Aug. 18th, 2016

jacey: (blue eyes)
Gt St Mary's day OutMax and Leon now have a child which means they can't go on missions together in case they don't come back. So on this occasion Max, fresh from maternity leave, gets to go on a 'day out' to see a Shakespeare play - which just happens to be Hamlet at the Globe in 1601, with the Bard himself playing the part of the ghost. Most of St Mary's volunteer for the trip, including Dr. Bairstow, the director, the cook, the costume mistress, not to mention the usual suspects: Max herself, Guthrie and Mr Markham. If only Professor Rhapson hadn't become a stowaway on a voyage to the New World and Mrs Mack hadn't used a skillet in anger things might have been OK... until, that it, the point at which Shakespeare went up in flames. Jodi Taylor’s Chronicles of St Marys are an instant must-buy and until there’s a full-length novel available I’ll settle for a short story full of the usual disasters and humour.
jacey: (blue eyes)
Husband CampaignI downloaded this from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Note this is number three in a series, but not having read the first two wasn’t a problem. It works as a standalone. Maybe I didn’t look too carefully at the rest of the blurb once I’d seen there was a horse element to the story, but I didn’t realise this was a Christian–inspired historical romance. If I had I wouldn’t have started it. However the Christian aspects didn’t grate on me. Since this is set in the Regency it’s quite likely that the protagonists have a deep and abiding belief and that in times of trouble their thoughts turn skyward.

That said, unfortunately the characters and the storyline left me feeling a little meh. Other than two socially awkward people deciding they are in love after their marriage the only thing at stake is an equine transaction. The hero, John, is a minor aristocrat and a breeder and trainer of fine horses. Having accidentally ‘compromised’ the heroine he marries her out of a sense of duty and the rest of the book is Amelia setting out to earn his love and to get him to turn their relationship sexual. She would probably have an easier time of it if she had four hooves and ate oats for breakfast. John seems somewhat colourless and mostly sexless and Amelia is too nice (which she freely admits).

It’s a fast read and not without some interest, however the thing that really threw me out of the story is the heroine breakfasting on cold popovers—in a REGENCY novel! Harlequin, what was your copy editor thinking? Also the author is obviously American because a lot of her horse terms are particularly Americentric and they don’t transfer across the Atlantic. So instead of a stud or stud farm we have a ‘horse farm’ and instead of a bridle or even a headcollar, Amelia’s horse wears a ‘headstall’. John does explain to Amelia what a girth is, but instead of tightening the girth he ‘cinches’ it. Okay, maybe I’m being picky, and it doesn’t really affect the quality of the writing, but I do wish editors would run books set in England past an English beta-reader. Each time I came across something like that it dragged me out of the story.
jacey: (blue eyes)
Suicide SquadThe trailer looked quirkily amusing with plenty of action and a cast of interesting characters. How wrong can one trailer be? Yes there was a plot (as much as there is ever a plot in this type of movie) which involved a lot of action (expected) but the pacing was off. There was way too much character set-up, way too little chartacter development and everything was deadpan straight. The whole thing just felt like a joyless mishmash.

Honourable mentions go to Viola Davis as Amanda Waller; Jay Hernandez as Diablo, Will Smith as Deadshot and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn for making the most of a lame duck. H and I got the Meerkat two-for-one ticket deal and I still felt as though we'd been robbed.

Avoid.

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