Tessa Dare: Spindle Cove One and Two (and 1.5)

I'd been hearing good things about Tessa Dare - her Spindle Cove novels were funny and quirky.  Then I managed to read the second book before the first, with a Sarah MacLean novel in between (more on her in a different post).

Minerva Highwood has been living in Spindle Cove (which seems to be a vacation hotspot for unmarried ladies with health problems, cash-flow issues, and/or behavioral issues, such as not being so meek and obedient as the next debutante) with her mother, a variation on the Mrs. Bennet theme, and her sister Diana (Diana has asthma).  Min is a confirmed spinster bluestocking and is absolutely certain that she has found proof of prehistoric animals in a cave off the Cove.  Colin Sandhurst, Viscount Payne, is the rake to end all rakes - it's even rumored that he never sleeps alone, ever - and is nearly climbing the metaphorical walls in Spindle Cove.  He doesn't have the blunt to return to Town and he won't gain his inheritance (held in trust by his friend Bram, Earl of Rycliff) unless he marries or turns twenty-five, whichever comes first.  It is also rumored that Colin will offer for Diana Highwood, an instance that Min neither desires or things she can stomach.

So Min hatches A Plan.  She needs to present her scientific findings at a meeting of the Royal Geologic Society in Edinburgh - if she has the best "find" (and she's certain she does) she will win a monetary prize.  If Colin escorts her (and her plaster iguanadon foot, Francine) to Edinburgh, she will give him the prize money thereby eliminating his need to marry Diana.  To do this, these two caracters, fake an elopement, convince family and friends they're in "love" (courtesy of one faked diary), outrun armed robbers, survive their worst nightmares, and travel four hundred miles without killing each other (that sentence was cribbed off Goodreads since I couldn't write one better).  They have A Week to be Wicked.

This is a zany road-trip novel Regency Romance-style.  I laughed so much every time Colin made up some crazy-ridiculous story about his relationship with Minerva. Like any good lie, it gets bigger and bigger until it bites him in the tail (like the one where they pose as brother and sister missionaries to a family then Get. It. On. (loudly) after hearing another couple in the inn knocking boots, so to speak). Or how he introduces Min as his non-English speaking mistress (I'm with Min on that instance - would it have killed him to win that hand of cards?). Antics aside, Min was a wonderful character to root for with her scientific zeal and pleasant-ish family and Colin as her perfect foil bouncing between his rakish extremes and phobias about closed carriages. You will never look at mathematical terms the same way again.

Spindle Cove #2 being an excellent read, I picked up A Night to Surrender.  I'm glad I did because it explained so much about the Spindle Cove world and events that were only hinted at in A Week to be Wicked.  Miss Susannah Finch created a quiet haven at Spindle Cove, near her father's home, as a place where well-bred ladies could escape the rigors of the ton - particularly those ladies who don't quite "fit" as Society believes they should.  It is about to be invaded by His Majesty's militia.  Victor Bramwell, newly appointed Earl of Rycliff (for the tumbling-down castle of the cliff), has been ordered to create a militia out of a ragtag band of men and boys for the purpose of defending England's coast.  With him is a (reluctant) Colin Sandhurst and a Corporal Thorne, a career military man.  Susannah is absolutely determined that these men just leave (leave!) and let Spindle Cove enjoy its peace and quiet.

Reading A Night to Surrender helped quite a bit in explaining who does what in the seaside village of Spindle Cove - the characters are so intertwinted that in book #2, when the action moved away from Minerva and Colin, I was a bit lost in who Kate was, or Thorne, or Diana, or Susanna...definitely a series that benefits from reading in book order.

This first book was very well-constructed, with good backstories for everyone not just the hero/heroine couple. Susannah's father is different from Thorne, who is different from Colin, who is different from the Bright's absentee drunken father (who doesn't appear, but gets a number of mentions). Mrs. Highwood is curious mix of Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Dashwood but she's the only flat female character, IMO, when compared to Kate, Sally, and Violet.

And although there are funny parts, this is a much more serious book in tone and much darker in the details.  Dare gets some serious props in this one with her historical research: those medical "treatments" Susannah mentions having undergone to "treat" "hysteria" are spot-on. I've done considerable research in 18th/19th/early-20th century medicine and it's all historically accurate. Barbaric, in a word.

I also found a little novella, a Spindle Cove #1.5: Once Upon a Winter's Eve.  Violet Winterbottom has endured The Disappointment.  She gave herself to a childhood friend, a man she thought loved her, and he left the next day with no word, no good-bye, and no explanation.  Heartbroken, she moved to Spindle Cove and rebuilt her life.  On the night of the Spindle Cove Christmas Ball, a dirty, bloody man crashes into the ballroom and passes out at her feet.  The other revelers think the man is a French spy but Violet knows who he is...Christian, Lord Pierce, the man she loved.  Violet has one night to get the entire story out of Christian before he disappears or dies.

This was short and sweet, a little nuts as far as plotting.  Just my opinion, but forgiveness comes a bit too fast - having been left with no explanation, Violet should have been waaay more irritated at Christian.  And how hard would it have been for Christian to leave Violet some sort of letter explaining that he worked for the War Office and to wait for him or something like that. 

Spindle Cove #3, A Lady by Midnight, is scheduled for August!

Mary Balogh: The Bedwyns

One of my bookselling coworkers, knowing that I've been snarfing down Regency romance series, recommended Mary Balogh's Slightly series (aka the Bedwyns) - the story of six brothers and sisters starting near the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

The series opens as Colonel Lord Aidan Bedwyn travels to Ringwood Manor to deliver a dying soldier's request.  He finds the man's sister, Eve Morris, on the verge of losing her home - now that her brother is dead she has less than a week to marry before the one-year anniversary of her father's death.  Having promised to protect Eve, Aidan (heretofore determined to escape marriage and remain in His Majesty's cavalry) does the only thing he can think of to help her: offer a marriage of convenience so that Eve may keep her home and Aidan will return to the cavalry.  Well, enter Aidan's elder brother Wulfric (the Duke of Bewcastle, to whom Aidan is heir), Eve's self-made family of lost "lambs" (unwanted distantly-related children, a governess who found herself an unmarried mother, maimed soldiers in need of work, etc), and one evil cousin who feels Ringwood is rightly his and Aidan and Eve go from Slightly Married to very married.

What I liked in this series opener is the very realistic portrayal of an aristocratic family as seen by someone who is an outsider.  Eve is barely gentry (complete with faint Welsh accent) and Wulfric makes it clear that she is hardly suitable as a potential duchess, even if Aidan has gone and married her.  Wulf isn't a friendly man, instead presenting himself as autocratic, domineering, ice-cold, and completely above caring about the feelings of his brother's wife.  Eve isn't sure what to make of the other siblings either: Alleyne is charming enough but still born with that automatic class difference of aristocracy and Freyja has enough personality to make herself scary (Rannulf appears briefly at the end of the book and Morgan is only mentioned since she is still in the schoolroom).  Even Aidan has trouble admitting or expressing emotion.  I had to give Balogh credit for making Eve doubt herself for a few chapters before deciding to use her considerable backbone.  Aidan and Wulf are both given considerable backstories, which is nice when working on a family series.  I just loved two other things about this book.  First, the character names are fabulous; someone's mom wasn't just a reader but a reader of old Anglo-Saxon/Norse/Celtic stories.  Second, none of the Bedwyns are conventionally attractive.  They all have dark complexions, hook noses, and oddly matched coloring (i.e. Freyja has blond hair and naturally dark eyebrows) but make up for the physical difference with loads of personality.  This is refreshing, especially in Freyja's case, because too many times a hero or heroine considers himself or herself plain but one look from their mate and there is insta-attraction/hottest person ever seen.  None of that here.

The second book, Slightly Wicked, picks up immediately after the first.  Rannulf (Ralf) leaves Ringwood and continues on his way to his maternal grandmother's estate.  She has made him her heir and has asked him to visit in order to tempt him into matrimony.  On the way to Grandmaison he rescues a red-haired young woman from an overturned coach in a rain storm, an actress he believes, and convinces her to spend a glorious night with him at an inn.  However, the tables are turned when he meets the young woman again at Harewood Grange, the home of the young woman he is meant to be courting.  Miss Judith Law, daughter of an impovershed vicar, was sent to Harewood to serve as companion to her ailing grandmother.  She is made to wear loose, ill-fitting gowns and caps over her hair, to feel ugly because of her attractiveness, to fetch and carry, and make herself agreeable and grateful (Fanny Price, anyone?).  By accepting Ralf's offer and purporting herself to be an actress, Judith snatched a little bit of happiness to see herself through the drudgery she knew awaited her.  While Slightly Wicked has a more conventional plot, Ralf and Judith are wonderful characters and the mystery of the missing jewelry keeps everything moving.

From Ralf and Judith's wedding we follow the Slightly Scandalous Lady Freyja to Bath.  Free (which is a great nickname) had her heartbroken once by neighbor boy Kit.  She loved him, but Wulf betrothed her to the elder brother, the heir, who died and when Kit came back from the Wars he brought a fiancee he loved with him.  Now that Kit and his wife are expecting Free wants to be anywhere but London and the family seat of Lindsey Hall and weddings.  Of course, adventure finds her on the way to Bath when a strange man bursts into her room in the middle of the night and begs her to hide him.  Joshua Moore, the absolutely scandalous Marquess of Hallmere, is as determined to escape matrimony as Free is herself.  Once in Bath the two combatants verbally joust with one another (Free throws a few of her famous punches) until they concoct a plan to announce a (false) betrothal just to rid themselves of unwanted suitors. 

As usual, false betrothals have a way of becoming permanent.  As it turns out, Joshua's extended family has more secrets and scandals than closets to contain them.  There's murder, pregnant governesses, overbearing aunts, etc., etc.  Overlaid with the continued false betrothal plot the book gets a bit overplotted but still very readable.  While Free isn't terribly likeable in the first two books she becomes one of my very favorite characters here: fierce and absolutely determined to show no fear or hesitation which can come off as brash arrogance to those who don't know her.  Both Joshua and Freyja have been badly burned by life and only very warily come to trust one another.

The next summer Alleyne and Morgan (now "out") find themselves in Brussels in the run-up to Waterloo.  When Slightly Tempted opens Morgan is enjoying the social whirl with friends while Alleyne is attached to the diplomatic corps.  Morgan soon catches the eye of a man estranged from the ton, the half-French Gervase Ashford, Earl of Rosthorn, a man who loathes and hates her eldest brother, Wulfric.  Gervase sets out to ruin Morgan to revenge himself on the Duke of Bewcastle.  Before Gervase can fully implement his plan the Battle of Waterloo puts everything at sixes and sevens.  Alleyne is missing in action and Morgan refuses to leave Brussels without him.  As Morgan tends mortally wounded soldiers, Gervase scours the roadsides for her brother.  When she learns Alleyne was likely killed in action in the Forest of Soignes Morgan gives herself to Gervase, seeking comfort for her grief.  Gervase, however, finds that he can no longer bring himself to use Morgan as he had planned.  A lot of air must be cleared before this book comes to an end.

Meanwhile, Alleyne isn't really dead (which may or may not have been a surprise to readers when the series was in publication; knowing there are six books in the series and there are six siblings does give the game away later).  He was hit by musket fire and fell from his horse, hitting his head in the process.  In Slightly Sinful he is rescued by Miss Rachel York, a young lady fallen on hard times due to a swindler and now residing with four lively prostitutes, one being an old friend. When Alleyne wakes, he has no memory of who he really is...but he is instantly attracted to the lovely Rachel whom he mistakes as a "lady of the night" as well.  Eventually, the truth comes out. Rachel is an heiress but she can only claim her jewels when she marries (with her uncle's approval) or turns 25, neither of which are possible solutions to her dilemma, and she desperately needs the jewels to repay her friends their lost savings (also, due to the swindler).  Alleyne comes up with a madcap solution: he will pose as Rachel's husband (under his assumed name of Sir Jonathan Smith since he still can't remember who he is) and the whole lot of them will return to England to convince Rachel's uncle to give her the jewels.

These two were my favorite books in the series.  They run concurrently so once you've read Morgan's book you know what she and Gervase were doing when Alleyne and Rachel were still in Brussels.  The plotting in both books was excellent, most notably in bringing Gervase's backstory to light.  Rachel's four friends (Bridget, her old nurse, Geraldine, Flossie, and Phyllis) are excellent, sweet side-characters.  My only complaint was the constant flipping between using Alleyne and Jonathan in Slightly Sinful.  Although the reader knows that the amnesiac is Alleyne Bedwyn, it took a bit of the mystique away from him by calling him Alleyne during his POV sections and calling him Jonathan during Rachel's.

All of these weddings (and copious re-appearances of all the Bedwyn brothers and sisters and offspring in each of the others' books) leads up to Wulfric's book, Slightly Dangerous.  Nearly a year has passed since Alleyne's wedding and Wulf finds himself feeling more alone than ever.  He lives alone now in the very large, very old Lindsey Hall.  His long-time mistress, who he misses more than he ever thought he would, has died of a lung complaint.  And so, in a moment of rare impsulsiveness, he accepts an invitation from Viscount Mowbray (a bookish, absent-minded, but good-natured friend of-sorts) to attend a house party at his sister Lady Renable's house.  A few weeks of good conversation might be nice.  Unfortunately, the house party turns out to be one of those house parties - full of silly, unmarried chits and swaggering young men in celebration of the youngest Miss Mowbray's engagement.  Amid all these houseguests is one who catches his eye, literally.  Mrs. Derrick (Christine) is an impoverished widowed neighbor and friend of the Renables, invited to even out the dinner table.  She is funny, sunny, impulsive, intelligent, and prone to getting herself into the worst scrapes by accident.  In short, she is very ill-behaved for a member of society, in Wulf's opinion, but he can't figure out why all he wants to do is toss her into bed and have his way with her.  They are absolute complete opposites.  Christine, for her part, is absolutely mortified that fate keeps throwing her into the cold, imperious duke's path.  All she wants to do is go back to her mother's house and her quiet life there where no one will mind if she climbs trees or plays with the children.

Wulf really doesn't endear himself to the reader during the first three books.  He's a bit of a dick to both Eve and Judith at first since neither are "good enough" for duke's sons on paper.  However, Morgan's book began to show a different side of Wulf, one that cares and loves his brothers and sisters even though he was totally separated from them at age twelve to be "trained" as the future Duke of Bewcastle, a title he assumed at age seventeen.  This book really turns Wulf inside-out and Balogh allows her hero to be a complete ass before redeeming himself.  I really liked how neither character "changes" in the course of the book - Wulfric is still outwardly reserved and Christine is still very outgoing but they complement each other (Christine totally got him with the quizzing glass - such a ridiculous affectation and she called him on it when no one else dared).

I really liked all the books in this series.  Apparently, the Bedwyns appear in other Balogh books so I'll have to check those out, too.

Mirror Mirror

Call me crazy, but I got a hankering to see Tarsem Singh's Mirror, Mirror before it left the theatres.  I've never been disappointed in his visual style...just in the scriptwork (and I'm not too sure where the fault lies in that).

Mirror, Mirror is no different.  Shot composition is excellent.  The use of color made the screen seem like Technicolor made new - bright, showy tones for the Queen's court, warm browns and greens for the dwarves' home.  The costume design, courtesy of the late Eiko Ishioka (her last movie), was fanciful and character-appropriate.  The music - provided by one of my favorite film composers, Alan Menken - brought the fairy-tale charm.  The prologue (voice-over aside) could stand on it's own as a short animated film: ceramic puppetwork that acts out the backstory.

And then there's the script and dialogue work. 

This is marketed as a children's movie.  I get it.  But couldn't Mare Winningham get better dialogue than what she does (and a better character name - Baker Margaret? Is she the lady's maid, too?)?  And couldn't Nathan Lane avoid overtly Nathan Lane lines like "When I was a cockroach a grasshopper tried to take advantage of me!"  Funny...but out of place in this movie.   Armie Hammer suffers from having almost nothing to do except have Julia Roberts fawn over his naked chest (and speaking of that, there were really young kids in my audience and they got super bored during the sexual tension scenes - I was snickering because it was so contrived).

The dialogue and accents were all over the map.  If you're going to build a world, make it believable to some extent.  You can't have Julia Roberts attempting a mid-Atlantic/soft English accent, Armie Hammer as himself (Midwest US), Nathan Lane as himself (Timon the Meerkat all the way), the dwarves all sound like they're from New York, and Lily Collins sounds nothing like her father (who is played by Sean Bean using his own North Yorkshire accent).  And the costumes are vaguely French mid-eighteenth century.

Mirror, Mirror also relies way too heavily on Chekhov's Gun: "If in Act I you have a pistol hanging on the wall, then it must fire in the last act."  The audience is told in the prologue voice-over (done by Julia Roberts) that we must remember that the King gives Snow his dagger, it will be important later.  There's also overt shots of a certain necklace....this all ties in with the casting: don't advertise that Sean Bean is the King, then keep him out of the action until the last FIVE MINUTES of the film....I had the outcome of the film called once the live action started.  Sorta boring then.  And kids aren't that stupid.

Previews:
1. Paranorman - eh, still not impressed.
2. Three Stooges - No.  Just....no.  Ugh.
3. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted - this does look cute (and great line in the trailer: You can't drive a car, only people and penguins!)
4. Pirates: Band of Misfits - meh, still not interested
5. Dark Shadows - this looks stupid and I don't remember the TV show as being stupid

The Avengers!!

Midnight premiere!  Whee!  I'm almost certain we had the theatre full of Joss Wheedon geeks. And Joss Wheedon douchebag fans - had a few of those, too.

With the buildup of the other Marvel movies (Captain America, Thor, two Hulks, and two Iron Men) The Avengers movie was going to succeed or fail on an epic scale.

I'm glad to say that the balance tips in favor of succeed.  Nick Fury's ragtag-ish band of demigods, geniuses, and super-soldiers mixed well.  It's a superhero/comic book movie with a buddy-cop vibe.  Wheedon picked through his characters' big personalities and let them pick on each other: Tony Stark and Bruce Banner trade mild barbs while simultaneously designing a hightech tracking system; Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America beat the tar out of each other school-yard style; Agent Coulson gets a fanboy moment.  As with Wheedon's well-known TV shows, the dialogue is snappy and comebacks crack one after another.

A note for the fanboys and girls out there:  THERE IS NO NEED TO BE THE LOUDEST ASSHOLE IN THE THEATRE.  You like Joss Wheedon, great.  There is no need to yell at the screen during a very poignant moment in the film.  You ruin it for the rest of us.  Save it for the DVD release.

Preview goodness:
1. Prometheus - I. Can. Not. Wait.  Michael Fassbender in an Alien movie directed by Ridley Scott.  Will be amazing.
2. The Amazing Spider-Man - I'm not sure how I feel about this.  I've never been super interested in Spider-Man as a character...I've got friends who are excited about this so I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing this in the theatre.
3. Frankenweenie - What? Oh, Tim Burton has an entire movie based on a meh picture book. Yawn.  I'm so over Tim Burton.
4. The Dark Knight Rises - I feel like the trailers are failing this movie.  Then again, this is a movie that will make serious box office money even if it's terrible.
5. Brave - SQUEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

An Uncommon Education

The whole Netgalley/Edelweiss thing is new to me - making this my first review of a book read via eARC.

An Uncommon Education

Summary from Goodreads:
Afraid of losing her parents at a young age--her father with his weak heart, her deeply depressed mother--Naomi Feinstein prepared single-mindedly for a prestigious future as a doctor. An outcast at school, Naomi loses herself in books, and daydreams of Wellesley College. But when Teddy, her confidant and only friend, abruptly departs from her life, it's the first devastating loss from which Naomi is not sure she can ever recover, even after her long-awaited acceptance letter to Wellesley arrives.

Naomi soon learns that college isn't the bastion of solidarity and security she had imagined. Amid hundreds of other young women, she is consumed by loneliness--until the day she sees a girl fall into the freezing waters of a lake.

The event marks Naomi's introduction to Wellesley's oldest honor society, the mysterious Shakespeare Society, defined by secret rituals and filled with unconventional, passionate students. Naomi finally begins to detach from the past and so much of what defines her, immersing herself in this exciting and liberating new world and learning the value of friendship. But her happiness is soon compromised by a scandal that brings irrevocable consequences. Naomi has always tried to save the ones she loves, but part of growing up is learning that sometimes saving others is a matter of saving yourself.

"An Uncommon Education" is a compelling portrait of a quest for greatness and the grace of human limitations. Poignant and wise, it artfully captures the complicated ties of family, the bittersweet inevitability of loss, and the importance of learning to let go.

Elizabeth Percer's writing style is lovely.  She sets exterior scenes so well, as if she were painting rather than writing.  Those were my favorite parts of the book.

Most of this novel is very good and compelling especially once Naomi reaches Wellesley. Unfortunately, there's a lot of backstory and unpacking of childhood incidences to get through first. I was very uninterested in Naomi's story for about the first 120 pages - I just couldn't connect the pieces to understand her father's obsession with Rose Kennedy/the Rose Kennedy house, her father's heart attack, her friendship/first love with the neighbor boy, her mother's depression, etc. Naomi is a bit like the literary version of the manic-pixie-dream-girl from the movies: she has a photographic memory, she's smart, she's determined, she's quirky.

Once the story moves to Naomi's years at Wellesley the plotting of the novel is better.  The twists and turns of roommates and cliques is universal whether one attends an Ivy or a state school.  I could identify with the insularity of the Shakespeare Club because I also belong to a secret society.  So I really liked those later sections of An Uncommon Education.  I just felt the first section of the book bogged down early.


Dear FTC: I received an electronic advance reader copy of this novel.

No Longer a Gentleman: a mini-review

Grey Summers, Lord Wyndam, has been stuck in gaol somewhere in France for nearly a decade for the singular offence of dallying with a married woman whilst spying for England.  Oops.  Fellow spy Cassie Fox (obviously, not her real name) is sent to spring him from his hellhole.

No Longer a Gentleman is the fourth book in the Lost Lords series by Mary Jo Putney.  Although I hadn't read the other three books, this one was fairly easy to follow (except the whole school/Hindu fighting style thing, that took a bit to figure out - Kirkland's spy network was not).

The plot had a very Count of Monte Cristo vibe with the "10 years in a cell with a priest to keep you company" plot device right down to Gray's penchant for revenge (although not as elaborate). Cassie was an interesting heroine and it was nice to see Putney attempt to work in some of the grittier aspects of the reality being an orphaned English girl during the French Revolution. OK, well, it wasn't "nice" but it grounded the narrative in a unique way.

The serious complaint is that it's too predictable, even for a romance novel. You know that Cassie will get Gray out of his hellhole, that they'll fall into lust then love, that Gray's family will accept him back without reservations, that Cassie will (in a plot move worthy of Dickens) be find her long-lost relatives, and that Cassie and Gray will wind up having to go back to France for the denoument of the novel. That last bit would have gone better if the reader hadn't been given the villain's point-of-view - that was unnecessary.  The novel was enjoyable, but I don't know if I'll go back and read the first three.

Talking to Siri

I really love my iPhone - taking pictures, listening to music, playing games, staying organized.  Love it.

And I have the 4S model so it includes the lovely voice assistant Siri...whom I would love more if she acted less like a petulant teenager and more like an assistant.  Because we definitely have a failure to communicate.

Like any good reader, I turned to a book to help me out.  Talking to Siri by Erica Sadun is a short, small book, only about 150 pages and not quite mass-market paperback size, and it is very helpful.  I learned how to phrase questions using Wolfram Alpha-style queries.  I learned how to set places like "home" so I could tell Siri to get me directions to home.  I got the hang of having Siri make appointments for me.

And I learned a few fun things.  For instance, Siri is an "it" not a "she" because different markets have a different voice - the US has a female voice but the UK has male, apparently.  And you can make Siri give you funny answers.

Just tell it you need to dump a body or say "Beam me up, Scotty."  The answers are all deadpan, of course.

The Voice: Live Eliminations April 24, 2012

Yet another Tuesday elimination on The Voice. 

Ooh, Florence + The Machine!!!!  New single, "New Light, New Light" (I really have to buy Ceremonials).  I love how it's a great mix of rock, pop, and New Age-y (hey, there's Team CeeLo up there, too).

Who did America save (apparently Tony and Juliette hit #1 and #2 on the rock charts on iTunes)?
Team Adam:  Tony (I was pretty sure he would get through - it was a performance that people would really like)
Team CeeLo:  Jamar (this was a toss up between Jamar and Juliette for me - both gave really heartfelt performances but I was hoping Juliette would get through)

Team Adam sing-off:

• Mathai - she chose "Cowboy Casanova" and it sounded pretty good. I'm not sure if she connected with the song well; I got emotion in that arm that was flailing around but not in her voice.  The band overshadowed her a bit much so maybe not the best arrangement.  (I'm not sure why Carson talks to the coaches for the first performer, then rushes the others)
• Katrina - she chose "Perfect".  A good choice for her since the words fit the situation and she could really belt, use the emotion.  Great praise from Christina - I'd like to hear original material from Katrina for sure.

Adam saved: Katrina.  Thank god - Adam rambled so long I had no idea where he was going (I just realized that it has to blow standing up there while the other three coaches say who they would save and none of them say your name - I would barf fer shiz while waiting).  Mathai is a doll, though, and I hope that the record execs are watching and give her a chance.

Team CeeLo sing-off:

• Cheesa - she chose "Already Gone".  Eeep, she started off with the breathy thing and it was pretty flat all over.  Ack.  Hmmm, even the chorus was a bit flat, but better as she went on.  Oh Blake, just because you hit the big note doesn't erase the poor breath support throughout.  Even though not everyone is perfect all the time, you have to do it when it counts.
• Juliette - she chose "Torn".  Also, another great choice because she could use the power and the nerves to get into the song.  She just kills it, every time.  I said it yesterday, I love her.  Love. Her.  AND she hit every note.  (I'm a technical singer - remember?  You get off pitch, you find your way back, ASAP)

CeeLo saved: Juliette, yes!!!! (uh, did Adam duck out?  No Adam commentary on who CeeLo would save?  Oh, CeeLo - Cheesa is SO NOT CLASSICALLY TRAINED.  CHRIS MANN IS CLASSICALLY TRAINED.)

Side notes:

• Dear audience: STOP YELLING while the coaches are talking; if Adam says "Shut it" then you shut it.  End of story.

The Voice: Live Quarterfinals April 23, 2012

Knowing that the coaches on The Voice (i.e. CeeLo and Adam) will have to immediately cut a singer, let's see if the performers throw down.

• Jamar - singing "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi
• A really interesting, heavy metal arrangement.  Perhaps a bit on the slow side but I was really listening to the words and Jamar's performance as opposed to comparing the performance to Bon Jovi's.  He did a great job, sang his heart out.  I hope going first doesn't hurt him in the voting.
• Katrina - singing "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri
• Did they get her extensions?  Or did her hair grow that much before the live rounds and it was always up before today?  I'm glad she stuck with the full voice rather than try and make it wispy, it was a much better performance.  Really solid this time, very confident.  Even the little cracks over her break worked in this song.

CeeLo and his team performed "Dancing in the Street" - the old TV/retro look wasn't quite as fun as the disco possibilities for staging (CeeLo wore a truly awful James Brown wig).  Everyone sounded pretty good.

Commercial break had a new iPhone4S ad (or, at least, new to me) with Zooey Deschanel.  A great improvement over the kid with the stupid music questions/band names.

• Mathai - singing "I'm Like a Bird" by Nelly Furtado
• Hate to say it Adam, but Mathai sounds A LOT like Nelly Furtado (and she totally got upstaged by the awesome acrobat up on the fabric trapeze or whatever it's called).  She sounded less like like Nelly Furtado by the end.  It was a good performance - I wasn't blown away but she did a good job.
• James - singing "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel
• Gotta hand it to CeeLo - he knows just how to pick songs to suit his artists this season.  This song really fit James's style and vocal type.  He has a really smooth tenor sound.  I personally would like a bit in a dynamic range out of him (I'm with Blake - he sang well but it just laid there).  Adam had a good idea - maybe some old school Sinatra would be good, from early-on in his career.  While James doesn't do it for me, the teen girls love him so they'll probably carry him.

Goody Mob?  Sorry, Goodie Mob.  I am not well-versed in Southern hiphop.  Should there have been more rapping?  CeeLo sounded good until the light-up grill he sported gave him a lisp.  Adam was really into it but I really didn't get it.  Maybe I had to be in the auditorium for it to work.

• Tony - singing...Carson didn't say??
• wait, what is he singing?  Oh, my god, he's singing Britney Spears.  I love it.   I love that arrangement of "Hit Me Baby One More Time" with the rock rhythm rather than the pop.  I like him so much better this week than with the Peter Gabriel.
• Cheesa - singing "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston
• I got goosebumps.  This is the first performance where she knocked it out of the park for me.  She didn't shy away from those high notes and just killed it.  Fantastic perfomance, very well-done (the staging looked a bit like "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita).  CeeLo looked like the cat who got the cream.
• Pip - singing "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane
• Thank you for not wearing the bow-tie (and he does have a similar voice type to Adam).  This is a much better song choice for him.  Except for the falsetto - not my favorite part.  It was good otherwise, perhaps not better than his other three team members.

Team Adam performance (and I could do without the Christina Millian filler) of "Instant Karma".  I love how they did the accompaniment with a little assist from the Voice band (Adam didn't sing, also kind of cool).

• Juliette - singing "Crying" by Aerosmith
• Her hair is getting lighter, not sure if I like the blond.  Aerosmith is a great choice for her, just the grittiness of her voice suits the tempo and the emotion of the song.  That voice just pulls at you (what record exec listened to her and thought "girl band"??  not a smart person).  I love her.  Love. Her.  (Next week, can we please have her do some classic sixties rock?  Please?  It would be so awesome.)

Ugh, instant elimination.
CeeLo sent home (so heart-felt that he took the time to write out what he wanted to say on his BlackBerry): James.  A good choice.  Of the four singers, he was the only one not to really stretch.  He's a good singer, but not quite at the level of Juliette, Jamar, and Cheesa.
Adam sent home (poor Adam, babbling since he's stalling):  Pip.  Also a good choice.  He was pretty much neck and neck with Mathai, in my opinion. 

Tomorrow night's show should be interesting.

Sophia Nash: The Royal Entourage One and Two

A title caught my attention the other day, The Art of Duke Hunting.  Huh, cute.  So I read a bit of the first chapter while on my break and wound up buying it.  I then realized that it was book two in the series...oops. 

The Dukes of Norwich are a cursed line.  The first Duke incurred the wrath of a witch (maybe?) by accusing her of witchcraft when she spurned him (he brought some icky fowl instead of jewelry, I'd refuse him, too).  Since then there have been seventeen dukes in only 200 years, an unprecedented rate of inheritance, and a good number of the first sixteen met their ends in duck and/or fowl related incidents (the others either lost duels or died fighting Napoleon).  The seventeenth Duke of Norwich, Roman Montagu, is determined that he will be the absolute last duke of his accursed line.  There are no brothers (Roman's elder brother died in a sailing accident), no secondary lines, no exceedingly distant male cousins, and Roman is determined never to father a child.

That's just the prologue.  The plot opens on Roman's worst nightmare - a ship in a storm - and the poor man has no idea how he got there.  Worse, one wrist is tied to the deck.  Before a wave can wash him away he is rescued by the Esme, the Countess of Derby, and they shelter together in her cabin (and not in separate corners, either).  When the damaged ship puts in at the Isle of Wight Roman learns how he came to be on board: at the bachelor party to end all bachelor parties, held by the royal entourage, the Duke of Kress put Roman on the ship as some sort of absinthe-fueled joke.  Unfortunately for Esme (who prefers to be called March) and Roman the biggest gossip in England, Mr. King, was also aboard ship so by the time they make it back to London their goose is cooked: they must marry.

So, in short, I liked the book. Roman and Esme's romance is both sweet (how they both actually care about one another, despite actual appearances) and disturbing (Roman's jealousy; though, in all seriousness I thought Topher was gay because all the women felt rather safe around him, but I guess he was merely waiting to retire before scoring a lady?).  Love all the duck/duke humor. Who knew Regency England was so full of duck paraphernalia?

I only have one quibble with the plot (OK, two - and these are total spoilers so skip this paragraph, alright?):
1. The twist at the end of the book where it is revealed that Roman is, in fact, not the son of the 16th duke but that of an Italian sculptor is pointless. Worse, it detracts from Roman's ability to overcome his fear/superstition and live out his live despite his notorious family history. It makes the entire I-sailed-a-yacht-through-a-storm-to-rescue-my-wife-despite-the-curse feeling of triumph dead in the water.  Boo.
2. And speaking of the Norwich curse how did the original "witch" actually have legitimate children? I was assuming that her accusation/death came very close on her refusal of Norwish I's offer making it less likely that she had children at all. So that would make Esme less of a granddaughter and more of a niece/cousin of some type. So the "direct descendant" business doesn't quite make sense to me. Also, it's an unneccessary plot point because by the time it's revealed he's already learned his true parentage.

With all the whispering about Alexander Barclay, the new Duke of Kress and Roman's good friend, I had to read the first book Between the Duke and the Deep Blue Sea.  The prologue is a glorious detailing of all the naughtiness the royal entourage got up but left out just enough detail to leave the reader hanging (Candover left his bride at the altar, someone's maid is missing, Candover's sister is sent home in disgrace, one of the dukes got secretly married, Barry's got a mysterious dead man, Candover and Abshire have a longstanding animosity, etc).  Alex is the nitwit that supplied the group with all the absinthe which caused all the debauchery.  As a result, the populace is starting to question whether the aristocracy is even necessary.  Prinny immediately goes on the defensive and orders all the dukes to straighten up and get married.  Alex is the first - exiled to his Cornwall estate to await the matchmaking mamas he finds Roxanne Vanderhaven clinging to a sea cliff for dear life. 

Her husband tried to push her to her death.   Nice guy.  Alex rescues her and....romance!

I had a little trouble with the final twist (sorry, SPOILER again): the convenient-death-of-Roxanne's-skeezebag-husband obligatory plot twist followed by that monstrously silly courtroom scene where everybody and nobody confessed to killing him....good Lord.  Nash should have just let Paxton steal Alex's water-shy horse, get thrown off/drowned, and been done with it instead of having him steal the horse AND someone shoot him. Actually, that sounds suspiciously similar to my issue with The Art of Duke Hunting. Hmmmm.

Beyond that, this was an enjoyable novel.  Alex and Roxanne make a good couple and it was nice to see them fight through Prinny's orders to get their HEA.  I'm really looking forward to the other books in the series (maybe six in total?), so books for Candover, Abshire, Sussex, and Barry.  Maybe a seventh for Isabelle if she doesn't wind up being the heroine in one of the dukes (which she seriously might since it seems she has a bad crush on one of them).

(Side note on that absinthe: as a drink it was not popular until the 1840s and the major distilleries in France opened only a few years before this novel opens in late 18th/early 19th century.  The likelihood that Alex's fully English cousin had a cellar-full both in London and the Mount when it needed to be smuggled I find a little implausible.  I know it's a hair-splitting detail but I read a lot of articles on absinthe and opium when writing a paper about addiction in Victorian literature.  If Nash needed a black-out level party she could have had them drink a load of nasty whiskey; it feels like the absinthe was used for the exotic-ness.)

The Voice: Live Eliminations April 17, 2012

So after last night's cut-one-team-member bad-surprise The Voice is back to cut another member from Team Blake and Christina.

First up - a performance by British group (?techno boy band) the Wanted with an assist by Blake's team.  I wasn't really familiar with them and it was an...adequate performance.  I wasn't impressed by the song or group (and you couldn't hear Blake's team members).  I was actually more worried for the dancers considering at least one of them nearly tripped over the white backdrop when it was dropped right where they were danced.  Bad staging decision.

Who was saved (after Carson stalled for frickin' ever - srsly?)?  From Team Christina it was Chris (FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!) and America voted through Jermaine on Blake's team (surprising, I thought it would be Erin but I like him, too).

Team Christina singoff:

• Ashley chose "You and I" - I didn't quite like the quieter ending, needed a bit more of a bang but she sounded good.
• Lindsay went with "Please Don't Go" - such a good choice for her because she tapped into the coffeeshop roots she is used to; she's grown a lot because I think the Lindsay from the blind auditions wouldn't have looked at the audience or shown so much emotion

Oh, look, what a surprise (I'm with Carson - that was so not a surprise) it's Justin Bieber.  He brought a clip from his new video from "Boyfriend".  Eh, color me bored.  It was barely thirty seconds of video where he looked like an overly groomed tweener being groped by hands.  He rapped, it was OK.  (Aaaaand, he's going to be on The Voice in three weeks.  Meeeehhh)

Christina saved: Lindsay!  (I really don't have an opinion, they're both good singers and either would have been a good choice)

Team Blake singoff:

• Erin went with "Proud Mary" - it's a great choice for her vocally because she's got a big voice and she uses it.  Go Erin!
• Then RaeLynn sang "If I Die Young" - ok, that much styling is really annoying; she doesn't really talk like with such an exaggerated accent so why sing like that?  If it were my choice, I'd certainly not keep her with that accent.  Also, this song is really poignant (and sad) and she so doesn't pull that off.

Blake saved: Erin!  (Thank you, because I don't think I could have handled another week of RaeLynn.  She's cute and all but the yowling was getting out of control)

Side notes:

• caught the trailer for Dark Shadows - is it just me, or is Johnny Depp just playing yet another facet of his always-witty-and-wacky Captain Jack persona only more Nightmare Before Christmas in color palatte as opposed to Alice in Wonderland Technicolor?  It's supposed to be wierd.  Not daft.
• CeeLo has had Dorothy's ruby slippers enlarged and made into a fabulous blazer.  Love it.
• People, it is RUDE AS HELL to yell "We Love You, [fill in the blank]" while the person is trying to talk to the performer on the stage.  You look like a moron, please be an adult and a good audience member.
• Carson needs to not stall so much early in the show then he wouldn't get that harried/freaked out look as the show starts to run long.

The Voice: First Quarterfinals April 16, 2012

For the quarterfinals of The Voice, not only will the audience "save" a singer from each team but each coach will have to immediately cut one team member.  Ouch!  None of the coaches are happy about that surprise.

Surprise!  Xtina performed "Stronger" with her team and the Crenshaw High School Choir.  Great sounding performance but she needs to rethink the bustier/panties outfit.  It wasn't flattering.  Although I did enjoy her little country intro just to tease Blake.  I do like how Christina tries to give her team good pointers, getting them exposure outside the show.

Maroon5 (drool, Adam!) premiered their new single "Payphone" featuring Wiz Khalifa (and I just cheated to look up the spelling on iTunes).  Definitely a Maroon5 song.  I liked it.

Team Blake also performed with their coach on his single "Heartbreak".  Of the two group performances I liked this one better.  It showed the singers to better advantage.

The performances!

• Raelynn - singing "She's Country" by Jason Aldean
• I have to admit it, she is cute as can be.  I have trouble putting her voice together with how young she is.  If I close my eyes, she totally works for me as a country artist.  If I watch her, I just don't believe the "sexiness" she adds to her performance.  She isn't old enough and she doesn't really need it.  Her diction was much better this performance which was something I didn't like two weeks ago.  I also worry that she sings and growls so hard that she's doing some vocal damage.  I'd like to see her do a softer piece once.
• Jesse - singing "Halo" by Beyonce (total aside: Xtina's red studio mic/stand cracks me up everytime)
• It's an interesting choice.  Initially I was worried that they had set the arrangement too high but he warmed into it as the song along.  The staging was so sweet with all the pictures of his little girl.  He really does put his heart into every performance and he deserves to move forward.  He's one of my favorites.
• Jordis - singing "A Little Bit Stronger" by Sara Evans
• This is such a change from her rock performances.  Hearing her sing with vulnerability, so lovely.  I really liked this choice for her.  She had such a nice tone to her voice and I hadn't heard that before.  She is one of my favorites, too.
• Ashley - singing "Foolish Games" by Jewel
• The introduction wasn't my favorite - she was lost behind the guitar until the second phrase when she brought up the volume.  She really went for it but she sounded like she was pushing way too hard.  It got really pitchy, especially the big climax note - that one was sour.  The arrangement was really good, since I don't think she could have carried the original arrangement.
• Erin - singing "Set Fire to the Rain" by Adele
• Erin is absolutely one of my favorite singers on this show.  Not only is she crazy-talented she has got the strongest backbone.  She is the only singer on this show as yet to take on Adele and make the performance and song her own.  Absolutely solid.  I loved it - voted, bought the single.  I'd love to see her in the finals.  (I thought the phrasing was good - but you know you did a great job when the criticism is a point that most singers don't even get to).
• Lindsay - singing "Part of Me" by Katy Perry
• I'm not a gigantic Katy Perry fan (I think she's annoying) so Lindsay's performance was pretty fresh for me (CeeLo hasn't heard this song before, either?  Random).  I think she sounded better on the whole than last week but she really needs to keep her breath support up because she loses her pitch on the longer notes (as pointed out by the coaches).  Her pants, however, are an egregious party foul and ought to be burned.  Hideous.
• Jermaine - singing "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins
• This was a great choice for him.  He connected more with this performance and it was less "polished".  He took the song a little more soul than rock power ballad and it worked for him.
• Chris - singing "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay
• Such a great choice for him.  The long phrases show off his breath control to perfection.  And that is what voice training is for.  Also, his pitch is absolutely rock solid.  I love him, I want to see him win.  We need more classical singers in this world! (Note to Adam: while I also would like to see him sing opera, or a more classical piece, it would probably go over better in the style of the East Village Opera Company.  Hmm, speaking of, they do a great "E lucevan le stelle" from Tosca that he would totally kill).

Christina is up first for an elimination:  wow, she chose to let Jesse go.
(Jesus, this is harsh - worst idea the producers for this show ever had because it felt like the air got sucked out of the auditorium when Christina announced his name).  I perhaps might have gone with Ashley, but as long as it wasn't Chris I was good.
Blake's choice: JORDIS!??!????  WTF?????  Blake, that was so wrong.  What a cop-out.  Of the four performances of his team tonight she gave one of the best.  He totally has a favorite *cough* RaeLynn *cough* - she gave the weakest performance of the four and so, following the premise that the judging is based on the performances as given, ought to have been let go.

*Total sidenote: You can't even purchase the single for the two singers eliminated - Jordis, I love you, I think you totally got a raw deal, and I would so buy the song from your performance tonight.