bothered me at times.

I finished The Bride Thief almost at the same time. I enjoyed it, too, but it had quite a few things that bothered me. I'll give it a B-.

I liked both Sammie and Eric, but especially Eric, a beta hero who is truly heroic. I liked what he did as the Bride Thief, I felt he had excellent reasons to do it and, though he could have done it a different, less dangerous way, he did the right thing. I also liked that he gives lots of thought to the consequences of sleeping with Samantha. And so does she, even finding out how to prevent pregnancy.

My problems were the following:

1 - The "I love him so I'll let him go" - "I love her so I'll let her go" , "oh, he's letting me go, so he doesn't love me", ad nauseam in the last quarter of the book. This got tiresome.

2 - The resolution of the Bride Thief problem was much too predictable. As soon as it was implied that the magistrate had once been in love with Eric's sister, I was sure that he was going to find out that her arranged marriage had been hell, and so, when he discovered that Eric was the Bride Thief, he was going to let him off the hook.

3 - This was minor, really, but I hated Sammie's mother, and intensely disliked her father. I have a problem with characters who just refuse to listen to what people are saying. They frustrate me, and I want to kick something, so when any character in a book does this, it just puts me in a bad mood.

To summarize, I enjoyed this one while recognizing its faults. I'll probably keep reading this author.

I simply adored The Snake, The Crocodile and The Dog. An A from me. As soon as I finished it, I literally had to stop myself from grabbing the next one in the series and starting to read it immediately.

Incredibly, a large part of the plot is Emerson's amnesia. Shades of the worst type of category romances, no? But it was really good. This allowed Peters to go back in time, in a sense, and to have Amelia and Emerson court again, and back in Amarna (the setting of the first book) too. All this in the context of a very entertaining plot. The only thing that bothered me was the resolution. Having Cyrus turn out to be Sethos in disguise was a bit iffy, IMO. Almost like cheating on Peters' part.

I was a bit disappointed in the beginning to see that Ramses wasn't accompanying them in this particular trip. As I've mentioned, Ramses is usually one of the best elements of these books. However, Ramses was there through his letters, with the added bonus that this way he was (finally!) allowed to express himself without interruptions on his mother's part. :-D

I'll do my best to restrain myself from reading The Hippopotamus Pool as soon as I finish what I'm presently reading. I don't want to read them all back to back.

The Bride Thief, by Jacquie D'Alessandro

The other one I started was a book by Jacquie D'Alessandro, The Bride Thief. I've read and enjoyed this author before.

Back blurb

HAS ENGLAND'S MOST INFAMOUS BRIDE THIEF FINALLY MET HIS MATCH?

At six-and-twenty, Samantha Briggeham knew her marital prospects were fading by the season and she was pleased by the thought. She had no intention of being betrothed -especially against her will- to a man she did not love. She had a plan...and it didn't include being swept into a pair of powerful arms and spirited away by a masked rider. News of Sammie's heroic rescue from undesired wedlock turned her into the toast of the ton, wooed by suitors far and wide. But she couldn't forget the swashbuckling brigand who'd abducted her -something about him intrigued her completely. Then she met Eric Landsdowne, the dashing and seductive Earl of Wesley.

His exploits were legendary, his life filled with danger. He was the elusive Bride Thief, who had his own reasons for helping young women escape the unhappy fate of arranged marriages, and whose true identity was a scrupulously guarded secret. But from the moment he rescued Sammie -only to discover she'd already managed to get herself un-betrothed- Eric knew he couldn't lose her a second time. Marriage was out of the question. Which left only one option: A clandestine affair that might lead to scandal, social ruin, and the unmasking of a love-bested legend. . .

Posted later...

I finished The Bride Thief almost at the same time. I enjoyed it, too, but it had quite a few things that bothered me. I'll give it a B-.

I liked both Sammie and Eric, but especially Eric, a beta hero who is truly heroic. I liked what he did as the Bride Thief, I felt he had excellent reasons to do it and, though he could have done it a different, less dangerous way, he did the right thing. I also liked that he gives lots of thought to the consequences of sleeping with Samantha. And so does she, even finding out how to prevent pregnancy.

My problems were the following:

1 - The "I love him so I'll let him go" - "I love her so I'll let her go" , "oh, he's letting me go, so he doesn't love me", ad nauseam in the last quarter of the book. This got tiresome.

2 - The resolution of the Bride Thief problem was much too predictable. As soon as it was implied that the magistrate had once been in love with Eric's sister, I was sure that he was going to find out that her arranged marriage had been hell, and so, when he discovered that Eric was the Bride Thief, he was going to let him off the hook.

3 - This was minor, really, but I hated Sammie's mother, and intensely disliked her father. I have a problem with characters who just refuse to listen to what people are saying. They frustrate me, and I want to kick something, so when any character in a book does this, it just puts me in a bad mood.

To summarize, I enjoyed this one while recognizing its faults. I'll probably keep reading this author.

The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog, by Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody #7)

Due to the success of my latest reading experiment (ha!), I again started 2 books at the same time. I tried to resist, but I just had to read the next one of the Amelia Peabody series, The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog.

Plot description:

"Indomitable Amelia Peabody is nearly undone in the latest romantic thriller to feature this strong-minded Victorian archeologist and her husband, Radcliffe Emerson. Leaving in England their precocious son Ramses and Nefret, an orphan girl whom they rescued from an ancient Sudanese city in The Last Camel Died at Noon , Amelia and Emerson return to Egypt. Assorted kidnapping attempts, including one from Shepheard's hotel, suggest that someone, probably their archenemy (known as the Master Criminal), seeks to uncover the location of Nefret's lost city of gold.

Amelia courageously rescues Emerson after he is abducted, only to find he has lost his memory, even of his love for her. In the company of wealthy American archeologist Cyrus Vandergelt, they proceed to a dig to search for Nefertiti's tomb, where Amelia tries to awaken Emerson's memory while hoping to disprove an ancient superstition that threatens death by snake, crocodile and dog.

Posted later...

I simply adored The Snake, The Crocodile and The Dog. An A from me. As soon as I finished it, I literally had to stop myself from grabbing the next one in the series and starting to read it immediately.

Incredibly, a large part of the plot is Emerson's amnesia. Shades of the worst type of category romances, no? But it was really good. This allowed Peters to go back in time, in a sense, and to have Amelia and Emerson court again, and back in Amarna (the setting of the first book) too. All this in the context of a very entertaining plot. The only thing that bothered me was the resolution. Having Cyrus turn out to be Sethos in disguise was a bit iffy, IMO. Almost like cheating on Peters' part.

I was a bit disappointed in the beginning to see that Ramses wasn't accompanying them in this particular trip. As I've mentioned, Ramses is usually one of the best elements of these books. However, Ramses was there through his letters, with the added bonus that this way he was (finally!) allowed to express himself without interruptions on his mother's part. :-D

I'll do my best to restrain myself from reading The Hippopotamus Pool as soon as I finish what I'm presently reading. I don't want to read them all back to back.

Now The Last Camel Died at Noon: I loved it, an A-. It was one of the best in the series so far. I might actually go looking for my copy of "She" to read after this!

What made it so good? First, of course, the reason why most of us read this series, just seeing Peabody, Emerson and Ramses interact. And Amelia's voice keeps getting better and better. Funny and witty, and at the same time, Peters gently makes fun of her (in a good way). She's one of the few authors that can always make me LOL. Also, I liked that Peabody and Emerson seemed to listen to Ramses a bit more this time. Not much, but a bit.

So, the relationships were as good as ever here, but also, the plot was outstanding. Very elaborate but not confusing, and absolutely fascinating. And the descriptions! I felt like I was right there, in the City of the Holy Mountain. The supporting cast was excellently drawn, too: Tarek, Prince "Nasty", the Handmaidens, the guards, Murtek and Pesaker, just everyone. It was just fun, fun, fun.

I haven't had time to write my impressions about the two books I've just finished. Let's see if I can get something done. First off: Montana Sky, which I gave a B+.

It's strange, but I really liked this one even though I didn't particularly like Willa and Lily, 2 of the 3 protagonists. That, having 3 love stories developing at the same time, BTW, is a bit of a departure from what I usually read. Only Suzanne Brockmann does something like this, but even in her stories there's one story line which is the most important. I don't think I'd like to read nothing but triple stories, but as an exception, it was interesting. Anyway, continuing with the protagonists:

• Willa was really tiresome. She was a crankier Eve Dallas, without Eve's good points. Her attitude was all holier-than-thou, and I really hate that, and throughout most of the book she seemed not to have a sense of humour. Something that really bugged me: WTF is wrong with selling the land to developpers, if they pay you 3 times its cost for ranching? And why would Willa get so angry that they were offering? Just say no, you twit. They're making you a generous offer, no need to be all offended by it. Ah, I really hated her!
• Lily... I feel like a bitch, but all that sweetness and light got annoying very quickly. I liked her much better when she got mad at everyone and just let it rip :-D.
• Tess was great. Bitchy, which I love, but nice. The only problem I had with her story was with how it was resolved, with Nate never even considering leaving his ranch for her.

That was my problem with this whole book, BTW. The message that living in a ranch is the best thing anyone could ever do, and the implication that anyone who preferred to live in the city must have something wrong with them.

Apart from that message, the ranching stuff was more interesting than I thought it would be, especially because it was so different from what I know here in Uruguay. Much more work: here it's mostly (mostly, I said!) let the cattle out to graze and gather them to give them their medicines, brand, dehorn and castrate or to send them to the slaughterhouses. No feedlots or stuff like that (shameless plug: that's why our red meat is much healthier than the meat from develped countries. Our cows are fed mainly grass, so their meat has almost no fat or colesterol!). I was completely appalled when I read that because of the growth hormones the cows are given, the calves are too big to be born naturally. That doesn't happen here.

I notice I haven't even mentioned the male protagonists. That's because this was almost Women's Fiction: the story was more about the heroines' growth and the development of ther relationship as sisters than about their love lifes. These last were the cherry on the cake, but not the main focus of the story.

The darkness of the suspense subplot provided a good counterpoint to the uplifting story of the characters' growth. It was a bit too bloody (and Roberts seemed to relish a bit too much giving us the details of the murders and rapes), but it hit the right note for the story.

This reading 2 books at the same time has been great (2 because I haven't touched Sophie's World in these last few days. Trying to read 3 might have been overkill). The 2 books had a similar length (430 pgs. in one case, 467 in the other), so I could pace myself and read 50 pages of one, then 50 pages of the other. I'd stop even when I wasn't tired of the book; not in the middle of a scene maybe, but as soon as there was a break. I still like reading books in one seating, but for some books this methodology seems to work well.

It's unbelievable how much the three female characters in Montana Sky ressemble the three heroines in Roberts' Three Sisters Island trilogy. There's Willa, the tough cowgirl, who reminds me of Ripley, of Heaven and Earth. Then there's Tess, feminine and sophisticated, sure of her own sexuality, just like Mia in Face the Fire. Finally, there's Lilli, a battered wife, scared of her own shadow, who takes refuge in the ranch ("island" in the trilogy), the perfect clone of Nell from Dance Upon the Air.

I went to see Monster's Ball last night. I'm no film critic, so I'll just say I liked it a lot. It was an incredibly powerful movie, and a big part of its impact was the tremendous acting by Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton. Nico and Ces, who went with me to the cinema, don't agree with me, BTW. They both wanted to leave 30 minutes into the movie. I just told them to go if they wanted to, I'd take a taxi home. They stayed, but both said I should reimburse them for the ticket. Did I mention it was I who insisted we go watch this one?

Montana Sky, by Nora Roberts

I hadn't done this in years, but I'm now officially reading 3 books at the same time. I have finished neither Sophie's World nor The Last Camel Died at Noon, but I started Nora Roberts' Montana Sky, also a reread. It's fun, I read 50 pages of one book, stop before I'm bored, read 40 pages of the other, and so on.

Montana Sky plot summary:

Jack Mercy's three daughters are strangers to each other, but to inherit his huge ranch they must live there together for a year -- a year that will bring them together against a terrifying unknown enemy as well as bringing each of them someone to make their dreams sweeter. A rich, stunning story of family, death, and love.

Posted later...

It's unbelievable how much the three female characters in Montana Sky ressemble the three heroines in Roberts' Three Sisters Island trilogy. There's Willa, the tough cowgirl, who reminds me of Ripley, of Heaven and Earth. Then there's Tess, feminine and sophisticated, sure of her own sexuality, just like Mia in Face the Fire. Finally, there's Lilli, a battered wife, scared of her own shadow, who takes refuge in the ranch ("island" in the trilogy), the perfect clone of Nell from Dance Upon the Air.

...and posted later still:

I haven't had time to write my impressions about the two books I've just finished. Let's see if I can get something done. First off: Montana Sky, which I gave a B+.

It's strange, but I really liked this one even though I didn't particularly like Willa and Lily, 2 of the 3 protagonists. That, having 3 love stories developing at the same time, BTW, is a bit of a departure from what I usually read. Only Suzanne Brockmann does something like this, but even in her stories there's one story line which is the most important. I don't think I'd like to read nothing but triple stories, but as an exception, it was interesting. Anyway, continuing with the protagonists:

• Willa was really tiresome. She was a crankier Eve Dallas, without Eve's good points. Her attitude was all holier-than-thou, and I really hate that, and throughout most of the book she seemed not to have a sense of humour. Something that really bugged me: WTF is wrong with selling the land to developpers, if they pay you 3 times its cost for ranching? And why would Willa get so angry that they were offering? Just say no, you twit. They're making you a generous offer, no need to be all offended by it. Ah, I really hated her!
• Lily... I feel like a bitch, but all that sweetness and light got annoying very quickly. I liked her much better when she got mad at everyone and just let it rip :-D.
• Tess was great. Bitchy, which I love, but nice. The only problem I had with her story was with how it was resolved, with Nate never even considering leaving his ranch for her.

That was my problem with this whole book, BTW. The message that living in a ranch is the best thing anyone could ever do, and the implication that anyone who preferred to live in the city must have something wrong with them.

Apart from that message, the ranching stuff was more interesting than I thought it would be, especially because it was so different from what I know here in Uruguay. Much more work: here it's mostly (mostly, I said!) let the cattle out to graze and gather them to give them their medicines, brand, dehorn and castrate or to send them to the slaughterhouses. No feedlots or stuff like that (shameless plug: that's why our red meat is much healthier than the meat from develped countries. Our cows are fed mainly grass, so their meat has almost no fat or colesterol!). I was completely appalled when I read that because of the growth hormones the cows are given, the calves are too big to be born naturally. That doesn't happen here.

I notice I haven't even mentioned the male protagonists. That's because this was almost Women's Fiction: the story was more about the heroines' growth and the development of ther relationship as sisters than about their love lifes. These last were the cherry on the cake, but not the main focus of the story.

The darkness of the suspense subplot provided a good counterpoint to the uplifting story of the characters' growth. It was a bit too bloody (and Roberts seemed to relish a bit too much giving us the details of the murders and rapes), but it hit the right note for the story.

The Last Camel Died at Noon, by Elizabeth Peters (Amelia Peabody #6)

I read a little of Sophie's World, but I've also started book number 6 of the Amelia Peabody series, by Elizabeth Peters (aka Barbara Michaels, aka MPM). It's The Last Camel Died at Noon, and it's a reread, but since I last read it years ago, I don't remember much, just that it involves the discovery of a secret civilization in the desert, or something like that.

"The last camel is dead, and Egyptologist Amelia Peabody, her dashing husband Emerson, and precocious son, Ramses, are in dire straits on the sun-scorched desert sands. Months before, back in cool, green England, Viscount Blacktower had approached them to find his son and his son's new bride, who have been missing in war-torn Sudan for over a decade. An enigmatic message scrawled on papyrus and a cryptic map had been delivered to Blacktower, awakening his hope that the couple was still alive. Neither Amelia nor Emerson believe the message is authentic, but the treasure map proves irresistible temptation. Now, deep in Nubia's vast wasteland, they discover too late how much treachery is afoot (and on camelback)... and survival depends on Amelia's solving a mystery as old as ancient Egypt and as timeless as greed and revenge. "

Apart from this one, I'd already read a couple of the other books, completely out of order and missing quite a few in the middle. It's strange, actually, since MPM has long been one of my favourite authors and I had and had read all of her other books. So earlier this year I bought the Amelias I was missing and started reading the whole series in order. I'm progressing very slowly, since I don't want to read them all back to back for fear of getting burnt out.

Posted later...

Now The Last Camel Died at Noon: I loved it, an A-. It was one of the best in the series so far. I might actually go looking for my copy of "She" to read after this!

What made it so good? First, of course, the reason why most of us read this series, just seeing Peabody, Emerson and Ramses interact. And Amelia's voice keeps getting better and better. Funny and witty, and at the same time, Peters gently makes fun of her (in a good way). She's one of the few authors that can always make me LOL. Also, I liked that Peabody and Emerson seemed to listen to Ramses a bit more this time. Not much, but a bit.

So, the relationships were as good as ever here, but also, the plot was outstanding. Very elaborate but not confusing, and absolutely fascinating. And the descriptions! I felt like I was right there, in the City of the Holy Mountain. The supporting cast was excellently drawn, too: Tarek, Prince "Nasty", the Handmaidens, the guards, Murtek and Pesaker, just everyone. It was just fun, fun, fun.

Today I discovered a blog called Scaryduck, winner of the Guardian's Best British Blog of the UK 2002 contest. Loved it! It was hilarious, especially this entry. By the time I read the "Boulder of Doom" part, I was LOLing, just couldn't help myself!

This morning, I finished a book by Bill Bryson that I'd been reading for a couple of months now: A Walk in the Woods. It's a great book, so the reason it took me so long is that I'd been reading it between other books, a few pages at a time. I do that because sometimes, especially after a very emotional read, I don't really feel like starting something else but still want to read something.

I finally decided to finish it this morning, so now I have to get another book I can read a little at a time. I think Sophie's World will do.

I was finally able to see an Arsenal game today. I was really anxious too see what the fuss was all about, but Fox Sports kept showing other Premier League games. A couple of times they even announced during other games that they'd be showing the Arsenal game that afternoon, but when I'd tune in, there'd be an Argentinian Apertura game on. Grrrr!

Anyway, I watched Arsenal - Sunderland today, and I can tell you, the "fuss" wasn't at all exaggerated. What a team! I haven't seen a team play so well as they did in the 1st half for ages. It helped that Sunderland presented absolutely no resistence, sure, but you have to be very good to do what they did.

I'm still very fond of the Italian Serie A and the Spanish Liga, but I'm thinking the Premier League is probably the best in the world.

Clay Yeager's Redemption, by Justine Davis

Yesterday was a very productivereading day. Apart from the Leto book, I also read another one by Justine Davis. Yes, it was 2 category books, but still... The Justine Davis book was Clay Yeager's Redemption (BTW, how do you pronounce "Yeager"? Does anyone know?).

Plot summary:

"Casey Scott was used to stray animals wandering onto her property. But stray men? A series of menacing midnight calls had alarmed her senses, so the dark, rugged looks of the mysterious loner were enough to frighten her. If she were smart, she'd think twice about letting him work on her ranch - but the sexy stranger was hard to ignore.

Clay Yeager knew there was more to Casey Scott than met the eye, and this beautiful rancher was stirring up emotions he'd thought were long dead. Would the ex-cop be able to forget his past and protect this woman he couldn't live without?

It was a great book, an A- for me. I adored the love story, but the best part was the ending, which brought a sense of closure for the whole series.

This was a very emotional, angsty read, and one I enjoyed very much. Clay's reaction to his tragedy was heart-breaking, as was his finally realizing he was slowly getting over it (fighting the recovery all the way, BTW). I thought Casey was the perfect match for him.

I don't know what to read now. I think I'll just take a break from reading altogether and just watch some football on TV. I'll probably be able to catch a Premier League, La Liga or Serie A game, and if I'm not, I'll just watch Peñarol's game and hope they lose.

Double the Pleasure, by Julie Elizabeth Leto

I also read a Blaze today, Double the Pleasure, by Julie Elizabeth Leto. It's a double release, supposed to be read together with Double the Thrill, by Susan Kearney. The basic plot is two twins, Zane and Grey Masterson, who switch places with each other. Each of the books describes the experiences of one of them. The one I read deales with Grey's story. Kearney's book, about Zane, takes place within the same timeframe.

Blurb:

The Man... Newspaperman Grey Masterson. He's responsible, conservative...and he's at the end of his rope! Only, little does he guess that when he and his brother, Zane, switch places, he's in for even more excitement....

The Woman... Jewelry designer Reina Price. She's smart, she's sexy and she knows it. She uses her sensuality to keep her where she wants to be — in charge. Only, with her friend "Zane" she's suddenly lost her edge — and her control. And she's liking it far too much....

The Pleasure... After a sexy tell-all book by his former lover hits the stands, Grey Masterson discovers he's suddenly notorious. He's even acquired a stalker! "Becoming" his reckless, wild, identical twin brother, Zane, for a while might be just the break Grey needs. Only, once he meets Zane's friend, sultry Reina Price, he discovers there's no rest for the wicked. Luckily, Grey's planning to be very bad....

Unfortunately, while the setup sounds interesting, the book itself was really boring. I literally skimmed through the last 50 pages. I don't know what the problem was, exactly, just that I didn't connect with these 2 people. At first glance, they were just the type of characters I enjoy: Grey a nice, decent, hardworking guy, who nevertheless has a wild side and Reina a sophisticated, adult woman, with a healthy attitude towards sex. But... maybe it was my mood or something, but they just didn't catch my attention.

It didn't help my opinion of this book that the suspense part of it was very, very lame, and the explanation too far-fetched and involving too many people. My grade for this is a C+, and it goes straight to my trade list.

I've been lazy. I've finished both Body Electric and another book (next post!) and not posted! Gasp! Ok, let's get up to date.

Body Electric was enjouyable. The problem was that it reminded me a bit of Asaro's Phoenix Code, but wasn't nearly as well done; not the characters and not the development of the AI plot.

Jodie was the best part here, as was the bare bones of the plot (it asked a lot of questions but never went into enough depth exploring them). Vic, however, was a bit more problematic. I was cool towards her at first, and though I warmed up to her eventually, she was a bit too disfunctional for me to believe she had become sane by the end of the book. The villain was too over-the-top, though I enjoyed his come-uppance by the end of the book. And maybe I'm too much of a romance reader, but I hated that Jodie slept with Bob's wife. Absolutely no need for it.

Body Electric, by Susan Squires

I started Body Electric, by Susan Squires earlier today.

Blurb:

Victoria Barnhardt set out to create something brilliant. She succeeded beyond her wildest fantasies. With one keystroke her program spiraled out of control�and something was born that defied possibility: a being who called to her.

He spoke from within a prison—seeking escape, seeking release, seeking her. He was a miracle that Vic had never intended. More than a scientific discovery, or a brilliant coup by one of the world�s most infamous hackers, he was life. He was beauty. He was genius. And he needed to be freed, just as Vic needed to be released from the shadows of her past. The world might rise against them, but on one starry Los Angeles night, in each other�s arms, they would find a way to have each other and freedom both."

I'm enjoying it so far, though I found it very hard to like Vic at first. Just one detail: the Bob McIntyre = Bill Gates thing is a little irritating. I LOLed when I came across a bit of dialogue which went kinda like this:

Other guy: "Our latest release has a bug: it freezes when it tries to interact with third party applications."
Bob Mc Intyre: "I don't call that a bug. Why should we want our operating system to be able to interact with apps we don't sell?"

Come on! Way too heavy-handed!

Posted later...

I've been lazy. I've finished both Body Electric and another book (next post!) and not posted! Gasp! Ok, let's get up to date.

Body Electric was enjouyable. The problem was that it reminded me a bit of Asaro's Phoenix Code, but wasn't nearly as well done; not the characters and not the development of the AI plot.

Jodie was the best part here, as was the bare bones of the plot (it asked a lot of questions but never went into enough depth exploring them). Vic, however, was a bit more problematic. I was cool towards her at first, and though I warmed up to her eventually, she was a bit too disfunctional for me to believe she had become sane by the end of the book. The villain was too over-the-top, though I enjoyed his come-uppance by the end of the book. And maybe I'm too much of a romance reader, but I hated that Jodie slept with Bob's wife. Absolutely no need for it.

Badge of Honor was a lovely book. My grade for it is a B+.

I really appreciated that Miguel and Kit were actual grown-ups, who didn't always think with their hormones and went into their relationship with both eyes open. This is actually original, in a genre where characters more often than not act like brats. Not here, where before getting involved, they evaluated the possible consequences thoroughly. Or actually, a little too much. It came to a point where I felt they had already thought about everything and were just going around in circles. But that's just a tiny niggle; I found this aspect of it enjoyable.

The characters themselves were great: Kit was a smart, decent woman and Miguel was, IMHO, the perfect beta hero. Hmm, maybe I'm biased. It's possible that I liked him so much because I much prefer betas to alphas.

The plot was good, and liked that the final confrontation was mercifully short and effective. I HATED Robards, but his portrayal was a bit too heavy handed to my tastes.

Badge of Honor, by Justine Davis

After this, I started a book I just received yesterday: Badge of Honor, by Justine Davis. It looks good so far, though a lot of the first 50 pages has been used recounting the exploits of what seem to be characters in previous novels by this author. There have been quite a few hints dropped already about a certain Clay Yeager. Luckily, I also got his book yesterday!

Plot summary:

"Rank Had Its Privileges...

But they didn't include getting involved with a subordinate. Police chief Miguel de los Reyes had worked with Sergeant Kit Walker for years, but never this closely. Now, he found himself looking for excuses to be near her, to touch her ... and to ravish her irresistible mouth with his.

All Kit had ever wanted was to be a cop. There was no room in her life for love. But she couldn't deny the racing of her pulse when Miguel was near. Still, even if Miguel felt the same about her, it wasn't exactly the wisest career move to fall for the chief of police.

Posted later...

Badge of Honor was a lovely book. My grade for it is a B+.

I really appreciated that Miguel and Kit were actual grown-ups, who didn't always think with their hormones and went into their relationship with both eyes open. This is actually original, in a genre where characters more often than not act like brats. Not here, where before getting involved, they evaluated the possible consequences thoroughly. Or actually, a little too much. It came to a point where I felt they had already thought about everything and were just going around in circles. But that's just a tiny niggle; I found this aspect of it enjoyable.

The characters themselves were great: Kit was a smart, decent woman and Miguel was, IMHO, the perfect beta hero. Hmm, maybe I'm biased. It's possible that I liked him so much because I much prefer betas to alphas.

The plot was good, and liked that the final confrontation was mercifully short and effective. I HATED Robards, but his portrayal was a bit too heavy handed to my tastes.

The Seduction of Sara was not a bad read, but I didn't really like it. It felt very clichéd, very romance-novely. It didn't help that it was set in Regency England, a period which already is one of the most cliché-ridden of all periods for romance novels.

It's a pity, because this had the bones of an interesting novel, but it just felt sketchy. I didn't really believe in the characters, they didn't feel real (as I said, they were just walking clichés), and I felt their motivations were never too well explained. It seemed like they just did stuff in order to advance the plot. Sara's friend Anna was a bit more interesting, but after this disappointing read I don't think I'll be reading her book, even if it did get a DIK review at AAR.

The plot was good in that it was mostly character-driven, just the way I like it, but I felt the execution was lacking. My final grade is a C+

The Seduction of Sara, by Karen Hawkins

I'm now starting The Seduction of Sara, by Karen Hawkins now. It's an Advance Uncorrected Proof (Not For Sale, it says right there on the cover. It seems the previous owner didn't mind. To my defense, I bought it online and never saw that until I received the book.), and the quality of the paper is much, much better than regular paperbacks. Much heavier too, so it cost me lots more to ship it from my Miami address to Montevideo!

Blurb:

She needs a husband . . .

Sara Carrington has no choice -- her brothers have decided to marry her off to the next respectable man who offers. But Sara has a different plan. If she must marry, she wants a man who won't care what she does, someone who will give her the freedom she craves. The second she sees England's most notorious rake, the rakish Earl of Bridgeton, from across a crowded ballroom, Sara knows she's found the perfect man.

He wants a mistress . . .

Never has Nick received a more tantalizing proposal--but because of his past, he's sworn never to marry. Instead, he agrees to give the innocent chit instruction in the art of seduction to help her plan succeed. But when "demonstration kisses" become burningly real, and Sara turns the tables by applying her lessons to him, the infamous rake is in danger of falling in love -- with the miss he'd only meant to bed!

Posted later...

The Seduction of Sara was not a bad read, but I didn't really like it. It felt very clichéd, very romance-novely. It didn't help that it was set in Regency England, a period which already is one of the most cliché-ridden of all periods for romance novels.

It's a pity, because this had the bones of an interesting novel, but it just felt sketchy. I didn't really believe in the characters, they didn't feel real (as I said, they were just walking clichés), and I felt their motivations were never too well explained. It seemed like they just did stuff in order to advance the plot. Sara's friend Anna was a bit more interesting, but after this disappointing read I don't think I'll be reading her book, even if it did get a DIK review at AAR.

The plot was good in that it was mostly character-driven, just the way I like it, but I felt the execution was lacking. My final grade is a C+.

Gift of Fire was exactly what I was looking for, a very satisfying read. This is my definition of a comfort read, and my grade is A-.

It takes a special talent to finish the first book with enough closure, yet still have enough relationship issues to solve in the sequel. Here we see Verity and Jonas comfortable enough with each other to do some exploring, which was lots of fun, but still not trusting their relationship as much as they should. This was one of the rare books in which the heroine's pregnancy is not just "icing on the cake" or a means to get the guy to marry her, but functions as a means to explore more aspects of their relationship.

I found the whole Italian villa thing fascinating, with just the right amount of suspense involved, which for me implies no big final confrontation with the villain. In this case there was a confrontation, but it was basically with a vision, and someone who had the same talent as Jonas himself. The only problem I had with this one was that there were too many "villains" involved. Three characters out of six (excluding H/h) had taken part in one of the violent incidents which had happened, which is too much.