Book Review: Deep Blue

I have another book by Kat Martin on my TBR Shelf, in the living room. But I found the Deep Blue title in the $1 bin at 1/2 Price Books so I couldn't pass it up. I have read the backs of several of Kat's books, and they seem like a good adventurous read.

My first impression of this book, however, was that I was not going to enjoy it this author. My main objection is the choice of adjectives used to describe the people of Jamaica and what seemed like the constant re-use of the characters first and last names or descriptions of things that were already firmly set in my mind. One of the minor characters that appeared several times was always described with very black skin and bright white teeth - but I remembered that from the first introduction to the character.

As another example of beating the information over the readers head, a car is mentioned in detail in the beginning of the book - color, make, model and the reason for the silly thing being part of the story, YET every time the car was mentioned in the story, it seemed like 3 out of the four points were mentioned again as well. This was frustrating to me. Unless the plan was to repaint the vehicle, blow it up or take it off the island - there was no reason to repeat that it was an old blue, Toyota Corolla that was kept on the island for the purpose of running them around while they were there so it was not necessary to hire a taxi or rental car every time they were in port. DUH! On my death bed, I'm going to remember it was an old blue Toyota Corolla. I can't even remember what my Soon-to-Be Ex-husband's first car was, but this, I will remember. I'm not sure why I felt the need to do a mini-rant about this annoyance, but I feel better now, having typed it.

After I pushed past my annoyance the story was very engaging. Pirates and treasure have always held a fascination for me, even before being introduced to Captain Jack Sparrow. The adventure and excitement of the story pushed me along and I often found myself transported to the aqua colored waters where untold treasures could be found just below sand. The tale was gripping and I was very pleased to find that I didn't have any unanswered questions at the end.

This appears to be the last in a trio of books about the Sinclair sisters. I found a couple of text errors (wrong sister's name) that caused a wee bit of confusion during my adventure, but because my copy was a first printing, I'm sure they've already been corrected. I think I'll read the other book on my TBR shelf and see how I feel before making the decision to add Ms. Martin to my list of 'must have' authors. I do recommend this book, for folks who like suspense there is plenty of it. Readers who devour tales from Cherry Adair will enjoy this story too.

Book Review: Killer Curves

My roomie has several Roxanne St. Claire books on her TBR (To Be Read) shelf, and she's been on a Historical bent of late, but she'll come round eventually. I picked up Killer Curves at 1/2 Price Books during my last visit, after reading the chapter one blurb on the author site. (I spent a bit of time reading the available excerpts and was thrilled to find even one book by this author on the shelf.)

Right off the starting line I didn't want to like the female lead, but it was out of my control by the end of the first chapter. With the difference in the up bringing of the two main characters, it could have been difficult to find a common ground, aside from the natural physical attraction. This common ground was one of the aspects I enjoyed the most in the development of the female lead. The sex was GREAT, steamy and exciting, while the base emotions and motivation was easy to believe, didn't seem forced. The cast of secondary characters was vividly drawn, leaving each firmly fixed in my mind between scenes. The action on and off the track was fast and I don't recall a time when there was too much drag. I'm looking forward to the other titles Roxanne has to offer, and will be visiting the NEW bookstore near me in the very near future. This author is on my 'must have' list.

Book Review: Bitten and Smitten

Michelle Rowen is a new author currently working in Pranormal Romance, and her first book is called Bitten and Smitten. As excited as I was at the prospect of finding a new FAV to add to my list, I was a little disappointed in this book. The main female character is likeable and there is a lively group of seconary characters that were very well written. When my roomie asked me what I thought the first words that came to mind were 'not enough sex.' Not enough? Try none at all. This is fine, and would have been ok, if I had felt the two main characters had spent enough time together learning about each other to know their own feelings. It's not like they had different story lines that didn't cross, it was just not enough for me. I enjoyed the book, for a 'sweet' romance with a lot of violence, and the numerous Buffy the Vampire references were good for a number of laughs. I wanted more from the hero, but thankfully didn't spend much time at all wondering how the female lead could "be so dumb!" I could suggest this book to someone who doesn't like a lot of steamy action between the characters (but I don't know any) and I could even suggest this as something my teenage daughter might read. I will seek out Michelle Rowen's next book, and then decided if the belongs on the FAV list.

Attitude is EVERYTHING!

A friend of mine I'd lost touch with until the first of this year is one of the 'forward everything' email personalities. I've known this since we met, and often allow email from her to gather in my inbox for a week or more before reading thru all the little "FW: ..of good will" she's prone to send along.

The text below is from an email sent in the "FW: .. of good will" mode, but I very much enjoyed the message - and realized I've worked to apply this logic to my own life for a long time. It's worth reading, it's worth doing, Attitued is everything!

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"

He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood.
I choose to be in a good mood.

"Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.

"Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the company to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins...Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

He continued, "..the paramedics were great.

"They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'."
Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

She also added:
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34.


So remember... after all ~ today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.