First of all – a winner! In a randomly selected drawing, Jen at Unedited wins the signed copy of The Second Date by Mary Simonsen. Salute, Jen! Best to read it with a little Prosecco, I think!

Next – Eclipse. I went to see it with my 13 year old daughter yesterday, safe in the advance knowledge given to me by Helen Ellis that – although it was steamy – “nobody scores.” There was still some embarrassed wriggling and coughing and giggling in the seat next to mine during the bedroom scene. Meanwhile, all I could think about while Bella was trying to undress Edward was: He must be so cold. His chest must be cold. His lips must be cold. Good heavens, EVERYTHING must be cold. Needless to say, it spoiled the mood for me.

And speaking of SPOILERS – (Stop here if you don’t already know): When it comes to Bella’s heart, Edward wins and Jacob loses. Sorry, Team Jacob. But I couldn’t warm to that character, either. Yes, he has a ripped body and all that, but there is something pathetic about a guy who keeps trying to steal somebody else’s girlfriend. And thanks to Breaking Dawn, we all know that what Jacob *really* wants is Bella’s daughter anyway.

But in the end, everybody ends up with somebody. Which brings me to speculation about another little love triangle that is still unresolved: Peeta vs. Gale. Many of us are anxiously awaiting the conclusion of the Hunger Games trilogy and dividing up into teams. Here is my take on the situation: If Katniss ends up with Peeta, Gale will find somebody else. (Hopefully not Katniss’s daughter, though.) However, if Katniss ends up with Gale at the end of the trilogy, then Peeta must be dead – probably in some heroic, self-sacrificing way. Because Peeta will never love anyone else, and I can’t see Suzanne Collins leaving him jilted by the side of the road.

That’s my prediction folks. Peeta will be the winner – or else he will die. In which case, he still wins, because people always remember the martyr. Everybody remembers Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities (“It’s a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done …”), but does anyone remember the name of the guy he saved? Anybody?

I had to look it up.