Henry Cavill and The Man of Steel Experience!

So, yesterday at work I got a fabulous surprise when my boss handed me two preview tickets for the much anticipated new Superman movie Man of Steel (so all my ponitifcating about how much I wanted to see it actually worked!!)

So I dashed down to Leicester Square after work, met up with Son1 and lovely reviewer friend who also had tickets and embarked on what turned out to be quite an experience...

In 3D, full Dolby Surroundsound and only two rows from the front (we got there a little late!!) at the Odeon's mammoth screen, it was an epic movie on an epic scale...

Henry Cavill was completely gorgeous (as expected) and gave a surprisingly subtle and nuanced lead performance, Michael Shannon also excelled as his nemesis General Zod. But all in all the film was WAYYYY too long, there was no chemistry between Amy Adams as Lois Lane and the gorgeous Henry and while the action was A-MazeBalls, it eventually became too A-Mazeballs (some guy behind us projectile vomited over the woman next to Son1! See what I mean about an experience!)...

The story of the alien child brought up by humans was told with a completely straight face - so straight in fact it could have been Mount Rushmore. There were few jokes, little banter and no irony whatsoever, which worked so well in Iron Man (and the earlier Christopher Reeve super-movies)... And after being preached at for over an hour by Superman's two Dads (Russell Crowe as the super one and Kevin Costner as the Kansas farmer!) about young Clark's place in the human world and the fall of Krypton and etc, etc, etc, I was crying out for a bit of levity. Even a smidgen...

There were also numerous plot holes - but I'll admit I was so bombarded by all the sensory stimulation I didn't actually pick them up until the tube ride home, so maybe they don't matter...

SPOILER ALERT FOR THIS PARAGRAPH: I also felt it was a mega-mistake to have Lois discover Superman's human identity in this movie... It would have been hard to work the plot out otherwise, so I can see why they did it. But there's a clear set-up for Clark to join the Daily Planet in the next film, but if Lois already knows about Clark's super-alter-ego, they lose all that delicious sexual tension. And talking of the Daily Planet, what the heck has happened to Larry Fishburne?? Almost didn't recognise him. And what's he doing in such a throwaway role as the Planet's editor, for such a great actor! But I digress...

I left feeling like it was a film from a bygone era with 21st-century trimmings. Superman perhaps with his invincibility and total, almost oppressive, moral perfection is not an easy figure for modern, more cynical audiences to identify with.... Basically, it's like trying to relate to a god!

Would happily go see it again just for the HC fix, (Henry does look mighty good in that suit sans underpants) but not sure that's what the filmmakers intended.



My takeaway: Henry should soooo do the Fifty Shades of Grey movie. Apart from the fact that he's clearly got the acting chops (and Christian Grey's boyish smile, extraordinary face and buff body), he does not want to get typecast as this exceptionally-straight-to-the-point-of-monolithic Mr Nice Guy! A bit of bad boy would do wonders for his resume. Would you agree?

Riva Returns!!

Yippee it's happened, the Riva Relaunch is finally upon us and it's AWESOME.

The sparkling new look is much more in keeping with what the editorial has to offer readers: namely fun, flirty, sexy stories with feisty heroines, hot alpha heroes, glamorous settings and lashings of the sparky, snappy dialogue I love to write (and which I sincerely hope you guys enjoy reading!).

Anyway, I've stuck up the banner header in honour of the new look which lists all the books in the Relaunch. They're available from today on the M&B website and nine of the above (including mine) will be available in book form to buy from WH Smiths as of October 1st.

 If you haven't already read my Riva Relaunch book Cupcakes & Killer Heels you're in for a treat. I loved creating this book and just to get you in the mood, here's an advert I found featuring gorgeous hero inspiration Henry Cavill (currently being hotly tipped to play Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades movie, no less) which I think gives you a heady taste of what Cupcakes has to offer. Although I'll admit the woman he's dancing with here is a bit too skinny to be my luscious cupcake baker Ruby Delisantro, Mr Cavill definitely does the business as Cameron Westmore, a dark, dashing and dangerous British barrister who's made a career out of his erudite way with words and yet has never been able to talk about his feelings - until our Ruby crashes into his life! And those glamorous London settings are also a feature of the story... Which is set in my home town (and which I am currently feeling mighty proud of thanks to our fabulous Olympic summer!)



Yum, delicious eh... Almost as irresistible as a chocolate cupcake.

We have loads of exciting treats on the blogesphere to enjoy in the next few months including the Love Bites on Youtube for the Riva Relaunch titles provided by the ladies at Romance HQ. And the lovely Natalie Anderson and Ally Blake have some really fun Riva-flavoured His and Hers blogs planned (with giveaways!) which my hero and heroine, Cal and Ruby, shall be taking part in.

And don't forget to Check Out the Riva App on Facebook - there's loads of great info on the books, the authors, a new blog and there's even a chance to win lots of Riva Goodies.

Enjoy!