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I read Bonnie Dee’s Seasons of Love yesterday, and I have to say, what an unusual and delightful selection of stories.

I really love Bonnie’s voice, and I love the way she’s able to draw me into her books, and really capture my imagination. I think that she, out of all the new-to-me authors, who I’ve read in recent times, has managed to take the idea of the stereo-typical romance hero, and totally turn it on its head.

Her heroes are deliciously flawed, heart-breakingly tortured, and are generally beta males, rather than the ever popular alpha heroes. Whilst her heroines are surprisingly strong-spirited, without being painful or stupid.

Seasons of Love is a collection of stories, which represent all four of our seasons.

The first story is called Maypole Dance – This is the spring offering, and here’s the blurb from LSB:

This story moved me actually. It was very poignant and sweet, and I suspect if anybody else had attempted to write it, it just wouldn’t have worked. I’m not really into sprites, faeries, or any other cutesy other-worldly beings, so I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed this story, and the sorrow that I felt when the hero and heroine had to be parted, especially taking into consideration that I wasn’t particularly fond of the heroine in the first instance.

The next story was called Amish Paradise, and was the summer story:

Loved this one. It was very Romeo and Juliet-esque. Raging passions galore, familial differences, clash of faiths, great internal conflict, identity crisis struggles, and a hero who picked out the Plain Jane, saw beyond her plain clothes, naked face, and un-stylish hair, and fell head over heels in love with the girl beneath the white cap. What could be more romantic?

The autumn story was called Crisp Apples:

I didn’t like this one as much as the others. It was definitely the weakest of all the stories for me, mostly because I didn’t like the premise, and the hero and heroine were a little dull. But it was still beautifully written.

The winter story was A Lily For Christmas:

I’m very partial to the Maid-Having-It-Off-With-The-Lord-Of-The-Manor-type stories, (Which would probably explain my penchant for an eighties Spanish/Mexican drama called Isara The Slave Girl) and this was no exception.

I loved the ambience and the settings of each of the stories. I really did.

Whilst reading Amish Paradise, I could literally feel the heat of the sun on my skin, the flies buzzing round my head. I could see myself sitting in a car at a drive-thru movie theatre, eating pop-corn, whilst watching a surly James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause, and listening to Elvis Presley playing on the radio. Now that’s talent.

Sharon Cullars tagged me for yet another dumb old meme. Have I mentioned how much I hate these lately?

Well, just in case I was remiss, no more memes after this one. I. Don’t. Do. Them. Comprendez? Good.

Here are the rules:

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.

3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog

Well, I’ll do the first lot, but only because I like any opportunity to talk about me. *g*

1. I hate lettuce on bread. Can’t stand it. I can eat lettuce within a salad, but I absolutely loathe it on bread. I have no idea why.

2. I can’t look at roadkill. I’m reduced to tears whenever I see any dead animals on the road.

3. I think that all pedophiles should be strung up, their cocks cut off without the benefit of anaesthetic, and salt rubbed into the spot where their dick used to be.

4. I love Shannon McKenna’s heroes, I shouldn’t and I know it’s wrong, but I can’t help myself. I’m undergoing therapy as we speak.

5. I’m anal about cleanliness in our bathroom. I use bleach everytime I use the toilet, and I make TTG do the same thing. In our new house, we’ll have three bathrooms, and one of them is going to be exclusively mine. TTG knows not to argue about this.

6. I have a thing about eggs. I love them. I once ate 12 eggs at the same time.

7. Even though I’m a huge sports fan, I’m a girly girl. I love big ear-rings, silver clangy bangles, and big gaudy necklaces, and pretty shoes. Doesn’t every girl?

8. I spent £140 ($266) (off the rack from Debenhams) on a Ben De Lisi dress yesterday, and didn’t tell TTG. He’ll love me wearing it, so it’s well worth the money. *g*

OK, that’s that. I’m not tagging anybody. I simply can’t be arsed.