Ponderings of the Day

I was behind a Nissan Cube car in a drive through the other day and it took everything I had not to get out of my car, knock on the window and tell them they were driving the ugliest car I had ever seen! That was the first time I'd seen one of them.


Up until then, I thought the ugliest, silliest car I'd seen was the car wannabe - the Ford Smart Car

I know I've complained about this one before - but why can we never get our hair to look the way it does when the hairdresser does it? I got rid of my gray yesterday and when my hairdresser (who I love to pieces for the way she does it) finished, the style was looking so fine. But no matter how hard I try, I can't recreate the way she did it.

Recent Read

Naked Edge by Pamela Clare

Why this one: I read everything she writes – ASAP!!

Steam Level: Hawt! She writes some of the best love scenes going!

Blurb: What do you do when desire drives you to the very brink?

The day Navajo journalist Katherine James met Gabriel Rossiter, the earth literally moved beneath her feet. Nearly killed in a rockslide while hiking, she found her life in the tall park ranger's hands. Although she can't forget him she thinks she'll never see him again. She is crushed when she recognizes her rescuer among the law enforcement officers raiding a sweat lodge ceremony one night, throwing her and her friends off Mesa Butte, land they consider sacred.

Gabe long ago swore he would never again lose himself to a woman not even one with long dark hair and big eyes that seem to see right through him. But from the moment he first sees Kat, the attraction he feels is undeniable. Appalled by what he has been ordered to do, he's determined to get to the bottom of recent events at Mesa Butte and to keep Kat safe.

But asking questions can be dangerous almost as dangerous as risking one's heart. And soon Kat and Gabe's passion for the truth and each other makes them targets for those who would do anything, even kill, to keep Native Americans off their sacred land.

My Thoughts: In full disclosure mode, I have to let you know that while, on the whole, I don’t know a lot of authors, Pamela Clare is one that I do. Although I’ve only met her in person once, we correspond through email and I consider her a good friend. I’d read and loved her books since the very first book, but it wasn’t until Ride the Fire and I couldn’t help but write her to let her know how much this book rocked and we’ve been in contact ever since. And every book that I read since, I try and take off my friend hat and put on my impartial hat. I don’t know how successful I am but here goes.

Once more I can add a Pamela Clare books to my list of favourites. If you ever read her blog, you know that Ms. Clare knows whereof she writes when it comes to RS. She’s a journalist in her day job so when she writes about the ins and outs of the I Team, she writes from experience. What always strikes me, especially in her RS is the authenticity of her stories. Unlike some other authors who may not know as much about their storyline as the reader, Ms. Clare does know.

The hero, Gabe Rossiter, a park ranger and heroine, Kat James, a reporter for a local newspaper first meet when he comes to her rescue when an overzealous cop tries breaking up a sacred Native ceremony. They meet again when Gabe rescues Kat from a dangerous fall.

Now some may have a problem with Gabe at the beginning of the story. He’s become jaded and somewhat bitter towards the fairer sex due to a devastating betrayal and as a result has become very much a ‘love em and leave em’ type kind of guy. Kat, on the other hand is the complete opposite. Due to her upbringing as the unwanted child of a Native mother and ‘white’ father, she holds her traditions very dear and casual sex just is not something she does. Gabe is very attracted to her, but does realize how important her values are to her. This is what redeems him in my book. He respects her beliefs and doesn’t try and push – well not much anyway. Instead he decides it’s best to stay away from her, but that becomes difficult when they work together to try and find who is stealing artefacts from an ancient Native burial ground. He’s a fascinating guy and its great to see him face who he has become and become a better person.

Kat is an equally well drawn heroine. She is a fascinating mixture of two worlds, having grown up very poor on a reservation, yet determined to overcome her humble beginnings and now living a much more relaxed kind of life. She’s also an integral part of the local Native community. She’s very attracted to Gabe but resolute in holding onto her values. Ms. Clare does a great job of weaving native history and beliefs into the story and the reader can tell that Ms. Clare knows whereof she speaks.

I know many a reader rolls their eyes with modern day virgin heroines, but Ms. Clare does a very good job with making such a heroine work. And of course, as a writer who writes great love scenes, just so you know, this isn’t a kisses only book *g*. While not my favourite in this series – that still goes to Unlawful Contact, this one is very, very good and even while writing this up, I’m now tempted to do a reread.

Grade: 4.75 out of 5.

Recent Reads

These next two books are great examples of "it could have been so much better if" type reads. Both of them for me, had major distractions that resulted in a lower grade than had to happen.



Enslave by Cathy Yardley

Why this one: I saw a review of it somewhere - can't remember where now and something about seemed interesting

Steam Level: It's an erotic romance so pretty steamy as you can imagine

Blurb: Nadia Bessonova’s career-criminal father has deadly enemies – and to save him, his devoted daughter is willing to strike a deal with the devil. She will surrender completely, body and spirit, to the dangerous Dominic Luder, and submit to his every whim.

Dominic, haunted by inner demons and hiding away in his dark, secluded manor, is mesmerized by his sensuous prisoner who inflames his bestial lust. But Nadia is no mere plaything. At once fearful, willing, and wildly passionate, she brings his most breathtaking erotic fantasies to life – and thaws his cold, wounded heart.

Nadia never dreamed she’d become a slave to her own desires in a savage game of seduction and revenge. And now that Dominic has tasted ecstasy, will this jealous, magnificent beast be able to relinquish his prize?

My Thoughts: The beginning of this book was a bit disjointed I felt. I started it a couple of times and was a tad on the confused side. But once I kind of figuratively shrugged my shoulders and kept reading, the book got a bit better although there I still had other issues with it.

This is an erotic type Beauty and the Beast type book. In order to save her family, Nadia Bessonova offers to be and do whatever Dominic Luder wants her to be and do. Another issue crops up here. Once he decides to take her up on her offer, she practically seduces him. I thought she kind of jumped the gun there as I got the feeling he didn't really have that in mind. But since - hey - he's a guy - he wasn't going to turn her down and he takes her up on her seduction - making it quite clear that he's the boss. I thought he was a rather good hero - a villain who wasn't really that much of a bad guy. Either that or I kind of like my heroes twisted on occasion.

Nadia was a different kettle of fish though. I know this is a Beauty and the Beast story and as such, the heroine sacrifices for her family, but I think the author went a bit too far in making the family incredibly useless. Her father never seemed to want to work to help his family, rather he sacrificed his daughters to prostitution of one form or another. What daughter in her right mind would want to help that kind of daddy out I don't know. And there was a secondary story with one of her sisters setting out to gain power in a sexual vein to try and 'save' Nadia, even though Nadia made it clear she didn't need or want saving from the rather scrumptious Dominic.

But what really distracted me in this story and would have been better without is Dominic insisted that Nadia hang around his house nekkid as a jaybird. Now it wasn't the nudity in itself that bothered me - this is a tale of the erotic after all. So no, it wasn't that. But all I could think of was - how can I put this delicately - um, ah, well, um, body fluids. She found Dominic quite 'stimulating' and was constantly on at least a low level of arousal. And I think that's all I can say on that without turning red. But I thought some type of clothing - even if it was skimpy to the max, would have been better. I know - silly thing to get hung up on, but that's the way it went when I read this book. But for a simple article of clothing it would have gotten a higher grade from me. It could have been so much better if she wore sexy underwear.

Grade: 3 out of 5

The Best Revenge by Justine Davis

Why this one: There was a day when I would have walked ahead of this author and covered puddles before she stepped in them with my cloak, but then something - and I can't put my finger on what - changed in her writing and I no longer want to ruin any cloaks. But it's been a while since I read any of her books and I wanted to see if the magic had reappeared.

Steam Level: Rather tepid

Blurb: Something in St. John’s intense blue eyes reminded Jessa Hill of her childhood friend. But Adam Alden was long dead....

The handsome stranger had vowed to help her defeat Adam’s father in the mayoral race. Yet St. John’s quest for revenge seemed too personal for a casual acquaintance. Could St. John and Adam be the same man...and would he disappear with Jessa’s heart a second time?

Dameron St. John returned home with a new identity and a score to settle. But he wasn’t prepared for the emotions that surfaced when he reunited with Jessa. Could he let her in once again...and together would they slay his demons once and for all?

My Thoughts: As mentioned above, Justine Davis/Dare wrote some incredible books!! Many of the Harlequins she wrote back in the 90's are among the best I've ever read and if you ever see any of them in UBS - snap them up - I insist. And her two Futuristics - Lord of the Storm and Sky Pirate are among the best that genre has to offer. But then her style changed and it was just too disappointing to keep reading. So it was with some trepidation that I started reading this book.

And this turned out to be a frustrating read. At times it had that quality that set her earlier books apart. I really liked the character of Jessa. She's running for the job of Mayor of her town, not because she wants to be mayor, but because of things she knows about her opponent. He is the father of her childhood friend Adam and she knows what a truly evil man he is - and how he hides his true character. She's smart and she's savy and I liked her.

And as for Adam/Dameron - what a truly tortured hero he was. As a reader my heart went out to him for what he went through growing up with a monster. Faking his own death was the only way out of a real nightmare. As a boy, Jessa was his only oasis and when he comes back to town to help her defeat his father (this really isn't a spoiler as we know going in who he really is) she still fills that role. Only now he sees her as an attractive young woman who is developing different kinds of feelings for.

So what's the problem you ask - sounds good to me. And it was good - except for one thing. As a child, Adam didn't talk a whole lot and that's carried through to adulthood. He doesn't speak in sentences!! He only says one or two words when he is communicating with anyone. One can't call it talking since he doesn't 'talk' to anyone - not even Jessa - and I found this very distracting. I kept hoping he's at least open up more to her. We know what he's thinking and feeling and we the reader get to see inside his head, but his dialogue is almost non existent! Nevertheless, I think I will track down some of her recent books and give them a read. It could have been so much better if at least part of the time he spoke in whole sentences.

Grade: 3.25 out of 5

Changing Tastes

Damn them! Damn them to hell. My Sunday morning treat to myself is a McDonald's Breakfast. This morning I decided to give myself a double treat and stop at Chapters on the way. I hadn't been there for a while - relatively speaking of course. And wasn't this just the last day of their 'buy 3, get 1 free' promotion. I could have done without knowing that as I was only planning on getting one book this trip -

Linnea Sinclair's Rebels and Lovers.

And maybe another one - new author





Addison Fox's Warrior Ascended.
I think her name is cool and it's the first of a new paranormal series about zodiac type heroes and the first one is a Leo - and I'm a Leo - so I had to get it.....right?

Anyway with their buy 3 get 1 free promotion, it would be silly not to get one more to get the fourth free - so I'm now the proud owner of


Christy Reece's No Chance


and




Stephanie Tyler's Hard to Hold.






Now you may be wondering what the above has to do with the title of this post. Well, (you know you're in trouble when I start something with 'well') it occurred to my that none of the books I picked up today were historicals. In fact, none of the books I picked up to look at in the store were European Historicals. None of the books in my last book buying binge (seen on the right) were European Historicals. In fact, when I looked at one of the graphs (done by the Excel Queen Rosario) for the type of books read, I've only read one historical so far this year - Ravishing in Red.
When I first started reading romance again - lo these many years ago now, European Historicals were all that I read for a few years before branching out into other genres.

But now, here in 2010, the trend seems to be 1) Contemporaries, 2) Westerns and 3) Romantic Suspense with the others following behind. In looking at the graph, European Historicals had their real heyday with me back in 2005.


But in looking at another graph, 2005 was my biggest year in reading since I started keeping stats of the number of books read. At the pace I'm at now though, I'm blowing 2005 out of the water as far as books read. So far - even before the end of March I'm up to 34 and at this rate, I'll have read 132 by the end of 2010. Of course that doesn't take into account slumps - one never knows when one of those will take over.

At the rate and genre I'm reading though, European Historicals will be way down the list this year.

In trying to figure out why they are so low on my reading pole as compared to previous years, I've come up with a number of reasons why this is so.

Age vs Innocence
Now that I'm older than I was five years ago, I think I have less in common with many of the heroines of Historicals. I don't know the average age, but I'd say it's probably somewhere between 18 and 22. I just can't relate to heroines that young anymore. The heroines in other genres tend to be a little older and more savy than the young innocent virgin miss in Historicals. Even in Westerns, the heroines are more 'on the ball' so to speak.

Overabundance of Titles
I can't tell you how tired I am of dukes, earls, viscounts and marquis!!! If there is one of those titles in the books title, I'm not even interested in picking it up to see what it's about. I would be more interested in giving it a read if the heroes were to be untitled. That's why Lisa Kleypas is still on my list. It's not that I won't read them - I still have a number in the TBR pile. But they aren't at the top of the pile, more in the middle they are.

Wanting to Mix it Up
One of my reading goals this year is to shake up the genres; reading a more varied lot. So far the genre I've been most impressed with is Urban Fantasy. Of course so far it's only been one author, Joss Ware, that I've read from this genre, but her books are fantastic!!

English Overload
After a steady diet of mainly English set historicals for the past 15 years or so, I think I've finally just about hit my limit on this setting, be it Victorian, Regency or whatever. If more were to come out with different settings, such as Canada, US, India, Russia or whatever, I think I could be persuaded back to the fold, but I've had it with historical books set in England. Even back then the world was a big place and romance flourished everywhere.

Whatever the reason, the interest just isn't there the way it used to be and that makes me kind of sad as it was my favourite genre for so many years. But on the plus side, I am discovering great books in other genres.

What about anyone else? Have you tired or peaked out at one particular genre and have you figured out why?

WoW - Two in one night!

Sad News

It seems as if I'll be losing my 'library' for a while *sigh*. My oldest son Brent, just dropped by and (not surprising to me really) he's got himself into a pickle financially. He works in the auto industry and due to economic times, I thought he might need his mama's help. I offered a few months ago for him to move back home until things got better but he declined. But he was talking to a friend tonight about how deep he's sinking and his friend convinced him to take me up on my offer.

He wants to move back into his old bedroom. This is the room I changed into the 'library'. Now since he had that room and when he moved out, his younger brother, Ryan moved in. When Ryan moved out and Brent moved back home, he took that room again. Then when he moved out once more - and then Ryan moved back, he took that room back again. Then when Ryan moved out a second time, that's when Lisa and I made it into a 'library' - to prevent either one of them from moving back home as they didn't have a downstairs bedroom to move into and so I could FINALLY get all my books out of their boxes and bags and have them easy to find.

So it's not in the best of shape - gum on the ceiling, walls in terrible shape etc - having been the bedroom for young teenage guys. I'm sure there might even be a picture or two of a scantily clad woman in the closet.

Brent said before he moves in, he will fix the room, put in new carpet, put drywall up on the walls instead of the stucco that's there now. So eventually it will be even better. I told him one of the conditions of his moving back was when he left (he figures in a year at most) he has to rebuild the shelves and make it back into the 'library'.
It was rather amusing though, as I asked him what he had planned for all the books in there now. Since he has to store a lot of his furniture, he said he'd pack the books up and store them too. I couldn't get the words "my books Do Not leave this house" out fast enough. So *sigh* back into the tubs they will go.

So for those who haven't seen the pics of my 'library' here you go. Enjoy because they wont' be there a whole lot longer. I thought about telling him he could move into one of the bedrooms upstairs, but I think it would work better if we lived mainly on separate floors.


And I'll have to figure out what to do with my "Armada" too. You see, I have a collection of ships that are on top of two of the half book cases. I call it my Armada - one shelf is covered with the British and the other side with the Spanish. (The British won by the way) I do have some of them at work though. We had a 'decorate your desk' thing at Christmas so I brought in 3 of the ships, printed out the words to 'I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In' Christmas Carol, put blue tissue paper on my shelf at work and crumpled it up to represent waves. I had other stuff up too and took it all down, but the ships are still there.

Just today as a matter of fact, a coworker asked why I had them there. I answered that when things were stressed, I'd look at them and picture myself as a young lass sailing to the Caribbeans when the ship I was sailing on was boarded by a bunch of pirates who captured me. The pirate captain took one look at me and fell in love with me and decided to rescue me - you see, I was being sent there by my evil uncle who really wanted to steal my fortune.

She looked at me kind of funny and said "Oooookay".

I refrained from wondering what she thought about her coworker and her fantasies. But it does work well in relieving stress as the pirate captain looks not unlike Will Turner

Today's Ponderings

When exactly did we start becoming so afraid of a few germs????

I'm wishing these days I had a stake in a hand sanitizing company. There are these sanitizing dispensers at all the entrances to the building I work in and I see more and more people squirting it into their hands when they enter. The union handed out little plastic containers a few months ago. They look more like motor oil containers and for a while I thought motor oil was a rather strange gift. Then I figured out what it really was.

When I'm on the early shift, one of my 'duties' is to wipe down the printer/fax machine/photocopier down with these wipes that look like baby wipes but ARE NOT to be used on a baby's bottom - in fact there is a box next to them with latex gloves to put on while using them!!!

I've had to learn to COUGH differently!! For over fifty years I coughed into my closed fist, but now I have to cough into my elbow. And heavens forbid if I have a sneeze coming and no tissues near me. Just sneezing into my hands is a big no no. I'm odd in that I like sneezing - I find it kind of a head rush - and I've lost more of those enjoyable sneezes than I can count by looking through my desk drawers for napkins or Kleenix. But the time I find them, the urge to sneeze has gone and I'm left thinking 'darn! Lost me another one.'

And I've noticed more and more women at work, when washing their hands after, leaving the water on while they grab a paper towel and then turn the water off using that. Some won't even open the door without using a paper towel.

Now I know there have always been germaphobics - they are probably a certain percentage of the population, but anymore they seem to taking over more and more people. I just don't get it!! We, as a people, are never going to avoid getting the common cold every so often. But it seems to me as if people are freaking out a lot more these days than years ago.

I may be wrong, but it seems that germs can sometimes be a good thing. It helps builds antibodies I think. But if one manages to avoid germs on a regular basis, when one of the little suckers sneaks into the more militant germ avoiders, they aren't going to have those antibodies built up.

Yep - there is some nasty stuff going on out there but let's face it - was H1N1 was overhyped. Working in health care, I was first on the list to get the shots but I didn't. Knock on wood, I haven't had the flu for a number of years, so I didn't see the point. Plus once you start getting flu shots, you have to get them every year and I figure why start when I don't really get it. But my goodness, they pushed for everyone to get them.

But I figure if someone is usually fairly healthy, we don't need to fall for the over hype of the scary germs.

So, I'll continue to be a good little worker bee and wipe down all the machines at work and my phone once every couple of weeks with their sani-wipes, but inside I'll be rolling my eyes.

Egads!!!!!!

I didn't realize it's been over a week since the last time I posted!! I knew it had been a while but it wasn't until I checked and saw it's been that long. I think this is the longest time I've taken between posts!

While my reading mojo is still going strong, my blogging mojo seems to have taken a back seat. Not a whole lot is going on. I'm having more and more light bulbs going on with our new system at work. I've still been reading up a storm; I just need to take the time to write up my thoughts on what I've been reading.


I'm getting more and more excited about my trip to attend the RT convention at the end of April. I bought a GPS in preparation and I'm a bit leery now. I've been 'practicing' with it and I find it a bit whacked in the directions. It tells me to turn right when I know I need to turn right. Yesterday it told me to take a road that doesn't exist. I know this as I take the same route home every night and that particular road is nowhere to be found. I've lived here for over 30 years now and I never even heard of that road until yesterday. So I'm thinking I need to use the |GPS in ADDITION to other options - like a map.

Other than that not much is going on. Hopefully I'll balance out soon in my mojos.

Recent Read(s)

I'm taking a bit of time out of my marathon Read-a-Thon to play catch up on what I've been reading. These ones are only a couple of what I've read lately. They are book 1 and 2 of a new series - thus bundling them together.



Beyond the Night by Joss Ware

Why this one: Stacy really loves them, I was intrigued and I took a chance.

Steam Level: I wouldn't say hot exactly, but certainly more than lukewarm. It's like something that's been standing long enough to be just right.

Blurb:

A man with no future...
When Dr. Elliott Drake wakes from a mysterious fifty-year sleep, the world as he knew it is gone. Cities are now desolate, and civilization is controlled by deadly immortals. Stranger still is Elliott's extraordinary new "gift" – he has the power to heal, but it comes with fatal consequences.

A woman with a past
Jade barely escaped the immortals and is now hell-bent on revenge. She trusts no one... until Elliott. His piercing gaze and tempting touch shatter her defenses, but the handsome doctor seems to have dangerous secrets of his own. Is it safe to trust him with her heart?

If they are to survive in this dark new world, Jade and Elliott must work together to fight the forces that takes them beyond danger.

My Thoughts: As I said, Stacy's been reading and loving these. What really got my attention was her review of Abandon the Night, but I thought it was about time I started a series at the first book - thus Beyond the Night.

I quite enjoyed this book and thought it was a great start to a very interesting series. Five men stepped out of a cave to discover it's 50 years since they went into the cave and they've been in some kind of suspended animation. The world they reenter is an entirely different one than the one they left!! There has been some kind of event of apocalyptic proportion and everything they knew is gone. They've slowly made their way to the town of Envy, which they discover used to be Las Vegas. Most of the earth's population died and earthquakes and devastating storms changed the entire geography of the world. All the states on the west coast are gone and the Pacific Ocean is at the doorstep of Envy.

As if that weren't bad enough, there are these zombie like, flesh eating creatures called gangas that while slow and stupid, are still very dangerous to the unsuspecting.

This book is centered on Dr. Elliot Drake or Dred as he's called by his friends. He was a doctor in his former life and once he emerged from the caves in Sedona along with his friends, he has an added talent, the ability to take on himself, the injury or disease of those he is trying to help. But it comes at a cost. Either he must then touch someone else and 'pass it on' or whatever it is, becomes magnified in himself.

Elliot is smitten with Jade, a 'runner'. Because communication is broken down although there is a resistance/underground trying to restore it, there is still a need for someone to travel between settlements and Jade is one of those travelers. Jade is reluctant at first to get involved with Elliot as she's overcome a horrible past and doesn't want to be under any man's thumb. But still there is a very strong attraction between the two.

It seems like I've barely scratched the surface of what's going on in this fascinating series. I loved, loved, loved Jade. She is strong and brave and dedicated to establishing connections and fighting against an even bigger threat than the gangas. She everything admirable in a heroine.

Elliot, for me - and I emphasize for me, was more on the bland side. He's the kind who wears a white hat and is more along the beta kind of hero than the alpha. But those readers who enjoy this kind of hero will probably enjoy his character a lot more than I did.

I thought the world building was excellent and the author really managed to make me 'feel' what life is like for those few who survived. While my grade isn't all that high, that's more because of my lack of connection to the hero. But certainly I enjoyed this book enough to keep reading!!

Grade: 3.75 out of 5


Embrace the Night Eternal by Joss Ware

Why this one: same reason as the first

Steam Level: about the same as the first

Blurb: Everything they knew is gone.

From the raging fires, five men emerge with extraordinary new powers. They must learn how to survive this dark, ravaged world ... but they cannot do it alone.

Simon Japp will never forget his violent past. But when civilization is all but destroyed, he sees his chance for redemption. Blessed with a strange "gift," he's determined to help the resistance against the Strangers, the mysterious force that stalks them at every turn. He can't afford to get distracted, even by the stunning, soft-spoken woman fighting by his side...

Sage Corrigan has learned to be careful where she places her trust. But she sees something good in Simon, even if he can't see it in himself. Posing as lovers to infiltrate a group key to their fight, they find that their staged affection soon develops into a desire that will leave them fighting for their lives in the night eternal...

My Thoughts: Well!! I surely am glad I kept reading this series because this one really hit the spot for me. Simon Japp is the hero of this one and if Elliot wore the white hat in his previous life, Simon wore the black hat. And I do so love black-hatted heroes. Before the world was destroyed, Simon was the bodyguard of a drug lord and had done and seen some nasty stuff. But now he has a chance to live a different life, a life of building instead of a life of destroying. He is horrified at the way he led his life in the past, but was unable to escape it. But now he has an opportunity, along with a strange new talent and he's determined to turn his life around and not be the person he was.

And although Sage Corrigan, the heroine, is quite different than Jade, the heroine of Beyond the Night, I loved her also. She's lived a somewhat sheltered life, as we learn as we read along, she was born and raised in a cult like community and escaped a kind of life she had no desire to live. She is a computer guru who is working hard on the inside to establish a network with other communities. But when it's found that something or someone is going on in Falling Creek, the place she grew up in, she heads there along with Simon to find out what they can.

Sage is an innocent although very attracted to Simon. He is also attracted to her, to her innocence; she's lived the opposite kind of life he's led, but he doesn't think he's good enough for her, if she knew what he used to be, she would turn from him in disgust. On top of that, one of the two leaders of the resistance also has feelings for Sage and Simon doesn't want to come between them, thinking that Theo is the much better man.

Simon is much more my kind of hero; one of those 'tortured' heroes I love so much. And even though the setting is very dark, there are still moments in this one where I chuckled. I am flat out loving this series and I'm so glad I 'sat up and took notice' of Stacy's review. Thanks Stacy!!

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

Now I have a bit of a dilemma on my hands though. The third book, Abandon the Night is out now, though not in any book stores close to me. I have to decide whether to order it, drive to the other side of the city to get a copy or have a bit of patience as I see that Joss Ware is one of the authors who will be in Columbus, and get a copy of the third book then. It's not as if I don't have several hundred I could read between now and then *g*.

And - I'll get a chance to ask if she has any more planned in this series.

Ahhhh - I just read Stacy's most recent post and it seems as if she does!! YES!!

*~*~* ETA *~*~*

I checked out the Chapters near me this morning before work and low and behold - they had the next one in!! Of course that meant a stop on the way home. And of course I couldn't just stop at one book.....

Just to let you know

I'm still around. It's just that my reading mojo is VERY STRONG right now and I've been reading up a STORM. I've read some really good ones and hopefully I'll be back real soon with some Recent Reads.

As I've discovered, the desire to read comes and goes with no rhyme or reason, so when the desire comes over me, 'specially as much as it has this last little while, I have no choice but to 'go with the flo'.

Recent Read

Oops!! Sorry wrong Picture - that was
another one from my Not a Mullet stash




Slow Heat by Jill Shalvis

Why this one: Some of her books I've really enjoyed and this one has been getting good reviews

Steam Level: Yep, steamy's the word

Blurb: Baseball player Wade O'Riley's bad boy image is about to be cleaned up by his publicist Samantha McNead. But the sexual tension between them is about to drive Wade to his knees

My Thoughts: I will forever think of this book as the book that coulda been a contender. It had a lot going for it. Wade was adorable. He had such a sunny fun outlook on life. He was so nice and laid back. And while certainly uptight, Samantha was a pretty good heroine. I quite liked her. In the books by this author that haven't worked for me, it's been mostly because of the heroine. And that was not the case at all in this book. I really did like Samantha. She had good reason for being the stick-in-the-mud that she was and she wasn't a stick-in-the-mud in a bad way at all.

BUT

Alas, I was taken out of this book again and again and again by the author's lack of knowledge in her subject matter. There were errors - GLARING errors, needlessly glaring errors in my not so humble opinion, that really downgraded this book for me. And that was such a shame because this really was a good book - apart from the GLARING errors.

Let me count them - and I'm sure I've missed some. I would have highlighted them to remember but as anyone who knows me - that would be against everything I stand for and I couldn't find sticky notes while reading.

I pointed out the first one in an earlier post. The hero of the previous game pitches a COMPLETE game the first game of the season. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! And as if that weren't bad enough, later on it was mentioned that he'd had surgery the previous year!!! Oh dear lord, that made that error even worse!!

ERROR: during one part of the story, they have TWO days off in a row!! Not gonna happen during baseball season!! It's rare they get one day off, but the only time they would have two days off is during the All Star game - and that would only be for the players not going. According to the book, both the pitcher and Wade, the number one catcher, would both be going.

ERROR: she has them playing a FIVE game series against the same team!! Not going to happen. Most are either three or four game series, maybe a rare two game series during the middle of the week - but a five game series????? Nope!!

ERROR: During one game, the author mentions that Wade pinch hit in the ninth inning and then later the heroine made a comment that he had such a tough game he must be tired. Uh - no!! If he pinch hit, that means he didn't even PLAY in the game. I don't know for sure - he might have helped out in the bull pen with pitchers warming up - except I don't think the author grasps the idea of relief pitching - so whatever - he wouldn't have been that tired!

ERROR: It seemed that Pace, the pitcher and the hero of the previous book, pitched an awful lot of games. He always seemed to be pitching.

HUGE GIGANTIC ERROR THAT PRETTY MUCH RUINED THE BOOK FOR ME : was almost a throw away line that Pace - who seemed to pitch an awful lot, threw a no hitter. One line was all that was granted to that bit of news. I have a feeling the author might have meant a shut out, but obviously she don't know baseball because many, many pitchers have never pitched a no hitter!! It would be cause for MUCH rejoicing!! Wade, our hero, would have caught a no hitter and would have been flying in space. I know this!! Years ago, I was AT the only game where a Blue Jay pitcher (Dave Steib) pitched a no hitter. It was in Cleveland, September 2, 1990!!. Pat Borders caught for him. I still remember that game as if it were just last season - the thrill, the electricity. Wendy's Justin Verlander had a no hitter in 2007 and I'm sure she will agree with me on how rare that is!

So now we come to the grade. If the reader doesn't really know baseball that much and likes sports romance than this is one they might like.
But if the reader is a baseball fan and decides to read this, best have a pillow on the desk for when they bang their head against it, while muttering 'no, no, no, no, no.

Me - it's probably unfair that I know so much because it annoyed me that the author got so many things so wrong. Because the grade would have and should have been so much higher. But because I've watched baseball for years, my sons played baseball for years and Ron coached baseball for years, I couldn't give this book a higher mark.

I saw that the author has a third one coming out. I surely do hope that she does a hell of a lot more research and goes to some games before she sends it in to the publisher.

Grade: 3 out of 5

I'd like to tackle a serious subject for a moment

In the most recent Smart Bitches post, they are calling the hair style of the cover model 'a mullet'. I disagree.

As defined by Wikipedia,: "The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back."

Not meaning to upset Sarah or Candy, but I think they are too 'liberal' with the use of the word mullet when discussing mantitty covers. Just because the male model may have longish hair, does not a mullet make it. As someone from the 'older' generation who still prefers long hair on men, I must make my protestations known.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here are some of the differences in picture form.


Mullet











Not a Mullet
















Mullet
















Not a Mullet



















Mullet













Not a Mullet

















Mullet















Not a Mullet












Mullet















Not a Mullet
















Seriously - do you think either Nicole Kidman or Halle Berry would be involved with guys who wear mullets? I think not.

Just popping in...

To say it's my turn up at Access Romance - Reader's Gab today.

Our Newest Crusader!!

As mentioned in the previous post, I was on Twitter on Sunday night when I clued in from Mandy of Smexy Books that Heindenkind was watching North and South for the first time - and doing live twitting while doing so.

My goodness that was fun taking that journey with her. Each time she tweeted, I knew what was coming up. Right near the beginning from when I jumped in, she tweeted how much John Thornton reminded her of Derek Craven of Dreaming of You fame and I was thrilled beyond belief to point her to the interview Lisa Kleypas did with us on that very topic during the height of The Great North and South Crusade way back in the fall of 2007 - my goodness - such a long time ago now!!

Anyway, I tweeted how she could become the newest Crusader - and she was all on board about that. So - be sure to check out the thoughts of Our Newest Crusader - Heidenkind!!

Of course this calls for another video!!




I've posted this one before, but of all the hundreds - and I do mean hundreds - I've watched this one remains my favourite.

This and That

Just when the Olympics end and I figure life will get back to normal, I get the afternoon shift. Screws up my day at both ends - not enough time in the am and too tired in the pm.

I had another Kristie moment the other day. When I got into my car that night and turned it on, the dashboard lights were very dim. As I was driving home, I was trying everything to get them brighter; flipping the switch up and down, turning them off altogether and back on, turning on the inside car light, nothing worked! And I was thinking 'oh ma-an, somehow the car must be loosing power. Now I'm going to have to take it in since I don't want to go on my big adventure with a car loosing power. Good thing I have a car guy now'.
Then it dawned on me. When I drove to work, it was sunny and I wore my shades - prescription sunglasses. To make sure I didn't forget them at work, I put them on before I left the building. The reason the lights were so dim was because:

I wear my sunglasses at night.


I made a huge decision the other night!! I was tweeting up a storm and one of the other twitterers (or is that tweeters?) twitted (or is that tweeted) about the upcoming Australian RWA conference. And then someone else mentioned about the Readers convention in 2011. And I started pondering........
I have ALWAYS wanted to visit Australia - for as long as I can remember. Since the first time I heard Waltzing Matilda and it made me want to cry - even though the lyrics made absolutely not sense. They still make absolutely no sense, yet it still makes me want to cry.

Ever since I saw pictures of kangaroos, kwoala bears and duckbill platypuses. I mean how cool is that animal!! Imagine if you were to cross one with the Canadian Beaver - wouldn't that be an interesting animal!?!

When I realized when we had summer and they had winter I wanted to visit.

When I got older and started having lustful thoughts about a young Mel Gibson before he turned 'odd' I wanted to visit Australia.

When I realized they were a lot like us - only upside down and with an awesome accent (though I'm sure they will deny they have one) I've wanted to visit Australia. There was a coworker a couple of years ago - a young gorgeous coworker who I tried to set up with Ryan and failed miserably - last time I ever tried matchmaking with my sons - who went to school there for a year. When I heard about her plans, I whimpered that I wasn't that adventurous when I was young.
Well - damn it all!! I'm adventurous now and I decided that

I AM GOING TO GO TO AUSTRALIA IN 2011!

Now unless I find a a traveling partner, I'm going to have to do a lot of preparation! A LOT!!

• Quit smoking!
• Exercise!
• Loose weight!
• Dye my hair!
• Start doing more things on my own like going to movies and out to restaurants - not just the food court at the mall.
• All kinds of stuff!!!

Now New Zealand was a country I also wanted to visit - not with the longing I had for Australia - at least not until Lord of the Rings came out. Then I really wanted to visit. To walk the same ground that Frodo and his friends, Aragorn and Boromir and Legolas did.

So I figured since I would be on that side of the globe, I would also stop off and visit New Zealand Nalini Singh lives there. I'm pretty sure my newest author find, Karina Bliss lives there. Orannia lives there, as well as other wonderful bloggers I'm sure.
So, now I have *drum roll* A GOAL!!

I'm late - I'm very late - at the book giveaway - I haven't forgotten - but due to Olympic mania I haven't had time to look for doubles yet - but I do have 2 so far. Somehow I got two ARC of Ravishing in Red so that will be one. And I know I have at least two copies of Beloved Warrior, a book by Patricia Potter I loved. I will look for 2 more as soon as I can and announce the winner.

And finally - now that it's March - I got to turn my calendar at work. And this is March's pic I get to look at for the next 27 days!