OH THIS BOOK WAS WONDERFUL! I love this book. It was Romantic with suspence and with the evil forces. I have given this book to my friends to read and they all agreed that this book ROCKED!!!

I work in various communities delivering community-based anthropology courses in a very short period of time from one week to a month. The activities and teaching strategies offered in this book are very practical and respond to a change in the field of education. The activities described in the book are easy to prepare and implement (and are fun to do). Most of the authors describe various in-class problems with which they were trying to address. Some authors also provide ideas to modify the activities according to the side of the class or the availability of resources. If you want to go beyond the straight lecture style of teaching this book certainly provides many ideas for creative teaching to stimulate consciousness-raising and encourage student participation. Two activities that stand out are "The Penny Game: An Exercise in Non-Industrial Economics" which examined the importance of reciprocity, and "The Trouble with the 'Race' Concept: It's All in the Cards" which enacts the problems in trying to classify "races". Other essays provide very practical strategies for preparing students for critical thinking, writing essays, critiquing films, participating in field visits to museums, and doing field research (excavating and interviews).

This book was one of the best romance novels I've ever read. the characters in the book were fresh. The setting is in the 1500's in England. The two main characters are Rolfe and Marged. They meet when he stroms the walls of her home and destiny drives them across England where Marged is forced to choose between her country and her heart.

Michele is a professor at both Sci-arc and Cal Poly Pomona. I am familiar with his work from listening to his lectures. This book is a visually poetic compilation of his thoughts and work. Los Angeles' architecture is among the most avant guard in the world, and Michele's is among the most intersting in Los Angeles, this book is a very good read!

Michele Saee's work at this stage is an activity beyond words.

This was a nice story about sisters and sisterhood. Good moral about not knowing when our time is going to be up, so we need to love one another. I realize this is the first book for this author. I found the scenes to be lacking in details. I always knew what the people were wearing and eating, but other things were lacking such as the romantic scenes. Also the storyline seem to be moving real fast. One paragraph it was March then it was 5 months later in the next paragraph. A fair job for a first time author.

Congratulations Ms Phillips. Great book!!!

SOMETHING IN COMMON is undeniably a book for all of us that are still young at heart. I found myself racing along an avenue of missunderstandings, errant comments, and guilt; being cascaded off of walls of pain and deception, to finally land in a world of peace and twice found love.

SOMETHING IN COMMON is a love story, so carefully and emotionally woven through the relationships between three sisters and their relationship with their mother, that at times, I felt the realness of the individual charactors and forgot it was fiction.

Very well paced, very well done. I look forward to future works by Ms Phillips. In the mean time, I am re-reading SOMETHING IN COMMON. I am hooked!! (Will Robert and Helen pop up again in future novels? Hope so.)

Everyone can relate to the story. It reads fast chapter after chapter. The author's writing is unique just as the story is. It has a different twist from all the other romance books. While reading one can feel the pain, and the laughter. It also gives a message to not wait too late to make-up with family. Also, it shows what true love is between a man and a woman, feelings that are deep inside. I read it in two days and my friend said that it had her getting out of bed at two in the morning to finish. Once you pick it up, you can't put it down. There is someone in the book that everyone knows.

This collection of romantic short stories is a good pick-me-up for a bad or rainy days. All the stories are independent from one another. The only thing that links them all together is a Christmas theme.

The best story out of the four is Sherrilyn Kenyon's LOVE BYTES. It is story of two co-workers who are attracted to each other but their own personal insecurities keep them apart. Adrian is Samantha's supervisor and office relationships are discouraged. It is not until one of them is down and the other tries to cheer him up that their love blossoms. The story is nice and sweet even though there are some loose ends by the end of the story. This collection of novellas is fine as an escape after a bad or rough day but that's about it. It is not Masterpiece Theater

Santa, Baby by Patricia Ryan
I confess this plot did not interest me, therefore I skipped over it after reading the first chapter, hopefully I'll get around to reading it in the future.

Love Bytes by Sherrilyn Kenyon*****
A must read! Tomboyish Samantha Parker has had the hots for her boss, Adrian Cole for over a year, what she does not know/believe is that he has felt the same way. Well, it all hit the fan when Sam gives him a kiss of comfort after witnessing an argument he has with his sister, Heather. Will he be her knight in shining armor or will he ignore the attraction in order to keep him job? Another hot contemporary romance by Ms. Kenyon, it will keep you captivated until the end.

Naughty Under the Mistletoe by Carly Phillips*****
Toni is attracted to her boss but has kept her hands to herself. Well now that she has earned a promotion and will no longer be working with Stephan Corbin, she decides to celebrate and bring in the New Year getting naughty with him at the company Christmas party. She had no idea that she really was not attracted to Stephan until after she mistakenly locked lips with his twin, Max in a very naughty kiss. Completely embarrassed, Toni makes a beeline for the Christmas tree and throws herself into being Santa's elf. Max immediately hunts down his twin to stake his claim' on Toni.

Even though this plot is the common mistaken identity of a twin, Ms. Phillips does a brilliant job with it. This is a fast paced, hot romance that will make you want to run out and get you some mistletoe.

A Christmas Charade by Kathryn Smith*****
Mrs. Vail aka Elizabeth is a spy for England on a mission to rescue a spy named Maxwell aka Garrett, Viscount Praed currently locked in a French prison. The couple is instantly attracted to one another and don't deny the lust they feel but agreeably act on it during their return trip on her boat. Mr. Maxwell is not married and doubts that there is a woman still awaiting his return from the war and Mrs. Vail husband died fighting for his first love-his country. Once the boat is docked, Maxwell is so enthralled by her that he invites her met him at the Pultney Hotel for dinner the following night. Elizabeth arrives at the hotel right behind Garrett as he's getting out of his expensive carriage-knew she was out of her league and after confirming his status quickly flees. After awaiting her for hours and an extensive search for her at the Home Office, Garrett admits defeat and returns to the war. Knowing she can not have him, Elizabeth gives up the spy business, sells her boat, goes to Devonshire and purchases a cottage in the tiny village near to coast of Exeter thinking it would not be close to Garrett's home town. She has befriended Regina the wife of an earl that shuns society's ranks and accepts her invitation to spend Christmas with Regina's family. Garrett, Regina's recently betrothed brother is also en-route. What a surprise for them to unexpectedly meet again 8 months later.

Anticipation will keep you turning the pages of this hot historical romance.

NAUGHTY OR NICE comes as a timely X'mas read with its sensual overtone and provocative romance to warm up the freezing season. Patricia Ryan starts the heat with Santa, Baby where a private investigator Jack O' Leary is baited with a tantalizing sum of money by a rich man's wife to seduce the "home-wrecker". His plan gets complicated when Katherine isn't who she seems - but charms him off with her philanthropic and generous soul. Budding writer Sherrilyn Kenyon intensifies the sensuality with a romance with co-workers in a computer firm. Sam decides to take a gamble with an office romance and transform Adrian the geek to a devastatingly handsome stud and let her enter into his heart. Next comes the fabulous Carly Phillips who weaves love when rigid lawyer Toni loosens up on a seduction of her boss and kisses Max, his twin unwittingly under the mistletoe. Kathryn Smith brings readers back to the historical platform with a story of a widow who rescues a viscount on a spying mission then later fall in love.

All the 4 stories are of quality and brims with enough mischief to delight readers into the festive mood of love. Its languid sensuality and delicious read is however the feature that distinguishes it from the other anthologies. Rarely has a romance anthology succeed in equating light romance with sex, but with the talented ensemble it proves that a miracle can manifest itself.

I have read a few "Patricia Phillips" and have generally liked what I read, but unfortunately I'm never really enthusiastic about her writing. I have to agree with the reviewer who said this one was flat & uninteresting. It was the kind of book where, while your'e reading it, you think about ways it could have been better. Personally, I thought the hero & heroine got together too quickly & without much character development, & the plot did smack of a 'formula'.

This book was a fantastic and delicious treat. I often read many books at one time but when I started this book I put all the others on the back burner! Lady Isolbel and the Dragon Knight are spellbinding as they traverse through various life-threatening experiences. There is someone within their midst that cannot be trusted..a terrible evil spreads and wipes out whole villages. Lady Isolbel and Morgan of Nels (AKA Dragon Knight) are hot, hot, HOT! The descriptions of the land and the castles of the time are unbelievable. Be prepared to be transported across the seas through mist and fading light into a brilliant action-thriller with lots of action or EVERY kind. This is an awesome read and I assure you that you won't be disappointed. This is my first Patricia Phillipis book and I'm searching for more!

This is a very well written story with a touching tale of love and kinship. I had to read this tale straight through. I have read this book twice in 3 days. I am purchasing everything that I can that Patricia Phillips has wrote to date.

Adele St. Clare had functioned as Lord and Lady of the castle following her father's death as her brother has been held hostage by the king in the hope that it would make a more loyal subject of Adele's father. And that's where the trouble with this novel begins.

A minor, Adele is made a ward by the King and Gilbert Bohun is being sent with troops to function as the castellan. But more bad news comes along with the cruel Bohun's arrival. Rafe De Montford has been sent to take Adele to the man the King has selected as her husband. A man who is likely to be no more appealing than Gilbert Bohun. A man who, Adele now knows, has held her brother captive all these long years.

But, in the course of their travels, Rafe and Adele find they have fallen in love with one another and Rafe vows not to deliver the lovely Adele to her court-appointed husband-to-be. Rather, he will attempt to strike a bargain with her would-be husband and hope that he accepts - and that the King doesn't dish out punishment for going against his orders.

"The Sword and the Flame" was rife with problems from the first page. Logistical problems abound in this tiresome novel and there is nothing spectacular about the writing or storyline. Rather, the flat characters are led by their own selfish desires and there is nothing to endear one to the other - let alone make one fall in love with the other. This novel didn't move me.