While I enjoyed the old hoary premise (girl pretends to be boy), I found myself irritated by many of the premises and plot gaps. For example, Valentine's naivete about the dangers facing even a youth travelling with an expensive horse. The failure of the staff or the castle steward to question her need for a private room, or her refusal to obtain a new wardrobe. The apparently sudden discovery by the Earl of Valentine's sex (no build up there). The almost equally sudden decision that they must marry for the sake of propriety. [Come on!].

Not to mention the constant harping on Richard III - the name of the Earl "Diccon", his pro-Richard sympathies, the historical sympathies of his family. It was hard to believe that the Tudors and the Stuarts would have let such a family survive, after destroying the Nevilles and the Staffords. The long separation between the hero and heroine (when she decamps to her parents and then goes to London) irritates, as much as the Earl's apparently sudden realization that Valentine is the woman for him. Here maybe it is Valentine's perception (the story is told in the first person) that is at stake.

I have been listing some of the things that irritated me to explain why I gave this book only three stars. I thought the beginning very promising, and the idea of a cross-dressing heroine (borrowed from Shakespeare and Heyer) very interesting. However, the rest of the book did not quite live up to this beginning - and Valentine's decisions and motivations seemed rather erratic, not to say, immature. Yes, there is some humor, and both the hero and heroine are quite attractive. But frankly I saw Valentine as being way too young and immature for Diccon, Earl of Leyburne.

When Valentine's father dies, rather than go to her estranged grandparents she prefers to hit the open road (in disguise as a boy, naturally, thus the title) relying on her talent with horses to get by. She winds up working for Diccon Leyburn, an extremely charismatic and feudal-type lord and it is there that our story really begins. While this is the usual girl-disguised-as-boy type romance that we have seen since Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (which is quoted as chapter openers throughout the book), Joan Wolf does a great job re-telling this type of tale. Valentine doesn't lose her sense of humour or, more importantly, her backbone although she has come down with a serious case of hero-worship. Diccon, despite the feudal tendencies and some idiosyncrasies regarding Richard III, can also display quite a sense of humour himself and is more than adequate as our hero. One of my favorite Joan Wolf regencies, I highly recommend this one.

Someone recommended that I read this book and it was the first of Joan Johnston's for me. The story was very touching at times, but often predictable. I will definetly give another of her books a try.

I enjoyed reading this book, but it was a little different than I thought it would be from the cover. The road to happiness was a dificult one for Delia. Some of the storyline I was not expecting. I would recommend this book.

Imaginary Lands is a collection of Fantasy stories . I think that it was a dull book, the sentence fluency was choppy and some of the words used I couldn't understand at all. I only read three stories which were kind of interesting, the first one that I read was about a man named Arram who helps an old woman see the inner beauty in herself with magic. I thought it was a nice story but there was too much information that was a waste of time to read and had no relation to the story line. The next story was a little better, it was Evian Steel. Evian Steel was about a girl named Elaine who is sent to become a magic sword forger and is befriended by a girl named Veree who is about to make her first sword. Veree knows a secret about the sword that Elaine hasn't learned yet, Veree has to cut herself and make her vein bleed into a basin, the blood gives the sword its uniqueness. Will Veree be able to do it? The third story I enjoyed quite a bit, it was the curse of Igamor. The story starts with a legend of a horse who steels children and evil, greedy adults, like the lord of Aigues Mortes, his Chancellor, and constable. Is Igamor as mean as he sounds?

This is one of the best books I have read. Robin McKinley paints such beautiful pictures with her words. I started reading her books for a book report, but now I read them every chance I get! If you need a book to keep you occupied, this is the one for you!

This was one of my first romance novels, and I was disappointed at its quick shallowness.
Grace Farnsworth is fired from her position as governess because her two charges were brats. She travels by herself to a female relative because she has no one else. Being a penniless governess, she masquerades as a child by rolling her skirt up and playing on her very petite stature in order to get the cheaper child fare on the coach down. Enter Lord Wentworth, who sympathizes with poor little Grace because he believes that she is the same age as his little daughter. He soon discovers that she is a bit older than he thought and quite destitute, as her relative is conveniently absent, leaving her homeless. He, however, needs help, too. His dragon of a mother-in-law, Lady Healy, is expecting him to present her with his daughter, who is too timid, frail, and shy for such an ordeal so...he left her behind. He needs a daughter to present, Grace is good at playing the child, and all will work out fine if Lady Healy doesn't see through it.
Well, Grace was a decent heroine and her growing attraction with Whewett is believable, but there was a bunch of capering about which seems to be expected in light romances like this. Lady Healy's no-nonsense demands and quirks are supposed to screech with Grace's strong-mindedness (which had gotten her fired from more than one position), but they just result in one shinanigan after another. ...makes you wonder what might have happened had Lady Healy not been such a sentimental heart.
Oh, and when you put two reasonably young and active people in adjourning rooms...you know the drill.

After losing her latest governess position, Grace Farnsworth --- disguised as a child to save on coach fare --- suddenly finds herself with no money and nowhere to go. Enter Lord Whewett, who sees in Grace's convincing disguise a way out of his own dilemma. He needs a stand in for his daughter on a very important visit to his mother-in-law, Lady Healy. The hilarity that ensues when Grace tries to humour the outrageously eccentric and domineering Grandma Healy is priceless. This is still my favorite Joan Smith regency and I highly recommend it.

Serendipity is one of my favorite states of mind and finding Joan Hess and her sheriff/heroine Arly Hanks was a serendipitous treat a few years ago. In the latest edition that I picked up in paperback, Miracles in Maggody, Arly is once again the oasis of sanity in the odd little town of Maggody, Arkansas, as she takes on evangelist Malachi Hope and his entourage which includes his wife Seraphina and "adopted" daughter Chastity. The plot won't be much of a surprise to mystery lovers--or even television or movie watchers (I thought of the Steve Martin movie Leap of Faith while reading). But if you are unacquainted with the genre of comic mysteries, the Arly Hanks series is about as good as you'll get for a starting point. Like many authors who write a series centered on a main character, Ms. Hess allows the reader to pick up any single edition and feel comfortable with the charaters, their background, and the setting. The Maggody series is so place-specific, though, that I highly recommend reading them in order. This town is full of the rarest of characters, many of them in-bred, and each book seems to build on their collective quirks and foibles and unexpected delights--to say nothing of belly laughs--so reading them in order is more like moving to Maggody and getting to know the town characters over a period of time. Don't expect sex (well, not much and not really x-rated) or rough language or even convoluted plot lines. But the mystery hangs together well enough to keep you intrigued, as well as the subsidiary plot lines. And even though I guessed the "bad guy" long before the denouement, it didn't spoil the fun of getting away to the backwoods of Arkansas for a few hours.

Miracles in Maggody is one of a series of mysteries set in the mythical town of Maggody, Arkansas. Joan Hess has created a town full of interesting (and very funny) people. Living in Maggody might be hell; reading about Maggody is heaven. If you were turned off by the Claire Malloy series by Hess (and who isn't irritated by heroines who can only unmask a killer by doing something incredibly stupid), don't worry. The Maggody series is blessed with humor, wit and charm and a likable heroine. Miracles in Maggody unfairly stereotypes fundamentalist Christians. But Hess unfairly stereotypes most other ethnic and religious groups -- and does it with so much light hearted style -- that even a dyed in the wool fundamentalist like me enjoyed the book.

The book's story is written in a style mimicing Miro's early surrealistic style and would be difficult for many young readers to grasp, many details are left out, the reader must figure them out as they go along. An interesting technique but probably more confusing than appealing to most youngsters. The insets of photos of the artist,his work,places he lived and things which influenced him all with explanations are excellent and highly informative.

At a school sleepover Cecilia is puzzled when her teacher says "you're wrapped in a Miro! You're sure to have sweet dreams." The next morning Cecilia learns a Miro is not a type of sleeping bag, but the name of a famous artist. Claire-Helene Blanquet combines this narrative with information about the life and art of Joan Miro. "Earth and Sky" is illustrated with both reproductions of Miro's paintings and photographs of the artist and the places where he lived and worked. I have the feeling that while Blanquet is obviously responsible for the story of Cecilia and her friends learning about Miro and trying to use his ideas about art in their classroom, that John Goodman is not only responsible for the translation but the sidebars that get into considerably more detail about Miro and his art. So this is really an interesting hodge-podge of a book and as long as you read it in that light I think it will make more sense to you. At the end of the story, Cecilia and her friends finally discover the painting that inspired the design of her sleeping bag was "The Skiing Lesson." Of course, young American readers might not be as familiar with Miro as they would with other Spanish artists, such as Goya, Picasso and Dali. I will have to track down some more volumes from the "Art for Children" series from Chelsea House Publishers to see what they do with Da Vinci, Matisse, Van Gogh, and one of my personal favorites, Rousseau.

This book is excellent selection to read to children at bedtime. Each short story takes only ten minutes to read to your child and you can send them off to sleep with dreams of faraway places. Tales of Greek and Roman origin as well as cultural stories of Native Americans will educate and entertain your children. I have found that reading these short stories to my children at bedtime to be a fun and enjoyable experience. There are a few of these typse of storybooks in the series. My children also enjoy 101 Read-Aloud Classics.

I have spent much time looking for a book that would translate the Celtic Myths for children. I am a teacher of Pagan children. This book puts the history of the Celts into language much more easily understood by the children. I plan to use it to lay out a curriculmn for our study of Celts. The book allows me to combine religion and history. The book itself is printed in large enough letters to make reading easy.

This book, while containing good information, left me with an unclear understanding of how to interpret electional charts; it just didn't work for me. The first 5 volumes are outstanding, so this was very frustrating.

My four stars is based on my opinion that while this may not be the "only" horary astrology book you'll ever need, it certainly delivers what it promises-simplicity. If you want to learn how to receive simple yes or no answers to specific questions using astrology and don't have years to spend studying the art of horary, then I'd recommend this book. After you get the basics under your belt with this book, you'll probably want to refine your skills with a more complex study of it. When this book says simple-it means it! If nothing else, this book doesn't bog you down in tons of confusing rules and terminology. This means that you may be less likely to throw in the towel when it comes to learning horary astrology. If your knowledge of astrology is at an intermediate level, this is a good book.

PLAYING FOR KEEPS, by Joan Lowery Nixon, was about Rose Ann Marstead, a sixteen-year old girl who went on a cruise with her grandmother, Glory. Traveling with Glory's friend, Eloise, and Eloise's grandson Neil, Rosie discovered a mystery on the ship. She met a Cuban, Ricky Diago, who feld Cuba and was trying to reach American soil. After two murders, in which Ricky was suspected, Rosie was determined to prove him innocent.

I could probably relate closer to Rosie than any of the other characters. Although I have never helped solve any murder cases, I have felt some of the same things she felt. Before Rosie left, she got into a fight with her mom, and she felt bad the whole trip. She felt bad because she decided to go on the cruise with her grandmother, who, in her mother's eyes, always won. I also feel the same stress she felt of trying to please everyone with her decisions and the way things are handled.

I enjoyed PLAYING FOR KEEPS a great deal. It was an amusing mystery with a fun-loving story line. My favorite part of the book would have to be when Rosie began looking for clues as to who the actual murderer was. My least favorite part would be when Rosie and her mother fought because, although it added to the story, it was just a tiny aspect of it.

I would recommend this book to people. I would think that young teenagers, probably girls (it can get a little cheesy!), would enjoy this book the most. ALso, you should enjoy reading mysteries with a fun, cutesy twist. So all you young, teenage girls out there, just remember PLAYING FOR KEEPS, by Joan Lowery Nixon.

Playing for Keeps is a great book. It tells of 16 year old Rosa Marstead and her time on a cruise. Rosa first arrives, dazled at the size of the ship but she is still bored. Her grandmother, Glory is trying to fix Rosa up with the nerd of the century. That's when Rosa meets Ricky, a boy whose life is in danger. Ricky had escaped from Cuba and gone on the cruise in order to reach America and ask for asylum. Rosa finds love with Ricky but will this love last?
I loved this book. It tells a story that's similar to the classical love story. The only difference is, the guy can face a death penalty."'I am Ricky Diago. I don't believe we have met.'"
These were the first words that Rosa had ever herd from Ricky. That's besides the time when he stepped on her. He totaly caught her eye with that line though. She fell for him right there and then. She even forgets what she was going to do or ask him.
Suspician starts up on the cruis ship. This is another one of my favorite parts. Ricky is hidding when the Cuba's Republican is mudered. "'Isn't that your uncle?'" Rosa had asked Ricky this and he wasn't sure how to react. He studered and she found out. Not knowing what to do, he told her the whole thing. Starting from the time he escaped to the time he got on the cruise. This is just another one of my favorite parts. It's really hard to pick though.
My all time favorite part of this book was when they tricked the Cuban soldiers. Ricky was suppose to be in his room waiting for the Cuban soldiers but then Rosa and Neal found a way to get Ricky out of there. Neal actually turned out to be really nice and even more useful. It was totaly sweet of him to do that for Rosa and Ricky. He didn't even mind, and he had a crush on her too. He has a lot of guts and courage for a "nerd". He didn't even care about how much trouble he would get into.

Erika Holland is New York's most notorious madam. She caters to the very, very rich and makes quite a killing ($$$) doing it. Her girls (and boys -- after all, sex is an equal opportunity experience!) are all devoted to her. She's got a great guy who loves her who just happens to be the one who got her started in the business (but he's a regular joe, a partner in some international investment firm who is not even a customer!). She's surrounded by people who think being a madam or a prostitute is just like being a lawyer or a doctor. Basically, she's the world's nicest, most stable person who just happens to run an upscale brothel.

One night, coming home from a "date", Erika is involved in a car accident and, as she lies comatose in a New York hospital surrounded by her friends and employees, we learn how she came to be a madam. She was once, in her former life, a wife and mother. Her husband (Rick) was a cookie-cutter investment-type who we know only through Erika's clouded eyes. After Rick runs off to Switzerland with his gold-digging assistant, Sandy, Erika is left with no money, mounting debts, and a teenage daughter who hates her. Rick's coup de grace is focing Erika to choose between having Rick pay for her daughter's education (only in France) or losing all child support if Erika brings Rena back to the States. Erika becomes an escort as a way to make money and finds that she likes the sex and likes the companionship. Eventually, she takes over the whole business from Valerie, who is getting married to a former customer.

While Erika is in a coma, her grown up (and very resentful) daughter, Rena, comes back to New York to find that her mother is a madam. Understandably, she is furious, but in just a few short days (basically, in the time it takes her mother to come out of her coma) she comes around to accepting her mother and her friends. It helps that she has a night of hot steamy sex with Alex, one of Courtsans, Inc.'s hunky male prostitutes.

The problem I had with this book isn't about the sex or about the author's attitude towards sex (which is empowering and progressive), it's simply that these people seem way too normal to be real. There are two married prostitutes in the book (one is Valerie, the former madam of Courtesans, Inc.) whose husbands know about the work and accept it, one woman with a committed relationship (Erika), and one woman who is courting or is being courted by a doctor (who also knows what she does for a living). In the real world, people aren't so accepting of prostitutes. It may be an "ideal" world the author is painting, but it certainly makes the story lack depth. No one sturggles with a conscience. No one passes judgment (which is fine, excpet it's unrealistic). It's just too perky and perfect.

The taxi that she rides in as a passenger traveling the icy roads of Manhattan crashes leaving Erika Holland in a coma. Her last conscious thought focuses on the smiling face of friend Stuart Dunlap.

In her comatose state Erika thinks back to how she became a Manhattan call girl catering to the wealthy, promoted to a Madam, and eventually CEO of Courtesans, Inc. Erika was a contented spouse whose husband deserted her for Europe and his younger assistant. He threatened to cut Erika off from even child support if she failed to tow the mark. Innocently at first Erika found pleasuring men a delight that also brought in income. Though she can have almost any upper class male she chooses (for an evening) all Erika craves most in the world are the love of her daughter who hates and scorns her, and a smiling individual who deserves better than a fortyish hooker. She has neither as she lies in the coma.

As expected by an erotic tale, profanity and graphic sex scenes are as prolific as some of the charcaters are promiscuous. The story line is told in alternating dialogue, yet much of the plot is a cleverly designed first person account as the audience sees the "flashback" events through the relative eyes of Erika, an enlightened and delightful protagonist. Though the males seem so easily embracing prostitution to the point of matrimony and marriage proposals, readers will gain much pleasure (reading silly) from the entertaining The Price of Pleasure.

Harriet Klausner