Archive for April, 2006
Dear Ms. Kelly,
 As an art lover, I have to tell you that your book is a delight. A delight with some problems as a true romance book but perhaps you intended it to be more of fiction with a romance element. I like the way you parallel your idea of the creation of the famous Cluny Unicorn Tapestries with the modern day hunt to find a possible lost seventh one.
A major niggle for me is that you do a lot of telling in places instead of showing. And I did get impatient with the love story. I like a reunited lovers story but this one is too drawn out. Right til the end of the book. And both Jake and Alex have their moments of childishness and misunderstandings. You also tip your hand a little early and I had a pretty good idea how the ultimate fate of the seventh tapestry would play out.
But I also like how there are ups and downs in the story. Frustrations as well as triumphs as Alex and Jake head down the road towards the final destination. It’s …
Dear Ms. Justiss:
 Beautiful cover. Writing for these upper tiered lines at Harlequin must make you thrilled because you can usually expect a gorgeous, arty cover which is what convinced me to buy this book in the first place. I have a love/hate relationship with courtesan novels. Usually the courtesan is a faux courtesan, one whose protector is impotent and she remains untouched until the hero comes along. Having a courtesan allows an author in historical times, to give the heroine a measure of sexual and financial independence which is refreshing. In your book, Belle is neither.
Belle meets Jack when he comes to see her fence. Watching Belle fence and being granted the opportunity to fence against her is a popular pastime amongst the gentlemen of society. Jack, who has just returned from battle, is unpacking in his things in a borrowed residence where he will stay until he can arrange for more permanent lodgings. A friend of his comes to his room and convinces him to attend of fencing lesson. It is the fencing lessons of Lady Belle, the former mistress of the deceased …
Dear Ms Sharp,
 If readers are looking for a kickass heroine, they need look no further than Leah Ryan. You have this girl kick some serious shit in Repo Chick Blues. I will admit to loving a well told first person book and admire anyone who can pull one off and still show us most of the feelings and motivations of the other characters. The one character I still feel that I don’t know too well is that of Leah’s boss/love interest, Callahan. But, and correct me if I’m wrong, I get the impression that you have future books planned for these two so I’m guessing that this is a deliberate move on your part.
I know almost nothing about the car repossession business. I have watched Repo Man a few times but I doubt all the real ones end up floating out into space in a glowing, nuclear contaminated car. :) But you seem to have talked to some people and learned the basics of the job as well as the lingo. Thanks for working all this into the story in a nice, flowing way. I also appreciated how the bits of backstory don’t …
Dear Mrs Marshall,
 I’ve been looking forward to your third novel and for the most part, it doesn’t disappoint. You have a knack for portraying early 19th century Florida, giving us lots of description of the flora and fauna and politics of the age without forcing in every fact you ever learned during your research and history classes. I know this is hard to do and you get points for this. The information about the early American navy and its fight against piracy along the Florida coast is especially well done.
I also like the slight tie in with your other novels through Robin and Cooper of The Ganymede Cup. It’s always nice to see the boys again. Which reminds me, did Morgan ever explain to Amanda exactly what kind of relationship those two have?
And speaking of Morgan and Amanda…I really enjoyed the fact that Amanda isn’t some shrinking English violet who can’t stand up to the pirate, er excuse me, privateer Morgan who rescues her off the sinking ship that’s brought her to her new life in America. She’s intelligent, an astute business woman in a career that makes sense …
Dear Ms. Armstrong:
 I spent much of last night and this morning scratching my head over my final thoughts on this book. This is the third entry in the Elena and Clay saga which began in 2001 with Bitten. Bitten was one of the first werewolf books that I really loved. I have re-read Bitten and Stolen a number of times and have loaned out my copies to a dozen people. I read the intervening stories about Eve and Paige but those were mere placeholders until you returned to Elena and Clay.
In Broken, it appears that you are closing the pages on Clay and Elena we have another chapter in the life of Clay and Elena. Elena is pregnant after several years of debate with Clay. Clay and Jeremy are quite protective of Elena. She is not allowed to go outside of the Pack boundaries. If the mutts knew she was pregnant, she would be an even greater target than she was before. This constant supervision, combined with her own fears, is chafing Elena. She gets a call …
Dear Authors and Gentle Readers:
 I guess it’s safe to say that we Ja(y)nes are suckers for books. We got a great response from our first ebook buzz contest. We will run this contest at the end of every month until August and maybe longer, depending on how well we like the books we read. Just because your book wasn’t picked doesn’t actually mean we won’t buy it and review it at a later date. Ultimately, we each decided to buy ten different books (or 12 depending on how you count up Megan Hart’s contributions). We will review three a week until the start of our next contest. Each book will stay at the top of the blog until the next review goes up.
Without further ado:
Jane picks:
- Raine Weaver’s Let’s Pretend
-
Megan Hart’s Playing the Game (which apparently I bought from Fictionwise in January of 2005 and never read. Huh. Maybe this will fulfill AngieW’s April TBR Challenge. I saw that it was part of a 3 book series so I went ahead and bought books 2 and 3 and will review
…
Dear Ebook Publishers,
Do you people not want readers to purchase books from you? It certainly seems like it. I decided to buy 6 books, 2 from Samhain, 2 from Triskelion, 1 from Cerridwen and 1 from Liquid Silver. By the way Liquid Silver people, this is what is listed on your dl page
Liquid Siver Books
Imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing
10509 Sedgegrass Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46235
Copyright (c) 2003 All Rights Reserved Do you people not have a spell check?Anyway, after finally navigating my way through this site, I entered my information as new customer at Triskelion and bought one book. And then waited and waited and waited for the email with the damn dl key. It took over an hour and a half to get to me. One of the nice things about ebooks is the instant availability. An hour and a half isn’t instant to moi. Then I bought a second book. Or tried to. Your site kept declining my credit card purchase. The same cc that was just accepted 2 hours ago. Finally, after 3 tries, I said *&^%$# it and purchased the book with paypal.
On to Samhain. Good Lord your site is hard to navigate. Harder than Triskelion …
Dear Ms. Ross:
 I know that you have a number of fans and huge body of work. For some reason, I can’t recall ever reading you before. I bought your book because it was a story that someone recommended featuring southern gentleman. I had just finished a reread of Carnal Innocence was jonesing for a Tucker Longstreet redux. Your book does not feature a southern gentleman. The hero is a cocky, know it all, cowboy from Wyoming. Sheesh. Unless Wyoming has moved since I last looked, I thought it was more in the North West part of this country rather than the SOUTH.
Anyway. It's a short book and it really shows. The story opens with a lot of promise. The first four chapters are the best part of the story. They are devoted to Tess, a female firefighter, and Danny, her childhood love and fiancé, who is also a firefighter. Since Danny isn't the hero, it is obvious what happens when Tess and Danny are called to a 3 alarm fire.
Danny is a rescue man – the part of the firefighting …
Dear Ms. Dain:
 I am not sure where you are today in your writing career, but in 2003, you wrote one of my favorite westerns ever published. It is an oft overlooked gem and I am glad to have this forum to bring it to a few people’s attention. I want to give thanks to Sybil for bringing the topic of Westerns up and pinging my memory about this wonderful book.
AKTDF is a great suspense and romance book. It has just enough of both to make the book interesting which is a difficult balance. I have always thought that you were a good, but uneven writer. In AKTDF, your writing is at your best. Your tendency toward repetition is not as noticeable. Your prose isn’t overwrought. You do have an over the top, dramatic ending, but for me it was perfect.
Anne Ross is a young woman (18) living with her mother, aunt and grandmother. She is unmarried and dreams of leaving Abilene KS for somewhere else. Her grandmother, Daphne, rules their household and Anne is fairly spineless. I know this because Jack says it is so. Jack Skull/Scullard is a …
Dear. Ms Novik,
 What can I say but “wow.” No, I guess “Wow!” would be a better way to phrase it. You’ve created a stunning new world with vivid characters, action and scenery. My colleague Jane has already filled our readers in on the plot so I’ll head straight into my thoughts on various aspects of the story.
I really enjoyed how you filled us in on the backstory without dropping it in huge chunks on our heads. I never felt lost or confused nor got bored wading through masses of information at one time. I loved the various names for the dragon breeds and how they were just as important as individual characters with their own quirks and charms. Temerarie is wonderful but I’m glad you made him a bit mulish about flying endless flight patterns and smug about his beautiful new breast collar. We’re none of us perfect, right?
I do agree with many readers that you’ve developed a wonderful air equivalent to the many Napoleonic Naval series in print. Laurence is a man to whom honor and duty are more important than his life, even if he does sometimes have trouble …
Dear Ms Lyon,
 After seeing the cover of your second novel, I have to wonder who you pissed off. Wow, that cover is ghastly, complete with huge man titties. Which is a shame since the book isn’t bad. Set against the historical backdrop of the Cheyenne Indian’s flight from their squalid reservation in Oklahoma territory, it’s darn good but it does have some flaws.
I would have to advise anyone who chooses to read your book to keep reading past the first chapter. For a brief moment, I was afraid I was about to be stuck with one of these heroines who loudly yells that she can take care of herself even as she pitches over a cliff. Caroline does some stupid things in chapter one and despite being told that she can handle herself as well as any Indian brave, Zach has to come to her rescue. Thankfully, by chapter two we’re beginning to see a heroine who matches your description of her and from then on, Caroline can stand on her own. Zach also begins as a bit of a cliche but in his case it’s the man wronged in love …
Dear Ms. Novik:
 This really is a series for the ages. I believe that this trilogy will make every best fantasy list out there. The things that I like best are learning about the dragons themselves and seeing the interaction between Temeraire and Laurence. The things I like least are the battle scenes. I got a tiny bit tired of the fight scenes, but that is clearly a personal preference. I wished for more Temeraire and Laurence reading, interacting and loving one another and less Temeraire and Laurence in battle but I am a romance reader. Those would be the things I would like the best!
The opening chapter begins with Laurence being called to leave Temeraire by Lord Barharm, a diplomat. The Chinese are in Britian and they want their Celestial back. Britain is fearful of the Chinese’s relationship with the French (evidenced by the gift of such an amazing dragon egg) and is pressuring Laurence to lie to Temeraire and to leave him. Laurence refuses to do so in a dramatic scene. The Chinese delegation headed by Younxing, brother of the …
Dear Gentle Reader:
 Today I went to the bookstore to see what new releases where out. I picked up Suzanne Forster’s Tease. I had intended to buy it. A friend informed me that this was part of Harlequin’s new Spice line. It was in the New Romance section of the bookstore. It has a nice pink cover. It is labeled romance erotic fiction, but the blurb reads like a romance. But, dear reader, it is not. It is an erotica book and I truly mean an erotica book. It is about the sexual exploration by the main female protagonist and it does not have an HEA that I could see.
I read the last two chapters of this book to ascertain whether this was a story that I could buy despite the trade paperback price. In the last chapter, the female protoganist is letting her final inhibitions (control) go and allowing herself to be taken by a masked man. Now this masked man is probably the main male protagonist but it certainly allows the reader to make other assumptions. I don’t have a …
Dear. Ms. Westin
 In my never ending quest to find non Regency historicals, I snatched up your book. And while I’m not sorry I did, I didn’t find it to be everything I’d hoped for.
Our heroine, Lady Anne Gascoigne overhears her beloved fiance offering her virginity to randy King Charles II in the hopes of preferment at court and lucrative Royal land grants in the new world. Horrified, she flees from court. Her protective father decides that hiding her until he can get the marriage contracts annulled is the best plan and finds just the man for the job. Gentleman Johnny Gilbert is sprung from the hangman’s noose at the very last minute and offered the job of keeping Anne safe for two weeks in exchange for passage to Jamaica and a new life. Off they go to his forest retreat where she’s put to work earning her keep until the fateful night she thinks he’s conspiring against her with her fiance. She runs off to London with him trailing behind. Various adventures follow including a brush with the plague, Dutch spies, a wild storm in the channel, near …
Dear Gentle Reader:
 We know. Everyone is blogging about ebooks these days but no one is really talking about the one important thing: the e book reader. Because truly,if you are tied to your laptop, the ebook thing ain’t ever taking off. So let’s talk technology. Ebook technology. What do you need? What will it cost you? What should you be looking for? Well, read on.
Dear Ms. Knight:
 I am sorry to say that I think we are no longer compatible. It’s not you, it’s me. Your mageverse alternative urban fantasy seems less like a cohesive attempt at world building and more like a magentic word set gone horribly wrong. So many things in your world make no sense. So Merlin and his lover make Arthur and his men into vampires but the women turn into witches. So why were there female vampires created by the Black Grails? Why do the good women have to be witches? Can there be good female vampires? What does the dragon lord have to do with the King of the Sidhe. How were the werewolves created and who kills the werewolves if they go rogue? Why do you only have to protect the world from Arthur possibly going rogue and not the werewolves? Why does every possible magical being in your alternative world have to show up in this book. See, alot of questions. But again, it is totally me not getting your story, not you failing …
Dear. Mrs Pippin,
 I enjoyed your first novel, Blood Moon Over Bengal last year and have been looking forward to what you’d write about next. I’m glad to say this one is just as good if not better. I think the war time setting is great and well done. You again use lots of slang and throws in day to day details which really add to the story’s historical “feel” but, and here’s a little niggle, once again, it’s almost too much, especially in the first third of the book. It does tone down somewhat once the trip to Cornwall begins but it’s almost as if you wrote the story first then went back and tried to insert as much of this as possible. At times it felt a wee bit awkward. For instance, you refer to stoves as “Agas” which I think I remember is a brand name. I could see doing that a time or two but afterwards, I think you should have stuck with using “stove.” I mean, how many times do I say to myself, “got to remember to clean/turn on/turn off the Kenmore?” …
Dear Ms. Bruce:
 I have kind of ranted on about anthologies before. Nicole Camden is the gold standard for me in terms of romance anthologies. Your first story comes close but the rest of the book kind of peters out.
The anthologies tell the individual stories of three debutantes who survived a tough love camp called Camp Wilderness. They go on to form a PI firm called Woman Tek. There is ALOT of backstory missing. No explanation as to how this business started and really, where these women come from. I recognize that you have a word count obligation and so I let that issue go. I would like to note that there seemed to be a lot of white space in this book and that you possibly could have gotten more story in if you really wanted to. Sorry, this is me letting the issue go.
Story no. 1 was Wicked Widow pairng up bad girl Nan Harrington-Scott with possible hit man Damon Connolly. (Oh, and this was a problem throughout your book. Your heroines are virtually …
Dear. Ms Potter,
 I applaud anyone these days willing to write a historical romance novel that’s NOT a Regency. So, here’s lots of applause for you. And more applause for writing a good novel with characters I cared about while you’re at it. It’s not every day that I find a book set in the early sixteenth century along the English/Scottish border.
I liked the way you showed the battle of Flodden Field (realistic but not too gory) and how you made the Reiver heroine willing to go out and plunder the battlefield instead of turning all TSTL (as Mary Balogh had the Disney Whores do in her unfortunate Slightly Sinful) and not get anything for her efforts. You did a good job showing the heroine’s hard day to day life without turning her into a pity party.
My downgrade comes from the hero. He’s got amnesia and though he’s a great Beta guy, a whole lot of time is spent with him agonizing over his lost memory and being
haunted by fleeting bits of recollection. The villain is also very two
dimensional though thankfully you don’t spend much time with him onstage. I guess men of …
Dear Ms. Cassidy:
 When I came across your book the other night I was dumbfounded and then, strangely enough, curious. What could this book, with its shockingly funny title, possibly be about? I want to harangue you about your title choice but ultimately, the shock tactic worked on me so would I be pot or black in this instance? But in all seriousness, this is why it is hard for readers to handsell ebooks. Even if this were the best book evuh, I would have a hard time telling all my friends to go and buy it.
I am guessing that you were offered an opportunity to be part of a series. Harlequin does lost prince and princess series and Changeling Press does the Paranormal Mates Society series. Your cover is the class of the bunch, if that is saying anything. But what is with the strange nordic couple posing for the PMS ad? Sorry, was completely distracted there. Your story is about a vampire who falls in lust with a werewolf who wants to be with only werewolves. Candace poses as a werewolf. …
Dear Ms Snodgrass,
 I loved the excerpt for The Wishing Tree. And I’m a sucker for a good marriage of convenience and was still in the mood for a good Western. Enough that I bought the book soon after reading it. I’m still debating with myself if this was a good move. Let me explain why.
I liked your lead characters. I liked the secondary characters. I liked most of the tertiary characters. But…there were far too many characters to cram into this story. And they all had concerns and and we got a side romance and a baby and a cattle stampede, a money seeking harlot slut wife seeking to fleece the hero to pay her gambling debts, a widower brother of the hero still mourning his dead wife and recovering from his injuries, children of the hero and his brother who get terrified during storms, the brother’s growing furniture making business, the heroine’s healer sister who comes to stay, the school marm, the ranch hands, the dog and Cupcake the hero’s horse.
Every disaster you could think of gets stuffed into this story. One right after the other, usually one the day right after …
Dear Ms. Martin:
 You are a very uneven author for me. I loved your debut book, Body Check. Moderately disliked the second book, Fair Play, and did not finish the third, Total Rush. I honestly had written you off after Total Rush and wasn’t going to buy another book by you. After reading a review of Penalty Box, I looked the book up at my local library. It was in and I figured if it was a total wallbanger, I hadn’t risked much. After I finished the story, I ran to Barnes and Noble and bought my very own copy.
You, like Marianna Jameson, have a great voice for modern contemporary characters. Your dialogue exchanges were fresh and fun. The courting ritual seemed realistic. I could envision these characters in my head.
Katie Fischer was an unattractive, overlarge high school student who was the brunt of many jokes. She grew up, lost weight (through dieting and exercise), and went on to be a sociology professor. Katie comes home to Didsbury, CT, to write …
Dear Ms. Jameson:
 I am always looking for true contemporary romances and what I mean by that is character driven romances without suspense. It is hard to find this type of book these days. Your book, My Hero, is exactly that type of romance. What is more, it features great, witty and realistic dialogue between the hero and heroine. Because your writing was so good, I will be quoting liberally from your book in this letter. The heroine is a romance author who specializes in beta heroes and southern settings. Miranda Lane was having a bad day. Her last books sales were down and she has been placed with a new editor. The new editor wants a northern setting with an alpha hero, particularly a cop.
“So how much does she love the book?” Miranda asked, pressing her forehead against the cold glass. “Please say ‘lots.’ It’s been sitting on her desk for weeks.”
“She loves it‗
“Thank God.”
“â€â€Âbut.”
and then
“We all know that, Miranda, but the numbers are what matter. It’s been a while since you’ve had a book out. It’s kind of like the bakery business, kiddo. Freshness counts.”
Miranda felt her eyes widen. “She said I’m not
…
 Cece started this all when she asked readers and writers opinions on self promotion. Maili blogged about the lack of online buzz for epubbed authors. It is a fair statement that there are few readers blogs who post about ebooks. Nicole’s is one. Sybil’s is one. Not many others. So Jayne and Jane want to hear from readers and authors. This contest asks for your best epubbed recommendations. If you a reader, spend all the space you need to tell us why we should read the book. Authors, you write for a living. Give us your best three to four sentence sale. You can include links to excerpts, your website, etc. At the end of the week, Jayne and Jane will each pick two books to buy, read, and review. We’ll run this contest each month until August and hope that we can generate some great online buzz for authors who aren’t getting the readership they should. So bring on the recommendations.
Dear Ms. Dessen:
 If I were to ever write a book, I would want to write like you. Your stories of young womanhood and the pain of growing up are rendered with small strokes, small details, but with broad feeling. I can honestly say that there isn’t a book of yours that I haven’t loved. I have a young girl and will be setting aside your novels for her to read when she comes of age. When I went into this book, I had high expectations and while the book isn’t perfect, it was still a good read.
This is Story of My Life Annabel, who suffers a not uncommon high school experience, and who excels at avoidance. In the face of conflict, she runs. This hurts her and her friends and family. When Annabel begins a relationship with Owen, who specializes in truth telling, she begins to find courage within herself to face her worst fears and endure confrontation.
Annabel is a girl who seems like she has everything. She is beautiful, does modeling and comes from a seemingly perfect home. Her sisters all modeled but …
Dear Authors:
Keep in mind that when we write you letters, it is out of love in our hearts for books. I know that is a love that we share, even if we don’t love your books. Jayne and I believe whole heartedly in the Reader’s Bill of Rights excerpted from the 1999 book by Daniel Pennac, Better Than Life. One or all may come into play during a letter to you.
1. The right not to read.
2. The right to skip pages.
3. The right to not finish.
4. The right to reread.
5. The right to read anything.
6. The right to escapism.
7. The right to read anywhere.
8. The right to browse.
9. The right to read out loud.
10. The right to not defend your tastes.
Best regards,
Jane
Dear Ms. Spencer:
 I think you must be a genius. I also think that Tinker, who is a genius, is a bit too much of a Mary Sue. Sure, she makes mistakes, but everybody wants her. She can do everything. She talks to dragons, defeats dragons, kills the oni, saves Pittsburgh, rebuilds gates, bridges the gap between humans and elves, and so on. This wasn’t so obvious in Tinker but becomes overt in Wolf Who Rules.
The other major flaw in your story is that you must have read Tinker in order to understand what was going on in Wolf Who Rules. There were many times in which you referenced fantasy elements in your world that really could only have been known if you had a clear recollection of Tinker. This was the major downfall. About 4 chapters in, I put WWR down and had to go and re-read Tinker.
The plot was fine. WWR had to request assistance from the other clains to work against the oni. By asking for help, WWR weakend his position as Viceroy of the Westernlands. He would have to …
Dear Ms. Whiteside:
 I was intrigued by another review of your book which promised a heroine who was in control of her own sexuality and who didn’t require saving as she fled for her life from a forced marriage with the villain. Plus it’s a Western, something which is becoming a rarity these days in the world of romance novels. But still I hesitated. I must have picked your book up and carried it around Waldenbooks then put it back on the shelf two times before I finally gave into temptation and the cover and bought it. It does have a really nice cover. Too bad the book didn’t work as well for me.
Yes, the heroine is not a virgin and yes the sex is hot, hot. hot but after a while, it just seemed like the same scene over and over. The hero’s hung like a horse, he and the heroine enjoy some teasing foreplay then it’s crash, bang, boom – orgasm city. Seems like almost every chapter ended the same way. By halfway through the book, it was just ho-hum. Plus I just couldn’t stop giggling during the scene that mentioned …
Dear Gentle Reader:
Here’s my list of must reads, maybes and I-am-sure-that-I-will-get-them-from-the-l ibrary hodgedpodged into one list.
- Cabot, Meg – Queen of Babble (hardcover–MOR) order from amazon.com
- Griffin, Emily – Baby Proof (hardcover–STMS) order from amazon.com
- Albert, Michele – Hide in Plain Sight (POCK) order from amazon.com
- Bird, Sarah – The Flamenco Academy (hardcover–KNOPF) order from amazon.com
- Davidson, MaryJanice – Drop Dead Gorgeous (trade paperback–BRAVA) order from amazon.com
- Forster, Suzanne – Tease (HAR) order from amazon.com
- Glass, Julia – The Whole World Over (hardcover–PAN) order from amazon.com
- Howard, Linda – Cover of Night (hardcover–BALL) order from amazon.com
- Ledbetter, Suzann – Once a Thief (MIRA) order from amazon.com
- Leto, Julie Elizabeth – Pure Chance/Insatiable (reissue–HAR) order from amazon.com
- London, Julia – Extreme Bachelor (BERK) order from amazon.com
- Rich, Lani Diane – The Comeback Kiss (WAR) order from amazon.com
- Ridgway, Christie – The Care and Feeding of Unmarried Men (AVON) order from amazon.com
- Ashworth, Adele – Duke of Scandal (2nd
…
Dear Ms. Kenner,
So far, I’ve enjoyed both of your novels in this trilogy. The plot, that a megalomaniac billionaire who developed an addictive online reality game called “Play. Survive. Win.” has somehow managed to have it brought to life and played out the streets of Manhattan, is great. Yeah, you take a few liberties with the 24 hour poison that forces the unwilling participants to begin to play or risk death but I love how each book’s clues are tailored to the hero or heroine.
Dear Ms. Reavis,
 I’ve been a fan of your’s since way back and was thrilled to hear that you were going to write another book set in North Carolina. The plot of a dying woman returning to her mountain home along with her illegitimate daughter so that both can find peace with the past may sound like a downer but you turn it into a beautiful exercise in homecoming and discovery. Yes, this book is a bit more women’s fiction than romance but there is a current romance in it and we do see parts of the bittersweet romance of Loran’s parents. I won’t kid you that reading the sections when Maddie was closing in on death weren’t hard. I know you were a home health nurse at one time and I believe large amounts of experience went into those scenes. Those readers who’ve read Carla Kelly’s “Summer Campaign” will know what
to expect.
I think you do a wonderful job of showing the mountain people of North Carolina. There is some dialect but it’s very realistic and I never felt it was overdone. Heck, I know people who talk this way. And …
Dear Mr. Blythe,
 I loved your book. Just loved it. Well, maybe not quite all of it as sometimes you did tend to drift a bit and go on a bit about religion and other non-basketball issues but when you got back to enumerating just exactly why the rivalry is so fierce between these two legendary college sports basketball programs which are only 8 miles apart from each other in distance, your book is divine. And after all, you do cheer for the right team! Go Heels!
Yet I will admit to reading the interviews with the Dook players and Coach K (who really does look like a rat in a suit) with just as much interest as I paid to those from Carolina. And your play by plays of games watched at home with your mother and especially the one with your sister at Dook are priceless!
I know that to non-basketball fans, this review will be meaningless but then Jane and I never said we’d limit ourselves to just romance books. So here’s to the great …
Dear Ms. Novik:
I resisted for about 3 weeks in buying your book. It wasn’t a romance. It featured a male protagonist. It was about war and warlike things. War scenes are hard for me to follow. Even the glowing reviews couldn’t budge me but then I saw it for sale at Fictionwise and I thought, why not.
There is a kind of glowing feeling that you get when you close the cover of a really good book. It makes you happy that you are a reader. It invigorates your love for books. It makes the grass greener, the flowers more fragrant, it . . . well, I guess you get the idea.
The plot is fairly simple: Naval captian William Laurence, a younger son of the gentry, who likes the opera and has an understanding with a gently bred young woman, captures a French frigate. On board is a dragon’s egg. Laurence immediately calculates the bounty he will recieve as a result of turning over a dragon’s egg. The ship’s surgeon informs him that the egg is hard and …
Dear Ms. Mccafferty:
I was late to the Jessica Darling saga and was able to read Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings within days of one another last fall. These were wonderful books and really cemented a relationship between myself and young adult fiction. I recommended these to a friend who responded that she couldn’t read YA fiction because of the lack of believability in the longevity of the relationship. It takes a talented author to make me believe that two high school lovers will make it beyond young adulthood into the forever after realm.
What you did with Charmed Thirds makes the first two books in the series a travesty. You have taken the hard fought relationship between Marcus and Jessica and turned it into nothing more than a hackneyed high school romance. Further, you made Jessica Darling virtually unlikeable. It is a testament to your previous works that I actually finished this book. I kept hoping for the charm and magic of the first twobooks to show through.
Jessica was always a bit myopic and self absorbed …
Dear Ms. Levigne,
 What a wonderful historical novel you’ve written. It took me straight back to my early teenage years devouring every book I could find on Greek myths and mythology and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Yes, I will admit to actually reading and enjoying Homer’s works at that age. What can I say, I’m precocious. Though I did wait until college before reading the Aeneid. But I digress….(blushing)
I always wondered what Penelope did all those years while waiting for Odysseus to finally get his ass home. Now I have the answer. Readers looking for a strong, capable and intelligent woman need look no further. Odysseus was right when he said “A wise, resourceful wife I won in my youth. A wise, faithful wife I have regained. My love, you awe me.”
I like the fact that you make their marriage so realistic. True love never runs smoothly and even the best love matches will have times that try the bond between a husband and wife.
And all this before the Achaians set sail in their black warships, across a wine dark sea to reclaim Helen as they had sworn to do before her …
Dear Ms. Leigh:
I know that we have been harshing on you here and I thought maybe we haven’t given you a fair shake. Just because I was totally icked out by your erotica version of the 7 Brides for 7 Brothers concept (where instead of singing and dancing in the snow, the brothers are gang banging one bride after another), and Jayne was turned off by your MagiCK story, doesn’t mean that you aren’t a good writer, right? when I was knocking around Samhain Publishing the other day, I gave you another shot. Excuse me, chance. I really am going to have to choose my words carefully in this letter.
Oh, where to begin. The book opens with Jessie finally capitalizing on her heart’s desire, Slade. Since she was 16 she has wanted this man and she is fed up with him sleeping with every other woman but her. Slade has wanted Jessie since she was 16 but felt she was too young. His male urges are so strong for her, that in …
 Dear Mrs. Cummings,
I had read a recommendation for your US Civil War novel, My Rebel Belle, but to be honest I was put off by the price being charged by Amber Quill Press ($7.00) combined with the paltry excerpt available at their site. I realize that neither of these issues are your fault but if I’m going to plunk down money with no chance of a refund, I want a better idea of what I’m getting. But after hemming and hawing for months, I finally said to myself, WTF. Life’s short and we all gotta take some risks. I’m hear to say I’m glad I took the chance.
Your bio states that you have an advanced degree in history and I really think this shows in your attention to detail throughout the story. I especially enjoyed the balanced way you portrayed both sides of the conflict and how Mara and her family and Lee learned that neither was the horrible or oppressive monster thought by the other while they nursed him back to health after he was shot out of the saddle in a skirmish …
Dear Ms. Kirkman:
I wanted to like this book. Honest. A good friend of mine thought it was the bomb. Plus you have kick ass covers. And by kick ass, I mean, who at Harlequin’s art department are you boffing because your covers, unlike the book itself, are truly the bomb. If I were to judge a book by its cover, you would be getting an A. If I were to judge a book by its blurb, it would be an A. Unfortunately for both of us, I actually read the book. You are not getting an A. Just thought I would tell you that right up front so there isn’t any suspense.
The plot is thus. Rowena is at the market and sees a slave, Wulf. He is strong and gorgeous and she buys him because he can do something for her that no one else can (and yes, I have a dirty mind so I thought that something was sexual). Alas, it is not sexual. Rowena wants the slave to steal documents from the …
Dear Ms. Williamson:
This is the first opportunity I have had to read a book by you. This story came to my attention when sybil blogged about it. As Sybil explained, it was a virgin story with a twist. Set in Colorado, 1872, Madeline Brewster is a spinster. She is 30 years of age and has never experience the physical pleasure of joining with a man. She is 6 feet tall and owns half the town.
Madeline comes across a hanging. She recognizes that the man who is charged with horse thieving is comely of figure and decides to take a chance. She gets the Sheriff to release the man in her custody until the owner of the horse can be found. She uses deductive reasoning to point out that they had insufficient proof to hang the alleged criminal.
The problem with your book lies in the juxtaposition of the sex scenes and the story. It was as if there were two stories being told in this book. First, the story …
Dear Ms. Heath:
![]()
src=”http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/04/0060749822.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_V54784547_.thumbnail.jpg” alt=”Cover for Lorraine Heath’s Promise Me Forver” />
I was lured into buying your book by positive reader comments and a $1.00 off coupon from Borders. I really have to work on the whole willpower thing. You see, I haven’t really been happy with you since you began transporting your characters from Texas to the Ton. I suppose in an effort to gain new readers or a larger market share or whatever. Since you’ve left your roots of writing, I haven’t enjoyed your books. They seem full of TSTL heroines. (I particularly thought Lydia in Love With a Scandalous Lord needed a good bitch slapping, but ALAD), cardboard heroes, and hackneyed plots. I can forgive the hackneyed plots but not the one dimensional characters. Romance is, after all, a character driven story.
So what was I thinking when I bought your book? In my defense, it was late. You had a good theme: childhood friends who grow up to be lovers. I had worked 15 hours and wanted to just go home with a good book. Yours …
Dear Gentle Reader:
Jane was voted the winner (or loser) by a whopping 74%. Jane thinks it is due to some ballot stuffing by Jay. Kristie(J) was nice enough to share with us her experience of cluelessness. Let’s recap:
Well, I voted for Jane because I've done the same thing – sort of. Once I stayed up reading so late when I got up the next morning I was so tired I sprayed hair spray under my arms and deorderant on my hair. And I've done the shoe thing too. Luckily I wear runners to work and have my good shoes under my desk. It was after about an hour I noticed the different gait but since both pair were there, I could easily fix it.
Kristie(J), please send us an email with your snail mail address so we can send out Maggie Davis’ Hustle, Sweet Love. Congratulations and thanks for voting.
Best regards,
The Two Ja(y)nes
Dear. Ms Andrew,
After reading so many complaints from UK readers about how American authors screw up Regency era books set in England, I wanted to give you a try and see if there really is a difference. There really is a difference. I could tell immediately from the vocabulary and just the whole, I dunno, tone that you aren’t just Sally American-Author trying to sound like she knows what she’s talking about. There’s not a single “gotten” in the whole book!
Seriously though, I’m not one who usually enjoys reading books with children who play such a large role (well, in this case really just one child and she’s eleven) but Pip was so much fun and so real. Past the faux lisping stage (mothers, do real children truly lisp as much as romance authors would have me believe?), she was just enough trouble to be believable and just sweet enough that I didn’t want to kill her. But Lisette maybe was just a bit too biddable for a late teenager budding into womanhood. Granted I don’t expect that a true Regency miss would be flipping off her guardian uncle and heading out to the mall but would she really agree …
Dear Ms. Resnick:
I think that you are an underrecognized author who is on the cusp of a real breakthrough. Your entry from the Luna line was smart and funny.
Esther Diamond is the understudy to Golly Gee, a B list pop star with a mediocre voice and a yen for acting. The current Broadway production involves a magician's act. During the act, Golly Gee goes into her disappearing box and never reappears. Golly Gee's disappearance is just one of several disappearing acts gone bad. Esther Diamond has to solve the mystery before she is forced to be the next one in the disappearing act. With the help of a 300+ year old alchemist, Esther Diamond has to fight a virgin hunting demon in order to save herself and her friends.
The romance in this story is sparse but provide some of the best scenes. I hope you don’t mind me liberally quoting from your book but your dialogue is so superior than any words that I could use to describe it.
Lopez had a nondescript car parked illegally near the magic shop. A handy official notice propped in the window warned other cops not to make the
…
Dear Ms. Burton:
You left kind comments despite my complaining letter and I asked you for a recommendation. You gave me one and I chose to read that one and another. It was a risk on both our parts. Your risk was that I would read the book and write another complaint filled letter. My risk was my time and money. How did we fare? Read on.
Fall Fury is a story of Max Devlin, werewolf, and Shannon Storm, weather affector. Max is instructed by his parents to move to the South, seek out any werewolves, and take over control of the pack. This is part of the Devlin plan to take over the North American packs (and I guess the world). I thought this was a rather unique aspect. Usually romance authors are so circumspect about world domination, tending to shy away from that but I thought it was kind of fun.
Upon seeing a picture of Shannon Storm, PR rep for The Rising Storm, the Storm family hotel chain, Max decides that New Orleans will be his home base. There is something in the picture that speaks to Max and he is convinced that she may be his destiny. Shannon is …
Dear Ms. Lee:
You certainly are versatile. From writing category westerns to thrillers to fantasy novels. I picked up Shadows of Myth from the library and purchased the Shadows of Prophecy ebook. It was nice to read the two of them in a row.
Your stories, while eminently readable, are in part a retelling of the Jacob and Esau story with Troy and LOTR influences. Had you kept with the Jacob and Esau story, your series would have been much fresher and original. Instead, it felt a rehash of popular fantasy themes and if a fantasy luddite like myself is feeling that these books are retreads I can’t imagine what experienced fantasy readers must think.
If a reader can get past what seems like obvious copying (or heavy influencing, take your pick), it is an engaging series. Annuvil and Ardred were immortals who loved the same woman, an Ilduin. The Ilduin are women with great power led by 12 sisters. The oldest sister, Theriel, was coveted by Ardred, but of course, she loved Annuvil. Ardred and Annuvil warred over Theriel. Many generations have passed but the war between Annuvil and Ardred is reignited.
Shadows of Myth opens …
Dear Ms. Feather:
You are a favorite author of mine despite some serious missteps (KissedBy Shadows – What were you thinking?). I really enjoyed Almost a Bride even though many thought that Jack, the hero, was too cold and mistreated Arabella. I defended you on message boards claiming that Jack did love Arabella and showed it in a way that was consistent with his own character, position and time period. I cannot defend your book Almost a Lady. It’s almost as if you hate us romance readers because your book is so devoid of romance and tender emotion, that it’s like you are slapping us in the face.
What was wrong with this book? Let me count the ways. First, your characters have no backstory, no motivation, no setting. It is as if the two characters are born fully formed and at the prime of their lives. Meg, your heroine, who is a gently bred baron’s daughter loses her virginity at quite young age in Venice to some boatman. There is no explanation as to why a gently bred girl would have done this. There is nothing in the story to explain this course of action. Cosimo, the hero, …
Dear Ms Allen,
 The first third of your book is delightful. Loved the characters, loved their actions and interactions. The second third is done well but contains the action which will drive the plot for the remainder of the book. My warning is that some will think it too improbable (me) and some will find it distasteful. In last third you have some high handed actions by the hero (which I was willing to excuse because he really does have the best interests of the heroine and other’s in mind) and feature lots of scenes that while fun to read, really don’t contribute anything to resolving the relationship of the two leads. Plus there is a series of little misunderstandings that are needed to continue the book but which get old. I think maybe you made the hero a little too noble and self sacrificing. But I did enjoy the servant characters and their insights into the main characters and their actions.
Another drawback for me is that we never see the hero’s point of view. I know that you had to do this for the sake of your plot but I really like Alex and wanted …
Dear Ms. Barton:
I really struggled with your letter. I have viewed small print publishers, particularly epublishers, in a lesser light than mainstream NY publishers. I have also wrongly felt that the small eprint publishers were all the same – churning out romantica and literotica. In writing you this letter, I felt that because you were published by one of these epublishers perhaps you deserved better, gentler treatment. Ultimately, I thought to do so would be a disservice to you and your publisher. Shouldn’t I view you as simply one other author in a sea of authors regardless of the publisher (discounting, of course, Publish America).
The plot of your book was fine and was what provided the impetus to purchase it. Sabrina Daniels has money to invest and wants to learn how to run a ranch. Kyle Morgan’s family’s is on the verge of losing the ranch without money. Morgans agree to accept a fee for teaching Sabrina all about ranching. Upon arrival at the ranch, Sabrina and Kyle are instantly attracted to each other and while that doesn’t bother Sabrina too much, it really bothers Kyle. The story starts off fun …
Dear Authors:
Generally I don’t buy anthologies. Mostly because I think the short story is an art to which many authors do not do justice and because I think that anthologies are promotional materials for the authors’ other books. I.e, interested in reading more about susie and her vampire friends? Buy my 7 other books.
Simply because you can write does not mean can write in all genres and forms equally well. Take for example, Ms. Donovan’s attempt at poetry (another letter, another day) in Public Displays of Affection. The poetry was so terrible as to turn individuals off of the book entirely. It couldn’t be decided whether Ms. Donovan was having a big laugh over it or whether she thought her erotic poems featuring references to meat were truly erotic. In the same vein, short stories are an art form that require very tight plotting, extreme character insight and the ability to show and not tell within a short period of time. There can be no excess padding, no unnecessary narration. The whole meaning of the story must be told in a compressed space.
Anthologies that are produced today are a mismash …
Dear Ms Michaels,
 I should have trusted my first instincts about this book. Instead, I let myself be lured by one good review into spending $7 on it. Bad move on my part. I think I will be skipping all the subsequent books in your series about 7 orphans who are adopted by an eccentric and wealthy Englishman. The names of some of them alone are enough to put me off: Morgan (girl), Courtland (boy) and Rian (boy. What? Is Ryan too pedestrian for you?) and of course the hero of this book, Chance. At least there isn’t a Damien, Demon, or Devil. So far…
Anyway, the heroine of this book is like Mary Poppins. A bad, nosey, irritating Mary Poppins. At least MP gave her charges a spoonful of sugar as she bossed them around and poured noxious medicine down their throats.
The hero could have been an interesting character (even though he is working for the War Office) but I can’t stomach your book past chapter 5 to find out any more about him. Once you moved the action to Romney Marsh and brought out even more Characters (with names …
|
|
Loading ...
Open Threads at Dear Author. Want to know what new releases are out this month and what readers are excited about reading? Check out the threads below. 
We don’t like to censor comments nor do we endorse the comments of any poster. We do reserve the right to moderate comments but most of the time will not, believing, as Justice Brandeis did, that the greater good is in “more speech, not enforced silence.â€
