Flight into Fantasy

Title: Glory in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Genre: Romantic suspense
Grade: B+
Reason for Reading: To borrow an analogy from Bev QB, this series is like eating M&M’s. They’re good books, easy to zip through, and well-written.
Grade: B+

Synopsis: In a time when technology can reveal the darkest of secrets, there’s only one place
to hide a crime of passion – in the heart. . .
The first victim was found lying on a sidewalk in the rain. The second was murdered
in her own apartment building. Police lieutenant Eve Dallas had no problem finding
connections between the two crimes. Both victims were beautiful and highly successful
women. Their glamorous lives and loves were the talk of the city. And their intimate
relations with men of great power and wealth provided Eve with a long list of suspects
- including her own lover, Roarke. As a woman, Eve was compelled to trust the man
who shared her bed. But as a cop, it was her job to follow every lead . . .to investigate
every scandalous rumor . . .to explore every secret passion, no matter how dark.
Or how dangerous.

My Thoughts: Can I mention that I hate this synopsis? Because (1) Roarke isn’t a suspect in this murder, and the questioning she gives him about the case turns into them needing to work out other issues.

That being said, I liked this installment very much. We begin to see the defensive armor Eve puts up around herself start to crack as she tries to come to terms with some of the nasty bad shit that’s happened to her. And I love that she is very much still nonplused by Roarke and his extravagance, not to mention the depth of Roarke’s feelings for her. And I also admit that the mystery in this story worked slightly better since I didn’t immediately find the villain obvious, a problem I had with the last book in this series.

No real quibbles, but it just didn’t quite grab me the same way that the first book did. Still and all, it was a fun read, so very much recommended.

I have decided, in my infinite wisdom, that one of the things that gets to happen very soon (by which I mean in something like two weeks now, when the semester is over) is that we are going to have Meljean Brook Appreciation Happy Fun Time (TM) on this here LJ. Why are we going to do this? Because I won a contest and received an ARC of her latest book, Demon Night. Not only that, but when I emailed her to ask if I could get the ARC as an ebook (pushy person that I am) she generously said I could) And since I have not read anything she’s written since the short story in the Hot Spell anthology, I thought this was a good place to start.
In the meantime, it’s back to the salt mines I go. I have a paper to write by Friday so I can go have a fun weekend with a clear conscience, after which we’ve another week of class followed by final exams, followed by freedom, glorious freedom!

Title: Fascinated
Authors: Bertrice Small, Susan Johnson, Thea Devine, Robin Schoen
Genre: erotic romance
Reason for Reading: I wanted uncomplicated porn. This looked like uncomplicated porn, so I went for it.

Overall Grade: C
I like anthologies. They allow me to try new authors, and often I’m intrigued enough to read their full-length works after reading their short stories. I am definitely intrigued enough that I’d probably read three out of these four authors again, if only for the lulz.

The first story, “Claiming Lady Lucinda” by Bertrice Small was… special. See, Lucinda’s been living with her brother, George, for some time, annoying him because she keeps insisting she wants her own house. George isn’t budging on this, because if Lucie had her own house, there’d be OMG scandal. And after Lucinda humiliates three of London’s most eligible bachellors, the men and George decide that something ought to be done. So they have her kidnapped and brought to the Master, who is supposed to teach her the proper way to submit to a man.

This short story is as ridiculous as it sounds, and it’s told in an overblown style that grates on my nerves. Also, Small juxtaposes earthy words like “cock” and “cunt” with phrases found only in romancelandia. (Love lance, anyone?) And the story contains arguably the funniest line I’ve read anywhere: “Wake up, Lucinda. It’s time for your morning spanking!” Also, many readers may be bothered by the casual mention of incest between George and two of Lucinda’s older sisters. I’m not sure what the point of the incest thing was, and it didn’t especially bother me except for the fact that it was one of the first of many WTF moments in the story. I guess we needed to see that despite George being a bishop, he’s also eeeevil. But the incest wasn’t enough to make this a wallbanger for me.

Naturally, everything ends well for Lucinda, and the journey there was full of hot sexx0rz, but this is sooo not a story that should be analyzed with any particular depth. In fact, about the only thing I can say about this is that Bertrice Small should be read for the unintentional hillarity factor alone. Grade for this one: C-.

Susan Johnson’s “Risking It All” was a much better story in terms of its trashiness, and I’m told her historical romances are wonderful. It certainly features a unique setting–Monti Carlo. Felicia Greenwood is in danger of losing her villa to her unscrupulous cousin, so she decides to do what you or I would do and try to gamble the money she needs. In doing so, she attracts the attention of Thomas Suffolk, the Duke of Grafton. He helps her win a fortune, and she repays him in the way you’d expect from this kind of short story–a night of hot, steamy sexx0rz.

I liked these people well enough. They engage in some witty banter, and the conflicts aren’t dragged on for too long. Plus, like I said, the setting is interesting. Unfortunately, I didn’t think this story was nearly as fun as the Small offering. Still, it is better written, so it’s getting a slightly higher grade. C for this one.

Thea Devine’s “The Pleasure Game” is practically irredeemably awful. It features Regina, who is irritated at her father meddling in her life by asking Jeremy, her neighbor and someone she had a crush on since childhood, to intervene and keep her from going after an unsuitable man. And from there Jeremy and Regina spend their time scheming about how to keep the other in their lives. If they’d just talked to each other, they might have come across as more likeable than they did, but alas, they don’t, and so this story goes on for way longer than it should, and all of Regina’s scheming ends up putting her exactly where her father wanted her in the first place.

Ugh. The characters were horrible, the plot excessively contrived, and the end wrapped things up in an annoyingly neat fashion. I didn’t believe the happily ever after for these kids, and if I had to read anything else about Regina’s nipples, which are like crack to poor Jeremy, I was going to shoot someone. D for this one–some of the sex scenes were hot, which makes this not a complete failure.

“A Man and a Woman” by Robin Schone closes the anthology out on a good note. Megan just wants passion, and so she exchanges places with a prostitute in a Cornish inn and knocks on the door of Muhamed’s room. Muhamed is a eunuch, and he wants the chance to please a woman. And that’s pretty much the whole plot right there.

I really liked the dynamics here. While some authors would totally make this all about the sex, each scene had its own emotional resonance and I bought the fact that each of them needed the other. I’ve been told this is pretty much the only type of story Robin Schone writes, but hey, I like it. And I also liked that the hero and heroine were older, at least in theory. In practice, I kept thinking that these people were my parents’ age, and like all children, I’d prefer to ignore the fact that my parents occasionally have sex.

That being said, I thought Schone did the best job at demonstrating the kind of power women have with their sexuality, and I felt empowered while I was reading this story, which is way more than any of the other writers did. I’m not sure the story was quite worthy of an A grade, but it does earn a very respectable B.
Overall, this was a pretty uneven anthology so I’m giving it a C. Read it for the Robin Schone story, but none of the others are really worth it.

I apologize for the fact that this review feels a bit scattered, but I wanted to put my thoughts down before I went to bed. You see the things I do for books I love.
Title: It Had to Be You
Author: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Genre: Contemporary romance
Grade: A

Synopsis: TWO HEARTS COLLIDE
The Windy City isn’t quite ready for Phoebe Somerville—the trendy, outrageous and
curvaceous New York knockout who has just inherited the Chicago Stars football team.
And Phoebe is
definitely
not prepared for the Stars’ head coach Dan Calebo—an Alabama-born former gridiron
legend and blond barbarian.
Calebo is everything Phoebe abhors—a sexist, jock taskmaster with a one-track mind.
The beautiful new boss is everything Dan despises—a meddling bimbo who doesn’t know
pigskin from a pitcher’s mound. So why is he drawn to the shameless sexpot like a
heat-seeking missile? And why does Dan’s good ol’ boy charm leave cosmopolitan Phoebe
feeling awkward, tongue-tied and frightened to death?
Suddenly there’s more than just a championship at stake. Because passion’s the name
of
this game—and two stubborn people are playing for keeps!

My Thoughts: Like most of Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s books, this one has a summary that screams “Wacky hijinks found here!” However, people on my romance discussion group were shocked and appalled that I hadn’t read a SEP book before, and so, since this one has appeared on my librarything suggester, I figured why not. I never expected to love it.

What we have here is an exciting story with fully realized characters. In most other authors’ hands, Phoebe and Dan would have been reduced to caricatures. But here I believed what SEP did, and I loved watching the struggle these two had to find love.

Phoebe was a wonderful character. She acts outrageously to cover up for some horribly traumatic things that have happened to her in her past. I’m sure some readers would question her motivations, but they worked for me. And Phoebe, like me, has a thing for nerds. Even though Dan is a jock, she is also drawn to him because he’s definitely a smart man. I also liked watching Phoebe struggle to come to terms with her father’s bullying and manipulations and to establish closeness with her sister.

As for Dan, well, he’s just as well-drawn. He has been married to a state legislator, but the marriage didn’t work out, and now he just wants to find someone who wants to settle down and raise his children. I liked that though he was an alpha male, he wasn’t so much in control of every situation, although I do have to say that his ex-wife was a completely sleazy bitch. Ugh, the sex scene we got with her was seriously squick-making.

The romance was wonderful and well-paced, and during the inevitable moments near the end when it looks like things might not work out, I was tense and practically biting my nails to see what SEP would do to resolve everything. Which I’m glad to report that she does, rather neatly.

My quibbles are minor. The villains were definitely not as well-drawn as any of our protagonists, and sometimes I thought SEP went over the top with them. But the fact that she didn’t descend into camp and stereotypes with the rest of the characters makes up for that.

I would recommend this book. I breezed through it while waiting for a ride home from the store and kept reading until nearly 2 A.M., which is something I don’t often do, thanks to my tendency to get distracted by shiny objects. SEP does wonderful romantic comedy, and I cannot wait to read the sequels to this book.

So, to celebrate the fact that I had some money in my fictionwise account, I went and bought me some books. Namely Prince of Death by December Quinn and As the Lady Wishes by Ms. Quinn and Anna J. Evans, as well as Sentry’s Touch by Vivien Dean. Which took care of my extra fictionwise money. Unfortunately, given the rate at which I read, I’m not sure when I’ll ever get to these, and I’m very sad because as semester ends, my reading time is going to drop off drastically.

In other book news, there’s a review of the latest Nora Roberts book up at The Good, the Bad and the Unread. Apparently, Ms. Roberts is trying her hand at paranormal romance with actual horror elements. I want. Oh, yesss! I must have the preciouss!

Also, now that I’ve started keeping up with blogs outside of LJ, I realize how convenient it is to have an RSS aggregator. I love my little widget. It sits there in my system tray and beeps at me when there’s a new post. I forsee much gleeful stopping whatever I’m doing throughout the next week when I hear that little beep. Easily entertained? Me? Hardly! Whatever would give you such a notion!

Title: Coming in Last
Author: Shiloh Walker
Genre: Contemporary erotic romance
Grade: B
Reason for Reading: From her comments on the blogs I read, I think Shiloh is full of awesome and win. But the couple of short stories I’ve read by her left me cold so I thought I’d try a longer work.

Synopsis: Jamie McAdams expected it to be an open and shut case of embezzlement. The finger
seemed to be pointed right at Andi Morrow, the quiet young lady who ran the daycare
center at his godfather’s plant. Of course, she didn’t exactly have access to the
cash, but she did live seriously outside her means.
Andi smelled like vanilla, tasted like sex, and moved like sin. It only took a few
days for Jamie to realize he was hooked, and she was being framed. But maybe he should
have told her that, before they used her as bait to catch the real embezzler.
Jamie always gets his man, even if it means coming in last with the woman he’s fallen
in love with.

My Thoughts: Man, I gotta say, I loved this synopsis. No breathless purple prose, a sexy enough description, and what’s more, it’s accurate. Which is good, because if I can copy and paste something good, I’d much rather do that.

Anyway, I enjoyed this book. Andi and Jamie are nice, likeable people with real issues. And y’all know how I feel about strong heroines. Andi was wonderful here. She’d had a rough life, but she wasn’t a walking neurosis, and her trust issues felt genuine.

Jamie also struck me as a real guy that one might find outside a romance novel. He was fun, witty, and pursued Andi relentlessly without swerving into “me Tarzan. You Jane” territory.

The plot? Well, it’s light. You pretty much know who the villain is early on, and it’s not very hard to guess what’s going to happen. But I wasn’t bored, since Ms. Walker did such a great job with her characters. I was rooting for them, and wanted everything to be all right.

Oh, also, I have to say that it was refreshing to see that there were consequences for Andi to her being investigated. There were real repercussions to the work that Jamie was doing, and the resultant chaos in Andi’s career was left open-ended. Which is nice, because in this case I think had Ms. Wlker tied that little plot thread up with a bow I’d have been less impressed.

If I have any quibbles, it’s that the villain is of the cardboard, moustache-twirling, “I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you meddling kids!” brand. Which made the suspenseful climax, well, just a bit less so since I couldn’t take him seriously.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I will be reading more full-length stories by Ms. Walker. Because sometimes you need literary popcorn–something light, but filling and oh so good.

Title: Midnight Sun
Author: Rene Lyons
Genre: Paranormal romance
Grade: B-
Reason for Reading: Honestly, it was because of a bit of a blog spat between the author and Sybil. Also, she compared herself to JR Ward.

Synopsis: When things go bump in the night, Allison Parker bumps back. As the resident Ghost
Hunter in a quiet, rural town, she’s thrust into the nocturnal world of the Templars.
Embracing the night, she finds a place where she belongs.
Damned by God, Sebastian of Rydon knows only blood and death. After eight hundred
years of merely existing, he learns what is to live after Allie comes bursting into
his life. Her spirit guides him out of the dark.
Caught up in a web of hate and revenge, they search for love as their world is torn
apart.
My Thoughts: This is kind of a hard review to write, so I’d just like to state upfront that I did enjoy this book, despite my quibbles. It’s also my expert opinion that some of my issues with Ms. Lyons’ style will disappear as she writes more. But there were things I found troubling, and the things I disliked I disliked a lot.

But first the good. Rene Lyons has created an interesting world, and I enjoyed her take on vampires. And while these boys did have oodles and oodles of angst, they were definitely fun to hang out with for a few hours. But where Ms. Lyons manages to do a better job than some of her more established paranormal romance author sisters is in writing dialogue that sounds like what actual people would say. There was no overt and stupid use of outdated street jargon, nor did she resort to the whole “I am vampire, therefore I am alergic to contractions” thing that some other popular authors have resorted to. Lyons also writes some very compelling violent scenes. When she wants to, she can make the reader–or at least this reader–feel every cut and scrape of a blade against flesh, and it’s very chilling. And she’s definitely got the art of putting in hooks to ensure readers will keep reading the series. Unfortunately, she takes a clue from J. R. Ward and gives us several plot points that won’t be resolved unless we keep reading, and I am beginning to be thoroughly irritated with that sort of blatant manipulation.

And since we’re talking about things that irritated me, I really wasn’t sure quite what to make of Allie. I liked that she was, indeed, a ballsy, sassy chick who was pretty kick-ass in her own way. She wasn’t the stereotypically badly written paranormalk nut that seems to populate a lot of these books, and I appreciated that she acted and talked like a real woman. But I thought she veered very close to the line of being a Mary Sue. After all, she meets the Templars when Constantine and Rafael, two of the other Templar vampires, rescue her from some random renegade vampires who wanted to make her a midnight snack. This is apparently enough for the boys to decide she’s their BFF, and she becomes their mascot, their April O’Neil, if you will. (In fact, I couldn’t get the Allie as April O’Neil image out of my head, and you should all consider yourselves lucky that I rewrote my original review to take out 98 percent of my gratuitous Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles references.

As for the romance, honestly, it didn’t work for me. I honestly didn’t see the chemistry, and I thought that Sebastian and Allie really needed more scenes together. In fact, at one point I was irritated that Lyons chose to have one crucial scene take place between Allie and Constantine instead of Allie and Sebastian.

Speaking of things that needed to be explored more fully, I thought that the premise of vampires on the road to redemption and acceptance by God was a good one, but i wish more had been done with it. For example, the vampires just sort of casually lob off random renegade vampires without a qualm, and they do some pretty violent, even cruel things to humans. It could be argued that everyone involved deserved what they got, but I’d have liked to see someone get more torn up over the violence.

I also thought that, while the world building showed some promise, it too was a bit inconsistent. The Abyrri, who are supposed to be templars who aren’t on the road to redemption, get mentioned, as to an order of kickass female vamps, but nothing is ever done with these references and I thought they could have been caught in order to give us more Allie and Sebastian.

The other reason I wanted to read this book was because I read a few comments where the author compares her books to the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and, yes, there are some similarities. Five giant, kick-ass warriors? Check. They all live together in a mansion and drive kick-ass cars? Yup. One of them seems to be a tad on the gay side? Uh-huh. Dumb-ass nicknames? Y halo thar, Sage and Rogue and C. But I think that Lyons does a better job at writing female characters, even if Allie is kind of a Mary Sue. And there aren’t millions of extraneous subplots here.

Final verdict: You know, there’s nothing especially new here, but what there is is certainly enjoyable enough for me to read the next books in the series.

Given that I pay for a blog and I also got a 100% on my Psychology term paper, not to mention the fact that I won a national essay contest in seventh grade, I feel that I am quite enough of an expert to offer up advice on improving one’s writing. And I have, at last count, four, maybe five writers on my friendslist who I know for sure are published/will be published, so I know I have a built-in audience.

I would say that this advice will become a regular blog feature, but I simply cannot be bothered bestowing such pearls of wisdom as I’ve gained on a regular basis.

That being said, today’s advice for writers is:

If you’re writing paranormal romance and instead of your readers picturing buff, studly paragons of primal masculinity, said readers picture the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you are obviously doing something wrong. Unless, of course, you are going to make mutants the next big trend in paranormal romances, in which case you can be excused.

Thus concludes Shannon’s writing advice for the day. I hope you have found it instructive.

I ended up going with a bunch of shorter books because it’s nearing the end of the semester (OMGWTFBBQ!) and a lot of these I can pick off in a day during a commute.

• Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day (paranormal romance) – So far the reviews have been meh, but it was good enough for someone I used to roleplay with to crib entire concepts from.

• Blood Rites by Janrae Frank (dark fantasy) – I read a few lines here and there as I was converting this one to mp3 for my CD. It definitely does seem to promise violence and sexx0rz. And I’ve been in the mood for something dark.
• Coming in Last by Shiloh Walker (erotic romance) – This made it onto the CD because it’s really short for a novel. This will be the third attempt on my part to be impressed by a Shiloh Walker book, and I picked this one from my librarything recommendations. (Although it was listed under nonfiction, which was a little… odd.)
• Glory in Death by J. D. Robb (romantic suspence) – I’m definitely ready to see what else Eve and Roarke get up to. Also, I don’t classify these books as futuristic romances. Futuristic romance, to me, implies that there’s a lot of emphasis on the, well, futuristicness of the setting. And at least for me, the first book didn’t provide that. But hey, J. D. Robb has written the only romantic suspence series yet that I’ve actively enjoyed, so I can classify her books there if I want to.
  • It Had to be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (contemporary romance) – I hate most of SEP’s book titles, and her plots look, well, wacky. But this one was on my librarything suggester, and so I figured it was as good a place to start as any to see if SEP is for me. (There was a huge hue and cry on my romance discussion group when I mentioned that I’d never read SEP before and wasn’t sure I’d like her. So I’m assuming that a dozen other readers plus librarything can’t be wrong.)

  • Jovah’s Angel by Sharon Shinn (science fiction) – I have decided as of today that I need to get Archangel for the more fantasy and science fiction inclined half of a couple of dear friends I have referred to here before as the quaker Lesbians. I’m really curious to see what she’d make of the book. As for me, I’m still interested enough in this series to keep going.
  • Midnight Sun by Rene Lyons (paranormal romance) – The reviews I’ve seen made it seem very good, and a friend of mine loved the third book in this series, so I’m willing to give it a try.
  • Tiger Eye by Marjorie Liu (paranormal romance) – I haven’t talked to anyone who didn’t like this book, and my mom has told me repeatedly that I ought to read this series. (Of course, my mom also reads and likes crap even I don’t have any patience for, so maybe that’s not the best recommendation.) (One of these days, my mom is also going to stumble across my blog, and then I’m going to have to hear her make fun of me for making fun of her reading tastes, and thus, the circ le of life continues.)

  I still didn’t get some of the books I really wanted to read included this time, but I should be finished with the CD sooner.

One of the major disadvantages to my making a commuting CD is that my moods change a lot from when I started compiling my CD to when I’ve read everything. And now I’m on the last book in my CD, which happens to be JR Ward’s Lover Revealed.

I’d have read it anyway, since I definitely like having something to read on my commute, but I’m just not all that interested in the last two installments of that series. And so today I have officially given myself permission not to start it. It’s not like the ebook I have is going anywhere, and I can always come back to the series when I’m in the mood for the kind of wstory Ward can tell.

Plus, I really do like the process of making a new commuting CD. It makes me narrow down the endless list of books I have To Be Read, and it builds up the anticipation.

Do I know what’s going on the CD yet? Actually, no, I don’t. I have a looooooong, ginormous list, and have posted recently about books I want to read. But the making up of my mind is a difficult process.

Title: Slave to Sensation
Author: Nalini Singh
Genre: paranormal romance
Grade: A
Reason for Reading: There was so much buzz about this book last year that I was curious.

Synopsis: This novel is set in an alternate and slightly futuristic Earth where there are three different species of humans. Psys are the ones with mental abilities, who have been ruthlessly conditioned not to feel emotions. Our heroine, Sascha Duncan, however, is flawed. She’s always been able to feel emotions, a fact that she has to hide from every other psy or risk her own death.

Sascha begins working with Lucas Hunter, the alpha of a leopard changeling pack which is trying to build new homes in its territory. The changelings are everything the psy are not–highly emotional, sensual creatures. Sascha gradually finds herself drawn to Lucas. But there’s more to their interactions than some business deals. Someone’s killing changeling women, and Sascha and Lucas are drawn into a perilous situation that could end in war if the killer isn’t caught.

My Thoughts: I knew this was going to be an A book when I started it this weekend. Singh does everything right, and she had me rooting for these characters from the very beginning.

I loved Sascha. She’s gone through a hell of a lot in her life, and she very much wants someone to love her, but she’s afraid to open herself to that. My heart ached for her, and I was rooting for her and Lucas, and honestly, at one point, I wasn’t sure how Singh was going to manage to make everything work out between them without resorting to a deus ex machina. Thankfully, she didn’t.

As for Lucas? Well, let’s just say that I have a soft spot for shapeshifting cats and leave it at that. I thought he was smoking hot, and I loved the chemistry between him and Sascha. There were definitely some scenes I read on the bus that had me squirming in my seat and wishing for ice water.

The secondary characters are wonderful, and I especially liked watching Sascha’s budding relationship with Tamsyn, Dark River’s healer. So often girlfriends in romances simply aren’t ever around, and I was glad Singh created a bond between the two women. Also, Tamsyn is already mated, so she wasn’t set up for sequel bait. In fact, though we do meet some of the characters that feature in the next books, there’s no way Singh could have told the story without including them.

As to the setting? I loved it. I want to go visit this version of Earth, and I was left with questions that I hope are answered in the next books–like what the place in society is for those humans who are neither psy nor changeling.

If I have a quibble, it’s that the villain was a bit obvious in retrospect. But then, I’m not sure how else Singh would have explained things, so possibly I just need to get over myself.

Anyway, a lovely book. Very highly recommended.

First of all, my guest review for Dear Author has been posted. Go forth and read it.

Second of all, NPR did a story this morning about great science fiction and fantasy books. Sadly, I’ve not read any of the books they mentioned, although I have a copy of The Forever War TBR one of these days.

Title: Fabulous Beast
Author: Stephanie James aka Jayne Ann Krentz
Genre: Contemporary romance
Grade: B
Reason for Reading: Rosario liked it, and the plot appealed to me.

Synopsis: When Tabitha Graham rescues Dev Coulter from an alley on a Caribbian island after he’s been attacked, she finds herself drawn to the gentle, unassuming man she thinks him to be. Unfortunately, once she learns Dev’s secret, she finds her slowly blossomming love being tested.

My Thoughts: This was cute. It’s pretty obvious that Krentz’s writing style has evolved between 1984 (when this book was published) and now. For one thing, in Sweet Starfire I didn’t notice the way Krentz constantly used adverbs, and it was pretty jarring here. And her character development has certainly improved by leaps and bounds.

I liked both our leads well enough for what they were, heroes in a 1980’s category romance novel. Tabby’s a bit too much of an earth mother type for my taste, and she had a few moments of being a complete dingbat. I mean, seriously. I thought she should have picked up on the fact that Dev was hardly who he was pretending to be a lot sooner than she did.

Dev was… well, he was a romance hero. There were moments when I thought I understood him, but mostly I couldn’t get over my annoyance with him for constantly thinking of Tabby as his tabby cat. The metaphors flew around thick and fast in his head, and I just couldn’t picture any human being, even from the 80’s, saying some of the crap that came out of his mouth.

That being said, for what it was, a cute story about two people learning to trust each other and figuring out who they really were, this was pleasant. B for this one.

Title: Cravings
Authors: Laurell K. Hamilton, MaryJanice Davidson, Eileen Wilks, Rebecca York
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Grade: C+
Reason for Reading: Probably the MaryJanice Davidson story. I was curious about what she would do with a different sort of heroine.

This is a collection of four paranormal short stories that all tie in to ongoing series. Some of them are very much better than others.

The first story, “Blood Upon my Lips” by Laurell K. Hamilton is, according to the review at All About Romance simply an excerpt from Incubus Dreams. which I have no intention of reading. I managed to follow most of what was going on, though I think if I’d actually read any of the Anita stuff, I’d have cared. But there seems to be more whining from our protagonist about how she’s got all these men, and they want her, and how can she possibly have sex with them? Nathaniel, her very femmey submissive houseboy type, seems to be the main focus here, and by the time I got done with the story, I wished he were a real person so I could beat him up and take his lunch money.

Also, it’s been some time since I read this story, so it’s definitely forgettable. C- for this one.

MaryJanice Davidson’s “Dead Girls Don’t Dance”, by contrast, was pretty fun. We meet Andrea, who is a vampire considering greeting the sun and ending her existance. Then she meets Daniel, the typical college jock she had a crush on. And now that she’s a vampire, Daniel thinks she’s pretty hot.

I liked this story. Daniel’s a bit of a goofball, and not the brightest crayon in the box, but that was definitely part of his charm. Andrea I had a harder time warming up to, because she had a lot of silly neuroses. And Betsy of Davidson’s Undead series shows up here as a minor character, which was fun. But besides the fun, there just wasn’t a whole lot here that sticks out. B- for this one.

“Originally Human” by Eileen Wilkes was the third story, and my favorite. I really need to read other stuff by this author. Here we meet succubus Molly, who is considering the fact that it’s about time for her to move on to a new place, since she’s 300 years old and it’d be bad if people discovered that she didn’t age. Then she stumbles upon a naked man on the beach. She brings him back to her RV and nurses him back to health, and then becomes involved with a high stakes sort of mystery.

The plot of this book is obviously fairly forgetable, since this is yet another story I read some time ago. But I did like the characters. This story is narrated in first person, and I found Molly a sensible, practical sort of woman. Michael is mysterious, but very sweet, and like Molly I loved his wonder at the world. I liked Wilkes’s voice, and she does a good job with her world-building, and I was definitely curious enough to want to try something else by her. B for this one.

The last story, “Burning Moon” by Rebecca York, was very nearly a DNF for me, and it’s the one I finally made myself slog through today so I could say I finished this book. We are introduced to Antonia Delarosa, a blind tarot reader. Three guesses as to what caused me to very nearly give up, and the first two don’t count.

Anyway, Antonia keeps seeing a wolf in her tarot cards, and soon it’s clear that the wolf is Grant Marshall, who is on a quest for the serial killer who killed his wife and a bunch of other women. Then, because he’s lost his life-mate, he plans to jump into the ocean and end his suffering.

This story was very much meh for me. Mostly, Antonia didn’t annoy me, although there were a few moments when my eyebrows went up. Grant, on the other hand, was difficult to like. Mostly because my idea of an alpha man does not include one who is considering suicide up until he boinks the heroine. And the suspence plot involving the serial killer was fairly anticlimactic, although it was nice that Antonia wasn’t useless in that arena.

Still, lukewarm characters, lukewarm plot, and lukewarm suspence give this a C in my book.

Recommendation? I’d read the Eileen Wilkes story and maybe the Mary Janice Davidson story, but the others really aren’t worth your time.

So I was surfing the hinterlands of blogland this morning and came across a review for a book I have decided I must read because of what the reviewer said about it.

The amusing thing was, it was a bad review, and the reviewer’s beef was a pretty shallow one. Seems the hero of the book is a slightly femmey dandified gentleman in Georgian England, and our reviewer couldn’t get past that. So I did some looking on my own, having been intrigued by the idea of reading a romance that didn’t feature a beefcake hero. Hmm. Seems our Georgian fop is also somewhat amoral, and decides to seduce the virginal heroine simply because he can. And he’s a notorious thief. Sounds intriguing.

The book, incidentally, is Prince of Swords by Anne Stuart. And I’m sure I’ll be reading it soon.

Also, I have a couple of reviewing gigs elsewhere on the blogosphere. I wrote up a guest review for Dear Author, because they’re having people write up reviews of their favorite books, and so I did. And Sybil has set me a book to guest review.

Also, I’m evaluating a book about mp3 players and their accessibility for the blind. I’m listed in the acknowledgements section, so if you’re blind and you need an MP3 player, you should totally buy this book, because my helpful feedback will make it what it is today. Or, um, something. Yeah.

Title: Fall Dead
Author: Ann Bruce
Genre: Romantic Suspence
Grade: C
Reason for Reading: I think Wendy, the Super Librarian reviewed it and it looked interesting.

Synopsis: When his latest case falls on him and his partner–quite literally–Detective Nick
Markov knows the demolition of his car by a not-yet-cold body is the least of his
worries. The dead body is that of a prominent businessman, Andrew Langan, and suicide
is swiftly ruled out after Nick pursues the killers down twenty-seven flights–and
loses them.
To his superiors’ frustrations, Nick doesn’t buy into the popular belief that Langan’s
soon-to-be ex-wife, Augusta, is behind the murder, even though she has the motive,
the opportunity, no alibi, and a shady past. The only reasons Nick has for going
against logical dictates are the feeling in his gut and the constriction in his chest.
Augusta soon finds herself thrust back into an unwanted spotlight and her quiet life
shattered. Then things go downhill. In between dodging the media, Augusta fights
off a mugger, deals with a kidnap attempt, and confronts goons better dressed than
she. With Nick Markov, who dredges up a past she’d rather forget and feelings she’d
rather not admit to having, Augusta must race to unravel her deceased husband’s perilous
legacy of deadly secrets before she finds herself skydiving without a parachute.

My Thoughts: I have to start this review by pointing out that I really like the way Ann Bruce’s website is organized. It’s easy to find stuff, and there wasn’t a whole lot of unnecessary crap to wade through. And I also like her online presence on the romance blogs I’ve read, although if she ever reads this, I’m not sure how much credence she’ll give to the fact that I said that.

Anyway, what I liked atbout this book? I actually thought the suspence plot was interesting, at least until it sort of came apart for me at the end. I didn’t guess who was responsible for Andrew Langan’s murder, and though I wasn’t crazy about the resolution, it certainly made sense.

The characters were fairly pleasant, although both Nick and Augusta managed to get on my nerves at various points in the story by acting in exactly the ways characters in romantic suspence novels always act. Nick decides Augusta can’t be a killer because of his little Nicky. Augusta does the requisite walking home alone late at night so she can be attacked thing. There is also the requisite argument about whether or not Augusta will stay in her home once it’s obvious that that’s not the place she should be. I don’t know about anybody else, but if someone broke into my house shortly after I’d been mugged, I would totally not want to stay there.

This was a quick, pleasant read, with characters who are mostly likeable. It was neither exceptionally good nor terribly bad. I’m sure there are better romantic suspence books out there. Unfortunately, the only romantic suspence book I’ve read that even remotely worked for me recently was the first Eve Dallas book, so I’m not exactly sure what those better books would be. C for this one, although I think there’s enough promise here that I’d read something else by this author.

Title: Elvenblood
Author: Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey
Genre: Fantasy
Grade: B
Reason for Reading: I loved the first book in this series to distraction.

Synopsis: The powerful magic of ruthless Elvenlord masters has for centuries rules the world.
Even Shana, the legendary Elvenbane prophesied to deliver the oppressed into freedom,
is helpless before such power. She and her ragtag band of outcasts, half-blood wizards,
escaped human slaves, and free-thinking dragons have gained only a token victory
against the mighty lords.
Only the long-forgotten Iron People, a band of human nomads, have escaped the tyranny
of the reigning wizards. How have they survived through the centuries?
As the winds of change sweep the world, and as tensions seething beneath the surface
of Elven society threaten to break into open revolt. Shana meets the ancient tribe.
Could an age-old secret free Shana and her people…or will its discovery call down
their doom.

My Thoughts: This was a hard book to grade. Because while there was a lot here that I liked, what I didn’t like I really, really didn’t like.

What works here are the recurring characters. I come back to serieses like this because I want to read about characters I’ve come to love. And I have definitely come to love Shana and Keman and Mero. I also liked the additional characters we meet here, particularly Sheyrena, an elven lady whose brother, Lorryn, has been a hidden half-blood. It is in fact Sheyrena that grows a lot over the course of the story from an idealistic, childish little girl to a strong, capable woman.

The Iron People were also an interesting addition. There was enough here that I would have liked to learn more about their culture.

I also really liked seeing a glimpse of elven society we didn’t get much of in the last books. It’s fairly clear that elven women are just as oppressed, and in some ways further oppressed, as the slaves. And I liked that small, women’s magic was just as important as the flashy stuff used by elven men, and it’s in this way that Sheyrena comes into her own.

Now for what I didn’t much like.

First, the villains. All of them–and there was a new villain popping up around every tree in this book–are of the moustache-twirling, “Bwahaha! I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you meddling kids!” variety. Everyone who isn’t all that thrilled with Shana is villified, and I would have preferred some genuine motivation other than what we got.
The other thing that didn’t work for me in a huge way will be so shocking, and also tread into spoiler territory, that I am putting it behind the cut.

I hated the romances. Yes. There were three of them, and I hated them to varying degrees.

Starting from the least hate-making, we have Shana/Lorryn. I actually kind of liked this pairing, except that not nearly enough was done with it. I didn’t really understand why, specifically, Shana was attracted to Lorryn, and he her. Plus, the declaration of love–or whatever that was–at the end was so anticlimactic. Shana’s the main character, for Cthulhu’s sake. Give her more to work with.

Stepping a bit further down the ladder of the romances I hate, we come to Keman and Dora. There was even less here to work with, and I got the impression Lackey and Norton were thinking, ‘Hmmm, if we give Shana a love interest, and we give Rena a love interest, Keman needs one, too. OK, so, let’s insert this random dragon dropped literally into the middle of the story.’ I liked what little we saw of this character, but that whole subplot should really have been cut since the other thing it accomplished could probably have happened easily some other way.

Then we have Rena and Mero. Mero who, in the first book, was definitely set up to appease the slash fangirls. While I did like that he finally got a love interest, I really hate that the whole very slashy subtext of his relationship with Valyn was ignored in favor of Rena. And, honestly? I thought Rena deserved a better happy ending.

There is a third book in this series, Elvenborn about an elvenlord. I haven’t decided whether I want to read it or not. It would take an exceptional character at this point for me to find anything remotely sympathetic about the elvenlords, and apparently Shana and friends don’t appear at all. I might read it because I’m a series completist that way, but after this book, there has to be an extremely compelling story involved, and I’m not sure this particular fantasy world really has a lot more to be mined.

So would I recommend Elvenblood ? Sure. It’s not nearly as good as the first book, but it’s not a bad read, if you don’t mind a few cliches, and can overlook the ridiculously stupid romantic elements.

I can’t sleep (clowns will eat me), so I thought I’d write up a list of anticipated reads. Probably, some or even all of these will fail to make it onto my next commuting CD either because I’ll have changed my mind about what I want to read or I’ll get distracted by something shiny, but here they are anyway.

• Midnight Sun by Rene Lyons – The author apparently compares herself to JR Ward, that diva of delicious romance crack. It always concerns me when people do that, but hey, it was a good marketing ploy because I’m interested in reading about former members of the Knights Templar who are now (get ready for a shock) vampires. Have I mentioned that I am over vampires? I am trying to break up with the genre of vampire romances, because we’re just not all that compatible, but, like Heath Ledger (or was it Jake Gyllenhall) I can’t seem to quit them! Anyway, these books do not feature guys with stupid names, although the heroes do have romance novel names (Sebastian, Constantine, Rafael). And except for the fact that I am so over the name Sebastian in romance novels, that’s definitely a point in the book’s favor. The downside? The heroine was described in a review I read as feisty. Argh!

• Atlantis Rising by Alyssa Day – I was in a role playing game with someone who loved these books so much that the game had its own little version of Atlantis. I figured I’d enjoy reading this book to see how much the game owner cribbed. And the idea of the protectors of humanity not being vampires appeals to me. Because vampires? I am so over them!
• Blood Rites by Janrae Frank – I really don’t know if I’ll like this one. But it has received favorable comparisons to my beloved A Song of Ice and Fire. And she said nice things about Mark’s book, so hopefully there’ll be something here. Unfortunately, guess what race of undead critters with fangs and a taste for plasma are prominent here? That… would be the race I am so over. Pathetic? Yes. That’s what I am.
• Alien Taste by Wen Spencer – OK, so the main character was raised by wolves and then adopted by lesbians and now he fights crime? I am so there. Please to be bringing it on! To my knowledge, there are no vampires in this book, a fact for which I am intensely grateful.
• The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch – I’ve read some of Lynch’s blog posts when they’ve been pointed out to me, and he seems really cool. Plus, the premise, that of a group of petty thieves called the Gentlemen Bastards, who set out to terrorize the nobility. Sure, I could get behind that. And I’m hoping with a setup like that, the story won’t quite be so dark. And hopefully, Locke doesn’t have a preference for Type O. Because I am, yes, totally over the vampires.
• Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu – My mom told me years ago I should read this book. Of course, my mom also reads and enjoys romance novels even I consider trashy, so we’ll have to take that with a grain of salt. Thankfully, Rosario, my reading twin liked her books, so my mom’s taste might not be that bad. (I should note here that I read and was amused by a Bertrice Small story, and Ms. Small is, like, the grandmother of trashy romance.) I also don’t know if there are vampires in this book, but if there are? I am so over them.
• Behind Closed Doors by Shannon McKenna – A discussion on a book discussion list I’m on got me interested enough to try this book. Again, Rosario liked it, but Sybil doesn’t think I will, and Sybil and I have yet to agree on a book, so I should really read it for myself and find out. Thankfully, this is a contemporary story, so no bloodsucking will occur. I hope.
• The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt – This is the first in a trilogy which got a lot of buzz in the romance blogosphere. I’m hoping that if I read it, my desire to read historicals might return. And yay, the third book in a row where nobody drinks teh blood.
• Be Mine Tonight by Kathryn Smith – Yeah, more vampires, which for those of you not paying attention I am so over… really… but this is a historical paranormal, which just sounds like a neato idea if done well. Plus, they featured her over on Sybil’s blog recently, which got me intrigued.
• I can’t remember the names, but Vickie Taylor has written some paranormal romances about gargoyles. Which strikes me as unusual enough that I am intrigued. Because I don’t think gargoyles suck blood and talk in bad Russian accents. At least, I hope not.
• Also, I’ve been meaning to read Melanie Jackson. Most of the reviews of her books have leaned on the meh side of things, but she seems like an author I could enjoy. I might give myself a break and try to find a book of hers that doesn’t feature Count Dracula wannabes.

And there you have it. My hotly anticipated new reads. Of course, the next time I make a commuting CD, I might also fill it with the last JR Ward, the next In Death, the next Miles Vorkosigan, the Jacqueline Carey I have yet to finish, the next Dresden Files book, and something else not featured here.

Title: Naked in Death
Author: J. D. Robb aka Nora Roberts
Genre: romantic suspence
Grade: A-

Synopsis: Police lieutenant Eve Dallas is assigned to investigate the murder of a prostitute. All evidence points to a serial killer, and Eve is determined to make sure the killer won’t strike again. As the investigation moves along, she meets Roarke, a mysterious billionaire who may or may not be involved with her case.

My Thoughts: Wow. I loved this book. Eve is the kind of female lead that makes my inner feminist do a happy dance. She’s kick ass, completely capable of taking care of herself, doesn’t actually need a man, but yet is very vulnerable. Eve’s got scars, a lot of them, and she’s not really sure how to deal with them, and my heart broke for her as some of the old wounds she’s been trying to keep closed flared open.

And, though I feel so very very shallow for saying this, I loved Roarke like the proverbial corpulent pre-adult loves dessert products made by Sarah Lee. This is one of those instances where I wish I hadn’t been reading a scanned version of the book, because I bet on audio the right narrator could make him even more toe-curlingly sexy than he already was. And, best of all, besides being sexy, he had a personality that was a bit more complicated than, “Me Roarke. You Eve. Time for the hot sexx0rz now.”

The romance between Eve and Roarke is by far the best part of the book. There are no silly misunderstandings and forced conflicts. And there’s enough of an end here that, if I weren’t going to continue with the series (are you kidding? Of course I will!) I’d have been satisfied they were going to stay together.

OK, now for the quibbles. I had the villain pegged about halfway through the book. I am not generally a mystery or suspence reader, so I figure this should probably count against the book somewhat. Although, of course, I was involved enough with the characters that at one point I was shouting at them. “Eve, you’re not looking in the right place!” were my exact words.

I also didn’t really appreciate the lush, breathless descriptions of Roarke’s lifestyle. Possibly, I just don’t happen to have the typical fantasy of being swept off my feet by a multi-gazillionaire. But I could have definitely done with a bit less of that.

That being said, this was a very nice start to the series and I will definitely still be reading.