5 comments about A Hard Man to Love.

1. Widow Montana "Monty" Blackstone plans to convert part of her Black Hills Ranch into the Black Creek Resort, a spa for people to escape from their daily lives. Her mother-in-law Helen hires Steele "Midas" Hardt, a former professional gambler, to run the ranch which has seen some neglect. Monty fires Midas within seconds of meeting him, but he convinces her to retain him before he kisses her. To their shock that kiss leads to them making love in the not opened spa.
   
   As Monty and Midas work together to make her dream come true, he hides his real agenda from her. Soon he finds himself in love and believes Monty reciprocates, but as he ironically tells his brother Sloan he will need all the luck in the world to pull off this deal without losing his girl.
   
   Steele definitely has the Midas touch as he goes from fired to sex in minutes. The story line is a lighthearted contemporary romp starring an independent woman who follows her dream and the man who can help her make it happen if she gives up some of her obsessive need for autonomy. Fans will enjoy the lead couple's differing dilemmas as they fall in love but she fears the loss of her freedom and he worries about what will occur once she learns the truth. A HARD MAN TO LOVE is a fine ranch resort romance.
   
   Harriet Klausner



2. A Hard Man To Love by Kathleen Lawless is one wickedly sensual tale.
   
   Montana Blackstone has her heart set on making the Black Creek Resort and Spa a success. She is used to depending only on herself, so when her former mother in law hires a new foreman it doesn't sit so well with her. Montana soon realizes that she could use some help in shouldering the burden of opening up the spa. But Montana can't seem to keep her mind or her body on business while Steele Hardt is around.
   
   Steele Hardt is the man with the magic touch. His visions and actions have turned many of businesses around. But Montana thinks he is there as her new foreman. Will she still want or need him when she finds out the real reasons why he is at the ranch.
   
   Montana and Steele set the room on fire from their first glance. Their chemistry is so hot your hands will be burnt from reading their scenes. They both realize that they have found something so much deeper that they must cherish it.
   
   A Hard Man To Love is a treat from page one. The tantalizing scenes between Steele and Montana will make you want for more. Its one hot book but also a deeply moving one as well.



3. Widow Montana Blackstone plans to open a deluxe spa resort at her Black Creek Ranch. Steele Hardt has come to the ranch under false pretenses - Montana thinks her mother-in-law has hired Steele to help with the ranch. In reality, Steele is a business troubleshooter checking out the spa and writing up a report for the investors.
   
   From the moment Montana and Steele meet, they are attracted to each other and basically can't keep their hands off of each other. Montana needs to be in control at all times - can she let go and let Steele in her life?
   
   I feel like I read a different book than the other reviewers. I didn't feel that this book was any type of sensual treat. Yes, the characters immediately have sex and continually have sex, but I didn't feel like there was any chemistry between them. That may be because I never felt like I knew the characters. There really wasn't much there about the characters - we read again and again about Montana having control issues, but what else about her - for example, what's the story on Charlie, her late husband? We get hints of what happened to their relationship, but nothing more. And I have no idea why Steele is so attracted to Montana.
   
   This is my first Kathleen Lawless book, so I don't know if this is a typical book. I would read another one, but I won't be rushing out to buy it.



4. Montana Blackstone is getting close to opening day at her ranch expansion known as Black Creek Resort. Trying to run both the established ranch, and opening the new spa are proving too difficult for her, so unbeknownst to her, former mother in law Helen hires a new foreman for the ranch.
   
   The minute Steele Hardt and Montana meet, sparks fly, and they immediately become lovers. Steele is a former gambler hired to evaluate and make recommendations on the success/failure of the new spa. He is undercover as the foreman, and the only one on the ranch that knows his true motivations is Helen.
   
   Montana has control issues and Steele has commitment issues - neither believing happily ever after exists for either of them. There is constant sex in this book, but not enough story telling. The characters are lacking in development - not only Steele and Montana, but others such as Sloan and Helen. We are given a hint at character traits, but no real explanation as to the reason they exist, and those that are hurriedly explained, are just glossed over. The premise for this story was good, and I expected much more.



5. So here is what you get when you read this book. A heroine who plays that "I am in control ALWAYS!" bit to the hilt, plus the "I hate you but lets have hot sex day and night!" Cliche? Yeah, I thought so too. The hero is a sex stud who has no self-esteam issues what so ever. He knows he's a hot sex partner, and is turned on by the heroines willingness to match his desires. The sex scenes are hot, but don't expect love and passion to be part of it. It's all lust and body contact sport. And there is a backstory, something about getting her ranch profitable by opening a deluxe spa and the hero being a secret undercover man who holds way too much control over the outcome of the ranch. And of course, he is a millionaire.

5 comments about d20 Past (d20 Campaigns: d20 Modern).

1. I had high hopes for this book. Too bad it didn't live up. Once you see how skinny the book is, you will start to be concerned.
   
   First, what the book does well. It gives a nice general overview on how to translate d20 Modern occupations, skills, and feats to less modern eras. The book also does the best job yet for showing how to have a d20 Pirates/1600's setting, complete with a sample adventure. The various advanced and prestige classes (Explorer, Musketeer, Shaman, and Sorcerer) for that era are also well done.
   
   Sadly, once you are done with the section concerning 17th-century adventuring, the book drops down in value fast. Instead of giving general guidelines for the eras in question, d20 Past force feeds two campaign settings that are only moderately described. (It gives 24 pages for 17th Century, but only 16 for "Shadow Stalkers" (Victorian) and 15 for "Pulp Heroes" (1930's)) Outside of the rifles rules that were presented in the first chapter of the book, there is nothing to recommend getting this book instead of prexisting d20 books like Forbidden Kingdoms from OWC or Masque of the Red Death from S&S. The adventure models are weak for those eras, and the prestige classes are nothing special.
   
   With nothing on how to deal with the Wars of the eras (Napoleon, American revolution, American Civil War, WWI), and the exceptionally-poor-for-WotC artwork in the book, the only reason to pick up this book is if one wants to do 1600's settings using d20 Modern rules. All others should look instead at the books I previously mentioned.



2. If you are looking for new classes, vehicle stats, and Open Gaming content, then this is NOT the book for you. I was hoping to find some good stuff in this title that I could use on a broader scale, but it's pretty much just bland and useless information. The kind of information you can easily find for free online. The only redeeming section in the whole book is the part on gun powder weapons, everything else is pretty much just a miss-mash of bad ideas.
   
   What I was hoping to find were new character classes like: Pirate, Black Smith, Sailer, Merchant, Baron, etc. Instead all the book offered was a prestige class called Explorer and another for a Shaman. There are hardly any good stats for transportation devices or anything on inventions or inventing.
   
   Finally, what little in this book that is usable is not part of the OGL. So, for example, all the stats on gun powder weapons cannot be utilized into another campaign book or resource book to keep rules standardized. This is irritating because the content is unoriginal and part of western civilization's history and should therefore be part of the OGL, not copyright protected.
   
   Perhaps I was expecting too much, but I felt like a lot was missing and most of the information and content presented wasn't useful enough to make the book worth while.



3. I admit I expected a bit more...
   
   Three campaign models are discussed here in some detail - pirates, pulp fiction and...something else - gothic stuff, I think?
   
   The equipment list and monsters are a bit skimpy, tables are reproduced, artwork is nice, but the whole seems to lack a bit. On the good side, it contains descriptions of all sorts of archaic personal firearms (now I can equip my post apocalyptic mutated badgers with gatling guns and pepperbox pistols - but I could have figured that stuff out anyway, I suppose). The Sailing combat rules are solid also.
   
   I guess for the price its a good buy, but not quite what I was expecting.



4. I BOUGHT THIS FOR MY GRANDSON AND HE JUST THINKS THAT THIS IS THE BEST BOOK HE HAS GOTTEN IN A WHILE. HE REALLY IS ENJOYING THIS THE THE ONE D20 FUTURE. HE LOVES THEM BOTH AND GIVE THEM BOTH 5 STARS.



5. Like most of the WotC D20 supplements, this one is well laid out, with good presentation and art. That being said it is even more of a niche book than D20 Future. If you are planning to run a D20 campaign set in the past than it may prove useful. Be forewarned though that its page count seems to be lacking. What is here is pretty good but really its not enough to justify the price. Even the descriptions of the different time settings are far too little.

5 comments about The Handicapper's Condition Book, Revised: An Advanced Treatment of Thoroughbred Class.

1. pretty comprehensive
   one of the classics and will teach you all the pertinet aspects of handicapping
   i have referred to my copy again and again over the years and this book will never go out of date as it deals with the fundamentals of handicapping
   breaks down the races into specific catagories and in each catagory specifies the attritbutes that the top contenders should have.
   probably one of the most intelligent books i have read on handicapping horses and i have read plenty over the past 25 years



2. Quinn takes class evaluation of thoroughbreds to a new level and backs it all up with statistical data to prove which horses are best suited for each race and it's conditions. Quinn explains in exceptional detail how to seperate contenders from pretenders. I don't think you want to throw a true beginner into this, but novices can substantially improve their understanding and win percentages by mining this volume for ideas of what to look for. The Appendix summarizing what kind of horse to look for in each type of race is worth it's weight in gold and is something almost anyone with even limited experience can apply to their handicapping. I can honestly say that I believe my handicapping is going to a new level as I read and re-read this book to absorb the material.



3. This book is awesome, and simply the best as it pertains to condition, class, and form. A must have, will simply improve your handicapping skills by leaps and bounds.
   
   As you can see from the others reviews; all positve, all five stars plus!!!



4. I've read several books on handicapping and wagering on racing. Some have been very good and very helpful.
   None were as helpful as this.
   As a casual handicapper, you learn to look at speed figures and try to guess who's fastest. But the fastest horse doesn't always win. Class and form are sometimes overlooked.
   This book taught me to look at who belongs and who doesn't. And who was meant to win this particular race.
   After you read this book, you won't miss as much regarding class and form. This will likely lead you to more live horses at longer odds. Especially when so many others use speed as their primary criteria and create short prices for the horses with the highest Beyers.
   And the appendicies are a tremendous tool for day-to-day handicapping. A must-read for any serious handicapper.



5. This is the most valuable book I own on horse racing. James Quinn writes so clear and knows so much about the sport. This books tells you all the different types of races and what horse is most qualified to win those races. It has helped me out so much. I don't bet, but I enter contest online and you have to be prepared for every type of race when you enter them. An excellent read for everyone.

No comments about "Puzzler" Killer Sudoku.

5 comments about 101 Easy-to-Do Magic Tricks.

1. Unlike many magic texts, this book has incredible illustrations that make every trick easy to understand. The book includes simple ways to create functinal apparatus like Chinese Sticks, chinese Rice Bowls, simple production boxes etc. It also includes a simple routine for the Chinese Linking Rings, the only trick you can't make yourself. With thousands of drawings by an excellent illustrator, this book is a must for anybody interested in learning magic. Mr. Tarr has also written Now You See It, Now You Don't which is undoubtably the best beginning text on sleight of hand on the market. It isn't best because Mr. Tarr is the best, it is best because the writing is clear, the illustrations are top notch, and the material is chosen to teach.



2. this is a really good work for someone just starting in the field. The text is clear and interesting, and the explainitory art leaves nothing to be desired



3. This book was absolutly great! All the magic tricks were so easy to do! I loved enterraining my two younger sisters with these tricks.



4. This is one of the best magic books a beginner could buy. Just as he does in his other books, Bill Tarr teaches in a way that is so easy to understand and follow. These are some of the best classic magic tricks; every magician should know them. I recommend this book to even advanced magicians. If you don't have it on your shelf, you're missing out.



5. Well, the title of the book pretty much explains the book. For me, It was a litle too easy, but I'm 16 years old. This book is better suited towards kids. But if you are interested solely in card magic, I recommend not getting it. This book only has self-working card tricks. Although, if you are only interested in a couple easy cards tricks to impress people, then that is what this book offers. This book also contains other tricks, such as dolar bill in a lemon, chinese wands, chinese rings, the inexhaustible hat, the rising cigarette, ring on a string, and the great matchbox escape, to name a few. This book isn't very long. I didn't enjoy the book that much, because I am interested in street magic, and these tricks are not suited to that type of magic, because they all require set-up and need a table or are too angle sensitve, ect. But overall, I would have to say that you shouldn't buy this book (because there are so many better books that hold more information) unless you are a kid. If you are older and a beginner in magic I recommend another book.

1 comments about Hidden Picture Challenge (Take a Hidden Picture Challenge).

1. This book was for my niece who is eleven and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

5 comments about The Book of Nod.

1. This is quite an enjoyable book. The Chronicle of Caine is complimented with Beckett's alternate theory of Clan Caine and Clan Abel. The Chronicle of Shadows is full of wonderful quotes a Noddist character could recite. And the Chronicle of Secrets is perfect for bringing about Gehenna. But while this book is worth buying, I just want to point out two problems with it that bothered me.

   The first is that "The Tale of the First City" goes from pages 46-55, and has only one footnote throughout it. Some scholarly insights would have been useful. The second is minor, but worth correcting. On page 53, substitute the name Giovanni with Cappadocian. The Giovanni clan came long after the Cappadocian clan, and were not a part of the original Antidiluvians.

   Otherwise, this is a wonderful source book and a good read as well. I highly recommend it to storytellers for Vampire: the Masquerade.




2. well illustrated version of the classic liturature to those who dont read anything befor the 16th century, informative the parts "left out of the bible" or taken ut. good read tok me less than2 hours
   if any one knows of a better version of this book let me know
   Still G



3. This little book was made to be a resource for the Vampire Masquerade game but it can definitely be read and enjoyed by fans who have no idea what Vampire Masquerade even is.

   This short book, which can be read in like 30-60 minutes, shows the origins of the vampires, and their sects, and shows their 'fall from grace' from heaven and why they were shunned by all.

   And while the book might be extremely short in length, the build quality easily makes up for that. There are wonderful drawings, indexes, and footnotes litered throughout the book. And the silver lined pages, attached cloth bookmark, and smooth hardcover scream quality like no other.

   This book is a must read for any vampire or horror fan who wants to learn a bit more on vampire history and their origin.




4. Exactly like as the title says. It is a great read, but unfortunately the book will leave you wanting for more.
   The Book of Nod presents the history of the vampires as thought for Vampire:The Masquerade. This novel can be enjoyed even by those that are not familiar with the Masquerade setting and other novels. It offers the big picture, explains how the vampires came to be, has great quotes and "commandments", if you will, that vampires are supposed to live by. You will understand the vampire clans and what their traits are and the reader is bound to have a favorite one out of the bunch.



5. thare is no real story to speek of its more a colection of WoD historys and myths but thows not into the "world od darkness" may not want to or nead to read this but its still intresting

3 comments about The Marvel Universe Role Playing Game: Guide to the Hulk & the Avengers.

1. The Avengers. Earth's Mightiest Heroes. With this, the third supplement from Marvel entertainment and Q.E.D. Games, you can take on the role of many Avengers. It's got a great list of stats fols. Great supplement for the best Super Heroes RPG on the market. If you have reservations, don't... buy this game.



2. Once again the people in charge of Marvel roleplaying books have made a blunder. Their inability to even give the complete Avengers roster shocked me! I intended to buy this book til I thumbed through it, and couldn't find updated stats for Hank Pym. If you're at all interested in Marvel roleplaying games go find TSR's old MSH system, while a bit old and out of date both Avengers Assembled and Avengers Coast to Coast are deeper and more worthwile!



3. This book is filled with more information about the Hulk and the Avengers then I could find on any online source. It has a lot of new profiles for heroes and villains encountered by both the Avengers and the Hulk, which naturally leads to a few villains and heroes that have encountered other Marvel characters like Scorpion and Shocker from Spiderman. It's also got a lot of new actions, options, modifiers, and a few advantages, disadvantages, and challenges. It's as big an upgrade to the game as the guide to the X-men was if not bigger. The only thing I thought I would get that I didn't was a better description of Asguard and other magical realms. Oh well, aside from that, it's a great upgrade.

5 comments about All-American Car-i-oke.

1. I wasn't sure how this would go over with my 7 and 9 year old girls, but we had a lot of fun with it on a l-o-n-g car ride home from vacation this summer. Not all the songs were familiar to us, but learning the lyrics was part of the fun.
   This gets three thumbs up from the girls and me and one from my husband, who was driving, and glad no one was complaining about being in the car so long.



2. I road tested this item with my three children on a long car ride a couple of years ago. It was a huge hit with my family, so I highly recommend it at my website [...]. Even after two years, we still use it frequently on trips, so it has given us more than our money's worth.
   
   It comes with a CD for the music and several extra copies of the lyrics in smaller booklets for everyone in the car (no fighting!). The CD does a great job of giving "musical cues" when you are supposed to start singing, and there is such a variety that there is sure to be something that everyone will like - including the adults!
   
   One of our favorites is the "make your own blues" song. My kids loved making up their own lines for that song in addition to the suggested lyrics. They also really love "Big Rock Candy Mountain" which was full of hilarious kid humor. The backseat drumming is also very popular. One thing we also love to do with this is to practice singing the Star Spangled Banner together. It can be a hard song to sing sometimes, but my kids are now pros and can belt out our National Anthem with pride.
   
   We never go on a road trip without this item. I'll be buying the Christmas version of this next.



3. This was good for at least an hour of no-bickering drive time. It isn't "kiddie" music, so it's entertaining for the adults, as well. Several extra copies of the lyrics mean you can lose one without harm. The cover and binding are durable, to put up with the abuses of living in a family vehicle. I'm looking at the holiday version next.



4. This was a great idea and I bought it for a road trip with the kids last summer. We enjoyed parts of it. But most of it, unless you know every single song by heart, is hard to follow. It would be nice to have the singers singing back up through more of the songs, or at least have better intrances cues. I am fairly comfortable with music and singing with my kids, but I have never learned 'Cielita Linda' well enough to sing it with only the words.
   
   All in all, not worth the money for me, though my kids do love the drum solo song where all they have to do is bang on stuff to a cool beat.



5. A long roadtrip can be hard on kids no matter what they're ages. This had something for everyone. We sang along to some classic songs that most of us had forgotten the words to. Whenever we were going thru somewhere we couldn't pick up a station we used this. Also it came with extra books so noone had to share.

5 comments about Game Programming for Teens, Second Edition.

1. Being that I am 25 years old, I have learned a lot for game programming from this book. Also, I own Blitz 3D, which is perhaps Blitz's best language. However, all of the code from this book is geared more towards 2D, which is good. However, I was hoping that Maneesh would have covered more with the 3D aspect, as most good games these days do involve the third dimension.
   
   Needless to say, this is perhaps the best game programming book for the beginner/hobbyist. You can create SNES/Genesis-quality games right out of the box with no problem. If you are a great artist, you can even make games comparable to today's console games, if only Maneesh would've covered more detail towards Game Programming in Blitz 3D. Great start to starting a hobby in making your own games, and it really has me sold on this book. I'm hoping that more books can come with this simplicity, and it's perhaps the most defined code I've used.
   
   Bottom line, good job Maneesh, great book, but just include some game code for the 3D version of Blitz in your Third Edition.



2. The reviews for the first edition of this book, and its software, were very positive. I bought it for my kids shortly after the second edition came out. This edition of the book is useful, but the software--supposedly the key to making the book work, since it is supposed to allow you to actually design games as you go along--is advertised on the back of the book as being unlimited, and it's not unlimited. It's a demo that expires after several uses. Supposedly there's an unlimited version on the author's web site; good luck finding it.
   
   Followup: I'm told the URL for the software is at www.maneeshsethi.com/BlitzPlusDemo.exe but I haven't used it yet to see if it's completely unlimited, or just has more uses.



3. Short: I am writing this review from the perspective of a high school student who started with Blitz, went on to a more advanced language, and is now revisiting Blitz again.
   
   Long: When I first picked up the book, I was a high school student with no prior programming experience. I had written code before, but it was HTML so I didn't actually write programs.
   
   I abandoned Blitz for a while when I finally got the chance to take a programming class(C++) in school and have recently returned and thus revisited the book to brush up. I took this oppertunity to write a review here.
   
   C++ is a more advanced, powerful, and widely used language but I still use Blitz to make simple games because it's hard to get good graphics in a C++ compiler without costly graphics pacakges to go with it.
   
   Opinion
   
   Short: The book is very intuitive and well written. The author does a very good job at explaining things and the book is very well paced. When going to a more advanced language I was helped significantly by the concepts I learned when using Blitz. I would highly recommend this book.
   
   Long: When I first got this book, I thought programming would be a daunting task. This book goes through it very well and has a nice pace that keeps you from getting overwhelmed. The author writes very clearly and is very good at explaining concepts. This is a great book to get started with programming.
   
   When I dropped this because I started programming in C++, I found transfering languages easier than I had hoped. I learned a lot of basic concepts in Blitz and was able to take many of them over into C++.
   
   For a short time, the only real changes that I experienced were different syntax between the two languages and some other basic priciples (such as library functions) not used in Blitz. By the time I got to a point where most of the material I was learning had no equivalent in BLitz, I had been using C++ long enough not have any problems.
   
   Conclusion
   
   Short: It's a great, well written introductory book for those looking to program for fun or those who want to go further but need a good starting point.
   
   Long: When I got this book, my purpose was to get something to introduce me into programming in a simple, easy to understand manner. I am happy to say that it works very well for this purpose. The Blitz language will not carry you especially far but if you are in it for fun or are just looking for a starting point, this will work very well. I still program with it myself a bit even after learning a more advanced language.



4. This was my very first game programming book. Eversince I have read 2 other books about programming, and am working on two more.
   
   Not only does this book give you a very good head start in game programming, it also gives you a sense of pride in programming. I don't know why, but it's just how the author explained everything.
   
   Overall, the book is very well put together, and it gives you a basic head start in programming in genaral.
   
   But be warned. If you want to do some 3D programming, this is not the book for you. It will only teach you the basics in both programming, and a little in graphics. Don't get me wrong, it teaches enough graphics to make a fine game. But you it doesn't teach you anything about maps, side scrolling, or other gene's. The only genre it really teaches would be like a space shooter.
   
   Use this book for a beggining in programming. Don't stop here though. Find another source that can teach you other programming techniques and languages.
   
   5 stars, all the way.



5. I really didn't like this book. It was written oddly, and doesn't teach you that much (which may have more to do with the fact that the programming language taught is really simplistic). The programs included are limited demos, and the final project (Invaderz!!!-what a wonderful name >_>) is not even explained in the book.