What a Cool Idea! Books

The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie

2010-03-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

Daisy Flattery has been working as an artist, after leaving her job as a teacher, and not having a great deal of luck keeping her head above water financially when her upstairs neighbor needs a fiance for the weekend.

Linc Blaise is interviewing for a position in the History Department at Prescott College and in a moment of panic invented a fiance. And now he needs to find a suitable woman to help him convince the powers that be that he's the right man for the job.

But Linc think Daisy is flighty and says the first thing that comes out of her mouth. His taste runs to trim blonds who fit in with his chrome and black furniture and track lighting. Daisy's life is mismatched and comfortable and her art is uncomfortable for a lot of people but she works hard to make sure she doesn't embarrass Linc during his interview.

In fact, everyone loves Daisy and when Linc shows up in the fall without her it's a problem. His intention was to create a new story about how they broke up but the department chair sends him to go get her so he does. Linc convinces Daisy to spend the academic year married to him - he wins by keeping his job and she wins by being able to paint and not worry about the bills. Each has some concern about what this says about their priorities and the growing attraction building between them.

One thing Linc didn't count on was everyone liking Daisy so much or Daisy becoming such an integral part of life in the community. The students he tutors start coming to his house even when he's not there, faculty he works with do the same, and everyone loves Daisy - including the dog she adopts as soon as she gets to town.

True to other Crusie stories there are some wonderfully funny moments but this story also has some unexpectedly touching experiences between the two main characters. This may not be a new Crusie - it's a re-release from Bantam - but it's new to me and may be new to many of you. One thing I know about it though is that you won't be disappointed.

Cleaving by Julie Powell

2010-02-11T06:23:00.000-08:00

I loved Julie and Julia and was excited to find out that she'd written another book, however this is not the kinder/ gentler Julie who cooked her way through Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This is a memoir of a woman who's having an affair, who's husband knows she's cheating on him, who is given permission to do the same and who seem to be living separate lives within the same space.

While this is going on Julie decides to take on an apprenticeship as a butcher. You should know - I don't have the love of raw meat that Julie Powell does. In fact, I really dislike raw meat and there's a lot of talk about breaking down animals. I found it intriguing how this discussion mirrored the breaking down of her relationships. Not unintentional, of course.

I usually fly through books but this one has taken me nearly two months. It's captivating but disturbing and even though there's a satisfying ending I'm not sure you can exactly call it happy.

Fired Up by Jayne Ann Krentz

2010-01-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

Jack Winters is afraid that he's going crazy and knowing his family's history that means the Arcane Society will be after him to kill him. The only help is to find the lamp that his great-great-whatever forge centuries ago and a dreamlight reader to reverse the effects of whatever is going on with him.

When Jack walks into Chloe Harper's office she knows that he's different and that he has a very strong talent. When she brushes up against where his hand touched her desk earlier she also learns that he'd killed someone. Amazingly enough she believes his story and jumps in to help him find the lamp he needs.

They head off to Vegas and a happen to stay one step ahead of the bad guys, most of the time, learning more about each other, the attraction they feel and this mysterious extra talent that Jack seems to have developed. Eventually, they contact J&J to set things straight and, of course, help take out a few more Nightshade operatives.

While this Arcane Society novel stands alone, and is the first in the Dreamlight Trilogy, if you've been following the series you'll enjoy that several characters from previous stories make a cameo appearance.

Face of a Killer by Robin Burcell

2010-01-18T09:34:00.001-08:00

Sydney Kirkpatrick's father was killed in a robbery gone bad 20 years ago and now that the man responsible is days away from being executed she drives to San Quentin to tell him how he ruined her life. But she learns that the kid who robbed her father actually knew him and wasn't just after his money.

Sydney uses her time between doing forensic sketches as an FBI agent to research back through her father's case to try to figure out who might have actually killed him. In the mean time, she learns that someone has put out a hit on her.

Trying to bring her past into her present, while keeping her mother's new family safe, takes Sydney off of her usual straight-and-narrow path. Her skills as a forensic artist are invaluable when it comes to putting all the pieces together in a story that'll keep you guessing right up until the end.

Need to Know by Christine Merrill

2010-01-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

Liz Monahan was having a nice weekend getaway with her current boyfriend until she began to pick up the tell-tale signs that he was married. This always happened to her and it really pissed her off. Flustered, she watched him get off the elevator for his room and then goes to her own. As she walks in she sees a dead guy in the bathroom and a hitman throws her on the bed. Luckily the hitman has a soft spot for six foot tall redheads and lets her overpower him so she can get away.

Agent Harper isn't having a very good day. His partner killed their informant. Then a civilian walks in on his clean up. After he lets her go he knows he has to get going fast before security comes check. His partner leaves him hanging and when he gets back to The Agency they are not happy. Especially, when evidence comes along that points to his partners death. He begins to connect the dots and knows that they're going to pin the screw up on him so he bails out the window of his office, uses his 'ready' bag and becomes "Bob Anderson" so he can go back to the last place his partner was on assignment and find out what went wrong.

The first thing that happens is that he runs into Liz, who is the reference librarian for a pharmaceutical company that "Bob" now works for as an accountant. She freaks out runs right into her, now ex-, boyfriend. Yep, she kicked him out when he didn't believe that she'd seen a dead guy and the hitman and by the time she gets home "Bob" has broken into her house and searched for clues to connect her to the theft and sale of extremely dangerous, pharmacological superbugs.

While "Bob" and Liz are on the run, trying to stay one step ahead of the bad guys so they can stop a biological pandemic from happening there are some laugh out loud moments. First, there's the running discussion of Liz's tattoo and what it means. Then there are the random calls from her mom. Also, there's the budding chemistry that builds and builds as the two get to know each other better as they run for their lives and solve the crisis before the end of the world as we know it.

Ice by Linda Howard

2009-12-16T17:16:00.001-08:00

Gabriel McQueen arrives home to Maine to visit his young son and parents just in time for a major ice storm to blow into town. His dad, who's the town sheriff, asks him to go up the Helton place to check on Lolly Helton who is in town to ready the family's house for sale.

Gabriel and Lolly had a love hate relationship when they were in high school based on the fact that each had the hots for each other but didn't know how to express it. You know, typical high school stuff.

When Lolly is threatened by meth addicts that invade her home Gabriel helps her escape and gives her more than just an extra hand against the hoped up addicts. He gives her a piece of his heart. Check out this holiday romantic suspense novel for a good happily ever after.

Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris

2009-11-24T11:21:00.000-08:00

Harper Connelly has a special gift. Ever since she was struck by lightning as a teenager she's been able to find dead people. On this trip back to Texas to see their sisters, Harper and Tolliver are pushed back into the past when they learn that Tolliver's father has been released from prison and he's seeking forgiveness now that he's clean and sober.

Harper and Tolliver, who are not related by blood but grew up together, are finding it a challenge to be seen as a couple now and the only people happy for them are their little sisters who just want to be be able to wear long dresses to a wedding.
But in the process of getting reaquainted with their family some disturbing realizations come to light about the long ago abduction, and probable murder, of Harper's older sister Cameron. During Tolliver's recuperation from a gun shot wound they drive back to the scene of Cameron's abduction, see the scene with eyes of adults and learn that their current case and the lives of their family are most assuredly interwined.

Blame it on Paris by Jennifer Greene

2009-11-13T05:14:00.000-08:00

Kelly Rochard goes on vacation to Paris to learn more about the father she never knew but the first day she's there she's mugged and looses everything - including the letters her father wrote her mother before she was born. Will Maguire witnesses the mugging and recognizes the flustered high school French and unwittingly gets himself wrapped up in the questioning, but when he takes a good look at Kelly the chemistry between them is unmistakable.

Will has father issues, too, and he started hiding out in Paris several years ago to stay out of the family business and now he's practically running a small cheese company so stepping in to help a young women in distress is nothing new. He takes care of getting her immediate needs met by letting her use his phone and by the end of the day these two have become much closer. Much.

Kelly and Will both work on their father issues and a few other things along the way. Be sure to catch "Blame it on Paris" so that you can find out how Kelly and Will finally get together. It's worth it. Also the rich language and descriptions of Paris are wonderful. You'll swear you were actually there

Mad Dash by Patricia Gaffney

2009-11-06T06:49:00.000-08:00

In the past year of Dash Bateman's life her mother died suddenly and her daughter left for college. Now she and her husband are on their own to recraft new lives for themselves and while Dash might take this to an extreme there's nothing out of the ordinary that she goes through in this story. With some women's fiction the ending comes likes a thud, and as Susan Elizabeth Phillips mentioned on the back cover blurb of my copy, and 'you race to take an antidepressant'. There are no worries about that with this book. While there might have been moments when the characters had hard choices to make, in the end those choices pay off for Dash, her husband, and the readers

Come read by full review.

The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz

2009-10-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

Izzy Spellman grew up and joined the family business and her little sister is following in her footsteps. This has her family concerned since Izzy was quite the hellion as a child and because the Spellmans are Private Investigators. Anecdotes will keep you laughing as Izzy explains how she met each of her ex-boyfriends, how she and her best friend terrorized the neighborhood growing up and how she plans to find her little sister when it becomes clear that Rae has been kidnapped.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

2009-10-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

Bauby was the editor of French Elle Magazine until he suffered a stroke and was hospitalized with Locked-In Syndrome. This memoir was written one letter at a time blinking his left eye to spell out each and every word. The book is short but full of candor and a very different perspective from a man who knows that he isn't alive yet he isn't dead yet either.

Too Good To Be True by Kristan Higgins

2009-09-13T11:32:00.000-07:00

Grace Emerson is tired of being pitied since her ex-fiance dumped her 20 days before the wedding because he'd fallen in love with her younger sister, so she made up the boyfriend so that her sister wouldn't feel guilty and Grace wouldn't feel pitied about being at her cousin's wedding without a date. Then Callahan O'Shea moves in next door and Grace can't stop spying on him even though her dog attacks him at every opportunity. Turns out he's just gotten out of jail for something he didn't do but took the rap for and Grace is falling in love. Her family is much more leery and even the ex-fiance is warning her off even this causes problems. In the end Callahan and Grace give each other everything they are looking for and on the way this is a pretty fun read

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiassen

2009-08-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

Joey Perone is pushed off a cruise ship by her husband on her first anniversary. Only her skill and training as a collegiate diver allow her to survive the fall and the hundreds of miles of ocean before she is rescued off a small island near Florida by retired police investigator Mick Stranahan. Chaz Perone plays the grieving widower well until he gets too wrapped up with his mistress, the goon sent by his 'boss' to make sure his investment stays safe, and his real job as a biologist testing nitrate runoff in the Everglades. Joey gets Mick to help her mess with Chaz and let him think he's being blackmailed and with pressure coming from the mistress, the 'by the book' cop, the 'blackmailer', the goon, and the 'boss', Chaz self-destructs and Joey sits back to watch. The grand finale, though, has one wondering if the ends justified the means

Savannah by John Jakes

2009-08-17T11:54:00.000-07:00

Jakes tells the story of Gen. Sherman's march on and occupation of the city of Savannah through the eyes of Hattie, Sarah, Miss V and their acquaintances. Hattie and her mother are driven from their rice plantation by hostilities and go to the city to live with their friend Miss V. Hattie's childhood friend LeGrand goes to war and is wounded and sent back to the city. We also see the story from the eyes of Union foraging soldiers and a newspaperman who falls in love with the widow Sarah and Miss V's piano.

For the Love of Pete by Julia Harper

2009-08-07T06:17:00.000-07:00

Zoey Adler hijacks a federal agent to help save her infant niece from kidnappers. The fact that she has nicknamed this guy 'Lips of Sin' should also tell you something about her previous run-ins with Dante Torelli. Agent Torelli is not only tasked with the protection of young Pete and her family who are in hiding from the Mob but also with an investigation of an agent gone bad. A snow storm hits Chicago, bullets fly, Pete gets swiped by Aunties from India and once again opposites attract

Out of Time by Samantha Graves

2009-07-31T10:06:00.000-07:00

Simon Bonner is desperately trying to retire from his previous profession as a tomb raider but his ex-wife's new husband shows up at his house in the mddle of the night trailing blood, news of his ex's abduction, and the key to the find that will get her back. All he needs to do is find a woman. Jillian Talbot isn't just any woman though. She can see the past in objects and the rock crystal lens that Simon is given was made for her because she is The Seer who must find The Archives of Man buried in some ancient ruins in Mexico. The trip through Mexico not only brings them closer to the Archives but closer to each other and to what is true and real in life which is something that they have both struggled with in previous relationships. [This book was a RITA finalist this year!]

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

2009-07-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

Vida Winter has sold more books than any other writer except the Bible but now she's elderly and sick and wants to tell the real story that she's never let interviewers know - who she really is and where she came from. She hires Margaret Lea by mail and tells her the story of her life from beginning to end, without interruption and without questions, so that it can be published. But once Margaret knows the story of the fire and what happened to the twins and gets to know Vida will she want to make the biography public?

Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

2009-07-19T14:52:00.001-07:00

Julie Powell's life is full of disappointments. She's nearing 30, she learns that she will have difficulty conceiving, she's working as a temp for a nameless government agency and she realizes that there's no meaning in her life. Then she takes on The Project. She decides to cook her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and chronicling her journey in a blog. Julie and Julia is funny and full of lots of cussing for what is basically mid-life crisis/ food porn. But readable, funny, believable, and if they made the movie like the book even guys will enjoy this chick flick because it marries food/ love/ sex all together in one story. It's also a great read for anyone who has had a sucky job at some point in their life - and isn't that most everyone!

Service Included by Phoebe Damrosch

2009-07-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter is an inside look at the work and life of the first female captain of a New York 4-star restaurant but it's about more than just food. It's about life and love and commitment. Like the chicken and the pig that give us breakfast each morning. Rich, readable voice and wonderful anecdotes and warm happy ending.

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

2009-06-26T06:38:00.000-07:00

June is the time for me to revisit this favorite on my keeper shelf. Bet Me is a modern day fairy tale about love and gambling and food and body image and the things families do to each other even when they don't mean to. Cal makes a bet that he can get Min to leave the bar with him even though she just got dumped by her boyfriend. Min overhears the bet and decides to take Cal for the perverbial ride so that she can have a gorgeous date to her sister's wedding. Min's rage over being dumped scares Cal away and Cal's Charm Boy persona is everything Min knows will break her heart. The two can't seem to stay away from each other though and as they learn more about who the other really is deep down inside they each try to figure out how to get to the Happily Ever After.

A Little Bit Wicked by Kristin Chenoweth

2009-06-22T18:04:00.000-07:00

The subtitle wraps this up nicely "Life, Love and Faith in Stages" from Chenoweth's upbringing in Oklahoma, her love of singing, her love of family and her faith. All stories come back to these themes. The rest is gravy but it's incredibly fun and tasty gravy. Stories about her constant runner-up status in the pageants that paid for her to study opera, her move to Broadway, then TV and her on-again, off-again relationship with Mr. Writer. You will laugh and you will cry and you will be entertained the entire time. I kid you not!

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

2009-06-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

Sookie Stackhouse has a front row seat to the Great Reveal - the night the Weres come out to the world - as her boss turns into a collie right there in the bar! But this is a small town and not everyone likes the idea of their neighbors having fur. Sookies comes under suspicion from the FBI, Jason's wife is murdered horribly, she's symbolically married to one of her former vampire boyfriends [I won't say which one!] and this is before the half-way point of the book. Harris keeps us hopping as the Fairies attack and it's not pretty. Lots of plots get dealt with so don't miss this installment of the Southern Vampire series.

Vision in White by Nora Roberts

2009-06-04T06:38:00.000-07:00

Roberts' first book in the Bride Quartet begins a new series about four childhood friends who grow up to start a wedding business together. Mackenzie Elliot throws herself into her photography to distance her heart from her mother issues and the abandonment of her trust-fund father. She is pursued by Carter Maguire - a stable PhD in English who had a high school crush on Mac. Carter tries to help Mac see that life can be just as wonderful untouched in the darkroom and even if it is unfocused and messy - it's always better with someone who truly loves you.

The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson

2009-05-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

Writing of life growing up in Freeville, New York and being raised in an extended family of women raising their families alone, Dickinson later finds herself raising her own daughter alone. This memoir follows her as she finds herself living in her hometown part-time and making a new life that takes her from fill-in jobs in DC to the replacement for the deceased Ann Landers in Chicago and a new life for her family in Freeville.

Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick

2009-05-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

Quick [Jayne Ann Krentz's pseudonym for historical romance] picks up the story of the founding of Jones and Jones - the Arcane Society's investigative arm and the relationship between Lucinda Bromley, whose talent is with plants and poisons, and Caleb Jones, a direct descendant of the founder, Sylvester Jones. Caleb has been told his whole adult life that he will go slowly mad like all the males of his family. Lucinda is notorious in her own right after several suspicious sucides in her immediate family and the death of her fiance by poison. When a rare plant from her conservatory goes missing and the poison made from it begins killing people, Lucinda helps Caleb track down the culprit. Caleb finds comfort in the daily routine of Lucinda's household and their personal relationship develops as the investigation leads them in some very dangerous directions.

Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

2009-05-14T11:17:00.000-07:00

A chronological conversation of her faith journey with side trips to discuss how she dealt an eating disorder, drugs, alcoholism, death of her father, relationships, death of her best friend, being a single mother and other real life issues. Humor and frank language make this book stand out from most conversations about faith and it is a refreshing change of pace.

What I Did For Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

2009-05-05T11:21:00.001-07:00

Hollywood child star, Georgie York, and her co-star, Bram Shepard, wake up married to each other in Vegas. Neither remembers how they got there but Georgie knows that she can't handle another scandal, not after her husband left her for a Hollywood Bombshell. Georgie convinces Bram to stay married to her and while they play doting newlyweds Georgie deals with her father issues, Bram's 20-something, punker housekeeper who hates her, and tries to find real meaning in her life.

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

2009-04-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

Based on true events around the Sarajevo Haggadah, Brooks has woven a tale traced across Europe through six centuries that is fresh, rich, smart, and exciting to read. One story line of the story is told from the first person perspective of the book conservator - Hanna. A woman with mother-issues who is given the opportunity of a lifetime to work on the Sarajevo Haggadah. She is curious about it's history and the people that it has touched in all it's past wanderings. The other story line works backward chronologically through the places where the Haggadah met a crucial turning point and the people and story that followed. You will be stunned, amazed and charmed. I promise. I stayed up all night and couldn't put it down.

Dogs and Goddesses by Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart, and Lani Diane Rich

2009-04-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

Shar, Abby, and Daisy [written respectively by Crusie, Stuart and Rich in a collaborative novel] find out that they are the descendants of the Mesopotamian Goddess Kammani. They work together, along with other goddess descendants, and the new men in their lives, to figure out their new-found powers, come to terms with their own family histories, and thwart Kammani's plans to take over present day Ohio and then the world. Oh, and did I mention the dogs talk.

For more information on how the collaboration worked and to see it in action visit their website. I highly recommend the blog. I guarantee you will laugh.

Glitter Baby by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

2009-04-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

Fleur spends her young life longing for the love and attention of her father only to abhor it when she actually get its it for the wrong reasons. A pawn between her parents, she has been a model and an actress and it's not until she ventures out on her own after learning of her mother's duplicity does she really begin to learn who she really is. An Epic story beginning in the days of Old Hollywood with Fleur's talentless mother trying to break into the business and being dazzled and by the stars instead. Phillips weaves a poignant tale of discovery and the tragedy that families can bring to themselves until Fleur finds out who she truly is and learns to love herself and her dream.

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

2009-03-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

The third detective novel featuring Harriet Vane and Sayers' recurring character Lord Peter Wimsey. Harriet returns to her Oxford college to help with a particularly nasty problem and encounters issues of eugenics, the life of the mind vs. the life of the heart, and she realizes that she must deal with her feelings for Peter because, as she comes to learn, he will never do it for her.

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich

2009-03-15T12:07:00.000-07:00

Diesel is back and things get weird for Stephanie as she tracks down the bad guys because Diesel is an Unmentionable and he complicates her already difficult personal life. The bad guys want to control the weather to control the world and this is saying something considering it's Jersey!

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

2009-03-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

Memoir and written form of her one-woman show, Fisher tells stories based on what she remembers of her life after having ECT to treat severe depression. Since much of her life is common knowledge her side of the story is full of laughs and wit and vintage cynicism, just as you'd expect.

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

2009-03-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

A ripped from the headlines look at school shooting, bullying, teenage cliques, how parenting and community does or doesn't affect a group of kids. Both a poignant and difficult read.

Dark of Night by Suzanne Brockmann

2009-03-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

Nash is dead until they can make it safe for him to be alive. Sophia and Dave have fallen in love and Dave has been abducted to try flush Nash out of hiding. Is Decker over his guilt/ love/ relationship with Sophia? Who at the Agency is trying to kill Nash and will they succeed before Dave is found?

Heart of the Sea by Nora Roberts

2009-03-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

Book Three in the Irish Trilogy. Carrick the Fairy Prince hopes that Darcy and Trevor will be the third to fall in love and break the spell so that he will finally be joined with his true love Lady Gwen, who haunts Faerie Hill Cottage.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

2009-03-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

The story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, from her beginnings to her end. Learn about her early family life, her siblings, her love of Animals, her desperate attempt to bring about justice and her desire for forgiveness. A treatise on politics, evil and Fate.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

2009-03-09T11:37:00.000-07:00

Bella meets Edward when she's the new kid in school. She doesn't fit in and neither does Edward but they are drawn to one another another. Once she falls in love with him and she learns his secret Bella is in a kind of danger that she could never have imagined.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

2009-03-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Pi is stuck on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, and a tiger in this novel that 'will make you believe in God'. Martel uses the convention of the memoir to bring the readers along on the tale of Pi's life including the harrowing shipwreck journey with a tiger.