Man Love Reviews

My new favorite phrase is "man love". It can mean so many things such as my appreciation for hot men getting it on with each other. Lately I have been reading many ebooks that center around a lot of man love. Many of these are homoerotic stories. Now for some readers, you maybe a vanilla type of person who likes the typical straight man and woman love. I stil tend to read those over gay romances or the menage a trio's tales that are out there. Most things shock me, still including tree sex books (which I still have nightmares about) but once in awhile there is a non-traditional book that comes out of left field and blows me away (blows har har) and doesn't make me uncomfortable in the least. I actually have two ebooks that made me hungry for more man love. One is about two men in 19th century England and the woman they share and the other takes place in an alternate universe, but very much reads as a regency novel with one very much alpha hero and the other that is comparable to a heroine.

Samantha Kane has a series called The Brothers in Arms books which all showcase men lovers who end up sharing a woman between them. The latest one is At Love's Command. Ian and Derek have been lovers for 5 years and are practically soul mates. They have fought in wars together, live with each other and share everything. But Ian must marry Sophia, who he has been engaged to for over twelve years. Ian likes both men and woman, where as Derek is more of a lover of men, but will sometimes join in the fun with a woman if Ian wants to. But Derek is worried because Ian has a special place in his heart for Sophia. Ian wants to share his love with both of them and hopefully Sophia and Derek will come to love each other and they can have one big menage of a marriage.

The one thing about Kane's stories I find a bit funny is that in her Regency England, everyone is fine and dandy with these marriages of two men and one woman. No one bats an eyelash. They all share one big bed and have lots of sex. LOTS of backdoor fun going on. I do enjoy the relationship Ian and Derek share and when they are on one one, it is down right steamy. Sophia took a little warming up to because her daddy beats her and her brother... well he did something very horrible to her. But when Ian, Sophia and Derek start enjoying each other at the same time, it was quite fulfilling. So if you want a taste of great man love with some menage action, Samantha Kane is the author to pick. I wouldn't be surprised if I find her books fron and center in the romance section right next to the other authors who go out on a limb with their non-traditional stories. You can find it at Elloras Cave.

Another author who has started quite a following is J.L. Langley. After Lisabea was raving about My Fair Captain I just had to read it. Well let me tell you, Langley will be the one author to watch in 2008 for writing incredible homoerotic romance. This was such an emotional, romantic and beyond sexy book. My Fair Captain is a combination of sci-fi with a touch of regency historical romance. The alpha male in this story is Intergalactic Navy Captain Nathaniel Hawkins who is on a mission. He even goes to a planet that is named Regelence. Nate looks good in a uniform and has a beard. I usually don't find my heroes sexy with facial hair, but Nate is one handsome hair beast. Chest hair yah! So when Nate goes to see the King, he doesn't realize his is about to fall in love and hard. His love literally falls into his arms from a tree. Prince Aiden Townsend is only nineteen, lives to paint and draw and has his head in the clouds. Nate is a goner. Aiden practially swoons whenever he sees Nate. They end up having some passionate clutching going on with major kissing and all with tongues. One thing leads to another and Nate has compromise Aiden. See on Regelence, gay marriage and love is the norm. The "wife" is called the consort and the husband is called husband and later on will be called father. Nate will be the hubby and Aiden his consort. These two are married and have alot... ALOT of sex all over. Langely can sure write some incredible sex scenes. Plus Nate has a interesting pierce on one of his body parts and something else about this was interesting because no one ever mentions it. I give JL kudos for writing about Nate and his piercing. Aiden really likes Nate's piercing also. The bedroom scenes between these two are just as worthy as a male and female romance and so downright erotic. They also have nicknames for each other and Nate can't help but call Aiden- "mine." Le sigh!
If you are on the fence about whether to read homoerotic books, I recommend My Fair Captain. It is the perfect book to ease you into reading about some great man love. You can find it as Samhaim Publishing and will be out in print in Spring of 2008 at all major book retailers.

Katiebabs- hurrah for man love! Double le sigh

The Great North and South Crusade - Update

IMPORTANT UPDATE!! IMPORTANT UPDATE!!

Go to bottom!

Oopsie - another update!

Three more important updates!

(they are coming in fast and furious now)

(really fast! - keep reading to the bottom for minute by minute updates)

(and more are reporting in!)

(more)

So - here is where we stand now. Three more have caught the fever and we are watching for their posts:
Jennie
Marg
Stacy

And as far as I remember, three more who are going to watch:
Holly - who says I force people. I don't force them *g*. I encourage There's a difference
Rowena - who has it in her NetFlix queu
Ames - who by jove! just ordered it. Lets all cross our fingers that Mr. Mailman delivers it soon!



And for more inspiration for those fence sitters *evil laugh* behold!










Happy dance!!! Happy Dance!!!!

Stacy has posted her adventures getting hold of this series and her thoughts after watching it!!

*Note* clicking on pics gives much better view

Smack me on the head and call me stupid! I forgot another reader who has joined The Crusade and we are just waiting to read her post.

Oh Mooooolllliiiiieeee - we are waaaaiiiitttting!

Zeek has it in her movie queue (how does one spell that word?). But it's telling her it's a long wait. Let's all wish on that first star tonight that she gets it soon. I know I will be!

Also Kris will soon be visiting her library - no, not for a book, but for their copy of North and South. We know what she will be doing soon. And we will be watching to see if she 'catches' the fever too and reports in!! Oh yes we will.

And we must all wish Rosario good luck on her exams!! And hope they go by quickly so she can watch the copy she now has thanks to Ana !!

Lisabea will soon be watching (even though I spelled her name wrong - must fix that) - and her mother saw it and loveses it - see - it crosses all generations!

And Chantal - we have convinced her to give it a try.

This calls for yet another - or three:

JMC , my fellow Access Romance - Readers Gab blogger, rented it, loved it and bought her own copy.

And Sherry Thomas, author of the Very Highly anticipated book Private Arrangements (with one of the most beautiful covers I've seen!!) has it on order.

Covers – Are they going too far??

Now that Katiebabs and I are partners, I thought one of the things we could do that would be interesting and fun is offering more than just one opinion on the Romance Industry.

Kristie's Thoughts

I consider myself a fairly normal romance reader. Now a normal romance reader is a different kettle of fish than a normal reader. We have a tendency to go a bit overboard compared to regular readers – at least some of us do.
So – as a normal romance reader – of the older generation, I have to say that some of the covers these days are starting to make me uncomfortable. I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I hate those clinch covers. Back in their day, when romance first gaining popularity they were acceptable I suppose, but as the genre has grown, I’ve long felt it was time to move past those old half naked poses. For the most part, with the exception of one publisher in particular (see Kate’s last post) the covers are miles better than they used to be. But in the last little while I’ve noticed a new trend that makes me somewhat uncomfortable. I don’t know if it’s a product of my age – I don’t like to think that’s it, or a product of my rather strict upbringing – we weren’t *gasp* allowed to read comic books, but some of the covers are too much for me.

And I can’t help wondering – if they are too much for me (whom I consider somewhat normal) are they too much for other readers?
It’s not that I won’t necessarily buy the books if they sound appealing, but I won’t buy them in the store. Instead I would order them online. Just to be clear, I’m talking mainstream books, not some of those ebooks with over-the-top covers you can get at EC and the like – some of those are just laughable in their badness.
And if we go with the theory that I’m a normal romance reader, wouldn’t it follow that others are like me too? That they might see these books in the store and pass them by due to the graphic covers?
Don’t get me wrong – I like looking at a nice looking naked male chest as much as the next reader. I mean I really love one. Kate, Sula and I even named a pic of our favourite actor of the moment, Chest. And the shallow me has been known to buy a book based on that fact. As much as the good reviews have convinced me to get Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady, the cover also plays a factor *g*. But some of these covers go too far for me to be comfortable with.

There are a couple of types that I think go overboard - the almost naked guy/girl - and I don't mean half naked - I mean just a wee slip and totally naked is the one type that makes me kind of squirm.

Then there is the couple - or more than two, that I know I'd never take to the checkout with. I'm seeing Megan Hart's newest book all over the place and it's not that I wouldn't necessarily read it - I have Broken in the TBR pile - but I do think the cover is too much.

And how many of those readers would actually go to the trouble of ordering online? I think the percentage is growing. I know since I discovered the ease of it, I do a lot more. But I think that book stores and/or authors depend quite a bit on spur of the moment buying. I don’t know if that many romance readers do a lot of research like those of us with an online presence.

One can argue that these are erotic romance books and in many cases aren’t shelved with the regular romance books. But I’ve been daring – I have looked at the erotica section of the book store and there are a lot of them that aren’t nearly as explicit as these examples above. I have bought a few erotic romance books even - these ones for example are in my TBR pile

And also keep in mind – this in no way is any kind of condemnation of the authors themselves. I’m talking strictly covers. So I’m left wondering – am I normal when it comes to the almost extremely explicit covers or am I showing my age?

I'm looking forward to Katie's thoughts as she is a year or two *chuckle* younger.

Katie's Thoughts

When I started reading romance novels, they all tended to show the man and woman in a passionate clench with the woman's bosum falling out of her dress along the man's rippling chest without a shirt for all to see. Personally, not much has changed in twenty years of my reading. You still see those same covers with the two love birds practically getting naked in a field of flowers, near a lake or in the snow.

The snow cover that I am talking about and makes me chuckle is Melody Thomas's Sin and Scandal in England. It is a very cliche cover. And I kept thinking of course their nipples would be hard because of the frost in the air. I even sent an email to Melody about it and we had a really good laugh about her cover. *G* So authors probably feel the same way as we the reader do.

But one publisher who has some of the most outlandish and very naked covers happens to be Kensington's Aphrodisia line. The main reason I wanted to read and review Lord of the Deep (better known as the tree sex book) was because of the nice hard butt on the cover. And the funny thing is, that cover is perfect for the book. And when I was reading it, I seriously would hide the cover because I was afraid people would glance over and see it and make that assumption about who I am because of what I am reading.
Lately I have been reading more and more erotica books with some interesting covers on it. These covers make me blush, but I must say I am a fan of the "chest"ones or aka the man-titty covers as they are being labeled lately by the fans

The other day I went into Borders and was so surprised to see in the romance section the amount of these hard-core sexed up covers, and right near the cafe. Why not enjoy your coffee and some tit and ass to go with it? To be honest, even if romance covers continue to show less and less clothes I will still buy and read. I try not to choose a book by its cover and anyone who has an opinion about me because of some butt or nipple showing, then they need to get a clue because right after I finished my latest erotica I opened up North and South and that only has a lovely field with a tree on it.

Now let me ask you, which cover is classier? Which would you choose to pick up in your local bookstore and read out in the open?

The Tipsy Girl and her Wicked Duke

The past few months have been pretty dull in the historical romance department. Except for Untouched by Anna Campbell, there has been no historical romance that has caughy my interest. And this is coming from a person who would only read historicals in the past. But when The Wicked Ways of a Duke by Laura Lee Guhrke came out this past week, I had to sweep it up because I was such a big fan of And Then He Kissed Her.

The Wicked Ways of a Duke is the second book in Guhrke's new Girl-Bachelor series about normal everyday women trying to make ends meet in London in the mid-1890's. I am so happy that Laura decided to pick this time period. It gets quite old when I keep reading over and over about 1820 London and the fun in the Ton.

Prudence in the heroine of this tale who lived in the same boarding house as Emma did. Emma was the heroine of And Then He Kissed her. Prudence is a steamstress who works long hours for basically nothing. She also thinks she is chubby and tends to not eat and tries for a 21-inch waist. But Prudence tolls along, enjoying her work and taking the time to have tea with her girlfriends. Prudence makes a wish that she would suddenly have a lot of money to make her life easier.

Her wish comes true! It seems Prudence's father who boinked her mother and than ran for the hills, became quite rich in America. Prudence is the sole heir of one million pounds. But she will only receive this if she marries in a year. This plot device is getting quite old IMO. Must be married before you can have our fortune is the in thing to do! At least it is a year and not three months.

This where our duke comes in. Rhys has the name and the title but he doesn't have a pot to piss in. He drinks, sleeps with any woman he can get his hands on and uses his friends for his own personal means. Something so horrible happened in his past and he hates his mother because she let this something horrible to go on. But neverless Rhys enjoys life to the fullest. He actually has met Prudence before she became rich and flirted with her for a bit. But alas, she is a poor seamstress. That is until he finds out about Prudence's fortune.

Even though Rhys is redeemable, he is so sneaky and quite the liar. Heck, if I was Prudence, I would have fallen for him also because he is smooth. He even has this cute nickname for her- "Tipsy Girl." But before you can despair and think that they get married and then Prudence finds out, that is not the case. She finds out before and well.... she acts accordingly.

Overall Guhrke has written and cute and lovely book. The ending is a bit too pat and I am still not sure if I am pleased with the results but if I were to give this a grade , I would give it a solid "B".

And in other book news, I am almost done with My Fair Captain by JL Langley that Lisabea was so nice in letting me read. Talk about one gay romance that blew me away (har har I said blew)! Come Monday I will give my review along with another wonderful ebook author, Samantha Kane who can also write incredible gay romance. I am stating this now, but in the next few years these two authors will break into the mainstream and watch out, because after such other breakout authors like Sarah McCarty and Lisa Marie Rice, the romance world will never be the same way again.

Katiebabs

Duo Review - The Down Home Zombie Blues

I have never been a huge sci-fi fan. Space travel and all that entails is not my cup of tea. When I originally heard about Linnea Sinclair I wasn’t really interested in any of her books. But as I lurked the message boards, specifically AAR’s , many were raving about Gabriel’s Ghost. Why not give it a try? The worst that could happen is it would be just another DNF.


Gabriel’s Ghost was definitely not a DNF! And when I heard about The Down Home Zombie Blues, my initial thought was, “What’s up with that title??” And when Kristie(J) started reading it first and said it was pretty good, I quickly got my own copy. And as soon as I finished, it was destined to be in my top 10 for 2007.
The Down Home Zombie Blues takes place in Florida during Christmas week. Intergalactic visitors have come to find one of their crew members who has been murdered. He was living undercover in Florida to investigate the outbreak of zombies that have appeared on Earth. Now when I think of zombies, I think of Night of the Living Dead or those crazy ones from 28 Days Later. These zombies were man made as a war tool, as it is explain. I have to admit I was a bit confused by all of this, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the story.
Linnea can also write kick- ass heroines and in each book I have read, they are all strong and strong. She should start trade marking her heroines. Jorie is a strong and intelligent woman, but a bit fragile. Her past with men hasn’t been the best. But she has more important things to worry about at the moment. She is the commander to her crew that has come to Earth to stop these zombies from their killing rampage. They also have to figure out who has control of them. Then there is Theo, a homicide detective. He also happens to be Greek and speaks it throughout the book. I found this to be very swoon-worthy especially when he starts to fall in love with Jorie and calls her his love and darling in Greek.
Most of the time these two are trying to stop these zombie creatures. There is also a great deal of dialogue on how to do it. We also get a glimpse of world that Jorie has come from and why the Earthlings or “nils” as she calls them don’t know about her alien race. But Jorie looks like a human, so you don’t have to worry about her having a third arm or tentacles coming out of her ears.
Theo adores Jorie, where as she is a bit timid with their “courtship”. She has a lot on her plate with saving Earth and all. Plus if she gets involved with a human, they may not have a future together because her job is basically to police the universe from the baddies.
If you are looking for a steamy romance, you may be disappointed. Theo and Jorie’s path to love is more subtle and takes time. They are trying to stay alive and when they have some down time they enjoy the small things like Theo feeding Jorie peanut butter which is her new favorite food. (But if you are like me, and need to know if there is sex, there are some sex scenes, so don’t despair!)
The Down Home Zombie Blues is another great read by Linnea and she is proving to be a great sci-fi author. There are not many authors like her and she has found her niche.
Don’t let the strange title keep you away from this incredible read.
Grade: 4 out 5

Katiebabs





I read my first Linnea Sinclair book, Games of Command, earlier this year and was blown away. I had to get more by her. I followed that up with Gabriel’s Ghost and was blown away again. I also have The Accidental Goddess and Finder’s Keepers in the TBR pile and someday (hopefully soon) will get to them!
So it was with great anticipation that I began reading The Down Home Zombie Blues.
It’s not that I didn’t like this book – I did – enough to recommend it – but it wasn’t the same as the previous two and it wasn’t what I was expecting/hoping for. I love a good sci-fi romance or what used to be called futuristic so I was kind of hoping that’s what this one was. It wasn’t.
Instead this one is set in the present day and the setting is – well – Earth. It starts off in the usual sci-fi romance kind of way. Jorie Mikkalah has traveled to Earth to try and find a missing team member. Jorie is a commander whose duty it is to track down and eliminate zombies, creatures created by her people to do something – I didn’t really catch what, that have been taken over by a rival group. On earth she runs into difficulties in the name of homicide detective Theo Petrakos. When he stumbles into their search while investigating a strange murder, Jorie and her gang reluctantly agree to work with him for the good of the planet.
As I said – this one wasn’t bad. I loved Jorie. I thought her a great heroine, strong yet compassionate. I found Theo a bit colourless as a hero and rather unremarkable though. And there was a lot of the book that was just too difficult to really understand. If this was a normal kind of sci-fi romance it wouldn’t have bothered me, but I felt I should have ‘gotten’ this one a bit more. I also couldn’t get a picture of the zombies in my head – another issue since they were the villains of the book. It all takes place in a very short amount of time and I found the pace a bit frantic at times.
So – my thoughts on this one – not bad, but I liked her other ones better
Grade: 3.5 out of 5

Kristie(J)

PS - I'd link to her website but it seems to be down at the moment. I'm very excited though, that her next book due out soon, is a sequel to Gabriel's Ghost.
Yippee!

Recent Read

I have a number of reviews upcoming including another duo review with Katie. Luckily I've been reading lately. So here is the first of a number of my recent reads

Satisfaction by Marianne Stillings

Type: Romantic Suspense

Heat Level: Very nice and made me happy

Amazon Blurb: Hotshot private eye Ethan Darling regularly risks his life to collar dangerous criminals, but he’s pretty sure his latest assignment will be as easy as apple pie. He’s the new bodyguard for Gerogiana Mundy, culinary queen and host of her own top-rated TV show. But while protecting the delicious diva from a man in her past, he’s surprised to find that it’s not just her delectable desserts that are making his mouth water.
It’s getting harder and harder for Ethan to keep his mind off the brunette bombshell and on his job. Soon he and Georgie are creating some incredible heat – both in and out of the kitchen. But if Ethan can’t hunt down the dangerous enemy out to destroy her, he and his new love are going to get burned.

Why This One: Earlier this year I read and loved Arousing Suspicions by Marianne Stillings. I said at the time that I saw great potential for this author in her first book even though it didn’t work for me and that she reached that potential in Arousing Suspicions. I’m very happy to report that Satisfaction also met very much with my approval.

My Thoughts: This book is a real delight! I loved both the main characters. Ethan is the troubled brother of Nate from Arousing Suspicions. For those who read it, Ethan was quite reticent in that book and in this one we find he has very good reason to be the way he is. He suffered a great loss in his past and is still dealing with it. He’s a wonderful hero and one who is very easy to fall for. He’s a hero just waiting to be loved and Georgie is just the heroine to love him.
For a while Georgie is rather resentful that her boss hired Ethan to be her bodyguard and find out what is going wrong. Georgie has some trust issues to overcome before she can let her guard down and finally trust Ethan with her own secrets.
She is a wonderful heroine. At first she comes across as almost too good to be true, but we gradually see past her perfect exterior and find a heroine very loyal to those she loves.
This book also holds some wonderfully funny parts too. I found myself chuckling out loud during a visit to a winery house party. This book gets a hearty thumbs up from me!
If you enjoy Susan Andersen, Rachel Gibson and that type, this should also be one you enjoy.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

'til later

Just 'cause

For those who have seen it - aren't you glad?




"I was right Mother, Miss Hale would not have me."

















"And yet, I think I love her more than ever."










"No one loves me Mother, no one but you."










"The best thing you can do Mother is never speak her name again."







For those who are thinking about it - one of the best/saddest parts


*sigh - Must watch again*

*ETA*

And to end on a happier note - and I finally got back into Photobucket and I need to give it a try....

And Without Further Ado...

Katie's Top 10 Books of 2007!
1. Lord of the Fading Lands- CL Wilson
2. Lady of Light and Shadows- CL Wilson
3. Demon Angel- Meljean Brook
4. Demon Moon- Meljean Brook
5. Eclipse- Stephanie Meyer
6. Halfway to the Grave- Jeaniene Frost
7. Lover Unbound- JR Ward
8. Mine Til Midnight- Lisa Kleypas
9. Dangerous Lover- Lisa Marie Rice
10. Down Home Zombie Blues- Linnea Sinclair

*My first 4 all deserve the number one spot, but alas only one book can have that honor. Also I kept going back and forth between CL Wilson and Meljean Brook for the tops honors. These two authors have made 2007 an incredible year for reading.
**Another interesting fact I have noticed with my list is that the majority of my top ten reads are all fantasy or paranormals. Only one historical and one contemporary on the list, which is very telling because I use to be only an exclusive historical romance reader in the past.

Here are some other reads that deserve notice:

Catch a Mate- Gena Showalter
And Then He Kissed Her- Laura Lee Guhrke
Heartsick- Chelsea Cain
Innocent in Death- JD Robb
Caine’s Reckoning- Sarah McCarty
Untouched- Anna Campbell

Favorite Hero: (not counting Roarke)
1. Jack from Dangerous Lover
2. Matthew from Untouched
3. Two way tie between Hugh from Demon Angel and Colin from Demon Moon

Favorite Heroine: (not counting Eve)
1. Lillith from Demon Angel
2. Jane from Lover Unbound
3. Bella from Eclipse

Best sex scenes in a romance:
1.Hugh and Lillith getting freaky up against a closet door as she is in demon form in Demon Angel
2. Jack and Caroline making missionary sex look oh so hot from Dangerous Lover
3. Vishous's mind seduction of Jane in Lover Unbound
... and of course in Innocent in Death after Even punches Roarke for being a stupid male and he decides that is the best foreplay between them!

So how does your list match up to mine?

Katiebabs

For everyone that celebrates Christmas!

Happy Holidays for everyone who celebrates Christmas!


And this just because....



Katiebabs
a hoola hoop or Richard in my stocking...?


I'm headed out of town in about 10 minutes for the next three days so I'm just going to echo Katiebabs and wish everyone a

Very

Merry

Christmas

Kristie(J)

Well - now that I have that out of my system

And I'm taking a break from emptying cupboards and shelves - 4 down, only 9 more to go *sigh* not only did I get my Christmas shopping done, I did a bit online for myself. At Chapters. For books.

Here's what I pre-ordered

Strangers in Death by JD Robb.

How sweet is it that we get another In Death book so soon after Creation!! Which by the way I still need to post my thoughts on - so much to do, so little time.

Hot by Julia Harper

For those who don't know, she is also known as Elizabeth Hoyt. I adored the Prince books and ever since I saw this one was coming out in Dallas, I've been anxiously waiting for it. It's RS - a genre I also like very much. I'm looking forward to seeing how she does writing in a different genre

Blue Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas

Now - I have to confess I haven't read Sugar Daddy yet. I shall have to now. I'm looking forward to reading Sugar Daddy!

Now the funny thing is I got a notice from Chapters the other day apologizing to me for not being able to have to books to me before Dec. 25. Quite a difference from the hassels I've had with Harleqin let me tell you!

The funny thing was I didn't remember ordering them. I did, I know I did but with everything going on, it slipped my mind. So besides the above to look forward to, I also have these two:

The Vanishing Viscountess by Diane Gaston

The regular Kristie ordered this one because I've read a number of her books before and enjoyed them. The shallow, hypocritical Kristie ordered it because of the cover

Mine to Possess by Nalini Singh

I'm still thanking those at DA for their fun promotion of her first book. I've read them all now and really liked them. It's a fascinating world Ms. Singh has created. Besides that when I met her, she is such a nice person, I'd get her books anyway :)

And now after this brief intermission - back to packing (blech!) And I still have so much to do here!! More reviews, Katie and I have another Duo Review planned - I just have to my part. Sigh

Because

Because I'm off today. And because I'm feeling silly. And because I just got back from shopping and finally got all my shopping done and I'm feeling a giddy sense of relief. And because I'm procastinating on emptying cupboards and wrapping gifts. And because I don't normally do this too often. And because I'm a normal kind of gal, I bring you





Are you ready?





Are you set?





Remember I don't normally do this kind of stuff since it's a bit silly.





Here we go





I may delete it when I get over being silly





But I may not.......

I called this one

Coat

I called this one

Needs a Name

And I called this one

Dreaming of You

yes, yes, I know I need a new hobby

A Most Awesome Book to Recommend

I am so happy that new author, Jeaniene Frost has gotten some great buzz, especially in the on-line world. Her debut novel- Halfway to the Grave blew my mind after fellow blog poster Christine (who really needs her own blog) recommend this book. I had no clue who this author was or anything about Halfway to the Grave. But let me tell you, I am so glad I had the chance to pick up with book! Jeaniene can count me in as a new loyal fan.

For all purposes, I had cemented down my top 10 list for best books of 2007. Well, after I finished reading Frost's book, I had to change my list all over again. Halfway to the Grave is a must read and one of the best paranormal/vampire books I have read in a long time. I urge you to run to your nearest library or bookstore and get this book.

The story is about twenty-two year old Catherine, who prefers to go by Cat. See already she is a great character just by her name. *G* Cat can kick some major vampire ass. The reason why she wants to kill all those bloodsuckers is because her biological father, whom she has never met went on a date with her mother, raped her and 9 months later Cat was born. Cat has major daddy issues. She goes out at night and trolls the bars and clubs for vampire men so she can kill them. For some reason she hasn't killed any vampire women yet....hmmmm.....

But her plans go to pot when she meets one vampire male who will change her life forever. Cat meets Bones, and their first interaction is so hilarious. She goes up to the guy asks qute bluntly, and I quote- "Do you want to F---?" (Kristie, is this blog PG-13?)

From that moment on I couldn't take my eyes off the pages. Bones is to die for (no pun intended). He lives in a cave that has cable and internet. Bones is a vampire bounty hunter for hire. He kicks Cat's ass from one wall to the other to train her, to make her stronger. He becomes her mentor, her undead Jedi Knight. But the attraction between these two is something fierce. And let me tell you, Bones knows how to treat a women! Cat has no real experience with men, and with Bones she is off her axis. But these two make a great team. They are so cute and funny together. And if you have ever watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer and know about Spike, imagine Cat and Bones as Buffy and Spike. I wonder if Jeaniene was a fan of Buffy before writing?

Because this is an on-going series, with the second book, One Foot in the Grave coming out in April 2008, which I am dying to read right now, I need an ARC please! The ending is not what you expect, but oh so good. The last line sent chills down my spine, very sexy ones.

Not many authors can make me stand up and cheer and hope they have a very long career, but with Jeaniene Frost I wish her all the best and hope Cat becomes the new superheroine everyone will be talk about for years to come.

Katiebabs- who wouldn't mind shacking up in a cave with a man like Bones

Good News/Bad News

Bad News first - We are moving on from White Shirt. Now it's second down

Good News - Another has joined The Great North and South Crusade!

Kaitlin has watched North and South and now understands!!

'til later

For those hump day blues!

Another reason to watch North and South- "WHITE SHIRT!"

Comments and drooling are always welcome!

Kristie here:
What Katie failed to mention is we (me - heh heh) discovered this pick last night while we were chatting up ideas for The Great North and South Crusade - and being normal red-blooded women - sharing pics.
We named it White Shirt.
We do odd things.
And of course we had to share this.
In case you don't know - this is a pic of Richard Armitage - you know - plays the hero in North and South.

Oh and we didn't mention this. In case you haven't done it, click on the pic and you get to see an even BIGGER picture.

I read a book and it made me go.... hmmmm....

The interesting thing about authors, especially ones in the romance genre is that they can use their imagination to write all types of stories. Some stick to a genre that they do very well in such as Julia Quinn and her historicals or Linnea Sinclair and her science fiction books. But then you have some authors who have different pen names all over the place and write everything from comedy to horror. Example- Jessica Bird- catergory romance/ JR Ward- paranormal romance... or urban romance?? What genre are her BDB books anyway???

I was reading a paranormal romance that comes out in January 2008 by a well know author who also writes incredible historical romances. She uses her same name for all her books know matter what genre she writes for. Her last historical romance was so lovely. Her soon to be paranormal release isn't. How can I enjoy one set of books by her and not the other?

Over at The Good, The Bad, The Unread, Sybil has posted about Julie Garwood and how she has a new historical romance coming out after a slew of contemporary/suspense/romance titles. Again, what genre are Garwood contemps??? I adored Garwood's historical romances and she was the main reason why I embraced the romance genre the way I did. When I found out she was leaving historical romance for contemporaries, I died a little inside. I was really not sure if she could make it work. I took a change and read her first contemporary release- Mercy, and cried buckets! Julie lost her muse that made her historicals so special. Now she is coming back to the genre that made a name for herself and I am scared, because she has been gone so long and may have lost that magic.

I feel that some authors can not cross those lines. One such author was Christina Dodd. Again she is a master in the historical romance genre. But when I decided to pick up her new paranormal series, I was so disappointed. It was the first time she became a DNF for me.

Some do make it work. Lori Foster took a chance after writing her oh so enjoyable and sexy books to a new urban (with romantic undertones) series under a new pen name- LL Foster. Again, I was a bit wary because she was venturing into uncharted waters. But she made it work. (Even though I still have an issue with Gabby, the kick ass herione wearing flip-flops while she murders crazy demons and their blood shoots everywhere. Get some boots or Uggs at least!)

But the funny thing about myself is I am a die hard JD Robb fan. I have every In Death book since the beginning and even buy those books in hardcover, no matter what the price is. if Roarke and Eve were real, I would want them to adopt me. But as to reading Nora Robert's romances, well I am not a big fan. (No rock throwing please!) So I have done a reversal. I adore the books under her pen name, but not under her true name. Go figure!

So, am I totally off my rocker? Should I stick to what I know or continue to branch out when a favorite author of mine tries something new?

Katiebabs

Just ignore me - I'm playing with pics

OK - That works - carry on.


I think in this one he's either a mad chipmunk or saying the F word

And I've discovered a Jpeg file uploads faster than a Bitmap

See - it's not all about a fine face!

See - in case you wondering, I'm practising cropping pictures. Mind you I should be emptying kitchen cupboards but I had a cranky day at work and this is so much more..........soothing, shall we say.