I decided to buy Ellen Fisher’s Never Love a Stranger after reading an excerpt. I received it from Amazon today and devoured the book in a few hours: 4.5 out of 5.

Annie Simpson is baffled when she walks into her kitchen one evening to find a naked man there. He introduces himself as James and says he is from the future. Events unfold that make Annie believe him.

Wow, this is an excellent book. James and Annie are so vibrant they practically jump off the page. I love the way Fisher lets us get to know these characters through their actions.

The world building is exceptional. There is a lot of information to cover, and it’s spaced out through the story so readers can follow what is happening without being bogged down by endless pages of exposition. The story is well paced and kept me engrossed. I was seriously annoyed when the phone rang halfway through the book. Luckily it was a quick call, so I could get back to reading.

I want more futuristics like this one. Now.

On an unrelated note, I finished my Romancing the Blog column. Watch for it tomorrow.

I learned about this book because of my interest in Unsolved Mysteries. One segment on the program focused on the murders of Bobbie Oberholtzer and Annette Schnee. It was a perplexing case, so when I learned that Steve Jackson’s Monster mentioned these murders, I wanted to read it. It starts slowly, but picks up after the first 100 pages: 4 out of 5.

Monster is clearly a thoroughly researched book. Jackson interviewed a number of the people involved, including Detective Scott Richardson, who doggedly investigated the case, and Deborah Snider, the girlfriend of the suspect, Tom Luther. Their contributions to the story are terrific. I was especially impressed by Richardson’s commitment to the investigation. It was interesting to see how the investigation affected his family.

Snider’s side of the story offers an interesting glimpse into a woman who knows she’s involved with a dangerous man but can’t bring herself to make a final break from him. Reading about her relationship with Luther is a bit like watching a movie and wanting to shout, “Don’t open that door!” Even as the evidence points to Luther’s involvement in several attacks and murders against women, Snider wants to be with the “good Tom.” I didn’t understand why she stayed with him, but it made for compelling reading.

One fascinating aspect of the book is that Bobbie Oberholtzer and Annette Schnee are not the focus of this book. While some investigators believe that both women were victims of Tom Luther, and Luther himself made comments suggesting his involvement, he was never tried for or convicted of their murders. Monster follows the investigation of the murder of Cher Elder.

Based on what I read, it’s a very good thing that Tom Luther is in prison.

I just realized that my next Romancing the Blog column is coming up in a few days, and I haven’t written it. That’s a bit of a problem. Hopefully I’ll come up with an interesting topic tomorrow.

In the meantime, I feel like my house is coming down around me. In my latest home repair news, my washing machine apparently isn’t a problem. There might be a clog in the downstairs drain. Time to call a plumber. I couldn’t help but laugh when I turned on a downstairs light and the light bulb blew. At least that problem was easy to fix.

I’m not going to ask what’s coming next. My goal after the next round of repairs is to make it through the rest of the year with no incident. {Crossing fingers.}

In reading news, I’m reading Only for a Knight for review and a true-crime book, Monster. I’m finishing up the latter now, and it’s been a fascinating read. Watch for a blog entry about it after I finish the book and my RTB column.

I had strong and mixed feelings about White Tigress, the first book in a series by Jade Lee. I liked the writing enough that I bought Hungry Tigress at the RWA signing. Though there are some problematic parts, I liked the story overall: 4 out of 5.

Joanna is being attacked by a group of men when another man comes to her rescue. He fights off the attackers and begins escorting her back to her home. During the journey, Joanna deduces the man’s identity–something he cannot allow. He strikes her throat to keep her from talking, then takes her with him until he can decide what to do.

You can probably guess the first problem I had with the story. The hero, Zou Tun, demonstrates markedly unheroic behavior by hitting her in the first place. At the end of this chapter, I put the book down for a few days. Once I picked it up again, I became engrossed in the story.

I like Lee’s writing style; it’s lush and evocative. I also enjoy the setting. I know little about Chinese culture, and that’s perhaps one reason why I find the book so compelling. Lee paints a vivid picture of the world in which Joanna and Zou Tun live. As for the characters themselves, they start as imperfect characters but show significant growth by the end.

As for the ending, I suspect that some readers will be put off by it. Here’s a spoiler (click the beginning of the white space and scroll over it if you want to read it): Zou Tun and Joanna make love while members of their families watch. I didn’t love this turn of events, but I understood how the story got there. Still, it’s not the most comfortable scene to read. For more information about the ending (spoilers included), read the comments.

So once again, I had mixed feelings about some parts of the book, but I liked it anyway. The third book in the series comes out in November, and I’m looking forward to it. I want to see what will happen next. The heroine and hero are both Chinese, and the heroine has been a villain in the first two books. It should be interesting.

This week, I read a number of historical romances. I’ve just been in a historical mood. Here are quick reviews of the books I read.

Always to Remember by Lorraine Heath
This was a lovely post-Civil War story. I thought the hero, Clay, was terrific. He was labeled a coward and deserter because he refused to fight. Now he’s back home, but his war isn’t over. He demonstrates an amazing quiet strength and is a beta hero. Meg starts out hating Clay because her husband died in the war. But as she spends time with Clay, she recognizes his strength and his courage. Part of the ending with the townspeople is too good to be true. However, there are several lovely moments in this book, and I found myself thinking of Clay and Meg days after reading their story. The perfect indication of a keeper: 5 out of 5.

A Promise of Love by Karen Ranney
I decided to take this one off the TBR pile after reading about it in a recent Romancing the Blog column. I’m glad I did; it’s an excellent read: 4.5 out of 5. It’s about a woman who is two-times widowed, then sent to Scotland, where she marries again. The marriage isn’t easy. Neither of Judith’s previous marriages was a happy one. Based on her previous experience, Judith is reluctant to trust anyone. I loved seeing her journey. Once Alisdair realizes what Judith has gone through, he is understanding and sympathetic. There are a few moments early in the book, however, where he acts cruelly toward her. Some readers might have trouble with this.

His Secondhand Bride by Cheryl St. John
This book has been getting raves from many bloggers, so it was a logical pick in my historical reading marathon. It’s quite good: 4 out of 5. It’s a marriage of convenience story about a man who marries his brother’s wife after the brother dies. I enjoyed the characterization most. It’s a treat to watch the vivacious Katherine and reserved Noah fall in love with each other. I was frustrated at moments when they wouldn’t talk to each other about what they were feeling, but I enjoyed most of the story.

So, that’s my marathon. It’s interesting that none of the books I read are set in Regency England.

I picked up Julie Kenner’s Silent Confessions because I liked the cover. Luckily the contents of the book were also terrific: 4.5 out of 5.

Detective Jack Parker is investigating a stalker who leaves notes quoting erotic literature. The stakes increase when a stalking victim is murdered.

Veronica (Ronnie) Archer owns Archer’s Rare Books and Manuscripts, a bookstore that specializes in erotia. She meets Jack when he’s looking for someone to help him with the notes. Jack and Ronnie begin an affair soon after their first meeting.

There are some familiar elements to the story, such as the detective who becomes a cop because of something that happened to a family member. But the characters don’t fall into easy stereotypes. The back cover implies that Ronnie wants to live out the erotic things she reads, but that’s not really the case. Perhaps it’s more accurate to say that I worried that she would be a repressed woman who relies on erotia. Ronnie is far from repressed, though; she’s a dynamic woman who knows what she wants.

Ronnie and Jack’s relationship starts as largely physical, but it quickly develops into something more. This is a common occurence in romance novels, but the transition isn’t always believable or smooth. Kenner makes the transition convincing. She writes terrific sex scenes, too.

The stalker suspects are few; readers are likely to anticipate the stalker’s identity. There are a few twists to the story, and guessing the stalker didn’t make the story any less interesting.

Dead electronics. First it was my camera. Then my desktop computer. Now it’s my double-deck VCR and my scanner. This brings me to a frightening realization: I’m a serial electronics killer.

I have a DVD player, but now I need to think about getting a DVD recorder or another VCR so I can tape things. I went to Circuit City to check out their recorders and soon felt overwhelmed. There was one I liked, but there was a sign listing other things you need to buy with it, cords and so on. Why the hell can’t they put everything you need in one box?

As for my scanner, I’m very sad about its demise. It’s quite old, but it can scan up to 12″ x 17″, which made it so easy to scan scrapbook pages. I found a few scanners that can scan this large a document, but they are around $1,000. I will keep looking.

Recommendations are welcome.

I’m pleased to announce the winner of my latest contest. Everyone who commented to this post was entered in a drawing. My coworker just drew the name of the winner:

Megan!

Megan wins an autographed copy of Marjorie M. Liu’s Tiger Eye.

Congratulations, Megan, and thanks for visiting!

Once again, I’m participating in Keishon’s TBR (to-be-read) challenge. The September goal is to read fiction, which Keishon defines pretty broadly: mystery, chick lit, etc. Today I read Going Buck Wild by Nina Foxx.

1. Title/Author
Going Buck Wild by Nina Foxx.

2. Brief Synopsis
Claudia Barrett’s life has been in a holding pattern for some time. While work is going well, she can’t bring herself to set a wedding date with her fiance. Things with him have become routine, even boring. When her fiance breaks up with her, Claudia has an opportunity to reinvent herself and do things she wouldn’t normally do. She is encouraged by a friend to do exactly that.

3. Copyright Year
2004.

4. Indicate if you liked or disliked it?
I had mixed feelings about this book. I liked Claudia and wanted to find out what would happen to her. Going Buck Wild is told from the point of view of about half a dozen people. In this respect, it reminded me of Hot Shot, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I’m simply not a fan of this style. In most cases, I find this many points of view distracting. It can lead to a lack of focus and prevent readers from really getting to know a character. In the case of this book, I thought the story could have been more focused. There’s also a fair amount of sniping between characters; at times it seemed excessive.

There are some things I enjoyed. The story certainly kept me reading–I wanted to find out what would happen. I liked Claudia’s friend, although I wish I knew more about her. I felt the same way about Claudia’s fiance. We know very little about him and I wanted to know more. The ultimate rating is 3 out of 5.

5. Was the book designated a DIK or Five Heart book at any of the review sites?
I didn’t check any review sites.

6. Do you agree or disagree with the reviewers?
Not applicable.

7. Is this a new author for you?
Yes.

8. Would you read more by this author?
Maybe, if the plot sounded interesting.

I’ve been pretty stressed this week. I turned off my air conditioning a few weeks ago, and since then, I kept hearing water dripping from the swamp cooler. Because of the way my house is set up, I could hear the water while I was in my bedroom. It made it difficult for me to sleep, because the dripping became a trickle, then a steady stream. I was terrified that the water would eventually seep into the house.

Today I called my brother, and he came over and took care of it. Turns out I had two bad valves, so he replaced them. Poor guy! The plumbing was created before the basement was finished. Now that it’s finished, the valves are in a place that’s extremely difficult to reach. I paid him for supplies, and I plan to buy him a gift certificate to thank him for his time. He’s really good to me.

The best sound in the world was when my nephew turned on the water, and I couldn’t hear the water going through the pipes up to the swamp cooler. There is no water going up to the swamp cooler. I’m sitting here in blessed silence. Maybe tonight I’ll be able to sleep.

P.S. Next, I must take care of my leaking washing machine (which is still under warrantee, yay!) and the clogged drains in the bathroom. But I’ll take time to enjoy this moment nevertheless.