The Edge by Catherine Coulter

From Amazon:

"Following the success of The Cove, The Maze, and The Target, Coulter again delights readers with her latest offering, The Edge. Recovering in a D.C. hospital from a Tunisian car bomb accident, FBI agent Ford MacDougal awakens from a violent dream in which his sister Jilly drives off a cliff and into the ocean. Ford feels her fear as well as her anger and agony over the betrayal by someone named Laura, and shares the utter stillness as the frigid waters engulf her. The next morning, he receives the news that Jilly was indeed in a car accident. And when he arrives in Edgerton, Oregon, it quickly becomes obvious that something mysterious and deadly is going on in the quiet, little town. Add a quirky cast of characters, including a sexy, undercover DEA agent named--you guessed it--Laura, a drug that improves sex exponentially but has the unfortunate side effect of making its users psychotic, and you've got all the ingredients for a fast-paced, can't-put-down thriller."

This book was a little different than anything I've never read before. First of all it's pretty rare for me to pick up a book that's in the first person. I'm not really sure why, I just think it's strange. On top of being in the first person, it's from a man's perspective. I cannot say that I recall ever having read a book in the first person by a man.
Surprisingly enough, Coulter did a fantastic job of getting the male perspecitve, in my opinion. She did go off on a few description tangents involving flowers and butterflies that were a wee bit unbelievable though.
The plot to this one was a little bit out there for me. She got a bit nitty gritty with the "sex drug." It was actually kind of disturbing, some of the things that went on.
I'm going to continue with this FBI Thriller series, I just hope she steps back a little from the weirdness of this book.
I will give it a 2ish out of 5.

My One and Only by Kristan Higgins

From Barnes and Noble:

"Divorce attorney Harper James can't catch a break. Bad enough that she runs into her ex-hubby, Nick, at her sister's destination wedding, but now, by a cruel twist of fate, she's being forced to make a cross-country road trip with him. And her almost-fiancé back at home is not likely to be sympathetic. Harper can't help that Nick has come blazing back into her life in all of his frustratingly appealing, gorgeous architect glory. But in Nick's eyes, Harper's always been the one. If they can only get it right this time, forever might be waiting—just around the bend."

So I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but my mood tends to go along with whatever book I'm reading. So since DH has been away I've tried my best to just read books that are happy-go-lucky. I've tried to keep everything around me as upbeat as possible so that I can stay that way.
This book was cute. It was funny, and it did a great job of seeing inside someone with flaws and how she fixed them. But it made me rather sad for pretty much the whole book.
Harper had alot of stuff going on, and she did her best to fix things as she knew how. But she ran into one road block after another. I felt so bad for her. I felt the pain that she was feeling, and that my friends is not good for me...lol.
It was good. Higgins did a great job and under other circumstances I would love this book. But instead for right now it has brought me down a bit. But that's only because Higgins did a great job of making you believe and feel her characters.
I will definately read her again, but I will make sure I have my DH back first...just in case.



Already Home by Susan Mallery

From Barnes and Noble:

"After nearly a decade as a sous-chef in a trendy eatery, Jenna is desperate for a change. She's supported her ex-husband's dreams for so long that she can't even remember her own. Until she sees a for-lease sign near her parents' home and envisions her very own cooking store. Her crash course in business is aided by a streetwise store manager and Jenna's adoptive mother. But just as she's gaining a foothold in her new life, in walk her birth parents—aging hippies on a quest to reconnect with their firstborn.
Now Jenna must figure out how to reconcile the free-spirited Serenity and Tom with her traditional parents, deal with her feelings for a new love interest and decide what to do about her ex's latest outrageous request. In the end, Jenna will find that there is no perfect family, only the people we love…."

As stated before, I LOVE Susan Mallery. She writes stories that usually have a little twist to them, but they are always sweet. I love a sweet story.
I loved all the characters, except of course Aaron.
Violet was a great girl, I am so pleased that Dragon ends up with her. I am a little disappointed that they don't get their own book though, that would have made for some laughs!
I liked Ellington and Jenna.
It was very cool to see the dynamics when a wrench is thrown into family times.
I love a book that makes me feel good when it's over, this book did it for me. I always look for any Mallery books that are coming out, and this one was good!
I give it a 3 out of 5





Cinderella and other stories by Richard Harding Davis

I want to get some classics and children's books read because there are so many that I have not read. I sort of have to bribe myself into reading them, because there are so many other books that I want to read. But, they are classics for a reason, so Try I will!

Cinderella

I thought that this whole book was Cinderella, and that it was THE Cinderella. It is not, however. I read it anyway and enjoyed it immensely. It was rather hilarious actually.
It was set in America, and there was a servant's ball. At this ball was a woman that although her name was Annie, was called Cinderella. She danced beautifully.
It was remniscent of Pygmalion in that there are two men that have decided to make a lady out of a servant type girl. I do love that we see the other side of it. Who's to say she wasn't perfectly happy in the life that she was already living? Who's to say that changing her life so dramatically will actually benefit HER instead of just being a whim that these two men take.
The humor in this story was fantastic, I loved it. I also like the story line alot. I like things that are a little bit different than what you'd expect.
I still want to read the real Cinderella, but I am very happy that I found this one.

Here are a few favorite quotes:

"She said he was an elegant or-gan-ist, putting the emphasis on the second syllable, which made Van Bibber think that she was speaking of some religious body to which he belonged. But the oragnist make his profession clear by explaining that the committee had just invited him to oblige the company with a solo on the piano, but that he had been hitting the champagne so hard that he doubted if he could tell the keys from the pedals, and he added that if they'd excuse him he would go to sleep, which he immediately did with his head on the shoulder of the lady recitationist, who tactfully tried not to notice that he was there."

"Van Bibber was consious that his friends were applauding him in dumb show from the balcony, and when his partner asked who they were, he repudiated them altogether, and said he could not imagine, but that he guessed from their bad manners they were professional entertainers hired for the evening."

Miss Delamar's Understudy

This however, was really strange. A group of men were sitting around talking about how much they loved adventure, and that they just couldn't see themselves tied down to a wife. They made some comparisons of love to petting a dogs head that was really quite funny.
So they were discussing that they would like to make a kind of trial run at marriage to see if they would like keeping the company of a woman before they actually considered getting married. So one of the gentlemen did an experiment on being married to the photo of a woman that he found to be the most beautiful woman in all the world.
He sat down to dinner and conversation with the photograph and then an evening discussing old stories, reading and chatting with the photograph.
Strange I tell you, rather strange.

The Editor's Story

Man, this one was rather strange too.
An editor runs across a poem that he recognizes and having been published in a paper already. The poem has been plagarized by the son of an upstanding powerful man. When the editor finally figures out who the plagarist is, he takes a report to confront the man in hopes to get a scandalized story out of it.
Instead they decide not to write the story, not to publish the plagarized poem and to just let the whole thing drop.
I failed to find "the REST of the story, and good day!"

The Target by Catherine Coulter

From Barnes and Noble:

FBI agents Dillon Savich and Lacey Sherlock are faced with the case of an abducted child. But is the girl's kidnapper really her savior?

She's getting better by the book! I liked this one alot. I liked all the characters. I loved the interaction between Emma and Ramsey, that was just sweet as pie. I liked Molly alot. I loved how all the characters grew and learned lessons by the end of the book. I love the way Coulter left it sort of open ended with Mason and Molly's mom.
I also love that Savich and Sherlock had a baby, and that she only got sick when Dillon said the P word! That was cute.
I liked the way that Coulter touched on abuse. I like that she also took us through the steps of healing, instead of just that Emma was abused. I'm glad that she put that real world aspect into it. People have to heal after they are hurt.
I think that I'll be reading more of this FBI series!
I'll give it a 3 out of 5



The Maze by Catherine Coulter

From Barnes and Noble:

FBI Special Agent Dillon Savich teams up with new agent Lacey Sherlock in a case that leads them back to the murder of Sherlock's sister seven years ago, and puts both their lives on the line.

This book definately was an improvement from The Cove. She got it down to one plot, and gave me a plot that kept moving but didn't get strangely complicated. I love the interaction between Savich and Sherlock. I really liked Savich from The Cove, so I'm glad that I got to meet him again. Coulter did a great job of letting you see inside some of the outer characters.
I also liked seeing Sally and James from the previous book.
I liked that Sherlock had a totally screwed up family, because who can't relate to that?
I think this book had the right amount of suspense and romance.
I'm really glad that this was better for me than The Cove was. I'm looking forward to reading more.