Before and After

Since I've recently begun reading again, things have gotten crowded in the ol' bedroom. I went out and bought a bookshelf today. Here's before:

And after:

I can't decide if it's better...maybe I should have gone for the 5-shelf model. The top is my TBR - I know, sad right? But I've gotten a lot of suggestions from my giveaway and will be adding to it! The rest are my "keeper" shelves, and the pile on the floor are books I can't decide what to do with. Note the big, empty space on the top shelf where my Sookie books should be (she's out galavanting around again!).

Also, for your viewing pleasure, is our other bookshelf that was only supposed to be for our "good books", which turned into kind of an Anne Rice shrine as well as a few other books we had in hardback. That didn't last long and we're planning a larger bookshelf...

(Don't laugh at Spongebob - my 2-year-old loves him!!)

Final Dreamfever Teaser Released!!

Just when I think I cannot wait another day, Karen Marie Moning releases this. It's almost 15 minutes (6 pages) of audio from her audiobook - I cannot wait two more days!!!

Seducing Mr. Darcy by Gwen Cready

I loved this book! Let me just start by saying this: Sexiest game of Scrabble ever. This book was time-travel but not, contemporary and historical, funny and sad.

Flip is a bird researcher and is part of a book club that is planning to review Pride and Prejudice. Magnus is a Jane Austen scholar from England currently working at the local college. Flip and her friends are outside a coffee shop one morning, talking and laughing and making ribald remarks about Mr. Darcy, planning their book club meeting the next week. Magnus is sitting nearby, trying to work and not hear their ridiculous remarks about the book. He is a serious scholar and can't believe they're reducing P&P to comments about Mr. Darcy's pants and hedgerows. As she leaves the coffee shop, Flip accidentally bumps into Magnus. She tries to make small talk but he rebuffs her by repeating some of what he'd overheard of their conversation and leaves. Flip gets angry and follows him, planning to tell him off, but ends up distracted and her neck hurts. She sees a flyer for a quick massage and decides, why not?

The massage has a theme - Imagine Yourself In Your Favorite Book. Of course Flip imagines herself in P&P. She falls asleep and wakes up in the book. Her character, Lady Quellin, ends up having sex with Mr. Darcy in a gazebo! She wakes up back on the table, thrilled with the massage, and heads home. The next morning, she sees a copy of P&P at the library - a first edition- and it's different!! Lizzie Bennett does not marry Mr. Darcy, she has a tryst with Wickham and ends up pregnant and alone!!! Uh-Oh. Flip needs to see more to see how bad it is but the book is encased in glass and guess who has access? Yup, Magnus. She goes to him for help (obviously she can't tell him the truth) and he denies her. She leaves in a huff.

He is intrigued by her request and goes to her home to get more information, and a comedy of situations ensues, including the sexy Scrabble game. Magnus sees the changes in the book and is alarmed and confused. Flip ends up back at the massage therapist to try to correct the changes, but it's dangerous because you're not supposed to go back into the same book twice, AND, you only have 24 hours from when you started to correct the changes. Magnus follows her and ends up in the book as well, and the two of them try to get Lizzie and Darcy back together.

This book was great! From the first page I laughed and cheered. The characters were likeable and I really wanted Flip and Magnus together. Flip's ex-husband, Jed, and his girlfriend Io were hilariously awful. I couldn't put it down, this one definitely goes on my keeper shelf! I want to read it again!!!

How to Score by Robin Wells

Ms. Wells is a new-to-me author.

I liked this book. The premise is good - Chase Jones is an FBI agent. His brother, Luke, goes out for pizza and sees a mob hit and is immediately put into protective custody until the trial. Chase feels guilty because he suggested the pizza place, so he takes over Luke's job as a Life Coach, just until the trial. It's not a problem as he can talk to all the clients by phone. Since they're brothers, their voices sound similar - no one should notice.

Sammi Matthews is a museum curator who's had a bad run of dates - she's accidentally injured the last few guys she's dated. Her sister convinces her to call a life coach just to get herself back together and get her confidence back.

I think you see where this is going....Chase poses as Luke to counsel Sammi, and he wants to see what she looks like. He tells her she needs to change things up in her life and to go jogging in the morning. He's also there, waiting to catch a glimpse. Sammi brings her dog, and the dog ends up pulling Chase's shorts down, and he falls on top of her! They end up talking and attraction blooms. They end up seeing each other a few more times, all the while Chase is still posing as Luke, her Life Coach, and giving her advice.

I will say this, it could have gone cheesy and Chase would have been giving her advice pushing her towards his bed, but that's not what happened. He actually gave her good advice - in addition to her dating problems, she's also having problems at work and her landlord is trying to sell her apartment.

The story is fun, and the main characters are likeable. I wasn't as involved in the side story about her boss, or her landlord, so I just kind of skimmed those parts. I loved Chase's interactions with some of the other Life Coach clients - he was pretty funny. And, while I think it was dishonest of Chase not to tell Sammi the truth before he did, I can understand how he never had the chance.

The story was good and the romance was nice. The ending was super-sweet and made me laugh. What more could you ask for?

50th Post Giveaway!

I'm back! Many thanks to my SIL who helped me with the makeover - Love You!!!

Here's the thing: I'm pretty new to Romance reading, whether it be paranormal, historical, or whatever. I'm an avid reader, and it usually takes me 2 days, tops, to read a book. Exception: Diana Gabaldon - so not complaining, love her! So, I fervently search other book blogs for reviews and recommendations. I've read so many, many books reviewed and recommended by other bloggers and for that I am eternally thankful to you all! My only problem is that I have all these tiny post-it's and scraps of paper with authors and titles written on them floating around in my purse so I don't forget what I want to read.... it looks like a trash can inside my purse!

I will say my list is VERY short on sexy Highlanders, so if you know of any of those, I'd appreciate a recommendation. I'm also running out of paranormal romance TBRs, which was how I was introduced to romance in the first place.

However, now I've got a huge pile of books I've read that don't have room for, so decided to celebrate my 50th post by doing a giveaway from my bookshelf. Your choice of :

the three SJ Day Eve books

or

the three Nicola Cornick Daughters of Fortune books.

I like meeting book bloggers and want to know - what is your favorite book or series and who is your favorite author? Leave a comment with a book/author recommendations, mention which set you'd like to win, and follow me or post about my contest, and I'll pick one winner for each set on August 21. Thanks!

Under Construction

Please be patient while Book Addict is undergoing a facelift!

I'll be having a giveaway to celebrate my 50th post once it's done, so be sure to come back!!

Happy Reading!!!

Ransom by Julie Garwood

Since I liked her other Highlander books so much, I grabbed Ransom with much anticipation. I was not disappointed! Ms. Garwood's stories are romantic, but I love the humor she infuses into her stories too.

Ransom is the story of Brodick, one of the characters from The Secret (my review here), and Gillian, and English Lady. As a child, Gillian and her sister try to escape as her father's castle is attacked. Her sister gets away, but Gillian is captured and brought back just in time to witness her father's murder. The murder, Baron Alford, sends her away to live with an uncle.

Fast forward a few years, and she has been brought back to Baron Alford to see what she remembers of a valuable box her father had in his posession that the baron is trying to find. He keeps her captive in the castle.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, the son of one of the Lairds, Iain, is kidnapped at a fair and brought back to Alford's castle in a plot to kill the Laird. BUT, they got the wrong child. Gillian overhears the barons discussing the Highlander who is coming to assist, and she knows the traitor will know they have the wrong child and kill him.

Gillian tries to escape with the child, Alec, and is injured while doing so. They are caught, and Alford beats her savagely and tells her she must go to the Highlands, where he hears her sister is hidden, find the box, and bring the box and her sister back to him before the Fall Festival. If she does not, he will kill Gillian's uncle. Gillian brings Alec with her, hoping to return him to his family, and travels a pretty good distance but, unable to go further, sends a request for help to Alec's protector, Brodick, through a Scottish soldier passing through. She doesn't know how to make sure Brodick will get the message, so she claims to be his bride, knowing he'll come out of curiosity if nothing else. She sees the traitor going towards England while she is hiding out, waiting for Brodick.

Intrigued by the strange message, Brodick does come, with backup, and is overjoyed to see Alec alive and well. He agrees to assist Gillian with her plan to bring Alec home and ask Alec's father to help her find her sister. On the long way back to return Alec, Gillian charms the Highlanders. They all treat her as if she really is Brodick's bride despite her protestations, "A claim's a claim" they state.

Once they finally get to Iain's keep with his son, she tells them what has happened and they agree to assist her. However, she refuses to tell them the names of the baron and his henchmen who kidnapped and assaulted her, as she fears the Highlanders will go after them and Alford will kill her uncle.

Over the few days at Iain's keep, Gillian and Broderick grow more and more attracted to each other and share a few kisses, and when he hears there's rumor that Gillian is his mistress, Broderick insists on marrying her to protect her reputation. She, of course, is having none of it, because she knows she must find her sister and the box and return to England, where she will probably be killed. The wedding scene was one of the funniest I have read!

They find Gillian's sister, but she doesn't want to speak with her. Gillian can't believe it's true and hatches a plan to see for herself. Meanwhile, she tells Brodick who the Barons are after he promises the Lairds will not to act unless she is with them. She wakes up the next morning and they're gone, so she goes off to find her sister, but is ambushed by the Highland traitors and rescued by an unlikley character.

The confrontation between Gillian and Alford is great. Ms. Garwood did a great job of tying all the loose ends into a satisfying ending. This book has good guys that are bad guys and bad guys who are good guys. There is a female character, Bridgid, whose part starts small and humerous at the beginning, and gets funnier as the story continues. I will definitely read this one again!

BBC's 100 Books

I was blog-jumping this morning, and stumbled upon a meme over at Bloody Bad, A Book Blog about BBC's 100 Books. I went to the BBC's site to check it out... it's a good list!

Here's the list from the BBC site , it's actually the 100 Best Loved Novels (it's not exactly the same as the meme going around), and I've checked off what I've read:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien X

2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen X

3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman

4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams X

5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling X

6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee X

7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne X

8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell X

9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis X

10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë X

11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller X

12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë X

13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks

14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier X

15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger X

16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame X

17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres

20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy x-started it, couldn't finish it!!

21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell X

22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling X

23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling X

24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling X

25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien X

26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy

27. Middlemarch, George Eliot

28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving X

29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck

30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll X

31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson

32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez

33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett

34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl

36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute

38. Persuasion, Jane Austen X

39. Dune, Frank Herbert

40. Emma, Jane Austen X

41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery X

42. Watership Down, Richard Adams

43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald X

44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas X

45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh

46. Animal Farm, George Orwell X

47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens X

48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy

49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian

50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett X

52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck

53. The Stand, Stephen King X

54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy X

55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth

56. The BFG, Roald Dahl

57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome

58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell X

59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer X

60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky

61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman

62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden X

63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough

65. Mort, Terry Pratchett

66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton

67. The Magus, John Fowles

68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett

70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding X

71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind

72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell

73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett

74. Matilda, Roald Dahl

75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding

76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt

77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins

78. Ulysses, James Joyce X

79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens

80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson

81. The Twits, Roald Dahl

82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith

83. Holes, Louis Sachar X

84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake

85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson

87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons

89. Magician, Raymond E Feist

90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac

91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo

92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel

93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett

94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

95. Katherine, Anya Seton

96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer

97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez

98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson

99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot

100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

Hmmm....37 1/2 out of 100, and some of those were children's books!! I need to buy more books!! How well do you stack up?

Highlander Untamed by Monica McCarty

I read Julie at Outlandish Dreaming's terrific reviews of Monica McCarty's books and decided they sounded exactly like the kind of story I've been looking for - and I was not disappointed! Highlander Untamed is the first book in the Macleods of Skye Series. What a great story!

At the request of her uncle, Isabel MacDonald agrees to a year-long handfast to an enemy clan's laird, Rory MacLeod. Her uncle wants her to find the hidden entrance to the MacLeod castle and steal their infamous Fairy Flag and bring it to him. If she does not, he will back the enemy clan of her father in a feud, which will certainly end in her father and brothers deaths. The plan is for her to seduce him and gain the information for her to pass on. The only problem is, he's not being seduced! He won't come anywhere near her.

Rory's plan is simple, handfast Isabel to maintain peace, then return her at the end of the year. He does not want to get close to her, or have sex with her, or like her. But she is beautiful, and he finds himself attracted to her. She befriends his sister, who was wounded and shamed by Isabel's clan two years previously. He sees the difference in his sister almost immediately - she's more outgoing, and seems happier than he's seen her since her injury. It's not until Isabel is ambushed by a rival clan and almost raped that Rory realizes he might love Isabell.

For her part, Isabell starts to love Rory's family, and then even Rory himself. They begin a physical relationship that brings them even closer. But Rory knows he must return Isabel at the end of the handfast so that he can marry someone from another clan for political reasons. Isabel knows he plans to return him and tries to think of a way to stay.

She feels tied to Rory's family in a way she's never felt before and comes up with a plan that will satisfy her uncle yet not betray Rory, but he walks in on her in the middle of the plan and thinks she's planning to betray him. He breaks the handfast and throws her out, devestated by her betrayal.

Can she prove to Rory her allegiance is to him? Will Rory believe her? What will her uncle do to her?

I will admit I am a sucker for stories with forced weddings (in books only - haha), so this book had everything I like - great characters, clan battles, sexy, sexy Highlanders, and, at one point, Rory asked Isabel for a boon (I surely do luv me a boon!). I loved this book!!! I can't wait to read the next one...

The author's note at the end of the book was fascinating. Apparently these were real people. The story may have been fictional, but it was based on historical facts. I would never have guessed the fairy flag or the War of the One Eyed Woman were real.

Sleepless in Scotland by Karen Hawkins

I picked this up at B&N because I wanted a good, sexy Highland romance. What I got was a Highland romance. It wasn't bad, don't get me wrong. It was okay. Possibly part of the problem is that it is the 2nd in a series and I haven't read the first.

Catriona Hurst lives in the country with her family. Her twin sister, Caitlyn, is in London for the season, and word has reached Catriona that Caitlyn has been acting up in an unladylike manner. Apparently Caitlyn made a bet with Alex MacLean that he would ask her to marry him, and she plans to win. Catriona hurries to London to stop her sister before she makes a huge mistake and ends up ruining her reputation. When she arrives, Caitlyn is already gone. Catriona learns that Caitlyn's plan is to climb into Alex's carriage and wait until they've been gone long enough that when she is discovered he will have no choice but to propose to save her reputation. If that isn't bad enough, she plans to say no!

Catriona rushes out to look for her sister and finds Alex's carriage at an Inn changing horses. She climbs into the carriage to grab her sister and put a stop to her nonsense, but she finds the carriage empty. Then it starts to pull away, with Catriona still in it! After some time, Alex gets into the carriage and tells her he knows what's going on and he won't fall for it. Catriona tries to tell him she's Caitlyn's twin, and that there's been a misunderstanding, but he won't listen. It's not until much, much later, when Catriona's uncle pulls them over, that he understands the truth. The other problem is that it's not Alex, but Alex's brother, Hugh, that has been with the carriage.

Of course, Catriona's uncle demands they marry, as society has already heard what happens and her reputation will be in tatters. Three days later they are married, and she goes home to Scotland with him. He tells her they will live there for a few weeks, until the scandal dies down, then she will return to her home and they will live their lives separately. While Catriona is not happy about being married to this stranger, she is even less happy with his idea of how their marriage will be. Then, on top of that, when she arrives at his home, his three daughters are there (he's never been married)!

Things continue to go downhill for her. I found Hugh was a very blah character - he was just ambivalent about everything. He didn't want her involved in his work raising horses. He didn't want her interacting with his daughters, as they had a history of being abandoned and abused and he didn't want them to grow attached to Catriona just to have her leave again. Due to their abusive history, the girls were awful to Catriona - they played pranks and tried to get Hugh to send her away. It seemed to me the only time he wanted Catriona involved was in the bedroom.
Needless to say, Catriona was lonely and homesick.

Also, Hugh's family was cursed in such a way that when they were upset they control the weather, and I think he did get mad enough a time or two to cause that to happen. Once was during a terrific fight with Catriona about her place in his home and his life and with his daughters. This "talent" was just a weird side-note until near the end of the book when it came in handy.

As I said before, it wasn't a bad book, the plot was good, I just found that I really didn't care what happened to the characters. There were some secondary characters that might have a good storyline, but for this book, eh.