Review Haiku #1

Another "eh" book...let's see if I can do a review in seventeen syllables. This one was pretty easy actually, I think a lot of people are familiar with this series and, well, there's not a lot of substance to ponder.

Undead and Unpopular by Maryjanice Davidson:

Betsy still the same,
Hot Sinclair, why does he care?
More plot, more depth please.

Thank you, thank you. As you can see, I have little aptitude for poetry. For a more in depth review, click on the title to see what folks posted at Amazon. Nicole also wrote a review that was right on the money on her blog.

Now, usually I don't talk about children's books, but I read one yesterday at work that I was so impressed by, that I just have to mention it.



Rules by Cynthia Lord (a debut novel, no less), is the most memorable book I've read in awhile. I would recommend it for 9-13 year olds, most girls would like it, but you could probably sell it to boys too. Rules is the story of a twelve year old girl named Catherine, who is often embarrassed by her autistic younger brother, David, even as she is fiercely protective of him. One day, while waiting for him at OT, she meets Jason, who is a couple of years older than her. He is wheelchair bound and cannot speak. I would imagine he has severe Cerebral Palsy, although it is not explicitly stated. Instead of speaking, he points to cards in a book. Catherine, who likes to draw, is drawn to Jason, and finds herself making cards for his book, in an attempt to give him a wider range of expression. When a girl her own age moves in next store, Catherine finds herself uncomfortable due to her connection with David and Jason, and finds herself doing strange things.

This seemed at first like it would be a totally maudlin setup. I'm not a big fan of the "problem novel". I find that they are often heavy handed, and condescending to young people, in a way. But this was fabulous, and that was definitely due to the characterization. Catherine is a normal, self-centered 12 year old girl, and she doesn't form a friendship with Jason, out of pity or wanting to be a do-gooder. Instead, she feels an instant connection with Jason, and is irritated by the adults around him, who are trying to speak for him, when they so obviously can't read him right. And Jason was an excellent character! Sometimes there's that feel of like, the saintly, noble disabled person who teaches the protagonist the error of her selfish ways, just by their goodness. Jason was not like that. Although you felt sorry for him, it's because he seemed like an intelligent and cool guy who was completely trapped in his body. You could see why Catherine would want to be friends with him, and their interactions are really cute and fun. Of course, there is the climactic ending, where Catherine chooses her imperfect friend and brother over the shallow but perfect, new girl, but again, not cheesy, because Jason seemed way cooler than the new girl.

I liked this book so much that once I was finished, I opened it back up to re-read. I can't help but wonder what will happen with Catherine and Jason. This one will stay with me awhile, and that's more than I can say about any of the adult books I've read lately. Tomorrow morning, I'll be gently suggesting to the librarian who runs the 4th and 5th grade book discussion, that it should be one of her upcoming selections.

Hmmm....

How do people feel about pop culture references in their reading? Do you love it? Hate it? Feel it dates the book? Don't care? Since I've got a lot of useless pop culture knowledge floating around in my head (and since I'm very opinionated, it can be a double edged sword. I only like it in very small doses, and it can really affect my enjoyment of a book. If it fits the character it's great, but if it's, say, a 25 year-old urban hipster heroine who loves Celine Dion, then it's jarring. I hate the lame use of pop culture.

I've always been up front about my fangirly love for J.R. Ward. I actually pop over to her message board once or twice a week and lurk, because she lets loose some hints and tidbits and I'm a spoiler ho. Some kind (and obsessive) soul regularly updates a post called Highlights for Newbies, Lurkers and Occasional Posters. This is quite useful for folks like me who don't really want to go through all the threads, and just want to find the meaty stuff. So I'm popping in today and there was this post written by Ms. Ward, featuring Zsadist and Bella, the hero and heroine of Lover Awakened (out in Sept. 2006 yeah!). Before I continue I just want to clarify that this is not a scene from that book, rather more of a fan extra. Anyhoo, Zsadist, who has been established in past books as being musically talented, picks up his guitar to serenade his beloved. The song? "Arms Wide Open" by Creed, complete with lyrics. Haaate. Now some of you may disagree with me, you may think that this sounds sweet and touching, but it makes me want to puke. I had to scroll really fast to the end of the post because I felt so uncomfortable. Now, of course, it's not Ms. Ward's fault that I loathe Creed above all others, and they do have (had?) a lot of fans, but it just seems like an odd choice for Zsadist, the tortured, mean, disconnected and lethal one. He seems more like the kind of guy who would punch Scott Stapp in his cheesy, bombastic, rock-lite face. It just seems unbearably cheesy and out of character. I hope that Zsadist is not to be turned into a big old Care Bear.

Then again, maybe this doesn't bug anyone else in the least. The serenade, in particular, is pet peeve of mine. I remember that Night Play by Sherrilyn Kenyon wasn't one of my favorites, but I was enjoying it quite nicely until the end, (warning: this is a spoiler), when the hero sings to the heroine, and then everybody does the Macarena. According to her message board which I checked, it was supposed to be a Neil Diamond song he was singing. Now, unlike Creed, me loves the Neil Diamond, and the Macarena just made it so much worse, but still...do things like this bother anyone else, or is it just my insanity? Any other pop culture pet peeves, like using dated slang or using current actors and actresses as the physical description of the character?

[I linked to the message board posts, but I think you have to register to see it.]

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.

I'm looking for a Hugh Jass...

Is there a Hugh Jass here?

Normally, I try and stay away from the cover snark. I leave it to the experts. Also, the whole point of my Changeling Press experiment was to not judge a book by its cover.

But...



Sometimes a cover speaks for itself. I didn't read this one, but I almost bought it. It sounds interesting enough, and I was curious if he had an enormous ass for a reason.

Also the cover to JR Ward's Lover Revealed can be found here. That Sybil gets all the cool news first. I think this'll be out March '07.

This n' That

I read The Sex Quotient by Jamie Sobrato, another Harlequin Blaze. This had an rather lame premise: the heroine's best friend is a medical researcher whose most recent study has shown that orgasms reduce a person's IQ for a period of time. So Macy, the intrepid heroine, decides that she will seduce her work rival Griffin during a Vegas business trip. She will boink his brains out all weekend, while not coming herself, so that he'll be stupid at work on Monday and she'll get the promotion that they are in competition for. Hmmm...points for creativity! This started out bleh, got better and ended up bleh. The heroine is kinda annoying and I didn't really buy the transition from hot sexin' to true luv. But it wasn't awful, just fun and forgettable. I wanted to like the Blaze line better, because it seems the most contemporary--no virgin mistresses or marriages of convenience for the sake of the orphaned niece/nephew (Geezus Kee-rist, what a popular plot!). No that I'd make a generalization based upon 2 books. Sybil recommended Jo Leigh and Alison Kent, and Bam just positively reviewed one of Jo Leigh's books. I've still got a Silhouette Bombshell to read. If anyone else is popping by and would like to rec a Harlequin author and line, please do so. I'm enjoying the change of pace.

I made a purchase from Changeling Press, of the bad covers. At Dear Author, there is a 5% discount code. I have to admit, I was inspired to buy two of the titles from this post at Fiona's Farrago. Yes, I bought two of the horrible 13.

I'm so happy Deadwood's back, and so sad this is the last season. How hot is Timothy Olyphant's...posture? No joke, when Seth Bullock goes striding down the thoroughfare in his frock coat (or whatever it is), he cuts one fine figure. Geezus!



Am I right? Look at his posture. I loved this actor in Goand hated him in Scream 2, both out around the same time, but I didn't really appreciate him until Deadwood. But my real love is Al Swearingen, because I'm just a sick chick like that.

Quickies

I'm still working my way through my Harlequin order. Finished Midnight Madness by Karen Kendall. I find it interesting to read the guidlines for the different category lines, to see what they are all about, so here they are for Blaze. This was fun and forgettable. The heroine was a bit annoying, with all her knee-jerk Republican hate (something I am never guilty of. Right.) The hero was quite likeable, although, since he was the governor of Florida, he made me think of this guy, which makes me think of this guy, which makes me feel a little sad. Anyway, the sex scenes were hot, but in the end, that was all there was between them, and I didn't buy the HEA. I give them 2 years for her to run screaming into the night, or for him to find a younger, hotter hairdresser.

I also read From the First by Jessica Bird. Jessica Bird is the name under which JR Ward writes Silhouette Special Editions. I really liked this at first, because one of my favorite type of storylines is when the hero has been eaten up with love for the heroine for years, but has some compelling (or not so much) reason for keeping away. Unfortunately, my enjoyment was marred by the fact that the hero, Alex, was a dick. He acted like an asshole and the wrap-up was too fast for me. I wanted a bit more groveling. I enjoy groveling in a man. Nowhere as good as her vamp books in my opinion, but I will probably track down some of her back list, at some point.

Happy Juy 4th, all!

Guilty Pleasures...

I just finished my very first Harlequin Presents title, His Royal Love Child by Lucy Monroe. The HP line first came to my attention when the Smart Bitches had a contest where you had to guess which title wasn't a real HP title. (Take a look if you haven't seen it, it's pretty funny). While you're at it, go ahead, take a look at the Harlequin Presents page. I mean, really, The Sheikh's Disobedient Bride? Wife Against Her Will? His Secretary Mistress? Sounds like all that is bad about romance: weak, stereotyped women, overpowering men, total cheese. Nuh-uh, not for me. As I delved more into the world of romance-related blogs, I read more and more about the popularity of these books with people, and my curiosity got the better of me. So I went to the Harlequin site for the first time and a funny thing happened: I must've spent a hour browsing the titles, reading the excerpts. It was compelling--why is it a "baby of shame"? Why is that Sicilian's mistress being so defiant? I really wanted to buy one, but my deeply ingrained feminist, left-leaning ways would not let me do so. I did look at the writing guidlines for the line, which I think say a lot about the appeal of HPs to readers:

Although grounded in reality and reflective of contemporary, relevant trends, these fast-paced stories are essentially escapist romantic fantasies that take the reader on an emotional roller-coaster ride. Written in the third person, they can be from the male or female point of view, or seen through the eyes of both protagonists. All are set in sophisticated, glamorous, international locations.

With its focus on strong, wealthy, breathtakingly charismatic alpha-heroes who are tamed by spirited, independent heroines, the central relationship in a Presents novel is a provocatively passionate, highly charged affair, driven by conflict, emotional intensity and overwhelming physical attraction, which may include explicit lovemaking.

These really are meant to be escapist fantasy, no more no less, and I can understand the appeal of that. Hell, I wanted to get one right away. I also read something on Squawk Radio (I have no idea when, so I'm not going to bother to try and link it) by an HP author, where she said that the titles are intended to express exactly what's in the book. You like Greeks? You like sheiks? You like virgin wives? There you go, no wondering whether it's for you. I still wasn't able to bring myself to buy one, until I decided to check out some other Harlequin lines as well. I chose His Royal Love-Child, because I had read that Lucy Monroe was pretty good. I prepared myself to be disgusted (and perhaps titillated) by the overly arrogant, aristocratic "hero" and the lame virgin "heroine," and got excited for some scathing review material. Here's the tagline for the series: "The Scorsolini Princes: Proud rulers and passionate lovers who need convenient wives!" 'Convenient Wives'? WTF? Although I'll admit, having a husband around can be convenient, when I need pictures hung, or can't get jars open.

Guess what? I liked it, I really, really liked it. Of course this is my first foray into the world of pregnant virgin mistresses (because yes, of course she was a virgin before giving it up for Signore Hottie) so I have nothing to compare it to, but it was not bad at all. The heroine, Danette Michaels, seemed like a real person. She ended up in a situation that was great at first, then became increasingly painful, and she reacted the way a real woman would react. She was strong and stuck to her guns, and even when she acted a bit bratty, you could understand why. As for Principe Marcello Scorsolini, the secret lover who knocks her up, he was arrogant, but he had reasons behind his actions. And he apologized when he was wrong, and tried to fix things. Which brings me to the really refreshing thing about this book: they spent most of their time communicating. Sometimes arguing, sometimes hurting each other, but they were trying to understand how each other felt about things and why. There were no stupid big misunderstandings, they believed each other's explanations for things that happened, and accepted each others apologies. Does that sound boring? It wasn't, although at 186 pages, it didn't have time to be boring. They always seemed to truly care about each other, and wanted to work out their issues, which made for a very satisfying romance.

So my first HP experience: quite enjoyable. I don't think I'll be buying tons of 'em, but I'd get another. But, oh no, The Scorsolini Marriage Bargain is all sold out! What's a girl to do?

PS: Anybody whose read any of these, where is their country supposed to be? They're in Sicily, and I assumed Isole Dei Rei (Islands of the King), was off the Italian coast somewhere, but then they went on some long-ass flight to get there. ???

Crazy Love by Tara Janzen

Crazy Love, the newest (and very highly anticipated by me) book in Tara Janzen's Steele Street series, came out yesterday. I ran out and bought it, read it already, re-read parts, and of course, I've got some thoughts on it.

Crazy Love was another fast and enjoyable read, as evidenced by the fact that I totally devoured it. But I was a little disappointed, which I think is more of a risk when you're seriously excited for a book. This was the story of Dylan Hart, the ultra-cool and elegant head of SDF and Skeeter Bang, the barely 21, psychic, computer geek, ex-street kid. The two characters have great chemistry. Dylan is becoming increasingly unhinged by his obsession with Skeeter, and his internal musings are hilarious. I also have to say I just love Skeeter. I read a book like Moon Called, and I wonder why fantasy and mystery authors are so much better at creating strong, intelligent (and sexy) heroines than romance authors, whose genre is more character driven than plot driven (a topic for another post, I guess). But Janzen has created a great character in Skeeter. I didn't even mind her age (a bit younger than I normally like in a heroine). I think that the key is restraint. Skeeter is set up as an over the top character--her appearance, her interests etc. But her personality is intelligent, mature and caring (well, apart from a few lapses when Dylan makes her crazy).

So what was disappointing? I wanted more of them. This was one book where I felt the other characters and all the action were taking away from the main story. And we saw so much of what they were feeling inside, I wanted some more meaty scenes between them. At the end, Dylan has pretty much acted like a total asshat. Throughout the book, Skeeter (with good reason) has been pretty unsure if Dylan has any real feelings for her, and he plays right into that. But all that seems a little glossed over and they just jump into bed. I was looking for a bit more soul-baring emotion, I guess. True confessions and all that. Skeeter deserved that. I love that shit.

As for secondary characters, I jest lurve Travis James and how Janzen has developed his character over the course of the books. I thought that his book was being set up in Crazy Kisses (4th book in the series), and I didn't like the girl. When I realized that wasn't the case, I was happy, 'cuz I love me some Travis. This time I was like, yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Just what I would do. [Amongst other things, I love that he loves the older ladies. Older women-younger men stories are hot. My second husband's going to be younger than me. Just Kidding! Sorry, honey.] Then Ms. Janzen threw a big ol' monkey wrench into the works. I, for one, am very curious to see what's going to happen. But I have to wait until November. Boo. Despite being a little bit disappointing, Crazy Love was still a fun read and a keeper.

Spoiler-filled review ahead...

Dark Side of the Moon by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Her Website

Dark Side of the Moon@Amazon

Ravyn is having a bad day. This Dark-Hunter and Arcadian Were-Hunter Leopard guy has been captured in kitty cat form and locked in a cage in a Seattle animal shelter, totally vulnerable. Disgraced investigative reporter Susan is having a bad day too. Humiliated to be working at a cheesy tabloid called the Daily Inquisitor (wasn't that Dorian's newpaper on One Life to Live?), she has been summoned by her friends to an animal shelter, where her allergies kick in right away. Her friends are behaving very strangely, and send her away with a big cat who makes her sneeze. When the cat turns into a rilly, rilly hot guy in her living room, things
can only be heading downhill from there. Soon Susan and Ravyn are up to their necks in weird doings, vicious Daimon killers, corrupt policemen and hot sex.

Okay, enough synopsis. I remember the days when a new SK release meant a immediate trip to the bookstore. I would read and read and read and not be interested in talking to anyone until the book was done. Sadly, this no longer seems to be the case. DSOTM is another disappointment from Sherrilyn Kenyon. Now let's be honest, it's not as though Kenyon is William Faulkner. She is often guilty of broad characterization and sloppy writing. Her book balanced the fine line between total cheese and escapist adventure. But I felt she did it so well. I can forgive a multitude of sins for a totally involving world and a compelling love story. But between Sins of the Night, Unleash the Night, and now this book, SK appears to be losing sight of what made her books so much fun: the interesting world she built and the hot love story. I'm just warning you now, the rest of this review will be filled with spoilers as I explain just what made this book so disappointing.

First of all, the heroine, Susan, is hella annoying. Her main trait appears to be her sarcastic sense of humor, and all I can say is, "Shut up, already." Her dialogue consists of such witticisms as "You know, I would bring you up on sexual harassment charges, but that would imply that you have actually had sex in your lifetime...(p.5)" [which, huh, I don't get it], or, "Oh gee, golly, goodie Mr. Leo! Can I have my eyes gouged out too (p. 70)", or,"I'm the one who should be having a hissy...(p.263)" It's nothing but juvenile comebacks with this one, which make it hard to care what happens to her. The hero, Ravyn, while not annoying, was merely generic Dark-Hunter. Betrayed by lover, and then by family, he's really tough and has not felt close to anyone for years, until Susan and her big mouth start his cold heart beating again. Nothing particularly new or interesting there.

Even more problematic, I felt that (much like Sins of the Night), their love story took a back seat to advancing Acheron's (the leader of the Dark-Hunters) story arc. Some major conflict was set up between Ash, Nick Gauthier and Stryker, the leader of the Daimons. Their parts of the book were more interesting. And boy, Nick's character was assassinated. Talk about a whiny bitch! At one point I laughed my ass off when he accused Acheron of being responsible for the destruction of New Orleans because he didn't call off Katrina. Only in a paramormal romance folks! Conveniently, there are two books about Ash coming out next year.

Kenyon spent the first five or six books of the series building her fictional world, and has spent the last three books playing fast and loose with the rules of she created. I ignored it before, but it's getting jarring. All you have to do to become a squire, apparently, is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. So much for secrecy. And forget about the big ol' rule about Dark Hunters getting involved. Now they can get married to humans or Apollites or anybody, and screw that silly getting their soul back issue, such a big deal in the other books. I have a feeling that Kenyon had to end the book and was just like oh well, he doesn't really need a soul anyway. At least they had the "mating mark", unlike in Unleash the Night.

Other things that bugged: there was one scene where all the Dark-Hunters are trapped together and attacked by Daimons. If you are not a reader of this series, I'll just let you know that when Dark-Hunters get together, their powers begin to drain. So they're all in a circle, getting converged upon. And the Japanese one's got his nunchakus, and the African one's got a gold chain (???) and the Wild West outlaw's got her bullwhip...and no one's got a fucking gun. Geezus kee-rist, that might even the odds a bit. Just take'em all out. I don't how I never noticed that before. I also have to mention the following sentence: "As far back as she could remember, Jimmy had kept anal notes in his journal (p.143)" Am I crazy, or is this a weird sentence? I stopped and was like, "Notes about anal sex? Notes from his anus? Oh, she means he was anal-retentive about keeping his journal." No? Maybe it's just me then.

This book was hard to finish. Only my obsessive need to be complete about things kept me reading. And I haven't given up on SK yet. She's got two novellas coming out later this year, and then the Ash books. I'm stubborn like that. I can ride on the enjoyment I got from her past books for a long time. I will continue not to buy them, though. That was one thing I'm thankful for, that I didn't spend 20 bucks.

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

I just wanted to write a quick review of Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. Ms. Briggs website can be found here and here's the book at Amazon. I love this cover, by the way. Moon Called is a modern, urban fantasy that begs comparison to Kelley Armstrong, Kim Harrison or Charlaine Harris. This book takes place in an alternate universe where supernatural races live in secrecy side by side with humans. Recently, the fae decided to make themselves public, with mixed results, and other races are pondering whether or not to follow suit. Mercy Thompson, a Washington auto mechanic, knows a lot more than your average person about the non-humans. In fact she is non-human herself. While I doubt that knowing her identity would spoil one's enjoyment of the book, I'll leave that a surprise. Anyway, Mercy's adventures get off to a start when a new werewolf shows up at her garage looking for work. Sensing that he needs help, Mercy puts him in touch with her friend and neighbor, local Alpha werewolf Adam. Things begin to unravel from there.

This was a solid read. I liked it. The characterization was good, particularly Mercy. She was a strong woman, without being grating or sassy. She really just came off as smart, and that includes being smart enough to know when to stand and fight and knowing when to let others take the lead. In light of the book I am currently attempting, I really appreciate this (the heroine makes me want to gouge my eyes out so I have to stop reading). It wasn't my favorite, but then I'm not a huge werewolf fan. Except for Kelley Armstrong's (just because I like those particular characters), they bore me a bit. It's always like Pack hierarachy, yadda, yadda, yadda, mates, yadda yadda yadda, challenges, yadda, yadda, yadda. However, if you do enjoy werewolf books, or you are a fan of the authors I mentioned at the beginning, Moon Called is definitely worth a read. There is not much romance, but a love triangle is set up at the end, between Mercy and two werewolves, that could be interesting. Currently, their motives seem a bit murky and I like that. There will be more, and I'll check 'em out of the library.

Lighten up, it's just romance (and blogging)

After putting up the previous post, I ran across this
and this. It seems that someone has lost it, and has decided to make themself the snark slayer. People are taking this shit a little too seriously. Blogs are a forum for opinion. People can and do say what they want, and I will sit here and drink a glass of wine and giggle my ass off. You don't like it, don't read it. I say, lighten up, it's just romance. I have a feeling that this will get old fast even for the person who's doing it. How many times can you say, that snark sucked? All the anonymous commenters are interesting, though. Although there seems to be some speculation, I bet it's not MJD. She has shown she's not afraid to put opinions out there, which is why she's Captain Author-Bitch. I can respect her, even if I roll my eyes over what she says. Perhaps I'm just being hopeful, but I don't think she'd put up a blog with fake anonymous comments and shit.

Here she comes to save the day...

A mild-mannered, best-selling romance author sits in a Borders, signing copies of her newest vampire romance (hardcover, no less). Suddenly, a pink heart appears in the sky. Oh no, another romance author must be in trouble!! Captain Author-Bitch to the rescue!! MaryJanice Davidson rips off her glasses, kicks off her Jimmy Choos, and flies off to the nearest high speed connection, to defend the poor, beleaguered author under attack for merely expressing her sane, well-reasoned opinion. Those crazy readers/bloggers! Don't they know they have no right to criticize! They are not writers! Captain Author-Bitch will get them all!

Over at KarenS' Blog, there was a 'kerfuffle' (perfect word!) over book covers by Changeling Press (6/19). Browsing through the comments, I noticed that MJD had shown up for her usual "I bitch, therefore I am" type comment. All her comments have this vaguely superior, antagonistic tenor to them. Look, she's here and here and here, and here and here too!She shows up to prove that, yes, writers can be just as bitchy as readers, and don't expect her not to be a bitch just because she's dependent upon readers buying her books in order to make her many, many dollars. I think that's the point...maybe. The first time I read her snarky little commentary, I thought it quite funny. But now I'm amused in a groaning, eye-rolling, vaguely annoyed sort of way. I think she just likes to piss people off.

Will I stop reading her books? Nah. I loved Undead and Unwed, Undead and Unemployed and Under Cover. Nothing since then has lived up to that early promise, but I'll keep checking those "Undead and..." books out of the library. At least until they become so completely plot and character development free that they consist of one chapter of Betsy and Eric having sex and one chapter of the cast of characters sitting around the kitchen snarking at each other. Perhaps her Captain Author-Bitch alter ego is sapping her creativity. At least other authors being unfairly criticized by reader/bloggers can rest easy, knowing that Captain Author-Bitch is out to defend their honor, and that of writers in general.

As for the Changeling Press kerfuffle, I wonder if it was carefully orchestrated stunt to drum up some traffic for their site. I mean, at least a couple of people must have gotten curious enough to poke around. All I have to say is, in addition to the covers (many of them craptastic, to be sure), there are some incredible titles to be found:I Know Who You Did Last Summer, The Adventures of Wonderslut, Coffee Man and Straight Guy, and If It's Tuesday, There Must be Dildoes. Some of these titles are so...compelling, I might buy one for it alone. I have no idea about the quality. I do recognize some authors' names, I would imagine there's some great stuff on there, but, yes, some of the covers are off-putting, I'm sorry.

Devon does Harlequin

So I've decided to dip my toe in the category waters. I never think to read any of these, but I do believe that they are actually quite popular. Anyhow, continuing to attempt to expand my horizons, I popped on over to the Harlequin website, and browsed around a bit. I've looked around a bit before, checking out the different lines, comparing the difrferent styles. One thing that's appealing: the pricing. I was able to get 5 books for 18 dollars, including shipping. This is what I ordered:



Midnight Madness by Karen Kendall--sounded intriguing, though a heroine described as bohemian is often a recipe for disaster. I'm a sucker for straightlaced guy/wild girl stories, though often they suck.



The Sex Quotient by Jamie Sobrato--So this book has a dumb title, cover and description, but I bought it because the author has a funny blog. Oh, well, I've bought books for worse reasons.



His Royal Love-Child by Lucy Monroe--Come now, I couldn't take a trip to Harlequin and not buy an HP. This is one of Harlequin's most popular (if not the most popular) lines. I'm just trying to understand the fascination, people! Why this one? I read somewhere (no idea where, Sybil maybe?), that Lucy Monroe writes better than average ones. And the "hero" is Italian. Y' know, supposedly one of my great-grandfathers was the illegitimate son of the local Italian aristocrat and that's how he ended up in America. They wanted him out of town.



From the First by Jessica Bird--This is J.R. Ward's alter-ego, and it's not like I'm a freaky fangirl of hers or anything. I'm curious to read something of hers in a different genre.



Bulletproof Princess by Vicki Hinze--I like the description of this line. This series of books sounded like something I would've loved as a teenager. And it was three bucks.

So that's that. I'm excited to get them. I dunno, I was looking around and around and so many of the lines don't really appeal to me. They sound so...old-fashioned... all secretaries knocked up by their bosses and rugged ranchers. Not that I don't love cowboys and ranchers. Honestly, to a girl from Long Island they're more exotic than an Italian prince. I've known guys who thought they were Italian princes, but no Cowboys. I used to devour my mom's books about cowboys, by, like, Diana Palmer, and stuff. Someday, I'm going to have a feature where I highlight old categories that I stole from my mom and read and loved.

Now wait just a Gawd Day-um minute!

Brought the kiddies to the library yesterday. Crazy Kisses was there. Yay! Finished already. Another good installment. I was looking forward to this one because I enjoyed Kid and Nicki's appearances inCrazy Hot and Crazy Cool. This didn't disappoint. They had great chemistry. My big quibble was with all of Kid's angsting. It was like, what are you whining about? He's the one that fucked up. Tell Nicki something about where you've been (C'mon, anything). And if you've got a question, ask her, for Kee-rist's sake! But I got over it. Even though he didn't appear in person, my love for Superman (Crazy Cool) is cemented by the fact that even though he's happily married and settled down a bit, he'll still pose nude for a 12 foot painting. Speaking of nude models, I've liked Travis from the beginning and his character has developed nicely over the course of the books, so I'm glad to see he'll get his own. But I'm not sure if I like his intended love interest. We'll see. I'm sure they'll be making an appearance in Crazy Love, out in a week and a half. Really looking forward to this one.

One complaint about these books. I can't stand it when writers overdo it with the slang, and not only that, but they also spell it phonetically, as in "bay-be", "gawd" and "day-um." Please add two more words to the list: "kee-rist" and "geezus." Please stop. No more. I find it hard to believe that hardened government operatives wouldn't just curse if moved to do so. Also, oddly, Janzen doesn't shy away from language in other parts of the book. I saw fucking, dick and cock in there. At first I amused myself by imagining different ways to pronounce the word "geezus" (my favorite being "gee-zoose", with a hard "g" as in "go"), but that got old quickly. Please Ms. Janzen, if you don't like your characters to take the Lord's name in vain, find some other fake swear words for them to use. I suggest "Sugar" and "Freaking A", or perhaps cursing in a foreign language (i.e. "Scheisse" or "Merde").

Crazy Fun...

Let me start off by saying that I'm not a big fan of romantic suspense. When I was younger, I loved it, especially of the Elizabeth Peters or Mary Stewart ilk. You know, where the young lady on holiday in Europe gets all caught up in nefarious doings, and some mysterious, yet capable man comes to her rescue time and time again. But none of the romantic suspense I've read about recently appeals to me--either looks too heavy and I'm not really into spies or Navy SEALS or whatever.

Yet, in stark contrast to Dates from Hell, I've whipped through the first three books in Tara Janzen's Steele Street series (Crazy Hot, Crazy Cool and Crazy Wild) since Friday afternoon. I freakin' love these books. They're totally fun, although they require the complete suspension of disbelief (not a problem for me). These stories of juvenile delinquents turned super spies feature hot cars, guns, high tech gadgets galore and hot sex. There are wild chases, shootouts, and sex in cars. They are extremely fast paced. Crazy Hot took place in less than 24 hours, I think, Crazy Cool was, what, 48 hours or so and Crazy Wild was 12 hours, maybe. Totally absurd and fabulous. I actually think that these books worked for me because they were soooo over the top. I really don't think Janzen was going for realism, here, but pure fun fantasy. C'mon, the characters have names like Superman, Kid Chaos and Skeeter Bang! They reminded me of something you would've seen in the eighties, like Moonlighting or Remington Steele. The movie versions would all star Michelle Pfeiffer and Lethal-Weapon era Mel Gibson.

Ms. Janzen has done a good job of setting up an interesting cast of characters and a cool world. The fast pace sweeps the reader along, but I think the love stories would not work if Janzen hadn't done two things: introduced characters (and potential love stories) early, or created a back history for the hero and heroine. The book that I liked the least, Crazy Wild, definitely suffered from the lack of these two characteristics. It took me a really long time to get into the relationship between Creed Rivera, who had spent the previous two books offstage on a disastrous mission in South America, and Cody Stark, the librarian turned possible terrorist. I mean, for most of the book he believed that she was, if not a terrorist, up to no good! I just couldn't buy the insta-connection. At the same time, there was an awesome romance set up in Crazy Wild: super-cool, mysterious leader Dylan Hart, and the strange, psychic ex-street kid, Skeeter Bang (YES, Skeeter Bang! Gotta love the name). After awhile I was reading the book just for them. As an aside, I do believe that I've bitched before about how writers often seem to have a problem with the characterization of women who are extremely smart, artistic, eccentric or idiosyncratic. Often they come off as obnoxious, grating or self-righteous. But I really like Skeeter, as well as Nikki McKinney, the heroine of Crazy Kisses (which better get to the library soon), so Janzen gets bonus points from me.

I believe these books are best read in order, as characters are recurring, and there are a number of points of view. Crazy Hot, featuring Quinn Younger, war hero and one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People,and his former crush, paleontologist Regan McKinney, was a fun kick-off to the series. I like Crazy Cool the best so far, mostly because of the hero, Christian "Superman" Hawkins. Good shit. I wasn't expecting to like this story of Superman's reunion with the long-ago love who landed him in jail for murder, because poor little rich girls gotta be among my least favorite heroines. By the way,what's up with Senators' daughters? I'm glad I'm not one. The heroine was better than I thought and they were cute together. Crazy Wild wasn't as good, Creed had real problems that went unresolved, and I didn't really buy the love story. But it was worth reading for the secondary romance. And as a bonus for being late to the series, I've still got one more to tide me over until the end of the month when Dylan and Skeeter's book comes out! I don't have to wait six months to read more! Anyway, these make for great summer reading--fast-paced, sexy and light.

Has anyone read Dark Side of the Moon by Sherrilyn Kenyon? I wasn't planning on shelling out for the hardcover to begin with,
but Holy Bad Reviews, Batman!. Ruh-roh. I stopped because many of the reviewers were echoing my criticisms of past books, so I didn't want to get too prejudiced. This is being reserved as well.

Dates from Hell

Dates From Hell is an anthology featuring novellas by Kim Harrison, Lynsey Sands, Kelley Armstrong and Lori Handeland. It is shelved in the Romance section, which may disappoint some buyers, because I would've considered only one of the stories a romance really. This anthology was merely okay--it took me days to finish a couple of the stories. Anyway, my humble opinions. I'm going to do this in that order I liked them (most to least):

Chaotic by Kelley Armstrong--Definitely the best. Moved quickly, and I liked the two main characters: half-demon Hope, and werewolf thief Karl Marsters (who was in Bitten). This felt like a beginning, so I'm hoping that Armstrong makes Hope a protagonist for one of her novels. I'd like to see more of these two and their developing relationship. But what is Kelley Armstrong trying to do to me with these titles? I can't help but think of Britney and Kevin and the theme song to that ridiculous show.

Dead Man Dating by Lori Handeland--Never read her before. This was pretty good, kept my interest. It was a little cheesy. The heroine was a short and dumpy, virgin (sigh) literary agent in her early twenties, but she had a good sense of humor that wasn't annoying, and she didn't do anything asinine. The hero was a sexy Mexican rogue demon hunter, which was the one thing that was killing me. The first time he refers to himself as a rogue demon hunter, the heroine, Kit, follows it up with, "Lost in the Buffyverse, are we?" I was like, heh, obligatory Buffy/Angel reference, funny, whatever. But he keeps referring to himself as a rogue demon hunter, in all seriousness. What, as opposed to the demon hunters in the union? Seriously, is this something I didn't know about? Are regular demon hunters different than rogue demon hunter? It made me wince. This kinda felt like a beginning as well. If Kit and Chavez have any more adventures, I might check them out of the library.

Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison--I was surprised by how much I didn't like this. I suppose it's for the same reason it took me three books to start enjoying her series. She is heavy on the exposition, yet I still find her characterization, especially of vampires, kind of murky. I have a feeling that it's all supposed to be unfolding rather slowly, but I just don't get them. Are they evil? How come everything seems to awaken their bloodlust? Maybe it's just me. This story centers on Ivy Tamwood, the vampire who's Rachel Morgan's roommate and partner. She's the most intriguing character in the series, but I didn't like her all that much in this story of her attempt to get promoted without giving her boss sex or blood. I found her whiny, and when another character goes off on her and calls her a coward, I was like, "yes!" Still, if you read Harrison, this is wortwhile for a different point of view than Rachel's. I'm still looking forward to A Fistful of Charms.

The Claire Switch Project by Lynsay Sands--This would've made a good set-up for an ABC Family Sunday Night Movie. I used to watch these religiously during my pregnancies, I have no idea why. Haven't watched one in a year, but I have seen such gems as "See Jane Date" with Charisma Carpenter, and "Pizza My Heart" with Shiri Appleby from Roswell, and the other one with Shiri where she can't decide between her imaginary friend and the slacker dude she meets at school. Anyone out there watch these? So anyway, this is a story about a budding scientist who gets zapped by a ray in the lab she shares with two other scientists, one of whom she's had a crush on for years. Crush boy takes her home with him, as he also happens to be the twin of Claire's best friend. Claire soon realizes that she can shape shift, and her best friend decides to capitalize on this, convincing Claire to become movie star, Brad Cruise, and be her date to their high school reunion. Of course, a few minutes later, Claire's crush (Kyle) makes her dreams come true and asks her to be his date for the reunion. Of course, wacky hijinks ensue as Claire switches back and forth bewteen Brad and herself. I started skimming after awhile, just so I could see how it ends. I've read several of Lynsay Sands' books, before I realized they were not for me. Although she has a decent sense of humor, I find the romance aspect of her writing to be rather band and lame. There's just no tension or anything interesting there.

Wow, I can be wordy. I was planning for this to be a quick post.

Of possible interest

I found this at Sybil's blog, by way of Shawn. It is a message board, and you have to register to participate. I registered, though I am always more of a lurker than a poster. Anyway, a lot of good authors are supposed to be showing up, so this may be very educational for the paranormal fans and aspiring writers. I, of course, am working all weekend and have a surprise party tomorrow night, but I shall attempt to pop in and see if there was anything interesting.

Old News for Many...

I'm sure, but I went to Lisa Kleypas' website and Scandal in Spring will be out August 1. Squeeee!! I liked Daisy in the other books in this series. It seems like a lot of people were unhappy that Cam from DIW will not be the hero of this book, but I love this set-up. And I like that the heroes of Kleypas' last couple of books have been slightly different from her norm of

--a classic "Kleypas hero"--tall, dark-haired, self-made and more than a little sarcastic. Underneath his self-assured exterior, however, he is consumed with love for the heroine. .

From her website. Well, except for the sarcastic part, she likes the sarcasm. But then, so do I. Sarcasm is good. Here's the excerpt from Scandal in Spring which I have read many, many times. I heart it, I lurve it, here it is.

Question: now that Kleypas is leaving Avon, will she still be doing "Squawk Radio"? I don't know a lot about the whole politics of publishing thing, but that blog seems like a big old Avon love-fest. I would imagine that it's not officially connected to Avon though. It would be too bad, 'cause those authors all have a nice little blogging chemistry going on.

Interspecies Sex...

An article by Gena Showalter and P.C. Cast that can be found here, contains everything you need to know about writing an interspecies love scene. Gena Showalter is an author who I'm always saying I'm going to try one of her books. I started The Stone Prince, but it didn't really grab me. I was thinking of getting Awaken Me Darkly. P.C. writes a good interspecies love scene. It's one of my favorite things about her work, besides original stories and good characterization. Anyway, it's a cool article, although the idea is kinda funny. Interspecies sex scenes, heh. The things aspiring writers need to know.

The anticipation begins...

Ok, fangirly moment. I was blog hopping and I found that Angie W has already read Lover Awakened and wrote about it at her site. What she had to say was quite positive. I'm really excited for this book, but really apprehensive, like my overly inflated expectations are setting me up for disappointment. And I'm worried about the speedy redemption syndrome, where damaged characters instantly become well-adjusted members of society due to the magic nookie.
I sound really fangirly and need to get a life! But Angie's pretty blunt and honest, from other stuff I've read, so color me really excited! Only three months to go!

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.

Be careful of fairies!

The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke, is the story of a violent crime that took place in rural Ireland (Co. Tipperary) in 1895. Even more, this is the fascinating story of an isolated culture losing ground in a time of political and social change. The tensions between the poor, largely illiterate rural Irish culture and more "modern", "educated" ways, are clearly at work during the crime itself, and the aftermath. I came across this title in the bibliography of a children's book, and was immediately intrigued.

You can read further details about the actual murder here. In short, Bridget Cleary, a 26 year-old married dressmaker from tiny Ballyvadlea, came down with something resembling bronchitis and "nervous excitement" in March of 1895.

During the course of nursing her, her husband Michael, became increasingly suspicious that his wife had been taken away by fairies, and replaced by a changeling. He abandoned the course of medicine prescribed by the local doctor, instead choosing to force feed her (with the help of, like, 7 other men holding her down) a mixture of herbs in new milk and holding her in front of the fire, all the while commanding her to admit that she was Bridget Cleary, "in the name of God." The final night of Bridget Cleary's life, her husband, enraged by the fact that she refused a third bit of bread, held a burning stick from the fire to her. Her clothing caught fire and she began to burn. Michael Cleary then doused her with paraffin, setting her further aflame. This story is made even more chilling by the fact that the house was pretty much filled to the brim with eyewitnesses, most of whom were members of Bridget's own family. Afterwards, Michael Cleary buried the body, all the while insisting that it was a changeling, and that his true wife would re-appear three nights later at the "fairy fort" at nearby Kylenagranagh. Not surprisingly, this was not the case, and eventually Michael Cleary and eight others were arrested for Bridget Cleary's murder, including her father, aunt and a number of cousins.

The story of the crime and resulting trial are fascinating reading, but I found Bouke's examination of the cultural, political and religious climate of the day even more interesting. This trial was a media sensation, and was used as an example of the backwardness and "savagery" of the Irish, and an argument against Home Rule. The author discusses Irish fairy folklore at length. Rather than saying that all these uneducated Irish peasants believed unequivocally in the existence of fairies, she argues that fairy legend can be read as a code which governed social mores and explained the unexplainable. Often, physical disabilities and infertility, among other things, were explained as the result of being "touched by the fairies." Those engaging in anti-social or unusual behavior, were actually changelings left by the fairies, and by engaging in certain rituals, a person could get their loved one back. Is it a surprise that some of these rituals were pretty violent? Perhaps it was a way of keeping people in line. That certainly seemed to be the case with Bridget Cleary, who was characterized as an independent young woman with a strong personality, whose trade and education differentiated her from her largely illiterate, farm laborer cousins, none of whom came to her aid during her ordeal. Why would a relatively minor illness have set her husband off so? The author suggests that he was symbolically establishing his dominance over his strong minded wife, using the language of fairies. It's all very weird and totally fascinating.

This book is classified as true crime, but if you are looking for a straightforward crime narrative, you might be disappointed by all of the social history. It can also read very academically in bits (I haven't seen phrases like "symbolic capital" or "culture of stigma and control" since college). But if you are interested in folklore, Irish history, or if like me, you are interested in seeing how belief in the supernatural has impacted different cultures over the years, I would highly recommend this book.

Checked out of the library today...

Dates from Hell by Kim Harrison et. al.

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Shadow Touch by Marjorie M. Liu

The Amulet by Joanna Wayne

I also requested the first three installments of the Tara Janzen "Crazy" books. I'm looking to expand my horizons a bit. What to begin with? I'm really only interested in the Kelley Armstrong and Kim Harrison stories in Dates from Hell. This is actually the second time I've checked out the Liu, I thought Tiger Eye was okay, but I'm not driven to read this. The Briggs could be interesting...I've been talking about dipping my toe in the category pool, and this particular Harlequin Intrigue happened to be at the library. Sounded kinda gothic-y. I used to love Gothics.

Am almost finished with The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke. This is a true crime story about a late-nineteenth century Irish murder. It's really interesting.

Decent Book and Movie

Goddess of the Sea by P.C. Cast was a pretty good read. I like her overall style. Her heroines always are well-fleshed out, and are refreshingly practical, take charge kind of people. And she doesn't shy away from the weird stuff, i.e. the beast stays a beast, and the mer-people stay mer-people, even during sex. But it's done tastefully. I wasn't quite as enamored of this book I was of Goddess of the Rose and Goddess of Spring, for two reasons.

First of all, I found the whole church keeping the women down and stripping them of their power thing a bit too heavy-handed. And there was too much of it. All the stuff with the abbott and the knight took time away from the love story. I felt that the romance in this book was much less fleshed out. In the other two books, I felt that the love story was based upon a deep friendship between the h/h, whereas this was more of a love at first sight, instant soulmates thing. And unfortunately, as a woman of a certain age, this will always be Dylan to me:Dylan and Brenda 4-eva!. I know that Dylan is a Welsh name, and most of this book took place in Medieval Wales, but it was jarring to me, especially with all of the mythological names floating around. Overall, a good read, though I'd reccommend one of the other two titles over this one.

Also saw King Kong. A little too long, I started wanting to fast forward, but good. Peter Jackson is an excellent filmmaker with a strong vision. Is it wrong that I found the relationship between King Kong and Naomi Watts to be stronger than the one with Adrien Brody, the supposed love interest?

The library is evil. Eeviill!!!!

See my mini review of Rio by Allyson James, over at Sybil's blog. Sybil is doing her part to drum up buzz for e-books. Of course, like all the ebooks I read, this one's rather kinky. I don't know what that says about me. I guess since I'm buying something so explicitly erotic, I'd better go whole hog and get my money's worth. Expanding my horizons, you know.

I've worked in libraries my whole life, starting with high school, continuing through college, graduate school and my whole working life. A number of times I've had people say stuff like, "Oh, working in a library must be nice and quiet," or "It's so quiet, it must be boring."
Well, it's not boring, and it's not quiet. Not in a school library and certainly not in the public library. I've worked in upscale suburbs and more troubled neighborhoods, and the story is the same everywhere. The library is a public building open until 9 pm most nights (with public restrooms :)), and so no matter where you are you get the kooks and the crazies. My sister sent me the following clip. Beware of the dangers in the library.

Watch out for guys in Ohio State Sweatshirts!

Now, there are amusing things about this clip, like the red sweatshirt guy and the reporter's "hardnosed journalist" attitude. But it got my back up a bit, because they seemed to insinuate that librarians were just sitting around letting this go on. I know from experience that it is extremely difficult to have someone permanently removed from a public library. Where I work, we had a crazy guy threatening the librarians and bothering patrons, and the librarians were getting in trouble for complaining! It was a long, drawn out process of gathering information and evidence and having a hearing, and the guy was only banned for year. Then he comes back and it starts again. So be aware, your library may seems nice and clean and quiet, but the librarian have little authority over who walks in and out. The reporter makes it all seem quite dire, which it's not, really it's very few people. But it is something to think about.

Confessions of a bad reader

So recently I joined the free Borders Rewards program, and, as my welcome gift, I received a 30% off coupon. So I make the journey to Borders, with the rugrats, and commence picking out my 30% off purchase. I pick up a book and put it down. Pick up a book and give it to my one year old to hold (She loves to look through my paperbacks). That's a maybe. Pick up another, put it down. Pick up another, another maybe. And so on and so forth. I must admit I'm a bad reader.

A cheap reader. A reader on a budget, yes, but an evil reader who screws over authors by not buying their books at full price from the proper outlets, but who instead combs used bookstores, the library and discount outlets like Target and BJ's in order to save a buck. Apparently, due to such practices, author sales figures are skewed and they don't make as much money as they should. I have even (gasp!) bought a book or two before its actual publishing date, another bad, apparently. Oh well.

The following is a list of books I'd like to read, but am unwilling to shell out the money for:



I want this for the Kelley Armstrong and Kim Harrison, but don't really like Lori Handeland or Lynsey Sands.



I'll admit, I wasn't familiar with her before the AAR brouhaha, but the Gothic-ness intrigues me. I love gothics.



The heroine's name is Passion? With all the talk of wallpaper historicals...



The first one was ok, ok enough for me to want to read this one, but spend $$???



You won't screw me again, MJD!

I've got some ILL-ing to do. Oh, and the book I finally bought? Goddess of the Sea by P.C. Cast. Heh, in light of all the dust-ups going on everywhere. I admit, she was a bit obnoxious at Smart Bitches, but I like her books. This one's shaping up to be really good, too.

Embarrassing Moments in Blogging History

or, Devon gets a clue...

So I just found out that I made my comments moderated. I know it wasn't like this originally, I have a feeling I messed this up when going to change some other things. Going in to check out the situation, I found that I had a bunch of comments that were sitting there, unpublished, waiting for my okay. Awesome, it made me feel liked...and read. Not so awesome is that I feel like a complete dork, b/c people took the time to comment on my nonsense, and I neither responded nor put them up. Hopefully, I have remedied the situation, and want to say, please comment. I love comments, even if you just want to say I'm full of shit and don't know my ass from my elbows.

Any how, I've looked over the comments, and I want to make a few shout outs. Hi to Jay, fellow Wes Alum!!! Yes, Kristie, I've read "Dreaming of You"--it's in my top 5 for sure. I was actually thinking of recommending it to Steph the romance virgin, for although I like Lord of Scoundrels better (sorry!), it's awesome, and she won't have the cover issues that she's been having. Speaking of SGM, have you read a romance yet? I'm waiting for a review...when you do, I'll put up here. Ellen S., so happy to see you reading, so sad that you couldn't find the possessed bear. Much thanks to Sybil, for letting me know the situation (I see from your comments that it wasn't the first time you tried to let me know)!! Hopefully, I'll get the hang of this blogging stuff soon.

Have a good Memorial Day weekend!

Really most sincerely dead...

Oy, I haven't been in a blogging mood. I haven't been in a reading mood. Not even a reading blogs mood. I've been feeling the old lure of past favorites like Lord of Scoundrels or As You Desire, rather than attemping something new and potentially disappointing.

But I finished something. Finally. Took me awhile, but turned out worthwhile in the end. Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris is the sixth book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. These books take place in a world where vampires have come out of the closet, so to speak, and society is still adjusting to their existence. Sookie Stackhouse is a barmaid in Northern Louisiana, who has always had difficulties fitting in, due to her telepathy. It makes people umcomfortable, and who wants to date a woman who knows your every thought, good and bad? At the beginning of the series, Sookie is surprised and delighted to find that she can't read vampire's minds. Over the course of the books, Sookie has become increasingly enmeshed in the supernatural world (which also includes various shapeshifters, witches and fairies), as well as attracting an ever widening circle of supernatural suitors.

A few comments first: I love the covers of these books. They have this cool folk-arty feel, and reflect the refreshingly different tone of these books: low key and homey, free of black leather and Goth trappings. There is some angst, but Sookie's the kind of girl who picks herself up and gets back in the race. A confession--I tried reading these books awhile ago, and wasn't really feeling them. So I didn't really get into them until Dead to the World. Accordingly, my comments are skewed, because I couldn't care less about Bill, Sookie's first love, and I like Eric (either in amnesiac or overbearing asshole incarnation).

So anyway, Definitely Dead. There's a whole lot going on in this book, so I'm not going to go crazy with a plot summary. Needless to say, Sookie's got a lot on her plate. There's pain caused by boyfriends past, who keep popping in and out of her life, her brother's having problems, she doesn't like the new waitress at work and Eric the Vampire Sheriff and the Vampire Queen of Louisiana are arguing over who gets Sookie as part of their entourage for the big vampire conference. Oh, and she has to go to New Orleans to settle her Cousin Hadley's estate. Hadley was turned into a vampire and was the Queen's girlfriend to boot. Now, Sookie's getting pressure from the Queen's people to go clean out her place. Quinn, the weretiger from Dead as a Doornail, shows up for a little ego-boosting and romancing, but every time they go out on a date, they get attacked by werewolves. And I'm leaving a bunch of stuff out.

Yep, a lot of stuff happens. Even so, this book started off very slowly for me. Once Sookie headed to New Orleans, things really picked up and I didn't want to put it down. We learn more about the supernatural world, and some spoileriffic secrets about Sookie and Bill Compton. There was a lot going on, and it all got wrapped up a bit neatly but satisfyingly. Harris quite ruthlessly thinned the herd of possible partners for Sookie--Out: werewolf Alcide (hopefully), werepanther Calvin Norris (I'm probably the only one, but I found him quite charming, though that whole Hotshot scene was weird. I had hopes for him as a dark horse), and SPOILER!! Vampire Bill (though they've still got a lot to work out, he's not going away). Still in the running: Shapeshifter Sam Merlotte (dark horse candidate, ain't the sexiest, but a good guy), Vampire Eric (hot, but a dickhead) and Quinn. Not really feeling Quinn. It doesn't help that I have a very clear picture in my head of Billy Zane as Quinn, and I just picture him being this melodramatic, scenery-chewing, masculine yet swishy (he is an event planner) cheeseball. Not a big fan of Billy Zane. Quinn seems too good to be true, and he keeps. calling. Sookie. "Babe." Incessantly. Yucky. There's something strange there.

I get the feeling that Harris was tying up loose ends in order to set the stage for the next act. Sookie began this series as isolated and inexperienced in a number of ways, and this is her journey of coming into her own. I'm hoping that Quinn is just going to be around for awhile to help Sookie gain some self-confidence and grow, so she can be strong and confident enough to deal with Eric down the line (fingers crossed). Though, given some of the shit that happened to her in this book, I hope he doesn't turn out to be evil. Let's give the girl a break. So although this title wasn't as strong as some of the previous ones, Definitely Dead was a good read. Another series, I'd recommend to non-supernatural lovers, or someone looking for something different. Read in order, though. Next one should be the big vampire conference, yay! I love conferences. Lots of uncomfortable Sookie/Bill, Sookie/Eric interactions should abound. I'll be there.

OT: Original Ideas for making $$

As I mentioned before, I'm a fan of the show "Ghost Hunters", and as I was folding laundry this rainy Monday morning, I decided to look at the website for the show, which I had never looked at before. On the message board I read the funniest thing that I've seen in a long time. Take a look at the forum thread "possessed bear on ebay." And apparently bidding is at over $800. I have to admit that although I don't believe in demonic possession, the idea of it scares the shit out of me. I am still unable to sit through "The Exorcist." For the life of me, I can't understand why someone would want to buy a "possessed" item. I wanted to go to Ebay to get a look at the toy, but the guy warns not to have the picture around kids or animals, and since I've got both running around...better safe than sorry. Now who's the bigger tool, me or the guy who's going to make 800+ on this? And, if you've got time look at the "haunted box" thread, mostly for the poster who tells the story of his possessed underwear and Nike Sneaker.

If that isn't scary enough for a Monday morning, I'll leave you with this:

Dead and Loving It and Three Little Secrets

Happy Mother's Day to everybody out there, be they grandmothers, mothers, aunts or if you just have a child in your life who you love!

I finally finished Dead and Loving It by MaryJanice Davidson. Not awful, but...meh. In a word, light.

Light in tone, light on plot, light on characterization, light in any kind of substance. I get the feeling that MJD is a one-trick pony and its getting old fast. For example, her heroines were all pretty much the same, barring physical description--loud-(and foul-) mouthed, sarcastic and prickly, in order to hide inner pain, insecurity and low self-esteem. It was kind of grating after awhile. Nitpick: I'm not a fan of the phonetic spelling of dialogue, most often used with the poor Scotsman (i.e., "I dinna wan' tae gi'w'ye", or something). Likewise the "day-um"s, "bay-be"s and "Gawd"s bug. I don't care if it's more expressive. That's just me though. I was also left rather unmoved by the sex scenes, which surprised me, as three of these stories had previously been published by Ellora's Cave. Everything just seemed so rushed and, well, light.

The book kicked off with Santa Claws, which was essentially PWP (porn without plot). Meh. Monster Love was slightly more substantive and interesting, featuring lonely vampire Richard and angry werewolf, Janet. I was unthrilled that their first sexual encounter had a forced feel to it, but I liked that MJD made the point that vampires and werewolves are different than humans, perhaps monstrous, but remaing true to their natures as she presents them. There's No Such Thing As a Werewolf was my personal favorite, featuring a blind werewolf and (I'll leave it a spoiler). I was looking forward to A Fiend in Need a lot. This is the story of George the fiend (that is, a feral vampire) from the "Undead and..." books and Antonia, the psychic werewolf from Derik's Bane. I went straight to it, and read it again, just to make sure. Disappointing. Too much Betsy, Sinclair and the rest of supporting cast. Even with their love scene, I felt like I had missed something, like some relationship development happened, that I missed in favor of Betsy bridesmaid dress buying banter. It was too quick, too light. But I did like that George wasn't turned miraculously normal by love, but remained weird and monosyllabic. I'll look forward to seeing them in Undead and Unpopular (which I'll check out of the library), but again, meh. In short, if you like MJD, check it out of the library, and take the suggestions made on Amazon and read it slowly, so as not to get annoyed by the sameness.

Quickie review of Three Little Secrets by Liz Carlyle: another solid read. Though not my favorite of hers, I still polished it off in a night. It hinged on the good old Big Misunderstanding, which was annoying at first, true. But it made sense in light of her characterization of the hero and heroine, and was also less annoying because they both pretty aware that they may have acted, and be continuing to act, stupid. I really like Liz Carlyle, see my Two Little Lies review. My favorite so far is The Devil You Know. She has a great ability to make romance cliches (Big Misunderstanding, Secret Babies, Forced Marriages) interesting, understandable and a good story.

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.

One Dead Pervert

Ugh, life is not being blogging friendly. Although I've had no time to write, I have gotten some reading in. This past week I read Captives of the Night by Loretta Chase. I was very excited for this book because the hero, the Comte D'Esmond, made a brief but memorable appearance in Lord of Scoundrels and was the villain Ismal, in The Lion's Daughter. As I have mentioned (ad nauseum), I loved reformed bad guys, so I was quite interested in his journey from Albanian asshole to French nobleman and hero. At the heart of CON is a murder mystery--who killed Francis Beaumont, the blackmailer and debauchee who made appearances in Lord of Scoundrels and The Last Hellion. One interesting part of this book was looking back on the other two titles and realizing how certain events in those books were part of the larger story here.

So anyway, our hero Esmond, who carries out various and shady deeds for the government, had previously foiled Beaumont's blackmailing scheme. At that time, he met Beaumont's artist wife Leila, and was quite fascinated by her. Leila pretty much avoids her odious husband and instead consumes herself with work. Things get bad when she finds Francis dead after they have a loud quarrel (heard by the servants, of course). The resulting inquest brings the super hot and unsettling Esmond back into her life. Together they will figure out who killed the loathesome Francis. And perhaps fall in love and live happily ever after, if they can get past Esmond's many secrets.

This has a different tone than a lot of Chase's book. It's darker--Beaumont was a real sleaze, and a lot of people hate him passionately. It was a pretty good mystery actually. Most mystery subplots in Romances are pretty weak, and that's cool, b/c that's not what I'm reading the book for. If I wanted a mystery, I'd read one. But in this case, the mystery almost seemed to overpower the romance. Compounding that, Esmond was a very enigmatic character, even after he came clean about his past. In any case, I didn't find this book as involving or memorable as many of Chase's others. But it was still worth a read, particularly if you've read some of the other titles I mentioned. There was entertaining dialogue, good love scenes and it moved quickly.