What a wonderful book! The characters are so real, I fell in love with them all. I laughed out loud many times, shed tears a few times, and didn't want the story to end. An excellent first novel--I can't wait for more from Mr. Kleiner! I would like to see Oprah pick this one for her club.

For the first 50 or so pages, I was puzzled and uncomfortable with George's panicky reactions to some of the events in his unusual household of aged retirees. Suddenly, I realized George was desperately clinging to his new found "family" because of his paralyzing fear of dying alone, as had his dear friend. I could clearly see the action as scenes in a movie, and I was hooked with the story. (I began to visualize Ernest Borgnine as George, etc., and even wrote a letter to Mr. Borgnine urging him to read the book.)

For a first novel from one as young as Mr. Kleiner, I was touched by his tender handling of the characters, and impressed by his insights into their quaking souls and hearts. Wonderful work!

This amazing novel is rich in so many ways! I laughed and cried. It will steal your heart, take your breath away. Peopled with characters so real and wonderful you'll want them to show up on your porch for tea, this is the story of six incredible strangers who come together in a tumble-down mansion in a tiny town and attempt to avoid winding up in a nursing home by living TOGETHER and by turning their final years into a grand adventure. This book will make you want to get up and sing, dance, shout out the window that life can be grand right down to the very end. Although the novel deals with issues we will all have to face sooner or later (death & dying, aging), Mr. Kleiner handles the subject matter with humor and love and compassion. The novel reminded me of a wild combination of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Cocoon, Driving Miss Daisy, Waking Ned Divine, and Field of Dreams. The movie version would be gorgeous.

Our book group's favorite novel of the year! Everyone should read this incredible story...then spread the word to anyone who might one day be old! This novel will change the way you view life. Read it, NOW!

Blameless is the story of Mary Culpeper, a bus driver living in a small town in Michigan. Mary is a strong woman - she lives alone, plays softball, and enjoys nights out at her favorite bar. However, as the book begins, she feels as though she is losing her strength. Mary is awaiting a murder trial. She is not the defendant, but the witness for the prosecution, expected to tell how she found the body of a small child on her bus route. Her distress at the impending trial is disturbing her sleep, and causing her to do things very out-of-character, such as beginning an affair with a married man.

Ultimately, this is a book about Mary's search for truth. She must face up to the truth about what happened to the murdered girl, her family's past, and the importance of relationships to her. This search for truth is, in the end very compelling, and an important read for anyone looking for similar things in their life.

As with Billy Dead, I again found myself wholly captured by Lisa Reardon's new novel. The story of Blameless concerns Mary Culpepper's attempts to come to terms with her past, both with her family and with her best friend, who is married to Mary's ex-husband. Each scene crackles with a tension and intensity that is both captivating and completely believable. The book creates a world that is as compelling as it is real.

I loved this book! Mary is a 34-year old divorcee, strong, athletic, living in the same small town where she grew up, driving the school bus, and having Sunday dinners (every Sunday night!) with her Mom and sisters. And is now anxiously awaiting the upcoming trial of Jen Colby's mother when she must testify to finding the little girl's dead boy in a closet. Mary cannot recall seeing any signs of abuse of Jen, the six-year-old who rode her bus, yet the "Night Visitor" shows up and greatly disturbs her sleep. Reardon's writing is compelling as Mary's story unfolds, revealing other issues she has suppressed in her life. I came to love Mary and feel her story ends on a huge note of hope. She has shown us that our friendships and relationships require attention and responsibility and can survive the truth.

This is L. Block's best book about Matthew Scudder, bar none. The characters are vivid, settings place you right in the action, the dialogue believable, and Scudder's descent into addiction - dead on. Block could have rested on his laurels (deservedly so) after this book, but thank goodness, he's still writing. Of course, it helps if you started reading the series from the very beginning, and you understand the life Scudder's been living, and how he's been fooling himself. Hard to believe he's not real.

"Eight Million Ways to Die" is a classic piece of hardboiled detective fiction that represents a turning point in the life of its hero, Matthew Scudder. Early on in the narrative, Scudder is told frankly by a young doctor after a two-day alcohol blackout, "if you drink, you'll die." Scared by the warning, Scudder takes a case he doesn't want in a despearte attempt to distract him from alcohol. His struggles with the bottle come across very real and are harrowing to behold. The case is a good one as well with Scudder attempting to track the manaical killer of a hooker who was trying to leave the life. Death is an ever constant theme, with the book's title being a riff on the old literary saying "there are eight million stories in the naked city."

This book is everything great private detective fiction should be; dark, cynical, violent and lonely. Frankly, I like Scudder better during this period than later on after he sobers up. If you agree, you'll love this book.

This is the book that really set the standard for the Scudder series. It's the fifth Scudder adventure and it opens with Matt just out of the hospital after a major drinking binge. He is hired by a prostitute who wants out of the business, so he tracks down her pimp, Chance. No problem, Chance says. She can get out, but she could have saved herself some money and skipped the middleman.

Everything looks great, but then the prostitute is murdered. Scudder, of course, assumes that Chance is the killer, so he calls in a tip to the police. Next thing you know, Chance is out and he's looking for Matt.

This book is the first to really show Matt's struggle with alcohol. He starts attending AA meetings, but still doesn't see himself as an alcoholic.

Normally, by the fifth book, a series begins to run out of steam. With Matt Scudder, though, the series is just beginning to find its legs.

The mystery is fair play, but if you figure out how it all ties together before Matt, you're a more astute reader than I am. All of the characters are well-drawn and fully realized. Block is a true master and this is a masterpiece!

Palindrome is a masterful novel that no reader will soon forget. Palindrome is an excellent piece of escape fiction by Stuart Woods. This exciting novel pulls the reader in with a fast-paced story that includes murder, mystery, and love. Stuart Woods provides the reader with sufficient information to keep the story interesting while still leaving the reader wanting to know more. He also does an excellent job of integrating the characters and plot with the physical setting to make a truly unique story. The setting for this book is a small island off the coast of Georgia. This is where our main character Liz Barwick has escaped from her potentially dangerous husband, pro football player Bake Ramsey. After Liz has settled down in her newborn house on Cumberland Island, her memories begin to fade, but soon two murders of her close friends send Liz into a panic, and she feels her husband is trying to find her. Soon she discovers that there is no place to hide, not even on an isolated island. This book is full of expense and action, but does not suppress a hard reading level or any deep thought. I recommend this book to the exuberant reader, one that is searching for apprehension.

In Palindrome, Liz Barwick is married to a professional football player, named Bake Ramsey, who has beaten her for years. After an awful beating that sends Liz to the emergency room, she decides to leave her husband. She tries to find a place where Bake will never be able to find her, but after several gruesome murders, he is able to track her down.

Palindrome is an excellent piece of escape fiction by Stuart Woods. This exciting novel pulls the reader in with a fast-paced story that includes murder, mystery, and love. Stuart Woods provides the reader with sufficient information to keep the story interesting while still leaving the reader wanting to know more. This novel does not contain any profound thoughts on life's problems, but if you are looking for an exciting story, this is a good book to read.

An entertaining murder mystery with a twist. Stuart Woods has evolved to an excellent murder story teller. His first book Chiefs and the two that followed the same family, Run Before the Wind and Grass Roots are also excellent. His very best book to date: New York Dead is by far the best murder mystery I have ever read

IÕm glad that I had grabbed Soul Mates off the shelf along with about four other self-help books that I purchased at the same time.

S/M has helped me understand (or given a new perspective on) all relationships -- from spousal to neighbors to co-workers to friendships and family. Thomas Moore says that we should appreciate the complexities and mysteries that come with all relationships.

S/M doesnÕt offer any concrete step-by-step advice for solving relationship problems. Instead, Mr. Moore explains that every relationship is different and that everyday problems on the surface may have a deeper hidden meaning. And with this in mind, by not immediately relieving ourselves from what it is that is bothering us at the moment we may be able to understand what it is that is really troubling us if we give ourselves the time.

S/M is a great book if you are looking to better yourself, improve existing relationships, and gain insight on all relationships and life in general. I reccomend it and I believe it can help everyone understand themselves and others. --Douglas

If you have ever been in a situation in life as a result of love and relationships that have left you feeling like the cover picture of this book i.e. a boat navigating stormy waters, then this book is your guide. Many of the real life examples Mr. Moore uses involves married couples, but I, a single woman, still found much needed direction at a time in my life in which "soul" was powerfully exerting itself in my life that left me totally bewildered. His thought provoking and socially nonconforming ideas about marriage and sex, particularly, have given me new hope in pursuing love and relationships again.

Only rarely can I claim to have been touched by a tale, a text, a book, even words so hauntingly beautiful and enduring as those of Thomas Moore as expressed in Soul Mates. Moore's writing ensnares you almost as unpredictably as love itself with a literary insight and philosophical exhiliration that is the ultimate journey with an author. You owe it to your spirit, your heart and your intrinsic self to become a cherished and enlightened part of this psychological nourishment. Moore turns everything you wondered, dreamt and felt about the real experience of human relationships into something as clear and precious as air itself. Gently, yet perceptively, he guides you back to the core and the unique and individual thoughts of your very existence. Moore's Soul Mates may even be the closest you can get to the simple truth of taking a single moment in this life for confronting and embracing yourself and everyone around you. Certainly, this is a book that is the perfect expression of the deep, spiritual force working in and out of our lives, making anything at all-even self-love still possible-again and again. Without pretense, heroics or high-minded words on paper, Soul Mates offers us the non-intrusive space to no longer hide our hearts, our souls and emotional performances beneath the glaring lights of a fast-paced, technologically driven world. Soul Mates may be considered by some to be one of the great texts of our time, but most importantly, it remains true to the sense of what it is to be human and humankind in all its guises and manifestations. Touch this book with both hands and let go only when you want to!.

Annabel Temple (B.A. DPH (Cred)) Christchurch, New Zealand

If you haven't read any Edith Wharton, read Age of Innocence first, then Ethan Fromme, then House of Mirth. By then you will love her, and then it will be time for Buccaneers. This is not her very best book. It contains some of the same themes that she has covered before. There is one key difference, that makes Buccaneers unique from her earlier works and that is...something I won't give away!

Most of us know Edith Wharton either through
reading Ethan Frome in high school, or having
seen The Age of Innocence at the movie
theater. While she is best know for these works
they are dim in tone and portray the oppressive
nature of society.

In The Buccaneers, Wharton presents us with a group
of young women who have been rejected by
late 19th Century NY society, and journey to
England in search of husbands. Each of the
characters in fully drawn, and while Wharton
maintains her description of society as oppressive, she
counters this with the idealism and hope
of her brave young women and societal rules that with time are changing.
These women for the most part strive
to attain happiness, and unlike Wharton's
other principal characters, do acheive it.
This is probably the only Wharton novel
to end on a note of happiness and hope.
Combined with the richly drawn backdrop of 19th
century English & American society, it makes
for an enchanting and provocative read.

I was skeptical about reading this book, since it was not complete by Edith Wharton. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Marion Mainwaring did a wonderful job of completing the novel. I was unable to tell where Edith's writing stopped and Marion's began. (The afterword describes exactly what Marion added.) -very fun book to read. I finished it in just a few days.

I am an avid reader of Sandra Brown's books and found she is a prolific writer with many different styles of writing, whether drama, suspense, humour or romance. Many of her main characters in her writings reflect these differences, and each hold unique characteristics which is aplaudable considering the many books she has written. The book was a teary, emotional, romance with star-crossed lovers that yearned and deeply loved each other, but unable to fulfill their love due to their positions. Her having a MIA husband and him being a "Senator in running" constantly in the public spotlight. I couldn't put the book down and appreciated the history of MIA's and the plight of their families that Ms. Brown brought into light. I thought the ending resolved quickly and maybe abruptly, but all in all a good read, that I enjoyed as much as "Mirror Image".

I read this book several years ago and had forgotten. While I was reading, I felt like I was revisiting some old friends. The wife (Keely) of a MIA who after only weeks of marriage loses her husband for 12 years. For 12 years, she is loyal to her husband but discovers she's a woman with woman needs to be loved and cherished. No longer a child bride. She meets Dax, a congressman on the way up the political ladder. They fall in love and try to fight their attraction. In the end there is always a happy ending for Ms. Howard. I fell in love with Keely's best friend Nicole what a character. Once you finish reading this book you'll wish you had a good friend like Nicole.

This is one of my favorite Sandra Brown books. It is a very fast read-I read it in less than one day. Keely is a woman whose husband has been MIA for 12 years. On the way to a PROOF convention, she meets Congressman Dax. This has a very interesting, real plot that keeps your attention from the first chapter. Definitely a great summer read!!

I am only familiar with Brown's Mrs. Murphy mystery series but I was suprised to find out how much I enjoyed "Riding Shotgun". For those of you who enjoy the outdoors of Virginia or need to escape for a few hours, I highly recommend this book. Brown helps us realize that life is not always what we see on the surface. It might be wise to dig a little deeper. You may like what you find.

I have been a fan of Rita Mae Brown's for a long time and I particularly enjoyed this book. Its an interesting story with very "real" and well-defined characters that seem like old friends by the time you've finished reading. I was intrigued by the storyline and could not put this book down. If Ms. Brown writes a sequel I'll buy it the minute it hits the shelves! Also, if you like horses you will really enjoy this book too.

Rita Mae Brown has done it again! Already well loved for her charming Mrs. Murphy murder mysteries, this clever author takes her readers into a superbly crafted plot and back into time. Cig Blackwood is a modern twentieth century widow, cynical, tired, weary of the ratrace her life has become. This unexpected journey shows her another way of life, and most importantly, another pace of life. Rita Mae Brown takes us along with her endearing heroine from the fox hunting field of 1996 back to 1699 and the handsome Irishman who is waiting for her. Warm, often hilarious, very human, this is a book that refuses to be put down. Don't start this one unless you've got a long leisurely evening ahead! It's a winner.

I picked up this book after reading "Compromising Positions" and its sequel, "Long Time No See". "Long Time No See" was written 20 years after "Compromising Positions", and "After All These Years" was written between these two novels. I have concluded that Isaacs continues to improve with age. This book was better than "Compromising Positions", but not quite at the level of "Long Time No See."

There's plenty to enjoy in this novel. Isaacs has such a pleasant style and is so clever, this book will keep you laughing throughout. Plus, you have to love a heroine who, after, being dumped by her adulterous husband, manages to solve the mystery surrounding his murder plus makes time to enjoy not one, but two, affairs while on the lamb. The characters are well-crafted and entertaining. Isaacs does not hesitate to allow the main character to poke fun at herself either. Plus, it is fun to find out the secret life her husband has been leading ever since they struck it rich. The only detractor was that I figured out "who done it" very early on. So, to me, the ultimate solving of the crime was definitely not the highlight of the story.

I read this thick book over a weekend, while in the car on a long trip. It was thoroughly entertaining, and made me promptly go out and purchase another Isaacs novel--"Lily White". Even when I do solve the mystery sooner than the protagonist, Isaacs keeps me laughing, and I'm always anxious to read some more.

This book is fabulous.

I don't agree with or endorse everything in it, but I have to confess, this is a great, great book to read.

First, it's funny. The funniness is the most significant part of it. How many stories about estranged dead husbands are funny, especially when the ex wife wishes he were neither dead nor estranged? But Rosie, the heroine, is irrepressible... and that has nothing to do with the fact that we're both English teachers. She is, in her own words, postmenopausal, and she's Jewish, while I'm neither. But we both do have dark hair.

Anyway, Rosie's husband is dead, and the next best thing about the book is that he was murdered. He was stabbed in the chest with a knife, and everyone thinks that Rosie did it, though all she wanted at that moment was a hot dog. As the book evolves oh-so-deliciously, we learn that someone familiar to the deceased did in fact do it, but who? The well paced and clever plot unfolds without wasting time nor skimping on details, and despite the fact that I'm a savvy voracious reader, the murderer was a total surprise to me. Total. Talk about a totally logical though well-concealed perp!

Isaacs liberal sensibilities are poured all over this tale, which do in fact conflict with my own perspectives, but I find it relatively easy to overlook the ideological differences I have with this book to savor its finer qualities. The only other problem I have with it deals with Rosie's knight in shining armor... Isaacs never does spell out why he didn't ask her to the prom in high school.

Read it! You'll love it.

This is a great, light murder with a pretty predictable plot, but with just enough twists and turns that all 40 somethings will enjoy. The main character, Rosie, seems just like a normal woman with a real sleazebag for a husband. After I read this novel, I proceeded to read all of Isaacs novels, and this is the best. One problem -- all her heroines are unrealistic in two ways (1)they may be middle aged, but they are beautiful and thin and have either great careers or lots of money or both and (2) these women may get dumped in a big way, but by the end of the novel, they have a great man in their life. Still worth reading. It will make you laugh.

Desire by Amanda Quick is one of her most humorous, with a great mystery, endearing characters, and a page turning love story. Lady Clare of the Isle of Desire knows she needs a husband to protect isle and shipments of perfume that provide Desire with its income. Therefore, she devises a "recipe" for her perfect husband, but she gets Gareth of Wyckmere.

The bastard son of Clare's liege lord, Gareth has long had to work for what he has and has desperately wanted land and a home of his own, and he is determined to have Desire as well as its enchanting lady. However, Clare is convinced that he simply won't do. Despite the fact that he knows how to read, he is too big, too trained for war, and lacks a sense of humor and pleasant disposition! Clare's problem is that her only other option is her neighbor, who she will marry over her dead body, so she chooses the lesser of the two evils.

Reading the love bloom between these two characters was such a pleasure. Their arguments were amusing and the book was so funny it had me laughing out loud with tears streaming down my face. The bit about the chicken's blood was priceless, but you have to read it for yourself to find what I am referring to. The characters were also wonderful, both being intelligent, resourceful, and they were a perfect foil to each other. They truly brought out the best in each other, which is why I liked them so much. Secondary characters such as young William and his overprotective mother Joanna, as well as the minstrel Dallen added a fun flare to an already wonderful story.

I recommend this book highly and believe that it is one of Quick's very best books. If you like this one I also recommend her other medieval Mystique, and wish you Happy Reading!

This was my first Amanda Quick novel and I am hooked. She writes characters who are open and real. In this historical romance, the heroine runs an island (named Desire) after her father's death leaves her in charge. The hero does not swoop in and save the day because she can't cope; he just brings love and romance. And helps her solve a mystery that arrives with him! Wonderful. Quick avoids the stereotypical romance novel theme where most of the plot consists of misunderstandings between the two leads because each refuses to tell the other of their feelings. Quick's story involves both steamy love and mysterious murder. A great read -- I couldn't put it down

One of Amanda Quick's very best books, this is HIGHLY recommended! Ms. Quick shows in her many books that she is a scholar who does a lot of research into the background settings of her books. This can range from all sorts of scientific facts to archeological information to, as in this book, the growing of herbs and flowers for essences and perfumes. She creates characters in this book that are incredibly real, you can see them, sense them, even feel like you can touch them. They are also immensely likable, and the chemistry between them is formidable. The plot in this book forms smoothly and the tension builds little by little until the great confrontation. Humor and double entendres are liberally sprinkled throughout the book, and make it a thoroughly enjoyable read. But it is the touching love story between the characters that melts heartstrings and makes it a hard book to put down, and and even harder for the reader when it is ended. It is an unforgettable romance.