Ornery Cuss

Well that didn't take very long.

Monday was Columbus Day here in the States, and in honor of entire indigenous tribes getting wiped out - I got the day off of work. However, there was no joy in Mudville - as I spent the holiday weekend packing.

I. Hate. Moving. Have I said that already?

Anyway, the stress and my general orneriness (is that a word?) has spilled over onto my reading. Yep, in a slump. I'm hoping a change of book will fix it - but let's discuss the book that I'm currently ignoring first.

The Last Bride In Ballymuir by Dorien Kelly is a book I should probably be enjoying - the big reason being it's set in Ireland and the hero's past is wrapped up in The Troubles. But I'm just completely indifferent on it. I'm not liking it, nor am I disliking it. It's just sort of there. Also, it features a plot device that tends to annoy me. The hero is "misunderstood" and everybody in town thinks ill of him except for his sister and the heroine. He's no good. He's trouble. He's a bad, bad boy.

Why characters like this just don't leave town is my guess. I mean, Ireland is a big country. The hero has inherited some money. He's got some options, even given his criminal record. Plus, this sort of conflict just irritates me. I suspect it's because I largely have a live and let live philosophy. As long as your personal business isn't harming anyone - well what do I care? And while the hero was wrongly convicted (naturally), his arrival in town has been quiet. He's staying with sis and going about his business. He's hardly picking up where he left off on the terrorist front. But everybody hates him, nobody likes him, he might as well eat worms.

It also doesn't help matters that I got more review books in, and I was loaded up with some of the hot stuff - including the poorly-reviewed-elsewhere Hot Night by Shannon McKenna. When this author works for me, she really works - and when she doesn't, oh boy is it ugly. But it strikes me as a Popcorn Read - and I think that's what I'm in need of.

So Ballymuir is going to languish on my desk at work, for easy skimming during "lulls." I feel like a shitheel about it, since I know more than one reader who loved the book - but it just ain't motivating me right now - so off we go to McKenna....