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Maggie's Man is the second book in The Cowboys of Cavern County series. In this one, we meet up with Aiden, who appeared in book one. This time, he has his eye on Maggie, a waitress at a small cafe. They have spoken for a while, but Aiden hasn't had the courage to ask her out. Eventually he does, and although the date starts well, misunderstandings quickly overtake things (read, 'foot-in-mouth'!!)

The relationship between Maggie and Aiden is full of ups and downs, misunderstandings, and embarrassments. Although it is full of heat, I wasn't completely taken with their relationship. There seemed to be too many misunderstandings for me, although to be fair, Aiden wouldn't have known half of it because Maggie was too prideful to actually talk to him - for example, the cab after the dinner party.

However, what made up for it, was the whole suspense/mystery side of things. Robert is a complete scoundrel, and it looks like he will get away scot-free yet again. However, Bella Settarra has written an amazing story with more twists, turns, double dealing, and red-herrings than you can shake a stick at. Absolutely loved this side of the story.

Very well written, with no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt my reading flow, this book was completely enjoyable. Maggie's Man can be read as a standalone as apart from Aiden, there are no crossover characters to mention. Definitely recommended.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
  
New Year's Eve (2011)
New Year's Eve (2011)
2011 | Comedy, Romance
8
7.0 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
If you ask me, holiday movies have lost their way over the past few years. Not that there haven’t been any good holiday movies recently, but let’s face it… “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas” is no “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I think that New Year’s Eve brings us back to the feel good holiday movies that the film industry has been missing.

The cast in this is huge. Michelle Pfeiffer, Zac Efron, Robert De Niro, Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Seth Meyers, Carla Gugino, Katherine Heigl, Jon Bon Jovi, Sofia Vergara, Ashton Kutcher, Lea Michele, Sarah Jessica Parker, Abigail Breslin, Hilary Swank and Josh Duhamel are all players in this film. This is only the tip of the ice berg too as there are many smaller roles with cameos from big names.

New Year’s Eve follows several different story lines that are all connected in some way, whether small or big, the stories do intertwine. Michelle Pfieffer plays a meek, timid office worker who finally has had it with her miserable job. She enlists the help of bike messenger Zac Efron to help her complete all the tasks on her “bucket list” type resolution list. Robert De Niro plays a dying cancer patient whose wish is to see the ball drop one last time, and Halle Berry is the nurse that is attending him. Seth Meyers and Jessica Biel play an expectant couple who are in a race with another couple to have the first baby of the New Year in order to win the Hospital’s contest and receive $25,000.

Katherine Heigl plays a chef for a catering company that has landed a huge gig at one of the largest parties in New York. Sofia Vergara is her sous chef who is humorously fanatic over Jon Bon Jovi. Jon Bon Jovi plays a version of himself (a musician) who happens to be Katherine Heigl’s ex-boyfriend. Ashton Kutcher is very anti-New Year’s and during his protest of the holiday ends up becoming stuck in an elevator with Lea Michele, a new tenant in his building who is on her way to a new job as a backup singer.

Sarah Jessica Parker is a single mother who gets to spend the New Year with her daughter, played by Abigail Breslin. But Abigail has her sights set on spending New Year’s Eve in Times Square. Hilary Swank plays the newly appointed Vice President of the Times Square Alliance, which for the intents of this movie means that she’s in charge of the Times Square ball dropping and runs into a few problems along the way. Josh Duhamel is desperately trying to make it from his cousin’s wedding to New York City in time to give an important speech at his company’s party, as well as make another very important meeting.

I found this movie to be a great date movie. It’s cute and funny, but without being overly obnoxious as some holiday movies try to be. It is very clever in its story telling, and makes great use of the stellar cast. Though I personally could have done without the Robert De Niro story line, I really enjoyed the film overall. It is great to see a wholesome Holiday movie that does not have to rely on gags and clichés (not too much anyway).
  
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Lenard (726 KP) rated The Post (2017) in Movies

Jan 16, 2018  
The Post (2017)
The Post (2017)
2017 | Biography, Drama, Thriller
Acting (3 more)
Directing
Production Design
Editing
Costumes (0 more)
Burying the Lead
Meryl Streep is an American institution. Yet again, she proves that she is not finished finding new dimensions to her characters. In "The Post," she plays pioneering publisher Katherine Graham from The Washington Post. The film itself somehow manages to bury the lead in its own story. In an early scene, Streep playing Graham is at a meeting of the Board Of Directors voting whether The Post should go public. Graham never utters a word. Her advisor/attorney makes every statement for her. This is an indictment of the times, referred to later when Ben Bradlee makes an off-the-cuff remark about why her husband was given the paper in the first place. It is also a subtle clue about the quiet authority Katherine actually had, pulling all the strings though she had no voice in her own company. A later scene in which she retires to the drawing room with the other women while the men talk politics is another sign on the backward thinking times of not-so-long-age. It is here that the obstensible plot starts. Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara pulls Katherine away from the other women to reveal a story that is about to appear in the New York Times. A classified Pentagon report was leaked that detailed how the American government knew the conflict in Vietnam was unwinnable, kept the war going as a facade, and had been lying to its constituents. Nixon and Attorney General Mitchell threatened the free press with injunctions, restraining orders, and incarceration. In the resulting Supreme Court case, Justice Black found that the press is responsible to protect the governed and not the governors. Buried within is the story of the inequality of men and women and the small strides women made to exist in this patriarchal society.
  
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Alex Wolff recommended Ordinary People (1980) in Movies (curated)

 
Ordinary People (1980)
Ordinary People (1980)
1980 | Drama

"Those performances. Timothy Hutton’s performance in that is probably the most directly inspiring to me, and that’s a young guy at the top of his game, emotionally raw, and brings everything that a young actor could want in a performance. I feel that that film is the most heart-wrenching and true portrait of a family maybe I’ve ever seen. To describe it well would reveal too much. That’s what’s brilliant about it. Everyone should watch it and watch Mary Tyler Moore with Timothy Hutton and Judd Hirsch. I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe that movie. It seems like such a simple concept, and yet Robert Redford kills it. The scene that always gets me, hits me so hard, is a small scene that not many people would say they love. Most say the big breakdown scene with Judd Hirsh. For me, it’s the scene where Timothy Hutton has been going to Judd Hirsch for a little bit, and he’s opening up. It’s such a journey of what it means to be vulnerable and the importance of vulnerability in your own family, especially after trauma. My character in The Cat and the Moon is very much inspired by Timothy Hutton’s character in Ordinary People. His journey of being so closed off and edgy to cracking open into this well of unmined emotion. Particularly the scene where he and Donald Sutherland, who’s amazing as well, are decorating the tree — ugh, the Christmas tree. It’s such a sweet scene. Mary Tyler Moore comes home, and she’s got this cold, dark look on her face. I’ll never get over her facial expressions in that movie. What she’s thinking versus what she’s putting on the surface is the most genius magic trick. It’s the most exhilarating thing ever. That movie is the best."

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