Guest Reviewer
A long time romance reader was inspired to write me the occasional haiku review after visiting emilyreads.com. I asked whether she would do one for me once a week and I’ve finally bugged her enough that she’s given in. So Thursday afternoon check in for the Thursday Haiku Review Moment.
A witch’s beauty
Should be ‘A witch’s booty’
No legs need apply
David angel hunk
Mina is evil slam dunk
Or is she just sad?
Two tentacle legs
Virgin girly parts between
Of course, hero scores
Don’t get excited
Hentai fans! Sex is too tame.
Joey Hill, declawed.
World building is light
I have unanswered questions
Did not read book 1.
Still satisfying
Is it wrong I bought this for
Hardcore squid-leg sex?
C+
This book can be purchased in trade paperback from Amazon or ebook format from the Sony Store and other etailers someday but it’s not even out in Kindle.
Today’s guest opinion is brought to you by Jessica from Racy Romance Reviews. Jessica started blogging in 2008 and has provided some great reviews as well as thoughtful commentary. She first came to my attention by Janine linking to one of Jessica’s posts. (Word of Mouth, isn’t it grand?). Jessica started reading romances in 2007 after a decade of not reading fiction. She, like us, is the typical romance reader which is to say she’s not typical at all. She’s a self described feminist, a Ph.D., and most of all, a lover of the romance book.
***
more animals
Romance is defined by its exploration and celebration of romantic love. That said, I’ve been surprised and delighted by the number of other important themes that are explored in the genre. I think it behooves romance readers to discuss these non-romantic themes, because romance writers tend to bring a unique focus to these themes, and because highlighting the ways that romance authors approach nonromantic themes can help to forge links between a belittled genre and more respectable ones. …
Welcome to our series called “If You Like” which will be hosted by various readers, authors and bloggers of Dear Author. The purpose of the post and the comments is to explore what we like about a particular iconic author and what other authors have books like the iconic author. This week, we are featuring Allison Brennan whose latest release, Playing Dead, was released on September 30, 2008.
Author Mary-Francis Makichen put together this wonderful contribution for us to read, appreciate, and use as a reference point for the future. Thanks Mary-Francis.
If you would like to host an If You Like piece, please email me at jane at dearauthor.com
***
If You Like Allison Brennan
 I can’t remember where I first heard about Allison Brennan. What I do remember is reading the The Prey and being captivated by heroine Rowan Smith—a former FBI agent turned bestselling author. Rowan gets pulled into the search for a killer when people start turning up dead just like the victims in her book. To further complicate her life, her bodyguards turn out to be two hunky brothers who both vie for her affection.
It was …
 Cotillion: a dance with elaborate steps and figures
My romance reading group is composed of eight women whose ages span a healthy quarter-century. As a group, although the membership has ebbed and flowed, we’ve met for nine years. We each have our likes, dislikes, and areas of expertise. Several members judge national romance contests from the reader’s point of view. As an author myself, I judge unpublished contests and then take tremendous delight when we come across a newly published book that I read in its first-50-page infancy.
We pick a book to read per month and over the course of these years, we’ve tried all the categories. Very few selections have been universally beloved. We also like first printings, not trusting reprints to hold to the mores of when the original was published. We’ve been to RWA National Conference booksignings, the local ones held by the closest RWA-chapter, done a stint at an Romantic Times convention, and have co-hosted, along with the local library, as many as eight area romance authors for a meet, greet, and sell.
As readers, we are jaded.
I give all this background to introduce our latest reading jump, Georgette Heyer. I …
 I am having a horrible time writing this review. There’s nothing I can criticize about this book. Not one single thing. How can you write a balanced review when there’s nothing weak or flawed there to balance all the good? So I’m giving up—this is not a balanced review, I’m going to gush and praise like the most rabid of fangirls.
The back cover blurb doesn’t even begin to convey the complexity of the story, nor the mastery of the writing:
Elly
In town, they called her “Crazy Widow Dinsmore.” But Elly was no stranger to their ridicule—she had been an outsider all her life, growing up in a boarded-up old house under the strict eye of her eccentric grandparents. Now she was all alone, with two little boys to raise, and a third child on the way.
Will
He drifted into Whitney, Georgia, one lazy afternoon in the summer of 1941, hoping to put his lonely past behind him. He yearned for the tenderness he had never known, the home he’d never had. All he needed was for someone to give him a chance.
Then he saw a classified ad: WANTED—A husband. When he stepped across Elly Dinsmore’s
…
Last year Karen W, long time romance reader and author of the review blog “What I’m Reading and Other Tales” agreed to let us post a report she wrote about “Celebrate Romance,” the convention she helps organize each year. We asked her to let us republish this year’s report and here it is.
***
Arrival
I just got back from Celebrate Romance, and I thought I’d post my annual report on the conference! I had a great time this year, as always. This is really long, so feel free to skip it!
I got to Columbia, SC early on Thursday afternoon. We were staying at a smaller hotel, affiliated with the local university, which turned out to be really nice. It’s always a trade-off to find a good hotel and a good city – the larger cities are easier to fly into, but it’s hard to find a reasonably priced hotel that will accommodate a small conference like ours. The smaller cities and smaller hotels are more willing to cater to a small group and we can get decent prices, but it can be harder to get flights. Happily, I was able to get a direct flight from Philadelphia, …
 How long does it take for a book to become a favorite? If it’s measured in time, then this book doesn’t qualify, for it’s only been out for seven weeks. But if it’s measured in re-reads, then this book surely has become one for me, for I’ve already read it five times and loved it more each time. I’d like to share it with those of you who joined me in singing the praises of Robin McKinley’s Beauty.
Lynn Kurland has made a name for herself in time travels and paranormals for the last 12 years, with every single one of her books still in print. But in my opinion, she has outdone herself, and The Mage’s Daughter is the best so far.
I love the way this fantasy tells a story of good versus evil, yet you are not dragged down by the darkness that is trying to overtake this world. Rather, you experience the emotions and thoughts and feelings of the characters as THEY deal with the evil that is thrown at them. You’re also given the chance to share in their victories, just as you share in their conversation …
Today’s guest review comes from author K.Z. Snow. Ms. Snow’s myspace profile indicates that she is a 100 year old woman from Wisconsin and from this guest review, appears to love Susan Fromberg Schaeffer’s The Madness of a Seduced Woman (Plume).
***
(All direct quotes from the text are taken from the 1991 Plume trade edition.)
 The human heart can be a willful and rebellious creature. When prodded by an overactive mind that bears the taint of delusion, it can become a monster.
Susan Fromberg Schaeffer’s acclaimed 1983 novel, The Madness of a Seduced Woman, hooked me with its title alone. After reading it for the first time, I knew I’d been reeled into a fog that wouldn’t dissipate for days.
This novel stands tall among the finest works of contemporary women’s fiction. Intensely personal and yet epic in its scope, it doesn’t really qualify as a romance. There is no HEA-or, if the ending can be seen that way, it’s far from traditional. You won’t find the heroine’s double in any Harlequin release. She’s more closely related to Hester Prynne, Emma Bovary, Anna Karenina, Catherine Earnshaw, Tess Durbeyfield, and Carrie Meeber. The prose …
Today’s guest review comes from author Jennifer Estep. Estep pens funny novelizations inspired by the comic book ouvre featuring Bigtime and the super heroes/heroines (Karma Girl and Fiera, for example) and ubervillians that inhabit the city.
***
 Donald E. Westlake is the funniest writer you’re not reading.
Never heard of him? I probably wouldn’t have either, if I hadn’t taken a course on detective fiction in college. Every few weeks, we’d get a reading list from the professor and have to pick a book to read and discuss. I was able to get most of the books with no problem, until we got to one of the final lists.
My library only had one book on the list – “Bank Shot” by Donald E. Westlake – a comic crime caper about some guys trying to steal a bank. Sounded interesting enough, so I checked it out. Read it. And fell in love with John Dortmunder.
John Dortmunder is not your typical hero. He’s not tall or handsome or particularly brave. He and Noble live in two different time zones. Dortmunder doesn’t run from trouble – he sprints as fast as he can. Picture a basset hound. Droopy …
Author Jane Beckenham brings us the following guest review for Sophia James’ Ashblane’s Lady. Beckenham is from down under and has sold books to Red Rose Publishing, Linden Bay romance, and Treble Heart Books.
***
 Sophia James knows how to write. She also knows how to hook the reader into the story right from the start.
Ashblane’s Lady, set in northwest England in 1358 is the story of Lady Madeline Randwick, the social outcast of her family, whose name brings the moniker of witch, the Black Widow of Heathwater to everyone’s lips, including those of Laird Alexander Ullyot, the Chief of the Ullyot clan in the Scottish highlands.
Ms. James has brought the life and times of this story to the reader’s reality, painting a beautiful picture of words. For example… Not a young man’s face this, full of dreams and promises, but a worn and tried visage underscored by danger and seasoned by tragedy…. Just those words tell us that Alexander is a warrior who has seen too much pain and agony, and yet at the very moment that Madeline sees Alexander, he is crying, holding the dead …
|
