Tag: Jeffe Kennedy

Ebook Review Central, Carina Press, July 2012

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Ebook Review Central> ebooks

The July 2012 Carina Press titles, at least when it comes to which ones got the most reviews, could definitely be said to owe something to the “Fifty Shades” effect.

The hottest books — in the erotic sense — were also definitely the hottest titles in the reviewing numbers.

Fifty shades of tie-ins!  Although the popularity of the book opened doors for more books that show a kinkier side of sex, it also spawned products in areas that the author couldn’t possibly have dreamed of. This one from Etsy may be the furthest after “Laters, baby” as later can get.

I’d much rather (make that much, much rather) get back to the Carina books.

First, I’d like to give a shout-out to Natasha Hoar’s urban fantasy title, The Ravenous Dead, which was one of the featured for Carina last month. Its date of publication seems to have changed, so now it’s on this month’s list. But I can’t feature it again, dagnabbit! Because it absolutely earned a featured slot this month, too. But each book only gets one bite at the apple, and The Ravenous Dead have already bitten.

So who are this month’s featured titles for Carina? I’m so glad you asked.

The number one featured title was so far out in first place that the sheer quantity of reviews is worth mentioning. The Theory of Attraction by Delphine Dryden attracted over 40 reviews, all good or better. Those are pretty big numbers for an ebook-only title. What was it about The Theory of Attraction? Yes, it’s a BDSM story like Fifty Shades, with the virtue that it’s a heck of a lot shorter. Ms. Dryden’s story is also a geek love story, with two socially awkward scientists as the hero and heroine. Lots of readers identified with the couple and their geeky social circle. The geek dom made for a different twist on the trope: the hero was intelligent but not super-rich. RT Book Reviews described it as “erotic romance done right.”

In the second position we have another erotic romance, and another boundary-stretching and review-grabbing title as well. Sharing Hailey by Samantha Ann King pushed at the erotic romance envelope in a different direction. Hailey has always had a crush on her two best friends, Mark and Tony. But Mark and Tony are best buds, and don’t want to mess up their friendship by forcing Hailey to choose between them. Solution: the three of them get together! It’s perfect until Hailey’s abusive ex returns and tries to spoil everything. This story has 29 reviewers behind it, so far, all of them generally thinking it was pretty good or better. Again, 29 reviewers is a lot of positive feedback. This one looks worth checking out.

It was much more difficult to decide on the third spot. Two books were very close. But by a whisker, the featured slot goes to Rogue’s Pawn by Jeffe Kennedy. Rogue’s Pawn is the first book in her Covenant of Thorns series, and it’s a contemporary fantasy/urban fantasy with a touch of fantasy romance. Gwynn the bored academic in 21st century America crosses over to Fae at Devil’s Tower Wyoming and becomes a powerful but totally untrained sorceress–one who nearly gets killed as a danger to herself and others in her first day on the other side. Everyone wants a piece of her, and everyone wants her to be their pawn. Only one fae, a trickster named Rogue, might possibly have some of Gwynn’s better interests at heart. If Rogue has a heart. This is one twisted, dark and decadent fantasy world.

If I were giving honorable mentions, and I can, one would go to Karen Erickson this month for A Scandalous Affair.

Ebook Review Central will be back in two weeks (no issue next week because of the Labor Day Holiday!) with Dreamspinner Press.

Interview with Author Jeffe Kennedy on Writing in the Mist

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours

The guest-of-the-day at Reading Reality is Jeffe Kennedy, the author of the new contemporary fantasy Rogue’s Pawn. It’s the first book of her new series, Covenant of Thorns, and there are definitely some thorny things going on in Faery, based on events in the first book. But I still can’t wait for what Jeffe calls RP2 in this interview. Rogue’s Pawn was fascinating, confusing and complex (see this review for more details on that) and I can hardly wait to learn more about her take on the Fae. 

But in the meantime, here’s Jeffe on how she’s really a lot like her cats, and more.

Tell us a little bit about Jeffe Kennedy when she’s not writing. Who is the inventor of Rogue’s Pawn away from her keyboard?

She’s not all that interesting, really. 😀 I like to read when I can and lie in the sun. I drink as much wine as I can get away with and I exercise every day to compensate. For the most part, I like being at home and I like being outside as much as I can. I have a series of little sitting spots – the front patio, the back patio, the grape arbor. I’m like a cat that way – I move from soft spot to soft spot.

What inspired you to write Rogue’s Pawn as the type of contemporary fantasy where someone crosses from our world to a world where magic works?

I grew up reading fantasy and science fiction – and the stories I liked best were the ones with the ordinary person who got transported to another time or world. Usually the person was a boy and I often felt like a girl would do it differently. I usually wanted more detail, like what would happen to the contact lenses I’ve had to wear since I was 12? I always came away thinking I’d tell the story differently. This was my big chance!

In Rogue’s Pawn, Gwynn is such a “fish out of water” character. Did you plan it that way from the beginning? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Or do your characters take over?

I did plan it that way, to the extent that I plan anything . I’m very much a pantser, though I like the term “mister” better. I knew what would happen to Gwynn, that she’d end up in Faerie and it would be bizarre and frightening and beautiful – and totally alien. But after that, I just ride along on the shoulders of my characters and discover things as they do. That’s why I like “misting” as an analogy. Much of the story for me is shrouded in mist and I can’t see what’s going on until I get right up close to it.

Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

My mother. She read to me every night and is a great reader herself. As a young woman, she made lists of “great books” she should read to improve her mind and she’s been involved in one book group for over thirty years now. Over time, I’ve managed to corrupt her somewhat and taught her to love the jucier genre books, too.

Who influenced your decision to become a writer?

That’s a very interesting question. Really, no one did – not in the way you mean, I think. I had teachers who told me I wrote well, but none of them suggested I become a writer. I showed a lot of aptitude for math and science, so I think they all thought (rightly so) that those would be more secure and lucrative career paths. I decided to become a writer all by myself, because I was profoundly unhappy doing the math and science thing with nothing else. I had reached a crisis point in my life where I had to ask myself what I *really* wanted. The answer surprised me.

What’s your favorite part about the writing experience, and why?

When the story takes over and I’m just along for the ride. It’s the most exciting, exhilarating experience there is.

What book do you recommend everyone should read, and why?

Hmm. I’m not much for “shoulds.” I think writers are well served  by reading extensively, both in and out of their genres. If there’s a blockbuster book, a phenomenon like Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Grey, then I think writers are foolish not to read them, regardless of their personal opinions. There are reasons why readers love these books – and that’s worth studying.

For readers? I think A.S. Byatt’s Possession is one of the most brilliant books I’ve ever read. Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood tells one of the best tales of young female friendships that I know of. In nonfiction, I think it’s really worthwhile to read Lucy Grealy’s Autobiography of a Face and then immediately read Ann Patchett’s Truth and Beauty, for her side of the story and great insight into the friendships authors – and women – have.

Other than that, I really recommend that everyone read exactly what they wish to, and don’t let anyone tell them what they should and shouldn’t read.

What projects do you have planned for the future? And there’s more of this series, right? Please?

LOL – yes! I’m thick in the middle of the sequel to Rogue’s Pawn, which I’m just calling RP2 at the moment. I feel very action-hero calling it that. And let me tell you – hearing you all ask for more is now my second favorite part of the writing experience. I’m just so thrilled.

I saw on your website that you have (or are had by) quite the menagerie. Does the border collie try to herd the Maine Coon cats? And how’s that working out?

Just the opposite! Our border collie is a quintessential beta dog and the older Maine coon cat is very protective and sassy. She does *not* like to be stepped on. Or any behavior that might lead to being stepped on or crowded in any way. Our old kitty died in March 🙁 and now we have a new Maine coon kitten. Fastest little thing any of us have ever seen. Both the older cat and the dog and running in circles trying to keep their eyes on him – and him off their tails!

Morning person or night owl?

Night owl by nature but I trained myself to be a morning person, just to get everything done that I need to!

I got lost in the cute kitten pictures on Jeffe’s blog. If Jackson (the Maine Coon kitten pictured above and at left) isn’t the cutest kitten ever, he’s definitely in the top ten. I’m amazed she gets anything done with this little guy in her arms. Oh the sacrifices we cat servitors must make!

I know I’ll be looking forward to RP2 as soon as the cats permit!

 

Review: Rogue’s Pawn by Jeffe Kennedy

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Rogue’s Pawn by Jeffe Kennedy is part of an interesting and fascinating sub-branch of urban fantasy. I call it crossover fantasy, where someone from our reality literally “crosses over” to another reality where magic works.

But just because magical powers are made manifest, doesn’t mean that the person suddenly manifesting them has a magically good time in whatever place he or she has found herself in. Magic can be both wondrous and terrible.

As the story opens, we don’t even know her name. But we’re in her head. And we know that she’s finally gotten fed up with her boring fiance and her academic/scientific job in the middle of a party where Clive (the truly boring fiance, she should have ditched him long ago) has belittled her for the last time. But in walking out, she follows a compulsion to go to nearby Devil’s Tower (Wyoming, iconic scene of Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and enact a very strange ritual.

She winds up in Fae, with the ability to wish things into being, and no idea how she got there. Compulsions to enact rituals don’t really figure into her calculations.

She’s attacked by a huge black dog, and captured by the fae. She wakes up in extreme agony, her throat nearly torn out. From there, she discovers that she has terrible magic powers, and zero control.

She truly does think things into being. And she has no mental controls at all. As far as the fae are concerned, she is a dangerous weapon that should be eliminated immediately. But the man who has rescued her wants her trained for war. He believes she is a weapon that can be used, with the proper conditioning.

His name is Rogue. She is chained within his castle. She is his pawn, his property. If he saves her life, she owes him.

Everything in fae is negotiable. Life, death, power, souls. Eternity can be bargained away. A person is only worth the price they can negotiate. Rogue has saved her because he wants something from her, but she doesn’t know what that might be.

She doesn’t know anything. From being an academic with knowledge at her fingertips, she has been thrust into a situation in which she has no information except what she can gain through negotiation.

She doesn’t even have her own name. Rogue calls her Gwynn. It is close, but not quite. And for the damage she caused in her first flush of power and lack of knowledge, he negotiates her use as a weapon in the war. She will be trained by utter sadists, but she cannot be permanently damaged. And she cannot be raped. Because Rogue has the rights to her firstborn child in return for saving her life.

Confused? So is Gwynn. She has lost everything, even her identify. She must remake herself in this strange new place where she has no friends, only enemies. And where she has power she must learn to control. She has to become more than just Rogue’s Pawn.

Escape Rating B: Gwynn’s voice is snarktastically terrific. Which is a great thing, because we see the entire world of Rogue’s Pawn through her first-person viewpoint. We only know what she knows and see what she sees. Her sarcasm is hilarious, but, because Gwynn is such a complete fish-out-of water, her knowledge is limited and adds to the reader’s confusion. I think I might have enjoyed the story more if I’d been less confused.

Gwynn’s lack of information is necessary to the story. I’m less certain that the reader’s total blindness is.

The training Gwynn undergoes to become a sorceress for the war effort is unquestionably torture, and equally unquestionably sadistic. Some desperate measure were definitely required to save Gwynn’s life by training her magic. She absolutely had to learn to make her mind a blank. Whether this was the only way, and how much of a betrayal it was, and how Rogue felt about it, etc., is one of those things that a different form of narration might have helped with.

Rogue’s motives and thoughts are difficult to fathom for a large part of the story. Gwynn simply doesn’t know enough about this world to have any handle on him. And we filter through her. Although we do finally get the big picture at the end. It’s the smaller pictures, like the war (hard to believe that’s the smaller picture, isn’t it?) that I’d love some explanation for.

And I truly wish I understood about Titania. Hopefully, I’ll find out lots more in the next books in the Covenant of Thorns series. Please?

What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand? AKA The Sunday Post 7-15-12

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | blog tours> Small Blogs Big Giveaways> The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

It’s going to be a very busy week here at Reading Reality. And I’m not just talking about the blog.

For those of you in the library world, I’m going to do one totally shameless plug. I’m speaking at the ALA Virtual Conference on Wednesday, July 18. My topic is one that is near and dear to my geeky little heart. Of course I’m referring to ebooks. “Beyond the Bestseller List: Filling Patron Demand for Great eBooks Without the ‘Big 6 Publishers'”.

Back to the blog. I have two tours scheduled this week.

Tuesday, Donna Del Oro will be visiting, and guest posting, to talk about her very cool paranormal romance/romantic suspense novel, The Delphi Bloodline. I’ll also have a review. A psychic female meets her match when a family friend becomes her guardian. Then the skeptical FBI wants to use her as bait in a plan that nearly turns deadly. Oh, and the Pope is involved. Lots of surprises in this one.

And on Thursday, Jeffe Kennedy stops by to answer a few questions about Rogue’s Pawn, the first book in her new urban fantasy/paranormal romance series, Covenant of Thorns. Of course, I’ll also have a review of this twisty new book, where a woman from our world crosses into fae.

Looking ahead to next week, there are a few books on the radar that I’m really looking forward to diving into.

I’ll be reviewing The Virgin Huntress, the second book in Victoria Vane’s Devil DeVere series over at Book Lovers Inc. on July 27. The first book, A Wild Night’s Bride, was an absolute hoot, a glorious romp. (BLI review here, Reading Reality here) If you want to laugh along with your sexy romance, give AWNB a read. I’m hoping The Virgin Huntress is even more delicious fun.

Series set up expectations. That true for Laura Anne Gilman’s Dragon Justice, the next book in her Paranormal Scene Investigations Series book. The publication date is July 24. Again, I enjoyed the rest of the series (Hard Magic, Pack of Lies, Tricks of the Trade (Tricks reviewed here). I loved Gilman’s Retrievers series. I’m seriously looking forward to the night I’m going to spend reading Dragon Justice. Enough said.

Last but definitely not least. I’m in the next upcoming BlogHer Book Clubs. Those bring interesting books that I might not otherwise read. The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty starts next week. That book I did want to read. Not just because the book is a hot pick on a whole lot of lists, but because the Roaring 20s are so fascinating.

The Small Blogs Big Giveaways Blog Hop will be running all this week here and and on all of the participating blogs. So don’t forget to pop on over to the entry post and get your name into the hopper for all of the prizes. There are gift cards, books and ebooks. One riffle down the rafflecopter gets you entered into all the hop stops.

That’s enough for one week (or two weeks!) on this blog. Whew! What’s happening at your place?

What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand? AKA The Sunday Post 7-8-12

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | The Sunday Post> Virtual Nightstand

Looking at this week’s calendar, you’d never know there had been a holiday the previous week. Isn’t that funny?

Funny weird, not funny ha-ha.

We don’t give ourselves much of a break anymore, do we? I say that as a society, not necessarily as an individual. Your personal experience may vary.

It’s difficult to disconnect. Vacations aren’t stress free. We went away for a couple of days over the holiday, to Asheville, NC. We made a conscious decision not to take laptops. Howsomever, our iPads have 3G/4G. We still got email.

Semi-disconnected is the best we can do these days.

This week everything is totally reconnected and ON!

Monday, Ebook Review Central is back. Coverage returns with the Dreamspinner Press titles from May 2012. I’m kind of glad it’s two months back, it means the reviewers have had a chance to catch up to ERC. Barring the flu, there won’t be another hiatus until Labor Day weekend.

Unlike last week, there are three tours this week!

Tuesday is Hope’s day. Really, it’s the day for Hope’s Betrayal by Grace Elliot. I’ll have a guest post from Ms. Elliot, along with a review of her historical romance, Hope’s Betrayal. It’s all about smuggling along the coast of England during the Napoleonic Wars, and features a very unconventional heroine. You’ll see.

We go from the mists of time to the ghostly present with an interview with Stacey Kennedy on Wednesday. Stacey will be here to talk about her incredibly popular, and marvelously delicious, urban fantasy/paranormal romance Frostbite series. I’ve already reviewed Supernaturally Kissed and Demonically Tempted, and I can’t wait for Mystically Bound, so I absolutely jumped at the chance to interview Stacey for this tour.

And from the urban paranormal we move to a contemporary western ghost town on Thursday. Winter Creek, Montana is the ghost town. It’s also a modern-day living history exhibit that serves as the setting for Theresa Stillwagon’s paranormal romances Forgotten Memories and The Dressmaker’s Dilemma. I’ll be reviewing the first two books in her series as well as hosting her for an interview.

Last, but certainly not least, the Small Blogs Big Giveaways blog hop, hosted by Reading Romances, starts on Saturday, July 14. Reading Reality is one of the participating blogs. I’ll be giving away an Amazon Gift Card. No muss, no fuss, no shipping charges.

Looking ahead to next week (the week of July 16), I have a couple of books I need to make sure I finish.

Jeffe Kennedy will be here for The Rogue’s Pawn tour on July 19. This is the first book of her new urban fantasy series, The Covenant of Thorns. It looks like one of those stories where a contemporary character crosses into fae. Done well, that premise can be awesome. I have high hopes.

Another Carina Press title, The Ravenous Dead by Natasha Hoar is simply on my list because I loved her first book, The Stubborn Dead (review here). I mean really, what a concept for an urban fantasy series, The Order of Rescue Mediums? I have to see where she goes next with this.

And the one I absolutely, positively must finish, Hidden Things by Doyce Testerman. It’s one of my review for Library Journal this month. It didn’t even look like any genre I review when it dropped out of the envelope. But it’s published by Harper Voyager, so it must be somewhere in my area. I’ll find out, because my review it due to my editor on July 16.

Even if it doesn’t turn out to be fantasy Hidden Things looks way better than The Mongoliad turned out to be.

Does your week feel especially full after the July 4th lull? What are you up to on your blog this week?