Karen Kendall is a writer who knows how to put a smile on a reader's face and keep it there! Her work is sharp and funny and best of all DIFFERENT. And with to Catch a Kiss you know you're in for something different from the very first lines; "Some women kept baskets of potpourri on their desks at work. Jazz Taylor kept a basket of latex noses." Jazz is a special effects wizard for the movies whose life is picture perfect until her art thief/con man father wanders back into it pursued by a stubborn and very sexy cop, Tony Sinclair. Of course, this being a romance you know these two will wind up together. But how they get there is a rollercoaster of a ride you'll heartily enjoy.

Love to Laugh? Pick up Karen Kendall. Wacky characters and true love are a match made in heaven for those who need a good lift in their day. Have fun with movie special effects, stolen art and romance. This book is a must for those who want comedy with their romance.

This is the second book of Ms. Kendall's that I have read and I liked it even better than the first.

This is a true case of "opposites attract"--but it's very clear to the reader why Tony Sinclair and Jazz Taylor are made for each other. Sexual tension abounds as these two find a way to work together to clear Jazz's father, Myles, from a suspected art heist.

The secondary love story between Myles and his lady love is simply icing on the cake of a truly delectable story.

If you're afraid of choosing which boy to date and you'd rather string them along, give this book a try and it'll provide you with the easiest way to blame God on your indecisiveness. Otherwise, be true to yourself and make up your mind.

Well written and thought out, it really gives you an insight on what God is REALLY thinking. So check this book out and learn that it's never your fault, just God's plan. Enjoy!

I first read this book as a teen and it changed my life! Thought this book is specifically targeted toward single women in thier adult life, there is much to be gained by any woman reading it, no matter what stage of her adult life (or even adolescence) she may be in. I have gone through this book many times, and now as a young married woman still find new insight reading it again. Lady in Waiting focuses on being complete in and of yourself, before any romantic relationships. I recomend this book not only for you, but for every woman you know so that she may grow as an individual, and as a woman.

This is a great book for any woman to read. This book teaches women to become a woman after God's heart. I have used this book for personal refrence and also in small groups. If you are a first time small group leader; I strongly suggest giving this book a chance, it will guide you into helping young girls and women become women of faith!

I identified so strongly with the lead character, Cecily. The story was wonderful and I connected with the local scene of Atlanta, Georgia. I have but one problem. We were so into the character - then up pops the cliches of Cecily having the perfect "look" - now, why did you have to go and spoil everything? It was nice to have a character we can relate to as real women (financially despondent, etc.) and we hear Cecily described (numerously) as beautiful, perky, petite, blonde, etc. Next time, Karen, really blow our minds and create a character that is REAL and still wins our hearts. How about a little cellulite, a large rear end? Pasty white skin? Clever writing about the financial situation, all the same. I'd buy another book. Please, are you listening to me? How about a leading character that is not a size 4?

I WAS ACTUALLY SMILING AND LAUGHING OUT LOUD WHILE READING THIS BOOK.... I LOVE WITTY AS OPPOSED TO SYRUPY-STICKY-SWEET ROMANCE BOOKS. I WASN'T REAL THRILLED WITH CECILY AT FIRST, BUT SHE EVENTUALLY EVOLVED INTO A REAL WOMAN. A GOOD READ ALL AROUND.

It was a great read from the first page. The characters are likable and seem more realistic than in many books I read. This was fun and entertaining and had really witty one-liners. If you just want to kick back and enjoy some escapeism this is the book.

I just finished reading Phantom Prince also, and I was captivated by how "normal" their dysfunctional relationship was! Theirs actually sounds like a lot of relationships 20-something females have with aloof men.

One thing I am curious about is -- in the movie, The Deliberate Stranger, Liz (called Cas) mentions how once they were making love and he tried to strangle her. But this book makes no reference to that incident at all. Does anyone know if this was created to enhance the plot? Or do other Bundy books make a reference to this incident? I am leaning toward it being fabricated, since Liz was otherwise quite revealing in her story.

Great book: "Liz Kendall"'s story flows and flows, everything is natural and simple, the only thing is that her Prince was killing women. This is a story of a regular human life crossed by fate that it wasn't meant for. Author is emotional, engaging; she's causing compassion, she's not posing--she seems to tell the truth. I read this book overnight--I couldn't stop, so easily it reads. The book shows "ordinary" side of Bundy, it illustrates his perfect ability to comaprtmentalize and wear a mask. It talks about him as of a person just like you and me and it causes you to feel sorry for him. This is definitely written by a woman who was completely in love with him. Sincere and spontaneous girl, "Liz Kendall" had spent some of her best years waiting for Bundy to marry her, but she couldn't capture him. The book is a great life story, as much about "Liz" as about Bundy, and I think it gives a perfect slice of ONE of Bundy's personalities. You'll end up loving the charactes.

This book give you another look at the serial killer Ted Bundy, who whould had thought that Bundy was a nice guy, well he give the apperance he was. To Elizabeth Kendall the girlfriend of Bundy at that time, Ted Bundy was for her a normal and very nice guy, what a shock it must had been for to discovered that the man she love was a serial killer. This book is very intense because it put you in the shoes of Elizabeth Kendall, that gave you a very different look of Ted Bundy, so he could be a nice guy to some people but he could also be a murderer, he was sick and it very scary to know that people like Ted Bundy do existe and they have family and friends who see them in a different light not just as a killer. This is one of the best book about Ted Bundy because it tell you more about him, his past, family, friends and not so much about the trial and all the awful murders he did, it's not details as some other book did and I'm glad it not, I am not too found at knowing how cruel the murders of the girls had been, that creepy and also the boring trial, what I want to know was how Ted Bundy really was, well a part of him that his girlfriend, friends and family knew, the everyday Bundy and not just the serial killer. Why he did all theses things you don't really know why, just that you know he his a very sick man. This book can trouble you, well it trouble me, how can Bundy could had been such a nice guy to so many people and did what he did?

I purchased this book hoping to fill the void that the passing of James Herriot has left. Grant Kendall's book falls far short of the warm, touchable, expansive writing style of James Herriot. Reading about a day in the life of vet Grant Kendall, I got the feeling that it's just business for him. He describes heart-wrenching situations with a detachment that I find disappointing. While certainly he does no harm to the animals that he serves, his means of expression does not clearly convey that he embraces them with the good brotherly grace of James Herriot. If you are looking to feel good while reading about animals, consider passing this book by. The author provides one painful story without leaving the reader with a speck of hope. That story haunts me still... And incidentally, he *hates* cows.

I was very sad when James Herriott died, knowing that there would be no more beautiful stories to read. Then along came Grant Kendall! He's funny, articulate, engaging, and a lovely writer. MORE, please!

This is a must read for cabin fever.The stories are short and very humorous.I didnt put it down until I read the last page.

I am an avid fan of the Cadfael series and I enjoyed this book very much. The ending is terrific, though some people may not agree with me. Am deducting one star because of the character of Millicent Prescote. She is extremely disloyal and changeable. I truly wondered at the end if her marriage will be a happy one.

Ellis Peters is in a class by herself. Before her death at the age of 82 in 1995, she wrote a series of 20 mysteries set in England and Wales during the 12th Century. (She also wrote many other books under her real name, Edith Pargeter.) In the Cadfael mysteries, her "detective" is a former Crusader who has decided to spend his last years as a monk in a monastery in Shrewsbury. I have found the Brother Cadfael in the books to be far more interesting than the Brother Cadfael of the television series. Many of the books in the Cadfael series are as much (or more) historical romances as they are mysteries. Don't start any book in this series unless you enjoy a strong dose of romance and medieval English history mixed with mystery. The Cadfael series (like most good series) is more enjoyable if the books are read in sequence. Dead Man's Ransom is the ninth book in the series.

In Dead Man's Ransom, Brother Cadfael is called upon to solve the murder of the Sheriff of Shropshire, Gilbert Prescote. Suspicion falls on a Welsh captive and on others who have a grudge against the stern sheriff. Cadfael's investigation is hampered by Welsh raids along the border and by continued strife within England.

In the tenth installment of the ever-so-popular Brother Cadfael series, author Ellis Peters proves a winner once again with "Dead Man's Ransom."

Set in the year 1141, civil war runs amok in Britain between King Stephen and the Empress Maud, and it appears that the end of the twelve year old struggle is in sight. The war has taken its toll in many areas, as civil wars do, and the people are quite weary of it all. Maud's forces, however, now have captured the king himself. The sheriff of Shropshire, too, has been taken captive. This means, in those days, that in all likelihood an exchange of prisoners will take place.

Alas, one of the captives is now dead and it is our Brother Cadfael who senses that, indeed, it is murder, and, just as naturally as Peters would have it, it is he who is given the responsibility to solve the case and to try to bring about the release of the king.

Brother Cadfael is the former crusader now a Benedictine monk, who specializes in herbal medicines, solving murders, and compassion. Peters (Edith Pargeter) has developed her Cadfael through this series of medieval whodunits into a man of the cloth easily admired and respected. He is a man of firm, and devout, principles; a man who seems to carry the weight of the shire on his own Welch-born shoulders!

Peters has made grand the area of Shropshire, and especially the town of Shrewsbury there on the Welch borders. She has also created an exciting family of literary characters to complement Cadfael: Hugh Beringar (deputy sheriff of the shire and Cadfael's closest friend) and his wife Aline, Abbot Radulfus (the venerable patriarch of the abbey, and other members of the abbey. It is not essential that this series be read from the start (with "A Morbid Taste for Bones"), as this book could easily be read first and it would still hold up as a book on its own; however, readers generally will want to read them in order, as the presentation of character, of historical events, of character-interaction does show development in the series' genealogy. Peters died a few years ago and apparently there are no more Cadfael episodes aside from the twenty or so published, but each of the books extant bring the reader a treasure of reading adventures.

Billyjhobbs@tyler.net

Ever since the Battelle Film Club's showing of Preston Sturges' The Palm Beach Story, I've been on a screwball kick. Screenplays, biographies, non-fiction, what-have-you about that lunatic genre of film greatly interest me. This book by Kendall isn't solely about screwball, but rather an overview of the larger film genre that it falls under, the romantic comedy. Sturges is only the last chapter here. The majority of director coverage goes to Frank Capra and Leo McCarey, and the book goes even more into the lives of the major actresses of the period, Barbara Stanwyck, Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, and Claudette Colbert, who the author asserts were co-creaters of the classic romantic comedy films. The argument goes like this: due to the depression and the unusual success of particular directors (men, and I use the term correctly in this case, who were able to fulfill the cathartic needs of the public going through this rough period), these directors were given extremely free reign. They used it to explore collaborations with their favorite subjects, these independent women. Movies before and after delegated women more to the supporting roles (with notable exceptions, but only as exceptions), but in these romantic comedies of the 30s the women were the lead and often the most sympathetic and fleshed-out characters.

While the descriptions of the making of the movies was quite interesting, it is the concise biographies of the people involved--directors, actors, actresses, and writers--that help you understand this moment in cinema history. An excellent book on its subject.

Along with Marjorie Rosen's "Popcorn Venus" and Brendan French's "On the Verge of Revolt," this is one of three superb feminist film books published in the '70s and '80s. Witty, engaging, and intelligent without lapsing into jargon-studded academic verbiage or theoretical pretention.

This is an extremely well-thought out book that should be just as interesting to a film scholar as to the casual reader. Kendall's exploration of the feminist potential in thirties romantic comedy is very assured. Biographical criticism is coming back with a vengeance (in Literary circles anyway) and the author's focus on the relationship between the directors and their female stars makes this book an ideal companion to the more textually-oriented Stanley Cavell's "Pursuits of Happiness". She chooses great movies to discuss. I particularly like her focus on the Capra-Stanwyck relationship--and I envy her for having seen "Forbidden" & "Ladies of Leisure", which I can't find anywhere!

A good anthology, but flawed by "The Bodyguard," which seemed cobbled together, and suffers from an absolutely terrible ending that had my mouth falling open in disbelief. Not what I expect from the series, at all!
"An Act of Love" is entertaining and steamy, a good contemporary romance that apparently picks up a character from a previous volume. Made me want to get the original!
"Enslaved" was OK, but the heroine annoyed me, which wrecked the story. That's more personal bias than any fault of the author - I need a really strong female protagonist in period romances.
"The Love Slave" was AMAZING, the best story I've read in the Secrets anthologies. I read it twice through in two sittings. The sci-fi premise is similar to another novel I read by a different author but the characterization and romance are so much stronger I found myself thinking, "This is the book the other author was trying to write." Terrible, I know, but honest!
Steamy, steamy, hot erotica - heart-tugging romance - Emma Holly is my new hero. lol I'd recommend this volume on the strength of this one story alone.

Anyone who had read the Black Lace books will recognize Emma Holly's name. She is one of the best writers of erotica that I've come across. On my quest to collect everything ever written by her, I found Secrets vol. 4. Let me say that I was pleasantly surprised by the other stories in this collection.

Each story is based on a romantic premise, so readers of romance novels will enjoy this book. The "steam" factor has been pumped up, so readers who don't like graphic love scenes should avoid these stories. However, people looking for one-handed reading would do well to remember that these stories have PLOTS. That said, I enjoyed every one - but especially Emma Holly's.

Others have done a wonderful job reviewing the contents of this book, so I won't rehash. This review is just to emphasize how much you will NOT regret purchasing Secrets vol. 4. :-)

Romance Comm says, "In ENSLAVED Lindsey adds a unique twist to a classic plot creating a passionate story of love lost and found. Her characters live and breathe in this appealing tale producing a powerful impact not soon forgotten. Exquisite, erotic love scenes sear the senses. ENSLAVED will take your breath away. Hot! Hot! Hot! ~

I was excited about this book when I bought it online. Now that I read it, I am not very happy. The authors could have drilled deeper into some examples of how to implement the application using some wide spread technology like Java or ASP and COM. Giving concrete examples of what a Boundary Object should be, or what classes make sense to implement to interact with databases, just to mention a few, would have been very helpful. I also found "the top ten error" method very tiresome (I often skipped it and went straight to the right ways of doing things). The book was helpful though in providing a guide of what steps to follow in the design process as well as giving us a good idea on how to break the project into objects and diagrams.

You are already into various Java technologies like
Servlets, JDBC, EJBs and can put together a
small to medium application/project using those.

You somehow implemented the project/app to
satisfy the requirements but you are thinking
that there has to be a better way of going from
a set of requirements to a design (from which the leap to
actual coding is smooth) without feeling like
some vague unrepeatable 'magic' was being done.

You want to formalize the process of jumping from the
'analyze' phase to a 'Object oriented design' phase (that
results in sequence/collaboration diagrams etc) but
without being encumbered by an elaborate and complex
methodology.

You want this process to be small, easy to understand
and flexible so that you can adapt it to your needs.

If the above applies, you should seriously consider
investing in this book.

The Authors use the often used bookstore example to drive
home the process which starts with writing usecases
and ends with a detailed design that satisfies all the
user's requirements.

A list of 10 common mistakes made during each step of
the process can be used as a reference when you are
done understanding the process and are actually applying
it in your projects.

Paul Reed's Application Development with Java and UML
makes a good complement to this book, though
Conallen uses a modified but still complex enough form
of Rational Unified Process (RUP) in his book.

A developer who doesn't know a process, doesn't know what he/she is missing. A developer who doesn't know UML risks to be relegated to fill rows of code on a structure of classes and methods designed by others.
This book teaches a simple and effective process, and indirectly UML too. UML is like any other languages: one cannot learn it without using it in practice.
The authors are teachers, and this gives a big edge to the book, for their ability to anticipate reader's difficulties and common errors.

Even if I actually use Catalisys process, tailored for components (see UML Components, Cheesman and Daniels), simply I can't immagine to be where I am without having read this book at the beginning.

Mystical Paths is my first experience with a Susan Howatch book. I found that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are solid, complex, very different, and interesting. I truly felt like these were people that I would like to get to know better.

I won't reiterate the plot here, since other reviewers have done it well. I will just say that this book has elements that many readers will likely find enjoyable for pure fun reading: demonic possession, exorcism, mystery, and suspense. There are also complex elements for the reader that likes more meat to a story:guilt, pride, vocation, growing up, and parental relation complexs.

My only very tiny complaint about this book is that in a few places it bogs down a bit, though it does tend to recover quickly. Overall, though, I highly recommend this book and will be seeking out the other titles in this series.

The second trilogy in the Starbridge books takes place in the 1960's. In this book Jon Darrow's son Nick is now a young man shortly before his ordination as a priest. Nick is in no way a model ordinand. Like his father he has psychic powers, and cannot resist the urge to show them off as parlour tricks to impress the girls. He has quite a collection of female admirers and has it all figured out - how to separate the nice girls from the bad ones, and, of course, when to go to Confession (not compulsory in the Church of England) only to start all over again. The central story in this book is Nick's obsession with finding out the truth about a friend who has died under mysterious circumstances. There is also the father-son dynamic between him and his father Jon - now living as a recluse - and Nick's problems with keeping his psychic powers under control. Nick tends to blunder from one mess into the other - but remains a loveable and sincere young man who needs to learn the lesson: I CAN BE WRONG.

In spite of Nick's charms I wasn't entirely captivated by this book. I never really developed an interest in Christian and couldn't quite follow Nick's fascinationwith him. Also I found the psychic-occult element a little tedious this time around; it had been dealt with adequately in Glamorous Powers, I felt. Nevertheless it's an important part of the series and it was wonderful getting to know Nick, and witnessing the love between him and Jon.

Susan Howatch once again shows brilliance in characterisation, expression of spiritual truths, and integration of Jungian psychology in creating this strange and rather macabre picture of conflict, intensity, and the darkness of deception. While the plot has notable deficiencies, particularly in some major scenes in the last quarter of the action, the author manages to present a deep and thorough, if sometimes horrifying, picture of what seems an eternal battle of good and evil.

Set in 1968, when the previous modern certainties of the stability of church and society were crumbling, the story of Nicholas Darrow shows us both the tearing conflicts within one man's life, where his faith is overshadowed by his intense tendency to use his psychic gifts for power and manipulation, and the overall despair of a world which seemed totally unstable. The popular crowd who form secondary characters deteriorate rapidly from a privileged and party-loving group into addiction, mental illness, suicide, murder, or desperate, even pathological, promiscuity.

The main characters, Nicholas and his father Jonathan Darrow, both possess rare psychic gifts, and their inability to see situations clearly in relation to one another stems from the mutual belief that the son is a replica of his father. The differences, which manage to pointedly reflect the times as well, are drastic. Where Jonathan, whose insight and wisdom are clear in the various novels of the series in which he appears, is grounded in Christian mysticism, Nicholas has fallen into a gnostic approach, which he sees as superior, and his manifestation of psychic power is frighteningly manipulative in its various plot depictions. Though father and son have certain common weaknesses, Jonathan is sustained by classic mystic theology and monastic experience, where Nicholas (until his own turning point) cannot except the elements of conversion, and, despite giving them a Christian flavour in his own mind, engages in displays of (mostly apparent) unusual powers that seem close to sorcery.

Lovers of the series will find that action in this book enlightens the portrayals of characters who appear elsewhere. For example, the full consequences of the tragedy involving Venetia Flaxton, which is set in 1963 in Scandalous Risks, are sadly clear in this 1968 setting. Readers who know Charles Ashworth from other novels undoubtedly will feel Nicholas's frustration keenly when, in his turning to Charles for assistance, one who might be expected to be comforting and wise is quite the contrary because he has decided what Nicholas is trying to say without giving him a chance to speak. The same Lewis Hall who, in other volumes, will be invaluable to Ashworth and, much later, rather exasperating in a joint healing ministry with Nick, is here "at his best," a strength for both Nicholas and Jonathan.

It is unfortunate that most of the action in this book involves elaborately staged dramatic, which can obscure the essential themes even if it delivers certain key messages powerfully. However, in the outcome it is an exceptional depiction of the hard path to self-knowledge (from which even wise spiritual guides of 88 find constant), resolution of internal conflict, providence and, ultimately, redemption.