REVIEW: Notorious Eliza - Barbara Monajem

*** - I have a definite weakness for painters as heroes/heroines, and while not really the focus of the story, I enjoyed seeing the heroine as an artist.

Eliza Dauntry is a notorious widow shunned by 'polite' society because she uses her artistic talents to paint nude portraits of the ton's mistresses and courtesans - all to support herself and her young son after her husband died. Now she has been summoned to cover over naughty scenes at Lord Landsdowne's estate, where she encounters her husband's old friend Patrick Felham - who just so happens to be looking for a wife and mother to his daughter.


As so often happens with these snack-sized Harlequin Historical Undone! stories, I find myself wondering how lovely this story could have been if it had been a bit longer. But of course, it makes no sense to lament over what might have been. And I did enjoy Barbara Monajem's Notorious Eliza a great deal.

I believed the old-simmering attraction between Eliza and Patrick from when they had met before, and I very much enjoyed the fact that both Patrick and Eliza had had prior, happy and healthy relationships with their (unfortunately now-deceased) partners. None of this angsty, I've never had good sex in my life or hating all women, or having waited for you forsaking all others nonsense. Patrick had a lovely, though reckless, wife who died in an unfortunate accident. While Eliza is annoyed with her husband for having gambled away their money and having left them in dire straits (to the point where she must continue to paint nudes after his death to support herself), she still has fond memories of their relationship and has had no desire to seek out other men - until she meets Patrick again.

And their relationship, especially the physical one, I buy completely. What I don't understand is when they fell in love. I wish we had at least gotten a scene showing Patrick actually protecting Eliza's son James from the nosy busybodies of the ton or showing in a similar way that he genuinely cared about them and wasn't afraid to throw his weight around, damn the consequences. While this is hinted at in the narrative, it would have been nice to see. Because as written, I'm not sure why the two of them are getting married other than it would be convenient to have an extra parent for their respective offspring.

Nonetheless, I found this a nicely spicy and entertaining read, worthwhile not least because of the novelty of a heroine painter with a talent for nudes.

Interested in other opinions?
A Chick Who Reads
The Good, The Bad and The Unread

Review: Lucky Break - Esther Freud

** 1/2 - I went into Esther Freud's Lucky Break expecting a little more grown-up version of fame. Drama students with big dreams; backstage cameraderie, blown auditions, lucky breaks, stage fright. But while I got that...I didn't get it the way I wanted it. And ultimately this book just didn't work for me.


Esther Freud's Lucky Break is an episodic novel following the lives of young drama students (three in particular) from their first day of classes at the prestigious (and fictional) Drama Arts school in London over the next fifteen years of their careers. Our main protagonists, whom Freud focuses on in turn, are:


1.  insecure, dumpy Nell who seems destined to play the maid, not the leading lady, because of her looks if not her talent. 


2.  effortlessly beautiful mixed-race actress Charlie, promiscuous and easily bored; and 


3. Everyone's golden boy Dan, who has his sights set on Hamlet, Olivier...

There's really not much else to say about the plot - the main characters end up with varying degrees of success, make poor decisions about their sex lives - a string of falling for co-stars, adultery, casual why-not-try-it-out that leads to resentment, an ill-conceived almost-homosexual tryst. But it's all barely sketched there and none of it amounts to much introspection. For a group of people so self-absorbed, they don't even seem to spend much time 'using' their experiences to 'hone their craft'. Everything seems to more or less roll of them like water off a duck's back in their single-minded striving for fame.

And to be honest? There were a few anecdotes I enjoyed, some I found funny, some touching. But so many seemed cliched. The inevitable casting couch, the nude scene dilemmas, the jealousy 'holding back everything'. More were just strange and not terribly believable - a meeting with the Royal Family? That whole conversation? And for most of the novel, I was a bit bored. Just waiting for something interesting, different, intriguing. A glimpse of the glory of the spotlight, the rush behind the drive.

On the whole, the novel seemed too scattered. Important events in the characters' lives happen off-stage and we jump between them when they're barely connected (even in their stormy drama school years) that it seemed gimmicky rather than coherent. And when I only barely liked one of the characters - and I really didn't like much of her behavior, the novel wasn't terribly engrossing. Too much shallow self-absorbed navel-gazing by unlikable people doing unlikable things.

A pity. I wanted to like it much more than I did. And if you like fiction of a more literary bent (I well and truly do not), this may suit you better than it did me.

TV Roundup - Feb 26 Week

Yet another instalment in what I watched this week. Please note that there may be spoilers for any individual episodes below, so please take care while reading (or skip the recaps if you haven't yet seen and wish to remain unspoiled). On to the television!

Smash (1x03) - Enter Mr. DiMaggio
In a rather disappointing episode, Ivy's gotten the part of Marilyn but goes all insecure when she thinks she may just have gotten the part because she was sleeping with the director Derek. I like that they're having her show some vulnerability, but this is a bit annoying. After all, hi, of course you have a better chance after sleeping with the director. I'm just surprised that he's stuck around long enough for there to be a 'boyfriend' label applied. Tom, of course, finds out after having been asked out on a date by Ivy's nasty little backstabbing BFF (which he somehow doesn't find as inappropriate) and flips because of course Derek is a terrible person besmirching his precious innocent Ivy Lynn. WHATEVER, TOM.

Eileen is having trouble finding backers for her workshop once people realize her slimy soon-to-be-ex Jerry isn't in the picture; there are definitely still feelings between the two of them. Complexity rears its head. Eileen also continues the trend of throwing her drink in his face whenever he shows up and is obnoxious and it seriously NEVER GETS OLD.  Another favorite moment is when Dev turns up to be inappropriately possessive of Karen during her meeting with Derek. They play the British pissing contest game pinpointing accents, comparing schools and generally sizing one another up. The funny part about it? I have SO HEARD this conversation from Brits over and over and over again. Anyway, Karen goes home to her friend's baby shower and has a heart-to-heart with her parents, this one ending with them being more supportive. Her dad is really sweet.

Meanwhile, Michael Swift - the star they've got an eye on for Joe DiMaggio is being very coy about working on Marilyn. His wife is perplexed. Julia is being very iffy on whether he'll even be interested. It comes as absolutely no surprise that the two of them hooked up on their last project. Julia decides to tell Tom (WHY?!) and obviously sneaky assistant Ellis - who has already stolen her project notebook for inexplicable reasons - overhears. They have a brightly venomous exchange about who has more influence over Tom and I kind of love Ellis' sunshiny evil whilst hating it. Hmmm.

Basically, to the extent that we got to see Karen, Eileen and Derek, I was happy. I continue to be bored/annoyed at all Tom/Julia/Ellis story lines. Plus the Mr. and Mrs. Smith number is just...rather dull. I was hoping for more wistfulness, more recognition that the idyll is impossible, more poignancy. More anything really.

Smash (1x04) - The Cost of Art
SO MUCH BETTER, Y'ALL! So this episode really sold me again after a lackluster third episode. The story? It's the first day of the workshop and Karen's pretty excited to be there until all of Ivy's minions (how is she friends with every single ensemble member?) start being bitchy to her because she acted like every single other up-and-coming Broadway wannabe and *auditioned* and *came to her callback* and was *good*. So she *almost* got their beloved Ivy's part. WHAAAAAT? Anyway, they're all horrible to her. Ivy is playing Diva Extraordinaire and getting Karen kicked out of each of the numbers for drawing focus (a fair enough criticism, but lay off, Ivy!). Karen's ticked that Ivy is sleeping with Derek. Dev is super busy (yet still delicious) being important at the mayor's office. So Bobby - who seems shaping up to be Karen's new ensemble BFF and friends stage a fashion intervention, get her into dance class (why is she not in dance class?) and tell Karen off for pulling focus in a much-needed You're In The Chorus Now speech. Not sure how well it takes since Karen ends up dancing in the front and singing, but I'll take it.

Derek's hosting a birthday party for Broadway wunderkind Lyle West (Nick Jonas) and Eileen ends up hitting up the kiddo for an investment when she can't unload her gorgeous Degas sketch (maybe too much commitment, darling!) because of a provenance/bill of sale issue. Lyle agrees if he can see a number so Tom gets brought in from a blind date his mom set him up on (who turns out to be pretty dreamy, Yay Mom!), they call in Michael Swift and Ivy is there of course and they do a swing-y number (the USO number) called "I Never Met a Wolf Who Didn't Love to Howl". After Ivy freaks out because Derek was doing some hands-on flirting with another guest and she's feeling all vulnerable; he tells her to put on her starlet panties and grow UP. Being a star isn't about feeling SAFE. I've been itching for somebody to tell off Little Miss Diva all episode and Derek's clearly been itching to do it. Yay!

Glee (3x14) - On My Way

Blah - ok, ummm. Sebastian threatens to post photoshopped pictures of Finn with a tiny wang if Rachel performs at Regionals. Rachel and Finn have a vague argument about it that's barely even yawn-worthy. Rachel is self-absorbed. They decide to move up the wedding in some sort of weird carpe diem move. Rachel gets her way and Regionals once again turn into the Rachel show (though this time less pained faces).   Sue offers (genuinely?) to help with the New Directions - blame it on the pregnancy (what?!). Karofsky gets bullied by the football kids and tries to commit suicide in a montage with a Blaine number 'Cough Syrup'. The whole thing felt a bit like a 90s music video, though. Sebastian sees the error of his ways and dedicates the Warblers' performance to him. Kurt and Karofsky decide tearily to be friends in an actually kind of touching hospital scene (though really, he's still in the hospital from an attempt at suicide and one tearful 'It Gets Better' speech and all's well?). Quinn tries to rejoin the Cheerios (why?) is judgmental about anyone ever wanting to take their own life because she can't imagine anything ever getting that bad because she never considered it. I'm with Kurt - have some compassion, lady. But there's no time for that as she gets hit by a car while texting on her way to Rachel & Finn's wedding. Don't do that kids. On the whole? I know it was meant to be emotional, but I can't help but think the whole thing was just as flat as the Regionals win and the performances. Fine but not memorable. Blah.


How I Met Your Mother (1x04) - Return of the Shirt

I've just begun to watch HIMYM, and I'm really amused so far. In this episode, Ted finds a shirt that he didn't really like (um, so why did he keep it?), but which suddenly suits him. So he decides to try again with a girl he used to go out with. After an amusing recap of some of Ted's Past Dating Disasters, he settles on Natalie (Anne Dudek) whom he broke up with because he wasn't yet ready for commitment (in a complete jerk move on an answering machine. On her birthday! I'm with Lily on the hitting-of-Ted). Meanwhile, Barney convinces Robin to spice up her fluff pieces on Metro News One by saying certain phrases. A cute, but not terribly memorable episode.

The Amazing Race (20x01) - Tears of a Clown

An all new season of the Amazing Race has started! I've become a bit more wary of this show (though I still love to watch the challenges) because I feel like I've found fewer and fewer teams to truly cheer for - especially since the double-Cowboys fiasco. But I love to see the gorgeous places they visit and imagine competing in each of the challenges. So onward!

The Teams: The following is probably shallow and unfair to the contestants as actual human beings. But it's reality TV.

1. The Clowns - I mean, they're clowns. They didn't do anything terribly memorable except that Clown Wife started crying about being in last place halfway through the first leg. Aside from contributing the episode title - meh.
2. Bubba Gump - Two Kentucky boys from 'the other side of the tracks'. They're in it for the money. They're underdogs. I want to like them. There are so many reasons I SHOULD like them. I don't really like them.
3. The Golf Girls - I tried to like them. They just kept doing ridiculous things like driving off the side of the road into the sand and having to be rescued. Or running the completely wrong direction because they seem to have lost the use of THEIR EYES.
4. Big Brother - I really just don't like it when contestants (and even more so winners) from other reality shows come on The Amazing Race. It seems greedy. Also annoying. I don't care about Big Brother. I don't watch it for a reason. If you were a freakin' Top Chef contestant or something, maybe I would be entertained. But you sat around a house and backstabbed and gossiped for the titillation of the viewing public. Boo on you. It does not help that I already find Rachel incredibly annoying and the drama only seems to be building.
5. The Meatheads - They describe themselves as 'guidos'. One of them is styling the epithet "Fitness". I think I just threw up a little bit. Also, if your mom tells you to practice driving stick before the race, it would be a good idea to listen to her. Just so you know.
6. The Feds - Two tough women from the FBI. I'm not sure that the race will be "like cake" for you, ladies. But I am looking at you to STOMP the sorry excuse for border patrol & the meatheads. Do NOT let me down.
7. G.I. Joe and Woo-Girl Barbie - Not much to say here. He's the strong silent type who has not yet done anything to irritate me. Her constant devil horns and leaping about whilst squinting through too much eye make-up annoys me. She's definitely a Woo Girl.
8. Rock 'Em Soc 'Em Twins - One's a rocker in a band. One is a soccer player. I am giggling at my own cleverness. So far they seem pretty. Hopefully they will not fall in the pretty dumb category. We will see.
9. Dixie Chicks - Self-described Daisy Dukes in short shorts. I was worried when Stacy (who's afraid of heights) seems too freaked out to jump, but she turned it around when she decided she didn't want her kids giving up. *cue heart-warming*. My current favorite (as in least obnoxious, not really as in most likely to win) team.
10. Crazy Stalkers - lots of on-again off-again marrying and divorcing and dating and anybody who describes their own relationship as 'stalking' one another complete with maniacal laughter really freaks me out.
11. The Border Patrol - Dune-buggy riding border patrol agents who beg for doughnut jokes. They also don't seem to have figured out that The Amazing Race is going to require RUNNING, as they seem really out of breath after a not-so-brisk jog. Unimpressive.

Ok, with the long intro out of the way, on to the show!

Santa Barbara, CA 
Teams have to search through a vineyard with 100 balloons to find their next clue, directing them to

Santa Barbara, Argentina
Roadblock: "Who's got a great sense of direction?" - that person has to find the NotIt! team member after they skydive 10,000 ft. Once they've found one another, they'll receive their next task.

Task: Make 120 empanadas (60 meat, 60 cheese) with different dough patterns. Everyone seems to figure this one out pretty quick with one team member watching each of the demonstrators.

Winner (and express pass) - G.I. Joe and Woo-Girl Barbie.
Eliminated - Golf Girls in a bizarre twist when they literally ran SO CLOSE to Phil, stared around frantically and proceeded to turn around and run the other way. Everyone looks utterly perplexed. Phil doesn't know what to say. I don't either. Except D'OH!

The Amazing Race (20x02) - You Know I'm Not As Smart As You
Cafayate Town Square - wait for the chasqui (courier) to give them their next clue at sunrise. There's some cute footage of a stray dog playing with rocks, the Feds sticking with lying that they're kindergarten teachers (really?), Dave The Clown is a two-time cancer survivor and a lot of waiting around before all teams storm the horse. I have to say, I foresaw carnage. GUYS, DON'T STAMPEDE A FRICKIN' HORSE! Those things have Flying Hooves of Death when scared! Luckily, this was the most chill horse EVER. No one was brained. Not even the Big Brother team.

Salta, Argentina
Detour: Boil My Water or Light My Fire
Boil My Water involved putting together a solar oven based on the pictures on the side of the box and then waiting for a kettle of water to boil. Light My Fire involved gathering firewood and clay and transporting it a mile down the road by donkey. DONKEY. Unsurprisingly, due to the aforementioned donkey variable, all teams but the Border Patrol chose Boil My Water. While Border Patrol get themselves a bit lost and start snapping at one another, the other teams aren't having such a breezy time of it with the solar oven assembly. Both Team Bubba Gump and the Dixie Chicks ace the putting-it-together portion despite other teams' vocal disbelief in their abilities. The Dixie Chicks make the mistake (in my opinion) of helping the Meatheads who present the offer as mutual but really just mooch while making superior comments about how the "girls can't build" while managing to cut themselves on the solar panels. Yeah. About that. Great building skill there...

Team Big Brother flails about helplessly with Rachel setting my teeth on edge by whining that she's sooooorry she's useless, she's just a GIRL. REALLY? Because you're a GIRL? That's a sorry excuse. As if you weren't ticking me off enough before. I've begun to well and truly hate you Rachel. The Clowns show equal ineptitude as they've managed to miss the picture on the side of the box...wow. They also pull the inevitable but dumb "watched pot never boils" joke and turn their backs on their kettle. Cutesy. Also gag.

Buenos Aires 
A mysterious shattered window on the road delays the second bus so it comes in last - giving the Feds and the Dixie Chicks a leg up.


Roadblock:  Where's the Beef?
One team member has to go up to a cattle auction, note down the total weight of each lot, count the number of steers & calculate the average weight per animal and bring their answer to a gaucho before the auction (with the inevitable shouting of numbers) ends. No calculators allowed.

JJ (of the Border Patrol) and Woo-Girl Rachel (of G.I. Joe) decide to team up to work faster and keep Big Brother Rachel from getting the answer. I still think Border Patrol is too volatile for their own good and should have done more prep running, but I hate them less. It turns out Mark from Bubba Gump has a bit of an advantage as he used to work in a cattle-yard and he's "good at figgerin'". I have to admit, they're growing on me. Big Brother Rachel descends into crying hysterics. As usual. She "doesn't know anything about cows" (it's basic third-grade math, not a cow trivia competition) and "she's really bad at math". She continues to throw a tantrum even after Mark tells her he's good at math and Brendon has basically shouted at him to help her. DON'T DO IT, MARK! Helping means that Mark does the math and the legwork and Rachel stops snivelling like a two-year-old. I suppose that's something.

Team Big Brother gets into a spat about going back to check for their taxi or something? She turns on the waterworks because he's blaming and he promised he wouldn't do that. Cry Cry Cry. Brendon resorts to insisting that she's right and trying to stop her from more hysterics in the middle of an Argentinean street, molly-coddling her and asking her to get her head back in the game while she whines that she's soooooorry she can't do things under preeesssure also, he has a booger on his nose. She seethes, he apologizes. Her faux-cutesy emotional manipulation is really incredibly irritating.

Third bus to depart (second to arrive) gets in and both Team Fed and the Dixie Chicks solve the problem in short order.

Second bus turns up - Jersey boys seem to think it's funny that they've never seen cows before. Seems pretty lame to me. Stalker Girl manages to pull it together on her own (despite Stalker Boy's insistence that she's horrible at math because she's an English major). Then The Soc' Em Twin and Meathead decide to team up to beat the already down-trodden clown with no math skills. Seems unnecessary to me as they've hardly shown themselves to be the most competitive. Plus it makes me listen to another Tears of a Clown line.

Pit Stop: El Gomero in the Recoleta neighborhood of Buenos Aires
Winner: G.I. Joe and Woo Girl Barbie
Eliminated: Clowns

February 2012 Roundup

I've been in a bit of a reading slump this month. Mostly I was flitting from book to book without finding anything to really settle down into. A few chapters here, a few chapters there but nothing that really caught and kept my interest enough for me to stick with it. Also (as evidenced below), I owe y'all reviews - books AND movies. I'll do my best to catch up!


You might see a little bit of a French theme coming out below - it would show more if you also knew I've been reading (and am almost done with) The Alchemy of Murder by Carol McCleary set in 1889 Paris. This is because for my birthday this month I took myself off to Paris. I hope to do a wrap-up post of that (with pictures!) as well.


Books Finished: 6

 

Favorite February 2012 Read:  I Wish That I Had Duck Feet

I know! It's a re-read. It's a children's book. It took all of ten minutes. And yet, everything else was more or less blah.

 

Books Read:

 

1. Everything I Know About Love, I Learned From Romance Novels - Sarah Wendell

2. French Milk - Lucy Knisley

3. Love Story - Jennifer Echols

4. The Keepsake - Tess Gerritsen

5. Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French - Stephen Clarke

6. I Wish That I Had Duck Feet - Dr. Seuss (re-read)

 

Theater:

Cosi Fan Tutte at the Royal Opera House - Two young men go away to war but return in disguise in an attempt to prove to their cynical old friend Don Alfonso that their fiancees will remain faithful to them. Needless to say, a lot of inadvertent fiance-swapping and hijinks ensue. An enjoyable evening full of masquerades and music in a modern-day plot (I loved the addition of the Single Ladies' Dance), but I've come to the conclusion that I'm just not that much of an opera fan. And, Mozart/Don Alfonso, honey? Women aren't all the same...

 

Singin' In the Rain - A stage musical based on the MGM movie - on the whole this had difficulty living up to the movie version. After all, it's awfully difficult to compete with Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse or the acrobatically hilarious Make 'Em Laugh number featuring Donald O'Connor. I absolutely loved the Singin' in the Rain number - done on stage with rain pouring from the roof and Don Lockwood gleefully splashing the audience, but the rest of the numbers didn't quite measure up to the infectious joy of the original movie.

 

Wicked - A rewatch for me, still good, but not as breath-taking as the first time I saw it (then again, how could it be). I still love the ever-hilarious "Popular" and the delicious "As Long As You're Mine". *happy sigh*

 

 

Favorite February 2012 Flick: Casablanca!

Movies Watched:

1. Possession (2002) - one of my favorites. The intertwined stories of two Victorian-age poets and a set of scholars researching them. It sounds dull, but I'm still entranced by the historical story in particular. A quiet, thoughtful sort of movie.
2. The Muppets (2011) - I had seen this over Christmas with my dad and re-watched. Love the "Muppet or a Man" song (though I do not think Walter is a very manly muppet at all - perfect opposite human casting, though). Watchable enough, but lacking a certain something (despite the meta moments and the traveling by map) that would have captured the same Muppet magic.
3. Casablanca (1942) - my Valentine's Day treat. I love this movie, and it was great to see it on the big screen (with champagne). Play it, Sam. For old times' sake.
4. Man on a Ledge (2012) - Escaped convict Nick Cassidy stands on the ledge of a high-rise hotel while a police negotiator tries to talk him down - but Nick has an ulterior motive as he's providing a diversion for a heist. This wasn't great, I saw the big reveal coming and there were definitely times the pacing dragged. I wasn't hugely interested in the police corruption angle and wanted more of the heist (yay heist!). But overall, it was a fun couple hours.
5. Ever After (1998) -Another favorite of mine, we watched this on the trip to Paris (it's vaguely French themed!). This is a lovely re-telling of Cinderella set in Renaissance France with a feisty strong and intelligent heroine, a charming man-boy prince and featuring Leonardo da Vinci as a mentor/fairy godmother.
6. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011) - A very British movie that's not quite a comedy (though it has some of those wryly funny moments that I love) and not quite a drama about a  group of British retirees 'outsourcing' their retirement to Jaipur, India for various reasons and how they cope with the unfamiliar setting and relationships. It's a quiet film and a bit meandering - but like your favorite grandparent sitting you down to tell a story. I was thoroughly charmed.

 

TV Roundup - Feb 12 Week

I'll admit it, I haven't found much time for reviewing books lately - I've been reading, but I've been hard pressed to sit down and find something to actually SAY about them. I blame February blues and not feeling so well. Anyway, I hope to do better about that, but in the meantime - here's what I've been watching this week:


Smash (1x01) - Pilot
I have long been awaiting the (much-hyped) new TV show Smash and I have to say, the pilot really wowed me. A pair of musical writers throw together a number on a whim for a possible Marilyn musical they're toying with. The number gets posted on YouTube and is an instant sensation - producer (Anjelica Huston) picks it up and brings in a brilliant jerk of a director (Jack Davenport). Now all they need is a star - and it's soon narrowed down to ensemble-veteran Ivy and fresh-faced newcomer Karen (who has a lovely supportive boyfriend whom I adore already).

I loved the numbers - particularly the fun Chicago-esque baseball number where the view switched between the rehearsal and what the finished version would look like. Fantastic. Plus, even when he's sleazy, there is something about Jack Davenport that I just can't resist. Katharine McPhee has a lovely voice, the original numbers were good, the dancing was great fun to watch - oh the baseball number. I have really high hopes for this one.

Smash (1x02) - Callback
The second episode deals with the callbacks (dancing/acting) for the role of Marilyn. Ivy has a strong team of supporters - a dancer-spy and particularly Tom, who swans about in a pre-teen drama queen fashion doing everything but sticking his fingers in his ears and singing LA-LA-LA during Karen's auditions. Karen, on the other hand, has Derek in her court (sort-of) but also working her really hard and certainly not holding back with the snark. There's also a continuation of the Chinese baby adoption sub-plot for Debra Messing's character Julia, but I really don't care.

I enjoyed the 20th Century Fox-Mambo number, but it's going to be desperately difficult to beat the Baseball Number. I continue to love how supportive Karen's boyfriend Dev is (even when he's angry with her) - I am with her Mom (MARRY HIM!) and I have absolutely no idea how things are going to move forward with this show. One thing it certainly hasn't been is predictable. Though I wanted a bit more motivation/background for Ivy.

Castle (4x15) - Pandora  
Castle and Beckett are on the trail of a ruthless killer - a man who insists (frustratingly correctly) that all they have on him 'is going away'. When the body and the suspect disappear, the pair find themselves in the midst of a government operation and the shady world of espionage with one of Castle's former muses, CIA agent Sophia Conrad - a development that leaves Kate none too happy.

I always love Castle - though I wish we had a bit more of the old will-they/won't-they (or heck just a whole lot of will they) back between Castle and Beckett. This one does a bit better in that regard with Beckett getting jealous over Sophia (not to mention with the two of them locked in a car trunk again). But they've really let the tension drop, which is a shame. I liked Alexis new internship and Castle's jealous guarding of his turf. And the cliff-hanger is killer. I can't wait for next week.

Whitechapel (1x01) - (official website)
I picked this up on the recommendation of Irish at Ticket to Anywhere originally found on her review of Maureen Johnson's The Name of the Star. Whitechapel is about hotshot political DI Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones) who takes on a murder case in Whitechapel (a woman found with her throat cut) as a stepping-stone for his next big promotion with no experience whatsoever in solving homicides. His new squad  includes the experienced (and not a little resentful) DS Miles, who gives absolutely no credence to the fact that the murders may be the work of a copycat - but the timing and means of death show a frightening resemblance to Jack the Ripper's famous murder spree.

 I enjoyed watching Chandler try to impose control and order on his new team, with an emphasis on tidiness - which the men neither respect nor appreciate. A battle of wills for leadership of the group emerges in this first episode, and while it was good to watch, I hope Miles starts showing some respect (however grudging) in the next episodes or their hostility could grow stale. I appreciated the eerie camera work (including some interesting camera angles) that certainly added to the creepy atmosphere as well as having ominous shadowy figures walking through shots (Ripper? Not Ripper?), but I could have done with fewer shots of the Gherkin, please.


Bedlam (1x01) - Cohabitants

Jed (Theo James - also known as everyone's favorite Downton Abbey Turk Kemal Pamuk) sees dead people and how they died. And he's only just been let out of the mental ward because of it. When he receives a series of cryptic text messages instructing him to Save Kate, he runs to help his bitchy manipulative cousin, who just so happens to be living in a building of luxury flats her family are renovating housed in an old mental asylum. An asylum shut down for abuse of patients. An asylum that is most decidedly haunted.

Another recommendation from  Irish at Ticket to Anywhere. Deliciously creepy (I'm a wuss, but I had to watch this in smaller chunks because it freaked me out too much to watch at night after work), though with relatively low-budget effects (water running down the walls). The horror aspect definitely worked best for me with the eerie music, sounds of water dripping and the flashes of the ghost in mirrors. I really don't care for Kate at all (though I do like both of her flatmates(?) Ryan and Molly), but while I didn't need everything tied up in a bow, I didn't like how certain plot-lines seemed to be completely dropped (like the disappeared friend who thought she was being watched). We'll see if those are picked back up in the next episode.

Glee (3x13) - Heart
Finn and Rachel's parents have found out they're planning on getting married. Kurt is receiving Valentine's gifts from a Secret Admirer. Somebody complained to Figgins about Santana and Brittany kissing in the halls - and now the Jesus club (including newest member Joe (Sam from The Glee Project) at McKinley has to decide whether they're ok singing to gay people. Mercedes can't be with Sam (though she will Always Love him) because she's a confused cheating cheater. And there's something about Rory and Artie competing to be Sugar's date to her Valentine's Day party.

I think it's official - Glee and I are breaking up at the end of this season. Other than Mercedes' gorgeous (and well-timed) rendition of Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You and the cute L-O-V-E (more Tina and Mike, please) I was mostly just bored. Rachel and Finn getting married is too ridiculous for words. He needs O-U-T of that relationship. I hate that they glossed over the very real fact that she wants him around as a fall-back fan to hold her purse and is giving absolutely no thought to Finn as a person. Somebody really needs to smack that girl for being the most self-absorbed and selfish person on the planet. Ugh. Also, I can't get over the fact that they just can't seem to figure out what to do with Rory other than have him play the homesick card over and over again in his numbers but not actually ever say anything of substance during the show. Boooooring (and trust me, I loved that kid on The Glee Project).

Definitely, Maybe (2008)

*** 1/2 - Inspired by the post at Dear Author, I decided to pick this one up. I've been dying for a romantic comedy lately, though. And while this was far from the typical romcom, I came away from it satisfied and smiling - plus with some really great quotes.

"I don't think anyone imagines on their wedding day they'll be part of the 46% that doesn't live happily ever after."

And thus the unconventional romantic dramedy of Definitely, Maybe begins with William Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) being served divorce papers. And his life doesn't get any easier when he picks his 10-year-old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) up from school and she demands to be told the story of how he and her mother met and fell in love.

"What? Do you think I'm going to tell you the story and it's going to make everything better? It doesn't work that way."

But Will relents -under one condition. He is going to change the names and facts and his daughter will have to work out for herself which of the three women in his life eventually became her mother - in Maya's words: "Like a love story mystery".

"What's the boy word for slut?""They still haven't come up with one yet. But I'm sure they're working on it."

The Candidates:

Emily (Elizabeth Banks)

EMILY: College Sweetheart who stays at home when idealistic young Will heads up to New York for a few months to work on the Clinton campaign.


"Everyone knows the girlfriend at the beginning of the story gets dumped."

Favorite Exchange:
"You're drunk."
"You're beautiful."
"You're horny."
"You might be right."

Summer (Rachel Weisz)

SUMMER: The Journalist, whom Will brings a "diary" from college that Emily sent with him. Also whom Will meets upon awakening from a serious drinking session with her bearded alcoholic boyfriend, the brilliant acclaimed writer Hampton Roth (Kevin Kline).


Favorite Exchange:
"Boyishly handsome?"
"Yeah, you know, I originally wrote 'William Hayes has seductive eyes and the intriguing look of someone whose clothes you want to rip from his very body, but my editor made me change it."
"There's just no room for truth in journalism."

April (Isla Fisher)

APRIL: The Copy Girl working at campaign headquarters but as part of a money game rather than any sense of political idealism.

Favorite Exchange: during a practice proposal

"Will you, um, marry me?""What do you mean 'will you ...um...marry me'? You haven't seen me in weeks! You don't look happy or excited at the prospect of our marriage. You're asking me to give up my freedom - my joie de vivre! - for an institution that fails as often as it succeeds. And why should I marry you, anyway? And why do you want to marry me aside from some bourgeois desire to fulfill a need that society embeds in us from an early age to promote a consumer capitalist agenda?

Will has nice chemistry with all three of his potentials (although I think his daughter's dismissal of one of the women as a bitch was unnecessarily harsh under the circumstances, as I found Will's actions far more at fault for their break-up than hers). I loved his sweet romantic gestures: buying CDs with the song that Summer sings for him or the way he checks old editions of Jane Eyre for the copy April lost with her father's inscription. After all, what bibliophile's heart doesn't go pitter-patter at that? (Although, did that remind anybody else of Serendipity?)

And to be honest, I rooted for each of the women to be the one Will married, and each seemed plausible for a while. And ultimately, the movie ends on a tentatively happy note - a sense that Will is embarking anew upon romance and with his daughter's support and blessing.

Plus for all the readers out there, one of the parts that sticks with me was April:

"I read it (Jane Eyre) every year or two. Each time it's different. It tells me different things."

 So many of us have a book (or a few) like this that just resonates. Off the top of my head, I have two:
The Song of the Lioness quartet by Tamora Pierce that I've loved since I was eleven; and Anne Gracie's The Perfect Rake.

What are yours?

Official Trailer:

The Invention of Lying (2009)

*** - A fun concept (or rather several), but there's not enough of a plot or a struggle for the characters to really become invested in. Still a pleasant enough way to spend an afternoon.

Mark Bellison (Ricky Gervais) is a bit of a loser - by his own admission. He's a struggling screenwriter about to be fired, he's broke, chubby and absolutely out of his league on a date with his dream girl Anna (Jennifer Garner) and everyone knows it. And as the movie is set in a world where everyone always tells (and all too often volunteers) the complete truth, no one hesitates to tell him so to his face. Despite the fact that he is hardly Anna's best genetic match (that would be Mark's obnoxious and inexplicably jealous co-worker Brad Kessler), once Mark discovers, quite by accident, that he can lie - he turns his new-found skill to become rich and famous, hoping that this and their blossoming friendship will be enough to win Anna's heart.

The concept of the movie (including Mark's inadvertent creation of religion) is quite funny, but after the original set of clever quips are exhausted, so is much of the film's momentum. After all, there simply isn't much in the way of plot driving the characters forward. The whole movie is more a bunch 0f loosely strung together more-or-less comedic episodes rather than a cohesive storyline.

Some of the writing is snappy and really clever, some merely sentimental and some falls flat - most notably most of Tina Fey's scenes, which was both unexpected and disappointing. That said, there's a hilarious cameo with the corrupt traffic cop (it took me a bit to recognize him - the voice was the giveaway), and Jennifer Garner played even her bitchiest comments with a disarmingly naive frankness that definitely had me giggling, though I did wish there had been more depth to her as a character - heck, to any of the characters.

That's the real trouble (along with a conspicuous lack of plot): We're never given any particular reason as to why Mark wants Anna so much, no plausible explanation (other than vapid shallowness) why Anna insists that marrying Mark is such a terrible idea when she has already confessed (quite anti-climactically) that she loves him. With no discernible obstacles or actual struggle to be seen, while I wanted Anna and Mark to get together (hey, I like happy endings), I wasn't particularly invested in either of them or the pay-off.

Mad About the Duke - Elizabeth Boyle (review)

**** - Honestly, I wish more Regencies were funny!

I first fell in love with Elizabeth Boyle's writing style when a friend handed me Something About Emmaline and explained the plot to me (the hero invented a wife (a very Wildean Bunbury) in order to avoid matchmaking mammas - imagine his surprise when he suddenly begins receiving bills from the modiste etc. in the name of said fictional wife - go read it! You're Welcome!).

At that point I was reading almost exclusively paranormals and the occasional contemporary (I love you, Katie MacAlister!) because what I wanted most out of a romance was a good laugh along with my swoony moments. But Elizabeth Boyle got me well and truly hooked on historicals. Long story short, when I was looking for something to read on the flight to Istanbul that would properly scandalize my boss and assorted other fellow passengers, I picked up Mad About the Duke. And it certainly served its purpose. I giggled out loud on multiple occasions, and so will you, I mean:

James Tremont, Duke of Parkerton has always been the sensible one of the madcap Tremont family. Indeed his scandalous brother Jack (yes, ladies, Mad Jack of This Rake of Mine fame) might even insist he was stodgy. But all that changes when he encounters the widow Lady Elinor Standon - who mistakes him for a solicitor and insists he help birth a litter of puppies in her linen closet. Thanks to his brother's sartorial shabbiness and Felicity Langley's Bachelor Chronicles, James is soon hired to glean what knowledge he can of eligible dukes as matrimonial candidates for the lovely lady. Only to discover that he himself didn't make the list!

Mistaken identities! A masquerade! Picnics! People spilling tea on one another in an attempt to keep them from spilling the duke's identity! A duke endearingly bad at driving constantly stealing his brother's carriage! This book - it has all kinds of things that I adore. I loved that Elinor falls for James while she is convinced that he's a solicitor - and therefore can't marry him because she needs a lord to stand up to her sister's guardian. And that he can't simply 'fess up to being a duke because he's been burned before by a relationship - but not in your typical historicals "OMG all women are EVIL because one I had a thing for hurt me and I WILL NEVER LOVE AGAIN" way. In fact, he's quite the opposite. James never expected to fall in love again, and he certainly never expected it to turn his life topsy-turvy and have him behaving like the rest of his crazy family. But when he meets Elinor, he's intrigued, he's smitten and he's giddy as a schoolboy rather than angsty. And I LOVED it. It was sweet and happy and funny and full of sparking sexual tension. And the whole book just felt like summer to me (despite the dark-seeming cover). Hmmmm, and now I am struggling not to break into an off-key rendition of Grease's "Summer Lovin'". But I think you get the picture.

This book. It is not angsty. If you wish for angst, seek elsewhere. This book is fun and frothy and bubbly and sweet. If it were a cocktail, it would be a Bellini. And I LOOOOOVE Bellinis (in cocktail and in book form).

Interested in other opinions? Linky-love below:

Elizabeth Boyle - excerpt

Kay's Blog

Love Romance

Night Owl Romance
Romanceaholic

The Abduction of Julia - Karen Hawkins

*** 1/2 - A fun story and intriguing enough of a first effort that I am anxious to pick up the Sequel-Baiting friend/cousin's stories.

Alec MacLean, Viscount Hunterston is in a devil of a fix. In order to inherit an absurdly large fortune (and keep it away from his devious cousin and rival), his grandfather's will stipulates that he must be married by his next birthday - in two hours time. So when it turns out he has eloped not with the Incomparable toast of the ton Therese, but with her frumpy, goody-two-shoes American cousin and chaperone (nicknamed the Dragon), he has no time to do anything but make her an offer - half of his fortune in exchange for a year lived free of scandal.

But given the chemistry between them, two scheming money-grubbing cousins and Julia's less-than-wholesome pet charity projects, that might be more difficult than expected.

The Abduction of Julia is a fun marriage of convenience story, sweet, but not really intriguing enough to make my keeper shelves. The story of Alec and Julia is one I felt like I read before -Spoiled Handsome Nobleman marries Frumpy Governess who is secretly in love with him to gain a fortune. They promise not to consummate, but their attraction to one another makes that increasingly difficult. Jealousy over a Big Misunderstanding surrounding Some Other Man rears its ugly head, but all comes right in the end. Which is not to say the story is boring; it was just rather comfortably familiar rather than inspiring and fresh.

I liked Julia slowly blossoming into the beautiful woman she could be - while not losing sight of her ambitions to continue to do good. But at the same time, I was a bit exasperated by her seemingly complete selflessness. I mean, she doesn't want to go shopping for nice clothes at all? She doesn't want to put her domineering petulant cousin in HER shadow for a bit? She doesn't enjoy being the center of not only Alec's attention (whom she has had a crush on for years), but also of his delicious (though dastardly) rival and cousin? Really? She may be just a bit too Goody-Two-Shoes for me. Particularly when even a five-year-old child could see that her plan to populate London's servant halls with reformed wayward women is BOUND to cause a scandal...

Anyway, what saves the book for me is some nice tension between Alec and Julia and the secondary (and sequel-baiting) side characters that completely stole the show over and over again. There's Gorgeous-Damaged-Misunderstood Sequel-baiting Nick (whom I really liked, actually). Wry and Teasing Studly Best Buddy Lucien Devereux (hi, his name is Lucien, he is DESTINED for a sequel). Bumbling Fashion Disaster Edmund, who just tries SO HARD. His Aunt the Formidable Battle-Axe of a Woman (who would put Dame Judi Dench to shame). Muck, the Incredibly Homely Urchin withOUT a heart of gold and with a distinct Fear of Baths. And let's not forget Burroughs, the butler who without fail brings Alec a glass of warm milk before bed. A collective 'Awwwwwwww', if you please.

The best part about Karen Hawkins' debut is the introduction of another (unfortunately scarce) author who writes humorous historicals. I love a good romantic comedy - hijinks and masquerades and mistaken identities make me oh-so-happy. But they're even harder to find in historicals than contemporaries (which is difficult enough!). So when Hawkins had me chuckling over Edmund's deplorable fashion sense and Lady Birlington's insistence that he fight a duel with a chimney-sweep in the middle of the road...well, I knew I would be reading on in this series. And so I am certainly looking forward to A Belated Bride (Lucien) and possibly even more so to The Seduction of Sara (Nick). Let's hope there is just as much giggling in the next!

Interested in other opinions?

Outlandish Dreaming

Romanceaholic

Girls Without a Bookshelf
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Girl's Guide to Witchcraft - Mindy Klasky

**** - really fun paranormal chicklit - I loved her best friend's baked concoctions, mojito therapy and Neko (who is sorry about the fish)

Summary: Nothing is quite going right for reference librarian Jane Madison. Her mother has made a surprise reappearance after decades of Jane believing she had died in a car accident. Jane's boss has decided that the library staff will now have to appear in period costume - and how is a girl supposed to catch the attention of handsome professor Jason Templeton dressed in hoop skirts? And to top it all off, instead of a raise, Jane has to move in to the caretaker's cottage on library grounds, where she finds a cache of magical books and a disturbingly feline familiar that land her in even deeper trouble.

For all my deep and abiding love for romance novels, I often have trouble getting into chicklit. I often find the heroines painfully shallow, dense or unlikable. But none of those descriptors apply in the slightest bit to Mindy Klasky's heroine Jane Madison. Even though she's prone to building up relationships based on wishful thinking and overanalyzing - who can't relate to that? And she's aware of it, which makes it endearing rather than irritating. And I actually liked how she tried so hard to make grand romantic gestures (the dinner based on Jason's research? So SO sweet).

I also loved Jane's strong relationship with her Gran - who is always making her promise the most random things (don't lick toads, dear, promise!) as well as her friendship with Melissa, which seemed blessedly normal. Also can I be best friends with Melissa, too? Mojito therapy and her penchant for delectable baked goods make her part of my fictional friend posse any day!

For paranormal chicklit, there was actually relatively little in the way of magic. But I very much enjoyed what there was - particularly Jane working with crystals was really interesting, and I'm hoping to see more of Jane's magic in future books. While I found Neko the cat-man familiar quite entertaining, I actually liked him best when he was being serious and helping Jane cope with her magic (although I loved his notes about the fish). I actually was a bit annoyed with his character otherwise; not because he causes trouble, but because he is so incredibly stereotypically "gay" stock character from chicklit central casting that it annoyed me.

Those quibbles aside, however, I really enjoyed watching Jane learn to cope with the demands of her job, her magic and her relationship woes, and I've got the next in the series on order already!

Interested in other opinions?

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