A Wallflower Christmas, by Lisa Kleypas

It's the Christmas season! And what a delight it is to read a book that has all of the Christmas traditions and a good romance in it.
This book is a follow up of Kleypas' Wallflower series, in which we met 4 London Season wallflowers: Annabelle, Evie, and the sisters Lillian and Daisy Bowman.
Now it's time for Lillian & Daisy's big brother to fall in love.
Rafe Bowman is a rude American who has been at loggerheads with his dad since forever. Now comes the promise of redemption and acceptance - as well as a big chunck of the family business - if Rafe marries an English lady.
The lady in question is Lady Natalie Blandford, who is well mannered, attractive, and knows how to manage men. However, Rafe can't help but feel attracted to her comely companion, Hannah Appleton, who is the ultimate wallflower.
They all gather together in Lillian's country home in Hampshire, where we find once again the rest of the wallflowers, and we see love spark between Rafe and Hannah between a huge and impossible to decorate Christmas tree, carols, Dickens, and even sleigh rides in the snow.
The romance was great, the wallflowers remained true to their personalities, and I closed the book with a warm feeling and the lyrics of that Mariah Carey song in my head: All I want for Christmas baby... is you.

Daddy's Girl, by Lisa Scottoline

I love, love, love Lisa Scottoline. Her books are fast paced, well researched, with believable twists and turns, and kick-ass heroines.

At first sight Natalie Greco doesn't seem a kick ass heroine. She's a law teacher, whom her students don't really pay attention to, comes from a rich and dominant italian family with an Attitude, and has a boyfriend who spends more time with her brothers than with her. She's also a serious bookworm. Serious.

Her life changes when Angus Holt, a hunky fellow teacher, convinces her to give a seminar at the local prison. Nat doesn't really feel comfortable with the idea, but goes along with the plan, only to find herself in the middle of a riot, almost raped, and the only person who hears a murdered officer's last words: Tell my wife it's under the floor.

Nat delivers the message to the grieving widow, and the next thing she knows, she's framed for murdering a cop, and has to run for her life. The answer lies with the cryptic message she had to deliver, and Nat will try to solve it while running away from the police and her overwhelming family.

I really liked this book. It's a great thriller, with just the perfect dose of romance thrown in.

A reliable wife, by Robert Goolrick

On a snowy afternoon in Wisconsin, Ralph Truitt waits for the train that will bring his mail order bride to him. A rich man in his fifties, Ralph has spent the last twenty years doing penance for mistakes commited in his youth, but his impending marriage is due to more than the desire for company in the long, maddening Wisconsin winter.
Catherine Land, Ralph's bride, has her own agenda, and it doesn't involve everlasting happiness with her new groom. They're both united, and separated, by Antonio, Ralph's first wife's son, who cherishes a virulent hatred for Ralph.
This is not a novel characterized for its complex plot or fast action; quite the opposite. The plot is very simple, and though it has a couple of twists, it resembles too much "Original Sin", the movie with Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas.
As for the fast paced action... snail's pace action is more likely. Events happen, dragged by days and days of details and characters' introspection.
I had high expectations, and I really didn't enjoy this book so much. Catherine is a complex character, and she steals the show from page 1. She's also the only one who changes and grows in the book. Truitt and Antonio seemed one-dimensional in comparison...
Actually, I didn't dislike the book because of the characters or the cliched plot; it was the continuos repetition that drove me crazy.

Romantic Kisses

I just wanted to share some picture of kisses (from anime series) that I found on the internet:

They're Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes from "Robotech" (the american version of the japaneses anime series Super Dimensional Fortress Macross). Did anyone watch it as a child or teenager too?
Rick and Lisa were part of a threesome (the missing girl is singer Lynn Min Mei), but I always wanted Rick to pick Lisa, a senior officer.
I love this picture. The kiss looks so tender. Look at where his hands are, barely touching her shoulders.

Burn, by Linda Howard

The plot: Jenner (heroine) won the lottery 7 years ago, and that changed her life... not always in a good way. After being accosed by moochers and snubbed by the rich and famous, Jenner only has one true friend: sweet heiress Sydney Hazlett. That is why she accepts to go with Syd in a charity cruise to Hawaii.

Cael Traylor is special ops, and his new job consists in following Frank Larkin, who is suspected of selling arms to the North Koreans and who's also the host of the charity cruise. Cael's survelliance plans go to hell when Frank changes the suites reservations, thus forcing Cael to think another plan to get into the suit next to Larkin's. His brilliant solution? Kidnap one of the suite's owners, Sydney Hazlett, and force the other one to pose as his girlfriend.

Jenner is scared to death... for all of 5 minutes. She's street smart, and she's taking no bulls*it from anybody. Mostly she's worried for her friend and mad at Cael, but soon she begins to feel tempted by his gorgeous body.

Frank Larkin is up to more than selling secrets to the North Koreans, and soon Cael figures that something more is happening. Jenner also figures out that the guy who kidnapped her and her friend are "the good guys" and starts to pester Cael so he will let her help. Which he doesn't want to.

The plot has some holes as big as a swiss cheese, but is fairly entertaining. I found Jenner utterly annoying, and didn't warm up to Cael either. I was far more interested in Sydney and Tiffany, one of the "spies".

The girl who kicked the hornet's nest, by Stieg Larsson

This book ends the Millenium trilogy, and like the other two was an absolute page turner. The most amazing thing was that the author was a periodist himself, and this incredible well written, well thought, and entertaining trilogy was his first and last attempt at writing fiction. Unfortunately he died before seeing his work published, and thus didn't know the amazing success his books achieved.
In the first book, "The girl with the dragon tattoo", we encounter the apparent protagonist of the trilogy, periodist Mikael Blomkvist. Mikael has fallen in disgrace after a businessman sued him for diffamation, and is threatened with the end of his career and the ruin of his magazine. At this time a mysterious millionaire hires him to resolve a mystery that happened thirty years ago.
Then we are introduced to Lisbeth Salander, an antisocial hacker who helps Mikael with his investigation. Lisbeth is an enigmatic character: withdrawn, highly intelligent, but subjected to a number of abuses throughtout her life.
In the second book Lisbeth is accused of murdering a couple of periodists and her own lawyer/guardian. In the middle of a manhunt we get to know the mysteries of Lisbeth's past and the events who shaped her.
The third book deals with the aftermath of the events that happened in the second book and Lisbeth's trial. Even now she's threatened to be unjustly commited to a mental ward, and it would take all of hers and Mikael's resources to bring the truth to light.
The books are amazing, the plot is thick and convoluted and absolutely perfect to the last detail. My favorite is the second book, because you get to know about Lisbeth's life, and she's in incredible danger all the time, but I couldn't put the third book down. This is a hell of a series, and I highly recommend it.

Black Friday Madness

I'm glad the Black Friday is over. There are so many savings that you feel it's a pity not to buy stuff, but then you realize that you actually don't need any of that and actually ended spending money that you can't afford.
First thing in the morning, I went to JC Penney, but it was already full of people. Of course, I didn't get up at 4 in the morning - or at 3 - like some crazy people. Anyway, I didn't find what I was looking for - they didn't have my size, or the offers had already dissapeared - so I spent the rest of the day going from one department store to another, being tempted and trying to control myself. Uff, I'm exhausted.
However, I found some wonderful gloves, and tomorrow I'm heading to one of the outlets to continue the shopping spread. Wish me luck!

I can see you, Karen Rose

Reading this Karen Rose book was like jumping in the middle of a party where you only know half the people. I missed a Dramatis personae list, like the one you could find at the beginning of an Agatha Christie novel, that would tell me who were all this people that kept popping out from the heroine's past.

Anyway, besides the annoying remarks about characters who undoubtly have their own books, this is a great thriller.

Eve Wilson has been twice the victim of psychos who tried to kill her and who, in the end, damaged her psychologically and scarred her for life. Finally Eve got her life back and became a psychology grad student. She's working on her thesis, a study about the effects on self-esteem of a computer game that allows you to have an alternative personality and interact with people in a virtual world called "Shadowland".

The story starts when Eve discovers that one of her study subjects has been murdered. What's worse, the police discover that several women had been murdered, their death staged as a suicide. All of them were subjects in Eve's study.

Eve starts collaborating with the police and specifically with Detective Noah Webster, a guy who has had the hots for Eve for a long time but who has his own demons to fight.

To make matters worse, a couple of reporters are following the members of the "Hat Squad" - the police section that's in charge of the murders - in order to expose them as incapable fools. Meanwhile, the body count keeps rising, and Eve and Noah are running against the clock to stop a serial killer who's preying on the women of Eve's study.

The thriller was great. It kind of misleads you at the beginning so you start to suspect the wrong guy, but actually you can pinpoint the killer by the middle of the book. However, the author throws a couple of surprises that make you doubt yourself, so it was actually quite fun. I was so intrigued by this virtual world that I ended surveying the "real thing" in the net.

Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

This is one of the best books I've read in my life, and I heartily recommend it not only to anyone who's interested in women's rights or islam or Africa, but to anybody who has an interest in reading first hand about another culture and the journey of an exceptional woman.
Ayaan was born in Somalia to a muslin family. Her father was a political prisoner during most of her childhood, so she, her older brother, and her younger sister were brought up by her mother and her grandmother. When she was a child her father escaped from prison and the family started a diapora that took them to Saudi Arabia and later to Kenya.
Through Ayaan's experiences, the western reader comes to realize the unfairness of the women's situation in islam. It's not only that in the most religious countries a woman can't leave her house without a male escort - not even to buy groceries -, or that a woman's testimony is worth half a man's, or that the Quran condones the physical punishment of women if they're disobedient to their husbands. Violation's of women's rights occur daily - genital mutilation, forced marriages, etc - except that it seems that under muslim law they don't have rights. There seems to be an unhealthy obsession with virginity and purity, as well as a huge pressure on the girls not to tempt men, unless they want to unleash chaos.
Ayaan wasn't always an atheist. In her youth she was a religious muslin, who prayed, covered herself, and tried to understand the Quran. However, she always felt acutely the injustice of the way women were treated and started to question it, only to discover that you can't question or debate the word of God, that has been transmitted unchangedly since the seventh century in the Quran. To criticize their religion - like Christians did in the Reform, with Martin Luther
- is akin to blasphemy and can get you murdered.
She escaped from a forced marriage to a man she barely knew and sought political asilum in Holland. There she was shocked by the events of 9/11, which led her to question her religion and wether or not it approved a jihad. In Holland she also worked with immigrants and kept watching how women and young girls were abused, even though they were living in a western country, because of "religion and cultural tolerance".
Finally, she came to reject islam and to try to get the muslins to revise and criticize their religion, to get a muslin Voltaire. Of course, she only got death threats.
In order to get the muslin community to look at the way their religion treats women, she and Theo van Gogh did a highly controversial short movie, called Submission part 1. In this movie she showed how it's written in the Quran that a woman can get beaten regularly by her husband for no reason at all - unless you think that "possible disobedience" is a good enough reason - a woman can be flagellated for adultery, etc.
Theo van Gogh was murdered for this movie, and Ayaan had to get around-the-clock protection. I believe she's still under death threats, but she still is fighting for the rights of women under islam law.
It's terrible the way that millions of women are treated nowadays. I think that awareness is the first step in order to help them, and Ayaan, through her well written memoirs, achieves that.

Here's a link to the movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGtQvGGY4S4

Love Only Once, by Johanna Lindsey

This book was written in 1985, but it reads as if it were written yesterday. It's a regency, from the time when Regencies weren't 80% of the historical romances, and it also introduces for the first time the famous Malory family.
Regina Ashton is the orphaned niece of the rich and aristocratic Malory family. She has been brought up by her 4 uncles, and even though she loves her uncles dearly, she's desperate because they can never agree on a man good enough to marry her.
Nicholas Eden, viscount Montieth, is a rake who works hard on tarnishing his own reputation and pretends not to care about what Society thinks of him. The truth is that he is a bastard, and he's under the constant threat of having his secret exposed.
By mistake, Nicholas kidnaps Regina during a silly prank. He discovers his error and releases her, becoming immediately enchanted by this dark haired temptress. However, Regina is forbidden fruit and he returns her to her family untouched.
Even though nothing happened between them, soon the malicious gossip has Regina's reputation destroyed, and Nicholas is forced to wed her. Angry with her and her family, and scared of how Regina is going to react when she finds out his secret, Nicholas leaves her for the West Indies.
Meanwhile, the black sheep of the Malory brothers - James Malory, a gentleman pirate - returns to England and through Regina's manipulative skills becomes part of the family once more. Of course, he has to help his beloved niece and sails to get the errant husband home.
By that time, Nicholas has recognized that he behaved like an a** and is about to return to his wife when his old enemy, Captain Hawke - aka James Malory - takes him back to England in chains - figuratively speaking. More than one surprise awaits Nicholas, and even though he's crazy for Regina, he still has to deal with his past before he can find true happiness with her.

I liked this book very much, and not only because it introduces the hunky Malory brothers, Anthony and James, who will have their own books later on. Nicholas is sexy and naughty, and even though he's extremely hot tempered, he has met his match in Regina. For her part, Reggie is not shrinking violet, and it's nice to have a strong heroine who's proud and who's not afraid of taking control of her own life. She also has the manipulative skills of Machiavello, and although it gets annoying in later books - she's always the one who prevents the scandal with her plans - in her book it's a welcome deviation from the innocent heroine.

I really recommend this series. You can see in my Johanna Lindsey page the reading order.

A Duke of her own, by Eloisa James

This book ends the "Desperate Duchesses" series, by Eloisa James. The protagonist is the previous villain, or "other man", Villiers.

In the previous book, Villiers came close to dying after a dueling wound. This experience brought a change of heart, mostly regarding the upbringing of his 6 bastard children (now he sounds like Captain von Trapp).

In the last book Villiers found out that his steward "misplaced" the children and pocketed the money destined for their needs. He started a hunt for his missing children, but as the new book starts he still haven't found two of them.

However, he has 4 children under his roof and he has come to the conclusion that the children need a mother. But not any mother: his wife should be a lady of impeccable pedigree, with enough social standing that she can launch his illegitimate children into Society and arrange good marriages for them later. This is no easy enterprise, since the nobility is heavily prejudiced against illegitimate offspring.

Thus, there are only 2 possible candidates, both dukes's daughters.

Lady Eleanor is haughty and has declared that she won't accept any marriage proposal from anyone below the rank of duke... since the only man she has ever loved is already married. Lady Lisette is a free spirit - some call her mad - who doesn't care about Society's rules and regulations and has devoted herself to orphan children.

Villiers finds himself attracted to both, but he has to decide wether to follow his heart desire or settle for the woman who appears to be the best "mother" for his children.

Like the rest of Eloisa James' books this novel is well researched and well written, and brings to light some secrets that appeared in the previous books.

Ten things I love about you, by Julia Quinn

The plot in a nutshell: Annabel Winslow is invited by her grandparents to the London Season. Her family has money troubles, so she feels the pressure to marry well, but when her grandfather all but pushes her into the arms of his friend, Lord Newsbury, she's dismayed. Surely she couldn't marry one of her grandfather's friends? But how can she refuse, when her widowed mother is struggling for money?
Resigned to her fate, Annabel decides to enjoy one forbidden kiss with an unknown rogue at a party, little knowing that she's about to find magic in the arms of Lord Newsbury worst enemy: his heir.

I easily can think of 10 things I love about this novel. One it had me smiling from page 1, because Two the hero, Sebastian Grey, is utterly charming and funny, Three Annabel is warm and very nice and Four you can see from the moment they meet that they're perfect for each other.
What's more, Five Sebastian is an author of gothic novels, which is highly unusual and original and Six they discuss opera, which I love. Seven the secondary characters had their own distinct personalities and amusing traits and Eight the villain was despicable. Nine, the counting that went on in the novel wasn't annoying and finally, Ten I closed the book with a grin and a warm feeling inside me.

Dark Hunter Dolls

For the child that lives in all of us...

I knew this was coming since I saw Barbie & Ken as official dolls for "The Raider", Jude Deveraux's novel.
Later, following the international succes of Twilight, official dolls for Bella, Edward and Jacob were manufactured (along with a huge amount of merchandise, from calendars to candy).
And now, you can shop for the official Dark Hunters dolls at Sherrilyn Kenyon's website http://www.darkhunterdolls.com/?gclid=COr5zYXtm6UCFeFN5Qod_19zIw

Do publishers prefer to sell books in paper vs ebooks?

I thought that the ebook publishing was flourishing. After all, there are at least 5 or more different kinds of ereaders, major bookstores support them - Barnes&Noble has the Nook; Borders support Kobo and the Sony eReader -, Apple has lots of different ereaders apps for the iPod and iPad, and even libraries lend ebooks. Everyday I see people in the subway reading on their Kindles, Sonys, Nooks, etc.
I still have a soft spot for the paper books, but I love ebooks. They're so practical! You don't have to deal with the space problem - and avid readers can collect hundreds or thousands of books... try to find a place to store them in your house -, finding yourself stranded with absolutely nothing to read, or having to carry around a bag full of books when you go on vacation. They're all stored in your device! What's more, with the new WiFi technology, you can browse and download books in seconds.
For me, there's an extra reason to love ebooks. When I lived in Chile, there was a very limited number of romance availables, or sometimes there were none! It also happened with less known fiction authors. I had to wait until I travelled to the U.S. to buy books, or buy them in Amazon and wait forever for them to arrive.
My experience with ebooks has been great, so far. Because of that, I discovered with surprise that some readers have had problems with the publishing houses, and sometimes find themselves discriminated - regarding prices, discounts, or availability of ebooks.
There is even a webpage where readers can post why they couldn't buy the ebook they wanted:
http://lostbooksales.com/
Are the publishers favoring the sale of paper books instead of ebooks? And if that is the case, why would they do that? Isn't it cheaper to publish an ebook? Keeping in mind the cost of the ereader device, and the lower cost of ebooks, shouldn't they be cheaper that their paper versions?
I think there's still a market for paper books. First of all, not everyone can afford an ereader device. Second, there still are people who prefer the paper format.
I think it's still cozier to cuddle in your bed with a paper book instead of an ebook, but I love the freedom the ebooks give you. For me, both formats are perfectly valid, and each one has its good and bad things. It's up to the reader to decide in which format he or she wants to read.

Lisa Kleypas' free short story

Lisa Kleypas has a free short story at her publisher's website!
If you want to check it out, follow the link (you'll have to suscribe to their newsletter).

http://us.macmillan.com/BookCustomPage.aspx?isbn=9780312949822&m_type=4&m_contentid=16337

Happy reading!

The Mystery of the disapearing cat, by Enid Blyton

Enid Blyton is one of the most prolific children's author, with close to 1000 published works.

The most amazong thing is that a lot of her books are pretty good, specially when they're early in the series.

This book is the second in the "5 Find outers and dog" series, a charming collection of mysteries for children, solved by Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip, Bets and Fatty's dog, Buster.

This time, a prize-winning cat has been stolen from the house next door, and the children's friend Luke is being accused of the theft.

They will do everything they can to solve the mystery before the town's odious policeman can imprison Luke.

World without end, by Ken Follet

This book is the sequel of "The Pillars of the Earth", although they can be read in any order.

In "TPotE" we read how Kingsbridge cathedral was constructed, thanks to the work of Prior Philip, the builders Tom and Jack, and Lady Aliena.

Now it's 200 years after the cathedral was finished, and once again we return to the Kingsbridge village.

This time, the story revolves around 4 characters:

- Merthin: is the son of an impovireshed knight, and set as a carpenter's apprentice. His ambition is to build the highest tower in England, and to marry his childhood friend, Caris.

- Caris Wooler: the favorite daughter of the richest merchant in town, she's fiercely independant and inquisitive. She's interested in healing and in helping the village.

- Gwenda: Caris' poor friend, she was forced by her father to become a thief. Her life is hard and difficult and shows the injustices serfs were submitted to.

- Ralph: Merthin's younger brother, he becomes a knight in the service of the Earl of Shiring. His ambition is to regain his parent's social position. He's also a bully and the villain in the story.

The book is very similar to "TPofE". It also has several narrative lines, a bully who makes life difficult for all the rest of the characters, and a builder/carpenter who has to travel far away from his village. This time the prior is one of the bad guys, too arrogant and conservative to do what's best for the village, and capable of anything to get rid of his enemies.

However, this book is not so enjoyable as "TPotE". Ralph is not so bad as the other villain, and the story wasn't so compelling as the ther one. It read like a copy of the previous book, only with different names.

New York Marathon

Today is the New York Marathon. I'm watching it on the TV, and some of the marathonists are like the Roadrunner.

The Girl who played with fire, by Stieg Larsson

The second installment in Lisbeth Salander's trilogy is an incredible thriller. I was so hooked up I could hardly put it down. I found the story much more interesting that the first book, because this time it reveals bit by bit pieces of Lisbeth's background, and you get to know - and understand - why she's the way she is.

At the start of the book we learn that Lisbeth has spent the last year travelling the world, while Mikael Blomkvist is once more a famous and respected journalist, editor of the magazine Millenium. A freelancer comes to him with a surprising proposal: publish his story and his book about trafficking in Sweden. There's a ring that deals in russian prostitutes and the journalist has enough information to back his story. However, a shady character starts to pop out...

Lisbeth returns to Sweden, still not wanting to renew her relationship with Blomkvist. Her sudden reaperance shakes her former Advokat, who is obsessed with revenge, and sets in motion events that will turn Lisbeth in Sweden's Public Enemy Number 1, and the object of a cruel chase.

Can Lisbeth, the girl who played with gasoline, outwit her tormentors and have justice done?

Shanghai Girls, by Lisa See

This month both my best friend and my mother in law went to China (different trips, obviously).
Both went to the same cities and saw the typical tourists attractions: the ancient china wall, Shanghai, Beijing, Pekin, and the city that used to be called Canton. My friend also went to the countryside and Hong Kong.
My friend told me how impressed she was with China, and how little we, in the occidental world, know about it. She also told me of the punishing working hours almost all chinese seem to follow. It seems that, though China went through a couple of revolutions and later opened its market to Occident, most of its people are still little better than slaves.
(This is my subjective opinion, I haven't been to China, haven't heard my mother in law's take on it, and I only know a little about China through the books of Pearl S. Buck, Anchee Min, Amy Tan and - of course - Lisa See).
It was purely coincidental that I read this book now, although I wanted to read it for a couple of months now. Like all the books of Lisa See that I've had the good luck to read, it's perfectly well researched and manages to discuss complicated issues while being entertaining and easy to read.

Here goes the story:
Pearl and May are 2 chinese sisters living in Shanghai in the 1930's. They were lucky enough to be born after the first revolution and had a quite modern upbringing at her parents house, a properous merchant. So, no footbinding for them. They even work as "beautiful girls" -models for posters- in the occidentalized Shanghai.
However, their destiny takes a turn for the worse when her father loses his fortune and sells them as wifes to chinese men living in America.
The girls manage to be left behind in Shanghai, but then war erups and they're forced to flee for their lifes. Their only escape is to go to America and to their husbands, but when they thought they had found a safe heaven, they only discover prejudice and captivity in the traditional chinatown. Each one would have to use her wits to survive and find happines in their constricted society, facing racism and witch hunts. And even though they're sisters and best friends, they're also rivals. A secret binds them, and if it is discovered, it will shatter their lifes.

I loved this book. It's fast paced and well ploted. Each sister has her own distinct personality - Pearl is a Dragon, May a Sheep - but none of them is a perfect heroine. Each one has her faults and her virtues, but they loved each other fiercely and it shows in the book.
The book also deals with a lot of complicated issues: starting with the occidentalization of Shanghai, the appaling way Immigration treated the chinese, and the communists witch hunts that were directed at the chinese community in America after Mao's rise to power, among other things.

Mini Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella

I was waiting impatiently to read this book, but now I have to confess I feel kind of dissapointed. Have you ever feel that a series goes on and on far too long? After a number of books the formula starts to repeat itself, and you have the sensation you already read this very same plot.
This was what happened with Mini-Shopaholic.
The plot will be familiar to any fan of the Shopaholic Series:
Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) now has a 2 year old daughter, Minnie, who is a little shopaholic in training and impossible to control... at least for Becky. They're still living at her parent's house (after 2 years) because the hunt for a new house has yield disaster after disaster. There's also an economic crisis, but Becky decides to throw her husband the most fab secret birthday party (Shopaholic ties the knot, anyone?), while she develops a new selling technique at the store where she's a personal shopper.
Minnie's antics are cute, and it's obvious that she's a little spoiled because Becky can't set her boundaries. Their interaction is the only thing that fresh and funny.
Obviously, Becky gets in a mess while organizing Luke's party, she fights with her friends and family, and is only rescued at the last moment by a most inconceivable ally.
Typical ending follows.
I've become tired of Becky's antics and immaturity. I mean, she was funny in the first book, but now?
Not so much.

Incredible happy

I just realized that some people out there actually read the stuff I write. I can't say how excited I'm about this. Words fail me.

Romance novel by Sadam ????

Where is the world going?
I was surfing the net when I came across the news that Saddam Hussein had written a romance novel ???
For those of you who are interested in Saddam's literary accomplishments, you can search the book in Google Books. It's called Zabiba and the King (no way I'm going to put a link to that!)
I skimmed through it, and it basically tells the story of a king (Saddam's alter ego?) who meets this girl, among a lot of praise for Irak. The story is told in the style of the Arabbian Nights, with a grandmother telling the story to someone (sorry, as I said, I just skimmed it).

New Lisa Kleypas interview in AAR

I recently read the new Lisa Kleypas interview at the All About Romance website.

http://www.likesbooks.com/blog

It's very interesting. She talks about her new book, "Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor", which is the story of Mark Nolan, who's a normal guy who recently got the responsability of taking care of her orphaned niece. He plans to marry his longtime girlfriend to give her niece a mother figure, but he gets distracted by the new widow in town, Maggie Conroy. This is going to be the first book of a contemporary trilogy featuring the Nolan brothers.
Lisa also said that she's going to take a break, so there won't be any books coming this 2011. I totally support that, Lisa! Get a well deserved rest, and come back when you're ready!
I'd rather wait for good quality novels than have the authors produce books like a factory.

Ice, by Linda Howard

Ice
Published 2009
Protagonists: Lolly Helton & Gabriel McQueen

In 2 words: whirlwind romance. Not my fav kind.
Lolly (what a stupid name) and Gabriel were school enemies. Now it's 15 years since they last saw each other, but the Christmas holidays catch them on the same town, Lolly having to get her childhood home ready to sell, and Gabriel visiting his folks and his son.
The catch: Gabriel's dad is the town's sheriff, and he's concerned because an ice storm is heading their way and Lolly Helton is all alone in her mountain's home, where she could get stranded for weeks. So, he sends Gabriel to fetch her.
Gabriel is not too thrilled to go all the way to the mountaintop to rescue his school enemy, specially when the ice storm starts when he's halfway to Lolly's house. His truck gets stuck, and he has to walk the rest of the way to her house.
Do they get cozy together, trapped in a warm house in the middle of a storm? This is a Linda Howard, so of course not!
Lolly is being held hostage in her own home by a couple of meth addicts. Gabriel helps her to get out of the house, and then they have to run for their lives in the middle of the ice storm, chased by the druggies, who worked themselves into a meth rage.
I've never read so many times "Ice storm" and "Hypothermia". I've never been in an ice storm, but, is it really that serious?
Anyway, the romance was completely rushed. This is not one of her best stories.

Movie's Night

Yesterday I went with Hubby and some friends to watch "The Social Network". I must say I had very low expectations, because I wasn't interested in how Facebook was created.
However, the movie was very interesting. First of all, the guy who played the principal role - Mark - acted brilliantly. I was lead to think that Mark has some variant of Asperguer's syndrome - he's so brilliant, and at the same time, so socially inept. The way he speaks and interacts with people is bound to alienate them.
The story unfolds while Mark sits through 2 law suits against him: one is lead by Cameron and Tyler W., who said come up with the idea first; the second is lead by his former best friend and business partner, Eduardo, who was cheated out of his share of Facebook stocks.
The story is entertaining. Justin Timberlake plays the role of Sean, the founder of Napster, who teams up with Mark to promote Facebook, and he also blew me away.

The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follet

Today I finished this book. I had been wanting to read it for a long time.
I practically couldn't put it down, even though it's almost 800 pages long. It's one of these meaty epics that are so hard to find now.
The pillars of the earth are the cathedrals, and the story is set when the first cathedrals were being constructed, around 1150. The center of the story is Kingsbridge Cathedral, and the lives of the people who constructed it. It's also set during the fight between Maud and Stephen for the throne of England, a time when there was no law in the country and the powerful could get away with murder.
The story is focused in 4 people: Father Philip, the new prior of Kingsbridge, who wants to construct a new cathedral; Tom Builder, a mason whose lifelong dream has been to construct a cathedral; Jack, Tom's stepson, who is highly intelligent and develops a passion for cathedrals, and Aliena, the earl's daughter.
They have to fight against the most evil villains: Waleran Bigod, the new bishop, who hates Philip and has sworn to prevent the cathedral's construction; and William Hamleigh, Aliena's former suitor, who is obsessed with her and wants to destroy her and her family.
As the power shifts between Maud and Stephen, so changes the monks and the noblemen alliances.

After finishing it, i'm gonna read "World without end", the sequel.

I'm baaack!

I can't believe I haven't written anything for almost 2 months. I've been awfully busy, first with work, then with visitors, and finally I went on vacation - but the kind of vacation that leaves you more tired than when you started it!

Nevertheless, I managed to read a lot of books. However, one stands out: "For my lady's Heart", by Laura Kinsale.

I had read a couple of books by L.K. before, and even though I recognized her as a good writer, her books left me cold. Not with this one, though! I believe this is one of the best medievals I've ever read.

I often rant about how romance novels don't have that meaty epic feeling they had in the 70's, and how many of them are light reads, where it's almost like a couple from the 20th century was transported to whatever century the setting is. I like to read history and biography too, so it's physically painful for me when I read a story that has a king/queen that behaves completely out of character, so the hero and heroine can end together.

None of that happened in this novel. It's wonderful, a mixture between the knights stories of Camelot, and the devious and machiavellian politics of the medieval kings. It even has corrupt clergymen!

The chivalrous and epic part of the story is represented by the hero, Ruck. He is a knight who was wronged by the church and was saved once by Princess Melanthe, so he swears to her as his liege lady. He loves her from afar, and swears to be hers forever to command.

Princess Melanthe is a damsel in distress, but she deals with her problems the way kings did: with treachery and cunning politics. After her husband's death she is the sole heir of Monteverde, a place that gives her endless problems because it's coveted by the powerful Riata and Navona family. One family tries to murder her, while the head of the other wants to marry her. Melanthe has developed a plan to trick both families and escape to her lands in England, where she intends to live in peace.

When you're reading this book you feel transported to medieval Europe. The author also wrote the dialogues in Middle English, and it adds another layer to this complex characters. They don't sound transplanted for sure!

More Enid Blyton Books

This time, I've been reading the "Five Find Outers and Dog". I've read almost all the novels in this 15 book series, except for the last 4 or 5 books... but I hope I will finish it this week!
One of my fav books in the series is the first one: "Mistery of the Burnt Cottage", because the children resolve the mystery by questioning witnesses and they have a list of subjects and clues, and because all the children participate actively in solving the mystery. In the last mysteries almost all the work is done by Fatty, with Bets noticing important clues, but the other three almost don't do anything. Some of the mysteries are more like adventures in the style of the "Famous Five", but my favorite books are those in which the children (or Fatty, most likely) find clues and suspects and get the right answer by deduction.
Of the parents, my favorite are Fatty's, although some people think that they don't give enough attention to his son. It's true that they spend a lot of time playing golf and bridge, but they stick by Fatty when the pompous policeman comes complaining.
It's true that the children don't seem to age (except for Fatty who breaks his voice by the fourth or fifth book, and Larry who grows up a bit) but on the other hand, it looks like all their adventures happened in a couple of years, in every holiday from school... that's four per year... so they start the series with 12 years old and ends when they're 16.

That Perfect Someone, by Johanna Lindsey

I read this book in one day, I was so gripped by the story and it was so easy to read. Unlike one of the reviewers at Smart Bitches, I actually enjoyed this book very much, and find it an improvement over "No Choice but Seduction".
As NCBS, this book is also set among the Malory family, but unlike it, the Malorys stay in the background (for the most part) and allow the new couple to enjoy the limelight. ANd, thankfully, neither hero nor heroine are Malorys or Andersons.
Richard Allen and Julia Miller have been betrothed since childhood and have hated each other since the moment they met for the first time, when they tried to kill each other for the first time. The greedy manipulations of Richard's father and an unbreakeable contract have prevented the end of the engagement, so Richard does the only thing he can do to escape his evil parent: he runs away to the Caribbean and spends the next 9 years hunting treasure with Gabrielle Brooks' father (Gabby is the heroine of Captive of my Desires and hooks up with Drew Anderson). Julia is only happy to be free of her horrid fiancee, and has decided to get him declared dead so she can move on with her life.
Things get complicated when Drew, Gabrielle, and Richard (who is part of Gabby's crew, and poses himself as frenchman Jean Paul) go back to England to the birthday party of Georgina Anderson Malory (heroine of Gentle Rogue, only sister to the hunky Anderson brothers and wife to the Incomparable James Malory). Richard fancies himself in love with Georgina, even if it means to risk death at the hands of her husband, James, and manages to crash the birthday party (which is a convenient masked ball) to gaze at her love at a safe distance.
In this party he meets a grown-up Julia, and without knowing each other's true identity, attraction sparks between them. The next time they see each other, unfortunately, they recognize each other, and the old hatred flares again.
Richard risks a meeting with his brother, the only member of his family who's half decent, but his evil father captures him. In order to bend him to his will, he's even capable of shipping his son to the Australian penal colonies.
Julia learns of Richard's fate, and even though she still hates him, she recruits James, Drew and Gabby's help and manages to rescue Richard. And somewhere along the road, the animosity between them changes to passion.
There's still that dreadful contract that binds them, but now they decide to work as a team to get rid of it... but would it be so terrible to end up married?
As I said before, I liked the book. It was fast paced, the pranks they played on each other when they were children were truly awful, and Richard's father was a sadistic, cruel, selfish, greedy villain, who has his just punishment at the end. James Malory is always gorgeous, but this time was spending more time with his wife than with his brother, and the many children of the family were neither seen nor heard. There were some far fetched things, like Julia managing her family's business since she was 17 on her own, and the miraculous recovery of her father (just to free her of her obligations). Also, Julia thought that many of Society's restrictions didn't apply to her because she wasn't an aristocrat and she was an engaged woman.
But in the whole, this was a nice book. I probably won't read it again (so many books, so little time), but it gave me many entertaining hours.

News about Linda Howard

I recently read in the "Smart Bitches" blog that Linda Howard is blaming "a change in her writing style" on health problems. I hope she gets better, and that her writing improves!
I used to love her books, and still cherish her middle work (the earlier Harlequins are to chauvinistic for my taste, but I love Shades of Twilight, Dream Man, Mr Perfect, Kill and Tell, and the gorgeous After the Night, as well as many of her other novels), but I don't care so much for her books after "Open Season".

Holocaust reading

In the last weeks I read a couple of books about the Holocaust (if you read my Anne Frank page you'll understand why I'm interested in that).
The first one was "Our Holocaust", by Amir Gutfreund, and I didn't like it at all. It sounded promising: how the next generation experimented the Holocaust lived by their parents. It started like a memoir, with plenty stories about his childhood, and how he and his best friend had investigated about the Holocaust in a neighborhood that was tight-lipped and morally dominated by "Grandpa Yosef", a survivor who had dedicated himself selflessly to the care of his sick wife and son, and to help the rest of his community. Some of the experiences he finally related were a bit weird, but we're talking about the Holocaust here, and anything is possible.
So, imagine my dissapointment when I read in the afterword that a lot of the characters in the novel were invented! I didn't know I was reading fiction, I honestly thought I was reading a memoir, and I felt tricked.
Well, that taught me to read the Afterword before reading the book!
The next book was a lot better. It's called "Hitler and the Holocaust", and it's written by Robert Wistrich, who is a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It has a lot of references, which reassured me that this time it was really non-fiction. It's a very complete work in a short volume, and I learned a lot of new stuff.
Finally, I had to read "Anyone but you" by Jenny Crusie to shake off the depression. It's the first time I've read it and I liked it a lot. I think the portrayal of the "doctor" hero is one of the most realistic I've ever read in romance literature, down to sleeping in the examinating tables between patients. The doubts of the heroine regarding their age gap (she's 40, he's 30) also rang true. And of course, it has a smelly four legged Cupid in the dog, Fred, who steals the limelight.
I also liked that there wasn't any secondary romance. For a minute I feared that the heroine's best friend and the hero's brother would end up together, but they disliked each other too much. Maybe they have their own book somewhere, but luckily they didn't steal any pages from the primary romance.

Lost in Translation

Since I've been living in the USA and had to leave my huge collection of books in my country, sometimes I get "booksick" and I long to read one of my comfort reads. Since I'll be leaving for my country in the foreseable future and already have more stuff that what a suitcase can carry, I try to resist buying the books I already have.
At this time, leafing through books in one of the gorgeous bookstores becomes a guilty pleasure, but one that can lead to awful surprises.
One of my favorite books of all time is "Secret Fire", by Johanna Lindsey. I bought it (the spanish translation) when I was young, and was immediately drawn to its fairy tale quality. I loved the strenght of the female lead's personality and the fact that the hero was a russian prince who was reputed to be the handsomest man alive. I really thought that the heroine kicked ass, even though the only character she ever hits is the hero, and she actually receives a beating at the hands of the villainess.
After buying it, I read it and read it until I could almost recite my favorite parts. I used to reread parts of it every time I was bored or feeling blue. I absolutely loved it and knew it by heart.
Last weekend I was looking at the romance aisles at Borders when, oh marvelous surprise, I found a copy of my favorite book... in its original language, of course.
I grabbed it and quickly started to read one of my favorite scenes... but wait...that sentence wasn't there in my copy! And that other sentence is similar, but the meaning is different! I quickly leafed through the book, and with each "Bloody hell!" that the heroine said, I wanted to cry. The book is written beautifully, and the heroine's lines only enhance her "englishness", which is one of my favorite things about Katherine Saint John... but I was bitterly dissapointed that I hadn't read the original version!
It looks like, after all, I'll be buying a lot of books I've already read.
By the way, this is not the first time I've noticed that translators sometimes run wild. For intance, in Blyton's Adventure series, the names of the leading characters are Dinah, Phillip, Jack and Lucy-Ann in the original version. Well, in the spanish translation, they're Dolly, Jorge, Jack and Lucy. Who can understand their logic? (By the way, Dolly isn't a spanish name and is as little known as Dinah).

I just took the animal quizz at Lisa Kleypas's web site, and it turns out that I'm a rabbit.

Since animal appreciations may vary from people to people, this is what she thinks about rabbits (in Beatrix words):

Rabbits are lovely creatures! They are warm and lovable, and they get along with just about anyone. Rabbits are dedicated, loyal, hard-working, and of course, they are extremely cute! Most of all, rabbits love to cuddle.

People who are rabbits love to wear soft, cozy clothes and sit near a warm fireplace when it's cold outside. Rabbits tend to look for the best in people, and often find it.

If you're a rabbit, you have a lot in common with Poppy Hathaway from Tempt Me At Twilight.

I wonder what the other animals were? Well, it sounds pretty nice. Now I'll have to read the recommended book!

Devil's Embrace, by Catherine Coulter

I started this book scared of what I was going to read. Why? Two reasons: 1) This is a book published for the first time in the 80's and 2) It's written by Catherine Coulter, who, God bless her, is one of the few authors who dares to be un-PC.
And I think that I found a true gem, a book that bends a lot of romance novels rules and throws that despicable notion, Political Correctness, to the wind.
It also has a major "ick" factor (or maybe a couple), but Catherine manages to write smoothly around it.
It's the Georgian period (Thank God, no Regency! and people actually powder their hair and use wigs) and Cassandra Brougham, a vivacious eighteen year old lady, is finally reunited with her long lost love, an officer named Edward. Edward is very nice, good looking, and a true gentleman, and as he sees Cassie coming out from the sea like a nymph, quickly looses his heart to her and agrees to marry her as soon as possible, forgoing the Season Cassie was about to have in London.
So, first original fact: the previous fiancee is not a toad. And, he can elicit a passionate answer from our heroine.
The soon to be marriage threatens the careful laid plans of Anthony Welles, earl of Clare, and half italian. He is a 34 year old gentleman who in his youth was in love with Cassie's mother. Since he was younger than she, the lady never paid him much attention, but after her death, he planned to marry her daughter. Soon enough we learn that after meeting Cassie, he started to love her for herself, and her mother became nothing more than a distant memory. Being a gentleman, Anthony planned on wooing her during her Season.
Now the adventurous part of the plot starts. The day before her wedding, Anthony kidnaps Cassie and takes her to his ship, The Cassandra, to sail to his villa in Genoa. Even though he has to force her the first night (again comes the infamous cream, the signature of Coulter's forced seductions), the passionate nature of his intended bride and his own skills as a latin lover, soon makes the nights pleasurable for both of them. Cassie is not happy with him, and intends to return to Edward as soon as she can.
The age difference is there, and you can feel it, but somehow you don't care about it. It's in the patience that Anthony exhibits while dealing with Cassandra's youth and exploits. And you really feel that he cares for her and is giving her the opportunity to come to know him and love him. You actually believe that, if not for Cassie's abrupt marriage, he would have tried to win her in a more traditional way.
Besides the age gap, other un-PC (and un-romance novel) actions are: 1) Anthony thrashes Cassie with a belt for staying on deck during a spanish attack, 2) the villains of the book kidnap Cassie, and she actually is gang raped before Anthony saves her 3) Cassie escapes from the italian villa where she lives with Anthony and manages to meet her boyfriend in New York, where she has sex with him.
All is well, in the end, and for me was a joy to read a book that bends so many of romance unwritten laws. With this book, you actually were surprised by some of the characters actions!

Enid Blyton Marathon

Less than a week ago I found the Enid Blyton Society, a marvelous place on the net for all the fans of this British children's author. Last weekend I came across a couple of her books on the Strand. Without realizing it, now I find myself in an Enid Blyton reading marathon.
I started with the Malory Towers books, a series about schoolgirls who attend an intern school. After reading the first 2, I switched to the St Clare series, which is pretty similar but it's more to my liking. I'm about to start the 5th in the series, "Claudine in St. Clare".
I've enjoyed this journey back to my childhood, when I used to love this author. Now I can see that the series have aged a little, and even though I still like them, I'm more critical and I've noticed some things that didn't bother me the first time I read it (but now they do).
I really don't care that the books are outdated (the girls don't have a TV, they only have a gramophone and the radio, and they use to knit and sew on their free time, and the money they have wouldn't buy them anything today). The thing that bothers me is that sometimes their behavior is plain bullying, and the teachers turn a blind eye to it, because the girls who abuse their classmates are "sensible", and the abused classmates have usually done something to deserve some kind of punishment from the other girls.
In one of the books I read, for example, one of the new girls is angry because she didn't want to go to that school and decides to become a nuisance. After several weeks her classmates tire of her attitude and give her a hellish day, hiding her books, destroying her papers and homework, making an "apple pie" bed which results in a torn sheet that this girl must mend, and getting her in trouble with the teachers. In other book, the girls don't like one of their classmates because she's an hyppocrite, and start making jokes to her, like putting a frog on her desk in the middle of the class. And when she tries to denounce the jokers, the teachers stop her and treat her with contempt because there's "nothing worse than telling tales."
Some of the plots are a little repetitive, with the new girls at each term being responsible for much of the argument. But the other thing that make this books a little "bland" is the lack of change in the girls. I mean, they're supposed to change thanks to the teachings at their school, and they become less silly and more responsible, sensible, happy, etc. But you don't see them "aging", even though the series start when the're 12 or 14 (depending if it's Malory Towers or St Clare) and finish when they leave school at 18, and not a single one of them has a boyfriend, or even fancied a boy. Those who take care of her hair and nails are seen as "feather-headed" and shallow.
What a difference with the Harry Potter books, in which you see all the torments of adolescence, the first spark of attraction between boys and girls and how many of them are at a loss about what to do! And even brainy Hermione had her moments of vanity.
However, even though I'm a little hard on Enid, I still like her books and had a "jolly good time" reading them and getting reacquainted with characters. Some I still like, some not so much. But it was a nice trip down memory lane!

Found Enid Blyton books

I was very surprised yesterday when I was window shopping at Strand and came across several Enid Blyton's books. This is the first time I see one of her books in print in a long time!
They're brand new too!
A lot of them are small children's stories, but I also found Amelia Jane's books, the Wishing Chair, and a couple of Find-Outers books. No Malory or Saint-Clare, though!
I heard in the Enid Blyton Society that they're going to publish again the "Five" books, but they're going to modernize the language, and do a "political correct"edition (they're going to get a "talking to" instead of a box in the ear, for example).
I never liked the "Five", though. Couldn't stand Julian (too domineering and self righteous), George got on my nerves (what kind of girl would rather be a boy?), Anne was a wimp and Dick spend all the time eating.
My favorite series were "The Find Outers" (I absolutely loved Fatty, and related to Bets), The Adventure Series, Malory Towers and Saint Clare's.

New Jude Deveraux Website

I'm happy to announce that Jude Deveraux finally has her own website:

http://judedeveraux.com/

It's focused into her new series (Edilean), but also has a nice bibliography page (although not all of her books are listed).

I hope she'll keep us updated on what she's doing!

Mass production of books

It seems that I've gotten a lot of ideas in the weeks I didn't post. I got this one from an article about how authors are pressured to produce more books in less time, and if this affects the quality of their writing.
I didn't read the rest of the article, because I have a very strong opinion about it (also, I was in a hurry). And my opinion is a rotund YES.
Even if it's the most talented writer in the world, their writing is going to suffer if they're being rushed to a deadline. And today deadlines are awful. How can you write something magical if you have to produce 2 books a year? You don't have time to do proper research. You can't go over and over again your manuscript, changing a word here, pulishing it. Maybe changing a couple of scenes. You have to rush to finish it and then start with the next one, and the next one. And what about the ideas, and the argument?
Thomas Harris takes 7 years to write a book. Diana Gabaldon takes a lot of time, too. Herman Melville spent years in his Moby Dick. And Margaret Mitchell labored years and years over her manuscript of "Gone with the Wind". Even Anne Frank rewrote and pulished part of her diary when she was thinking about publishing it.
I'm not saying that a writer should spent years over his book before turning it in, but I have the impression that now books are considered almost like skirts, or hats, or something you can manufacture in a factory, instead of a work of art.
Because that's what literature is, a kind of art, and you need your own time to create it.

New blog found!

In this era of technology, I feel the same kind of exhilaration when I find a new and noteworthy blog than when I was younger and came across a hard-to-find book. Where I grew up, the bookstores were scarce and only carried the most boring books, and the library was laughable (except for its collection of Enid Blyton's and Agatha Christie's), so I felt in paradise whenever I found a good book.
The same thing happened to me today when I stumbled accross this blog-library thing between friends, and I think it's not only because they have listed the spanish version of "Moonstruck Madness", a book I've been hunting down forever.
This blog is a jewel, for the spanish-speaking-romance reader. A group of friends uploaded their romance novels, and you can find all these books you once read but didn't keep and later had you banging your head against the wall. With the growing romance novel business, the publishing houses don't reissue their older novels - they're not classics, after all - unless they were written by a very famous writer who's still writing today (like Johanna Lindsey, Jude Deveraux and Catherine Coulter). And why would they, when there's a bunch of new writers waiting to be published, and a lot of famous ones who have been transformed into machines that produce 2-3 books a year?
But sadly, this leaves us without the opportunity to get our greedy hands again in that Laurie McBain, or Valerie Sherwood, or Meagan McKinney that at the time didn't seem so good but has one or two scenes that have haunted you since and you would sell your soul to read it again. Or, to read that sequel or prequel, or relationed book that you didn't (or couldn't, if you lived at the end of the world as I did) buy. Or even get the last book of the author to complete your collection (yes, it definitely sounds annal, but WTH).
Even with amazon, or iBooks, or - name your poison - you can't get this Very Hard to Find books, and you are reduced to haunt used bookstores, garage sales, thrift stores, even garbage cans, in the vain hope that someone would have left some copy lying around - fat chance. Every single copy has been hoaged by the romance connoiseurs.
It's at this point that the friendly blog comes to your help, giving you the chance to get reaquited with your old friends, or to meet new ones that you have been waiting for a long time. For some reason, this is more common in spanish speaking blogs (and in eastern european ones, which could motivate you to learn a new language) than in english ones.
After thinking a little about my own experiences in a spanish speaking country, I guess this could be caused by the way the publishing houses torture us with their releases.
I'll explain: For a couple of years, you will find a pretty decent amount of romance novels. Nothing like in the USA, where RN are responsible for about 50% of the books sale (or so I read someplace... but you can go to Barnes & Noble or Borders and you'll find a HUGE collection... at least as big as Mystery). No, in my country you could find books by 5-10 of the most famous of the romance authors (J. Lindsey, J. Deveraux, K. Robards, C. Coulter, K. Woodiwiss).
But after they got you hooked, there was a drought of RN. Not a single one to be found in miles. Even used bookstores, petty snobs that they are, wouldn't buy them, so you wouldn't find a single title between their decaying copies of The Odissey.
It was like being a drug addict forced on abstinence, and it was awful. The only thing you could think was how to get another one. The RNs you had were reread 10 times each, but even that wouldn't satisfy you. And when you read in internet how your romance readers fellows were enjoying themselves with the latest Judith Ivory - which you hadn't seen in your life - well, sometimes things could get pretty though.
And then, out of the blue, another publishing house appeared, and started to sell RN again. But wait! They didn't publish the authors you loved and were dying to read, but some new to you authors. Something is better than nothing, so there you go, reading what was available. Sometimes they were good, sometimes not.
One of the problems is that the publishing houses try to sell books that are famous in the USA, by well known and big bucks authors. And they don't care if they start in the middle or the end of a series. That's how my first Stephanie Laurens was like her 10th book in the Cynster series. Sometimes they'll publish the rest of the series, sometimes not. And nobody can predict in which ilogical order they're going to publish the books. Most of the times, they don't bother to finish a series, either, even if it's only a duet or trilogy. Speaking of respect and consideration for their costumers!
That's why I started to read in english, because this torture/ilogical publishing thing was driving me crazy. Not to mention that they didn't publish a lot of the books I was dying to read and that I knew thanks to AAR.
Since a lot of the other spanish speaking readers have gone through similar experiences, I guess they decided to upload romance books that aren't easily available to many of us. All of these are in spanish, which means that a lot of time these same girls do the translation.
I'm very thankful to them. In their archives I've found books I read when I was little and have been lost while moving house or in the deepths of the attic/basement, and books I've been dreaming to read and haven't been able to buy ... like "Moonstruck Madness".
I still prefer to read in english, and I still prefer slightly the paper books over the electronic ones (but that's only since my Sony eReader died), but it's very relaxing to know you can surf the web and find books you thought you were never seeing again.

Resuming my task

Today I realized that I haven't posted in a long long time, and set about to rectify it. I know nobody reads my entries, but I like to write anyway.
After Elie Wiesel's book I changed subjects to something a little bit more cheerful and fell into the realm of romance (once again).
I was ecstatic when I found "The Bodyguard", by Joan Johnston, because I had read the sequel "The Bridegroom" a long time ago and couldn't find this book. I can only say that the Duke of Blackmore is to die for. Such a nice guy! And it's the first book with an amnesia plot that I actually liked.
Then, I finished listening to an audiobook, "This Charming Man", by Marian Keyes. This is one of my fav books by her, and the girl who read it was charming. I particularly liked the voice she did for Lola.
The last book I finished - actually yesterday - was "Julie and Julia" (no wonder I remembered my own blog). I tried to find hers, but the project is closed, and even though you can get access to the blog entries, it's kind of complicated and slow. She has a new blog, though, if anyone's interested.
Oh, and today I saw one of Julia Child's cooking shows in the Cooking Channel, and I found her very funny. It doesn't matter if you make a mess or things are less than perfect, because only you know what happens in your kitchen (unless you're on national TV).

The Night Trilogy, by Elie Wiesel

Last weekend I finished this book. I liked it a lot, because Elie Wiesel writes quite well, and the way he expresses his thoughts and questions is very compelling.
The first story, "Night" is an account of his time in the guetto and in the concentration camp of Auschwitz, when he was a boy. The experience was like a very long night, and it destroyed the faith he had in God. This is particularly sad, because he was a very religious little boy, and I think it's terrible when children lose their innocence and beliefs.
The other 2 stories are fiction: In "Dawn", an israeli terrorist has to kill a British prisoner come dawn, in the time when the State of Israel didn't exist and the British controlled Palestine.
In "Accident", a concentration camp survivor gets hit by a car many years after his liberation, but in the aftermath (among hallucinations and flashbacks to his old life) you realize that the camp - and Death - are still a part of his life.
This book is called one of the masterpieces of Holocaust literature, and it's really very deep and thought-provoking. The main issue, in my opinion, was the loss of God.

Very nice interview with Marian Keyes

Anyone who has read any Marian Keyes novel realizes that it's more than chick lit. Enveloped in a bright package, full of jokes and funny lines, there is some dark and serious stuff lurking beneath the surface. Whether it's depression, drinking problems, drugs, or violence against women, Keyes is not afraid to write about it... and in a very truthfully way.

I found an interview today, quite a bit outdated (from de late 90's, I think), but nonetheless interesting. In it, Marian talks about how she became a writer, her first novel (Watermelon), and her own drinking problems.

Here's the link:

http://www.mariankeyes.com/Books/Watermelon/Interviews

Enjoy!

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

Very good book. It's one of Stephen King's favorites (he actually has a character from one of his books reading it), which was the main reason why I picked it up.
As it turned out, it's also about one of my fav plots: what happens when a group of people are left alone, cut out from civilization.
In this case, the group of people are schoolboys, who are being evacuated during a world war (in the future) and are left alone in an island.
At first, they enjoy the sudden freedom, but soon they start a steep descent into savagery, which will only lead to violence and destruction. The author's point of view is that, without the rules of civilization, man becomes beast.
The main character is Ralph, the elected chief of the boys. He is torn between two forces, represented by Piggy and Jack. Piggy is the fat, spectacled and asthmatic "outlaw" in the group of boys, but he is also the voice of reason and civilization. He is always thinking about how to get organized and what to do to get rescued.
On the other hand, Jack represents the savage. The leader of the choir, he is ashamed when he is not elected chief, and turns into the group's hunter (still commanding the choir boys). He becomes obsessed with hunting and killing pigs.
Events are precipitated by a fight between Ralph and Jack over the signal fire, and the break from civilization is enhanced by an irrational fear of "the beast", a fearsome creature that is supposed to live in the island.
The book is full of symbols and allegories that get you thinking about the true nature of men.

Juggling books

Today I was searching for a new picture and came across an interesting topic on the web: multi - reading. The author of the article said that good readers read several books at the same time. Glad to hear it - or read it - because I've always felt kind of guilty when I'm reading more than one book at a time. It's like I don't give the book all the attention it deserves. Of course, when I'm reading a really good and absorving book I don't read anything else until I finish it (I barely sleep, as well).
However, now I'm ready to read guilt-free!

Lovely weekend

This weeken was wonderful. It started friday evening with theater in the park - Richard III - which was absolutely amazing. The play was on the open, and we had to change locations in the different scenes. I was surprised by the jokes and laughs on the play, which is a Shakesperean drama. So much for prejudice! The villain (Richard) was perfect: greedy, untruthfull, treacherous...
On Saturday morning I went with my husband to see the Picasso exhibition at the Met. Very nice, and the chronological order of the paintings and drawings helped me to understand him better. Funny how many of the changes in his style were - at least partly - influenced by his relationship with the women in his life.
Then we had to watch the match between U.S. and Ghana... so sad! But a couple of Margaritas cheered us.
In the evening, movies in the open: Spiderman.
And on Sunday we went to see the Gay Pride Parade. Later, a quick stop at Chelsea Market, and then, finally, home, sweet home!

Pursuit, by Karen Robards

I didn't like this book, and found myself skimming through the middle and end of it so I could return it to the Library. The main problem I had was that I didn't buy the plot.
Young attorney Jessica Ford is working her a** off in a lawyer firm in Washington. One night, her boss commands her to fetch the First Lady of the U.S., who apparently has ditched her Secret Services bodyguards and is drinking away in an hotel.
Jess manages to coax the lady in the car, but then all hell breaks loose. There is a car crash, the only survivor is Jess, and even though her memory of the accident is patchy, she has the terrible certainty that the crash was caused by Secret Services agents. Her theory seems to run true when someone tries to kill her in the hospital.
Mark Ryan was the Secret Service agent in charge the night that the first lady was murdered, and, guilt-ridden, is decided to find out everything about the accident... not that he actually believes that the First Lady was murdered... or that someone tried to kill Jess.
But then, Jess's boss tries to kill her and then kills himself, and his secretary is murdered. Mark takes Jess to his house to protect her, but there is a traitor in their midst, and there is no place safe for them...

OK. Witness protection? Why does a Secret Service agent have to go rogue to protect a witness? I figured out the villain the first time he/she was mentioned, and the reason for the first lady's murder is totally cliche. And there are some pretty unbelievable scenes, just to get the plot going. The hero is thick headed and kind of naive for his position, and I think Jess suffered some kind of brain damage in the accident, because she makes some dumb choices. Why do so many of Robards`heroines have to be stupid?

What I did for love, Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Can I start by saying how much I liked this cover? I find it absolutely gorgeous, and I love the dress.

Georgie York is a down-on-her-luck star, better known for her role as adolescent Scooter in a television sitcom that ended 8 years ago, and who now has to deal with an scandalous divorce (very Jennifer Aniston vs Brangelina).

The last thing she wants is a new scandal - like the one that's about to happen if the media finds out that, on a wild night in Vegas complete with booze and drugs, she married her hated former co-star, Bramwell Shepard. She has to convince Bram to stay married to her - by waving a fat paycheck in his face.

Bram is the most obnoxious, sarcastic, and sexiest man alive... and he also has his own agenda. 8 years ago he blew the opportunity of his life when the sitcom show was cancelled due to his irresponsability, getting a bad reputation that had keep him from achieving a succesful career.

Now, if he could only show that he has grown and is responsible, he might have a second chance. And what could be better than staying married to America's sweetheart, Georgie York? Not that he is going to tell Georgie any of his plans...

I liked the book. It was like watching an episode of E! - from the stars POV. Bram was a manipulative SOB, but he was irresistible. Actually, the thing that kept me from loving this book was that Georgie made him suffer to much at the end... and now that I think of it, it was only what that deceptive snake deserved.

Sagas

Today I read the review for "That perfect someone" by Johanna Lindsey, from the Smart Bitches site. I haven't had the pleasure - or displeasure - or reading that particular novel yet, but something that the review's author said impressed me.

This particular novel is the number 10th in the Malory-Anderson saga, and with 9 previous books you have plenty of couples to revisit. The author (of the review) wrote that at one point she felt like reading the literary version of "Days of our lifes", with a lot of characters from previous books, suspicious timelines, and a villain who doesn't have any reason to be mean except the requirements of the storyline.

That got me thinking, and I discovered that I have a love/hate relationship with sagas. On one hand, I like to see characters from previous books and read how they're doing (quite well, thanks, still living happily ever after). On the other, there are some books that parade characters and couples from previous books, who - sadly - have lost much of their charisma and personality and now are reduced to be a rather pale imitation of the spunky/tempestuos heroine or the domineering/brooding hero, surrounded by perfect children. The worst part is that the principal couple is robbed of a lot of reading time/scenes/importance because of the presence of all this other "relatives".

What's wrong with a single title? I can remember some that are pretty good, among them "Secret Fire" (J. Lindsey), most of Linda Howard's books, "Shanna" (K. Woodiwiss, although Ruark has a small cameo in "Petals in the River").

It looks like in the last time it's all about series. There's the Malory/Anderson (Lindsey), Montgomery (J. Deveraux, although I like how she follows a family through centuries, and there's never more than 4 books closely related), Bridgerton (Quinn), Cynster (Laurens), Fallen Angels (Putney), Malloren (Beverley), Bedwyn (Balogh), Changeling/Psy (Singh), Wallflowers (Kleypas), Carsington (Chase), etc...

Maybe they should stop after the 4th book. I can handle 3 previous couples, but 10 is way too difficult. Or maybe get all the relatives together in one big scene (like the Central Park picnic in Sweet Liar, by Deveraux) to give them a chance to wave hello and then disappear.

Lily, by Patricia Gaffney

I absolutely loved this book. It's a tearjerker, where every possible mishap and misfortune can happen to the heroine.
I highly recommend it to all readers who like darker romances.

Lady Killer, by Lisa Scottoline

This is my first book by Lisa Scottoline, and I loved it.
Mary Di Nunzio is a succesful lawyer in Philadelphia, working for an all-girls firm. She is also a widow, has all-to-human doubts about her career, and has a tight relationship with her italian family and the neighborhood where she grew up.
Suddenly she is involved in a case concerning the Mean Girls from her Highschool when her former nemesis, Trish Gambone, comes to her for help regarding her abusive - and mobster - boyfriend. Then Trish dissapears and Mary has to deal with her 3 best girlfriends, who come on her like a trio of harpies.
Mary goes to look for Trish, but on every step of the way she finds secrets... some of them regarding herself...

Kill for me, by Karen Rose

This is the third book in the Vartanian trilogy, and I enjoyed it much more than the previous one.
In this book, the main characters are Susannah Vartanian and Luke Papadoupolus, and it starts the same day that all hell broke loose in "Scream for me", the previous book.
I strongly recommend reading this series in order, because otherwise you become absolutely lost.
Anyways, in this book Luke has to catch a human traficking band, and the mastermind that's behind it and has a very personal reason to kill Susannah. I was glued to its pages since the beginning, and actually got to care for the characters. Both Luke and, specially, Susannah had very dark streaks, which is rare to find in a romantic suspense novel. As with the other K.R. novel I read, the romantic part is in the background, while the current investigation and the bad guys steal the limelight.

Pilgrimage to Maine

As some people go to Mecca or Jerusalem, I did my personal pilgrimage to Maine last weekend.

Maine has always been a place full of significance for me. On one hand, it's the land of Stephen King, where so many of his books are set. On the other, it's a favorite spot for romance novel authors too.

While I was walking around Ogunquit and Portland and Bangor, I kept remembering the characters of King's horror novels. But when I went to Camden and Mount Desert Island, the couple of The Raider - Jessica and Alex Montgomery - kept springing to my mind. I could picture Jess wandering around the rugged coastline, catching fish and clams.

Jude Deveraux's Montgomerys live in Maine, in fictional Warbrooke. Paullina Simon's couple from The Bronze Horseman ended up in Maine, in the second book of the trilogy. LaVyrle Spencer has a book entitled That Summer in Camden. And Johanna Lindsey is currently living there (as the god, S. King)

The White Queen, by Philippa Gregory

With this novel starts a new series about the Plantagenets, the english kings that came before the Tudors, and the bloody War of the Roses.

The War of the Roses was fought between two branches of the english royal family: the Lancasters, whose symbol was a red rose, and the Yorks, who had a white rose. Both houses descended from king Edward III, and fought between themselves for the english crown.

At the time this book starts, the king is Henry VI (Lancaster), but he has a feeble mind, and many have sided with his cousin Edward of York, a young man of 19 who seems to never lose a battle.

Is this young pretender whom Elizabeth Woodville addresses to have her dowry back. Elizabeth is a commoner, 5 years older than Edward, and a widow with 2 small kids whose husband died fighting for Lancaster, leaving her penniless. She is also descended on her mother side from the house of Burgundy, and as the legend says, from the water goddess Melusina.

They fall madly in love and marry in secret. After Edward beats old King Henry and is proclaimed king, he announces their marriage to the world, but Elizabeth problems are only beginning.

Throughout Edward's reign the plots and rebellions to put another king on the throne flourish. First is old King Henry, then his son, then Edward's own brother, George. It seems like the throne is a free prize that the strongest can claim.

And when King Edward dies, leaving his 12 year old son as the new king, the boy's uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, seizes this opportunity to imprison his nephews in the Tower and proclaim himself the new King of England.

Elizabeth has to plan and ally herself to the most unlikely friends to try to save herself and her children, but when the little princes in the Tower dissappear, no one knows who is the culprit. Is it King Richard III? The Duke of Buckingham, who wants to overthrow Richard and become king himself? Or Lady Margaret Beaufort, the last of the Lancastrians, who wants the throne for her only son Henry Tudor?

Philippa Gregory has some interesting theories about it...

Next book in the series is "The Red Queen", which continues the story from Margaret Beaufort's part.

Overwhelmed, but still with some questions

All right, Lost is oficially over. I loved the last chapter, and I kept crying every ten minutes or so. Every time a couple was reunited and remembered their time on the island, I shed a couple of tears (or a little more than that).
I still have some questions. I don't understand well all this double lives stuff, and have my doubts about the Dharma - Others - Jacob and Smokey business.
Anyway, this ending got me thinking that the important thing is the journey, or the things we do every day with the people we care about, and not so much about who ends up with whom.

Watching Lost, the last Journey

I can't believe this show is coming to an end. I am a huge fan, and have watched faithfully every chapter. Of course, I have not the slightest idea of what's going to happen in the last chapter, nor if all my questions are going to be answered.

I only hope that finally I understand what's happening in the island!

And I still can't decide between Jack and Sawyer...

The Doc

or

The Con Man?

I will miss this show, but I'm glad they ended it in their own time, and stayed more or less true to the original idea.

Mackenzie's Magic, by Linda Howard

A short book about the only girl in the Mackenzie clan. It was good, although the romantic part was a bit short for my taste, and a good part of the book was spent in Mackenzie's mountain, getting reaquainted with the rest of the family.
My fav part: when the bouquet hits Chance in the back.

Mackenzie's Pleasure, by Linda Howard

A very good short novel about SEALs and Mackenzies. For all those who disliked the heroine in "Everyday, Average Jones" by Suzanne Brockmann, this book has a heroine who's braver and follows her heart to the bitter end, with a pretty similar plot.
It feaures Linda Howard favorite Mackenzie (or so she says in her letter to her constant readers), Zane. There's also a reunion of the whole clan which will make her diehard fans very happy.
This novel is in a book called "Mackenzie's Heroes", which also has the only Mackenzies sister story: "Mackenzie's Magic". I guess that's what I'm going to be reading next, since I have to return the book to the library.

Reeses Bride, by Kat Martin

It's been a while since I finished this book. I didn't find it so special, mainly average romance with a lot of cliches.
Eight years ago Elizabeth ditched Reese for an earl, and he has hated her since. Now, Reese has come home wounded from the Crimean war, and Elizabeth is a widow with a small child who fears for her safety and her son's.
What's a wealthy widow to do when she thinks her evil in-laws are poisoning her? You're right: run to her ex fiancee (Reese) and ask for his protection. Even though Reese hates her and wouldn't trust her again in a million years, he accepts... and marries her. Of course, it only leads to passion nights, because now the evil in-laws would rather kill the son and inherit the title & money.
This book has a lot of classical cliches: the abusive ex husband (even though he was a pretty decent fellow when he was courting her, he became an abusive and alcoholic man who is terrible in bed and has weird tastes as soon as he marries her), and the secret child.

New book by Johanna Lindsey

This woman is on fire! She recently published the book "A Rogue of my own", and now she's going to have another book published in June this year.

The name of the new book is "That Perfect Someone", and even though it's listed as the tenth book in the Malory series, it doesn't actually involve anyone of the Malory- Anderson family (I mean as hero/heroine).

9 years ago Richard Allen escaped an arranged marriage by going to the Caribbean and becoming a treasure hunter pirate (oh, Gosh, that's a pretty awesome escape. I wanna go to the Caribbean too!!)

Anyways, he had to go back to London to carry on an important task for his captain, and then he stumbles into Georgina Anderson Malory, becoming crazy in love with her (that's the Malory connection). I guess one brick wall is not going to be happy with that turn of events!

When he goes to a ball in pursuit of his lady love, he runs into another beautiful woman... his fiancee!

Julia falls for this dashing pirate until she finds out he's her despicable fiancee. But Richard's father is determined to have them marry, and he sets in motion a chain of events that will have the two of them in the high seas and in the middle of adventure.

More info in fantastic fiction. (Link on the right)

Scream for me, by Karen Rose

My first book by KR. It's the second book of a trilogy, something a bit uncommon in romantic suspense.

Thirteen years ago Alex's life collapsed when her twin sister Alicia was murdered and her mother killed herself. She managed to pull herself together and build a life, but now the past comes rushing in when her stepsister Bailey dissapears leaving a traumatized 4 years old behind. Alex has to leave everything to come to her hometown, where nobody's worried about Bailey's dissapearance.

What's even creepier, a serial killer had started copycating Alicia's murder. The detective in charge, Daniel Vartanian, has his own luggage. His brother was a serial killer too, and a rapist. He had photographs of gang raped girls... among them, Alex's sister.

It looks like this crimes are related to Alicia's murder, but how? And does Bailey's dissapearance have anything to do with it? The argument gets more twisted as old secrets surface, and the public image of respected town citizens is jeopardized.

In this book, the suspense is heavier than the romance, although all the town knew when Alex and Daniel got laid. I can only say I'm glad this investigation wasn't real (and not only for the gruesome crimes) because it was biased and wouldn't have standed a real trial. On one hand, Daniel was the brother of a murderer who had some relation to the current crimes and was dating his prime witness. On the other hand, Alex tagged along through all the investigation (when does a witness roam the streets with a couple of cops looking for a dangerous suspect?).

Anyways, the book was gripping and entertaining although, morbid as I am, I would have liked a little more description. A good asset was the hero's hound, Riley, a sad looking and puking basset.

The only thing that pulled me off a little was that, as the middle book in a trilogy, I was a little lost at the beginning when they talked cryptically about events in the previous book, and there were a couple of major mysteries left unsolved.

The series are:

1.- Die for me: Vito & Sophie. Simon Vartanian (Daniel's brother) is the bad guy. (2007)

2.- Scream for me: Daniel Vartanian and Alex Fallon (2008)

3.- Kill for me: Luke Papadoupolus & Susanna Vartanian (Daniel's sister) (2009)