B. Guyton

I believed the hype (ala amazon reviews), and I should have known better.

I love a far-fetched plot line that is written well enough to suspend my disbelief. Um, but this one isn't. At all. Even a little.

I love some hot love scenes with creative twists. Um, but these scenes aren't creative. At all. Even a little.

I love an imperfect-looking heroine who gets the hunky guy, when the story is written well enough to show me why this works. Um, but this one isn't. At all. Even a little.

I could give examples and turn this into a proper review, but I'm still so busy laughing over:
*The sex therapist who hasn't had sex more than once.
*The tarot card reader with PhD.s in Physics and "Ancient History."
*The vast amount of "hissing" and "growling" in the moments of passion.
*The phrase "Holy Green Guacamole!"

I love this and all of J. Crusie's books - ALL of them. This is definitely a favorite. The really steamy stuff is saved for the end, but there are moments when the iPod will fog up a little throughout. The story is fun, relate-able and very well told. My only complaint is that no one in my life is as witty as ANY of her characters, so real life seems a little duller when I finish off one of her books. That PhD was worth every minute she worked to get it - her books all capture an amazing part of being a "modern" woman. This is a great addition to the J. Crusie collection.

I won't recommend this as a stand alone audiobook/novel, but as part of the series, this was a great chapter.

-Robin was too effiminate in the reading. Really, he's an action hero! Come on! His character was written a little effete, but this was taken too far in the reading.
-The relationship felt a little labored sometime, over written with dialog. No one, even the superGayMan, talks like this.
-The straight love story was dull and silly and didn't add to the story line in any way. It detracted, partly because there was no substance, but also because I won't be able to see a really developed story about Dolphina in the future. Bleh, opportunity missed.

BUT...I still was strangely compelled to enjoy this novel.
-I love Jules & Robin's story, and I needed this to make me feel more complete. I wanted to hear about success, fighting through alcoholism and coming out. This was a denumant to the last novel in which their love was a feature.
-I love that a gay couple gets to be the central story line. I support, in a general way that has involved little more than fundraisers and signing of all relevant petitions, the civil rights of gay couples. This story helped me continue to embrace the diversity and yet the homogeneity of love. People love other people, not gender-specific-noun love opposing-gender-specific-noun. This also made me cry at then end, although Prop 8 may have been why I felt so sad when I heard the author's note at the end. This book made me want to do more....
-I was happy to hear the Joneses are doing well. :) I know, small thing, but I'm happy. I always fall at least a little (ok, mostly a lot) in love with Brockmann's characters and the fact that they are not always wrapped neatly up between the covers of one story helps me keep them alive in my mind.

Overall, I recommend to current fans, but this is NOT a representative book. Go read Hot Target, then Breaking Point, THEN All Through the Night.

Ok, the latest installment of the Women's Murder Club books gets a 3.5 out of 5 because, like all the Women's Murder Club books, it's too easy to see the ending wayyyyyy off. But I like the character's struggle with how to reconcile her professional life and her love life and the other character's decision that litigation is soul-less after her mother's passing (two things to which I personally relate).

The narration is great, as usual. The story is acceptable, like most of this series. I like James Paterson, and I find his books to be an escape while I'm doing that annoying commute.

Overall, I think this fit into the series fine. This series is what got me excited about James Paterson and although Lindsey Boxer is no Alex Cross, she does keep me at least marginally interested in her personal life. Which is more than I can say for most modern detective novels.

To start off: This book is not a self-contained story. It ends before the mission is entirely complete. On the upside, the second and third books in the trilogy are out and out on audio. And they are all worth it. The audience for this book seems to be the elementary/middle school child, but that's plenty entertaining for adults.

I really enjoy the reading in this series. But I really enjoy most narrators for children's stories (except for the Narnian chronicles - how is it possible that (1) best books in the word + (1) great actors does NOT = (2) good audiobook???). I enjoy the fact that the series doesn't clobber you with too much description about the environment or how the future gets to become the way it is, but gives just enough information to fully understand what's coming. Of course, in real life, no one is this intrepid, but Charlie is not perfect, so it doesn't feel like as great a stretch. And the author does a good job of showing that the villian is a villian, but none of them are completely inhuman. Even a villian has a reason to act the way he or she does.

This book picks up EXACTLY where Lionboy left off. The narrator is the same, and still fabulous, and the storytelling is the same as well. The writing by this authoress-duo is appeals mainly to the elementary/middle school audience.

The characters are the same as Lionboy - still fabulous - the locations are totally different - still exotic - and the plot keeps going right along - still magnifico. This book provides us with a glimpse of what those exotic locales might feel like in the not-so-distant future, making me want to look up more about all of them as soon as I have the free time (that is assuming there is such a thing as free time and a wormhole opens up to deliver it to me at some point.)

The authors have kept up their trend of almost-but-not-quite sympathetic antagonists, and their entirely-too-smart-but-still-beliveable protagonists. There are probably just not enough good things to be said about this series and this book. Hurrah for the Corders!

Wow. Really, just wow. I loved this trilogy. It could have tried to end after the second book, but the third really finished the story. The second book did not end as abruptly as the first, so I wasn't left desperately downloading the audiobook, but I was still hooked but the story. The reader, as always, is excellent, capturing a range of accents and characters and leaving me with a decided mental picture of everyone, down to the smallest ship's rat.
A lesson in friendship, loyalty and the importance of independant thought, this series also manages to cover forgiveness and redemtion. Whew! That's quite a bit for such a young-at-heart tale! This book rounds out the story, giving us the closure to the global tale that the personal reunion of book 2 did not. Once again, no one is quite as black/white or good/evil. Even a pretty minor character or two gets a little bit of background - just enough to let you know that there is a person under all that strange or inappropriate behavior. I recommend the whole series to anyone - a great quick read!