Sheik Tarik Orman needs a wedding consultant to help plan his sisters wedding, so he hires Carolyn Evans. He gives Carolyn one month to arrange everything. Carolyn wants to say no, but she realized that this wedding will be in the society pages and will help her make her mark in the industry. Carolyn is overwhelmed with all the decisions she must make and a bit confused that the bride and groom will have no input in the wedding. Carolyn must pick out everything from the wedding dress to the rings. Carolyn and Tarik both share a different philosophy on love. Carolyn believes in love, honor, and cherish. Tarik believe is honor and obey. Tarik and Carolyn spend a great deal of time together, and they are also attracted to one another. What Carolyn does not know is that Tarik has 'arranged' for his sister to marry a man that she does not love in order to merge the two family companies. When she finds out, sparks fly.

The story was okay, but a bit slow for me. I was glad that the author had Carolyn as a strong independant woman who could stand up to the Sheik.

Carolyn is a wedding planner that helps plan a wedding for Sheik Tarik's sister which is only a month away. Carolyn is surprised that the bride & groom are not involved in the planning at all. Sheik Tarik is planning everything which keeps her wondering why. As they get to know each other Carolyn & Sheik Tarik begin to fall in love. Of course there are misunderstandings but they work them out... until Carolyn learns that the wedding is arranged and against the sister's wishes. There are some good twists and turns throughout the story which keeps things interesting. I enjoyed reading this book and hope you will like it too. There is a sequel to this book on Carolyn's friend Anne called "Taming the Sheik" by Carol Grace. One of the sheik's cousins mentioned in this book is the hero in the sequel. Enjoy!

This book does indeed give the reeder a close look at the society and ettiquitte of this period. Since I was researching the Regency when I purchased it I was a little disapointed to find that it's focus is primarily the latter part of the nineteenth century (1830-1890), and is based primarily on American publications of ettiquitte manuals. I was delighted to discover a wealth of information about everything from dance steps to party preperation to elaborate flirting rituals that can be caried out with parasols and gloves. It certainly says everything Emily Post might have at that time as well as providing a vivid picture of society in a bygone era. A must have for anyone enamored of the Victorian era and usefull still though slightly less relavent for Regency fanatics.

Consists primarily of bits and snippits from Victorian American etiquette manuals. Some insights into high society life and how it changed through the course of the 19th century can be drawn, keeping in mind these were the suggested forms of behavior not necessarily what was actually done. There is plenty to read between the lines. Some sheet music in included along with some dance steps. There are also recipes for makeup and concoctions for cleaning. Fashion descriptions are fairly superficial, but adequate. Over all, I'm glad I bought it.

I enjoyed this story, but it seems like Grace Livingston Hill used similar plots in many books - this was not the first story I read about a young man returning home from a war to be harassed by a nasty rich ex-girlfriend that won't take "no" for an answer. In the other books, however, nothing much happened to the ex-girlfriend (other than losing the man), while in this book the "bad" girl was properly punished at the end (sent to jail), and the "nice" girl married the ex-soldier at the end of the story.

Rodney comes home from the war firm in his beliefs as a Christian. But sent to try him is his old girlfriend Jessica. After proposing to her and being denied for an old, rich man, Rodney had pawned the ring and opened his eyes. The girl was not a believer of God and his mother never had approved of her. But through his brother's friend, he meets Diana. She also didn't know the Lord, but was willing to learn. After a prayer directed at her, she discovered that God really did love her. Throughout the story, Jessica is determined to somehow spoil things for Rodney. But her plans backfire and she ends up in jail. But Rodney and Diana find love and happiness at the end of a firey trial.

Whitson's third book is hard to read due to lack of continuity. I love the characters and the historical part of the entire series, so I was interested enough to keep plugging away in spite of difficulty with the flow.

Genevieve Blue Eyes is married to Daniel Two Stars and they find themselves in a tiny little rental on land that used to be theirs. Neighbors do not want "those wild Indians" living near them and make life miserable, culminating in a very, very intense encounter for Genevieve.

As a war breaks out, Daniel serves as guide for the Army and little Aaron whom we met as a small boy in earlier books, has enlisted as a "junior" recruit. It is during this war that Daniel Two Stars faces one of the biggest challenges of his life and his marriage. The ending does somewhat make up for the hit and miss writing of the book, and since I am such a fan of Stephanie Grace Whitson, I would definitely buy the next book if there is to be one.

As a fan of Stephanie Grace Whitson I was not let down. Her final book in the Dakota Moons series was far better than the previous one. I really enjoy how she keeps the romance alive within the marrage of her characters and her style of writing the workings of it.

My Tooth Is About To Fall Out was published in 1995, which was Written By Grace Maccarone and Illustrated By Besty Lewin.
My Tooth Is About To Fall Out is a book about a little girl that suddenly notices that her tooth is about to fall out! She's always hoping that it wont fall out when she is playing...in the pool...having fun...at school...and when she is eating. But one time she was eating spaghetti and meatballs and she noticed tooth was already gone! So now she can feel the hole in her tooth, and is all happy about her teeth coming out so that she can get money from the tooth fairy. Then she's all happy about growing up and he teeth falling out so she can have a pretty smile and big teeth, and she cant wait to see them look great!

This book, like most of the Hello Reader books, is a wonderful introduction to reading for young children. As a teacher of young children, I know how important it is to offer children books with short, repetitive words that they will begin to recognize by sight. This books contains many of those words. My five-year-old twin daughters read this one every night as they are anxiously awaiting the day when their first teeth will fall out!

While this could have been a decent detective story, the poor publishing quality detracted from any story that was there. My copy of this book was missing pages 63-67, not that they were particularly relevant in the end, but who knew at the time. The book is littered with grammatical and typographical errors. Mr. Surdam went into painful detail on several occasions when it seemed more appropriate to allow the reader to use his or her imagination. I hope his next adventure with Holden Grace is better proofed and edited.

If you are already a lover of detective novels,just getting started or just love to read, then "The Presence of Grace" is a must read for you.

Holden Grace, a private detective in upstate New York, is asked to find the missing sister of his best friend. Thus begins a journey of twists and turns that makes it difficult to take a break from this exciting novel.

As Holden digs deeper into this mystery he is led on a trail of deception and danger that results in "edge of your seat" reading. You will appreciate the wit and charm of Holden Grace as he encounters several unusual, ordinary and extraordinary characters.

"The Presence of Grace" is the first novel of a brand new series and what a terrific novel it is! Several friends, besides myself, have read this novel in record time and we are anxiously waiting for the next.

Daniel Surdam has certainly captured the essence of what a true detective novel should be. There may be times, with other books, when you can figure out the mystery before you read that last page. With "The Presence of Grace" you have to read that last page to know just "who done it" or "did he?" Buy the book and read for yourself!

"Quality Of Grace" falls into that category of books where the author uses fiction as a means to make a statement. In this case, we also have the science fiction genre, always a good vehicle when the point or points to be made cover a lot of territory such as this book does. It is obvious that the author feels very strongly about not only environmental issues but the human driven forces which impact the condition of the planet: technology, religion and politics. This book takes a disaster scenario in the next century as a result of overpopulation, global warming, war and politics and contamination and tries to give us a solution. Allowing for it being a bit too didactic, it's not a bad read though I really think the author tries to cover too much territory in too short a book. Also I would have enjoyed it more if I believed as sincerely as the author that technology and failure to curb growth unfailingly spells doom. For those who agree with the premise, it's a pretty good read and does have a really original fix for the problems of this future earth.

Reviewer Rating: * * * * Title: Quality of Grace Category: Science Fiction Author: Vasilis Afxentiou Publisher: Bookmice.com ISBN: 1-930364-37-7 Release date: January 2000

Quality of Grace is a sci-fi novella with much promise for the intellect. Beginning with a quotation by Marcel Proust, "It is not because other people are dead that our affection for them grows faint, it is because we ourself are dying," it offers hope that here is a story that relies as much on ideas as it does on events. And, indeed, it is an idea book, offering commentary on the nature of dictatorship, the conflict between freedom of choice and slavish conformism, and the essential similarities between the philosophy of religion and that of the exact science.

Also, the springboard for the plot is a grabber. The world of the mid-twenty-first century has at best a dozen or so years before all humanity is destroyed. Its one hope is Doctor Anthony Lovesigh whose mind is so attuned to the workings of the cosmos that it is "the universe's animate counterpart, the only living version of what the Cosmos would have assembled had it been a flesh and blood construct...the sapient simile of Creation."

But Doctor Lovesigh is dying and the story becomes one of how he...or the necessary part of him, his mind...is saved from death so that humanity may also be rescued. Moreover, the method of saving Lovesigh is ingenious enough to please any devotee of this genre.

Still, in the end, one must feel sympathy for Mister Afxentiou because he has been let down by his publisher who has provided neither substantive nor line editing for this manuscript. Surely some substantive editor should have told him that before page fifty-two SOMETHING MUST HAPPEN.

Copyright © 2000 by T.S. Kingsley. All Rights Reserved.

[Pease Note: T. S. Kingsley reviewed my novella in March 2000, on http://www.sharpwriter.com/e-books.htm, if verification of this is needed please contact johncullen@sharpwriter.com thank you Vasilis Afxentiou (author)]

An endorsement on the back cover of STATES OF GRACE describes it as "perhaps the first... in a new phase of anthropological research carried out on African migrants in European cities." This fact alone should make Carter's study inherently valuable. But readers looking for a window into the world of his ostensible subjects--the Senegalese of Turin--may come away disappointed. Only one of the book's seven chapters concentrates on these immigrants in any depth; the remaining six offer up disquisitions on Italian history and society, criminality and marginality, and the writings of Antonio Gramsci. The Senegalese themselves virtually disappear from view, obscured in a haze of social theory.

To his credit, Carter's analysis of Italy and things Italian is well researched and persuasive. I especially enjoyed the parallels he draws between stereotyped images of the Italian south and stereotypes of Africa. He quotes the saying "Africa begins at Rome" to illustrate northern Italian prejudices. But if Africa begins at Rome where Carter's study is concerned, it pretty much ends at Palermo; anything beyond that is given rather short shrift.

This problem would be more tolerable if the text itself weren't marred all too often by errors of style and syntax. Otherwise authoritative declarations are frequently undermined by these mistakes. Consider this one: "The economic, social, and political problems of 'over there'--that is, some imagined space beyond the West--is now 'over here,' a part of the very rhythm of life in Western democracies." A fine premise, but lacking subject-verb agreement, and unfortunately this sentence is no exception. Another example: "The growth of Mouridism is somewhat dependent on the dynamic increase in its numbers." Well, yes, that's why it's called "growth." I think ultimate blame here lies not with Carter but with his editors at the University of Minnesota Press, who apparently couldn't be bothered to examine his dissertation manuscript closely enough to catch the most basic faults. One wonders how many other, more substantial errors got past them.

Still, STATES OF GRACE is a noteworthy and ambitious study that should interest scholars of Italian social history, popular media, and Gramsci. Those of us hoping for enlightenment on a particular immigrant community, or for insight into the slippery notion called "transnationalism," would be better served elsewhere. No doubt someday we shall be.

This is a highly original and well-researched account of the recent problems of immigration in Italy and in Western Europe more generally. Carter's penetrating analysis reveals the deeply conflictual relationship between Italian culture, the Italian Left, and African immigrants.

It's a good reference book if you know how to dance. If you're a beginner and try to learn from this book, you're in deep trouble. Unless you can translate "move you left foot to left, reflex your right knee, shift your weight on to the left on beat 3" description into movement right away, you'll go through one basic movement in hours. If you want to improve your dance skill, it may be helpful. Since I'm a total beginner, I can't say that for sure.

Let's Dance is a fairly comprehensive step by step instruction book best for those with some dance lesson experience. Although the footwork diagrams are a little confusing, the narrative and the pictures help to bring it together. The book itself is well designed in the coffee-table style with excellent photography.

Another reviewer mentioned that swing is not mentioned anywhere in the book. Swing is actually part of the chapter on jive and I found it very helpful.

Go ahead and purchase this book at an affordable price. You will be thrilled to find a profusion of figures peppered with photos of dancing couples in over 10 types of dances ranging from the Standard to the Latin-American.

You will find all the dances that you ever wanted to know in here including the Tango Argentina and this latest volume is a culmination of all of Bottomer's earlier works, but includes newer types like the Vienesse Waltz and the Slow Foxtrot as well as the International Tango. These dance techniques not found in his earlier books give you the popular variations to add 'punch' and finesse to your dancing. Only the Vienesse Waltz chapter is found to be wanting as the technique of the Fleckerls and the Natural and Reverse turns were not included here.

Still, this volume offers good value for money.

Pinnock's work, mostly because of the variety of authors who contributed, is difficult to rate fairly. Overall, however, the work was unconvincing in showing that an Arminian soteriology is superior to a Reformed one. The work was loaded with purely emotional appeals - in fact, I would consider this the greatest drawback of the book. The judging of the correctness of a doctrine was determined, in most chapters anyway, by whether or not the author could stomach the emotional implications of the doctrine of unconditional predestination. Calvinism was evaluated by whether or not it seemed fair, not by whether or not it was Biblically or philosophically convincing. Sadly, the book contained virtually no thorough philosophical or Biblical arguments defending Arminianism. In fact, the ninth chapter of Romans was not even dealt with. Furthermore, many of the arguments in all of the chapters were based on a priori assumptions on the nature of freedom and personhood that were stated but never proven. Pinnock's and Rice's chapters did not at all succeed in proving their thesis that the Bible teaches that God does not possess complete foreknowledge of future human volitions. In fact, the entire book was noticeably lacking in serious exegesis. The one possible exception is I. Howard Marshall's challenging essay on the scope of the atonement in the Pastoral Epistles. And, though not persuasive, William Lane Craig's chapter offered a good, brief overview of Molinism. But these chapters were diamonds in the rough - and even they were not really compelling. I recommend this work to anyone wishing to learn more about Arminianism, but it is not for someone who desires a full-scale Biblical defense of it. This book reveals more of the mindset of contemporary Arminianism than it does the content of the scriptures.

This is an extremely worthwhile collection of philosophical and Biblical arguments (there's more of the former) for Arminianism, and one of the first books which elaborate proposals for the 'openness of God' case. You'll find much here to provoke study and reflection upon certain 'major' Biblical themes (e.g. election, original sin, predestination, omniscience, omnipotence, etc.).

A passionate introduction by Clark Pinnock sets the tone for a multi-thronged offensive against Calvinist/Reformed theology. In his theological pilgrimage, he also mentions his conviction of non-exhaustive divine foreknowledge (also known as the Open View of God) but leaves the elaboration to Richard Rice later in the book.

To lead the Biblical charge, we have I. Howard Marshall and William MacDonald with excellent proposals for universal salvation and corporate election in Christ. These are also strong counter-paradigms to Calvinist interpretations within the Gospel of John (by Grant Osbourne) and to the Calvinist rendition of the Scriptural story as a whole (presented topically by Terry Miethe, whose essay should rank as one of the best introductions to the doctrine of unlimite atonement around).

The more philosophically-inclined reader will also get a treat with a number of high-quality works by Jack Cottrell (divine sovereignity), William L. Craig (on Molinism or middle knowledge), Richard Rice (on partial and exhaustive foreknowledge), Bruce Reichenbach (on original sin), C. Stephen Evans (on the personal acceptance of salvation), etc. Cottrell (in the opening portion of his piece) makes it very clear, through a systematic presentation of the consequences of total, unconditional and efficacious sovereignity, that consistent Calvinism logically and completely eliminates all elements of human (and angelic) moral responsibility for evil. John Sanders and Fritz Guy complement the attack on determinism (as do almost half the authors) in their essays, arguing for God as Personal and One for whom Love is primary (as opposed to an Absolutistic deity whose main concern is control). Sanders also highlights the effect of 'controlling beliefs' on the way we understand Biblical narratives, which I believe is a foundational methodological breakthrough for the Open God movement (or, put another way, is an Archille's heel in classical notions of divine foreknowledge).

(At this point I wish to point out to Mr.Ashton Wilkins that Calvinism is itself HEAVILY founded upon Greek philosophical structures and if anything it is the Reformed theologian who needs to examine why he thinks Man cannot perform other than that which God desires - why else postulate that totally unBiblical notion of 'hidden' and 'revealed' divine wills?)

Euthusiasts on issues pertaining to divine foreknowledge will not easily get another trinity of articles juxtaposed as appropriately as those of Cottrell, Rice and Craig.

Arguments focusing on the practical and experiential aspects of theology are then taken up by Randall Basinger (hidden vs. revealed will of God), William Abraham (predestination and assurance) and Jerry Walls (predestination and moral intuition).

It would be an understatement to say that this book is required reading for anyone interested in the Calvinist-Arminian debate. The articles constitute solid Scriptural and philosophical platforms for Arminian theology, and that which Calvinist theology must interact seriously with or risk losing credibility. With top-notch scholars and a diverse field of topics, I'd consider this an invaluable resource for searching the deep truths of God and a milestone release for Neo-Arminian theology.

For the most part I found this book to be quite intellectually stimulating and a major challenge to the Calvinist point of view. The editor did a good job of assembling articles that represent the spectrum of opinions within the Arminian camp.
A few of the extreme positions I don't agree with. But most of the book is very good. I. Howard Marshall's article on the pastoral epistles and William L. Craig's piece on middle-knowledge are both excellent. But I was particularly impressed with Terry Miethe's article, "The Universal Power of the Atonement." This is a major personal interest of mine. For a book-length work on this issue (written by a British Puritan Arminian theologian) I recommend "Redemption Redeemed: A Puritan Defense of Unlimited Atonement" by John Goodwin.