Tag: regency romance

Review: Only Scandal Will Do by Jenna Jaxon

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

Only Scandal Will Do by Jenna Jaxon is, for the most part, an absolutely delightful Regency romp with just a touch of romantic suspense to add the right amount of spice to its story of a marquess in pursuit of a scandal-free marriage and a sword-wielding heroine who promises to give him anything but.

Kat Fitzwilliam and Duncan Ferrars do anything but “meet cute”. She’s been kidnapped on her way to a ton masquerade ball, dressed as Athena, Goddess of War, unfortunately without the weaponry. He’s visiting his ex-mistress’ whorehouse for one last fling before attending that same ball. And there he sees a masked red-headed beauty in the midst of a Greco-Roman tableaux, and Duncan buys her services for the night. Of course he thinks she’s a lady of the house.

By the time he starts thinking with the brain above his shoulders, he’s already compromised her virtue; not in fact, but enough to cause a scandal. And it would be a scandal; Kat Fitzwilliam is Lady Katarina Fitzwilliam, the sister of the Earl of Manning, and Duncan is the Marquess of Dalbury. To save Kat’s reputation, Duncan must marry her, if he can find her. She scratched his face, clonked him over the head soundly with a pitcher, and escaped the brothel.

There’s no scandal if no one knows there’s a scandal.

But too many people do know. Kat knows that she nearly gave in to the sensual stranger with the practiced seduction techniques. It was only when she realized that he was only pretending to believe her story that she found the will to fend him off. His techniques were very, very good. But she never saw his face, he remained masked.

The doctor who treated her bruises knows, and thinks she was raped. And the Bow Street Runner in charge of the case, Reginald Matthews, has entirely too many good guesses about what happened for Kat’s peace of mind.

Her brother Jack mostly believes the story she fabricated about unlocked doors and lucky escapes, but then Jack was knocked unconscious and left behind by her kidnappers. He wasn’t the prey they were after.

Kat plans to return to their Virginia home to escape any possibility of meeting her tormentor again. She hopes that if she marries a friend in Virginia, she’ll eventually forget the taste of passion she found. Friendship she trusts; what happened in that locked room was tinged with lies and deceit.

But Duncan finds her first, partly by accident, but also through determination. He’s been hunting every ton function in the hopes of finding the elusive woman who haunts his dreams. He wants to do the right thing, but he also just wants Kat.

But he’ll have to fight for her. And only one person can defend Kat’s honor. Kat herself. She won’t let Duncan and her brother kill each other for her, she won’t let them guilt her into a marriage she doesn’t think is right. If there’s going to be a duel, she’ll fight it herself.

Kat can wield a sword as well as any man, and better than most.

Too bad that’s not the last battle they’ll need to fight to win their chance at happiness.

Escape Rating B: The auction scene in the brothel, and its aftermath, is a terrific setup for the story. The reader gets to see inside both of the main characters, and gets to see how they tick. Kat is not just feisty, but very unconventional, and you see how and why she got that way. Her attitudes make sense; she’s not a typical Regency debutante for very good reasons. Duncan’s thoughts and actions are logical from his perspective; although you want him to believe Kat right away, unfortunately he probably wouldn’t in that situation.

However, while I understand the necessity of avoiding the scandal, I found Kat’s willingness to fall in love with the man who caused it a bit too quick. After she spent so much time agonizing over his demonstrated lack of respect for her, she fell too easily. Leaving for Virginia was an option, because her brother would have been fine afterwards. Scandals never affect the man as much as the woman. It’s not fair, but it’s true.

On the other hand, back to the suspense angle, it took me a while to figure out who the real villain in the piece was, and just how far and how deep his villainy ran. Very nice job on the dastardly suspense business.

Guest Post: Blue Plaque Inspirations from Grace Elliot

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | blog tours> Guest Posts

I’d like to welcome today’s special guest, Grace Elliot. Grace is the author of The Huntley Trilogy; Eulogy’s Secret, Hope’s Betrayal (review here) and the forthcoming Verity’s Lies, as well as her extremely favorably received debut, A Dead Man’s Debt. Reviewers have been comparing Ms. Elliot to Georgette Heyer. High praise, indeed! 

I enjoyed the glimpse into the hardships that drove people into the smugglers’ life, as embodied in the heroine of Hope’s Betrayal. But as Ms. Elliot tells us in her guest post, there was more reality in the story than I thought.

Read on for the details…

Blue Plaque Inspiration*

Hello, it’s lovely to be here and thank you to Marlene for hosting me. I love Marlene’s strap line, ‘Escape reality, read fiction,’ and it inspired me to post about how real life inspired my latest historical romance, ‘Hope’s Betrayal.’

Everyone needs an escape from the pressures of everyday life and one of my safety valves is visiting theIsle of Wight. It is a beautiful, tranquil place with secret beaches, ever changing seas and wonderful wildlife – especially birds. We are lucky enough to stay within sight of the sea, in a place where the village green is flanked by Georgian fishermen’s cottages. The pace of life is so relaxing there, plenty of time for walks, reading and letting the imagination run riot – which brings me back to the inspiration behind ‘Hope’s Betrayal.’

In the 17th and 18th century the long coastline, with secluded inlets and treacherous shallows, made it an ideal for the local fishermen to take up the lucrative business of smuggling. On one of my walks in the village, I spotted a blue-plaque (*) mounted amongst the wisteria on a cottage wall. The plaque marked the birth place of a fisherman’s daughter, born in 1792, who eventually married a Prince from the royal house of Bourbon. This whetted my appetite to find out more and I started researching the ‘Lady of Chantilly.’

I found out that this woman, a humble fisherman’s daughter, was reputedly so beautiful that when caught smuggling, the Revenue officer couldn’t bring himself to arrest her. Now whether this local lore is true, or a romantic embellishment of the facts, it set my writer’s mind whirling. What a fantastic starting point for a story – the tension between two people, who live on opposite sides of the law, falling in love! Which would be stronger: the values they were raised with, or their love? What would be the price of such a love?

And thus ‘Hope’s Betrayal’, was born:

(* – In the UK, places of special note, i.e. birth places of famous writers, politicians, etc. are marked by a blue-plaque on the wall which lists the details of their life.)

Situated in the Solent, just off the south coast of England, the Island has a rich maritime history, and one especially linked with smuggling. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was a perfect stop over for fisherman secretly importing goods from France to England.

*****

Book Description

Hope’s Betrayal (The Huntley Trilogy, Book 2)

One wild, winter’s night two worlds collide. 
Known for his ruthless efficiency, Captain George Huntley is sent to stamp out smuggling on the south coast of England. On a night raid, the Captain captures a smuggler, but finds his troubles are just beginning when the lad turns out to be a lass, Hope Tyler. 
With Hope as bait, the Captain sets a trap to catch the rest of the gang. But in a battle of wills, with his reputation at stake, George Huntley starts to respect feisty, independent Hope. Challenged by her sea-green eyes and stubborn loyalty Huntley now faces a new threat – his growing attraction to a sworn enemy. And a love where either Hope betrays her own kind, or Captain Huntley is court-martialed, is not an easy destiny to follow.

A little more about the author, Grace Elliot:

Grace Elliot leads a double life as a veterinarian by day and author of historical romance by night. Grace believes intelligent people need to read romance as an antidote to the modern world. As an avid reader of historicals she turned to writing as a release from the emotionally draining side of veterinary work.

Grace lives near London and is addicted to cats. The Elliot household consists of five cats, two teenage sons, one husband, a guinea pig – and the latest addition – a bearded dragon!

You can follow Grace on her blog “Fall in Love With History.” or her Grace Elliot website and of course Facebook and twitter.

I’d like to thank Grace for being here today, and for this fascinating glimpse into the writing of Hope’s Betrayal. And also for that marvelous cat picture! He does not look best pleased to be photographed. I’ve seen that disgruntled expression before. I think there’s another story there!

 

Review: Hope’s Betrayal by Grace Elliot

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

Hope’s Betrayal by Grace Elliot is the second book in her Huntley Trilogy (after Eulogy’s Secret).  The Huntley Trilogy are unusual historical romances, not just because the Huntley brothers seen so far definitely work for their livings and because the heroines are definitely not society chits. It’s a refreshing change.

Hope Tyler is a smuggler. There’s no romance in her choice of occupation, nor any adventure. For Hope, it’s a matter of her family’s survival, pure and simple. Hope’s home on the Isle of Wight has lost too many of its men to the war (Napoleon), to disease or to fishing accidents. When the economy is bad, the English coast turns to smuggling. There is no other work. Hope and her brother are in the smuggling trade to put food on the table.

Captain George Huntley works for the Crown. His current assignment is to put a stop to, or at least a dent in, the smuggling trade. It keeps him occupied while his ship is undergoing refit in Portsmouth. Then he’ll be back at sea, and away from land, from the Isle of Wight, from the family estate, and from his mother, Lady Constance.

There are two serious problems with George’s mission. One is that everyone in England seems to be a party to the smuggling trade. Everyone wants luxury goods, like tea and French lace, but no one wants to pay the tax.

The second problem is a raid that goes horribly wrong. One of George’s men is killed. And the only smuggler he manages to catch is a boy. A boy he knows can’t be guilty of the actual shooting, because George was chasing the boy at the time.

But since the boy is the only smuggler available, he’ll probably hang anyway. But when George carries him to his house to get him seen to – the boy was only caught because he broke his ankle – George discovers that this smuggler, this criminal, is a young woman.

And George can’t make himself sent her to jail. He says it’s because she might lead her confederates to rescue her. It’s really because he wants her for himself.

But his mother finds her first. And discovers that Hope might be more than she appears. Even if she is still exactly what she appeared, a smuggler who should be hanged for her admitted crimes.

Leaving George trapped between his duty and his desires. With his mother standing guard over his prisoner, and his men howling for justice.

George does the only thing he can under the circumstances. He requests a transfer. How could George know that leaving would only make everything worse?

Escape Rating B: It was great to see a view of the Regency/Napoleonic Wars period from a perspective other than that of the upper crust. Even though George’s mother is Lady Constance, the family seems to be from the “squirearchy” more than the aristocracy. (The third book is about the oldest brother, and it could prove me totally wrong.)

However, George is a naval man, not a lord. His only title is Captain, and he earned that one.  And Hope is definitely no lady. Her family is so poor, she’s turned to smuggling just to keep eating.

Hope’s plight is what makes this story different. It’s not a romantic view of the smuggler’s trade. There are no dashing pirates here. It’s all about bone-deep poverty. Her village will starve if they don’t turn to smuggling. And that’s the point she brings home to George and Lady Constance.

There is no other work. It’s the free trade, or starvation. And plenty of supposedly law-abiding people will happily buy their smuggled goods as long as they don’t have to get their hands dirty in the actual smuggling.

There’s also a sweet love story between George and Hope. It is very sweet, and just a tad bit unrealistic. Not that they wouldn’t fall for each other, but that love (and his family’s position of privilege) would manage to conquer her very real criminal record.

But you want the happily ever after enough to let it go.

Guest Review: Rogues

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | book reviews> C Reviews> Guest Posts

Due to the crazy July 4th holiday week, Ebook Review Central is on hiatus this week. Instead, Reading Reality is very, very pleased to welcome Cryselle today to review Rogues (Brook St. Trilogy #3) by Ava March. Rogues was a great choice for Cryselle’s first (but hopefully not last) review here at Reading Reality, as it was one of the featured titles from the May Carina Press Ebook Review Central round up.

And here’s Cryselle!

Rogues is the third in the Brook Street series, and while the characters have wandered in and out of the other books, the tale stands alone. I didn’t feel that I’d missed any huge chunks of character development by coming in at this point. Some of the secondary characters here star in their own stories, so readers will feel a warm familiarity as they read through this and other of Ava March’s works.

Bisexual Robert may find entertainment with this young widow or that, but his true friendship and hottest sex happen with his best friend Linus. Linus cuts his own wide swath through the available men, of which there seem to be plenty, and every few weeks he enjoys a hot romp with Robert. They’re neighbors, friends, and have plenty of benefits. It’s working fine, until Robert decides he wants more.

And his straightforward request for an exclusive relationship is met by a polite refusal. Completely perplexed and unwilling to let “no” stand, Robert launches into heavy pursuit, only to be thwarted repeatedly.

Linus’ reasons eventually surface, and while they seem a trifle flimsy and lacking in true understanding of his friend’s character, they do provide some entertaining cat and mouse scenes. These two know each other well, having been childhood friends, yet they still don’t know each other well enough to discern sincerity or to trust in certain things. They both grow over the course of the story and have something new with which to surprise the other by the end.

A better Regency scholar than I might find objections to the historical accuracy, but as a casual reader of the period, I found few breaks in tone or history to throw me out of the story, aside from wondering how Robert was so accepted into society when he was too poor to maintain his own servants. The period’s antipathy toward homosexual lovers did get a nod, yet Linus could still be considered a rakehell, though he was never known to approach the ladies. Perhaps his reputation was strictly among other men of the persuasion and this was mentioned elsewhere, or perhaps we must chalk this one up to bending the rules just enough to let the story exist.

All told, Rogues was fun and definitely hot, if a trifle light on plot, there being no external conflict. A pleasant afternoon’s read. Escape Rating: C+

Cryselle can regularly be found blogging and reviewing at Cryselle’s Bookshelf.

 

Stacking the Shelves (8)

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Stacking the Shelves

This is my shortest Stacking the Shelves post EVER. And there’s a really good reason for that. As you are reading this post, I am somewhere lost in the depths of the American Library Association Annual Conference.

Think of it as BEA for librarians. A booklover’s paradise. (Also endless agony of the feet. The exhibit floor is carpet over concrete. While you are hunting for ARCs, you forget. When you sit, your feet remind you. Usually in phrases with expletives.)

I’ll be sending books back to myself. A temporary post office or UPS store will be on the exhibit floor for just this purpose. (Very smart) So I tried to be good in advance, because I’ll be bad later.

From NetGalley:
Hidden Paradise by Janet Mullany
Blade Song by J.C. Daniels
Bared to You by Sylvia Day
Forbidden (The Scandalous Women of the Ton #6) by Nicola Cornick

From Edelweiss:
The Lady Risks All by Stephanie Laurens

Purchased from Amazon:
Taste Me (Underbelly Chronicles #1) by Tamara Hogan

All books this week were ebooks, even the one I bought. Especially the one I bought. The Kindle version was on sale for 99 cents.

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. See her site for the details about the meme.

Ebook Review Central, Carina Press, May 2012

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

May 2012 may be the one of the quietest months Carina Press has had since I first started reporting with their September titles. Well, unless you count the Christmas anthologies as single titles.

On the other hand, you can definitely see the “Fifty Shades” effect on the coverage in this list.

What do I mean by that? Every publisher, including Carina, is marketing books as being “similar to”, or “just like”, or “what to read next”, for women who loved E. L. James Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. And who can blame them? The story touched a nerve, or should I say, a nerve bundle, and has captured readers’ hearts, minds and dollars. Not to mention the top spots on every bestseller list.

The top featured title for Carina Press in this week’s Ebook Review Central is Let Me In by Callie Croix. Like Fifty Shades, it is an erotic love story that features a BDSM relationship between a dominant male and a submissive female who probably should have known better, especially since she’s a Marine. Also, like Fifty Shades, Let Me In received a ton of reviews, but not all of them were positive. Many readers absolutely adored the story. Some folks thought it was “meh”. But people couldn’t stop talking about it. If you enjoy military romance with a touch of kink, you might want to give this short erotic tale a try. For a taste of the reviews, look to Talk Supe for the big thumbs up and Dear Author for the so/so take.

Feature number two is the third and final book in Ava March’s Brook St. Trilogy, Rogues (personal pet-peeve, the thief is a rogue and not a rouge. Rouge is what you put on your face. Jumping down off soapbox now.) Because Rogues is the final book in this historical male/male romance series, a lot of readers were waiting for it. And the mileage varied. Some folks thought this friends-into-lovers story was the best of the series, some thought it was a little too simple and didn’t have enough angst to make it better than Thief or Fortune Hunter. While readers have different opinions on which book in the series is the best, all agreed that the series on the whole was excellent.

The final featured title this week is Ruined by Rumor by Alyssa Everett. This is a historical romance, and it sounds like a fairly typical plot. The heroine is supposed to marry the man she’s been engaged to for five years. He’s just back from the war. Of course he’s a rake. And he begs off for no good reason. The hero steps in and comforts the heroine, and there’s a witness. They marry to stave off scandal, and their marriage of convenience turns into a real marriage–because the hero has loved the heroine all along. This is apparently one of those romances where the way the characters are written make the story. The reviewers fell in love with the characters as much as those characters fell in love with each other.

This week’s feature certainly shows different shades of romance, even if not quite fifty, all in one week.

Come back for the next Ebook Review Central featuring Dreamspinner Press!

 

Guest Post: K. Reed on Chaos and Manners plus Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | blog tours> Giveaways> Guest Posts

Today’s guest on Reading Reality is K. Reed, the author of the utterly fascinating (read the review) post-apocalyptic Regency romance Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire.

I will say that I picked up Dark Inheritance because a part of me was wondering “how did she do it?” and another part was wondering “why did she do it?” Reading the story itself takes care of the how, and I’m glad I did. it’s a wow!

For the “why”, we have Ms. Reed herself to answer that question!

 

 

Thank you so much for hosting me at your blog today, Marlene! I love that you’re a librarian and that you’ve worked in so many different places. Really gives you a perspective on places and things.

I love this question: There couldn’t be two more opposite images than the “ultra-ordered society of the Regency Era” and the “one half-step away from chaos” that the words Post-Apocalyptic or Dystopian bring to mind. Tell us how you reached the decision to combine those two opposites into a single story concept. Were there any other times and places in the running for your Fallen Empire series?

The world I created in Dark Inheritance…I am a huge fan of the Regency era, I love Jane Austen and so many other Regency authors. I wanted to enter into the historical market and Regency, regardless of the umpteenth time it’s been declared dead in the publishing industry, is still one of the most popular romance genres. Its popularity makes it attractive to historical writers to step into that genre, but it also means a lot of competition.

I wanted to step in. But I also wanted to stand out.

Aside from my love for Regencies and historicals, I enjoy reading many genres, including those that cover the post-apocalyptic. So, through a series of coincidences with what I had been watching (mainly the History Channel) and what I wanted to write (mainly Regency Romances) the world of Dark Inheritance presented itself.

It was exactly because of those rigid rules of society during the Regency Era, that I wanted to smash them and see what their echo in a world like the one I created, would wrought. The traditional Regency is the epitome of rigid rules, and when you alter them or veer them away from the historically known, you create a new world that awaits discovery. I hope you’ll take the time to discover what I’ve created in Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire.

Now then, the places and times for the series. Yes, I absolutely did wonder about other times. I debated between Victorian and Regency, and even wondered about the Colonial Era. For a while the Victorian Era was a frontrunner, mostly because at this time the British Empire’s reach spanned the globe.

In the end, I decided on the Regency Era because it was a much more insular society with incredibly specific rules I could toy with. I also wanted to center it in the British Empire specifically because of their legendary rules of society.

I admit to playing with the idea of a limited series of shorter books that take place within the Fallen Empire series but not set in England. One of the things I didn’t like about The Hunger Games was not knowing what went on in the rest of the world. Or even the exact boundaries of Panem. If I want to know what’s happening elsewhere, I hope others will also!

Ms. Reed, I certainly want to know what’s happening elsewhere. And I want another book in the series, so I can find out! Thank you so much for telling us some of the thoughts that went into the worldbuilding behind Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire.

Tour-wide GIVEAWAY!

Just in case, truly, just in case we experience some kind of apocalyptic event, Ms. Reed wants to make sure her readers are prepared.

So she has graciously agreed to award nine Post-Apocalypse survival baskets (each basket includes tea, a fan, a shawl, a bracelet and more) –Plus ONE Grand Prize basket will include a iPod Touch–to randomly drawn commenters during the tour!

This giveaway is open to US/Canada residents only.

Follow the tour and comment, the more places you comment (be sure to leave a comment here at Reading Reality), the more chances you have to win a basket. You do want to be prepared, don’t you?

May 14: Christine Young
May 15: Live To Read ~ Krystal
May 16: Books Reviewed by Bunny
May 17: Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer
May 18: Ramblings From This Chick
May 21: Queen of all She Reads
May 22: Immortality and Beyond
May 23: Writers and Authors
May 24: Books Are Magic
May 25: Megan Johns Invites
May 28: Novel Reflections
May 29: Reading Reality
May 30: A Case of Reading Insomnia
May 31: Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
June 1: The Life (and lies) of an inanimate flying object
June 4: Reader Girls
June 5: Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess
June 6: It’s Raining Books
June 7: Dawn’s Reading Nook
June 8: Adventure Into Romance

Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire

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

Two flavors that taste surprisingly good together: the manners of the Regency period, dipped into the darkness that comes after the complete collapse of civilization that results from an utterly devastating plague.  In other words, what happens to the upper crust of the ton in a dystopian world?

Unlike Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, K. Reed’s Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire is not playing for laughs. Someone has unleashed a plague on England, and the population has been reduced to a mere remnant of itself. Only the strong survive.

There are no zombies, no vampires, no ghouls. Well, not in the classic horror sense. There are only men and women who have survived a deadly disease that seems to have struck down eight or nine out of ten. Civilization has collapsed. Whole towns have ceased to exist. It’s as if the Black Death struck full force in 1804 instead of the 1400’s.

The English blame Napoleon. If the same thing happened in France, the French probably blame the English.

But Grayson Merrick, Baron of Harwich, doesn’t have time to worry about who the French think caused the plague. He’s much too busy holding his own lands. He kept his coastal fief of Harwich together, and relatively safe, when most of the lands around him descended into chaos. It’s required iron discipline, and a will of adamant, but two years later, he’s carved a safe zone for his people and is bringing more villages under his protection each month.

Relative safety means that he has time to worry about the future, the future of England. Rumor says that the Royals are all fled, or dead. That the government is gone. He heard one fairly credible rumor that some of the governmment officials were still alive in London, and he mounted a expedition to check it out. He found London a burned out wreck, and no government left. Almost no one left alive except the rats.

The heart of the Empire is dust and ashes.

As he returns to Harwich Grayson decided to take his foraging party, (for that is what they are, it is not possible to go out into the countryside without searching for supplies) to the house of his former commander.

His commander has died of the plague. Everyone in that house has died of the plague. Except for one beautiful woman. Who has survived, and like all survivors, is probably immune. But she is weak and will slow them down returning to Harwich.

Grayson has always told his men not to take survivors. They can’t save everyone. They don’t have enough supplies. This is a brutal necessity in a world gone mad. But he wants this woman. She is the only thing, the only person, he has asked for, for himself, in the time since the plague, since he began saving everyone else.

His men make space in the carriage they are using to haul supplies, and they bring her back to Harwich.

Her name is Juliette, Lady Adair. They should have met in a ballroom. He should have been able to respectfully pay his addresses, before the world went mad.

That world is gone.

Instead, he installs her in his rooms, because they are the only place good enough for her. There are no proprieties any longer.

And the first thing she sees when she wakes up is Grayson whipping a man for being falling down drunk on sentry duty, and allowing bandits into the safe zone. The man chose the whipping, because it was a preferred punishment to being exiled. Exile is death in this terrible world.

And Juliette understands. Only the strong survive. She is one of the strong ones. She is a member of the British Government. The question is, whether or not she can trust Grayson with her secret.

And whether he can trust her with his.

Escape Rating A-: This is an a darkly fascinating alternate history. The reader does not know how the plague came about, because the characters don’t know. The world has gone mad. How do the strong survive? Who do you trust? Life still goes on, but what changes?

The description of this story was a post-apocalyptic Regency romance, and it kind of is, but more in an alternate history sense. Everyone remembers the mannered culture of the ton, but the sane people know it’s over.

There is a love story, and the lovers, Grayson and Juliette, both think about what things would have been like, if, but recognize that the world has shattered. They regret what they’ve lost, but mostly the people and how much easier life was. They are pragmatic. Very. And while it’s expected in the hero, it’s also excellent to have in a Regency heroine. A simpering miss would be dead. Literally.

Regarding the spying and skullduggery against the French, it’s absolutely fascinating that even with the plague, the enmity between France and England is eternal.

What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand? AKA The Sunday Post 5-27-12

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

It’s Memorial Day Weekend in the U.S. And Monday it is Whit Monday for some of my European friends at Book Lovers Inc., so it’s a three-day weekend for a lot of people.

So there will be lots of reading going on this weekend. At least at my house.

There will also be a lot of playing of Diablo III. Like last night until 2 in the morning. Galen and I both love a good dungeon crawl now and again, with serious hacking and slashing for flavor. And that pretty much describes every Diablo game. I play the barbarian, and he, as he so eloquently described it, plays the “squishy wizard”.

But this is the Sunday Post, so that I can describe what will happen at Reading Reality once the weekend is over. (Tuesday is Monday this week!) Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer is the host of the Sunday Post.

I use the Virtual Nightstand as a way of peeking into next week to see what I should be reading, so my next week’s schedule doesn’t pop up and shout, “Surprise!” this time next week. It also gives me a chance to talk about upcoming books that I thought were neat or cool enough to grab from NetGalley or Edelweiss.

Coming up this week…

Monday, May 28 is Memorial Day. Normally, there would be an Ebook Review Central on Monday, but ERC is taking Memorial Day off. It will return on June 4, with the Samhain April 2012 wrap-up.

On Tuesday, I’ll be hosting a guest post from author K. Reed about her post-apocalyptic Regency romance, Dark Inheritance, Fallen Empire, as well as a review of the book. I’m fascinated, because I never thought that those two tropes could manage to co-exist, the manners of the Regency and the chaos of a post-apocalypse. This should be awesome.

Thursday is another big day, with the cover reveal of Stacey Kennedy’s new Frostbite book,  Mystically Bound (after Supernaturally Kissed and Demonically Tempted) and an interview with Tiffany Allee about her latest book, Succubus Lost.

Then there’s the books I’ll be reading for next week. Also one that got itself moved to this week. A book blogger’s work is never done. But it’s so much fun!

My editor at Library Journal asked me to review the Carina Press Presents: Editor’s Choice Volume 1 with a May 30 deadline. She usually only gives me about a week to review a book. Lucky for me, the books she sends are generally very good, and are often books I’ve already picked up from NetGalley, like this one.

This Editor’s Choice volume is really three novellas in one, and the novellas are also available separately. So it’s Kilts & Kraken by Cindy Spencer Pape (finally something in her  Gaslight Chronicles), Slow Summer Kisses by Shannon Stacey (not Kowalski, but still contemporary) and Negotiating Point by Adrienne Giordano, the latest in her Private Protectors series. I forced myself to read some of the Giordano series to figure out what was going on there, and it was so hard (I’m joking, I’m really joking. They’re good.)

And the darn thing has a June 4 publication date, so I was going to be reading it anyway! Along with the Editor’s Choice Volume 2, which contains No Money Down by Julie Moffett, Dead Calm by Shirley Wells, Dance of Flames by Janni Nell and Pyro Canyon by Robert Appleton. I’m most interested in Robert Appleton’s Pyro Canyon, it’s space opera.

I have a tour book for Book Lovers Inc., Deadly Secrets, Loving Lies, by Cynthia Cooke. Reading Reality participated in the Cover Reveal on Mothers’ Day, so when the book came up for a tour at BLI, I was curious. It looks like an interesting and short romantic suspense story.

There will be a Goddess Fish tour at Reading Reality for Drowning Mermaids by Nadia Scrieva. This is paranormal romance, with, of course, mermaids. There aren’t a lot of stories using mermaids as the heroines, so my curiosity bump itched.

I’ll confess, I do have a problem picking more books than I have time for. I like having choices. And so I have too many choices.

Next week, the following books are being released, and I have review copies that I really want to get a chance to read.

The two highest on the hit parade are both science fiction. Worldsoul (see On My Wishlist #1 for description) by Liz Williams and The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett. These are two authors that I simply read everything.

This is also a week for books in pairs. Lady Amelia’s Mess and a Half by Samantha Grace and The Most Improper Miss Sophie Valentine by Jayne Fresina have the same feel to them, at least by title. But Regency romps can be heaps of fun. Maybe not back-to-back.

I’m so glad it’s a long weekend! What about you? What’s you Sunday up to this week?

What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand? AKA The Sunday Post 5-20-12

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

It’s Sunday, do you know where your books are?

Mine are back home, after a trip to Cincinnati to see my mom for Mother’s Day. It was a great trip (I also got to see some of my cousins), but it’s good to be back home with my husband and my cats. Also where my big computer and double-monitor set-up is. I work better in my own space.

The combination of My Mostly Virtual Nightstand and The Sunday Post (see Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer for complete details) is a chance to recap, showcase upcoming important events, and talk about the books I have on my nightstand or iPad for the week after this.

Moving right along…

If you are interested in a chance to win a copy of either a fun contemporary romance or a hot romantic suspense story, take a look back at my reviews of Bad Girl Lessons (the contemporary) and Satisfying the Curse (the suspense). The giveaways for both titles (Lessons giveaway) and (Curse giveaway) still have a few days to go.

Coming up this week…LOTS!

On Monday in addition to Ebook Review Central (this week’s feature is Dreamspinner Press’ April titles) I’m participating in a Cover Reveal for Kinley Baker‘s new fantasy romance, Denied. (There’s a tour-wide Amazon GC giveaway)

Also on Monday, I’m also participating in the Diamond Jubilee Blog Hop being organized by Romance at Random to celebrate the upcoming release of Ruthie Knox‘ new book About Last Night. Ruthie Knox will be at Reading Reality on June 8.  Lots of book prizes tour-wide on this blog hop.

Tuesday, May 22, I’ll have the Cover Reveal for Succubus Lost, the sequel to Tiffany Allee‘s urban fantasy/paranormal romance Banshee Charmer. I really liked Banshee Charmer, so I’m looking forward to Succubus Lost quite a bit. I’m interviewing Tiffany on May 31 and I’ll be reviewing the new book in June.

Not to be done with Tuesday, I’ll be interviewing Lauren Clark, the author of Dancing Naked in Dixie, and reviewing her book as part of the Bewitching Book Tours release celebration, which does include a tour-wide Gift Card giveaway.

Wednesday, May 23, Reading Reality will have a guest post from Lilly Cain, the author of the science fiction romance Confederacy Treaty series, and I’ll be reviewing the first book of the series, Alien Revealed also as part of a tour for Bewitching Books.

Thursday I’ll be reviewing Seized, the first book in Lynne Cantwell’s Pipe Woman Chronicles, as part of a Goddess Fish Virtual Book Tour.

Looking forward to the following week, Monday, May 25 is Memorial Day in the U.S. The official start of summer. Living in Atlanta, unofficially, it’s already summer!

I only have a few books that have publication dates next week, or that I have on tour. The holiday may have something to do with that!

The book tour scheduled for next week is Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire by K. Reed. It’s both post-apocalyptic and a Regency romance. I’m really curious to see how that combination works out.

I have four books I picked up from NetGalley. NetGalley is like book shopping, except that I pay with my time to write the reviews instead of my money.

The Bewitching Tale of Stormy Gale by Christine Bell is the sequel to The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gale. Earlier this year, Carina Press gave away some of their early titles to subscribers to their newsletter, and I “bought” Twisted Tales then. But I need to read it to review the sequel. Lucky for me, they are both relatively short.

Black Stiletto: Black & White by Raymond Benson, is also a sequel, this time to The Black Stiletto. But I picked this from NetGalley specifically because I read the first book and was absolutely fascinated. The Black Stiletto is the story of a woman in the 1950s and 60s who becomes a masked vigilante, rather like Batman. Except that in this story, her secret identity isn’t revealed until her son discovers her diaries over 50 years later.

A Gentleman Undone is by Cecilia Grant, the same author who wrote A Lady Awakened. Lady Awakened was a debut romance that no one was neutral about. Readers either loved it or detested it. I quite liked it, enough that I want to see if she can do it again.

Because everyone has raved about Larissa Ione’s Lords of Deliverance series, I grabbed Lethal Rider. But I need to read the first three books first. And before Rogue Rider comes out in November.

I also have something from Edelweiss. I take fewer books from Edelweiss, because they timebomb on my iPad much quicker. But every once in a while there’s something I absolutely can’t resist.

Steampunk is one of my weaknesses. So, when Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris’ Janus Affair  popped up on Edelweiss, I was so there. This is the second book in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, and I have the first book, Phoenix Rising, and I’ve been meaning to read it. Getting Janus Affair from Edelweiss should get me to do it.

My other big weakness is science fiction romance. So I have Luminous by Corrina Lawson, the second book in her Phoenix Institute series. And I have the first book Phoenix Rising, somewhere in my iPad, just waiting for me.

And I just did a double-take. Yes, the first book in both the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences and Phoenix Institute Series have the same title; Phoenix Rising. I triple-checked to be sure. Weird coincidence.

As they say, that’s all the news that’s fit to print for the next couple of weeks. I’m going to be busy, busy, busy. I foresee LOTS of caffeine in my future! (My drink of choice is Diet Coke with Lime)

I’d love to know what you’re looking forward to this week!