#connie batten | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

weirdesplinder · 1 month

Text

Romance Storici con protagonisti maschili con difetti fisici/menomazioni

Il velo della notte, di Lydia Joyce

Link: https://amzn.to/3PDh7r6

Trama: il protagonista ha una malattia per cui deve evitare il sole, o si ricopre di cicatrici, e questo lo ha reso un recluso un tantino misogino che purtroppo arriva a ricattare una donna che vuole salvare il fratello dai debiti pur di avere un poco di compagnia femminile nella sua vita. L'incontro li cambierà e salverà entrambi dalla solitudine.

La figlia del matematico, di Laura Kinsale

Link acquisto: https://amzn.to/38hLbmZ

Trama: il protagonista brillante matematico nobile bello e pure ricco cade vittima di un ictus, e non riesce più a comunicare cadendo nella disperazione e nella rabbia. Rabbia che lo fa prendere per pazzo da alcuni, ma per fortuna una donna, figlia di un matematico, lo sposerà e lo salverà dal manicomio e lo aiuterà a riprendersi almeno in parte.

Desiderio selvaggio, di Jennifer Ashley

Link: https://amzn.to/43CYM3m

Trama: il protagonista crede di essere pazzo come sua madre e non vuole sposarsi per non trasmettere questa tara ai figli. Ma è nobile e se non ha eredi la famiglia perde i terreni perciò i suoi famigliari gli trovano moglie, una donna emancipata con l'hobby della medicina che capisce quasi subito che lui non è pazzo ma probabilmente solo malato e cerca una cura per migliorargli la vita almeno un po'.

Come d'incanto, di Elizabeth Hoyt

Link: https://amzn.to/3vDWGmZ

Trama: Sir Alistair Monroe ha perso un occhio e due dita e ha bisogno di una governante. Helen Fitzwilliam ha disperatamente bisogno di un tetto per sé e per i suoi due bambini. Così, che lo voglia o no, il tenebroso e solitario Alistair alla fine si piega e la assume. Helen lavora con grande dedizione e l’antico castello in rovina si trasforma giorno dopo giorno in una vera casa: le sue amorevoli cure riescono anche a mitigare i danni che la guerra ha inflitto all’animo e al corpo di Alistair. È un desiderio che pensava sopito per sempre, quello che lui sente risvegliarsi. Ma un segreto nel passato di Helen minaccia di distruggere anche le vite di chi le sta più a cuore.

Mia adorabile canaglia, di Elizabeth Hoyt

Link: https://amzn.to/3TxRWHv

Trama: Lady Phoebe Batten è una ragazza sveglia, vivace, desiderosa di quella vita sociale che si addice alla sorella di un duca. Ma Phoebe è quasi completamente cieca e il suo iperprotettivo fratello insiste perché abbia sempre con sé una guardia del corpo, l'insopportabile capitano James Trevillion. Fiero e minaccioso, nonostante la ferita riportata a una gamba prestando servizio nel quarto reggimento dei Dragoni, James ha una mira infallibile e cavalca come un diavolo: proteggere una lady non sarà un problema per lui… Riuscirà invece a fronteggiare la passione figlia del pericolo? Saprà destreggiarsi e non cadere vittima della sempre più dolce e amabile Phoebe?

Un amore al Cairo, di Connie Brockway

Link: https://amzn.to/3VzBcSM

Trama: qui l'eroe non ha difetti fisici esattamente ma è affetto da dislessia ed è analfabeta. Caduta nelle mani di una banda di beduini del deserto, Desdemona Carlisle è tratta in salvo da un cavaliere. Senza macchia e senza paura, il cavaliere in questione? Tutto il contrario: avventuriero al limite del libertinaggio, Harry Braxton viaggia per l’Egitto in cerca di emozioni forti. Ma quando Desdemona comincerà a essere attratta da un altro uomo, Harry dovrà fare i conti con il proprio cuore.

Il destino tra noi, di Anne Gracie

Link: https://www.amazon.it/destino-Gracie-Harmony-Allegato-Intimit%C3%A0/dp/B07ZD15JP2

Trama: Kate Farleigh, in apparenza vulnerabile, nasconde in realtà una volontà di ferro. Sopravvissuta alla dura vita dei campi di battaglia, alla perdita dei suoi cari e a uno scandalo che le ha rovinato la reputazione, cerca solitudine e tranquillità. Solo quando incontra un uomo segnato quanto lei dagli orrori della guerra, sfregiato e con una gamba ma del tutto guarita, si abbandona alla speranza di poter amare ancora. Ma il destino la metterà nuovamente alla prova.

INNAMORARSI DI UN DUCA, di Tessa Dare

Link: https://amzn.to/4aKDGD7

Trama: Figlia di un famoso autore di favole, Isolde Ophelia Goodnight era cresciuta ascoltando storie di cavalieri coraggiosi e belle fanciulle. E non aveva mai dubitato che anche nel suo futuro ci sarebbe stata una grande storia d'amore. I libri di fiabe dopotutto offrivano infinite possibilità. Ma crescendo si è resa conto che nessuna per lei si era avverata. Il brutto anatroccolo è diventato cigno? No, era ancora il brutto anatroccolo. Rapita da un bel bandito? No. Salvata dal principe azzurro? No, mai successo. E così Izzy aveva rinunciato a tutti i suoi sogni romantici. Quello che sognava al momento era un tetto sopra la testa poichè stava per perderlo. Ma ecco che a 26 anni avviene il miracolo e erredita un castello. Un vero catello, proprio come quello delle principesse. Solo in rovina, e occupato da un duca burbero, sfigurato e quasi cieco…. che si rifiuta di cederle quello che lui considera il suo castello.

La sposa di Lord Carew, di Mary Balogh

Link: https://amzn.to/3TBraOp

Trama: Durante una passeggiata solitaria in campagna, Samantha Newman si ritrova nella proprietà del marchese di Carew. Qui incontra Hartley Wade, un uomo gentile, all’apparenza un giardiniere. Non è bello, zoppica vistosamente e ha una mano rovinata, eppure tra loro si instaura subito un profondo legame. Tornata a Londra, Samantha viene avvicinata da lord Kersey, il crudele libertino che sei anni prima le ha spezzato il cuore e nei cui confronti si sente ancora vulnerabile. Ma per fortuna Hartley l’ha seguita, e quando le propone di sposarlo Samantha accetta, ignorando che in realtà si tratta di lord Carew e che la ama profondamente. Ma è ancor più inconsapevole delle maldicenze che la affliggeranno e del malanimo di lord Kersey…

Semplicemente amore, di Mary Balogh

Link: https://amzn.to/3PDK0mU

Trama: Anne Jewel, madre nubile e insegnante, viene invitata con il figlio nella residenza gallese dei Bewcastle per l'estate. Il giorno del suo arrivo Anne si ritrova a osservare, non vista, un uomo che la colpisce per avvenenza e virilità: quando però si volta, le rivela un volto deturpato dalle cicatrici. Rimpatriato dalla guerra orribilmente menomato, Sydham Butler ha vissuto da recluso, e in quella donna deliziosa, altrettanto ferita nell'anima, riconosce uno spirito affine. Succede così che, un pomeriggio, amicizia e desiderio esplodano in incontenibile passione. E Sydham dovrà poi convincere Anne che l'amore non è semplice né complicato, ma è proprio quello che entrambi meritano.

La grande occasione, di Gayle Wilson

Link: https://amzn.to/3PItIt1

Trama: Il protagonista ha una scheggia ancora in petto e diverse cicatrici e problemi fisici. L'affascinante Ian Sinclair apprende costernato di essere diventato tutore della figlia di George Darlington, l'uomo per colpa del quale in guerra anni prima ha riportato ferite gravissime che gli condizionano la vita. Credendola una povera, piccola orfanella, decide di accoglierla in casa propria, ma scopre che in realtà Anne è un'incantevole ventenne, tutt'altro che indifesa. Pur innamorandosi all'istante della fanciulla, Ian si sforza di nascondere i propri sentimenti per via di un terribile segreto che si rifiuta di rivelare a chicchessia. Riuscirà la bella Anne a fargli capire che non è affatto detto che le sue paure si concretizzino?

La mia opinione: questo è un romanzo che va preso un attimo con le pinze e voglio avvertirvi. Per tre quarti viaggia normale come molti altri romance con trame simili e protagonisti tutore e pupilla, ma verso la fine c'è una scena di violenza sessuale che riguarda la protagonista femminile che viene rapita. Il colpevole non è il protagonista maschile, ma ciò non toglie che questo rompe del tutto il mood fino ad allora creato, invece l'autrice riporta quasi subito la trama su binari classici e scontati come se il trauma non esistesse e questo destabilizza assai il lettore.

Fantasma d'amore, di Christina Dodd

Link: https://www.comprovendolibri.it/libro/96792477/Fantasma%20d%E2%80%99amore.htm

Trama: Lord Rand Malkin è paralizzato per colpa di un trauma subito, durante la guerra, un trauma più psicologico che fisico. Assumono una ragzza di buoni natali ma dalla reputazione rovinata che quindi deve trovare il modo di mantenersi per fargli da infermiera e lei soprendentemente ci sa fare e lo tira fuori dalla depressione senza cedere nè alla sua rabbia nè alla pietà.

La mia opinione: la trama sembra bella e classica lo so, ma attenzione in realtà è un romanzo piuttosto confuso ed altalenante, soprattutto dalla metà in poi l'autrice aggiunge una morte tragica, un mistero con degli attentanti da risolvere...insomma aggiunge talmente tanta carne al fuoco che il rapporto tra i due non viene molto sviluppato e molte cose vengono dette sbrigativamente. Non è un gran bela libro ma l'ho voluto in lista perchè era interessante che l'eroe fosse paralizzato a causa di un blocco psicologico e non fisico.

Texas Destiny di Lorraine Heath (inedito in italiano)

Link: https://amzn.to/3vjA23r

Trama: Arrivando sul treno per Fort Worth, Miss Amelia Carson, sposa per corrispondenza, non aveva mai incontrato Dallas Leigh, il texano che aveva promesso di sposare. Il cowboy alto alla stazione non era Dallas. Era Houston, il fratello di Dallas, inviato per scortarla durante il duro viaggio di tre settimane fino al ranch dove Dallas aspettava. Cresciuta nella Georgia devastata dalla guerra, Amelia pensava che le lettere di Dallas facessero sembrare il Texas un paradiso, un posto dove far crescere i suoi sogni con l'uomo giusto accanto a lei. E il suo unico amore... A quanto pare, Houston Leigh difficilmente sarebbe considerato "l'uomo giusto". La guerra a cui era sopravvissuto lo aveva segnato dentro e fuori, e lui non poteva competere con il suo bel fratello. Ma dal momento in cui Houston incontrò Amelia, capì che possedeva il coraggio di cui questa terra selvaggia aveva bisogno. Aveva occhi che potevano vedere oltre il suo volto ferito fino alla sua anima. E avrebbe combattuto qualsiasi uomo, tranne suo fratello, per il suo cuore. Ora lui e Amelia stavano percorrendo sentieri pericolosi, dormendo sotto le stelle, e Dio li aiutasse, si stavano innamorando.

Reforming Lord Ragsdale, di Carla Kelly (inedito in italiano)

Link: https://amzn.to/3xf3vMs

Trama: Emma Costello ha un debito d'onore con uno dei lord più disonorevoli del regno. Il famigerato Lord Ragsdale, ricco come il peccato, peccatore quanto ricco e spietato quanto bello (nonostante gli manchi un occhio). Lui ha salvato Emma da un destino peggiore della morte quando ha impedito a un bruto lascivo di comprarla come serva a contratto. E ora è il turno di Emma di salvare Lord Ragsdale dalla sua vita corrotta. Deve trovare un modo per fargli smettere di bere, di scommettere... E deve anche costringerlo a rompere con la sua amante, la superbamente sensuale Fae Moulle, perchè vuole che si accasi con una donna perbene e a modo come Lady Clarissa Partridge.

Marian's Christmas Wish di Carla Kelly (inedito in italiano)

Link: https://amzn.to/43ClxEd

Trama: il protagonista maschile è stato sfigurato in guerra e ora non vuole passare il Natale con la sua famiglia perchè non vuole lo vedano così, perciò ha deciso di passarlo con la famiglia di un amico ma ha sottovalutato il caratterino della sorella minore di lui che per le feste vuole rendere tutti felici.

Forse potrebbero interessarvi anche queste altre mie liste di libri:

Libri ispirati alla bella e alla Bestia: https://weirdesplinder.tumblr.com/post/13727436624/libri-ispirati-alla-bella-e-alla-bestia

Lista di romance a tema Mail order brides: https://youtu.be/D6obShlato0

I miei romanzi preferiti di Carla Kelly: https://youtu.be/_jH3sU22V3g

Romance contemporanei con protagonisti maschili con difetti fisici: https://youtu.be/c5MclFUolXA

Addicted - lista di titoli romance con protagonisti affetti da dipendenze: https://youtu.be/9f7zBHIV5qE

Romancing the duke è stato pubblicato in italiano finalmente: https://youtu.be/_pRulnF17FA

VideoLista di Romance con eroine con difetti fisici: https://youtu.be/rYKYDuTZ-nE

Romance con eroine con difetti fisici: https://weirdesplinder.tumblr.com/post/645634440924692480/romance-con-eroine-con-difetti-fisici

Romanzi rosa contemporanei con eroine imperfette: https://weirdesplinder.tumblr.com/post/626086793988702208/romanzi-rosa-contemporanei-con-eroine-imperfette

Romanzi rosa contemporanei in inglese con eroine imperfette: https://weirdesplinder.tumblr.com/post/626087334935412737/romanzi-rosa-contemporanei-in-inglese-con-eroine

Link al video dei miei dieci romance preferiti: https://youtu.be/Lq3Wn4mEB9U

#mary balogh #jennifer ashley #elizabeth hoyt #carla kelly #lorraine heath #anne gracie #tessa dare #Connie Brockway

0 notes

e350tb · 6 years

Text

100 Words A Day IV - Arr!

"Avast!" exclaimed Lars, "Hard a starboard, Ms. Rutile!"

"Aye, Captain!" shouted Left-Rutile.

"Bringing her about!" repeated Right-Rutile.

"Come on, ye scurvy bilge rats, Emerald be gainin' on us!" thundered Lars, "Hoist the mainsail!"

"Batten down the hatches!" bellowed Steven.

"Run out the guns, you landlubbers!" cried Connie.

"Arr, up on the mizzenmast!" boomed Lars, "Reef sails, reef sails!"

"Mizzenmast?!" exclaimed Rhodonite, "What is that supposed to... what're you people talking about?"

"...it's International Talk Like A Pirate Day, Rhodes," shrugged Lars.

"We're roleplaying," added Steven.

Rhodonite shook her head wearily.

Padparadscha suddenly burst out from the engine room.

"Avast ye!"

#steven universe #100 words a day #lars barriga #rutile twins #connie maheswaran #rhodonite #padparadscha

34 notes · View notes

mariacedano-blog-blog · 7 years

Link

New & Fresh Interior Design Ideas for your Home Working in this business for all of the years certainly has set the blog ahead when it comes to new interior design ideas. I have seen many new interior trends come and go and I am proud to say that I have never stuck to any one in particular, that’s why you should never get tired of what you see on Home Bunch, because it’s always changing, improving and sharing the newest interior photos. On today’s post you will find great interior inspiration and, like always, I am sharing as many sources as possible, such as paint colors, lighting, flooring, countertops and home decor! Take notes, pin, share on Instagram and have lots of fun! Interior Design Ideas: Follow @HomeBunch on and on New & Fresh Interior Design Ideas for your Home Charming porch with porch swing, exposed brick, reclaimed wood shiplap ceiling and bluestone floor tile. JTW Design. Warm Hues Kitchen Traditional cream white kitchen with light glazed cabinets, warm grey island and exposed brick backsplash. Frankel Building Group. Connie Anderson Photography. Farmhouse Kitchen with Grey Island Two-toned farmhouse kitchen with pantry barn door. CP McClary Construction Inc. Island Banquette Sleek white kitchen with large, custom island banquette. Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. Ombre Runner Kitchen features a gray ombre runner. Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. Timeless Simplicity Shaker kitchen cabinets with simple herringbone subway tile and white marble countertop. The shaker style cabinets are painted in Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White. Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. Dining Room Pendant Lights New & Fresh Dining room Lighting Ideas: Use pendants instead of a chandelier for a modern and current look. Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. Modern Coastal Farmhouse Living room White Modern Farmhouse Paint Color: Benjamin Moore CC-20 Decorator’s White. Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. Airy Living room Airy living room with high ceiling and neutral decor. Morehouse MacDonald & Associates, Inc. Architects. Stair Runner Stair features sisal runner, dark Oak hardwood floors and metal railing. Frankel Building Group. Connie Anderson Photography. Rope Railing Add a coastal feel to your home with a rope railing. Grey paint color is Hallman Lindsay – Melting Glacier. Lake Geneva Architects. Foyer Table This modern farmhouse foyer features a round driftwood table and modern chandelier from Circa Lighting. Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. Casual Entry A grey bench and wooden hooks add a casual feel to this entry. Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. Dreamy Laundry room Laundry room with custom folding island, Blustone floor tile and woven pendants. Pendant lights are from Serena and Lily. Mitch Wise Design, Inc. Steinberger Photography. Neutral Bathroom Paint Color White Benjamin Moore Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Paper White. The walls are in “Paper White,” and the trim is in “Chantilly Lace,” both by Benjamin Moore. Square Footage Inc. (Photos by Valerie Wilcox). Bathroom Tile Bathroom Floor Tile Ideas: The tiles are by Ceragres, and are called Bistrot. Square Footage Inc. Shower Inspiration Shower features large subway tile on walls and hex tile on floor. Square Footage Inc. Ultimate Vanity One sink allows more counter space, which is always a plus! Square Footage Inc. Cabinet paint color is Benjamin Moore 1624 Westcott Navy. Walls are Jute by Benjamin Moore. Francesca Owings Interior Design. Bunk room Built-ins Bunk room with built-in stairs, bookcase and window-seat. Frankel Building Group. Bedroom Paint Color Inspiration Bedroom Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Greystone at 50%. This gray paint has a touch of taupe that brings a serene warmth. Becki Owens. Pinnable Paint Colors & Color Palettes Benjamin Moore Summer Paint Colors: Benjamin Moore 2054-40 Blue Lagoon. Benjamin Moore OC-80 Pirates Cove Beach. Benjamin Moore 2061-70 Caribbean Mist. Benjamin Moore 2022-50 Sundance. Benjamin Moore OC-90 Vanilla Ice Cream. Benjamin Moore 2012-40 Summer Sun Pink. Via Benjamin Moore. Deep Benjamin Moore Paint Colors Dark Benjamin Moore Paint Colors. Great Benjamin Moore Colors for Cabinets: Benjamin Moore 2058-10 Twilight. Benjamin Moore 2108-40 Stardust. Benjamin Moore AF-300 Dinner Party. Benjamin Moore 2067-20 Starry Night Blue. Benjamin Moore AF-565 Mysterious. Benjamin Moore 2117-30 Shadow. Via Benjamin Moore. Industrial Farmhouse Paint Colors Industrial Farmhouse Paint Colors: Benjamin Moore Classic Gray. Benjamin Moore Simply White. Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist. Sherwin Williams Light French Gray. Glidden Smooth Stone. Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray. Sherwin Williams Intellectual Gray. Benjamin Moore Cape May Cobblestone. Sherwin Williams Mineral Deposite. Sherwin Williams Sea Salt. Benjamin Moore Gray Whisp. Benjamin Moore Adagio. Ralph Lauren Paints Neutral Gray. Benjamin Moore Dior Gray. Glidden Blue-grey Slate. Benjamin Moore Gentleman’s Gray. Sherwin Williams Sealskin. Pratt and Lambert Graphite. Via Interior Cravings. Pin-worthy Paint Colors Best Gray Paint Colors with no pink or purple undertones: Sherwin Williams SW 7030 Anew Gray. Sherwin Williams SW 7018 Dovetail. Sherwin Williams SW 7017 Dorian Gray. Sherwin Williams SW 7019 Gauntlet Gray. Sherwin Williams SW 7016 Mindful Gray. Sherwin Williams SW 7067 Cityscape. Via Jennifer Allwood. Alternative Cabinet Paint Color Sage Green Paint Color: Sherwin Williams Halcyon Green. Via Coco Kelley. Dark Gray Paint Color Dark Grey Exterior Paint Color: Behr Old Amethyst. via Behr. Home Exterior & Gardens Board & Batten Size: The cottage is 650 heated and cooled square feet. The porch is 150 square feet. Court Atkins Group. Farmhouse Garage Doors The farmhouse garage doors are from Clopay. Court Atkins Group. Cottage Paint Color Sherwin Williams SW7003 Toque White. Court Atkins Group. Back Porch Lake house back porch with skylights and shiplap ceiling. Lake Geneva Architects. Dark Exterior Paint Color Exterior Paint Color: Pittsburgh Paints 515-6 Patches. Court Atkins Group. Rope Porch Swing Daybed Inspiration Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. East Hamptons Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. Patio Inspiration Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. Colors Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. By the Pool with Style Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. Everlasting Summer Chango & Co. Photography: Raquel Langworthy. Quote of the Week Photo: @floretflower Posts of the Week @blessedmommatobabygirls: Beautiful Homes of Instagram. Tuesday: Modern French Chateau Style Custom Home Design. Wednesday: Modern Cape Cod Home Design. Thursday: Coastal Farmhouse Interior Design. Latest Interior Design Ideas: Latest: New Construction Interior Design Ideas. More Interior Design Ideas: More Interior Design Ideas on Home Bunch. Trending on Home Bunch: Interior Design Ideas – a weekly series on Home Bunch. Popular on Pinterest: Interior Design Ideas. Popular on Home Bunch: Beautiful post featuring a collection of Farmhouse Interior Design Ideas. Follow Home Bunch on Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram. You can follow my pins here: Pinterest/HomeBunch See more Inspiring Interior Design Ideas in my Archives. Popular Paint Color Posts: The Best Benjamin Moore Paint Colors 2016 Paint Color Ideas for your Home Interior Paint Color and Color Palette Pictures Interior Paint Color and Color Palette Ideas Inspiring Interior Paint Color Ideas Interior Paint Color and Color Palette New 2015 Paint Color Ideas Interior Paint Color Ideas Interior Design Ideas: Paint Color Interior Ideas: Paint Color More Paint Color Ideas Wasn’t it fun to see these beautiful interiors together? I have not mention much this here but we traveled really far away during this entire summer (I had prepared most of the posts so you guys wouldn’t miss them) and I can’t tell you how refreshed and happy I feel. It’s so important to take a break from everything sometimes – you must look at new things, new places, new cities and other cultures to enhance your own world. Everything feels new to me at this moment and I hope to share this energy and feeling with each and every one of you through my posts. Thank you for being here, my friends. You’re always appreciated. with Love, Luciane from HomeBunch.com Interior Design Services within Your Budget Come Follow me on Come Follow me on Get Home Bunch Posts Via Email Contact Luciane Sources: 1st Image: Lake Geneva Architects. Save

0 notes

ralphmorgan-blog1 · 7 years

Text

How the LAPD has changed 25 years after the riots

Los Angeles (CNN)The video was silent, but it spoke volumes: three white Los Angeles police officers, supervised by a sergeant, threw Rodney King to the ground, tased, kicked and stomped him, and battered him with batons 56 times.

More than 20 officers responded when the black motorist led police on a high-speed chase after he didn't pull over for allegedly speeding; 10 of them just stood around and watched as King was beaten. That moment, caught on video and broadcast on television screens around the country, exposed what black residents of Los Angeles had known for a long time: the LAPD was broken.

In March 1991, the month of King's arrest, the Los Angeles Police Department's job-approval rating cratered at 34%. When the officers involved in King's beating were acquitted on April 29, 1992, the city exploded in rioting ignited by the belief that its police force was abusive, racist and unaccountable.

Twenty-five years later, expert observers say the LAPD is a department transformed -- and that the change was made possible, in large part, by a consent decree, a police agreement with the federal government.

The future of similar agreements with 15 US cities -- including Ferguson, Missour; Cleveland and Baltimore -- was thrown into question this month when Attorney General Jeff Sessions placed all pending consent decrees under review.

"We're in a place I could have never imagined the LAPD 25 years ago," said Connie Rice, a civil rights attorney who used to regularly sue the department over its practices in minority communities. Today, she works with the LAPD as a consultant.

'Not your grandfather's LAPD'

Today's LAPD is hardly above reproach. The 2014 shooting of Ezell Ford, a mentally ill black man, by two officers in South LA sparked furious protests. The Police Commission found that one of the officers violated the department's policy on using deadly force in the shooting, but the Los Angeles District Attorney did not file charges in the case.

"The LAPD still has a disturbingly high kill rate," said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Roundtable.

The department's efforts at transparency were also brought into question this week, as American Civil Liberties Union joined a lawsuit against LAPD over what they describe as a "systemic violation" of California's public records law. The suit accuses the agency of not responding to requests within the time frame mandated by the law or ignoring inquiries altogether.

But whatever its faults in 2017, longtime critics of the department say it's miles away from where it was in 1992.

"Are there still problems? Oh yeah," Rice said. "I can show you units that haven't gotten the memo, but now there real investigations. Now there is an inspector general. Now the police commission has some tools. It has some power. And the LAPD has accepted civilian rule."

"That's an entirely different scenario than the one we faced in the Rodney King days," Rice said. "This is not your grandfather's LAPD."

More than 60% of the department was white when residents rioted in 1992. Today, it's just over 30% white. The department publishes use of force and officer-involved-shooting details online, and 7,000 of its officers will be wearing body cameras by the end of next year. Arrest totals are no longer considered a measure of an officer's success, and engaging the community is the department's stated mandate.

"Their reputation has changed dramatically," said Christine Cole, executive director of the nonprofit Crime and Justice Institute, who co-authored a 2009 Harvard Kennedy School study on change within the LAPD since the riots. "They seem to be doing things excellently as it relates to constitutional policing and transparency."

Angelenos now trust the LAPD more than any other local institution, according to a Loyola Marymount University survey published this week: 58% of residents polled this year said the police would do the right thing "all of the time" or "most of the time."

What it took for the LAPD to change

In the week after the King tape first aired, city residents overwhelmingly said they believed police used excessive force in the arrest and that police brutality was commonplace, according to a Los Angeles Times poll. A majority thought King was beaten because he was black, and that police were generally tougher on blacks than others. Half of respondents didn't view the Los Angeles Police Department as being honest.

After the riots, the city's mayor commissioned an investigation into what caused them and what could be done to prevent the city from erupting again. The 228-page Christopher Commission Report found a pervasive pattern of excessive force by officers, and that the department did little to rein it in. It recommended that the city create a new civilian Inspector General to oversee all complaints of misconduct, and to audit the department's disciplinary system yearly.

The report also made public damning transcripts of conversations that officers were having with each other from computer terminals in patrol cars, displaying how pervasive casual racism was within the department. "Sounds like monkey slapping time," one message read. "Batten down the hatches, several thousand Zulus approaching from the north," said another.

The transcripts revealed that officers would use the shorthand NHI -- "No Human Involved" -- for crimes involving black victims and perpetrators, Rice recalled. They "showed the LAPD's racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, misogyny, you name it," she said. "They had every-ism you could think of on steroids."

But the weight of negative public opinion wasn't enough to effect change. After Chief Daryl Gates stepped down in 1992, his successor found himself stymied, facing an institution not ready to accept reform and a lack of political will from the city.

It would take another nine years, a major corruption scandal and federal intervention before the city would see real change.

After more than 70 officers in the LAPD's Rampart Division were accused of a wide range of misconduct -- including planting evidence, making false arrests, selling drugs and unprovoked use of force -- the Justice Department gave the city two choices: face a major federal lawsuit, or enter into a formal consent decree.

What the consent decree did

In 2001 -- 10 years after the Rodney King beating and nine years after the officers who beat him were acquitted by an all-white suburban jury -- the LAPD began what Harvard researchers would later call "one of the most ambitious attempts at police reform ever attempted in an American city."

The consent decree finally implemented many of the recommendations that came out of the immediate aftermath of the LA riots: it instituted "discipline reports," created a database of information about officers and supervisors to identify at-risk behavior, revised procedures on search and arrest -- and even created a system to account for instances of police dogs biting members of the public.

"Many of the things recommended in the Christopher Report in '92 still basically were unfulfilled, because the city didn't finance it," said Bernard Parks, who became chief of police just before the Rampart scandal broke.

There were 187 paragraphs in the decree, and "each paragraph required a policy change," said Cole. "And the paragraphs had sub-paragraphs. The department had to show 94% compliance in each paragraph." Executing it all would cost this city hundreds of millions of dollars and take 12 years.

Once William Bratton became chief in 2002, he focused on implementing the reforms related to diversity in recruiting and promotions, discipline, use of force, transparency and community policing.

He created a unit within the department tasked exclusively on becoming compliant with each line of the decree.

"Bratton and his team modeled a respectful treatment of the public," Rice said. "Cops were fired for lying. They were fired for abusing people."

"Previously, cops knew they could get away with anything, because the LAPD refused to indict any of its own," she said.

Lessons learned in the riots

The consent decree set out to address the deep institutional problems that gave rise to the fury of the riots.

In 1992, when forgotten parts of the city did get attention, it came in the form of military-style police raids targeting poor black and Latino neighborhoods. "They were destroying crack houses and there was a lot of collateral damage among people who were either arrested, detained, and in some cases abused who were on the fringes or had nothing to do with it whatsoever. You have a tense, tense situation," said Lou Cannon, journalist and author of "Official Negligence: How Rodney King and the Riots Changed Los Angeles and the LAPD."

The 2001 decree set strict guidelines for staffing in gang prevention units, required those units to work more closely with the community regularly, and made supervisors more directly accountable for arrests search warrant execution. Responsibility for the legitimacy of arrests now rested much more with the supervisors.

When rioters took to the streets in 1992, the police were astoundingly ill-prepared. Riot gear was stored in places they couldn't get to. Command centers didn't have communication equipment. They let the day-watch go home. While the city burned, police Chief Daryl Gates went to a fundraiser in the wealthy Brentwood neighborhood.

The police pulled out from the epicenter of the riots -- the intersection of Florence and Normandie in LA's South Central neighborhood -- and didn't come back.

The commander who ordered the retreat and the officers who fled didn't know the community, and the rioters didn't know them. The federal agreement mandated that the LAPD hold quarterly meetings in the neighborhoods they served. They were ordered to get to know the issues of concern from street to street, the dynamics of families and the languages spoken in the areas they patrolled.

The road ahead

Last year, the LAPD commissioned a study on bias in policing -- something Rice said it never would have done 25 years ago. It found that 73% of residents strongly or somewhat approve of the LAPD's work.

But the percentage of black people who disapproved was significantly higher, at 32%, than the rate among white people at 14%. The disparity disturbed the police commission, which vowed to continue looking into how to change it.

At the same time, the department is getting wide praise for its revised "Use of Force" policy announced this month. The new rules formally incorporate a concept called "de-escalation" into the LAPD's guide outlining how and when officers can use deadly force. Officers can now be judged specifically on whether they did all they could to reduce tensions before resorting to their firearms.

"This whole vision seemed crazy 25 years ago," Rice said. "You realize we were asking a bunch of macho men to be social workers with a badge and a gun -- you may as well have been asking them to be Rockettes."

"Now I am dancing with them," she said.