Book Banter

which is only part of why I haven’t been posting.  Let’s see if I can remember everything I read - I was trying to make a concerted effort to read the books I’ve been looking forward to the most.

Been There, Done That by Carol Snow: This was a lot of fun. Snow has only written two books, this was her debut, but both of them were keepers for me, and she’s definitely an autobuy author for me.

White House Nannies by Barbara Klien - this was a memoir by a woman who started a nanny agency for Washington VIPs. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting since I thought it was a novel when I picked it up, but it was good, and it held my attention

The First Assistant by Mimi Hare, Clare Naylor: this is the sequel to The Second Assistant. I had started it a while ago but found I wasn’t quite in the mood for it. But during my vacation I was in the mood to read something fast and fun and this fit the bill. It was exactly what I wanted.

Because You Can by Bridie Clark - yall know how I love my roman a clefs and this was one of them. It’s the Devil Wears Prada of the book publishing world, and in this case the devil is Judith Regan, or Victoria Grant, as she is called in the book. It was fun.

The Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist - I picked this up at a library sale a while ago and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Even though the blurb tries to hide it, it’s definitely a romance. One lacking in teh sex but I’m thinking thats because of the publisher.

 hmmm, what else did I read? I tried to read Cyber Cinderella but it’s set in London and I’m biased against those types of books. Oh! And I read Bad Boys Ahoy. Love Sylvia Day. Loooooove Sylvia Day.

Oh, and I read Tiffany Twisted by Alison Tyler, an erotic romance where theres some voodoo and a girl ends up in her boyfriend’s body and vice versa. It was interesting and different. With lots-o-sex.

At the moment I’m reading Plane Insanity, another memoir by a guy who was a flight attendant. Laugh out loud funny, it is. Don’t know what I’ll be readng next. It remains a mystery.  

So today was my first exam. Contracts. It wasn’t as easy as I wanted it to be but it wasnt quite as terrible as I had nightmares imagined about either. Anyway, so to celebrate I’ve decided to give myself the rest of the day off and to do anything other than study for the next exam. Which means I should probably write some reviews I have backlogged. In the past month I’ve read The Stranger I Married by Sylvia Day which I already blogged about, Who Wants to Be a Sex Goddess by Gemma Bruce, which I may have blogged about or not but thought it was only meh. A C read at best. Then I also read sleeping with the fishes (see below) and Nearlyweds by Beth Kendrick. I finished that one last night and it was really pretty good. It’s touted as a romantic comedy and it kinda falls short of the romantic mark but it was a fun read. The whole time I read it, it reminded me of a movie. It was like a mix of Mother-in-Law and The First Wives Club. A lot of fun if you like women’s fiction. Lastly I read Secrets of a South Beach Princess by Mary Kennedy, which, if I were 13 and didn’t know any better I might have enjoyed but since I’m not, need I even say that I didn’t? First off, I’m determined to do a poll of all (2) of the teenagers I know and see if they even know the words "pooch," "knack," or "rain check," much less work any of those words into a sentence when talking to their peers. I’m not convinced that they would since, I, the old maid that I am, an unconvinced that I would ever use any of those words in a sentence.

So to recap, I have 5 reviews to write and only two of them are going to be good. What fun.

In closing, my immediate tbr list is finally getting managable again. I have one more book to read for review: The Sex on the Beach Book Club by Jennifer Apodaca. I’ve read all of 2 1/2 pages and she’s already name dropped one of her other books but I thought it was funny so I’m still excited to read this. Then I need to read Light My Fire by Katie McAlister which I promised to someone back in April, then Spin Doctor which I also promised to someone. Then I’m free and clear on promised book and can read whatever my little heart desires! Yay!  

 

They are London’s most scandalous couple. Isabel, Lady Pelham, and Gerard Faulkner, Marquess of Grayson, are well matched in all things–their lusty appetites, constant paramours, wicked wits, provocative reputations, and their absolute refusal ever to ruin their marriage of convenience by falling in love with one another. Isabel knows such a charming rake will never appeal to her guarded heart, nor will she sway his philandering one. It is a most agreeable sham…until a shocking turn of events sends Gerard from her side.

Now, four years later, Gerard has come home to Isabel. But the carefree, boyish rogue who left has been replaced by a brooding, powerful, irresistible man who is determined to seduce his way into her affections. Gone is the devil-may-care companion who shared her friendship and nothing more, and in his place is temptation itself…a husband who desires Isabel body and soul and who will stop at nothing to win her love. No, this is not at all the man she had married. But he is the man who might finally steal her heart…

So I got this to review, and when I saw it on the list, I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but decided to give it a chance since it was a Brava (and I like to think of myself as the resident Brava reviewer) and I know Sybil likes her. But I honestly wasn’t that sure about it when I requested it. Ha! I couldn’t have been more wrong!

I finished reading this last night and I literally turned back to the first page to start all over again, that’s how much I loved this book. Thank god I picked it up to read while on ‘break’ for Thanksgiving. I can’t imagine being in class and wanting nothing more than to get back to this book. Well, I can imagine actually, because I felt that way pretty much every moment I wasnt reading or sleeping. I enjoyed this book so much, that now that it’s over, I still want to keep it near me, just so I can stare at the cover and remember the greatness that’s between the pages. And for what it’s worth, the ass scene alone (note, I didn’t say anal, I said ass) was worth the price of admission, and without revealing too much, let’s just say that I’ll be making a mental note to add that to my personal repertoire. So my friends, when this comes out in January, run, don’t walk, to the nearest bookstore and buy multiple copies, because I promise you’ll want to read one copy, give one away to your fellow romance reader, keep one in pristine condition for your keeper shelf, and keep one under the mattress for, ahem, inspiration. It’s just that good. Or you can just pre-order a bunch of copies now. That works too.

Meanwhile, I’ll be hunting down Sylvia Day’s backlist, putting her upcoming books on my wishlist and generally restraining myself from shooting off a squee-filled email her way. It’s just. that. good.

 I’ll find a picture blurb later but I wanted to come by and say I loved this book. It was good chick lit and had I ever made the good chick lit list I promised Cindy, this would have gone to the top.

 There. Now there’s more than just a post from June here

I’d like to believe that when things are a little less hectic I’ll come back and expand this post, but since the only time I can reasonably conceive that things will be less hectic is in December, we’ll have to see about that.

Furthermore, I realize this messes up the alignment of the June post and I just dont care enough to fix it. Fiddledy dee.