The Hunky Hero

The noble ladies over at Royal Reviews have issued a challenge, which I finally have time to accept!

This blog post is going to include information on:

• my favorite hero from a novel (and why he's so great)
• a short excerpt/quote involving that hero
• who I would want to play the hero in a movie version of the book.

That last bullet point guided my selection of a hero. While I could never pick an all-time "favorite hero" from a novel, I do know what I'd love to see on the big screen: Kresley Cole's A Hunger Like No Other. I think Gerard Butler would make a fabulous Werewolf King, don't you? Bonus: he's actually Scottish, so the accent would be no problem!

This book has great cinematic potential. And boy, does it start with a bang! Lachlain has been imprisoned by vampires, and cursed to burn to death repeatedly (only to have his mortality revive him again and again). He's been going through this for hundreds of years, so he's more than a little insane. But, true to good writing, the book starts on the Day That's Different. In the midst of torture, he scents his mate... the one woman destined for him, the one woman he's been waiting forever (literally) to love. The poor guy chews off his own leg to get to her:

Fate has given her to him when he needs her most, and God help him--and this city--if he can't find her. His brutality had been legendary, and he will unleash it without measure for her.

Well, he finds her. And guess what?

She's a vampire.

This is definitely one of the best romance novels I've ever read, and I love the hero and heroine. I won't spoil the rest of the book for you. Let's just say that it's got what every reader loves. Conflict, conflict, conflict! Sex, sex, sex! And Lachlain is definitely one hunky hero.

Now it's your turn to share. Who's your hunky hero? Take up the challenge! Even if I didn't list you by name, feel free to post a comment with a link to your own response. After all, think of what will happen if we don't respond. The Hunky Hero is destined to wander the blogosphere forever shirtless, clueless and lonely. You don't want that on your conscience!

I'm tagging:

• Alyssa Goodnight
  
• Ciara Stewart
• Michele Staci
  
• Vivi Andrews
• Kristie (J)
  

Get Your Kicks On Page 56

Ames is doing this book meme over at Thrifty Reader, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Here are the rules: Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal/blog along with these instructions.

Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the closest. Tag five other people to do the same.

So here's page 56 what I started reading yesterday:

Once she took away his pain, they'd be free to investigate places to mate.

"How about if you relax over there." She pointed to a seating area situated in front of a fireplace. "While I sit next to you? That way, you'll be comfortable."

Anyone know what it's from?

I'm tagging: Anneliese, Sam, Shelli and Alyssa Goodnight.

Meme: Six Things You May Not Know About Me

In a startling confluence of events, I was hemming and hawing about what to blog about. Then, Alyssa tagged me for the "Six Things You May Not Know About Me" meme. Yay! Problem solved, although I'm not sure what juicy tidbits I have yet to reveal in previous memes.

From Alyssa, here are the rules:

1. You link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Without further ado, my six unimportant items:

1) I don't like pork as a dinner entrée, but I love bacon or sausage at breakfast.

2) I've been in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream twice. The first time, I was the equivalent of a chorus person. The second time, I played Puck.

3) My preferred drink at Starbucks is a Grande Nonfat Cinnamon Dolce Latte with whipped cream. I've also been to the Oracle of Starbucks to see what my drink type says about my personality. Fun!

4) My spice cupboard is out of control. Because I like to cook all kinds of ethnic food, I've got everything from dried mint leaves to Garam Masala. The one spice I don't currently own (but desperately want to) is saffron.

5) One of The Fiancé's many nicknames for me is "Garden Gnome" (long story). Because of this, I've been getting hideous garden gnome gag gifts from his family at Christmas.

6) I agree with the American Film Institute when they say, "deeply principled and idealistic attorney Atticus Finch (portrayed by Gregory Peck), from To Kill a Mockingbird, was chosen as the greatest hero in 100 years of film history."

And the six people I am tagging:
Shelli
Anissa
Sam
Samantha
LadyTink
RomanceLover

The Rule of Four

As seen on Holly's page, as applicable to Kate D:

4 jobs I've had in my life:
(don't worry. My other category responses are much shorter!)

1. Beer Girl (Ostensibly driving a cart around a private golf course and serving beverages to the patrons while they teed off. Actually spent a lot of time hiding my cart in the bushes and picking blackberries into a 7-11 Big Gulp cup. Fabulous. What can I say? I was young. Carefree. And who could forget The Coworker Who Actually Looked Sexy in Raingear... le-sigh.)

2. Circulation Desk Assistant at Orwig Music Library (Also fabulous. Work-study rocks. Spent three years working the quiet Sunday shift with a fantastic immediate superviser. Copious amounts of time to do my homework, check email, and surf the web for such weird treasures as fainting goat fan sites... hey, they exist. I'm not kidding.)

3. 5th grade teacher (Loved this. Did it through Americorps. One of the best experiences of my life... yet I seem to have a lot of those. I'm one lucky scribbling woman!)

4. barista (all I can say is: be kind to the latte guy or girl. Not only do we put up with your crap, but we deal with homeless people throwing sugar packets at us and coworkers who don't believe in cleaning the espresso machine. Oh, and $3 buys you a Smoothie, not a smoothie + the right to condescend to service employees.)

4 movies I would watch over and over:
1. 10 Things I Hate About You
2. Pride and Prejudice--Colin Firth version
3. Anne of Green Gables/Anne of Avonlea
4. Overboard

4 places I've lived:
1. Snoqualmie, WA (yes, of Twin Peaks fame)
2. Providence, RI
3. SeaGirt, NJ
4. North Attleboro, MA

4 TV shows I watch:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Real Time with Bill Maher
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (mmm... Spike-a-licious...)
4. Road to Avonlea (yes, as you've noticed, I love cancelled shows)

4 places I've vacationed:
1. England
2. Ashland, Oregon (delightful Shakespeare Festival)
3. Prince Edward Island (need I say more?)
4. Lake Chelan

4 websites I visit daily:
1. hotmail
2. all of the reader blogs listed in the DSW sidebar
3. NYtimes.com
4. imdb.com (Okay, not daily, but very often!)

4 favorite foods:

(Just four? Too hard. So I'm going to get seasonal here and tell you my favorite summer foods.)

1. pink lemonade cookies
2. chicken jicama salad
3. salmon with orange-dijon glaze
4. Triscuits spread with Laughing Cow cheese and topped with Tomato Garlic Salad

and my alternate (because I love food, so I'm allowed to have an alternate...) Marscarpone Risotto with Peaches.

4 places I would rather be right now:
1. Cape Disappointment
2. at a bookstore cafe
3. in Europe... yep, basically anywhere in Europe
4. also, basically anywhere getting a backrub, facial, and/or scalp massage (ooh, and while I'm at it can I imagine my novel revisions and unit planning finished as well? Talk about relaxing!)

4 friends I think will respond with their own lists of four:
1. Erica, who believes that E is for Eating
2. Miss Scarlett, the KnittnFool
3. Flitgirl, right here at Damned Scribbling Women
4. Renee, of Yarns & Tall Tales fame