So! You want to buy me a book and you want to know which one

 

This can be a tricky question you are asking.  I’m a picky eater and unfortunately a picky reader too.  The first ones up are by a small group of authors that I either pre-order if that is an option or I’m on their mailing list and the second I see the book is out, I snap it right up.  And I do believe I have the entire back lists of all these author.  These include, in no particular order

 Pamela Clare   Carian Cole   Scarlet Cole   Lisa Kleypas

Julie Kriss,   LH Cosway   Ellen O’Connell

There’s no sense in getting a book for me by any of these authors as chance are I already own it or will have it on Day 1

Now that’s not all my autobuy authors.  I have rather a large group, but with this next group of authors,  I tend to check the price and read the synopsis.  Chances are about 95% I will still get the book, but it’s not as instantaneous.  This list is much larger.  Again in no particular order

Mia Sheridan   Brenda Rothert   Emma Scott   Vi Keeland

Penelope Ward   Jo Goodman   Kristin Callihan   A. Meredith Walter

Brittainy C Cherry   Jane Harvey-Berrick   Lisa B Kamps   Elle Kennedy

Aly Martinez   Courtney Milan   Sara Ney   Winter Renshaw   Samantha Towle

 

So you might not want to get me a book from any of these authors as I may or may not have a copy.  Since that’s the case, I’ll instead use tropes rather than specific authors as I’m sure I could add a few more authors to the list above.

Royalty

I don’t care for romance books that have royal characters, either real or made up.  I see them and pass right by.  When you think of it though this is a rather odd eliminator as what are fairy tales at heart but romance stories for young girls.

****

Vampire

I have read vampire romance but never been a real fan of them.  I read the first two books of the Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward for example and while I enjoyed them well enough, the enjoyment didn’t reach the height it did for many romance readers. I read a couple of Christine Feehan Dark series and it was the same thing except they creeped me out.  So no, don’t waste your money on Vampire books.

I don’t have the same issues with werewolves or other shifter type heroes but keep in mind, I don’t really read a lot of them.

****

Billionaires

I see these books and pass right by them.  As with other tropes, I may read them if a favoured author has written any but that’s pretty much the only exception.  To go along with this I could also add any high falutin’ white collar romances.  Give me a good carpenter or auto mechanic and I’m on board, but a lawyer or doctor – not so much.

****

Aristocracy

(Simon, Duke of Hastings excluded of course)
Here I’m referring more to historicals.  Again, I won’t ignore books by favoured authors such as Lisa Kleypas but I’m so much more drawn to a non-titled hero such as Derek Craven then I am to Sebastian, Lord St. Vincent.  So if the hero is a boxer or the owner of a gambling establishment, then I think you are safe but a duke or a viscount or earl, you shouldn’t risk it.  There are exceptions but it’s too confusing to explain them all.

****

Angel or demons

Not interested so again a money waster.  I know they are popular now and I did read one years ago, Angel for Hire by Justine Davis that I adored but that was a rarity.

****

Motorcycle Gangs

I know these type are very popular with many a romance reader but on the whole, not so much for me.  When I see a freebie or one on sale, I tend to skip it.  And while Charlie Hunnam is indeed very fine to look at, I never watched and never wanted to watch Sons of Anarchy.

~~~~~~~

On the other hand, here are some suggestions as to books I do go for

SciFi

 

I love a good SciFi romance so unless the hero has scales or is lizard like, I’m willing to give it a try.  And of course, just like everything else, there is an exception. I love Radiance by Grace Draven and I think he might be on the more lizard-like of the scale.

****

Westerns

Though I haven’t read as many lately, I do love this genre so it’s another good choice should you wish to buy me a book.  Reformed outlaws are the best.  Who doesn’t love a bad boy whether in a contemporary or historical book eh?

****

Medievals

Back in the day there were a lot of medieval being written (and read by me) but there don’t seem to be as many these days.  Hopefully they will make a resurgence

****

Sports romance

I’m a big sports fan so I love this trope.  The only sport I’m not interested in really is basketball.  I don’t follow that sport.  Though as will every type of book, there is an exception. I loved Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan.

Bowlers though are one you can stay away from.  I don’t think professional bowlers are inherently sexy.  To be on the safe side and being Canadian, hockey players are the best bet.

Blue collar romance

As mentioned up above, I’m a huge fan of blue collar type heroes

****

Unjustly imprisoned

I really and I like really like this trope.  It would be interesting to get inside my brain to try and figure out the reason why

****

Rock Stars

This is another trope I can’t seem to get enough of reading.  Three of my auto buy authors have written books about rock stars and I’ve read all of them multiple times.  So you are pretty save on getting me one of these.

 

So there you have it.  I think it’s a good wide choice of what and what not to get me in the way of romance books.

 

******DISCLAIMER******

Just in case you aren't 100% sure and wondering what is up with this blogger, this is 100% not serious - well, it is in the types of books I prefer - but I neither want, hope, expect, anticipate etc anyone getting me any books.  It's a total leg pull.

My Very First Blog Post

 Just for the heck of it I went back to my very first ever blog post.  Believe it or note it was back on Feb 17, 2005.  Wow!!  That was a long, long time ago.  And the topic of my very first post is just as relevant today as it was back then even though just about everything else in my life has changed.  Here's what I had to say back then.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Why Romance??

Since this blog is about my romance reading habits, the first question one would ask is why romance? Why not mystery? Why not horror?
The main reason would be fear of the unkown. I've been an avid reader all my life. From those very first days of 'See Dick Run' - yes I'm that old - I have been hooked on reading. My first series of books I checked out of our local bookmobile were Freddy the Pig books. To this day I seem to be the only one who has read that wonderful series about Freddy the talking pig detective and all his various friends; the cat, the mice, the cow and the horse.
I've read all types of books in my life. I went through a Stephen King phase. I went through a true crime phase. I went through a biography and autobiographical phase. I even went through a sports book phase. I read Don Cherry's book. But now my choice of reading material is strictly romance. Many years ago, long before I settled on romance, I read a book called The Balloonist. Many of the details are sketchy; we are talking quite a few years ago, but the gist of the story is a young woman and small crew took a long flight in a hot air balloon over the Atlantic. Things did not go well. They ran into many difficulties and their journey was doomed. I wish I could remember exactly how it ended. It would strengthen my case, but suffice it to say, they didn't survive the journey. It was a totally unexpected ending. I even turned the book over, opened it again and checked to make sure I didn't miss some pages where they miraculously escaped. But there wasn't, and they didn't.
With that end and similar type endings in other books, I realized over time that when I closed the cover on a book, I wanted to feel better than when I first opened the book. I wanted to KNOW that there would be a happy ending. Romance books fill that need. And with all the different genres in romance today, I can still have different choices.

Black History Month Reads

 Part 2

And continuing on.....

Tell Me Something Good by Jamie Wesley

I really got a kick out of this cute opposite attracts book.  They both work at the same radio station.  Tate Grayson is the sports guy and riffs on all things sports during his time slot and Noelle Butler is a tied up and buttoned down Physiologist who give advice on love and they couldn’t be more opposite and each get on each others nerves.  When he calls her during her show and then she calls him during his, their bosses think it would be a great idea for them to work together as they seem to have some kind of on air chemistry.  Of course these two start to rub against each other in a good way soon.  This book just worked for me and for sure I’m going to try some of this authors other books

Grade: B+

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

I’ll be honest, I was crossing my fingers I would like this book.  I happened to be at a conference a couple of years ago that the author also attended.  I sat in on a couple of panels she was at and I was so impressed by her.  I started another one by her and couldn’t get into it at all.  But when I started reading this book I figured out why.  I started reading the 3^rd book in the series and that’s why I found things so confusing.  But starting at book1 made all the difference.

This book takes place during the Civil War and Elle Burns is a former slave whose family was given their freedom.  She is now working as a spy helping the north.  She has an eidetic memory and is working undercover as a slave in the home of a southern politician and trying to learn anything she can to help the north.  Her contact is Malcom McCall, a white undercover agent who, while not even close to the same kind of experiences as slaves, did have his family land stolen and family destroyed in Scotland.

Elle is such an amazing heroine, she ranks right up there in my top five heroines of all time.  She is, well, it, as far as heroines go.  She’s brave, strong, courageous, intelligent, resourceful – just everything.  Malcom isn’t too shabby either and what I love about him is he knows what a rare and precious person she is.  I’m trying to keep these reviews fairly short and it’s so difficult to do that with this book it’s that good.  But I now have all of the Loyal League series as well as another one of her books and I’m so looking forward to reading them.  This book is romance at its finest and then some.

Grade: A+

The Air He Breathes by Brittainy C. Cherry

I picked this one out as I’d read so many new to me authors, I was ready to read an author I’d read before by this time and since I love this author’s works, this is the one I chose.  I’ve read it before but when I started it again, I didn’t remember much of it at all.

Elizabeth and Tristan have both suffered the death of their loved one and in Tristan’s case it was even worse.  Elizabeth left town to try and deal with her loss. But she’s back now and her neighbor Tristan is despised by most of the town as he’s rude, unkempt and just plain mean.  But the townspeople don’t know what he has suffered.  At first he treats Elizabeth the same way but they slowly begin to open up to each other about their losses.  At first they pretend the other is the lost love, but then they begin to care more and more for the person each other is and in doing so slowly begin to heal.  Ms. Brittainy writes beautiful emotional books and this is yet another one that shouldn’t be missed.

Grade: A

Wild Rain by Beverly Jenkins

My only issue with Ms. Jenkins books is the prices.  So when I saw this one was on preorder for a very good price I scooped it up.  After I read and completely loved Forbidden, I wanted to read another of her books so this is the one I chose.

Spring Lee is the heroine of this Western romance and she’s a very unusual heroine.  She owns a small ranch and works with horses.  She’s perfectly fine living on her own and has no plans on marrying or having children.  She’s very independent, she’s had to learn to be due her father’s neglect.  She meets Garrett McCray, the hero, when he is thrown from his horse during a winter storm and she takes him to her place to take care of him until he has recovered.  He has come to interview her brother, Colton, the local doctor and hero of a previous book – and yes, I now have that one to read.  Spring is unlike any woman he has met before and he begins to fall for the free spirit she is, so much so he is willing to rearrange his life to spend it with her – if she will have him.

As with the previous Beverly Jenkins book I read, this book is more heroine centric.  Yes, I did fall for Garrett, but Spring is the standout.  She is unforgettable and to be truly admired.  She has gone through some terrible things and come out stronger and more sure of herself because of them.  I’m ever so glad that I picked up a number of Ms. Jenkins books after reading Forbidden.  I have some books of hers now I’m really looking forward to reading.

Grade: A

Black History Month Reads

Since February is Black History Month, I decided all my reads for the month would be romance written by Black authors.  I’ve read books by Black authors but not as much as I would like to have.  It’s been a reading experience.  I think I’m going to do this in two or three parts since I read a number and being a rambling sort, may have more to say.

 Part 1

Disgrace by Brittainy C. Cherry

This was a reread book.  I loved it the first time I read it and even more this time.  This is a beautiful book about a woman whose husband left her and the grumpy loner who healed her.  Jackson and Grace were both broken but they healed each other.  This is such a wonderful and emotional book and I highly recommend it.

 Grade: A

The Object of Love by Sharon Cullars

This is another book I first read years ago.  It’s an older woman/younger guy book and I loved this one all over again.  Lacey is heartbroken when her only son is killed in an accident.  His estranged best friend Sean comes to the funeral and they begin a forbidden love affair.  He has loved Lacey for years but now he is older and will their love be accepted?  This one I also recommend.

 Grade: B

Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins

This was my first book by this amazing author.  I did a much longer review of it here. After reading this book I thought damn the price and picked a number of her books

Grade: A+

 

Deliver me by Farrah Rochon  

This is my first book by Ms Rochon and I enjoyed it as with the others this month.  Eli, our hero, is a very successful OB-GYN.  He and our heroine Monica, get off to a rather rocky start when he mistakes her on her first day as a nurse and is quite rude to her.  It’s bad enough that he’s a jerk to her, thinking that as a nurse, she somehow deserves his disrespect but you see, she’s not a nurse, rather she’s a very successful doctor in her own right.  They are paired together for a fund raising event in order to raise money for a woman’s clinic that is very dear to Eli’s heart,  Turns out he’s not quite as bad after her first impression and it isn’t long before sparks start flying,  This book was written in 2011 and does have some issues that date it.  I did appreciate the author addressed this.

This is the first book in a series about three brothers and despite a few concerns, I liked this one enough to pick up the next two books.

Grade: B

 

Scoring the Player’s Baby by Naima Simons

This is yet another new to me author.  What first got my attention with this one is the description of the hero, Ronin, sounded very like a description of Jason Mamoa so I was on board with that.  Ronin, a wide receiver for a pro football team  and Kim, our heroine, meet at a wedding expo.  He is there helping his engaged sister and she has a booth promoting a hotel she helps run as a wedding venue.  He notices her right off the bat and they have a meet cute introduction. After a night of passion, surprise, you can tell by the title.  But I did like this book.  I like how they handled things and right from the beginning Ronin was very supportive of whatever she chose.  There was more and more descriptive sex scenes than I'm used too and I confess I skipped some of the pages and pages of them.  Since I could do that, it didn't affect my grade at all.

Grade: B

Looking a bit better

 But still under construction.  I’m now wanting to get Ramblings on Romance, etcetera, etcetera on the right sight by itself.  I’ll have to try and figure that out unless anyone knows how.  I do like the colours better.

What I did before my recent resurgence

 

Since I reappeared out of nowhere after a Very Lengthy Absence things have changed A LOT in this world of ours.  I thought I’d do an update on what’s going on in my life under quarantine.

 

Work

I think it was just about this time last year I drove to work for the 12 to 8 shift and there was barely a car in the parking lot.  This was very strange as there are more people who work there then there are parking spots and it was nightmare city for those on the afternoon shift so an empty parking lot was very strange.  Since I job share I was off the previous day.  There was a note on the door saying that due to Covid the office was closed and everyone was working from home.  Shock doesn’t even begin to cover it.  Because I work in health care, the lockdown affected us sooner than many companies.  I called my boss and arranged to pick up all the equipment I needed to work from home.  Unfortunately I didn’t have working cable or Wifi and it took me working with IT three days to discover it wasn’t going to work.  

I called my sister who lived about 45 minutes away from me in a near breakdown.  Everything happened very quickly.  I had no cable, no wifi, lived by myself and the coffee shop I visited on off days to sit, catch up on email and stuff and just to people watch closed due to the pandemic.  My sister saved me when she told me I could work at her place.  So I started commuting the 45 minutes several times a week depending on my schedule. 

I still had the kitties at home so I couldn’t stay at her place full time.  But after a couple of months it was clear this was going to be a while so I knew I needed to get past my IT type stuff phobia and call the cable company.  I managed to get wifi going – needed a new modem and router and Lisa, who is tech savy labled every single wire and box and monitor and screen and we had a couple of practice runs on taking it down and setting it up.  Seriously.  We really did.  And with that and my eternal love and gratitude, I got things up and running from home.

 

And I like working from home.  I like it quite a lot.  But I miss seeing my coworkers so, so much.  I’m truly blessed to work with wonderful, fun and caring people and 75% of the reason I’m still working is because of the comradery of my team mates.  I had plans to retire in the fall and the first thing I was going to do was take a cruise to Alaska.  I had a number and was all set to call and book it when WHAM life for all as we knew it, took a turn.  I decided to keep working because why not?  I still enjoy the job and working from home has it’s perks.  I was making plans for after my retirement.  One of them was to read to the residents of nursing homes.  I thought I’d start out with something like Mary Stewart, Georgette Heyer, Daphne DuMaurier, that kind of book and then work up to raunchy.  I like raunchy and I figured they would too.  But – Covid.  Living alone and knowing me I couldn’t just retire to nothing.

So here we are, a year later with no end in sight.  And I truly appreciate working from home two or three days a week from home, most especially in winter on days like today.

 

Social

Haaa, haaa, haaa

I stayed overnight at my sister’s a couple of times, Christmas night for example.  Back last August I went to dinner with my job share partner at work.  I had lunch outdoors once at a restaurant with my Case Manager from work and then she had a few people over to her place and we sat and ate on her deck outside.  And I went to a friend from works house in the summer for a potluck.  There was her and her husband and the other friend from work; both of whom I take that week in summer to stay at a cottage with.  Of course we didn’t do it this year.

 

Oh, and I go to the grocery store once every two weeks to stock up on food.  And this one is as short as the last one was long.

Things may be looking a different for a bit here

 

I'm thinking this is going to be a work in progress.  Like the rising of a phoenix from the ashes, 

now that I'm back, the blog needs a new look.  The only trouble is I don't know what the heck I'm doing.  I like the picture I found, it feels like two friends drinking tea and discussing romance novels and love in general and the latest trend in book covers, what do they think of Bridgerton, all those kinds of things.  

But during the renovations I somehow seem to have lost the name.  And I want different colours - more along the pastel end of the colour spectrum.  So it's going to be an ongoing work in progress until I get it looking the way I'm picturing it.

TBR Challenge Day - February Edition

 It's been a few years now since I signed up for Wendy's TBR Challenge.  I did complete it in January but didn't get it up in time.  I was determined not to be late this month  So without Further ado, my February New-to-Me author

Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins

Hard to believe but this is the first Beverly Jenkins book I’ve read even though I’m a devoted fan of Westerns.  One of the main reasons is the price.  Here in Canada with Harper Collins, ebooks cost more than print books.  I only read ebooks now and I refuse to pay more for an eBook than I would for a print book.  It makes absolutely no sense to charge more.  Sometimes I see on Twitter a fellow romance reader will tweet there is a sale on her books on Kindle and I will rush over, quick as a bunny to get as many as are on sale, only to see nope, her ebooks are still $12 when print ones are $8 and then I’m in a bad and bitter mood.  However I did have Forbidden and it was the perfect time, though very late, to read my first book by Ms. Jenkins.  This review will take a few days to write and probably be quite lengthy as I have many thoughts running through my brain.

 

At the opening of the story, Rhine Fontaine, our hero, is about to make a new life for himself.  He’s a recently freed slave and because his father was the plantation owner, he can pass for white and that is what he is planning on doing.

The book now switches to Eddy Carmichael, our heroine.  She is the daughter of freed slaves so has never experienced slavery herself though she certainly experiences the racism. With her parents both passed away and her sister lost to her, she decides to make a new life for herself in California.  Through a series of very unpleasant events, she finds herself abandoned in the dessert, left with nothing but her carpetbag and a small, portable cooking device.  She is in desperate circumstances and near death’s door when she is found and rescued by Rhine and his business partner and taken back to the saloon they jointly own to recover.

 

In the intervening years, Rhine has become very successful.  He is passing as white and as such has many opportunities otherwise probably denied him.  Though he lives his life as a white man, his life’s focus is in tirelessly devoted to helping the ‘colored’ community.  The saloon he owns caters almost exclusively to that cliental.  He has joined political parties with the goal of helping his community even though he is undercover so to speak.  But things get very complicated when he meets Eddy.  He is very attracted to her and she to him even though she fights it with everything she has.  At present, she is in stuck in a growing town in Nevada but still plans on continuing on to California.  Once she is feeling better, she moves into a boarding house and earns her keep by cooking.  She is an amazing cook and that is what her plans in California are. To open her own restaurant.  In addition, if that isn’t enough of a barrier, she is black and Rhine is white and for them to have any kind of honest relationship is impossible and she refuses to be his mistress.

 

This conflict is so much more than the usual conflict in romance and it almost mad my job drop with the repercussions.  In order for them to have the kind of relationship Rhine wants, he will have to reveal he’s not white but that risks everything he is working towards.  However, the more he gets to know Addy, the more he comes to realize he needs her in his life.  It’s such a difficult choice for him to make.

I adore Addy.  She is one of the strongest heroines I’ve ever read. She is incredibly, amazing brave.  She sets out, by herself, in a time when racism is rampant, to move across the country, by herself, to make a new life for herself.  She overcomes obstacle after obstacle to forge ahead when most people would give up in despair.  She truly knows her own self-worth.  Though she is coming to love Rhine deeper and deeper, she refuses to compromise her morals and give in to what part of her wants.  Her strength and resiliency make her one of my favourite all time heroines ever.  She’s a bit on the prickly side but I love a prickly heroine.

 

And Rhine is such a wonderful hero.  At first, I was a bit on the fence about him.  He’s a very good looking guy and thus a hit with the ladies.  I wasn’t entirely sure about the depth of his character even though he’s very charming.  But the more we get to know him, the deeper and more honourable we see that he is.  His choice is heartbreaking and we see how torn he is.  He truly does care about his people and the way he has chosen to live his life is in order to be the best help he can to them.

 

I found this book to be so much deeper and painful than a normal Western romance.  Because of some of the issues involved, it was an almost painful read.  I think it’s a book very true to the times and one can certainly tell that Beverly Jenkins wrote a romance that is both loving and brutal.  There is such an incredible depth to this story and I’m in awe.   On rare occasions books change me – hopefully for the better – and this one did.

 

As I said at the beginning, because of the cost, I have few of her books but after reading Forbidden, that changes.  Her books seem to be a combination of a romance and a cruel time in history that is still being felt today, tragic as that is.  It goes without saying that Forbidden gets an A+ from me for being a romance book and so much more.

A bit of a personal note.  Before RWA fell apart and Covid hit, I would attend the RWA conferences and a one of the first ones I attended, I happened to sit and talk with Ms. Jenkins.  I knew who she was but as I’m not an author, she didn’t really know me.  But it was a wonderful conversation and while I can’t remember many of the details of it now, I do remember the impression of a warm and friendly and down to earth author who took the time to make me feel at ease and comfortable.  I’ve been such an admirer of her ever since, first as a person and now much later than I feel good about, as an author.  Sometimes seeds dropped in me take a long time to sprout, but sprout this one has and once so, it’s growing fast.  She has numerous books I need to pick up and read.

With the success of romance books being turned into series, I see her mentioned on Twitter as an author who writes books that would make great series and I concur 100%

From Romance Book to Romance Series

 

 With the overwhelming success Bridgerton, and with being a romance reader for decades I thought I'd do a post on my thoughts of this new trend.

 

I LOVE IT.  I LOVE IT.   I LOVE IT

Although I know there are a lot more, I'm only going to cover the ones I've seen and I'm only including series and not theatre movies.  Therefore that excludes such monstrosities as 50 Shades of Grey.  No, I didn’t read the books and never plan to.  I confess to being a total romance reading snob and they don’t fit into my rather toffee-nosed (I found this on the Thesaurus and simply had to use it!!  Isn’t it delish?) list of what is a romance  book.  And since I was appalled that this series was considered “romance” I didn’t see the movies either.  Never did and never will either.  So this narrows things considerably and makes this post much shorter – thank heavens for all who read it as I do tend to ramble.

Outlander

The first for me therefore is Outlander.  I read the first three books of the series many years ago and even at that was late to the series.  The sized intimidated me and at the point where I quite, Claire and Jamie were back together and I could rest happy with that.  Plus with all the horrible things they and their loved one suffered, I know it would upset me.

 

So when I heard it was going to be made into a series, I was ecstatic.  I know Diana Gabaldon doesn’t consider them romance but who are we kidding?  Of course they are.  I didn’t really have a visual in my head as to what Jamie and Claire looked like so I was just fine with Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe portraying them.  Yep, very fine with Sam. Yeppers indeedy.  

I watched along and swooned along with millions of other the trials and tribulations of these two soul mates.  I kind of haven’t had cable for almost three years so I did miss Season 5 when it first aired but it’s on Netflix now so all is good.

 

Virgin River

Next up is Virgin River.  I read the first five or so books of this series years ago and loved them until I was a bit put off by the sameness of them and with so many other books to read I kind of stopped reading them.  But when I saw that Netflix had turned them into a series, as with Outlander I was all on board that train.  I binge watched the first season and fell totally in love and while I thought Melinda Monroe a fine choice for Alex, Martin Henderson as Jack – I swooned.  

I thought they did an excellent job in he rest of the cast choices and think this is another fine adaptation though it’s been a while since reading the books.  I’ve watched the first 2 seasons – more than once and if you have Netflixe and haven’t watched it, do so!

 

Bridgerton

And this brings us to Bridgerton.  As with the other two, I read this series, at least up to Sir Philip with Love, years and years ago now.  I think I read them as they came out.  When I said I’ve been reading romance for decades I really mean it *grin*.  So I was beyond thrilled and jumping for joy when I heard these books were being adapted for a series, especially by Shonda Rhimes and her record of incredible success.  With her at the helm, I figured it was a give that it would be successful.  Though I had no idea the level of success it’s experiencing.  I admit I was puzzled at the diversity of the cast when it was first announced, thinking it didn’t really ring true to the times, but having watched the series once and part way through my second viewing, the diversity is an absolutely stunning success for me.  

When ‘Simon’ slides of that horse in his first scene, Rege-Jean Page IS Simon and he gets swoonier and more delicious and my girl parts jump up and dance more in each new scene. 

  Phoebe Dynevor is luminescent as Daphne and the sparks and chemistry between these two – well to put it mildly, is smokin’. 

And I can’t move on without saying that I adore Lady Danbury.

 

All three of these books to series adaptations get an A+ to infinity grad from me.  I can’t get enough of any of them.  But then we come to the latest books to series mentions, Firefly Lane based on a series of books by Kristin Hannah.  Because I’ve been reading books for decades – and yes, decades and decades, I read her straight up romance books and she was an auto buy author at the time.

• Once in Every Life
• If you Believe
• When Lightning Strikes
• Waiting for the Moon
• The Enchantment
• A Handful of Heaven

These are all books I’ve read a number of times each and I constantly check to see if they are out as eBooks.  Not yet I’m so sad to say but hope springs eternal.  So while I haven’t read any of her books since she switched to Women’s Fiction, my sister swears by them.  When I saw they had been made into a series, at first glance I was thrilled.  But then I saw Katherine Heigl is in the series and my loathing for her far outweighs my desire to watch the series that technically isn’t based on true romance books.  So for now I just have to wait for the next season of the three I have mentioned; meanwhile watching and rewatching them, just like I do the books.

My final thought is I am beyond pumped that these series are so well received.  I have my fingers and toes crossed that this is only the beginning.  There are so many beautifully written romance books and series out there and be they contemporary or historical, my fervent hope is this is just the beginning. That the entire world discover the beauty and awe and passion of the romance genre is one of my greatest wishes.  The sky is the limit and dare I *cough* say the In Death books might be another fine idea?  And last but certainly not least dare I say it – Derek Craven.

'til later

 

Gone but not Forgotten

 Although it's been a long (long, long) time since last I posted, this blog has never been far from my mind and there is many a time I've thought about something and thought "I need to do a post about that" only to get busy doing something else and then forget the thought I wanted to blog about.

But I signed up for Wendy, SuperLibrarian's TBR Challenge so I knew I needed to get things up and running again.  Plus I had an even more important reason for finally blogging again.  February is Black History Month and while I've read and truly enjoyed books by Black authors and other romances by POC, I haven't read enough and I want to change that.  So I mad a commitment to myself that every book I read in February would be a book by a Black author.  So far I'm behind in the number I've been hoping to read.  I blame the impeachment trial for part of that.  But so far these are the books I've read

Disgraced by Brittainy C. Cherry.  It was a reread and posted on GoodReads

The Object of Love by Sharon Cullars.  It also was a reread of a book I read a while ago and thoroughly enjoyed and is also posted on GroodReads

Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins.  New read that really got to me - in a good way.  I'm working on a review of it

And I'm 3/4's of the way through Deliver Me by Farrah Rochon which I'm very much enjoying.

After that I'm thinking of reading one of the two books I have by Alyssa Cole, then K.M. Jackson, Nana Malone and Delaney Diamond.  These are all authors I haven't read but I have some of their books in the TBR pile.

Since I'm back - at least for now and hopefully longer - I'll post my reviews of the books I'm reading.  For now, I'm happy that at least I finally put up a new post.  There aren't any pictures this time but I'll get to that.

'til later

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

Recent Read - A Classic

Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was reminded the other day that it’s been a while since the last time – but by far not the first time – that I read this wonderful and amazing book.  So of course I had to fix that and read it again.  It has really stood the test of time since the very first time I read in 1990.  It needs to be read by everyone who loves romance.  Here’s the review I wrote ages ago and everything I said then.

******~~~~~*****

There are classics in literature, Moby Dick, War and Peace, Oliver Twist and many more. I think the romances of yesteryear have their classics too, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and more. With modern day romance I’m not so sure if there are what would be considered classics yet or not, it may be too soon, but if they did, I’m sure they would have a book or two by Georgette Heyer, Kathleen Woodiwiss.

And then we come to another author who has written some of what I consider modern day romance classics and that’s LaVryle Spencer. I’ve read most of her books except for perhaps her last couple before she retired and of all that I’ve read, I truly believe Morning Glory needs to be added to the classics of romance. I first read this book more years ago than I can remember and I’ve reread it every year or two since then. I can’t quite remember the last time but I have it on my Ipad and I know I’ve read it since I bought it but when I saw a friend recently post a review on GoodReads, I had the urge to reread it. And heaven knows when a book starts calling, there is no relief until you answer it.

This is an emotional and moving story of two sad and lonely people, how they come together in an enduring gentle love and heal each other with that love. Will Parker and Elly Dinsmore are characters that have stayed with me since the first time I read this book more than 20 years ago. It’s almost like I’ve absorbed them.

The book opens with Will Parker working at a lumber mill. He’s only been there 3 days and he’s literally starving. The book opens just before the second World War and Will has just been released from prison for murdering a prostitute. We find out details later in the story. His bully boss finds out this info and dismisses Will on the spot. Will has just been wandering around the countryside trying to find work and now he’s out of yet another job. The men laughingly tell him that maybe crazy Elly Dunsmore will take him in. She has an add up advertising for a husband to help work her farm. She is known as the local crazy widow woman and her story is just as sad as Will’s. She was the bastard granddaughter of the town’s religious zealots and was practically locked into the family home with the blinds drawn. Only after the truant officer found out about her was she allowed out but only to go to school, then back to her prison. She somehow managed to escape long enough to meet and marry. But her husband died in an accident and she has two young boys and is pregnant with her third child and is in desperate circumstances. Her only option is to look for a husband. After some thought and due to his own desperate circumstances, Will does go to see Elly and to check things out. It’s an awkward meeting; neither one of them is comfortable in dealing with others, Elly because of the isolated way she was raised and Will because of his prison record. But they manage to come to an agreement and thus starts the most poignant, tender, beautiful, tear inducing books I’ve ever read.

Seriously, I mean it. If I only had one word – the story is haunting.
Will has never known love and he sees all he’s ever wanted in the mother that Ellie is. He falls in love with her partly because of that. He was an orphan who never knew his parents, doesn’t even know his own birthday. His only friend betrayed him, resulting in his prison sentence. I think he’s the loneliest, saddest hero I’ve read in the of a book.
Elly is also sad and lonely but not as defeated.  She has her children and she had a good husband. Despite, or maybe because of her lonely upbringing, Elly has quite a streak of whimsy to her. She’s actually rather upbeat all things considered and this is just what someone in such a dark place as Will is needs.

Throughout the story, they heal each other. While she had loved her husband, Will is different. He’s young, and strong and determined and handsome and he has beautiful eyes. He loves her two sons and is a wonderful father figure to them. He is loving and very appreciative of everything Elly does both for him and her children. He never takes anything for granted. Who wouldn’t fall in love with someone like Will?
And for Will, Elly is everything he couldn’t even have imagined he wanted. She meets the mothering role he has needed filled all his life. There is a scene where she cuts his hair and one is almost in tears reading just that scene alone.

Slowly, Will gains a sense of pride and self worth. When he first comes to Elly, he’s a broken man. But with Elly’s help along with Ms. Beasley gets respect. Ms Beasley is the local librarian who helps him when he wants to learn more on different things he fixes around the farm, plumbing, bees, a number of different things. Ms Beasley is another wonderful character. She’s starchy and she’s tough and she’s opinionated and she has such a soft heart for Will. He’s like the son she never had and she is a lion in defense of him and when she offers him a job as library custodian, he gains a pride he’s never had before.

And of course there is conflict that comes along in this book. It takes place in 1941 and the threat of war hangs in the air. Will knows he is a prime candidate to be called up and wants it to be on his terms. But Elly is terrified and would rather keep her head in the sand. Finally the inevitable happens and Will must leave and he joins the Marines. It turns out that he completely becomes the person he was meant to be.

This part of the book, told through letters, is as wonderful and poignant as the rest of the book and it marks a turning point. Will comes back but not quite the same person he left. But now there is another block. He is being stalked by a woman who refuses to accept the fact he’s not interested.

I really don’t have the words or confidence to completely explain how truly wonderful this book is and how I think it needs to be read at least once by every reader who loves this genre. Ms. Spencer makes us feel every emotion that Elly and Will in particular experience. We feel the betrayal that Will feels when his best friend testifies against him during the trial that sends him to jail. We feel his despair and shame when he brings up the green apples he ate because that was the only thing he could find. We feel his wonderment over his growing relationship with Ellie’s two boys. We feel his panic when Ellie insists he be the one to help her give birth and we feel his pride when Ellie gives her new-born daughter his last name.
This is a book that shows, not tells the story and because of that she makes us feel like we are right there with them during their journey to healing and love. If you check reviews for this book on GoodReads and or Amazon, many reviewers give this higher than 5 stars even though that’s the highest grade allowed.

Having just recently read this book again, it’s timeless, it’s a classic and it only gets better with each telling.

They don't have anything higher than 5 so all I can do is give this a 5+++

View all my reviews

Advice for Authors .

oh my but Twitter is a great source of inspiration for blog subjects.  I was just following a thread started by an author unhappy with a negative review for one of her books.  She screen captured a one star review posted on Amazon.

Bad, bad, bad idea.  She seemed to have many positive reviews but focused on one negative one and bitched out the reviewer.  She totally ignored one of the primary facts of being an author; there isn’t a book written that’s going to be loved by all. Not. One. Single. Book. I’ve read books I’ve loved to the enth degree as have the vast majority of other readers but there is ALWAYS going to be someone who thinks it’s garbage, always.

So authors, accept this.  If you are tempted to argue, justify, explain, whatever, Sit On Your Hands Until the Urge Passes. Make this your number one rule.  Of sure there are going to be fans who agree with you if you do respond but more likely is that you will lose potential readers.  I’ve never read this author but she guaranteed that now I never will.  For the most part, readers who write up reviews do it for fellow readers and not to give the author good feels.  If I were an author, to be honest I wouldn’t want this.  I’d rather a reader, if they are going to do a review, be honest.

I’m easily pleased and happy with books I read so I don’t write many negative reviews, but I do on occasion.  I try to explain why I didn’t care for the book but it’s not a given every reader who does reviews will. Sometimes it might just be one or two sentences, with no real reason why.  This is the case I’m referencing because author tweeted it for all to see.

But authors, resist.  Accept this happens to all authors and just move on.  If reasons are listed why the book didn’t work, think on it, and then move on if you don’t buy the reasons or incorporate if they do have a point.

But whatever, do not whiner complain where others ca see.  Big mistake.

‘TIL later

It’s also the ironies

Remember my last post, the one I did less than 24 hours ago, somewhere around 3:30 am?  Yep that one.  Why is it for every step forward, you seem to take one back?

I was looking forward to work today.  I was wearing new shoes and a new jumper I was waiting for the right shoes to wear.  I was rockin’ the look, good hair day and was feelin’ fine.  I was walking into the back door, stepping up a small slip when it seems I didn’t lift my right leg high enough, tripped, couldn’t recover and landed face first on the cement.

Of course the first words out of my mouth was FUCK! Fuck, fuck, fuck.  Then the pain started and the blood started to rush out and I started to cry.  Since it was the start of the second shift there were a number of people around, nurses included.  It was déjà voux all over again and for the second time in a couple of months an ambulance was called for me at work.  That is so freaking embarrassing, it really, really is.  The ambulance came and checked me out and recommended they take me to the hospital but this time I declined.  Rather than getting priority head of the line treatment I got when I had the heart attack, I’d have to wait my turn just like everyone else and the EMT’s would have to wait with me.

By this time I was feeling much better other than that rattled feeling one has after a nasty fall.  They were really only concerned because I’d hit my head and I’m on blood thinners.  The compromise that work really wanted was a visit to urgent care which I agreed t, no ambulance this time.  My manager took me and stayed with me the three hours it took for a doctor to check me out.  He let me leave after getting a tetanus shot.  For some reason that amuses me.

So I’m home and good except for a sore face, a slightly swollen nose and a booboo on my nose and a fair sized lump on my forehead. And I called my sister to see if she can call me a couple of times tonight and in the morning.

But dang it all I hesitated again going up the stairs to the house again.  Not too bad but still.  I’m not liking these backward steps.  And I’m thinking I might wake up with black eyes tomorrow.

See, irony.

‘Til later.

It begins with baby steps

My health had deteriorated the past number of years.  It began I think about 8 or so years ago when I fell on my basement stairs and broke my left leg, the tibia and fibula both.  I still have the X-ray around somewhere around and it is pretty cool.  I recovered though Left Leg as I call her was weakened.  Then about 5or 6 years ago, time being more of a relative thing, I slipped and did major damage to tendons and ligaments on Right Leg.  Recovering from the broken leg was nothing compared to trying to recover from the damage to Right.

 I used a walker (White Walker) and a cane, (Kandi and yep, I named them just like I have to Legs). Off and on for a number of years.  In fact they even went on vacation with me, to RWA conferences and my yearly cottage trips.  In fact they are both still in my car,mostly because I’m too lazy to bring them in but also as ‘just in case’.  I had a lot of falls mostly because Right and Left refused to work together, each thinking the other leg should take the lead, what with their injuries and all.

I’m just clueing lately that that’s been a contributing factor in the depression I’ve had.  As a result I didn’t walk nearly enough.  Both legs hurt, Right in particular would ache at night.

But then came the heart attack and as a result I’ve taken up walking.  I stager quite a bit still and anyone walking behind me I’m sure thinks that woman ahead of me’s been hitting the bottle.

But today!! Ahh, celebrating baby steps, for the first time in 5 or 6 years(!) I walked around the mall I live near.  And not only that but I climbed a few stairs alternately instead of stepping up one step on
Left, then bringing Right up to meet before moving on. Right is stubborn and refuses to go first.  It didn’t click in until I was driving home what I just done for the first time in ever so long.

See, baby steps.  They can be amazing.

‘TIL later.

Ponderings

Our computers are down at work and as most know, when the computer is down, you can’t work.  It’s most frustrating.  It’s been down two and a half hours now.

In an effort to keep looking busy I did a bad, bad thing.  I went on Twitter.  There was a bit of a brouhaha when some self-righteous woman tweeted that romance is ‘porn for women’.  Them there is fighting words for me.  The single most core function of romance is love.  In most porn, love isn’t even a factor.  But in romance the main characters love the other person more than themselves.  Porn is much more self-satisfaction.  Sex – in romance – is for the most part, a physical expression of that love.  And for those self-righteous who think sex between those who love each other, check out some of the verses in Song of Solomon.  In my opinion, God approves of physical love.

I also see some books on Amazon labeled “clean”.  This also raises my temperature as it sure does imply that sex is somehow dirty.  It’s NOT.  It’s a gift.

There are a number of things that get me steamed and self-righteousness is one of the biggies.

.......

And now of course our system is back up and running which means I have to start working again.  *heavy sigh*

'til later

OK, I’m Here again.

I’ve been going through a whole lot the past while.  I’ve been wanting to keep blogging but one of the “things” was my wifi didn’t work for a long time.  I had someone over to do a bunch of handyman type stuff and getting my wifi up and running was the greatest of all the things he fixed.  I didn’t realize how much emptier my life had become until I got it back.  I was cut off from the romance community and the “community, from readers to authors have been such a rich and vital part of my life for years.  I was starving but didn’t know it.

But now it’s almost like I’m experiencing a rebirth of sorts. I’ve long known I have deep seated issues but again I didn’t know how deeply broken I’ve been until I’ve started healing.  I’ve been going for counseling regularly and shit is coming out that I didn’t even know was there.  But I found myself laughing at work a week or so again and it was a meaningful laugh like I haven’t had for a few years now and it felt WONDERFUL.  That’s when it truly dawned on me I’ve been almost just existing for a long while; going through the motions but skimming through a lot of things.

Oddly enough it was a heart attack I had a couple of months ago that was the awakening I needed.  Before that I wasn’t actively suicidle (crap, can’t figure out how to spell that) but a part of me didn’t care if I died.  I know, it was a horrible existence.  I didn’t WANT to, but didn’t care if I did.

But now, having lived in that black tunnel for a while, I discovered I wasn’t ready to “go” yet.  I’m walking and eating ever so much better and realizing I can do something.  I’ve started buying much better quality clothes and using a very good moisturizer- sounds silly and shallow but it’s a sign that things are starting to matter again.

I don’t have a relationship with either of my sons and haven’t for a couple of years now and it’s one of the things that has kept me broken but now that I’m healing I’ll soon be well enough I think, to handle the pain that’s going to come and handle the rejection there’s a good chance I’ll face.

But this is a thank you to the romance community.  Although I didn’t reach out for help, I was too broken, I know it’s always been there just waiting for me to reach out.

Obviously it isn’t perfect, there are as many opinions as there are members, and some very strong women, which we need.  But still we have something very precious and when things look grim, we do have something stronger which can hold us together if we allow it.  Love.