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Monday, December 30, 2013



What You Want is in the Limo by Michael Walker on the cover promises to go “On the Road with Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, and The Who...” However, I was left disappointed with the lack of “on the road” content. I was born in mid 80s but my dad had me listening to the music of the 70s since I can remember. I have always told people I was supposed to have lived during the 60s and 70s. My first concert was Van Morrison at Jones Beach and I have so much Eric Clapton on my iPhone that when I shuffle songs it still plays 2 or more Clapton songs in a row. So needless to say, I was more than excited to get a behind the scenes peek at the life of a 1970s rock star. I was anticipating off-the-wall crazy stories.


The book's introduction had me all fired up to dive into the good stuff. I had YouTube up ready to play every song mentioned. In the first chapter, we are given a background into each band. Break-ups, make-ups, new members, and new names. It was a little tedious but necessary. We are then ushered into the making of each band's iconic album: Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy, the Who's Quadrophenia, and Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies. Finally, we are told about the band's managers and how they, in time when music industry wasn't big business, handled their respective band differently.


At last, we are on the road. The tours have begun and I am ready to hear about the dirt. Well, NOTHING. The only stories we get are ones that were in the press at that time and pretty infamous stories in themselves. The one secret that was revealed was that most of the stories about the band and their antics were made up. Now I am disappointed and angry. Bring on the groupies! Again, NOTHING. I wasn't even given any deeper information about Lori Maddox! She was hardly mentioned.


The part of the book I really liked was the description of the bands shows. Michael Walker did a fantastic job of bringing the shows to life in his writing. This book left me feeling like a piece of me was missing because I never attended a live Alice Cooper show or got to see a Pete Townshend meltdown in person.


I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. Like the band's tours, the book lost steam. I keep hoping for more and I was only more disappointed each chapter. I wanted to know about the road life not a family tree for each band. The information provided was good and would be a great resource if writing a paper about one of these bands. Also, Michael Walker should have left the thesaurus at home. Some of the word choices were ridiculous. I would recommend reading this on an e-reader so you can quickly access word definitions. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person and I spent quite a bit of time between this book and a dictionary.

*I received this book for free through GoodReads First Reads. 

Friday, December 27, 2013

Nora Roberts Land by Ava Miles


I need to begin by admitting I have never read a Nora Roberts novel. The only book I have read that could be considered romance was a book recommended by a woman at my gym that turned out to be some sort of delusional, emotionally immature, teenage garbage. However, I still had this preconceived notion that all romance novels were the same, unrealistic nonsense written for lonely, unsatisfied women. Ava Miles’ Nora Roberts Land showed me there can more to a romance novel that appeals to a crowd beyond cat ladies (no offense, there is a special place in my heart for cats).

Everyone knows not to judge a book by its cover; but let’s be real, we all do it. When I got this book in the mail, between the title and the secret garden cover, it got shelved with a quickness. When I finally picked it back up, I was prepared to be whisked into a blooming meadow to find Fabio look-a-likes in barely buttoned, billowing white shirts and torn jeans. Instead, I found Tanner McBride, the rough and tough international correspondent in a snowy Colorado college town.

Meredith Hale is a thirty-something journalist who recently went through an ego-crushing divorce. Her ex-husband blamed their problems on her unrealistic expectation of relationships and love caused by reading Nora Roberts novels. She set out to prove him wrong by finding her Nora Roberts-esque hero and her happily ever after. When Meredith’s sister asks her to come back to Dare Valley to help out after her father has a heart attack, she realizes the small town will be the perfect place to find her hero. She planned to write an article about her journey to “Nora Roberts Land” however, her ex-husband, Rick Sommerville, had other plans for Meredith.

Rick Sommerville fears that Meredith will drag his name through the mud in her new article and ruin his new political career. Rick wants Tanner McBride to go to Dare Valley, make Meredith fall in love with him, and then break up with her so there will be no happily ever after and there will be no story. He blackmails Tanner McBride with career ending photos of Tanner’s politician brother, David, and a prostitute.

Sporting her La Perla lingerie and her alter-ego DivorcĂ©e Woman, Meredith begins what the town calls her “Man Bender”. She hits it off with Tanner but, refuses to give him a chance because she has vowed never to date another journalist. However, when they team up to investigate the deaths of two young Dare Valley residents they pretend to date as their “cover”. Do you see where this is going yet? Well, if you guessed small town Afgani-drug conspiracy involving a corrupt Deputy Sheriff, you are correct. They join forces and break into auto shops, hide in trunks, collect evidence, and get stranded on a mountain in the bad guys’ attempt to make it look like they died in an avalanche. Luckily, they are both quite skilled in scaling snowy cliffs. They seek refuge in a cave where they profess their love and Tanner apologizes for his deceit. Oh, and Tanner’s been shot. No need to worry though, quick thinking grandpa has help on the way.

When Tanner wakes after surgery, he tells Meredith about the file Sommerville has on David. She is upset about Tanner lying to her but understands his motives. Meredith goes to New York to confront Rick and make a deal for him to leave Tanner and his family alone. When she returns to Dare Valley, with cotton underwear in tow (sorry Tanner), Tanner proposes; she says yes. Now, I am left awaiting the sequel and really wanting some ridiculously expensive La Perla lingerie.

I haven't figured out a rating system for this blog yet so I'll stick with my GoodReads rating for now. I gave the book 4 stars because it was a fun read that had a little bit of everything. The love scenes were a little bit difficult and, in my opinion, not very sexy. “...he ravaged her mouth...” actually made me cringe at the thought of all the excess saliva. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Nora Roberts Land. It exceeded my (not so high) expectations. There was predictability to the romance storyline between Meredith and Tanner but the action and mystery in the book was entertaining. I am still not completely sold on the romance genre but they will not spend at much time on the shelf in the future.

*I received this book for free through GoodReads First Reads.

A Little Introduction

I have always enjoyed reading. My problem has been finding someone with the same interest to share my findings with. My mom has books, a few of my favorite books I pulled from her shelves years ago, but I'm not sure I have ever seen her read one. My dad has read maybe three books and will just continue to tell you about those same three books for as long as he lives. My sister is a wait for the movie kind of gal and my brothers no longer speak to me after I gave them books for their birthday (just kidding, but they were pretty ticked). More recently, my cat and boyfriend have proved to be a less than interested audience.I have tried book clubs but I can't stand finishing the book in four days and then having to wait another 26 days to discuss it. I tend to spoil the book for the rest of the group by trying to talk about it before they have even bought it. I can't control myself when it comes to a good story (or even a bad one); I must tell everyone immediately! So, I have taken to the inter-webs to let it all out.

I hope you all enjoy my new blog and feel compelled to let me know your thoughts on the books I review and even ones I haven't reviewed. I find there is something special in both agreeing and disagreeing about books. A good book discussion is just what I'm looking for but remember, we are all people with feelings, so let's be nice and keep it about the books.

Find me on GoodReads: www.goodreads.com/toreyms