I started reading The Accidental Countess (Harlequin Historical, Accidental Series Book 1) kind of late at night. And it was a work night no less. But the story sounded very interesting that I wanted to read just a little bit. Stephen has lost his memory and does not believe it when Emily tells him that they are married. Not only are they married but they are also the caretakers of two children which belonged to Emily’s brother.

During the course of the book Stephan is trying to understand what happened to him because he lost three months of his life after the attack that gave him amnesia. Stephan is investigating what happened to him and how did Emily’s brother die. Additionally there are some goods that were stolen and he’s trying to figure out what happened to that. Through it all, most importantly what does Emily really mean to him?

Emily blames Stephen for the fact that her brother was murdered. She accuses him of being at his house of his mistress instead of with her brother and that is the reason why her brother was attacked and killed.

At this point, I was thinking, “Yes Stephen, you have a good reason for being at your mistress’ house. Right?”

Meanwhile Emily is trying to have some pride about herself because she realizes how much she loves him but she doesn’t want to share his affections with a mistress. Add the fact that his family do not see her as worthy of being a countess contributes to her having lowered self-confidence in her ability to remain his wife.

At this point, I was frowning trying to figure out when are things going to start looking up for the couple. I want a happy love story.

This story was entertaining and I am glad that it all came together as Stephen was getting his memory back uncovering different pieces of the puzzle and putting them together. Stephen knew what he was doing when he married Emily. Once his memory came back, he remembered his reasons. I have not decided yet if I think they were good ones. Since they were married, they worked at it and made the best of it.

When you start reading it, you might not want to put it down. That is what happened to me . I would recommend reading this book on a weekend afternoon when you have plenty of time. Like I said, I was reading it on a work night and needless to say I did not get a lot of sleep at night. I could not sleep until I had my happy ever after ending.

All of that being said, the title of the book The Accidental Countess (Harlequin Historical, Accidental Series Book 1) to me is a misnomer. I did not see how she was made a countess by accident. I know I stress too much over book titles, but it is what it is.

Romancing in the workplace is only for story books

Dec22

As the story starts, Violet is a secretary for attorney Blake. She likes her job but she does not appreciate his brusque treatment. He seems to save the especially unkind words for her and this is worsened when he found out she has a crush on him. Considering he has been treating her like crap, I cannot understand why she cares for him.

In any case, she cannot take it anymore and ends up quitting her job and working for his enemy. He created a hostile work environment and, in my opinion, she could have sued him. We all know that would not have made a good love story, but I digress.

While in her new job she improves her wardrobe loses weight and begins to get her hair done. Since this is a small town Blake still sees her quite often. He gets a tinge of jealousy and make subtle hints for Violet to return to work for him.

The author description of Violet makes me think she was kind of homely and overweight. As a result Blake was not interested in her. But once she started exercising wearing make up and getting her hair done he took notice.

Does that make him shallow?
Or is it that she began to have more self-confidence she was ready to be in a relationship?

I have not figured out which is the case for this book. If you read it, let me know what you think.

Other than that, Boss Man had some surprises that thicken the story’s plot and made it very interesting. In the end Blake might technically be the boss but Violet has a lot to say too.

Its cold outside and she is conflicted inside

Dec20

The Book Of Love (Baby Its Cold Out)

Lila is the manager of a book store that is located in a building that was bought by developer Grayson. All the legal notifications regarding the necessity to relocate the store were sent to her parents since their names are the listed as the owners. Throughout the book, there was a lot of misdirected anger at Grayson from Lila who she decided was foreclosing on her parents’ (mostly her father) legacy. If anything, it was her mother’s fault. But I won’t even get into that.

First of all, my impression of this books has a lot to do with my stance on Christian or religious contemporary fiction. It is my personal opinion that when romance novel authors try to make them “Christian” they should at least say somewhere in the blurb about the book. Reading a romance novel and having “God” references liberally throughout makes it a Christian contemporary. Not knowing that from the beginning because makes me feel as if I’m being preached to. I am not saying that I have anything against books with a religious slant, but at least I can set my expectations based on that.

Lila is trying to be a “good” Christian and has made a vow that she would not indulge in premarital coitus. But that was before there were lighting sparks between her and Grayson. So now she’s relapsing but she’s so conflicted the whole time. It got kind of annoying to me because the story had a Debbie-downer feel every time Lila focused on her guilt. And that took some of the fun out the reading the back and forth banter between them. I knew that they would end up in bed and the next day she was going to be regretting her lack of self-control.

To top it off, Lila has the thought that maybe she shouldn’t get with Grayson because he’s not a Christian. Then he agrees to go to church with her just because if that is what she likes, he will go along with it. I really don’t like that. I don’t think anyone should convert or change religion or become more religious because of girl or boyfriend. The person is just going through the motions and it may or may not last. I don’t know if in the long run Grayson would become a Christian, but there needs to be more of a basis than “I’m doing it for my girlfriend”.

Another point with which I take issue is Lila’s hot and cold attitude with Grayson. She seemed almost to the point of bi-polar to me. One minute she is flirting, ready to jump his bones, and the next minute she is telling him to get out of her house and she is not speaking to him. He had a lot of patience to deal with her. I would have told her “Crazy girl, get your store off my premises before I have forcibly vacated and get out of my life. Period.”

In closing, in The Book Of Love (Baby Its Cold Out) I liked the male character Grayson but the female Lila was super annoying. Some readers might find it humorous.
And to the author, let me know what to expect. If you are going to use the character’s religious relationship as part of the storyline, give readers a heads up and note Christian contemporary genre.

My Keep Calm meme

Dec20

My mom was English and I remember watching Doctor Who with her when I was a child. But then I grew up and forgot about it. Then one day I saw on BBC America an advertisement for the latest season of Doctor Who. I had to watch it. And now I feel like things have come full circle. If my mom could see me now (she passed away in 1998) she would laugh and we would probably be watching the episodes together.

The Doctor Who story lines still capture my interest. I have definite opinions and spirited conversations with my friends concerning who was the best Doctor / companion combination.

David Tennant is my absolute favorite Doctor

Martha Jones is my all time favorite companion (Amy Pond was my least favorite but I did not mind Rory)

I like how many of the story lines use aliens to explain events in history. Most memorable was the Pompeii episode (even if Donna Noble was the companion).

Aliens were the REAL reason for the volcano. Even though the daleks are the most feared, the weeping angels are the most creepy EVER. I am not afraid of the dark, but something about the weeping angels makes me want to turn on the lights.

That being said, I am calmly awaiting the new season of Doctor Who and wondering about the new adventures. So excited. So maybe not so calm 😀

Asada food truck – Greenville

Dec14

Asada food truck in Greenville gets two thumbs up from me. I have been to several of the food truck events where Asada and Neue (another Greenville food truck to be discussed in another post) have set up shop.

Asada focuses on Latin fusion of flavors. I don’t know from which countries the chefs hail, but their food has influences in a lot of different styles. The mainstay on their menu is the different variation of tacos. However, there are different daily specials in addition to the menu. I usually try the specials just because I know I can get the regular menu items any time.

The picture shows what I ordered one evening in November 2012: (top) short ribs with plantain chips and fried cheese (bottom) chicken empanadas

The short ribs were cooked in a Honduran style. There was not any sauce on the ribs. The intense seasoning permeated the meat so that any sauce would have been deemed extraneous. I could have had an entire plate of the fried cheese. It was so yummy. I think it was the queso tropical para freir. For those of you who don’t know Spanish, that means tropical cheese for frying. It is not gooey like mozzarella. Its texture is firm but soft when fried.

The chicken empanadas were to die for. The crust was so flaky like a perfect savory pie crust that it crumbled in my mouth when I bit into it. I could not focus on the flavor of the filling because I was so captivated with the crust. When I finished, I was left checking the plate for crumbs and wanting more.

If you live in Greenville SC and do not know about the food trucks, follow them on Facebook or Twitter. Their food is AMAZING! Get on location early so that you can get dessert. Every time I have ordered dessert from Asada, they have been sold out. Boo hoo for me. But people who have had their tres leches and flan have said it was pretty delicious as well.