Guest Post by Jeanette Grey on the Power of What If? + Giveaway

Posted on January 21, 2015January 20, 2015 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Book Giveaway> Giveaways> Guest Posts

My guest today is one of my favorite authors, which makes this a terrific day for me. And her latest book, and today’s review book, Through the Static, is also a terrific piece of science fiction romance, with just a slice of cyberpunk for spice. If you love SFR as much as I do, Jeanette is also the author of the excellent Unacceptable Risk (reviewed here). And if contemporary romance is more your thing, be sure to check out Jeanette’s contemporary romances, Take What You Want (reviewed here) and Get What You Need, which I need to get a review copy of pronto.

The Power of “What if?” according to Jeanette Grey

As the child of a couple of engineers, I was indoctrinated into the world of science fiction young. Star Trek reruns were on constant replay in my house growing up, and I insist to this day—though my parents deny it—that one of my first memories is of being carried into our garage, late at night, after watching Return of the Jedi. (I probably remember actually being carried home from the babysitter’s, where I stayed while my parents went to see Return of the Jedi, but that’s neither here nor there.)

And yet, when science fiction skeptics ask me how I can enjoy that stuff, I like to cite a different childhood favorite of mine as the embodiment of what I love about sci-fi.

Namely, It’s a Wonderful Life.

Bear with me if you will. There may not be any space ships or aliens in this holiday classic, but what aligns it with the larger genre that encompasses sci-fi, known as speculative fiction, is that it begins with a specific kind of premise. It asks, “What if?” What if George Bailey never lived? What would happen?

And in my mind, the most interesting science fiction asks “What if?” questions, too.

Look at The Hunger Games, where Suzanne Collins asks what would happen in a near-future world where people are separated by inequality and ruled by an iron-fisted government that uses fear and the lives of children to control its people.

Look at The Minority Report, which asks what would happen if police could see crimes before they happened, but without the context to be certain about the nature of those crimes. The Matrix, where technology got away from us and enslaved us. The Handmaid’s Tale, in which a crisis of scarcity and fertility leads to the rise of an extremist society that forces women into subservience.

And yes, Star Trek, where civilization has evolved to the point where all beings are seen as equal, and technology has allowed humanity to explore the stars, looking for new life and new civilizations.

All of these stories begin by asking “What if?” And then they create rich worlds in which to explore that question, populated by unique characters.

If you ask me, what’s not to like about that?

In my new book, Through The Static, I ask the question of what would happen if, in some not-so-distant future, we took the technology that is becoming so common in our lives in the form of cell phones and tablets and fitbits, and we integrated it right into our minds? What if we could connect and communicate by thinking?

The answer in the book, unfortunately, is that some people use that power to effectively enslave others. Our hero, Jinx, has had his memory erased and his thoughts tied to those of two other people, together with whom he makes up an elite mercenary unit. But beneath the controls placed on his very thoughts, pieces of his humanity and his former life slip through.

Those fragments of his stolen past are what lead researcher Aurelia to free him from his unit. In the process, though, to combat the damage done to his neural pathways over the years of his service, she has no choice but to link his mind to hers. The result is an intensely powerful mental, emotional and ultimately physical connection that brings them closer than either of them has ever been to another person before. One that leads to them falling not only into bed together, but in love.

About Jeanette Grey

Jeanette Grey started out with degrees in physics and painting, which she dutifully applied to stunted careers in teaching, technical support, and advertising. When none of that panned out, she started writing. In her spare time, Jeanette enjoys making pottery, playing board games, and spending time with her husband and her pet frog. She lives, loves, and writes in upstate New York.To learn more about Jeanette, visit her website and blog and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

GIVEAWAY

Jeanette’s giving away an ebook copy of Through the Static to one lucky winner (Very lucky, this book is a winner!). To enter, use the Rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Through the Static by Jeanette Grey

Posted on January 21, 2015January 20, 2015 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | A Reviews> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Genre: science fiction romance
Length: 178 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date Released: January 20, 2015
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, All Romance

The only way to save him is to let him into her mind…and her heart.

When cybernetics researcher Aurelia Locke is attacked, she instantly recognizes her assailants as a Three—a mercenary unit made up of a trio of soldiers whose minds have been cybernetically linked, their pasts erased, their wills subsumed.

By the skin of her wits, she escapes to an abandoned house, where she hacks its security system in her desperation to find refuge.

Jinx is already on high alert when his Three notices something isn’t right with their safe house. But he never expected to find a woman wounded and bleeding out in his own bed, or that his visceral reaction to her would begin to awaken his lost past from a years-long haze of violence.

In a mad gamble to escape, Aurelia frees Jinx from his Three by severing his neural connection to them and tying his mind to hers. The power of their link shocks them both, manifesting not only in shared thoughts, but in an intensely passionate physical connection.

But dangerous forces pursue them, intent on reclaiming Jinx and silencing Aurelia’s knowledge. Her only chance of saving him is to risk everything—her research, her heart, and her life.

Warning: Contains manipulation of a person’s memory without his consent and brief episodes of mind control, as well as a smart girl on the run, a high-tech soul-bond, and telepathy-enhanced sex.

My Review:

Through the Static is a story about the things that the unscrupulous will do in order to create supersoldiers. And all the ways that love, affection and even simple human doggedness manage to defeat those who would pervert humanity for their own wealth and (sadistic) pleasure.

Whoever coined the phrase “two’s company, and three’s a crowd” would understand the psychology behind creating these supersoldiers in mind-melded groups of three. Two people form a relationship, or at least consensus. Three people always argue, two against one. In order to settle those arguments, someone else gets control. Or at least that the way the “Threes” work in Through the Static.

That “static” is in the mind of Jinx, one member of a Three whose group is already starting to break down. His two partners, Curse and Charm, have developed a romantic relationship that leaves Jinx in the cold. But members of Threes have their minds wiped and their identities (and free will) taken away when they supposedly volunteered to become part of a Three. Curse and Charm are not supposed to be able to have separate enough personalities to feel anything emotional, just the loyalty to the Three and to their handler that is built into their programming.

Something isn’t right.

Jinx is also experience something that he shouldn’t. In dreams he remembers bits of his past. As if in clouds of static created by his programming, he sees images of a woman he almost knows – and who has eyes just like his.

Aurelia Locke is not a member of a Three. Instead, she is a cybernetics researcher who is being haunted and hunted by multiple Threes, because she and her cohorts have conducted unauthorized research into the way that Threes are made, and the way they can be broken. Or fixed.

On the run from yet another Three kidnapping attempt, wounded and desperate, Aurelia stumbles into an empty cottage a long way off the road. She breaks the security system and collapses, only to find herself under the suspicious eyes of yet another Three. But this is the Three made up of Curse, Charm and Jinx, and their programming is already frayed at the edges. Aurelia is able to make a mental connection with Jinx, and suddenly the situation changes.

With Aurelia in his head instead of Charm and Curse, Jinx is able to experience his own thoughts and feelings without the static. As his humanity returns, he finds himself wanting to protect Aurelia at all costs. He also just plain wants Aurelia, feelings that members of Threes aren’t supposed to have, except of course that his partners clearly do.

Jinx and Aurelia escape, and that’s where things get hairy. There are no coincidences. Aurelia is researching Threes because it is her own discoveries, perverted by a ex-lover, which took something that was supposed to help couples bond and perverted it into the creation of mindless mercenary assassins.

Aurelia wants to protect her research. She wants to save Jinx, to give him the chance at a life he never had, even if it isn’t with her. Jinx wants to be free of everything except Aurelia. But his past reaches out to pull him into the future, and her past kicks the door down and tries to wipe out any chance either of them might have to live.

It all comes down to an internal struggle to see who has more control, Jinx, Aurelia, or the meddling mastermind who won’t let either of them go.

Escape Rating A: The Threes remind me a bit of Robocop or the Terminator, attempts to create supersoldiers by removing any possible capability for human feelings and emotions, either by memory wiping and torture, or by not putting them there in the first place. (In a strange coincidence, my book for tomorrow, In the Devil’s Nebula by Anna Hackett, also explores this theme).

Unlike some of the antecedents for cybernetic supersoldiers, this version does not use implants to create massive armor or even massive muscles (or the equivalent). The process works by removing the original personality and replacing it with something without a conscience, but with an inbuilt requirement to obey they authority of their programmer and absolute loyalty to the members of their Three. Everything else appears to be training.

So, it’s the lack of a conscience that allows the Threes to function as heartless mercenaries, because their hearts have been programmatically removed. The only problem, from the perspective of the person controlling the Threes, is that the program is breaking down in the longest-serving Threes, and they need Aurelia’s research to shore up the gaps.

The problem, from the perspective of Aurelia and her colleagues, as well as from the emerging Threes themselves, is that no one volunteers for this shit. People are kidnapped and reprogrammed against their will into doing things that most of them would find heinous. Also, the programming is breaking down and while they may not remember their original lives, the internal conflict is eating them alive.

Aurelia intends to free Jinx. Jinx just wants to keep Aurelia safe, and also, simply to keep her. There is a certain amount of mutual Stockholm Syndrome going on, but it works in this story. They have come to rely on each other because of the mental connection that Aurelia creates between them. But the more she tries to set Jinx completely free, the more it backfires on both of them. They need each other for a whole lot of reasons that go beyond their original mutual kidnapping.

The bond also enhances their absolutely smoking-hot chemistry. But the love scenes are more than pure sex. Jinx doesn’t remember love or affection, so his experiences are heightened because for him it is the first time for so much in so many ways.

The SF part of Through the Static sets up a gritty world where technology has been abused. The R part of the equation is combustible. And the blending into SFR is explosive.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Once More with Feeling: The Best Ebook Romances of 2013

Posted on December 27, 2013December 25, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | best book lists> book reviews

In spite of what the opening paragraph of the article at Library Journal says, this is actually the third year that I’ve been asked to choose the Best Ebook Romances of the Year for Library Journal.

Just check the archives, if you’re terribly curious, here are the links to the 2011 and 2012 lists. This is one of the most fun things I get to do all year that can be more or less labeled as work, even though, as what I call reverse full-disclosure, Library Journal does not pay for the writing of this particular article or for the book reviewing I do for them.

Creating this list is always personal for me. These are books or series that I read or am in the middle of. They are the books that I gave either A ratings or 4.5 or 5 star ratings to, depending on where I did the review. Or in a few cases, B+ reviews of books I absolutely couldn’t get out of my head.

The first year, I was told to list 5 books. Last year, 5-ish. This year, my editor said 10 from the start. I think she figured out that I cheat and list series. I did again this year and went over the limit.

Archer, Zoë. Skies of Gold. Avon Impulse. (Ether Chronicles, Bk. 5). ebk. ISBN 9780062241443. STEAMPUNK ROMANCE (4.5 star review)

The first four books in the Ether Chronicles (Skies of Fire, Night of Fire, Skies of Steel, Night of Steel) were on my 2012 list for good reason; this series is simply awesome steampunk worldbuilding. Also we have all the story possibilities inherent in a world war, but with airships and “ether” power. While Skies of Gold is a more than worthy successor to the first four books in the series, it is unfortunately the last book in the series. If you love steampunk romance, you’ll be enthralled. And then sad that it’s over.

Buroker, Lindsay. Forged in Blood I. ebk. ISBN 9781301493357. Forged in Blood II. ebk. ISBN 9781301349876. ea. vol: Lindsay Buroker. (Emperor’s Edge). FANTASY ROMANCE
I’ve adored the first five volumes of The Emperor’s Edge series (The Emperor’s Edge, Dark Currents, Deadly Games, Conspiracy, Blood and Betrayal) so much that I haven’t wanted to see it end. So I’ll confess that I put the entire series on the list even though only the last two books were published in 2013, and I’ve been saving reading the ending for a treat for myself. LJ was slightly puristic about things and only put the 2013 titles as the main entry on the list. The Emperor’s Edge is Epic Fantasy with a touch of Steampunk. The primary story isn’t a romance, but, and it’s a truly lovely but, there is a romantic subplot. Or maybe that’s sub-subplot. Our heroine convinces the best assassin not to kill her, and keeps on convincing him to help her, even though everyone tells her he’s just a heartless killing machine. Of course he’s not. Well, not completely.

Croft, Nina. Bittersweet Blood. Entangled. (Order, Bk. 1). ebk. ISBN 9781622669592. PARANORMAL ROMANCE (A- Review)
What a difference just a few days makes! At the time I wrote the article, I was just about to read the second book in Croft’s Order series, Bittersweet Magic (B+ Review). I didn’t want to jinx things by listing it, but I shouldn’t have worried. What’s so much fun about this paranormal romance series is that the standard definitions don’t really apply; the vampires maintain the Order of the Shadow Accords on Earth to prevent the Fae and the Demons from repeating their use of Earth as the battleground in the long-running Fae/Demon war. The contemporary fallout seems to be over the descendants of the Fae Juliet and the Demon Romeo of that war. But Demons are immortal, so Romeo isn’t dead. But his half blood daughter is ground zero for armageddon, and only the vampires can protect her. Make that one vampire with a personal “stake” in the result. The world-building in this just keeps getting better, and the love stories more complex.

Ford, Rhys. Black Dog Blues. Coffee Squirrel. (Kai Gracen, Bk. 1). ebk. ISBN 9781301668625. M/M PARANORMAL ROMANCE (4.5 Star Review)
This is a dark and gritty post-apocalyptic urban fantasy much more than it is a paranormal romance. There are several characters in this story who care a great deal for the elfin Kai Gracen, but Kai doesn’t even like himself enough to be ready for more than friendship with anyone else. He’ll get there, but he isn’t there yet. The story drops us into Kai’s world as it is; we know what he knows. We don’t know why or how the sidhe suddenly merged with what used to be our normal, just that Kai has to endure whatever crap gets thrown his way. It’s the person who emerges from the endurance that makes the story. That and dodging the dragons mating over the Mojave Desert.

Grey, Jeanette. Take What You Want. Samhain. ebk. ISBN 9781619213746.
NEW ADULT ROMANCE (A- Review)
Ignore the New Adult label. Take What You Want is an absolutely marvelous contemporary romance that just so happens to be about two people in college. Ellen can’t go away for Spring Break, so she takes a vacation from herself. Just for a few days, she tries to be someone a bit different; instead of being shy and retreating into her books, Ellen buys sexy clothes on sale, goes to a townie bar and picks up the hottest guy in the place. She pretends to be “New Ellen” for just one night. Josh thinks no-strings-attached sex with a girl that he’s had a crush on since freshman year is a fantastic idea, but he knows exactly who she is. Ellen really doesn’t recognize him without his glasses. The next night is where pretense starts butting up against reality, because he wants to turn their one-night-stand into something more and New Ellen and regular Ellen have a difficult time deciding the difference between what they should want and what they do want.

Kindred, Jane. The Armies of Heaven. Entangled. (House of Arkhangel’sk). ebk. ISBN 9781620611067. FANTASY ROMANCE (4.5 star review)
The fall of the House of Arkangel’sk is a deliciously complicated blend of the historic fall of the Russian Imperial House of Romanov with Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen with more than few tablespoons of the deviance, decadence and twisted political machinations of Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart. There is love to be found, but the path to reach it leads through dark places, and our preconceived notions of good and evil, right and wrong, do not apply in Kindred’s Courts of Heaven. The best man in the entire series is a demon, although he would never think of himself as good. The biggest fool is a certainly an angel, and he would definitely label himself as such. The series begins with The Fallen Queen (4.5 star review) and continues with The Midnight Court (A Review) before the conclusion in The Armies of Heaven. Prepare to be enthralled.

Knox, Ruthie. How To Misbehave. ebk. ISBN 9780345545305. (4 star review)
Knox, Ruthie. Along Came Trouble. ebk. ISBN 9780345541611. (5 star review)
Knox, Ruthie. Flirting with Disaster. ebk. ISBN 9780345541703. (A- Review)
Knox, Ruthie. Making It Last. ebk. ISBN 9780345549297.
ea. vol: Loveswept: Random. (Camelot). 4-vol. set. ebk. ISBN 9780804180436. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
This small town romance series set in central Ohio is all about the Clark siblings, Amber, Katie and Caleb. Knox specializes in contemporary romances where real people solve very real problems while going through major life experiences. The tension in her stories comes from the kind of situations that cause stress in ordinary life; trying to reinvent yourself, trying to maintain a marriage, dealing with grief, not dealing with grief, returning home, being part of the sandwich generation, financial stress. The difference is that Knox makes her characters people that we all identify with and lets them have a fantastically steamy romance while they resolve their problems. Her stories pull at your heartstrings and make you smile. Every single time.

Osborn, Stephanie. The Case of the Displaced Detective Omnibus. Twilight Times. SF ROMANCE
I adore Sherlock Holmes re-imaginings, with the exception of the whatever-it-is that Guy Ritchie birthed with Robert Downey Jr. (who should stick to Iron Man). But I seriously digress. I read, and reviewed, Stephanie Osborn’s Case of the Displaced Detective somewhat in its originally published parts: The Arrival (A- Review), At Speed (B+ Review) and The Case of the Cosmological Killer (B Review). In the case of Stephanie Osborn’s continuing opus, I very much admire her concept of a Holmes who is not quite our Holmes and has an excuse for being so. She has used theories of quantum physics to create not just a possible universe where Holmes would have been a flesh-and-blood person, but to create causality that would bring that person into our 21st century. He is not quite the “thinking machine” of Conan Doyle’s fiction because he is not supposed to be, and that opens up a world of possibilities. Real human beings, after all, feel real emotions as they solve mysteries. Sometimes they even fall in love.

Rivers, Mary Ann. The Story Guy. Loveswept: Random. ebk. ISBN 9780345548740. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE (A- Review)
There was only one thing wrong with this story. It was too short, and at the time it was written, it was the only thing available by Mary Ann Rivers. The story is absolutely awesome, I wanted more by this author, and there just wasn’t anything else, yet.
What’s a “story guy”? A story guy is someone who may or may not be long-term relationship material, but who will, sometime in the future after the heartache is over, make a terrific story. Librarian Carrie West answers a personal ad from a very hot guy for one hour of kissing in the park every week. The answers to the questions about why this unattached and gorgeous man is willing to settle for so little for himself, and to make sure that no one is able to get attached to him, make for one marvelous and nearly heartbreaking love story. (And if you fall in love with The Story Guy you’ll probably also love Ruthie Knox’ Big Boy.)

Scott, Jessica. Anything for You. Loveswept: Random. (Coming Home, Bk. 2.5). ebk. ISBN 9781301165766. (A+ Review)
Scott, Jessica. I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Forever Yours: Grand Central. (Coming Home, Bk. 2.6). ebk. ISBN 9781455554249. (A Review) MILITARY ROMANCE
Jessica Scott’s Coming Home series, which began in 2011’s Because of You (A Review) and continued in 2012 with Until There Was You (A- Review), is a military romance series that gets to the heart of what it means to love someone who serves in the military, because author Scott is herself a career army officer and is married to a career NCO. So instead of writing about the glory of the battlefield, she writes about the toll that deployments take on a family with inside knowledge of what it’s like to wonder if someone is coming home, and how hard it is to wait and worry. She’s able to convey the emotional cost to a soldier with a career-ending injury, not just because his body is messed-up, but because he’s lost his purpose and he’s worried about the people he’s left behind. If you want to read a military romance with real heart, read Jessica Scott.

That’s it for this list. The specific requirements for the Library Journal list were that they all had to be ebooks, either ebook-only or ebook-first, or ebook-mostly. In some cases, there is a print available on demand, but the ebook looks like the primary format, or it did at the time. Also, for this list, there had to be a romance in the story. Yes, a couple of times you have to be looking for the romance, it’s not the primary plot. But there had to at least be a romantic element.

I used to be able to put this list in preference order, but it’s gotten too big. And there’s kind of an apples/bananas problem. How do you compare a steampunk romance to a paranormal romance when they are both at the top of their respective trees?

I will do a “best of the year” list next week (which includes a few contributions from my friend Cass!) These type of lists are loads of fun. It’s great to look back and see what I’ve read and which books stick in the mind by the end of the year.

Guest Post by Author Jeanette Grey on New Year’s Resolutions + Giveaway

Posted on December 5, 2013December 4, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | blog tours> ebook giveaway> Giveaways> Guest Posts

Today I’d like to welcome one of my very favorite authors, Jeanette Grey. Jeanette is not just the author of today’s book, When It’s Right (reviewed here), but also one of the books on my Best Ebook Romances of the Year list over at Library Journal, Take What You Want (reviewed earlier this year). Last but not least, if you love science fiction romance, she’s a triple threat with her awesome Unacceptable Risk (reviewed here). But today she’s here to talk about…

New Year’s Resolutions
by Jeanette Grey

For the longest time now, I’ve have a love-hate relationship with the idea of making New Year’s resolutions. In theory, it’s great, right? January first marks the beginning of a new calendar, a new year—why shouldn’t it also mark the beginning of a brand new you?

It feels good to set a goal. To articulate your intentions for how you’re going to make things better this time around.

The problem is that it’s almost too easy. Hell, it’s positively simplistic to declare that you’re going to do X, Y, and Z. But no matter how much we might wish it, we wake up on the first day of the new year, and we are, at heart, the same people we were before. Beneath that shiny new resolution, there’s something harder. Something slower and longer and not nearly so glamorous: there’s the work of seeing it through.

Making a New Year’s resolution is the work of a moment. Sticking to it is the work of one moment after another, stretching on and on in perpetuity until the goal has been achieved. If the goal doesn’t have a specific termination point—if it’s more “quit smoking” or “write everyday” and less “lose fifteen pounds”—the slog of adhering to it is literally endless.

As evidenced by those empty parking lots at the gym come February, dedication to changing your ways is infinitely harder than just naming your intention before the clock strikes midnight.

In my new novella, When It’s Right, my heroine, Cassie, has just made one of the worst, most difficult to adhere to resolutions I can imagine: she’d decided she’s going to stop being in love with her best friend, Nate.

She has a plan for this, in theory. She’s going to stop spending as much time with him, she’s going to quit dwelling on him, she’s going to start actively dating again. But the sad fact is that she doesn’t want to do any of these things, and the closeness they currently have is going to be almost impossible to give up.

So when he suggests going on a road trip together for New Year’s Eve, she only hesitates for a moment. This might be her last chance to spend this kind of quality time with him before she follows through with her resolution to get some distance.

Little does she know, though, the trip is going to change everything. And thank goodness, because in the end, the best kind of resolution? Is the kind you never actually had to make in the first place.

About Jeanette Grey

GIVEAWAY

Jeanette’s giving away one ebook copy of a single-title release from her backlist: winner’s choice of Take What You Want, Unacceptable Risk, A Gift Of Trust, or Letting Go. To enter, use the Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: When It’s Right by Jeanette Grey

Posted on December 5, 2013December 4, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: ebook
Genre: Contemporary romance, New Adult romance
Length: 78 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date Released: December 3, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

He’s the last resolution she intends to break.

Still licking his wounds after a messy breakup, Nate is at loose ends for New Year’s Eve and itching for a wild and crazy adventure to jolt him out of his rut. Now if he could only convince his best friend, Cassie, to break away for an impromptu road trip to Times Square.

Fun as it sounds, Cassie is reluctant to accept Nate’s invitation. Little does he know, she’s made resolutions of her own—resolutions about finally getting over her long-standing crush on him. Telling herself this trip will be the perfect “last hurrah”, she packs her bag.

The trip is a fiasco from the outset. A car that won’t start, a freak storm that strands them on the side of the road, and a long drive with too much time for true confessions. Cassie’s rocks Nate to the core, leaving him wondering if the best thing that ever happened to him has been right in front of him all along.

Warning: Contains two best friends, a secret crush, and a road trip that leads to tow trucks, unexpected hotel-room sharing, epiphanies, sex, and more.

My Review:

This is a romance for everyone who has made a resolution and then wanted to have one last hurrah. And it’s for every time you’ve thought that a friendship was too good to mess up by trying to go for more.

Because we’ve all been there, done that, and bought the whole closet full of t-shirts. Most of which are ugly and have sick-up stains on the front.

Every once in a while, you do it anyway. And it’s so perfectly right that it works. Just like this story.

Nick and Cassie are the very best of friends. They’re such good friends that whenever one of Nick’s romances with the “bimbo of the season” finally ends, Cassie is the one who steers him home after his tour of the local bar’s whiskey selections and makes sure he makes it into bed still possessed of his wallet and his watch.

She saves the “I told you so’s” until the next day. That’s what best friends are for. What she doesn’t say is that she wanted to crawl into that bed with him. And that she always has.

But that she has never been willing to settle for being another notch on his bedpost. That being Nick’s friend was a much better deal.

But that it isn’t enough any more. She’s tired of waiting for him to be between bimbos so that he has time to spend with her. She’s ready to give up.

Cassie’s New Year’s Resolution is to get over Nick. Once and for all.

However, now that Nick has shed his last and final bimbo, his eyes are open to the truth that’s been beside him all along. Nick’s New Year’s Resolution seems to be to get together with Cassie. Once and for all.

No matter how many miles and tow trucks and stolen purses it takes.

Escape Rating A-: When It’s Right is just right. Like kissing the right person at midnight on New Year’s Eve. It’s a perfect “feel good” romance and ends with the fizz and sparkle of New Year’s champagne.

There’s a tiny part of me that is just the teensiest disappointed that the story wasn’t longer. That we don’t see Nate kiss some of the frogettes, and watch Cassie struggle with the angst of coming to her New Year’s resolution. It might be great to watch their friendship develop into the awesome thing it is. It is definitely awesome and Jeanette Grey lets us see that awesomeness.

But the story ends exactly where it should. With the promise of a sparkly new beginning. Just like the New Year.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Dual Review: Take What You Want by Jeanette Grey

Posted on May 8, 2013December 1, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | 5 Stars> book reviews> Dual Review> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Latin Lover> The Rocket Lover

Format read: ebook copy provided by the author for review
Release Date: 12 March 2013
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Number of pages: 113 pages
Formats available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Samhain, B&N, Read an excerpt

Blurb:

She needs an escape…and he’s exactly what she had in mind.

College senior Ellen Price spends every spare minute studying to get into medical school. Until spring break yawns before her, as empty as her wallet.

With no money to hit the beach, she fills her empty to-do list with a plan: for just one week, she will become the kind of take-no-prisoners woman she secretly wishes to be, starting with the hot guy at the bar. It’s a no-risk situation: at the end of break, he’ll head back to his campus, and she’ll go back to hers. No muss, no fuss.

At first, Josh Markley isn’t sure what to think when the quiet, intense beauty from his pre-med classes approaches him for a night of casual sex. Even more mystifying, she doesn’t seem to return his recognition. But if she wants to play “strangers in a bar”, he’s game.

Their passionate night is a welcome respite from life’s stress, but afterward, Josh realizes he wants more—from himself, from life, from Ellen. Except she still thinks he’s a one-off she’ll never see again. Confessing the truth now—before she figures it out on her own—could shatter the fragile beginnings of just what the doctor ordered. A forever love.

Warning: Contains mistaken identities, a sometimes-glasses-wearing hottie, deep questions about figuring out what you want from life, and a red-hot college romance.

Our Thoughts:

Stella: Take What You Want was my first story by Jeanette Grey but definitely not the last! Her storytelling sucked me in and I gobbled it up in no time, closing my ereader with a happy and contented sigh. 🙂

Marlene: Take What You Want is a sex-into-love story. This is a trope that may be more difficult to pull off in real life than it is in fiction. YMMV. Or it’s difficult to pull it off in fiction and make the switch seem reasonable. The characters in this story manage to do that.

But what made this story work for me was the way that Ellen decided not to sit around and mope when her friends took their expensive Spring Break to the Bahamas, but instead that she tried to take a “vacation from herself”. Her inner dialog showed how difficult it was for her to step outside her comfort zone, but she still did it. She tried to become a new person for just a little while.

Then her emotions got engaged, and she wanted something real. And for that, she had to be the real Ellen and not new Ellen.

Stella: I concur, Ellen despite having such an ordinary name was anything but boring. I loved how such a serious and relatable young woman created this alter ego to live out her fantasies and experience things she only read/dreamed of. I found that exactly because she was such a girl next door she was a heroine the reader could identify with and feel as if her story could have happened to anyone. It was also moving to see that besides being a serious, dedicated and ambitious pre-med student there was an insecure, vulnerable side to Ellen.

Marlene: Even though Ellen was the one who was supposedly pretending to be someone else, Josh was also pretending quite a bit too, and not just because he was going along with Ellen. The first night, he was perfectly willing to go along with her just to get laid, and why not? She was the one who picked him up, after all.

But he knew who she was all along, and pretended that he didn’t. Why she didn’t recognize him says something about how much she kept her nose to the grindstone, or how big those lecture classes were. Or both.

The real issue for Josh was that he was pretending in most of the rest of his life. His father had big plans for him, plans that Josh knew he wasn’t going to fulfill. Josh had his own dreams, and hadn’t worked up the courage to disappoint his father.

Stella: Well actually, if I remember correctly, Josh was convinced that Ellen knew/recognized him, but pretended not to know him for some roleplay. But yes, both Ellen and Josh were pretending to be someone else and both had some major things on their minds regarding their future. But it was interesting to see how they were exact opposites to each other in the sense that Josh was more confident and sure in his own feelings for Ellen and their relationship, he had to take decisions regarding his studies and future career; while Ellen was sure about her career and completely clueless and vulnerable about her private life and her relationship with Josh.

I loved Josh. *sighs* He was lovely and wonderful. A guy, who despite being described as sexy and handsome, what you remember about him is how tender and warm-hearted and funny he is. I loved how he was the “girl” in the relationship, that is how he was the one who wanted much more than a meaningless fling right from the start.

And wanting more wasn’t just about wanting her body. He wanted the seductress in the high heels and short skirts, all right, the one that oozed sex and confidence. But he wanted the girl in the plain sweaters with the loose waves that fell over her face, too. The one that hid in the last row of the lecture hall but who always knew the answers. The one that dissected a pig all by herself, looking kissable even in a rubber apron and goggles and gloves. He wanted her to want more than a fuck from him. He wanted her to remember him. To know him.

And I absolutely have to comment about the sexual attraction, chemistry between Ellen and Josh: it was off the charts! Their love scenes were incredibly hot, sexy and tender, emotional at the same time. You’ll need a fan with this story! 😉

Marlene: So, in addition to the smoking hot love story, a love story where the guy is trying not to let the girl know he’s in love with her until she’s ready for it to be love, we also have a story of two people on the verge of adulthood who need to figure out who they really are, and not just who they are pretending to be.

Verdict:

Marlene: I loved this one. The story just plain worked for me. Ellen deciding to try being someone else, screwing up her courage, and thinking that no one would know if she completely embarrassed herself. Josh finally being noticed by the girl of his dreams, waking up in the morning and knowing that one night wasn’t enough. Then trying to figure out how to get her to that same realization, because she’s so not there. At the same time, they both have all those end-of-college decisions weighing on both of them.

And their chemistry practically set my iPad on fire from the very first page.

I give Take What You Want by Jeanette Grey 5 fiery stars!

Stella: I completely agree with Marlene, I LOVED Take What You Want and Jeanette Grey became a must read author for me. Not only was Take What You Want a thought-provoking and emotional journey of self- and love discovery for the characters, it was a sensual, sexy and addictive story I couldn’t put down until the very end. At the beginning I was reluctant to read Take What You Want fearing that due to the characters being in college it would be hard to relate to their problems, but take it from me, that concern was for naught. Thanks to Jeanette Grey’s gripping writing I felt invested in Ellen and Josh’s life and relationship and those two are characters as well as their story is one I will long remember.

And oh boy was their story sizzling! *fans herself* 😉

So yes, I also give Take What You Want by Jeanette Grey 5 scorching stars and urge you all to pick it up! 😀

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-24-13

Posted on March 24, 2013March 24, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Blogo-Birthday> Blogoversary> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand> Winner announcement

It’s officially Spring! It may or may not feel like Spring where you are on the planet but it is officially Spring in the Northern Hemisphere. (For those in the Southern Hemisphere, happy Autumn!)

In Seattle, Spring blew in on high, chilly winds, but we seem to have gotten some sun. Don’t envy me too much, it’ll rain again soon. And again. And again.

Some things happen only once. Like winning the Lucky in Love Blog Hop. The lucky winner of the $10 Amazon Gift Card was Stacey P.

But you still have plenty of time to enter some of the other giveaways from last week. Lisa Kessler is giving away four prizes to celebrate the launch of Night Demon, the latest book in her Night series.

One lucky winner will take away a copy of Jeanette Grey’s fabulous new romance, Take What You Want. Check out the giveaway details here.

And all sweet with no bitter at all, Nina Croft is giving away a copy of Bittersweet Blood, the terrific first book in her new paranormal romance series. Details here on that giveaway.

This week’s complete recap:

Guest Post: Night Demon Launch Party + Giveaway
A- Review: Take What You Want by Jennifer Grey
Interview with Jennifer Grey + Giveaway
A- Review: The Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker
A- Review: Bittersweet Blood by Nina Croft
Guest Post: Nina Croft’s Top Ten Movies + Giveaway
B Review: Border Lair by Bianca D’Arc
Stacking the Shelves (39)

Looking ahead to next week, I have two guests again. Christine Bell will be here on Tuesday, with a laugh-out-loud guest post that is totally apropos for her latest book, Down and Dirty. Because the book was more than a little of that, but all in pursuit of a good story. You’ll see in Tuesday’s review.

Thursday my guest is Kathryn Barrett, as part of the tour for Temptation, her romance set in Amish country, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I’ll confess that I wanted to read this tale of a Hollywood actress “tempting” an Amish furniture-maker because my husband grew up in Lancaster! Kathryn will be here with a guest post and I’ll be reviewing this modern take on Adam and Eve.

Both tours have book giveaways!

Looking ahead to the following week, April 4-5 is my second annual Blogo-Birthday! The blog and I have back-to-back birthdays. The blog is 2. I’m not saying. This will be a Hobbit-type birthday, which means that I give away presents. Come and celebrate with me!

Interview with Jeanette Grey + Giveaway

Posted on March 19, 2013March 17, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | Author Interviews> ebook giveaway> Giveaways

I’m thrilled to welcome Jeanette Grey back to Reading Reality! When Jeanette was here back in 2011, she was talking about her version of the future and her fantastic science fiction romance Unacceptable Risk. This time, she’s all about the present with her hot (very, see my review) new book, Take What You Want.

Marlene: Jeanette can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Jeanette: Sure! I’m a thirty-something stay-at-home writer. In the past, I’ve worked as a science teacher, a web designer, a technical support specialist, and an administrative assistant in an advertising agency. When I quit my most recent gig to give writing my all, my husband shook his head at me, and said, “Well, at least you have plenty of experiences to draw from.”

Marlene: Describe a typical day of writing? Are you a planner or pantser?

Jeanette: Well, this is kind of a spoiler for question 14, but I get up around noon, have a cup of coffee and read for a bit—either writing blogs, industry news, or whatever book I’m currently engrossed in. Then I spend my afternoon working on all the non-writing stuff I have to do. I look through my critique partners’ pages, write blog posts, edit my own stuff, keep up on my social networking, run errands, etc. Four to ten is family time. Then at ten, hubby goes to bed, and I write until four in the morning. It’s great—no one bothers me, and there are minimal distractions from Twitter or any of the other typical time-sucks.

I refer to myself as a modified pantser. I come up with a vague plan for a book—usually a half-page or so worth of ideas scribbled out long-hand. Working within that framework (modifying it as needed), I make things up as I go along.

Marlene: Do all of your stories have writing soundtracks? If so, what was your soundtrack for Take What You Want?

Jeanette: I always listen to music while writing, and that music varies depending on the character and the scene. While writing my heroine, Ellen, I listened to a lot of folksy chick music: The Weepies, Ingrid Michaelson, Dar Williams, Ellery. Meanwhile, writing Josh, I had a lot more indie/alt-rock going—stuff like Nirvana and R.E.M., with a little bit of newer acts like The National and Mumford and Sons mixed in.

I have a whole other playlist for the, ahem, steamier scenes. It includes Shy by Ani DiFranco, Come On Get Higher by Matt Nathanson, and Crush by Dave Matthews, among others.

Marlene: What was the story that required the gif of Chris Evans without his shirt on for “inspiration” and which hero did he inspire?

Jeanette: Mmmm shirtless Chris Evans…

I’m sorry, I got distracted for a second. What were we talking about? Oh, right. Books.

Chris Evans is a new infatuation of mine. I don’t always have actors in mind when I’m writing, but he is currently starring as a stunt double in two manuscripts I’m working on—neither of which is finished yet, sadly. In one, he plays an ex-army guy who wants nothing more than to love and protect a woman who refuses to be saved by anyone. In another, he’s a young man just getting out on his own for the first time and finds himself in an interesting situation with his new roommate, and his girlfriend.

Ahem. He’s shirtless a lot in both of these scenarios.

Marlene: What’s the difference in the creative process for you between writing a short story and writing a longer work like Take What You Want or Unacceptable Risk?

Jeanette: The biggest difference is in deciding how much of a story I want to tell. A short is going to be comprised of just a couple of scenes, and it’ll be centered around one or two moments of profound change for a character.

A longer piece will have a much more complex arc for the characters, with more details about how their lives were beforehand, and more insight into the kind of growth they’re experiencing. I’ll probably have two or three different plot arcs in addition to the personal growth. There’s just a lot more room to really explore.

Marlene: What can we expect of Take What You Want?

Jeanette: A sexy, emotional read about two characters who are trying decide what they want from life, from their careers and from each other. It’s a red-hot college romance with plenty of spice, but also with an intense and growing connection between two people who are just figuring out who they are and who they want to be.

Marlene: On your blog, you say “Erotic and Science Fiction Romance.” Why those two? (Not that they aren’t awesome choices)

Jeanette: There are certain kinds of stories that show up in my head. The first is sexy contemporary romances about love (aka, erotic), and the second is adventure-fueled romances set in near-futuristic imaginary worlds (aka, science fiction). I don’t know why those are the kinds of stories that beg to be told in my head. They just are. 🙂

Marlene: Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming projects? What is next on your schedule?

Jeanette: The next immediate thing on my docket is another short contemporary which I’ve just contracted with Samhain. It’s a best-friends-to-lovers story crossed with a road trip story, and it all takes place leading up to New Year’s Eve. It has a tentative release date in early December, and I’m very excited about it.

Marlene: Now can you tell us 3 reasons why people should read your books?

Jeanette:

1) They’re real stories about real people.
2) They’re told with intense emotionality that’ll suck you in.
3) When I say they’re red-hot, I mean it!

Marlene: What is your favorite thing about the writing experience and why?

Jeanette: I love getting to tell the stories of people who are, at least on some level, flawed and alone, and guiding them to a place where they can find acceptance and love. I get to meet these incredible people, even if they spring from my own imagination. They become my friends. And I get to send them off into their happily ever after. It’s the best job I can imagine.

Marlene: Tell me something about yourself that I wouldn’t know to ask

Jeanette: I have a weird and inexplicable affection for frogs and turtles. I don’t know why I love them. I just do. They’re green and adorable and I love them.

Marlene: Tell us the title of a book you’re an evangelist for.

Jeanette: It’s not in my genre, but Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is one of those books that changed my perspective on story-telling. I fell in love with the language Eugenides uses, and the mixing of family history, mythology, personal discovery, and even just a touch of emerging sexuality and romance inspired me. It also had such an open view on gender identity. Everyone should read it.

Marlene: What’s the book you most want to read again for the first time?

Jeanette: I’d say the entire Demonica series by Larissa Ione. Great universe, compelling characters, kick-ass heroines, and men that made me drool. Complex, interesting plots. Oh, and they were so, so hot.

Marlene: Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Jeanette: Night owl. Oh my God, such a night owl. The only sunrises I’ve seen in the last three years have been ones I’ve still be up for. I love being the only one awake in a silent world. I don’t know why, but for some reason, that’s just how I’ve always been.

About Jeanette GreyJeanette Grey started out with degrees in physics and painting, which she dutifully applied to stunted careers in teaching, technical support, and advertising. When none of that panned out, she started writing. Her stories include futuristic romances and erotic contemporaries, and almost all of them include hints of either science or art.

When she isn’t writing, Jeanette enjoys making pottery, playing board games, and spending time with her husband and her pet frog. She lives, loves, and writes in upstate New York.

You can learn more about Jeanette at her website, Twitter, or Facebook. She is also one of the bloggers at Bad Girlz Write.

GIVEAWAY

Jeanette is kindly giving away one copy of Take What You Want!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Take What You Want by Jeanette Grey

Posted on March 19, 2013March 17, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Format read: ebook provided by the author
Formats available: ebook
Genre: contemporary romance
Length: 113 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date Released: March 12, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

She needs an escape…and he’s exactly what she had in mind.

College senior Ellen Price spends every spare minute studying to get into medical school. Until spring break yawns before her, as empty as her wallet.

With no money to hit the beach, she fills her empty to-do list with a plan: for just one week, she will become the kind of take-no-prisoners woman she secretly wishes to be, starting with the hot guy at the bar. It’s a no-risk situation: at the end of break, he’ll head back to his campus, and she’ll go back to hers. No muss, no fuss.

At first, Josh Markley isn’t sure what to think when the quiet, intense beauty from his pre-med classes approaches him for a night of casual sex. Even more mystifying, she doesn’t seem to return his recognition. But if she wants to play “strangers in a bar”, he’s game.

Their passionate night is a welcome respite from life’s stress, but afterward, Josh realizes he wants more—from himself, from life, from Ellen. Except she still thinks he’s a one-off she’ll never see again. Confessing the truth now—before she figures it out on her own—could shatter the fragile beginnings of just what the doctor ordered. A forever love.

Warning: Contains mistaken identities, a sometimes-glasses-wearing hottie, deep questions about figuring out what you want from life, and a red-hot college romance.

My Review:

Can you change who you are? Can you pretend to be someone else?

Take What You Want by Jeanette Grey is sex-into-love story about the power of positive thinking, or maybe that’s the power of turning lemons into very wicked lemonade.

Ellen Price has always been a good girl. Not in the sense of being a goody-two-shoes, but in the sense of being responsible. She’s a pre-med student and she’s barely making ends meet between financial aid and waiting tables.

She’s envious and pretty bummed when all her much-better-heeled friends (literally as well as figuratively) run off for senior year Spring Break to the Bahamas. Ellen can’t afford the trip.

So instead of moping around her apartment, she hatches a very cool plan. She takes Spring Break from herself. For one week, instead of being shy, retiring, studious Ellen in her fade-into-the-background clothes, she’ll be glamorous, sexy, take-charge Ellen in a new wardrobe. Bought on sale, of course.

New Ellen won’t be a student, she’ll just be a waitress. New Ellen goes to a bar, empty of students, and picks up the hottest guy in the place.

She doesn’t recognize Josh Markley without his trademark glasses. But Josh recognizes her. He’s been fascinated with Ellen since the first time he saw her, freshman year.

He thinks she’s playing a game. and he doesn’t care. He’s just fine with the idea of casual sex with the hottest girl he’s ever seen.

Until the next morning, when he wakes up and realizes that he wants more than just sex. And he can’t figure out how to stop the game they’re playing. Or whether Ellen wants to stop playing and reach for something real.

Escape Rating A-: This story just works! I could see Ellen just deciding that she wasn’t going to take it any more, and try to be different from her usual self. Her self-talk as she experimented made her experience much more plausible. It was hard for her but she kept trying, even as she got in deeper and deeper with Josh.

It also made the story richer seeing things from Josh’s point of view. At first it was just sex, but then he figured out that he wanted more and started to date Ellen instead of just going back to her place. It was difficult for him to switch from casual sex to a real relationship. That’s not an easy transition in real life.

These two had fantastic chemistry from the very first page! I expected my iPad to start sending out smoke signals, which would be very bad. But Ellen and Josh were on fire for each other, and stayed that way throughout the book. They were lucky, and Ms. Grey’s handling of their story was so well done, that instead of burning out, they lit something that could last.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

The Sunday Post AKA What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand 3-17-13

Posted on March 17, 2013March 24, 2013 by Marlene Harris | Author : Marlene Harris | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

It’s official. Galen is a sorcerer. Make that Sourcerer. Let me explain.

Every March 15, Library Journal names 50 people in the library community as “Movers and Shakers” in a very splashy issue of the magazine. It’s a pretty big deal. I’m very proud to say that this year my husband Galen was one of those 50. He’s listed as one of the “Tech Leaders” of course. The official title of his article is “Open ‘Sourcerer'” for his work with open source library automation software. The picture at right is shamelessly scanned from the print copy a friend at LJ sent us. The online version of Galen’s profile will be posted on March 19.

(If you’re wondering about the penguin, he’s Tux, the mascot for Linux, the giant open source Unix project. It’s a geek thing.)

And now I’ll float down from Cloud 9 and get back to my usual blog recap.

There are a few hours left to get in on the Lucky in Love Blog Hop. Just a few rapidly disappearing hours. The prize here at Reading Reality is a $10 Amazon Gift Card, but there are over 300 blogs participating in this hop. Surely there must be a few, or a few dozen, books and gifts cards you would like to take a chance on before it’s too late?

Speaking of giveaways, the Lauren Clark giveaway has another week to go, so you have plenty of time left to put your hat into that particular ring. Lauren is giving away a signed copy of her very funny and excellent women’s fiction/romance Dancing Naked in Dixie as well as five $10 Gift Cards to the winner’s choice of either Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Let’s do a rundown of all of last week’s events, just so we can see everything at a glance:

B Review: The Bughouse Affair by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini
B+ Review: Merry Ex-Mas by Sheila Roberts
B+ Review: Cards & Caravans by Cindy Spencer Pape
B+ Review: Stardust Summer by Lauren Clark
Guest Post: Author Lauren Clark is All Shook Up + Giveaway
Lucky in Love Blog Hop
Stacking the Shelves (38)

There are three events going on this week. Wow!

Tomorrow, Reading Reality will be part of Entangled Publishing’s Launch Party for Lisa Kessler’s Night Demon. Lisa’s Night series has been a blast so far (I reviewed both Night Walker and Night Thief), so I’m pretty happy to celebrate the release of Night Demon. (That sounds like we’re letting a demon out of the Rift, doesn’t it?) There are giveaways involved, so some lucky readers will be able to find out just how much fun this series has been so far.

On Tuesday, Jeanette Grey will be back to talk about her latest book, Take What You Want. This is a very hot contemporary romance (I finished my review and will be posting it on Tuesday, too) Jeanette will be giving away a copy of Take What You Want to one lucky commenter, and this is definitely a book worth wanting.

Speaking of books worth wanting, Nina Croft is going to be here on Thursday to talk about things she wants. Nina will have Top Ten list for us, and she will also be giving away a copy of her new paranormal romance, Bittersweet Blood.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone. I hope you have a very lucky day. If you must drink something green, better the green beer than this particular green liquid. It’s the Chicago River dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day, an annual tradition. It looks awesome but I wouldn’t drink it.

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New Year’s Resolutions by Jeanette Grey

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New Year’s Resolutions
by Jeanette Grey

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