Beauty in the Desert

My Desert Island Keeper review of Jessica Sims Beauty Dates the Beast was posted today at AAR.  What's funny is that I've pretty much had my fill of paranormal romances, especially those featuring shifters.  There's something inherently gloppy and yucky about the shift process that I've read described one too many times.

I actually asked for Beauty Dates the Beast because I thought it would be a variation on the Beauty and the Beast fairytale.  Updated versions of fairytales intrigue me, so I was eager to read Sims' book.  You can imagine my disappointment when I read the blurb on the book and found out I'd gotten a shifter novel instead.

But since I'm a reviewer and had asked for the book, I began reading, convinced that I wouldn't like the book at all.  Which all goes to prove that Desert Island Keepers are hidden in the most unexpected places!

In Today's News

My review of Jenna Kernan's Gold Rush Groom appears on AAR.  I love the kick-ass woman who saves the bumbling, know-it-all hero's life at practically every step of the journey into the interior of Alaska.  The trip over the mountains, however, sounds much too harrowing for me.  I'm thinking that seeing Alaska from a cruise ship sounds much more pleasant.  But then there weren't a lot of cruise ships trowling the coast during the 1800s gold rush!

Also my Booklist starred review of Baby, It's Cold Outside by Addison Fox is in the October 15 magazine and online.

Writing reviews for Tall, Dark and Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy and A Texas Christmas by Jodi Thomas, DeWanna Pace, Linda Broday, and Phyliss Miranda today to send to AAR.

And then I'm proofreading my vampire manuscript for two contests this week.  Reviewing will be on hold until I get the proofing done and the manuscript sent in.

Quick Update

Today my AAR After Hours blog entry went live.  I'm talking about one of my favorite television shows, Castle.  Oddly enough I'd never really heard of Nathan Fillion before Castle, but now that I know his work, I'm definitely a fan.  But you can read my thoughts in the blog post.

Turned in reviews of Delilah Marvelle's Forever and a Day and Evelyn Hood's cozy Mystery in Prior's Ford to Booklist at the beginning of the week.  One is absolutely wonderful while the other is so-so.  You'll have to read the reviews when they're published to find out which is which.

Currently writing these reviews for AAR:
* Beauty Dates the Beast by Jessica Sims
* Tall, Dark and Cowboy  by Joanne Kennedy
* A Texas Christmas by Jodi Thomas, DeWanna Pace, Linda Broday and Phyliss Miranda
* The Survivor by Shelley Shepard Gray
Three of the four are Desert Island Keepers, which means I've had a very, very good week of reading recently.

Don't Discredit Christian Romance

The review for Robin Lee Hatcher's Belonging is running on today's AAR site.  If romances in general are looked down upon by some people, it seems Christian fiction is often seen as being lower than the low.  In fact, until I started reading them for review, I often caught myself disparaging them.

But I and anyone else who does look down on the books as a whole are wrong.  Hatcher's book is a prime example of a Christian romance fiction book that is entertaining while still keeping its religious roots.  These aren't Bible-thumpers as most of us aren't, but regular small-town Idaho citizens trying to make a living at the end of the nineteenth century.  Like any group of people, there are good ones and not so good ones, but all are realistically drawn and compelling people to read about.

After reading this book, I'm definitely putting Hatcher on my "watch for" list.

Unexpected Review to AAR

I commented on the AAR reviewer bulletin board that I was reading Gold Rush Groom by Jenna Kernan and was enjoying it.  I added that I hoped someone at AAR was reviewing it.

Shortly after that when I was just finishing the book, the editor asked if I'd review it.  Of course, I jumped on the offer!

This is the second romance I've read about the settling of the Yukon, and it was much better than the other one whose title I can't remember.  I was especially blown away by the main female character Lily whose independent spirit and exuberant love of the Alaskan wilderness made the book especially fun to read.  Lily is a toned down version of Low Down in Maggie Osborne's Silver Lining.

I just wish that the her former Princeton blue blood love interest were as compelling as she was.  Jack was everything one would expect from a myopic social register guy who lowers himself to mingle with the masses.

But I can see what Kernan was trying to do: take down Jack a peg or two, and show Lily that she was much, much better than the debutantes Jack thought he was destined to marry.

Gold Rush Groom, a totally misleading title, is definitely on my personal DIK list and a book I'll read again.

Las Vegas without a Hint of Vegas

The review of Night after Night is up at AAR today.  This is a solid romance with two love stories for the price of one.  And the two stories aren't brothers, sisters, or relatives for a change!

The primary couple are a jewelry designer and an ex-con -- in both senses of the word, convict and con man.  As a person who enjoys looking at new designers' work, I wish Denison had gone into more description of Zoe's creations.  But description, either of the jewelry or the locale (Las Vegas) isn't Denison's strong point.

The secondary couple are a mega singing star and a nightclub owner.  Again, the backstory for these two is really well done and their motivations believable.  But also again, the description of Jessica's concert and Noah's club are sadly missing.

I'm really hoping that Denison learns how to add pointed description to her writing because then she'll really be a killer author.