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ARRRRRGH!!! Please shoot me now.

Or get me a new sinus system.

I used to be asthmatic, but in the past year, it seems to have changed to allergies. Claritin doesn't work on anything except my cat allergies, Allegra makes me break out in a rash, and Zyrtec just plain doesn't work. And my insurance right now sucks and I don't have the money to get allergy shots. Usually Tylenol Severe Allergy works, but apparently NOT TODAY OMG RAGE RAGE!

I can barely keep my eyes open; half of my nose is still dripping, and I sound like I have cotton stuffed up my brain.

This is actually an improvement over how I was two hours ago, when my nose managed to be both completely stuffed and completely dripping and I couldn't breathe through my mouth either because of post-nasal drip keeping me coughing. Let me tell you, I turn into a cursing monster when I can't breathe.

Why yes, it is windy as all fuck outside. Hopefully now that I am in a flourescent-lit hermetically sealed office building, things will die down soon.

Otherwise, I am going to shoot the next person who attempts to talk to me at work. At least this morning I didn't wake up with hives like I usually do.

Chase, Loretta - Captives of the Night (partial)

Just as an explanation, I usually just stop reading books when I don't like them. But I got three-fourths of the way through this one before the Extremely Sporktastic Element came in, and thereby have enough content for a post.

Also, I am still grumpy about it and want to rant.

Leila Beaumont, nee Bridgemont, married Francis Beaumont as an escape from her thieving father. Unfortunately Francis turns out to be a horrible, degenerate, nasty person, as exemplified by his sexual interest in men (cue desire to throw book against wall). Lucky for her, he's murdered. Unlucky for her, the suspicion falls on her. She ends up teaming up with Ismal, Count of Esmond, who is secretly an Albanian pasha-type character who is masquerading as a Frenchman while spying on people. You can tell he is Exotic and Not-Quite-European because he doesn't use contractions.

This is the point in which I started to wonder if this was Loretta Chase's Dunnett-inspired book, as it seems that all romance authors must have one.

Halfway through, I figured out that this must be the sequel to The Lion's Daughter, and that Ismal was probably the anti-hero in that book.

I very much like the tension between Leila and Ismal, particularly the acknowledgement that Ismal was attempting to overwhelm her with lust.

On the other hand, I could very much live without homosexuality being the worst thing ever. I understand historical accuracy and that Leila's revulsion to her husband's participation in sodomy is probably accurate, but it would be rather nice if the text didn't support the reading that homosexuality = evil. Or that non-missionary sexuality = evil as well. Just one sympathetic homosexual character! Or something!

( And then I nearly threw the book against a wall (spoilers) )

Grrrr.