A good follow up to Special Lady's success
343818
Ray, Goodman and Brown made a good comeback in 1986, 7 years after that megahit Special Lady in '79. Special succeeded strongly as a ballad during a disco dance heavy music period.  Maybe they took their time in that 7 year hiatus to make some solid songs. I like Take it To the Limit and the ballads that dominate this collection. Though I haven't heard anything from them since then, this was another good comeback for the group.
4761756
I enjoyed reading of all of her accomplishments.  Such a great lady to be admired and a wonderful example for a first lady.
3772735
I enjoyed reading this book which continues the story of life in small-town Abbotsville.  Whatever she's in charge of, you can be sure that Miss Julia will take her role seriously, and see the situation through to a positive conclusion!  (Which is why Miss Mattie probably chose her in the first place!) Anytime Miss Julia and Etta May are involved together, misadventures will happen! There were some interesting plot twists.  I was a little bit disappointed that the story line about the nice young neighbor, Nate, didn't develop into a relationship between he and Etta Mae, but maybe that will be the focus of a future book! Etta Mae deserves to have a wonderful, dependable man to share her life with.  I'd also like to see Miss Julia, Etta Mae, Lloyd, etc.  take that vacation "just for fun" in a future book!
3647849
Book two in The Ladies of Distinction Series, "A Most Peculiar Circumstance" continues with yet another somewhat unconventional road to romance . Once again the heroine is an independent and spunky young woman whose quest to follow God's direction often leads her to venture outside the boundaries set by society. A devoted member of the women's suffrage movement, Arabella Beckett's determination to help other women often leads her into big trouble. The story opens with Arabella praying for God to get her out of a major predicament. When the prayer is answered quickly, Arabella is not as grateful as she should be and definitely not at all impressed by the man sent to get her out of trouble. Arabella and Theodore have very little in common and tend to rub each other the wrong way most of the time. So why do they both find themselves thinking about each other so often?

"A Most Peculiar Circumstance" has its moments - some are dramatic or suspenseful and others are delightfully humorous. Then again the romantic scenes are pretty good also. I like the way the author tells her story through the use of dialogue. Some of the conversations are truly entertaining and there was plenty of action to keep me involved in the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel - it met every expectation I had for it. If you are looking for a good, entertaining historical romance, then "A Most Peculiar Circumstance" fits the bill.

This book was provided for review by Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
3416040
Was good to hear her version, a shame she had live it, but I think she turned out great and successful.
852415
Rally enjoyed the video, watched it twice and will probably do so again.  Her life is very interesting!  One of our Best First Lady!
4405568
I enjoyed this as a useful holiday read. You could slate the existence of Princess Alice as a pampered royal. But clearly she worked very hard and was extremely charismatic.
What is interesting is her travels and of course, the fact that she was Victoria's granddaughter and could remember the long-serving queen working on her boxes at Osborne House after breakfast in the garden under a canopy or such-like.
And although one knows that our present queen is related to heads of royalty all over Europe this does explain and make clearer those links.
Occasionally P. A., comes across as a bit precious - when she says she would travel in South Africa and would knock on an ordinary person's door to borrow a swimming costume so she could have a dip.
And of course the Princess and her family's enthusiasm for killing African wildlife is an anathema to modern folk.
Anyway, I am jolly glad I have patronised the PAH charity shops over the years and recently heard that donations I had made to them raised more than a hundred pounds.
This energetic royal's influence lives on...
297421
I agree with the reviewer who writes that this CD is worth having for the previously unreleased songs "Me And My Baby," and "There Is A Time." However, because this CD does have many other songs already released, this CD might appeal more to the more involved Liza fan. Alternatively, it would also be a great introduction to a special lady's work.

The quality of the sound is excellent and the liner notes are well done although you don't get the lyrics. There are wonderful photos of Liza as well.

I recommend this CD both for diehard fans because of the new material on CD format as well as people who want to try a Liza CD to see how wonderful she performs!
4704073
My daughter-in-law Maria reviewed this story for us since she has the advantage of hearing the spontaneous views of our grandkids. She wrote the following (some editions applied):

If there needed to be a Princess story for young ladies of African descent to use as a model, it would be the story of Mrs. Obama, our very First Lady!  Unlike some children growing up today, she received the support of both a mother and father; however, she still needed to put forth her own effort in order to make it.  Whether we have the support of a single-parent or dual parent family, we cannot succeed without working hard to achieve the amazing things she did even before becoming First Lady or First Mom.

She is also a woman's role model because she never quit even though she experienced tough times.  Instead, she took these tough times as opportunities to conquer...very inspiring.

Chynna, my granddaughter, commented that the book was mistitled since only the last page mentioned her role as First Mom.

Maria felt the book was not as awe-inspiring as the previous book about President Obama.  She also noted that the artwork did not capture the beauty of our First Lady.
683882
This is the second Heir Salon book, I suppose you don't really have to read the first one to understand the general idea (it isn't physics, its a fun/dirty story) but it will be better if you have read the first.

I liked that we were able to see more of Jasmine and Betty's investigation. It was fun to see Betty finally going to the salon (at the insistence of her husband). I liked that we still got a little blink of Cora, but I kind of missed her.

I think my favorite part of the story was that not only is Betty becoming a bimbo but her husband, Lane, is becoming a stud. It makes the change seem more worthwhile somehow. Betty is a fun character and its enjoyable to read about her slow transformation.
365616
I really enjoyed reading this book--another successful work by Ms. Ellingson.  I truly enjoyed all the characters, especially Dolly.  Dolly was portrayed as an intelligent, independent, sensible young lady with a head for business and a heart of gold; a loyal friend and pleasant companion.  Dolly was truly a likable person,  unlike some of the admirable heroines being either a bluestocking or a hoyden, this heroine was a great investor, and she was also a philanthropist--This set her apart from other heroines I have read so far (we could use some people like this in our financial world). However, this story was not without some minor dissatisfaction--Richard felt the jealousy towards some Dolly's gentlemen friends, but did not do anything to clarify the change of feeling that he had towards Melisande for afraid of public humiliation, and here Dolly was still loyally tried to make the match for him, despite of her own secret tender for him--not too heroic of hero...Fortunately, he made it up towards the very last page, but still a minor flaw.  Highly recommended.

Inside of book cover: Dolly Blanchard does not lack for suitors--how can she?  She is young, beautiful, witty and endowed with a very large inheritance.  But none of these attributes serve her when it comes to her tendre for Richard Daventry, her childhood chum, for Richard loves Melisande deLacey.  He, however, is no luckier in love than Dolly, for Melisande must make a marriage that will recoup her family's fortune and Richard's well-meaning but improvident father has brought the Daventry estates to the edge of ruin.
Generous Dolly, as good as she is wealthy, attempts to provide Richard with the cash he needs to make the Daventry farms profitable again.  She offers him a loan, but he angrily refuses.  Undaunted, Dolly determines to get the money to him somehow.  With the help of an unlikely friend, an admitted fortune hunter of great charm, and to the dismay of the banker, Dolly fashions an intricate scheme to provide the funds anonymously.  The plan seems to be succeeding, but complications--delightful ones--ensue.  They are finally sorted out to the satisfaction of all, thanks to the clever Dolly and her frankly mercenary friend.
2659504
An enjoyable read about an inspiring woman who was ahead of her time.
2007087
Even though this was short, It was fun to see the advancement of her personal life as well as the story.
4010272
After the first book in the Governess series, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue. However, this second book is much improved upon the first. In fact, Dodd seems to have avoided most of the pitfalls that caused her first book in this series to fall flat.

The heroine has both wit and humor, which makes for an enjoyable read. Her interactions with Beth made the orphan plot work throughout the novel, without bogging down the romantic story. Furthermore, she's written to honestly be the hero's equal, able to stand toe-to-toe with him and give as good as she gets. She is no chess piece, to be moved around and manipulated as the hero sees fit; rather, she is very much a mistress of her own destiny. Her determination to earn money to support the Governess School causes her to compromise her scruples and make decisions she recognizes she'll regret, but even still, she remains sympathetic, and the moment of realization in terms of her regret over this moral compromise shines through.

 The hero is arrogant and conceited, but Dodd cleverly uses supporting characters (first the grandfather, then gradually the orphan, Beth, as well) to show his softer side. In doing so, the hero becomes more engaging, his romantic progression more compelling. Too often, authors write this archetypal hero as being TOO self-centered, TOO arrogant, without giving this glimpse into the softer side of him, leaving the audience to wonder why we should want to root for him to end up with the heroine at the end. Dodd deftly avoids falling into that pitfall here, so even when the hero is at his MOST insufferable, the reader is given cause to want to root for his happy ending.

That said, the story has its flaws. The sub-plot is a convenient mechanism to weave the grandfather into the story, which improves the hero's character, but isn't terribly interesting and wasn't woven throughout the novel as well as it might have been. Though in retrospect, it seems to have been mentioned fairly frequently throughout the book, the only real progress made in solving the "mystery" seems to happen very late in the book. Dodd is rather perfunctory in dealing with the counterfeit plot and wipes her hands of it as quickly as possible. However, the author cleverly takes advantage of societal assumptions and stereotypes that were prevalent at the time period this book was set.

I will say that the story does seem to go on a little longer than it should. The hero's preoccupation with a childhood embarrassment was a little ridiculous, his rush to judgment at the end seemingly done for no reason other than to add a little needless angst. Similarly, the heroine's aversion to going before the ton and the Queen was absurd - even trite, done for no other reason than to justify the hero stripping her. (She was so incredibly worried that the ton would remember her family history and use it to mock her that I was left wondering why she hadn't been using a false surname all along, to avoid ANYONE she met making the connection.) It was, again, needless angst that dragged the story on a bit longer than necessary.

There is also a suggestion of "kidnapping" thrown in at the end - which normally wouldn't have even registered with me, except that the author's reliance on it in the first novel was one thing that left a bad taste in my mouth. I would have been perfectly happy if it had not been suggested as a viable alternative (even if it was quickly shot down) in this novel.

However, all in all, it was an enjoyable read. It may not be the strongest piece of romance fiction out there (maybe not even the best work this author has done, though I'll wait until I re-read her other work to judge), but it was LEAGUES above the first novel in this series.
2010836
Excellent sequel to her first book . Appears that more could follow
408166
The first Nana was better, but this one is still good. Actually, I really enjoyed the music. The actresses were cute and believable.
831446
For those who didn't get a chance to see her early performances, ones in which she showed her tradmark combination of bravado and style, along with a glorious voice, this is a very special treat.

  I'm old enough to remember seeing the televised Central Park performance and knew immediately that she was something special, with a certain delivery that was hers alone. There were other specials since then and, of course, she went on to act in movies and on Broadway.

  But these first specials stand apart from the rest,showcasing a young Streisand who appears, at times, to be nearly as amazed as her fans at her performances, which truly seem to pour directly from her soul, unedited, unrevised.

 She is friendly, accessable and just awkward enough to be totally irresistable. None of the famous "diva" reputation seems to be showing here. She appears to be enjoying every moment in front of her fans and she hasn't become used to celebrity yet. The novelty of it all shows on that beautiful face, a face which is truly testimony to how so many imperfect parts can add up to one glorious whole.

  The specials themsevles would be reason enough to buy this set but there are some added features which make it even more attractive, including rare photos, detailed liner notes and little known trivia. From My Name is Barbra to a Concert in Central Park to the rarely seen Belle of 14th Street, this is a must for Barbra's many fans!