Tag: regency romance

Ebook Review Central, Carina Press, April 2012

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

The Carina Press April 2012 list proves, as Carina does every month, that there are high-quality titles published in ebook-only.

It also proves that there is something out there for every taste and variation of romance fiction lover, from science fiction romance to paranormal to male/male to historical to retro to contemporary. Even for those who can’t get enough of Spartacus (the recent TV series, not the old movie).

It does seem like there are some trends.

Looking at both Carina and Samhain, I’ve noticed that the Retro romances don’t get a lot of new reviews.  How that translates to sales is something that I’ll freely admit I wonder about. The reviews for Susan Edwards’s White Series are mostly, but not exclusively, from RT Book Reviews‘ and All About Romance‘s backfiles; they are reviews for the original release of the books. This is also true for the Samhain Retro romances.

The Roman Empire period may be making a comeback. Surrender to the Roman is one of several “blood and sandals” romances that’s come out recently. Spartacus may have started (or resurrected) a sub-genre. There’s a post at Book Lovers Inc. that plays with this question.

New/old sub-genre questions aside, this week’s featured titles are from romance sub-genres that are a little more familiar. Which is pretty interesting, considering that not a single one takes place in a here-and-now that’s exactly the one we know!
The third featured title this month is the erotic historical romance Improper Relations by Juliana Ross. Unlike a lot of historicals that take place in England, this is Victorian Era rather than Regency. Equally unusual, this one is not about a noble rake sweeping a complete innocent off her feet. Not that Leo isn’t a rake, well, not exactly. He appears to be one. It’s just that Hannah is only sort of innocent. She’s a widow. She simply doesn’t know what pleasure is. After watching Leo debauch a housemaid in the library (to both parties clear mutual enjoyment!), Hannah finds herself willing to let Leo teach her everything she’s missed about pleasure. They both learn a few other lessons, ones that neither of them expect. This novella is short, erotic, and surprisingly sweet at the end.

The second featured title is the paranormal entry in this week’s list. Darkest Caress by Kaylea Cross. An ancient magical race, the Empowered, is here on Earth to fight on the side of Good in the coming battle against the forces of evil. While they’re waiting for that battle, they need a place to stay. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the realtor that the leader of those good guys, Daegan Blackwell, hires to help him find some property, turns out to be a long-lost member of the Empowered herself. And his destined mate. And she doesn’t believe him until she becomes a target for the evildoers herself. Reviewers compare this one to Kresley Cole, Lara Adrian and even J.R. Ward.

But this week’s big winner was Ava March’s Fortune Hunter, the second book in her Brook St. Trilogy. This is a male/male Regency and did even better in the reviews than the first book, Thief. Readers definitely love this series, and are snapping up each book as it comes out. The biggest complaint I’m seeing is that because these are novellas, the stories are too short! But Fortune Hunter is the story of Oscar and Julian. Julian Parker is from the poor, American branch of the Parker family. His name gives him entry in wealthy English society, but nothing more. He come to England to find a rich wife to support him in style, even though he knows he prefers men. Oscar Woodhaven is rich, exceedingly rich, but all that his wealth has bought him is loneliness and grasping relatives. He needs Julian’s friendship as much as he needs his love. They have found what they need and want in each other, if they can figure out a way to keep what they have. Especially in the face of a society that will more than condemn them.

So this week we have the Regency, the Victorian Age, and an paranormal version of now where the Empowered fight the darkness. The contemporaries just didn’t stand a chance this month. Next month may be different. Come back and see!

And come back next Monday to check out the Dreamspinner Press April features. We’ll be back!

 

What’s On My (Mostly Virtual) Nightstand? 4-29-12

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

Before I tackle the books in, on, and around my more or less virtual nightstand, I want to take just a minute to acknowledge the origins of this regular Sunday meme-o-mine.

By this time, those of you who are regularly follow book blogging have read about the drama regarding The Story Siren and her plagiarism of several posts on “How to Blog” from Beautifully Invisible and Grit And Glamour. The details are summarized by a number of bloggers, including my friend Has over at Book Lovers Inc.

I won’t be participating in In My Mailbox, and I’ve unsubscribed from anything I subscribed to at The Story Siren. That includes email, twitter, RSS, you name it. But that’s yesterday’s news.

I’ve seen a couple of new memes crop up to take the place of IMM. That’s terrific! Tynga’s Reviews has started Stacking My Shelves, and Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer‘s Sunday Post starts today, since it’s Sunday. There’s Mailbox Monday, which is fascinating because it’s nomadic. A different blog hosts it every month.

I usually tried to post my IMM on Saturday, so I’m leaning towards Tynga’s meme, but, as Mary Engelbreit so poignantly drew, Everybody Needs their own Spot. I’m just glad the community has created alternatives so fast!

Back to my Mostly Virtual Nightstand. We’re all inspired by somebody. And so was I.

In October, 2011, after six months of blogging, I realized that one of the things I did over the weekend was figure out what reviews I really, truly had to post that week. And sometimes I surprised myself, even with a to-do list.

In my hunt for a meme so that I could write about what I was reading, I found What’s on My Nightstand at 5 Minutes for Books. It’s a great meme but for my purposes, it had one flaw. It’s monthly. I need WAY more organization than that.

But it gave me an idea. What if I did the same thing, only weekly? Since what’s really on my nightstand is usually an iPad full of ebooks, my nightstand is mostly virtual. And that’s how What’s on My Mostly Virtual Nightstand was born.

I laid out these gory details in the original Nightstand post, back on October 23, 2011. But in light of this week’s events, it seemed like a good time to repeat them, and give credit to my muse.

Now then, what’s actually ON that mostly virtual nightstand this week?

My editor at Library Journal sent me a book on Friday. Those are always out of the blue, but usually pretty good. So I have a review of An Heir of Deception by Beverley Kendall due on May 7. This looks yummy. Former rake forced to confront the woman who turned him seriously toward the bad side, and then ran away from him. And now that he’s back on the straight, narrow and responsible, she’s back. With secrets. Of course with secrets. Naughty Regencies can be so much fun. If you have an ereader, an earlier book in this series, All’s Fair in Love and Seduction, is currently free for both Kindle and Nook. (Yes, of course I did!)

On the Samhain Publishing list a month or so ago I picked up the entire Fringe series by Anitra Lynn McLeod to review. It’s science fiction romance, so of course I’m interested. Very interested. And I’ve seen some good reviews of the later books, but the earlier books just weren’t found. I’m always interested in doing my bit to promote SFR. Stripper, the 4th book in the series will be released May 8. I still need to read books 1, 2 and 3, Thief, Overlord and Runner.

But before I can get to my SFR, I have some more urgent commitments first.

Bronwen Evans, the author of Invitation to Scandal will be doing a guest post at Book Lovers Inc. on May 9. I have to get my review of her Regency ready to post before then. This looks like another darkly sensual Regency, with a Viscount chasing a smuggler to clear his father’s name. Smuggling and/or piracy usually make for delicious reads!

Meanwhile, back at Reading Reality, I have a couple of book tours scheduled next week that I also need to get reviews ready for!

I will be interviewing Lisa Kessler, author of Night Walker, here on Tuesday, May 7. Bewitching Book Tours is organizing this tour, and in addition to the interview, I’ll be reviewing Night Walker, the first book in her paranormal romance series, The Night.

Rounding out next week, on May 9, author Kay Dee Royal will be a guest at Reading Reality, also courtesy of Bewitching Book Tours. Kay Dee’s guest blog will be about her new shape-shifter/paranormal romance, Staring Into the Eyes of Chance, the first book in her Lycan International Investigation Agency Series. And of course, there will be a review of the book.

Well, that’s all this book blogger has time for in one week. I’ve never prayed for insomnia before, but I think I’d better start.

What’s on your nightstand this week?

 

The Saint Who Stole My Heart

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

The Saint Who Stole My Heart by Stefanie Sloane is book 4 in her Regency Rogues series. It’s also very clearly the “setting up” story for the next two books, at least, in this series. There are definitely unresolved suspense elements hanging over the end of the story.

The prologue starts out with a bang. Let’s say it cuts to the chase. Childhood friends Dash Matthews, Nicholas and Langdon Bourne, and Sophia Southwell make the journey from carefree youth to painful responsibility in one sharp moment when they come in from playing outside to find Sophia’s mother, Lady Afton, murdered. None of their lives are ever the same.

As men, Langdon Bourne and Dash Matthews both join the Young Corinthians, a spy network based in England. They’ve both been warned off Lady Afton’s case. All they know is that she was the victim of a man code-named “The Bishop” and that she was murdered because Lord Afton was also a member of the Corinthians. The Bishop targets his enemies’ loved ones.

Dash Matthews is the Corinthians code-breaker. He is gifted with puzzles, locks and ciphers. Unfortunately for the spy, he has also got the looks of an Adonis. Spies should be able to blend into a crowd, and Dash, he just can’t. Everyone notices him, especially the women.

Since he can’t hide himself, he hides his intelligence. He pretends to be pretty, but well, empty-headed. Everyone except his closest friends thinks he’s an idiot.

Then Elena Barnes steps into his life. And his library. His late father’s library, to be precise.

When his father died, Dash inherited the title of Viscount Carrington, along with the estate. But his father’s prized library of rare books was left to Henry Barnes, Baron Harcourt, a noted expert in such things. And Baron Harcourt sent his bluestocking and equally expert daughter, Elena, to catalog and pack up the books.

Elena found Dash to be incredibly handsome, and completely vapid. The problem she had was that her physical reaction to his handsomeness overwhelmed her mental reaction to his vapidness. Which just seemed wrong to her.

Dash, on the other hand, found Elena fascinating. Which was equally problematic for him. Because when he was fascinated, he had an unfortunate tendency to drop his idiot act.

And Elena was no idiot. She noticed.

This is a Regency, if you will recall. Elena, as an unmarried woman, could not be living in Dash’ bachelor household unchaperoned. Lady Mowbray, Dash’ aunt, was temporarily in residence to serve that role. Bessie Mowbray wanted nothing more than to see her nephew happily married, and spent time, effort and Dash’ money to make it so.

Lady Mowbray knew perfectly well that Dash was no idiot. And she noticed everything.

The more Dash revealed of his true self, the closer he and Elena became. This wasn’t a courtship, it was a falling into the inevitable.

But as soon as Elena seemed important to Dash, she became a target of the Bishop, and the suspenseful part of the story really began.

Escape Rating B-/C+: The second half of this story is a real page-turner. Once the hunt for Lady Afton’s killer goes into full-swing, it’s really hard to put down. On the other hand, setup for the next books was a little too obvious. It’s not that there isn’t a happy ending, but there is so much unresolved that I was frustrated by a lot of the way the story ended.

Also, based on the prologue, I was expecting it to be Sophie’s story, and it’s not. She’s the main character in the prologue, and then disappears for the rest of the book.

For more of my thoughts on this book, take a look at Book Lovers Inc.

 

Ebook Review Central, Samhain Publishing, March 2012

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

Holy Moly but this list was positively ginormous!

I’m not even referring to the number of titles. Since they added the Retro and Horror lines, Samhain has always published about 25 titles, give or take, so Samhain’s March list isn’t exceptional. It just felt long.

Why?

The reviews, of course. There were a couple of books that didn’t find an audience. And a couple of the retro titles that didn’t get reviewed this time around.

Samhain has had some terrific success getting prequel and mid-series novellas from fairly big-name authors where the rest of the series is in print from a more, shall we say, traditional publisher. Those books rack up huge reviews, and I would suspect, big sales.

Natural Evil, by Thea Harrison, is book 4.5 in her very popular Elder Races series. Book 4, the recent Oracle’s Moon, was published by Berkley, a division of “Big 6” publisher Penguin. The ebook novellas, #3.5 True Colors and #4.5 Natural Evil, were published by Samhain. These always get double-digit review numbers in the first month, and more trickle in every month after release. Natural Evil was no exception.

What’s different this month is that there were a lot of titles that went into double-digit review numbers. And they weren’t even all series books. Well, some were the start of a series, but they weren’t books that had the built-in anticipation that book 2 or 3 or 6 in a series has.

Seven books had 10 or more reviews.  This is excellent! But it does make it a lot harder to pick three to feature.

The book that slides into the third feature place for Samhain this time around is The Runaway Countess by Leigh LaValle. Reviewers fell in love with this Regency romance by debut author LaValle. This is the story of a Robin Hood heroine (not hero) and the Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire (of course it’s in Nottingham) who saves her from the punishment she should suffer for being a thief. But she’s not as bad a thief as she’s accused of being. And he wants to do some really naughty things to our heroine, Mazie, who, like Robin Hood, is somewhat more than she appears to be on the surface. The reviewers didn’t just enjoy the story, they all expect great things from Ms. LaValle in the future.

Prowling into the second place in this week’s list is Hunter’s Prey by Moira Rogers. Fittingly enough, this is also book 2 in Rogers’ Bloodhounds series, after Wilder’s Mate and the mid-series teaser novella  Merrick’s Destiny (officially #1.5). The world of the Bloodhounds is an alternate history, steampunk post-Civil War U.S. in which vampires roam the Western night and their ghouls fulfill their orders during the day. The only creatures capable of fighting the vamps on their own terms are the Bloodhounds, formerly broken men turned into were-hellhounds by the mysterious Guild. Hunter’s Prey is the story of one such Bloodhound, and the woman brave enough to become his mate. With each book a little more of the overall tale of the Guild and everything else that is happening is being teased out as well. This series is awesome if you like steampunk, cowpunk (U.S. Western steampunk) vampires, shapeshifters or historic paranormal erotic romance.

The big book of the month for Samhain was Rocky Mountain Desire by Vivian Arend. This is number 3 in her Six Pack Ranch series, and whatever it is she did when she revised and expanded the Six Pack Ranch books from their original publication, it definitely works for readers and reviewers. The first two books in this series, Rocky Mountain Heat and Rocky Mountain Haven, were both featured titles on ERC, and there’s no reason to break the streak for book 3. Guilty Pleasures put Rocky Mountain Desire on their Crème de la Crème list because it’s good! The entire series is about a family of very handsome brothers in a small mountain town who, one after another, each find their perfect match. By book three, you have not just the romance, but family meddling and the fun of seeing how the couples from the first two stories are getting along. Done well, it’s a recipe for a terrific story. And Ms. Arend does it very well indeed.

Are you curious about which other titles had double-digit review numbers? Check out the complete Samhain list for March to see the answer. Wondering why the same book got a 5/5 from one reviewer and 3/5 from another? Read their reviews and see for yourself.

Ebook Review Central will be back next week with the four-in-one issue covering Amber Quill, Astraea Press, Liquid Silver and Riptide.

 

In My Mailbox #5

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | In My Mailbox

If you remember the photos from last week’s In My Mailbox post you’ll understand why I tried to restrain myself this week.

I didn’t completely succeed. Hopefully someone will give me an “E for Effort”?

I subscribe to a few (several) newsletters about forthcoming books and the book trade. Shelf Awareness, Early Word and Publishers Weekly all cover books, bookselling, and publishing, but from different angles. Shelf Awareness is slanted a bit towards Indie Publishing, Early Word is aimed a bit a libraries, and Publishers Weekly, well, what they cover is pretty clear from their name!

Their email newsletters also offer contests for Advance Reading Copies in their sidebars. Every so often, I win one.

I won a print ARC of A Simple Murder by Eleanor Kuhns from one of the above. It’s a historical mystery set in a Shaker village in 1796. So neat setting, interesting premise. This book won an award from the Mystery Writers of America for the Best First Crime Novel. So it might be good. And the author is a librarian. Of course I’m interested!

 

Book Lovers Inc. sent me a request I couldn’t resist. I confess I didn’t read Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula when it came out. It’s just my kind of book, too. Alternate history with vampires! But it never quite made it to the top of the towering TBR pile. Kim Newman is re-issuing the sequel, The Bloody Red Baron, and asked BLI for a review. When the request was passed to me, I said I would, if I could get copies of both Red Baron and Anno Dracula. I got.

The only problem with alternate history is that doing it justice usually takes a lot of pages. Those two books are not short books. Either one. Oy!

The other night I was looking for something light and fun to read. So instead of wading through my TBR piles, I bought myself a treat-a copy of Stacey Kennedy’s Supernaturally Kissed. All the reviews I’ve read said it would be just the ticket. The next day I joined Stacey Kennedy’s Street Team and because I couldn’t resist the temptation to get a review copy of the next book in the series, Demonically Tempted.

I’m a tour host for Goddess Fish Tours, and I asked for review copies of books for two tours I’m hosting in May and June. Seized, an urban fantasy by Lynne Cantwell, and Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire, a Regency romance/alternate history by K. Reed

 

Finally, I admit it, I gave in and bought Fifty Shades of Grey. I listened to myself dissing a book I’d never read and realized that I wasn’t being fair. I needed to either shut up, or read the book. I read the book. Now I have dissing rights. Which doesn’t mean I’m going to totally use them. You’ll see.

 

 

 

Engaged in Wickedness

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

From the description of Engaged in Wickedness, it looked like Jade Lee’s introductory novella for her new Bridal Favors series would merely be a purely engaging frothy romance. But the desperate purpose behind Lady Gwen’s wickedness gives this historical romance a surprising depth.

The story does have what seems like a typical start. It could have been whipped out of the Regency, and with a few updates, taken place anywhere and anywhen.

A young woman tests, in fact over-reaches the rules of her station, seemingly out of a spirit of adventure. She seems adventurous to her tamer and more conventional peers, who listen avidly to the tales of her adventures, safely after the fact.

But Lady Gwen is the daughter of an Earl, and the rules she is flouting are the staid and unbreakable conventions of the haut ton. What rules are those? She likes to sneak off into darkened corners and shadowy gardens with men, and let them kiss her.

This is dangerous behavior. If she is caught, she will be ruined in the eyes of the ton. Her father’s station will not save her. And Lady Gwen simply does not care anymore. Flirting, and being caught, just a little, is the only thing that fills the emptiness of her life.

But one man is watching her. Sir Edward Murray has come to London to find a wife. And Lady Gwen is just the wife he wants. This slightly reformed bad boy has found his responsible side since the death of his father six years ago. Before he assumed his baronetcy, all of his plots and schemes were focused on getting into trouble. Since then, he’s been too busy successfully managing his estate.

Now, now he’s spent all his time in London crafting one plan after another to ensnare Lady Gwen. Little knowing that she is all too ready to be caught.

All he has to do is quit plotting and really, really see her. But by the time Edward finds Gwen’s true depths, she discovers all of his plots and schemes.

Can recklessness and deception lead to lasting love?

Escape Rating B: At the beginning of the story, Gwen seems to be a very shallow person, and the reader wonders why one would sympathize with her. She’s not just a flirt, she’s actively self-destructive, and for no particularly good reason. Gwen seems to be running around a ton ball looking for someone to compromise her reputation, and her family is nowhere in sight.

Lucky for Gwen, this part doesn’t last long. As we meet her family, it starts to be clear. Gwen’s family is clinically dysfunctional, and things are being concealed from the world. Gwen is acting out of stress, because she can’t cope anymore.

She needs to be rescued, but that risks exposure. So instead, she’s looking for ruin, because adventure makes her feel alive for a few minutes. She’s searching for danger. And it makes sense. Finding Edward is the best thing that could happen to her. Gwen needs a bad boy with a respectable facade. It just takes her a while to realize it.

Figuring out just how bad he can be is what makes the story fun.

 

Miss Hillary Schools a Scoundrel

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

Miss Hillary Schools a Scoundrel by Samantha Grace is a Regency romance with one of the tried-and-true plots: the story of the redemption of a rake. Except that in this story, the rake is almost ready to be redeemed, and the lady isn’t quite ready to trust his redemption. Although this story had all the right elements, including a likeable hero and heroine, a matchmaking mama and a pair of dastardly evildoers for spice, the whole thing didn’t quite jell by the finish.

Lana Hillary meets Drew Forest by falling into his arms. From a tree. While escaping from one of the many men her matchmaking mama believes would be a perfect husband for her. Or at least a better bet than Lana officially declared “on the shelf” after two London Seasons and no offers. Well, none after that first lying scoundrel who broke Lana’s heart and left her.

The problem with the men her mama finds is not that they are so terribly respectable, although they are. It’s that they are so terribly boring. And so terribly obviously fortune hunters. Lana would rather be a spinster than be leg-shackled to a man who only wants her for her marriage portion. Especially since he will have control over it, and her, once she marries.

Being caught in a compromising position with one of the bores would require marriage. Escape by tree climbing is infinitely better.

But being witnessed by Drew Forest is not. Being stuck in the bushes listening while Drew breaks off his relationship with Lady Amelia is even worse. Drew is a handsome, charming scoundrel. And Lana’s brother Jake is in love with the widowed Lady Amelia.

Andrew Forest found the spirited creature he rescued from the tree to be the most fascinating woman he had ever met. The fact that her brother Jake warned him off in no uncertain terms made the challenge that much more interesting. rven if Drew normally never pursued supposedly marriage-minded misses like Lana, the lure was simply too great for him to ignore

And even though Lana knew that Drew was the exact opposite of the type of man she should be interested in, she couldn’t resist his charm.

So began a cat-and-mouse game, from ton ballroom to country house party, except that it was difficult to tell who was the cat, and who was the mouse. Their mutual attraction proved stronger than anyone’s plots and plans to throw them together or keep them apart, and there was plenty of mischief in both directions.

Meanwhile, there was a villain in their midst with an evil plot of his very own that could ruin not just Lana’s happiness, but her very life!

Escape Rating C: The opening scenes were some of the best I’ve read in quite a while. The set up was excellent, the slightly unconventional heroine, the rake who’s getting a little bored, the matchmaking mama who’s not looking carefully at the husband candidates, and some very witty dialogue.

For this reader, the story went on a bit too long. There were enough roadblocks without the dastardly plot, or there needed to be a few less roadblocks before the plot. Lana and Drew fought and argued and railed at each other just plain too much after they fell into bed (or coach as the case might be). For two people who had such fun talking with each other the first half of the book they made a right mess of it the second half.

When books are very short, I have a tendency to want them to be a bit longer. In this case, I think I would have enjoyed the story more if there had been a bit less of it in the middle.

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand? 2-5-12

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

Is it really February? In Atlanta it’s 65 and sunny. I know we’re still in the South, but I did think this place was supposed to have something like seasons. So far, it’s been pretty much shirt-sleeve weather all year.

It’s not that I miss winter, and definitely not that I miss snow, but it just “feels” wrong for February.

I got a new book added to my nightstand late last week. Actually two new books. Library Journal asked me to review Danger Zone by Dee J. Adams, and those reviews always have a very short window, so my review is due on Friday, February 10. And it’s a sequel. So there I was downloading Dangerous Race from Carina Press. I got lucky, there was a sale! And even better, they are really, really good romantic suspense. I’ve already finished Dangerous Race, and I’m halfway through Danger Zone. Very neat stories about Formula One racing and the Hollywood filming thereof.

I also picked The Woman Who Loved Jesse James by Cindi Myers from NetGalley. It was published on January 23, but it’s still available. The description sounded a lot like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, if it were told from Etta Place’s point of view. I’ll find out.

And for next Tuesday I have the new Robin Hood re-telling, Scarlet, by A.C. Gaughen. This is supposed to be YA version, but that’s not the reason I requested it on NetGalley. In this version of the Robin Hood story, “Will” Scarlet is a female passing as male. The Robin Hood legend is one of the truly great stories, I can’t wait to see what changes this twist makes!

In spite of the addition of the racing books, I did make some progress from last week’s list. Besides finishing and reviewing The Night is Mine by M.L. Buchman, I also finished Miss Hillary Schools a Scoundrel by Samantha Grace. So that review will be published early this week.

My review for The Devil of Jedburgh by Claire Robyns will also be published this week, after my thoughts on the book first appear at Book Lovers Inc. Reviewing for BLI is fun and different from what I do here.

I need to hike myself back to Theft of Swords. I keep thinking of those 500+ pages and going “eek”, but I enjoyed the part I read. I just keep getting distracted by other books.

And on Thursday, February 9, I will be conducting another webinar for the Maryland Library Association. This time the topic will be ebooks in libraries. For interested parties, the signup link is here.

Speaking of ebooks, tomorrow is Monday. That means it’ll be time for another edition of Ebook Review Central. ERC will finally say “Goodbye” to December with Amber Quill, Astraea, Liquid Silver, and Riptide. Tomorrow!

Wrapping up NetGalley January

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | NetGalley> NetGalley Month

NetGalley January is a wrap. Well, the thing is, January is over, and since the little snowman in the picture says it was NetGalley January, there you are. That’s it for the month.

Those of us signed up for the 2012 NetGalley Reading Challenge are just going to have to soldier on, chortling with glee at all the lovely egalleys NetGalley will be sending us through the rest of the year. Every month can be NetGalley Month.

But back to the wrap. And I must use plastic wrap, since everyone needs to be able to see what I read.

Two books came out of my NetGalley TBR pile from September and October:

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to The Black Stiletto, which was fascinating, I also read the start of a very neat new mystery series, The Dharma Detective. I can’t wait for The Second Rule of Ten.

 

 

I also read a couple of Regency Romances from relatively new authors that were both a little different from the usual. It’s always interesting to see authors take the standard tropes and stretch the boundaries just a little bit. Or in the case of A Lady Awakened a “lotta” bit.

I read one YA/Cyberpunk that received a lot of buzz, and from the other posted wrap-ups, it looks like I’m not the only one who read Cinder. This title was highly anticipated. (I was turned down the first time I requested it, so I replied directly to the publisher outlining my specific review qualifications and was okayed on the second go-around).

Banshee Charmer is the start of a great new urban fantasy/paranormal series from a brand-new author. The author is doing a blog tour and the book is getting a lot of very nice attention.

 

 

I liked the first book in the Dark Dynasties series, Dark Awakening,  quite a bit, so when the second book, Midnight Reckoning listed on NetGalley, I grabbed it. Definitely fun for paranormal romance fans.

 

 

And, as always, I rounded out my reading month with titles from Carina Press. The icing on my reading cake: more urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and my science fiction romance fix for the month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I posted thirteen reviews this month on NetGalley. I did finish a fourteenth book from NetGalley, The Devil of Jedburgh by Claire Robyns. But because I reviewed it for Book Lovers Inc., I can’t post the review on my site until after the review on BLI goes live, and that’s scheduled for February 9. I also finished The Night is Mine by M.L. Buchman sometime the night of January 31, but I can’t swear whether it was before or after midnight. I know that night was his, I just didn’t keep track of how much of it! So there you have it. My tally for this NetGalley Month. It’s all good for the 2012 NetGalley Reading Challenge. And it was all good reading!

What’s on my (mostly virtual) nightstand? 1-29-12

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Virtual Nightstand

When I first started reviewing, it was easy to keep my books organized. I only had a few, and they were all on the Bluefire app on my iPad. (If you have an iPad and you need an all-purpose Adobe/PDF/everything-but-the-kitchen-sink reader, just get Bluefire, it reads everything) I read open EPUB format on the OverDrive app. Yes, I really did say OverDrive. It’s a perfectly decent EPUB reader, and it will read EPUBs that come from other sources quite happily. I use it all the time, if only to keep the list of books in my Bluefire app from getting more ginormous than it already is.

But my list in Bluefire is huge, sometimes pronounced as two syllables for emphasis, “hew-gee”. When I need to buy or borrow earlier books in a series in order to review later books, I need to track those too. After a while, my “To Be Reviewed” list became my “To Do” list, complete with calendar. It took me a while, but when I had to search my apps to figure out where a book to be reviewed was located, my entries started including all the locations of all the books involved, be they Bluefire, OverDrive, or in the case of previous entries in series, Kindle app, Google app or bookshelf. It gets complicated.

All this came up because of Cherie Priest’s Dreadnought. I had intended to pick up an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) of something new to read (and review, of course) for the plane home from ALA Midwinter. I picked up so many ARCs that some had to be shipped home, but the book I read was not just not new, it was in my own TBR pile on my Nook app. It is way too easy to lose track of ebooks on an iPad. Way too easy.

But I’m back to looking ahead to February, which starts this week, even if it is still January now. The first books I have scheduled for February are a very diverse bunch.

The Dread by Gail Z. Martin is the second book in her dark fantasy Fallen Kings Cycle, after The Sworn. I’ve always meant to read something of Ms. Martin’s; I’ve seen her other work highly recommended. And The Fallen Kings Cycle is a duology, she has not “committed trilogy” on this one, so these two books are it. The Sworn and The Dread, as ominous as the titles sound, seemed like a good place to start, even if the two together are about 1,200 pages. Ouch.

The Night is Mine by M.L. Buchman is a military suspense romance about elite helicopter pilots who transport Navy SEALs and Delta Force teams to and from their missions. The heroine in this romance is the pilot who goes on a covert mission as bodyguard to the First Lady, with one of her special forces commanders as the love interest. I think the question about this one is whether the romance is going to trump the suspension of disbelief about the violation of military frat regs (yes, I watched way too much Stargate).

Miss Hillary Schools a Scoundrel by Samantha Grace gets the award for most fun title of the week. This just looked like a fun Regency that reports say has all of the elements done to a fine turn. This is a debut novel, so if the author has got it right, that would be fantastic!

Speaking of fantastic, I have Prehistoric Clock by Robert Appleton on my calendar for 2/6/12. This should be fantastic both because it is steampunk and because I found Mr. Appleton’s previous book, Sparks in Cosmic Dust, to be a “rollicking, adventurous science fiction romance.” I’m looking forward to his take on steampunk.

And to go even further for adventure, my last book is science fiction romance. I have Tundra 37 by Aubrie Dionne. Since this is labelled as A New Dawn Novel, Book 2, I picked up Paradise 21, the first book in the series. New Dawn is a colony ship series. It details life aboard the deep space transport vessel Expedition, destined for the planet Paradise 18. I haven’t read the first book yet, but I’m positive that any planet coded Tundra-anything can’t be paradise.

Even with the strange week this week, after coming back from ALA, I did get a few things read. Some of them were even the things I was supposed to read!

How to Dance with a Duke was not quite what I expected, but I did enjoy it. Thinking back, I just realized that they never actually dance! Writing that up will be one of the things that I do this week.

I started Michael J. Sullivan’s Theft of Swords, and I’m about 100 pages into it. I saw a print copy at ALA, and wow! It’s pretty in person, but it’s a tome! Theft of Swords was originally published as two books, The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha and when it was re-edited to make one book, well, it’s clearly still got the heft of two books’ content in it. I’m glad I’m reading this as an ebook.

On Tuesday, January 31, I will be conducting a webinar for the Maryland Library Association about the importance of genre fiction collection development in libraries. For anyone interested, there’s a signup link.

And tomorrow, being Monday, is the day for Ebook Review Central. It’s Samhain’s turn for December 2011. See you there!