Book Binge

Tracy’s review of Never a Gentleman (Drake's Rakes #2) by Eileen Dreyer

This review contains what some people would consider spoilers.

HE HIDES HIS TRUE COLORS . . .
Miss Grace Fairchild is under no illusions about her charms. Painfully plain, she is a soldier's daughter who has spent her life being useful, not learning the treacherous ways of the ton. She may have been caught in a scandal with society's favorite rogue, but how can she marry him when it means losing herself?

WHILE SHE HIDES HER TRUE SELF . . .
Diccan Hilliard doesn't know which of his enemies drugged him and dumped him in Grace's bed, but he does know the outcome. He and Grace must marry. To his surprise, a wild, heady passion flares between them. Yet Diccan is trapped in a deadly game of intrigue Grace knows nothing about. Will his lies destroy Grace just as he realizes how desperately he needs her? And how can he hope for a future with her, when an old enemy has set his murderous sights on them both?

Grace Fairchild and Diccan Hilliard have been duped. They’ve woken up in bed together – both naked – but neither have memories of what happened. Diccan, that last he remembered was on a ship to Dover.

Diccan decides to marry Grace as there are so many witnesses to the scandal but Grace doesn’t want to be married. She wants to go off to her home and just be. She wants to decorate the way she wants, raise horses and live the way she wants, which is something she’s never done. But Diccan and a regiment of soldiers (Grace’s friends) insist and so Grace and Diccan marry and head off to London so that Diccan can get back to work as a diplomat and Grace and set up housing for them. But all is not as it seems. There is the evil “Surgeon” who we heard about in the last book who has escaped from Newgate prison and is on the loose. Diccan must make the public believe that he has no care for Grace so that she can’t be used against him by his enemies.

I have to tell you that I only read 266 of the 400 pages in this book. From the beginning of the book I had real problems with Diccan. He liked Grace as a person, but Grace is quite plain-faced and apparently that was something he couldn’t quite handle. Diccan shuddered at the thought of marrying her and the thought of bedding her made his balls shrivel. Nice. He thought horribly nasty thoughts about Grace but was nice to her to her face and actually defended her to others. But did that make him a better person when he was revealing so much about his shallow personality in his thoughts? Once the couple got to London Diccan did a disappearing act on a regular basis (because of the whole enemy issue) and was actually sleeping with his mistress. Yes, he was doing it because he was getting information from her but he was still cheating on Grace and that made me dislike him even more – the bastard. My heart, while reading, actually ached for the pain that Grace was going through and I felt so horrible for the fact that she had to live through these circumstances.

So what was the straw that broke the camel’s back with this book? Grace’s uncle approaches her and states that he has information that Diccan is a traitor to England. The uncle takes Grace to a house where someone from the Home Office takes her to a room where they can see into the next house. Diccan is there with his mistress and they’re having sex and talking about things that indeed show that he could be a traitor (but we know otherwise). When Diccan arrives home the next morning does Grace confront him, call him a cheating rat bastard who can burn in hell for all she cares? No, she states to him that she wants him to do the sexual things to her that he was doing to his mistress. With that scene I lost all respect for Grace and decided that frankly I didn’t care what happened between this pair.

I’m sure that everything ended up just peachy dandy for Grace and Diccan at the end of the book – he became who she truly wanted him to be, he fell madly in love with her and they all lived HEA, but the way this couple was acting was just not something I want to read about in my romance novels. Yes, I like angst and conflict as well as the next person but after a hero has acted so badly there is really nothing he could have done that would have redeemed himself in my eyes.

Please remember: these are my thoughts on this book and others may feel differently.

DNF

The Series:


You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place


This book is available from Forever. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

As you all know, we adore Jill Shalvis. We've asked her to visit with us again to celebrate her latest release, The Sweetest Thing, book 2 in the Lucky Harbor series (available now from Forever).

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For The Sweetest Thing (release 3/28/11)
By Jill Shalvis

Writing a romance called The Sweetest Thing, which centers around a decidedly NOT sweet heroine, amused me. Tara Daniels is wound a little tight and likes things her way. She’s also a former southern belle who appreciates the fact that she’s right. A lot.

The Sweetest Thing? Not exactly.

But her heart’s in the right place, always. And, as it turns out, there’s a man who melts her like butter on a hot roll. Not only that, he can soften her in a way that she isn’t sure she likes. See, Tara thinks she has it all together, but it turns out she doesn’t. She doesn’t know a lot about herself. About all she has is the fact that she can cook like nobody’s business. Oh, how she loves to cook.

Tara was a challenge for me. Because here’s where I admit, I got a lot of her recipes from my husband. True story. I’m married to a big guy who works with his hands and is the ultimate Alpha Man -- and yet he can cook. Don’t try to figure him out, it’ll hurt your brain, trust me.

The recipe Good Morning Sunshine Casserole that Tara cooks in the book is all his. Just don’t tell him I “borrowed” it and am telling the world that it’s my heroine’s. It’d just go to his head.

Jill Shalvis
http://www.jillshalvis.com
http://www.jillshalvis.com/blog (be sure to sign up for my newsletter on the right sidebar to keep up to date!)
http://www.twitter.com/jillshalvis
http://www.facebook.com/JillShalvis


P.S. For an ebook of Tara’s recipes, look for Heating Up The Kitchen wherever ebooks are sold.

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Ok, seriously? I want that ebook. I'm off to hunt it down.

We have 3 copies of The Sweetest Thing to giveaway. Leave a comment on this post telling us what you think of characters who cook and you'll be entered to win. Please note: You must include a valid email address with your comment to be eligible. US/Canada only. Contest ends Wednesday April 6 @11:59pm.






This book is available from Forever. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Kris' review of Finding Destiny (Sons of Destiny) by Jean Johnson

From the author of “the fabulously fresh, thoroughly romantic, and wildly entertaining” (Jayne Ann Krentz) Sons of Destiny come four all-new novellas set in the same bewitching world of danger, passion, and providence…

I very much have enjoyed reading the series that originated this anthology so was very excited to hear about this book. I read a good clip about the stories on her website:

It holds four stories, all set in the Sons of Destiny universe, each one a different flavor: village life, steampunk, palace life, and pirates. Each tale leads to the next, with each one set in a new kingdom, so you'll get the chance to explore new corners of their world with familiar faces...starting with the tale of what happened to Eduor, son of the Earl of the Western Marches from my very first novel, THE SWORD.

So even though it is an anthology that takes place all in the same world you get very different stories with the various settings. I was very surprised to be put in a steampunk setting, but it was a nice surprise. I loved how all these stories built upon one another. You would meet the character(s) for each story in the preceding story, that was fun. I liked that they were all connected, if loosely, to one another. A lot of fantasy anthologies will give you four separate stories that just happen to possibly take place on the same world.




The slave…Chanson, a privileged Arbran dyara, discovers an unexpected connection with the excitingly different Eduor, a bracingly sexy war-slave who desires his freedom. But what binds them together could also destroy them.


The first story was "The Slave" and it took place in a village. Eduor is a newly freed slave who finds himself in a small village trying to make a place for himself. He takes over the farm of a man who has gone off to fight a battle an in doing so has left his farm to be unproductive. Now their law states that if a man can make himself productive on land that remains unclaimed for a year, they can keep that land. So Eduor goes to work. One of the village leaders is a woman named Chanson, she is a weather witch for the village and her position is very highly regarded. As he shows his work ethic and integrity it draws her in and they fall in love.
Sweet story, I enjoyed it, though honestly when I started it I did not recognize Eduor as a character from the previous book though his name was slightly familiar. I realized later that he was mentioned in The Sword. It did take me a little bit to get into this story, not exactly sure why so I have to give this one a 3.75.

The knight…The Arbran diplomat Sir Zeilas must turn the Guildaran people—with their strange machines and weaponry—from former enemies into allies. But in the case of their intriguingly beautiful leader, perhaps something more intimate is in order. 

The second story was "The Knight". This story's main character was one of the knights escorting Eduor before and after he was newly freed from slavery. Zeilas is told to go be an envoy to the new formed country of Guildara. This is our steampunkish story. Guildara is a country that is making it reputation on it mechanical inventions. With their previous tyranny, they have lived the unavailability of magic, because the previous king either killed or brainwashed them. Zeilas's country is vast and powerful but loves the new weapons and such coming out of this little area. Then Zeilas meets that brains and beauty that is the leadership of this fascinating land, Marta.

I liked the conflict in this one, there was an actual battle. I enjoyed the scenery and the storyline. I think my only issue was a superficial one and that was her name. I just have a personal issue with that name so it affected my like the story. But will still give this one a 4.25.

The mage…Gabria never expected to become a Guildaran envoy to Aurul, or the subject of their seer king’s prophecies. But the most stunning surprise was what waited for her in His Majesty’s winter palace, and why.



The third story was 'The Mage". Marta's good friend and part of the newly formed mage guild is requested to come to Zeilas's

The third story was 'The Mage". Marta's good friend and part of the newly formed mage guild, Gabria, is requested to come to Zeilas's country. She assumes as an ambassador. But their king is the Seer King who is periodically taken over by their god and is given visions and prophesies and such and He has foreseen that she will be the Seer King’s wife. She finds this out after she gets there and they are preparing her for her wedding. She handles it very well, better than I would have. She is very conscious of not causing a scene and not wanting to make a major faux pax but wanting more information before she is married off.

This was a very well constructed story. I think it was my favorite of this anthology. It is basically an arranged marriage and the two people are trying to learn to get along and learn each other as they are actually falling in love. It does not happen over the course of a week which would have drove me crazy, it took time and they grew together. Loved watching that, and it was so well done to be able to do that in a short story. I give this story a 4.5.



The pirate…Captain Ellett would do anything for his king. Even hunt down the pirates plaguing the Jenodan Isles. But he never counted on the seductive powers of the pirate’s captain—beautiful, tempestuous, and impossible to resist.

The last story was “The Pirate”. This one takes the Seer King’s Royal captain, Ellet, and sends him to investigate a possible pirate off their southern coast. He goes down and discovers that the pirate is a beautiful woman that is mad that his country has been stealing from hers. He knows this is not true so knows there he has a lot more to learn about what is going on. They uncover a deeper plot and grow closer as they investigate.

This one was nice, I liked that adventure in it. Pirate stories are almost always fun to read as long as the characters are good, I have seen many TSTL heroines in pirate books. In this one she was the pirate and she was a smart one at that. I enjoyed the storyline in this novella and was anxious to see how it worked out. I give this one an 4.25.


The anthology was a nice read all around. If you have never read any of the other books in this world you are not really missing any previous storyline, except maybe Eduor’s backstory, but I did not remember it when I read it and still relatively enjoyed it.

I give it a 4.25 overall.

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Today I read a blog post Penny Watson of Penny Romance wrote on Goodreads titled "Penelope's Advice To Authors Who Don't Like Beeyotchy Reviewers...". The post basically reiterated what we've all been saying for years - If you don't want your book to be criticized, don't publish it. It was a well written post and I agreed.

In the comments, Val said:

I completely agree. You know what you were up for. Though I also think sometimes we are too harsh with new published authors, we should cut them some slack and then after they've written some books, we can be as bitchy as we want -or not! (emphasis mine)

Penny agrees:

I agree about cutting some slack to newbie authors. I save my super-snark for the big kahunas (Nora, JR, Nora, Stephanie, Nora...etc). :^) 

Others weigh in, including TeddyPig, disagreeing that newbie authors should be cut extra slack. The argument is made that a book is not its author (a belief I firmly subscribe to) and should be treated the same no matter how many works the author has under his/her belt.

I agree. Whether this is the author's 1st book or their 15th, that shouldn't be a consideration in how we review it. A lot of the time I don't even know until after I've read a book how many the author has published (if it's a new-to-me author). Val goes on to say:

Of course, I'm not saying we should say the book's good just because the author's new, I'm saying that we often write reviews that attack authors -not their work- when books really sucked, and maybe we should tone that down if it comes to a newbie. Give it 1 star if you want even say if you thought it sucked, but we should try to show a little respect at least if it's his first book! (emphasis mine)

First - I've seen very few reviews that personally attack an author. Commenting on the author's writing style or the technical aspects of their writing isn't a personal attack on them. Saying their characters were dumb, or their plot had holes, or their stories were unbelievable is not the same as saying "this author is a complete douche who should die a slow, painful death for writing this book".

Second - No. Just no. We shouldn't "tone down" a review simply because it's an authors debut release. We shouldn't "tone down" a review for any reason. A book is not its author. A book is a book. I guess if you're the type of reviewer who personally attacks authors then yes, you might want to "tone down" your review - but I'd suggest doing that for all reviews, not just the ones where the author is a newb.

What say you? Should we "be nice" to newbie authors?

Today Jodi Thomas' next installment in the Whispering Mountain series, Texas Blue, is available. To celebrate, she's here talking about the series.

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I hope all my fans will step into Texas history and enjoy the adventure. From the day I was walking in the Hill Country near Fredericksburg, Texas, the story of the McMurray family has been playing in my head. I am very excited about TEXAS BLUE, the first book in the new generation of the Whispering Mountain Series.

I opened in 1875, with two friends parting ways one stormy night in Austin. Duncan, a Texas Ranger, is off to fight at the border and Lewt, a gambler, plans to find a wife among one of Duncan’s three rich cousins while his friend is away.

Duncan, called Duck when he was a boy, is wild and fearless. He leaves his law practice to join a raid at the border. Lewt has never done anything brave and never plans to. He just wants a respectable wife.


Lewt joins a group of men Duncan hand selected to travel to Whispering Mountain and meet his three female cousins. Though Lewt knows his friend would never introduce a gambler to his rich relatives, he wants a chance for more than just a life in saloons.

TEXAS BLUE is a story that has been in my head since I wrote TEXAS RAIN four years ago. I knew the little boy that Travis McMurray finds tied to a rope at an outlaw camp would have to grow up and become a great Texas Ranger. I also fell in love with a shy little girl who loved horses in TALL DARK AND TEXAN and wanted to see her as a woman strong enough to run the ranch.

So, writing TEXAS BLUE was like coming home to characters I already loved.


I think you will love this first book in the new generation of the Whispering Mountain series. Ride along with me and I promise I’ll tell you a love story full of adventure, romance and laughter.


Hope I keep you up reading,

Jodi Thomas
jodithomas.com
facebook.com/JodiThomasAuthor

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Want to win a copy of Texas Blue? Leave a comment on this post before 11:59pm on Friday, April 1st and you'll have a chance! Please Note: You must include a valid email address with your comment to be eligible.



This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Mary's review of Visions of Magic (An Awakening Novel) by Regan Hastings

In the ten years since magic has reemerged in the world, witches have become feared and hunted. For weeks Shea Jameson has been haunted by visions of fire. When she unintentionally performs a spell in public, she becomes one of the hunted. Her only hope is Torin, a dangerously sensual man who claims to be her eternal mate.

The hysteria of the Salem witch trials has spread throughout the world. Women who are accused or even suspected of being a witch are rounded up and incarcerated. Shea's aunt was convicted and burned at the stake in a public spectacle. Since then, Shea's been on the run from her past, hiding who and what she is from both the world and herself. But it all goes to hell in a handbasket when she zaps a guy trying to rob her. A mob gathers, ready to kill her on the spot when a stranger shows up, envelops her in fire and flashes her away, saving her life.


Torin, her savior, claims to be her Eternal, destined to love her, protect her, and be with her forever. And he wants to mate (yes, he uses the word "mate") with her almost immediately. When I got to that part, I felt my eyes roll and breathed out a heavy sigh of disappointment. Really? Another story where there's an instant connection because their love is destined? Another one where the guy is pushing this whole insta-love thing and the girl's protesting the whole time until, of course, she falls in love and then falls into his arms?

But wait! With this story, there's a twist—Torin and Shea have actually known each other for hundreds of years. It's not insta-love; it's a love that's lasted despite Shea's multiple reincarnations, despite her not remembering Torin until the Awakening of all the witches of the coven, happening in this lifetime. Being an immortal, Torin could only watch and wait for his witch to remember him and return to him. Ah, now that…that works.


Once Shea starts to remember, she not only remembers him and their love but the terrible thing she and her coven did for power as well as what they had to do to fix it. It's the reason her whole coven of witches had to forget and live without power for hundreds of years and why she has to trust Torin or fail at the task she must complete to help right the wrong.


Okay, back to the whole mating thing. Turns out that it's a month-long affair of lust and copulation which will then bind the two of them together, making both of them stronger and giving Torin a soul. A month of hot, steamy, do-it-anywhere-anytime sex. Even while they're being hunted by people who want them for a variety of purposes (including the President, who wants Shea as the face of change and acceptance of witches and an evil scientist who wants the witches' power for himself), they're ready to jump each other at the drop of a hat. Um, don't you all have a task to complete? Magic to learn? Spells to remember? Witches to save? Hot sex will only get you so far, people. Back to the plot, please.


Because there's so much time spent mating and becoming one, the ending, which could have been totally kick-ass, what with the task and a magical foe trying to stop them, felt really rushed, which was kind of disappointing. There's a ton of set up for the rest of the series (we never find out exactly how many witches were in this coven but it seems they each have their own Eternal and their own task to complete), which also leaves a lot of loose ends flapping in the wind. However, the potential for a really good series is there, and I'm definitely going to check out the next book to see how it all develops.


Rating: 3.5/5.0

This book is available from Signet. You can buy it here or here in e-format. 

Last year, historical romance author Tessa Dare made this EPIC book video. Seriously, it's EPIC. I'm not usually a fan of book videos, but I wanted to marry this one and possibly have babies with it loved this one. Don't believe me? Well, see for yourself:



Wasn't that EPIC?

Tessa has donated one of these fabulous videos to Operation Auction. You, too, could have an EPIC book video made for your book. Worried that Tessa won't be able to do one unless it's for a historical romance? There's no need. The Dareling bedroom has stuff for all genres:



If you win this video, we'll post it here on our site for all our readers to see. If you don't think we're cool enough, so will Dear Author, Smart Bitches and a host of other sites (Tessa is putting a list together). So you get an EPIC book video AND free publicity. Pretty killer, right?

What are you waiting for? Go forth and bid!

Oh, hell, as long as I have you here I might as well remind you to bid on our auction, too! We donated 6 months worth of ad space. We don't normally run ads, but we're making an exception for charity. This means you'll have exclusive promo!

BID NOW!

Not interested in advertising? Don't worry, there are a ton of other items up for auction, too. Books, ARCs, swag...go check it out, it's for a really great cause.

TG's review of The Iron King (The Iron Fey, Book 1) by Julie Kagawa

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life,ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school... or at home. When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar and her little brother is taken, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change. She could never have guessed the truth. Meghan is the daughter of a faery king and a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will have to choose between a normal life and her magical destiny - and between her best friend, and a darkly dangerous prince. It's time for Meghan to enter the faery world.

This book was enthralling. It twisted and turned like a maze, all the way to the climax, then slowly unwound until you were at a frustratingly appropriate cliff hanger ending. Nothing and everything made sense, and as soon as you were sure you had it figured out, that you'd heard the story before, Kagawa threw in another surprise. She is an amazing author with a deep understanding of a stubborn teenager's mind. This book was a wonderful tale of adventure and star crossed love.I cant wait to read the rest of the iron fey series.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes Alice and wonderland, and remember, just because you can't see them doesn't mean they aren't watching.

4.5 out of 5 (mostly for the cliffhanger ending)

The series:


This book is available from Harlequin Teen. You can buy it here or here in e-format.