Spencer Books

With the basic science being so new and changing so rapidly, this second edition is timely and welcome. Virtually every chapter has been re-written to bring it up to date. The result is a text suitable for use in upper under grad or beginning grad level course in functional genomics or bioinformatics. The six chapter headings are:

Genome Projects: Organization and Objectives
Genome Sequencing and Annotation
SNPs and Variation
Gene Expression and the Transcriptome
Proteomics and Functional Genomics
Integrative Genomics.

The book is well written and profusely illustrated with color drawings and photographs. The book is closely allied with the web in form of accessable databases and the like which may keep it from going out of date so fast.

With most text books being so expensive, this book is a definite sleeper in the field.

The book is very poorly written and is too difficult to follow to be called a "primer." Authors often focus on actual software tools and how to use them rather than the science behind them.

To be fair, the graphics offered in the book are excellent and sometimes are the only way to understand a difficult concept.

The preface says to be familiar with "the content of a typical 300 level undergraduate course in genetics" -- it should be a definite prerequisite for reading this book.

This somewhat understated book may be overlooked based on its title, and yet it represents the best book currently in print to provide a solid overview of the science and issues in genome science, functional and structural genomics, and the subdiscipline proteomics. Chapter 1 describes current progress with mapping genomes, including the human genome and other genomes in plants and animals. Chapter 2 describes sequencing approaches and gene identification. Chapter 3 deals with gene expression and technologies. Chapter 4 focuses on proteomics including brief introductions to 2D-PAGE and mass spectrometry. This chapter also briefly introduces the reader to structural genomics, or the prediction of protein structure based on sequence through threading and modeling. After a chapter on single nucletide polymorphisms and genotyping the book concludes with a chapter on integrating genome studies including the use of in silico approaches.
Although scant in detail in parts, a major strength of the book is the wide coverage given to science of genomics and its offshoots. Overall an excellent course text for undergraduate or early postgraduate students or others interested in these emerging disciplines. I am not aware of any competing texts which such coverage and certainly not at the price of this one.

Every technician and/or PI should own a copy of this text for their lab. With the logical diagrams and full explanation of the text, this book is really condensed and assumes some knowledge of molecular biology. This book does not assume knowledge of genomics, but rather serves as a manual.

harriet was no stranger to private and public scandels but lived a life she wanted to.she had two unwed childern while hiding pregancy when living with her husband.running up huge gambling debts,being interest in politics when women had no say in politics at all.

Highly recommend this book. Harriet had a celebrated life like her more famous older sister, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Harriet's world included a who's-who of late 18th-early 19th century English society. If you liked Amanda Foreman's book on Georgiana, you will really enjoy this book on Harriet...a star in her own right.

History, especially that which is viewed through the eyes of women, has always fascinated me. Over the last decade, one period of history that has really started to interest me is that of Georgian England, during the reigns of the five Hannoverian kings -- George I, George II, George III, George IV, and William IV.

While at the time, women could not vote, directly own property, and legally were considered to be children -- they were able to have influence on, and at times manipulate, the world around them. In Privilege and Scandal author Janet Gleeson shows the life of one woman who did just that.

Henrietta Frances Spencer, the youngest surviving daughter of the Earl Spencer and his wife, was beautiful, smart and possessed of a great deal of charm. As with her elder sister, Georgiana, she was expected to marry well, produce children, and be a credit to both her family and her new husband. She grew up very close to her older sister, a bond that would last all of their lives together. But Harriet, as she was known, was also passionate, determined and craved excitement in her life, all of which would eventually prove her undoing.

She married, after several failed courtships, Lord Duncannon, the heir to the Earl of Bessborough and a wealthy Irish peer. And Harriet, with the help of her sister, Georgiana, now the Duchess of Devonshire, entered into London political society with full abandon. Once she had produced the necessary heirs to her husband, two sons and a daughter, she also gave into the admiration of the gentlemen around her, affairs that she tried to keep discreet, but sometimes got a bit out of hand, especially when it came to the playwright and politician Richard Sheridan.

If this sounds shocking to twentieth first century readers, in a time when marriage was made more for financial gains and family connections, if the partners were discreet, and quiet about it, affairs could be tolerated. Unluckily for Harriet, her husband was very possessive and jealous, and Harriet did her best to keep things quiet. That is, until she met Lord Granville Gower, the younger son of a noble family who was possessed of outrageous good looks, a great deal of charm and brains to boot. While Harriet tried not to give in -- by this time she had given birth to a fourth son -- soon enough there were whispers of an affair, and Harriet was terrified that word would get back to her husband.

And that marriage was shaky. There were rumours that there would be a divorce, and Harriet's health was already undermined from stress, several miscarriages, and what appears to be a series of strokes. She had already courted scandal by overspending, a bad habit of living and gambling on credit -- enough to where the Bessborough estates were mortgaged to the hilt, and the family was about to declare bankruptcy -- and her outspoken support of liberal politicians such as Fox and Sheridan. The pamphleteers and cartoonists of the day found both Georgiana and Harriet prime targets for satire and there were times when both women, with sometimes children, mother and servants in tow, would escape to the Continent to evade scrutiny.

Then the worst happened -- Harriet found herself pregnant by Lord Granville....

I'm not going to reveal much more of this story, as how it all worked out for Harriet, Georgiana, their husbands and children does make for remarkable reading. I had always wondered why the women of the Regency period had such loose reputations, especially with the later Victorians, but now, it becomes much more clear. Women were finding a new freedom, in the press, in the arts and in politics. And Harriet, determined to enjoy it all, did just that.

Author Janet Gleeson creates a vivid portrait of Harriet Spencer, using Harriet's letters, those of her contemporaries, and the history of the times to write this story. The depictions of high society life in London and France are particularly strong, and compelling to read. The writing style and pacing get somewhat dry at times, and slow the book down about a third of the way through, but once Harriet meets Lord Granville, the story truly picks up again.

I found Harriet to be a very interesting woman to read about, complex and at times maddening, but also very sympathetic. Gleeson, to her credit, doesn't go too far in making her subject unbelievable or overly romantic, but stays within what is known, and only rarely goes and makes conjectures about Harriet.

If the name Spencer is familiar, yes, this particular Spencer family were the ancestors of that Lady Diana Spencer who would live and die so tragically.
For those who would like to learn more about the Spencers and the world that they lived and moved in, I would recommend two other biographies, Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman (republished as The Duchess and made into a film starring Kiera Knightley) and Elizabeth and Georgiana: The Duke of the Devonshire and His Two Duchesses by Caroline Chapman and Jane Dormer. All three books provide a well-rounded picture of turbulent times and a fascinating group of people.

As well as the story itself, there are ample notes, two inserts of black and white photos showing portraits and places, as well a bibliography that gives hints for further reading. Happily, a genealogical chart unsnarls the complicated relationships.

Four stars overall, and recommended for those interested in this period of time.

Before I read the biographies of Harriet and Georgiana, I thought the stories of £50,000 gambling debts were just made up for romantic novels. Harriet and her sister Georgiana, members of the influential Spencer family, made "brilliant" marriages, set the fashion trends of their times, lived scandalous lives, and mixed with royalty in England and across Europe. Their interest and influence in politics were incredible for a time when women were still thought of as useless and frivolous creatures. This biography is well documented and gives a great introduction to late 18th Century English society.

Tomlinson traveled in a ship hauling cargo to the head of navigation on the Madeira River, cargo for construction of the Madeira-Mamore railway. At that time, the upper reaches of the Madeira were as wild and inaccesible as any place on earth, including Antarctica. It's said that a man died for every crosstie on the railroad, and that's probably not a huge exaggeration. So Tomlinson's trip was a true adventure, even though his writing style is modest.

His account of the Amazon and the Madeira near the beginning of the 20th century is fascinating, and his anecdotes about his time at the construction site are hilarious. He comes across as a modest man with an adventurous streak and a wonderful sense of humor. This book is a delight to read as a sheer travel adventure.

It is also the only easy-reading description I've encountered of what was then the sheer wilderness of much of Amazonia was like before it was opened up by the advent of airplanes and the construction of the Trans-Amazon Highway. Even now, much of Brazil's part of the Amazon basin is wild, but now one can get in and out of all but the most remote spots conveniently. In Tomlinson's day, a million square miles was still mostly unmapped and almost unexplored; reading this book is an easy way of learning what true wilderness was like.

I recommend it highly; it's one of my favorite books.

I loved this book for its dramatic yet humorous portrayal of a sea voyage across the Atlantic and an exploratory trip up the Amazon River in the early 20th century. If you can handle long sentences, he is a wonderful writer. I will never forget the passage about the shrunken head!

When I first read this book six years ago, I was struck by its leisurely pace -- some readers in today's "now" technological age might find the text maddeningly slow -- but that is the delight in a book of this sort, written in 1912. Tomlinson's meditations, ruminations and wanderings are part of the larger adventure reflected in the times in which he took the "Capella" voyage. And, from these digressions come crisp, first-rate descriptions of the ship, its crew, and the surroundings. Even today, I can recall certain passages that still strike me in their clarity and precision (Ex: the huge, turbine arms of the Capella's engines whir and thump with "bird-like alacrity."). This book requires patience and indulgence, but is extremely rewarding for someone in this right frame of mind.

H M Tomlinson, a newspaper office employee, sets off on an adventurous and dangerous trip in a steamer in 1909. He is in for a wild winter Atlantic crossing that brought to mind A PERFECT STORM. This if followed by a medically risky and awesome adventure up the Amazon-with all the crew popping quinine and wrapping themselves in mosquito netting. The book was particularly enjoyably for me, in part because the author seemed so ordinary--he had read travel books and refers to them in the text, but he had a pretty ordinary day job. He also was just my grandfather's age and they both loved travel--and shared the family name of Tomlinson-a connection with some unknown, but now sort of knowable, British cousin. There was something of John McPhee's LOOKING FOR A SHIP in this book--the character sketches and the palpable heat of the tropics. But it does not have the tight focus of that work. There are parts of this book that had me roaring out loud in an airport waiting room. But, the man could have used an editor. When he was good he was very good. But this work might best be used as fodder for a good editor a la Mary Morris's wonderful MAIDEN VOYAGES.

'Stephen Hero' the autobiographical novel Joyce would have completely destroyed, was converted at the urging of his friend Italo Svevo into the literary masterpiece ' A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'. The early work is longer, more discursive and relaxed . Joyce takes the same material and transforms it in a portrait to a 'mythic story' of ideal artistic development.
The comparison of the two works , the transformations and condensations Joyce makes, the making more startingly clear in the latter work the development of the sensibility in stages- do provide a double - portrait of a master artist at work.

Stephen Hero is part of the now-mostly-lost first draft of Joyce's first novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The legend goes that Joyce, in a moment of disillusionment, flung the manuscript on the fire and his sister Eileen rescued it. Odd, then, that the MS shows no apparent signs of burnmarks. Either way, the first few hundred pages are missing, so what we have here is a fragment of what would probably have been a very long and rather insufferable autobiographical novel about a clever young man realising that he's too good for the society into which he's been born.

The remarkable thing about it is that even though Joyce is basically transcribing the events of his own life, he's impressively objective. Stephen Daedalus (it became "Dedalus" in the later version) is presented as a bit of a prig, almost comically outraged when it looks like he can't read out a speech to a college debating society, and for all his erudition and genius a twit when it comes to getting his end away with the luscious Emma Clery. Joyce obviously realised this, because when he rewrote the novel he made it not more objective but less so, forcing us to see the events from Stephen's point of view, modifying his method as Stephen grows from frightened boy to disdainful young man. Stephen Hero is all told in the same cool third-person that Joyce used in his early stories. He abandoned it when he realised that it was quite inappropriate for the book he really wanted to write.

So what are the virtues of Stephen Hero? For one thing, it shows a lot more of the life around Stephen; Joyce has a lot of fun recording the inane remarks of Stephen's fellow students and the dimwitted inanity of the college president. The family is presented as less of a threat and more of a slightly baffling background hum (Joyce seldom wrote as kindly about his mother as he does here, even if he made her death one of the equivocal emotional centres of Ulysses). Stephen's artistic theories are _explained_, rather than being _demonstrated_ as they are in A Portrait (and while this is part of how much better a book A Portrait is, it's nice to see them set down, as well.) But in the end you have to admit that if Joyce had published this as his first novel, he mightn't have had the reputation he has today as being a man who published nothing but masterpieces. Dubliners is the best starting point if you've never read Joyce before and want to see what the fuss is about. Stephen Hero, on the other hand, is no masterpiece, but it's perhaps the only book by James Joyce that you could recommend to people going on a long train journey.

Stephen delves deep into the error-trapping loops of Jesuit doctrine, sounding its minatory hollows, vivisecting its repressive will-to-venom. A stately young apprentice, equipped with esthetic tools he himself has made, Daedalus spends precious little time studying for his exams, paying knee-tribute in the entropo-oedipal chambers of the chapel, nor allowing himself to be terrorized into stupidity by fiction-blind men of the Church. EXILE TEACHES ONE TO SENSE AND VALUE. Stephen's rejecting passion strives to evade the conflict-spirals of "Irish paralysis," the decades-dead mausolea of a distant Papal dispensation. For the eroded statuary of Doctrine has been subsumed by the zesty rind of the Epiphany, a crystallization of the fragmentary present into a seeing-place for the exilic soul. In a fine irony, Stephen must reconcile his aesthetico-ethical ideals with a grave intellectual debt to that greatest doctor of the church, St. Thomas Aquinas; can Stephen ever truly purge himself of the Irish Catholic gene-machine? --*Stephen Hero* is a great task but well worth it, much in the vein of Beckett's *Dream of Fair to Middling Women*, an apprentice-work with all its warts intact, a revelatory gem far beyond juvenilia. For here we are granted an unprecedented view of Joyce the youthful escape-artist, of the traumata which sustained his greater odes, the dark italics of literary Exile.

Stephen Hero, the latter half of a rejected first draft of Portrait (apocrypha: Joyce flung his manuscript into a fire only to have Nora save part of it), offers Joyce fans a glimpse of his literary style and development as a young buck of nineteen to twenty-four. Portrait, written ~7-12 years later, is a condensation of the initial thousand pages of Hero with several layers of symbolism and effects added. Portrait shines the spotlight of Stephen's intellect upon the dim world of his own perception; Hero sets an objective reality in the plain light of day in simple, effective prose. Hero's style allows Stephen's arrogance to come across much more clearly than in Portrait. His adolescent conflicts are more easily relatable to the reader, whereas in Portrait those conflicts are arranged dramatically to occasion his birth as an artist, complete with his moderately original neo-Aristotelian, applied Aquinas heuristic. This text is NOT suitable as an introduction to Joyce (Dubliners is obviously the way to go in that respect). Those who are already committed fans of Portrait should with a little patience find Hero an engaging read.

This product is great. It is all laid out by days so there is not guess work on what he needs to complete. It also gives a variety of subjects per day. Great book.

I am a student who wants to get ahead anyway I can. This book has a lot I need to know and is time eater. The book has all subjects, and does bring you ahead. I hope you enjoy this book too. Have a great school year.

My children have been using the Summer Bridge books since elementary school and they have really helped them academically. I highly recommend this resource to others (even adults would benefit, if you are in need of a refresher course).

I did not find this workbook relevant to 7th/8th grade curriculm for science or social studies and overall way too basic for math or english at 7th/8th grade. More for elementary school 3,4,5 grade.
As far as a "summer bridge" I would suggest that you encourage your kids to playing games and activities outside or board games on rainy days than this book.

I cherished "Who Moved by Cheese?" -- the cheesy story about change, business and life-in-general. Even more than Johnson's book, I love Hochberg's parody, "Who Stole My Cheese?"

Talk about appropriate for the time... From Florida's elections to Enron, WorldCom and Martha Stewart, Hochberg makes us laugh as well as provokes us to take a long, hard look at ourselves, our society and what is or is not flourishing. This book is noteworthy, and should be read by everyone!

It is a remarkable gift - both the book and its message.

Where are you moving next, Hochberg, as I need another good laugh?

Although this book is a parody, it provides more insight into the corporate world than Who Moved My Cheese. It presents the reality of the work environment from the low level workers' point of view. It seems especially relevant with Enron and Arthur Anderson and Martha Stewart and everything else that is going on. Take an hour. Read it. Have a good laugh.

This book was very funny while revealing to you the mindset of greedy corporate executives.

My only complaint is that I think the price is high for a book that can be read in an afternoon. The story, however, is very interesting. You can even get a little excited reading this book but, no, it will not be the same as rollercoaster rides in Harry Potter.

This book makes a good point and in a very good way. You can't read this book and feel the same about change. You will look at change differently and be able to handle it better.

Hugh B. Brown is an example of an apostle who well before his time showed what was going to happen in the future of the LDS Church. Time and time again he was proven right in decades after his death. If one wants an idea of where the Church is headed, this book is a great book to read. He was an inspiring leader in the LDS Church and I for one hope we have more like him in the future.

An Abundant Life is both a pleasent, nostalgic read, and a profoundly insightful book. The life of Hugh B. Brown is one of remarkable faith and dedication, not to mention sacrifice, to the Church to which he belonged. But it was the mind and spirit of the man that drew people to him, and that spirit would be welcome in today's church. The final chapter of the Memoirs, entitled "A Final Testimony" is a most beautiful statement regarding the importance of individual members using the power of their minds in discerning truth for themselves, rather than relying on the words of their leaders. Further, his was a mission of compassion, not personal agrandizement. He measured the merits of both his politics and his religion on how well they treated the poor. If all members of the church thought as he did, there indeed would be room for everyone...

Hugh B. Brown was a member of the First Presidency of the LDS church during the 1960's under President David O. McKay. This was an explosive time for the church and the world but President Prown was a steadying hand. His warmth and depth of thought come across well in this memoir which was assembled after his death by his grandson, Edwin D. Firmage. President Brown said, "One of the most important things in the world is freedom of the mind; from this all other freedoms spring. Such thinking is necessarily dangerous, for one cannot think right without running the risk of thinking wrong, but generally more thinking is the antidote for the evils that spring from wrong thinking." His legacy of tolerance and charity is important, and is brought to vivid life in this book.

This is one of the most interesting and beautiful cultural studies I have ever read. It was fascinating to discover such a wealth and density of human experience, as memorialized in these unassuming yet proud utilitarian structures of our past, in an area of the country I knew nothing about. Looking at these barns, imagining the work and imagination it took to make them, and their centrality in the lives of those who used them, it felt as though a way into lives past had been opened to me. I can only hope these photos awaken a climate of respect and caring which will have these barns, and other structures like them, survive for many years to come.

The Barns of the North Fork is truly amazing. The book is the perfect blend of art and history, and one can truly see how much passion and effort the author has put in to make it so comprehensive. Since I've had it, it is the first book reached for on my coffee table and the one I've heard the most positive feedback about. For an enchanting portrayal of part of America's history, and culture you will not be dissapointed. It is truly unique and is most definitely a must have.

There is something in the American psyche that makes us believe in barns. Perhaps it's the feeling that somehow, we are still an agrarian society, or perhaps it's nostalgia for things that never were. But even if we haven't actually gone looking for these farm buildings, many of us somehow have a special place for them in our hearts.

The author of "Barns of the North Fork" was commissioned to do an inventory of existing barns on the spit of land that sticks out from the main body of Long Island. Even though just a few hours from New York City, farming is still a major occupation and of the 734 barns inventoried over half of them are still in agricultural use.

Other than a brief introduction and list of the inventoried barns, the book consists of about 90 color photographs of barns, with rather spare descriptions of the location of the barn, and occasionally a brief remark on some significant feature. The style is more in keeping with record keeping rather then a search for aesthetic significance, so that it is almost confrontational. Many of the buildings are photographed head-on without a trace of any sidewalls, as if the building were merely a stage set. Occasionally a structure is photographed from an angle but I often felt that that was because there was no other place for the photographer to stand. A few photographs show the environment of the structure, such as a barn in Southold about which the author asks "When we envision barns, do we see the structure or do we see the structure in its setting?" Unfortunately, more often than not, the author saw the structure. There are no detail photographs.

There is also a curious drabness about these barns, probably due to the fact that most pictures seem to have been taken on overcast days, with leaden skies. When the reader finally encounters a picture with the full range of light, the eye is surprised.

Perhaps I'm being overly critical because I've traveled North Fork roads and seen these same barns, and felt that they offered an opportunity for aesthetic work. But these pictures seem to have been created for another purpose.

Lovers of barns, and there are many, will enjoy this book. So will those who care for the North Fork. Photographers, on the other hand, may feel that there are missed opportunities. For them, I might recommend a little book published by the University of Iowa called "Harker's Barns: Visions of an American Icon" by Michael P. Harker.

Federal Agent Zach Taylor is a force to be reckoned with. There is nothing that can happen in one day that can faze him. From stopping a hold-up at a store, rescuing hostages from a bank robbery, saving a dog from a burning building, and bringing in a fugitive, Zach is one dedicated man of the law.

However things are about to change for Zach after a chance encounter with his ex-girlfriend, Erin McShane, brings out some feelings he thought he had managed to get out of his system. Erin, is a television journalist who is always hot on the trail of a big story. This time she is after a popular Congressman who seems to have ties to organized crime. So it is a sure thing that Zach and Erin are about to see more of each other.

The story is based around 12 rare blue diamonds stolen from Greek Jews during the Holocaust. They are the key in bringing down a modern day Miami crime lord who supplies terrorists with weapons. Zach has to go undercover and infiltrate the Dons circle to gather evidence that will bring the mobster down. He teams up Matt Crawford, a former prisoner and a mysterious, beautiful diamond dealer known only as Malone to get the job done.

However things are never easy. The first problem is Valeria Santiago, the Dons daughter, who has a thing for Matt. Then we have Raul Carlona, an ambitious mobster who wants to do things his own way. Also add to the mix Toni Manzano, a professional hit woman out for revenge. Oh and last but not lease dont forget Zachs ex, Erin the journalist who will do anything for a scoop.

This story has some Tom Clancy feeling to it. However it is a lot fluffier and not as deep or long as the famous authors books. With enough thrill and suspense to keep the reader going till the last page, there is a definite style to this one that a lot of people will enjoy. The characters are slightly over the top as well as the storyline but the witty writing makes up for it. With phrases like Just for once Id like Backup to be here during a shooting. And No French Fries? What kind of French restaurant is this? there are some giggles to be had.

Yet another book based on terrorism is not exactly filling a gap in the market. However this one does have a recipe that could prove successful. With lots of action, twists and turns and a splash of romance this book has danger and suspense all the way through. Although on the other hand are there enough readers out there who want to read about this kind of theme when we are already confronted with it everyday through the mass media.

If you need a rush of excitement then Spencer Danes first novel Blue Diamonds is worth a try.

Follow the track of a dozen blue diamonds that seem to carry a curse as they wreak havoc in the lives of those into whose hands they fall. How many will pay with their lives to possess them? Where will they end up?

Join Zachary Taylor and his partner, Sabrina Calabrese, are drawn into the drama surrounding the stones in the pursuit of criminals. More than once they put their lives on the line and danger seems to confront them at every turn. Is there a mole in their department who is feeding information to the mob that is partly responsible for this?

Zach finds his cases further complicated by the reappearance of an ex lover in his life. As a newscaster, she could add to his danger when they turn up at the same hotel and he is under cover. Will she?

This is a story that will please the suspense fan who enjoys sharing the danger with the good guys as they move from case to case. A fun read. Enjoy. I did.

This is a well written novel and the story line keeps the reader engaged. The descriptions used by the author to set the scenes are very good; it felt like I was in some of the locations that were familiar to me. It was easy to read and I couldn't put it down once I downloaded it to my book reader.

The other plus was how easy it was to purchase the book from Amazon. This was my first experience (and there is only one chance to make a good first impression) and the success I had will keep me coming back! I am eager to see Spencer Dane's next book!!

I rated the book a 5 because all the stories were delightful. A Heavenly Christmas by Carole Mortimer was a pleasant, fast read with enjoyable characters. Even though they bickered a bit too much at the beginning, by the end they had reached understanding and trust, and, of course, love and happily ever after. The secondary romance was a nice bonus.
A Seasonal Secret by Diana Hamilton was a bit more predicable but also a good read.
However, Catherine Spencer's Christmas Passions was the standout story of the trio. Vivid characterizations and top notch writing distinguished this tale of lovers who had lost but then found each other again. The emotional conflict was real and very well portrayed. The dialogue was sharp and witty, and the resolution satisfying. The story was a cut above the usual romance fiction.
Altogether, a good way to take a break from the holiday rush.

I love Christmas-themed romances, and this one was pretty good. I rated each story for four stars, but will review them individually.

"A Heavenly Christmas" by Carole Mortimer

Olivia Hardy had spent the last ten years of her life trying to forget her past, Christmas, and anything remotely emotional. So when her upstairs neighbor, good-looking Ethan Sherbourne, gets a baby practically dumped into his lap a few days before Christmas, she doesn't want to care. She thinks that Ethan is the father of the baby, and that the baby's mother is one of the parade of girls that go into Ethan's apartment. As Ethan, Olivia, and baby Andrea spend time together over Christmas, however, both Ethan and Olivia realize that there is more than meets the eye about the other.

This story was okay, four star material. Mrs. Heavenly and Faith got on my nerves, the angels could have been left out entirely of the story. There were a few Big Misunderstandings keeping the hero and heroine apart, and if they had bothered to ask questions instead of just assuming things, they would have sorted out the stuff much quicker. It was a good romance, but a little too annoying for my tastes.

"Christmas Passions" by Catherine Spencer

Ava Sorensen, a nurse who currently worked in Africa, is returning home for Christmas for the first time in three years. She can't wait to see her best friend, Deenie, even though Deenie is practically engaged to the man Ava had had a crush on for years, Leo Ferrante. But when Ava sees Leo and has to spend a night with him stranded in a barn, the feelings she thought to suppress come to the surface once more. But Ava is torn between her friendship with Deenie and her passion for Leo - can there be any reconciliation?

This one, I didn't really know what to make of it. On the one hand, it was pretty despicable that Ava was going around kissing her friend's supposed fiance, even though she kept telling him to leave her alone. But, on the other hand, things weren't exactly what they seemed. It was a good romance, but I couldn't completely get over the repulsion I felt for making moves on your best friend's man.

"A Seasonal Secret" by Diana Hamilton

Beth Hayley had loved Carl Forsythe since she was a young girl, but she knew that she was way out of his league. So, when she found herself pregnant, she thought she'd do the right thing and not tell him. Now, eight years later, Carl has returned to Bewley Hall to take care of his late uncle's estate. Newly divorced and bitter, Carl runs into Beth - and her little secret.

This one was predictable, as expected. There's only so many ways one can render the "secret baby" plot. Still, it was fairly good. Carl was a pretty good hero, even though he was (justifiably!) angry in much of the story. Beth was noble in motives, even though she was wrong in keeping the pregnancy from Carl. It earned four stars in my book.

A Heavenly Christmas by Carole Mortimer is a bit too much like Touched By An Angel for my tastes. Olivia and Ethan were okay, but they could have sorted out their misunderstanding right away if they'd bothered to ask the right questions. Also, I got tired of Mrs. Heavenly real fast. Still, it's a quick, easy read with a feel-good ending like all Harlequin books.

A Seasonal Secret by Diana Hamilton is more enjoyable. The author brings more emotions to the story, and makes her characters warmer and more interesting. There's an atmosphere of a good, old-fashioned Christmas about the story. Although it's a bit predictable at times, I was sorry when it ended.

Christmas Passions by Catherine Spencer is what makes this anthology deserve its five stars.

Leo is a hot, sexy hero, and any woman can relate to Ava, who finds herself torn between him and her best friend, Deenie. There's also another story inside this romance, and that's what makes it special, because it's not the usual secret baby, or anything like that. It's about girls who've been best friends since they were little, about how they've gone in different directions when they grew up, about using other people to get what you want, and about love winning out in the end. Also, I really enjoyed the other characters in the book, especially Leo's crazy Aunt Ethel. She made me laugh out loud at some of the things she said and did. The setting was great, too, just like a Christmas card. I could smell the gingerbread baking, and hear the choir in the church. A terrific read all round.