Joonigrrl
 can usually be found hunched over her ebook reader or lurking in the romance and sci-fi/fantasy sections of her local bookstores. She discovered her love of fantasy at a young age, reading everything from Piers Anthony to Robert Aspirin and C.S. Lewis. At the age of 12, she picked up a little book called The Thorn Birds, and after crying for five days straight, decided that she liked the romantic elements, but needed a happier ending. Her first tentative visits to the romance section brought her to such favorites as Linda Howard and Judith McNaught where her love of the romance book was born. She then turned to Brenda Joyce, Lisa Kleypas, J.D. Robb, Anne Stuart, and as the years passed, many more. She currently prefers paranormal romance, urban fantasy, traditional fantasy, historical and the occasional YA.
Dear Ms. Holly:
 The problem Iāve run into with reviewing this trilogy is discussing the book while trying to avoid spoilers. Iāve decided that itās close to impossible.Ā Youāve been warned . . .
Saving Midnight begins soon after the events of the second.Ā Edmund has been rescued thanks to Graham, Pen, Estelle, Ben and Sally, but the two vampires Li-Hua and Frank have managed to escape.Ā To his dismay, Edmund discovers that while he was captured, Graham had been forced to feed off from Estelle, and that Estelle enjoyed herself.Ā Nevermind the fact that Estelle couldnāt help herself or had no choice but to assist Graham in such a manner, this knowledge is more than Edmund can deal with.Ā He’s angry that such a feeding took place, but he also feels guilty because he knows Estelle had no choice and that neither she nor Graham would betray him in such a way.Ā Instead of discussing his feelings with Estelle, he closes himself off from her and slowly drives himself mad. Ā His feelings bring forth all sorts of guilt that he has bottled up from his past- most of it not deserved.Ā Once again, I was glad …
Dear Ms. Holly:
 When I first decided to read and review your latest upyr trilogy, I had the idea that I would write a single review of all three books together. Two paragraphs in, I realized I was going to need more space than a single review allowed.
Breaking Midnight begins shortly after the ending of the first.Ā While Edmund was attempting to come to terms with himself and his relationship with Estelle, he is suddenly gifted with enough power to transition to Elder. During this transition, he is captured by Li-Hua and Frank, two unpredictable and very dangerous vampires.Ā Li-Hua and Frank chain him up, torture and starve him in an attempt to learn the secrets that only Elders know: how to change a human into an upyr.
Meanwhile, Estelle, Sally, Graham and Ben are doing their best to look for Edmund.Ā One night, Estelle dreams that sheās with Edmund, although a thinner Edmund than sheās used to. Ā After a few more dream visits, Estelle begins to realize that these arenāt simple dreams at all. Despite her best efforts, she struggles to uncover clues as to his location.
After closing Kissing Midnight, I was a little concerned where …
Dear Ms. Holly:
 Iām a fan of your writing. Most of the time.Ā The problem is that while Iāve enjoyed many of your books, I often tend to drift half way through with either the characters or the story unable to retain my interest. With the publication of your new trilogy about the upyr released in three consecutive months, I decided to go ahead and read all three.Ā Iāll admit that I was a little daunted by such an idea. Ā And while I probably could have used a longer break between each book, the publication dates allowed the story and the characters to stay fresh in my mind.
The year is 1933.Ā Estelle Berenger has been in love with Edmund Fitz Clare since she was fifteen years old.Ā From the moment he appeared in front of her at school, asking the sullen teenager to look after his adopted daughter Sally, Estelle was smitten.Ā Although she doesnāt know it until later, Edmund is also responsible for saving her life shortly after they meet.Ā While in his wolf form, he jumped between her and a lightning strike. Estelle is unharmed for the most part except for a minor scar …
Dear Ms. Rowland:
 Iāve been stuck in a reading rut for months. Nothing has appealed to me.Ā Even books I was dying to get my hands on 6 months ago have languished away unread on my bookshelves.Ā After I explained my situation to Jane, she recommended your work and Iām glad that she did.Ā IĀ did have some trouble getting into the story and had issues with the characters, but ultimately it proved to be an entertaining book.
Kara Gillian is a Detective in a small town not too far from New Orleans. Sheās also a summoner of demons.Ā Perhaps because of this, Kara has been fascinated for years by the unsolved Symbol Man murders and what she believes may be the involvement of the arcane arts in said murders.Ā When a body is found with strikingly similar injuries to the previous victims, Kara is pulled from her detective work in white collar crimes for her first homicide investigation.
While Kara is trying to stay one step ahead, or at least not too many behind, the Symbol Man and his steadily increasing body count, sheās also experiencing some demon trouble.Ā One night while attempting to summon a lower …
Dear Ms. Andrews:
 Itās no secret that Iām a big fan of your writing. I was thrilled to beta read Magic Strikes about a year ago. I remember being very impressed by the quality of your manuscript and gave quite a bit of positive feedback. I was happy to discover that the changes made since then have only made it better.
Magic Strikes is the third book about Kate Daniels, kick ass mercenary, and Knight of the Order of Merciful Aid. Book 1 dealt with Kateās quest to find her guardianās killer, a search which brought her to the Pack and the Beast Lordās attention. In Book 2, while Atlanta is gripped by an intense wave of magic known as a flare, Kateās ties to the Pack continue to grow when she joins up with them to save the city.
Book 3 begins about two months after the events in book 2. Atlanta is still recovering from the backlash caused by the flare. Kate is keeping busy, running from one emergency to the next, and getting very little sleep in between. One such emergency pops up when she is …
Dear Ms. Kleypas:
Sometimes I think Iām the only one who didnāt love your first two contemporary romances.I liked Liberty and Hardy, but I became so attached to them that certain things like Hardyās uneven characterization and Libertyās choice in men left me dissatisfied. Smooth Talking Stranger was a chance to start anew with two new protagonists.
Ella Varner is a survivor. She was raised by a psychologically abusive woman who possessed not a single ounce of motherly instinct. She did her best to protect herself and her sister Tara, but both were left with emotional scars. After years of therapy, Ella has managed to achieve a tenuous bit of happiness: sheās got a successful job as an advice columnist, a nice place to live in Austin, a great boyfriend, and friends aplenty.
Her life gets shaken up a bit when she receives a phone call one day. Long story short: her sister had a baby, didnāt want to take care of the baby, wonāt tell anyone the babyās fatherās name, left baby with the emotionally damaging grandmother, and grandmother refuses to take care of baby. Ella doesnāt exactly want …
Dear Ms. Phillips: 
I count you as one of my favorite romance authors. I practically camp out at my local bookstore whenever your books are released. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to get my hands on this one.
Georgie York is best known for her role as the spunky Scooter Brown on Americaās favorite sitcom āSkip and Scooter.ā Although she no longer has the bright red Orphan Annie hair or the trademark curls, Georgie still reigns as Americaās sweetheart. Even a series of box office flops canāt seem to diminish her public appeal.
Itās not just the poor box office numbers that are plaguing Georgie. Sheās also got a Brangelina-esque problem to worry about. Her movie star ex-husband Lance Marks left her for sexy do-gooder actress Jade Gentry. Barely surviving the heartbreak of her husbandās abandonment and the subsequent divorce, Georgie is shattered to find out that Jade is also pregnant. With paparazzi everywhere, Georgie goes to Vegas for a change of scenery.
Bramwell Shepherd is the Skip to Georgieās Scooter. His career is going nowhere fast, and heās only got …
Dear Ms. Viehl:
Iāve been a fan of yours ever since I picked up Star Doc about 9 years ago. I havenāt been quite so thrilled by your Darkyn books, but have had some favorites such as 2008ās Evermore. Despite some frustration with the series, I was sad to hear that this was your final novel about the Darkyn and I was eager to see how you would conclude it all.
Stay the Night is Robinās book. Well . . . sort of. Robin of Locksley-that’s right, I said Locksley- has been stealing from the rich for the last 700 years. With the help of his Darkyn powers of persuasion, he can charm just about anyone into doing almost anything.Ā The FBI has dubbed him The Magician for his most recent larcenous exploits involving the theft of priceless works of art.
Chris Renshaw is a special agent for the FBI. She was recently transferred to the Chicago office amid a scandal involving her partnerās firing and subsequent suicide. ChrisĀ (you …
Our newest reviewer, Joonigrrl aka Loonigrrl aka Leslie, presents the following list to you. I’ve been an avid follower of Loonigrrl’s reviews on Amazon. They’re smart, articulate, and insightful and I thought wouldn’t she be a nice addition to Dear Author. Luckily for us, Joonigrrl agreed to be part of Dear Author and we will be seeing more of her in 2009 (metaphorically and digitally speaking).
- Grimspace by Ann Aguirre
- Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews
Dear Ms. Callen:
 I read a book of yours for the first time almost a year ago. It was charming and light although not very memorable. I went on to read one more of your books before this one. I jumped at the chance to review Never Dare a Duke and anticipated another enjoyable reading experience. However, my intense dislike of the story and of the female protagonist, a dislike which I have rarely before felt for a romance heroine, left me wondering how this book could get published. To really discuss why I disliked this book so much, Iāve contained quite a few spoilers. Readers should beware.
You set the stage early on for Miss Abigail Shawās quest to ruin a manās reputation. It seems that her fatherās newspaper is losing some of its readership and may be in danger of shutting its doors. In a desperate attempt to sell more papers, Abigail decides to uncover some vague sort of scandal that occurred years ago involving Christopher Cabot, the duke of Madingley. Forget the fact that her father is an honorable man who refuses to publish gossip articles based upon speculation. Forget …
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