Graham Simpkins, The Holiday, 2006

There are some movies that are just keepers.  Ones I enjoy watching over and over.  The Holiday is one of those movies, and though I’m not really a Jude Law fan, there’s something so vulnerable about him in this movie that I’m almost a convert.  Graham Simpkins is a book editor in England.  His sister, Iris, works for a newspaper in Surrey.  When her love life falls apart, she swaps houses with a woman from LA and goes on a two week holiday.  

Stats:

Graham gets phone calls from girls when he’s with love interest Amanda.  One call is from Sophie, the other from Olivia.  Obviously, he comes with baggage.  The truth of the matter is that these two people in his life are his daughters, and he keeps them private, reluctant to introduce anyone to them who might not be there for very long and who might disrupt the fragile balance he and his girls have.  They’re the three musketeers.

When Amanda comes calling to Graham’s house one evening before Christmas, she discovers Graham is not alone.  She says to him, “Are you married?  Tell me quick.”

He shakes his head and spells, “W. I. D. O. W. E. R.”

That moment shines a light on Graham and who he is inside, the world he’s trying to protect, and what his future will hold if he lets someone into this private haven he’s created for his children.

The Look:

Golden skin, blondish hair, blue devilish eyes, and a dazzling smile.  When he puts a napkin over his head, dons his eyeglasses and sucks the cloth into his mouth, he becomes ‘Mr. Napkinhead’, a look that makes him even more lovable.  

Jude Law plays Graham with just the right amount of devil-may-care flare and vulnerability.  He even cries [a little bit–which actually I don’t love] so he’s a really emotionally accessible man in the end.

Leading Lady:

Amanda Woods makes movie trailers.  Meanwhile her love life is in a shambles.  When she trades homes with Iris, she thinks not being around anyone she knows will be a good thing.  Instead, she’s never been more lonely in her life.  Until, that is, she meets Graham Simpkins.  

Amanda’s never gotten over the divorce of her parents.  She doesn’t cry.  At all.  Until Graham shows her love and how to feel more deeply than she’s ever felt before.  They compliment each other.  Who knows how they’ll manage a cross-continental relationship, but I’m rooting for them.

The Final Analysis:

The Holiday is one of those movies I will watch once a year, or so.  When I’m feeling blah, or just wanting an ‘ahhh’ moment, it’s the perfect escape.  Jude Law is a perfect Graham Simpkins and he’s a big part of why I like this movie.  It’s a great romantic comedy and worth the rental.  

Question of the Day:

What’s your favorite ‘ahhhh’ movie when you need a romantic fix?

Featured Summer  Read: New York Times Best Seller, Brenda Novak has given us a story about love found in the rubble of devastation in her latest release, Stop Me. 

Romain Fornier killed the man who murdered his ten year old daughter. After his release from prison, all he wanted to do was forget, and bury himself deep in the Louisiana bayou to be alone. Unexpectedly Jasmine Stratford walks into his life, claiming the murder of his daughter may be connected to her sister’s kidnapping sixteen years ago. And than she drops the real bombshell: he might have killed the wrong man.

I loved the relationship between Romain and Jasmine. Romain didn’t want romance or even love. He is a true warrior in every sense of the word. He’s self-reliant, dedicated to his morals (and to his grief), brave, and compassionate. His wife had died of cancer, then he lost his little girl in the worse way, leaving him understandably bitter, but not beyond repair. Love was the last thing he believed he needed or would find. Then Jasmine appears in his life, damaged and racked with guilt over the unsolved kidnapping of her little sister while she was babysitting.  There is an immediate spark, although both are fighting to deny it.

Both these characters are on incredible journeys of loss, pain and healing. Brenda Novak weaves her tale around the damage done to the survivors. She has taken on a tough topic, the murder of a child, than blends in the fall-out and those who are left behind to pick up the pieces.  Jasmine and Romain set out together to find who really murdered Romain’s daughter and kidnapped Jasmine’s  sister. There are a lot of dark tunnels they go through together as they weave their way through many surprises and twist in their drive to discover the truth. Their determination to stop those behind the kidnappings and murders drives the story at top speed towards a surprising end.  

I read this book in three days, unable to put it down.  And when it ended, I found myself missing the two main characters whose story I became so involved.  If you are a fan of Brenda Novak’s, you won’t be disappointed with this book which is the second in a trilogy about a group of young women who are all victims of crimes.  These women, instead of rolling over into the pits of a darkness to be victims forever, climb out to form a survivors network to help others.

Trust Me- In stores now.

Stop Me- In stores now.

Watch Me- Look for it July 29^th.

Question of the Day: 

It’s an unspoken rule that books in the women’s fiction genre not have murdered children in them.  What do you think of this ‘rule’?  As in Stop Me, are rules meant to be broken?

Sacred Sins by Nora Roberts (Bantam, 1987)

STATS: There’s a killer strangling slender, pretty blondes with the white silk scarf of a priest and Ben Paris is the magnetic police sergeant assigned to the case. 

THE LOOK: “His profile was in shadows, struck intermittently by streetlights.  It was funny how sometimes he looked safe, solid, the kinds of man a woman might run to if it were dark.  Then the light struck his face another way, and the planes and angles were highlighted.  A woman might run from him.” 

LEADING LADY: Tess Court is a shrink who believes “The Priest” is in pain and seeking help.  She’s immediately drawn to Ben despite his resistance to her theories.  He’s immediately drawn to her, struck by her elegance and the cool wash of her violet eyes. 

There’s a particularly funny scene when Ben is trying to romance Tess and he gets a call from one of his lady friends:

“It didn’t take a trained psychiatrist to understand there was a woman on the other end.  Tess smiled into her drink and went back to the view.

‘No, I’ve been tied up.  Look, sugar—“  The minute the word was out, he winced.  Tess kept her back to him.  “I’m on a case, you know?  No, I didn’t forget about..I didn’t forget.  Listen, I’ll have to get back to you when things lighten up.  I don’t know, weeks, maybe months.  You really ought to try that marine.  Sure.  See ya.’  He hung up, cleared his throat, and reached for his drink again.  ‘Wrong number.’

It was so easy to laugh. She turned, leaned against the windowsill, and gave into it.  ‘Oh, really?’

‘Enjoyed that, didn’t you?’

‘Immensely.’

‘If I’d known you’d get such a kick out of it, I’d have invited her up.’”

J  Love Ben.

BOTTOM LINE: Ben is a tough cop who often butts heads with Tess, but he always makes me think of a gentleman.  Just like his description above, he’s a bit of a riddle—gentlemanly but capable of ripping someone’s head off if he needs to protect the public or the woman he loves.  This is probably Nora in my favorite phase, concentrating on just a couple of characters and drawing out the story so we get to really enjoy it.  

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Ever been in an awkward situation and had to laugh your way out of it?  

Trust Me, by Brenda Novak [Mira Books, 2008] 

David Willis: Caregiver

David Willis is part Best Friend, part Caregiver.  He’s continual friend to ex-wife Lynette, peripheral friend to Skye Kellerman, and caregiver to his son, Jeremy.  He’s an all-around good guy who has a deep sense of responsibility toward those he loves and to those he’s made promises to.      

STATS: David has been a cop with the Sacramento Police Force for thirteen years and one case has affected him more deeply than any other.  Oliver Burke, who is at San Quentin for the rapes and murders of several women, almost raped Skye Kellerman.  Had it not been for a pair of embroidery scissors, David never would have had the chance to know–and fall in love with–Skye.

THE LOOK:

He’s tall and lanky.  “We’re talking two hundred pounds of lean muscle, the tightest ass I’ve ever seen and the kind of lips that could keep a woman on her back for weeks.” 

LEADING LADY:

Skye Kellerman is one of three co-founders of The Last Stand, an organization to help victims of violent crime.  Her passion comes from her personal experience with crime–a near rape and murder by a man she helped to put behind bars.  

She and detective David Willis have a tortured love for each other.  Tortured because David has honorable intentions to keep his family intact for the sake of his son–at the cost of his own happiness.  He struggles with mending his broken marriage because of his promise to his son, Jeremy, that he’d move back in and be together again as a family.  He’s noble, almost to a fault, but nobility in this day and age is to be revered.

BOTTOM LINE:

David Willis and his nobility/honorability is a hero to love.  Despite his enormous internal conflict, he manages to stand by both his ex-wife [who has MS] and Skye Kellerman, the woman he truly loves.  

Though he’s a great hero, Trust Me is really Skye’s story.  She loves David, but is resolved to live her life without the man she loves because she won’t be his leftovers.  She knows she deserves more than that and she is ready to give him up because of her own sense of honor.

David and Skye compliment each other.  If they are able to outsmart Oliver Burke and survive his release from San Quentin, they just might have a chance at love.  You’ll have to read Trust Me to find out what happens to Skye and David.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Brenda Novak has created a unique setup for her Last Stand series.  The Last Stand is an organization that supports victims.  This premise itself is noble and gives Trust Me [and the other books in the series] characters who’ve legitimately suffered and who deserve happiness.  

Victims and victim’s rights are tough subjects to talk about.  What do you think of the way Brenda Novak handles a very difficult social issue?