definitely, possibly, maybe

catch up with parts 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , and 11 . read part 12 after the jump.

in a small town bride , there is no reason that we should like amy lyndon. it's not a crime to be rich, but the level of entitled is appalling. and when a fight with her dad ends with him cutting her off because he's tired of supporting her it's hard to be upset on her behalf. until you realize, that he's only cutting her off because she isn't marrying the guy he's picked for her. and that's kind of gross. but amy lyndon is plucky and stubborn and smarter than she realizes. because soon enough she's got a job working the grounds at the local resort. even though her boss, dusty mcneil, thinks she's just another rich bimbo. but when he realizes that she's actually in a desperate situation and he sees how she works hard and finds ways to succeed at building a new life for herself outside of her family's sphere of influence, he can't help but change his mind about her. this is one of those small town romances where everyone knows everyo...

holding fire  is the second book in the alpha security series, but it's really not necessary to read the first book in the series to understand what is happening in this one. trey hansen hooks up with elle monroe when he meets her in a bar in thailand. the morning after he wants more time with her, but she wants to run. she's not interested in a relationship, she's leaving thailand anyway. when all hell breaks loose elle and trey get separated and she manages to give him the slip. that's when trey learns that the woman he slept with is the very woman he has been hired to protect. tracking her down to new york, he meets up with her again, only she's not that happy to see him. it turns out that elle's estranged father, a u.s. senator running for re-election, was the one who hired the protective detail. when he demands she attend a gala, in spite of the danger to her, trey is furious. he's even more furious when he realizes that elle intends to be escorte...

concealed  is the second book in kate serine's dark alliance series, and even though i eventually figured things out, it's one of those books that should be read after  book one in the series. this is like an episode of alias , with the dark alliance serving as the secret government agency, in this case they are connected to the knights templar and are a global organization, and the illuminati are the sd-6 like bad guys. this story also picks up a lot of threads covered in the first book, so it was definitely harder to follow or in some cases care too deeply about certain plot points. that being said, as a romantic suspense, this book did a good job of both ramping up the action and the sexual tension. jack and maddie's love story spans years, and there are reasons and secrets that make things difficult for them. working closely and keeping their hands off each other doesn't really work. but in order for things to work between them, jack needs to fill maddie...

what i love about lisa see's novels is how well-researched they are. the level of detail she provides about little known chinese ethnic minorities and their way of life is impressive and totally engrossing. in the tea girl of hummingbird lane , see explores the akha people who inhabit the remote mountains that grow the tea leaves used in teas around the world. the story begins in the early 1990s and takes us through to the present and explores the changing world. when the novel opens you'd have a hard time believing that it wasn't the middle ages, the akha are that far removed from society and technology. in one harrowing scene we learn about the akha beliefs about childbirth and the terrible sacrifices they make when they believe that something has gone wrong. this is a pivotal scene in the novel, it's horrifying not just too the reader, but to our narrator, girl or li-yan. that event pushes her to explore other options than the one defined for her by her parents. ...

the second novel in the kendrick place series, the bad boy next door , follows brooding detective wyatt daniels, who we met in the first book in the series more than friends .   as suspicious as ever, he somehow gets tangled up with shay matthews, the new tenant whose moving into the apartment occupied by the previous apartment manager. shay is finally getting her life together. she's the baby of her family and has been coddled and cared for her whole life. even though she keeps making stupid mistakes requiring her family to bail her out of. so she wants to stand on her own two feet. except that she can't seem to shake her run of bad luck. nor can she escape the friendly (maybe that's not exactly the right word) detective who keeps coming to her rescue. wyatt is actually quite grumpy about it. but he also just spent a long period of time undercover and is trying to settle back into a normal life. and he wants to be around shay. he finds her irresistible. and he wants ...

in a moment of madness , sailor carlson has returned to boston after a long absence to make amends. she'd abandoned her father, married a drug addict, was a drug addict, and now that she's gotten her life together, she wants to reclaim her father's bar and somehow earn his forgiveness. or at least feel that she's earned his forgiveness, given that he passed away before she got her life back on track. she meets ryan edwards one night and the heat between them just burns. she's never felt like this, never done anything like this before. neither has ryan. and the last thing he expects is to see his hot one night stand hanging out at his bar. but when she inadvertently lets slip that she's the estranged daughter of the man who saved him, he is less than pleased. sailor has a tough road ahead of her, because ryan is going to make her work super hard to make those amends. the problem is that he finds it hard to stay away from her. so they keep sleeping together ...

parts 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ,  5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , and 10 . part 11 follows the break.

we're at the halfway point of the first season, and it's pretty clear that jughead is the heart of the show. we got a few tantalizing hints of his backstory during "the last picture show," but "in a lonely place" takes us even further. the episode opens with a vision of old school archie and friends, a vision that quickly gets off the rails and lands straight in archie and jughead's fractured friendship. for once archie plays a supporting, supportive role, and this works. he is less doofus archie andrews, and is understanding and there for jughead in a way we haven't seen all season. but finally we see how this group of kids can be friends. and if only they weren't trying so hard every single second with veronica, who certainly has chemistry with everyone they've stuck her with, it's just that so far her storylines leave a lot to be desired. the war she has going on with her mom is lame. the way she chooses to act out, lamer. the c...

mack and connor have been at cross-purposes for so long, that neither of them really knows what it is about the other that sets them off. they spend most of their time in make me beg  not communicating effectively. at least, they don't communicate effectively unless they aren't wearing any clothing, in which case they know exactly what to do or say. the thing is that mack and connor come from utterly different backgrounds and they willfully choose to believe the worst of each other at every turn. i've honestly never read a romance novel where the hero and heroine spent so much time angry and arguing with one another. and it's all so stupid because they really are on the same side. and if either of them could take a breath and express themselves calmly without the other one reacting like a bomb was dropped in their lap maybe things would be easier. but then maybe the sex wouldn't be so good. who's to say? i mean, i think once they figure out that they can s...