Terry Donovan, Love Machine

So, yeah.  I'm slightly addicted to the new Showtime offering, Ray Donovan.  I love me some Liev Schreiber, and Jon Voight is SO good on this show people.  I mean, really really really good.  Plus the show is basically a sleazy prime-time soap opera.  Set in Los Angeles.  Where Ray has to "fix" various problems for his various high-profile clients.  What is not to love here?  I mean, there are endless possibilities for shenanigans!

Head on over to Heroes & Heartbreakers to read my latest post, all about the sly little romance the writers have included in the show.  Frances made me, not very happy last week.  But Terry?  Oh Terry, how I love you.

Poor Beau Brummel!

So my latest "thing" over at Heroes & Heartbreakers is to do a monthly round-up of "unusual historicals."  When I send these off to my editor, I try to come up with pithy titles for the posts.  Sometimes, I do OK.  And sometimes my brain is mush.  Such was the case when I did July's round-up, which happened post-RWA.  All I could come up with is "Beau Brummel Is Mr. Snotty Pants."

Hey, what can I say, maturity is my middle name.

So imagine my surprise when they stuck with that. 

I know I tend to do these features on my blog as well, but my lists over at H&H are more exhaustive (although I cannot say with 100% certainty that they're all-inclusive).  Head on over, take a gander, and have your shopping list handy.  I've already read one title on this list, and have five others in the TBR.  ::gulp::

The Month That Was June 2012

Lemon Drop:  Owwww!  Auntie Wendy you're hurting me!

Me: Don't look down.  Don't let go.  Why the hell did I think walking the Golden Gate Bridge was a good idea?

Lemon Drop: Too much wine at dinner last night?

Me: That's probably it.

Lemon Drop:  Why don't I distract you Auntie Wendy?  Tell me about the books you read last month!

Me: Good idea.  ::looks down:: Oh God, why did I do that?

The Beauty Within by Marguerite Kaye - Historical romance, Harlequin Historical, 2013, Grade = B

• Spinster heroine too smart for her own good falls for an Italian artist commissioned to paint a portrait of her rambunctious half-brothers.  Interesting characters, with a well-done "beauty in the eye of the beholder" theme.  If you're looking for more historicals featuring non-titled characters?  Yeah, this one.

An Invitation To Sin by Sarah Morgan - Contemporary romance, Harlequin Presents, 2013, Grade = B+

• Second book in a continuity series (but it stands alone well - promise!) featuring a bad girl heroine who falls for a bad boy hero.  Think Lindsey Lohan (but not nearly as screwed up) falling for a hot-shot Italian fashion designer and you'll get the gist.

Beta Read by An Online Bud - Steampunk romance, Grade = C

• Was asked to read this book not so much for the steampunk stuff, but just to take a good look at the characterizations.  Good bones here, good story idea.  Did think there could have been some more polish in certain areas, and sent back notes.  As it stood though?  The author has already found "average."  More work and this could easily see publication and be a solid B read - says me.

Freefall by Jill Sorenson - Romantic suspense, HQN, 2013, Grade = B-

• Good action and adventure, and I loved the tortured main romantic couple.  Was less enthralled with the secondary romance, which just - ugh, annoyed me.  Probably would have been a C grade normally, but damn, I'm loving this series/world so much that it tipped me back to B territory.

Patrick Gallagher's Widow by Cheryl Reavis - Contemporary romance, Silhouette Special Edition, 1990, Grade = B+

• A RITA winner from 1991, and my TBR Challenge read for June.  Loved the main romantic couple, loved how Reavis didn't make the heroine a "token widow," and thought the suspense aspects of the book were well handled.  Only quibble?  Some of the secondary characters bordered on caricature.

Lemon Drop:  This bridge is pretty awesome.  To think it was built in the 1930s!  And it's been standing all this time.  Technology not being what it is today....

Me: Oh God, I think I'm going to be sick....

Lemon Drop:  There, there Auntie Wendy.  Let's get you home.  Mild mannered librarians just aren't cut out for this dare-devil stuff.  Geez, what would you do if you really were Batgirl?

Me: Never leave the ground floor of the Gotham Public Library.

The Bumpy Road Through Paradise

It was with great pleasure when I heard the news that Sourcebooks had not only decided to reprint a couple titles from Rosanne Bittner's backlist, but that they had also picked up the rights to two new historical westerns. Paradise Valley is Bittner's first book in roughly a decade, and features many of her trademarks.  While small-town westerns have their place in the sub genre, Bittner built her name writing gritty frontier-style stories that often had saga-like overtones.  These happen to be among my very favorite types of historical westerns (the grittier the better I always say!), and while Paradise Valley didn't blow me away, it was still an enjoyable read.

The story begins with Maggie Tucker trying to dig a grave to bury her dead husband.  A group of men came across their covered wagon, shot her husband and then proceeded to gang-rape her.  It's in this state that Sage Lightfoot finds her.  Maggie, already having had a full rich day, grabs the only gun the outlaws left behind (her Daddy's old Smith Carbine shotgun) and, despite being near the point of collapse, points it square at Sage.

Sage is chasing after the same men who attacked Maggie and killed her husband.  He feels, oh, just a wee bit responsible.  He has a big ol' cattle ranch and needed all the hands he could get during round-up season.  He didn't look too closely, didn't ask enough questions - and now his foreman is dead and his wife brutalized.  When he comes across Maggie, and gets descriptions from her, it's a bitter pill for him that he was too late to save her from a horrible ordeal and her husband from death.  He convinces her to come back with him to his ranch, but she's having none of it.  She's mad as hell and is determined to go with Sage to hunt down these men.  She wants to personally put bullets in all of them.

In what is a nice role-reversal, we have a revenge story where it's the heroine out for blood.  Certainly with the above plot description, readers maybe squeamish about giving this story a go - but Bittner wisely treads lightly and keeps the details gore-free.  We know Maggie was raped, but we aren't privy to the gruesome and horrifying play-by-play.  The author wisely leaves it up to our imaginations, which frankly is awful enough.

Certainly it's presumptuous of anybody to tell a woman how she should act or feel after a crime like this, but I bought into the idea that Maggie would be well and truly pissed off.  She's traumatized when Sage finds her, but she doesn't take leave of her senses.  She gets the measure of him fairly quickly, but doesn't necessarily trust him entirely.  So she's smart, but still guarded.  And the idea that she's pissed off enough to exact her own justice in this matter makes for a compelling read.

It's a story filled with action and adventure that follows the Old School Adage: The More Bad Stuff That Happens To The Characters, The Better.  I can easily roll with this in westerns though, given the lack of resources, civilization, and general mayhem that can befall people when they're out in the wilderness together.

What didn't work quite as well for me was the actual romance.  Sage and Maggie get to their "I love yous" pretty quick - and outside of spending a lot of time traveling together - I'm not sure how or why they actually fell in love.  Also, for someone who has just survived a gang-rape, Maggie pretty readily decides to bump-uglies with Sage.  Again, there is no uniform victim response in any crime, but there just didn't seem to be any hesitancy on Maggie's part.  I mean, not even a teeny-tiny flinch.   You would expect something, but here there is almost nothing - which didn't really work for me.

Where this leaves me is with the reaction of having spent time with an enjoyable, albeit with some flaws, read.  It's not great, and I really wanted it to be great.  But it's also not terrible.  I enjoyed it while I read it, and it reminded me of what Bittner has always done very well - and that's give readers frontier-set romances that "feel big."  When she gets her hooks into a good idea, she has a way of sweeping a reader along, peppering us with plenty of action and adventure, and making us all wish that Hollywood would figure out a way to make movies like this and not royally screw them up.

Final Grade = B-

His Uptown Girl

All books have two things in common - they all have beginnings and endings.  The magical, intangible thing that makes a book a "keeper" for a reader is often hard to define.  Over the years I've struggled with my own definition, those elements that make a book rip my heart out of my chest.  I often say it's when a book makes me swoon, or when a book makes me want to immediately go back to the beginning and start all over again once I finish the final page.  His Uptown Girl by Liz Talley had me adding another requirement to my list of keeper rules: Not wanting a book to end.  I didn't want this book to ever be "over."

The author takes us to present-day New Orleans, a city rich and vibrant, but still with the shadow of Hurricane Katrina lingering around the edges.  Dez Batiste is back in town with the dream of opening up his own upscale jazz club.  He evacuated to Houston, and spent several years there, trying to shoe-horn himself into a "normal" life.  The fiancee, the "regular job," but naturally it all blows up in his face.  He's determined to open his club, but is getting static from the local merchants who think it will lead to crime and drunks puking on their doorsteps.  His biggest opponent is Eleanor Theriot, owner of an antiques store. So imagine his surprise when she walks across the street and does her half-assed best to hit on him.

Eleanor is mortified!  She noticed the hunky guy across the street, and tired of being a shriveled up old widow at age 39, takes a dare from her friend (and store manager) and walks across the street.  Turns out the hunky guy is not only "too young" for her (Dez is 30), he's also the guy who bought the old building across the street, determined to turn it into a jazz club.  Eleanor has had a rough go of it.  After Katrina she fell into depression, her politician husband took up with his secretary, and later died at the end of his mistress' gun.  Her in-laws are vipers, her daughter is turning into Paris Hilton on acid, and now she finds herself attracted to a man who isn't "her type."  He's young, he's hot, he's a musician, doesn't wear polo shirts and he doesn't play golf.  But can she stay away?  Of course not.  Even when everyone in her life thinks she's gone off the deep end.

What makes this story work is what makes every good romance work (at least for me): it's about the heroine's journey.  Eleanor is scared.  Her husband was several years older than her, and from a powerful family.  She was young, in love, and carefully fit herself into that life being the best wife, mother and politician's helpmate she knew how to be.  Katrina changes everything.  She reverts into herself, her husband strays, and when she gets "better" and he tries to cut the mistress loose?  He ends up dead.  This is all somehow her failing in the eyes of her in-laws, but because she has a daughter to think of, she bites her tongue.  A lot.  It's only when she meets Dez, and decides to really live her life, hell to even find out what "her life" truly means, does she find herself having to confront her past and deal with it.  Does Eleanor run scared in this book?  Yes, she does.  Do her and Dez have some of the most emotionally charged dialogue I've read in ages?  Boy howdy, do they!  And I loved every moment of it.

The author rounds out her story by including a number of interesting secondary characters - most notable being the young delivery man that Eleanor employs - a 19-year-old kid who can play the tenor sax like nobody's business but gave it up to take care of his younger brother and toddler cousin.  The author also does a nice job with the melting pot city of New Orleans.  One of the best lines in the book is when Eleanor gets snotty with her white blue blood in-laws about Dez's ethnicity (he's white, Creole and Cuban) and they tell her those aren't their objections - because after all they're Democrats!

It's a romance about a woman who is scared, who needs to find herself, and the man who pushes her towards that goal.  There were moments of heartache that ripped me to shreds, and dialogue that had me bleeding with need.  It's a great story.  A wonderful read.

Final Grade = A

RWA Day Four & Five: Lovely RITA

I'll be honest, the last day of conference is always a blur for me.  By this point exhaustion usually sets in, and any hope of memory retention is laughable.  I had every intention of getting up for the Kensington and NAL booksignings on Saturday morning.  Um, yeah.  My alarm went off and I so wasn't feeling it.  KristieJ, on the other hand, went.  I later saw what books she came back with and was happy to see that the ones she scored that I was also interested in?  Yeah, I had already purchased at the Literacy Signing.  So sleeping in until 9AM was the way to go for me.

Me and Sarah Morgan - Pre-RITAs

The one thing that stands out as far as the daylight hours is that I ran into Barbara Wallace - who was the last of the Harlequin Romance brigade I was really hoping to see.  She caught me as I was coming out of the elevator, so we were able to chat for a few moments.

I also, was as good as my word, and only shipped back one more box of books.  So that means Wendy hit an all-time best of shipping back only two boxes from conference.  They're getting delivered to my office - so all my coworkers can discover the depths of my addiction (too late).  In the end though it was the ebooks that did me in.  I just counted.  Yeah, 54 - between Avon and Samhain.  Brilliant.  Simply brilliant!

After shipping the last box it was time to get gussied up for the RITAs.  I had a cocktail party invite before hand, and after calling in reinforcements (Rosie - Kristie needed three hands to zip up my dress), I was ready to par-tay!  I finally ran into Smart Bitch Sarah and Angela James, and got my picture taken with the lovely Sarah Morgan, who later on in the evening scored her second RITA for the second year in a row!  She won for A Night Of No Return, which I read and enjoyed - and you all should read it too (says me).

I actually attended the RITAs with all my partners in crime - World Famous Authors, Carolyn Crane and LB Gregg, Rosie and Kristie.  We shared a table with Blythe and Lynn from All About Romance.  It was a good show, and I was so happy for Sarah Morgan and Karen Templeton for their wins (Karen has now won three RITAs in the same category so is officially in RWA's Hall Of Fame!).  

Party People!  Carolyn Crane, LB Gregg, Rosie, Kristie, and me.

Samhain had a post-RITA bash that I hear was off-the-chain, but I was beat - plus I needed to pack.  LB's flight was scheduled to leave about 30 minutes before mine and Rosie's - so we all shared an SUV to the airport.  Once at the airport, Rosie and I saw lots of other conference attendees milling about.  She ran into Sherry Thomas, and we actually shared a plane with Jill Shalvis.  

Our respective men arrived just as our luggage came down the conveyor belt, and we went our separate ways.  I managed to get unpacked (which, other than toiletries, was a simple matter of dumping my entire suitcase into the laundry basket!), and My Man, bless his soul, declared that we should order a pizza for dinner.

Since I have some brains in my head, I did take tomorrow off of work to recuperate, plus deal with minor details like laundry and grocery shopping.  It's back to the salt mines tomorrow, and bitter, bitter reality.

I had a great conference, met so many fantastic people, caught up with folks I had already "met" in previous years, and even learned a thing or two.  We're already talking about San Antonio next year. I figure by then I should be fully recovered from Atlanta.

RWA Day Three: Wendy Ties One On

OK, I'm blogging at nearly midnight - so a wee bit of latitude will be required here.  Especially considering I had just a teensy bit of fun this evening.  This is how much I love this blog.  I'm blogging when I should probably be drooling on my pillow.

Today started bright and early with a lunch date with my FanGirl Squee Of The Conference, Jessica Hart.  Hart lives in the UK, is up for two RITA awards this year, and I love her Harlequin Romance like whoa!  Seriously, I was probably a blathering moron, I was so excited to meet her.  For those of you who haven't read her books (why?!??!), her HRs are what I call "chick flicks on paper."  Seriously?  Hollywood?  Start buying the rights to Jessica Hart books.

After breakfast, I made my way down to two Publisher Signings - Harlequin and Avon.  KristieJ was at a workshop, so I agreed to score her any Harlequin Historicals, SuperRomances, and single titles that looked promising.  I also managed to get a few things for myself.  After that I went to Avon.  Oh.....Avon!  I told myself I was just going to walk around and pick up maybe a couple of books.  I stopped by Beverly Jenkins' table and she said, "Wendy, so nice to see you again!  Would you like a print copy or an ebook?"  Upon hearing these options I may have said "Shut up!"  That's right kids - for many, many, many of the authors there Avon not only had print copies but also free digital downloads.  So what started out as Wendy taking just one or two books turned into an ebook orgy.

At the Harlequin signing - Holy cow!  Maggie Shayne and Brenda Jackson!  

I had a few authors ask me if I still read print, and the answer is emphatically yes.  I still do.  But here's the thing - this conference is in Atlanta.  I have to ship any books I get back home - and shipping from the hotel (which uses FedEx) isn't cheap.  Coupon cards?  Yeah, can be tossed in my luggage.  So from a promo perspective?  A getting people to try their authors perspective?  Avon wins.

After that it was Awards Luncheon time.  I was so happy to see that this year's Librarian Of The Year got a wee bit overcome on stage accepting her award - if only for the fact that it made me feel better about my own Librarian Of The Year year (I. Was. A. Mess.)  Kristan Higgins was the luncheon speaker, and she was fantastic.  She really brought home the value of the romance genre, and what it means to readers - especially during trying times in their lives.

My ebook orgy at Avon

The afternoon was fairly low-key for me.  I wandered into the Berkley and Pocket signings for a little bit, and then it was up to the room to get gussied up for the evening.  One holdover from the Librarian Of The Year year?  I still get some party invites.  Boroughs Publishing had an open house, which I stopped by for a bit since they've been splashing my quote all over the upcoming Jami Davenport Seattle Lumberjack football books.  Then it was on to the St. Martin's Press cocktail party, where I  hung out with fellow Heroes & Heartbreakers peeps, Kwana (author K.M. Jackson), Limecello and Megan Frampton.  I also ran into Harlequin author, Donna Alward, who has a single title series with St. Martin's coming out in May (yippeee!)

After munching on the tasty nibbles at St. Martin's, Limecello and I shared a cab to the Avon party.  I mixed and mingled - once again running into Lynne and Blythe from All About Romance, and getting stopped by Laura Lee Gurhke who proclaimed she was seeing me everywhere.  I had a great time, which I'm sure I'll be paying for tomorrow (when this blog post goes live).

(ETA: Rosie, bless her heart, gave me two bottles of water upon my return last night and I slept in this morning)

It's been a great conference so far, and I've had a chance to reconnect with so many awesome folks. Tomorrow is the final day, and RITA night.  It should be fantastic!

RWA Day Two: I Should Probably Start Taking Notes

Ahhh, yes.  That moment at the conference where Wendy's mind completely wanders south and she has the memory retention of a toddler hopped up on Pixie Stix and Coca-Cola.  I really should consider taking notes while I'm at RWA (what with the sleep deprivation, not to mention any alcohol I consume....), but I figure that would just look odd.  Anyway, today started by KristieJ rising before me and hitting the continental breakfast.  I opted to stay in bed until 8:30AM.  Eventually I was suitably put together and went downstairs to find caffeine - The Giver Of Life.  It was standing in line at Starbucks that I chatted with Leigh Duncan - to which I inquired, "You're with Harlequin American, right?"  I swear she was so flabbergasted that I not only knew her name but that I knew she wrote for American.  She immediately whipped a book out of her purse and autographed to me on the spot, declaring that I had "made her conference."

Such is the life of a category romance nerd.

Kristie and I eventually made our way to the keynote luncheon and sat with the lovely ladies from All About Romance - Lynn and Blythe.  Cathy Maxwell was the keynote speaker and gave a wonderful, rah-rah, inspirational speech that had people either weeping or wanting to stand up and shout "Amen!"

There were two publisher booksignings this afternoon, and Kristie and I hit up both of them.  I grabbed several titles at the Ballantine/Bantam Dell signing - which also included a number of Loveswept authors.  Then we moved on to RWA's first ever Indie signing, which included established names (like Barbara Freethy and Courtney Milan) that have gone self-publishing, to newer writers who chose that route out of the gate.  It was very well attended, and I'm sure much will be made of it in the coming days.  I'm not coherent enough, at the moment, to offer up any of my theories on this - but it was nice to see so many authors participating and so many people attending.  I think it was a nice success and I hope that RWA will stick with it for future conferences.

After that I had enough books (sigh) to ship my first box home - which will arrive at the office sometime next week.  Then it was time for the Blogger Bar Bash!  Many folks stopped by including Rosie, World Famous Author LB Gregg, Growly Cub (of Twitter fame), Limecello, Liza, Blythe and Lynn from All About Romance, authors Lorelie Brown, Jeffe Kennedy and Carolyn Crane.  I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, because I suck like that.  Also, I really am brain-dead at the moment.

Tomorrow is a big day for me.  It starts with a breakfast date and ends with some party invites.  Which means, you know - I probably should think about getting some sleep and not typing blog posts after midnight.

Silly Wendy

RWA 2013: Hitting The Ground Running

I landed in steamy Atlanta in the early evening, and somehow managed to beat KristieJ (my roommate) here.  She arrived shortly thereafter however, and after a brief settling in that including hugs and much squee'ing - we hit the bar to hook up with Rosie and World Famous Author, L.B. Gregg.

Talk was talked, drinks were consumed, and I ate dinner at an unreasonable hour.  Then it was back to the room where at 1:00AM, and still on Pacific Standard Time and I thought to myself, "Gee, I need to get up to get ready for Librarians Day at 6:30AM.  I might, oh, want to try to force myself to go to sleep."

So yeah, I started RWA off right by not getting enough sleep!  A growing trend sure to last the rest of the week.

Librarians Day was a big success.  There were several good panels and Jennifer Lohmann (another World Famous Author AND a librarian!) and myself got a lot of nice compliments from attendees about our panel on romance-related programming for libraries.  Jill Shalvis was a really good luncheon speaker, and I was able to track down author Vivien Arend thanks to her omnipresent cowboy hat.

The Librarian Goodie Room was, once again, off the chain.  I had a full bag of books, and that was me holding back.  Oh silly Wendy.  It's really time to consider decluttering the ol' TBR pile.  I still have books lying around on my desk from, oh, last year's RWA.  Sigh.

Then it was off to the Literacy Signing where I stood in line with Rosie and Kristie.  I told both of them that I probably wasn't going to buy much, and $136 later we know Wendy is a big fat liar.  Here's the thing though, I bought a hard cover book for a coworker, and ended up with three trade paperbacks - so there you have it.  Hey, it's only money - and it went to charity - so it's all good.  Here are some photos that I snapped from last night:

Giant lumbering Wendy (who lumbers over everybody) next to JUDE MOTHER-EFFIN' DEVERAUX!  I only babbled like a moron a little bit.

Carrie Lofty (whose historicals I lover) signing copies of her new Lindsey Piper paranormals for me.

Bronwyn Parry who came all the way from Australia (well via the UK) signing a copy of her latest (and RITA nominated) Romantic Suspense title for me.  

Jennifer Lohmann, my copresenter at Librarians Day and author for Harlequin SuperRomance.

After the Literacy Signing I decided to skip the Smart Bitches party - mostly because I had been going non-stop since 7AM and boy howdy my feet were shot!  Rosie, LB Gregg and I hit the bar, met up with Ally Blue and Jet Mykles and grabbed some food.  Then, naturally, has can happen at RWA - when I was all set to head back to my room I ran into friends (online friends I've known longer than I've been blogging!) in the bar.  I chatted with Sandi and Mo - and then I really, really had to get back to the room where, of course, I found KristieJ and of course we had to share our bounty from the Literacy Signing.

And you know, I went to bed at 1AM.

Go Team Wendy.

TBR Challenge 2013: High Noon

The Book: High Noon by Nora Roberts

The Particulars: Romantic suspense, Putnam, 2007, In Print

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  I picked this one up at RWA 2007.  Nora was the luncheon speaker at Librarians Day that year and this book was part of the swag.  Yes, I've had a book in my TBR since 2007.  Don't hate the player, hate the game.

The Review: I was all set to read a historical for this month's TBR Challenge, but got derailed when I DNF'ed a category romance I requested from Netgalley (sorry Harlequin!  Look, I review a ton of your books, DNF'ing one isn't all that terrible - is it?).  Anywho, I was looking at the historicals in my pile that fit this month's theme and I just wasn't feeling it.  The clock was ticking (I wanted to put this review to bed before I left for RWA!), and even though this book clocks in at a staggering 467 pages (have I mentioned I'm slow reader?), I took the plunge.

Nora's about as classic as it gets when it comes to romance.  Some folks wonder why.  Why her?  Well, I'll tell you why - besides what must be a killer work ethic - she can spin a story.  Is she the bestest, super supremo writer on the planet?  No.  But she tells a good story and keeps you engaged.  After DNF'ing a category romance that didn't make me care one iota, Nora's ability to spin an engaging story was not lost on me.  I inhaled this book, despite my quibbles.

Police Lieutenant Phoebe MacNamara is a hostage negotiator for the Savannah PD.  She's supposed to be enjoying St. Patrick's Day with her family.  Instead she's called downtown to talk down a jumper.  She arrives on the scene and immediately meets the jumper's former employer and current landlord, Duncan Swift.  Phoebe does her thing, the situation is defused, and Duncan is smitten.  Hook, line, sinker, head over heels, smitten.  Now all he has to do is convince Phoebe to give him a chance.  One measly lil' drink.  Surely she'll say yes to that?

Phoebe's life is complicated.  She's got a rambling mansion she inherited from a relative, a sour woman who is literally running Phoebe's life from behind the grave.  She's a single mother to a precocious seven-year-old daughter, and has an agoraphobic mother who has a panic attack just thinking about opening the front door.  Then there's the demands of her job, the pressures of being a woman in a male dominated field, the childhood trauma that still looms over her family, and oh yeah!  It seems there's a Psycho Bad Guy who's out to get her.  She's used to handling things by her self.  She's used to taking care of everybody and everything.  She does not have time to "date."  But Duncan - damn, Duncan with his charming banter and sexy eyes won't take no for an answer.

There is a lot I liked about this book.  The dialogue is fast and furious, the sparks immediately fly between the couple, Roberts does a great job with the secondary characters (the folks Phoebe encounters "on the job" especially), the hostage scenes are suitably exciting and tense, and the whole High Noon theme (Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly - it's a movie, you damn whippersnappers!) is genius.

So, what didn't work for me?  Well, it's a lot of little things.  Duncan and Phoebe are just so....perfect.  Phoebe is practically Wonder Woman and Duncan is so slick I started thinking of him as Teflon Man.  Do they have baggage?  Yeah.  But even with that baggage they still seem so put-together, even-keeled, like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths.  Phoebe is prickly at times, but she's so damn competent and good-at-her-job, that it's hard to even consider that a character "flaw."

There were also times the romance just didn't quite gel for me.  The declarations of true love seem to come out of left field, but this could very well be chalked up to my being engaged more in the suspense thread than the romance.  Also, as exciting as the climactic finish to this story was?  I have a hard time believing that Duncan would be allowed on the scene, allowed past the barricade, and would be able to talk Phoebe.  I don't care if she's running the negotiation - it just felt too Convenient Romance Suspense Novel Plot Device to me.

So where does that leave me?  I liked this.  I have an autographed copy, so I'll keep it - but I'm unlikely to ever reread it.  The suspense is good, and there's a moment during the third act that literally had me gasping out loud (seriously, it's gruesomely good and it shocked the hell out of me - Brava Nora!).  The romance?  Meh.  The suspense, delivering a good story and keeping me engaged?  Mission accomplished.

Final Grade = B-

Off To Atlanta!

Today is the day I'm taking off to Atlanta, Georgia for the annual Romance Writers of America conference.  Just like every year for the past (mumble, mumble) I'm going to shoot to blog (and tweet) while I'm there.  Since I have a tendency to blog at 2AM during conference week (sleep, who needs sleep?), I can't promise how pretty, coherent, or frankly interesting my posts will be.

Although, hello?  Are you new around here?  My posts are rarely any of the above even when I am working on a good eight hours of shut-eye.

Anywho, posts will probably be pithy, picture-filled, and full of even more atrocious spelling and grammatical errors than usual (wowzers, this could get ugly).

Remember kids - Wednesday is not only TBR Challenge Day, but also Librarians Day.  I'll be speaking at that event with the lovely Jennifer Lohmann on romance-related library programming.  If you're planning on attending that particular event, please pull me aside to say howdy.

Thursday night will be the annual Blogger Bar Bash - so if you've got nothing better to do, why not come on down to the hotel bar and get your drink on with me, hopefully KristieJ (my fantabulous roommate again this year) and whomever else decides to show up.  This is a pretty loosey-goosey affair, so plan to mix, mingle and crash other gatherings going on in the bar that night.

Safe travels to all of you heading to Atlanta.  See y'all on the east coast!

Reminder: TBR Challenge For July

For those of you participating in the 2013 TBR Challenge, this is a reminder that your "commentary" is due on Wednesday, July 17.

The theme this month is The Classics.   This is a theme I'm running pretty fast and loose with - which means I'm open to all sorts of interpretations.  It could be a classic author (like Woodiwiss, Deveraux, Nora, JAKrentz....) to a book that's part of a classic series (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Dark Hunters, the Cynsters....), to a classic theme/trope (Beauty and the Beast, friends-to-lovers, road romance....).  However remember, the themes are totally and completely optional.  Maybe there's nothing in your TBR that fits, or maybe you're not in the mood to twist this theme around your head.  Hey, that's totally cool! The themes aren't important - it's the act of reading something, anything!, that has been lying neglected in your TBR pile.

Details about the challenge and a list of participants can be found here. 

A note that on July 17 I'll actually be in the middle of Librarians Day at the annual RWA conference (this year in Atlanta!).  I normally like to tweet out links so folks can follow along with the commentary that way, but alas?  That won't be happening on the 17th.  Maybe after the fact, during the following week, when I've had a chance to catch my breath and unpack.....

Unusual Historical Spotlight: Woo-Woo, Edwardian, Retro France, Hero Of Color, San Francisco, Gambling Man, & China

The Guardian's Witch by Ruth A. Casie - Carina Press - July 1, 2013 - Digital Only

Description:

England, 1290

Lord Alex Stelton can't resist a challenge, especially one with a prize like this: protect a castle on the Scottish border for a year, and it's his. Desperate for land of his own, he'll do anything to win the estate--even enter a proxy marriage to Lady Lisbeth Reynolds, the rumored witch who lives there.

Feared and scorned for her second sight, Lisbeth swore she'd never marry, but she is drawn to the handsome, confident Alex. She sees great love with him but fears what he would think of her gift and her visions of a traitor in their midst.

Despite his own vow never to fall in love, Alex can't get the alluring Lisbeth out of his mind and is driven to protect her when attacks begin on the border. But as her visions of danger intensify, Lisbeth knows it is she who must protect him. Realizing they'll secure their future only by facing the threat together, she must choose between keeping her magic a secret and losing the man she loves.

What Makes It Unusual: It's a medieval!  Also looks like we have some paranormal woo-woo, so if you like your historicals straight-up that might be a deal-breaker.

In the Arms of an Heiress by Maggie Robinson - Berkley - July 2, 2013

Description:

Independent heiress Louisa Stratton is going home to Rosemont for the holidays, and at the family’s request, she’s bringing her new husband—Maximillian Norwich, art connoisseur and artful lover, the man she’s written of so glowingly. There’s one hitch—he doesn’t exist. Louisa needs a fake husband, and fast, to make the proper impression.

Charles Cooper, captain of the Boer War and far from silver spoons or gilded cages, is so hard up that even this crazy scheme appeals to him. It’s only thirty days, not till death do them part. What’s so difficult about impersonating a husband, even if he doesn’t know a Rembrandt from a Rousseau?

The true difficulty is keeping his hands off Louisa once there’s nobody around to see their ruse. And then there’s the small problem of someone at Rosemont trying to kill him. Keeping his wits about him and protecting Louisa brings out the honor he thought he’d left on the battlefield. But when Louisa tries to protect him, Charles knows he’s found a way to face his future—in the arms of his heiress.

What Makes It Unusual: It's an Edwardian!

Stolen Spring by Louisa Rawlings - Samhain Retro Romance - July 16, 2013 - Digital Only

Description:

Money makes the world go ’round, but love makes life worth living.

France, 1700

Forced into spying to save her father from debtor’s prison, Marie-Rouge runs away from her lecherous suitor at the glittering court of Versailles, and finds refuge in the simple cottage of a country miller, Pierre—a strong, seductive man who sets her heart to racing wildly.

Her stolen interlude, filled with laughter and warmth, ripens into intoxicating love. Pierre is everything she has ever wanted in a man—passionate, devoted, matching her desire with his own. But her need to save her father from his overwhelming debt means she can never have a future with her beloved Pierre.

The lies she has been forced to tell create a gulf between her and Pierre that seems all but impossible to bridge. And with mysterious suitors and a forced marriage in the offing, will learning the truth be enough to save their love?

This Retro Romance reprint was originally published in May 1988 by Warner Books.

What Makes It Unusual: Wowzers, France well before The Revolution!  Originally published in 1988, I suspect readers might be in for some ol'-fashioned bodice-rippin'.

A Dream Defiant by Susanna Fraser - Carina Press - July 29, 2013 - Digital Only

Description:

Spain, 1813

Elijah Cameron, the son of runaway slaves, has spent his whole life in the British army proving that a black man can be as good a soldier as a white man. After a victory over the French, Elijah promises one of his dying men that he will deliver a scavenged ruby necklace to his wife, Rose, a woman Elijah has admired for years.

Elijah feels bound to protect her and knows a widow with a fortune in jewels will be a target. Rose dreams of using the necklace to return to England, but after a violent attack, she realizes that she needs Elijah's help to make the journey safely.

Her appreciation for Elijah's strength and integrity soon turns into love, but he doubts she could want a life with him, knowing the challenges they'd face. As their relationship grows, she must convince Elijah that she wants him as more than a bodyguard. And she must prove that their love can overcome all obstacles, no matter the color of their skin.

What Makes It Unusual: An interracial romance!

A Wanted Man by Rebecca Hagan Lee - Berkley - August 6, 2013

Description:

A thoroughly English girl raised in Hong Kong, Julie Jane Parham has spent her entire life walking the line between two worlds. When her closest friend, Su Mi, becomes the victim of an arranged marriage gone horribly wrong, Julie travels to San Francisco in order to buy back her freedom and soon finds herself in over her head.

On a rescue mission of his own, Will Keegan uses his saloon, The Silken Angel, as a front to whisk Chinese prostitutes away from the city’s ruthless brothel owners to a life of freedom, risking his own hide in the process.

Sparring with a spirited British lady is the last thing Will Keegan needs, but he isn’t about to let lovely Julie throw herself headfirst into danger. And as the urge to protect her turns into something more, Will knows he must get Julie to trust him, or chance losing her forever…

What Makes It Unusual: 19th century San Francisco! 

The Ballad of Emma O'Toole by Elizabeth Lane - Harlequin Historical - August 20, 2013

Description:

High stakes marriage

After shooting a man, the stakes for gambler Logan Devereaux have never been higher. On trial for his life, he's offered a shocking alternate form of restitution…marriage to his victim's pregnant sweetheart!

Beautiful Emma O'Toole has sworn vengeance against him—and when a newspaper man puts her tragic story to song, the whole nation waits to see what she'll do. Their marriage is the riskiest gamble Logan's ever taken. But he'll put everything he's got on the line for a chance at winning Emma's heart.

What Makes It Unusual: A western!  And man oh man, just reading that description has the needle on my Angst Meter buried in the red.

The Lotus Palace by Jeannie Lin - HQN - August 27, 2013

Description: 

It is a time of celebration in the Pingkang Li, where imperial scholars and bureaucrats mingle with beautiful courtesans. At the center is the Lotus Palace, home of the most exquisite courtesans in China... 

Maidservant Yue-ying is not one of those beauties. Street-smart and practical, she's content to live in the shadow of her infamous mistress-until she meets the aristocratic playboy Bai Huang.

Bai Huang lives in a privileged world Yue-ying can barely imagine, yet alone share, but as they are thrown together in an attempt to solve a deadly mystery, they both start to dream of a different life. Yet Bai Huang's position means that all she could ever be to him is his concubine-will she sacrifice her pride to follow her heart?

It is a time of celebration in the Pingkang Li, where imperial scholars and bureaucrats mingle with beautiful courtesans. At the center is the Lotus Palace, home of the most exquisite courtesans in China… 
Maidservant Yue-ying is not one of those beauties. Street-smart and practical, she’s content to live in the shadow of her infamous mistress-until she meets the aristocratic playboy Bai Huang.
Bai Huang lives in a privileged world Yue-ying can barely imagine, yet alone share, but as they are thrown together in an attempt to solve a deadly mystery, they both start to dream of a different life. Yet Bai Huang’s position means that all she could ever be to him is his concubine-will she sacrifice her pride to follow her heart?
- See more at: http://www.jeannielin.com/lotus-palace/#sthash.i1yGcebJ.dpuf

What Makes It Unusual:  More Tang Dantasy from Lin!  This is her first single title, and the first in a new series for HQN.

So, any of these landing on your shopping list?  Any good unusual historicals you've read recently?  Suggestions and recommendations are always welcome in the comments!

Another Year Older, Another Year More Awesome

My Man: So, what do you think I got you for your birthday?

Me: Honey, I have no clue.  The last thing I really wanted and desired was a book case, and you got me that a few years ago.  Now it's all gravy.

Some time later......

Text Message From My Man: What's behind Door #1?

Yes, he put wrapping paper (Christmas wrapping paper, but hey - it's what we had in the Bat Cave....) over my book case.  With my birthday gifts, naturally - behind the paper.

I was all set to wait until today.  Really, I was.  I'm really good about (nice) surprises.  I can wait.  I won't peak.  I wasn't one of those kids who went snooping around the house looking for where "Santa" hid our Christmas gifts.

I'm an honest soul by nature.

But My Man?  Was practically bouncing up and down.  So I made the supreme sacrifice (ahem) and pulled back the paper behind Door #1 on Saturday.

OMG a Kindle Paperwhite!  And a new cell phone!  I loved my ancient Sony PRS-505 like crazy-cakes (a Christmas gift from My Man way back in 2007.....) and old (and my first) smartphone - but I feel like I've entered the 21st century in screen quality.  It's breathtaking!  It's wonderful!  Hell, I played with my toys all weekend long.  And I've got them just in time to take them on my upcoming road trip to RWA.

Wahooey!

Heroine Week Post

I've been kicking around in the online romance community since 1999, and for those of you who have been following my various ramblings all that time I would wager there are three commonly known "facts" about me.

1) I'm a librarian (like, duh)
2) I'm a category romance ho
3) I love, beyond all reason, historical western romances

What might not be as well known is exactly why I love historical western romances so much - and that answer is simple. 

It's the heroines.

Given the landscape, the hardships, the lack of civilization (in many cases) - women making their way out west would have be self-reliant, tough, smart, and resilient.  Doesn't mean they can't be vulnerable - but it also means they have, what I call, "real problems." 

I like my fairy tale escapism as much as the next gal - but romances that tend to flip my switch the hardest are books featuring characters that feel "real" to me.  Like they really could have existed in the past.  Also, I'll be honest - my blood is quintessential American.  Which is to say, I'm a "mutt."  I like that in historical westerns the characters don't have to be gently bred or dashing Dukes or "special" in anyway.  They are allowed to be "normal" people.  Normal people often in extraordinary circumstances - but normal all the less.

So when Brie over at Romance Around The Corner approached me about writing a post for her special Heroine Week extravaganza, I immediately said yes.  We kicked around some ideas (yes, category romance was thrown out there!) - but ultimately I wanted to talk western heroines, and some of the more memorable ones I've read over the years.  So why not head on over and check it out?  And stick around Romance Around The Corner all week - because, like whoa, Brie's got some great guest-posters lined up.

Cowboy Heal Thyself

There's nothing quite like falling into, and inhaling in one sitting, a well-done category romance.  A Cowboy's Pride by Pamela Britton has a lot of elements I really enjoyed, including a seriously wounded cowboy, a heroine still dealing with a past tragedy, and secondary characters who added to the story, instead of getting in the way.  There's a serious misstep (for me at least) in the first sex scene, but other than that?  This is a solid read.

Trent Anderson was at the top of his game on the rodeo circuit when a head-on collision with a drunk driver left his best friend dead and him in a wheelchair.  To say he's a tad on the surly side because of this would be an understatement.  Now he's heading out to a Northern California ranch that specializes in therapy for disabled people all because his other best friend (Sequel Bait!) and his mother put the screws to him.  When he gets a good look at his new therapist, he knows he's in for a serious round of emotional and physical torture.

Alana McClintock was almost done with her schooling when a car accident took the life of her fiancee, her future sister-in-law, and left her future niece, Rana, seriously injured.  It was feared that Rana would never walk again, but she is (and riding horses competitively!), all thanks to the work that Alana and the girl's father, Cabe (Sequel Bait!), did with her.  After their experience with Rana, they got the idea of turning the ranch into a therapy center and vacation spot for people with similar challenges.  Alana has seen Trent's medical files.  His doctors see no reason that he won't be able to walk again, as he only has partial, and what should be temporary, paralysis.  With hard work and physical therapy he should be able to walk again.  But so far he isn't.  He's been fighting everybody every step of the way.  And now he's Alana's problem in more ways than one.  Because not only is he the world's worst patient?  He's drop dead sexy gorgeous.

We all know where this going right?  Trent's surly, Alana is determined, time is spent together and they succumb to their mutual attraction.  It mostly works.  I liked that once they have sex Alana struggles with the idea that it could be some sort of Florence Nightingale syndrome.  I also liked that a big reason she resists anything deeper with Trent isn't because he's temporarily in a wheelchair, or that he's suffering from a touch of post-traumatic stress from the car accident.  The reason for her jitters has everything to do with Trent living in Colorado, her life being in California, and her reluctance to get involved with another man whose life centers around rodeo.  Even if Trent never competes again, he's such a big name in the sport, that it's conceivable he would take a front office job, and do just as much traveling.

Where this story stumbles for me is in the first sex scene.  Passion ignites, but alas - no condom.  Instead of partaking in their mutual release by other means (and I know these two characters are smart enough to figure out how to do this since Trent literally gets Alana off with his hand.....), we have the whole Oh Shit We Don't Have Condoms But It's OK Because I'm Clean Baby And You're On The Pill scene.  I get that neither of these characters would just have condoms lying around given their current lifestyles - but seriously?  For one thing, Trent was a highly successful rodeo cowboy and is gorgeous at that.  We find out later in the book that he wasn't one to play around - but at the time of the first sex scene?  We don't know that and neither does Alana.  The guy could have been bedding three buckle bunnies a night prior to the accident.  Although really, I guess it's not a matter of quantity.  You can have sex with only one person ever and still get a scorching case of herpes.  I was so annoyed by this first love scene that it immediately knocked my grade down from a B to a C.  Seriously, white hot rage.

Authors, you know what I prefer?  Just don't mention it.  Seriously, if lack of condoms isn't mentioned I just assume that the characters have some.  My imagination is good enough that I can conjure up the idea of Mythical Condoms Falling From The Sky and that both the characters are protected.

What ultimately saves the book and helps dissipate some of my anger over that scene?  The emotional struggle between the characters at the end - as Trent gets better, Alana starts running scared, and they're both trying to hash out how they really feel.  I also appreciated the way the author dealt with the long distance issue.  Hallelujah, this is not one of those books where the heroine gives up her entire life to ride off into the sunset with the hero.  They both ::gasp:: make sacrifices to be together in the end.  They both compromise.  Which is fantastic, and a really welcome breath of fresh air.

In the end, outside of the first sex scene, I really enjoyed this book.  It's got nice characters, a well-drawn sense of place, and enough emotional angst to keep the pages turning.  There's naturally a follow-up book in the works about Cabe, and I have no doubt I'll be picking it up.

Final Grade = B-

When Diamonds Fail To Sparkle

Like any reader, I have my favorite authors.  I also have favorite books, swoon-worthy ones that I will gush about endlessly when you pour a cocktail into me and I'm surrounded by like-minded readers.  So while I exhibit pretty typically behavior in those regards, I am immediately suspicious of any reader who squeees!!!! about every single book an author has written.  You know the readers I'm talking about.  Everything that author writes is an A++++, there are animated gifs involved in the "review" process, and there are always copious exclamation points.  I am, sadly for authors probably, not one of those readers.  Case in point, my reaction to Diamonds In The Rough, the latest full-length novel in Portia Da Costa's Victorian Ladies Sewing Circle universe.  I adore Da Costa like crazy-cakes and have enjoyed many, many of her books.  I've even enjoyed several of the short stories in this series.  But the full-length novels?  Yeah, not so much.  The first book I actually DNF'ed, and this one?  Well......

Adela Ruffington is well and truly on the shelf.  No raving beauty anyway, a slightly crooked nose (after an altercation with a tree branch....), some chicken pox scars, not to mention her family's only asset being a lavish diamond necklace, means men on the marriage mart aren't exactly falling all over themselves to get her attention.  But Adela is a breathtakingly modern-thinking sort of female.  She supplements her family's income with her naughty erotic artwork, and relieves her sexual yearnings with the aid of hired gigolo's that work at a friend's "establishment."  She's not desperately lonely, or feels like she's missing out on anything in life, that is until she runs into her distant cousin, Wilson, at a house party.  The same distant cousin Wilson who divested her of her virginity some years earlier.....

Wilson has always been intrigued by Adela, but theirs is a sticky situation thanks to family.  When Adela's father died, and her mother having only born three girls, her grandfather desiring an heir with a penis turned to Wilson - a distant relation.  Adela's mother has always coveted a match between her daughter and Wilson - mostly because Wilson is inheriting what she feels should be her daughters' birthright and also because with only a meager allowance, the money would welcome.  Wilson knows this - which means while he and Adela did share a sexy tryst in their younger years, wasn't about to be trapped into marriage.  However his last paramour has just tossed him over for an elderly, albeit ridiculously wealthy, Italian count and his wee lil' male pride is hurt.  And who should he see at the house party he inexplicably accepted an invitation to?  His cousin.  The same cousin who sets his blood on fire.

The strong positive to this story is Adela, which isn't that surprising since I've always felt the strength in Da Costa's writing is her heroines.  She writes great heroines - smart, funny, adventurous, but with enough foibles that they seem refreshingly real.  Adela is one of those radical new-thinking Victorian women.  She thinks women shouldn't be shackled in corsets, that it's perfectly acceptable that they have sexual desires, but is also cognizant of the fact that she can't just go around behaving radically and creating scandal.  She certainly does scandalous things (using "French letters," paying men to sexually service her, selling naughty artwork under a pseudonym), but as the reader you buy into this because for all outward appearances she behaves herself.  The only real criticism I have of her character is that like, too many romance heroines to name, she has a traitorous body when she comes within the same air space as the hero.

Wilson was the real fly in the ointment for me.  He's this odd mix of Super Genius Geek Boy and Asshole Alpha.  Adela, naturally, gives as good as she gets - which means Wilson finds out how she gets her sexual kicks and with whom.  He, in turn, gets all worked up over this and Ye Olde Double Standard comes into play.  Certainly it's OK that he had a mistress, but it's not OK that Adela is out getting her kicks with anybody other than him.  Would men in the 19th century think this way?  Hell, men in the 21st century think this way!  Doesn't mean I necessarily want to read about them.

The pace of the story plods along, with several sex scenes tossed in to keep the reader (hopefully) engaged until the author brings the villain of the story (an oily blackmailer targeting Adela's sister) to a full boil.  The problem was that it takes an awful long time for all of this to come around, and given that Wilson wasn't working for me for a long stretch, this was a slog of a read.  I also questioned whether a relationship with Wilson was really in Adela's best interests.  As any woman will tell you, "just sex" can be fun and fulfilling, but sex with all the emotional love-dovey stuff attached to it is a different kettle of fish.  I never felt a strong connection of the lovey-dovey stuff between Wilson and Adela.  Heck, I'm wondering why she didn't just stay single and keep paying for male prostitutes.

Things do perk up in the final 100 pages or so - mostly because the author brings the external conflict to a full boil.  I also appreciated that Da Costa's Victorian world actually reads Victorian.  So often in Romance Novel Land Victorian falls into the Vaguely Drawn Pseudo-Regency-Like trap.  But other than that?  Meh.  This may be a case of an author's contemporary work resonating with me better than her historicals.

Final Grade = C

RWA 2013 Blogger Bar Bash!

RWA 2013 in Atlanta is now a mere two weeks away, which means it's time for Wendy to really start putting her dance card together.  I got an e-mail yesterday inquiring if there was going to be a Blogger Bar Bash this year, and oh hey - what the hell?  Yes, yes there will be!

The Smart Bitches are hosting a wing-ding Wednesday evening after the Literacy Signing, so to avoid creating conflict - the Blogger Bar Bash will be Thursday, June 18 at 7PM in the conference hotel bar (Atlanta Marriott Marquis).  And it will last.....for as long as it lasts. 

For those of you unfamiliar, the Blogger Bar Bash is so named because I'm a librarian and I like alliteration.  Everyone, absolutely everyone, is welcome to stop and by, have a drink, say hello, and chat about books.  This is not a blogger-exclusive affair.  Navy SEALs, secret babies, cowboys, amnesiac billionaires and even Fabio are all welcome.

So if your dance card isn't already booked solid for Thursday evening, I hope you'll swing on by - even if it's just for a quick hello.  See you all in Atlanta!