Three's a charm

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Okay, okay. Becca's been on my hide about getting some reviews done. I mean, I have read three Harlequin books since my last post about Man of Power.

First up is "The Cloudholders" by Bethany Campbell. Now, everyone knows how much we enjoy Bethany's books. I found this one to be a little less than stellar. The main story here revolves around David Whitewater, a Sioux Indian, and Piper Gordon, a, well, a white girl. Anyway, she works for her crotchity grandmother, who owns an antique store where an interesting necklace resides. Long story short - the necklace needs to be disassembled and flown to Hawaii where the different parts are to be put in various locations because of some superstitious custom. David is to accompany Piper, for reasons that are escaping me at the moment, and make sure every last bit is thrown into the ocean/volcano/black sand beach. Of course, shenanigans ensue and hilarity follows. The one thing I didn't like about this book is that David is a real a-hole. I don't really understand how Piper fell for him. Perhaps it's his bronzed built body that helped her forget that he was emotionally abusive. Anywho, I wasn't as impressed with this book as Becca and Cathy are, but cest la vie.

Next is "Recipe for Love" by Kay Clifford. Now, I am a big lover of all things culinary and so I was excited to read this book. It's set in an English "cookery school" where our heroine, Vicky (not sure if she has a last name) teaches cooking classes as head chef. Vicky and her boss/guardian Claudine recieve a letter from a J.P. Duncan asking to join the summer cooking classes and of course, they think J.P. is a woman. Well, he's none other than Jay Duncan, owner of Duncan's Diners, a sort of fast-food-English-fare-place. Think Shephard's McPie. So, he starts putting on the moves immediately and Vicky, a virgin (gasp!) at the ripe old age of 24, decides that he's the one she wants to lose her virginity with. They go into gross detail too, by the way. Well, she's fallen for him (mistaking sex for love, mayhaps?) and he's starting to fall for her. Well, it all comes crashing down when she finds out that he was hired to make her fall for him. Yes, people, that's right. He's being blackmailed by the wife of his business partner to do this dasterdly deed because Claudine has been having an affair with the business partner and the wife thought it was Vicky. The reason she can blackmail Jay is that he's not only the owner of crappy fast food joints, but he's also a restaurant critic and he does it anonymously. Whew! Too much to take in? Well, try this book then. It will keep you interested until the end. I found it to be okay. Not the "Marati Legacy", mind you, but it will do.

Last, and probably least, is "The Harlequin Hero" by Dixie McKeone. I was intriqued by this book's title and it is indeed about a Harlequin book. This book was stupid. I mean, incredibly stupid. I could totally bore you with the details, but why? Oh, okay, I'll give you a mini-summary off the back cover. "Barbara Lewis found her boss far more appealing than any hero she'd read about in any romance novel. Best of all, she could dream of Chuck Ingram as a possibility in her own life. Barbara knew the owner of Pacific Trucking was fond of her, but there seemed to be nothing romantic in his intentions. Determined to make Chuck notice her, she decided to adopt the sophisticated image of one of her favorite fictional heroines. But her plan backfired when Chuck took a page from Barbara's book and decided to use similar tactics to win over the woman of his dreams - and it wasn't Barbara!" I know, it sounds inticing, but it was stupid. No one ever acts the way these two yokels act, so don't waste your time. She even went on a shopping spree and do they give us details about the exciting 80's fashions she purchased? No! And one more gripe about this book. Babs is constantly thinking about what Chuck's needs are. That is the one thought that drives her to live day in, day out. YAWN.

Okay, nuff said. I'm really hoping the next one I read will at least be a little better than some of the last snoozers I've wasted my time on lately.

Allright, soldiers! Get out there and read a Harley!

~ Kris