Apr 24 2011
Open Thread for Readers for May 2011
Got a book you want to talk about? Frustrated with a book or series? In love with a new one? Found a buried treasure? An issue that keeps popping up in the books you are reading? Just want to chat about stuff in general? Post away.
Related posts:
Apr 24, 2011 @ 15:19:54
I just finished reading a book that left me rather frustrated. “Maddie Inherits a Cowboy” by Jeannie Watt. While I thought the story was well written and Watt moved slowly with the characters getting to know each other and getting involved, all along the way I couldn’t help but wonder how she was going to solve the HUGE ISSUE of an anthro professor being happy living on an isolated farm. It kept me going right up to the end where she copped out by saying Maddie was going to take a six month sabbatical on the ranch to think about things. Very disappointing for me. When that book ends, I want those two to have their futures sewn up;)!
Apr 24, 2011 @ 16:30:11
I read “This Side of the Grave” by Jeaniene Frost this month & I was utterly disappointed. I’ve always enjoyed this series but ever since Cat & Bones had the “big fight” in “Destined for an Early Grave” it’s like this series has gone downhill. There was almost no action in TSOTG & I felt like the love between C & B was forced. It’s like Frost created this book to reassure her readers that C & B were still a great couple. That’s all fine & dandy but I don’t read this series for the make-out scenes & the things I DO read it for (action, intrigue, Cat & Bones kicking major ass) were nonexistent. I do not like the direction Frost’s series is going in at all. I’ll read “One Grave at a Time” but I won’t be buying it.
Books I’m Excited About Reading in May
*Ascension~Sable Grace
*Blood Law~Karin Tabke
*Magic Slays~Ilona Andrews
*Die For Me-Amy Plum
*Dead Reckoning~Charlaine Harris
*The Unbearable Lightness of Dragons~Katie MacAlister
*Changeling Moon~Dani Harper
*Wickedly Charming~Kristine Grayson
*The Girl in the Steel Corset~Kady Cross
*Dragon Bound~Thea Harrison
Apr 24, 2011 @ 16:40:20
I can’t for the life of me figure out a book to read next. I’m even open to going outside romance to other genre fiction. I want a mash of Cindy Dees, Elizabeth Lowell, JD Robb and some Michael Crichton. Hoping to find it for my Kindle.
It’s going to storm all week so I want some scary, gritty, murdery sexy reads. Police procedural a bonus. So far I’m striking out- waaay out. Anyone have any ideas?
Apr 24, 2011 @ 16:46:35
I read Just the Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James. It was a fun contemporary, although A Lot Like Love is still my favorite book by her. I also have Heist Society by Ally Carter to read, and I need to get caught up on all the spring books that I’ve bought for the TBR pile.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 16:50:44
Apropos of our discussion of the vigilante fantasy, I recently finished reading Stieg Larsson’s The Girl Who Played with Fire. While I liked The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I thought The Girl Who Played with Fire was even better. I just wished it hadn’t ended on such a cliffhanger because now I have to read The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, and I had wanted to take a break from Larsson after 600+ pages.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 16:50:48
JenD — have you read Laura Griffin? she’s great with the sexy suspense/mystery plots.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 16:54:08
becca- No, I haven’t. Sounds perfect- is there one you would recommend me to start with?
Apr 24, 2011 @ 17:00:44
@JenD: I’ve heard that Karen Rose is good and also concluded that she’s too gritty for me. So you might give her books a try. :)
ETA: Also, Kate Brady. I’m kind of a scaredy cat. :)
Apr 24, 2011 @ 17:19:17
I really, really loved PLEASURE’S EDGE by Eve Berlin. Steamy, classy BDSM romance with great characterizations. I think the author hits the right notes on many levels (emotional, psychological, sexual). Hot, deep and romantic!
Apr 24, 2011 @ 17:33:30
I just discovered Maggie Osborne and have been glomming her like crazy!
Loved all the ones I have read so far: Brides of Prairie Gold, The Promise of Jenny Jones, I Do I Do I Do, and Silver Lining. It looks like my library has her entire back list so I am a happy camper.
Another awesome read: The Reluctant Nude by Meg McGuire. The hero Max was so incredibly written. And the whole book was a slow, intimate relationship that was very character driven.
Pre-orderd Big Bad Beast by Shelly Laurenston. Comes out Tuesday, Can’t wait. She is brilliant and I think she should be required reading. LOL.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 17:33:43
@Jill Sorenson I could not read past the first two chapters in that book. Such a roman a clef tone to it. Erotic romance author seeks out professional DOM who says that she has to experience the lifestyle in order to write about it? Ugh, no thanks.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 18:03:37
@Jane: Yes, I saw your comments to that effect on Goodreads. I just didn’t have the same reaction. While I don’t think an author has to experience bdsm (or anything else) firsthand in order to write about it, I enjoyed this as a sexy fantasy setup. And it was in character for the heroine, who is reluctant to try submission, to hook up with the dom hero “for research purposes only” ;).
I wasn’t bothered by the suggestion that an author has to live it to write about it because I didn’t apply that to anything outside of this particular story.
Is part of your discomfort a feeling that the book was semi-autobiographical? I don’t care to know if that is the case. I’ve read plenty of romances with writer heroines and not assumed the author is inserting herself into the text. Dreaming of You by Lisa Kleypas, for example.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 18:12:57
Finished reading The Locker Room by Amy Lane… a beautiful book… she always makes me cry.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 18:13:13
JenD: go to http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/laura-griffin/ for series information, although they really all stand alone pretty well. I love them all except one, whose name I’ve forgotten, that was a DNF for me – the heroine was using stolen drug money to finance her infertility treatments, and just drove me crazy with how short-sighted and TSTL she was. It wasn’t that she made a couple of bad decisions – almost all Griffin’s heroines do at one time or another – it was that she didn’t make a single good decision, including the one in the epilog. But then, this particular book pushed a lot of my buttons, as I’m infertile and an adoptive mother myself. Other people might not have the same strong reaction to it that I did. But other than that one, I’ve loved them all, and even put in an advance order for her next book that’s coming out in August.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 18:13:58
I’ve got a May book that showed up in B&N early on my TBR stack now: Ripe for Pleasure by Isobel Carr. Looking forward to it but I’ve got a couple of other things I want to finish first. Angelica by Sharon Shinn is higher priority because it’s catching up on a series already in progress.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 18:31:00
Ooh, I will definitely try out the sample of Pleasure’s Edge. Always looking for good BDSM stories.
Personally I am totally fine with this as a plot setup, although I’ve bombed out a couple of times with it already. Reminds me of Wicked Ties by Shayla Black, which has a similar-ish plotline but I couldn’t make it past the sample on that one. The heroine was so incredibly resistant to the idea of D/s (even though she hosted a sex TV show!). A little bit of push back is normal/okay, but she was far gone and already her “this is wrong” attitude was getting old. Also, Maverick’s Black Cat had the author/research plot but it was just blah.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 18:33:52
I’m working, cleaning, and sweating it up today & tomorrow because Tuesday = new book madness!! Well, that’s what i’m calling it. According to amazon the 2 J.Crusie hardbacks from 2010 (Wild Ride + Maybe this time) will be available in paperback, Lori Foster’s newest, Kieran Kramer’s Cloudy w/chance of Marriage, Sarah MacLean’s 11 Scandals, and #1 on my wait list: Jennifer Estep’s Tangled Threads!!! So I intend to be reading until my eyes bug out. :)
Then in May I know there’s a number of releases – the one that really in my mind though is Julia Quinn’s start to the Smythe-Smith series! I’m so excited to see those musically-challenged girls get their happily ever after on.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 19:14:09
Yesterday I was listening to Linda Fairstein’s Silent Mercy. She’s a bestseller sort of author who I have rather avoided in the past. Barbara Rosenblat is the reader but I think her voice is a bit too old for the character.
There’s a relationship but I didn’t care about that. The love interest was off stage until the last few pages. The thing I found most interesting was the huge amount of history about the churches of New York.
Oh, and there was a lengthy court room cross examination of a witness by the main character that I thought was interesting and well done except I’m not sure what it had to do with the plot even after finishing th book– ok, I know what Fairstein said it had to do with the plot, but I’m not sure I’m buying it. Pretty fair thriller if you don’t mind the gore.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 19:47:37
@JenD: Although her books focus more on the procedural, Tana French’s novels are all really good, especially if you’re looking for a contemporary procedural with a different setting (they all take place in Dublin and its surrounding environs). All work well as stand-alone reads, but if you are looking for a traditional HEA, then I would start with the second book, which is “The Likeness.”
Apr 24, 2011 @ 19:50:04
I am dying for the new Shelly Laurenston! Bring it on.
But a book I have read recently and enjoyed muchly was Accidentally Catty by Dakota Cassidy. I love a book that can have me laughing out loud like a loon. LOL
Apr 24, 2011 @ 19:50:38
Reading “The Girl with Glass Feet” by Ali Shaw. It’s a quiet book with some over-angsty characters, but the thread of magic that runs through it is keeping me hooked.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 20:05:40
@Edie, well I’d read Accidentally Catty but it costs more to download it to my Kindle than to buy the book. Ugh! I hate this publisher pricing.
I will look for it at the Used book store.
I’m putting more books on my wish list than I am downloading. I will not pay the same/or more for a paperback.
I am looking forward to Ilona Andrews and Charlaine Harris’s books this month.I will check out the other books Ammarylis put down.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 21:10:00
@readerdiane: oh ouch!
That is so insane.
It almost makes me glad I’m in Aus, so I have no choice but to get print anyways.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 21:13:08
I have just finished a book I saw reviewed on jessewave’s blog ‘Buddha on the Road’ by Jeff Pearce it is an m/m story set in New York with a bi police detective that is all about the violence and turmoil of Burma in the 1980′s driving a series of murders in the present. It is a great multi-cultural story. I liked Brin – the protagonist’s, good heart. I liked the way his police work was presented e.g. that the case was one among many he had and that working on those went on while he dealt with the key murders. There is a touch of paranormal in the book but that is very much in keeping with Burmese culture.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 21:31:48
Recent reads I’ve enjoyed included The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis and Julie Ortolon’s Perfect trilogy (got book 1 free at Amazon, and am currently halfway thru book 2). I’ve picked up a couple Jill Mansell ebooks, which I’ll probably read in May. And I noticed Leslie Parrish has book 2 of her current series coming this summer, which reminded me that I have book 1 (Cold Sight) on my TBR list. So I’ll try to get yhat one read this month.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 04:51:03
I happened upon a series by J R Rain while browsing Amazon kindle books. FBI agent is attacked and turned into a vampire so has to leave FBI and becomes a PI, she is also fighting to keep her marriage and look after her children aided by big hats and lots of sunscreen. I was doubtful as I’m rather tired of vampires but the emphasis was on the PI part of her life and marriage, she does not even have fangs. I have now started a second series by the same author, again a PI but male ex-footballer. I am waiting for Ilona Andrews and Nalini Singh’s latest otherwise.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 06:03:51
I’m late to the party as usual, but currently reading Jill Shalvis’ Simply Irresistible which is quite good so far. It’s the first book in her Lucky Harbor series. I also have her Animal Magnetism in my TBR pile.
Plan to get Sarah MacLean’s Eleven Scandals… book tomorrow, but I still need to read whatever the Ten title was. I also pre-ordered Feehan’s Savage Nature.
And I’m still reading a bunch of Krentz’ old category books, particularly the Stephanie James and Jayne Castle ones. Finally read her Guinevere Jones books. The mysteries were so-so, but I liked Guinevere and Zac.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 06:19:38
Ann Aguirre managed to freak me out with SHADY LADY—but then she always does with the Corine Solomon series and I always go back for more…
I also finally read N.K. Jemisin’s THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS, and I have to say I’m fascinated. I very much enjoyed the book, but I’m having a hard time articulating my reaction to it. Other than to say that I’m fascinated, and that I want more.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 06:55:20
I’m really looking forward to Ilona Andrews’ latest :-)
Apr 25, 2011 @ 06:56:14
Just finished Children of Scarabeus by Sarah Creasy, and it was delicious. Slightly less good than the first book, but it pushed a lot of my SF buttons, and a few of my romance buttons, so I’d call that a succes.
Also tried my first Victoria Dahl, thanks to Jane’s review of Lead me On on Goodreads. Liked it better than expected and will probably read the others in the series now.
Other than that I’m actually at a loss what to read next. My TBR is stacked, but nothing really seems to be screaming my name, and I keep on rereading Psy-Changeling books instead of new books. I think the problem is I’m all caught up with my series, so I’m in need of a new one, but don’t know what.
I’m looking forward immensely to Nightfall by Ellen Connor (partly written by Ann Aguirre) – it’s supposed to come out june 7th, but apparantly it’s already for sale on kindle for a whopping $15 (sigh).
And then there’s Kiss of Snow of course… But that’s still sooooo long away.
Edit: Oh and I bought ten Ruby Trick by Julia Knight from diesel books, but alas, the file won’t open, can’t read it, and drm won’t be cracked. customer service didn’t really help, so I guess that means no more shopping at diesel books for me.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 07:26:18
Tina said “Another awesome read: The Reluctant Nude by Meg McGuire. The hero Max was so incredibly written. And the whole book was a slow, intimate relationship that was very character driven.”
Yes! I wholeheartedly agree! I just read this and thought it was fantastic. Meg Maguire is also Cara McKenna so for anyone who enjoyed her under that name but wanted a HEA ending this is definitely the book for you.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 07:26:21
I have just finished reading Deanna Raybourn’s “The Dead Travel Fast”. While being an interesting and well written story, I had sort of expected it to be a bit ‘faster’ and slightly more gripping. The story is told from the heroine’s point of view and that is actually something I prefer (Kate Daniels, Cassandra Palmer, Dorina Basarab and Mackayla Lane are voices of heroines I love), but I couldn’t get in there in Theodora’s head, so I never felt an emotional investment.
Currently reading “Paranormalcy” by Kiersten White. I am not a huge fan of YA but this came recommended from friends at GoodReads who share my taste in books and – so far – it is great stuff.
Can’t wait for the next Kate Daniels. Ilona Andrew has not disappointed me so far.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 09:28:55
This month I really am looking forward to Die for Me, Almost Home, Divergent, Starcrossed..and a lot of others. I’m really very greedy this month with what books sound great to read.
Recently finished-wise, I read and loved an old Flora Speer romance from Leisure Book’s Timeswept days. Also tried and really enjoyed Spanish Magnate, Red Hot Revenge by Lynn Rae Harris (although the hero got to be a major douche canoe.)
Jellicoe Road was probably my best read of the month YA wise. It was so perfect. LGBTQ Voice was happening on my blog these past two weeks, so my reading highlights were mainly YA books with LGBTQ characters. Annie on My Mind, Scars, Out of the Pocket, and Ash were my best reads. I also really enjoyed Unnatural by Michael Griffo, which is basically a cliche YA PNR story with two guys in the lead. The writing had problems and the story was overdramatic, but I LOVED it and will probably reread it several times.
This just goes to show just how much genre fiction with LGBTQ main characters can help. I eagerly await the second book so I can continue reading about Atlantian vampire lurve.
I also read Water for Elephants. Very interesting and melancholy. Not perfect, but it has a certain quality about it that makes you enjoy the ride even if it plods along like a MoFo.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 09:32:46
Tessie- I’ll go pick one up. I’m a sucker for procedurals and double bonus with Dublin in there!
Becca- That would tick me off as well. The whole balance of stealing money to do ‘good’ is a very wobbly line. I don’t think I could get over her supporting all those people in pain (not to mention their kids/families/communities dealing with their drug addictions) just so she can carry a child that is her genetic payload. Adoption isn’t a dirty word! Yet, yes, that’s a very personal view but hey- it’s my view. Untold lives destroyed by drugs so she can create one more. It doesn’t balance right for me.
Thanks for the recs!
Apr 25, 2011 @ 10:34:29
The last two books I read were Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick (which I learned about from one of DA’s publisher giveaway posts) and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (another tip of the hat to DA for that one). Absolutely adored both of them in completely different ways. The first was like reading Assassin’s Creed (if AC had a plot and a better sense of humor), and the second made me feel like a little kid sitting on the floor raptly listening to storytime.
For May, all I have on order are Shana Abe’s paperback release of the last dragon book and the oft-mentioned Ilona Andrews, but the latter is going to end up sitting on the shelf for a while. The previous book was character-breaking for me, turning Kate into a stay-at-home mom with a poodle and a kid and a white picket fence and having Curran blow off his job because people were mean to his girlfriend, so I foresee book-meeting-wall in the future for this one.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 10:46:39
@JenD: Have you tried Leslie Parrish? Her Black trilogy (Fade to Black, Pitch Black, Black at Heart) is well worth reading.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 11:44:57
@ms bookjunkie: I’ve reviewed all three of these here. Just type her name into our search function.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 11:46:41
@becca: I really like her books. The only one I haven’t read is the one you DNF’d.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 12:42:19
@Kerry Allen:
I love seeing other people’s reactions to stuff. I didn’t get this from the book at all. I loved that Kate is being forced to take on responsibilities and the trappings of normalcy. I think it’s a major part of her growth into a full-fledged human being (not that children are a necessity, but being connected to other people is a prerequisite for full personhood IMO). I can’ WAIT to see where things go with her . . .
Apr 25, 2011 @ 13:07:05
@Isobel Carr: My 15-year-old has also reminded me how idiotic their fight was at the beginning of the last book. “I got tired of waiting for you to show up, so I left.” “I was late, but you should have waited.” “Let’s sulk and pout and not speak to each other for months because of this Stupid Misunderstanding.” Gah, like a couple of middle school kids.
This is how Mercy Thompson lost me, too. I will never understand why characters have to undergo personality transplants because they’re in looooooooove.
I’d actually like to see the other party respond to this phenomenon with “You’re not the person I fell in love with. I’m leaving you.”
Apr 25, 2011 @ 13:36:02
@Amber, have you tried any Cherise Sinclare? I love her for a good BDSM escape.
I hit the Borders closing sale in my town (several times) this month, so my TBR pile is unprecedented. Despite that, I still picked up an old Jennifer Crusie – Getting Rid of Bradley – at the library and read it over the weekend. I was a fun read – only my second Crusie (the other being Bet Me).
Cherry Adair’s Hush is coming out tomorrow – so I’ll be downloading that immediately to read. I’ve been on a huge Romance Suspense kick the past few months. Then after that, back to my TBR pile where I think I’ll start Julie James’ Something About You.
May deadline for a manuscript BE DAMNED!
Apr 25, 2011 @ 15:16:09
@Kerry Allen: I’ll totally admit that I found the melodrama of their courtship tiresome from the get go, but I still love the books for everything else (kind of like how I think TRUE BLOOD would be so much better if Sookie and Bill would just die already).
Apr 25, 2011 @ 15:17:32
@LEW: WELCOME TO TEMPTATION was my first, and still fav, Crusie. The bad sex scene is fantastic. Makes me laugh every time.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 15:48:56
I’m looking forward to Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill and Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris is also on order, but I’m getting a little tired of this series, unfortunately.
I’d also like to try a couple of books I’ve read good things about: Angel Burn by LA Weatherly (teen) and Divergent by Veronica Roth (teen). And a couple of books I’m curious about, but not really sure: Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury (teen) and Dead on the Delta by Stacey Jay.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 15:53:02
@Kerry Allen: I really enjoyed the last Kate Daniels books, but I’m a little worried about the next one. I always worry when a beloved couple finally gets together. The latest Mercy Thompson book was actually my least favorite.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 16:20:30
@Laura:
Me too. Nothing really happens for the first third (half?), but I love the stuff that went on with Coyote in the last half. I’ll certainly give Mercy at least one more shot . . .
Apr 25, 2011 @ 17:03:22
@Kerry Allen: Really glad to hear you enjoyed The Name of the Wind.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 18:30:37
I picked up Allison Pang’s A Brush of Darkness at RT and I am loving it – even left a review on Amazon which I never do. The world building is great and there’s a lot of humor and drama.
And I still have to finish the intimidatingly terrific Iron Duke – I’m deliberately reading it slowly because it is just so freaking awesome.
Finally admitted I don’t care what happens to Book Sookie. No more. I love True Blood but I’m not reading any more of the books.
The latest Black Dagger book is still in its Amazon sleeve because once I start it I won’t be able to put it down. And it will piss me off, and I’ll bitch about Ward violating her own world rules, and I’ll think there’s way too much of _________ but not nearly enough of Vishous, and I’ll roll my eyes at Ward’s latest narrative tic, and then I’ll go right back to Amazon and pre-order the next one. Because that’s what junkies do.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 18:58:54
@Isobel Carr: I really enjoyed Coyote, but I was sorry it all had to happen in a different setting. It seemed like filler, or a short story.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 21:57:31
If you like sci-fi romance, I read Evangeline Anderson’s first book in her Kindred Series…Claimed. I actually really liked it. It was really thought out in my opinion. I enjoy good world building and I thought she did a good job and kept it interesting. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. Sometimes I wish I didn’t learn about a cool series until all the books were already out! I hate the waiting!
I also read Carew’s King and I from Samhain…it was ok.
Apr 26, 2011 @ 09:27:50
I always enjoy reading through this thread, and I’m glad DA posts it every month. I got some reading done, and though I’m late to the game, I thoroughly enjoyed The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. A very page-turning read, and when I have more time I’ll be getting through the next two in the series.
I also read Buddha on the Road by Jeff Pearce and thought it was fresh and interesting and moving.
In fact, I’ve had a rash of really good reads that also include Home for the Holidays by Sarah Mayberry (pretty sure I picked that up because of a review here), Yorkshire by Lynne Connolly (will be reading Devonshire) and The Native Star by MK Hobson (loved the humor and the setting).
Right now, I’m reading Among Others by Jo Walton which is hard to describe but very involving—a sort of coming-of-age with fantasy elements and/or magic realism.
Apr 27, 2011 @ 13:36:24
If you are looking for great suspense with strong female characters, an excellent suspense novel is Heart of Ice by Lis Wiehl, legal analyst for Fox News. Wiehl draws on her experience as a prosecutor and creates a great story. This book is the third in a series featuring the amazing women of the “Triple Threat Club”—federal prosecutor Allison Pierce, crime reporter Cassidy Shaw, and FBI special agent Nicole Hedges. The villain, Elizabeth Avery, is a chillingly real sociopath who manipulates and uses people to get what she wants. I loved it. Here’s the amazon link:http://dld.bz/S8Jr
Apr 27, 2011 @ 16:36:46
I suppose I’m in some danger of becoming a crank on this subject (although, what else is the internet for, right?) but I find myself becoming increasingly annoyed with Lenore Hart’s “The Raven’s Bride,” a recent novel about Edgar Allan Poe’s wife. I am finding more and more, shall we say, suspicious similarities between this book and a 1956 novel about Virginia Poe, “The Young Mrs. Poe.” In my opinion, Ms. Hart would make Cassie Edwards blush, and I can’t believe that she’s getting away with it.
I’ve documented some of these similarities at the link below, but believe me, it’s only the beginning.
http://tinyurl.com/6beoyfl
Apr 28, 2011 @ 15:12:54
@Jan: @Jan:
Jan – Sorry to hear you couldn’t open my book (Ten Ruby Trick)! If you get in touch at julia@juliaknight . co . uk (minus the spaces)then I will sort you out a readable copy.
Apr 29, 2011 @ 05:40:26
My new steampunk time travel romance The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale with Carina Press is out now in both e-book and audio.
On a mission to recover the time travel mechanism stolen from her brother Bacon, time pirate Stormy Gale finds herself in a battle of wits with The Loony Duke of Leister and a battle of hearts with a man from her past.
As a young girl in 19th century London, Stormy spent her time on the streets. Discarded by her family, she and the other Fenchurch Street urchins struggled every day just to get enough to eat. Then, Professor Gilly Green blew into town and swept Stormy and her brother away on a journey through time, to the 20th century where he raised them as his own. Sixteen years later, she is grown and has embraced a life of adventure. She’s a modern day Robin Hood hell-bent on righting the wrongs in the world and…she’s an absolute mess. When she embarks on yet another escapade through time, things don’t go according to plan. She finds herself in 1836 New England running an ill-conceived con on a madman in order to get back what is rightfully hers. Her adventure lands her in hot water as she winds up shackled to a bed in The Loony Duke of Leister’s torture chambers. Little does she know that the Loony Duke is someone from her past, who is going to turn her life upside down.
I know sometimes the samples can be short, so if you’d like to read the first chapter, I have it here:
http://chris655b.wordpress.com/the-twisted-tale-of-stormy-gale-first-chapter/
And if you’d like to read about how I used The Force on Angela James to get her to offer me a contract for it, you can read that story here at the Carina Press blog!
http://carinapress.com/blog/2011/04/mind-control-i-haz-it/
Apr 29, 2011 @ 17:33:48
Oh crumb. I posted this is the wrong place. I’m SO sorry. If you can please delete that would be great…
Wednesday Midday Links: More plagiarism at major publishers - Dear Author
Nov 30, 2011 @ 10:09:27
[...] Press about Lenore Hart’s The Raven’s Bride. Commenter Undine pointed this out in an open thread here in April 2011. It has been repeatedly brought to St. Martin’s attention earlier this year but apparently [...]