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.

How Much For That Asshole Who Broke My Window?

So it started out OK today. I mean, yes, I am working on the Saturday of a holiday weekend and my back is killing me from....ummm...woman-related issues - but really it ain't all bad.

Then I go to get the library ready before we open. Walk around, turn on all the computers etc. and what do I see? A big, gaping hole in one of the back windows in the children's area. Glass everywhere.

I am not happy.

In fact, I'm seeing red, breathing fire, and swearing like a longshoreman.

So I call the police - the same cops I've notified on 3 different occasions to patrol my back lot because I have homeless and drunks (or drunken homeless) sleeping back there. Now, in that exact same area - viola! Broken window.

Then I get to call facilities management at headquarters where they get to notify someone to come and board up the offending window. Thus ruining their holiday weekend and mine.

The Boyfriend seems to think I should just stop caring. I mean, this technically wasn't a hassle for me - I just made some phone calls. Still, the whole thing just cheeses me off. Here I am trying to help people with few resources when the library itself is so strapped for cash we could probaby qualify for food stamps - and some asshole breaks my window!

Boyfriend: "You know Wendy, there are some things you can't control. All you can do is help people the best you can, and concentrate on customer service. The rest of it can just go to Hell."

He might be onto something there. And this wonderful guy is taking me outlet mall shopping tomorrow - so it's all good.

In other news - I'm trying to read Summer Fancy by Anne Avery, but my mood just ain't right. I think I need a contemporary. Maybe a Harlequin SuperRomance....

Unearthing A Good Book In Mt. TBR

Finally, my digging up books from the bottomless pit that is my TBR pile has yielded me a good read. Light and fluffy - but still a good read.

The Bride And The Beast by Teresa Medeiros is very much the retelling of a fairy tale. In fact the whole thing screams "make believe" and "fantasy." And Medeiros knows this - therefore it works. I mean, it's not like she's trying to pass off this Beauty And The Beast tale as The Great American Novel. Plus, Medeiros is funny. I actually laughed out loud while reading several passages.

Gwendolyn Wilder is the plain, plump, sensible sister in a family of beauties. She's also the only one (outside of the good reverand) in her tiny Scottish village that has a lick of common sense. See, the townspeople think there's a dragon living in the ruins of Castle Weycraig - where years earlier the English army bombarded it with cannonballs and slaughtered the laird's family. The "dragon" is essentially punishing the townspeople for their betrayal of the Clan MacCullough - which someone gave up as a supporter to Bonnie Prince Charlie.

So the "dragon" keeps making demands on the village - and the villagers, being dirt poor, are looking for a way to appease him. Why not offer up a virgin sacrifice? That should take care of matters for a while. And poor Gwen draws the straw.

The Dragon in question is merely a man, and when he sees poor Gwen tied to a stake in the castle courtyard (in the pouring rain no less) he decides to take her in. Then the silly girl wakes up and challenges him at every turn. Worse, she's not a superstituous Scottish lass. If he wants to keep his secret he's going to have to keep the girl hostage.

Now the plot here is nothing that's going to bend your brain. I knew where this whole thing was going by the end of the prologue, but it still is very enjoyable. Gwen is an admirable heroine - a bit of an ugly duckling - but with some book sense to go along with her common sense. She does fall for the mysterious "dragon" - and who can blame her. He lavishes her with gifts, openly admires her unappreciated beauty, and actually has some brains in his head. The girl certainly hasn't had suitors banging on her cottage door back in the village.

This story is also very history-lite - which is fine by me since Scottish settings are not my personal favorite. Again, Medeiros writes this story very much as a fairy tale - so there's not a lot of gruesome violence and poverty to break the spell.

The story does lose some momentum with the beginning of Part II in the story. By that time the "dragon"'s secret is revealed, and some contrived separations/conflict appears to give the couple more to work through. Frankly, it seemed unnecessary in my eyes - but there you go.

Still, this was an enjoyable read. And I can't beat what I paid for it - essentially nothing. I picked this book up for free at a conference back in 2002.

Zippity Do Da

It's official - I read a hell of a later faster when I don't think too hard.

It's been one week since I finished my last review book (I'm currently in between shipments) and in that time I have read 4 books. OK - more like 3.5 since one was a young adult novella and I'm not sure that counts as a whole book.

When I review a book I tend to analyze every..single..word. I don't want to miss one..scrap..of..information. When I'm reading for pleasure I tend to fly by the seat of my pants a bit more. In essence, I shut off my brain.

I've been trying to read stuff that's been buried in my TBR for an embarrassingly long time, and unfortunately I've been met with some pretty ho-hum books. Here's the rundown:

1. The Tutor by Portia Da Costa - which I already blogged about. The best read of the past week.
2. Behind The Mask by Metsy Hingle - romantic suspense novel from 3 years ago and not very good. The villain was rather one dimensional (obsessed with heroine, and what exactly were his dirty business dealings that left an FBI agent dead?). But it did give me an idea for my next RTB column - so not a total waste of time.
3. The Princess Present by Meg Cabot - an 80-something page novella in the wildly popular Princess Diaries series. Cute and fluffy - but too much of Lilly's bullshit for my tastes.
4. Badlands Law by Ruth Langan - ugh, I normally like Langan, but this heroine about drove me nuts. So perfect, so innocent, ever the martyr. Gag me with a spoon. Also the hero's baggage was very minimal explored so he comes off a touch whiny. Still, the other two books in this trilogy look rather promising, so glad I have them in the TBR.
   

I'm now working on The Bride And The Beast by Teresa Medeiros. Probably a good thing it was buried in my TBR, otherwise it might have drifted away. It's pretty fluffy so far - not that that's a bad thing. I believe I picked up this book for free at the RWA conference way back in 2002.

I really should think about getting some help. Normal people do not leave unread books lying around for 3+ years.

The New Zip Code

What is it about the romance genre that causes readers to totally lose their minds?

I am of course talking about monstrous TBR (to be read) piles. Or in my case - the TBR Mountain Range. I'm beginning to think you could see it from space.

I am a librarian, so it figures that I'm obsessed with the printed word. Hell, it's my bread and butter. But why do I keep spending money on books when I literally have others that have been waiting to be read for years. Yes, years.

I've been pondering this quite a bit lately and here are my conclusions:

1. I discovered romance right after college. College graduate + first real job + disposable income + no more mindless homework + discovering used bookstores = spending spree!
2. Print runs. Largely a mass market paperback genre, books go out of print quickly, so gosh I better buy it now or I won't be able to find it later!
3. The blasted Internet! Why oh why did I join all those reader's lists? They keep recommending books and I keep buying.
4. Reviewing. Never smart. I discovered authors. I glommed backlists. I have less time to read books in my TBR. Stupid Wendy - really stupid.
5. New job within 2 miles of unorganized UBS. Unorganized = browsing = impulse buying. Stupid Wendy - really stupid.

To make myself feel a little better about my sickness, I've been trying to get better about reading books that have been sitting around for years. So when I'm in between batches of review books (like I am now), I rearrange the TBR and pull out several candidates. Hence, my current read - Badlands Law by Ruth Langan, a Harlequin Historical title that I've had since 2002.

I know - I'm not normal!

Also, I'm toying with the idea of recounting the TBR. I'm not sure I want to do this. Part of me finds the idea horrifying, the other part is morbidly curious. Right now I'm leaning towards just remaining ignorant.

Tag! You're It!

I've been tagged by both Alison and Kate, and since they're both asking different questions I'll answer both sets. First up, from Alison:

Total number of books I own:
Do we have to talk about this? I haven't done a hard count in a while, so this is merely a guess. 600?

Last books I bought:
Went to a booksigning yesterday and got - What Rough Beast by H.R. Knight, No More Lies by Susan Squires, Deadly Games by Thom Racina, Mission: Irresistible by Lori Wilde, Hostile Witness by Rebecca Forster, Hot Tamara by Mary Castillo and Couch World by Cathy Yardley.

Five books that meant a lot to me:

1. Nevada Nights by Ruth Ryan Langan - the very first romance I ever read
2. Breathless by Laura Lee Guhrke - the best romance heroine librarian ever.
3. Cooking Up A Storm by Emma Holly - the book that started my erotica glom
4. The Star King by Susan Grant - OK, I still have this book in my TBR. However it was the first book that ever featured a quote from one of my reviews! I got such a kick out of it!
5. Mother Rabbit's Son Tom by Dick Gackenbach - my very favorite book as a child. My parents probably can still recite it from memory

Who I Am Tagging:
No one. You can all breathe easy.

Now on to Kate's questions:

What is your ideal job/career: Librarian.

Seven reasons you like it:

1. I like helping people
2. I find being surrounded by books relaxing
3. The job changes from day-to-day. It's certainly never boring.
   
4. I love keeping up with all the latest publishing news - although now I work for a system that is broke, so this has fallen by the wayside.
5. I love answering a really tough reference question.
6. Those little moments when you realize that yes, your job really is helping people. You are making a difference!
7. I love reader's advisory. I could talk to people all day about books!

Do you expect you'll get this job:
Got it! Have it!

Who Am I Tagging?
Again, no one. You can all breathe easy again.

And Some Of Us Even Enjoy It

A couple of years ago I discovered erotica (thank you Emma Holly), and realized I rather liked it. I found it sexy, decadent, and joyfully free of prejudice. Even if many of the sexual acts/encounters were things I wouldn't dream of trying in "real life" (and no, you're not getting a list. Perv.), I still vastly enjoyed the fantasy of it all.

Hence, causing me to go on a Black Lace spending spree over at Amazon. One such title I picked up was The Tutor by Portia Da Costa. I bought this book for a couple of reasons:

1. An online bud assured me Da Costa was "good."
2. The heroine is a librarian.

Yes, librarians do have sex. I know, this might come as bit of a shock. Sort of like when you found out your parents "did it." Most people seem to think librarians are dead below the waist. Worse still, romance writers are still gleefully perpetuating the stereotype that librarians are naive, young virgins who desperately want to be conquered by some brutish Alpha male. Or the Harlequin Blaze scenario where virginal librarians decide to "be bad" and proposition some stranger in a bar/their brother's best friend/their girlfriend's brother/their pet goldfish.

Uh, no thank you.

Which is why The Tutor is such a treat! Sure Rosie Howard isn't the most sexually experienced gal - but she knows what she likes and isn't afraid to experiment. Bless her heart.

Rosie has just been dumped by her boyfriend - a rather selfish prig I might add. Looking for a change, this voluptuous gal takes a new job cataloging a private library. Julian and Celeste Hadey have a gorgeous collection of rare books - including a healthy collection of priceless erotica. But cataloging isn't all they want Rosie to do. They want her to school Celeste's virginal cousin David in the art of sex. While the boy is 19, a life living in the country being raised by elderly grandparents have left him a touch on the naive side. Is Rosie up the challenge?

Well of course she is! I loved how Da Costa provides Rosie with a variety of experiences. There's the worldly, experienced Julian - the stunningly beautiful Celeste - and the shy, reticent David who so wants to get it all right. While this is really a story of Rosie, David and the situation they are thrown in - it is also about Rosie's awakening. She is most definitely a different person by the end of the novel. So eager to please the prig in the beginning - by the end she realizes that she just wants to please herself. To make herself happy, and share pleasure with her newfound friends.

There are no villains in this story - also a nice added touch. While Celeste and Julian have an extremely open marriage, one gets the impression they're madly in love with each other. Da Costa takes her time setting up the scenario, with most of the naughty stuff happening within the last 100 pages or so. This works rather well, since it gives the reader time to delve into all the characters - although this really is Rosie's show.

While not quite a keeper (again, I'm picky!), I really enjoyed The Tutor. Da Costa has definitely landed on my "must buy" erotica list.