YotH: Royal's Bride and Reese's Bride by Kat Martin

Yay! Another year, another challenge. This month for the challenge, I read the first book in the Dewar bride trilogy.

Royal's Bride is the story of Royal Dewar, who came back to England when his father was on his deathbed. He makes a promise to his father to marry Jocelyn, a wealthy heiress whose dowry would help restore the family's wealth. The day of Jocelyn's arrival, she has a carriage accident and Royal rides to her rescue. He begins to believe that marriage to Jocelyn won't be too bad - he is attracted to her, and she feels good in his arms. Once awakened, it's revealed that the woman is Lily, Jocelyn's cousin, serving in the companion role.

What I liked so much about this book was that Royal and Lily are truly determined to do the right thing. Although they are tremendously attracted to one another, and are falling in love, they try so hard to stay away from each other. They just can't. I liked that Royal was completely honest in his feelings toward Lily - with her, his friends, and most importantly, himself. His sense of honor wouldn't allow him to go back on his word and his father's wish that he marry Jocelyn. Of course, that didn't mean that he could keep his hands off Lily - he couldn't.

For her part, Jocelyn is a selfish girl - out only for herself and her own pleasure. She begins a sexual relationship with another man; one who dominates her in bed and refuses to be ruled by her out of it. She discovers that she really wants him, not her fiance.

In the interim, Lily helps Royal to find the man who defrauded his father and stole the family fortune. Her uncle and his cronies, from the stews, are con artists, and Lily used to be, too. They concoct a plan and it goes well until the very end, when they are found out. In the end, of course, it all works out, Jocelyn jilts Royal, and they all live happily ever after.

There was a great dynamic between Royal, his brothers, and his friends. Lily was a terrific heroine. Although the ending was a little cliched with the climax of the money scheme, the majority of the book was filled with good, strong emotions, and good characters I really liked.

ETA: I was planning on reviewing both books 1 & 2, but got lazy *g*

Is it me? Judging books by their covers: UF

Is it me, or is Bella from the Twilight movies now gracing a ton of UF covers? And I don't mean the actress necessarily, I mean the look. Young, dark-haired teenage girl holding a big-ass knife in a dreary, dark setting. Is Bella, that sulky, unhappy teenager, becoming the poster child for UF?  

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with UF as a genre. In fact, just the opposite. I think the worlds these authors build are amazing, complex, and interesting places. Ditto for many of the characters. But as a consumer, it makes it hard to tell the books apart, makes me think there's a cookie-cutter profile for the heroines, especially (since they usually grace the covers). So do the art departments do a disservice to these books by making them all look interchangeable? Like I said, I'm well aware that the cookie-cutter heroine isn't the case, it's just my own perception based upon what I'm seeing. And yes, I realize that the same could likely be said about almost any genre (hello - historicals!). I may do a cover post for other genres, too. Unless of course, I'm lambasted for this post, and I really hope not. Cause I'm just posting my own stream-of-consciousness  perceptions. Cover design trends come and go - it's why they're called trends.

So here's my disclosure about UF books (and my own self-psychoanalysis): I don't usually read them. Except those times when I do. I like a good, dark story as much as the next person, but in general, I think I'm more likely to pick up an emotionally complex book based in a world that I am comfortable in rather than read a book set in a complex world that, while there are deep emotions and well written characters, I really have to concentrate at first in order to grasp the importance of each and every piece of information. I'd rather absorb than study. Perhaps it's why I don't care for many of the paranormals out there either. If I need a glossary at the end of the book in order to grasp what's going on, it's probably not the escape I'm after. Again, like I said, just me. Because I know that if I try to have something insightful to say when I review a book, then yes, a certain amount of thinking is obviously involved. Otherwise you all would get a series of "Uhhh... I really liked it" posts. But I like to be free to examine the impact of the character's interactions without having to place it in the context of an unfamiliar world. Does that make any sort of sense?

What did all that have to do with cover art? Not a lot, but I like to ramble, and it's my prerogative.

Back to the topic at hand. For the purposes of this post, I just grabbed 3 covers. Please do not infer that I'm picking on these 3 books or these authors. And yes, I do realize that not ALL UF covers look like this. It's just that lately almost every time I read a review or see a post about a book in the UF genre, the cover will look very similar to these. And while I have to say that I really, really like the cover art in general for these books, in fact I actually think they're quite beautiful and sometimes haunting when well done (looking at the top 2 here, in particular), and they likely convey the general feeling of the book, to me they all pretty much look the same. Or is it just that the cover model is the same?

So is it just me?

Ooooh, Lookie

Don't you just love it when you preorder something and forget about it? Then one day, out of the blue, comes a tiny package. What could it be? Oh, yeah! Woohoo!

Here's what came in my mail on Saturday.

I love me some Sabrina Jeffries. Yay me! And I know I preordered something else, but I'm not gonna go look to see what it was, so I can have another exciting day soon.

Doing our part for Haiti... give a little, get a lot!

My husband's multitude of bands is giving all their proceeds between now and 15 February to the American Red Cross for Haiti earthquake relief. Here's the message that went out:

"We're blown away by the devastation in Haiti. We're giving 100% of all music sales from now to Feb 15 on iTunes, Napster, Amazon, etc. to the American Red Cross for aid in Haiti. If you spend 9.99, we give a 9.99 donation. Search Sunday Night Gospel, Mary Carves the Chicken, Page Jackson, Muddflaps, and our buds, The Bowlwinders (comedy). This is what our music is all about.

You can search up their music on iTunes, Amazon, or almost any of the music sites.

I love their music, and yeah, I'm biased. You can check out samples of their stuff at:
myspace.com/marycarvesthechicken
Facebook
www.marycarvesthechicken.com (uh, yeah. The site's a little out of date, but hey. I'm their webmaster, and I've been busy! All the albums and a full song sample from each are there, so my work is done for the day)

Reading Goals and other assorted stuff

As you probably know by now, if you've read our blog for any length of time, I've never tracked my books. Each year, I try, and I can only seem to get through February before I give it up as just too much of a hassle. I also never set a goal for myself on the number of books I want to read. I just read, and the number is what it is.


However, this year, when I put my "Best of" post together, I forgot two books I really wanted to mention. (Butterfly Tattoo by Deidre Knight and Daring Time by Beth Kery). Because I couldn't possibly review every book I read (waving to Jill), and I don't have a tracking system, it's really difficult for me to look backwards to remember all the books I read come EOY synopsis time.


So, this year, I'm taking a page from Holly's book. Since I'm already on Goodreads, I decided to make a bookshelf for books read each month, and an overarching one for books read each year. There's no way I could ever go backwards, so I'm just moving forward, especially since I'm still adding books from long ago as I come across them. Hopefully, that will help me at the end of the year not to determine how many books I read, but which ones I loved. I'd hate not to mention a book that really struck me simply because I'm lazy, LOL.


So if you happen to be on Goodreads, and don't see anything in the monthly reads bookshelves, leave a comment here and bug me, k?


In other news, the So Cal Bloggers got together again this weekend, minus Nikki who was feeling poorly (hope you're better soon!). We started off at Renee's with general book chat, and then moved on to the local UBS, where I bought more than I needed. I picked up The Prey, The Hunt, and The Kill by Allison Brennan (note to self - don't get rid of books you're going to want to read again!); Joe's Wife by Cheryl St. John (since it got such great buzz in the re-read challenge); an old historical from Anne Stuart, and one other that I can't remember (see? I need a tracking system!).


We had lunch at a cute (read tiny) yummy Mexican restaurant, where among other things, we proceeded to gossip about all of you (it's all good, I swear!). General consensus on other topics was that we all wanted to lose more weight. Ugh.


Another great day with Renee, Wendy, Holly, Tracy, and Rosie. 

Bookwatch... Broken by Shiloh Walker

I absolutely loved Fragile from Shiloh Walker, and now we'll get Quinn's book! My heart broke for him when I read Fragile.

Broken releases on March 2.

Read a sneak peek. So good!

Click on the cover to preorder. As of the writing of this post, it's on sale for 30% off, as is Fragile.

A brief, random look back

Just a few thoughts on last year's reading and blogging.

One very marked difference...many, many more DNFs. If the writing is poor or the characters unbelievable, I'm done. No matter the author, no matter the promise of the book's premise. I put down over a dozen books last year. And when I look at them written there in my little calendar book, I've no desire to try them again.

The new authors or discoveries on my list weren't really new, LOL. (Though I think Carolyn Jewel and Julie James were still relatively new in 2009--loved them both to pieces.) The rest were big or buzz names I finally got around to reading--Jeannie Frost, Deana Raybourne, Lauren Dane and Patricia Briggs. All worthy of the big and the buzz.

Not sure if I will continue reading them however. Frost read very young to me, so I'm not sure. I think I'd rather pick back up with Colleen Gleason's series--also young, but maybe not as. Brigg's was a well-paced, well-written, completely engaging kitchen sink. Not unlike Kresley Cole in its busy, and like I said, very engaging. But it didn't snare me like Cole did. Raybourne is another hmmmm. Enjoyed her first title very much and I really enjoy her blog, but I may put reconnecting with Maria Snyder ahead of continuing Raybourne's series. As for Dane, let's just say I'm glad her backlist is long. I've years of good reading ahead.


Other buzz...Not being an e-reader (yet), or a noticeable Harlequin consumer (at least I don't notice), or a conference attendee (some day)...I remained pretty much on the discussion sidelines this year. Not unlike other years, LOL. In 'reading' news however, I will say that I was impacted by Walmart's book-buying changes--and not in a good way. I couldn't even get Singh's Blaze Of Memory last month. Very frustrating. In other 'news', I was also disappointed to learn that Brockmann plans to break from her Troubleshooters and SEALs. So fewer glimpses of Cosmo in my reading future, sigh. Time to let him go I suppose.

Reading and blogging resolutions...for 2009. I did good. I wanted to read more from my TBR list. I wanted to read at least one new or current release a month. And I wanted to get flush with my fave series. Check, check and check. I may have read fewer books overall (again), but I didn't 'miss' anything this year. (If I did, please do not tell me.)

For 2010, I really would like to review more, no question. I enjoy reviewing books. But like 2009, I expect that parenting a busy kid and working the day job will again trump reading and writing. Like Lori, I'll keep posting--totally committed but with zero rhythm, zero discipline.

(Do have to say, seriously, you would not believe the number of times a post drifts through my head. Sometimes making it to a post it note or my planner. But rarely making it to Blogger. I'm talking to you all way more often than you know. Can you hear me? Like yesterday, when I wondered at the phenomenon of flip flops (bare feet, yes) in the snowy, below 10 degrees winter conditions. Or the day before, when I recognized my contentment as I dropped G off to school and drove to work. Contentment, cuz we're doing fine. Or the night before that, when I was pressured into paying obscene money for a Party Lite candle. BTW, does anyone want this? I don't burn candles.)

Which leads me to ask, how many online communities do you support? Cuz that last bit, about the candle? I can't post that on FB because my friend who hosted the candle party is there. But here? I can. Just another reason I need you. So did FB, Twitter, etc. steal you away from blogland? For me, it was Facebook that squirreled some of my 2009 online time. And because it comprises the same audience I had for my son's online journal, it pretty much sealed the demise of that online journal as well. We're back to long-hand, but it's all here and there--just not cohesive (just like my blogs-on-post-it-notes). So there's probably my biggest goal for 2010--figure out the journal thing for him and just do it. And, remind, remind, remind myself of the need for my own journal...of book reviews. ;-)

Starting with one for Skin Game by Ava Grey. I read that before the holidays and because it was wow, stunning, f'ing fab...my journal demands an entry. I'll attempt a review this weekend.

Happy New Year Ladies

Great author giveaways and interviews this week...

I just found out that author Stephanie Tyler is giving away an ARC of the 3rd book in her new series (release date Jan 26) over at Seductive Musings. She gave a great interview also. I found out she also writes as Sydney Croft. I had no idea! Head on over and check it out.

Here's the lineup of guest authors this week. You have a chance to win any of these author's books. Awesome.

A different kind of "Best of"...

I listed my favorite reads of 2009 here, but I want to also highlight a few books and authors.

Favorite new author: This is a three-way tie between Julie James, Tessa Dare, and Leslie Parrish. I read all of each of their offerings, and wasn’t disappointed in anything. Seriously looking forward to the next book from all three.

Most controversial: Last year, I chose a Brockmann, and she gets the pick again this year. Dark of Night didn’t pair Decker with Sophia as so many were hoping. Nope, Deck got himself a feisty heroine with… a personality. (Sorry, Sophia, but you’ve gone downhill since your terrific introduction.) Many were outraged, but I was thrilled. Plus, I got to see that little bit of submission in the bedroom that Decker has going on. Very hot *g*. And I did my first buddy review with JenniferB. Finally. It only took us 4 years *g*.

Most disappointing read: This one is a tie. The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. I never did review this one (JenniferB did here), but I found it a disappointing read. I think that so much was made of the portrayal of Asperger’s that when I read it, I was unimpressed. Given that my husband works with students with emotional disturbance, and Asperger’s is the diagnosis of the decade, I hear a lot about how people with Asperger’s interact. This just didn’t quite fit with my hubby’s experience (much to his annoyance, I kept asking him if certain passages fit as I was reading it), and that threw me. Not to say that it’s not an accurate portrayal; it just didn’t work all that well for me. Overall, it was a fairly good book. It just failed to live up to the hype for me.

Then there was Broken Wing. Hyped to the hilt by KristieJ, I wanted to love it. I really did. Parts of it were outstanding, but the overall impression it left me with was just meh.

Worst ending: Fall Into Me. I loved every last little thing about this book until literally the very last page. If it wasn’t in my ereader at the time, I’d have thrown it against the wall. I absolutely love the Hearts of the South series (it earned my best series award last year), and the ending of this book just pissed me off.

Most redeemed character: Tick from the Hearts of the South series. Winfree had started to make him such an asshole, that some of us in blogland gave him the nickname "Tick the Dick." I blogged about it here. However, with Uncovered, Winfree finally brought some resolution to his character’s disturbing dickishness.

Best Series: In Death. Nuff said. I’m up to book 9 so far and kicking myself for not reading it sooner.

Most fascinating read: Rage Against the Meshugenah. This was an in-depth exploration of men’s depression written by an amazingly funny, self-deprecating, honest man. A serious topic, for sure, but Evans’ handling of it made me laugh and cry, and root for him all the way.

Most beautiful cover art: Once again, I have to give it to Winfree’s Hearts of the South series. Not that great covers are an indication of a good read, but it sure helps on the shelf! Winfree released two books in this series in 2009, and both carried on the amazingly gorgeous cover art that all the predecessors had (ok, with the exception of His Ordinary Life – I have no idea why this one has a different theme than the rest of the series, but oh well. Almost all the covers for this series were done by Anne Cain at Samhain. Just beautiful.

Lori's Best of 2009

Well, I read about 200 books more than I reviewed. Wow. I don’t have stats for you, cause I just can’t be bothered, but I average about 4-5 books a week, so I’m guessing I read somewhere in the neighborhood of 225-250 books this year. Just knowing my preferences, I’d guess the majority were either historical or romantic suspense.

What were my favorites? In no particular order…

Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James: James also makes my list of 2 new to me favorite authors. While I really loved Just the Sexiest Man Alive, I absolutely loveloved Practice Makes Perfect. Such a great hero, and James writes fabulous, witty, intelligent banter, even if the characters are sometimes completely juvenile. Heh. Wishing now I’d gotten around to reviewing them both.

Rapture in Death by JD Robb: Thanks to Christine, I finally broke down and began reading the In Death books. While I’ve loved them all, Rapture in Death has to be my favorite. It’s the first time we really see Roarke truly vulnerable, and Eve shows tremendous growth when she has to be the strong, supportive one. I’m currently on book 9. I blame Christine.

Relentless by Lauren Dane: OMG – such a touching (and hot) romance against incredible world-building. There was not a page of this book that I didn’t adore.


One Week as Lovers by Victoria Dahl: Everyone is putting her contemps on their “Best of” lists, but I much preferred her historicals. This one made me say Wow when I read it.

Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare: Dare gets the tie vote with Julie James as my favorite new (and new to me) author. While her trilogy was fabulous, it was this first one that really made me sit up and take notice. Fantastic hero, heroine, and story. And I’ll never look at an armoire the same way again ☺
Gray, the hero of book 2 made it a tough choice, though…

Rage Against the Meshugenah by Danny Evans: This non-fiction, self-deprecating, hysterical look at depression was absolutely wonderful. Of course, I went into it expecting great things. Evans’ blog is fantastic, and he grew up with two of my good friends, in my city. I recommend it to anyone who needs a good look at depression, or anyone who wants a funny read.

Fade to Black by Leslie Parrish: The perfect mix of romance and suspense, IMO. Grisly enough to keep my interest, and romantic enough to satisfy.Parrish reminds me very much of Karen Rose (before she turned super-grisly *g*). The first book by Blaze author Leslie Kelly's alter ego. Parrish goes into the auto-buy favorite author category as well.

A Hint of Wicked by Jennifer Haymore: While I abhor love triangle stories, somehow this one managed to worm its way into my heart. I felt so bad for all the characters, and really wanted everyone to be happy in the end (darn, no three-way marriage *g*). If it wasn’t for the conclusion of the villain story, this would have been absolutely perfect.

Mercy Street by Mariah Stewart: This was Stewart’s return to wonderful romantic suspense. Her recent books have been heavy on the suspense/thriller and too light on the romance. While I love me a good grisly thriller (Lisa Jackson, anyone?), somehow, Stewart’s books do better for me with romance added to the mix. The next two in the series were great as well, but this one realy stood out for me.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: Another non-romance to make my best reads this year. Holy cow – amazingly powerful! Simply a must-read for those who want to understand how Afghanistan got to be the place it is today. The follow-up, A Thousand Splendid Suns, was equally as riveting.

Dark of Night by Suzanne Brockmann: While some were outraged by the pairing of Decker and Tracy, I loved it. Not being a Sophia fan, I thought Tracy a much better match for Deck. Plus, this book gave JenniferB and me the chance to do our first buddy review together!

Honorable mention to Coming Undone (although it doesn’t release till January 2010, I got an ARC – thanks, Lauren!): All I’m saying is go buy this one now! It’s coming out this week. I’m a huge Lauren Dane ho.

Honorable mention to The Education of Madeline by Beth Williamson: I first read this in ebook format years ago. Williamson got a contract with Brava and re-released this and wrote two more. Absolutely wonderful western historical romance author.

Honorable mention to
Instant Gratification by Jill Shalvis: Shalvis always delivers smart, sexy contemporaries with humor, sensitive but strong heroes and heroines and a delightful afternoon of reading. This one was no exception – from the juvenile antics of the brothers to the sparkling banter, to the tender love, Shalvis had me at hello.

I think this is the first year that I've had two non-romances on my "best of" list.  I'm happy to see a good mix of contemporary, romantic suspense, and historicals. I'm sure that I read far more historicals this year than anything else (although I probably read about 30 Harlequins), but I'm really pleased that I obviously enjoyed romance across the genre, and outside of it, too.

Re-read challenge: Tapestry by Karen Ranney

Their Destinies were bound by a shimmering thread of desire...

For Lady Laura Blake, there is only one man in the world: Alex, the Earl of Cardiff. Yet ever since he was wounded in battle, Alex has locked himself away in his great stone castle at Heddon Hall. Believing himself to be less than a man, he conceals his ravaged face behind a leather mask... and hides his scarred soul beneath an icy aloofness.

A mere child when he went off to war, Laura has blossomed into a beautiful young woman Alex scarecely recognizes. The compassion and desire he sees shining out of her eyes tempts him to ease his pain in her sweet, sensual embrace. But as need flames into uncontrollable passion, an evil fate comspires against them both, weaving a web of treachery and betrayal that could bring heartbreak or happiness to those who dare to love...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I first read this book several years back, and was blown away by it. It reminded me very much of a Judith McNaught book, in the wide-eyed innocence of the heroine and the jaded hero just waiting for the one who can "see" him as he really is. First published in 1995, it was Ranney's first published book.

I love Laura's optimistic view, and once Alex lets down his defenses, he's just wonderful. I love them together. There was sort of an innocent, awakening type of love they shared.

I hated that he didn't have the nerve to say goodbye to her in person when he left for the war. And that Laura didn't want to let him know she was pregnant before he left, trying to lessen his burdens. In typical romance "big misunderstanding" fashion, when Alex returns, he takes the evil stepmother's word for Laura's infidelity and betrayal, never stopping to think about who was giving him the information.

For Laura's part, I thought her journey into and out of her deep grief was very well done, and fairly realistic, especially for the time. I can't imagine losing my husband and child all in one day. Some of the scenes written about Laura's grief made my heart hurt.

The extra touches, like using William Pitt himself as Alex's superior, makes it more plausible that he would go off again to a war that left him disfigured and miserable.

This book is definitely written in an early-mid 90's fashion, with descriptive prose and a grand, sweeping, epic-type feel. I adore Ranney's early works - this and the Highland Lords series are absolutely fantastic.

I will say that I enjoyed it just a little less this time, simply because my tastes have evolved slightly. I likely won't reread this again for a long time for the same reason I'm afraid to reread McNaught. I don't want my changing tastes to overshadow the memories of how much I love the book.

If you're a Ranney and a McNaught (historical) fan, you'll likely really enjoy this book. If you're more jaded, maybe not so much.

And now a huge thank you to Nath for hosting the Re-Read Challenge for 2009 (and into 2010). I took another look at so many books that I enjoyed. And I also noticed that almost all of my rereads were historicals. I think that's because my comfort reads are historicals. Maybe next year I'll have to look at trying to reread some contemps. But then again, maybe not...

YotC: From Friends to Forever by Karen Templeton

Well, this is the last YotC entry. Thanks to KMont for hosting this challenge during the year. I hope that some folks have realized that categories can be great reading.

Tony Vaccaro had been part of Lili Szabo's life since she was a lovesick teenager with a major-league crush. Now the high school athlete was a widowed single dad with a trio of energetic little girls relying on him—and no time for romance.

Little Lili had grown up! Fourteen years ago, she was like a cute kid sister. Now she had the potential to be so much more. But a shocking secret was about to split Tony's world apart. The question was, could he count on Lili to pick up the pieces?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love Karen Templeton’s books. Her characters come off as real people, with real people problems. I loved the story in this one, but there were some things that bothered me. I always like to start positive, so…

I really liked Tony. Trying to survive after a spouse’s death is everyone’s biggest fear. And raising 3 young girls alone? Yikes! I liked that he was all about being devoted to his kids. He came across as a real parent. With a real preteen. Surly, uncommunicative, and add trying to come to terms with her mom’s death to it, and Claire is not a happy little girl to live with. I did like that she tried to be honest with herself when it truly counted. It showed a level of maturity that I think an oldest sibling would likely have in her circumstances.

Daph was adorable, as was Josie. I thought she had a rather large vocabulary for 18 months, but hey, it’s fiction. I could sympathize with Tony’s fear of losing his youngest daughter, while at the same time trying to come to grips with his late wife’s betrayal. All the emotions portrayed were realistic, believable, and very well written.

The story itself was great. I liked Lili a lot. She’d had a rather rough upbringing, but never seemed to resent it. She always looked on the bright side, but was no Pollyanna. She and Tony were good together. I liked that they didn’t jump into bed, regardless of the attraction that they both acknowledged.

There are two main things that I didn’t care for. One, there was an awful lot of internalizing. All the characters’ thoughts were spelled out. In great detail. A lot. I’d rather have some internalizing and more dialogue and interaction than the other way around.

Also, the accents. Drove me batshit crazy. I think that the “g” on Templeton’s keyboard must have been broken. Tony never said a word that ended in “ing” with the “g”. Goin’, thinkin’, doin’… well you get the picture. And Aunt Magda had a stereotypical Slavic accent. Spelled out in detail every time she opened her mouth. But Lili, also from Hungary, didn’t have her speech spelled out in the same way. It was noted that her accent got heavier at times, but the actual dialect was not written. I’d much prefer that, and although the accent did serve to make Magda larger than life because you could hear everything she said in that accent, still… it detracted from the reading experience.

Karen Templeton is a go-to author for me. There were just a couple things that bothered me enough to make this not my favorite. But Templeton fans will likely not mind enough to stop reading.

The Stranger's Secrets by Beth Williamson

Betrayed By Her Own Heart

Sarah Spalding has learned to forge her own way and never to trust anyone—least of all a Yankee. But when her companion abandons her while on a train to Colorado, Sarah begrudgingly accepts the help of Whitman Kendrick—a Yankee, yes, but one with the most bewitching green eyes. Allowing Whit to be her traveling escort is one thing, taking him as a lover is another—even though she’s tempted beyond reason…

Whit Kendrick isn’t quite sure what to make of the sharp-tongued, sassy woman sharing his train compartment. All he knows is that Sarah is refreshingly different from most women—and his urgent, primal attraction for her is unlike any he’s experienced. Breaking down Sarah’s wall of defense won’t be easy. But Whit is determined to prove to Sarah that they’re more alike than different—and loving each other is all they need…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warning, contains a small spoiler, but one that was revealed in The Redemption of Micah.

In the 3rd book in the series begun with The Education of Madeline, Williamson tells the story of Micah's sister, Sarah. Living in her old house which she had converted to a boarding house, Sarah leaves all her friends in order to attend Micah and Eppie's wedding. Along the way, her cabinmate on the train is none other than Whit Kendrick. From the moment she meets him, Sarah is determined to hate him. He's goodlooking, and he's a Yankee. Sarah suffered tremendously during the war at the hands of a Northern Army unit. It turns out, Whit realizes early on, that it was actually his unit that raped and pillaged that day.

Whit is on his way to meet and marry his fiancee. He certainly doesn't need the trouble that Sarah brings. However, they are inadvertently thrown together by circumstances, and their attraction simply cannot be denied.

One of the things I liked about this book is that Sarah is not altogether a sympathetic character. She comes off as nasty, prickly, and surly. Of course, this is all to hide a world of hurt, but it makes for an interesting dynamic. Usually, this is the role for the hero. Whit seems like a good guy, one who feels guilty for cheating on his fiance, but just can't seem to help himself.

I also liked that Sarah is not shy about going after what she wants. She makes all the first moves sexually. She recognizes what she wants and goes after it. Again, though, I got the impression that she used sex as a defense mechanism - kind of like she'd have sex on her terms, not someone else's.

The book is alternately heartbreaking and sexy. It's obvious that Whit also bears a lot of guilt over his apparent role in Sarah's rape and torture. That event has shaped Sarah's entire adult life, even though she puts a brave face to the world.

As so many of Williamson's books are, this is another raw look at the post-Civil War era, and coming to terms with the aftermath of the war. It's about forgiveness and self-awareness. Williamson, who normally excels at the tortured hero (you MUST read her Devils on Horseback series), has created a tortured heroine here, one who is brash, bold, and sassy, yet extremely vulnerable and fragile at the same time. She curses like a man, is overtly sexual (again, likely due to her experience as a young woman), and has a chip the size of Texas on her shoulder. Whit definitely comes off as the more sympathetic of the two... no, just the more ...well-adjusted, but he also has his own issues to deal with re: the war, and his family.

The only thing I had any sort of problems with was the way the confrontation with the sergeant of Whit's unit was handled. It wasn't really clear why he followed Sarah out to Colorado. He seemed to exist only to be the "bad guy." One would have thought he had his own demons to deal with, but he was apparently just rotten to the core. It did serve its purpose, however, in allowing Whit to come to terms with his role in Sarah's attack, and for Sarah to deal with it as well.

All in all, this is a wonderful entry to this series. Full of love, hate, sadness, joy, redemption, forgiveness, and all the other wonderful goodies that Williamson delivers. It's available ar The Book Depository as of the time of this posting for only $8.99 + free shipping! It's at Amazon for just over $10 (at the time of this post) and on the Kindle for just under $9. Price is the same at BN.com. Official release date is January 4.

Curl up with a Book and a Nook! Contest

Visit Lauren Dane's blog to enter the Curl Up with a Book…and a Nook Contest

Rapture in Death by JD Robb

If Immortal in Death was Eve’s book, I’d say this one is Roarke’s book. In this book, Robb explores the idea of subliminal messaging. Roarke shows himself to be completely susceptible to the villain’s suggestions. The effect it has on him is tremendous, and this also highlights Eve’s devotion to him – something he needs tremendously and that makes her and their relationship stronger.

I thought I’d do something that I’ve done in the past: highlight some quotes that show how absolutely fabulous this book is, and places that leaped out at me as significant. So… here we go:

In this first one, Roarke shows how vulnerable he is with Eve, and how much her love means to him. Just wonderful emotions conveyed in this bit:

“You’re so important.” She trailed her finger down his chest. “So influential. And so… gorgeous.”

It was just a little too thick.He narrowed his eyes, caught the laughter in hers. “You’re putting me on.” Her laughter burst out. “You bought it. Oh, you should have seen your face.” She pressed a hand to her belly, yelping when he yanked on her ear. “I would have talked you into it.”

“I don’t think so.” Not at all sure of himself, he turned away, started to reach for his coffee again.

“I could have. You’d have done it if I played it right.” All but doubled over with laughter, she threw her arms around him, hugged herself to his back. “Oh, I love you.”

He went very still as emotion delivered a hard, bruising punch to his heart. Shaken, he turned, gripped her arms.

“What?” The laughter died out of her face. He looked stunned, and his eyes were dark and fierce. “What is it?”

“You never say it.” Swamped, he dragged her close and buried his face in her hair. “You never say it,” he repeated.

She could do nothing but hold on, rocked by emotions pulsing from him. Where had this come from? She wondered. Where had he hidden it? “Yes, I do. Sure I do.”

“Not like that.” He hadn’t known how much he needed to hear her say it, just like that. “Not without prompting. Without thinking about it first.”

She opened her mouth to deny it, then closed it again. It was true, and it was foolish, cowardly. “I’m sorry. It’s hard for me. I do love you,” she said quietly. Sometimes it scares me because you’re the first. And the only.”

Ne held her there until he was sure he could speak, then eased her back, looked into her eyes. “You’ve changed my life, become my life.” He touched his lips to hers, let the kiss deepen slowly, silkily. “I need you.”

She linked her arms around his neck, pressed close. “Show me. Now.”

So beautiful, the emotions portrayed there. How Roarke tells her how much she means to him, and how much he needs her, and Eve’s realization that she needs to give more to him, let herself go a bit.

(sorry - I got tired of typing, click on the next two quotes to enlarge)



So powerful. Eve needs to be the strong one here, absolve Roarke of his guilt. She’s unused to that position – being the compassionate, supportive one. Yet she steps right up, leaves her own discomfort behind to be what he needs.



As Roarke thinks back on who he was and who he wants to be, they have the following conversation. Eve, in her own way, is again the understanding one – the supportive one. Trying to get across to Roarke that she loves him as he is – that his past experiences make up the man she loves. And in her own pragmatic way, she is just what he needs.

This book really got me. Finally, Roarke show some weakness, and it devastates him. Not the weakness, per se, but in terms of how he perceives its effect on Eve. Once again, I’m pressed to say how much any woman would want that kind of love and devotion aimed at her.

You'll notice that I don't ever say much about the suspense aspects of these books. I felt like the most important thing about the suspense portion of Rapture In Death was how it served to forward Eve & Roarke's relationship. It propelled the growth that we see in both Eve and Roarke. Eve, who had to be the strong and supportive one, and Roarke, who had to learn to accept Eve's strength and support.

This was a fabulous entry in the series, one that put Eve and Roarke’s relationship onto a more equal ground. Up until now, we’ve seen him be totally supportive of Eve, but not as much the reverse. They truly understand one another, their pasts, and in this entry, Robb aims to show this aspect of their relationship. As I mentioned in my last review, if Eve doesn’t grow, her unintended neediness becomes a burden to both Roarke and the reader. But by making her the strong one, Robb lets the reader become more invested in the relationship, to see it more as a true partnership. Freakin’ fantastic.

Holiday woes?

So I went to the mall last night to do some last minute Hanukkah shopping. For the first time in my memory, the mall isn't open until 10 pm in the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's, and it was empty. I mean, we immediately got a parking place in the very front.

You'd think all the slow business would translate to lower prices, wouldn't you? But apparently not. I'm very thankful that we put away $200 a month each year for the holidays. Then we pull it out on Thanksgiving weekend to shop. Otherwise, we'd probably be in as big a predicament as lots of other folks.

How about you? Are your malls as empty as mine? And are you getting better deals this year?

ARC: Coming Undone by Lauren Dane

KEEPING IT TOGETHER

Brody Brown has always been responsible for others. After his parents’ death, he gave up a promising artistic career to care for his younger brother and sister. Now, with his siblings grown, Brody owns his own business, has a nice house, makes a nice living, and for the first time in years he’s on his own.

Elise Sorenson has come to Seattle with her young daughter to find peace. After years as a world-famous ballerina—(and just as many years in a marriage-gone-bad)—she’s looking for neither love nor attention. But she finds both in the handsome, honest man who befriends her with no strings attached.

More than friends, Brody and Elise discover in each other what they need—wild, physical passion without commitment. But it’ll take a shadow from Elise’s past to make them look beyond what they need—to what they truly desire.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this book from the most generous Lauren Dane. This is the sequel to Laid Bare and the story of Brody, Erin’s older brother.

This book may break your stereotyped vision of a tattooed, motorcycle-riding, tough-looking guy, if you have a picture of such a guy in your head. I admit, my mind automatically goes to a completely different type of personality than Brody when I see a guy like that. My first thought is to turn around and walkrun the other way. Which would be a huge mistake with a guy like Brody. He is warm, loving, caring, protective of his family, unafraid to show his love, and Hawt. So open your mind and do away with any preconceived notions, because this book will break any stereotypes in a big way.

Elise is another damaged Dane heroine who comes out the other end strong, refusing to let life’s experiences keep her down. An abused wife, she has taken control of hers and her daughter’s lives. Although she is wary of Brody at first, she quickly learns that looks are deceiving and that he’s a big, soft marshmallow. Especially when it comes to those that he cares about. Although Elise has a lot of issues to work through, she doesn’t allow them to interfere with her new relationship with Brody, and establishing new friendships with his family and extended family.

Once again, where Dane’s work shines is in the interactions between Brody and Elise, and among Brody’s family. I think I say this in every review I write of a Dane book, but truly, nobody writes family like she does. Every nuance, all the teasing, loving, annoyance, acceptance, happiness, joy, kindness, laughter, and support that a family gives – she manages to capture it. And I liked that the Brown family immediately accepted Elise into the fold. Dane also excels at the relationship between her hero and heroine, and this book is no exception. Right from their first meeting, you feel the connection between Brody and Elise. I liked how there was a good basis for a friendship there, even underneath all the sexual attraction. These two people got to know and like each other, an element so often missing in erotic romance.

I also liked that Elise’s daughter, Rennie, was never an afterthought. She’s a complete character, although quite precocious. There was always the issue of who was going to watch Rennie, she didn’t exist to be cute – she was an integral part of the story. Dane doesn’t shy away from the strain an uncomfortable relationship and rancorous divorce can have on the child involved. She shows Rennie as having difficulty every time that she has to have her monthly visitation with her grandparents. Thank you! So often parents become so wrapped up in their own angst that they forget that everything they do or say has an effect on their children. /editorial Dane shows this to the extreme, with her ex-in-laws being the exaggerated villains, but gets the point across.

When Brody and Elise do finally get together, their relationship grows over the course of several months. Thank you! This book doesn’t get its HEA after a week. No, this couple works to the bone for their HEA. They get to know each other and their families, and fall deeply in love in a comfortable, but H.O.T. relationship. Brody’s issues stem from having to take care of his siblings at a very young age – he doesn’t think he wants to tie himself down, never really seeing what everyone else does – he is already tied body and soul to Elise.

Elise, likewise, having come out of an abusive marriage, doesn’t want to be tied to one man. But she also has fallen like a ton of bricks for Brody. He treats her like a queen, loves her daughter, and is great in bed. His fatal flaw is that he doesn’t want her to worry about anything, so he tends to try to make decisions for her. Having been in an abusive relationship and now on her own, Elise chafes at this treatment.

It’s a pleasure to read a book about two emotionally mature people falling into love naturally, with their eyes wide open. Who, for the most part, talk through their problems. Brody is a natural caregiver, and Elise, while she had issues, was open and honest. This book is incredibly heart-warming, and at the same time it revs your engines like nothing else. There certainly is no lack of hot hot sex. Yet at the same time, none of it is gratuitous. Every sex scene between Elise and Brody has an emotional connection and forwards their relationship. There’s also a bonus scene with Erin and her two husbands from Laid Bare. Wowza.

I closed this book feeling really, really good. Confident in the HEA for this couple. Confident that they were grounded and mature, ready and able to handle what life throws at them. Isn’t that what we all want from a romance? To truly believe in the HEA? You won’t be disappointed in this book if that’s your goal, too.

I highly recommend it. This is from Berkley Heat, release date of Jan 5, 2010. Buy Coming Undone here, here, or here. As of the writing of this post, both Amazon and BN have it for 33% off, and Book Depository has it for 25% off, with free shipping.

Glory in Death and Immortal in Death

Since the In Death Challenge is commencing shortly, I’m going to note that this review contains spoilers for Eve & Roarke’s relationship. Although I imagine almost everyone has read it, there may be some who have not.

Glory In Death

Book 2 in the In Death series, this book advances Eve & Roarke’s relationship. We see more into Eve’s childhood, as her nightmares continue to haunt her. We also learn a little more about Roarke’s childhood as well.

What was great: The subtleties with which Robb writes Roarke’s emotions. On the surface, he’s loving to Eve, nurturing, definitely the more demonstrative of the two. However, Robb’s narrative reveals little nuances that show the depth of his emotions, how scared he is in this relationship that he might lose Eve at some point. Case in point: Roarke presents Eve with a big-ass diamond necklace. Because she can’t handle the overt commitment that it implies, she argues with him about it. Roarke then issues an ultimatum to her about their relationship. Eve still isn’t ready to face her past, or to open herself up that much, so she leaves. Roarke's reactions are so subtle, yet perfect.

What else? The scene where Eve finally says “I love you” to Roarke. Wow. The way that she broke down was so realistic. And his reactions to her were done perfectly. His insistence, his hands shaking, his immense relief.

This book showed tremendous growth in Eve. Although she is still a loner, we see a little more of her relationship with others: Roarke, Mavis, Feeney, even Whitney. Love that she wears the diamond, even though she keeps it inside her shirt, she has to acknowledge her feelings for Roarke by wearing it.

As for the suspense in this one, the whodunnit was fairly obvious to me early on, although I did wonder about a few others. I think that setting the newness and fragility of the relationship between Eve and Roarke (and even Eve and others) against the grimness and crudity of the murders is the point, much more than keeping the reader guessing the villain.

Immortal in Death
I consider this one to be Eve’s growing up book. I felt it even more after I read on Robb’s website that this was only intended to be a 3-book series. That explained a lot of the growth I saw in Eve. She reaches out and deepens her relationships with her friends – in fact realizes that she has friends. When Mavis looks to be the prime suspect in a murder, Eve digs deep in order to clear her name. Her friendship with Mavis deepens in this book, and she opens herself to new relationships with people, such as Dr. Mira and Nadine. Even Peabody. Both Dr. Mira and Nadine move from being acquaintances that Eve strives to keep at a distance to friends, and though Eve still tries to be a loner, she has more difficulty doing so. Much of this comes because she is beginning to come to terms with her childhood – she remembers all of it in this book. We also learn more of Roarke’s childhood, and bits of what has made him the man that he is.

As Eve remembers her childhood (which is not for the faint of heart, I might add), it’s like the lock on her emotions begins to come undone. While she can’t change her basic personality, we see more humor from her, more emotional ties, and more caring.

One scene I really liked was when Eve and Mavis visit Leonardo for the first time, and he’s designing the wedding dress, and Eve admits to herself that she really wants it. Wants to wear that dress more than anything. It’s just so out of character, and such an innately female reaction that it reconnects the reader with Eve and her femininity. It makes her seem more human, with vulnerabilities and hopes, dreams, and desires, even as she strives to deny that part of herself.

Roarke, as always, completely understands her. Gets her. Knows what she needs. Knows when to back off and when to push. I get such a kick out of him calling her “Lieutenant.” My heart broke when learning his back story with Summerset’s daughter. The guilt Roarke carries with him. I liked the honest reaction he displayed by being afraid to make love with Eve after her complete revelation about her past.

The suspense in this one, while once again not totally compelling in comparison to Eve and her character study, was well done, although once again, I guessed the whodunnit.

A few things I find interesting in these books are the juxtaposition in the relationship – Roarke is the nurturing one, the one unafraid to say “I love you,” the one unwilling to let Eve give up on herself or the relationship. He’s the talker.

Robb recognizes that to make Eve a static character would turn readers against her. Eve grows, learns, changes, and acknowledges. All without changing her basic personality.

Something else I find fascinating is that while much of the procedural discussions revolve around doing things by the book, Eve finds it easier and easier to use Roarke and his information in ways that can’t possibly be admissible in court. This lends a hint of moral ambiguity to me that makes the books more interesting.

Naked in Death by JD Robb, or why I blame Christine

I blame Christine for this, completely. I have successfully avoided the In Death series for close to 15 years now, but she had to go start a challenge. Now I know why I’ve avoided it. Because I knew I’d be hooked. I just knew it. I couldn't even wait for the official start of the challenge. Damn you, woman!

If there’s anyone who doesn’t know this series, well, crawl out from under your rock. You’ll just need to google the synopsis. So there. I’m just going to start right in.

I really loved how Robb not only wrote this as a suspense, and as a romance, but also as a social commentary. That was what grabbed me almost immediately. The commentary on everything from gun control to birth control to genetic engineering to legalized prostitution and drugs. From extreme conservatism to pharmaceuticals and their evolution and cost due to the control of disease. Yet the common cold and the cockroach are still unresolved problems, never to be wiped out. Flat out loved it.

Moving on… Eve. She’s tough, yet vulnerable. Strong, but still needs someone to lean on. Smart as a whip. In your face. Roarke. Enigmatic. Mysterious, yet at the same time, totally open to Eve. He’s the one who shows his vulnerability first. Shows his interest in the relationship. Wants her uncontrollably. Yummy.

The story and suspense portion were very well done. Although I guessed the whodunit fairly early on, I still was pulled into the story by the uniqueness of the setting, the grimness of the characters and the crimes, and the potential of the romance. The sameness of our world set against the possibility of our future and what it might hold.

Now I can’t wait to read the next one, and I blame it all on Christine.

YotC: One Good Man by Alison Kent

Ten years ago Jamie Danby was the only survivor of a senseless killing spree. Because the killer was never found, Jamie has lived her life in hiding, waiting for the worst. Now she's in danger again and she's not sure she can handle it. Until one sexy, rugged, gorgeous man strides into her life, determined to protect her at any cost!

Kell Harding is a Texas Ranger—and how! They don't make 'em tougher. Jamie soon finds out that they don't make 'em hotter either!

But Kell plans only to keep Jamie safe—not keep her forever. As soon as his assignment is done, so is he.

At least, that's what he thinks…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s very difficult to write really complete stories in category length, especially Blaze, IMO, where so much of the emphasis is on the sex. Alison Kent is an author who excels in this format, never shortchanging the story or the characters for the sake of the sex.

In this book, Jamie was the sole survivor of a mass murder in a diner, and 10 years later, the cold case has been reopened and Kell is the Ranger assigned. He’s determined to not only solve the case, but also to help Jamie in any way he possibly can. Here is one instance where the title of the book is actually truly fitting.

Here’s a book where almost all the issues belong to the heroine. Rightfully so. She’s beautifully flawed. She drinks. She is distrustful. She is skittish. She is unwilling to think about tomorrow. Kent establishes this slowly, but by the time that Jamie and Kell have sex, we understand it and want Kell to break through and heal her. Even though Kell is sure he will walk away when the case is solved, he finds he is unable to, and we’ve seen him day by day become tied more closely to Jamie.

I can’t recall a single Alison Kent book that I’ve not enjoyed. She’s able to write a complete book in category length; one that doesn’t feel rushed or forced in any way, yet when it’s finished, you can feel that the H/H are in love. She’s one of my favorite contemporary authors, whether it’s single title or category. The Sweetest Taboo is one of my all-time favorite Blazes, and I just finished With Extreme Pleasure, and really liked that one as well. King is a great hero. Loved him.

But I digress... Point was, that I really liked One Good Man. If you're looking for a good Blaze to warm up with on a cold night, this is a good one :)

In keeping with the PSAs...

Go on over to Riding With the Top Down for a great discussion on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's recent stupidass recommendations on reducing the frequency of mammograms for women and their equally idiotic recommendation that women stop doing BSE. (Where is the recommendation that men stop doing TSE, by the way? Hmmmmmm?)

In addition to being a great topic, Kathleen Eagle is giving away her latest book to a commenter.

Don't Smoke, Just Read

Today is the Great American Smokeout. There are so many reasons not to smoke; you're all aware of them, and I won't bore you by repeating them.

You'd have to be living under a rock not to know that cancer is my pet cause. Every year I hound you politely request that you support my Relay for Life walk. What you may not know is that I also give money throughout the year to City of Hope, and that my grandparents left the bulk of their estate to the City of Hope. It's a family tradition, doing our part to fight cancer.

Some self-indulgent storytime... my hubby was a double chain-smoker when we met in college. He was like the double helix of smokers. Cigarettes and... well, you get it. Thankfully, he quit cigarettes at the age of 22. Cold turkey. The other? Let's just say it took a little longer :)

Both my parents also chain-smoked. It was a lot more common back in the day. I remember my mom sending us to the store to buy her cigarettes. My dad quit cold turkey when I was 2. He was home alone with me during a bitter snowstorm in Boston when he ran out of cigarettes. After smoking every butt in the house, he just figured he wasn't meant to be a smoker anymore. But to the day he died, he had smoking dreams so realistic he'd wake up and ask my mom if he'd smoked the night before.

So today, I'm urging you. If you are a smoker, and you know who you are *coughjennniferbcough*, please make every attempt to give it up. The life you save may be your own.

For materials on how to quit and where to get support, please go here.

Amazon Best of for 2009

Ok, wow. So the Amazon 10 Best Books in... categories are out. Editor and Customer Favorites. I was surprised to see that in the top 10 customer favorites for romance, there are 3 Nora Roberts books and 7 paranormals. The 3 NRs weren't the surprise, but really? 7 paranormals? Was nothing else released/purchased besides Nora and paranormals? I found that trend interesting. Customer Favorites were defined as bestselling books through October 2009.

The list for customer favorites is:

1. Vision in White
2. Bed of Roses
3. Lover Avenged
4. Skin Trade
5. Black Hills
6. Hidden Currents
7. Dream Fever
8. Bad Moon Rising
9. Dark Slayer
10. Covet

Editor's top picks are:

1. Angels' Blood
2. Smooth Talking Stranger
3. Kiss of a Demon King
4. The Perfect Poison
5. Bending the Rules
6. What Happens in London
7. Fireside
8. A Duke of Her Own
9. Immortal Outlaw
10. Angel Lane

Interestingly, not a NR in the bunch. What say you? Which list do you agree with more?

Last note: I'm not surprised that in their Editor's Top 100 picks across all books, there's not a single "romance" in the group, although the new Audrey Niffenegger is on it.
#8 on the Customer Top 100 is Dead and Gone. Finger Lickin' Fifteen is #22. Vision in White #52. Bed of Roses #85.  Plus a lot of what I would consider chick lit as well as suspense/thriller.

Kris' m/m Meme

I wasn't tagged, but this looked like a lot of fun. Kris came up with this meme, and decided that everyone should do it. m/m romance is a genre that I don't read a lot of, but when you get a good book? Yummy. When it goes wrong? Ouch in a major way. So if you like m/m, consider yourself tagged and do this. It was great fun!

Rules:

1. Answer all the questions below in either the comments here or post it on your own site. If you post it on your own site you have to come back and give the link here so Kris can mosey on over and see if you answered correctly have a sticky beak.

2. You have to tag two other people once your done and pester them relentlessly until they do the meme too.

3. Instead of a meme image thing you have to post a cookie, preferably a twofer. It is an m/m meme after all. ;)

*Kris rubs hands together in glee*

Questions:

1. How long have you been reading GLBTQ fiction?
April 2006

2. What was the first book you read in this genre?
A Bit of Rough by Laura Baumbach

3. Are you 'out' as a reader?
Ummm… out to my online friends? Probably. And if I wasn’t before, I am now! To anyone else? I don’t think so.

4. Ebooks, print or both?
Ebooks only. That actually goes for any kind of erotic romance, not just GLBTQ. Inquiring teenage minds want to know at my house, and I’m not inclined to let them. Plus, they're disgusted enough to think that their mom might actually be interested in sex. This might throw them over the ledge.

5. Do you buy direct from publishers or from secondary sellers?
Both.

6. Prove you're a Book Slut. How many books would you say you buy a week?
Oh dear. It probably averages out to about 5-7, because I probably buy about 20-30 a month. But if you’re just talking M/M, then I go in spurts, no pun intended *g*. I probably buy about 1-2 a month.

7. Are you a cover, blurb or excerpt buyer?
All 3. I could buy just on a cover, but if the cover sucks big ol’ hairy donkey dicks, I might not buy it even if the blurb sounded appealing. I’d never even make it to the excerpt. I'm shallow that way.

8. Yeah, you read reviews, but do you actually take notice of them?
I do, yup. Especially for M/M, where I don’t read a ton of books.

9. Who's your fave publisher?
Hmmm… I plead the 5th.

10. What about authors? Your top two only!!
Oh gosh! That was a hard one *snort* (yeah, I’m really that juvenile). When I look at my list of books, it looks like the 2 authors I have the most books by are Josh Lanyon and KA Mitchell.

11. Is there a sub-genre you particularly dis/like?
I’m pretty vanilla, I think. No body fluids, please.

12. Short or long?? *rolls eyes* And, no, I'm not talking about cocks.
Long. It really is all about size.

13. Anything turn you off about m/m or is all just glorious smut to you?
I really dislike gratuitous sex and cheaters. And 3somes just for the sake of 3somes. Even if I’m reading m/m, I’m still a romance reader.

14. Finish this sentence. You know it's m/m twu wuv when...
he’s ready to out himself for you after one bout of glorious manlove.

15. What trope or theme are you heartily sick of in m/m romance?
We had our first sexual experience together as teenagers, our parents tore us apart, and now we’ve found each other as incredibly hunky 30 year olds. One of us is out and one of us is closeted. I love you, let’s get it on! (Note: I'm sick of it, but it works for me LOL)

16. If you could choose any 3 characters for a m/m/m who would they be?
I have absolutely no clue.

17. What new GLBTQ release are you most hanging out for right now?
The Dark Tide, like everyone else… Please put Kris out of her misery and let Jake be a happy go lucky guy (see # 20 below)

18. What GLBTQ book has completely blown you away this year?
Mexican Heat

19. What do you think we'll see more of in m/m romance in 2010?
BDSM seems to be a continuing trend generally in romance, but I’m not sure I read enough to really know. New trend seems to be steampunk. Ugh. Nuff said.

20. Don't you agree that author Josh Lanyon should kill off arsehole character Jake Riordan? Bwahahahaha!!!
Like I said. Jake is just finding himself. Course, Adrien might be dead by then, but still… at least he didn’t wake up one day, and realize “Oh, I’m gay, and the world is all sunshine and roses! Let’s get it on, Adrien!”. He’s figuring it out. Nobody ever said that those big strong tough guys were the sharpest knives in the drawer. It’s just taking him a little longer than everyone else.

And apologies. I'm on a diet, so no cookies.

No Surrender by Shannon Stacey

And now for something completely different... a review!

Book 3 in the Devlin Group series, this one features Carmen Olivera and John Gallagher. It opens up right in the middle of the action, with the two stuck in a goatfuck of an op trying to find their way out of what was to be a routine job. Stranded, reliant on each other to get out alive, they give in to the attraction they’ve been fighting for years.

Once again, Stacey keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, on a roller coaster of an adventure. I loved Gallagher, in particular. I loved how open he was with Carmen, how willing he was to put it all on the line. Except that he had the problem all those alpha males have – not wanting his woman to be in danger. When your woman is a covert operative, that’s a problem. Carmen, in addition to having a whole ton of commitment issues, isn’t willing to sit back and let him muscle her out of any work where she’s the logical choice based on her skill set.

Stacey has a gift for writing kickass heroines with issues, and alpha heroes who are just so mushy inside you want to melt. This book delivers two of those heroes, although we’ll have to wait for Jack Donovan’s story (and boy, does it promise to be a good one – I was reminded almost immediately of Gerard’s Dallas & Amy). Gallagher is all that is awesome, with that flaw of wanting to protect Carmen too much. Carmen is prickly, but when she lets her guard down with Gallagher, wowza, the sparks fly, and she is vulnerable and all woman.

I also liked that there was a hint of moral ambiguity in this book – when Gallagher and Donovan go back to finish the job they started. It wasn’t necessary; they already had the Isabelle out. But they went in and assassinated Le Roux anyway. It shows what it must be like living that kind of life on the edge. And Stacey didn’t shy away from it.

Some of the best scenes in the book are those with Jack, and his struggle to maintain his cover and professionalism with Isabelle, the hostage that the team goes in to rescue. Stacey shows his dark side and how his past and his job haunt him. And though he could have easily taken over this book, he didn’t, because Gallagher is truly such a wonderful hero that you can’t help but wait for every page that he appears on and root for him to win Carmen over.

Another area where Stacey shines is in writing humor. Both Carmen and Gallagher are incredibly funny, and have some hilarious exchanges. The humor serves to lighten the tension, but also to bring warmth to these characters - Carmen especially - when they could have otherwise been viewed as simply driven and hard-headed.

A terrific entry in the DG series – with humor, action, romance, angst, and a great setup for a future book without sequel-baiting. Will Jack’s book be the next one? Can’t wait to find out. This book definitely stands on its own, too. You do not have to read the first two in the series, although I highly recommend it!

The Devlin Group Series:
72 Hours: Alex & Grace’s book
On the Edge: Tony & Charlotte’s book
No Surrender: Gallagher (John) & Carmen’s book

When the parent becomes the child

More of the personal stuff...

I've been absent from blogland for a good part of the last few weeks. We're going through some serious issues with my mom. First off, She's 71. Not terribly old, but you know the saying that you're only as young as you feel or act? Yeah. She acts the 71 of my grandmother's time, not the 71 of today. For the last several years, she hasn't taken good physical care of herself. As a result, she has a lot of health issues, I'm shocked by her sudden lack of good hygiene, and her mental health has taken some hits as well. She's suffered some memory issues over the last 5-6 years that has me and my siblings very concerned. She refuses to see or acknowledge these issues, however. Add to that, she's a typical Jewish mother. There's an old joke: "How many Jewish mothers does it take to screw in a light bulb? None. I'll just sit here in the dark, dear. Don't worry about me." That describes my mom to a T. She's the perfect martyr.

So about 6 weeks ago, my mom called my siblings and me to let us know that she decided to buy a condo. Since she and my dad sold their home in Arizona and moved back to California in 2003, they (and now she) have been living in an apartment about a mile from both my sister and myself. My brother lives about 15 minutes away. The problem? She didn't let any of us know about this proposed purchase beforehand. She decided to do it, and kept it secret because she knew none of us would approve. She arranged to pull approx $300,000 out of her retirement funds to buy it. Even though she's constantly complaining she can barely make ends meet. She put several offers in at once on short-sales, out of sheer desperation to be a homeowner once again. The reason she finally let us know? It looked like one was going to actually accept her offer and close.

We came to find out that she had kept this secret from her children, but had told my in-laws and my sister's MIL. And sworn them to secrecy. And that her loan officer was my sister's BIL, also sworn to secrecy. Unbelievable.

AND, she won't be saving any money at all on a monthly basis, which was her rationale to us in the first place. Besides the "I miss owning my own home" argument. And the "My apartment is too small" argument. (The condo that she closed on is actually smaller than her apartment, but she saw it without furniture, so she thinks it's larger - square footage means nothing to her.)

My mom doesn't handle stress well. When something goes wrong at her apt right now, she calls maintenance. If they aren't there to fix it ASAP, she gets pretty pissy with them. I can only imagine how it will be as a homeowner. I don't have the time to maintain two homes. Nor does my husband. As it is, we spend an inordinate amount of time over there fixing little things for her. I don't have a problem with that, but now I anticipate it will be expanded to plumbing and other maintenance issues. My brother and BIL are pretty useless when it comes to maintenance (and I say that with love, truly), so their help is out.

Really, truly, the issue is that she needs to keep making changes every couple years because she still hasn't come to terms with my dad's death 5 years ago. She's still making comments like "This isn't how it was supposed to be," or "I can't believe your dad left me to deal with this on my own." And I truly understand her feelings. Even moreso after the last couple weeks. I know that my folks were supposed to grow old together. Nobody anticipated my dad passing away at 70. But buying a home isn't something that she can just change her mind on 2 years from now when she decides she doesn't like it. She's moved apartments twice in the 5 years since my dad passed, trying to find a place that works for her. And each time, she buys a ton of new stuff. That a month earlier she says she can't afford. At some point, I really hope that she will realize that she needs to move on. Spend time with friends. DO something every day. Find joy in life. Because, I imagine that she has a lot of years ahead of her, and I really don't want her to be unhappy all those years.

So, we've been struggling with the big question that's been sitting on the back burner for the past few years. How to handle it when the parent is becoming the child, but isn't ready to acknowledge any diminished capacity? She thinks we're all just treating her like a baby.

Honestly, this is so stressful - I want to treat my mom with the respect that she needs and deserves, but I don't know how far to take my disapproval and concerns. My siblings and I have pretty much sucked it up at this point and are letting her make her own decisions, including this one. But we're asking ourselves more and more often, given her lack of physical care for herself (which isn't yet to the point where we feel she can't live alone) and her lack of stable emotional decision-making, how do we manage a woman whom my dad let have everything in life she wanted? Who almost never heard the word no? And who hasn't a clue, or refuses to see, that she isn't in the best position to be purchasing a home at 71 and in poor physical, financial, and emotional health?

Been a little stressed out lately. Hopefully will get back to bloghopping and writing reviews soon. Thanks for letting me vent.