Open Thread for Readers

59 Comments

1. Darlynne
   Apr 01, 2012 @ 13:55:19

   Wasn’t there a discussion about author blurbs somewhere recently, to consider or not to consider when choosing a book? I have newly discovered how much I dislike exclamation marks in blurbs. When an author exclaims all over the place about how frabjous a particular book is and the blurb is sparkly like Edward or breathless like Bella, that counts as nearly worse than nothing. Be judicious, blurbing authors, please tell me why, not how much, you liked something.

   I finished Lover Reborn and will say that it was infinitely better than the previous book-that-shall-not-be-named. It’s new territory, folks, the old guard is mated, and while I enthusiastically applaud the news that Qhuinn and Blay will be next, I’m observing a moment of silence for the BDB and what once was.

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2. Jane
   Apr 01, 2012 @ 13:58:54

   @Darlynne: I read Lover Reborn over the weekend. I haven’t read since book 5. I enjoyed Tohr’s part in it and the palpable nature of his grief. I wasn’t sold on his love for No’One. While I enjoyed the other stories in the book, I wasn’t emotionally attached to any of them.

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3. Cara
   Apr 01, 2012 @ 16:13:11

   I need some recs. I feel like I’m having trouble coming back into the romance fold after a few weeks away (read The Hunger Games and then read the first Mistborn book by Brandon Sanderson – both were good, especially for something that’s usually out of my norm). I came back to romance by picking a random historical from my tbr list, which was a huge mistake (The Seduction of His Wife by Tiffany Clare – total bomb for me). Have read a few shorts since then that were okay, but I really, really want something lush a swoony to sweep me off my feet. Preferably a historical. Suggestions?

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4. Cara
   Apr 01, 2012 @ 16:14:22

   *lush and swoony.

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5. cleo
   Apr 01, 2012 @ 16:15:31

   Any word on the new Julie James coming out this week? I was excited for Kyle’s story, and then I read the blurb – he ends up as a witness for a high profile case and his love interest is an assistant US attorney he has a history with. I don’t know – it sounds a lot like Something About You and I’m not always a fan of recycled plots – unless they work of course. Anyone read an advanced copy?

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6. Estara
   Apr 01, 2012 @ 16:23:34

   I guess this will turn into promo – but I am not ashamed to say I really want Judith Tarr and her 9 Lipizzans to get a bit MORE money for their Kickstarter, so I’m introducing it here with a teaser extravaganza:

   Help Judith Tarr get her newest novel co-op published at Book View Café! For a Kickstarter donation of $5 you get the finished ebook (various formats), that’s a bargain for a novel and Book View Café sells worldwide – anyone who can use Amazon Payments can support Kickstarter!

   If you haven’t read her yet, how come? She’s the goddess of historically based fantasy (especially where horses are concerned).

   Description of the novel Living in Threes:

   Three lives, three times, one world: a mystery that spans millennia. LIVING IN THREES is the story of three young women in three different ages of the world, who work together across space and time to solve an ancient mystery and end a terrible plague.

   Here’s an excerpt for the Ancient Egypt timeline posted for everyone at Kickstarter.

   If you’re wandering by and wondering what this project is, here’s a sample. It’s one of three intertwined stories, three lives that weave in and out and through one another across thousands of years. (The others are present day and far future.) This is the first and the earliest. I hope you enjoy.

   =================

   Meritre

   A hawk hung on the pinnacle of heaven. From the temple far below, it looked like a bird of metal suspended in the sky.

   The sun’s heat was fierce, but Meritre shivered. The choir was so much smaller than it had been a year ago: so many lost, so many voices silenced. Of those whom the plague had left, too many were thin and pale, and their singing barely rippled the air above the courtyard.

   They would be strong again. New voices would join the chorus. Pharaoh had promised, swearing that the promise came from the great god Amon himself.

   Today, there were only twelve singers, and somehow they had to sing as if there were three times that many. The plague was gone at last. In just nine days there would be a royal rite of celebration, and the choir would sing the responses.

   The mistress of the chorus struck the stone paving with her rod. “Again,” she said. “Clearer, louder, stronger. The king will be here, and the king’s daughter. Give them a hymn worthy of the god himself.”

   Meritre filled her heart and head and throat with the song and poured it out with all the strength she had. Eleven voices joined with hers, swelling until they filled the great court with its brilliantly painted columns and its ranks of statues both royal and divine. Even the blue vault of heaven and the hawk of Horus hovering in it seemed to pause, struck motionless by the sound.

   One voice faltered, lost its power and swiftly died. It was the one of them all that Meritre knew best, the purest and until now the strongest.

   She turned in time to see her mother fall. The singers on either side leaped to catch her, but Meritre was there first. Her knees were bruised from the pavement; her mother was a dead weight in her arms.

   Aweret still breathed, though shallowly. Her skin was damp and unnaturally cold.

   The plague came with a cough and a burning fever. These chills must be something else, something less deadly–from the heat, maybe. It was terribly hot in the courtyard, and they had been rehearsing since the early morning. It was a miracle that no one else had fainted.

   One of the temple servants brought a cup full of barley water. Meritre held it to her mother’s lips. Aweret drank a sip or two, then turned her head away.

   The mistress of the chorus was a sharp and irritable woman, but her heart was kind. She insisted on sending Aweret home in a chair like one of the priests. Aweret was weak enough not to object–and that frightened Meritre all over again.

   She held herself together well enough to make her way home, though she hardly remembered the streets between. Those were much less crowded than they used to be, and the markets were almost empty.

   The servants from the temple helped her carry Aweret up to the roof where there was a fan and a shade and as much coolness as anyone could find in this season. No one else was in the house. Father and the boys were in the king’s workshop, carving statues as they did every day except festival days.

   Meritre dampened the shade in the jar of water that she always kept filled, and hung it up to catch the wind. It cooled the air where Aweret lay. She sighed, and Meritre thought she looked a little less pale.

   The cat who had chosen to live in this house came gliding out of air as cats could do. It sprang up onto the cot and curled in the curve of Aweret’s hip.

   Aweret was well guarded now. Meritre wanted to stay beside her, too, but there was too much to do: bread to bake, beer to brew, dinner to get ready for the others when they came home in the evening. She stooped to kiss Aweret’s forehead and smooth her hair.

   Her eyes were open, and they were clear. Meritre never meant to burst into tears.

   Aweret caught Meritre’s hand before she could spin away, and said, “I’m well. I’m not sick or dying.”

   “Then what?” Meritre tried, but she could not keep the anger out of her voice. “You scared half my souls out of me.”

   “I am sorry,” Aweret said. “I wasn’t sure, you see, and I didn’t want to tell anyone, even your father, for fear it wouldn’t be true. But while we were singing, while the rays of the god were bathing my face, I knew. I’m afraid it overwhelmed me.”

   “You are sick,” Meritre said, “or the sun has driven you insane.”

   “Oh, no,” Aweret said, laughing. “Here. It’s here.” She laid Meritre’s hand on her middle, where it was always gently rounded, but maybe, now, just a little more.

   Meritre stared. Aweret nodded. Her eyes were full of joy. “It’s an omen,” she said. “The terrible times truly are gone. This child brings blessing to us all.”

   “Gods willing,” Meritre said.

   She was glad–really, she was. But more than that, she was terrified.

   The plague had been kind to her family. It had only killed the baby, little Iry; it had left the rest of them alone.

   Babies were so fragile. Any smallest thing could sweep them away. That had been true of every human life in the plague, but a new one, so young it had just begun to wake to the world, was most vulnerable of all.

   Meritre did not know if she dared to love another sister or brother as she had loved Iry. A part of her had gone away when her sister died, and still had not come back.

   She set another kiss on her mother’s belly where her hand had been. A thought was growing in her, but she needed time to let it take root. “You rest,” she said. “The others will be home soon. I won’t tell them. Unless . . . ?”

   Aweret laid a finger on Meritre’s lips. “It will be our secret for a while.”

   “Not too long,” Meritre said.

   “Oh, no,” said Aweret. “Even a man will notice eventually–and your father has a sharper eye than most.”

   “That’s the sculptor in him,” Meritre said. She claimed back her hand and made herself stand up straight. “Now I really have to go, or dinner will be late, and they’ll all ask too many questions.”

   Want to read a bit more?

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7. Dabney
   Apr 01, 2012 @ 16:27:18

   @Cara: I just read “The Price of Innocence” by Susan Sizemore and loved it. It’s very old school historical but well-done and very sexy.

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8. cleo
   Apr 01, 2012 @ 16:44:44

   @Cara: @Cara: @Cara: hmm, lush and swoony. Silk is for Seduction by Loretta Chase. Also, Innocent in the Sheik’s Harem by Marguerite Kaye – not the usual sheik romance and quite swoony. And I recently read a short story by Jeannie Lin – Capturing the Silken Thief, set in 10th C China, which was great.

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9. Jayne
   Apr 01, 2012 @ 18:12:27

   @cleo: I read it a month ago and let’s just say it didn’t light up my life. Jennie’s read it too, I think, and mentioned it in her latest “what I’m reading” post.

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10. riga
    Apr 01, 2012 @ 18:51:20

    Sad to say, the only Julie James book that DIDN’T feel recycled to me was the first one I read. Pretty sure no matter which one I’d read first, I would have had the same reaction.

    For what it’s worth, I really enjoyed the hell out of that book. I just wish the others had worked half as well for me. (Not saying which one it was because I don’t think it even matters.)

    Finally reading the unabridged Count of Monte Cristo. It is the most delicious literary crack of all time. God bless you, Alexandre Dumas.

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11. Heather Massey
    Apr 01, 2012 @ 20:00:28

    If you’re a fan of Titanic-themed stories, you might like Veronica Scott’s WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM. Think: Titanic…in space, with a Navy Seal-type hero (and an HEA!). The author self-pubbed this title and it’s only 99 cents at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Wreck-Nebula-Dream-ebook/dp/B007K3P2JE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333327945&sr=8-1).

    It came out last month, but I thought I’d mention it now given that April 15 is the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking.

    The romance is understated, kind of a slow burn. The story focuses a lot on the rescue/escape parts. What I liked best about the romance is that the heroine (a businesswoman) had an equal part in the final rescue scene.

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12. Jane
    Apr 01, 2012 @ 20:12:28

    @cleo: We’ve got a review we’ll post tomorrow from Jayne. It’s good but kind of meatless.

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13. Jane
    Apr 01, 2012 @ 20:12:56

    @Jayne: oops. I need to read all the comments before commenting myself.

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14. Jane
    Apr 01, 2012 @ 20:15:29

    @Cara: Not a fan of Tiffany Clare’s writing myself. Something just doesn’t connect for me. Have you read any of Meredith Duran’s work? My favorite is Bound by Your Touch. We’ve reviewed several Duran books here.

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15. Lay Jaye
    Apr 01, 2012 @ 20:37:25

    Sharon Shinn’s new book, The Shape of Desire, comes out on 3rd April. I’m really excited for it. It sounds like it will be different, as the setting is present day, and it also looks like she is doing something cool with shapeshifter mythology. Looking very forward to it!

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16. RebeccaJ
    Apr 01, 2012 @ 20:37:40

    I’m reading Janice Kay Johnson’s Between Love & Duty. I think Janice writes some of the best cop characters in romance novels today. And they always have a good story as well.

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17. Violet Bick
    Apr 01, 2012 @ 21:21:48

    @Heather Massey: Thanks for the recommendation. I’m a bit obsessed by Titanic at the moment, and I like the space theme, so this book sounds right up my alley.

    But for other interested (and similarly obsessed) readers, the plot sounds more comparable to that of the Oceanos (captain and crew abandon ship and passengers) or the Costa Concordia than that of the Titanic since the captain and crew of the Titanic did not abandon the passengers per se (although they did run out of lifeboats!).

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18. Cara
    Apr 01, 2012 @ 22:31:21

    Thanks for the recs! I’m narrowing it down to Tessa Dare, Loretta Chase, and Meredith Duran. I’ve only read Wicked Becomes You by her and I didn’t care for it, but I’m willing to give her another shot. Or I might just wait until the 3rd when Hart MacKenzie’s story comes out by Jennifer Ashley…

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19. venus velvet
    Apr 01, 2012 @ 22:58:44

    @ Cara
    I started with Wicked Becomes You, and wasn’t crazy about it either, but her others are much better, imo. The Duke of Shadows and A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal are my favorites. Her latest is good also.

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20. venus velvet
    Apr 01, 2012 @ 23:00:52

    Tessa Dare is good, but I find I keep putting her books down. Duran’s books I race through.

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21. Rosario
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 05:45:59

    @Lay Jaye:

    Sharon Shinn’s new book, The Shape of Desire, comes out on 3rd April. I’m really excited for it. It sounds like it will be different, as the setting is present day, and it also looks like she is doing something cool with shapeshifter mythology. Looking very forward to it!

    I’m keeping my fingers crossed for this one. I absolutely love Shinn, and will read anythings she writes, but it seems to be urban fantasy, and I haven’t had much luck with the genre. I’ve tried the authors everyone loves and recommends, but they just haven’t appealed to me.

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22. Angela
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 06:56:16

    I’ve been on a pretty good streak lately – not sure if that’s because I’m mixing in re-reads with new books or what.

    Loved Lover Reborn by J.R. Ward. I’ll comment on the review thread though. It was, I think, the best book since the first four.

    Also really loved Bound Hearts by C.C. Galloway. Strong contemporary romance with great characters.

    Re-read The Hunger Games series after seeing the movie. Movie was great, but as nearly always, the books are so much better. Now I’m getting back to my Psy/Changeling series re-read.

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23. Jill Sorenson
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 07:23:18

    I read Sheltered by Charlotte Stein and really enjoyed it. Very erotic and emotional, unique characters, sort of YA-ish but for mature readers.

    Last month (I think) I started Heat by R. Lee Smith. Loved the beginning. Then it devolved into a mindless cesspool of sexual violence as titillation. The plot and world-building fell apart. Good writing and brilliant opening, but I couldn’t finish. It was more engaging than anything I’ve read in a long time, and I continue to think about it–mostly negative thoughts. I want revenge on that book for violating my mind!

    Also enjoyed a short story, The Captain and Claire by Gabrielle West. This is erotic with f/f and f/m scenes.

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24. Mikaela
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 07:36:10

    Just like Estara, I’ll take the chance to push for a Kickstarter. *grins* I love, love Laura Anne Gilman. And right now she is making me very happy. She is doing a Kickstarter for two Cosa Nostradamus novellas. They stand alone, so you don’t have to read the previous books first.

    Description of the novellas:

    The stories, Miles to Go and Promises to Keep, introduce Danny Hendrickson. He’s a half-breed, very very rare in the Cosa Nostradamus. Human mother, faun father, 100% Attitude. For the most part, he’s made his own way, first as a member of the NYPD and then – when they started looking too closely at non-humans in the force – as a private investigator, straddling the line between human and fatae in his job the way he does in his life

    He has a good life, he has good friends, he makes a difference… But he also has a dangerous life. And sometimes – when you’re in the middle of magic – good friends aren’t enough.

    Miles to Go: It’s an ordinary day, another ordinary – for Danny – job, when he’s approached by a young woman who has information he needs to solve a case. All she wants to do is help. When a life – or more – are on the line, it’s hard to turn that down. But the cost of that information will change Danny’s life…forever.

    Promises to Keep: Following up on the events of MtG, Danny has a boring snoop-and-scoop infidelity case, the kind of thing that pays the bills and keeps everyone fed. But his new – and magical – partner sees something more in the scenario…and what she sees is deadly. To the client – and to them.

    You can read more here.
    http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/980297055/miles-to-go-promises-to-keep-a-cosa-nostradamus-pr/

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25. Jorrie Spencer
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 07:55:14

    I’m rereading the Alpha and Omega series by Patricia Briggs. I’m not much of a rereader but I’m really enjoying it. I wanted to remember all the details before I go on to read the recently released Fair Game. I’d forgotten how much I liked Charles and Anna’s relationship, and it’s quite complex in an interesting way to me. Plus, I was fascinated by Bran’s backstory in Cry Wolf, and I’m wondering if we’ll get more about Bran.

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26. SandyH
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 08:22:10

    Am getting caught up with Joanna Bourne’s spymaster series. Finally read The Forbidden Rose. I have the Black Hawk to read. I re-read the first two books – fabulous. I just discovered Julia Spencer-Fleming’s mysteries. Not heavy on the romance but very good books. I have a good by Courtney Milan to read. For some reason I just cannot get into her books but I keep trying.

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27. Dabney
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 08:35:27

    @Jayne: Which book?

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28. Dabney
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 08:36:37

    @SandyH: I love the Joanna Bourne. I think each one just gets better.

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29. Jayne
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 09:06:54

    @Dabney: “About that Night.”

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30. JacquiC
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 09:10:37

    @RebeccaJ: I just read Janice Kay Johnson’ “From Father to Son”, which I really really liked and is the next one in the same series as “Between Love and Duty”. Even her less-than-stellar books seem better to me than most books in the category romance genre. I just love the way she writes. I have the next one (“the Call of Bravery”) on my kindle but am postponing reading it because I don’t want to use it up!

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31. JacquiC
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 09:15:53

    I also recently read “Sheltered” by Charlotte Stein, which I absolutely loved. I went through her backlist after that but couldn’t decide which one seemed likely to be as good as that one. Anyone have any recommendations?

    I also read “Broken” by Megan Hart which totally blew me away. What a tearjerker! So well done. I had to find something lighter and fluffier to read after that one…

    And in view of all the “50 Shades” hoopla (I have not read FSOG and don’t intend to), I have been dabbling in some of the recommendations of “better” BDSM books that I have found on various blogs. I am liking Cherise Sinclair’s stuff. BDSM is not really for me, but I am finding the writing and the stories to be compelling.

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32. Jane
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 09:39:37

    @JacquiC – I was just sharing via email with a friend that I love Stein’s voice, but her execution often leaves me befuddled. My favorite Stein (other than Sheltered) is a Lust Bites story that she wrote for Total eBound. I can’t remember the name right now. Her other works feature the same first person POV and it is deep and often non linear.

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33. Las
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 10:10:58

    I’ve been sitting on a few Amazon gift cards for months, so I finally made use of them and bought some used out-of-print books that I’ve been wanting to reread for old times sake. I also took a few chances and bought ebooks by new to me authors, as well as books that had a lot of positive buzz but I was skeptical about.

    I read several Cherise Sinclair books, which were awesome and I’m planning a major glom. I also read a few short stories by Janet Eckford. And when I say short I mean short. I don’t usually complain about price because as much as I love them books are a luxury item, but $2.99 for 30 pages is absurd. If I hadn’t bought them with a gift card I would have been pissed. The stories were fun, but not THAT fun.

    I finally read La Bonne by Michele De Lully. My feelings are mixed. The contemporary setting was a huge mistake considering the plot and the characters, and I felt there was way too much angst, and not well-written angst. Make it a “wall-paper” historical, keep the hot sex, and tone down the angst and this would have been a keeper for me.

    I picked up Sarah Morgan’s Once a Ferrera Wife. Morgan is one of those authors that I totally get why people like her but I just can’t get into her stories, and OAFW is just one more example of that. The constant back and forth between the h/h was boring, and did she really finally forgive him because he bought her a mansion? I kept thinking, “Oh will you SHUT UP!” every other page.

    The used books were fun, in a “I can’t believed I loved this stuff so much” kind of way. The one thing that really stood out was the editing. Not a typo or grammatical error to be seen. It made all the errors really pop out at me when I went back to ebooks, and that still hasn’t faded. I haven’t been able to ignore such errors since.

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34. Lada
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 10:44:14

    I recently finished Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas and was sadly disappointed. I enjoy Kleypas’s writing but think she ends up shying away from any real emotional depth in her contemporaries. I felt like I was *told* much about Sam’s issues regarding his childhood but *shown* little real affect. And Lucy was too much a Mary-Sue for me to warm up to her. This was probably a C read for me.

    I’m mostly disappointed because I thought Rainshadow Road would fit the romantic mood I’ve been in lately (Spring is in the air!). Any recommendations for a really romantic book with much wooing involved?

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35. Anonymous Jerkface
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 10:53:30

    Can we quit flogging all the kickstarters in the comments? Please.

    If I want to support an author, I’ll buy the book at my usual outlet.

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36. Elyssa
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 10:53:46

    I recently discovered Jessica Hart (although it seems like she’s been publishing for years and years) with her WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS. I absolutely LOVED this book. Basic concept of the story: the heroine, who’s a production assistant for some TV company (sort of BBC-like, I thought), has to get this very straight-laced, logical hero to be co-host on the documentary, which is all about . . . ROMANCE NOVELS! He totally doesn’t believe in love or romance, and she does. And the book was so so joyous. Basically after I finished reading that book I’ve been on a Jessia Hart gobbleglom reading spree. (Just a caveat: the sex scenes are fade to black but there’s loads of sexual tension.)

    And I really should read the OMEGA/ALPHA series.

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37. Jane
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 10:55:56

    I confess that these promotional posts for kickstarter programs, even by readers, are discomfiting to me.

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38. Ruth (CO)
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 10:55:59

    I picked up a new author Sabrina Chase as an Amazon recommends (I know it worked for me). I read her two books (fantasy with some magic) ending with HEA. Her writing just flowed for me and I love the subtle descriptions of love that she includes.

    For example in Firehearted (this was a secondary relationship of people from two different ethnic backgrounds)

    “You came back”…”I return to where the sun is brightest,” he said, his voice barely audible. “Is…is the sun now brighter in your eyes?”

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39. Janine
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 12:35:03

    @Lada:

    I recently finished Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas and was sadly disappointed. I enjoy Kleypas’s writing but think she ends up shying away from any real emotional depth in her contemporaries.

    I enjoyed Rainshadow Road more than you did (rated it a B-), but I felt somewhat similarly about it. I have not read her Travis books yet so I can’t say if I would feel the same way about those. What I like about the two Friday Harbor works is that the characters feel contemporary and real to me (something that doesn’t always happen when I read contemporaries).

    Any recommendations for a really romantic book with much wooing involved?

    Do you read paranormals? The only books I can think of at the moment which involve a lot of wooing are Nalini Singh’s changeling-changeling romances in the Psy/Changeling series. Specifically, Play of Passion and the upcoming Tangle of Need. The series is probably best read in order but the other books aren’t as heavy on the wooing as these ones, if memory serves.

    @Jill Sorenson, @JacquiC & @Jane: I really want to read Sheltered now.

    @JacquiC: I loved Broken too. I reviewed it here ages ago. Need to reread it sometime.

    @Anonymous Jerkface & @Jane: I don’t like them either. Maybe on the author promo open thread?

    @Elyssa: If you mean Briggs’ Alpha and Omega series, they are so good. Start with the novella Alpha and Omega, otherwise you might be confused.

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40. Sunita
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 13:01:12

    I really enjoyed Jordan Castillo Price’s The Starving Years. It is dystopian m/m set in New York City (maybe slightly in the future?) and deals with a nefarious plot by global manufacturers of a food-like product (think genetically engineered). It features a threesome, which I am not usually a big fan of, but JCP pulls it off.

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41. Cara
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 13:04:46

    For BDSM I’ve found Violet Summers to be pretty decent, too. Maybe a half-notch less than Cherise Sinclair, but Summers seems to have a nice, newbie-reader-friendly voice for it. If anyone’s looking. :)

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42. Estara
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 13:05:55

    @Mikaela: It worked for me – thanks for pointing this out ^^

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43. Estara
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 13:10:57

    @Jane: Fair enough to know as this is your space – I just thought that the general description for what is possible in this post covered Kickstarter endorsements by reader fans as well. I’ll know that next time and if you want to delete my post, feel free to do so, Jane.

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44. Elyssa
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 13:19:32

    @Janine, yes, I meant that. I knew I had messed it up somehow. I did read the novella when it was a freebie but I’d have to read it again to reacquaint myself. And I did read SHELTERED but didn’t take to it as many others seem to.

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45. Lada
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 13:26:01

    @Janine: Thanks, Janine and I’m a big Singh fan. Great to know the new one is something to look forward to!!

    I agree about Kleypas creating believable contemporary characters which is why I keep reading her. I think you would enjoy the Travis books as long as you accept that the heavier issues will be dealt with a very light hand.

    @Elyssa: I’m off to download this one now. I’ve never read Hart before but I can’t pass up a book that’s described as joyous! Sounds just like what I’m looking for.

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46. Elyssa
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 13:38:00

    @Lada, I hope you like it. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I did–it was romantic, especially his gesture at the end.

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47. Sirius
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 14:04:33

    @Sunita: Oh my goodness, one more sign that I can just buy the books you recommend. I enjoyed this book so very much :). I am not a big fan of threesomes either, but there were some I liked a lot and this book probably features one of the most believable ones for me if not the most believable.

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48. Janine
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 14:04:42

    @Elyssa: Ooh, I didn’t know that novella was offered as a freebie. Wish I’d known, I would have pimped it!

    Can you pinpoint why you didn’t take to Sheltered?

    @Lada: It’s not among my most favorite Singhs but it is very solid and does have a lot of courtship, especially late in the book.

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49. JacquiC
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 14:49:09

    @Janine: I might have read “Broken” as a result of your review (and one I read more recently). I’m a little overwhelmed by Megan Hart’s backlist and am wondering what a good choice of hers to read next would be. Any ideas?

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50. MaryContrary
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 17:00:18

    I think Meredith Duran is a good writer, and I think her latest effort is a very good book. What’s the phrase you use for cringe-inducing historical inaccuracy in romance? Mistorical? Well, we need a similar term for cringe-inducing botanical inaccuracy in romance novels as well. Ms. Duran’s newest book was almost ruined for this obsessed gardener by an apple orchard scene near the beginning that badly needed an editor who has passed high school biology. The book is set in the late summer/early fall – basically, September. There’s lots of yaddayaddayadda about bad weather threatening the harvest before our heroine strolls into the apple orchard and observes that the small fruit is soft from all of the rain. While too much rain late in the season can certainly ruin a fruit crop, the way she describes the size of the fruit suggests that it is immature … which it certainly would not be in September. This puzzled me, but I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt until a few paragraphs later when she writes about the scent of falling apple blossoms. In September? On trees holding mature fruit? No, no, no, no, no. Her description do the apiary on the estate was also problematic, but not nearly as bothersome (to me at least) as the blooming apple trees in September. Again, overall, this was a fine book, and I’m glad I resisted the urge to throw it against the wall after the orchard nonsense, but crap like that shouldn’t make it past an editor worth his or her salt.

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51. Patty
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 17:26:52

    Can I second, third and fourth all the recommendations for Sheltered? I really enjoyed this story. I have been on a college ya kick lately where the characters are in college or have just graduated, (sheltered is not ya) but Realtively Honest by Molly Ringle is, I loved this because it is a first person pov told from the guy’s perspective where the female writer actually captures the male’s pov perfectly. I also found a book called Compis by Kate Coopseeley, which I loved, the second book comes out later this month!

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52. Jane
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 17:40:34

    @Patty – thank you for the college recommendations. I was looking for those after reading Beautiful Disaster which was kind of a disaster.

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53. pamelia
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 18:09:54

    I am currently devouring “Heat” by R. Lee Smith (OH MY GOD is it good!). Before this I read Dianne Sylvan’s “Shadow’s Fall” which was really quite good and ends with one helluva cliffhanger. Next I’ll probably read the new Meridith Duran because she’s always an enjoyable read for me. I keep hoping Cherise Sinclair will come out with a new book as well…

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54. Elyssa
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 18:33:18

    @Janine: I think the novella was offered as a Kindle freebie a few years ago–I remember downloading it with the first Kindle I bought.

    As to SHELTERED, my main problem with it was that the heroine’s father is abusive. We’re told that over and over and over again, yet we never see this until the very end of the book. (In fact the father doesn’t really have much of an onscreen page presence.) So, I found it difficult to accept that he was such a threat when we didn’t see the evidence of it until the very end. I also didn’t feel like there was much of a connection between the hero and heroine outside the bedroom so I didn’t believe in the HEA or HFN. But you may feel much differently than I did!

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55. Elyssa
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 18:35:52

    Also, @Janine, I do admit the age of the characters were a big problem for me too. They’re 18/19 so I felt like this relationship was “temporary” and that it would just be a guy who helped her be comefortable in her sexuality but that it wouldn’t last. I just couldn’t see how it WOULD last, honestly. There were too many factors that made me go, this doesn’t bode well for their success as a couple.

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56. Merrian
    Apr 02, 2012 @ 23:31:44

    @Sirius: I agree and I also love the cover art. I think I would have bought it for that alone.

    Also JCP has re-released two novellas in the Channelling Morpheus series that were not easily available; ‘Snare’ & ‘Brazen’. Which takes us to 7 short stories about a vampire and his lover a vampire hunter set in the wild, suburban wastelands of the USA.

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57. JMS
    Apr 03, 2012 @ 09:55:53

    I am reading “The Rake” by Mary Jo Putney – it was one of those books I knew I had to read right now, so I downloaded it into my Kindle. I am so glad I did. This one looks like a keeper for me, hero that has alcoholism and has demons from the past. So good!

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58. Dabney Grinnan
    Apr 03, 2012 @ 16:21:50

    I just read, after reading a column of Robin’s, The Innocent’s Surrender by Sara Craven. What an awful book. Rape, melodrama, and, if I were Greek, I’d be irked at the presentation of most of my countrymen. Ugh.

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59. DS
    Apr 06, 2012 @ 07:55:58

    I lucked into a self published book by Gail Drayton– Knight in Black Leather– it’s on Amazon in the Kindle store, I’m not sure where else it might be found. I like Drayton’s fantasy novels so I downloaded this one up and ended up impressed. Older woman/younger man trope in case someone hates that one.

    He rescues her from a threatening situation, she then rescues him from a beating and takes him to the hospital. Part of the plot is suspense, part of it involves her family’s overly protective concern about her, but I really liked the relationship.

    I haven’t been reading a lot of romances lately but this one grabbed me from the start.

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