Part Time Fangirl

Pocket Cover Model Has a Name!

2006-03-01T22:48:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the comments over at Romancing the Blog today, the guy I first noticed on the cover of recent Pocket releases has been identified as Nathan Kamp. Thanks go to Stacy, whoever you are!

The Gods Are Laughing

2006-03-01T22:05:00.000-05:00

No fucking way. Guess what review book the publisher fairy dropped off on my doorstop today? Hint: it's a trade paperback being re-released in April, and only the first 17 pages of the book are truly worth reading.

The Most Expensive Prologue Ever

2006-02-28T01:48:00.000-05:00

From Laura Kinsale's Web site:

MY SWEET FOLLY remains as it was originally published (and the prologue is STILL worth the price of the book!)

If she does say so herself!

Not that she's wrong.... And not like the rest of the book gives her much to go on.... :->

MY SWEET FOLLY is being re-released in trade paperback in April.

(via riemannia)

March 2006 Book Shopping List

2006-02-26T20:11:00.000-05:00

Here are the books from which I'll select my March 2006 purchases. Today, I bought Jo Beverley, the Loretta Chases, the Lilith Saintcrow, and the J.R. Ward. I've already read Simon R. Green's SHARPER THAN A SERPENT'S TOOTH.

The Waterlord

by Dawn Thompson

Price: $5.99

I just added this to my wish list out of curiosity. I doubt I'll read it unless someone I trust gushes about it or I run across it in the used bookstore.

The Penalty Box (Berkley Sensation)

by Deirdre Martin

Price: $6.99

I haven't read her last few but haven't completely written her off either. This is a prime candidate for an impulse buy later in the month.

Lord Perfect (Berkley Sensation)

by Loretta Chase

Price: $7.99

I've never read a bad Loretta Chase even though I haven't loved them all equally. I'm also happy to report the guy on the cover doesn't look quite as cheesy close-up as I thought. He has an open shirt that's plastered to his chest because he's been fencing. OK, it's still pretty cheesy.

Jack of Clubs : Book Two of the House of Cards Trilogy (House of Cards Trilogy)

by Barbara Metzger

Price: $6.99

I've given up on Barbara Metzger. But after having read her books for so many years, I'm still keeping track of her new releases. Ah, the power of nostalgia.

The Rogue's Return

by Jo Beverley

Price: $6.99

Her AN UNSUITABLE MAN was one of my favorite romances of last year. Knowing my pattern with Beverley, that means I probably won't like this one. Still, she's an auto-buy author for me.

Luck of the Draw (Leisure Historical Romance)

by Gail Link

Price: $5.99

I'm not drawn to Westerns but am keeping track of Gail LInk's book out of nostalgia. And thanks to Anna's comment, I know that NEVER CALL IT LOVING was Link's awesome Beauty and the Beast book.

Micah (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter)

by Laurell K. Hamilton

Price: $7.99

I've given up on the Anita Blake books--OBSIDIAN BUTTERFLY was the last one I liked--but still like to keep track of new releases. Am I detecting a pattern?

The Thirteenth House

by Sharon Shinn

Price: $16.47

I still haven't read MYSTIC AND RIDER, the first book in this series, but will get this anyway to support the author.

Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth : A Novel of the Nightside (Ace Fantasy Book)

by Simon R. Green

Price: $6.99

Not my usual type of book, but I've greatly enjoyed this series. This one seems to complete the overarching story begun in the first.

Touch of Evil

by C. T. Adams

Price: $6.99

HUNTER'S MOON was one of my favorite debut novels in a long time. I'm very much looking forward to this, the first book in a new series.

Wolf at the Door : A novel of The Others

by Christine Warren

Price: $6.99

I liked the sassy (what a dumb word but can't think of another) quality of her Ellora's Cave ebooks. I'm curious to see what she'll do here.

Beauty and the Spy (Warner Forever)

by Julie Anne Long

Price: $6.50

I liked her debut book, THE RUNAWAY DUKE. It had a "voice" I liked even as I thought it unpolished. I may buy this later in the month if I'm bored.

Lover Eternal : A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood (Signet Eclipse)

by J.R. Ward

Price: $6.99

The first book was great until we were introduced to the silly brotherhood. I'm hoping this is more like the first half of DARK LOVER.

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So I guess selling novellas for $3 was a failure. I liked the idea, but I know I'm in the minority of enjoying romances of this length.

Lady of Sin

by Madeline Hunter

Price: $6.99

I always look forward to a new Madeline Hunter.

Deep, Dark & Dangerous

by Jaid Black

Price: $11.20

Nope, this author is nowhere near good enough to merit trade paperback dollars from me. Great cover, though.

Crazy Kisses

by Tara Janzen

Price: $6.99

I would pay trade paperback prices for Tara Janzen books. Can't wait to read this.

The Devil's Knight

by Lucy Blue

Price: $6.99

I couldn't really get into the first book in this series, but I'm still keeping her on my radar.

Devil in Winter

by Lisa Kleypas

Price: $7.50

The first two books in the Wallflower series were excellent, so it's jacked up my excitement to read this book.

Working for the Devil

by Lilith Saintcrow

Price: $6.99

I've seen her online commenting on the Smart Bitches blog, which made me curious about her books. Contemporary fantasy is right up my alley, so I expect I'll enjoy this one.

Last of the Old Book Log

2006-02-15T02:46:00.000-05:00

My interest in keeping a book log in the year 2000 petered out pretty quickly. Here're the last of my reviews. I can't believe how little these make sense to me six years later. I can also tell by the last review that I was getting bored with the write-ups.

MY ONE AND ONLY by Katherine O'Neal

2/28/00
Two cat burglars meet during a heist in Edwardian England. Both are looking for the Blood of India ruby. Aviatrix Kitty thinks she recognizes childhood friend/love Cameron in Max. The mystery of who Max is plays out over their journey to India. Kitty learns to deal with herself (she's a quarter Indian) and Max learns to deal with love. O'Neal is far too sentimental for my tastes. (3 out of 5)

I think I may have meant that her prose is too treacly, but who knows at this point. I did like O'Neal's very first book, THE LAST HIGHWAYMAN, very much. That may have been one of the first historicals where a heroine with past sexual experience was presented as no big deal. Despite being attracted to the time periods and plots O'Neal chose, I stopped reading her books because I could no longer stand her writing. I don't even know if she's still publishing.

TRYST by Elswyth Thane

This could have spoilers! I had the benefit of reading the book without knowing much about it except that it is a much-beloved love story and features a ghost.

2/29/00
Lonely, imaginative, intelligent 17-year-old girl moves with her father and aunt to a rented country house in England post-WWI. There, she is fascinated by the hastily abandoned locked room of the younger son of the owner's family. This sense of connection that Sabrina feels in the room is echoed by the far-away, dying Hilary Shenstone. His ghost then begins a journey back to England.

Really exquisite, haunting story, with humorous bits too. The best part of this book was the sense of England, presented with aching love for the country and boundless sadness at the effects of WWI on it. TRYST is all the more haunting for the modern reader because we know that WWII is around the corner. This book's copyright is 1939. (4 out of 5)

Funny coincidence how TRYST contrasted with O'Neal's book (above.) TRYST's hero was a spy aiming to keep India in British hands, whereas the O'Neal book had the hero on the side of Indian nationalists. I guess each is a book of its time.

So. I can't believe I used the word "haunting" twice to describe with a straight face a ghost story.

I read this book again a couple of years ago. It still packs a powerful punch, but with the slight emotional distance of a second reading, I noticed far more that

the nostalgia for this noble Britain was predicated on colonialism continuing,
"modern" women are scorned by the author, and
good lord, the ending of the book was so unfair to the heroine!

I didn't notice the romance so much as the pain of an author who is looking around at her world, despairing at the changes being wrought, and wishing things could go back to a more (mythical?) idyllic time. That's my reading of TRYST now anyway. I still think it's a remarkable book even if some of the pleasure in the love story has been undermined.

THE SWORD by Deborah Chester

3/1/00
This was such standard fantasy fare that I could barely stand it. I liked the doomed king in the first section who is trying to salvage something from the treachery that saw his overthrow. But the second part with his son developed along the lines of a generic quest fantasy novel (i.e., young lad ventures out into world, and there is prophecy, destiny, and power attached to him.) I might try books 2 and 3 in this series, but nothing is guaranteed. (3 out of 5) (link to Amazon)

And, in fact, I never read another Deborah Chester novel.

JUST A WEDDING AWAY by Monica McLean (SIM #993)

3/1/00
Friends-to-lovers plot. Story had potential, but plot didn't serve it well this time--secret baby! Did like characters. Heroine was genius scientist with a low emotional IQ and hero was lawyer with three orphaned nieces in his care. I liked the emotions and the intensity. Author has potential. (3 out of 5) (link to Amazon)

And, in fact, I never read another Monica McLean novel.

Buying for the Cover Art

2006-02-14T00:10:00.000-05:00

I've now bought two of these Linda Winstead Jones books for one reason only--the covers are so very pretty. They appeal to my inner pre-teen aesthetic. If I find the third one used, I'll probably grab it as well.

Does anyone have any intelligence on whether the stories themselves are any good?

Meeting Favorite Authors

2006-02-12T13:11:00.000-05:00

Here is a panel at the Boskone science fiction convention that caught my eye (via Making Light.)

Friday, 5 PM, Gardner
Five Things You Should Never Say to Your Favorite Authors When You Meet Them

I am dying to know, what are those five things? I can be terribly socially inept, completely tactless in fact, which is one reason I stay away from authors beyond surface courtesy.

My instinct is to say something completely honest like, "Oh, I'm a big fan of the books you wrote ten years ago." Or I just want to hound them about sequel information and the like. "Why did you stop writing medievals? They were your best work." And once when an author said the books at her table were part of a family series but could be read alone, I blurted out, "Yeah, that's what all authors say." Oops.

That's not to say I don't gush when I get on an adrenaline high at a big group signing. That's when I truly have no idea what starts coming out of my mouth.

I did have one friend (who, like me, is more thinker-judger than touchy-feely) who saw nothing wrong with questioning an author about historical mistakes in her book. It made my hair stand on end when she told me.

Have any of you made authors wince in real life?

Too Many Books

2006-02-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

I'm actually feeling overwhelmed by books flowing toward me this month. First off, I was considering buying a ton of books this month. Well, eleven of them are now mine.

Then the publisher fairy starts dropping books on me day after day (it feels like.) But it's more like three.

Then Harlequin delivers the eight books in my Presents subscription.

In the middle of that somewhere, I went to the used bookstore and picked up seven books to read (plus three that don't count because I only bought them to see if they were collectible: Suzanne Brockmann's STAND-IN GROOM, Judy Cuevas' DANCE, and Juliet Blyth's THE PARFIT KNIGHT.) Yes, this one is clearly my own fault for lack of self-control.

Usually, I wallow in the feeling of acquiring books, but today I feel a little queasy. And, good lord, I just realized this month has only 28 days. Unfair!

I did read two romances in the last week and a half, though. One was CRAZY WILD by Tara Janzen; the other was BAD BOYS AHOY! by Sylvia Day. I liked both with reservations. Gee, at this rate, I should get through the rest of the February batch of books in four months, no problem.

Sigh. Do others regularly buy way more than they can possibly read? Dumb question?

Plog?

2006-02-05T18:44:00.000-05:00

I went to Amazon just now to update my wishlist and was greeted with a Plog. Oh, let us not forget the trademark: Plog™. These seem to be Amazon-hosted author blogs, with the feeds chosen for me apparently based on books I have bought from Amazon. As I only buy hardcover and trade paperback books from there, the default list of authors who showed up is skewed:

Sharon Lee (science fiction)
Robin D. Owens (fantasy romance)
Scott & Scott (gay romance)
Holly Black (young adult fantasy)

Interesting. I think I'd only find such a service useful if an author who didn't already have a blog or who was terrible about updating her Web site used this Plog thing. I don't think that's the case with any of these four.

Although it's also true I don't visit any of these authors' sites or blogs. So I guess generally I'm in favor of passive delivery of targeted information, and it could well have the effect of bringing forthcoming releases to my attention from authors, say, in the chick-lit genre. Who are the authors showing up on your default Plog?

Ye Olde Book Log - Cameron, Denton, Foley

2006-02-04T23:16:00.000-05:00

I'll do almost anything to avoid writing reviews of books I read unless I feel super passionate about them. Luckily, I can still find review content for this blog from a reading journal I managed to keep for a whopping two weeks back in the year 2000. I remember nothing about any here but the third book, which I have since re-read.

MORE AND MORE by Stella Cameron

Set in 1820 London, this seems to be the first in a series on the tenants of 7 Mayfair. I've always loved stories of intelligent spinsters matching wits with a desirable lord, in this case a viscount neighbor. But as usual, Cameron failed to deliver. Too much suspense, kinky sex scenes featuring the villains, smug humor, and strained dialogue ruined the book for me. This is the worst of Quick and Coulter. (2 out of 5)

This may have been the last straw for me as far as Stella Cameron's books were concerned. Maybe I read one more. To me, she is a prime example of an author whose books I want to like more than I actually do. Very frustrating.

SYDNEY'S SEDUCTION by Jamie Denton (Blaze #748)

Astrophysicist Derek is in love with oblivious friend from childhood, veterinarian Sydney, who has recently returned to town. She gets artificially inseminated and involved with Derek, but she has huge trust issues that he has to overcome. Nice romance, but the heroine's fears were more exasperating than sympathetic. (3 out of 5)

This was my first and last book read by Jamie Denton.

PRINCE CHARMING by Gaelen Foley

Heir to the throne Rafael is known as Rafe the Rake. He's slowly being destroyed by a life of dissipation because he has no real responsibilities. He's not taken seriously, hobbled as he is by a disastrous, public display of bad judgment in the past (see PRINCESS.) Then he runs into highwaywoman Daniela Chiaramonte, and his life will never be the same. She helps him redeem himself in his own eyes, and those of his parents and the public. Deeply passionate. Utterly romantic. Very satisfying read. (5 out of 5)

PRINCE CHARMING was the third book in the terrific Ascension Trilogy, although book one, THE PIRATE PRINCE, was my least favorite of all her books. If it hadn't included an electrifying excerpt from PRINCESS in the back, I'm not sure I would have continued to read Foley. Which would have been a tragedy because she scored an amazing hat trick with her next three books: PRINCESS, PRINCE CHARMING, and THE DUKE.

CreepyCreepy

2006-02-01T20:16:00.000-05:00

While I'd been hunting book covers on Amazon, I came across these two. What are the publishers thinking? Is the Emma Holly being marketed to men? Is the Kresley Cole being marketed to necrophiliacs?

According to Amazon, people who are buying the Cole are also buying LOVER ETERNAL by J.R. Ward. To see how a little neck action can actually look sexy, look no further.

Of course, in the case of LOVER ETERNAL, the giggles are possibly being held in reserve for the actual story, when you have to read about a hero named Rhage (and his buddies Wrath, Vishous, Phury, Zsadist, and Tohrment. What the hell was Ward thinking?)

Pocket's Cover Model Muse?

2006-01-29T22:27:00.000-05:00

It is such a relief to have a blog, a place where I can write down all the random thoughts I have about romance novels and not feel that I'm burdening anyone else with this crap. Plus, I love having a place to post images, since, like others in the romance blogosphere, I take a great interest in cover art.

That said, the March RT BOOKclub has an ad with cover art from Jaid Black's DEEP, DARK & DANGEROUS that looked familiar. And...checking...yes...I just finished reading Susan Sizemore's MASTER OF DARKNESS. The same model is on both covers. And then I look up Lucy Blue's new March book, THE DEVIL'S KNIGHT, and see the same guy! Or, rather, I see familiar looking lips.

It turns out all these are for the same publisher, Pocket. I'm thinking some art director/cover artist at Pocket has found her muse. Or saved some money by recycling images from the same photoshoot.

And then I got really anal, and checked Amazon to see if any other Pocket books around now had the some cover model. I found one more. Melanie George's THE HIGHLANDER'S STOLEN BRIDE. (Aside: that title's bad enough to grace a Harlequin Presents.)

My main leave-behind thought, however? At least I find this guy good-looking. With great hair. I'll never understand how short-nosed John DeSalvo ended up on every other romance cover. It's hard to pull off brooding or dangerous with a cute nose. Not that this guy is Brando, either. But, if you have to have a contest between two expressionless male faces, I'll take the guy on these new Pocket covers.

God, I love how easy it is to amuse myself.

Notes from March RT Bookclub

2006-01-29T21:17:00.000-05:00

Sybil can't decide what to do with her Romantic Times BOOKclub magazines. As I said on her blog, I get 'em, read 'em, toss 'em. (This is better than what I used to do, which was get them, let them sit in their wrapper for a few months, then toss them away unread.) I will now add a new component to the mix; I will blog about things I found interesting in each issue before recycling it.

Keeper Werewolf Romances

HarperCollins is re-releasing Donna Boyd's THE PASSION and THE PRO MISE! (The new cover art only is up at Amazon.) These were fantastic contemporary werewolf romances. I think Boyd may have been slightly ahead of the massive explosion in fantasy romance, which is why she didn't take. That is, I'm assuming a lack of sales is why she only wrote two books in this series and then moved on. But maybe she was just bored?

Boyd also wrote some wonderful werewolf romances for the Silhouette Shadows line as Rebecca Flanders.

In any case, so glad these are being re-issued. The first time around, these books were packaged as fiction rather than romances. I wonder where they'll end up in the bookstore this time around?

Possibly My Least Favorite Genre

Jill Barnett has written "another tearjerking family saga," which will be released this June by Atria, called the THE DAYS OF SUMMER. Sounds just like the kind of book I don't like to read. It's too bad she can't or won't write medeival romances anymore. WONDERFUL and WICKED and WILD were so good.

An Author Returns

After an absence of six years, Gail Link has a new book out in March, 2006, called LUCK OF THE DRAW. She's notable in my mind for her early 90s romances WOLF'S EMBRACE and NEVER CALL IT LOVING. One of them--I can't remember which--was a great Beauty and the Beast retelling. RT only gives the new one 3 stars, for what it's worth. I think I'll be skipping it, mostly because it looks like a Western.

Author Endorsement Backfire

The ad for Dawn Thompson's THE WATERLORD looked interesting--I guess paranormals always get a glance from me--but then I saw at the bottom that she had an author endorsement from Bertrice Small. I've never gotten into Small's stories, so this turned me right off.

New Author, Same Old Profession

The new authors page featured Lilith Saintcrow and Heather Grothaus. I was already aware of Saintcrow (and she's apparently been published by a small press before.) Grothaus' write-up, however, got a look from me because her book is a medieval, and I want to be open-minded, in a token sort of way, to other sub-genres in romance. I got as far as the following:

"Haith grows up feeling guilty--for her parents' affair, for even being there. She becomes an apprentice healer...."

And there's where my brain screeched to a halt. So much for something different. The title is THE WARRIOR.

Early Review of Kleypas' THE DEVIL IN WINTER

2006-01-27T18:09:00.000-05:00

No, not me. Flitgirl wrote a brief review of Lisa Kleypas' THE DEVIL IN WINTER, the much anticipated third book in her Wallflowers series. After reading her post, I'm sad. Time to find that zen place again.

February Books - Fantasy Romance Month

2006-01-26T20:24:00.000-05:00

Here, forthwith, is the lengthy list of books I'm considering buying in February.

Bad Boys Ahoy!

by Sylvia Day

Price: $11.20

Note: someone blogged about this, and it sounded good, so I may give it a whirl.

Flesh and Stone (Berkley Sensation)

by Vickie Taylor

Price: $6.99

Note: I read the first and thought it was OK-to-good. (The cartoon series Gargoyles ran too strongly in head reading it, though.) I'll probably check out this sequel.

Sex, Lies, and Online Dating

by Rachel Gibson

Price: $6.99

Note: I haven't read her last couple of releases, but maybe this will be the one that rekindles my interest in Gibson's books.

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Note: What happened here? This was one of those novellas republished as a $2.99 stand-alone book. Is the entire program kaput, or is it just this novella that was pulled? Not that I was going to buy it anyway.

The Queen in Winter

by Lynn Kurland
$11.20

Note: Sharon Shinn and Sarah Monette stories. Yay! Lynn Kurland and Claire Delacroix stories. Yawn.

Crown of Stars #7 (Crown of Stars)

by Kate Elliott

Price: $17.13

Note: Brick of a book that ends a long series. Will look in library for it.

Solstice Wood

by Patricia A. McKillip

Price: $16.29

Note: Seems strangely unappealing. May give this McKillip a miss. Looks like a gothic--not my favorite type of book.

Sebastian (Ephemera #1) (Ephemera)

by Anne Bishop

Price: $16.29

Note: I have high hopes this will be good.

Moon Called

by Patricia Briggs

Price: $7.99

Note: A departure for Briggs. I'm curious about it.

Shadow Touch

by Marjorie M. Liu

Price: $6.99

Note: Somehow my excitement level around this is low despite having enjoyed her previous two books.

The Spy's Reward

by Nita Abrams

Price: $5.99

Note: I've enjoyed all her books. She is about the only "traditional" Regency author I buy.

Crescent Moon

by Lori Handeland

Price: $6.99

Note: I liked the first book in this series very much. The rest are just racking up in the TBR pile, including, I'm sure, this one.

The Devil's Waltz

by Anne Stuart

Price: $6.99

Note: She's resumed her place in my auto-buy list.

Crazy Wild

by Tara Janzen

Price: $6.99

Note: Loved the first two and expect to love this one. I'm sure this will be the first book devoured from February batch.

The King of Attolia

by Megan Whalen Turner

Price: $11.55

Note: Listen, if you like Miles and Niccolo and ilk, do yourself a favor. Don't read anything about this book. Just buy book 1, THE THIEF, without reading anything about that one either. You can thank me later.

The Silver Rose : A Novel

by Susan Carroll

Price: $11.16

Note: The first two books were "eh" so I'll probably skip this one. I was looking for something richer and more complex than Carroll has on tap.

Master of Darkness

by Susan Sizemore

Price: $6.99

Note: Did I say rich and complex? I meant, give me "popcorn" books like this one. Probably the second book I will read from February batch.

Full Moon Rising

by Keri Arthur

Price: $10.20

Note: Not sure I'll be paying hardcover price for this, but looks interesting.

Who Rules Your Book Collection?

2006-01-23T20:48:00.000-05:00

I'm curious, which one author (under all pseudonyms) has penned the most books in your personal book collection?

I own 63 Anne Stuart paperbacks (her entire backlist?) Poor Mary Balogh--I've only kept 58 of her books. Is it Nora Roberts for everyone else in the world? Or perhaps a dark horse from the e-book world? Someone from another genre altogether? Share, please!

Publisher Fairy Books

2006-01-22T18:42:00.000-05:00

I somehow got on a publisher mailing list I'm too lazy to get myself off of. Getting free books isn't exactly a hardship.

This month's surprise offering is Michele Bardsley's CUPID, INC., which is labeled as "An Erotic Novel." A more accurate description would be "light-hearted collection of erotic romances." I'd rate it 3 out of 5 mainly because the stories were underdeveloped and the premise was strained. But it was a fast, entertaining read with likable characters and cute romances. Bardsley seemed to be having a lot of fun here. Also, I guess the stories were sexy, but I didn't really detect an erotic charge.

Here's the set-up of the framing story: Greek gods Psyche and Eros establish a sex fantasy service business in Las Vegas as a way to get couples together. Eros' mom, Aphrodite, interferes quite a bit, and other Greek mythological characters pop up here and there. The four main stories are about

a virgin secretary with an office sex fantasy who accidentally gets matched up with Cupid, Inc.'s accountant,
a wedding chapel owner who wins a Cupid, Inc. date with a gun-shy Hollywood movie star (obviously based on Keanu Reeves),
a women's magazine writer with a mile-high-sex fantasy who is paired up with a men's magazine editor, and
a waitress with a spy fantasy who is paired with a suave ex-thief, complete with British accent, to outwit bad guys and steal a golden apple (sounds more like a cat-burglar fantasy, doesn't it?).

So, I was a huge Greek myth fangirl growing up, and this amusing interpretration of the characters is appealing. But, c'mon, the Greek gods settling in Las Vegas was a stretch despite the tongue-in-cheek presentation. Also, because these romantic comedy novellas are focused on sexual encounters between two people who had just met, the true love part felt strained regardless of whether the gods of love were involved or not. But this book was fun enough that I'd consider reading more Bardsley.

By the way, scanning my TBR stacks for a new book to read--I think I've decided upon Eloisa James' KISS ME, ANABEL--I saw I'd received a trade paperback last month from Signet Eclipse, too. SUITE FANTASY, by Janice Maynard. This was another collection of stories, this one revolving around an exclusive hotel that caters to fantasies. I read two out of three stories, but nothing here really grabbed me. Again, these were firmly erotic romances, and on the sweet side at that, but the way the book is packaged would indicate it's more mainstream erotica. I think the publishers are missing the boat here. They should position these to appeal, I'm thinking, to readers of Brava books.

Why Blackmail?

2006-01-16T23:56:00.000-05:00

You can see from my post on the April 2006 Harlequin Presents that the majority of the books relied on rich men blackmailing vulnerable women into being their (pretend optional) mistresses or wives. This suggests the HPs with this plot must sell like hotcakes, which is puzzling because these books were awful. Here're my brief thoughts.

What supposed female fantasy this exploits:

Acceding to blackmail is a heroine's bona fides against being considered a golddigger, i.e., she's being forced into the relationship, not seeking it out. So when everything works out in the end, the hero never has to wonder if his money is the appeal.
Plus if the blackmail involves sex, she doesn't have to own up to her sexuality and possibly be considered a slut.
An über-desirable hero who is so desperate for a heroine that he resorts to blackmail to have her makes women mentally purr. I guess this could be a heady fantasy.

What it all-too-often looks like to me:

The heroine is weak; she gives in to blackmail instead of standing up for herself. Could she tape the hero blackmailing her and then turn him in to the police?
Or, alternatively, could she fess up to her own desires and just get it on with the hero instead of being "forced"?
A hero who so lacks personality and pulling power that he has to rely on blackmail seems kinda sad, really.
If he does have charm but faces a heroine who is so stubborn or spiteful or whatever that she won't give the hero the time of day, I'd rather just have the hero shrug and move on.

I'm not saying this plot device can't and hasn't worked. I'm saying that authors for the formula-driven Presents line too often seem unable to do anything remotely interesting or fresh with the formulas. I heartily believe really good writers can take any old plot device and suck you in. Anyway, I can only hope next month's batch mixes it up a little more because this month's batch has me wondering all over again why I subscribe to this line. Is a craving for the formula enough?

Harlequin Presents - April 2006

2006-01-15T23:43:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness these reviews will be so much shorter than the ones for the March 2006 Harlequin Presents. That's because most of the books were crap.

Penny Jordan - The Italian Duke's Wife (HP #2529)
Pathologically-virgin-heroine crap

Emma Darcy - Traded to the Sheikh (HP #2530)
Sheikh fantasy crap

Julia James - Shackled by Diamonds (HP #2531)
Model-blackmailed-as-mistress crap

Sarah Morgan - Public Wife, Private Mistress (HP #2532)
Ex-wife-blackmailed-back crap

Anne McAllister - The Antonides Marriage Deal (HP #2533)
OK, this one was good. The Greek-American hero is de-facto running the family marine construction business in Brooklyn that he salvaged from his inept father's custody. The Greek-American heroine has been trying to get her father to take her business ambitions seriously. Through a bet between the dads, she becomes President of hero's company. They soon realize there is a matchmaking agenda, but fall in love anyway. Miracle of miracles, this one actually had touches of good-natured humor at the expense of the hero, too.

Kay Thorpe - Bought by a Billionaire (HP #2534)
Utter, utter crap about blackmailing woman to be wife. And Leonie and Vidal--weren't those mother-and-son Heyer characters?

Subscriber-Only Editions:

Kim Lawrence - Her Baby Secret (HP #271)
Crap that actually had potential. I liked the icy control-freak heroine a lot before she quickly became too stupid to live.

Cathy Williams - The Rich Man's Mistress (HP #272)
Crap about a useless socialite who is shamed by hero into having a real career--interior decorating.

Liz Carlyle - TWO LITTLE LIES

2006-01-14T18:55:00.000-05:00

You know, sometimes you just don't have a lot to say about a book you liked. Oh, TWO LITTLE LIES, why are you not inspiring my thoughts to flow and fingers to type? OK, let's start with a broad overview of the series: it's about three post-Regency men whose pasts are coming back to haunt them.

Book one, ONE LITTLE SIN, was about a Scottish woman who descends on London to find her infant half-sister's father to take over custody. She falls in love with the rake she finds, which is a prob because he's her sister's dad, and somewhere in the middle manages to get engaged to this guy's friend. That friend is the hero of TWO LITTLE LIES.

Aristocrat Quin had been devastated when his proud Italian opera singer mistress, Viviana, left him when he was an immature 20-years-old. He's perhaps never quite recovered, so when she shows up ten years later at a country dinner party held to announce his engagement, his reaction is immediate and volatile.

The rest of the book is them subconsciously and consciously hashing out whether the things that divided them in their youth--insecurity, pride, class, family and social expectations, etc.--still matter when their passion for each other has not faded. Quin gets to the place where's he's ready to acknowledge that she's what he's always wanted and needed pretty quickly. He's dunzo with living a Vivi-less life. She, however, is hampered by the secrets she still holds.

So. I thought Liz Carlyle did a great job with a heroine who could have come across as unsympathetic. Viviana was convincingly regal, non-British, passionate, and honorable as circumstances let her be. I thought Quin's interactions with his family were wonderful examples of his mature and more-accepting character. The bits with Viviana's oldest child were a little too precious, some of the plot points were a little too convenient, but overall this was a very good read.

There was an excerpt of the next book, THREE LITTLE SECRETS, at the back. It looks like another winner based on the awesome excerpt.

What Is It About This Cover?

2006-01-12T21:09:00.001-05:00

I am oddly fascinated by the cover art for Eloisa James' next book, THE TAMING OF THE DUKE. Reactions in particular order:

Hmm, I wonder why the publisher going with beefcake for the first time on one of her covers?
Ooh, I love this guy's body--lean and ripped instead of no-neck hulk. Ditto on face.
Wait, what is going on in this tableau? What are those feminine hands doing? Sneakily undressing him? Wait, is he asleep on his feet? Is the woman playing a prank? Why would anyone put on or take off a shirt from behind? What the hell is going on here?

My very confuzledness keeps me interested in this cover. I wonder if it's in any way connected to the story.

Reviews - Roberts, Sizemore, Whiteside

2006-01-11T21:48:00.000-05:00

RED LILY by Nora Roberts

Story about young lovers. She's pregnant with someone else's baby; he's the son of her benefactress. Nice, but where was the romantic tension? Also, I've never been interested in crazy villains or ghost stories, ergo the suspense plot didn't interest me. This feel-good book was not a keeper.

SCANDALOUS MIRANDA by Susan Sizemore

Disappointing. I'm a fan of Susan Sizemore's books. She strikes me as a naturally gifted storyteller, but this one was a snooze. A Victorian woman hires a secretary bodyguard to accompany her back to Italy, where, a year earlier, she'd stumbled into the path of an assassination attempt. She'd been injured, temporarily blinded, and nursed by an Italian bandit whom she secretly longs to find again. What she didn't know was that the Italian bandit was really a top-notch Scottish assassin, and he's the man she's just unwittingly hired. What potential, but the verve and excitement were missing, as if Sizemore's heart wasn't in this book.

THE SWITCH by Diane Whiteside

This book showed up unasked on my doorstep from the publisher, but I figured I'd read it because I'd met Whiteside once years ago when she was still an aspiring writer.

The book was OK. It's about a long-time celibate widower ex-Army Ranger (I think) who secretly wants to be dominated. He meets a high-powered high-finance type in Seattle, they size each other up, and they do their fantasy domination and submission thing. She, however, is looking for a man who is able to be both top and bottom, and isn't willing to fall in love with anyone who isn't naturally both.

It was a very warm and fuzzy pervy book. All was respectful between the couple; the power dynamics didn't make me queasy. I liked seeing a deviation from the usual sexual roles in romance novels. I cannot stand alpha-jerks, but the funny thing is I felt a niggling disdain at this really nice guy as well, because I saw him as being made weak by having to hide his socially unacceptable desires. (And I really do think it was this particular character I didn't warm up to; Kinsale's Allegretto is one of my all-time favorites.)

Anyway, Whiteside has a very readable writing style--the kind that gets you a wide audience a la Linda Howard or Jayne Ann Krentz--so I expect she'll be quite successful. The long fantasy scenario sequences she added in disrupted the narrative force of the story, I thought, but I figure it must have been tough to pad this book from the shorter version that had previously been published by Ellora's Cave.

Spoiler alert for this paragraph:

This entry would be way too long if I talked about what interested me and what annoyed me about the story. There was a lot. Noteworthy that heroine was half-Japanese. Squicky was that the hero involved his 18-year-old son in a kidnapping sequence at the end of the book that proves to the heroine he can be dominant. I think allowing your son to aid in your sexual escapades, even if it means helping you win the heart of the woman you love, is just a tad disgusting. On the heroine's side, I guess it's refreshingly honest, if not completely sympathy-inducing, for her to give this wonderful guy the brush-off because he can't fulfill (so she thinks) her own deep-rooted sexual needs.

OK, so I pretty much ended up talking about all the things that annoyed me. What else is a blog for anyway, if not for that?

January 2006 Book Shopping List

2006-01-09T20:44:00.000-05:00

As light as this shopping list is, I'm still on the fence about buying some of these books. I've already read the Sophie Weston, which was pretty bad, and the Liz Carlyle, which is pretty good.

(And I'm doing a bad thing by hotlinking Amazon images, but if they don't block me or anything, it saves so much time. I simply copied my Amazon wish list and pasted it into the Blogger box in which you compose posts, and deleted a few extraneous bits of information.)

Rebel Ice: A Stardoc Novel (Stardoc)

by S.L. Viehl

Price: $7.99

Bitten & Smitten (Warner Forever)

by Michelle Rowen

Price: $6.50

Giants of the Frost

by Kim Wilkins

Price: $6.99

In The Arms Of The Sheikh (Silhouette Romance)

by Sophie Weston

Price: $4.25

The Masque of the Black Tulip

by Lauren Willig

Price: $16.47

Two Little Lies

by Liz Carlyle

Price: $6.99

Old Book Log - Ewing, Robinson

2006-01-08T00:04:00.000-05:00

More brief impressions from my two-week book log from 2000.

SCANDAL'S REWARD by Jean R. Ewing

Author's first book, a Regency derivative of a lot of other good books. Dorothy Dunnett is obviously an influence. Heyer too. Too studied an imitation of a lot of others. It had potential but didn't suck me in. Traditional Regency. (3 out of 5)

SCANDAL'S REWARD wasn't my first Ewing. I've been reading her since her first Regency historical, ILLUSION, w/a Jean Ross Ewing. And of course now I read her Julia Ross books. You can definitely throw the influence of Mary Balogh in there as well.

LADY GALLANT by Suzanne Robinson

Surprisingly good! Set in (pre-)Elizabethan times, a dashing courtier with secrets to hide finds himself falling in love with a "mouse" attending the queen. Lots of emotion. I actually cried at the big misunderstanding. And laughed at the witty parts. I liked the heroine very much indeed and loved the hero. I must try the next book, LADY DEFIANT, which is surely Blade's story. (5 out of 5)

These days, I'd consider LADY GALLANT to be one of my all-time favorite romances (along with a 100+ others, I'm sure, but I've read thousands.) I've heard people bitch about the hero's cruelty, but that's what made it so harrowing and unforgettable. I'd nominate this book for a best grovel award. And Blade's story was indeed good. The biggest tragedy is that Robinson's romances steadily became less interesting over time. I don't think she's even publishing romances anymore, and I've never tried her mysteries.

My First Logged Books

2006-01-07T22:52:00.000-05:00

Weird. Both the books I picked up at the used bookstore today, one on impulse and one because someone had recommended it at last year's Celebrate Romance conference, turn out to have New Orleans as the setting (which I discover when I get home and enter them into the brand new book log I've set up in Excel!)

The books are Evelyn Vaughn's CONTACT (Bombshell #30) and RED LETTER NIGHTS, with stories by Alison Kent, Karen Anders, and Jeanie London (Blaze #213). If I manage to keep up with tracking, it will be interesting to see how long it takes between the time I purchase a book to when I actually read it. Eternity is not unlikely.

Anyhow, I keep thinking of more and more fields to put in the spreadsheet, although I don't see myself going as far as Rosario's tracking of page counts. Is there anything obvious I've missed?

Date Bought
Date Read
Title
Author
Imprint
Copyright Date
Type (cont/hist)
Setting
Rating (1-5)
Review
Notes
Series Name
Sequel #