Yours 2 Keep Decent compilation with some charming stories – Tanya V. – Pittsburgh, PA United States
“Yours 2 Keep” is a decent anthology of stories centering around “Y2K” bug-related disasters. As usual with anthologies, some stories were better than others, but all were good reading.
“Arts Magica” by Kay Hooper was one of the stand-out stories in this bunch. The hero and heroine were well-developed for a novella, and the premise was both interesting and different from the norm.
I don’t normally enjoy overly sweet romantic stories, but I’ll make an exception for “Gabriel’s Angel.” The characters and romance were very, well, sweet, and I was definitely rooting for them by the end.
“Stuck with You” is a decent story. The novella form forces the characters to undo long-time biases in a short amount of time — a short enough time that the transition in their relationship felt abrupt. But, the characters were appealing, and I especially enjoyed the ending.
“Close Quarters” was probably the weakest of the bunch, although it’s still a good read. The secondary characters were especially appealing with their mischief. But, again, the relationship transition felt awkward.
“Trouble at Midnight” is well-written, with an interesting premise. I liked the characters a lot, and enjoyed the story. But I felt a little cheated, too; this story could have used a little more development to be truly outstanding.
Despite all these criticisms, all the stories in this anthology were well-written and interesting. This is a very good read from some talented authors. (And, even better, since it’s now 2001, we can look at the dire Y2K predictions and snicker. Hehe.)
All of the stories in YOURS 2 KEEP were wonderful, which is not often the case in short story collections. Special standouts were “Arts Magica” by Kay Hooper, “Stuck with You” by Michelle Martin and “Trouble at Midnight”by Jill Shalvis.
Readers who loved Kay Hooper’s THE WIZARD OF SEATTLE, will be estatic at the chance to see Richard and Serena Merlin again. In this story, you meet their apprentice, Felictiy Grant, who has yet to learn how to control her own powers. While experimenting with her powers, Felicity gets thrown back in time to 19th Century London and into the arms of one delicious scientist.
With “Stuck with You”, Michelle Martin gifts readers with something that is often hard to find, a love story that is not only “sizzling” hot, but also heart sweet. When two adversaries are stuck in an elevator due to the Y2K bug, they are forced to find out that they have more in common than they knew. Their journey to this discovery is one of the sweetest that I have read in years. I’ve never read a book by Michelle Martin before, but I’m making it a Y2K resolution to change that and fast.
Jill Shalvis’ “Trouble at Midnight”, is another story of characters discovering new things about each other. Dora thought that her “soon to be” fiance Adam Morgan was just a dull, dependable Clark Kent kind of guy. She knows that other ladies would love to have a dependable man like him, but she longs for more adventure and mystery. It takes a Y2K disaster to show her that Adam is all the adventure she would ever need. He is one hot hero!
The other stories in the collection are just as good, but these three were my favorites! : The millennium bug plays matchmaker!
When the millennium bug gives a crash course in romance, anything can happen–in these spellbinding stories by five beloved romance writers.
“Arts Magica” by Kay Hooper
When apprentice wizard Felicity Grant conducts a reckless experiment on New Year’s Eve, she’s hurled from present-day Seattle to 1899 London–and into the arms of a singular man–.
“Gabriel’s Angel” by Marilyn Pappano
For Gabe Rawlins, the new year holds little promise–until he awakens from a harrowing incident to discover by his side a beautiful, tender woman who offers hope–and much more.
“Stuck with You” by Michelle Martin
When a blackout strikes San Francisco’s most glittering party, a softhearted defense attorney gets stuck in a stalled elevator with her most implacable adversary–and finds herself in a free fall of a different kind.
“Close Quarters” by Donna Kauffman
The daughter of an ex-president finds her peaceful holiday turned upside down when she’s trapped in a surveillance truck with a former secret service agent, the same one she’d had a hopeless crush on as a teenager.
“Trouble at Midnight” by Jill Shalvis
Wanting more in life than a predictable beau, a young woman vows to seek adventure–until a near disaster makes her wonder if her bland Clark Kent is really Superman in disguise.
Yours 2 Keep
Friends Link : Amsterdam Meditation 2
Painters in the Theater of the European Avant-garde : The early decades of the 20th century saw unprecedented cooperation between the performing and visual arts. Painters and other visual artists working in a variety of avant-garde styles, such as Cubism, Surrealism, Dadaism, Constructivism, and Futurism, worked in the world of theater and dance throughout Europe, creating masterpieces inspired by the explosion of creativity in the performing arts, from the ballets of Diaghilev and Balanchine to the plays of the Russian Meierkhol’d and Futurists such as Marinetti, and operas by the likes of Wagner and Offenbach. It was this burst of integration that led to the formulation of the idea of the “Total Art Creation,” (a term coined by Wagner), and enriched both the theater and the visual arts. This handsome volume, published on the occasion of a major exhibition at the Reina Sophia Museum in Madrid, examines these avant-garde experiments in fusion between the arts with extensive color illustrations by virtually every major painter of the period: artists like Picasso, Kandinsky, Leger, and others, as well as in-depth essays on several of the performing art forms and the ways they involved visual artists in their production. 
