Give me a Texas Ranger Anthology review

 

Book: Give me a Texas Ranger Anthology

Author(s): Jodi Thomas, Linda Broday, Phylliss Miranda, & DeWanna Pace
Release date:  July 1, 2010

(Back Excerpt) Born to protect and serve, these rugged lawmen are the stuff of Texas Legend. New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas teams up with Linda Broday, Phylliss Miranda, and DeWanna Pace to bring you four red-blooded Rangers and the women who tamed their hearts…..


“The Ranger’s Angel” by Jodi Thomas

         Outlaws, stagecoach chases, and Texas rangers, oh my! This pretty much sums up Annalane Barkley’s day. One moment she was on her way to Camp Supply to meet her brother. and the next she’s holed up inside a stag coach station with outlaws ready to pick her off if she steps outside. It doesn’t help that every man inside the station keeps giving her unnerving glances. Therefore, when Texas Ranger Wynn McCord offers her the chance to get out and away, Annalane hardly even thinks of saying no. Little does Annalane know that she may be in just as much danger with this ranger as she was with the outlaws.
Wynn McCord has a mission. He is to deliver a highly important letter to the Quaker who serves as the Indian agent in the area. This letter may stop the fighting between the Indians and the settlers, so Wynn refuses to fail. He just didn’t plan on thestage coach getting chased by outlaws or on meeting the enchanting Annalane Barkley. Quick decision-making leads Wynn to asking Annalane to escape with him and to his pleasure, she agrees. Now the two of them just have to make it to Camp Supply before the outlaws or something else catches up with them.

          I’m going to state it up front I loved the heroine but disliked the hero. Wynn comes across as an ass. During a scene when Annalane is passed out and asleep Wynn decides to take certain liberties by kissing her and feeling her up. A little while later while Annalane is sleeping again he contemplates having sex with her passed out form. He later decides against it because he shouldn’t force himself sexually upon her when she is exhausted and sleeping “the first time”. Insinuating that perhaps after they’ve had sex once it would be alright to have sex with her against her wishes while she is passed out or sleeping. After reading his sentence I wanted to see him get shot by the outlaws, or possibly by Annalane herself. I loved Annalane because she knew Wynn had wronged her and was contemplating how to kill him. Her dialogue is so brilliant when she’s thinking of everything she’d like to do to him for forcing himself upon her. Needless to say, Wynn doesn’t change much in the story. I really don’t see how Annalane and Wynn got together and stayed together. It was one of those instances when I read the romance but didn’t feel it.

Final Rating: 2 bunnies

Undertaking Texas by Linda Broday

       Texanna Wilder needs a hero and she doesn’t care who it is. Marcus LaRoach has been after her and her property ever since her husband, Sam, was killed. Now LaRoach has it in his head that he can just hog-tie her all the way to the church. When it appears that no one around town cares enough to save her, out steps Texas Ranger Stoney Burke.

     The last thing Texas Ranger Stoney Burke expected to see when he approached the mob was a woman being dragged like an animal down the street. He certainly didn’t expect the woman to be his best friend’s widow. Texanna has always been the girl for Stoney, but he lost her when he wouldn’t leave the Texas Rangers and settle down. Now it appears that Texanna has reared herself right back into his life, and she’s taking his heart hostage yet again.

       I really liked this short story. Linda Broday brings together two former flames in an event that probably did happen in the Old West. This event, of course, is someone trying to steal a widow’s livelihood. In Texanna’s case, this is a barbershop and undertaking business. Texanna, her son Josh, and Stoney were very endearing characters and for such a short story surprisingly well-rounded. I enjoyed reading Texanna’s and Stoney’s relationship and was glad things worked out well in the end for all. My only complaint was that the story was too short. I really wish Linda had made it into a full novel instead of a short story. I think then things that were rushed could have been paced out better. All in all it was rather good and one of my favorite short western romances I’ve read in awhile.

Rating: 4
 

One Woman, One Ranger by Phyliss Miranda


Ella Stevenson refuses to be forced into marrying someone she doesn’t want to. Therefore, as proprietress of the “Molly Lou’s,” she feels it’s her duty to protect her girls from being forced into a marriage they don’t want. And that’s a possibility, because the justice of peace has decided he’d like to earn a buck by forcing everyone in town who isn’t legally married in the state of Texas to marry. Unfortunately a spat with the local sheriff has led Ella down the very road she’s been protesting. She either marries her so-called “husband,” Ranger Hayden McGraw, or she’ll be sent to the gallows. Right now, Ella isn’t sure what would be worse.
The only thing Hayden McGraw was planning to do in Buffalo Springs, Texas was get the new “warrant to arrest” papers that were being sent to “Molly Lou’s.” He didn’t expect to get hog-tied into a spat between the sheriff and pretty Ella Stevenson. He especially didn’t plan on having to marry her to save her from the gallows. Unfortunately, that’s what he gets.

I’m afraid this story bored me. It wasn’t bad, per se, but it wasn’t good, either. The whole story just fell flat. Hayden and Ella were both cookie-cutter characters, Mary Sue and Gary Stu respectively. They said nothing and did nothing interesting. During the scene where the sheriff is trying to arrest Ellie she starts making some protests that doesn’t even make sense. She goes on saying her place isn’t tardy, that nothing illegal goes down, and that there is no reason for her to girls to be married. This left me confuses since the sheriff didn’t mention any of those things. He was arresting her for hitting him and causing a public scene. It had nothing to do with her establishment. There was also the puzzle of why the sheriff was threatening her so much. It didn’t make sense at the time. Later we find out the sheriff was only threatening to her so he could arrest her and search her premises for her barkeeper’s moonshining factory, something that was right under her nose. The fact that she didn’t see it made her seem a bit slow. I have no comment on the relationship except that it was a typical Mary Sue/Gary Stu one. The end.

Rating: 3 bunnies

The Perfect Match by DeWanna Pace.

   Ding Ding Ding. The match between Laney O’Grady and Texas Ranger Thomas Longbow has begun. In her corner, Laney O’Grady is battling to earn money to adopt her stepson back from his menacing uncle. She’s also working to prove to the court that she would be a suitable parent and can provide for the boy. The possible weakness in her strategy is the particularly handsome Texas Ranger who has taken her heart.
In his corner, Thomas Longbow is attempting to stop an illegal boxing match between Irishman Pete Meher and his rival Bob Fitzsimmons. This is easier said than done since it appears that everyone, other than the politician’s who hired him, is doing everything in their power to keep this fight on; everyone including the widowed Laney O’Grady. Some type of transaction has transpired between Laney and Me, Meher, and Thomas is determined to find out what it was. That is if Laney doesn’t deliver any knockouts to his heart and soul in the process.

   If “Undertaking Texas” was the best of the anthology, then this one came in second. It was also be the cutest. I found Thomas and Laney’s relationship to be charming, although we really didn’t get a lot of them to expand on something that could have been better. This is another instance where I wish the author had made the short story into a full length novel. There were so many new and interesting ideas being brought up due to the fact that the story is set four years before the turn of the century. Things such as “nickelodeons” and early cinemas and the reaction to trains making travel by horse travel becoming obsolete were just some of the developments the author brought up in the story. It made me want to read more about the reactions of those who lived at the turn of the century. That nitpick aside, Thomas and Laney’s story was an interesting one filled with some mystery and intrigue that left me quite satisfied when I finished the story.

Rating: 3 1/2 Bunnies

The Tale of Applebeck Orchard (The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter #6)

Book: The Tale of Applebeck Orchard (The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter #6)
Release Date: Sep 1st, 2009

Review:
      The tiny community of Land between the Lakes is not an ordinary community.  This municipality is not only the home of the ordinary shops, houses, and all of the regular buildings that make up a community. Its also the home of a very active and smart animal population. These animals are not your ordinary animals too. They have professions, friendships, and lives like humans do. If may come as no surprise that this particular village is the home of Beatrice Potter.  If  you're thinking that Beatrice herself made the animals this way I’d hate to say you're quite wrong. They were living happy and productive lives before Beatrice ever bought “Hill Top Farm” many years ago. The reason I mention them is because this story takes place during a conundrum for both the animals and humans of the community.  You see the Applebeck footpath has been closed off. The reason for this closure being that the owner of Applebeck farm is in the belief that the ramblers are the ones that burned his haystack down and he wishes to keep them off his land. It’s up to both the animals and human community of “Land between the Lakes” to figure out just who did.

       

        This story surprised me. I was quite ready to like it since it started Beatrice Potter. I was just not quite ready to love it. You see this book had everything a lover of animals and Beatrice Potter could ever want. You have the cute and witty animals, a touch of the life of Miss. Potter, and a rather charming mystery.  It also had a nice flow. The narrative of the story was like watching the old 1966 “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree” film. You have a narrator outlining whats going on in the story and bringing you to different places in the community. You then get to read the character parts in between. It was like being a fly on the wall.  Susan Wittig Albert was also quite good in explaining “the times” as you might say it. You have explanations on the courtship habits and general beliefs of the time. You also get an insight into the lives of women on the verge of suffrage.    The funny thing I have to mention about that is that the animals were a bit keener of giving female animals equalization than the humans at the time. Not to say there wasn't animals who believed that a female wasn't as smart as a male. Professor Owl is an example of that.  The thing that I really liked about the book thought was that besides the talking animals you could really see the book happening. Its always the sign of a good author when you can read a fiction book and see it as entirely non-fiction. This is because Susan kept in the spirit of the early twentieth century. Nothing terribly out of the ordinary happened and the people in the book had concerns that those living in 1910 would have. If it wasn't stated at the beginning of the book that the entire story is fiction you can really see Beatrice Potter, Mr. Hellis, and the rest of the community try to figure out who burned down the Applebeck farms haystack.  Therefore I have to give the book the high honor of a perfect ten in rating. Anyone who loves Beatrice Potter or just a good turn of the century county mystery will love this book as well.

Rating: 5 bunnies. Absolutely perfect. ^^ 

Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson "review"

Book: Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson by Ian Halperin
Release date: July 14, 2009

Excerpt:
  In late December 2008, Ian Halperin told the world that Michael Jackson had only six months to live. His investigations into Jackson's failing health made headlines around the globe. Six months later, the King of Pop was dead.

Whatever the final autopsy results reveal, it was greed that killed Michael Jackson. Friends and associates paint a tragic picture of the last years and days of his life as Jackson made desperate attempts to prepare for the planned concert series at London's 02 Arena in July 2009. These shows would have earned millions for the singer and his entourage, but he could never have completed them, not mentally, and not physically. Michael knew it and his advisors knew it. Anyone who caught even a fleeting glimpse of the frail old man hiding beneath the costumes and cosmetics would have understood that the London tour was madness. Why did it happen this way? After an intense five year investigation,New York Times bestselling author Ian Halperin uncovers the real story of Michael Jackson's final years, a suspenseful and surprising thriller.

Review: 
First things first, i wasn't planning on reading this book. In face i've never heard of it till i saw it in the "new" shelves at my library. My curiosity then took over. 

I am not of the Micheal Jackson generation. I was born in 1986 and frankly only heard of him in passing. I've heard his music, but never really paid much attention to the man. It wasn't till his second child molestation trail that i became knowledgeable of his life. Unfortunately because of this i have never been able to see him as the phenomenon as the world knew him. 

I was deeply interested then in reading this book. The author did a lot of research and presented Micheal in a fair light. This book really has some incredible reveling facts about the singer though.

Such as:

* Micheal Jackson was gay. He preferred teenage boys and young men. The author managed to track down numerous past lovers and a few even had private photos shown.

* John Travolta is gay. The author found this out by successfully infiltrating the Scientology religion. They highlight Travolta as proof that their cure for "homosexuality" works. 

* It is more than likely the scienteology center arranged Michaels and Lisa Marie's marriage. 

* Micheal contracted a lung disease called "Alpha 1" and had recently discovered he had skin cancer before he died.

* Micheal was highly depressed and told many people in his final months that he wanted to die.

* Chances are that because he was so weak and sickly he would have died sometime in the summer anyways.

* The two older kids are not biologically Micheal's. 

And these are just some of the facts that Ian unraveled about his life. The book was a really good read and one that fills in some of the mystery of Micheal Jackson's life. 


Rating: 4 bunnies. Interesting facts and presented an unbiased look on the performer.  

 

Interview with J.K Rowling

 I found this on a book blog and had to share. ^^

"The Crowning of Calla Lilly Porter" reviewed.

Book: The Crowning of Calla Lilly Porter" by Rebecca Wells
Release Date: July 1st 2009

Excerpt:

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder is the sweet, sexy, funny journey of Calla Lily's life set in Wells's expanding fictional Louisiana landscape. In the small river town of La Luna, Calla bursts into being, a force of nature as luminous as the flower she is named for. Under the loving light of the Moon Lady, the feminine force that will guide and protect her throughout her life, Calla enjoys a blissful childhood—until it is cut short. Her mother, M'Dear, a woman of rapture and love, teaches Calla compassion, and passes on to her the art of healing through the humble womanly art of "fixing hair." At her mother's side, Calla further learns that this same touch of hands on the human body can quiet her own soul. It is also on the banks of the La Luna River that Calla encounters sweet, succulent first love, with a boy named Tuck.

But when Tuck leaves Calla with a broken heart, she transforms hurt into inspiration and heads for the wild and colorful city of New Orleans to study at L'AcadÉmie de BeautÉ de Crescent. In that extravagant big river city, she finds her destiny—and comes to understand fully the power of her "healing hands" to change lives and soothe pain, including her own. When Tuck reappears years later, he presents her with an offer that is colored by the memories of lost love. But who knows how Calla Lily, a "daughter of the Moon Lady," will respond?

A tale of family and friendship, tragedy and triumph, loss and love, The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder features the warmth, humor, soul, and wonder that have made Wells one of today's most cherished writers, and gives us an unforgettable new heroine to treasure.

Review:

What in the world happen here Rebecca? Seriously? I've waited a year and a half to read this book? I don't understand. The three YaYa books were magical. I couldn't put them down. I was so excited to find this one at the library that i snatched it up. Was i ever disappointed. I could barely finish the thing. There were no magic. No feelings of warmth. Nothing to make me care for Calla Lilly of anyone in this book. In fact it makes me wonder if Rebecca lost her edge here. I was so emotionally attached to the YaYa's that i was sad to let them go. I don't even want any of the characters here. The only part that pulled on my heartstrings was the chapters where "M'Dear" was dying. Mainly because it was like reading my Aunt Bev's death in print. Except take out breast cancer and insert colon cancer.

So so very disappointed... I hope Rebecca either returns to the YaYa's or makes characters i can care for in her next novel....

Too tired to write anymore and frankly i have nothing else more to say.


Rating: 2 bunnies.

Epic Brilliancy in new Harry Potter trailer

You can bet i'll be there in line four hours before the movie starts in costume for the midnight premiere. ^^

Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue Review

 I'm branching out more in my reviews. ^^ Now i'm adding movies, ect... oh heck. I'll review anything that i feel like should be acknowledged. ^^

New Tinkerbell movie came out! Being an unapologetic Tink fan that i am i went out and got it on the first day. ^^ Course there was no end to the looks i was getting from people. I didn't care. I'll shout it from the roof "I'm 24 and i went out and bought a little girl's movie". I even watched it last night and ordered the free (Well not technically free since it cost me $2.85 to ship) Tinkerbell charm bracelet that was offered with the movie,

I have to admit i was a bit disappointed in this one. Course a disappointing Tinkerbell movie is still better than half of the other animated movies coming from the USA right now. I think what went wrong was taking Tink out of the fairy world or Never Never land. The story of human girl meeting a fairy and becoming friends have been done to death, beaten, and kicked. The world of Neverland has barely been explored and i would have adored to seen more of it.

Lizzy, the little human girl, wasn't that bad of the character. She was just predictable. So was the story in a way. The moment her father captured the un-finished being painted butterfly you knew that he would capture one of the fairies. You knew that Tink would make Lizzy fly to save said fairy. And you knew that he would let the fairy go, they both would become BFF'S with the fairies, and live happily ever after.

There were also some 'when did that happen" parts in the movies. Such as when did Tinkerbell and Vidia become friends. In the other movies they both hated each other. Also when the fairies start camping out in the mainland/human world. I can't help but wonder if it was explained in the books or not.

There were some simply brilliant moments although. I loved every scene with the other fairies when they're on their "rescue" of Tinkerbell. I'm still cracking up at Rosetta's refusal to go through the mud and the other fairies are like "you're a garden fairy". Then she's like "About that...". ^^ Then at the end when they have the cat so high on catnip he's sitting there petting cheese the mouse. ^^

All in all i still loved the movie and glad I bought it. ^^ I am simply DYING to see the next one coming out this winter. "Tinkerbell and the Mysterious Winter Woods".