Random Thoughts: Missing A Book - FOUND!

Remember when I was looking for a book?

Know what I did? I went through all the blogs in my blog roll. Around over 60 of them. My only clue (what I remembered) was that this missing book is part of either a featured book in  a blog hop or a Waiting on Wednesday meme.

And finally, at blog # 63 Literary Cravings, I found it!!! I love love love the cover.

Description from Amazon:

Danice Carter is not one for glass slippers. A stilettos-wearing lawyer at one of Manhattan’s most elite establishments, Danice has a very strong grip on reality. So when she’s asked by one the firm’s founding partners to take on a personal case, Danice knows she’s in for the opportunity of a lifetime. All she has to do is convince her top boss’s granddaughter, Rosemary, to file a paternity suit. Sounds simple enough…until Danice arrives at Rosemary’s home and is pounced on by a handsome stranger.

Private investigator McIntyre Callahan’s was only following his powerful client’s orders: Find Rosemary—at all costs. Instead, he’s found a super-hot lawyer prowling around looking for answers he can’t give. The half-human, half-Fae Mac tries to warn Danice that she’s way in over her head—that Rosemary may roam among The Others, and may have dangerous ties to the Unseelie Court—but she won’t be deterred. Even if that means following Mac to the ends of the earth to find Rosemary…or surrendering to his supernatural powers of temptation…until death do they part.

Random Thoughts: Missing A Book

You know how you passed by a blog and you saw an interesting book that caught your attention and you said that it's going to go into your TBR pile but you forgot to note it down and now, you're frantically looking for it everywhere?

Yup, that's me. *sigh*

I can't even remember the blog I visited. Worse, I can't remember the title of the book. (Oh yeah, I've said it already, right?) I only remembered making the comment (in response to another comment), something like, "It's the 7th book? I should start to get busy." And even that is not verbatim. Maybe I should start to take memory pills? LOL

Anyway, I'm sure I'll come across the book in the blogs again sometime. Since it caught my eye, it's sure to be a book worthy of attention from other bloggers. At least, that's what I say to reassure myself, because this itchy feeling of something not right with my bookworld has lodged in my chest and until I find that book, I don't think I'll get any peace.

Have you ever had this feeling? And do you think I'm nuts?

Random Thoughts: My First Romance

I'm an avid reader. Words and the images they evoked fascinated me. Mom thought I was so industrious, reading my books before the term even started. Little did she know I only read the books which contain stories!

<-- Yup, this is my TBR pile!  (and more which I didn't include)

My romance with books started when I was a kid with fairy tales and The Enchanted Wood and The Magic Faraway Tree (both by Enid Blyton). When I got my library card, I devoured Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins and the Dana Girls and Judy Bolton books. I remember I was 11 years of age, when Silver lent me my first adult (meaning, not YA) romance--a Mills and Boon she snitched from her mother's stash.

To say I was shocked and confused was an understatement. To move from Nancy Drew to Mills and Boon was a big leap. I read it like any other story and I believe the romance was okay with me, even the kissing stuff, but I do recall being uneasy at the intimate scenes. Nothing explicit was described, but well, the thing was, I wasn't all that knowledgeable about anatomy at the time and some of the stuff that happened confused me. (Er, he fit what where?) In short, I didn't understand what was happening.

Thankfully, I wasn't put off with reading romances, but I switched to teen novels---Sweet Dreams and Sweet Valley High. I think I was about 14 when I had my second grown-up romance (Bantam Loveswept this time and I still have the book--Stormy Vows by Iris Johansen), and it was such a sweet, romantic story I was hooked forever.

What about you? What was your first encounter with reading grown-up romances like?

Random Thoughts: A Good Book

What is a good book for you? What qualities does the bank have to contain to make it a page-turner or even a keeper?

Some would attribute it to having reached the bestseller's list. After all, if a lot of people from all walks of life buy the book, it's bound to be excellent, right? Still others rely on recommendations, whether it be from a family member, a friend, a blogger or a review site.

I've since come to the realization that one book can be a lot of things to many people. There's a book I've read that I want to use for target practice, yet, some bloggers gush and couldn't say enough good about it. There's still another story that I liked, but another commented that she found it too childish. Hence, reading and loving a book is a very subjective experience.

A good book for me is one that touched my heart, that brought out all the emotions within me, wherein I was able to identify with the characters. It is also one that made me want to keep the book forever on my shelf, to be taken out and read over and over again until it's yellowed and the pages are dog-eared. It's to be shared with friends and family who are fellow book lovers, but to take note to whom I lent it to so I can get it back. LOL

Off the top of my head, books I consider keepers include: This Heart of Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Not Quite A Husband by Sherry Thomas, Once and Always by Judith McNaught, Something Wonderful by Judith McNaught, Paradise by Judith McNaught, the Wind Dancer series by Iris Johansen, This Fierce Splendor by Iris Johansen, and Sleepless at Midnight by Jacquie D'Alessandro.

What's a good book for you?

Random Thoughts: On Shiekhs...

At a time when Harlequin and Loveswept (yes, for those who still remember this imprint, I was also already around when the first Loveswept book came out) feature lots of shiekhs as heroes, I couldn't understand the attraction. Who wants to read about living in deserts when I could be lolling around in air conditioned rooms?

Then I saw this picture and I magically understood. With those looks, coupled with astounding business and financial acumen, he's one irresistible hero for sure, the very epitome of a man who radiates power and authority. And I'm sure sheikhs these days don't live in deserts any longer. Or do they?

Random Thoughts: I Thought I Would Live Forever...

I thought I was invincible. I thought life would always be this way. I took a lot of things for granted, but recent experiences have taught me to sit back and take stock of the things that are important to me.

My health, for example. No, I'm not going to die. That is, not for a long, looooong time, I hope. But something's wrong with my eyes recently. I see things I've not been seeing (um, not ghosts), and my eyes are dry and tire easily. One of my friends mentioned a possible retinal tear, so I went on the Net and researched and what I saw terrified me. If the condition aggravated, a retinal detachment is possible, which could lead to blindness.

Okay, maybe I'm just good at scaring myself, coz I latched onto the word "blindness" and imagined all sorts of scenarios. But I don't want to be blind! I'm barely 40, there are still lots and lots of things I want to do, things I want to experience. And if I were blind, what job could I do? I started thinking of occupations the blind could engage in and I came up with blank!

I spent several worried sleepless nights thinking about my condition. It's hard to describe the fear and the worry and the hope. But this did make me pray more, and I wondered if this is a test that God has sent me, that maybe He's reminding me that He's there watching over me and that all I need to do is to turn to Him.

Also, this made me more sympathetic to the plight of the blind, especially those less forturnate than I am, and I started wondering what I could do to help make their lives easier.

I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, and I'm hoping that he'll tell me it's nothing, just dry eyes and irritation that eye drops could cure. Then I would go on with my life, but with a few changes and with more appreciation.

We'll see. Could really need all those good thoughts and prayers right about now. :)

Random Thoughts: The Dearth of Lawyer Books

No, this does not refer to books on law, which we know there are a lot, if you'll just take a look at that particular section in the bookstore. I'm referring to lawyer romances, where either the hero or heroine or both are lawyers and their story revolves around a law case or their practice as lawyers. Okay, The Firm by John Grisham comes to mind, but it's not a romance, so it doesn't count.

I did a research in my library and in Amazon and I came up with only a few books that I'm interested to read. These are:

1.  Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James (contemporary) - I've got this book! Review coming soon!

2.  Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James (contemporary) - Yup, got this too! Review coming soon.

3.  Ties That Bind by Kathryn Shay

4.  Lawyers in Love by Shawn Lane (contemporary M/M)

5.  Tell No Lies by Julie Compton (contemporary) - I don't think this is a romance per se, since the hero is a lying, cheating jerk, but a reader's endorsement makes me want to read it. By the way, in case you're wondering, "courtroom drama" are the magic words.

There's a Harlequin I remembered reading, where the main characters are on opposing sides, but I forgot the title, sorry. Oh yes, there's also this series by M.J. Rodgers where, although the main characters are lawyers, there's no courtroom drama involved, and I want courtroom drama. Pleeeease. Maybe I should go watch Boston Legal. No, I haven't watched it yet. I've always been more of a bookworm than a couch potato.

Anyone's got any recommendations?

Random Thoughts: Book Reviews - For Good or Bad?

Originally, I wanted to make my title "Book Reviews - For Good or Ill?" But in the subject, the word "Ill" came out as "lll", so I changed it to "Bad" instead. Oh-kay, that aside, what I want to discuss here is: Did the book reviews I read online steer me toward books I want to read?

To a certain extent, I would have to say "yes". Because of bloggers' and readers' recommendations, I've found excellent books that I love such as Not Quite A Husband by Sherry Thomas, Roxanne St. Claire's Bulletcatchers series, and Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James. Indeed, my life would be far less richer if I hadn't read those books. Seriously! I love NQAH so much I told everyone about it and even lent my cousin my dearly beloved copy (she has orders to return the book to me in the same pristine condition on pain of death!). I can't wait to see what else Sherry Thomas has in store for me, and I hope I love it as much as NQAH. Julie James, too. In fact, I pre-ordered her next book, Something About You.

However, not all books are created equal, not even if they're written by the same author. I didn't like Private Arrangements by Sherry Thomas so much. In fact, I stopped reading after the first few pages and went on to other books before I came back to it.

With regard to the much lauded Tairen Soul series, I found it a bit tedious, the way the story was being dragged for sooooo long, over what--five books now? (Silver and I still disagree on this. We may write a conversation review some day. It's more exciting when parties have differing opinions.) I still like King of Sword and Sky because we see Fey'bahren and Rain's development as a character (which we didn't see in the previous two books), but neither Rain nor Ellysetta nor their relationship developed in Queen of Song and Souls, and the revelation of Ellysetta's origins and her time in Elvia just made for tedious reading, making me want to scream and put my claws onto Tairen Soul, the final book in the series, where I'm sure all the juicy details are.

That aside, I'd say book reviews do more good than bad for me. Without them, I wouldn't be brave enough to try new authors. I was burned once and threw away good money on an author who pens adult fiction with juvenile writing. Needless to say, I steered clear of her ever since, not even when her other series was being lauded by some bloggers/readers. I guess the saying "once bitten, twice shy" applies to me.

Also, there are so many good books out there and not enough time to read. Hence, it really helps that the good books are sifted out.

However, that's not to say I only read what bloggers/readers have recommended. No, I do still venture forth into the bookstores (both online and brick-and-mortar) and browse through the books to get the ones that catch my attention, whether it's the gorgeous cover, the back summary (like Stephanie Tyler's Hard to Hold) or the name of my favorite author.

And there are as many opinions as there are people. This is to say that a book that may be judged as good by one person may be disliked by another, as I've proven above. It's always good to see differing opinions on a certain book, although that does make it more confusing for the reader. Should I buy the book or not? I think, in such a case, I'll fall back to the library, and if it turns out that I love the book, I then go out and buy myself a copy.

What about you? How are your book buying patterns being influenced by book reviews?