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Thanks for dropping by my niche in the universe.

I write contemporary romance. Building families--one romance at a time.





Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Susan Sey – Money, Honey

What an incredible debut novel. Susan Sey delivers a fast-paced tale that kept me turning the pages. When I was done, I greedily read the teaser of her second book Money Shot and can't wait for Goose's story.

I fell in love with Patrick, the gorgeous, flawed thief. He's a fallen angel and you're never exactly sure he's reformed. Liz the hard-working, formidable FBI agent grudgingly agrees to work with him on a counterfeiting case, but she refused to follow his agenda. Patrick wants her in bed.

Until they can show each other their weaknesses, they won't be whole.

She looked up at him, and he realized he'd miscalculated, badly. Because her eyes weren't snapping with temper, as he'd intended. Instead they were a dark, serious blue, and he fell helplessly into them. He didn't move, couldn't move, as she reached with slow, deliberate intent and threaded her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. She laid her lips against his with a sweetness that all but shattered his heart. It certainly cracked his control.

When she drew back, he tried to breathe again but found that his lungs had gone temporarily off the job. He stared at her. God how did she do that? Make each kiss an unexpected revelation.

Sey's imagery is elegant and her pacing, faultless. I'll be first in line when the second book hits the bookstore.

Friday, July 9, 2010

STILL ALICE by Lisa Genova

It's not hard to see why this book won so many awards. In her debut novel, Lisa Genova thrills and horrifies us with her tale of a brilliant 50-year woman diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's.

Alice is in the prime of her life, a Harvard professor of psycholinquistics. Even her exalted position in academia cannot keep her from falling prey to a disease that has no cure. From diagnosis to the time when Alice can no longer identify her children is too short. I cringed when she developed labels for the people in her life. It is heartbreaking to read Alice identify her daughters as 'the mother' and 'the actress' and her husband as the 'nice man who saved her'. I shed tears as this vibrant woman lost her memories and her ability to function in our fast paced world.

Ms. Genova portrays the fear and confusion of the Alzheimer patient as if she had experienced these symptoms. As a reader you feel the terror of being lost, of not being able to comprehend the words on the page, and the frustration of an unfulfilled suicide pact with her former self.

To lose the ability to read, converse and remember are terrifying to me. This is life at its essence.

I can't wait for Ms. Genova next book on Attention Deficit Disorder coming in January 2011 from Pocket Books. Should be another gut-wrenching story.