Paranoid, Truth or Somewhere in between??

I've only just caught up a weeks worth of RTB. I discovered this quote from late last week:

“Authors who feel threatened by another author’s success will frequently begin campaigns to discredit the other author wherever possible…”

Frequently?? Paranoid, truth or somewhere in between?

My first reactions was This is just crazy talk!!

And then I remembered a blog post by Meljean about a toady little author reviewing over on Amazon.

I'm curious about how much of this actually goes on.

What's everyone elses thoughts??

Books, books, books...

Thursday we went to the library for our weekly "Story Time" and I picked up a few books. And, Saturday we hit B&N--I'm still using my gift cards, if I'm careful with said gift cards, I may make it to the March book releases.

At the library I picked up Mary Balogh's Simply Unforgettable and a couple more Kasey Michaels' books. I have absolutely no interest in the Michaels, but I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED SIMPLY UNFORGETTABLE. I love Mary Balogh, probably bordering on fangirl, so it's not a huge surprise that I would love this one.

I listed the book as great, but it has a few problems, yet I enjoyed it enough to overlook anything I didn't think was perfect. I haven't looked for any reviews, but I'm sure you can find one over on RT or AAR, and I'm pretty sure I actually did read a review on Rosario's Blog, but I don't remember when that was, if I get ambitious I'll go search out the post and link it here.

I have no idea how I missed this when it came out last March. The only thing I can think of I was being cheap and decided to wait for the MM release. I'm glad I decided to pick it up at the library.

Saturday's visit to B&N was also successful. I found a Paula Quinn and the new Anne Stuart The Devil's Waltz. I've got one thing to say about it ANNE STUART ROCKS!! It doesn't matter if it's romantic suspense or historicals her books are great and this one is no exception. I started this as soon as we got home, put it down long enough to have some pizza for dinner and get Junior in the shower and into bed. And, finished it before 9:00 last night.

We have a house full of company coming today and I need to get in the shower and get to Mass. If I have time, I may try to post an actual review of The Devil's Waltz sometime tonight or tomorrow.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Tara

Hitting the proverbial wall...

I have 4 books left on my "official" TBR pile. I probably have another 50 books that are on my "memory lapse" TBR pile--see my The Memory's Shot post, it explains why I'm not reading those, as I'm pretty sure I've already read them.

The 4 official books are:

1. Forbidden Magic -- Cheyenne McCray
2. After Midnight -- Teresa Medeiros
3. Maggie By The Book -- Kasey Michaels
4. The Nerd Who Loves Me -- Vicki Lewis Thompson

I'm 100 pages into After Midnight, though pretty good, I'm not in the mood for vampires and paranormals, which leaves out Forbidden Magic too, it's gotten really good buzz, but I need a break from paranormals. I think I read more paranormals last year than all my other reading years combined. Maggie By The Book is the second in a series, I didn't realize this until after I bought it, shame on me. I am picking up Maggie Needs An Alibi at the library this afternoon. And, I have absolutely no interest in The Nerd Who Loves Me Did anyone see the Nerd story on the Today Show this morning? You know I'm in a rut when I watch morning news shows past the first 10 minutes of actual news.

So, where does this leave me? I've hit a wall. Not in the mood for what's left and not sure exactly what I'm looking for. I've got 3 waiting for me at the library, maybe one of those will pull me out of my rut.

I'm feeling a bit lost, a house full of books and nothing to read, can that be, or am I being too picky? Quandary, quandary, what's next?

Bad boys, Antiheros and Good Girls

While book shopping over the last few weeks I discovered there are a heck of a lot of Bad Boy and Good Girl books out there. And while I spent some time thinking about writing a blog about this, Sybil beat me to it. At least the Bad Boy part of it. And before I had time to join the conversation, she's moved on to other things. So I'm blogging about it too.

It seems to me, when it comes to romance novels hero has a few different meanings. Here is Encarta's definition that fit within romance:

1. somebody who commits an act of remarkable bravery or who has shown an admirable quality such as great courage or strength of character
2. somebody admired: somebody who is admired for outstanding qualities or achievements...
3. arts main character in fictional plot: the principal male character in a movie, novel, or play, especially one who plays a vital role in plot development or around whom the plot is structured.

So, for the most part romance novels probably fall into two categories, real hero's that fit the first 2 definitions and Bad Boys who aren't necessarily antiheros, unheroic central character: the central character in a story who is not a traditionally brave or good hero, but may have had less than sterling backgrounds and walk, run, ride, drive to a different drummer.

The funny thing is I love Bad Boy stories and yet I hate to see Bad Boy in the title. Do we really need to be told the hero is bad? I think most of us can figure it out from the blurb. I realized this morning why it bugs me. I'm not a fan of Lori Foster and I have a tendency to equate Bad Boy with her books--ack, how unfair is that to other writers? I think I need to work on that.

Antiheros are different from bad boys. There is nothing sterotypical about antiheros. Bad boys and heros are a dime a dozen in romance novels, but a good antihero is hard to find. Sometimes they find redemption with the love of a good woman, and sometimes it's left rather vague--nobody does this better than Anne Stuart.

So, now I have a confession, I've never read a Good Girl book. That's not to say I haven't read a book with a Good Girl heroine, but I've never actually read a book with Good Girl in the title. Are they good in the biblical sense or have good moral fiber? Are they good friends, good daughters, good looking or good in bed? Aren't all heroines Good to some degree**?

My deep thoughts for today--LOL.

Have a good one, and happy reading.

Tara

**Edited, apparently not, check out Kristie's rant about "It's all about me" Mia.

The Small Stuff...

I've always lived by the "Don't sweat the small stuff..." mentality.

The last week or so's small stuff:

• Okay, this isn't a small thing, my mom had an ER visit last weekend because she thought she was having a heart attack. Everything's fine, but she needed her medication adjusted.
• While I was on the phone talking to my sister about her taking my mom to the ER, my husband takes a fall outside while cleaning up after an ice storm. Bruised ribs. And, at this point, a week and a half later I'm sure he's milking it, but I'm still being sympathetic just in case. He's a bit of a hypochondriac.
• We had a leak in our kitchen sink's drain pipe, apparently it's been going on for a while.
• I forgot to put my husband's lawn mower away after I let my BIL into the basement to fix the leak. It sat out through last week's ice storm. My husband wasn't a happy camper.
• Our neighbor lost one of their trees to the ice storm landed in their pool, which may not be a bad thing since they haven't opened it in a couple of years and last summer bull frogs took up residence.
• My son's Tae Kwon Do instructor skipped town. I'm relieved we only paid through the end of December and had planned to pay for Jan-March when we went back after vacation. Some people had paid for a year in advance. The entire place is cleaned out. Now we have to find a new instructor.
• I can't get into the library systems program to order books on-line.
• Last night my son's Thomas the Tank Engine alarm clock went off with a huge "BRNNGGG" at 3:00 this morning. I can't imagine who turned that on.
• The Weather Channel said we would have 1 inch of snow when we got up this morning and would get another inch before the storm turned to rain. Well, we had 6 inches of snow when we got up and another 2 fell before it changed to rain. Of course, I had to do most of the shoveling since my husbands ribs hurt-ack, right. I shouldn't complain I used the snow blower for the end of the driveway.
• My son had a complete temper tantrum when I told him "No, you can't use the snow blower."

In the grand scheme of live none of this is all that important. Now, that I've bored you with my small trials and tribulations, I promise to get back to blogging about books tomorrow.

Have a good one.

Tara

The Memory's Shot

Way back when I was Rosario's age I remembered everything I read. Titles, characters, story lines, plots. I could discuss in detail just about anything I'd read since, well, childhood. This ability is gone, kuput, shot, completely done. I used to laugh when older women (women who were then the age I am now) in my "romance reading book club" would tell me to make lists to keep track of all the books I read, I thought they were crazy.

Well, with age comes wisdom. I need lists and details to remember anything now. What I read now is half of what I read 10 years ago. Back at the height of my reading, when I read probably around 400 books a year, I didn't keep track of anything, which is not a good thing, since now I don't remember anything.

Why am I telling you all this?

1. AAR is talking about he 2005 "buried treasures". Rosario blogged about her "buried treasure" which I have to agree was a very good book that no one seemed to be talking about. Well, it seems I couldn't remember the name of my "buried treasure." I had to go back and search my books read in 2005 list in order to find Outlaw's Embrace by Ashley Snow. The only problem is it's a golden oldie rather than a book published in 2005, that may explain why it wasn't a popular topic of romance reading conversation.

2. My TBR pile is full of books I've already read. Not because I want to reread them, but because I didn't remember reading them and when someone mentioned it was a favorite, I'd add it to my TBR pile, only to discover when I actually went to read the books that I had read them when they were new. Stories, plots, characters would seem vaguely familiar and I'd know the ending before I read it.

When did the memory go? I'm not entirely sure. I'm starting to think it was childbirth, though I had a c-section, but I'm sure that counts. When I was pregnant I lost all interest in reading and probably didn't start reading like I do now until after my son was a year old.

My mom reads for the pleasure of the moment, she remembers nothing and can reread a book once a month and enjoy it each time like it's new. I swear she has read Mary Jo Putney's entire backlist 5 times in the last year. She picks up the books at thrift stores and library sales and when she's done, she gives them to me.

Me: "Mom, you keep reading the same books over and over."
Mom: "I know, but I enjoy them each time."
Me: "Don't you remember reading them?"
Mom: "Sometimes they seem vaguely familiar."

OMG, I'm turning into my Mother.

A word of advice, if you're not keeping track of what your reading, if you think "hey I'll remember this," be very afraid, one day that great memory will be gone and you'll be left thinking "Gee, that seemed vaguely familiar."

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

I should have hated it...

But, for some reason Minda Webber's The Reluctant Miss Van Helsing worked for me. He's an almost 400 year old vampire Earl and she's a vampire hunting Van Helsing, though she faints at the sight of blood. Her father is laid up with gout and sends her to kill the evil vampire, the plan is to seduce him. The plan might have worked if Jane wasn't a klutz and didn't try to stake him during the seduction, leaving her completely compromised and then must wed the enemy. The staking scene is great.

It's campy, it's funny, it's filled with subtle and some not so subtle contemporary references even though it's a regency. The dialogue between the hero and heroine is sassy, witty and at times biting, no pun intended. The literary refrences are cleverly interwoven, from Shakespeare and Dickens to Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz and The Fantastiks. The Wizard of Oz reference may be from the movie and not the literary work. There's even a humorous little supernatural ditty sung to a Christmas carol. The other day I blogged about the Lugosi, Lee and Langella references along with the Elizabeth Taylor/Cleopatra reference.

To be completely honest, it's a contempory dressed in regency clothing, but for some reason I was able to ignore it, which I normally can't/wont do. Though there is one literary reference that left me somewhat annoyed. Jane, our intrepid vampire hunting heroine, thinks the opening of Dickens A Tale of Two Cities is a perfect description of her first 4 days of marriage, unfortunately ATOTC wont be written for another 30 years, so it's a little hard to quote from. All the other "contemporary" references were just cleverly used in thoughts and dialogue without ever giving credit to the author.

Is it going on my keeper shelf--no, but it entertained me while I read it. Do I want a steady diet of this style of book--no, but it's a fun read once in a while.

Why We Love Children

Yeah, I know we've all seen this, but it hit me as funny this morning when I opened emails.

Here's one cute kid's story I know is true. Last week as we were leaving school my little budding comedian started telling jokes. "Hey Mrs. K, why did the chicken cross the road?" "I don't know why..." So after she hears the punch line she asks "Why do we cross the road?" and her son pipes in "To get the chicken."

Why We Love Children

1. A kindergarten pupil told his teacher he'd found a cat, but it was dead.
"How do you know that the cat was dead?" she asked her pupil.
"Because I pissed in its ear and it didn't move," answered the child innocently.
You did WHAT ? ! ?" the teacher exclaimed in surprise.
"You know,"explained the boy, "I leaned over and went 'Pssst!' and it didn't move."

2. A small boy is sent to bed by his father.
Five minutes later...."Da-ad...."
"What?"
"I'm thirsty. Can you bring drink of water?"
"No, You had your chance. Lights out."
Five minutes later: "Da-aaaad....."
"WHAT?"
"I'm THIRSTY. Can I have a drink of water??"
I told you NO! If you ask again, I'll have to spank you!!"
Five minutes later......"Daaaa-aaaad....."
"WHAT!"
"When you come in to spank me, can you bring a drink of water?"

3. An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief,
finally asked him "How do you expect to get into Heaven?"
The boy thought it over and said, "Well, I'll run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door
until St. Peter says, 'For Heaven's sake, Dylan, come in or stay out!'"

4. One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her son into bed.
She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?"
The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't dear," she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy's room"
A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice: "The big sissy"

5. It was that time, during the Sunday morning service, for the children's sermon. All the children were invited to come forward.
One little girl was wearing a particularly pretty dress and, as she sat down, the pastor leaned over and said, "That is a very pretty dress. Is it your Easter Dress?"
The little girl replied, directly into the pastor's clip-on microphone, "Yes, and my Mom says it's a bitch to iron."

6. When I was six months pregnant with my third child, my three year old came into the room when I was just getting ready to get into the shower She said, "Mommy, you are getting fat!"

I replied, "Yes, honey, remember Mommy has a baby growing in her tummy."

"I know," she replied, but what's growing in your butt?"

7 A little boy was doing his math homework. He said to himself, "Two plus five, that son of a bitch is seven.
Three plus six, that son of a bitch is nine...." His mother heard what he was saying and gasped, "What are you doing?"
The little boy answered, "I'm doing my math homework, Mom."
"And this is how your teacher taught you to do it?" the mother asked.
"Yes," he answered.
Infuriated, the mother asked the teacher the next day, "What are you teaching my son in math?"
The teacher replied, "Right now, we are learning addition."
The mother asked, "And are you teaching them to say two plus two, that son of a bitch is four?"
After the teacher stopped laughing, she answered, "What I taught them was, two plus two, THE SUM OF WHICH, is four."

8. One day the first grade teacher was reading the story of Chicken Little to her class. She came to the part of the story where Chicken Little tried to warn the farmer. She read, ".... and so Chicken Little went up to the farmer and said,
"The sky is falling, the sky is falling!"
The teacher paused then asked the class, "And what do you think that farmer said?"
One little girl raised her hand and said, "I think he said: 'Holy Shit! A talking chicken!'"
The teacher was unable to teach for the next 10 minutes.

9. A certain little girl, when asked her name, would reply, "I'm Mr. Sugarbrown's daughter."
Her mother told her this was wrong, she must say, "I'm Jane Sugarbrown."
The Vicar spoke to her in Sunday School, and said, "Aren't you Mr. Sugarbrown's daughter?"
She replied, "I thought I was, but mother says I'm not."

10. A little girl asked her mother, "Can I go outside and play with the boys?"
Her mother replied, "No, you can't play with the boys, they're too rough."
The little girl thought about it for a few moments and asked, "If I can find a smooth one, can I play with him?"

11. A little girl goes to the barber shop with her father. She stands next to the barber chair, while her dad gets his hair cut, eating a snack cake The barber says to her, "Sweetheart, you're gonna get hair on your Twinkie."
She says, "Yes, I know, and I'm gonna get boobs too."

Moving on

After being highly entertained for the last 2 days by Angie's review brouhaha I've decided to move on to other things.

My sister and her husband came over for dinner last night, while my BIL was here we put him to work cleaning our boiler, and if you call it a furnace, my sister will correct you and explain why it's a boiler and not a furnace. As if I actually care, but it is great having a plumber in the family.

Sorry, I'm getting side tracked, so they come for dinner and my sister tells me to make sure I have books ready for her, she's bringing books for me. Yeah, I'm getting new books for my TBR pile, right? Wrong, she's returning my books, out of the 2 shopping bags she gave me all but 2 were mine. So I've added Vicki Lewis Thompson's The Nerd Who Loved Me and Elizabeth Thornton's Shady Lady to my TBR pile. I'm not even sure I want to read the Thompson, but it'll find a home with the rest of my TBR pile until I decide to purge them.

I started reading Minda Webber's The Reluctant Miss Van Helsing. I'm 14 pages into it and Ms. Webber has my head swimming.

1. Her grandfather Colonel Ebenezer Van Helsing is responsible for "slaying the infamous Nosferatn, Lugosi, Lee and Langella."
2. Ebenezer's favorite expression is "Humbug."
3. The costume Miss Van Helsing is wearing to the first scene's costume ball is Cleopatra "tailored by Miss Elizabeth Burton."
4. Miss Van Helsing's best friend is Clair Frankenstein, who happens to be married to a werewolf she calls Harry.
5. Clair Frankenstein has been escorted to the costume ball by her cousin "Frederick" who was created by her Uncle Victor. He doesn't need a costume as he is the original Frankenstein monster though he is rather sweet.

I'm not sure I'm going to keep up with all this--LOL. But, I'm going to give it a try.

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

A few thoughts and then I have to go food shopping...

Since reading Angie's RTB post yesterday I've been thinking about reviews and such. And while hopping around this morning I discovered this link, originally through RTB--Helen Kay Dimon. She says it all so much better than I would have and she also keeps me from having to tax my brain trying to do it.

Though I do think I'd up her 93% of romance author statistic who can't handle negative reviews, it's probably closer to 98 or 99%, but hey that's just my opinion. But after a couple of run ins with authors on message boards you start to get a little jaded.

I do have a question, how many people actually use the Amazon or B&N reviews? Personally, I've always found they are entertaining without being real informative, who believes all the gushing or hating. I'm not really in a position to judge these things as I write sucky reviews--I either gush or I'm nit picking, making something sound better or worse than it probably is. But, hey it's my blog and my opinions, right :D?

I'm still reading Kasey Micheals' The Kissing Game. I love her humorous writing style, but there is a copy editor out there who uses spell check, but who may not actually proof read for content. I've noticed a few errors, and I'm only 80 pages into it, but hey at least the wrong words are spelled correctly. Once again, not that I'm in a position to judge someone else on spelling or grammar, but I'm not getting paid to do that am I?

Okay, I'm done being snarky.

Did anyone watch LOST last night? Where the heck is this thing going?

Got to go, Shop Rite here we come.

Have a good one and happy reading.

Tara

A few things...

So, Angie has an interesting column over on RTB. When I hopped over there this afternoon there was 39 responses to her thoughts on reviews on sites like Amazon.

Yesterday we went to the library and since I went without a list I ended up with Judith McNaught's Every Breath You Take. I have no real idea why I took this out. It was there and I took it, I'm really not that interested. But, I've got it until the 24th so it's going on the TBR pile temporarily. Now get this--it's classified a Mystery??

I picked up a couple of books at B&N today The Reluctant Miss Van Helsing and Kasey Michaels' The Kissing Game.

I started reading The Kissing Game while I was waiting to pick Junior up from school and on page two I find a major typo:

...that had left the then Dowager countess PROSTATE on her bed for months.

Nobody along the publishing process caught this, how is this possible??

Lost is back tonight, so I've got to go.

Have a good one and happy reading.

The Courtesan by Julia Justiss

My husband is a night talker, which is to say he sleeps for a few hours wakes up and wants to talk. Of course, he goes right back to sleep and I'm left tossing and turning to the point I now do a lot of reading in the middle of the night. I read 2/3 of The Courtesan between 1:30 and 4:30 this morning. For some reason I had higher expectations for this book and I'm not sure if I'm being picky simply because I read it on lack of sleep.

This book has a fabulous premise and spends the 3/4 working toward something completely different in Regency period romances, which should have made this book an excellent or at the very least a very good read. Unfortunately, the last 1/4 of the book is so contrived it ended up leaving me disappointed. She's an ex-courtesan, he's willing to give up society for her--fine, love this, great idea, but somehow the author twists the story around so they are completely accepted by the "ton"--let's make it a perfect ending, for some reason this just didn't work for me.

It's still a good book, but for me it needed a different ending.

Interesting

So a while ago one of my computer geek BILs told me I should turn on the Ad Sense on my blog. So of course, I listened to the loveable geek. It doesn't make any money, but I get some interesting things pop up, which keeps me rather entertained. Today this popped in:

The LuvLibrary

I'd never heard of it and I'm curious has anyone used it??

Really, I Wanted To Love It...

Look at this cover, I should have loved this book simply because the cover is beautiful.

But, of course, a book can't be judged by it's cover. This one had more going for it than most.

1. It's set in Restoration England.

2. It sounds like it's set in Restoration England, or at least it sounds like what I expect a book to sound like set in Restoration England.

3. It has a class struggle under tone, she's a Lady and he's a Highwayman, really not a lord acting like a highwayman, well, he is an Earl's illegitimate son.

4. It has lots of action and is fairly fast paced.

5. An Evil villain and a horny King.

6. It has the feel of a Robin Hood and pirate tale rolled into one.

The problem, the heroine is absolutely TSTL shrew for the first half of the book. Honestly, she needed a good smack. Once she realizes that the hero is truly a hero and she ceases to being stupid, things improve immensely. And, that's what saves this story. If the heroine hadn't of been so TSTL to start with this would have been an excellent read.

Those are my thoughts, I'm waiting for what everyone else thinks, maybe I'm just being nit picky. I put it under good on the sidebar, but maybe I'll move it to very good. I need to think about it.

Tara

What A Woman Needs by Caroline Linden

Before I say anything about this book I'm going to share the back blurb:

HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO MARRY AN HEIRESS?

Not terribly, Stuart Drake thinks, if you're good-looking, charming, and in line for a Viscount title, which, fortunately, he is. To end his penniless existence, he simply has to convince his intended bride's shrewish, wizened old guardian that he isn'ta fortune hunter...which, unfortunately, he is in the extreme. Still, once he meets the old whitch, how difficult could it prove to charm her?
Quite, actually. Espeically when the lady in question is temptation made flesh--a gorgeous widow with a reputation for knowing a rake when she sees one, having bedded many herself. She'd rather die than let Stuart win. And with his plans thwarted, Stuart has only one option: to take revence on his tormentor through seduction. But learning what this woman needs might only leave him hungry for more...

I typed that in, so excuse any typos.

Okay, from that blurb I expected this to be a "Regency Romp" and mentioned this when I posted that I bought it because it sounded interesting. Rosario commented at the time that it isn't a romp, and boy, was she right. The funny thing is the blurb is a good description of this book.

...having bedded many herself. That may very well be an understatement when it comes to this book. Charlotte, has been around the block a time or two or ten or twenty, of course it's not really her fault. But, you like her anyway, I guess the author does a good job showing why and at times I thought she was TSTL, and at times I thought she was great. And, the hero, Stuart, turns out to be a more of a gentleman than expected.

What a Woman Needs isn't a typical regency, which may be the reason I liked it so much. It's got love, sex and intrigue. What more can we ask for?

Two More Contemporary Romances

Two more books for Angie's TBR Challenge.


Title: Just Perfect
Author: Julie Ortolon
Year published: 2005

Why did you get this book? Kristie recommended it and the 1st book in this series, Almost Perfect.

Do you like the cover? I'm not big on cartoon covers, but it's okay.

Did you enjoy the book? Yes, actually I liked it better than Almost Pefect.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? No, I've read her before.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Passing it on.

Anything else? I enjoyed this book, I found it entertaining while I was reading it, but it's not a keeper. I'm not a huge fan of Julie Ortolon, I find her books rather hit or miss for me, but this is a good one. I liked the interaction between the characters and her dialogue between men is pretty good, which is really my biggest peeve with contemporary romances, so often the men sound like women sharing their feelings and emotions.




Title: Too Perfect
Author:
Year published: 2005

Why did you get this book? It's the last in a trilogy, though it wasn't recommended, Kristie hated it.

Do you like the cover? Again, not big on cartoon covers, but it's okay.

Did you enjoy the book? It was okay. Not as good as the first 2, but I didn't dislike it as much as Kristie did.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? No...

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Passing it on.

Anything else? I think the author was hoping to do a fairy tale thing with this one, but it kind of falls short, it's not a horrible book, it's just not good/very good/great.

Heiress for Hire by Erin McCarthy

This is my first book for Angie's TBR Challenge, it's not been on my TBR pile long, 5 days, but it did make it to my bedroom, which is my prerequisite for TBR pile books.


Title: Heiress for Hire
Author: Erin McCarthy
Year published: 2006

Why did you get this book? I'm fast becoming a fan Ms. McCarthy's--I love her writing voice.

Do you like the cover? Yes, but I'm not overly impressed by covers.

Did you enjoy the book? Absolutely, the story and plot are a little farfetched, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? No, she's not knew to me, but I'm going to search out the rest of her backlist, I've now read 3 of her books and enjoyed them.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? Though it's very good, it's probably not a keeper, but I may hold on to for a little while.

Anything else? Well, it does have a ghost that visits on occasion, so it may be considered a paranormal.

I really like her writing style, it's a 3rd person Chick Lit in style, but definitely romance. I finally realized that if I ever contemplated writing it would probably be similar to what my voice would sound like, but obviously her's is better with more imagination, which is what I lack and why I would never think about trying my hand at writing.

Jay's up on RTB

Jay is the guest blogger over on RTB today, a great column about trying new authors. Of course, after going back and researching new to me authors for 2005, I am incapable of following my own advice.

So after analyzing the stats for last year, I read 66 new authors. Of the 66, 46 are authors that have 1. become autobuys for me, 2. have already or will read again. That leaves 20 authors I wont read again.

But here's the kicker, of the 20 authors I wont read again, I read additional books by 12 different authors, it took reading 2 or 3 of their books to decide--nope, their not for me. I knew after the first book, but for some reason I went on to read more sucky books by choice.

Strange.

Good Golly Miss Maili is back...

A big welcome back to blogdom!!

Back to Barnes and Noble

So maybe I should just camp out at Barnes and Noble. I made another trip while Junior was in school, and picked up 2 more books:

1. Lady Anne's Dangerous Man -- Jeane Westin
2. What A Woman Needs -- Caroline Linden

Then I visited the Evil Empire and I can't believe I bought 2 books there. I still have gift cards for B&N and I bought books at Wal*Mart--what the heck am I thinking--LOL. Wal*Mart finds:

1. Lord of My Heart -- Jo Beverley
2. Midnight Marriage -- Victoria Bylin

The only book I actually planned to get was Lady Anne's Dangerous Man. The blurb for What A Woman Needs sounds interesting, but it's probably another "Regency romp." I'm pretty sure I've already read Lord of My Heart, it's not new and I thought I had exhausted Jo Beverley's entire backlist. I hadn't planned on getting Midnight Marriage, but I liked Victoria Bylin's last book, so what the heck.

I think I must be a frustrated "check out girl." I always use the self-check out at Wal*Mart--love it, I'm in and out in a flash.

Got to go, I need to pick out something to read. I just finished Almost a Lady--not great, not even that good, just okay. Maybe I'll blog about it tomorrow.

An Unlikely Governess by Karen Ranney

Karen Ranney's An Unlikely Governess is officially the first book I've read in 2006. I picked it up New Year's Eve on the way to my Mom's and finally got to finish it last night. It's very gothic in style, mystery surrounds all the major characters. On the sidebar I originally listed this book as "good," but the more I thought about it, decided to move it to "very good." Really good gothic romances are hard to find. In order to keep the gothic feeling throughout the book, the hero is never fully fleshed out, which is fine, though we do head hop to him on occasion, but he's usually thinking about the heroine in a sexual way, typical man--LOL. If you like gothic romance, you'll like this book.

I've had the January Romantic Times since the beginning of December, but am only getting to it now. The first four listed under "Historical Romances all received "top picks!"

1. Two Little Lies -- Liz Carlyle
2. An Unlikely Governess -- Karen Ranney
3. Almost a Lady -- Jane Feather
4. Lady Anne's Dangerous Man -- Jeanne Westin

I've read the first two and am currently reading the 3rd.At this point I'm enjoying Almost a Lady, and have decided to pick up Lady Anne's Dangerous Man tomorrow.

Has anyone read Minda Webber's The Remarkable Miss Frankenstein? Her The Reluctant Miss Van Helsing also received a "top pick!" It sounds interesting, but I'd like to get some opinions about her writing first.

Have a good one, and happy reading (remember to keep the trapped miners and their families in your thoughts and prayers).

Tara

It's Mocking Me

That TBR pile that sits so lovingly inside my nightstand/bookcase is mocking me. The colorful covers taunt me, knowing I'll probably never read half of them. And, yet somehow I can't bring myself to purge it. It is filled with older books that came so highly recommended by friends who promise "this one's a keeper" and for some reason I don't have the ability to do more than read an occasional blurb, then put the book back with a "I'll try it next month."

Well, next month has now turned into new year and I'm still not really interested. There must be some gems in the pile, no real friend would recommend a wallbanger. Of course, I have on occasion given a book to my sister and asked "Is this as bad as I think it is?" She will inevitably give it back with a "How the hell did that get published? And, stop giving me crap."

I have a confession to make. I am a new book whore. Now, that's a word I hate along with the word slut. Whore and slut have such negative connotations and the politically correct feminist part of me hates seeing them used. Unfortunately, it is a perfect description for my reading and book buying habits. It seems I like to be right there talking about what's new and hot, no pun intended. Probably close to 90% of what I read is newly published.

Renee blogs about her new year's book resolutions. I commented that my only resolution would be to continue trying new to me authors, but that really isn't my only resolution. I'd also love to see my TBR pile disappear and stop mocking me.

But, of course, I know my real TBR pile consists of the 7 brand spanking new books sitting next to my bed, in a lovely Barnes and Noble Christmas shopping bag.

I'm curious, how many other NBWs are out there??

Tara aka The New Book Whore

Happy New Year

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years.

We're home. Thank God. If I ever say we're staying at my parent's again, someone please smack me.

The day was very nice, we had a great visit, my sister and her family were there along with one of my aunts. We did a jigsaw puzzle and played games. My sister and aunt left around 10:30, they both live less than 5 minutes away. My parents have 2 spare bedrooms, both have twin beds, so we decided to sleep in the room with a TV and set up their Aerobed, that way there would be enough room for all 3 of us to sleep in the same room. My husband and son both fell asleep early.

Sleep would have been nice. It turns out since I moved out 23 years ago my parents have turned into The LOUDS. The extra bedroom with the TV is between their bedroom and the bathroom. Between them they must have been up 10 times. Lights are on, and off like a lighthouse. And, the bathroom sink is so loud it sounds like they're taking showers in right there in spare room. And, for some reason, the bathroom and bedroom doors must be slammed shut everytime they leave a room. To get away from all the noise my husband moved to the recliner in the living room somewhere around 4:00 And, at 6:30 this morning he asked "why did it sound like your parents were moving furniture all night?"

Junior slept through it all.