Blake Books

I discovered this treasure at my local library.
I knew I had to buy it. Each essay
is full of valuable information and
inspiration. Whether you are a professional
writer or hope to be someday, this book will motivate
and challenge you to Just Do It!!
Thanks and kudos to Mr. Mettee and
all the contributing authors!

As a full-time freelance writer, former editor, and former publisher, I haven't gotten this excited about a new writing book in a long time. This isn't just another tired overview of the same articles on the same topics; this book is packed with in-depth information on every aspect of the writing business. It paid for itself immdiately in providing me with valuable references and information that helped me with a current project; it should be on every writer's bookshelf

I looked through this book and sent it back. Nothing new, just the usual info so while it might help if you're just starting out, there are lots of similar books out there - the title's a little misleading, it doesn't really take the place of attending a writer's conference.

The Portable Writers' Conference is an unusual book. An anthology on writing, it is like going to a writers' conference-without leaving home. And it is a great conference because each of the contributed pieces is by one of the best in the business. Fascinating, educational and fun. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com, author of Writing Nonfiction: Turning Thoughts into Books.

This hefty volume chock full of gold! There are tons of articles written by accomplished/published writers -- these are not so much articles of their own experiences, as they are sort of "how to" type articles that are very helpful to the reader. Topping all that off there is a section called "Writer's Resources" which includes questions to ask literary agents, standard manuscript format, proofreader's marks, royalties and advances, average book print runs, sample magazine writer's guidelines, sample book publisher's writer's guidelines, magazines and newsletters of interest to writers, and the list goes on and on. Having recently attended a writer's conference, I can see that this book would indeed be helpful to people who have never been to one as well as people who have. This book is a font of helpful information & insightful articles -- truly a pot of gold! Buy one, you'll be glad you did!

I just finished reading this book and I must say I'm very impressed. Alistair has written a no-holds barred book about his history with the Beatles that is frank, controversial at times and just plain entertaining. While I'd say some of the things he claims are probably based on personal opinion versus fact, I think he's done so out of loyalty not only to the Beatles themselves, but to his employer and mentor, Brian Epstein. There are some amazing stories in there as only Brian's "Mr. Fixit" can tell, like the time John told him "buy me an island", to nightly late-night visits from a crying Paul McCartney after his break-up with Jane Asher. The story of "The Long & Winding Road" brought tears to my eyes, and I couldn't help but laugh out-loud at some of the things John said and did to him. Alistair was a very simple man, with simple needs and he only tells the stories he was there for. After he was "sacked" as the chairman of Apple, the book ends. I think he figured if it didn't happen to him, he had no right to talk about it. Read it!

I was very excited to see this book published as I am a big Beatle fan and there are not many "insiders" who have written books. While this book was interesting enough, ninety percent of it would already be known by a serious Beatle fan. Also, the emphasis of the book is on Brian Epstein and Paul McCartney. If you are a fan of George Harrison or Ringo Starr, you will be disappointed as they are rarely mentioned individually.

I believe Alistair writes it as he remembers it. When facts here differ from other versions, I think he honestly believes what he tells in this book. Aside from Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans, he was probably the next closest insider to them from early to the end. He questions Peter Brown's version which is interesting to note. Much here is anecdotal and told in a conversational manner. It is true that there are not too many secrets revealed, but like other "insider" accounts,it does shed light on it all. Most interesting is how the Fabs refused his calls when Allen Klein gave him the ax. Oh, and Taylor co-authored "Hello Goodbye" but is too humble to ask for his name as co-writer.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to know the other side of the Beatles. It is written in simple language and English colloquial terms and phrases which are very easily understandable. It is basically a rectification, as the author claims, of a considerable amount of myths or rumours about the Beatles and Brian Epstein, their manager. The author also described his personal relationship with Brian Epstein and the Beatles.
As a personal assistant of Mr. Epstein, the author had first hand knowledge of the personality and daily affairs of his boss as well as the artists his boss was managing. That gave the author a certain amount of credibility in the account he made in the book and I have no reason to doubt otherwise. Overall, the author seemed to have an excellent working relationship with Mr. Epstein and the individual members of the Beatles. Nevertheless, he had committed the biggest mistake of being an employee of an institution- he did not merely consider himself as an employee, he became too personal with his boss (Mr. Epstein earlier and, following his death in 1967, the Beatles later) and even regarded, viewed and treated himslf as a close friend of his boss, particularly with Paul McCartney (as he claimed to be).
That is very dangerous. A friend is a friend, a good friend is a good friend, a close friend is a close friend, but a boss is and always remains as a boss. You do not have a close friend who is also your boss and vice versa. It is also doubtful whether your boss will view and treat you as a friend, a good friend or a close friend even though you feel, claim or treat yourself to be so. Mind you, you work hard for your boss and make a living from the salary he pays you for your hard work. Your boss will not pay you a salary just because you are his friend, his good friend or his close friend. He pays you because you are worth to be his employee, and your ability as an employee is worth for the amount of pay and worth to be employed continuously. If you are not worth your pay, your salary will be cut. If you are not worth to be continuously employed, you are fired. It is as simple as that. Your boss will not stop firing you just because you think you are (or treat yourself to be) his friend, a good friend or a close friend. Being an employee, you must draw up for yourself a line not to cross from being an employee of someone to being too personal with that person. If you fail to do so or if you allow yourself to cross that line your judgment would be clouded resulting in your work messing up with your personal feelings.That would affect your work in an adverse manner, and will not be leading you to a successful (professional) career.
If the author was careful enough not to have become or to have enabled or allowed himself to become a friend of his boss, he would not have had such a terrible resentment after being rejected and fired by the Beatles (and I believe he still bears a grudge against the Beatles considerably).
My account sounds very cruel. Nevertheless we are living in a cruel commercial world and we must always protect ourselves and not allow our feelings from being hurt by anyone within our business circle.

I don't know, for some reason I was already doubting the validity of this book when I read the little bio of the author on the dust jacket describing Taylor as "the ultimate Beatles insider". It also said that "only one person knows exactly what was behind the Fab Four." Please! Actually, only the four Beatles knew that and then only what was in their own individual minds. We are not a race of telepaths!

I should right off tell you that Alistair worked for the Beatles or more correctly, their manager, for a period of years and then was fired and after not amounting to much in life after that is finally exposing all their secrets for the world to know! This book is packaged like a National Enquirer but the inside is quite tame.

Taylor hired on to Brian Epsteins record store and discovered alongside Epstein those then scruffy, cursing, leather-clad teddy boys who would later become our suit wearing Fab Four playing in the Cavern Club. Alistair soon came to be called "Mr. Fix-it" by the Beatles and handled all the grub work of the group and Epstein. This book tells about his years with the Beatles, and offers nothing shocking but still is entertaining for some of the personal anecdotes. For example, one time when George Harrison wanted to look at a house, he disguises himself as a chauffeur while Taylor and Patti Harrison charade themselves as a married couple looking at mansions. It does offer glimpses at the personalities of all the Beatles but only in snatches.

The Beatle that Taylor seemed to be closest to and gets the most attention in the book is Paul McCartney. Taylor makes a big deal of how Paul had to cry on his shoulder, literally after his break up with Jane Asher in the 60s. It is basically put on that Taylor was the only person Paul could turn to and there's a little too much self-satisfaction in his reaction to it. Look at me, I was there for a Beatle!

Ringo is hardly even mentioned and is even insulted in my opinion. He seems to be characterized as dumb and just lucky to have landed in the band. John is seen as a genius while Paul is just a good songwriter. George, like Ringo, doesn't really appear in the book even though Alistair does mention that he could have been a good songwriter in his own right if he had stuck up for himself. I guess this erases the fact that towards the end he was writing better songs than Lennon or McCartney (Something/ Here Comes the Sun).

I took a lot of this book with a grain of salt. It feels too much the work of a disgruntled ex-employee sometimes. Or the work of wounded friend who believes in the aftermath of rejection that he had a special connection with the Beatles when it seems as if he was just an acquaintance. With the packaging of the book, it seems like an exploitation. Sometimes, it almost feels like Taylor is going to say "If it hadn't been for me, the Beatles would never have existed."

It is not a secret history. I learned nothing new. Just heard some new stories about the boys personalities, but no new facts. But I did like it though. I welcome any new perspective, however biased, about the greatest group that has ever been....well, ever been to this point.

I definetly enjoyed the 9 short stories. They all took an issue that resonates today and brought it to a futuristic level.

Says the editor: "I asked the contributors to this anthology to write about paradigm shifts-technological, scientific, political, or cultural-and how individuals and societies deal with such changes. The idea is to challenge our current paradigms and speculate on how they might evolve in the future, either for better or for worse."

The authors each contribute a brief introduction or scene-setting for each story.

A short book, so pretty much all short stories as opposed to anything longer, but rather good for an original anthology, at 3.67. Although no particular standout, there are several good stories to be found here, basically at the start, and at the end of the anthology.

I'd basically call this a 4.25. Adams has done well producing a theme anthology where all stories are actually relevant to the mission statement, if you like. He is doing a very nice job as an editor so far.

Also nice to see electronic versions of this are available, as well.

Seeds Of Change : N-Words - Ted Kosmatka
Seeds Of Change : The Future by Degrees - Jay Lake
Seeds Of Change : Drinking Problem - K. D. Wentworth
Seeds Of Change : Endosymbiont - Blake Charlton
Seeds Of Change : A Dance Called Armageddon - Ken MacLeod
Seeds Of Change : Arties Aren't Stupid - Jeremiah Tolbert
Seeds Of Change : Faceless in Gethsemane - Mark Budz
Seeds Of Change : Spider the Artist - Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Seeds Of Change : Resistance - Tobias S. Buckell

Another good story by Kosmatka. I suppose the writer he reminds me of the most with the recent handful of stories is Robert Reed. Certainly good company.

The future issue he is taking a look at is cloning. The US has banned certain lines of research on religious grounds, so all the best cutting edge work happens elsewhere.

First with dogs, then the extinct Tasmanian Tiger, prehistoric mammoths, and, of course, finally making it to the Homo genus.

A leading scientist gets a Neanderthal skull. The results surprise, and a new minority becomes a target for r@cism.

A bit of flashforward and flashback here that seems to work ok.

Hopefully he can continue to come up with regular work given the recent quality.

4 out of 5


A small company comes up with a device that can take waste heat and reuse and/or store it for later, at over 90% efficiency.

Lake makes explicit reference to the Silkwood case, and again, here, people are willing to indulge in violence to protect their energy industry profits. He does have one authority figure on his side, an FBI agent who lost some of her family in a fire in cheap housing.

A lot more straightforward sort of story than some of the Weird work he has done in the past.

4 out of 5


In a book like this looking at future issues, you could certainly have a problem with the whole thing being decidedly downbeat.

This is certainly not the case with Wentworth's story. Here, a new reusable bottle proves to be on a par with The Talkie Toaster in Red Dwarf, except smarter and with more uses - although the two devices likely would get along well.

The story told via a hapless husband who buys one to drink with at his local bar without knowing what he is getting into.

4 out of 5


A young cancer patient in the future starts to question her reality in the hospital she is currently living in. This leads to a story on human anti-AI fears and posthuman ethical transfer research with a choice of whether or not an Ouroborous situation, termination, or something lesser is appropriate.

3.5 out of 5


In the intro MacLeod says he couldn't think of much until he got all pessimistic. He wasn't kidding.

Maybe you could call this a Scottish loser story, as a man watches a world war on the tv at the pub "The scene is apocalyptic: US, UK, Israeli, and Jordanian units in continuous engagements with much larger armies of Syrians, Russians, and Iranians. Tank battles, artillery duels, airstrikes, naval bombardments. Every minute or so one of the live-action screens goes white as a tactical nuke explodes."

Black jokes and Culloden references are the order of the day here, as things are not going well.

3 out of 5


A youth subculture's rebellion style is interwoven into their art, and a new twist is that with the particular instantiation technologies available, they can make stuff live. If they get a bit of technical advice and don't get arrested.

Told in a style that reflects their lingua franca. A little Dark Angel, even.

3.5 out of 5


Budz's introduction says this story idea grew out of a real condition, that of not being able to recognise faces. Here, a group of people alter themselves so they cannot identify people by race when seeing them: "..any of the people you look at gain by you being faceblind? Well for one thing I dont prejudge people the way I used to. I dont automatically assign a whole bunch of cultural baggage to someone based on a bunch of misconceptions, preconceptions, or stereotypes. Not everyone has that problem, Fran said. Im not saying they do. All Im saying is that I did, and I took steps to correct it. I didnt want to see the world the way I used to. Before the surgery, Id look at a person sometimes and misread them, see things that werent there. Now, there arent any facial miscues. I see people for who they really are.

This, of course, weirds people out, or makes them angry. A slightly creepy story that build.

3 out of 5


"Some of these pipelines carry diesel fuel, others carry crude oil. Millions of liters of it a day. Nigeria supplies twenty-five percent of United States oil. And we get virtually nothing in return. Nothing but death by Zombie attack. We can all tell you stories."

The Zombies in this case are security robots that guard the pipeline from being broken into and tapped for the use of the exploited locals. In this atmosphere of local oppression a woman discovers a strange relationship with one of the robots, thanks to a bit of Bob Marley music, among others. Some robots have better taste than others?

Still, lots of petroleum products and killer attack robots is always going to be an exposive situation.

A good story, and the editor has managed to get a fine example of work set in other than your usual locations, here.

4 out of 5


A story set in the author's Ragamuffin universe, again featuring, Pepper, whose superhuman talents would appear to lend themselves to being his favorite agent of change.

A society has handed over their voting to emulation of how AIs model predictions of how they would and/or should vote. Not everyone agrees this is such a great idea, some going so far as to disagree in a 'let's blow this the hell up' fashion.

A more overt in the middle of the action tale.

4 out of 5

Seeds of Change is an anthology that contains nine short stories confronting issues that our society faces today such as: racism, global warming, peak oil, technological advancement, and political revolution. All with a Science Fiction twist. This is a book that activist will enjoy, and if as readers, we don't understand the problems our world faces, Seeds of Change can really open our eyes to them. I really enjoyed what John Joseph Adams has done here. As an author and editor he has put this information out there in an entertaining way, in an attempt at making people more aware.

The authors are knowledgeable about the issues, and have taken the time to write intelligent Scifi stories for readers to enjoy. Seeds of Change is a fantastic addition to anyone's book collection, and I highly recommend it to all readers to check it out. John has also put together a great website for Seeds of Change that contains three free stories (with excerpts of the rest), as well as interviews, author bios, and a book trailer featuring dramatized excerpts of each story and an original musical score. http://www.seedsanthology.com/ Don't forget to go there and check that out :)

"How did my body die?" asks 14- year- old chemo patient Stephanie of Jani, a pediatric resident at a virtual San Francisco Children's Hospital. By now, the reader is fully aware that author Blake Charlton has taken us into the dystopian world of virtual medicine, where patients' minds can be reset at the sound of a word, technophobes worry about "posthumans" gaining too much power and abusing it and neuroprocessors take over the brain in a dead body, turning people into "endosymbionts", the equivalent of a bacteria that borrows life by feeding off its host organism. The precocious, knowledge-hungry Stephanie embarks on a cyber quest for truth that involves "unprogramming" a nurse, seeing a "cyber shrink" that breaks the rules of psychoanalysis by threatening to "delete" patients (what shrink doesn't wish they could sometimes?) and concocting a Borgesian, pre-existing plan for allowing neuroprocessors to endocytose morality. Little does Stephanie know yet what a key role in her own farfetched idea she'll play. In yet the last and most important symbiosis of the story, her plan will engulf her turning her into a martyr of the moral neurotech evolution that promises to make the world a better place. The symbol for this interdependency is perhaps best illustrated by the ubiquitous image of the snake eating its own tail that opens and closes the narrative and reinforced by the last name "Mandala", a Buddhist circular diagram, emblem of cosmic order and harmony. Charlton is skillful at making the perfect circularity of these recurrent motifs transcend the thematic aspect to contaminate, like the bacteria at the heart of the story, the textual structure: opening and closing with the same image the story itself becomes a perfect circle that envelops us. The young author crafts a thought-provoking story at the intersection of medicine and technology but manages to bring both fields of knowledge in manageable doses for the lay reader. Our consciousness as readers is thus momentarily uploaded too, and we are forced to suspend our disbelief to imagine a possible, alternative world that may not reside too far into our future.

This collection edited by slush god John Joseph Adams contains stories of paradigm shifts in the future (this review is based on an Advanced Reader Copy; the anthology is scheduled for release late August 2008). From his introduction:

"I asked the contributors to this anthology to write about paradigm shifts - technological, scientific, political, or cultural--and how individuals and societies deal with such changes. The idea is to challenge our current paradigms and speculate on how they might evolve in the future, either for better or for worse."

Many of the stories, instead of being about future paradigm shifts, are projections of current issues or ailments (racism, global warming, corporate spies and piracy) into the future but also contain new shifts brought about by new technology and ethical issues about usage (how should we or even should we not) of these new technologies.

The anthology starts with a bang, with a story of future prejudice. Of the nine stories Endosymbiont by Blake Charlton, Spider the Artist by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu and Drinking Problem by K.D. Wentworth were my personal favorites.

* N-Words by Ted Kosmatka; eloquently captures the passion and pain of past and current prejudice and echoes them onto a future where a certain type of clones have become the latest persecuted ethnics.
* The Future by Degrees by Jay Lake; a solution is developed for efficient energy usage (little waste heat, high efficiency) and everyone will kill to get it;
* Drinking Problem by K.D. Wentworth; DNA coded one-per-customer-per-lifetime beer bottles with AI chips and various conversational modes make this story more horror than scifi for a committed beer drinker like myself.
* Endosymbiont by Blake Charlton; virtual medicine plus the ability to upload people's consciousness into "nueroprocessors" are the technology that supports Blake Charlton's story of creating a new type of post-human. The main character is a young girl who was suffering from cancer, and was the first "uploaded", before the technophobes pushed through laws governing such creatures, to make sure they didn't pull a Terminator and take over the world. This was a superbly written story revolving around well-defined characters with excellent science to back it up.
* A Dance Called Armageddon by Ken MacLeod; the fifteenth winter of the Faith War, a reminder of the never-ending struggle between Christianity, Muslims and Jews fighting for who's interpretation is most correct, and a reminder that though only a small percentage of us are there, wars affect us all. Nice description of the Sony Ericsson Cyber-sight upgrade glasses as well.
* Arties Aren't Stupid by Jeremiah Tolbert; genetically manufactured classes of "humans", some braniacs, some tin-men, some thicknecks and some arties (artistic), break out their mold, freeing themselves and inflicting change upon the order of their world. The wording of the conversation got in the way a little (arties aren't stupid, but they do talk funny), but the story was quite excellent.
* Faceless in Gethsemane by Mark Budz; if you could have surgery to remove the impression of faces, would you? What would you see, and how would not jumping to first impressions about how someone looked or what color their skin is change you? There is an air of prejudice and persecution in this story that I'm not sure I agree with (would people really protest because other people modified how they perceive other's faces?) but the concepts are interesting, the story well written...and it reminds me of when I rubbed my closed eyelids and saw colors and visions (Mr. Budz, I thought it was just me.)
* Spider the Artist by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu; a beatutifully written story about man (woman) and machine, set what Nigeria is and may continue to become: a country raped and pillaged for it's oil, where it's people lose hope but continue somehow to search for hope...and find it amongst the aritificially intelligent keepers of the pipelines. Music soothes the savage AI beast, it seems.
* Resistance by Tobias S. Buckell; Pepper, of Mr. Buckell's Crystal Rain, Ragamuffin and the forthcoming Sly Mongoose, is hired to take out the dictator of a techno-democracy. Similar to a society in Sly Mongoose, this world (Haven) gave everyone a vote on everything; but they tired of that and created AI's to vote as they would. Then the AI's created the ruler "Pan". Was it their own vote, or did the AI take over? The only Pepper story I've read with a low (zero) body count.

Penny Halloran has been dating Martin for three months and even though the physical side of their relationship has not gone beyond good night kisses at the door and hand holding he has asked her to marry him. Martin is in his thirties now, wants to have children before he is too old to enjoy them, and thinks that he and Penny make a good team. Penny agrees they are well suited to each other, but as she mulls over her answer she also realizes that sex is important to her as well and before she says yes or now she wants to find out if she and Martin are sexually compatible. Knowing that Martin was going out of town the next day Penny, who owns a sandwich shop with her sister, sends him a note with his sandwich that reads: "Meet me tonight. Ten o'clock. Corner of Fourth and Walnut. And be ready for anything." Having even gone so far as to rent a limo, Penny intends to take Martin for a test drive.

The dark interior of the back of the limo gives Penny the freedom to do "Something Wild" and that evening what happens exceeds her expectations. If she was going to make her decision based on how great the sex was then the answer is most definitely "yes." The only problem is that Martin has already left town and when Ryan Pierce, a new employee at the software company who is using the boss's computer while he is away find the sandwich and the note from Penny the Sandwich Girl from downstairs, he is surprised the shy young woman would hit on him like this and shocked after enjoying a session of wild sex in the back of the limo. However, when the voice in the dark declares her willingness to marry him, he has to draw the line.

Toni Blake's "Something Wild" is one of "The Wrong Bed" stories in the Harlequin Temptation series, although, more accurately, this would be the wrong car. Of course Penny is shocked that she has had wild sex with someone who is almost a complete stranger, but although she is mortified she cannot get away from the fact that it was really great sex. However, the Fates are not yet down with Penny, because Martin gave Ryan her account and the two have to work together on constructing a software program for her business while Martin is gone. Clearly, Penny cannot marry Martin. Now, if she could only stop having fantasies about Ryan. "Something Wild" has plenty of passion, but it also has two paper creating a real relatinship.

Your standard romance has two people overcoming the obstacles that keep them apart, but "Something Wild" takes the opposite tact as Penny and Ryan have to deal with the circumstances that keep bringing them together. The nice thing is that they both think that this simple twist of fate means something more than a cosmic accident. In trying not to talk about what happen they end up talking about plenty of other things, building a real relationship, even while their minds keep drifting back to what they did and thinking ahead to what might happen. Ironically, Ryan thinks Penny is too "wild" for him, which pretty much completes the job of turning Penny's world completely upside down. Fortunately, Ryan discovers he likes bringing out Penny's wild side.

Toni Blake has done it again. She's created a sweet and sexy girl-next-door heroine that we can all identify with. You'll want to get in touch with your wild side after you read about Penny Halloran's sexploits with the wrong guy for all the right reasons.

Did you ever have a fantasy that you wished to try out on your guy...but learn afterwards that you did it with someone else? Well, that is what happens to Penny Halloran in Toni Blake's newest book called SOMETHING WILD.

Penny delivers sandwiches to the company that Ryan Pierce works for. Penny has been dating Ryan's boss, Martin, and Martin has asked Penny to marry him. Penny decides she wants to give him her answer by living a fantasy of hers...making love in a limo.
However, the rendezvous note ends up in Ryan's sandwich and he thinks she is making a date with him. He shows up and a slightly tipsy Penny in a dark limo doesn't realize it. Afterwards, she is mortified to realize what she did, but definitely intrigued by Ryan. They get thrown together and begin to learn more about each other, and grow more attracted to one another. Ryan is eager to help Penny live her fantasies and Penny is eager to let Ryan. But in the background is Martin, Ryan's boss and potential future husband of Penny...
Definitely a fun, light and sexy book with very likable characters that one can relate to.
I found the book fast paced and a page-turner. Ms Blake used Penny's fantasies, but not with a heavy hand. It was not "sex with props" but the props were just a lead in to the love scenes. In the end, she resolved the triangle effectively and happily for everyone.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters, and hope that she gets to write about the sister, Patti, and see more of Penny and Ryan.
Toni Blake again has proven why she is a fast rising star for Harlequin who deserves a chance to write more books.

In her wonderful new book, Something Wild, Toni Blake presents readers with a courageous, intelligent heroine in Penny Halloran, a young woman who is not afraid to let go of her inhibitions to experience all that love has to offer. Wanting that special zing and sizzle we all desire, Penny seduces her boyfriend before making that final marriage committment. And when Ryan Pierce, sabotaged by his own manly desires in the past , walks into the "trap" set for his boss, he meets his match in uninhibited, sexy Penny. Once again, Ms. Blake gives us well written, intriguing characters with desires and wants after our own hearts. She takes our most secret dreams and makes them reality for Penny and Ryan!! Her latest book reinforces what I have always believed, love and passion do go hand-in-hand.

When Martin popped the question, finance Penny Halloran was a bit underwhelmed. Where was the zing? The sparkle? The omance? As she tries to answer these questions, Penny gets the awful feeling that she and Martin might be incompatible in more ways than one. So, in order to get to the bottom of the problem, Penny decides to treat Martin the Passionless to a night like he's never had before. Penny, part-owner of a restaurant, adds
something extra to Martin's regular ham and Swiss on rye and it isn't an extra dollop of mayo. It's an anonymous, mysterious invitation to meet her later that evening on the corner near his building. Sounds promising? It is. Until the suggestive little note inadvertently falls into the hands of Ryan Pierce, Martin's newest employee. His curiosity piqued, Ryan decides to accept the invitation.

What follows is a sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, but all-out sizzling love story of two people thrown together by error and how they come to terms with their attraction to each other in the face of obstacles in both their paths. Penny must deal with Martin's proposal and Ryan must deal with his vow not to mix business with pleasure. But obstacles get forgotten as attraction boils over into passion and the two must face

Toni Blake gives her readers yet another reason to love romance. Her hero, Ryan. Here's a guy who very easily could have assumed the worst about Penny and made her life miserable. I really liked the way Ms. Blake crafted him and how his actions spoken much louder than his words. Ms. Blake is definitely an author to watch.

I used this book as part of the entertainment program for a ladies tea party. One lady borrowed it from me to use at a Christmas party for her husband's (attorney) practice. It was hilarious and was enjoyed by all.

I was visiting a friend who had this book sitting out on her coffee table along with other Christmas books she was putting out in preparation for the Holiday season. While she recieved a phone call I read this short story and found it so amusing and very cute. Quentin Blake's illustrations and John Julius Norwich's creative insight will make you smile. This story is very enjoyable.

an absolutely charming little treasure. amusing correspondance with the witty and snide illustrations of quentin blake.

This book had me in fits of laughter from the start. I'm not sure why no one thought of this before - what would the recipient do with the partridge in the pear tree by the 12th day? And the question poses itself, would the recipient really be happy with the gift giver by day 6 much less by day 12? This is a fun read! Especially in a time that often lends itself to stress rather than laughter.

What a funny little book. Being a collector of Twelve Days of Christmas books this one really is a little treasure. The story is so funny, showing us the thank you letters from a young lady to her unseen admirer from the 1st till the 12th day of Christmas. First she is so thankful for her gifts she hardly don't know what to say, but as the days passes she gets more and more trouble when her fabulous gifts arrives. It will brighten any cold Christmas day when you sit reading in front of the fire.

And the wonderful illustrations by Quentin Blake makes to book into something very special, a book you can "read" over and over.

Britt Arnhild Lindland

Woman Redeemed is well-written and appears to be well-researched to give an interesting picture of what life might have been like for a woman living in Jesus' time. The description of the time period is excellent and most of Mary's story is smooth and believable. The narrative drags a little through some of the middle parts as Mary follows Jesus and several stories and parables are regurgitated from the bible. We read through the prodigal son in its entirety and the woman at the well and others. While these are fascinating, most Christians are intimately familiar with them and may be bored by the repetition in this setting. The ending is stronger though as we read about the last week of Jesus' life. Even though this is also well-known to Christians, it focuses more on Mary's reactions and makes it more relevant to her. A pleasant read overall for anyone interested in historical fiction.

Wonderful story of a common woman's journey through an extraordinary time. Blake's take on the life of Mary Magdalene is a wonderful snapshot into the life of this often misunderstood woman. It can be hard to remember that the book is indeed a work of fiction. I will be recommending to my bookclubs as it will lead to great discussion.

Christine Blake transports us to the rich and colorful region created by the Romans in the first century, and introduces us to Mary Magdalene in first person.
We meet Mary in a small boat with her brother Lazarus and her sister Martha as her story cleverly unravels in a series of remembrances that occur as she looks upon the disappearing shore of her homeland.
Through Mary Magdalene, Christine Blake tells the story of every woman's self-doubt, temptations, pain, and startling experiences against a backdrop of political ambition, industry and tradition. She brings together the intersecting lives of the Jews and Romans, fishermen, merchants, prophets, women in community and women rebels.
While this book may look small on the outside, Christine Blake has no problem delivering a huge story of redemption on a grand historical and societal stage. Celebrate womanhood in Woman Redeemed.

Woman Redeemed is an inspirational novel that any woman will appreciate. While I was familiar with the stories of Mary Magdalen and of Jesus's teachings, this book offers a unique first-person view of what it was like to be a woman following Jesus. We can relate to Mary's struggles in marriage, family, career and spirituality, making this a very personal story. Christine Blake paints a fascinating picture of life as a woman in Jesus's time. I highly recommend this fast-paced, inspirational book.

When I first bought this book I was a bit skeptical, but I was pleasantly surprised!
The story is just wonderful. Since I'm not religious at all I'm sure lots of the things that happen in Mary's life are from the bible but I'm not familiar with them so for me it was just a good story. I knew I liked it when it took me less than a week to read it.

After talking with some of my friends a bit about it (and yes I'm admitting my ignorance here) I didn't know that Mary is usually portrayed as a whore, this book doesn't have that take on her at all. She does do some not so lady like things and has a few sins along the way but nothing to give her that negative of an image.

My final thought on this book was while reading it and after reading it I felt very peaceful. It made me think about accepting some things in my life that I was grumpy about and look at things a bit differently. I'm guessing religious people may get this feeling each week when they go to Church but it was a new experience for me!

I will be curious to read reviews from more religious people than me.

I highly recommend it!!

I have tried about 10 soups so far from this book, and all of them have been fantastic!! The instructions are easy to follow and the pictures make you salivate in anticipation. A must have for any soup lover!!!

This and the other "500 ____" books are fun. I'd recommend them as a cute set for a graduation or shower gift. Not too sophisticated...

I am looking forward to trying all these soups.
I do like how fast Amazon sends out my orders.

A London-based food writer and editor, Susannah Blake's "500 Soups: The Only Soup Compendium You'll Ever Need" is one cookbook that truly lives up to its title! Featuring five hundred different kinds of soup, each with clear, easy-to-follow instructions that include tips on accompaniments, garnishes and toppings, "500 Soups" also includes an informative and comprehensive introductory section covering all the preparation and cooking in essentials such as soup-making techniques, equipment, soup stocks, and even troubleshooting. With variations on each of the showcased recipes and more than 120 full-color photographs illustrated a diverse variety of savory soups, "500 Soups" is a true gem of a cookbook and a welcome addition to personal and community library collections. It should also be noted that there are five other highly recommended '500' cookbook titles available from Sellers Publishing: "500 Chocolate Delights" (9781569069943, $15.95); "500 Pies & Tarts" (9781569069844, $15.95); "500 Appetizers" (9781569069769, $15.95); "500 Cupcakes" (9781569065976, $15.95); and "500 Cookies" 9781569065921, $15.95).

I found this book very hard to put down. It was a wonderful book to read as a Tom Jones fan.

This British publication is an easy read. It is repetitive but entertaining. Scrathes the surface--don't expect any great insights from this one..........

This book is a good review of the way Tom Jones came to be the great entertainer that he is. Much better than the previous book I read " Tom Jones up close and personal." Centers more on his career than on the love life he is supposed to enjoy, because if that is all true he needs to let all men know what his secret is!!A must read for any true Tom Teriffic Fan.

Having been a Tom Jones fan and then just a true admirer of the Man and his Music, since his beginning, I knew most of the things written in this biogragraphy to be the truth. It was just wonderful seeing them written down for all the world to see. Of course, all the women he has had, and a lot of the things that the "World of the Famous" have access to, really isn't the picture of a nice man. Knowing the man and how he treats his women, contradicts all the bad reports. The women that go into the "affairs" are warned that there cannot be a future permanancy and go into it with their eyes open and with the knowledge that it is only an experience. Women who think they are the ones to change that are delusional and are in for heartbreak. He is charming, sincere, generous, sweet, loving and kind, any woman's dream, but truely already taken. And millions of women dream on. The only sad part of this, is the knowledge that he has not acknowledged his illigitimate son, Jon Jones, and even if it was a set-up, this is his blood. A relationship should be made, however small. The book is very well written, while a bit repetitious in parts, but is not annoying when this happens, and there is not one statement that is not true. I really couldn't put it down, and finished it in one day. Great reading!!!!

I had read this when it was first published and liked it. I liked it when I read it this time, too, though maybe for different reasons. I was glad to see the pictures and have the names of the actors who portrayed the characters in the movie. Tommy Lee Jones (a younger version) will always be Angelo in my mind. Enjoyable fast read, though a bit dated in style, as should be expected for a book written more than 30 years ago.

Harold Robbins' The Betsy is a book that should appeal to the petrol head types a little, as well as the usual fans of his formula and style. He again follows a young man growing up, and this man wants to race cars and make money. If he has fame, power, money, women and sex, then that is all pretty cool too.

To me, Harold Robbin's 'The Betsy' is about finding true love. I kind of skipped through the corporate wheeling and dealing pages and focused on Angelo's personal angst and love life. I loved Angelo. He is at the same time an every man and a hero. I found Betsy highly energetic, optimistic, and the ending, just beautiful. This is a far cry from his usual gritty and grim novels.

As with most of the Harold Robbins books that I have read this one was action packed and kept me interested all the way through. This Book is about a shrewd and cunning business minded race car driver who rises to meet the challenges of building a product against all odds. I saw the movie and then I read it again, It was interesting to visualize a younger Tommy Lee Jones as Angelo Perino. I found I enjoyed the book just as much the second time through. 5 stars

Finally, after many years after Comcat put out a couple of B&M albums, someone is putting this series out in English. I've long heard about this series, but had never read it. It's great that they have, and I plan on getting all of them.

If there is one issue I have, its that I wish they had reprinted them in their original order. This is NOT the first B&M story, but actually the sixth! As it follows the 2-part "Mystery of the Great Pyramid" (which are the next 2 albums put out by Cinebooks), its a little confusing to read them out of order. And it appears the 4th book Cinebooks is putting out is actually the thirteen story, and one NOT done by EP Jacobs!!!

I'd also love to see the Jacob's "U-Ray", the prototype standalone "flash gordon"-like story that served as a loose inspiration published as well.

Finally someone is translating the Blake and Mortimer books. I hope they do them all. They are so much better than the TV series. They started with one of the best. The Yellow M is Edgar P Jacobs most popular book. But the newly created ones by two teams of authors a quite good too.

I have try for years to read an album of Blake and Mortimer, the series of comic books made by E.P. Jacobs, a disciple of Herge who worked on Tintin as well. Unfortunately, they are unavailable in my country, as well as many countries outside continental Europe. I finally got hold of the Yellow Mark (considered one of their best books), and it was even better than I expected, with the story of Professor Philip Mortimer and Captain Francis Blake pursuing a mysterious criminal who mystifies Scotland Yard with its spectacular exploits like robbing the imperial crown, with its good mix of fantasy, action and and suspense, its period ambience (this book was written in the early fifties), its London settings. I certainly would be interested on reading more books of B&M (specially from the early period).

Edgar Jacobs created the Blake & Mortiner series in 1946. In the six decades since their creation, all of the books have remained constantly in print. They are considered classics in the Franco-Belgian comic book tradition. In Europe, these stories are held with the same high esteem as Tintin, Lucky Luke, Asterix and Alix. Unfortunately, with the exception of Tintin and Asterix, the Franco-Belgian tradition has never caught on in the English speaking world.

The English publisher Cinebook has decided to issue a line of English language translations of classic European comic books. "The Yellow M" is their first Blake & Mortimer release. Hopefully, they will be able to eventually release the whole series.

This is the first Blake & Mortimer story that I have ever read and it is easily understood why this series is such a classic. The series was produced in the clear line style of illustration. The quality of the draftmanship is very high. However, what makes the story first rate is the strong story line. It is cinematic in style and there is a film noire feel to the story. Highly recommended.