I wish that these types of books would have some way of telling you what their authors personal fetishes are. While I'm very open minded, I'm personally not into anal sex, and this book was one long tribute to it. I don't mind reading it in my erotica, but I prefer it to play a much smaller part. I'm surprised the poor heroine could ever even sit down, because she was getting it back there constantly. I guess what bothered me was the complete focus on it, almost to the exclusion of any other sort of activity. The best erotic books, the ones I go back to again and again, have a lot of variety, something for every mood-meat and potatoes to barely legal wild stuff. However, if you really like to read about backdoor action, this would definitely be the book for you.

... I didn't feel that anal played all that large a role, and what was there was subtle. In fact, this book had most of the Black Lace required scenes: oral, anal, female-female, light BDSM from both sides, with the main characters as both dom and sub, etc. Some of the scenes were gratuitous, though most seemed to enhance the characters. The reader gets a good look at the pseudo-Japanaese culture of the book, and partially gets to know Anabelle, a very unhappy, young woman, and Nakano, her master. The charaters are observed from a distance, though, and the author never lets you get too close to them, interrupting any sort of intimacy with a out-of-place sex scene. The sex wasn't all that sexy, and the plot wasn't terribly convincing. It was okay, but if you really want great Black Lace, read Emma Holly.

The characters are cardboard cutouts - predictable and stereotypical but leaning towards extreme emotion the same that a pre-teen might display. You want to slap Kira for being so bitchy and martyred while Holt seems to rant and rave to no purpose about everything (pointless machismo on steroids). I'm sorry - but after wading my way through the first three chapters I just couldn't handle it anymore. I skimmed through the rest of the disk, hoping they'd start acting like real people in love - or be at least somewhat more believable - but it didn't happen. Yep, Ms. Raby did a lot of research into the vet tech aspects of the story, but this would have been a far better story if she had spent the same amount of time and effort on creating realistic characters that the reader could give a damn about.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I loved the way Kira delt with Treat, or as she calls him, "Halloween". In the beginning of the book, I found it hard to see if Holt's motives for the farm were good or bad, but other than that, the book was great. There was lots of laughter and excitement, but don't take my word for it . . . read it yourself, cause hey. . . everyone has there own taste. . .

I read this book with my 2nd grade daughter (assigned book through the school counselor). In our household, we don't encourage the word hate; I prefer I'm angry at or I dislike... The book uses the word hate frequently, and the little girl in the story talks of wanting to die rather that talk to her friend about their problem. Neither of us liked this story. I feel the language is inappropriate for the age group.

As a student in the Early Childhood Education department this book was assigned to us for review. I thought it portrayed the thoughts of a young girl in a realistic manner. I don't encourage my children to use the word "hate" either, but I am not naive enough to think that when loose in the world they always behave the way I would like. We try our best, but ultimately...you give them roots and wings.

We read that theirs is a perfect society but there are no particulars about health,, education, child-rearing, or politics. The author seems to be saying that only without men or sex can we achieve a Utopian culture. It was much more a treatise on feminism than a novel with 3-dimensional characters and an interesting story line.

In her Utopian novel Herland, written in 1915, Charlotte Perkins Gilman anticipates many of the problems of the 20th century, from pollution to over-population. Essentially a work of science fiction, the novel portrays a culture developed in isolation that has focused on principles of love, sharing, nuturing, reason and continuous improvement. While not great literature, Herland offers fascinating insights into a rational approach to designing a society. The Signet Classic edition also contains 20 intriguing short stories written from a feminist perspective. This is the book I will be giving at the holidays! It deserves a wider audience.

My Aussie husband (before he was my husband) planned to return to Australia for a year to finish his degree. I had planned to go as well so I purchased this and other books to help me get an Australian work permit, etc. Six months before I was due to leave I sent away over 30 letters requesting LEGAL work in Australia. After I read the book I was confident I would be able to obtain a work permit; six months later I was confident I'd wasted my money. Unless you are Bill Gates or the like, overseas companies just don't want the hassle of hiring an American. You would probably be better off looking for cash-in-hand jobs once you get there.

The book has a lot of pertinent information and covers a lot of issues, from relocating (including pets) to finding work to finding housing. As it was written specifically for residents of the UK migrating to Australia or NZ, some of the information is not relevant to US-based readers, which was disappointing for me. Also, the edition I read in early 1998 had house prices from 1994, and the prices I've noted while doing some of my own research recently are much higher. All in all, however, quite detailed and descriptive of all the things one needs to think about if migrating "down under."

Bertha and Judy walk their dogs together daily and are friends. Bertha is a nasty little wretch who likes nobody but Judy and tries to drive wedges between Judy and other people. For every person she verbally condemns, Judy is able to find positive qualities.

Their spat ends when Judy declares she dislikes nasty little Bertha and storms away from her. I didn't like Bertha at all and felt this was no loss.

I didn't like this book. Although I thought the story was moralistic and angrily told, I did like the illustrations.

This antagonistic little story reinforces the old notion of living and dying by the sword.

Charlotte Zolotow has been writing children's books for over 50 now, and most of them give children an example of being kind and compassionate. This book as well as, The Quarrelling Book, show children how to deal with tough emotions and difficult situations in positive ways.

I bought this book because (for some reason I'm not quite sure of) I am collecting books on Weimaraners. This book has one redeaming feature, its photographs, the rest is garbage. Just to give you some idea of the standard of this book I'll pick out a couple of quotations. Caption to photo of Weimaraner jumping a fence - "Today, there are many Weimaraners in North America", and here's a priceless one..."the best diet for Weimaraners is dog food"! There are actually only 39 pages of this book about Weimaraners with 12 nice full page photographs between its nicely bound hard covers. The text is written at a standard for 12 year olds and reading practice is about all its good for. Don't waste your money on this book, comparing this with the like's of Holling's book is like comparing root beer with a fine Cabernet Sauvignon.

This book which is aimed at a young audience does a great job of getting the reader interested in learning about dogs. The simple prose helps struggling readers experience success with reading. The earlier reviewer does not seem to understand that this is a children's book, one aimed at helping struggling readers. This is all the books sets out to do, and does the job well. Adult readers looking for more detailed information really should read other books about the breed.

This disappointing, earlier effort by Ms Evanovich is a mismatch of romance, humor, mystery and shallow characters. In her later "Stephanie Plum" stories, she found a balance of these elements that is quite enjoyable. This time out, only her most dedicated fans will be pleased.

At its heart, "Full House" is a romance novel: A Cinderella story of love at first sight. But the simple charm of two people falling in love is overwhelmed by seemingly endless passages directly relating their thoughts, doubts and misunderstandings.

The oddball characters that are so much fun with Stephanie Plum are jarring and distracting here. Their primary literary purpose is -- apparently -- to create gaps between the aforementioned passages about the inner thoughts and feelings of the protaganists.

There is a mystery of sorts, but it's entirely incidental, simplistic and disengaging. And the resolution is not much more than "then they were all run over by a bus".

All the characters are shallow, cardboard cutouts. At no time did their actions reveal a deeper, believable person. This is ironic considering the amount of ink devoted to inner thoughts. In the Plum novels, the shallow characters make the fun, fun. (If we empathized with Lulu or Stephanie, we'd cry when their cars blew up.)

"Full House" was an experiment in mixing romance, screwball characters and a bit of mystery together. It failed. Thankfully, Ms Evanovich learned from her experience and got it right the next time.

"Full House" by Janet Evanovich is a re-printed and re-written version of an early romance novel by the author of the hugely popular Stephanie Plum mystery series. And in my opinion, it's because of the fact that the majority of the people buying this book are mystery fans, not romance fans, that "Full House" has gotten such a bad reputation. It is mismarketing by the publisher and bookstores to house this book in the mystery section, which was where I found it, but as light and fluffy romances go, "Full House" is not half bad. And this book is undeniably a romance novel. As far as a rating goes, I'm wavering between three and four stars. I honestly did enjoy the story and found myself completely entertained by this light and amusing tale. But there were a few things that took away from my enjoyment, most notably, the atrocious editing job. There were glaring errors scattered liberally throughout the book, including the changing of some main characters names! I'd like to give "Full House" four stars, because I really did like it, but because of the markedly poor editing I'm dropping it down to three (if I could I'd compromise with ***1/2).

"Full House" tells the story of Billie Pearce, a divorced mother of two who finds herself lonely and bored when her children go away on vacation with their father. Deciding to try something new, Billie signs up for polo lessons. The actual polo is a disaster, but her polo instructor, wealthy playboy Nick Kaharchek, is another story. After having her foot stomped on by a horse, Billie is taken to the hospital by Nick, and their fascination with one another begins.

Used to sophisticated and snobby women, Nick is drawn to the lovely, warm, and real Billie. And Billie finds Nick irresistible, though she's sure a handsome, rich, and exciting man like him would never be interested in her. But there is an intense chemistry that sparks between them, that neither Nick nor Billie can deny, and they begin a fun, romantic, and somewhat unusual courtship.

Things start to get crazy when Nick convinces Billie to let his cousin Deedee stay with her until her upcoming wedding, and Billie inherits a redheaded whirlwind! Billie finds Deedee utterly exhausting, and quite annoying, not to mention the presence of her enormous fiancé, wrestler Frankie the assassin. Billie's not quite sure how things got so out of control, but she knows that Nick Kaharchek is to blame. Not that she's able to stay mad at him.

And Nick has lots of problems worse than Deedee, including her cousin Max, a young genius in hiding on Nick's vast property, on a mission that involves blowing things up and generally running amok. Billie finds this a little frightening, but she has other things to worry about too, like Nick's jealous and nasty ex-fiancée. Add in Billie's bug-killing neighbour and a touch of mystery near the end, and you have yourself an offbeat, light, and pleasant romance.

There isn't a whole lot of conflict between the main characters, nor in the story as a whole, really. It's just a quick and fun read that can be read, enjoyed and then most likely forgotten. "Full House" isn't a fabulous, standout novel, but it's not awful either. My advice is that even if you're a big Evanovich fan; if you don't like romances, don't read this book. But if you enjoy romances and non-demanding, feel-good tales then "Full House" is worth the read.

This is a light and endearing early work by the author of the outrageously funny Stephanie Plum series. It's a bit unfair to compare this book with the Plums. (It's unfair to compare most anything with the Plums.) "Full House" is romantic, sweet natured, and doesn't have what so many romance writers feel is the necessary plot device of having the main characters hate or mistrust each other halfway through the book. No angst.

How can you dislike a book that is well written and has a housewife as the romantic lead character? Go Billie! Snag that gorgeous guy with homemade chocolate chip cookie fumes. Who says that being a normal, well-adjusted family isn't a guy magnet?

Evanovich teases the reader with the kind of off-the-wall characters she'll use so well in the Plum series. Nick's nephew Max, the teenage bomb-mixing genius, and his gorgeous older sister DeeDee, engaged to a wrester, are just the sorts of characters you expect to explore in an Evanovich book. She does the characters better now, but these are a great offbeat touch to balance Billie's middle-class life. The way Billie and Nick adjust to each other's families is what makes the book fun to read. So read it!

As I read all the terrible reviews of this book, I wonder why? I too felt like the ending was too rushed and that the book needed more development in some areas and less in others, but...The majority of those doing the complaining are the ones that demanded another Kay Scarpetta book and no more Judy Hammer.

Personally, I agree with Ms. Cornwell and her attempt to introduce a new series of book. Look at the television shows that can't make it past a couple of years because they have done all that they can with the characters without making them totally unbelievable. Give her a break! Let her develop Police Chief Judy Hammer so that when she does decide to return to Kay Scarpetta it is because she truly wants to, not because she is trying to pacify her fans.

This was still a good book and I spent my Sunday morning reading this book and was done by noon which to me means that it was a good book. It kept me wondering "whodunit" until the final page. I would like to see her return to her previous style of writing with more villain involvement instead of just springing the villain at us in the final pages of the book. This to me was a great disappointment because I had no idea and didn't even suspect this person. I usually enjoy trying to solve the mystery as I read.

I almost didn't read this book because of what critics, paid and unpaid said. However, I just finished reading Point of Origin and I needed to read more Cornwell and Hornet's Nest was the only unread title. I was pleasantly surprised with this book and its characters. I cared about Virginia, Andy and Judy and what went on in their lives. I like the way Ms. Cornwell describes her characters and the way she does it in this book is a total departure from the Scarpetta books, so if you're looking for a Scarpetta by a different name, you aren't going to get it. I have to say I was sorry to reach the end of the book and hope there is a sequel. The cat who receives messages from the bank tower is a bit of a stretch, but as a cat owner, most of the cat's other behaviors were right on! It was refreshing that the end of the book just stopped as opposed to tying everything up neatly with a bow.

Patricia Cornwell's book, Hornet's Nest, was an incredible adventure that let your imagination reach it's full potential. It has been one of the most entertaining books I have ever read. It is set in the large city of Charlotte, North Carolina. In the book, the main character, Brazil, is always changing the actions of the story. Brazil is a newspaper reporter that becomes a volunteer cop to write about what happens in the real world. Deputy West is assigned to have Brazil as her tag along. Brazil is struggling in life with emotional problems caused by his mother who is an alcoholic. He is with West when the serial killer violently murders his first victim. The book is based around the police trying to find their serial killer before it is too late, but there are many other events that change the outcome of the book. The chief of police, Hammer ,is a very power-hungry woman. She has an emotionally unstable husband, Seth, who fakes killing himself because Hammer has caused him such pain he wanted to give her a little taste of what he has went through all those years. This book has to be read more than once to catch onto all the little details subtly given throughout the entire story. If you like mystery and suspense then you will love this adventurous tale of love and everything that could possibly go wrong in life.

YUK. Will never read another by this author. Took it back to the store and was told alot of people did the same.

Southern Cross is too ridiculous to be a detective novel, to violent to be a comic novel. This is my first venture into Cornwell. I have been told that her Scarpetta novels are better. I may try one of them one day, but I am too astounded by this book to try another or her soon.

Starting with a character named Buttner (called Butt) Fluck, aka Bubba, a blue-blooded southern aristocrat with an Austrian accent who speaks English like Chico Marx, and a thoroughly dislikable bad guy who is a well dressed, well groomed white guy with suspicious eyes, who gets sexually aroused by robbing and later by killing people.

When one watches a farce on stage, on knows that all of the characters are going to interact with each other and there will be no outside characters. Southern Cross is just such a farce. The coincidences never stop.

Set in Richmond Virginia, "Southern Cross" is Patricia Cornwell's sequel to "Hornet's Nest" and features the three main characters of that novel, Police Chief Judy Hammer, Deputy Chief Virginia West and Officer Andy Brazil. The story also includes a raft of criminals and border line crims with endearing names such as Bubba, Fluck, Muskrat, Divinity, Smoke, Beeper, Sick, Dog, Pigeon, Weed and Weed's late brother Twister. Plenty of animals featue in this book too with almost more-human names than some of the actual humans. Try Half Shell, Tree Buster, Niles and Popeye.

One of the charms of this book is the easy-to-read and fascinating historical backdrop of the city of Richmond and the state of Virginia. Going back to 1607 we hear about British explorers, local Indians, African slaves, Thomas Jefferson, tobacco and the American Civil War to name just a few.

However, this is a crime book and a sad tale of young no-hoper gang members, middle aged "simple" characters who enjoy nothing more than huntin', fishin' and guns, and middle class citizens of Richmond whose characters are all delightfully painted by Cornwell. Cleverly, the paths of all these characters including our 3 police officers, become crossed in the final few chapters as the story reaches its climax.

This book has a delightful comedy style in one way and yet contains its fair share of murder and violence. The plot is well thought out and presented and should provide plenty of entertainment to new and established Cornwell readers, although those expecting to find a Kay Scarpetta type thriller may well be disappointed.