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Thursday, June 17, 2010
A blast from the past
It's been a while. Sorry. I decided I was more interested in reading another book than writing about the one I just finished.
But this post heading is relevant in another way. I'm not going to bother writing about everything I've read in the past year(?) - it seemed more efficient to just generally mention a few stand-outs. And those would generally be not-so-recent books.
Despite my general preference for trashy romances, of late I've been sticking to classic British mysteries (discussion of this shift to follow). We all know elizabeth has a thing for Peter Wimsey; I've enjoyed all of his books recently.
However, my preference is for someone who could be considered his contemporary - Ngaio Marsh's Roderick Alleyn. Also the younger son of British nobility, Alleyn is a bit more grounded and works at Scotland Yard. Marsh is a native New Zealander known equally well for her direction of Shakespearean plays, which would be why Alleyn gets pulled into several murders in theaters. Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Marsh were known as the "Queens of Crime" for decades, for good reason. It's too bad only Christie appears to be well-known these days.
And my love of Alleyn resulted in me wandering around the mystery section of the library, hoping to find a few more good Brits. I've also enjoyed Sara Woods, who writes about Anthony Maitland, a barrister (reading books set in Britain results in a lot of research on Wikipedia - apparently barristers are very different from solicitors).
But the best random finds feature Peter Shandy, a professor at an agricultural college set somewhere in New England that I swear must be the inspiration for all of Rose Nylund's stories about Saint Olaf. Charlotte MacLeod created a college president who grunts in Swedish, whose wife is obsessed with herring, and where Shandy is world-renowned for his creation of a massive rutabaga. Completely insane, and everyone other than Shandy features ridiculously Scandinavian names.
In summary, read something by one of these women.
So back to my issues with trashy romance novels. I'm apparently becoming too much of a feminist to really enjoy many of the books I've started recently. It goes along with my extreme hatred of commercials for food/laundry detergent directed at moms. No matter how independent, intelligent, and self-sufficient a heroine is, all of a sudden the man gets to make all decisions. For example, Nora Roberts has been a favorite author for years. I wasn't a fan of her High Noon, but Black Hills might be worse. Lil, the heroine, has a doctorate in animal studies, founded and runs a sanctuary for big cats, and has been riding and tracking in the wilderness for years, most recently 6 months tracking pumas in South America. All of a sudden, when her former lover Coop gets back to town after an absence of several years, shit starts to happen. Can she make her own decisions? Of course not. Her father insists that Coop move into her cabin to protect her. Coop insists that he's back to stay and that they're going to start dating again, even though she tells him to leave her alone, and won't move out. He also tells her she's not allowed to go into the woods anymore because it's "too dangerous", and SHE GOES ALONG WITH IT. She has a pet cougar! All she does is capitulate to his (and her parents') ultimatums, even when she's busy escaping from the killer, where her brilliant plan is to stall long enough for Coop to rescue her. This, from the highly educated and formerly independent heroine. Her best friend, with a doctorate in something else related to animals, falls in love with a farm hand who's one step above mentally challenged; nothing is written about him having any good qualities other than being nice, attractive, and persistent in his adoration. These are supposed to be inspiring stories making me want to have a similar romance of my own? I gave up on another book recently because a former PI was feeling guilty about getting dragged back into the business (after her son was brutally attacked) because her husband didn't like her being involved in that sort of thing. Hello? If you don't like her career, don't marry her. And yet the issue was all on her side, because she (and the author) seemed to think it was ok for the husband to be so righteously indignant about it.
I certainly hope there's some exceptions to this crap out there, because I'm quickly running out of vintage mysteries...Labels: Brit lit, crap, Dorothy Sayers, mystery/detective, trashy romance
posted by ket at
4:40 PM
3
comments
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I really meant to keep up...
Sigh. This might be everything - I tried to slow down when I realized there was a backlog again. These are generally organized from good to bad-ish.
Playing James
by Sarah Mason
Mediocre reporter gets assigned to the police beat in a PR move for the department where they have her riding along with one of the officers (James). They’re both in relationships but have the traditional bickering and reluctant attraction, and eventually end up together. Really liked this one, and not just because they had British accents in my head while I was reading.
Rumble on the Bayou
by Jana DeLeon
Local small-town sherriff (daughter of the former sheriff) has to call in the feds when they discover a crocodile full of cocaine floating in a woman’s pool. Fed that's sent has history with the theoretical bad guy and doesn't understand small-town politics. Power struggles, deep hidden secrets, etc. Fun.
Stacked Deck
by Terry Watkins
Rather like what maybe happens to the girls from Gallagher Academy when they grow up – a secret network of super-awesome female spies traveling around and saving the world. Absolutely ludicrous, and I love it that way. Supposedly this is part of a series (“Athena Force”), but my library seems to only have this book. Thankfully the library also has a form where I can recommend things to add to the collection ("pretty please buy more books about hot female spies so I can live vicariously through the books!").
Don’t Look Down
by Suzanne Enoch
Sequel to Flirting with Danger; former cat burglar is now engaged to British billionaire (seriously, the accent AND the bank account? I’m in love) and goes legit, becoming a PI who has to solve the murder of her first client. As always, though I liked the characters the first time I was okay with not knowing what happened during their happily-ever-after phase.
Drop Dead Gorgeous
by Linda Howard
Sequel to To Die For; again, I was happy when we left the couple alone and happy and alive at the end of the book. But no, we have to have more random attempts on her life.
The Deadliest Strain
by Jan Coffey
Chasing a rare, infections strain of bacteria. There was potential for a romance that was never explored - that made me sad. I want either non-fiction involving bacteria OR fiction involving sex. This was neither.
Village Affairs: A Mystery
by Cassandra Chan
British, in an ambiguous time period, aristocrat/amateur sleuth helps out when his Scotland Yard friend gets called in to work a case. At least he has a high-strung model girlfriend to make things interesting...
Body Language
by Suzanne Brockmann
Best friends are attracted to each other but each thinks they don't stand a chance with the other. They pretend to be together so that she can make some jerk she works with jealous, pretend starts feeling real, then big misunderstanding and argument, then all happy in the end.
Seven Days and Seven Nights
by Wendy Wax
Rival radio talk-show hosts have to share a small apartment for a week. They have some history, are reluctantly attracted, etc. Poor communication ensues for a while but is anyone really surprised that they get together in the end?
Public Displays of Affection
by Susan Donovan
There seem to be a LOT of books out there based on the premise that this naïve girl has a hot fling (often on the side of a road) with a nameless but gorgeous guy, then goes off and marries someone else who proceeds to die, and then the nameless guy miraculously moves in next door and they realize they were meant to be together forever. Does this really ever happen?
Bad Girls Don’t
by Cathie Liz
Belly Dancer/free spirit extraordinaire is just what the uptight cop mourning his dead wife needs. (gag)
TailSpin
by Catherine Coulter
The Sherlock/Savich series really isn’t doing it for me anymore.
No Safe Place
by JoAnn Ross
Cop gets dragged into helping investigate the disappearance/death of her estranged twin (con artist) sister, with the assistance of a former cop who went bad (supposedly). Everyone’s redeemed in the end.
Kiss of Death
by Meryl Sawyer
Iraq war vet inherits an estate from his mysterious uncle, there’s lots of murder attempts that throw him together with the caretaker who, as usual, butts heads with him but is reluctantly attracted, etc. Don’t remember how it’s resolved.
Wizard’s Daughter
by Catherine Coulter
I remember a bit of this. It was weird, and involved a trip to an alternate realm at the end. Catherine doesn’t usually do the supernatural stuff. Very bizarre.
EDIT: to anyone who gets this multiple times, sorry! I kept finding books that were left out...Labels: Brit lit, burglary, crap, girl power, hunky armed forces or government operatives, irresponsible parents, melodrama, romantic "suspense", trashy romance
posted by ket at
12:42 PM
1
comments
Monday, July 28, 2008
I kindof want to quit my job and try this...
The Little Lady Agency
by Hester Browne
Melissa, the pliable, naive, obedient daughter of a scandal-attracting member of Parliament, is fired from her dead-end job, and, after accidentally becoming a call girl for an afternoon, starts a similar-but-not-quite service where, instead of providing sex, provides men with fake girlfriends to appease overbearing mothers, dates for weddings, advice buying clothing or gifts, and so forth. But because her father totally wouldn't approve, she dons a blonde wig, adopts a new persona, and calls herself "Honey", which is a bonus because the men don't really have to remember her name.
And then she meets Jonathan, an American who's now in charge of the office where she used to work and who needs help acclimating to London on top of his recent separation/divorce; he hires her all the time, rather wanting to hire her exclusively, and they have some chemistry, but it's weird because she's hired by the hour and they both acknowledge it kindof, but he takes her as his date to everything and she's his hostesss for a party and so forth.
It all comes to a climax at Mel's sister's wedding, where she's in the party and organized the whole thing despite her father acting like an ass the entire time, and Jonathan figures out who she is just before the wedding and wants to take her as his date, and she tries to be both Honey and herself, and it all kindof goes up in flames before Jonathan professes his love for her, not Honey, though she always thought he would never fall for the real her, and her father kindof apologizes, and she ends up happy. Yay!
I could totally wear a wig and retro clothing like it's normal, and there are so many men that need help. Anyone want to fund a start-up?
And then there's a preview at the end of the book for a sequel, where Jonathan is off in France and, though he asked her to not do the major makeovers/pseudo-dates anymore, she's about to do her grandmother a favor and transform a playboy prince. I see bad things happening here. Couldn't they have just left it with happily ever after??Labels: Brit lit, girl power, high society, irresponsible parents, trashy romance
posted by ket at
10:37 PM
1
comments
I'm still thinking the issue is more with the men
No Good Girls
by Jean Marie Pierson
This book totally wants to jump on the whole SATC bandwagon. It follows four friends in NYC, trying to make their careers and love lives work out, etc. And it's written in the first person. By a writer.
Of course, this narrator/heroine also has an imaginary friend, with whom she holds regular conversations. (SPOILER: she chose a random model to be the body of her imaginary friend in her head, but then she starts running into the actual model on the streets and talking to him like she knows him, which totally messes with his head, until she makes out with him on the subway and then he starts searching for her via personal ads - bizarre)
Nothing particularly new and exciting going on here, a nice bit of fluff. I can't imagine not realizing that my imaginary friend suddenly wasn't imaginary.Labels: trashy romance
posted by ket at
10:21 PM
2
comments
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A trilogy? I never would have expected that from you, Nora!
Blood Brothers
By Nora Roberts
The first in her latest trilogy, about a trio of men who've known each other since birth, which is interesting because they share a birthday. On their tenth, they accidentally released a demon from its captivity, and now it comes back to terrorize their town every 7 years for the week following their birthday. Cal is the town's golden boy/mayor/owner of the bowling alley, while Quinn is an author specializing in supernatural stuff. She shows up after hearing rumors about the town. Blah, blah, demon's getting stronger, all three women get introduced and paired off with their guys right away, blah, blah, Cal's dog is lazy but hates the demon, Cal and Quinn are in love, and then the book ends. Sorry, Nora, but you should have just written the whole thing as one big book with a trio of couples, because this definitely didn't have an actual plot other than being introduction and checking off the box for "couple #1 falls in love".Labels: crap, demonic possession, trashy romance
posted by ket at
10:05 PM
1
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Monday, April 21, 2008
the book-reviewing backlog is a bit out of hand
I actually did try to keep track of all the books I've read in the past few months and haven't gotten around to reviewing. In the interest of getting back on track, we'll cover them ALL in a single post. Arbitrary "rating" system of webdings may or may not accurately reflect the quality of these books, but at least it makes the post more interesting...
In no particular order:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J. K. Rowling) PPP (except for the epilogue, which I wasn't a huge fan of - that gets maybe P)
On the Loose (Tara Janzen) bbbb
Shadow Music (Julie Garwood) O
Hello, Doggy! (Elaine Fox) CCC
Cutting Loose (Tara Janzen) JJ
Hot (Julia Harper) zz
Bones to Ashes (Kathy Reichs) pp
Simply Sexy (Linda Francis Lee) EEE
Delicious (Susan Mallery) A
I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You (Ally Carter) YYYY (Seriously. This one was fun.)
Tempting (Susan Mallery) SS
Puss 'n Cahoots (Rita Mae Brown) ll
Blame it on Chocolate (Jennifer Greene) Q Death Match (Lincoln Child) VV Simply Scandalous (Carly Phillips) jjjj Lost in Austen (Emma Campbell Webster) XX With This Puzzle I Thee Kill (Parnell Hall) LLL The Cat's Meow (Emily Carmichael) D An Assembly Such As This: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman (Pamela Aidan) mmmm Duty and Desire : A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman (Pamela Aidan) qq These Three Remain: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman (Pamela Aidan) www Between You and Me (Jane Blackwood) G Kisses to Go (Irene Peterson) ee Creation in Death (J.D. Robb) NNNN The Dead Room (Heather Graham) BBB Night Swimming (Laura Moore) R I Do (But I Don't) (Cara Lockwood) jj An Ordinary Spy (Joseph Weisberg) - I remember something about this one! I didn't get past page 4 because every other freaking word was redacted, and it was just incredibly annoying. Not worthy of webdings. ...that might be all of them. Labels: anthropology, crap, decomposing bodies, historical fiction, hunky armed forces or government operatives, martial arts, murder, mystery/detective, princesses, romantic "suspense", trashy romance
posted by ket at
3:17 PM
4
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Thursday, January 17, 2008
I think we've run out of names for characters - Archer?
Title: White Lies
Author: Jayne Ann Krenz
Apparently there's a whole society of people with special powers, and they're all classified by type of powers and their strength...
Human lie detector Claire goes to spend time with her estranged family, who are like local royalty in their town, and finds the body of Brad, her half-sister Elizabeth's asshole husband. She goes back a year later and falls for Jake, who's also got special powers, except he's a hunter. They solve a mystery involving Brad hiding the magnitude of his powers from everyone and being a gigantic con man. Elizabeth and her parents, Archer and Myra, all thought the other killed him because Brad was a jerk, but were afraid to ask each other. Myra initially hates Claire because she's the product of Archer's affair. Somehow Claire and Jake find the killer and fall in love and everyone lives happily ever after. The End.Labels: romantic "suspense", special abilities, trashy romance
posted by ket at
4:29 PM
0
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where does one find a dog with such personality?
Title: Anyone But You
Author: Jennifer Cruise
Nina got divorced, and went to the pound to adopt a cute puppy to keep her company, but instead gets slobbering Fred because she feels sorry for him. First Fred and then Nina make friends with Alex, the gorgeous younger doctor who lives in the apartment below her; eventually they fall for each other but both have mental issues - she thinks she's too old, he thinks he needs to have a more stable life than as an ER doc to give her what she's used to from her asshole rich ex-husband. They eventually work things out; and it's also apparently good that he doesn't ever want kids because she's 40 (and therefore ancient) and doesn't want them nowLabels: cougars/Tanner, trashy romance
posted by ket at
4:05 PM
0
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Talk about dysfunctional families!
Title: All Night Long
Author: Jayne Ann Krenz
Irene goes to her hometown for first time in 17 years since her dad supposedly shot mom and himself in the kitchen after former friend called her promising info, but was found dead the next day before she could tell. Irene stays at a lodge owned by Luke, an ex-marine; he helps figure out what really happened, and in return she helps convince his family he's not PTSD or ED (was engaged to daughter of family friend, couldn't go all the way with her, now the family stages interventions, etc.) - a subplot is that the former fiance should marry his brother because they're in love and don't realize it. A local cop responsible is responsible for the deaths of Irene's parents and friend, on orders of local big-shot senator that her dad was going to expose as a criminal or something.Labels: hunky armed forces or government operatives, murder, romantic "suspense", trashy romance
posted by ket at
3:55 PM
0
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Friday, November 23, 2007
just trying to get through the backlog...
Beware of Doug
By Elaine Fox
Lily's dog Doug hates all men, esp. new neighbor in her duplex Brady (a pilot), except for Gerald (who apparently wears enough cologne to incapacitate him). Doug schemes and drives Brady nuts, Lily then accuses Brady of hating Doug; eventually Gerald revealed as asshole, eloping on business trip with his secretary, Lily's dad (and his boss) is apologetic b/c he wanted them together. Lily had chemistry with Brady all along and both tried to resist; Brady swore off women beacause his last random hookup had serious mental issues but eventually they give in and he wins over Doug too.Labels: talking animals, trashy romance
posted by ket at
12:23 PM
0
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um, no.
Someone to Love
By Jude Deveraux
Jace's fiance died suspiciously in England; he finds a postcard sent to her days before her death several years later with a house on it and is still not over her, so he buys the estate and tries to figure it out. Helped by Nigh, local girl who'd been a war reporter for a few years, hindered by housekeeper Mrs. Brown; also ghosts in estate that they interact with. Mrs. Brown is actually the aunt of a mobster who'd had affair with the now dead fiance when she was a teen in England at boarding school (which she never told Jace about), he tried to get back together with her when she and Jace were in england but she turned him down. He told Mrs. Brown she broke his heart, she killed the fiance in a guest room at the local pub where she was staying and made it look like suicide. Jace makes friends with his estate employees and townspeople over the course of the story, and stays there but buys smaller place with Nigh, since his love for her helped him recover from the dead fiance and all he learned about her after her death.Labels: Brit lit, crap, ghosts, melodrama, romantic "suspense", trashy romance
posted by ket at
12:19 PM
0
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whoa
Accidentally Engaged
By Mary Carter
Clare's a psychic, gives reading to crazy chick saying not to get married, she leaves major rock of engagement ring with Clare; C goes to family estate to return to Jack, has to pretend to be his fiance for huge business-oriented engagement party to save family, thinks she might be falling for her "fiance" but also for questionalby sketchy family friend Mike who she made out with in a gardener's truck on the way up the drive after she had a car accident on the way to the estate; grandma seems delusional, but actually was friend of C's grandma, another psychic, who had said C would marry her grandson, so she's convinced C's meant for Jack; turns out Mike is illegitimate son of anal-retentive mom Madeline and family butler Anderson and suddenly she's in love with Mike for real when she learns he's Madeline's son and not her boy toy and grandma's prophecy is fulfilled, which is good when real fiance Rachel shows up mid-party. Weird, and didn't see any connection developing with Mike. And initial car accident a result of LSD-laced stamps she got from a motel clerk, which also explains random make-out with stranger in a gardener's truck.Labels: crap, fantasy, trashy romance
posted by ket at
12:14 PM
1
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mmm, designer shoes!
Killer in High Heels
By Gemma Halliday
ditz goes to Vegas to find her long-lost father, turns out he's a transvestite wanted by the mob b/c he's interfering with their fake designer shoe smuggling, her on/off thing with local cop goes to Vegas somehow because he's been undercover with the mob guys as a bodyguard, dad's saved but the cop/ditz thing is left in the air to enable sequelsLabels: crazy fiction, hunky armed forces or government operatives, over inflated ego, trashy romance
posted by ket at
12:12 PM
0
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what happens in the bathroom stays in the bathroom - unless you decide to write a book about it
Title: The Men's Guide to the Women's Bathroom
By: Jo Barrett
Obviously, it's full of velvet couches and chocolate. With a few private rooms for necessary functions.
So I went to an open call audition a few weeks ago, and ended up having to wait hours (literally) for my time slot. Thankfully the theater was next door to a library, so I went in and read this book while I waited. The entire book. While waiting for a 30 second audition. Yes, that evening was certainly an efficient use of my time.
Anyway, I remember a little bit, but not much, since I was reading for prevention of boredom, not retention.
Claire moves back to Texas following a divorce; a former lawyer, she's convinced she wants to be a writer, though she kindof needs a topic. Inspiration for the book comes, literally, in a bathroom, where she decided to start discussing advice dispensed by random people who also happen to be in public bathrooms (ladies, you've had this, right? I'm pretty sure I've been both an advice giver and receiver at times...) She starts dating Jake, an organic food entrepreneur, things seem great, then she goes to visit the family, has too much to drink, and manages to insult his stepmother, so she gets dumped. The book comes to fruition, eventually, but she has no money since she's been not working since returning home. She ends up working as a tour guide on one of those Duck tours, and then one day Jake and the parents show up, and they have a tearful reconciliation on the Duck, and then the book sells, and everyone's happy.
Cuter than I make it sound.Labels: crazy fiction, trashy romance
posted by ket at
11:51 AM
0
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Green Acres, re-visited
Title: Heiress for Hire
Author: Erin McCarthy
Amanda, an heiress, is in small-town Ohio for the summer visiting a friend when her father decides she needs to grow up and cuts her off. Suddenly, she can't buy large lattes, or even groceries, so she decides to find a job that she's qualified for, which isn't easy. Dad, of course, figured this would send her running home, but she's determined to make it on her own.
Enter Danny. A local boy, he has a farm. And, he just discovered, an 8-year-old daughter. Turns out that girl he met at the fair and had a fling with the summer after high school had a (his) daughter and never told him. But now that girl's dead, and Piper's evil stepfather doesn't want her, so he drops her off on Danny's doorstep. Mark and her mother were rather verbally abusive, and Piper has some confidence issues, not to mention that her hair all fell out from stress. Danny certainly can't take care of Piper and run the farm, and Piper doesn't get along with his overbearing mother, so he hires Amanda to be a nanny/housekeeper (which she's okay with as long as no toilet-cleaning is involved).
Of course, both Danny and Amanda happen to be ridiculously attractive, but both are also fighting the attraction. Plus, Danny's mother doesn't like Amanda, and is afraid Danny will sleep with her and get her pregnant too (he has an ex-wife - they got married super-young because she was pregnant - apparently he's a baby-making machine!). (Don't worry - she miscarried, so Piper's the only kid, they subsequently divorced and are good friends - she's remarried now to Amanda's friend, which is who she was visiting, which makes me think there's a prequel to this out there somewhere).
Anyway, Amanda totally has a way with Piper, giving her self-confidence, and Danny starts to fall for her even more because of her connection with his daughter. Also, Amanda has a purse dog (maybe a teacup poodle?) named Baby; at one point Baby is almost eaten by a hawk (this takes place on a farm, remember?) but Amanda launches herself on top of him on a gravel driveway to save him, earning some skinned knees and elbows, plus a slice from the hawk's talon. This helps her gain Danny's mom's respect, but she still doesn't want her loving and leaving her son.
Of course, they eventually give in to temptation, even though Danny figures she's out of there by the time summer ends. But she reveals she loves him and wants to stay, and he proposes, and his mom realizes they're good for each other, and Piper's been in love with Amanda for months, so everyone's happy.
Wasn't too sure how I felt about this one at the start, since I don't do well with spoiled ditzes, but Amanda really grew on me. Might have to track down that potential prequel...Labels: high society, irresponsible parents, trashy romance
posted by ket at
11:29 AM
0
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Tuesday, October 23, 2007
unfinished
Title: The Men I Didn't Marry
Authors: Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger
I don't so much go for the mid-life crisis novel where the book opens with a couple dropping the youngest kid off at college and then the husband informing the wife he's leaving her for a pre-existing girlfriend. I think I still identify more with the college-student kids than the actual heroine of this book. However, there's apparently an audience for this sort of crap, because this is the second book like this these authors have put out. Whatever.
Title: You Suck: A Love Story
By Christopher Moore
Didn't really suck me in (hah). Plus it's written in first person, and I often dislike that.
Title: Queen of Babble in the Big City
By Meg Cabot
I liked 'Queen of Babble' and didn't really see the need for a sequel - the relationship issues seemed contrived, and I didn't like the messing with the initial happy ending.
Title: Knock Off
By Rhonda Pollero
Main character was too ditzy (even for me).
Title: The Accidental Florist
By Jill Churchill
Eh.
Title: Remains to be Scene
By R. T. Jordan
Eh. Major characters not very likeable.Labels: crap, fiction, mid-life crisis, romantic "suspense", trashy romance, vampires
posted by ket at
5:31 PM
2
comments
usually I identify with the heroine, but in this case, not so much
Title: The Hunt
By: Allison Brennan
Miranda was kidnapped as a college student, was tortured and raped, and somehow escaped the killer by falling into a river. He likes to torment his victims by telling them to run (after several days of the torture) and then he actually hunts them, like deer. He does this every few years, and Miranda’s the only one to ever get away. She, of course, decided to join the FBI so she could bring the bastard down, but was thwarted by her former lover, Quinn, an FBI agent who worked on her case, who thought she was to emotionally tied to the Hunter. Therefore, she remains in her small Montana town, acting as the local search-and-rescue guide and leads the hunts for the girls (more realistically, their bodies) each time the killer strikes.
The authorities, including the sheriff, a rebound boyfriend who didn’t work out because she’s still in love with Quinn, obviously bring back her former lover several years later, and they work together to bring in the killer. Which they do. And he and Miranda live happily ever after – or as happily as one could expect for people brought together by torture, rape, and murder. Oh, and the killer is a weirdo falcon-watcher who had an incestuous relationship first with his mother, and then later with his sister, who also happens to be married to the local judge.Labels: romantic "suspense", trashy romance, western
posted by ket at
5:07 PM
1
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Saturday, August 25, 2007
Checked out of the library, possibly started, but definitely unfinished
Title: Infidel
Author: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Biography of a Somali woman now living in the Netherlands and very politically active. Too serious (not that I thought it'd be amusing to read about Islam, female mutilation, politics, forced marriage, and such, but I just got it out at the wrong time).
Title: Sugar Daddy
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Even though I certainly want to find one of these for myself, I never even opened the book.
Title: A Marked Man
Author: Stella Cameron
Max has been framed for the deaths of two girlfriends; Annie has some sort of tragic past; another friend goes missing, so Max is the prime suspect. Annie and Max are just full of way too many issues for me to keep reading.
Title: Bake Sale Murder
Author: Leslie Meier
Despite the cupcakes on the cover, this book just didn't interest me enough to get past page 10. And I love cupcakes.Labels: biography, Brit lit, mystery/detective, romantic "suspense", trashy romance
posted by ket at
12:49 AM
0
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yay! hunky special ops guy!
Title: Innocent as Sin
Author: Elizabeth Lowell
Kayla – banker
Rand – former special ops type, now a landscape painter
Saint Kilda – special ops type consulting company so they don’t have to deal with bureaucracy
Andre Bertone – evil arms dealer now living as rich businessman
Banker framed for laundering money by AB
Rand looking for revenge against guy who shot his twin bro 5 years ago
They come together at art event where St. K brought in R to infiltrate and K’s being blackmailed, he saves her, she joins SK because otherwise she’ll prob go to jail
Her boss betrays her, then gets killed
Ends with massive shoot-out in gun range’s mock city; she ends up killing AB because R’s out of bullets or something (after she manages to contort herself out of restraints, of course, thanks to lots of yoga)
And then they leave Phoenix to go back to the Pacific Northwest to live happily ever afterLabels: hunky armed forces or government operatives, romantic "suspense", trashy romance
posted by ket at
12:44 AM
0
comments
yeah, I still don't really go for historical novels
Title: Lie by Moonlight
Author: Amanda Quick
Concordia is working as a governess in a private residence, teaching four teenaged female orphans; the book opens with them concocting a crazy escape plan that involves setting off smoke bombs and explosions and carrying silverware in their dresses because they all have bad feelings about the men running the place. They run into Ambrose in the stables, he helps them escape and they hide at his house in London. Turns out he’s a private investigator, and the girls were part of a scheme to sell wealthy heiresses as wives to men needing a boost in society. And Concordia has the deep dark secret of being raised as a love child in a weird commune (in the 1800’s!) which she has to hide from all potential employers. Thanks to the liberal parentage, Concordia is, of course, okay with sleeping with Ambrose, and repeatedly assures him that she doesn’t expect marriage. Somehow the woman in charge of the orphanage from which the girls were taken is also involved, and she tries to kill Concordia a few times; Concordia and Ambrose solve the mystery and then get married, and she takes over the orphanage (again the liberalness! Imagine – a married woman working outside the home!).Labels: history, romantic "suspense", trashy romance
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