I've finally got an Ebook Reader!

I made my IPod Touch into an E reader!! And it was easy! There are these things called webapps that you can put on your IPhone or IPod Touch and there's one called Readdle. Readdle makes it possible to view a variety of documents, including pdf, html and txt on your Iphone or Ipod touch. And it is easy.

The Iphone hack proved to be beyond my capabilities, but now I've got several books on my ipod. Once you download and open a particular file, you can bookmark it and thus read it even if you are offline, which is good. It's free to use and gives you 50 MB of storage, which is fine for me for now.

Unfortunately, it doesn't read docs that are in .lit, which is my preferred format for reading on my laptop. I find .lit easy on the eyes and easily navigable. Also, I guess it saves the document exactly as is. I downloaded a pdf without opening it up and looking at it first, and when I opened it up to read, it was way too small. I was unable to zoom in adequately, and I couldn't change from a two page to a single page display.

Readdle definitely has its limitations, but it's good enough for me for now until Apple smartens up and gets its own application going. Now I don't have to bring my laptop to bed, and I can read in the dark! And read e books and the Speech Therapist's office!

Review up at TGTBTU

I've got a review up at The Good, the Bad and the Unread. Yet another Ellora's Cave novella. I don't know why these keep sucking me in. This was an all right read, though. Silly title and character names, and, well, premise. But Ride 'Em by Tilly Greene was pretty okay.

I'm tired...

Hey, did you know I've been blogging for two years now? This is one of the longest stretches of time that I've stayed with a hobby. It all began with this, on 11/14/05. Sigh. How far we've come. Or not.

Anyhoo, life has been super hectic, but that's name of the game this time of year. H-Bomb is still sick. He puked at school yesterday. Apparently due to to an ear infection. WTF? I know it's the school thing, but he was such a hale and hearty kid. A walking advertisement for the bennies of breastfeeding. I'm taking advantage by having a lounging around day. I'm sitting on my butt, reading and posting.

Although I've been leaving this blog to languish, I've been slutting around again. My first post at Access Romance/Reader's Gab can be seen here. What do you think of pop culture saturating romance? I also reviewed Fairyville by Emma Holly at TGTBTU. Lisabea, have you read any Emma Holly? May help you with the old slump. Well written ER in several subgenres.

I'm calling out to the internets, has anybody successfully made their Ipod Touch into an Ebook reader? I got one from my hubby recently, and a bit of poking around suggests that I can hack it, as DA Jane was able to do with her Iphone. I was able to get the Installer and the Ebooks app. onto my Iphone, but from there it went weird. I am having major difficulty figuring out how to get the files onto the Ipod. I have a feeling that the different directions assume a level of knowledge and technical expertise that I do not have. I got a "Network Connection Refused" message every time I tried this, and I found some other stuff here, but the easiest ways to do it seem to require a Mac OS. Word seems to be that Apple will be coming out with its own Ebook app in February 2008. Perhaps I should just wait. This guy found a way of doing it without hacking the IPod, but again I'm clueless. Not tech savvy enough to know what "Apache" and shit means. Bye the bye, if you're considering an e-book device of some kind, get thee to Jane's series at Dear Author. Start here, and you can access the other installments as well. Lots of good information. Be sure to read the comments for other opinions and suggestions.

Happy Turkey Day!!

Pimping a friend and a quick review

Any Broadway fans out there? Being a fan of a things review-y, and also of embarrassing my friends, I'd like to draw your attention to Broadway.com's new word of mouth panel. They have gotten rid of their professional reviewer in favor of "man on the street" type reviews. They chose 12 people to send to shows, then they get to review them for the site. And one of the reviewers is my old buddy Ellen! Here she is, in all her fabulousness. I look forward to seeing what she has to say about NY theater (despite the fact that I never go). Congrats on getting chosen. Can't wait to hear about what you've seen.

I also wanted to quickly review Measure of a Man by Bonnie Dee (who is that guy on the cover and why does he keep showing up everywhere?) This book is part of Liquid Silver's Terran Realm series, which is like...environmental paranormal. Or something. Terrans are a race who live alongside humans and they keep the environment in balance. Or something. Different people have an affinity with a particular element (earth, air, fire, water) and some sort of power that is related to that element. These are called Keepers and there are Protectors who, um, protect the Keepers so that they can do their work. Okay, let's be honest. I didn't really get the world building, nor did I care about it all that much. I didn't even quite get what the heroine's power of mental healing had to do with the air.

Whatever. Doesn't much matter, because I found this to be an enjoyable, fast read. After reading this and Dee's contribution to the Boundless anthology, I can firmly say that I really love this author's characterizations. She writes down to Earth, likeable heroines, and offbeat, tormented and very appealling heroes. In this case, it made the book work despite me being meh about the Terran thing. MoaM has a con artist/petty criminal (Ian) as the hero and he gets drawn into the world of the Terrans when one literally crashes into him. Mirabai has strong mental powers and she works as a psychic healer. Dee was able to make her charming and not overly hippy dippy and sage like, but rather a nice foil for the jaded and self loathing Ian. They had good chemistry and the relationship developed quickly, but worked. Mira has stolen an object from the bad guys (the Destroyers), and it's a pretty standard going on the run type plot. It was the characters that made it work, from Ian and Mira to protector Justin to the bad guy (whose name is currently escaping me). I give it a B, and I've already bought the follow up Fruits of Betrayal. Maybe I'll figure out why the Destroyers want to destroy.

A Little Love in Space...

So my low-grade cold has turned into a high grade cold. On the up side, I've gotten quite a bit of reading done. On the down side, I'm achy and cranky and almost had a throw-down with the children's librarian because H-Bomb was late for Storytime. Seriously, I'm still fuming a little bit, and that says a lot for her rudeness because usually fuckwittery rolls right off my back.

Now that I'm feeling a little bit better, I've been catching up on all the post RWA blogging. I'm surprised not to see a bit more about the decisions regarding RWA publisher recognition and PAN status(if you are interested, see here for more info). I think it's for the best though, if the people affected the most just ignore it. I doubt it would affect reader purchasing decisions, and epublishers are definitely here to stay. A quick glance at my 2007 list of reads shows that some of my favorites of the year are from E-Pubbed authors (Michelle M. Pillow), or authors who got their start with E-Pubs (Christine Warren, Linnea Sinclair). I've definitely read some mediocre or downright shitty e-published books, but for each one of those, there's a Pillow, or Bonnie Dee, or Joey Hill. And though the past couple of E-books I bought were disappointing, I had a happy surprise with my most recent impulse purchase from Samhain, Starkissed by Lanette Curington.

Now, I would be lying if I said that my attention wasn't piqued by the Poser cover featuring a reptilian alien and a bitchy looking brunette in an awkward embrace. And I would be lying if I said that my interest wasn't further piqued by Samhain's warning: Graphic sex between a human woman and an alien male who is anatomically different from human men! A quick mental inventory suggested that I hadn't read any books with human/alien sex. They're always humanoid. Well, what was I waiting for? I bought it immediately, and then was concerned that I let my prurient interests get the better of my good judgment. But it was good! Quite good!

Starkissed is the story of Leith McClure, a human woman, and J'Qhir, a Zi male. They meet during a trade that is supposed to take place between Leith's family's shipping company and J'Qhir, the Warrior (the protector, really) of his people. Each is surprised to find the other quite interesting, rather than disgusting. After the transaction goes wrong (due to a typically cartoony romance villain who wants REVENGE and is pissed Leith won't let him into her knickers), J'Qhir and Leith are kidnapped and abandoned on an uninhabited planet. The planet is a protected sanctuary of sorts, and so no one ever goes there. As the two try to survive, they find their initial fascination deepening into friendship attraction and more. But can their burgeoning love survive when they are rescued?

This one doesn't skimp on the relationship development. The hero and heroine are not only different species, they come from very different cultures, and it is very interesting to read how they try to understand each other's ways of thinking. J'Qhir's people, the Zi, are a very isolated and insular culture, governed by strict rules. He is a conservative fellow, with a strong sense of duty, honor and responsibility, and his struggle to come to grips with his intense feelings for Leith, so alien (heh) from all he has ever known, is rather charming. Leith is less vivid to me, pretty much a typical young woman, intelligent and a bit impulsive. All in all likeable, except for a few annoying moments toward the end.

Yes, J'Qhir is not human, but rather reptilian. He was different enough that I didn't feel the author was wimping out, but not so much that it was squicky (know what I mean?). The genitalia thing wasn't too creepy or anything. I liked that during the love scenes, they didn't suddenly become porn stars. Leith is a virgin (she's 21), and J'Qhir is very inexperienced, and the sex scenes reflected that, as well as their deepening feelings for each other. It was a natural extension of their intimacy, not just thrown in for the sake of titilation. Leith was a little more forward than might be expected, but it went along with their respective personalities, J'Qhir being a rather cautious fellow, and a product of a repressive environment.

In fact, so much time was spent on them getting to know each other, and getting past their differences, it slowed things during the middle section a bit. Also, as I alluded to before, Leith acts like an ass for a bit towards the end, wanting J'Qhir to read her mind, when he really ain't that type of guy (or critter). Luckily, that doesn't last too long. I would've liked an epilogue or something more at the end, because they had some obstacles facing them, and I wanted to know how it all turned out. Otherwise, this was an unusual and satisfying read, and one I'll be revisiting. A solid B+ for Ms. Curington. I'll be looking to see what else she comes out with.

Oh, and a big ol' thumbs up for Finders Keepers. I may not give it a full review, but it was very good. Linnea Sinclair rocks!

Here an epub, there an epub...

Everywhere an epub!

I've been following the folding of Triskelion with interest. Dear Author has been providing thorough coverage of the situation, as well as the implications for authors. I know so little about the whole business end of books, and I feel so bad for the authors, it just has me so darn curious. While reading the comments, several authors had mentioned electronic publishing companies that I had never heard of. I've purchased books from Samhain, Ellora's Cave, Liquid Silver, Loose-Id and Changeling Press (Shit, the covers are off putting at this site. Too bad, some decent authors, and heavy on the parnormal/fantasy). There are some others I had heard of (like Triskelion), but had never bought from. And now, some others I had never heard of? Just how many small romance-focused epubs are there? Investigating was in order. Because I'm a librarian, I am prone to information gathering and lists. So without further ado here is the list of new-to-me epublishers:

Amber Quill Press (Having a 25% off storewide sale, btw. The site is decent, i.e. the blurbs make sense. The covers aren't awful, except for a preponderance of eighties looking people.)
Cobblestone Press
Freya's Bower
Awe-struck
Champagne Books
loveyoudivine (Erm...are separate categories for "Tales of the Slave Girl" and "Erotic Power Exchange" really necessary? The brevity of the blurbs, plus the lack of excerpts makes me leery.)
Uncial Press
Mundania Press
Aspen Mountain Press
Phaze Books (An imprint of Mundania, upon closer look)
Extasy Books (Interesting logo, bad poser covers, their little bookshelf problem sounds troubling.)
Drollerie Press (I like the concept behind this one, we'll have to see how it turns out.)
Torquere Press--LGBT
Chippewa Publishing
Lady Aibell--Chippewa's Erotic Romance Imprint. There are some doozies of covers on this one too. Home of "Oklahoma Space Odyssey", one of my favorite Bam snarks ever. I think they did proofread the blurb a bit since then.

So what did I discover, besides the best author name ever (Trixie Stiletto), and some intriguing books? There's a shitload of e-pubs out there. I saw many authors whose names I recognize from blogs and other publishers. So feedback time--

Readers: Anyone ever read anything from any of these companies? How's the quality? Decent editing or no? Heard any buzz, good or bad?

If any writers pop by: Any experiences with any of these sites? Do they treat their authors well?

If anybody knows of another Epub that I left off, let me know and I'll add.

In brief...

I'm watching Howard the Duck. It's a lot worse than I remembered. It was that or Pee Wee's Big Adventure. It's 80's nostalgia night on cable apparently, because First Blood is on too.

I've been all caught up in the newest kerfuffle, rubbernecking as per usual. The comments are flying fast, I can barely keep up. At least some good has come out of this all. Of course by this I mean Mrs. Giggles' Blog Drama Drinking Game. Excellent! Too bad I don't drink no more.

I've been wanting to review Kiss Me Deadly, a novella by Shannon Stacey. I won a download by her at Sybil's, and she was nice enough to send me two!! KMD takes place at the isolated cabin of Bridget Sawyer. When a raven flies into her bedroom, she doesn't realize that it is a messenger of Death, and a sexy shapeshifter. Khail is stunned when she doesn't die, and intensely drawn to Bridget. The two of them want to explore their attraction to each other, but Bridget was marked to die, and the other ravens want to carry out their duties.

This one was okay. I liked the idea of Death as an unkindness of ravens (love that phrase), and the idea of these two stuck in the cabin while the ravens circle the house and tap on the windows, a la The Birds. But it suffers from the curse of the erotic romance novella: how to get two strangers fizz-nucking quickly and also to have feelings develop between them believably. There was definitely a touch of the bamp-chicka-wow-wow factor. A bird shows up in your house, turns into a naked, hot dude, and you're getting it on with him in a matter of hours? Hmmmm...The heroine had isolated herself in the mountains to escape an abusive ex-husband, and memories of a horrible childhood. This made it even rougher for me to believe she'd hop into bed with random werebird so quickly, no matter how undeniably drawn they were to each other. However, I liked Ms Stacey's style of writing, in particular the dialogue and characterization. There were some moments that did reveal a nice chemistry between the two leads. Although I'm giving this a C because I was not able to buy it completely, I am looking forward to reading her 72 Hours. I would imagine that without the length constraints, she will be able to flesh (heh) out the characters and relationship quite nicely.

Okay, now for a very short review of No Rest for the Wicked, by Kresley Cole. In fact, it is a not one, but two Haiku review. Here goes:

Sebastian, sad vamp,
Kaderin kills vampires dead.
Can she be his Bride?

Fast pace and great sex,
Talisman's Hie was cool,
Bitchy chick, hot guy.

For more on this series, see here. I like the array of creatures included. The Valkyries are still kind of annoying, but Cole does soulmates well. I give it a B. For a fun review, which does a great job of illustrating the book, check out the video review at Dear Author.

To Bamp-chicka-wow-wow or not...

Or what I like and don't like about erotic romance.


For some reason, lately I've been pondering what makes certain books work better for me than others, from subgenre to subgenre. Erotic Romance is a genre that definitely sticks out. I can easily see the similarities between my favorites, and the things that make me cringe and groan may as well be written in neon.

Now, what I mean by erotic romance (as always, I am speaking only from my own personal experience), are e-published books which contain a number of sex scenes described in frank, explicit language. There are usually quite a few more sex scenes than in more "mainstream" romance, and acts are often included that you won't find on the regular shelves, like anal sex, bondage, and threesomes. Altogether more adventurous. There are certain things that I definitely like about erotic romance. I like there to be sex in my books as the physical expression of the hero and heroine's growing feelings. I also appreciate more straightforward language, as I'm not a big fan of grottoes of love and manroots. Pussy and cock, thank you very much.

But in order to accomodate the amped-up level of sexuality, authors often turn to certain devices that inspire the same reaction in me as when I'm watching a porno: uncontrollable laughter and cringing. Soon after the hero and heroine meet, they are undeniably drawn to each other, and the physical reactions begin. You know, the veritable waterfall from the heroine's nether regions, and the dick so hard it's gonna bust out from the hero's pants. You can hear that Bamp-chicka-wow-wow music begin, and you just know they're going to be getting it on soon, probably in an unusual location with the threat of being interrupted or discovered. But here's the thing: descriptions of biological reactions alone are not sexy if I don't really get why. That means some good physical description, some sparkling dialogue to reveal personality, etc. I've gotta want the hero and heroine to get it on. Just because the author tells me they want to, is not enough. There must be tension or emotion or something.

Many times authors have some kind of history between the hero and heroine, i.e. old friends, former lovers, work colleagues. Now this certainly makes sense, because if they know and care about each other already, the reader might buy their quick jump into the sack a little more. But sometimes this makes for an even bigger shortcut on the author's part. We get to hear about how often the characters think about/fantasize about each other (without glimpses of said thoughts and fantasies), and obligatory hardening and gushing, but the actual backstory is skimped on, as is any sort of character development or relationship development. It's just "Yes! We finally got to the fizz-nucking!"

I guess what I am saying is let me get to know the characters a bit, let me see their interactions, their chemistry (even if it's in dreams or flashbacks), so when we finally get to the no holds barred sexin', I'm interested. Otherwise, it's raunchy and boring. The books that have worked best for me, had characters that were neither cardboard nor blow-up dolls, and the connection between the two (or three) of them, was strong enough that I was excited to see them contort themselves and get up to wacky hijinks, rather than shaking my fist to the sky, angry once again at my impulsive purchase.

Short and Sweet...

...Or rather sexy.


On Sunday evening I read Michelle M. Pillow's novella Talons: Seize the Hunter. It only took about an hour to read, but it was an enjoyable hour. Seize the Hunter takes place on the planet of Falconia, where women rule, and men who can turn into falcons are the warriors and protectors of the planet. On the eve of her wedding, to be followed by her coronation, Princess Ari dreads seeing her childhood nemesis again. Commander Rurik, a natural born shifter, isn't looking forward to seeing Ari either. She seems to have it out for him, sending his men on the most dangerous missions. According to Falconian tradition, a female drinks from a chalice, which then brings her her chosen mate. You know what that means...will fate intervene for Ari and Rurik?

Novellas are a tricky proposition. Often they seem too rushed and I don't buy the connection between the h/h. But this one worked pretty well. I liked the sparks between Ari and Rurik. They went together well, and I liked each character individually. It did seem a bit rushed, particularly the misunderstanding and reunion at the end. But my main complaint was that I wished it was longer, and that's a good thing. I give it a B, which means more glomming for me.

More books and a meme...

I've read the next two installments of Michelle M. Pillow's Realm Immortal series: Faery Queen and The Stone Queen. All titles can be found at Samhain Publishing. I enjoyed both, although the first book (see review below) was definitely the best. I liked Faery Queen the least. It focused on Juliana's older brother Hugh, and the queen of Feia, who first appeared in the King of the Unblessed. Hugh dislikes the Queen, whom he holds responsible for his sister's marriage. He also lusts after her. Queen Tania is lovesick for Hugh, and Lucien, the King of the Damned, seeks to use her pain to his advantage. I did not particularly like either Hugh or Tania, and never felt that there was more than lust between them (especially on Hugh's part). It did get me excited for the next one, and I pretty much focused on the parts with Merrick (the hero of the first book), and the evil but interesting Lucien. I give it a C+. I enjoyed The Stone Queen much more, which returned the focus to Juliana, Merrick, Lucien and Mia. In this one, the pregnant Juliana ends up encased in stone. While Merrick tries to find a way to free her and their child, the war rages on between the Blessed and the Unblessed, and Lucien plots to overthrow them all. This one was paced well, and I just love the gloomy but hot Merrick, and sexy, evil Lucien (I'm really fascinated by his weird relationship with his nymph mistress Mia). I did feel that Juliana was borderline TSTL (but how many fairy tale princesses are?), and I wasn't thrilled with the explanation of how Juliana ended up within stone. It didn't really make much sense to me, seemed like the author rushed through it to get on to more interesting stuff. But all in all, this was another fun tale. I give it a B. I don't know if this was a trilogy or if there will be more, but I'd definitely be up for Kalen (Merrick's ally) getting a story, as well as more Lucien/Mia.

Any other Pillow recs? I'm in a definite paranormal mood. Anyone read her vampire books?

Okay, I wasn't going to do this, but the more I saw this on everyone and their sister's blog, the more curious I was to see what I've read. I don't know where this list came from. It's a mix of classics and good and bad bestsellers.

Red=Ones I've Read
Green=Haven't read, but may attempt at some point
Purple=No interest in reading
Pink=Seen the Movie Only

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown) (I was forced to listen to an audio on the way to NH and I hated it.)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18 The Stand (Stephen King) (well, the mini-series)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44.The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible (well, not the whole thing)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58.The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)9
96.The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce) (Okay, I actually only read huge excerpts of this for a class, and I loved them (love the Molly Bloom section, but somehow I doubt I'll ever be picking it up again).




33 read. If I were honest, most of the greens are probably purples, but I like to think I'd read 'em at some point. Kind of a random list, if you ask me.

Dance, Magic, Dance!

What movie is the post title referring to?

(Answer to come later in the post.)



I stayed up into the wee hours reading Realm Immortal: King of the Unblessed by Michelle M. Pillow. This is a dark fantasy romance set partially in a Medieval type England, and partially in an "Otherworld" populated by Elves, Faeries, Goblins and other folkloric creatures. Lady Juliana of Bellemare has always had a very active imagination, preferring stories of magic and mystery to the life of duty that awaits her as a noblewoman. On the eve of her marriage to a much older neighbor, Juliana asks somebody, anybody, to give her one adventure. Unbeknownst to her, Merrick, the King of the Unblessed (it's like the kingdom of mischief, bad luck and stuff that ruins your day) has become fascinated by Juliana, and has already planned on making her his. So he decides to give Juliana her adventure, ensure she doesn't marry the old guy and trick her into going to his palace, where he will keep her. So he goes to Juliana, and tells her he has kidnapped the village children. In order to save them, Juliana must journey to the palace of the King of the Unblessed and ask him a simple question. Horrified and fascinated by Merrick (not knowing his true identity), Juliana sets off.

First off, I am a monkey's uncle if Ms. Pillow did not get her inspiration for this book from the movie Labyrinth. Does anyone remember this movie? A teenage Jennifer Connelly plays a girl with her head in the clouds, who wishes for something to happen to her little brother. The Goblin King (David Bowie with big hair) listens to her plea and steals baby boy. The Connelly character, Sarah, must solve the Labyrinth in 13 hours or her brother will be turned into a Goblin. Musical numbers (including the catchy "Dance, Magic, Dance) and slightly creepy Jim Henson creatures abound.

This is not a carbon copy (I'd call it a homage), but there are definite parallels. Like Jareth/Bowie, Merrick rules over the Goblins. Neither king understands why the heroine is so angry with them, when they are only giving them what they want. Each want to rule over the heroine, and gain power from her fear. As for Juliana/Sarah, their "adventure" is really a journey of leaving childhood fancies behind, and realizing that things are not always black and white and not always what they seem.

I should admit that I adore Labyrinth. It is a wonderful, surreal movie, and I can't wait until H-Bomb and the Destroyer are old enough to watch it with me. As a twelve year old watching this movie, I wished that Jennifer Connelly had stayed with David Bowie and been his Goblin Queen. Icky as that may be, it may explain why I liked this book so much. Merrick was a great dark, tormented hero. He wanted Juliana, but he couldn't quite understand her, and despaired of her ever understanding him. Plus, why would she want to stay in his dark kingdom and share the burden of being disliked. Juliana was annoying at times, but overall I liked her. I also liked and was intrigued by the secondary characters like her brothers, Lord Kalen (Merrick's ally), Lucien, the Demon King, and the Faery Queen Tania.

Ms. Pillow's writing was very smooth and assured. I found the setting and world to be very vividly described. Sometimes the language had a bit of that stilted "Methinks" and "Whilst" thing going on , not a personal favorite, but then it would go away (in "reality" vs. "the Otherworld", I think). The sex scenes were well written, nothing more extreme than found in most mainstream romance. I found the ending to be a little perky compared to the rest of the work, but there are two sequels, so we'll have to see if Merrick gets all sweet. All in all, this was a compelling grownup fairy tale and lots of fun: B+. If you like, say, Kinley MacGregor's Lords of Avalon series, or if like me, you think they miss the mark, give this one a go. I'm going to buy the next two installments now, because I want to see what happens next. And I think I'm going to email Ms. Pillow about Labyrinth thing. I'm so curious.

It's difficult to read when you can't stop rolling your eyes...

So I made my first purchase from Samhain Publishing yesterday. I got Sacred Places by Mandy Roth and Realm Immortal: King of the Unblessed by Michelle M. Pillow. BTW, isn't it interesting how the book lengths and prices vary from site to site? Not a lot, but just enough to get me wondering who provides the most words for your money. Samhains seem to be really well priced.

I've already read Sacred Places, a short story. And, well, to be honest, I thought it blew chunks. That may sound a little harsh but I was very disappointed. Very. I understand that in a short story, there is only a limited amount of character development, relationship development and world building (this is a paranormal) that can be accomplished. But a little should be attempted! I bought this because it appeared to be the prequel to the author's newest release, which I thought sounded interesting. As an introduction to an alternate universe, this failed, being a choppy, cheesy mess.

It is essentially a sex scene wherein Coyle O'Caha (Scottish brogue alert!) finally "claims" his "soulmate", Deri Sullivan. Yeah,one of those. We get no sense of them as people aside from the fact that they're hot for each other, or any real explanation of how their powers work, where they come from, or why. Every so often info's dropped like, oh yeah, he's a seven hundred year old Druid sorceror, or oh yeah, he's covered in tattoos (any significance to them?), or oh yeah, he can create storms. But even though this oh-so-powerful Druid's duty is to train witches and he recognized Deri as his mate three years ago, he had no idea she was a witch. This despite the fact that he regularly enters her dreams to sex her up. And she had no idea that he had magik (not a misspelling), either. Why weren't they able to sense each other? How does he find other witches? Why does Coyle hang around his bar shirtless? So he can flex his muscles in the mirror? Instead, we get a whole lot of mental lusting, replete with creaming pussies and very hard, huge cocks. Too many body fluids get me thinking about panty liners. Not sexy.

I just found this to be clunky, cliched and uninteresting. It's too bad because it sounded interesting. If had just been a sex scene without anything else, it would've just been boring. But the meager attempts at worldbuilding elevated it to annoying. Now I don't think I can invest in the sequel, too risky. Oh well, there was plenty of other stuff I wanted to buy.

Best of 2006...

Some other stuff...

Best Non-J.R. Ward Vampire Book:

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. A very engrossing read. Anyone who likes stories about teenagers or vampires would like this one. Worth a try even if you don't like vampires.I just finished New Moon, and I can't wait until Eclipse.

Best E-book:

Bone Deep by Bonnie Dee. I debated whether or not to make a separate category for this one, because I don't want to make it seem as though e-book are somehow different or less than print romance. I just wanted to mention more books. All jokes about crappy covers aside, one only has to visit an EPublishing site like Samhain, Ellora's Cave, or Liquid Silver to see that some of the most interesting and unusual stuff is being published in electronic format. Whenever I drop by, I always want to read so many of them. Damn my tight budget! [Will review for free books!] Tatooed guy from the carnival! Forties setting! You won't be seeing Avon publishing something like that anytime soon. I just loved this one. It was very sweet, yet very sexy. I think I might re-read it tonight. P.S. Great Cover.

Best guilty, guilty pleasure:

Unleash the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Abandon reality, all ye who enter here. The hero is a "tigard" (a mix of of tiger and a leopard), the heroine is a wimpy law student/senator's daughter. Since this is an SK, they have cartoonishly nasty parents. There are also cartoonishly nasty preppies named Todd and Blaine, a trip back to 1981, and a general disregard for rules set up by Kenyon in previous books. Even for the over the top Dark Hunter series, this one was over the top. I used to wait for one of this author's releases with baited breath (reality be damned is my motto), but her output has been increasingly disappointing, and I find myself increasingly uninterested in reading. But although I found UTN a bit ridiculous, it was fun and sexy, and very readable. I think this might be due to the absence of Ash. I actually love Ash, but his story has started to overshadow that of the primary characters in some of the more recent books. Hopefully, things will get back on track this year, and thanks to Nath, I have a new online Kenyon story to read.

Well that's all for now. Off to console the family over the Jets loss. Hopefully 2007 will be full of good, and so bad it's good reads.

What was I thinking...

I've been feeling really blah and unmotivated to read. I've read one too many "not awful" but totally forgettable books lately. Is that just the name of the game with categories? Does the shorter length just make for shallower stories? Are the authors not encouraged to be innovative? So my solution? Go to Harlequin and buy another boxful of books. They were doing a buy 4 "beach reads" get one free thing. I don't know how I even ended up there. But of course everything just sounded fab. I'm like Oh, I really need that! Even though I had told myself that I would only get Harlequins from the UBS or the library sale cart. Here's my new batch:

Jack Riordan's Baby by Anne Mather

The Bought and Paid For Wife by Bronwyn Jameson

Blame it on Texas by Cathy Gillen Thacker

Back in the Bachelor's Arms by Victoria Pade

The Marriage Renewal by Maggie Cox

Got a little bit of it all--cowboys, bachelor doctors, tycoons with mistresses, marriages of revenge, and (I think) even a secret baby or two. Two Harlequin Presents! Oh good grief! Maybe something will be really, really bad. So I can at least get a scathing review out of it. I'm toying with the idea of putting all mediocre reviews in Haiku form, just to liven things up a bit.

Then I decided a needed some smutty romances as well, so I hopped over to Ellora's Cave. Bought not one but two books--Holding the Cards by Joey Hill and In the Arms of Danger by Madison Hayes. As for the first, well I've made no secret of the fact that I like the kink, but the second is Romantic Suspense, not my usual thing. But the hero is a British thug named Dicky, of all things. So I can hear and visualize Jason Statham in my head. He is one sexy balding Brit!

Finally I got Undead and Unpopular by MaryJanice Davidson from the library. So, something's got to snap me out of it.

There's no such thing as bad advertising...

If you've been reading any blogs to do with romance, you most likely already know that there was a dust-up at Karen Scott's Blog, regarding Changeling Press. It got a bit nutty, and I don't remember the particulars, but a lot of it revolved around their covers, which are, by and large, quite startling and even disturbing. I'm being nice here. Anyhow, the only reason I'm bringing this up because at the time, I wondered if the folks at Changeling stirred the pot in order to drum up traffic to their site. Then Fickle Fiona put this post up at her site. Looking through these covers, I decided to read some of the excerpts, and found myself making a purchase. So there you go. Sometimes even bad press (or snarky bloggers) can work in your favor, 'cuz I'm sure that others went to laugh and ended up spending also.

So of the 13 covers chosen by Fiona, these are the books that I purchased:



Ugly. Creepy Ugly. It does reflect the content of the story, but there's just something that makes you shudder. I chose this one because I kinda liked the excerpt. It was the story of a vampire who is disfigured in an attack, and so hides away, leaving his human lover in despair. But hey, the vampires decide to have a masquerade party, so he decides to approach her while masked. Will he just have one more night with her, or will she be able to accept him, scars and all? What do you think happens? You're right. This wasn't terrible (I feel like I've been typing that a lot lately), but not particularly memorable. There were decent sex scenes, but the hero and heroine weren't particularly developed and I didn't feel invested in the story at all.



There's something about this cover that simultaneously fascinates me and horrifies me at the same time. Dude is just so weird. That tiny head...the distorted, square body with the enormous muscles...the short arms...the hand on the cocked hip. I can't look at it for too long, or I start to feel a little queasy. No joke. In this case, the excerpt and description did me in. Guy's a yeti apparently. My mind immediately goes here. Wasn't that guy a yeti? Hmmm...okay. My curiosity got the better of me and, lured by the promise of yetisex!, I bought it. And it wasn't that bad. Better than I thought it would be. Very light in tone, rather tongue in cheek, which is the only way it could've worked. It revolves around the Paranormal Mates Society, sort of a Match.com for supernatural critters. So this Yeti is surprised to find his perfect match is a Brazilian Fire-Serpent, 'cuz he's, like an Abominable Snowman and she's so hot! Whatevah. Regarding the Yetisex, they both have human forms, although there is one scene where they get it on while she's a serpent and he's in Yeti form. I wasn't even squicked out because I was too busy trying to visualize what was going on. It was just strange, rather than sexy. There was also a light bondage thing going on, almost like an afterthought (as if Yeti-Serpent sex isn't kinky enough). Overall, a cute, breezy story.

Both of these stories were quite short. I read ebooks on my laptops using Microsoft Reader, and the first story was 84 pages, the second was 64 (I don't know if the pagination would be different with other programs). Neither took me more than an hour to read. I paid 3.99 and 3.49 respectively, and I just felt that it was too much. Am I wrong? The stories were okay, but slight and underdeveloped. I was left feeling like I could've spent that money on a Grande Mocha Frappucino. I would've spent as much time with the Frappucino, and I would've been left feeling more satisfied.

EBUZZ: Bone Deep by Bonnie Dee

Bone Deep at Liquid Silver Books

I found this book over at Bam's Blog. The hero is the tattooed man in a carnival sideshow. Romance with tattooed carnival freak=Devon drops everything to buy and read.

I really enjoyed this book. It is the sweetest erotic romance I have read so far. It lacked that "bamp-chicka-wow-wow" vibe that others have (even if I considered the book to have a viable love story as well). Tom was a sweet, vulnerable character and I also liked Sarah, the war widow who takes him in. Tom was such a sad character, who lived such a stunted and difficult life, it could've taken on an inappropriate and creepy vibe (a la the vibe I get from Anita Blake and Nathaniel in recent LKH titles). But the author made Tom a strong character in his own right, that it was cool. Here's Bam's review. She wrote a great review, so why do the work again :)? Definitely recommended. I'll be looking into the author's other titles as well.

Next e-book I'll be getting, I also found at It's Not Chick Porn. Bam snarked this cover recently. It wasn't so much the cover as the blurb that had me rolling. Go read it. But the author's responses made me want to read it. She chose to use the word "schtupping" on purpose, I think. Oh, and I like books with demons. And I like the idea of Jewish demons who hopefully speak Yiddish. I won't be getting the one with the clown, though. Reminds me of a disturbing episode of "Little House" I saw when I was young.

Two Perverts in Love

Warning: the following book contains intense subject matter, from psychological issues to childhood abuse to dirty, filthy sex scenes.

May 3 saw the release of Joey W. Hill's Mirror of My Soul, the sequel to Ice Queen (see my review here). I snapped it right up. There has been a lot of discussion on the different blogs that I look at about e-books, so I may as well put in my two cents here. As a mostly stay-at-home mom, I don't have a lot of money for "me" things. I probably buy one or two paperbacks a month. The rest of my reading comes from libraries. My track record with e-books has been so spotty, that I really hesitate to spend the money. Some have been truly cringeworthy, some had hot(!) love scenes, but otherwise iffy writing, and a couple were quite enjoyable. The vast majority I would not give a second read, so to spend 6.99-7.99 (yes! that's how much this book was!)for something that's going to sit on my laptop...I balk at spending that much on a paperback if it's not an auto-buy author. So, yes, I read e-books occasionally, but I keep it limited to authors I've really enjoyed in the past, or the infrequent decription/excerpt that I find irresistible. I'll discuss them when I do, and I hope others do as well, because that might help me find some new titles and authors.



But Joey W. Hill is definitely worth a look. She deals with BDSM subject matter, which may be unpalatable to some, but her treatment of the psychological issues involved as well as the characters (who seem to be actual indivduals rather than cardboard cutouts), renders it fascinating and sexy to me. She is the romantica author that I have found to be most successful in creating a real relationship and romance between two characters who have lives outside of the bedroom, along with intense sex scenes. Mirror of my Soul was a moving, intense and rather sad read, which picked up the story of Marguerite and Tyler right where Ice Queen left off. I don't think I've ever read a romance where it actually did seem possible (to the heroine, to other characters and to the reader) that the heroine might be unable to maintain a relationship. As hinted in the previous book, Marguerite has a difficult past, which was handled tastefully. It was very interesting, the way Marguerite tightly structured her life, including her dominatrix activities, in order to live a productive life while keeping people at arm's length. She's got major demons to overcome, and there is no quick fix in this book. In addition, she and Tyler have to figure out how to work out their 'kinks'.

But Tyler and Marguerite get their happy ending though, and I shed a tear, I'll admit it. I was happy for them. While I enjoyed reading the rest of their journey, I did have some issues. I don't know if the re-appearance of the evil father was necessary, although I called it early on. There was already enough stuff going on ! Also, Ms. Hill appears to be into a lot of stuff that's new-agey or spiritual (Wicca, angels, meditation, yoga etc.) I've seen mentions in other books, but it made me roll my eyes a bit in this one. She threw in everything but the kitchen sink. Ultimately, this was a heavy, but satisfying reading experience. So heavy, in fact, that I don't think I'll be revisiting it anytime soon, but it was unusual, interesting and well written. If one is curious about Joey W. Hill's work, or experimenting with BDSM romantica, I'd try Natural Law first.

Sticks and Stones may break my bones...

But whips and chains excite me!

Okay, so I've always been a bit of a prude. I was a bit of a late/bloomer with the whole boy/dating thing, and I used to be a bit uptight when it came to sexual matters. Six years of marriage and two kids later, I am much less prudish, but I was still quite attracted/repelled by the whole Ellora's Cave/romantica phenomenon. The first time I got up the nerve to order something, I felt like the fat man behind the "Adults Only" curtain at the local used bookstore (What's back there? Used porno mags? GROSS!!). I even used a VISA gift card I had so that it wouldn't show up on a credit card statement. But since I was being naughty, I figured that I may as well be really naughty, so I got one of those menage opuses by Lora Leigh, one where brothers share their women. Oy. Anyhow, now I'll freely admit that I quite like romantica, especially of the pervy BDSM variety. And apparently, I'm not the only one, as it is the top-selling genre at Ellora's Cave.

So why would any liberal, feminist, hater of "forced seductions," captive stories and sheikhs enjoy reading about women (primarily) getting tied up and having all kinds of kinky things done to them? Yeah, it's weird to me too. In a way, these BDSM scenarios are merely a more extreme version of the alpha males, and aforementioned forced seductions etc. that still exist in today's romances. Heck you even find the word "dominance" and the idea of being dominated in more mainstream romances (although it's usually without a flogger). This being fiction for women, usually the author goes to great lengths to emphasize that it is the woman's choice, and furthermore that she feels free or actually empowered by participating in such scenarios. Whether or not this is convincing depends on the skill of the author.

I have little knowledge of the reality of BDSM. All my knowledge comes from reading romantica, which I see as a form of literature for women's fantasies. So I don't know whether the authors I've read are getting it right, or cleaning it up so that women like me actually find it romantic and sexy. But different authors present the lifestyle differently, and sometimes it's hot and sometimes it super-squicky. The best author I've read is Joey W. Hill, of all the romantica I've read. I just read Ice Queen, which was a sequel to the also excellent Natural Law (one of only two I've read with a Male sub!). Hill's books are peopled with adults with jobs, interests and lives, who just happen to be involved in this particular lifestyle. Since they are already practiced in the lifestyle, it lacks the ick factor of some of the books I've read where the guy seduces the girl, then proceeds to sort of coerce her into things. Hill also focuses on the psychological and emotional aspects for both the dominant and the submissive, the give and take for both. The sex scenes may be extreme, but it is always clear what both parties are getting out of it,and how it is bringing them closer. So often, we see a lot of what the sub feels and the dominant comes off as a creep who gets off on humiliating the heroine and pushing her into embarrassing situations. Then we are told that he cares about her and he does it b/c that's what she wants. Don't buy it, squicked out. Hill avoids that whole humiliation bit, i.e. calling the person "slut" or "whore", and as I pointed out the sex scenes take place privately or in a club that the characters belong to and are familiar with.

I don't know, I intended this to be a review of Ice Queen, and has turned more into a treatise on my view of BDSM romantica. I really enjoyed Tyler and Marguerite's story, although the ending was a bit disturbing, then abrupt. But there's going to be a sequel, soon I hope! Marguerite is a truly troubled person and we need a sequel where she works out some some of her issues, so I can be convinced that she won't stab Tyler in his sleep one night. If you are thinking of trying out BDSM romantica, give Joey W. Hill a try. Bound to Trust by Jaci Burton is another good one. Now different strokes for different folks, and perhaps it's more realistic, but if you are uncomfortable with a heroine being humiliated in various ways, including public situations with strangers, avoid Claire Thompson. I have a high squick level, and I was bugged out. I'm very careful with buying this stuff these days. I don't want to spend six bucks to horrify myself.

Also: Not one of the local Barnes & Noble's have Taming of the Duke yet. WTF? I bought Lord Perfect and Sword of Darkness intsead, to make up for the disappointment.