10 Things I Love About You.

Usually romance novels are my escape; they make me happy and they make me hopeful. Sometimes, as much as I try to stop it, they make me lonely. I rarely feel bad about being alone. Yes, I would like to meet someone to spend my life with. No, it hardly ever makes me feel like an absolute shit to not have met them. I'll admit to being jealous of the couples I see, sometimes I even wish it were me and not them. I promptly feel bad for not being happy about their happiness. Today is one of the bad days. Why do wonderful stories sometimes make me feel awful? Because occasionally when I resurface from a good book I feel bereft; I want to keep reading about the happy-in-love people but I cant, this then makes me realize that I'm alone and the chances of me getting my own happy ending are almost nil. It didn't help my mood today to discover that my sister is talking to a piece of bronzed-blond-Greek-God mancandy. How could I take that in stride? Read another romance of course. Love stories are my disease and my cure.

In short: Sebastian Grey is an author/tons of fun in bed. He's an almost heir full of honor masquerading as a rake. The Earl (Seb's nasty uncle) hates him and is looking for a broodmare so that he can have a son so that Seb doesn't inherit. The uncle has his sights set on Annabel Winslow. Annabel is trying to find a rich husband so that her family doesn't starve. She can't seem to talk herself into marrying for money and is repulsed by the Earl. Seb and Annabel have a chance encounter after the Earl attacks her and she flees from the party to the heath. They share a passionate kiss and part ways, never introducing themselves. They meet again, are properly introduced, their attraction blooms. There is a slight withholding of information on Annabel's part. Sebastian is woefully ignorant. The two cause a scandal (which is actually hardly any type of scandal at all). The Earl learns of this and makes himself even more of a nuisance. Annabel is on her way to becoming a pariah. Seb comes to the rescue. Happily. Ever. After.

I have been a fan of Julia Quinn since I picked up The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever. J.Q. has a warm sense of humor and her characters reflect this. Sebastian is an irresistible mixture of naughty and nice. He has a wicked sense of humor, a sharp tongue, and wears a mask so that the world thinks he's brainless but charming. Charming is right, brainless couldn't be further from the truth. Annabel is a country girl. She has no idea why the people in London talk in riddles and get so worked up over nothing. She's out of her element and she has an old, overweight, Earl who reeks of fish and brandy chasing after her. Olivia and Harry from What Happens in London are present and active in the book. This is definitely a bonus seeing as how I loved Harry and Olivia.

While the Cavendish novels were good reads they weren't anything like the other J.Q. novels I had read. I think Ms. Quinn has found her stride again with this one.

Final Grade: A.

Reading Hiatus.

I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't finished a book in 3 days. The last one I read all the way through was so mediocre that I actually had nothing to say about it. Me having nothing to say? Yeah. It surprised me too. I abandoned Scandalous by Karen Robards on page 72, The Treasure by Iris Johansen on page 78, The Pirate and the Pagan by Virginia Henley on page 140, and The Gift by Julie Garwood on page 93. Why have I abandoned these books?These are the very same books that have appeared on countless "best romance" lists. Simply put: they annoyed me. Something about them just grated on my nerves until it became unbearable. I hate putting down a novel unfinished because, really, how can I say I hated it if I never reached the end? I at least want to know exactly what I'm hating. Dig it? These books were set aside as soon as I could pinpoint what I didn't like about them.

Scandalous: Hated the plot. He holds her at gunpoint for spying on him? Then she shoots him? What is this? They decide to keep each other's secrets for fear that the entire scheme will tumble down on top of them both. Not appealing at this juncture in my reading life. Sorry.

The Treasure: This was dreadful. The heroine is a spoiled, selfish, stupid little bitch. The hero allows her to be this way. Predictable in the typical Iris Johansen fashion, but highly annoying. Selene is someone I'd like to poke in the face with a sharp stick. Just saying.

The Pirate and the Pagan: I was so excited about this book. I just couldn't deal with another of the double identity plot "twists" again. Give it up people. This isn't hard to figure out. Whenever there is a "mysterious" brother and both brothers are never seen at the same time...you got it! They're the same person. Whoa. I think that totally blew my mind. I'm glad I took those classes for close reading, otherwise I never would've been able to figure that one out on my own. (rolling eyes)

The Gift: Am I reading the same book as other people? This was awful. The heroine was whiny and childish. She got on my nerves endlessly. If I had a double-ended sharp stick I could poke her and the cow from The Treasure simultaneously! Hello time saver.

I'm starting on a Julia Quinn novel. She's normally a fun, quick, read for me. Here's to hoping that she doesn't let me down.

True Blood. Season 1.

I've abandoned my book. It's awful. I can't say that I'm upset about it though. I have had an enlightening past 36 hours. I'm the girl who doesn't watch much TV. I just don't like it. I watch movies, or read, if given a choice. The only shows I follow faithfully are White Collar and Dexter. I follow those because for one Neil is my boyfriend (he makes my world a better place by gracing my TV on Tuesday nights), and for two I have a soft spot for fictional sociopathic serial killers with a dry sense of humor. Sue me. I've avoided reading the Sookie Stackhouse series, and I've avoided watching True Blood. I picked up the first of the books and completed the first season in its entirety. I've been missing out. I don't like the books, let me just get that off of my chest. Rarely, very very rarely, do I find a movie/TV show that I like better than the book(s) upon which it is based. Sookie happens to be one of them. I can't get into the books; maybe that is because I started watching the show first. Who can say? While I love Dexter on Showtime, I love the books a whole helluva lot more. I'm gonna stick with the show on Sookie, even though I feel like a sell-out to my true love of literature; True Blood has forced me to admit an addiction to soft-core vampire porn. Embarrassing, yes. Bad? Yes, but it's so bad that you want more and more. I have just a few questions...

1: Why is Bill's hair so...so...ick? It looks like Katie Holmes' haircut on a man. The bob with bangs didn't even look good on Katie, let alone a guy. He has bangs for shit's sake! Bangs! I can bypass Rene being a killer, because let's face it...Rene was SEXY all caps, but bangs? No. I'm sorry Mr. Vampire Bill. I can't bypass bangs.

Bill's bad bangs.

Sexy Rene.

2: Why doesn't someone just kill that annoying Jessica bitch already? She's grating on my fucking nerves and she's on the screen for all of 10 minutes.

3: Am I the only one who is in love with Sam? Sookie, Sookie. What is wrong with you girl? He's perfect. Who cares if he barks in his sleep? You could do a lot worse. Oh wait. You like the guy with bangs.

Sir Barks-A-Lot.

Even though I'm confused about Bill's hair and Sookie's stupidity, there are plenty of reasons to keep watching. Their names are: Sam, Lafayette, and Jason's body. I love Sam. I love Lafayette. And I loved Rene. I'll take sexy Cajun accent Rene any day. Hell, I'll take Lafayette too. Sam doesn't have to worry about loaning me money for an exorcism. No sir. He wouldn't have to pay me a dime. Oh and Eggs. Eggs was on the screen for 2 minutes; Mr. Sexy-Playing-the-Acoustic-Guitar was enough to make me forget about Bill's bad haircut. I suppose that even though Jason is testicularly retarded he's a good chunk of man-candy too.

Mr. Incredible-Edible Eggs.

Testicularly Retarded Hot Body Brother.

Lafayette.

Now my apologies. This is a book blog. I realize this entry isn't about books. Shut up people. I'm going through withdrawals. True Blood has consumed my life for the past day and a half. Season two will be here tomorrow. I'll resurface on Sunday.