I agree with Roseweb on this one. Marisa Carroll did a great job of continuing the Riverbend setting and the peripheral characters, but the sparks didn't seem to fly between Mitch and Tessa the way they did with the other couples in the other books. Also, while I realize that these books are entertainment and not necessarily life as it really is, I still found the characters a little bit unbelievable. Maybe men who fall in love with pregnant women really DO act this way, and maybe single pregnant women do too. But up until the last chapter, I really had trouble believing that Mitch loved Tessa all that much. He didn't really try to fight for her--just kind of left it up to her what she wanted to do and who she was going to have a "last-minute marriage" with. In fact, his son Sam seemed more proactive, and the interplay between him and Tessa was actually more moving in places than that between the adults.

But the last chapter made up for a lot. The baby's birth was very moving, and Tessa did come to her senses after all.

What kept me interested in this book is that I'd read "A Christmas Legacy" first, and knew there was some overlap in events between the two books. I was curious to see how the events would play out without giving anything away. That part was masterfully done. . .but in the baby shower scene you do get a very strong hint about who the next Riverbend story will be about. . .and you have to be paying attention to catch who the man is. Pick this book up and see if you can figure it out:)

Tessa Masterson finds herself running out of gas and lost not far outside of Riverbend, Indiana. When Riverbend's law, with Mitch Sterling riding shotgun, encounters her, they direct her towards town where she can refuel and maybe get some rest before she continues on her way north to Albany. Mitch Sterling's name embodies who he is. He is a member of the town council and he runs the town's hardware store which has been in his family for generations. He, his grandfather, and his son, are an integral part of this community and when he finds himself drawn to the pregnant stranger in town, he feels certain that she is the one for him despite the miserable marriage he has behind him.

Marisa Carroll has fluidly implemented the location and sense of community that has been a wonderful part of this Riverbend mini-series. What she fails to do credibly is to develop a relationship between Mitch and Tessa. It is difficult enough that unlike the previous installments, Tessa has no real connection to the town, but Carroll also brings in another stranger unexpectedly as a trite plot device which halts any progress Mitch and Tessa would have made. I was a bit surprised by the lack of development where Mitch and Tessa were concerned. But I did enjoy the continuous use of Riverbend as a community. The author continues in the vein first established by Arnold and continued by the rest of the authors thus far. And Tessa's love for Riverbend helped to establish a bit of a bond between her and the community she has grown to love. The advent of a familiar stranger, however, mars the friendship she shares with the locals and the love she feels for Mitch in a manner that is never truly recovered.

This book by Marisa Carrol is about a young woman that gets stranded in a small town, seven months pregnant, and a single father who needs help. He ends up giveing her a home and a job until she gets back on her feet and can go on to New York where she was headed, or until they fall in love and have a last minute marriage. Heartwarming, and delightful this book will keep you turning the pages for hours.

I recommend not buying this book. I did on the stength of some good reviews on this web site and some good words by Trader Vic. The essence of the book is to use stock screens to look for good stocks, and then use technical analysis to decide when to buy. It's a reasonable premise. In the first edition the two model portfolios returned about +25% and +90% in about a year. That's pretty impressive but occurred at the top of the stock market. In the second edition, two new model portfolios were created. I checked the prices and about a year later, you would have lost almost 100% in each portfolio. I'm sure the author is honest and sincere. However, his methods do not work. In the first edition, he was simply lucky.

Magnet Investing is a refreshing approach to investing which provides a methodology for investing rather than the typical hype found in many investment books. The approach is easy to follow and there are many examples for the reader to learn stock selection, as well as buy and sell signals. The approach strikes the right balance between technical analysis and common sense. I found the book to be useful, well written and would highly recommend it.

I decided to buy Magnet Investing after seeing Mr. Kimmel on several CNBC and CNN segments. This guy knows his stuff and his book reflects it. He has a trademarked stock selection process, and the stocks it picked in the first edition of his book returned 90% in 12 months. This book is filled with information for all levels of investors and provides lots of tables that give a historical perspective of the stock market. Although I felt I didn't need it, the book has several chapters for beginners on how to plan and manage a portfolio and then covers information for more advanced investors including asset allocation and when to buy and sell. Then he turns to the Magnet Stock Selection Process and shows the reader how to use your computer to set up searches using specific criteria for selecting stocks. Finally there is a chapter on tax efficiency and recommended reading and internet sites. The book is loaded with great charts and tables. It's one of the best investment books I've read...and I've seen most of them!

This book is the worst book i ever read in my life. I wouldn't recommend this to anybody. Carroll doesn't know what the hell she is talking about, let alone know anything about art.

This is what I packed to the lake this summer. The suspense of following art thinking from verisimitude to conceptualism. The romance of potent examples from the history of art! The tragedy of the Fall of the aesthetic enterprise. The hope of uncovering the as-yet unsolved mysteries in defining a work of Art. All told with, if not humor, at least honsety.

After having only studied philosophy for a year, I nevertheless found this book to be of great use. As the title suggests, portions of this book may seem elementary (explanations of "analyzing concepts" and philosophy in general) to some, but the table of contents will allow you to skip them. Carroll reviews all major approaches to the philosophy of art, including aesthetic theory, representationism, and expressionism, and continuously uses cross-references in hiw own book. I would recommend it to any one interested in beginning their studies in philosophy of art.

The book is a good exploration of new way understanding user's experience. Many guru from HCI join to write the books such as Allan Maclean(his design rationale QOC). This book seems to be good but they are fail to understand what user's need. This is a representation of failure. Many authours try to take the technology based and change their title to scenario.

This book resulted from a think tank on the nature of use-oriented design representations and the part they play in the development of computer systems and applications. Enter scenario-based design. The book is made up of a number of essays - each with their own spin on the idea and their own examples of its application. While this makes the content a little hard to access, it also offers a rich resource and food-for-thought. Of particular interest to me was the relation of scenario-based design to object oriented design and HCI principles and practices. A must for serious designers who want to explore ways of creating systems that better serve users.

i am a phd student and need to search the topic about user interface design.

This is about the 12th classic children's story that I have read to my pre-schooler this year. It has been his least favorite to date. I agree that the writing is excellent, how many writers could capture the true esscence of a dream? But it was not the best story for a 4-year old. He just never really got into it. Some of the chapters were better than others and I will try reading it to him again when he gets older, but for now I'll give it a 3* rating.

Children familiar only with the classic illustrations by John Tenniel will be introduced to a wide variety of artistic interpretations of Lewis Carroll's immortal "Alice in Wonderland", compiled by Cooper Edens. This unabridged edition brings together the works of over thirty illustrators from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. The book is aesthetically balanced with both black and white and color pictures. It is interesting to see how each artist has visualized Alice and the rest of the eccentric characters. Some, such as A. E. Jackson's and Margaret Tarrant's, I found right on target, while others, like A.A. Nash's Shirley Templesque Alice, I found off the mark. But this is simply a personal opinion. My favorite interpreter though is still Arthur Rackham, whose art is featured prominently. All in all a very satisfying purchase.

This was my first Susan Carroll book (a 2 book set actually), and it came right after reading Jo Beverley and a Heyer. So, consciously or otherwise, I was comparing this author with those authors. Be warned! Because the story and character stuck so little in my mind nor made me feel as if I wanted to re-read it immediately, I rated this book and set of stories at a 3. Others might rate it higher at least a 4.

The storylines and plots were OK, but I did not find them very compelling. What is wrong? Well, there are several unlikely plot elements, beginning with the fact that the heroine in Brighton Road is so naive as to be "too stupid to live". The fact that she and her family are incredibly idealistic leads to a series of disasters. I did not even feel like laughing out, and I felt thoroughly sorry for the hero, as a result. Not that the hero is that attractive either. He is remarkably sober, has no idea of how to propose to or court a lady, and he is not that good a judge of character as he thinks. [This lead to one of the few highlights in the novel for me].

The author does set some Gothic elements on their heads, notably the scene culminating in a boxing match involving the hero. What I could not understand was how the heroine continued to be so naive until almost the very end, or for that matter, how her parents were able to shrug off her social disgrace (not lightly done at the time!). Also, at that time, being a lady author with the Minerva Press was not something that most unmarried women were anxious to make public. This part of the story therefore rang false with me from the start, as did the heroine's past romantic history.

On the other hand, if you enjoy a light Regency read, with allowances made for some unrealistic elements, you will probably like this novel. It is certainly refreshing to meet a less-than-confident Regency hero.

About the Sugar Rose: This story describes the transformation of a frumpy "old maid" into an attractive young woman whom her fiance actually notices. There are several sub-plots, notably the loss of a ship by the hero, the desire for vengeance on the part of two secondary characters, and the heroine's growing disillusion with her fiance. What is most attractive about this story is the use of an overweight heroine who slims down in the first half of the story. For this unusual heroine, I award four and a half stars to Susan Carroll.

The second story is actually more absorbing on a re-read, perhaps because of the unusual heroine.

Although I have awarded the book three stars, this duo by Susan Carroll just might be one of your keepers. Take a look, and don't be put off by my own lukewarm feelings. My problems are really with the fact that the stories did not attract me that much, and not with the quality of her writing.

This book is definitely a keeper for me, only for the second story. If you could buy just "The Sugar Rose" then it is more worth the buy. "Brighton Road" is entirely forgettable and the heroine was so silly that I could not understand how the hero fell in love with her. The second book, however, was wonderful! I would give it 5 stars if it stood on its own. I have read it several times. The heroine begins as a shy, overweight and self-conscious lady, but with the help of the hero, who always saw the good in her, she blossoms. Ms. Carroll truly knows how to write so that you FEEL for the characters. The heroine was intelligent, humorous and plucky and the hero gentlemanly, funny,and sexy. I loved their interaction. Definitely worth the time!

I would classify it on the Ho Hummm scale rather than WOW I gotta get this book now .....

The book contains two novels and weighs in at 433 pages. The book was published in 1995 and generally these multi novel books by Caroll & Graf were selected for excellence in erotica ..... The editors of this 'Anonymous'tome must have been asleep ...

In the first book 'Confessions of an English Maid' we are provided with the account of a 12 year old Jessie and her stepbrother as they grow up together playing doctor and finishing with husband and wife .... When mom catches them in the act she is sent away to a reformatory school where she meets another young girl that was sent there from a house of prostitution .... It's of course no stretch of the imagination that the plot unfolds and we find Jessie working in the house and telling the reader of her encounters .... It's easy to read but now well done in my mind and only semi erotic...

The second novel has no title except 'Chapter One' we read about Louise ... who is known as Madeleine in France and her adventures as she runs away from home with Bob a much older lover to go to medical school ... This book only has two really hot scenes towards the end of the book when Louise catches her then husband with the maid 'Clementine' and later when she gets her revenge by seducing a young page but Tommy ....

If it wasn't for those two scenes of about 25 pages this book would have rated 1 star .....

I enjoy the book Also reccomend " My Secret Life" Anonymou

I found this book to be a summary of all the collective knowledge I have previously obtained on the subject of high blood pressure. I purchased the book looking forward to following their suggested eating plan, however, the receipes do not contain any information with respect to number of servings, calories, sodium content, fat content, etc. You never quite know if that Spinach Pie you just wolfed down was meant to be shared amongst 2 or 6 people. Because of this, I had to give up as I just don't have the time to calculate appropriate servings size, etc.

This book has a motivating format for controlling high blood pressure and maintaining weight. The DASH diet information is wonderful---the food is delicious and healthful. I can honestly see myself eating this way the rest of my life. The information on stress relief and exercise is also very well-written.

Actress Borland co-starred with Bela Lugosi in 1935's THE MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (MGM, D: Tod Browing). She first met Lugosi after seeing him onstage in DRACULA: THE VAMPIRE PLAY. It inspired her to write COUNTESS DRACULA, a sequel ore to the play than to Stoker's novel. She showed it to Lugosi, and they became friends. Now, just before Borland's death, the book was published. Yes, it was an amateurish effort, not terribly good. However, it has a unique place in both film history and horror literature, and it belongs in every true vampire fan's collection.

'Countess Dracula' by author Carrol Borland, is a good, well-written novella, that is a worthy sequel to Bram Stoker's classic 'Dracula' The author wrote this book back in the early 1930's as a teenage girl, with an unabashed crush on film star Bela Lugosi! She soon met the famous man, and read him her manuscript. Lugosi tried but couldn't get it published back then, because Universal studios still held the copyright on the character of Count Dracula.
Borland has an exciting, pulp-style to her writing, and her story takes place in the mysterious land of Transylvania. Two English couples, one a pair of honeymooners, stay at a village inn that lies in the shadow of a mountain capped by Castle Dracula. The young bride attracts the attention of the handsome, suave middle-aged count, who fancies her for himself! The description of author Borland's Count Dracula truly fits Bela Lugosi and not Stoker's literary vampire. This would have made a good, eerie Universal horror film in 1935.

The narrative is quite good, and only falters at the very conclusion with a bit of an unsatisfying ending. Carrol Borland had real talent as a writer, and it's a great pity she didn't write further novels. We are grateful that this manuscript was hidden away safely in her desk for six decades until publication!

Perhaps I was expecting too much from the title of this book. There is nothing "unofficial" about the information it contains. The hotel descriptions are very standard guidebook material - lots of facts, but not enough of a description to give you a feel of the properties. I have stayed at several of the properties listed in this book and they could have easily included some information that IMHO would have been crucial to your enjoyment. Also, very little information is provided on things to do on each island outside of the usual tourist attractions. Maybe I am being too harsh. After all, Frommers and Fodors aren't any better, but since this book is touting itself as the "unofficial guide", I feel that it's a bit of false advertising.

Although the book touts itself as giving readers "the inside story" on Hawaii--everything from shopping to volcanoes, from our experience there's no truly remarkable reporting. The descriptions are fairly accurate, albeit not over-critical, but I have to agree completely with the reviewer from LA who states that this is very much standard fare. Okay, so "Dr. Beach" says that such-and-such is one of the best 10 beaches in America, how is that "unofficial", and how does that reflect what the author thinks? Tominaga relies far too much on the offical line--publicity available in every hotel lobby about the attractions--and not enough on his own experience. Perhaps his comments on islands other than Oahu are more meaningful, but if you can get to Hawaii, a good concierge will do as much or more for you. There is so much more that Hawaii has to offer that isn't included here--probably a book isn't the best way to get this information anyway. On the positive side, the "Unofficial Guide" formula for rating things according to age group is very helpful.

Great organization to a potentially complex topic. Most comprehensive evaluations of hotels, restaurants, nightlife, beaches, and attractions of any of the usual guidebooks. Attraction evaluations and descriptions provide accurate age appeal breakouts to aid in evaluating attraction's overall family appeal. I love this series and rely on its accuracy. It rightfully leaves the other general Hawaii guidebooks in the dust. If you are going to buy one guidebook make it this one!