I value this book, not as a treatise on child care around the world, but for the exquisite photography of babies, beautifully adorned by their loving families. The text is interesting, but bare-bones support for the amazing images of infants and children from around the world. Babies from Mongolia, Tibet, China, Australia, the Arctic circle etc. are featured, being held, carried, rocked, bathed and nursed. Their faces are hauntingly beautiful. So are their clothing and toys. Such exotic accoutrements as strips of fur, twisted grass, glass and amber beads, feathers, leather and cloth are featured. This book provides aesthetic inspiration and a visual feast for the artist in me, as well as emotional connection with the endearing subjects!

This book really is an eye opener to learning about birth and rituals around the world. Even if not a word had been written, the page after page, beautiful pictures of families and babies are just wonderful. It takes us out the "the norm" we are used to with our own culture, and into many other ways of life. It reminds us of the big world we live in, we all do things a little different, yet we are all sharing a common bond, humanity. This book is highly recommended for excellant photography and is an excellant teaching guide for all.

This is a great alternative to the many King Arthur stories that include lots of violence. It is nice to see another side of the legend, and the story of the young giant being suckled by a unicorn is fascinating. This is LONG, but for kids who are fans of knights and castles, it is not to be missed.

In this book, King Arthur and his knights sailed through a storm and got stranded on an island. King Arthur set out to find someone to help them get their boat off of the sandbar. He found a dwarf in a tall tower, his son who was a giant, and a unicorn. I liked this book because there were many surprises. The tiny dwarf had a giant for a son, and the unicorn was a hero. I would recommend this book to kids who liked the movie "Quest for Camelot."

How honest should you be with your life? That is a question that every gay or lesbian eventually has to answer. The question lies at the heart of this book. How much should you risk to be comfortable with yourself? And don't let anyone tell you that being "out" is the answer for everybody. It was interesting to see that Karin Kallmaker wrote a review for this book. Kallmaker has to be THE premier writer of lesbian novels right now, but she doesn't mind giving praise to another writer's work. I agree with her about Under the Southern Cross. The Carol Ashton series by McNab is entertaining reading, but this book is much better developed.

Every writer has touchstone books that they turn to for fresh air -- a relief from their own words. Under the Southern Cross is one of mine. Though I enjoy Claire's mysteries, she really shines in this book. The main characters are complicated, and their fears are as real as their passion. Claire creates two women with the strength to achieve their dreams, but places them in the real world, where strength alone is not enough. Add the lush landscape that she describes so beautifully and this book is a rare romance indeed.

Foreign Language Research in Cross-Cultural Perspectiv

Maralys O'Reilly is an internet advice columnist who is a loner with no desire to marry or have kids. Then one day her nice, comfortable, "I am an island" lifestyle is totally disrupted. Her nephews Jimmy and Johnny call and tell her that their mother, Maralys's twin sister Marcia, didn't show up to get them up from swim practice. Not long after, the news gets worse, much worse. After Maralys takes the kids home, she finds a note from her sister declaring she's dumped her husband James and her two sons.

James Coxwell is the Number Three criminal attorney in the city, rich, powerful...and on the fast track to oblivion. Not only has his wife dumped him, he's just found out his own father is ousting him from the family firm on behalf of another relative. At age 42, he's all washed up.

Maralys has never considered herself the save-anyone type, but the situation of her brother-and-law and nephews is a mess. Before she knows it, she agrees to move in and help out, and there is no telling where the heck this will all end.

This book is more women's mainstream fiction than typical romance, in that it is written in first person and it violates a major taboo of romance: the book starts out with the hero not only married, but married to the heroine's sister. However, its ending does fulfill normal expectations of romance readers, so if you are a lover of traditional romance, you can rest assured you will be satisfied with how the story comes out.

The plot itself has the sharp, dark-humor tone of two romantic comedy movies I enjoyed a lot, My Best Friend's Wedding and The Truth about Cats and Dogs. The characters are sharply drawn, both protagonists intelligent, strong, and honest, but with the interesting flaws of cynicism in both of them and more than a little despair in James. The two children are also cute and often touching in a believable and enjoyable way.

If you are looking for a contemporary romance that is very much out of the ordinary, Double Trouble might be just the ticket for you.

In Boston, Maralys O’Reilly enjoys providing netiquette advice to users. However, her quiet life ends when she receives a call from her preadolescent nephew who tells her that their mother Marcia has failed to pick him or his younger brother up. Their father James remains en route from California. Maralys picks up the kids and takes them to their suburban home. Not long afterward, James arrives home to learn Marcia left him. A few days later, James visits Maralys and kisses her, but she says she is not a Marcia substitute even if she is her twin.

(...)

DOUBLE TROUBLE is a very funny contemporary romance mostly told by the irreverent Maralys’ perspective with her Internet musings as a key element in understanding her. James and the support cast enhance readers’ comprehension of what makes Maralys tick. Though James’ problem with his father is an unnecessary sidebar, even if it places him in financial jeopardy, fans will fully appreciate Claire Cross’ amusing tale.

Harriet Klausner

Lilith is a gypsy who falls in love with Sebastian. Before everyone can walk happily into the sunset, Sebastian is hung on the gallows. He gallantly swears to come back to Lilith. She searches for the secret to immortality so that she will be ready when he comes for her. 600 years later, she is still waiting. Just when Lilith is ready to take matters into her own hands, her dream lover moves in next door. Mitch (who has no recollection of his past life as Sebastian) is an investigative reporter with 2 kids. He does not believe in fortune-telling, magic or in Lilith.

I liked the 2 main characters here very much. Mitch was a strong man who loves and protects his children. You have to admire that in a man. Lilith is lonely (who wouldn't be after 600 years) and longs for a family. She creates potions to music and gets herself into some interesting situations. The romance between these two is sweet and develops from page 1. There were several gaps in the story, and some elements that should have been further developed, but I will definitely read Claire Cross again.

I really enjoyed this book. Ms. Cross mixes romance, humour and magic with a deft touch. I was also interested to learn so much about the Tarot deck and how it works. And, of course, there was d'Artagnan the cat. But most of all, Mitch and Lilith's story reaffirmed my belief in love and destiny.

I really enjoyed this book! The ending was interestion and had you thinking about pre-destined love!

I would heartily advise this book to anyone with romance in thier hearts or the need of some!

I loved this book! It was full of humor, passion, excitement, and love. I laughed and cried over this book so its a definate keeper!
This is a time travel book. The Hero , Alasdair, has just helped Robert the Bruce to take Edinburgh Castle from the English. He and his men are celebrating when a witch dares Alasdair to follow her. He does and suddenly finds himself still at the castle but almost 700 years in the future. In 1998 american Morgan Lafayette is on vacation with her sister and brother-in-law. She finds the Highlander and thinks that he is an actor playing the part for the amusement of the tourist. She soon discovers though that something has happened to make all the history that she has known change. She begins to suspect that Alasdair is truley from the past and tries to help him get back. Alasdair at first thinks that Morgan is the legendary witch Margaine Le Fee and fights his growing feelings for her. He desparetly wants to return to his home in his time but his feelings for Morgan are a problem.

Together they must find a way to get Alasdair back. Along the way they encounter some very interesting people and some funny situations. Morgan's sister and brother-in-law are having a romance of their own but add to the over all book.

I cried when this book was done. It had a great ending and I hope if you read it you don't read the ending first, it will spoil the story. I hope to read others by this author.

I took a while to get into this story but when I did I was so glad I persevered. It was a beautifull ending and well worth the wait.

Alisdair MacAuley is sent forward in time to change history even though he doesn't it. He thinks he is in a powerful scorceress castle when he meets Morgan Lafayette.

Thank you Claire for giving us this story.

I read this book in search of something similar to 'The Outlander" series by Diana Gabaldon and I think I found it was well worth the search. The story started out a little slow with each of the characters in their own time and life, but by about 30-40 pages into the story I was hooked. I have to admit to staying up very late the Saturday evening I started it and spending almost my entire Sunday with my nose burried in the pages and my heart caught up in a love that could withstand the passage of time. This is a book I would highly recomend.

I hate to trash a book but I agree with the other readers who found it uninteresting. There's far better books to read.

Aurelia and Baird's story is a light fairy tale type story, which works, if you like this sort of writing/book. This Sleeping Beauty theme tries to be successful by using the juxtaposition of two people separated by1200 years. Our heroine falls asleep after pricking her thumb and after a 1200 year break (which is later explained), our prince charming finally awakens our princess. Everything revolves around legends, prophecies and reincarnation, so if you do not like these explanations, or feel a book gets stale when everything has been prophesized, you will not find this plot a good one to read.

I liked the fact that Aurelia assumes that she had just awoken from a nap and judges everything that happens around her by her 9th century beliefs. She looks for her father, whom she believes is prisoner of her enemy, Bard (Ms. Cross uses a slight change spelling on our hero and enemy's name) and explains all of the changes she sees by Bard's sorcery. In a society that had many conquerors and blended many different religious beliefs (Norse, Christian, Celtic and "pagan"), weird happenings could have easily been explained by magic, sorcery or witchcraft. She holds everyone in the modern world to the customs of the 800's, and it is interesting to see how she interprets things. Baird now owns the castle (which Aurelia assumes he got as Bard by conquering it, though he bought it in modern times to build a hotel) so when he talks to his interior designer, Aurelia assumes that "king" Baird is lavishing his largesse on his layman. Why else would a woman dress like Marissa and be allowed to spend the kings money so freely? There are many more such "misunderstandings" and I think that most of them are well done. Like others though, my biggest criticism of the book is that it took Aurelia SO long to figure out what happened, especially since she knew the prophecy.

I am not so sure I liked the fact that our key players had selective memories, or some remembered all of the past and others did not. Except for ease of writing the plot, there seemed to be no explanation why our villain would remember his past lives and our hero would not, putting him at a distinct disadvantage. Baird could also have been a stronger character all around. For a savvy, cutthroat businessman, he did not come across that way. Probably not the best book I have ever read, but by far not the worst either.

I liked this book,it had a mixture of humor ,romance and fantasy.Aurelia a princess from the 9th century was woken by a kiss after a long sleep into the present day.I won't spoil the story but if you are looking for a sleeping beauty,prince charming and ofcourse a villain this is the book.I truly enjoyed reading it.

I HAD SUCH A HARD TIME GETTING INTO THIS BOOK, DIDN'T EVEN FINISH IT BECAUSE IT MADE NO SENSE. CHARACTERS UNLIKEABLE AND STORYLINE NONEXISTENT. WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY!

Claire Cross writes some of the best dialogue ever read in this type of book, sprightly and fun. Her heroine has an outlook on life and a turn of phrase so clever that this character borders on genius. Still, the romance genre itself is limiting. THIRD TIME LUCKY conforms to the genre with a single storyline that is linear and ultimately predictable. There is an additional plot about the heroine's business partner that could have been expanded, but that would have taken the novel outside the limitations of romance novels. Also, the mystery which drives this tale wasn't explored thoroughly enough to be exciting, though the book starts with great promise. Nonetheless, THIRD TIME LUCKY is an easy read, and a fun one. I look forward to Ms. Cross's next book in this series.

Fifteen years ago he left Rosemount and his buddy overweight Philippa Coxwell behind. Only his beloved, but estranged grandmother Lucia "Dragon Lady" Sullivan could get Nicholas to return home. When she asks him to do so, he leaves behind his successful Seattle adventure travel company for New England. Nick arrives at Lucia's home only to see the gory corpse of his murdered grandmother. When Nick hears the siren, he flees the crime scene. Fifteen minutes later, Lucia rises, proud of her first act performance teaching her favorite grandson a lesson in life.

Nick turns to the only person in the area he trusts, his high school buddy Phil for legal advice. Phil always loved Nick. He is stunned to learn she never became a lawyer, but instead became a garden advisor. Unable to resist Nick, she accompanies him back to Lucia's home to find no body. Feeling he played her for a fool, an angry Phil tells him to leave. However, Nick realizes that he needs Phil for more than just moral support, but can he commit to her if he is lucky enough for her to allow him a third time in her life?

THIRD TIME LUCKY is a screwball comedic romance that stars several interesting charcaters. The convoluted, yet charming story line works because of the interrelations between the cast, especially Lucia's overriding influence and the brother of Nick's injurious behavior. Nick and Phil are an ideal couple even if he is a bonehead unable to see clearly that she is his love. Claire Cross writes a warm, witty, and often wild novel that shows the expanse of her talent.

Harriet Klausner

Claire Cross is obviously an intelligent woman. She uses words and phrases appropriate to the content, but that is obviously geared towards the professional or academic reader. I first tried reading this book a year ago when my understanding of the content was naught. Frusturated, I left the book on the shelves until recently, when I revisited it and understood it for what it is worth. Armchair Historians would benefit in passing this book by.

Cross does an excellent job of explaining how the common people of England began to change theit spiritual thinking from that of the dictated Catholic Church to the free and open Prodestant Church. She focuses on aspects such as litarcy, the printing press, faith of the monarchs and general public opinion. From Luther to Lollards and beyond, this book does a fair job of explaining the phenomonon that is the Reformation.