The Lion's Lady - Julie Garwood

POCKET BOOKS

I declare, in my mind, it is a tie between Nora roberts and Julie Garwood. I have been lucky enough to collect a few of the Julie Garwood books, and this is my latest acquisition yet.

This story is about the latest toast of the London society, Christina Bennet, who has a past cloaked in mystery ...and Lyon, the Marquis of Lyonwood, who has a past mired with betrayal and grief.

She is feisty and rebellious and he is stubborn and insistant. Not a match made in heaven...but as the story progresses, love conquers all... their own reservations, weak willed suitors,a treacherous aunt, a murderous father...

Blissful ending and absolutely delightful narration. I could ask for nothing more.

Forced to Marry - Barbara Cartland

RUPA PUBLICATIONS

It has been a while since I picked up a Barbara Cartland. This is the story of Miss. Gytha Sullivan, an orphaned Heiress living with her ailing Grandfather, and the dashing Lord Locke, who is a neighbor.

Circumstances force them to get engaged and they have to face a few foes together. Their adventures lead them to appreciate the finer qualities in each other, and they fall in love.

The title doesn't seem to be that apt since they were forced to get engaged, but they get married on their own volition.

Light reading, in the same vein as most of her books.

The Small Texan - J T Edson

CORGI BOOKS

Wow...can't believe that I have neglected this blog so much when I have actually bought/borrowed and read a few dozen books since I last posted.

Got an opportunity to raid an old friend's book collection and was introduced to a new author of westerns , JT Edson.

His books are a lot like Louise L'amour, but with a subtle sense of humour, a hint of irony and very lively characters.

This book is about a small Texan called Dusty Fog, who stands tall among other statesque texans by bringing peace among the troubled people.

Great narration and makes you want to keep reading more and more of his books...

Creative Batik - Rosi Robinson

I have seen many how-to books and have collected a fair number. But this is by-far the most simply explained and beautifully illustrated book that I own.

Even if one doesn't have the specific tools, the book really gives you the impetuous to try out something even if it is the simplest of ways.

I have linked the book displayed on Amazon .com just so that you can take a peek at the beautiful pictures in the book.

A Love like that - Natalie Fox

Mills & Boon - Romance

Lili mayer goes to Tuscany to wind up the affairs of her father and encounters his neighbor, the impossible Vittorio Rossi.

She realises that his neighbor and his little son Carlo were more than neighbors to her father, and that he had married Vittorio's mother in a private ceremony. From distrust and antagonism, they move towards love. And so, Lili and Vittorio find the kind of love they yearned for.

The story is okay..

I would give it 3 stars out of 5.

I have been neglecting this blog of mine a bit(more like a loooot).

But with looking after my baby, experimenting with easy cooking, blogging about my dishes, taking the pictures , and trying out a few new craft ideas and coming up with some bloopers, I lead a very busy life.

And of course, I have to make sure i do not neglect my hubby, friends or rest of the family too... And find time to read all my new books and the 300 odd books in my collection to re-read..!!

I do not have the time to comment about my new books, but the ones I have collected over the years and read so many times, those I can blog about without referring so much.

Don't be surprised if I have a bad comment about a book..it may not be a great read..but I own it ..so like any good owner, I love the book just for the fact that it belongs to me!!!!!

I have seen THAT look a hundred times over, when I go crazy over books...ain't anything that i haven't seen before..heh heh..

New books

Yay.....Since I have moved to gurgaon, and i am just exploring the place, I have not yet located any book lenders yet.
So the only way is to buy books.
Last week I bought home a few and I am having the time of my life, reading them..And as usual, the majority of them are romance novels..I have picked up a great cookery book too.....

As soon as I am done, I will be back with some news about these books...

For now, I will just curl up with my latest books.

A Summer Storm - Robyn Donald (Summary)

MILLS & BOON - ROMANCE

Oriel, a primary school teacher(with stunning model looks), was rescued from a flash flood by the rich and super sexy Blaize Stephenson. The inevitable chemistry develops and while she is recuperating in his residence on a private island, he also ensures her continued presence by enlisting her aid as caretaker for his orphaned niece and nephew.

Life goes on with Blaize being his masterful self and Oriel fighting her growing love for him. Meanwhile she also gets attached to the children. Things come to a head when Blaize gets angry over her friendship with a certain french man of his acquaitance and Oriel decides she had had enough...

Finally Blaize acknowledges his love for her and life is bliss....

The story when summarised, is nothing that regular romance readers havent read before..But the greatness is in the narration and Robyn Donald is a favourite author. I have many of her books in my collection like the Golden Mask, Tiger eyes, The darker side of paradise. I have read many more of her works and have never been dissatisfied so far.

Charades - Jasmine Cresswell (Comment)

MIRA - FICTION

I have read a few romance books of Jasmine Cresswell and I have liked them.But this books is actually a suspense thriller, though it failed to thrill me overmuch.

Abigail Dean realises that she is in danger when she gets a threatening call, even when the bank manager she was supposed to meet and her newly discovered half-brother ended up dead with the same bullet.

Fortunately for her, her hero Steve Kramer lives in the apartment above her and he also does his best to try and get himself killed along with her.

The killer is revaled to be a long-forgotten mistress of Abigail's father and finally gets killed while her accomplice detonates the dynamite meant for Abigail and Steve.

For a lady who embezzeled a bank and sets up two fall guys, kills Abigail's bogus half-brother, and two bank officials, stalked her and contrived to get duplicates to her keys, enters her home and leaves nearly unnoticed, managed to procure a devoted, much younger lover cum accomplice etc, she just walked coveniently under an avalanche due to the explosives she set up to kill Abigail and Steve....

Lame...

Angus's Lost lady - Marie Ferrarella (Comments)

Silhouette Sensation

Guess detail summaries will have to wait...

My life is too hectic right now to handle summarising books too, but still I can give my comments on the books I have read.......

This ia a book about a private investigator Angus and a lady who wanders into his life. She is shot by someone and has amnesia. Since she is a babe, the guy takes her home where he lives with his 7 year old daughter Vicky.they all get on famously, find the villain, and the lady Rebecca gets her memory back and becomes a permanent member of Angus's family.

Story is one I have read any number of times, but the narration is great.

Seizure - Robin Cook (Comment)

PAN Books

A book that deals with the disastrous consequences of mixing politics, religion and bioscience.

I have read majority of Robin Cook books of which Outbreak, Mindbend and Coma are my favourites. It is my personal opinion that tis book did not come anywhere near those.

I expected more from the book. :|)

Blood Brothers - Nora Roberts (Summary??)

JOVE NOVEL

The Sign of Seven Trilogy - Book 1

In Hawkins Hollow, Maryland, it is called the Seven. When all the baser instincts that prevail in humans reach its peak and manifest. Normal people leading average lives turn burglars, arsonists,rapists, murderers...the list goes on...

In February 2008, reporter Quinn Black arrives in Hawkins Hollow to study the strange phenomenon that has been making it's appearance every seven years. She had been invited by Caleb Hawkins, who was one of the three people instrumental in unleashing the evil thing 21 years ealier.

What had started as a clandestine tenth birthday celebration of three friends who shared the same birthday, turned into an incident that affected not just the three innocent boys, but their families and the whole town as well.

Soooooooo...now since hings have turned interesting, maybe some of you should go read the book!!!

I can't wait for the sequels....

Her Mistletoe Husband - Renee Roszel (Summary)

MILLS & BOON - ENCHANTED

The Enchanted Brides - trilogy - Part 3

Elissa Crosby was so used to being the strong one in her family, that it does not occur to her to tell her sisters and their husbands about her troubles. Someone was sending her threatening letters and that spooked her enough to make her spend the night before her birthday in the very spooky D'amour mansion...and of course she sleeps, and there was a full moon, and she wakes up to confront Alex D'Amour who imparts the unwelcome news that her precious Crosby Inn was legitimately his.

Not a great way to inspire love...especially in the case of Elissa. Still, to ensure her family has a good holiday, she puts up with the constant needling of Alex, her sisters' and their husbands' matchmaking games and also deals with the constant, anonymous threats.

Things come to a head her ill-wisher confronts her and finds out her `lightning knee action' and karate chop. After the fellow is carted away her family reproaches her for suffering alone, and she also tells the truth about her Inn not being hers anymore.

Alex returns the deeds to the Inn to her since he had fallen in love with Elissa. She too acknowledges her love and they get married.

One year later, next Christmas, The Crosby girls and their family get together

Helen and Damien Lord with two sets of twins,girls- Gillian and Gloriana, boys Jake and Jerod.
Lucy and Jack Gallagher with their son Jonathan Crosby Gallagher.
Elisa and Alex D'Amour with a baby expected in fall.

The D'Amour manison was restored and opened as a resort, with an upstair room dedicated for the use of single women on their birthdays....on a full moon...
And the Crosby inn was given as free lodging to honeymooners who proved that the D'Amour legend lives on..........

Married by Mistake - Renee Roszel (Summary)

MILLS & BOON - ENCHANTED

The Enchanted Brides - trilogy - Part 2

It was Lucy's birthday, she sleeps in the D'amour mansion, and there is a full moon .Unlike her sister Helen, she had not given the myth a thought..the only thing on her mind was to get Helen, and her twin girls Lucy had to assist into the world, to safety. So when their step-brother Jack Gallagher came to the rescue, she was just relieved and never imagined that he could be her destiny.

Lucy had been jilted by her selfish fiance Stadler, and she was having a hard time getting over it...when Stadler lets her know that he would be visiting their inn,with latest fiancee in tow. Elissa and Jack devise a plan and decides to pretend that Lucy and Jack had gotten engaged...Helen and her husband Damien, meanwhile are sure that this turn of events is due to the D'amour myth. The only person who is upset is Lucy.

Jack had been in love with Lucy all his life so with Damien's help, makes Lucy realise she had fallen in love. From Stadler, she learns that the bogus marriage ceremony that she thought had been staged had been real and that Jack and she were married to each other. So Lucy tricks Jack into admitting that they were really married and things are hunky-dory.

D'amour myth strikes again....!

To Marry a Stranger - Renee Roszel (Summary)

MILLS & BOON - ENCHANTED

The Enchanted Brides - trilogy - Part 1

The trilogy is about the three sisters.... Elissa, Lucy and Helen Crosby. Their Crosby Inn is in the neighbourhood of the D'Amour mansion, whose absentee owners are roumoured to be living in Europe.There is a charming myth surrounding this mansion and it plays an important part in the lives of the Crosby sisters.

Legend says that the mansion is enchanted and that an unmarried woman who sleeps within it's walls on her birthday, when there is a full moon, would marry the first man she sees in the morning.

Helen, the youngest of the Crosby sisters and the most romantic, sleeps in the D'amour mansion on her twenty-first birthday...and of course there is a full moon...she encounters a scarred, limping, one-eyed stranger and runs for her life.

Later she realises that the man she had seen in the mansion was Damien Lord, news reporter extraordiaire, who had injured himself trying to rescue a small child. She takes it upon herself to help the man recuperate and blackmails him into her home with threats of disclosure of his whereabouts.

Helen realises that he was the man she had first seen after fulfilling the conditions of the myth, and despite realising that their differences are insurmountable, falls in love with him. Damien Lord finds himself slowly drawn into the warmth and loving comfort of the Crosby inn and the three sisters.

She practices tough love and shames Damien back into his own world when she finds out that he did not have the confidence to face his old society after losing his looks. Her sacrifice pays off and Damien gets readmitted into the media world and is touted America's sexiest Man...

And one fine day in April, imprisoned by her sisters into watching his news telecast, she receives her proposal from Damien on TV and then in person, a few minutes later.

So the Myth worked for Helen...what about Lucy and Elissa??????

About trilogies - (Comment)

I really love trilogies or more than three books on memebers of a family , or just othr characters who appeared in other books...gives one a feeling of recognition, of really being a part of the lives of the fictitious characters....

That's another reason I really love Nora roberts, Renee Roszel, Day Leclaire etc...they are experts at creating this sort of connections...

The best thing about these books is that they are all great individually, but to just have read the whole set is amazing...!!!!

And to demonstrate the fact, I plan to summarise the trilogy of Enchanted Brides by Renee Roszel....

I'll be awaiting your comments after you get a taste of reading a trilogy.......

The Secret - Rhonda Byrne (Comment)

I had seen Oprah Winfrey raving about this book on her show, but at that time, I guess I was not receptive to what was being said. I have yet to see the movie, but I am impressed by the book and all the people who have endorsed it...like Oprah, Jack Canfield, Dr. Joe Vitale...etc

It is not something I can summarise, but the feeling this particular book generates, is of hope, and all things positive. If a person atleast takes a few minutes to think of the Law of attraction that has been mentioned in the book, one would start getting convinced that things are not so totally beyond one's control as one thinks.


The book need not necessarily alter a person's life from the get go, but the greatest thing is , it may influence some positive thoughts and generate hope for a better tomorrow....And I agree that there is nothing greater than the power of love.

What more can I say about the Secret....??

INDRAJAL COMICS (Comment)

I just had to mention this great blog I had just discovered........to any fans of Indrajal Comics.....

http://indrajal-comics.blogspot.com

I am sure a lot of kids started getting interested in reading because of Indrajal comics...most of
my weekends in my school days were spent reading the adventures of Phantom, Mandrake, Bahadur...........and to this day, I just grab one if I can lay my hands on one....!!!

Montana's Feisty Cowgirl - Carolyn Zane (Summary)

Mills & Boon - Modern romance

Sydney MacKenzie applies for the post of ranch hand at the Brubaker estate, but gets turned down. Determined to `show' the Brubakers for what she considered as sexual discrimination, she cuts off her lustrous hair, dresses like a boy, and tries again.........this time, with a positive result.

Montana Brubaker had been impressed by Sydney, and he soon see through the disguise of the new ranch hand Sid Mac, who had been hired in his absence by his uncle Big Daddy Brubaker. He decides to keep an eye her and being the ranch forman,and sharing the same bunk house, he had ample opportunity to do so....

Instead of being proved right that Sydney was upto no good, Montana discovers that she tricks them so as to save her heritage, and slowly falls in love with the girl. Sydney too falls in love with Montana. Her disguise is revealed to the other ranch hands when there is an accident due to a fire...and Montana discovers that his uncle had known all along that Sid was a girl.

And they get married ......................

It is a nice book for light reading.

Chicken Soup for the Soul - Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen

Westland books

I guess any person who has anything to do with books has to have heard of the Chicken Soup series...

I have read a few of the books...and each has touched me in many ways...hats off to the people who brought about this phenomenon...

I have to mention a few very special articles in this particular book...

The smile
A simple gesture
Puppies for sale
I think I can...

They just never fail to touch me and lift my spirits...

The Swiss Family Robinson - Johann Wyss

Illustrated Classics

This book does remind you a lot of Robinson Crusoe. Unlike Crusoe, a whole family of Robinsons are shipwrecked. Dad, mom Elizabeth, fifteen year old Fritz, Thirteen year old Jack, eleven year old Ernest and the youngest boy Francis, who is six.

They get stranded on an island and the father and sons immediately starts killing all the animals in sight, mother plants a vegetable garden , they build a tree house(all necessary tools and implements were left for them on the ship, which they later salvage).

In winter they bore into a cave and discover a salt mine. they thrive on an abundance of ostriches, flamingoes, giant turtles, fish, oysters,coconuts, cocoa,and hav a cow for milk, dogs to help them hunt, a donkey to carry load etc etc..they also discover cotton for making clothes...all of them automatically seem to know what to do with all the resources at hand...

Then they discover a bed of oysters with precious pearls, then the oldest, Fritz discovers a shipwrecked maiden Jenny ..few days later, another ship sails near their land. Fritz and Jack decide to return to europe with all their riches and Jenny also sails with then to go to her father...the rest of the Robinsons bid them goodbye and stay behind.

It has clearly been inspired by Crusoe, but in my opinion, it fails to meet the mark.

The Harry Potter Series - J K Rowlings

I would never attempt to summarise these books.....!!!!!!!

Anyway, I thought I should join the millions of fans who have commented and raved about the Harry Potter books.

Other than the err...magical plot , the amazing continuity in all the seven books, the great characters who will remain forever in the memory of the readers, and everything else, the best thing about the whole series,(in my humble opinion), is the way Rowlings has portrayed Harry and the others.

Harry is not the brave, handsome adventurous hero..... Snape is not just the meanest professor....and Dumbledore is not omnipotent despite being the greatest wizard of all......... Not to mention all that goes on in Voldermot's mind!.........In fact, they are all so.......soooo human!!!

Just to drive my point home, Harry is resigned to his fate...orphaned, bullied, barely tolerated by his relatives...until he is introduced to the wondorous world of magic, where he belongs, is accepted, and is....famous!!!! His noble spirit is revealed when he befriends Ron, chooses Gryffindor over Slytherin and has an instinctive aversion to Malfoy!

As the series progress, it is amazing how Harry's acts and thoughts reflect his age....Quidditch, girls, aurors....being cast as a hero does not keep him from turning envious of Ron, when he is made a prefect, nor is he very bright when his emotions are involved....good thing Hermione is around to provide some feminine perspective!....

I have watched all the movies, played the PC games and read all the books many times over....... If there are people out there who have not read these books, I have only one thing thing to say.....Your loss!!!!!!!!!!!

Saving Grace - Julie Garwood

Pocket Books



Scottish warrior Gabriel MacBain is persuaded by Baron Nicholas Sanders into marrying his widowed sister, Lady Johanna. MacBain slowly falls in love with his breath-takingly beautiful wife, though he had agreed to marry her sight unseen, just to gain back the lands of his ancestors that Johanna's first husband had seized.



In her turn, though she had reservations due to the abuse she had suffered in her first marriage, Johanna soon learns to trust and love her tough and handsome warrior. She earns the respect of all members of the clan, gains the love of Gabriel's natural son Alex, the loyalty of his fiersome dog Dumfries, rescues Claire MacKay from her bethrothed and his clan, and discovers that she was not barren .

Days pass on more or less eventfully, when Baron Nicholas comes back with the awful news that Johanna's first husband Baron Raulf had not died and was demanding the return of his wife. To avoid destruction of her beloved clan, since Raulf has the army of England at his disposal, Johanna slips off and goes with him to the Gillevrey keep that he had taken over , after having arranged the marriage between Claire MacKay and Nicholas. Gabriel and his allies follow and kill Raulf, but not before Johanna declaires her love for her scottish warrior and her disdain for Raulf and his companions.

The story has a lot of interesting characters and incidents....a summary cannot do it justice.

That Boy From Trash Town - Billie Green

Silhouette - Special Edition

Whitney Grant of the elite Boston Harcourts and Dean Russell, a boy from trash town form an unlikely bond in order to escape their growning pains. Even years later, after Whitney had graduated with a degree in Art History, and Dean had become a lawyer, they maintained their unlikely friendship. Or rather, their friendship had grown into love, with Whitney accepting the fact, and Dean nearly unaware of it and fighting his feelings tooth and nail...

Things come to a head when Whitney accidentally discovers that her father, Lloyd Grant,whom she had thought dead, and had mourned for years, was actually alive! Whitney, who rushes off to tell Dean her news, catches him at a vulnerable moment. Reluctant to acknowledge his feelings for her, Dean panics and tells off Whitney......that proverbial straw that broke the Camel's back.....!

Whitney decides to go in search of her father. She finds her father and establishes a friendship with him as Mary White. Dean follows her, offering the excuse that after all the years together, he felt responsible for her fate. Inadvertently, Dean lets the cat out of the bag, and Lloyd finds out that Mary is actually his daughter Whitney.

All is well in Whitney's world except for the fact that Dean still does not think that the boy from trash town has any future with his Whitney. Lloyd also seconds his opinion by citing his own marriage as an example.Whitney tells both the special men in her life that she had what it took to be loyal and steadfast in any adverse conditions. Happily, Dean was finally ready to face his own fears and was convinced..

Anyway, he had already found out from his few days without Whitney that his life was not the same without her....and if the boy from trash town could become an afflent lawyer, it did indicate that he was no fool!! .............And so, they lived happily ever after.......

The Devil's Cub - Georgette Heyer

Pan Books

An all-time favourite with me...have read this book sooo many times, that I have lost count.

The Marquis of Vidal, Dominique is in trouble ... being hot-headed and used to getting his own way, he shoots someone and is being banished to Paris by his father, The Duke of Avon. To help relieve his boredom during the journey, he decides to take along Sophia Challoner, who in her turn was scheming to trick the Marquis into marrying her. As the author would have it, his urgent note with the plans of elopement falls into the hands of Sophiya's straight-laced sister Mary Challoner.

The Marquis discovers the switch only after setting sail, and as is his habit, tries to have his way with Mary. But the resourceful lady manages to thwart him by shooting him in the shoulder. By the time they land in Paris, both the Marquis and Mary are in love,undeclaired to each other. Having eloped with the Marquis who had earned his nickname as the Devil's cub, they decide to protect her reputation by trying to hide her away from the english population in Paris.

Happily, after a lot of confusion created by Juliana, the Marquis' cousin and her beau Mr. Comyn and their quarrels, misunderstandings, duels, intervention on behalf of His Grace of Avon, Lady Fanny the Marquis' mother , his uncle Rupert.....they discover that Mary is the grand-daughter of the Duke's oldest friends, and arrange their wedding .


The gist of a book can be explained in a few lines...but nothing compares to the experience of reading the book. I have always felt that the success of a book lies in the narration...the way Mary finds ways to handle the impossible Devil's cub, the way the Marquis declares his love for Mary to his cousin.....the love evident between the Duke and Duchess of Avon who appear in These Old Shades.....and uncle Rupert who is in a class of his own......

Love this book..I do!

About my blog....

Not many people in my family have appreciated the connection I have with books....I have a collection of over 350 books. Due to monetary constraints as well as sheer pleasure in collecting, the majority of my books are paperback romances. Mills & Boon, Silhouette, Loveswept, Harlequin.....Also books of my favourite authors like Nora Roberts, Julie Garwood, Jude Devereaux...the list is endless....And I really love it when I come across stories of characters I had read in some other book...

The comments and opinions are strictly my own and others are welcome to agree or disagree.