Dear Author » St.-Martins-Press

Thursday News: SMP Was to Receive $70,000 Worth of Pot

Jane — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 17:00:02 +0000

In light of fan fiction, collaboration, and just plain fascinating stuff comes the story of a Redditor turned screenplay writer. Wired recounts the transformation of James Erwin from Redditor commenter who began to envision a story about a group of military folks in Afghanistan being time warped back to the Roman period. His scenes made him an instant Redditor celebrity, got him an agent, and now his screenplay is the basis of a big budget movie.

Mid-afternoon, Erwin posted the seventh installment, then wrote a brief comment asking the Reddit community what he should do next. “Subreddit? Publish? Pass the torch?” He promised that he would do whatever the top-voted comment told him to do. An hour later, the top-voted comment by a wide margin read simply “QUIT JOB ENTERTAIN ME.” A user named tick_tock_clock suggested a name for a subreddit: RomeSweetRome. Erwin responded, “As much as I’d love to quit my job to finish this, that may be … impractical.” He was thinking of his family; he had a young child to help provide for and a mortgage to pay. What wasn’t impractical, he wrote, “is moving this over to r/RomeSweetRome, where I will continue writing this up … at a slightly less feverish pace. :)”

I really encourage you to read it. Source: Wired

Kate Hart has a graphical representation of YA Deals for 2011-2012.

Paranormal is definitely moving away from vampires and werewolves. The only vampire deal I saw was for an existing series, and I only saw two werewolf and two angel blurbs, of which one each was new.

There were several folklore tales, a few ghosts and demons, and one dragon. Otherwise, it appears that “psychic” is the new “vampire” (ignoring the fact that our friend to the left is a psychic vampire to being with.)

In possibly one of the best stories of 2012 (yes, going out on a limb and saying this can’t be beat by anything in the upcoming 9 months), the feds intercept a shipment of a 11 pounds of marijuana addressed to Karen White at St. Martin’s Press.

Two shipments of marijuana destined for the New York City offices of a major book publisher were intercepted this month by federal agents after postal workers detected a “suspicious odor” emanating from the Express Mail parcels, according to court records.

The packages, containing a total of more than 11 pounds of pot, were bound for St. Martin’s Press, which is headquatered in the landmark Flatiron Building on lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.

And now, the next time you are thinking “what are those publishers smoking” you have an answer. Via everyone but I noticed it first via Sarah Weinman.

Tuesday News: Women Writers Get Ignored; SMP’s Homage to the Brady Bunch, Random House Triples Cost to Libraries

Jane — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:00:45 +0000

News

There are a series of charts being passed around showing the sad gender divide between female and male journalists and female and male writers and what is being covered in the mainstream press. The gender divide isn’t really improving year over year.

Random House is one of the two big six publishers still partnering with libraries for digital content access but as of last week a book that would ordinarily run libraries $28 will now run them $80 . Eric Hellman argues that this is a good thing because Random House is still willing to partner with libraries and libraries can negotiate. ALA has come out against the price increase.

I am deeply disappointed in the severe escalation in ebook pricing reported today. Calling on our history together and our hope to satisfy mutual goals moving forward, the American Library Association strongly urges Random House to reconsider its decision. In a time of extreme financial constraint, a major price increase effectively curtails access for many libraries, and especially our communities that are hardest hit economically

Paid Content reports that Amazon will be offering non Kindle versions of digital content in an effort to persuade Barnes & Noble to relent and carry its Amazon published print titles in stores. If you recall, Barnes & Noble (along with BAMM) has refused to carry print versions of Amazon’s books under the guise that such an action would violate B&N’s commitment to its customers to provide B&N customers “any book, anywhere, anytime” as it stated when it pulled the DC Comics books off the shelves after DC Comics exclusive deal with Amazon.

Confirming the decision, B&N said in a statement, “Barnes & Noble works with thousands of publishers to bring customers the world’s largest selection of physical and digital reading content. However, regardless of the publisher, we will not stock physical books in our stores if we are not offered the available digital format.

“In a few isolated instances, exclusive publisher deals have prohibited Barnes & Noble from selling certain eBooks, preventing millions of our digital customers from access to those titles,” B&N added. “To sell and promote the physical book in our store showrooms, and not have the eBook available for sale would undermine our promise to Barnes & Noble customers to make available any book, anywhere, anytime.”

I’m sure B&N will come up with another excuse to ban Amazon published books although when people come looking for the Penny Marshall autobiography, I’m not certain how B&N customers will react. The question this piece raised in my mind, however, was whether Amazon would start carrying ePubs along with Kindle versions of each ebook and how devastating that would be. Currently Amazon is making little to no money on its devices. It wants people to buy content (and other stuff) from Amazon. If there is no format imperative to stay with B&N, Kobo, Sony, what kind of competitive advantage do they have? Right now, going DRM free and providing Kindle compatible formats is a good way to leach away customers from Amazon, but if Amazon goes the other direction? Chilling.

This cover and the accompanying PM announcement was emailed to me last Friday.

PM Announcement:

USA Today bestselling author Kieran Kramer’s new series THE HOUSE OF BRADY, following the six aristocratic adult siblings of a blended marriage who carve out their own paths to true love, to Jennifer Enderlin at St. Martin’s, in a significant deal, in a six-book deal, by Jenny Bent at The Bent Agency.

From the author’s blog:

My next project is a 6-book series called The House of Brady. The series will follow the adult romanric lives of each of the siblings in a blended family. The first book is about Lady Marcia. The next will be Gregory’s story. Then Jana’s, Peter’s, Robert’s, and Cynthia’s!!!

I was initially taken aback by what appears to be fan fiction of The Brady Bunch. I wondered whether this was a violation of IP. Given that we don’t know what the books will be about (hopefully not riffs on episodes as I do think that would be infringement) but the branding of the books and the series clearly call on us to harken to the original series itself. I emailed SMP and they provided me with this response:

Dear Ms. Litte,

Thank you for the recent inquiry you sent to Jennifer Enderlin about St. Martin’s upcoming publication of the first book in Kieran Kramer’s new “House of Brady” series. Jen is out of the office, and so she asked me to send you a reply.

I’m not sure where you got your information about the series, but it is not quite accurate. LOVING LADY MARCIA (as is also true for future books in the series) is a regency romance. The book is set in London in the early 1800s. The plots and characters in the novel are not based on any of the episodes from the popular television series The Brady Bunch, which of course was set in California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The use in the romance novels of certain character names for the members of the artistocratic family, and the name Brady, is intended as a humorous nod to the tv show, nothing more. Homage of this sort does not require permission, nor does it raise copyright concerns.

Again, we appreciate your inquiry.

After thinking about this issue over the weekend, I’ve come to the conclusion that this movement toward looser interpretation of intellectual property only benefits readers and content creators. For fans of a series the use of clearly identifiable characters may seem violative of the original, but it opens a host of new avenues of exploration. I am certainly done to death with Pride & Prejudice fan fiction. Bring on the Eve Dallas & Zombies. Eve and Roarke would make a great co alphas of a werewolf pack. Someone could finally give poor Stephanie Plum that relationship conclusion some fans have been dying for, albeit in the form of a Victorian setting. (I could definitely see Ranger in a steampunk setting).

I brought this up on twitter and Lis Mitchel (@pixelfish) sent me a link to this video. I about died laughing:

I think I forgot to mention that HarperCollins sold Inkpop, its YA writing site to its larger competitor, Figment. In January 2011, HarperCollins had acquired a manuscript from a writer on Inkpop.

Jackie Collins is going to self publish a rewritten version of The Bitch.

Evidently, this could be more than just a one-time endeavor for the author. “If it does well, I probably will continue to e-publish, because I have a book of short stories and my publisher says short stories don’t sell,” she told [MediaBistro].

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REVIEW: Death, Taxes and a Skinny No-Whip Latte by Diane Kelly

Jayne — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 16:00:49 +0000

Dear Ms. Kelly,

I think most US citizens would agree with me that getting a visit from someone in professional attire who says, “We just need to speak with you a moment. We’re from the IRS.” is not a favorite way to start the day. Or end it. Discovering that your heroine, Tara Holloway, is a special agent of the IRS – someone with the job of tracking down the worst of the worst tax scofflaws – got me interested in trying the second in your series featuring her, “Death, Taxes, and a Skinny No-Whip Latte.” Parts of the book I found hard to put down. Yet there is also a whole latte (pun intended) that bored me as much as you say it bores Tara.

Tara Holloway, new agent in the Treasury Department’s Criminal Investigation team, has just been assigned a new case along with her partner Eddie Bardon. Marcos Mendoza is suspected of a whole host of crimes from loan sharking to murder. Past business associates have gone missing or – in the case of one unfortunate man – gone missing then turned up. In pieces. When the Texas Rangers failed to make a case that is strong enough to arrest him, desperate officials turn to the department that can always be counted on to bring down the bad guys – the IRS. Get ‘em on tax fraud and they’re going down.

But in spite of all their determination, Tara and Eddie feel their wheels are spinning and the window of opportunity to catch Mendoza is closing fast. Plus families, boyfriends and BFFs are grumbling about the time being spent on the case. Tara and Eddie have to think, and act, outside the box. Can they come up with a plan that will nail this bastard and which is also within the law?

Yes, I have a fascination with the IRS. Kind of like watching a pride of lions at the zoo. Interesting to look at from a distance but I’ll pass on any close, personal interactions. Still, it’s nice to know the government is going after the worst of the worst so that maybe I don’t have to pay any more taxes than I already do. Tara is armed, she knows self defense and as her target practice shows, she’ll hit exactly what she aims at. She’s also smart – my hat is off to anyone who can remember the whole US tax code info – and determined. Once she’s assigned to a case, that case gets solved one way or the other.

The sections of the story which show Tara and her fellow agents using their knowledge of tax law and computer sleuthing are cool. Sort of frightening in a way but still seriously cool. The stakeouts I could take or leave. Well, leave mostly as they quickly turned into a total yawnfest. Tara buying her disguises is fine. The first bits about how the stakeout is done are also fine. Then there are some things which happen to Tara that definitely break up the monotony but at the same time, I found myself wondering what purpose these events served to advance the plot. Yucky old exhibitionists and punk robbers hold no fear for Tara but they also held no interest for me. And then the stakeout and the waiting went on. And on. ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Tara says these things are boring and damned if she isn’t right. When another stakeout got started I almost cried. Almost, mind you but I managed to refrain as I made the decision to skim instead.

You drop enough clues about how Tara is going to get the help needed to crack the case that I didn’t find the revelation to be a Revelation. The way it’s carried out is fun and a bit nerve racking. The way the “think outside the box” plan is arranged and executed made me sit up and pay attention again. The final take down is satisfying and there’s a nice wrap up to the case all around.

The cover quote compares Tara to Stephanie Plum. In some ways I agree with this but I don’t think it’s entirely accurate. Both have guns but Tara knows how to use hers and keeps it loaded. They’re both wisecrackers but Tara is competent at her job even as she jokes around. She’s also already getting nekked and having hot, sexy encounters with her hot boyfriend on a very regular basis. The new man in her life might make the series become more of a Ranger vs Morelli however I’m not sure I’ll be intrigued enough to keep following it. Balancing the pluses and minuses, this one clocks in at a C+ for me.

~Jayne

Amazon BN Sony Kobo

Friday Midday News: The Blogger as a Journalist

Jane — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:20:17 +0000

Anita Clenney has filed her answer (PDF) to the Sourcebooks complaint. In it, she asserts four points:

1) Inclusion of 8 pages of advertisements without permission and/or payment constitutes a material breach. Clenney argues that the industry standard is a) defined by the actions of two or more of the big 6 and that the industry standard is for inclusion of a provision regarding advertisement.

Unfortunately for Sourcebooks, its understanding of actual publishing industry practice as to the placement of advertisements in books is incorrect. Therefore, Sourcebooks does not actually adhere to the industry standard by having unilaterally placed advertisements for its authors’ books in Awaken the Highland Warrior without having first obtained Clenney’s consent and agreeing to compensate her.

As other, larger publishers’ contracts reflect, the placement of advertisements, whether for the book’s author or others, is a matter of negotiation, and the publisher’s right to do so is agreed upon and set forth in the contract.

In support of this, she provides excerpts of four contracts

Berkley contract: “‘industry standard’ as used herein shall mean the ebook royalty rate that is routinely paid by at least two (2) majory publishers”
S&S contract: Consistent with Clenney’s interpretation
Macmillan contract: ”advertisements other than for books may not be printed without consent.”
Harlequin contract: No third party advertising.

This looks to be the weakest part of Clenney’s claim. From speaking with those in the industry, it is not common practice to provide compensation for after matter.

2) Sourcebooks has a pattern and practice of breaching contracts. I’m not sure what the purpose of this part of the petition other than to respond to the Sourcebooks’ inclusion of Book Cents’ business in its complaint. Book Cents’ business and Sourcebooks actions toward other authors is not relevant to whether Sourcebooks breached its contract with Anita Clenney. Of interest was the complaints made to RWA which were not followed up on. I confirmed that RWA will not investigate a claim unless it is made by a member of good standing and who is having a dispute with the publisher. Thus a complaint made by an agent will not be investigate.

This part of the answer is on pages 16 through 20 and recounts three troublesome issues that Sourcebooks has had with other authors.

3) Non payment of royalties / no receipt of royalty statements. Clenney alleges she has not received payment of royalties or even a royalty statement since the publication of her book in 2011. Sourcebooks asserts that royalty statements have been sent but delivery has been refused.

4) Violation of privacy. The complaint filed by Sourcebooks included the contract as an exhibit. The contract included the address and social security number of Clenney. According to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure this information should have been redacted. Clenney has filed a countersuit on the basis of this inappropriate dissemination of the social security number under the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Illinois Personal Information Protection Act. I’m not familiar with those acts and whether they give rise to a private cause of action but it could be the most serious part of Clenney’s answer and counterclaim.

Sourcebooks will now need to respond with its own answer.

*****

Reviews of Agony/Ecstasy are rolling in. Dawn Crowne at Romantic Times is conducting a riff off of the DABWAHA by pitting the stories against each other. Fun.

From Harriet Klausner: ”Though the characters mostly relate in trysts, most are surprisingly much more developed than normally seen in a short story collection. Readers will enjoy this entertaining erotic collection that includes a variety of sub-genres”
From Reader Ridley: ”It’s like most anthologies: some great stories, some terrible ones.”
From Reader Mandi (Smexy Books): ”I was hesitant to read this, because I’m not huge on anthologies to begin with and I thought 21 very short stories would not be for me. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. Many are edgy and all are erotic.”
From Readers MinnChica and Has_Bookpushers, Parts 1 and Parts 2: Some they loved, some not so much.
From Reader Jan: “Agony/Ecstasy edited by Jane Litte is a WONDERFUL surprise. Even though it’s a book of BDSM erotica, the stories are well-written and thought-provoking.”

*****

The next big self published author is Darcy Chan, a lawyer, who wrote one book five years ago that was rejected by a dozen houses and 100 literary agents. She tabled the book but decided to self publish her novel earlier this year. She bought banner ads, a couple of reviews (one from Kirkus), spending about $1000 for promotions. Source: Wall Street Journal

Then, at the end of June, “The Mill River Recluse” got a mention on a site called Ereader News Today, which posts tips for Kindle readers. Over the next two days, it sold another 600 copies. Ms. Chan realized she might be able to drive sales herself. She spent about $1,000 on marketing, buying banner ads on websites and blogs devoted to Kindle readers and a promotional spot on goodreads.com, a book-recommendation site with more than six million members.

She has sold over 400,000 copies and made around $130,000 before taxes. Chan wants to find a domestic publisher but most domestic publishers are concerned that with 400,000 copies sold the audience left for her work is limited. She has had several foreign offers, movie offers, and audible book offers but waits for the Big 6 to come calling.

*******

Despite the similarities in several passages between Lenore Hart’s “The Raven’s Bride” published by St. Martin’s Press and The Very Young Mrs. Poe written by Cothburn O’Neal and published in 1956, SMP is standing by its author. The smoking gun, according to others, is that Hart copies and incorporates made up facts about Poe’s wife that originally appeared in O’Neal’s fictional work. O’Neal passed away which probably lends itself well to Hart and SMP’s defense. SMP argues that the author came up with the same made up facts on her own. Source: NY Times blog

In April 2011, when these allegations first came to our attention, Ms. Hart supplied a detailed response, which cited her research into biographical and historical sources, and explained why her novel and Cothburn O’Neal’s “The Very Young Mrs. Poe” contain certain details of place, description and incident. As Ms. Hart explained in her response, of course two novels about the same historical figure necessarily reliant on the same limited historical record will have similarities. We have reviewed that response and remain satisfied with Ms. Hart’s explanation.

*****

On Tuesday, the Seattle Times reported that a blogger was slapped with a $2.5 million judgment in a defamation suit. Bloggers everywhere became concerned because the blogger attempted to use the media shield law to protect herself and the court rejected the defense. The blogger had several websites that she used to target one financial investment firm. She wrote many articles about that company and the founder, changing the online search results. The court found that all but one blog post was opinion. The one blog post that the court found factual included some pointed fraud allegations.

The blogger represented herself (which is always a mistake) and said that the accusation was true and that the information had been leaked to her. She did not want to reveal the leaker and tried to protect herself using the media shield law.

The court rejected this and other bloggers focused on this passage by the court:

… although defendant is a self-proclaimed “investigative blogger” and defines herself as “media,” the record fails to show that she is affiliated with any newspaper, magazine, periodical, book, pamphlet, news service, wire service, news or feature syndicate, broadcast station or network, or cable television system. Thus, she is not entitled to the protections of the law

Forbes, a business friendly site, noted that there were additional points the court noted:

Defendant fails to bring forth any evidence suggestive of her status as a journalist. For example, there is no evidence of (1) any education in journalism; (2) any credentials or proof of any affiliation with any recognized news entity; (3) proof of adherence to journalistic standards such as editing, fact-checking, or disclosures of conflicts of interest; (4) keeping notes of conversations and interviews conducted; (5) mutual understanding or agreement of confidentiality between the defendant and his/her sources; (6) creation of an independent product rather than assembling writings and postings of others; or (7) contacting “the other side” to get both sides of a story. Without evidence of this nature, defendant is not “media.”

The Oregon media shield law does not include blogs specifically and Forbes suggests that needs to be revised.

REVIEW: Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale by Christine Warren

Jane — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 20:00:15 +0000

Dear Ms. Warren:

Robin used the word affability to describe Jill Shalvis’ writing and for me, I would apply the same descriptor to your books. They are generally affable with likeable characters and likeable settings, however, they’ve often felt truncated to me and this one more so than previous ones that I have read.

I understand that many of these stories have been reworked from their original novella forms but perhaps this one was never meant to be elongated because I sat down for a full length meal and only had an appetizer. No matter how good the appetizer was, it wasn’t going to be fulfilling for someone who was looking for a complete dinner.

Luc Macanaw is directed by his Queen to leave the land of the fae and retrieve the Queen’s wayward nephew in the human world. Reporter Corinne D’Allesandro is assigned a paranormal story by her editor, a story that leads her directly to the Queen’s nephew. Luc isn’t a big fan of the Queen but he’d never allow any harm to come to her and her word is law. When she sends him into the mortal world to smooth over any “ripples” caused by her nephew, Seoc’s, indiscretions, Luc goes without murmur. It is his duty.

Corinne knows all about faeries, vampires, and werewolves. Her three best friends have hooked up, married, and even been turned into an “Other” but she must keep their secret while still trying to maintain her distance from the Others. This becomes much more difficult when her newspaper editor wants her to check out a pixie or faerie sighting. Corinne wants to laugh this off as nonsense, even knowing the truth, but her editor is insistent.

Corinne doesn’t really care about most of the Others but she does worry what would happen to her friends like her Missy, a kindergarten teacher who married a werewolf, if knowledge of the Others was revealed to all humans.

Upon meeting Corinne, Luc was shocked at the surge of lust he felt. After all, he was surrounded by women who were more beautiful than any mortal woman could achieve. She was shorter, rounder, but none of that seemed to matter as Luc feels a compulsion toward Corinne. What’s this? Why yes, Corinne, the human, is his heart mate. Faeries have heart mates. OF COURSE THEY DO.

The best part of the book comes in the form of a few funny exchanges between Corinne and Luc.

“I’m Fae,” Luc repeated, then sighed. “As in Faerie.”

The blankness dissolved beneath a surprised laugh. “You’re a fairy? Sure, Tinker Bell. Pull the other leg while you’re at it.”

Luc scowled at Rafe. “You see? That’s the problem with mortals. We leave your world for a couple of thousand years and everyone either forgets all about us, or they reduce us to little glowing balls of tutu-clad good cheer.”

But while Luc might speak Ye Olde English in Fae land (“I’m sure I could find a garderobe for you to clean if you so long for variety in your work.), he drops the formal dialect upon crossing over. Maybe that’s part of the magical process?

Corinne and Luc involve themselves in a little investigating, a lot of lusting, and thinking about the urgency of their situation (find the faerie before he does more crazy things in the mortal world). However, it’s just too little of everything. Too little of the good natured humor, too little investigating and action on their designated task, too little worldbuilding. It just lacked in substance. The lust and sex the two pursued with one another seemed the primary focus and while I liked Corinne’s sex positive attitude, the story telling felt unbalanced. I never felt like I knew Corinne and Luc. Luc, in particular, seemed like a standard romance hero. Manly, attractive, good in bed, and filled with the protectorate instinct.

I wanted more than just the heart mate bond to draw the two together and other than sharing good sex, I wasn’t convinced that there were deeper feelings between the two. The affability of the story helps maintain the reader’s interest, but it’s easily forgotten and not very fulfilling. C

Best regards,

Jane

REVIEW: The Beginner’s Guide to Rakes by Suzanne Enoch

Jane — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:00:58 +0000

Dear Ms. Enoch:

I’m not certain who named your book but I am convinced it is by someone who has never read it because you can tell by the first chapter that the heroine is no ingenue who needs lessons in handling men. The really wonderful thing about this book is the challenging heroine who blackmails, connives, and fraudulently achieves stability for herself in a world in which women can ordinarily only achieve security through birth, marriage or the selling of her person.

Diane Benchley’s family married her off to the Earl of Cameron, Frederick Benchley, a man who gambled so much that they had to flee England and then he died, leaving her destitute and alone in a foreign country. She sought solace in the arms of Oliver Warren in Vienna and she loved him. Oliver Warren did not feel the same way and when he inherited the marquisate, he ran away from Vienna without a word to Diane. Feeling battered, rejected, she picks up the pieces of her life after a bout of serious of depression and starts anew. Forging her husband’s signature, she bequeathes herself Adam House, an unentailed residence of the Benchleys. She creates an alliance with a notorious gamester, to provide with her 5,000 pounds to start a unique gaming house staffed by all women. The notorious gamester dies and leaves Diane in a fix.

She decides to blackmail Oliver Warren, now the Marquis of Haybury, into funding her start up costs and training her staff of women dealers. Oliver agrees because Diane’s blackmail is fairly potent and because Oliver Warren has never really gotten over Diane.

Why this romance works is because neither Diane nor Oliver really care about society. What Oliver feared was being tied down to a traditional woman and while he may have had feelings for Diane, he did not want what he thought she represented and at the time that they had originally met, that may have been true but adversity had changed Diane into a different person with different perspective.

I loved that the heroine was the blackmailer this time rather than the hero. It was a fun twist on an old trope. Another fresh outlook was that Diane didn’t intend or really care about being a haven for women who are looking for a safe place but she becomes a haven. Initially she wanted only safety and security for herself but she gained a certain amount of enjoyment as she began to see that her gaming club became safety and security for others (these are obviously heroines in future stories).

However, I would have liked to have seen more of the heroine’s road to self reliance. Her character arc seemed more about overcoming her fear of losing her independence and learning to trust again. His was more about coming to terms with his feelings. One element I found odd throughout the story was the way in which Diane kept throwing how Oliver broke her heart back in her face. I felt that showed her soft underbelly to someone whom she thought was cruel and heartless. Why would she expose herself repeatedly like that?

The hero was a bit more of a standard romance hero. Wealthy, bored, and dissatisfied. He liked the trappings of his title, the money, but he wasn’t interested in being part of polite society. He wasn’t looking forward to fulfilling the obligations of his new responsibility.

Oliver and Diane engage in not only a business partnership but a courtship with each one trying to keep the other off balance. Diane does a better job of this because she is now acting in a way outside of any woman in Oliver’s experience. While she often makes him fume, he can’t deny the appeal of this new cagey Diane.

When Diane’s enterprise starts to become profitable, her security is placed in jeopardy by her brother in law, the new Earl of Cameron who is suspicious of Diane’s inheritance of Adam House. While this plot provided some suspense and urgency in the story, the way in which it was resolved was farcical. Given the thoughtfulness of the rest of the story, the hamfisted way in which the danger to her finances etc was resolved put a pall over the ending. “Really” was all I could mutter when I read it. This is a B read for me because of the smoothness of the prose, the freshness of the heroine, the ripe sexual tension. But there are definite flaws throughout the plot that reduced my enjoyment so it could easily have been a B-.

Best regards

Jane

REVIEW: Yankee Doodle Dixie by Lisa Patton

Jayne — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:00:16 +0000

Dear Ms. Patton,

I think this book is a great example of how expectations and back blurb copy can color a reading experience. When I read “Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’Easter,” I knew there was a sequel and therefore some loose ends to Leelee Satterfield’s story. It wasn’t until I posted my review for the first book that I found out there is going to be a third book in the series. When I started this book however, I still thought that some relationships left unfinished would be explored here and that Leelee would progress from where we’d left her in “Nor’Easter.” Alas, not so.

At loose ends after selling the Inn she’d run in Vermont, transplanted Tennessean Leelee Satterfield finds that her new life back in Memphis isn’t quite the return to Home Sweet Home that she thought it would be. Now separated from her cheating husband – whose dream it was to move to Vermont and run that inn – she is living in a rental house with a nosey neighbor who never met an “at home party” selling business he didn’t embrace, working at a radio station, juggling work with being a single mom and reconnecting with her three best friends and her childhood nurse, Kissee. When a station promotion brings her in contact with a rock star she’s idolized since her teenage years, Leelee is thrilled when Liam White notices her and gives her the rock star rush job. But his attention might just cost Leelee her job. Plus her heart can’t seem to let go of the man she thought shared her feelings back in Vermont.

At the end of “Nor’Easter,” Leelee seemed to have learned how to stand on her own two feet and be her own person. After a lifetime of having first her father and then her husband make most of the decisions of her life, she had taken charge and proved to herself and others that she could do just fine on her own. She and Peter had also taken the first step in what Leelee hoped would turn into a romantic relationship. When I picked up “Yankee Doodle Dixie” I thought Leelee would progress onward and upward. Based on the book blurb, I thought that she would quickly open a similar business as she’d had in Vermont. I thought she and Peter might get their feelings sorted. I was wrong.

Instead Leelee seems to have regressed a bit. It’s quickly apparent that the thing with Peter isn’t going anywhere – at least in this book. Leelee then falls back into the same “let the man run the relationship” thing with Liam that she’s done her whole life. There are risks to it that she knows up front plus she’s got Kissee telling her to watch her step with this man. And her friends, who’ve watched her marriage implode, see nothing wrong in egging her on in questionable circumstances. Leelee does learn a powerful lesson about Liam and more importantly herself but I felt that I’d watched her take two steps forward in Vermont only to take a giant one backwards in Tennessee to finish only slightly ahead of where book one ended. I kept thinking, “has she learned nothing?”

The job situation Leelee finds herself in is also little better than her initial experience with the inn in Vermont. She’s doing drudge work for a maniacal boss and it’s making her miserable. On her way into her interview she even thought that she didn’t want to go through what she had in Vermont and yet there she is suffering through the same basic stuff. My thoughts on this were “I’ve read this before and it’s depressing me to see Leelee go through this again.”

The book wasn’t a total disappointment to me. The scenes of Leelee and her four friends reuniting and having fun were enjoyable. The Elvis Week stuff was a scream. I also liked Kissee though I think people might have trouble with her character. The lifelong love that she and Leelee feel comes through in their interactions but having an African-American in role of someone who used to be “the help,” even though Leelee’s always viewed Kissee as more a mother than her than her real one, is going to be a tough sell.

Leelee does pull herself together and begin to explore her past relationships and where she wants her future to go. She takes what she learned about herself running an inn and decides to start there with what made her happy in life. This is where the book picks up for me. It ends on a positive note with a set up for the future that I do want to read as I think this will be what I had hoped “YDD” would give me. Leelee seems to have straightened her life up but I had to wait too long for her epiphany and felt as if I were reading only a slightly different version of the book I’d already read. C

~Jayne

REVIEW: Crave the Moon by Lori Handeland

Jayne — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:00:54 +0000

Dear Ms. Handeland,

I will admit to having lost touch with your Nightcreatures series. Silly me thought that you’d switched over to your Phoenix Chronicles and hadn’t been checking your website lately. Seems like I’ve missed not just one but two books in the process. Well, I’m back in the saddle with “Crave the Moon.”

Gina O’Neill has been trying to hang onto the Colorado ranch she inherited when her parents died trying to save her and her childhood friend Jase from a cave in that happened at a site on the ranch which has always been said to be cursed. Sometimes Gina would swear that she hears someone or something calling her name on the wind and still feels drawn back to the location of the accident. It’s a photo she takes of a bizarre tree in the area which leads Dr. Matteo Mecate, an archeologist trying to prove his deceased mother’s ridiculed Aztec theories to be true, to write Gina asking for permission to dig at the site. When he gets no response from her after repeated attempts to contact her, Matt heads to Colorado and, on the spur of the moment, passes himself off as another client at the dude ranch while he tries to discover the location where he thinks an Aztec superwarrior might have been buried centuries ago.

There is instant chemistry between Matt and Gina which of course gets ruined when Gina finds out Matt has been lying to her about who he is and why he’s there. It goes from bad to worse after independently wealthy Matt buys the ranch from the slimeball who bought Gina’s mortgage from the bank. Then things get worser still when the eons old creature buried and contained all those years ago finally gets out. Will anyone survive long enough to fall in love or is the world doomed if Gina and Matt can’t come up with a way to save the day?

I love that Matt is sort of geeky and has to have glasses or everything’s a blur – wow can I relate to that. He’s not media reference savvy but he’s got a hot bod. He’s also got that professorial habit of drifting off in his mind as he contemplates great things. Gina is nice, direct, no nonsense – what I’d expect a woman raised on a working western ranch to be. She leaves the flirty girly stuff to others. Gina does some token resistance of the feelings she has for Matt and he manages a half hearted effort but they’re pretty much like magnet and steel – maybe not quite a fated mate romance but darn close. I guess with all the other paranormal stuff to fit into the book this is the only way to do it. But do they have to do the “inappropriately timed fucky fucky” not just once but twice?! I’m thinking – werewolves all around, knowledge that the Nahual “master of all Aztec evil” can strike anywhere and these two cloud their mental “here and now” with bedsport? Time and Place people!

After ten books you’ve still maintained an inventive use of historical fact mixed with local legends and myths -this time Aztecs x Utes – plus a heaping dollop of imagination. Some parts of the basis of this book seem real – such as the willing Aztec sacrifice getting a year of goodies, while the trip north of the Aztecs to war against the Utes for sacrificial warriors is stretching it. But it is fun to read about and shows you put some time into at least trying to come up with something that sounds pseudo realistic. And then as the Nahual says to Matt – prove that this is wrong. Since in RL we are guessing/unsure about so much of Aztec life – anything could go. I love the way that Gina actually saves Matt when she fights the Nahual –

[[Visit blog to check out this spoiler]]

This is a paranormal and I know I should just let go and free fall into it but some things still bother me. I agree with Gina that two sorcerers are one too many. Then there’s the part about certain people having a damn good idea of the extent of the evil locked up in this little corner of Colorado and not much being done beyond spreading rumors of something evil there to try and keep people away. Then things really go downhill as the voodoo priestess gets involved. And are they just going to leave the Nahual like he was before? They know that doesn’t always work. Plus I have some unanswered questions – why did the Nahual bite Amberleigh and not get everyone else too? If horses are spooked by werewolves, why didn’t they bolt from the barn the first night? Also how much longer is Edward Mandenauer going to still be around. The guy must be pushing the upper 80s by now. But he’s still got his network of minions and seemingly endless supply of weapons and cool stuff to use in the battle against monsters. I want minions!

Like a newly turned werewolf craving human blood, I find I’m still helpless to resist these books. Weak! I’m weak I tell you. The title might be “Crave the Moon” but I crave the Nightcreatures. B-

~Jayne

REVIEW: Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter by Lisa Patton

Jayne — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:00:03 +0000

Dear Ms. Patton,

I used to live in Memphis. In Germantown to be precise. My overwhelming memories are The Pink Palace Museum, my father going across the river to buy Coors beer in Arkansas, Elvis, Graceland and listening to the streets get sprayed during the summer nights to try and keep the mosquito population below 8 million. So when DA was offered the chance to read your upcoming second novel about Memphis belle Leelee Satterfield, I jumped at it and shamelessly requested the chance to read the first novel as well. I had a blast and can’t wait for round two.

Leelee Williams Satterfield is a Memphis girl, born and bred. She and her lifelong friends Virginia, Mary Jule and Alice have done almost everything together, including 12 years at an exclusive girls school, college, debuts, weddings, births and country clubbing. Leelee makes no bones about being a daddy’s girl or that she went after her high school crush Baxter Satterfield until she got him. Now married with two adorable daughters, everything is going Leelee’s way.

That is until Baxter broadsides her one evening with the news that he’s bored with his job, wants a change and is determined that change will be selling their home, buying an old inn in Vermont and relocating to a place that Leelee’s not sure is the left or right state next to New York. Horrified, she informs her friends who rally and soothe her. But Baxter is determined and before she knows it, Leelee finds herself out in the boondocks, living cramped, being bullied by the old owners who have stayed on for a year long transition and desperate to go home.

Just when she thinks things can’t get worse, Baxter disappears on their wedding anniversary leaving no note. It’s only then that she learns he’s been seeing the owner of a local ski resort and has decided to jump ship. Now she’s stuck in a place she doesn’t understand doing a job she doesn’t like with a staff she’s not sure she can count on. Will that be curtains for this Southern belle or a chance to discover who she really is?

Leelee is the proverbial Southern belle. While you might have just slightly exaggerated her tendencies and traits it’s not by much. I know Leelees. Her complete identification of Memphis as her home is also something that rings true. Though I haven’t lived there for decades, when people ask me where I’m from I always answer, “Well, I was born in Atlanta…” Leelee begins the book as such a polite bit of dandelion fluff that I wanted to shake her and tell her to channel Julia Sugarbaker. The German transplanted former inn owner treads all over her, Baxter ignores her, all her efforts to spiff up the inn are rejected and she quickly discovers all the things that no one who wants to sell you an inn tells you about Vermont. This first bit is Leelee the Downtrodden.

She’s also a total fish out of water. Nothing has ever prepared her for the four seasons of Vermont – short summer, brilliant leafed Autumn, endless snowy winter and Mud. Amazed she finds herself shoveling snow in what should be Spring, balancing on boards to keep out of the mud, slapping vampire blackflies that draw blood and relishing the short but intense summer before pulling out the toe warmers that keep her feet from freezing solid as the snow starts again. She also finds herself bonding with the native Vermonters as they pass on their wisdom and knowledge about, yes she admits, this state which has its beauties and good points.

Her frequent phone calls to her friends bear fruit when the three descend on the inn determined to help her shape it up and get rid of the houseitosis, awful wallpaper, head cheese menu and finally the woman who Leelee discovers set her husband up for his marital flight. I loved watching the four of them transform the inn into a showplace instead of something stuck 30 years in the tacky past. Leelee begins to take pride in a job well done and relishes the stellar reviews she and her hard working staff garner in local and regional media. I saw this as Leelee getting back on her feet.

Her friends come up with the perfect way to publicly get back at Baxter for what he did and begin to encourage her to pay more interest in the new chef she’s hired. Peter Owen is a peach even if he is from Jersey. Hot, good with her daughters, a great chef and endlessly supportive of Leelee I wondered when she would finally Get a Clue about him. It did arrive but the wait seemed endless and only served to set up book two due in September. Honestly, I wanted some action between them NOW since they were in an inn with eight bedrooms. But it has whetted my appetite for “Yankee Doodle Dixie.”

I would say the book is Leelee and her journey from Daddy’s pampered girl and “lady who does lunch” wife to a woman with backbone and gumption. Baxter is just a tool – literally and figuratively. This is Leelee all the way as she goes from someone who pines for the Southland to a person who has to seriously think whether she wants to leave her new life. Instead of Chick Lit, I’d venture to say it’s Hen Lit as Leelee is older and grows wiser in knowledge of herself, of others and of a state she never thought would grow on her. By the end, it’s Leelee standing tall. B

~Jayne

REVIEW: Cloudy with a Chance of Marriage by Kiernan Kramer

Jane — Wed, 25 May 2011 09:00:52 +0000

Dear Ms. Kramer:

Let me share how I came about to read this book. When the first book, When Harry Met Molly, was published I was immediately caught by the title. It was cute. Like an LOLCat. I read it and thought it was enjoyable, well written, but a bit on the kitschy side. Kind of like its title. The second book, Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right, I started to read but never finished. I received Cloudy with a Chance of Marriage from the publisher but I prefer to read “e” so I trotted off to Amazon and purchased the digital version the day of its release.

There are those that like the titles of your books and those that loathe them. I find them entertaining and to a large degree, I think that they fit the tone of the stories which tend to try to exploit the humor of a situation for effect. However, that type of satire (the Oscar Wilde type) is tough to pull off. In When Harry Met Molly, my biggest problem was the silliness level. The over the top characters weren’t the issue in this story. It was the anemic chemistry between the two leads.

I wanted to like this story so much because it is about an untitled gentleman and an untitled lady. Huzzah for the commoners finally getting love stories. Taken individually, Captain Stephan Arrow and bookshop owner Jilly Jones are very likeable people. Stephan wants to just enjoy his retirement from the Navy, if only the government would come through on the money that they owe him. Jilly is trying to hide from her husband. Yes, husband.

I do understand that some of the exaggeration of the characters is purposeful but when humor is mostly situational and through caricatures, I think that it is easier to fall flat. In other words, the characters were caricatures such as Jilly’s manservant, Otis, who dresses extravagantly and refuses to let anyone buy the books in Jilly’s store because the patrons aren’t good enough. Then there is everyone on Dreare Street who is disgraced and impoverished or nearly so from the unwed mother, to the abandoned artist, and the failed investor. Jilly says that every type of Londoner lived on Dreare Street, but the only ones that are profiled in the book are the down and out, the dreary. Even the weather is added for effect. A cloud of fog hangs around Dreare, nearly obscuring the street from passersby.

So yes, everything is an exaggeration but because the characters themselves are so bland without their costumes and their awkward situations, the story itself stalls. The residents of Dreare Street need a better life but the overstatement of the characters’ made them less sympathetic and really served to distance the reader from investing emotionally in the story. And even though I knew that a lot of the eccentricities were done purposefully, the little plot points lacked credibility. Like how did Jilly come to buy the bookstore when she was married? Wouldn’t her inheritance from her father been controlled by her husband? How would she have managed the sale? What was the deal with Stephen’s money from the government? Why was that even brought up? There seemed to be quite a bit of fluidity between the classes. I would have liked more explanation regarding that. The story seemed to lack historical accuracy and even in a parody or especially in a parody, I would have thought accuracy would be important to ground it. It just felt off to me.

The most compelling parts of the story was the very beginning when Stephen and Jilly seemed to be at odds because Stephen just wanted to have drunken party after drunken party and Jilly wanted to make a go of her bookstore business. But Stephen’s partying came to a quick end and he was far less interesting without the aura of dissipation, sadly. Jilly was such a standard character for romance that her “running away from a terrible husband” plotline didn’t rouse me in any way. The end, when Jilly had to face her past, was also compelling, likely because it had more authenticity.

Thus while both characters were likeable, they didn’t have any magnetism for me and it seemed for each other either. I thought the two main protagonists made better friends than lovers. To some extent the characters were passionless, even the mild sex scenes seemed forced as if the idea of making love to each other was better than the act itself.

In fact, I felt as if everyone and everything was dressed up in a crazy outfit in order to move the readers’ attention away from the blandness of the characters. It probably needed to be more over the top in order to sell this as a spoof, but it wasn’t. I spent much of the book, sadly, bored. I don’t feel like I can give a grade lower than some version of a C here because there is a certain level of competency that is present here even if this book was not to my taste. C-

Best regards,

Jane

REVIEW: Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas

Jane — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:00:32 +0000

Dear Ms. Kleypas:

I’ve never fully understood the phrase “two sides of the same coin”, but my feelings toward Love in the Afternoon perhaps gives new meaning to the saying. This is two books in one which could be a boon except I liked the first book (the first half) far better than the second book (the second half). I'm reading this book and nodding along, loving it. Loving the drama, the agnst, the wait…what is this? Oh no, Beatrice is now Heidi. Or Snow White and all of the animals of the forest not only love her but come to her call. She appears to be able to gentle the most ferocious of beasts, namely alphaous maleous.

Now, I know that Beatrice is a woman of the forest from previous stories in the Hathaway series and I am not opposed to that storyline. It would be an outright lie to say that trope never appealed to me, lover that I am of Julie Garwood stories. And it’s fairly standard romance fare for the heroine to be a friend of the beasts. The problem was that the first half of the book was so out of the ordinary that when juxtaposed to the ordinary second half, the trope of tra la la-ing Snow White in the wilderness stood out starkly.

Let's acknowledge the superior in this book first. The letter writing is exemplary and I am a sucker for epistolary romances. It's hard to write letters that appear clever, touching and real without the exchanges becoming too banal. And yet you conveyed the horrors of war and the changing character of a once pleasure seeking dandy in just a few strokes of the pen. Mighty, indeed. Christopher Phelan was a lover of fine things and Beatrix Hathaway was not a fine thing. In fact, Beatrix overheard him saying to another person that she was a girl “more suited to the stables than the drawing room.”

Christopher joined the Hussars but was picked out to be one of the Rifle Brigade and goes off to fight in the Crimean War. War does thing to men and it remade Christopher into someone else. He writes to Prudence, a friend of Beatrix’s, and begs her for a letter in return. Prudence has no time for letter writing but acknowledges that Christopher did look splendid in his uniform. She fobs the letter off onto Beatrix and begs Beatrix to write Christopher, pretending to be Prudence. At first Beatrix refuses. Why would she want to correspond with a prig like Christopher but upon reading the letter, Beatrix realizes it cannot go unanswered. The sender is too hungry and too lonely to be ignored. And so Beatrix embarks on a Cyrano-like deception trading missives with Christopher that become increasingly romantic. The letters are so well crafted with Christopher swinging from one violent mood (I wouldn’t presume to ask you to wait for me) to another (wait for me…. I swear by the starlight . . . I will not leave this earth until you hear those words from me.)

As with any deception, this can only end badly. Christopher survives to return home and seek out…Prudence. After all, it is Prudence who has written to him. Prudence who had become his only hope in the darkest of nights. Prudence whose correspondence was the one good thing in his life for all those dreary months. And Prudence is all too willing to take credit for the letter writing, to be the love of a new hero of England, and to the newly minted heir to a wealthy estate when his eldest brother takes ill and passes away.

Beatrice, sworn to secrecy by Prudence, and believing that silence is the most correct thing hugs her love for Christopher close.

The rough velvet of his voice was a pleasure-stroke against her ears. Fascinated, bewildered, Beatrix stared at his guarded face.

To Christopher Phelan, she was a stranger. But the memories of his letters were between them, even if he wasn't aware of it.

When Christopher and Beatrix meet again, Christopher insults her, bringing up memories of his stinging criticism that she belonged in the stables.

Bad enough to love a man who didn't love her. But it was exponentially worse to love a man who actively disliked her.

This unrequited love was palpable particularly faced with Christopher’s mistaken disdain. I wanted to scoop Beatrix up, punch Christopher in the face, and pour red juice down the front of Prudence’s gown. All at the same time.

As the lies unravel, as they always do, the tension got even stronger. I was reading as fast as I could at this point. What could possibly happen next!?!

But once the lies resolved and Christopher and Beatrix were making a go of it, the book’s tension and drama dropped precipitously. Worse, I felt that Beatrix turned into the aforementioned Snow White character. She was able to heal not only Christopher’s PTSD, but also a fellow soldier’s PTSD and he turned into an able suitor for a friend of Bea’s. As one of my friends related to me, she expected Beatrix to break out in the Whistle While You Work song at any minute. (Said friend was “all kinds of sad” when it didn’t happen). Family acrimony that had existed for decades was resolved with a kind word here and an understanding message delivered there. Whatever poignancy existed in the first half was swept away with a gallon full of sugar. Even Christopher’s battered, ugly dog is rewarded in a spectacular fashion.

Christopher was never fully actualized. He didn’t ever apologize for his stable comment and while he came to love and appreciate Bea’s way with animals, I did expect some acknowledgment that prior to the war, he was a real asshole. I felt like Christopher hated the person he had become (due to PTSD) more than the person he was.

In the end, I thought the book was half Pixar and half Disney. The first part was Pixar with its poignant, delicate storytelling and the second half was pure Disney where everyone was happy, every problem was solved, every person was paired off, and even the dog is recognized. B

Best regards,

Jane

REVIEW: Can’t Stand the Heat by Louisa Edwards

Jane — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:00:29 +0000

Dear Ms. Edwards:

Thank you for sending me this book. I confess I tried to read this book many times, never making it out of the first few chapters. The heroine, Miranda Wake, a food critic, gets drunk at a restauraent premiere and makes some very loud and rude remarks. She then insults the chef, accepts a dare to be in his kitchen for one month, and sells a tell all memoir based on her experiences, which she has not yet had.

But then the book was released and positive reviews popped by readers who had actually finished the book. Finally, Sarah convinced me that it was worth powering through. Yes, she told me, Miranda gets in her own way, repeatedly, but Adam Temple is a “happy alpha” and his motley crew of chefs make it all worthwhile. It’s true. In the end, I did like the book and was glad to have read it.

Miranda Wake is an esteemed food critic in New York. Her restaurant reviews can be scathing and she is followed avidly by the New York food cognoscenti. Unfortunately, Miranda’s quest to become a published author is shot down, again, and her beloved brother, Jess, has left his college scholarship in the Midwest to attend NYU.

Miranda has been Jess’ guardian since they lost their parents when Miranda was 18 and Jess was 10. She has worked hard to provide Jess with everything that she thinks her parents would have provided, including a college education. Not wanting Jess to have to work while studying, she manages to sell a book idea about the kitchen staff of Adam Temple’s new restaurant, Market.

Unfortunately for Miranda she not only gets the dirty goods on each and every sous chef, prep chef and even dishwasher in the Market’s kitchen but she also falls in love with Adam Temple and comes to appreciate the kitchen staff of Market when she works with them for a couple of weeks. But her love for Jess and her guilt at his not having parents drives her to make difficult (and unlikeable decisions).

Adam Temple is finally opening his own restaurant based on the idea of sustainable food. He buys everything local, from his produce to his poultry, and creates food to which he hopes his customers will have a connection. The rendering of Adam is done in large passionate strokes. He is a man of quick temper, but of big heart. His joy for life, his passion for his craft imbued every page. He had an eye for talent and could see potential in the demeanor of the lowest food worker on his crew.

His crew of chefs also had distinct identities even though we were only given small glimpses. Even the food and the cooking were so well done that these elements were almost characters by themselves. I wanted to book a table at Market by the half way mark of the story.

In the end, all the positives of the book: the happy alpha Adam who was an uncomplicated lover of life and of people; the tender and uncertain secondary romance; and the kitchen, food, and cooking negated the not so positive reaction I had toward Miranda.

I understood Miranda’s motivations but I wasn’t convinced by them. Part of this is due to the publication of the book itself. Miranda was writing the book because she needed the money to pay for Jess’ tuition at NYU. But tuition at NYU for four years would be close to six figures. It was unlikely that Miranda’s book would have netted a huge advance. Further, the idea that Miranda could take private cooking classes with Adam, work full time in the Market kitchen and write a 150 page memoir in two weeks seemed beyond improbable. It’s possible that this could have all happened but my credulity was strained and that made it hard for me to see Miranda in a sympathetic light.

I was convinced that Adam loved Miranda and wanted her with a passion that he normally reserved for food and for this reason, I closed the book satisfied. I’ll take a second serving of happy alpha. B-

Best regards

Jane

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers. This is a SMP book so it’s ebook price is insanely high – $14.00.

REVIEW: One + One = Three by Sasha James

Jane — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:37:16 +0000

Dear St. Martin’s Press:

I am writing this letter to you because I have a serious beef with this book and I don’t think its appropriate to direct my ire toward her, but rather you. You are the company that purchased this book and then released it at a cost of $13.99 on the unsuspecting public. I say unsuspecting because there is not an excerpt to be found on the web.

I have suspicions that the lack of excerpt is due to the fact that if one were provided, it would deter sales. One + One = Three is written as if it were a primary school handbook. The story is told in short three to five page chapters written in a dry biographical manner (which is kind of insulting to biographies). Former supermodel Munro opens a bar/lounge, has sex with two super hot, rich guys, and gets threatened in her bar by someone who has it in for Munro.

This ultimately leads to a) the most boring book written, b) the most conflictless book ever written, c) the most shallow characters ever profiled and d) the most unengaging sex I’ve read in a long, long time.

She reached out and pulled him by the tie, which he still had on, along with his shirt. Once their groins made contact, they began grinding in their underwear. She knew that Rock liked to mix things up.

…

She was enjoying his sensuous approach, and wrapped one leg around his butt, so that his cock was right in the middle of her punanny. They moved in slow motion, feeling each other up, until she could feel him getting harder and harder with each gyration. “Oh, Rock, Baby, your dick feels so good,” she moaned with her eyes closed.

I know that this sounds a bit hyperbolic and I am sure in the annals of publishing history, there are books that are worse. However, if you are going to be tossing around this book and this author as exemplifying the type of erotic romance you guys are putting out, then it should be good, if not damn good.

Munro is a super model who typifies every stereotype of models sans the drug addiction. She’s stupid. For example, she’s nearing thirty and decides to get out of the modeling business and decides to pour all her money into a lounge (she refuses to call it a bar). She does not stint on any luxury. Even her “throne”, as she calls it, ( a booth set up in the back and raised on a platform) is made out of the same leather of Prada handbags.

Speaking of Prada, every chapter includes some random brand name reference. Don’t set up a drinking game for this because by chapter 10, you’ll be soused.

Back to our intrepid “heroine”. So she’s stupid. But she’s also shallow. For example, she hires a hostess who is pretty but a dime a dozen because her bookkeeper is too ugly for the front of house.

She’s deceptive. When her purported best female friend wants to be hooked up with Munro’s friend Rock, Munro does not tell her BFF that Rock and Munro are seeing each other. Instead she says Rock has just broken up with someone and, hey if he were really into you, he would have asked you out. That’s harsh but Munro doesn’t really care because Munro is all about herself.

Which is good that Munro has two men who love “polyamory”. In case you didn’t know what that was, the author provides a detailed explanation from several characters. Some of them claim to be in into the polyamorist lifestyle, but in truth, it’s all window dressing. Also, just because Munro may have had a threesome, she is not gay, folks. The book is insulting and boring.

“No, I’m not gay.” Munro had had threesomes with another model a few times while in Paris, but she didn’t consider herself gay, especially since she and the other woman never even touched.

Then let’s take a look at Dirk and Rock. I mean, come on. What is with those names? Are you punking us?

Anyways, Dirk and Rock could be Dirt and Rock for all the interest they provide to the reader. Here’s a little example:

Dirk’s father lived vicariously through his son. Having married so young, his dad never got the chance to have a carefree life. As a result, he encouraged his son to have as much fun as possible before settling down with one woman.

His father was also an excellent soccer player and taught his skills to his son. Dirk excelled in athletics as well as academics, and was offered a scholarship to Rutgers University. He majored in finance and went on to get his MBA at NYU. After grad school, he worked on Wall Street at a few top-notch firms. Dirk was smart and savvy, and it didn’t take long for him to amass an impressive client list, along with an impressive bank account. Dirk excelled so quickly that he soon reached the “glass ceiling.” Frustrated at the lack of further advancement, he and a couple of his college buddies decided to branch out on their own. BLAC was a small, but powerful, private equity firm, and before long they had billions of dollars under management.

Yes, Dirk’s daddy gets his rocks off whenever Dirk is out shagging some chick. Maybe that’s supposed to be some kink. Actually, it would be more interesting if it was Dirk and his dad polyamorying their way through Manhattan. Gross, but more interesting.

Speaking of interesting, while I love a good word game, reading five pages of the characters playing Scrabble for no reason is beyond dull. I don’t care which Scrabble dictionary the damn characters are using unless it is going to be used to kill one another (preferably Munro). Also, scenes that take up three pages of a non essential character interviewing women to be her assistant is not even filler. You might as well have just typed a;sdfj;alksdj;flaksfj;lksj;dol on three pages and it would have had the same meaning.

What can I say? I’m not your usual type of girl.” Munro sat down, and picked up the Scrabble game. “Hmm, I see somebody’s cruising for a beating.”

“No, no, no. It’s more like somebody’s gonna get beat. Remember the last time we played? I won by three hundred points,” he said, bragging.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever!” She rolled her eyes. “Well, bring it on, ’cause I want a rematch. And I guarantee you this, you’re not winning tonight!”

Rock poured a glass of wine and handed it to her. “You know, Munro, it’s not wise to make promises you can’t keep!”

“Okay, Mr. Braggadocio, don’t get too cocky. Order my food, and let’s commence playing so I can kick your butt,” she said, taking a sip of wine.

Rock ordered the pizza, and set up the game. “Which dictionary do you want to use for challenges?” he asked.

“Webster’s is good, unless you’ve gotten geeky on me and bought one of those Scrabble dictionaries,” Munro teased.

“And what’s geeky about a Scrabble dictionary?” he asked, producing the specialized dictionary.

So we have a heroine who is stupid and shallow. Two male leads that are less interesting than two day old bread. Is it any wonder that the reader’s pulse is barely moving at this point? What could possibly spice up this story? Can it be saved by the sex? The polyamorous sex? Sadly, it cannot. Because the sex scenes consist of unzipping the clothes, underwear grinding and the cries of “III’M CUMMMMMMMMING.”

“Take … all … of. . . this . . . dick,” he said, in between thrusts.

“Give it to me,” she moaned back.

They each gave as good as they got, bucking back and forth like two prized steers.

“Oh yes, yes, yes, YES!” Munro screamed on the verge of cumming.

“That’s it, Baby. Let’s cum together!” After a few more heated moves, they exploded simultaneously.

Note to the author. Your characters are from Michigan farming communities. One would think that they would know that steers are castrated and incapable of CUMMING let alone CUMMING together by ramming their pelvises against each other.

He kissed her forehead. “I want to make you cum.” Rock increased the pressure until she started squirming and moving her head back and forth. Her movements told him that he was doing the job. “Come on, Baby, don’t hold back.”

“Ohhh. Ohhh Yeah!!” she moaned. After a few more deliberate rubs, she was ready to climax. Munro yelled out, “III’M CUMMMMMING!”

Once she came, Rock climbed on top of her and slowly eased inside her cum-coated opening. Her pussy was so warm and moist that he almost came prematurely, but he fought the urge and continued humping.

(no, that was not me making a mistake about the number of I‘s or M‘s.) Another note to the author, “humping” and “grinding” are often not considered sexy words. Ever. Even inside a cum-coated opening.

Here’s the conclusion I’ve drawn. You don’t think that readers who read erotic romance either like romance or sex. We readers deserve better than this. F

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

REVIEW: The Girl Most Likely To by Susan Donovan

Janet — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:00:16 +0000

Dear Ms. Donovan:

Your new book, The Girl Most Likely To reminded me very much of your first two books (Knock Me Off My Feet and Take a Chance on Me), which are my clear favorites of the Donovan oeuvre. The likeable hero, the quirky heroine, the family secret, and the goofy dog are all back for another round in a highly readable if slightly troubled tale of retribution, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

For almost twenty years Kat Cavanaugh has been thinking about how her best friend and first love Riley Bohland would react when he found out that he had a son. Dumped on the very night she was going to tell him that she was pregnant, and unceremoniously hustled out of town by her mother (who was fearful of Kat’s stepfather’s reaction), Kat hitched a ride with a truck driver who dropped her off with his kindly protective sister in Baltimore. Meanwhile, back in Persuasion, West Virginia, Riley had no idea about Kat’s pregnancy or why she left town. You see, he was under a lot of pressure from his father and his coach to put some distance between him and Kat, so Riley got the not so bright idea that he would break up with Kat for just a little while to get everyone off his back. But Kat didn’t wait around to hear all that, and Riley, along with the rest of Persuasion, seemed to have no idea what became of Kat.

Until, that is, she shows back up in Persuasion to give Riley a much belated dressing down for dumping her and leaving her alone and pregnant. All grown up and newly rich (thanks to Phyllis – her Baltimore savior – leaving Kat her substantial investment earnings), Kat is completely dumbfounded when Riley – who is still as hot as ever – tears into Kat first for running away and keeping his son away from her. Confused, enraged, splattered with mud from the construction site where she turned up to confront Riley (who she mistakenly believes is a construction worker), Kat feels that she’s been rejected and humiliated all over again by the only man she ever loved. With her mother dead, her noted sculptor stepfather no refuge (he was terribly abusive to Kat’s mother), and her son blissfully unaware that Kat even knows who his father is, Kat retreats to the town’s single bed and breakfast to lick her wounds and commiserate with her best friend and sidekick Nola, who has accompanied Kat on the trip. And when Riley shows up that night to actually talk to Kat, twenty years of hurt feelings and unresolved longing spill out, making it obvious that their relationship is far from over, despite the significant obstacles they face as a couple.

Those obstacles include the distrust between Kat and Riley (not to mention their son, Aidan’s, reaction to the news that he was deprived of his father for almost 20 years), Riley’s unbalanced ex-fiancée and her refusal to be “ex-ed” out, the emotional and financial wear from Riley’s failed year-long search for his son, Kat’s feelings of abandonment, betrayal, and anger toward her own family, and Kat’s bitter and unbalanced stepfather. It is clear that Riley and Kat are still deeply in love with each other, but they have a great deal to work out if they are to ever move forward as a functional couple. And one of the book’s major strengths is that the characters actually recognize the complexity of their situation:

“I want another chance with you,” Kat said sud denly, before she lost the nerve.

“OK-”
“I want to get to know you again-as the com plex grown man you are, not the kid of my memo ries. I want you to know me, too, all of me, including my darkest mistakes and my brightest hopes.”

“I want that, too,” Riley said, his voice warm and gentle.

“I want to see if there’s a future for us. I’m so sick of wondering and guessing and fantasizing about you and me-I just want there to be a you and me.”

Unfortunately, one of the book’s major weaknesses is that despite these protestations the actual resolution is quite simple and a bit simplistic. Despite, for example, the fact that these two have so many mistakes between them, not to mention a son who has his own feelings of betrayal to deal with (which are quite rapidly put to rest), right after this heart to heart talk Kat and Riley have unprotected sex and Riley begs Kat to have another child with him. In fact, as far as I can tell, all of the sex they have in the book is unprotected, including the night they spend together right after Kat returns to Persuasion and absolutely nothing has been resolved between them (most of it hasn’t even been broached or adequately discussed). This quality (which has appeared in other Donovan books) undercuts both the intelligence and complexity of the characters, because it becomes difficult to trust the awareness they seem to possess, undermining the distinct pleasures of watching two supposedly smart and self-aware people fall (back) in love.

This weakness is both substantial and a shame, because Kat and Riley are both likeable and interesting characters in their own right. Kat has been betrayed by her family or origin and the man she trusted first and most, which leaves some real scars on her heart, making her actions at the beginning of the book (her fleeing, at sixteen, out of town by herself instead of under the guidance of her aunt, as her mother had intended) realistic and understandable. Riley has undergone his own disappointments, his own regret taking a significant toll on him, despite the support of his loving family and close-knit hometown (his brother Matt is a strong secondary character, although the romance between Matt and Nola seems predictable and predictably convenient).

These two characters have real, substantive reasons to be hurt and wary, and there is so much potential in their reconciliation that gets brushed past or pushed out of the picture by the external conflicts manufactured to keep their relationship on the wire. For example, Carrie, Riley’s ex-fiancée, is somewhat flat as a character, at least until she has to face the reality of her situation late in the book. Then there is Kat’s stepfather, Virgil, who is a truly unsavory character, a quality that serves some purpose in terms of justifying Kat’s total break with everyone in Persuasion, but also seems needlessly perverse. In fact, one of the things that has always bothered me in Donovan’s books is that her villains tend to be either gay or sexual predators (or both), and this book offers no break in that disturbing pattern.

The Girl Most Likely To is, on the surface, a pleasing reunion story with many signature Donovan touches, from the goofy dog to the quirky heroine, and its readability is connected largely to the likeability of the characters, the competent prose, and the swift pacing of the narrative. Yet it is also a book that does not settle as well as it initially goes down, with so much of its amiability masking some substantial problems in character development and conflict resolution. There is an unveiling at the end of the book that I suspect will cause some disbelief in the way that it so perfectly ties so many elements of the book together, for example, and the incredible eagerness of Kat and Riley to repeat the very same actions that brought them so much pain does not offer remedy but merely undermines their integrity as “older and wiser” versions of their teenage selves. This characteristic is especially insulting to Kat’s character, because it both undermines her credibility and makes her seem downright desperate.

Although in so many ways The Girl Most Likely To surpasses Donovan’s last book, The Kept Woman, it still gave me a mixed reading experience. In fact, I really struggled with the grade for this book, because the enjoyment I got from it was almost as strong as the disappointment I felt with its problems, and I wavered between a C+ and a B-. Ultimately, I think The Girl Most Likely To is more a C+, a true mix of highs and lows, virtues and weaknesses.

~ Janet

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon. Because this is a SMP book there is no digital copies.

The eBook Tax: Some Publishers Want Hardcover Prices to Be Ebook Pricing Standard

Jane — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:00:02 +0000

more animals

Wildcard by Lora Leigh is a mass market release with a retail price of $7.99 but an ebook retail price of $14.00. Sherrilyn Kenyon’s One Silent Night is also a mass market release with a retail price of $7.99 but an ebook retail price of $14.00. Almost all of Kenyon’s books that are released in ebook format are priced at $14.00 or higher.

The reason for this is apparently an industry pricing standard according to a spokesperson for St. Martin’s Press. For some reason, Macmillan, who is the parent organization for Tor and St. Martin’s Press, believes that ebooks should be priced on the same level as hardcovers regardless of whether the book is in mass market print format or hardcover print format.

Macmillan isn’t the only publisher to believe this. Avon Romance began it’s “Love Gives Back” promotion recently which encouraged users to read 20% of the books’ contents before purchasing and then gave the reader an option to buy the ebook. Avon then set ebook pricing for the mass markets to $14.00+. According to the spokesperson for HarperCollins, Avon was “experimenting” with pricing but has since returned the pricing to mass market retail levels.

When Penguin first began rolling out digital versions of its ebooks, it’s pricing for the ebook version was higher than the print counterpart as well. This premium pricing does not encourage ebook reading, but rather deters it and, as I said before, I think it encourages piracy. I’m not the only one who thinks this.

Piracy is not the sole reason that ebook pricing should be lower but it is one reason. The point of ebook pricing is to convince a reader that buying a digital copy is a good idea over a) a print copy or b) a pirated copy. The reason why a) is important is because in these tough economic times, digital technology for books is the future, not simply another format.

It is true that margins in ebooks are not as great as one might perceive what with Hydra of Lake DRM. In other words, because of the many formats that exist, publishers have to spend $$ to convert into each format which raises the overhead and reduces the ebook margin. I don’t feel sorry for publishers because this cost could easily be eliminated with say, excision of DRM. What an idea, right? And no, I don’t want to hear about the dangers of piracy because guess what? E publishers sell their books with no DRM and still manage to make money.

One frustrated reader emailed me with this to say:

It’s hard for me to imagine the marketing strategy behind this, but I’m going to assume that there is one. (Maybe some division in your company has decided to try to prove that the ebook market is not viable? That wouldn’t work, though, because other publishing houses have more sensible prices so their results would disprove that. What on earth could the reason be?)

I buy a lot of ebooks (almost 800 from Fictionwise alone in the last three years), and I’m trying to buy ebooks exclusively now, but I will not pay that price.

In general, I won’t pay more than the print book list price for any ebook, but I definitely won’t pay almost twice that price, not even for the convenience of ebooks. Clearly someone must be willing to pay it, or you wouldn’t still be selling them, but I can’t imagine who or why, when they can buy the same book discounted at Wal-Mart for $5-$6.00.

The more that I look at ebook pricing and the way that NY runs their ebook business, the more convinced I am of three things.

They don’t actually want to encourage the sales of ebooks
They don’t know what ebook readers want
They think that we are a group of readers that they can fuck around with

The problem is that the ebook readership pool is not super large right now, but it is the only area of publishing that consistently has shown increase, rather than decrease. At a time when bigger publishers are laying off people, cutting down on acquisitions, and freezing salaries, one of the larger epublishers is acquiring a publishing house.

There are reasons why ebooks sell right now: content, availability, and yes, price. By price, I don’t mean that price needs to be so low as to not generate profit for the publisher, but it needs to be reasonably priced so that everytime a reader purchases an ebook, she doesn’t feel like she bent over and stuck out her ass to be violated which is essentially how readers feel when confronted with an ebook price that is in excess of its print counterpart.

Right now, ebook pricing must battle the idea that the margin in ebooks due to no warehousing, no returns, no shipping, and no printing. Readers already feel like they are getting hosed when they have to pay the same price as the print counterpart, let alone a 100%+ surcharge.

I don’t really believe that there is an industry standard to ebook pricing. Simon&Schuster sell their ebooks at a 35% discount off the print retail price. Harlequin gives a 10% discount. Penguin has finally brought their prices down to print retail and Random House and Harpercollins, Warner also appear to be keeping ebook pricing consistent with print retail pricing. Only Macmillan books seem to be priced at a surchage. Call it an ebook tax.

If the ebook tax is the industry standard or what the industry is moving toward then look forward to fewer ebook purchases. If the book industry is suffering from decline in sales, taxing one portion of the readership with higher prices is not the remedy. Ironically, Pan Macmillan, the UK arm of Macmillan publishing, decided last year to release its literary titles in both trade paperback and hardcover because, according to Picador publisher Andrew Kidd, the hardcover is a “moribund format.”
Bantam Discovery released its titles simultaneously in trade and mass market.

The idea is to attract more readers at lower price points, not to deter readers with higher price points. Why publishers are moving backward with ebook pricing is beyond me. I’m not sure what we can do about it as readers because I’ve written and complained. If more of us write and complain, will that change things? Maybe the answer for ebook readers who confront the higher prices is to buy these publishers at the used bookstore instead of giving them retail dollars. Yes, this might hurt the authors but maybe the authors should start pushing for more reasonable pricing and no DRM. It shouldn’t all be on the reader.

Thoughts?

REVIEW: Any Given Doomsday (Phoenix Chronicles-Volume I) by Lori Handeland

Jayne — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:00:42 +0000

Dear Mrs. Handeland,

I hope the inhabitants of your newest urban fantasy series never meet up with the Jager Suchers from your previous one or there’ll be a lot of fur flying. Since the J-Sers are sworn to hunt down and kill strange beasties and the “Phoenix Chronicle” series seems to be splitting at the seams with them. Lots of creatures, lots to learn about them, lots to be told about them in little drips and drabs and be left to wonder if the characters passing on their knowledge in any particular scene are telling the truth, their version of the truth or just what they think will get them what they want. It’s very confusing.

In “Any Given Doomsday,” the world is again filled with creatures, monsters and those who hunt them. It’s a brand new world in which seers direct Demon Killers to hunt down lots and lots and lots of different things. Demons, shapeshifters, vampires, chindi, berserkers, and Lord knows who else in the next book. Then there are dhampirs, fairies, skinwalkers and good shapeshifters, empaths, telepaths, and the directors who guide them – the seers.

The heroine is another first person, wisecracking, tough talker who has always had the ability to “sense” things about people by touching objects. Her foster mother once sent her to someone to try and learn about her gift – and she did – but obviously not enough. Now all hell is breaking loose and a world that up until now has been unseen and unknown to her has just become very seen and but still fairly unknown. And if Lizzy Phoenix can’t get a grasp on her powers and lead the home team to victory, not only will evil prevail but all life on the planet will stop worrying about the stock market and global warming because it’ll be – literally – hell on earth.

I started reading the book and was immediately sucked into it. All your books seem to do that to me but it remains to be seen if I’m still being sucked by the end. For one thing, I need to like or just respect the one telling the story and Lizzy gave me oodles of trouble. Now, I like a good kickass heroine who can talk trash as she gets the job done. Bring it, I say. But she’s also got to have some common sense and be able to back up what she says. Lizzy holds her own with her former police officer coworkers when they begin to investigate the crime that jump starts the story. She keeps her head on straight and starts to work the situation. But very quickly she finds herself way out of her depth.

She’s thrown together with a man from her past. One whom she loved and was loved by but also a person who hurt her deeply. I can understand she’s not thrilled to have to depend on him. She’s still hurt by the brutal death of a loved one and totally confused by what’s going on. Okay, no problem. When she begins to catch on to what is happening and what will be expected of her, she wigs out a little. Again, totally cool that she wants to pull the covers over her head and hope it’ll all go away. For a little while that is.

But she’s told plenty of times that she is needed not only to fight the good fight but that she’s got to lead everyone. Whoa, yeah, a lot to handle but she’s an adult. She’s already come face to face with evil and quickly gets more of it shoved in her face. A whole heaping helping of pure-ty bad to the bone “just because it’s fun to torture and kill innocents.” So even she admits she needs to go train with another man from her past who scares the sh*t out of her. So why doesn’t she pull up her big girl panties and deal with it? After a certain amount of time, she needs to stop wavering, stop getting jealous, stop acting like a petulant child and get on with it. The world is depending on her.

And for someone who is the leader of the forces of good, she needs a better handle on when and where she can boss people around. “Don’t touch me!” and “Don’t leave me!” and “Don’t do this!” are quickly followed by people doing just what she ordered them not to do and she ends up looking weak. I was also really ticked off by something that happened with her trainer when they were out on her vision quest. She accuses him of something that I happen to agree with. Now the one who did it is unrepentant but that’s the way you’ve constructed him and he never wavers in his personality or actions. So I’m actually sort of okay with him. But Lizzy goes from a strong accusation backed up by rage to getting turned on by this man and seeking him out to do a little more. WT major F?

I was also disappointed by the endless number of different types of characters who suddenly are revealed to have additional powers or abilities just when the plot demands it. And no we’re not supposed to believe old wives tales – except when they’re true. Need to know how to kill a creature? Um, check back later right in the nick of time. I don’t mind complicated plots and important clues being casually tossed out to see if I pick up on them. But I would like the feeling that the plot isn’t being made up as you go along and suddenly discover you need an out. I’m sure that’s not what you did with the story but it sure felt like it.

The sex scenes are definitely not typical romance ones. In fact, they’re rather sleazy at times. Which is I guess more common in Urban Fantasy novels but just not something I expected from one of your books based on past reading experiences. The blood and gore quotient is about normal though, given how creatures routinely got killed in the “Nightcreatures” stories. I will give you points for the fact that once the final action section was in motion, you built on what you’d told us to allow Lizzy to triumph over her opponent. And the idea of her opponent still needing to fund his empire of evil with a balanced stock portfolio was deliciously funny.

Will I follow you to the next book where Lizzy hopes to find her special someone? Yes, I’ll be there. Your books are like crack for me. There. I’ve admitted it. The imagery is intense, the action is nicely spread through the story and I do want to know what happens next. I just hope I’ll like it a bit more the next go round. C

~Jayne

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon or Powells. No ebook format.

Tom Cruise Unauthorized Bio to Face $100 Million Lawsuit

Jane — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:33:10 +0000

The UK wouldn’t publish it but St. Martin’s Press is showing no fear with its publication of Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography on January 15. Andrew Morton is the author of a new unauthorized biography of Tom Cruise which alleges, amongst other things, that Suri Cruise was “conceived like Rosemary’s Baby”. In the movie, a young woman is impregnated with the Devil’s child. Morton goes on to state that some fanatical members of the religious organization believe that Suri Cruise is born of the frozen sperm of L. Ron Hubbard. Who knew L. Ron had such cute genes?*

Other allegations include Nicole Kidman’s fear of blackmail over sex tapes made with other Scientologists and Cruise’s mission to recruit David Beckham.

Morton quotes the Playboy interview with Hubbard’s son, Rondal De Wolf, about the use of sex by Scientologists to control their members:

: “You have complete control of someone if you have every detail of his sex life and fantasy life on record. In Scientology the focus is on sex. Sex, sex, sex.

“The first thing we wanted to know about someone we were auditing was his sexual deviations. All you’ve got to do is find a person’s kinks, whatever they might be.

“Their dreams and their fantasies. Then you can fit a ring through their noses and take them anywhere. You promise to fulfil their fantasies or you threaten to expose them.”

Cruise is reportedly mulling a $100 million lawsuit against Morton and publisher, St. Martin’s Press.

Source Daily News.

*This is said tongue in cheek.

Publishers Making the Backlist More Accessible

Jane — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 10:00:06 +0000

The e-backlist has been a long time in coming. Readers, particularly romance readers, are big glommers and they often are searching for the one book their reading buddy says is a must find. Unfortunately, these books are often difficult to find and very expensive. Publishers are being more responsive by making backlist titles easily available in ebook format. Republication of hard to find books in ebook format is a win win for publishers, authors and readers. Readers have the opportunity to easily locate out of print titles and they are affordable. Publishers and authors win because ebooks are not returnable; cannot be sold; cannot be traded. The party that is left out in this scenario are the used book stores.

Sure, there is the possibility of piracy, but for an out of print title, you are capturing a sale and a royalty that would have either not have taken place but been part of the used book commerce stream.

E-Harlequin is offering an Anne Stuart bundle of out of print, hard to find category novels that were handpicked by Stuart as five of her favorites. The bundle sells for $15.96 and includes the following:

Night of the Phantom,
One More Valentine,
Cinderman,
The Soldier and the Baby, and
Wild Thing.

I’ve read the Soldier and the Baby in its original iteration and it’s cover is snark-a-licious. In reviewing my reading records, I gave The Soldier and the Baby a B, Night of the Phantom a B, One More Valentine (a 1920-30s Time Travel) a B, and Wild Thing, a B-. I didn’t read Cinderman. The books I really wish would be re-released by Anne Stuart? The Demon Count and The Demon Count’s Daughter. These two very hard to find books were picked out for me by a very dear friend. They are classic examples of the gothic style made popular by Mary Stewart.

For months, HarperCollins has been assiduously digitizing its backlist, offering up a new author’s backlist every week. Every book by New York Times Bestselling author, Julia Quinn, is available in ebook format including her very first book, Splendid. Cathy Maxwell’s Avon books are all available in ebook format, even her 1996 release, You and No Other which is ironically identified as “out of print” as Ms. Maxwell’s website. There are a whole raft of Avon authors who have received the ebook backlist release treatment such as the fabulous Eloisa James, Sari Robins (whom I have never read), Sara Bennett (ditto), and many many more that I could name but am too lazy to do so. Just look here.

Simon & Schuster is great at pricing and offering up a new book each month as an early release, and its backlist digitizing is impressive. It has smartly capitalized on the growing popularity of USA Today Bestseller, Kresley Cole, by digitizing her backlist. Liz Carlyle’s entire published history is available including her first book, and my favorite, My False Heart. Jude Deveraux’s books, back when she was writing her best romances, are there as well as lesser known authors like Laura Moore whose quiet voice may have gotten lost but for $3.89 she’s worth taking a peek at. I find myself buying more books than I intend to at Simon & Schuster because of the low price. With books under $4.00, I end up justifying buying at least two books because it’s really like buying two for the price of one.

Random House is lagging behind. It offers up some but not all the backlist of even its most popular authors like Amanda Quick and Jane Feather. It’s doing a good job of making its current titles available but I believe in the power of the backlist because readers love the glom and it’s so easy to satisfy the glom with ebooks.

I have to give bad marks to publishers Warner and Penguin. Both release a small amount of ebooks each month and very few backlists are available in ebook format. Penguin, in particular, seems to be lost. It’s ebook page is a study in laziness. It is rarely updated and even worse, lacks accurate information. Oftentimes there are ebook versions of a Penguin title that is for sale at the various online vendors, but not listed as an ebook on its page. Another sign of its cluelessness is when it released JR Ward’s third Black Dagger Brotherhood book: Lover Awakened in ebook format a month before the release of Ward’s fourth book, Lover Revealed. Still no sign of Lover Revealed or the first two books in the series. I regularly curse Penguin for its lack of attention to the ebook segment. I love Penguin’s books like Meljean Brook’s Demon Angel or Nalini Singh’s Slave to Sensation but neither are in ebook format. Both Warner and Penguin need to do a better job in the future of meeting the consumer’s needs.

As I read my post over, I realized that I never once mentioned St. Martin’s Press or Tor but the reason for that is they so rarely put out anything in ebook format that I forget they even exist as publishers sometimes. I suppose that is an exaggeration but they don’t seem to have any presence in the ebook market at all.

Until all the publishers realize what a gold mine digitizing the backlist can be, I’ll be spending money at the UBS that could be a royalty earning sale for the author if there was an ebook version.

Interview with an Editor Series: Jennifer Enderlin, St. Martin’s Press

Jane — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 09:00:06 +0000

Jennifer Enderlin is one of the most recognizable editors in publishing today. St. Martin’s Press is not synonymous with romance but it does publish authors who are synonymous with romance. One of the staunchest and most erudte defenders of romance, Jennifer Crusie, has been with Enderlin and SMP since 1995. In 2000, Enderlin, then an associate publisher, signed the first Dark-Hunter book, Fantasy Lover, by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Late in 2005, Jennifer Enderlin shocked the romance reading community by luring long time Avon author, Lisa Kleypas, to join the SMP house.

Can you briefly describe what an editor does. I think that readers assume that you get to do what we all dream of doing and that is get paid to read for a living. I suspect that the truth is less romantic.

In addition to reading submissions in order to find books to publish, we also shepherd the manuscript through the publication process, deal with production, copyeditors, the art department, sales department, marketing and publicity. We attend lots of meetings. This is all in addition to actual editing, in which we help the author make the book better by suggestion things, big and small. Reading and editing is done on our own time, at nights and on weekends. It's generally not done in the office.

How many romance books do you release each month? (ie. is there a set amount released in month and under what imprints?)

We publish anywhere from 1-3 per month. We don't have a set number.

Are there any trends you see growing, expanding or contracting? What do you think is driving these trends?

I don't really believe in trends. I think people are looking for what they've looked for since the written word came into being: good stories about interesting characters, told in a way that feels unique and compelling.

What is the most interesting story of how you came to buy a manuscript?

I'm not sure I have an interesting story–"it usually just begins when I take home a submission, start reading it, and get that “I have to have it” feeling. That feeling usually comes when the manuscript is so compelling that it takes priority over other things in my life: kids, food, sleep– .

How much time do you spend actually reading as part of your job?

A huge amount of time. Mostly done at night and on the weekends. I would say 20 hours per week, on top of a full-time job.

Do you get to read for pleasure? If so, do you have favorite authors?

I try to read for pleasure as much as I can. My favorite authors are ones I publish, but aside from them, I love Elizabeth Berg, Anita Shreve, Nora Roberts, James Patterson, and Sandra Brown. Of favorite books I've read: GONE WITH THE WIND, REBECCA, EYE OF THE NEEDLE, THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE and THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt.

What are you looking for in terms of a romance these days? Any particular themes? periods? subgenres?

I want drama, conflict, intrigue, smart funny heroines; sexy dangerous heroes and really good villains.

Do you think readers today are more accepting of rule breaking romances (pushing the envelope) or are we still very traditional in our buying habits?

I don't think readers think in terms of “rules.” I think they want to be entertained.

We’ve heard some about the loss of young readership or the inability to gain that young readership. Is that changing? What are you doing to try to attract the younger readers?

We are heavily into Young Adult publishing. I think as long as parents read, kids will follow suit. If they see that reading is something that means a lot to their parents, they will want to get on board. Parents should lead by example.

We’ve heard some about the loss of older readers because of lack of content which is reflective of their lives, specifically baby boomers? Is that still the case?

What are you doing to attract older readers? We're not doing anything to attract older readers. I don't see this as a problem.

Do you have a favorite way of spending time away from books?

Since I have two young children under the age of two, I don't have much time!

What is the worst part of an editor’s job?

Slogging through a difficult manuscript, revision after revision.

What is the best part of an editor’s job?

Seeing a book you love actually become a bestseller.

Have you considered writing a book yourself?

Yes, a memoir about being a first-time parent to a son with special needs. But I don't have time now and I think it would be even better years from now when I have even more perspective.

It seems there are two very diametrically opposed growths: erotic romance and inspirational romance. Are those fringe trends or will they become more mainstream?

They will each always have their readership. I can't say beyond that what will happen.

Which books are you proudest of having worked on in your career?

Really, too many to name. And I'd hate to pick a few and have someone read this (one of my authors) and have them assume I wasn't proud of their book. Because that wouldn't be true.

While you are probably excited about all of the books that you have in your catalog can you share with the readers a few that we should be anticipating? Any new authors or existing ones that have exciting projects for 2007?

Oh gosh, ditto to the above! Too many to name. Thanks so much!

I did press Ms. Enderlin for something to watch in 2007 and she graciously answered with the following:

Lisa Kleypas’s first contemporary with SUGAR DADDY, followed by her new historical romance MINE TILL MIDNIGHT in September 07.