Garden Photos

Photos from my garden, all taken by Pianist.




Stargazer Lily from Mother's Day bouquet



Ninebark Diablo


Blueberry buds



Ninebark buds



Peach Iris

Dirge for Two Veterans; Walt Whitman

from Leaves of Grass (1900)


The last sunbeam
Lightly falls from the finish’d Sabbath,
On the pavement here—and there beyond, it is looking,
Down a new-made double grave.



Lo! the moon ascending!
Up from the east, the silvery round moon;
Beautiful over the house tops, ghastly phantom moon;
Immense and silent moon.



I see a sad procession,
And I hear the sound of coming full-key’d bugles;
All the channels of the city streets they’re flooding,
As with voices and with tears.



I hear the great drums pounding,
And the small drums steady whirring;
And every blow of the great convulsive drums,
Strikes me through and through.



For the son is brought with the father;
In the foremost ranks of the fierce assault they fell;
Two veterans, son and father, dropt together,
And the double grave awaits them.



Now nearer blow the bugles,
And the drums strike more convulsive;
And the day-light o’er the pavement quite has faded,
And the strong dead-march enwraps me.



In the eastern sky up-buoying,
The sorrowful vast phantom moves illumin’d;
(’Tis some mother’s large, transparent face,
In heaven brighter growing.)



O strong dead-march, you please me!
O moon immense, with your silvery face you soothe me!
O my soldiers twain! O my veterans, passing to burial!
What I have I also give you.



The moon gives you light,
And the bugles and the drums give you music;
And my heart, O my soldiers, my veterans,
My heart gives you love.

Rooftops of Tehran; Mahbod Seraji

I was so excited when I this came in the mail, I can't tell you! The blurb sounded wonderful. How can you resist young love and ideology and political unrest? All mixed in with the ancient Persian culture? Certainly not me. Many many years ago my parents bought me a beautiful lavishly illustrated child's book titled Persian Fairy tales. I read that book cover to cover often & my fascination for Persian culture stayed with me into adulthood. Rooftops of Tehran is a modern coming of age tale set in 1973 & 1974 Tehran, Iran.

Pasha Shahed and his best friend Ahmed are seventeen year old young men who live in the same alley in Tehran Iran in 1973 and 1974. They do many of the things buddies do: swear not to date each other's sister or any other girl the other admires, they plot together how to get the attention of the girls they admire from afar, they play crazy practical jokes on each other, they commiserate about how awful school is and they have lots of sleepovers.

They gossip and laugh and sneak around, just like teenagers everywhere. The objects of their admiration are Faheemeh (Ahmed thinks she's perfect) and Zari Naderi, who is actually engaged to college junior Ramin Sobhi. Pasha can barely admit to himself that he likes her because he admires Ramin as well. And everyone knows Zari and Doctor, Ramin's nickname in the neighborhood, are absolutely perfect for each other. Pasha wouldn't dare interfere with that. Would he?

We watch as the seasons slowly turn in 1973. Ahmed and Faheemeh manage to become a couple despite her near miss arranged marriage. Pasha becomes friends with Doctor and resolves to do the honorable thing and hide his feelings for Zari. Pasha loves and admires his father, but feels pressured to strive for his father's ambitions as opposed to his own. He's only seventeen though, he still has one more year of high school to go. Surely he'll think of a way to subvert his father's wishes by the time he graduates?

However, there are rumblings of upheaval to come. The Shah's regime is oppressive, and actively spies on his populace ruthlessly suppressing and eradicating any dissension- or even attempts at independent, critical thinking. Doctor is a third year political science major at a prominent university. The trial of a notorious political dissident marks the beginnings of drastic changes for all four friends.

Mr. Seraji does a superb job submerging the reader in the daily life and culture of everyday Iranians. Pasha's interior dialogue is quite vivid and his personality captures & holds your attention right away. The novel opens innocently enough but slowly and steadily an ominous feeling creeps over the reader. Tension builds. Hope and dread build simultaneously. I highly recommend this book. I plan to keep a sharp eye out for this author's future titles.

I received a review copy of this book from Authors on the Web

Rooftops of Tehran can be bought HERE.

Summer Contest

Bookreporter.com is running a summer long contest in which readers can enter to win a beach bag of summer reads.

Click here for information.

Sci Fi inside the Beltway

Today's Washington Post has a really neat story on how the federal government is using science fiction authors to help bureaucrats think outside the box. Way to go!! CLICK HERE. You may need to register to read the article, but that's free.

Review coming tomorrow of Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji.

Night Lost, Lynn Viehl

I read this a few weeks ago. Lynn Viehl's Darkyn books are always my reliable, go-to vampire novels. Fast paced & yummy with a side order of edginess. At least they are for me anyway. :) Excellent world building with an overarching plot that continues in each novel. It isn't necessary to read the series in order, though. I like some emo angst driven vampires, but once in awhile I want grown up adults who can handle their business. Ms. Viehl's Darkyns are that. Night Lost is the fourth book in the Darkyn series. Correct series order is listed HERE. The first book in the Darkyns is If Angels Burn, the fifth book is Evermore.

Nicola Jefferson is a tormented young woman, now an art thief, religious art being her specialty. In the course of looking for a particular relic that has personal meaning for her, she has freed several Darkyn. Thus making her an enemy of the Brethren of the Light, the Roman Catholic order sworn to eradicate the Darkyn. Nicola also has a particularly strong dream life, often seeing and talking with someone she calls 'the green man'. In rural France she enters a derelict church and finds Gabriel Seran imprisoned there.

Gabriel is a captured Kyn who has been abandoned by his fellow Kyn. For those readers who like to know, Gabriel's l'attrait (each Kyn has a unique scent called l'attrait) is evergreen. I love that unique Darkyn trait, somehow it makes them..I don't know..more accessible? I'm a gardener and scent gardens are a particular favorite of mine, so maybe I'm different. I don't know. Anyhow, somehow he has managed to hold on to his honor despite being locked in a church cellar and tortured by the Brethren. Gabriel too has dreams of an ethereal young woman, a woman who may be able to free him, if only she can find him.

Meantime the overarching plot continues apace. Alexandra Keller, the physician heroine from the first book, has been kidnapped and locked up in Richard Tremayne's (the Kyn leader) castle in Ireland. Alex's estranged brother John is imprisoned there as well. Michael Cyprian, Alex's lover, several of his men as well as Brethren, Gabriel and Nicola all converge in Ireland. Makes for some serious fireworks.

This book has a more sinister tone to it than the last one. I enjoyed that. Vampires should be edgy, should make you feel unsettled a little. This novel delivers that and heat. A fabulous combination! Winner. Also, probably a keeper.


Image found on Fantastic Fiction.

TBR Challenge: When He Was Wicked; Julia Quinn

When He Was Wicked is Julia Quinn's sixth book in the Bridgerton family series. This is Francesca and Michael's story. Ms. Quinn also wrote a 'second epilogue' for WHWW which readers can order from her site HERE. The first book in the Bridgerton family group is The Duke & I which is a keeper of mine. The seventh book, the one which directly follows this one is It's in His Kiss. Information for both of these is on Ms. Quinn's website, link embedded in the title above. I read this for Avid Reader's monthly TBR Challenge which is due today. This month's theme is unrequited love or friends to lovers, themes that are among my favorites in romance. WHWW is set primarily in 1824 in England and in Scotland.

Michael and John Stirling were raised together in the same household, despite being cousins they were closer than brothers. John was the heir, though, and to the heir go all of the riches. In this case that would be Francesca. John's wife. Cupid's arrows struck Michael deeply and true. Unfortunately, Michael hadn't met Francesca until two days prior to her wedding to John. Somehow Michael manages to hide his feelings from them & the Earl of Kilmartin marries Francesca Bridgerton. Michael is that unique Romanceland creation: the rake with the heart of gold. He seduces only unhappy, lonely married ladies with whom his dalliances are acceptable and sought after and who are least risky in terms of a bad outcome. Among the Ton he is known as the Merry Rake.

Francesca and John were happily married for two years. Somehow the newlyweds incorporated Michael into their lives and slowly Francesca came to see Michael as her closest friend second only to John. One fateful night Francesca and Michael go out for an evening stroll and return to Kilmartin House to find John dead in bed. Stunned and deeply in shock each say things to the other, expect things of the other, that can't be lived up to. Francesca miscarries their baby. Michael, now Earl of Kilmartin upon John's death, flees for India, not knowing how to cope with all of the losses and changes.

Four years later, Francesca has finally come out of mourning and come down to London for a season. Perhaps it's time to hunt for another husband. She's twenty six now and her biological clock is ticking. Francesca wants a baby and a husband and she knows that she's unlikely to find another man with whom she'll have a deep bond with. Unknown to her, Michael too has returned to face taking up the reins of his title. As soon as he sees her Michael knows he's still deeply in love with Francesca. But how can he cope with feeling guilty about inheriting John's title and loving and desiring Francesca too?

Michael wars with his feelings as Francesca tries to fit Michael back into the box she'd had him in while John was still alive. After four years, though, Michael is definitely not the same man. Francesca can't seem to let go of her preconceived notions about who Michael is & what's best for him. Michael, believe it or not, is nudged into action by Francesca's brother Colin. Will either of them be able to make peace with their conscience and the memory of John so they can embrace happiness again? Michael, for whatever reason, won't tell Francesca how he feels until it's almost too late. Will she hear him?

Later in the book Francesca struggles with feelings of disloyalty to John and struggles with society's expected sexual roles & sexuality of wives. She has some serious issues to struggle with, not least of which is that she's more than willing to enjoy Michael's sexual favors but doesn't want to marry him, and yet she denies (for a while anyway) that she's using him. The other problem is her possible fertility problem. Earlier in the book, I most appreciated and enjoyed Francesca talking to her mother about her mother's widowhood & what Francesca might be looking forward to. Francesca was willing to go after what she wanted, and she was confident enough to discuss it with her mother before setting out what to obtain it.

I've not read any of the Bridgerton books for several years, Penelope and Colin's book was the last one I read. This book felt fresh and new for me since I didn't remember any of the characters other than Violet (Francesca's mother). I really liked Ms. Quinn's attention to the intricacies of the emotional issues involved between two people who loved the same person, now dead. I liked her attention to Francesca's emotional and sexual conflicts. It was an excellent read & I plan to keep it.

Access Romance Post Up

Drop on by & read all about the series we romance lovers are addicted to.

Updates Again

Ok, so I'm not dead yet. I know I've been slacking re: posting. No I didn't go on vacation (I wish!). The excitement is over now. Thank the Lord. We survived. I can breathe. Remember my name. Remember that I've 4 books backed up to read this month. That I still have three or four to review from last month. Not that I'm working on any of that right now, mind you.


No this isn't his graduation. Photo credits at end of post.

Firstly. Hubby graduated from his program. The ceremony was long despite the obvious organizational efficiency and ruthless speed the ceremony was conducted with. I noticed only 5 other male graduates in this field. Almost equally divided by race. A few ladies who wore headscarves and one wore a niquab, which made me wonder how comfortable her patients would be. *shrug* We believe in freedom of religion & expression after all. Anyhow, we went out for Chinese for an early dinner. Our favorite place to celebrate. Unfortunately they're struggling to make ends meet. We've been going there for twelve years & they've slowly scaled back a little bit here and a little bit there. I hope they make it, there's no where else close that we can have a sit down formal Chinese meal of such high quality. :(





After that it was my birthday on Friday. We took College Student out to brunch with us. Then hubby and I drove out to the Virginia arboretum near Winchester and took a long walk around some of the grounds. It's absolutely gorgeous. Click here for a virtual tour. Well worth the trip, if you're vacationing here or you're a local who likes gardening & misses the trees that used to be here before Suburbia Invaded. It's even free. Not even a charge for parking, if you can believe it. :) Blandy Farm is a lovely and peaceful place. No one else appeared to be there. Just us and the birds and the squirrels. Beautiful specimen trees and several lovely gardens. Bird condos & ponds & bridle trails. It had been far too long since we meandered around together, went on an adult day trip. No hurry, nowhere else to be, no other pressing commitments. I love the children, but raising them really drains a relationship even when the couple strives to maintain closeness and a deep connection between each other.

Saturday- Drove back down to tiny little town to drop College Student off at my parents so he can start work on Monday. He's not staying home this summer. Glad he's taking a step up, but I miss him. Took my MIL & SIL out to lunch for birthday & Mother's Day. Got updates on the uncle & other family members. Drove back home.



Sunday- Had two handbell performances at church this morning. It was really fun, although I never learned two bars of one piece despite my neighbor whispering the count in my ear! It was embarassing. I like bells though. Missed CS. He used to be in the handbell choir with us. Stood right across from me & made faces at me when he knew I was nervous. I don't read music so I'm nervous alot.


Graduation photo found on Webshots. Images of Blandy Experimental Farm found on state arboretum of Virginia Blandy Experimantal Farm Handbell image found on Bethlehem United Church of Christ.

Patrick Rothfuss News

According to Fantasy Book News & Reviews Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind has just sent a ginormous copy of his first draft of the second novel to his editor. Good news for those of you waiting for the next book.




Author image found on Waterstones. The Name of the Wind cover image found on B & N. Cover on new book found on Suduvu.

Catching Up

This isn't me, but I think this is what it has been like around here these past few days: fun & exciting but a little overwhelming! Image found on Webshots.com

So it has been busy around here. And inspiration for blogging evaporated with all of the excitement.

Thursday~ Pretty typical day, but it's the busiest day of the week. Write post & try to catch up on feed reader. Run out of time to write another post for Friday. Drive hubby to work. Pick kids up from school. Drive to piano lesson. Potluck at church. Handbell choir. Hubby off early, have to pick him up earlier than expected. Drive home. Help daughter prioritize homework. Put kids to bed. Collapse.

Friday~ Make sure kids remember we won't be home when they return from school. No "accidentally" missing the bus- no one will be home to rescue them. Drive out to C'ville for entrance interview with prominent state school for potential admission next January. Nerves were strung taught for that one let me tell you. Hubby sprung that one on me Wednesday night. Good thing he surprised me with it, or else I would've cancelled it out of sheer nerves. Drive from C'ville to Lovely Sister's house outside of Richmond to pick up College Student. Drive from Lovely Sister's to MCV downtown to visit hubby's uncle, who is in acute oncology. You'd never know that from the cheerful atmosphere in his room, which resembles nothing more than an indoor picnic/family reunion. No good news on that front, I'm afraid. Drive back home. Enthusiastic welcome for College Student. Collapse again.

Saturday~ Nada. Stayed home & relaxed. Visited with College Student.

Sunday~ B'fast in bed: french toast, bacon, strawberries, homefries, coffee & juice. Newspaper. Peace & quiet. Wonderful. Called my mom. Hubby leaves for work. I decide to go clothes shopping. First time in ages & ages I've gone clothes shopping with the luxury of time to myself. No one with other pressing needs, impatient to leave or whining about how "I need $$ for ______ mom." The store was having a BOGO sale & I managed to do that rare thing: find things that were appealing, flattering and on sale! Bought some cards for hubby's graduation on Tuesday & went home. Chatted with College Student & waited for hubby to return from work.

Monday~ Younger kids go to school after Hubby pats them on the head & makes sure they have lunch money & eat b'fast. He returns to bed while everyone else sleeps in. Drive hubby to work. Buy him his graduation gift (can't tell you yet, he sometimes reads the blog). Take Anime Queen to Kinko's to print out copies of her prom pics & to have several music books spiral bound so Pianist can practice with them. Trot next door to buy a newer copy of the MLA handbook so AQ can write a major paper. Put kids to bed. Dust living room. Load dishwasher & run.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll find a few moments to write up another book review. Or read a book. Then again, The Hubby graduates tomorrow night & he might need to be kept busy so his nerves don't get the best of him before the ceremony. I'll write it all up Wednesday & post it.

The Immortal Hunter; Lynsay Sands

This is book eleven in the Argeneau family series as well as a book in Ms. Sands' Rogue Hunters series. Click title above to go to Ms. Sands' page for this book. This is a contemporary set paranormal suspense. TBH, I've not read one of Ms. Sands'books in quite some time. The last title of hers I read is Tall Dark & Hungry (book four), review here. I did not purchase this one myself, it was a gift from my Hubby who knows that I like vamps. I do like vamps but generally I've not really connected deeply with Ms.Sands' characters & thus she fell by the wayside. Ms. Sands other new title so far this year is titled Devil of the Highlands & she has book twelve in the Argeneau/Rogue Hunter series coming out in September of this year.

This book made me wonder if the 'Cynster disease' has struck with Ms. Sands. For those of you unfamiliar with this, Stephanie Laurens started an historical book series with a large family named the Cynsters. Subsequently she's moved out to cousins & family friends etc. all tied in with the original Cynsters in some vague and nebulous way. Now, I'm all for an author following a tried and true reader loved path: connected series. Authors are in the market to make money & sell books after all. I simply wasn't aware that Ms. Sands had done so.

This book follows a familiar path: innocent victim(s) is/are terrorized by a group of baddies, victim rescued by a mysterious pair of men who claim to be good guys intent on helping her, but can she really trust them? The victim in this case is Dr. Danielle McGill, who along with her sister was kidnapped out of a parking lot. The supposed good guy is Decker Argeneau, a kind of vampire cop who chases down killer vampires. In Ms. Sands' world vampires don't need to feed off of live humans because hello?? blood banks. I really appreciate that Ms. Sands' vampires are forward looking & unafraid of technology.

Much of Ms.Sands' world I appreciate: the blood banks, the un-self-conscious way the vamps feed, the fact that the love interest cannot be forced to choose immortality, the strong sense of duty and responsibility to the community. There were elements in this story I didn't like: the totally unrealistic hot & heavy petting in the back of the van while another vamp drove up front at breakneck speed chasing the baddies; sex in the changing room at the mall; how willing Decker Argeneau was to lie to Danielle while justifying what he said both to her and to his boss (also his cousin) when questioned.

A mixed bag for me, but I think there's alot to recommend Ms. Sands' work for other romance lovers.

Image found on Fantastic Fiction

Major Milestones

Kudos to my Hubby- he passed his last exam Monday morning with a 95!! It was his last exam & was crucial to obtaining his degree!! I'm so excited & proud of him. It has been a long long road to get here & has required sacrifices from us all. Graduation is next week.

On another front- Anime Queen's prom is this weekend. College Student is coming up to be her escort. She's thrilled. She has missed him so much these last two years. Her dress is lavender with an empire waist, slim fitting. A single row of rhinestones underneath her bosom. Sheer shirred fabric (same color) fastens behind her neck. It's a beautiful gown, perfect for her petite & delicate looking self. If she allows I'll post a pic of her in her gown.

A Rake's Redemption; Donna Simpson

I found this at my local UBS in their dwindling traditional regency section. I love TRs & I really wish they weren't passe. It's too late for that I suppose, but I feed my fix every once in a while by hunting for some "new to me" titles at my favorite UBS. Ms. Simpson currently publishes under the name Donna Lea Simpson. I thought I had some of her longer work in my TBR, but apparently I don't. Neither have I read or kept anything of hers, so she's a new to me author. Her most recent book, released in April of this year titled Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark is set in Georgian England.

As the title implies, ARR is all about that old regency maxim 'reformed rakes make the best husbands'. LOL :) ARR is also one of my personal favorites: wounded protagonist must be nursed to health by member of opposite sex. For me these romances often work in a similar fashion to cabin romances: the protagonists are forced into close & repeated contact by the circumstances of the illness/injury etc. So the reader can watch as their feelings grow and change as each person must deal with the other, even when they'd rather not.

Phaedra Gillian is an older, spinster daughter living in quiet isolation with her elderly father, a retired clergyman. One morning Phaedra, clad only in her wrapper & nightie, discovers (alerted by her maid) Lawrence Jamison, Earl of Hardcastle, beaten near unto death in the road not far from the Gillians' cottage. As 'Mr. Lawrence' slowly recovers, nosy neighbors reveal that the handsome man stuck abed upstairs is actually Hard Hearted Hardcastle himself! In the flesh. Devious seducer that he is. You know, while he's stuck in bed hoping he doesn't have kidney damage. LOL :)

As Hardcastle recovers, he and Phaedra's father play chess and have philosophical conversations in the evenings. The old clergyman spoon feeds Hardcastle newfangled thoughts about the role of love and women and fatherhood and what it really means to be an adult on your own terms. This is what I really really appreciated about this book- Hardcastle changes on his own with a push or two from Rev. Gillian. Yes, he lusts after Phaedra, but primarily the accident causes Hardcastle to be reflective in a place where a mature man can give him guidance.

An excellent little read, well worth your time if you order one or find it in a UBS near you.

Hope's Folly; Linnea Sinclair

This is the first title I've read by Ms. Sinclair & I think I'm in love! LOL :) Just kidding. I think. IMO science fiction romance is a difficult balance. As a reader I find that some SFRs are heavy one way or the other but not quite both. I suppose that's the trouble with hybrid genres- it must take a book or two to balance the two? Then again, from what little I know this could also be categorized as space opera. Anyhow, Ms. Sinclair has certainly gained a new fan. Hope's Folly is her March 2009 release from Bantam. It's the third in her Dock Five series. The first one being Gabriel's Ghost. Link to Ms. Sinclair's books page is in the title above.

In Hope's Folly we have your basic edge of your seat, life and death space war mixed in with liberal helpings of a May-December romance. You're familiar with the drill: giant galactic empire is faced with a small band of fierce rebels who struggle against long odds. Sprinkle liberally with treachery and mutiny and faceless bureaucracy and good old fashioned lust & you have a fabulous recipe for yummy reading.

Admiral Philip Guthrie is defecting to the rebels. He's in his late forties & has lingering medical issues, but he's determined to give the rebels the benefit of his years of spacefaring experience. Rya Bennton is in her late twenties & is the general equivalent of NIS (Naval Investigative Services- Navy security, more than police but not FBI either & way more than the tv show, btw). They last met when Rya was a girl. She has always loved Philip in a hero worshiping type of way, but now that they've met she falls in love with the man she sees, as opposed to the fairy tale she'd built in her head. Philip is now divorced & has trouble allowing himself to act on his feelings for Rya because they're in the middle of running for their lives and she's his mentor's daughter, although he's definitely realized that Rya's not a little girl any longer.

I inadvertently started the Dock Five series with this title. I didn't realize it at the time, but I didn't feel lost or overwhelmed- so you can dive right in with this one if you're so inclined. If you're anything like me, you'll rush out & buy a few more of Ms. Sinclair's titles. You'll be glad you did.

April Synopsis

Below are listed the titles I've read this month, in no particular order. Titles that have been reviewed are hyperlinked to the review. Those reviews that have yet to come are so listed. It has been an excellent reading month!


Edited 1 June 2009~ All titles are now reviewed & hyperlinked>



1.Lord of the Keep; Ann Lawrence

2. Dark Need; Lynn Viehl

3. Hope's Folly; Linnea Sinclair

4. A Rake's Redemption; Donna Simpson

5. Immortal Hunter; Lynsay Sands

6. Deryni Tales; ed. by Katherine Kurtz

7. Certain Jeopardy; Struecker & Gansky

8. Melusine~ Sarah Monette

9. Night Lost; Lynn Viehl

10. The War of the Flowers~ Tad Williams

Certain Jeopardy; Struecker & Gansky

Certain Jeopardy is a military thriller written by Cpt. Jeff Struecker and Alton Gansky and will be published by B & H Publishing this month. I received an ARC of this book for the purposes of this review & where cited, the page numbers refer to the ARC I was given. There are some spoilers at the end this review, and I apologize ahead of time for that. I had serious issues with certain sections of the book. In order to address my concerns I decided that revealing some of the plot points was necessary. I want to say upfront that despite my concerns and issues with some of the plot problems I very much enjoyed this book. It's absolutely an edge of your seat, stay up late & finish no matter how early you have to get up.

Military thriller is a genre I don't read very much, although I often enjoy them when I do read them- particularly when they are well done. I will say up front that my personal history colors my views about this genre: my husband served in the combat arms branch of the US military back in the days before cell phones & internet service, never mind satellite cell & internet. I have found it impossible to read military thrillers or military romances without my "real world" experiences coloring my impressions. Certain Jeopardy can be divided into two POVs: the homefront and theater actions. The wives and the guys, if you will.

A small squad of Army special forces enlisted soldiers gets tasked to deploy on a mission to Venezuela for some intelligence gathering. As is typical for these things, there is no prior warning & the soldiers are not allowed to tell their families any basic information any family (military or civilian) might like to have: what, where, when, how long, etc. After the squad arrives and sets up, the situation rapidly becomes more dangerous for a variety of reasons. As I have no direct combat experience, I can't vouch for how realistic these sections might be. Having spent quite a significant amount of time with combat soldiers, IMO the rhythm and tone of their interactions is familiar.

It was nice to read an action thriller that's set amid current political issues in a pair of countries I've not seen used as a backdrop for covert military action in a book. The premise is well thought out: the US squad arrives in Venezuela to do their surveillance and the Venezuelans, coincidentally, have 'hotted' things up a bit by kidnapping a nuclear scientist and holding his family hostage. It was fun, I enjoyed this part.

The authors were careful to show just how hard it is for the service member and the spouse left behind to cope with everyday events. Regardless of which spouse is staying home, it's always hard to shoulder both roles when a spouse is deployed. Doubly so when the service member is totally out of contact. Life goes on in all of its messy, overscheduled, drama laden ways no matter how tired or stressed the partner is. I appreciated that about this novel- the life of a spouse left behind is not a bed of roses. Then again- when your service member is literally out of touch? Whining, berating the spouse for the career s/he chose, complaining about anything the service member can't help you with right then? Pointless & stressful for the soldier who is deployed far far away & can't do a damn thing to actually help you. Do both of you a favor & call someone else & bitch.

The conflict between what a soldier may be called to do & what he may believe is morally right is also well done. One of the squad members struggles with what needs to be done in terms of getting the task accomplished successfully & the fact that he's no longer as sure as he once was that the ends justify the means. Too, the depiction of faith as the bulwark that sustains and eases the day to day crises and problems of the spouses and families left behind during all too frequent deployments was wonderful. In my personal experience faith was critical in sustaining families during deployments.

It's two of the wives' parts I have issues with. Specifically with the storyline of the pregnant wife. Every combat unit we were with, the squad and platoon leaders wives understood that they were to contact the top of the phone tree if there were any problems. Anything. Anytime. Problem number one: the squad leader's wife, Stacy, has no idea why this other woman is calling her since they don't actually know each other. Hello?? You're the squad leader's wife. It's part of the territory. Poor Lucy called the top of the phone tree for help- just as she was supposed to. Doesn't matter if Stacy knows her or not. Stacy should have known that once the men deployed she would be the point of contact for the squad wives. Problem two: once the seriousness of the problem with Lucy was known, the squad leader's wife would have contacted the chain of command for help, as well as the American Red Cross. This never happens. She contacts the chaplain- which is fine as far as it goes. But that's not all that would have happened. Neither of these are minor things for me. These are important flaws in the wives' part of the story. The wives' story, the home front story should get as much accuracy as the action sections.

The other problem I have with this aspect of the story is that Lucy is said to be twelve weeks from her due date. (p. 107) A normal pregnancy is forty weeks. This puts Lucy at twenty eight weeks pregnant. No matter what medical problem is happening with the mother or her pregnancy, a twenty eight week gestation- a 28 week baby- has an almost guaranteed survival rate if the child is delivered alive. Mr. Struecker and Mr. Gansky write that Lucy and her baby have such a problem that the physicians want to abort the pregnancy. (p. 171) No physician, no obstetrician, would abort a living child to save the mother in the instance of the medical problem described, at the gestation this character was said to be. Deliver the baby, absolutely. Put the baby in NICU, put the mom in ICU, absolutely. Abort a living child when the pregnancy jeopardizes the mother's life??! Absolutely not. A baby delivered at that gestation is likely to live. Obstetricians would want the best outcome for both the mother and the child- would want both to live. There is nothing implied to be wrong with the baby, so..if there's a NICU, then they could deliver the child & save both of them. Right? No NICU? Then they would have been transported to a facility where there was one. How do I know all this? My loving & devoted ex combat arms soldier husband became an Army OB/GYN nurse.

My only other negative reaction to Certain Jeopardy is the death of the nonbeliever. The only squad member who actively criticizes Christian faith dies. I thought his death was an unnecessary swipe at those readers who might be unchurched. A thinly veiled commentary, if you will. IMO this character's conversion after his experiences would've had much more impact- positive impact at that.

Despite the problems I had with this book I enjoyed it very much. The depiction of home life and theater action was superb. An excellent book, well worth reading, especially if you're interested in a true to life glimpse of what military life is like for the combat branches.

This title is available in paperback from Amazon.com as well as in ebook form for the Kindle.

Melusine; Sarah Monette

My introduction to Sarah Monette's writing was in a short story she wrote for a fantasy anthology titled The Winter Queen, my review HERE. Her voice was very strong and unique, I was immediately captivated. I went to the bookstore not long afterward & bought the only book of hers they had: Melusine. Time went by. More time went by. Eventually I found the second title (The Virtu) and bought that as well. Normally I only buy a series after I've tried the first title & like it enough to continue, but I made an exception for Ms. Monette. There are four books in the Doctrine of Labyrinths series. The next title in the series is The Virtu. I think this would be categorized as dark fantasy, explanation of that term here.

Before I attempt a plot overview, it'll be helpful to click here to read an explanation of the calendars used in Ms. Monette's series. A map is available as well, if you find that helpful in 'seeing' the action. The city of Melusine, set in an indeterminate late medieval/renaissance type world, is ruled by an aristocracy of magicians. The seat of their power, both political and magical, is a building called the Mirador. The populace uses one calendar system and those in power use another- that is only one of many ways class is delineated here. This is a world where indentured servitude is morally and legally permissable. In Melusine, one type of indentured servitude is called being a kept-thief, which, like indentured servitude, is a form of debt bondage.

Felix Harrowgate is a gay wizard living in the Mirador, whose lover is a member of the ruling family. In one horrifying episode, Felix's former master/owner Malkar (whichever term you prefer) uses Felix to break the symbolic focus of the magicians' power, called the Virtu. In so doing Malkar wraps Felix in powerful spells that break both his mind and his spirit. Malkar escapes, leaving Felix to shoulder the blame for what happened.

Down in the Lower City, former kept-thief and assassin Mildmay the Fox, who just happens to be multilingual (among his many talents), manages to stay one step ahead of the law & his enemies while earning a precarious living 'taking assignments', as it were, from people who need things done. Things that are definitely illegal. Another wizard,one Mavortian von Heber, from another country, uses magic that brings Mildmay to him. Von Heber wants Mildmay to help free/kidnap,depending on your point of view I suppose, Felix from wherever he is.

The narrative relates how Malkar manipulated & then ruined Felix in order to destroy the Virtu. How Malkar escapes. What happens to Felix. Who Mildmay is & what his life is like. Mildmay then meets von Heber & von Heber's brother Bernard, who hire him to either free or kidnap Felix, depending on your POV. This takes up roughly two thirds of the book. The remaining third tells how our intrepid little band (Mildmay, Bernard & von Heber) manage to get out of Melusine and find Felix. Then they cross the neighboring countries, sail over the sea & land in a place where the magicians there manage to heal Felix.

There is quite significant world building in this book. Much detail. Felix is an antihero- very difficult to like, even taking into consideration what was done to him. It's a safe bet to say I really don't like him much, but that's ok- he probably wouldn't like me much either. LOL :) Mildmay is more likeable: lives by his own code, his own sense of honor. He's actually a good person underneath the exterior shell he shows people, the one that he had to learn to keep himself alive in the Lower City of Melusine. I suspect Ms. Monette intended that one of them had to be more palatable in order to keep the reader invested. von Heber and Bernard, I came to like them all right, but I'm a cynical and suspicious reader & I wonder if they're really as harmless as they seem.

Hmmmmm..both Felix & Mildmay are red heads, which isn't found in Melusine. Mildmay, in fact, used to dye his hair to hide better. Wonder what that portends in the next book?? Favorite quote, p. 199:

"Consider the stars. Among them are no passions, no wars. They know neither love nor hatred. Did man but emulate the stars, would not his soul become clear and radiant as they are? But man's spirit draws him like a moth to the ephemera of this world, and in their heat he is consumed entire."

Dark Need; Lynn Viehl

Dark Need is book three in author Lynn Viehl’s Darkyn series. The first book is If Angels Burn, the newest title, released in January of this year, is Stay the Night. Click link in title above to see info page at Fantastic Fiction. Cover image also found there. The series is contemporary alternate reality paranormal (vampires) primarily set in the United States. Ms. Viehl also writes science fiction under the name S.L. Viehl, among other genres. In my opinion it isn’t necessary to read these in order & a reader won’t miss too much by picking up the series in the middle. Similar to a mystery or SFF series, there is an overarching plot that continues through all of the books, however Ms. Viehl is skilled in bringing a new reader, or in my case a lapsed reader, up to speed without doing an ‘info dump’.

Ft. Lauderdale homicide detective Samantha Brown and her soon to retire partner Harry Quinn are tasked to solve a case in which the murder victim was drowned in fresh water and then placed on a park bench within several hundred yards of the ocean. Interestingly enough, she’s also across the street from a goth nightclub called Infusion. Samantha is tall and statuesque and lives alone in a security conscious gated complex. She’s one of those people who allows their profession to be all consuming & her only emotional attachment is to her partner and his wife.

Lucan, who was called Noir de l’Anfar centuries ago, is the Darkyn managing the club and the new gardin in Ft. Lauderdale. Once he was the Darkyn high lord’s pet assassin and enforcer, but has left Europe and Ireland for America and, perhaps one day, peace of mind if not actual peace. Someone is framing him, but whom? And for what purpose? One of his enemies? Or one of the high lord’s enemies? Could it be the Brethren of the Light, that supersecret order within the Roman Catholic church who were all sworn to unquestioning obedience and the eradication of the Darkyn?

Ms. Viehl keeps the pacing high and the plots whirl in my head like the circus professional who spins several plates at once, never dropping one. Lucan and Sam, Michael and Alex (the couple from the first book) are central to the action. John Keller (Alex’s renegade brother & former member of the Brethren) sidles into town as well. The high lord himself shows up & then things really start to happen. As if it was quiet & plodding before. *snort*

Lucan’s secondary gift is unique and unusual & made me smile. I understood his motives when he attempts to push Samantha away, although the use of forced sex made me very uncomfortable and unhappy. The typical Romanceland shortcut of having the heroine end up a) understanding what he was actually trying to do and b) sexually respond in a positive way to his aggression didn’t do much to ease my discomfort. There is only one instance of this in the book. Lucan believes he will not survive the coming confrontation & is attempting to protect Samantha’s life. Each reader will have to make up their own mind about how this is treated. Speaking for myself, I was ok with it although I wish Ms. Viehl had come up with a different way to achieve the same goal.

Obviously, in real life I don’t condone or accept that there is any instance of this type of sexual coercion & violence being acceptable in any way at all. In fiction, though, I can generally give it a pass depending on how the author frames the episode and what the ramifications are.

An excellent installment in the Darkyn series. Spurred me to run to the UBS and buy the next book. I absolutely had to know how a certain plot point that carried over was resolved. I rushed over to my shelves & discovered that the fourth title is the only one I didn’t have. The next one is fabulous as well.

ANZAC Day 2009

Remember the Fallen

Waltzing Matilda


Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three,
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?"
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me alive", said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."
"Oh, You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."



Images found on Wikimedia and Austrialian gov't Defence website; lyrics found on Wikimedia

The War of the Flowers; Tad Williams

I has been a long long time since I've read a book written by Tad Williams. In fact, I've not read anything by him since I was _____ year old, lo those many many years ago. The only other book I've read by him is Tailchaser's Song. I don't remember how I heard of this book except that someone on my feed reader mentioned it in a post I read. I think I've almost eighty blogs on my reader though, so I've no idea which person mentioned it. Sorry! In my opinion, The War of the Flowers is a combination mystery/political thriller that's set in Faerie. Since it has been so long since I've read his work, I'm counting Mr. Williams as a new to me author. Overall I'd say it's a positive impression. :)

Theo Vilmos is a thirty year old man, chronologically speaking. Averse to "growing up", he behaves and has the emotional depth and mentality of an overgrown teenager. In the space of nine months or so Theo loses his girlfriend, their baby (to miscarriage) & his mother (to cancer). After settling his mother's estate he settles into a remote mountain cabin to try and put himself back to rights after an eventful several months.

Unfortunately for him, shortly after he's up there Theo gets attacked by a mysterious "thing" and to save his own life he's spirited through a magical doorway into Faerie. Little Applecore, a tiny sprite, was sent to open the door and bring Theo through. Applecore works for Lord Tansy. It was supposed to be a one time deal, but Theo's life becomes exponentially more complicated. Applecore becomes Theo's guide to all things Faerie. The "thing" following him has crossed as well. And Faerie has serious political problems. But what does all of this have to do with Theo?

Theo appears to be crucial to the power games whispering loudly through the lush homes in the City, but he doesn't know why or how. The "thing" is still following him, though. We follow Theo and Applecore and a few other friends Theo picks up along the way as Theo tries to stay one step ahead of both the "thing" and the political shenanigans. Then there's the question about Theo's great uncle's notebook & who & what the old gentleman had to do with anything in Faerie.

There are a lot of things I like about Mr. Williams' Faerie. For one, the surnames are all flowers (duh!) but most of the personal names are subtypes of flowers within that type. Er..for example, the Apple family all have related names: Seed, Skin, Pie, Pip, Doll, Tart, Tree, Wood, etc. The fairy aristocracy are all named after flowers: Tansy, Daffodil, Hollyhock, etc. you get the idea. The highest caste fairies don't have wings and are generally human size or larger.

Certain aspects of the mystery I figured out & others caught me totally by surprise. I guess that was the best thing, actually. When I realized I'd figured out one of the plot issues by page fifty or so I wondered what else Mr. Williams had up his sleeve. I wasn't disappointed. It is a little slow, things unfold in their own time. The reader really has to pay attention over the entire span of the book to get a glimpse of what might be coming.

Meme: What We Read

This is a fun meme I first saw at The Written World by Kailana and over at The Book Smugglers.



1. What author do you own the most books by? PG Wodehouse

2. What book do you own the most copies of?
Our apartment is too small to keep duplicates. However, I have two copies each of:













3. What fictional character are you secretly in love with? Valentine Corbett in:







4. What book have you read more than any other?




5. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old? I'm unsure, but most likely:


6. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year? Generally I don't finish books I don't like, but I'd have to say Cherished by Elizabeth Thornton or Light of the Moon by Luanne Rice.

7. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year? I couldn't pick only one. Maybe Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian.


8. If you could tell everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be? Only one?! Wow. I'll have to think about that one. I think my choice would be: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee



9. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? I absolutely can't stand Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.


10. Do you prefer the French or the Russians? Haven't read any of the Russians, so it's the French by default.

11. Shakespeare, Milton or Chaucer? Shakespeare

12. Austen or Eliot? Neither. I like the Brontes.


13. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? Classics.

14. What is your favorite novel? This is probably similar to #8, but I think it would be either: Uncle Fred in Springtime by PG Wodehouse or any of the Bertie and Jeeves novels.

15. Play? Midsummer Night's Dream

16. Poem? Mab in Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare:


O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies’ midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Over men’s noses as they lie asleep;
Her wagon-spokes made of long spinners’ legs,
The cover of the wings of grasshoppers,
The traces of the smallest spider’s web,
The collars of the moonshine’s watery beams,
Her whip of cricket’s bone; the lash of film;
Her waggoner a small grey-coated gnat,
Not half so big as a round little worm
Prick’d from the lazy finger of a maid:
Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut
Made by the joiner squirrel or an old grub,
Time out o’ mind the fairies’ coachmakers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers’ brains, and then they dream of love;
O’er courtiers’ knees, that dream on court’sies straight,
O’er lawyers’ fingers, who straight dream on fees,
O’er ladies ‘ lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are:
Sometime she gallops o’er a courtier’s nose,
And then dreams he of smelling out a suit;
And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig’s tail
Tickling a parson’s nose as a’ lies asleep,
Then dreams, he of another benefice:
Sometime she driveth o’er a soldier’s neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five-fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes,
And being thus frighted swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
That plaits the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elflocks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes:
This is the hag, when maids lie on their backs,
That presses them and learns them first to bear,
Making them women of good carriage:
This is she—"




17. Essay? Anything by David Sedaris, but especially Holidays on Ice.

18. Short Story? Anything by Edgar Allan Poe

19. Non Fiction?

20. Graphic Novel? Haven't read any of these, unfortunately.

21. Science Fiction? Catherine Asaro's Skolian books, Linnea Sinclair, anything by Robert Heinlein, Scott Westerfeld's Risen Empire duology.

22. Who is your favorite writer? Living Writer? Don't have just one, there are several: Patricia McKillip & Jane Yolen, Katherine Kurtz & Anne Bishop, Jacqueline Carey. Deceased writers? PG Wodehouse & Robert Louis Stevenson.

23. Who is the most over rated writer alive today? Um..Stephanie Meyer?

24. Best Memoir?





25. Best History?


26. Best mystery or Noir? Any of Laura Joh Rowland's Sano Ichiro

Newest release, 2008

Or else anything in Peter Tremayne's Sister Fidelma series:

July 2009 release

27. What is your desert island book? Any omnibus collection of PG Wodehouse books. Anything off of my keeper shelves.

28. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature? Uh..no opinion. I read mostly "ghetto" er..I mean genre literature, which as all Nobel panelists know is never worthy of such on honor. *SNORT*

29. What book would you most like to see made into a movie? The Risen Empire duology by Scott Westerfeld.

30. What book would you least like to see made into a movie? No opinion.

31. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character. Generally I don't remember my dreams. Except the ones that come true.

32. And ... what are you reading right now?

Beyond Heaving Bosoms by the Smartbitches:

Light of the Moon; Luanne Rice

Dunno where to start with this one. I don't think I've been more disappointed with a new to me author in a long long time. First impressions are crucial & mine is pretty low..so I don't know if I'm even willing to try another book by her. I finished this a while ago I've been so reluctant to put it all in writing.

Susannah Connolly (Mary Sue extraordinaire), professor at a small Connecticut college, has decided to take a short sabbatical after the death of her mother. She travels to a rural section of France that was very important to her parents. While there she meets Grey Dempsey out on the marsh in what could have been a near fatal encounter with wild bulls. Over the next few weeks Susannah becomes increasingly attracted to Grey and makes friendly overtures to his young daughter Sari, who suffers with the aftereffects of a serious closed head injury. Susannah's pushy ex boyfriend makes an appearance as well.

Grey, an American who runs a horseback tour ranch, and his daughter, who is half Roma/French and half American, have an uneasy, prickly relationship partly due to her injuries and partly due to the fact that her injury directly stems from her mother's flight from the family household with her lover. Grey used to be a relatively well established journalist whose dreams of running an equine based business with his wife have all evaporated. Sari's best friend Laurent seems to know better than Grey does, when and how far to push Sari, when to back off. Then there's the Roma community, and Sari's mother and her lover.

Now, on the face of all that it should have been relatively easy to like this book. There are too many coincidences and cliches and things left unexplored in this book. Too many plot threads that got wrapped up in pretty pink bows. The time line was too short, for one. Less than three months, if I totted it up properly. Three months for so many miracles to happen to Grey, Susannah, Sari & her mother. It was ridiculous.

The problems:

1. Susannah travels to rural France, but miraculously falls in love with an American whose parents live in Rhode Island. Which is a little too convenient for me. No language or cultural conflicts. Of all the fifty states, he's from Little Rhody? which is right next door to Connecticut. Yeah ok. Very convenient for the bicontinental relationship we can see coming at the end of the book.

2. Grey has lived in France full time at least since his marriage, roughly ten years ago. However, he speaks English at home with his daughter. Pardonnez moi?? You don't even speak French at home with your French born child? Not to mention her Roma cultural heritage, which I believe includes their own language. But no. He's American so they speak English.

3. After Susannah and Grey and Sari make peace and try to become friends a little bit, miraculously Sari begins to heal from her mental and physical scars. Naturally, there had been little to no improvement in the previous five years. Until Grey and Susannah show signs of becoming friends. Nothing like a little female rivalry to get the healing flowing. HA! >:(

4. The whole entire storyline involving the mother, her lover, & their Las Vegas equine revue. I can't say too much without revealing the plot, but Jeez. Really. There have been several too many coincidences & "wow it's a small world after all" moments. The explication and sudden healing of all actual, physical and metaphysical rifts between all involved parties is just too much. Really.

5. There is no discussion of the reality of the life the Roma actually live in Europe- which is degrading, painful, squalid and full of what most Americans would identify in our own country as pre Civil Rights attitudes and issues and living conditions.

One or two of these, properly done, would have been more than enough for one single book. All five of them in one single volume? Not gonna fly. At least, not with this reader. Every single plot thread is wrapped up with its own resolution and neat pink bow, although Sari's needs aren't totally solved it's made plain that she's well on her way to total health.

Light of the Moon was published in 2008 in hardcover, and is currently out in mass market. It's published by Bantam. Luanne Rice is a prolific author with a huge backlist. It seems that most of her works could be categorized as women's fiction with strong romantic overtones. Link to her backlist is in the title above.

Feeling Human Now

For the first time in a long time, I managed to combine two of my favorite things in the whole wide world: stomach flu and my monthly. How lovely. Thrilling even. Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely despise, loathe and abhor being sick. Not only that, I'm bitchy mean and cranky and want to hide. Don't ask me anything. Actually- don't talk to me. Pretend I don't exist. Poor hubby. He hates it. Being a nurse, he's one of the most nurturing men I've ever met. Likes to hover, bring juice, fresh boxes of tissues. Chat. Will watch endless Lifetime TV movies. Willing to read me Smart Bitches and Dear Author posts. It drives me batty. Fortunately, he's learned that I really dislike being fussed over and he spends these energies on the kids when they get sick. Add in my monthly and, well, let's just say the fellow inhabitants of Bookwormom Central were more than happy to escape to those more civilized places: school and work.

I did read. Quite a bit. Reviews to come. I'm falling desperately behind (7 books). Chat more tomorrow.

Access Romance Post

Posted a column over at Access Romance this morning asking if book reviewers give inflated grades. Check it out & tell me what you think.




see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I won't be posting much over the next few days, I've picked up a stomach bug that's giving me hell. I'll post as soon as I feel better.

Where Serpents Sleep; CS Harris

Where Serpents Sleep is the latest installment in C.S. Harris’ Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series. Published by Obsidian in November of 2008, it takes place in May of 1812, several months after Why Mermaids Sing. As I mentioned in my reviews of the previous books, HERE and HERE. I don’t think it necessary to read the previous installments of St.Cyr’s mysteries unless you are interested in the depth of characterization and the back story of St. Cyr’s family history and his love life. I try very hard in these reviews not to give away significant plot details while still giving readers a sense of what did and didn’t work for me as well as a general overview of the story.

A little history is helpful though. Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is heir to the Earldom of Hendon after the untimely death of his older brother. Devlin’s sister, I think her name is Amanda, is older, married, conventional and seems to dislike both her father Alistair and her brother. The Countess of Hendon was presumed deceased in a boating accident years ago until Devlin recently learned otherwise. Devlin’s lady love, the Irish actress Kat Boleyn, is now out of reach, having lately married a pirate. Yes, really. A pirate. The hows and whys of this turn of events is related in the previous book Why Mermaids Sing.

In Where Serpents Sleep our hero is pressed into investigating the disappearance of a young prostitute who was being helped by Devlin’s nemesis’ daughter, one Miss Hero Jarvis. Ms. Jarvis is interested in doing good works and is an intelligent and curious young woman. Her own father says in effect that Hero would’ve been a wonderful son, but makes an awful daughter. One of Ms. Jarvis’ particular interests is helping prostitutes get off the street to learn a trade. In one horrifying incident a young woman is murdered in Hero’s arms while the building that houses them burns to the ground. Hero wants Devlin to investigate this young woman & find out how and why she ended up as a prostitute. Devlin acquiesces only because he knows that helping her will infuriate her father, Lord Jarvis (who happens to be the power behind the throne & thus nearly unstoppable).

The prickly relationship between Lord Jarvis, Hero and Devlin was fun to watch. The relationship between Hero & her dad was unique & ..on the cold blooded side, I guess. Then again, the glimpses into the Jarvis household prove once again that surface appearances hide the truth in the deeps. Honesty compels me to say that I found the whole 'sea cave scene' to be straight out of the romance genre- a little unusual, I suppose, but not wholly unexpected. I would've been pleased if the scene had played out differently. It sets up intriguing possibilities for future books.

Overall, another enjoyable episode in the St. Cyr series. Well worth the time!

Image found on Fantastic Fiction.

Why Mermaids Sing; CS Harris

This is the third title in Ms. Harris' Sebastian St. Cyr regency mystery series. The first title is What Angels Fear. I don't think it's necessary to read them in order, like most mystery series each stands easily on his own. However, if you're a reader who enjoys digging deeply into a character's personality and motivation than I suggest you begin with the first book. Ms. Harris has written romance novels as well (under the name of Candice Proctor), but if you're a romance reader I think it best to set aside the standard romance genre 'rules' and read these strictly with your "mystery reader" hat on. According to Ms. Harris' blog the next Sebastian mystery will be titled What Remains of Heaven. She's also busily plotting the book after that one. I'm thrilled to know that there are plenty of books to come!

Sebastian St. Cyr is investigating yet another gruesome case. Young well born men are being murdered, partially dissected and left in prominent public places. Because St.Cyr (or Devlin, if one calls him by his title) moves in these circles, he is asked to make discreet inquiries. His sister and his father are scandalized by both his inquires into the murders and by his quiet but well known amorous relationship with a well known Irish actress. Not that St. Cyr cares much for their opinion mind you. St. Cyr has some trouble linking these disparate young men together at first, the Ton, after all, is not a monolith. On the surface there is little to link them together.

In the midst of all this Devlin proposes to his ladylove, Kat Boleyn. Unbeknownst to Devlin Kat was a French spy in the recent past. Kat is now attempting to shed her past role, but she finds that doing so is like trying to get out a modern street gang- impossible. Powerful political figures know who she is and what she used to do. People who are willing to resort to nefarious techniques to try and force her to do what they want. Apart from that, Devlin's father, Alister St. Cyr, Earl of Hendon, and Kat discover something that irrevocably changes the relationship between the three of them. Something that Devlin may never forgive him for.

All in all, a wonderful installment in the series. Kept me on the edge of my seat wondering just how it would all shake out in the end. The relationship issue between Kat & Devlin was a huge-huge surprise. Yet, Devlin never asks questions of Kat. His head is buried firmly in the sand & he wanted it that way. So..his reactions kind of perplex me. It's hard to discuss this aspect without revealing what happens, but I really think that if your lover has a dubious past & you don't ask questions or do a little quiet questioning you get what's coming.
As for the mystery part, I was completely at a loss for a good while, and Ms. Harris had me questioning and trying to figure out plot twists all on my own.

Image found on Fantastic Fiction

Reading reading & more reading

Sorry I've not been around much these last few weeks. I've been glomming all of Anne Bishop's books on my shelves. Reread & reread & become supremely annoyed that I've got every Black Jewels set novel she's published. My only outlet now is to try & collect all of her short stories.

Other than that I've also read:

1. Hope's Folly~ Linnea Sinclair

2. Dark Need~ Lynn Viehl

Ms. Sinclair is a new to me author who I also plan to glom, initially from the library. Luckily, Keishon's TBR Challenge is science fiction romance this month (post due up April 16th if you're participating) & I've had Linnea Sinclair's Gabriel's Ghost for a long time now. Currently reading Night Lost by Lynn Viehl.

Spring is here

Hubby and I finally managed to do a couple of gardening chores this week. Just before several days of drizzle, as it happens. My parents gifted me with a small mesh bag of gladiolus bulbs. He dug me a deep trench along the edge of the front steps & I planted about 2/3 of them. I still have about ten more. They're planted behind my daylilies. I hope they make it ok.I have terrible squirrel problems & my bulbs don't always last very long.


We also moved the young maple tree that had been growing hard up beside the front porch into the backyard. It's about..7-8' tall & has little leaf buds on the branches. Poor tree would never have survived in its original location. Someone would've had to cut it down. Too many branches, too big, roots all under the porch, etc. Now it's about 5' away from the back porch in full sun. Hubby dug a deep hole and we put a layer of composted manure in the bottom. I nipped off a bunch of the lowest branches. He's tied to a stake. Hopefully he'll survive our attempt at transplantation. His new location gives him a fighting chance at a long life. The power lines aren't too close so maybe he'll have a chance to grow to his full rounded shape. The deepest roots were under our concrete front steps & porch, we had to cut them to move him. I'll be sure to baby him over the next couple of summers so it won't suffer with the heat and the drought. Our neighborhood has quite a few mature trees considering we live in suburbia, maybe he'll make it. I've no idea what type of maple he is except that he's not a silver maple. I just recognize that he's a maple. His leaves were red last fall. Pictures to come.

Image found on answers.com

Jacqueline Carey News

Found over on Suduvu: Jacqueline Carey has posted an excerpt from her upcoming release Naamah's Kiss, click here to read it. Naamah's Kiss will be released in hardcover in June.

Evernight; Claudia Gray

I saw this somewhere on my feed reader & borrowed it from the library. Evernight was published by Harper Teen in 2008. The newest one is Stargazer, released in March of this year. Evernight is a young adult vampire-coming of age-adventure book. This is projected to be a four book series, a la Harry Potter, one book per school year. I lost my notes, so the little details have vanished out of my head like morning mist, but I remember most of it.

Bianca Olivier & her parents have moved to Evernight Academy from a tiny town. Her parents will be teaching and Bianca will live in the dorms (it's a boarding school) with Patrice. From the beginning it's clear that Bianca won't easily fit in here. She makes friends with Lucas Ross after he chases her through the woods and she tries to muddle through her first year. The reader only finds some things out as Bianca does, which adds to the suspense & the feeling of dread that slowly seeps into the book. Bianca's first "feed" is Lucas, and she doesn't cope all that well with the resulting feelings and consequences. When the truth behind Lucas' presence in the school is revealed in a violent and devestating scene involving her parents Bianca reacts in a totally understandable way. She runs away with him.

I really really struggled to finish this one. Bianca swung between TSTL, hormone addled, angst ridden to insightful, thoughtful and protective. It drove me batshit crazy. I read quite a bit of young adult lit, I expect and understand that teens naturally swing from one emotional and behavioral extreme to another. I get that. Really I do. I have three of them. Teens that is. But somehow Bianca drove me over the edge. Which made me wonder just how much do I really have to like a protagonist to keep reading their story?

There is nothing resolved in this episode. Both Bianca and Lucas survive their stupidity. There is quite a lot of implied behind the scenes goings on with the adults. This reader wonders if the Headmistress Mrs. Bethany is really the archenemy. How much does Bianca, and by extension, the reader not know? I am very glad I borrowed this book from our local library, I think I'd've been furious if I'd actually bought it. They have the second one, but I'm unsure if I'll continue with them. If I do it'll be because a) I want to prove to myself I can finish a series when I despise the protagonist b) I want to know who & what the motivating factors behind the scenes are and c) I like Balthazar More much more than I like Lucas and I hope to see more of him in future books.

March Synopsis

Listed in totally random order. Reviews for 1-3 & 7 coming. #8 is a reread but hadn't been reviewed, so I'm counting it towards my annual total.

1. Evernight, Claudia Gray

2. Why Mermaids Sing, C. S. Harris~

3. Where Serpents Sleep, C. S. Harris~

4. The Risen Empire- Scott Westerfeld

5. The Killing of Worlds- Scott Westerfeld

6. Mistress of the Art of Death- Ariana Franklin

7. Light of the Moon- Luanne Rice

8. Daughter of the Blood- Anne Bishop


DNF

To the Last Man Jeff Shaara- took him over 100 pages to introduce all of the protagonists. Let's have some action already!

Correction-April 2- #8's correct author is Anne Bishop, not Anne Rice as originally listed.