WARNING DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!!!

WARNING!If you see the following book in the bookstore, bypass it. Have Glass Slippers, Will Travel."

It's not worth the purchase price. I bought this book having been sucked in by it's cute title and without reading at least the first page and woe is me. Why am I do aganist this book you ask?
Well, let's start with the first page. This is a quote from the second paragraph. "What would Oprah do?" Katy asked aloud." Some of us believe in a higher authority than a day time talk show host. And to write a romance where a major secondary character is Oprah is an irony that I believe Lisa Cach has missed. Oprah has trashed romance novels in the past and been bombarded by angry romance readers and writers. When was the last time a romance was an Oprah book pick?

Okay that was only the first objection to this book.
Second, the heroine is clueless. She tries to be sophisticated but only ends up looking pathetic and naive. She jets off to London (she's unemployed BTW)in search of Prince Charming. (That's a major objection for me.) She wanted to be saved because she doesn't know what to do with her life. She books into a B&B in Mayfair (didn't know they allowed them in Mayfair.)because she liked the name. (Just stupid) And it was cheap. In Mayfair? Are you kidding me?
She mistakes a Bentley Rolls Royce for a London cab. She wasn't planning on seeing the sights and shopping in London. She was going to the night clubs and hot spots to pick up titled British guys. So of course she does her research and chooses as her fashion icon Queen Elizabeth II, on the belief that no one dresses more aristocratically than the Queen. Maybe that was logical in the 1600's, but times have changed. Katy must have missed the whole tenure of Diana, Princess of Wales. Needless to say her outfits didn't fit in. Despite that fact she manages to get invited to a major nightclub with part of the in crowd. So she goes shopping. To Harrod's and Fortnum and Masons and Selfridge's. She's shocked to find she can't afford any of the clothes sold there. A basic London guidebook would have helped you out there. So she gets help from a salesgirl. She does wonder why Melanie is helping her when she knows there's no commission in it. She should have walked away then and hit the sales, consignment shops and vintage clothing stores. But no. She agrees to Melanie's scheme of taking embarrassing photos at the nightclub. Melanie then sells all of Katy's photos to a tabloid. (Katy doesn't get a cut of the profits either)And then Katy has more invitations and needs more clothes and has to take more photos. Some at Ascot and some at a fancy houseparty. Then at the fancy houseparty (which somehow Melanie got invited to) the little shop girl turns around and betrays Katy to her new crowd. Mostly for the press. But being a romance Prince Charming does come to the rescue and in the end Katie marries her savior. Who turns out to be a Duke.
Let's hope Lisa Cach learns a little about plotting before she publishes her next book.

Reading list

This is not a full list of what I read this month. I don't usually remember that much.
1. Now I can die in Peace-Bill Simmons. About the Red Sox. Very funny and informative for all you baseball people.
2. What's A Ghoul to Do- Victoria Laurie. The jury's still out on this one. Interesting overall, but I didn't like either male secondary character and there was just something missing. Not as good as her Abby books.
3. The Trouble with Magic-Madeline Alt. A paranormal cozy set in Indiana. Fun and interesting, but I thought it tried too hard to be typical Mid-Western. I got the feeling that the author is a British transplant. She uses some heavy handed stereotypes and that isolated the main character.
4. A Charmed Death-Madeline Alt. The second in the series. Better. Less British and more interesting with the 'witchy' stuff. Still a little stereotypical. Maggie seems more wishy-washy with her family and friends in this one.
5. Rescue Me-Elda Minger. One of the last Harlequin Temptations. Good book. About a resurging action hero who saves two people from a gunpoint robbery. One is a young boy and the other a woman starting a new life. Yes, cliched. But a quick easy read with some fun and good sex.
6. The Prada Paradox-Julie Kenner. The final book in her Play.Survive.Win trilogy. This time it's set in L.A. They are making a movie about The Givenchy Code when the heroine of this book is targeted by the game. She's a former child star who was stalked and attacked by a crazed fan. After rehab and therapy she trying to make her way back. Until her attacker resurfaces and she gets a note in a Prada bag(I love that part!) telling her she must play or die.
7. The Key trilogy-Nora Roberts. Key of Light, Key of Knowledge and Key of Valor. It's a few years old, but worth the read. Three women are chosen to find three keys to free the souls of the Daughters of Glass. A Celtic myth. Vintage Nora. Funny, intelligent, well paced, and plotted. Main characters are strong and the secondary characters likable and forward the plot. Some people should take a lesson!

Switchin' it up!

This blog began as an online book club. We members, however, never got real committed to each other's books. Now, some of us have dropped off or not visited in awhile. So, I feel its time to switch it up.

We'll keep doing reviews - in whatever format the member wants to. We'll also be doing posts that just talk about books in general, reading, publishing, whatever. There will also be an addition of the "what we're reading" monthly post. This may take the place of more lengthy reviews. I've heard from a few people that they keep a list of all the books they read and this seemed like a good idea for me. (Why I've never thought of this I don't know...)

If there are any other ideas of what to include or format changes let me know.

(Also, we'll be utilizing the tag features on the new blogger to help with the searching! Yeah!)

What I'm reading - April

With Easter & work travel, my month has started out quite pathetic!

Shakespeare's Champion by Charlaine Harris
I pulled this off the bookshelf to re-read. I love all the Harris books, but the Shakespeares hold a special place as the series I started with. Lily Bard's taciturn manner is hilarious! This is also the book that introduced Jack. Seriously, if you have not read these books do. Harris has a remarkable way of writing characters. You are interested in them, what is coming next, and they never get old - even if their clothes do.

Shakespeare's Christmas by Charlaine Harris
You can't read just one! This is my favorite of the Shakespeare's. The scene at the wedding rehearsal dinner is the most amazing, romantic 3-4 lines in a single book! I don't know how Harris could write a character like Lily so that we don't pity her, she doesn't annoy us, and she seems to do everything just as her character should.

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Wow! I did not expect this book to be so good! Andrews has started a great new Fantasy series here. She is slowely creating this mysterious and unique world. I don't completely understand what's going on, but I understand the little elements she is introducing me to and can not wait to learn more! Great character development that does not 'jump the shark' on any issues. Best of all - a female lead who's tough, doesn't jump every guy she meets, and wants to do things on her own. I am SO hooked. Please let the second book come out this year... I can't wait 12 mos!

To Love and To Perish by Laura Durham
The 3rd in the series for wedding planner Annabelle. The story was pretty good. A hilarious scene at the end with Richard. As always, Richard & Ferm made the book. Thankfully, the crazy old lady was reduced in this book. However, there were still about 4 pages too many of Leatrice. She adds nothing to the story and she's not needed, hopefully she will completely fall by the wayside. The actual wedding planning elements were a little lighter than usual, but it was a good idea to explore the backstage of the profession. I'll pick up the next book and hope for continued improvements.

Slay it with Flowers by Kate Collins
I finally dug this series out of my too-read box (I have the next 3!). As I suspected, once I read one I got back into the charcter. Its a rather typical cozy with a short, busty heroine who meddles in things. Excluding cousin Jillian, there aren't any annoying characters - they all seem to support the story in some manner. The mystery is fine, though not surprising. Marco is, of course, the catalyst for continuing on. An ok series if you've read the others and need to fill your Saturday.

Dead Girl's Dance by Rachel Caine
Although her weather warden series gets all the attention, this YA series is really different & interesting.

What's a Ghoul to do? by Victoria Laurie
This will be our April pick to read.

What's a Ghoul to do? by Victoria Laurie

Let's read this for April as we're fans of the author. Pay particular attention to the writing - I had a coworker comment that she thought it was deplorable in the Abbey Cooper bk 1. I hadn't noticed a thing and I usually do....

Trouble with witches, by Shirley Damsgaard

In this 3rd outing of the series, Abbey and her grandmother Ophelia head to Minnesota to help report Rick (from book 1) with a missing girl. What they find is possible cultists who claim to study psychic abilities but may actually be dabbling in magic. I leave you to read the book to find out more about that. While they search for the original missing girl their paths cross with another young girl, not missing but just as lost. While battling the ne'er-do-wells, Abbey also crosses paths with a Native American shaman of sorts. The tale is a pleasant romp for the main characters; mild magic and pyschic elements persist, but not enough to throw one off the story. Its very much a where-is-she/who-done-it. You will probably guess the bad guy(s) right away, but it doesn't detract from the enjoyment of another outing by these to.

What I liked: Abbey's spunk. Her equal parts belief in magic and disbelief of each new magical element that comes along. I like the grandmother - and you know how critical I am of using old people in books. Ophelia is smart, gets tired, and isn't absurd. In short, you could meet her in the street! The new character Walks Quietly could bring interesting elements to future books, so I hope he reappears. There was some resolution with the character Rick, which I always wondered about with book 2.

What I could do without: Tink. This is the girl they meet in Minnesota. She's annoying and I just don't care.

Leave the old people home.

Whether its their home or A Home! If I had no job and no life I'd invest some serious time in finding out which author began this trend in mystery books to include the "zany old person sidekick". Evanovich certainly brought it way into mainstream with Stephanie's grandmother Mazur. It has GOT to stop.

Who exactly are these authors catering to with this nonsense? Is it the young people? Are the young supposed to find shriveled old ladies who dress in multicolored costumes and talk about sex all the time amusing? Or perhaps its to the older crowd itself. All those shriveled old guys who wear their pants up to their armpits and deliver raunchy sexual come ons to the young heroines are heroic symbols to the over 70 crowd. Yeah, I don't think so. The first time this showed up in a book, for a scene, it was funny. Once. For an entire book? Its annoying and I'm skipping those pages. For an entire series? Well, you are going to lose me.

Regular type older person can be just as funny as you think these absurd caricatures are, even more so. Exercise those creative muscles and develop a character that's interesting to read. Please. For the love of Pete.