Amazon discontinued the ability to create images using their SiteStripe feature and in their infinite wisdom broke all previously created images on 12/31/23. Many blogs used this feature, including this one. Expect my archives to be a hot mess of broken book cover images until I can slowly comb through 20 years of archives to make corrections.

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Window Update And A Series Romance

Well I'm not going to bitch about the bureaucratic nonsense I have to wade through on this job for at least the next 24 hours.

I have a new window! I must have sounded suitably outraged and pathetic on all those e-mails I fired off on Saturday, because the glass company was here this afternoon.

In reading news, I've decided to go on a series bender. What better way to clean out my ridiculous TBR than to read some of those cute little Harlequin books? 300 pages or less means I can finish a book a day if I'm motivated enough.

Last night I wrapped up My Name Is Nell by Laura Abbot, Harlequin SuperRomance 1162. SuperRomance is one of my favorite lines, mainly because the stories tend to feature multiple characters (mostly families) and they're "emotional." I pick up a SuperRomance if I want to have my heart-strings plucked.

This one was pretty good - I ended up rating it a B. The hero "runs away" from his millionaire lifestyle in California after his wife and preteen daughter are killed by a drunk driver. He finds himself at a quaint bed & breakfast in Arkansas when he spies a very personal entry a woman named "Nell" leaves in a guest registry book. She sounds lonely and lost, but still hopeful. Lost, lonely and not at all hopeful himself, the hero decides to track this woman down.

He finds her, they fall in love, but will Nell's "Big Secret" tear them apart?

I liked how Abbot handles the conflict in this story. Nell is a woman with a tragic past, but she's moving on. She's working through her issues. Whereas the hero is running away. It makes for a great confrontation when the hero realizes [SPOILER ALERT] that he has fallen in love with a recovering alcoholic [SPOILER END].

The hero naturally behaves like an asshole when this is all revealed, but I love the way Nell handles it. I found her reactions rather "true to life." And while I normally dislike children in my romance - I loved Abbot's portrayal of Nell's daughter, preteen Abby - who is experiencing her first crush and anxious over starting her period. Her character really shines once the Big Secret is out in the open.

I should wrap up another series book on my lunch break today - Amber By Night by Sharon Sala, Silhouette Desire 1495.

3 comments:

sybil said...

How do you do that spoiler cut thingie?

just wondering...

Wendy said...

Sybil:
To read the spoiler just highlight that section by dragging your mouse. Like you would if you were going to copy/cut and paste some text.

To actually insert a similar spoiler into your blog - I just change the text color to white. Not visible with the naked eye, but it shows up when you highlight it :)

Does that make sense? I'm still working on my morning caffeine....

Nicole said...

I'm such a nerd. I read the title and the first thing that popped into my head was computer-related.