Review: The Importance of Being Wicked by Victoria Alexander

Format: mass market paperback
Publisher: Kensington
Pub Date: February
Length: 358 pages
FTC: Review copy courtesy of the publisher

I used to love Victoria Alexander's books, but something has changed in the last few years. She's changed publishers, for one. And many of her books have been released in hardcover first. Not something I'm a fan of. The Importance of Being Wicked is a mass market original, though. Even if the title is ripping off the classic one The Importance of Being Earnest. (Romance community, I am BEGGING you to stop borrowing titles and tweaking them for your use. I hate hate hate it.)

The last few books she's put out just haven't worked for me. Which is sad, because the The Marriage Lesson and The Wedding Bargain are two of my favorite romance books. But I couldn't even finish this book's predecessor, What Happens At Christmas, after requesting it from Netgalley. I hate abandoning books midway through, but when I do, it's because I've lost interest.  I'd almost rather a truly bad book to one that leaves me indifferent.

Gone Fishin'

It's that time of year. Still cool enough to be outdoors, not warm enough for the bugs to eat you alive. Perfect fishing weather. And by that I mean watching the Hubs and the boys fish while I a) read or b) take pictures.

It's an unusually warm spring here. We normally are still getting snow into May. But the fish seem pretty sure that the warm weather is here to stay. They're a full month early on where they're being caught. At least according to our local newspaper. At this rate, we'll be out of wildflower season by early June. *sad face* Usually we can count on all kinds of flowers straight through until the snow hits in October. I even like the flowery weeds.

While my youngest and I sat quietly waiting for a fish to nibble on the worm-filled hook on his fishing pole, a family of geese swam by. I admit, I'm a little jealous of his sense of wonder. He got nearly as much enjoyment out of watching the geese as he did from catching two small rainbow trout.

TBR Challenge Review: The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne

Format: Mass market paperback
Pub Date: January 2008
Publisher: Berkley (Penguin)
Length: 373 pages
FTC: Purchased at a library booksale years and years ago
Why was it in the TBR?: One of the most recommended romances of the last 5 years.

This month's TBR Challenge theme was "More Than One (An author who has more than one book in your TBR pile)." I had several likely candidates for this one. And it took me a long time to settle on which one to read. Since I've had this particular book sitting on my nightstand for about six months, I decided to find out what all of the fuss was about.

Here We Go Again...New Adult Bandwagon Rambling

I caught a lot of flack about my post-RT rant regarding the Young Adult bandwagon back in 2011.  And now I see the same thing happening all over again with "New Adult".  I have the same reaction to "genre" trends that I do to overly-hyped books. I stay the heck away from them.

I think what upsets me about both Young Adult and New Adult is that it speaks to our laziness as  readers. These trends, which so narrowly focus on specific ages, seem to be less about helping readers find books they can relate to and more about manipulating them into shelling out more cash. And it also speaks to our increasing reliance on publishers and the book industry to tell us what to read.

Spring in the Mountains!

It's finally Spring in the mountains. Although I really shouldn't complain given the fact that two years ago, we still had feet of snow on the ground. But I'm so happy to be able to open the windows and let in that fresh breeze.

I was trying to take some pictures of the flowers in the front yard when this little bee decided he had prior claims. Would not leave me alone, so after snapping his picture, I left him to it.

I planted these anemones last fall. I was so surprised they actually grew, since I'm known in my circles as Ms. Black Thumb. I kill everything. Thank goodness for carefree bulbs!