My latest E-Read Reviews

Sweet as Sin - This morning on Twitter I was discussing this novel with a fellow romance reader. I enjoyed this tremendously because I thought Inez did a good job at creating a truly tortured hero. (Please note, I enjoy tortured heroes in literature. In real life they are not so much fun to date.) My fellow reader thought there were too many plot lines that distracted from the romance. While I do agree with my fellow reader, I do think this author does a good job at creating characters I care about.

John Murphy is a children's book author who uses his writing to manage the nightmares that still haunt him. His past has truly damaged his ability to trust and, if it weren't for his sister, he might have not learned to love at all. The heroine must get past some really unacceptable boyfriend behavior and learn to accept the less than perfect parts of this hero. Please note that he is in no way abusive in this book but instead uses emotional distance to protect himself. Abusive behavior is not something I want to read in my romance novels.


My final recommendation is to pick up this author if you enjoy fresh new voices who create compelling characters. If you read for plot, you may want to pass on this offering and try her again later when she has fine tuned her voice.


Phoenix Rising - I do love a good steam punk novel and this was a fun addition to my library. Once again, what I loved most about this novel was the hero. From the product description "Evil is most assuredly afoot—and Britain’s fate rests in the hands of an alluring renegade . . . and a librarian." Now how could I not pick this one up! Wellington Books is happy with his job as an archivist for the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences until agent Eliza D. Braun drags him kicking and screaming into mystery and mayhem. Wellington was a joy to read about because he was deceptively mild mannered and ineffectual and his skills and talents are constantly being overlooked by his coworkers. As the book progresses however, the reader becomes more and more aware of how special he is. I found him a great hero that I wanted to get to know more about.

Eliza was a bit more problematic for me. I found her character a bit flat and would have liked to see more development of her less obvious flamboyant traits. Hopefully future novels will more fully develop her character.  All-in-all, if you like steam punk I would recommend picking up a copy of this new series.

Something About You by Julie James

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde just wanted a little pampering when she checked into a luxury hotel to wait for her floors to be refinished. Instead she ended up witnessing a murder. And to make matters better, she finds that her nemesis, FBI agent Jack Pallas, has been assigned to the case. Now they have to work together to solve the murder before the killer finds out she is a witness.

This romance is such a treat and a refreshing example of a novel that creates believable smart characters who behave in logical straightforward ways. When Cameron witnesses a murder, she does not argue that she can take care of herself but instead gratefully accepts the protection of the FBI. In spite of a misunderstanding from their past, they are professional and work together without petty bickering. When there is a chance to clear up the misunderstanding, the characters take it. They build a relationship built on communication, trust and respect which is what makes this contemporary romantic suspense novel a winner.

Author Talk

Hang in there until about the 4 minutes mark. It is worth the wait.

If you need more, go to http://authortalk.wordpress.com/

Phyllis A. Whitney Dies At Age 104

Phyllis A. Whitney, one of the queens of romance and mystery fiction, passed away this week at the age of 104—perhaps confirming that doing what one loves can lead to a long life. Whitney herself said that she stayed young by writing, and published her last book in 1997 when she was in her early 90s! In her early years, she worked at the Chicago Public Library and several different Chicago bookstores while writing on the side. She divorced her first husband in part because he was not supportive of her writing. She said that she was successful in writing because of persistence and faith in her own abilities—even in the face of ridicule. (Take heart, all you romance writers.) For more, click here for the New York Times story.

She and Victoria Holt were two of my favorites when I was a teen.

Romance Novels

I didn't do my homework this weekend. In fact, I goofed off by reading romance novels all weekend long. Ok, I worked Saturday and Sunday but still, I read four romance novels instead of reading my notable nominees AND I had fun.

On of the novels was by one of my favorite authors in that genre but it turned out to be the "Big Misunderstanding" where the main characters love each other but fight, break-up and years later see each other and realize that they were destined to be together. A lot of readers object to the "Big Misunderstanding" because so often, if they would just sit down and talk there would be no misunderstanding. As a plot device, it is shaky but I never seem to mind that. What bothers me is the "years later" part. I guess I can't quite suspend disbelief on that one.

NOT on my Notable list

Since I was sick I read something NOT on my list. I read a romance. You heard me, a romance. It might have even been a Harlequin. Yep it sure was and a darn good one at that. Actually, this is one of those titles that was mentioned on one of the "best of" lists a couple of years ago so I picked it up, stored with the many other books I have squirrelled away all over the house. The reason I decided to read this one today was because it was on the bookshelf closest to the couch and as I have mentioned before, I felt puny.

I like reading romance. Actually I like almost any type of book but that is beside the point. I like thinking about people's inner lives and how they view the world and romance is one of the better genres for exploring those kinds of issues. On my other blog I have been writing down the list my "getting asked on a date" pet peeves. Here is my reading pet peeve. I really hate it when people judge other people's reading material.

First of all, if you are judging someone else, you can be darn sure that someone else is turning up their nose at what you are reading. No exceptions! Not even for the literary readers among us. Everyone has a slightly different idea of what good lit. is and there are just as many people who think that the dead white authors are outdated and not worthy of mention as there are people who think that they are the only thing that should be read. The are plenty of people who think that all mysteries are dreck, that SF is juvenile, literary fiction is pretentious and romance is just a bunch of sex scenes strung together. Everyone is right and everyone is wrong. For every good romance/mystery/literary fiction novel there are eight or nine really crappy ones floating around.

If you have only read one of any particular type of book your odds were pretty good that you picked up one of the crappy ones. If you are at all interested in trying a new genre, please go and ask a librarian (preferably one who reads that genre or is really good at reader's advisory) to help you pick out something that might give you a different view of genre. There is a lot of good stuff out there in every genre, even literary fiction.:)