Mrs. Fullcharge strikes again...

We had my family for Palm Sunday as we wont be seeing them next week for Easter. Now, having my mother is always interesting.

My Mom is Mrs. Fullcharge, I have a tendency to get this from her, but hey, I learned at the knee of a master. Before she comes she tells you what she's bringing instead of asking what she can bring, I'm okay with this, she's the best cook I know. Usually she tells everyone else what to bring too, leaving no decision making for the hostess. Sunday she brought homemade biscotti, wine and Canterbury cookies (also homemade).

1. "I like how you rearranged the living room, it looks much better than before."
2. "This lace tablecloth is beautiful."
3. "I love this artichoke dip, I need the recipe."
4. "You should have made homemade salad dressing."
5. "I don't like your hair that length, you should cut it in a short bob."

Oh, well, not bad, 3 out of 5. I put out olive oil and balsamic vinegar, that made her happy. And, I explained 1. I like my hair longer, because it makes it easier to put up, and 2. I'd like to grow it long enough to donate. That made it okay. My sister on the other hand tells me I should let my gray come in and grow it really long and wear it in a long braid--what the hell am I, an aging hippie? I'm only 42. I told her to let her's grow, if she cuts her's any shorter, she'll be looking like Demi Moore in GI Jane.

Oh, the joys of family--I wouldn't have it any other way.

Tara

Everybody's doing it...

I've now found this on 3 different sites McVane, Rosario's, Suisan's. Everybody's doing it...

1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. In the Search box, type your birth month and day (but not year).
3. List three events that happened on your birthday.
4. List two important birthdays and one interesting death.
5. Post this in your journal.

Events:

1. 1800 - Assassination attempt on Napoleon Bonaparte's life. How many romance novels center around the theme?
2. 1906 - The first radio program, consisting of a poetry reading, a violin solo, and a speech, is broadcast. So, has 'broadcasting' gone down hill since then?
3. 2004 - The 2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm delivers an extremely unusual snowfall to the southern United States. I remember this one, because the Northeast got hit Christmas, and we were expecting 15 people for dinner.

Births:

1. 1166 - King John of England (d. 1216)
2. 1905 - Howard Hughes, American film producer and inventor (d. 1976)

A horrible king and a crazy rich guy.

Deaths:

1. A toss up between 1873 - Johns Hopkins, Baltimore philanthropist and businessman (b. 1795) and 2005 - Michael Vale, American commercial actor (b. 1922) Who is Michael Vale, you ask? Time to make the donuts."
   

April TBR Challenge

This month's TBR Challenge: Read something that's been on your TBR at least 6 months. I picked Bonnie Vanak's The Falcon and the Dove.

Title: The Falcon & The Dove

Author: Bonnie Vanak

Year published: 2002

Why did you get this book? Trade group

Do you like the cover? No

Did you enjoy the book? Okay

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? Not new to me, and I've got one more on the TBR pile.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? It's going,

Anything else? It's not a horrible book, it has an interesting plot and wonderful location (Egypt, 1892). There was too much "women are to serve men..." I complained about this the other day, That Fine Line.

That's it, have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

A Hunger Like No Other....

For some reason this one surprised me. I didn't know what to expect.

Werewolves,
Vampires,
Valkyries...

I figured there would be too much going on, too much world building (Liz Maverick's Crimson City comes to mind), but I was wrong. This book has a nice balance between, world building, character development and storytelling.

If there is one thing I normally dislike, it's the "soul mate" theme that permeates a good part of paranormal romance. So when in the prologue, our werewolf hero scents his soul mate I thought, OH NO. Ah, but it's okay, somehow Kresley Cole overcomes my aversion to this. The prologue reads like a horror novel--Oooo, I like that.

In fact the next several chapters read more like horror than romance, I really like that. I've always thought that's one of the biggest thing paranormal romances lack. Shouldn't books about Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts... be scary?

Our hero is a werewolf, our heroine a vampire/valkyrie mix, different races that hate each other. He has spent the last 150 years being tortured by the "Vampire Horde". She is a sheltered young (72) miss, protected her entire life by her Valkyrie aunts.

At times, I honestly thought the hero was on the verge of rape, and yet, as the story progresses, he comes more and more under control. At first you think, our heroine is going to be weak. Ah, but she's not, as the story develops, she gets stronger and stronger. And it all flows nicely together.

I'd recommend this one, and that comes from someone who is incredibly picky when it comes to paranormals.

Tara

Whatever it's called...

Lifted this little tidbit from Kristie.

And, I'm left wondering if these houses are publishing EROTICA or EROTIC ROMANCE/ROMANTICA? It seems to me, the industry has in the past gone out of it's way to make a distinction.

Are the lines blurring or does it even matter?

*edited*

Well, after perusing the May Romantic Times, I've realized the lines may well be blurring. And maybe we'll soon be calling the genre Women's Erotic Fiction, borrowed that title from the inside cover ad for the new Spice line. It seems not all these books are romances.

Also, has anyone read Emma Holly's All U Can Eat?

One more chapter...

Thanks to Sybil for linking me to a Squawk Radio column by Eloisa James, I can't get a link to the exact spot, but trust me it's there. It seems Ms. James has been getting a tremendous amount of mail and has decided her The Taming of the Duke needs one more chapter. It should be up 2 weeks from now on her website.

I wonder what she'll be adding or clarifying.

That Fine Line...

Earlier in the week I finished Bonnie Vanak's The Falcon & The Dove, which was on my TBR pile for a good 6 months and qualified for Angie's April TBR challenge. The hero starts out with the beating of his chest, me Tarzan, you Jane. Not really, but there was a whole lot of manhood oaths, and reminders that women are meant to serve men and breed children. It got old quick. Eventually he settles down from a Neanderthal to a normal alpha.

So that got me thinking,

Where is the line between Alpha Male and Neanderthal?

Each of us have a different tolerance level. For me it depends on the book.

I'm now reading Kresley Cole's A Hunger Like No Other. Another extreme alpha, only this time, it's completely expected. He's the werewolf "leader of the Lykae Clan", what else would he be but an alpha. At this point the werewolf in AHLNO makes the Khamsin Sheikh in TF&TD look rather beta, which I didn't think was possible. And yet, it fits the character and I'm thoroughly enjoying the book.

I'm wondering...

What's your alpha tolerance level?

I like alphas, their big, strong and physically protect. I like to think alpha heros require alpha heroines. Two strong characters make for interesting conflict. I married one. On occasion he tries to get Neanderthal and needs to be reminded that it's the 21st century, and that's okay, I'm strong enough to do it.

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

A real quickie

While blog hopping from McVane, she's got some different blogs listed, I discovered a new reader/review site:

Dear Author

Reviews are cleverly done in a form of a letter to the Author.

Did anyone notice...

I finally figured out how to thumbnail pictures in my Kodak program so that I could add a picture of Junior to my profile.

Isn't my "Ghost Witch" meeting his first singing skeleton adorable?

He was 3 and wanted to be "Lucy" from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown or whatever the heck the Peanuts' Halloween special is called. My husband had gender issues, but got over it and bought him a great witches hat. From behind running down the street, he looked just like Lucy.

Tara

Obsessing about obsessing

**Edited** please note, I'm over my hormone induced snit that caused the post.

I've been on the computer a lot over the last few days. Lurking on different message boards, visiting blogs, blogging etc. and I'm starting to wonder about the whole lot of us.

Are we all crazy or just enthusiastic??

On one message board I'm seeing the in depth character motivation of some of my favorite books, and I'm left scratching my head. People were contemplating all sorts of things that never occurred to me, and is it me, did I somehow miss how important all this was, or did I simply enjoy the books for the escapism. And yet, I can be just as guilty of this, why can't we read for the simple pleasure of reading and escaping to a time gone by or a future different from ours.

Is escape good?

On another board we have constant sucking up by rabid fangirls to mediocre authors, who frighten the the heck out of me. The fangirls that is, and maybe the authors too, who seem to feed off of this behavoir. Just because an author talks to you on a message board it doesn't make them your best friend. It's like my hairdresser who now refers to George Clooney as George, and tells you how down to earth he is after meeting him once. Okay, maybe not that extreme, but you get what I mean. What makes them even more frightening is that they laugh at other fangirls.

Rabid fangirls=obsessive.

I've come to the conclusion that I'm done with book covers, we have sites dedicated to picking on them, and others that obsess about cover models, yuck--there's something really creepy about this. Some complain about the decapitated art covers, others complain that they don't want to see the head it messes with their imagination of the characters. I'm reaching a point that all I want is the name on a plain white cover and forget the art. Though I do agree with Kristie, a publishing house as big as Avon can and should do a better job, but then a white cover with just the title and author would be an improvement over most what Avon turns out.

Note to self--no more comments about covers.

On another site authors are complaining about other authors turning every opportunity into an attempt to self promote, and yet this is done on that very same site on a daily basis.

Maybe authors are crazy too?

We've got vampires and regency misses coming out our ears. And we're all complaining about overkill, but we're still reading them. We're complaining that new vampire series are rip-offs of old and old ones are rip-offs of themselves. Regency period books all seem to blend and yet we're still buying them. And what is one of my favorite series Susan Squires' Regency Vampire books. I'm starting to scare myself.

I think we're all crazy, myself included.

My TBR pile mocks me on a daily basis, my tlf list is almost as big as my TBR pile, what the hell am I going to do with all these books once I've read them? Send them to Sybil I guess.

So, what are you reading, and are you obsessing about it??

New places to visit...

Between blog hopping, new visitors, checking stats and old favorites moving I have a whole bunch of new places to visit:

• Bam (Dionne Galace) has a new website and it is beautiful.
• Keishon has moved to WordPress, which I am completely intimidated to do, since I'm finally comfortable on blogger and still haven't figured out how to edit the template to something completely different.
• I think everyone has probably figured out Maili has moved to a website that will eventually cover more than just blogging.
• Kim has a very cool author database website.
• Bev and Friends have started an interesting site that will eventually be all things for romance readers.

New to me blogs:

• Devon
• Marg
• Vanessa Jaye
• Dana
• JMC
• Michelle Buonfiglio
• Cosmo Chix a blog that includes authors Emma Holly and Betina Krahn--cool, though not much is up there yet.

Well, that's about as much link slutting as I can do in one day, I've given myself a major headache.

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

PS: I just discovered Google has a translate option. It's very cool. Someone translated some of my Devil in Winter posts into Italian.

Not the only one and other thoughts...

Well, I'm somewhat relieved to see I am not the only person dissatisfied with The Taming of the Duke...

1. Nicole
2. Devon
3. A whole host of readers on AAR

Like Devon, I'm wondering if the last book is going to be Josie and Mayne and she [Devon] didn't like the age issue.

As long as it's not an Anna Nicole Smith thing (yuck), I don't really have an issue with age as long as the relationship feels right. In Lavyrle Spencer's Years it's the major point of conflict between Linnea and Teddy, it's 16 years. In Eloisa James' A Wild Pursuit the age difference between Beatrice and Stephen is 20+/- years, and I had no problem with that either. I think I saw somewhere that Cindy had an issue with age differences.

So, I'm wondering, in general, where other's stand on the age issue--some thoughts??

I'm reading Bonnie Vanak's The Falcon & The Dove for Angie's April TBR Challenge. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm thinking the hero might be too Alpha for me, and to be honest, I usually can handle heros bordering on Neanderthal.

So, I put myself on a book budget and I ended up picking up 1 new book and 9 used books at the UBS, I think I've already blown April's budget--LOL. I have no will power.

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

Teaching a young dog new tricks...

My son learned to snap this week. He's pretty proud of himself. He's acting as cool as a 4 year old can. "Oh, yeah" snap and point both hands at the same time. Too much.

Last night we went out for dinner. When he was done eating, he snapped and waved for the waiter. I almost fell out of my chair I laughed so hard.

Odd thoughts from the day...

Well, it's 8:00 Saturday night, my husband and son are both asleep. Junior's usually asleep by now, but my husband has a cold and took NyQil. I guess he's out for the night, and I'm getting some quiet blogging time. How nice is that?

Bev's got her Reader Network up and running. It's an ambitious undertaking, and should be fun to watch as it gets going. Right now the forum section is up and running. Her question for introducing ourselves is to pick our favorite romance. This usually has me high tailing it in the opposite direction, but today I decided to actually answer that deep question.

All my contemplations brought me to Lavyrle Spencer's Years. I realized if I think about it I can probably describe just about every scene from start to finish, and can visualize the entire book in my head. This so needs a re-read. I'll be pulling it out tonight.

So all that thinking about favorites, got me wondering about what makes this book stand out more than others. I don't do much visualization while I'm reading a book. I think that's why so many of the Regency period books all seem to blend together. If the author doesn't suck me into her world I'm not likely to visualize what's going on. I don't sit and imagine what the hero and heroine look like, I don't even really pay that much attention to those details. But the books that stay with me are the ones I have a clear vision of scenes in my head, like watching a movie. I'm wondering how involved others get with what they're reading.

While wandering through Wal*Mart today I told my husband I wanted to look for chocolate molds for my son's Easter Party at school. I wanted a cross, lambs (his school is ... Little Lambs), eggs, bunnies etc. He gives me a look and asks "Why can't you just buy a couple of 1.99 bags of candy, who are you June Cleaver?"

"Yes, dammit, I'm a cross between June Cleaver and Martha Stewart and if you don't like it too bad." Not really, I don't vacuum the house in heels and pearls and I don't expect I'll get caught insider trading. But, I'm home full time with one child, it's not like I'm dealing with a house full, I can handle some nice extras. And, when I entertain I like it to be special--is that so horrible??

So, back to Wal*Mart, I managed to go into that store without visiting the book section. I'm putting myself back on a book budget, my B&N gift cards are gone and my birthday isn't until December. Maybe someone will take pity on me and give me one for our wedding anniversary, it's in May. I'll have to drop some hints.

We got engaged 24 years ago today--yes, April Fools Day, the same day my hubby shattered his right knee cap playing softball, it's a wonder that we actually made it to the alter--LOL.

Now I'm just rambling, have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

You know it's bad...

I am a self-professed Eloisa James fangirl, I have liked everything she's written, even those books AAR gave D's to, but The Taming of the Duke threw me for a loop. I wanted to love it, but I had so many problems with it, that it almost hit the wall Thursday night.

It pains me to say this...

1. I still don't like Imogen, I thoroughly detested her after Much Ado About You. She was a self-centered, self-absorbed bitch in that one and to be honest, the "transformation" didn't work for me, too much obnoxiousness to make up for.
2. The Rafe making believe he was Gabe thing completely didn't work for me.
3. All the theater references made not only my eyes glaze over, eventually I found it completely mind numbingly boring. I can't believe I just said that about a EJ book.
4. Too much sequel baiting...is Lady Griselda with child, who the heck is Mayne marrying and what is going to happen to poor Josie?

Is it horrible, no, but it didn't live up to my expectations and that leaves me wondering if that's the problem...

did I expect too much?

I still think she has a wonderful writing voice, I love that she takes risks, her characters are far from perfect...bimbos, fortune hunters, drunks, philanderers, self-absorbed twits. They normally make for interesting reading. In the past I like how she handled sequel baiting. I loved waiting for Esme and Sebastien's story, and that carried on through a couple of books, but there was too much left hanging.

This is the first of her books that didn't work for me, but I'm still looking forward to the next.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Tara

Cleaning Day

My house is in desperate need of cleaning, but I wanted to post a few thoughts before I sign off for the day...

1. If you have your computer remember your user name and password for blogger, write it down somewhere, it took me hours yesterday to get back in after I deleted my cookies, files and history.
2. While on hold with my server yesterday I read Cathy Yardley's The Cinderella Solution. I think it's probably the best "best friend romance" I've ever read. I had some issues with dialogue, but to be honest, I complain about most contemporaries' dialogues.
3. I finally tracked down a copy of Eloisa James' The Taming of the Duke. That makes me a happy camper, since I am a self-proclaimed Eloisa James fangirl, not rabid, but definitely a huge fan. It was hiding on the bottom shelf at Wal*Mart, looking very lonely, I had to bring it home.

And can anyone explain why my local B&N has a problem getting books out by release dates. I know I'm nit picking, but gee whiz, why are they always a week behind, and my local Wal*Mart gets their books out on or before release dates.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Tara

PS--once again LOST was great last night. I taped it last night and watched this morning. I'm heading over to Kristie's to check out her review.

I can't get into...

mcvane.com, all I get is this...


THIS DOMAIN NAME HAS JUST BEEN REGISTERED FOR ONE OF OUR CUSTOMERS...

Am I doing something wrong??

So I stole it from Kristie, who stole it from Giselle - well the questions anyways...

1. FIRST NAME? Tara

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not a person, either a hill in Ireland or a plantation, depends on who you ask.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? 8:30 Monday morning.

4. WHAT IS ON YOUR DESKTOP BACKGROUND? Junior, who else?

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Brown sugar glazed ham, but like Kristie, bologna is a close second.

6. KIDS? 2 if I can include my husband.

7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Absolutely!?!

8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL ? Yes

9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Who me? Absolutely--our poor son is genetically predisposed to sarcasm, he gets it from both sides.

10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes

11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I'd love to try it, but I think my hubby would have a heart attack, he's deathly afraid of high edges.

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Raisin Bran

13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES ? Not if I can help it--Birkenstocks every day of my life, clogs in the winter and sandals from spring through fall. In fact it's probably warm enough to start wearing sandals again.

14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? When I need to be.

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Chocolate with lots of chocolate

16. SHOE SIZE? 9 it was 8 1/2 until my pregnancy--Pregnancy killed my feet.

17. RED OR PINK? Red

18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I'm a terrible procrastinator.

19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My grandfathers

20. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Black and white animal print pajama pants, shoeless

21. LAST THING YOU ATE? Homemade banana bread

22. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Junior talking about "Thomas the Tank Engine"--God, give me strength, will this phase never end??

23 IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Red

24. FAVORITE SMELL? My son's hands, lavender soap--it's how I make sure he's really washed them.

25. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My SIL

26. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? Eyes and then teeth, what can I say I wore braces for 6 years.

27. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Well, since I lifted it from Kristie and Giselle, I'd say definitely.

28. FAVORITE DRINK? Cold Water, holy crap, how boring is that--LOL.

29. FAVORITE SPORT? Baseball – and it can’t start soon enough, I'm with Kristie on this one.

30. HAIR COLOR? Brown so dark most people think it's black, well, that's my natural color anyway.

31. EYE COLOR? Brown with a hint of green around the edge.

32. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope

33. FAVORITE FOOD? Lobster

34. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? How about scary movies with happy endings?

35. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Last movie I watched in a theater--Curious George, the last on tape--Twelve Angry Men

36. COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Olive green tank top

37. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer

38. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs

39. FAVORITE DESSERT? Anything with chocolate

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? I just finished Pamela Clare's Carnal Gifts and Sweet Release.

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? A big fat tabby cat

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Nada

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? My son and husband laughing together

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? STONES--gave up Stones tickets to go out on my first date with my hubby.

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Dallas, TX

46. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? None that I can think of

47. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? December 24, Brooklyn

48.Why did you answer this survey of your self? Same reason as Kristie and Giselle - Because I had nothing else to blog about :)

So how about it? Anyone else want to play and spill their guts?

Someone slap me...

Cheryl Holt is one of those authors I've sworn off, I've not read one of her books that hasn't bothered or annoyed me on some level. Too Tempting To Touch lives up to all of my Cheryl Holt expectations and that's not good. I can not believe I allowed myself to be swayed by a few people saying they loved this book.

• Strike One--It's a historical that reads like a contemporary, so much so at times I found my mind wondering and questioning behavoirs and dialogue.
• Strike Two--The heroine dislikes the hero until he touches her then she melts into a spineless jellyfish--that is until he tells her he loves her and she doesn't believe him, I guess that's a good way to extend the storyline.
• Strike Three--A wishy washy, philandering rake of a hero with a conscience. When confronted about their relationship he too becomes a spineless jellyfish, begging the heroine to tell him what to do.
• Strike Four--The secondary romance was more interesting than the main one.
• Strike Five--The villains are so completely over the top, that they are laugh out loud funny, maybe it was supposed to be, but I don't think this was a comedy.
• Strike Six--I don't care if they were faking it, or semi-faking it, the sex scenes between two sisters had a certain yuck factor going on.

With Six Strikes the book has struck out twice.

Shame on me for being too lazy to go out to the car and get Sweet Release. I wasted 2 hours of my life reading this drivel.

5:30 this morning...

"Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy guess what? The Tooth Fairy came!!"

No, kidding

Pulling Teeth and other thoughts...

Well, it's done tooth S has officially been pulled out of Junior's mouth. He was a little trooper, they wouldn't let me go in with him. I got to sit in the waiting room, near tears for 1/2 an hour. I'm thinking he came through the whole thing better than I did.

I knew exactly what it entailed (I had 8 baby teeth pulled when I was 13--they wouldn't fall out on their own) and I was still a worried mess.

He had orange sherbet for breakfast, he was thrilled. Lunch will be a vanilla shake.

He informed me that 1. Laughing gas doesn't make you laugh, and 2. The nurse lied--that numbing stuff doesn't tickle.

Now that we're done pulling teeth, on to other thoughts which consist of Pamela Clare's Sweet Release. I'm about 1/2 through this book, she has a nice writing style, but I'm not fully involved with the book. I'm sure it's because I've been preoccupied and has nothing to do with the book itself.

Dragged everyone to Wal*Mart and B&N yesterday in the hopes of finding Eloisa James' new one, which I know isn't technically out until tomorrow, but gee whiz, I thought someone would have the damned thing on their shelves.

We spent Saturday afternoon wandering around New Paltz, it's a funky little college town. While rummaging through an antique shop, I found a very cool vintage Lucite pocket book and a great pair of retro 1950's sunglasses that I want to go back for this week. It's funny we hit New Paltz and Woodstock every few months and New Paltz is much more interesting a town to visit, it's actually what I expect to find in Woodstock and don't. Woodstock doesn't have that bohemian feel that one might expect.

Got to go, we've got some errands to run.

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

Nothing to say...

I've hit blog block.

I haven't read anything in a few days--I need to update my sidebar to include the three westerns I read this week.

We're having a family weekend, doing family things before life gets hectic during the Easter holiday and break.

I'll be back Monday afternoon, after Junior's tooth gets pulled.

Have a great weekend and happy reading.

Tara

Not looking forward to today...

Junior broke one of his 2 year molars. We think it happened when he fell at school, but it didn't start bothering him until last week.

Our dentist thinks it should be removed. We have to be at the oral surgeon at 8:00 this morning. I'm hoping he can pull the tooth today.

It's not really bothering him too much, but once in a while something tweekes it and he complains. The poor little guy has a high pain threshold, which isn't good, the couple of times he's had ear infections, they were raging before we realized it.

Stats and Counters

Does anyone else check out their statistic information?

I think I added the counter in early December and originally it was just to see how many people come to visit. But a couple of weeks ago I actually looked at the info it keeps track of, and now I find myself visiting every few days, just for curiosity.

Usually mine is filled with the usual suspects, those I visit on a daily basis, a few regular lurkers, who are always welcome, since I have a tendency to lurk on a few sites too.

Must visitors are from the US, but some are from Canada, Australia, France (Hi Sam), Uruguay (Hi Rosario), Singapore, Sweden, New Zealand... I'm always surprised when I see visitors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or UAE, but I think it's probably service people.

But, sometimes I'm found through google searches, and sometimes what their asking for is down right odd and I'm left wondering how the heck this blog popped up.

One last week completely creeped me out--I'm starting to think sometimes it's just to much info.

Today's thoughts, have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

PS-- LOST was great last night!! Kristie has already blogged about it.

Westerns, Westerns and More Westerns...

Okay, it's only three westerns, what can I say, I wanted to get your attention. After hitting a wall a few days ago, I decided I needed a change and pulled 3 westerns from my TBR pile. Two Cheryl St. Johns and one Victoria Bylin.

I finished Cheryl St. John's The Tenderfoot Bride last night and it was wonderful. Started His Secondhand Wife and it's wonderful too, I can't believe I waited so long to read these books. Both have pregnant, lost soul heroines and I think Kate from HSW is probably the sweetest character I've ever come across.

West of Heaven by Victoria Bylin has a similar theme. I'm rather surprised that all three of the westerns on my TBR pile all had this same theme.

Got to go, I'd like to finish His Secondhand Wife some time today.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Tara

Nothing to read...

Can't decide, can't decide, can't decide...of the 200 books on my TBR pile nothing is interesting me. What I really want is the new Eloisa James, but it's not out yet. I hit Wal*Mart and B&N yesterday and it's not to be found. Technically it's not out until the 28th, but WM is usually good for not waiting for release dates.

So, instead of finding Eloisa James' The Taming of the Duke I found Stephanie Laurens' The Truth About Love A Cynster Novel, I haven't read a SL in 2 or 3 years. Why I bought this one I'm not sure. I started it last night and got about 35 pages in and realized I don't want to read this or any other Cynster book. Gerrard is "...Vane's protege. In becoming the man he now was, the influence of the Cynsters had been critical... Gerrard is an artist, who wants to paint some Lord's garden, only the Lord wants a portrait of his daughter too. He spends a good portion of these 35 pages, whining and complaining about not wanting to do this. Doesn't he know Cynsters don't whine, suck it up, and stop belly-aching. Of course all the belly-aching stops when he lays eyes on the beautiful creature...whatever.

I still think it's ridiculous that a grown man is called Vane, Scandal, Devil..., not only do I hate these names, I hate the name Cynster, it makes me think of Fenster and that makes me think of Bugs Bunny...

"How many times do I have to tell you not to play with the dirty money?"

spank, spank, spank, guns, knives, bombs, brass knuckles, grenades fall out of diaper.

Do kids today even know who Bugs Bunny is?

Over the weekend I finished Mary Reed McCall's Beyond Temptation, it was a good book, maybe a little melodramatic, but I'm not complaining, it was rather nice to read a medieval.

I also started and put down Katie MacAlister's Blow Me Down, and actually this time it wasn't the writing or an idiotic heroine, it was the storyline, I should have known it wasn't going to be for me. I'm so computer challenged, I have absolutely no interest in RPGs, RPHs, MMORPGs or VRs. The only games I play on the computer are Hearts and Freecell, so I'm having a hard time relating to all this virtual reality. But, I'm not giving up, I'm going to try and finish it.

Now, I'm going to suck it up and stop my belly-aching.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Tara

Happy Anniversary to me... I just realized I've been blogging for 1 year. Thanks everyone for making this so much fun. Tara

Shock Value

My mom called the other day all excited about a book she had read. Now, this in and of itself is rather surprising, because mom rarely remembers a book after she's finished it, but this one stuck with her.

Mom: Have you ever read Sue Margolis?
Me: No, but the name sound familiar.
Mom: I just finished Apocalipstick
Me: I've heard of that, it's a British Chick Lit, isn't it?
Mom: I knew it had a name, Chick Lit, I like that. I just love that British humor. Can you try finding me some more at that bookstore you go to?
Me: Sure.
Mom: I'll save you this one you're going to love it, the story sucked, but it's too funny.

Excuse me, the story sucked, but it's too funny? We were over at mom's on St. Patrick's Day for dinner, she handed over the book and wanted to know when I was going to the UBS. Soon, I promise.

So, I start reading it yesterday.

Hit the scene in the sex shop when the heroine buys a sex toy to shut up her best friend and then announces, said sex toy did it's job in 2 minutes. And, I'm thinking --OMG, mommy read this.

I keep reading, come to the "toe f***ing" scene in the restaurant, And, I'm thinking --OMG, my mom read this.

And then I hit the scene where the best friend's husband is screwing a blow up doll, and I'm thinking --Holy Crap, my mother read this.

I'm thinking this is the same woman who skips sex scenes in romances because "once you've read one, you've read them all", and, then it hit me, for most of my life my parents had a bawdy, for shock value, sense of humor.

My brother's nickname growing up was Nature Boy, he was conceived outside and they had no problem telling people this. Personally, I never found it all that shocking, hey, it was the 60's, man. I always found it much more disturbing that he was conceived the night they saw Rosemary's Baby.

For years that bawdy sense of humor was directed at 2 people. My sister and my husband. Not that my husband didn't appreciate that type of humor, to be honest, he could probably put them to shame, he was just shocked to see someone's parents behaving this way. He's never seen his parents kiss, he's 47. He picked me up one night and asked "Where are you're parents?" My response, "in the shower." ""Together?" Well, he was shocked, not that they were in the shower, but that I knew it.

As a teenager, my poor sister had absolutely no sense of humor, and my parents tormented her. Every dinner ended with some racy comment that sent her scurrying back to her room. This continued long after she was married and my sister, would roll her eyes and purse her lips, but she never said anything.

About 10 years ago, the folks were teasing her at a family dinner when she turned the tables on them. My mom said something that has been lost to time, but my sister put down her fork and went into an imitation of my mother in what can only be described as "the throes of passion" (think Meg Ryan) that must have been pretty accurate as my mother spent the next 5 minutes hyperventilating over the kitchen sink. It seems the walls in our house were much thinner than they thought and my poor sister had the bedroom next to them.

No more bawdy, risque comments were ever uttered at a family dinner.

I guess, mom hasn't lost that shock value sense of humor. I'll try to find her some more this week.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Tara

Three Little Secrets by Liz Carlyle

Liz Carlyle's Three Little Secrets is a good book. If someone else had written it, it may be considered very good or great, but given her wealth of wonderful books, this one ends up only being good.

Merrick and Maddie eloped very young, she is just 17, he 22. Her father rips them apart leaving her to believe, Merrick has abandoned her for the bribe her father has offered him, their marriage annulled. She finds herself pregnant and marries a cousin. Merrick believes Maddie has second thoughts after the fact and willingly goes with her father. He is beaten and near death and when he can finally search her out, he is told she's married someone else and gone abroard. Only the marriage was never truly annulled. Fast forward 12 1/2 years. Maddie's a "widow" with a child and Merrick is a rich businessman builder/architect.

So, that makes this book a Big Misunderstanding, Secret Baby, Long Seperation story. Somehow Ms. Carlyle pulls all these romance novel cliches together into a pretty good story.

The characters are well developed. Maddie is still rather naive, but Merrick has turned into "Christmas Past Ebinezer Scrooge." Holy Cow, he maybe honest, but he's ruthless.

The review on AAR is a good one, I lifted this from the end of it:

So, ultimately, even though Three Little Secrets isn’t one of the author’s best, it is, nevertheless, a solid novel that merits a strong recommendation. If it’s no more than a good wrap-up to a slightly above average series, that fact alone makes it a clear stand out in today’s all too crowded marketplace of Wallpaper historicals. Sandy at AAR.

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

Happy St. Patricks Day aka an Irish Tale

It's probably pretty safe to assume with a name like "Tara" somewhere in my heritage you'd find an Irishman, actually it turns out to be both my grandmothers were Irish. Now, if you ask my mom she'd tell you she read Gone With The Wind 6 times while she was pregnant with me, that's when she decided on the name. My grandmother swore she loved the name and nagged my mom into it.

My maternal grandmother spent more than 60 years living here in the states and never lost her brogue. She was still alive when I married and until she passed away in 1987 I had to translate what she was saying for my husband. Personally, I never heard an accent, but apparently it was at times pretty thick.

The funny thing is my grandmother wasn't born in Ireland. She was born in Nebraska. Her father came from Ardara, County Donegal to Nebraska to homestead in 1907 or 8 and sent for my great-grandmother and uncles the following year. My grandmother was born there. But, my great-grandmother was tremendously home sick for Ardara and back they went before 1915. I never quite understood why they came here in the first place, they had a successful sheep farm, wove their own Donegal tweed and had their own market. Apparently great-grandpa was an adventurous soul.

My grandmother was an amazing woman, liberated and worked by choice not because of necessity, most of my mother's life. She never had "corned beef and cabbage" in her life, and was highly insulted when asked if she was "shanty or lace curtain Irish?" She gave her wedding dress away to a woman marrying a GI heading overseas during World War II.

So, I wonder how many people can claim their family emigrated from Nebraska to Ireland? My strange tale gets a little stranger. My mother's father was French Canadian, born in New Hampshire and raised on a ranch in Edminton, Alberta, Canada, never lived a day of his life in French speaking Canada and my great-grandfather never considered himself "Canadian", he was "French".

Both my grandparents came back to America around 1929 and they met while working in a hospital in NYC. Grandma was an elevator operator and Grandpa was an orderly.

My dad's mother was born in Brooklyn and lived there her entire life, her family came here before the Civil War. My dad's father was Italian, my dad's great-grandfather also came here before the Civil War, he was asked to leave Italy, but that's another tale. Little Grandma (she was 4' 10") was 2nd or 3rd generation Irish-American , Big Grandpa (6' 2") was 2nd generation Italian-American. Grandma was disinherited for not only not marrying an Irishman, but also for marrying someone non-white!??!

So, there you have my families Irish tales.

Is everyone wearing their "green" today?

Have a good one and happy reading.

A pleasant surprise...

I've decided sometimes it's better to go into a book with absolutely no preconceptions. When I picked up Jaid Black's One Dark Night, I had heard no buzz, considering it's a 2004 release, that's not really surprising. I've never read any of her books, but knowing she's the publisher behind Ellora's Cave, I assumed it would be "hot"--it was.

I was pleasantly surprised by this romantic suspense, it was a quick read, read it while waiting for Junior to get out of school yesterday. I'm sure some of the other mothers think I'm rather strange. When I don't have errands to run, I sit out in the school parking lot and read for the 2 1/2 hours he's in school.

Getting back to the book--it was a good little RS, nice balance of suspense and relationship. By reading the blurb, I knew it would be a domination/submission book--not necessarily my thing, but I was curious. She did a good job explaining why a career woman, in a stressful job would be interested in being completely dominated by a man. Though not for me, it was entertaining. I have to admit, when the hero calls himself "Daddy" I cringed, but maybe this is typical of this type of relationship.

I wouldn't want a steady diet of this type of book, and it's not a keeper, but it was a pretty good book.

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

UBS stop...

Busy morning. Took Junior to the park to ride his bike, then went food shopping. Food shopping on Tuesday is rather interesting. Our local supermarket offers a senior discount on Tuesday. So the store is absolutely crawling, literally and figuratively with old folks, which is fine, but there is no running in for a few things. They, the market, had turkey breast on sale for .99 a lb., we're having that for dinner tonight.

I've completely digressed, on the way home we stopped at the UBS. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but wanted something fresh for the TBR pile--like there's not enough there with the 200+/- in my nightstand.

I found:

• One Dark Night by Jaid Black--I've never read her and thought I'd give this one a try.
• Beyond Temptation by Mary Reed McCall--Amanda recommended this one this week.
• Blow Me Down by Katie MacAlister, now those of you who know me, know I positively can't stand KM's writing style and voice, but Ag recommends this one and I thought I'd give her one more try. I don't know what I'm thinking, but if I say I've bought a Lori Foster, somebody slap me.

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

Fabulous Fours...blah, blah, blah--aka my boring life

Tagged by Kristie...

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Lifeguard at our community pool
2. Bookkeeper for Born-again Christian Ministery
3. Self-employed gift shop owner
4. Mom

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Twelve Angry Men
2. Rear Window
3. The Odd Couple
4. The Mummy

Four places you have lived:
1. Brooklyn
2. Blooming Grove
3. Montgomery

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. Lost
2. Survivor
3. HGTV or the Food Network as background noise during the day.

I watch very little television, I'd rather be reading.

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Cape Cod
2. Lake George
3. Lancaster/Gettysburg
4. Williamsburg & Virginia Beach

You will notice all of these places are less than a days drive from home, my husband HATES to fly.

Four websites you visit daily:
1. All the blogs listed on my sidebar
2. on-line Newspapers
3. email accounts

Four of your favorite foods:
1. Seafood (shrimp, lobster...
2. Chocolate
3. Chocolate
4. Chocolate

Four places you would rather be right now:
1. Ireland
2. Italy
3. a tropical island
4. Australia

Four friends you are tagging that you think will respond:
1. Amanda
2. Sam
3. Sybil
4. Jay

The Never Ending Series...

I love when someone else does the thinking and saves me from having to come up with my own ideas...Bev's thoughts were so well written I didn't need to redo them (lifted from McVane):

Logically, there are basically three ways to connect books:

1) story arcs - these can but not always involve the same characters, HAVE to be sequential and are mainstays of science fiction & fantasy

2) episodic series - these almost always use the same primary character or character, don't have to be sequential and are the mainstay of mystery and suspense

3) universe spin-offs - these involve creating or using an existing "world" wherein multiple stories can happen that aren't necessarily sequential but can be in certain circumstances

Didn't she just nail this?? I do think that you can have hybrids, mixes of story arcs and episodic series, story arcs and universe spin-offs.

Story arcs, I think these are series that are hard to sustain, because the arc ends up being weak--Bev mentions this in her comments on McVane. The ultimate goal of the series gets watered down by the ultimate goal of each book, which is a HEA ending. Feehan, Kenyon and Brockmann come to mind when I think of these.

I read somewhere that JR Ward is planning 10 books in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I'm never going to make it. I've enjoyed the first 2 books, but I'm not sure she's going to be able to keep my attention over such a long story arc, I decided this one is a story arc, since the main story line that will continue through each is the protection of vampires and putting an end to the Lessening Society and the lessers, all those letter characters--Mr. X, Mr. O... I'm hoping my attention span is good enough to keep up.

Episodic series will eventually wear thin for me. I've given up on:

1. Jamie and Claire
2. Eve and Rourke
3. Stephanie and Joe/Ranger/Joe/Ranger...
4. Poor Elizabeth and Hawkeye languished so long on my TBR pile I gave them to my sister now they're languishing on her TBR pile

I've come to realize the only one of these that work long term for me is the universe spin-offs. These can go on forever, just keep introducing new cousins, friends, long lost brothers and sisters, but if done right, they are individual and can stand alone, but after a while even these wear thin--Bridgertons and Cynsters.

CW commented: It's also annoying to read a book with sequel-bait at the expense of current-book development. :D This is normally the kiss of death for me. Can anyone say Brockmann?? And, yet Eloisa James sequel-baits (love that word) and it works for me, I think because she doesn't do it at the expense of the main storyline.

I hate when a series starts with a bang and then the second stinks, what do I do then? I'm left scratching my head wondering whether or not to continue with the series or just give up.

Say what you want about Nora Roberts, her full size books either stand alone or are part of a trilogy, with a beginning, a middle and an end, you know exactly where you're going.

My deep thought for this week, well, actually it was Bev's but you know what I mean. *grin*

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

B&N Trip

Barnes & Noble Find Of The Day

The next time I say I'm done with an author and then pick up one of their books, someone please reach through the computer and smack me in the head.

Honestly, I could just smack myself, reading Hot Target turned out to be pure torment--too long, too many characters, too many sub-plots, maybe I was too sick to appreciate it. Yesterday someone blogged about too many series and I realized this was one series I let go of a while ago and should have left alone.

Spoiler...Not that it really matters, I'm pretty sure everyone who was going to read this one has already done so. The best part of this book was the sub-plot featuring Jules and darn it, he deserved his own HEA, and didn't get it. Maybe she's planning a book just for Jules.

I hate unresolved sub-plots, and Suzanne Brockmann is now famous for them. She strung us along way to long with Sam/Alyssa and Max/Gina. It keeps some people coming back for more, for me it's become a big turn off.

Suzanne Brockmann is an excellent author, I loved her SIM series, but these books just don't work for me anymore, I wish they did.

I have my son's stomach virus, kids are so much more resilient, he was a much better patient than I, what can I say I'm Wendy whiner. I don't really feel up to writing full reviews, so I'm only going to comment on the books I've read this month, but hadn't reviewed.

I finished Loretta Chase's Lord Perfect last night. It was a fun, light read. It falls somewhere between Miss Wonderful, which was pretty good, and Mr. Impossible, which was great. I'm assuming Darius will be the next book, but I'm half hoping to see a book for the parents, Lord and Lady Hargate.

My son saw LP on my nightstand wanted to know:

1. What's wrong with that guy? He looks funny.
2. Why was Cosmo Kramer on the cover of Mommy's book?

I'm going to start banning Seinfeld from our TV.


Lover Eternal was very good. There were a few things that bugged me..."My Brother" and all those letter characters leave my head spinning, but nothing was so irritating that I let it infringe on my enjoying the book. I hate to admit, most of the rap music references go completely over my head, though I did get the "Dream Weaver" reference--LOL.

I picked up Civil Affairs the last time I was in the UBS. I have no idea why it called to me from the Erotic Romance shelf. I'm relieved I bought it used and it only cost me a couple of dollars. The characters were young, 20 somethings, and to be completely honest their behavior was more like my 19 year old niece's and her boyfriend's. And, for an EC, the sex wasn't all that impressive. Winter Garden was a much more erotic book.

I'm one of those people who read everything in a book, the dedication, acknowledgments, the coming attractions, the ads, the bios, you get what I mean. I started reading Suzanne Brockman's Hot Target this morning and her dedication to her son made me cry. I'd actually given up on Brockman and this series, but this one came so highly recommended I thought I'd give it a try.

Have a good one and happy reading,

Tara

Winter Garden by Adele Ashworth

Once again I'm blogging about something I hadn't planned on. I still haven't written anything about Lover Eternal, which was very good. And, I also planned to writing about the AAR results, which I probably have no real right to comment on, since I never voted.

A different topic sidetracked me. One of the best books I've read in a long time.

Back in 2000-2002 I went through a tremendous reading drought. I had no interest in reading at all. My whole point in life was to get pregnant and once this happened I was completely enthralled by my pregnancy, nesting, impending motherhood. Once he arrived I happily took on the roll of mother, not really caring about what I was missing from the romance reading world.

I'm only now realizing just how many wonderful books I missed during this time. Adele Ashworth's Winter Garden is one of those books.

While cruising the UBS at a dizzying pace on Saturday, I found a buried treasure. After the roller coaster ride of Lover Eternal this book was calm and peaceful, a perfect foil to LE.

This was one of the most sensual books I have ever read. There is a calmness to writing and storytelling that completely belies the sexual tension and chemistry of this book. It's an incredibly erotic story, even though it wouldn't be considered romantica or erotica.

Since it's a historical it qualifies for this months TBR Challenge...

Title: Winter Garden

Author: Adele Ashworth

Year published: 2000

Why did you get this book? I saw Rosario comment about it somewhere and I'm also a fan of Adele Ashworth

Do you like the cover? It's okay

Did you enjoy the book? Immensely

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? Not at all, she is an autobuy for me

Are you keeping it or passing it on? This book is finding a permanent home on my keeper shelf.

Anything else? Adele Ashworth writes wonderful adult books. The hero is 39, the heroine 29. Both are spys for the British Government. He is crippled from an accident during the Opium Wars and she is the daughter of a French actress and a British sea captain. Their physical and emotional attraction to one another is palpable on every page. I am completely in awe of Ms. Ashworth's writing, this book was just amazing.

Life interrupts...

Sometimes, life interrupts a good book. I've been reading Lover Eternal for 2 days now. Which shocks me since it normally would only take one to finish, but for some reason fate keeps throwing up little obstacles.

Yesterday morning was filled with errands and much needed housework--dishes, laundry, making beds. By the time I sat down to read in the afternoon, my husband came home early from a job site and decided to work from home for a couple of hours. Junior needed a shower, dinner needed cooking.

Junior's finally in bed, I've got 2-3 hours of prime reading time--my MIL calls and I'm on the phone for 2 1/2 hours. Go to sleep, wake up early to read, read for about 1/2 an hour and Junior's up and wants breakfast, the nerve of the child being hungry.

It's 8:45 in the morning, the hubby is gone to work, Junior's playing in his room and I'm not getting out of this chair until the book is finished.

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

Reviews again...

I thought I had put this topic to bed last week, but I saw a great quote over on HelenKay's blog and it got me thinking about reviews again...

The article calls Levin “the granddaddy of literary hacks”

So, is this a personal attack or just someone's opinion??

It's official...

Junior's registered for kindergarten at our Parish's parochial school.

He can't wait to start going to "Cat-lick" school.

Mish mash mush...

I actually had a few minutes to myself Saturday and I hit the UBS, picked up a few books in record time. It's amazing how fast things can get done without a child in tow.

So, here's what I found:

• The New RT
• 3 Rachel Gibson's--It Must Be Love,Lola Carlyle Reveals All and True Confessions.
• Lavyrle Spencer's Years--an old favorite and mine is falling apart from a few too many rereads.
• Adele Ashworth's Winter Garden
• Madeline Hunter's The Romantic which I loaned to my sister and she hasn't returned.
• Ashley Ladd's Civil Affairs--which was a waste of time and money. Maybe I'll post something about it when I'm little less annoyed.

Sunday we took a ride to B&N figuring some of the March releases would be on the shelf--of course they weren't, so I made my husband go to Wal*Mart on a Sunday morning. The lines had to be 20 people deep, but I didn't care I found:

• Lover Eternal--finally
• Lord Perfect
• A Gentleman by Any Other Name--Kasey Michaels

I was a very happy camper, please note I didn't even bother with authors for LE and LP as they're a given, right?

I made myself finish Civil Affairs before starting Lover Eternal, why I don't know, it was pure torture.

I'm giving up on Romantic Times on-line--not really. I've tried registering and never received an activation code and when I tried to register again, I'm told the user name and email address are already taken by a different user--that's right me, but I still can't get in--no activation code. The whole damn thing's given me a headache.

Today, I register Junior for Kindergarten, I can't belive it, where has this time gone??

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

Awaiting The Moon by Donna Lea Simpson

I'm going to save myself lots of time by linking to 2 good reviews:

1. Paperback Reader

2. AAR

This book has a lot going for it. It's set in 1795 Germany. It's a gothic, incredibly gothic in style. The author does a tremendous job bringing you into a dark and fearful place. The book is filled with odd and eccentric characters that add to the gothic feel.

As good as the book is it does have huge drawbacks.

1. The heroine reminds me of the girls that always ends up dead in slasher films, too curious for her own good, but that's the driving force of this book. She's nosey and the odd and eccentric characters try to keep her perpetually in the dark.
2. At times the dialogue is a little purple prosey: ...to be fair, he did not have to ask me a second time to meet him in the attic, where a deserted divan became our haven. My life was so miserable, and in his arms I found happiness, however brief it was. I was ready and willing, and ... and I capitulated utterly, giving my maidenhood as a sacrific at the alter of my love. page 191 for those who doubt.
3. SPOILER: this book is a werewolf story. The hero turns into one very close to the end of the book, the situation is explained and yet I would have prefered to see it end in a more gothic style instead of a paranormal, just finding the evil doer and moving on to the HEA.

So there you have it, good, but not great.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Tara

Can anyone explain...

How a child who chews yogurt and ice cream, swallows rice whole?

Yes, the rice came back up last night--whole. He seems fine now, but it's back to dry Cheerios and Gatorade.

Try, Try Again...

Okay, I've got a little more time and a functioning brain, so I'm going to attempt turn my thoughts about Madeline Hunter's Lady of Sin into a coherent and understandable review...

I think I'm finally getting into Madeline Hunter's "new" series, it's only 7 books in. I loved her medieval books, so untypical with interesting characters, not necessarily Lords and Ladies, but merchants and plain "knights". She used her knowledge of history and turned it into additional characters and that's what is missing from her Regency/Victorian books. I've finally realized these books are fine without all the detail. We have no idea exactly when this book is set, it's not a Regency and it's not a Victorian and you know what it doesn't really matter. What matters is the relationship between the characters and how it grows and changes throughout the book.

This is a grown up, adult book. Not a book about a fresh faced deb and a rakehell in need of reform. It's about adults with adult thoughts and problems who actually think beyond what the day's entertainment will be and yet it never falls into the TSTL category that so many social crusader books fall prey to.

If you've read any of this series, the characters will already be familiar to you. Charlotte is a widow crusading for women's rights and Nathaniel is what we would call a defense attorney. These characters have a back history of not liking one another, but before the book opens they've already had intimate moments at a "masked" event, see Lord of Sin. Charlotte knows with whom she's had this liason and she is hoping he doesn't make the connections.

There are two sub-plots that bring them into one anothers circles. Charlotte is working toward having the divorce laws changed to protect and give women more rights within marriage and Nathaniel is untangling a mystery surrounding a young man found in the protection of a thief Nathaniel has been asked to prosecute instead of defend. They end up working together, and in the process they start one hot affair and fall in love.

What I loved about this book is they're adults, they treat each other like adults and their family and friends treat them like adults. When Charlotte's brothers realize that Charl and Nathaniel are lovers there is no big brother scenes and in fact each of those scenes are rather humorous.

I searched out reviews after reading this book, oddly, I actually agree with RT and disagreed with the AAR review. What didn't work for AAR is exactly why it worked for me:

...On the positive side, this means there are no TSTL moments, awkward prose, or Big Mis. On the less than positive side, it also means that there was simply nothing here to really engage me.

Two adults acting like adults, engaged in an adult relationship--how clever.

Gosh, that was work, when I actually write a real review, I'm reminded why I don't write them for everything I read.

Have a good one and happy reading,

Tara

Lady of Sin...

Well, I finished Angies's TBR Challenge before it really started. This months challenge is to read a historical, since most of what I read falls under the category of historical this one wasn't much of a challenge, but here goes:


Title: Lady of Sin

Author: Madeline Hunter

Year published: 2006

Why did you get this book? Actually I'm not really sure why I got it, I love MH's medievals, but haven't been that thrilled with this series.

Do you like the cover? It's not bad, but maybe a little too much pink on the bed, but overall not bad.

Did you enjoy the book? Surprisingly, yes

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? No not new to me and yes, I'll read more.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? I'm going to keep it for now.

Anything else? This book really worked for me, which I find somewhat surprising considering I haven't loved this series, though I did like The Romantic and may do a reread. I have absolutely no memory of Lord of Sin and will probably have to search out a copy to see if it jogs any memories. I know it's all rather vague but I need to make sure Junior is sipping his coke, so I'm running back and forth from the home office to his room. I probably should have waited to post this until he was feeling better, but I needed a little break.

If I get ambitious I'll post something more coherent tomorrow.

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

Rough Night

Junior is sick--in the grand scheme of life it's not earth shattering, but it was a tough night. He was throwing up all night, at this point the only thing he has keeped down is very small sips of watered down Gatorade.

I did get to see most of LOST before he bellowed for me at about 9:55.

He's sleeping now, I think I'll try to get some cleaning done and maybe find a little reading time.

Have a good one.

Tara

Opposite ends of the viewing spectrum...

Sunday I took Junior to see Curious George. A cute little movie, rather innocuous, not how I wanted to spend Sunday afternoon, but Junior liked it and that's really all that mattered. You may have noticed I said "I" took... Yes, the darling husband bailed on us. Decided his knees hurt to much to sit in a movie theater for 2+ hours. And yet, when we returned home we found him comfortably lounging on the sofa watching The Godfather. So of course, I plopped myself down and watched with him.

Now, you may be thinking these are the opposites I mentioned in the title, and actually they could be, I could be writing about the sweet innocence of George and Ted and the dark violence of the Corleones. But I'm not...

No, the other end of my viewing spectrum was Grizzly Man on The Discovery Channel. Has anyone seen this "critically" acclaimed documentary? Holy Crow, this man was crazy, literally. But as one of his friends points out how could he not be nuts after spending so much time by himself in the wilderness.

My first thought was "narcissistic nut job" but that would be snarky and not very good on the nice scale. So I'm coming up with a different first thought...give me a minute... Okay "sad, narcissistic nut job and in need of some major psychological help."

Of the 13 summers he spent with the grizzlies he brought his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, for the last 2 seasons. And yet all the "footage" he shot was of him alone in the wilderness "protecting" and living with the bears. She was virtually non-existent. She was also terrified of bears--what the heck was she doing there?

Curious George--cute little monkey. Grizzly Man--crazy man who thought he was a ferocious grizzly bear, until the bears ate him and poor Amie. God rest their souls.

I've got to get back to reading, have a great day.

Tara

One more thought, does anyone watch Survivorman? It's my husband's new favorite show--I think he's crazy too. Survivorman, not my husband, well, my husband may be too, but I better not go there.

Finally...

Finally, a Lisa Kleypas that lives up to the expectations of Dreaming of You. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like it and it may even be better than DOY. Is that possible?

Evie and Sebastian are well matched right from the first page. I was half expecting Evie to be to shy a character, but she holds her own with the scoundrel. Their banter and dialogue is splendid, the story moves and isn't bogged down through all the little twists and turns it takes.

Lisa Kleypas is an author that falls into the hit or miss category for me. I either thoroughly enjoy them or am left disappointed the book didn't reach it's full potential. This one lives up to it's potential and then some. Yeah--happy dance time.

I can honestly say... This is my Favorite new book of the year. Makes me wonder where the last one in the series will be going. I'll have to check out her website.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Tara

Found...

A real quick one before we leave my SIL's. While Junior was in school yesterday I found Devil in Winter and Lady of Sin at Walmart. Had another of those nights where I'm up at 3:00 for the day and started reading. Finished DIW before having to make breakfast at 6:30.

I'm hoping to have enough time to comment about it tomorrow, but we're taking Junior to see Curious George.

Have a good one.

Tara

I had something else planned...

I woke up early this morning, and in the quiet time before the child and cat invade our bedroom, I planned an entire blog post about authors reviewing other authors. I may still get to that one later today. But, TWO things came up that are now bugging the heck out of me, so I'm blogging about them instead.

The First:

I saw only one story on Good Morning, America this morning. The one about SAHM being sellouts to the Women's Movement. Well, I guess I'm a sellout. For years I owned my own retail business, but I knew when I got pregnant that I wouldn't be able to give the business or my child enough attention, splitting my days and week between the two wasn't going to work for me. I chose to be a "Mom" and have never regretted it. Next year when my son starts school full time I plan to go back to work, in fact I've been putting together a business plan that will hopefully allow me to work for myself and fit it into my son's school hours.

If we are lucky enough, why can't we choose what will work for us and our families, why do people on either side of this issue feel the need to criticize those who make different choices? Isn't that what we are looking for? Options and choices, not to be pigeon holed? Ack--I'm done...this is one subject that just pisses me off.

The Second:

I'm rather confused about reviews. Once a book reaches the bookstore shelves are reviews geared for readers or the authors? My thought is constructive criticism comes from agents and editors before a book is released, once a book is released reviews are for readers, to help them decide if it's something they want to read or pass on.

Today's column over on RTB is comparing some reviewers to Simon from American Idol.

Here's a quote from the columnist:

I used to review books. If I read a book that I truly didn’t like, for one reason or another, I didn’t review it. I figured that author got to where they were for a reason and what I didn’t like someone else would. Plus, I knew how hard that author had worked to first get published, then stay published. I was honest in my reviews, but skipped writing reviews of “wallbanger” books. I figured it was my way of staying honest, but not becoming Simon.

...skipped writing reviews of “wallbanger” books????? How does a reviewer only write reviews for books they like??? Someone needs to tell Ebert & Roeper they can only review the movies they're giving a thumbs up. Forget all those movie goers that will see a dog--we wouldn't want to hurt the director's or the actors' feelings.

There's a huge difference between being "honest, but not becoming Simon."

You don't like snarky reviews? Don't read them.

I'm done.

Have a good one.

Tara

***Edited--I'm starting to think we are once again talking about Amazon Book Reviews and they are a dime a dozen and should be taken with a grain of salt. At what point do authors forget what is written on Amazon and move on to legitimate reviewers and review sites.

Now, I'm really done.

Play Along...

I'm wasting time again and lifted this from Sam...

Play Along!

Current Clothing: Jeans and a long sleeved Tee, just back from running errands

Current Hair: Headband and bangs in desperate need of color

Current Mood: cranky, can't decide what to read

Current Refreshment: Water

Current Annoyance: Sunny and cold

Current Avoidance: Washing dishes

Current Smell: Spicy potpourri

Current Thing You Ought to be Doing: Washing dishes

Current Thing or Things on Your Wall: Bookshelves, and lots and lots of books

Current IM person You’re Talking to: IM turned off, it hangs up my system

Current Jewelry: wedding ring set, a picture charm pendant of by beautiful Junior and earrings.

Current Book: can't decided, can't decide, can't decide


Your turn!

Bi-Polar Reader

I've come to the conclusion that I'm a bit bi-polar when it comes to reading. Either I'm on a reading high, reading everything in sight, or I'm at a low, and not able to finish anything. And these reading swings can come within days of each other.

Last week I was on a reading high, this week it's a low. I can give excuses and explanations:

1. I'm having problems with the size of print. I had to put Anne Stuart's Catspaw down because even with my glasses I'm having trouble focusing. I then picked up Jane Grave's I Got You, Babe and I think that print is even smaller.
2. I've read everything from my TBR pile that I was remotely interested in.
3. I'm anticipating all the great reads for March and nothing is living up to those expectations.

The glasses thing is bugging me, our insurance covers glasses every 2 years. I only got these last year, but I know they're not strong enough. I'm going to have to pay for a new pair out of pocket. My husband has virtually had the same prescription for 20 years--can you believe that? He goes has his eyes checked and they never change--of course, he's terribly near-sighted and probably can't get much worse.

Maybe, we'll head to B&N and see if any of the March releases are out early.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY

Discovered this over on Jay's blog. And, it only took me 3 days to figure out how to copy my own to my blog and not have to order a t-shirt.

Today is Jay's Birthday--Let's all sing Happy Birthday...

Have a good one,

Tara

Still Wasting Time...

My March Wish List:



I've been waiting for this book since I finished Dark Lover. I can admit, I've not been real patient about it.




Another book I've been cooling my heals for, I enjoyed The Dark Queen and loved The Courtesan and can not wait for this one.



Mr. Impossible was one of my favorite reads from last year, actually I think I read it in December of 2004, but who's keeping track. I certainly hope this one lives up to MI.


For some reason I have to have this book new. I enjoy Lisa Kleypas' books, they're rarely keepers, with a few exceptions. Love her storylines and plots, and yet I'm never completely satisfied with her books as if the actual writing doesn't live up to my expectations, I know it's weird, but what can I say?



Nothing lives up to Madeline Hunter's medievals, but I keep trying her thinking at some point this series will be as good.



I like Kasey Michaels, once in a while I'm disappointed, but that's okay. And this looks interesting.



I have no idea where I saw this book reviewed, but it sounded great, so it's on my wish list.




There were a few other books, but I'm going to look for them used.

A dash of this and that...

We got a fuel delivery this morning--it's a good thing we're on a budget and pay monthly, 450 gallons would have been a little over $1,000. I guess we can't complain home heating oil is cheaper than heating with natural gas and propane.

Can anyone tell me how to get rid of the emails in my bulk mail box over on yahoo? There's 7,075 of them, when deleting 25 at time I'd have to go in and out 214 times--not happening. I guess it's a good thing they're not included in the space allotment.

Our son has decided he wants sleep dressed like his daddy. Which means sweatpants and no shirt. Pajamas are no longer part of our clothing budget, it just doesn't seem right--he's only 4. We register him for kindergarten March 2nd. I can't believe he's starting to read. Where does the time go?

For some reason I've become the family accountant and end up doing tax returns for just about everyone in the family. I promised my mom I'd be over this Friday to do theirs and asked her to get all her info together. She calls last night to tell me she missed a huge medical deduction for 2004 and she want to know if we can add it to her 2005. Of course, I'm not really an accountant and when I told her I'm pretty sure we'll have to file an amended return, she got mad at me. I don't know why she's annoyed I'm the one who does the work (well, me and Turbo Tax)--she's going to call the IRS, better her than me.

I'm reading Anne Stuarts Catspaw, I'm positive I've read it before, but it's entertaining so I'm going to finish it. I didn't feel like finishing Candice Hern's The Brides Sale, I put it back on the TBR pile.

Aren't you glad I shared all this useless info? Can everyone tell I'm procrastinating? I should be cleaning--how exciting.

Have a good one and happy reading.

The Memory fails me again

I listed Candice Hern as my new to me author for Angie's February Challenge. After picking up four books from her backlist, I'm pretty sure I've read her before. Right now I'm reading The Bride Sale and I'm almost positive I've read it before.

Is this a lousy cover or what? Kristie's complained about the Avon covers before and since I have 4 of Candice Hern's backlist in front of me I can say they all stink.

I've been on a bit of a reading binge and yet I don't feel like reviewing anything, so I'm posting the covers on the sidebar and that's the extent of my actually posting a comment about them. I will say Diane Perkins/Diane Gaston is going on my autobuy list. I've read 3 of her books and they are all nice solid stories, not keepers but entertaining reads.

The last time I was in the UBS I picked up February's and March's Romantic Times. I don't know why I bothered with the February one as I've read everything front he February releases that I was interested in, but I was hoping I'd missed something.

Maybe I'll post my March Wish List as there seems to be a lot coming out next month that I'll be interested in.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Tara

Men, romance authors and a mini rant

There's a column over on RTB today talking about who's more romantic men or women. In my marriage it's definitely my husband, which I hate to admit since I'm such a sucker for all things romantic and cry during Hallmark and AT&T commercials.

My husband is without a doubt a romantic, he writes beautiful love notes and always signs cards with beautiful thoughts, I on the other hand struggle to write "I'll love you forever and always" in new and refreshing ways. And yet, the same man who can express himself so wonderfully has no problem scratching and farting without uttering an "excuse me". Of course, that's only in my company, he'd never do this in front of his mom or sister, he says he's comfortable being a "man" around me. Gee thanks, I'd still like to see better manners.

I picked this quote out of Bam's blog review of Dark Lover: "This book is even blissfully free of supposed big-shit tough guys who sound as if they’re high school valley girls."

So, where am I going with all this?

I have one pet peeve with romances, it's not secret babies, or amnesia stories (though I'm not a huge fan of either of these plot devices)--I hate men who don't sound like men. I find this is a huge problem in contemporaries, but you see it in historicals too. I absolutely, positively hate seeing an author use a conversation between men to bring out how they're emotionally dealing with their relationships. Maybe my real world is different, but if my husband is out with the "guys" the last thing they're going to be talking about is their "feelings". Men DO NOT talk to each other the same way women do, why is this so difficult for some authors to deal with?

Okay, men can be and are romantic, but it seems to me that what they express to us is completely different from what they will express to other men. Am I the only one who notices this, or am I out in left field**?

Tara

**please note the baseball reference--pitchers and catchers report to spring training this week--GO YANKEES, Kristie and Wendy I thought you'd appreciate that--LOL

This, that, other thoughts...and a Challenge...

Of late my brain seems to have problems focusing. I'm left wondering whether it's this cold that has me fuzzy headed or maybe I've got adult ADD, I'm leaning towards fuzzy headed myself.

The snow from last weekend is melting and my son enjoys rolling around in the slushy, muddy mess. He was an interesting sight yesterday in snow pants, oversized sweat shirt, winter boots, hat and mittens. Somewhere my dad found a toy truck that's a salt spreader, you would think this is the greatest toy ever invented.

Last night's LOST left me, well, lost. I still haven't seen last season with the exception of a few episodes, so I had no idea Sayid tortured Sawyer last season, I found this out over on Kristie's this morning. I also didn't know Claire went missing for 2 weeks last season, saw that info in the coming attractions. I've put in a request for season one from the library, but I'm 38 in the queue, that makes me think I have at least a six month wait. I need to breakdown and actually pull out the old Blockbuster card and rent this.

I finally got around to joining Paper Back Swap. I listed 12 books this morning.

Over on Book Lovers' Nook there's a post about our evolving reading tastes. I know my tastes have evolved and changed over the years.

This week I reread Mary Balogh's The Secret Pearl. Of course, I wasn't planning on doing a reread, I didn't remember reading it in the first place. But, as soon as I started reading I knew I'd read it before and remember thinking it was way over the top melodramatic. So I guess it falls into the "didn't 'Love'" when I first read it category. I still didn't love it, but I have to say I love Mary Balogh's writing style and voice even if I didn't love this particular story.

So, here's my Challenge, pick an old favorite, something you haven't read in years and see if it's still a favorite. And/or maybe read something you didn't exactly love in the past and see if it improved with age.

Last year I reread Whitney, My Love which had been an absolute favorite and struggled to finish it. I'm thinking I may need to read Kathleen Woodwiss' Shanna or The Wolf and the Dove, at one time these were my all time favorite romances, now I have a feeling they're going to be filled with "Purple Prose" and probably not as enjoyable.

And one final thought, question, does anyone else feel guilty when they hate something that a friend "highly recomends"? I always feel like I must have somehow missed something, what's wrong with me that I didn't "get it"?