I seriously agree with the other poster. how could the book jacket looks so terribly off? it does say something about the content when the book cover references Qing Empress Dowager Ci Xi and not Empress Wu of the Tang.

I have decided against buying Evelyn McCune's book upon seeing the cover. A Tang Dynasty empress and her attendants depicted in costumes of the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty is as ludicrous as Queen Isabella garbed in Victorian dress. Who says a book shouldn't be judged by its cover? Especially one that is glaringly inaccurate.

The novel, Empress, by Evelyn McCune, is an extraordinary epic of one woman's journey through life to become a powerful ruler of China. This story begins with the young Wu Jao, an insignificant child, who is summoned to the palace to become one of Emperor Taitsung's new concubines. Because of Wu Jao's honesty, intelligence and logic, combined with her innocence and beauty, she earns the friendship and love of the great emporer. Upon his death though, she finds herself banished to a convent.

The new emperor, Emperor Kaotsung, remembers Wu Jao from his childhood, how fond of her he was, and sends for her to return to the palace. When she returns, she finds herself in a place of horror. She fights for justice in this land that has changed for the worse since Emperor Taitsung's death. Evelyn McCune writes wonderful descriptions of seventh-century China, both the land and customs, and the character of Wu Jao is bold, strong and inspiring, though she doesn't go into much depth on other characters. Some parts were long while reading, but this is a novel rich in content and enchantment. She combines sophistication with treachery and creates the perfect atmosphere for her story. This was a wonderful reading experience.

I'm reading through the 20 sample pages of the book. The first thing that pops up in my mind is, why do they call the Seguin family by their titles rather than their names. One gets the impression that the writers think the names are "Don" Seguin and "Dona" Seguin. Hey, there, Don, what's for dinner? I wonder if they realize this.

Next, the tamale recipe. It calls for masa harina, so I am guessing it is an adaptation of an old recipe. Why then, do they just call for "chili pods" instead of giving a quantity or weight, and defining whether they mean ancho (which they probably do), pasilla, guajillo or a combination of the three.

If my comments are valid, this indicates that there is some very sloppy journalism at work here.

Clearly the writers meant readers to have fun with
this cookbook. It would be fairly hard to catch
a bear for the bear grease. But interesting and
tied into Texas history, including special
menus for various Texas heroes. Worth the time.

I loved the movie (well most of it). The book is your typical dime novel of the period, not worth the read.

This book may be more of interest to researchers than teachers/ principals engaged in cooperative learning.

The findings on CL would be more suitable for a journal article.

I scanned the book and, based partly on the price, assumed that it was an introductory text on Feng Shui. I was wrong. The author assumes much more knowledge on the reader's behalf than the presentation of the book merits. She covers very many aspects of the topic without a clear explanation of how they relate. Examples are also presented without clear explanation of how the particular aspect applies. Overall, I found this to be a well written, but disappointing, volume.

The "Finding Your Soul Mate Journal" is essentially 372 blank and mostly blank pages. You get:

Pages 1 and 2 - Title page and publishing information.
Pages 3 and 5 - Introduction telling you the journal is based on the "Four Rivers of Life" by Angeles Arrien, and why journaling is helpful.
Page 6 (and all even pages thereafter) - 23 blank lines for writing.
Page 7 (and all odd pages thereafter) - The page is split into 4 questions, each with 4 blank lines underneath for your answer: What inspired me? What challenged me? What surprised me? What deeply touched me?

That's it. Essentially a blank book. Admittedly, I bought this journal sight-unseen without the benefit of any reviews, and feel ripped off. These are great questions to journal about, but I would have preferred for Evelyn Rice to simply have give these journaling instructions in her "Finding Your Soul Mate Handbook". There's no need to pay the full price of a book for blank pages.

I liked the start of this book. The idea of the "Forever Bride" story is very beautiful and heart warming. I thought the plot of this story that the modern woman, Meagan, goes to Scotland to get married in an old church where the "Forever Bride" tale is said to have taken place, was unique. There she is suddenly flung back in time and ends up marrying, not her modern day fiance, but Robert Cameron, the Laird of Thistledown Castle. Robert has never met his bride to be so is shocked to see that she is not as young as he thought her to be, nor as innocent. He can't deny that he is attracted to her and tries to convince her that she is just as attracted to him. He soon realizes that she is not his real bride and together they set out to find the missing bride. The story is very good for a while and really held my interest but then it started to drag. I put this book down several times and it took days to finish it. I think the ideas of the book were good but not really brought to life. The characters were a bit lacking also.
I wish this had been a better book.

The pictures are wonderful. The first 32 pages of the book are specific to fox terriers (history, grooming, breed standard). The remainder of the 192 pages is a generic dog book. If you want information on fox terriers this book has very little.

brush strokes. Never before have I read such conjecture...truly, I am appalled by the liberties Farr takes in construing the facts to suit her case. Indeed, I too am of the opinion that Marie Antoinette and Fersen were lovers; however nothing concrete has ever surfaced in any correspondence before and after the Queen's death to concusively determine the exact nature of the relationship. According to the publisher, Farr makes use of previously unpublished documents...really? Which ones? Did I miss something? This message is less a review to benefit other readers than a severe admonition to Farr: you have given the public nothing with this tissue of loosely woven fantasy...seemingly your fantasy. Stanley Loomis wrote the definitive book on this subject with The Fatal Friendship. Don't flatter yourself, Farr.

This book is a good read for the avid romance fan. However, it is not a book that I would read over and over and over again like so many of my other books. Max is a great character who falls in love with a client's daughter. Nicole is a man Max is investigating who has a daughter who looks just like the woman Max fell in love with. This book has some great twists to it.