Review: Me and My Shadow by Katie MacAlister

The conclusion to Katie MacAlister's Silver Dragon series was a fun-filled adventure with plenty of snark, craziness, and Jim's smart ass comments.

My only problem, aside from a serious case of lack of concentration, was that it had been so long since I read the previous installments in the series that I had difficulty remembering what had happened when. And as with any series, the back story can be confusing for anyone new to the series.

We continue to see characters from the previous Dragons series (Aisling, Drake, Fiat etc) which adds to nice sense of continuity. Gabriel is nowhere close to the super annoying alpha that Drake is. Just as May is nothing at all like Aisling. It's so nice that the Silver Dragon series has its own flavor--instead of easily falling into the trap of formula.

A fun, new installment in an already excellent series.

My grade: B+

Review: To Tempt a Scotsman by Victoria Dahl

I'm steadily working my way through Victoria Dahl's backlist. So far, I have not been disappointed. To Tempt A Scotsman is incredibly moving with rich, complex characters and a plot that surprised me. Dahl fits a lot into this slender novel.

In a somewhat unusual decision, the author sets this story in the aftermath of a duel. One participant is dead. The other has fled the country. The half-brother of the deceased duelist has come seeking answers from the woman at the heart of the conflict. Expecting to find a harlot, Collin is stunned  to find a young, attractive woman who is clearly another victim of the tragedy--not an instigator.

Review: Seduce Me By Christmas by Deborah Raleigh

Every so often, I enjoy a sweet story rather than a story filled with emotionally damaged heroes and uncoventional heroines. Seduce Me by Christmas is just such a book. In short: a pleasant way to while away a few hours in front of the fire.

I really enjoyed Raoul and Sarah in this story. They weren't broken or filled with angst. They weren't misunderstood. They weren't in need of the "healing power of love." Instead, they were merely two lonely people who found each other during the holiday season.

There are a few problems with the book. The most egregious being a glaringly obvious grammatical uh-oh in the second line. I had a few problems with the characters, too. In particular, the fact that the heroine, Sarah, is supposed to be an artist yet we never really see or experience her creating any art. I also had some issues with the lack of suspense. Sure, the author throws a few dangerous incidents in there, but the suspense that should have accompanied them was absolutely missing.

Overall, though, it was still a pleasant holiday read. No real emotional depth, perhaps, but I enjoyed the sweet nature of the story anyway.

My Grade: B-

Buy Books for the Holidays! Suggestions for Kids

Books are the best gift for any occasion as far as I'm concerned. If chosen correctly, they are the gift that never stops giving. And they show the recipient that the person giving them the book knows them well. Or wants to share something personal that they love with them. It's an intimate kind of gift if you do it right. Books as gifts epitomize 'it's the thought that counts.'

Picking books for young children can be tricky. There is a definite difference between what parents like (pretty illustrations, great story) and what children like (great characters and engaging language). There's nothing wrong with giving a PARENT a book to read for their child if you think they will enjoy it. And there's everything right about giving a child a book that will hopefully stay with them forever.

Review: Tiles and Tribulations by Tamar Myers

(And you thought I never reviewed mysteries...)

It's officially mystery reading weather (brrrrr) so I thought I'd dig out one of my older books on the TBR pile. This is book #10 in the Den of Antiquity series featuring antique shop owner Abby Timberlake Washburn. It was originally published back in 2002 (or 2003) so it's definitely not a new release.

If you're looking for hard boiled detective novels or seriously complex whodunnits, this book is not for you. It's a solid cozy. Which means there's very little foul language, the characters are nearly all in the 40 and up age range, and the story is short on peril and long on characters. The mystery in this one isn't all that compelling. But I kept reading it anyway because the narrator (told in the 1st person by Abby) is so hysterically funny.

The book is set in Charleston, SC and the story is steeped in the culture of that city. And of the south in general.  Myers nails the genteel snobbiness and snarkiness that is so uniquely southern. I could not put the book down after being introduced to "Apparition Americans." (Ghosts).

I'd honestly classify this as a caper rather than a mystery because the charm and appeal is mainly due to the crazy, wacky characters that populate the novel. Still, it's a cute, quick read that is perfect for snuggling up with by the fire on a rainy or snowy evening.

My grade: B-

Review: With Seduction in Mind by Laura Lee Guhrke

I'm always fascinated when authors write about characters who are authors. It gives me the feeling that they're incorporating a little bit of themselves into the character. After all, they know what it feels like to write. What kinds of emotions that evokes. What difficulties it can present.  So while there's no doubt the characters are fictional, I always feel like I'm getting a secret glimpse into their hopes, dreams, fears, triumphs.

In the case of Laura Lee Guhrke's newest book, With Seduction in Mind, both the hero and heroine are authors. One is an aspiring, unpublished author; the other is a burned-out formerly successful one. They could not be more different in temperament, experience, or style, but the author uses those differences wisely.

I love Laura Lee Guhrke's writing. No one writes romantic tension better than Guhrke. She manages to make it suspenseful without dragging down the pacing of the novel. The seduction of Daisy is a genuine seduction. A step by step heightening of desire. You can feel Daisy's resistance melt without feeling as if she were coerced or manipulated. And you can sense, as well, the unexpected way Sebastian finds himself seduced by someone who shouldn't challenge him at all, but clearly does.

Harlequin creates Vanity Publishing division

The romance world was abuzz with the news that Harlequin has created a new vanity publishing wing, Harlequin Horizons. So far, the reaction in the romance world has been overwhelmingly negative--with good reason.

Vanity publishing has long been a scourge among the writing and publishing community. Its business model is to charge for a book's publication rather than paying for it to be published--something directly opposite of the traditional publishing model. And vanity publishers have also been considered on the shady side of ethical because they tend to promise rose-colored visions of a successful publishing career when the reality is that most authors who choose the vanity published route never make a profit.

Essentially, an author pays the vanity publisher (in this case Harlequin Horizons ) a fee for them to produce a book. Depending on which options the buyer chooses, this can result in thousands of dollars in expenses prior to publication. And the author is still wholly responsible for marketing their book without any of the support a traditionally published author has: bookstore placement being an important one.

There are legitimate reasons for an author to choose the vanity or self publishing route. Often, a good writer has written a book that doesn't fit in with any current publisher. Or it has a tiny niche that can't justify a larger publisher's investment. Cookbooks or local histories are good examples. But a romance novel?

Review: Captive of Sin by Anna Campbell

It's always an adventure starting a book by a new-to-me author. I never know quite what to expect. I would like to say that I loved Captive of Sin, but unfortunately, the writer's voice just didn't connect with me. Her writing style REALLY bothered me.

The characters start the book as interesting, believable characters, but show very little growth during the course of the novel. Instead of feeling as if the characters were more real, they became less so as the narrative progressed.

Part of the problem lies in their almost overwhelming self analysis. We spend way too much time in the heads of the hero and heroine. And there is a huge reliance on telling rather than showing. It's also painfully melodramatic.

There were parts of the book that really connected with me, but they were buried under a mountain of empty, pretty phrases and inward castigation by the characters. The plot seemed unevenly paced, the finale rushed.

Most egregious to me was the insta-cure for Gideon's psychological trauma. I just didn't buy that he would be fixed by getting it on with the heroine for a week or two. Not realistic at all.

Overall, I felt it was a tad worse than your standard Avon fare.
My grade: C-

The Holiday Spirit: Bibliophile style

It's that time of year again. Time to be thankful for our blessings and to think about sharing a little with those who are less fortunate.

In that spirit, here are a few ideas for those who find their bookshelves overfloweth!

• Sign up as a volunteer shipper for Operation Paperback .  OP is a registered non-profit that ships paperback books (and a few other odds and ends) to our troops overseas. 
• Sell those books online and donate all or a portion of the sales price to the charity of your choice. eBay has recently reduced the minimum donation amount, so selling books for a good cause just got better!
• Donate your old books to the Friends of the Library or to your local library's collection. I have quite a few book club edition romances that I've grown tired of. Our local library doesn't have a big romance selection, so I think I'll offer them to them first.
• Donate to First Book, a site that provides free children's books to kids in need.

Anyone else have some bibliophile ways to share the holiday spirit this season?

Review: What the Duke Desires by Jenna Petersen

Jenna Petersen's newest takes a tried and true romance plot and flips it in this neat little historical romance.

The hero of What the Duke Desires probably ranks as one of the nicest, most decent heroes in all of the historical romances I've read over the years. Just to-the-bone honorable.

The same cannot be said of the heroine, who lies, snoops, cheats, and is--to me at least--not a good person.

Sure, she has a *good* reason to show up wanting to exact revenge against the current duke's deceased father by going after his family. But it becomes quite clear early on that the current duke is nothing like his father. Time after time she chooses deception over honesty. Even when given tailor-made opportunities to spill her guts. She knows she's acting in bad faith and continues to do it anyway. 

I had a difficult time with Lillian in this book. I REALLY didn't like her. Liked her friend, loved the Duke, hated her. I actually liked the mean, rude dowager duchess and the pompous, elitist best friend better than the heroine. I guess it says something about Ms. Petersen's writing that she can create a character real enough for me to actively dislike.

Even so, I found the plot twists quite clever. And the conclusion at the end quite unexpected. This is the first in a new series by Petersen, and I'm impatiently waiting for the next installment.

My Grade: B+

When Seducing a Duke by Kathryn Smith

It isn't often that an Avon romance surprises me. Kathryn Smith's newest historical certainly did, though.

Instead of somewhat standard Regency fare, When Seducing a Duke is more along the lines of historical erotica. Which could explain why I didn't like it very much.

There's nothing at all wrong with the writing, itself. The plot and characters are interesting and memorable. I do have a huge issue with the sex scenes, though. Sure, they're explicit. But my complaint is that they take up way too much of the book. The characters have very little interaction outside of various bedrooms--which isn't all that romantic to me.

I also had some serious issues with the hero of the story. He never did seem redeemed to me. Started and ended the story as a world class jerk.  And I had some problems believing that Rose would act as she does throughout the story. Her character seemed a bit inconsistent.

Maybe I'd have liked this one more if the quantity of sex hadn't caught me by surprise, but somehow I doubt it.

My grade: C

A Highlander Christmas by Janet Chapman

I am having trouble gauging my reaction to this book. I enjoyed reading it. It wasn't bad. It was, in fact, quite fun at times. And yet, the entire time I was reading it, I was aware of how silly it was. How seat-of-the-pants unscientific.

Part of my problem lies in the fact that the paranormal-ish aspects are often left as hints. Something observed in the background of the story until the last 1/3 of the novel. The other part of the problem for me seems to be that the main character whose name already escapes me (...oh yeah, Camry, like the car) doesn't seem to be all that capable.

Which, quite frankly, irritates the hell out of me.

I know quite a few scientists--men and women. In all kinds of different fields. Some are so cerebral that they can barely tie their shoes, but most are extremely well rounded individuals who are also extremely practical. They wouldn't have made it through their doctoral programs otherwise.

Maybe I'm expecting too much out of a book that is obviously geared towards being holiday fluff, but I just don't think Camry's character is all that believable. And if I don't buy Camry as a scientist, the rest of the book doesn't work so well.

Okay...giving the scientist issues a pass...

A Highlander Christmas is fun to read. I enjoyed the dialogue enormously. I enjoyed the secondary characters. But I had some serious suspension of disbelief issues that messed with my enjoyment of the plot, the hero, and the heroine.

Not the best paranormal/contemporary/holiday book I've ever read, but it's definitely a light hearted read.

My grade: C+

At Home in Stone Creek by Linda Lael Miller

As a disclaimer, I should probably admit that I am not much of a Harlequin/Silhouette type of reader. I find the stories too short to truly develop memorable characters with any complexity or depth. It takes a rare author (like Nora Roberts) to make that particular line appeal to me. Linda Lael Miller is one of those authors.

At Home in Stone Creek is a Silhouette Special edition which is connected through secondary characters to previous books in the Silhouette line. And despite the fact that the author is REALLY good at what she does, it fell short of really engaging me. I love the characters. I love the overall plot. But as usual with the length-constrained format, there were parts of the book that felt rushed. In this case, the entire  confrontation with the bad guy felt incredibly contrived and not at all suspenseful. There was no tension in the scene (that's right, singular) at all.

And while I understand the fact that we're dealing with characters interwoven throughout several previous stories, the secondary characters literally overwhelmed this tiny book. They weren't really necessary, and the main characters would have benefited from those extra pages.
 
Still, it's a nice, quick read in typical Silhouette fashion. And it does add one more piece to the O'Ballivan (and McKettrick) world. I just think that there was a little too much going on for the page count.

My Grade: B-

One Week as Lovers by Victoria Dahl

I adore the friends turned lovers theme. Something about it just works for me. Another thing I adore is an historical romance written with a large dose of humor. Victoria Dahl's One Week As Lovers delivers on both counts.

While One Week as Lovers IS quite funny, it also deals with some pretty serious issues. The emotional scars (and physical ones) aren't trivialized. They aren't glossed over. But the witty dialogue keeps those serious issues from overwhelming the tone of the book.

I also really love the homage to the gothic novels (predecessor of the modern romance and horror genres) that Dahl includes here. We have the haunted house, the hidden treasure, the evil stepfather, the monstrous fiance. All melodramatic elements that blend together to create an incredibly believable and entertaining tale.

Highly recommended for fans of Julia Quinn, Jacquie D'Alessandro, and Victoria Alexander.

My Grade: A

The Untamed Bride by Stephanie Laurens

I am dumbfounded that I am having to write a less than stellar review of the Untamed Bride. Not because I didn't like the story. But because I didn't like the writing! Stephanie Laurens's writing is usually so palpably different from other authors. It is convoluted, yet flows easily. Not so this book. The sentences are too complex. Semi-colons, commas, and dashes extend her sentences to paragraph length. And the intensity she normally conveys through her writing is missing. Her normal writing cadence is off somehow. I've read my fair share of 19th century literature, but these sentences honestly rivaled Thoreau's Civil Disobedience for their length and complexity. Not something appropriate for a modern romance novel at any rate. She corrects this tendency about 1/3 of the way through, but the damage is done.

The characterization also fails to really develop as quickly as it usually does. There is a superficiality to the characters that is very unusual for this author. I don't know if it's due to the need to set up the entire series with a long prologue or if it's merely the inherent difficulties of switching series, but there was a real distance between the reader and the characters that surprised and disappointed me. Del's character eventually evolves into a more realistic character, as does Deliah's, but having to compete with so many other established characters makes them seem less vibrant than they should have.

Most Wicked of Sins by Kathryn Caskie

I love it when I rediscover an author. I've read and enjoyed Kathryn Caskie books before, but I had forgotten just how good she really is.

The Most Wicked of Sins is part of a series featuring seven siblings from Scotland nicknamed the Seven Deadly Sins.

Fans of early Julia Quinn or Victoria Alexander will love Kathryn Caskie. Her writing is so full of mirth that you find yourself chuckling along. And her characters are nothing short of fantastic. Flawed, believable, complex, and compelling.

The plot device in The Most Wicked of Sins is too silly for words. Very improbable, but it sets up the rest of the book so nicely that I gave it a pass. Essentially, our heroine, Ivy, has 1 month to recover the affections of her wayward suitor (now entranced by an Irish beauty) before her father arrives or risk losing his support, affection, approval etc. So she embarks on a madcapped scheme to win him back by hiring an actor to impersonate a peer--someone who would then both a) charm her rival away from her suitor and b) make her suitor jealous by dancing attendance on Ivy.

The "perfect" plan goes awry, however, when Ivy hires the wrong man to impersonate Lord Counterton. Instead of an actor, she hires...Lord Counterton himself. (Here's where the improbable comes in). Of all of the people to be hanging about the theater at the exact same time Ivy is, it just happens to be the very peer she's determined to have someone impersonate? I think my odds on winning the lotto are better, but as I stated, it DOES make for a fun bit of mischief.

I like that Ivy is flawed. I like that she is more than a little bit shallow. I also like that she's vulnerable to what her family (especially her father) thinks of her. She has that need for approval that many of us can relate to.

I also really like the hero and his cousin. I found his early recognition of his feelings refreshing. Most of the Regency heroes have to be dragged kicking and screaming into acknowledging their feelings. Some don't do so until years after the novel's time line (Devil from Devil's Bride by Stephanie Laurens for example). Here, our hero articulates what he feels before our heroine does.

I really enjoyed the skillful blend of romance and humor in this book. The dialogue is snappy when it needs to be, subtle when appropriate. The story at times frantic, hysterical, sexy, and even sweet. It's a terrific way to spend a few hours on a fall afternoon.

My grade: A-

Make Her Pay by Roxanne St. Claire

Make Her Pay is romantic suspense at its best: fascinating characters, intriguing locales, danger, steamy sex. Roxanne St. Claire just keeps getting better!

Part of what really works in this book is the hero: Constantine Xenakis. He had a supporting role in Hunt Her Down, but he's given his own story here despite his prior naughty antics.  He's not just a little bit naughty, either. He's a newly reformed, highly talented thief trying to work his way back into the good graces of the Bullet Catchers. He lies with impunity and has no compunctions about taking stuff from others. But what makes me adore Con's character is that he's aware of his personal failings. And he has certain codes, certain innate behaviors, that make him seem more like a good guy caught in the wrong century than a truly bad guy. He would likely have fit right in fighting bad guys in the wild west.

That is not to say that the heroine is a light weight. Lizzie couldn't be wimpy and survive any sort of relationship with Con. Although I liked Lizzie more than the heroine of St. Claire's last book, I still feel like the hero gets more depth than the heroine. I don't dislike her, and she is believable, but she doesn't have the same complexity.

I found the historical backstory very compelling. Treasure, insanity, pirates, exotic islands... It was very well done and obviously well researched. It didn't weigh the story down with details, and it was woven throughout the story seamlessly.

My Grade: B+

My Wicked Vampire by Nina Bangs

I have a soft spot for Nina Bangs's  Cosmic Troublemakers series. I adore Sparkle and Ganymede. I really do. They are incredibly annoying and have no character growth. And they are so dang funny.

My Wicked Vampire takes us back to the Castle of Dark Dreams with a new batch of otherwordly beings hanging around. A few demons, a few vampires, Holgarth--the annoying, and some seriously wacky plants.

Although the plot and characters are fine, I did have a difficult time getting through this one. The pacing is a bit off--which made an ordinarily quick read seem to take forever. Part of this I attribute to a dearth of dialogue. There's far less witty quips in this book than in previous installments in the series.

Another danger for readers is the huge amount of back story involved. Yes, the author does her best to explain the history without rehashing it, but it still crops up far too frequently for someone just starting the series. I know the back story, but a new reader may be completely lost OR completely bored by it.

Lastly, while I think Cinn, the heroine, is believable and fully realized, the hero, Dacian, seems a bit 2 dimensional at times.

Overall I think it was good but not great: well worth the time to revist a favorite group of characters and see what havoc they've been causing.

Dark Slayer by Christine Feehan

I'd given up reading anything new in Christine Feehan's Carpathian series because they were getting so repetitive. The same ritual words. The same characters. The same plots. It was almost as if they were written on autopilot. Fortunately, Dark Slayer takes a significant step towards changing the tenor of the series, as well as providing a welcome respite from super Alpha males and their binding words.

Ms. Feehan surprised the heck out of me with this one. Not only was the main character far, far (FAR) different from her predecessors, she was someone who was strong without being bitchy. And that takes some serious skill to pull off in this type of book.

I'd like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. But truthfully, I only enjoyed about  3/4 of it. The last 1/4 honestly seemed as if the author was struggling to get her page count. She rehashed the same emotions, reactions, mental wanderings so often I had a combined case of whiplash and deja vu. I'm sitting there with a book I was enjoying-- yelling at it. "I get it! Enough already!"  Bad sign for a happy reader. While this book didn't repeat the themes, characters, dialogue, settings etc etc of the rest of the series, it began to seriously repeat ITSELF.

I don't want to go into too much detail, because much of the charm of the book lies in the differences between this book and the rest in the series. Her fans should love this. It's worth reading just to gain the plot points for the next installment, but it could have been so much better.

The Renegade Hunter by Lynsay Sands

I normally adore Lynsay Sands's Argeneau series. They're usually very well done in a genre that is, well, overexposed. The characters are more normal--more human--than characters in most other paranormals. But most of all, they're usually funny.

I have to say I'm horribly disappointed by this book. The hero, Nicholas, was quite intriguing. A definite break from the standard Argeneau guy, although he was a bit too emotionally wimpy for my tastes. But it was the heroine in the novel that irritated me.

She seemed completely clueless with no basic self-preservation instincts. While she was extremely with it in the emotional and critical thinking arenas surrounding Nicholas's crimes, she was otherwise too stupid to be believable. The death knell to her believability was a single paragraph in the novel. One where Nicholas --who is VERY old in typical vampire fashion--references I Love Lucy. And our heroine has no idea what he's talking about.

Now, I understand the point the author was trying to convey. What I object to is two-fold: it had the subtlety of a cast iron skillet to the head AND was wildly improbable. Perhaps Ms. Sands credits the under 30 generation with no pop culture lexicon, but Lucille Ball was NOT just a TV star from the 1950s. She was an icon ala Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and others. She spanned generations. And who has not caught at least a glimpse of her while flipping past Nick at Nite? I understand the dilemma here: you need a reference your reader will get while the heroine does not. But Lucy? C'mon.

It could very well be that the reference sprang from a real world occurrence where a "young" person didn't know who Lucy was. But that person would be in the minority of the population. In any rate, it tossed me completely out of the narrative and soured the entire character for me.

What finished the disappointment was the complete lack of humor in this novel. I buy a Lynsay Sands book expecting to be smiling while reading a portion of it. I didn't find anything funny about this book. Not one thing. Which means Ms. Sands just got dumped off of my auto-buy list.