Steam: A Homecoming Hearts Novel #4
8.0
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Bad boy movie star Trent Charles is more famous for his outrageous behavior than he is for his...
personal 2018 4 stars 208 male/male romance
Where There's Smoke
Book
Santiago Mendoza Chicago nearly destroyed me, but moving to Cobalt, I found everything I needed...
M_M Contemporary Romance
Copping an Attitude (Sin City Uniforms #2)
10.0
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Book two in the Sin City Uniforms series - a newly expanded and edited version! Survival is all...
Contemporary MM Romance
All of the Voices (Southern Spirits #3)
8.0
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The body might be reluctant, but there's more than one spirit willing to step in and keep two...
MM Paranormal Romance
Debbiereadsbook (1557 KP) rated Tangled In Tinsel in Books
Dec 11, 2021
Taken straight from the blurb, this best describes this book! This gay, Hallmark-influenced romance is a heart-warming, hilarious, steamy mug of Christmas cocoa.
And it really is a wonderful read! I have a lot of holiday stories in my review list this year and this is the most fun read, I think, of the lot.
Dean is chasing that elusive find, the one that would save his business and make his name in the antiques world. Finding it is Tinsel, and meeting Levi again, was fate. Then the snow comes, Dean's nemesis also arrives and Dean is faced with making the decision of his life.
There follows an hilarious tale of two men falling in love, over a cradle; a lot of interruptions to their moments and a horse ride from hell and I really can't go into too much more, save for spoilers!
But it really is a wonderful read. And I loved the connection that Levi had to the cradle, and just what else Levi has to give to Dean.
The letter though, made me cry!
Oh, and the epilogue did too!
I can't see that I've read anything else by this author, and I think I need to correct that, right quick (just as soon as my review list lets me!)
4 wonderful stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Todd (Tangled Tentacles #3) by JP Sayle & Lisa Oliver
JP Sayle and Lisa Oliver
9.0
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Were the Fates wrong giving Todd two mates, or will the two dragons be able to redeem themselves and...
MMM Paranormal Romance Shifters Dragons Series
Shouting Match (Amore Matchmaking #1)
10.0
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After the death of his father, Capone Lombardi was tasked not only with keeping his father’s...
Northern Lights (Arctic Heat, #1)
8.0
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It was supposed to be a three-week holiday—but it turned into so much more. Varg doesn’t...
Contemporary MM Romance
One Last Chance
8.0
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Dayton is in a place in his life when he's just about to give up on finding a suitable partner to...
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The Shape of Water (2017) in Movies
Mar 14, 2018
The fact that the love story is between a mute woman and the Creature from the Black Lagoon makes it just that much more interesting.
From the fertile mind of Guillermo Del Toro (THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, PAN'S LABYRINTH), TSOW answers a question that a young Del Toro had when he first saw the 1950's creature feature CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON. He thought, "what if the creature ended up with the girl?" In Del Toro's mind, the Creature was the leading man, not the generic hunk that was hunting him.
Wonderfully realized by Del Toro, TSOW tells the tale of mute cleaning woman, Eliza (Sally Hawkins) who works at a "secret Government agency" in Baltimore. When she is asked to mop blood up in a highly classified area, she soon realizes that a "creature" is being held there. It is her realization that this creature is not just "some creature", but an intelligent being that starts this lonely, mute woman and the "creature" on the road to a loving relationship.
Hawkins is mesmerizing as Eliza. Obviously, with her character being mute, she must express herself in other ways - and she does. Her eyes are truly the window to her soul and Hawkins' ability to "eye act" is astounding, she conveys more feeling with a look and a glance than most actors can with a mountain of work.
She is strongly aided by some really good co-stars - Richard Jenkins is marvelous (as always) as Eliza's neighbor/friend who, himself, has a handicap - he is a gay man in the 1950's. The strength of Jenkins' performance is that he is able to overcome the trap of "the sympathetic gay best friend" and bring to the screen a complete character. Michael Stuhlbarg is watchable (as always) as the main scientist that studies the creature. Here is an actor that has grown in my eyes and he is a "must watch" in anything he is in. Michael Shannon is a presence as the main "heavy" in this film and though his character is pretty one-note, Shannon hits that note strongly and holds our attention. Unfortunately, compared to these 3 (and Hawkins' lead role), Octavia Spencer's talents are not put to the test as Eliza's co-worker. She is capable of so much more and her character is severely underwritten.
But, while strong characters are a must in a successful film, it is Del Toro's direction and "sense of place" that embue this fable with the character and detail it needs. Set in a 1950's that is a bit more idealistic/stylized than is real, Del Toro steers us through a world that is fascinating to watch - and be in - and makes it seem almost plausible that such a creature could exist and that a woman could fall in love with him.
Much like how I fell in love with this film.
Letter Grade: A-
8 stars (out of 10) - and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)