Marry the Man With One Leg

In fiction, examples of great men missing all or part of one leg abound. From this, we learn that if you meet a man with one leg, you should marry him. Cases in point:

- Peeta Mellark. If you only know The Hunger Games through the movies, you might not know that as a result of his injuries, Peeta had to have a leg amputated near the end of the first book in the trilogy. Therefore, he competed in the Quarter Quell - and all the subsequent events - with a prosthesis. Although renowned for his baking skills, Peeta is no slouch when it comes to survival, both physical and mental. No wonder Katniss chooses him over Gale Hemsworth Hawthorn.

- Dan Evans. I haven't actually read Elmore Leonard's original short story, so I base this off Christian Bale's portrayal of Dan in the 2007 movie 3:10 to Yuma. Dan lost a leg in the Civil War. He then moved west, to the hot, dry climate of Arizona, with his wife and two sons because the younger son has tuberculosis. Before antibiotics (which came into common use right around the time of World War II), one of the few treatments they had for tuberculosis was a hot, dry climate. Dan's sole motivation in this film is earning enough money to keep from losing his property so that his child has a chance to live a little longer. Back then, everybody who got tuberculosis eventually died from it. A dad who'll put his own life in terrible danger to give his terminally ill child a few more years to live? That's a character whose character I can appreciate.

Sidebar: Most of what I know about tuberculosis, I learned from reading Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure by Jim Murphy.

- Augustus Waters. Gus - he's the teenage guy you'd actually want your teenage daughter to date. He's smart, well-read, romantic, funny, witty as can be, and in remission after the bout of bone cancer that cost him one of his legs. Gus is the actual perfect boyfriend. When he meets Hazel Grace Lancaster in their cancer support group, he knows their time together isn't likely to be very long, but he loves her perfectly in the time they have. Just don't read John Green's The Fault in Our Stars unless you're prepared to cry, then drop the book because you're crying, then call it a stupid book because it made you cry and drop it.

- Noah Langford. Noah is another war veteran, this time in Barbara Longley's contemporary romance novel series Perfect, Indiana. Noah is the hero of the first book, Far From Perfect. Noah slowly falls in love with Ceejay, but she is a very stubborn woman, and Noah is a very stubborn man, so their path is not entirely a smooth one. But they do manage to spend a night together, and when Ceejay discovers she's pregnant, it soon becomes evident that Noah's default setting is "amazing dad." Naturally, they live happily ever after. It is a romance novel, after all.

Far From Perfect made me cry, too, not because of Noah and Ceejay's rocky road to love, but because of the late-life romance between two of the secondary characters.

In real life, there's Alex Minsky. My dear goodness, is this one-legged man made out of gorgeous. Alex is a real-life war veteran and a U.S. Marine who lost the lower half of his right leg and wears a prosthesis - wears it so well, he's become a model.



Photographer Michael Stokes' nudes of Alex were famously banned for "obscenity" by Facebook, but sister, ain't nothing obscene about Alex's body.



So, when you find yourself a one-legged man, I suggest you marry him.

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Is It Autumn Yet?

The last couple of nights, the weather has been beautiful for sleeping with the window open. Although more hot days are forthcoming, there's also a pleasant hint of autumn in the atmosphere. The equinox, and its Neopagan celebration Mabon, may still be two weeks away, but Rosh Hoshanah is upon us, and it already feels like the season has turned.

U.S. Labor Day was this past Monday, and in the Lake Michigan region, this feels like a seasonal holiday rather than only a national calender holiday. My mom and I went on a road trip to Plymouth, Indiana, for the annual Blueberry Festival. We walked around in the sun, refreshing ourselves with blueberry shortcakes, then fish tacos cooked on the grill, washed down with a blueberry iced coffee.

Huckleberries: closely related to blueberries, but not exactly the same

One of the indigenous peoples of the southwest Michigan/northwest Indiana/eastern Illinois and Wisconsin region, the Pokagon band of the Potawatomi (one of the Algonquin peoples, Pokégnek Bodéwadmik in their own language), celebrates this time of year with a pow wow, attended by several of the regional indigenous tribes. The name of this event is the Kee-Boon-Mein-Kaa pow wow, translated as "I have quit picking huckleberries*." The end of berry-picking season has been celebrated at this time, in this place, as far back as the Pokagon can remember. 

By the way, there is also a Potawatomi band in Kansas; they were forcibly moved there by the U.S government. When I went to Kansas last year, it made me incredibly sad to see how flat, treeless and riverless Kansas was. Imagine your culture was based upon living off of forest resources, that wild berries and fish went into many of your cultural dishes, that weaving river grasses into intricate baskets was one of your favorite visual fine art forms, and then you were forcibly moved to a dry, flat land with few rivers and scarcely any trees. It makes me angry every time I think about it. 

Autumn 2013 Events:

Sept. 22 - Autumnal Equinox

Oct. 15 - release of When Did You See Her Last? by Lemony Snicket

Oct. 18 - release of Kill Your Darlings movie with Daniel Radcliffe as Allen Ginsberg

Oct. 22 - release of Allegiant by Veronica Roth

Nov. 11 - official release of Lady Gaga's ARTPOP album

Nov. 15 - release of The Book Thief movie

Nov. 22 - release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire movie

Nov. 26 - third book in Barbara Longley's Perfect, Indiana series, A Change of Heart, releases

Nov. 27 - Hanukkah begins at sundown

"Kore" by Lisa Sotilis, Creative Commons license.

I've already written detailed posts on Mabon scheduled for the 22nd-23rd of September. Still, I was thumbing through an old journal the other day, I came across this, copied from a Unitarian Universalist church bulletin's Pagan column (unfortunately, I haven't written down the name of the columnist):

"The wheel turns to Mabon - the Fall Equinox. Mabon marks the second harvest on the Pagan calendar...

"In Greek mythology, Autumn begins as Persephone returns to the Underworld to live with Hades, her husband. The myth says that Demeter's daughter, Kore, had taken a day to pick flowers in a meadow when the Earth opened up, and Hades pulled the girl into the Underworld to become his bride. Kore's name became Persephone when she married Hades. For nine straight days, Demeter searched for Kore. Helios, the Sun God, informed her that her brother, Zeus, had given the girl to Hades. In fury, Demeter cursed the Earth so that it would yield no crops. Zeus sent her a frantic message inquiring as to why she had prevented growth on the planet. She replied that there would be no regeneration of vegetation on the Earth until her daughter, Kore, was safely returned.

"Zeus immediately dispatched Hermes into the Underworld to retrieve the girl. Hades did not want to relinquish his bride permanently. Ever the negotiator, Zeus declared that Kore-Persephone would live with her mother during one half of the year and return to her husband, Hades, during the other half. In thanks, Demeter lifted the curse on the Earth, creating Spring. Every year hence, during her time of greatest sorrow, Demeter renews the curse, as her daughter returns to Hades and the Underworld."

The curse is starting to take effect. It feels like it should be Autumn now, but all things in their due time. For now I'll enjoy the late summer.

Well, maybe with one Starbucks pumpkin spice latte...

*Gaylussacia baccata and related species, which if you are an English speaker not from North America you may call bilberries.

#BookReview: 'The Difference a Day Makes' by Barbara Longley (contemporary romance)

The Difference a Day Makes by Barbara Longley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Paranormal romances will probably always be my favorite, but when I need a break from vampires and witches, I like a nice contemporary romance. I really enjoyed Far from Perfect, the first book in the "Love From the Heartland" series because it was simply a sweet romance (with some heat) between two very, very stubborn people. I enjoyed the hero of that novel, Noah, the wounded veteran.

This second novel follows Noah's sister, Paige, who's bummed out after losing her first job. She shows up in Perfect, Indiana, at the same time as one of Noah's "rehabilitation projects," the emotionally fragile veteran Ryan Malloy. It's hard to say which is the more stubborn couple: Noah and Ceejay from the first book or Paige and Ryan.

Paige has a dream she wants to follow - taking over the family business - and it takes her a long, long time to figure out how Ryan could fit into her life plan. (But this is a romance novel, so you know they'll find a way. It's no fun if we don't get our happily-ever-after.)

I hate to say it (because my to-read list is already so long), but I think Barbara Longley has added herself to my "auto-buy this author's latest" list. She writes sexy, believable heroes and relatable heroines, and I enjoy the Midwest U.S.A. setting.

Barbara Longley knows she has my number, too. She sent me a friend request on GoodReads, along with a note saying that when she wraps up the Love From the Midwest trilogy with A Change of Heart, set to be published in October 2013, her next series will be paranormal. She calls it a time travel/historical trilogy with faeries! She, too, likes to switch back and forth between paranormal and contemporary romance. All the more reason to appreciate her.

View all my reviews at GoodReads


Currently reading:

Master by Colette Gale

Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

Disclosure: I received this book free from the Amazon Vine program and was obligated to review it for Amazon in return. It represents my own honest opinion.

#Reading Updates: 'Lover At Last' and 'The Difference A Day Makes'

I'm currently reading two books. Last night I started Lover At Last by J.R. Ward.

My mom just finished it Saturday night, and I got it from her at breakfast on Sunday morning. I was at her house Saturday afternoon playing with my nieces. (We took them to the the comic book store for Free Comic Book Day.) While the girls and I were at the park, my mom said something about the book to my husband. Here's his summary of that conversation:

"Your mom's upset because the queers don't get together in this book."

I'm only 60 pages in, but I swear to the Scribe Virgin, Blay and Qhuinn had BETTER get together by the end of this book. But, if possible, I'd not like anything bad to happen to Saxton. I want Qhuay, but not if Blay is free because Saxton is dead or something. My heart will break.

I can never read only one book at a time, though. I'm also reading The Difference a Day Makes by Barbara Longley. I fear Barbara Longley may have added herself to my auto-buy author list. (Isn't it long enough already? But Charlaine Harris will be crossed off once I read the last Sookie Stackhouse novel - out tomorrow. I've never gotten into her other series.)

I already have a beef with this cover art, though. The hero, Ryan Malloy, is described as blond, with long and rather shaggy hair. I'm picturing Josh Holloway.

Photo by Kristin Dos Santos, Creative Commons license

Blond. Not dark-haired, but blond. Also, the heroine, Paige Langford (sister of Noah Langford, the yummy one-legged hero from the previous book, Far From Perfect) is described as curvy. Ryan's physical attraction to Paige is based in large part on her soft, generous curves. The svelte woman on the cover is attractive, but could hardly be described as curvy.

Cover beef aside, so far, it's a perfectly good contemporary romance set in my home state of Indiana. I'm about 60 pages into this one also, but it's about 230 pages shorter than Lover at Last.

I Need Another Book Like I Need A Hole in the Head, But...

I wasn't going to buy any more books for a while. In May, the Amazon Vine program is changing; currently, you have to write reviews of 80% of the items you've ordered to get another two items, but in May it'll be 100%. That means by the third Thursday in May, I'll have to have read three books:

Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck - I'm currently on page 25, and I've got to say the heroine, Mariella, is pretty hard not to love.

The Difference a Day Makes (Perfect, Indiana: Book Two) by Barbara Longley, the sequel to Far From Perfect

The Watcher in the Shadows by Chris Moriarty, the sequel to The Inquisitor's Apprentice

...so I'll be busy reading these, and also Covet by J.R. Ward. This is the second time I've tried to read her non-Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and I just couldn't get into it. It's actually pretty good - the main character, Jim Heron, seems to be a building contractor but actually has secret assassin skills gained from covert military ops. He's like Mr. Reese on Person of Interest, but instead of a reclusive billionaire boss he's now working for mysterious supernatural beings. His first "number" is Vin diPietro, a real estate mogul who, against his wishes, is also a medium who gets flashes of when people are going to die. In seven books, Jim will battle the seven deadly sins, starting with attempting to save Vin from greed.

Covet will also hold me over until I get my hands on the book I really want, Ward's Lover at Last. I'm gonna need Qhuinn and Blaylock to get their HEA - finally. (Sidenote: Thanks to this vampire/goddess article on SecretSun.blogspot.com, I remembered that the bisexual vampire played by Catherine Deneuve in The Hunger was named Miriam Blaylock. Did J.R. Ward name her gay vampire character after Miriam?)

So my reading dance card was quite booked already when I read "The Smuttiest Fanfiction Stories Starring Highbrow Literary Characters" by Emily Temple. #8 on the list is Mitzi Szereto's Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts. #6 was the one that really got my attention, though:

"An Erotic Novel of the Count of Monte Cristo." Apparently it takes place after the end of the Dumas novel, and is about the Count and Mercedes - not the Count and Haydee. What happens to Haydee? I hope she doesn't make good on her statement that she'll die if the Count leaves her. I don't think it would be possible to exaggerate how badly I need to know what happens in this book - so I ordered it from Better World Books.

I read The Count of Monte Cristo in January. I desperately wanted the book to be longer. I read an abridged version, but even so, the ending left too many questions unanswered. Burning with questions, I read the modern sequel The Sultan of Monte Cristo by "Holy Ghost Writer." It was poorly written and unsatisfying for a huge number of reasons.

So please, Colette Gale, do not disappoint me.

Colette Gale sounds like a false name to me. Not just because Colette is a beautiful pen name in reference to the wonderful hell-raising 20th century French writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette who was known professionally only by her last name. (I learned the cooking term aspic from one of her short stories - but I digress.) Also because "Henry Gale" is the false name that Ben Linus initially gives the survivors on Lost - the name of Dorothy Gale's Kansas-bound uncle to go along with his Ozian tale of arriving on the island via hot air balloon. If the name "Colette Gale" is in tribute to both a beloved, prolific French author and the beloved, prolific U.S. author L. Frank Baum, then I expect a high quality of very imaginative and sensual work.

Oh, and as a nod to the title of this post, I now present for your amusement (I hope) "Call Me a Hole," a musical mash-up of the vocals from Nine Inch Nails' "Head Like a Hole" and the melody of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe."

Valentine's Eve OHP: IT'S SO ROMANTIC I'M GONNA DIE

Dropping by from Evernight's Valentine Snippets Blog Hop? Please see this post and leave a comment for a chance to win your choice of book from Evernight Publishing. 

Happy Valentine's Day Eve! (Valentine's haters, tomorrow's blog post is for you. Another book contest is coming tomorrow, too.) I just did the blog post of kisses back in January, so I'm trying a different approach today: romance novel covers.

This was the last one I read:



...and if you liked The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks, you're probably going to like Far From Perfect.  (If you only saw the movie - and I wouldn't blame you for wanting to look at Zach Efron for two hours - you have no idea what you're missing because the book is awesome.)

I haven't read these. (If you want to see what I've read, check out my Books Worth Reading board.) Taken together, they set a very Valentine's Day-appropriate mood, don't you think? Beautiful models, beautiful dresses (I love books, but 50% of the fun of romance novel covers is the fashion, honestly), two lovers enraptured in each other's arms: what's not to love?!






I would probably read this one. I love the paranormals. (Okay, I'd probably read any of them. I'm such a sucker for romance. I still can't watch the Letters To Juliet trailer without bursting into tears when Lorenzo's horse comes riding around the corner.)



Guys, if you ever hope to be on the cover of a Regency romance, you must not own any shirts. Apparently it was not cold in the past and men, historically, did not wear shirts.



I'm sensing a "wedding" theme here.



No collection of romance novels is complete without at least one kilt. This is another one that I've actually read; this series is both paranormal and Highland.



What's your favorite romance novel?