Satisfaction Guaranteed by Lucy Monroe

I'd been eagerly awaiting Lucy Monroe's latest, the first in a new series, for some time. I loved her Ready, Willing, and Able series. So I was expecting good things from Satisfaction Guaranteed. However, I was sorely disappointed in Satisfaction Guaranteed.

I rarely get frustrated with romance novels. There are some things you just accept about the genre and generally I overlook the cliched elements that often pop-up. It's entertainment. I'm not looking for or expecting a literary masterpiece. However, I found myself literally rolling my eyes while reading Satisfaction Guaranteed.

Beth's internal monologues, while she and Ethan were supposed to be in the throws of passion, were tedious, distracting and terribly cliched. As far as hero's go, I felt Ethan was quite lacking. I didn't feel like either character had any real depth. Rarely, do I have to struggle so much through a book. I was so bummed to, as I 'd so been looking forward to this. Hopefully, the next in the series will be better.....

Grade: C

Desert Island Picks

If you were stranded on a desert island what 10 books would you want?

While browsing the responses to the question posed on Nancy Pearl's Book Lust wiki I found myself thinking, "Yea, right!" The responses included The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, T.S. Elliot and Charles Dickens. I don't know about you, but I'd choose those only if I wanted to bore myself to death! I had to read these authors for my undergraduate degree. As an English major, I knew what I was getting into and had no right to complain. However, if I were trapped on a desert island and was only allowed 10 books, they would not be books with serious literary value. No sirree, I would choose completely based on entertainment value. My desert island list does not include any staples of Classic Literature. Let's be honest here, when you go on vacation do you lug around a Complete Works of Shakespeare? Not normally! So, here is my completely non-Academic, non-literary(but by God, I'd be enjoying my self) desert island book list!

My preference for reading books in a series makes this difficult, as I'd want the whole series but sometimes we have to make tough decisions....here goes nothing!

1. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, the first in the Outlander series. While I love all the books in this series, none compare to how Jamie and Claire's story began!

2. Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie. Crusie is a master of writing heartfelt stories complete with humor, sizzle and a dachshund or two. While I don't believe there is a dachshund in this book, it is full of humor and fun!

3. Four to Score by Janet Evanovich. The fourth book in her hilariously, quirky Stephanie Plum Bounty-Hunter series, I found the antics of Stephanie, Lula and Grandma Mazur to be particularly laugh-out-loud funny!

4. The Killing Dance by Laurell K. Hamilton. Book 6 in Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series, Anita struggles for her feelings between Jean-Claude, vampire and the Master of the City, and Richard, middle school teacher and leader of the local were-wolf pack.

5. Jamie by Lori Foster. This is the final installment of her Visitation series. Jamie, a mysterious, but appealing character in the other Visitation books, finally gets his story told and it couldn't be soon enough for the fans of this series. Throughout the series the reader's curiosity builds about the mysterious loner and finally, our curiosity gets satisfied!

6. Lucky's Lady by Tami Hoag. One of the first romance's I ever read, to this day it is still one of my favorites! Lucky, the Cajun hero, is one of the most memorable hero's in the romance genre. Gotta love a little spice in your life!

7. Heart of Fire by Linda Howard. Having read most of Howard's works I can confidently say this is by far one of my favorites! Heart of Fire is action packed with plenty of sizzling romance between the hero, Ben Lewis and the heroine, Jillian Sherwood.

8. Out of Control by Suzanne Brockmann. Part of Brockmann's Navy SEAL Troubleshooter series, Out of Control is Ken "Wildcard" Karmody's story. Throughout the series Wildcard was one of my favorite characters and it was good to finally see Wildcard get his own story.

9. Lady Be Good by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips! She, perhaps more than any other author I've read, can create characters you both love and, at times, wish you could throttle. Case in point, Kenny Traveler. Immediately, his warped sense of humor appeals to me but his apparent laziness makes me want to smack him around a tad bit! In the end the chemistry between Kenny and Lady Emma is irresistible!

10. Open Season by Linda Howard. Yep, two from the same author! As a librarian, I couldn't have my top 10 desert island reads without representing my beloved profession! Daisy Minor, a mild mannered librarian turns out to be nothing but trouble for police chief, Jack Russo.