tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10018728075231456872009-07-15T05:02:02.365+01:00Whether we're talking boy meets girl, boy meets boy, girl meets ghost, or vampire meets viscount*, if it's truly romantic, it has a place on this page. *(or any combination of individuals, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, whether dead or undead, of which the foregoing list should be regarded as illustrative and not exhaustive).Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.comBlogger220125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-8182687849539747622009-07-14T20:51:00.003+01:002009-07-14T22:48:11.712+01:00

Je suis et le Monsieur Tumperkin et les deux fils are going to France! Oui oui oui! C'est magnifique, n'est-ce pas?Oh la la! Je need to practicez ma execrable francais, non?Mais, j'ai une tres practical approach a les languages je cannot actuallment speak. Je just pepper l'anglais avec phrases a la francais plus les gestures de les mans. Parfait! Et so long as je make sure to tell tout le monde

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-40313384990918896522009-07-10T21:41:00.002+01:002009-07-10T21:49:35.506+01:00

I promised a review of this book, which I do truly love.I love it for many reasons:-1. It is the ultimate Balogh. It's got all the classic elements of a great Balogh novel including great, restrained dialogue, a beautifully matched H/H, wonderful characterisation, lovely dialogue, outdoor sex and a satisfying resolution with real character growth.2. Even better, it is

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-80263046110297105042009-07-04T19:42:00.000+01:002009-07-04T19:46:55.277+01:00

There's been a lot of this (above) sort of reading recently. Legal reading. I've been mobbed at work with hearings galore and whilst that can be satisfying in its way, I'm glad to have reached the end of a particularly busy period. One more week in the office next week and then the Tumperkins are off on holiday!I've not really had the heart for a new book over the last couple of weeks. Instead

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-85415193825380305942009-06-29T20:17:00.003+01:002009-06-29T21:22:14.286+01:00

Ages ago, CJ was complaining about the small weedy child who plays Robin Hood in the latest BBC series. So I thought I'd post a wee little video (under 2 mins!) of the 80s-tastic Robin of Sherwood series featuring the perfect profile and shiny, mulleted hair of pretty Michael Praed doing his very best Man O' The Woods - inspired RH. For those of you across the pond, this is Prince watzsisname

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-11531698517201977422009-06-28T22:43:00.003+01:002009-06-28T22:44:44.486+01:00

Watching Blur do a great set at Glastonbury live on TV.

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-25974903831720454472009-06-26T21:17:00.002+01:002009-06-26T21:21:49.908+01:00

.... DIK

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-44499216061941048732009-06-21T20:23:00.004+01:002009-06-21T20:31:07.268+01:00

.... that I have been blogging over at Racy Romance Reviews. I've been doing the occasional 'musings' posts and a monthly dual review with Jessica. I really should've pimped these before now. The latest one went up this weekend, a dual review of the fabulous The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Jennifer Ashley.There's also quite a recent musings one about sweat in romance.

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-79192909762296611272009-06-17T21:26:00.002+01:002009-06-17T21:34:36.318+01:00

"Let us learn from the novel. In the novel, the characters can do nothing but live. If they keep on being good, according to pattern, or bad, according to pattern, or even volatile, according to pattern, they cease to live, and the novel falls dead. A character in a novel has got to live, or it is nothing.We, likewise, in life have got to live, or we are nothing.What we mean by living is, of

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-89942711125021951302009-06-14T21:15:00.002+01:002009-06-14T21:15:00.184+01:00

As explained in my last post, myself, Jessica, Meriam and RfP agreed to do a Book Club-style group review some months ago. RfP nominated The Edge of Impropriety by Pam Rosenthal.Finally, we're ready to go! So here's my review. Pop on over to Racy Romance Reviews (Jessica), Rape and Adverbs (Meriam) and Read For Pleasure (RfP) to read the others - hopefully very soon if not straightaway. Without

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-32611779606088128392009-06-12T21:06:00.003+01:002009-06-12T21:17:54.007+01:00

Back in November, some seven months ago, a few bloggers (myself, Jessica, Meriam and RfP) exchanged some excited emails about doing a book club group review thingy. RfP quickly proposed The Edge of Impropriety by Pam Rosenthal as our first read.Time moved on and we thought it would be prudent to assume that we wouldn't get round to actually posting our reviews till Feb 2009. Hence the title:

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-80508297073928039132009-06-07T19:57:00.009+01:002009-06-07T20:56:55.320+01:00

My reading was falling a wee bitty flat, and so I went on an ordering spree. My book buying is haphazard, impulsive and not very organised. My guilt-free TBR pile was dwindling (the guilty TBR pile has the same worthy reads in it that have been there for over a year now). Two stints of online book-shopping and a visit to my local British Heart Foundation shop have brought forth the following

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-72357717462225828642009-06-03T22:49:00.003+01:002009-06-03T23:07:16.271+01:00

Need I say more? I have been awarded the Little CJ Blog Award by The Book Smugglers. I cannot tell you how delighted I am. I craved this award. I meet all the criteria: I can work blog software. That's it. I meet all of the criteria. Some people think that Little CJ is scary. I think she's a nice little girl. Sure, she's a little driven, but I think that is a good thing. And I think it's

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-2975590760043078002009-05-30T20:35:00.002+01:002009-05-30T20:40:33.786+01:00

I ranted about word verification (still love that song). Well, I've had to eat my words and introduce it.Spam.

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-73360617066742675562009-05-23T16:48:00.011+01:002009-05-24T15:52:03.156+01:00

Every time I read a Liz Carlyle book I think, I really must do a blog post on her one day. I've just finished Never Lie to a Lady. It was good, and better than the other two in the Never series for me. But this is not a review of Never Lie to a Lady.Carlyle is a really solid writer for me. Even the books of hers that haven't worked so well IMO have nevertheless been well-put together. Her prose

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-75334192124338495012009-05-16T20:40:00.000+01:002009-05-16T20:42:17.921+01:00

I finished Bliss a wee while ago but wanted to mull over it before posting my final reflections. There are so many things I have to say about it that I could probably have written three more posts on it, but I wanted to distill all these thoughts down to one post that would hopefully do justice to how very much I loved this book. And so I'm going to talk about how Nardi and Hannah complete one

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-1320159527879130092009-05-15T22:10:00.004+01:002009-05-15T22:17:51.056+01:00

EminenElvis

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-60995028332009323812009-05-10T20:32:00.004+01:002009-05-11T13:53:50.539+01:00

The Swan by Saint Saens is a very beautiful piece of music. You may not think you know it but you do. See below.See! You do know it, don't you?It's part of the Carnival of Animals which features many other pieces you also probably know. For example, The Tortoises is the can-can played very slowly indeed and The Aquarium is used in every documentary about tropical fish ever made.The Swan was the

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-66829264217855823352009-05-10T09:25:00.002+01:002009-05-10T09:26:50.625+01:00

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-45588409730052380332009-05-08T22:17:00.009+01:002009-05-08T22:40:18.753+01:00

1. The husbag and I are throwing a dinner party tomorrow night with a Moroccan theme. There will be: lamb tagine, fragant couscous with pomegranate seeds, olives, pistachio nuts, figs with cardamom and sheep yoghurt. And .....Moroccan tea.....And.................... baklava.............And..........Turkish delight, of course.2. Lisabea has written a review of Obsession by Charlotte Lamb that

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-62282910613732003892009-05-03T09:35:00.007+01:002009-05-04T23:19:12.876+01:00

You may recall that I recently read my first Madeline Hunter and was sufficiently impressed to read more. A few of you were kind enough to offer up recommendations.My first read was By Arrangement. This medieval was recommended by Sula and sort-of-seconded by Rosie and Meriam who said they liked Hunter's medievals best.I decided to give By Arrangement a whirl first because I do really want to

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-6597497578386434292009-04-26T19:58:00.008+01:002009-04-26T21:18:39.893+01:00

....you know, don't you, that sometimes I need to just - read a category? Get my fix, you know? I can handle it, I swear.....You might not be able to read this cover - it's pretty hazy - the book is Bought for the Sicilian Billionaire's Bed by Sharon Kendrick. An impulse buy at the supermarket a few weeks ago.I've liked some of Sharon Kendrick's stuff before. I do like my melodrama me, though

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-56578233460148782182009-04-21T21:30:00.003+01:002009-04-21T21:34:04.229+01:00

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-37967188210242983712009-04-19T22:38:00.008+01:002009-04-19T23:40:52.194+01:00

This weekend, we drove down to Yorkshire to see the in-laws. Not so much the dry stone walls and dales sort of Yorkshire as the beer and pies sort of Yorkshire.Went Friday 11am and got there 5pm. Left 11.30am today and got back at 6pm. Felt like we spent a lot of time in the car. Me, Mr T, number one son (6) and number two son (2). Mr T drove the whole way, which suits me just fine.Driving

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-85328218212128540402009-04-15T21:14:00.005+01:002009-04-15T22:02:31.200+01:00

Y'know, I do not know what is going on with Blogger at the moment. For the last few days it has just not let me put a vid in a post and now it won't even let me put an image in! Well, I prolly don't need one for this post.In my last post, I said that I would next talk about why Nardi, the hero of Bliss, is like a building, the Chateau d'Aubrignon, to be precise.The Chateau has been the

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1001872807523145687.post-27702688974370828962009-04-11T21:59:00.006+01:002009-04-11T22:25:43.060+01:00

HOW tiny is this picture? It was the only one I could find of Bliss by Judy Cuevas (aka Judith Ivory) one of my current reads. And it's just oddly random. Butterflies? Perhaps there is a significance I am not yet appreciating. I have only read a few chapters.Yes, only a few chapters and I am loving this book. I'm finding myself savouring it like a bit of very fine, very dark chocolate.

Tumperkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11008683032460114886noreply@blogger.com12