Secret baby stories are often hard for me to swallow, particularly in this modern day when fathers are more involved in their children’s lives than ever before. Ordinarily, I likely would have set this book aside after the first chapter when it is revealed that the heroine, Fia, has kept her son’s parentage a secret for over three years with her only excuse that the relationship had been a one night stand.

The Ferrara family and the Baracchi family have been feuding for two generations.  Santos Ferrara, a younger son, and Fia Baracchi shared one explosive and secret night with each other which resulted in the creation of Luca.

Santos reconnects with Fia when he decides that he will win back the property lost to his family two generations ago. He needs Fia’s cooperation, cooperation he stupidly (in my opinion) believes he will be able to obtain despite having a one night stand with her and never speaking to her again.  But this is Santos Ferrara and throughout the book, he is treated as a man who makes no mistakes and thus if someone like Fia would not speak to him it is only because she is a foolish child hanging onto foolish grudges.

While I was perturbed with Fia keeping Luca a secret from Santos, Santos never thought to connect with Fia after their one night stand either. Santos refers to their one encounter as a relationship but from the description, it more resembled an anonymous hookup:

Before tonight they’d never actually spoken. Even during that one turbulent encounter, they hadn’t spoken.

Much of the first half of the book was spent reading the two trade accusations, insults, and assumptions about each other. Santos assuming the worst about Fia’s parenting skills and Fia responding with barbs about his lack of experience with children. Santos is often putting Fia in a position to have to apologize. Santos, of course, is never wrong even when he is wrong. Weirdly, when Santos is incorrect, he never apologizes whereas Fia’s dialogue frequently begins with “I’m sorry.”

Santos assumes that Fia is a bad parent because she grew up in a shitty household.  When Fia explains that she would not want for her son the same childhood that she had, Santos questions how she could have even learned good parenting skills:

And if you know what mine was like then you should also know that I would never want that for my son. I don’t blame you for your concern but you are wrong. I do understand what a family should be. I always have.’

‘How? Where would you learn that? Certainly not in your own home.’ Her home life had been fractured, messy and unbelievably insecure because the Baracchi family didn’t just fight their neighbours, they fought amongst themselves. If family was a boat built to weather stormy seas, then hers was a shipwreck.

Santos even believes that Fia has allowed their son to be abused, at least emotionally, on the basis of his years ago past interaction with Fia.

Sweat beaded on his brow. He could barely allow himself to think about what his son’s life must have been like. What was the long-term impact of being raised in an emotional desert? And what if the abuse hadn’t just been emotional?

Santos doesn’t like that Fia uses nannies.  His aunts and cousins could watch Luca but no stranger and certainly not “paid” help. Interaction with Fia shows Santos that she is a good mother, but no apologies are forthcoming from Santos. His outrage and assumptions are justified.

He just took control, she thought numbly, the way the Ferraras always took control. Not once did he hesitate or fumble.

His insistence that they would be passionate lovers again and that he would make her feel for him made me uncomfortable. Certainly this was a romance book and that may be the end result but at the time he was making these delcarations, Fia had just placed her only relative in the hospital, was reeling from having to face the father of her child, and was doing her best to cope. Telling her that she was going to be naked and under him soon enough sounded like an ominous threat and not a passionate promise.

This book hewed so closely to a pattern of HPs and lacked the originality and freshness other Morgan HPs have brought. I wasn’t surprised at anything that came out of Santos’ mouth because it comprised mostly of him telling Fia what she was going to do, where she was going to do it, and how she was going to feel while doing it. Fia, for her part, lived up to the fragile adjective that was used to repeatedly describe her. She would often jump to conclusions which would necessitate her apologizing. “I’m sorry” was her regular refrain.

At one point, Santos admonishes Fia for appearing angry with him in front of the child. How obvious that Fia would be the one to be angry and not Santos because everything Santos does is either right or with the right intentions. Fia is the flawed one.  By the end, of course, Fia opens up beautifully as Santos predicted she would, under his tutelage and passionate hands, and they live happily ever after.  Blergh.  C-

Best regards,

Jane

AmazonBNSonyKobo HQN ARE

No related posts.

1. Untraceable by Laura Griffin A | BN | K | S
2. Bared to You: A Crossfire Novel by Sylvia Day A | BN | K | S
3. Her Best Worst Mistake by Sarah Mayberry A | BN | K | S
4. One Reckless Summer by Toni Blake A | BN | K | S
5. Hot Island Nights by Sarah Mayberry A | BN | K | S
6. The Governess Affair by Courtney Milan A | BN | K | S
7. A Different Kind of Forever by Dee Ernst A | BN | K | S
8. Natural Law by Joey W. Hill A | BN | K | S
9. The Heart of Devin MacKade by Nora Roberts A | BN | K | S
10. Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes A | BN | K | S

Related posts:

1. DA/SBTB Bestseller List, Week ending June 1, 2011
2. DA/SBTB Bestseller List, Week ending January 3
3. DA/SBTB Bestseller List ending week of June 29, 2011

From Nicola http://www.flickr.com/photos/15216811@N06/

Announcement.

Beginning in 2013, Dear Author will only review books that are available in both epub and Kindle formats.  Let me explain why.

There are two primary reasons why all books should be available in epub and Kindle formats.  The first reason is that competition is important for even (or especially) Kindle users.  The second reason is that publisher, regardless of whether the publisher is the author herself, a traditional print first publisher, or a digital first publisher, should go to where the reader is.

Competition is important.

Competition is important to both authors and readers.  First, the authors.

I argued a couple of weeks ago that Agency pricing helped spur both the self published market as well as the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform.  The reason for this is because if Agency pricing had never reared its head, Amazon might well have felt no need to develop its own publishing platform. It is true that Amazon bought Createspace in 2005, well before Agency was instituted in 2010.  Further, Amazon had been in talks with agents well before 2010.  But the KDP did not announce the 70% royalty platform until January of 2010, the same month in which Agency was imposed upon them.  The program was not put in place until June 2010.  It’s safe to assume that the announcement was made intentionally prematurely to show publishers that Amazon would aggressively move into the publishing space.  Who knows what the royalty fee would have been if Amazon had not been pushed there by Agency.  Who knows when the KDP program would have launched without Agency?  In other words, competition is good for authors.  If Amazon has no competition, there is little incentive for it to keep the royalty structure high.  Amazon is working on razor thin margins and lowering the royalty structure, would increase its publishing margin.

Next, the readers.

Kindle was launched in 2007. It was slow, had an ugly keyboard attached, but featured an e ink screen.  Nook introduced the Nook which featured an eink screen and an lcd display at the bottom.  In June of 2011, Nook introduced the Nook Simple Touch, a touch screen device.  The Kindle touch screen was announced a few months later.  In November 2010, Nook announced the Nook Color, a tablet type device.  Kindle follows with the Kindle Fire a year later.

This year Nook released the Glow Nook, a front lit e ink screen.  Kindle rumors heat up that in September, a front lit Kindle would be introduced.  (In order to give appropriate credit, it should be noted that Sony developed the devices with a keyboard, a touch screen, and a front lit screen before both Nook and Kindle).

Kindle’s software has often lagged behind that of the Nook, Kobo and Sony.  For instance, Kindle did not have folders or collections like the Nook and Sony.  Kindle did not have library access unlike the Nook and Sony.  Kindle, in order to be competitive, has had to constantly advance its software and hardware in order to meet the new market demand created by new devices such as the Nook Simple Touch or the Nook Tablet or the iPhone and iPad.

Without competition, the Kindle readers would suffer with outdated software, hardware and access.

In sum, competition is important for both readers and authors. A robust competitive market means good things for everyone–lower prices, higher royalties, better devices.

Going to where the reader is.

In a letter to clients he [Mark Suchomel, IPG president] notes, “I only regret that we weren’t able to make up for all of the lost revenue when your Kindle titles were not available. We will continue to work hard for every last sale so that all of our publishers stay healthy moving forward.” To that end, IPG is waiving its distribution fee on the next three months of Kindle sales.

Related posts:

1. The Publishing Industry Needs to Embrace Technology
2. Are Big Advances Killing the Publishing Industry?
3. Authors, Readers and Discoverability in the new age of publishing

Grief stories have to be one of the more difficult stories to write. After all, grief stories can often rely on low hanging fruit using a death as the easy emotion evoker making the story seem manipulative instead of touching. However, there isn’t anything easy about the lives of Lucy Alatore or Jeremiah Stone. Lucy’s life was on the upswing, her one of a kind jewelry catching the eye of movie stars and other rich and famous people. When she makes a rookie business person mistake, Lucy’s entire career gets flushed and she runs to her family home in Northern California. She’s not sure how to remake herself and her mother is acting strange and her sister’s newly found bliss is rubbing her the wrong way.

Jeremiah Stone’s promising rodeo career was ended by an injury but his worse loss was when his sister and brother in law died and left Jeremiah the guardian of his nephews. Jeremiah doesn’t know how to parent three boys, let alone ones that are suffering their own grief. He’s so far removed from his star filled life that even Lucy doesn’t recognize him:

“Are you…” It was just so weird to think of Jeremiah Stone as the guardian of three small boys.
Jeremiah Stone was a cowboy sex symbol. He got interviewed on ESPN, and that footage of him getting trampled by a bull had been a YouTube sensation. He dated beautiful country music stars, and did not, definitely did not, fold superhero underwear.

Jeremiah and Lucy are both suffering from loss, both experiencing grief. For Jeremiah, it’s the loss of his sister, but also the loss of his independence and his dreams. He sees a counselor and at one point she asks him if he has grieved.

“For my sister? Yeah. Of course.” Cried like a baby through her funeral. Boxed up her clothes and sobbed. Had to call Cynthia to help him.

“No. Have you grieved for your old life? For the rodeo? For the life you lived before you took over caring for the boys?”

His stomach dropped and his brain felt too light. His skin painfully tight. Panicked, suddenly shaking with adrenaline, he glanced up at the clock.

“Time’s up, Dr. Gilman.”

“Jeremiah—?”

He didn’t stop. Didn’t listen. He grabbed his hat from the stand by the door and slipped out the door. But his stomach stayed in his leaden legs and his skin itched like it wanted to come off.

The realism and authenticity of the characters and their emotions permeates every page. I felt that the easy path was avoided but without making the story drag. A common romance trope would have had Jeremiah be the strong silent type that simply works out his feelings through the love of a good woman, Lucy, who comes in and bakes the most awesome meal, complete with a pie for dessert while handing out sage phrases that heal the wounded souls of each child.  This was not that book. Lucy is not instinctively great at parenting. Her presence actually makes the older child uneasy.

I liked that Jeremiah was seeking help.  It didn’t emasculate him, but portrayed the helplessness of his situation – a bachelor with three growing boys. I liked Lucy’s frank appreciation of Jeremiah and her ineptness at mothering and her missing her life in LA. I would have liked Lucy’s arc to have been less reliant on her feelings for Jeremiah. Even her newfound creativity seemed based on her attraction to Jeremiah.  Perhaps that is authentic, in and of itself, but I would have liked to have seen Lucy’s renewal be somewhat separate.

The transition from bachelor to father isn’t easy for Jeremiah and it isn’t easy for the children. They are lost, sad, and angry. Lucy doesn’t come in and magically save the day.  But as Lucy says, “who wants easy?”

Jeremiah laughed, pressing his forehead to hers. “It won’t be easy,” he said, as if warning her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, holding on as tight as she could. The ride would be bumpy, no doubt about it. But she couldn’t imagine anything more fun, more exciting, more fulfilling, than taking this ride with Jeremiah and his boys.

“Who wants easy?”

The secondary romance between Lucy’s mother and the alcoholic father of the ranch owner where Lucy’s mother kept house was interesting but subdued but my focus was on Jeremiah and Lucy.  B+

Best regards,
Jane

AmazonBNSonyKobo

No related posts.

Sombra Alara wasn’t who I was, she was who I was supposed to be. The name meant either “ruler of all shadows” or “shadow ruler of all.” Take your pick; it was just a name. As Scorpio, I changed names and appearances as easily as I changed clothes. The only constant was the stylized butterfly I painted on my face before hiding it behind an illusion. After all, Sombra Alara, my cover identity for this assignment, wasn’t Scorpio.

I stepped out of the bathroom and into the entryway where the cool night breeze rustled my damp hair and tickled my nose with the smell of ozone and this rich masculine scent. Whoever else was in my hotel room with me had to be good. I hadn’t even heard him come in.

Instinctively, I reached for the silkwire bands that should’ve been around my fingers, but I had taken them off before my shower. Of course I wasn’t defenseless; I was Scorpio. I listened to the intruder’s steady breathing to pinpoint his location.

Hiding amongst the shadows, I slipped into the darkened bedroom and came up behind him. As I slid my hand under his black hair and reached around for his chin to snap his neck, he elbowed me in the gut. 

I lurched forward, right into his awaiting fist. Turning my head at the last second deflected most of his power. Still, it was a good hit. I’d say I could feel the bruise forming around my left eye and down that side of my face, but I had too much adrenaline pumping through my system for that.

So, that’s how you’re gonna be, huh? I grinned. This should be fun.

The intruder spun to face me. His breath caught, as did mine. Our eyes met, assessing the opposition. A black mask covered the lower half of his face. What the hell was another Scorpio doing here? Was he here to terminate me?

For a Scorpio sneaking about in other people’s rooms, he was not what I expected. Instead of the form-fitting black Scorpio suit, he wore black cargo pants and a button up white shirt with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up. Still, he had to be hot. I was, and I was wearing shorts and a camisole. His spiky black hair proofed out in an attractive way. And I was quite certain it rose another degree or two in there.

Scorpio or not, I wasn’t going down without a fight.

Without breaking eye contact, I punched. He blocked. Punched. I blocked, grabbed his forearm, and pulled him into a roundkick. Followed by the edge of my hand to the back of his neck. He wasn’t out yet, but neither did her break out of my hold.

I was about to smash my knee I into his face when he shifted his weight forward and tripped us. He might be strong for a human, but I was a Fox. That gave me just enough strength to overpower him. I rolled over, straddled him. As I pulled my fist back to punch again, he lowered his mask.

He’s not Scorpio? Then who the hell does he work for? How the hell did he find me?

No one even knew where I was, except Scorpio. But there was no getting around the subcutaneous microchip between my shoulder blades, compliments of the Scorpio school system. Not unless I wanted to jam its signal, causing them to be more suspicious of my behavior, or cut the chip out, which was a personal fuck you to the Scorpio Lord himself. When we were trained to disguise ourselves so well, not even our families or loved ones could identify us, Scorpio needed a way to keep track of us.

Yet somehow this masked non-Scorpio had found me. Which meant he was skilled enough to hack the Scorpio database. Or knew someone that was.

Fuck.

Related posts:

1. First Page: Instinct, a Paranormal Romance
2. First Page: The Feral Queen, genre Science Fiction
3. First Page: First page from YA paranormal Balancer

Your last few books have had a sort of a madcap adventure feel to them and so “Bring Him Home” is a change in tone and pace. It deals with grief and recovery and discovery and relies less on external conflict and more on the internal changes that the leads experience.

Nathan Wyatt found a family in his SAS brothers but when their convoy was hit in an ambush, one of the men that held the group together becomes mortally injured. Nate has the choice of staying with his best friend, Steve, and saving Ross. Steve orders him to save Ross and leave him. Nate knows that this is the only genuine choice he has. He also knows he has the choice of allowing Steve to burn to death, trapped under the flames of a burning Humvee, or to provide his best friend relief. Nate does the right thing, both times, but his actions and the war scarred him and after he is discharged, Nate abandons his friends and his makeshift family which included Steve’s wife, Claire, their son, and everyone else important to him.

Eighteen months later Claire tracks him down in Hollywood where Nate is serving as a bodyguard to a rock star (the brother of the hero in What the Librarian Did). Nate and Steve and Claire had formed a family trust and now with Steve dead and Nate unreachable halfway around the world, Claire needs Nate to sign papers to revert all the property of the trust into her name. She wants to turn the dilapidated fishing boat that Nate and she went halfsies on into a charter boat business. Claire needs Nate to pay attention to their combined business matters so she can move on with her life. Nate is too busy getting “comfortably numb.”

What makes this a different kind of friends to lovers book is that neither Nate nor Claire had feelings for each other before Steve’s death. Nate looked at Claire as a true friend, but most importantly, Steve’s wife. For Claire, Nate was Steve’s brother in arms. We get a look at Claire’s past relationship with Steve. One of my favorite scenes in the book was when Claire was sharing with Jules, the fiancé of one of the members of Nate’s team that had also died in the same ambush, that Steve and Claire had been on the brink of divorce but that a letter from Steve had saved it. Claire admitted that they both wanted the marriage to be saved but that the letter was a turning point. It turned out that the letter was written by committee of Steve’s team members. They were all single and very invested in Steve’s marriage and the success of that marriage.

Claire returned, carrying a sheet of handwritten paper in a plastic sleeve. “I cried over this so much I had to protect it.” Narrowing her eyes, she thrust it across the table at Nate. “Give me an example.”

Nervously Nate glanced again at Jules and then down at the page, cursing that he’d ever raised the subject. Would this make things better or worse? He was a guy, how the hell would he know? He cleared his throat. “Okay, Steve would start with something like, ‘Without you, my life would be crap.’ We’d workshop that into…” Nate found the quote with his finger “‘—you make my life worth living.’ Trying to put a positive spin on a neg- ative statement,” he added, risking a glance at Claire.

Her expression, as she eyeballed him over the edge of the champagne flute, gave nothing away. “Lee, being our romantic, suggested some of the poetic stuff… changing ‘wife’ to ‘soul mate,’ for example.”

Claire exchanged glances with Jules but made no comment.

Nate stared at the letter, fighting that male sense of helplessness that told him nothing he did now would be right. “Okay, this line, ‘We have so much fun, in bed and out of it.’ That’s all Steve’s…except for the ‘out of it’ part. That change was group consensus—we thought it might look like Steve was being shallow.” Nate told himself to shut up now, but the continuing stony silence only increased his verbal diarrhea. “The marriage vow thing, for better or worse. I think Steve wanted to write about things having to get much worse before he gave up….” Desperately he scanned the page. “That sorta morphed into, ‘No matter what, I’m committed to you for the rest of our lives.’”

Nate could see them all now, four bearded, dust-covered young men agonizing over this damn thing while Steve paced camp, occasionally bursting out with, “It’s not frickin’ right yet…. It’s got to be right.”

A lump in his throat stopped him. He looked up. Claire had her head bowed, so did Jules. Oh, shit. Claire’s shoulders were shaking. “You’re upset,” he said helplessly.

A hoot escaped her…a hoot? She lifted her face and there were tears in her eyes. “Th-th-that’s hilarious!” The two women collapsed in paroxysms of laughter.

Nate stared at them in amazement.

“Can’t you see them?” Claire hiccuped. “Oh, Jules, can’t you just see them?”

“Right down to licking the pencil,” Jules managed to say, sending Claire into whoops again.

“It was a pen,” Nate said stonily. “And I don’t see what the hell is so funny.”

“You’re right, it’s beautiful.” With a last giggle, Claire wiped her eyes dry with a napkin. “Steve was so hopeless at this kind of stuff, and for him to do this, to lay it on the line in front of you guys…and for you all to agonize over it…” She leaned over and hugged him. “Nate, it’s sweet and funny and, well, thank you.”

When Nate discovers that Claire holds strong resentment toward Steve for constantly signing up for new tours, he makes it his mission to show Claire how much Steve loved her. As the Nate and Claire remember Steve, they help each other get over their grief and find space in their hearts for something new. Watching them both discover that newness was engaging. Nate becomes grumpy at other men finding Claire attractive, something he tells himself is a holdover of his protectiveness toward Steve. Claire realizes what other women around her acknowledge – that Nate is one very sexy guy whose endearing gruffness masques a tender heart and whose commitment to a cause or a person is never wavering. The biggest problem I had was the ending. The last few lines caused me some confusion and I wished for an epilogue. B+

Best regards,

Jane

P.S. That cover is terrible. It looks like some teenage vagabond coming home and not a sexy former SAS now turned bodyguard to the stars.

AmazonBNSonyKobo HQN

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Here Comes the Groom by Karina Bliss
2. REVIEW: Stand In Wife by Karina Bliss
3. REVIEW: What the Librarian Did by Karina Bliss

Here’s some food for thought. McKenzie Walton tweeted this the other day “One of my least favorite terms is ‘shit-eating grin’. Like, I don’t even know what that means. That’s GROSS.”

My god, she is so right.

In lieu of book news, here are some random links that might interest you:

Nick Denton: The Banner Ad Era is Closing | Digiday – ““We all know the conventional wisdom: the days of the banner advertisement are numbered,” Denton wrote in an email to Gawker staff. “In two years, our primary offering to marketers will be our discussion platform.” Gawker recently revamped its commenting system in a way that Denton hopes will improve the quality of conversation on the site. He also hopes to find ways for advertisers to participate, noting in an email that “in a couple of years I could see “discussion management” being more important than traditional online advertising.””  DigiDay  Personal Note:There was another article that talked about how Gawker’s new commenting system would work in that the originator of a thread could control the types of comments people saw, thus shaping the conversation. I find that quite disturbing.

Astor+Blue | Digital Publisher, Classic Publishing – “We are an innovative “Digital First” Publisher dedicated to producing the highest quality ebooks and custom print editions by leveraging the latest in Digital Technology and New Media. We curate a list of well-written books by authors of diverse voices, and devote ourselves to actively helping readers from around the globe discover – and rediscover – those voices. Through the “Digital First” platform, A+B does not merely publish books, we E-LAUNCH them through a highly specialized, long term, proactive marketing program. We strive to be a destination for where to find ebooks, and where ebooks will “find their readers” as well. In short: We maximize each title’s readership and keep it alive indefinitely. This is our mission.” This is not a romance digital publisher but a literary fiction one. I’m not certain it would be of interest to the readers here. Astor + Blue

BuzzFeed Animals – A whole category devoted to listings of cute animal pictures. BuzzFeed

As for deals, here is a good one for you:

• The Forever Instinct by Barbara Delinksy * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• First Things First by Barbara Delinksy * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• The Scent of Jasmine by Barbara Delinksy * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Straight from the Heart by Barbara Delinksy * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• This Heart of Mine with Bonus Content by Susan Elizabeth Phillips * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S

Related posts:

1. Thursday Midday Links: Apple’s iBookstore Pricing Is $9.99 too
2. Thursday Midday Links: Bad IP Suits and Good Deals
3. Thursday Midday Links: I Worry About Apple’s Propensity for Censorship, Do You?

The first book I read of yours was a contemporary romance which I enjoyed and hoped to see more of your work in that area. When your book, Darkest Caress, was released on NetGalley I was intrigued because it was not contemporary romance but instead, a paranormal. I am constantly on the lookout for a new paranormal author. While the work was competent, I think my tastes are too jaded at this point to find a competent story compelling.

Darkest Caress relies on the mate bond, an old prophecy, a small band of good guys (actual brothers in this case) who will defeat a bad man and his army form the basis of its world building.  The “others” are individuals who apparently feed off the energy of others.  There is some play with the concept that every person controls their aura which is fed by their internal energies which the host can decide to be good or evil.  This was unsubtly demonstrated through one non essential secondary character. (First he was bad… and then … after some reflection and intervention he was suddenly good.  It was like an injection of super clozapine).

Liv Farrell, realtor and part time piano teacher, meets Daegan Blackwell, a mysterious and wealthy potential purchaser of a million dollar home situated on the coast in Vancouver. Daegan is an Empowered and he and his three brothers form a triumvirate that will someday battle Xavier who seeks to become the Obsidian Lord. What exactly they will be fighting over is not fully explained. I suppose the soul of humankind or something. I’ve never really understood why any immortal being would want control human kind. Wouldn’t they want to just wipe us out? I guess in this circumstance, humans serve as food. The energy of a human is a power source for the “others”.

Liv is also Empowered, which she would have to be in order to be Daegan’s mate.  Darkest Caress does allow the characters to struggle with the mate bond but they can’t be too far apart because of the Heat Cycle.  The Heat Cycle causes the parties pain when they are apart and nothing short of bonding will abate it.  Forced love!

Daegen is immediately in lust and, I guess, love, but allows that Liv needs time to adjust to the knowledge that she has a supernatural power as do others and that they are destined to be together.  The problem is that Liv’s struggle with the mate bond places everyone in danger making her refusal to accept the inevitable pairing.  The authorial choice in this regards felt unfortunate to me. It was easy to place the blame on Liv for a negative outcome but it also made Daegan’s self sacrifice look foolish as well.  In fact, at some times I wrote in my margin that he was portraying the too stupid to live role. At one point, after Daegan has marked her which endangers her life, he purposely leaves her and his brother has to fill in the details.  Even after she knows about being empowered, the mate bond, the Heat Cycle, and the power struggle, Daegen still refuses to give her the full picture.  I couldn’t believe he was trying out half truths at this point in the name of protection and allowing her free choice. It was ridiculous.

I also wondered strongly about the need for DNA evidence that Liv purportedly needed to prove she was an Empowered.  It might have made sense if Liv was a scientist but she wasn’t and thus this idea that DNA would convince her where her own senses could not seemed odd.

Every movement seemed telegraphed with a heavy hand and the attempts at intrigue came off hokey instead of suspenseful. For instance, one character thinks to himself “fucking riddles … always more riddles” in regard to this line: The Obsidian Lord shall confront the Empowered who embodies the reflection of what he once was.”  The character goes on to lament that “[h]e didn’t pretend to fully under the dark prophecy.”  The riddle isn’t that confusing particularly when it is known that the Obsidian Lord is an Empowered male who lost his mate.

If a reader is a fan of the JR Ward and Lara Adrian series, and is jonesing for something similar, this may fit the bill. I appreciated that this was not a vampire story but I felt like the worldbuilding relied on worn tropes and failed to be presented in a fresh way. C

Best regards,

Jane

AmazonBNSonyKoboARE

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Deadly Descent by Kaylea Cross
2. REVIEW: The Darkest Seduction by Gena Showalter
3. Review: The Darkest Surrender by Gena Showalter

Personal Note: One of the things Say Books created was a serialized ebook using the PressBooks platform. The PressBooks platform is a wordpress based publishing site that creates ebooks out of blog posts. I asked SayBooks about their product:

We were pleasantly surprised at the response to the subscription model, and even though the chapters are now all up and we are about to release the ebook, we are still getting subscribers every couple of days. … All but a handful of the subscribers ‘donated’ $5 or more (people who donate more than $5 get the ebook at the end too), and a significant number were for more than $5; (one person donated $0.01c!:)). The actual ebook will sell for $4.99. It is still early days and too early to make any judgements.about a long term business model. However, I am convinced that using the potential of the web as a discovery and delivery method for the content, not just for the product, is the way book publishing needs to go. We will continue to publish novels in this way, with an ebook available at the end too.

unglue.it – “unglue (v. t.) 4. For an author or publisher, to accept a fixed amount of money from the public for its unlimited use of an ebook.” Personal Note:  A sort of patronage system. interesting.

Government Signs Deal With Barnes & Noble to Sell E-Books | Digital Book World – “Government Printing Office (GPO) has signed an agreement with Barnes & Noble to sell Federal eBooks. Titles are available in eBook format for Barnes & Noble’s Nook eReader. GPO works with Federal agencies to produce their publications, books, and reports in print and digital formats, including eBook formats. Approximately 30 eBook titles are available including popular titles like the Public Papers of the President-Barack Obama, Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster And The Future Of Offshore Drilling (the BP Oil Spill Commission Report), the Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, and the newly released Basic Guide to Exporting from the Department of Commerce. GPO makes eBooks available in partnership with Google’s eBookstore, OverDrive, Ingram, Zinio, and other online vendors.” DBW

Amazon Beefs up Prime Offering | Digital Book World – “Amazon.com, Inc. today announced a licensing agreement with Paramount Pictures that brings hundreds of new hit movies to Prime Instant Video in the U.S. over the next three years. Prime Instant Video now offers customers more than 17,000 movies and TV episodes to enjoy …This deal will bring Prime Instant Video customers hundreds of new movies to enjoy on their Kindle Fire or any device connected to Amazon Instant Video, including titles such as Star Trek, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Top Gun, The Italian Job and The Truman Show, and we will remain committed to adding even more great movies and TV shows to Prime Instant Video in the future.”” DBW

• All the Pretty Girls by J.T. Ellison * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S  (reviewed here.  I enjoyed the first one but stopped reading after about the third book)
• 14 by J.T. Ellison * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Judas Kiss by J.T. Ellison * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S

Related posts:

1. Avon Romances Adds Video to Ebooks and Original Content from Bestselling Authors
2. Wednesday Midday Links: Amazon Ups the Ante
3. Wednesday Midday News: Update on the Agony/Ecstasy Anthology

Name of debut release: Coveted

Release date: 04/24/2012

Publisher: Ballantine Books

2 sentence summary: Natalya Stravinsky, a werewolf with an undeniable compulsion to collect holiday trinkets, must summon her inner strength to help defend her estranged pack against their rivals and prove herself worthy of her pack. Toss in a handsome wizard vying for her affection, the man she loved and lost five years ago, a therapy group for the anxious and enchanted, and the South Toms River pack leader ready to throw her to the wolves, and an adventure of redemption is waiting to happen.

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Characters: Natalya Stravinsky, Thorn Grantham, Nick Fenton

What makes this story different: Coveted is more of a romantic comedy. It’s about a woman determined to change her life and fight for what she’d once lost. Of course, a few laughs, a cast of colorful secondary characters, and some supernatural creature group therapy along the way never hurts either.

Is this a series?: Yes, this is the first book in the series with the next one coming out in the fall.

Why you wrote this book: The idea for this book came from an article in a medical journal. The article on the front page was about obsessive compulsive disorders and went in-depth on describing the symptoms and treatment for patients. A huge what-if jumped out to me and Natalya the werewolf was born—a holiday trinket hoarder with OCD.

I really wanted Natalya to feel relatable and be real. The pain of feeling alone without family—or a pack in her case—is something many people face today. Especially when the secrets you keep in your home is something that ostracizes you from others. I could easily relate to Nat’s situation and this really helped bring the story to life.

Why is this your first published book? How many did you write before? I’ve written two books before this particular book sold to Random House. Both of them were paranormal romances. I think out of the three heroines I’ve developed so far, Nat “feels” the most vivid and real in my mind.

What’s your writing process? I’m not an everyday writer. It took me a while to figure that out and now I’m comfortable with my process. For me, my words sit in a well waiting to be tapped in a well—and sometimes that well can run dry unless I give it time to refill. When I do write, I do it in sprints using Dr. Wicked’s Write or Die or I’ll just write directly in Scrivener. I’ll take a break for a day or even a week, but when it’s time to work, I will knock out 5-10K per day for a period of time when I’m in the zone.

Your next published book. The next book in the Coveted series is Kept, which will come out in Fall/Winter 2012. I can’t wait to reveal the new cover to everyone.

The last book you read that you loved. The last book that I read and still think about often was Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It’s an 80s nerdfest of epic proportions. The book was very original and brought back a lot of great memories about the music and technology of that decade.

Now if I was thinking in terms of romance books, I’d have to say hands down that I fell in love with Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series. I started the series through audiobooks, since I’m a very slow reader, but each time I came back to listen to the next book, I can’t help but sigh thinking about Bones. Frost is a master storyteller and I can’t wait to finish the one I’m listening to right now.

The last book you read for research. I read Debra Dixon’s Goal, Motivation, Conflict before I write new material. Each and every time. Her book helps me take a raw idea and focus it into something useful. I recommend that book to everyone and I even made a tool on my author website to create GMC grids.

The romance book character you most identify with. . This one is hard. There are many books where the heroine resonated with me, but I think the character I’ll never forget is Cherijo Grey Veil from the StarDoc series by S.L. Viehl. From the get go, Cherijo looks like any other woman. She’s not the strongest or even the tallest—but through her wit and her intelligence she gets out of the most dire and difficult situations. The saying, “Don’t judge a book by the cover” definitely applies in her regard. And that’s one of the things makes her very powerful. I can only hope that when I’m facing problems I can come them just like Cherijo has in those wonderful books.

You can check out more about Shawntelle Madison and her books at http://shawntellemadison.com

AmazonBNSonyKobo]

Related posts:

1. Debut Print Book: Don’t Let Me Go by J.H.Trumble
2. Debut Print Book: Under the Same Sky by Genevieve Graham
3. Debut Print Book: The Wedding Beat by Devan Sipher

Reversing Logos with Different Brands Is So Confusing – “The whole Brand Revisioning set is on display at I’m Just Creative and it’s fascinating to see Smith fiddle with our brains and our alliances toward certain brands. Aside from some slight brain fraying, what I noticed was that Internet companies are missing the fun logos of brands that were created pre-Internet. Sites like Vimeo and Skype are really just fonts and not true logos like Domino’s or BMW.” Gizmodo

“Bared to You,” the Self-Published Erotic Fiction eBook Sensation by Sylvia Day, Now a Berkley Books Title – PR.com – “Author Sylvia Day originally self-published “Bared to You,” offering the first installment in her Crossfire series as an eBook and a print-on-demand title. The buzz for Day’s erotically-charged novel began within days of the April 3rd publication—reviewers across the internet compared the book (favorably) to Fifty Shades of Grey. “Bared to You” immediately jumped into the list of top 40 bestselling eBooks at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The author is currently selling about 1000 copies of “Bared to You”—everyday. “Bared to You” is now a national bestseller, landing on both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. And sales are continuing to grow.” Press Release  Personal Note:  According to Publishers Marketplace, this sold for a “major deal” which s 500,000 or more and has already sold many foreign rights. The new cover looks very 50 Shades of Grey.

CreateSpace: Self Publishing and Free Distribution for Books, CD, DVD – “CreateSpace, an Amazon company, today announced that authors and publishers around the world can now use its independent publishing platform to distribute their books in Europe for free on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es and Amazon.it. By using CreateSpace to distribute directly to Amazon, authors and publishers ensure that their titles are always in stock for customers to purchase. Books will be available for same-day shipping, and are also eligible for free shipping and Amazon Prime. CreateSpace authors and publishers will earn industry-leading royalties on each sale while continuing to own the rights and have creative control over their work. Additionally, CreateSpace authors and publishers can now receive their royalty payments by direct deposit in US dollars, British pounds or Euro.” CreateSpace

Latest results – Corporate and Investor Relations – Bloomsbury.com – “Ebook sales were £5.7 million, up by £3.5 million, 159% compared to the year ended 28 February 2011. They now represent 6% of continuing sales (year ended 28 February 2011: 3%). In the US, ebook sales were 23% of continuing sales compared to the UK where they were 3% of continuing sales. We anticipate most markets will reach the US level of ebook sales in the near to medium term future.” Bloomsbury

• A Lady Never Tells by Candace Camp * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• A Gentleman Always Remembers by Candace Camp * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• An Affair Without End by Candace Camp * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
• 666 Park Avenue by Gabriella Pierce * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S  (reviewed by Jia)
• Withering Tights with Bonus Material by Louise Rennison * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S

Related posts:

1. Tuesday Midday Links: Sunshine Deals Making a Big Impact
2. Tuesday Midday Links: News and Deals
3. Tuesday Midday Links: PW Gets a Romance Section

Author: Danielle W
Comment: permalink
I am so ready for this to be released already! I need to read about the chocoholics :)

Author: AnnaPiranha
Website: http://www.dyedinthewoolbluestocking.blogspot.com
Comment: permalink
Oh! Pick me! Of course, if you don’t I’ll just download it anyhow.

Author: JL
Comment: permalink
I would love to win a copy of this! Such a great series.

Author: Rebe

Website: http://reflectionsonreadingromance.blogspot.com
Comment: permalink
This is such a great contemporary romance series – thanks for the giveaway!

Author: BethP

Comment: permalink
I love me some Jill Shalvis ;-)

Author: leslie
Comment: permalink
Great! Shalvis is a lot a fun! I loved the Idaho books.

Author: Tabs

Comment: permalink
I would love to win this. Jill Shalvis is great.

Author: Lana
Comment: permalink
What a lovely Thursday morning surprise! (Ok, free books are good any day)

Author: Katie
Website: http://theworldasmeditation.wordpress.com/
Comment: permalink
I’ve been trying to read more contemporaries (historicals are feeling a little stale); pick me!

Author: Amy J
Website: http://myoverstuffedbookshelf.blogspot.com/
Comment: permalink
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Jill Shalvis! Thank you so much for the contest!!!!

Grand Central has offered us 10 copies of Jill Shalvis’ Lucky in Love. This is the fourth book in the Lucky Harbor series and features nice girl Mallory Quinn who decides to liven up her sedate lifestyle by encouraging the attention of Ty Garrison, a guy who is just passing through Lucky Harbor.  Ty feels a bit guilty about pursuing good girl Mallory but she is adamant that a no strings affair is all that she is looking for at the moment.  Lucky Harbor is a recommended read by Dabney and releases on May 22 (next Tuesday).  We can’t ship it to you before it comes out in the stores, but we can provide a free copy.  Drop a comment if you are interested.  We’ll close the contest results on Sunday, May 20th at noon CST.

Related posts:

1. 10 Winners of the Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis Giveaway
2. WINNER: Jill Shalvis’ Viraly Goodness Contest
3. My First Sale by Jill Shalvis

****

JF: To celebrate this month’s release of the first book, MIDNIGHT RESCUE, Elle and I are thrilled to be here answering questions about the book’s journey to publication. It’s been almost exactly a year since I acquired three books in a new romantic suspense series by Elle Kennedy for Signet Eclipse (part of Penguin).

Editors say this all the time, but I devoured this submission in one sitting. The heroine’s strength, emotionally and physically, hooked me within ten pages (in revisions, we dropped the prologue to emphasize her strength even more). This was not a romantic suspense where an alpha male swoops in to rescue the heroine; this was a book where the hero and heroine rescue each other.

Although I was excited about the potential of this series and author, the practical side of my brain knew this could be an uphill fight to acquisition. We were seeing very little romantic suspense published at the time—the popularity of sweet, small town contemporaries was really on the rise. MIDNIGHT RESCUE was actually almost the complete opposite of what I thought I was looking to acquire. But I fell in love with the manuscript’s darkness – and also how the romance and banter and friendships balance it out beautifully.

EK: For me, I knew the series would be a tough sell, but my agent and I thought it was worth it to put MIDNIGHT RESCUE in front of some editors to see what the response would be.  We received a several passes on the submission, most editors admitting they loved the book, but it was too dark for their list.  Either that, or the market for romantic suspense wasn’t as “in demand” as paranormal or sweet contemporaries. 

 So I was absolutely thrilled when Jesse acquired the book because of that darkness, and took a chance on a RS manuscript.

JF: Elle’s agent set up a phone call between us. I was hoping to get a sense of how well we could work together on revisions (whether my suggestions resonated with her), how eager Elle was to promote herself, and how active she was online (I’d also investigated this before the call – prepare to be googled, authors. Have a presence online already).

EK: I loved that initial call with Jesse.  Her enthusiasm about the story got me even more enthusiastic about it.  And her thoughts about promotion were eye opening.  At that point, I had somewhat of an online presence, but I realized I needed to do a lot more in terms of putting myself out there.

JF: Elle and I had a great talk, I loved the submission, and everyone who second read in my department agreed. Then we ran numbers and I made an offer for three books in the series.

EK: Best day ever? My agent calling with the news that Signet Eclipse made an offer.  I’m pretty sure I let out a girlish shriek—and people who know me well know that I’m super subdued and rarely girlishly shriek.

I’ve been asked why I chose to go the traditional route rather than self publish digitally or go with a strictly digital publisher, which a lot of authors are doing these days.  It all boils down to that childhood dream of wanting to see my name on the cover of a book, hold that book in my hands, flip through the pages, see it on actual shelves in an actual bookstore.  Bookstores are my favourite places on earth.  I read a lot of ebooks, of course, but for me, I just love having that hard copy of a story in my hands.  So I was so thrilled when Jesse called saying she wanted to publish MIDNIGHT RESCUE.

JF: Now the real fun began: edits! I read the manuscript several times before shooting an editorial letter and line edited manuscript off to Elle. We had a phone call a few days later. Elle jumped right into revisions with enthusiasm. I remember getting emails throughout the month like, “What if I add a dog?” (Authors: there’s ALWAYS room for a dog.)

I sent Elle four pages of notes, as well as a marked up manuscript file, for the first round of broad revisions. This is pretty average length of notes for me, plus or minus a few pages. As I mentioned above, we reworked the structure of the book a little bit, incorporating the prologue more into the story and streamlining character POVs. I also discussed with Elle how the hero and heroine weren’t as active in the climactic suspense plot as I’d hoped they would be. Both characters are strong and capable, but originally they were kept out of planning the rescue mission that is the focus of the book. During a brainstorming session on the phone, Elle came up with a twist that really pulls everything together at the end.

Elle and I had a lot of conversations about how to really be sure that Abby is completely empowered and active throughout the story, even as she learns that she needs to trust her teammates and the hero. This carries over to her sex scenes with the hero, where Elle really amped up Abby taking control of her sexuality, which I love and is an important part of her character’s growth. We also talked through different scenarios for ending the book that allowed Abby to not sacrifice any of her values (or skill set) in order to be with the hero romantically.

EK: I have a love/hate relationship with revisions.  It’s so incredibly difficult cutting or changing parts of a book that you worked on for so long and which has become a part of you.  But I’m lucky to have some wonderful editors who are able to look at that book objectively and tell me what it’ll take to make it even better.  Jesse is no exception.  Every single one of her suggestions made perfect sense to me, so making certain changes was no hardship.

Oh, and fun fact: I added my dog into the book.  Bear, the German shepherd mutt who belongs to one of my mercenaries, is actually my super awesome mutt.

JF: We also started brainstorming series names and cover concepts around this time. We look at what’s popular right now, and think about how to make the book stand out on shelves. This is Abby’s story, so we decided to take a little departure from traditional romantic suspense covers by depicting her alone on the cover. The difficulty was not making her seem like an urban fantasy heroine. As you can see, the designer did an amazing job.

EK:  I love, love, love this cover! When it showed up in my inbox, I was actually speechless (again, not characteristic—sadly, I am a babbler).  I couldn’t believe how fierce the heroine looked, and the colors were absolutely stunning.  After seeing the cover for MIDNIGHT RESCUE, I had no idea how the art department could possibly top it for Book 2.

JF: The art department actually is working on the cover for book #2, MIDNIGHT ALIAS, now. Sometimes photos of potential male cover models appear in my inbox. Designing covers is fun.

EK: Once the book had a cover, it felt even more “real” to me.  And around this time, Jesse had read the revisions and approved them, so the book was moving along on its journey to publication.

JF: We had done two rounds of revisions before turning it over to managing editorial for copyediting. When you’ve read something five or six times and it still resonates with you emotionally, you know it’s a gem!

EK: For me, once the book has been copy-edited, I start to freak out.  Because at this point, I can’t really make any more changes—and what if I suddenly decide that something needs to change?!  Standing by and letting the book get immortalized in print/digital form is like waving goodbye to your kids when they go to college.  You’ve got to let them stand on their own now, no matter how scary that is.

JF: Elle turned in revisions for book #2 in the series (out next Feb) and the outline for book #3 this month. And this whole cycle begins again!

We’re giving away 5 copies of MIDNIGHT RESCUE: A Killer Instincts Novel to randomly selected comments below. Leave a question or comment for Elle or myself—do you have a question about the editorial process we didn’t cover? We’ll try to reply and maybe you’ll win a book!

Visit Elle’s website for more information on MIDNIGHT RESCUE.

Related posts:

1. Hoo Rah: A Giveway for the Troops
2. Book Pimp Post #3
3. Book Pimp Post #4

The editor, Harrison Demchick, of The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns (a recommended read by Robin aka Janet) and The Understory written by Elizabeth Leiknes, wrote us to let us know about a giveaway the publishing house is running to celebrate the release of The Understory.

Basically, it’s like this. As long as we get 100 entries, we’ll be giving away to a lucky winner:

1.) The Understory
2.) The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns

. . . and two more eBooks of the winner’s choosing.

And the more people who enter after that, the more winners we’ll choose!

All the rules, and the entry form, are at www.facebook.com/bancroftpress.

Harrison Demchick writes the best review queries I’ve ever read. I would never be able to say no to him.  In any event, Robin really thinks the world of Elizabeth Leiknes’ writing and if you want to support a small press, this is the way to do it.

News

Speaking of small presses, get a load of this authorial meltdown:

The Man Who Thought He Was King | Fantasy Faction – “Basically, M. R. Mathia, a self-published author from America, took great offence when we moved a forum thread of his, that was advertising his own book, from the main book discussion forum into the Self Published & Small Press section of the forums. Now, this is something we do regularly. Fantasy-Faction welcomes ALL small press and self-published authors to come and tell us/our readers about their books, but we have a special place to do it. The reason for this is that our site is a place to discuss fantasy novels, primarily those in the mainstream, and we leave it up to our members to choose which books they would like to discuss. Once we moved his thread, we got this response: Fantasy Faction

I am not a small press. I am an author with 18 titles for sale. That is more titles that some big publishing houses. I have advertising currently running in Locus, Publishers Weekly, Fantasy and Sci Fi, and Revolver magazines. I have blog advertising across the entire blog-o-sphere. I am not a small press or even self published. M. R. Mathias’ books are PUBLISHED by Michael Robb Mathias Jr. and should be treated no differently that any big named publishers title. WHY? Because I do my job as a publisher too. Please quit sending my posts into the self published/small press thread. My titles are neither. I have 92k twitter followers @DahgMahn and 10 titles in their genre bestselling list. There is nothing self pubbed, or small, about books written by M. R. Mathias. Thank you, M.R.Mathias’ publisher, Michael Robb Mathias Jr.“

Personal Note: go read the entire post. It is thoroughly entertaining.

Waterstones Talks Big Then Surrenders To Amazon | Mike Cane’s xBlog – “In a statement, James Daunt, managing director of Waterstones, said: “The best digital readers, the Kindle family, will be married to the singular pleasures of browsing a curated bookshop.”” Mike Cane’s Blog

EPUB Lightweight Content Protection: Use Cases & Requirements | International Digital Publishing Forum – “User Experience:  lightweight DRMs are simpler to use and cause less end-user confusion.  The FairPlay DRM for Apple iTunes is often cited as a good example of a DRM with a decent user experience. Elements of good user experience include: Does not get in the way of users’ expected interactions with the content. Works seamlessly in the absence of a network connection….  While courts have refused to set a bar for “effectiveness” such that any technology below the bar is not entitled to protection under the law, there is some evidence to suggest that a technology that is particularly ineffective could face such a challenge.[…Therefore, a lightweight DRM should be a technology that clearly enjoys protection under anticircumvention law. “ IPDF

Personal Note: Let me give some context here. IPDF is an organization that contains members from various publishing houses, retailers, and other interested parties. IPDF hopes to create industry standards and one of those proposed standards would be a lightweight PDF.  Watermarking is out because IPDF asserts an end user reading a watermarked book can’t be sued for using anti-encryption tools (or DRM stripping tools).  Whatever DRM IPDF chooses, it wants to make sure that its members can sue readers for circumventing the DRM.  One step forward, two steps back.

Hachette is offering new e-books to some libraries — paidContent – “Hachette, which has not made new e-books available to libraries since 2010, is reconsidering the idea. In a pilot program starting this spring (which is…now?), the publisher is working with two e-book distributors to bring a “selection of HBG’s recent bestselling e-books to 7 million library patrons.”” Paid Content

Amazon to Sell Ads on Kindle Fire Welcome Screen | Digital – Advertising Age – “Amazon is pitching ads on the device’s welcome screen, according to an executive at an agency that Amazon has pitched. The company has been telling ad agency execs that they must spend about $600,000 for any package that includes such an ad. The ad campaigns would run for two months and also include inventory from Amazon’s “Special Offers” product. For $1 million, advertisers would get more ad inventory and be included in Amazon’s public-relations push, according to this executive and an exec at another ad agency.” “ AdAge

Deals

Just one today (because I’m super busy. I promise more later this week)

• Witchful Thinking by H.P. Mallory * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S

No related posts.

The romance of this story was enjoyable but the sweet and sometimes serious nature of the romance was offset by over the top descriptions of the “villains” of the story creating a cacophonous tone mismatch. A late conflict arose in the book and while it could have provided a challenging and very real impediment to the happy ever after (and thus making the connection of the lead couple all the more satisfying)

Melissa McGuire ends up in San Gabriel working as a news producer at the local television station after being humiliated in Los Angeles. She had an affair with her boss that went south

Her grandmother is convinced that Melissa needs a boyfriend and buys a date for Melissa with a fireman at a local bachelor auction. When the bachelor fireman backs out because of a desire not to go out on a date with a grandmother, Captain Harry Brody takes his place. Brody is used to acting as the father figure to many of the younger firemen and conversely they all hold Brody in awe because of his steadfastness and his past history of bravery.

Brody isn’t interested in dating right now. He’s trying to rebuild his life after a painful divorce but Melissa strikes all the right chords for him. The two end up spending a lot of time together when the local media personality, Ella, (one of the villains) decides to do a reality special involving the San Gabriel Fire Station. The Fire Station is famous because the all bachelor crew was featured on the Today Show and in People magazine.

Brody is a really great hero. He’s unshakeable. There is a scene early on in the book where Melissa is relating all her assumptions about firemen and Brody doesn’t rise to the bait:

“I apologize if I was rude,” she said, nose in the air.

“Not at all.”

“So you don’t deny I’m right?”

“Why should I, when you seem so convinced that you are?”

Now those emerald sparks were firing again.

“You could at least try to defend yourself.”

“Are we in a battle? I thought this was a date.” “You . . .”

She gave a squeak of pure frustration.

“Don’t you ever get rattled?”

“It’s part of my job to not get rattled.”

His character was consistent throughout. The steadying hand, the leader, the guy who watches out for others. Melissa was observant, as befitting her role as a news producer, and a quick learner. She led her tribe of news people in her own way. She was quick to make amends, didn’t hold grudges, and allowed herself to be educated.

Brody and Melissa were the best parts of the book but we saw so little of them together that the romance and their interaction took a back seat to the atmosphere of the firehouse, the backstabbing news room, and the machinations of the villains–Ella and Melissa’s former boss, Everett. Ordinarily, in a straight contemporary, I wouldn’t identify people as villains but from the way in which two of the characters were written, they fit the profile perfectly. I am pretty sure one, if not both of them, twirled a virtual mustache after every encounter.  For instance, Everett is using Ella to get back at Melissa and Ella is trying to use Everett to get a better job.  Their sexual encounters, which are often degrading for Ella, are described in some detail.

There was little relationship conflict other than standard and heavy handed use of the big misunderstanding until the last third of the book which is probably why so much of the first part of the story was filled with non relationship story lines but the relationship conflict was one that could have provided a real challenge. Brody’s ex wife returns to his life with a child in tow. It isn’t his, but Brody had always wanted a family and he can’t turn his ex wife who needs him away. The way in which this storyline is resolved, however, is written with the same over the top narrative used with the villains. The tension in the story seemed too manufactured and while I liked the leads, they weren’t together enough on paper to keep me interested. C

Best regards, Jane

P.S. As a side note, I am not one for sequel baiting, but this book did the opposite. Ryan, the lead in the sequel to this book, bails on the date with the grandmother because he fears the teasing he will get from his fellow firefighters. He also takes a shine to the empty headed and mean spirited Ella displaying that he is turned by a pretty face and not much else. He came off as self centered, shallow, and a bit of a simpleton.

AmazonBNSonyKobo

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Viscount Who Loved Me, Second Epilogue by Julia Quinn
2. REVIEW: Revenge Wears Rubies by Renee Bernard
3. REVIEW: The Fallen Angels by Bernard Cornwell (aka Susannah Kells)

I’ve talked to several readers about the price fixing lawsuit and people have a lot of questions.  I thought I could provide a few answers here to help clarify matters.  If you have a question, drop a line in the comments.

1.  What are the lawsuits and who do they involve?

There are three lawsuits in the United States alleging that five of the big six publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon&Schuster and Penguin) colluded with Apple to raise ebook prices.  Those three lawsuits are as follows:

• Department of Justice (a federal lawsuit)
• 31 States’ Attorney Generals
• Private class action suit

There are also investigations taking place in Canada, Australia, and the EU.

2.  What are the suits about?

All three of the U.S. lawsuits are essentially the same.  The suits allege (or accuse) that Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Simon&Schuster and Penguin conspired or colluded with Apple to raise the ebook prices from the price level that ebooks were at leading up to January 2010 which was primarily $9.99 for Bestsellers and under.

What we know from the documentary evidence (or evidence that is supported by emails, notes, memos or telephone records) is that executives of the five publishers communicated with each other about two things:

• windowing ebooks (windowing means holding back the sale of an ebook for a period of time after the paper book is released)
• moving to a retail price maintenance model (or “Agency” as it is commonly known) that guaranteed the price would be the same at Apple as it would be anywhere else and that Apple would get a 30% commission from all digital books sold through Apple’s store.

3.  You’ve made a big deal about “per se”.  What does that mean?

Shorter answer: It is much harder for a defendant to win a per se case and much easier for the plaintiffs.  Accusations that Amazon made them do it won’t be permitted in a per se case.

Long answer: Per se is a legal standard.  Accusations of antitrust violations are measured against one of two standards: either “per se” or “rule of reason”.

Per Se:  A per se violation is “conclusively presumed illegal.” Under this standard, business justifications or social benefits are not considered and the Defendant Publishers would not be allowed to offer proof to justify their actions such as arguing that Amazon was going to destroy publishing. Under a “per se” standard, Amazon and their actions are completely unimportant.  The Supreme Court in United States v. Socony- Vacuum Oil Co., 310 U.S. 150, 221, 222 (1940). said the following:

The elimination of so-called competitive evils is no legal justification for such buying programs. The elimination of such conditions was sought primarily for its effect on the price structures. Fairer competitive prices, it is claimed, resulted when distress gasoline was removed from the market. But such defense is typical of the protestations usually made in price-fixing cases. Ruinous competition, financial disaster, evils of price-cutting, and the like appear throughout our history as ostensible justifications for price-fixing. If the so-called competitive abuses were to be appraised here, the reasonableness of prices would necessarily become an issue in every price-fixing case. In that event, the Sherman Act would soon be emasculated; its philosophy would be supplanted by one which is wholly alien to a system of free competition; it would not be the charter of freedom which its framers intended.

The reasonableness of prices has no constancy due to the dynamic quality of the business facts underlying price structures. Those who fixed reasonable prices today would perpetuate unreasonable prices tomorrow, since those prices would not be subject to continuous administrative supervision and readjustment in light of changed conditions. Those who controlled the prices would control or effectively dominate the market. And those who were in that strategic position would have it in their power to destroy or drastically impair the competitive system. But the thrust of the rule is deeper, and reaches more than monopoly power. Any combination which tampers with price structures is engaged in an unlawful activity. Even though the members of the price-fixing group were in no position to control the market, to the extent that they raised, lowered, or stabilized prices, they would be directly interfering with the free play of market forces. The Act places all such schemes beyond the pale, and protects that vital part of our economy against any degree of interference. Congress has not left with us the determination of whether or not particular price-fixing schemes are wise or unwise, healthy or destructive. It has not permitted the age-old cry of ruinous competition and competitive evils to be a defense to price-fixing conspiracies. It has no more allowed genuine or fancied competitive abuses as a legal justification for such schemes than it has the good intentions of the members of the combination

Rule of Reason:  Under the rule of reason, the accusing parties (the states, DOJ, class action plaintiffs) would have to prove that the price movements made by the Defendant Publishers were not reasonable and the Defendant Publishers and Apple could offer proof that would justify their actions.  In  Clorox Co. v. Sterling Winthrop, Inc. (2nd Cir. 1997), the 2nd Circuit defined the rule of reason standard in this fashion:

First, the “`[p]laintiff bears the initial burden of showing that the challenged action has had an actual adverse effect on competition as a whole in the relevant market….’” Id. (quoting Capital Imaging, 996 F.2d at 543). Then, “[i]f the plaintiff succeeds, the burden shifts to the defendant to establish the `pro-competitive “redeeming virtues”‘ of the action. Should the defendant carry this burden, the plaintiff must then show that the same pro-competitive effect could be achieved through an alternative means that is less restrictive of competition.” Id. (internal citations omitted) (quoting Capital Imaging, 996 F.2d at 543; Bhan v. NME Hosps., Inc., 929 F.2d 1404, 1413 (9th Cir.1991)). Ultimately, the goal is to determine whether restrictions in an agreement among competitors potentially harm consumers. See SCFC ILC, Inc. v. Visa USA, Inc., 36 F.3d 958, 965 (10th Cir. 1994). The focus of the inquiry on consumers “cannot be overemphasized and is especially essential when a successful competitor,” as here, “alleges antitrust injury at the hands of a rival.” Id.

(Note there is also an inherently suspect standard that can be applied as well but I’m going to skip that for purposes of brevity and coherence)

4.  Why can’t the publishers set their own prices like other manufacturers of goods like shoes or perfume or computers?

Publishers can set their own prices. In this circumstance, however, the publishers didn’t just set and maintain certain prices.  They got together and made sure all their publisher friends were going to do it as well because they knew (according to the allegations) that they couldn’t afford to engage in Retail Price Maintenance if only one of them was going to do it.

It used to be that Retail Price Maintenance (RPM) which is a manufacturer setting the price at which a good could be sold was not permissible except under certain circumstances such as when the seller was an agent or pass through of the owner.  The best example of this is a real estate broker and a home owner.  The home owner sets the price and the real estate agent helps to broker the deal but the real estate agent acts as the agent of the home owner.  The agent can’t change the price of the house without the permission of the owner.

Under those scenarios, an owner or manufacturer of a good could set the price of a good.  In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court loosened the rules on RPM and basically said that if there is a good business justification, then a manufacturer or producer of a good could set their own price.  In the decision of Judge Cote to deny the Defendant Publishers and Apple’s move to get rid of the lawsuit, she references that RPM can be used.  In the settlement proposal for the DOJ, RPM is allowed under certain circumstances.

Those circumstances include allowing retailers to pass on their commission (whatever is negotiated between the publisher and the retailer like Amazon) to the consumers in the form of a discount.

5.  Isn’t Amazon a monopoly? Why is that okay?

Not all monopolies are illegal. (See the Primer) It isn’t even illegal to acquire a monopoly.  There were ebooks before Amazon, but it wasn’t until Amazon introduced the Kindle and its one click buy feature from the device itself that ebooks began taking off.  Amazon released the Kindle First Generation on November 19, 2007.  From 2008 to 2010, ebook sales grew from .6 % to 6.4% of the overall book market. (Source: AAP) Amazon had 80-90% of the ebook market at the beginning of 2010. Nook entered the market on November 22, 2009, Apple with iBooks announced on January 2010, and Kobo in July 2010.  Currently the ebook market for trade fiction sales varies from publisher to publisher but is around mid 20% to 30%.

6.  Didn’t Amazon acquire its monopoly through predatory pricing?

In 2010, when the publishers and Apple allegedly colluded to fix price, Amazon controlled 80-90% of 6.4% of the overall book market according to the statistics of the American Association of Publishers.  While Amazon did sell some of its ebooks at a loss leader price of $9.99, the Kindle was one of two dedicated devices marketed to the US readers and widely available in the US. (Sony’s reader actually predated Amazon).  In other words, no one was competing against Amazon from 2007 to 2010 except for Sony.

There were other ebook retailers, but none that sold a dedicated reading device and none that allowed on device purchasing and delivery of ebooks over a cellular connection.  Amazon would have evidence that it provided a product and service in the ebook market that was technologically advanced at the time.

Nonetheless, let’s talk about predatory pricing for a minute. Predatory pricing (a Section 2 violation of the Sherman Act)  is considered anticompetitive and a violation of antitrust.  However, it is very difficult to prove.  Predatory pricing requires proof that the seller deliberately undercut its competitors to drive those competitors out of business.

In Brooke Group v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 509 U.S. 209 (1993), the Supreme court established the following test:

Accordingly, whether the claim alleges predatory pricing under § 2 of the Sherman Act or primary-line price discrimination under the Robinson-Patman Act, two prerequisites to recovery remain the same. First, a plaintiff seeking to establish competitive injury resulting from a rival’s low prices must prove that the prices complained of are below an appropriate measure of its rival’s costs.

The second prerequisite … is a demonstration that the competitor had a reasonable prospect, or, under § 2 of the Sherman Act, a dangerous probability, of recouping its investment in below-cost prices. …  Recoupment is the ultimate object of an unlawful predatory pricing scheme; it is the means by which a predator profits from predation. Without it, predatory pricing produces lower aggregate prices in the market, and consumer welfare is enhanced. Although unsuccessful predatory pricing may encourage some inefficient substitution toward the product being sold at less than its cost, unsuccessful predation is in general a boon to consumers.

The court goes on to say:

That below-cost pricing may impose painful losses on its target is of no moment to the antitrust laws if competition is not injured: It is axiomatic that the antitrust laws were passed for “the protection of competition, not competitors.”

and

If circumstances indicate that below-cost pricing could likely produce its intended effect on the target, there is still the further question whether it would likely injure competition in the relevant market. The plaintiff must demonstrate that there is a likelihood that the predatory scheme alleged would cause a rise in prices above a competitive level that would be sufficient to compensate for the amounts expended on the predation, including the time value of the money invested in it. As we have observed on a prior occasion, “[i]n order to recoup their losses, [predators] must obtain enough market power to set higher than competitive prices, and then must sustain those prices long enough to earn in excess profits what they earlier gave up in below-cost prices.”

Evidence of below-cost pricing is not alone sufficient to permit an inference of probable recoupment and injury to competition. Determining whether recoupment of predatory losses is likely requires an estimate of the cost of the alleged predation and a close analysis of both the scheme alleged by the plaintiff and the structure and conditions of the relevant market.

It should be noted that when Amazon began its $9.99 pricing scheme, there were only a few competitors in the marketplace: Sony, Fictionwise, Diesel.

6.  Is there any action that can be taken against Barnes & Noble for their alleged actions against Random House?

In the amended complaint of the States’ Attorneys General, there were allegations that Barnes & Noble engaged in two different acts to create and enforce the collusion:

• BN assisted Macmillan in its move to Agency Pricing by moving Macmillan’s products to the top of its merchandising pods and to the front of the Nook recommendation section.
• BN punished Random House for not colluding by not including RH books in any of its advertising.

7.  Will the prices come down? Or what will happen next?

Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and HarperCollins have agreed to settle with the DOJ.  The terms of the settlement would allow retailers to gain control over pricing and include those publishers ebooks in loyalty programs, discount clubs, and straight up discounting.  Amazon has signaled that it will begin discounting once the settlement is approved.  The settlement could be approved as early as August.  The parties have 30 days to comply with the agreement once the settlement is approved.  The earliest prices will likely be reduced is September or October of 2012.

Simon & Schuster has reportedly settled with the States’ Attorneys’ General.  The terms of this settlement is unknown at this time but will be made public.  Based on past reports, it is likely to include cessation of the current control by S&S over pricing along with some kind of rebate to consumers who purchased S&S books from 2010 until the date of the settlement.  Hachette and HarperCollins were reportedly in settlement talks with the states.

If Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and HarperCollins would settle with DOJ and the States’ Attorneys’ General and those settlements would result in some payment to consumers, then it is likely the Class Action suits would be dismissed.

You can read more about what might happen next here.

8.  Will “Agency” pricing still exist?

The DOJ settlement terms allowed for a 2 year cessation of agency agreements except one kind.   The  settlement agreement allows a retailer, like Amazon, to discount books but limits the discount in one year for one publisher to not exceed the retailers aggregate commission.  Assume Amazon signs an agreement with Hachette and Amazon agrees to accept a 30% commission on every book sold.  For one year, the total amount of discounts cannot exceed the total commission Amazon received for that year.  Some of the books could be half off, buy one get one free, or not be discounted at all.  But the total discount cannot exceed total commission.  Assume Amazon sold 100 books for Hachette that were retail priced at $9.99.  The total commission for Amazon would be $299.70.  Thus, the overall discounts Amazon gave to us readers could not exceed $299.70.

I hope this helps to clarify some issues. Please feel free to drop a question in the comments.

No related posts.

• Fictionwise Coupon code for 40% off:   051812
• Kobobooks.com 50% off:   Fre50us361
• Get $1 Off select Kobo eBooks – Kobodollaroff
• 20% Off Kobo eBooks  - June20off

Deals

• Untraceable by Laura Griffin * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S *Recommend*
• How Not to Make a Wish (As You Wish Series) by Mindy Klasky * $0.99 * A | BN | K | S
• The Restorer (The Graveyard Queen) by Amanda Stevens * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Power Down by Ben Coes * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Still Missing by Chevy Stevens * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Good Thiefs Guide To Amsterdam by Chris Ewan * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Cracked Up To Be by Courtney Summers * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Death, Taxes, And A French Manicure by Diane Kelly * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Angels Of Morgan Hill by Donna Von Liere * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Price of Stars by Doyle and MacDonald * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• The Spy Who Left Me by Gina Robinson * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• The Soprano State by Ingle/McClure * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• On the Eighth Day She Rested by J.D. Mason * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Untamed by Kathleen Lawless * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Pray For Silence by Linda Castillo * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Shakespeare Undead by Lori Handeland * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Dark Mirror by M.J. Putney * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• January Dancer by Michael Flynn * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• When Good Wishes Go Bad (As You Wish Series) by Mindy Klasky * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• To Wish or Not to Wish (As You Wish Series) by Mindy Klasky * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Blood Harvest by S. J. Bolton * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Borgia Betrayal by Sara Poole * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• A Bad Day For Pretty by Sophie Littlefield * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Roman Blood by Steven Saylor * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S
• The Politician by Andrew Young * $3.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Baby Proof by Emily Giffin * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Little Children by Tom Perrotta * $4.99 * A | BN | K | S

No related posts.

“Katrina, you worthless piece of fucking white-trash bitch.”

The door opened with an echoing bang. The man walking in was as ominous as the black clothes he wore. Tall, dark and extremely handsome, he brought with him an air of fear laced with danger. Anger and rage preceded his words spoken with a sharp piercing accent on his displeasure. Throwing the tabloid he gripped in his hand at the woman standing at the counter cutting vegetables, her wide, violet eyes betrayed her fear. Slender and statuesque, she raised her body to her full height. Long, dark, silky hair flowed over her shoulders, covering her breasts. Keeping her poise, she did not speak to the man’s insults.

Her right hand gripped the large kitchen knife as her left hand picked up her cell phone. Hitting “1” on her speed dial, she sent the call as she backed away from the man.

“So, I read in the rag paper that you have accepted a modeling assignment in Paris, after hearing it from a ‘friend’ that couldn’t wait to rub it in.” The very tone of his voice made her jerk with fear.

“Tomas…” She was still on the move to get as far away from him as she could. “…it just happened this afternoon. I was preparing a fine meal for us to celebrate.” Waving the knife towards the chopped food.

Her first instinct to come home, pack and escape was now looking like the better choice.

Her back hit the wall as he reduced the space between them. With one swift move he backhanded her. The knife and the cell phone flew from her hands as she slid down the wall to the soft white carpet.

The explosion in her head put flashes of light in front of her eyes. The cell phone was within in her reach, the knife was not. Snaking her hand out she tucked the cell phone next to her, careful not to hang up.

Tomas picked up the knife and slammed it on the counter. “I hope I have made my point. Now call that vamp agent of yours and tell her the deal is off. Now.” His command was like another slap across her face.

Lifting herself up slowly, the sting of his abuse still radiating on her skin. “But it’s my job, it’s what I do.” Standing wobbly against the wall trying to clear her head of the pain. “It’s a rich paying job.” Her hand with the phone hung at the side she turned towards the wall.

His sinister laugh told her it was the wrong thing to say. “You have a job. Pleasing me. And you don’t need money. I meet your needs.”

His advancement towards her again made her move away from the wall. “Okay, I’ll call Stella.” She turned towards the bedroom, walking unsteadily.

In the room her bags were packed and ready to go. With the caller still on the phone, she picked up her bag and purse. She had to escape. To get away from this madness.

Wheeling her suitcase behind her, she shook her head again to clear it and went out to face Tomas.

Still behind the counter, his eyes flashed with a more intense fury as he watched her come out of the bedroom with her luggage.
“I see you are not taking me seriously. Do I need to make my point clearer?”

Karina stopped, raised her head and squared her shoulders. “No, you made yourself perfectly clear. I am leaving. You and this toxic relationship. Good bye Tomas.”

No related posts.

• Monica Jackson, Author, Warrior…Friend by Karen Scott
• Monica Jackson…in her own words by Laura Vivanco

Amazon to Sell Ads on Kindle Fire Welcome Screen | Digital – Advertising Age – “Amazon is pitching ads on the device’s welcome screen, according to an executive at an agency that Amazon has pitched. The company has been telling ad agency execs that they must spend about $600,000 for any package that includes such an ad. The ad campaigns would run for two months and also include inventory from Amazon’s “Special Offers” product. For $1 million, advertisers would get more ad inventory and be included in Amazon’s public-relations push, according to this executive and an exec at another ad agency.” “ AdAge

Hammond File Sharing Leak – ” The results strongly suggest that an album benefits from increased file sharing: an album that became available in file-sharingnetworks one month earlier would sell 60 additional units. This increase is sales is small relative to other factors that have been found to affect album sales. I conclude with an investigationof the distributional effects of file sharing on sales and find that file sharing benefits more established and popular artists but not newer and smaller artists.” Pre-Release File Sharing and the Music Industry by Robert G. Hammond  Personal Note: This surprises me. I would have thought it helps smaller artists and hurts more established ones. 

Simon & Schuster settles e-book antitrust suit with state AGs | Apple – CNET News – “Simon & Schuster, one of the five major book publishers accused in multiple lawsuits of conspiring with Apple to fix e-book prices, has settled the complaint filed by numerous states’ attorney generals, CNET has learned… The terms of the settlement weren’t provided in court documents. A Simon & Schuster spokesman declined to comment. Spokespeople for Apple and the Texas AGs office did not immediately respond to a request for comment but we will update as soon as we hear back.” CNET  Personal Note.  I tweeted about this and someone sent me an email asking whether the details of the settlement would ever be known.  Yes absolutely.  All government settlements are public.  My guess is that the parties are waiting to see whether all the states are going to be involved in the settlement and what all publishers are going to be involved.  It could be up to 30 or 60 days before we see the terms.  Based on other reports, however, it is likely that the settlement will involve some rebate to customers and change in the existing contracts the publishers have with retailers. 

MGM film studio options desert island romance novel set in the Maldives | Minivan News – “A best-selling novel based on the captivating love story of a mismatched pair deserted on an uninhabited island of the Maldives is to be made into a feature-length film. According to reports, leading Hollywood production company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) has optioned the rights to Tracey Garvis-Graves‘ best-selling castaway novel “On the Island”, a five-week inhabitant of the New York Times bestseller list.” Mini Van News Personal Note:  This is the second self published book to be optioned for a movie in as many weeks.  

An Annotated Bibliography of Contemporary Romance Scholarship on Romance Readers | Blog | Smart Bitches, Trashy Books | Romance Novel Reviews | All of the Romance, None of the Bullshit. – “The process of creating a bibliography about romance readers forces the obvious question: Who are romance readers? On the surface, the answer is equally obvious: those who read romance fiction. But this answer becomes more complicated when you consider the various identities belonging to a romance reader inform who reads romance, how they read romance, and what kinds of romances they read. Gender, geography, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion, cultural heritage, and socio-political ideologies are some examples of factors that affect reading habits. The types of romances –genre, format, etc. also are influencing factors of reading habits, as well as factors that are themselves influenced by the identities of romance readers. “ SmartBitches

Deals

• Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes * $1.59 * A | BN | K | S - these two books are YA stories featuring a female alpha.
• Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes * $1.59 * A | BN | K | S
• The Duchess of Love by Sally MacKenzie * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
• Dark Whispers by Samantha Garver * $1.99 * A | BN | K | S
• What A Woman Needs by Caroline Linden * $2.99 * A | BN | K | S

Related posts:

1. Friday Midday Links: Winsor Tributes & Print Price Wars
2. REVIEW: Mr. Right Now by Monica Jackson
3. Thursday Midday Links: New Blog & State of the Day EBook Report

This is a friends to lovers story and generally speaking I love those. Luke moved next door to Ava when she was eight and she promptly fell in love. Luke stoked those feelings unintentionally by championing Ava. When Luke’s dad dies, Ava and Luke promise to go out for a drink but Ava is embarrassed and ashamed of her body and refuses to answer his calls. Her sisters called her Fatty Fatty Four Eyes. After hearing her being mocked for hugging hot guy Luke, Ava went on an image improvement binge, losing weight, getting fashion and make up advice. Luke then says that Ava is not the same person anymore. Instead, she’s a bitch. Ava calls herself a bitch. Luke wants the old Ava back. What Ava and Luke calls being a bitch, however, reads to me like Ava standing up for herself. I tried to look at it from the characters’ point of view without some superimposition of my own personal beliefs, but alas, no, she still sounds like a normal female to me. To wit:

“Why am I always repeating myself with you?” he asked, sounding slightly impatient.

“Maybe because I don’t snap to when you tell me to do something like all the other women in your life likely do,” I retorted, sounding bitchy as all hell.

or

I needed time to bury that deep before I set myself up to start thinking he was a good guy again only to find out he wasn’t. To buy that time, I said quietly, “Luke.”

“We’re not talking about this anymore,” Luke told me.

“We are.”

“We’re not.”

I glared. “We are. Give me something to go on here, what’s triple payment mean?” I asked, sounding kind of bitchy.

I mean, asking a question is bitchy? Refusing to be bossed around and told what to do is bitchy? Maybe my bitch meter is completely off. But then later Luke admits he likes the bitch. Does that make it not sexist? DO YOU SEE MY CONFUSION HERE?

Obligatory pain in the ass statement (there are two of them in this book so bonus!):

“Jesus, Ava,” he said, his voice strangely part curt, part amused like he found dealing with me frustrating but he found that frustration enjoyable. “It’s a good thing your sweet body and the fuckin’ things you don’t even know you’re doin’ give you away or you’d be a serious pain in the ass.”

and

“Dexter was wrong, you don’t taste like cherry pie, you taste a fuckuva lot sweeter. If you didn’t, babe, you’d be a pain in the ass.”

I really did like Ava. She had good and bad angels sitting on her shoulders having semi hilarious discussions. She wears crocs and flip-flops. Eats processed cookie dough to soothe her battered feelings. Curses a lot, dresses up, and gets shit faced with her girlfriends. These are all blue collar guys and gals, albeit ones with good jobs and their romances play against a background of assaults, explosions, and tons of oversharing gossip. Unfortunately, it glossed over some opportunities for deeper emotion exploration particularly with Luke’s past attachments to a couple of former Rock Chick girls. Ava rightly questions his devotion to her and Luke’s succinct replies don’t cut it. Just once I’d like to see a Rock Chick say to a Hot Bunch Guy “Good thing you are a great lay and very fine because otherwise you’d be a serious fucking pain in the ass.” D

AmazonBNSonyKobo

Rock Chick Reckoning by Kristen Ashley

This one is a reunited lovers trope. Stella is a musician and Mace is a member of the Nightingale crew. They had a previous relationship but then Mace broke it off because Stella was too needy. They still have strong feelings for each other, but Stella is just as needy and Mace, well, and this is where it goes off the rails. The reason why they broke up wasn’t consistent with the previous hints. Mace hints earlier that it was Stella’s band that broke them up. Then later it is supposed to be that Stella was supposed to chase after Mace when he broke up with her.

Stella supposedly turns down the opportunity to be a huge rockstar because she doesn’t want her parents to find her. Yet when Mace gets involved, she begins to meet with agents about pushing her to the next level and suddenly her “fame” doesn’t pose a problem anymore.

Consistency was a huge issue in this book.

Obligatory “get me” phrase:

He interrupted me. “We’re done talkin’ about this. I said what I had to say. I think you get me.”

This one had at least five different points of view which were essentially used to show how the previous relationships were progressing. This book could have been interesting given the different types of characters playing the leading roles but they were, despite their professions and backgrounds, nearly indistinguishable from previous characters. Clothing details were superseded (but not eliminated) by extensive discussions of lyrics and set lists. Ironically, one of the most important sentences of the book is indecipherable. Mace says to Stella “I can’t be the star in your sky when you’re the only star left shining in mine.” What does that even mean? F

AmazonBNSonyKobo

Rock Chick Regret by Kristen Ashley

I almost didn’t read this one because after the incomprehensible tragedy that was Stella and Mace’s romance, I questioned whether I wanted to read another Ashley book ever. But, because of my OCD, I couldn’t leave the last book of the Rock Chicks unread. Hector Chavez, brother of Eddie Chavez (leading male in Rock Chick Rescue) is the hero in this book. He was deep undercover for the DEA working to bring down drug lord Seth Townsend. Sadie Townsend, Seth’s daughter, and Hector fell for each other while Hector was undercover but Hector couldn’t jeopardize his role and Sadie was too shy and reserved to act on her feelings except for one night when she was a little tipsy and Hector lost control. Except Hector says something very vulgar to her (that he was glad she was slumming) and Sadie ran away from him. After Sadie’s father was imprisoned, she became the target of the bad guys who wanted to take her father’s place. Having Sadie under their thumb was a way to cement their top dog position. She goes to the Nightingale Agency to pay for a protective detail and is turned away by Lee. Sadie then proceeds to be viscously beaten and raped.

Chapter two has five! different points of view because you can’t get the full range of regret in the first person. The pathos expressed is great, but the way in which it is done seems manipulative and cheap.

That said, Sadie’s blossoming after her rape was touching. She feels like she is alone in the world because her father made it that way. She had no friends or so she thinks. But the sole employee in Sadie’s art gallery takes her to his home where he lives with his partner and together the two gay men show Sadie that she is loved and worthy of love. The relationship that develops between Sadie and the gay couple is almost worth reading the book.

Hector and Sadie’s relationship is a standard Rock Chick story. Only Hector gives epic “pain in the ass” speeches.

Then his eyes opened and he said softly, “Christ, Sadie, puttin’ up with you demonstrating how many more ways you can be a pain in the ass was worth every fuckin’ second if that was the end result.”

and

“If I didn’t know it was worth it. If I didn’t know from what happened last night and, whatever the fuck you thought it was, mamita, what happened this morning. And if I didn’t like your hands in my hair holding my mouth to you, the smell of your fuckin’ perfume when I’m buried inside you and the way you lose that tight-as-shit control over every fuckin’ move you make when you get excited and you use your nails and teeth on me, I’d give up, because, mamita, you are one serious pain in the ass.”

I ended up liking this more than I thought I would. It has disturbing misogynistic overtones that made me flinch throughout the book, however, such as Hector instruction Sadie that she wasn’t to stand close to any other man.  Plus, the Rock Chick name checks were tiresome. There were complete pages that were tl;dr and were completely meaningless such as identifying every character who was attending a barbecue and mentioning who was pregnant and who was engaged and who was married.  Tiresome.  Unnecessary.

AmazonBNSonyKobo

There is a lot to like about Ashley’s stories.  The characters are vivid.  Her romances are charming.  The settings are ordinary in a very positive way.  There aren’t billionaires here, for the most part.  There is a lot of cursing, drinking, fighting and partying.  These characters say things that aren’t normally voiced in the regular and polite course of events.  I feel like Ashley is writing about characters we don’t read much about.  But I think a content editor could help to reduce the repetition, point out the inconsistencies, increase the flow, and reign in some of Ashley’s writer tendencies.

Related posts:

1. MINI REVIEW: Rock Chick Rescue, Rock Chick Redemption, Rock Chick Renegade series by Kristen Ashley
2. REVIEW: Rock Chick by Kristen Ashley
3. REVIEW: Rock Hard by Olivia Cunning