Top Ten Tuesday: Honorifics

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books with Honorifics in the Title (“…an honorific is a form of address conveying esteem, courtesy or respect. These can be titles prefixing a person’s name, e.g.: Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms., Mx., Sir, Dame, Dr., Cllr, Lady, or Lord, or other titles or positions that can appear as a form of address without the person’s name, as in Mr. President, General, Captain, Father, Doctor, or Earl.” For more info, click here.) (Submitted by Joanne @ Portobello Book Blog)

I am always grateful for my handy dandy spreadsheet that I have been maintaining for 20 years or so for these kind of topics. Apply a couple of filters and you at least have the start of a list!

My first 5 books have a French connection in honour of the fact that we are half way through Paris in July. 

The Madamoiselle Network by Natasha Lester - This book tells the story of the only woman to lead a resistance network in WWII. It is a really interesting book, although I must confess I am not sure why it is called Madamoiselle given that the main character was married when the main part of the story started! Guess it just sounded better than the Madame Network which could be something completely different! (my review)

Madamoiselle Victorine by Deborah Finerman  - I hadn't thought about this book for years which probably isn't a surprise given I didn't really like it. Interestingly finding out what happened to Victorine Meurent is one of the strands of The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl which I was reading last week.

Mrs Harris goes to Paris by Paul Gallico - I love the movie of this book and have watched it several times. I did also listen to the audio. At some point I will listen to more of the Mrs Harris books. In future books she goes to New York, Moscow and Parliament! (my review of the movie and the book)

A Star for Mrs Blake by April Smith - This book tells the story of some mothers of soldiers from  WWI who were given money by the US government to travel to France to find the graves of their dead sons.

The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain - I thoroughly enjoy reading Antoine Laurain's books and this one was a lot of fun! (my mini review of this book and two others by Antoine Laurain)

Miss Graham's Cold War Cook Book by Celia Rees - I really enjoyed this book in which a young teacher is sent to post WWII Germany to help in the rebuilding process but she is also there to provide information, which she does by sharing coded recipes. (my review)

The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes by Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer and Anne Stuart - This is an older book now which when I read I thought was a super fun idea but I wasn't sure about how it turned out as a reading experience. I do still love the cover on that one though (my review)

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson - I have such fond memories of reading this book many years go. I recently read Simonson's latest book, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, and that was a lot of fun too! (my review of Major Pettigrew)

Sir Thursday by Garth Nix - This is part of the The Keys to the Kingdom series. I read all seven books in the series between 2007 and 2010 but I only ever reviewed the first three. 

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon - This is part of the spin-off mystery series which features Lord John Grey who we originally met in the Outlander books.

Top Ten Tuesday: Rereads

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books I’d Like to Re-read (Share either your favorite books that you enjoy re-reading or books that you’d like to read again!) (Submitted by Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog)

I am not normally a re-reader so originally I was thinking that I would do something different this week and actually have a post started on a different theme where I have got 10 books selected. Then when I thought about it some more I did wonder if I could make it to a list of 10 books that I have re-read, and I could! I guess that means my next freebie post is pretty much already done! Yay for me!

Here are 10 books I have re-read.

Virgin River by Robyn Carr - I could actually include most of the Virgin River series in this post, with the exception of the last book which I still haven't read yet. I read all the original books in the series back in 2010-2011, and then proceeded to re-read the first 7 books in the series over the course of two weeks in 2012. Here is a post about the whole series and how it made me break several of my own rules

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley -  I have re-read this book three times so far, twice by reading the book and once on audio with the most recent time being earlier this year, and I still loved it! Note the words so far. There is every chance I will read this again at some point. It is a bit odd though. I have other Kearsley books that I have loved but I haven't re-read any of those. Maybe I should. Here is my most recent post about this book 

Hogfather by Terry Pratchell - Listening to this in the lead up to Christmas has become one of my Christmas traditions over the last four years. I first read it back in 2007 which means that so far I have read it 5 times. 

The Secret History of Christmas by Bill Bryson - This is now part of my Christmas tradition too. I first listened to in 2023. I enjoyed it so much that I forced my husband to listen to it too so in the end I listened to it twice in a week. My original post about this book is here

Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas - Ah, Sebastian and Evie! What a book. What an author! I wish she was still writing. (my review)

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta - Ah, Thomas Mackee, you break my heart. I have actually read a few of Melina Marchetta's books a couple of times but my favourite thing is to listen to the audiobook of The Piper's Son. I have listened to it five times now, including three times in about a month. It just affected me that much! I haven't listened to it for a few years now, but I have thought about listening to it again. 

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer - If I had to describe my idea of aural bliss it is Richard Armitage narrating Georgette Heyer's books. I have relistened to Venetia three times and Sylvester four times after initially reading it! (original review)

Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie - I had forgotten that I had re-read this one until I was searching through my blog looking for inspiration for this post. (My review)

Relish by Lucy Knisley -  I had read this years ago and then it was selected for Cook the Books a couple of years ago. I did enjoy revisiting it! (My Cook the Books post)

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder - Years ago I read and loved the first three books in the series. A couple of years ago I decided that it was time to read the whole series. I started by rereading the first two book and never got any further. One day I will read that whole series. One day! (my original review)

Are you a re-reader?

Six Degrees of Separation: Sandwich to Agnes and the Hitman

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best. The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links. I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

This month's starting point is Sandwich by Catherine Newman.

I thought I would do things a little bit differently this month. Whereas normally this is an exercise in word and thought association. This time, I am going to make....a sandwich

When you are making a sandwich you need to start with bread. In this case, I am choosing a collection of short stories called Bread and Chocolate by Philippa Gregory. I had completely forgotten about this book until I recently revisited the first few book reviews I ever wrote and this was one of them.

Next, I am going to add Butter by Asako Yuzuki

I then need to decide what protein. Will it be ham, or turkey or something else. Maybe chicken, using the book Mr Chicken Goes to Paris by Leigh Hobbs. I read this book many years ago to my nephews  when we were visiting the State Library and I have never forgotten it.

Next up tomatoes. I am choosing Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, although I probably wouldn't normally fry them!

The next filling was a little trickier. In the end I have chosen a book about Lettice Knollys, cousin and rival to Queen Elizabeth I. I first read about her in high school in a book called My Enemy, the Queen by Victoria Holt, which is a pseudonym of the prolific author Jean Plaidy.

The final link was even trickier. If I was making a chicken, lettuce and tomato sandwich I would want to add mayonaisse, but there aren't many books where this fits. I am therefore choose a book that was co-written by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (Mayer/mayo is close right?) called Agnes and the Hitman.

So there you have it, my chicken, lettuce and tomato sandwich!

Next month, which will also be next year (!!!) the starting point is Orbital by Samantha Harvey, which is a new book to me.

Currently Reading: Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

It has been a long time since we have had a Jennifer Crusie book. Yes, she has done collaborations with all kinds of people, but for pure Jennifer Crusie, the last one was Bet Me which was released in 2004.

Here's the blurb:

The New York Times bestselling author of Bet Me, Tell Me Lies and Welcome to Temptation delivers her long-awaited novel

Andie Miller is ready to move on in life. She wants to marry her fiancé and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her before they go their separate ways forever. A very distant cousin of his has died and left North as the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already, and things are getting worse. He needs a very special person to take care of the situation and he knows Andie can handle anything.

When Andie meets the two children she quickly realizes things are much worse than she feared. The place is a mess, the children, Carter and Alice, aren’t your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. What’s worse, Andie’s fiancé thinks this is all a plan by North to get Andie back, and he may be right. Andie’s dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that’s not the only haunting.

What follows is a hilarious adventure in exorcism, including a self-doubting parapsychologist, an annoyed medium, her Tarot-card reading mother, an avenging ex-mother-inlaw, and, of course, her jealous fiancé. And just when she thinks things couldn’t get more complicated, North shows up on the doorstep making her wonder if maybe this time things could be different between them.

If Andie can just get rid of all the guests and ghosts, she’s pretty sure she can save the kids, and herself, from the past. But fate might just have another thing in mind…

A very important part of this book seems to be music and on her website Jennifer Crusie shares the soundtrack to the book. There are references to early 90s music and also to music from the early 80s. Andie and North's song was Somebody's Baby by Jackson Browne, which I must confess I didn't recall. Here it is from Youtube.

Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie

Turn left at small town secrets...

Sophie Dempsey is content living a quiet life filming wedding videos until an assignment brings her to Temptation, Ohio. From the moment she drive into town, she gets a bad feeling; Sophie is from the wrong side of the tracks and everything in Temptation is a little too right. And when she has a run-in with the town's unnervingly sexy mayor, Phineas Tucker, making a little movie turns out to be more than a little dangerous.

Yield to oncoming desire...

All Sophie wants to do is film the video and head home. All Phin wants to do is play pool with the police chief and keep things peaceful. They both get more than they bargained for when Sophie's video causes an uproar and the proper citizens of Temptation set out to shut them down.

Welcome to temptation...

As event spiral out of control, Sophie and Phin find themselves caught in a web of gossip, blackmail, adultery, murder, and really excellent sex. All hell breaks loose in Temptation as Sophie and Phin fall deeper and deeper in trouble...and in love.

If you have read my blog for a fair while one thing you might notice is that I don't normally do rereads. Having said that, I was browsing through the online catalogue for the library not so long ago to see if Jennifer Crusie's next book had been added to the catalogue yet when I noticed that they had this book on audiobook. You know how sometimes you just NEED a certain type of book. Well, as soon as I saw it, my immediate reaction was I need to listen to a great romance with lots of humour, and so I borrowed it.

As I mentioned previously, I had read this book before, but I had forgotten many of the details. When I think of Jennifer Crusie's books I think of smart and funny, but I don't often think of how sexy her love scenes are, or of the swearing that is in the book. I am not sure if it is because I was listening to the book instead of reading it but it really jumped out at me this time around. Now, that doesn't bother me, but when I thought about my work colleague listening to it, I did wonder how she would react. By the way, I went into work the next day after making that post and mentioned to her that I wasn't sure how she would react to it, and to be honest her initial reaction was to be a bit hurt - she asked me if I thought she was a prude. I am however glad that I did say something to her. I am not sure if she is going to give it a go but if she does at least she will be forewarned.

I loved the way that this book is never exactly what you think it is. For example, when Sophie and Phin meet it could be a straight romance novel, but then there is the body and it turns more into a mystery, but then the victim appears to be the man who died a thousand deaths, so is it really mystery. Regardless of all those things, the one thing this book is, is a really good reads.

There are laugh out loud moments, there are sexy moments, and there are the poignant moments. The narrator did a pretty good job at getting all the different tones and moods. A couple of the character's voices were a little bit weak, but other than that I have no complaints. Some of the scenes, for example at the town council meetings about the water tower and the pool game between Phin and Sophie, are comedy gold!

Now I just wish my library had more JC books on audiobooks that I could listen to again. I especially wish that they had Bet Me and Faking It, but I guess if worse comes to worse I could actually try reading a reread instead of listening to it!

Rated S for too sexy?

At the moment I am listening to Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie. I have read this before, but it was a long time ago and I had forgotten how steamy this book was, as well as how strong some of the language is. In fact, quite often I used to see people nominate the scene on the dock as one of the sexiest in romance and I used to be somewhat surprised and think I don't remember any really, really hot scenes in any of Jennifer Crusie's books. Let's just say my memory has been refreshed!

Not too long ago I convinced one of my workmates that listening to audio books whilst walking was a good idea. At first she was extremely sceptical, but it only took a few days for her to get to like it. We have been sharing some audio books, and so when I got Welcome to Temptation I asked her if she wanted to borrow it and she was like sure!

The only problem now is that I have been listening to it over the weekend and have realised exactly how sexy that dock scene is, along with some of the other scenes in the book (discovery fantasies anyone?) and all of a sudden I am thinking that she really isn't going to be comfortable with this book at all. So my dilemma is, do I go back into work tomorrow and hope she hasn't started listening to it yet and give her a ratings warning or do I wait for her to give it back and listen to her totally shocked reaction? Another workmate is trying this one out as her first audio book, but I think she will be fine with it but I am not sure about the other one!

A little of this and a little of that!

I have a few different things I wanted to post about, so this is going to be a post with several different things in it.

First, Rosina Lippi/Sara Donati has a new excerpt up for book six of the Into the Wilderness series. This series is one of my favourites and I am very much looking forward to the new book when it comes out!

Speaking of excerpts, Jennifer Crusie has posted the whole first chapter of Dogs and Goddesses, her upcoming collaboration with Lani Diane Rich and Anne Stuart. Whilst I prefer her non-collaboration books it is fair to say that I will be reading this one when it comes out!

The second thing is that I got a blog award from Teddy Rose at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time. I'd like to thank my parents, my sister, my friends, my agent...wait..I don't have an agent.

In the spirit of sharing, I would like to pass this award onto Ana from Aneca's World, in recognition of all her hard work on Historical Tapestry, and because she is a great person!

The second person who I would like to award this to is Dewey from Hidden Side of a Leaf. Now Dewey may be surprised to get this from me because we haven't interacted personally all that often, but she always is really active in trying to build up our little bookish corner of the blogosphere with lots of fun ideas! I don't always participate, but I do always admire her energy and her ideas. Great job Dewey.


Speaking of Dewey and her great ideas, we needed to do a follow up post about this week's Weekly Geeks idea, which was to spread the link love around by sharing our links to book reviews that we had in common with other bloggers.

Initially, I was reluctant to undertake this one, because I was worried about how much extra time this would take on an ongoing basis. When I thought about it a bit more, I decided to go ahead with it because, whilst there was definitely a lot of time spent on it this week find book reviews in common and leaving comments and the like, going forward it should actually be pretty manageable I think. What I have also spent more time on this week is reading more new blogs in Bloglines, as I find more and more book bloggers who are also participants in Weekly Geeks!

The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes by Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer and Anne Stuart

You’re invited to spend the weekend with three extraordinary sisters…

When she was sixteen, Dee Fortune kidnapped her two younger sisters and ran from danger. Now twenty-nine, she’s still trying to control her shape-shifting power—no easy task when Danny James shows up one Friday morning with his deadly smile and dangerous questions about the past.
“Dreyer is wickedly clever and witty.”—Booklist

Lizzie is determined to save her family from financial ruin by turning straw into gold; now if she could only stop turning forks into bunnies. Then Elric, a sorcerer, appears one Friday—annoyed with the chaos Lizzie is creating in the universe and in his heart. . . .
“A consummate mistress of her craft, Stuart is a pure pleasure to indulge.”
—Romantic Times Bookreviews

The youngest Miss Fortune, Mare, towers above her sisters but her telekinetic power is dwarfed by their gifts. She spends her days at Value Video!! and her nights contemplating the futility of her existence. But then a gorgeous Value Video!! VP and Mare’s long lost love turn up. . .and they all turn up the heat on a weekend that no Fortune will soon forget!
“Crusie is a master of fast-paced witty dialogue.”—Seattle Times

I can just imagine what the brainstorming sessions would have been like for the three authors involved in this book.

"What's the strangest thing that someone could morph into during sex?"

"A frog"

"No, no...wouldn't it be hysterical if she turned into the guy's mother just as they got hot and heavy?". Lots of mirth and merriment ensues.

"And, how about, what if, one of the sisters is trying to transform objects, but every time she tries to do it the only thing that happens is that she makes herself a new pair of shoes?" Hahahaha. "Every woman loves shoes!"

"Wait, wait...what if..." laughing .....

Okay...so I don't actually know if that's how it really was, but in some ways it felt to me as though the three authors involved in this book were having so much fun thinking about what things could happen, but it just didn't quite translate onto the page. The book was lots of fun, but it wasn't the fantastic ride I wanted, mainly because the characters were swapped around too quickly, and the chapters too long.

I should probably declare right now that I hadn't ever read Anne Stuart or Eileen Dreyer before so I really was reading this for Jennifer Crusie. And I have to admit that I came away from this book thinking that I am not so enthused about her collaborations, after first Don't Look Down, and now this book. (Luckily, since then I have read Agnes and the Hitman (and no, I haven't reviewed it yet) so my faith has been restored somewhat - restored enough to be looking forward to the collaboration that she is currently working on with Lani Diane Rich and Anne Stuart.

My other qualm was that two of the sisters meet, fall in love, and then agree to marry in the space of three days as well as having to defeat evil aunt Xantippe in that time frame as well.

When I read the book, my favourite relationship was between the youngest sister, Mare and her true love. I'm not saying more on this one because there are two possibilities for Mare, but she definitely ended up with the right guy! Now, as I look back though, I did also really like Dee and Danny's relationship. I wasn't so keen on Lizzie and Elrick. He was a bit...pompous..for want of a better word, for me!

So, whilst this book was a fun read, it just didn't meet my expectations. It could well be that my expectations were too high, but still.

Rating 3.5/5

Another contest

This time from Dee and Dee Dish...About Books



The details are as follows:

Want the book? Blog for it! Copy/paste the cover .jpg and the highlighted Cover Copy onto your own blog, and link back here, or post me a comment. I'll list your blogs over on our sidebar. Next Wednesday, the night before I head out to Ohio, I'll have the oldest girl child pick a winner. You'll get my (slightly read) copy of AATHM. To make up for it being slightly read, I'll ask Jenny and Bob to sign it, just for YOU, when I see them on Thursday. NOW BLOG THIS BOOK ALREADY!

I am looking forward to reading this book! And to have a signed copy would be even better!

Sizzle by Jennifer Cruse

Emily Tate is something of a marketing whizz kid, with her last campaign being wildly successful. One thing she is not good at is keeping to her budgets and so the company brings in Richard Parker whose job it will be to keep tight reins on the money side of things. Of course Emily and Richard clash immediately, but it isn't long before their attraction to each other can't be denied, and something will definitely begin to sizzle!

Whilst Jennifer Crusie doesn't deny that this book is in existence, she doesn't exactly proudly claim it as the following quote for the FAQ page of her website shows when asked if there will be reprints of some of her older books:

DO NOT ASK FOR A SIZZLE REPRINT. That damn book is following me around the way early porn films follow actresses.

Whilst I can see where she is coming from, because there are definitely some major flaws in the book (or more precisely novella given that it is less than 100 pages long), I am glad that I tracked it down. The heroine is smart, attractive and funny, a Jennifer Crusie prototype for some of her later heroines if you like.

One of the major problems in the book is that Richard is never given his voice - the whole story is told from Emily's point of view and therefore Richard comes across as somewhat two dimension, or almost like a characiture of a hero in some ways. He was also a bit of a one joke heroine - that being that he never seems to really listen to Emily's point of view. Having said that the picture I have in my mind is of a really sexy bloke....so he wasn't a complete failure character wise.

One of the differences between this book and many of her others is that this one is a whole lot hotter and sexier. The sex in this one was a lot more explicit than I remember many of the others I have read being, although that could be a case of selective memory in my case. There are a couple of desk scenes in particular that are very steamy!

I am not sure that I completely like the idea of a perfume that heats up on your skin either, which is where the title of the story comes from, but overall it was a fun, very short read, that is worth going to the trouble of tracking down if you are a fan. I'm glad I didn't pay 20 or 30 dollars for it though!!

Oh, and just in case you think that I have lost the plot completely, I am aware that I have put a picture of the cover for Anyone But You in this post, but there is a reason I promise you! A while ago Harlequin Australia rereleased Anyone But You with this horrible green cover, but they also included Sizzle in with the book. There is however no mention of this on the front cover, so if you are looking for Sizzle and see this horrible cover on Ebay and it's going for cheap it might be worth getting hold of it just to read Sizzle. That's what I did and it definitely wasn't a waste of the $5 it cost me! Who knows, one of these days I might even reread Anyone But You now that I own it!!

Rating 3.5/5

Santa, Baby Anthology

Get ready for a holiday season you'll never forget with three of today's most sensational writers who know what every woman wants for the holidays. You'll believe in Santa all over again with these seductive stories from:

JENNIFER CRUSIE: Mayhem ensues under the mistletoe as a determined shopper grabs the very last hot toy action figure off the shelf, only to find herself plunged into the middle of a real-life spy game--in the arms of a sexy secret agent. . .

LORI FOSTER: Two dedicated coworkers with a lot of secrets (and fantasies!) between them must plan a Christmas party side by side--and discover a love worth celebrating--in this steamy office romance.

CARLY PHILLIPS: A "mistletoe moment" begins when a no-nonsense lawyer intent on seducing her boss meets his twin instead--after giving him a scintillating kiss that leaves him begging for more. . .

I was going to write a proper review for this one, but then I thought..well, there are other opinions out there that echo my own. So instead I would suggest going to read Dear Author's review. I pretty much agree with their take on the stories in this anthology. For another opinion, visit Jennie for her thoughts.

In summary, my thoughts are:

Santa Baby - Trudy and Nolan are our couple - In the only newly published story in this anthology by Jennifer Crusie, this story didn't really get off the ground for me!

All I Want for Christmas - Maggie and Eric - Eww, eww, ewww. And they weren't organising a Christmas party for goodness sake! I've never read any Lori Foster, and this didn't inspire me to rush out and get it. Basically this was a shell of a storyline around lots of sex!

Naughty Under the Mistletoe - Toni and Max - Carly Phillips is another new to me author, but unlike Lori Foster's story, I enjoyed this one, and will keep an eye out for other books by this author. For me this was the strongest story in the collection.

Rating 3.5/5

Trust Me On This by Jennifer Crusie

As I start this review it is 11.23pm on 1 October, but given that this is the book that I was going to read for the September TBR challenge, I am going to say that I completed the challenge, because surely it is still September somewhere in the world (buggered if I can find where though!) Am I clutching at straws? Okay, fine then....I didn't meet the TBR challenge for September...I'm on the Wall of Shame for sure!! LOL!!

The challenge for September was to read a category book or to read a book from a series. Actually I probably could have qualified the series one nine times over in the last month!

"I bet that smile gets you everything you want...."

As soon as Alec Prentice spotted the spicy brunette in red silk, he vowed that the tempting con woman would not escape him! Dennie Banks was prepared to do anything to get her story, even flirt her way into the arms of a man who promised to help—but when the feisty reporter dared him to kiss her, his mouth scorched hers with wildfire yearning. Could two passionate partners in crime get their man and each other?

In a deliciously fast-paced and funny romance, Jennifer Crusie proves without a doubt that everyone's guilty of something—and it might just be love! Drawn into a reckless charade by a man whose dangerous charm was hard to resist,could she uncover his mysteries without surrendering her own?

Title: Trust Me on This

Author: Jennifer Crusie

Year published: 1997

Why did you get this book? I only started reading Jennifer Crusie's books last year, and really enjoyed them. Since July last year I have read all of her books, with the exception of three - Sizzle, Cinderella Man and this one. I therefore got this book because I am trying to catch up on her backlist!

Do you like the cover? What's not to like - Purple dress, big hair, clinch.....lovely!

Did you enjoy the book? Yes

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? No the author is not new to me, and yes I will definitely be trying to track down those elusive books by her. Actually it is exciting to note that Jenny Crusie has quite a few new things coming up soon - the first being a novella in the Santa Baby anthology that is soon to be released.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? For a change this wasn't a library book, so this time I am keeping it!

Anything else? I really enjoyed this. Yes, it was rushed in terms of the time line, but I liked the humour, and the set up. I liked the fact that there were in effect two parallel romances going on through this novel, with the second one featuring Alec's aunt. The only part of the plot that didn't feel as though it was resolved properly was about the conman and his girlfriend, but given that the book was only just over 200 pages long I am prepared to let that one go! I am not disappointed that I sought this one out. Now I just need to find the other two books of Crusie's that I haven't read and I will be set!

Rating 4/5

Don't Look Down by Jennifer Cruisie and Bob Mayer

This is my read for the June TBR challenge, which for this month was to read a book from your TBR pile that was recommended by someone you “know” (another blogger, author, friend, family member) or got a lot of buzz and that’s why you bought it but it’s still on your TBR pile. This book had a LOT of prerelease buzz on the internet.

New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Crusie teams up with USA Today bestselling author Bob Mayer to write a sizzling, high-octane romantic adventure about a straight-talking woman and a straight-shooting man…

Lucy Armstrong is a director of television commercials who's just been recruited to finish a four-day action movie shoot. But she arrives on the set to discover that the directing staff has quit, the make-up artist is suicidal, the stars are egomaniacs, the stunt director is her ex-husband, and the lead actor has just acquired as an advisor a Green Beret who has the aggravating habit of always being right.

Green Beret Captain JT Wilder had thought that hiring on as a military consultant for a movie star was a good deal: easy money and easier starlets. Instead he has to babysit a bumbling comedian, dodge low-flying helicopters, and resist his attraction to a director who bears a distracting resemblance to Wonder Woman. Then the CIA calls and he realizes that somebody is taking “shooting a movie” much too literally.

Full of suspense and humor, non-stop action and fast-paced dialogue, Don't Look Down is the perfect blend of male and female, adventure and romance, Mayer and Crusie.

Title: Don't Look Down

Author: Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

Year published: 2006

Why did you get this book? Crusie is a relatively new author to me, and I have been glomming her books this year. Given the prerelease hype there was no way I was not going to get hold of this book eventually.

Do you like the cover? Yes. I did lose the ta-da effect of the camouflage cover under the jacket because this was a library book and therefore had been covered for it's protection.

Did you enjoy the book? Mostly. It wasn't exceptional, but it wasn't terrible either.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? I've read Jenny Crusie before, but I have not read any Bob Mayer (or any of his alter-egos) books previously.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? It's a library book so keeping it isn't really a consideration, but if it wasn't I would probably pass on it.

Anything else?I do enjoy reading the He Wrote She Wrote blog most of the time. It is often hysterically funny..something that didn't happen all that much in the book. Will I read the next book collaboration between these two...absolutely. The basis is there for an excellent story. Just need to work through a few of the kinks - like a four day story where they are going to have a HEA!

Rating: 3.5/5

Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie

My quest to read all of Jennifer Crusie's books continues!

On Wednesday, Quinn McKenzie changes her life. On Thursday, she tries to get somebody to notice. On Thursday night, somebody does.

Quinn McKenzie has always lived what she calls a "beige" life. She's dating the world's nicest guy, she has a good job as a high school art teacher, she's surrounded by family and friends who rely on her, and she's bored to the point of insanity. But when Quinn decides to change her life by adopting a stray dog over everyone's objections, everything begins to spiral out of control. Now she's coping with dog-napping, breaking and entering, seduction, sabotage, stalking, more secrets than she really wants to know, and two men who are suddenly crazy...for her.

What a hoot this book was! Considering it is a romance there are some pretty heavy topics in this book - stalking and adultery amongst others.

The two main characters are Quinn McKenzie and Nick Zeigler, her former brother-in-law, but they are by far not the only characters in the book whose life is changing. When we first meet Quinn she is in a relationship with Bill, the successful coach from the school where Quinn teaches art. Quinn and Bill have been together for a couple of years, although a lot of the time it seems as though Quinn just got together with him, and then moved in with him because it was easier to give in as opposed to fight it. Bill has everything planned out, right down to fitting in a wedding between seasons, what sort of underwear he wants Quinn to wear (virginal white), the beige furniture that fills their apartment. However, after two years of doing as she is told, Quinn finally gets fed up of this way of living when she finds a stray dog, falls in love with it, and wants to keep it, and Bill sneakily takes the dog (who Quinn has named Katie) to dog pound behind her back. Quinn decides that one of them has to go, and it isn't going to be the dog. So Quinn moves out of the beige apartment, back to her parents, and it is Nick who helps her move. Nick who has been her friend since she was 16 years old, Nick who is out of bounds because he used to be married to her sister.

Before long Quinn has not only shed her relationship, she has cut her hair, she is buying a house, she is moving on, and she really wants Nick to be part of it and Nick wants it too, but Nick has become a commitment phobe, unable to stay the night with any of his girlfriends, let alone face a lifetime commitment. However, when Bill starts to get a bit scary and starts stalking Quinn, sabotaging her firstly her loan application and then her house so that she will realise how much she still needs him, Nick realises that it is time that he made some changes himself.

In the meantime, Nick's brother Max and his wife Darla are also having some troubles. Darla is bored, and feels as though Max doesn't actually see her, hasn't really seen her in years, and nothing that she tries works, not even opening the door wearing only a transparent raincoat (which backfires when Max hasn't come home alone...whoops!). For Darla things get so bad that she moves in with Quinn, as does Quinn's father when her mother moves her best friend (and lover) in! So as Darla and Max work through their issues, and Quinn's father and mother also deal with theirs, Quinn and Nick begin to acknowledge the attraction that has been there for years. Nick and Quinn try to stay away from each other but he sexual tension between them builds really well in the book as does their growing understanding of what is happening between them.

The cast of characters is quite large for a romance, but they are also a lot of fun, and deal with issues like spicing up a marriage after a long time together. There are also appearances by various characters from the town, providing more insight into life in a small town.

This was a lot of fun, despite the seriousness of some of the themes, and is highly recommended!

Rating 4.5/5

Strange Bedpersons and Manhunting by Jennifer Crusie

My library had this as a 2 books in 1 book, but I cannot find any reference to that edition anywhere on the net, so I my cover looks nothing like either of these. Minor detail I suppose!

Well, I guess it was bound to happen....a Jennifer Crusie book that I really didn't like!

When she agrees to accompany her ex-boyfriend Nick Jamieson, a conservative Republican lawyer who is desperate to make partner, on a weekend business trip as his fiance, Tess Newhart, an outspoken woman of the world, discovers that opposites really do attract.

First problem that I had with this book was the ex-factor. They had been broken up for a month. That's not ex ex in my opinion. They had been apart long enough to miss each other but not much more than that. And the reason why Tess was still holding out against Nick...because he wouldn't have sex with her in a public place. Not much of a reason in my opinion.

I didn't mind Nick that much, although yes he was very driven career-wise, but Tess - ugh!! If I had of met her in real life I would have punched her!! Annoying, selfish, annoying.

There was a second romance in this book between Nick's friend Park, and Tess' friend Gina, and I didn't really buy into that one either.

Overall, a disappointment to me. If this had of been the first Crusie that I had ever read I probably never read any more from her!

Rating 3/5

And then to contrast, I really enjoyed this book. It was laugh out loud funny. I started it at 11pm at night, and finished at 2.30 the next morning, and don't regret missing out on those couple of hours of sleep at all.

After three failed engagements, successful businesswoman Kate Svenson comes up with a definitive plan for finding the man of her dreams by snaring an eligible bachelor at The Cabins resort, but as her would-be swains begin to drop around her, Jake Templeton decides to save the world of men from this dangerous femme fatale.

.
One of the good things about Jennifer Crusie's characters is that she doesn't write about 18 year old virgins all the time. Her women are generally rich in life experience, and know what it is that they want. In this book Kate Svenson thinks she knows what she wants, but when she plans how to achieve those things, it doesn't quite turn out that way.

Jake used to be everything that she ever wanted, but now he is has kind of withdrawn from life and is helping his brother run a resort complex. He likes to spend at least some of his day fishing, and hanging around in the local bar.

I really liked Kate's journey in this novel. It really is about working out what it is that you really want, as opposed to what you think that you want, and then setting out to get it. The gradual building from friendship to love for Jake and Kate was well handled and felt real.

Rating 4/5

That just leaves Crazy for You and then I have finished all of JC's fiction books...just in time for Don't Look Down to come out next month.

Speaking of Jennifer Crusie, she now has another collaboration project going in addition to the one she has with Bob Mayer. The highly entertaining blog with Bob can be found here and now there is a new one with her collaborationists Anne Stuart and Eileen Dreyer here.

What the Lady Wants by Jennifer Crusie

Before I started this I only had four more Jennifer Crusie books to read, and I have to say that if they are all as quick to read and as fun, then I should be done with them by next week.

Mae Belle Sullivan is a heiress who has no money. Mitch Peatwick is a PI, but he's not really, Mae Belle's uncle is a murder victim who appears to have died of natural causes and the rest of her family is either crazy or crooked.

Written as a spoof to Sam Spade type detective novels, Mitch had decided a year earlier that he could earn a living as a PI. Having also taken a substantial bet that he could do so, he only had a few days left to go on his bet. After a year of divorce work, he is somewhat jaded and distrusting of everyone, so when Mae Belle Sullivan walks into his office asking him to find the diary of her dead uncle he already knows that she is lying to him.

Mae Belle was after a dumb detective who she could get to spread rumours about her Uncle Armand's death whilst she tried to figure out what was going on with him. Instead she got Mitch who wouldn't do what she asked, and who she was beginning to feel very attracted to. Unlike some of Crusie's heroes, Mitch didn't do a great deal for me, but that's okay.

Whilst Mae Belle's family were all Mafia types, including her cousin Carlo who really wanted to be with her, they were all pretty cliched, but in a completely over the top, fun kind of way. In fact it is probably fair to say that the whole novel was written in a tongue in cheek fashion, with over the top characters, but for me that is refreshing in itself in a way. This was not a book pretending to be anything more than a fun, romantic story, with screwball characters.

Overall, this was a fun novel, with a cute couple at it's centre. I only figured out after I read it that Nick and Tess from Strange Bedpersons were also in this novel, so I guess I will read that one next.

Rating 4/5

Bedroom Business by Jennifer Crusie

This book actually includes two of Jennifer Crusie's earlier books - Getting Rid of Bradley and Charlie All Night, although it is not easy to see that from the front cover!

In Getting Rid of Bradley, Lucy Savage has just experienced the final insult from her now ex husband when he fails to even turn up at the divorce court. After going to the diner where they were supposed to be having lunch together so that Lucy could at least get some kind of information about what went wrong, Lucy finds herself being shot at, and then she thinks mugged. However her "mugger" is actually Zack Warren, who is investigating her ex-husband for embezzlement.

Zack is a good cop, who has excellent instincts, and he believes that Lucy is in real danger, so decides that she needs 24 hour protection, especially after her car is blown up. It is really only after he moves in that things get uncomfortable for Lucy, mainly because she can't stop thinking about how she wants to be with Zack!

I really liked Zack, although the pretense under which he moved in and stayed seemed a bit thin. His decisiveness around the fact that he was meant to be with Lucy was sweet. Lucy was kind of just there for me - she didn't really sparkle in her own right.

One thing I did like was that the author didn't take all the obvious steps on her way to the conclusion. For example, there was a little bit of flirting involving Lucy's sister Tina and Zack's partner Tony, but it never turned into a happy every after for all of them.

I rated Getting Rid of Bradley 4/5.

In Charlie All Night, hot shot radio producer Allie McGuffrey has recently broken up with her boyfriend, who also happens to be the star DJ that she helped create, and now she has been moved from the morning slot to the 10pm to 2am shift with a completely new DJ. After being told this she goes to the local bar, only to see her ex there. Whilst trying to keep her pride in tact, she picks up one of the men sitting at the bar and pretends that she is with him. He turns out to be Charlie Tenniel, the new DJ. As he has just arrived in town, he is invited to stay with Allie and her flatmate Joe. Allie decides that she needs a one night stand, but it quickly turns into more for them both.

Charlie soon becomes the next big thing on radio, but one night during an argument that is accidentally broadcast on air, Charlie and Allie challenge each other to live without sex for a month. Shortly after, Charlie has to move out, but their relationship changes from one that is sexually based to one where they just spend time hanging out. I really liked this side of the story, although whether it is realistic is a different matter!

But Charlie didn't really come to town just to do the radio show. He was asked to come and investigate some thing at the radio station - an anonymous informer has told the station owner that drugs are being distributed from the station. So whilst all he wants to do is spend time with Allie, there is an investigation to undertake as well. I never really got why Charlie was the one who was asked to investigate. He wasn't a police man or anything like that.

Once again, I really liked Charlie. The way that Crusie writes her heroes makes me really want to meet someone like that. Smart, funny, sexy, intelligent and handsome all rolled into one...mmm...yes please!

The interesting twist to this story was the very serious subject matter of the end of the story. I suspect that this kind of depth is something that still would be unusual in category romance even now, 10 years after this book was originally published.

This was my favourite of the two stories. Both are very short as they were both originally released as series romance, and therefore there wasn't the room for plot development as there might be if she wrote the same book now.

I rated Charlie All Night 4.5/5.

A fun couple of books to read. Overall rating 4/5