Wonderful First of Series

I'd never read anything by T. A. Webb before I got a review copy of The Broken Road Café, so I didn't really know what to expect.

What I found was like opening a Christmas present: an engaging, delightful story that warmed up the cold weather and was delightful.  Broken Road is the sort of book that reviewers dream about getting in their stacks of books, but so often don't find.

Pitting a city lawyer against a small town police chief with an interesting collection of peripheral characters is genius in the hands of Webb.  I was so happy to know that this is the first of a series when I finished the book because it was one of those reads that I hated to see end.

I can't wait to read the next book.

I Laughed So Hard I Cried

I love reading review books and galleys on my Kindle and often do at night before I go to sleep.  Often my husband falls asleep before I turn off my Kindle, so those times, I try to be quiet which is facilitated by the Kindle's noiseless page turning.

But when I read Spark by Posy Roberts, I couldn't contain my laughter at various places throughout the story, places I'm not sure Roberts was going for humor.  One particularly funny spot, which you can read about in my review at AAR, caused me not only to shake the bed but to wake my sleepy husband and read the pages to him.

While he didn't find them as funny as I did since he had no context and was admittedly sleeping before being awakened, I was still laughing about this particular passage the next morning.

I'm fairly sure that Roberts didn't mean the passage to be so funny since the men were supposedly overcome by lust and hurrying home to have sex.  But I guess in the end I can use this passage as an example, when readers accuse gay romance of being wall-to-wall sex, that the couple in all gay romances are rushing to have sex.

(Oh, yes, what's that thing on the cover?  Is it a sleeping bag snail?  Uninstalled insulation?  And what significance does it have to anything in the book?  I have no idea.)

Comic Book Illustrations and Love

On the same day that the San Francisco Chronicle ran its BatKid special edition, with byline by Clark Kent (about time he wrote a news story!), my review of Damon Suede's Bad Idea, a novel that has fun with comic books, ran.

Suede's book dovetailed with all the wonderfully dorky things I've loved my whole life: larger than large characters, elaborate costumes, wonderfully garish makeup, and people who think outrageous thoughts and then put them into being.  I was so afraid that Bad Idea would turn out to be just that: a travesty of everything I love about comics and the edges of creativity.

Fortunately for everyone, Suede's Bad Idea is not only a Good Idea, but a Great Idea.  His take on the highs and lows of pure creation and soul-searing marketing make for wonderful reading.

Is this the book for you?  Read my review and find out.

In the News

I've added a third online publication for which I'm reviewing gay romance fiction (and possibly other types of romance).  In addition to AAR and Booklist, I'll be reviewing for The Romance Reviews.

Each of the review publications is different, and each in its own way is unique, which I very much enjoy.  I'd urge all romance readers to look at the reviews at all these sites to find books they will enjoy.  Here's how to find a review site that will work for you:

Go to the review site and enter the title of one of your favorite romance novels.

1) Has the book been reviewed?
2) Does the reviewer agree with you that the book is great? 
3) Do you and the reviewer agree about WHY the book is great?
4) Or does the reviewer think the book isn't so good? 
5) Why does the reviewer think this?  Are these reasons valid?

Rather than judge a book review site on its current reviews, you will get more information about whether you want to read new books that are reviewed if you know how the reviewers reacted to a book you're familiar with.  There's nothing more disappointing than to read a rave review and spend money on a copy of the book only to find out you dislike it.

While I'd love to say that the three places for which I review are the perfect venues for finding the perfect romance reviews, I know we all differ.  So give the three book review sites above a chance.  I hope we can add you as a reader.http://www.theromancereviews.com/

Trying to Heal while in College? Not Happening for Me

Having taught at a junior college for many years, I've watched college students come and go.  Most of them have baggage, some heavier than others, but all burdened by something.  Stress is usually at the top of the heap, but often the stress is compounded by some other bits of baggage that the students struggle with as well as cope with their homework and labs.

In Left Drowning, author Jessica Park pours on the baggage and then wants readers to know that the teens with heavy emotional scars are still passing their classes, turning in their homework, and generally being successful students.  And as a former English composition instructor, I'm not buying it.

Understandably, Blythe, the main character, has emotional scars from surviving the fire that killed her parents.  Compounding that, Blythe feels guilty for ruining her brother's sports career because she dragged him out of the burning building over a piece of glass that impaired his leg.  All of that I can understand.

What I don't believe is that the reclusive Blythe, who hasn't gotten any help from extended family or friends, is still passing her classes.  In my experience, even students with less baggage than Blythe fail their classes and need help before they can concentrate enough to become successful.

That a group of equally scarred students bring her into their group is no surprise.  But that they all turn out to be successful students is.

I wish this fairytale were true.  But my experience is that it's just a fairytale, and these college students might just as well wait for their pumpkins to turn into coaches as to believe that angst equals passing grades.

Disappointing Tucker Springs Addition

I couldn't wait for the next Tucker Springs gay romance since all of the other ones I've read I absolutely loved.  Who could forget the spirited religion debates in Covet Thy Neighbor?  Or the way the atheist in that book counseled the forlorn teen?

Or how about the engrossed entomology grad student in Dirty Laundry befriended the hunky, thug-like bouncer at the gay club?  And how the divide in brain power was only a superficial hang-up that once overcome became a non-issue?

Unfortunately, After the Fall while a nice enough story just doesn't live up to its predecessors.  I hope this isn't a trend in the Tucker Springs stories.  It would be a shame to see a series with so much promise just wither away.

The Beauty of Salvage

Only Con Riley could make the beauty of salvaged articles compelling.  In Salvage, one of the characters explains, “Salvage is everything we keep here—old things that can be used again by a different owner. Sometimes, finding out about where all these things came from, and about the people who might have first used them, is worth far more than treasure.”

That comment stuck with me for the entire book, and I've often thought of the "old things" scattered throughout my house that I'm using.  Unfortunately, many of them, like the old TV cabinet in the living room that we transformed into a stereo unit, we have no idea about the people who owned them first or why they gave them away.  I would love to know about that TV cabinet and also the upright piano in the family room with its inlaid gold, copper, and shell images.

How did the cabinet end up in Colorado and the piano get from England to south Texas?  Who were the people who bought these items and why did they let them go?

Riley's poignant book looks at family and friends as it does the salvaged items, giving readers more than a satisfying romance, giving them something to ponder as they look around the people and things in their lives.