Volume 3 #3

Volume 3 #3

All books reviewed here are recommended. Please, always keep in mind that the only books that appear on this page are ones that I liked enough to write about. For every book reviewed here I have usually read two that I would not want to inflict on anyone.

Happy reading,

Romance/Contemporary/Paranormal
Too Sexy for Marriage
Cathie Linz
Harlequin 0373440391

Oddly enough, with no planning what-so-ever I started this and found out it was another tale of triplets. It is the first of a trilogy, each telling the love story of one of the three Knights. This one is about "Chicago's Sexiest Bachelor" District Attorney Jason Knight who falls for plain-jane Heather Grayson, who hosts a radio program dealing with matters of the heart.

A quick and light entertainment.

Romance/Contemporary
Lonely Hearts
Annie Kimberlin
Love Spell 050552256X

Ditzy Sylvie Taylor is stranded on her roof by her standard poodle Jean-Luc. Rescued by the mail carrier she finds herself drawn to him and he to her even though they seem to be total opposites.

A pleasant read filled with interesting facts about the art of rubber stamping.

Young Adult/Multicultural
The Storyteller's Beads
Jane Kurtz
Harcourt Brace 0152010742

Orphaned Sahay flees the only home she has known as famine grips Ethiopia and the army approaches. On the treacherous trail towards hope she meets Rahel, a blind girl who is a member of a group even more reviled than her ethnic group. Together they help each other survive even after they reach a refugee camp.

Terrific storytelling about groups little known to U.S. teens.

Young Adult/Suspense
Gemini 7 : Danger.com
Jordan Cray
Aladdin-Simon & Schuster 0689814321

Jonah and Jen a quite a couple until Jonah starts picking up girl friends on an internet chat line. It's not too much of a problem until cyber-pal, the gorgeous Nicole Gemini comes to town and strange events start happening.

This is the start of an entertaining suspense series for those who are ready to move on from Fear Street.

Young Adult/Fantasy
Ranvan: Magic Nation
Diana Wieler
Groundwood 088899317X

Rhan is off to study Cinema, Television, Stage, and Radio at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology where he finds he has a true gift for one-camera video that is enhanced by flashes of precognition. Meeting new people and running into someone from his past as a video knight he becomes emeshed in a skinhead murder conspiracy.

A real page-turner featuring a character the reader wants for best friend and fascinating details of his college life makes reading the first two books in this series a high priority. Wieler also wrote the award winning Bad Boy.

Young Adult/Supernatural
Paperquake: A Puzzle
Kathryn Reiss
Harcourt Brace 0152011838

Violet is the odd one out in a trio of triplets, her sisters being identical and she a fraternal triplet. When cleaning up an old building that her parents are planning on opening up a branch of their floral business in she find an old envelope with a letter that seems addressed to her. Strange dreams and visions lead her to making a decision that could save thousands of lives. Is someone from the past really trying to communicate with her?

This reminded me of Reiss' Time Windows in its treatment of time and the fascinating "what ifs" related to it. A quick and entertaining read, this should appeal to middle school girls.

Science Fiction/Alternate World/Martial Arts
The Helm
Steven Gould
Tor 0312864604

Leland follows a rocky path to greatness after he ascends a forbidden peak during a festival and places a sacred helm upon his head even though the privilege of donning the mysterious artifact of the "founders" should have by right belonged to his oldest brother who had been groomed to govern. After the event his father seemingly turns on him, charging his brothers with the task of beating him with a bamboo pole at random and unexpected times. After the intercession of a young woman of high station he is invited to dine in company again then sent off to a distant village where he studies martial arts discovering that on an unconscious level he knows much that he has no rational explanation for knowing. As a war begins he finds himself pressed into a position of leadership.

Gould is definitely a rising star in the science fiction world, each new novel fulfilling and even exceeding the reader's expectations for a good story well told. Leland reminds me of one of my favorite characters in SF, Miles Vorkosigan in the series by Lois McMaster Bujold. He also has the leadership abilities demonstrated by the seventeen-year old midshipman in Midshipman's Hope and Ender Wiggins in Card's Ender's Game. So far, this is my pick for best SF novel of the year.

Young Adult/Contemporary/Abuse/Teen Parents
Baby Help
Marilyn Reynolds
Morning Glory Press 1885356277

Reynolds returns to her popular Hamilton High series with the story of independent two-year old Cheyenne and her seventeen-year old mom Melissa who lives with abusive boyfriend Rudy. After a guest speaker at school talks about abusive relationships Melissa realizes that her relationship to the father of her baby fits the definition but she is not moved to take action until Rudy's violence terrifies Cheyenne. Her attempt to extricate herself from a possibly fatal relationship is realistically and sympathetically told.

Science Fiction/Aliens
Children of God
Mary Doria Russell
Villard 067945635X

This stunning sequel to the James Tiptree award winning The Sparrow follows Jesuit Emilio Sandoz back to Rakhat where enormous changes have taken place and events that unfolded in the earlier book are given a different spin. Rarely has a sequel so matched and in places surpassed the initial volume in intensity and imagination. Everyone who has read The Sparrow will be wanting to read this compelling continuation immediately if not sooner. If I were in the business of awarding stars or ratings for books, this would receive the most possible.

Romance/Contemporary
Stray Hearts
Annie Kimberlin
Love Spell 0505522217

Once burned, twice wary could be the motto of animal loving veterinarian Melissa March (no relation to Meg, Jo, Beth, or Amy as far as I could tell) who is called out one evening by an attractive and kind widowed elementary school principal to tend to a dog accidentally hit by his car. A dedicated dad, Peter realizes that in his grief he has been allowing his mother-in-law too much latitude in caring for six-year old Angie who has acquired her grandmother's unreasonable fear of dogs. Bonding with the shy little sheltie that has survived the accident with only a broken leg he begins a friendship with Melissa based on mutual values as he tries to help Angie get over her terror of dogs.

It is a charming read with realistic characters who have an interior beauty and grace that makes them very attractive. Melissa's pooch Hugo as well as the other animals in the story add an extra dimension of enjoyment.

Fantasy/Dark Fantasy
Running With the Demon
Terry Brooks
Del Rey Ballantine 0345379624

Teenaged Nest lives next to a park that she, as women in her family have for generations, protects with her best friend Pick a sylvan, a tiny twig forest creature. The growing population of feeders, invisible evil creatures, foretells a disastrous future for our world unless Nest can summon the necessary magic to stop the demon that knows the secret of her parentage.

Brooks proves his versatility with this one. His storytelling abilities are in the same class as Dean Koontz's. A real page-turner and quite a different flavor than his Shannara and Magic Kingdom of Landover books.