House Call

Due to a medical emergency involving John this past Saturday evening, my weekend and work week has been gladly adjusted so I can stay home and take care of him. According to him, it isn't necessary, but I gladly argue that I would've rested a lot better if I did. I'll be out of his hair tomorrow night when I return to work and begin a 4-day stretch. Ugh...

Sooo, I don't have a TBR Challenge review to post since I haven't read a blessed thing for about a week now. I tried, oh how I tried -- but my mind just isn't in it. It didn't stop me from buying books though -- ah, hell nah. I picked up the very talked about Sarah Palin book for John as a 'get well' present, and I did get the new Nora Roberts and two other books for myself. Titles escape me, however. And I can't wait until my Harlequin shipment gets in this week...

Other than that -- I got nothin'. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Oh, I did learn to make a traditional fettucine alfredo today, though. Mine turned out to be penne alfredo, but the taste is still terrific. I never realized that alfredo sauce is nothing but stock, butter and parmeggiano cheese, mixed with hot cooked pasta. John actually tore it up tonight, and that's saying something because he's a Picky Eater.

*sigh* I'm so entertaining, no?

Dress Up

So, I'm sitting in a hotel room up in pituresque North Carolina. Today I'm hiding out to catch the Ohio State/Ioway game (can I get a Go, Buckeyes!?), but tomorrow, I'm actually anticipating dressing up in a costume to go to the Renaissance festival. John is already over there, and from the various phone calls we've shared today (because, yes, we're still that sappy even after almost 10 years), he's having a blast. Me -- wear a bodice? O.M.G. The "girls" won't know what hit them, but they'll sure let me know it tomorrow evening - we'll see.

I'm sure this pondering has been put out there before -- how in the hell did the women we love to read in our historical romances put up with those agonizing, torturous bodices, corsets, garters, and good Lord, the underthings?? Really, we're spoiled nowadays and love to bitch about the bras we're forced to wear to not embarass ourselves out in polite company. I know it's all so romantical to read about the necessary sumptuous gowns and evening wear for a lady to put in an appearance at a tonnish ball. But...seriously? Ah well - tomorrow I'll wear a bodice in those women's honor and proudly put the girls up on display. This should seriously gain me some points with John...
;-)

What does this post have to do with anything I've ever talked about here? Well, nothing - it's just my inane rambling while I wait for the football game. Today I'll be the tomboy, wear jeans, drink a light beer or three (cuz I'm such a lightweight), belch and jeer at the game. Tomorrow, I'm a wench.

Christmas Is Coming, the Goose is Getting Fat!

I adore Christmas, seriously. I even enjoy the onslaught of holiday-themed romances that start flooding the market beginning in September. Do I read a ton of Christmas-y books each year? Heh...uh, no. But I try to get in at least two or three before I'm filled to the gills with holiday cheer and merry festivity. Or maybe that's the spiked eggnog...

This year, I've already purchased two of the books pictured below, and I'm up on deck at RRT to review another as well. What's on your TBB list to round out your Christmas season?

I'm going to be honest. I've had a shitty day. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. with The Migraine From Hell, and the usual fix-it of eating 4 ibuprofen and going back to bed with a cool washcloth over my forehead and eyes did not work. Finally this evening it's gone away with only a few "pings" here and there, just little love taps from my poor noggin, reminding me of the aching pain I've been in all day.

But, I didn't log on here to whine about The Migraine From Hell. No, I wanted to talk books. If I could, I'd pop Wendy on the head (gently, cuz..ow) for steering me towards the likes of Chelsea Cain. This chica (Chelsea, not Wendy) knows how to freak the bejeezus out of me! Her sociopath character, Gretchen Lowell, is one messed up biotch. Honestly, take any serial killer out there, fictional or real, and multiply that by about 20. And there you have Gretchen. Holy smokes...

I'm still suffering from the occasional slump, but I was finally able to finish reading BORN OF NIGHT by Sherrilyn Kenyon. A review will be up at Romance Reviews Today one day soon, I hope. I just need to, well, I have to write it for that to happen. I know I've mentioned before that I'm not a sci-fi fan, and I totally don't get Star Trek (except for the most recent movie *fanning self*), but this book was enough for me to go ahead and buy the next one in the series, BORN OF SIN. I may yet get the whole Patricia Briggs thing if this keeps up! I thought I was current and happening because I was enjoying the whole Nalini Singh series, or what I've read thus far. ;-)

Well, back to the books. I promised myself I'd read a bit more of yet another review book I have, and then I may spend some time with Gretchen Lowell later on tonight (*shudder*). For those that have read this series, is it just me that's only able to read this book in doses before walking away from it for a couple hours? The scenes with Gretchen and Archie are staggering!

I've not been particularly entertaining these days, eh? While I've been doing some reading and keeping up with a little of the goings-on across the Blogoverse, things have come to a screeching halt here on my corner. I don't think I've reviewed a book since the first week of October. This week, I'm doing my best to finish up the new Sherrilyn Kenyon book that's actually a re-release, BORN OF NIGHT, the first book in The League series. Now, I'm not a futuristic sci-fi fan, unless you're talking Star Wars, so I wasn't too sure about this one when I was first assigned to it for Romance Reviews Today -- but my opinions can change. And that's all I'm saying on that since it is for review, which means it's an ARC, and I'm only half-way through.

I've seen rumblings around the various blogs I frequent about ebooks and rights, copying, etc etc etc. And when they start throwing in all those legalese words, my brain goes numb and my eyes cross. No offense to those gals, but since I could not be considered current in the ebook and ereader markets, I tend to not get involved. I loved Wendy's post wherein she started a discussion on just where we, as fans of "dead tree books", obtain our stash. Honey, my checkbook and credit card still whimper at the damage I've inflicted on them over the years, adding to my collection. I know I've put more than one author's or Books-A-Million employee's kid through college with the amount of money I've dropped. I'm not above frequenting a used book store, either, or trolling Paperbackswap, although some folks may not be huge fans of them.

I was reading the newest issue of Romantic Times Magazine, and in it they feature the "legends of historical romance". Names like Virginia Henley (one of my alltime faves), Johanna Lindsay, Jo Beverley, Patricia Rice and Mary Balogh are just a few mentioned, and don't get me wrong, I have had my fangirl moments with some of them. But they left one out, one that's personal to me -- Julie Garwood. If it weren't for CASTLES, I may never have jumped on the romance wagon. I was even a huge fan of Linda Lael Miller back in the day as well, although I've gotten away from her (and I'm not sure why). I credit all of these, and more, for giving me hours of entertainment and stress relief during times when I needed it, and even those days when I just wanted to take a mini-adventure. And now I just induced another small TBR anxiety attack on myself because I just remembered that I have a lot more of books by these very same authors (and SO many more) that I have yet to read. Yikes!

What author do you credit for love of romance? If not one particular author, was there a certain book that opened your eyes and made you go hmm?

They're Creepy and They're Spooky II

Now that the leaves are changing color and the nights are getting cooler, it's the perfect time for the hairy, scary books that I love. During the month of October, many people reach for books featuring ghosts, vampires, ghouls, and werewolves -- me, I still stick with the tried and true thriller theme, serial killers. (*fist bump* at Wendy) My reasoning is this: what's scarier than a human being who is capable of doing some seriously heinous shit, right? Criminal Minds has a diehard fan in me (major hots for Matthew Gray Gubler, btw). But I digress...

Last week I finished up CHOSEN TO DIE by Lisa Jackson, the sequel to LEFT TO DIE from July of '08. If you don't mind spoilers, then you won't mind me saying that at the end of LTD, there was a huge set-up for a sequel when one of the main characters, Detective Regan Pescoli, was kidnapped by the as-yet unknown serial killer who's shooting women's tires out, causing them to wreck. Afterwards he nurses them back to health only to take them out and leave them stranded, naked, in the wilderness. All in the dead of winter, during some of the worst snowstorms Montana has ever seen. Real swell guy, eh?

Yeah, I thought so too.

CHOSEN TO DIE features Regan as the potential victim of the seriously whacked MFer who "chooses" the women he'll honor...by making them trust him, and then coldly forcing them to march to their own death. The entire book is not only a suspense that tingles the spine and forced me to keep ALL the lights on in the house, but it's also a study of just how the people in Regan's life react to her disappearance, how they are at odds with not having her in their lives right now, and the possible reality of Regan never coming back. Nate Santana, Regan's lover who was only hinted at in LEFT TO DIE, is forced to come to terms with how he really feels about the her.

While it's only my opinion that LEFT TO DIE had me flipping pages faster, CHOSEN TO DIE made me pause and really take stock of just how much this woman had affected so many people in her life. Honestly, it's a neat character study. In the first book, Regan was almost unlikeable -- almost. While her kids (two teenagers) always came first, the job wasn't too far behind because she figured it was one of the few things she was good at. She doesn't portray herself as a do-good angel without sin. Regan likes to take a lil' nip from the booze bottle once in a while, and if she shows up to work a bit hungover, well, hell, it must have been a great night. However, that never once stops her from doing her job, and at the end of LEFT TO DIE, the people in her small town think that the police have nabbed the Star Crossed Killer, the aforementioned serial killer. Within the first several pages of CHOSEN TO DIE, we're affirmed that he's still out there, and Regan may be his next victim.

Wow, I totally retrospected all over myself here, eh?

CHOSEN TO DIE is vintage Lisa Jackson, and almost exactly what I've come to expect from any suspense book written by her. I think she revved it up a bit more in this one in regards to characterization, though. Was I stupefied and shocked at the end when the killer is revealed? No, not really. But there is a lot of insight as to why he goes to the lengths he does to torment these women. That's really an uncomfortable feeling, if you ask me. When you are able to read and understand some of the motive behind the crimes...oy, *shudder*.

I have it on good authority (from the author's website) that the next book in this series won't be out until 2011. What I've failed to mention in all of this is another character, Detective Selena Alvarez, Regan's partner, who has a seriously bad feeling when Regan doesn't show up to work after a day. My gut's telling me that BORN TO DIE (the title mentioned on the website) will feature Alvarez.

Reminiscing

So, last week I actually read two books which, these days, is an amazing feat all in itself. See, my problem is is that I want to read, I want to be able to become so absorbed in a book that I don't even get dressed and, instead, laze around all day in bed, whiling away the hours, just me and a good book. But lately I haven't been able to become so invested in a novel that I totally lose the entire day like that. I miss it! Back when I first started reading romance, I'd spend an entire afternoon either sitting in my rocking chair or laying on the couch, totally absorbed in my reading. Julie Garwood, Jayne Ann Krentz, Johanna Lindsay, Heather Graham, just to name a few, became my heroes (heroines?) with their ability to spin a tale and totally take me away. And just as soon as I finished one book, I'd pick up another or head out to the library to see what other treasures I might be able to find.
Today, I'm a champion at adding books to my TBR -- I can buy with the best of them! But my reading has dwindled and I'm not sure how I've lost my way. Is it the caliber of the books that are not catching and keeping my attention? Am I burned out on romance? Or do I just have enough things swimming around in my head that my thoughts are easily misdirected? I really need to get back into the swing of things and amp up my reading. I remember many years ago, not long after I'd moved to SC, I spent an entire evening laying on the floor with the patio door wide open so I could enjoy the cool night air (we were in the outer bands of a tropical storm). That night I read an entire Tami Hoag novel from first page to last. When I was done, I immediately went to the office, picked up the sequel I already had a copy of and started it as well. I'm not sure why that evening sticks out in my head, but it's one of my best reading memories.