• 806 and counting …

    Finished Charming Jo by Laura Drewry.

    It’s about Jo McCaine, a Kansas woman who needs some help to run her ranch and string up a new fence her neighbors aren’t too happy about. But since nobody wants to work for a woman, Jo is forced to hire Levi Travers, a cowboy drifter who has his own problems. Naturally, sparks fly between the two.

    One thing I really liked about this book is that the characters talked about doing things properly (i.e. getting married before they had sex), and then they actually followed through with those promises, instead of tossing them aside like characters usually do in the heat of the moment.

    And this is the only romance I think I’ve ever read where the characters don’t have sex until the very last chapter. Seriously. Last chapter. There some kissing and some touching throughout the book, but Jo and Levi don’t seal the deal until the very end. It was a refreshing change.

    So, thumbs up.

    On a side note, the book was a historical Western. I love Westerns. Give me cowboys and bank robbers and men strung up at dawn. Give me tough women and prospectors and evil sheriffs. There aren’t enough Western romances out there these days. It’s all regency England (which I enjoy, but I really love Westerns).

    To all you historical writers out there, I say get cracking! Give the world some more Westerns to enjoy. 😎

    What about you? What sort of historical romance do you like? Westerns? The regency period? Exotic locales? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • Lost in translation … again …

    Lame.

    That’s the word that comes to mind when I think about last night’s season finale of Lost. So totally lame. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, you might want to skip this post (rant).

    The first hour was fine … until a very grown-up Walt comes to the wounded Locke and tells him to get his butt in gear. Is it really Walt? The smoke monster? Does anyone care anymore?

    And kill off the one-eyed guy already. He’s been beaten, had his brain electrocuted, and shot with a spear gun. But somehow, he manages to put on scuba gear, find a grenade, blow up part of the underwater hatch, and drown Charlie. Is he a superhero in disguise or something?

    And Charlie … poor Charlie died, and he didn’t have to. Charlie, why didn’t you put on the scuba gear before you disabled the jamming system? When you saw one-eyed guy with the grenade outside the hatch, why didn’t you run to the other side of the door and shut it so you wouldn’t drown? Or try to swim out the porthole afterwards? At least Charlie managed to tell Penny that Desmond is alive and learn that Naomi isn’t working for her before he died — and he told Desmond too.

    And then, there’s Jack. I really can’t stand his character anymore. He’s so smug and self-righteous. Sayid is a much better leader. And we got two hours of Jack flashback going over the same ground as before — wife left him and now he’s turned into a pill-popping alcoholic, just like his father.

    Only the twist was that the Jack flashbacks weren’t flashbacks — they were flash-forwards, showing the future. Evidently, he and at least Kate get off the island. Jack goes to someone’s funeral (I’m thinking it was Locke), and Kate has to get home to someone (I’m thinking that’s Sawyer). And Jack mentions his father too — like he’s still alive. Please don’t tell me that the island magically heals a dead guy. I know this is supposed to be a fantasy, but that’s just sloppy world building and not following your own rules.

    But in the future, Jack wants to go back to the island, spouting the same destiny crap as Locke has been the last three years. This was supposed to be the major thing that completely changed the show? A flash-forward? How over-hyped.

    The only part of the show I found entertaining was Hurley running over the Others with that old VW van he found earlier in the year. That was cool.

    Lost capped what has been a disappointing May on TV. In general, I’ve been underwhelmed by TV season finales this year.

    Grey’s Anatomy was just depressing, with everyone dealing with their personal crises. And how unrealistic is it to have Derek and Meredith break up now, after he’s gotten divorced and she dumped her vet boyfriend? Geez. Talk about dragging something out just to drag it out. Just let them be happy for a while. Or let somebody on the show be happy.

    CSI was appropriately creepy, but the Miniature Killer also underwhelmed me. The chick is obviously crazy, but nobody’s going to call the cops on her? Nobody thinks she’s weird and suspicious? And they’re going to let her work at the police station? And they never really explained why she killed those people. Because she cleaned their homes with bleach? Again, kind of lame.

    Heroes was a bit of a let-down as well. I knew Nathan would swoop in at the last minute and fly Peter out of the city so he wouldn’t kill everyone. And again, just kill Sylar already. It was cool to see all the heroes at the end, though.

    I’d have to say out of all the finales I’ve watched, My Name is Earl was the best — with a twist I didn’t see coming with Earl taking the fall for Joy and going to jail. I haven’t watched the last two episodes of Veronica Mars yet (I’m a bad fan, I know). But I’m hoping it lives up to its usual excellence.

    What about you? Did you enjoy the Lost finale? Hate it? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • Weekend booksigning roundup …

    Just a reminder that I’ll be signing books from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, May 26, at Waldenbooks in the Fort Henry Mall in Kingsport, Tenn.

    On Sunday, May 27, I’ll be signing books at Carpe Librum in Knoxville, Tenn. beginning at 2 p.m.

    And finally, you can also bid on a gift basket I’ve donated to Brenda Novak’s diabetes charity auction. (The basket is about halfway down the page). If you are the highest bidder, you’ll get an autographed copy of Karma Girl, bookmarks, chocolates, candles, and more.

    Hope to see you there, and hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend! 😎

  • Introducing the Lady Persephone …

    the-lady-persephone.jpgAt least, I think Persephone’s going to be her name. My significant other is reading The Iliad right now, so he’s a little hung up on the Greek names.

    I wanted to call her Nike, after the goddess of victory, but he thought people would think he named her after the shoe company.

    And yes, that is an empty Kleenex box she’s sitting in.

  • Welcome to the family …

    kitty-without-a-name.jpgSo, my significant other got a new kitty last night. Someone was giving them away in one of our local Wal-mart parking lots, and he stopped to check them out.

    That in and of itself was probably enough to seal his fate. He also sort of knew the people who were giving them away. So, he came home with another little bundle of joy.

    He already has two other ones, much older cats. And now, number three. Sigh.

    She doesn’t have a name yet, but here’s what she looks like. Cute, isn’t she?

    What about you? How many pets do you have? Inquiring minds want to know …