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.