While this book hardly takes a genius to read... it's funny, cute and utterly adorable characters make it likable. Tabitha utterly disgusted with the knowledge that she's a witch in the 20th century strives to find a way scientifically for everything that occurs on the universe. She doesn't realize though that love can be magic until she's transported in time and finds herself at the mercy of a handsome knight named Colin.

When sparks began to fly, so do the accusations. Suddenly Tabitha is faced with a real reason for hating being a witch. She's about to be burned for being one. Only after she realizes what a selfish individual she is, does she begin to understand how she should cherish her gift and those people she can protect with it.

Touch of Enchantment is a quick read. The romance is not as enduring as in some of Teresa's other books. But it's a nice followup to Breath of Magic. And don't get me wrong, it does have it's wonderfully sexy moments. An overall, nice book to read at the beach or on a rainy day where you just might find yourself wishing to be somewhere else!

I think this is the first book of Teresa Medeiros that I've ever chanced to run across. I always pick up time-travel romances (and am normally fairly disappointed by them)and I wasn't expecting much out of this one.

Especially when I started reading and learned that the heroine Tabitha is a witch and a social moron. Ugh. AND a sequel to a previous romance that Teresa M. has written. Doesn't bode well for me, the picky reader.

Despite this painfully bad premise, once Tabitha is swept back 7 centuries, I found myself enjoying this charming story. As soon as she's whisked back in time, Tabby runs into our hero, Sir Colin, a knight down on his luck. They're thrown together time after time, and while this is not a particularly stunning book, or thought provoking, it's a charming, cute read. The best character in the book is Colin himself, who manages to be knightly and suave and gallant all at the same time.

The ending is a bit hokey, as with all romances, and I found Tabitha to be somewhat annoying at times with her modern sentiments. Medeiros also couldn't help but stick a few 'modern' day puns in there that really sucked, but i'll let that slide since her writing was entertaining and her characters believable. I read this faster than I thought I would (it moves along at a rapid, easy to follow pace) and I'll definitely pick up a few more of Medeiros's books in the future.

This book is actually the sequel to "Breath of Magic" which I am going to go back and read now. I have loved very book Teresa Medeiros has written. She has humor, tenderness, true to life characters and she doesn't gloss over the harshness of the historical times of which she writes.

This book starts off with Tabitha, a modern day witch. Yes those of us old enough to remember "Bewitched" from Tv will know that Tabitha was the daughter with the cute little nose. The book actually mentions that show several times. Anyway she hates her magic because it never goes right. The 1st boy she ever kissed she turns into a frog by accident and it just kept getting worse to the point that she has almost hidden herself away from the world and her magic. Her parents,from "Breath of Magic" have tried to help her embrace her magic but to no avail.

Tabitha learns that her parents are missing and her mother has left her a special message to find an emerald amulet which transports her back in time to be found by her "knight in shining armor" Colin. Colin is on the run from the man who has killed his family and ruined his castle while he was away on a Crusade. He has returned to find eveything in ruin and his once best friend wanting to kill him. He almost trample Tabitha and from that day on they are forever linked.

Teresa Medeiros takes the reader on a wild adventure where your not sure you will end up next. The humor is terific, the love scenes hot enough to burn the paper and enough tenderness to make you cry. I really liked this book and can't wait to get the 1st book and read it.

Hiaasen is a very good writer who has somehow managed to write the same book over and over. While funny and full of quirky characters, his writing is formulaic and his plots recycled.

Many of his books have similar plot points - reporter/photagrapher turned private eye who is still in love with his ex (and who is alternately hot/cold to him in return); bad guy lackeys who end up self-mutilating; ex lovers who are kidnapped by the bad guys and are left naked so they don't escape; giant sea creatures who are dangerous to most but who have a special relationship with the character who symbolizes the way Florida used to be, etc.

Definitely read one of his books. If you like it, read others. If you don't mind spending money on what is essentially the same book over and over, buy them. Otherwise get them from the library and save yourself some money and frustration.

Hiaasen has another good book here. The book is revolves around Joe Wilder and his PR efforts for the Amazing Kingdom of Thrills theme park in the Florida Keys.

As always there are unseemly characters abound. And Joe takes us through a rollercoaster ride of fun and games as he tries to bring down the man behind the carnage.

The book is well written and easy to read. Parts of it had me laughing out load while I read, making my better half think I'm a little cuckoo!

Over all I found this to be a very enjoyable and funny book.

Although I am that rare creature who was born and bred in Florida, you don't have to be a native Floridian to be taken over by Carl Hiaasen's NATIVE TONGUE.

The characters are just too weird to be real and yet, when you think about it, you know you've met people like them, just not quite as overt about it. From the eco-hippie ex-governor of Florida to the guy who meets his dimise in a most unusual aquatic encounter, they will grab you by the throat and won't let go till the last page has been turned.

As for the plot, well, it's got more twists and turns than a sailor's knot and a lot more laughs too.

The really neat trick that Hiaasen pulls on you is that his fiction gives you the sad truth in a way that keeps you from crying. This has to be the funniest book I've ever read.

I have read several of the authors other works, (Bad Boy, Young Wives, etc)and enjoyed them much more. The characters were introduced so briefly it took half the book to get a feel for them. I was halfway through the book before I realized I didn't really care for it, which made me think I probably should finish it. It was all rather predictable, and the ending was no surprise (Of course a happily-ever-after for the author of the Bestseller) Everyone who ever thought they could write the Great American Novel (myself included) would likely throw in the towel after reading this novel. If this book has any message to impart, it is that publishing is not about good writing. The only amusing parts were the little in-jokes referring to characters from First Wives, Flavor of the Month, etc. If you want to read all of this authors books, go ahead and read this, but if you are new to her works, try Young Wives or First Wives Club, and you won't be disappointed.

I really enjoy reading Olivia Goldsmith's books. I have read "The First Wives Club" and "Young Wives", both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also found "The Bestseller" to be a great read!

"The Bestselle" is the story of many different authors, including the five main characters, who are trying to write a bestselling novels and get them published. Each uses different channels to try and get it published in a world where many publishing houses don't even bother to look at novels sent to them. In general, I found the book very enjoyable. Like many of Goldsmith's novels, there are more than two main characters, so different chapters are devoted to each. Therefore, you might go several chapters before picking up the story line of one particular character. You need to be able to sort out the different characters and remember three times as many secondary characters!

The only thing I didn't like was the very beginning. Goldsmith took the painstaking time to introduce each character one-by-one at the beginning. It was reminiscent of " Gone to Soldiers" by Marge Piercy where she introduces all 12 Main Characters at the very beginning of the book and it took almost 50 pages (in Gone to soldiers), though it's not exactly that dreary.

Bottom Line: Slow Beginning,But Worth It!

Despite the 700-plus pages packed into this paperback, I devoured it in only a couple of sittings. Goldsmith has a knack for telling stories-within-stories, and The Bestseller is no exception. Following one season's worth of book buying at Davis & Dash, a respected New York publishing house, The Bestseller not only deals with the in-house politicking that takes place at every publisher, but tells the stories of the individual authors who need Davis & Dash to make their dreams of bestsellerdom come true.

Witty, fun, and painfully insightful, The Bestseller is an addictive read that'll have you turning pages as fast as you can. The characters are all well-drawn, and the twists and turns of the plot will definitely surprise!

Very highly recommended!

Sequel to "The Surgeon," this mystery starts with a copycat murder following "The Surgeon's" (serial killer Warren Hoyt) m.o. to a tee. Of course, Detective Jane Rizzoli is brought in on the case. After all, nobody knows more about Hoyt than her -- she was nearly killed by him and was the cop who ultimately took him down. But when Hoyt escapes from prison and the murders escalate, it's clear that this isn't just your every day normal copycat killer. It's a team of two dangerous men -- and they're coming after Jane next.

This was a fairly entertaining thriller. Better written than "The Surgeon," but still not exactly what you'd call literature. Gerritsen still has an annoying tendency to overuse catchy phrases (okay, enough with "coup de grace," already!). But hey, I was entertained and that's all I was really lookin' for with this one.

I'm a huge fan of Tess's previous works 'Surgeon' and 'Gravity'...this one not so much.

First, Tess needs to make up her mind on the psychological charcterization..she wants to give both, a tough and a sensitive side to her lead character, Jane Rizolli, but ends up making it inconsistent page to page...She just makes Jane a very confused character portrayed in the extremes...sometimes Jane is too tough, sometimes she is too emotional and vulnerable. It may be realisitic but does not make an interesting read unless the personalities blend a little bit more.

Second, I had to really plod my way thru the book..usually I stay up at night and finish her books in 3 hours, this one din't hold my attention like that..I took more than a week. Did not hold me to the edge of my seat. Like a thriller should.

Third, just stop with the "feminist" whining already or atleast reduce it a bit. I noticed it in previous boks and it was the right tone and amount. In this one, there's just too much, every line is about Jane's obsession with competing with males. For the record, I'm female, I understand how difficult it is for women working in a male dominated field etc..but we get it already, it doesn't have to anvilled over us in every page, without furthering the plot. No cop has so much time to think about female-male psychology in the midst of a serial killer invesigation. Sure, Jane is sometimes vulnerable because of this. But it is a tad overdone.

This book I finished in two days without first reading The Surgeon. Since the author referred to The Surgeon so much I wish I had read it first but it will be on my list of books to buy in the future. She kept the murders coming and the questions and suspense built but the personal character needed more of a life. She finally has a relationship moment towards the end and the book was wrapped up neatly but I can't help but feel cheated since another one in the series is a must-buy too... :-)

Jo Slater is a very wealthy, very powerful socialite. She serves on the board of one of New York's most prestigious museum, she owns one of the worlds most impressive collection of eighteenth century furniture, she throws the best parties and has friends in all of the right places. Jo worked very hard to get to where she was, as she was not born into this life. However, it the blink of an eye all that Jo had worked so hard to attain was ripped away from her upon her husbands death. That is thanks in part to the beautiful French Countess Monique de Passay who began an affair with Lucius Slater, Jo's husband of over twenty years, a little over a year before Lucius' death. Lucius' will leaves all of his assets split between the Countess and his son leaving Jo virtually penniless and in a lot of debt. After years of obsessing over revenge, Jo finally devises a plan to bring down the Countess and regain her standing in society.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel of New York's socially elite and how quickly it can all be taken away. "SOCIAL CRIMES" is a very enjoyable book that will have you rooting for Jo all the way.

In SOCIAL CRIMES, author Jane Stanton Hitchcock has crafted a page-turner that will fascinate her fans right up to the final sentence.

Her story is clever, and the detail she offers about upper class life, its affectations and its hypocrisy, alone is worth the book's price. Hitchcock writes about what passes for high society in modern-day New York. Knowledgable readers will have a lot of fun identifying all of the mimimally disguised characters and places in this book.

Hitchcock pokes fun at many of this society's pretensions, such as when she uses the heroine's fascination with Marie Antoinette as a counterpoint for the basic plot. Wait! Wasn't it Mrs. G, the former stewardess, who went French on "tout New York" exactly as the heroine, a former restaurant hostess, herself does in SOCIAL CRIMES?

This story is stunning in its cleverness, and it is a credit to Ms. Hitchcock's fertile imagination. She hangs this entire novel on the one loophole under New York estate law that obviates a spouse's absolute right to claim a share of inheritance under the will of the deceased husband or wife, and she uses this loophole with brilliance. Hitchcock's storytelling skills are wonderful.

SOCIAL CRIMES is a fun read that leaves one thinking after the book concludes.

Jo Slater is one of New York's elite. She runs in the social circles of the ultra rich, but life in the fast lane comes to an abrupt stop when her husband dies mysteriously and leaves all his money to Monique de
Passy, a French countess with more than her share of surprises up her sleeve.

As Jo is left penniless, with no home or job she does what any other socialite would do...begin questioning everything you thought you knew about the man you married. Jo's search for answers will take her down a road filled with secrets, lies, and murder and at the end of the road is the countess.

Determined to put her life back together, and destroy the woman who destroyed her, Jo sets out to uncover the shameful secrets lurking behind the glitz and glamour of New York high society, but what she discovers is that some people will stop at nothing...even murder if the price is right.

'Social Crimes' has it all; great plot, fast pace, sex, lies, secrets, and murder...what more could you want in a beach book. This highly readable expose of the ultra rich disguised as a murder mystery scores on all levels for not only being original, intelligent, and funny, but also very entertaining. Jane Stanton Hitchcock has written a wonderful novel of money, and murder, one that will have all of New York's upper crust wondering who the characters are based on.

Dive into 'Social Crimes' you will not be disappointed.

Nick Gonnella

A story guaranteed to send a chill up anyone's spine whether they are a parent or not is the news of another school shooting. And we all look around and think "it couldn't happen here." In Lisa Gardner's latest, The Third Victim, the people of sleepy little Bakersville, Oregon are subjected to the unthinkable when a shooting occurs at their elementary school. Rainie Connor, local girl and police officer, becomes the primary investigator when the suspect in the shootings turns out to be the sheriff's son. Rainie, who is battling her own demons having been accused of shooting her alcoholic, abusive mother 14 years old, is torn between wanting to make sure justice is served and making sure an innocent boy isn't railroaded. With the help of FBI profiler Pierce Quincy, she uncovers a deadly truth about this and other school shootings that will almost cost her her life. Gardner has created a spine-chilling look at our youth that will leave you breathless when she brings it to its conclusion.

Having read "The Perfect Husband," and "The Other Daughter," I was well ready to pick up "The Third Victim," when I saw it on the shelf in my store. I gobbled the book in a single night, and have to say that this is definitely of higher calibre writing than the other two.

For one, the character depth of the heroine and the villain is much more complex: I was three-quarters of the way through the book and still unsure of who I could trust, who might be the killer, and why this was all happening. Starting with a contemporary ugly reality: the school-shooting slaying of two students and a teacher, this book takes off from there and continues with a semi-manic pace throughout.

Gardner allows you into the mind of the killer without giving who the killer is away, which is a rewarding experience, but it is in Lorraine, a sherrif in the town where the shooting has happened, that the truly good writing occurs. A woman with a somewhat shady past of her own, this shooting may be about her in some way, and it's a great ride finding out just how.

The only quibble I had with the book was the occasional plot wrinkle that made me blink in confusion. There were a few passages I had to read twice to understand - not many, mind you, maybe only twice, but it did call a minor break in my reading.

Regardless of those minor stumbles, grab this book. It's a thriller perfect for those of us that like a healthy mix of mystery tossed in to our edge-of-seat-reading.

'Nathan

Lisa Gardner is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. The problem is she doesn't write quickly enough. I am already waiting for her follow-up to this novel.

Rainie Conner is a police officer leading her first homicide, a school shooting, where the shooter is the police chief's 13 year old son. Rainie doesn't suspect everything is as it appears to be, and with the help of FBI agent Pierce Quincy, they try to find the truth about the shooting that leaves 3 dead and a town torn apart.

I did not want to put this book down. I made myself read it only at work on break as not to devour it in one sitting. The teaser chapter for her next novel which involves Quincy's daughter is very enticing and I can't wait for it to come out. Buy this book, you won't be disappointed :)

Thanks for reading :)

**Pandora

This book, published some time ago under a pen name, is an interesting look at Griffin's early attempts at character development. The development of the current genre' as seen in "The Corps" series, is shown in its early stages in this novel. Happily, Griffin has improved. This book's character development is shallow and weak.

It seems to me that part of the allure of Griffin's books is the current rich characters, people you can identify with. The Last Hero's leaves you wanting to know more about the heros.

Griffin has wisely gotten away from describing actual events in his work. His description of the early days of the American Volunteer Group, The Flying Tigers, in the is book is wildly romantic and full of errors. He is better at involving his characters in the broad stroke of historical events and letting the reader place the characters where they will.

Overall, an interesting early work, but without his current skillful character development.

I like WEB Griffin. No other author recognizes fully the fighting man of war as this one does. I enjoyed this book. He makes characters come alive and it is the characters that kept the story moving. Suspense built toward what should have been fine action and, then....it seemed that the action portion was summed up in a paragraph and we moved back to the characters. That being said; the book is well worth reading and I, for one, will follow the series just to find out how they resolve the cover story of one of the protagonists that he was a coward who had to be thrown out of the Flying Tigers. WEB Griffin (Alex Baldwin) or whoever you are... My respects for taking care of the military members. I give this one 3 stars in comparison to most of his 4 star books.

The Last Heroes is classic W.E.B. Griffin. A good story combined with writing skills that set his stories apart from the norm. Mr. Griffin's knowledge of the military, O.S.S. and State Department in the months and days leading up to W.W.2 and the opening months of the war give this story the ring of the possible. Some of these heroes and villains and their plots may seem familiar from other Griffin books. No matter they still make a good story. Well worth the read. Problems. Large type and large type spacing to make this seem a larger book then it is. The real problem is that this book and the three others in this series were first published in 1985/1991 in paperback. Now Mr. Griffin's publisher chooses to bring them out again in hardcover as "new books". Why not have brought them out in a collected volume of the "Men at War" paper backs. Now the publisher is telling new readers of Mr. Griffin that these are new books and we must wait for the next installment book 2 "The Secret Warriors" when in fact it was first published in 1985. Despite the huckster approach of G. P. Putnam's Sons publisher this is still a good W. E. B. Griffin story. Read it in paperback if you can find it under the authorship of Alex Baldwin, one of Mr. Griffin's pen names or get this hardcover and wait for the next three or four installments of "The Men at War". What ever happened to those Marines in "The Corps"? I hope Mr. Griffin has not left them to die on some Pacific Island. Dennis Gray t. 415-922-2953 gray@sirius.com

It was a typical Jackie Collins book, a little perdictable but a great book. It was a real page turner, I sat up late one night because I couldn't wait to see how it ends. I can't wait for her next book to come out. I understand it's in September, to long as far as I'm concerned.

I had never read a Jackie Collins book before, so I decided to start with her most recent work. By the first chapter I was hooked, and managed to finsih the book within three days. The reason for this being because it is such a brilliant read. There is mystery, suspension, desire, lust... everything you want in a book. What more could you ask for. It's just an excellent, excellent, excellent book. In fact probably the best book I have ever read. I decided to read another of her books after, and this seemed to be very similar to Thrill, but is also a very easy read. Keep up the good work Jackie, because never before have I read such an addicitive, clever, witty, and brilliant book as this one.

Jackie Collins has done it again, with another book that can't be put down once you have started to read it. She keeps you guessing almost to the very end, who the mystery man is. After a ways into the book, I figured Lara would end up with Joey in the end, but I didn't want her to until almost the very end, when he told his side of his life, then I wanted them to be together. The ending is very suspensful, with many different storylines all going on at once, which kept me reading until late into the night to finish. When I was finally done, I was ready for another new Jackie Collins book, because I have read them all. This is definitely a must read!

Anyone judging this book by its cover is going to immediately think it a bit of Norah Roberts' fluff or a ghost story a la the unsurpassable 'The Uninvited'. Unfortunately, this book cannot be categorized as either romantic suspence adventure or campy haunted house horror. At the very most its story revolves around grim happenstance spotlighting a woman obsessed with dire possibilities which she worries to death. Woe to the reader who empathizes with the negative, and swallowed by it, finds herself/himself unable to reach the same intended life-affirming lesson/message at the end of the book along with our too savvy main character.

The story should engage, but somehow it does not. After all the moody grief, there is no intellectualized savoring of the taste of strawberries as the author infers in her last paragraph. There is nothing but sour repellent mood, which most readers, expecting at least a powerful ghost story will abandon after the first 100 pages.
Emma and her family move out to Long Island and inhabit a large secluded house perched atop a Northshore village flanked by the Long Island Sound. Her husband, Roger, is a smart WASP physicist. Emma is a Jewish writer with socialist tendencies she feels she is betraying by leaving her urban nest of ethnicity. But this is not her only problem---someone is targeting Emma in a dangerous game of malice that tampers her livelihood, her sanity and eventually her life. Because of events that occurred in the past, Roger does not always believe in the validity of Emma's spin on reality. Hence, Emma finds herself isolated at a time in her life where she needs the security of strong friends and family.
Sounds potentially interesting, doesn't it? Well, it loses something in the writing. Narrated in the third person present, the format retains a choppy feel where the author uses too many literary analogies which seem forced, a little too light in atmosphere for the otherwise gloomy ambiance conjured up by the prose. Yes, Emma is a writer, but even so, I felt the author's choice of Emma's career a betrayal of sorts, Rogan utilizes her own personal experience rather than research a more appropriate and far less solitary and depressing form of employment for a woman already stretched to the limit and far too alone.

In a nutshell, this book isn't any fun. The idea is well crafted without any holes, but Ms. Rogan and her editor need to understand that no one wants to read a book where a heightened sense of disillusion and helplessnes are packaged as a ghost story/romance.

This is the first book I have read by Barbara Rogan. I thought that when I bought this book there would be more excitement and more "ghostliness." But the book started putting me to sleep, and that's when I knew I had to get rid of it. The book had good characters but lacked the plot it needed to support that fact. If you like slower moving mysteries, this book is for you.

Emma Roth lives with her spouse Roger and their son Zach in Mid Manhattan until her husband decides to move the family to a Long Island town he loves. Roger locates the perfect home; an old Victorian located on an isolated cliff. Emma, author of ghost stories, realizes the house is the ideal place for a ghost to reside, but is grounded in scientific fact so scoffs at the supernatural.

As soon as the family moves into the home, Emma sees and hears strange things that no one else senses. She hears loud crashing noises, smells lavender, feels cold spots, and notices a computer game that fails to follow its programming. At one time clinically depressed and even hospitalized for her condition, Emma wonders if she is losing her mind. However, she rejects that theory and begins to wonder if someone is toying with her emotions even though she cannot understand how that individual could have access to her home. Whether it is from the mortal or supernatural planes, Emma searches for answers even as she places herself in danger.

Is this novel a well-designed ghost story or a clever psychological suspense drama? Barbara Rogan keeps the audience guessing until the very end and even then she leaves room for continual doubt. SUSPICION is a wonderful novel that captures and holds the reader's attention throughout the tale. Emma is a great character, whose doubts add to the feel of the story line. However, taking a page from the novel, this reviewer suggests readers peruse the novel if they want to know which way the book swings. By doing so, the audience will have experienced a fabulous book.

Harriet Klausner

Although I'll still give it three stars for the simple reason that Rita Mae Brown writes with enjoyable style, I can't recommend CAT ON THE SCENT as highly some others in the "Mrs. Murphy" series. Brown's mystery novels have always been more about funny characters than plot, but this particular novel pretty much throws plot completely out the window.

CAT ON THE SCENT finds Mary "Harry" Harristeen (the young postmistress of tiny Crozet, Virginia) and her friends (both human and animal) drawn into a series of mysterious deaths that may or may not have something to do with a proposed reservoir. As usual, the writing is bright and the characters (including the felines Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and canine Tee Tucker) are entertaining... but on this occasion Brown seems to be straining her concept of animal characters, the overall novel seems unfocused, and many readers will find the conclusion frustrating. Mildly enjoyable, but not greatly memorable.

Civil War reenactments, small planes, shady land investments, and boys with expensive toys, plus the usual requisite dead bodies, are the focus of Cat On The Scent, the 7th Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown [and her cat, Sneaky Pie Brown]. Harry Haristeen, postmistress of Crozet, Virginia, and her amazing companion animals Mrs. Murphy, Pewter [the cats], and Tucker [the dog] are on the case as always. The novel starts off well enough, but loses its way towards the end. Reading the Mrs. Murphy Mysteries has always meant an extra measure of suspended disbelief [the animals talk to each other and always solve the mysteries before the humans do], but in this story the animals push the need to suspend disbelief over the edge with behavior that is way beyond what had been established for the animal characters in the previous six novels. The end is muddied in a way that makes me believe that the author never firmly decided whodunit and finally just ended the book. One of the novel's B-stories, involving a relative of Harry's and a dead baby buried in the "bone yard" of a farm, is very interesting and I would have liked to see that story expanded. I did enjoy the novel, but not as much as the earlier ones. This one rates about a 3.6 stars compared to the others. If you're into the Mrs. Murphy Mysteries, you should read this one for the continuity, but if you're looking to try one of the novels in the series, I'd recommend that you pick another one to start with.

I have read all of Rita's & Sneaky Pie Brown's Mrs. Murphy tales (or is that tails(?)) "Cat on the Scent" was terrific! Unlike the others I have read, there are moments of great sadness among Harry's friends that makes them even more three-dimensional. I enjoyed this read very much. Thank you Rita and Sneaky!