I really don't know what grade to give Death in Holy Orders. It's fascinating as a character study (though some things bothered me), but IMO, it fails as a whodunnit.

The best thing here is the painstaking care the author takes when drawing the characters. These are real people. I like some, dislike others, but they're always real and they act real, except for the one case which makes the whodunnit not work.

However, I'm not sure I like the characters the author would want me to like. Dalgliesh, our protagonist, for instance, came across to me as very judgemental, and I never liked him much. The scene where he interviews Eric and Karen Surtees is a perfect example of this. He's terribly hostile to them, especially Karen.

The worse thing is that this is the same character who doesn't turn a hair when hearing one of the priests there served time for sexually abusing minors. That bothered me, how everyone seemed to take the view that Father John was to be pitied and somehow hadn't deserved to suffer. And it wasn't just one character who seemed to feel that, there were enough that I'm pretty sure I know what James' position is, and I don't like this at all.

I also felt James was too heavy handed when characterizing all believers as good and all non-believers as bad. Every atheist or agnostic here is morally bankrupt, maybe except one of the other detectives. As an agnostic myself, this was a big turn-off.

The resolution of the murders was foolish. I never believed the murderer would have done what he did for the reasons stated. It didn't make any sense.

I'd give this an A- for the setting and atmosphere and the characterization and a C for the resolution of the murders. Final grade: B

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Too hot today. Temperatures are predicted to go up to 40ºC (over 100ºF, I think). Already at 9:30 AM we had 35º. And I have to drive to Floresta at 3:30 PM!

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Oh dear, it seems I'll be eating gnocchi (or ñoquis, as they're sometimes called in Spanish) till kingdom come. It's a Uruguayan tradition, see? Every month, on the 29th, you have to eat gnocchi and put money under the plate. That way you won't be short of money the following month. Not that I believe in it, of course. This falls under the "it does no harm anyway, so why not do it?" category. Plus, I actually like gnocchi, so it's not a great sacrifice! :-D

Problem is, I'm home alone for the summer, so there's noone else to eat them with me. Best choice would have been to buy a serving from the pasta restaurant a few blocks from my house, but I didn't realize it was the 29th, so I didn't think to tell the lady who comes to clean my house and sometimes cooks for us not to make them. I got home and there was this big platter of gnocchi... enough for 3 or 4 meals. They're so good I refuse to throw some away, so I'll just have to eat them all.

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Death in Holy Orders, by P.D. James

After reading a very good book, I always try to start something completely different, otherwise what I read feels a little disappointing. This time, I started a mystery, Death in Holy Orders, by P.D. James.

Asked by a wealthy businessman to investigate the "accidental" death of his adopted son Ronald, a student at a small theological college in East Anglia, Dalgliesh willingly returns to St. Anselm's, where he had spent happy summers as a teenager. But what was a casual investigation turns into official police business when the archdeacon, another weekend visitor, is found brutally murdered in the locked church.

Is his killing related to Ronald's death or to the recent fatal "heart attack" of the housekeeper who discovered Ronald's body? Or was the archdeacon murdered because he threatened to close the college down? In their usual methodical and careful manner, Dagliesh and his team, Detective Inspectors Kate Miskin and Piers Tarrant, seek answers and a murderer.

To tell you the truth, I don't know why I like James's books so much. Actually, yes, I know, she's a genius at characterization, but the thing is, I always feel depressed when I finish her books. And yet I keep reading and enjoying them.

Posted later...

I really don't know what grade to give Death in Holy Orders. It's fascinating as a character study (though some things bothered me), but IMO, it fails as a whodunnit.

The best thing here is the painstaking care the author takes when drawing the characters. These are real people. I like some, dislike others, but they're always real and they act real, except for the one case which makes the whodunnit not work.

However, I'm not sure I like the characters the author would want me to like. Dalgliesh, our protagonist, for instance, came across to me as very judgemental, and I never liked him much. The scene where he interviews Eric and Karen Surtees is a perfect example of this. He's terribly hostile to them, especially Karen.

The worse thing is that this is the same character who doesn't turn a hair when hearing one of the priests there served time for sexually abusing minors. That bothered me, how everyone seemed to take the view that Father John was to be pitied and somehow hadn't deserved to suffer. And it wasn't just one character who seemed to feel that, there were enough that I'm pretty sure I know what James' position is, and I don't like this at all.

I also felt James was too heavy handed when characterizing all believers as good and all non-believers as bad. Every atheist or agnostic here is morally bankrupt, maybe except one of the other detectives. As an agnostic myself, this was a big turn-off.

The resolution of the murders was foolish. I never believed the murderer would have done what he did for the reasons stated. It didn't make any sense.

I'd give this an A- for the setting and atmosphere and the characterization and a C for the resolution of the murders. Final grade: B.

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Bridal Favors, by Connie Brockway

Ok, about Connie Brockway's Bridal Favors.

Late one night, young Evelyn Cummings Whyte bumps into Justin Powell as he exits a married woman's bedroom. Evelyn agrees to keep silent about the indiscretion, and Justin is left in her debt. Now, ten years later, Evelyn calls in the favor. Ever since her aunt eloped to France, Evelyn has been trying to keep Whyte's Nuptial Celebrations running smoothly, and now has one last chance to keep the company solvent. A wealthy American client insists on holding her second wedding at North Cross Abbey, which just happens to be Justin's ancestral estate. Justin agrees to let Evelyn use his digs on one condition: he'll be on the premises. Thinking that the wedding offers the perfect cover for his plan to ferret out a dangerous enemy spy, Justin quickly discovers just how challenging, yet enjoyable, it is keeping Evelyn unaware of his real plans, and out of danger.

What a beautiful, delightful book! An A+. It's difficult to write about an A+ read without gushing like a crazed fangirl, so I'm not even going to try. :-D Here goes: I enjoyed every word of it. I actually read all of it with a smile on my face, even LOLing quite a few times. This is really the type of humor I adore.

And Justin! One of the best heros I've read in ages. Wonderfully funny and adorable, and so, so sexy! I loved his courage and the fact that he accepted being considered a useless parasite by everyone as a cover for his very heroic activities. And the way he fell for Evelyn... oh, so romantic! And how he wanted to protect her but still accepted her help in unmasking the spy. I even enjoyed the way he spoke while doing his "useless Justin" persona. I must say, he spoke just like some of the MM Kaye characters!

Evie was great too, but every other character just paled next to Justin. She was a teeny bit too much of a stereotype, the heroine who believes she's ugly and noone will ever love her. But I forgive her ;-)

After Justin, my favorite character has to be Beverly, the mysoginist butler. OMG those scenes with Justin! I just love humor which tickles my sense of the ridiculous.

I even loved the spy subplot. Brockway was able to keep a very convoluted situation simple, and the dénouément was delightful. Like Christina Dodd's My Favorite Bride, told in the villain's POV, and very funny. Hmmm... there are actually quite a few things in common between those 2 books, from the titles to the spy subplots. Completely different stories, but a couple of coincidences. Aren't these 2 authors friends, or something?

This is the way a light, funny historical should be done. Period.

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In the last days, I've been trying to read as many 2002 books as possible, preparing to vote in AAR's 7th Anual Readers Poll. Yesterday I finished reading Bridal Favors, by Connie Brockway, an A+ 2002 book which will likely be my choice for both Favorite European Historical and Favorite Funny. These were 2 categories I'd been having some trouble with.

In European Historicals, I hadn't read any books that had really rocked my boat. The only 2002 books in that category that I'd read had been:

• Lord of Ice, by Gaelen Foley, just an ok read, a B.
• Lady Sophia's Lover, by Lisa Kleypas, only a C+, probably my disappointment for the year
• Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, by Julia Quinn, which I loved when I read it (I gave it an A-), but which doesn't look so great when I look back on it.
• No True Gentleman, by Liz Carlyle, a B, which competes with Lady Sophia for the title of Disappointment of the Year.
• The Bride Thief, by Jacquie D'Alessandro, a nice little book, a B-, but nothing much.
• My Favourite Bride, by Christina Dodd, you know my opinion.
• Dangerous, by Debra Dier, a D+, didn't like it at all.

I was probably going to go with the Julia Quinn book, but now I'm definitely voting for Bridal Favors.

As for the Favorite Funny, I was going to go with George and the Virgin, by Lisa Cach, but it wasn't really my type of humor. More on Bridal Favors in my next entry.

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Gambler's Woman, by Stephanie James (JAK)

Sunday morning I read an old JAK, written under her Stephanie James pseudonym. The book was Gambler's Woman, and it was a B- for me.

Jordan Kyle is a professional gambler, a good one. He is a man who can calculate the odds and win or lose at his discretion when he gambles. Alyssa Chandler is just as good as Jordan. For Jordan, gambling is how he makes his living. For Alyssa, gambling is fun. A fantasy she indulges on weekends.

When they meet, Jordan knows that Alyssa is his. But Alyssa only has room for Jordan on a part time basis. In Alyssa's real world, she has a job that would be endangered by her gambling hobby. So her hobby must remain secret and so must her relationship with Jordan.

Jordan is not happy with his role in Alyssa's life. He doesn't want to be part of her gambling fantasy. He wants to be very real to Alyssa and hold a real place in both of her worlds. So when she cancels on him because of a previous engagement, he makes his presence felt in her other life.

This one was a guilty pleasure. I enjoyed it in spite of myself. The problem was basically the hero, who was perilously close to being an alpha heel. Jordan's the typical "you are mine" insanely jealous hero, who suspects every interaction the heroine has with another man. That might work for me if he realizes he's being unreasonable and he apologizes after the fact, but I never felt that with Jordan. After he ran off a guy who'd come to return some money to Alyssa and accused her of practically prostituting herself, he did listen to her explanations, but his attitude wasn't "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I'm sorry; I'll never do it again", but "I never again want to see a man giving you money. No wonder I thought what I did".

What didn't help this problem I had with the hero was that this book was written wholly from Alyssa's POV. We never saw anything from Jordan's, or rather, we saw one lousy paragraph from his POV. That was weird, actually. It wasn't even a particularly relevant paragraph. Anyway, if we'd seen what was going on in his mind, it might have been possible to forgive him some things. The way the book was written, no way.

Alyssa helped not make this a wall-banger. She forgave some attitudes she shouldn't have tolerated, but she wasn't usually a doormat.

What I liked about this book was its very original setting and plot. No cowboys and virgin brides here. In fact, it would have even been original for a single title, like many old, 1980s categories I've read. Plus, and this is why I call this one a guilty pleasure, on some level I do enjoy those heroes who just have to have the heroine. I prefer it when they are done in another way, but as always, there's something about JAK's writing that draws me in. Plus, I actually did sympathise with Jordan's frustration about being stuck being a weekend fantasy for Alyssa.

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I think I'm going to start keeping a list of the worse romance novel titles ever. Looking at someone's trade list, I found 3 examples of the worst the genre has to offer:

• Millionaire Cop & Mom-to-Be, by Charlotte Hughes
• The Sheik & The Virgin Princess, by Susan Mallery
• The Millionaire's Pregnant Bride, by Dixie Browning

Aren't they awful? Unless I read a glowing review of them at someplace I trust, I wouldn't touch one of these with a 10-foot pole.

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All Night Long, by Michelle Jerott

The second book I read this weekend - and boy, am I glad I did - was All Night Long, by Michelle Jerott, now writing as Michele Albert.

A forever kind of guy tangles with a rolling stone kind of woman: On a hot July night in 1832, a young infantry officer disappeared. Almost 170 years later, the search for what happened to him -- and why -- draws Annie Beckett and Rik Magnusson together in a passionate affair. She tells herself she can't stay. He decides he won't let her go. Annie and Rik are determined to overcome the painful obstacles of their pasts to find happiness, but history is about to repeat itself as timeless constants of human behavior -- love and honor, friendship and rivalry -- threaten their fragile bonds of love and trust.

This one was a reread, but I didn't remember it was so great. I mean, I knew I'd liked it, but I didn't remember how utterly re-readable it was. Anyway, I just loved it, and it gets an A+.

This one's just the kind of book I prefer. It concentrates on the romance (no gun-wielding villains here), but still has a neat little mystery to add that "something extra" to the book. The characters are excellently drawn, and very likeable. Rik's been burned by his ex-wife but doesn't hate all women, and Annie has some issues with commitment, but this isn't drawn out too long.

Rik and Annie together are very believable. Their relationship progresses slowly, and never feels rushed. And those love scenes! Full of humor and laughter and very, very hot.

I found the storyline about Lewis, the lost infantryman, fascinating. I don't know if it was believable that it would have garnered that much media attention (though I wouldn't think so), but I liked it and Jerott made good use of it to show us more about Annie.

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Deception, by Amanda Quick

Ok, my reading last weekend: First, Deception, by Amanda Quick.

Although several generations have passed since Captain Ryder buried his treasure somewhere in the West Indies, the Flamecrest clan consider themselves to be dashing adventurers, worthy of carrying on the buccaneer tradition. All except for Jared. Jared is the businessman of the family and his relatives find him quite staid--useful only in petty matters like keeping them solvent.

When the Lightbourne diary, which contains clues to the location of the treasure, falls into the hands of Olympia Wingfield, Jared unromantically decides to purchase it instead of seducing the information out of her as his family urges.

But matters go awry when Jared meets Olympia--a self-proclaimed "woman of the world" who has lived most of her life in Upper Tudway. Attraction flares between them, and Jared promptly throws all thought of buried treasure out the window and does the first impractical thing of his life: he pretends he is the new tutor for Olympia's three nephews and installs himself in her chaotic household.

Nice book. Not her best, but a B+ none the less. The best thing here was Jared and how he worried that he was always the one rescuing other people and who was going to rescue him? I tend to go for these vulnerable heros... the uncomplicated alpha does absolutely nothing for me.

Olympia was the typical AQ oblivious bluestocking. I loved the dynamics of her relationship with Jared: he took care of business so that she had time to devote to her work. That implies a healthy respect for her work on his part, and this is something that's not too common in romance novels.

Extra points for the positive portrayal of homosexuality, and for the neat little mystery. However, I found it strange that Jared and Olympia decide not to go on the ship to look for treasure. Wasn't one of Olympia's dreams to travel the world?

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Another weekend at La Floresta, and this time we had wonderful weather. :-D I actually watched the sunset on Saturday from inside the sea. Next weekend I'm going back, but this time I'm going to the house my parents rented for the month. That means less packing, because for most of the bulky stuff (like towels, bathrobe, etc.), I'll have a duplicate there. I'll probably even leave some clothing there. I'm thinking I'll have to pack only a little backpack, half of it books.

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Sensual Secrets, by Jo Leigh

Yesterday I read Jo Leigh's Sensual Secrets, a Harlequin Blaze.

Amelia Edwards needs to get a life — a sex life to be exact! She's living in the Big Apple where she's supposed to be meeting all kinds of single, gorgeous men. Instead she's spending too much time holed up at the cybercafé writing about her fantasies — instead of living them out! But that's about to change....

Jay Wagner has been looking for a sexy woman like Amelia. And when he accidently reads her online sensual secrets, he knows she's the one for him. Through scanning her entries, he learns exactly how to touch her body and what words will make her scream in delight. It's the perfect fantasy relationship. Until reality intrudes...and Amelia discovers he's been snooping.

Jay seduced her body. Can he now seduce Amelia's heart...?

Just a little note: the blurb I quoted is a bit misleading, in that Amelia only discovers Jay's been reading her fantasies in the last say... 30 pages of a 250 page book. This isn't really the conflict, just the little final difficulty in their relationship.

Ok, this is a good one. I've seen the Blazes get bashed a lot on-line, but I really don't find them a particularly bad line. There's some crap, there are some average reads and there are some gems. I don't know why people single them out.

As I said, this particular book is one of the winners. I'd grade it a B+. It delivers on the promise of hot sex (thought there aren't really that many love scenes. It's mostly a matter of sexual tension and some sexy foreplay scenes) but the characters are also nicely developed and the plot isn't as gimmicky as some.

Amelia was the typical repressed, shy, almost-virgin character at the beginning (but one who masturbates regularly and has a vibrator! Not that typical.), but she does change and grow during the book. I liked her much better in the end. Oh, and she was a student. You don't usually see many of those in romance. Jay was yummy. His commitment issues weren't very romantic, but they were realistic, and didn't go on for too long, thank god.

All in all, a nice book. Not a great, deep novel, but satisfying none the less.

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I weighed myself this morning and I've lost 4 kg so far this year.. from 64 kg to 60kg. It appears the miser's diet works. Since I'm home alone, and I don't like spending much money on superfluous stuff (like food!), my fridge is empty and I've been eating only salads and vegetable and chicken pies. Not precisely diet, but not calorie-bombs like I usually eat.

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My Lady's Pleasure, by Julia Justiss

Yesterday I also read My Lady's Pleasure, by Julia Justiss

Widowed Valeria Arnold has experienced little of the delights of love—until a chance encounter with half-Irish gambler Teagan Fitzwilliams leads to a stolen interlude that bedazzles them both. Wistfully they part, expecting never to meet again.

Then an unexpected invitation brings Valeria to London for the Season. Teagan knows he should keep his distance, lest Valeria's reputation be tarnished by his own, but when the lady requests his escort, he cannot refuse. Once again under Teagan's spell, Valeria must decide what she really wants: remarriage to a proper ton gentleman—or a passionate affair with this most improper rogue...

I liked this one very much in spite of it having the mother of all clichés: the virgin widow. This is a bit of a non-issue, though, and over in no time at all, so no problem!

The best thing here were the characters. I loved Teagan. He broke my heart: I really felt for him, trapped in a lifestyle he hates. And when he loses everything, and faces having to start again (paraphrasing) his stomach churning, counting cards, calculating bets. God, that was so heartwrenching. And Valeria was good too, very mature and level-headed. I loved how she put Lady Winterdale and her chaperone and Sir William in their places when they tried to dictate to her what to do.

This was one of those few books where I notice the author's writing style. Usually I notice it only when it bothers me (except for some honourable exceptions!), but not here. It felt a bit trad regency-ish, and I loved it. My only quibble was how every character seemed to stutter at the beginning of sentences when they were excited, or nervous, or scared, or... you get the picture.

I had a couple of problems with the ending, and this is what kept the book at a B+ grade instead of at an A range. The solution to all those insurmountable difficulties seemed much too easy. Why didn't Teagan do this earlier, instead of spend years doing something he hated? And the way he seemed convinced he was somehow destined to leave his wife, as his father had done! And he doesn't decide he isn't because he realizes this theory is really lame, no! He finds out his father didn't leave his mother, so suddenly everything's ok. Added to that, a too-long separation. A necessary one, but this is something I never like.

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Oh, and another thing... just a niggle, but... why would Ethan be the best candidate to represent the US president in a forum on international economics? Very doubtful. The guy's basically a business consultant, no reason to believe he'd know so much about the subject.

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My One and Only, by MacKenzie Taylor

Yesterday morning I finished My One and Only, by MacKenzie Taylor.

Abby Lee knew it was a long shot but because of her boss Harrison Montgomery's past kindness to her, she feels compelled to try. Harrison's company is on the verge of bankruptcy and only desperate measures may save it. The one man who is an expert in solving such problems, Ethan Maddux, happens to be Harrison's illegitimate son and top rival.

Knowing that Abby is trying to save his father's company both angers and intrigues Ethan. But something about her awakens new emotions in Ethan and so he agrees to take a look at Montgomery's books.

As Ethan lives in San Francisco and Abby resides in Chicago, distance should be a problem. However Ethan is relentless in his pursuit. Abby is a package deal since she is raising her 13-year-old sister Rachel, following the unsolved murder of their parents. Ethan's sudden interest in Abby and possible interference in the Montgomery Company is arousing all kinds of emotions in a variety of individuals� including some who are not so benign.

I'm afraid the reason I moved this one up on my TBR pile was a comment on one of the Yahoo! Groups I belong to. The poster mentioned how this one's plot was a copy of JAK's Family Man: The heroine works for the hero's estranged family. They helped her when she was very young and needed a job. The business in is trouble, so she goes to him (a hotshot business consultant who specializes in rescuing failing businesses) to ask for help.

At first, it did seem the books were similar, plus, the first time we meet Ethan, he's thinking about how he might have scared his ex-fiancée away with his excessive passion. That reminded me of another JAK (Asolutely, Positively, I think it was, but I might be wrong), where the hero had had exactly the same problem. His former fiancée described life with his as (I'm paraphrasing) "hours of boredom, mixed with moments of extreme fear".

However, as the book progresses it becomes clear that it's only a superficial similarity, only the same premise. These are their own characters, not carbon copies of those in Family Man. They have their own issues, and their stories progress in a different direction.

That issue out of the way, I didn't like the book. I thought I would, and I liked the beginning, basically how the characters and the conflict were set up. Problem is, I didn't really feel the romance and though the suspense subplot was very intriguing, the resolution was a bust. The problem with the romance was the biggest, IMO. I never felt any of the sexual tension, and when they did get into bed, the author basically slammed the door in our faces, by doing this very general description. I hate it when they do that. Sorry, but if, for whatever reason, you don't want to write love scenes, write a sweet romance. Don't do that last-minute cop-out thing. It especially bothered me here because I was interested in seeing how Ethan would deal with it when he showed Abby his "dark side". Would he freak out? Would he be certain Abby was going to leave him?

The resolution of the suspense subplot was even worse. By that time, I'd already given up on the romance and was hoping this part would carry the day (at least into upper C territory). No such luck. The whole resolution was anticlimatic, plus a couple of threads were left hanging.

To summarize, a promising book that didn't deliver. A grade of C-.

ETA: Oh, and another thing... just a niggle, but... why would Ethan be the best candidate to represent the US president in a forum on international economics? Very doubtful. The guy's basically a business consultant, no reason to believe he'd know so much about the subject.

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I've just had a long chat with my sister on MSN. She's in Punta del Este with my parents, and I haven't seen her since the 1st of the year, when I last was there. I hadn't realized how much I miss her. She's 23, only about 2 years younger than me, and she's always been my best friend. Anyway, it was lovely to talk to her. I'm now walking around with a big smile on my face. :-D Here's a pic of the two of us taken last month. She's the pretty one on the left, with the black sleeveless top (Don't I look just awful? I look ok IRL, but I photograph terribly).

BTW, one of the things we talked about was books. She's also a romance reader, but she reads much less than I do (basically, she doesn't have much time to read during the school year), so she tends to rely on my recommendations. Right now she's just finished JAK's Family Man (she loved it), so she asked my advice on what to read next. Or rather, she was more or less set on reading My False Heart, by Liz Carlyle and asked me what I thought. I told her that though I'd loved it, it might be a bit too slow for her.

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Mistress, by Amanda Quick

I still haven't finished writing about the books I read last weekend, and it's already Wednesday. I'm being lazy, I know. Ok, the last book I read this weekend was Amanda Quick's Mistress. I'm happy to report it's now disputing the title of "My Favourite Quick" with Ravished.

"After a year of grand adventures touring the classical ruins of Italy and Greece, Iphiginia Bright returned to England to discover that the real excitement was at home. It seems that her Aunt Zoe has fallen victim to a sinister blackmailer and only Iphiginia can hope to stop the culprit before he can do more harm. Her plan is inspired: Imitating history's most legendary beauties--Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Aphrodite--the former schoolmistress will remake herself, and descend upon London Society as the dazzling mistress of Marcus Valerius Cloud, the infamous Earl of Masters. Rumors hint that the Earl has disappeared at the blackmailer's hands, and by posing as his unknown mistress, Iphiginia is convinced she can ferret out the villain.

Overnight, Iphiginia is transformed into a vision with a host of eager admirers, including one she does not expect -- the Earl of Masters himself, who strides into a shimmering ballroom one evening to cooly reclaim his "mistress". He is everything they say he is... arrogant, attractive, devastatingly seductive, and Iphiginia can't help but be enthralled. But when Marcus agrees to play along with her charade, she doesn't know that the determined earl has plans of his own: to tease and tempt her, until the beautiful deceiver becomes more than his mistress in name only."

This is JAK at the top of her game. An A. The hero, Marcus, is great. A bit of a nerd and a loner, really in danger of turning into a "clockwork man". I really wasn't surprised when Iphiginia made up her mind to marry him when she heard he was afraid of turning into one. I also liked that he hadn't always been very polished, and he still was a bit of a clod in his own mind. The first love scene was really funny.

Iphiginia was one of JAK's bluestocking heroines, but less dizzy and naive than most. She's got a good head for business and is very smart and creative, though her scheme to catch the blackmailer didn't make much sense to me. ;-)

The blackmail plot thingie, BTW, was a bit convoluted, and the villain not really believable. I don't really read this for the suspense subplot, so when in the same book every incident has different motives on the part of the villain, it's too much work to keep track.

Some bits and bobs about the book: liked the Marcus - Bennet relationship (I love good brother interactions in romance), the Amelia and the widows and spinsters fund, and the way she got her revenge on her rapist were great, and finally, the love scenes were very hot. Not many of them, but nice.

Weird coincidence. On Sunday morning, when I'd just finished reading this, I drove my aunt to the tiny little supermarket in downtown La Floresta ("downtown La Floresta" means 3 blocks where you can find some 5 or 6 stores. That's the commercial district. Love the place!) and noticed they now have a book section, just a couple of shelves containing a jumble of paperbacks. I took a cursory glance at them, mostly finding self-help books and surprise, a couple of paperback romances (translated to Spanish, of course). Among them: "La Amante", by Amanda Quick, the book I'd just finished. There was also a copy of Mystique (translated as Un Amor MÃ?Â?gico, "A Magic Love"). I was surprised to see they were about 2 US dollars each. Oh, and they had terribly lurid clinch covers, both of them. :-D

Update: I reread this book in June 2004. Click here to read my post about it.

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Finally, I now have a date for my vacation! After a lot of dithering (how many days should I ask for? when exactly?), I made my choice and talked to the boss. He was really sweet about it, didn't even ask how many days I wanted and just said yes. This was so different from the last 2 years!

In 2001, I was working for the bitch from hell, in the Marketing department in a bank. Before starting there, I'd done a bit of job hopping, never long enough in one place to take a vacation, plus I'd work till Friday on one place and start on Monday at the next, so I hadn't even had a couple of days' rest. The result, I'd worked for almost 2 years straight, all the while studying for college and attending class 4 hours a day. I'd leave home at 8:30 AM and get back at 11 PM. Believe me, I was beat, and stressed to the max.

Anyway, I asked the bitch for a lousy 3 days, on the week of Carnaval. Monday and Tuesday of that week are a National holiday, so with my 3 days, I'd be able to rest for a whole week. She hemmed and hawed and gave me the evil eye, and finally said yes. Then, 2 days before I was supposed to leave, she started going on about how maybe I should consider staying, because there was so much to do. Sorry, no way. I told her I'd already rented a house for the week, and that I was going and it was final. Deal with it. She didn't like it, but had to accept it. She did her best to ruin my holiday, though, calling me twice a day on my cell phone to ask idiotic questions.

A year later, on the summer of 2002, I was still at the bank, but working with a much nicer boss, but one who worked 15 hours a day, never took a holiday, and expected everyone else to do the same. I asked her for 2 weeks and she said yes, no problem... but she wouldn't sign the vacation request form.

"María, remember I asked you about my vacation yesterday? Well, here's the form for you to sign"

"Fine, leave it on my desk and I'll take a look at it"

A couple of days later...

"Maria, about my vacation, did you get a chance to sign the form?"

"Oh, sorry, I completely forgot about it. Where is it? On my desk? I must have thrown it away by mistake. Ro, be a dear and print another copy for me"

This happened a couple of times and though she finally did sign it, she did so 3 days before I was supposed to leave. By that time, I was a mess.

Knock on wood, but it looks like it'll be different this year. Everything's already settled, and I have a full 3 weeks. I'll be leaving on Tuesday Feb. the 11th, right after work, and won't be back until Wednesday March the 5th. It's 13 days vacation, plus March 3rd and 4th are National holidays (Carnaval again).

I'll be going to La Floresta. The whole family will be renting a house there. I probably won't be blogging at all, but it appears there's a little locutorio, a place with a couple of Internet-connected computers where you can pay for some on-line time. I'll probably check my e-mail a couple of times a week, and might make a couple of posts here, but my book "reviews" will have to wait until I'm back in Montevideo. I'm planning to take a notebook and write them right after finishing each book, so when I get here I'll just have to type them. I did that last year, but I wasn't really writting as much as I am now. I was just jotting down a couple of paragraphs with impressions about the books, to enter into my reading records.

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Midnight Jewels, by Jayne Ann Krentz

Also last weekend, I did a lot of rereading. First, Midnight Jewels, by Jayne Ann Krentz.

Mercy Pennington liked to play it safe. Before she opened her cozy secondhand bookstore, she researched her prospects and minimized her risks. So she never should have handled a rare edition of erotica called the Valley of Secret Jewels. And she should have locked the door of her shop before Croft Falconer walked in.

Falconer enjoyed violence, not literature--beautifully controlled violence of the Asian martial arts. And he looked fighting mad when he learned Mercy promised Valley of Secret Jewels to another buyer. Falconer argued with her, offering her a small fortune, and then tender seduction.

As volatile as a match and dynamite, Mercy and Falconer lit sparks like the Fourth of July. But the real fireworks started when she discovered he had told her almost everything a woman falling in love wanted to hear. Falconer only forgot to mention one little thing: the secret behind the book of forbidden passion that could get them both killed.

The hero, Croft, reminds me of Elias Winters, of Deep Waters. *sigh* That's the problem of reading so many JAKs in such a short period. You start finding common elements, and you can't help but let them colour your views of the book you're reading. Like Elias, Croft is into martial arts, lives a very ascetic lifestyle (Japanese décor and shoji screens, whatever they are!) and has a unique personal philosophy by which he is guided (the Way of Water for Elias and the Way of the Circle for Croft). Croft, however, is quite a bit more "macho" than Elias, and has a past in which he made good use of his "adeption" (is this a word?) to violence. I'd say Croft is an alpha and Elias a beta.

Mercy was a good match for him. I loved to see how she goads him until he loses control every time they make love. I definitely understood why she'd want to do that; there was something very irritating about Croft when he was in that mode. She lost me a bit near the end, though, when she fell for Gladstone's ploy. An extremely TSTL moment.

The suspense subplot was ok. Not very suspenseful, actually, but entertaining, and not very believable either.

This one gets a grade of B+.

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