Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Summer Fun






Summer Smiles

Pair up a Popsicle® ice pop with one of these mini activities, and the smiles will last all summer long!

Slow Melt Beat-The-Clock

See how long the fun lasts! Using a clock with a seconds hand, time your kids as they eat their Popsicle® Slow Melt ice pops. The SLOWEST slurper wins!

Brain Freeze

For every slurp of an ice pop, ask your child to name an object that's the same color as the pop. OR name a different famous person. OR a friend or family member. You get the idea. To make the fun last even longer, use Slow Melt pops!

Pop Art

Hang a big piece of white paper on a wall in your home, and leave a glue stick nearby. Every time you or your kids finish a pop, glue it to the paper. You can even write the date and flavor on it! Pretty soon, you'll have an abstract masterpiece filled with fun summer memories.

Guess The Pop

Next time your kids reach for a Popsicle® ice pop, test their psychic powers. Tell them to close their eyes and guess what flavor ice pop they'll score from the box. If they guess right, they earn respect points for the rest of the day.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

SALZANO'S CAPTIVE BRIDE by Daphne Clair



Salzano's Captive Bride
by

Daphne
Clair
Harlequin Presents
Extra #62
July 2009




After receiving a letter demanding money for the care of a child he didn't know existed Marco Salzano flies halfway across the world to take his child and the mother home with them. To provide them with the care they need.

Instead he finds Amber, the "fragile" sister of the baby's mother. Amber pretends she is her sister and tries to get rid of Marco.

Finally Marco finds out the truth about the sister switch and demands Amber replace the child they are denying him. Amber agrees, in order to "save" her sister, and then she spends the rest of the book trying to cheat Marco in every way she can.

Lady Mischief is tired of women who have no honor being shown as heroines and the supposed alpha males who think the women are loyal, honest, and sincere.

Amber's sister was not in a life and death situation when she tried to extort money from Marco. Amber did not have to agree to marry Marco and have a baby which she would then leave behind in order to protect her nephew. How dumb can one woman be if she thought her love for her nephew would out weigh the love she would feel for her own child?

Amber was dishonest from the beginning to the end. There was nothing redeemable about her character.

On the other hand this book is a great travelogue.

This book rates:

Your's forever between the covers of a book,
Lady Mischief

Sunday, July 12, 2009

BURN by Linda Howard

BURN
by
Linda Howard

Ballantine Books
New Release July 2009
Hardcover


Jenner Redwine works in a meat packing plant and has a deadbeat boyfriend who spends more time at her place than he does at his own.

Jenner is fed up with paying for his beer and
munchies. She decides while standing in an uber long line due to an expected mega-large lottery jackpot that if the guy didn't have the cash for the beer when she got home it would be "hasta la vista". She also decided to buy some lottery tickets while waiting in that long line.

Jenner was an intelligent woman and when she won the lottery she didn't tell anyone until she had made sure the money would be safe.

Seven years later Jenner is on a charity cruise. Her best friend has been kidnapped and Jenner must cooperate if she wants her friend to remain unharmed.

Once ag
ain Linda Howard has created unforgettable characters. Her Heroes are enough to cause the polar ice caps to melt, without any aid from global warming.

Lady Mischief buys very few hardcovers, read the sidebar for better understanding, but Linda Howard is on the Must Buy The Moment It Comes Out List.

Burn lives up to the rest of Ms. Howard's fine catalogue.

If you think you are ever going to win the lottery or come into some major money this book is a fine primer in how to handle the money and the instant fame.

In addition the book is a fine action/adventure story with a fun love story.

This book rates:Five (5)

Yours forever between the covers of a book,
Lady Mischief

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

THE ITALIAN COUNT'S DEFIANT BRIDE by Catherine George



The Italian Count's
Defiant Bride
by
Catherine George

Harlequin Presents #2830
June 2009



On her eighteenth birthday Alicia Cross dropped her purse and fell into the arms of Count Francesco da Luca. Alicia knew who he was immediately because she had grown up with his smiling face on her bedroom wall. He had been her favorite rugby player.

Within months they are married. Within hours she runs away from him.

Years later Francesco is in Cardiff for the Wales/Italy rugby game when he sees Alicia again and makes sure they speak. After all, they are still married.

This is a cute story.

Francesco is a likable character, even though during the years of his wife's absence and after he gave up on finding her, he had "allowed" beautiful woman to give him pleasure, he is not a sleaze.

Alicia is a character that started out as a young girl and matured into a strong woman who could finally speak for herself and decide what it was she wanted.

However, there were some problems with this book. Let's start with the most obvious. How many years went by between when Alicia and Francesco were married and when they "met" again? We know she went to college and gained a career. So was it five years? Ten? Twenty? It makes a difference.

How old is Alicia now?

How old is Francesco? When they met he actually thought Alicia was younger then eighteen. He was already retired from rugby. Was he thirty-six? Twenty-two? Somewhere in between? Was he a perv?

When the author doesn't want Lady Mischief to know the important facts about her characters then Lady Mischief will fill in the blanks and it may not turn out well for the story. When the Heroine is in her twenties Lady Mischief does not have a problem with the Hero being older, but when the Heroine is in her teens the Hero had better be in the same generation or else he comes across as a child molester.

The reason for the runaway bride was simple and a simple conversation would have taken care of it, but how often do people actually resolve things with a simple conversation. There was nothing unforgivable to keep these two lovers apart, so their reconciliation is easy to accept.

If not for the questions about how long they had been apart and the age thing Lady Mischief would have marked this book up. It is a good book and has a solid rating of:





Yours forever between the covers of a book,
Lady Mischief















Sunday, July 5, 2009

THE SPY WHO WANTS ME by Lucy Monroe



THE SPY WHO WANTS ME
by Lucy Monroe

3rd book in The Goddard Project series
Trade Paperback
Kensington Brava - January 2009



Secret Agent Elle Gray looks like a super model, fights like Bruce Lee, and even has a fully functioning brain. She works for a super secret government organization that even most Presidents have never heard of. The mission of this organization is to preserve US advancements in technology and science.

Beau Ruston is a former college football hero who chose science over the NFL. He is informed by his mentor and superior that Elle is coming in the guise of a security expert. They are the only ones who know she is really a secret agent and they are not to let anybody else in on the information.

Beau hates liars and to him coming in and lying about who she is makes Elle a liar. But the hard-on just a picture of her gives him makes him decide that although he will not have a relationship with a liar he will get laid.

Then there are the secondary characters.

Matej, Elle's scientist brother who just started working for the company, and the woman he deflowered in college and then dropped the next day but has decided 10 years later is the one woman for him, Chantal. They are also major part of the story.

Lady Mischief enjoyed this book. The characters were likable in a very surface kind of way.

Chantal forgave Mat far too easily for all the heartbreak she suffered after his early rejection. Without throwing any spoilers into the mix the Lady will say this, Chantal was in trouble and needed help, but even so, she should have held his balls over the fire for a bit before giving him a HEA.

Matej brougnt Chantel to Elle, who could provide the help only she provide, and since it was Elle's job she would have provided it whether Chantal was with Matej or not.

While reading this book Lady was struck by how much time and page space was devoted to the secondary characters. Although Lady did not actually count the pages, it felt as if the pages were almost equally divided between the four characters.

Lady would rather have seen less of Mat and Chantal and more of Beau and Elle. There were times when Lady had to check the back cover blurb to see who the book was suppose to be about.

The book moves smoothly along. There are no slow spots. The "down" times have humor to hold the reader in the book rather than skipping ahead or turning on the television.

Stock the freezer with ice treats before you read this one. The sensuality level is HOT.

This book rates:



Yours forever between the covers of a book,
Lady Mischief




Saturday, July 4, 2009

Thursday, July 2, 2009

DOG-GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN by C. D. Yates

Dog-Gone But Not Forgotten
by

C. D. Yates

e-book
A Blade Publishing
Publication
www.bladepublishing.org
(Proceeds go to "It's Meow or Never Animal Rescue and Sanctuary)


Carrie Moore has returned to Rhode Island to settle her grandmother's estate. Carrie didn't want to be in Rhode Island. What if she were to run into that dirty rat Jack Radigan? The man took her virginity, broke her heart, and as a result exiled her from the state for almost twenty years. Now Texas was her home. She had to get home before she saw Jack again.

Then the call comes from the Heavenly Doggie Kennel to come and get the dog from hell that supposedly belonged to granny.

On the way home the worst happens and Carrie sees blue lights illuminating her rear view mirror. She finds herself handing her paperwork to Handsome Jack himself.

Could things get any worse?

That you have to read for yourself to find out. And it is definitely worth it.

This book is a comedy. It also has a tender love story, both past and present. There is a very special story about friendship and parental love.

This is a short read, approximately 70 pages, but it carries quite a wallop and is worth every penny you pay for it. Add the fact that the proceeds go to a worthy charity then not only do you get to read a good book, but you get to do a good deed while doing it.

This book rates a:



Lady Mischief must make a disclaimer here. She is a stickler about sloppy editing. She even marked down Lucy Monroe (a particular favorite) for no one catching a name change that bothered her throughout the entire book. In this case The Lady has decided to be lenient and judge the book on the merits of the storytelling alone. She decided this for three reasons. The first reason: this is C. D. Yates' first book. Reason two: as far as The Lady knows Blade Publishing is a relatively new company. This is not a good reason for not having good editors. Every college in America graduates thousands of English majors a year. New Paragraphs do not start three of four spaces after the end of the last paragraph they begin two lines below with an indent. Sloppy. Sloppy. Sloppy. Third, and final reason: the proceeds are going to charity. Perhaps corners were cut in order to send more money to save the animals.

Lady Mischief must issue a warning. She will not be this lenient to Blade Publishing and the editors again. A reader should be able to enjoy reading a book, error free.

Remember editors and publishers, readers have chosen to spend their hard earned money on your product rather than someone else's. Respect them and make sure you are giving them their money's worth.

Yours forever between the covers of a book,
Lady Mischief








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