Book Banter

So I just finished my review of Jane and the Damned. Obvs, from the title here, it wasn’t a keeper for me. Which made it hard to write a review that wasn’t excessively mean. But because I don’t care about maintaining a level of niceosity here, here are some outtakes that didn’t make it into the review: 

 

• While Jane and the Damned certainly isn’t the worst book out there - - it’s a perfectly acceptable way to spend an afternoon on the couch - - it’s not the best book I’ve ever read either. The lure of Jane Austen as a vampire may  be enough to entice you to pick up the book, but ultimately it’s not enough to save what is ultimately…
• There were a fair amount of things I didn’t understand in Jane and the Damned. While never a fan of the infodump, there was very little information given about these vampires and how their world worked. Much like Jane was left in the dark after her turning (her sire was a deadbeat dad), the reader is as well. All we know is that there’s a vampire etiquette that Jane keeps violating…
•  How much you like or dislike Jane and the Damned, is likely directly related to how much of a Jane Austen fangirl (or fanboy) you are. As someone who’s read about 7 pages total of Austen, I am solidly in the non-fangirl camp. Therefore, as far as I was concerned Jane was just another heroine; she could have been named Charlotte Holbrook for all I was attached to her. But because she was the inimitable Jane Austen, Mullaney didn’t really bother to develop Jane as a character. All I really know about her is that she likes to write and she has a strong sense of family.
•  I think the reliance on the world’s familiarity with Jane Austen allowed Mullaney to phone in the character development.
• …it causes me no pain to see the beloved Jane Austen turned into a vampire. However, perhaps because I’m not a Jane Austen fan, I know missed some of the easter eggs that would a true Austen fan would have caught. 

My biggest biggest biggest problem with this book was I had a hard time caring about Jane throughout the novel. I think I was supposed to like Jane based on the strength of her real world success, but since I have never read a Jane Austen novel - the only two I know are Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility (and it took me 2 days to remember the second one) - I didn’t have the Austen hard on that I think was supposed to carry the day. Was Jane and the Damned interesting? Yes. Did I need to read 300+ pages of it? not nearly. I probably would have been happy with a novella. 

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think it’s specifically the fact that she’s Jane Austen that I object to. Had the protag been Charlotte, like I named her above, I suspect I wouldn’t feel nearly as strongly about the book as I do. I truly feel like I don’t know anything about Jane - everything that I’m supposed to know about her, I apparently was supposed to bring to the party myself. BYOC(haracterization). I know I’m in the minority, but I just didn’t like it. I did like George. I would have happily read a whole book about him. 

 

We’ll see about that. I suspect I’m back only for as long as it takes me to forget about this or I get busy. Right now I’m unemployed and beyond bored so why not. At least I can chat it up with my bookie friends! 

So most recently I’ve been reading Kiss at Your Own Risk by Stephanie Rowe. I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I took this to review on the strength of her Immortally Sexy series (Date Me Baby One More Time, et al), and Kiss At Your Own Risk is in many ways a reiteration of DMBOMT & Friends. I mean that it a good way, mind you. All of the crazy, zany, bizarre things that made the Immortally Sexy world so much fun to read about are present in KAYOR. However, there was an element of world building in DMBOMT that’s completely missing from KAYOR. I literally have no idea what’s going on.

No, that’s not true - I understand the plot: Hero needs Heroine’s help to complete a Mission Impossible. Heroine needs Hero’s help to perform a distasteful task. I get that. What I don’t get is everything else. Blaine appears to be some sort of fire-wielder; he can set himself on fire at will, and can throw fireballs, among other things. Whatsherface is a black widow (spider) meaning she kills the guys she falls in love with, but she feels bad about it. Blaine was tortured by a witch for several hundreds of years. There’s a character who reminds me of that girl in the Immortally Sexy books, Satan’s Favorite Rivka. I can’t remember her name to save my life, but I would bet dollars to donuts that she’s Raine here.

While I know who the characters are, I don’t know why they are the way they are. I don’t know how this world works. I’m not the biggest stickler for world building but I need a little more than the nothing Stephanie has given me here. Maybe it all gets resolved by the last page, who knows. What I do know is that the constant confusion, the lack of foundation, makes me not want to read anymore. And that, in turn, annoys me, because I know Rowe can write a book I want to read. This just isn’t it, right now. 

which is only part of why I haven’t been posting.  Let’s see if I can remember everything I read - I was trying to make a concerted effort to read the books I’ve been looking forward to the most.

Been There, Done That by Carol Snow: This was a lot of fun. Snow has only written two books, this was her debut, but both of them were keepers for me, and she’s definitely an autobuy author for me.

White House Nannies by Barbara Klien - this was a memoir by a woman who started a nanny agency for Washington VIPs. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting since I thought it was a novel when I picked it up, but it was good, and it held my attention

The First Assistant by Mimi Hare, Clare Naylor: this is the sequel to The Second Assistant. I had started it a while ago but found I wasn’t quite in the mood for it. But during my vacation I was in the mood to read something fast and fun and this fit the bill. It was exactly what I wanted.

Because You Can by Bridie Clark - yall know how I love my roman a clefs and this was one of them. It’s the Devil Wears Prada of the book publishing world, and in this case the devil is Judith Regan, or Victoria Grant, as she is called in the book. It was fun.

The Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist - I picked this up at a library sale a while ago and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. Even though the blurb tries to hide it, it’s definitely a romance. One lacking in teh sex but I’m thinking thats because of the publisher.

 hmmm, what else did I read? I tried to read Cyber Cinderella but it’s set in London and I’m biased against those types of books. Oh! And I read Bad Boys Ahoy. Love Sylvia Day. Loooooove Sylvia Day.

Oh, and I read Tiffany Twisted by Alison Tyler, an erotic romance where theres some voodoo and a girl ends up in her boyfriend’s body and vice versa. It was interesting and different. With lots-o-sex.

At the moment I’m reading Plane Insanity, another memoir by a guy who was a flight attendant. Laugh out loud funny, it is. Don’t know what I’ll be readng next. It remains a mystery.  

Is it me or are the blurb writers for the upcoming Aphrodisia books not even trying to come up with a plot summary? I mean I get sometimes erotic romances might be a little thin on plot, but I feel like they’ve got to have more plot than these blurbs make it seem…

 Some examples:

 Hot for It: The hot British guy whose answers Cat’s Internet ad and offers to “kidnap” her for a week sounds perfect—but who knew she would become free to indulge every secret fantasy?

Big Spankable Asses (we wont even talk about the title): When three Chicago girlfriends find they aren’t getting any, they get serious. They want men who know their way around a sister’s body. But first these guys need to figure out what a BSA is—and what down and dirty things they can do with it… 

Touch Me: Ann Montgomery can’t get enough of Adonis, her new massage therapist. His touch melts all her inhibitions, and soon Ann is surrendering to his sensual caress in intimate sessions that have her begging for more…

 

who knew my last post here was in January? I’d like to thank all the people that lied to me and told me second semester would be much easier than the first. Lies! All lies! One day I’ll tell stories. like about the time I fell. Or the time I cried. Actually, I cried twice, so you’d have your pick of stories. But in the meantime, I just want to spend the summer reading all the books I’ve accumulated during the year but didnt have time to do more than stroke the cover before tossing it in a corner.

Oh, and I listed Your Mouth Drives Me Crazy in the last post - I got to read it for review, and while I haven’t worked up the energy to write the review yet, I really liked it. Way more than I liked HK’s short story in When Good Things Happen to Bad Boys. So when it comes out in a month or so, you should buy it.  And I’ll post the review here - once my brain doesnt cringe at the thought of putting together more than 2 coherent sentences at a time.

 

 

The book industry faces many challenges. People seem to have less time to read and it’s tough to compete with the television and Internet. Any new or aspiring author knows how hard it is to make his or her voice heard amongst the chorus of "publish me!" "Notice me!" "Buy my books!"

In many cultures around the world, Valentine’s Day has converted the month of February into the month of love. This February, two aspiring authors are taking their love of reading and their admiration for debut authors and combining them into the "Debut a debut!" contest.

Take a first-time author for a spin on your "To Read in 2007" list and give yourself the chance to win great prizes! Gift certificates to Borders and more!

During the week of 12 Feb through 17 Feb, read a book written by a debut author and post your review by 17 February. Send Susan or Erica the permalink to your review and you will be entered in a drawing for some great prizes.

Some Rules
A debut author is an author who has had their first novel published between 01/2006 and 02/2007.

Accepted publication types are ebook and in-print novels from established royalty-paying publishers or e-publishers; if you’re not sure, e-mail us the name of the publisher. POD, vanity presses, or Publish America books are not considered for this contest.

Reviews can not be previously printed online or in print. The review of a debut author’s novel must be posted between the dates of 02/12/2007 - 02/17/2007. Prize drawing will occur 02/19/2007 and winners will be notified via email.

Multiple entries are allowed.

The Prizes
2 randomly drawn participants will receive a $20.00 Borders gift certificate. Other prizes announced closer to the contest.

How to Enter
1. Buy, find, or borrow a novel that is an author’s debut. (see list of some debut novels at WestofMars.com, West of Mars — the Meet and Greet, or Writing Aspirations)
2. Read the novel.
3. Write a review. It does not have to be a professional review. Provide a brief plot synopsis and then mention your likes or dislikes or other thoughts you had while reading.
4. Post the review online - either on a website or blog.
5. Send the permalink of the post to West of Mars — the Meet and Greet or Writing Aspirations in an email message or post a comment to the main contest post with a link to your review.

Remember, the review is to be completed and posted during the week of 02/12/2007 - 02/17/2007.

A post will be created on West of Mars and Writing Aspirations with links to all book reviews submitted.

I have to look at my spreadsheet to see what debut authors I’ve read this year.

So I get emails from the review coordinator person for Armchair Interviews because, while I’ve only done two reviews for them, I’m still clearly on their list. But anyway, she sends out this email today asking if anyone was interested in reviewing a Dafina romance from Kensington. Now, normally the custom is to send over a short blurb to help the reviewers decide if it’s something they would be interested in. This is what whoever requested the review sent over:
 

Samantha Taylor is struggling to deal with the deaths of her husband and sister. Two years prior, they were killed in an automobile accident.

While dealing with her loss, Samantha now has reason to feel guilty. She’s falling in love with her very handsome and sexy brother-in-law, Alex.

Samantha and Alex are constantly thrown together in caring for their kids. They have been both mother and father to the other’s kids.

With Alex’s busy schedule, Samantha’s niece and nephew spend more time at her house than at their own home. She’s the one who takes them to soccer practice and karate class. 

Dr. Alex Carlisle shares Samantha’s grief. He was married to Samantha’s sister and Greg Taylor was his best friend. The night of the accident, Samantha and her sister both gave birth. One child lived and one died.

Alex has always felt a bond with his nephew, Mathew. The similarities between the two of them were uncanny. The half moon birthmark they both have foiled what would have been a seamless and undetected crime.

He secretly takes Matthew for a blood test. His suspicions are confirmed when the results come back positive. He is Matthew’s father. This proved beyond a shadow of a doubt Matthew Taylor was really Michael Carlisle.

Alex enlists the help of a friend in getting to the bottom of the baby switch. While reviewing the hospital security tapes, he zooms in on the person who switched the babies. Alex is in for another shock when he recognizes the person responsible.

Samantha denies her feelings for Alex and tries to hold him at arms length. Alex calls her bluff and pulls her close for a steamy kiss. Samantha is shaken and more adamant than ever there can never be anything between them. She is not only afraid of the complications of a relationship with Alex, she is afraid of the way he makes her feel. She thought those feelings died with her husband.

Alex backs off and tries a new tactic. He sets her up on two blind dates. He knows both guys are wrong for her and she won’t like either one of them. His objective is to make himself look more appealing.

Samantha counters by setting Alex up with a woman she thinks is perfect for him. She is hurt and jealous when they become an item. Alex sees and plays on her jealousy. He throws Linda and their blossoming relationship in her face at every opportunity.

Samantha smiles on the outside, but cringes on the inside. She realizes she created the situation. She also knows one word from her and Linda would be history.

After her botched evening with bachelor number two, Samantha runs to Alex. Things heat up between them. Their evening of passion is interrupted and once again, Samantha runs from her feelings.

Samantha’s cousin sets her up on a blind date. Her date turns out to be the man she has been avoiding. After an awkward beginning, their evening goes from bad to worse as he calls her on the night they almost made love. Alex lays his cards on the table. Samantha pushes him away.

After some soul searching, she takes off her wedding rings. Sam and Alex give in to passion and make love. Their shaky relationship starts to blossom, but the truth looms over Alex like a dark cloud.

Samantha’s world comes crashing down around her as her brother confesses to her about the baby switch. Her world spins out of control when she discovers she has Alex and her sister’s son. She is torn apart when she does the right thing and gently breaks the news to Alex about the baby switch.

Alex feels guilty for keeping the truth from her. He covers his guilt with a confession of love and later a marriage proposal.

Samantha stumbles onto the truth and confronts him. They have a heated argument and she breaks off their engagement.

As they move towards reconciling, a nurse accuses Alex of sexual assault. Samantha comes to Alex’s defense. Her father warns her to stay away from the case, but she has other plans.

Samantha charges off to confront Alex’s accuser and is taken hostage. Alex risks his life to save the woman he loves.

 

 Is there any point in even reading it after reading all this?

So the good news is that finals are over, I’m still alive, and for the next 14-17 days I don’t have to do anything law school related. After that, unfortunately, I’ll need to get started on work for next semester and so begineth again the grind. But! Until then I’ll be reading my little heart out, especially since the tbr situation is becoming problematic.

 However, on to the bad news. I’m having a hard time stringing together sentences. This is the best I’ve done all day. And this took awhile. So those 5 reviews I owe? Will have to wait for another day. I’m off to either go to bed or watch the Devil Wears Prada. Maybe I’ll start off with one and end up with the other

 

 

Misty’s third book set in the 500 kingdoms for Harlequin Romance. This books is a combination of the Little Mermaid and East of the Moon, West of the Sun. Lots of great Russian fairy tales, and some old friends including the Little Humpback Horse. Of course it wouldn’t be a tale of the 500 Kingdoms without Tradition.

Not much info yet, but a pretty cover! I’m afraid that none of the books are going to measure up to The Fairy Godmother. I hope I’m wrong but I’m wary.  Oh, and it’s out March 2007.