Author Susan Mallery has created a magazine based on her fictitious town, Fool’s Gold, the setting of her most recent contemporary romance trilogy. What a cool idea! Susan also has a website about the town and its inhabitants.
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I try to add a couple of games to my collection every year. I find I play them more frequently in the winter months as they are ideally suited to cold evenings accompanied by a glass of port or red wine. Much as I do with books I’m interested in reading, I scour board game reviews and look at the Spiel des Jahres winners with particular interest.
The two games I’m interested in getting in 2010 are World Without End and The Forbidden Island. Both can be played as of two players, which is an important consideration for me.
World Without End won the Spiel des Jahres Plus prize in 2010, which is the category reserved for complex games.
Description: England in the early and middle 14th Century! Journey to Kingsbridge, England, where 200 years ago Prior Phillip oversaw the building of the cathedral renowned as ‘The Pillars of the Earth.’ Now farmers, wool dealers, and builders seek wealth and prestige amidst a rivalry between the priory and merchants. As the plague reaches town, nothing remains as it once was. World Without End is based on Ken Follett’s best-selling novel. Strive to navigate turbulent events, ensuring and balancing your food supply, income, and prestige. Piety and loyalty remain vital, for you must cater to the upper classes. And precious medical knowledge is your greatest weapon against the Black Death. So, gather your power and spirit and rise above your rivals into legend! World Without End contains: 1 game board, 30 gold markers, 100 cards (4 summary, 4 event, 48 action, 4 chapter), 57 markers (20 medical, 11 plague, 12 piety, 14 loyalty, 1 favor), 10 die-cut tiles (7 building project, 3 covering), 41 wooden resource cubes (25 wood, 15 stone, 1 metal), 37 wooden commodity pieces (10 grain, 15 wool, 12 cloth), 16 wooden house pieces, 1 wooden start player piece, 4 wooden scoring tokens, 4 player screens, 1 tax die, game rules, bag.
The Forbidden Island is newly released and won’t be out in its German edition until October. It’s a cooperative game by the makers of Pandemic, and is getting positive advance reviews.
Description: It’s a great honor to introduce the latest creation by cooperative game master, Matt Leacock. There are so many things we love about this unique game: from the rich illustrations, to the collaborative nature of play, to the innovative set of rules, to the infinite possibilities generated by the tiles and cards. Don’t be surprised if your pulse starts pounding faster soon after you start playing – it’s a game that instantly generates an electrifying atmosphere of tension and excitement. Dare to discover Forbidden Island. Join a team of fearless adventurers on a do-or-die mission to capture four sacred treasures from the ruins of this perilous paradise. Your team will have to work together and make some pulse-pounding maneuvers, as the island will sink beneath every step. Race to collect the treasures and make a triumphant escape before you are swallowed into the watery abyss.
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Genre: Contemporary Romance
Setting: Georgebury, Vermont
POV: 1st Person (heroine narrates story)
Sensuality: Subtle
Violence: Some, but most of it occurs off page
Format: Digital
Source: A digital ARC courtesy of Harlequin via NetGalley
Why I Read It: I’ve enjoyed other books by Kristan Higgins
My Grade: B+
Although Kristan Higgins’ last book, The Next Best Thing, didn’t do it for me, All I Ever Wanted sees her back on top form. It’s probably my favourite of her books so far.
Callie Grey is an advertising executive. On her thirtieth birthday, her boss, Mark, and the love of her life, announces he’s seeing another woman. To add insult to injury, the other woman is Muriel deVeers, the daughter of their biggest client. As part of the deal with Bags to Riches, Mark has agreed to hire Muriel to work in their team despite her lack of experience in advertising. Then Callie learns that the venue for her thirtieth birthday party has fallen through and it will now be held in the family funeral home.
Desperate to escape the office, Callie uses the excuse of needing to get her driver’s license renewed. While waiting in line at the DMV, she sobs down the phone to her sister, earning the contempt of the moody man behind her. He accuses her of having emotional diarrhea in public. Callie is offended but reasons that she’s not likely to see the horrible man ever again. Unfortunately for Callie, the moody man from the DMV turns out to be Georgebury’s new vet!
Ian McFarland moved to Georgebury following his divorce. He’s an excellent vet and wonderful with animals. Unfortunately, his people skills are lacking. When he realises he’s losing business because he can’t compete with his gregarious predecessor, Ian hires Callie to come up with an effective PR and advertising campaign. As Callie and Ian get to know one another better, they realise they might be just what each other needs to recover from their respective broken hearts.
All I Ever Wanted is a fun read and made me laugh out loud on several occasions. As usual with Kristan Higgins’ work, Callie’s family play an integral role in the story. I especially liked her grandfather, Noah, with whom she lives. The difference between Callie’s family and Ian’s is poignant.
Callie is warm, funny and deeply insecure. She worries about her weight and about never finding Mr Right. She’s the middle child. In many ways, she’s the glue which keeps her family together. Despite her parent’s divorce, Callie insists on organising monthly get togethers for her family. She’s also the driving force behind Mark’s advertising company, yet she rarely gets the credit unless it suits him. Now that Muriel is working there, Callie has been effectively demoted. I really wanted Callie to stand up for herself. It takes a little while, but she eventually does just that.
Ian is moody and withdrawn, a sharp contrast to Mark’s charisma. Callie brings out the best in him. Despite his lack of social skills, Ian genuinely cares about Callie and grows fond of her family. Callie comes to appreciate Ian’s frankness and knows his compliments are worth a million of those bestowed upon her by the smarmy Mark.
I enjoyed All I Ever Wanted. It’s an amusing story well told.
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I am struggling to catch up with my word count goal for the month of July. As I’m visiting a friend for the weekend, I only have four days to write 16,000 words. Will I manage it? Probably not, but I hope to get as much done as possible. I have rough notes for today’s blog post and no time to complete it. Instead, I leave you with a timely cartoon by Inkygirl:
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Genre: Historical Romance
POV: 3rd Person (both heroine and hero)
Sensuality: Warm
Violence: N/A
Format: Print
My Grade: A-
First Comes Marriage was the first book by Mary Balogh that I’d read in several years. It was a delightful reintroduction to the joys of her rich prose and attention to historical detail. This is very much a character-driven story with little action. It’s the sort of book I might have tossed aside in the wrong mood, yet I savoured it in the right one. Both the hero and the heroine were wonderful characters and I enjoyed spending 300-plus pages in their company.
Vanessa Dew, neé Huxtable, is a widow residing with her late husband’s family in the small country village of Throckbridge. It is the sort of village in which nothing much ever happens, yet the villagers have a way of ensuring their own entertainment through dances and other festivities.
Although Vanessa mourns her late husband, she is content living with her in-laws and is in close proximity to her own family. The Huxtables live in a small but cosy cottage. Upon their father’s death, the eldest sister, Margaret, took over the responsibility for the household and her younger siblings. Katherine is twenty and unmarried; Stephen is seventeen and studying hard with a view to attending university. In order to make this happen, Margaret is obliged to scrimp and save at every turn. She has put her own dreams of a husband and children on hold until her younger siblings are all established.
The peace and tranquillity of life in Throckbridge is thrown into turmoil by the arrival of Viscount Moreland and his friend. No one knows why such illustrious persons have deigned to visit Throckbridge, but Sir Hedley Dew, Vanessa’s father-in-law, wastes no time in procuring their agreement to attend the Valentine’s Dance.
Elliot shudders at the thought of attending the dance but realises it provides him with the ideal opportunity of observing the Huxtable family. Elliot is the reluctant guardian of the new Earl of Merton. His search for the legal heir to the title led him to Throckbridge and young Stephen Huxtable.
Blissfully unaware of the impending change in their circumstances, the Huxtables and Vanessa are delighted to attend the dance. Everyone is excited by the viscount’s presence, but Vanessa takes an immediate dislike to him. She observes his haughty demeanour and condescension to her beloved father-in-law. When Sir Hedley manoeuvres the viscount into asking Vanessa to dance, neither she nor he are in the least bit pleased.
When the Huxtables learn of the dramatic change in their circumstances, they are both shocked and excited. After an emotional farewell, they leave Throckbridge for Merton Hall. Vanessa decides to accompany them, at least for the time being. Elliot know he needs to introduce them to London society but there is very little time to bring them up to scratch. Added to his woes, is the knowledge that he has to find a suitable matron to ease their way into society.
Elliot needs an heir. He decides one of the Huxtable women will do as well as any other for a wife, and would solve the problem of finding a suitable lady to introduce them to the ton. Initially, he settles on Margaret as she is the eldest of the sisters. When Vanessa realises Elliot means to offer for Margaret, she’s alarmed. She’s aware that Margaret is still holding out hope of a marriage with her childhood love, Crispin Dew. So as to prevent Margaret from accepting Elliot’s proposal out of a sense of obligation, Vanessa proposes to him herself. To both her surprise and his, Elliot agrees to the match.
First Comes Marriage is a marvellous marriage-of-convenience story in which the hero and heroine slowly but surely fall in love. There are no superfluous suspense subplots. Although some of the secondary characters will feature in their own books later in the series, the focus is very much on Elliot and Vanessa’s story.
Elliot is a diligent landlord and is very aware of his obligations. He’s learned to restrain his more adventurous impulses. Vanessa’s sense of fun acts as a perfect foil to his more serious demeanour. She makes him laugh and see the lighter side of life. In turn, Elliot provides Vanessa with the friendship and passion she’s been lacking since her first husband’s death.
Of the three books in the Huxtable series that I’ve read so far, First Comes Marriage is by far the strongest. I loved the slowly developing romance between Elliot and Vanessa. They are characters I grew to care about and that, for me, is the highest compliment a reader can bestow on a book.
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♥ In stark contrast to last week, my reading experience this week was fantastic. I read six books with grades ranging from ‘A-’ to ‘C’, but most were in the ‘B’ range. My favourite was the second book in P.B. Ryan’s Nell Sweeney mystery series, Murder in a Mill Town.
♥ Frankly, my writing for the Book in 3 Months Challenge sucked. I have no tolerance for the Muse theory. If I waited for inspiration to hit, I’d never finish a book. The only thing which works for me is the old butt-in-chair routine. However, there are days when my writing flows, and days when meeting my word count goal is a struggle. I had four bad writing days in a row this week. I’m now at 32K, which is 3K less than I should have written. Here’s hoping next week is better in terms of quantity and quality.
♥ Keishon’s Yet Another Crime Fiction Blog is going from strength to strength. If you’re a fan of mystery novels, be sure to check it out.
♥ Once again, I’m updating my blog roll. I’ve added two that I was convinced I already had on there but obviously did not. Book Chick City specialises in reviews of speculative fiction but she’s slowly being brought over to the Dark Side of romance reading. Lynette’s Two Cents cracks me up, especially her notes on reading J.R. Ward’s Lover Mine.
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