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I’ll be the first to tell you I’m not a fan of the love triangle for many reasons. The first and foremost reason is because I feel it’s just a ploy by an author to fuel the angst and drama of a mediocre story. Haymore proves me wrong. She does not do this. The love triangle is a valid part of the plot and wholly integral with the storyline. She approaches the love triangle in a very unique manner. I don’t want to spoil anyone, because it’s so different than anything I’ve encountered before in my readings.

Another reason I have trouble with the love triangle situation is the waffling. I simply don’t get it. I’m told this is because I haven’t been in one and until I have triangles are hard to appreciate or sympathize with. If you’re like me you probably think it’s very black and white and very little gray. In my head, I know it’s gray. I know that it is possible to love two people at once, but the Grinch side of me feels that if you can’t make a choice between them then you don’t love either one enough and should let both go. Haymore made me feel the conflict that Sophie, who is in the middle, goes through. I appreciate her position and I sympathize with her, something that is way out of the norm with me.

I have a feeling that a second read through will make it a better read, because I know where it’s going. I was looking at all the wrong things in the book the first time and therefore was anxious and worried about how the plot was developing, certain that Haymore was going to bungle it. I just couldn’t see how it was going to work out.

Haymore surprised me, the ending surprised me, and that says something. It made me reevaluate the whole book and all my complaints and worries held no weight.

A fan of the love triangle will be placing this novel on their favorite shelf. Someone who like me, needs a little persuasion about the loving the love triangle can read this and appreciate it. Who knows, it may hook you so completely you can’t wait to grab a hold of another love triangle!

A brief summary:
Sophie loved Garrett since she was 16 years old and was devastated when he didn’t return home from Water-Loo. Tristan is her best friend and together over many years they healed from their mutual loss. One night after their marriage Garrett returns. Everything as they knew it is changed from property to titles, from money to marriages–Haymore explores Regency law and Regency hearts.

Rating: 3.5-4 Stars

Buy: A Hint of Wicked

Of Two Minds is a very deep book for kids. As an adult how it ends leads to quite an interesting train of thought I’m not sure young children will catch. This is my second time reading it. I remembered enjoying it thoroughly when I read it back in middle school. I can’t honestly say one way or another if I caught the concept revealed at the end of the book back then. I enjoyed it just as much this time around as an adult.

Lenora is a young teenage princess from a people who all have the power to create whatever they want. To imagine it is to make it be. She doesn’t understand why it’s law not to create worlds and change things to suit your will. Why were people afraid to change the color of their hair or imagine bright pink puppies?

After one incident too many her parents decide to marry her off to Prince Coren. They feel it will ground her, get her head out of her fantasies and make her a sensible woman. To that end they even plan to set a full brigade (4K-11K men) to think her solidly on the island she and Coren will make their future home, thus making escape impossible.

Angry, frightened, and confused Lenora escapes into somebody else’s world when making one of her own is impossible. Unfortunately, she also dragged the object of her distress with her. Coren, gangly redheaded and freckled, can’t even stand up without tripping over his feet. Could he be any more useless? It turns out he can – where’s his sense of adventure?

Rating: 4 Stars

Makes me want to check out the sequel More Minds!

Buy: Of Two Minds

Spoilers:
Pg193

“I’m not dreaming?” Lenora said. “How do I know that for sure?”
“Well,” Lufa smiled, “I suppose none of us really knows that. Perhaps this is all a dream, a fantasy we will wake out of.”
…
“And if all her imaginings could be real, then who was to say that her reality wasn’t somebody else’s dream?”
…
Surely something this real couldn’t be just somebody’s imagination. Could it?

Ah, but couldn’t it? Especially in light of her adventure with Coren. Is her story her own or the very imaginings of others?

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WWJAD is quick fun read. The story is flirty and cute just like the hero, Lord James Shermont. Read it in the bathtub, on the beach, while waiting in line at the post office, wherever, it’s sure to make you smile and leave you eager to turn the page.

Eleanor Pottinger (yes it is unfortunate that is her real last name) is a fan of Jane Austen. We meet her trying to get a room at a Jane Austen convention only to be told the room she booked has been given to somebody else. Luckily there was a newly renovated suite that was available…if she didn’t mind ghosts!

Of course Eleanor changes her mind about ghosts the minute they materialize. Sisters Deidre and Mina from the time of Jane Austen need Eleanor’s help. They are stuck as ghosts and can’t move on without her help. Eleanor jokingly offers to help if they can guarantee she can meet Jane Austen. They agree and before Eleanor can cry “Just Kidding!” Deidre and Mina have transported Eleanor back into the past.

When Eleanor wakes up she is stuck in the Regency era and is believed to be the girls’ widowed cousin Ellen who was arriving from America. Eleanor plays along and gets away with it because they haven’t seen the real Ellen since childhood. The ghosts tell Eleanor her tasks are to keep them out of the clutches of Lord Shermont, a rakehell of the worst sort, and to make sure their brother, Teddy, doesn’t enter into a duel with Shermont over their reputations.

Eleanor was once foolish enough to try and make a Mr. Darcy out of a Wickham, is she smart enough not to do the opposite? What would Jane Austen do?

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Buy: What Would Jane Austen Do?

By: Marcia, guest reviewer

The review for today is not one, but three novels.

The Raintree Trilogy is an weak, anemic effort by three different authors. The premise is that two hundred years ago there was a war between the Raintree clan, a family with paranormal abilities, and the Ansara wizards. The Ansara clan was nearly wiped out, but the Raintree clan stopped short of annihilating them entirely, a mistake that they are about to regret. The Ansara clan has been rebuilt and a rogue group is out for revenge.

Book One: Raintree: Inferno by Linda Howard

Dante Raintree is Dranir or king of the Raintree family and owns a hotel-casino in Reno. Like the other members of his family, he keeps a low profile and does not advertise his paranormal abilities, which in his case is the ability to control fire and enter the minds of others. He has no intention of ever getting married or having a family. His brother Gideon, who is heir apparent for the position of Dranir, sends him fertility charms on a regular basis. Gideon does not want to be Dranir.

Lorna Clay finds herself in Dante’s office because she is suspected of cheating. Lorna is empathic and can therefore ‘read’ the other players. She denies, even to herself, that she has this ability. Suddenly there is a fire in the casino and Dante must enter her mind to augment his own powers in an effort to control the fire. Controlling Lorna’s mind is something Dante does often in the story, albeit with good intentions. It is a wonder that Lorna can forgive him enough to fall in love with him.

Those familiar with Linda Howard’s work, may be disappointed with this book. She does not appear comfortable with this genre and has difficulty explaining the particulars of Dante’s paranormal abilities and the Raintree family. As a result, the plot seems disjointed and characters’ motivations are not easy to understand.

Rating: 2.5 Stars

Book Two: Raintree: Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones

Gideon’s gift is controlling electricity and the ability to see and talk to ghosts. Talking to ghosts comes in handy with his job; Gideon is a homicide detective in Wilmington, NC. Lately, he has been dreaming of a tricky little girl ghost named Emma who insists on calling Gideon ‘Daddy’. He has carefully explained to her that he has no intention of marrying and having children, but she laughs and says that she will come to him in a moonbeam.

Hope Malory is a police detective who has asked to be transferred to Wilmington from Raleigh in an effort to be closer to her mother. In Raleigh, she worked in vice and has always wanted to work in homicide. She is Gideon’s new partner. She is immediately suspicious of him. He is too well dressed for a cop and he lives in a lovely, beachfront home. His success rate in closing cases is nearly perfect. Thinking that he is a dirty cop, Hope decides to check into him further.

Raintree: Haunted is a pleasant surprise after reading Inferno. Linda Winstead Jones is very comfortable with this genre. The plot is tightly woven with very likable characters and a good amount of humor. There were a couple of things that did not seem realistic: people have a kind of amnesia that keeps them from remembering what doesn’t make sense to them; and a heterosexual man who knows that it is not comfortable to sleep in a bra. All in all it is a satisfying book, the best of the three.

Rating: 3 Stars

Raintree: Sanctuary by Bevery Barton

Mercy Raintree is a single mother, empathic healer and keeper of the Raintree Sanctuary; the sacred, ancestral home of the Raintree Clan, located on a large area of land in the Smokey Mountains. It is here that all the previous characters meet up to defend it against a rogue group of Ansara warriors.

Judah Ansara is Dranir of the Ansara Clan. Cael, his illegitimate half brother and leader of the rogue group of warriors are challenging Judah’s position as Dranir. Judah is also the father of Eve, although he is at first unaware of her existence.

Eve is a bright, talented child with knowledge beyond her years. Since Eve is a ‘half-breed’ she should have been killed at birth and only her mother and nanny are aware of her parentage. Mercy and Judah are bitter enemies, despite the powerful lust they have for one another but they must learn to work together to save Eve and the Sanctuary.

As a finale, Sanctuary falls flat. The plot is thin and lacks cohesiveness, the characters are superficial and the ending is contrived. There is very little detail and plot elements are underdeveloped being briefly explained on the side. Most of the action during the big battle scene is focused on Dante and does not really involve the other characters. This is a disappointing book.

Rating: 2 Stars

If you would like to submit a review to LRP, we would love to have you. You can find submission guidelines here.

Thanks again Marcia! You’re a wonderful reviewer and RRN is lucky to have you!

Originally posted 2008-11-30 13:15:13. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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There are few books that I can’t finish reading. The Anonymous Miss Addams is one that list. Some books make you question how publishing companies work and this is one of them. In two words I can sum up the whole of the book: utter drivel. I have no idea how it got published or why somebody didn’t put a halt to production once the cover was done. The cover to this novel is by far the best thing about the book.

Pierre Standish is a male lead that you’d sooner laugh at then swoon at. Pierre is a fop, pure and simple. He carries a hanky and it’s scented. His diction is by far the worst aspect of his character. He talks like a pansy and acts like one in my opinion. Pierre is definitely a turn off.

Miss Addams is annoying for no other purpose than to be annoying. She lost her memory after taking a spill in the road. Lucky for her she managed to escape into the road when she did or she’d have been killed by her pursuer. Money is involved of course, but the exact reasons why killing her will make the two plotters rich is beyond me. I could not be bothered to find out.

Their first kiss was short and dispassionate with slightly witty dialog bracketing it. She can’t eat unless he’s not perfect and looks human and he can’t eat until he feels human. The plot should have picked up since this is about halfway through the book, but it didn’t. It tried and failed with the mother of her attacker (one of the two plotters) protects her in a shoe store from a man hell bent on kissing her (who is the same man who tried to kill her earlier.)

That ‘kind’ act is rewarded with an offer for the position of companion as Miss Addams thinks to use this woman to protect her from Pierre. But since Pierre is so unmanly in my opinion it’s hardly worth the effort to write it out let alone read.

Rating: 1 Star

Originally posted 2008-11-28 23:15:04. Republished by Old Post Promoter

Time and Again is a novel that is really two stories in one. The first is Time Was with Caleb Hornblower and Liberty Stone. The second is Times Change with Caleb’s younger brother and Libby’s younger sister.

Time Was

Caleb Hornblower was born in February 2nd, 2222. That makes 2 is favorite number. He’s a pilot and loves the freedom of space and the speed of flying. On a routine run back to earth from the Mars colonies he runs into a meteor shower and has to do some quick maneuvering. Just when he thinks he’s safe he sees the scariest thing that a man in space could see… yawning blackness. An uncharted black hole is before him and there’s no way he can survive. He wasn’t a pilot for nothing and with instruments blaring and bells whistling, Caleb banks the ship and goes into freefall.

Liberty Stone is outside her family’s cabin enjoying the thunderstorm. Wild lightning is streaking across the sky when suddenly a plane rockets across the angry purple clouds. At least she thinks its a plane. Racing back inside, Libby is determined to find the crash and the poor souls who were flying in this weather. She meets Caleb Hornblower, a man who looks as if he’s had one too many rounds in a bar fight. She gets him home and cleans him up.

Things get interesting when Caleb wakes. He thinks he’s still in the 23rd century. Libby knows something is weird with Caleb but she writes it off due to the crash. He had trouble remember his name, the date is obviously another thing he’s trying to puzzle back into place.

Times Change

Jacob Hornblower is mad as hell. His brother disappeared from a routine run and nearly six months afterwards his ship turns up… empty. The memory banks and ridiculous report left inside said he stayed in the early 21st century because of a woman. Well he was going to meet Liberty Stone himself and then he was going to punch his brother in the jaw and haul his butt home.

Two years later and Jacob has fine tuned all the equations, built a ship meant to do what his brother had done accidentally and was hurtling toward the sun with the shields down. The temperature’s rising outside, and his instrument panel is blinking like crazy but its pure satisfaction that fills him as the computer calmly tells him the time every few seconds. His theories were right and it was only a matter of time before he and his brother returned.

What Jacob didn’t factor in was Sunbeam Stone. While her sister and brother-in-law were somewhere where Libby could research her next paper, Sunny was determined to figure out her life. She was good at a lot of things, but just because she was good at it, didn’t mean it was the right thing for her to do. A little vacation at the family cabin and she’d get her head on straight and figure out her life. She wasn’t expecting to find a stranger in her bedroom. He wore crisp new clothes and brand new shoes that were obviously not hiking boots. A swift kick from her and he landed flat on his back. He was angry to see her but she was just as angry when she realized he was Caleb’s younger brother. Where did he get off not coming to their wedding?

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Originally posted 2008-11-21 17:53:54. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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While You Were Sleeping is one of the sweetest movies I have ever seen. This movie is entirely based on a series of misunderstandings and hilarious situations. The movie features an all star cast including Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman, Peter Gallagher, Peter Boyle, and Jack Warden. Everyone was amazing in this film. I even liked Michael Rispoli as Joey Fusco Jr.

Lucy Eleanor Moderatz, played by Sandra Bullock, is a Chicago transit tollbooth worker. What Lucy most wants out of her life is a stamp in her passport and a reason to not work every holiday. She is also hopelessly besotted with daily commuter, Peter Callaghan, played by Peter Gallagher, whom she has never met.

Peter is a charming schmuck, but Lucy doesn’t know this. One day after flashing his perfect white smile in her direction Peter gets mugged on the platform for the L train and falls onto the train tracks. Lucy saves him from certain death and follows him to the hospital.

There a nurse overhears Lucy dreaming aloud to herself and misinterprets. Lucy is ushered in to see Peter, but he is in a coma. Minutes later his family bustles in and the nurse introduces Lucy to them as Peter’s fiancée. Oh boy! Now the fun starts!

Well you can imagine. The mother and father are hysterical in these moments. I love Peter Boyle as Ox Callaghan. Saul, the beloved sort of godfather, played by Jack Warden is a hoot and the grandmother Elsie played by Glynis Johns will leave you in stitches. Elsie sort of reminds me of Grandma Mazur in the Stephanie Plum novels, just crazy in a different way.

As the story spins out Bill Pullman playing as Peter’s brother Jack is suspicious of Lucy. She is not his brother’s type. Surprisingly both find themselves drawn to each other. Jack gets possessive and there’s this whole scene about “The Lean.” Loved it! But they’re not supposed to be with one another as Lucy is Peter’s fiancée.  Jack has a great scene with Peter in the hospital while Peter is still in his coma. Poor Jack!

Anyway the fun is watching Lucy navigate her way through muddy waters. She loves the Callaghan family and doesn’t want to give them up and if she comes clean about who she it they won’t want her anymore… not even Jack. Or so she thinks. Feel good fluff!

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Originally posted 2008-10-21 22:45:22. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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One of my favorite movies is Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. I first saw Mark in the romantic comedy of 13 Going On 30. He plays the slightly dorky but still hunky guy very well. His face is very expressive and paired with Reese Witherspoon’s spunky perky attitude and good looks it’s a match made in heaven. Pun intended.

Just Like Heaven fits well with all of the hospital television dramas like ER, Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs, House, etc. If you like one or all of those shows you’ll be sure to enjoy Just Like Heaven. Elizabeth Masterson, played by Witherspoon, works hard. In fact, work is all she does. Despite having moved to San Francisco to be closer to her sister and her sister’s family, she’s not swung by to see them all that much. Because let’s face it Elizabeth is dedicated to her work to the point that she’s lost all contact with things outside of work. She wants the attending position and is competing for it with another doctor.

The movie starts off following her through one of her many overworked, overtired, entirely too stressful days as she struggles to be the best doctor she can be. By the end of the day her biggest worry is taken care of and she finally gets ready to leave to meet her sister and nieces for dinner. On the drive to their suburban home, tragedy strikes. Elizabeth finds herself in a head-on collision with a semi-truck. Fortunately, she survives. Unfortunately, she’s a ghost.

David Abbot, played by Ruffalo, is a depressed architect. His life has seen tragedy as well. Grieving for a lost love, David scours San Fransisco for an apartment with a decent couch. Having found one, he learns the renting contract is more than slightly bizarre. It’s rented on a month to month basis, but considering his other options, David immediately accepts and moves in. Just as he’s settling into the new place Elizabeth startles him. Several cat and mouse encounters later, David is sure he’s either crazy or that Elizabeth is a ghost. A ghost that can’t even remember her name (to begin with) and certainly can’t recall her life. Determined to get rid of her, David reluctantly agrees to help her solve the mystery of her limbo existence.

Similar to Ghost with Whoopi Goldberg, this movie has the two characters interact without being able to touch. Luckily David can see Elizabeth or Jon Heder, from Napoleon Dynamite, who plays an occult bookstore attendant would have to act as the messenger between David and Elizabeth. Well he does have a scene where he interprets the vibes between them, but nothing like Golberg’s character in Ghost. Heder plays his part exceptionally well with a good sense of humor. Whether you liked him in Napoleon Dynamite or didn’t like him in Napoleon Dynamite you will be hard pressed not to love him in this movie.

Overall this movie is a that weaves grief and humor together so sweetly you can’t help but fall in love alongside the characters.

Rating: 4 Stars

Originally posted 2008-10-18 10:36:05. Republished by Old Post Promoter

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