August 15, 2010

Random Romance Sunday: Spy Vs. Spy

The Book: Dangerous Allies by Renee Ryan

The Particulars: Steeple Hill Love Inspired Historical, Inspirational Historical Romance, September 14, 2010

The Blurb:
In Nazi Germany, British agent Jack Anderson risks his life working undercover as an SS officer. And his latest mission—to uncover intelligence about a secret Nazi weapon—is his most perilous yet. Especially since he'll have to work with Katarina Kerensky. The famous actress is too dangerous to trust—and too beautiful to ignore.

Desperate to save her mother from the Gestapo, Katia reluctantly agrees to work with the coolly handsome Jack. But can she trust a man whose sense of honor is tangled in a web of lies? In a race against time, Jack and Katia forge an alliance to take down the enemy…and learn whether love can survive in a world gone wrong.
Is It In Wendy's TBR?: Not yet, but I'm thinking it will be soon.

Any Reviews?: September release - so not yet. Although it's currently on sale over at eHarlequin in both print and ebook.

Anything Else?:

Dear Publishers Of Secular Romance,

Thank you. Thank you so much! I'm glad you work extra hard to filter out different time periods and settings so our poor wee lil' heathen reader brains don't start hurting. None of us are interested in reading Edwardian era, World War II, westerns (pre and post Civil War), Australia, Africa, the Far East, romances about "icky" working class characters etc. - so yes - please keep up the "good" work of making sure only the inspirational fiction market gets anything remotely resembling variety.

/end sarcasm

Sincerely,
Cranky Wendy Who Is Coming Dangerously Close To Whippin' Out Little Miss Crabby Pants.

Oh wait....


There she is.

Humph ::flounce, flounce, foot-stamp, pout::

Shout-out to the author blog Petticoats and Pistols for tossing this beautiful cover in my face. That dress! That tuxedo! OK, sure. I want to give that heroine a box of Twinkies (and a sandwich) - but still? Swoon

8 comments:

Lynn Spencer said...

This one actually arrived in my TBR a couple days ago. They had me at "Holy cow, it's not the Regency!". :-) BTW, per the author's website, this is the kickoff to a whole WWII series.

Marie-Thérèse said...

Oh, this looks really interesting! (The cover is absolutely stunning.)

This book is going on this atheist's wishlist immediately. :-)

Kelly in Hockeytown said...

I consider myself to be agnositc, but, I seriously heart the Love Inspired Historicals. IMHO, they are not beat-you-over-the head preachy at all.

Evangeline Holland said...

I just had a conversation on Twitter not to long ago, expressing my utter confusion as to why Inspirational historicals have the most elegant and period-correct book covers. Now that I see this book, I'm even more baffled as to why the Inspirational Romance market--readers and publishers--have no qualms about reading a romance set during WWII or the Australian outback.

LoriK said...

I think I must be Miss Crabby Pants' sister. I would love to have more variety in time periods and locations. I don't begrudge lovers of the Regency their books, but I wish there was more out there for the rest of us and inspirationals just aren't for me. So frustrating.

Wendy said...

Lynn: I still need to download the September HQ's. Made a list - but didn't get to it this weekend.

Marie-Therese: I know! Doesn't it look really interesting?

Kelly: I'm just starting to dip my toe into the inspriational waters. So far, it's mostly been a success for me. No flat-out OMG-Why-Am-I-Reading-This?!? books yet.

Evangeline: My guess on the covers is that the inspirational market isn't concerned with "selling sex" to the readers, so they go for the period correct book covers. I mean, it's hog wash to think that secular historical romance readers are "only in it for the sex" - but we're at the point now where clinch pose with half-naked cover models is shorthand for Romance Sexy Time.

LoriK: It is frustrating. Especially since I think secular historical romance readers would welcome more diversity, if publishers put some darn effort into promoting/marketing etc.

Lynn Spencer said...

@Evangeline Holland - I'm no marketing expert, but I've noticed that in Christian bookstores, books tend to be marketed heavily by universal religious theme or even by publisher. I only recently went back to reading inspies (they've improved vastly in recent years), and I love the variety of settings. I keep hoping secular pubs will take note. Maybe the stampede of requests for review copies of Butterfly Swords will give some secular marketer a "Eureka!" moment. :-)

SarahT said...

This book sounds interesting. I've added it to my September wish list. Thanks for the heads up!