Dear Author » Erin-McCarthy

REVIEW: Slow Ride by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 09:00:55 +0000

Dear Ms. McCarthy:

For the most part I’ve enjoyed this NASCAR inspired series quite a bit even though I’m not a stock-car racing fan and despite some of your more challenging heroines. However in “Slow Ride”, I was not able to overcome what I felt was shoddy behavior by the heroine to a somewhat flat hero character. It was like a reverse HP. Asshole heroine and doormat hero. Maybe I should have reveled in the role reversal but mostly I just disappointed because I’ve liked this series.

Tuesday Jones is well-known blogger of the stock car racing series. Her father was a famous sports journalists and she was very close to him. The book opens with Tuesday struggling to cope with her father’s recent death. He had been diagnosed with cancer only three months before and he has always seemed been invincible to her. That he couldn’t beat the cancer, that it took him so swiftly was a shock to her.

She ends up crying in the arms of Daniel ‘Diesel’ Lange who was her father’s favorite driver and a man whose suffered loss himself as points out the graves of his mother, younger brother, and cousin.

She copes, in part, by use of the bottle. I’m not opposed to alcoholic heroines and that wasn’t my primary problem with Tuesday. I had problems with the depiction of Tuesday as an alcoholic. I felt like I was supposed to see her teetering on the edge of addiction, but the story never fully committed to Tuesday as an addict. Instead I felt like I was supposed to see her as someone who used alcohol to numb her pain but I wasn’t to ascribe any bad behaviors as a result of the alcoholism. Granted Tuesday had a lot of negative things going on her life with the loss of her father, her mother seeming to date again, all of her friends getting married. Surely if anyone had a reason to drink, it was Tuesday.

I didn’t know if I was supposed to see her anctics while drunk as cute or funny or pathetic. I was on the pathetic side, but she never received any negative repercussions for her actions until the very end. For instance in one of the early scenes, she’s drunk when Diesel picks her up for a date. Diesel is unhappy about this and Tuesday says some cutting things so Diesel leaves. He then feels bad, returns and apologizes for not being reasonable. Rinse and repeat. This pattern of behavior repeated itself throughout the book up to and including the end. Tuesday does have a major misstep happened late in the book but it was so close to the denouement that I felt the reader never had time to fully absorb the heroine’s redemption.

Diesel was a retired stock-car racer who had suffered a tremendous accident and injured his knee to the point that he could no longer race competitively. He was portrayed as a very easy-going guy who took everything in stride even the fact that a woman like Tuesday had the liquor herself up in order to sleep with him. He comforts her, a total stranger, at her dad’s funeral. He allows her to spit cake in his hand a few weeks later at her best friend’s wedding. He limps because of his accident but he’s not embarrassed or affected by it. He drives Tuesday home when she is too drunk to stand up. He brings her coffee the next morning (it is true that he wants to get in her pants). He apologizes after telling her she is too drunk. After Tuesday is angered by his suggestion that she really did not need to stop at the bar before they went home triggers another apology. I understand that Diesel’s coolness was something he ascribed to, that he suppressed his feelings to a great extent in order to maintain his even aspect but like the alcoholism issue, I felt it was underplayed too much. In fact, by underplaying his character, the change that was thrust upon Diesel by Tuesday seemed almost cruel rather than helpful.

Why Diesel was with Tuesday? She wasn’t kind to him and I can’t believe that a sexy, wealthy, former celebrity would really have a hard time picking up chicks if he was so hard up for sex (and he was kind of presented that way). What was extra disappointing was that Diesel was a nice guy and I hated the implication that nice guys are doormats who can’t get laid. Tuesday and Diesel made sense as a couple as Tuesday was a verbal person, more outgoing, more social than Diesel but was that enough for him to put up with her? I guess so.

The best parts of this book were the fun dialogue. I wanted to like Tuesday and when she wasn’t being mean to Diesel, I enjoyed reading about her. I feel like your voice is very modern and Tuesday and Diesel talk like their age rather than 50 somethings. They text each other, worry about when to call, when not to call. The dating game is a big part of the book and I always appreciate that. I appreciated that Tuesday was a confident sexual woman. Her sexuality was not an issue of the story as it seems to be in so many contemporaries. The bedroom play was as fun as it was sexy. But I was ultimately frustrated by how the characters were portrayed. C

Best regards,

Jane

Reading List for Jane, Ending October 4, 2011

Jane — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:00:30 +0000

I’ve been reading a lot of ARCs so most of my reading list are for titles not published until November, December and January. I hope that is okay with the readers.

Contemporary:

Holiday Kisses, an anthology by Shannon Stacey, HelenKay Dimon, Jaci Burton, and Alison Kent. I liked all the stories in this contemporary Christmas anthology although Burton’s was my least favorite. Burton’s story was about the ex husband of the heroine’s sister and I felt that the short story format didn’t allow for nuance (ie. perhaps the sister and the hero were just two different people rather than the sister being the evol one). I probably liked Stacey’s story the best although Dimon and Kent’s were also heartwarming. It’s a good follow up to last year’s Christmas anthology. Maybe next year, we’ll have some non Christian holiday celebrants in the collection. Full review to come in December.

Behind the Scenes by Natalie J. Damschroeder. This is a romantic suspense. The heroine is a security expert and she is asked to provide security for movie that is being directed by a friend of hers. She falls for the main lead. I believed in their love story. The hero was really attracted to the heroine and her passionate belief in the services that she provided. I wasn’t necessarily sold on this hero as an actor. He lacks a certain gravitas and hubris that I associate with celebrities. Full review to come in November after the October 31 release date.

Fatal Heat by Lisa Marie Rice. I recommend this for LMR fans only. It’s short on substance and long on total unbelievability. At least it was only $.99. Hero is SEAL who was wounded and sent to his CO’s condo to heal. He is not returning to the teams. Heroine is CO’s niece and researcher. One look at the heroine and the hero gains a new lease on life. Heroine’s life is endangered. Hero does really amazing physical things to save her. HEA.

Mouth to Mouth by Erin McCarthy. This was a reread after the post by Maili regarding deaf characters. I really like the story and I thought that McCarthy did a good job of showing some of the challenges of a deaf person. There are a lot of things that McCarthy got wrong as pointed out by Maili. I didn’t recognize those so they didn’t affect the reading experience for me but I can see how it would be a challenge for someone who was hearing-impaired to be fully satisfied with the rendering. Full review here.

Whispers in the Dark by Maya Banks. I liked it but didn’t love it. Features a heroine who has a psychic connection to the hero. I felt like there was too much telephathic talking and way too much PDA. Fans of the series will probably enjoy the series. At least the heroine isn’t from outer space.

Historical

Mad About the Earl by Christina Brooke. I haven’t read Brooke before and I found the “Ministry of Marriage” concept to be kind of ridiculous and the cast of characters is huge. I actually stopped reading to go to the author’s site to see if I could find a character guide or something. The author doesn’t have much of anything on her site but it was enough to provide a basis by which I could return the book. Essentially there are six Westruther cousins that were all wards of one man. He apparently does not have an heir and I suspect that there will be a story for him at a later date. Problematically, is that there are several titled individuals who have the same name (deVere or Westruther) and it was a real challenge to keep everyone apart. Having said that, I did enjoy the book once I got a handle on the cast. Full review to come in January 2012.

Category

The Man Every him Woman Wants by Miranda Lee. This is a December Harlequin Presents. The hero is a former soccer great who now represents other athletes. The heroine is an attorney who reviews his contracts. She asks him to pose as her boyfriend and he agrees. It’s a sweet story and they were both cute characters–No alpha asshole–but the endless exposition toward the end was a little much.

A Christmas Night to Remember by Helen Brooks. Another December Harlequin Presents. Heroine, a dancer, is hideously scarred as a result of an accident and wants to leave her husband, a famous director. She can’t compete with the glitterati and thinks she is bound to lose him because of her scarred body. He pursues her relentlessly and won’t let her push him away. It was okay.

Craving the Forbidden and In Bed with a Stranger by India Grey. This is a December and January HP release, respectively. There is an HEA in both but the second book does feature the same characters. The first one, the heroine poses as the girlfriend of her gay bestfriend and falls for said best friend’s brother. I like them both and would recommend them. Full reviews to come.

Sweet Betrayal by Helen Brooks. This is a Harlequin Treasury book. As I said in the podcast with Sarah this is all about a heroine who jumps to awful conclusions and says awful things as a result of those awful conclusions and I just could not stand her.

Heart of the Desert by Carol Marinelli. I liked the tone but not the storyline which portrayed the heroine Georgie as an irresponsible chit when she didn’t want to tie herself down to the rules imposed by the desert kingdom in which her sister lived. I did like that her sister and her didn’t have a hearts and roses relationship given that the sister was a former HP heroine (ha, that sounds funny). I did like the mysticism that the desert held for the people, though.

Missing Mother-to-Be by Elle Kennedy. I wanted to give this a negative grade I disliked it so much. No worries. We will have a full review full of quotes and everything.

The Most Coveted Prize by Penny Jordan. Hero is gross. Sets out to seduce a virgin and discard her so he can win a contract from her half brother. Not because he needs revenge or any ridiculous HP ideal but because he wants this final contract to cement his place as a financial power. She’s 19. He’s in his 30s. The power dynamic, not to mention the very skeevy way in which the hero set out to seduce the heroine, was quite disturbing.

The Ice Prince by Sandra Marton. The hero delights in being a sexist jerk. Isn’t reformed into a non sexist jerk, just a sexist jerk who loves the heroine. Essentially, this is an opposites attract story where the hero owns some land in Sicily and the ownership of the land is challenged by a mob boss in the U.S. Mob boss sends his daughter, a lawyer, to Italy to negotiate a deal. Hero and heroine strike sparks off one another, first in anger then in passion. He grovels heavily to her brothers and then goes to her and proposes marriage. Whilst he was groveling to her brothers, I kept wondering why he wasn’t abasing himself before her.

PNR

Ilona Andrews was looking for reviewers of Silver Shark and I volunteered. Silver Shark is a short story set in a futuristic world. I thought Andrews did a great job of imparting little details like vegetation to provide authenticity for world. I thought, though, the heroine embraced her lust for the hero too quickly, particularly since she was supposed to be shut down emotionally. I do need to do a review of this and will next week.

Fate’s Edge by Ilona Andrews. This is an ARC of a December release (late November). Heroine is a magically gifted Edger who is trying to make it in the Broken as a private investigator. She thinks she loves the normalcy of it. Unfortunately her con artist father gets her to participate in one last heist which leads her to be the target of the very evil group called the Hand, a kind of special police of a magically gifted faction in the fae land called the Weird. She gets some help from an agent of the Mirror and the brothers of Rose, the heroine in On the Edge. The agent of the Mirror is the cousin of Cerise Mar from Bayou Moon. Enjoyed this quite a bit and would recommended. Full review to come in December.

Of course, this led to a re-read of Bayou Moon and On The Edge by Ilona Andrews.

Envy by JR Ward. This book just showed up on my doorstep. I opened it up and I start reading and the next thing I knew, I was hooked. I actually stopped reading Ward after the ghost story and lost interest in the BDB series. I thought the Fallen Angel series was much more urban fantasy than romantic but I found Envy to be very romantic. Thomas DelVecchio Jr. is the son of an infamous serial killer. He blacks out and when he comes to a suspected killer is savaged and Veck thinks he might have done it. IA officer (not detective?) Sophia Reilly is called in to investigate. She clears him pretty quickly as the savaging was done by a wild animal (or so everyone thinks) but there is a battle over Veck’s soul. The battle is the overarcing series plot pertaining to a contest between good and evil.

I then went and bought the previous 2 books and I tried to read Crave and could not get past the 1st chapter again so that was a waste of $7.95. Tried Covet and again that book did not work for me in any fashion so I just did a search and find so I could read the parts about Jim and his new love that is kind of referenced in Envy. And I chalk that up to a $16 mistake. (I’m sure at one time the publisher had sent me Covet and Crave in paper but I’m also sure that I don’t have those anywhere in my house).

I also re read some of Nalini Singh’s Archangel series. Not very productive behavior.

Erotic Romance

Double Shot by Christine D’Abo. I can barely remember what this book is about. Sadie is part owner in a catering coffee shop. Her family business is asked to cater a party at a sex club. This is all an effort for Sadie and sex club board member to get in each other’s pants. I felt the hero was too emo and the primary sex scene in this novella featured a “Sadie, may I” game which got old after the second “Sadie, may I” but you have to endure it for at least a half a dozen times. That was five times too many for me.

Sapphire by Jeffe Kennedy. BDSM books with the male as a dom who knows everything have always bothered me and this is no different. The hero came off as very smug and superior who felt like it was his duty to show the heroine what a true “sub” she was. A very “father knows best” sort of tone. And it wasn’t as if the hero sensed this *just* about the heroine.

This is a guy who has mechanical controls in his library and bedroom including hooks and rings that come out of the floor and lower from the ceiling. Did he just troll the streets looking for those secret subs? And when he was whipping her with his belt, it was because he said she wanted it and needed it to free her of her own inhibitions. I hated his know-it-all smugness and how I felt he took advantage of the heroine’s competitive nature. She did not want to give in to him and say the safe word. There is a slight turn around in the end, but by that time, I just despised the hero.

REVIEW: The Chase by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 19:00:07 +0000

Dear Ms. McCarthy:

I have a feeling that this might not be the favorite book in the stock car racing series and I am going to blame it on Kendall, the heroine. She is a woman racing in a man’s sport and she feels her minority status keenly. Kendall Holbrook is the only female stock car racer and she is a member of the

Kendall’s career is on the upswing. She was pulled out of truck racing and into stock car racing (you are careful not to call it NASCAR even though everyone and their cousin does). She’s got a huge sponsor and she is all anyone in the sporting news seems to want to talk to and about. Evan Monroe’s career is moving in the exact opposite direction. He just lost a sponsor worth a half a million a race. His driving sucks. What’s worse is that Evan and Kendall were a hairsbreadth away from being a forever after couple ten years ago and these days she can’t spare him a glance.

I don’t recall many romance stories featuring a woman whose career is more successful than that of the hero’s, particularly if they are in the same industry. I guess it is considered emasculating and therefore not heroic? I haven’t fully thought this one out yet, but when I was reading The Chase, I felt like there was a different dynamic going on. Evan has to come to grips with what he wants to do with his life. Can he be a better driver? Can he deal with the woman in his life having more success than he is having at the very same career? Evan already has to grapple with being the lesser team member as compared to his brother, Elec. And with Elec married to a racing legend’s widow, Evan comes up short in measurement in all areas–personally and professionally.

Like Evan, Kendall is struggling both personally and professionally. Their character arcs mirror each other in many ways (which I always like because it’s the same arc told two different ways in the same book). Kendall hates the publicity that she has to go through to be a driver on the circuit and she has to play up to the cameras because until she starts winning, she has to justify her presence to the sponsors. Kendall is very insecure. Her family isn’t a racing family and they don’t necessarily approve of it. Kendall’s always been trying to gain her father’s approval and initially he was supportive when it was just a fun thing but when Kendall’s racing became serious, his support was withdrawn.

Kendall and Evan’s break up happened ten years ago because they were both immature. What I liked and appreciated was that all parties acknowledged it was immature and were called on it so that we, as readers, aren’t saying these characters are still stupid 10 years later.

"Okay, awkward alert," he told Tuesday in a low voice. "Kendall just showed up and she's seen us. It's too late to make a run for it."

"Why would we make a run for it? I'm the one who invited her."

Evan stared at her. "You invited your friend to join you on your date with her ex-boyfriend? That's fucked up."

"You and Kendall clearly need to talk and clear the air. You're both dragging around ten-year-old baggage and that's just stupid." She gave a cheerful wave to Kendall.

Things I loved about this book include the bromance (which is a term I use inaccurately to describe jocularity between the male characters). I.e., this exchange between Ryder Jefferson and Evan as Ryder tries to offer a hand to Evan:

"Didn't you used to date Kendall?" Ryder asked casually, tossing his helmet in his hands.

Was nothing a goddamn secret in this town? Everyone was always in everyone else's business, and Evan was tired of it. "For about a minute a hundred years ago."

"You still have any feelings for her?"

Evan lost patience with the conversation. He did not have feelings for that woman, other than a lingering annoyance that she'd been such a total wimp about breaking up with him. The least she could have done was have the decency to tell him what he'd done wrong.
"What the hell is this, Dr. Phil? You get married and suddenly you want to talk about feelings? I don't have any feelings."

Ryder laughed. "For a guy who doesn't have feelings you sound pretty riled up. Hey, I'm just offering an ear, man. And since I'm a guy who knows a thing or two about taking a second chance on a relationship, I figured I'd throw it out there that I'm around if you want to talk."

What he was feeling was damned uncomfortable with the direction of this conversation. "Thanks, but I'm good. But I'll call you if I need someone to go get a mani/pedi with."

and the girlmance (is there a better term for this):

"He has no clue why you broke up. It bothers him, it's obvious. Give him an explanation and an apology and give him the opportunity to apologize to you. It's time to move on. You said it yourself, you were eighteen, and you were clearly insecure. Hey, I get that, it's normal at that age to have doubts. But you're twenty-eight now and it's time to deal with the past so you can tackle the future."

"When did you become my therapist?"

"A friend is by definition an unpaid therapist. Trust me, both of you will thank me and sleep a lot better at night. This is called closure."

"I don't think this is a good idea."

"Don't make me bring him to your apartment."

My complaints regarding this book are two fold. First, I thought Kendall had farther to go in terms of character growth and instead of stretching her, I felt that Evan got to make the big bold moves toward the end that endeared him to the readership and left Kendall looking more heartless and immature than she deserved. I would have liked to have seen Kendall make the big gesture because it would have been more fitting with where she needed to go emotionally to end up in a good relationship with Evan. I also didn’t feel like I went far enough with Evan. In other words, his acceptance of his racing career and his place in the world seemed to easy in the end. I got that Evan easy to please and more fatalistic than Kendall and much less driven, but I still wondered at the ease of his recovery.

But I cannot discount that this is a fun, sexy, straight contemporary where we get to concentrate on the characters with few distractions. I appreciated the plot twist that you threw in there in the end. It did not seem out of place, as other reviewers have commented, because I think it highlighted Kendall’s basic insecurities and Evan’s growth as a man (I know, this sounds a little contradictory to the above paragraph). B-

Best regards,

Jane

This book is published by an Agency publisher meaning that the publisher sets the digital book price and there are no discounts.

Dear Author Recommends for August

Jane — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:00:31 +0000

Can you believe that it is August already? I can’t. This year has just swept by. We’ve changed up the recommends rules a little bit to accommodate digital book and category book releases. We reviewers are having a hard time keeping up with the new release dates and so we are keeping our print recommendations to the month of their release, but being much more free about the category books (particularly the digital backlists) and digital first books. Hope that works for you readers. If you have any suggestions on how to make this better, let us know in the comments.

Burning Up by Angela Knight, Nalini Singh, Virginia Kantra, Meljean Brook. Recommended by Shuzluva, Jaclyn and Janine.
Still Life With Murder (Nell Sweeney Mysteries [formerly Gilded Age Mysteries])
by P.B. Ryan. Recommended by Jennie and Janine.
Fair Game by Josh Lanyon. Recommended by Sunita.
Ruthless (The House of Rohan) by Anne Stuart. Recommended by Angela.
The Heat Is On (Harlequin Blaze) by Jill Shalvis. Recommended by Jaclyn.
Hot Finish (Fast Track) by Erin McCarthy. Recommended by Jane.
Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong. Recommended by Jia.
Last Night’s Scandal by Loretta Chase. Recommended by Janine, Jayne, Jane
Life, Over Easy by K.A. Mitchell. Recommended by Sunita, Sarah F.
Libertine’s Kiss by Judith James. Recommended by Jayne.
Baby Bombshell by Lisa Ruff. Recommended by Jayne.
An Heir for the Millionaire: The Greek and the Single Mom\The Millionaire’s Contract Bride by Julia James and Carole Mortimer (for HP lovers). Recommended by Jane.
Unspeakable by Laura Griffin. Recommended by Jayne.
All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins. Recommended by Jane.
Once and for All by Jeannie Watts. Recommended by Jane.
A Little Bit Wild by Victoria Dahl. Recommended by Jane.
Awakened by a Kiss (Fiery Tales, Book 1) by Lila DiPasqua. Recommended by Jane.

Winners of Erin McCarthy’s Hot Finish

Jane — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 21:18:55 +0000

A lot of people wanted Hot Finish by Erin McCarthy but we only have twenty to give away. Good thing is that the book will be out at the end of the month and it will be available in mass market instead of trade. Woot! I hope you enjoy Susannah and Ryder as much as I did. I saw a lot of commenters state that they had never watched stock car racing but loved this series. I’m that way too. I’m really not into watching stock car racing (I hear it is amazing in person although one commenter said she read a book during the entire event) but I love the books.

I have emailed the winners so please check your spam boxes:

Amy P.
Carin
LisaCharlotte
Patty H.
Angela
Mrs. Hanson
Cindy
Heather
Emma
Lori Ann
Ivy
Lola
Tabitha
Elaine G
cories
Cynthia
ASable
Linda Henderson
Maureen
Shel

GIVEAWAY: Hot Finish by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:00:15 +0000

Update: I’ll be closing the comments and ending the contest today (Jul 3) at 8 pm CST.

Remember earlier this month when Cindy Hwang spoke about Hot Finish and you all wanted a copy and we weren’t giving any of them away? That was cruel, right? Well, we are making up for it by having a HUGE giveaway. And by huge, I mean that between Sarah at SmartBitchesTrashyBooks.com and we at Dear Author, there will be a total of 40! finished copies (available to be mailed out next week) to be given away. We are giving 20 away here at Dear Author.

This is part one of our Save the Contemporary campaign for Hot Finish. It’s in mass market, unlike the previous first releases in the series which were in trade (although they are now re-released in mass market). In the week leading up to the release date of August 3, we will be giving away an iPod Touch to anyone who spreads the good word about Contemporaries and Hot Finish.

So why should you want this book? Well, Cindy describes HOT FINISH by Erin McCarthy thusly:

I love love love Erin’s smart, sexy Fast Track contemporary romance series, and from the moment she introduced Suzanne and Ryder in the first book, FLAT-OUT SEXY, I knew their romance would be something special. And it absolutely is–Suzanne and Ryder have a sexual chemistry together that practically leaps off the page, and what’s so wonderful is how funny they are together too. If you love second chance romances, you’ll love HOT FINISH!

What I liked about this book, I have listed in numerical order:

Suzanne is a ballsy chick who is at times brash and abrasive but is always sympathetic.
Ryder wants Suzanne back, bad.
Hotness, folks, hotness.
And funny

So in summary, we have a totally fresh heroine, a hero who can’t stop thinking about his ex, tons of good natured hot sex with a fun vibe. You want? Just leave a comment about whether you watch stock car racing.

REVIEW: Mouth to Mouth by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:00:10 +0000

Dear Ms. McCarthy:

You are fast becoming one of my go to authors. This was a fun, sweet, and very sexy romance. I want more of these. Russ Evans has been trying to track down a fraudster, Trevor Dean, who is preying on women in online dating forums. He romances them, takes their money, and leaves them heartbroken and poor. Russ and his partner believe that Trevor is set to meet a new victim, one Laurel Wilkins. Except Laurel is different than the others which makes Russ wonder if she is not Trevor’s accomplice.

The setup is cute. Laurel and Russ are both waiting for her blind date to show up. When it seems like Laurel is about to get stood up, Russ goes inside the coffee shop to warm up and take a closer look at the vic/accomplice. Once inside, Laurel spots him and greets him like he’s her date. And apparently he is because Trevor masqueraded as Russ online.

“How the hell did she know his name, he wondered as he watched her walk. And how had she poured herself into those black pants? That was one beautiful backside. Which was probably the point. Maybe her job was to lure him, confuse him, distract him with sex.

It wasn’t going to work. Or at least not completely. He was only slightly distracted.”

Once Russ learns that Laurel is indeed a potential victim, albeit one that got stood up, he immediately starts to lecture her on safe dating practices. This leads Laurel to tell him baldly that she’s not interested in a relationship but just good sex. Laurel is deaf and she’s been in a cocoon of her own making for the last five years. She had set off to college, encouraged by her father, but when he died, she returned home, leaving a vibrant deaf community behind. She’s tired of living tentatively and would like to get out, meet people, and have some fun.

Russ is horrified. Laurel reminds him of cotton candy, sugary and delicate; a bunny in fact. He can’t see her out there amongst the ravening wolves. It’s funny to see Russ project his own desires on all men out there “She was so damn appealing, Russ wanted to take advantage of her himself.”

Russ is no gentleman. He’s into casual sex and no emotional ties. He’s trying to raise his rebellious brother after his parents died suddenly and, as he tells Laurel, he’s giving everything to his brother, Sean, and he has nothing left.

It was both easy to remember and hard to remember that Laurel had any disability which made Laurel pitch perfect to me. Granted I am not deaf so I might be talking out of my ass here. What I mean by that is Laurel reads like any other heroine only she has mannerisms affected by her disability. For example, she looks down as an avoidance technique so she can’t see what people are saying (she’s a lip reader).

Her deafness provides some funny moments at the expense of Russ. When Laurel tells Russ she can smell him, he smells himself but only smells soap. Another time, Laurel explains that she tried to call him, but he didn’t have TTY. “I’m sorry.” Jesus, what an ass he was. He’d given his phone number to a deaf woman. Clearly he hadn’t reached detective by his intelligence alone. “Why were you calling?”

The interaction between Russ and his partner was very funny, very male. (or at least what I presume males would sound like).

Russ stared at Jerry as his partner about fell into his lap trying to pull the latch on the passenger door, opening it. “What the hell is your problem? Get off of me.”
“Get out.” Jerry reached toward his thigh.

Knocking Jerry’s hand away, Russ shifted toward the door, a little unnerved. “Anders, touch me and I’ll be forced to hit you.”

Jerry snorted and unlocked Russ’s seat belt. “You can only wish I’d cop a feel off you. Now get out of the car before I shove your dumb ass in the snow.”
…
You want to tell me what’s going on?”

“You’re making me crazy, that’s what. Every day you make me drive by Blondie’s house three, four times while you stare out the window, drooling. Get out of the car, knock on the door, ask her out. Get yourself laid, before I smack the shit out of you.”

Laurel and Russ were totally adorable. I even liked that their first time wasn’t all hearts and roses (lack of communication). The story is quick paced, the dialogue funny and the sex scenes, make sure the ice tray is loaded up. The conflict is the problem. Russ was both overprotective of Laurel because of his nature and her disability. But we were also to believe that Laurel was simply too rich for him. The former conflict was better integrated into the story but neither was dealt with effectively in the end. At the close of the book, all hesitations regarding class differences or Laurel’s need for independence v. Russ’ need for her to be a safe little bunny disappeared with little resolution. It was disappointing, but not enough of a bother to deter me from reading this book again. B

Best regards,

Jane

Dear Author Recommends for May

Jane — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:55:02 +0000

I’m sorry for my delinquency in posting this. My lame is excuse is real world things interfering with my online fun. Without further ado, here is our May recommendations.

To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt. A beautiful courtesan falls in love with a scarred, tormented lord. Recommended by Jayne.
Gift from the Sea by Anna Schmidt. Enemies turned lovers historical set in early 20th C America. Recommeded by Jayne.
Always a Scoundrel by Suzanne Enoch. True rogue tries to shed his past bad association and help a pratical woman about to be trapped in marriage to a man who takes pleasure in destroying others. Recommended by Jane.
Hard and Fast by Erin McCarthy. Dyslexic stock car racer falls for sociology graduate student. Funny and sexy. Recommended by Jane.
The Madness of Lord Ian McKenzie by Jennifer Ashley. Asperger sufferer seduces a widow who curbs his madness. Recommeded by Robin and Jane.
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris. Robin says this is one of the best in the series.
Not Quite a Husband by Sherry Thomas. Estranged couple reuintes and rekindles their love after overcoming past betrayals. Recommended by Janine, who by way of disclosure, is Sherry’s critique partner.
The Conqueror by Kris Kennedy. Medieval knight woos barons and landowners to Henry II’s side while plotting to regain his birthright, Everoot, and uproot its current residents including the woman he is falling in love with. Recommended by Jane (it’s on sale for $2.38).

WINNERS OF GIVEAWAY: Hard and Fast by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Thu, 07 May 2009 01:41:28 +0000

The winners of the Hard & Fast Giveaway sponsored by Berkley, a division of Penguin publishing, are below. Special thanks to Berkley for giving away these books. We all appreciate it. If you are curious about the book, there is a review written here. This book can be purchased in mass market from an independent bookstore or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

Shae
Uncommon Jen
RebekahC
Susan C
Lori
JHeller
Sabrina
Jackie B
Julie M
Mary Beth
AngelaG.
Deborah R
M J
Ashley V
Tili
Tara Leigh (I need your email address)
Kimberly C.
Andrea S
shuzluva
Victoria W

REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Hard and Fast by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Tue, 05 May 2009 16:57:02 +0000

UPDATE: I’ve closed the comments and will announce the winners later tonight.

Dear Readers:

As you know, Sarah of SmartBitches and I have been making an effort to read and promote the straight contemporary. We’ve taken May off to recover from our DABWAHA tournament and we’ll have another STC candidate coming soon. In the meantime, I want to tell you about the May release of Erin McCarthy’s Hard and Fast. The trade paperback is in bookstores today.

After I received my ARC, I wrote to Berkley to tell them how much I enjoyed the book and they offered up 20 copies to giveaway. Let me share with you why you might enjoy this book.

Imogen Wilson is a graduate student in North Carolina. She’s become friends with two wives of stock car racers (well, one former one and one current one). As a result, she has been exposed to the inner world of stock car racing including the women who live in pursuit of the elusive stock car husband. One such woman is Nikki Borden who is currently the girlfriend, or bed mate, of one Ty McCordle. Nikki carries with her “How to Marry a Race Car Driver in Six Easy Steps.” Imogen is struck with an idea for her thesis for her graduate degree in sociology–”did dating rules result in success when altered for a specific occupation?”

Imogen isn’t entirely different than Nikki. Imogen is attracted to Ty. She, like Nikki, would like to have a stock car driver induced orgasm for no other reason than Ty appeals to her.

It was utterly futile to think she could ever attract the attention of a man like that, and she needed to remember that. Why she even wanted to severely mystified her, but there was something about his joie de vivre, the way he didn’t take himself too seriously, that appealed to her. Or at least to the parts of her that resided below the waist.

Ty is not immune to Imogen either. Her book smarts appeal to him because its a strength he does not perceive himself to have. He’s street smart and determined. He’s overcome his severe dyslexia and his lack of education to become a premiere stock car racer but he lusts for knowledge and Imogen is the living, breathing, walking embodiment of that fantasy. Thankfully for both Ty and Imogen, Nikki finds herself a new, younger race car driver which leaves Ty and Imogen to explore their lust for one another.

One of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much is because it made me laugh out loud (and seriously who doesn’t need that these days). Because of Ty’s dyslexia, he cannot quite get a grip on Imogen’s name and so he calls her Emma Jean and later Engine. The exchange of nicknames continues throughout the book. After Imogen quotes lines from Much Ado About Nothing, Ty called Imogen Beatrice. When she refers to him as Mr. Checkered Flag, he fires back with Ms. Victory Lap.

And it’s sexy. Imogen is a talker and a thinker and combined with Ty’s natural proclivities to turn everything toward sex, conversations become supercharged.

"No, ma’am." He shot her a look. "I can think of a lot better things you could be doing to me with those hands."

"Part of me assumes that what you are saying is so obviously sexually charged, you don’t actually mean anything specifi c. It was just meant to be a sort of verbal foreplay. So I shouldn’t bother to ask the inevitable "like what?’ question. But the other part of me wants to know if there is actually something you would like me to do to you in bed. You know, if you have a particular fantasy or position that you’ve been contemplating."

Ty almost groaned. He did shift in his seat to try for a more comfortable angle since his jeans were suddenly cutting into him from the erection that had sprung up at her words. There was something so unbelievably hot about Imogen’s bold curiosity….

There hadn’t been any particular action he’d been thinking of when he’d spoken. He had just wanted to keep her aroused and focused on sex until he could get her back to his condo. But now that she had asked, he had a whole slideshow of positions clicking through his head. He didn’t think he could pick just one.

But it’s not all laughs. Indeed, Ty and Imogen have a wonderfully touching exchange about love and romance I’ve read recently:

Ty gave a laugh and stuck his index finger out at her. “Now that’s funny. That girl has more genuine affection for her shoes than for me.”

She couldn’t tell if he was just stating a fact, or if it bothered him that Nikki wasn’t emotionally invested in him. So she made light of it. “Good shoes are really hard to fi nd.”

“Look at you, calling up your inner smart- ass.” Ty grinned at her. “I like that from you.”

“Well, it’s true.” Imogen smiled back at him. “When you’re shoe shopping, there are all these choices but it’s so hard to fi nd the perfect pair. They don’t match your outfit right, or they’re too casual or too dressy, or they’re out of your price range. The store is out of your size, or they pinch your toes or rub your heels or give you blisters or make your feet sweat. The heel is too high or too low, or they make your ankles look fat.”
…
His knee bumped Imogen’s when he shifted in his seat. “But the truth is, I want to be some woman’s work boots, not her high heels.”

“Work boots?” What was sexy about that? And did women have work boots?

“Yeah. You know, the boots she pulls out when she wants to get down and dirty, hiking or gardening or boating or painting the kitchen. The ones she relies on and trusts and lives her life hard and good and on her terms in. Her favorites.”

There was been some debate about the ending of the story in which it seems that the resolution of the conflict didn’t match the enormity of the differences between Ty and Imogen. The pace of the romance was superfast and it is true that it seemed rushed at the end. Still, this was a fun, sexy read that I’ll enjoy revisiting. If you would like a copy, drop a comment in the comment box. I’ll pick 20 winners tomorrow.

Best regards

Jane

This book can be purchased in mass market from an independent bookstore or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

Thursday Afternoon Haiku Moment: Flat Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy

Jaiku — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:00:00 +0000

In a contemp mood
SBs say your book is good
I am won over.

McCarthy virgin
No vamps or angels. Nascar?
Oh boy. Could be bad.

One night stand with guy
In Chapter One. Way to give
the milk for free, cow.

No hate for Tammy
BUT that is kind of cliché
Happens too often

Despite rocky start
(and the Nascar – not a fan)
This is a fun read

The hero Elec
Where have you been all my life
Young, hot, devoted

Ty, Ryder – I smell
Scent of sequels upon you
A bit obvious

Heroine is meh
But I enjoy the hero
And the sex is hot

I waffle on grade
Dahl is hard act to follow
I’ll give you a B.

Dear Author Recommended Reads for November

Jane — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:55:56 +0000

September and October were bare for recommended reads from the crew here at Dear Author so hopefully you saved up your money for this month because we’ve got 7 8! recommendations.

Demon Bound by Meljean Brook. This will not be my favorite Brook book, but her writing is consistently strong with excellent visuals and a compelling conflict. She’s the best author people are not reading, in my opinion. Jake is a younger (comparatively speaking for the eternal), optimistic Guardian whose teleporting gift is always going awry. He lives for the moment and generally takes joy in most things. Alice, dubbed the Black Widow, greets each day with resignation for she has made the worst possible bargains. Either kill the leader of the Guardians or lose herself to eternal torture in hell. She’s both repelled and attracted to Jake and his youthful and vibrant sexuality. Brook excels at creating unique characters who serve as foils as their exploration of their relationship moves with the plot. Recommended by Jane. Review to come.

Flat Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy. I love McCarthy’s contemporaries because of their lighthearted look at romace without relying on slapstick or tired innuendos. Tamara Briggs is a thirty-two year old widow with two small kids. Her deceased husband of a famous stock car driver who died in a crash. She’s still, reluctantly part of the racing scene, because her in-laws but if she remarries, it will be to a "man with a regular nine-to-five job, who came home for dinner, and who cut the grass on the weekend. A man who didn’t drive around the track at one hundred and eighty-five miles an hour every weekend, tempting fate.” Of course, who would rev up her engine but young driver, Elec Monroe. It was great fun to watch the older Tamara run like hell after their one night stand and have to bluster about it not being a one night stand when called on it by Elec. In a nice role reversal, Tamara really does want to just have sex with Elec only he doesn’t want that and once he gets an inkling that is all she’s interested in, he takes the opportunity to set her straight. More on the review here. (the giveaway has expired). Recommended by Jane.

Mermaid’s Kiss by Joey Hill. This is a lighter book than I am used to with Ms. Hill but not in a bad way. Mermaid’s Kiss is a retelling of the fairy tale popularized by Disney’s Little Mermaid. Disney, though, this book is not. Anna is the daughter in a long line of women cursed when their foremother fell in love with a human. All Ariel’s daughters die before the age of 21. When Jonah, an angel, falls from the sky, she undertakes one last journey to save his soul before hers is lost. I thought the retelling aspect was done marvelously incorporating some very familiar images with some new details. Mina, the sea witch, is Anna’s best friend, and while hideously deformed (familiar image), she is out to protect Anna (new detail). Jonah is weary at heart but relearns his purpose with the help of Ariel. There is definitely a fairy tale quality to this story. It’s an erotic romance, though, and some of the sex scenes are non traditional. Recommended by Jane. Review to come.

The Bride Price by Anne Mallory. The book starts off with the question of what a true gentleman is because Sebastien, by the circumstances of his birth, is not considered to be one. The competition is set up with the idea that you can win your way to status. But the competition is really a debasement. It pits individuals, who are already considered less than by society, against each other and holds them up for scorn and mockery. The men who compete in this "game" are not deemed to be individuals but rather pawns. The heroine, Caroline Martin, a genteel woman with a mysterious past is the only person that could push Sebastien off his path toward vindication and revenge. Recommended by Jane. Review here.

Like No Other Lover by Julie Ann Long. The plot of Like No Other Lover is quite simple. There are no spies running around or secrets to uncover – just a house party with various characters interacting with each other. This is both the strength and the weakness of the book. I appreciated the focus on the characters and the simplicity of the story. Miles is an appealing, if somewhat familiar, hero – the bespectacled scientific type (though he apparently does all right with women; Miles is not quite a Nerd Hero). Cynthia is rather more unique – here is a heroine who is fairly unrepentantly mercenary in her pursuit of a husband. She has made some mistakes that lead to her fall from grace in London. I really liked the way that Cynthia’s situation was handled – she is not depicted as a martyr. Recommended by Jennie and Janet (Robin). Review here.

The Edge of Impropriety by Pam Rosenthal. I think the title is an intriguing one, in light of Rosenthal’s fiction, because it seems to me that she is a writer who tries to find the edge of genre conventions. To me, all of her books that I’ve read are interested in questions of conventions and their boundaries. How far can the characters go, given their place in society? And how far can the book go, given its publication in the genre? Where is that dangerous edge that is going too far, and what is more exciting (for the characters and perhaps even for the author) than pushing up against it? Recommended by Jennie and Janine. Conversational review to come.

Redeeming Gabriel by Elizabeth White. The conflict between these two isn’t a silly misunderstanding. It’s not something that a 5 minute talk will clear up. [The hero] is trying to sabotage something in which her father has invested all the family money and which Jamie is going to pilot. Camilla, even though she’s an abolitionist and has worked for the Underground Railroad for four years, is a Southerner and wants the South to win the war. She has some growing up to do as far as the reality of blockade running and universal emancipation of the slaves is concerned. She wears glasses and sometimes they’re rose colored but she does face up to reality and make her hard choices. Recommended by Jayne. Review to come.

To Seduce a Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt. The plot is mainly a character study of Jasper and Melisande. The continuing arc of who betrayed the 28th Regiment is there but it mainly throws light on these two as Jasper continues his dogged search for the traitor. As Munroe tells Jasper, Melisande has courage. She has the guts to take her only chance and go for the man she’s loved from afar, she decides to go for the kind of physical relationship she decides will take the place of romantic love and she confronts someone she suspects her husband fears blames him for the events at Spinner’s Falls. Melisande faces Jasper’s darkest fears and holds his hand while he walks through them. She sees the way he deals with the nightmares that still haunt him and makes no comments – only joins him in the rituals he needs to live through the dark night. I guess these two will be sleeping on a pallet bed with a loaf of bread and canteen of water until they’re eighty or so. Recommended by Jayne. Review to come.

WINNERS of the Erin McCarthy Flat Out Sexy Contest

Jane — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:33:40 +0000

For Dear Author, here are the ten readers who won a copy of Erin McCarthy’s book, Flat Out Sexy, the first book in the Smart Bitch/Dear Author “Save the Contemporary” Campaign.

Moth
Allison
ArkansasCyndi
Darby
Heidi
Kay Sisk
Lori
Sara Andrade
Sarai
Zoe Archer

I’ve emailed you, I think. If not, please send me your snail mail address. Since we are going to be running this “Campaign” again, let me know what you think of the Sprout widget. Too slow to load? Too large? Couldn’t read the excerpt (that was kind of a problem for me that I realized late in the game)? Not very intuitive?

REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Flat Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:00:04 +0000

I’ve mentioned before that the contemporary romances that doesn’t feature vampires, campy vampires, werewolves, immortal peril, mortal peril, suspense out the wahoo, or extraordinary extraterrestrial extraneous circumstances seem to be fewer and far between. Every now and again I hear declarations that the contemporary romance is a dying subgenre and it’s harder and harder to find, and that if you’re not an established name, you’ll never get anywhere, because fewer people want to read contemporary romance.

So when Sarah and I read Flat Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy, we were both blathering to each other about how awesome it was and how refreshing to have actual conflict between people caused by realistic tension stemming from ordinary life experiences between two marvelous characters. Contemporary romance done right? More please! So, following this review, read more about a multi-level contest sponsored by Dear Author, Smart Bitches, Berkeley and Erin McCarthy, a contest we hope will be a semi-regular feature here and at Smart Bitches where we try to Save the Contemporary.

***

Dear Ms. McCarthy:

I have a confession to make and it might not be one you want to hear. I know that when you first started out, you wrote funny sexy contemporaries, then you branched out a bit and wrote funny sexy contemporaries featuring vampires. Then you branched out even more and wrote serious contemporaries featuring various immortal beings and those books, well, they just didn’t appeal to me as much as your light hearted contemporaries. So I admit that it was with some glee that I received Flat Out Sexy. I recall reading this book and thinking it was a lot of fun. I hadn’t thought about it again.

Then SB Sarah emailed me about the book with an “Ohmigod, this is great”, it began an exchange of “and wasn’t this a great scene when she wondered if she was a cougar?” and wasn’t it funny when Ryder told the two of them that he was running out of properties for them to have sex on? I ended up reading the book a second time and enjoyed it just as much as the first. Straight contemporaries seem to be a dying breed and I’m always glad to through my support behind a good one.

Tamara Briggs is a thirty-two year old widow with two small kids. Her deceased husband of a famous stock car driver who died in a crash. She’s still, reluctantly part of the racing scene, because her in-laws but if she remarries, it will be to a “man with a regular nine-to-five job, who came home for dinner, and who cut the grass on the weekend. A man who didn’t drive around the track at one hundred and eighty-five miles an hour every weekend, tempting fate.”

Of course, who would rev up her engine but young driver, Elec Monroe. Elec is younger than Tamara, and is the son of a racing legend, Elliott Monroe. He had been part of the racing scene since a youth. Initially, I think Elec is drawn to Tamara because of an aura that he thinks she exudes. He uses descriptions such as “classy, elegant, sophisticated.” I wondered if this was an early signal to readers to prepare them that Elec was going to be emotionally ready for Tamara because the reader has to overcome the suspension of disbelief that a young man who is living a fast and glamorous life would want to settle down with a woman six years his senior. It wasn’t hard to believe that Elec had fallen hard for Tamara. She was a great mother, a good friend, and a caring daughter. Plus, Elec was clearly over the moon in lust with Tamara. I appreciated that Elec was written with a youthful touch, that there wasn’t an attempt to make him sound older or more mature and that he still acted impulsively at times. It made their relationship more genuine and believable.

I know very little about Nascar other than having watched that bad Will Farrell movie, Talledega Nights and some special on RVs on the HGTV network which included a segment about souped up RVs for famous Nascar folks. There were enough details in the story to make it sound authentic to me but a Nascar fan might disagree. While the book doesn’t mention “Nascar”, I just inserted it automatically since it was about pro stock car racing.

It was great fun to watch the older Tamara run like hell after their one night stand and have to bluster about it not being a one night stand when called on it by Elec. In a nice role reversal, Tamara really does want to just have sex with Elec only he doesn’t want that and once he gets an inkling that is all she’s interested in, he takes the opportunity to set her straight.

I appreciated that Tamara’s former husband wasn’t demonized. He fit the stereotypical athlete but not in terms of womanizing. He was more addicted to the thrill and the fame and less addicted to his family. One element that wasn’t explored a great deal was why Elec was different; what was it about his personality or his upbringing or his past (which actually seemed very similar to the deceased husband) that made him less interested in the trappings of a successful race car driver.

Another element that didn’t seem to get adequate attention was the Hatfield/McCoy storyline that was raised between Elec’s family and Tamara’s inlaws, both racing powerhouses. The “secret” of the feud was never revealed. It was unclear why it wasn’t revealed either.

Probably the greatest strength of this book besides the sexiness (and yes, it is super sexy) is the humor, so I’ll end the review with a couple of excerpts. This is a scene from the morning after the one night stand:

She flushed, feeling the heat rise up her neck and into her cheeks. “It’s not what it looks like,” she said to Ryder, which was perhaps the stupidest thing she had ever said in her entire life.

That ridiculous lie in the face of the obvious seemed to break through Ryder’s shock. He burst out with a laugh. “Oh, I think it’s exactly what it looks like.” He grinned. “Guess Elec saw you home safely. Knew I could count on him.”

Ryder moved through the room to his closet, still grinning. “I hate to be the voice of reason-’I mean, when does that ever happen? But it’s damn near noon. I have to grab my uniform and head to the pre-race meetings with my team. I would imagine you have to do the same, rookie.”

…

Oh my God.

It was Elec. “I know you,” she said, struck dumb. “You were at a barbeque at the Briggses a long time ago. You got drunk on pilfered beer and took your daddy’s car and did doughnuts on the front lawn.”

Elec rubbed his chin and gave a sheepish smile. “Guilty as charged. But they shouldn’t have left the beer keg unattended. It was too much a temptation for a teenage boy.”

Tamara started to think she just might faint. Dear God in heaven, she had slept with a teenager. She was a molester. She scooted back on the mattress, trying to get off the same pillow as him, put some space, any space, between them. “You were like twelve then! How old are you now? My Lord, Elec, I’m old enough to be your mother!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, not looking at all concerned that she had just done a Mrs. Robinson on him. He reached for her, touching her hip, hauling her back a little toward him. “That was more than ten years ago, I imagine. And if you’re old enough to have a twenty-six-year-old child, I’ll eat my car, part by part.”

“You’re twenty-six?” Tamara’s heart rate slowed a little. That didn’t sound quite as bad. She’d been thinking early twenties, but at least he was heading toward thirty.

“Well, almost. In a couple of months.”

“Oh, my God!” She panicked and ducked under the sheet.

The morning after scene is one of my favorites in the book even though the dinner with Elec, Tamara, her friend, Suzanne, Suzanne’s ex, Ty and his bimbo du jour is another priceless piece of entertainment and if a reader is interested in knowing what that scene reads like, well, she’ll have to read the book. B+

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased in trade paperback from Amazon or Powells on November 4, 2008. Ebook format forthcoming.

***

And Now: Buy a Contemporary, Save the World

Here’s the deal: we dig this book. We dig this book like damn and whoa, and we think you will too. So, in order to spread the word and the opportunity to read it we’re doing a multi-level giveaway in tandem with our reviews of Flat Out Sexy. Sarah and I are putting money where our mouth is by offering up a 1/3 of the prize money each. We coerced Ms. McCarthy to throw in some cash to the kitty and Berkley is adding 20 copies of the book.

Part the First: free books! Leave a comment, and you’re automatically entered to win a copy. We each have 10 copies of the book to give away, so drop a word Smart Bitches and here and double your chances. Comments will be open for 24 hours starting now.

Second: Spread the Word! Below is a Sprout widget about our campaign, and a simpler animated graphic. Right-click-and-save the graphic, or grab the Sprout for yourself (graphic at the top of the page), and put it on your site. Let us know that you’ve done so via email (sarah at smartbitchestrashybooks.com OR jane at dearauthor.com), and you’ll be entered to win a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.com, where you can buy this book, or many, many other books may suit your fancy. Spread the word, let us know, and you’re entered to win. That’s it.

The Spread the Word winner will be announced in 1 week, so tune in on Monday 27 October to see who wins a fierce Benjamin in our quest to Save the Contemporary.

Why? Because if there’s one thing that makes us sad, it’s the idea of contemporary romance dying out. So spread the word, buy a contemporary, and save the world.

REVIEW: Sucker Bet by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 09:00:05 +0000

Dear Ms. McCarthy:

I’ve really enjoyed this series and with the release of the series in mass market from the original trade publications, I think you might start finding the audience you deserve. The vampire genre is full but I do believe there is always room for well done fun fiction and this series surely fits that niche.

Sucker Bet, as most of the books in the “Vegas Vampire Series”, are written a bit tongue in cheek as you take advantage of the vampire motifs to poke fun at the mystique of both vampires and Las Vegas. Vampires and Vegas – it’s the perfect combination.

Gwenna Carrick, is the sister of the President of the Vampire Nation and ex-wife of the VP, Roberto Donatelli. She has been known for almost all of her life by her association with the men in her life. Recently divorced from Donatelli (300 years ago but these are immortals), Gwenna still lives in the shadow of her brother, living in his hotel, supported by his money. Gwenna spends a lot of time online because that is when she feels useful, as if she is contributing to the vampire community by infiltrating a vampire slayer email listserv. She suspects many on the email list are just playing around but that a few are serious. When one of the more serious listserv denizens invites her to meet, she agrees.

Upon arriving at the meeting place, Gwenna finds that someone has been murdered. Detective Nate Thomas answers the call to investigate the death of a young man on a monorail platform. There he finds Gwenna looking a bit bewildered. A comic misunderstanding takes place as Nate pegs her as totally foolish to meet an unknown stranger from the internet. We as the reader knows that the stranger should have been afraid of Gwenna. It’s a great source of literary irony.

“Look Gwenna, just tell me what you know about the guy you were meeting.”

“I just know the user name he goes by. It’s Slash87.”

“User name? Online?”

“Yes.” Her cheeks got a little pink.

“You were meeting a guy you met on the Internet?”

She nodded.

Christ. Why did everyone suddenly think it was a good idea to hook up online with total strangers and meet them in unsafe locales without knowing jack shit about them other than the fact that they used freakin’ smileys in their damn e-mails? Yeah, Nate was officially out of patience.

Nate proceeds to lecture Gwenna on the dangers of meeting strange men near a train station. Gwenna can’t really explain that she is stronger, more dangerous than any man out there so she just patiently allows his lecturing to run out.

Gwenna later runs into Nate at the hospital where Nate is saying goodbye to his terminally ill sister and Gwenna is celebrating the birth of a new vampire nation baby (nice juxtaposition). She sees that Nate is struggling emotionally and reaches out to him. This leads to an intimate encounter that takes both of them by surprise. Gwenna is beginning to awaken from her cosseted cocoon to realize that she must be proactive. Nate becomes the first victim in her desire to be her own woman.

I enjoyed this chrysalis story but was a bit disappointed at how trivially parts of the story were treated particularly the vampire reveal to Nate. That part did not ring very true to me and I was surprised that Gwenna didn’t suffer a great emotional struggle when it came to certain decisions she made about her and Nate’s relationship.

Having said that, I did enjoy the humor and Gwenna. I loved seeing her gain more control over her life as well as more confidence in herself. Nate is a sexy counterpart, but is a fairly standard romancelandia detective: strong, hot, and overworked. Gwenna is what makes the story for me but Nate definitely added some sizzle. B

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased in trade paperback or ebook format.
As a side note, I read at Amazon that the paper copies were missing pages 188 – 221 so if you buy this book in the store be sure to check that the paper copy you are buying is complete.

REVIEW: My Immortal by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 22:00:26 +0000

Dear Ms. McCarthy:

I have liked your lighthearted works in the past but I wasn’t at all disturbed that you were exploring a darker side of your writing. On a superficial level, this book worked and I thought it took chances, but a deeper examination revealed some character trends that I found unappealing.

The story opens with Damien, an 18th Century dissolute and wealthy southern landowner, taking a demon into his arms and asking her for a favor. The favor is granted and we fade to black. The story re-engages in the modern day when Marley Turner makes a stop at Damien’s plantation in search of her missing, irresponsible sister. Marley Turner is the perfect temptation to Damien who has been abstaining for 200 years as a self imposed punishment. If he takes Marley, he endangers whatever soul he may have left to his succubus/incubus masters.

I was initially fascinated by the idea of the redemption Damien du Bourg. In the initial scenes, he is cruel and selfish. I almost wondered if he was really the hero. The problem is that I never got to see the redemption of Damien du Bourg. He was simply reformed in the pre-book years. I learned why he reformed and how he reformed, but I never go to see it and that reduced my pleasure in the storyline. I almost felt like there was some revisionist history that took place to reform him, as if the scene that depicted him taking pleasure without regard for others really didn’t exist like it unfolded at the beginning of the book.

Marley Turner is a school teacher and to some extent is stereotypical. She’s unmarried. She’s sexually repressed. Her sister is irresponsible and sexually wild. To some degree, I felt like there was a clear demarcation of the women in this book. On the one hand there were the good women – the ones that needed awakening to sexual pleasure, like Marley. On the other, there were the bad, ammoral, and evil girls like Marley’s sister or the demons who gave Damien his wish for immortality – and they all loved sex, in all its various incarnations. I don’t think that this was intentional because I felt like the message, if there is one, in this book was that sex was a good and wonderful thing but the patterns that emerged were disturbing and contradictory.

The best parts of the book, I felt, weren’t necessarily the ones between Marley and Damien but rather between Damien and his wife in the 18th Century. This story was told to Marley by a woman living on Damien’s property and through the use of letters. What happened to Damien’s wife was crucial to his redemption was the most compelling part of the story. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention that the story was very, very erotic and part of the sexuality was provided by the atmosphere and not just the intimate scenes.

I liked the darker aspects of the book and wish that they had been explored more fully. I am hoping the next book is about the conflicted demon, Rosa, who both tormented and protected Damien. She’s got a story to tell and I want to read it. B-

Best regards,

Jane

My First Sale: Erin McCarthy, An Author Who Can’t Resist a Challenge

Jane — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:00:09 +0000

Erin McCarthy started her writing career by penning fun, breezy, contemporary romances. She then transitioned to fun, breezy, contemporary paranormals. More recently, with My Immortal, McCarthy tackles a dark look at redemption. Her first sale story is a microcosm of her overall writing career, one filled with meeting the challenges that are presented to her.

***

I sold my first book back in late 2002 after entering a contest on Lori Foster's website. Selling I way I did was a complete accident and a total shock. I was bored, playing online, and decided to see what Lori's upcoming releases were. I'd been writing seriously for a year and a half, and had several projects out to publishers. I was at that point of feeling I was so close to selling I could taste it, having won contests, gotten requests for full manuscripts, and even a phone call from an interested editor. I was excited but edgy, ready for that big moment. I saw the Brava novella contest on Lori's site and thought I would give it a try. I wrote the entry (750 words) over the next day or so and sent it to Lori before I could change my mind. She emailed me back immediately to say she loved it and that I had a strong voice and asked if I had finished the novella. Well, uh, no, since I'd only written the first three pages the night before. :-D But then Lori wrote words that changed my life. She said if I ever finished it, she would love to read it. If? If? She didn't even know it, but she threw down the gauntlet. I had a NY Times bestselling author saying she would read my work, and there was no way in hell I wasn't going to finish that novella. There was just no "if–? about it.

So I wrote the novella in ten days and sent it on to Lori. She read it that night, bless her heart, and sent me an email to say she was halfway through and loving my novella "Hard Drive.–? She told me to watch my inbox, which got my adrenaline pumping along with a healthy dose of fear. I wasn't sure exactly what she meant and I was basically freaking out, so to distract myself I went off shopping at Target. I bought towels and cookies, the vanilla sandwich kind (yes, the day is burned in my memory). I got home and there was an email from Kate Duffy at Kensington asking me to call her. I did, hoping that she was going to request I send her the whole novella of Hard Drive.

Instead, she said she'd read it, loved it, wanted to buy it. Hello. I had no idea that Lori had emailed her the whole novella already. It was a beautiful, beautiful moment. After babbling incoherently, I then had to cut her off because I was my daughter's Girl Scout leader and I had fifteen 9 year olds waiting up at school for me. They brought me back to reality pretty quick.

But it was an amazing start to a fabulous career and I'm eternally grateful to both Lori and Kate.

REVIEW: Bit the Jackpot by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 09:00:20 +0000

Dear Ms. McCarthy:

I thought since yesterday was Thanksgiving, I could get away with not posting today. But then I saw that everyone else in Blogland posted and I can’t be the one to drag us all down even though I ate enough food to feed a village. I hate the holidays. Or rather my jeans hate the holidays. I did throw up a bit when I heard that Jessica Simpson is now dating Tony Romo, new quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. If I have to hear about Jessica Simpson during my football games, I may have to swear off football. At least I have retail therapy to wash away the bitter aftertaste. As I stand in line to purchase the items that I really don’t need but am gulled into buying because of the low, low price, I’ll need a book to wile away the time. What better book than Bit the Jackpot? It’s funny, light-hearted and easy to read romance with spicy love scenes. Not just spicy, but funny, spicy love scenes.

Sure, this story has a few cliches (okay, alot of cliches) but you bring enough funny to overcome any triteness. Seamus Fox, a vampire campaign manager, is out to find information that could help his vampire presidential candidate win the next election. The setting of Vegas for vampires is perfect. I am sure that there are other vampire Vegas stories, but this is the first one I’ve read so I kept thinking that the synergy between the characters and setting was ideal. Seamus is chasing down a lead at a local strip club when he gets caught up looking at a dancer behind a screen. A very talented, hot dancer behind the screen. Seamus hasn’t had a woman in 200 years since his last hookup was disastrous but it seems that even an upright vampire citizen can be tempted beyond control.

Cara Kim is the dancer behind the screen. Not only is she a stripper but she is a virgin stripper. No groaning readers, virgins aren’t my favorite thing either. Cara’s virginity is well explained and it’s not like she doesn’t want to have pleasure. (She even admits to getting some pleasure from dancing). She just does herself recognizing that BOB^* may be a better lover than some ass off the street. She has a compulsive personality and a need to nurture which spells bad things for relationships.

Seamus goes backstage and tries his vampire mind tricks on her but it doesn’t work. (Again, stop with the groaning. He can still read her mind). Enter some bad vampires and a driver not paying attention and Cara is left dying on the street. After 200 years of abstinence (I SAID NO GROANING), Seamus can’t let the one girl who got it up for him die so he turns her. Even though this could spell doom for his vampire presidential candidate. When Seamus has Cara feed from him, she immediately orgasms. He also finds a vibrator in her apartment. These things lead him to believe that Cara is sexually experienced which sets up another comedic confrontation.

Perhaps why everything works so well for me is because you clearly don’t expect us to take anything very seriously. It’s a campy, fun romance with no pretensions of being anything but entertaining; and it is entertaining even the second time around. For those who haven’t read you yet, I’ll end with a few quotes because your writing sells you better than anything I could say about your book. Thanks for writing such fun sexy books. There’s always room in my reading lineup for these kinds of stories. B.

Best regards,

Jane

*BOB=Battery Operated Boyfriend

“I need a cage and a leash for my girlfriend,” Seamus told the store clerk . . . .

“Yeah, don’t we all,” the twenty-year-old clerk said, a grin splitting his wan face.

Huh? Seamus looked at the guy blankly for a second before realizing what exactly he’d said. “I mean for her dogs.”

“Right.” The guy’s finger came out and he made a sound with his teeth. “Probably better to use handcuffs on the girlfriend anyway.”

Cara was sorry she’d brought it up. Because now they were staring at each other, both angry, both breathing hard, Seamus looking hot and bothered, Cara feeling hot and bothered. She would not picture lying on Seamus’s bed, moaning in pleasure, legs spread, Seamus standing at the bottom of the bed watching her, his eyes dark, erection thick.

“Cara…I can see your thoughts,” Seamus said, his words trailing off into a groan.

She made a hideous noise and threw her arms up in the air. “You’re like a block of wood. You’re impenetrable. Your expression never changes. You always look vaguely annoyed. Even when I’m…you know”–"her voice dropped down to normal tones–" “you don’t even react. You don’t try to have sex with me. Not that I want you to. But you don’t even try. Are you gay?”

“No!” This was why he avoided women. They were freaking crazy. How could she not notice his erection? How could she not see his drool when he looked at her? And why did she want to penetrate him in the first place? She didn’t even seem to like him.

He nodded. “I thought I might encourage you with a little vampire persuasion.” Which sounded cheap and disgusting now that he was repeating it out loud. He was such an Irish pig. “But I assure you I wouldn’t have done anything you didn’t want me to do.” Like that made it sound any better.

“So I looked like the kind of woman who would be up for a good time?”

He wasn’t going to answer that on the grounds that she might castrate him.

REVIEW: You Don’t Know Jack by Erin McCarthy

Jane — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 09:00:12 +0000

Dear Ms. McCarthy:

Jay, the poor misguided fool who thought she wanted to be a lawyer and now who cannot read for pleasure because all she does is read opinions, really enjoys your books and has been trying to get me to read them for months now. You Don’t Know Jack was an ebook and I jumped at the chance to try you out. Soooo glad I did.

If you allow me to pigeonhole you a bit, I would characterize your voice as Meg Cabot all grown up. Your characters are all very nice. Usually that is something that drives me nuts but in your book, as with Cabot’s, I end up liking the characters in spite of myself. Case in point is your heroine. Jamie Peters is a social worker bent on saving the world. She specializes in rehabilitating convicts and still believes that she can effectuate change. Her need to fix things bleeds into her personal life and she is always taking on lost causes, making them into perfect boyfriends for the next girl. (this reminds me of a Jayne Ann Krentz heroine). This doesn’t seem to bother Jamie because she hasn’t loved any of her exes. She really doesn’t want to fall in love given her father’s abandonment of her family when she was young but she’s open. When one of her projects, a transsexual, psychic former felon, tells her she is going to meet her soul mate soon in a food related incident, she finds herself checking out the other shoppers at the local market, feeling up one melon too many.

The psychic also tells her that she should not let a deception stand in the way of being with her soulmate. Jamie hates deceptions. She hates liars. She would never be with someone who lies.

Jack is a day trader who made it big and got out of the rat race while he was still young. But being retired and in your 30s has major drawbacks such as boredom. In reviewing grant requests for his family’s charitable foundation, he finds that his sister’s roommate’s Jamie has submitted a grant proposal. Unfortunately, the financials accompanying the proposal reek of SEC violations. He decides to check Jamie out and basically begins stalking her. One day he plans to bump into her “accidentally” and strike up a conversation in hopes that this will lead to more information about her grant proposal. Jack falls for Jamie, almost immediately, and proceeds to lie out of his ass to get her to fall for him.

There are some big flaws in this book such as Jack’s motivation for following Jamie and trying to investigate her. There is a sexual marathon that takes place in the middle of the book and goes on and on and on. I couldn’t decide if you have to have a certain percentage of your story full of sex else it doesn’t qualify as a Brava or what. Additionally, your characters tend to be either nice or evil. They are fairly one dimensional. The flaws don’t hamper my enjoyment of your story. It was an easy, light hearted read with an oddly placed sexual marathon. I enjoyed all of it, in spite of myself. B.

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers.

REVIEW: CB-Playing The Game (Josie and Jack series) by Megan Hart