LA-LA-LA-LA-LA...I Can't Hear You!!!

Dang it! I didn't even make it ten steps into the office today before someone ruined last night's LOST for me. I've been fighting this weird throat virus thing (I was informed this morning that I've got a "porn star" voice...nice!) and went home early yesterday where I caught up on three episodes of LOST so that I could be ready to watch the season finale tonight at home. I literally got off the elevator on my floor and someone shouted out the "big reveal" from last night: "Can you believe ______?!"

So, again, as a public service to people in this, the TiVO/DVR age:

When you are talking TV with someone, the FIRST question you ask is: "Did you watch LOST last night?" Then you can proceed with the rest of the conversation. Ugh.

Don't get me wrong, I'll still watch, and I'm sure be completely captivated. But dang it! Now I know the big twist.

Or, maybe I'm not pissed at all, and just wanted the opportunity to post a picture of my boyfriend, James Ford.

SIGH. I think I'm Living This

The last bit made me laugh out loud.

I think I'm going to have to see this movie.

Summer Tunes

I like to fancy myself a "sun bunny" - granted I don't have an inner Tiffany like Blair Mallory, but I do love to sit outside and soak up the sun.

When I sit outside, I love to play music. It somehow makes the time go faster. There are certain songs that when I hear them, I immediately begin to almost smell the Coppertone. You know what I mean, certain songs that either make you want to crank the windows down in the car and turn the music up or to grab a towel and go lie outside.

Since I LOVE making a list, here's my Top 5 list of summer tunes that I love:

5-Summertime by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
4-Heaven by Los Lonely Boys
3-Black Coffee in Bed by Squeeze
2-Gallileo by the Indigo Girls
1-The entire album Legend by Bob Marley

What are your favorite summer tunes? What should I add to my iPod to listen to this summer?

Cover Redux

OK, call me crazy, but I didn't think the cover for Lisa Valdez's Passion was all that stupendous to start with. Why would they do it again for the Madeline Hunter book?

The Chillens

Happy Kitteh.

A moment later...Miss Stella is not amused.

A view every single dachshund owner lives with daily.

The Perfect Storm

So, I've mentioned before that I am going through that incredibly PAINFUL process of growing out my bangs. I'm in the headband stage. And I'm getting ready to LOSE. MY. MIND.

Seriously. I've never not had bangs. My entire life I've had them. I'm trying desperately to stick with the "growing out" idea, but every single day is a new adventure in the hell that is my hair. And the bad news is, summer is coming. For me, summer brings with it frizzies, unruly curls and general bad hair. Add to that the ridiculousness that is my bangs growing out, and we have the perfect storm.

I'm now wearing a headband, which admittedly looks cute, but also really serves no purpose. It's not holding my bangs off my face. It's generally agreed that I have a forehead you could hang a map on, so pulling my bangs completely off my face is never a good idea. The headband is holding back a bit of my hair, and hopefully pulling a bit of the attention of the craziness that is my hair away from my bangs. Here's the thing: I feel like the headband is slowly squeezing my brains out of my ears. It is killing me. I've adjusted it about 10,000 times today to no avail. I love the elastic head bands, but apparently, my head is actually bullet shaped under my hair, as the elastic headbands squeeze right off the top of my head.

I can't pin my bangs back because I have these whispy short hairs that just stick out of my head at a 90 degree angle and look like I stuck my fingers in the socket.

So that's it, I'm a bulletheaded girl with really bad hair.

Please help me. Have you ever grown your bangs out? Do you have a particular product that might help? Have you ever worn a comfortable headband? If so, what brand?

*HELP!*

Holiday Weekend Round-Up

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a fantabulous weekend. I did. A very, very low key weekend, but delightful nonetheless. Here in a nutshell (and it's a teeny tiny nutshell), is what I did this weekend.

1- My weekend kicked off with a delightful email from REI telling me that they would pledge $10K to the Annual Dinner that I coordinate. Given that I have to raise $350K, this was wonderful, welcome news.

2- Vegetated in the sun. I am Welsh, and thus, deeply, deeply pale. I mean, corpse-like. So, the minute it gets remotely warm outside, I begin my intervals of sitting outside for and hour at a time to try to get at least a little noticeable color on me. This weekend I clocked about four hours of sun time. Not excessive, but enough to get a little color going for me. Of course this ritual is begun by getting into my bathing suit and then lathering down in about three different kinds of sun screen. The bad news was that the heater on our pool is broken, so while it was DAMN HOT outside, the pool was a frigid 68 degrees. So, I basically sat on the steps outside the pool and stuck my toes in to cool off. But YAY! The pool guys come on Friday to have a look at the heater and see if they can't get it fixed. Then we can at least jump in the pool when it gets too hot. The good news is that my freckles are at least out. So I look like I got a tiny bit of sun this weekend.

3- Went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. My reaction? Meh. It was OK. Not great, but OK. I would rank the four movies in this order: Raiders, Last Crusade, Crystal Skull, Temple of Doom. But there is a large chasm between Last Crusade and Crystal Skull. Harrison Ford is at his usual swashbuckling best, although he's a little less fluid these days. He runs like he might have some arthritis in his hip. But the movie was its usual quippy fun. And I thought that Shia LeBeuf was his usual cutie-pants good. Cate Blanchett was completely over the top, but she gamely went on. Her accent was a laugh-riot though. The movie was directed by Spielberg and produced by Lucas, and there were nods to both directors in the movie. At one point Indy uttered the immortal words from Star Wars, "I have a bad feeling about this." There was a nod to Close Encounters in there too. Overall it was a fun movie, but not anywhere near as good as Raiders or Last Crusade. I'm glad we went to a 10AM show, it cost $6, which I think is just about right.

4- Read Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop. Hooo-boy do I now get what all the hoopdidoo is about these books. I was up until about midnight last night finishing this book. They are complicated and fascinating with a mythology unlike anything I've ever read. They are also graphic. Very graphic. Not for the faint hearted, that's for sure. But I am endlessly fascinated by the story, and I am completely predictable in that I fell immediately in love with Daemon Sadi. Holy cow, he's amazing! I can't wait to get home so I can get going on Book 2!

5 - Caught up on The Tudors. I'd been terribly behind. But Friday night and Saturday morning I got all caught up. I'm glad I did it this way. I felt like the middle of the season dragged a bit, but it's been entertaining to watch Anne Boleyn march inevitably towards her downfall. I have to say that Natalie Dormer has done a good job of making her a somewhat sympathetic character. And Jonathon Rhys Meyers is just mesmerizing on camera. He just kind of sucks all of the air out of a room when he's in it. It is a truly wonderful, campy performance that I am completely enthralled by. I can't wait to see the season finale next week. Poor Anne. I wonder what will happen next. ;o)

So, what did you do this weekend? Anything good? What are you reading or watching?

Jaime

I grew up living next to a war hero. I didn't realize it at the time, he was my friend Dusty's dad. His mom, Barbara, band-aided wounds, mediated fights, fed me the tops of broccoli and Dusty the stems because that was what we liked. I remember when Barbara gave birth to Lindsey, Dusty's sister. She was the first baby I'd ever been around, and the first baby I ever fell in love with.

But back to Jaime, Dusty's dad. Here's what I remember about Jaime. I knew he was retired Marines, I knew he was the commander of an elite SWAT team and that he was considered to be one of the foremost bomb diffusion experts in the world. Sure, I knew all of that, but what I knew about Jaime was that he was a hard ass. He loved his kids, and me too, but he was tough. If you fell down and skinned your knee, Jaime would fix the hurt, but he'd tell you to "suck it up." He used to routinely tell Lindsey, just a teeny one, to "toughen up." He was a tough guy. A very, very good man, but a hardened one. We moved away from living next door to Jaime and his family when I was 13. But we stayed in touch. In fact, my folks still exchange Christmas cards with them each year.

The interesting thing, is that I'll bet Jaime has no idea of the impact he had on my life. You see, when I was 17, I took a class in high school called "20th Century Issues." My school ran on trimesters, so we had one trimester on the Holocaust, one trimester on the Cold War (which was just about over when I was in high school), and one on the Vietnam War. During the trimester on Vietnam, we did two exercises that made a huge impact on me. The first was that we created an American Flag on one of the bulletin boards in the classroom. There we stuck one either red, white or blue pushpin for every soldier who died in Vietnam, more than 40,000 altogether. It took us the entire trimester to complete the project. But more importantly, we had to interview a Vietnam vet about their service during the war. I asked Jaime if I could interview him. So one night, my Mom and I went to their house. My mom and Barbara settled in with glasses of wine to chat, and Jaime and I sat down to do the interview.

Jaime commanded a Marine platoon when he was in Vietnam. During that time, his group was responsible for going out every day and clearing the landmines set in the roads so that the trucks could get through. The way a land mine was built in Vietnam at the time was, a hole would be dug, the bomb inserted, then a piece of plywood would be placed to cover the bomb, then dirt to make it look seamless. Jaime's group would go out with metal detectors and find the "pings." When one of his guys found a ping, Jaime and his second in command would dig around the area, until they got to the plywood. Then they'd feel underneath the plywood before removing it and defusing the bomb. You see sometimes the enemy would attach wires from the bomb to the plywood and it could blow when you removed the plywood. One day, Jaime and his second in command were called to a "ping", they dug around the plywood, and stuck their hands underneath the plywood to be sure there were no wires. While they were doing this, they kept hearing a clicking sound. They couldn't figure out what it was, but soon agreed that there were no wires attached to the plywood, so they pulled it up. When they did, they found a pit viper in the hole. A pit viper's venom at the time had no antidote and was completely lethal. The viper had been striking the luminous dial of Jaime's Rolex watch. He told me that from that day forward he never took it off, it was his talisman. In fact, he was wearing it the night he and I did the interview. Amazing.

He was just Dusty's dad to me. But to the men he served with, he was their commander, their leader and in many cases, he saved countless lives. He's a hero, plain and simple. He's one of the most extraordinary people I know.

To those who put their lives on the line, and to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, for the freedom I enjoy every day. Thank you.

Bones

One of my favorite things to do is download TV to my iPod to watch. Love it! I've picked up three terrific television shows that way: Heroes, Friday Night Lights and Battlestar Gallactica. I keep hearing about the FOX show Bones, so I decided I would go ahead and try it. So far I'm loving it. It stars the delicious David Boreanaz from Angel and Emily Deschanel (Zoey's sister). David plays Seeley Booth, an FBI agent and Emily plays Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist. I always really enjoyed Patricia Cornwell books about a medical examiner who found clues using dead bodies, and this show kind of takes it to the next level. Plus Boreanaz and Deschanel have a really terrific chemistry.

The show is actually set in Washington, D.C., which makes it hilarious to watch because frankly, half their outside shots are in no way, shape or form in DC. But that just makes it even more fun. I love how they pass the Capitol on the way to Woodley Park. Ummm, sure, if you start in Southeast. Fun.

Anyway, the show uses forensic anthropology to solve the crimes, with some FBI investigating thrown in for flavor. I'm only about four episodes in to the first season, but I'm really enjoying it. I hear tell the third season ended with a lulu of a cliff-hanger, so I'm looking forward to getting caught up over the summer.

Do you watch Bones? What other shows should I be downloading on to my iPod?

LOTR: Fellowship of the Rings at Wolftrap

Here is the screen on the lawn at Wofltrap where we would be watching Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings. The orchestra and choir would be set up inside the Loge.
(pictures below)

Here's a shot of the inside of the Loge. You can see the screen and the orchestra below.
The choir was set up behind them.

Here's a close up shot of the inside of the Loge.

Tonight was a very cool experience. It was chill-y!! But Amy picked us up a variety of scrum-delish dinner, and we hunkered down to watch the familiar movie, Fellowship of the Rings. The movie, we already knew was superb, but the addition of the orchestra and choir really made it fun. At one point a young boy, my guess is 8 or 9 got up and sang a particular solo (When Gandalf is imprisoned at the top of Isengard, if there are any Fellowship geeks out there). His voice was clear as a bell and just gorgeous. Then they had a young woman, her bio said 19, who sang all of Arwen and Aragorn's love theme. Her voice was rich and lovely and she did a beautiful job.

I left at the intermission (having seen the movie a bazillion times), but I'd have stayed if I didn't have work in the AM.

If you ever get a chance to do this, I highly recommend it. It was such a fun and interesting way to watch a wonderful and much beloved movie.

Lord of the Rings

I adore the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Why? Well, I think it is one of the finest examples of sheer literary genius coming awake on the screen. When Fellowship of the Rings (the first movie) came out, I saw it seven times in the movie theater. I watched the trailers and other teaser items for the second movie obsessively. Quite simply, I love these movies.

Not only are they finely wrought movies, but they are perfectly cast, finely acted and the loving detail with which they are put forth onto the screen is astounding. Each one was nominated for best picture in the year it was released which is saying something.

I'll be the first to admit that I couldn't get through reading The Fellowship of the Rings. Didn't even try. Tolkein's writing style is not for me. He's a little too detailed. I don't feel like I missed much though, not reading the books. I was telling my college aged nieces one day that Lord of the Rings is the Harry Potter of my generation. I know very few guys my age who don't know the books backwards and forwards. They love them.

Anyway, the first movie is my favorite of the three. I posted a picture of the ring wraiths, which for whatever reason, completely captured my imagination and completely terrified me. I remember watching a scene where the Hobbits have a close run in with one of the Wraiths on the road to Bree and practically screaming with terror. Big, scary guy on a horse wearing a black cape? Yeah, that's like something out of a nightmare for me. Add to that, I developed an immediate a thorough girl crush on Viggo Mortensen playing Aragorn, that it just made repeated viewings of the movie all the more delightful. He is the kind of hero that a romance reader just dies for. He's steadfast in his love for Arwen, he's loyal to the death to the Hobbits, he can swing a broadsword, and hey, he's actually a royal. That's what we call Hero-bait. And also, look how pretty.

OK, so all of this is to say that tonight my best friend, Amy and her husband, Trip, and I are headed to Wolftrap to see the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington Choral society play and sing the soundtrack of the movie while the movie is show simultaneously. It should be yet another superb viewing experience and a new take on the movie. It's supposed to be a gorgeous night, and it should be a terrific opportunity to revisit one of my favorite movies.

Are you a fan of Lord of the Rings? Have you read the books?

This Weekend's Read

I hear about the Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop over and over and over again.

I just got mine in the mail yesterday (the omnibus). I've decided I'll go ahead and get started on the first book, Daughter of the Blood.

Has anyone else read these books? Did you like them? Hate them? Why?

You SO funny!

So, EW has spoken, and they've ranked the 25 funniest people in America. I have to say, their list is pretty darn comprehensive.

The top 5 are:

5- Steve Carell - I don't even watch The Office, and I think he's hilarious. I watch award shows in the hopes that he'll win and make one of his hilarious acceptance speeches.

4-Jon Stewart & The Daily Show Posse - Nothing excites me more than a Presidential election year. Why? Because the Daily Show's coverage of political conventions is priceless.

3- Tina Fey - Again, I don't watch 30 Rock (what IS wrong with me?!), but I loved Mean Girls and enjoyed Baby Mama thoroughly. I maintain the Fey is one of the smartest women in Hollywood, and I admire her tremendously. Plus, cute glasses!

2- Stephen Colbert & The Colbert Report team - Again, I don't watch the Colbert Report. Although I do think he's hilarious. Just...not as funny as Jon Stewart. I'd have reversed their rankings.

1- The Judd Apatow Gang - I will say this, I re-watched Knocked Up the other night, and I laughed just as hard. I think Apatow's genius comes in making films where the characters are slackers, but very, very sweet, and you end up liking them tremendously. I'd agree with this ranking.

So what do you think? Who is missing?

"Trashy Romance"

I love a good romance novel. The relationship; the love story; the dashing hero; the smart heroine. I don't consider them trash. I consider them delicious escapist work that makes me happy almost every time I sink in to one. I will happily engage with pretty much any person alive about why I read romance. You want to talk about "chick porn?" I'm in.

The trend that has come about recently of the "topless" male makes me nuts. I think that Nathan Kamp (the model pictured on the cover of Kresley Cole's newest release) is among the most beautiful people in the world. He's got a glorious physique, his face is gorgeous, and judging from the number of romance novel covers he appears on, I'm not the only one who appreciates his beauty.

I just don't understand why it is that every second romance novel has to have either Nathan or some other guy with his shirt either billowing in the wind, his shirt completely off, chest glistening in some muted light. Why? I don't find these covers sexy. I find them embarrassing. Do I read romance for the love scenes? No. Yes, they are an added bonus to the story, and I do believe that they enhance the relationship growth of the hero and heroine. But I feel like these covers just propagate the idea that these books are somehow "dirty" or "trashy" in nature.

I realize that minds much more experienced than mine (marketing folk and whatnot) have probably researched this issue and there is a reason that there are so many of them out there. But count me as one romance reader who doesn't care for the naked male torso cover.

Below are three samples of "male-oriented" covers.














How about you? What do you think of the naked chest cover? Does it work for you? Or would you rather not see them?

Could she BE any cuter??

Look who's got a degree from the University of Virginia! And apparently, a chili pepper too.

Congratulations, Lauren! We're SO proud of you.
Enjoy London and Paris, no one deserves it more than you (and Jo).

In Which Kati Dips Her Toe in the Pool Again.

SIGH. Being 37 and single isn't always fun. Don't get me wrong, most of the time it doesn't bother me. But it really is true that sooner or later, you start to get the drive to pair up with someone.

Last year, I dipped my foot in the online dating pool with definitely negative to mixed results. I had a string of dates that were definitely "not so much" dates, and one guy who was sweet, but totally stalled in first gear and never moved on. Interestingly, he's still kind of hanging on as a friend, which is weird for me, but whatever.

So last month I decided it was time to dip my stupid toe in the stupid pool again. I joined the last of the "big three" dating sites that I hadn't tried, PerfectMatch.com. Thus far, I've been "matched" with ONE, count them, ONE guy. I had no idea I was so difficult to match. LOL! Anyway, this month I decided to give Chemistry.com another shot. Originally I went with eHarmony, but frankly, I think the guy who runs it is a little nuts, so I decided I'd give Chemistry another shot. I've only been at it for about a week, and have been getting some pretty decent matches so far. Which I suppose is a good thing. But I just have such a sense of, I dunno what you'd call it, "bleh" about the whole thing. I LOVE being a relationship, but I hate the pre-relationship stuff. The whole, "Is he going to call?"; "Should I call him?"; and my least favorite the, "What the hell does that mean?" stage.

So, here we go again, let's hope I get better results this time. Fingers crossed everybody!

Go Nernie!!

My gorgeous and incredibly smart niece Lauren is graduating from the University of Virginia in the morning. I honestly don't think I could possibly be prouder of her. Not only is she incredibly smart, but she's also just a genuinely cool chick. It's been an honor to get to bear witness to Lauren's childhood. And also...look how cute!

What Kati's Been Up To This Week...and other random nothing

So, I've had a pretty productive week this week reading and movie viewing. So here we go, down and dirty book/movie review.

I was the first to admit that Blood Brothers, the first installment in the Sign of Seven trilogy, really, really didn't do it for me. I felt like there was too much world building going on, and not enough focus on the romance. That being said, I think that Nora created one of her scariest Big Bads ever -- and I love that they refer to him as "Big Evil Bastard." Anyway, I quite enjoyed this installment of the trilogy. I liked Fox, the hero a lot, and I thought Layla was a good counter-point to him. You see, he's a little pushy and she's super cautious, but they really need each other, so it makes their relationship fun to watch. Plus the others were all back, of course, and I'm quite looking forward to reading Gage's story. He's one of my favorite types of Nora heroes, pissed off and broody. Good stuff. This will go on the Keeper Shelf with the rest of my Nora's.

Next up, Kresley Cole's next in the Immortals After Dark series. First, I'll say this, why do the titles have to be so ridiculous? Seriously. I hate the titles of these books. And while I'll be the first to admit that Nathan Kamp is a gorgeous man, I hate this type of cover. It just screams trashy romance to me. Either way, the story was fun to read. I enjoyed Neomi, the heroine's predicament, and we got to see most of the other major players in the series, including Bowen MacReive, who let's face it, is Kresley's finest creation. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, but will be passing it on.



Yesterday I watched P.S. I Love You. Which, really, isn't that great a romance. But it's got a lot to recommend it, first Gerard Butler as a leading romantic man is wonderful. He's funny, sexy and has the Irish accent that would just melt butter. Next up, it's got Harry Connick, Jr. While he's not my favorite, he has this great Southern twang, and does play the kind of bumbling friend well. But most of all, it features my boyfriend, Jeffrey Dean Morgan in, frankly all his glory. He also plays an Irish man and does the Irish accent beautifully. Plus we get to hear him sing, and he just does that sweet, handsome guy thing so well. I said to my roommate last night, "I can't imagine that Hillary Swank even had to think about starring in this movie." Anyway, it was fun to watch and I'd recommend it as a rental. I won't be buying it though.

I also watched Transformers, which was last summer's blockbuster hit. I thought it was cute. It was full of fun car chases, cool special effects and Shia Le Boeuf, who I think is adorable, in a little brother kind of way. It's good for a couple of hours worth of entertainment. It's not Academy Award winning stuff, but for a summer blockbuster, it was good, clean fun.



I also was quite behind on my TV viewing because I bought the first two seasons of Friday Night Lights on DVD and that required me to watch each and every episode again. So, I'm just getting caught up. I've watched the last three episodes of Brothers and Sisters. I'd read quite a bit about the hoopdidoo about Justin and Rebecca's relationship, and I have to say, I disagree. I just don't think it's a big deal. I thought both actors played it quite well. I mean, it's a soapy drama. I expect things like this to happen on this show, so it didn't bother me in the least. I was much happier just to see Kevin and Scotty tie the knot. I think this show does a lot to show that two gay men can successfully have a healthy relationship, and to see them do the commitment ceremony was wonderful, as was Kevin's bumbling and heartfelt proposal. This continues to be one of my favorite shows on TV.

Now I'm reading Jeaniene Frost's next installment in the Night Huntress series. I really didn't much care for the first one, I thought the heroine was a brat and really immature. But my bud Katiebabs has just gushed to no end about this book, so I decided to give it another try. I'm only on Chapter 4, so we'll see how it goes. But I'm hopeful that I'll like it better. I love UF/Para romance, so it's always fun to have another series in my pocket.






My roomie and I are going to see Prince Caspian on Sunday. We've found that Sunday nights are the best time to go see these movies, since it's a school night. We get many fewer kids joining us and can generally enjoy the movie in peace.



So what are you up to? Seen any good movies lately? Watched any good TV? Do you have big weekend plans?

Back to our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Let's talk TV today.

I'm pretty predictable when it comes to TV. The bulk of the TV that I watch is what most other people are watching. I'm a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy, LOST, Friday Night Lights, Battlestar Gallactica, How I Met Your Mother, and well, you get the idea. And I love nothing more than when one of my shows fades into some sort of a ratings stunt to get viewers back. And what's my favorite kind of ratings stunt? The gratuitous skin shot.

Here are some screen caps of my favorite gratuitous skin shots:

Does everyone remember the post-Super Bowl episode of Alias? Yes, it's that episode, the one where Sydney and Vaughn finally kiss. But this is the shot that greeted viewers as they tuned in: Jennifer Garner strutting down a hallway to AC-DC's Back in Black in this get up.










And how 'bout ANY episode of LOST where they manage to have Sawyer take his shirt off? That's called knowing your audience.













And of course, there's Friday Night Lights, and any time they manage to have Taylor Kitsch take off his shirt. The boy oozes gratuitous, bless his hot little heart.

True story, the other night my roommate was in the basement with me and an episode of FNL was on, she took one look at him and said, "Ah. So that's why you watch the show." I didn't even bother to look remorseful.





So what are some other shows that resorted to gratuitous skin shots for the ratings?

Graceful curtsy to EW.com for the idea.

Looking for Round Five of DIHK?

It's at Christine's today. Come on over and watch the madness unfold.

:muttering:

Now I've got to clean up all the rum glasses those ladies left around here.

Round Four: Final List

Round Four Picks will be made in DARK GREEN.

1. Bridget Locke - Mr. Jules Cassidy (All Through the Night, Suzanne Brockmann), Bones (One Foot in the Grave and Halfway to the Grave by Jeannie Frost), Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen), Judd Laurens (Caressed by Ice, Nalini Singh)

2. Ana - Bowen MacRieve (Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night, Kresley Cole), Sebastian St. Vincent (Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas), Royce Westmoreland (A Kingdom of Dreams,Judith McNaught), Conrad Wroth (Dark Needs at Night's Edge, Kresley Cole)

3. Tumperkin - Mick Tremore (The Proposition, Judith Ivory), Michael McNeil (Patricia Gaffney's Wild at Heart), Christian, Duke of Jervaulx (Flowers from the Storm, Laura Kinsale), Graham Wessit (Black Silk, Judith Ivory)

4. LesleyW - John Matthew aka Tehrror (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward), Jeremy Danvers (Women of the Otherworld series, Kelly Armstrong), Vayl (Jaz and Vayl series, Jennifer Rardin), Curran (Magic Bites and Magic Burns, Ilona Andrews)

5. Sarah - Clay (Women of the Otherworld series, Kelley Armstrong), Nathaniel (Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Series), Barinthus ( Meredith Gentry), Lucas (Heaven Sent Series, Jet Mykels)

6. Carolyn Jean - Eric Northman (Sookie series, Charlaine Harris), Joe Morelli (Stephanie Plum, Janet Evanovich), Ranger (Stephanie Plum, Janet Evanovich), Nate, (My Fair Captain, J.L Langley)

7. Christine - Acheron (Dark Hunter series, Sherrilyn Kenyon) Qhuinn (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward) Vishous (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward), Butch O'Neill (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward)

8. Ciaralira - Ethan McCabe (Demon Night, Meljean Brook) Hugh Castleford (Demon Angel, Meljean Brook) Westley (The Princess Bride, William Goldman), Lord Robert Andreville (Robin) (Angel Rogue, Mary Jo Putney)

9. JenB - Vane Kattalakis (Night Play, Sherrilyn Kenyon) Angel (Angel, Johanna Lindsey) Rule, (The Demon You Know, Christine Warren), Kade, (Riley Jenson Guardian series, Keri Arthur)

10. Katie(babs) - Alexander (The Bronze Horseman, Paullina Simons) REHVENGE (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward), James Diaz (Cry No More, Linda Howard), Gabriel "Sully" Sullivan (Gabriel's Ghost, Linnea Sinclair!)

11. KristieJ - Derek (Dreaming of You, Lisa Kleypas) Dax Silverbrake (Sky Pirate, Justine Davis) Ciaran Tamberlane (My Forever Love, Marsha Canham), Branden Kel-Paten (Games of Command, Linnea Sinclair)

12. Lisabea - Adrien English (Adrien English series, Josh Lanyon) Michael (Guardian Series, Meljean Brook) Colin Ames Beaumont (Demon Moon, Meljean Brook), Jake Romero (With Caution, J.L. Langley)

13. MaryKate - ROARKE (In Death series, JD Robb) Lucas Hunter (Slave to Sensation, Nalini Singh), Maximillian Pesaro,(Gardella Chronicles, Colleen Gleason), Cameron Quinn (Sea Swept, Nora Roberts)

14. Naida - Edward Cullen (Twilight, Stephanie Meyers) John Atlantis (Entangled, Kathleen Dante), Frederick Wentworth (Persuasion, Jane Austen), Aragorn aka Strider (Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien)

15. Samantha Kane - Doyle/The Queen's Darkness (Merry Gentry Series, Laurell K. Hamilton) Cat, a young pirate (The Windflower, Laura London),Chief of Police Jack West( All U Can Eat, Emma Holly), Tom Paoletti (Unsung Hero, Suzanne Brockmann)

16. Sarai - Jake Riordan (Adrien English series, Josh Lanyon) Rejar (Rejar, Dara Joy),Vaughn D'Angelo (Visions of Heat, Nalini Singh), Zarek of Moesia (Dance with the Devil, Sherrilyn Kenyon)

17. Shannon - Sam Donovan (Mr. Perfect, Linda Howard) Sam Starrett (Troubleshooters series, Suzanne Brockmann), Max Baghat (Troubleshooter series, Suzanne Brockmann), Adam Hauptman (Mercedes Thompson series, Patricia Briggs)

18. Sula - Rhage (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward) Asa McIntyre (Promises Linger by Sarah McCarty), Dain (Lord of Scoundrels, Loretta Chase), Ian Witherspoon (At Love's Command, Samantha Kane)

19. Thea - Jamie Fraser (Outlander, Diana Gabaldon) Joscelin Verreuil (Kushiel's Legacy series, Jacqueline Carey), Jacob Black (Twilight Series, Stephanie Meyer), Bruce Wayne (BATMAN: YEAR ONE, Frank Miller)

20. Tracy - Zsadist (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward), Phineas Tucker (Welcome to Temptation, Jennifer Crusie), Dorian (Psy/Changeling Series, Nalini Singh), Wrath (Black Dagger Brotherhood series, JR Ward)

ROUND 5: Hosted at Christine's

Looking for Round Four of DIHK??

See you right here on Monday for Round 4 of the craziness!!

For My Niece Abby

I wasn't sure if you'd seen the trailer for TWILIGHT, sweetheart. I can't wait for this one!

Back from CA!

Hi everyone. Thank you for returning Clive to me relatively unscathed, although, Julie, he cried a little over what you and Stacy made him do. Bad girls!

So, our Board of Directors meeting went incredibly smoothly, and I'm looking forward to five days off now. I did a ton of reading while I was gone. First, I read Sarah McCarty's Caine's Reckoning. I've always been one of those readers who is all, "I don't like westerns." Well, this book changed my mind -- I certainly enjoyed this book a ton! It's tremendously well written and interesting. The hero is a Texas Ranger, the heroine is a fallen woman. And not a "faux" fallen woman, a real one. There are very good reasons for her distrust and terror of him, but man, he just works her around to loving him and charms the pants off of her at the same time. It's a remarkably well written book.


Then I read Killer Secrets by Lora Leigh. Interesting book. First of all, I actually got to the point with it where I was like, "Enough with the sexin' already." And I love me some hot steamy romance. But good Lord, these two were like bunny rabbits. Mortal danger? Stop for some sex in the shower. Intruder? Stop for some sex. Kidnapped? Stop for some sex. It got to the point where I was amused by it -- which trust me, was not the author's intent. I'd say at least 60% of the book was sex. And the hero was an interesting guy. He really never lightened up. He was dark and broody and angsty all the way through. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it was just interesting to me because most romances are about emotional evolution. This guy? Not so much.


I also read Bound to Love Her by Esri Rose. Another interesting book. It's a debut, I believe. And she's got a nice voice. But it was little choppy. Also, the story features an elf hero. Now. When you say elf to me. I think Legolas. Sure, for some that's a good image. For me, it's Orlando Bloom wearing that little tiara in Return of the King. I'm a Strider girl. All the way. So, I had a hard time getting over my elf issues. But she's got a good handle on her story, I just wish she'd found a bit more of a way to introduce her mythology without her heroine having to be employed constantly as dumb question girl. She went to that well a little too often, but I think she's got promise as a writer. I'll be doing a full review of the book for RNTV later this week.

Now I'm reading Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I can't bring myself to buy her books in hard cover, so the wait is interminable between her books. I'm enjoying this one very much. I've loved Dean Robilliard since he was introduced in Match Me If You Can, so it's fun to see him get his HEA. It's not going to end up being my favorite book by her, but I'm enjoying it a ton.

So, now that we've built the Desert Island Keeper library, we're creating an...ehem, stable of our favorite heroes. The fun is going on over at Carolyn Jean's. Check it out. I think I may have damaged my friendship with Katie(babs). See, I got to pick before her, and well, I did what any smart woman would do, I chose Roarke from JD Robb's In Death series. And Katie isn't taking it all that well. Never fear though, I'm sure she'll come out swinging....at my head.

Anyway, I'm off for the rest of the week and am looking forward to the Bellas hitting town on Thursday and Friday. Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

What's In A Name?

I was thinking today as I went over to LeeAnn's blog about romance novel hero names. This topic came up because I was saying that Nora Roberts' True Betrayals is one of my favorite reads by her, even though the hero's name is Gabe, and I think that Gabe is a remarkably UNSEXY name. Gabriel is different, but to me Gabe evokes Gabe Kaplan, otherwise known as Mr. Kotter. Uck. Not sexy.

Anyway, there are hero names that we encounter ALL. THE. TIME in romance: Royce, Lucien, Damon (Damian), Reed, Gage, etc. You get the idea. But that got me thinking about romance hero names that immediately evoke a reaction from you that you know wasn't what the author was going for. Perfect case in point for me: Sin and Sensibility by Suzanne Enoch. Mostly innocuous book (except the book opens with the hero getting a blow job in a corner at a ball, something that stretched my bounds of credibility), anyway, the hero's name is Valentine. Give me a break. Valentine? Really. First of all, I used to ride a horse named Valentine (and NO, that is not a euphemism), but more than that, what the heck kind of name for a hero is that anyway??? I ended up calling him "Joe" or something in my head because I just couldn't deal with Valentine as a hero's name. And I found the name so distracting, I barely remember the book (I had to google the hero's name and the author to figure out which book I was talking about).

So, I want to know, what books have you read (other than the BDB, 'cause please, that topic has been talked to death) where the hero, or for that matter, the heroine's name is just silly?