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?

Rick Ramos: A cool Latino hero in Operation Familia, by Donna del Oro 

In writing Operation Familia, my first humorous women’s fiction story (which debuted in February, 2008), I knew the hero would have to be based on my all-time crush, Jimmy Smits. The actor has been in the movies for at least 20 years and I’ve followed his career with interest. In my opinion, he’s the epitome of the handsome latino male: tall, well-built, thick dark hair, dark eyes, a tower of strength, humor, and self-confidence. 

So, as I wrote about my hero, Rick Ramos, I envisioned Jimmy Smits–a younger version of Jimmy, anyway.  In Operation Familia, Rick’s father is an undocumented Mexican national, a hard-working man who has launched a successful roofing contracting business. Backstory: Rick had to quit college to get a contractor’s license and help his father take the business to a higher level. Because his father is a strict, traditional Mexican with strong Catholic values, Rick felt obliged to do the honorable thing and marry the girl he’d gotten pregnant during one of his and Dina Salazar’s off periods. Dina, my heroine, never forgave him for marrying the other woman and since then has refused to hear his name spoken in her presence. To her, he’s The Hated One. 

When she’s drawn back to her family in Salinas to hear her Mexican-born grandmother’s dark secrets, Dina is eventually roped into devising a scheme to help her Mexican cousins escape a drug cartel’s clutches. Meanwhile, Rick Ramos finds a way to surface again in her life; he seeks Dina’s advice about his daughter, a little girl with learning disabilities. An elementary teacher, Dina is immediately sympathetic and tries to help. Knowing Rick is now divorced and has sole custody of his little girl, Dina realizes she’s never stopped loving him. Nevertheless, she fights against her attraction and deep feelings while studying how he has changed over the years. From a passionate boy, Rick has grown into a stoical man who bears his burdens and problems in a way she can admire. 

More than his devotion to his daughter, sexy Rick displays a steadiness and maturity that Dina finds heartening and irresistible. No more flaky playboys for her! Rick is definitely HUSBAND MATERIAL. SEXY HUSBAND MATERIAL. 

When he proves to Dina his love and support by helping her rescue her Mexican cousins, well, it’s the tipping point. Dina finally learns that forgiveness can mend a broken heart.  

Question of the Day:

Rick Ramos. Jimmy Smits.  They’re almost one and the same!  Do you have a favorite or admired person you’d like to see as a hero in a book?

Visit Guest Angel Donna del Oro at her web site.  

So apparently, it’s true what they say.  Everything’s bigger in Texas.  Including spiders.  Let me set the scene.  Last night.  Pantry.  Plastic bread wrapper moving unexpectedly [there’s no breeze in the pantry].  HUGE spider [2 inches in diameter] on the floor.  Me panicked since husband is out of town.  Two teenage boys mocking panicking mom [yet backing away from amazon spider].

It took almost thirty minutes to garner up the courage [15 year old son and me– 13 year old son filmed situation on his phone =/ ] to strategically move the broom and mop where the spider was hiding and trap it under a clear plastic cup, then ceremoniously carry the doomed arachnid to its watery grave [ie. the toilet].  

The mocking eldest son ratcheted up his mocking when I insisted they drop and flush at the same time [“The spider can’t get traction on porcelain, mom,” he said.  “Ha,” I said.  “I don’t care.  Drop and flush.  Do it.  Just do it.”]

They did, and immediately reeled backward, both amazed and slightly unnerved that the spider DID get traction and tried valiantly to climb out of the toilet bowl despite the fiercely swirling water.  The spider lost [did I mention it was HUGE?].

The point [aside from realizing that things ARE bigger in Texas] is that my boys were heroes once again.  Even in their mocking glory, they came to the rescue of a damsel in distress [me] and saved the day [or me from a sleepless night].  They’re good boys.  

Question of the Day:

Did you know there is such a thing as a Spider Vac?  I did not [until my sister in law told me].  I promptly jumped on-line and ordered one.  

The other question of the day is are your children ever heroic in every day life?

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?