I Went Visiting

I hadn't been out in the blog world much these last few nights so I wanted to get out and see what everyone was up to.

So it's now 3am, I want to do some of those puzzles on Pandora's Box (Rosario - do you know of any other games like this? I would like to find more), I read a weighty comic on copyright law for documentaries over at Smart Bitches (seriously, don't follow the link unless you really want to know AND are American because I found out after reading the whole stinking thing that it doesn't apply in Canada - Sonofabitch!!) wrote up a nice comment which was lost and am now losing brain cells as we speak.

Oh, about comics. I have no idea how to read them. To me they are words thrown onto a page and then I have to figure out how to decipher them. Follow the SB link and you'll see what I mean. Linear stuff I can handle. Weird cut up shapes and multiple discussion bubbles have me scratching my head.

In other news, I wanted to let you know that ag came up with some great questions about male romance writers vs. female romance writers. Since I don't read books written by men as a rule, I couldn't really add to the conversation (okay, I have read books written by men but, they don't appeal). So if you are trolling for ideas head on over there and see if you have better answers than mine - should be a cake walk.

As to what's up tomorrow, I will be helping my father lay hardwood floor in his family room. I was there this afternoon and it took us about 4 hours to figure out where to snap the friggin' chalk line. Now we are tweedle dee and tweedle dum but, in our defense, he is putting a herringbone pattern around their fireplace which means you want no cuts in the centre of the floor so you have to be exact THEN you have to figure out where you start your first run against the wall.

How's your head?

Yeah, mine exploded sometime in the middle of that damn comic. Informative though. I think I actually learned something but then, ask me about it tomorrow and I won't have a clue what it is you are talking about.

Then there is the need for me to pimp. I don't know why, probably because no one asked me to do it. *sniff*

The Reader Network

It's so brand new the doctor hasn't spanked it yet. (In my mind right now, this line makes perfect sense and no, I haven't taken anything yet)

NOW, I'm off to take something and then hurt my brain with some horribly tough puzzles. Not sure why, just am.

If this post doesn't make any sense, I blame that shiny object off to my oooooh so preeeeetty.

I Do These With My Buds On-line

My best buds live an hour away and a few years back they started e-mailing these kind of question things. All of a sudden I would show up at Stephany's house and she would have ice cold Coke in a can and a ready supply of ice-cubes! (She drinks Pepsi - I think it's the Aries gene that makes them not realize the superior taste of Coke (Yep, Bob's a Pepsi boy)) So suddenly these little things we were doing were teaching us about each other so now I know Stephany will always take a Pepsi over ice and Michelle, not being able to drink more than one pop a day without throwing up (no, for real) will take an iced-tea (which I only buy when I know she is coming)

So even though I know I may never meet you all I still enjoy reading everyone's answers and I'm always up for playtime ;)

Another aside: My hubby's best friend and I e-mail and I used to send him these things and he would send back the funniest answers. Loved that about him. Now he says we know more than enough about him so no more. What a grump!

1. FIRST NAME? Cynthia

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Nope.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? When we lost the second house we put an offer in on. I think I was just overwhelmed and I loved the lot.

4. WHAT IS ON YOUR DESKTOP BACKGROUND? Changes daily - Paperquote and I only use the free stuff. Bob's is a black lab.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? Summer Sausage although I am beginning to wonder if it is the cause of the upset stomachs I have been getting lately.

6. KIDS? No and not in my books either please!

7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Hell yeah, because then we would both be unemployed stay at home lumps and could totally hang!

8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL ? You're reading it!

9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? I've often said that the person who coined the phrase 'sarcasm is the lowest form of humor' didn't get it cause sarcasm rocks!

10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes - I have two, thanks for asking.

11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Only if I was on the Amazing Race and my brother would probably have to push me.

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Right now, Cheerios - I don't drink milk so I have my cereal with water. Totally skeeves my hubby out. Some cereal doesn't taste right in water but Cheerios? Yum.

13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES ? Not since I was 14. I buy them, tie them and double knot them and shazam! never have to tie them again!

14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? When I need to be - I do like my crutch.

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Chocolate.

16. SHOE SIZE? 10 since I was like 12 and my mother used to laugh her ass off because I looked like a giant L. Yeah, the love was strong.

17. RED OR PINK? Red

18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My crutch.

19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Gramma Grace

20. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Jammas - blue plaid shorts and a big white tee.

21. LAST THING YOU ATE? Just had two pieces of fresh white bread slathered in peanut butter. When the tummy rebels, I have to go back to the basics.

22. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Nothing - I can hear the cat cleaning herself and if I listen real close I can hear Bob lightly snoring from the other room.

23 IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Purply blue - that's right, a new colour. Aren't we all bored of the reds and blues and oranges?

24. FAVORITE SMELL? Bob's beard. You asked.

25. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Bobby on his way home from work tonight.

26. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? The whole facial area - hard for me to pinpoint exactly what can work. I think just a face is one thing but to know the person changes how they appear. Eg. Never saw the appeal of Mathew McConnehy until I saw him on Oprah and he was just so down to earth and you knew it wasn't an act. Sexy.

27. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I stole it and hell ya!

28. FAVORITE DRINK? Ice cold Coca-cola in a CAN (not a plastic bottle) poured over a ton of ice.

29. FAVORITE SPORT? Uh, I used to play soccer but, now that I don't play sports anymore it would be the bedroom sport. Watching sports is boring for the most part, except hockey and I yell too much when watching it - you wanna hear sarcasm.

30. HAIR COLOR? Oh, apparently it is now a yellow blonde that my mother dislikes - sucks to be her huh? My eyebrows are almost back to normal - still some highlight left in them and I need to color my roots. Sorry, what was the question again?

31. EYE COLOR? Hazel most days. Blue when I am overly tired, sick or have been crying and sometime grey. Can't explain it. Tonight my eyes were blue and I have no clue why.

32. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Nope

33. FAVORITE FOOD? Turkey dinner and all the trimmings - yep, gravy too - the real kind, no can stuff for me. Bread stuffing. *sigh*

34. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Happy, happy, happy.

35. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? I think it was Walk the Line and I am considering buying it for Joaquin Phoenix alone.

36. COLOUR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Didn't we just cover this? Jamma top that says Active VIII. Get it?

37. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer forever!!

38. HUGS OR KISSES? Yes, please!

39. FAVORITE DESSERT? Seriously, it would be like picking a favorite book. Chocolate cake and ice cream, tiramisu, strawberry cheesecake. Now I'm hungry.

40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? I'm trying to read Bridal Favors by Connie Brockway but I seem to be into TV, movies and this puzzle game called Pandora's Box I loaded on the computer.

41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? I don't have one - turns out a mouse can work on any surface and since my husband eats in front of the computer (Good Lord, give me strength) he would drop crumbs and crap everywhere and ahhhhhhhhh! Just thinking about it hurts my head.

42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? LOST - yum, Law and Order.

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Bob's laugh, water trickling, cats purring.

44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? Aerosmith!!!

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Florida. Yep, I'm lame.

46. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Rambling on and on and on and on.....

47. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? August 25th in Burlington Ontario

48.Why did you answer this survey of your self? Because I think everything is about me ;)


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

You Better Believe It!

Cindys's Rejected Horoscope: You will figure out the meaning of life then forget it when you see a butterfly flying past your window 'What is your rejected horoscope?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Holy Shit!! You'll never believe what I just figured out!!
Oooohhhh, look at the pretty butterfly.

Time Travels / Ghosts / Witches

What genre do you dislike the most? What is it that grates?

I think I have a few but Time Travels can make me crazy. The very first one I ever read was Jude Deveraux's A Knight in Shining Armor and what a friggin' tear jerker. I've never re-read the book because I couldn't handle the way it ended. Not only that, even while reading it I was frustrated by the characters so I knew they wouldn't survive a second re-read.

Having seen the movie Terminator I knew what I needed in time-travels and one of those things is a reason that it is happening. Not only that, but there has to be repercussions in real-time. Sandy Blair's time travel, , ended happily but, the characters left in real time were not affected by the fact that the heroine traveled through time and negated the reason for certain people to be where they were. Continuity is so important to me that my brain won't accept solutions that are sometimes hap-hazardly offered up.

An excellent time travel is a Loveswept by Suzanne Brockmann called Time Enough for Love. The hero travels back in time to get the woman he loves to meet himself in her time and stop him from creating a time machine. Confusing? Not if you understand what time travel could do! It was awesome to see the heroine fall in love with the hero for the first half and then to meet his younger self and then fall in love with him. It was an amazing story and I don't want to ruin it for anyone that wants to track it down. Let's just say that the ending completely worked and there were no loose ends. That's what's needed in a time travel.

For the most part, time travel stories end badly for the romantic in me. Even so, I have The Time Traveler's Wife in my TBR pile that I eventually want to read and yet, I'm dragging my heels.

Next up, ghosts. I think I have heard of one story where the hero is a ghost and I'm thinking, 'can't possibly be enough nookie to keep me interested'.

What? You act like you don't know I'm shallow.

Even so, Sandy Blair's time travel up above had something to do with a ghost but he was only a ghost for a short time. Damn, now all I need is for the heroine of the book to be a witch.

And finally, witches. Not magic witches because that would be cool. I'm talking those weird ones with the amulets and funky, artistic ways of dressing. I think in the mid 90's there must have been a glut of these kind of heroines because I so much as see the words 'crystal ball' and I'm outa there!! And, I was a teen in the 80's. Possibly the worst decade of fashion ever and the idea of anyone actually thinking they look good in the 80's garb makes me leery! In my head, those wacky wiccans look like Cindi Lauper or the red headed chick from those Sweet Sixteen movies where she always wore clothes 'out of the norm'. Yetch.

Oh and faeries. *shudder*

All this to tell you that my favorite genre is paranormal!

Only, I don't consider TT, witches, ghosts or faeries to be paranormal. They should get their own genre. Give me a vampire, ESP, werewolf, space alien over any of the above and I'm pretty much in.

So seriously. How many more of these questions do you really want me to answer?

Heroic Traits - ugh

I pretty much nailed this question with the example I gave.

A man who doesn't have a moment of serious thought or reflection seems like a huge clown. Jo Beverly's hero in My Lady Notorious made my teeth ache. Everyone around him, including the heroine were in serious straits but this guy approached everything like life was a huge lark. I'm all for loving life but this is the kind of guy who would be laughing while his house burnt to the ground. Ugh.

Counter balance him with Rupert from Mr. Impossible and you have a charming character. One who is definitely a clown but knows when to be serious. He wouldn't laugh while the heroine was fighting off the villian.

I'm not sure if I have run across too many romance heroes who have the 'oh woe is me' thing as bad as the so called hero in Interview with A Vampire by Anne Rice. I couldn't figure out why the guy didn't just walk into the sun.

Boom!

Whiny ass cooked.

Onwards!

So, if a hero goes on and on about his sucky life and never does anything about it then I'm looking for that bolt of lightning to come out of the sky to put him and I out of our misery.

Now, men who are big asses. I believe I have mentioned I enjoy these kind of men when they are paired with the right heroine. For me, Anne Stuart manages to do this admirably. Shanna McKenna's book Standing in the Shadows proved just how much an ass can hurt a story. Near the end of the story the heroine shows up in a dress that she put on at another man's house. The hero has a fit, rips the dress off her, makes her kneel on it and take him in her mouth.

Ugh, yetch, Bobbit.

I know that that might be a fantasy for some women but, I'd have punched the guy in the gut.

Super Asses need not apply in my romance fantasies.

Oh, oh!! Uber-rich men. I don't mind a man with money but those men who have billions and are hot and crap.

Two words.

Donald Trump.

Not enough money in the world. You know what I'm saying.

So rich men in contemporaries are hard to swallow (stop it) but I don't mind them in historicals because I don't understand the money in those books so they can tell me they are rich but I know the royal family still had more than them. So, I'm good.

Men with ponytails. Sorry, that's not a personality trait but, egads man, cut your hair!

Oh, and men who are huge physically. You know the ones where the author talks about the hero having thighs the size of tree trunks? You ever see a man with tree trunk legs walk? Think Sumo Wrestler because whether it's fat or muscle in the way of the leg motion it doesn't matter. There's no panther like grace. It's just a huge waddle and I don't care what anyone says, it's not sexy. Edited: Sumo Wrestler's are not what my TV makes them out to be. Some of them look like lean mean fighting machines. I found this picture and fell in love because you know he would never harm a child and there they are trying to be like him.

Hmmm, that's all I can think of right now but, that doesn't mean I won't bitch, whine and complain if I run across a hero I don't like.

*thunder rolls in the background*

Ohhh, aren't we all hilarious.

My Challenge

Keishon was recently talking about the TBR challenge and how she was struggling - me too. Then she said she had sat and re-read 2 of her favourite books by Laura Kinsale.

I have been talking about re-reading books in the keeper pile for a while now (can't remember the last time I picked up a keeper - Anne Stuart in Dec I think) but I just never get around to it because I am always focused on my TBR pile. Whenever I go to my keeper shelves for comfort I usually end up with my favourite Stuart or a Brockmann with some of my favourite scenes. I don't re-read the entire book for the most part.

With this in mind I have decided to give myself the month of April off. No worrying about the books I haven't read, I'm just going to read through the keeper pile. I have wanted to re-read Flowers From the Storm for years (probably 8) and would be thrilled to have anther chance to read it. I have McNaught books in the keeper pile (been over 10 years since I read them) that need to be re-visited along with some of my old Sutcliffes (12 years?). Geez, then there is that Brockway that I loved that everyone else can quote scene by scene that I would like to re-read because I have a shoddy memory.

Now that I think about it, it was Tara Marie who issued the challenge to re-read one of your old keepers to see if it still holds up. I'm hoping the books hold up!

So if you are feeling overwhelmed by your TBR pile or are in a slump and haven't given yourself a break, why not join me in re-visiting some old favourites?

This should be fun because for the most part, you should be able to read a bunch of keepers in April. Might raise your expectations for the TBR pile but at least you'll have a great reading month!

Favourite Romance Heroines

My ass is grass.

Don't think I don't know you're the lawnmower!

Let's get this over with. I said to pick your fav. romance heroine and in reality, I'm having a hard time.

I could pick Melanthe from For My Lady's Heart (get this, I remembered her name! I never remember names!) by Laura Kinsale. This woman has power in a man's world. She is not friendly or all that nice. She demands her due even when she is wrong but for the most part, she's so different from most of the heroines I have read that she sticks in the brain. Her hero, Ruck is also one of my favourite characters but all the reasons why are too hard to explain. Seriously, if you have not read this book, do yourself a favor and grab it up right now. The opening bits are weird but it is all worth it to see the power plays that happen between these two. Ruck in the big scheme of things, has no power over Melanthe except his honour but then, Melanthe has no qualms about abusing this knowledge.

Ohhh, Marlie Keen from Dream Man by Linda Howard (I had to look up her name). Can we say 'one tough broad'. I know many people thought the hero Dane was an ass and well, he was but, Marlie could take him. I have a soft spot for extra sensory powers so I was pumped when I got the book and no other book has ever lived up to the ESP in Dream Man. I don't remember any 'oh woe is me' stuff with Marlie considering she is a 'freak' and had been through several traumas before the story started. Life just was. Not only that, she never expected anyone to believe her which was a nice switch and Dane took some serious convincing. Not only that, the love story is sexy and hot and exactly what I want in a Linda Howard book. Howard has always been hit or miss with me but Dream Man is one of my favourite books of all-time.

Well, the good news is that I came up with two romance heroines.

The bad news is that Anita Blake *was* one of my favourite heroines ever and yes, I know she isn't a romance heroine. She is who I wanted to be. Tough, determined, fair minded, strong like bull and in love with weapons. I adored her and thought she was funny.

I weep for what once was.

I'm also shallow enough to admit that Betsy from the Undead series by MaryJanice Davidson had me on page one. I don't get the shoe fetish but the smart mouth, got it in spades.

That's all the dirt you're getting on me in this round.

How come everyone else managed to do this without admitting their deep dark secrets?

PS - I mailed all the contest books out on Friday March 24th, except ag's - yours will be on Monday. Drop me a quick note when you get them so I know that you, well, got 'em!

Favourite Settings - Or #2

I used to be strictly historicals and found contemporaries to be odd. Then again, it was 1989 and the contemporaries that were being written would have suited women from the 1950s.

JAK introduced me to contemporaries that I could read without gagging. The men were alpha but they were madly in love with their heroine and there didn't seem to be a hang-up about sex. Cool.

I pretty much stuck to this formula for a few years because of university and job searches. I'm thinking it was Dream Man by Linda Howard that brought me to contemporaries in a big way. I also remember branching out into Harlequin and Silhouette at the time and I tell you, there were some amazing books on just two people falling in love. Or hurting each other. Or both. I found many authors but, the top was Suzanne Brockmann. There was something about her heroes that were so desperate and vulnerable that I was thrilled whenever I saw a new title by her.

Nowadays, it really depends on what I am looking for. I'm not sure I can do the small town romances in contemporaries anymore although I try to think 'never say never'. I enjoy contemps set in big cities. I *love* paranormals because they give a more gothic look to cities and I like that.

I can't do books set in France. Not sure why, they just bother me. It might be the names and the quazi-french accent. Oh, and Florida. I equate Florida to old age and I don't find swamps sexy. Then there is the fact that whenever I have gone there I have run into those huge reptiles - crocs, alligators, whatever. I just couldn't live in a place where I could get my leg snapped off because I nodded off in the backyard.

And y'all know I like my sleep.

Anyone else catching the pattern here? It's going to take me weeks to answer these questions!

My Essay Answers For Uh, Question 1

What in the world was I thinking!?

Name your all time favorite hero!? There are days I'm not sure what my favourite colour is let alone my favorite person. (Aside: You may note that favorite/favourite are getting interchanged - I am doing that AAR poll and when you e-mail to authors and such I don't want to come off as a dope. You guys? You can take it.)

So let's have at it, shall we.

*rocks back and forth in chair, stares off into the ether*

No way around it, it's going to get ugly - now would be a good time to bail if you are in a rush to get somewhere.

I'm going to start with the man who made it so I never want to read anything else but a great romance book. I met him soon after starting romance. I had picked up a book at my friend's house while sitting around the pool. I was floored by what I was reading and yet, there was a childishness about the book.

Ha! Lookit me, already seeing through the drek of what could be a horrible romance.

Anyways, I decide I need to read more books like this so I force my friend to pick out a romance book from the 4' section at Coles. She acted very pissed about it and finally handed my Katherine Sutcliffe's Renegade Love. I was snagged by the cover and I think the back blurb but I would have to double check that.

So began my love affair with heroes who are dark, tormented and who believe they are unlovable. Kid Davis - yum. Not only that, he was matched with a heroine who started out young and naive but grew into a wonderfully strong woman.

Kid Davis was taken from his family in an Indian attack. He was raised by them and trained and beaten and humiliated. We don't meet him until he is taken into custody to be transported on a wagon train. He is not gentle or sweet and does everything he can to stay away from Rachel. The book starts slow but it had me hooked and there are scenes that are sweet, sexy and downright terrifying and I loved all of it. Whenever debates started about forced seduction and what it is I think of this book. I don't care what anyone says, Rachel wins hands down.

With that kind of hit early in my romance reading it would only be likely that one day I would pick up an Anne Stuart book and discover an author who can make you believe in the things that go bump in the night. The very first book I read by Stuart was in a short story anthology and the hero was Death. Yep. Death. How's that for dark? All the same, my favorite hero of Stuart's would have to be Simon from Lord of Danger. He manages to fall in love with his plain wife when it's the last thing he needs. Again, there are scenes where Simon's vulnerability are shown beautifully, at least for me.

So dark heroes are my favorite and Anne Stuart has definitely written some of my favorites. I do have to say that the hero from Ride the Fire was also a favorite for me. I would suggest that he is an alpha but one of the better kind. One who can have compassion and share his life with the woman he loves as opposed to ordering her around (although he tries).

Okay, I need to head to bed but, this is my semi-answer to question one. Semi-answer because I can think of a few heroes that I would like to mention so I can see a 1a. in my future.

See, I knew you guys didn't really want to know my answers!

Bobby's B-day

Phew!

I always get worked up before Bob's birthday because I really suck at shopping and then I'm never sure what to get him. He's actually quite easy to buy for it's just I want it to be *perfect*.

Years ago when panic kept me housebound I wanted to get something so special for Bob for Christmas because he was riding through this 'valley of death' with me. I stressed about it for about a month until it finally hit me that there was nothing I could buy that would show Bob what I felt for him.

That year I wrote a little book telling him how wonderful he is. It is horribly bound with ribbon and matte stock (stuff for pictures) and doesn't look like much.

Had him in tears that Christmas morning.

A few years later my friend was telling me about a lunch she had had with 'the guys' and Bob. I guess they were talking about the best gifts they had ever received and when they got to Bob he told them of a little book his wife wrote just for him.

Yeah.

Try topping yourself.

It's a bitch!

Makes those jeans, shorts, That 70's Show Season One and a bunch of dark chocolate (which I won't touch with a 10 foot pole even when I have my period) look like crap.

Lucky for me, Bob likes crap ;)

Damn, can't get pictures to work so I can't post the pic of the little book. Ah, well.

Hmmm?

Answers to what questions?

Free Books

Oh, are you here for free books?

TOO LATE!!

I tell ya. I was worrying about having to get on my knees (easy) to get you guys to enter. Luckily for me I managed to brow beat 5 whole people into entering the contest. I was telling Bob tonight that I didn't care how many more people entered I was going to give everyone free books.

Bob was off like a shot throwing books at me from my library.

Funny guy.

Next contest will be for free saw of some sort. (No, not really, so don't come back here hoping for a saw)

So, since there were five (of my very best friends - yeah they are) people who entered I decided that they would get the books in the order they entered. Remember, if you guys want to trade with each other that's fine. I won't go to the post office until Friday.

Renee - my book twin and the very first person to enter! - Elizabeth Bevarly - You've Got Male

Jay - took pity on me and entered - Linda Lael Miller - McKettrick's Choice - damn, I was wrong, this one is a western historical. You don't read those do you? How about Come Up and See Me Sometime by Lucy Monroe - contemporary for sure.

Alyssa - must have thought I would have a ton of people entering - thanks for believing in me - decided to have a go when she found out Renee was going to get a truckload of books - Stella Cameron - Body of Evidence

Tara Marie - is there such a thing as Irish guilt? - gotcha - Heather Graham - Killing Kelly

Agnes - God bless you and your Wind Demon ways because Jay suggested we pull a Solomon on any books that were left over - Candace Camp - An Independent Woman

Ho-kay, so I'm going to need some addresses and we can haggle for books in the comments ;) I know I have doubles around here but I can't find them. Damn under the bed totes. Can't see half my books! So e-mail to the dogzzz2002@yahoo.ca account.

Uh, what else, oh yeah, answers.

1) Dreaming of You. Sara Fielding
2) My False Heart
3) Wind Demon
4) Scottish Historical romances
5) Renee
6) Sex in Romance - Yes Please. She likes it. She likes it.
7) Sybil & Michelle
8) Karin Slaughter at the top and Stephanie Meyer at the bottom of the list.
9) Clive Owen
10) This is the story of a girl

To update, I'm trying to read Bridal Favors by Connie Brockway which is really a sweet book but then I got distracted by some shiny object and my bird brain ran off.

Bob and I got a call from the people we offered to buy a house from and they have suggested a solution that we would have to wait a month for. Since the phone call I have been trying valiantly to keep Bob's feet on the ground. The other day I said 'screw it' and asked if he had some room in that world he lives in so I could bloody well join him. My parents think it's a real hoot.

Bob's birthday is Wednesday so it will officially be Bobby Week. I allowed it to start this Saturday past because I'm a sweetie. I. Said. I'm. A. Sweetie! Ahem. Anyways, Bob and I don't have kids so we tend to spoil each other. Last year Cindy week was a complete bust because men can be stupid but, I have high hopes for this year. Basically it means it's all out fun. The person sees something they would like, done. Person wants to drag me to antique fairs, I'll be bitchy but, done. Home Depot? Only if you want to see sales people cry.

You know, I'm not really that scary.

Well, okay, there was that one time ...

Head's Up

At this moment Renee is going to be getting all five books!!

Don't think I won't do it!

Contest for Book Week

I was thinking about it and decided that we should have a give away for Romance Book Week.

I recently received free books from my Mother-in-Law because she is a member of Reader's Digest and she knows I read romance. I love my MIL! She's around 82 years old, had 7 boys and dotes on her daughter in laws.

Anyways, these are brand spanking new books and no, I haven't cracked any spines or read them. They are romantic suspense and in all honesty, I'm RS'd out - see Brockmann.

So here are the list of prizes:

Elizabeth Bevarly - You've Got Male
Linda Lael Miller - McKettrick's Choice
Stella Cameron - Body of Evidence
Heather Graham - Killing Kelly
Candace Camp - An Independent Woman (dang, now I kinda want to read this one - oh well)

Anyone can enter, I'll ship to wherever you are, no problem (Lord, I hope I know what I'm doing!). Also, the order the books are listed will be how I will pick the names, so the first name will get Bevarly and then the 5th name will get Camp. If after I have drawn the names and posted the winners, there are people who wish to trade they may do so as long as my head doesn't explode.

So, how do you get your mitts on one of these books? (Man, I hope more than 5 people enter!)

A Blog Hunt!
1. What book does Kristie(J) think every romance reader in the world should read? What is the heroine's name?

2. Which book is listed third at AARs Favorite Books by Favorite Authors for Liz Carlyle? (okay, not a blog but I am working on this project and you will bloody well go and look at the new lists!)

3. What is ag's inner demon?

4. What kind of book makes Maili foam at the mouth?

5. Which blogger on the side bar is almost my twin in both books and husbands?

6. How do I feel about sex in romance books? *hint - look in the month of August* You can just put the title of the blog post.

7. Which blogger recently had JR Ward on her blog as a guest? (okay, there were two bloggers and I'll take either as the right answer)

8. Keishon listed some of her favorite authors. Which author was at the top of the list and which did she list last?

9. Who is Megan Frampton's dream man? and no, her husband does not count in the answer even though I am sure he's it.

10. What is the name of Jay's other blog (non-book)?

Okay, that's it. Yeah, I know, it's a lot of work but hey, free book and it's a hunt so have fun at it. E-mail your answers to dogzzz2002@yahoo.ca (can you believe I just set this account up! Too cool.) and you may want to leave your e-mail so I can contact you if you win. Seriously, I'm not a stalker and you'll only hear from me if you win. You have until Tuesday March 21st at Midnight to send in your answers. I'll pick the winners on Wednesday and hopefully have them mailed out by Friday.

What I will do is as the answers come in I will post people's names in the comments section so you will know that I received your entry. I'll only update it about once a day though so don't get anxious until a day has passed.

Any questions, please ask because this is the first time I have ever done a contest so if I have rooked something up, let me know.

Oh, forgot to mention that authors are readers too so feel free to enter also - I know Megan and Meljean drop in sometimes!

Stealing? You Betcha!!

Okay, in my quest to find romantic book like things on the internet, I spent way too much time on Quizzilla to no avail. Seriously, how do you guys find fun things on the net! I did find a test on 'what is your inner underwear' which I thought would be fun and the underwear is nice, it's just, they look more like playboy photos and then I just sit and wish my butt looked like that.

Lucky me, I went to ag's and then Renee's and I was saved!!

I mean, I could have come up with more questions.

(What's weird, is I said laughter was after love, not music. Although I do love me some music.)

What romantic heroine are you?

You are Christine Daae from Phantom of the Opera. Your life is turbulent, confusing and sometimes frightening, but you can always find comfort in music.
Take this quiz!

Romance Book Week Pt 2

Hey, a week is like 7 days so I better be on my toes. These questions are more to poke fun at the genre we love and maybe expose some of those skeletons that we shove deep, deep, deep into the closet. Again, safe place to rant, rave and in general toss your cookies. Answers are again welcome in the comments or take them on back to your blog and add-on.

Anyone want to start placing bets on when exactly I will run out of questions? Psst, 7 days!! I'm out of my mind!!

This one is going to separate the women from the girls people. We all have 'em, let's just see if we can admit to it.

1. What romance book do you secretly love? I mean in the Brokeback Mountain kind of love. The kind of love you don't want to admit to anyone because you have seen those who came forward with their love and had their innards spilled all over the internet. Yeah, you know which book it is. In my case, I think there are about 20. Feel free to admit to as many as you can stomach without needing to slam that closet door closed.

2. Name a hero that had you at 'Hello'. I'm talking a no good somovabitch that you would normally throw not one, but twelve frying pans at his head if you met him in person. Still, you believe with the love of a good woman (*cough* you *cough*) he could be saved.

3. Name your favorite 80s bodice ripper. C'mon, we all have a favorite even if we did want to take a bat to both the hero and the heroine because in the end, you finished the book and thought, 'well, fuck 'em, they deserve each other'! Hey, if you're feeling the need to repent, feel free to list more than one. I'm going to need the company ;)

4. What kind of heroine do you wish could be eradicated from the earth? Okay, we all hate the wimpy ones but I'm talking about those ones who use crystals and beads and wear bright clothes and claim to have Wiccan tendencies. Whoops! That's more for me. I for one would love to read about a librarian who has a loud voice and can't help it, who laughs too loud and is sexy as hell. So I guess I'm talking about a character type that you hate - you see even a hint of it on the back cover and you drop the book like it burns.

5. Okay, this one isn't for the weak at heart and some of you may chose to ignore it and I'm totally okay with it. Ready? Forced Seduction. No, no, it's okay, we're safe here. Can you name a book or scene that you loved even though you know in real life you'd be telling the guy in a real dangerous voice that if he didn't move his hand pronto his ballcourt was going to take a beating.

To be the first on 5 many of Katherine Sutcliffe's books have scenes where the hero has the heroine up against the wall (wait, I need a minute ... *sigh*) and there is a battle of wills, not so much against each other as much as a battle of will within the hero. So I'm not sure I'm talking forced seduction because usually these scenes do not end up in the characters having sex. There's a sexy desperation that is very appealing for me as a reader.

To expand, I just watched Walk the Line last night and I don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen it so I'm going to white it out and if you want to read it you click and hold the left mouse button and move the mouse over the empty area below to have the words show up.

Cash and June are on the stage and he has been asking her to marry him forever and she keeps saying no. Suddenly in the middle of the song Cash just stops and asks her to marry him. June keeps saying, let's finish the song, the people are here to hear us sing and Cash isn't stopping and says that June needs to find another way of answering his question. Now, there was no wall there but it had the exact same effect. Cash is there with his heart hanging out where everyone can see and Carter has been here before and doesn't know if she can trust again. It was such a powerful scene and even though there is a conflict between them, there are also conflicts within themselves that they have to fight through in that moment.

Oh, and Joaquin Phoenix was so very robbed of an Oscar. I totally believed he was Cash and this man's facial expressions say more than his words. Phenomenal!

There we go, five more questions to make you brain hurt. Again, I have a feeling this is going to feel more like a final exam for me and I'm going to be cramming for the next few days. The good news is I get to sit in my book room and look over all my books because I have a horrible memory.

I mean, what a sore way to have to spend a day!

This Just In!!

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT!

We've got breaking news. We have a new question for the meme courtesy of Keishon.

8. List some examples of books that represent the best of the romance genre.

Yep, that one is going to be a head scratcher for me!

We have responses from ag and Samantha in the comments section below and jmc and Keishon have already blogged their responses. Sharp as tacks these guys are as I'm still trying to figure out the answer to question 1!

I don't know about you guys but I am taking notes!

If you are wondering what the hell is going on, start here and get your thinking cap on!

Romance Book Week?

Hell, why not I say. Let's just celebrate romance books. I mean I was thinking about it. If I can have a Cindy week (and it normally involves lots of books) why can't we all just have a romance book week.

Sure, there are those fancy book clubs and Celebrate Romance but I'm not exactly the 'have book, will travel' type of gal. So let's see if we can do a few romance book meme's. I'm struggling over which of my books to pick up next because I have been extremely busy the last few days and I'm not sure I want to have to be away from a great book. (Does that make sense? No? Eh, I know what I mean ;))

Now, this is supposed to be fun! Rosario would have a blast going through all her spreadsheets to figure out which charcter she found the most charming. 'Cause Rosario is loopy ;) If you also enjoy tooling around on spreadsheets then knock yourself out! If all you can think of are books from the last few months then, what the hell, throw them out there in your answers. It's fluid. I won't write this down and have it carved in stone...anywhere you might see.

So we'll start easy.

1. Name your all-time favourite male character. Here's the deal, give us the reasons why he is your ATF. You can even quote parts of the book that made you love him. If you can't keep it to just one, then list the ones you want but the deal is you have to tell us all why.

(I'm hoping we will find characters from other readers who intrigue us enough to read their books. I do not like men who can't have a serious conversation because everything is fun and a lark even when everyone is in danger. Other people find them charming (mind you I loved Rupert from Mr. Impossible but the man was serious at all the right moments) whereas, I find them infuriating. Eg. Jo Beverly's My Lady Notorious had Cyn Mallory who I don't think had one serious moment in the entire book. I found him to be a clown. Not. Attractive. )

2. What is your favourite setting? Historical / Contemporary or otherwise. Why? What draws you in?

3. What trait in a hero can you not abide? Think more in line with personality or even speech. Most women don't like men who treat their women like crap and then all is forgiven in the end so we don't need to beat that drum ;). My example above of a person never being able to act serious for even a moment is an example of what I mean.

4. Who's your favourite heroine of all time? Same rules apply as above. What makes them special or a stand out to you.

5. What is your favourite genre? Have you analyzed why it is your favourite? Do you care?

6. What genre do you dislike the most? What is it that grates?

7. If you have ever read books from the genre you don't like is there at least one book from that genre that you could recommend?

All answers are welcomed in the comments but if you want to take it to your blog and even expand on it then please do! I have other questions floating around so I may put up more.

Damn, I said I would start easy but I'm already sweating question 4. So, for fun, answer the ones you want and say 'none of your business' on the ones that scare you.

Do I have to answer these if I came up with the questions?

Oh good. It's grand not to be on the homework end of these blogs.

Holy Pit of Hell!!

Well, it's Tuesday and hell hath broken over in the last few hours.

I volunteered for a project for AAR for their Favorite Books by Favorite Authors and between stupid mistakes and ballots coming in wonky, trying to reach authors and then having your e-mails misunderstood has become quite tiresome. I'm exhausted.

Our first week didn't go too bad but this week feels like a trial by fire. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. We had a title show up on the list that hasn't been released yet (damn arcs) and then a title showed on another author's list that doesn't exist. We were informed by the author. Ouch.

My mistakes seem to be in the data entry stuff on excel. I kept getting new titles for an author and just kept sorting the titles into alphabetical order. Problem is that the votes didn't change with them unless you highlight everything. Oy vey! I spent two hours last night re-entering ballots and then re-checking last weeks to make sure my list were correct.

I'm feeling very defeated but it's not the polling as I am quite enjoying it except for some of the 'muck in the wheels' stuff.

We lost another house deal. This house was the kind you dream about and was on .860 acres in the middle of town. It was an oasis. I tried not to get my hopes up but, Bob gets so excited and he was so sure we would get the house. I had to bring the poor guy back to reality when they countered. We had put every nickel we had into the offer we presented and anything else, well, not saying we couldn't do it, it's just that I know Bob and he wouldn't be able to sleep at night.

So, I'm blue again but more down on myself and the fact that I don't work. I always thought I would find something that I would be good at. For some reason, I never did and I don't think I am a late bloomer. I got my first job waitressing 2 months before I turned 15. I worked from then on until I was 28 and was downsized out of my job. The panic attacks after 5 months were overwhelming and the idea of having an interview gave me hives. Nowadays, I am not a thin woman anymore, so my lack of self-confidence has me believing that I am unemployable.

Ah, well.

I'm just blue.

For fun lets see if I can find a quiz thing:

get out there and show it off !!


Which Kick Ass Shirt Saying Are You??
brought to you by Quizilla

Not Fresh

I'm officially brain dead.

I went looking at houses again with Bob. After the first house I turned to him and said, 'two chocolate donuts, now!'. You better believe I got them too. I'm sick of envying other people. There's a reason it's one of those sin things - because it makes you feel shitty!! The next house was so dreamy I figured Bob would hate it.

He's madly in love.

I'm shocked and well, shocked would be the word. He wants to put an offer in and Lord have mercy, we met the people and talked with them and I went to school with their daughters (small world) and we can't afford the house! Bob's still going to put an offer in and I'm afraid my karma is going to bitchslap me into a new set of psychological problems.

Ooooo. Paranoia.

We've got a new one!

I see copious tears in my future. Bob was wired tonight and kept asking why I wasn't excited. I told him I would get excited *if* we got the house. Then I told him that I would definitely cry if we lost the house. He booked. I have the gift of ending conversations and being able to eat 2 chocolate donuts without too much guilt. Okay, there's guilt but I'm burying it deep. You know, next to my ulcer.

Since my head will be close to imploding over the next few days, I will be leaning heavily on memes and tags.

Yeah, I'd be sorry but, misery loves company.

Four jobs you have had in your life: - uh, really?

1. waitress (and it was hell)
2. short order cook (and it was hell)
3. Data Entry at Stelco (not bad)
4. Sales for Canwel (torturous hell)

I have nightmares combining waitressing/cooking and Canwel. Because I can't help myself, I'll share. Normally I am supposed to be cooking but the food is burning, I have 6 tables that have been sitting for an hour, I'm 35 and still working there and somehow, I'm supposed to get on a plane for a sales meeting but I don't fly. Ever.

The worst part of the dream? Being 35 and looking around and discovering that everyone left you behind. Okay, the worst dreams are those where I am still in highschool but I suddenly realize I'm 35. Brutal. Yeah, I'm no Einstein but, I know what the dream means.

I'm ignoring it.

Four movies you would watch over and over:

1. The Matrix
2. When Harry Met Sally (although after 20years? I'm good)
3. Bridget Jones Diary 1 & 2
4. I have seen Star Wars over 20 times because I counted up till that and I think I was 18 when I stopped counting so, I've seen it A LOT! (A good 8 times at the theatre)

Four places you have lived:

1. St. Catherines
2. Burlington
3. Simcoe
4. Ancaster

Four TV shows you love to watch:

1. Lost
2. The Amazing Race
3 Grey's Anatomy
4. Deadwood

Four places you have been on vacation:

1. Florida
2. up north - Huntsville
3. Newfoundland (I was 10)
4. Went to Atlanta and The Grand Ol' Opry Hotel - they were semi-vacations - Went for Bob's work. Still, I was there!

Four websites you visit daily:

1. All About Romance (book site)
2. Smart Bitches Love Trashy Books
3. Chapters/Amazon - not quite daily
4. that's it.

Four of your favorite foods:

1. Turkey dinner and all the fixin's
2. CHOCOLATE
3. Filet Minon (?) with potatoes
4. Summer Sausage Deli Meat on extremely fresh buns. Mmmmm.

Four places you would rather be right now:

1. On a tropical island - you better believe it!
2. asleep - given
3. California for the beach and flipping property potential
4. A heated pool

Four friends you are tagging that you think will respond.... cause I'm nosy ;)

1. Kristie(J)
2. Jay
3. Megan
4. Sybil

Yeah, not too many people like to come out and play with me. Maybe because I tell people what my dreams are like and scare the crap out of them.

Get this, the girls I went to school with were twins - one is married and has travelled to Australia and places like that. The other is climbing the corporate ladder (according to her mom) and is training for a triathalon. They have their master's degree. I suck.

Yep, I do my parents proud.

Clinch Covers

RUN!!

RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

You still here? Well, all right then.

This post has been inspired by Kristie who is sick to death of clinch covers but, let's face it, we have been told they sell like hotcakes. For some reason I believe them.

The cover on the left is one from 1989 and I have always loved it. My copy is so tattered and the spine has become unglued but, I don't know if I would ever part with this book. I have bought the new one in case I feel the need to read the book again but I treasure this one. Maybe, it's because it was the first romance book I read that was grittier and darker than any I had read before.

Also, the Lindsey below is very pleasing to *my* eye. I don't find the cover overly suggestive and I like the white cover. Are these what people consider clinch covers?

So, here's my question. Have you ever noticed someone reading a clinch cover in public? I mean, I never have.

Okay, I'm clueless as a rule and won't notice a fire unless I started it but, still, you would think that I would notice other people reading romance books.

Also, it's a safe place here so spill. Do you like the clinch cover? What is it about the cover that you like? Is it immediate brand recognition?

In terms of buying romance books, I'm pretty much over what is on the cover. As long as they are partially clothed I'm okay. Other than that, I'll buy it if I want the book.

Now, I won't go near a clinch cover on a shelf. For example, if I am browsing in a bookstore I am actually repelled by those covers that remind of the 80s style books. Whether it's the memories the books conjure up or the belief that they must be poorly written, I don't even bother picking them up to look at the backcover.

Still, if someone has referred the book to me and I have decided I want it, the cover doesn't deter me BUT, someone has to have told me it's a good read.

Just as an aside, I find this Mason cover icky. This is the kind of clich I don't like. It not suggestive, it's in your face blatant what's going on!

I commented at Kristie's that I didn't mind clinch covers but I realized that I also check my book cover before I leave the house. I also have a tendency to put my book, cover down if I am in public. Strange how I don't think I care and yet, there are those moments in time that my brain does an automatic check. Eg. Called ambulance for Bob and they are on their way. I go to grab a book but I do double check the cover to make sure it isn't a clinch. Weird.

So tell me about it. If you read clinch covers in public then let me know! It's an interesting phenomenon.

The clinch sells the book, but does it enter and leave the house in a brown paper bag?

AAR Poll and My Ballot

I have a feeling I'm about to get jumped. My ballot read pretty close to the winning one - I know, I'm sorry but, you've been here, right? You knew I loved Mr. Impossible and well, Anne Stuart fangirl, 'nuff said.

Here's the damage I did.

Best Romance Mr. Impossible Loretta Chase

It's official. You can blame me. I voted for this one. For me, it blew most of it's competition out of the water. Rupert was just *sigh* and Daphne was sweet and I liked it, so, you know, there! I will tell you that I read this book way back when and I can still remember moments from the story that gave me that sweet tummy sensation. I'm lucky if I can remember what I had for lunch so I knew this book had a hold of my heart.

Favorite Funny Match Me If You Can SEP Hon. Mention To Die For Linda Howard

I'm one of those reader's who don't get the SEP love even though she did write one of my favourite books. I'm not sure I found LH's To Die For all that funny. It was cute and quirky but the hero pissed me off and I don't really love first person POV.

I put Undead and Unappreciated by MJD as funny. I'm sorry, but she still cracks me up and her editor has begun to whip her into shape. There is actually some character growth going on now and well, her humour works for me in the laugh out loud kinda way.

Most-Hanky Read - tie A Breath of Snow & Ashes DG and Till Next We Meet Ranney
Hon. Mention Passion Lisa Valdez

My vote was Mr. Impossible. Easy! I'm just getting started with the votes for this one. Yeah, if you over it, scram!

I read Passion but I don't remember tearing up. Never read Gabaldon and Till Next We Meet is in the TBR pile.

Most Luscious Love Story Passion Lisa Valdez

You know I voted for this one.

Best Cabin/Road Romance Mr. Impossible Loretta Chase

Yeah.

Okay, if I had read Ride the Fire by Pamela Clare before I submitted my ballot I sooo would have voted for it. No, really. It was one of the votes I would have changed.

Best New Author Lisa Valdez
Hon. Mention Lydia Joyce

I would have put JR Ward but LLB said because she had been published before she didn't count so I voted Valdez. I haven't read Joyce because I have heard the word 'gothic' too much and I am worried that you only get the story from the heroine and not so much the hero. I'm over those kind of books.


Best Buried Treasure The Music of the Night by Lydia Joyce
Hon Mentions to Passion by Valdez and The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie

I apparently left this one blank. I'm not sure I read enough outside of the box to know a buried treasure.

Guiltiest Pleasure Passion Lisa Valdez

Uh, no. Not guilty in the least. I voted for Hello, Gorgeous by MaryJanice Davidson because it was short on character but I loved that the boss the heroine hated ended up falling in love with her best friend. It was short on everything but the evil boss made me happy. That's a guilty pleasure!

Author Most Glommed - tie Anne Stuart & Mary Balogh
Hon. Mention Loretta Chase

Being the Anne Stuart fangirl I am I was damn happy to see her in this category. I voted for Julia Quinn.

Best Medieval/Renaissance Return of the Warrior by Kinley MacGregor
Hon. Mention Warprize Elizabeth Vaughan

I haven't read a medieval in years because I can't find them. I guess they are out there.

Best European Historical Mr. Impossible Loretta Chase (set in Egypt)

You already know I did it. No use pretending.

Best Traditional Regency Dedication Janet Mullany

*hangs head in shame* Can't read 'em.

Best Amer Hist/Frontier A Breath of Snow & Ashes Diana Gabaldon

I saw this title and almost choked. Had no clue they were in the west now - ugh. Anyways, I left this blank because I hadn't read Ride in Fire but if I had, I soooo would have voted for it.

Best Contemporary Match Me If You Can Susan E. Phillips

Holy Crap!! I voted for Brockmann's Hot Target. I guess I couldn't escape the fact that I loved the book before the Max and Gina disaster.

Best Series Novel - tie (Series = Category Novel) The Mysterious Miss M Diane Gaston
With Child Janice Kay Johnson

I have the Gaston in the TBR but I'm not sure I would have known I could vote for it in this category. Good to know for next year.

Best Romantic Suspense Black Ice by Anne Stuart
Hon Mentions To Die For by LH and Hot Target by Suzanne Brockmann

Anne Stuart, Anne Stuart, Anne Stuart.

Yeah, baby!

Best Alt Reality/Paranormal Dark Lover J.R. Ward

You know it!!

Best Chick Lit/Women's Fiction The Givenchy Code by Julie Kenner
Hon Mention To Die For Linda Howard

Left it blank. However, now that I see how other people classify To Die For I understand why I wasn't overwhelmed ;)

Honorable Mention - Short Story Falling for Anthony Hot Spell Meljean Brook

Yep, I voted for this one. It really was the best!

Most Tortured Hero Bastien Toussaint Black Ice Anne Stuart

Yippee!!

I can honestly say that if I had read Ride the Fire, the hero from that book would have been my vote for most tortured because, he was literally tortured. But, alas.

Strongest Heroine Eve Dallas Survivor in Death J.D. Robb
Hon Mention Blair Mallory To Die For Linda Howard

I'm probably the only person on the planet who is sick to death of 'Eve and Roarke'. Now there is a series I don't get. Couldn't get past the first page of book 2. As for Blair Mallory being strong? No. I put Passion by Lisa Valdez because she went through hell and back and would have made the sacrifice.

Best Hero Rupert Mr. Impossible.

Yep.

Best Heroine Blair Mallory from To Die For
Hon. Mention Daphne Pembroke Mr. Impossible

I voted for Daphne.

Shut up.

Best Couple Rupert & Daphne Mr. Impossible Loretta Chase

Okay, now I'm just starting to feel awkward.

Best Villain (unnamed to avoid spoilers) It Happened One Autumn Lisa Kleypas

I never vote in this category unless I fall hard for the villian and that usually means that they are somehow redeemable.

Most Annoying Lead Blair Mallory To Die For Linda Howard

Nope. Didn't vote. Although I had Blair Mallory down but I scratched the category out. I guess I decided that I have indeed read more annoying characters in years past but I guess I should have put her in because it was about books from this year. Boy, I blew it!

Author You Gave Up On Julie Garwood
(Dis) Honorable Mention Stephanie Laurens

I put Suzanne Brockmann and you know why.

Author Others Love/You Don't Nora Roberts

This should be more of a 'which author did you try this year that you just didn't get'

Any number of authors fit here for me but I don't know if I put the one in because I have it crossed off. Weird. Anyways, I was going to put Sherilyn Kenyon but I guess I figured I should give her another shot. *shrug*

Most Disappointing Read It Happened One Autumn Lisa Kleypas
(Dis) Honorable Mentions Breaking Point Suz Brockmann Killing Time Linda Howard

I *should* have voted for the Max and Gina book but I totally blocked it from my mind because I put Wanting Something More by Kathy Love. I was so not happy that the author took the easy way out with the hero being an ass. Oh! I know, give him a head trauma that changes his personality forever. Yetch.

Worst Read - Tie Passion Lisa Valdez
What Do You Say to a Naked Elf? Cynthia Sterling

Passion!? I guess I do read outside of the box seeing as how I loved it. I voted for Killing Time by Linda Howard. It was horrible, and boring and blech and I wish I had never read it!

Purple-est Prose Passion Lisa Valdez

'kay, whatever. I'm beginning to think people are confusing purple prose with frank sexual descriptions. Again, I may be biased because I loved Passion but, purple? I think not.

I didn't vote in this category. I hear that Galen Foley can be quite purple so I am looking forward to reading some of her stuff to see if it works for me or not. As long as there is no 'purple warrior of love' hanging about I should make it.

Wow, this was a long one to pull together. Next year I am copying someone elses blog post and just filling in my stuff ;)

Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward

Wow.

Just, wow.

I'm on the speechless side.

I loved this book. I loved it.

I enjoyed it more than Dark Lover and Butch was in DL more!

So, let's do a Cindy summary:

Rhage is gorgeous with a capital G and probably the most dangerous of the Brotherhood because when he gets really out of control he turns into a dragon of some sort.

Super cool.

The beast is always within and needs to be released and the only way is through the change (extremely painful and scary) or through sex. Let's just say, Rhage takes the sex because the beast not only scares the crap out of him but also the big tough Brothers. Whenever the beast comes out these big tough men hot tail it out there like girly boys.

I loved the response of Butch (a human) the first time he sees Rhage's beast. He gets thrown in an Escalade by one of the brothers and they have to sit there watching the dragon kill and eat lessers (evil guys). Thing is, the dragon can't distinguish between the good and the bad so it starts heading for the car.

"Can it get in the car?" Butch asked.

"If it really wants to. Fortunately, it can't be very hungry."

"Yeah, well ... what if it's got room for Jello-o," Butch muttered.

The beast shook its head, black mane tossing in the moonlight. Then it howled and charged at them, running on two legs. The pounding of its stride called thunder and tremors out of the earth.

Butch checked the door lock one more time. Then thought about being a pansy and maybe hitting the floor.

Pg 41. Lover Eternal

Loved the thought of big, bad Butch considing being a pansy.

Ho-kay, then we have Mary who has been through hell and back with her mother dying of *dang bad memory* cancer and Mary herself then falling ill to luekemia two years later. At the beginning of the story Mary discovers her remission is over.

So Mary and Rhage meet, Rhage can't really see because he is recovering but, her voice soothes him so much that he just keeps begging her to talk to him while he has her pressed up against a wall. Her memory is erased (vamps can do that) but Rhage can't leave her be and defies orders to be with her. Sweet.

There is no way I can do this book justice. There are so many elements and plots going on that there is no way to summarize this story. This is very much Rhage and Mary's story even though we do get to know the Brothers, especially Zsadist, much better. I was grateful that the book was close to 450 pages because with everything going on, Ward needed room to tell the story.

There are plot points in here that may turn another reader off. I want to put spoiler space up but, I'm afraid if I put in one of the things, readers will choose to not even bother. I would normally have had a bad reaction to what happened but since it was all off stage AND I knew the reason behind it, I understood why.

The few things that niggled at me was that Rhage and Mary, even though they become very close, have a hard time trusting each other with the truth. I would have preferred that Rhage explained the beast to Mary instead of trying to hide it from her. There is a point at the end that normally would have me throwing a book across the room but, it worked. I also didn't get why the Scribe Virgin had to know about the fact that Rhage defied an order.

Still, I'm hoping as this story continues that certain things become clear. Zsadist's book can't come soon enough and you all know how much I love summer so I'm not wishing it was September but, I'm kinda wishing it was next March because then I would have Zsadist's and Butch's stories.

I can probably already call Best Parnormal Romance for 2006 although I can only hope that I will find many more books of this calibre over the year! I have heard people compare these to ... damn, is it Kinley (?), whatever, I think I read one of those books and to me, they aren't even in the same realm.

Oh, and you know how connected books drive me mad? This one, not so much. Maybe because I am intrigued by the Brothers and they are not all carbon copies of each other.

Sweet.

Blood Pressure

If you're already having a bad day don't follow the link below. Seriously, this will, in all likelihood, kill you.

I'm horribly a-political but then I live in Canada and I have my freedoms. If someone was pulling this shit up here I would hope that I would A) hear about it pronto and B) dive bomb the government with letters and if that didn't work, C) run opposite this person with a slogan that said 'don't vote for an asshat'.

Yeah. I think I'm that tough.

If your head hasn't exploded after the stuff below maybe you can come back here and explain what Google-bombing is and how I can do it!

First go to SmartBitches and read this and then go to the definition for Bill Napoli.

Shhhh! I'm Reading!

Super quick post to let you all know that I am now reading Lover Eternal. I was going to start it yesterday but I discovered Sybil was still awake so I hung around and chatted with her before she set her blog up for J.R. Ward. Kudos to Sybil for doing such a bang up job. There were so obvious fangirls hanging around and I think they were thrilled to get their first peek at Z's book cover. (Sybil is under the link The Good, The Bad and The Unread. Also, I hear that J.R. Ward will be over at Romance: By The Blog today but I'm not linking (oops, computer sped up so I did it for ya - see the dedication!) because I really need to get back to the book so run over to Sybil's because she has the link)

As for LE, I am so friggin' in love with this Rhage dude that I don't know up from down. In the first book, Wrath didn't really capture me, it was Butch as a secondary character that took my breath away.

Lucky for me, LE started out in Butch's POV and he's still a great guy although he is now a clothes whore. Still love him though.

As for Rhage, his response to Mary is so wonderful even though Mary is completely overwhelmed by him.

Now, if you will excuse me, I must get back to my book. (Remember I'm a slow reader)

More Fun

I am supposed to be reading a four hundred page book so just some stuff for fun. Kristie, do any of these look familiar to you? (Hint: LOST)

Horus Cindy, given life, prosperity, and health, forever.

Nocturnal Wonderings

You would think with a name like Nocturnal Wonderings there would be an Eagle in there somewhere.

Nope.

I get a baby chick.

Perfect.

And because I'm a nerd.

LOST

Generated at Hieroglyphs.net.

On the normal everyday front I had to go to a tupperware party because my best friend played 'the friend card'. I'm not sure what this card is but, I am so pulling it the next time I need to clean this place. Or, if we are forced to move ourselves. Yeah, we'll see who wins this draw!

For some reason, I'm all headachy and blechy feeling and I'm starting to worry that I need glasses *sob*. Something is up for sure because any time in front of the computer now makes my eyes feel like they are going to bleed. Then there is a dull pain in my side. No, not Bob. It's been there for a while and I guess I better go and see if it's anything to worry about. If I hadn't been nauseated for as long as the pain has been there I wouldn't bother but the two together are not a good combo. Looks like everything starts to go at 35. Damn.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I went and bought some chocolate cake and butterscotch ripple ice cream. There are times where only the perfect chocolate cake will do and it's right now!

Lord Perfect by Loretta Chase

Finished this one finally. The 10 year old and the 13 year old threw me off so I had a hard time getting into the story.

That said, I would grade it a B-.

Here's what I know. I loved Mr. Impossible and think that it rivals Lord of Scoundrels for Chase's best book. Lord Perfect is no where close to that book. I had an extremely hard time with Miss Wonderful and was bored by the plot (something about canals - yawn) and the hero was too stoic and I felt no heat. So, Lord Perfect would fall in between these two reads. Logistically speaking I graded Miss Wonderful a B- but, I can't see giving Lord Perfect anything higher so maybe MW was a C+. Remember, I'm still trying to figure out the grading for books.

If you have no problem with kids in your books then you'll probably love this story.


Cindy Story Summary: Bathsheba Wingate is from the notorious side of her family. The con artist side (trust me, I was so confused by the number of names dropped in this book that I'm not sure how anyone would know *who* was from which side of the family). She married a peer who was cut off from his family and funds and had a daughter with him. I think they were happy for the most part but, now she is a widow and trying to raise her 10 year old daughter Olivia to be a proper lady. Bethsheba, however, sees only the bad blood side of her family in her daughter which I didn't find all that lovable in a mother. True, Olivia is a manipulator but, where was the love I ask you?

Rathbourne - can't even remember his first name at the moment and I'm too lazy to get up right now, is the eldest son and has been trained since a child for the position he will one day take up. He is caring for his nephew Peregrine from his wife's (she has passed) side of the family. (again, the lineage stuff made my head hurt)

These four people meet and Olivia decides she has to save her mother by finding a treasure that is on an estate the *proper* people's side of the family live on. Peregrine is a stick in the mud but decides he can't let her go alone and goes with her. He finally decides he is on a grand adventure and they're off.

Rathbourne is too smart, figures it out and insists on accompanying Bethsheba in the pursuit of the kids even though they are sure to make a scandal.

This was the part of the story where I started to have fun and the characters lightened up. I did like the banter between Rathbourne and Bathsheba and there were a few scenes that were too cute.

So, I was probably a good 50 pages in before I started to like the story and then it flew. I can't say I appreciated how everything was wrapped up but then, I guess *buying* respectability may have happened. I'm just kinda sick of it always being used to make everything better.

Are you ready for the part that I myself can't friggin' believe? The story ends with a letter from Olivia to Peregrine where she says she doesn't understand why everyone thinks that they need to be separated.

Now I want to know if they get together in 10-12 years time.

Shut up.

What blows my mind is that I liked Olivia (which might explain why I wasn't thrilled with the lack of 'motherly love') but Peregrine was a pain and boring. Poor guy. That was another thing that niggled and I am sure it will drive others up a wall. The romance between Bathsheba and Rathbourne happen while they are trying to find the kids.

I guess missing kids weren't that big of a deal in 18 hundred and something (again, too lazy).

AAR gave this book an A- and I am going to go read reviews of this and see what I missed. I don't like to read other reviews before I write my opinions for fear I'll accidentally steal their stuff. Let's face it, if you can read one of my sentences without wondering if I was sniffing glue before hand, then I probably read someone else's review by accident.

So, there you have it. My take. For READERS ;)

Next up, Lover Eternal. *strokes cover of book murmuring 'my precious'*

Yep, Sounds About Right

You shelter a

Demon of Darkness.

He is one of a kind. Not very destructive for

others but for yourself, he is nonetheless

the worst. He is the demon who forces you to

close your heart and your mind, to be hostile

and introverted. And like the friendly demon,

he is nearly always awake.

You must find a way to put him to sleep, maybe with

the help of another demon, like the wind

demon or the water demon.


What demon sleeps inside you ?
brought to you by Quizilla

I call it - dum, dum, dum - Anxiety.

Actually, I went back and answered the one question that I lied about truthfully (the how do you handle conflict - I don't) and I got this one instead.

You shelter a Friendly Demon. Peace-loving, sociable and kind, he is like the Demon of Darkness in the way that he is nearly always awake. He stays away from any useless conflict and always tries to resolve problems with his head, not his hands. Although beware not to hurt those he loves, or he will find a way to hurt you back, maybe 10 times worse.

The picture, however, blows. I like the creepy Demon.

I believe I will be forced to unleash the Demon of Darkness on those fuckers from La-Z-Boy. Just got a letter dated the 22 of Feb saying the part that I need for my chair has been approved for ordering. The part will show at my door in 4 to 8 weeks. If it has not arrived in 12 weeks be sure to call the fuckers Stainmaster to let them know or they will consider your claim closed.

Get this, when I called to yell (I couldn't get through) they had that automated voice and it said, 'if your claim is from before July 1st 2004 push 1'.

Well done. They have claims dating back 2 years!!! I may never get my chair fixed!

I will write some scathing letters just as soon as my bloodpressure comes back down. Can't believe companies can get away with shit like this. We have a 10 year warranty - that they sold to us!!

Heads will roll!

Got It!!

Okay, I'm not sure Beverly is going to love me or hate me (please don't hate me) for this but, she made a point I loved.

Who Are Reviews Written For?

READERS!!

'nuff said.

Those weren't her exact words. I paraphrased so, you know, it's not her you need to yell at if you're feeling grumpy.

I have officially closed this discussion to all debate from here to eternity.

Your welcome.

SQUEEEEEEEEEE!

*deep breath in* SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!

It's a Postal Day Miracle!!

Coming in at somewhere around 455 pages this little delight showed up in the mail TODAY!!

Course, I can't read it because I am reading Lord Perfect which has become much better.

I slobbered all over the book while showing my husband and he looked at me and said 'gee, I don't get greeted like that'.

I'm thinking 'go away for a week and see what kind of slobber I can come up with' ;)

Now, if you'll excuse me.

*deep breath in* SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!!!!!!