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.

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!

Another Review Up on AAR (www.likesbooks.com)

The review of Redeeming the Rogue by C. J. Chase is featured today on AAR.  One of my gripes about the book is its title which is far from true if the rogue in question is the male protagonist.  Poor Kit, having served his country well as a spy, is beatin himself up for doing a good job.  Spying, after all, requires lying and cameleon-like behavior.  That his boss didn't commend him in a way that he felt proud to have done the job he was hired and trained to do is a failing on the boss' part, not Kit's. 

Even though the book his Christian underpinnings, it's one that can be enjoyed by those who aren't usually attracted to books with overtly religious sentiments.

Onward to today's task:  writing a review of Miller's The Creed Legacy.  Brody Creed, the Creed in question in this third book, unlike Kit has no problems about taking credit where credit is due.  He's a rodeo champion and is proud of his past accomplishments even though he's embarking on a new career.  I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would, Kit being a guy who's full of himself and all.  In fact, it's definitely going in my DIK pile.  Like they say, review to come!

Upcoming Reviews

My review stack is sky high these days.  Here's what's in it:

For Booklist:

• A Place Called Home by Jo Goodman
• The Great Betrayal by Pamela Oldfield
• Riptide by Cherry Adair
• Mr. Darcy's Bite by Mary Lydon Simonsen

For AAR:

• To Have the Doctor's Baby by Teresa Southwick
• Cheri on Top by Susan Donovan
• Redeeming the Rogue by C. J. Chase

I've finished reading the Goodman and have started on the Oldfield which is a mystery and not a romance.  I'll write the Goodman review while I read the Oldfield and then turn in both reviews probably before August 1.

Reading and Writing

Three new reviews went up on the All About Romance (AAR) site in the last few days: Restless Heart by Emma Lang, Rebel with a Cause, and today Texas Blue.  Since I have no more books to read for AAR, they are on my back burner until I get new fodder or I find time to review a book that I just read on my Kindle and absolutely loved.

Sweet as Sin by Inez Kelley, an author I'd never read before, features one of the more tortured heroes that I've read in a while - and that's including the Rebel above.  If I'm given the go-ahead and review it, I'll be sure to link to it on the side where the reviewed books are.

So what am I reading?  Demons Prefer Blondes, a talky, talky, talky paranormal, by Sidney Ayers, and Nalini Singh's hardback debut, Kiss of Snow, another paranormal that I'm really enjoying.  In the to-be-read pile are Death Amid Gems, But Remember Their Names, and Nearly a Lady - all for Booklist.

That should be enough to keep me off the streets!

In the Works

I recently finished reading Restless Heart by Emma Lang (yes, the same title as the Wynonna Judd book that I reviewed for AAR!), Heartbreak Trail by Shirley Kennedy, and His, Unexpectedly by Susan Fox and started writing reviews of them for AAR.  None is a DIK (Desert Island Keeper), and the best of the lot is hands down the Fox book.  I hope to send the reviews to my editor by the weekend.

I've also started reading Jodi Thomas' Texas Blue, also for an AAR review.  I've liked Thomas' Westerns in the past, so I have high hopes for this one.  So far it hasn't disappointed me.

One of the more unusual, yet enjoyable books I've read recently was Awaken the Highland Warrior by Anita Clenney.  I sent the review into my editor at Booklist last week and recommended the book for a starred review.  We'll see what happens.