Seriously Serious Readers

As evident in my last whiny rambling post, my brain is a bit scattered at the moment.  So while I've never admitted to being the brightest crayon in the box, I'm a little slower on the uptake than usual these days.  But no matter how I read it, this post over at All About Romance today is so full of wrong that it boggles my mind.  Let's begin by addressing the sentence that set Wendy off.

"I have moved past the Harlequin love and I am mystified by serious readers who haven’t."

What follows is some back-pedaling, but at that point I was so annoyed we had reached the point of no return.  Now if you're a "serious reader" of this blog, you'll probably think it was the category romance slam that pissed me off.  Which, it did.  But what really got my goat was the "serious reader" jab.

Here's my problem with a phrase like that one - it has no meaning.  It's nonsense.  What the feck is a "serious reader" anyway?  Is it a person who reads 100 books a year?  Is it the person who only reads science fiction because we all know that's the "smart genre?"  Is it a person who only reads 3 books a year but they're all Super Serious Literary Tomes That Clock In At 800 Pages?  Is it the person who reads a book with an eye towards dissection and analysis?  Is it the person who only reads books that get glowing reviews in the New York Times Book Review?  Is it the person who only reads non-fiction?

The answer?

THERE IS NO ANSWER!  (And if there were an answer I'm pretty sure my library science professors would have crammed it down my throat ad nauseam).

Look, I get that not everyone is going to love everything.  Truly.  But the gist of this blog post seems to be Stop Bashing The Trilogy That Shall Not Be Named But If It's A Small Town Romance Or Category Romance It's OK To Say It Sucks Eggs.  Um, yeah.  No.  That doesn't really work for me.  It would be like me saying that all of you who like paranormal romances aren't "serious readers."  Which leads me to a phrase I use a lot, especially with librarians: 

Just Because You Don't Like It Doesn't Mean It's Automatically Wrong.

Shocking, I know.

Granted, I'm willing to concede that my love of the category format has made me more than a wee bit defensive over the years.  I've largely gotten to the point where most of the time it rolls off my back.  But this blog post commits the one cardinal sin that I'm unlikely ever to "get over."  That practice by some romance readers, people who claim to love the genre, slamming the format.  Seriously, don't we get enough of that bullshit (yeah, I just said that) from people who don't read the genre?  Do we really have to keep going there?

Here's the thing, category romance isn't going to be for everybody.  There's never one thing that's for everybody.  It goes against everything we know about human nature.  However that doesn't mean anyone should be completely incapable of understanding the appeal of the format.

I read romance because I'm a Character Ho.  Actually I read period because I'm a Character Ho.  What category romance gives me, as a reader, is a very intense focus on the romance and the characters.  When it's done right, it's magic.  It's also not one size fits all.  I've read category romances that are light, fluffy, cotton-candy confections.  The kind of books that entertain you while you're reading them, but an hour later you can barely recall what you read.  I've read category romances that are so angst-ridden and emotional that I'm exhausted by the end.  I've read category romances so awful that they have questioned my faith in humanity.  I've read category romances so good that they literally haunt me for days.

And you know what?  You can say things like that about all books.  Not just romance and not just category romance.

I love category romances and think everybody else should love them too.  Realistically though, I know that's just not possible.  But I do expect readers in the community to respect each others choices.  I haven't read That Trilogy That Shall Not Be Named, and it's very likely I never will.  But you don't see me going around telling people online (or people who ask about the books at work) that they're obviously not "serious readers" because they liked them.  So please for the love of all that is holy don't make statements like this one:

What gives anyone the right to judge a reader for a book she likes?  I am sick of the vicious remarks I’ve read on Twitter, but the casual swipes are also getting to me. 

and then turn around and write this:

I have moved past the Harlequin love and I am mystified by serious readers who haven’t.  

It just makes you look stupid.

99 Librarian Problems

OK, only seven.

1. RWA Logistics.  I'm presenting at Librarians Day again this year.  Since it's local, I'm commuting.  Oh, and I'm taking the leftover books from the Literacy Signing and have to get them out of the convention center and back to my library.

2.  Weddings.  Seriously, it's the year of the wedding.  College friend getting married in northern Cali in August.  Another college friend getting married in October - in New York.  Which means we're rolling that into a visit with the in-laws.  A week, in the woods.  With no cable TV and only my smartphone binky to keep me warm.  Maybe I'll get lots of reading done though.....

3.  Oh, and I need to visit my family in Michigan.  Sometime.

4.  Work is crazy-sauce busy right now.  Summer reading, planning an author program in July, ordering books again now that the new fiscal year has started, signing on to help plan our Big Literary Event again, planning a meeting for the adult services librarians in August, and general paperwork drudgery that never seems to end.

5.  Review books.  Seriously, buried.  And because of #4?  My reading mojo has left the building.

6.  I need a haircut.  I need to make an appointment with my eye doctor.  I have no idea when I'm going to do either of these.

7.  I've been asked to contribute some writing to a Supah Sekrit Project (OK, it's not super secret - I just don't want to talk about it yet in detail).  Deadline is middle of August.  Someone hold me.

 Whine, whine, whine.  Poor, poor Wendy.  So many "problems."  /end sarcasm.

Suck it up cupcake, and just listen to Dori.

Review: My Fair Concubine

My Fair Concubine by Jeannie Lin is the author's take on the Pygmalion trope.  Basically My Fair Lady set in 9th century China.  I tend to love this theme because, when done well, it says a lot about identity, appearances, and how people perceive both.  Also, the nature of this theme tends to mean a lot of forced proximity for the romantic couple.  After all, one character has to tutor the other in the ways of polite society.

Chang Fei Long is not in a good situation.  His sister, Pearl, has run away from home in the name of "true love."  Which would be all well and good, except the romantic ninny was supposed to be a heqin bride.  As a "princess," a betrothal was arranged for a "peace marriage."  It was a diplomatic practice not unlike Queen Victoria marrying off her children and grandchildren all over Europe.  Pearl running away is a disaster, because with his father's death, Fei Long has inherited a mess.  His house is swimming under a sea of debt, and "losing face" within the diplomatic community would spell certain doom.  Normally not one to take risks, with his back pushed against the wall, that's exactly what he does. 

Yan Ling is a nobody.  Having been left there as an infant, she knows nothing but the lowly tea house where she lives and works.  She's a servant.  Her job is to not be seen.  However something pushes her over the edge the day Fei Long enters the tea room, and the unthinkable happens - he notices her.  Then he spins her the most fantastical tale about "princesses" and "peace marriages" and he thinks he can tutor her in the ways of high society in two months (!).  While the task is daunting, and she thinks he may be a little nuts, Yan is also a terribly practical girl.  Gee, spend the rest of her days toiling in the tea house for masters who barely tolerate her, or go to a faraway land to live the life of a pampered princess?  Yeah, not a tough choice - that is, until all those tutoring sessions with Fei Long blossom into romantic feelings.

This is an interesting departure of Lin, because although she's still working within the Tang Dynasty time period, the bulk of this story is set in the capital city of Changan.  So readers get a glimpse of all the things such a city would have to offer - which includes the markets, entertainment district and a seedy underworld.  It's a feast for the senses for a girl like Yan who has never gone anywhere or done anything outside of the narrow scope of the lowly tea house.

Fei Long is all about honor and propriety.  Anything that would bring dishonor to the family name would be unthinkable, and would result in nothing but disaster.  His father has left a mountain of debts he must deal with, but he must do so very carefully in order not to "lose face."  Also, he needs this deception with Yan to go well.  Because having "Pearl" pull out of this arranged marriage?  Not a possibility.  At all.  Which means even though he's developing feelings for Yan, he mustn't admit them to anyone - including himself.

This story is a bit of a slow mover, basically because of the nature of the conflict.  Fei Long is a very bottled-up man, from an emotional stand-point.  His entire would is about appearances, honor, and respect.  He's a man who has a lot of burdens, a lot riding on his shoulders.  I wouldn't go so far as to label him as repressed, but he's not a terribly demonstrative fellow.  So while he's tutoring Yan, he's also holding himself back from her.

Readers need to understand that, and get past the first half the book.  There's not a lot of "action" during these chapters to keep one glued to the pages.  The meat and potatoes of this story is all in the second half.  When both characters realize that they have these feelings, and the emotional angst starts spilling out on to the page.  There are some amazingly tender, heart-felt, and downright torturous emotional moments with the couple realizing that they may feel the way they feel but it doesn't change their reality.  It was these moments of emotional truth that made this book for me.  Yes it starts out deliberate, even a bit slow, but the payoff is worth it.

Final Grade = B-

TBR Challenge 2012: Anger Management

The Book: High Country Bride by Jillian Hart

The Particulars: Inspirational historical western romance, Love Inspired Historical, 2008, Out of Print, Available Digitally, Book two in connected duet.

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  I picked this one up at RWA 2008 (uh, San Francisco?).  Plus, I tend to like Jillian Hart's books.

The Review:  Joanna Nelson's life has been one big trial after another.  After her no-good drunken husband dies, she takes her two small children to live with her father.  He's not much of a prize either, and when he takes sick, Joanna writes her half-brother begging for help.  Now their father is dead, and Joanna is hoping that Lee can hold off the banker and debt collectors with the same ease Daddy did.  She's in for a shock though when Lee declares that he had no intention of keeping the farm and has sold it back to the bank.  Oh, and by the way, she and her two kids need to get the hell out before nightfall.

Aidan McKaslin finds Joanna Nelson and her two small children living out of a wagon, and squatting on his land.  He can't very well leave them there, and the idea that this woman has, literally, no place to go and no one to help ease her burden turns his stomach.  He offers her the use of an old shanty cabin he has on his land, just for the night of course.  Until she can decide what she's going to do.

What I tend to love about Hart's historicals is that she really slathers on the angst, but still manages to make it feel authentic.  In other words, not over the top.  Yes, Joanna has had a hard life, but nothing that befalls her is so extraordinary that it couldn't have happened to women living in the 19th century.  She's been at the mercy of useless men her whole life, and while Aidan does scare her, at first, she quickly realizes that he's not just any man.  He's the man.  However, as much as she's starting to care for him, she knows that he is unable to return her feelings.  He's already buried the love of his life, along with their infant son.  While his faith is still strong, he fears his heart is dead.

The emotional turmoil in this story is really gut-wrenching.  Joanna has gumption, and is the sort of woman who would go to hell and back if it meant providing stability for her kids.  Aidan is a man who was so desperately in love with his late wife, that her death literally shattered him.  It's an amazing amount of internal baggage in this story, and the author makes her characters walk over miles of broken glass while lugging it around.

Unfortunately the longer the story goes on, that baggage gets heavier.  It also begins to wear on the reader how exorbitantly tolerant Joanna is.  Aidan isn't outright cruel.  He doesn't beat her.  He doesn't abuse her.  But his belief that he simply cannot love her and her refusal to confront him on his bullshit began to make me very angry.  Joanna feels it's her fault for making Aidan relive his pain.  Joanna thinks that if she lessens his burden, if she waits him out, if she's patient, he'll come around.  In the meantime he avoids her and avoids her children - both of whom worship him.

I wanted her angry.  I wanted her so angry that she'd damn God to hell, get in Aidan's face, and tell him what a moron he was being.  I wanted a confrontation.  Instead we get Aidan wandering off to contemplate if Joanna and the kids coming into his life were all part of "God's plan."  Ok, fine.  That might be all well and good - but would it have killed God to let Joanna find a little backbone and rip Aidan a new one in the process?

This is a hard book for me to wrap up into a final grade.  It starts off like gang-busters, and I loved the angst.  But the lack of a real confrontation at the end, plus the fact that I got a little bored with hearing how awesome of a cook Joanna was, started to wear on me.  There's also the small matter of there not being a love scene in this book.  Yes, I'm well aware this is an inspirational.  I also do not need sex scenes in my romances.  But in this one?  I do.  Why?  Because Aidan's complete unwillingness to let go of the past for pretty much the WHOLE book makes it hard for me to believe that finally, in the last chapter, he's suddenly willing too.  That after, for the WHOLE book, he's held fast with his I'll-Never-Love-Again idiocy, suddenly in the last chapter he admits his feelings and I'm supposed to believe everything will be just dandy?  A love scene, even a vaguely-drawn G-rated one, would have gone a long way in showing that Aidan is ready to move on, be the husband and father that Joanna and the kids deserve.

So yeah, I got angry.  I got angry that Joanna didn't get angry.  But, I'll be honest, this book sucked me in to the point where I read it in a day.  And considering I DNF'ed one book, and chucked aside two others, before settling on this one?  As angry as I was, we're not talking anywhere near hate.

Final Grade = C+

Review: The Rebel Rancher

I tend to be the sort of reader that picks apart plots and characters.  "I was liking the hero until he did that and now the shine is off," or "Why did the author include that plot device about the drug smugglers?  It was totally unnecessary and detracted from the romance."  Then there are books where everything is perfect, for that particular story.  Where even if the author makes a choice that might annoy you, personally - you recognize that it's the "right thing to do" for that book.  That's how The Rebel Rancher by Donna Alward was for me.  The second book in a connected duet about cowboy cousins raised as brothers is really breathtaking in a lot of ways.  It's honest.  It's heart-felt.  And even if the author does make a choice during the latter half that normally drives me bonkers, it totally works.

Tyson "Ty" Diamond was adopted by his aunt and uncle after his junkie mother abandoned him on their doorstep.  Even though they raised him like their son, loved him, Ty and Uncle Virgil had a tendency to butt heads.  So Ty took off for the rodeo circuit and the estrangement has been hanging over the family ranch, Diamondback, ever since.  Ty doesn't know how to bridge the gap, and then his cousin (see The Last Real Cowboy) calls him home after Virgil has a stroke.

Clara Ferguson is Virgil's home nurse, and also the first resident of Butterfly House (again, see The Last Real Cowboy), a home that helps women leaving abusive relationships to get back on their feet.  Jackson did a real number on her, and two years later Clara is still picking up the pieces.  She's making strides, and then in waltzes Ty - who scares the hell out of her.  He's sexy.  He's charming.  He's the consummate flirt.  In other words, he's Trouble with a capital T.  But she can't seem to stay away from him, and in turn, Ty cannot stay away from her. 

What I loved about this book was the honesty of it.  Ty is an actor.  A guy hiding behind a playboy facade because it's easier than showing anyone, or dealing with, his pain.  Clara is still gun-shy, for good reason, and is working towards a life where she isn't afraid all the time.  While she knows she should stay away from Ty, she can't - and in turn he's drawn to Clara because she sees everything.  She takes one look at him and knows, deep down, he's not the man that he wants everyone to think he is.  He's kind, gentle, and in a lot of ways he's still that scared little boy whose mother dumped him off on her brother.  These two are so perfect for each other it's hard to think of one without the other.

Every choice the author makes in this story is just right.  There's sweetness mixed with sadness.  There's grief mixed with the joy.  Even a plot device that shows up during the later chapters, one that normally annoys the heck out of me (start spoiler/ One Night Of Passion And Whoopsie!  I'm Preggers! /end spoiler) totally works here.  Yes, it's there to get the characters to finally admit their feelings - but without it?  These two would have left things unsaid.  That's just the type of people they are.  Not stubborn so much as wounded and wanting to do what they think is the right thing.

Those final moments of the story where the characters have to admit to each other how they truly feel could have been a bit more drawn out for me, but that's most likely just me being selfish.  This was a really great story, emotionally charged with just the right amount of angst without being overblown.  It's a romance about two scared people who become less scared after finding each other.  It's a romance about a couple that fits, perfectly.  It's not possible to think of one of them without the other.  For that reason, I'm glad they found each other, and I'm glad they both stopped being scared.

Final Grade = A-

The Month That Was May 2012

::crickets chirping::

::dead silence::

Me: ::clearing throat:: ahem!

Lemon Drop:  Oh, hi Auntie Wendy!  You took so long to get here that I decided to relax with one of my favorite books.

Me: Yes, I know.  Auntie Wendy running late again.  You should be used to this by now kiddo.  Can you pull yourself away from your book long enough to hear about what I read last month?

Lemon Drop: Oh sure, I see how it is.  Keep a girl waiting and then it's all about you.  Well....what about me!  And my devoted following!

Me:  Oh brother!  I'm not touching that right now.  Let's talk about the measly five books I read last month instead.

Clicking on title links will take you to full reviews.

Naked Angel by Logan Belle - Contemporary erotica, Kensington, 2012, book three in trilogy - Grade = B-

• The final chapter in an erotica trilogy about a law student turned burlesque performer.  A fun conclusion to a soapy saga.

The Homesteader's Sweetheart by Lacy Williams - Inspirational historical romance, Love Inspired Historical, 2012 - Grade = B-

• A gentle western romance that doesn't beat readers over the head with The God Stick.  Banker's daughter heroine falls for a homesteader with an ailing daughter and 7 (yes, 7!) adopted sons.  Harlequin Cheat Sheet: Beta Hero, Social Climbing Parents, One Vile Would-Be Fiance, Finishing School Heroine, One Burnt-Up Kitchen, A Horde Of Kidlets

When She Wasn't Looking by HelenKay Dimon - Romantic suspense, Harlequin Intrigue, 2012 - Grade = B+

• A fast-paced read that had me staying up past my bed-time.  Heroine with a past learns her time is up when the deputy sheriff hero comes knocking on her door and hired goons start shooting at them.  Harlequin Cheat Sheet: Former Big City Cop Hero, Heroine On The Run, Hired Goons.

The Forever Instinct by Barbara Delinsky - Contemporary romance, Harlequin Temptation, 1985 - Grade = C+

• Take that grade with a big grain of salt - it mostly reflects the fact that the story is now "dated."  Divorced business-woman heroine finds herself falling in love with a former NFL quarterback, her ex-husband's former professional rival.  Yes, dated - but a wonderful time capsule that reflects many hallmarks of the second wave of the feminist movement.  Read it as social history.  Harlequin Cheat Sheet: Athlete Hero, Busy Business-Lady Heroine. One Selfish Jerkface Ex, Rivals!, One Totally '80s Over The Top Plot Device (you'll have to read it to find out!).

Jackson Rule by Dinah McCall - Contemporary romance, Harper, 1996 - Grade = D+ 

• Hunky ex-con hero finds work and love with the heroine, who owns her own landscaping company.  A fan-favorite that didn't work for me.  I found everything about this "contemporary" totally unrealistic and the hero was too much of a Care Bear for me to buy him as an hardened ex-con.  

Me: And that's it.  I'm sorry to have kept you and your "devoted followers" waiting.


Lemon Drop: While "devoted followers" has a certain ring, I thinking maybe "fan club" might be better. 

Me: ::dead pan:: Next you're going to tell me you want minions. 

Lemon Drop:  That's a great idea!  That's exactly what I need - minions!  If I had minions then Mommy would have no choice but to cater to my every whim!  Mwahahahahahaha! 

Me:  You, little girl, are scary.

Reminder: TBR Challenge For June

For those of you participating in the 2012 TBR Challenge, a reminder that your commentary is "due" on Wednesday, June 20. 

The theme this month is Western (Contemporary or Historical).  Yes, I know.  This is what happens when Wendy hosts the TBR Challenge; its a guarantee that there will be a western theme one month.

Remember, the themes are completely and totally optional (although I personally think the world would be a better place if more people read western settings).  If you don't like westerns (::shudder::) or don't have any in your TBR (::double shudder::), just randomly pick something from the pile and dig in.  The themes aren't important - reading something that's been lying around neglected is the real goal.

And hey, and it's only June!  It's not too late to sign-up for the challenge and join in on the fun.   If you're interested, or just want to be a snoop, please check out the TBR Challenge 2012 information page.

Review: Rake With A Frozen Heart

Long-time readers of this blog will remember a period where I was beyond burnt out on the Regency era.  Crispy.  Toasty.  And not in a good way.  My solution to this burn-out was to completely avoid the setting for about three years.  Turns out, that was the best medicine - because now that I'm "over" my burn-out, I find myself capable of being charmed by the setting, when it's done well.  Case in point, Rake With A Frozen Heart by Marguerite Kaye.  A mouthful of a title, and a book that is not without issues, but one that I enjoyed all the same.

Rafe St. Alban, Earl of Pentland, is out for a morning ride at his country estate when he comes across a woman lying in a ditch.  This is an added complication he doesn't need, or want, in his life, but he can't very well leave the poor girl just lying there - especially when she's soaked from dirty ditch water and knocked unconscious. 

Henrietta Markham is more than a little confused to wake up in a strange bed.  Once she finds out she's in the bed of the notorious Earl of Pentland, she's horrified.  The man is a notorious rake, and if there is one thing her mama warned her about growing up, it was rakes!  A governess for Rafe's closest country neighbor, the details slowly begin to return to Henrietta's foggy mind.  She interrupted a housebreaker and was conked over the head by the man!  She thanks Rafe for his rescue, and is merrily on her way back to her rather, shrewish, employer.  Sadly though, Henrietta's troubles are not over.  She's quickly accused of theft!  With a Bow Street Runner breathing down her neck, Henrietta takes off, and lands right back into the arms of Rafe - who is determined to help her out of the mess.

The first few chapters are this story are really delightful, full of dialogue that had me laughing out loud on my dinner break at work.  Henrietta is extremely forthright, a girl incapable of guile.  She's a straight-shooter, and lacks any sort of filter - which means she only tells the truth, whether people want to hear it or not.  Rafe is a widower, a man whose first marriage was such an epic disaster he has vowed never to marry again.  However he cannot help but be charmed by Henrietta.  The girl is quite unlike anyone he has ever met before, and he cannot stand the idea of her taking the fall for something she obviously did not do.  Even as cynical as he is, he knows her brand of naivety, innocence, and wholesomeness is no act - so he agrees to use some of his more unsavory connections to help find her mysterious housebreaker.  Naturally this means they're going to have to spend some time together, what with Bow Street looking for her, until the matter is sorted out.

Once Rafe and Henrietta are paired up, and working to solve the mystery, is when this story begins to lag for me.  The pacing of the middle portion of the story really begins to slag off, and while I continued to like the dialogue between the pair, the sense of urgency to the conflict almost grinds to a halt.  However, things do pick up in the second half, with the mystery of the housebreaker being mostly dealt with, and Henrietta spending some time out in society.  This is also the portion of the book where all the pieces of Rafe's past fall into place.  Why is he so cynical?  Exactly what happened with his first marriage that has led him to continually punish himself? 

I enjoyed this story, not only for the dialogue and characters, but also for the interesting mix of romp meets angst.  Because truly, that's what we have here.  The story, the conflict, the pairing of two opposites has "romp" written all over it.  However with Rafe's baggage, the author infuses a fair amount of angst.  Yes, the pacing lags in spots, but the characters are engaging and the sensuality sizzles.  A nice read that I enjoyed over the course of a couple of sittings.

Final Grade = B

Anatomy Of A Library Romance Collection

It's been one of those weeks.  You know, where you might look all calm and collected on the outside, going through your life, but on the inside there is a crazed shrieking woman living in your skull?

Anyone?  Anyone?  Seriously, this can't just happen to me.

So yeah, one of those weeks.  I'm chalking it all up to working too many days in a row, being tired, and feeling mopey for no other reason than I'm a woman and dagnabit-all we get mopey every once in a while.  Just learn to live with it cupcake.  However, I did get some good news at work this week and my boss is pleased with me (at the moment) - so I thought we'd talk about The Time Wendy Relocated The Romance Paperback Collection.

Not my library, but you get the idea

The library where I was transferred to late last year used to have all the romance paperbacks in spinner racks.  For the record, I loathe spinner racks.  Also, for the record, I hate it when a library breaks out their shelves by genre.  One, I think it marginalizes your collection(s).  Sort of like putting your genres in a "shelving ghetto."  Also, I'll be honest, I feel the library is the last place on Earth where someone should be, or feel the need to be, "in a hurry."  A library should be a sanctuary.  A place to browse.  A place to wander.  A place to spend some time.  Plus I just like living in a world where you can find Nora Roberts sitting on the shelves a few notches up from Philip Roth.

But, I'm wacky like that.

Well, during a spat of remodeling, my library chucked all the spinner racks save one, and interfiled most of the romance paperbacks in general stacks.  So now the collection was split up in two different areas of the library.  You have some mass market paperbacks in with the hard covers and trade paperbacks, save for a small portion that are still located on one lone spinner rack.  I did not like this, but more importantly, the romance readers really didn't like it.  Circulation numbers took a dump, so when I transferred in (read: Wendy Is Romance Girl) my boss suggested we go back to the spinner racks for the entire mass market romance collection.  As much as I hate spinners, I agreed.  We picked up one unit from a near-by branch that was doing a bit of spring cleaning and then we ordered a shiny new, 5-sided unit.  At the end of April, the collection was moved.  All of our romance paperbacks are now in one area, all by themselves - with hard covers and trade paperbacks still interfiled with the rest of the fiction.

It's now June, so we've got a full month under our belts.  It also means I could finally look at the physical numbers.  Anecdotally, I felt for sure that this move was a good one.  The spinner racks were full after I moved the collection, and it didn't take long for them to look picked over, and for me to find actual empty spaces.  But anecdotal is not hard numbers, which I now have.

In April we checked out 321 romance paperbacks.  In May we checked out 615.  Almost double.  An increase of 294 to be exact.

I was....ecstatic I think is the word.  Until I realized that we might just have robbed Peter to pay Paul.  Librarians know that when you move a collection in this manner, you very likely change your "location" status in the catalog.  It's that bit of information on the catalog record that tells the user where they can find the book in the library.  When I moved the romances out of "general stacks," I changed that location status to "romance."  So did my romance numbers really double?  For that, I would need to look at the stats for my general stacks.

In April, we circulated 5023 items that were classified as "general stacks."  In May, that number was 5014.  That is a decrease of 9.  Which means....

My romance paperback stats flippin' doubled in a month!!!!  

Go Wendy, go Wendy, it's your birthday, go Wendy.....

What does all this really mean?  In the grand scheme of things - probably not much.  But I do think it illustrates a very good point about libraries and communities, which is to say they're all different.  Sometimes you try new things and they don't work.  Sometimes you think something won't work and it does.  What works in one community of readers may sink like a stone somewhere else.  Basically it's about being flexible and finding out works best for your community.  Also, as the librarian, it's about not letting your own opinions stand in the way of experimentation and trying new things (no, I don't mean it like that.....).

As much as I loathe having my mass market paperback romances sitting in Romance Spinner Rack Ghetto, numbers don't lie.  Which means Wendy will learn to live with it.  Also, at this point, I'm just happy to see more fiction leaving the building, as I strongly feel those numbers could be better overhaul at my current work home.  But then, I'm the fiction buyer so of course I think everybody should be reading, and lovin', fiction.  But before I mull over tackling that tall order, I think I'm just going to bask in the glow, a wee bit longer, of this small victory.

Review: The Last Real Cowboy

I've been on a Donna Alward reading tear the last year or so and I've come to appreciate two things about her Harlequin Romances: 1) she's a wonderfully consistent writer and 2) she likes cowboys.

Yes, I really am this shallow.  Are you new here?

The Last Real Cowboy is the first book in the Cadence Creek Cowboys duet, featuring cowboy cousins.  Sam Diamond is an only child who has grown up in a loving, privileged household.  The family's ranch, Diamondback, means just about everything to him and he's determined to see the ranch into the 21st century with a project to make them more "green" (as in environmentally sound).  Unfortunately, his father isn't wild about the idea and now that the man has suffered a stroke, he's dug his heels in even more.  On top of that, his mother has asked him to temporarily take over her seat with The Butterfly Foundation while she nurses his father back to health.  He cannot say no to his mother, although the idea of working with foundation head Angela Beck sounds about as much fun as hopping into bed with a horde of rattlesnakes.

Angela Beck quit her job in social work to start The Butterfly Foundation and set up The Butterfly House, a home to help women leaving abusive relationships to get back on their feet.  The Diamond family has really been instrumental, with matriarch Molly securing the land, the house, and even helping Angela get the project off the ground.  But now Molly is out taking care of her ailing husband and in waltzes son Sam, a guy Angela has already had one run-in with, and a man she doesn't think too much of.  She knows his type all to well.  He's smooth and charming, but also conceited and selfish.  How such a man sprang from Molly's gene pool is a total mystery to her.  They're oil and water right from the get-go, and now they have to work together?  Yikes.

Stubborn characters with baggage and plenty of angst are cornerstones in many of Alward's romances, and this story is no different.  Neither Sam nor Angela make terribly good first impressions with each other, or the reader.  They jump to conclusions about each other, take everything the other person says entirely the wrong way, and are generally dismissive.  Characters of this ilk can get tiresome to read about, so it's a good thing that the author gives us Sam, a guy who really is a "good guy" even though the heroine doesn't think he is.  He realizes that he has to make this work, because his mother expects him to step up and he's loathe to disappoint her.  So he swallows his pride, and shows up hat in hand determined to make it work.

Angela ends up coming to her senses mostly out of desperation.  In order to get The Butterfly House off the ground, she needs Sam.  She doesn't want to need him, but she's only one person - and she was really counting on Molly.  With no Molly, that means more is falling in her lap.  Also, she has to admit to herself that she might have been just a teensy bit wrong about Sam.  Sure his teasing irritates her and her attraction to him scares the hell out of her - but he's not an ogre.

Once the author sets up the adversarial tendencies of the romantic couple, she then slowly begins to reveal their motivations and back-story.  Sam is a good guy, but he has issues.  Likewise, Angela's past has come to define her - it's what led her into social work and ultimately into starting The Butterfly Foundation.  It's the baggage of both characters that make them so prickly around each other, and it's that baggage they need to work through to get their happy ending.  The final chapters are really the meat and potatoes, with all the emotional turmoil coming to a head.  These final heart-wrenching moments, with dialogue that just about made my heart beat out of my chest, really seal the happy ending.  It won't be easy, and their pasts won't get swept under the rug overnight, but Sam and Angela are just the kind of romantic couple you want to see make it work.  And I think they will.

Final Grade = B

Vintage Category Romance - Again

I'm back over at Heroes & Heartbreakers today, once again talking about a Barbara Delinsky book.  This time around, it's First Things First, originally Harlequin Temptation #87 and "reprinted" as an ebook by St. Martin's in late May.

Has this 27-year-old category romance held up over time?  Head on over to find out what my take is.....

Digital Review: A Little More Scandal

A Little More Scandal by Carrie Lofty is a recently released prequel to the author's Christie family series.  Clocking in around 90 pages, this novella does the trick of bridging the gap between last year's Flawless, and the soon-to-be-released second book in the series, Starlight.  I'll admit I had some reservations going into this story, as the hero is William Christie, the deceased robber baron father whose final will and testament plays a central role in each of the full-length novels starring the grown children.  I'll be blunt, even though he's dead by the time those late Victorian set novels take place, the man comes off as a bit of a hard-ass.  Opinionated and not one who believes in compromise.  So exactly how is the author going to turn him into a hero for his own romance without morphing him into a pod person?

William Christie is a low-born Scot who has made his fortune the old-fashioned way - which is to say by any means necessary.  His latest goal is to revive a struggling London newspaper, and to do that he needs Catrin Jones.  A nurse during the Crimean War, Catrin was on her way back to England when the ship she was on sank, killing everyone on board except for her.  Naturally now that she's back in London everyone, from the society mavens to the gossip rags, wants her story - which she is loathe to share.  However she's a smart girl, and knows that she won't be the flavor of the moment for long.  She'll string the wagging tongues along, for as long as she can, in order to land herself a husband. 

Where this story excels is with Lofty's historical backdrop of mid-Victorian London.  William is barely tolerated, mostly because he can buy and sell almost all of his "betters."  So they invite him to parties and balls, but that doesn't mean they're welcoming him with open arms.  He's still an uncouth Scot after all, one who has already buried a gently-born wife.  Catrin is tolerated only because she's an amusement.  A circus freak that society can trot out as a curiosity.  And if she won't share with them the salacious details of either the war or the shipwreck?  Well, they'll just make stuff up.  Watching these two navigate shark invested waters puts a nice spin on the popular depiction of the Victorian era - which is to say everyone was sexually repressed, dressed in black, and keeping the smelling salts handy.

Where this story gets a bit murky is with the romantic couple - who, I'll be honest, are both a bit mercenary.  William is classic robber baron and is not above the idea of seducing Catrin in the hopes of her pillow-talking her story to him.  Catrin isn't above parlaying her notoriety into landing herself a man, preferably one who can comfortably take care of her and isn't a dreadful bore in (or out) of the bedroom.  I can see some readers having issues with both of these characters, although I found them rather refreshing.  William is pure Alpha hero and almost hearkens back to the "good ol' days" of historical romances (although he is blessedly not a rapist, so he's actually a step-up) and Catrin is a practical woman who knows exactly who she is, her place in society, and how she needs to spin both to come out ahead.  Mercenary?  Yes.  Boring to read about?  Not in the slightest.

 This novella succeeds in giving readers an interesting setting, definitely different characters, and tiding over fans until Starlight comes out later this month.  Lively dialogue and steamy love scenes spice up the proceedings.  A nice, reasonably priced (currently only 99 cents!) read ideal for curious newcomers and readers already hooked.

Final Grade = B