Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Warning: series spoilers are sure to abound here.

Dear Ms. Kenner,
One reason I keep eagerly looking forward to new books in this series is that even though Kate has snarky humor and moments of hilarious screwball behavior, there are grounding moments such as when it begins to hit home for Allie that demon hunting and the fight against evil never ends. When Kate recalls the losses she and Eric suffered when they were young and the price that has to be paid to keep everyone they love safe. That in the end, Kate has to be a little Dirty Harry-ish to keep the forces of scum under control. Yeah, there’s deep stuff here and it ain’t just the buried dead.

Once again, this is a great title and not only because it fits with the ‘take off’ theme of existing titles but because it describes a bit of what goes on here. Sure, sure, in the end the basic plot of Kate vs the demon world hasn’t changed. We know that the hordes of hell will descend on San Diablo, California. We know Kate will have to discover what the …

We’re mainstreaming it this week – lots of broad-appeal books and a Dear Author favorite make the headlines.

Disclaimer: These books are not published yet, ergo these are not reviews. Repeat: Not reviews. If your book is snarked, it’s because your blurb failed to entice. No more, no less. Since we know the PM blurbs aren’t usually written by the authors, feel free to come by and tell us more about your book. Or be offended by the fact we snarked your blurb. Whichever you think is going to sell more books.

Meljean Brook is one of our favorite reads. Yay!
Meljean Brook’s DEMON DAWN, in which two Guardians must put aside their own tragic history after a terrifying betrayal by one of their own, to Cindy Hwang at Berkley Sensation, in a four-book deal, in a very nice deal, by Roberta Brown of the Brown Literary Agency.

This one is categorized as a romance, but…I’m guessing it’s more on the women’s fiction end of the spectrum. Three Rivers Press is Obama’s publisher, so I think they cater to a less genre market than, say, Harlequin. Also, author name? Is that her real name because if …

For anyone who is a long time reader of Dear Author, you’ll know that Julie Kenner is one of Jayne’s favorite authors. Ironically, Kenner’s books are ones that we rarely receive review copies of. Many of the Kenner books that Jayne has reviewed she has purchased herself. What’s even more amazing is Jayne is off paranormals but one of her favorite series is Kenner’s Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series. Kenner must have some magic in her pen. Her latest release, Deja Demon, is Book 4 in the Demon Hunting series and on shelves right now.

***

My first sale came in June of 1999, and although I kinda-sorta-maybe-please-please-please knew that it was coming, it was still a shout from the rooftops, dance around naked kind of experience. (Except for the naked part, since I was at work, and attorneys tend to frown on that; and the rooftop part since there was no public rooftop access in my office building. But you get the idea.)

It all started in a small mountaintop village … oh, wait. That’s not me. It …

This week is headlined by Harlequin superstar Gena Showalter, and nine million vampire books.

I’m intrigued (mostly by the pricetag and the fact that this is the headline for the new line) This is big money, but they don’t specify how many more books are contracted. Still, Harlequin loves Showalter. Perhaps Gena should write some vampire fiction…hmm…
NYT bestselling author Gena Showalter’s INTERTWINED, to Tracy Farrell at Harlequin, to launch their upcoming young adult line, as well as more HQN romances, in a seven-figure deal, by Deidre Knight of The Knight Agency (world).

I find the title kind of…offsetting/creepy/yuck. But I remember McLeod’s name from American Title, and I thought she had one of the better entries, so I’d be interested in at least reading the blurb.
Anitra Lynn McLeod’s VIRGIN HARVEST, about a world of ritualized sex where a forbidden relationship changes the barbaric system forever, to John Scognamiglio at Kensington, in a three-book deal, by Roberta Brown of the Brown Literary Agency.

Cougars are snapping up all the hotties.
Author of Mary Modern Camille DeAngelis’s PETTY MAGIC, about a retired spy and elderly witch who uses her magic to retrieve her youth and seduce young men, until her sister is accused of murder …

Dear Mrs. Kenner,

I was excited to see this novella offered for free at Fictionwise. I usually enjoy your books and was looking forward to a sexy start to the Christmas season. Well, after reading it, I was reminded of the saying ‘you get what you pay for.’

When I think of your latest series, I think of a writer who can change plots around to give readers something new. Unfortunately, there’s really nothing new or different about this one. We get a standard lower class heroine, Annie Silver, who’s lusted for hero for years and decides to “go for it” for “one night to remember” before she heads off to NYC. Brent Carrington has lusted after her for years as well but never made a move. Right. One night of hot sex (on the floor, in a department store basement no less) and it’s the bestest either has ever had. Forevah. All I can say is they must have been having really bad sex all their lives. Anyway, it’s instant love though neither will admit it. They will admit to the hots for each other. Insert scenes of hot sex. Then Brent finally finds …

Dear Ms Kenner,

Two summers ago, “Carpe Demon” grabbed me and pulled me into the world of Kate Connor, retired fourth level Demon hunter now living in a small Southern California town. Last year “California Demon” kept up the action as Kate, now brought back into active demon hunting, polished her skills, saved her hometown (again) and learned about her first husband’s death while kicking some major demon ass. Now in “Demons Are Forever,” Kate faces a mother’s greatest fear, her teenage daughter’s desire to follow in her footsteps.

It isn’t easy when your daughter’s figured out that her mom’s a demon hunter-and wants to grow up to be just like her. Or when you suspect your dead husband used the forces of darkness to filch the body of another human. And your living husband has shifted into such political overdrive that he doesn’t seem to be the man you married either..

Moreover, Kate’s acquired a precious — but deadly — item that every demon within commuting distance is seething to get hold of. With husband woes playing havoc with …

Dear Ms Kenner,

Two years ago I got swept up in your Play.Survive.Win world. The scavenger hunt plot with death as the booby prize for those who lost plus smart protagonists sucked me in and didn’t let go until the last page. “The Prada Paradox” closes the three book story arc and, while not as good as the initial “Givenchy Code,” it still delivers.

My blogging partner Jane has already written a letter outlining the story so I’ll head straight to my thoughts. This was a neat way to get new readers up to speed with the storyline so far without doing a complete info dump. But, even while being neat, the start of the action was slower compared to the two other books. If the tension had been mounting the whole time, it would have worked better but the into 1/3 just felt too languid compared to the rest of the series. The fact that the heroine is a famous actress who has to dodge fans as well as the assassin added a nice twist. I can also believe the attraction between Devi and Blake …

Dear Ms Kenner,

I grandly announce that I’m tired of vampires and don’t intend to read many more books featuring them just at the time when you so kindly sent me some books and arcs, one of which was about a vampire. Oh dear what do I do now? Read it of course! And get sucked (no pun intended) straight into the world of newly turned teenage vampire Beth Frasier.
Elizabeth Frasier’s ticked off. Her junior year of high school was going just fine. Amazing grades. Early admission to college. And a date with the star quarterback. But no. But thanks to a bunch of jerkwad vampire jocks, she ended up dead. Or rather undead, and with a thirst that a thousand Diet Cokes couldn’t quench.

Now she’s out for blood-and revenge. And she knows exactly what to do…Elizabeth’s read Salem’s Lot. Just wipe out the crowd that did her in. But with so many creeps in high school it’s hard to separate the good vamps from the bad. On top of that, she’s got to figure out how to be mortal again-unless universities start accepting dead girls…
This YA book took me straight back …

Dear Ms. Kenner:

I started becoming a Julie Kenner fan with the The Givenchy Code whose title was not only a clever play on the blockbuster, The Da Vinci Code, but also a creative take on the chick lit oeuvre: a heroine who loved shoes and code breaking. In The Prada Paradox, the last in the “Play Survive Win” trilogy, we have a heroine who loves to shop but lacks some skills in the code breaking area.

Devi Taylor is movie star trying to make a comeback by playing Mel in the big screen adaption of Mel’s real life trauma told in The Givenchy Code. The “Play Survive Win” game was an online Role Playing Game where players were assigned to be the Assassin, the Target, or the Protector. In order to “win”, you either lived or killed in the game depending on your role.

The problem is that Taylor’s love interest on screen used to be her love interest off the screen until a Letterman appearance gone bad. Blake Atwood is a new leading man in Hollywood, thanks to Devi. He does her …

Dear Ladies:

Here’s the sttory behind how this book was chosen for the dueling review and why it’s late (it’s supposed to be a November dueling review). Jayne and I were tossing around ideas. I suggested Drop Dead Gorgeous but Jayne confessed to not having read Linda Howard in years. Billionaires Prefer Blondes came up but Jayne couldn’t make it past the first chapter (or was it two chapters). We agreed upon this Anthology given that Jayne liked Kathleen O’Reilly’s Diva’s Guide to Selling Your Soul.

Alas, while Jayne was prompt and had her review done in November, I could not get into the second story. I emailed Jayne, doing many mea culpas and asking if we could just do away with the belated November dueling review. Jayne suggested our dueling reviews be her review on this book and my review of Billionaire’s Prefer Blondes (which will go up next week), but because of the ending of the second novella and the kick ass third novella, I was glad to participate. Mostly my opinions mirror Jayne’s which seems rare these days.

My overall …