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: Archangel’s Blade by Nalini Singh

REVIEW: Archangel’s Blade by Nalini Singh

Dear Ms. Singh, Archangel’s Blade opens with a flashback in the vampire Dmitri’s POV, one that takes us back to Dmitri’s human life. In the flashback, dark, ruthless Dmitri is revealed to have once, a thousand years ago, been a loving and tender hearted man devoted to his two children and to his wife. Smiling(…)

What Janine is Reading 8/21/11-9/4/11

What Janine is Reading 8/21/11-9/4/11

In the reading world I’m more of a turtle than a greyhound. During the past two weeks, I read two books. Here’s a recap: Archangel’s Consort by Nalini Singh I picked up this third novel in Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series in preparation for book four, Archangel’s Blade, which I had committed myself to reviewing.(…)

What Janine is Reading, 8/4/11-8/20/11

What Janine is Reading, 8/4/11-8/20/11

I’m a slow reader, and rarely read more than a book a week. In the past two weeks, I managed to read one third of a novella, half a novel, and one book from start to finish. Here’s a recap. A Paris Affair by Adelaide Cole This erotic Harlequin Spice Brief begins with Valerie, the(…)

REVIEW: The Reluctant Nude by Meg Maguire

REVIEW: The Reluctant Nude by Meg Maguire

Readers please note: I found it difficult to discuss what did and didn’t work for me in this book without revealing SPOILERS. While the biggest spoiler is hidden, there are other spoilers visible in the review. — Janine Dear Ms. Maguire, Last year, after Jane reviewed it, I read and enjoyed your erotic novella, Willing(…)

REVIEW: Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

REVIEW: Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt

Dear Ms. Leavitt, Elyssa Papa recommended your YA fantasy Keturah and Lord Death to me, saying that it was dark and romantic, and it is both of these things. My husband and I have been reading to each other in the evenings, and we frequently read YA, so I put this one in our reading(…)

REVIEW: Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

REVIEW: Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

Dear Mr. Watson, Your first novel, a psychological thriller titled Before I Go to Sleep, has garnered considerable attention. The cover of my advanced reader’s edition proclaims that rights have been sold in over thirty countries, and movie rights sold to acclaimed director Ridley Scott. There are blurbs from Tess Gerritsen and Dennis Lehane calling(…)

REVIEW: The Wild Marquis by Miranda Neville

REVIEW: The Wild Marquis by Miranda Neville

Dear Ms. Neville, I had enjoyed your book, The Dangerous Viscount, enough that I wanted to read the upcoming The Amorous Education of Celia Seaton. The rub was that I hate reading series out of order. What’s an anal reader to do but backtrack and get the first book in the Burgundy Club series, The(…)

REVIEW: A Sense of Sin by Elizabeth Essex

REVIEW: A Sense of Sin by Elizabeth Essex

Dear Ms. Essex, Your second novel, A Sense of Sin, came to my attention through the blurb that described the plot. He Could Be Her Ruin – After a shocking letter and then a mysterious warning about the dangers of unworthy men, Celia Burke is on edge. With her precarious position in society, the merest(…)

My Saturday at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

My Saturday at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books was held over two days this past weekend, Saturday, April 30th and Sunday, May 1st. Although I was disappointed that the romance genre was not represented at the festival, I made plans to attend some interesting events and panels on Saturday, April 30th, along with my husband, my(…)

REVIEW: Petals and Thorns by Jennifer Paris

REVIEW: Petals and Thorns by Jennifer Paris

Dear Ms. Paris, Around the time we were having the discussion of rape fantasies here at DA, Jane asked for recommendations of books similar to Cara McKenna’s Willing Victim, and your novella, Petals and Thorns, came up on Twitter. Reader MaryK, who hadn’t read it, thought it might fit the bill of what Jane was(…)

REVIEW: The Gospel of Love: According to Luke by Jackie Barbosa

REVIEW: The Gospel of Love: According to Luke by Jackie Barbosa

Dear Ms. Barbosa, A while back you mentioned on Twitter that you were writing a series of four novellas, each written from one of four brothers’ first person POVs. The series is called The Gospel of Love because the brothers’ names are Luke, Mark, Matthew and John. I asked if these were Christian romances and(…)

JOINT REVIEW: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

JOINT REVIEW: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh

Janine: I’ve been hankering for Nalini Singh’s Kiss of Snow ever since I realized Hawke would be paired with Sienna, and was so excited to receive the ARC that even though I was in the middle of two other books, I dropped them to read this one the day I got it. When I had(…)

JOINT REVIEW: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh (and Giveaway)

JOINT REVIEW: Kiss of Snow by Nalini Singh (and Giveaway)

UPDATE: We’ve decouple the review from the giveaway because this is a book so many want to talk about. The review will be reposted on Monday in a new and separate post. The winners have all been emailed. 1) Andy Swanson 2) Cath 3) Adrianne Robinson 4) Jenny 5) Sera 6) Nicola 7) sequoia 8)(…)

JOINT REVIEW: A Marriage of Inconvenience by Susanna Fraser

JOINT REVIEW: A Marriage of Inconvenience by Susanna Fraser

Janine: This regency-set historical romance begins with the heroine, eighteen year old Lucy Jones, receiving a proposal from her cousin, Sebastian Arrington. Sebastian is the second son of a baron and a cavalry lieutenant and Lucy is a poor relation who has loved him from afar from years, so the prospect of marrying him is(…)

REVIEW: The Edge of Night by Jill Sorenson

REVIEW: The Edge of Night by Jill Sorenson

Readers of this review should know that Jill Sorenson contributes f/f and f/f/m reviews to this blog on a once-a-month basis. Dear Ms. Sorenson, Contemporary romantic suspense is a genre I can enjoy a lot when a book is well-executed, but most of the time, I don't find myself drawn to reading books in this(…)