>> Saturday, August 31, 2002
Dropped Body Heat after 40 pages. It bored me. However, I did put it back with the other Blazes; I might try again later on.
Read more...Next up on my reading list is Carly Phillips' Body Heat, another Blaze. I'm going through my cache of Blazes a little bit too fast, so I'll try to slow down a bit after this one.
Blurb:
"Physical therapist Brianne Nelson has never worked on a body this hot before....Read more...
Injured detective Jake Lowell is determined to get his man. Only, he finds his woman first.
Night after night, Brianne has fantasized about the sexy stranger she met at the café where she works part-time. She never guesses that stranger will turn out to be a client....
Thanks to his wealthy sister, Jake is the recipient of Brianne's personal services for the next month. Only, Jake isn't in any hurry to return to a cop's life — he has to find the guy who shot him first. Still, he does need therapy. And Brianne's definitely making him feel much better.... "
Very, very cold day here today. The "veranillo" (little summer) broke a couple of days ago with the Santa Rosa storm. This is a big storm that traditionally occurs here in the Rio de la Plata on Santa Rosa day. It never fails. Sometimes it's a little early, sometimes a little late (days!), but it never fails to appear.
Where does this come from? A possible explanation, from an article published in Tenfieldigital by Atilio Garrido:
"el 28 de agosto, día festivo donde se conmemora Santa Rosa, la virgen protectora de Lima. Fijate lo que son las cosas... Todavía hoy, en Uruguay, cuando se aproxima el final de agosto, todos hablamos del "temporal de Santa Rosa". Caen unas gotas de lluvia, el tiempo se pone feucho, sopla el viento y... empezamos con la canterola del "temporal de Santa Rosa" sin saber que nos estamos refiriendo a Santa Rosa de Lima. Cuentan por aquí que en determinado momento de la historia la flota holandesa comenzó a atacar desde el Océano Pacífico a Lima. La pequeña ciudad fue resistiendo como pudo hasta que llegó un momento que se quedó sin municiones, sin agua, sin alimentos. La caída era inevitable... Pero surgió Rosa quién continuamente apeló con sus oraciones al Señor una solución milagrosa para impedir el dominio de los holandeses. ¡Y el milagro llegó! Se desató un tremendo temporal. Las aguas se agitaron y la furia del viento fue tal, que los buques holandeses fueron destruidos y naufragaron, evitándose así la caída de Lima. Rosa fue canonizada, pasó a ser Santa Rosa de Lima y desde hace un montón de años tiene su iglesia, pintada de color rosado, a orillas del Río Rimac en cuyas márgenes está la vieja ciudad de Lima."
Read more...
After Dark, by Jayne Castle (aka Jayne Ann Krentz)
Finished After Dark. The setting of this book was great, probably an A- The - is because it's too similar yet different to the settings of Orchid, Zinnia and Amaryllis. Since I've read those three, at times I wondered why some things which were a certain way in those weren't that way here. Even with those qualms, the setting was the best part of the book.
The love story, however, had quite a few problems. First off, there was too little of it. What there was was ok, except for the ending. No "I love you"s and no more than a vague talk of further commitment on Emmett's part. There was definitely a chunk missing here. In a sense, to tell you the truth, their not swearing eternal love to each other was more appropiate than their doing so would have been. I remember thinking, as I neared the ending, that no way these two were at a stage where they could really decide to get married or anything. But, while I agree that Castle's ending was the appropriate one, it wasn't one I care for very much. This is romance, after all. I prefer couples to be in love by the end of the book.
The suspense subplot was good, but the final part was a little superfluous.
All in all, a grade of B-. I'm keeping this one, if only for the great setting.
UPDATE: I reread this book on March 2004 and gave it a B+. Read my impressions HERE.
We had 2 very calm days at work this Thursday and Friday. We moved temporarily to a really nice office and took the only 3 computers which are still working. 3 PCs for 7 of us: of course, not much work was done, but then, luckily there was nothing too urgent, except a report on India we all ended up chipping in to finish.
On the reading front, I'm still slogging through After Dark. I'm really enjoying the world Castle (Krentz) has built, but the story is not that compelling. It's good, don't get me wrong, but not a page turner.
After Dark, by Jayne Castle
>> Thursday, August 29, 2002
The next thing I'm reading is a futuristic: After Dark, by Jayne Ann Krentz writting as Jayne Castle. I try not to read the too many books of the same subgenre back to back, but to alternate.
From Amazon.com:
"A race of aliens once lived on the future Earth colony called Harmony, leaving behind them the ruins of a vast, beautiful, and mysterious culture that is still protected by the psychic illusion traps and eerie ghosts that they created. Lydia Smith is an archaeologist who can resonate and dissolve the illusions, and those talents, combined with her lack of finances and questionable professional reputation, make her the obvious hire for Emmett London, who is trying to track down a lost antique and the nephew who stole it. Lydia's first consulting job quickly turns dangerous, however, as corpses, ghosts, and illusion traps start popping up--not to mention the rather unprofessional electricity between her and her first client.Posted later...
In After Dark, author Jayne Ann Krentz, writing as Jayne Castle, describes a world that delightfully intertwines futuristic ideas like green-glowing marble, psychic amber, and six-legged pets with earthly characters like penny-pinching bosses, absentee landlords, and mafia wives trying to turn into high-society dames. The writing can feel a bit clunky: "The paranormal ability to resonate with amber and use it to focus psychic energy had begun to appear in the human population shortly after the colonists came through the curtain to settle the planet of Harmony," and the final chapters suffer from a similar lack of finesse in the tying up of loose ends, but Krentz's world is fantastical and fascinating, one that will keep you reading and your imagination soaring".--Nancy R.E. O'Brien
Finished After Dark. The setting of this book was great, probably an A- The - is because it's too similar yet different to the settings of Orchid, Zinnia and Amaryllis. Since I've read those three, at times I wondered why some things which were a certain way in those weren't that way here. Even with those qualms, the setting was the best part of the book.
The love story, however, had quite a few problems. First off, there was too little of it. What there was was ok, except for the ending. No "I love you"s and no more than a vague talk of further commitment on Emmett's part. There was definitely a chunk missing here. In a sense, to tell you the truth, their not swearing eternal love to each other was more appropiate than their doing so would have been. I remember thinking, as I neared the ending, that no way these two were at a stage where they could really decide to get married or anything. But, while I agree that Castle's ending was the appropriate one, it wasn't one I care for very much. This is romance, after all. I prefer couples to be in love by the end of the book.
The suspense subplot was good, but the final part was a little superfluous.
All in all, a grade of B-. I'm keeping this one, if only for the great setting.
UPDATE: I reread this book on March 2004 and gave it a B+. Read my impressions HERE.
Read more...
Yesterday we couldn't use the computers at work (there was some problem with the electrical installation, and the monitors kept getting ruined, so the electricians ordered us to turn everything off until they could figure out WTF was going on), so we could get absolutely no work done. It's amazing that in a few short years we have started to depend on computers so much. I hope we can rig something up today, because having nothing to do gets really boring. I think I'm taking a couple of books I have to read for my thesis, and if I can't use the computer, I'll just read that. Beats staring up at the ceiling!
Read more...I finished Acting on Impulse last night, and it was great, an A.
This one was exactly what I thought Blazes were supposed to be like. Plus, this is one of my favourite storylines, but it's very easy for an author to screw it up, which thankfully, the author didn't do.
Trudy really rang true for me, and enjoyed her imagination very much. And Linc was really lovely, a nice guy, completely beta, and with some vulnerabilities. I appreciated that we could actually see Trudy and Linc falling in love with each encounter, and none of these were just gratuitous sex scenes: each added a layer to their personalities. In other Blazes, I've found that the authors tend to go a bit overboard with sex scene after sex scene, and they get a bit boring after a time. Not here. And the scene were they broke up was heartwrenching, and the final scene was really romantic and moving. The part in Virtue... not so good. I don't need to be hit over the head with how caring and what a good father a guy is. But it was good to see Trudy conclude that, though she loves Virtue, she doesn't want to live there; she much prefers the big city. The city was almost a character in this book, BTW, and I thought it was great to see a romance celebrating life in the Big Apple and not equating it with evil!
I loved Trudy's relationship with Meg. Romance heroines so often don't have a girlfriend with whom to share and dish about men. It was nice to see differently here.
My only problem with this book was Meg herself. She was incredibly irritating. When I first started I was sure that she and Tom must have been characters in another book, and I wanted to read it. After finishing it, I don't think I want to read it after seeing her being so arrogant and condescending.
Acting on Impulse, by Vicki Lewis Thompson
>> Wednesday, August 28, 2002
I'm ready to give Blaze another try. Vicki Lewis Thompson's Acting on Impulse looks good, so here I go.
Blurb:
"Small-town girl Trudy Baxter is ready to take on New York City. She's looking for excitement, adventure...and incredible sex! She wants to experience every little thing — and every type of man — the city has to offer. Her first target — sexy Wall Street hunk Linc Faulkner. Only, once she gets Linc into her bed, she's reluctant to let him go....I really like the covers on the Blaze line. They convey the message that they are HOT, HOT, HOT! as well as modern, because they do so without descending into tacky clinchdom. Point for Harlequin here. And most of the titles aren't bad either. All they have to do now is lose the repressed, 30-year-old virgins in them, and they're in business.
Linc Faulkner has never met anybody like Trudy. She's so spirited, so sexy, so damn uninhibited! She's his every fantasy in the flesh. Only, Linc knows he's just the first man on Trudy's sexual wish list. So what else can he do but convince her that he can be any man she'll ever want — and the only man she'll ever need...."
Posted later...
I finished Acting on Impulse last night, and it was great, an A.
This one was exactly what I thought Blazes were supposed to be like. Plus, this is one of my favourite storylines, but it's very easy for an author to screw it up, which thankfully, the author didn't do.
Trudy really rang true for me, and enjoyed her imagination very much. And Linc was really lovely, a nice guy, completely beta, and with some vulnerabilities. I appreciated that we could actually see Trudy and Linc falling in love with each encounter, and none of these were just gratuitous sex scenes: each added a layer to their personalities. In other Blazes, I've found that the authors tend to go a bit overboard with sex scene after sex scene, and they get a bit boring after a time. Not here. And the scene were they broke up was heartwrenching, and the final scene was really romantic and moving. The part in Virtue... not so good. I don't need to be hit over the head with how caring and what a good father a guy is. But it was good to see Trudy conclude that, though she loves Virtue, she doesn't want to live there; she much prefers the big city. The city was almost a character in this book, BTW, and I thought it was great to see a romance celebrating life in the Big Apple and not equating it with evil!
I loved Trudy's relationship with Meg. Romance heroines so often don't have a girlfriend with whom to share and dish about men. It was nice to see differently here.
My only problem with this book was Meg herself. She was incredibly irritating. When I first started I was sure that she and Tom must have been characters in another book, and I wanted to read it. After finishing it, I don't think I want to read it after seeing her being so arrogant and condescending. Read more...
Well duh! I know what I'll do! I'm off to AAR's Reviews in the Works page to see if they're reviewing it, and if they are not, I'm asking about the it in the Reader to Reader message board.
Read more...Oh dear, awful dilemma! I've just read a lovely review of Debra Dier's Dangerous, in Mrs. Giggles' site, and it sounds great! Should I order it? I really want to, but when I start to go for the "order" button, I remember Barbara Pierce's A Lady's Mischief, which Mrs. Giggles just adored, and which was my worst book of 2001. And I remember I only read Mrs. Giggles' review because they are fun, since we seem to disagree on most of the books. Plus, the only review so far of the Dier book on Amazon is by Harriet Klausner, so not much help there.
What shall I do, what shall I do??
I finished Final Stand, and I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would at the beginning. As I've mentioned, I had some problems with Sasha's logic in staying in Bitters, but that would have been ok, I guess. I was ready to suspend disbelief.
However, in the end, I had too many problems, and the witty dialogue wasn't enough for me to like this. In fact, the banter seemed a little out of place in this story (I'd love to see this author write a Regency, though!). What bothered me here? I hated the town of Bitters, its people especially (Frank, ugh!). The action sequences were badly narrated; I barely knew what the hell was going on. I did not connect with Sasha and Gray as a couple. The villain was boring and a bit nonsensical. Not good. A grade of C+, and this goes into my trade list.
I'm 200 pages into Final Stand and I like it, though I really don't get why Sasha stays in Bitters. Frank doesn't seem like that much of a threat to me, just an idiot redneck, and if her plan was to hide from the Russian mafia, how much harder would it have been to hide from Frank too? Ok, I'll just have to do my suspension of disbelief thing.
The dialogue is nice. These people are terribly witty! ;-)
>> Tuesday, August 27, 2002
On a related note, I just read an article in Radio El Espectador (in Spanish), which mentioned unemployment here today is 15,6%. Also, 75.000 people have left in the past 3 years (out of a total population of about 3 million), so assuming half of those who left were unemployed, if they had stayed, unemployment would be about 2 percentage points higher. Lovely!
Read more...I just got an e-mail from Barnes and Noble's website saying that their summer sale is ending in 12 days. That's too bad, because I'd been ordering far many more new books than I usually do due to this promotion (combined with the free shipping for 2 or more books, buying new at bn was much cheaper than buying used books).
I mean, I really wish I could always buy in-print books new, but I definitely can't afford that, especially since my salary was changed to Uruguayan pesos at half the current exchange rate. I'm now earning usd 250 a month, and I have a great job... Saying that things are bad here these days is an understatement.
Final Stand, by Helen R. Myers
Finally, I decided to read Helen R. Myers' Final Stand. I was in the mood for some romantic suspense, so this will probably do well enough. So far I've read about 100 pages and it looks promising.
Blurb:
"For two terror-filled days, Las Vegas cop Sasha Mills has been on the run. Now, in a remote stretch of southwest Texas, she is compelled to take a chance in a town called Bitters.Posted later...
But her timing couldn't be worse. As the only stranger in town, she becomes the prime suspect in an arson investigation -- thrusting her into a spotlight that could cost her her life.
Because deadly danger is in fast pursuit. An international crime ring has targeted her as one of two loose ends to tie up. They need Sasha silenced. Then tragedy strikes, and running is no longer an option for this tough lady cop.
It's time for payback.
It's time to make a final stand. For justice.
For family. For love. "
I'm 200 pages into Final Stand and I like it, though I really don't get why Sasha stays in Bitters. Frank doesn't seem like that much of a threat to me, just an idiot redneck, and if her plan was to hide from the Russian mafia, how much harder would it have been to hide from Frank too? Ok, I'll just have to do my suspension of disbelief thing.
The dialogue is nice. These people are terribly witty! ;-)
And posted later yet...
I finished Final Stand, and I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would at the beginning. As I've mentioned, I had some problems with Sasha's logic in staying in Bitters, but that would have been ok, I guess. I was ready to suspend disbelief.
However, in the end, I had too many problems, and the witty dialogue wasn't enough for me to like this. In fact, the banter seemed a little out of place in this story (I'd love to see this author write a Regency, though!). What bothered me here? I hated the town of Bitters, its people especially (Frank, ugh!). The action sequences were badly narrated; I barely knew what the hell was going on. I did not connect with Sasha and Gray as a couple. The villain was boring and a bit nonsensical. Not good. A grade of C+, and this goes into my trade list. Read more...
Another scorcher of a day. This is unbelievable. After all, this is Montevideo in August!! Middle of winter! We cannot have temperatures of 33º!!! It was nice to air my sandals for a day, though...
Read more...Let's see... what shall I read now? Maybe I should finish Bill Bryson's great book, A Walk in the Woods.
I've been reading this one for about a month, but not because it's bad, or anything. I just like to be reading a non-fiction book while I read other stuff, so when I finish something but don't feel like starting another book (but just have to read something), I can read the non-fiction. It's also good for when I'm studying, because it can't grab me like a fiction book, but I have something I like to read when I take a little break.
So maybe I'll finish it today (I've like, 20 pages to go), or maybe I'll go through my TBR pile and see what I pull out.
I finally finished Thirty Nights, and I'd give it a D. It's just that this book pushed all the wrong buttons. A rapist hero, a wimpy heroine, an improbable terrorism and science side-plot, too much sex... This was bad.
The set up could have been good (I myself have had similar fantasies), but it felt too much like forced sex. In their first confrontation, he did say he wouldn't allow her to leave, and even if he then claimed she knew she could have left if she had really wanted to, that sounded false to me. There was a whole undercurrent of dominance there that bugged me. And some things Hunter said were like: "you know you really want it" = the typical rapist's "she was asking for it" defence.
It also didn't help that I couldn't stand Gillian. I don't know, I guess I just wouldn't stand for a situation like that one. I also felt really insulted by the "I've never heard anything sadder in my life" crack she said when Hunter said he'd never fantasized about having children. I know it's a common attitude, but it bothered me. She was a bit pathetic.
I skimmed at full speed through the final 50 pages, and that is not good.
>> Monday, August 26, 2002
I completed my first book trade ever today (I'm a member of only 1 online trade group so far, but I'll probably join more in the future). I was so happy when I got the parcel! The other trader had told me it would probably take ages to get here, but it took only 6 days. And when I e-mailed her about it, she e-mailed back that she'd received her books too, so one down, 3 to go.
I got SEP's This Heart of Mine and Justine Davis' Hunter's Way (another Hunter! aghh! but this one is a woman, it seems).
I've had it. Still reading Thirty Nights and Hunter's turned into Superman now. He's just fought a terrorist and thrown him over a cliff. Singlehandedly. I'm wondering: why didn't that idiot terrorist take a gun into the island? Oh no, he had to kill his target with his bare hands. Sorry, but I don't think I've ever read of a terrorist hit where a target was strangled or beaten to death.
And did I mention I find the science in this book (Hunter is a scientist involved in a very hush-hush project) very suspect? A computer model which predicts a group's behaviour based on the region's history and values and the DNA of a sample of the population? Hmmm. Can we actually predict personality with DNA? I mean, I know scientists keep announcing they have just identified "the gene which determines alcoholism", but I thought this was just hype.
Off to work now. I'll probably finish this in the evening, though I'm tempted to stop reading right now.
Thirty Nights, by JoAnn Ross
Ok, this is supposed to be my reading diary, so I'll start by dissecting what I'm reading right now. A couple of weeks ago I ordered a batch of 12 Blaze books from an Amazon.com Auctions seller. I've had mixed results from the couple of Blazes I've read, but they are great for when you want to read something fast, and don't want to get into anything too deep.
Anyway, what I'm reading right now is JoAnn Ross's Thirty Nights.
Blurb:
"Hunter St. John wants Gillian Cassidy. In his bed...fulfilling his fantasies. For 30 nights, that's the deal. He's going to make her scream with wild, wanton pleasure. Enjoy a little sweet revenge in the process. The perfect way to get her out of his system, right?It sounded fun. I thought it was going to be a storyline where Gillian and Hunter agreed to sleep together for a while, just sex, etc. The revenge angle would be something Gillian didn't know, so she would feel betrayed when she found out, etc. again. But no. This was no agreement, but blackmail on Hunter's part. As far as I'm concerned, this is rape. The worst part is that the blackmail part is that Hunter threatens to expose Gillian's dishonest father, who never paid the slightest attention to her. I didn't understand why she didn't tell him to just fuck off.
Maybe. Gillian is shocked by his proposition — and aroused. She's never forgotten Hunter and the way he can make her feel. But it's emotional blackmail. It could also be the best sex of her life....
Except what happens when the 30 days are over? "
At one point, I actually banged the book against the wall. Why, WHY did Hunter consider it ok to exact revenge on George by hurting his daughter? She never did anything to him. As the confrontation ends, I find myself feeling that she deserves what she's getting. What a wimp!
I tend to agree with Mrs. Giggles' review so far, unfortunately.
Posted later...
I've had it. Still reading Thirty Nights and Hunter's turned into Superman now. He's just fought a terrorist and thrown him over a cliff. Singlehandedly. I'm wondering: why didn't that idiot terrorist take a gun into the island? Oh no, he had to kill his target with his bare hands. Sorry, but I don't think I've ever read of a terrorist hit where a target was strangled or beaten to death.
And did I mention I find the science in this book (Hunter is a scientist involved in a very hush-hush project) very suspect? A computer model which predicts a group's behaviour based on the region's history and values and the DNA of a sample of the population? Hmmm. Can we actually predict personality with DNA? I mean, I know scientists keep announcing they have just identified "the gene which determines alcoholism", but I thought this was just hype.
Off to work now. I'll probably finish this in the evening, though I'm tempted to stop reading right now.
And posted later still...
I finally finished Thirty Nights, and I'd give it a D. It's just that this book pushed all the wrong buttons. A rapist hero, a wimpy heroine, an improbable terrorism and science side-plot, too much sex... This was bad.
The set up could have been good (I myself have had similar fantasies), but it felt too much like forced sex. In their first confrontation, he did say he wouldn't allow her to leave, and even if he then claimed she knew she could have left if she had really wanted to, that sounded false to me. There was a whole undercurrent of dominance there that bugged me. And some things Hunter said were like: "you know you really want it" = the typical rapist's "she was asking for it" defence.
It also didn't help that I couldn't stand Gillian. I don't know, I guess I just wouldn't stand for a situation like that one. I also felt really insulted by the "I've never heard anything sadder in my life" crack she said when Hunter said he'd never fantasized about having children. I know it's a common attitude, but it bothered me. She was a bit pathetic.
I skimmed at full speed through the final 50 pages, and that is not good. Read more...
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