Thougts on my 10th RWA Conference

I started mentioning this on Twitter but I have way too many thoughts running through my brain, I could never narrow it down to a limited number of characters so though I don't know how many people will see this, it's the best forum to use.

Before I go any further though, shout out to Wendy (and more about her later) for letting me use her laptop.

In some ways since my first conference in Dallas in 2007, somethings have remained the same and in others things are different as night and day.

The Differences
My health.  I was 12 years younger at 53 then I at 65. (I know! Can you believe it?  For those who have never met me, I don't look it or act like it).  Since my first one I've broken my left leg, done major tendon damage to my right leg, had a heart attack, worsening depression, loss of a good deal of bladder control - those keigal musscells (lost the ability to spell good :) ) ain't what they used to be, lost hair in my nether regions but gained it on my face, and a lot of other stuff.  So I don't have the stamina like I used to

Ebooks.  They were just in their infancy 12 years ago.  While Romancelandia was much more advanced, the rest of the reading world was just starting to use them.  I said at the time they aren't for me but today that's all that I read on.

Books.  This is a huge one.  When I ,first started coming, I'd be shipping box after box - usually up to 4 or 5 home.  This year I have six books, only because I was given them, and most of them I plan on giving away when I get home not because I don't want to read them but because I only read about .5% print books.

Author signings.  I don't plan on going to any this year.  It's NOT because I don't adore authors with every breath of my being; I still do, but I don't like standing in front of them while they are sitting looking up at me.  I get totally tongue tied, don't know what to say and up feeling stupid while there is a long line behind me waiting.   Talking with them one on one or in a small group is completely different and wonderful.  Plus, I'm not an autograph collector.  Even if I were standing in Front of Jason Mamoa - and which woman breathing wouldn't want to - it still wouldn't occur to me to ask for his autograph.  A hot and heavy and sexy as hell kiss is a different story, though I'm mindful ofthefact he's married to Lisa Bonet and seems to adore her so it would remain my thoughts only.....and would probably stay in my thoughts only for my remaining years.  But anyway you get the picture.  Not a collector.

Blogs vs Twitter.  I'm guilty of this myself.  While I want to blog a lot more than I used to, I just don't have the time or need materials to blog.  But I do use Twitter a lot.

Cell Phones.  Back 12 years ago they were very rare.  Now EVERYONE has them - including me, though as like ereaders, I said never me.  But thank goodness I'm adaptable and I'm now one of those who can be found sitting around on my cell phone.

I've gotten carried away so this will be a multiple posting run.

til later

Random Ramblings

I follow Sarah of Smart Bitches on Twitter.  She tweets about books that are on sale and if it’s a book, I’m a masochist and I will check it out.  ‘Masochist?” you are thinking.  “What gives there?”

You see, inevitably when I check, the Most Excellent Price is only for the US romance readers and there is no break if one is buying from Amazon.ca or any other Amazon apart from Amazon.com.  I usually get annoyed, sometimes more than annoyed and sometime VERY annoyed depending on how bad I want the book.  But last night it was to the point of painful.  Years and years ago I read Keeper of the Dream by Penelope Williamson and LOVED it. 

I’ve read it a few times since that first read and it’s one of those books I check every few months to see if I can get it as an ebook.  It’s one of my top keeper books.  Last night Sarah tweeted it was on for $1.99 at Kobo.  So holding my breath and crossing my fingers, I clicked over.

 

AAARRRRGGGGHHHHH

Not only was it NOT $1.99, it was $14.99.  I’ve been giving in a bit more and paying higher than I want for some of my very favourites but there’s not a chance in hell I can justify to my inner “I’ll get anything I want to get” goddess.  Knowing that less than an hour away I could have got it for the promised $1.99 hurts like a sonofabitch!  I have the paperback........somewhere amongst my 36 boxes of books.  But now the urge to read it is coming over me so I might have to start digging through them.

 <<<***>>> <<<***>>>

I think it’s time I either gave up or start digging deeper!  When I went to RWA I was determined to get a minimum number of print books.  Well, best laid plans and all that, I ended up getting considerably more than I planned so I ended up shipping a box home.  It wasn’t a large box and I packed the ones I had wanted the most into my suitcase and carry on bags.  But the box never came.  For weeks after I’d eagerly come home hoping to see the box on the porch or at least a notice stuck on my door that the box was waiting at the nearest Fed-Ex depot.

But alas, no box and no notice have arrived.  And I’ve no idea where I would have put the shipping slip.  It’s time I either start looking all over for it and do everything I can to locate the box of books or just accept the fact it’s gone.

And in a very related kind of experience, I gave kudos’ at the time to Avon for giving out cards where we could download ebooks of all their print books.  I picked up a bunch and kind of sat around with them for a few weeks.  Then I decided to start downloading before they expired.  But another alas.  Some of them, not any of the Avon books, had expired before I got ‘round to it.  The Avon books are a different kettle of fish.  I have to download a special app to get the books and as I have the original Ipad, it’s not ‘strong’ enough to support the app and not updated.  I do have an Acer tablet that should do the trick – BUT (there always seems to be a but when it comes to me and technology) the power is almost all gone – the red line is showing.  And I seem to have misplaced the correct charger. 

I do have some other charges that fit and I’ve tried charging the Acer table with them, but the charge doesn’t take.  This is something else I’m going to have to go ‘on the hunt’ for.  I don’t like going on hunting expeditions.  I like things to be nice and close and for life to be nice and simple.  It seldom is though.

 

 

 

<<<***>>> <<<***>>>

 

I’ve been ordering a lot of books lately from Amazon.  Unfortunately it came up with the dreaded “action required”  I took this to mean I hadn’t paid my Visa bill in time so I stopped at the bank machine last week and paid quite a sum but I was still coming up with the same “action required” notice.  I thought perhaps it needed 3 business days to go through but even after the 3 days it still didn’t seem to work.  So last night I stopped at the bank machine again last night.  This time there was no fancy way of asking what I wanted and I clued in – all the money I thought I was putting on my VISA credit card was actually going to my VISA line of credit. 

Now that is down considerably now but alas it wasn’t doing a whole lot of good for my credit card.  Never fear though.  Things were all good this morning but man I bought a lot of books over the past 7 days or so.  BookBub and Amazon have been having some great sales!  It was kind of like an odd birthday present.

I almost made up for the box of books I didn’t get and the ONE EBOOK I REALLY WANTED.  Almost.

 

‘til later

Why this hipster Granny loves Ereading

Yep, I can now call myself a hipster granny – 'cause I am one!

I didn’t think I would ever be an ereader.  Amongst my ‘people’ – fellow romance readers – I was a hold out.  I had no intention of doing ereading.  I love the feeling of a good book.  Years and years ago I was at a Romantic Times convention in Toronto On and they had a prototype for demonstration and I vividly recall thinking that it was a really dumb idea and no one would want to give up print books for such a thing.  But fast forward a number of years later and the world of ereading has indeed taken off once technology started catching up with demand, making ereading an alternate way of reading a book.

But still I resisted until there were too many books I wanted to read that were only available as ebooks.  I sat in on a seminar on different ereaders at an RWA conference a few years ago to hear the pros and cons and I ended up thinking a Kobo would best suit my needs.  Books on Kindles and Nooks weren’t easily available in Canada.  So it wasn’t long after I got home when I got one and loaded up a few books.  It came with 100 free books but none of them really appealed to me to be honest.  But I managed to figure out how to buy them from Chapters and I also got Caliber if I got any ebooks from an epublisher directly.  I would take it to work and was astonished that many people I work with had no idea what is was and I spent many a lunch hour explaining what it was and how it worked.  It seemed odd as I had just come from a group where I was a bit of dinosaur to a group where I was a tech-type leader.  Me!  A leader in technology.  Whoever would have thought such a thing?

I was still maybe 75% print books to 25% ebooks and most of the ebooks I was reading were only available as ebooks.

But then my world was really rocked and my reading turned upside down when I got an IPad!!!  It came with IBooks and I uploaded/downloaded (I don’t really know the difference) the Kobo app and the Kindle app and I was off to the races.  From that moment on it turned around completely and I became 98% ebooks as opposed to 2% print.  And for some of those who are older dinosaurs than I am, here are some perks

• Colour covers that no one else can see.  OK – I confess (and have many times) I can be sucked in by a good looking guy on a cover.  But reading a print book in public with such a cover – even more so if he’s mostly naked – can be a bit intimidating and opening myself up somewhat to possible mockery.  With an ebook, one doesn’t have to wonder about that.  My original Kobo only had the covers in black, white and gray.  But I love the colour.

• Changing font size.  I LOVE this feature of ebooks.  My vision – it ain’t what it used to be.  And it often changes throughout the day.  My eyes are tired more towards the end of the day so it’s easy peasy to make it bigger.  When I read the 2% print books, I have to wear reading glasses and hold the book right up to my nose.  With and ereader, I don’t have to worry about that.

• Traveling.  I know a lot of you will be nodding at this one but when packing for a trip somewhere the big question isn’t what clothes to take but rather what books to take.  What if I were to take a Western and wasn’t in the mood to read a Western.  Then I have to add a RS.  But what if the Suspense is much greater than the Romance and I’m more in the mood for a romance.  So I have to add a historical.  But what if the heroine of that one is a twit and drives me nuts.  So I bring a contemporary.  And so on.  And what if I go on a real reading frenzy.  I’ll need more than just those books.  The mind boggles.  But with an ereader my choices are almost limitless.  I have books on Kindle, books on Kobo and books on Ipad.  Surely I’ll find something and it won’t weigh down my suitcase.  I kid you not when I tell you a few years ago, before I started reading ebooks, I went to an RWA conference – AND BROUGHT 5 BOOKS WITH ME!!!  The insanity of it.  Here I was at a place where they are handed out almost like candy and I brought some from home.

• Always having my bestest of the best within reach.  I’ve been slowly collecting my favourite all time books on my Ipad.  It’s so damn comforting to have them handy, never far from me.  I’m very much a mood reader and if I’m in a sad mood, I don’t have to plow through boxes or shelves to find say – One Summer to read and cheer me up.

• Savings on purses.  Before I carried at least 3 books with me at all times.  As Canada doesn’t have $1 or $2 bills now, instead of paper, we have heavy coins.  You add heavy coins, 3 books and a bunch of pens, wallet and all other things I carry in a purse and I was often having the straps break on me, causing me to have to buy more purses.  Now with just the one device that doesn’t weigh that much, my purse is lighter and I also don’t have so sore of shoulders anymore.

• Space in the house.  Oh my goodness yes – space.  Though I still don’t have it because I have culled my books yet – I have well over 2,000 to go through – 36 BOXES alone in one of the bedrooms, when I get around to that job I will have ever so much more space – specially in that bedroom because right now there isn’t even room for a bed.  It’s the handiest thing in the world to have them all on ONE SINGLE IPAD instead of 36 BOXES in the bedroom

• Not having to worry about my anality.  Because yes, I am anal about keeping my books in mint condition.  I was reading a rare one the other day and I got it new in 1996 and while they pages have yellowed considerably; it looks like it’s never been read.  Folding pages or breaking spines or making border notes or anything like that is simply not done in my world to my books!  My sisters making fun of me for it, one of them even to the point of deliberately breaking books signs when she sees me.  That hurts me as well as the book.  I have enough physcosees so it’s nice to be able to dump one.

• My IPad is backlit!  I love that.  I can read in bed with no lights on.  When I’ve read enough I don’t have to reach over and turn out a light or I don’t have to look around and think to myself – I really should be cleaning this room up.  It’s dark in the room!

• Orientation.  I know it’s a small thing, but it’s kind of nice to be able to hold it horizontally or vertically.  When I hold it horizontally and it’s a Kobo book, I even have it set to two pages just like a real book

• Emotional overload.  I love emotional reads, but sometimes I take them too much to heart and need a break.  With my IPad, I can quickly flip over to a game and play that for a bit of a break before I'm ready again to tackle the emotional.  What's really bad - and it's happened - is I've taken a break from an emotional book, put it down and then can't remember where I put it.  Now that drives me crazy.

• Free books.  This needs to be repeated.  FREE BOOKS.  Kindle has quite a nice selection of free books you can download.  They (or the author – not sure which) have this ingenious idea of having the first book of some series free of charge.  It’s happened three times now just recently where the first book was free and I loved it so much that I went back and bought up the rest of the series and possibly more.  This happened with both Peggy L. Henderson and Brenda Rothert, my two eauthor highlights.  In both cases, I not only bought the whole series but also other books by the author.  I can’t imagine going into a book store and trying to bargain with them to give me the first book of a series free and I’ll buy the rest if I like it.

 

I’m sure once I post this, a lot more reasons will come to mind.  But for right now this far outweighs the cons of reading ebooks.

 

‘til later

 

Wonderful World of EAuthors

This is the second of a number of e-authors I want to highlight; wonderful authors I never would have found if I hadn’t drastically changed my reading habits.  Way back when I first thought of getting an ereader, one of the main reasons was to try books by authors that were strictly epublished.  I still planned on reading mostly print books but that obviously has changed over the years.

The author of today is Brenda Rothert.  I have read all the books of her series Fire on Ice (currently on for a real good price at Amazon for 5 very good books) and one other book.  I have a couple more of this series to read and she has a few other books I plan on picking up.  I have more than the normal number of reviews, but since it’s the complete series, I hope I don’t bore anyone reading them.

 

***~~~***

Bound by Brenda Rothert

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

For the first time like in forever it seems, I have some time to ‘stray’ from my normal duties; either that or my normal duties are just so boring I need a break from doing them so I’m doing this here review.
This is one of those books that made me resent work. I would have much rather stayed home so I could read more and while I was at work, reluctantly, I clock watched to see how soon I could go on break/lunch to read more. It’s even a real mystery how I came across this one. I was trail following – you know – ‘readers who bought this one also bought this one’ kind of thing. When I saw the title and the cover, it was even more of a mystery as I figured it would be a BD/SM kind of story – something I’m not into AT ALL – not that there’s anything wrong with it – just not my cuppa.

But instead Bound deals with death of loved ones and the grief it can cause and the journey recovering from that grief, something I am too familiar with. Another issue that might have prevented me from getting into it is it’s told from first person POV, something else I’m no normally a fan of unless done well. But right from the beginning I was completely hooked. It starts out with Kate’s story. She is a young 22 year old unwed expectant mother who’s boyfriend dumped her when he found out he was going to be a father. Kate is less than thrilled herself, until she loses the unborn child and she realizes how deeply she loved this baby and how grief stricken she is.

The story then switches to Jason Ryker – or Ryke, a young pro hockey player/part time underwear model and overall serious hottie. His life is turned upside down when his wife is killed by a drunk driver while he was playing a hockey game out of town. We don’t hear more from his point of view until a little while down the road when his loss isn’t quite so fresh. Although the timing jumps back and forth a bit, it does appear to be seamless. Also, the first little bit is a chapter from Kelsie then a chapter from Ryke but then it can be a jump in the same chapter, but again I found this very seamless and could tell almost immediately whose POV we were reading. Although written by the same author, I found Ryke’s more “guy speak”

Ryke and Kate are at different stages in their grief process. They meet at a support group. I know from experience how quick and how close you can feel to someone who has experience death in their family. I also fully get how out of nowhere the sense of loss can hit at the most unexpected moments.

These two are delightful characters, simply and completely delightful. Ryke in particular is just the bees’ knees of heroes. He’s kind, considerate, tall, dark, handsome, an athlete, plays what I consider the manliest man sports – hockey. He is really drawn to Kate but understanding that she’s not where he is in the healing process. She is equally drawn to Ryke but is still to wounded to get involved in a more intimate way through much of the story. I love that she knew she wasn’t the same person after her baby died. She had changed fundamentally. That is what I discovered after my husband died too. The very basis of who I was changed.

This book just hit all cylinders with me. An incredible hero, a wonderful heroine, situations that I could personally relate to, a sport I love – it has it all. Too top if off – the price is AMAZING. Bound gets two amazing thumbs up!


There is another book with Ryke and Kate – Captive which I already have and am looking eagerly forward to reading!

***~~~***

Captive by Brenda Rothert

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

After finishing Bound, the emotional first book by Brenda Rothert which told the story Ryke and Katie, it was a no brainer that I would read this one as soon as I could. Ryke and Katie had met in a grief support group and fallen deeply in love in the first book.

If the first book was about overcoming grief, this one is about overcoming fear, at least on Katie's side. The book takes place a couple of years after the first book and Katie and Ryke are still passionately in love. But the pain of loss hasn't finished with them yet. I don't want to tell too much of the story at the risk of spoilers so I'll focus more on the characters.

I fell even deeper in love with Ryke in this book. He is truly a wonderful hero. Like the first book, this is told in first person with it alternating between Ryke and Katie. In the professional area of his life, his hockey career, things couldn't be better, but his marriage isn't doing quite as well. This isn't a marriage in trouble story, far from it. He is still completely gone for Katie.

I had more issues with Katie. I was impatient with her at times during the story and wanted to smack her, not a good thing to want to do. I thought she made decisions too soon and they were the wrong ones. And here she has this incredible guy willing to die for her and I think she lost sight of that a few times over the course of the book.

This kept me from giving it five stars like I did, Bound, but it is still a very good story and still gets thumbs up, maybe just quite as enthusiastically as the first book.

***~~~***

Edge by Brenda Rothert

My rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars


I just finished reading the final two books in this Fire on Ice series, Drive and Release and realized I hadn’t recorded this book on GoodReads. Well, of course that called for a reread as I didn’t want to do it from memory because as with all the previous books in this series, I loved it.
Luke Hudson is in the big leagues and one of the premier players on the team when he is ‘kneed’ by an opposing player.

From Sporting Charts.com: Knee-on-knee collisions are very dangerous and often times result in significant knee injuries. A player who executes a knee-on-knee collision is more susceptible of a major or match penalty than a player who uses his knee only to stop an opponent. Intentional knee-on-knee hits often result in a suspension. Knee-on-knee hitting is considered to be a cheap shot and a dirty play by NHL players, and players who clearly hit using the knee can expect retaliation from opponents”

As anyone who knows hockey, this is a dirty play meant to injure and injure Luke it does. He is out of the game for months and before he can play at the major level, he has to do a stint of rehab in the minors. The trainer of the minor league team he is sent to is Adella, or better known as Della Price. Hockey is in her blood as her father is one of the best coaches in the league. I simply LOVED her. As a female in a predominantly male sport, she manages to strike just the right balance. She can trash talk with the best of them and most of the players kind of look at her as a little sister who fixes their booboos. She’d made a mistake a few years ago and gotten involved with a hockey player and now a single mother, doesn’t want to make that mistake again. So when Luke starts making the moves on her, she shuts him down right away. But Luke is persistent and she feels something for him she’s never felt before. But they still can’t do anything about their attraction as she is in a sense his employee as she helps him with his training to get back to the big leagues.
But when he’s called back up, well, that takes care of that issue and they act on their growing temptation.

Luke, and I really enjoyed him too, has really fallen hard for Dell. For the first time, hockey isn’t his number one focus.

So this book is how they overcome the obstacles in front of them and there are a few, to be together. I love both characters and a couple of secondary characters become the stars of their own book.

Everything connected with me in this book; Luke and Della, Ryker her son, her job, his hockey – just everything. This is a second read and it was just as good if not better than the first time I read it.

As I said in a previous review, Ms. Rothert has really done her research on hockey and it shows. This whole series has been such a great find and I look forward to reading more of her delicious books by this author.

(Tired of them yet - only 2 more to go) 

***~~~***

Drive by Brenda Rothert

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars


I'm not quite sure what happened. I read the first 3 books of this series as well as another book by this author and loved them all. But then I think I forgot to buy more or something as the author kind of fell off my radar. Big mistake that one. Thankfully I stopped the fall and brought her back on board. I loved this book!

Nico Vereshkova and Sadie Alexander first meet in a hotel. She is there as she's the maid of honor for her best friend Dell, the heroine in the third book of this series. She sees Nico who is drop dead gorgeous and a Russian who can barely speak English. She's immediately attracted and he asks to see her again in very broken English. But. Things are not as they seem when he is SO busted when it turns out he's a groomsman at the same wedding. The groom is a hockey player and was the hero of the previous book. I'm going to have to reread the book as I read it a while ago and didn't do a review. And I really want to do one as I love this series. Sadie sees Nico speaking English just fine with only a hint of an accent and realized she's been played and she's less than impressed with him, hot Russian or not.

Fast forward a few months and Nico has been promoted to the big leagues, something he's been hoping for desperately. He grew up poor and wants to support his parents and the rest of his family who sacrificed so much for he and his career. Dell is a trainer on the team and Luke, her now husband, one of the players. Because Sadie, our heroine, and Dell are such good friends, she and Nico end up in the same orbit. And while there is still wild attraction between the two of them, there are major hurdles. He's a real player, never dating the same girl twice and she knows this so isn't about to give into the attraction. And Nico has been warned away by Luke who is very fond of his wife's best friend and knows that Nico is a 'love 'em and leave 'em' kind of guy and doesn't want to see him hurt Sadie. But as Sadie and Nico slowly get to know each other, true feelings develop.

It's kind of funny. I recently read another hockey romance where the hero was a real man whore and I didn't like it at all, but this one I really liked. I think it's because even though nico was also a man whore, he respected Sadie more than the hero of the other one. Also, nico really does try and honor Luke's request that he not put the moves on Sadie. Instead they become friends first and mutual respect. I didn't feel that with the other one.

I really wish they had half stars here as this deserves more than a four. But I'm trying to be a bit stricter on fives.
I do give this book a happy an d well deserved recommendation.

***~~~***

Release by Brenda Rothert

My rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars


This is the final book in the Fire on Ice series by Brenda Rothert and like all the other books I enjoyed it immensely. It’s now off season and Orion Caldwell has gone home for the summer. He’s staying at his family home and is there to help out with his niece and nephew, his sisters children, after their father takes off on the family. He is a little leery as he had a bad break-up not long ago and his ex is still living in his home town. He meets Samara Cross, our heroine, who is working as a check out/cake designer at the local supermarket. To say she is skittish is putting it mildly. Orion vaguely remembers her from high school and her stand offish attitude intrigues him. Being a professional hockey player, he’s not used to being turned down. Now that he’s a player or anything, unlike some of his team mates. He’s loyal and genuine and just a real good guy. He finally convinces Samara to give him a chance and they slowly fall in love. Samara has had some bad stuff happen in her past and she has good reason to be leery of getting into a relationship but Orion is so gentle and so patient, she learns to trust him.

This is the least hectic of the series, maybe because it takes place on the off season. I only had one quibble. We first meet Orion in the previous book and when asked, he said he was from Canada. Yet in this book he only lives an hour or so away from Chicago, where the big league team plays. The author never really specifies where his hometown is – but I have my doubts it’s in Canada otherwise I’m sure she would have mentioned it. But that’s minor.

Another thing I would like to say – the author mentions that until she started writing this series she didn’t know much at all about hockey. I’m impressed at how well she seemed to “get” it. She has a new series about a minor league team and Orion will be playing a role I think, in the next series after a major sacrifice he made towards the end of this book.

I have been very pleased with this whole series and for anyone interested, the boxed set is available on Kindle for $4.89 at Amazon.co, $6.25 at Amazon.ca. It burns my butt the difference in price but still $6.25 is still a good price for 5 very good books. I bought them one at a time so it cost me more.

 

 

And I just want to make things clear in case anyone is wondering.  I have had NO contact with this author.  I haven't taken any free books - I don't like accepting free books.  It gives me a sense of obligation that a) I have to read them and b) I have to like them.  That's my own personal opinion - I have an overinflated sense of it *grin*. 

 

(though I am going to contact her and let her know about this so hopefully it might cheer her day - but that is the FIRST contact)

 

Nope - this is just an author I discovered because the first book was free.  I read it, I loved it and I wanted to read more by this author.  The lowest grade of all of them was a 4 out of 5.

The books are all written in the same way - first person with alternating chapters in alternating points of view.  By the time I was even part way through the first book, I loved this style of writing and will never shy away from first person books again.

 

These are all books I will read again.  Already I'm feeling the tug of Ryke and Kate.

 

 

'til later

Part II - Peggy L Henderson

These are the other two books of hers I've read - though there WILL be more.  I really do enjoy her writing


Ain't No Angel by Peggy L. Henderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've read a couple other Peggy Henderson books in the Yellowstone series and really enjoyed them so was more than willing to try another series she's written even though I still have to finish the Yellowstone one. And it was actually the second book in this series, Diamond in the Dust, that appealed to me. But the hero in that book is the villain in this book so I wanted to see how villainous he was.


This is another time travel western and like the other series, I think the author does a wonderful job. Laney Goodman has led a sad and lonely life in the present time. Raised in foster care, she's never had friends or family and she about to embark on a life of reluctant prostitution when her first "customer" offers her a position working with horses, a passion of hers, in Montana. With nothing left to loose, she agrees. The next morning she wakes up in strange clothes in a real honest to goodness stage coach. It takes her a while to figure out and then with the help of her mysterious benefactor, she's been sent back to the past.

Tyler Monroe runs a successful horse ranch but he is starting to have problems. One of them is a lost bet to we'd a mail order bride. Because his mother abandoned he and his father, he wants nothing to do with women and the last thing he wants is to marry one of them. But when he meets his mail order bride, Laney of course, he changes his mind and they marry.

They are both attracted to each other but both have issues.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I had no problem suspending belief and buying into the time travel aspect. I liked both Tyler and Laney a lot. Laney is drawn to Tyler and his old fashioned manners. She's never been treated so respectfully by a man and I REALLY liked Tyler. He is confused and dismayed by his growing feelings for Laney but at all times treats her with dignity even though he begins to suspect she may be a 'soiled dove'

I recommend this book happily to fans of western and time travel readers.



Diamond in the Dust by Peggy L. Henderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5 Stars

My last review was for the second book in this series, though it was this book that really appealed to me. And while I think this book could be read as a stand-alone, I am glad I read Ain’t no Angel first as the hero in Diamond in the Dust, Gabe McFarlain, played a significant role in Angel as the bad guy. There is something delicious when an author can successfully change a villain into a hero and the author does a wonderful job with Gabe. At the end of the first book he is sent to the present time from 1872 – to say why would be a huge spoiler for the first book so I won’t say why, but he doesn’t go happily. In fact it’s very much against his will when he realized the mysterious Mr. Johnson has sent him to the future. One of the keys to writing a good time travel is make it seem believable - even if the reader knows it can't happen and in this case I had no problem buying into how it's done

He wakes up on the side of the road, badly beaten up (from the end of the first book ‘cause he’s the bad guy and deserved it). Morgan Bartlett, our heroine, sees him lying there and picks him up and brings him home. It doesn’t take Gabe long to realize he’s in the present time but when he shares this with Morgan, she doesn’t quite know what to think.
Gabe has a lot of issues. He would have to, being the bad guy from the second book of the series. He grew up in the old west the bastard son of a whore who didn’t give Gabe much in the way of love. He was treated badly by the town’s people and he was abandoned by the man who fathered him in favour of another son. To say he had a chip on his shoulder was putting it mildly. But Morgan sees something in him. Morgan is a trust fund baby who is determined to make a life for herself despite a controlling mother. She is also a single mother who chose not to stay with the father when he punched her.

Gabe develops strong feelings for Morgan yet he refuses to act on them. He comes from the past where men treat women with respect and he doesn’t think he is good enough for her. As he falls for her more and more, he feels worse and worse for what he did to Tyler Monroe the hero of the previous book. On top of that he hates feeling beholden to Morgan. Because he comes from the past, he doesn’t really know how things in the present work and he finds it difficult that he is not able to pay his own way. He also is old fashioned enough that he is almost horrified by today’s style of clothing. All these factors make for a very appealing hero. He really made the book for me.
I liked Morgan too though she wasn’t quite the standout for me. I found her a little too bit lenient with her mother’s interfering ways. And because she was quite wealthy, she didn’t really have to struggle too much financially, though when her mother cut off her trust fund, she needed to find something. But she’d never really had to work and didn’t have a career. But that's just a minor point.

I am so delighted I found Peggy L. Henderson. This is the fourth book of hers I've read and I just think she writes very good books. I plan to read everything she has. I'm delighted when I find an author I can really get on board with.

The Wonderful World of EAuthors

Because I read 99.5% ebooks these days and since the big publishers actually charge MORE for an ebook than they do for a print book and I REFUSE to pay MORE.  Here are just a few examples of why I’m not reading the big authors these days

Rogue Spy  - Joanna Bourne

$7.99 Mass Market paperback - $8.21 Kindle

Run to You -  Rachel Gibson

$4.68 Mass Market - $8.99 Kindle

Hard to Come by – Laura Kaye

$7.12 Mass Market - $7.99 Kindle

Mind Games by Carolyn Crane

$6.33 Mass Market - $9.12 Kindle

I could go on, but you get the picture. 

Update – in the interest of fairness, I just finished comparing prices for a lot more books and it seems prices are coming down for ebooks, though still not what I think they should.  Source Books and Harlequin are the two best New York publishers who also publish in eform.  Avon at the opposite end, often are charging $2 MORE for an ebook than a Mass Market book - at least here in Canada - yet another reason I loathe them.  In my mind, publishers should charge $2.00 LESS for an ebook as there is no cost for printing, shipping and any number of things that ebooks would cost less for.  Of course none of that should be put on the authors.  I believe they should get the same amount whether it be an ebook or a print book.

But to a great extent the damage has already been done.

Most of the authors I’ve been reading these days are either self published or their publishers are small epublishers.  As a result, I’m finding a lot of authors I’d never heard of before and many of them are VERY GOOD.  And the prices I’ve been paying are VERY reasonable.

 They recently did their Annual Poll at AAR and while I submitted books for quite a few of the categories, I knew the odds of any of the books/authors I picked would even make honorable mention.  But because I’ve been so impressed with so many of them, I want to highlight some of the gems I’ve found so that other ereaders can check them out too.

Today’s author is Peggy L. Henderson.  I’ve read 4 of her books so far and plan to keep reading more.  All the books I've read so far have been Western Time Travel though she does have some Westerns that don't involve the traveling of time too.  

Every book I’ve read has been at least a 4 out of 5.  Here are the reviews of the first two books I’ve read by this really good author.

  

Yellowstone Heart Song by Peggy L. Henderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I recently came across this really nifty keen site called BookBub. It sends me daily ebook deals.

Yellowstone Heart Song was in the first bunch of recommendations and talk about score, score, score!!! It was free, it’s mash-up of Time Travel and Western romance and it was very, very good.

Aimee Donovan, a trauma nurse, thought the old man she met in the hospital was pulling her leg when he told her he could send her back in time 200 years so she could do some backpacking in Yellowstone before it became such a tourist place. She humoured him and quickly through together a backpack with only the bare essentials.

Next thing she knows, much to her shock, is she has indeed been sent back to a place she knows but doesn’t know and realizes that time travel does indeed exist. Though she is an experience back packer, she does manage to get herself in a bit of a pickle and is surprised to be rescued by two men, one of whom is a mountain man named Daniel Osborne and is the son of the old man who sent her back and the one she was told to connect with. Daniel is less than pleased to run into this strange but beautiful young woman in the middle of nowhere. Zach, the time traveling father had told Aimee before he sent her back NOT to say anything to Daniel, so Aimee is hindered in what she can say to him as to who she is, how she got there and what her plans are.

I really, really enjoyed this story. I love time travel and I love westerns so this hybrid was right up my alley. And both Daniel and Aimee were wonderful characters. Daniel was in turn grouchy, resentful, gentle and thoughtful. He lived in his element. He had loved and been rejected cruelly in the past and did NOT want to have anything to do with another white woman. He fought his growing feelings for Aimee but it was a losing battle. And I loved Aimee as a heroine. She was a perfect kind of person to travel back in time when life was more primitive. She’s an experience back packer as mentioned and is very much at home in the wilderness. Though she knows quite a bit, she and Daniel bond as he shows her more survival lessons.

And of course Zach’s insistence that Aimee not tell Daniel anything about being sent from the future comes back to bit them.

The secondary characters are excellent. I love the teasing his “brother” Elk Runner. And Aimee has a best friend in the present that apparently has a story of her own further down the line.
The writing is very good and her descriptions of the area very clear. I’ve never wanted to visit Yellow Stone before – but now – maybe. I found this story very moving and touching in places and funny and sweet in others. As I said, this book is free at the moment but there isn’t a doubt in the world that I will be getting the rest in the series and any other book I can find by this author. I’m a happy little camper with this discovery.



Yellowstone Redemption by Peggy L. Henderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I knew after finishing the first book in this time traveling western series, Yellowstone Heart Song that I would be reading the rest of the book in this series, this one, Yellowstone Redemption, is the story of Sarah Osborne, daughter of Daniel and Aimee from the first book, and Chace Russell, a traveler from the future.

Chance is mysteriously sent back in time after passing out drunk the previous night. He almost dies of exposure and when he is drooped off at the cabin where Sarah and her family live by a small group of natives, Sarah nurses him back to health.

Once he realizes he really has traveled back in time, Chase is like a fish out of water. He has no real coping skills for living the kind of life he's been sent back to and must rely on Sarah while her parents are away on a rendezvous.

I loved Sarah. She was completely competent in the wild but unsure of herself in dealing with a young man she is attracted to. She has lived a somewhat isolated life, though she has many friends among the native tribes. But she doesn't know how to deal with her growing feelings for Chase.

Chase was a slightly more difficult character to warm up too. You just KNOW there is a good guy wanting to come out. And he has reasons for being the way he is, but he comes across as a bit of a jerk at the beginning. But as he learns and grows and adapts to the time he's been sent to, he grows on one.

Another thing I couldn't quite figure out is why the author had him come back in time from so far in the future. He comes from the year 2035 and I couldn't help feeling that's too far advanced. That's 20 years from now and considering how far we've come as a society in just the past 10 years, well I'd rather she have had him from a time closer to today's tine.

I did love visiting with Daniel and Aimee again. They appear iin the second part and are still hale and hearty and madly in love.

So while this one doesn't get quite as high a rating as the first one, still., I really did enjoy it and am quite pleased I bought the whole series in a bundle.

I think as a marketing idea, this is brilliant. Offer the first book free and hopefully get the reader invested in the rest of the books in the series as well as other books the author may have written. It worked out great in this case *grin*

I have two more (so far) by this author I will post


'til later

ETA

And oh, oh!!!  I forgot to mention that Yellowstone Heart Song - the book I gave highest marks to, is free at Amazon right now - so go!  Get it!  It's a good one :-)

Yes indeedy, it is me making a rare appearnce

Hi!  Yes!!  It is indeed me again after yet another lengthy unplanned absence.  But I had to come back – hopefully more often – but also to give some great news.  I very rarely send fan letters to authors.  I should do it more often – we all want to hear when we do a good job and that job has made others feel good, but I alas, I am remiss.  I did however send one letter of appreciation and inquiry lately.  I was so excited when I saw that Lord of the Storm and Skypirate were released as ebooks.  I’ve already bought, read and loved them all over again.  But another series she wrote I equally loved – the Hawk Trilogy.  Buoyed by the excitement of finding the Coalition books out as ebooks, I wrote to her to see if there were any plans for the Hawk series.  I head back from her on Monday and yes indeed the Hawk ones were coming out – in fact the first one, Wild Hawk, was coming out Feb 24/15 with the next two planned for March and April. 

Well, lickety split, before one could say uncle, I raced over to Amazon and pre-ordered it.  And since TODAY is Feb 24/15, well, it was like my birthday when I first checked out my Kindle app.  I’m just about finished a book, but you can bet your bottom dollar you can all guess what my next one will be.   It’s been years since I read it, but I looooved it.  It’s one I’ve never forgotten over the years.  Here is the synopsis:

"Jason Hawk only came to his father's funeral to spit on his grave. That was the best the old man deserved from the bastard son he'd never given a damn about. The son whose plan for revenge had now been derailed by Aaron Hawk's death. Or had it?

Kendall Chase was Aaron Hawk's smart and efficient executive assistant, and had come to know a side of the old man that few saw. But convincing Jason there had been more to his father, more to his whole life's story than Jason knew, wasn't easy. He was as tough as the father he hated. And more compelling than any man she'd ever met.

Convincing him the mysterious Hawk family book, a history now chronicling treachery and murder, had answers even for things yet to occur, was a much bigger job. Despite his attraction to her, the only part of Kendall's stories Jason believes is that his father's vicious widow is determined to see that Jason gets none of the inheritance left him.

In the end, Jason has to make a decision. Is the magic real? Or more importantly, is the revenge he's wanted for nearly 30 years, worth losing Kendall"

Outrageous

I was just checking out Amazon for some good book deals and came across this. Who in their right mind would buy it. Check out the Kindle price!

OK - unless you click on it, you can't really see the price. But they are asking $19.56 for the ebook and $10.20 for the print book.

Recent Reread

One Last Chance by Justine Davis

Why this one: I'm one of those readers who can reread a book. If it's a real good book, I can reread it many times. Neither of my sisters who are also big readers, can do this. You may remember not so long ago I was quite excited to see this book had been re released. Originally published in 1993, I found it, read it and loved it when I went on a Justine Davis glom a number of years ago now. I loved it at the time. But it got packed away in my boxes of books so it had been quite some time since I'd read it. Plus my copy was a used one and it wasn't in the best of shape. So when I noticed it was re released I simply had to get a new copy and it was in with a bunch of other books that one of my sons brought up to the hospital for me to read while I'm here

Steam Level: Very hot!

Blurb: Chance Buckner: A tough-as-nails undercover cop dangerously close to the edge.

Shea Austin: A sultry nightclub singer with a big heart and shady connections.

Long ago, undercover narcotics cop Chance Buckner paid the ultimate price for his work. Now there was nothing inside of him but slow-boiling rage. His anger would help him destroy the drug dealer he was after…and keep him from falling for Shea Austin, whose voice threatened to heal his soul. And even if she was guilty as sin, Chance would protect her. Because he knew what could happen to delicate songbirds….


My Thoughts: Sometimes it's a little scary when rereading a well loved book years later. The magic just isn't there anymore and you are left wondering what it was that was so appealing the first time 'round. I'm very, very happy to say such was not the case with this one!! I adored it this time round too.

Chance Buckner is a cop undercover trying to find out what a drug dealer is up to in Chance's neck of the woods. He is helped in this with his partner Quisto and they are also working with a real ass of an FBI guy in trying to bring down Paulo De Cortez. But there is a monkey wrench thrown into the works when Chance meets Shea Austin, a singer in the bar that De Cortez has opened. Chance is deeply drawn to her and she to him, but there is the matter of De Cortez and Chances' investigation in the way of developing any real relationship between the two of them.

What I loved the first time I read this book years ago and what I loved this time round again, is the character of Chance. What a delicious hero he makes. He's suffered great tragedy in his life and is a real tortured soul. Although his feelings for Shea run very deep, he is very afraid that once she finds out who he really is and what he's really doing, she will hate him. This gives their relationship an urgency and poignancy that really adds to the book. I dare anyone who reads this book not to fall totally for Chance.

Shea isn't quite as vivid a character as Chance and since she doesn't hold the same kind of secrets that Chance has to, she's not quite as powerful a personality as Chance. But still, she is very likable a heroine with some ghosts of her own to deal with.

It's a wonderful thing when a book you've loved holds up over time and this one has held up very well. This book is listed at the EHarlequin site for $3.99 and it's also available as an ebook, so if you didn't get it when I first got excited over this book, there is still time!


Grade: 5 out of 5






.

This and That

Thanks for all your well wishes on the new job!! I do know all the people in that department as in the Intake department, we get all the faxes and deliver them throughout the day. So when I'm on faxing, that's one of the departments I deliver too. When I went down on Friday afternoon, they were all very excited that I was moving to their department. I told one girl who doesn't get by my desk that while you may like having me in the department, you are going to LOVE my calendar (heh heh heh). And a few people in the department I'm leaving asked that when I send emails, I also include them - even if it has nothing to do with that department. They didn't want to miss them :-)

I week or so ago I got an email from the Kobo people that there was a 'fix' to my biggest issue; the diminutive size of the font from downloaded third party publishers and the inability to make it any larger. I took it into Chapters yesterday to have it upgraded. I could have done it myself apparently, but then this is a small electronic devise and - hello - if there's an option someone else will do it I'll take that one every time! The guy said it would take about 10 or 15 minutes so he would come and find me when it was done. I said I'd probably be in the romance section (no probably about it really though). He came by a couple of minutes later and gave me a coupon for downloading a free ebook and a $10 gift certificate for an in store purchase. Do you have any idea how hard it was not to pick up a book?!?!?!? Whenever I had one in my hands I put it back, telling myself I would be in a world of books in just TWO DAYS and to wait until I got back! He made it back with my improved Kobo before I broke down thank goodness - it was a close thing!

So of course when I got home I had to try it out. And of course I needed new books in order to do so. I'd read on DA that the whole series of books by P.B. Ryan were available for an incredibly excellent price at Smashwords. I've read her Patricia Ryan medievals and really enjoyed them, so I went and ordered all the P.B. Ryan series for the incredibly low price of just under $14.00 - amazing! I first heard about Smashwords from Monkey Bear Reviews when she did a review for a new book by Alexis Harrington, an author I loved who seemed to disappear. So I also picked that book up as well as a couple others by Ms. Harrington.

And wonder of wonders - it worked!! I can now adjust the font size on third party ebooks. Ebook publishers - here I come!

Lastly - I should not be here blogging!! No I should not. I thought I'd learned my lesson when I did my last minute packing for Denver. I said then and there that I wouldn't go through that again and figured to have my packing down for RWA 90% done by the Saturday before I left. The best laid plans and all that though. It seems procrastination trumps all as once again, I haven't really started. I've written down what I need to pack - but that's about as far as I've gotten. *sigh* So right now I'm off to do laundry. So when next I report in, it should be from Orlando (should being a key word!)