Friday Book Trailer

In honour of Kate and William's impending nuptials, today's "book trailer" is a tribute to the couple.



Only 5 more hours until the wedding where I will be sitting on my couch with a cup of tea and some scones.  I am predicting that Kate will wear a tiara and her dress will be slim and form fitting with a lace overlay and sleeves.  Maybe something like this:

30 Days of Books- Day 1

I stumbled across this challenge at Mary Ellen Quigley's website and decided to give it a try.

Day 1 - The Best Book You Read Last Year

It did not take me long to think about what book to choose.  It had to be The Ranger by Monica McCarty.  I love historical romances set in Scotland.  I especially love romances that deal with enemies falling in love with each other.  The story of Anna and Arthur aka Ranger was a sweet (yet hot) one.  Arthur is the quintessential alpha male without being a jackass and Anna came across as being smart and independent without being TSTL.  I think this is the first novel in a long time where the characters take their time in getting to know each other without jumping into bed.  The reader was able to see why they fell in love rather than being told that they couldn't resist each other.



Chosen to help Robert the Bruce in his quest to free Scotland from English rule and claim his crown, the legendary team of warriors known as the Highland Guard battles on.
 Embedded deep behind enemy lines, Arthur “Ranger” Campbell is prized for his razor-sharp senses and his ability to blend into the shadows. But when Arthur infiltrates the clan of the chieftain who murdered his father, his heart is locked on revenge. Inside he faces unexpected resistance from the sweetest of obstacles—a honey-haired siren who is his enemy’s daughter.

Intrigued by this ruggedly handsome newcomer to her father’s forces, the vivacious, enchanting Anna MacDougall is a woman whose skill at uncovering deception rivals Arthur’s own. Though yearning for a quiet life with a good man to love, Anna is drawn to this mysterious knight whose eyes devour her but whose words push her away. As danger, treachery, and the threat of looming war draw them closer into each other’s arms, a warrior made of steel must make a choice from the heart: love or revenge.

If you would like to participate in the challenge, here is the list:

Day 01 – The best book you read last year
Day 02 – A book that you’ve read more than 3 times
Day 03 – Your favorite series
Day 04 – Favorite book of your favorite series
Day 05 – A book that makes you happy
Day 07 – Most underrated book
Day 08 – Most overrated book
Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 10 – Favorite classic book
Day 11 – A book you hated
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favorite writer
Day 14 – Favorite book of your favorite writer
Day 15 – Favorite male character
Day 16 – Favorite female character
Day 17 – Favorite quote from your Favorite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favorite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favorite romance book
Day 21 – Favorite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favorite book you own
Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favorite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your Favorite book of all time

Royal Wedding Mania

I have a confession, I haven't touched a book since last Thursday.  The reason?  William and Kate's wedding.  I had no idea I would get this immersed into it.  I knew that I would watch the wedding and most of the commentary this coming Friday, but I had no interest in any of the shows leading up to the main event.  That was until Sunday.  I think there were at least three different channels that had almost all day programming related to the Royals.  I watched a show on the different Royal weddings over the past 60 years which I enjoyed.  Another that focused on Kate's ancestry and talked to distant relatives - somewhat interesting, but really, what would a second cousin twice removed be able to tell us about Kate?  One show, I think it was "30 Moments in 30 years", was a little sad.  It brought back the grief many people felt at the death of princess Diana.  At times when I see these retrospective shows I start to think "what if"?  What if Charles and Diana had truly loved each other, what if she hadn't died etc. etc.  then there was the movie about kate and William.  Holy crapfest Batman, was that movie ever bad!  The acting, the dialogue, the scenery (California can really double as England and Scotland???) it was all horrific.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure this new found obsession will abate by Saturday.  I am just caught up in the rush of the Royal wedding (did you know they even have Kate and William paper dolls?).  Now I just need to decide what time I am getting up Friday morning.  I have the day off, so you will find me on the couch for most of the day watching the ceremony.  Coverage starts at 3am here, but I don't think I am getting up that early.  One program I watched said that the either the bridesmaids or Prince William (I can't remember) will leave first and make their way to Westminster Abbey around 10:15am which will be 5:15am my time.  Kate will leave for the Abbey around 10:45am.  So I think I will definitely be up for 5:00 am. 

Friday Book Trailer

Not really a book trailer, it's chapter one of Nora Roberts' Chasing Fire audiobook.





There's little as thrilling as firefighting-at least to Rowan Tripp. The Missoula smoke jumpers are in Rowan's blood: her father is a legend. She's been fighting fires since her eighteenth birthday. At this point, returning to the wilds of Montana for the season feels like coming home-even with reminders of the partner she lost last season still lingering.

Fortunately, this year's rookie crop is one of the strongest ever-and Gulliver Curry's one of the best. He's also a walking contradiction, a hotshot firefighter with a big vocabulary and a winter job at a kids' arcade.

Everything is thrown off balance when a dark presence lashes out against Rowan, looking to blame someone for last year's tragedy. Rowan knows she can't complicate things with Gull-any distractions in the air or on the ground could mean the end-but if she doesn't find someone she can lean on, she may not make it through the summer. . . .


I picked this book up a couple of days ago (review to come soon) and am on Chapter 10.  So far so good.

Review - The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis

The Sweetest Thing is the second book in the Lucky Harbor trilogy.  This book is oldest sister Tara's story.  Six months after her mother has died and left the sisters an inn, Tara finds herself still in Lucky Harbor.  Helping her sisters renovate and open the inn up, Tara longs to find control and a plan for her life.  Things are far from under control though, when her ex-husband, Logan and her ex-lover, Ford decide to win her love.  Thrown in are town folk with Facebook commentary and polls on the love triangle and a secret from Tara's past making an appearance.

Overall I found this book to be a good read.  Tara, although a Type A personality, had enough vulnerability and humour to balance it out.  While Ford is determined to win Tara back for good this time.  The two together have hot, sizzling chemistry together.  The story was a little slow to begin with but picks up speed by chapter 10.  Although it was refreshing to see that Logan wasn't given the bad guy rap, I'm not totally convinced that he was needed in the story.  At times it just felt like filler.  Jill Shalvis is definitely working her way to being an auto-buy for me.  Her characters have depth and the story lines are filled with romance hot sexual chemistry, and humour.

While the second in a trilogy, I think The Sweetest Thing can stand on it's own, but why would you want to read just this one?  If you haven't read the first book, Simply Irresistible, do it.  I am looking forward to Chloe and Sawyer's story in Head Over Heels, I am sure Chloe will keep him on his toes.

Lethal - Sandra Brown

Sandra Brown has a new book coming out this September 20, 2011.  Her newest release is called Lethal, from the synopsis it sounds like Brown might be returning to a more traditional romantic suspense:


When her four year old daughter informs her a sick man is in their yard, Honor Gillette rushes out to help him. But that "sick" man turns out to be Lee Coburn, the man accused of murdering seven people the night before. Dangerous, desperate, and armed, he promises Honor that she and her daughter won't be hurt as long as she does everything he asks. She has no choice but to accept him at his word.

But Honor soon discovers that even those close to her can't be trusted. Coburn claims that her beloved late husband possessed something extremely valuable that places Honor and her daughter in grave danger. Coburn is there to retrieve it -- at any cost. From FBI offices in Washington, D.C., to a rundown shrimp boat in coastal Louisiana, Coburn and Honor run for their lives from the very people sworn to protect them, and unravel a web of corruption and depravity that threatens not only them, but the fabric of our society.

New York to Dallas Synopsis - J.D. Robb

I decided this morning to see if I could find a synopsis for the next in Death book coming out this September.  And I did, the title is New York to Dallas, apparently a one time name change.   This mystery leads Eve back to Dallas:


Twelve years ago, Eve Dallas was just a rookie NY cop when her instincts led her to the apartment of Isaac McQueen, a man she discovered to be a sick murderer and paedophile, who was keeping young girls in cages. Now a homicide Lieutenant, Eve is one of the most distinguished officers in the city - and then she learns that McQueen has escaped from jail. Bent on revenge against Eve and with a need to punish more 'bad girls' McQueen heads to Dallas, Texas - the place where Eve was found as a child, the place where she killed her own abusive monster when she was only eight years old. With Eve and Roarke in pursuit of McQueen, everything is on the line and secrets from Eve's past are about to be shockingly revealed.

Friday Book Trailer

Today's book trailer is for Lisa Kleypas' Sugar Daddy.



I loved this book and have read it about three times now.  The first time I read it, I cried at some parts and I stayed up until 3am to finish reading it.  Sugar Daddy was Kleypas' first contemporary, I was worried that another historical author had switched over to contemporary.  I find that while I love an author's voice in one genre, it loses something in another.  Julie Garwood is one example.  Her historicals are timeless, quaint, and sweet.  Her contemporaries on the other hand leave something to be desired.  I can't remember what exactly I don't like about them because it has been so long since I have read one. I stopped reading them after the second or third one.  Lisa Kleypas on the other hand has proved to me that she has a compelling voice in the historical and contemporary genres.