Euphoric Yankees fans are attributing Alex Rodriguez's strong performance in the postseason to his apparent happiness with girlfriend Kate Hudson. A-Rod, making his first World Series appearance in his sixteenth season in the major leagues, is batting .348 with 12 runs in the postseason and the Yankees are up three games to one on the Phillies. In years past Alex has notoriously under-performed in division and league championship series, but now observers are saying his clutch hitting is all due to Kate.

"There were so many distractions in Alex Rodriguez's life before this year, but he's got a good … Read More

We haven't attended a whole lot of famous people's weddings, but we imagine they are fantastic affairs with peacocks wandering around and ice sculptures of the happy couple and passed hors d'oeuvres that are never too small or too messy. And of course, given that the famous people are often trained performers, we expect a lot out of their reception dancing. Surely they can do better than that couple from Minnesota! But not every famous couple can be Khlodom, slow-dancing their way into a lifetime of bliss to the dulcet strains of Lionel Richie and Diana Ross … Read More

Some of you told me I wouldn’t like Twilight, but I bought the book anyway just to see what all the hoopla was about. Well, I finally finished it, and…I appreciated the romance-factor, but I couldn’t help thinking it was giving girls the wrong idea about love and relationships. I did a feminist reading of Twilight and here’s what bugged me:

1. Bella has no outside hobbies.

After she moves to Washington, Bella makes a few friends, but she’s not interested in them. Mostly her life is about Edward, Edward, Edward. But what relationship can survive that? Take it from Simone … Read More

Kirsten Dunst is throwing her hat into the ring of young Hollywood starlets scratching each other's eyes out for a piece of the hot, hot Robert Pattinson action. Sneaky sources tell Star that the snaggle-toothed Spider-Man actress is smitten with pretty, beleaguered Rob and wants him for her very own. She'll have to elbow aside a pack of girls including Megan Fox, Dakota Fanning, and oh, for crying out loud, Paris Hilton, to get to that unkempt, magnificent mess, though.

"Kirsten is absolutely infatuated with him and thinks he would be the ideal boyfriend," a friend of … Read More

Counting down the days until the Twilight premiere?

I am, too, and I'm enjoying all the media attention the books and movie are getting.

But a recent Gawker post about the Stephenie Meyer series ticked me off.  In "Vampire Chastity Belts: Anticipation for Sex That Never Comes is the Highlight of Twilight," blogger Alex Carnavale complains that the lack of sex in the book series is unrealistic, especially since the two main characters pine over each other for hundreds and hundreds and hundres of pages. Given the fact that Meyer is a Mormon, Carnavale seems concerned her … Read More

If you asked if me if I'd ever read a romance before, I'd say "no, of course not."

Then I'd pause and realize, that's not right –– I'm a voracious consumer of young adult vampire novels!

Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, and Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, by Beth Fantaskey, are two of my favorite vampire romances (both young adult novels).  Though they're not packaged as "romances," exactly, I surprised myself enamoured with –– swooning, even! –– over the hunky male protagonists. 

Even though they're, um, undead.

At first, neither Edward in Twilight or Lucius … Read More

Breaking Dawn, the final chapter in Stephanie Meyer's addicting vampire love saga, should have been titled Breaking Rules. In the first three novels of the Twilight series, Meyers clearly outlined the laws of living that made this fantasy world so tangible. In this final book, however, she ignores everything she’s had us believe to create a novel that is filled with unnecessary drama and plot twists. Breaking Dawn speeds toward a climax that ultimately fails to deliver.

I realize that I probably bring a biased eye to the book since I think of the main characters of … Read More