Woo-Woo Western

I absolutely loved Kate Lyon's previous release, Hope's Captive, which was a straight-up historical western romance with one of the worst covers to ever scald my retinas. Despite having a similar-sounding title, her latest, Destiny's Captive is unrelated to that book. It's a sequel, of sorts, to the author's debut novel, Time's Captive, which was a time travel (Read KristieJ's review). While I do think Destiny's Captive does stand alone, the fact that it's connected to a time travel romance should clue readers into the fact that, while it's essentially a historical romance, there's a healthy thread of woo-woo running through this tale.

Jeremiah Baldwin was the son of preacher man when his father's religious settlement (aptly named Baldwin's Fort) was attacked by bandits. They burned it to the ground, murdering everyone in sight. However, the man leading the raid saw a way to make a few extra bucks, so he rounded up the young men, one of which was our hero, and sold them off as slaves. Jeremiah eventually finds himself living with the Comanche, and taking the name Chikoba, becomes a fierce warrior. However when his wife and unborn child are murdered by U.S. soldiers, he is grief stricken. It's during a vision quest that the Great Spirit tells him to return to his childhood home, and uncover the truth behind his white family's murder.

Who he finds is Miguel Sanchez, a wealthy man who has turned the land into a thriving rancho, complete with gorgeous hacienda. However, when Jeremiah pays him a visit, the man isn't all that happy to see him. After he leaves that meeting, he's beaten to a pulp and left for dead. He's found by Sanchez's adopted daughter, Angelina ("Angel"). She has no idea the almost dead man paid a visit to her father, she just knows she can't leave him there to die. So with the help of some friends, she spirits him away to nurse him back to health. Unfortunately that is the start of a whole mess of problems. Angel's dear Papa has been keeping many secrets, and she has no memories of her life before he adopted her.

This story starts out pretty well. Jeremiah has a ton of baggage, and the mystery surrounding what happened at Baldwin's Fort is compelling. Giving a character a mystery to unravel is a good way to engage the reader. I was less enthralled with the mystical aspects of this story. Certainly, when connected to a time travel book, coupled with Native American religious customs, you're going to get some woo-woo. I'm a big enough person to admit this really comes down to a personal preference issue. Some readers will undoubtedly love the fact that wolves (yes, wolves) seem to follow Jeremiah around, while other readers will roll their eyes. But while I wasn't wild about this aspect, it really didn't sink the book for me. No, that was all Angel's doing.

I'll admit it, I tend to be a hard judge of heroines. I expect them to behave in a consistent manner and have a few brains in their heads (I know, radical notion). Unfortunately Angel comes off as both spoiled and brain-dead. Sanchez pampers her, and she tends to behave like a child all the while trying to convince her Papa that she's a "grown woman." The writing was definitely on the wall when very early on she takes it into her pea brain to flirt with one of the villains to try to uncover his secrets. Naturally she sucks at it, and lands herself in hot water. Then there's the small matter that her beloved Papa is a lying scumbag asshole that she blindly defends for three-quarters of the blessedly book.

Look, I get it. He adopted her. Doted on her. Sheltered her. It's only natural that she wouldn't immediately believe that he was capable of "bad stuff." But after a while, it just gets absurd. Even as more and more circumstantial evidence mounts, even as more and more things don't begin to add up - she vehemently tells Jeremiah that he's wrong. Her Papa would never do the horrible things he's accusing him of! Even when her father treats her badly, and accuses her of betraying him - she's still convinced he's innocent of any wrong-doing.

Seriously, I spent this whole book wanting to smack the tar out of this stupid twit.

Because of her idiocy, I had a hard time buying into the romance. For one thing, Jeremiah seems to get over his dead wife and unborn baby pretty darn quick (I guess I expected more angst on that issue), and for another, when they aren't arguing about her father, Jeremiah and Angel are boinking like bunnies. I didn't buy it. They never really "talked" and the author sort of skirts the "getting to know you phase" - but it made for a fairly weak connection. Also, for someone so naive, Angel practically ripping Jeremiah's clothes off really didn't ring true. She goes from pampered virgin to experienced courtesan faster than I can tear through a piece of cheesecake. And trust me - I'm pretty darn quick on the draw when it comes to cheesecake.

What Lyon continues to do well is plotting. This is a good story. The mystery, the secrets, the lies - all of it is compelling. Also, she has a knack for weaving in interesting history and real-life historical figures into her stories. I was particularly taken with Texas Governor Richard Coke, and some of the fictional secondary characters that played important roles in the story.

Unfortunately, when one of the main characters doesn't work for me (especially the heroine!) it's hard for the book as a whole to work for me. I kept wanting to rewrite her character, or add on another 200 pages to this story to make it into a saga. Give the author more time to work up a convincing transformation for the heroine, going from naive girl to woman confronted by the truth. That may have worked better for me. But as is, this one was disappointing.

Final Grade = D

Free Book Friday

I used to order quite a few of my Dead Tree Harlequins via their web site, and when I did - I always tried to order on Fridays because of their weekly free book offer. I've since gone digital for my Harlequin fix, but I still love to check out their Freebie Friday deals because....well, just because.

Today, October 30, the free book is none other than A Holiday Romance by Carrie Alexander. I reviewed this book earlier this summer for TGTBTU, giving it a B+. Making it one of the better books I've read this year.

Yes, I know the people on the front cover look like creepy plastic Stepford people - but this is exactly the kind of book I like to chuck at people who like to tell me (in a haughty, snotty tone no less) that all Harlequins have secret babies in them.

This little gem of a romance has no tycoons, no babies (secret or otherwise), no precocious toddlers, no amnesia, no whiff of pregnancy anywhere within the pages, and no cowboys. It's a nice, solid romance between two grown adults. Seriously. It's great.

So if you're thinking of putting together a Harlequin order anyway - why not do it today and get this lovely little book?

Little Miss Crabby Pants Declares Us Our Own Worst Enemies

The older I get, the less tolerance I have for stupid people.

It never ceases to amaze me how romance readers can be their own worst enemies. We bitch, we moan, we rail at all the ignorant non-romance-reading morons out there who label the whole genre "bodice rippers" or "trashy Harlequins." We take to our blogs and message boards. We write letters to the editor. We get all righteously indignant, smug and point out how stupid "they" all are.

Yet, as romances readers we do the exact same thing. To the genre we so profess to love.

Mrs. Giggles got the ball rolling for me with her recent post on erotic romance, which was spot on and just plain wonderful. There's a reason people keep visiting her site, and this piece is a prime example. You also get the added bonus of Mrs. Giggles feeding the trolls who showed up. Bless her heart. I mostly ignore trolls because (see above) my low tolerance for stupid people.

Then on Twitter yesterday, Jessica pointed out the Blogs Suck Major Donkey Ass thread over at the AAR message boards. Sigh. Why? Why?!?!?! What is with the Us Vs. Them mentality that crops up within our community? I hate to be the bearer of obvious news, but no one of us is "better" than the other. No one of us is more "right" than the other. My personal favorite comment from that thread is when someone accuses blogs of being "insular." OK, are blogs insular? Certainly. But so are the damn AAR message boards! Oh. My. God. Pot, meet kettle. You two make such a cute couple.

The final straw for me came from this Dear Author thread on cultural appropriation. Jane, I like you. I respect what you've done with Dear Author. But some of your regular commenters make me want to put my fist through a wall. My favorite gem from that monstrous thread has got to be:

"If I want to read different, but I know that, say, Superromance puts out white, middle-class, mid-America, baby-abounding books, I won’t even be looking for that different book there."

Seriously. Someone save me from the stupid.

Are there middle-class, mid-American, white people having babies in Harlequin SuperRomance books? Um, yeah. But there are middle-class, mid-American, white people having babies in a shit-load of romance books. Harlequin doesn't exactly hold the market share on that. Also, I found this sweeping generalization rather intriguing since two of my favorite Supers of this year featured an ex-con hero (and no, not for a white collar crime) and a heroine bartender. I've read Supers about construction workers, cops, firemen, ranchers, web designers, you name the profession, it's probably been represented in a Super. But no. It's just so much easier to paint an entire line of books with one big ol' brush than to actually, you know, educate yourself about the line. Do you see me going around saying all Harlequin Presents books are about Alpha asshole heroes and brain-dead virginal heroines? No. That would be because, um well, they're not.

Romance readers get all het up when someone "outside" who doesn't "know" the genre makes sweeping generalization, but we do the exact same thing! Do you know how incredibly frustrating this is? Especially for this librarian who spends entirely too much time trying to educate her colleagues that not all romances are in the vein of bodice-ripping rape fantasies?

I'm not suggesting we all have to love everything. I'm not suggesting we all have to embrace every single sub genre. If you don't like to read category romance? Fine. No skin off my nose. But don't make sweeping generalizations that they're all secret baby, tycoon, amnesia books. If you don't like hot sexxoring that pushes the envelope? Nobody is holding a gun to your head saying you have to love and read erotic romance. But don't then go on a message board, or your blog, or wherever and say you don't read erotic romance because it's all badly written porn that appeals to the lowest common denominator.

Newsflash: No sub genre is all one thing.

Not all erotic romance is badly written porn. Not every single Harlequin published is loaded with stereotypical, traditional female roles where the heroine wants to get knocked up with triplets by the epilogue.

If a sub genre doesn't work for you? After you've tried several different authors and books? That's fine. But then don't go around talking out of your ass. If you don't like certain blogs or message boards? That's fine too. Don't visit. But also don't go around bashing their very existence just because you might not like them. Because all any of this does is make you look stupid and shines a poor, low-wattage light on the community as a whole.

A community where not all of us are stupid assholes.

Calling All Harlequin Junkies

Every year my employer wants me to take on a special "project." Essentially something that goes above and beyond my normal job duties. In the past I've done everything from weeding, to committee work (blergh!), to giving a reader's advisory talk on the romance genre. I had my annual review this month, and once again, as am I sure will shock no one (Ha!), it was declared in writing that I am full of awesome. It also means it was time for me to come up with a new "project."

This year the lucky winner is Harlequin. Our branches receive a crap-load of donations, and naturally Harlequin is a healthy representative. The problem? Most of our librarians are confounded by those little category romances. They have no clue where to begin, what they should think about cataloging, and what should be tossed on a cart to sell for 10 cents. I proposed my idea to my boss (who naturally loved it) although I will admit that in the back of my mind I figured the librarians were likely to roll their eyes heavenward and mutter, "Oh dear Lord, Wendy is blathering about romance novels - again."

That is until I went out to a branch a couple of weeks ago and the adult services librarian swept her hands around her office and said, "Wendy, I got five big grocery bags full of Harlequin donations and I have no idea what I'm doing. I added those titles we already had in system at other locations and they've already checked out! Now I'm at a loss. Help!"

Oh Wendy, you're a frackin' genius.

So I'm in the process of putting together a presentation on all things Harlequins, with a strong focus on the category lines (although I plan on mentioning the single title lines like MIRA, HQN, and Spice as well). Now, I need some help from you all.

I want to mention those now-defunct lines from recent memory. The lines that libraries are likely still going to get donations from, but that line itself is no longer in existence at Harlequin. Here's the list I've come up with so far:

• Silhouette Intimate Moments (renamed Silhouette Romantic Suspense)

• Silhouette Romance (folded into Harlequin Romance)
  

• Harlequin Next

• Silhouette Bombshell

• Harlequin Temptation

• Harlequin Everlasting Love (folded into Harlequin SuperRomance)

• Silhouette Yours Truly/Harlequin Love & Laughter which beget Harlequin Duets which beget Harlequin Flipside

I'm also going to mention Bantam Loveswept and Zebra Bouquet - even thought they were never affiliated of Harlequin. They're still category lines, and we still do occasionally get Loveswept (in particular) donations. So probably worth mentioning.

So my question is: am I missing any obvious discontinued lines? Lines that were just discontinued within the last...oh ten years or so?

Excuse The Mess

Yeah, I basically unplugged this weekend. No bloggie for Wendy. Did y'all miss me? Heh - probably not. Anywho, unplugging also meant that my brain was on vacation, which means no post on one single topic. Yep, y'all are getting a list. Here are a few of the things rattling around in my brain at the moment:

• Will someone please shoot the Gosselins' and put me out of my misery already? OK, that's probably harsh - especially since I feel sorry for those kids and their dumb luck that they were saddled with idiots for parents. But why? Why am I constantly subjected to the Gosselins' every time I go to the supermarket, turn on the TV and/or radio and get on the Internet. Go away. Both of you. You suck. To the rest of you: this is the kind of crap we get bombarded with when y'all endorse reality TV by actually watching it.
  

• Yankee fans, your long national nightmare is over. You're going to the World Series for the first time since 2003. How oh how did y'all ever survive the drought? (Yeah, this would be sarcasm). I probably won't be watching, but at the beginning of the season I picked the Phillies to repeat. Of course I only made this declaration to My Man, so if the Phillies win only he will appreciate how supa-smart I am.
  

• Steve Phillips was fired from ESPN for failure to keep his Mr. Happy in his pants. Already sued for sexual harassment back when he was GM of the Mets, he got involved with a 22-year-old whack job who showed up at his house and contacted his 16-year-old son through his Facebook account. When will these sports guys learn? If you're that hot to cheat on your wife, for heaven's sake, hire a professional. In the meantime, wife Marni has filed for divorce. I normally don't condone vindictiveness - but take him for every penny you can honey.
  

• I've been enjoying reading everybody's comments on the Bat Cave Consumer Survey. Keep 'em coming.

• Since nobody in Hollywood is capable of an original idea, there are talks of rebooting the Dallas franchise. I loved Dallas. Loved that show. And I especially loved Linda Gray as Sue Ellen. She's apparently in talks to reprise her role, and for that reason I might watch one episode. If only to get my Sue Ellen fix.

• Movies like Paranormal Activity make me go a big rubbery one. I managed to watch five minutes of the Blair Witch Project and it was 4 minutes and 59 seconds too many. Seriously. I don't get it people.

• I am not getting a flu shot and no I'm not getting it for any conspiracy theory reasons. I never get a flu shot, mostly because I'd feel guilty that I was taking the shot away from someone who needs it more than I do. I don't have any pre-existing medical conditions. I don't have little kids or anyone remotely elderly at home. In the grand scheme of things, I'm pretty low risk. So low risk that I can't remember the last time I had the flu (that's how long it's been). The secret to my success? I drink enough tea to sink a fleet of ships (Antioxidants - Mmmm, mmmm, good!). But just in case, My Man and I are taking our vitamins and being diligent about the hand washing. You know. Normal, common sense precautions everyone should do all the damn time. I know. We're wacky.

And that's it. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things soon. In the meantime, feel free to sound off in the comments section.

Bat Cave Consumer Survey

This is what happens when you flit in and out of Twitter. You miss brouhahas. There was apparently one yesterday, courtesy of a New York Times article. The uproar stemmed over (what else?) the sharing of e-books. I'm not going to rehash it here. Dear Author can give you the scoop, and my opinion on e-books as a whole has not changed since I wrote this piece for Romancing The Blog back in June.

Instead of wading into the Dear Author fray (sorry Jane, I'm just not up for it today), I thought I'd spin this whole thing in another direction. I'd been kicking the idea around anyway as potential blog fodder, and this brouhaha is too convenient to ignore. Specifically, what are the book buying habits of other readers?

I've never made a secret of the fact that the main reason I'm a participant in the romance reading community online is that I love "talking" to other romance readers. I love reading different opinions. I love hearing about what everyone is reading. I love hearing about what you like and don't like. And to be honest? I'm a librarian. I could talk books non-stop, all day long, and I'd be one happy girl.

So to satisfy my curiosity, and just to talk books, I'd love to hear about how everyone "gets" their books. How do you keep yourself in reading material? To kick it off - I thought I'd share mine.

• What I Buy New:

Hard cover books for those authors I can't wait for in paperback. This is a very select number. At this point? Maybe only 3 or 4? Any mass market paperbacks I just have to have. Especially historicals, and especially if it's a western. Any western that lands on my shopping list is bought new. It's my pathetic attempt to show publishers that some of us still like to read them. A select number of trade paperbacks. Depends on the author and genre - but these are mostly erotic romance or erotica.

• What I Get From Work (The Library):

All my audio books. The only time I buy audio books is for my father, for either his birthday or Christmas. I love 'em, but damn, they're expensive. Also, any hard cover books or trade paperbacks I'm not willing to fork over my own cash for. Authors whose last few books weren't that great for me, new-to-me authors, authors who I should probably give up on....but can't. Also, since I've been moderating a romance panel for our annual literary event for the past several years - I tend to get almost all my "homework reading" through work.

• ARCs, Swag And Buying Used:

I accept a small number of ARCs that I review for the blog. And by small number, I mean small. The Bat Cave has no staff of reviewers. Folks, it's just me. If I had to put an estimate on the number of ARCs I accept? Not even one a month. Seriously. It's a handful a year.

I'm getting some of my Harlequins through Sybil these days, and am reviewing them for her (although I've been slacking lately because of an evil slump). This has been great, because it's allowed me to travel "outside my comfort zone" of Harlequin Historical and Harlequin SuperRomance and try some of the different lines, with no "risk" to me, other than I might have to read and review a book I didn't like.

I do pick up swag at conferences, and swap print books with the So. Cal. Bloggers. These generally tend to be books I'm "on the fence" about. New to me authors I'm curious to try. Authors whose last book I wasn't in love with, but I wanted to give them another go. That sort of thing. Also, I unabashedly pick up any YA books at conferences and give them to the Lil' Sis for her classroom. She teaches high school English, keeps a small lending library in her classroom for her students, and most of those books are bought with her own money (OK, so she gets a tax write-off for it - but still). So yeah. I take freebies for her and the kids, usually disclosing this fact to authors when I do (and let me tell you, they're usually more than happy to know that's where the book is going.)

I'm also a member of PaperbackSwap, and love frequenting used bookstores. These days I reserve both for out-of-print titles and those "on the fence" books I mentioned above.

• What I Get In "E" And What I Get As Dead Tree:

98% of my Harlequin reading is done electronically these days. I still pick up Dead Tree Harlequins for out of print titles (that aren't available in e-format) or if the book is a keeper. I know it's warped, but I like seeing "tangible" keeper books. It probably sounds silly, but it makes me happy, so there you go. I still go with Dead Tree for everything else - unless I want to read it while I'm traveling. Then I get it in e-format and load it on Ye Olde Sony Reader.

Are your eyes glazed over yet? I can't help it - I truly am this dorky. I never get tired of talking about stuff like this. The rest of you might have fallen asleep. However, just in case you haven't - feel free to share some of your habits in the comments section. Or better yet? Take it over to your own blog. Because heaven knows I rambled on for a while....

Bronwyn Parry Contest Winner!

Today is the day the Bat Cave announces the winner of the super-awesome-neat-o Bronwyn Parry Contest. The winner will receive copies of both As Darkness Falls and Dark Country.

Thanks to the wonders of Random.org, the lucky winner is commenter #7. And lucky #7 is...

Tara Marie!!!!

Ms. Tara - please drop me an e-mail (which you can find here) with your shipping address, and I'll pass it on to Bronwyn. She's the one who will actually be mailing out these books, and since she's in Australia? Yeah, be patient. But trust me. So worth the wait!

For the rest of you unlucky folk - the UK edition of As Darkness Falls (the first book in the series!) is available for purchase over at Book Depository - which offers free worldwide shipping. Free shipping! For a UK edition! Trust me when I say you don't get that offer every day - especially when you live in North America.

Thanks for playing along at home everybody, and many thanks to Bronwyn for graciously offering this contest to Bat Cave readers.