Last night at book club (shout out to my DFW Tea Readers-Plano Book Club ladies), we had Jill Shalvis call in to discuss her new books coming out through 2013.  We discussed her Lucky Harbor and Animal Magnatism series but I have to say, I am still a fan of Wilder Adventures, Sky High Air, and the old Harlequin Blaze firemen books- Flashpoint & Flashblack.

My favorite Shalvis leading lady so far is Katie Kramer from "Instant Attraction" in the Wilder Series.  She is so brave.  The only survivor of a bridge collapse, she picks up and decides life is to short to not live every moment.  She doesn't live in fear.  That doesn't mean she isn't afraid but she doesn't let that stop her.  I want to be Katie when I grow up.

Bourne is Missing from Bourne

Hmm. Where to start.  How about the standard questions:

1. Would we pay full price to see this movie in the theater? 
• No full price.  Matinee even early bird pricing is the way to go for this.  
2. Would we buy the DVD?  Full price or Discount Bin?
• Maybe discount for about $5 just to have the complete Bourne series.  

This is purely an action film.  There is a hint that something romantic might develop with the 2 lead characters but you don't get to see that as the movie goer.  More importantly, you don't miss the fact that there is no real romance plot developed.

I don't Recall much of Total Recall...Is that bad?

Remakes are very rarely better than the original.  Such is true with this film.  Guess it was good that I didn't have high expectations.

Pros of the remake:

1. Eye candy in the form of Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel who both carried this movie.
2. Enjoyed the combination of the previous Michael Ironside and Sharon Stone characters into one really good bad girl played by Kate.
3. Cute nods to the original (3 boobed woman, hologram-head woman going through security)
4. The Gravity Switch!  Reminds me of the Vomit Comet flight which is on my bucket list of things to do before I die.

Cons of the remake:

1. Movie starts with "Original Films" production company frames which instantly made me chuckle and ask the question "Seriously?".
2. Visuals, special effects, and chase scenes completely ripped off from previous classics like Blade Runner, original Total Recall, Minority Report and others.  
3. Where was Mars?  
4. I think Philip Dick would probably take issue with several of the changes made to his really good short story.
5. Arnold Schwarzenegger is so much better as Quaid/Hauser than Colin Farrell, there is no comparison.  Arnold, as the consummate action hero, integrated tongue in cheek humor and kitschy one liners that kept me amused and thoroughly entertained through the whole film.  Colin, on the other hand, just looks stunned, took himself way to seriously and really didn't convince me he felt strongly about anything going on.  It was almost like watching...as much as this might offend some people who really like Colin... Keanu Reeves.
6. As a fan of Bill Nighy, I was excited to see he had a role in this but there was all this build up to his character and when he actually took the screen, it was very anti-climactic and only lasted about 5 minutes, if that.
7. While Kate & Jessica looked great and basically carried the film, their very short fight scenes were weak.

So based on the standard movie review questions:

1. Would we pay full price to see this movie in the theater? No.  Thank goodness we didn't.
2. Would we buy the DVD?  Full price or Discount Bin? Nope.  Not going to buy.

Cascadia Wolves

Another day, another werewolf series. While the Cascadia wolf series by Lauren Dane was good for sex scenes and I love some of the strong, witty, spunky female characters (Nina and Grace); I can't help but wish for something more. My finger is want for identifying exactly what that "something" could possibly be but maybe it is the irritation I felt for the too perfect Warden family. It could be as simple as it being too "easy" for them to find their mate and for good to conquer evil in these books.

While I love that this breed of creature walks into the room and scents their mate immediately and rushes head first into hot and steamy sex, it also bugs me that they have so little control over their libidos when they finally find the "one". In fact, they are even encouraged to rush down the hall to seal the bond before they even really know each other's name. As much as I love passionate, steamy sex, it took a credit report and a blood test before I said yes to my hubby. No way can I get on board with "You. Me. Bedroom. Now." within 5 minutes of meeting someone...Fate, Destiny, DNA, Chemistry, or not.

Maybe it is that they only start to reveal that they could have avoided the whole war thing before it all started if they would have not made some sweeping generalizations about the whole evil Pellini family in the first place. Doesn't everyone love to be judged by the actions of their families. My brother is evil, therefore I must be as well.

Don't get me wrong. Warren Pellini, the bad guy in this series, is by far a malicious and truly evil bastard. His parents are ranked right up there with him for their actions and the treatment of the rest of the wolf community. But the fact that being a werewolf is a virus that can be manipulated by anyone bugs me. The scientific part of my brain acknowledges the logic of the conclusion but the romantic anthropologist in me doesn't want to think about germs when they are in the heat of the moment and that all it could take is a scratch to get furry.

As a final side note, I do appreciate that this mythology allowed for multiple mates and that mates are fallible even with the connection but not sure what the anchor bond brought to the mythology other than the ability to fulfill threesome fantasies. BUT...I do enjoy fantasies so who am I to judge.

Funky Fairy Tales

There is an adorable and barely PG-rated Funky Fairy Tale running around called “The Princess and The Penis” by RJ Silver. You read correctly. Now you know me. Anything with a title this catchy, I must read.

*SPOILERS*- Basic storyline is this princess that everyone is trying to keep a virgin until her wedding day keeps waking up with a lump in her bed. The more she starts to describe this lump to everyone, the less they tell her about what it is because they think keeping her in the dark about the birds & the bees is the way to go. Of course, the lump is shaped like…you guessed it…a penis.

Eventually, they have to tell her what is going on. She, being the smart cookie that she is, has already reasoned that in every other fairy tale you have to kiss the offending item so that the curse is broken so…. See where I am going with this. Kiss the frog, get the prince. Kiss the princess, she wakes up. That is right folks. Gotta kiss something here. Guess what it is.

Handsome prince appears post kiss and the reason he was poking princess in the first place is because prince she was supposed to marry is actually a bad guy and he could not bear to have her marry the bad guy because he is in love with her. Princess picks handsome, large-membered, curse-broken (remember that kiss?) prince and they live happily ever after.

Cute, mindless fun reading with a bit of a warped way of getting to the moral but I was thoroughly amused.

Grateful for Loopholes

Book: Her Sudden Groom
Author: Rosie Gordon

If ever there was a time to be grateful for loopholes...  From birth, Alex Bank's father, Lord Watson, and his close friend, Lord Sinclair, have had an agreement that their children should marry.  What they didn't know when they made the arrangement is that Lord Sinclair's daughter, Lady Olivia, would turn out to be a revolting human being.

At first I felt sorry for poor Lady Olivia because it seems for the first few chapters that she is just an insecure, unattractive, spoiled person.  However, as the book continues, Lady Olivia gets no more sympathy because she is just, quite simply, a bitch.  Her appearance and character flaws are made even more evident when compared to her beautiful, gentle, and wonderful cousin, Caroline Sinclair.

So the loophole to the agreement is that Alex Bank's can be released from the agreement to marry Lady Olivia if he finds someone else to marry before his 30th birthday which is in 1 month.   Alex doesn't have another lady love lined up for a multitude of reasons but the most prominent are the fact that he is a scientist more interested in experiments than in human interaction.

With luck, Caroline "Caro" Sinclair is also a closet scientist.  So they spend some time together, fall for each other and get married.  The story could have ended here and I would have been happy.  No fuss, no muss, no big huge drama.

But nooooo.  Then we get into some strife between the newly weds when Alex's father dies and he is now Lord Watson, Caro's rapist father shows up and reveals family secrets, and some misunderstandings over half heard conversations get in the way.  These additions were interesting and did add to the story a bit and I did love seeing Caro finally stand up for herself and demand better treatment. However, they were not necessary- interesting but not necessary.

Overall, this was a cute easy read with vividly described characters I could relate to and a story that was sweet and interesting.