Worth Any Price, by Lisa Kleypas

The final book in the Bow Street Runners trilogy, and easily the most problematic for me.

Reader, beware: there’s graphic sex; there’s parents literally selling their eldest daughter to a wealthy man; there’s emotional abuse, and a character dies by suicide on the page. There’s also a scene with iffy consent between the main characters.

Oh, and this ranting review spoils a lot of the previous book, so if you plan on reading Lady Sophia’s Lover, I would advise you not to continue reading.

Dr Seuss’ How the Grinch stole Christmas (sort of a movie review)

(Okay, this is more a rant than anything else; you’ve been duly warned.)

This movie is a live action remake of the wonderful classic 1966 TV Christmas animated special narrated/sung by the inimitable Boris Karloff. It was directed by Ron Howard (who should have known better) with Jim Carrey (who doesn’t know much about anything) as the Grinch.

(Told you it’s a rant)

For those who may have missed it, here’s the trailer:

One month. Four and a half weeks. Thirty one days.

Today it’s been thirty one days since my mother had the seizures that put her in a hospital bed.

As I write this, I’m waiting to hear, from my beleaguered siblings, whether the medical team overseeing her care, has recommended to try the surgery a second time, or not; as well as what her prognosis is, under whatever treatment we, the family and the doctors, decide on.

In the meantime, my siblings tell me, she is stable, vital signs-wise, and aware and coherent a good two thirds of the time she’s awake. On the down side, she’s in pain, and uncomfortable with all the many indignities that come with being helpless in a hospital setting.

As Ms Jones said, being the one at the other end of the phone–or text or email–is hell.

Below the cut, a bit more detail, and a couple of rants, so feel free to skip this–I really don’t want to depress anyone with my shit.

Silver Thaw, by Catherine Anderson

Silver Thaw, by Catherine Anderson

Why do I do these things to myself?

I stopped reading Ms Anderson’s books years ago because, quite frankly, it got to the point where the preaching got on my nerves. Still, I have wonderful memories of some of her earlier works, particularly Annie’s Song, so when I saw this book in the new release list over at the Fiction Vixen, I was curious enough to read the sample at amazon and–curses!–got suckered in by a pretty decent first chapter.

Unfortunately, now that I’m actually in the meat of the story, all sorts of writing ticks and offensive character shorthand are jumping at me.

Gentle readers, you may want to avert your eyes entirely–there be ranting and cursing ahead.

First, here’s the blurb (from amazon):