Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

I zipped through a fun little anthology yesterday.

The Basics: Pink Ice by Susanna Carr, an anthology of four-interconnected stories.

The Plot: The Graham sisters are at a celebrity auction when middle sister, Sabrina, spies a pair of breathtaking pink diamond earrings. She has to have them, but naturally they are way out of her price range. So she convinces older sister, Lindsay, and younger sister, Nicole, to fork over some cash and they agree to share the earrings. All three woman are hoping that owning something so beautiful will spice up their otherwise ordinary existences.

Sabrina starts "borrowing" designer gowns from the dress shop where she works and takes to crashing society parties - where she meets a man looking to take down a notorious jewel thief. Lindsay takes the earrings to Hawaii, where she promptly falls into bed with a man desperate to get his hands on the diamonds. Nicole is hoping the earrings will set off sparks with the man she's working closely with on a museum exhibit of royal jewels. And last, but not least, the fourth story is about a lady thief desperate to get her hands on the diamonds while working a catering job at a house party Lindsay is throwing. A handsome former detective turned private eye throws a wrench in the works though.

The Good: Pretty much all of it. This is a well-done collection with all the stories linking together. For instance, there's a loose thread in Sabrina's story that gets tied up during Lindsay's. And the edition of the fourth story about the thief was genius. While it's not what I would call a typical romance story (the heroine is not terribly sympathetic - the horrors!), it's certainly memorable and my curiosity was peaked. I mean, how is the author going to resolve this happily? And, and the sex is hot but not "too hot." Somewhere between R-rated and NC-17. So a good recommendation for someone who wants to try a spicier book, but is on the fence.

The Bad: The stories are on the short side (less than 100 pages a piece) so there are details glossed over. For instance, exactly which royal family is exhibiting their jewelry in Nicole's museum? So don't expect a lot of depth here.

Final Verdict: I found this to be a fast, fun collection. Just the sort of thing to read while you're on vacation or if your attention span is zapped from all the holiday who-ha. Final Grade: B+ - I'd read Carr again.

Everything Is Better With Gravy

"No matter what might happen to us later, I saved his life that night. And, for that one night, at least, he saved mine. Hope is in the mirror we keep inside us, love sees only what it wants to see, and beauty is in the lie of the beholder. Sometimes, that lie is all you need to survive."

Let's get this out of the way up front - Deborah Smith does not have a major NY publishing contract. Her latest, The Crossroads Cafe, was published by Belle Books, a small press she owns with several other Southern writers. From what I understand, she shopped this book around in NY and got nowhere.

Idiots.

The Crossroads Cafe tells the story of Cathryn Deen, a Hollywood movie starlet who dazzles with her beauty even if her acting skills are suspect. She's on the verge of launching her own cosmetics line when a run-in with the paparazzi leads to a fiery car crash. Cathryn Deen is no longer Hollywood's It Girl - she's a freak show. A burn victim lying in intensive care. But help is on the way.

Delta Whittlespoon is Cathy's cousin (several times removed) and she owns a cafe in the remote mountains of North Carolina. When she hears about Cathy's accident, she is frantic. She begs Thomas Mitternich, local drunk, to help her get in touch with her cousin. Thomas, a former architect who lost everything when the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11, has spent the years since drifting aimlessly and swimming in the bottom of a vodka bottle. Unfortunately, he adores Delta and just can't say no to the woman. He calls in the mother of all favors and soon Delta and Tom are sending Cathy care packages. Delta provides the biscuits and gravy, Tom sends letters and snapshots of Cathy's grandmother's abandoned cabin - a cabin he would love to get his hands on and restore to it's former glory.

All roads lead to North Carolina, where Cathy and Thomas soon meet face to face. But these are people with a crap-load of baggage - Thomas who just hasn't had the guts to kill himself yet, and Cathy, whose whole life has been wrapped up in the validation that her beauty once gave her. With it gone, does she have anything else to offer?

This is only the third book I've read by Smith, but they all have one important thing in common - she writes characters as if they were real people. There's an immediate connection. A spark that makes the reader think that there really was a 9/11 hero named Thomas Mitternich, and a Hollywood starlet named Cathryn Deen known for hit romantic comedies. This connection with the characters leads to a serious emotional investment on my part as the reader, and damn if I didn't want these two to fix themselves and each other.

If I were to have quibbles (and y'all know I do), it's that I wanted Thomas and Cathy to spend every waking moment together. The author does separate them for stretches, a necessary evil for them both to deal with their own issues. Also, Smith weaves in a lot of feminist "stuff" about beauty myth and the superficial culture we live in. It's all very good, but there were a few instances where I was like, "Yeah, yeah that's great - now back to Cathy and Tom!" I loved these characters so much I wanted Smith to spend every single word devoted just to them.

All in all though, a truly fabulous read. Great characters, great story, lots of emotional angst to rip your heart out - brava!

Final Grade = A.

Sidenote: Harlequin needs to get a clue and sign Smith. Seriously, they already have Debbie Macomber (who they've been promoting the hell out of - take it from someone who reads all that publicity who-ha for work) and Susan Wiggs writing for Mira. Adding Smith, with her folksy Southern charm, would turn them into a women's fiction juggernaut. But what do I know?

The Emotional Key

So I haven't done a blog post in almost a week (I spent the holiday weekend brain-dead), so I figured it was time for me to pop up and spew forth something insightful and discussion worthy.

Well, I'll give it the old college try anyway.

I was looking over my reading records this weekend and the past couple of months have been dismal. I mean, really bad. The only truly memorable book that leaps to mind is Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning, and I still wouldn't classify that as a keeper. Entertaining, yes - a series I will be following, yes - a book I thought about days after I finished it? Not really.

My whole year has pretty much been like this. Although I have read more "keepers" this year than in the past (you'll just have to wait for my end of the year review), everything in between those gems has been blah, or worse - so annoying that I wanted to ram an ice pick through my frontal lobe.

I suspect I'm not alone.

I tend to have little patience for romance readers who whine about "the good old days." Back when historical romance was all the rage, books were at least 500 pages long, and bodices were flying fast and furious from all the ripping. Honestly now, not all of those books were good, but to hear some readers talk you'd think everything on the bookstore shelves was a modern day classic.

But here I am, whining - not so much about the glory days, but about the lack of emotional intensity I'm finding in the vast majority of new romances. What drew me to romance in the first place was that it's a genre that plays heavily on the reader's emotions. Naturally, other works of fiction can do this too, but nobody has cornered the market like romance. I've read romances where by page 50 I'm thinking of the characters as "real people," and the story feels authentic to the point that I begin to think "Hey! Did this really happen?"

No, I'm not mentally ill and yes, I do know the difference between fact and fiction - but for me, a good romance novel is all about blurring that line to the point of obliterating it.

And I've had a hard time finding that escape valve in many of the books I've read this year. That's not to say I haven't read entertaining books - because I have - but I'm finding a glut of popcorn reads. Good books while I'm reading them, but with no staying power. When an author can turn my emotional key, I'm thinking about that book for days and weeks after I finish it. I sigh contentedly thinking about the story. I have to hold myself back from rereading it immediately because Lord knows my TBR pile is getting ready to crush me under it's weight.

So where are those books? Am I just reading the wrong ones? Possibly. More likely I'm getting greedy, because with my "keeper" numbers up, I'm anxious for more and not really getting them....

In The British Tradition

I can always tell when an author wrote/writes for Black Lace - their "mainstream" books don't make my eyes cross. Such is the case with the erotic romance I just wrapped up:

The Basics: Double Dare by Saskia Walker, the author's first full length novel published by Berkley Heat.

The Plot: Abby Douglas is an investment advisor working for a high-powered London firm. While out near the reception desk, she flirts with a very sexy courier she first spied in the elevator. He thinks Abby is the receptionist, and she doesn't correct him. She's had bad luck with men turning tail and running when they find out she's a very successful career gal. And this guy is totally delish.

The guy is actually club owner Zac Bordino who is really no courier. His mother just happens to be Abby's newest client. Zac's mother, being in failing health, convinces her son to oversee the family portfolio. It's when he looks over that portfolio that he learns that Abby Douglas is no secretary. But why would she lie to him? Was it innocent enough or is she up to something more nefarious?

The Good: While the plot would seem to suggest that the reader is in for miscommunication and a big misunderstanding, that's not how the author writes it. Abby and Zac don't sit around brooding in their internal angst. Frankly, they're too busy having fun - and by fun I mean hot, sweaty sex and plenty of it.

This author obviously earned her stripes writing for the smaller erotica presses. The sex here is sexy and hot without being kinky and weird. Actually, it's pretty standard stuff, which by no means implies that it's boring! What makes it so good is that Zac and Abby are really consumed by each other. They cannot stop thinking about each other, which ultimately leads to several steamy encounters involving minimal clothing. So many authors get the sex wrong in erotica because (well I think anyway) they get confused by the label. Erotica does not mean Everything-And-The-Kitchen-Sink-Sex. It just means it should be hot, fun, sexy, adventurous and allow the characters the explore their fantasies. But that's just me.

The ending is also very well done. When the truth comes spilling out, both Zac and Abby admit that they didn't handle things well. There's no angst. There's no big blow-up. There's no stamping of feet and pounding of fists.

Oh, and there's a very nice romance between Zac's best friend and the real receptionist at Abby's firm. It's kind of sweet actually - they hook up thanks to a Motorhead T-shirt. Name a traditional romance novel that would try something like that and I'll eat my shoe.

The Bad: The conflict here is really thin, and I mean really thin. Even at only 280 pages, this novel feels too long. Walker's backlist is littered with quite a few novellas and it shows. She tries to pad things a bit with the secondary romance and Abby's sneaky coworkers but it just isn't enough.

Final Grade: B-, a promising first full-length novel. I'd be more than willing to read this author again.

Tainted Juice

"Intellectual Freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored. Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas." - American Library Association

O.J. Simpson is arguably one of the greatest running backs in American football history. He's also a morally reprehensible, ethically bankrupt scumbag. He's also giving librarians one major headache.

By now we all know about O.J.'s latest plan to cash in - writing a book called "If I Did It" detailing how he would have done the crime had he "really" murdered his wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ron Goldman. This has, naturally, prompted outrage among those in the general public who still have values and morals - plus pissed off a lot of booksellers and librarians.

Here's the conundrum: booksellers are merchants. They can sell whatever they damn well please. Heck, they could choose not to carry Stephen King if they wanted to. But librarians? Oh that pesky Intellectual Freedom ideal. Damn, and double damn.

I got in a spirited debate with The Boyfriend over the weekend about whether or not libraries should stoop to buying O.J.'s "book." I said, that while I found it morally repugnant, that yes - if people want to read it, then public libraries should find a way to obtain a copy for interested parties. That's why it's a public library. It caters to the whole public, even the morons that evolution has neglected to weed out.

The Boyfriend was horrified that I would take this stance, and largely, I agree with him. I'm horrified too. But the problem with being a "public library" is that there should be something on the shelf to offend everybody. And while I think it's safe to say that O.J. is offending nearly everybody across the board - people get their dander up over the wackiest things. Darwin, Judy Blume, John Steinbeck, Stephen King, Harry Potter, Captain Underpants - all authors/titles that have seriously "offended" people over the years.

The thing with free speech and Intellectual Freedom is that we can't just pick the ideals we agree with. Yes, it's great that as Americans we can say "The President is full of shit," but it also means that the Ku Klux Klan has the "right" to have a parade in Washington D.C. Women have the right to obtain information about birth control and Larry Flint can publish a porn magazine.

Which makes my job very hard. Hell, it's easy to defend Judy Blume and Harry Potter, but O.J.?!?! But as librarians we can't just pay lip service to Intellectual Freedom, we have to truly believe it. If we don't, we have failed. Yeah, as much as it sickens me, that means O.J. too. Truly though, I hope the Goldmans and the Browns squeeze every last penny out of that mf-er. I also pray for his and Nicole's children. It's not the fact that O.J. is doing what he is doing that gets to me - it's that he's doing it when he has two children with Nicole. The fact that he has no regard for his own flesh and blood is what turns my stomach. I hope those children can find some peace, but with O.J. for a daddy it's certainly not going to be easy for them.

UPDATE: Oh thank the Lord, good sense has prevailed!

Wendy Gets On Her Feminist High Horse

Let's get this out of the way up front - KristieJ liked this book. So if you want to read a favorable review go stop on by. Me, I spent the whole novel wanting to shoot the heroine - then the ending pushed Wendy's Big Feminist Hot Button. I have to rant about it somewhere, so you'll have to click and drag if you want to read the Big Massive Spoiler.

The Basics: Hard Evidence by Pamela Clare, book 2 in her I-Team romantic suspense series.

The Plot: Tessa Novak escapes poverty to become a respected investigative reporter. One night, desperate for a fix, she goes into a gas station to buy coffee. A young Mexican girl comes running in, barely clothed, begging for help in Spanish. Before Tessa can do anything, a car pulls up, she sees an arm clad in black leather and the girl is gunned down. Tessa starts to investigate and runs afoul of our hero, Julian Darcangelo, who is an undercover FBI agent working to bring a sex trafficker down.

The Good: Parts of the ending are well done and Clare can write.

The Ugly: Noticed I just skipped the "Bad" section. The main problem here is that I spent the whole novel wondering what the eff Julian saw in Tessa Novak, Girl Reporter. Let's list her moments of idiocy shall we?

• All she saw of the murderer was his arm in black leather. When she spies Julian at the crime scene, wearing a black leather jacket, she immediately deduces he's the killer! Way to go Nancy Drew. Makes you wonder what she would have thought if a biker gang had driven by.

• During her first confrontation with Julian (she still thinks he's a killer mind you), he has to kiss her to shut her up. What does she do? Scream? Try to pull away? Knee him in the groin? No, she melts in his arms! Shoot her Julian! Shoot her now!

• She owns a gun, has a permit to carry it concealed, has no flippin' clue how to use it. Julian has to teach her.

• She writes a first person article detailing the fact that she witnessed the murder. Golly gee, why are the cops so mad at her? I mean, all she did was reveal all the tiny details about the crime scene, splash her byline everywhere, and basically tells the bad guys that she witnessed the murder, everything she knows, what her name is, and where she works. Cops are funny like that - getting upset over the littlest things!

• Her and Julian have unprotected sex repeatedly even though they both had horrible childhoods. Julian saw women abused repeatedly by his father and Tessa's mother was 14 when she had her. Don't you think they'd both be a bit anal retentive about birth control? But no! After sex Tessa muses: "And what if you end up pregnant because of tonight? Well, then, she'd have Julian's baby." Gag, Puke, Gag.
  

But all that isn't what finally pushed me over the edge. Nope. It was the identity of one of the villains. Besides the fact that it was no brain teaser (Clare doesn't give the reader enough options when it comes to suspects) this is what really pissed me off:

{spoiler start} The villain is naturally Julian's former, skanky lover. You know, the sexually experienced, aggressive woman. Because any woman who enjoys sex has to be the traitorous ho in a romance novel. And Tessa? Well she has to be the heroine because she's only had one sexual experience prior to Julian and it was so awful. I mean, she's innocent and sweet and girly - so the hero has to fall in love with her and protect her from her own stupidity. Swear to God this shit gets on my last nerve! {spoiler end}

Final Grade: D+. The writing is good, but damn almost everything about this book annoyed the crap out of me.

My Back-Up Plans

Thirteen Jobs Wendy Would Want If She Wasn't A Librarian
1. Professional Book Reviewer. Not likely to happen since if we are paid, we aren't paid a living wage. Still, I'm looking for the job that would pay me to sit on my butt and read books all day. Contrary to popular belief, librarian ain't it.

2. Crime fiction writer. Think pulp with cool, retro cover art and titles like I Was A Teenage Dope Fiend. The only thing holding me back is talent.

3. Big band musician. Once upon a time I could play a decent saxophone. The operative word here being "decent." I was also smart enough to know that I liked eating and having a place to live that wasn't a cardboard box.

4. Trophy wife smart enough to not sign a pre-nup. This is self-explainatory me thinks.

5. Earl Grey. OK, minor detail that I'm a girl, not British, and therefore can't be an Earl. I just think it's cool that he had a tea named after him.

6. Back-up singer to Marvin Gaye. OK, so he was murdered in 1984 and this is impossible. Really, I just want to be one of the girls singing on Stubborn Kind Of Fellow.

7. Gladys Knight. Sure being able to sing like that would be great, but I'm mainly in it for the Pips. I've always wanted Pips.

8. Lounge singer in cheesey Vegas night club just off the strip. I'd start with the Neil Sedaka songbook.

9. Official Cheesecake Taster for The Cheesecake Factory. I'm just looking for an excuse here.

10. Official Chocolate Taster for Cadbury. Again, just looking for an excuse.

11. Harlequin Library Rep. Frankly, I don't think they have a clue on how to market to libraries. Not their fault - they've built that company on retail and direct-to-consumer. They need me, and they just don't know it.

12. Queen of the Harlequin Spice Line. I've read 3 out of the 5 titles published so far. They need me. They desperately need me. At the very least they should try to hire someone away from Black Lace.

13. Bat Girl for the Detroit Tigers. Frankly I think it's age discrimination that they don't allow women in their 30s to be Bat Girls.

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I Wish I May

Karen Templeton has a well-done post over at Romancing The Blog today that talks about missing-in-action authors and why they "quit." It's nothing that I didn't already know, but how about the rest of the mainstream romance reading public? Let's face it, there are only a handful of us that are seriously plugged-in through the Internet. I'd wager there are countless romance readers out there who have never entertained the notion of posting on a message board, joining an e-mail loop, reading or starting a blog. And to a certain extent, I think that makes them a tiny bit less savvy. Mind you, I didn't say "stupid" or "naive" - just not as aware of some of the inner workings and behind the scenes brouhahas that occur in the business.

And I think we all know by now that publishing is a business. Heck, I might not like the direction certain publishers have taken over the last few years (cough, Avon, cough) - but obviously it's working for them. I mean, they must be making money or else you think they would have gotten a clue by now.

So who do we blame it on? Honestly, I think it's mainly us - the reader. Ultimately we decide. We decide what sells and what doesn't. Now I know what you're thinking, "I can only buy what publishers offer" and that's certainly true. But you can also not buy. Tired of watered down historicals? Well stop buying them. Get them from the library, start reading mainstream historical fiction or book trade online or with friends. This might require you as the reader to make some hard choices - but let's be honest here, if you stopped buying books tomorrow would you run out of stuff to read? If you're a typical genre fiction reader the answer is no. Hell, I'm personally drowning in unread books. I could stop buying tomorrow and I'd be set for years.

There is always talk online of what readers are tired of, what they want more of, how Publisher X could offer more variety (cough, Avon, cough). To aid in the discussion, here is Wendy's Handy List Of What She Wants. Find me in a bookstore and chances are I'm working with this unofficial list of rules.

• Regency is a hard sell for me anymore. Unless it's dark. I'll do dark.

• England as a whole is hard sell for me anymore. Unless it's dark. I'll do dark.

• Western = YeeHaw! I tend to buy these new, no questions asked.

• Westerns that take place pre-Civil War = YeeHaw and Hell Yeah!

• American-set historicals late 19th century, early 20th = gimme, gimme, gimme

• Dark romantic suspense = good thing (or as I like to call it, Where Have You Gone Katherine Sutcliffe. Answer = she retired)
  

• I'm tired of paranormals now unless the back cover blurb really shouts out at me.

• Emma Holly needs to write more erotica and faster.

• I'm really, really tired of erotica mixed with paranormal.

• Gimme more gothics that don't feature any woo-woo.

• Maggie Osborne needs to come out of retirement. Seriously, I need her more than her family does.

• Harlequin Historical really should publish more than one western a month. I love that line and they have several good western authors writing for them.

• Don't you think the French Revolution is a great setting? Why isn't it done more? Too depressing? Is the guillotine not sexy enough? Or is it because the book would feature French people?
  

• Campy reads. Thea Devine at her best writes wonderful camp (at her worst that's a different story). A girl just needs over-the-top camp every now and then.

• Heroines who don't give birth to triplets in the epilouge. Seriously publishers - women can decide to never have children and that doesn't make them freaks.

• Historicals that "feel" different. Everything has been reading the same to me in this sub genre for the last year (at least). I can't believe it's run its course. I think it just needs fresh voices, and authors/publishers willing to take some risks.

That's all I got for now. Hey, it's a Monday - give me some time to cook up some more. In the meantime, what is on your wishlist?

And You Thought I Was Done With Baseball

My gut instinct is to not be happy about this. The Tigers (in their infinite wisdom) have just worked out a trade with the Skankies for Gary Sheffield. In exchange, we gave up 3 pitching prospects.

Why it could be good: Sheffield, when he's not being a whiny bitch, can hit. Lord knows we need more of that. Also, Leyland coached (um, put up with?) Sheffield when they were both in the Marlins organization - so maybe it won't be a total cluster fuck.

Why I pretty much hate it: Have I mentioned the whiny bitch thing? Also that gay mustache. The only guy who had a worse mustache than Sheffield this year was Jason Giambi, who spent most of this past season looking like a 1970s gay porn star. Shef also has a reputation for being a cancer in the locker room. Color me wacky, I just don't want him around my young team.

Of course, I was also the girl who was unhappy when we traded away Jeff Weaver (who floundered considerably until this past post season) - hated the Magglio Ordonez deal (I still think we're paying him too much though) - and really hated the whole Kenny Rogers signing (I thought he was "too old"). So maybe this will work out OK for us. I don't know jack about the pitchers we gave up, except for Sanchez, who was considered one of our top prospects and had injury issues this year. Hopefully none of those guys turn out to be the second coming of Cy Young.

She's Talking About Heroines Again

Latest column is up over at Romancing The Blog and yeah, I'm blathering on about heroines. Again.

I actually wrote this column weeks ago, and was inspired by an earlier RtB column (linked to in my column) and memories of horrible books from the past. Books where the hero is an Alpha Jerk and the heroine basically rolls over and dies. Not only does this sort of claptrap raise my blood pressure, it puts me in an all around bad mood.

As readers, I think we'd like to think that the Dish Rag heroine is a thing of the past. And frankly, for the most part - she is. I don't think the phenomena is as wide spread as it once was. That said, she's still around - mainly because I think authors start out with good intentions and it all goes horribly wrong in the execution.

I think many of these Dish Rag heroines start out as "sweet" and "innocent" - but somewhere during the page count they morph into "stupid" and "naive." Also, while I abhor it with every fiber of my being (Mama didn't raise no fool), I can't stand rescue fantasies. Frankly, if a woman needs the big strong man to save her, well evolution should just finish the job - that's all I'm saying. I can understand the appeal of rescue fantasies (truly, I can), but it really limits the heroine. I mean, if the girl had any level of competency she would well be on the way to rescuing her own dumb self before the big strong Alpha hero shows up. But that's just me.

I'm not saying that men can't be attracted to idiot women in real life - but let's call it what it is - lust. Here's the fundamental difference, in Real Life the strong man would play around with the idiot female long enough to have some good, sweaty sex - then dump her. In Romance Novel Land he falls in love, rescues her from her own stupidity ad nauseam, then marries her.

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Every few months the discussion pops up online about how the Alpha Hero is "dead." He's not dead - it's just he's completely unlikeable when authors pair him with moronic heroines. This is not romantic - the hunky guy falling for the idiot. Or frankly, vice versa. How many of us have known strong, smart, sexy women who waste their time on losers, thugs and deadbeats?

Romance is romance when it's a meeting of the minds. When it's two people completely and totally suited for each other. Hey, opposites attract every day - and those relationships can work. But when one of those persons is a dumbass - well sooner or later the relationship fails. And that my friends, is not romantic.

Flotation Device

Help me out here, because obviously I'm a little slow on the uptake. Exactly who does Avon think this cover will appeal to? Maybe they're looking to attract the long neglected 13-year-old boy demographic to romance reading.

And in case you were wondering - this reprint, complete with Boobs Ahoy! cover, is already available for purchase through Amazon.

Words fail.

The First Step Is Admitting You Have A Problem

During my daily blog hopping I came across this post by Ames over at Thrifty Reader who reports her TBR (that's To Be Read) pile is now at 247 books.

I've got one word for her: Amateur.

I discovered while moving that I have too many books. Now I know many of you (also book lovers) will scoff and say, "There is no such thing." Uh, yeah there is. Trust me. I don't even have a real bookshelf. I mean, the majority of my TBR is packed in Rubbermaid totes, so even though I didn't have to pack too many books (they already were), I still came to the conclusion that I have a serious problem.

This makes little sense to me. I mean, I'm a librarian for cripes sake. I can literally get any book my little heart desires at any given moment (frankly, so can you non-librarians - that's why God invented Interlibrary Loan). So why do I shell out money to buy these books, only to have them lying around for years, unread?

Good question. If someone has a theory I'd be interested to hear it.

I figure everyone is entitled to one guilty pleasure. Mine is novels (specifically romance novels), and since my addiction has 1) Not kept me from paying the bills on time 2) kept me from buying groceries or 3) kept me from living a normal, productive life - then I figure I'm not hurting anybody.

But damn I got a lot of books.

As for a count? I don't have one. Frankly the last time I counted (a couple of years ago now) I was around the 400 mark - and I know I have more books now. Ames' 247? Seriously, that's probably my Harlequin stash alone.

Back On Track

I finally plowed through the rest of Entangled (no, it doesn't get better) and zipped through another book yesterday while waiting for the DirecTV assholes (and I'm back to waiting for them today. Long story, patience wearing thin, it's today or I'm done). Anyway, here it is:

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning - it's a hardcover folks and not a romance, so brace yourselves.

Count me as one of those readers who never "got" the appeal of Moning's romances. I mean, I hated The Dark Highlander. Really loathed it. A one-dimensional hero and a too-stupid-to-live heroine. No thank you. I enjoyed The Immortal Highlander, but it was the kind of book that one forgets instantly. I mean, I can't recall a darn thing about that story except the hero was named Adam. Anyway, Darkfever is a departure for Moning, and since I never "got" her romances, this one worked very well for me.

MacKayla "Mac" Lane is a bubbly 22-year-old Southern girl who is in no hurry to grow up. She still lives at home, attends just enough community college courses to keep her parents' nagging at bay, loves pink nail polish and tends bar at night. Then her older sister, Alina, is murdered while studying abroad at Dublin's Trinity College and Mac's world shifts.

When the Dublin police declare the investigation a lost cause, Mac hops a flight to Dublin against her parents' wishes. Her sister left her cryptic voice mail message before her death, and Mac is determined to sway the Dublin cops to not abandon the investigation. Instead, Mac comes into contact with a mysterious bookstore owner named Jericho Barrons, and discovers a whole other world in Ireland. A world where Fae (or Faery) exist and have taken to randomly killing humans. And worse still? Mac is a sidhe-seer, a person who can see past Fae glamour for what they truly are - monsters. This makes her an enemy of the Fae, and according to her sister she must find a dark book called the Sinsar Dubh, a book that a lot of bad guys are looking for.

I really liked this story a lot (I mean, I did read it in a day). Told entirely in first person (which I love), Mac is a plucky heroine who acts like a 22-year-old lacking focus. I think I might have gone to college with this girl. Barrons serves as a mentor of sorts, but questions surround him. Can Mac really trust him? And what is he exactly? The atmosphere is wonderful - gothic underworld if you will.

The only quibble here is that this book doesn't really end. There are a lot of unanswered questions, which normally pisses the hell out of me - but it works here. Moning is planning more books about Mac - so readers should expect these unanswered questions and that the happily-ever-after isn't in the cards just yet.

As someone who never saw the appeal of Moning's romances, this new direction excites me. Even still, I have a hard time categorizing it - which means it has crossover appeal written all over it. Although that cover succeeds in scaring off "non-romance" readers me thinks.

Final Grade = B.