Spicy Books

this absolutely all it promises to be! great, strong characters and unpredicatable action in asemi-historic setting. And love...

Brenna McIntyre, beautifully clothed in silken gowns is nonetheless detested and abused in her home. Yet she carries on, ever the lady. Far from being horrified at the idea of an arranged marriage, she hopes for one; to escape the household where she lives. A marriage will be an improvement she is sure, until she meets the unfathonable gaze of Viscount Halstead. The viscount is a handsome man and no mistake, but he is cold, and we, like Brenna, feel the "impending doom."

Although this seems a familar story to this point, an unpredicatable twist tears Brenna away, to dangers unforseen. She seems to have escaped the doom that awaited her. The men that come into her life seem at once are far more dangerous and yet, kindly; difficult but (we hope) well meaning. Only slowly will events, and motivations, become clear. Her journey is both difficult and revealing. Class and lifestyle differences in young America certainly introduce her to some measure of culture clash.

I love Robin Schone's writing style. Not overly contrived and flowery, and not flat and boring--just right!. She strongly describes her characters mentally which in-turn, in my opinion, gives the reader the power to improvise in other areas where light description is used, which we are fully capable of doing.

I liked Elaine filling in as Morrigan, still a bit stuffy even though she is from our era,contemporary, she still has 20th century hang ups---doesn't have a model figure is shy about being naked, some things never change whatever century you come from I would expect. Also not everyone is having flagrant oral sex--she is a bit taken aback when Charles makes the move. She is savvy enough to be conservative at first with her speech, she is morally not ready to commit adultery (more of the mind than the body!. I would have been colossally disappointed if she had come in and blown everyone away with her 20th century values and brain, she would have been on the next carriage to Bedlam.

Charles, fantastic guy, pretty much everything a hero should be. Many times the men characters get the standard big tough guy, strong mentally and physically,( yes this is important, no short fat guys that definitely would not sell). I thought perhaps towards the end we didn't see enough of Charles' full emotional process with this wifely insanity aspect. We get a pretty good indication with Charles and I loved the fleshing out of his character, I could have heard more and more. I felt that we got a little short-changed on his full thought process when we got to the insanity business. I wanted to delve into his mind, him putting 2 and 2 together or his suffering as he went over and over things in his mind. He was definitely an emotional and thinking individual (Pam Rosenthal's `Almost a Gentleman has a good solid character something like this--love that guy also!) and that is what made him so strong. I happen to think that the scene outside the stables where Charles tells Elaine/Morrigan to dress warmly for dinner because it's going to be a chill night(he's pissed)--then he pivots walks away whistling is the best. It was so thunderclap clear in my brain when I read it that I had to read it over.
I will definitely buy more from this author, she has a captivating writing style as well as intelligent and carefully considered content.

It sits in a place of honor next to Lora Leigh's Forbidden Pleasure. I re-read it evey few months, when I am dying for an intelligently written, well crafted story with lots of hot,tanilyzing erotic immaging.
I loved Diana Galdbon's Outlander Series, have read it through Snow and Ashes, three times, but for a stand alone book I would have to rank Robin Schone's Awaken My Love, way ahead just on origionality alone. I really loved it, it has a quality that is difficult to put into words but I think about it when I read other books and wish they had it too.

has the authors typical style. very earthy, adds alittle humor and allows the reader to feel the confusion of a woman dropped back in time. nice romance asw well.

This is the 2nd time travel romance I've read in a week and both have the same problem. Both completely miss the endless, creative opportunities the premise of time travel provides them. In both, the heroines are passive weak nitwits with no skills, common sense, active input into their own lives, or knowledge of history. Really frustrating!!!!

In this book, Elaine, a 39 year old data analyst is married to a very nice, boring, passionless husband who loves her but is terribly dull in bed. Luckily, Elaine is transported back in time within the first few pages of the book to 1883 and into the body of Morrigan, a beautiful 19 year old who has just been deflowered by her sex starved, English Baron husband, Charles. He finally has put his foot down after letting her remain a "virgin" for the first year of their marriage hoping she'd eventually become willing, which she never does. Morrigan is cold and has secrets of her own. But don't get too excited about the premise. My frustration started almost immediately upon Elaine going back in time. Elaine first thinks she's dreaming, then figuring out what has happened, decides not to talk because she fears her Yankee accent (coming out of Morrigan's mouth) will make people suspicious and they'll throw her in an insane asylum. (Please! Lame!) So for the first half of the book, Elaine doesn't talk claiming a "putrid throat". She also meekly takes all sorts of abuse from Hattie, her scottish Servant (or whatever Hattie is) whose nonstop ranting verbal abuse quickly becomes excrutiatingly tiresome , especially since Elaine does absolutely nothing to stop her SERVANT from abusing her. Again, this is compounded by her refusal to speak or exert her own will. Why??? You'd hope as a woman from the 21st Century she'd be smart and resourceful and have knowledge that would put her at a distinct advantage, or at the very least, be entertaining. Yet this is never really explored. In fact the fact that she's from the future is barely part of the book at all. No mention of history to come or even a reference to pop culture or technology in the future. Worse, Elaine acts more like she's from the 11th century rather than the 21st. She seeming has a total inability to exert her mind or will...if she even has a will of her own. It was so insanely frustrating to read! Also at age 39, having been married for numerous years, (before going back in time) she is incredibly sexually niave and acts like a dumb virgin. Give me a break. Her 1883 husband teaches her all about sex and the kama sutra, like she's never heard of it or oral sex before, etc. It's stupid.

To top it off, the "rules of the world" are never really defined. How did Elaine get into Morrigan's body? And how is Morrigan able to all of sudden start jumping into different bodies? Elaine is going along having great explicit sex with her 1883 hubby, Charles, when suddenly Morrigan starts leaving Elaine troublesome notes in her bedroom. Through the notes she describes how she was transported into Elaine's body in the future, was committed to an insane asylum by Elaine's 21st Century hubby for being so different, and then died. But somehow Morrigan comes back to 1883 and inhabits another body and is watching Elaine...the big mystery is whose? Elaine has to find out. Regardless, it's clear Morrigan's bad and wants to destroy Elaine. Elaine, of course, can't figure out how to do anything let alone how to transport herself anywhere, and to be honest, the author wasn't explaining it either. By this point, I was maybe 3 chapters from the end but I got fed up and stopped reading. I'm actually mad I bought the book.

Awaken, My Love by Robin Schone is a 1995 historical time travel sad book. It doesn't leave the reader happy but almost releived that is over. Elaine finds herself back in late 1800's in someone else body. Instead of being a strong 1990's women she is upset and lost. Lots of evil and sadness - it had potential just wasn't great.

I thought this book would be more than what it was. The information is great, and really well researced, but the book itself isnt so hot. No color pictures, not enough pictures, and just really bland. I got it for a good price but that is really all I got out of it.

This books gives a history of peppers, not a cooking encyclopedia. I think the editors realized this so they threw in receipes as an after thought. When I first opened opened up the book I anticipating to see titles of chapters on different kinds of peppers, preparation, growing, cooking techniques etc...instead i got a history of several species of peppers that frankly didnt interest me.
I guess I will have to write a true pepper cooking encyclopedia book myself.

I returned this book to Amazon, because there were no color pictures of any of the myriad hot peppers discussed therein. There is no real way to identify a particular type of pepper with only a black and white drawing/photo.

As someone who taught school from elementary to university level, I can say that learners, especially me, would greatly benefit by viewing color photos of the various hot peppers discussed in this publication.

This is truly an encyclopedia, giving more detail and history than most folks would ever want to know about the chili pepper. For the chili-head, though, it is must have knowledge. I enjoyed it.

I purchased this book with hopes of having some detailed information and color pictures of about most of the major types of peppers out there. That is not in this book.

As a book goes, it's a fairly decent book, plenty of interesting information about peppers, recipes, information about different types, South American cultures and so on, but the photos are only black and white, and no detailed photos of peppers or plants are in the book. I think that calling it an encyclopedia was a misnomer.

As a do-it-yourselfer of limited skill, I'm always excited to see Ros Creasy come out with a new book. She covers a lot of ground (no pun intended) in how to use peppers as a decorative plant as well as one to bring into the kitchen. Bravo!

The author never really focusses on a paricular audience. She speaks to those who have never grown peppers, but then provides an encyclopedia of varieties which should be grown. Unfortunately, seed and plant sources for many of the varieties are not provided. This is dissapointing, and makes me suspect of the book. Describing a fantastic variety in detail, but not providing a source to obtain it, is wrong. I could write lots of books like that.
Recipes look good.

In THE EDIBLE PEPER GARDEN, Rosalind Creasy demonstrates a variety of ways to grow both sweet and hot peppers (beds along the driveway,in the flower bed next to the street or in containers). I very much appreciated some of her tips about pepper plants such as warning the reader that temperatures can be either too hot or too cool, especially for potted pepper plants, and that PH balanced soil is important for happy peppy plants. Apparently, not only can pepper fruits experience sunscald, the pepper plant roots can literally be cooked on the south side of the pot. And, pepper plants like soil on the sweet side.

I knew very little about hot peppers before 2004 (I'm growing them for my parrots who likes them very much), but I found most of what I need to know in Creasy's book. This spring, I purchased six pepper plants from Seeds of Change, and promptly mixed them up when I repotted them. Creasy includes many great photos and a section with pictures with text descriptions of the main pepper plant categories, so thanks to her I think I've just about sorted them out. This book is not an encyclopedia however, and as a result of my carelessness, I am still trying to determine the identity of two of the plants. Type matters, apparently, as Creasy says some peppers are best harvested green while others should be allowed to ripen. If you are interested in growing peppers in pots or garden beds, this is a great place for the novice to begin.

I have a hugh selection of pepper books, this is one of the best. Great illustrations, good listing of pepper types and sources, and great, yet simple receipes. If you grow peppers , as I do, the section on gardening is straight forward. A hint, always grow larger types in a cage.

Postmodern comics at their worst. If you can't draw and can't write, you're sure to be a big success!

Nicole Hollander tells it like it is; she is a genius. Sylvia speaks the truth, and sometimes the truth ain't pretty. (...)

Nicole Hollander's characters, such as the Love Cop who keeps apart doomed couples, The Woman Who Lives More Beautifully than You Do (you know who she is!) and of course, Sylvia are hilarous. She skewers social phenomna and politics and even reveals the secret thoughts of pets. More Nicole Hollander collections please!

I found that basically all chili recipes are really the same with just a pinch of differences. I was inpressed with the personalities that had contributed their own personal recipes. My wife was impressed with the recipes for some of the other Mexican dishes and we will be trying them soon. So this is more that just a book of similar chili recipes---it offers a variety of other dishes

This recipe book is more for the kitchen sink cook. You know, find what you can around the kitchen put it in a pot and call it "Chilli" Well, I wasn't impressed. Most of the recipes didn't even appeal to me. (Uh, ketchup is never an ingredient to put into chilli for any reason....yuk!)

The book was fine and made a great gift. Amazon screwed up not only the order by the credit back to my account.

This book definitely focuses more on the "gourmet" side of things, so you won't find too many of the recipes you've come to know and love from that tin shack truck stop off the dirt road in Chimayo. There are still some gems in here, but my single biggest complaint has to be about the fact that the entire thing is printed in red ink. Not dark red, either; bright, vibrant, difficult-to-keep-your-eyes-on-the-page red. I'm sure somebody thought it would be a cute gimmick, but it wears off instantly.

The red chile bible has brought the exciting red chile into my life and I am very grateful to the authors for creating such a masterpiece! I would recommend this bible to beginners and aficionados alike.

I ordered this book with high expectations which were quickly dispelled after opening the book. I guess the title is justified by a mild twist on words(ie. "Appeteaser") becuase I find no other reason for it. However, the fact that this piece of garbage(which I returned so minus one of those) has sold over 400, 000 copies has motivated me to wrie my own book. Thanks.

Sure, cook in the nude. Just wear an apron if you are working with hot grease. Be well.

I have been using the first 2 vol. for years. I saw this one and was really excited to get it, however I was really disappointed. This book has a whole new feel, not like the other 2 at all. The typing of the recipe names at the top of each page is hard to just glance at and read. There are too many curly letters and you have to really look to decipher it. Unlike in vol. 1 and 2 the ingredient list is listed on the side of the page in column form and the cooking method is also in column form beside it. It makes making notes on a recipe hard. She still has serving suggestions and has included time and yield. And she refers to other recipes in vol. 1 and 2.
The "main dishes" is separated into Chicken, Meat and Lamb, and Seafood which is nice. If you are looking for more good recipes you have a hit, but the overall feel is not easy to read. I guess it will just take time, but I feel the first 2 vol. will always be my favorite and what I will look in first. Oh and I wish I had the spiral binding instead of the library binding which I didn't notice when I ordered from Amazon.

Not as useful as other two volumes. Not worth what I paid for it.