magpye29

I was surprised to read about the negative blowback toward the way Jeremy talks to Jinger during their podcasts--it was at the end of the article about getting a nanny and being exhausted. There are apparently a lot of people calling Jeremy out and urging Jinger to leave him. Interesting.

CAPTION: Oh, YOU'RE having the next baby? Thank God! Jessa seriously looks deranged in this picture.

What stood out to me in that sea of oatmeal is that Spurgeon's pants were the same color as Jessa's dress. Also, the one with Jessa's hair all over her face skeeved me out.

Is it just me, or does anyone else want to yell "fuck-a-doodle-doo" whenever Penelope comes on screen? (I know it's Michelle's line and not Claire's so much, but I never like to miss an opportunity to lob an f-bomb!)

IMO, it didn't help when Harlequin suddenly switched to using exactly the kind of titles that played to the scorn and prejudice of what non-readers thought they were about in the first place: The Bachelor's Baby Bargain, The Tycoon's Secret Baby, The Sheikh's Virgin Bride, blah blah blah. All slightly smutty in a breathless, isn't-this-titillating kind of way. For the most part, I stopped reading Harlequin when they started using these kinds of titles. I had been fighting for Harlequin to be regarded seriously, and to overcome people's assumptions that they "knew" what a Harlequin romance was. I actually wrote a scholarly article which was later published on an online book review site, about what Harlequin Romances had done for the genre, and then they caved and began playing to the lowest common denominator by using titles that convinced people that what they'd believed all along (that HRs were trashy, smutty books) was correct, and it became impossible to read the books and feel any kind of self-respect because they suddenly seemed so...tawdry.** **The truth is, I've always loved plotlines like marriage of convenience, blind hero/heroine, heroine fleeing abusive ex, anything paranormal--which Harlequin was doing long before most other publishers, except, Kismet and Loveswept. I'll stop before your eyes glaze over...

I came here to post for the Cynsters and Catherine Coulter's Bride series, but seeing they're already here, I would LOVE to see Mary Jo Putney's Fallen Angels. I would also like to see JAK's Ghost Hunter/Cadence City novels--come on, wouldn't you love to see a dust bunny?! Or her flower series written as Jayne Castle (Amaryllis, Orchid, and Zinnia). In that vein, Robin D. Owens' Celta novels (the Heart series) would be awesome--I especially love the fams. I really like the paranormal element in those books. I also like Sharon Sala's Wyrick and Charlie Dodge series. I would love the In Death series, too, but who could they get for Roarke, never mind Dallas? Wes Bentley is pretty enough to be Roarke, but he doesn't project the charm or swagger, and he's getting a little old for the part. My out of the box suggestion for Eve would be Zendaya. Timothee Chalamet will be the right age in about ten years. Seriously, why haven't they made an all-romance channel yet? There are literally thousands of books, series and stand-alones, that would make great movies or series. They can cover all the romance sub-genres. And they don't have to be Hallmark movies, either. Nothing wrong with those, but I would love to see the books I've read and reread on my screen. Just make sure they don't take the teeth out of them like they did with Nora's books or Julie Garwood's For the Roses, which was remarkably bad.

Jinger looks like she's shying away from Jeremy in that photo.

Here's a thought: what if, once Jill and Derrick sued JB for Jill's money, Jer and Jinger (most likely just Jer, though), got JB on the side and said, "You know..." and JB saw the writing on the wall and gave them a lump sum, too? JB wouldn't have to disown Jinger because she and RFP have never publicly dissed him, but I'm thinking J&J struck while the iron was hot, and since they're the "breakout stars," JB sat quietly. Jill's of no use to him any longer (in his mind, at least), but as long as Jinger keeps getting media attention, that works for the show. He probably threw a bitch of a tantrum about it in private, but I would be willing to bet some leverage was used and that's what J&J are living on now.

I'm just going to say I love Travolta as Santa with Samuel Jackson in that commercial. Travolta is the one Scientologist I'm willing to cut some slack.

Was it just me, or did Amy Adams look disconcertingly like Tonya Harding in this? Glenn looked just like the real-life Mamaw. I was only halfway through the book when I watched this, so I have to go back and finish it now, but it felt kind of sugar-free to me. I couldn't tell you exactly what changes they made from the book, but It just felt...less. Also agree with something I read about hillbillies knowing exactly how much they have in their accounts--I'm a terrible money manager, but my cards don't get declined because I ALWAYS know how much is available in any of my accounts. I think Freida Pinto is just adorable. They did a good job with young JD and older JD, too--they looked enough alike that it was not jarring when they went back and forth in time. All in all, kind of ho-hum.

I'm seeing Hope Instead...

I think Jo would have been a better middle name for Felicity and Nicole for Evangeline, even though the Ns bump together. She's a pretty baby, though--such dark eyes!

So maybe we should just have an all Bachelor/ette season and take them all out in one fell swoop. That would definitely level the playing field.

So, was Tyra channeling Jesus or the Statue of Liberty? Glad Artem won. Now can we have a bachelor-free season?

Why does Tyra keep stealing my toilet scrubbers?