Comments on: Best of 2008 List: Reviewer Jayne

By: Brussel Sprout

Brussel Sprout — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:16:31 +0000

I did like A Lady’s Secret, but the other two I read on the list (the Brooks and the first of the Joanna Bourne books) were ‘meh’ for me. I think this is my fault – I’m just not in the same place. One of the best books for me this last year was Michael Chabon’s Gentlemen of the Road, but otherwise, the best books have been non-fiction, primarily history.

ALS was lots of fun, but my favourite romances this year have been Ann Gracie’s Perfect series, which have been lovely, but are by no means new.

By: Janine

Janine — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:21:13 +0000

Oh no! I completely forgot about Shaken and Stirred. I loved that one.

As I said in the comments on your list, Jia, I don’t see why we can’t add titles to our lists retroactively, as long as they are 2008 books and we loved them.

By: Jia

Jia — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:28:51 +0000

Oh no! I completely forgot about Shaken and Stirred. I loved that one.

By: Kathleen O'Reilly

Kathleen O'Reilly — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:35:41 +0000

Thank you, Jayne. You put a kick into what was otherwise a dreary, rainy day.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:31:51 +0000

Ah, but The End of the Alphabet only takes a little time to read. A little time spent for a wonderful experience. People of the Book will take longer but it’s also time well spent. Be sure to go online and check out pictures of the actual Haggadah – all the ones I found are exquisite.

By: Joanna Bourne

Joanna Bourne — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:14:50 +0000

Oh My. Oh my. Whoop.

I am delighted to be on your list.
(blushes)
And in company like Loretta Chase and Jo Beverley.
Most wonderful.

I see books I have not yet read. I love it when that happens.
I shall immediately zip out and buy People of the Book and The End of the Alphabet.

There goes my last square inch of free time. Poof.

By: AAR Rachel

AAR Rachel — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:26:14 +0000

I've heard really good things about Geraldine Brooks - my sister and mother raved over March - and People of the Book. I loved Spymaster's Lady and just finished, and enjoyed, Shaken and Stirred. I just put His Secret Past on my Bookmooch wishlist.

By: Kate Pearce

Kate Pearce — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:49:56 +0000

I definitely enjoyed The Spymaster’s Lady and I’ve loved Kathleen Eagle for a long time, so nice to see her up there!

By: Keishon

Keishon — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:41:26 +0000

I also downloaded His Secret Past because it sounded pretty good. I missed the review of it I guess because I can’t recall seeing it. And affirmative- I’m working on a 2008 lists of books I read and enjoyed as we speak. It’s mostly mystery.

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:36:42 +0000

I just went and bought His Secret Past from Fictionwise. With Micropay rebates, it was less than $3.50. Can hardly go wrong there.

By: Ellen Hartman

Ellen Hartman — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:06:13 +0000

@Sunita–I’m glad you liked Mason. I had fun writing him. He did some admirable qualities. ;-) I even liked the picture they put on the cover.

By: Sunita

Sunita — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:59:17 +0000

@ Jane: I hadn’t used DRM’d PDFs until I got the Sony Reader, and they are NOT my favorite format (I too prefer eReader). Reflow capability, my ass. But I like being able to read non-DRM’d PDFs on the Reader, and the various conversion software apps (Stanza and Calibre) do a pretty good job on other formats.

@Ellen: My pleasure! I was so thrilled when I saw it; I rarely visit author websites, so I just kept looking for new books by you and found the M&B this week. May I say that the hero of His Secret Past is one of the most attractive (in every sense) heroes I’ve ever encountered? It’s a good thing my husband is as wonderful as he is, or he’d be in deep trouble.

By: Ellen Hartman

Ellen Hartman — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:52:18 +0000

I didn’t know about the eBook release for Wanted Man. Now Dear Author has made my day twice! Thanks for that info, Sunita!

By: Jane

Jane — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:27:36 +0000

@Sunita Blergh. I don't like the Adobe only format. I suppose the good thing is that with Sony Readers you can port your ebooks off your laptop onto a regular reading device.

By: Sunita

Sunita — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:51:17 +0000

Yeah! Of course with the current exchange rate….

It’s better than it used to be, though! From 2/1 down to 1.5/1. My handy currency converter widget tells me that my Ellen Hartman book cost me $5.70, which is a buck more than it would have on eHarlequin with the discount, but still manageable and way better than the $7 it would have cost last summer. Also, right now they are offering discounts on the previous months’ books (but not the Hartman b/c it’s a January 2009 release), so the prices are almost equivalent.

Agreed on the PDF. Sigh.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:32:38 +0000

Yes, it does, finally! They don’t have that many ebooks yet, probably only six months’ worth, but everything new is issued in paperback and ebook format.

Yeah! Of course with the current exchange rate….

The downside is that they are only doing Adobe PDF (with DRM, of course) right now.

Boo, pbbbbt. Sigh, at least it’s not Mobi.

By: Sunita

Sunita — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:58:03 +0000

Jayne: Yes, it does, finally! They don’t have that many ebooks yet, probably only six months’ worth, but everything new is issued in paperback and ebook format. The nice thing is that since release dates differ in the UK and the US, there are books that we can’t get yet, like the Medicals before this month, some historicals, and some Modern Heats (which show up as Presents Extra here, but not in any systematic way that I can figure out). For example, some of Jessica Bird’s SSEs are available at M&B in ebook form but not at eHarlequin.

The downside is that they are only doing Adobe PDF (with DRM, of course) right now.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:47:38 +0000

Jen, I hope you enjoy the books.

And if anyone is interested in reading the actual reviews, just click on the author’s name in the ‘tags’ list and you should be taken to a screen with it (and all other reviews of that author) on it.

By: Jayne

Jayne — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:43:14 +0000

Keishon, long time friend, are you doing a top 2008 reads list?

By: Jayne

Jayne — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:37:36 +0000

Yeah Ellen, New Jersey is such an exotic place. And I’m tickled pink that you enjoyed the review that much. Wow, a place of honor on the fridge. I’ve arrived! ;)