Quick Contest Update...

OK sweeties, if you haven't made a comment so that you can be entered into the RT gift bag giveaway, you need to do so immediately. After putting the first bag together, I realized I still had a ton of stuff, so I did two more bags! Considering the number of comments so far, the odds are really good that you could win!!!

So what do you win? Books. And stuff. Each gift bag will have at least 3 books and a boatload of cute swag from the RT convention. If you are one of the three winners, I'll even let you tell me your fave genre and I'll try to make sure at least one of the books falls within that category.

Non book swag may include, but is not limited to:
Lip Gloss
Trading cards
Pens
Pencils
Stickers
Magnets
Buttons
Bookmarks
Rulers
Bottle cozies
Change purse
t-shirts

etc, etc., etc...

Richard Armitage and Clive Owen are not included in this giveaway (unfortunately), I just thought they were pretty.  Drawing is Friday, so comment now!

Singing the Winter Blues...

OK, let me just say that January was not my favorite month ever. Besides being busy, traveling across country for work and dealing with Atlanta's Snowapalooza 2011, I have been dealing with some health issues which don't seem to want to go away. All my way of apologizing for the lack of posts lately.  Time and energy have been in equally short supply.

That said, I have certainly been reading more than ever. I started the In Death series by JD Robb while winging my way to Cali and I am currently up to 24. I have decided to go ahead and read the entire series before reviewing, but I will say that I am surprised by how much I'm enjoying these books.

My trip to California was to attend the ALA Midwinter conference in San Diego and I was thrilled to get to meet many amazing writers, including several personal faves. Is it any wonder that I love my job?  The faves I mentioned include Neil Gaiman, T. Jefferson Parker and Stewart O'Nan! They were all crazy smart and funny and very gracious to their fans.  I managed to grab some great ARCs and I am still making my way through this sea of great writing, but here are a few I want to recommend:

If you haven't read something by these three, do so immediately.  They are all fantastic writers and truly cool people as well.  

Also want to give a quick thanks to Beth for her review of the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning.  I started this series last week because I felt like I owed Beth one and I basically devoured it and finished  it on Friday night! You all know that I'm not a fan of paranormals, but this was quite a wild ride and so much fun.  I'm going to give it a while to simmer and then post a longer piece on this one, but if you all are looking for something cleverly written, with interesting characters and one of the hottest male leads ever, then get started on this series now.  And, oh yeah, Ms. Beth, here's my vote for the TV Barrons...

It's Raining Men...

OK, so far this week has been a killer and it is only Tuesday! Work has been crazy, everybody needs something, and it has been rainy and dreary outside. In fact, things have been so insane, I almost let Top 5 Tuesday slip by without a post.  Horrors!  Since I am mentally exhausted, I'm going to feature a pic heavy topic today.  I'm giving you a list of my top 5 romance novels heroes. Yes, out of all of the millions of romance novels I've read, these are the heroes I'd most like to have step out of the pages and whisk me away to their ancestral home. Narrowing the list down from my original 10 was crazy painful, but I made the rules, so I have to live with them. The pretty pic part of the post pertains (alliteration alert!) to my matching the romance heroes with the men best suited to play them if these fine books were ever filmed.  Enjoy the eye candy folks and, oh yeah, read the books if you haven't.  They are all excellent!

Restell Gardner - If His Kiss Is Wicked - Jo Goodman
Restell has it all.  He is smooth, funny, intelligent and street-smart.  He is a gentle charmer with substance and the kind of guy we all wish we could find.  I think Matthew Macfadyen would be wonderful as Restell.

Oliver Worthy- Marrying the Captain - Carla Kelly
Oliver Worthy has all of the best qualities of an Officer in Her Majesty's navy.  He is brave, strong and true.  He is the best of men and who can resist someone in that uniform.  He could only be played by the great Ciaran Hinds.

Griffin Wright-Jones, The Viscount of Breckinridge- The Price of Desire - Jo Goodman
A little bit tortured, a whole lot of sexy, combined with a sharp mind and an even sharper wit.  Breckinridge should definitely be played by the equally tortured and sexy, Richard Armitage.

Adam Kent, Duke of Ridgeway - The Secret Pearl - Mary Balogh
Dark, sexy, scarred and all that is honorable, even when soliciting a lady of the evening.  My boyfriend, Clive Owen would be perfect in this role.

Jasper, Viscount Vale - To Seduce A Sinner (The Legend of the Four Soldiers) - Elizabeth Hoyt
The wicked Viscount can make you laugh one moment and cry the next.  His world weary demeanor hides a sexy, loving, noble, heart.  He is all that a romance hero should be.  Toby Stephens has the perfect mix of sly humor and sensuality to carry off this character.

So there you have it kids.  Enjoy the pretty!

A Picture is Worth a Thousands Words...

Today's Top 5 Tuesday features a topic near and dear to most lovers of genre fiction, literary adaptations.  I love seeing my favorite books come to life with gorgeous characters and settings.  I am sometimes amazed, often times perplexed as to how the director/writers vision of the work matches up with the original.  What follows is a list of my top 5 favorite literary adaptations and if you notice that the BBC is well represented on the list, well, what can I say?  Obviously, those Brits know their way around this whole adaptation business.

Pride and Prejudice - BBC- 1995
The best of the best!  Firth and Ehle and an amazing screenplay create this excellent version of Jane Austen's classic!  Adaptations do not get better than this.

Jane Eyre - BBC - 1983
Of the over 25 film and television versions of Jane Eyre that I have experienced, this is the definitive version.  Yes, the production's look is a bit dated, but the length allowed for a full exploration of Charlotte Bronte's classic text.  And while many still think that Timothy Dalton was too attractive to be Rochester, he was masterful in the role, so I graciously overlooked his hotness.  

Little Dorrit - BBC- 2008/2009
Another amazing Andrew Davies success!  Davies script, along with outstanding performances from Matthew MacFayden, Claire Foy and Tom Courtenay, made Dicken's sprawling tale accessible, romantic and incredibly moving.

North and South - BBC- 2004
Richard Armitage as Thornton.  What?  Isn't that enough?

The Uninvited -Paramount - 1944
This 1944 Paramount production based on Dorothy Macardle's fantastic haunted house novel, breaks the BBC's stranglehold on my top 5.  The film features excellent performances by Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey along with a script that stays incredibly faithful to the original.  This film manages to be simultaneously charming and scary as hell.  If you haven't had the pleasure, I recommend renting it immediately.

Pride and Prejudice (Restored Edition)
Jane Eyre (BBC, 1983)
Little Dorrit
North & South
The Uninvited (1944)

Taking the Dark Road...

If you are a fan of historical mysteries and you haven't read the first three books in Deanna Raybourn's amazing Lady Julia Grey series then I must suggest that you do so immediately.  This is a fantastic series featuring excellent writing, wonderful characters, exacting period detail, and sharp as a tack dialogue.


I was thrilled to receive an arc of the latest Lady Julia Grey mystery and set down on a Saturday afternoon to lose myself in the world of Lady Julia and her soulmate and now, husband, Nicholas Brisbane.  The first three books in the series found Julia and Nicholas meeting over the body of her first husband, bonding over adventures involving her family and his and finally realizing that they are meant to be.  The newest book was bound to be a challenge for it would be the first to feature the couple as husband and wife.  These are two incredibly strong-willed people and I wondered if DR would be able to find a way to allow them to make all of the compromises a newly married couple must make and still retain their individuality.  I needn't have worried, because in DR's masterful hands Julia and Nicholas manage to navigate their way through the rocky waters of their new marriage and emerge not only stronger as a couple, but also with their individual character intact.


The book opens with Julia's siblings Plum and Portia tracking the newly married Brisbanes down while they are on their honeymoon.  Portia requests their assistance in the matter of her ex-partner Jane.  Jane is recently widowed and expecting a child.  She is living on her husband's tea plantation in India and Portia is concerned about her safety, as well as her state of mind.  The group travels to India, where they set about figuring out if there was indeed foul play involved in Jane's husband's death.  Initially, I bemoaned the fact that this book was going to be set in India since England is my favorite setting for historical mysteries, but I soon changed my tune. The setting was perfect. The exotic locale pulled Nicholas and Julia out of their normal comfort zone and, in my opinion, placed them on a more even playing field.  As they begin investigating the strange occurrences around the plantation, they both are forced to deal with people and places terribly unfamiliar to them.  It was interesting to watch their different investigative styles emerge as they struggle with their individual desire to be the one to solve the mystery versus their obvious strength when they work as a team.  The plot was well-developed and the ending was a bit of a shocker. Although I started to suspect the truth about 3/4ths of the way through, I wasn't sure that DR would go in that direction, but I thought it provided a solid twist. 


The most satisfying aspect of the book for me was watching Nicholas and Julia figure out how to be husband and wife.  It was clear that the idea of melding their lives was causing both some real angst.  I was pleased to see that they continued to treat each other with the respect and affection that they have always shared.  The romance lover in me was thrilled to find that the intimacy of the marital bed had not dampened the heated attraction between the two. When Nicholas and Julia married at the end of the last book, I was alternately excited and concerned.  I was so happy that they were together finally, but wondered if DR would be able to keep their relationship interesting.  After reading Dark Road to Darjeeling, I feel nothing but optimistic that this relationship will continue to develop and grow in all kinds of intriguing ways.  While I have loved all three of the previous books in the series, I have to say that Dark Road to Darjeeling was pretty nearly flawless.  I came away from it anticipating all of the amazing adventures that the future holds for these two characters as well as the rest of the eccentric March clan.  Kudos Ms. Raybourn!  Keep 'em coming...


PS.  I don't always cast books as I'm reading them, but here are my picks to play Lady Julia and Nicholas:

I think Rachel Weisz and Richard Armitage would be absolutely perfect in the roles.  Who would you cast?