Will wonders never cease? It rained here in Southern California Saturday night! Rain! Glorious, fantastic, stupendous rain! I was so confused, I woke up out of a dead sleep and groggily asked my boyfriend what the heck was going on. His reply, "It's raining dear - a lot." In fact, the heavens opened up.
Now for those of you who live in a "normal" climate, my excitement probably strikes you as a bit odd. I can't say I really blame you. It took me moving to the desert to realize how much I miss the little things - like "real" trees and rain. Having lived in the Midwest the majority of my life, I would often gripe about how the sun disappears for 9 months out of the year. Hey, all the sun in So. Cal. is lovely - but I won't lie to you - it does get a tad boring after a while.
I'm sure I'll be singing the praises of the desert come February though. Right around the time I read a report of Buffalo, NY getting 14 feet of snow.
In football news, I didn't really have any stand-out picks this week - but I did call the spread exactly right on the Pittsburgh vs. Dallas game (Pittsburgh won by 4 thank you very much). Also, my beloved Buffalo Bills finally won a game - against the equally dismal Miami Dolphins. How come I have this feeling that the citizens of Buffalo are drinking heavier than usual on Sundays? Drink up boys! It's going to be a long season....
In reading news - I'm almost done with Blue Moon by Lori Handeland after neglecting it for the better part of a week. It's an interesting book - but I can't help but feel that it really doesn't work as a romance novel.
The heroine is a police officier in middle of nowhere Minnesota and strange happenings are afoot. The wolf population has gotten violent and agressive. When a school teacher gets bit, and later freaks out in her classroom, it is thought that there is a strain of "super' rabies floating around. A skilled "wolf hunter" comes in, and the heroine seeks the advice of a local Native American professor on a wolf totem she found at a crime scene. Naturally, our hero is hunky and hot - thus meaning our loner heroine won't be celibate for much longer.
Handeland takes the risky move of writing the story in first person - which is very rarely done in Romance Novel Land. I happen to love this, as her heroine is very feisty, clever, street smart and tough. She wouldn't know girly if it bit her in the butt - which makes me think that she'll make or break the book for many readers.
The werewolf plot is also well thought out - and I just got to the part this morning where Handeland unveils her take on it. It's very imaginative, and one that history buffs should get a kick out of.
What doesn't really work is the romance, mainly because there is so little time devoted to it. Our hero and heroine haven't really talked about anything outside of the wolf problem. The hero also starts molesting the heroine in record time - and while the love scenes are hot, I can't help but wish there was a more of a "getting to know you" period between the two.
It will be interesting to read the scuttlebutt on this book, because the cover has a decidedly romance feel to it (hello beefcake!), but the story is really the strongest when focusing on the secondary characters, the heroine and the suspense/paranormal elements. Frankly, at this point I could give a hoot about the hero - and any romance reader will tell you that you should always give a hoot about the hero and heroine!
Of course, there are still 100 pages to go....
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