A Rare Chance by Carla Neggers

Gabriella Starr has silk suits, champagne tastes, and a great new career. She also has a strange man following her around Boston. Two of them, actually. When she tries to chase down the first, she encounters the second -- ex-cop and new D.A. Cam Yaeger. He's sure she's in trouble, but Gabriella bristles when he offers to help. She's way too attracted to him, and it's not like her to go for law-enforcement types anyway. She''s far too independent, too naturally defiant. And she's spent too many nights in jail....

Cam Yeager likes cold beer, his Bruins sweatshirt, and shaving every other day. He knows all about Gabriella Starr, her eccentric father, and their years rescuing rare, endangered orchids no matter the stakes. Now something shady is going on in Boston. And something explosive is hovering on the horizon as well: the wild fireworks of two intense opposites falling in love....

Gabriella is a woman who will not settle for any less in a man then the one who understand both sides of her personality...the adventurer and the straightlaced businesswoman. After leaving her father to his orchid adventures for stability in Boston, she unwittingly becomes a target of animosity from her employer's brother, Joshua Reading. Having noticed she is being followed by not one by two ex-cops she confronts cop-turned-lawyer Cam Yeager and demands answers. When he refuses to give them, Gaby determines to investigate for herself exactly what is going on with the people she works for.

Complicating events further, her nomadic father and her long-time friend Lizzie show up at her apartment after having not seen each other for more than a year. In a so-called whirlwind romance, Lizzie and Joshua become involved, making Gabriella's decisions murky and actions weighty with consequence.

A Rare Chance has some great characters and an interesting story.  The book cover does not really fit the storyline...I hate that! An orchid greenhouse attached to Garbriella's apartment happens to be a setting where a lot of the character interactions takes place. I thought all the details about orchids and their care provided an additional element of interest.  A few plots elements were unnecessary or contrived and detracted from the story.

I appreciated how Neggers dealt with and provided a comparison of different types intimate and familial relationships and the types of people who get involved in each. Those that are healthy where the individual keeps their identity and those that are unhealthy, obsessive, dominating, and emotionally damaging.

I think I like romantic suspense so much because I am a problem-solver. Regular romance stories are mainly about the character's issues and how the characters find resolution together for the HEA. But romantic suspense provides more dimension, threatening situations, hopefully thrilling plot and an added layer of tension. Originally published in 1996, A Rare Chance is a solid romantic suspense novel that fans of Carla Neggers will enjoy. The romantic side of the story is not very involved but this is typical of Negger's novels...more of a sideline really with suspense front and center.

Recently released in paperback by Carla Neggers is The Mist. The Whisper will be released June 29, 2010 in hardcover. Cold Dawn November 1, 2010 in paperback.

My Rating: 3.5

ChaptersIndigo
Amazon

Related Posts:
Cold River by Carla Neggers
Cold Pursuit by Carla Neggers
The Angel by Carla Neggers

Eagerly Looking Forward To...

The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley

Re-Release Date: May 7, 2010. Originally published May 1997.

Publisher: Allison & Busby

ISBN: 0749007036

Format: Trade Paperback 

Pages: 400

Verity Grey is thrilled to be asked to join archaeologist Peter Quinnell's dig in the Scottish borders, but after her first day she isn't so sure. Quinnell, having spent his whole life searching for the resting place of the lost Ninth Roman Legion, is convinced he's finally found it - not because of any scientific evidence, but because a local boy has seen a Roman soldier walking in the fields, a ghostly sentinel who guards the bodies of his long-dead comrades. The worst thing is that Verity believes in Peter, and the boy, and even in the Sentinel, who seems determined to become her own protector...but from what?

The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman

Release Date: July 6, 2010

Publisher: The Dial Press

ISBN: 0385340850

Format: Hardcover 

Pages: 416

Heralded as “a modern day Jane Austen” by USA Today, National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Allegra Goodman has compelled and delighted hundreds of thousands of readers. Now, in her most ambitious work yet, Goodman weaves together the worlds of Silicon Valley and rare book collecting in a delicious novel about appetite, temptation, and fulfillment.

Emily and Jessamine Bach are opposites in every way: Twenty-eight-year-old Emily is the CEO of Veritech, twenty-three-year-old Jess is an environmental activist and graduate student in philosophy. Pragmatic Emily is making a fortune in Silicon Valley, romantic Jess works in an antiquarian bookstore. Emily is rational and driven, while Jess is dreamy and whimsical. Emily’s boyfriend, Jonathan, is fantastically successful. Jess’s boyfriends, not so much—as her employer George points out in what he hopes is a completely disinterested way.

Bicoastal, surprising, rich in ideas and characters, The Cookbook Collector is a novel about getting and spending, and about the substitutions we make when we can’t find what we’re looking for: reading cookbooks instead of cooking, speculating instead of creating, collecting instead of living. But above all it is about holding on to what is real in a virtual world: love that stays.

Dracula My Love: The Secret Journals of Mina Harker by Syrie James

Release Date: July 22, 2010

Publisher: HarperCollins

ISBN: 0061923036

Format: Paperback 

Pages: 480

Syrie James approaches Bram Stoker's classic Dracula with a breathtaking new perspective--as, for the first time, Mina Harker records the shocking story of her scandalous seduction and sexual rebirth.
Who is this magnetic, fascinating man? And how could one woman fall so completely under his spell?

Mina Harker is torn between two men. Struggling to hang on to the deep, pure love she's found within her marriage to her husband, Jonathan, she is inexorably drawn into a secret, passionate affair with a charismatic but dangerous lover. This haunted and haunting creature has awakened feelings and desires within her that she has never before known, which remake her as a woman.

Although everyone she knows fears him and is pledged to destroy him, Mina sees a side to him that the others cannot: a tender, romantic side; a man who's taken full advantage of his gift of immortality to expand his mind and talents; a man who is deeply in love, and who may not be so guilty of evil after all.

Yet to surrender is surely madness, for to be with him could end her life. It may cost Mina all she holds dear, but to make her choice she must learn everything she can about the remarkable origins and sensuous powers of this man, this exquisite monster, this ... Dracula!

Poison by Sara Poole

Release Date: August 3, 2010 
Publisher: St. Martin's Press 
ISBN: 0312609833 
Format: Trade Paperback  
Pages: 400 

 In the simmering hot summer of 1492, a monstrous evil is stirring within the Eternal City of Rome. The brutal murder of an alchemist sets off a desperate race to uncover a plot that threatens to end the Renaissance and plunge Europe back into medieval darkness. 

Determined to avenge the killing of her father, Francesca Giordano defies all convention to claim the position of poisoner serving Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, head of the most notorious and dangerous family in Italy. She becomes the confidante of Lucrezia Borgia and the lover of Cesare Borgia. At the same time, she is drawn to the young renegade monk who yearns to save her life and her soul. 

 Navigating a web of treachery and deceit, Francesca pursues her father’s killer from the depths of Rome’s Jewish ghetto to the heights of the Vatican itself. In so doing, she sets the stage for the ultimate confrontation with ancient forces that will seek to use her darkest desires to achieve their own catastrophic ends.

The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick (Jayne Ann Krentz)

Book 6 in the Arcane Society Series by Amanda Quick - Jayne Ann Krentz - Jayne Castle 

Plagued by rumors that she poisoned her fiancé, Lucinda Bromley manages to live on the fringes of polite society, tending her beloved plantsand occasionally consulting on a murder investigation. For the notorious botanist possesses a unique talent: She can detect almost any type of poison, especially ones that have their origins in the botanical kingdom.

But the death of a lord has shaken Lucinda to her core. At the murder scene, she picks up traces of a poison containing a very rare species of fern. So rare, in fact, that only one specimen exists in all of England and it was stolen from her conservatory just last month.

To keep her name out of the inquest and to find the murderer, Lucinda hires fellow Arcane Society member Caleb Jones who runs a psychical investigation agency. A descendant of the founder of the Society, Jones is very skillful at protecting its secretsand frighteningly good getting at the truth. Immediately, Lucinda senses both a raw power and an undeniable intensity in the imposing man.

But as a nearly overwhelming desire blooms between Caleb and Lucinda, they are drawn into the dark heart of a deadly conspiracy that can be traced to the early days of the Arcane Society and to a legacy of madness that could plunge Caleb into the depths of his own tortured soul. . . .

Am I going to give up on Jayne Ann Krentz?  Probably not, but I'm just not as satisfied with her writing as I used to be, although admittedly having collected over 130 books by Krentz I guess my expectations are biased.  Maybe my preferences have evolved or maybe I've just been exposed to too much great fiction and have higher standards now. The Perfect Poison's book jacket looks pretty and promising with purple flowers and ferns and a hot pink spine. The books feel nice and weighty, so I was excited to start reading, hoping The Perfect Poison would be the story that makes me fall in love all over again with Krentz. Well this novel will not be the one to make me do that...but neither will it make me give up her novels for good.  The 437 pages I thought an ideal size of read, but realized soon enough that the page count is deceptive and the read is much shorter and quicker than I was expecting. The type is a bit larger and the lines are quite spaced out and thicker paper is used, albeit the book is still priced at CAD$9.99.

Maybe its just the whole Arcane Society Series books that cross the paranormal (Castle), historical romance (Quick) and contemporary (Krentz) romance genres, which include the common storyline of the "Arcane Society" that is causing the problem for me...a lot of the language sounds repetitive, so the stories are not as fresh as they could be.  If The Perfect Poison is the first book you pick up by the author I think it would be a fun read, with a unique premise that the independent, strong-minded heroine Lucinda Bromley can detect plant energy, including poisons.  But the overly indulgent, flowery and flamboyant language made me cringe instead of chuckle this time. The hero Caleb Jones was not as much alpha as caveman really and his characterization could have done with more depth and polish. Overall: Average.

Recent January 2010 release in hardcover is Fired Up (Krentz); Next up is Burning Lamp (Quick) released in hardcover April 20, 2010; Midnight Crystal (Castle) released in paperback August 31, 2010.

My Rating: 3.0

Chapters
Amazon

Related Posts:
Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz
My Bookcase

Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb

When the newly promoted captain of the NYPSD and his wife return a day early from their vacation, they are looking forward to spending time with their bright and vivacious sixteen-year-old daughter, who stayed behind.
Not even their worst nightmares could prepare them for the crime scene that awaits them instead. Deena has been brutally murdered in her bedroom, and her body shows signs of trauma that horrify even the toughest of cops, including our own Lieutenant Eve Dallas, who is specifically requested by the captain to investigate.

When the evidence starts to pile up, Dallas and her team think they are about to arrest their perpetrator; little do they know that someone has gone to great lengths to tease and taunt them by using a variety of identities.

Overconfidence can lead to careless mistakes. But for Dallas, one mistake might be all she needs to serve justice.

Kindred in Death is the 29th book in the In Death futuristic mystery series featuring kick-ass cop Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her mega wealthy husband Roarke. Having read the past 20 novels in the series, Kindred in Death is about as perfect as I think an In Death mystery can get.

An extremely brutal crime involving the daughter of a police captain, a diabolical murder with no close connection to the victim and clues that refuse to provide cohesive answers. The focus on the rape and murder of a young female teenager on the cusp of womanhood really strikes at the heart.  Whereas there usually seems to be some personal element for Eve with the murders she investigates, this murder strikes more close because of the specific brutality and the helplessness of the victim.  The senselessness of the crime really comes across.

I enjoyed the sort of nature versus nurture theme as an explanation for human behaviour. How a person's makeup can be imprinted by family and whether someone is born evil. Kindred in Death presents the idea that whether you are naive or worldly, someone with enough devious bent or someone who has been imprinted by evil can deceive and exploit weaknesses.  In the end, whom can you trust?

I did not mind at all that Roarke and Eve's relationship had less of a focus than the other recent novels in the series, although I was a little surprised that the couple times Roarke and Eve had sex they did so in water...I mean isn't that supposed to be dangerous?? But then again this is fiction after all. The only element that bothered me was that there was a second murder in the plot, which seemed more of an afterthought, with the lack of attention the first murder received.

My rating is based only on comparing Kindred in Death with the other In Death novels.

My Rating: 5.0

ChaptersIndigo
Amazon

Related Posts:
Promises in Death
Salvation in Death
Naked in Death

The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen

It's 1559. A young woman painter is given the honor of traveling to Michelangelo's Roman workshop to learn from the Maestro himself. Only men are allowed to draw the naked figure, so she can merely observe from afar the lush works of art that Michelangelo sculpts and paints from life. Sheltered and yet gifted with extraordinary talent, she yearns to capture all that life and beauty in her own art. But after a scandal involving one of Michelangelo's students, she flees Rome and fears she has doomed herself and her family.

After Sofi's flight from Rome, her family eagerly accepts an invitation from fearsome King Felipe II of Spain for her to become lady-in-waiting and painting instructor to his young bride. The Spanish court is a nest of intrigue and gossip, where a whiff of impropriety can bring ruin. Hopelessly bound by the rules and restrictions of her position, Sofi yearns only to paint. And yet the young Queen needs Sofi's help in other matters- inexperiences as she is, the Queen not only fails to catch the King's eye, but she fails to give him an heir, both of which are crimes that could result in her banishment. Sofi guides her in how best to win the heart of the King, but the Queen is too young, and too romantic, to be satisfied. Soon, Sofi becomes embroiled in a love triangle involving the Queen, the King, and the King's illegitimate half brother, Don Juan. And if the crime of displeasing the King is banishment, the crime of cuckolding him must surely be death.

Combining art, drama, and history from the Golden Age of Spain, "The Creation of Eve" is an expansive, original, and addictively entertaining novel that asks the question: Can you ever truly know another person's heart?

When visiting Michelangelo's workshop in Rome, Sofi becomes tempted into an indiscretion with the young man she has longed for for some time, Tiberio. With no resulting offer of marriage Sofi accepts the position of lady-in-waiting to the very young, newly crowned Queen of Spain, Elisabeth, and in doing so subjugates her love and talent for painting. The story follows Sofi through the trials of the Queen's new marriage to King Felipe II and the jealousies and rivalries that arise between the King's son Don Carlos, his brother Don Juan, nephew Don Allesandro and the King for the attentions of the Queen.  The King is fiercely jealous and has total command over the lives of those in the royal household. Sofi becomes favourite of the Queen and through her naive errors and inherent timidity creates more difficulties for herself, and at times, the increasing discontented Queen Elisabeth.

What I loved about this book was the original story about a little-known, unique person in history, Sofonisba Anguissola, a female painter during the Renaissance. The novel is very intimate from the first, presented in journal format, so we are reading about the events as they happened through Sofi's eyes.  The novel is divided into Notebooks and journal entries, and before each journal entry Sofi writes Items...little notes about painting, herbs, history, culture, court life...whatever Sofi deems important.

Sofi is very naive and I chuckled at every time she was driven to say "Sweetest Holy Mary" when confronted with temptation or surprising events.  Sofi is used to living within a constrained lifestyle and the story is more about her attempts to have increased understanding of the world and venturing beyond the restrictions imposed on her...sometimes with disastrous consequences. The story is bittersweet as Sofi both indulges and repels her yearnings to paint, experience life and discover love.

At times some of the scenes were repetitive...the King comes across the Queen acting seemingly indiscreet one too many times.  Some of the story seems to lagged in places, but the premise is creative and very well researched.  This is quality historical fiction that I recommend if you like original characters, court intrigue and a focus on artistic talent.

Disclosure: LibraryThing EarlyReviewers ARC from Publisher
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 390
Publisher: Putnam
Release: Hardcover March 23, 2010

My Rating: 4.0

Chapters
Amazon

Further Recommendations:
Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier

The Tenth Gift by Jane Johnson

Signora Da Vinci by Robin Maxwell

The Queen's Dollmaker by Christine Trent

Other Obsessions Besides Books?

Being obsessed with books from an early age, I have to admit I am a creature of habit in other areas of my life too, so when I try new things and absolutely love them I usually go back to them them over and over again. Like I have used the same shampoo and conditioner for over I think five years and it wasn't only until last winter that I changed from "volumizing" to "moisturizing" in the same brand.  I don't know what this says about me...but if you find something great, why deviate? These are some of my favourite things.  I'd love to hear of some of your obsessions beyond books, so please comment!!!

Volumizing Shampoo and Moisturizing Conditioner from Pureology - This conditioner is super and works great to counteract my daily use of a flat-iron.

Earl Grey (Loose Leaf) Tea from Café Artigiano - Has an amazingly strong Earl Grey flavour and wonderful scent.

Calvin Klein Black Shaper Tights from The Bay - I feel an inch thinner all over with these tights on.

Grilled cheese and ham sandwich with a garlic pickle on the side. Comfort food and my go to meal when I do not want to put any effort into dinner.

Narciso Rodriguez For Her Perfume (Pink Bottle) - Has a woodsy scent that is still feminine. I have a very sensitive sense of smell and this is the only perfume I have found I can wear.

Russian Caravan tea by Murchies…a unique smokiness in this medium-bodied tea.

Dark chocolate ice cream with Skor bites in a dark chocolate dipped waffle cone from Marble Slab Creamery.

Sony Reader PRS-600 - Pefect for travelling on the bus to and from work every day. Nothing can replace reading from the real thing though!

My Diamond Hoop Earrings from Anne Louise - The perfect discreet earring for everyday.

Ombra Eucalyptus Bubble Bath. Wonderfully strong menthol smell that is totally relaxing...almost like being at the spa!

Starbucks Extra Hot Hot Chocolate.  Some hot chocolates have a very week chocolate taste but not this one...I always order extra hot because I like to savour it rather than gulp it.

Rosebud’s Strawberry Lip Balm. I put this on every night before going to sleep and I never have chapped lips anymore...and I used to be a chapstickaholic.

Black Crocodile Print Riding Boots from Arnold Churgin - Perfect with skinny jeans and skirts.

Slate Blue Cashmere Scarf from Club Monaco. The perfect color for my blue eyes.

NeoStrata Intense Daytime Total Anti-Age Complex - A women in her 30s needs to fight those wrinkles. I have been a long-time user of NeoStrata products and this one was well worth the price. I waited until I got a two for one deal though!

Lush Fluffy White Clouds and Bathos Bubble Bars - Both bars have patchouli undertones which are soothing. I make the bars last a long time by using a bit of the bubble bar with Milk & Honey bubble bath gel from Bath & Body Works.

L'oreal Voluminous Mascara in Black with the Curved Brush - I  have used this mascara since my teens and only varied to black-brown from black a couple times. The best mascara!

Evolution of the Book Visualized

From Best Colleges Online. There is a larger graphic on their website.

Blog Award

I have mentioned before that I usually do not to participate in blog award chains but it is definitely super nice to be recognized for your efforts.  I appreciate each and every comment I receive, as I know its so much easier and quicker to read a blog post and then move on to the next. Just the fact that there is more than one person who even knows my blog exists is gratifying.  I blog because I have thoughts and opinions about books and if I do not put them into some concrete form they haunt me. I do not have many friends who have the same interests in books and reading as I do, so my blog and all the comments/feedback I receive is the substitute. I want to thank every individual who has ever left a comment at Obsessed With Books.

I also want to thank Mary Ann DeBorde at Mary Ann DeBorde Writes for her kindness in passing along this award.  This is an award to honor kindhearted bloggers, those certain individuals who leave the sweet comments that brighten our hearts and make blogging worthwhile.

AWOL at the Olympics

This Canuck was just at the Olympics in Vancouver!!!  We got lucky and were able to get tickets to a Germany-Belarus hockey game, Men's and Women's Curling in which we were able to see Canada play in both, the U.S.A.-Canada hockey game and the Ice Dance Free Dance.  We were quite bummed ar the loss to the U.S.A. in hockey but Monday night more than made up for the loss, with an incredible and historic golden win in Ice Dance. Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue were the youngest ever Ice Dance gold medal winners and the first time gold has been won in North America. Finally!  So glad to see that the waves Bourne and Kraatz made were enough to open the field for more Canadians. Too bad the Ice Dance rules were not changed years ago...

Vancouver was overflowing with Canadian patriotism and pride. An amazing once in a lifetime experience!

Tweaking My Blog

Most of us I know are addicted to our Feed Readers but if you click on this post link you will see my new tailor-made background that I designed using this BgPatterns tool.  Its been fun to tweak the color and design of my blog to give it a more personalized and sophisticated look.  I did have to enter the html code though to change the background...I would advise saving a copy of your template code in a safe place before you go making any changes.  I also used Photobucket to grab the image of the background from my computer (which I has downloaded from BgPatterns once I was happy with my creation) to create a link which I could then use in the html code in replace of Blogger's background image link.  The images are small gifs or jpegs which are then applied in a repeated pattern.

I recommend creating free accounts with both BgPatterns and Photobucket. In BgPatterns if you do not create an account you can only rely on your memory of the patterns you make but if you have an account you can save your patterns to My Favorites. Photobucket has come in useful many times for hosting images and gif slideshows in various blog posts and the tweaks I have made to my blog design.

I've said goodbye to blah brown and hello to glamourous grey and green. So what do you think of the new look?

Looking for more inspiration to beautify your blog? Here is a post at Mashable about how to Build A More Beautiful Blog. Good luck and have fun tinkering!