Movie Review: “Carolina Moon,” the Last of the New Nora Roberts TV Movies February 20, 2007

The Lifetime channel saved the best for last with Nora Roberts’ made-for-TV movie, Carolina Moon.

With a stunning bit of casting that included Claire Forlani as Tori Bodine, Oliver Hudson as Cade Lavelle, and Jacqueline Bisset as Margaret Lavelle, they pulled out all the stops with this one to create a suspenseful thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the end.

Of all four movies, this one struck me as the best – though I’m not sure about the ending. If I recall right, the book ended a bit differently, so if you’ve read it more recently than I have, feel free to leave me a comment. I was thinking Faith (Josie Davis) was a little more of a sinister character. Also, let me know if you caught Nora’s cameo in this: I missed it when I stepped away for a chocolate break.

Here’s the story synopsis (courtesy of Lifetimetv.com), if you haven’t had the priveledge or opportunity to have read the orignial Carolina Moon already:

Returning to her hometown to make peace with her unsettling past wouldn’t be easy for Tory even if she didn’t have a gift for psychic visions. Tory knows that a trip down memory lane means reliving horrific images that flashed through her mind many years before, the night her childhood friend Hope was brutally killed. As though that weren’t twisted enough, Tory soon discovers that Hope’s death was only the first in a string of murders that have continued every year since that terrible day. And the worst part? This sociopath has been waiting patiently for Tory’s return. So now she’s got two choices: Use her supernatural powers to catch this killer or end up his next victim! You’ll love the suspense in this flick, as well as the steamy romance between Tory and Cade, Hope’s hunky older brother (played by cutie Oliver Hudson, Kate Hudson’s sibling).

Tori’s psychic abilities come across as very believeable (not at all hokey) and her interludes with murdered childhood friend Hope are very realistic and touching. Cade’s long-time love of Tori (illustrated with flashbacks of a cute ten year-old staring longingly after Tori’s retreating station wagon) are also portrayed well and come off as sweet and pure, rather than long-term obsessive.

I think that the key to making this movie work, however, was a combination between casting and character development: Forlani, with her face all cheekbones and vulnerable eyes, Davis’ brittle blond beauty, and Bisset with her patrician, matriarchal immovability, all combined to create true-to-life (or in this case, fiction) characters.

The only problems I had with the movie were minimal: the bad Southern accents, and Hudson’s lack of a chin – not his fault, and happily, a trait that didn’t affect his acting abilities in the least. Sorry to say (shallow female moment) one of my favorite aspects of the movie were wardrobe choices. I want to buy outfits just like Tori when I grow up.

So again, we have a stellar effort from Mandalay, Lifetime, and Nora Roberts. Even if it didn’t end quite like I think I remember, it was a satisfying movie that hit all the right chords with me. Well done, and another “A.”

Now that we’ve totally exhausted the Nora talk for a while, hold on to your chairs: we’re going from contemporary suspense to historical fiction in one big leap. Stick around for a glimpse of NY Times Bestseller Julia London‘s next book, “The Perils of Pursuing a Prince.” I’ve got an advance copy that I just can’t wait to review (already read it, not giving anything away here), and I’ll be posting my thoughts on it in the next couple of days!

“Blue Smoke:” Nora Roberts’ Latest TV Movie Debut February 18, 2007

Nora’s newest TV movie blockbuster, “Blue Smoke,” debuted on Lifetime last Monday night. As I mentioned in my last post, it got an automatic “A” for making this jaded romance lover boo-hoo like a baby.

To read the original “Blue Smoke” review by Publisher’s Weekly, check out the blurb below:

From Publishers Weekly (Courtesy of Amazon.com):

Romantic suspense queen Roberts (Blue Dahlia, etc.) lights up Baltimore’s Little Italy with this appealing story of love, family, food and arson. Eleven-year-old Reena Hale, watching her family’s restaurant go up in flames, decides to become an arson investigator.

The fire shapes another child’s destiny, too, as Joey Pastorelli sees his father go to prison for setting the blaze. Reena’s close-knit Italian family rebuilds; Reena grows up and completes police and firefighter training. Despite inheriting her mother’s good looks, Reena proves unlucky in love, mainly because her beaux tend to die in fires, but her fortunes look up after she meets hunky carpenter Bo Goodnight.

Bo gets along with Reena’s family, friends and co-workers, and handles the demands of her career with patient humor, so nothing stands in their way—except an obsessed, pyromaniac stalker determined to kill any man Reena loves.

Although it does take Reena an inordinately long time to identify her nemesis, Roberts portrays investigative procedure more accurately than her many imitators. Well-sketched supporting characters with potential subplots of their own suggest that the prolific Roberts will put her feet to the fire again. Main selection, the Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club. (Oct.)

Living up to their reputation with Nora’s last two book-to-movie transitions, Lifetime created a well-done (pardon the pun) thriller that made the most of the two hours plus commercial time it was given. Unlike Montana Sky, which would have been best suited to a mini-series, Blue Smoke condensed well.

While I didn’t totally agree with the casting of Matthew Settle as Bo (a statement that’s totally objective, since Settle just wasn’t what I’d pictured Bo as looking like), I thought Alicia Witt was the perfect Reena Hale.

In one scene, Reena comes rushing into the hospital to meet her partner, John Minger (played well by Scott Bakula), she finds out that here firefighter boyfriend (Ben Ayres) was killed in a freak flowershop explosion.  Reena falls weeping over his soot-stained, yet still gorgeous, body and her hand hits a bump in his jacket… you guessed it.  An engagement ring.  Break out the Kleenex, baby, I was gone.

The bad guy,  Joe Pastorelli, Jr. (played by Chris Fassbender) was creepy, but a little overdone.  I’m sorry, again with the puns.  However, the conclusion was sufficiently thrilling and kept pace with the rest of the movie.

I look forward to tomorrow night, when Carolina Moon, the last of the Nora Roberts movie debuts, makes its premiere.  A southern-fried thriller set in the steamy South, Claire Forlani and Oliver Hudson (who is Golie Hawn’s son, by the way) promise to heat up the small screen.

Check back for the review!

“Montana Sky” Nora Roberts TV Movie Review February 14, 2007

Okay, I’ve been slacking a little bit.

For those of you not in “the know,” Nora Roberts, the romance writing maven herself, clinched a deal with the Lifetime Network and Mandalay to create four made-for-TV movies: Angels Fall, Montana Sky, Blue Smoke, and Carolina Moon.

I’ve reviewed Angels Fall (for details, see my previous post), but I was slipping when it came to Montana Sky. To avoid getting writer’s cramp, I’ll do Blue Smoke tomorrow. So here’s the deets:

Montana Sky was definitely one of Nora’s best books, and I had high expectations for the movie, having seen what a great job Mandalay did with Angels Fall. Overall, I wasn’t terribly disappointed. I’ll give it an “B+,” if you’re into letter grades.

The basic run-down is as follows (taken from ebookmall.com, who probably took it from the back of the book):

When Jack Mercy died, he left behind a ranch worth nearly twenty million dollars. Now his three daughters – each born of a different marriage, and each unknown by the others – are gathered to hear the reading of the will. But the women are shocked to learn that before any of them can inherit, they must live together on the ranch for one year. They are sisters and strangers. Now they face a challenge: to put their bitterness aside and live like family. To protect each other from danger – and unite against an enemy who threatens to destroy them all.

I thought they did a pretty good job of casting the three sisters: Willa, Tess and Lily. The men (Nate, Ben and Adam) were pretty good as well, though Adam didn’t really ring any bells with me. However, not one of the actors and actresses were really able to stretch out in these parts; the acting was very one-dimensional with a few sparkling moments thrown in.

My biggest problem with the movie was the character development. I felt no sympathy for Lily, even though I knew her story from the book and sympathized there. I also thought that Adam kind of acted goofy: jumping up from making out with Lily and yelling the scripted equivalent of “Whoo-hoo!”  I didn’t feel bad when he got shot: I’d have shot him myself for acting like a dumbass.  Tess, Willa, and Ben were pretty good, but poor Nate didn’t get any chance to shine.

His character was my favorite male protagonist in the book and I particularly liked the scene where Tess makes an ass of herself after assuming Nate (supposedly a corn-fed, redneck, country bumpkin) doesn’t know the meaning of “milieu,” when he’s actually a lawyer with a lofty education.  Instead of giving the movie that added 30-second kick of character development, they literally left Nate as a corn-fed, redneck, country bumpkin to save time.  A little disappointing.

I don’t blame the directing or the cast, however.  Many reviewers of Montana Sky agree with me when I say that this movie should have been a three- or four-part miniseries instead of a one hour and 36 minute movie. I think that there were many other Nora books that would have adapted well into that kind of time frame, but a 500 page, one year-long saga wasn’t the one to do it with.

The scenery, however, was beautiful. I also loved the scene in the hottub. Kind of weirded me out at first (I mean, here’s three barely-know-each-other sisters skinny-dipping together in the hot tub and cracking on each others’ boob sizes) but the feeling of sisterhood and cameraderie managed to shine through the gratuitous PG skin shots.

Overall, I think this movie would be great for someone that had read some Nora Roberts books, but not Montana Sky, and likes the occasional “romance flick.” Not an Emmy winner (if they have those for TV movies?) but a good two hours all the same. And of course, we got to see Nora’s cameo at the end: was that her real husband she was dancing with at the wedding?

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s review of Blue Smoke. That one made me cry, so it automatically got an A+!

Book Review: The Comeback Kiss February 10, 2007

“The Comeback Kiss,” by Lani Diane Rich, is a must-have for your paperback book collection. Rich’s wicked sense of humor makes for a great read.

I just love the feeling of discovery and anticipation that I get when I find a new romance author – especially when I realize that she’s published previous books that I can go back and read. The last time I got that feeling was when I read Janet Evanovich’s “Seven Up,” if that tells you anything. It’s like: ohmigod, there’s more of these? Where have I been?

Lani Diane Rich’s newest title, “The Comeback Kiss,” had me wanting to do back flips.

Rich’s wicked sense of humor smacked me right in the face on the very first page. She then went on to deliver a right jab and a roundhouse or two before the chapter was even half over. She alternates effortlessly between emotional issues, like a 28 year-old woman raising her teenage sister after their mother’s death, to cutting one-liners, as shown by the following excerpt:

Izzy slumped back in her chair. “Mom would have let me get a car.”

A heavy silence fell over the room, accentuating the absence they both felt so strongly. Tessa drained the last of her coffee, listening to the ticking of the wall clock as she breathed in deep, not sure what to say. What do you say to a kid who was orphaned at the age of six? Ten years she’d been trying to think of something, and always, she came up blank.

“Sorry,” Izzy mumbled finally.

Tessa smiled. There was very little that Izzy could do that Tessa wouldn’t instantly forgive, and Izzy knew it. “It’s okay.”

Izzy leaned one elbow on the table as the fingers of her other hand picked lazily at her Pop-Tart. “You know what’s weird?”

“That parents keep letting their children keep playing at Michael Jackson’s house?”

Yeah, I called it a wicked sense of humor twice for a good reason – well, three times now.

I was completely blown away by the level of intensity this book had to offer. First, the humor: it was like watching M*A*S*H re-runs. First Houlihan says this, then B.J. says that, then Hawkeye pipes in and, next thing you know, you’re choking on your pizza snacks because you’re laughing so hard.

Next was the intensity of the character development: no boring cliché’s in this book. For example, Finn, the main male protagonist, not only has spiky red hair going for him but is a reformed bird thief who blew up a small town Nativity scene in his misspent youth (oh yeah, on Christmas Eve, no less).

And the book has no delusions of romantic grandeur that some author’s tend to lay on. For example, our heroine, Tessa, reflects upon love:

“…Finn was The One. He was her Soul Mate, he was her Destiny, he was all those things she’d never wanted to believe in because they were all dorky as hell.”

In addition was an item always big on the hit-list for me: intense sex scene. Just one, but it was short and sweet (well, actually wild and crazy) and sent our two main characters from zero to whoo-hoo in the front seat of a car in about thirty seconds.

Finally, intense twist. You sense something is wrong with the bad guy turning himself in, but you’re still pretty unsuspecting when the plot abruptly catches fire at the end of the book.

Lani Diane Rich effortlessly catapulted herself to the top of my reading list with “The Comeback Kiss.” Though it should probably be rated “R” for the F-bomb being dropped about twenty times (not that we care, right?), this book needs to be on the required reading list of any contemporary romance lover worth her weight in paperbacks.

For more info on Lani, check out her website.

Romantic Fiction: Why Do We Love It?

Lets talk about why romantic fiction, whether it’s historical romance, chick-lit, romantic suspense, erotica, paranormal or western, has the power to take our breath away.

Think about your favorite romance novel. Is it a pirate romance – a real bodice-ripper with a dashing and somewhat flawed hero who has a tanned and brawny chest? Is it a Nora Roberts book, heavy on plot twists and emotional intensity? Is it a Danielle Steele classic where you weep your heart out right along with the heroine? Or maybe it’s erotic romance: the kind where the guy and the gal live happily ever after and have some rip-roaring sex along the way?

We’ve loved romance for decades. Centuries even. Romantic novels make up a huge portion of the book industry and this “in love with love” trend shows no signs of slowing down. But what is it about these books that touch our hearts?

The Hero

Oh yeah, you know what I’m talking about. Whether it’s the dominating Cynster males that sprang from the mind of Stephanie Laurens, or even the Beta male (sensitive, loving hunk) that we found in Larkin (Book Two in Nora Roberts’ blockbuster vampire series, Dance of the Gods). What female wouldn’t want to be swept off her feet by one of these men? Romantic fiction lets us pretend for a little while that we have been.

The Heroine

They’ve come a long way since the Seventies, when dowdy secretaries were regularly picked up by their rich and chauvinistic bosses (though I must admit, I’ve got a cache of those in the attic). Today’s romances have sexy, realistic women with life goals and the guts to go out and get ‘em. They’re the type of women that we strive to be a little more like in our everyday lives.

The Great Escape

The best romances take us out of our sometimes hum-drum everyday lives for a little while. We can put the laundry, the dishes, work troubles, and the cable bill, out of our mind for a couple of hours and get pulled into the beaches of Bimini, the bustling streets of New York City, or the untamed Wild West.

Happily Ever After

Romance reminds us all that there is still magic in this world. That spark between men and women, the ups and downs of making a relationship work, and most of all, that sweet and satisfying ending, are not just works of fiction, but happen to everyday men and women. Plus, there’s just something satisfying about seeing two people, who you’ve become very fond of, make a go of it and ride off into the sunset.

So next time you tell yourself that you really ought to be ironing your socks instead of curling up on the couch with that paperback romance, read another chapter anyway. Well-written romances are a balm to our souls in these frenetically-paced days when we’re all doing at least ten tasks too many. True romance is a workout for the imagination and a little extra love never hurt anyone.

Harlequin and NASCAR? February 3, 2007

Okay, I must be out of the loop. What do Harlequin Enterprises and NASCAR have in common? Apparantly at least a portion of each of their fan bases. When you combine the two, you get a race-inspired foray into women’s fiction.

A February 2, 2002 press release, titled “Harlequin and NASCAR Expand Partnership,” explains the origins of this unlikely pair.  Last year, Harlequin Enterprises released three single-title romances with a racing theme and they were accepted wholeheartedly by a group of readers – wholeheartedly enough to result in a series of 16 NASCAR romances (that just feels wierd to write) and four other single titles with the same high-octane romance content.

If you’re interested in test driving one of these unique new books, check out Speed Dating, by the USA Today bestseller Nancy Warren. Warren flaunted convention by becoming the first Harlequin writer to include a real-live person in her novel: NAS-star driver, Carl Edwards. Carl doesn’t mind. In fact, he’s all about it.

“I am so excited to be a part of the Harlequin NASCAR book series. It is just another way NASCAR is connecting with its growing female fan base and gives fans a new way to engage in their favorite sport.” – Carl Edwards

To find out about book signings and related events, check out the full press release.

Nora Roberts’ TV Debut February 1, 2007

Nora Roberts, the romance maven herself, made her television debut with her new book/movie, “Angels Fall,” on the Lifetime Network Monday. I have to say, despite my pessimistic expectations of a cheesed-out disaster, I was very impressed.

Heather Locklear played the part of “Reece,” our too-skinny heroine on the run from a disturbing past. Reece pulls into the small town of Angel Falls, gets stranded when her car blows a gasket, and ends up as the primary witness to a murder – or what the whole town sees as a figment of her incredibly stressed-out and possibly insane imagination.

Reece’s love interest Brody (played by drool-worthy former unknown, Johnathon Schaech), a misanthropic ex-journalist who kills people on paper for a living, stands by her through frightening moments when she thinks she’s losing her mind, and eventually, the dramatic confrontation with the killer.

Though good parts were cut for the filming of the movie (as they always are), I really thought that Mandalay Television, the minds behind other great made-for-TV movies like Dean Koontz’s Intensity, did an excellent job converting the recent bestseller to television.

Nora is justifiably stoked about the TV debut. On her website, she says,

“I remember having many conversations with my agent, Amy Berkower, and a delightful conference call with her, Peter Guber and Stephanie Germain,” said Nora. “It felt as though we were on the same page, so to speak, right off the mark”

And, surprisingly, Nora pulled a Hitchcock. During a scene at a small hick bar in Wyoming, we see her in a cameo – her face through the bottom of a beer mug – dressed in an orange hunting cap and a flannel shirt.

As an overall, made-for-TV movie grade, I’d give this one an A. The casting was especially great: Mac Drubber, Doc, Joanie, and Linda-gail were all spot-on, just like I’d pictured them in the book. Except for Linda-gail’s teeth, as they were slightly vampiric. I’m looking forward to seeing how they deal with the next movie in Nora Roberts’ four-movie series, an adapted version of “Montana Sky.”

Here’s to getting our own books opted for TV movie scripts – whoo hoo!

- Kristen