About Janine

http://dearauthor.com

Janine Ballard loves well-paced, character-driven books. Examples include novels by Shana Abe, Loretta Chase, Patricia Gaffney, Cecilia Grant, Judith Ivory, Carolyn Jewel, Laura Kinsale, Julie Anne Long, Alison Richardson, Nalini Singh and Pam Rosenthal. Janine also writes fiction. Her critique partners are Sherry Thomas, Meredith Duran and Bettie Sharpe. Her erotic short story, "Kiss of Life", appears in the Berkley anthology AGONY/ECSTASY under the pen name Lily Daniels. You can email Janine at janineballard at gmail dot com. or find her on Twitter @janine_ballard.

Posts by Janine :

REVIEW:  Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

REVIEW: Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld

Dear Mr.Westerfeld, Following an enthusiastic recommendation from Lou of The Book Pushers, I picked up your Leviathan Trilogy, a YA steampunk series, to read with my husband. The series is set in a fun, detailed and engaging if not 100% believable world where World War I is a clash between two technologies, one DNA based(…)

REVIEW:  The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abé

REVIEW: The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abé

Dear Ms. Abé, As a longtime reader of your fantasy-romance Drakon series (books aimed at adults), I was eager to read your newest book, The Sweetest Dark, which is both related to the Drakon series, and the first book in a new series aimed at readers of YA. You state on your website that The(…)

REVIEW:  Captive Prince, Volumes 1 and 2, by S.U. Pacat

REVIEW: Captive Prince, Volumes 1 and 2, by S.U. Pacat

Dear Ms. Pacat, I thought about reviewing the two volumes of Captive Prince separately, but came to the conclusion that since they are two parts of the same story and absolutely must be read in order, this made no sense. I understand that there will be a third volume out in 2014, and I will(…)

REVIEW:  Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

REVIEW: Orleans by Sherri L. Smith

Dear Ms. Smith, I greatly enjoyed your YA historical novel, Flygirl, in which a young African American woman passes for white in order to join the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II. I loved Ida Mae’s story, so when I saw that you had a new book out, a YA dystopian set(…)

JOINT REVIEW:  The Dark Lady by Maire Claremont

JOINT REVIEW: The Dark Lady by Maire Claremont

Janine: I was initially going to review Maire Claremont’s debut, The Dark Lady: A Novel of Mad Passions, alone, but when I discussed the novel with Sunita, she caught a couple of historical errors. Since she is also knowledgeable about India, where part of the book takes place, I invited her to join me. Sunita:(…)

REVIEW:  How to Misbehave by Ruthie Knox

REVIEW: How to Misbehave by Ruthie Knox

Dear Ms. Knox, Your 30,000 word novella, How to Misbehave, charmed me to my toes. How to Misbehave takes place in the college town of Camelot, Ohio, in the year 1999. This then is Amber’s opportunity to flirt with Tony and see if he’s interested in her. Amber knows it, but she is as afraid(…)

What Janine was Reading in October, November, and December of 2012

What Janine was Reading in October, November, and December of 2012

It’s been forever since I did one of these columns, so this will cover a lot of books: Ride with Me by Ruthie Knox Ruthie Knox’s About Last Night was my favorite contemporary of 2012. I don’t read many straight contemporaries, because I typically enjoy them more mildly than other genres of romance. About Last(…)

REVIEW:  Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

REVIEW: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Dear Ms. Hartman, Your debut YA fantasy, Seraphina, set in a world based Renaissance Europe, is both a coming of age story and a tale of a clash between two species. Sixteen year old Seraphina Dombegh, the heroine of the novel, is the child of a human father and a dragon mother. The secret of(…)

JOINT REVIEW:  A Christmas Bride by Mary Balogh

JOINT REVIEW: A Christmas Bride by Mary Balogh

Janine: We’ve all read Christmas stories which feature cynics whose hardened hearts soften during the holiday season. From Ebenezer Scrooge in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to the Grinch in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, such figures are not uncommon in holiday stories in or out of the romance genre. But they are almost(…)

REVIEW:  Aftershock by Jill Sorenson

REVIEW: Aftershock by Jill Sorenson

Dear Ms. Sorenson, Last year I read and enjoyed your romantic suspense novel, The Edge of Night, and ever since then I have been interested in reading another of your books. When I heard about Aftershock, a book set during and in the aftermath of an earthquake, my interest perked up and I decided to(…)

Janine’s Best of 2012 List

Janine’s Best of 2012 List

My top ten favorite books published in 2012, ranked (that part was haaaard) and described: Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore Review by me. This intricately plotted YA fantasy about a young queen’s heroic determination to uncover buried truths about her father and nation was an almost flawless read. Beloved characters from Graceling return and new ones(…)

REVIEW:  Steel’s Edge by Ilona Andrews

REVIEW: Steel’s Edge by Ilona Andrews

Dear Ms. Andrews, I’m a fan of your Edge series so I was very sad to hear that it’s likely that Steel’s Edge is the last book set in that world. Steel’s Edge begins in the Weird, a fantastical world that mirrors our own, where Lady Charlotte de Ney discovers that her husband Elvei does(…)

REVIEW:  Knaves’ Wager by Loretta Chase

REVIEW: Knaves’ Wager by Loretta Chase

Dear Ms. Chase, I’m sure you are familiar with Choderlos de Laclos’ 18th century epistolary novel, Les Liaisons dangereuses. It has been adapted to stage and screen, and the cinematic versions include Dangerous Liaisons, Valmont, and Cruel Intentions, among others. In Les Liaisons dangereuses, the corrupt Vicomte de Valmont wants to seduce the married Madame(…)

REVIEW:  The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

REVIEW: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Dear Mr. Green, The narrator of your novel, The Fault in Our Stars is Hazel, a sixteen year old with stage four thyroid cancer “with an impressive and long-settled satellite colony” in her lungs. Thanks to a drug treatment she calls “the Miracle” Hazel’s cancer has been kept from spreading further. When she leaves the(…)

What Janine is Reading: September 2012

What Janine is Reading: September 2012

It’s hard to believe November is here already, and I’m just now getting around to posting my September reading list. Where did the time go? Once Upon a Ballroom by Caroline Linden, Katharine Ashe, Maya Rodale, and Miranda Neville This anthology has been priced between free and 99 cents since it came out, and because(…)