REVIEW:  By Design by Jayne Denker

REVIEW: By Design by Jayne Denker

Dear Ms. Denker: While told in the limited third person, this book read like a chick lit story reworked into a romance.  Emmie Brewster is a young interior decorator working in a small town under an overbearing boss with overblown and stifling tastes. As the story opens, Emmie is too timid to voice her ideas(…)

Giveaway for Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig

Giveaway for Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig

  From Lauren Willig, author of the New York Times bestselling Pink Carnation series, comes a richly detailed historical saga, THE ASHFORD AFFAIR, spanning from WWI England to colonial Kenya to present-day New York, as one woman discovers the truth about her family’s hidden past and her own present. As a lawyer in a large(…)

REVIEW:  Sinner’s Heart by Zoe Archer

REVIEW: Sinner’s Heart by Zoe Archer

Dear Ms. Archer, An acquaintance recommended you as an author to read so that’s why I decided to take a look at this one. Although I don’t think I was a fan of this one, I think I may go find some of your other books. The third book of the Hellraiser series features Abraham(…)

Monday News: Amazon App adds accessibility features; Nook adds Google Play; Graphic Novels at libraries increasing

Revenge porn victim speaks about years of torment after ex-boyfriend put X-rated photos of her online – The article isn’t so much the story for me. Instead it was the comments that blamed the victim for her ex boyfriend’s callous vindictiveness. Holly dated a man, sent him provocative pictures. When he broke up with her,(…)

Daily Deals:  Deals for the middle grade, young adult, and adults

Daily Deals: Deals for the middle grade, young adult, and adults

Wind Dancer by Jamie Carie. $ 2.99 From the Jacket Copy: Raised in a British-held frontier town during the American Revolution, Isabelle Renoir is not like other women around her. A free spirit, she dances in the moonlight as a praise offering to God and is more at home fearlessly taking her long rifle and(…)

REVIEW:  Jack Absolute by CC Humpreys

REVIEW: Jack Absolute by CC Humpreys

“It’s 1777 when Captain Jack Absolute becomes a sensation throughout London. This news comes as a shock to the real Jack Absolute when he arrives in England after four months at sea. But there’s little time for outrage before he finds himself dueling for his life. Right when he thinks he’s finally won, he is(…)

Being Nimble

Being Nimble

When I was at Romantic Times convention, I heard the news that The Tools of Change conference, a technology and publishing conference, was being shut down.  Begun in 2007, the conference was aimed at bringing technology and publishing together.  The announcement indicates that the sponsor, O’Reilly, will move on to offering other things.   The publishing(…)

First Page: A New Sky : Page 1

First Page: A New Sky : Page 1

Welcome to First Page Saturday. Individual authors anonymously send a first page read and critiqued by the Dear Author community of authors, readers and industry others. Anyone is welcome to comment. You may comment anonymously. You can submit your own First Page using this form. The academic and the free spirit! A near-genius, sheltered astrophysicist(…)

Daily Deals:  Fast drivers and padawans

Daily Deals: Fast drivers and padawans

Dangerous Race by Dee J. Adams. $ FREE From the Jacket Copy: Four years ago, race car driver Tracey Bradshaw almost died in a horrific crash. Now scarred inside and out, she’s making a comeback, but her team is plagued by a series of “accidents”. When the team leader dies under mysterious circumstances, former driver(…)

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(…)

First Page: The Sweet Science

First Page: The Sweet Science

Welcome to First Page Saturday. Individual authors anonymously send a first page read and critiqued by the Dear Author community of authors, readers and industry others. Anyone is welcome to comment. You may comment anonymously. You can submit your own First Page using this form. Lillian stared at her waist-length mass of hair in the(…)

Daily Deals: A middle grade historical, a low priced pre order, a video game tie in and an enhanced ebook

Daily Deals: A middle grade historical, a low priced pre order, a video game tie in and an enhanced ebook

Infinity Blade by Brandon Sanderson. $ .99 From the Jacket Copy: Trained from birth in swordplay and combat, a young knight named Siris has journeyed to the Dark Citadel with a single purpose: fight through the army of Titans to face the tyrannical God King in one-on-one combat.This was his father’s sacred mission, and his(…)

GUEST REVIEW:  For the Horde! – The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

GUEST REVIEW: For the Horde! – The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

NB: This review from AJH is the fourth in his series of “I’m getting to know the romance genre.” His introduction is here. You can buy the book with these links.  The Iron Duke takes place in an alt-history steampunk England, some nine years after the revolution which evicted the Mongol Horde. This had me(…)

Giveaway for A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn

Giveaway for A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn

This giveaway is for the Dear Author Recommended Read “A Spear of Summer Grass” by Deanna Raybourn. About A Spear of Summer Grass New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julie Grey series enters a new era with A Spear of Summer Grass. Paris, 1923 The daughter of a scandalous mother, Delilah Drummond is(…)

REVIEW:  A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn

REVIEW: A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn

Paris, 1923 The daughter of a scandalous mother, Delilah Drummond is already notorious, even amongst Paris society. But her latest scandal is big enough to make even her oft-married mother blanch. Delilah is exiled to Kenya and her favorite stepfather’s savannah manor house until gossip subsides. Fairlight is the crumbling, sun-bleached skeleton of a faded(…)