Book two-eighty-one: One Wild Wedding Night

One Wild Wedding Night (2008)
Leslie Kelly

Rating: 2.5/5

I really just wanted to find out what happened with Bridget and Dean, so I am happy now. This was different in that each story only went for about forty pages. The thing I was really impressed with was that each of the stories had enough background and realistic characters that they could have been a full length novel.

This is one super-sexy wedding night these five women will never forget! Meet the lucky bridesmaids:A totally hot FBI agent offers his full-body protection to very willing witness Bridget Donahue…Stripper Leah Muldoon bares it all for a sexy stranger in a limo, much to their mutual satisfaction!Wild big-city attorney Mia Natale is in for the best sex of her life. But who is that other guy?When dancer Vanessa McKee unexpectedly sees a man from her past, they rediscover their insatiable lust!A breathless night in the arms of a seductive European lover should definitely spice up Gloria Santori's marriage….

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Finished: Tuesday 29/1/08

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Book two-eighty: Scandal in Spring

Scandal in Spring (2006)
Lisa Kleypas

Rating: 2/5

At first I was disappointed that this was about Cam. Hadn’t he been groping her in the book I just read in this series. By the end of the third chapter, however, I had decided I like Matthew for Daisy better.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had read the first book in the series (or may be the first two for that matter). As it was I wanted to slap Lillian for the majority of this book and it wasn’t even about her, so I don’t think I’ll be reading her story any time soon. Anyway, my point was, that if I knew more about her or was invested in her character in anyway, I may have understood why she was so selfish and controlling and mostly mean.

After spending three London seasons searching for a husband, Daisy Bowman's father has told her in no uncertain terms that she must find a husband. Now. And if Daisy can't snare an appropriate suitor, she will marry the man he chooses—the ruthless and aloof Matthew Swift.
Daisy is horrified. A Bowman never admits defeat, and she decides to do whatever it takes to marry someone . . . anyone . . . other than Matthew. But she doesn't count on Matthew's unexpected charm . . . or the blazing sensuality that soon flares beyond both their control. And Daisy discovers that the man she has always hated just might turn out to be the man of her dreams.

But right at the moment of sweet surrender, a scandalous secret is uncovered . . . one that could destroy both Matthew and a love more passionate and irresistible than Daisy's wildest fantasies.

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Finished: Monday 28/1/08

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Book two-seventy-nine: The Princess and the Hound

The Princess and the Hound (2007)
Mette Ivie Harrison

A very good fairy tale.

He is a prince, heir to a kingdom threatened on all sides, possessor of the animal magic, which is forbidden by death in the land he'll rule.

She is a princess from a rival kingdom, the daughter her father never wanted, isolated from true human friendship but inseparable from her hound.

Though they think they have little in common, each possesses a secret that must be hidden at all costs. Proud, stubborn, bound to marry for the good of their kingdoms, this prince and princess will steal your heart, but will they fall in love?

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Finished: Sunday 27/1/08

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Book two-seventy-eight: The Forever Summer

The Forever Summer (2007)
Suzanne Macpherson

This book was weird. I don’t know why, but it just didn’t read like a whole book, more like the summary of another, longer, more in-depth book that might have contained some character development.

Emily Ruth Griffin is dead.

Perfectly beautiful, perfectly rich and perfectly bitchy until the day she keeled over in the local supermarket, she’s now happily haunting the fresh produce aisle.

Lila Abbott sees dead people.

She also has a knack for convincing them to quit haunting places and go rest in peace somewhere else. But getting Emily Ruth to give up the ghost is tough. There’s something suspicious about her death and Lila needs to find out what. Surely it can’t be anything to do with Emily Ruth’s ex-husband, the jaw-droppingly gorgeous Lucas? Maybe Lila should investigate him more closely. Just in case…

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Finished: Saturday 26/1/08

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Book two-seventy-seven: Secret Admirer

Secret Admirer (2002)
Michelle Jaffe

This wasn’t as scary as Lady Killer, but I did spend the whole time wondering why they didn’t remove themselves from her house. I mean, come on, the killer has broken in multiple times, proven that he can come and go without them noticing and they still decide to stay there? WHY?

There is this whole weird bit towards the end of the story, where you think its all over, then there’s a whole other drama. That being said, this didn’t seem to twist all over the place like the other one did.

She still has over-foreshadowed the end of most chapters, but the very funny and witty dialogue makes up for it.

I wouldn’t mind reading more about the secondary characters, but I think all the books about them are out of print.

He wanted to be her dream man... Lady Tuesday Arlington seeks refuge from the horrible nightmares that invade her sleep by doing what she does best--she paints them. But when her husband is found dead in a setting identical to one she has painted, she becomes the prime suspect in his murder. Lawrence Pickering, special investigator to Her Majesty the Queen, takes over the inquiry and cannot help but fall for the beautiful and talented Tuesday. But a cruelly sinister presence waits in the shadows to turn their picture perfect love into a masterpiece of murder.

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Finished: Saturday 26/1/08

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Book two-seventy-six: Devil in Winter

Devil in Winter (2006)
Lisa Kleypas

Rating: 3.5/5

I really enjoyed this. I thought it started at just the right place: with her asking him to marry her. No boring background or build up or prologue. It started at the start of the story and I was sucked into the story straight away.
Also, I pretty much laughed at anything Sebastian said.

A devil's bargain

Easily the shyest Wallflower, Evangeline Jenner stands to become the wealthiest, once her inheritance comes due. Because she must first escape the clutches of her unscrupulous relatives, Evie has approached the rake Viscount St. Vincent with a most outrageous proposition: marriage!

Sebastian's reputation is so dangerous that thirty seconds alone with him will ruin any maiden's good name. Still, this bewitching chit appeared, unchaperoned, on his doorstep to offer her hand. Certainly an aristocrat with a fine eye for beauty could do far worse.
But Evie's proposal comes with a condition: no lovemaking after their wedding night. She will never become just another of the dashing libertine's callously discarded broken hearts -- which means Sebastian will simply have to work harder at his seductions...or perhaps surrender his own heart for the very first time in the name of true love.

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Finished: Friday 25/1/08

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Book two-seventy-five: Overexposed

Overexposed (2007)
Leslie Kelly

Rating: 2.5/5

This was all right. I really want to find out what happens with Bridget and Dean – who have a bit of a sub-plot going on. I guess she is going to write a book about them… ooo, I think it’s a short story. Oh well.

Isabella Natale is living a double life. By day she turns out desserts in the family bakery. But at night she transforms into The Crimson Rose, Chicago's hottest exotic dancer, an enigmatic siren whose velvet mask and G-string drive men wild. Nobody knows about her secret—not even Nick Santori, the strip club's hot new bodyguard…and her first crush. He'd always treated little "Izzy" as just another sweet kid. But there's nothing sweet about his sizzling reaction to Rose….

So what's a girl to do but show the man of her dreams that while it's okay to look, it's much better to touch?

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Finished: Thursday 24/1/08

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Book two-seventy-four: Casey

Casey (2007/2002)
Lori Foster

Rating: 2/5

Okay, found out. This was also pretty good.

I had to buy this one in a bind up with another Lori Foster book, hence the different cover.

As a teen, Emma Clark was the girl with the bad reputation— and trying to get Casey Hudson into bed hadn't helped! Not only was he the cutest guy in town, but he was also the only one who'd really seemed to care about her—so much so that the usually hot-blooded teen had resisted all her awkward advances. Now, eight years later, it's a different story.

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Finished: Wednesday 23/1/08

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Book two-seventy-three: Jasper

Jasper (2007/2000)
Lori Foster

Rating: 2/5

This was all right. I really just want to find out what happens with Casey and Emma.

Jordan Sommerville was a healer of helpless animals, rescuer of strays, a man who could seduce a woman with his voice alone. Yet he didn't use that power often. His brothers kidded that he was holding out for a paragon of virtue and not many in Buckhorn qualified. But then he met Georgia, and broke all his own rules.

Georgia Barnes supported herself and her kids as a dancer—an exotic dancer. If Jordan Sommerville didn't like it, he could take a hike. So what if he was the most caring, gentle, desirable man she'd ever known—he was still a man like all the rest. Surely he couldn't be as perfect as he looked—or could he?

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Finished: Wednesday 23/1/08

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Book two-seventy-two: Gabe

Gabe (2007/2000)
Lori Foster

Rating: 2/5

This was my favourite of the series, because I thought Gabe was the funniest.

Gabe Kasper, heartthrob of Buckhorn County, could have had any woman he wanted— if he'd had a mind to settle down. Which he didn't. The freedom of being a jack-of-all-trades with no one to answer to suited him just fine. And then a prickly, uptight, red-haired college woman showed up.—
Elizabeth Parks needed Gabe to complete her thesis on heroism, but he didn't seem to think saving a couple of lives made him a hero. She was inclined to agree that he seemed like the exception to the rule. Until he rescued her heart and soul with his fearless passion.

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Finished: Tuesday 22/1/08

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Book two-seventy-one: Morgan

Morgan (2007/2000)
Lori Foster

Rating: 2/5

I bought this series in one book, so I suppose I will just keep reading… this one was also pretty funny.

Morgan Hudson commanded a lot of respect as Buckhorn's biggest, baddest sheriff. How one petite city woman could turn him on his head was a mystery, not to mention being downright aggravating. But Misty Malone did just that, and Morgan couldn't wait till she went back where she belonged. But then he discovered why she'd come in the first place.

Misty Malone had hoped to take refuge with her sister, who'd just married into a family of sinfully attractive brothers. They all treated her like gold— all but one. Morgan seemed to think she was some sort of femme fatale, out to seduce his brothers. But seduction was the last thing on her mind. Foremost was the baby she was secretly carrying. And then, how to avoid the sexual sparks flying between her and Morgan.

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Finished: Tuesday 22/1/08

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Book two-seventy: Sawyer

Sawyer (2007/2000)
Lori Foster

Rating: 2/5

Continuing my foray into category fiction… this was pretty good. Although some scenes had so many characters in them I had trouble keeping track, it was pretty amusing.

Honey Malone was on the run, fleeing a dangerous predator, when she lost control of her car, drove into a lake—and found herself up to her neck in breathtaking men. After the brothers nursed her through her injuries, she tried to leave, but she hadn't bargained on their stubborn protectiveness. Or the passionate bond that tied her to Sawyer.

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Finished: Monday 21/1/08

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Book two-sixty-nine: Marked

Marked (2007)
P.C. Cast and Kristan Cast

This has a very interesting premise and a lot of intrigue (who exactly is evil?). Hopefully it will gain a bit of momentum as the series continues, because not that much really happens in this...you know, besides her becoming a vampire. Whatever.

The House of Night series is set in a world very much like our own, except in 16-year-old Zoey Redbird's world, vampyres have always existed. In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where, after having undergone the Change, she will train to become an adult vampire--that is, if she makes it through the Change. Not all of those who are chosen do. It’s tough to begin a new life, away from her parents and friends, and on top of that, Zoey finds she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess, Nyx. But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny--with a little help from her new vampyre friends.

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Finished: Monday 21/1/08

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Book two-sixty-eight: The Queen of Cool

The Queen of Cool (2007)
Cecil Castellucci

Rating: 3/5

Good, but it was so short I felt like it was over just as I was starting to get to know the characters.

On the outside, Libby Brin is the most popular girl in school. But on the inside, Libby is dying — of boredom. In a moment of desperation, Libby signs up for an internship at the Los Angeles Zoo, much to the dismay of her friends, who’d prefer she spend her time with them, shopping, partying, and making fun of everyone else. Oddly, Libby realizes that she actually enjoys her new job and that she may even like the two "nerds" she works with. Will the Queen of Cool be forced to give up her crown?

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Finished: Sunday 20/1/08

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Book two-sixty-seven: Lady Killer

Lady Killer (2002)
Michelle Jaffe

This is the scariest book I’ve read in ages. I don’t like books about serial killers.

Rabid vampires, sure. Psychopathic werewolves, why not. Maniacal zombies intent on eating the brains of innocent bystanders, may be.

Normal human killing other humans, no thank you.

I don’t know why the paranormal twist make it less scary/gory to read about. May be because its just that – para, not normal.

This freaked me out completely. In a sleep with the lights on, wake people up to talk to me until I fall asleep kind of way.

It was well written, though I could have done without a few of the plot twists at the end. They just seemed to keep going and going.

Another thing is the foreshadowing at the end of almost every chapter. It left me constantly on edge. Which was probably the point.

Three years ago Miles Loredan believed he had killed the bloodthirsty fiend known as the Vampire of London. When a beautiful sleuth named Clio Thornton stumbles upon what can only be the Vampire's latest victim, Miles is drawn into a terrifying race against the clock. Captivated at once by intelligent, lovely Clio, his first impulse is to protect her. And every clue points to the Vampire's next victim: Clio herself.

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Finished: Sunday 20/1/08

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Book two-sixty-six: Bobby Fays Very, (Very, Very, Very) Bad Day

Bobbie Fays Very, (Very, Very, Very) Bad Day (2007)
Toni McGee Causey

I can’t say I enjoyed reading about Bobbie Fays’s day any more than you’d imagine she enjoyed living through it. I didn’t like old Bobbie all that much. She was frustrating. And everyone around her loved her, even those who hated her. It was all a bit too Betsy for me.

Cajun beauty queen Bobbie Faye Sumrall is having a bad day: after a burst water pipe breaks her sorry-excuse-for-a-trailer in half, she accidentally robs a bank, tries to free her good-for-nothing brother from kidnappers, takes a hostage (also accidentally), flees with him through the treacherous swamps of Louisiana, eludes an angry bear as well as her disgruntled cop ex-boyfriend, hotwires a speedboat, and kills a dangerous snake with her knife. And the day isn’t even over.

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Finished: Saturday 19/1/08

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Book two-sixty-five: Know Me Off of My Feet

Knock Me Off of My Feet (2002)
Susan Donovan

Rating: 2.5/5

Pretty good.

Autumn Adams never planned to follow in her mother's footsteps as Chicago's answer to Martha Stewart--she can't cook, doesn't clean, and would rather play soccer than discuss the joys of white bathtub grout. Then some lunatic starts sending her threats in the mail and Audie finds herself under the protection of simmering, sexy Detective Stacey Quinn, a man determined to examine her every nook, cranny, and ex-boyfriend in his effort to find the stalker. A disarming combination of macho cop and sweet charmer, Quinn is hard to resist. But with Audie's bad luck at finding and holding on to Mr. Right, she think it's best to keep her distance...Quinn soon discovers that the real Audie is an alluring blend of fantasy babe and tender-hearted female all wrapped up in what he can only hope is leopard-print underwear. She's not what he's always pictured for himself, but could she be everything he'll ever need?Digging through Audie's many layers could turn out to be the hottest, craziest, sexiest bit of detective work Quinn has ever attempted...if it doesn't kill him first.

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Finished: Friday 18/1/08

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Book two-sixty-four: Splendid

Splendid (1995)
Julia Quinn

While it isn’t as sharp as her more recent books, it is still very funny. I’m pretty sure this is the first book she published.

Alexander Ridgely, the Duke of Ashbourne, is determined to avoid marriage. Unfortunately, his family is just as determined to see him wed. Emma Dunster, in London for a season, is determined to return to Boston to run her father's shipping company. But Emma's British cousins are just as determined to see her settle in England. Sparks --and laughter-- fly when all these terribly determined people cross paths during one very splendid London spring.

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Finished: Friday 18/1/08

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Book two-sixty-three: What She Really Wants for Christmas

What She Really Wants for Christmas (2007)
Debbi Rawlins

Rating: 1/5

I didn’t really enjoy this. I didn’t think the premise was plausible… why would you give up your whole life and personal safety just so you didn’t have to admit one tiny mistake to one of your best friends, who if they were a decent (and normal) person wouldn’t’ have cared any way?

Thanks to a spectacularly bad ex-boyfriend, Liza Skinner is in one heck of a mess. She's lost not only her amazing job at Atlanta's hottest TV talk show, but also her best friends and her share of millions of lottery bucks! Frankly, a blackmailing ex is the cherry on Liza's misery sundae! But then an unexpected date with Dr. Hunky-Hunk, Evan Gann, turns Liza's life around again, especially when she suspects the good doctor is quite a bit naughtier than she first thought. So that whipped cream from her sundae might come in handy for those sinfully delicious nights… Nights that will end for certain if Evan discovers what she's been hiding!

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Finished: Thursday 17/1/08

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Book two-sixty-two: Prince Charming

Prince Charming (2000)
Gaelen Foley

Rating: 2.5/5

This was pretty good too. I was just annoyed by some of it.

Reforming the Royal Rakehell

Destiny casts its hand one perfect moonlit night when Ascension’s most elusive highwayman, the Masked Rider, chooses the wrong coach to rob. For inside is Rafael, the prince of the kingdom, renowned for his hot-blooded pursuits of women and other decadent pleasures. The failed raid leaves the equally notorious Masked Rider wounded and facing a hangman’s noose. Then Rafe realizes his captive criminal is Lady Daniela Chiaramonte, a defiant beauty who torments him, awakening his senses and his heart as no woman has before.

Dani can only wonder if she’s been delivered to heaven or hell once she agrees to marry the most desirable man in the Mediterranean – until forces of treachery threaten to destroy their tenuous alliance and bring down the throne itself. . .

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Finished: Thursday 17/1/08

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Book two-sixty one: Princess

Princess (1999)
Gaelen Foley

Rating: 3/5

I really liked this one.

The Only Woman He Wanted . . . Was The One He Couldn't Have

Darius Santiago is the King’s most trusted spy. He is charming, ruthless, and he has one weakness – the stunning Princess Serafina. She is all he has ever wanted and everything he cannot have. Serafina has always worshiped Darius, knowing that deep in the reaches of her soul, where she is not royalty, but a flesh-and-blood woman, she belongs to this dangerous man. Unable to suppress their desire, they are swept into a daring dance of passion until a deadly enemy threatens to destroy their new love.

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Finished: Wednesday 16/1/08

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Book two-sixty: When It Happens

When It Happens (2006)
Susane Colasanti

Rating: 3/5

This was really funny, although I found the opening few chapters a little confusing.

At the start of her senior year in high school, Sara wants two things: to get into a top college and to find true love.

Tobey also wants two things for his senior year: to win Battle of the Bands and to make Sara fall in love with him.

However, a popular jock named Dave moves in on Sara first. But Tobey’s quirky wit and big blue eyes are hard for Sara to ignore. Plus, he gets the little things that matter to her. Can a slacker rock-star wannabe win the heart of a pretty class brain like Sara?

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Finished: Tuesday 15/1/08

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Book two-fifty-nine: The Pirate Prince

The Pirate Prince (1998)
Gaelen Foley

Rating: 2/5

While I kind of enjoyed the drama, sometimes they would say something that would seem out of place for the time period and it would pull me out of it.

The World Saw A Pirate...She Saw A Prince.On a calm, moonlit night, as the scent of jasmine and pine embraces the island of Ascension, the pirate prince Lazar di Fiore returns with lethal grace to avenge what was stolen from him: his kingdom, his birthright, his soul.When Allegra Monteverdi, the daughter of Lazar's sworn enemy, throws herself on his mercy, Lazar agrees to spare the lives of her family—but only if Allegra sails away with him as his captive.Alone at sea with this dark, intriguing man, moving between seduction and fear, Allegra realizes it will take more than her growing love for this pirate prince to bring peace to her beloved home. For Lazar must face the demons of his shattered past - if he is to forge the destiny that is theirs to claim. . . .

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Finished: Tuesday 15/1/08

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Book two-hundred-and-fifty-eight: Wicked Ways of a Duke

Wicked Ways of a Duke (2008)
Laura Lee Guhrke

When I was reading this, I couldn’t really figure out what was bothering me about it. Then it hit me: the hero really isn’t that admirable. Particularly in the first half of the book.

I just didn’t feel that he deserved her. I’m still not convinced.

Once upon a time, there was a seamstress named Prudence who lived in a lodging house, worked very hard, and dreamed of a better life. Then she inherited a fortune, met a handsome duke, and fell in love. Her life was wonderful, and it seemed as if she was destined to live happily ever after.

Then she found out money can’t buy happiness, handsome dukes can also be wicked, lying scoundrels, and a broken heart hurts like hell. Will Prudence ever find true love and happiness? Will the wicked duke mend his ways? Will she take him back or kick him to the curb?

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Finished: Monday 14/1/08

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Book two-fifty-seven: Leaving Paradise

Leaving Paradise (2007)
Simone Elkeles

Rating: 3.5/5

I am conflicted about this book. I thought it was really good up until the last two pages. I just think the ending was unsatisfying. I think the main thing I want from an ending is to know that the characters who went through all these terrible things are going to be okay in the future and I really don’t feel that from “let’s get pie.”

Sure, they will be well fed, but what the hell is actually going on in their lives?

May be there will be a sequel.

Nothing has been the same since Caleb Becker left a party drunk, got behind the wheel, and hit Maggie Armstrong. Even after months of painful physical therapy, Maggie walks with a limp. Her social life is nil and a scholarship to study abroad-her chance to escape everyone and their pity stares-has been canceled. After a year in juvenile jail, Caleb's free . . . if freedom means endless nagging from a transition coach and the prying eyes of the entire town. Coming home should feel good, but his family and ex-girlfriend seem like strangers.
Caleb and Maggie are outsiders, pigeon-holed as "criminal" and "freak." Then the truth emerges about what really happened the night of the accident and, once again, everything changes. It's a bleak and to journey for Caleb and Maggie, yet they end up finding comfort and strength from a surprising source: each other.

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Finished: Saturday 13/1/08

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Book two-fifty-six: An Affair Before Christmas

An Affair Before Christmas (2007)
Eloisa James

Rating: 4.5/5

Darn. Now I really really want to know what’s going to happen at that house party or the ball that was going on in the last chapter for that matter.

I really enjoyed this. I now love Villers just as I suspected I would. I think he will grow on me even more in books to come. I still don’t particularly like Charlotte, but I’m not as “why the hell am I reading about her for?” when stuff is written from her point of view. In the first book, it seemed a bit out of left field, but now you can see where she fits a bit better.

Speaking of not liking people that much, Harriet is another one on my lukewarm list. She is also seems to be one of the main characters in the next book (though can you ever really tell?), so hopefully she will also become more interesting.

One spectacular Christmas, Lady Perdita Selby, known to her friends and family as Poppy, met the man she thought she would love forever. The devilishly attractive Duke of Fletcher was the perfect match for the innocent, breathtakingly beautiful young Englishwoman, and theirs was the most romantic wedding she had ever seen. Four years later, Poppy and the Duke have become the toast of the ton... but behind closed doors it seems the spark of their love affair has burnt out.Unwilling to lose the woman he still lusts after, the duke is determined to win back his beguiling brides delectable affections . . . and surpass the heady days of first love with a truly sinful seduction.

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Finished: Saturday 12/1/08

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Book two-fifty-five: Desperate Duchess

Desperate Duchess (2007)
Eloisa James

Rating: 4.25/5

I knew I shouldn’t have read this. I been deliberately avoiding buying it since it came out because I knew that she would do her usual trick of having a story that goes through all the books in the series, and as there are still four more to be published, I knew that I could just read them all back to back like I have with all her other series.

So, of course I read it. And of course now I am desperate (hardy ha!) to find out what happens with Jemma and Elijah.

I loved Roberta and Damon. I love Teddy. Hell, I may even love Villers (I’m figuring he’s the Mayne of the series, so I’m giving him a fair go).

A marquess's sheltered only daughter, Lady Roberta St. Giles falls in love with a man she glimpses across a crowded ballroom: a duke, a chess player of consummate skill, a notorious rake who shows no interest in marriage -- until he lays eyes on Roberta.

Yet the Earl of Gryffyn knows too well that the price required to gain a coronet is often too high. Damon Reeve, the earl, is determined to protect the exquisite Roberta from chasing after the wrong destiny.

Can Damon entice her into a high-stakes game of his own, even if his heart is likely to be lost in the venture?

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Finished: Friday 11/1/08

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Book two-fifty-four: Baby Proof

Baby Proof (2006)
Emily Giffin

Rating: 1.5/5

I really liked all of Giffin’s previous novels. This one however annoyed me so much. I actually gave up reading it at the point where she leaves her husband over one comment and divorces him without even TALKING to him about it.

I decided to start reading it again, figuring that I must have misinterpreted something. No, she really did leave him over one comment.

Well, not really. She left him because he wanted to have a baby after they had already agreed not to. Fair enough I guess. (I can’t even be bothered to go into the fact that this book makes no wanting to have children seem like such a Big Deal.)

But the scene in which this all comes to a head and she walks out is just so anti-climatic and lame that I just couldn’t believe that someone would actually leave after it.

I suppose in a novel such as this one, you are supposed to believe that her husband is wonderful. I mean, you read a recount of them falling in love. You’re supposed to see he’s great. Amazing.

So why does she deserve him when all she’s offering him is someone who’ll walk out after a non-fight.

The writing also kind of annoyed me here. So much of what she writes is retelling in past tense, with occasional dialogue. Sometimes it feels like you are reading nothing but background, waiting for the story to start.

Claudia and Ben seem to be the perfect couple. Ever since their first date, when they discovered that neither saw children in their future, the path of their relationship seems destined to succeed. They envisage a life filled with freedom, possibility and exploration. Claudia and Ben are together because they want to be, not because children are caging them with eighteen years of obligation. But things don't always stay the same. Ben's best friend and his wife get pregnant, and suddenly Ben changes his mind. He does want children after all. This is the story of a couple at a crossroads - and a woman who must decide what she wants most in life. BABY PROOF explores searing emotional consequences and impossible dilemmas with sensitivity and wit, depth and lashings of heart.

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Finished: Tuesday 8/1/08

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Book two-fifty-three: The Rules of Gentility

The Rules of Gentility (2007)
Janet Mullany

Rating: 4.5/5

I laughed out loud at this so many times that people started to complain. Apparently, nothing could be that funny, but this really was. And quirky. And completely unlike any other Regency novel I have read since I discovered of them.

I loved it. It is funny and the characters are flawed and real.

There was one part I didn’t like towards the end, but I forgive the author completely. If for no other reason than she has the most interesting character names ever.

Regency heiress Philomena Wellesley-Clegg has rather strong opinions about men and clothing. As to the former, so far two lords, a viscount, and a mad poet have fallen far short of her expectations. But she is about to meet Inigo Linsley, an unshaven, wickedly handsome man with a scandalous secret. He's nothing she ever dreamed she'd want—why then can she not stop thinking about how he looks in his breeches?

A delightful marriage of Pride and Prejudice with Bridget Jones's Diary, Janet Mullany's The Rules of Gentility transports us to the days before designer shoes, apple martinis, and speed dating—when great bonnets, punch at Almack's, and the marriage mart were in fashion—and captivates us with a winsome heroine who learns that some rules in society are made to be broken.

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Finished: Sunday 6/1 /08

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Book two-fifty-two: Major Crush

Major Crush (2006)
Jennifer Echols

Rating: 4/5

When I started reading this, I was very confused. What the hell is a band major anyway? I’d never heard of such a thing before. I kind of thought that people in those marching bands were all of the same level with a teacher or whoever in charge. Turns out it is much more complicated.

I really liked this story, mostly for its really witty and funny dialogue. I also really liked the two main characters – and the face that they were all Broody McAngsty with their Issues.

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more books by this author.

Marching to the beat of a different drum...

Tired of the beauty-pagean circuit, Virginia Sauter tosses her tiara, pierces her nose, and auditions for the most unlikely of roles -- drum major of the high school marching band.
Virginia wins, but is forced to share the title with Drew, whose family has held the position for generations. Sure, Drew is hot, but because of his superior attitude, he and Virginia are constantly arguing. That is, until they share more than just their half-time salute...

But as the drum major's heated competition turns to sizzling romance, explosive rumors threaten everything -- including the band's success. Love seemed to be a sure hit, but Virginia and Drew may be marching straight into disaster.

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Finished: Saturday 5/1/08

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Book two-fifty-one: Heiress for Hire

Heiress for Hire (2007)
Erin McCarthy

Rating: 3/5

After being disappointed by my last McCarthy outing, I was hesitant about reading this, but it ended up being really fun. I didn’t realise until I started reading it, that it was actually a sort-of-sequel to A Date With the Other Side which I had for once read already.

Chicago ex-socialite Amanda Delmar's father has cut her off, and now she must do the unthinkable-work. Single father Danny Tucker hires her to babysit his daughter, not knowing that this debutante might just find a place in his heart.

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Finished: Saturday 5/1/08

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Book two-fifty: Never Lie to a Lady

Never Lie to a Lady (2007)
Liz Carlyle

Rating: 2/5

I was disappointed with this, it wasn’t as good as some of her other books I’ve read. Maybe the next in the series will be better.

The notorious Marquis of Nash is a creature of the night; his wealth and his title provide but a tenuous entrée into polite society. With his Eastern European manners and dark elegance, Nash tempts women even as he tempts the scandalmongers. Rumors abound of the men he has bankrupted and the hearts he has broken. But when Nash leaves his lair for a rare foray into the ton, and enjoys a moment of heated passion with a mysterious lady in the dark, he develops an obsession which will lead him into the hellish world of smugglers, spies, and political intrigue as the Continent edges nearer to war.

Xanthia Neville has arrived in London to expand her family’s most lucrative business holding—Neville Shipping. With her brother Rothewell all too happy to waste his life in debauchery, Xanthia opens up shop in London’s grimy Docklands, and sets about expanding the family fortune, all the while flaunting the ton’s silly strictures about how a lady ought to behave. But London, she soon learns, is not Barbados. And when the British Government approaches Rothewell to ask the family’s help in exposing a dangerous arms dealer, Xanthia must enter society after all, only to find her loyalties torn. Someone in London is fueling the conflict on the Balkan Peninsula by smuggling illicit weapons into the Aegean—and there is only one likely suspect. The Marquis of Nash has the resources, the contacts and, quite possibly, the deeply divided loyalties. But can Xanthia’s subterfuge prove him a traitor to the Crown before her heart is broken?

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Finished: Friday 4/1/08

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Book two-forty-nine: Smart Mouth

Smart Mouth (2004)
Erin McCarthy

Rating: 1/5

The main character annoyed me. A lot.

This is one of those cases where a perfectly nice person falls in “love” with a self-centred and annoying main character. I don’t get it.

It just annoyed me that she was pretty much trying to ruin his whole career, while at the same time jeopardise a CRIMMINAL INVESTIGATION, and he was just like ‘gee, isn’t she cute?’

No!!! Arrest her for interfering with the path of justice, don’t apologise because she isn’t getting what she wanted…. When you were going to give her what she wanted in the end… all she had to do was wait…. Grrr….

Undercover FBI agent Derek Knight has no idea what he's in for. His game plan for having a confidential witness leave an envelope for him in a Ford Taurus falls like a house of cards when the witness turns out to be colour blind, leaving the envelope in the wrong car.

Reporter Reece Hampton really has no idea what she's in for - the red Taurus she's just hopped into is now the focal point of Knight's attention since it mistakenly contains the crucial evidential envelope. Driving like a bat of hell, Reece and Knight play a game of cat and mouse until he's finally able to pull her over at a deli parking lot - but all hell breaks loose when by-standers see the overzealous Knight confront the unsuspecting and clueless reporter.

After the police are called in and finally get to the heart of the matter, Reece ducks out a back door and reads the contents in the envelope which contains information that could, quite possibly, propel her career from reporting local weddings to big stories in the big time. By the time Knight catches up with her, sparks fly, and both, needing each other's help to succeed, make a very sexy team who will not be beaten.

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Finished: Thursday 3/1/08

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Book two-forty-eight: Too Perfect

Too Perfect (2005)
Julie Ortolon

Rating: 1.5/5

Nothing much really happens apart from a few bizarrely unbelievable things at the end.

Maddy, Christine and Amy are thrilled that their old college suite-mate has written a bestselling book, How to Have the Perfect Life—until they realize she used them as examples of how women let fear screw up their lives. The worst part is…it’s sort of true. Together they make a pact: they each have one year to face down their fears—and maybe show Miss Perfect a thing or two!

A Wandering Duckling

Defying the terrible sense of direction that's kept her form traveling, Amy ships out as a nanny on a Caribbean cruise--and promptly gets lost when they stop on St. Bart's. Now she's stranded without any money--or even a toothbrush!

A Two-Faced Beast

Locals say that Gaspar, owner of the island's crumbling fortress, is a hideous recluse. They call him La Bête, "The Beast." But when Amy applies for a job at the fort, she meets only his charming assistant, Beaufort. In truth, the two are the same man--billionaire Byron Parks, who's desperately seeking privacy and peace.

A Perfect Fairy Tale?

Amy aches for the miserable man secluded in the fortress tower. Through e-mail, they begin an imaginative exchange of romantic fantasies. Byron is hopelessly smitten with his sexy storyteller--but will his real-life make-believe ruin their happy ending?

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Finished: Wednesday 2/1/08

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Book two-forty-seven: Just Perfect

Just Perfect (2005)
Julie Ortolon

Rating: 1.5/5

A bit boring at times.

Maddy, Christine and Amy are thrilled that their old college suite-mate has written a bestselling book, How to Have the Perfect Life—until they realize she used them as examples of how women let fear screw up their lives. The worst part is…it’s sort of true. Together they make a pact: they each have one year to face down their fears—and maybe show Miss Perfect a thing or two!

AN ICE PRINCESS

You have to be tough to work in the ER—but Dr. Christine Ashton's courage doesn't extend to riding a chairlift, no matter how much she loves skiing. Her challenge is to strap on a pair of skis and conquer her fear of heights. The bigger challenge, though, will be resisting the sexy ski instructor her friends have deemed off-limits.

A SKI BUM

Alec Hunter is more than just a fun-loving charmer and nothing like the users, losers, and strays Christine usually winds up with. But she's still giving him the cold shoulder, and he's determined to prove how wrong she is about him.

A PERFECT DISASTER?

After helping the victim of a snowboarding accident, the two fall hard and fast—with enough heat to melt the mountains. And everything is just perfect—until Christine must face kind of fear and choose between her dream job back home and her dream man in Colorado.

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Finished: Tuesday 1/1/08

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Book two-forty-six: Enchanting Pleasures

Enchanting Pleasures (2001)
Eloisa James

Rating: 4.5/5

I liked this one the best of all of them. It was a very interesting premise. Nothing like anything I’d ever read.

Gabrielle Jerningham cherishes the portrait of her betrothed, the perfect Peter Dewland...until she meets his commanding older brother Quill.

But it is Peter to whom she has been promised. And how can she possibly transform her voluptuous, outspoken self into the poised gentlewoman Peter requires?

When Gabby's shocking décolletage plunges to her waist at her first ball, Peter is humiliated. But Quill comes to the rescue, to the peril of his heart. An accident years before has left Quill plagued by headaches--the kind that grows more excruciating with strenuous exercise. Needless to say, this hardly bodes well for siring progeny. But the very sight of Gabby leaves Quill breathless. One forbidden kiss and Quill vows to have her, headaches--and Peter--be damned! But it will take a clever man--and a cleverer woman--to turn the tables on propriety and find their way to true love....

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Finished: Monday 31/12

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Book two-forty-five: Midnight Pleasures

Midnight Pleasures (2000)
Eloisa James

Rating: 4.25/5

Obviously, I had to read the whole trilogy as quickly as possible. I think this was better than the first.

To her legions of adoring suitors, it comes as quite a shock when Lady Sophie York rejects an offer of marriage from the dashing, rakish Patrick Foakes in favor of amiable but dull Bradden Chatwin. He may be an earl, but it is Patrick's stolen kisses that sear her lips.

When Patrick, in disguise, scales a ladder to retrieve his friend's fiancée, he never expects the elopement to be his own. Neither does Sophie, Braddon, or the rest of the tattling ton. One hasty wedding later, the passionate innocent and the sophisticated rogue play out their own intricate dance as Sophie masters what it takes to keep a man where he belongs. And Patrick learns the ultimate lesson in love.

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Finished: Monday 31/12

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Book two-forty-four: Potent Pleasures

Potent Pleasures (1999)
Eloisa James

Rating: 4/5

I love Elosia James’s books. They are all soooo good. I think this was the first book she published and even though she has gotten better over the last ten or so books, it was still really good. I read it in one sitting. (I mean, that’s not particularly unusual, but in this case I was very cranky when people tried to talk to me).

Nothing is more seductive than temptation.

Reckless desire sends Charlotte Daicheston into the garden with a dashing masked stranger. He's powerful, unforgettable, a devastatingly handsome footman who lures her--not against her will--into a grand indiscretion at a masquerade ball. Then he vanishes.

Several years later, after Charlotte has made her dazzling debut in London society, they meet again. But the rogue is no footman. He's rich, titled, and he doesn't remember Charlotte. Worse, he's the subject of some scandalous gossip: rumor has it, the earl's virility is in question.

Charlotte, who knows all too intimately the power of his passion, is stunned by the gossip that has set society ablaze. At last, there can be a storybook ending...unless, of course, Charlotte's one mad indiscretion had not been with him at all....

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Finished: Sunday 30/12

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Book two-forty-three: Almost Perfect

Almost Perfect (2005)
Julie Ortolon

Rating: 1.75/5

Okay.

Maddy, Christine and Amy are thrilled that their old college suite-mate has written a bestselling book, How to Have the Perfect Life—until they realize she used them as examples of how women let fear screw up their lives. The worst part is…it’s sort of true. Together they make a pact: they each have one year to face down their fears—and maybe show Miss Perfect a thing or two!
A Free Spirit

Maddy was always the artistic one of the group, alive with color and mischief from her saucy red curls to her vintage hippie skirts. Her challenge, the friends decide, is to get her artwork accepted at a gallery. A job as arts director at a summer camp near Santa Fe—with its multitude of galleries—seems like a start in the right direction.

A Reformed Bad Boy

There’s just one catch: The camp is run by Maddy’s high school flame, Joe, whose heart she broke—okay, smashed—and his anger towards Maddy hasn’t cooled one bit. But neither has their attraction.

A Perfect Match?

Old desires burn hotter than ever as Joe makes it clear there's only one way back to his heart: She has to get serious about her art. But will falling in love help or hinder Maddy as she struggles to meet her challenge?

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Finished: Saturday 29/12

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Book two-forty-two: Thirty Nothing

Thirty Nothing (2000)
Lisa Jewell

Rating: 3.5/5

I really liked this, even though the two main characters were a bit stupid at times. The thing I really enjoyed was finding out all the back story between them and finally understanding what was going on in the present.

Have you ever wondered what happened to your first love?

Imagine bumping into your first love twelve years after you last saw her. Imagine that she's even better-looking that she was when she was eighteen and that you ask her out for dinner and she says yes. This is what happens to Dig Ryan on the day of this thirtieth birthday
Now imagine that you're Nadine, Dig's best friend for the last fifteen years.

Imagine that Delilah was your nemesis at school and that even after twelve years, you can't bear to be around her. You might find yourself feeling unexpectedly jealous and you might do something really childish like phoning your first love and asking him out, just to get your own back.

This is a story about ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends and what happens when you start messing with the past. It's also a story about best friends and growing up and how sometimes what you're looking for isn't in the past or the future, but right under your nose.

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Finished: Saturday 29/12

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Book two-forty-one: Don’t Look Down

Don’t Look Down (2006)
Jennifer Crusie and Bob Meyer

Rating: 1.5/5

I’m so glad I read Agnes and the Hitman first or otherwise I might not have bothered. I didn’t like this much at all. I was pretty much constantly annoyed at the characters. Why did he JT or whatever his name was, believe so easily the guy was from the CIA or FBI or whatever? Why did they have scenes in which they are constantly interrupted by annoying people coming to annoy them and thus annoying me?

Why?

Lucy Armstrong has come to Savannah to finish the last four days of filming on a romantic action movie called Don't Look Down. What should be an easy shoot is made a lot more difficult by the stunt coordinator (Lucy's ex-husband, Connor Nash), the script supervisor (Lucy's very unhappy sister, Daisy), an inquisitive five-year-old (Lucy's niece, Pepper), the backer (a sinister Irishman named Finnegan), and one strong and silent stunt man (J. T. Wilder, the stuff Lucy's dreams are made of). Then she starts to look beneath the surface and realizes that, unless she finds out what's going on fast, the movie isn't going to be the only thing that's finished in four days.

J. T. Wilder has come to Savannah to make some quick money as a stunt double while on leave from the Army (he's a Green Beret). What should be an easy job is made a lot more difficult by the star he's doubling for (goofball Bryce McKay), the starlet who's intent on seducing him (Althea Bergdorf, not that he's putting up much of a fight), his skirt-chasing best friend (gonzo-pilot Rene LaFavre), an eagle-eyed five-year-old (binocular-toting Pepper Armstrong), and a tough, exasperated director (Lucy Armstrong, the stuff Wilder's dreams are starting to be made of). Then the CIA calls and Wilder realizes that somebody is taking "shooting a movie" much too literally.

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Finished: Friday 28/12

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Book two-hundred-and-forty: Two Way Street

Two Way Street (2007)
Lauren Barnholdt

Rating: 4/5

So good. Barnholdt somehow manages to pull off the non-linear thing (which usually bugs me the way flashbacks bug me) really really well.

Also, I thought the ending wasn’t dissatisfying as so many YAs of this type can be.

There are two sides to every breakup.This is Jordan and Courtney, totally in love. Sure, they were an unlikely high school couple. But they clicked; it worked. They're even going to the same college, and driving cross-country together for orientation. Then Jordan dumps Courtney -- for a girl he met on the Internet. It's too late to change plans, so the road trip is on. Courtney's heartbroken, but figures she can tough it out for a few days. La la la -- this is Courtney pretending not to care. But in a strange twist, Jordan cares. A lot. Turns out, he's got a secret or two that he's not telling Courtney. And it has everything to do with why they broke up, why they can't get back together, and how, in spite of it all, this couple is destined for each other.

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Finished: Friday 28/12

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Book two-hundred-and-thirty-nine: Keturah and Lord Death

Keturah and Lord Death (2006)
Martine Leavitt

Rating: 3/5

Am I weird in that I spent most of this book thinking “oh, come on Keturah, be a bit nicer to Lord Death. Sure, he wants to kill you (and eventually everyone you know), but look at his good points….”

Keturah gets lost in the woods one dark night and is discovered by young, handsome Lord Death. He is ready to take her life, but after she charms him with a love story he gives her a reprieve: She'll become his bride unless she can find her one true love within twenty-four hours. With the help of her friends, an old witch, and a magic eyeball, Keturah searches her village for the one thing that can save her-a love greater than death.

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Finished: Thursday 27/12

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Book two-hundred-and-thirty-eight: The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes

The Unfortunates Miss Fortunes (2007)
Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer and Anne Stuart

Rating: 3/5

This was pretty good, but I think I would have liked it better if it had been three separate stories, or novels for that matter. I just found it jumped around too much.

The three Fortune sisters of Salem’s Fork have a few problems, like the supernatural powers they haven’t quite mastered yet—Dee’s a shapeshifter, Lizzie transmutes things, and Mare’s psychokinetic—and their Aunt Xan who’s clearly up to no good. But one fine Friday morning they each meet a man—Mare gets two—and after that their lives are full of outraged owls, purple bunnies, libido spells, and beds that go bump in the night (on the ceiling).

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Finished: Thursday 27/12

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Book two-hundred-and-thirty-seven: Eight Grade Bites

Eight Grade Bites (2007)
Heather Brewer

Rating: 3.5/5

I really liked Vlad. The only thing wrong with this book is that it’s the start of a series, therefore there is a lot of unanswered questions and stage building… apart from that it was really funny.

If you thought eighth grade was tough, try it with fangs and a fear of garlic. Junior high school really sucks for thirteen-year-old Vladimir Tod, and not in the good slurp-up-the-blood kind of way. A gang of bullies harasses him daily, the principal is dogging his every move, and the girl he really likes prefers his best friend. Oh, and Vlad has to hide the fact that he's a vampire. When the one teacher he really connects with mysteriously vanishes, Vlad is determined to find him. But then Vlad finds an unsettling note scribbled across his essay: “I know your secret.”

Vlad must locate his missing teacher, dodge the principal, resist the bullies’ tempting invitations to Bite me!, and get a date for the dance—all before he is exposed for the teen vampire he is.

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Finished: Wednesday 26/12

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Book two-hundred-and-thirty-six: Agnes and the Hitman

Agnes and the Hitman (2007)
Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

Rating: 4/5

This book is as good as the cover. Funny, quirky and very very entertaining.

Agnes Crandall, a food columnist better known as Cranky Agnes,knows she's in trouble when a dognapper invades her kitchen one night, seriously hampering her attempts to put on a wedding that she’s staked her entire net worth on. Then a hero climbs through her bedroom window . . .

That’s Shane who has his own problems: he’s got a big hit scheduled, a rival trying to take him out, and an ex-mobster uncle asking him to protect some kid named little Agnes. Then Agnes turns out to be not so little and the problem turns out to be a missing five million bucks. Agnes and Shane have their hands full with a bunch of lowlifes looking for the money, a string of hit men coming for Agnes, a lot of wedding guests arriving for the wedding, and—most of all--with each other.

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Finished: Tuesday 25/12

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Book two-hundred-and-thirty-five: Catch of the Day

Catch of the Day (2007)
Kristan Higgins

Rating: 4/5

I loved this. It was just a really great story about normal people. It seemed very… real, I guess?




First Date a la Maggie

Take one lovelorn diner owner (me)

A generous helping of nosy local gossips

A dollop of envy at married sister's perfect life

A splash of divine intervention (my matchmaking priest)
Combine ingredients and add one strong-but-silent lobsterman with a hidden heart of gold.

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Finished: Monday 24/12

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Book two-hundred-and-thirty-four: Santa Baby

Santa Baby (2006)
Jennifer Crusie, Lori Foster and Carly Phillips

Rating: 3/5

The Jennifer Crusie story made this worth importing.

The only bad thing about it, was I spent the next day walking around singing Santa Baby under my breath… thankfully it was Christmas Eve, so no one thought it was too weird.

Trudy Maxwell goes looking for the Hot Toy of 2006 on Christmas Eve to keep her nephew's faith in Santa Claus and life in general, and runs into toy hijackers, the CIA, Chinese spies, and the lit professor who dumped her after three dates. Then the shooting starts. Anthology includes reprints of stories by Lori Foster ("Christmas Bonus") and Carly Phillips ("Naughty Under the Mistletoe").

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Finished: Sunday 23/12

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Book two-thirty-three: Whispers of the Night

Whispers of the Night (2006)
Lydia Joyce

Rating: 1/5

This is the first book I have read by Lydia Joyce. I had hear a lot of really good things about her, but this was disappointing. The worse thing is, the writing was really good. I liked her style and everything. I just didn’t like the heroine and the second half of the book where they are captured and escape and are capture and escape and are capture and escape and are captured and so on.

So, I guess I didn’t like the plot, but the writing was good. I’d read another of her books and hope there are no rebels involved.

When four London seasons fail to find her a suitable match, Alcyone Carter does the unthinkable and treks across Europe to marry a foreign nobleman she's never met. But on her wedding night, she discovers her handsome, enigmatic husband is not the man he claimed to be. Rather than live a lie, she escapes his estate into the darkness. But her husband-ignited by his desire and pride-risks everything to follow her from the depths of the Romanian forests into the decadent heart of Istanbul, where they're forced to confront the sensual passion they've discovered-and the dire threat that could cost them both their lives.

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Finished: Friday 21/12

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Book two-hundred-and-thirty-two: Her Secret Fantasy

Her Secret Fantasy (2007)
Gaelen Foley

Rating: 3/5

I liked this heaps better than the first series. Hopefully the next will be even better…

Some say the aristocratic Balfour clan is cursed, a once-great family now in slow decline. Graceful Lily Balfour is her family’s last hope, and she has come to London with one goal—to marry a rich man.

Her well-laid plans are balked, however, by the irresistible Major Derek Knight, a handsome highborn soldier and adventurer newly returned from India.Hardened by battles on India’s lawless frontiers, Derek is not just a fighter but a skilled and insatiable lover—a master of the Eastern arts of pleasure. Though Derek finds no shortage of willing women in London, it is the aloof, untouchable Lily who haunts him. After one stolen moment, he hungers for nights of sensual abandon to fulfill her fantasies and free her from her self-imposed prison. But he has come to England on a vital secret mission, and when Lily is betrothed to a wealthy man suspected of corruption, Derek must thwart the treachery that ensnares them both—for only then will ecstasy and the sweet promise of her heart be his to claim.

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Finished: Thursday 20/12

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