I’m pleased to present my complete reading year in review:

5 Hearts: 31
4 Hearts: 178
3 Hearts: 82
2 Hearts: 17
1 Hearts: 4
Total: 312

There are a surprising number of 4s and 5s, but I discovered several new-to-me authors this year. If I had read their books in the years they were released, they would have been spread out a bit more.

Here are the books that received 5s. They are:

Albert, Michele: Getting Her Man
Ashworth, Adele: My Darling Caroline
Atkins, Dawn: Friendly Persuasion
Balogh, Mary: Slightly Dangerous*
Brockmann, Suzanne: Bodyguard
Brockmann, Suzanne: Get Lucky
Brockmann, Suzanne: Hero Under Cover
Brockmann, Suzanne: Nightwatch
Brockmann, Suzanne: Out of Control
Brockmann, Suzanne: Over the Edge
Brockmann, Suzanne: Prince Joe
Chase, Loretta: Lord of Scoundrels
Claybourne, Casey: A Thing of Beauty
Corey, Ryanne: Lady with a Past
Dain, Claudia: The Marriage Bed
D’Alessandro, Jacquie: We’ve Got Tonight*
Davidson, MaryJanice: Undead and Unwed*
Guhrke, Laura Lee: Guilty Pleasures*
Harris, Charlaine: Dead to the World*
Harris, Charlaine: Living Dead in Dallas
Kauffman, Donna: Sean
Kauffman, Donna: Surrender the Dark
Kelly, Leslie: Wickedly Hot*
Kent, Alison: The Grinch Makes Good
Price, Maggie: Hidden Agenda*
Price, Maggie: The Man She Almost Married
Quinn, Julia: When He Was Wicked*
Ranney, Karen: My True Love
Roberts, Nora: Face the Fire
Roberts, Nora: Inner Harbor
Shayne, Maggie, et. al.: Night’s Edge*
Simmons, Deborah: The Vicar’s Daughter

I put an asterisk next to the books with a 2004 release date. In fact, I may go back to my spreadsheet and add it to all 2004 releases. I think it will put the list in perspective.

Favorite Discoveries
I’ve already written about several of these authors. I linked to previous blog entries when applicable.

Suzanne Brockmann: What can I say–I really like the way she portrays men. I’d be thrilled to have a Sam or Cosmo of my own.

Jacquie D’Alessandro: I discovered her books late in the year, and I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read so far. D’Alessandro’s dialogue really shines.

Charlaine Harris: The Sookie Stackhouse series offers just the right mix of mystery, humor, and romance. Oh, and Eric is too beautiful for words.

Leslie Kelly: Her plots may not be particularly realistic, but Kelly creates fascinating characters.

Alison Kent: Here’s one writer who recognizes that readers enjoy reading about complex characters. Her Smithson Group series is particularly compelling.

Erin McCarthy: I just finished Mouth to Mouth, and it confirmed the fact that McCarthy writes interesting, versatile, and sexy stories.

Julia Quinn: It took me long enough to discover her, but I’m so glad I did. Her books are fun, compelling, and unique.

Least Favorites
Dr. Yes by Lisa Cach.

The Lipstick Diaries by Lori Soard.

Biggest Disappointments
Killer Cowboy Charm by Vicki Lewis Thompson.

Drive Me Crazy by Nancy Warren.

While both ended up being 3 reads, I hoped for better from both books.

I hope you enjoy this review. It gave me a few ideas for future blog topics. (Not that I seem to have trouble coming up with things to say.)

Take care, and I hope you have a wonderful New Year’s Eve!

The doctor tells me I’m unlikely to have longterm effects from the accident. My neck still hurts, but he gave me a prescription for the pain. I’ll pick that up tomorrow.

I was gearing myself up to call the insurance company about the car (I hate making phone calls to people who aren’t family or close friends) when the company called me. I have an appointment tomorrow to have the damage estimated and to get a check. If the repairs end up costing more, I just need to have the repair company call the insurance company. They will also pay for a rental car during the repairs. This process is going quite smoothly so far, and I’m grateful.

I finished a review for The Romance Reader I’ve had on the back burner for a while. I’m hoping to get one more finished before the end of the year. I have a decent start on it.

Can you believe it’s almost 2005?

I may have spoken too soon when I said that no one was injured in yesterday’s accident. I was looking forward to sleeping in today, but I woke up an hour ago with considerable neck pain. Not good. Looks like I’ll be calling my doctor shortly to see if I can get in to see him today.

In other news, I assembled the second of two new bookcases yesterday. I have lived with piles of books in my bedroom for long enough. I’ll still have books everywhere, but at least now they will be on shelves instead of in piles against the wall.

I’ve finished entering my 2004 reads into a spreadsheet. My book count for the year is now well over 300. Oy!

After spending the day reading Hot Target, all I can say is it’s an engrossing read: 4 out of 5.

Navy SEAL Cosmo Richter has a month away from his work for SEAL Team 16 when his mother breaks her wrists. She doesn’t want him hovering as she recovers, however, which means he’s free to help Troubleshooters, Inc. with an assignment to protect a movie producer who has been receiving death threats. Trouble is that J. (Jane) Mercedes Chadwick doesn’t want help or protection.

Well, I never thought I’d say this, but when it comes to favorite Suzanne Brockmann heroes, Cosmo gives Sam a run for his money. I’m really, really attracted to the strong, quiet, and mysterious type, which means Cosmo’s close to perfect. Patrick Lawler, one of the narrators of the Hot Target audiotape, describes Cosmo as “A warrior’s poet, gentleman’s gentleman. And multidimensional.” This description is right on target. (Excuse the pun. I couldn’t resist.) I can’t say enough about how much I like Cos.

Jane is also a terrific character and a great match for Cosmo. I appreciate the fact that she doesn’t put herself in stupid situations—you know the kind I mean, where the heroine does something stupid just so the hero can jump in and look all manly. None of that here. And the conflict of interest angle—Cosmo is Jane’s bodyguard, after all—is acknowledged and dealt with.

As for the subplot with gay FBI agent Jules Cassidy, I’ll admit it pushed me right out of my comfort zone. I was hoping for sweet, but it leaned toward sordid at times. One situation in particular disturbed me and would have done so if the players were heterosexual. And damn it, poor Jules deserves better all the way around.

As with the other Troubleshooter books (Flashpoint is the exception), Hot Target includes a World War II subplot. It’s smoothly integrated into the book without being overwhelming.

Lest you think I’ve set aside my feelings for Sam, I will tell you that I loved the Sam and Alyssa short story. Told from Sam’s point of view, it describes his feelings when Alyssa goes on an out-of-country mission without him. It gives a nice glimpse at some of the previous Troubleshooters characters and tells a touching story at the same time.

This has been a surprising day. After spending the morning and afternoon with Hot Target, I ventured out to run an errand and was rear-ended. Ouch! My rear bumper is all mangled, the lights are broken, and the trunk won’t close. I felt bad for the girl who hit me, though. She was terribly upset. I think she is 17 or 18, and she was driving her brother’s Dodge 4 x 4. No damage to it, and none of us were injured. Looks like I will be out getting repair estimates in the next few days.

I’m sitting at my computer in my jammies when the doorbell rings. Great, I think. I’m expecting an order from Signals, so it must be here. I run down the stairs, open the door, and see a package—not from Signals, but from Suzanne Brockmann. My autographed copy of Hot Target, which I ordered through her virtual signing but wasn’t expecting for two or three more days, is here!

I’m outta here. I’m getting off the computer and am also hastily revising my plans for the day. I’m going to start with the Sam and Alyssa story at the end of the book.

I’m entering all of the books I read this year into a spreadsheet. Note to self: Do this once a month next year so that you don’t end up spending hours at the computer in December. I’ve read an amazing number of books this year: 281 and counting. No wonder my eyesight got worse last year. I have been careful to wear my reading glasses lately, so perhaps that won’t be the case next year.

I turned 34 today, and so far I’ve managed to avoid the painful self-analysis I sometimes subject myself to on my birthday. Instead, I dedicated myself to spending some of the flex-plan money I must use by the end of the year by buying colored contact lenses. My eyes are naturally dark brown, and I discovered that the dark color makes it impossible to get the rich blue, green, or violet colors that you see in ads for colored contacts. In fact, the best color of the five I got might be the one that makes my eyes light brown instead of dark brown. But then, I’m blind without my contacts, and I had to take one of them out so I could try the different colors. This meant I couldn’t see at all very well. I’m in for an adventure in a few weeks once the new contacts arrive. It should be interesting.

Here’s another reading report—again, these are shorter than usual so I can cover more books:

Forbidden by Janelle Denison: 4 out of 5.
Forbidden combines two of my favorite plot elements: cops and heroes who have loved the heroine from afar. In this case, the heroine was married to the hero’s partner. When the husband is murdered, the heroine is in danger. This means, of course, that the hero must step in to protect her.

This story includes some familiar elements—Paige doesn’t want to become involved with another cop, and she and Josh have to work undercover to capture her husband’s killer. Still, Forbidden is well done.

Christmas on Snowbird Mountain by Fay Robinson: 4 out of 5.
This is a sweet Christmas story about two people who find love when they aren’t looking for it. Susannah’s mother died more than a year earlier; since then, she’s been traveling and trying to complete the items on a wish list, such as performing in a ballet and creating a beautiful work of art. The latter wish brings her to Snowbird Mountain and a mosaic artist named Ryan.

Christmas on Snowbird Mountain is enjoyable largely because of Ryan. Though naturally reserved, he recognizes his feelings for Susannah and dedicates himself to making her happy. He fulfills some of the items on her wish list in a beautiful way. Susannah is more stubborn. After caring for her mother through a long illness, she avoids developing ties with anyone, but eventually she can’t resist loving Ryan and his young daughter.

[Note: While looking for Robinson's website, I discovered that she died in 2002. How sad.]

The Grinch Makes Good by Alison Kent: 5 out of 5.
Another good book to read during the Christmas season or any time of year. I think I’ve missed out by not discovering Kent’s work before this year, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying it now. The Grinch Makes Good is spectacular both for what it doesn’t do and for what it does. What it doesn’t do is start with a character that hates Christmas and turn him into a jolly lover of the holidays (though Duncan is a good lover—whew!). I’ve read stories with this plot, and they can be incredibly cheesy and unrealistic. Not so here. Instead, this story explores the lives of these two characters, Brooke and Duncan, so that we see the reasons for their feelings about the holidays as well as the reasons they are so good for each other.

The Grinch Makes Good is the best book I’ve read so far by Alison Kent, and I know it won’t be the last.

I’m planning a long year-in-review report, which will take some time, since I’m transferring my written notes to a spreadsheet. I hope to post it later this week.

I had a lovely Christmas, and I hope you had one, too.

I’ve done so much reading lately that I’ll never get caught up if I write long analyses, so I’m going for short and sweet:

While Others Sleep by Helen R. Myers: 3 out of 5.
Myers was one of my favorite series writers–I simply adored her Silhouette Shadows books: Night Mist, Watching for Willa, and Whispers in the Woods (my favorite of the three, which made my top 100 list). She also wrote some wonderful Silhouette Romances and Desires, such as Invitation to a Wedding and Just a Memory Away.

After reading four of her single titles, however, I’m forced to admit that I don’t enjoy them as much as I did her series books. While Others Sleep is an interesting story with strong characters, but they have only one meeting by page 150. After that point, things speed up. Myers has a gift for dialogue and for creating memorable characters, and these qualities are evident in While Others Sleep. It just takes much too long to get there.

Sadly, I think I’ll look for her future books in the library instead of buying them new.

The Husband She Couldn’t Remember by Maggie Shayne: 3 out of 5.
After reading Shayne’s short story in Night’s Edge, I wanted to try one of her longer books. I actually enjoy amnesia stories as long as they are done well. I’ve read quite a few bad ones. The Husband She Couldn’t Remember was enjoyable, but nothing about it stood out. I’m still planning to try another of her longer books. Feel free to make suggestions.

Unforgettable by Meryl Sawyer: 2 out of 5.
Another amnesia story. The hero in this one drove me crazy. He couldn’t decide whether she was a “floozy” or not, so he kept making 180-degree turns in his treatment of her. The reading experience nearly gave me whiplash because of it.

Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas: 4 out of 5.
On rare occasions, I will read a book or watch a movie that I enjoy as I’m reading or watching, but afterward I find that I don’t like it as much as I thought I did. I’m not sure if that makes sense or not, but this was the case for me when I saw Shakespeare in Love. Likewise, Again the Magic was a book I enjoyed more while I was reading it than I did after I finished.

Kleypas is a strong writer with a talent for writing passionate love scenes. I have to admit that I’m a bit tired of reading the seduction-as-revenge plot. The most frustrating thing about this book, however, is something the heroine does to the hero toward the end of the story. I understand the fear that led her to the decision, but I can only describe her behavior as cold. I thought McKenna forgave her much too quickly.

I’ll stop for now, but I’ll write again soon about more of the books I’ve read.

I intended to write a reading update before Christmas, but I got caught up in holiday preparations. I’ve just now finished wrapping gifts; tomorrow morning I will go to my parents’ house to open presents and enjoy the day.

I will post about some of my recent reads soon. In the meantime, I wish you a happy holiday season.