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Saturday, 07 November 2009

  • A Few favorite authors

    Earlier in the week I had a book blogging friend ask me for recommendations on historical romances that featured highlanders in them for her...well, I decided to confer with Heidenkind, because our tastes in books, especially historical romance are very similiar. I found that I didn't read as many romances with highlanders in them as I thought, but here are some of our favorite historical romance authors:

    My favorite 90s authors 
    Johanna Lindsey-A Gentle Rogue is to blame for my love of historical romances. James Mallory is still swoon-worthy! The Mallorys were my first favorite series.

     
    Julie Garwood, Iris Johansen, Catherine Coulter Camp, Andrea Kane-Once upon a time these authors wrote awesome historical romances. Now they write trendy romantic suspense novels. <gag> The Gift, (Garwood) The Tiger Prince, (Johansen) The Sherbrooke Bride (Coulter) and The Gold Coin (Kane) are still some of my favorite historicals.  If memory serves, most of these have books set in the highlands.(I grouped them all together b/c they all switched genres about the same time.)

     
    Judith McNaught- You haven’t read a historical until you’ve read Whitney, My Love.

     
    Beatrice Small- Highlanders, harems, lost love, forbidden love, steamy romance scenes-you get them all with her! If you like Highlanders, her Skye O’Malley series is the best!

     
    Jude Deveraux-Another historical author that bit the dust and now just writes contemporary books. She was writing time travel romance before it became the “in” thing to do. A Knight in Shining Armor is still such a sigh-worthy book! The Duchess is one of the few books that has been around the world with me.

     
    Amanda Quick-Jayne Anne Quick’s alias. She used to be an author I could count on. I'd buy her books with out looking on the back to see what they were about, that was until I read A River Knows I.  I haven’t been able to read another one of her books since that one,(Yes, It was that bad.)
    which is why I put her in the 90s group. I highly recommend Mistress and her older stuff. For more great authors go here!

Wednesday, 04 November 2009

  • Book review: Goddess of the hunt by Tessa Dare


    I first heard about Tessa Dare through Mandi at Smexybooks, and I remember reading the review and thinking: I must read this book! I immediately went to see if my local library had it, and much to my surprise they did! I really did have the best intentions to read this book weeks ago (I thought I had doomed it when I put on J Kaye's What Are you Reading Monday List-somehow those books never get read) but I got into a paranormal reading mode & forgot that I had the book from the library. After escaping three trips to the library, I decided that this book was crying out to be read. I am so glad I didn't return it to the library unread, because I would have totally missed out on a great new author.


    The Plot:

    Lucy Waltham has grown up with her older brother Henry, as her guardian. Whenever he and his friends from school would visit Waltham Manor she would follow them around and do whatever they did whether it was fishing or archery. Since Lucy was a child she's had a crush on one of her brothers friend, Toby. Everyone could see it except for the man in question. She is stunned when she finds out that plans on getting engaged to the perfect Sophia Hathaway (who happens to be visiting the manor) she plans on putting a stop to the engagement and winning Toby for herself.  She plans on seducing but even with the help of a book, isn't quite sure how to do it. After practicing her seducing skills by kissing one of her brothers friends, Jeremy Trescott, The Earl Of Kendall he decides that her brother isn't looking after her as well as he should, and it's up to him to do the job. He has a little help from her brother and his friends when they declare that he needs to pay some attention to Lucy so she isn't too hurt by Toby's upcoming engagement. What happens next is a heartwarming tale of Lucy realizing that maybe Toby isn't the guy for her, and the Earl of Kendall breaking the ice that surrounds his heart when he realizes that maybe he needs to let some one into to his closely guarded life.

    My thoughts: 

    I loved this book! What I liked most about it was that there was actually interaction between the main characters before the last 100 pages! I've noticed that in a lot of historical romances lately, that the new thing is to have the hero/heroine argue the entire book and or spend very little time together until they realize "gasp! I'm in love with the guy I thought was a big jerk!" I also think that the Everything Jane Austen challenge may have ruined me for all romance books. At first I was excited because there was not one mention of her in the book, but I kept thinking that the Earl was an awful lot like Mr. Darcy..my thoughts were confirmed when I read the back of the book and the author stated she was a fan of Jane Austen. Once I read that, I could totally see her the Austen influences in the book-but it's still such a sigh-worthy book! Eloisa James calls this book: “The sweetest, sexiest romance you’ll read all year ” and I have to agree! This book reminds of an early Julie Garwood or Jude Deveraux book...

    Sigh Meter: High (Moments when I just have to sigh on the romantic parts of the book)
    Swoonworthy Meter: Medium (This is where the romance has moments where I sigh and crush on the hero of the book)
    Cheesy Line Meter: Medium (What's a romance without a few cheesy lines, like: "She relived every moment she spent in Jeremy's company-every argument, every glance, every meal." (Pg.174)
    Currently
    Fool's Gold (Widescreen Edition)
    By Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson
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Sunday, 01 November 2009

  • The Smell of leaves

    The great thing about no one being on Xanga anymore is that I feel free to experiment with all kinds of stuff. Here's a poem...not the best but it's been awhile since I've done any kind of writing.



    The Smell of Leaves

    The smell of leaves assaults the senses
    memories of childhood are unleashed
    s'mores, bonfires, leaf piles, pumpkins
    where has the time gone?

    Currently
    the dead and the gone
    By Susan Beth Pfeffer
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Saturday, 31 October 2009

Thursday, 29 October 2009

  • Warding Off Germs

    I was reading TheBigShowATUDs post and it made me laugh, because I've been spraying Lysol in my office like it's no tomorrow. My dad and I had this conversation about it:

    Dad: "Colette, I think you've killed all the germs in Russia with that can of Lysol."
    Me: "Everyone is sick. I.am.not.getting.sick.this.year."
    Dad: I can't breathe in here
    Me: What do you mean? It smells healthy.
    Dad: Did you just spray an invoice with Lysol?
    ME: Yes, the driver coughed before handing it to me.
    Dad: Can you read the invoice now?
    Me: Well, no...I'll just guess at the cost of everything.
    Dad: Don't you think that's going overboard?
    Me: Do you remember last year when I was out for a week?
    Dad: Yes..but.....are you spraying the mouse?
    Me: (gagging) Yes, and well,  Ok, I might have gone a little crazy with the lysol. I think I can still see it in the air.
    Dad:  You can't see Lysol after you've sprayed it...
    Me: The smell is overwhelmingly lemony. What Have I Done?
    Bakery Manger comes in:
    "Woah..somebody sprayed some lysol in here. can't breathe. I'll leave now.
    My Dad: I told you that you killed all the germs in Russia...

    Currently
    True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series)
    By Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Sam Trammell, Rutina Wesley, Ryan Kwanten
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