State sanctioned marital aids ahoy!
Jun. 12th, 2018 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee341.
The Bodyguard's Assignment by Amanda Stevens
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
When we turned in our marriage license in 2001, the state of Mississippi gave us a garbage bag full of cleaning supplies, condoms, beauty supplies and other toiletries, and this book.
I have dutifully held on to it for the last seventeen years; who knows what harm may befall my marriage should I lose this state-sanctioned marital aid.
As far as the actual story goes, nice hurt/comfort, nice tension between the male and female protagonists, and a genuine mystery as to who is betraying them. As far as Harlequins go, this one is perfectly fine.
View all my reviews
2.
The Plains of Passage by Jean M. Auel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a travel narrative in which Ayla and Jondalar are mostly alone, so it's not as interesting as the previous book where they're interacting with a huge cast of characters. Most of the novel is them travelling and interminably cataloguing different flora and fauna. We do get a bit of dramatic tension: Jondalar gets annoyed by Wolf and he and Ayla argue about it until Wolf saves her life and then he can do no wrong in Jondalar's eyes; they have a significant encounter with a Clan couple; and Jondalar gets captured by a group of twisted people and Ayla has to rescue him. The rest of the book is them revisiting all the people Jondalar and Thonolan encountered on their Journey. The book ends with them in sight of Jondalar's home.
Again, enjoyable read.
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The Shelters of Stone by Jean M. Auel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Much like The Mammoth Hunters, The Shelters of Stone benefits from being set in a community in which we get to know a larger cast of characters. I really enjoy getting to see how Jondalar's people live and their customs. I also like seeing the problems in the community (like the deadbeat parents or the boy with a crippled arm) and how Ayla helps to alleviate them. Jondalar's family is pretty awesome, especially his mom. Ayla has a healthy baby girl she names Jonayla (bless her heart), and when the book ends, she's agreed to be trained to become a shaman.
This book in particular has way too many callbacks to previous books; I do not need to be reminded every four pages about an incident in prior installments. But still an enjoyable read.
View all my reviews
2.
I was sad that Lucifer got cancelled. I was gutted when they showed us two episodes from the next season which had already been shot; they are fantastic, among the best of the whole show. If it was going to be this good, it's even worse that the show is kaput.
In the first episode, we finally figure out some cryptic things Ella has said over the course of the show. She mentioned once that she needed to quiet the voices and she's alluded to a kind of darkness multiple times. Turns out that she was in a car wreck and almost died; the angel of death Azrael really liked her and hung around. Ella has always thought she's a ghost, and being able to hear and see Azrael when no one else could made life hard for Ella. Azrael tells Lucifer she sent Ella to LA so both her favorite people would be in the same place. *hearts in eyes*
The next episode is a bit of meta genius. We get narration from God who is voiced by Neil Gaiman. So freaking perfect. It's an AU episode in which Chloe remains an actor rather than becoming a cop; the one thing that changed to create this AU is that her dad doesn't die in this reality. Because he doesn't die, she never feels that push to join the force. Lots of wonderful work by the actors here; some of the characters are very much the same even if their circumstances are a little different, and some are radically different. I very much love dirty cop Dan and evil to the core lawyer Charlotte driving off hand-in-hand with all the money they stole from Lucifer's safe.
These were top-shelf episodes, my friends.
The Bodyguard's Assignment by Amanda StevensMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
When we turned in our marriage license in 2001, the state of Mississippi gave us a garbage bag full of cleaning supplies, condoms, beauty supplies and other toiletries, and this book.
I have dutifully held on to it for the last seventeen years; who knows what harm may befall my marriage should I lose this state-sanctioned marital aid.
As far as the actual story goes, nice hurt/comfort, nice tension between the male and female protagonists, and a genuine mystery as to who is betraying them. As far as Harlequins go, this one is perfectly fine.
View all my reviews
2.
The Plains of Passage by Jean M. AuelMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a travel narrative in which Ayla and Jondalar are mostly alone, so it's not as interesting as the previous book where they're interacting with a huge cast of characters. Most of the novel is them travelling and interminably cataloguing different flora and fauna. We do get a bit of dramatic tension: Jondalar gets annoyed by Wolf and he and Ayla argue about it until Wolf saves her life and then he can do no wrong in Jondalar's eyes; they have a significant encounter with a Clan couple; and Jondalar gets captured by a group of twisted people and Ayla has to rescue him. The rest of the book is them revisiting all the people Jondalar and Thonolan encountered on their Journey. The book ends with them in sight of Jondalar's home.
Again, enjoyable read.
View all my reviews
The Shelters of Stone by Jean M. AuelMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Much like The Mammoth Hunters, The Shelters of Stone benefits from being set in a community in which we get to know a larger cast of characters. I really enjoy getting to see how Jondalar's people live and their customs. I also like seeing the problems in the community (like the deadbeat parents or the boy with a crippled arm) and how Ayla helps to alleviate them. Jondalar's family is pretty awesome, especially his mom. Ayla has a healthy baby girl she names Jonayla (bless her heart), and when the book ends, she's agreed to be trained to become a shaman.
This book in particular has way too many callbacks to previous books; I do not need to be reminded every four pages about an incident in prior installments. But still an enjoyable read.
View all my reviews
2.
I was sad that Lucifer got cancelled. I was gutted when they showed us two episodes from the next season which had already been shot; they are fantastic, among the best of the whole show. If it was going to be this good, it's even worse that the show is kaput.
In the first episode, we finally figure out some cryptic things Ella has said over the course of the show. She mentioned once that she needed to quiet the voices and she's alluded to a kind of darkness multiple times. Turns out that she was in a car wreck and almost died; the angel of death Azrael really liked her and hung around. Ella has always thought she's a ghost, and being able to hear and see Azrael when no one else could made life hard for Ella. Azrael tells Lucifer she sent Ella to LA so both her favorite people would be in the same place. *hearts in eyes*
The next episode is a bit of meta genius. We get narration from God who is voiced by Neil Gaiman. So freaking perfect. It's an AU episode in which Chloe remains an actor rather than becoming a cop; the one thing that changed to create this AU is that her dad doesn't die in this reality. Because he doesn't die, she never feels that push to join the force. Lots of wonderful work by the actors here; some of the characters are very much the same even if their circumstances are a little different, and some are radically different. I very much love dirty cop Dan and evil to the core lawyer Charlotte driving off hand-in-hand with all the money they stole from Lucifer's safe.
These were top-shelf episodes, my friends.
