Best of the Blacktop Series

I really enjoy Lorelei James' Blacktop Cowboy series, mostly because the cowboys in it ring true.  I'm indirectly related to cowboys on a working ranch in Dime Box, Texas, and the handful of men and women who work on the ranch whom I've met line up perfectly with the hardworking, rough and tumble group James features in her books.

Her latest, Turn and Burn, however, is a cut above the rest since the main character is an award-winning rodeo barrel racer whose last competition resulted in multiple injuries for herself and even worse the death of her horse.  To city people this might not mean much, but since Tanna had traveled the rodeo circuit with her horse as her only constant companion, having to put down the horse was like having to kill a close friend.

While the book has James' signature steamy sex and a one-night stand that morphs into true love, the larger story is how this tough woman rider manages to overcome her fear of horses and get back in the saddle again.  The road is long, and it isn't pretty, which makes for an excellent ride on the reader's part.

As a reviewer, I'm happy to see such a strong series coming together in equally strong books.  And as a lover of Western romances, I'm ecstatic to see James perform at her personal best.  If there were belt buckles for authors, James certainly deserves one with this book.

Jo Goodman Shines in the Old West

Jo Goodman has always been a good writer, but she's outdone even herself in True to the Law the review of which went live today at AAR.

The previous book in this series concerned a legendary gunman who is hired to protect a woman in Bitter Springs, Wyoming.  When a train passenger, the author of the novels starring the gunman, witnesses the death of the man proclaiming to be the legend, the author decides to go to Bitter Springs and check out why someone would hire the retired gunman in the first place.

That book, The Last Renegade, was charming and funny, so I was looking forward to reading True to the Law, the next book in the series.  I definitely wasn't expecting what I got: an even better book than the first one.

Schoolteacher Tru and reluctant sheriff Cobb are the couple of dreams.  And now, knowing that Goodman can surpass herself, I can't wait to read the next one in the series,  Nat Church and the Runaway Bride.

Back in the Saddle

I can't believe that it's been since August that I wrote and had reviews published.  After kidney surgery in May, I thought I was on the road to recovery until cracked ribs hit me in September.  With any luck, all that's behind me and I'm now really recovering.  It's been a long, slow process, and it turns out that I'm not a very patient patient.

It hasn't helped that I've read a bunch of "C" grade books during my recovery.  The first of the romances for AAR, Tallie's Hero, is reviewed today.  It's definitely one of those that I really wanted to like and in synopsis sounds wonderful.  Too bad the reality didn't pan out.  In fact, in places the book read like author Sarah Luck was just a little too close to her source material and was coping the give-away pamphlets and self-published booklets given away at historical sites.

Unfortunately, the next few reviews for AAR will be just as lackluster as this one was.  (The "cowboy" on the cover, however, is a real cutie!  Nothing lackluster about him.)

The Ballerina and the Sheriff

I'm not sure why I chose to review for AAR Slow Dance with the Sheriff by Nikki Logan.  In it, two people who've fled New York City for Larkville, Texas, after being scarred by traumatic occurrences are drawn together.  They both resist the pull, but in the end come together.  This is a romance, after all.

Logan writes some truly inspired scenes in the book, one of which has stayed with me all these weeks after having finished reading and reviewing it.  Jed, the sheriff, takes former ballerina Ellie to see bats leave their cave at dusk.  As she watches them soar, she starts moving and finds her joy in movement that she lost right before she came to Texas.  It's a lovely scene in which readers get to experience broken Jed give Ellie a gift that's more priceless than any he could buy her in a store.

It's scenes like that that make me feel wonderful and are found so rarely in other genres.  Romance, I've found, doesn't necessarily have anything to do with sex, but rather how we interact with others on a personal level.  Standing in the near dark and holding another person's hand as bats fly from a cave isn't sexy, but it's pure love.

The Strong Silent Type -- Yippee!

After suffering through Emma Lang's Matthew, I'm not sure why I picked Brody to review.  But I'm sure glad I did!

Brody would be a real trial for any woman since he doesn't speak much and when he does he's pretty much barking orders that he expects to be obeyed immediately.  Getting him to treat a woman better than a dog would be a challenge.

Fortunately, tough as nails Olivia is up to the task.  She has none of the girly wiles that Brody has seen used over and over again.  Olivia will never want a piano in her parlour unless she plays the piano and enjoys it.  She will never ask Brody to do something impossible to prove that he loves her.  She's practical and down-to-earth, just what's needed in the Wild West.

Reading how these two get together was a joy that I'm really happy to pass along in my AAR review today.  I just hope the rest of Emma Lang's books live up to this one.

Great Scenery, But No Romance

After reading the first book in Linda Lael Miller's new Western romance series, Big Sky Country (reviewed today at AAR), I'm starting to wonder what's going on with Miller.  Or maybe I should wonder what's going on with me.

I once loved Miller's Westerns.  The men were bigger than life, but totally committed to family.  These are men who live in an unforgiving climate and are often just as unforgiving in their personal lives.  That rigidity often leads to disputes.  Although many of them feud with their relatives, blood is definitely thicker than water.

So I expect a lot from a Miller book.  When I read a book like Big Sky in which the romance of the West settles more between a young man and his teenage stepdaughter and not with the young woman love interest, I've got to wonder what kind of message Miller's trying to give.

Harlequin, however, may not edit Miller as heavily as it once did, but it sure does her proud on the covers it gives her.  Now all I want is for Miller to get back in the saddle romance-wise and deliver a rodeo as entertaining and satisfying as her old novels were.

An Angel in the End

I read Cindy Holby's Angel's End before I went into surgery in May and really enjoyed the book.  But I didn't start writing the review until I was recovering in June.  Turns out that writing a review when on drugs didn't help my reviewing at all.  Or so my husband, who edits my reviews, says.

I guess I'm just not a Charles Bukowski or Hemingway type writer who can ingest copious amounts of drugs--either solid or liquid--and write a lucid sentence.  In fact, after the first attempt, my husband's question was "Did you like the book or not?  I can't tell."  Oops!  That's bad for a reviewer.  If the reader can't tell on a basic level what the reviewer thinks, then the review fails in a big way.

While I'd like you to read the review that's posted on AAR today, I will say that my bottom line was that I liked the book very much.  And as I say there, I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

First of a String of Winners

One of the joys of reviewing is reading a book that makes me sigh and feel really happy that I've read it.  Logan's Outlaw by Elaine Levine was the first of three books that made me feel this way lately.

I remember reading my first Levine Western a few years back and thinking at the time that she was an author to watch.  And watch (and read) I did.  Her books illustrate her love of the Old West and her love of history.

Best of all, her Old West isn't the PG-13 version of movies or televisions, but rather the Old West warts and all.  Logan is just what one would imagine a man who's been leading a solitary life for quite a while would be like.  Sure, he owns a string of outposts and trades with Native Americans, but most of the time, he's alone.  Being a thinking man, he's got his own opinions about the world around him which make him more than those who drift through life.

Sarah, for her part, while terrified of bigger, stronger people, is crafty enough to think her way out of difficult situations and has enough grit not to give up when life gets tough.  As it should, it takes her quite a while to understand that Western men can be kind a trustworthy.

Levine's book is the kind of Desert Island Keeper that is even better reading the second time around.  And Logan is the kind of hero every girl wishes to meet (and marry).

Youth and the West

My review of Matthew by Emma Lang went live on AAR today.  This was a maddening book that should have been fun to read.  But Matthew at 25 alternately whined and commanded like someone in his early teens. Why any woman would be attracted to this idiot is beyond me.

If the main character and the plot (marriage for Matthew's convenience) weren't enough, the PhotoShopped cover is totally impossible.  First there's the Matthew character looking much older than the whiny 25-year-old in the book.  Worse is his poor shoulder which looks like a ham-handed doctor or neophyte PhotoShopper "fixed" it.

To compound the problems are the wild-looking horses in the lower left corner.  Horses?  Yeah, sure, Matthew is a rancher, but horses have so little to do with the plot that it took me a moment to figure out what they might be doing on the cover.

All in all, the entire package of Matthew is a mess.  I read so you won't have to.

A Bloated Penny

My review of Catherine Anderson's Lucky Penny appears at AAR today.  This was another book I really wanted to like because I've enjoyed Anderson's work in the past.

Unfortunately, this one doesn't have a very likable female protagonist.  This shouldn't bother me since I've read a lot of books that begin with unlikeable primary characters who, thanks to a sympathetic love interest, mend their ways and become very likable.

I'm reminded of Anthony in Mary Balogh's DIK The Temporary Wife, who starts off very unlikeable since he's out to hire a quiet governess to marry and present to his family as his wife.  Fortunately, Charity, the impoverished woman he hires, helps Anthony become less self-centered and less tortured about his past.  Anthony ultimately is one of my favorite Regency heroes.

But while David in Lucky Penny is a terrific guy, Brianna never made me like her at all.  Considering that divorce was pretty much unheard of in the Old West, I can't help but think that David's life won't be as happy ever after as he deserves.

Saving Readers' Time

After someone has over 30 books published, you would think she's become proficient in her art, right?  Well, Colt by Georgina Gentry is the book that proves this theory wrong.  (Read my review posted on AAR by clicking on the title of the book.)

A few years ago, there was a hoopla about Gentry's Diablo, Booklist saying it gave Beauty and the Beast a Western twist.  Those of us who like to see fairytale plots used in different connotations bought the book and I suspect many who bought it read it.

I you read Diablo, then you might be hoping that Gentry has gotten better.  The answer is a plain and simple NO.

Good Premise; Faulty Follow-through

I was really excited when I read the blurb about Shadow's Stand: a half-breed cowboy and a Chinese woman come together.  Living on the West Coast near a train museum, I've read quite a bit about the contributions of the Chinese to the transcontinental railroad and Western expansion.

Add to that numerous trips to museums and historical societies that have extensive resources about Native American Indians, I have more than a little knowledge about that time in American history.

Finally, because I read so much Western American romance, I've got a pretty good idea about what themes and characters have been explored and which are staples and nearly cliche.

A romance between a Chinese woman and a half-breed man is as rare as the fist-sized gold nugget.  Bring it on!  I was ready to read.

Unfortunately, McCarty wasn't ready to deliver.  You can read all about it in my AAR review.

Longhorn Humor

No question about it--Katie Lane understands Texas and Texans, especially their sense of humor.  My review of her Catch Me a Cowboy is posted on the Booklist website as of February 27.  Unfortunately, in order to read the 175 word review, users have to be subscribers to Booklist.

To quote myself:
"Lane gives readers a rip-roaring good time while making what could feel like a farce insightful and real, just like the characters themselves."

I recommend that readers who enjoy Texas humor read Lane's Bramble, Texas, series.  And, I might add, the cover is another that is nice, but doesn't quite reflect what comes in between.

So That You Don't Have To

My husband and I were talking about books and reviewing the other night.  I was reading a review book that I really, really wanted to like, but the author was making it so hard for me that it was essentially a losing proposition.

"Why do I read these things?" I asked in disgust.

"So that others don't have to," he replied, and his response struck me as the truth. 

It's also helping me get through books that I know I'll be panning.  Often this happens halfway through and there seems to be no way for the author to recoup from all the losses to either the characters or the plot, or both.

A case in point is The Last Cowboy by Lyndsay McKenna.  McKenna probably heard how rugged, testosterone-driven men are the staples of Western romances.  So she piled on macho posturing, troubles galore, and manly spirit.  It's as if a cook says she likes chocolate, so she mixex every kind of chocolate she can find--liquid and solid--into a cake pan combined with powered cocoa and calls it a cake.  Not only does it look awful but it tastes worse. 

McKenna's novel is all the tropes about cowboy romances written to their maximum.  Only a reviewer would read the first hundred pages about a mean-spirited cowboy and keep reading and hoping for him to become the hero.

The good news about this book, however, is maybe now that McKenna has written about the Last Cowboy, she'll write about something, anything else in the future.

Sadly, this is the best Western romance cover I've seen in quite a while.  I only wish the inside were as wonderful as the outside.

Off on a Tangent

One of the nice things (among many nice things) about reviewing for AAR is the ability to go off on a tangent now and again with the daily blog or the daily After Hours blog.  Today I roll with the lie I used to tell myself about what kind of romances I prefer.

I do read a lot of Western romances, both historical and contemporary, as well as series and contemporary romances.  On my personal Top 100 book list are a smattering of everything as the top 10 books illustrate:

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: classic
2. Slightly Dangerous by Mary Balogh: Regency
3. The Temporary Wife by Mary Balogh: Regency
4. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: time-travel / fantasy
5. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: classic
6. Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas: Regency
7. The More I See You by Lynn Kurland: time-travel / Medieval
8. The Older Woman by Cheryl Reavis: contemporary
9. She's Got It Bad by Sarah Mayberry: contemporary
10. A Reason to Live by Maureen McKade: Post Civil War America

So no one type of romance really rules, which I hadn't realized until I sat down and looked at my list.

Just in Time for Valentine's Day

My review of Emma Cane's A Town Called Valentine was posted on the AAR site yesterday, and is there today as well.

Shortly after my husband I got married in Texas, we moved to Ft. Collins, Colorado, near the town of Loveland, which is where the Valentines cancellation stamp originates each year.  Cane's fictional Valentine, Colorado, sounds like it could partly be Loveland, but moved into the mountains close to Aspen instead of on the Front Range like Loveland is.

This is a light, happy romance with a minimal amount of angst.  I didn't appreciate that fully at the time I read it, but I do now that I've just finished reading Sasha Campbell's Scandals and Jamie McGuire's Beautiful Disaster, both of which are so angst-ridden.  I'll definitely be more appreciative of light romances in the future.

Dancing on Buried Treasure

My review of Ellen O'Connell's newest, Dancing on Coals, was posted on AAR today.  O'Connell is one of those really good writers who doesn't pull her punches.  Dancing is no different from her previous two books.  If nothing else, O'Connell always makes me happy that I'm not living in the late 19th century.  Now if O'Connell could only come up with better covers!  Even a half-naked Apache would be better and more telling of the book's contents than the rodeo couple.

Also up on the AAR board today is the list of 2011 Buried Treasure books, books that were very good and which seemed to get no publicity or discussion, and dropped like stones in the glut of romances published.  Speaking of not for the faint of heart (like Dancing on Coals is), one of my buried treasure picks is an erotic romance between two gay males--definitely outside my comfort zone, but an outstanding read nonetheless.  Go figure!

Back in the Saddle

My review of C. H. Admirand's Dylan, the second of the Secret Life of Cowboys series, runs on AAR today.

Take a good look at the cover because another book I'm reviewing in the next few weeks will have a similar cover image.  When I saw the second book, Shadow's Stand by Sarah McCarty, my first thought was that I'd already read the book.

For months I've been laughing at the covers on Stumbling Over Chaos on which the blogger Chris makes a story from book covers with similar (often the same) stock images.  (As I write this Tyler, the first book in the Secret Life of Cowboys, is the first book in the story.  So I guess the Sourcebooks stock file is being heavily used by its "creative" staff.)

Anyway, Dylan was too cute to be believed, y'all.  Tyler and his brother obviously didn't thump the kid up side the head enough to make him a real person.  On the plus side, however, some of the guy-to-guy scenes rang true.  But readers will have to dig to find those scenes.

A Desert Isle Christmas Anthology

As I say at the beginning of the review for A Texas Christmas, an anthology of Christmas stories, I'm not very excited about holiday-themed novels, much less holiday-themed anthologies.  But I'd read the last anthology by Jodi Thomas, Linda Broday, Phylliss Miranda, and Dwanna Pace and really liked it.  So when I got a chance to read another of their collaborations, I jumped at the chance.

Consequently, I ended up giving it a Desert Isle Keeper grade of A- (only because one of the stories wasn't in the A category), which is another first for me.  Who would have thought I'd give an anthology an A?  Not me, that's for sure.

But this is a marvelous collection of stories, well deserving of its A ranking.  It's indeed a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year gift to readers.

The Desert Continues to Bloom

As if one Desert Isle Keeper review on AAR isn't enough, here's another -- Tall, Dark and Cowboy by Joanne Kennedy.  By the look of the cover, you'd never guess what a great book is contained on the pages.  Kennedy has a light touch and likes comedy, so I totally didn't expect to find something with depth and grit.

Joanne Kennedy is now an author's name that I'll watch for in the future.