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Mother-love is profound, however a baby comes into a woman's life. For Rose Lewis, the journey to motherhood begins with a letter to Chinese officials, asking if she can adopt from the "big room with lots of other babies." The infants in that room in China are each missing a mother, but Lewis is missing something, too--a baby. She travels to China to meet her new little girl and falls head over heels in love. Taking her baby home to America, Lewis introduces her to all her family and friends, and they begin their life together.
A touching love story, I Love You Like Crazy Cakes will warm the cockles of any new parent's heart, especially those who have recently adopted a child. It's an ideal story for lap-time reading, and will inspire parents and kids to talk about their own first "meetings," whether at birth or in an adoption agency. Jane Dyer, illustrator of the bestselling Time for Bed by Mem Fox, Oh My Baby, Little One by Kathi Appelt, and many other marvelous picture books, uses a pastel palette of watercolors to capture the tender moments between the American mom and her rosy-cheeked Chinese baby. (Ages 3 to 6) --Emilie Coulter
Book Description
Mother-love is profound, however a baby comes into a woman's life. ForRose Lewis, the journey to motherhood begins with a letter to Chinese officials,asking if she can adopt from the "big room with lots of other babies." Theinfants in that room in China are each missing a mother, but Lewis is missingsomething, too--a baby. She travels to China to meet her new little girl andfalls head over heels in love. Taking her baby home to America, Lewis introducesher to all her family and friends, and they begin their life together. A touching love story, I Love You Like Crazy Cakes will warm the cocklesof any new parent's heart, especially those who have recently adopted a child.It's an ideal story for lap-time reading, and will inspire parents and kids totalk about their own first "meetings," whether at birth or in an adoptionagency. Jane Dyer, illustrator of the bestselling Time for Bed by Mem Fox, Oh My Baby, Little One by KathiAppelt, and many other marvelous picture books, uses a pastel palette ofwatercolors to capture the tender moments between the American mom and herrosy-cheeked Chinese baby. (Ages 3 to 6) --Emilie Coulter
Customer Reviews:
My adopted daughter loves this book.......2007-08-21
I received this book as a post-adoption gift from a friend. With every page I read, tears came to my eyes because the author captured the key moments of the adoption parent/child bond simply and beautifully. My experience is mirrored in these pages and the illustrations are almost duplicates of my actual adoption journey photos. It helps me keep alive the wonderful memories of the adoption of my daughter from China.
It has been more than a year since I returned home with my daughter who is now 2 year old. We often read this book at bedtime and, even though she is only 2, she strongly identifies with the book. So much so, that she insists that I use her name when I'm reading about the baby in the book. She also points at the pictures of the mother in the book and relates it to me ... her mommy.
This will be a treasured book in our home forever.
Beautiful Book.......2007-08-17
I initially wrote most of this review as a comment on someone else's review. However, I noticed many other people with similar reviews and felt the need to post my review here.
As an early childhood educator, I am disturbed by the inaccuracy and insensitivity of many people's comments. People have complained that there is no father in the story. What about the millions of children in our country who don't have fathers? Shouldn't there be books that that depict their families? There are few enough books like this on the market already. Even for those kids who do have both a mother and a father... what parent would only their child to read books that depict one definition of a family? This book is perfect for opening up the discussion about how many different ways their are to make a family... birth, adoption, foster care, one parent, two parents, grandparents, etc. I think that this is especially important for adopted children to see. Theirs isn't the only kind of family that differs from the traditional 2 parents with birth child(ren) model. In fact, most American families are "different," which in effect makes us all the more alike.
As for someone's the assertion that children without a father have a "sad life"... your comment is offensive and down right biggoted. I know many happy and healthy children and adults who are the products of houses without a father. Every last one of them would be disagree your comment. Yes, fathers are important and lead a pivotal role in the lives of many children. However, they are not essential for a child to grow up happy, healthy, and productive. Many children have other people in their lives (mothers, uncles, grandfathers, brothers, friends) who fill that role as well as the best of fathers. There is actually an extensive body of research showing that children of single parents and same sex parents are as well adjusted, happy, and successful as their peers who come from homes with both a mother and father.
As for people's thoughts about the pictures depicting sadness, I respectfully disagree. I did not find these pictures at all sad, but instead quite charming. That being said, adoption is a complicated process. It is one that is filled with great joy, but also many many other strong emotions. Sadness is one of these emotions that is at some point felt by all members of the triad (adoptees, adoptive parents, and birth parents.) You would never want to dwell on sadness when talking to your children about adoption. Celebration and love should be the primary emotions expressed. However, to deny that there are or can be other emotions, such as confusion or sadness, is to do your child a great disservice (and possibly harm.) No matter how much love and care there is in your family, all adoptees at some point will have questions and a mixture of emotions about their adoption. They will wonder how and why they were placed for adoption. They will also wonder about their birth parents and probably feel sad that they were given up. This doesn't mean that they don't love you, that you aren't the world's best parent, that they wish that you weren't their parent, or love you any less. However, at some point they will realize, that before you could "choose" them and love them, someone else--another parent--had to give them away. That is a painful realization to many adoptees. When parents do not leave the door open to discussions about these sorts of topics... when they pretend that everything related to adoption is joyful... their children feel guilt and shame for having any other sort of emotions regarding their adoption. Instead of having open discussions with their parents, which can be healing and bring a parent and child closer together, these children shut their feelings away. This is traumatic for many adoptees. It is also counterproductive if you are trying to build a loving and open relationship with your child.
I applaud books such as this one. Taken at face value, they are a simple story of love and family that can be read to young children, adopted or not. However, as your child grows older, it is one that you can return to to open the door to a wide range of discussions about love, family, diversity, and adoption.
Another honest book about adoption that I recommend is Tell Me a Real Adoption Story written by an adoptee Betty Jean Lifton. Tell Me a Real Adoption Story
Likeable, good for small adoptees..........2007-07-25
This book was a good introduction for my children to the idea that they were born elsewhere and were cared for by others when they were new to the world. One of mine used to mimic one illustration where it kind of looks like the baby has her hand/fist up to her mouth. Good story with great airplane illustrations for kids! The story is touching for Moms, but I have always felt that it overlooked Dads and Dads' joy. I can understand why the author did it this way, but perhaps she should insert an encouraging prologue. As we turn the pages and dialogue is prompted to refresh our own story, I include details of Dad carrying my babies, and how each of them was unwilling to let go.
Daughter loves this book!.......2007-07-18
My 8-yr. old daughter loves this book and I do too! Gives us a great jumping-off point to talk about our own family adoption story!
China adoption.......2007-07-12
Thoroughly enjoyed this book and await being able to read it to our daughter from China next year when we finally get to bring her home.
Book Description
Lucas Gallagher is the geek who bought the land Michaela "Mike" Marconi wanted for her dream house. She thinks he's infuriating, annoying and totally rude. Yet, he gets to her more than any other man ever has. But though Lucas may be a scientist, he's the rock star of scientists. His inventions have made him millions, his research is reshaping the study of medicine and he holds patents for numerous technological marvels. But now, when it means everything, he's failed. His younger brother, the family's 'golden child' is dying of cancer and Lucas, despite his brilliance, can't help him. In Chandler, he tries to hide from the world he knows. Mike tried running away from her problems when she was a kid. When her mother lay dying, Mike ran. When her world crumbled, Mike hid. And she's learned that the only way to win is to stand your ground and keep trying. She doesn't understand what Lucas is talking about half the time, but she knows exactly what he's feeling. And while criticizing his complete lack of architectural ability, and remaking the house he's trying to build, Mike finds herself slipping into Lucas Gallagher's life. She wakes him up and he shakes her up: the two of them are complete opposites, and nothing can keep them apart. Until Lucas's brother Justin comes home to die.
Customer Reviews:
The Youngest Marconi Sister Finds Love.......2007-05-14
In the second installment of Maureen Child's Marconi Sisters Trilogy (after And Then Came You: Sam's Story (The Marconi Sisters), the story focuses on the youngest sister, "Mike" Michaila Marconi. All ready reeling from the fact that her dream property was bought by someone else, Mike has insinuated herself into the owner's life--by changing the way things are constructed in his house, and dropping by constantly to make helpful suggestions.
For Lucas Gallagher, the owner of the property Mike still considers her own, Mike is a thorn in his side. She's bossy, demanding, and somehow gets him to make changes on his own house that he never even considered. Added to that is the mutual sexual attraction that seems to ignite sparks whenever she's around, and the whole situation is a messy one.
I loved this second installment of the series! Mike's wild past comes back to haunt her, Lucas's brother Justin is barging back into his life, and the secondary characters truly make this book enjoyable. As Lucas and Mike fight to discover if they have the kind of sparks that can last a lifetime, lives are changed forever for each and every member of the Marconi family--and their added friends and community members.
I can't wait to get started on the final book in the series, Turn My World Upside Down: Jo's Story (The Marconi Sisters), which centers on oldest sister Jo!!
Marconi baby meets her match.......2007-03-20
Smart aleck local plumbing contractor Mike Marconi has her eyes set on some pristine property and an old Victorian house that she wants to fix up and eventually live in, as she is tired of living in the family homestead. The only problem is newcomer Lucas Gallagher has informed her that he bought it and though her family's construction firm is hired to make the renovations, Mike makes constant modifications to the architect's plans, and Lucas finds himself fighting with her for every change as the two fall for each other. Can love conquer all? How will the family react to a secret their father has kept over the last decade?
Child's second in the Marconi trilogy is a funny and romantic story. Mike and Lucas first traded barbs in "And Then Came You," the previous Marconi novel. Child has maintained that frenzied relationship; picking up where they left off. The story is fresh with believable dialogue and the humor ever-present in so many of Child's many novels. She's great at creating dynamic characters, and her Marconi sisters, while fiercely loyal to one another, each are distinctive in their own right. I just wish that she didn't feel she has to bring characters from the Candellano series into the story - the inclusion is distracting since they don't really add anything to the story.
"Crazy" is followed up by the best in the series - "Turn my World Upside Down," which is eldest sister Jo's story.
Love is a wonderful thing.......2005-04-20
Michaela Marconi, or Mike as she is called, has been saving up to purchase some land to build her dream home. When she stops by to visit her little oasis she stumbles across the very handsome Louis Gallagher. When Mike tells him that he is trespassing on her land, her heart is shattered to pieces when he informs her that he is the new owner. Mike serves as the plumber for Marconi Construction, a family owned business she shares with her father and two sisters. The Marconis have been contracted to build Louis' home. So, Mike decides that since her building plans have been thwarted, she will build Louis' home as if it were her own.
Louis is so fed up with Mike that he doesn't know whether he's coming or going. She is constantly sidestepping him and making changes to his floor plans. Although the changes have been for the best, he refuses to let her know. Mike and Louis suddenly find themselves entranced with one another. Since neither is interested in a commitment, they embark on a no-strings-attached sexual relationship.
Mike and Louis are as much alike as they are different. It is this combination that paves the way for a very enjoyable read. Maureen Child has penned a wonderful romance that will keep you entertained until the last page is turned. I am highly anticipating Turn My World Upside Down, the follow-up to A CRAZY KIND OF LOVE.
Reviewed by Pamela Bolden
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers
Fine contemporary romance .......2004-11-30
For two months the plumber has driven Lucas Gallagher crazy as he has his dream house built in Chandler. Lucas confronts Mike insisting he had the best San Francisco architect draw up the plans that she constantly modifies without his permission. Inside he knows her changes have been for the better, but cannot help but continually challenge her. For her part Michaela "Mike" Marconi cannot comprehend why she" stalks" him, but enjoys baiting her client though she wonders if it has to do more with the property she covets than the hunk she desires.
As Mike and Lucas fuss and fight over every turn of the wrench, they fall in love. However, Mike always runs away from potential love since her mother died when she was a child; she also has other secrets that she believes will drive men away even if she stayed. Lucas has never been a lady's man, leaving those pursuits to his twin brother while he relates better with scientific research. Even though they share delightful lovemaking, neither changes their mind that this is a brief affair though neither want to be the one to end it.
This fine contemporary romance begins as an amusing battle of the sexes, but with the turn of a wrench becomes a serious family drama. Mike is a fabulous lead protagonist fearing love because of people die while Lucas avoids relationships as he knows first hand how easily they collapse. Fans will appreciate the second Marconi tale (see sister's Sam's story AND THEN CAME YOU for the first novel) and salute Maureen Child for her clever interweaving of the next daughter's tale into this solid story line.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
New York's public-relations campaign is not likely to add "crazy city" to its already famous heart-icon declaration of love, but few would dispute the truth of noted German sculptor Isa Genzken's extension of it. Only a mind as oriented toward heterogeneity as hers could capture New York in all its insane glory. These three slipcased artist's books from the time Genzken spent in New York a decade ago are published here for the first time. The collection both illuminates the working methods she uses in her sculptures and stands alone as a work of art itself. The books contain, as do her other works, thoughtful if sundry conglomerations of the items that shape our everyday existence from design, advertising, and the media. Particularly important to her are the relationships in the urban environment between public and private space, artistic autonomy and collective experience. These explorations, as a window into the mind of this important artist or a window looking out onto the city, will bring repeated enjoyment and insight. 3 Volumes, Slipcased.
Customer Reviews:
I. Genzken.......2007-07-12
This book was an overly designed dissapointment. I LOVE genzken's work but the design of the book is WAY TOO DISTRACTING from Genzken's terrific work!
Customer Reviews:
Originally Posted on Romance Junkies in 2005.......2007-05-14
The third book of poetry that Ms. Esselman and Ms. Velez have put together, YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY can help anyone once again believe in the power and redeeming force of love. Whether newlyweds, heading towards your golden anniversary, or gripped in the claws of new love with a significant other, these poems are for you.
From Shakespeare to Neruda, from e.e. Cummings to a poet named Rumi, YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY tackles every aspect of love and lays it bare. A testament to true love in VALENTINE segues into the daily lives of a couple caught in a lull in APEX PLUMBING. You can be thrown into that frenzied feeling of new love and sexuality in I WANT, then tossed back into the sea of heartache with FINDING IS THE FIRST ACT.
I am the first to admit that I don't know all the ins and outs of poetry. I don't know the structure with which true poems are put together; I haven't a clue as to what makes a poem a poem. What I do know, however, is that love is glorious thing. It's also the most painful emotion that a human being can suffer. In this book, you can live through the range of emotions that we all experience every day-longing, need, understanding, misery, and hope.
YOU DRIVE ME CRAZY is for the woman who knows that Hallmark cards aren't for real people. There are no cards to say "Gee, I'm sorry your kid got kicked off the basketball team," or "Oops, guess that comment I made about husbands who pick their noses in public wasn't so funny after all." This book is for me, for you, for everyone who knows that the good always comes with the bad, that baggage is generously included with your lover, and that being imperfect isn't, after all, necessarily the end of the world.
The ebb and flow of love..........2007-02-21
Love Poems for Real Life seems to have been created for couples in a long-term relationship. The poems are arranged according to how the authors see love's initial passion and then how this ebbs and flows over time.
At first the poems radiate an intimacy that contrasts sharply with a desire for distance later in the book. The lovers express such sweet concepts as in E.E. Cummings "I carry your heart with me."
Later, Dorothy Parker displays her sardonic wit in the last line of a love poem - that feels more like elation and frustration. It seems she is depressed at the time and nothing is bringing her joy, so she writes of the sweetness and then throws in a line or two about how she wishes she had never met her lover who seems to live with sunny skies. After reading about her life, we know there were some storms, but was anyone listening?
I loved Al Zolynas' "The Zen of Housework." It is brilliant in the way it presents visual images for contemplation. Anna Akhmatova's "I Wrung My Hands Under My Dark Veil" is also stunning in beauty and emotional implication. Carolyn Creedon's poem shows great sarcasm and Sylvia Plath takes the cake for misery:
"The moon, too, abases her subjects,
but in the daytime she is ridiculous.
Your dissatisfactions, on the other hand,
Arrive through the mailslot with loving regularity,
White and blank, expansive as carbon monoxide.
No day is safe from news of you,
Walking about in Africa maybe, but thinking of me."
Margaret Atwood's poem "Habitation" seems to define this book as it explores the idea that in love, we are always at the point of "learning to make fire." The passion of the initial poems mellows into a nourishing comfort.
Mary D. Esselman and Elizabeth Ash Velez are careful observers of popular culture and of the daily lives of the seemingly typical love relationship in modern society. In their introductions to each chapter, they explore the ideas of Ecstasy, Stability, Monotony, Uncertainty, Misery and Clarity. Their commentary on the poems makes for interesting reading and makes the book feel more personal and ultimately more emotionally fulfilling. Most of the poems in this collection were new to me, so that was a delicious surprise.
~The Rebecca Review
An entertaining poetry collection.......2007-01-18
"You Drive Me Crazy" has a broad variety of poems from various time periods, styles, and themes, all revolving around the central theme of "real-life love". The introductory notes at the beginning of each section help to set the mood and even explain the poems, which I found very helpful.
My only complaint about this book is that the collection was perhaps TOO varied. There were several chapters that i felt were not suitable for this book, but rather for one of their other books on lamenting about love. I purchased this book in the hopes of getting some inspiration for writing a quirky but romantic "real life love" poem, and really only found the first section useful. However, overall it IS an entertaining book filled with some great works, so unless you want this book for the same reason that I did, I highly recommend it!
Grade: B
Delightful.......2005-08-05
I stumbled upon this book at the library was quite pleasantly surprised. The poem selections are clever and inspiring. Each chapter introduction is subtle, straighforward, and insightful. This little book manages to be "poetic therapy." I enjoyed it so much that I plan to add it to my personal library.
Average customer rating:
- Don't Bother
- Crazy In Love
- A very annoying family
- RUN the other way!
- Not believable
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Crazy in Love
Luanne Rice
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 0553587811
Release Date: 2006-01-31 |
Book Description
In this acclaimed early novel New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice takes readers on an intensely moving journey through the intimate terrain of a rapturous marriage in sudden jeopardy–and follows one woman’s courageous search to find her way when everything, even her heart, seems lost.…
Georgie Symonds didn’t think anything could shake her perfect marriage. She and Nick were meant for each other, everyone said so, and their life on the Connecticut shore, among Georgie’s close-knit family, is picture-perfect. But lately Nick has been consumed with his job on Wall Street, and Georgie finds herself plagued with suspicions too awful to contemplate. To distract herself, she plunges into her work with the Swift Observatory, examining the stories of people whose lives have been changed by unexpected tragedy. But it’s when a handsome stranger arrives on her doorstep that Georgie learns firsthand that when your dreams are in danger of collapsing, it’s time to create new ones.…
Download Description
LUANNE RICE is the author of twenty novels, most recently Summer of Roses, Summer’s Child, Silver Bells, Beach Girls, Dance With Me, and The Perfect Summer. She lives in New York City and Old Lyme, Connecticut. Beach Girls was the basis for the Lifetime television network miniseries, and Silver Bells was a recent Hallmark Hall of Fame feature presentation.
From the Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
Don't Bother.......2007-05-19
This book is pointless. The protagonist is on a major ego trip. We are supposed to believe that she is the toast of a research foundation and newspapers around the country because of very superficial interviews she does with people who are already in the news. Also, the author wants us to believe that on the one hand, the grandmother is a hardy person who will live well into her nineties, yet on the other hand she has dementia and other health issues. The author just throws things into this book for effect without considering logic. It is an incohesive, contrived mess.
Crazy In Love.......2006-10-24
I think this is one of the strongest and most wonderful stories I have read. Family is not near as important today as it used to be. Makes you stop and think and appreciate those who will love and know you better than anybody else. I have read this book over and over. I have gone so far to buy the movie and watch regularly.
A very annoying family.......2006-06-26
These women are so dependant upon each other, it makes me wonder why the girls ever got married in the first place. I would hate to be married to someone who has to be so close to her family. What is the point in marriage, no wonder she was so worried about her husband leaving her she has no idea on how to be a wife. These girls need to grow up and move on with life "Leave and Cleve". The fact that the men were so willing to give up their own families, and become dependant on their wives family is totally unbelievable, and also have dinner together all the time come on how stupid. I did read the entire book however, because I do like Luanne Rice and I guess I figured that there would be more coming. Well I do recommend the author, but not this book don't waste your time!
RUN the other way!.......2006-04-15
This is the absolutely worst book I have ever read in this genre. Scratching your finger nails on the chalk board would give more satisfaction. Don't even waste your time, there are so many other books out there!
Not believable.......2006-03-28
I like Luanne Rice and have enjoyed her books. This book simply wasn't believable. Yes, you can love your family, but her portrayal of this family was over the top. My mother has dementia and is in an assisted living home. It is a wonderful, compassionate place. Georgie's obsession with her husband and family just got sickening as the book went on. Rushing home from Nick's family to be there to cut some cake wasn't fair to his family. Her other books are much better. I wasted my money on this one.
Average customer rating:
- All the books in the series are awesome
- Quote Unquote
- Good read
- good series
- Just Ok
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Crazy Love
Tara Janzen
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 0440242789
Release Date: 2006-06-27 |
Book Description
Government operative Dylan Hart has survived some of the riskiest missions known to man. But no nemesis could have prepared the Special Defense Forces commander for the newest member of his team. A street-smart heartbreaker in Day-Glo pink and black leather, Skeeter Bang has been recruited to aid and abet Dylan’s latest mission: steal a top-secret file and bury it before all hell breaks loose.
Teaming up with a man who may be the last bona fide defender of the free world is a risk Skeeter’s ready to take. Until a black-tie Washington soiree erupts in a bullet-flying free-for-all. Now Skeeter’s got danger on her trail and Dylan arousing every bad-boy fantasy she ever had. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time is about to plunge one man and woman right into the sizzling line of fire….
Customer Reviews:
All the books in the series are awesome.......2007-10-06
The entire series is fabulously written, with top-notch characters, but there's something special about Dylan and Skeeter. He's more reserved than his friends, but I just loved the guy! And Skeeter's got to be the best heroine ever created! She was so cool and could do anything and do it well. She lacked for nothing and was beautiful to boot! Truly, I loved all the characters, perhaps with the exception of Gillian as Red Dog. But it gave us a chance to read more about Travis! The talented author never lets a dull moment touch her pages!
Quote Unquote.......2007-08-17
Just how old is Dylan? That question is not answered in the book and not knowing the answer kept me from enjoying the story fully. Because I'm not really interested in 'dirty old man lusts after young girl' romances. The novel is about number 4 in a series but I'm not sufficiently motivated to buy all the previous ones.
Having said that. Crazy Love still has a lot going for it. Like verve, panache, chutzpah and happiness. The story is set in DC and Denver...in some kind of parallel universe where the SecDef is a 100% good guy and any behaviour by special forces is acceptable so long as they are protecting America's interests. There is a jaw-dropping passage in the book which I will quote;
"...a successful mission in Afghanistan that had netted the US a long sought-after terrorist leader. No-one was naming names. Word had yet to leak out that the terrorist leader was even missing, let alone that he was sitting in a cell in Guantanamo Bay." Hur, hur. As if.
Yet I know this story is fairly typical of a genre. Aimed entirely at women. Where the whole world's problems will be solved by US Special Forces.
Also typically. The mission, no matter how important, can go hang while the main characters sort out their various sex lives. I thought it fairly creepy how Dylan groped poor Skeeter inside the vault. He has to be drugged up to the eyeballs before he can express his emotions to her. Eww.
I loved some of the imagery in the novel. The chop shop scenes. The pink butterflies and leeches. The nasty Indonesians. It was such a shame that they had to be despatched off-story. I expect Royce will live to bring more misery to SDF. Like a lot of these so-so novels the big scene happens in the middle of the story and things just fizzle out from then on. I liked Skeeter. I liked the Hawkins family. And the novel is told from the pov of just about all the gazillion characters. The sex scenes are quite anaemic but most of the killing and torture scenes were also lightweight.
The momentum was somewhat spoiled by the Travis and Gillian sub-plot. To which there was no point other than the set-up for a later novel. I did not like Gillian at all. If she was so super-brainy why didn't she publish her theories without her husband? The author painted such a negative picture of Gillian. Yet another stupid loser grateful for sex with a younger good-looking guy which she uses as a strategy to cope with low self-esteem.
Also. The cover is embarassing.
Apart from my minor dissatisfactions. A good enjoyable read.
Good read.......2007-07-11
Finally, the story of Dylan & Skeeter. I enjoyed it and personally think it's the best it the "Crazy" series.
good series.......2007-02-08
I've read all the Crazy books in the series, you need to start with first book because if you start with this book your not going to understand many things in the book. This is a really good series with tough guys that fall in love with interesting women usually while being chased & shot at. I like Skeeter Bangs alot, she's the best female in the series, beautiful with lots of attitude, extreme style (wears chains & tatoos) and self confidence along with great fighting skills.
Just Ok.......2007-01-28
This book wasn't what I was expecting. This was my first book by Tara Janzen. I had heard about her rogue unit of chop shop boys but never had tried one. I'm not going to write a plot summary since Amazon and other reviewers have supplied that already. I guess I should have started from the beginning of the series instead of on book five. My advice is start from the beginning because I'm hoping it will lead up to this book. I felt the two main characters weren't really established with me and I didn't feel their heat. I was a little confused about the mission and wanted more explanation and detail. I felt that Ms. Janzen rushed things along too much with the mission and both couples. I'm going to give her another chance but was just disappointed after everything I had heard about this series.
Product Description
On-the-go Instrction Because your time is valuable... All Audio All on the go! Beginning level instruction is presented in an all-audio format on 4 digitally-recorded CDs. You have the opportunity to learn on the go, taking advantage of time normally wasted. Study in your car, while exercising, doing yard work anywhere you can safely listen to a CD player. No accompanying books are needed to help you complete the lesson activities. Why can t learning be fun? It can! Linguaphone has chosen to present the allTalk series in an entertaining, soap-opera format. No dry old teacher with a monotone voice putting you to sleep, you follow the adventures of a visitor to a Spanish-speaking country as she interacts with individuals in a variety of interesting situations, learning the language and beginning to understand the culture. Actually learn the language Tired of spending money on language courses that don t work? Did you ever think the problem could be with the course and not you? With Linguaphone s unique learning sequence: Listen, Understand, Speak, you will find yourself actually using the language in no time at all! You are presented with a unit of the language, it is then broken down and explained to you, then you put it back together with greater understanding than just repeating what you may not have understood in the first place. . . . and learn it well! The all Talk methodology not only teaches well, but will have you speaking and understanding basic spoken Spanish in no time at all. Other popular all-audio courses require four times the cds, four times the money and four times the time to do what Linguaphone s allTalk Basic does with 4-one hour CDs.
Customer Reviews:
Horse Crazy: Women and the Horses They Love.......2007-03-23
I love this book, the stories are very inspiring.
Crazy for Horses.......2006-12-14
Horse Crazy is a marvelous collection of shorts that helps explain the special relationship women and horses enjoy. In the story Galloping Into Forty, author Kimberley Freeman describes riding on a beach at a full out, hell-bent-for-leather gallop. More than any other passage in the book, this one allowed me to understand the lure of horses--and want to go racing across the sand on a horse. Charlotte Mendel's Mucho Muchacho stands out as well, and if you want to understand why women are loco para caballos, I couldn't recommend this book more.
Having little up close and personal experience with horses, I'd never really understood the power--or more accurately, sheer horsepower--they possess. But after reading this collection from dozens of authors and viewpoints, I've finally gotten a glimpse into the majesty and mystique of horses that attracts girls and women of all ages.
Horse Crazy - A Stress Relieving and Fun Read.......2006-01-31
In the rush of Christmas shopping, I looked at a copy of "Horse Crazy". I was thinking of a last-minute gift for my school's generous and good-natured receptionist who adores her aging horse. Impulsively, I bought a second copy. Just in case someone showed up at my house with an unexpected gift, I could save face with this book. But instead I left it next to my sofa.
Sometimes I am daunted by books. My intention of being absorbed by a 500 page book are often foiled by multiple preemptions. But this book allows me to disappear into well-written, funny and touching stories written by smart, simpatico women. I especially liked "It's Only a Paper Horse" by Stephanie Losee. My favorite image is when she describes her husband trying to please her horse-obsessed daughter's requests for drawings. She says, "Tom's sketching abilities were limited to the creation of a single cartoon fish, which he drew over and over in a vain attempt to be useful." That so resonated with me as a parent, and also made me chuckle.
So I highly recommend this book as a fun, touching, well-written book of stories. Even if you don't adore horses.
Average customer rating:
- BORN TO BE CRAZY WILD!!!
- Crazy Wild-Tara Janzen
- Too long love story for a thriller
- A Mile A Minute Read!
- Action-oriented romance
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Crazy Wild
Tara Janzen
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Crazy Kisses
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Crazy Cool
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Crazy Love
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Crazy Hot
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Crazy Sweet
ASIN: 0440242606
Release Date: 2006-01-31 |
Book Description
It’s a long way from the jungles of Colombia to a Colorado library, where Special Forces operative Creed Rivera is staking out one of the world’s most dangerous women. With her prim librarian looks, Cordelia “Cody” Stark doesn’t look like a nuclear arms broker. But nabbing her is Creed’s latest mission–until a trio of thugs shows up and he’s suddenly forced to play hero....
Armed with secrets that could ignite a global inferno, Cody was already running out of places to hide. And now a hotshot government agent has blown her cover by throwing himself between her and certain death. Trusting the hero who just saved her life is not an option. Resisting him is something else entirely. And when bullets start to fly, a man and a woman running out of time are gearing up for the wildest adventure of their lives….
Download Description
Tara Janzen lives with her husband and two children in Colorado.
From the Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
BORN TO BE CRAZY WILD!!!.......2006-08-25
This little adventure/romance had me sitting on the edge of my seat, reluctant to finish reading at the end of each chapter. Mile a minute adventure thru most of the book. I thought the 'romance' got bogged down somewhat in the last third of the book. Sensuality was an 8. Mostly well done.
Creed was wild, the best at what he did. Cody was misunderstood by everyone. Nice little book. I will look for others by TJ.
Crazy Wild-Tara Janzen.......2006-07-30
The third installment of the Crazy Series Crazy Love.Creed Rivera is a broken soul and you can't help but fall in love with his character.He is wild,passionate and captivating.Cody Stark is his savior although it took way to long for these two to finally come together.There is alot of non-stop action in this story and she keeps us updated on previous characters which I love.This book is a good read and I can't wait to continue on to Kid's story.
Too long love story for a thriller.......2006-07-05
The thrilling warhead part of the book is really good and a page turner. But the last 100 pages when the two loves stories start is getting bore and bore. When you get again to the warhead story you almost forgot that you were reading a thriller instead of a love story. When you start to read about the love story you'll say: OK this'll be two pages and then will be going on with the thriller, but that's wrong. The love story is long enough to get you boring if you longing to read a thriller.
A Mile A Minute Read!.......2006-04-25
Creed Rivera has gone to a dark place after watching his best friend and partner tortured to death in a Columbian jungle. Reluctantly he returns to Colorado and is put on a detail to apprehend and protect a wanted arms dealer. Well, Cody Stark is a mousy, brown, librarian and resembles in no way shape or form the sex kitten Dominika Starkova. But when the bad guys show up in Denver and they're all gunning for Cody he will do what he has to in order to keep her safe. She has become collateral in this war and Creed can't ignore the fact he wants her safe or the fact that the rescuer has now become the rescuee. He wants a future with Cody but will he get it?
Cody is running for her life. She should have listened to her mother and not gone looking for her dad. Now, she's running for her life with a laundry list of terrorist out for her blood and one handsome jungle boy keeping her safe. Or is he? Surely it can't be good that she melts each time they touch and that his kisses make her forget her life's in danger. But, Cody will do what she must in order to keep Creed alive...even if it means surrender.
Ms. Janzen writes great action adventure romance reads. Her alpha hero's finally meet their match in the most unconventional ways. Although this is book three in a series I found it to be a strong stand alone read. Ms. Janzen has begun to build the background for Dylan and Skeeter's story in this one and all I can say is I look forward to that one! This is a mile a minute read you won't want to miss.
Action-oriented romance .......2006-03-29
Creed Rivera has been assigned to track down and apprehend Dominicka Starkova, who is rumored to be brokering a deal with terrorists to sell a nuclear warhead. He finds her in a Denver library and as soon as he arrives, all hell breaks loose.
Cody Stark, aka Domincka Starkova, is trying desperately to hide from the bad guys after her. She's being pursued by terrorists who want the location of the nuclear warhead. Tired, worn, and stressed, all hell breaks loose in the library she's working at. She's rescued by Special Forces agent Creed Rivera. They're attracted to each other, but neither of them want to trust the other.
This was my first exposure to this series, but it's the third book in Janzen's "Crazy" series. I enjoyed it and loved the action/adventure theme, though I felt that it overpowered the romance quite a bit. The first 2/3rds of the book was almost complete action, with the h/h running from the terrorists, then the heroine trying to escape the hero, getting caught, escaping, getting caught... You get the picture.
I felt Janzen handled very well the Creed and Cody's various traumas from their past. They're both strong and tough characters, but not completely broken. Just wary and cautious. However, Janzen was playing up on Creed's darkness and broodiness (he witnessed his friend and partner tortured and killed in front of him as he was tied and helpless), but this seemed to dissipate halfway through the book, and he became your regular old Special Ops hero. Cody was a great heroine. Strong and resourceful, and extremely intelligent, I admired her and her ability to fend for herself.
My favorite parts, though, were the scenes between Baby Bang (Skeeter) and Dylan. I cannot wait for their book. They had such chemistry on the page and were so much fun.
I'm definitely going to keep on with this series, and likely get the first two books as well. They're light (to me) reads, but a good page-turner and vacation book.
Customer Reviews:
Finally, the Whole Story.......2005-12-07
This story had all the trappings of a Ross Hunter production of a Lana Turner tearjerker. I can see John Gavin in the Billy Woodward part. It was fifty years ago that Ann Woodward made a double-barreled blast into the headlines when she mistook her husband for a prowler and shot him. Twice. (The first time, she missed.) And thus was born not only the misery of Ann Woodward and her children but the delight of Truman Capote and his book "Answered Prayers." Tru intended to make the Woodward murder the highlight of his first excerpt in Esquire magazine, labeling her a "malicious Betty Grable." When word filtered back to her, Ann Woodward swallowed a cyanide pill leaving her two sons orphans. What makes this tale of passion and death so moving and sad is the children. Both of them followed their parents to an early grave. Both by jumping from windows. They say the murder house is haunted to this day.
Dominick Dunn would go on to soften Ann's image with the two Mrs. Grenville's, giving justification for her bewitching success in captivating society's finest and most eligible bachelor. She couldn't be completely bereft of any redeeming features whasoever.
Susan Braudy attempts to fully rehabilitate Ann's image here, and the mistruths told about her case. Her attempt is largely successful except for one major thing. Ann Woodward aimed at her naked husband (most prowlers arrive clothed) and fired. Twice. Nonetheless, This Crazy Thing Called Love is a beautifully written book, spare and yet lush at the same time. I could not put it down because everything is spot on perfect, not least of all the idle arrogance of the upper classes who flocked to parties featuring those boring marionettes, the Duke and Duthess of Windsor, and most even attended a dinner party the day of the murder. (Braudy actually meets members of the Woodward family, including Ann, and it is interesting to note that the Woodward women, strivers in their own day, turned out to be perfect little snobs themselves.)
If you are as obsessed with the Woodward case as I am, this is the definitive word on this particular crime. I read Truman's La Cote Basque piece in Esquire and of course Dominick Dunne's book The Two Mrs Grenvilles. I even drove out to the Woodward "Playhouse" where thr murders took place and swung my car around on the same cobblestones Mary Queen of Scots walked over to her execution. Ann was so proud of them. Suddenly, there it was, the plain, art deco-ish exterior with the trellis and the porthole windows.
I noticed that Dominick Dunne had the author of this book on as a contributor to a segment he did on the Woodward murder on his television program. She has done a masterful job putting together this book. Although Dunne is not listed as a source, a clue is given as to who the real "Basil Plant" is in The Two Mrs. Grenvilles. It isn't Truman Capote, but an actual employee of a cruise ship, the cruise ship from the opening of The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, who knew both Dunne and Capote.
Five stars. Great read.
AND WHAT A CRAZY THING IT WAS.......2005-09-01
Whenever I read about the rich and of the problems they may have, I feel less inclined to lament the fact that I am not wealthy. If ever there was a case to support the statement: Money does not buy happiness, this sad story should do it. If Ann Woodward had only studied the moral of Scott Fitzgerald's story "The Great Gatsby", the fairytale might have had a happy ending. Read this book, enjoy the excellent writing, but learn something of human nature that, deep down, you should already know.
What Really Happened - .......2004-11-04
Unlike The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, this book is based on truth. The author was a friend of Mrs. Woodward's son. Doing her research she takes us through the nuts and bolts of Ann's marriage, and what most likely happened the night her husband was killed. It is probable that Ann did NOT mean to kill her husband, as he was her meal ticket, so to speak, and her entire life revolved around him and the comforts and acceptance (from society) that he provided her with. True, she was more emotional than the typical "society lady" who allowed their husbands to wander...
It was interesting how Ann had been brought up - by a liberated mother with apparently very poor taste in men. This book shows much empathy to Mrs. Woodward and explains a lot of unanswered questions.
A Dramatic Showdown.......2003-09-02
I must say that I enjoyed this book tremendously and could not wait to get back to it on evenings.
For those of you who love to read about the golden world of the ultra rich traveling from pillar to post, having champagne and caviar at every corner of the globe, this book is for you.
Ann Crowell was a dirt poor kid from Kansas, but when she married Billy Wood ward, the heir of a banking fortune her world changed instantly. Though not accepted by the rich society whom Bill wined and dined with, and just barely appreciated by her mother in law Ellen, it wasn't an easy life for Ann.
She was more obsessed with Bill than he was with her but there was this certain magic surrounding her which kept him returning to her every time he went astray
"Money makes the mare fly" and Ann Crawford had no urgent desire to divorce him or leave him. She knew where her bread was buttered and she wanted every slice. Ms, Braudy takes us through their torrid life together, as they travel to the various polo matches all spanning various continents.....until things start going wrong, Very wrong.
I encourage those lovers of true crime situations, to get their hands on this book ....soonest possible.
crazy thing called love.......2003-04-25
I enjoyed every page of this book. It was so well reserched, and wonderful pictures. I think Ann Woodward is one of the most selfish self centered woman I have ever read about. I no longer envy people with unlimited wealth, it seems to bring nothing but tragedy. I highly recommend this wonderful book.
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- Jasmine
- Judge & Jury
- Just Like That
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- Lost Girls
- Lost in the Forest
- Magic Tree House Boxed Set 2, Books 5-8: Night of the Ninjas, Afternoon on the Amazon, Sunset of the Sabertooth, and Midnight on the Moon
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