... or Passover, or Spring Festival, or whatever else you are celebrating these days.

Easter walks are very much a German tradition (Goethe even immemorialized them in his Faust), and it turns out not even the Corona pandemic can do away with this.  Unlike last weekend, people were out only (or almost only) in family groups, and everybody was enjoying today's brilliant sunshine.

In the spirit of Sherlock Holmes's axiom that we have much to hope for from flowers because they embody the essence of goodness, here are a few impressions of what I saw on my way.

Villa Hammerschmidt (residence of the President of the Republic when Bonn was the West German capital)

These final two are views of our garden and that of our neighbors

... and lastly, a few more pictures of the Easter bouquet I gave my mom:

Peggy Dean is excited to learn that she's a finalist on the Ross Elliot Show's special episode "Blind Date" contest. The first prize is a date with popular singer John Gale, but Peggy isn't interested in that. As a Media Communications major, she's primarily interested in seeing the set of the show. She's also hoping to win a stereo, the consolation prize given to the two finalists who aren't picked to go on a date with John. She attempts to sabotage her chances of winning by giving off-putting answers to John's questions, but instead she accidentally captures his interest.

The Harlequin Ginger Blossoms line fascinates me. As far as I know, they were all adaptations of 1980's Harlequin novels - Emma Darcy's Blind Date was originally published in 1986, while the Japanese manga adaptation was published in 2003, and the English translation of the manga was published in 2006. Wouldn't it have been a better idea to focus on newer romance novels? Was it a rights thing? The color-coding is also interesting. Harlequin Pink titles were printed in pink ink and aimed at younger readers - no on-page sex. Harlequin Violet titles were printed in violet ink and aimed at older audiences (ages 16 and up, according to my copy). They did have on-page sex, but, at least in the case of Blind Date, the nudity was of the Barbie doll variety (no nipples) and the sex scenes were sensual but not graphic.

I haven't read the novel on which this manga is based, so I can't comment on how accurate of an adaptation it is, although I do think it's interesting that, according to descriptions I've read, John's name in the original book was actually Adam Gale. I wonder why his name was changed while Peggy's remained the same?

The artwork is the best part of Blind Date. The character designs are attractive, everything is easy to follow and uncluttered, characters' facial expressions are well done (I laughed at Peggy's "deer in the headlights" stunned expression upon seeing all of John's gorgeous friends at the musical), and it's just generally a lovely looking volume.

The story...well. The first half is pretty solid. Peggy tries to sabotage herself and fails, and John admits that he chose her because he figured she didn't actually want to be chosen and therefore didn't have an ulterior motives. They eventually had a nice dinner, and he managed to convince her to let him buy her a stereo as an apology, since that's what she'd really wanted.

The problems started when they ended up in bed together. John realized that Peggy was a virgin and went from "oh no, what I have I done?" to "you were just using me so that you could sell your story about your first time with John Gale to the media" in two seconds flat. Both Peggy and I were stunned and wondering what the heck happened.

John eventually realized that he was an idiot and apologized, but that didn't stop him from acting like an idiot the next time they ended up in bed together. When Peggy got up first thing in the morning to go to class, John acted like she was completely rejecting him. Dude, she's a college student - you don't get to tell her which classes she can afford to miss and which she can't. I disliked that it was Peggy who apologized first this time, and not John. Peggy hadn't done anything wrong.

For some reason, Peggy continued to stay with John and even agreed to move in with him. All kinds of warning bells went off in my head when he told her not to worry about work ("I'll lend you money until you graduate"). Considering his behavior up to that point, I fully expected him to either remind her that he was lending her money and therefore deserved all her time any time she wanted to do anything on her own, or get mad at some point and accuse her of using him for his money.

I could see what the ending was going for, but it was missing a few key pieces...like an actual demonstration on John's part that he really understood why Peggy had left. A big bouquet of flowers and an "I love you" didn't cut it.

All in all, this was nice looking and decent for what it was, but there's definitely better romance manga out there.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

The story presentation was okay. The pacing was odd at certain parts of the books, and the plot is told in a non-linear kind of way. The manga held no punches of what life is like for a courtesan in red-light districts. I strongly remember the lectures the lives of girls sold to brothels (in Japan and abroad) during my Modern Japan class I took last year. The book captures the unglamorous and challenging parts of these women's lives well. Reading about Kiyoha's hardships makes me appreciate that I live in a place where I don't have to go through what she went through and remember the girls who are in Kiyoha's shoes out in today's world.     

The artwork was expressive but it was difficult to tell which character was speaking or doing what. I had to re-read some parts to figure out which one is Kiyoha or Mikumo. I eventually figured it out the characters by looking at their eyes, but sometimes that trick doesn't help me all the time. The layout of the word bubbles in a few spots also makes reading difficult due to not telling which character is speaking. It might not be an issue in Japanese because you can tell the characters apart by the way they speak. But in English, the characters sound identical most of the time. I wouldn't be surprised if there were any other readers like me that double check to make sure they got the character right.

The manga gives an unflinching look at the life of oiran with bold artwork that shows off the characters' emotions well with a few hiccups in the story.   

Six years ago, Quinn Jones was a single divorce attorney with a full life. She had her work, good friends & “Tink” the wonder dog. Then she went out for coffee one morning & met the love of her life.

Jordan Chang was a smart, elegant mix of modern businessman & traditional Chinese culture. When he proposed, Quinn didn’t think twice & they set up house in his Manhattan brownstone. Now he’s dead.

Quinn is devastated & nothing makes sense. The cops have ruled it suicide but Quinn can’t believe the man she knew would ever leave her this way. As she starts to dig, it turns out she may not have known Jordan as well as she thought. And it soon becomes clear there are shadowy men who’d prefer she leave the case closed.

Friends & police chalk up her disbelief to that of a grief stricken widow in deep denial. Fine. Through a series of humorous & chance meetings, Quinn soon assembles a team of accomplices willing to help her investigate. Her posse includes retired NYPD cop Bernie McBain, grad student Ryan Byrne & gemologist/slave to fashion Sam Stern.

It’s the start of a wild ride as Quinn & her band of merry men race around Manhattan & Chinatown trying to uncover what Jordan was up to & who’d want him dead. It’s an entertaining mystery full of witty dialogue, engaging characters & a clash of cultures. The twists come at you like a hail storm as the book progresses & the author delivers moments of suspense mixed with humour.

At the heart of all the mayhem is Quinn, a resourceful woman who just wants the truth. She’s the kind of gal pal we’d all love to have, even if it means putting up with her horse Francesca who suffers from mood swings & (unwarranted) high self esteem.

It’s the kind of book that that doesn’t take itself too seriously & fits loosely into several genres…..romantic suspense, humour, chicklit. But whatever box you want to stuff it in, you’ll still end up with a fast paced & entertaining read.