I used this book the most for my research paper on the unification of Italy. It was the easiest to understand. For all those college students this is the best book to own.

The stated intent of this book is to help both students and scholars of Biblical Hebrew with limited backgrounds in linguistics to understand important linguistic works hebrew such as Andersen's "The verbless clause in the pentateuch." Andersen's book, like many others, uses a complex coding system known as Tagmemics. Dawson explains in detail the use and usefulness of Tagmemics. I strongly recommend Dawson to anyone who has tried to study the advanced work of Andersen, Longacre, Muraoka etc. but emerged baffled. Dawson will help you understand those works. But be warned - Dawson is no easy read either! The evils he criticizes in other linguists -- such as unclear writing -- are present in Dawson's work as well. Dawson is surely to be thanked for the help he offers to the uninitiated. But I still am left wondering why linguistic writing seems so obscure even when the author is making a conscious effor to be clear. Is it some inherent limitation of language that makes it suitable to describe everything except itself?

I used this book for a 200-level community college class. The majority of the students (who hung in there for all 3 quarters...) already had a rather good grasp of basic grammar. The book has EXCELLENT stories; the exercises are thorough and practical; the essay assignments were very enjoyable/challenging; it takes the student through the subjunctive tense very well. I am state-certified as a Spanish interpreter, and I continue to refer to this book for help with some finer points of grammar or as a "refresher" text. I enjoyed having the entire text (exercise instructions included) in Spanish, but many of the students were frustrated by this factor. It's a great book for a (serious) small-group class with a GOOD Spanish speaker to help refine the skills you'll be developing through the exercises/essays.

This is the story of the confrontation between the pre-Civil War United States and the leading power of the day, Great Britain. What momentous event almost caused these two nations to fight a war? The death of a pig. Known as "The Pig War" in Washington state, this almost war is little known in the rest of the states. One of the more interesting side issues of the Pig War is the fact that it was the last military assignment for George Pickett before he resigned his commission to join the Confederacy. Pickett would later become famous for leading the charge on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg.

This book is a good introduction for beginners to the history of not only the Pig War, but also the history of the San Juan Islands (where the confrontation took place) and Washington state. For scholars, however, the book's style and lack of depth will be a distinct drawback.

I found this to be a tough read. I normally enjoy reading about primitive heros, but normally a romance author will portray them as somehow more civilized and honorable than the outwardly civilized villains. Gar, the hero in this story, was boring, and the character epiphany I kept expecting never materialized. He never seemed like a fully fleshed-out human being to me. The heroine annoyed me as well. All in all, it was a struggle to finish. I skim-read the last third of the book and heaved a sigh of relief when I was done.

Don't get me wrong. Saranne Dawson has written some good books in the Romance/Fantasy sub-genre. The ideas are mostly original and intriguing. I've bought some of her books on the promise of the idea alone. This book though, just does not appeal to me. I'm 50% done and slugging through the rest. I'm a huge fan of the Romance and Fantasy genre, but for the romance to work, the reader has to care for the hero and heroine. To put it bluntly, if the enemy did them both in, I won't shed a tear. I give it a 3, because it did hold my interest for a while and the great cover. Ms Dawson can do much better than this.

It's not often that I come across a romance that is actually unique. This author did a wonderful job blending together fantasy and romance. The story is original and the characters are likeable... The heroine is strong yet retains her femininity. The hero is sweet without compromising is alpha male status.I am so tired of the typical romance heros and heroines that bicker through 90% of the novel and keep themselves apart for no reason other than pure stubborness. These two are honest with themselves from the beginning, their reasons for having to be apart are understandable and realistic.There were only three things that I did not like about this novel:1.The hero was annoyingly dense at some parts, I just wanted to reach into the book and smack him upside the head. :)2. The action scenes weren't exciting enough, but that has been a problem with every romance I've read that has action. 3. There weren't enough love scenes. This author did a great job writing the initial love scene, it was erotic and romantic. I got the impression while reading this that she was afraid of overdoing the lovemaking scene descriptions, far too many romance writers do this. But aren't these scenes the main reason for reading this genre? (Unless of course you are a fan of the Regency subgenre, which I am not)Still, this book deserves 5 stars. I highly recommend it if you are looking for something a little bit different.

If you expect your furturistic romance to be well thought out and believable, you will have a hard time getting though the first chapter. We are expected to accept that a society that is small enough to have all of the woman get up and leave and live on one island also is strong enough to conquer their entire planet and then head out to space and conquer numerous worlds too. And yes this same space-travelers dudes can't figure out how to use their space suits to go get their woman from the poisonous mist and are also reduced to observing only the peak of a moutain with their mist piercing telescope because nobody thought to put the telescope on one of their nifty airsleds and fly overhead. The story would have worked better if they had just been a small non-to advanced species, but I guess some one told the author furturistics had to have spaceships even though they have nothing to do with the main story. OK so the background is silly. But the story is readable. Naive and simplistic, but readable. The characters are interesting, but their is never any real strife. Everything just falls into place. Interestingly the hero and heroine don't meet until half way though the book and actually only have a couple of scenes together. They both spend time worring about how they will ever get along, but when they get together their relationship is perfect. Interesting idea, not particuliarly well done.

Great premise, it's just that somehow the delivery was lacking, for me. I felt nothing for the characters and the plot didn't grab me at all. Like expecting a sizzle and getting a soft pop! I was hoping for clever banter, amusing characters, steamy lovemaking - I didn't find it.

This is a book I have picked up many times to enjoy over and over again. The idea of women getting so tired of the "macho" mentality, that they form their own society is very apealing to me sometimes. Of course we know that the two sides have to come together again. Watching the society grow to accomidate and reintragrate makes me wish for the next book, so I could know what happens next. The strenght of the women, which matches and at times overcomes the men, is a joy to read.

I really had trouble rating this book. Three and a half stars is probably a more accurate rating, as far as I'm concerned. However, I have so much respect for Ms. Smith's writing....

A marriage of conveniece is forced by the debt of Gerald, brother of the heroine, Alicia. Drake has the mortgage to Alicia and Gerald's home. Drake has set the marriage up, to seek vengeance. In my view, this was the only "scoundrelous" behaviour on Drake's part.

Drake cares for Alicia's mother. He takes into his employment the needy people he encounters--a deaf maid, an accounts manager in a wheelchair, a drunken butler...and so on. The only conflict , is the original motivations for Drake's and Alicia's marriage. I think, because of that, this is a slow read, at times. Also, I felt somewhat manipulated. I felt the author tried too hard to get the reader to love Drake.

This book, has many pluses. I enjoyed the supporting characters; a secondary romance was very entertaining. The love scenes are very well done. There's no purple prose; but each scene, is uniquely sexy.

This book may not be a keeper for me. But, it was definitely worth my time and money!

Gerald Pemberton, the Earl of Brockway, foolishly follows in his deceased father's footsteps and gambles away what remains of the family money that his sire failed to waste. Gerald owes a fortune to gambling hall owner Drake Wilder. Out of fear for the brittle mental health of her mother and unbeknownst to Gerald, his sister Alicia offers her self in barter for her sibling's debt. Drake agrees to marry Alicia in exchange for Gerald's IOU.

Drake has a secret agenda and the lovely Alicia provides him with giant steps towards achieving is goal of attaining entrance into polite society. He also has the double satisfaction of knowing he possesses the woman his estranged father wants. However, against all his desires, Drake soon falls in love with his wife and in spite of his mistreatment of her she reciprocates those feelings.

SEDUCED BY A SCOUNDREL shows why fans think Barbara Dawson Smith is one of the genre's top historical romance writers. The story line centers on love conquering hate, but done in a fast-paced Regency format. Drake is an enigmatic character whose need for vengeance thrusts the story line forward. Alicia is a warm, intelligent, and brave person who sacrifices her own needs for her ailing mother. The secondary players provide a feel to the era, especially the gambling "hells" and the shunning of a person born on the wrong side of the covers. Ms. Smith imbues the plot with plenty of sexual tension, a move that will elate Regency readers who love a touching tale with lot of spice.

Harriet Klausner

Gerald Pemberton, the Earl of Brockway, foolishly follows in his deceased father's footsteps and gambles away what remains of the family money that his sire failed to waste. Gerald owes a fortune to gambling hall owner Drake Wilder. Out of fear for the brittle mental health of her mother and unbeknownst to Gerald, his sister Alicia offers her self in barter for her sibling's debt. Drake agrees to marry Alicia in exchange for Gerald's IOU.

Drake has a secret agenda and the lovely Alicia provides him with giant steps towards achieving is goal of attaining entrance into polite society. He also has the double satisfaction of knowing he possesses the woman his estranged father wants. However, against all his desires, Drake soon falls in love with his wife and in spite of his mistreatment of her she reciprocates those feelings.

SEDUCED BY A SCOUNDREL shows why fans think Barbara Dawson Smith is one of the genre's top historical romance writers. The story line centers on love conquering hate, but done in a fast-paced Regency format. Drake is an enigmatic character whose need for vengeance thrusts the story line forward. Alicia is a warm, intelligent, and brave person who sacrifices her own needs for her ailing mother. The secondary players provide a feel to the era, especially the gambling "hells" and the shunning of a person born on the wrong side of the covers. Ms. Smith imbues the plot with plenty of sexual tension, a move that will elate Regency readers who love a touching tale with lot of spice.

Harriet Klausner

Buy it only if you are a beginner.

This is a good book to people who want to have an overview at a glance about call centers features and problems. But, according to new economy habits, it is not a technological issue. So, if many points are discussed, such as human resources, real estate, organisation, hardware and products, none of them is focused in a detailed way. It is surely a very good introduction to people starting a new job in call centers environments, but do not expect too much by readin it.

This is a definite Must Read for any Call Center professional! All those questions about what system/technology does what and how are answered in one fact-based publication. If you want to avoid the headache of time-consuming hunts through web-sites and talking with marketing reps to learn which product works best for your company, this book is for you. If you are looking for a bubble-gum view of call center management, don't read this book because you just might learn the truth! By the way, get a Call Center Magazine subscription to continue the information flow started by reading this book.

The official reviewers panned this romance, but because just about everything Smith has written has been at least passable, I thought they were being too harsh. Not so!

The hero is neither likeable nor intriguing, and the story leaden and choppy. Stay away from this one. Try her best stories instead, in my opinion, Never a Lady and Her Secret Affair (if you like the reluctant male lover type!).

Gabriel Kenyon returns from Africa seeking revenge on the man who killsed his partner. He also finds himself responsible for his parner's daughters. But he'd rather face the wilds of Africa than face Kate Talisford, a girl he's sworn to protect...a girl he longs to possess. As Kate and Gabriel search for her father's killer and a priceless statue, they find that maybe the true treasure is the bond that they're forging...a bond that could be love.

Barbara Dawson Smith tells a fantastic historical story, full of intrigue, fun and of course, love.

This is a wonderful romantic adventure with a plot and pace that never let up as orphaned Kate plunges into a wild search involving an ancient Egyptian icon and a truly chilling group of Regency bad guys. Gabriel is the perfect hero--reluctant, sexy and ultimately redeemed by the love of a good woman. Barbara Dawson Smith is one of the most consistently excellent authors in the genre.

Those of us that read romance novels essentially know what we'll be getting into before we read Page One. There's a predicability about romance, & that's for the most part why we read it. That's what we're looking for.

The difference comes in w/the characters, the way the tension builds, the sensuality between them, the predictability or, better, the lack of, and the hopefully well-done backdrops for each fantasy story. Because that's what a romance is meant to be: a fantasy whereby a reader can step away from her own reality for even a short time & feel drawn into this make-believe world.

Barbara Dawson Smith has fulfilled all the most important elements in ROMANCING THE ROGUE. The hero & heroine are beautiful. There is just enough tension between them without there being an overt amount of never-ending sparring. The timing is well-done, so that Michael & Vivien are brought together in increments, steps in time, building up to a rather believeable end. And the supporting characters are well-defined.

If I had any criticism at all, it would be minimal. Maybe the book could've supported a wee bit more sensuality. While I could tell the couple were very attracted to each other, the heat of such a connection could've been turned up just a notch. Also, I kept waiting to see Vivien reunite with Brand after she knew him to be her brother. That was a scene that could've held a considerable amount of emotion, & I really wanted to see it happen.

I liked the sexual tension between the characters. This book is pretty good and worth reading. It's my first one by Smith and I plan to read her other novels. My only complaint is slight -- a little too much hatred between the main characters (until the end which more than made up for it).

A great book, worth reading, Michael and Vivian were exciting fiesty characters and The Rosebuds had me laughing, a delightful, must read book. I couldn't put it down once I started it. Than again I bought all her books and haven't found a bad one in the bunch.