Great pictures, easy to follow step by step illustrations to make pretty arrangements. Also includes what not to do with flowers in terms of arrangemeGreat pictures, easy to follow step by step illustrations to make pretty arrangements. Also includes what not to do with flowers in terms of arrangements that's often done. An excellent book to make some beautiful centerpieces for a table, floor or just a nice bouquet to give. ...more
Exceptionally well-written with a brilliantly fresh feeling plot that will take you up and down the emotional roller coaster ride from hell smashing yExceptionally well-written with a brilliantly fresh feeling plot that will take you up and down the emotional roller coaster ride from hell smashing your heart to smithereens only to come crashing down and smack it all back together again at the end. I loved this book :D
The writing here is so good that I would even go as far as to say that Thomas is better than Lisa Kleypas who in her own right can pack a really good gut punch. Sherry Thomas manages to weave together a story where the h/h aren’t always the focus and with quite a bit of narration –two things I absolutely hate in a romance novel-- but here her talent with the pen doesn’t even make you think twice about it all and you’re sucking back the pages like a vacuum cleaner.
Gigi and Camden married when they were quite young and on their wedding night they went their separate ways. Gigi has filed for divorce from her husband (who now lives in America) who she hasn’t seen in over 10 years. Now you know this is going to happen but you keep wanting to know the why and the how and as the secrets unravel you cringe, you squirm, you OMG no s/he didn’t (!), you get all uncomfortable and really feel like someone is pulling out your insides and mashing them all up. The things the h/h say to hurt each other will just leave you wanting to cry and physically shudder. It’s not just jabs and barbs either it’s that biting cold snap that just shuts the other person up into either a kind of passive aggressive stance or they just turn around and leave the room seething with fury or poised to cry rivers. I’ve never come across a romance like this one. The love that the two have for each other is there but they’re both too stubborn to set aside 10 years of hate and distrust. They feel like very real people which is why their story packs such a wallop I think. This is no light romance. It’s not miserable either and it easily could’ve have been. Underneath the ice of politeness is an inferno of heart-wrenching love that they both feel but it’s not one of those “oh just tell him/her already” kind of stories that frustrates the reader. The story has a smartness to it that is rarely seen in other novels.
What I especially liked was the heroine. She’s one of those rare women who doesn’t act flighty, silly, idiotic etc. She takes charge when life has handed her lemons and she does quite well for herself in the process until the hero returns and those long dead feelings start stirring again. The hero is a man of power but not an “I don’t care what you want or say” kind of alpha. At the beginning I wondered if I’d even like him during the flashback scenes where the author tells how they met and what led up to their marriage. He’s all action though when he gets back telling his wife he’ll grant her the divorce she wants on one condition and later when he changes his mind you feel so sad for them. Towards the end when he makes a last ditch effort to get her back your heart can’t help but crumble into tiny little itty bitty pieces (**sigh sigh** and **big sigh**).
The secondary story between Gigi’s mother and her neighbor the Duke at first is borderline annoying and you think it’s just filler but it has its own story that’s really good. As for the steam it’s very good but it’s the tension building between Gigi and Camden that really steals the show.
If you like a romance that will really grab you by the collar, shake you around ‘til your head hurts, throw you up against the wall and then do it all over again all in the name of getting to a fabulous ending, then this book is a definite must-read and it looks like you’d better get shopping ;-) ...more
This book is a total laugh-out-loud-tears-streaming-down-the-face riot ! The combination of disastrous cakes and the author’s totally hilarious, smartThis book is a total laugh-out-loud-tears-streaming-down-the-face riot ! The combination of disastrous cakes and the author’s totally hilarious, smart musings/quips/captions makes for a hell of a great read. The blurbs are never mean-spirited or that annoying teenage toilet humor which makes it even funnier.
Nearly every page has a picture of a horrifying cake with some text alongside. Sometimes it’s just one sentence, maybe some internal dialog, a conversation or a few lines of “explanation”. Rarely is it too long so the humor is always at the forefront. Some cakes are just plain and simple monstrosities while others don’t jump out at you right away but when the author gets going you can’t help but go “ewwww!” or “OMG!”. Most will have you gaze in awe wondering what possessed the baker to put these out for public viewing instead of making a beeline for the trash can. You’ve got the ghastly Technicolor cakes with garish fuchsias and blinding turquoise, the frightening poor taste cakes like the military/dolphin/amo combo job for a wedding (!), the bizarre feathers in a cake as decoration (yuck) or the classic “clumps of pooh” log looking cakes –wow are those ever repulsive! Expect to see some classic examples of miscomprehension, misspellings and “unique” misunderstandings (ie the Baker was smokin’ some bad stuff that day!). My faves were the disastrous attempt at a tartan plaid for a wedding and the beautifully author titled “Vortex of Doom” cake –that was hys-ter-i-cal!!
If you’re looking for a gift for a hard to shop for person get this baby and you’ll be guaranteed some serious laughs, wheezing and near choking while you try to catch your breath and wipe your eyes as you flip through the pages –it is that good :D ...more
This book has everything single thing I love about romance novels:
• a kill me now s.o.b alpha hero (be still my pitter pattering heart :D) • an amaziThis book has everything single thing I love about romance novels:
• a kill me now s.o.b alpha hero (be still my pitter pattering heart :D) • an amazing heroine who is (brace yourself now) **shock** normal • biting humor • great repartee • story focus on h/h 99.9% of the time (a rare breed of book) • originality for something that's been done 36 gazillion times • superb tension building • unpredictability where you’re expecting the predictable (aka bug-eyed scenes) • chilling meanness • sex-a-licious scenes • page turning writing that plastered a smile on my face from start to finito • crying moments that had me actually reaching for the Kleenex box to the point that I’d get mad too because I couldn’t see to read for how watery my eyes were • sigh worthy Cinderella moments (yeah what about it, everybody likes Cinderella and the prince who sweeps her off her feet :p)
I love this book! It’s been a while I haven’t had an OMG-crack-open-the-address-book-and-call-all-the-friends-to-tell-them-about-this-gem. It’s such a simple story too. Why can’t more authors do the same?! Here’s the basic story lowdown: Calpurnia Hartwell is an on the shelf spinster who’s been in love with the King of Hotnicity Gabriel, Marquess of Ralston, for a good 10 years. Unrequited love at its finest. Gabe’s a screw society skirt chaser but he has to turn over a new leaf to ensure his half-sister’s success with the ton. He asks Callie to help him out because she’s so upstanding. Callie’s in heaven/hell. The reader is on cloud nine :D
This story reminded me of those great romance writers who have a particular talent to put out amazing reads and get on your auto-buy list. There’s some of Lisa Kleypas’ sparkling storytelling and hot sex scenes, some way out of left field steam scenes à la Suzanne Enoch, a very hard to find arrogant but you-can’t-help-falling-in-love-with-him-yourself hero like only Anna Campbell can write (FYI: if you liked Campbell’s Duke of Kylemore you’re going to adore the Marquess of Ralston), biting humor and choice verbal sparring like only Loretta Chase can do and a splash of Julia Quinn’s laugh out loud humor with bittersweet moments of seriousness interspersed throughout the novel. With a dash here and a pinch there of all these authors’ trademarks, Sarah MacLean has made some memorable characters that will leave you with a parched throat because you haven’t swallowed (or blinked for that matter) once in the past 10 minutes you’ve been reading and holding your breath. When you do regain those abilities you’ll be trying to catch your breath as you sing the “OMG” song ;)
Both the h/h are brilliantly constructed so you can empathize as well as sympathize with them. Callie isn’t the “diamond of the first water” and she’s not some independent blue stocking either. She’s just a normal woman with normal woman insecurities and desires who’d really like to find love. How many women can’t say the same thing you know. You could just feel her pain while shaking your head and saying “I'm with ya sister”. You just don’t get that kind of depth where the author plucks the heart strings not because of something tragic but because of the everyday stuff. Then there’s Gabriel :D His arrogance and do-it-because-I-said-so attitude really could have made him a close relative of Anna Campbell’s Duke of Kylemore and his cold and calculated aloofness reminded me of Katie MacAlister’s Drake Vireo –two oozer of sex heroes if ever there was one. What’s fabulous about our man Gabe is that he’s soooo arrogant but then he gets all confused and unsure of himself because he screws up big time ---who can’t find a few men like that in everyday life ;D Oh yeah, and this guy’s a whisperer. Good lord he whispers against her lips, her ears, her hair –just gives you the shivers :D
As for the other characters, there’s the witchy gossipists of the ton or the well-meaning family member who feels compelled to tell you for the umpteenth time that you basically have no life. You just cringe along with Callie as she goes through all this politely excusing herself to go cry and ask herself ‘why is it always me’ :( To be clear, Callie is no crier for no reason. I hate whiny woe is me heroines and MacLean did a superb job of not turning her into one of those. When she cried you bawled right along with her. It’s very emotional without it being painfully tragic or dramatic. There are also the characters who are so freakin’ mean they rile you up nice and good (lol!) It’s the kind of story that I think everyone can relate to on some level whether you’ve felt like her or know someone who has. When an author can take you away like that, for me they’ve written some mighty fine keeper shelf material.
A brief word about the ending: it’s put a cramp in your cheeks beautiful. Of course with that comes the anger because you finished it too fast like an idiot and didn’t savor the read like you should’ve :-o Ah, the good book :)
Just one little qualm: seems that the art department at Avon thought they were doing the art design for “The Mediterranean Lover’s Sex Kitten” or something –what the???! That is not Callie or Ralston at all. Whatsamatter with these people? Don’t they think the reader looks at that??!
This is the kind of book you’re still reading at 3am with the book light on all the while whispering, “just one more page – geeze I’m almost done the chapter – ok just a few pages of chapter 33”, even when you have to be up by 6am or, even better, when you wake up at 6am and your first thought as you pat around for your glasses is “Where’s that book! I can get in just a few pages before I go to work” suddenly finding yourself with 10 minutes to boot it out of bed but still torn to read :D It sucks you in and glues itself to your fingers. Bad book! (lol!)
Very, very, very, very few authors make auto-buy for me after just one book. Well, it would appear that I have found a new one to add to that select group –now, why doesn’t MacLean have a damn backlist already! Pick. Up. This. Book. Today. :D ...more
This book is excellent. It has the most unusual information that's presented in a reader friendly way with only essential facts and figures and some aThis book is excellent. It has the most unusual information that's presented in a reader friendly way with only essential facts and figures and some attractive pictures. It's well organized and makes for some great conversation. It's the type of book you could have lying around on a coffee table and pick it up every so often to find out something new. Great to give as a gift for the avid reader who has just about everything or for the history/popular culture buff....more
A very different kind of pop up book where the child can put the book over their face, the nose and ears pop up and they can pretend to be the animal A very different kind of pop up book where the child can put the book over their face, the nose and ears pop up and they can pretend to be the animal while a short story is read. Makes a great gift for younger kids....more
One of the best pop up /discovery traditional English nursery rhymes books I've come across. The pop ups are very intricate, quite large and there areOne of the best pop up /discovery traditional English nursery rhymes books I've come across. The pop ups are very intricate, quite large and there are many on the same page. Some pop ups need to be opened by the child which adds further excitement and reading pleasure....more