Anne McAllister-"The Cowboy's Christmas Miracle"

"Why all the Christmas books skankface?" One reason and one reason only. Harlequin gave me 3. The last one my aunt has, thank God. It looked dreadful. These two I rolled my eyes as I picked them up thinking I was going to pitch them at the wall when I got finished. However, I was pleasantly surprised by both.

In this Christmas special, Deke Malone finds out that he has a two year old son. That same year he decides to bring his son to his family for Thanksgiving in Montana. While there, his estranged father has a heart attack and Deke finds himself staying at the house of his long lost best friend, Erin Jones. While there he falls in love and debates leaving.

The title honestly gives a wrong impression in my opinion. There really wasn't a miracle that took place in the book. Also, the name Deke is really stupid sounding. I hated it throughout the whole book. I cringed every time my eyes scrolled past it. Having said that, this was a cute book. It kept my attention and was easy to read. Nothing ground breaking, but I enjoyed reading it all the way through. That is saying a lot. Even the sex scene wasn't too corny. All in all it gets a 4 out of 5 stars. Which means absolutely nothing.

Robyn Carr- "My Kind of Christmas"

I love the holidays. The decorations and songs. All the time you get to spend with your family. Not to mention the snow. It doesn't snow down here, but I use my imagination sometimes. This was the first Christmas themed book I have ever read, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

This is part of a series of books taking place in a small community called Virgin River. A young woman named Angie goes to her Uncle's cabin for some much needed rest from her demanding mother. While there she meets a Navy pilot by the name of Patrick. Sparks fly and they realize that they are going through similar challenges in their lives. As the spend more and more time together, the fact that it is just a fling gets blurred.

I actually enjoyed this book a lot. I fell in love with the small mountain location, as well as the lovable characters. I wanted Angie and Patrick to make it. It kept me enthralled the whole time. Yes, it did have corny sex scenes but they can be skimmed over. All in all it was a nice little holiday read.

Mitzi Kelly "Classic Revenge"

I always say I have an old soul. I can easily get along with my 87 year old grandmother. I can relate to her. Don't ask me how. It has just always been that way. Anything that has to do with old people, I automatically know I will love it.

That is the case with this book. A trio of old women, one being 80, try and solve a case involving their friend's murder. This whole book was awesome. At one time a can of Raid gets mistaken for hairspray. I literally laughed out loud. There are tons of moments like this.

I have not found a WorldWide Mystery novel from Harlequin that I haven't liked. They are always fun and quirky. I give this 10 out of 10 bingo cards.

Here is my nanny. She is sassy. Moo Moo loves her.

J.T. Ellison "Edge of Black"

By reading the blurb of this book, I knew it was going to be good. By the end I came to a conclusion about Harlequin's blurbs. They always get details about the books wrong. You expect something to happen in the book and it never does! It is very frustrating.

Other than that this was a good book. A pathologist, Dr. Samantha Owens, gets sucked into a terrorist plot that somehow involves her mountaineer significant other. Together they try an figure out who is behind the plot.

I really don't want to give anything away because it really is exciting to read and be swept in the story. The more you know about it the less thrilling it becomes. I am happy with this book because it kept me enthralled the whole time. It defiantly is a rare Harlequin good read.

Carol Ericson- "Intuition"

This was one of many Harlequin Intrigues that my Nanny got in the mail. They come in a medium sized package that is too small for the mailbox and yet the mailman finds a way to shove it in there and I end up pissed off. I always find these books to be "piddley" and easy to read. If they are really bad, it's not really maddening because they don't take up a lot of time to read.

Let me throw you down the stairs!

In this Intrigue, a psychic named Kylie Grant returns to her hometown to find out what happened to a girl who disappeared three years earlier. When she gets there, she finds a high school crush named Matt Conner investigating the same disappearance. Together they try and track down what happened to the girl.

I found this book to be one of the alright books of the Intrigue collection. It follows all of the same Harlequin guidelines, but still manages to be somewhat enjoyable. The supernatural psychic aspect is refreshing and Kylie and Matt are likable characters. All in all this book is cute, but still not anything that shakes the ground in modern day literature, but who the hell expects that in an Intrigue anyway?

Harlequin Intrigue Rant

My Nanny - which is my grandmother for those who think I am a woman child - gets a pack of five Harlequin Intrigues each month and I have just started to really read what she has. Reading at least three of them I found something troublesome: All of the books follow the same guidelines.

I am a man. I build log cabins.

1st Guideline: A vulnerable female lead.
I find that every single female lead character in all these books are being hunted down by some sinister man. Do these women not know about self defense? Every time they knowingly go into harm's way so you would think they would come prepared with a thing of pepper spray or mace.

2nd Guideline: A big burly strong male lead to protect the wimpy female lead
It is always the same type of guy. Rough on the edges, ripped like a washboard, never follows the rules, and feels the need to protect the wimpy women in this world.

3rd Guideline: Female lead doesn't like to admit her vulnerability and instead pushes independence and almost gets killed
"Don't tell me what to do! I can't just sit here and do nothing! Oh, I almost got run over by a black SUV!" That's it in a nutshell.

4th Guideline: Both parties refuse to admit that they want to bed each other and then bed each other.
Do I really need to explain this one?

It is not hard to predict what is going to happen in these books, which is a shame. Some of the plots are pretty good, but the generic guidelines they follow take away from it. They need to spice it up a bit. Put a 50 something balding, pot bellied man in the mix. It is all I ask.