The Temporary Wife by Mary Balogh

This is one of Balogh’s most beloved traditional regencies, up there with The Notorious Rake as far as being many Balogh readers’ favorite Balogh. It was recently reissued in a 2-in-1 edition with A Promise of Spring and I took the time to reread and review it. I found that it was even more enjoyable the second time around. What I love about it is the transformation of the hero (and his relatives) from joylessness to joy. Grade: B+/A-

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A Promise of Spring by Mary Balogh

This one, on the other hand, was a disappointment. It started out wonderfully, as a sweet and tender older woman/younger man romance. The heroine had lost a child who happened to be illegitimate in her youth, and the hero’s total acceptance of her was so romantic. If only the book hadn’t gone downhill from there, with kitchen sink plotting, rushed resolutions, and contrivances that made both characters (but especially the hero) seem stupid or inconsistent. Review here. Grade: C-

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Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch

I’m so glad this urban fantasy/police procedural was recommended to me. Its hero, Peter Grant, is a new London Metropolitan Police constable who discovers that he has some paranormal abilities. Under the tutelage of an older (who knows how much older?) police inspector/wizard, Peter learns to cast spells and pursues a dangerous supernatural villain who threatens those close to him. Witty, snarky, and immensely entertaining. Review here. Grade: B+

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Fair Game by Patricia Briggs

What a blast I had reading this book. It wasn’t perfect by any means but I was grateful to discover that even three books and one novella into the Alpha and Omega series, my love for Charles and Anna has not faded. I especially loved seeing how strong Anna has grown. Her cleverness shines in this book. I didn’t love the way Charles’ conflict was resolved, but there is something so tender about their relationship, especially considering they are up against violence their own monstrous nature, and I find that so touching. Here’s Josephine’s review. My grade: B+/A-

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Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

My husband and I recently finished reading this YA fantasy which Jia reviewed a while back (the book was also in DABWAHA). A mystery wrapped in a roller coaster ride, Daughter of Smoke and Bone is poetic and romantic. The more time goes on, the more the book stays with me. I think it’s the kind of novel that can be reread as soon as one finishes it because once the secret at its center is uncovered, it casts the whole book in a new light. I love books that do that. Oh, what the heck. I think I’ll grade this one A-.

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Confessions from an Arranged Marriage by Miranda Neville

This book took a while to really grab me, but once it took off, it became a very emotional story. We recently had a guest post on heroines and shame, but in this book, it’s the hero who carries a shameful secret, one that causes him to pretend an indifference that he does not feel. The journey Blake and his new bride, Minerva, undergo, is bumpy to say the least, but it leads them both to grow into people who can understand and accept one another, and that’s a big part of what love is about. Review here. Grade: B+

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Thunder and Roses by Mary Jo Putney

I saw that Putney’s classic Fallen Angels series has been reissued electronically and since once upon a time it was a favorite series of mine, I decided to revisit it. I’m currently rereading this, book one in the series, and so far, it’s not holding up to my memories of it. It’s never been one of my most favorite Putneys but now I find I have mixed feelings about both the hero and the heroine, as well as their central values conflict over whether sex outside marriage is wrong (her view) or natural and desirable (his) . I still love the strip billiards scene but it isn’t enough to make up for the other problems. Review here. Grade: D

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A Monster Calls: Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd by Patrick Ness

This was another one I read with my husband. It’s a fantasy about a thirteen year old boy whose mother has cancer. One night a monster comes to visit Conor, and as these visitations continue, the monster tells him stories and insists Conor will have to repay in kind, by telling the true story that terrifies him. The book was inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd, who died of cancer herself before she could write it. This made me feel Scrooge-like for being underwhelmed. My review can be found here. Grade: C+

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Tangle of Need by Nalini Singh

Book #11 in the Psy/Changeling series won’t be out until May 29 but I read the ARC in March in preparation for a joint review Jennie and I have in the works. There are developments on several fronts here, but the central romance is that of Adria (Indigo’s young aunt) and Riaz, both wounded souls. Their relationship is complicated by the fact that Riaz’s wolf has already recognized its mate, and it isn’t Adria. While this wasn’t one of my top favorites in the series, I did very much appreciate that it dared to explore some tough questions about the nature of the mating bond. Joint review with Jennie to come.

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What about you? What have you been reading lately? Have you read any of the books I mention above and if so, what did you think of them? And are you on a hot streak or in a reading slump?

Related posts:

1. What Jia’s Been Reading in February
2. Dear Author Recommends for March
3. What Janine is Reading – Late 2011/Early 2012

1.  First off, let’s talk about your newest novel! Fair Game, is the latest entry in your Alpha and Omega series. This series began with the novella, “Alpha and Omega” published in the On the Prowl anthology, which left lots of people, me included, clamoring for more. Did you always intend to create a series around Charles and Anna?

No.  It was supposed to be just a novella.  If no, what elements of their story and characters made you return to them? What elements keep you writing about them?   It made for a nice break to switch from first person (Mercy) to third person (Alpha and Omega).  That helped to keep me from feeling like I was writing one book for years <grin>.  It also allowed me to get inside the head of people I wouldn’t never be able to tell readers about otherwise – like Bran or Charles, himself, because Mercy is pretty intimidated by Charles.   I also wanted the chance to explore the wolf packs from the inside.  And finally, I loved both Charles and Anna, loved the way their chemistry worked together.  He is the old wolf and she the new one; he is the dominant and she the omega – which should have skewed the power balance all to heck and yet because neither of them allowed it, it didn’t.  I love the self-determination of Anna, her decision that she will not give in to what people expect of her.  She is a more challenging character for me to grab hold of than any of my protagonists before, but for that reason I find her very interesting.

Your Urban Fantasy has a strong romantic element—especially the Alpha & Omega series—and is a big hit with romance readers. What’s your theory on why these books have such a wide crossover appeal?

As much as I’d love to take credit for the crossover – I think that the credit belongs to Laurell K. Hamilton and Joss Whedon.  When Urban Fantasy (this current version – with vampires, werewolves and other traditional horror monsters all wrapped up in the hopefulness of fantasy rather than the hopelessness of horror) gained a foothold on the bestseller lists, it was Laurell K. Hamilton leading the way with her awesome “I’ll drag you by the scruff of your neck all the way through this story” voice.   As I recall, Blue Moon was the first to hit the bestseller list, followed by Obsidian Butterfly in hardback.  She widened her audience from just fantasy readers to romance readers.

On the TV was Joss Whedon’s wonderful Buffy the Vampire Slayer series created from the campy movie of the same name. 

Both Whedon and LKH brought monsters into romance, which seemed to be an original thing — but actually was a very old and beloved romance trope.  I call it “The Black Stallion” effect — romance readers might be more familiar with it as “The Beauty and the Beast” effect.  In Walter Farley’s YA series, The Black is a fierce and violent stallion (a monster) who kills his groom (and later his breeder).  He hates everyone and everything — except for Alex Ramsay.   Everyone knows what happens in Beauty and the Beast.  This isn’t the only key element in the appeal of the Anita and Buffy  stories, but combined with really good storytelling, it drew romance readers in with the fantasy buffs. 

So we had a huge group of people willing to try some urban fantasy and Moon Called came out in 2006.

Mercy, Charles, and Anna live in a land peopled with monsters, and they are (I hope) pretty scary monsters.  The plots are driven by the fantastical elements, which keeps the books clearly in the urban fantasy genre, rather than paranormal romance.  But the stories are character-driven (just like romance), hopeful (like fantasy – and romance) and they all have romantic subplots.  This is because I like character-driven fantasy stories with romantic subplots <grin>, but it also means that a lot of romance readers are pretty happy with my stories.

3. Both the Alpha and Omega series, and your best-selling Mercy Thompson series feature werewolves, but the heroines of both series operate outside the pack dynamic—Mercy is a coyote shifter, and Anna is an Omega wolf. What’s the appeal of wolves and why did you choose outsiders as the lens through which to view your wolves?

Wolves are beautiful animals who are fierce defenders, mighty hunters – and gentle and playful within the pack.  I have always loved them.  When I was a kid, my friends and I used to pretend we were animals.  Usually it was horses, I have to admit, but when it wasn’t horses it was wolves.  Werewolves were a natural extension of that.  My favorite comic back then was Werewolf By Night.  I liked it much better when the human side of our beleaguered werewolf was able to take control of the wolf.  I might add here that I never really liked the man-wolf concept, wolves being much more beautiful <grin>.

 As to the second part of your question, the view from outside is a better place to examine a society.  That said, in the case of Mercy, she is both an insider and an outsider.  She is not a werewolf – but she is a part of the greater supernatural community.   Her position of not werewolf, witch, fae or vampire makes her an effective liason – both between all of the supernatural groups and the humans – and between the readers and the world of the Other.   

Anna (although different) is a member of the pack.  Most useful to me as a writer is that because she is coming into Bran’s pack without knowing much about being a proper werewolf, she gets things explained to her – and that explanation is passed onto the reader.  I have to say here, that had I planned on her becoming a protagonist in a series of her own, I would have made her less “special”.  I think that would have been a mistake, because playing with the Omega has been a lot of fun.  Some of my favorite things come from such “mistakes” .

4. Another compare & contrast question: Your Mercy Thompson books are written in first person while the Alpha and Omega series is written in third person. How did you choose the voice for each series?  First person for Mercy happened because, at the time, all of the Urban Fantasies were first person (because of the whole Noir Detective dash thrown into the mix).  I liked it.  But when I decided to write “Alpha and Omega”,  which was a lot more of a romance than the Mercy books,  I wanted to be able to tell the story both from Anna’s and from Charles’s viewpoint – classic romance style.  The happy side effect of this for me, is that there is a distinct difference between the books.  I find it refreshing.

Is it difficult to switch between them?  I haven’t had any problem with it so far <grin>.  Knock on wood.  It is more difficult when I once started a book in third person and then switched it to first because it wouldn’t work in third (Dragon Bones).  It’s more than a switch in pronouns, it changes up everything from grammar to the way the story examines the world.  Do you have a preference?  It is more about what the story demands, I think.  First person is more limiting because all of the story has to take place with the protagonist present.  Also, in my experience as writer it is more difficult to let readers feel they have a firm grip on the first person protagonist’s personality without going oatmeal (as in Du Mauier’s Rebecca) or extremely odd (think “The Tell-Tale Heart”).  It requires a little finer control of craft to do it well, and a little more attention to small details.  But done well, it give an immediacy to the tension in the story that is more difficult (but not impossible) to capture in third person.   I am happy to switch back and forth. 

5.You started with more traditional fantasy with books like Masques and Dragon Bone, but are now better known for Urban Fantasy. What inspired you to write Urban Fantasy, and what are some challenges of the subgenre vs. traditional fantasy?

I picked up LKH’s Guilty Pleasures on the day it came out and had been reading Tanya Huff’s Blood books and Fred Saberhagen’s terrific Dracula take-offs (beginning with The Dracula Tapes) for years.  I was hooked  My editor, Anne Sowards, and I are both readers and we shared our best finds with each other.  The demand for Urban Fantasy grew while virtually every other genre was crashing, and one day her boss asked her if they didn’t have someone among their writers who could write one.  So she called me because she knew I was a big fan.

I wrote Raven’s Strike (which is still my longest book) in three months because I’d been stupid and hadn’t noticed the second date in my two book contract for the Raven books.  I’d taken six or seven months to revise Wolfsbane, the then unsold sequel to Masques, after writing Raven’s Shadow.  Raven’s Strike was the first book I’d sold on an outline (and the first outline I’d written for an unsold book) and I’d been feeling pretty unenthusiastic about writing it, because I already knew how it ended – which is why that was also the last outline I’ve written for a book.   I was on page 50 or so when my editor pointed out that it had been due the month before, and they had decided to reprint all of my old titles to coincide with the release.  I’d never written a book in under nine months, at that point, but I buckled down and wrote Raven’s Strike.  By the end of it I could hardly write my name and would burst into tears at the thought of describing another room  (okay, that last is an exaggeration.  It happened while I was writing Raven’s Strike and it was about 4am.)

And then Anne called me and asked if I would consider writing an urban fantasy.  I got off the phone and began writing with the enthusiasm of a dog after a meaty bone.  Like magic, writing was suddenly fun again.

Traditional fantasy is more work to do right – mostly because of the world building.  There is a reason that a lot of TFWs (Traditional Fantasy Writers) write multiple books in each of their fantasy worlds.  That very thing, though, also gives the TFW  an advantage.  The world runs the way the TFW says it does – Urban Fantasy doesn’t work that way.  As an example –  in Iron Kissed, Zee is arrested for murder.  Never having been arrested myself,  I had to call the Kennewick Police Department and ask them things like “if you arrested someone for murder – what would you do with them?”  That’s not to say that there isn’t research for a traditional fantasy (just ask me about crossbows, I dare you).  But most of the research can be done in books or on the Internet, and for someone who has issues bothering people I don’t know on the phone, books and Internet is a much easier way to do research.

 6.One of the things I enjoy about the world of Mercy and the Alpha and Omega series is that I feel like it doesn’t exist just to tell those two sets of stories, but at any point there might be dozens of other stories going on outside the scope of the novel I’m currently reading.  Good!  That’s what I’m trying for.

What features do you think are requirements for that sort of strong world-building?  Internal consistency is part of it.  Things that begin in one book, progress and continue one thing.  That means that all of the characters have to feel like they have their own lives that continue while they are off stage, not just the main characters.  I try to really ground the stories in the real world – which is one of the strengths of Urban Fantasy where there really is a real world.  So my characters grumble about traffic or the weather.  They have to work and pay taxes and get pulled over for speeding tickets.  That kind of thing.

Do you have any plans to set other stories in the same world? I’m in the early stages (because I’m really working on the next Mercy book Frost Burned) of writing a few more short stories set in Mercy’s world so that I can put together a collection.  That way people can find all of the short stories in one place, instead of hunting them down and getting crabby when they miss one <grin>.  It also allows me to tell stories about some characters I know a lot about and readers have barely met (like Zee’s son Tad), center-stage a reader favorite character or two (like Bran or Ben), and tell the story of Samuel’s romance from Samuel’s point of view instead of Mercy’s.  

Also, in my next set of contracts, a “book set in Mercy’s world”.  That might be another A&O – but I might try my hand at someone new or someone who hasn’t had a book before.  At any rate, it will keep me entertained to play with ideas for a bit.

7.And while we’re on the topic of great world building, I love your scary fairies. The fae in your books are alien and dangerous, and they often embody the ickier elements of traditional folktales. What inspired them, how much research do you do, and what is your current favorite scary fairy from folklore?

I grew up on fairytales in a way that most people don’t anymore.  My mom read them to us, my older sister used to read me two from her huge book of fairy tales every night.  My mother was my elementary school librarian and I read every book in the 800’s that they had (that is the Dewey Decimal number for folktales/fairytales) and they had quite a lot – and we had more at home.  Then when I was in college that same sister put me on to a scholarly book by Katharine Briggs (no relation, not even to my husband’s family) called The Encyclopedia of Fairies.  So it’s not a matter of doing research, usually, it is a matter of picking through the jumble in my head and then going out and trying to figure out where I found a story or fable twenty years ago.

I’m sorry to be predictable.  The Dark Smith of Dronheim (Zee in my books) is my current favorite.  Dangerous, thin-skinned, bad tempered and useful, he’s hard to beat.  Though he doesn’t have that “icky” factor that some of the better fairies do J.  

8.Who are your writing inspirations? This is kind of the problem with reading as much as I do.  Mostly I deal with it by going back to the writers who I was reading when I started.  Andre Norton is the reason I survived being thirteen.  She was able to say more with two sentences than some authors say in whole chapters – I think that she is the reason that my books tend to be pretty tight.  Barbara Hambly’s characters are so well drawn that it wouldn’t surprise me to meet them on some street in California.  I like that, and try to make my imaginary friends feel real, too.

It should be said that Laurell K. Hamilton, Tanya Huff,  Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong and Kim Harrison shaped and formed this genre within a genre that is my current playground.  If that isn’t inspiration, I don’t know what is.

Do they differ from your favorite authors? I have many favorite authors, how could I pick just one?  Or even ten?  And when my well of creativity is dried up, I find that curling up with a good book is the second best cure.  The best cure is watching Lord of the Rings, but I’m afraid some day it will lose its magic so I only do that sparingly <grin>.  Good storytellers are the best inspiration.  If so, why and how?

9. How far in advance do you plot your books? Do you have an endpoint in sight for either series?

As I learned from Raven’s Strike, if I plot too far in advance, I don’t feel the need to write the book.  So I begin most books with an idea.  For example Fair Game began with the idea that I was going to send Charles and Anna out to hunt down a serial killer.  It is my habit of plotting this way which sometimes takes me into deeper waters than I would have braved on purpose – as in Iron Kissed. 

However, I will admit that I do have “things” I know about that aren’t yet in the books.  Some of these “things” are world-building, others are about the characters.  So although I didn’t know which book it would happen in, I have always planned on waiting until we’d gotten a good grasp of Mercy’s world – and then things would happen to change it.  If I’d been planning it, I might have tried to put it in a Mercy book instead of Fair Game, where it belonged.  Planning is a little too strong of a word for my “things”, but I’m not as totally in the dark as I sometimes claim. 

10. Lastly, can you tell us what books you have slated for publication after Fair Game, and what books you have on the drawing board?

Frost Burned is the next Mercy book and it takes place hard on the heels of Fair Game .  Fair Game has changed some of the rules, and that change has a huge impact on the pack and the microcosm of the Tri-Cities supernatural communities.  Adam is being blackmailed by a government agency to kill a US Senator.  While he is stalling and doing what he can, it is up to Mercy to figure out how to neutralize the threat.  This book is scheduled for March 2013.

After Frost Burned, I have a contract for two Mercy books and (as mentioned before) a book set in Mercy’s world.  Please note.  This does not mean that there will be no more A&O books.  My publisher would be happy to see more, I am happy to write more.  But I wanted to open my schedule up to the possibility of something different .  I don’t want to get bored and I especially don’t want readers to get bored.

I am hoping to shorten the time between books quite a bit and have made several changes.  First, my husband and I have vowed that should the words  “home improvement” especially if accompanied by words like “just a little addition” cross either of our lips, it is immediate grounds for divorce.  We have pinky sworn.  Second, I hired a long time friend of mine who has been a bookkeeper for twenty-five years  and a voracious reader for longer than that to be my assistant.  She does all things I find stressful (like bookkeeping, taxes and scheduling and not answering email) and gives my rough drafts a pre edit.

Her help was invaluable while I was writing Fair Game (after we fired the Contractor from Hell) and she seems to be continuing to really speed up my writing process by removing obstacles and inserting enthusiasm.

Thank you so much for this opportunity – and for the chance to ably demonstrate why it is that I have a lot more novels than short stories to my name – brevity is not my strong suit!

Hugs,

Patty

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
2. REVIEW: Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
3. REVIEW: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

I’m not just an avid reader of your Mercy Thompson series and your Alpha & Omega series, I’m the sort of fan who counts off the days until your next book like a kid counting the days until Christmas. But the problem with Christmas is that the wait can make even good gifts seem like something of a let down. Though I genuinely enjoyed your new novel, Fair Game, there were aspects of the story that disappointed me, too, and I think I might have been more forgiving if I hadn’t expected quite so much.

Fair Game, takes the Alpha & Omega series’s werewolf protagonists, Charles and Anna, to Boston to help the FBI search for the kidnapped victim of a serial killer. At the same time, Charles, who acts as an enforcer, is haunted by the ghosts of out-of-control wolves he has put down at the order of his father, Bran, the leader of the werewolves.

One of my favorite aspects of this series is Charles and Anna’s relationship. I would have loved to see them confront Charles’s problem together, but that isn’t what happens. Instead, he keeps his problem secret out of fear that the ghosts will hurt Anna and/or she will leave him. This issue persists through much of the book, with Anna feeling miserable that Charles won’t talk to her, and Charles fearing that Anna will stop loving him if she is exposed to the terrible things he has done.

The lack of communication is so bad, that it actually gets to the point where this happens:

He’d intended to talk with her, he remembered, to tell her … But neither of them was in shape for talk.

That passage made me want to scream at the book the way sports fans scream at the TV when their team fumbles a play. It’s frustrating when the lack of one timely, honest, five minute conversation between the hero and heroine creates major complications — especially when characters know they should communicate, but don’t.

The other thing that frustrated me about this story was the villain. I am not a fan of serial killers as villains because I think they’re simplistic and overused. I also dislike the horrific oneupmanship of how every new fictional serial killer seems to have killed more people more horrifically than the last. I can set aside my dislike in cases where the story offers a twist on the formula, but this serial killer offered nothing new. I pegged the killer from the killer’s first scene, and then had to spend most of the novel waiting for Anna and Charles to figure it out.

In any other book, I think my frustration with the above-mentioned plot elements would have made me dislike the book as a whole, but that is not the case with Fair Game. Even when the plot bothered me, the wonderful world-building and well-drawn characters kept me engaged and enjoying the story.

I love how you used the Alpha & Omega series’ third-person point of view to give the reader insight into the thoughts and lives of secondary characters, and to show how Charles and Anna are perceived by the people around them. Particularly striking is difference between the way other characters see Charles, the way Anna sees him, and the way Charles sees himself. The narration from Anna’s and Charles’s point of view shows that he’s kind and thoughtful.   The scenes from other characters points of view show that even the characters who know him best don’t fully understand the toll his duties take on him. But Anna sees and understands, and her efforts to help and protect Charles even as he pushes her away show how their relationship has grown, and how Anna has grown.

When you introduced Anna in the novella, Alpha and Omega, she had been horribly abused. In subsequent books, we’ve seen her struggle to overcome the emotional effects of her abuse, and, with effort, succeed. In Fair Game, she’s smart, resourceful, and strong, but what makes her strength worth mentioning in a sub-genre filled with strong heroines is that Anna’s strength is a choice. When she’s in a tough situation, we see her consciously making that choice. In a sub-genre where the heroines and heroes are often stronger than human and larger than life, Anna’s vulnerability and honesty make her one of my favorite characters in recent years.

One of my favorite new characters is FBI agent Leslie Fisher, whom we meet for the first (but hopefully not the last) time in Fair Game. Her story gave me a glimpse of what life is like for ordinary people in Charles and Anna’s world. And what a world it is–deep and detailed, filled with black and white, and so many shades of gray.  Be they mortal or monster, everyone in this world does what they feel they need to do in order to survive, but even the scariest characters like the witches and the fae have their sympathetic moments. I love how it is ultimately those sympathetic, human qualities that shape the story for good and ill.

Overall, Fair Game wasn’t everything I’d hoped it would be, but it did deliver all the things I love most about the Mercy and Alpha & Omega books: easygoing-yet-immersive writing style, well-drawn characters, and excellent world-building. It passed my three R’s test—Readability, Recommendation and Rereading. I read the bulk of it in one sitting, I’ve already recommended it to another Briggs fan, and I know I’ll end up rereading it while I’m waiting for your next book to come out.

This book might not be the best place for new readers to start, but it is a recommended read for fans and series followers. I didn’t love Fair Game, but I did like it. The ending left me excited to read future installments in both series. I’ve already marked my calendar for spring, 2013, when the next book hits the shelves.

B

~Josephine

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Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
2. REVIEW: Alpha and Omega and Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
3. REVIEW: Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

Historical

The Temporary Wife by Mary Balogh (reissued in a 2-in-1 with A Promise of Spring, which I’m NOT recommending). Recommended by Janine and Sunita.  Reviewed here.

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PNR

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs.  Recommended by Josephine, Janine, and Jane (The ending is a game changer)  Review here.

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Oracle’s Moon by Thea Harrison. Recommended by Shuzluva and Jane.  Reviewed here.

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GLBT

Related posts:

1. Dear Author Recommends for March
2. Dear Author Recommends for March
3. Dear Author Recommends for March

I got drawn into your Alpha and Omega series after reading the first story, a short story by the same name, in the anthology On the Prowl. I actually read the story at the urging of Janine; on my own I would likely not have picked up a werewolf romance. But Janine raved about Charles and Anna (especially Anna), the unusual hero/heroine pair featured in the story and the two subsequent books. She was right. These stories were…different, not my usual thing, but I did end up liking them quite a lot. (I should mention that I had previously read the first Mercy Thompson book and while I hadn’t disliked it, it hadn’t done much for me, really.)

Now we come to Masques. When I read that Masques was a reworked reissue of your first novel, it made a lot of sense. The book reads a lot like a first book; promising but flawed (even after the reworking).

In the prologue, a wolf who is obviously more than a wolf (since his thoughts are of a human) is on the run, sick, afraid and hunted by creatures using unspecified magic to locate him. He stumbles into a pit trap and breaks his leg; later he is found by Aralorn, a young female mercenary who sets out to rescue him. The wolf allows her to, in spite of the fact that he had resigned himself to death in the pit, and may even welcome it. But Aralorn, who carries the whiff of green magic, intrigues him.

The story picks up four years later, in the castle of the ae’Magi (who is either a very powerful wizard or sort of king of the wizards – he’s referred to at times as the Archmage, which makes me think the latter might be true, but it was never entirely clear). Aralorn has traded her career as a mercenary for one as a spy, and she has infiltrated the castle on a reconnaissance assignment; there has apparently been some unspecified threat against the ae’Magi. Aralorn had thought to come in as a servant but at the last moment decided to instead pose as the slave girl that the ae’Magi has just bought (her magic allows her to alter her appearance). This has gotten her into a bit of a pickle, as the ae’Magi has chosen to place her in a cage in the middle of a ball he’s holding; he’s placed another glamor on her so that she appears to the guests as a snowfalcon.

Aralorn has already discovered what few know – the ae’Magi is a monster. She has seen him kill children as part of his power-gathering rituals, and unlike the vast majority of people the ae’Magi comes into contact with, Aralorn is immune to whatever supernatural charm he uses to convince people he’s a swell guy. The ae’Magi reminded me a bit of Jasmine from the fourth (I think it was the fourth) season of Angel - a monster who bespells almost everyone into believing they are beautiful and good. This sets up an interesting conflict (in both Masques and Angel) where a small band of people who recognize the monster’s true nature have to fight to free everyone else from the monster’s influence. I really liked this aspect of the story and thought it was well-done.

Aralorn, facing the threat of rape from the ae’Magi, is able to escape later that night, but not before an encounter with Myr, recently crowned King of the Reth, who appears to be one of those immune to the ae’Magi’s magic (and thus recognizes Aralorn as human in her cage). The previous king and queen of Reth have recently died in a tragic accident, one that Aralorn suspects the ae’Magi engineered.

Outside the castle Aralorn promptly runs into her old friend and sometime companion, Wolf, who chastises her for what he considers a suicide mission (yes, Wolf can speak). Despite the passage of time, Aralorn has not learned much about Wolf – he keeps his secrets close. But she’s aware that Wolf is another who is not fooled by the ae’Magi’s facade.

Before long, the two are parted as Wolf creates a diversion so Aralorn can escape from the Uriah, a zombie-like race that rambles the forests and seems to have become more prevalent and aggressive lately.

Aralorn’s attempts to get to the bottom of just what the ae’Magi is doing to control the populace eventually lands her in even more trouble, and she ends up in a far north camp where Myr, Wolf and a ragtag band of followers have fled. All are immune to the ae’Magi and are sought by him.

The story is pretty straightforward – your basic good v. evil battle. Wolf is a very interesting character – enigmatic, tortured and, as you may have already guessed, not always furry. He has his own, very personal reasons for wanting to defeat the ae’Magi. Aralorn was less appealing to me. She’s pleasant enough, but she’s just not a hugely interesting character. She’s small and plain and generally kind of incompetent. She has an interesting background – mercenary then spy – but since she’s never portrayed at being very good at what she does, I found myself frustrated by her and trying to understand why she was given these unorthodox professions (granted, they were not portrayed as being particularly unorthodox for women in the world of the book). About the only thing that does make Aralorn interesting (a bit) is her talent and affinity for storytelling. I would’ve rather she just be a bard, honestly.

Besides not being hugely impressed with the heroine, I was confused by the nature of the magic in Masques. Granted, I read very little fantasy and am not that up on the “rules” of magic, but some explanation and consistency would’ve made the magic in this book feel less arbitrary. There is no explanation of exactly what green magic is or how it differs from the magic that the mages practice. The best I could figure was that those with green magic were the descendants of an old race and their magic was inborn, but perhaps not as powerful (Aralorn is not that good at magic, sigh), whereas wizards like the ae’Magi were humans who have studied in order to acquire their skills. I guess.

There were other aspects of magic that didn’t make sense to me – the ae’Magi is portrayed as incredibly powerful but he’s not even able to recognize that Aralorn possesses magic as well? His abilities often seemed to come and go in service of the plot.

The world of Masques is an interesting one, but this aspect probably more than any other contributed to the “first book” feel. Ultimately, that and my lack of interest in Aralorn as a character weighted down what could have been a great story. That said, I may give the second book a try, if only to read more about Wolf. My grade for Masques is a straight C.

Best regards,

Jennie

Book Link | Kindle | Amazon | nook | BN | Borders
| Sony

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs
2. REVIEW: Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
3. REVIEW: Alpha and Omega and Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

I’m pretty amazed and delighted at the consistency of your writing. Even though you have increased your writing schedule to include one more book release, it still seems the quality of your work has remained the same. As my fellow reviewer, Jayne, would say “Huzzah”.

I’ll confess that I found the book to be very romantic from the growth in the relationship between Adam and Mercy to the secondary storyline which I will try to keep from spoiling for other readers (particularly given our reader discussion yesterday).

For those unfamiliar with the series, Mercy is a coyote shapeshifter who has a natural immunity to magic. She has been courted by her neighbor, the Alpha werewolf of the Tri-Cities Pack. Mercy lives her with friend and former lover, Samuel, one of two sons of the Marrok who rules all North American werewolves. Samuel is a doctor and works at the local hospital. Samuel has struggled with loneliness for a long time. He had wanted Mercy primarily because she was a coyote and possibly could bear children, something female werewolves cannot do.

Mercy is still recovering from the events that occurred two books ago and her completed bond with Adam and his Pack is working erratically. Recently she’s been having confidence issues with Adam, her place in Adam’s life, her position in the Pack. Is she undermining Adam? Is she creating more danger for him and his Pack? She is acting strangely, in ways that baffle Adam and herself. Her internal voice or voices are driving her to try to both protect Adam and to rebuff him for failing to understand her puzzling behavior. (paranormal PMS?)

Worse, when Mercy needs Samuel to provide some insight into Pack behavior, Sam has gone off the deep end. Samuel’s wolf is exerting dominance over Samuel. His lone wolf status is coming to a head. No wolf can survive forever outside a Pack, not even Samuel. Samuel begins to spend a great deal of time in wolf form which complicates matters when a reality TV bounty hunter comes to town with werewolf name on the warrant and silver bullets in his guns. But it isn’t silver bullets that presents the most current danger for Mercy and her friends. It is a more sinister and powerful and unknown combatant who wants something Mercy supposedly owns.

Mercy’s connections with the humans becomes more tenuous when she realizes that her world just isn’t safe for the fragility of her non magical friends such as Gideon, the seventeen year old young man who works part-time for her, and Gideon’s family.

While the story initially seems episodic, the scenes serve as foreshadowing and preparation for the suspense and ultimate climactic portions at the end of the book. The tying up of seemingly loose plot ends was very nice although I still haven’t decided whether the suspense was resolved by a deux ex machina.

As I mentioned in the beginning of the review, this particular entry in the Mercy Thompson series had a very romantic overtone. There was a great deal of internal agnst Mercy displayed over her relationship with Adam, wanting to be what she presumes Adam wants while at the same time trying to preserve her own identity within the pack. Further, a secondary storyline appears for a popular character and that secondary storyline appeared weighted with romance overtones. Problematically, those romance overtones seem to be redundant of some in the past: wounded chick makes wounded mate whole again. To some extent both the Mercy series and the Alpha/Omega feature these tropes.

I really enjoyed this entry and while I thought that some of the ending seemed a little trite, it’s still one of my favorite urban fantasy crossover series. B

Best regards,

Jane

| Chapter One | Kindle | Amazon | Nook (not available yet) | BN | Borders |
Fictionwise (none) | Books on Board (audio only) | Sony |

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
2. REVIEW: Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
3. REVIEW: Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs

Amazon is playing around with pricing so you might want to check in every so often to see if you can get a deal before the March agency pricing kicks in. Charlaine Harris’ May book, Dead in the Family (non affiliate Kindle link), is priced at $10.80 today.

Here are some weekend specials:

• Powell’s has a $5.00 off your purchase sale. They sell ebooks too.
• At LBF Books, you can grab a copy of DEADLY SECRETS, a romantic suspense by Leeann Burke for free
• Diesel eBooks is giving away The Greek Tycoon’s Disobedient Bride by Graham, Lynne

The Wall Street Journal did an article on basketball player’s reading habits. Quite a few of them read, particularly the international players. Remember Julie James’ book, Practice Makes Perfect, when J.D.’s friend Tyler explains about using P&P as a pick up tool?

Tyler shook his head. "Lit 305: Eighteenth-Century Women's Fiction." He caught J.D.'s look and quickly defended himself. "What? I took it because of the girls in the class. Anyway, I see a bit of a P and P dynamic going on between you and Payton."

J.D. didn't think he wanted to know. Really. But he asked anyway. "P and P?"

Tyler shot him a look, appalled. "Uh, hello-’Pride and Prejudice?" His tone said only a cretin wouldn't know this.

"Oh right, P and P," J.D. said. "You know, Tyler, you might want to pick up your balls-’I think they just fell right off when you said that."

Up front, the cabdriver let out a good snicker.

Tyler shook his head. "Laugh if you want, but let me tell you something: women go crazy for that book. And even crazier for men who have read it. If I plan to bring a girl back to my place, I might just so happen to leave a copy of it sitting out on my coffee table and, let's just say, hijinks frequently ensue.”

Seriously? Is there anything more sexy than a well read man? What about One Summer by Karen Robards (lord, I love that book) and, of course, there is the English literature major in Jennifer Crusie’s Crazy for You.

Shoot. I should have saved this for a Tuesday article.

Anyway, this is a long way to say that men who read are sexy and Dwayne Wade saying that one of his favorite books is Pride and Prejudice just made him exponentially more so.

Miami’s Dwyane Wade isn’t afraid to admit that one of his favorite books was Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” which he first read as a student at Marquette.

TechCrunch posted a rumor from a “reliable source” that Amazon wants to give the Kindle to all its Prime members. Thank god I signed up for that in December. I’ve often wondered why device manufacturers haven’t done a subscription service + device package much like cell phones. Sign up for a two year agreement to spend $20 per month and get the Kindle/nook for free or something like that.

USA Today will include nook and Sony sales in its bestseller compilations. It already includes Kindle numbers. I hope that the Times start to do this as well. I wonder if the urge to get these books on the bestseller list will affect pricing? One thing that I would love to see would be reverse windowing or the release of ebooks before print editions come out. You could charge more for this and it could be a win for publishers as early buzz of the book sweeps across the internet and on review sites by the early and anxious readers. These pre print sales would need to be included in the bestseller tabulations, though, for publishers and authors to like this option.

Related posts:

1. Saturday Midday Links Roundup: Writers Organizations Mad at Harlequin
2. Weekend Links Round Up: Is Print Back?
3. Weekend Links: Goodbye Romance Novel TV

• Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs, recommended by Janine and Jane
• Pleasure and Purpose by Megan Hart, recommended by Janine
• How to Woo a Spinster by Kasey Michaels, recommended by Jayne
• Hunt her Down by Roxanne St Claire, recommended by Janet/Robin
• Set the Dark on Fire by Jill Sorensen, recommended by Jane
• Surrender of a Siren by Tessa Dare, recommended by Jane
• Never Love a Lawman by Jo Goodman, recommended by Jane and Janet/Robin
• Remastering Jerna by Ann Somerville, recommended by Joan/Sarah F

Other ebook specials this month are from Hachette. You should be able to find these specials at all major ebook retailers

• Orbit $1 title continues with Devices and Desires by K. J. Parker

Romances from Forever

• Too Far Gone $1.99
• Bitten & Smitten $1.99

Mysteries

• The Hook $1.99
• Secret Sanction $1.99
• Storm Track $1.99
• Dead Before Dying $1.99

Related posts:

1. Dear Author Recommended Reads for August
2. Dear Author Recommended Reads for November
3. Dear Author Recommended Reads for October

Even though I adored “Alpha and Omega” in the anthology On the Prowl, the story which introduced readers to the werewolves Charles and Anna, and also loved the first novel in the series which follows these characters, Cry Wolf, I’m not sure I’m the best person to review Hunting Ground, the latest entry in the Alpha and Omega series. That’s because I have a pattern of tending to lose interest in the second or third book of series which follow the same protagonists, and for this reason, I only rarely read them, and review them even more rarely.

I made an exception for Hunting Ground because when I first read “Alpha and Omega,” I fell in love with Charles and Anna. I felt that I could read about these characters forever and not tire of them. In fact by now I’ve read “Alpha and Omega” around seven times, and Cry Wolf around three.

For readers who are not familiar with them, let me introduce this endearing couple:

Charles is an over two hundred year old, half Native American werewolf. He is dominant enough to be an alpha, but his pack has one werewolf who is even more dominant — Bran, Charles’ father, an alpha of alphas, also known as the Marrok, or leader of all of North America’s werewolves. Because Bran is more dominant than he is, Charles must do as he says. He is his father’s right hand man as well as his executioner. The last is a role he dislikes, one that isolates him from the many who fear him.

Anna, Charles’ mate, is an omega werewolf, which means that she is outside the pack structure. She cannot be commanded by anyone, but she also lacks the alphas’ aggressive tendencies. Instead, her presence has a calming influence on dominant wolves. Anna is a relatively young werewolf, only in her twenties. The pack Anna originally belonged to abused her and assaulted her sexually, and Anna’s recovery from those attacks is an ongoing process.

Anna and Charles’ wolf halves chose them as mates for one another before Charles and Anna had a chance to get to know each other well, and now, a month into their relationship, Charles and Anna are still learning to deal with the new emotions and abilities their bond has given them. Just as Anna struggles to overcome her fear of dominant werewolves other than Charles, Charles must battle his protective and possessive instincts toward her.

Hunting Ground opens at a time when Charles and Bran, his father, are at odds. Bran intends to make the werewolves’ existence public, and before he does so, he wants to meet with all the European alphas and their seconds. But Charles, who possesses some magical abilities due to his mother’s having been a shaman’s daughter, feels intuitively that something very bad will happen if Bran attends the meeting he has scheduled.

With Anna’s help, the conflict between Charles and Bran is defused, and Bran resolves to send Charles and Anna to the werewolf gathering in his place. Charles and Anna arrive at the meeting place, Seattle, even though Charles’ instincts to protect Anna are screaming in protest.

Once in Seattle, Anna and Charles face difficulties and dangers that come from several sources. First, there is Jean Chastel, also known as “The Beast,” a mad, carnivorous werewolf who leads the French contingent. Then there is Dana, a fae and Gray Lord who is a former lover of Charles’, and who will act as moderator of the meeting. Charles likes Dana, but Brother Wolf, his other half, distrusts her, and Anna feels uneasy in her presence. Lastly, there is a group of rogue vampires on a killing spree, bent on capturing Anna.

If that weren’t enough there are also the aforementioned personal issues in Anna and Charles’ relationship. Charles is closing Anna out of their bond much of the time, because he is afraid that as Bran’s killer, he is not someone Anna can truly love if she ever knows all of him. Anna, meanwhile, still finds sex scary when her wolf half isn’t present.

I enjoyed Hunting Ground a lot, but not as much as “Alpha and Omega” or Cry Wolf. I’m not sure how much of that is due to my having already spent a lot of time with these characters before reading this book, when I usually prefer to read about characters I don’t know this well, and how much of it is due to the (mostly minor) problems I had with Hunting Ground.

The first of these is that the first half or so of the book felt episodic to me. Each of the conflicts I described seemed to crop up and then fade away, when I would have preferred for the story to feel more cohesive.

Secondly, it’s my opinion that ongoing series about the same couple face special challenges. If the conflict between the pair is too pronounced in second books, it may seem like the relationship is in a holding pattern, or the couple is lacking in the maturity necessary to surmount their problems. But if the pair resolves all their problems quickly, then the suspense an internal conflict brings to a book can dissipate, and readers’ interest in the couple may also wane.

Hunting Ground shows astute navigation of these waters. Charles and Anna’s relationship has clearly progressed, and they both show maturity, but at the same time, they are both wounded individuals and their scars don’t heal overnight just because they have married. I feel that you struck a great balance between avoiding repetitiveness and not resolving things too fast.

Perhaps it is the romance reader in me, but, even though I recognized how deftly you handled that, I still found myself wanting more focus on Charles and Anna’s personal relationship, especially in the middle portion of the book. I would have loved more in the way of exploring their physical intimacy with one another, too.

Anna and Charles are still wonderful characters, though, and I still cared about them greatly. They are both vulnerable, flawed, but fundamentally good people, inhabiting a dangerous world where only the strong survive.

Eventually, too, my concerns were allayed in what was a fabulous build up to a terrific ending. The various plot lines came together into a cohesive and very satisfying whole. There was a subtle and moving exploration of Anna and Charles’s issues with sex. The ending, in which both Anna and Charles must come to the other’s aid, was as gripping as it was romantic. And I love the way Anna finds her strength growing from book to book.

Although I won’t reread it immediately and obsessively as I did the first two installments in Charles and Anna’s story, I closed the book feeling thoroughly rewarded and looking forward to more of Charles and Anna in the future. B+ for Hunting Ground.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers. This book goes on sale on August 25. I hope that the Sony ebook will show up but it’s in the Kindle format for sure.

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Alpha and Omega and Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
2. REVIEW: Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
3. REVIEW: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

All right, who named these poor kids?   Seriously.   It’s like the BDB had only one even halfway reasonable name to go around and they all drew straws to see who’d get it.   And now that one guy is dead.   The names are one of the reasons I’m finding it very hard to take this book seriously.   I can’t help but think of the MST3K episode Cave Dwellers, in which Tom Servo changes his name to Htom Sirveaux and Crow says to Tom, "well, Htom, why don’t you hlick me?"

Related posts:

1. Weekend News Round Up
2. Thursday eBook Tech News Round Up
3. Weekly Tech Round Up

I always approach an old favorite with trepidation. So often they were favorites because of the person I was at that time in my life, and having changed, they no longer affect me as they once did. But sometimes I’m lucky and I find that it was something more timeless and I love the book as much as ever.

I’m a long-time lover of science fiction romance, and have been reading it since the 70s, even though I didn’t have any concept of the sub-genre at the time. I’m going to be revisiting some of the classics, those books considered must reads that I haven’t read in ages. I expect that I won’t love some as much as I once did. I’m happy to say that the first I chose, a favorite of both mine and Jane’s, is one of those timeless ones, your Dragon Bones / Dragon Blood.

Honestly, I was hard-pressed to come up with any criticism of this book. I sat down after re-reading it and tried to come up with something I’d have changed had I written it myself, and I couldn’t think of a thing. That’s the way it is with a book you see as a classic, I suppose. There are a couple of things that I think others might complain of though, so first I’ll describe why I love these books, and then what I think might give romance readers pause in reading them.

One thing I love is that, though this is a fantasy and a very original one, it feels very real. Ward, the main character, is someone I believed in, a real human being, and I was with him every step of the way. He’s a hero, but more of a hero that fell into his role. Ward is a natural leader – people respect him. Part is because of his noble blood line, part is because of his size and strength. But Ward has a problem. When he was young, his father beat him so severely it affected his brain and rendered him unable to anything but simplest magic, his ability to Find things. It also affected his thinking.

His father saw him as a rival, and didn’t want to be killed off the same way that he himself had killed his own father, so he’d attacked and rendered Ward harmless. Or so he and everyone thought. Ward still had some wits about him, and to protect himself played the harmless imbecile, though one powerful enough to hurt those who harmed the ones he cared for.

When the story opens, Ward’s father dies. Ward’s uncle is appointed guardian. We immediately start to question the motives of everyone around Ward, and we question Ward’s ability to see clearly. How much we can rely upon his observations is something we have to learn as the story progresses. Because most of the story is told first person from his point of view, we, like his people, have to come to know and trust him.

I loved that about the story. It brought all of it that much closer to the reader, because I was right in there with his companions, only with a slightly better seat. There were layers to this story that I needed to think through to arrive at the truth.

This carries over into the few chapters told from others’ points of view at the royal court. The king sees plots everywhere, possibly because many are, and he kills anyone whom he suspects, or else places them in an institution for the insane. He becomes convinced Ward is a threat and orders him committed.

Other things I liked: The pace of the book and how they spent time where it was needed to make it more realistic. Some books jump from one action scene to the next, forgetting that much of what we learn of characters, and their growth, take place between the action. Here you used things like periods of training during travel to allow characters to get to know each other and develop relationships that are all important. This made the book flow very naturally as well from one section to the next.

It also made their struggles more convincing. Their hell lasts and hurts, and their happiness and successes feel all the more deserved because of it.

I also liked the way new characters and scenes were brought in. First we learn about Ward via first person, then are introduced one by one to the players, remembering that while the portraits seem clear that we’re seeing through Ward’s eyes and those aren’t necessarily reliable.

The world building here was quite good as well. The society was complex and drawn with a sufficient number of interesting characters that it was convincing. Regarding the magic, while this is fantasy, the magic is minimal, especially in the first book. But the use of magic was consistent and had a price. People didn’t walk away unscathed from it. This also makes the world building more convincing, as does the way your world has echoes in ours. It’s not unlike the Renaissance. It reminded me of Italy under the Borgias.

What do I think people might complain about? I know some people just don’t like first person narration, especially where romance is involved. Ward’s chapters are all first person. I think it’s vital that they are for reasons stated above. Tisala’s, the heroine’s, are third person. This too feels right, because it gave you a chance to paint a broader picture, something important in the second book.

That leads me to something that might well drive romance readers nuts. Tisala appears only minimally in the first book, and in the second book, Tisala and Ward spend a fair amount of time apart. Someone looking for a romance-novel-like focus on their relationship would probably be disappointed. This is a fantasy containing romance, and while that romance and relationships are very important to the books, the romance isn’t the point of the books.

Even thought the two spent time apart, I found their relationship to be a convincing one. They both had trust and image issues to work around, and they spend enough time talking and interacting with each other that the feelings that grew between them, and we do see them grow, made sense. By the time the ending rolls around, where they end up is where you’ve been leading them.

And while I suppose some people would have liked more romance in the first book, or at least more participation from the heroine, I wouldn’t want it. There wasn’t room. Things had to be taken care of before Ward or Tisala could even think about anything else.

This all leads to what I love most about sfr: There are no boundaries to the romance. There is no box to step outside of. Everything is unexpected, so what happens tends to hit harder because you don’t have a guaranteed HEA. So when one comes along, it just feels more potent to me, especially in the hands of someone who can make us feel for her characters each step of the way.

Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood felt like classics to me when I first read them. I’m happy to say they still do. I’d recommend them not only to lovers of sfr, but to fantasy readers who enjoy a character based story with some political kick to it. And also to paranormal romance readers who want to try a story that while it contains romance, would immerse them in a world more thoroughly than most paranormals I’ve read.

Sincerely,
ジェーン
(Jān)

Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood can be purchased in paperback at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony here and here or other etailers.

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
2. REVIEW: Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
3. REVIEW: Alpha and Omega and Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

The Alpha and Omega series will debut in August as a four part comic series to be fully encapsulated in a graphic novel to be released in November.

Related posts:

1. Preview of Comic Book Mercy Thompson
2. REVIEW: Alpha and Omega and Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
3. Purchase details re: Patricia Briggs and JR Ward

Courtesan’s Wager by Claudia Dain. I’m a big fan of this series because it’s a very female centric, female empowering. The latest showcases Lady Amelia Caversham, daughter of a duke, who would seemingly be a good prize except she’s made her desire to marry a duke obvious to the point of embarrassment.    At her wit’s end, Amelia begs the favor of Lady Sophia Dalby, a former courtesan, to assist her in catching a duke.   Amelia and Sophia concoct a fairly scandalous scheme.   Be even more obvious about your desire to marry and let’s reel in the right one.   Amelia’s plans to “interview” men of the ton incite their competitive spirit and they all begin vying for her hand, much to the chagrin of Lord Cranleigh.   Not only will he not participate in this nonsense, but neither does he want his brother to make a fool of himself.   Once caught in Sophia’s web, however, a man cannot escape, not even one such as Lord Cranleigh. B Recommended by Jane. (review to come)

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

  
Super in the City by Daphne Uviller. It was the back blurb of this book that caught my attention. The mob thinks the heroine is with the FBI. The FBI thinks she’s with the mob. And she’s dating an exterminator? After reading that I just knew I had to try this one.

Zephyr Zuckerman has a vivid imagination, four best friends from high school, a former asshole boyfriend she’s still not over and at age twenty-seven, still hasn’t made up her mind what she wants to do when she grows up. In the meantime, her parents have hit on something to occupy her time and save them some money. After the long time super of the small apartment building they own is arrested on charges of taking kickbacks from an oil company – and honestly how could that be a lot of money since there are so few tenants there? – they suggest that Zephyr take over his job.

Zephyr shares a lot with other Chick Lit heroines – mid twenties and drifting through life, sucky job, repugnant ex-boyfriend, close gal pals and a hero who baffles her before they finally work out their HEA – but she – and the book- are also genuinely funny unlike a lot of the pratfall filled Chick Lit books I’ve struggled through in an attempt to recapture the joy of the first ones I read years ago. This is a book I’m glad I got in my bimonthly care package from Jane and one I know I’ll probably read again. B+ Recommended by Jayne.

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

Scandal by Carolyn Jewel. The Earl of Banallt and the young widow Sophie Evans encounter each other when Sophie’s brother John brings Banallt home. John is unaware that the notorious earl and his sister have a history. Several years before, Sophie had first met Banallt when her philandering husband, Tommy, brought him home unexpectedly late one night. Both men were drunk, and they were accompanied by a woman of dubious reputation. From this inauspicious beginning, Sophie and Banallt formed an unlikely friendship. Banallt found himself strongly desiring Sophie, in spite of the fact that she’s no beauty. Sophie was unhappy, scarred by Tommy’s constant infidelity and the knowledge that he only married her (over the anvil in Scotland) for her inheritance – a circumstance that estranged her from her family for a time. She was drawn to Banallt but even more than any attraction she felt for him, she desperately needed a friend and confidante. Unfortunately, in a moment of anguish, Banallt destroyed the friendship. Sophie tells him she doesn’t want to see him again, and indeed they do not meet again for some time. A- Recommended by Jennie F and Jane.

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

Dark of Night by Suzanne Brockmann. The long-awaited culmination of the Sophia and Decker story arc. The controversy, of course, is that although they both get their HEA in this book, they get it with other people. Controversy aside, however, this book is Brockmann at her best. The plotting is satisfyingly tight, the suspense suitably suspenseful, and the romances (yes, multiple!) form the absolute heart and soul of the book. With Brockmann’s trademark humor and with appropriate-to-the-plot cameos from favorite characters, the book is funny, charming, and sexy. And at the end of the book, it is certainly possible to firmly believe that Sophia and Decker are 100% happy and 100% with the right person. A- Recommended by Joan/Dr. F

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

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs. Bone Crossed begins almost immediately where Iron Kissed left off. Mercy Thompson, the narrator, is bruised, both in body and in spirit, by a rape. She must face up to survival which means coming to grips with her abuse, her love for Adam, her feelings regarding the Adam’s pack, and her own vulnerability.

The problem for Mercy is that she is so used to surviving on her own and that the people in her life that have professed to love her: her mother; Bran, a father figure; Samuel, her first love – have only loved her under certain conditions. To become part of the Pack means to necessarily rely on others for support, both emotional and physical. To allow herself to be fully embraced by Adam makes her vulnerable again. B+ Recommended by Jane.

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

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley.
From behind, Terra is a stunningly beautiful: tall and blond with a knockout body. Unfortunately she has one minor “flaw:”

While my face couldn’t launch a thousand ships, it has the power to make any stranger whip around for a second look. Trust me, this mixture of curiosity and revulsion is nothing Helen of Troy would ever have encountered.

Terra has a port wine stain that covers her entire right cheek. In her small Washington town, it’s branded her a freak since she was little. And it’s not just the people in town who treat her as “flawed.” Terra also gets it from her family. The youngest of three children, Terra is the only one still living at home. Her oldest brother works halfway around the world in China, and the second oldest attends college but never comes home. The reason for their avoidance stems from their father whose determination to control everyone manifests itself via cruel, sniping criticisms.

If Girl Overboard was a novel with multiple intersecting external events, North of Beautiful is a novel with multiple intersecting internal (emotional) currents. The obvious one is that Terra’s been chasing after the Land of Beauty for her entire life, but it’s always been beauty as defined by other people — a father’s never-satisfied standards, a mother’s hopes that fixing Terra’s face will fix their home, a best friend who defends Terra but never really lets her shine either, and a boyfriend who loves her body but is ashamed to be seen with her in public. Everyone’s put her in a box and in one way or another, she’s trying to escape, to become the person she wants to be. A- Recommended by Jia.

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

Mexican Heat by Laura Baumbach and Josh Lanyon tells the story of two gay cops, both separately undercover in the West Coast drug world, on two different sides of a drug deal, neither of whom realize the other is one of the good guys. They establish a relationship of sorts, but after the bust goes bad, they have to renegotiate who they are and how they fit together. Wonderfully drawn characters who come alive, a compelling plot, and hot hot action. Recommended by Joan/Dr. F. (review to come)

This book can be purchased in ebook format from BooksonBoard and other retailers.

We would love it if you would share with us what you would recommend for the month of February.

Related posts:

1. June Recommended Reads
2. May Recommended Reads
3. Dear Author Recommended Reads for October

Dear Ms. Briggs:

I read on JMC’s blog the other day that she was having a hard time crafting her thoughts about Bujold’s Sharing Knife: Horizon without coming accross as an incoherent fan girl. I’m a bit like that with your books. I hope I can provide some insight as to why I liked the book so as to help others who might be making a purchasing decision.

Bone Crossed is our 4th entry in the Mercy Thompson series and it is the first hardcover. Immediately, I think you get judged by readers by a different, tougher measuring stick. Because of the cost, readers forgo other purchases. So, is it worth it? Read on.

Mercedes Thompson is a walker. She shapeshifts into a coyote, is a fairly good singer, and has an immunity to magic. In the Tri-Cities area, that latter is a positive because the area is rife with other beings: werewolves, vampires, Elf kind, and faeries. A previous power struggle between the vampires led to Mercy making a powerful enemy in the form of vampire queen Marsilia. Everyone around Mercy thinks she should get the out of Tri-Cities until Marsilia calms down.

Mercy accepts an invitation from a college friend, Amber, to come to Spokane to investigate a haunting in her friend’s house. Despite Mercy’s doubts as to the veracity of her friend’s complaint, the truth is that there is not only a ghost in Amber’s house, but the ghost is threatening Amber’s son. Worse than the ghost is that there is a very old vampire who holds Spokane; so powerful that he holds it without any other vampires; so powerful that he can walk in sunlight.

Mercy must ultimately face a reckoning with Marsilia, the vampire of Spokane, and her own inner demons.

Bone Crossed begins almost immediately where Iron Kissed left off. Mercy Thompson, the narrator, is bruised, both in body and in spirit, by a rape. She must face up to survival which means coming to grips with her abuse, her love for Adam, her feelings regarding the Adam’s pack, and her own vulnerability.

The latter is probably the issue that bothers Mercy the most. While she acknowledges both outwardly and inwardly that she is not the strongest creature out there due to the fact that she shifts into a coyote shape and has not extraordinary magic or strength, her life long resistance to magic has possibly given her a false sense of security.

The problem for Mercy is that she is so used to surviving on her own and that the people in her life that have professed to love her: her mother; Bran, a father figure; Samuel, her first love – have only loved her under certain conditions. To become part of the Pack means to necessarily rely on others for support, both emotional and physical. To allow herself to be fully embraced by Adam makes her vulnerable again.

These internal emotional struggles are what draw me to the series, in particular, and to your writing, in general. Certainly the worldbuilding is interesting (I’ve certainly not read a machiavellian villain such as Marsilia in a long long time), but the depth of the characters and how each suspense encounter serves to either buttress or challenge Mercy’s foundation makes the Mercy Thompson series rise above the ordinary flotsam of urban fantasy books.

There was one point, though, in the book where I was jarred from the story. Early on, Mercy’s mother comes on stage. I didn’t recall her playing a big role in Mercy’s life in the past and didn’t recall Mercy having strong feelings for her mother. The way in which the character was portrayed seemed at odds with my memory. I kind of understood the purpose (I think it was to juxtapose Mercy’s relationship with the mother against Mercy’s relationship with Adam). It was the one jarring note in an otherwise smooth story.

I was happy with how the romance progressed. Mercy didn’t gain a bunch of new powers in order to save herself. I felt the world was consistent. I totally adore Samuel and hope that sometime there is a good match for him (Adam’s daughter maybe?). In all, it was worth the hardcover price. I bought my own copy from Sony today.   B+

Best regards

Jane

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

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
2. REVIEW: Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
3. REVIEW: Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

• DELICIOUS by Sherry Thomas*, Grade A
• CRY WOLF by Patricia Briggs, Grade A
• PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS by Sherry Thomas*, Grade A-/A
• WICKED INTENTIONS by Lydia Joyce, Grade A-
• “LOS CONVERSOS” by Jesse Sandoval, in the anthology TANGLE, Grade A-
• “EMBER” by Bettie Sharpe**, Grade A-
• THE EDGE OF IMPROPRIETY by Pam Rosenthal, Grade A-
• THE DUKE OF SHADOWS by Meredith Duran*, Grade A-
• “REMEMBER” by Astrid Amara, in the anthology TANGLE, Grade A-
• YOUR SCANDALOUS WAYS by Loretta Chase, Grade B+/A-
• GRIMSPACE by Ann Aguirre, Grade B+/A-
• “LORD RONAN’S SHOES” by Astrid Amara, in the anthology TANGLE, Grade B+/A-
• QUEEN OF DRAGONS by Shana Abe, Grade B+
• “FERAL MACHINES” by Ginn Hale, in the anthology TANGLE, Grade B+
• LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH by Emily Giffin, Grade B+
• MINE TO POSSESS by Nailini Singh, Grade B+

*Full disclosure from Janine: Meredith Duran and Sherry Thomas are my good friends and critique partners, but since I enjoyed their 2008 books very much, I felt it would be a glaring omission not to include their them on my list of favorites.

**Added by Janine in 2009: Readers should know that I am now exchanging critiques with Bettie Sharpe as well. However, that was not the case when I read “EMBER.”

Related posts:

1. Best of 2008 List: Reviewer Jennie F
2. Best of 2008 List: Reviewer Jayne
3. Best of 2008 List: Reviewer Jia

Jennie F is one of our “new-ish” reviewers. She reviews sporadically and has ecletic taste.   Her list includes a variety of fiction books, not all of which are romance:   

• VICTORY OF EAGLES by Naomi Novik, Grade A
• THE EDGE OF IMPROPRIETY by Pam Rosenthal,  Grade: A
• DELICIOUS by Sherry Thomas, Grade A
• FROM DEAD TO WORSE by Charlaine Harris, Grade A
• PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS by Sherry Thomas, Grade A-
• YOUR SCANDALOUS WAYS by Loretta Chase, Grade A-
• WHERE SERPENTS SLEEP by C.S. Harris, Grade: B+
• DUKE OF SHADOWS by Meredith Duran, Grade B+
• LOVE THE ONE YOU’RE WITH by Emily Giffin,  Grade: B+
• CRY WOLF by Patricia Briggs, Grade B+
• POWER PLAY by Deirdre Martin, Grade B+

Related posts:

1. PW Best Of List
2. May 11, 2008 Bestseller comparison list
3. Random House Loses Big Authors; Charlaine Harris Dominates the Bestseller List

Here are some details straight from the Briggs website:

You can download a preview of the first graphic novel in .pdf format. While it’s missing the text, it certainly shows the quality of the artwork and layout. The Dables have produced a press release giving more details about the series. To order the series, contact your local comic book store, or use this handy order form.

Ever the demanding person, I lamented that I thought I could just go into any bookstore and find the comic book because I didn’t know where the nearest comic bookstore was and was too lazy to click on the link to find out. So for those lazy people, you can wait until 2009 when Del Rey, in partnership with Dabel Brothers, will put out a Graphic novels (hardcover with dust jacket). The first one will be the four issue series Homecoming/the original short story Briggs penned.

Second topic is the JR Ward novella, Father Mine, which is a short story of Zsadist and Bella included in the trade paperback Black Daggerhood: An Insider’s Guide. The press release announcing Penguin’s eSpecials, such as the JR Ward novella, was released on Tuesday but readers were having a difficult time finding the buy link for it. As of today, I only have two buy links:

• Mobipocket version
• Amazon’s Kindle version

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs
2. My First Sale by Patricia Briggs, Still a Little Surprised at Being Published
3. REVIEW: Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs

The other two stories being offered is Karen Chance’s Buying Trouble, Patricia Briggs’s Alpha and Omega, both stories originally part of the On the Prowl anthology. Chance’s book is available on October 14th and Briggs’ novella on the 20th. These two novellas are $2.99.

I like the idea of buying the novellas separately but I do wonder at the price point. For example, the entire On The Prowl anthology can be purchased in eform at Fictionwise for $6.11 (with discounts). Perhaps with discounts, the Chance and Briggs’ novellas will be around the $2.50 mark instead of the $3.00 mark.

Related posts:

1. Freya’s Bower Offers up Anthology for a Good Cause
2. REVIEW: Here’s to the Ladies (Western anthology) by Carla Kelly
3. New eSpecials from Three of Penguin Group’s Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy Stars

PARANORMAL FICTION STARS

Works by J.R. Ward, Karen Chance, and Patricia Briggs

Will be Available to Download

New York, NY (October 7, 2008) In a continued effort to bring writers to readers in whatever format the reader prefers, Penguin Group (USA) announced today the release of three paranormal fiction eSpecials, short pieces of writing for eBook readers. These new eSpecials are otherwordly novellas by three of Penguin Group’s most popular writers of paranormal romance and urban fantasy: #1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward; #1 New York Times bestselling author Patricia Briggs; and national bestselling author Karen Chance.

This is the perfect way for dedicated paranormal fiction fans to get the inside scoop on characters and series they re already into, said Molly Barton, Associate Publisher of eSpecials at Penguin Group. These three new eSpecials will also give curious readers a taste of some of the hottest writers working in paranormal romance and urban fantasy.

Father Mine, a novella from J.R. Ward about two of the main characters in her current bestselling series, will be available to download on October 7^th. All six novels in the ongoing Black Dagger Brotherhood series hit national bestseller lists, with the most recent book LOVER ENSHRINED debuting at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Father Mine gives readers a special glimpse into the life of Zsadist, one of the most popular characters in the series, and his wife Bella.   Buy Link here

Karen Chance, the bestselling author of three books about clairvoyant Cassie Palmer, will launch a new paranormal romance series with the novel MIDNIGHT S DAUGHTER, which will be published on October 7th. Chance’s eSpecial, a story called Buying Trouble, features a secondary character from MIDNIGHT S DAUGHTER and will be available to download on October 14th, a week after the novel is published.

Patricia Briggs’s novella Alpha and Omega introduces a new urban fantasy series set in the world of Briggs’s #1 New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson books. In Alpha and Omega, two werewolves meet and discover they share a special bond. The story will be available to download on October 20th.

J.R. Ward’s original novella will sell for $3.99, and the stories from Karen Chance and Patricia Briggs will retail for $2.99. As with all Penguin eBooks, the eSpecials will be available in many formats, including Sony Reader, Amazon Kindle, and Adobe Acrobat among others, and are available for purchase wherever eBooks are sold.

Related posts:

1. Anne Sowards, Editor, Gives 2008 Urban Fantasy Preview
2. 2008 RITA WINNER for Paranormal Romance
3. Penguin to Provide Imprint Focus Blog Posts

Deets for the fans:

50 Canon is run by Mark Newell who has an eclectic directing background.  His portfolio includes Four Weddings and a Funeral (loved*) and Pushing Tin (liked) and the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (never watched).  Perhaps his biggest movie to do date was director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  The PW report also says that Ace, a division of Penguin, is set to publish four more Mercy Thompson books.

Deets for the authors:

Th deal is that Newell has optioned the series and will pay escalating amounts in the mid six figures for each title when the option is exercised.

*Am I a total philistine for admitting I hadn't read Auden before this movie?

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
2. Preview of Comic Book Mercy Thompson
3. REVIEW: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs