Act Like a Lady Think Like a Man - Is it Biblical Advice?

Josie Lloyd & Emlyn Rees, the now married-with-children authors of 1998's Come Together and The Seven-Year Itch (among many others) used this switching narrator technique to great effect, with Lloyd writing the woman's point-of-view and Rees, the man's POV.

Given their genders, Lloyd and Reese convincingly wrote as their characters with credible ease. Although Stupid and Contagious has a bit of a rough start (think of it as someone learning to drive a manual transmission), author Caprice Crane manages to slip into Brady's and Heaven's voices effectively.

By the time the reader understands that these bickering neighbors are actually quite alike, the issue of the similarity of their voices becomes, well, not an issue.

The couple meet in the proverbial "cute" -- She gets his mail in her mailbox, which she opens (it becomes a running gag throughout the novel), even borrowing $10 his grandmother has sent him. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with Lloyd, and it begins a superficially contentious relationship between them.

Both of them are dealing with the aftermath of a toxic relationship - Brady with the mentally unstable Sarah, and Heaven's slick ex, who runs a more successful (than Brady) indie record label.

Heaven finds some solace in the adoption/doggy rescue of a fat Pug, while Brady has high hopes for his "invention" (Cinnamilk, which he is certain will rival chocolate milk in popularity).

Eventually, despite the barbs and mishaps, they grudgingly realize they don't mind the other. When Heaven gets fired for the second time in the novel (she starts off as a PR exec-turned waitress), she's got more time on her hands than money and offers to join Brady on a band-scouting trip to Los Angeles, and then Seattle, Pug in tow.

Brady chooses Seattle because a meeting with the head of Starbucks becomes his grail, but hides his "invention" from Heaven initially. She jumps on the bandwagon and conspires to help Brady meet the man. Her PR and marketing skills are revived in the process. Inevitably, misunderstandings and confusion block the path to togetherness.

Crane's fond of her characters and this depicted in how she presents both Brady and Heaven. They are clearly flawed - Heaven tipples on the edge of annoying -- but it makes them all the more authentic. Crane has a great grasp of life in Manhattan, and when the duo hit Los Angeles, Crane's descriptions of the denizens and locations are on the mark.

These are people who are the on cusp of "making it," not to fame and fortune, but to maturity. Their fears are real, and credible, and for Crane's audience, relatable.

Readers of rom com know what this is all leading to, but Crane, daughter of TV's iconic "Ginger," Tina Louise, has a breezy style that's entertaining and makes this novel engaging.

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A Contagious Read - Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane

Josie Lloyd & Emlyn Rees, the now married-with-children authors of 1998's Come Together and The Seven-Year Itch (among many others) used this switching narrator technique to great effect, with Lloyd writing the woman's point-of-view and Rees, the man's POV.

Given their genders, Lloyd and Reese convincingly wrote as their characters with credible ease. Although Stupid and Contagious has a bit of a rough start (think of it as someone learning to drive a manual transmission), author Caprice Crane manages to slip into Brady's and Heaven's voices effectively.

By the time the reader understands that these bickering neighbors are actually quite alike, the issue of the similarity of their voices becomes, well, not an issue.

The couple meet in the proverbial "cute" -- She gets his mail in her mailbox, which she opens (it becomes a running gag throughout the novel), even borrowing $10 his grandmother has sent him. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with Lloyd, and it begins a superficially contentious relationship between them.

Both of them are dealing with the aftermath of a toxic relationship - Brady with the mentally unstable Sarah, and Heaven's slick ex, who runs a more successful (than Brady) indie record label.

Heaven finds some solace in the adoption/doggy rescue of a fat Pug, while Brady has high hopes for his "invention" (Cinnamilk, which he is certain will rival chocolate milk in popularity).

Eventually, despite the barbs and mishaps, they grudgingly realize they don't mind the other. When Heaven gets fired for the second time in the novel (she starts off as a PR exec-turned waitress), she's got more time on her hands than money and offers to join Brady on a band-scouting trip to Los Angeles, and then Seattle, Pug in tow.

Brady chooses Seattle because a meeting with the head of Starbucks becomes his grail, but hides his "invention" from Heaven initially. She jumps on the bandwagon and conspires to help Brady meet the man. Her PR and marketing skills are revived in the process. Inevitably, misunderstandings and confusion block the path to togetherness.

Crane's fond of her characters and this depicted in how she presents both Brady and Heaven. They are clearly flawed - Heaven tipples on the edge of annoying -- but it makes them all the more authentic. Crane has a great grasp of life in Manhattan, and when the duo hit Los Angeles, Crane's descriptions of the denizens and locations are on the mark.

These are people who are the on cusp of "making it," not to fame and fortune, but to maturity. Their fears are real, and credible, and for Crane's audience, relatable.

Readers of rom com know what this is all leading to, but Crane, daughter of TV's iconic "Ginger," Tina Louise, has a breezy style that's entertaining and makes this novel engaging.

Hosting Murah Indonesia Indositehost.com

Bound, Branded & Brazen by Jaci Burton

Spring is upon us and the days are getting longer and weather you're sitting on the veranda, the subway or in your favorite chair, reading a good book is a great way to spend your time. So if you're looking for a good book to read might I suggest Bound, Branded & Brazen by Jaci Burton?

Jaci Burton is an author who gets it right every time. Her books are filled with three dimensional characters, interesting relationships, smart dialogue and lots of heat. In Bound, Branded & Brazen you have three interconnecting novellas about three sisters and their journey to repairing their bonds to each other, which is reason enough to read this one. However, in addition to three great story lines about three strong and independent siblings who share a history and a legacy, you also get three great heroes who eventually enhance and make sweeter the lives of our heroines. Three for the price of one? You can't beat it with a stick.

These three cleverly interconnecting novellas tell the story of the Oklahoma McMasters sisters, Valerie, Brea and Jolene. The sisters couldn't be more different. Valerie is a doctor, Brea's a computer geek, and Jolene runs the family ranch. Coming together after years apart highlights their differences but also underlines the foundation and framework of their familial ties. Being sisters isn't always easy. The love you have for one another is often tested by the differences that make you unique and all three women have to find a way to understand each other after years apart. In addition, add to the mix, falling in love and you have a great premise for a contemporary romance that is filled with joy, heartache, romance and passion.

Ms. Burton's books always have a lot of heat to them, but this sexual energy is always balanced by her great ability to put in words the deeper underlying relationships between the characters. In other words, Ms. Burton can write; and her books are a pleasure to read. And while her stories are simple, straight forward contemporary romances, it's because they are so clean and crisp that you get caught up in the world she creates. She gives each story room to breathe so you gain an intimate knowledge of the motivations behind each character and you want to know more about them. Each novella in BB&B is a gem onto itself, but together you get a satisfying over all story-line about sisters who band together, the men who will love them forever and a group of people who belong together.

So dear reader, if you're looking for a well written contemporary romance by an author who knows her stuff, with three different stories that connect to each other, three free-spirited autonomous women, three strong willed men and an HEA with lots of heat might I suggest Bound Branded & Brazen by Jaci Burton.

bookereview : See Jane Date by Melissa S

Jane Gregg, the heroine of See Jane Date has just about had it - had it with her younger, more-popular cousin Dana, who's getting married at Manhattan's celebrated Plaza hotel; had with being father and mother-less; had it with being an assistant editor whose tenacious on-maternity-leave boss Gwen won't stop calling her and detailing her baby's poop schedule; had it with the author she's been assigned to work with, Natasha, who Jane's known since childhood and who she secretly calls "The Gnat."

But most of all, she has had it with the fact that she had no date for Dana's wedding to a (what else?) millionaire. Fed-up Jane, who feels inferior to everyone around her, finally makes-up a boyfriend, who everyone expects to be Jane's escort to Dana's wedding.

Jane's job (in addition to editing The Gnat's memoirs about her torrid affair with an unnamed celebrity who made her sign a confidentiality agreement before consummating their "relationship") becomes finding someone - anyone - to be her date for the wedding-of-the-century.

Jane's worlds are also colliding. The Gnat, who was once Dana's babysitter, is suddenly going to the wedding and even the bachelor-ette party, treating a resentful Jane like an intimate confidante, and calling all hours of the day or night. Jane also contends with regular lectures from her aunt (Dana's mom, who raised Jane after her mother's death). Her aunt is disappointed in Jane's less-than enthusiastic participation in wedding party activities and prep.

She allows herself to be "set-up" on a round of blind dates, in the hopes that one will "take," so that she'll be able to keep up the facade that she's got a boyfriend who's more-than-thrilled to take her to (shudder) "the event."

Senate is most successful as she chronicles the stream of bad blind dates - dates that ring, no, even clang, with truth.

On one of her five blind dates, the guy suggests she meet him at a location - but coyly only gives Jane the address, without any details. She realizes the neighborhood is dicey, except for the earliest stages of gentrification - art galleries -and Jane assumes she's being invited to an opening.

Wearing a borrowed (and provocative) dress, she trudges to the remote location, only to have her date's mother answer the door. Not only is he not home yet, but soon finds out that she's been invited to her date's 11-year-old-nephew's birthday party, held at the home where the "date" lives with his mother.

On another date (one that also reads as very "real"), she meets a date at Starbucks, only to find herself competing for his attention with any other woman who walks by.

Jane's desperation to be close to what family she has left (and who she really doesn't feel quite bonded to) adds a soulful touch to the story. Her granny even joins in, and tries -unsuccessfully - to get Jane to meet the nice guy next door, claiming he often helps out and even, occasionally, plays chess with her uncle. Jane cannot imagine what this guy is like, but decides with great alacrity that he isn't for her. But as the story progresses, the question then becomes, "or is he??"

bookereview : La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander M.C.S

Charming. Can any of us make a difference to the great events which determine our fate? That is the question Alexander McCall Smith explores in La's Orchestra Saves the World.

The story is set in Britain and told through the eyes of a young woman named Lavender (all her friends call her La). La is a very real character - although intelligent, strong-willed and determined, at times she displayed self-doubt and struggled with want versus obligation. McCall Smith takes the reader on a journey with La from her days at university, first love, personal tragedy and the upheaval of the Second World War. Along the way the reader is introduced to a cast of characters from many walks of life, displaying determination and courage in many forms, as they each do what they can to contribute to the war effort.

The best word I can use to describe the writing style displayed by McCall Smith in this novel is 'quality'. It is neither self-indulgent nor sparing - his use of the British language and vocabulary is exemplary. There is something very rewarding about learning a new word or two through the enjoyment of a charming story. After all, why read if it is not to learn something, whether that be a new word or more about ourselves through personal reflection? La's Orchestra Saves the World serves up opportunities for personal reflection in spades. Would I have been so selfless? At what point does defence become aggression? What do allegiances really mean, and can the place a person was born dictate what they do and don't deserve out of life? Is happiness a right or something we must earn?

La's Orchestra Saves the World is a story about personal sacrifice and the strength of the human spirit. Although at times hauntingly sad, this story is equally uplifting, and well worth reading.

bookereview : The X Files by Jane M

The Ex-Files is not exactly Jane Austen, but you still get a smart, wry and uncertain heroine in Fay Parker, a high-profile model, who's prepared (or so she thinks) to marry sweet chef Mark Hawkins. The couple harmoniously decides, in a fit of magnanimity, to invite their most recent - and serious -- exes.

For Faye, this includes a kind, but ultimately dull boy-from-home and a narcissistic celebrity. Mark's featured "ex" is Kate, with whom he had a long - and primarily happy - relationship.

The catalyst (and of course, there is one) for Faye's sudden cold feet is a near one-night stand with a guy she meets while out. Their chemistry is electric and Faye considers what has led her to this point.

UK journalist and best-selling author Moore offers up an ambitious tale. Moore's lead, unlike many in the genre is far from the everywoman who represents the book's intended audience. Instead of a lovelorn, weight-conscious, awkward put-upon lead, Moore gives us a popular supermodel, confident and carefree. And Moore is nearly successful in getting her reader behind Faye and her dilemma.

The Ex-Files reads almost like a sequel - like a book that challenges its more conventional predecessor. It is as if someone proposed the idea to Moore - "why not examine, in a 'fresh and new' way - an alternative to the happily-ever-after.

And for this novel, it offers this: meaning, Mark's and Faye's pre Ex-Files story is traditional: meet cute, opposites attract - with the icing on the cake: an engagement. The premise of The Ex-Files should work, because as everyone knows, there's almost always a caveat to the happy ending. But Moore eventually becomes burdened by characters that don't ring true. She tells the reader rather than shows them - a mistake a seasoned writer like Moore should avoid. In short, because she doesn't have empathy for Faye and Mark, why should the reader?

Moore also tackles what really seems to be a film and television conceit - and one that is pretty much never happens in reality: the caricatured wedding ceremony. In real life, most weddings are called off before the guests arrive at church, not like in The Graduate, not like in Four Weddings and a Funeral, not like Picture Perfect, not like Sweet Home Alabama. Basically, not like any wedding ceremony in fiction.

That said, there is enough in the premise, enough in the first chapter (which features Faye's pseudo indiscretion) to pretty much give a reader familiar with the genre more than a hint of what will happen. Still, despite the predictability, the ambitiousness of the premise (as it challenges reality), it is a quick and fun read - perfect for the plane ride, the beach or while waiting for your turn at the DMV.