Seven Years Of Bat Cave Awesomeness

And you all thought today was just like any other Sunday.

Today marks the 7th anniversary of The Misadventures Of Super Librarian. Yes, I have been blogging for seven years. Some of you might be wondering what it takes to blog for seven straight years, with no major interruptions (I don't blog every day, but I've also never taken an extended leave of absence). Well, I'm here to let you in on the secret.

It helps to have an inflated sense of self-importance.

Tee Hee.

Over the years my blog has most certainly been a work in progress. I've never had a clear plan. I've never been the best at self-promotion. No, really. I haven't. I tend to keep myself holed up behind the computer screen and...well...just blog.

Certainly over the years this blog has allowed me to do some pretty awesome stuff. I've met wonderful, fantastic people (online and in real life - you know who you are). I've gotten to work, however marginally, with one of the largest publishers in the world. I've given presentations. I've answered e-mails. I've read a lot of really great books.

I'm not sure what the secret to me doing all this great stuff as been - but I'd hazard a guess that it's just the sheer steadiness and longevity of the blog. Also, voice. I cannot stress enough how important "voice" is. I know other bloggers wrestle with this idea, and the only advice I have to offer is be yourself. Don't hide behind the idea of what you think you should be. Be who you are. Some readers will love you for it. Others won't. And that's OK. Not everybody likes me, so they don't visit the Bat Cave. That's fine. There are blogs out there that I'm not wild about - so I don't visit them. Not everybody can be a rock star, and frankly I'm not convinced anyone truly is. Like books, no blogger is universally loved.

Well, maybe KristieJ. She's the closest we got at any rate.

All you can do is keep on keepin' on. Put one foot in one of the other. Find your rhythm. Find what works for you. And be yourself. Don't fake it in the vain hope you're going to "make it." Because genuine is a lot more interesting to read than phony.

I've had to remind myself of this recently because after seven years of blogging, and ten plus years hanging around the online romance community (yes, I know I have no life - thanks for asking though), I had been getting more than a little fed up lately. Tired, if you will. But I did what I always do. I chalked it up to a raging case of PMS, not enough chocolate, too little caffeine and I kept on keepin' on.

There is no supah-secret handshake to blogging other than consistency. Keep on keepin' on. The community is certainly a big and interesting enough place for all sorts of readers and writers. And the more of us their are, the more interesting as a whole we are. Even those personalities that can get on my last good nerve (here Wendy, have some more chocolate!). Because that's what makes us interesting. That's life. Nobody is going to love everybody. Not everybody is going to love what you do. Not everybody loves what I do. And it's OK. Trust me. I've got seven years in to prove it.

Wendy's Talking Romance. Again. Geesh.

In a moment of pure insanity, I put in a 10 hour work day yesterday and gave two presentations on the romance genre. It seemed like a good idea at the time, which I really can't explain. I'd say I was high, but the hardest drug I do is caffeine.

The morning started with a presentation about Harlequin that I gave to our library assistants. In the library world we call these happy folks "para-professionals." They don't have a library degree, but maybe they're working towards one, or they have comparable job experience. The goal of this presentation was to educate them on category romance (No, it's not all Harlequin Presents), make them aware that cover art and lines change, and to discuss tips on how to "deal" with paperbacks in general at their individual branches.

I think this presentation was very well received by most of them. Some of them were likely bored out of their minds. Wendy's talking about romance novels. Again. Blah, blah, blah. As an added bonus, I also discussed Harlequins single title lines (Mira, HQN, Spice etc.) and got a lot of really good questions. A couple enlightening moments:

• Harlequin publishes in the ballpark of 120 titles every month. Yeah. Take it from the librarian, this is an obscene number. Some of the administration folks in the audience actually gasped out loud when I told them that.


• Harlequin sells 20 million copies (worldwide) of Harlequin Presents titles each year. Yes, I found this number from Harlequin promo material. 20 frackin' million! Each frackin' year! No wonder Harlequin claims those dopey titles sell books. You can't really argue with 20 million! Wowzers.


• I got asked about trends in the romance genre in general. My answers were urban fantasy (separate genre altogether, but lots of romance readers are reading it) and historicals. Mark my words people, I think we're in for a massive historical resurgence. Let's see if I'm right.

The second presentation was a much more general discussion on the romance genre at one of our smaller libraries. This was an evening program at a smaller branch, so I was honestly hoping at least one warm body would show up. For any librarians reading this, you'll relate that programming tends to be a crap shoot. You just never know what's going to happen. So color me pleasantly surprised when 13 people showed up! And it would have been closer to 18, except people called to cancel because of being sick.

I think the program went well, and I hope I didn't bore them. Everybody in the audience was already a romance reader, so we covered all the basic sub genres (contemporary, historical, paranormal, inspirational etc.) and talked books in general. I promoted the heck out of my library's upcoming literary event, talked up the authors that were going to be there (Linda Wisdom, Tessa Dare and HelenKay Dimon) and got them to check out some books. Hopefully they liked it and I didn't suck. Programming is hard for small libraries, and I wanted to do well for the staff at that branch. They're good peeps.

A couple things of note about these presentations, I think my secret blogging identity is getting to be less of a secret. I've never "hid" my true identity online, but I've also never willy-nilly discussed my blog with my employers. I just don't. Period. However, seems some of my fellow employees have found me. The attendees at the library program last night wanted my blog address (Uh, hi ladies!) and my boss made me show the library assistants the Blogger Bundles I suggested to Harlequin. Sigh. I'm not sure how I feel about this. OK, I guess. But maybe this means I need wash out my mouth with soap, and watch my language more closely. I know my father would certainly approve of that.

Top Five: Paperback Romance

I haven't done a Top 5 post in ages, mostly because the same five books seem to be sitting on top of our holds queue here at work. I think The Help by Kathryn Stockett was published for the sole reason of making me crazy. I'm convinced that book is never going to die. Of course I said this about The Da Vinci Code too, and it eventually did - it's just going to take time.

So since I don't want to talk about Kathryn Stockett, Nicholas Sparks, Alice Sebold, Steig Larsson or Lisa See - we're going to talk paperback romance. Cuz that's how we roll here in the Bat Cave. Behold! The Top 5 paperback romances currently in demand for my library system.


Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh - When you spend a lot of time online, it's easy to think that the romance genre revolves around Romance Bloglandia. News flash: It doesn't. There are scads of people out there who read their romances in a vacuum and have no clue that people actually blog about romance novels. For that matter, what's a blog? Case in point, while many bloggers were raving about Singh starting with her first non-category novel, my romance reading patrons are just now starting to catch on. This one currently has the highest request to copy ratio in system among paperbacks. Three requests for every one book.


McKettrick's Of Texas: Tate by Linda Lael Miller - This is not a surprise at all. LLM has been writing and publishing for a long time, is a regular fixture on various bestseller lists and this one is the first book in a new trilogy. Naturally, people want to read it.







Ravishing In Red by Madeline Hunter - Hunter isn't the most popular historical author among our library patrons, but she routinely puts up very respectable numbers. I've seen very positive reviews for this one all over the darn place, and frankly that cover is all sorts of eye-catching. Once the wait list is satisfied, I think this one is going to see very steady circulation numbers.






The Elusive Bride by Stephanie Laurens - The Avon historical contingent tends to do very well here at work, and our two-headed monster is Stephanie Laurens and Julia Quinn. I know hard core romance readers tend to scoff at hard cover books, but I honestly feel that Laurens' foray into hard cover helped her mass market sales overall. That's my theory anyway, assuming library stats count for anything.





Street Game by Christine Feehan - Looking at demand and request numbers, aside from the blockbuster hard cover authors (Nora, JAK, SEP etc.) Christine Feehan is probably our most popular romance author. Doesn't matter what series we're talking either - I always get a nice healthy wait list for her latest. At one point this one was my most requested, in-demand romance title regardless of format. It was out-pacing the hard cover releases. Seriously. My library patrons love them some Feehan. Or else they can't seem to quit her. Either way, she's a rock star.

True Librarian Confessions!

OK, I'll admit it. I dragged my feet on reading Goddess Of The Hunt by Tessa Dare. I kept putting it off. Why? Well, if you've been reading this blog for any stretch of time, or you used to read my reviews during my TRR days, you've probably noticed I'm a bit bitchy particular when it comes to romance heroines. Yeah, yeah - hunky, heartthrob heroes are all well and good, but I'm reading for the heroine. That's just how I roll. After reading some reviews and various scuttlebutt online about Dare's debut novel I feared that Lucy Waltham was going to drive me bat-shit crazy. However Judgment Day has arrived. Yep, Dare is doing my library's literary event, which means I can no longer put off to tomorrow what I should have done six months ago.

Lucy Waltham is an orphan who is under the guardianship of her older brother, Henry. Henry adores her, but admittedly has no clue on how to raise a proper young lady. So instead of playing piano, learning to paint, and any other myriad of useless Regency female endeavors, she's tagging along with Henry and his friends while they ride, shoot, and traipse through the woods. Having never had a season, where she could fall in and out of love with a bevy of potential suitors, Lucy latches on to Henry's friend Toby. She's hopelessly in love with him. The problem being that Toby, having left a string of broken hearts along the way, is going to propose any day now to Miss Sophia Hathaway. Well Lucy just cannot have that! She's going to have to practice her feminine wiles on some other poor helpless schmuck so she can learn to effectively seduce Toby.

Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall, is more than a little surprised when Lucy launches herself into his arms and plants a very ardent, but frankly terrible, kiss on his lips. Not exactly what he expected when he opened his bedroom door in the dead of night. He's never thought of Lucy as more than his best friend's little sister, and now with that kiss, he's thinking about her in a whole different light. However, the chit fancies herself in love with Toby. He tries to reason with her, but Lucy is nothing if not headstrong and mule-headed. Oh well. He's just going to have to keep an eye on her, won't he?

Goddess Of The Hunt is the type of book that requires patience on the part of the reader. I wouldn't necessarily call Lucy too-stupid-to-live, but she's young and very immature. Reading about Lucy is like looking back on your own impetuous teenage self. You know, when you fancied yourself in lurve with that handsome boy in your algebra class, yet he didn't know you existed because he was mooning over the snotty, blonde, popular cheerleader who had bigger boobs than you did. Of course you eventually realize you're not in love with algebra boy at all, it's just puppy love, an infatuation. And that's what Lucy must learn about Toby. In the meantime, the reader has to wait for her to learn it, and it takes the first half the book.

It's also during the first half that Lucy, and the reader, is falling under the spell of the aloof, borderline chilly, Jeremy. A man who has kept his distance in all personal affairs, and who Lucy has always seen as a cold fish, practically incapable of love. Not true of course. Like all good, solid, romance heroes, the poor guy has a fair amount of personal baggage he's failed to address. Lucy, with all her impetuous, improper, and unladylike behavior, sinks this guy so fast that he has no idea what has hit him.

This is honestly a second half book for me. Lucy, while not stupid, is definitely young - and the older I get, the harder it is to read about "young" heroines. It's too easy for me to want to smack them, even if I can totally "get" where they are coming from. Where this book really begins to cook for me is when Jeremy has to make a decision about Lucy. Should he just leave her to fend for herself, or damn it all the Hell, should he do what he desperately wants to do, and never let her out of his sight again?

There was a lot I liked here. I liked that Jeremy didn't sugarcoat the truth to Lucy in regards to Toby's plans and affections. I liked that in the latter half of the story, the shoe is on the other foot and Lucy is calling Jeremy out. I liked the fact that here were two characters who had no intention or desire to fall for each other - but they do anyway. In part because of circumstances that throw them together, and part because they're perfect for each other. If anything, the only fault I find with this story was I wanted a lot more of what I got in the second half and less time devoted to Lucy's girlish infatuation with some other guy. But, quibbles. This was an excellent debut novel, that was an enjoyable read once I got past my own peculiar eccentric reader baggage. I'm glad I thought ahead, because as I type this, a library copy of Surrender Of A Siren is in route to my humble office cubicle.

Final Grade = B

TBR Challenge 2010: Try A Little Tenderness

The Book: Wild Oats by Pamela Morsi

The Particulars: Berkley Jove, Historical Americana Romance (early 20th century), 1993, Book One In Series (pretty sure), Out Of Print, Easy To Find Used (lots o' cheap copies for sale on Amazon, and looks like PBS has copies).

Why Was It In The Bat Cave TBR?: I have two other books (Simple Jess and Courting Miss Hattie) by Ms. Morsi in the Bat Cave Keeper Stash. Needless to say, I seriously glommed her backlist. Also, this one has a virgin hero - and I'm a total sucker for a virgin hero. Deviant woman that I am.

The Review: I totally "get" and understand the fantasy appeal in romance. Who doesn't want a dashing Duke or Greek tycoon to show up at their front door and "take them away from it all?" But for my money, nothing flips my switch more than romance novels that feature "normal" people. Some may say that's boring, and some may say they need the "escapist" factor, but for me there is nothing more romantic than the idea that anybody, anywhere, is capable of falling in love and finding their happily ever after. Sentimental old goat that I am. Nobody, and I mean nobody, does this better than Pamela Morsi and it's why so many of us adore her historical romances.

Jedwin Sparrow is the mortician of Dead Dog, Oklahoma and a grown man of 24. It is only through his strong character that he hasn't turned into a hopeless mama's boy thanks to his controlling, sour mother, Amelia. Like most young men of 24, he's getting an itch he desperately wants to scratch, but he doesn't want to get married....yet. So he gets the idea to make an indecent proposal to Mrs. Cora Briggs, the most scandalous woman in town.

Cora is ::gasp:: divorced, which means in the minds of the townspeople she's a whore. When young Jedwin shows up on her doorstep and clumsily makes his proposition, she's appalled. The town may think she's a trollop, but she's nothing of the sort! However, she doesn't turn Jedwin out. Frankly, it was his mother Amelia that led the campaign to smear her reputation and wouldn't it take the woman down several notches if her precious baby boy was having an affair with that no-account, trashy, slutty Cora Briggs? So she tells Jedwin she'll consider his proposition, but as a lady she wants to be romanced. Imagine her surprise when he takes to the idea and a full-fledged courtship begins.

Morsi's historical romances were about salt-of-the-Earth people. Unless your blood runs purely blue, shake your family tree and ancestors that could populate a Morsi historical romance could come tumbling out. Jedwin is so blessedly clumsy and clueless that you would actually feel sorry for the guy if his proposition to Cora wasn't so insulting. But bless his heart, he quickly catches on - and his romancing of her is sweet, tender, and easily brought a smile to my lips. He's not fancy, he's not debonair, he's not a macho Alpha dog marking his territory. Jedwin Sparrow is a nice guy who wants his own life. Not the life his mother wants him to have, but the one he wants. And when he realizes he wants Cora Briggs for more than a clandestine affair, he puts on the full court press of convincing her that he really loves her. Not just the sex (hey, which is nice) but her.

Leaving Dead Dog after her divorce wasn't much of an option for Cora, who has no family whatsoever to rely on. She's a good, hardworking woman, who understands how society works and her place in it. She initially humors Jedwin to tweak his mother's nose, but as she develops feelings for the sweet, hardworking man, she knows she must send him away. He just doesn't understand the "rules." Rules that state that nice guys like Jedwin Sparrow cannot be with women like Mrs. Cora Briggs without there being damaging consequences.

What I really liked about this story is that the author gives all her characters a nice dimension. Even her villains have some depth. It would have been so easy to paint Jedwin's mother as a vile, evil shrew of the woman - but instead Morsi gives her a multi-faceted personality, allowing the reader to understand her, even if we don't agree with her. At that end, there is some redemption towards the final chapters that I'm not sure I completely buy - although the author sells it really well, and it's easy to overlook quibbles when my sappy romantic heart was practically bursting out of my chest. This is really a tender, lovely story, and another example of what made Morsi's historicals so fantastic. I'm certainly very happy that I have the follow-up book, Runabout, sitting in my TBR.

Final Grade = A-

Bippity Boppity Boo

If you've hung around the Bat Cave for five minutes, you are probably well aware that I am beyond burnt out on paranormals. I'm at the point where I'm flat out not buying them (for my personal reading needs, I'm still buying bunches for work) and the only time I read one is this time of year when I have homework reading for my library's literary event. So behold Bat Cave followers, a true rare wonder! An actual paranormal romance review from yours truly!

Going into 50 Ways To Hex Your Lover by Linda Wisdom, I was honestly only hoping it wouldn't drive me insane. Even before I was burnt out on paranormals, I was never a fan of the Funny Ha-Ha ones. Hell, I'm not a fan of Funny Ha-Ha in any type of romance novel. Period. But again, homeworking reading. And while this one certainly didn't light my world on fire, it also didn't have me running for the nearest bottle of vodka either.

Jasmine "Jazz" Tremaine is a 700 year old witch who works as a part-time chauffeur and a part-time "curse eliminator." Having been banished by the Witches' High Council (along with 12 of her friends), she's essentially going about her business, living her life, until the Powers That Be decide she's been a good lil' witch and can come back into the fold. Until then, she's hardly breaking a sweat over it.

Unfortunately for Jazz, her nice orderly life is about to get complicated. Nikolai Gregorivich AKA Nick Gregory is back in town and has waltzed back into her life. Nick is a vampire, and their on-again, mostly off-again relationship has been riding the merry-go-round for about 300 years. She hasn't seen his sexy, sorry behind in 70-odd years and now he's come back to ask for her help in solving the mystery of some missing-in-action vampires. Well no way, and no how. Every time Jazz helps Nick she either ends up in his bed, or in jail, and she's not falling for his charms again. That's what she's telling herself anyway....

There was actually quite a bit about this story that I rather enjoyed. The Southern California setting (mostly Pasadena/L.A. area) was well done and Jazz has her charms (literally and figuratively). I also really, really, really (this can't be overstated) enjoyed the fact that the author did not ignore the history of her two main characters. By far and away my biggest pet peeve with paranormals is that you have some frickin' old ass character (let's go with 700 year old vampire hero) who has seen all these things, witnessed all these events and lived a life (OK, an "undead" life) rich with what 700 years will give a person and yet he falls in lurve with some 22-year-old brain-dead bimbo? Seriously?! Once they stop having sex like bunnies, what the hell do they have in common? No, really. What? I wanna know. In the case of this story, Jazz and Nick are both "old," have a shared past, and history is actually mentioned. Jazz remembers the Civil War, when the Hollywood sign was Hollywood Land and the various witch trials throughout history. Loved this. Loved it!

Unfortunately what doesn't work so well is the pacing of this story which was on life support very early on. The plot description I gave above is essentially what is on the back cover blurb. Yet Jazz pretty much avoids Nick, and they don't meet to even discuss his missing vampire problem until page 113 of a 361 page book. And even after her and Nick "talk" - it's not like he's hanging around all that much. They don't spend a ton of page time together, which makes buying into the "romance" (even if they have been an on-again, off-again item for 300 years) a bit of an issue. Also, the villain is suitably bad-ass, off-the-charts creepy, yet the he's given very little screen time. The guy is so vile that I thought it was to the detriment of this story that the author didn't take more advantage of his existence. Seriously - he's way creepy.

At the end of the day, what we have is a very light (cotton candy light) urban fantasy slash paranormal romance that is filled with cutesy-wootsy (creepy, evil villain aside). Jazz has a classic car that is haunted by the ghost of an annoying 1950s, chain-smoking housewife and a pair of possessed bunny slippers named Fluff and Puff. Is it silly? Yes. Is it slapstick? Not necessarily in my mind (no pratfalls and only a handful of fart references) - although I survived the unfortunate romantic comedy trend in the genre some years back (which I still have psychological scars from by the way).

If you're a reader who knows, upfront, that light, Funny Ha-Ha, cutesy paranormals just don't work for you? In my opinion, there's nothing in 50 Ways To Hex Your Lover that is likely to change your mind. However, if you can't get enough of this sort of book? If you wish all paranormals were light, cotton candy confections that you could gorge endlessly on? This one is worth a look - and happy day for you, it's the first book in a series.

Final Grade = C

Suggestive Chocolate And More Books

Like a lot of Americans, I'd classify myself as a bit of a mutt - and I say this with much affection. One of the things I truly love about my country is the sheer amount of diversity among the people who live here. My blood line is pretty much a mess, although if you boiled me down to my essence, you'd largely be left with English and German. Most days, I honestly think the English is winning out. Besides the very dusty B.A. in British History currently in the Bat Cave office closet, there's my long-standing tea addiction and my love of Cadbury chocolate. A lot of Americans will say Cadbury is "too sweet" to which I say, "Oh goodie - more for me! Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

Many moons ago I ran across a Cadbury chocolate bar that is not sold retail in the U.S. I devoured it, I loved it, I wanted more of it, and then promptly forgot what the hell it was called. Looking back I should have done a blog post asking for help, but I honestly didn't think of that. All I could remember was that it was a Dairy Milk bar with white chocolate sitting on top of the milk chocolate - and for some inexplicable reason "milky mounds" was lodged in my brain. Which (naturally) My Man found uproariously funny.

Well today's shopping excursion to World Market (I needed tea) netted me the Holy Grail. Behold, Top Deck! And I wasn't making up that "milky mounds" bit either. Tee Hee. If my Internet searching is to be believed, this particular candy bar is no longer sold in the UK, but is still widely available in Australia. Any of my overseas readers - please feel free to correct me. But wahoooey! Milky Mounds Of Deliciousness! Now I just have to hope that World Market keeps carrying them. I held myself back and only bought two.

In other news, as others have already blogged about, the So. Cal. Bloggers added to our masses and met last weekend in honor of Lisabea's triumphant return to our sunny shores. Drinking, eating and merriment ensued, along with a trip to a fabulous used (and new) bookstore in our area that is essentially floor to ceiling romance novels. Old Skool, New Skool, and just about every Skool in between. Between Lisa, Nikki and that bookstore, I walked away with lots o' goodies.

A couple of books of note:

Lisabea decided to clean house and gifted me with her beloved (and well-loved) copy of Fair Is The Rose by Meagan McKinney which is (in her words) "my favorite western of all time." And she gave it to me! How sweet is that girl? Sweeter than Milky Mounds Of Cadbury Deliciousness, says I.

I'm also pretty sure I now owe Nikki a vital organ because she gave me her copy of Wildstar by Nicole Jordan. For those of you who don't know - a long, long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away, Nicole Jordan wrote westerns. This is one of them and it's damn hard to find. So hard to find that I've been looking for it for several years (I refuse to pay outrageous sums online for hard to find mass market paperbacks - won't do it). Nikki was cleaning house - and voila! 'Tis now mine! And after talking with her, I really need to pull that equally hard to find copy of The Savage (also by Ms. Jordan) out of my TBR.

Oh, and these photos will blow up to a larger size if you click on them. You know, in case you want to see all the books I scored or if you simply want to bask in the glow of milky mound goodness. Heck, I know I do.

So Wendy, Whatcha Up To?

What I've been up to is essentially a blogging slump. Here's the thing, you can't blog as long as I have and not come down with the occasional case of Blogging Ennui. Look, it happens. My solution to this little problem has always been "suck it up and move forward Wendy." And that's what I do. The result generally means blog posts that don't light the world on fire - but hey, that's not really why I blog. So it's all good, right?

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For those of you who have been reading the Bat Cave solely from a feed reader, you've probably missed the big splashy banner on my side bar promoting All Romance Ebooks 28 Days Of Heart campaign. As part of the fun they've interviewed several bloggers around Romance Bloglandia, including yours truly. You can find them here, and to read my interview you'll need to scroll down to the February 11 entry (you'll see my happy lil' avatar).

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I've been busy with work/career stuff lately. In a moment of insanity, I've agreed to do two presentations on the romance genre on the same day. D-Day is February 24, which means I'm trying to get my act together. First up will be a presentation on all things Harlequin to some of the library staff. Think of it as Harlequin For Dummies and you'll get a sense of what I'll be rambling on about. Also, it's a chance for me to educate them on category romance. As a general rule, while there are romance-hatin' librarians out there (seriously, save me from The Stupid), most of the time it's just a matter of librarians "not having a clue." They're not mean-spirited, they have nothing against the genre, they just need to be educated - for lack of a better word.

In my experience, while librarians are getting a bit better on identifying and appreciating the variety in the genre, category romance is still a big mystery. They think it's all Harlequin Presents. Which isn't really shocking since I've run up against more than my fair share of romance readers who think this. Yes, Harlequin Presents sells a butt-load of books. They're insanely popular. But they aren't the only books Harlequin offers. Hell, Harlequin actually publishes other stuff besides romance novels. Can't wait to break that bit of news to them.

The second presentation will be a genre talk at one of our smaller branches. Basically a run-down on all the different "types" of stories you can find within the romance genre. I honestly have no clue how this one is going to go at all. I'm at the stage where I'm hoping at least one warm body shows up. Whether or not I end up talking to an empty room, I still need to prepare some handouts and plan on bringing books for show and tell.

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I've got several things in the works, mostly involving my professional life, that will keep me busy and likely have me panicking in the coming months. All of these are projects I'm really excited about, but they'll require some planning, and some work on my part to not sound like an idiot. Here's the trick to public speaking - speak on a topic you're really confident about. It's amazing how easy the whole thing becomes when you know the subject matter like the back of your hand. That said, there's always that chirpy little voice in the back of my brain telling me, "Don't make an ass of yourself Wendy."

Trust me, a tall order most days.

Certainly as word starts getting out publicly on all these "projects" - I'll be blogging about them. Whether anybody wants to read about them or not. Ha!

He's Gotta Be Fresh From The Fight

Since my library's literary event is coming up in (very) early April, I'm past due to get truckin' on my "homework reading." When preparing for the romance fiction panel discussion, it's honestly completely incidental whether or not I "like" a featured author's book(s). It's much more about familiarizing myself with their work, and being able to moderate the discussion while sounding like I know what the heck I'm talking about.

But I ain't lyin' - this job is a lot easier when I "like" the book(s).

Holding Out For A Hero by HelenKay Dimon is the most recent in her Hawaii Heroes and stands alone very well. I think it's a good "test" for an author when they can make series stories stand alone (this is one of my personal reading quirks) and I'll be honest - the plot sounded delicious.

Deana Armstrong needs a private investigator. Her nephew (the family fuck-up golden boy) is rotting away in prison for a crime he couldn't possibly have committed. Unfortunately for Deana, the best man for the job is Josh Windsor and their history is a bit....complicated. Not only did Josh once arrest her nephew, he didn't take kindly to her hiring a team of investigators to dig around in his life, trying to find anything to discredit his good name in court. She hardly thinks he should hold that against her though. All she learned was that the guy was so honorable and squeaky clean that even his ex-girlfriends wouldn't talk trash about him. Now to convince him to take the job.

Josh has just left the DEA thanks to his boss trying to pass the buck of a botched investigation on to him. The whole incident has not only confirmed that his boss is a prick, but that he's damn tired of rescuing people. He's done. He's out. Then Deana approaches him with her job offer, and he somehow keeps it together long enough to not laugh in her face. This woman, and her family, have repeatedly shown that they are more than willing to throw their money around to try to weasel out of trouble, and now she wants his help?! He should be telling her to go to Hell, but damn, he finds himself saying yes.

What we have here is your classic adversarial romantic relationship. Countless authors have tread this ground before and many, many of them have failed (sorry, you have) because they forget a key ingredient in the mix. The adversarial "stuff" has to be believable. It can't be trumped up and stupid. Josh has a very credible reason for disliking Deana and her family. Not only did her mother try to blackmail him once - but Deana herself once hired a team of investigators to dig through his life, looking for evidence to discredit his good name.

The author takes a very big risk in this story in the form of Deana. I'll be blunt - the girl just doesn't "get" it for a good chunk of this story. It's easy for her to accuse Josh of hating money, as opposed to admitting that what he really hates is her family trying to buy their way out of trouble. She's also still lugging around guilt for a past event that I suspect many readers will balk at. Romance readers love wounded characters when they're "wrongly" wounded. It's a lot trickier when said wounded character makes the choice that ultimately leads to their downfall. Deana is risky enough that, I'll admit it, during my reading, it wasn't all sunshine and roses. But ultimately, that is what makes this story so interesting. That the heroine doesn't fit into a safe mold where you always "like" her. Plus, it helps that she eventually does "get" it.

It's been a while since I've read a book where I literally wanted to drop everything (oh, like my entire life!) to keep reading. The dialogue is fantastic, the story is solid, and the final chapters are just....wow, amazing! If I had been on the ball at all, this easily would have made my Best Of 2009 list. As it stands right now, don't be surprised if Holding Out For A Hero makes my Best Of 2010 list.

Final Grade = B+

The Month That Was January 2010

Time for me to do some housekeeping and post my reading recap for January 2010, which is kind of dismal. I had a fairly solid month made up of B and C grades, but dang - only 5 books? Oh well. Here's how it breaks down (title links lead to full reviews):

Scoundrel's Kiss by Carrie Lofty, Medieval Historical Romance, 2010, Grade = B+

• The best read of the month. A deeply flawed heroine (an opium addict!) and a former warrior hero who hopes to atone for his past by hiding away in a monastery. Two challenging characters who...well...challenge each other, and the author throws in plenty of derring-do to keep the whole thing humming along.
  

The Maid's Lover by Amanda McCabe, Elizabethan Historical Romance Ebook Short Story, 2009, Grade = C+

• I'm glad I wrote a review for this over at TGTBTU because thinking back, I didn't remember a darn thing about this story - other than it takes place in Elizabeth I's court. Hero and heroine are lovers who find their lives complicated by their social standings. He has a ton of it, and her? Yeah, not so much. McCabe continues to write really interesting settings and dayum is this girl one of the hardest working writers in the romance genre! She's got a back-to-back-to-back trilogy coming out (via Harlequin Historical) starting in April and she's got two books as Laurel McKee (via Grand Central) also on tap for 2010. Holy cow!
  

Kismet by Monica Burns, Victorian Historical Romance (Morocco!), 2010, Grade = C-

• There was so much I liked about this story. The unusual setting, the "not fake" courtesan heroine, the creepy villain and a good grovel by the hero at the end. Unfortunately the Old School vibe of the story extended over into the mind-numbing Let's Not Talk To Each Other conflict between the hero and heroine. Ultimately these two frustrated me so much that I was damn near exhausted by the time I got to that "good grovel." If you really miss the Old School, this one is right up your alley - trust me.
  

House Calls by Michelle Celmer, Silhouette Desire #1703, 2006, Grade = B-

• My first read for Keishon's TBR Challenge. Doctor hero in need of physical therapy after a gunshot wound meets his match when the physical therapist heroine arrives on the scene to kick his butt. Great characters, good communication, loved the Michigan setting, but felt the author really glossed over the heroine's eating disorder.
  

Turn It On by Vivien Arend, Contemporary Erotic Romance Ebook Novella, 2010, Grade = B-

• A traditional read with some holy cow(!) erotic sex scenes that wasn't always my cup of tea, but was a solid read. Sheltered web designer heroine trades services with security expert hero when someone vandalizes the house she inherited. Enjoyed that the heroine was sheltered and "young" without being a moron. A strong Alpha hero who finds his life turned upside down when he assumes responsibility for his special needs younger brother. Lots of sizzle in this one and it should be a winner for those readers who enjoy both "traditional" category and erotic romance. Says me.

And that's it. Only five. Oh well, no use crying about it. Onward and upward!

Hola Lola!

Contrary to popular opinion, chick lit is not dead. Certainly it's not wallpapering bookstores anymore, but the genre itself has managed to hold on thanks to authors taking what were the best aspects of chick lit and blending them with other genres. Oh, like the mystery/suspense genre. That's exactly what Misa Ramirez does with this second book in her Lola Cruz series, Hasta La Vista, Lola!

Dolores "Lola" Cruz is just your average, modern woman. She walks a tight-rope between her large family, her desire for independence, her job as a private investigator, and her stalled out love life. It's just another day for Lola when she walks into her parents' house to find every relative she knows in existence weeping and wailing, mourning....her death?! The television news has reported that local PI, Lola Cruz was found dead in an alley - but um, she's alive and kickin', standing her parents' kitchen. As the pieces fall into place, Lola soon learns she's the victim of identity theft. So who was this mysterious, fake and now dead Lola Cruz? And how did she steal her identity? And most important of all - was she the intended target and did the killer whack the wrong Lola?

There's a lot to like in this story - namely Lola who is smart, capable and learning the ropes of the PI business. There are a myriad of secondary characters that keep the plot humming along - including Lola's rather large family, her mysterious boss, Manny, her slimy ex-boyfriend, Sergio, and her maybe-boyfriend, Jack Callaghan. As Lola tries to unravel the mystery behind the dead woman with her name, she also finds herself knee-deep in family drama and her complicated relationship with Jack.

While this is a quick, fun read, I did feel at times it was trying to be all things, to all readers. This is where it stumbles a bit. As a mystery reader I wanted a lot more focus on...well...the mystery. When Lola should be investigating the identity theft and murder - she's playing waitress at the family restaurant, snooping into her cousin's marriage, babysitting kids, and locking lips with Jack. As a romance reader, I wanted a less contrived relationship with the love interest. Just as Lola and Jack start getting down to business, something conveniently keeps interrupting them. Then there's the fact that they're not really together, just tap-dancing around each other since Jack has past relationship baggage. One part of me wanted Lola to cut Jack loose, another part wanted for Jack to grow a damn pair, and still another part of me just wanted them get down and dirty and get it over with.

The mystery angle wraps up to a semi-satisfactory conclusion, although I could have used a lot more explanation of The Why (yes, we know how the impostor ended up dead, but why did she do what she did to begin with to set the whole chain of events into motion?). Also, while this book stands alone fairly well, some of the personal relationships are kind of tangled, which is where I think starting with the first book in the series may be beneficial.

As it is, this was a quick, fun read that didn't change my life but did keep me entertained. I definitely thought some aspects of the story could have a been a bit tighter, but Lola is an intriguing character that swoops in and carries the load. Definitely worth of look if you enjoy lighter mysteries with some sizzle on the side.

Final Grade = B-

Truer Than The Red, White And Blue

I know. It seems like I've been doing a ridiculous amount of promo on the blog lately. Well, brace yourselves. I've got more!

February 1 finds Harlequin unveiling three more Blogger eBook Bundles. The gals over at We Write Romance bring forth some of their Top Picks (with titles from the Intrigue, Presents, American and now-defunct Bombshell lines), while Smart Bitch Sarah gives us a rockin' socks bundle featuring titles from Blaze, Desire and Presents.

Once again, I'm up to bat with another (yes, another) bundle of Harlequin Historical titles.

This go-around my desire was to cram down your throats suggest titles that illustrate how wonderful historical romances not set in England can really be. No really, they can be. Trust me on this one.

Prairie Wife by Cheryl St. John may be my favorite title by her to date. It's a marriage in trouble story set in the west, about a once happily married couple who drifts apart when their toddler son dies in an accident. It's gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, and damn near sucks all the oxygen out of the room - but man, it packs a wallop!

Married By Midnight by Judith Stacy is an amusing story that will lighten just about any foul mood. It's also set in late 19th century Los Angeles, a setting that is criminally under-utilized. Heroine is a bridesmaid for the third time in a month and is ready to scream. Her latest wedding obligation finds her meeting up with the hero again, several years after he broke her heart. He's ready to settle to down, but doesn't want to deal with all the wedding goo-ga - so he and his buddy enter into a wager to see who can get married within the next month. He meets the heroine again, is immediately smitten with her, completely disregards the wager, they marry and whamo! Yeah, she finds out about it. Not happy. Not happy at all.

The Bride Fair by Cheryl Reavis won the RITA award in 2003 for Best Short Historical, and it's a fantastic story. Set in North Carolina, post-Civil War, the Army Colonel hero, and former POW, is commanding the local occupying troops. Needless to say, nobody is happy to have them there, especially the heroine, whose home has been commandeered to house the commanding officer (uh yeah, the hero). The war has taken everything from her, her father is very ill, and she's carrying a small mountain of burdens. Thrown into this mix is the hero, who begins to show her through his actions that he is a good man, with his own burdens to carry.

This bundle is currently on sale all over the darn place. A few places where it's available:

eHarlequin, retailing for $12.60

Books On Board, retailing for $9.98

Sony Store, retailing for $12.60

Amazon Kindle Store, retailing for $9.99

Barnes & Noble Nook Store, retailing for $9.99

But...I'm not seeing it on Fictionwise yet. Hopefully soon.

ETA: As Phyl indicated in the comments - it's up on Fictionwise now! Yippee! $14.00, with big savings if you use their micropay program.

I really loved all of these stories, and hope you'll like them too. Also, this is the first time any of them has been available (legally anyway) in a digital format. Yeah, for more formats! Yippee!