The start date on the new job is March 3 - although due to massive retirements, I may have to pull double-duty for a while. My boss assured me she was going to "move fast" on hiring my replacement, so I'm hoping someone can step in right away.
I've been a reading machine of late, but haven't taken the time to do suitable blog postings. So here is a quick drive-by post on three recent reads:
Jude's Law by Lori Foster - Ugh. Foster's writing makes for easy reading and she can write sex. Too bad the plot is totally absurd. The heroine is a doormat who keeps bailing out her baby brother who won't grow up (he's around 24) and her parents treat her worse than dog crap. Yet she keeps taking their verbal abuse. And she's pushing 30. The hero is a big Hollywood star who is desperate to boink the heroine. He just beat a murder rap, and the heroine isn't the least bit worried about that little fact. Someone is out to kill hero, but he's not worried about that. He's more concerned with having sex with Doormat Girl and ordering her a more suitable wardrobe. Oh and did I mention the heroine is also insecure about her weight and the fact that she's horny for a Big Hollywood Star? The final straw was that there wasn't an ending. The bad guy was still at large and there were unanswered questions about the heroine's family situation. Basically readers who want any kind of closure are forced to read book 2. Blessedly, I'm fine with no closure. Final Grade = D.
Thrilled To Death by Jennifer Apodaca - Book 5 in the author's Samantha Shaw mystery series. This time out Sam's magician grandfather is under suspicion when one of his former protege's ends up murdered. Between her own burgeoning relationship with a hunky PI, her love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with a local cop, running her own dating service business, and raising two boys - she barely has time for murder! A lot of comparisons have been made to the Stephanie Plum books, but frankly, Sam is the better heroine. While Stephanie continues to be an idiot, Sam will gouge out your eyes if you back her into a corner. She's also fiercely protective of her loved ones, so you can forgive her bumbling moments. Final Grade = B
You May Now Kill The Bride by Deborah Donnelly - Book 5 in the author's Wedding Planner mystery series. Carnegie Kincaid is planning her best friend's wedding on lovely San Juan Island (Puget Sound region). She arrives several days early to stay at the summer home of her mother's wealthy new beau and quickly develops an extreme dislike to his two bitchy daughters. When a local handyman is murdered, Carnegie finds herself under suspicion. A great book for dealing with Carnegie's personal life, but the mystery lacks oomph. The author "tells" too much as opposed to "showing." Final Grade = B-
Monday, February 6, 2006
Drive By Book Reviews
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Ugh. Foster's writing makes for easy reading and she can write sex. Too bad the plot is totally absurd.
This is my problem with Foster. She writes good sex but I can't stand her plots. I can handle it marginally better when she's in an anthology but I can't make it through a full length story of hers. I think the only non-novella of hers I've read is Unexpected and that was the first thing I read by her.
I need to start reading those two mystery series you mentioned. They sound good.
I think I go more toward C or C- but yeah I thought I would like it better. hee but I still plan to read Murphy's Law.
Post a Comment