Final Tally and Resisting Temptation

At 11:57 PM last night I had 64 posts to go. I skipped a couple of Megan Hart's video blogs, skimmed a few reviews, especially repeats, but I'm getting there. Next I'm getting my book lists and book shelves organized. I want to be in good shape, literally and figuratively, before I go to RWA.

It wasn't all blog reading all the time either. I did do some laundry and watch a movie with GG. Oh, and there was the divine chicken marsala and a bit of reading Julia Quinn's latest release, THE LOST DUKE OF WYNDHAM.

I saw alot of reviews for LOVER ENSHRINED by JR Ward. I'm reading between the lines but it looks like a 'meh' read for most people. Secondary characters seemed to have saved the day. I did enjoy reading Ms. Ward's account about selling the BDB series and her broken HVAC that she shared on Dear Author. However, after having a furious rant about LOVER UNBOUND last year I've had no trouble resisting purchasing LOVER ENSHRINED. Hopefully it stays that way.

It's also a first for me not to buy the latest Plum book. The 14th Stephanie Plum book by Janet Evanovich released this past week and I didn't buy it. *takes deep breath* I saw it at both Barnes & Noble and Super Target. I conquered my knee jerk Pavlovian response and passed it by. For now. Hopefully a weak moment and curiousity don't get the best of me.

Good thing this week has some good books out, with Linda Howard's book DEATH ANGEL, Marjorie M. Liu's IRON HUNT and I'm also looking forward to Lorraine Heath's IN BED WITH THE DEVIL. Word has it we can order SAM'S CREED by Sarah McCarty too. It's due out in a week so I don't know whether to order or wait. I'm really looking forward to that one.

Bring on the week. I'm ready!

LEAN MEAN THIRTEEN by Janet Evanovich

LEAN MEAN THIRTEEN by Janet Evanovich


If you remember my disappointment last year with TWELVE SHARP you are probably wondering if I've lost my mind or won the lottery, or at the very least what possessed me to buy LEAN MEAN 13.

My story, and I'm stickin' to it, goes like this, a year goes by and I'm wandering the book aisles of my local Barnes and Noble when I spy the latest Evanovich hardcover and 13th Stephanie Plum book. I think to myself, "It can't be as bad as the last book." Then I recall that over the course of the series there were some installments that were better than others. So what are the odds that there would be two stinkers in a row? I then snatch the book from the shelf and march myself to the checkout. Of course, all of this is suspect since I entered the store with the store coupon which discounted the sale price for the new release.

LEAN MEAN THIRTEEN isn't a total bounce back, but it was a pretty good book. Not great, but pretty good. This book is much more focused on Stephanie working her cases and less on her personal life. I do sense and hope that Stephanie is getting ready to make some changes in her life. Ms. Evanovich certainly leaves some bread crumbs in that direction. In LM13, Stephanie is trying to find her ex-husband Dickie Orr. If you've read any of these books you know that Stephanie loathes the air Dickie breathes. Not only because she caught Dickie boinking her arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt on the dining room table, which precedes the end of her 15 minute marriage, but also because Dickie is a total schmuck and PITA.

Dickie has gone missing after a very high octane meeting with Stephanie, so now Steph is a suspect in his disappearance and possible demise. In order not to end up in the clinker herself Stephanie decides to find her no good ex. Of course, she gets help from her cast of characters along the way. I did chuckle a bit and smiled often, but right now I can't think of a single laugh out loud moment in this one.

While this book was way better than feeling like I was ripped off, which is how I felt last year, it just wasn't as snappy nor did it have alot of the sexual tension and simmer between Stephanie and her guys that we've come to expect. I seriously think (not that she's asked or cares) Ms. Evanovich needs to do one great book and finish up the series. As the saying goes, all good things must end. I really think it's time for the gang in Trenton, New Jersey to call it a day. So maybe Stephanie doesn't end up with either of these guys, or maybe she finally choses between the yummy Joe Morelli and the delicious Ranger. Either way it needs a resolution already. I just hate to see Stephanie Plum and company, who have provided so many hours of reading entertainment, stay too long at the dance and ruin all the good feelings readers and fans have for the books.

So I guess it's not really much of a review to sum up by saying, "Not a bad book, but ..."

Fortunately, with my Barnes and Noble membership and an online store coupon I was out the door with this one for $15, which is only slightly more than a trade sized paperback, so not too bad. Here's a Barnes and Noble coupon for LM13 and here is the Borders coupon if you are interested in buying it. This is a Borders 20% off coupon good until June 24th. At the B&N link there's also a link for online shopping discounts and coupons.

I know myself well enough to know that I will probably buy the next book too. Maybe I need to find a sponsor like they have in AA that can help save me from myself. Of course, that counts out all you lovable addicts in Romancelandia who read my blog. Life preserver anyone?

Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich

MOTOR MOUTH by Janet Evanovich

Book Description (from Booklist)
Alexandra "Barney" Barnaby has a degree in engineering and a passion for the way cars work. Her passion for NASCAR driver Sam Hooker, for whom she works as a spotter and R & D person, has been put on hold since his one-night stand with a salesclerk made it onto the Internet. When Hooker loses a race and Barney thinks cheating is involved--the fancy, electronic kind--a wild ride commences, one that begins in Miami, then moves to the Carolinas and back again A corpse shows up along the way, and there's lots of NASCAR detail (fascinating even if you're not a devotee) and lots of doggy subplot (Hooker's St Bernard Beans eats a box of prunes that ends up having a great deal to do with the plot). Barney and Hooker find themselves in one outrageously hilarious situation after another: saved by tough granny Felicia and her myriad Cuban American family members; clocking a bad guy with a six-pack; disposing of corpses in some remarkably icky but entertaining ways.

Okay, I am among the people who were really hacked at Ms. Evanovich about TWELVE SHARP, her most recent release in the Stephanie Plum series. Half of that book was just a rehash of the whole series. Maybe a fourth of the book was new material. Of course as a devotee of the series and a well known Nosy Nora I shelled out for the hard cover. I've thoroughly enjoyed the Plum series and have to say even with all its ups and downs in 12 books I was never so ticked off as I was at the end of TWELVE SHARP. I felt like I was robbed and cheated.

I was sufficiently irked that even though I had read and enjoyed METRO GIRL the first of the new series about Alexandra Barnaby and company I was undecided about whether or not to purchase the second book at all, let alone in hard cover. Alas the fates worked in Ms. Evanovich's favor. With a store coupon and my Borders discount I was able to purchase the book for under $15, down from it's unfreaking believable price of $26.95, that's $33.95 for our Canadian friends. I had one of those WTF moments and added the book to my purchases.

So, what to say about this book. Well, it's better than the first one. The first book was a very slow start for me, but I did enjoy it once it got going. I was into MOTOR MOUTH right away. Within the first 20 pages I laughed out loud. In fact I laughed several times in this book. There are many moments when Ms. Evanovich is at her quirky and witty best. I relate to someone cracking wise when in moments of high drama and stress. That's what we do in my family. Make a joke so you don't cry or go screaming into the night.

MOTOR MOUTH is an enjoyable and quick read. If you want funny and you want entertaining, this is the book for you. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It was light, it was fluffy, it was fun. I think Barney and Hooker are terrific characters and I will definitely be buying the next installment. For all you pet lovers out there the addition of Beans, Hooker's St. Bernard adds to the high jinxs.

One final word of warning, not only is the price hefty, but the print is large. The book is 312 pages, but if the print were adjusted, it is more like 200 pages. When you consider the hard cover price of $26.95, that's pretty steep for 200 pages. I read this in an afternoon. So, if the dinero is no problemo for you then take the leap, it's a fun read. Otherwise, wait for the paperback...the funny will still be there at a much more reasonable price.

I'm Baaaaaack!

Look, I don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive you've got to flap your arms and legs, you've got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at very least think noisy and colorfully, or you're not alive.
-- Mel Brooks

Okay, this is another quote I read and really related to. I once again swiped it from another site. However, this time I can't remember where I got it and can't credit the brilliant person who found it. Sorry anonymous donor, but thanks for the inspiration!!

I'm back from vacation. We actually got back late last week but have had company and lots to do so this has been my first chance to write anything. Forgive me again for errors or typos as I've lots to say and a short time to do it.


1. About the books I've read...very few "good" ones to report. I very much enjoyed Linda Howard's COVER OF NIGHT. I'm currently reading Christine Feehan's Drake sister book DANGEROUS TIDES. I've read a few comments out there in blogland about Janet Evanovich's latest Stephanie Plum TWELVE SHARP. Seems like many die hards concur about the disappointment of her not moving the story or the characters along in this book at all. It was about "half" a book IMO. I'm still a Marjorie Liu fan even though RED HEART OF JADE did not have the sharpness of her previous two Dirk & Steele novels. She's a great writer and I love her blog WEB PETALS.

2. My dad's girlfriend "Pearl". OMG! That's a story and a half. The guy I live with calls her a bar whore. Now I know that you all don't know the wonderful and marvelous Greg, but believe me he is a pretty easy going guy. He floored my sibs when he announced his opinion of Dad's girl Pearl. My sibs and I are all so disappointed in my 75 year-old father. While we were visiting him he got miffed with Pearl and ends up making out with her best friend Debbie D. who is also in her mid-50s and unlike Pearl not single. That's right...she's been married for 30 years. It seems Debbie D.'s husband is a train engineer and out of town alot. That's why good old Deb is available to hang out at the bars with good friend Pearl.

Trust me, I'm not laying all the blame on the chicks in this scenario. My Dad's acting worse than an adolescent. Of course, the making out was all a big mistake and he "luuuuuurves" Pearl. Can you say "whatever!" to an old perv and have him understand what that means? In all these scenarios vodka and whiskey both play prominent roles. Maybe you caught on the first 10 times or so I've mentioned most of the so-call courtship takes place in and around a bar in Helena, Montana called Dapper D's. A place we checked out while there...blech! is about the nicest I can say about it.

3. I'm so thrilled for Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban on their nuptials. Boo-yah to Tom and "Kate"! Some people still want to get married in church with their families present.

That's it for today. I'll be off for a few days again. One of my sisters is having surgery on her neck and I'll be trekking to the hospital and then helping out during her recovery.