Paradise

Paradise By Judith McNaught

Synopsis :

Teenage socialite heiress Meredith Bancroft has a quick and disastrous secret marriage to unsuitably penniless Matt Farrell. Her domineering father tells each of them a series of damaging lies and speedily arranges a divorce. A decade later, Meredith, now vice-president of a department-store chain and engaged to a prominent banker, meets Matt again. The highly successful CEO of his own conglomerate, Matt has a well-deserved reputation as a ruthless corporate raider, and when he hears of Meredith's aggressive plans for her chain's expansion the two clash explosively. To complicate matters, Meredith discovers that they have never been divorced.

Again the first love plot and i am not getting bored one bit .
I really enjoyed this one ,it was like reading a episode of Dallas !
The rich fighting all the time but really loving each other ahhhhh nothing really realistic but you get so caught up in the story ,you don't care ,just plain indulgence.
As always few inconsistency ,i found Meredith very meek for the president of a "Harrods" type of establishment especially when you know it was written in the ninety's.
Her "best friend" was a complete turn off ,don't you love the good friend sleeping with your fiance ,just because she has been in love with him forever and it seems so obvious you're in love with someone else ? (with friend like this who needs enemies huh!)
Grades :3/5

WOW

Just saw it ...and ...hum ,let's just say i know now how to punish the people i hate.
I just can't express how much this movie is bad ,the fact that i stayed till the end just tell you how anal i am.

It's cliche after cliche ,it's very very painful.
In brief to avoid at any cost if like me you are a fan of anything a bit supernatural or just good.

Leader of the pack and Sex ,lie and online dating

Leader of the pack by Kate Cann

Sinopsis :

Being hard is what Jack Slade is all about. He has no time for weaklings, especially not on his team. He is captain, and his new coach has helped him realize that anything that interferes with his game is not worth his time. Gem doesn't see it that way, though. She fancies Jack like mad, but she doesn't want to be second best and neither does her best friend, Christian, who thinks Jack is just a meathead. Gem knows there is more to Jack, but she doesn't know if that is enough to keep them together...

After seeing a interview of Kate Cann on my favorite book
and i decided to give it a try .
It was the first time i read a YA book since my teen age years and i really enjoyed it.
I am not a big fan of rugby and even less of the hero but even with those flaws K-Cann managed to keep me entertained.
Teen age angst is very well written and she doesn't shy or embellished sex ,she just tell it like it is ,which at this age ,is fast,not always good and done a bit everywhere as long as it is done.
The reason i probably didn't like Jack was probably because he was too close to reality ,he is very selfish and by the end of the book didn't seems to have grown ,not once he show remorse for what Gem has to endure .
I will definitely read more of her book and summer seems like the perfect time.
Grade :2/5

Sex ,lie and online dating by Rachel Gibson

synopsis :

Quinn McIntyre has to pose as an internet dater to woo the chief suspect in a serial murder case, and the last thing on his mind is falling in love. Especially not to a thriller writer researching her next book, who doesn't even realise she's under surveillance! But Lucy Rothschild just doesn't seem like the killing kind! does she? Before too long, and against all his better instincts, Quinn finds he could be getting in too deep!

Rachel Gibson is a bit of a comfort read for me ,nothing transcending but always entertaining .
This one did not work for me ,it's not bad just blah .
I was not interested in anything ,not the mystery and not the romance.
grade :1/5

Holiday in death and All U can eat

Holiday in death by JD.Robb

Synopsis :

NYPD Lieutenant Eve Dallas is on the trail of a serial killer terrorizing the city during the holidays. The only link between the victims--all are patrons of an exclusive dating service, Personally Yours. Working with her aide Officer Peabody, Peabody's nemesis Ian McNab, and her own intriguing husband, Roarke, Eve uncovers secrets that link the victims: secrets that involve both the owners and the clients of Personally Yours and which might be worth killing for.

You can never go wrong (IMO) with the in death collection and i am quite pleased to say i am not bored yet but because i don't want to accelerate the process i tried to read them slowly (one every three or four weeks),
This one is no exception ,just few annoyance though ,Roarke always butting in annoy me and Peabody ? I never thought she was the brightest bulb of the pack but bringing a male prostitute (also a suspect) you have just met in the morning to your boss Christmas party ? just brilliant ! a perfect match for McNab .
Grade: 3/5

All U can eat by Emma Holly

Sinopsis :

When the body of a wealthy woman is discovered in an alley near Frankie Smith's diner, Frankie realizes she's one of Chief Jack West's prime suspects. The truth is, Jack's attraction to the sexy proprietor of All U Can Eat is all-consuming—though he knows hauling her into custody isn't going to improve his chances with her.

What neither of them realizes is that the town of Six Palms is full of secrets that would shock even the raciest residents. Determined to clear her name—and to get to know the police chief better—Frankie joins Jack on a rollercoaster ride of an investigation. And soon, letting go of their inhibitions seems like the most natural thing in the world.

As i said before i avoid Ellora's cave because it's just too much but i wanted to try one of her book because they seems "milder" .
It was and i enjoyed it more than i thought i would ,it's less heavy on "the words" (you know THE WORDS! like juice ,cream and other thing i usually like to eat or pet !).
I liked the heroine ,she is not shy and has many different partner but did not feel slutty to me ,too bad i wanted her to end with someone else *sight*.
Still even if it was nice ,this book felt a bit unfinished ,i would have liked to know more about the protagonist and "the mystery" not very exiting.
grade:2/5

I am cranky (what else is new?)

Lately i went on a book binge ,no real reason why , i just didn't feel like doing anything else but i seem over it since i managed to watch a film yesterday .

The first X-Files movie ,i love this series but the alien plots where not my favorites ,still seeing Scully hugging Mulder is almost as good as a intravenous shot of chocolate .

I made the mistake of registering to Kenyon's mailing list long time ago and i could almost start a lawsuit for harassment ,i have received 5 mails this month for Acheron's book and seeing that i will not buy the book it really is a waste ,i probably will read it from the library after seeing the reviews because her last books were really disappointing.

Big day for me monday ,last scan before the end (in here you only do two) and if the shrimp is willing ,we will know the sex (with my luck he will cross his legs and we'll see nothing !)

i'll start on writing quick reviews on the book i have read soon.

Pet peeve

I saw the back of this book at the library ,it seems quite fun ,i hesitated a bit but it seems really funny so i took it(i am very brave like that me)

Bridesmaid By Jane Costello

Synopsis :

With less than an hour to go before her best friend, Grace, is to walk down the aisle, Evie is attempting to fulfil her most important bridesmaid role: to deposit the bride at the start-line at the appointed time. But with a bride famed for her chaotic sense of time, and the bride's daughter busy mashing Molton Brown into the expensive hotel carpet, minus underwear, the odds are stacked against her . . . At least she has her new 'chicken fillet' boob-enhancers to make her feel special. That is, until these are spotted poking over the top of her dress. So spotted by Jack - the most ruggedly attractive man Evie has ever laid eyes on. Evie is twenty-seven; a sparkly, down-to-earth journalist. She has never been in love and has started to fret that she never will be. Small wonder, then, that the prospect of being bridesmaid at no less than three impending weddings is one that fills her with trepidation. Things get worse when Evie learns that Jack is her friend Valentina's date. Valentina is beautiful, shallow and self-obsessed. Her dates tend to be mirror-images. Which can mean only one thing: Jack can't possibly be as good as he seems. But as they sit together talking late into the night, Evie finds herself yearning to believe he's all real.

What i should tell you is ,i loath LOATH chick lit ,which is ,when you're living in the UK ,quite unfortunate ,but hey it could be worth i could still be stuck in France where the only romance you find is written by Marc Levy *shudder* (it took me three weeks to read a two hundred and fifty page book (if only it were true or just like heaven in the movie form ) and the sequel ? i lied to my friend i never read it ,there just so much i would do for friendship) .
This book unfortunately did not change my mind .
It's a good book well written and it IS funny ,i mean a book using wedding party as a plot can't be wrong (i loved four wedding and a funeral ) but if you are not familiar with the British actuality you will not appreciate it as much as one who does ,after all there is reference of Darren Day (the-git-who-cheated-on-the-bird-of-the-first-pop star-winner) to Collen McLoughlin (the-nineteen year old-fashion-expert-who-married-the-ugliest-promising-English-footballer) ,even me who had lived here for nine years had trouble with some reference.
So why this book fail to be good ??

SPOILER ,spoiler ,spoiler,spoiler.








Why is there always cheating in EVERY chick lit??
Why is there always a best friend willing to sleep with the boyfriend of the heroine or another friend boyfriend ?
It's my biggest and nastiest pet peeve ever ,to me it's the ultimate betrayal ,it make me so mad i could kill someone .
I saw it coming but i was hoping ,praying i was wrong ,it was going so well ,such a disappointment and i don't care if it was not the heroine ,it was a protagonist i really liked !
By the end of the book i was so angry that after reading the last word of this book ,i immediately started another book which is (thank god) Holiday in death ,no one kick ass better than Eve!!

Grade:2/5 (it would have been a solid 3 if it was not for the end)

Do you read chick lit ?
Or Marc Levy ?
What's you biggest pet peeve?

The ugly and the amazing

Divine Evil by Nora Roberts

Synopsis:

Evil is afoot in Emmitsboro, Maryland, and sculptor Clare Kimball, who returns home for a rest, and Sheriff Cameron Rafferty, her former heartthrob, step right into it. Cameron chases clues to runaways and ritually sacrificed animals while Clare deals with memories of past satanic rituals and her present need to create art from the world around her

It's the first time i read a Nora book thinking i shouldn't have ,usually even the one that are (IMO) not good are better than most but this one is just plain bad .
Half of the book was unnecessary ,i like a story detailed but in this case i did not care for the thought of the victim ,the killer and all the people who lived in the village .
In Carolina moon it work ,not in this one .
Plus the romance was almost done by page 200 but i had still 330 page to go ,not a good signe .
And the fact that i have read ceremony in death not a long time ago did not help ,a strong sense of déja vu .
Grade:1/5

Blue-eyed devil by Lisa Kleypas

Synopsis:


Blue-Eyed Devil is the story of the charming, volatile and ambitious Hardy Cates, who is determined to carry out his private revenge against the Travis family. Haven is the rebellious Travis daughter who struggles against her overpowering attraction to the most dangerous man in town. But when Hardy crashes a Travis family wedding, the heiress and the bad boy uncover an explosive chemistry that neither of them can deny. Hardy Cates is an unscrupulous rascal, but now he's trying to clean up his act. He is looking for the perfect society wife, the kind of woman Haven Travis could never be. Having once been burned by a love affair gone wrong, Haven vows to stay far away from the sexy heart breaker. However, Haven discovers that the temptation of a blue-eyed devil is hard to resist. And then when a menace from Haven's past appears, Hardy may be the only one to save her ...

After the last book ,i had to wash my head with something amazing so i took THE book that (almost) everyone love and i was not disappointed .
I only have two small complained about it .
First one is ,if you are the kind to cry in front of a book don't touch it in a public place because that plus the hormones ,it was terrible !
I cry like a baby in a playground absolutely packed with very bored moms ("i am fine it's not the Cookie ,it's the book!!!").
And the second one ,i had wished Hardy was a bit more well drawn ,you don't know much about him ,maybe i should have read Sugar daddy before but he feel a bit generic to me ,still even with that i loooooved him .
The end was really satisfying ,it was not too sugary just perfect.
Grade :4/5

Lately i have been a bit blue and i thought it was my mood that tainted the books i was reading ,making me a bit difficult but after this one i am reassured ,i just wish the next one is as good as that one !!!

I'll finish on a educative note:

For all the pregnant women out there ,i would strongly recommend not to hair dye your hair with the home product ,it seems that our pigmentation is not good ,so the color doesn't stick .
Very dark brown on blond hair ? I look like a partridge ! (the Cookie almost killed himself laughing )

Promise linger and Poison study

Promises Linger by Sarah McCarty

Synopsis:


Elizabeth Coyote will do anything, anything at all, to save the ranch she loves, including marrying Asa MacIntyre, a broad shouldered, lean-hipped, silver-eyed gunslinger with a ruthless reputation for getting the job done.

Asa dreams of a place of his own, a wife and the respectability that comes with both. Marrying Elizabeth may have started as a means to an end, but nothing in Asa's wildest dreams prepares him for the excitement of unleashing the carnal woman beneath his wife's prim and proper exterior.

I had giving up on Elora's cave after a few unlucky ones but because KATIE(BABS)had recommended McCarty ,i decided to give it another try.
This one was not what i expected ,the love scene were really vanilla ,few and fare between ,that was really nice because i don't mind them kinky but after the 10th ,i don't really care anymore how they do it ,i just want them to do it quickly to be able to move on .
I had the hardest time finishing it ,it was too long and the few moment that could have bring any conflict were quickly and efficiently dealt in three line ,i almost wished for the many many sex scene you usually find in the Elora's cave to keep me entertained !
Asa is too perfect ,don't drink much ,don't get mad for no reason ,is a gunslinger but a GOOD one ,never had a BJ but know very well how to please using the "other way" etc...so really not that interesting .
Elly was a bit better but i found it strange that a girl who went to a "lady" school and try so hard to fit in use the word cock instead of manhood .
it's really too bad because i really like this time frame maybe i should try other one from her .
Grade :1/5

Poison study by Maria V.Snyder

Synopsis :


Choose: A quick death...or a slow poison...About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace - and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia. And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust - and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonising death from the poison. As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...

It took me forever to start it but when i did ,i read it in two day.
It was original and the protagonist where very likable (my favorite being the Commander) .
I find that i like more and more when a story is told from the first person ,it had a kind of mystery that you would not have with the other form of narrating.
I would really recommend this book .
Grade :4/5

C'est tellement vrai!

Went to the library today and found "the art of french kissing" by Kristin Harmel .
The librarian asked me if i wanted to train myself (riiiiiight....) not wanting to be left without a "big" sense of humor ,i told him that seeing that i was French ,i just wanted to check if they explained it properly (after all it's in my blood) .
The book doesn't have very good review but i would love to see what are her views of France and what kind of cliché she will use .

I already know that : i am rude ,dirty ,never shave (pits and legs) but also are an amazing cook ,"goes down" often the first time and go everywhere with a beret and a baguette .

I wanted to know what did you hear about us ? (the bad clichés are the best!)
Have you met some French people ? where they like you thought they were?
Do you ever hear some of the things people say about you? does that annoy you?
I don't mind ,they make me laugh seeing that i am sometime rude ,clean AND shaved (i can prove it!!!!!)and i am a so-so cook (the cookie is very disappointed regarding that one) ,"goes down" when i want ( he is also disappointed about that one too) , do not own a beret and don't eat bread very often.
So fire away ,i will enjoy it !!!!

The Spiral Path by Mary Jo Putney

Synopsis :

Actress Raine Marlowe needs her estranged husband, action hero Kenzie Scott, to star in her directorial debut in order to secure financing. Although he never believed he could sustain a marriage, he still loves Raine and agrees without reading the script. Too late, Kenzie discovers that his role touches on his darkest secrets, and that playing it may tear apart his fragile emotional stability. Raine, too, has unresolved issues from a troubled childhood, and her directorial challenges are further complicated when her leading actress bows out at the last moment. The couple's fire and ice relationship is put to the test when she takes over the costarring role. Meanwhile, a vicious tabloid reporter launches a public campaign to uncover the past Kenzie has gone to great lengths to conceal.

I just loved this book ,it have a very melancholic atmosphere ,it's quite slow and very well written.
Kenzie remind me of Brad Pitt in Sleeper ,he let is life goes by without living it.
The only reason it's not a DIK for me it's that you guess quite early on what the big past is all about but M-J Putney drag the mystery on and on ,so you keep waiting for the big secret to blow but it never does which is quite annoying.
Also minor thing ,i hate when a author change the rules at her convenience ,if you have decided that each paragraph contain a point of view ,you stick to it!
The ending was a bit too much also, knowing that they are happy is enough, i don't need that much sugar.
And since when comparing hand is as good as a DNA test?huh?

GRADE : 4/5

Saw it a second time.....

And i cry like a baby again ,which is quite sad ....I'd like to think that it was because i am pregnant (the Cookie snorted quite loudly when i told him that) but we all know that not true .
I don't think i will be as eloquent as some others ,not because i don't want to but simply because i can't (take me ages just to write a tiny post!) .

I recently complained because i couldn't find a new movie or a series that captivated me as much as some books ( Carnival was one those ,i am still crying the loss of it) ,i like this one so much that it should keep me warm for at least 6 months .

Where to start ?

Watching it a second time made me more aware of it flaws ( quite a few convenient plot device )but also how beautifully it is done ,all scenes has a purpose there is no unnecessary shot there and it's that for me that make it a all time keeper .
The actors are all good but really the best is Richard Armitage ,he manage to show J.Thornton emotions as well as if we were reading a book ,you can pinpoint the exact moment he fall in love with Margaret and i think only a good film director and a brilliant actor can do that .

I see everywhere that people compare it to Pride and Prejudice ,to me it's like comparing Feehan with Ward ,don't think so!
One seem quite frivolous next to the other .
I was quite surprised to see how much i like Mrs Thornton ,usually I am very loyal to my heroes but being a mum ,i would have reacted exactly like her ,what kind of mother like a woman who keep hurting her son? It broke my heart ,when he come back after the proposal and tell his mum " no one love me ,no one care for me but you" even me i hated Margaret after THAT !

I am always surprised to see that if you really love a movie ,the person you do not find attractive when it start ,you end up loving at the end .
Not that R.Armitage is unattractive but i must say outside North and South i wouldn't have noticed him ,so really it's John that i love (by the end when you only have seen shot of him brooding it is very unsettling to see him smile!) .
Margaret pales a bit next to him ,you can't see her emotion as easily but she is really beautiful ,i was very pleased with her looks she is very Representative of the criteria of beauty of this time.


It annoy me that i can't say all the thing i want to say about it (does anyone speak french?) ,i could talk about it for hour *sight*

For the one who love this period You can read The Clouded Hills by Brenda Jagger (can't find you a picture,it was written in 1980) It's quite hard to buy but you would probably find it at the library .
synopsis:

AT SIXTEEN VERITY BECOME SOLE HEIRESS TO A FORTUNE ON THE WOOL MILLS OD YORKSHIRE AND REALIZE FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT SHE IS NO MORE THAN A PAWN IN THE GAMES OF AMBITIOUS MEN,OBEDIENT TO THE CONVENTIONS OF THE VICTORIAN AGE,SHE ACCEPTS A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE AND CLOAKS HER PROUD SPIRIT IN THE SILKS AND SATINS OF A SOCIETY HOSTESS.

BUT FOR VERITY BARFORTH CONVENTION IS NOT ENOUGH.WHEN AT LAST SHE FALLS IN LOVE IT IS NOT WITH HER HUSBAND,AND SHE BECOMES THE CENTER OF A POWERFUL DRAMA OF INFIDELITY,JEALOUSY AND REVENGE,PLAYED OUT AGAINST THE MAGNIFICENT LANDSCAPES OF THE YORKSHIRE MOORS AND THE BRUTAL POVERTY OF THE MILLS

Truly an amazing book, written in the first person (which was quite rare at this time) ,it give you a good idea of how the "Masters" wife's lived.

To help detect you addiction : North and south

Summer at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs

This is my first book from her ,i have seen a name from time to time at the library but was never really interested .
This book feature my favorite subject sweetheart and the super bonus is SUMMER sweetheart so i had to read it .

From Amazon:

Camp Kioga means many things to many people. For Olivia Bellamy, whose family operated the camp in the Catskills, it's all about bad memories. Although she was just as rich as the other attendees, she was never as pretty or thin or self-assured. The only thing that kept her from being completely miserable was the arrival each summer of Connor Davis. For Connor, the camp took him away from a life far different than Olivia's and showed him how life could be. Connor and Olivia finally have a relationship, which seems to scar her heart. Years later, a slimmed-down, professional Olivia is asked by her grandmother to prepare the camp for her fiftieth wedding anniversary. Connor is still in the area, and as soon as she hires him to help with the project, feelings arise on both sides.


Hum not quite what i was expecting , at page 176 ,the heroine had only spoken to the hero twice!
I am all for the world building in a book but really what interest me is the relation with the H/H and it's nice to know what happened with her father but really a paragraph would have been enough ,no need for flashbacks .

I like that Connor had as many insecurity as Olivia ,it was a nice change ,not once he implied or thought that he was the guy who messed her up and he was quite open with his feeling but then he should be ,seeing that SW gave them probably two hundred pages (out of five hundred an thirty) of time together, i did like the moments they shared ,but they where very few and far between .
I thought that being in the head of the teenagers was unnecessary ,it did not advance the story in anyway ,if it was to draw the intention on the similarity of the now and then ,well i know i am not too bright but i would have figured it out on my own.

I am not giving up on her i have just started Summer by the sea ,it just that it was not the "Dirty Dancing" i was expecting.....

Grade : So 3/5


I saw that All about romance call it a woman fiction ,what is that ? is it like a chick lit ?

Tempt Me Tonight by Toni Blake

I am a sucker for childhood sweetheart , i don't know if it was because i was the little fat one in the back of the class or because i never had one but any book featuring them is instantly a TBR .
In fact writing that review i discovered that most of my DIK has sweetheart.

When this one was recommended to me ,i instantly bought it and i do not regret it.

Tempt me tonight is a cute story with a very hot content .

Joe made a mistake 15 years ago when he let is hormone get the better of him and broke Trish heart but he is determined to start again.

I just fell in love with him ,he is so sweet ,even though he is dying for her to accept him ,he let her take her time to come slowly to him .
Some might argue that Trish is a bit hard on him but when you are seventeen and discover that love is not as fun as you think it leave some very painful scars beside i would not have like for her to just take him back without making him work for it !

A very satisfying read so a definite 5/5

Devil in winter by Lisa Kleypas

Nowadays ,for me to read historical romance ,it has to come with very good review and recommendation because after nearly 3 years of binge reading about virgin and scoundrel ,i can safely say i have enough .

DEVIL IN WINTER was no different but i like the fact that the hero was a real bad guy ,no fancy reason for his crimes ,he is just bored and to be honest it's very refreshing !

I enjoyed the fact that the love story is build gradually ,they don't fall in love instantly and take 300 pages to tell each other ,they each discover themselves and each other slowly .

There is no great misunderstanding or very complicate plot ,just a very confuse hero and for once that was fun!

So for me it was a 3,5/5.

I did not read the first two of the wallflower series but i think i will give the fourth one a try it seems fun !