The DIK Library

Well, my friends Katiebabs, Kristie, Sula, Lisabea, CJ and Christine were chatting the other day and they came up with the idea of the Desert Island Keeper library. Laurie Gold at AAR coined the phrase, it is one used to describe books you love so much that they could be the only ones you keep on your desert island with you.

The rules of the game are simple, you can only add six books to the library. Easy, right? Not so much, but I'll try.

First is easy, it's The Windflower by Tom and Sharon Curtis. Why? It's my all time favorite romance, without a doubt. Reasons for that are listed here.

Second: A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught. Why? It's a superb example of a medieval and also of old school deliciousness. The hero is alpha, the heroine is sassy and cast of secondaries is delightful. Plus it features an ending that makes me heave a big sigh every single time.

Third: Sea Swept by Nora Roberts. Why? I could read this book over and over again. It features all of the things that Nora does best, write families, write alpha males, write guy speak, write hot sex that isn't explicit, and leave you panting for more.

Fourth: Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughan. Why? I've read this book probably 30 times, and each time I find something new that I love about it. But mostly, it's the simple love story, not just between the hero and the heroine, but between the heroine and her native people, and the people she comes to belong to. It's a spectacularly well written, well imagined book.

Fifth: Yay! Since Sarai is bringing Slave to Sensation to the island, I can bring Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh. Book Two in the Psy/Changeling series is just as much fun, and Vaughn, the hero is all dark and broody and alpha. But his heroine, Faith, is even stronger. This book proves that Nalini was no one hit wonder!

Sixth: Ugh. I'm torn. I'd like it to be Connie Brockway's All Through the Night, which I adore, or maybe Lisa Kleypas's Sugar Daddy or Again the Magic. But if I'm honest, it's Mary Balogh's Slightly Dangerous. Why? Because the hero, Wulfric Bedwyn is one of the most complicated, fascinating, deeply subdued men I've ever read. And watching him thaw into this wonderful, warm man is among the best times I've ever had reading a book. And it remains so every time.

So there it is. My six for the DIK Library.

In Carmel for the Week

In Carmel, California until Monday. Y'all keep it down in here.
No champagne on the walls.

And no champagne on Clive either.

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

OK, as a cat owner and lover, and someone who has worked with many an engineer in my time, this has to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Cat yodeling, try it with your cat. Stella is fabulous at it.

Graceful curtsy to the SBs for first sharing the video.

The Great Strawberry Shortcake Debate

Over at RNTV on the forums, PJ and I have been talking strawberry shortcake. It's probably my all time favorite summer food. I look forward to the spring time, when strawberries are finally in season, and I can bribe my sister, Sara, into making it. See, my roommate is not a fan of my family's strawberry shortcake recipe, so it's a waste for me to make it at my house.

My friend Tracy and I have had this discussion a couple of times, and are (what else is new?) in complete agreement. What *is* strawberry shortcake? In my family, it is made using Bisquick. You make either drop biscuits or we very often make it in a round cake pan and then cut it into slices. We slice strawberries and add a bit of sugar to them so that they make this delicious syrup. You can do it with Splenda too, although I can definitely taste the difference. Anyway, once you make the shortcake, you slice it hot and then cut the pieces in half again. Add one heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream and a heaping scoop of strawberries. Put the other half of the shortcake on top of the ice cream, top with more strawberries and finish with a large dollop of whipped cream. Inevitably the shortcake collapses before you've finished it. But this is how we do it. And when you say "strawberry shortcake" to me, this is what springs to mind.

Now, I have other friends who when you say "strawberry shortcake" to them, they think of those little spongey tart shaped things, or maybe angel food cake with strawberries, or pound cake with strawberries. Tracy and I maintain that while all of those *are* delicious strawberry desserts, they are NOT strawberry shortcake.

What's your take? Are you a strawberry shortcake fan? Does your family have a particular recipe that they make?

PS - The next installment of MK's "Need to Reads" is up at RNTV. Come on over and see if you agree with my opinion of Linda Howard's old school classic, Shades of Twilight.

"Rock the Red"

DC is not a big sports town. Oh, we have all the major sports, but other than professional football, for the most part, we're fair-weather fans. We root for the Wizards when they hit the playoffs (but not if they continue to play like they did the other night), we're re-learning to enjoy baseball with the Nationals, we like our college ball with the Hoyas and the Terps and Mason and GW, but for the most part, DC is a pro football town. But then, something kind of interesting happened. The Washington Capitals, a long, long time losing hockey franchise, started winning. They fired their coach about 1/4 of the way through the season, and hired a guy who had no playoff experience, they utilized the trade deadline and got a new goalie and some other players to help the team. And what do you know? They are in the playoffs.

I know next to nothing about hockey. Seriously, next to nothing. But it appeals to my bloodthirsty nature. I watched all of last night's game 7 between the Caps and the Philadelphia Flyers. Yeah, I still don't really understand the game. But here's what I did understand -- the crowd was an unrelieved sea of red. The owner of the Caps, Ted Leonsis, in a genius move, changed the team's colors this year, and began to utilize the slogan "Rock the Red" to support the team. Not even at Washington Redskins games, where, yes, you see a ton of jerseys and memorabilia, have I ever seen such an incredible show of unity. It was amazing.

I don't really have a question here, but just the observation that DC, if you'll give us something to root for, can turn into a big sports town. It's just been such a misery for so long, it's hard to remember that we have something to cheer for.

Watching the Caps play through this first round of the playoffs was a load of fun. It was nice to see such a great and rowdy turn out for them. I'm tempted to pick up a "Rock the Red" t-shirt myself, just for the fun of having one.

Are you a hockey fan? Want to explain the game to me? Do you live in a big sports town? If so, which sports do you enjoy watching?

Shock TV

I am a TV junkie. And proud of it. OK, well not necessarily proud, I don't list it as one of my accomplishments on my resume or anything.

ANYWAY... When I get in bed to go to sleep at night, I almost always put in one of my many DVDs, and very often I end up watching some of my DVDs of television programs. I own a bunch of TV on DVD, including The West Wing, Sports Night, Friends, Grey's Anatomy, Buffy, Angel and Alias. Lately, I've been rewatching Alias. I always loved the show because JJ Abrams (the show's producer) is nothing if not a genius at cliffhanger television. He understands the TV audience and gets that sometimes a good cliffhanger will leave us panting for more. This got me thinking about some of the most shocking episodes of TV I've seen. And, added benefit, it means that I can make another list! (Yay!)

So, without further ado, here's my list of my favorite shocking episodes of television:

1-The One Where Ross Finds Out (Friends) . This is the episode of Friends where Rachel and Ross finally kiss. OK, this wasn't so much shocking, as a yearning. But I was thrilled with the results, and even more thrilled with the episode after.

2- What Kind of Day Has This Been (The West Wing) This was the last episode of the first season of the show where the assassination attempt on President Bartlet took place. I remember the show going to black and hollering at the television set.

3- Passion (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). This remains my all time favorite episode of BtVS. Why? Because it was the episode where Joss Whedon proved to fans that absolutely no one is safe on Buffy. Happiness on this show is definitely fleeting. Jenny Calendar's death was an utter shock to me. And done in such an orchestral way.

4- Yesterday (Grey's Anatomy). The brilliance of Grey's, IMO, is that their characters are deeply flawed. This episode is the one where Meredith gives in to her sadness about Derek and has sex with George. My roomie can attest, I was PISSED about this episode. I bitched the entire week about it. I was furious with Meredith for taking advantage of George. Turns out, she suffered hard for it. Shonda Rhimes excels at having her characters make chillingly bad choices and then making them pay like hell for them.

5- Phase One (Alias). Quite simply put, this has to be one of my favorite episodes of television ever. Why? Well, in this episode, which falls about 2/3 of the way through Season 2 of Alias, JJ Abrams completely changes the game. The entire mythology that he's built is rearranged. And he does it in a way that is completely plausible. But, I'll be honest, I love this episode even more because well, Syd and Vaughn finally kiss. This episode aired after the Super Bowl (you might remember the ads, it had Jennifer Garner strutting down a hallway in a red negligee), and seriously, it was probably 1 in the morning, and I was gasping at the end of the episode -- desperate to call someone just to holler "Oh My God!" I had to wait until about 8:30 in the morning, when I called H. my roomie.

So, there you are, I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton. And hey, it goes without saying that pretty much the entire LOST oeuvre is shocking in the extreme.

What episodes of TV shocked you?

Some Things are Better Left Dead

Now, I realize that I'm absolutely not a style maven.
My idea of high fashion is Gap jeans.
But, can we all agree that the headband is a part of 80s fashion best left...in the 80s??

There But For The Grace of God...

I have beloved nieces at two Virginia state colleges. The horror I felt last April 16th could only have been amplified had it happened at one of their schools or God forbid to one of them.

We remember, Virginia Tech, and we mourn with you.

New Review up at RNTV

Check it out!

And you know...maybe leave me a comment. /begging.

And since this post is so boring...how 'bout a little Gerry to fire up your day?
Barefoot extremely hot Gerard Butler.
It's not a bad way to start the day. S'alls I'm saying.

Weekend Round-Up

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a good weekend. Mine was lovely and low-key. But a good one nonetheless.

Friday - Crazy day at work, as we had a donor event on Sunday in LA. I managed to leave work only 20 minutes late, which was a good thing because I was going to see Speidel, Goodrich, Goggin & Lille on Friday night at the Birchmere with my friend, Christine. The concert was fantastic, and we ran into our friends Doug and Laura who I hadn't seen in ages, so that was nice. The only bad thing is that the sodas only come in size extra large, and somehow I had three. So, yeah. I was up until about 3AM watching my Grey's Anatomy Season 2 DVDs -- Mer and Der get me every time.

Saturday - I went and got my hair cut and colored. I'm in the process of growing out my bangs. Which is a painful process, as I'm sure many of you know. I am in the phase where they're just down to the end of my nose. So this next seven week period will be particularly painful. Those of you who see me can just know in advance that I totally know how bad my hair looks. But with any luck, it'll improve once the bangs are grown. In the meantime, it's headbands for me. Oh! I also watched American Gangster. It was a good movie. But wowser! Long. I kind of half watched and half read my book. Which brings me to books: I re-read Shelter Mountain by Robyn Carr and then I re-read Divine Evil by Nora Roberts, which I have to say, is one of her scarier entries. It's funny, most of her books might give me a shiver or two, but anything having to do with the devil, I take as seriously as a heart attack. It's why The Omen and The Exorcist both scared the bejesus out of me. Oh! I also kept an eye on the Masters, but Tiger wasn't really playing all that well, and frankly, he's pretty much the only reason I watch golf. EDITED TO ADD: I also finally saw Casino Royale (thank you Showtime On Demand). I have to say, I've consistently made the icky face when people have talked about how hot Daniel Craig is as 007. Ummm, wow was I wrong. I totally get the appeal now. The man has a gorgeous physique and frankly a little bit of the devil in his eyes which makes him tremendously appealing. And let's be frank, he can wear a tuxedo like nobody's business. At least I can admit when I'm wrong.

Sunday - I went to brunch with Trip, Amy and Jack. We had a great time. We went to Metro 29 diner, which is this terrific diner in Arlington. I'd never been before, but the Eggs Benedict were delicious, and I have to say Mr. Incredible was his most super fun. Just happy and easy-going and really well behaved, which was pretty darn impressive for someone who is 2. He's talking up a storm and his rendition of the ABC song will crack you up. Anyway, I got home and changed into comfy clothes and set up camp on the sofa. I wrote a couple of reviews for Romance Novel TV, one of Emma Holly's Demon's Fire and then also I've started a review series for RNTV called "MK's Need to Reads" where I'm going to talk about classic romances that I think every romance reader should try. Of course, the first was The Windflower by Tom and Sharon Curtis. I also watched the Masters, Tiger rolled up to second, which was impressive considering he was tied for 20th on Thursday. And then I watched a deeply satisfying episode of Battlestar Galactica and was again reminded why I love this show so much. It's just so dark and moody.

Anyway, overall it wasn't a super exciting weekend, but it was a relaxing one. And hey, my roomie is finally home after spending two weeks in South Africa with Tracy and then being away this weekend for a family wedding. It's nice to have company again!

What did you do this weekend? Anything good? What are you reading/watching/thinking about these days?

Gee You Smell Terrific

The last thing I do as I'm getting dressed in the morning is spritz on a couple of shots of Clinique's Happy perfume. It has got a clean citrus smell that appeals to me, and it disperses pretty quickly. When I'm going out for the night, or am going on a date, I go for Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely. I like a perfume that doesn't smell too strongly and I don't like any kind of a cloying scent.

I am someone who strongly associates smells with memories. For example, I associate the smell of Caleche perfume with my mother. If I smell it on someone else, I can immediately identify it and think of my mom. I associate the smell of Halston perfume with my gram'ma. She wore it constantly, and I could identify it at twenty paces. Same with Canoe cologne -- my dad wears it.

Even more than perfumes from my childhood, I associate men's cologne with boyfriends. I dated a Navy SEAL when I was in college who wore Fahrenheit cologne. I cannot smell it without having a flashback to him. My ex-husband wore Obsession for Men. My most recent boyfriend wore Eclipse. I don't have bad memories about these guys, they just immediately pop to mind when I smell another man wearing their cologne. My first serious boyfriend wore Polo (what high school boy didn't? That or Drakkar Noir.) I still remember putting on his letterman's jacket and kind of sticking my nose into the collar and sniffing. I thought he smelled SO wonderful. LOL! That could have been the hormones talking.

Do you wear perfume? Do you like cologne on men? If so, which is your favorite?

Tumperkin Just Might Be A Genius!

Tumperkin has outdone herself. Check out the awesome serial she's writing with a variety of authors. I SO wish I had just one creative bone in my body. Tumperkin presents:

The Unfeasibly Tall Greek Billionaire's Blackmailed Martyr-Complex Secretary Mistress Bride

Chapter one is at Tumperkin's.
Chapter two is at CJ's.
Chapter three is at Kate Rothwell's.
Chapter four will be at Carrie Lofty's.
Chapter five will be at Ann Aguirre's.
Chapter six (and the finale!) will be atLisabea's.

FYI, Here are the rules:

1. Each chapter will be posted on the blog of that chapter's author (if wished), and here at my place. Each chapter will appear on a weekly basis (though not necessarily exactly 7 days after the last one)

2. Each chapter must contain a minimum of three elements from the title. For example, chapter 1 establishes *unfeasibly tall*, *greek billionaire*, *martyr-complex* and *secretary*.

3. Max 750 words per chapter. (Vague story outline set out after chapter 1).

4. Pastiche category-romance feel please. No surprise vampires.

5. You get one point for every time:

- Molly indulges her martyr complex
- Nico mentions his belief that Molly's a whore
- Nico cuts Molly off mid-sentence
- You make a reference to the global hummus industry

6. You get ten points for every time you use one of the following phrases

- To her consternation, Molly's nipples hardened

- What was the point? Nico never believed her!

- He came, roaring his pleasure

Awesome. I'm getting out the popcorn, and preparing to LMAO.

For Love of Teen Angst

Bam is blogging today about one of her favorite movies (and guilty pleasures), Dirty Dancing. I've probably seen it 30 times, although, it's not necessarily one of my favorites, and I never really got the Patrick Swayze thing.

In a way, though, Dirty Dancing, and its forebearers, Pretty in Pink and Sixteen Candles did give birth to one of my favorite genres: the bad teen angst drama. I actually own The Prince and Me. I paid good money to see Chasing Liberty (thank goodness for Tracy and Rachel, who share my love of bad teen angst movies). My roommate loves any movie that has Hilary Duff in it (Cinderella Story, anyone?!). I've seen most of the bad ones. And I'm just not sure why. But I think it might be the trailers.

There's a formula, you know:

Take gorgeous young woman (Mandy Moore, Hilary Duff, Julia Stiles), maybe smack some glasses on her so we know she's "awkward."
Add in one kooky best friend -- my all time favorite BF from any teen angst movie is Ducky from Pretty in Pink.
Add in one hunky, super handsome boy -- my favorite is Matthew Goode from Chasing Liberty.
Add in one EEEEEEEEVIL mean girl -- my favorite is Rachel McAdams from Mean Girls.
Overlay some sort of overly dramatic teen music -- say, Anna Malick's Breathe.

Mix into a rowdy, rich high school full of jocks, geeks, popular girls. Bake until completely saturated...and VOILA!

Teen Angst Drama.

Sure, there's endless (:rollseyes:) variety to the combinations, but what you've got there is some quality angst.

So, are you a fan of the Teen Angst Drama? If so, which are your favorites??

Randomness

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. I've been uninspired. So, here are my random thoughts for the week.

1- I finished Elizabeth Vaughan's follow-up to her fantastic Warlords of the Plains series. It's called Dagger-Star. What a mess! Wow. Too many characters, too much going on without enough exposition. I'm totally cool with complicated world building. Hell, look at Nalini Singh, her books have a complicated mythology. But for God's sake, explain the world, if you're gonna make it that complicated! What I did like about the story is the role reversal. The heroine was definitely in the hero's role and vice versa, which was a fun and refreshing change. But overall, I'd give it a C-. This book could have benefited from some serious editing.

2- I had such a fun opportunity this weekend. A friend of mine who is an author is submitting a new series of books, and she asked me to read the first chapter to give her a reader's perspective on what she'd written. First, I'll say this, I'm completely intrigued by the series. Second, if this series isn't bought, I won't understand why. I loved what she said to me, "You're among the pickiest readers I know (read: pain in the ass), so I know you'll give me an honest read." It was really fun to read it and know that very few people had laid eyes on it. Plus, she promised that I can read more of it as she writes. Yay!

3- Stupid Tarheels. Sheesh. I only watched about the first 15 minutes of the game on Saturday. I couldn't bear to see them lose. Then, I watched not one moment of last night's game. I was happy to hear Kansas won, but just didn't want to watch it happen. I'm glad that's overwith. I came in second in the group of women who played in our office pool. I figure that's pretty good for someone who knows next to nothing about college basketball, and totally made the homer pick for UNC to win.

4- I'm looking forward to going to see SGGL this weekend. They are playing at the Birchmere. Such a fun group. They are basically four guys with guitars, but their harmony is incredible. They give such a fun live show. My friend Christine and I are going. The food sucks at the Birchmere, but hey, that's not really the point anyway.

5- I finally saw Michael Clayton this weekend. What a great movie. Definitely slow paced, but the acting was tremendous. I thought that Tom Wilkinson was the best thing in it, and I was shocked to hear he didn't win more. Clooney was, of course, fabulous in it. Although, I didn't feel like the role was much of a stretch for him. But he nailed it nonetheless. Tilda Swinton was great in her role, but she doesn't do that great an American accent, and I'm still not really sure she should have won an Oscar for it. By the look on her face when she won, she wasn't sure she should have either.

What's going on with you? What are you reading? Or watching on TV? Or what movies have you seen lately that you like? How did you do in your bracket?

7 Random Things about me.

Sara tagged me, so blame her.

1-I am a total creature of routine. I much prefer my life to follow a planned path. I joke all the time that if a tree fell down in the road on my way to work, I'd have to go home, since I have no idea how else to get to where I'm going. The strange thing is, I am more or less a professional trouble shooter. I deal with the unexpected constantly in my job.

2- I am deeply scarred by my parent's unwillingness to buy me an Easy Bake Oven when I was a child. My mom's response whenever I would ask for one was, "You want to bake a cake, let's bake a cake." Clearly she didn't understand the joys of cooking under the heat of a lightbulb.

3- I genuinely enjoy traveling. I love to pack up and go somewhere.

4- My favorite place in the entire world is the beach. Holden Beach, North Carolina particularly. If I ever win the lotto, one of the things I would do immediately would be buy property at Holden.

5- I am a total slug by nature. My perfect day pretty much surrounds the idea of being able to sit outside and read a book. Followed by a nap.

6- I am a total pop culture junkie. I have a ridiculous amount of knowledge stored up about who is married to who, who starred in what movie, what TV shows are hot, etc.

7- The best meal I ever ate was at a restaurant in Tampa, Florida called Bern's. It's a steakhouse, is ridiculously expensive, and it was delicious. What did I eat there? A bone-in Filet Mignon with mashed potatoes and sauteed mushrooms and a Caesar salad that was made at the table. That's it.

I'm not going to tag anyone, because I think pretty much everyone has done this one.

Dance Party Friday

You know, they say that Washington, DC is the number three media market in the country. Well, sure.

But I ask you, do WE get Dance Party Friday??? Noooooooooo.

Apparently on the morning news in Cincinnati, when there are no major traffic jams to report during the traffic update...well...check it out.

Graceful curtsy to EW's PopWatch Blog, the source of all good videos.

PS - For the record, I sent this video to my Dad, who used to be a television journalist and taught a couple of journalism courses every year at Duke University. He was horrified. He didn't think it was funny at all. Yeah. I still think it's hilarious.

Everything Old Becomes Something New

I remember my mom marveling when I was younger that "What goes around comes around." At the time we were talking about fashion, and of course she's right. As we've seen, 70s style is going out of style again while thankfully, some of the least hideous of 80s style is coming back. Curly hair is in again, which is good news for me. I noticed on a red carpet not too long ago, someone wearing a dress with a peplam. I've seen dropped waist dresses and dresses with double flounces. All trends from the 80s that I wore proudly when I was in high school.

I blogged not too long ago about the fact that Beverly Hills 90210 is being "reimagined" and coming back to TV.

And now, there's this...New Kids on the Block is getting back together. Now, I was on the tail end of the NKOTB phenomenon and never was a fan. I don't judge because I'm a HUGE fan of boy bands in general. I just never was a NKOTB fan. Of course, my favorite boy band from the 80s, Duran Duran is touring right now. And they're in their 50s now and still rocking out. :rollseyes: I recently saw Bon Jovi in concert. I remember very clearly singing along with them my freshman year in high school.

What's old is new again.

What are the trends you wish would come back? What's the most horrifying trend that seems to be coming back?

For Love of Doogie

One of my favorite shows on TV is How I Met Your Mother. This show is tailor made for people of my age. It features a group of 30-somethings basically living life. But it is chock full of pop culture references, and hell, it's CREATING pop culture references. Had any of us heard of a "slap bet" before the genius episode "Robyn Sparkles." Had the expression "Suit up!" been used? And how many of us have split up a word using the phrase "wait for it..." in between??

OK, maybe it was just me. This past weeks episode of HIMYM featured a reference that had me laughing hysterically.




S
P
O
I
L
E
R

I can't do it justice, so I steal willingly from Omar G, the recapper for Television Without Pity:

"And now I give you the episode tag to end all episode tags. Coming as it does right after a preview for Harold & Kumar featuring Neil Patrick Harris prominently, it may seem like overkill. But oh. Oh, it is not, I promise you. Here we go: We're at Barney's place. We pan from a mini stereo to Barney sitting at his laptop and typing. The familiar notes of the Doogie Howser, M.D. theme are playing. Yes. That's right. THEY ARE GOING THERE. Barney, wearing a white shirt, sits and types. It's big white text on a blue screen. It says, "March 21, 2008, Barney's Blog. Sometimes we search for one thing but discover another." We zoom in on the cursor as it types, "Even though I didn't find the mystery girl…" Barney looks up from the screen nods and smiles. "…I did find out something very important about myself…" A very hot brunette in bed tells Barney to come join her. In a heavy Latina accent, the woman says that Barney has a shuttle launch the next day and that the asteroids not going to destroy itself. Barney tries not to laugh and keeps writing. "I'm awesome," he types. He closes the laptop, takes out his SLR camera and heads for bed. Genius. The only thing that could have made it even a single tiny bit better would have been having Vinnie Delpino climbing in through the window (or more disturbingly, just watching). But maybe they're saving that for next season. To which I say: bring it on."

Sheer genius, my friends. Sheer genius.

PS - I love this photo. You know NPH is thinking...."Ewwww, a girl is kissin' me! Vinnie, I wish it were YOU kissin' me!"

PPS - Check out TedMosbyisajerk.com here. Seriously, the people who run this show are geniuses!!

You Never Really Leave the Game

One of the things that I hate to do most is write. I know that sounds weird. I have this blog. But writing business letters or any kind of marketing material is for me what I imagine the birthing process must be like. It's painful, sweaty work for me that always stresses me more than almost any other aspect of my job. And I have a stressful job.

Anyway about two years ago, I decided to start writing review of the books I read for a small outfit called Armchair Interviews. They had very few romance reviewers and it was a good exercise for me. First, it wasn't a requirement that I love every book. Second, the reviews were very short, so it wasn't too tough. I did it for about a year or so. But I found that I wasn't crazy about the selection of books that were being offered (I'm a total snot about romance and don't like a lot of what's out there) and I was starting to feel like 300-350 words were too few. So I quit.

Since then, other than writing quicky reviews here, I haven't really reviewed books at all. Which is a shame because it does force me to do a couple of things as I read:

• Read critically. What works about the book? What doesn't? Is the writing clunky or difficult to understand? Too much going on?
  
• Read carefully. Because I'm a really fast reader, I often blow through a book and then miss things that I should be catching.

So, a couple of weeks ago I wrote to the fabulous Marisa O'Neil, one of the M's who runs Romance Novel TV and asked if I could start reviewing for them. Fortunately, because I'm a massive book pimp, Marisa was already pretty familiar with my writing style, so she said sure. What I love about reviewing for RNTV is that every major publishing house submits ARCs (Advanced Readers Copies) to them, which mean there's a tremendous selection of books to chose from. Marisa and I also agreed that I would only review books that I like. Especially since I now am lucky enough to count several authors as friends, I really have come to understand how hard it is to write and publish a book. I would never want to denigrate that process. Sure, there are plenty of books that don't work for me. But I don't want to be super critical of them. And if I have something nasty to say about them, well, I'll do it here on my blog. Not on a much more public forum like RNTV.

Anyway, all of this is leading up to, my first review for RNTV is up today. It's my review of Lisa Kleypas's Blue Eyed Devil. It can be found here. The review is designed to make you want to read the book, not spoil it, so please take a look and tell me what you think. I'd be interested in any feedback you might have for me.

Book Shoppin'

Damn you Ann Aguirre! The woman has pimped TWO books to me in the last 24 hours. And don'tcha just know that I had to go buy both?! I thought I was an effective book pimp, but seriously, y'all should head over to her blog and see the pimpery she's got going on for Meredith Duran's debut novel, Duke of Shadows (which I just bought!) . Ann also talks about Moira J. Moore, who writes fantasy novels. She did such a great job describing the series that I bought the first, Resenting the Hero -- and I keep telling everyone I don't read fantasy novels. Except...I keep buying them.

Then, after lunch today I went over to Borders. There I picked up Elizabeth Vaughan's newest, Dagger Star, which takes place in the same world as her Warlords of the Plains books, which are among my favorite series of books ever. EVER!

Then, wouldn'tcha know that Kristie J. has been interviewing Pamela Clare the last couple of days, and so I ended up having to pick up one of her books, Extreme Exposure, which features a Senator, and I don't know why, but I'm a sucker for heroes who are in public office.

So, there you go, four books in like two hours. And y'all thought I was bad with the pimping.