Burning Lamp, by Amanda Quick

TITLE: Burning Lamp
AUTHOR: Amanda Quick

COPYRIGHT: 2010
PAGES: 352
PUBLISHER: Putnam

SETTING: Victorian London
TYPE: Paranormal Romance
SERIES: Second in the Dream Light trilogy, which combines all of JAK's three pseudonyms and settings.

REASON FOR READING: Autoread author

In this second novel of the Dreamlight Trilogy from New York Times-bestselling author Amanda Quick, psychic power and passion collide as a legendary curse comes to a burn...

The Arcane Society was born in turmoil when the friendship of its two founders evolved into a fierce rivalry. Nicholas Winters's efforts led to the creation of a device of unknown powers called the Burning Lamp. Each generation of male descendents who inherits it is destined to develop multiple talents-and the curse of madness.

Plagued by hallucinations and nightmares, notorious crime lord Griffin Winters is convinced he has been struck with the Winters Curse. But even has he arranges a meeting with the mysterious woman Adelaide Pyne, he has no idea how closely their fates are bound, for she holds the missing lamp in her possession.

But their dangerous psychic experiment makes them the target of forces both inside and outside of the Arcane Society. And though desire strengthens their power, their different lives will keep them apart-if death doesn't take them together.

As mentioned above, Burning Lamp is the second in a trilogy (I suspect it might have been planned as the first in the series, but that release schedules for JAK's different pseudonyms might have influenced the order). Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, here's the description of the series' premise that I wrote in my review of the first one, Fired Up:

The idea is that while one of the founding members of the Arcane society concentrated on enhancing his powers through a potion (the Founder's Formula that so bored me in previous books), another went the engineering way and did so through an artifact, the Burning Lamp. This artifact created a mutation in his genetic makeup, one that manifests in only some of his descendants. When it does, it can lead to them becoming psychic monsters. The only hope for these individuals is to find a woman who can operate the energy produced by the burning lamp and use it to reverse those genetic changes before they become so dangerous that they have to be put down, so to speak.

Each of the books in this trilogy will take place in a different period, coinciding with JAK's three pseudonyms. The books are not in chronological order. This first one, a Jayne Ann Krentz title, is set in the present day. The next one, Burning Lamp (coming out in late April), will be an Amanda Quick and take place in the 19th century, while the last one, Midnight Crystal (coming out August) will be a Jayne Castle and thus be one of her futuristic books set in Harmony. A further thing is that Burning Lamp will have been lost in between the different books, so each of the heroes will have to first find it, and then find the woman who can help them use it.

Anyway, on to this story!

At the start of Burning Lamp, 15-year-old Adelaide Pyne is awaiting her first client at the brothel her guardian sold her to. Adelaide is not giving up easily, though. She has a talent for manipulating dream energy, and plans to use that talent to escape. But her first client is not your usual drunken brothel patron, he's a clearly dangerous man with a talent of his own, and he has no qualms about using it to kill the brothel owner. Adelaide succeeds in overpowering him, however, and escapes, taking with her a strange artifact the man had brought with him.

Fast forward some years (can't remember how many, but about 15, I would say?) and Griffin Winters has begun to suspect he inherited the Winters curse. He fears that unless he finds both the Burning Lamp and a woman who can help him operate it, he'll go mad.

Griffin is a crime lord (yes, he's refered to as that constantly throughout the book, but it's never quite clear exactly what crimes we're talking about -he doesn't really do anything other Amanda Quick heroes don't do), and he has the pulse on London's underworld. He has been hearing about someone who's been engineering raids on brothels known for providing particularly young prostitutes, and there's something about the raider's MO that makes him think he should meet the person responsible. So he arranges a meeting through one of his contacts, and is pleasantly surprised to find out that not only is Adelaide as strong a dreamlight reader as he suspected, but she already has the Burning Lamp, and is quite willing to help him out.

But just as Griffin was able to identify Adelaide, so are other people, and they're determined to get their hands on her and the Burning Lamp.

This was a nice read. Some elements were a bit repetitive and predictable (I'm thinking mostly about Griffin finds the lamp, and then the way it ends up working -pretty much exactly as in Fired Up), but I found the characters fresher than usual.

You know how Amanda Quick's heroines keep protesting "I'm a woman of the world", when they clearly aren't? Well, Adelaide actually is, very much so. She has lived. After escaping the brothel, she moved to America and made her fortune as a performer in a Wild West show. She's played the psychic, held up the targets for the sharpshooting demonstration, all sorts of things. And she hasn't remained chaste and pure throughout, either. There isn't a fuss made about it, but she's had lovers in the past. It's clearly not a big deal for her, mainly because she has no aspirations to any sort of nobility. And neither has Griffin. Both were orphaned when young teens, and have had to make their own way in the world, and so they are perfectly ok with their positions now.

They both felt mature and centred. Not that there isn't some internal conflict, to add to the external one of people coming after them. Griffin has some issues with loss, but they weren't taken to ridiculous lengths, and he was willing to work to get over them. And as in the best books by this author, the chemistry between Griffin and Adelaide is nicely done, and it's clear that they find in each other's company something they've never been able to find elsewhere. Not the most exciting romance ever, but nice.

Something else I liked was the friendship between Griffin and Caleb Jones (from The Perfect Poison), the founder of the J-and-J detective agency that's featured heavily in the contemps. Griffin thinks Caleb is bound to want to execute any Winters male who shows any indication of potentially becoming a multi-talent, but even so, they end up becoming good friends. It was a bit disconcerting, because Griffin and Caleb read so similar that it was hard to know which was which when they were together, but it was nice reading some male bonding scenes!

MY GRADE: A B. Nice enough.

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Some non-fiction

TITLE: At Home: A Short History of Private Life
AUTHOR: Bill Bryson

Bryson is one of my favourite writers ever. He writes in several subgenres, and my favourite book of his is Made in America, which deals with the evolution of American English. At Home does something similar, but with the evolution over the centuries of houses and their contents.

The idea was apparently that he'd move around different rooms of the house and write about them and what is and used to be in each, but that really was only a starting point, as Bryson immediately goes off on tangent after tangent. They were really delicious, fascinating and often amusing tangents, though, so I didn't mind in the least that the book ended up being a bit of a hodge-podge, jumping from one thing to another without much structure. The criterion for inclusion of a particular story clearly wasn't relevance but whether it was interesting, and that was fine by me!

MY GRADE: A B+.


TITLE: The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right
AUTHOR: Atul Gawande

I read this for work, in my quest to come up with ways to use behavioural economics in our area. It's about tasks involving so much information that our fallible brains might easily make mistakes, with the author proposing a deceptively simple way of dealing with this. It was a bit dry in spots, but in the end I found it extremely convincing. Alas, no useful ideas for my work, but if I were a hospital administrator, I'd be running around making changes as we speak!

MY GRADE: B-.


TITLE: In Defence of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
AUTHOR: Michael Pollan

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants". That's the first line, and it's an excellent summary of the book's advice. As the title indicates, most of the meat (heh!) of the book is in the first two words, and in his dissection of the differences between real food and the "food products" that have become so prevalent in supermarkets. There's a fair bit of repetition, even though it's a relatively short book, but it was interesting and useful (especially some of the rules of thumb i.e. don't eat food that makes health claims).

MY GRADE: A B

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The Memory Garden, by Rachel Hore

TITLE: The Memory Garden
AUTHOR: Rachel Hore

COPYRIGHT: 2007
PAGES: 421
PUBLISHER: Pocket

SETTING: Contemporary Cornwall and London
TYPE: Romance / Women's Fiction hybrid
SERIES: None

REASON FOR READING: Someone linked to an interview with the author on twitter (Maili, I think?), and I checked out some of her book descriptions and thought they sounded a bit like something Susanna Kearsley might write. And since I'm always looking for books like Kearsley's to tide me over until her next release...

Magical Cornwall, a lost garden, a love story from long ago...

Lamorna Cove - a tiny bay in Cornwall, picturesque, unspoilt. A hundred years ago it was the haunt of a colony of artists. Today, Mel Pentreath hopes it is a place where she can escape the pain of her mother's death and a broken love affair, and gradually put her life back together.

Renting a cottage in the enchanting but overgrown grounds of Merryn Hall, Mel embraces her new surroundings and offers to help her landlord, Patrick Winterton, restore the garden. Soon she is daring to believe her life can be rebuilt. Then Patrick finds some old paintings in an attic, and as he and Mel investigate the identity of the artist, they are drawn into an extraordinary tale of illicit passion and thwarted ambition from a century ago, a tale that resonates in their own lives. But how long can Mel's idyll last before reality breaks in and everything is threatened?

Shifting imperceptibly from one generation to another, The Memory Garden vividly evokes the lives of two women, born a century apart, but who face the same challenges to their happiness and survival.

Mel Pentreath has just been through a very stressful year. Her mother died after a painful illness, and not long after that, she broke up with her boyfriend. When the dean of the university she works at as a lecturer suggests she take her paid sabbatical a bit earlier than it's due, she realises it's the sensible thing to do.

Mel plans to spend her sabbatical writing a book about a group of painters that settled in Cornwall in the turn of the century. It just so happens that a friend of her sister's, Patric, Winterton, has just inherited a big white elephant of a house in the very area the artists in question settled, and there is a small cottage on the grounds that he would like to let out.

Mel accepts the invitation, and before too long, she and Patrick become friends, and start spending a lot of time together. Both are on the rebound, and things soon take a romantic turn. And meanwhile, Mel has discovered some paintings by an unknown artist, and is busy trying to find out who the mysterious P.T. is.

Mel might not know much about this mystery artist, but we readers do, because Mel's chapters are interspersed with chapters set in the early 20th century. These tell the story of Pearl Treglown, who works as a maid at the big house. Pearl is a talented artist, and the nephew of her employers, also an artist, takes an interest in her, with the consequences you might expect.

I started the book with high hopes, but although I did like it, I found many aspects of it disappointing.

The most disappointing on of them all was how the device of having the two supposedly interlinking stories, set 100 years apart, ended up working. This is something I've very much enjoyed in the past, and not only in Susanna Kearsley's work. But this kind of thing works best when there are some parallels between the two stories being told, when when the story in the past somehow foreshadows the issues in the present one in some way. The summary seems to suggest that is the case ("The Memory Garden vividly evokes the lives of two women, born a century apart, but who face the same challenges to their happiness and survival"), but I just didn't see that. I couldn't see the relevance of Pearl's story to Mel's. At all. To me, Mel's personality and situation were nothing like Pearl's, and neither was the way she dealt with the issues she did have.

Nor did finding out more about Pearl ever feel like it was going to have much of an effect on Mel or her work, which could have been a way to make Pearl's story relevant. Discovering this new painter never, ever felt like it was going to be the sort of discovery that makes an academic career, because Pearl's paintings were described as good, but hardly amazingly wonderful. The whole thing amounted to an interesting footnote or two, but that was it.

It also didn't help that I kind of disliked Pearl's story and wasn't much interested in it. Was I supposed to find Pearl and Charles' romance tragic and heart-wrenching? Because I didn't. Yes, it's sad, but it's the very run-of-the-mill story we've all seen a hundred times before of a maid falling for the young son of her employers (well, nephew, in this case), and believing him when he says that he actually feels something for her. Charles was so obviously a useless, selfish idiot that Pearl's falling for his lies just exasperated me. Yes, poor girl, but she never came that alive for me, so I found it hard to care. Every time I came to a chapter set in the past I wanted to skim past it and go straight back to the present.

And the present, Mel's story, was more interesting, fortunately. It's not a high-excitement page-turner, but apart from a a bit of a saggy middle, the pace felt leisurely rather than slow and enhanced the wonderfully done atmosphere. That atmosphere, by the way, was one of the best things of the book. I really, really want to go to Cornwall now!

I quite liked Mel. She's a sensible sort and quite centred, but human enough that she has doubts and sometimes makes decisions that are not the best. I also thought the issues she was facing were interesting, both in her professional life and in her relationship with her family.

The romantic elements were interesting as well, but I wasn't too enthused about the two men Mel is supposed to have to chose between. Her ex, Jake, was quite clearly a very selfish man, resentful of Mel's successes. Patrick seemed better, but then he was way too easily manipulated by his own ex, and just couldn't see through her. It got to the point where he was waffling between her and Mel. I suppose that's probably a realistic situation many women go through, but I just found it very unromantic. The book does have a happy ending and Mel makes what I thought was the right decision, but it all felt a bit humdrum.

So, all in all, I have unfortunately not really found an author to tide me by until the next Kearlsey comes out, but I think I'd read Hore again. There's one that deals with painted glass windows, apparently, and even though I didn't get to learn as much as I hoped for about the painters Mel was writing about here, I'm hopeful.

MY GRADE: A B-.

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The Search, by Nora Roberts

TITLE: The Search
AUTHOR: Nora Roberts

COPYRIGHT: 2010
PAGES: 488
PUBLISHER: Piatkus

SETTING: Contemporary US
TYPE: Romantic Suspense
SERIES: None

REASON FOR READING: Autobuy author

To most people, Fiona Bristow seems to have an idyllic life-a quaint house on an island off Seattle's coast, a thriving dog-training school, and a challenging volunteer job performing canine search and rescues. Not to mention her three intensely loyal Labs. But Fiona got to this point by surviving a nightmare...

Several years ago, Fiona was the only survivor of the Red Scarf serial killer, who shot and killed Fiona's cop fiancé and his K-9 partner.

On Orcas Island, Fiona found the peace and solitude she needed to rebuild her life. But all that changes on the day Simon Doyle barrels up her drive, desperate for her help. He's the reluctant owner of an out-of-control puppy, foisted upon him by his mother. Jaws has eaten through Simon's house, and he's at his wit's end.

To Fiona, Jaws is nothing she can't handle. Simon, however, is another matter. A newcomer to Orcas, he's a rugged and in-tensely private artist, known for the exquisite furniture he creates from wood. Simon never wanted a puppy-and he most definitely doesn't want a woman. Besides, the lanky redhead is not his type. But tell that to his hormones.

As Fiona embarks on training Jaws, and Simon begins to appreciate both dog and trainer, the past tears back into Fiona's life. A copycat killer has emerged out of the shadows, a man whose bloodlust has been channeled by a master with one motive: to reclaim the woman who slipped out of his hands...

Simon Doyle has a psycho puppy. Jaws may look cute, but that cuteness hides the soul of a plunderer. Attila the Hun could take lessons from the little guy on how to raze a place to the ground and destroy everything in sight.

Fortunately, Orcas Island has a top dog trainer living there, just a few minutes from Simon's. Fiona Bristow is happy to take Jaws on, and is even happier to meet his sexy owner. Simon is less ready to fall for this woman who just isn't his type (he tells himself), but Fiona's courses are as much about training the owners as about training the dogs, so they end up spending a lot of time together.

But the relatively smooth development of their new relationship is interrupted by a horror out of Fiona's past. Years earlier, Fiona was the target of a serial killer called the Red Scarf killer by the press. She was actually abducted by this man, but managed to escape. In retaliation, the killer murdered Fiona's fiance, but was injured during the attack and captured by the police. Since then, he has been sitting in jail. But then someone else starts killing in the exact same way as the Red Scarf killer, down to details that the police never released to the press. And it quickly becomes clear that this new Red Scarf killer wants to outdo the original one, and that can only involve killing the one that got away.

As with all of Nora Roberts latest single titles, reading The Search was an immersive experience. It's a meaty, satisfying read, with a really good and balanced combination of romance and suspense.

It felt quite fresh, too. Sometimes with NR, much as I love her books, I'll meet the characters and immediately think "Oh, she's like so-and-so in book X, and he's a bit like that other guy in book Y, and their relationship is like the one in book Z". I didn't get that feeling at all here, most especially with Simon. He's quite a refreshingly different character. He's a bit grumpy and defensive of his own place, and not particularly looking for someone to nurture and love, but he's not a jerk or a commitment-phobe. He doesn't see Fiona and immediately think that he's got to have her, it takes longer than that. It's more that he becomes used to her and her friendly overtures, and once he is, he misses her if she's not there. This probably sounds unromantic, but it really isn't. I found it more convincing that this was real love than I might have with a "romantic" coup de foudre.

Improbably, considering how many romantic suspense books with serial killers are out there, the serial killer angle also felt fresh. I liked that by the time the story started, Fiona has very much dealt with what happened to her all those years ago, and she's very strong for it. Having the copycat emerge and being plunged into things all over again isn't easy for her, but she copes. She needs support to do so, and she doesn't refuse to get it. I also liked that the FBI agents investigating the case are competent and good about keeping Fiona involved and up-to-date, and that she and Simon actually let them get on with it. Fiona has some insights into things based on her work with the dogs (which, in a way, requires to get into their minds in the way the FBI profilers would do with the killer), but she and Simon don't fool themselves into believing that they should be the ones investigating the case. The only time when they take over is right at the end, and that made complete sense, as Fiona had much more experience in the particular area needed than any FBI agent could.

NR's books these days seem all to have a "thing" that permeates them, and about which we learn more than we ever imagined we would. There was home renovation in Tribute, animal sanctuaries in Black Hills, wedding planning in her latest Brides quartet, and here we have dog training and canine search and rescue. Fascinating stuff, and even though I'm more a cat person, the dogs were just fabulous. They felt real and had their own very distinct personalities, which I loved.

The other thing I found interesting was that it's not just that we see a lot of exactly what Fiona does when she trains her clients and when she leads search and rescue operations. The work she does affects the very way she sees the world and relates to people. A lot of the dog training methodology and vocabulary extends to her human-human relationships, as well. Simon, especially, gets a bit annoyed when he realises that in many ways, Fiona is "training" him! It is, however, not presented as this awful manipulativeness on Fiona's part, which I found refreshing. It's more that she can tell how Simon will react to different things, so she behaves accordingly. Nothing wrong with that!

MY GRADE: A B+.

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The Snow Queen, by Mercedes Lackey

TITLE: The Snow Queen
AUTHOR: Mercedes Lackey

COPYRIGHT: 2008
PAGES: 416
PUBLISHER: Luna

SETTING: Fantasy world
TYPE: Fantasy, with a touch of romance
SERIES: 4th book in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series.

REASON FOR READING: I've enjoyed this series

Aleksia, Queen of the Northern Lights, is mysterious, beautiful and widely known to have a heart of ice. But when she's falsely accused of unleashing evil on nearby villages, she realizes there's an impostor out there far more heartless than she could ever be.

And when a young warrior disappears, Aleksia's powers are needed as never before.

Now, on a journey through a realm of perpetual winter, it will take all her skills, a mother's faith and a little magic to face down an enemy more formidable than any she has ever known...

The Big Concept behind Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms series is the premise that in this world, people are influenced by something called the Tradition, which tries to force people into the paths of traditional fairy tales. Once it recognises the elements of one of them (e.g. a young woman living with an evil stepmother and two ugly stepsisters), forces start to gather to push events in a certain direction.

If left alone to act, the Tradition can cause quite a lot of unhappiness and tragedy (fairy tales are not the most sweet and light of stories, after all). Which is why Fairy Godmothers watch over the Five Hundred Kingdoms. They are well versed in the ways the Tradition acts, and are tasked to harness and manipulate it to keep things from ending in tragedy.

The Snow Queen is about Aleksia, the Godmother watching over the Northern-most territories. Aleksia has started to feel a bit lonely in her big castle in the mountains, bored with doing the same "interventions" over and over and over. But then strange things start happening amongst the Sammi people (who I think are based on Laplanders?). Entire villages have been found frozen to death, young men are being stolen, and the culprit is reputed to be the Snow Queen.

So instead of sitting in her castle manipulating events, Aleksia now has to plunge into the fairy tale herself and not only aid two brave Sammi women in rescuing their lost young man, but rescue her own reputation before the Tradition takes matters into its own hands and sends a company of Heroes after her.

This was a fun, easy read. I've loved the concept of the Tradition since the first book, and I'm as fascinated by it and admiring of Lackey's imagination as ever. Her characters are nicely done, and I appreciated the look at a tradition I knew nothing about.

I do have to say that even though there is a main storyline, the book at times feels quite episodic. For long stretches, things are more about the world and how the Tradition works than about any storyline. But you know what? I don't care. I find this world so fresh and amazing, especially after going without reading any book set in it for a couple of years, that I don't mind. I WANT to explore and see how things work. I don't mind a pretty pointless visit to the Sammi underworld, which really doesn't tell us (or Aleksia) much, just because it's so fascinating to see how Lackey portrays this bit of her world.

MY GRADE: a B.

NOTE: Lackey always provides lengthy exerpts on her website. You can read the first 3 chapters of The Snow Queen: chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3.

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Demon Blood, by Meljean Brook

TITLE: Demon Blood
AUTHOR: Meljean Brook

COPYRIGHT: 2010
PAGES: 414
PUBLISHER: Berkley

SETTING: Contemporary Europe
TYPE: Paranormal romance
SERIES: 6th full novel in the Guardians series. There are also several novellas, but all except the first one (IMO), are "extra" to the overarching story that's developed throughout the series.

REASON FOR READING: This is my absolute favourite ongoing series.

Long before she was transformed into a Guardian and trained to fight demons, Rosalia knew darkness all too well. Raised by a demon, Rosalia learned to guard her heart—and her soul—until she found a man worthy of her love. Once, she thought that man would be the powerful vampire, Deacon…until he betrayed the Guardians.

After losing everything to the lies of a demon, Deacon lives only for revenge—and is taken aback when Rosalia offers to help. A vampire who has nothing—who is nothing—isn’t worthy of her attention. But Rosalia wants to do more than just look, and the explosive need between them can’t be held in check. And when Deacon’s vengeful quest creates a dangerous alliance of their enemies, she will be his only hope…

As with previous books, I won't bother summing up the series for newcomers to it. Too much stuff has happened over the last 5 books and I'd probably screw up and spoil things. So if you're a newcomer best go read this excellent primer at the author's website. Or even better, start at the beginning. Quite a few of the books stand alone, but you'll be missing out by not seeing the story develop as it was meant to. And now stop reading this review, because you're about to get spoilt! ;-)

For those who've been following the series, Demon Blood follows the traumatic events at the end of Demon Forged and very surprisingly to me, has as its hero the vampire Deacon, whose actions triggered all that chaos.

After his disastrous forced bargain with a demon, Deacon is out for revenge and has decided to kill demons until he's killed by one himself. When the beautiful Guardian Rosalia (you'll remember her as the one who was found in a crypt at the beginning of Demon Forged, with a spike through her head and nephilim feeding of her for months) offers her help, Deacon is suspicious. She offers the chance to kill demons much more easily and with much less risk than he could on his own, but it's clear she wants something from him. It's clear she has a plan she wants Deacon to be a part of, and Deacon is tired of being manipulated.

Ah, Demon Blood, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways*.

I love thee because I couldn't stop turning the pages, because I started reading and fell into your world, and never wanted to come up for air.

I love thee because of the complexity and subtlety of your characters. The ways they react to things are not obvious or even (in quite a few cases) at all predictable. And yet they feel right for those particular characters. Because the author has actually taken the time to develop them and they feel like real people, with all their irrationalities and contradictions.

I love thee for proving yet again (as if I wasn't convinced!) that it's all in how the character is done. Rosalia might be virginal and in love with Deacon from afar forever, with him hardly knowing she exists. She's might also be a bit of a martyr sometimes, especially with her son. But though this has often bugged the hell out of me, I realise it's because those authors made their heroines all about their innocence and weakness. They were one-dimensional, and their virginity and doormat qualities were meant to be shorthand to tell us readers that these characters were nice and good and what women should be. Rosalia was so much more than those particular elements of her character. She was a strong woman with some weaknesses, with insecurities, as we all have. I understood and loved her and wouldn't have changed a thing about her.

I love thee because Rosalia is the most amazing strategist there could ever be. Because she plans ahead and has thousands of possible permutations worked out, and yet can be flexible enough to and grab opportunities when they appear from nothing and work them into her plan. I'd hire her in a minute, if I had a company. In fact, if she was real, I'd create a company in order to hire her, because she could turn it into an empire within weeks. She illustrates perfectly the fine line between manipulation and strategic thinking.

I love thee because Rosalia's huge, game-changing plan was actually huge and game-changing, and breathtakingly beautiful in its simplicity.

I love thee because Deacon was a hero to die for, because I loved seeing this broken man slowly, so slowly, come to realise his worth. And I loved his vulnerability mixed up with his huge strength.

I love thee for the romance, for two characters who are clearly meant to be together and yet don't think they can. There are little slightly cliched moments there that I've read a hundred times before, like Rosalia telling Deacon the truth about her long-time crush on him, but not telling him that she's talking about him, and Deacon then becoming jealous and for a while interpreting every tender gesture as Rosalia seeing this man in him. But for being in such a fresh, unusual, completely non-cliched book, the bits that are cliches feel fresh again.

I love thee because in your world there are rules and those rules have consequences, and none more than those regarding free will. The exploration of that angle was fantastic. It has been always floating there in the series, but here the concept and its implications are made clear. And while other authors might create a loophole, no matter how illogical, for its implications on motherhood, Brook doesn't, and takes things to their most logical, if heartbreaking, conclusion.

I love thee for your exploration of motherhood - the good, the bad, and how the same feeling of fierce, protective love can sometimes be for the good, sometimes for the bad.

I love thee because you're beautifully written and because it's writing that expects me to keep up and make the effort. Because while not being needlessly complicated, not every single detail is spelled out, and I feel that the author trusts me to understand things.

I love thee for the big story and for the small. Because this is very much part of the Big Picture good vs. evil fight, but the smaller story also stands alone. Because there is balance between the two.

I love thee because the bits setting up the final and much-expected book are integrated perfectly into Rosalia and Deacon's story and don't feel like sequel-baiting.

I even love thee for thy cover, which is beautiful, and is exactly the way I imagined Rosalia.

But most of all, I love thee for being right there with the best books of this series, keeping the quality high and making me crave the next book like a drug.

MY GRADE: An A.

* With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I know I'm not quite paraphrasing!

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Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, by Mario Vargas Llosa

TITLE: La Tia Julia y el Escribidor (Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter)
AUTHOR: Mario Vargas Llosa

COPYRIGHT: 1977
PAGES: 489
PUBLISHER: Punto de Lectura

SETTING: 1950s Lima, Peru
TYPE: Fiction
SERIES: No

REASON FOR READING: For my book club. This was actually my suggestion. I read it for the first time many years ago, in my early teens (we're talking over 15 years ago), and I remember loving it.

Mario Vargas Llosa's masterful, multilayered novel is set in the Lima, Peru, of the author's youth, where a young student named Marito is toiling away in the news department of a local radio station. His young life is disrupted by two arrivals.

The first is his aunt Julia, recently divorced and thirteen years older, with whom he begins a secret affair. The second is a manic radio scriptwriter named Pedro Camacho, whose racy, vituperative soap operas are holding the city's listeners in thrall. Pedro chooses young Marito to be his confidant as he slowly goes insane.

Interweaving the story of Marito's life with the ever-more-fevered tales of Pedro Camacho, Vargas Llosa's novel is hilarious, mischievous, and masterful, a classic named one of the best books of the year by the New York Times Book Review.

In 1950s Lima, the young Mario, a law student from an upper class family, divides his time between his studies and working in a small radio station. He doesn't spend much time doing either of those things. Rather, he is determined to become a writer, and spends whatever time he can steal from other activities trying to write short stories and get them published.

But then Aunt Julia arrives into his life. Julia is not really his aunt, but the sister of his uncle's wife (I feel like I'm writing a French exercise!). She's in her early thirties and recently arrived from Bolivia, having just got a divorce there. They don't initially get along too well, as Julia insists on treating "Marito" (diminutive of Mario in Spanish - kind of "little Mario"), as she calls him, like a child, much hurting the 18-year-old's pride and deflating his pretensions of wordliness and sophistication. But it doesn't take long before their relationship changes, and they begin a forbidden affair.

Meanwhile, Mario's radio station has hired a new scriptwriter, Pedro Camacho, for its soap operas. Nothing to do with Mario, technically, as he works in the news department, but the young man can't help but become fascinated by the strange little man, who comes up with a prodigious number of outrageous scripts, all of which prove to be incredibly successful.

But this I've just described is only half of the book, because the chapters narrating Mario's story are interspersed with chapters which, the reader soon realises, are the prose version of Pedro Camacho's soaps. And as much as we learn of Camacho through Mario's description of their interactions, we learn even more from the stories he comes up with.

This is a long book, but pages just flew by. I enjoyed myself, but unlike the first time I read it, I think this time I admired it more than I liked it.

I have to take my hat off to Vargas Llosa. His writing, as always, is brilliant, and nowhere is this more clear than in the chapters containing Pedro Camacho's radio soaps. Those were Wonderfully done, and I could have sworn they were not being written by the same person who was writing all the other chapters from Mario's point of view. Whatever the subject matter, they were all clearly written by the same person, and it was a person whose personality you came to know through them.

I actually found it quite fascinating how Vargas Llosa, a writer himself, obviously, told the story of Pedro Camacho, his foibles, his attitudes, his irrational hatreds (I had quite a lot of fun with his rabid anti-Argentinianism), all through what the man was writing. Which raises the very interesting issue of whether you can really come to any conclusions about the writer through his fiction? In Camacho's case, one very clearly can.

Excellently done as they were, I did, however, enjoy these soaps less and less as the story progressed. We start out with incest amongst the upper classes, and believe it or not, things get even seedier after that. That in itself wasn't a problem for me, although sleazy is not really to my taste. The main issue I had was the language, which I came to find incredibly uncomfortable.

I don't know how well language would come through in the translation, but it made my skin crawl. It's not just that it's coarse or turgid (though it is, strangely enough, both at the same time). It's... ugly. That's the best way I can describe it. It comes to the worst, most degrading conclusions about everyone. It sticks labels on people, reduces them to only one element (Camacho keeps using the construction "the (adjective) one" instead of characters' names). The use of technical, police report-style language in some cases (using the relatively undramatic "estupro" instead of "violacion" to describe the rape of a young girl), makes light of very traumatic events. I have no doubt that this was done completely on purpose, and it's very successful in telling us about Camacho, but it's the main reason why I say I admired the book but didn't really like many parts of it.

The chapters on Marito's life were more enjoyable, even if, compared to Camacho's soaps, they weren't as insanely exciting (and that's saying quite a lot, considering they were about a scandalous, forbidden affair!). I especially liked visiting upper middle-class Lima in the 1950s, which felt very familiar (probably because it sounds very much like the environment my parents grew up in back in Uruguay), but also quite alien. Things have certainly changed in term of young people's independence, but in Latin America, it's clear many things haven't changed at all!

In terms of what's changed, I found it sweet that even though Julia is a scandalous divorcee, much more experienced than Mario, they have this old-fashioned courtship where they basically hold hands and make out for months, and don't sleep together while they're not married. Still this is not one to read for the romance, I thought. Theirs is not a forever kind of love, and they know it, Julia even makes Mario promise to stay with her for 5 years, knowing (rightly, it turns out), that their relationship won't last much more than that. Realistic, probably, but not very romantic.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about the fact that that part of the story was semi-autobiographical (or is it fictionalised-autobiographical?). Vargas Llosa did, indeed, have an affair with his Tia Julia (in fact, some years after this book was published she wrote her own version of the story in "Lo Que Varguitas No Dijo" - "What Varguitas Didn't Say". It seems to have been published by a small Bolivian press, so I can't really find a link other than this one). I guess I'm not much of a voyeur, because I was vaguely uncomfortable about it, and I actively tried to read it as fiction and forget it was based on real events.

The one element I haven't mentioned yet is actually one that I really liked, and that is that throughout the whole novel the author explores the idea of what good literature is, whether it can be good in isolation or whether the effect it has on readers should be considered as well. This is done through the contrast between Mario's efforts and Camacho's output. Both are dreadful, but for very different reasons. While Camacho's stories are pulpy and turgid, his stories at least capture his listeners' imagination. Mario's seem much too concerned with being literary and although we never actually get to read any of them, you just know what they would be like: all overwritten and derivative, and probably unreadable.

MY GRADE: A B+ just because what I grade is my enjoyment of books. On technical terms, this is an A.

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Unfinished Business, by Karyn Langhorne

TITLE: Unfinished Business
AUTHOR: Karyn Langhorne

COPYRIGHT: 2007
PAGES: 385
PUBLISHER: Avon

SETTING: Contemporary US
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: None

REASON FOR READING: I read a good review of it at AAR.

Black activist Erica Johnson wears her causes on her sleeve—literally. With her class of beloved fourth graders depending on her to represent their concerns, Erica's ready to confront golden-boy conservative senator Mark Newman. And she's willing to suffer through a night in jail and a battle of wits with a real-life war hero, if it will help get the children the money they need.

Mark Newman's a worthy adversary. But there's a more human side to the ambitious politician with the dreamy blue eyes—from the physical pain of his war wound, to his grief over his wife's death. Though they disagree on every hot-button issue, Erica and Mark can't resist their attraction or ignore the unfinished business between them—much to the delight of those trying to use this new relationship against the senator. And when Erica starts receiving some particularly vicious hate mail she has to decide if this handsome dream from the right/wrong side of the political fence is worth risking her heart for . . . and maybe her life.

Contemporary romance tends to stay far, far away from politics. In the few I have read where a character is in politics, authors have been very careful not to say which party they support. It was quite refreshing, therefore, to read a book like Unfinished Business, where the politics and ideology were the main conflict.

Schoolteacher Erica Johnson is sick of the politicking that means her students are disadvantaged and have few opportunities, while big business gets whatever they want. She realises talk is not enough any more, and decides to take action, by attending a Senate hearing and protesting. As she's dragged out, she challenges one of the Republican senators, golden boy Mark Newman, to actually visit her school and see what she's talking about. Mark, surprisingly, accepts. And he issues a challenge of his own: that Erica spend time in his home district and see the issues there from a different perspective.

This all leads to Mark and Erica spending time together, and surprise, surprise, they like each other more than they expected. Not to mention the attraction that begins to develop. But then Mark starts receiving anonymous threatening letters and pictures from someone who seems to regard Erica and Mark's burgeoning relationship as scandalous...

I confess I was a bit wary, before I started this. The main thing is that Mark is portrayed as very conservative, and I'm not only quite a bit left of centre (and veering more and more to the left as the years go by), but also increasingly repulsed by what I see of the US Republican party. I wondered if I'd be able to like him at all. I was also worried about Erica, and hoped Langhorne wouldn't make her into a stupidly naive caricature of a bleeding-heart liberal.

Fortunately, she didn't. Erica is passionate about what she believes, but she's got her feet well on the ground. Langhorne also succeeded in making me like Mark. I may not agree with most of his positions, but can accept that he's fundamentally a decent human being. I liked that the author didn't tone down the differences between these two people, or portray either of them as wrong. The message here was that since these two respected and liked each other, they were able to live with those differences.

I also liked that race wasn't an issue in their relationship. Not an internal issue, anyway, even though there were some external issues in how Mark's constituents would react to him and also in them being targetted by someone who's clearly disturbed by the idea of an interracial relationshipbeing with a black woman.

Which brings me to my only real problem with the book: I kept wishing this was purely a character driven story. The external plot was a distraction from the really interesting and fresh conflict, and it wasn't very well done, either. By the end of the book, the focus had moved a bit too much in that direction, and I put the book down a few times too many.

MY GRADE: A B.

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Savour the Moment, by Nora Roberts

TITLE: Savour the Moment
AUTHOR: Nora Roberts

COPYRIGHT: 2010
PAGES: 352
PUBLISHER: Berkley Trade

SETTING: Contemporary US
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: 3rd in the Bride Quartet

REASON FOR READING: Autobuy author.

Wedding baker Laurel McBane is surrounded by romance working at Vows wedding planning company with her best friends Parker, Emma, and Mac. But she's too low-key to appreciate all the luxuries that their clients seem to long for. What she does appreciate is a strong, intelligent man, a man just like Parker's older brother Delaney, on whom she's had a mega-crush since childhood.

But some infatuations last longer than others, and Laurel is convinced that the Ivy League lawyer is still out of her reach. Plus, Del is too protective of Laurel to ever cross the line with her-or so she thinks. When Laurel's quicksilver moods get the better of her-leading to an angry, hot, all-together mind-blowing kiss with Del-she'll have to quiet the doubts in her mind to turn a moment of passion into forever...

Ah, this is more like it. Savour the Moment felt a bit like take 2 of the plot of Bed of Roses. Like her business partner Emma, baker Lauren also gets involved with one of the men in their little group of friends. Again like Emma, Lauren's fancied her man forever, but hesitated to risk their friendship. And like Jack in Bed of Roses with Emma, Del (brother of Emma and Lauren's friend and also business partner, Parker) had occasionally had flashes of looking at Lauren and being shocked by seeing her as a woman, not just a friend.

So as Emma and Jack, Lauren and Del embark on an affair, with the understanding that they won't allow their friendship to be ruined if the affair goes nowhere. But of course, they both soon want a lot more.

Such a close similarity between the plots might have made STM feel unsatisfying, if it hadn't been for the fact that I thought the romance in BOR hadn't worked at all. I've gone on about it in my review, but to summarise, I never felt the love between Jack and Emma (nor their friendship, really) and the Big Drama at the end pissed me off, because I felt Emma and her friends were being terribly unfair to Jack.

So really, STM didn't really feel like reading the same thing all over again. It was reading something finally done the way it should have been done in the first place.

Lauren and Del clicked for me. I understood them individually and I understood why they felt as they did about each other. I felt the romance and I felt the friendship, too, even before anything happened. I also felt that the people around them were being a lot more mature about these two hooking up, and that helped. It wasn't the best romance I've ever read, but I enjoyed it.

The wedding stuff and the friendship between the women, the men and all eight of them as a group are as wonderfully done as they have been since the beginning of the series, so I won't say much about that beyond that this really enriches the romance for me and is the kind of thing that makes me enjoy NR's romances even when the romance itself isn't great (fortunately, not the case here).

Now to await the final installment. It's quite clear by now who Parker's love interest is going to be. I found him a bit brash and annoying when we first met him, but he grew on me during parts of this book (there's a scene near the end, in the beach house, which hinted at quite interesting depths), so I'm anticipating their book.

MY GRADE: A B.

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Flora's Lot, by Katie Fforde

TITLE: Flora's Lot
AUTHOR: Katie Fforde

COPYRIGHT: 2005
PAGES: 390
PUBLISHER: Century

SETTING: Contemporary England
TYPE: Chick Lit
SERIES: None

REASON FOR READING: I enjoy Fforde's book, as long as I read one every now and then.

Flora Stanza has sub-let her London life in a bid to join the family antiques business. Her knowledge extends only to the information she has crammed from daytime TV, but what she lacks in experience she makes up for in blind enthusiasm. So she is more than a little put out when she doesn't receive the warm country welcome she expected. Her curt cousin Charles and his fiancee Annabelle are determined to send Flora packing, and their offer to buy her out is tempting...until a strange warning makes her think twice.

Stuck with a cat about to burst with kittens, Flora has little choice but to accept the offer to stay in an abandoned holiday cottage miles from any neighbors, let alone a trendy wine bar. And between fighting off dinner invitations from the devastatingly handsome Henry, and hiding her secret eco-friendly lodger William, Flora soon discovers country life is far from dull as she sets about rebuilding the crumbling business...

I have to be in the right mood to read Katie Fforde's books, but sometimes I just feel like immersing myself in her slightly old-fashioned, stereotypically English world. Flora's Lot was a nice one, with gentle humour and nice, if not particularly fresh, characters.

Flora Stanza's life in London isn't really satisfying her, so when she inherits the controlling stake in the family auction business, she sees it as an opportunity to do something a bit different. She's a sensible person though, so she doesn't just drop everything and decide to run the business. Rather, she simply refuses to automatically sell out and decides to check it out. She'll work there for a few months (bowing to the experience of the cousin who's been actually involved in the business probably forever) and see what she wants to do.

She doesn't expect a rapturous reception, but the one she gets is surprisingly hostile. Her stuffy cousin Charles and his fiancee Annabelle are clearly doing there best to make her life miserable and convince her to go back, to the point of sticking her in a cottage in the middle of nowhere on her own.

But Flora is quite tenacious, and will not give up. Especially when, despite some initial difficulties, she finds herself settling into village life, not to mention feeling some very unexpected romantic twinges.

This was a sweet, heartwarming read, and a surprisingly funny one. Flora's cool. She might be a bit silly sometimes, but her heart's in the right place, and I had to applaud her determination to do what she had set out to do, without being stupidly hard-headed.

I loved the old-fashioned feel of the village life... well, slightly old fashioned. People are clearly 21st century people here, but there is a gentleness there, a lack of any darkness, that is probably a bit idealistic. I also really enjoyed the background of the auction house business. We get to find out quite a lot about how things work, and it was all new to me.

The romance was ok, but not my favourite element of the book. The best thing about it was probably that the identity of the love interest really surprised me. I mean, I'm a veteran romance reader, when I'm reading a non-romance I can usually spot who the love interest is going to be after a couple of paragraphs! But this guy was one that I thought Fforde couldn't possibly make into someone Flora could fall in love with. Surprisingly, she could, and by the end of the book I was convinced.

MY GRADE: A B.

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Beyond the Rain, by Jess Granger

TITLE: Beyond the Rain
AUTHOR: Jess Granger

COPYRIGHT: 2009
PAGES: 336
PUBLISHER: Berkley Trade

SETTING: Space, mostly, and some alien worlds
TYPE: Sci-fi / futuristic
SERIES: Followed by Beyond the Shadows.

REASON FOR READING: Good buzz, plus, it's sci-fi romance, that favourite and unrepresented subgenre.the sci-fi romance.

In a universe torn apart by civil war, a warrior and a slave must fight for their lives and a love that may destroy them both.

After five years behind enemy lines, Captain Cyani has to complete one final mission before she can return to Azra-a planet ruled by a sisterhood of celibate warriors. Along the way she finds a prisoner, chained and beaten-but radiating feral power and an unbroken spirit.

For years Soren has endured torture as his captors leeched his very essence, a unique hormone then sold as a sexual narcotic in the shadow trade. Now he has been freed from slavery by a beautiful warrior woman with radiant blue eyes.

After years in bondage, Soren's hormones are so unbalanced that he will die if he does not mate with a woman. Can Cyani be the woman he needs to survive, or will this forbidden bond destroy them?

As the book begins, our heroine, Captain Cyani, is on her final mission, after which she'll be able to retire from a career she never seeked out or even liked. So, as anyone who's ever read a book or watched a film with a character who's about to retire could predict, things are about to go pear-shaped.

They do when after rescuing a group of her fellow soldiers from an enemy vessel, her pet (who helps out in their missions) detects another prisoner and refuses to leave him. There's no time for Cyani to get this man and get back to her ship, but she can't leave her pet there, as her collar holds information that should not get into enemy hands. Cyani ends up stranded with the prisoner, and they must make their escape from the enemy ship together.

And it gets even more complicated, because the prisoner is no ordinary man. Soren is from a planet where the males produce a very special hormone when in contact with their mates. It's because of this hormone that the baddies have been keeping Soren prisoner: they've been using their technology in order to force him to produce the hormone, which they then harvest to manufacture an expensive drug. The problem is, because of what he's been through, Soren's only way of keeping his body to shut down is to get it to produce the hormone again. And that means either going back to what his captors were doing, or establishing the mating bond with someone...

Oh, dear. I'd heard good things about this one, otherwise I would have kept far, far away from the must-have-sex-or-die cliche. I should have, anyway. There were some interesting things here, especially the culture-clash and miscommunication based on incomplete information. However, other than that all I got was a ho-hum, tedious plot and characters that never completely gelled.

Cyani was just a mass of contradictions. Is she a warrior, really? She doesn't act like one. And why would she want to return to her horrible, unjust home world at all, when the powers that be there treat her like crap and always have? And Soren was a mystery till the end. I never really understood his reactions.

In a word: disappointing.

MY GRADE: A very average C.

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Ravishing in Red, by Madeline Hunter

TITLE: Ravishing in Red
AUTHOR: Madeline Hunter

COPYRIGHT: 2010
PAGES: 340
PUBLISHER: Jove

SETTING: Regency England
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: First in the Rarest Blooms series.

REASON FOR READING: I think I've enjoyed every single Hunter book that I've read, and a fair few have been outstanding. I've no idea why I've left such a long time go by since my last!

Armed with her cousin’s pistol, Audrianna travels to a coaching inn, to meet with a man who may have information that will clear her dead father’s name. She does not realize that the handsome man of commanding sensuality who shows up is not the person she expected, but instead Lord Sebastian Summerhays, one of her father’s persecutors, lured to the inn by the same advertisement that brought her there.

When the pistol accidentally fires, the situation becomes mortifyingly public, and thoroughly misunderstood. Audrianna is prepared to live with the scandal. Lord Sebastian has other ideas...

Audrianna Helmsleigh's family is in a very difficult position. Her father was accused of, whether by negligence or corruption, allowing defective gunpowder to reach the front lines, causing the death of many soldiers. He committed suicide soon after a parliamentary investigation implicated him in the affair. Since then, Audrianna has been trying to clear her father's name. When she discovers a mysterious notice in the newspaper, requesting her father's presence in a coaching inn, she decides to go there herself.

Lord Sebastian Summerhays was one of the MPs responsible for the investigation into the gunpowder affair. He, too, sees the newspaper notice, and like Audrianna, decides to go to the inn to see what information he can pick up. Both arrive before the person who placed the ad, however, and find themselves in the same darkened room. And then the potential informant arrives, a pistol is fired accidentally, the magistrate is called and Sebastian and Audrianna are found in the room together. Can you say marriage of convenience?

I was completely engaged from the very beginning. For starters, Hunter completely avoids cliches with the path she takes towards her characters having to marry. It's not Audrianna who's rescued by marriage, but Sebastian. She's pretty much already ruined, after all. He, on the other hand, has his work in Parliament to think of, and it's clearly very important for him. The scandal (and most especially the way the papers are presenting him as a mix between laughingstock and cartoonish villain) soon begins to affect his effectiveness. Sebastian used to be able to make things happen, but people are now reluctant to work with him, and not even his title brother's influence can help that.

And when Sebastian and Audrianna finally do marry, their relationship was lovely to read. There's obviously a strong attraction there, one that neither bothers to deny. Their physical relationship is good and enjoyable for both, but Sebastian soon starts wanting more. He sees that while Audrianna is happy to share her body with him, she gets her friendship and warmth elsewhere... with her friends, and even with his own brother (who's paralysed due to war wounds and whose relationship with Sebastian is wonderfully complex). And he can't really blame Audrianna for not wanting to love the man who, after all, was partly responsible for her father's suicide.

Audrianna, meanwhile, is cool to Sebastian purely as a defense mechanism. She has come to care for him, but obviously, such a cool, controlled, powerful man is not going to fall in love with his wife. Better to keep some healthy distance in their relationship, then. I ate it all up. There were points, however, where I felt a slight sense of distance from the characters and their feelings, and that was the only thing that kept the book from being an A.

In addition to being a lovely love story, Ravishing in Red also sets up a new series, the Rarest Blooms. After the scandal, Audrianna had gone to live with her cousin Daphne, in Daphne's small property outside London. There, they and two more friends live quietly and work to contribute to the household, all also helping Daphne with her flower business. All four women clearly have their secret, and the reason they can live so peacefully together is that they have a pact not to ask questions. They each know the others are there to offer support if needed, but they won't be interrogated, whatever happens.

Audrianna's friends play quite an important role in the book, and so do two of Sebastian's. This meant that there was a fair bit of sequel-baiting. I believe the next few books are going to be about Audrianna's friends, and they were all interesting characters. I have some suspicions about what's up with Lizzie and expect to see her story in the next book. What we found about about Celia's history was very intriguing, and while I have no idea what direction Daphne's story will take, I really liked her and would like to read more. As for the heroes, that was a bit more hit or miss. I was very interested in Hawkeswell and look forward to his story, but found the Duke of Castleford a quite disgusting, even while suspecting I was supposed to be finding him oh-so-sexy. But then, I'm one who doesn't think promiscuity in a hero equals manliness, so what do I know.

MY GRADE: A B+.

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How To Sleep With a Movie Star, by Kristin Harmel

TITLE: How To Sleep With a Movie Star
AUTHOR: Kristin Harmel

COPYRIGHT: 2006
PAGES: 310
PUBLISHER: Little Black Dress

SETTING: Contemporary New York
TYPE: Chick Lit
SERIES: No

REASON FOR READING: I got all the Harmels I could find out of my library after liking Italian For Beginners.

26-year-old Claire Reilly is on top of her game as one of the youngest celebrity reporters and editors in the business. At Mod magazine, she is a consummate professional, interviewing dreamy Hollywood hunks and staying on top of every story. Unfortunately, her live-in boyfriend seems intent on setting the world's record for celibacy, yet she finds herself penning articles like 'Ten Reasons You Should Have a One-Night Stand.' When Claire lands the plum assignment of interviewing Cole Brannon, Hollywood's #1 hottie, she knows better than to mix business with pleasure, but the next morning, she finds herself in Cole's bed...without her clothes. After the tabloids pick up the story, Claire's life is turned upside down. In struggling to regain her reputation, she'll learn a great deal about herself...and that you shouldn't always believe everything you read.

Claire Reilly is celebrity editor at Mod magazine, quite a senior post for someone in her early 30s, and one she enjoys very much. She especially loves interviewing and doing profiles, and her job allows her to do that to her heart's content. The pleasure of doing work she enjoys compensates for a really asinine editor, who has the stupidest ideas, and for the hideously horrible fashion editor, Sidra, who clearly has it in for her.

All is going well until Claire is assigned to interview the big movie start of the moment, Cole Brannon. Well, actually, the interview itself actually goes really well. Claire and Cole hit it off immediately, and Claire enjoys the interview. Cole's like no other movie star she's ever met. He actually seems interested in her and what she's saying, and he's not pretentious. In fact, he seems like a pretty down to earth guy.

But things go downhill soon after that, when she finds her boyfriend cheating on her (I don't think that's a spoiler, it's obvious from the first time you hear about the bastard's behaviour). Heavy drinking ensues, and a fortuitous meeting with Cole ends up with them being seen together in Claire's appartment, by the worst possible person. So now Claire is in the middle of a big crisis. She knows exactly what happens to celebrity journalists who are known to sleep with their stories: they become a complete joke. And given that Cole won't leave her alone, it's quite likely she'll be in that position soon...

I think I need to stop reading Harmel for a little while, as I'm starting to see too many repetitions. Her heroines always, but always have a nice guy clearly showing an interest in them, and showing it quite clearly, too. And they always, but always, completely miss the plot and immediately assume that there's no possible way this guy could be at all into them (even though they couldn't be more obvious about them), and are quite rude to them to make them go away. They jump to the most unflattering conclusions and assume the guys are lying based on the flimsiest evidence, and refuse to ask for explanations, or even listen to them when they are forthcoming.

However, while I liked my previous Harmel heroines and forgave them for being a bit clueless about their men actually liking them and being really nice, Claire I just wanted to strangle. She's not just clueless, she's willfully blind. Her boyfriend couldn't be more clearly a complete user if he wore a sign on his forehead. He treats her like crap, never does anything for her, hasn't slept with her for a month, and the twit is still hoping for an engagement ring from him. To her credit, Claire does kick him out immediately when she finds out he's cheating. However, she does come quite close to forgiving him and giving him another chance (and I therefore came quite close to just throwing the book against a wall and not finishing it), and only comes to her senses because he misjudges and goes a bit too far too soon.

As for Cole, I wasn't too bothered with her initial incredulity about him liking her (he is a huge movie star, after all, and the handsomest man in the world), but after a point, you just have to accept that he wouldn't go to the trouble he does and spend so much time pursuing her if he didn't! And much, much worse than that is the way she immediately believes the stories published about him in the scummiest of the scummy tabloids, even though 5 minutes earlier she had been perfectly clear that they printed nothing but lies. "A picture doesn't lie". Really? This from a celebrity journalist? That's beyond stupid.

It didn't help my liking of Claire that I absolutely despise celebrity culture and the type of magazine she works for, so I never had much respect for her and her achievements in the first place. Good for her that she sees the shallowness of it all in the end, and makes the right decision, but it was too little, too late. The completely pointless drama of the magazine didn't do it for me, and I didn't enjoy reading about it.

The secondary characters were not great either. Oh, I loved Wendy, who's a wonderful, supportive friend and actually has a life of her own (and I was very happy that she gets her own HEA). But too many of the other characters are cartoonish. Like Claire's arch-enemy in the magazine, Sidra. Claire herself thinks that the woman's actions are way over the top and don't make sense, but that doesn't mean I bought them any more for that. I could have got that she hated Claire and resented her, but not that she would go to some much trouble to screw her over, exposing herself so much in the process. And as for her sister (who by all accounts is a clone of Sidra), I didn't believe for a minute that she would go for someone like Claire's boyfriend. No money at all, no drive, content to mooch from his girlfriend for years, not particularly handsome... why would this woman even want him? All in all, too many women are stupid / materialistic / man-crazy sluts in this book. And if Cole couldn't see that his publicist was a psycho, then he's pretty much as clueless as Claire.

MY GRADE: A C+.

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Midnight Rainbow, by Linda Howard

TITLE: Midnight Rainbow
AUTHOR: Linda Howard

COPYRIGHT: 1986
PAGES: 226
PUBLISHER: Mira

SETTING: Costa Rican jungle in the 1980s (should I call this a contemp?)
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: Losely related to other Howards, like Diamond Bay, Heartbreaker and White Lies.

REASON FOR READING: It's the only old Linda Howard I hadn't read before, and I found a copy at my library.

Grant Sullivan, tough, masculine and handsome, is a retired military expert entrusted with a mission in the Costa Rican jungle - to find hostage and socialite Jane Hamilton Greer.

When Grant rescues her in a rather cavalier and physical fashion, no love is lost between them. But gradually their mutual attraction and passion becomes apparent and the jungle smoulders in more ways than one.

Midnight Rainbow starts right in the middle of things. In the Costa Rican jungle, Grant Sullivan waits outside an evil and corrupt politician's mansion. Inside is the daughter of a very influential American, who's convinced Grant to come out of retirement to rescue his beloved daughter from a very messy situation (not only is the Costa Rican evil, there are secret tapes and spies involved).

Grant is not happy to be back doing covert operations. He had been recovering from years doing missions that took a lot out of him in the isolation of his farm in the middle of nowhere, and never wanted to go back. However, for reasons I never understood, he allowed himself to be convinced to take on the mission to rescue this woman, who as far as he's concerned, is either so clueless that she doesn't realise the danger she's in, or so amoral that she doesn't care.

Jane is actually neither. She's got into this trouble by helping out a friend, but is well aware of the danger she's in. What Grant has seen from his lookout in the jungle (Jane sunbathing by the pool, seemingly without a care in the world) is simply Jane pretending to be clueless to gain some more time to escape.

But the very night she's finally ready to make her move, Grant makes his own, and soon they're on the run through the jungle, desperately trying to get to safety.

I would have absolutely loved this book when it was published, or even a few years after that, when I first started reading single title romance. It is, after all, solid vintage Howard, with exciting adventure (a bit like Heart of Fire, which is among my fave LHs) and scorching hot chemistry.

Back then, the mean, mysoginistic hero would have been par for the course. I wouldn't have liked that aspect of the book, but heroes like that were everywhere. Other favourite authors (think Anne Stuart, Elizabeth Lowell) had heroes exactly like Grant. They had an instinctive distrust of women and would treat any woman they suspected of being easy cruelly and only speak to her with disdain. And of course, they always suspected the heroine of being easy... always. So, much as I wanted to bash their chauvinistic little heads in, I almost regarded their sexism as the price I had to pay to read romance, and was willing to be won over when they realised that oh! the heroine was actually a nice, innocent almost-virgin, and they had been wrong to think her a slag.

The thing is, heroes have got a lot better over the years. I've got used to reading about men who aren't quite as big judgmental pricks. So when Grant immediately assumes Jane is a slag, I wasn't amused. I absolutely hated the disdainful way he thought of her and talked to her. She's pretty cool and very resourceful (it was quite funny the way she kept producing actual food out of her rucksack, when Grant would have had them eating bland Army rations), and yet he keeps being a complete dick to her, even when it's clear she's fine.

I also got very annoyed with the heavy-handed author intrusions, which I saw much too clearly. Oh, dear the heroine's a divorcee! But of course, her husband never, ever turned her on, and neither did any man she ever met. No sexual feelings at all until she met Grant. Hmmm, how to get her naked? Let's drop an anaconda on her! All very transparent and laughable.

A big disappointment, I should have tried much harder to get a copy all those years ago. And now I'm afraid to reread Heart of Fire, another Howard jungle romance that is so far my absolute favourite of hers!

MY GRADE: A C+.

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The Blonde Theory, by Kristin Harmel

TITLE: The Blonde Theory
AUTHOR: Kristin Harmel

COPYRIGHT: 2007
PAGES: 287
PUBLISHER: 5 Spot

SETTING: Contemporary New York
TYPE: Chick Lit
SERIES: No

REASON FOR READING: I enjoyed Harmel's Italian For Beginners

Harper Roberts is a corporate attorney in Manhattan. She’s smart, attractive, and funny. So why can’t she find a date? Men flock to her at parties when they think she’s a dumb blonde. But, as soon as they realise she’s a Harvard-educated lawyer, they flee. Harper’s best friend is a magazine editor who suggests Harper go on assignment for a month as a 'dumb blonde' and see if it changes her dating perspective. So, for two weeks, Harper goes undercover. She changes her wardrobe, her conversation, her body language. The result is a series of comical encounters. Soon, Harper must take a good look in the mirror and realise that it’s not just men who judge people on their looks.

Harper Roberts is only in her early thirties and already has all the professional success she could wish for. She has combined her passion for chemistry and law into a brilliant career as a patents lawyer, and her very specialised and rare knowledge has netted her a partnership in her firm at an unprecedently young age. Not only does she make oodles of money (allowing her to purchase a huge Manhattan appartment and give herself any treat she may want), she truly and genuinely loves her work and finds much satisfaction in it (an element I truly appreciated). In addition to a great job, Harper has had the same group of friends since school, and they provide much support and love. Life is good.

In true chick-lit style, though, Harper's love life isn't as successful. Her last serious relationship was with Peter, another lawyer, who broke up with her out of the blue when it became clear that while his career was stagnated, Harper's was on the up and up. In the years since, Harper hasn't had more than a couple of dates with the same guy.

She doesn't have any trouble attracting men, but all seem to run away from her after the first dates. The solution seems inescapable to Harper and her friends: all those smart, successful professional men her own age, who are supposed to want a partner, someone like them, actually don't. They don't want to go out with an intelligent, successful woman, they want to go out with someone less intelligent and less sucessful than themselves. The Blonde Theory is thus born: if Harper behaved like a dumb blonde, she'd have no problem having men eating out of her hand.

And then Harper's friend Meg, who works for a sort of Cosmopolitan-ish magazine, comes up with a brilliant idea. Harper should actually test that theory, and then write an article about it.

I enjoyed TBT, but not unreservedly. To me, its main weak point was the whole idea of the Blond Theory itself... well, more like the conclusions the characters drew from it, which never completely made sense to me.

So, there are men who feel insecure and threatened if their partner is more successful than they are. Wow, brilliant insight! But ok, fair enough, yes, that could be an interesting magazine article, and Harper's experiment would be fun to write about, and would probably help her convince herself that this is what's been going wrong in her previous relationships.

The problem is, rather than concluding from this that it's these particular men's problem, and that Harper bascially needs to find men who are more secure and self-confident, the characters seem to assume that this is just what men in general are like. There's this idea floating around for much of the book that well, then, Harper might have to simply act a bit dumber and put herself down if she wants to get a guy. And she keeps on this vein against all the evidence to the contrary, because there actually are a couple of guys that she knows that seem to be very clearly suggesting that this is not so at all.

Still, if you're able to give Harper a pass for being a bit oblivious in this respect (as I mostly could), there is much to enjoy here. Harper is a lovely character. I enjoyed her sense of humour and her very real passion for her work. There are also some very funny scenes, when she's going out on all these dates in her dumb blonde disguise. I suppose the very concept of this is a bit offensive, but it's done in such a way that I didn't find it so at all. I also liked Harper's relationship with her friends. These are not perfect, featureless characters, just there to give her support, but are real people, with their own faults and with plenty of drama in their own lives.

A word of warning for other romance readers, though: while there is romance, and there is a happy ending for Harper, there isn't a traditional HEA here. I was ok with this, even felt that this was the right ending for Harper, but other readers might be more bothered.

MY GRADE: A B.

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The Gentleman's Quest, by Deborah Simmons

TITLE: The Gentleman's Quest
AUTHOR: Deborah Simmons

COPYRIGHT: 2010
PAGES: 288
PUBLISHER: Harlequin

SETTING: 19th century England
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: Follows The Dark Viscount

REASON FOR READING: I like the author, and it sounded great... I do love my gothics!

Christopher Marchant's mood matches the storm clouds that gather above his mansion. Yet when lightning illuminates a stranded beauty he must do as any gentleman would. Although, once rescued, she must be on her way....

But if Hero Ingram leaves empty-handed her uncle will punish her. Christopher is caught off guard by her willful rebellion--and he's sure he's caught a hint of vulnerability in her defiance....

As a gentleman he must protect her and make her quest his own. But as a red-blooded male...? She has awoken him from his slumber!

Disappointing, I couldn't get into this one at all, and abandoned it after about 30 pages. Actually, I kind of knew it would be a DNF after the first scene, when it became clear these people acted as no real, halfway logical human beings would.

Picture this: heroine is on her way to meet a gentleman. She's clearly been ordered to use her charms to get something from this person, and is not relishing the prospect. On a quiet road, one of the wheels of her carriage breaks, and they're stuck. Suddenly, a rider approaches and, without a word, simply plucks her off the ground, and spirits her away. Is she terrified, does she fight, does she panic? From the way it's narrated, it's as if this is the most common thing in the world. The next scene just starts with the heroine saying that she's been deposited with the housekeeper of the house she was looking for, and she doesn't know nor care who her rescuer was, because they haven't exchanged a word. Huh? So she just sat there quitely and allowed herself to be carried away? She seemed quite matter-of-fact about it, as well, so it wasn't as if she'd been in shock. Big WTF moment. Who acts this way?

I decided to give the book a chance and keep reading, hoping things would get better (it did get a review at AARthat sounded nice enough that I actually ordered it from the library, after all) but they only got worse. A lot of blah-blah about murderous cults and dramatic events in previous books, and hero and heroine making supposedly brilliant plans that only made sense in their minds, and I was out of there.

Such a shame, I was really looking forward to this, considering how much I enjoyed some of the author's earlier books a few years ago. So now I can't help but wonder if it's Simmons who's changed or me. Maybe I should reread one of those faves!

MY GRADE: DNF

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Bed of Roses, by Nora Roberts

TITLE: Bed of Roses
AUTHOR: Nora Roberts

COPYRIGHT: 2009
PAGES: 335
PUBLISHER: Piatkus

SETTING: Contemporary US
TYPE: Romance
SERIES: 2nd in Bride Quartet.

REASON FOR READING: Autobuy author.

Love blooms in the second novel in Nora Roberts's celebrated Bride Quartet series.

As little girls MacKensie, Emma, Laurel, and Parker spent hours acting out their perfect make believe "I do" moments. Years later their fantasies become reality when they start their own wedding planning company to make every woman's dream day come true. With perfect flowers, delicious desserts, and joyful moments captured on film, Nora Roberts's Bride Quartet shares each woman's emotionally magical journey to romance.

In Bed of Roses, florist Emma Grant is finding career success with her friends at Vows wedding planning company, and her love life appears to be thriving. Though men swarm around her, she still hasn't found Mr. Right. And the last place she's looking is right under her nose.

But that's just where Jack Cooke is. He's so close to the women of Vows that he's practically family, but the architect has begun to admit to himself that his feelings for Emma have developed into much more than friendship. When Emma returns his passion—kiss for blistering kiss—they must trust in their history…and in their hearts.

Bed of Roses is the second in Roberts' Brides quartet, which features four friends who run a wedding planning business. In this installment, the spotlight shifts to florist Emma. In between the challenges, hard work and sheer fun of planning the most amazing weddings, Emma finds time to fall for her friend Jack.

Through his best friend Del, Jack has been good friends with Del's sister, Parker, and her business partners for years. He's always found Emma attractive, but he's previously been content to stay away. But now suddently they can't keep their hands off each other.

Bed of Roses was quite a mixed bag. Basically, the romance was very lackluster and boring, but I really liked everything else.

Let's start with the good: the wedding planning stuff and the friendship between the four women. I must say I'm extremely surprised at how much I'm enjoying reading about the day-to-day business of planning big, lavish weddings. In real life, it's something that doesn't appeal to me in the least. In fact, the very idea of being in the centre of such a massive affair is enough to make me break out in hives. Spending such big money on one day seems like a waste, too, and I could easily put together a long list of things I'd rather spend the moNey on. And yet... I'm loving reading about the details of it. The Monster Bitch Brides, the satisfaction of making people's dreams come true, the thrill of dealing with the unexpected... I'm eating it all up uncritically, and I'll be quite happy to continue doing that until the end of the series.

And the relationship between Emma, Mac, Lauren and Parker is just as good. Actually, part of the satisfying feeling of reading about the wedding planning is how much they act like a team, and how seeing them doing so really makes their friendship even more real to me. I love how they love each other enough to be confortable with a bit of bitchiness, and are always there to support one another, even after a clash.

I also liked that Emma's cultural background was a bit different (Mexican mother and American father), although to be completely honest, Emma didn't feel any more latina than any other WASP American heroine I've read. Maybe that was on purpose?

Now, however for the romance:

Problem #1: The characters never completely gelled for me. Emma is supposed to be the romantic one among the 4 friends, the one looking for love. And yet, she never seemed to me to be particularly romantic. Same thing for Emma and Jack's friendship. It's supposed to be so important to them that they really hesitate before beginning a romantic relationship, for fear of endangering their friendship. And yet, they never really felt like real friends to me. I got it loud and clear that the attraction between them was scorching hot, yes, but not that they really liked each other, or even knew one another particularly well.

Problem #2: The last bit of #1 leads straight into the fact that I never found the romance particularly compelling. I'd even go as far as to call it boring, and I'm someone who actually loves no-drama romances between nice, decent people.

Problem #3: I said no-drama romance, but that's only most of it. There's a bit to-do at the end, and that was annoying beyond belief. See, the problem is that Emma feels Jack is a commitment-phobe who guards his own personal space so zealously that he's keeping her out of his life. So she basically throws a great big tantrum (and is then backed up by all her friends, who accuse Jack of being hartless and treating her badly), because after only a short time the man is not clamouring to have her move in.

The justification for that was that since they'd be friends for years, surely that's not such a short time, but since I've already mentioned that they didn't act like real friends to me, that argument didn't hold water, and I found Emma very pushy. Maybe it's also that I'm also pretty protective of my own space, both physical and mental, and so I sympathised with Jack's reactions which, again, were nothing more than liking having his own space and not inviting Emma to move in after a very short period. He was never consciously cruel to her, if she felt rejected it was all her doing, and she should have actually sat down and had a chat with him, rather than going off in a huff.

Oh, well, I've got my copy of Savor the Moment ready to start now, and I really hope it's better.

MY GRADE: The romance is a C, but the rest was good, so a B-, for the book as a whole.

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Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

TITLE: Catching Fire
AUTHOR: Suzanne Collins

COPYRIGHT: 2009
PAGES: 400
PUBLISHER: Scholastic

SETTING: Futuristic
TYPE: YA
SERIES: Second in the Hunger Games trilogy, comes after The Hunger Games.

REASON FOR READING: I want to know how things will turn out.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

NOTE: This is in no way a stand alone book. You need to have read The Hunger Games to understand what is going on. Reading Catching Fire first, or even reading what it is about, will probably ruin The Hunger Games for you, so turn back now if you're new to this series!



Anyway, for those of you who are still here: After the stunt she pulled to win the Hunger Games in the previous book, the Capitol has come to see Katniss as a threat to its control over the rest of the country. Revolution is in the air in many of the districts, and Katniss has become a symbol of it. Not to mention that the authorities clearly resent that she managed to out-manouver them and beat them at their own game.

So despite the fact that she's supposed to live the rest of her life enjoying the fruits of her victory, things are not easy for Katniss. Even if she wanted to embrace the life a Hunger Games winner is supposed to have, and just enjoy herself, ignoring what the rest of her people are going through (which she doesn't), she soon realises that wouldn't be possible, anyway. The President and the Capitol authorities are definitely not ready to leave her alone.

CF is just as much of a nail-biter as THG was. I thought it was going to focus mainly on political intrigue and on Katniss manouvering the shark-infested waters of Panam politics, and that's more or less what we get in the first sections of the book. I especially enjoyed that this part of Catching Fire has a slightly larger focus than THG, and we get a better idea of what's going on in other districts, and not just in District 12.

A bit later in the book, however, things change dramatically. I'm not going to reveal what happens, but in a way, I suppose those developments feel like a bit of a retread of book 1. On the other hand, though, they were extremely exciting and I loved the opportunity to meet other characters, and get an idea of the potential long-term consequences victory in the Hunger Games could have.

Katniss is just a wonderful a character as she was in the first book. She's still got her pragmatism and determination to stay alive, but I felt she'd grown quite a bit from the character she was when we first met her. She´s still as clueless as ever about things that are quite obvious to the reader, but I didn't really mind that. I felt that there was an element of unconscious denial there; she didn't want to know (with that knowledge comes great responsibility, I guess *g*), so she ignored all clues.

One of the things that has kept many of us reading is the romantic triangle, and there are definitely developments there. I'm a Peeta fan, so that element was slightly disappointing, since the developments on that front were much more exciting in THG. Maybe book 3 will be more balanced? I can't wait to find out!

The only thing I disliked, I disliked quite a bit. That was the ending. I felt it was a big let down. There are cliff-hangers, and then there are cliff-hangers, and this was definitely the sort that comes out of nothing and gives absolutely no closure. I don't care for feeling manipulated into buying the next book, and the worse part is, it was unnecessary, because, see the previous paragraph? I would have read the next book even if I had got a bit more here. Collins needs to trust the power of her stories a bit more, I think!

MY GRADE: It was a B+ right up until the ending, but ended up a B.

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