Friday, September 30, 2011

The Heartache of Reviewing a Syrupy Book

My review of Healing Autumn's Heart by Renee Andrews is posted at the AAR website today.  I'm eclectic in my romance reading, having reviewed pretty much the complete spectrum from solidly religious books to erotica and from time periods extending from the early Roman Empire to far into the fantastic future.  I can find an interesting romance in every subgenre.

Healing Autumn's Heart isn't one of the interesting Christian-based books, however.  Mostly this is because of the upbeat, almost giddily happy tone that belies the grim subject of breast cancer.  That coupled with the attitude of God as the opiate of the people with no purpose except to make people feel better about their lot in life stunned me.

Given all of that, however, I still don't like to write negative reviews.  But as the saying goes, someone has to.  Ugh.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Leah and Her Honey AAR Review Up Today

The review of Leah and the Bounty Hunter by Elaine Levine ran today at AAR. 

I loved the character of Leah, a girl who is raised in a town under siege by a tyrannical sheriff.  Leah is educated in the art of self-protection and wilderness arts by a crusty mountain man, another great character.  And Jace Gage, the bounty hunter in question, is just the right guy for the feisty Leah.  It's a great, over the top Western tale that readers of the penny press would have adored.

Now on to reviewing three books for Booklist:  Briar Patch by Linda Sole, a soap opera drama set in Britain; Silver Sparks by Starr Ambrose, one woman's crusade against a killer media star amid the glare of the popular press; and Demons Like It Hot by Sidney Ayers, a sequel to Demons Prefer Blondes about the world going to hell because two women opened the wrong antique box.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Two Reviews to AAR; Reading Booklist duo

Over the weekend I sent in reviews for Leah and the Bounty Hunter by Elaine Levine and Healing Autumn's Heart by Renee Andrews to AAR.  AAR is wonderful in that I get to pick which books I review from a list sent to me.  But why I pick substandard books from the five to six page list is beyond me.  Since I like to read new authors, I usually check with Amazon or B&N to read a quick plot synopsis of the books whose authors' names don't ring a bell.

I knew Levine because I'd read her two previous books and enjoyed them.  But I'd never heard of Andrews.  Sigh.  And now I still wish I'd never heard of Andrews.  Enough said.

Today I start writing AAR reviews for Belonging by Robin Lee Hatcher and Night after Night by Janelle Denison.  I'd never read anything by either author, but will look for further books by one of them.  Read the reviews to find out which!

And finally, on the review front, I'm currently reading Silver Sparks by Starr Ambrose for Booklist.  So far so good, but I'm only about a third of the way through.  A lot of times a really good book is ruined in the last third or quarter.  We'll see with this one.  It's got an intriguing plot about a woman who takes on a murderous celebrity and the popular press who chronicle his life.  What a tangled web!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Night Hawk Review Posted on AAR

My review of Night Hawk, one of the more remarkable Westerns I've read in a while, is running today on AAR.  Author Beverly Jenkins brings so much more to the table than just the standard helpless woman in peril and macho guy to save her.  Like novels by Maggie Osborne, Night Hawk pits a self-sufficient woman with a multifaceted man.  Jenkins is definitely an author I'll be watching in the future!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Reviews Sent to Editors

Over the weekend I used the new Booklist reviewer submission system to enter reviews into their database for three books.  Doing so took me a while, but I finally managed to get the reviews into the appropriate spaces.  Now we'll see if my editor can manage to find them without any trouble.  The books are

* Baby, It's Cold Outside by Addison Fox:  Can't wait to read the next one in this series!  Fox manages to make the trust fund baby protagonist into a likable, believable person as well as her lawyer playboy love interest.  Quite a feat!
* The Heart of a Killer by Jaci Burton:  A better answer to the whodunit would have been for the one friend to have faked his death, but that's not what happens.  Still, this is a good solid story.
* Virtual Virgin by Carole Nelson Douglas:  Sometimes clever can be too clever, and this book is a case in point, just as I imagine the previous books in the series were.  Her descriptions, however, are to die for.

Also today I sent to my editor at AAR, a review of my first Kindle galley.  Reading for review on my Kindle will take some getting used to since I usually highlight tons as I read for review.  I did the highlighting with the Kindle, but then didn't go back and look at what I highlighted, a big mistake since I scrambled to find information.  As I said, this will take some getting used to!  The book I read and reviewed:

* Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins:  Turns out the Preacher (Ian Vance), half Scot and half Black, has been mentioned in two other Jenkins' novels in the past and readers have begged for his story.  And what a story it is!  I can't wait to read her other Westerns if protagonist Maggie Freeman is anything like the others.  I absolutely loved kick-ass, take no prisoners Maggie and her romantic showdown with the compelling Preacher.  It's wonderful to find a new author to glom!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Mysterious Sculpture Left at Library

I interrupt this log of books I'm reading for review to add a little whimsy.  Someone in one of my online art groups included a link to a blog which tells of a mysterious sculpture left in an Edinburgh library.  Great stuff!  As someone who makes miniatures as well as reviews books and has a library degree, I now have something to aspire to doing.  I think every library should have mysterious sculpture left in it!