NO :cook: :spin: :dance3: :party: :tickle: :fight: :whisper: :eat: :bash: :fish: :cheers: :soapbox: :spank: :rant2: :tongue: :kinky: :bananacheer: :booty: :zzz: GOT IT????




:nono:

:flasher: AND :drool: IS ALLOWED!

Cherie's reveal:

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<a href="http://bookcrossing.com/journal/4411965" target="_blank"><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512TEYXD25L._SL320_SH20_.jpg" height="320" width="207" border="0" align="left" hspace="15" vspace="10" alt="Tramp - visit BookCrossing journal page" title="Visit BookCrossing journal page" /></a>

<p align="center"><b><font size="4" face="century gothic, verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><font color="#cc33cc">Tramp: A Lilly Bennett Mystery</font> by Marne Davis Kellogg</font></b></p>

<p>By turns sassy and tough, tender and vulnerable, Lilly, a no-longer-so-young Wyoming belle with degrees in criminology and toxicology, is a private investigator and the marshal of Bennett's Fort, a town owned literally lock, stock, and barrel by her cousin. Shod by Chanel, clad in designer suits, and wearing ladylike white gloves, Lilly is an unlikely but highly efficient detective—as she proves when confronted with solving the murder by poisoning of Cyrus Vaile, the incredibly rich, disgustingly lecherous old patron of the local repertory theater.</p> <p>It happens on the night of his birthday celebration, in full view of Lilly and most of his repertory "family," any one of whom might have a pretty good motive for wanting Cyrus dead. And with so much flamboyant emotion obscuring the facts like a theatrical fog, it isn't easy for Lilly to cut through the glycerin tears and get at the unvarnished truth.</p> <p>In Lilly, her eccentric extended family (who made their money in two black crops—oil and Angus cattle), and her dashing suitor Richard Jerome (an ex-Morgan banker turned opera impresario and professional team-roper), Marne Davis Kellogg has invented a fascinating cast of ongoing characters. In <i>Tramp</i> she has created a witty, twisty mystery that shows off each of their talents to perfection.</p>
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Cheesy's reveal:

Candy and Me (A Love Story) by Hilary Liftin



Book Description:

As a seven-year-old child, Hilary Liftin poured herself a glass (or two) of powdered sugar. Those forbidden cups soon escalated to pound bags of candy corn and multiple packets of dry cocoa mix, launching the epic love affair between Hilary and all things sweet. In Candy and Me: A Love Story, Liftin chronicles her life through candy memories and milestones. As a high school student, Hilary used candy to get through track meets, bad hair days, after-school jobs, and her first not-so-great love. Her sweet tooth followed her to college, where she tried to suppress the crackle of Smarties wrappers in morning classes. Through life's highs and lows, her devotion has never crashed -- candy has been a constant companion and a refuge that sustained her.

As Liftin recounts her record-setting candy consumption, loves and friendships unfold in a funny and heartbreaking series of bittersweet revelations and restorative meditations. Hilary survives a profound obsession with jelly beans and a camp counselor, a forgettable fling with Skittles at a dot-com, and a messy breakup healed by a friendship forged over Circus Peanuts. Through thick and thin, sweet and sour, Hilary confronts the challenges of conversation hearts and the vagaries of boyfriends, searching for that perfect balance of love and sugar.

Written with a fresh dry humor that will immediately absorb you into Liftin's sweet obsessions and remind you of your own, Candy and Me unwraps the meaning found in the universal desire for connection and confection. Treat yourself to Candy and Me -- being bad never read so good.

My reveal is:

Cupid, Inc




It's not easy to fall in love - especially in Sin City. Nobody knows this better than Greek deities Psyche and Eros, who keep a watchful eye on the mortals in Las Vegas. With a little divine intervention from Aphrodite and the rest of the gods and goddesses, Psyche and Eros set out to fulfill the sexual fantasies of their clients, hoping to turn lust into love.

Giz's reveal:



Love in the Present Tense by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Synopsis
Mitch is a 25-year-old with commitment issues. Leonard is a five-year-old kid with asthma and vision problems, who captivates everyone he meets. Pearl is Leonard's teenage mother, who's trying to hide a violent secret from her past. Life has given Pearl every reason to mistrust people, but circumstances force her to trust her neighbour, Mitch. Then one day, with a heart full of agony, Pearl drops Leonard off with Mitch and never returns. Pearl, Leonard and Mitch each have a story to tell and as their lives unfold, profound questions arise about the nature of love and family. How do you go on loving someone who isn't there? With Leonard's absolute conviction in 'forever love' always present, Leonard and Mitch grow up side by side and piece together the layered truths and fictions of their almost magical lives. The answers are heartbreaking, but ultimately triumphant.

Giz says:
I loved this - it's a fast read and unashamedly sentimental but a great feel good book.

Amber's reveal:

Bitten & Smitten



Book Description

From Publishers Weekly
Rowen hits the nail (or is it the stake?) on the head with her feisty debut novel about a reluctant vampire trying to cope with her newfound otherworldly status. After a blind date bites Sarah Dearly on the neck and is killed by vampire hunters, she discovers she's not only a vampire but also has been left to learn the ropes of the night by herself. Thank goodness for wise "master" vampire Thierry de Bennicoeur, who saves her life, shows her to the nearest vampire hangout and wins her heart in the process. Next comes a mix of misplaced trust, stakings and bad double dates, all with the goal of outwitting the vampire hunters and getting Thierry to see that Sarah's the one for him. Rowen perfectly balances suspense and wit by tossing in one-liners just when the novel could start getting too serious ("I just need to wash my face and brush my fangs first and we can get out of here," Sarah says). Mentions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Anne Rice ground the novel and make it a true modern girl's guide to (vampire) life.

From Booklist
Blind dates can be bad, but Sarah Dearly's date is a true contender for worst ever. His neck nibbling didn't just leave a bruise; it turns her into a vampire, and the newest target for a pack of zealot vampire hunters. With her date now their latest victim, Sarah runs for her immortal life--straight into Thierry de Bennicoeur, a master vampire who is just a wee bit suicidal. Thierry can't resist a damsel in distress and agrees to teach Sarah how to live the vampire life if she'll help him end his own. But as it turns out, Sarah may be his best reason for living. Bitten & Smitten is a study in contrasts: frothy chick-lit wrapped around a grittier reality and a flip side featuring a modern heroine paired with a Brontean hero. And Rowen makes it all work together beautifully. Let us welcome this fresh voice to the genre.

Brat's reveal:

She Loves Me Not by Wendy Corsi Staub




This is TBR - Shouldn't take me too long though.

Life Goes on. That's what young widow Rose Larrabee tells herself each day, as she has to be both Mother and Father to her two young children, a task that leaves her little time for new romance. That's why she's surprised to find the simple homemade valentine in her mailbox, a paper heart with no signature. It could be a sweet reminder, but for Rose, the red heart has special significance..... a link to a secret she shares with two other women....a secret that has just gotten one of them brutally murdered.

Now, as the phone rings in the night, playing a song that sends chills down Rose's spine, and more heart-shaped gifts arrive mysteriously, the young mother is determined to protect her family from a threat she cannot see, but knows is out there.....watching. As yet another woman is killed, it becomes clear that each valentine is not the gift of a secret admirer, but a warning from a twisted madman who's getting closer to the very heart of her deepest fears.

Nursie's reveal:

CUPID AND DIANA: A Novel by Christina Bartolomeo




What is it with Catholic girls anyway? In Christina Bartolomeo's Cupid and Diana, Diana Campanella, a decidedly '90s woman with a penchant for early-'50s fashion, can't help but wonder if there isn't more to life. True, making the switch from her dull government job to ownership of a vintage clothing shop has been a personal victory. But the shop is about to go the way of the corset, and Diana's bank balance is dangerously low. Meanwhile, acting as referee between her head-butting sisters (a professional lingerie model in one corner, a perfect Catholic housewife in the other) is intolerable at best. And lawyer-fiancé Philip--handsome, well-dressed, a veritable Clark Kent with a bankroll--provides Diana with stability, security, and a notable shortage of profound passion.
Enter one Harry Sandburg, a displaced New York lawyer with a five o'clock shadow and a rumpled suit to match: "He had the sort of sweet and sad smile some Jewish guys have. It radiated a wry self-deprecation in which there was nothing humble or cringing." Harry is witty, wise, and utterly endearing. To make matters worse, their fervent lovemaking is enough to peel paint from the walls--a fact Diana learns one sweltering evening after a little too much Chianti and meatballs. Profound passion? Yes. But Harry's staying power is questionable, and Diana isn't getting any younger. Amidst mounds of manicotti and family feuds, vintage Roxbury suits and dreary Washington, D.C., political events, Diana struggles to choose between what she should do and what she truly wants. Funny, warm, sophisticated, and intelligent, Bartolomeo's debut is a keen romantic comedy packed with both fictional and fashionable delights.

Apolonia's Reveal:




Synopsis

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I hate Valentine's Day
Just like you.

One of the top wedding photographers in town, Liv Hetherington, steadfastly single, hates Valentine's Day. This year she's putting her foot down and has vowed there'll be no dinner party set-ups, speed-dating frenzies or any other form of accidental dating organized by her father, flatmate or best friend.

What she hasn't counted on is that, this year, they've given up on her.

Liv's ecstatic, to say the least. Now she can concentrate on more important things like setting up her own studio and polishing off her Dickens collection. But are relationships really not for her? Drew, the new man in Liv's life, would beg to differ. As would Cupid, who's had enough of Liv being stubbornly single and sends the ghosts of Valentine's Day Past, Present and Yet-to-Come to teach her a lesson or two where love's concerned . . .

Valentine's Day . . . bah, humbug.

Or is all that about to change?


Library Journal
After years of valiantly enduring the Valentine's Day matchmaking efforts of her family and friends, crack wedding photographer and Charles Dickens fan Liz Hetherington is overjoyed when she learns that the matchmakers have finally given up on her. But Cupid has other plans, and when, a la A Christmas Carol, the ghost of a late workaholic wedding photographer materializes and tells Liz to expect visits from three spirits, her life takes on a hilarious, sometimes poignant twist. A sassy chick-lit tale with a warmly romantic cast that will appeal to fans of the genre and, because of its paranormal Dickensian bent, may attract other romance readers as well. Rushby (It's Not You, It's Me) lives in Brisbane, Australia. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Boogal's reveal:




The Mathematics of Love by Emma Darwin

This is an Advance Reader's Edition.

spiderchic's reveal:



The Flower King by Lesley Howarth

The narrator of this story doesn't just see colours, he feels them. At home, the colour is mainly panic button red. But when visiting old Mrs Pinder, yellow floods in, the yellow of the daffodil fields she worked as a child for the Flower King, whose tragic story lies at the heart of this tale.

Candy's reveal:



Kiss Me, Kill Me is from Anne Rules’ “Crime Files" series, and it’s a doozie. Focusing on disappearances and murders, mostly of women, Rule covers stories from the 1950s through 2004. For example, Rule’s telling of the Harvey Glatman murders brings home the horror these young women must have experienced. She also takes time to explore Glatman’s psychopathy -- it’s not enough to say a man is evil or that he’s sick. What is endlessly fascinating about any crime is what led ordinary folks to such horrid deeds.
What makes Ms. Rule’s books so fascinating is her status as police insider combined with her incredible power as a researcher and writer. Whether it’s rape, betrayal, kidnapping or murder, she provides a look at human nature that is intimate and puzzling at the same time.

Sejent's reveal:



The Amethyst Heart by Penelope J. Stokes (TBR)

From amazon:
"The only possession Miss Amethyst Noble loves as much as the antique brooch she wears at her throat is Noble House-a symbol of freedom, faith, and a family history proudly and inextricably entwined with the history of a nation. For a hundred and forty years, Noble House has been a place of shelter, hope, and healing in Cambridge, Mississippi. A place of miracles.

When she discovers her dissolute son has designs to sell the ancestral home out from under her, Miss Amethyst-ninety-three years old and as sharp as eve- isn't about to let that legacy go. If her son is lost to her, there's still her granddaughter. Little Am, who had once held such sweet promise, but the gentle, good-natured child has mutated in her teenage years into something else altogether. But whatever it takes, Little Am is going to know that the Noble family heritage is worth fighting for."

GateGypsy's reveal!



Lost Girls and Love Hotels

Margaret is doing everything in her power to forget home, and Tokyo's exotic nightlife—teeming with drink, drugs, and three-hour love hotels—enables her to keep her demons at bay. Working as an English specialist at Air-Pro Stewardess Training Institute by day and losing herself in a sex- and drug-addled oblivion by night, Margaret represses memories of her painful childhood in Canada and her older brother Frank's descent into madness.

But Margaret's deliberate nihilism is thrown off balance as she becomes increasingly haunted by images of a Western girl missing in Tokyo. And when she meets Kazu, a mysterious gangster, their affair sparks a chain of events that could spell tragedy for Margaret, in a city where it's all too easy to disappear.

An unforgettable portrait of loneliness and redemption as seen through the neon glare of one of the world's most fascinating cities, Lost Girls and Love Hotels introduces a talented new voice in fiction.

This is TBR (sorry!) ... and the emphasis in the title is mine :lol:

Boomda's reveal:



The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank by Ellen Feldman
TBR


Book Description

From Amazon.com:
Peter Van Pels hid in the attic with Anne Frank and died in the camps just before liberation. But what if he survived, forged a new identity, and came to the U.S. after the war? Feldman imagines the young immigrant, who denies his Jewishness and his horrific past, marries, raises a happy family, and succeeds in business. He reveals his identity to no one, including his Jewish wife, and he never speaks of the Holocaust cruelty he witnessed. But when the Diary, edited by Otto Frank, is an international bestseller, followed by the play and the movie, Peter can no longer suppress his survivor guilt, his fury at the exploitation and cover-ups, and his traumatic breakdown. The fiction is sometimes far-fetched, especially the perfect wife (even if it is the '50s). But the history will grab the many devoted readers of the Diary, as will Peter's rage at the falsely uplifting message that "people are really good at heart." Feldman strips away the reverential veneer to show the secrets and lies.