Book Babe

Lucy Wagner Gets in Shape by Claire Matthews

2012-01-30T22:27:00.000-08:00

I got a real kick out of this novel. The first person narrative is REAL and the heroine is witty and honest. Her friends are fun (the kind of friends I wish I had), the banter made me laugh, and the love story...I could feel it.

Lucy is BFFs with Will and Jenny. They've hung out for ages. They know each other's favorite foods, they rally around each other when there's a break up, they help each other pass exams and prepare for job interviews. So...imagine Lucy's surprise when after a rough break up (her bf was cheating, the jerk), she discovers that Will has feelings for her and has for quite some time and well...she has feelings for him too.

Is it a rebound thing? Something causes Will to think so. There's misunderstandings, petty arguments, trust issues, surprising revelations, and Lucy is faced with making a difficult decision: career or love? Sacrifice or make someone else sacrifice? Rebound or real thing?

Meanwhile, they are training for a major running/hiking/kayaking event to prove to Lucy's ex that she can do it. "I am proving to myself, and to Paul, that I am not a fat person in a skinny person's body. That I am a woman of substance and conviction. That I am woman worthy of love, and I'm every bit as tough and brave as Langley whatever-the-hell-her-name-is."

But really, she's getting HER LIFE in shape, not her tush.

My favorite moments (some of them):

"Jen and I have already renamed the master bedroom the 'Puta Palace,' because Jenny is Mexican, and she loves whipping out Spanish cuss words in a crisis."

And after seeing a half naked man while kayaking, Lucy..: "I turn quickly and begin to paddle as fast as I can. I'm not getting very far, because the curved oars of my paddle are facing the wrong way, but I'm pumping away to beat the band."

Hilarious conversation:

Jenny: "Was it like, 'stayed out in the heat too long' body odor or like, 'European earthy guy' body odor?"

Lucy: "I don't know-is there a difference?"

Jenny: "God, yes. European body odor kind of turns me on. It's like stink with a sexy accent."

Five stars. Extremely enjoyable. I would also like to note that this author pulled off the present tense very well. Not many authors can do that. Superbly done. I bought this on Amazon Kindle.

Forbidden by Syrie James and Ryan M. James

2012-01-30T10:34:00.000-08:00

This just appeared in my mailbox one day, and having enjoyed Syrie's Dracula, My Love and Nocturne, I was excited to read it.

It's different. It's about angels, only they aren't called angels, and there is no mention of God. Matter of fact, they aren't sure where they get their orders from... It's like a paranormal CIA group. Alec is an angel trying not to be an angel, trying to live a normal teen life despite the fact he is actually over a hundred years old. Claire is...something else. A half breed angel and she and Alec are just figuring it out.. The problem is: Alec is supposed to hire/eliminate people like Claire, but he loves her... What a mess.

What starts out as psychic visions leads to were-wolves and strange fairy god mothers. The were wolf and the Vincent stuff were a little eye rolling to me, but this is a YA novel. I think the teenagers will enjoy it. And the ending left room for a sequel, so I suspect it's the start of a series.

Four stars. Well written, entertaining, just a bit too preposterous.

Decadent Seconds by W. Lynn Chantale

2012-01-30T10:26:00.000-08:00

Really sweet, romantic story about a pastry chef and the father of her son. I say the father of her son and not boyfriend/husband, because they are not together. See, she wanted to get married and do the white picket fence...be a family, you know? He had the opinion that live-in-girlfriend was acceptable, PLUS he didn't want her starting her own business. Grrrrr.

No wonder she walked off. But it doesn't change the fact that he is sexy as all get out, and she still wants him.

Can they resolve things? The sex wasn't too risque, and I enjoyed the little kid interrupting things cause well, that's life. It was a realistic story and to the point. No blabbering on and on, no ridiculously lengthy descriptions.

I bought this on Amazon Kindle.

The Bridge by Kay Bratt

2012-01-26T14:00:00.000-08:00

This is a very moving and touching novelette. It spoke to me because I know what it feels like to be shunned by others, to be ostracized and ridiculed for having a disability. I felt for Fei Fei. His own mother abandoned him, and perhaps her intentions were good, to get him educated in a blind school, but still, unforgivable.

This takes place in China, not sure the era. An old woman who can barely feed herself, takes in a boy abandoned at the bridge. He's blind. She takes him to the orphanage and is dismayed to discover, he's treated like a baby, not the intelligent 5 year old he is. Nobody wants to or has the time to focus on a blind boy, to educate him. They just make him stay out of the way. How many of us with disabilities have faced this at some point in our lives??? Too many of us, too often.

To me, this story teaches that handicapped are not any less capable than others, that people judge too quickly, and that love isn't necessarily dictated by blood. Because the old woman falls in love with the little boy and even sells her last piece of jewelry to care for him.

A beautiful story with a strong message and eloquent descriptions. It does need an editor, however. There were lots of discrepancies with tense usage and some odd word pairings.

"As she watches, Fei Fei quickly ate the orange and sat quietly awaiting his next instructions."

Like that.

Favorite quote: "...you must realize that the world is a very big place. You must keep an open mind and learn new ways to explore beyond what you already know."

Four stars and I got this on Amazon Kindle.

Hospice Tails: The Animal Companions Who Journey With Hospice Patients And Their Families by Debra Stang

2012-01-25T13:37:00.000-08:00

This is, so far, the most touching book I have read in some time. I had to dab my eyes on numerous occasions. It's a short read at 100 some pages, but it is loaded with touching stories and moments... It contains enough in those 100 pages to touch your very soul, especially the souls of pet lovers/pet parents.

Like dogs? Cats? Horses? Snakes? There's something for everyone.

There's the man who is afraid to go to sleep for fear he will miss the last dying breath of his loved one. Finally, in the throes of exhaustion, he falls asleep. His little dog wakes him just in time...

There's the woman who reaches out to touch the spot her dog (now dead) had always lied and says, "There you are" before she dies herself.

There's a snake that gives comfort, a cat that helps a woman move past her husband's death, a hamster that brings together a mother and son. And though each one of these stories is sad because someone dies, they are also moments of joy caught in a book forever.

Our pets do so much for us and understand so much more than we give them credit for. This book is a tribute to that. Wonderful. Five stars.

Also, unlike a lot of memoirs that tell and not show, Ms. Stang had a very engaging voice that transported me into the story. A huge thumbs up.

I received this in ebook format from the author in exchange for an honest review.

A Waltz at Midnight by Crista McHugh

2012-01-24T23:24:00.000-08:00

What a lovely read. It was short, but I feel it was the perfect length for what it was: a historical romance began through letters, involving deceit, high emotions, the baring of souls, and secrets.

It's after the Civil War and Susanna is a former southern belle now housemaid in a school for ladies. When one of the ladies obtains an unwelcome suitor via mail and her father's wishes, she pays Susanna money to write the letters and maintain the correspondence as she has eye and her heart elsewhere. However, whereas Susanna is supposed to convince the young man, Teddy, to look elsewhere, instead, she falls in love with him and the letters continue.

The letters start off funny.

Teddy's view on women and what they want: "Should I promise her the world only to be nagged into eternity when I don't deliver it on a silver platter?"

Susanna is feisty: "If many women have narrow interests, it's because we are confined to the homes of our parents until we are plucked from them by our husbands. We are denied the liberties men are insured."

Through letters, banter and insults turns into baring of their hopes and fears. But when Teddy desires to meet whom he believes in Charlotte, the you know what is going to hit the fan. Or will he forgive her upon finding out the truth?

Delightful, well done, and despite all the letters, it didn't do as many letter writing stories do and be all telling, no showing. It was done artfully. I enjoyed it.

Five stars. I got this from netgalley.

Never Coming Home by Evonne Wareham

2012-01-23T01:12:00.000-08:00

Wow. I love Choc Lit. It's a publisher whose books just work for me. Their latest is not disappointing, and just as good as I hoped it would be.

It's a thriller following a man with a shady past as some kind of secret agent and a woman who believes her daughter is dead, that she died in a car crash. The hero, Devlin, was with her daughter when she died...so they think. When he travels to England wanting to tell the girl's mother about her daughter's last moments, sparks fly between them and together, they uncover one twisted horrific fact after another as she, Kaz, tries to find out what really happened to her daughter and who did it.

Very well told. The love between the hero and heroine grows gradually even though the attraction is instant. Both of their "narratives" have funny, sarcastic, and honest bits. Both characters are extremely likable. The mystery... I confess I had the "whodunit" part figured out early in the story, but there's a lot more twisted and gruesome details than I anticipate and I was still surprised by a lot of things in the outcome.

Laugh out loud moment: (What does Devlin think when faced with a five year old girl?)

"He could do this. It was female. Pint-size but still female. Although the usual passwords, Manolo Blahnik, diamond earrings, weekend in Paris, weren't going to work here. He'd just have to go with charm."

Loved this book. Perfect blend of sex, suspense, horror, mystery, passion, and warm-hearted moments. 5 stars.

I received this as an egalley from the publisher.

The Right to Vote by Dee S. Knight

2012-01-20T22:45:00.000-08:00

Another book I accidentally ran across and had to have due to its Women and the Vote theme.

A little novellette at 30 or so pages, it was a treadmill book. Olivia believes women should have a voice, but her father doesn't, and him being a senator, she must keep her suffragette activities a secret. Her father is a firm believer that "women should be wives and breeders of children, not breeders of social causes" and that "women should leave running the world to the men." So when a handsome reporter threatens to tell her father her secret, she ends up paying some attention to him.

One thing leads to another, and they partner up to prevent her father from marrying her off to another senator. Olivia feels she should choose who she marries, and she decides she wants Hunter, the reporter.

A good story with a feel good ending. Not a whole lot about the movement, but how can there be in 30 pages? I read it's accompaniment the other day, Speak Easy to Me and liked that one more. Why? I love the hero in that book. This one, not so much. His taking her to bed the way he did and some of his ways of love making such as telling her what he was going to do was a bit weird.

Four stars. I bought this on Amazon Kindle.

For the Sake of Sin by Suzie Grant

2012-01-20T01:35:00.000-08:00

This was a short, erotic, historical tale involving a courtesan, an assassin, and a corrupt mayor. I think it's a good way to sample Suzie Grant's work. I read her Wrong Kind of Paradise recently and thoroughly enjoyed it as well.

For a short story, it was good. I did find the falling in love and opening up to each other with their dark secrets be a bit abrupt and sudden, but again, it's a shortie. Ava is a courtesan who wants to hire Gabriel to kill her lover. Why? Because her lover killed her family... Well, Ava is a lusty woman who enjoys her job. I'm not into whores, myself, but I appreciated that this heroine enjoyed sex. It was a pleasant change from the frightened, simpering whores you often find in historical romances. Ava uses sex to her advantage and likes it.

I also liked that the sex scenes had some unique language/descriptions. Suzie Grant has a unique style and a good writer's voice.

I downloaded this free on Amazon Kindle.

Speak Easy To Me by Christine DePetrillo

2012-01-18T21:52:00.000-08:00

I only found this book because I was browsing the publisher's "calls for submissions," and you know that saying, "Everything happens for a reason?" I figure the reason I haven't heard squat back on my latest story submission is because then I wouldn't have been browsing publishers submissions still seeking a home for the darned thing, and I wouldn't have run across this awesome little story.

It's 2012, but I'm a suffragette. I love reading about them. I guess this publisher did a series type thing about suffragettes cause I found two titles and this was one of them. I read it while on the treadmill. It's only 30 pages and whereas it doesn't really go into the right to vote, the fact that the heroine is a suffragette plays cutely into the tale.

You got a suffragette who thanks to her brother, has to somewhat submit herself to the pawing hands of a speak easy owner...and when the piano player/former WWI soldier helps her avoid her face, the love bells go ringing. It's sweet and cute and thoroughly enjoyable.

It's only 30 pages so I really didn't expect it to delve too deeply into the Right to Vote, but I sure did enjoy these little parts:

"Will spun on her booted heel and rejoined her fellow demonstrators. She wanted to change her sign to read, Brothers Are Morons. She was more convinced than ever that women needed to run the country. Hell, women needed to rule the world."

And after making love to the gorgeous piano player, our tough, ballsy heroine says, (and this is the best part!)

"I still want the vote for women, but perhaps men aren't totally useless."

For what it is, a short historical romance, I loved it. It's a perfect treadmill/lunch break book. Five stars. (I bought this on Amazon Kindle.)

Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

2012-01-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

The story of Robin Hood has been done over and over again, but never like this. This is not only from a female POV, but the heroine of the tale isn't a pretty fox who play crocquet on the lawn, nor is it a damsel in distress waiting in a castle. There are those, just not the heroine.

This heroine is a part of Robin's gang and often mistaken for the Hood himself when she wears a hood. (She pretends to be a boy.) He's good with a bow and arrow. She's a master with knives, and she uses them as she robs people in order to get tax money for the poor and food to feed them. See, the sheriff is taxing people so highly, they can't pay it, and if they can't pay, they not only go hungry, but their children get hung one by one till the tax is paid... Their homes are being burned...

Loved how tough this chick is.

"I turned to see three men on Rob, and I felt the sting of insult. Honestly, I were just as much a threat as him. Why did I only get one?"

None of this.. No, ma'am.

"Never would I have a man saying what or who were best for me, and that were all there were to it."

Notice the "weres?" No, I didn't mis type. The heroine speaks and narrates throughout the entire novel in that manner. She never uses the word "was." This was a minor irritation that I soon was able to ignore. At first, it was a distraction.

In between robbing people and trying to avoid the clutches of a foul thief taker who has her on his radar for some interesting reasons, Scarlet is torn between two men. Both love her, but show it in different ways. She's confused. Meanwhile, her past is catching up with her, and it could lead to the downfall of all her and the Hood's crew have been working for.

My major quibble is I got confused often. Some things they crew did didn't make sense. I mean, okay, in once scene, if the guy was able to help Scarlet get out, why didn't he take Robin too? Why go back? Some things here and there just had me scratching my head. And the ending.. was NOT satisfying. It left me feeling, "What??? Your problems aren't over at all..." Ack! Despite the terrible ending, I really enjoyed the book and I give it four stars.

Favorite moment: "I stopped running and took a deep gulp of air. Then I spat out every foul curse word I'd ever learned, even knowing I'd have to confess them all on Sunday. Rob looked a little shocked. "Don't you look at me like that," I snapped at him. "Just because I can't trim a beard don't mean I can't swear."

LOL moment: "I wouldn't never bathe with him or pass water when he were near. He got suspicious quick. Seems real boys are awfully eager to parade their bits around."

I got this from netgalley.

The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen

2012-01-17T08:34:00.000-08:00

This is not about the ruins of just "us." It's about the ruins of a family. Who'd have thunk that taking on another wife could lead to so many problems? (sarcasm)

Abdullah is the head of the family and rather than fix his relationship with his longtime American wife, Rosalie, he takes another wife and sets her up in a house down the street. According to Saudi law, this is okay. According to Rosalie, it is not. When the secret is revealed to the rest of the family, everything comes to a head.

Abdullah must slowly admit that he fell out of love with Rosalie because she no longer acts American. Rosalie admits that she fell in love with Saudi Arabia more than Abdullah. She struggled to fit in and be loved in a foreign country.. thus the loss of her Americanism. The children, Mariam and Faisal have their own issues. Faisal has been shunned and treated like crap overseas since 9/11. He comes home and finds acceptance in a group of extremists and replaces his unhappy home life with religion.. that he takes a bit too far. Mariam.. I wish there was more about Mariam. I loved her character, what little there was of it. she's a revolutionary, arguing for the rights of women and starting a blog.

Very good story with lots of hidden messages about how things we do or say have a domino effect. But I didn't care for the characters much at all. (Quibble number one.) Rosalie stays with that jerk??? Ugh. Abdullah isn't there for his family at all. When one woman displeases him, he goes to the other's bed. Faisal is a little terrorist. (Will he see the error of his ways? I'm not saying.) Dan is obsessed with his ex wife and read more into Rosalie's actions than is there. I think had there been more of Mariam, I would have been more pleased. Also wouldn't have minded seeing things from the "other wife's" POV too.

Quibble two: Bit drawn out as it gets into the characters' pasts.

Favorite quote:

"There should be some sort of training before you got yourself mixed up in such things-marriages and divorces and children and second marriages. He had trained for every part of his life, football as a youth and then business and economics as an adult. Even driving required training. Yet when you are married, what advice did people give? Only congratulations, and what good does that do anyone?"

Very true. (That quote could be changed before publication.)

Three stars. Good look at modern day Saudi life and times and how a family can crumble under one person's mistake.

I got this from netgalley.

Deaf Isn't Dumb Has a Cover

2012-01-16T18:43:00.000-08:00

Here it is. I haven't really wrote a blurb about this one yet.. I mean, how does one wrap up their life in a paragraph? I don't know what to say....

Coming April 27th from Breathless Press

The Flowers of War by Geling Yan

2012-01-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

Imagine a church, the attic full of Catholic schoolgirls, the cellar full of whores, and toss a few men in between them to feed them and maintain order...and you get chaos!

What I liked: Tell of the rape of Nanking in a better fashion than Nanjin Requiem did, IMO. Nanjin was far too brutal, like a listing of brutality after brutality... This story, though it rarely left the church walls, told what was going on inside and out. Inside, you got a bunch of ungrateful whores that have bullied their way into the church and expect it to be a 5 star resort and though it wasn't conveyed very well, there are romances flourishing.

And the girls upstairs are dealing with conflicting emotions, growing pains, and petty bickering.

The soldier and his scene at the mass execution... WOW.

What I didn't like: Something was muddled in the translation. Badly. Lots of telling, little showing, and a ton of head hopping. Also came off a bit cold. And I sure did hate those whores.

In the end, it felt like a bunch of selfish people who didn't care that they were endangering other people. And sadly, that seems to be humanity.

Three stars. I got this from netgalley.

Ride for Rights: Lillian Heath

2012-01-11T23:31:00.000-08:00

My YA historical, Ride for Rights is due out in just a month, Feb 10th, 2012 from MuseItUp Publishing to be exact. If you haven't already marked your calendar, perhaps the cover will convince you... :)

Meanwhile, while you contemplate whether or not you want to read it, I want to talk about Lillian Heath, another real life woman I feature in the book as a fictional character.

Excerpt:

The women tentatively followed Lewis up the front stairs, staying a few feet back and gripping the wrought iron railing. It was not until the man had opened the front door, taken off his hat, and hollered to someone within the house, that Angeline allowed her tense shoulders to relax a bit.

“Lillian!” Lewis’s voice boomed. “There are some ladies who need your assistance.” He held the door open for the sisters.

“Be right there!” A woman’s voice and the sound of rapidly approaching boot heels on the hardwood floor answered Lewis. “Well, what have we here?” The woman came within view and peered over her spectacles at the two relieved women before her.

Angeline was surprised at the woman’s appearance. She was wearing trousers as well! The similarities ended there, however. The woman appeared to be fiftyish and somewhat matronly. She was wearing trousers and a white dress shirt, but her graying brown hair was long and pulled back demurely, and laugh lines crinkled on either side of her eyes.

Who she was: The first woman doctor in the state of Wyoming and the first woman doctor west of the Mississippi. She had a man's skull which she used a door stop and a pen jar. This skull and the story behind it is mentioned in the novel. Though she retired from the medical profession in 1909, she was still residing in her family home, and I have no doubt she would have opened her door to the real life Van Buren sisters had they shown up at her step injured.

Fear of Landing: You Fly Like A Woman by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley

2012-01-11T11:18:00.000-08:00

I was excited about this book, another read to add to my growing list of "women in aviation" books. It was good though not quite what was I expecting.

It's a memoir so it's a lot of telling rather than showing. "Showing" a memoir is hard, I know. And for some reason, I thought it was chronicling many episodes of flying, but it just tells about this woman learning to fly in Spain. What starts out as a whim and a way to keep the month long flight school cheaper for everyone in involved becomes a serious accomplishment even if it takes her two weeks longer than the rest of the class. Also, it's not as humorous as I was expecting. The cover had me thinking I would laugh a lot...it's a cute cover though.

Like I said, lots of telling, little showing, and it got a bit technical at times, but if you're looking for a short, contemporary read about a woman learning to fly, it's free on kindle today. (I bought mine when it was 99 cents.)

My favorite scene was the dog and the little girl running across the runway. My heartbeat picked up as I read that bit. Scary!

Sophie and the Rising Sun by Augusta Trobaugh

2012-01-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

I am really torn about this book. One one hand, I see a beautiful love story... Oto loves Sophie right away, and his is a beautiful love. There nothing even remotely ugly about Oto. His love isn't one of those, "Oh my manhood stirred at the sight of her and I imagined myself.." kind of loves. His love is pure, his character innocent and naive. Sophie, too, has a clean love for Otto.

On the other hand, where the heck is this love coming from? Oto sees her and from then on, it's all about this weird crane sighting... How do you love someone so passionately that you have only seen from afar or sat there quietly with?

What I did love about this book, however, is the narrator's voice. It's narrated by an older woman who hired Mr. Oto to be her gardener and then sheltered him from all the evil, prejudice town folk after Pearl Harbor. Through her, we get a lesson in not judging others, that we are Americans first and foremost, and along with that, we get a dose of humor and a handful of chuckles. Delightful.

The ending...it does leave you hanging. I thought it was a bit week. I am not going to say anything more about that because I don't wish to ruin it, but really, WTH?

Three stars and I got this from netgalley.

Afterburn has a cover

2012-01-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

My sexy side came out again a few months ago and penned a military romance. This will be out March 23rd from Breathless Press. I will post a blurb below, but please keep in mind, that it is subject to be changed/tweaked by my editor.

What's really cool...See that F-16 up there blowing that hot afterburn? That's from a pic my wonderful husband took. How neat is that?

Now, the blurb so you all know what this one is about:

Their love burns hot, but will it stay fueled?

Crystal is an enlisted mechanic with a tragic past. Grant is an officer and a pilot with a damaged heart. In a male dominated field, facing sexual harassment on a daily basis, Crystal has a chance to trust and to love again. The rest of the world doesn't agree with her, however, and seems determined to keep them apart.

When faced with a difficult choice, will Crystal choose wisely or lose the best thing that ever happened to her? Is Grant setting up his own heart to be broken again? With him in the cockpit and her doing the maintenance, it should be smooth flying…or will it?

Enter a world in which the smell of jet fuel arouses the senses and love burns as hot as afterburn.

Interview with Chastity Bush, author of Tumbleweeds

2012-01-09T11:46:00.000-08:00

If you believe in love at first sight and you feel that true love conquers all and like some sexy sheriffs with that, you may want to read Tumbleweeds by Chastity Bush.

Upon "meeting" this fellow Oklahoman author, I couldn't resist finding out more about her and her work.

One of her books is called Tumbleweeds. It's a western about a girl who works in a whore house AS A BARTENDER. Get your minds out of the gutters. It's inevitable that some fellows will get the wrong idea though, and when some men try to get her to add to her job duties, a sexy sheriff steps in, and they both catch each others' eyes.

Berry doesn't have a high opinion of men...and it's no wonder as the man you could call her fiance visits the whorehouse himself 6 times a week and it's not to see Berry... Tavis, however, the new sheriff, aims to marry her. But someone from his past comes riding into town and just may throw his plans haywire.

A very enjoyable read. I confess I've friended the author on facebook, and I saw her sense of humor that I have come to know online, show up between the pages. The book also has a strong moral about not judging others based on their friends, occupations, so on.

Now, back to Chastity. She's agreed to come on here and answer Ten Questions from Tara.

Tara: Tumbleweeds takes place in the old days of the West when women were either married homemakers, whores, saloon madams, or bartenders. Which would you have been and why?

Chastity: My hubby and I both agree on this one. I’d probably have been a madam. Looks like a lot of excitement without all the skirt lifting. That, and the fact that I love all the frills, hot dresses, big beds, etc. That sounds right up my alley. :)

Tara: Mr. Clemmons is good looking, but can't find his way home without a map. Berry calls him an imbecile. (That's a funny moment by the way.) Do you know or have you known many men like this? Got a funny story you can share about one of them?

Chastity: I’ve met several people like this. You think their so handsome/beautiful then blam! They open their mouths and you can’t help but wonder how these people are even capable of dressing themselves in the morning.

Tara: If you were to choose an actress to play Lily Bell, whom do you visualize?

Chastity: Oh, wow. I haven’t thought about this at all. I really have no idea. She would have to be beautiful, sassy, spunky, and able to stand her ground, not just in the movie, but in real life as well.

Tara: You live in Whitefield, Oklahoma. Were you visualizing your town long ago when you wrote this?

Chastity: Yes. Where I live in Oklahoma you can’t help but to think about those days. There’s plenty of pastures, cattle, barns, and farmers.

Tara: I've never heard a whorehouse patron/client called a tumbleweed before. How did you dig this up or come up with this?

Chastity: This is something I’ve always heard the client of a whorehouse called. I’m not sure where it originated, but I love the term and had to use it.

Tara: The heroine's name is Strawberry Meadows. That sounds like a really good wine. What's the story/reason behind this?

Chastity: I knew right off the bat I wanted Berry to have deep, dark, red hair and I wanted it to be incorporated into her name, something that made her unique. I needed something original to compare her hair to. Of course, a strawberry popped into my mind, and it all came together.

Tara: Berry has a really low opinion of men until she meets Tavis. Does this parallel anything in your own life?

Chastity: No. I will admit that I’m a little mistrustful, but that isn’t just with men, that’s with everyone. I’m always a little leery of people until I get to know them. It’s just who I am.

Tara: Berry and Tavis feel instant attraction to each other. Was it like that for you and your husband?

Chastity: Yes. I swear, the moment I laid eyes on my husband I knew he was the one. It was just a feeling that filled me. It was so crazy, but here we are still married fourteen years later.

Tara: Berry hesitates over marriage. Were you also hard to convince?

Chastity: Nope. I wanted to be married. Perhaps that lack of apprehension was because of the wonderful man I was marrying. I’ve never had a bad opinion of marriage, even after watching my mothers’ divorces. I think they actually helped me see what I needed to do and not do to make a marriage work. Of course we have our ups and downs, we all do, but I love being married.

Tara: I'm a dog mom so this is always my last and final question. Do you have pets? If so, please tell me about them and provide a photo.

Chastity: We don’t have any pets anymore. We had a cat for a long time, but he lives with my dad in Texas now, and our big, hairy, weird but awesome guinea pig passed away a couple years ago. Since then, we’ve been a pet free house. We do like animals; just don’t really have time to care for them as they need.

Thank you, Chastity! For those of you interested in Tumbleweeds, you can buy it here:

Tumbleweeds Paperback
Tumbleweeds Kindle

Graveminder by Melissa Marr

2012-01-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

Imagine being a den mother to the dead. Your job is to make sure the dead stay dead. The only way to do that is be sure that every single person born in the town is buried there in town. If they don't die in the town, you got to go find them and bring their dead bodies back. If you don't, if they find their own way back, they'll eat people along the way, so you'll have lots of naughty dead children.

The official name for day care provider for the dead: graveminder.

The job is inherited, and Rebekkah has just found out the task is hers. She joins forces with the Undertaker, a man she loves, but doesn't want to love in a town where the sheriff looks the other way rather than get a migraine with a dead zombie is on the lose eating people.. or is it more than one? I mentioned she and the undertaker, Byron, have a love/hate thing going on...well, they got to get it together cause they are the only two people who can deliver the zombies back to the underworld.

The underworld is the coolest thing about this book. Visualize a town of buildings from all centuries with people dressed from all eras walking around it. Too cool!!!! I loved these scenes and morbid as it sounds, wanted to visit the place... This was a real good, spine tingling read. It was a bit confusing at first, but it was well done as the secrets kept piling up and the suspense about killed me.

The only thing I didn't like was the love/hate, pull him to me/push him away thing going on with Rebekkah and Byron. She began to irritate me. The love/romance was a bit lacking. Can't say I felt it that strongly.

All in all, genius idea! The town of dead, the deal made with the Grim Reaper, basically, and the town founders.... I'm hoping that there is a sequel as well as I was really super intrigued by a character named Alicia. I'm thinking a prequel type thing is in order about her, her life, and why she's chosen to live in Death Town. I found myself picturing Sharon Stone in The Quick and the Dead.

Great read, four stars, and I received it from the publisher. Thank you, William Morrow. Really. This was a terrific change from my normal reading material.

Ride for Rights Has A Cover!

2012-01-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

I'm thrilled to announce that the cover is done!!!! What do you all think????

For those new to my blog, Ride for Rights is my YA historical coming out from MuseItUp Publishing Feb. 10th of this year.

Blurb: In the summer of 1916 women do not have the right to vote, let alone be motorcycle dispatch riders. Two sisters, Angeline and Adelaide Hanson are determined to prove to the world that not only are women capable of riding motorbikes, but they can ride motorbikes across the United States. Alone.

From a dance hall in Chicago to a jail cell in Dodge City, love and trouble both follow Angeline and Adelaide on the dirt roads across the United States. The sisters shout their triumph from Pike’s Peak only to end up lost in the Salt Lake desert.

Will they make it to their goal of Los Angeles or will too many mishaps prevent them from reaching their destination and thus, hinder their desire to prove that women can do it?

Laugh, cry, and smile with Angeline and Adelaide as they take their ride full of adventures, their ride for rights.

The Dog Who Danced by Susan Wilson

2012-01-02T12:07:00.000-08:00

They say some people handle grief in bad ways...I think this couple does. First, let me say this is a good story, not so much about a dog, but about handling grief and loss and a how a dog can help people heal.

Justine's dog is dog napped, basically and then abandoned. While she struggles with bitter feelings with her step family and her father dying AND searches for her dog, an older couple picks her dog up and replaces their lost daughter with the dog. The dog brings them together again. No longer are they sitting apart, but together in order to pet the dog who lies on both of their laps. No longer are they spending days trying to avoid each other, but bonding as they walk the dog, take the dog for rides..and so on.

My problem with this book was solely: I can't stand any of the characters. I thought the heroine, Justine, was irresponsible. I have three adorable dogs and I would never EVER leave them in the cab of some truck driver's truck, especially not a man I barely knew or knew from a bar. She also packed up her little boy and left her husband. Not a smart move. Wasn't like he beat her.. and she could barely provide for the kid.

The couple: The whole, "Let's not find his owner/let's place an ad but be half-witted about it/No, of course he doesn't have a chip.." stuff didn't fly with me. I get they loved the dog and I personally felt the dog was better off with them than Justine, but they struck me as so corrupt, I had a difficult time stomaching the whole situation.

Good book and well written, but I don't think it will agree with everyone.

Favorite quote from the dog: "Humans have this nee to express themselves through their mouths, and he supposes that this is because they are so poor with their noses." LOL

Three stars.

This was an ARC from Amazon Vine so the quote may not be exact.

La Desperada by Patricia Burroughs

2012-01-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

This is another old romance that got a makeover to keep up with the kindle age. Take a good look at that cover and title. Of course I had to read it. Thoughts of woman bandits ran through my head....

She's not a bandit though, not really. Yes, Elizabeth is running from the Law, but she's being falsely accused of murdering her own husband and her brother in law is the accuser AND the town sheriff, so really, what choice does she have but to let the famous outlaw, Boone Coulter out of jail and coerce him into helping her escape?

What follows is days trail riding, trying to stay under the radar, avoid trouble, and going hungry to boot. Elizabeth also realizes there's more to Boone than meets the eye. Is he really the cruel outlaw everyone says he is? Or did he take this path for a deeper reason..a reason of revenge?

It's revenge all right and it involves her dead husband, her evil brother in law, and things of the past. But while she is trying to avoid the BIL, Boone has a bone to pick with him.

Enter a strange Spanish man with a drug problem, a mysterious and very dead deformed woman, a whore who aims to get to NY, a nosy reporter, and a young and naive deputy, and you have a cast of characters that tie in to an action packed, keep you guessing story and a surprise ending. I especially enjoyed a scene in which Elizabeth steals the mail to score some necessary money, but as she goes through the envelopes, realizes she can't do it.. she can't take the money sent from mother to her son begging her son to buy a horse and come home... Thus, Elizabeth doesn't have a bandit's heart. At all.

I really enjoyed it, but some parts seemed a bit drawn out unnecessarily, such as the drug user and his weird fantasies. LOL I give it a four and I recommend it to all fans of historical romance.

Favorite passages:

"A lady endures, whether it be poverty or a pitiful, drunken husband, or even simple loneliness...and a lady...through he very act of her weakness, is stronger than anyone can ever imagine a lady would ever have to be."

"If you can see the wrong and point it out then that makes you feel like you're right. It seems that there's so much wickedness in their world, that people have to point their fingers and call names at your to convince themselves that they're keeping things under control."

I was provided an ebook of this from the author, no strings attached.

Happy New Year from Lit Asylum's inmates...

2011-12-31T19:03:00.000-08:00

The January edition has just gone live.. a few hours early to bring in the new year. Come check it out!! Lots of good stuff this month. First, I want to bring to your attention, my review of Fillies and Females by Bev Pettersen. Great book. I can't recommend it enough for romance and horse lovers. Carol Jean has started a Kindle Freebie Slut column on which she reviews kindle freebies. I confess I had a lot of fun, too much fun, really reviewing miscellaneous Titanic books. Do they sink or float? Find out here... I did the Indie of the Month again too. This month is Leslie Dubois, La Cienega Just Smiled.

And how many of you ladies like to escape in romance? Come see if you have some similar reading tastes to India Penwick: Guilty Pleasure

A Breach of Promise by Victoria Vane

2011-12-27T21:14:00.000-08:00

This is an erotic historical romance. I was told it was slightly "Heyer-esque." I'm not sure what that means, but I thought "Georgette Heyer," the famous author of books in the Georgian era. I hate Heyer, so it was with much trepidation that I picked this up.

It's cute, witty, and the sex is very erotic. I also learned a lot of new words, thus it was somewhat like Heyer. However, the real and very dead Heyer used as many complicated and head scratching words as possible in one sentence. Vane just throws in one per page. I also learned new things to call the female anatomy. LOL

Not bad at all. For historical erotic romance, it was good. I recommend it. Check it out. It's a one day read, not a door stopper. It's not overly descriptive, nor does it pontificate endlessly.

Favorite quote: "To my understanding a man can perform the animal act of coition in virtually any circumstance without emotional engagement of any kind." *snort* LOL

Four stars and I bought this on Amazon Kindle.

Mask of the Gladiator by Georgie Lee

2011-12-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

A short read, but entertaining, Mask takes place in the time of Caligula. He was famous for his cruelty and sexual perversions. When this vile emperor of Rome sets his sights on Livia, a young widow, he uncle announces he is marrying her off to Senator Titus whether she likes it or not.

She doesn't like it... why? Cause she has her desires reawakened by a Gladiator in the arena. One meeting and they are "getting it on." A bit quick, that.. But what she doesn't know if that her gladiator is Titus. He's got a scheme to take down Caligula and she can either cooperate or get in the way.

The secret comes out, but then their plan backfires. Did Titus run away with his tail between his legs like her first husband did or is he going to save her from Caligula's clutches cause Caligula does get his nasty hands on her...

Good, entertaining, but thought the characters sure acted on their urges mighty quick. They didn't know each other's names... Hum.

Four stars. I got this from netgalley.

A Christmas Sleeping Beauty by Lindsay Townsend

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

At first, one may look at this and think, "Bah, an overdone fairy tale.. Sleeping Beauty just wakes up on Christmas." Not so. Ms. Townsend has taken a classic fairy tale and added more than just a Holiday twist.

The prince, Orlando, can't just kiss her and wake her up and then live happily ever after with all her money. In this case, the prince must WORK for the princess, Rosie, to wake up. His kiss is not enough.

In this short story, the arrogant prince who is in it all for the glory and fame and wealth has no choice but to come to care for the princess, really care for her, or she will not wake up. He learns that she loves Christmas and burns yule logs and nuts. He builds her a sled to show her a good time.. and still she doesn't wake.

It's not till he comes to truly CARE about her and her family, that the princess will wake. However, he only has three days to accomplish this.

A very touching short story that can be read year round. It's not one of those "only at Christmas time reads." The holiday theme was no so dominant, that you would feel funny reading it in July.

Four stars. I received this from the author in exchange for an honest review.

PDF Giveaway of Dog Tails for Christmas

2011-12-22T19:53:00.000-08:00

In honor of the upcoming holiday, I'm giving a .pdf file of Dog Tails to one lucky reader. For a chance to win, please leave a comment on this post and December 25th, at Jazzy's convenience, she will choose a winner from her doggie bowl.

Feel free to spread the word! I have not done much promotion for fear of being labeled a "spammer" so any and all help is appreciated. Much thanks from Lola, Pudgy, and Jazzy. :)

And a sidenote: If you have a friend who owns both a kindle and a dog, may I suggest gifting them a "copy?" It's a perfect last minute gift and doesn't require you to fight the shopping madness. :) The Amazon link is here: Dog Tails for Kindle

Amazon Heat by Melinda Leigh and Rayna Vause

2011-12-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

This is an exciting short story. A woman doctor goes into the Amazon to search for a plant that she believes can cure cancer, breaking her lover's heart as she does so as he wants her to stay behind in the States and marry him. She is saved from a group of drug smugglers intent on rape by a group of Amazon warriors. However, the Amazons keep her captive for 2 years, wanting her medical expertise for their own gain.

During that time, he man is searching for her. The Amazons find him too and intend to keep him as a stud. After all, as the Amazon queen says, "He is male, is he not? Males rut." LOL

But this male, Logan, only has eyes for the doctor, Elizabeth and after they rekindle their love, they aim to escape, even if it means trusting another Amazon to help them.

Exciting and fun and a great plot. I loved the whole Amazon warrior tribe, but it was too short for this type of tale. I wanted to know more.. I think a lot more could have been added, such as scenes with Mari. I wanted to know more about this Amazon that was somewhat exiled from her own people. I'd love to know her background. Also, Logan with his new powers, did he impregnate Elizabeth? He almost had lightning bolts shoot from his you-know-what and they weren't using protection... I sense there may be a sequel here, some super powered baby, but I think it should have been one novel.

Four stars and I got this from netgalley.

The Golden Hour by Margaret Wurtele

2011-12-21T17:43:00.000-08:00

Wow. This is one of those books with one of those endings that just left me with my mouth hanging open.

It takes place in Italy during WWII. Italy has been taken over by Nazis. The heroine, Giovanna, is spending her teen years under German rule and has even had to give up most of her home to German soldiers. Her brother has failed to report for duty with Italian/German army and has run off to be a resistance fighter/partisan. Her father is angry as he is a devoted Fascist. (Actually, he's on the winning side whoever they may be.)

In the beginning, Gia (I'm shortening it as that's quite a bit to type over and over) is a normal teenage girl with feelings of desire. She's left with nothing but Nazis to focus her new found feelings on and she develops a crush on Hans. He's married, but that doesn't stop her...but before it goes too far, Gia realizes she's in the wrong. This botched affair leads to so many things...Gia begins to change for one thing.

She begins aiding the resistance, providing supplies, medical care, starts to ask questions. She goes from being a naive school girl ogling older, married men to a young woman with a mind of her own that believes in doing all she can to help her country and the Jews within it.

There were times I thought Gia was disappointing and stupid, but her narrative, all first person POV, was so brutally honest.. it was as though she was admitting to her own flaws. I felt as though she was speaking to me, saying, "Look what I did. Yes, I did that. Can you believe how stupid I was?" Somehow, it worked, it drew me in, and it made the heroine "real."

The ending. Wow. I didn't see that coming... to live with that knowledge the rest of one's life. Yikes. Something else in the book that had a huge impact on me was when the Allies came to town and ran out the Germans. The military higher ups sit there and talk smack about their very own Buffalo soldiers and Gia thinks...

"The irony of all this was eating away at me: the American military, so much the "white horse" for all of us in this war, felt to me like a weak echo of the Nazis' own prejudices and hostilities."

Really, too many good points for me to bring up. Loved this one. Love the narrative, the realness, the history, the drama, and except for her father who I never came to like, the characters.

Five stars and I got this ARC from Amazon Vine.

Pope Joan was made into a movie and it's HERE!!!!!!!!

2011-12-17T14:58:00.000-08:00

Ok..deep breath. Years ago, I read a book called Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross. It's a fictional account of a female who after a very rough life, passed herself off as a man and became the POPE. No joke. And I believe it. I do.

I loved the first half of this book, grew bored in the second half, but this book left an impact on me. It did. And it was made into a movie that until now was only in Germany. It's finally come our way. December 18th, it airs on Reelz channel. Believe me, I'm recording.

What I thought of the book:

"Let her copy the behavior of a dog who always has his heart and his eye upon his master: even if his master whip him and throw stones at him."

That is an excerpt from the book. It was in a wedding ceremony, spoken to the bride of course. What a lovely time that must have been to be a woman! I liked this book very much due mostly to the fact it is about an amazingly strong, courageous, and gutsy woman. She struggled like no other heroine I have yet read about. The first half of the book has more personality and really focuses on her, her thoughts, her feelings, and her trials. The last half of the book bored me to tears in some places, as it tends to go on and on about the papacy and a lot of war. That was the times and what was occuring during that part of her life, but I wish it had a more personal feel like the first half of the book.

NOTE: be aware this is very controversial and when you are overheard discussing it with your close buddy, some very opinated, know it all male is going to butt in and give his two cents and deny her existence. To each their own I say. I BELIEVE.

Find more info on the movie here: Pope Joan on Reelz

Spitfire Girl by Lily Baxter

2011-12-16T18:54:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this cover!!! World War 2!! Spitfires! A woman in uniform! Right?

*Snort*

Here's the real lowdown and why I'm giving this one a low rating:

Quibble 1: The heroine is so nice, it made me sick. And of course, until page 180, she's the ONLY nice woman in the book. ALL the other women around her are beeyotches. All four of them..

Quibble 2: As if that isn't bad enough, all the fellows either want to rape her or marry her.

Quibble 3: Heroine again. She falls in love immediately. She meets Tony on the street, one time, and she's in LUV. Colin takes her dancing and you guessed it: she's in LUV.

Quibble 4: Until around page 300, the heroine never steps foot in a plane. This is a 443 page book so imagine my disappointment.. especially after I spent big bucks on this one thinking it would make a great addition to my women in aviation collection... I feel cheated. It's 300 pages of soap opera and only 143 pages of anything really aviation related. For most of the book, the heroine is a servant to someone in some way or another.

Confession: After page 180, I couldn't bear it anymore and had to skim. I had a bad feeling I wasn't getting the aviation story I had been expecting..

It's probably a good book if that's what you are looking for. Didn't work for me. Two stars.

I bought this used on Amazon and am posting it on pbs if anyone wants it.

Crooked Hearts by Patricia Gaffney

2011-12-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

I had some doubts when I first found this one netgalley and requested it. See, it's an older romance being reprinted and kindelized, and I thought it may be a bodice ripper due to some of the cover/blurb/flap jackets that were on the older editions. However, I not only read it, but thoroughly enjoyed it and had many a laugh. It is not really a bodice ripper. The sex when it finally occurs over halfway into the book, isn't horrible or cheesy. Though there is some Spanish Fly involved...

The first quarter is absolutely hilarious! The heroine is pretending to be a nun and coercing sympathetic men out of their money as they donate to what they think is Sisters of Hope and staring orphans. The hero is pretending to be blind and does he get an eyeful as the "nun" makes adjustments to her clothing, thinking she is safe in the presence of a blind man.

She needs money to save her farm and he needs money to pay off debts though it takes a while to get both of their "real" stories as they continue to lie to each other throughout the book, neither of them trusting the other despite their new partnership.

What starts as a scam during a simple game of 7 card stud evolves into an attempt at swindling a Chinese drug lord...and it all goes very badly. Seems the Chinese drug lord is way smarter than they are and he wants Grace/Sister Augustine/the heroine for his bride. Yikes!

Borrowed from Karla on goodreads.

Grace and Reuben begin to desire each other, save each other numerous times, and enter one shady deal after another in their rush to make money. Their banter and jokes made the book worthwhile even when it began to drag. The last half wasn't as funny and I started to find the whole thing with Mark Wing, the drug lord and his overall character a bit preposterous. But the ending had a surprise twist and the book redeemed itself.

Favorite laugh out moment: (This is when Reuben was still somewhat reeling at the discovery that Sister Augustine wasn't really a nun. He has a funny dream that he's standing at a pulpit with an audience of nuns.)

"Seated in orderly rows, they all suddenly crossed their legs and hiked up their skirts, like a chorus of cancan dancers. Some had pistols tucked into their garters, and some had little floral bouquets. Smiling, swinging their crossed legs back and forth in a leisurely rhythm, they hung on Reuben's every word, and nodded in unison when he suggested that many of them might benefit from some private spiritual instruction."

Four stars. A funny historical romance revived. And an extra thumbs up for the heroine not being a simpering virgin, but a woman who knows what she wants and gets it.

A Facebook Affair Blog Tour

2011-12-13T15:06:00.000-08:00

I will be doing interviews and guest blog posts on 8 different blogs throughout the months of December and January to promote my latest romance novel, A Facebook Affair. Because I am not too great at guests posts, most of them are interviews, but I assure you you may learn something new every time, either about me or about A Facebook Affair.

So, those interested in following me, this is the schedule:

December 17th, Interview on Books-n-Kisses

December 30th, Interview on Fallen Angels Reviews

January 7th, Interview on Veiled Secrets Reviews

January 13th, Guest Blog Post on Long & Short Reviews

January 14th, Interview on Heather Brewer's site

Jaunary 21st, Interview on Pen & Muse

January 27th, Interview on Miz Love & Crew Love Books

Please leave comments so I don't feel like a douche. :)

Giveaway of A Facebook Affair: Winner

2011-12-11T11:09:00.001-08:00

The winner of a digital copy of my newest contemporary romance is T.L.N. I've emailed you the file. Happy reading!

Ride for Rights: Inez Milholland

2011-12-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

In Ride for Rights, coming February 10th, 2012 from MuseItUp Publishing , Angeline and Adelaide Hanson meet a variety of fascinating women on their ride across the United States. Many of these women are loosely based on fascinating women in history during that time. The real sisters, the Van Burens, mostly likely did not meet these women, but when penning historical fiction, one is allowed to take liberties provided they explain them in Author's Notes.

In Ride, the sisters find themselves in a jail cell in Dodge City, Kansas...only one woman can save them. Inez.

Inez smiled Joe’s way. “First, let’s get these young ladies out of here. Mr. Cooper, I’m Mrs. Mulholland, and I am here to represent these very lovely and very wronged young women.” She gestured to the two women standing and looking smugly from behind the bars.

“A woman lawyer?” The sheriff practically spat the words. “Women are to be discreet, chaste keepers at home, good and obedient to their husbands, not running around the world bein’ lawyers and ridin’ motorbikes!”

Inez laughed, and this only seemed to anger the sheriff further. Alan was wondering if the man was about to have a heart malfunction and prepared to run for help if the need arose. Joe was rather hoping the man would have a heart malfunction. Inez just looked calmly at the sheriff and said, “Let’s talk about that, shall we?”

Who was the real Inez? If you've seen the movie Iron Jawed Angels, she was played by the lovely Julia Ormond. She really was involved in the suffrage movement and rode the white horse in the parade.

She was born in 1866 and grew up in Brooklyn. She became a lawyer, proposed to her husband rather than waiting, and never had children. A woman way ahead of her time.

In 1916 while the Van Burens were doing their real life ride, Inez was touring the west speaking for women's rights. It's quite possible she was in the vicinity. Sadly, she had poor health, pernicious anemia, and she died that very year. Her last public words were, "Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?"

A mountain was even named after this amazing woman. Mount Discovery in the Adirondacks was renamed Mount Inez.

Interview @ Flashlight Commentary!

2011-12-09T11:12:00.000-08:00

Hi, all! I'm over on Flashlight Commentary today talking what all went into A Facebook Affair, how the idea was born, and working with a publisher. Come on over and leave a comment or just check out the lovely blog.

Interview at Flashlight Commentary

Nobody Girl by Leslie DuBois

2011-12-08T12:21:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of Leslie Dubois now, I think. This is the second book I have read by her and though I don't love it as much as I did the first one I read, I really enjoyed it. Dubois tackles sensitive subjects and touchy story lines with an artistic skill and an engaging voice.

What this contains: A woman living with the knowledge she was found in a dumpster and adopted, the possibility she's a pedophile as she discovers a summer fling is actually a high school student, divorce, and lack of self esteem. Also: Adultery, prostitution, interracial dating, undercover cops, drug rings, computer hacking... Really.. awesome stuff. There's no end to the excitement and I was on the edge of my seat. I devoured this in one day, no skimming.

My only quibbles: It was too predictable. This didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story, but when I compare it to the shocker Ain't No Sunshine, I was expecting more by way of surprises. There were some typos too.

4 stars and I won this on LibraryThing Member Giveaways.

Giveaway of A Facebook Affair

2011-12-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

Hi all! Friday, the ninth, my first contemporary romance comes out from Breathless Press. I have one copy left to giveaway... I have epub, mobi, pdf.. la de da. So one lucky winner gets one. Leave a comment below and be sure to leave your email address for me and what kind of file you would like. Contest ends Sunday the 11th whenever I get up that morning and the winner will be chosen by Jazzy from her dog bowl. :)

Synopsis:

When Kelly and Brandon rediscover each other on Facebook after twenty years apart, it sparks an attraction that even distance can't extinguish. Do they truly have a future, or is this just a Facebook affair?

Kelly Littleton takes the plunge and finally joins Facebook to socialize without the limits that her hearing impairment gives her. On a whim, she looks up a childhood friend. In sending him that first message, she ignites the memories of a crush from twenty years ago. But will they turn into the flames of romance, or end up the ashes of a Facebook affair?

Brandon Hopkins has a lot on his plate. A recent divorce, a pregnant sister, and now, he realizes he's in love with a woman who lives states away. Can he overcome the boundaries of internet romance to make this desire turn into something real, or will adversity and distance be their undoing?

And for those willing to buy it, here's the link: A Facebook Affair on Breathless Press.

Thank you all for your time and good luck!

December's Lit Asylum

2011-12-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

Come check out the great articles this month in Lit Asylum!!! First of all, an interview with Elizabeth Chadwick. She also permitted Lit to post a sneak peak of her WIP, The Summer Queen. I have two "articles" in it myself. I feel funny calling them articles as one is just a list of Top Ten Books for Dog Lovers for those who need to buy a gift this Holiday Season for that dog loving friend and one is just reviews about book touching on the subject of honor killings and rape. And for those who love those out of print, but still good historical novels: Top 10 Out of Print Historicals by Carol Jean.

In Her Sights by Robin Perini

2011-12-04T22:55:00.000-08:00

Action packed from the get go.

The low down: Jazz Parker is a take no dirt from anyone female sniper on SWAT. She's the only woman and she's got a lot to prove. She's somewhat ostracized from the team because of her sex and the brick wall she has built around herself. That wall is there for a reason though. She's got a secret past and identity she ran away from, or thought she did.

Luke almost knocked down her defenses once so she left him. Luke is former military and gets to the bottom of things. He ends right smack in the middle of a revenge plot that's main focus is Jazz.

So what we end up with: Dirty cops, snipers, slashed up trucks, kidnapped girls, a family and group of brothers placed in danger, a sordid past coming up again and again, and lots of butter rum lifesavers as the heroine sucks on them or reaches for them constantly. (A minor irritation.)

I thought I had it all figured out but apparently not. I figured it out for real in the last quarter.. A good yarn. The sex was good, but considering the hero had a box of condoms next to the butter rum lifesavers, why weren't they using them? She's a SWAT sniper. Getting pregnant probably isn't a good idea.

Also found myself rolling my eyes at the super sweet little girl. Gimme a break. The whole world doting on her, all her preciousness. Thought the ending was over sappy, but overall it's a good, action packed read with a tough as nails heroine.

Four stars and I got this from Amazon Vine.

A Facebook Affair Available for Pre-Order

2011-12-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

Yes, you can pre-order my December release, a contemporary romance novel on the publisher's website. :) Go check it out and order your copy today.

Here's the link: Pre Order AFBA on Breathless Press

There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff

2011-11-30T22:18:00.000-08:00

At first, I found this book hilarious and was spending more time laughing than reading. Let's pretend that God is really a teenage boy who's really horny and every time he falls in love with a chick, a mortal chick, the earth is destroyed by crazy weather. Every time he forgets to turn off the water in his bathtub, the earth is flooded. And this is a very lazy, self-centered, God named Bob who's mother won the planet earth in a galaxy poker game. The author gets a star for uniqueness alone. LOL

Bob is yet in love with another mortal girl, Lucy. But it can't work because Lucy is going to age, wither, and rot and Bob is going to stay Bob. There's also Mr. B who does all the work and wishes to resign, Estelle (I have nothing much to say about her. Her character didn't have a lot of impact, really.) Bob's mom... and this was just too weird. I'll get to that.

The book reminds me of an Adam Sandler movie. It's stupid. It's so stupid, it's funny.

--Bob screws up his face and farts. (Remember, Bob is God.)

--And Bob said, "Let the earth bring forth grass and the fruit tree," and it did, and Mr. B had to admit that many of the fruits were inventive and delicious, with one or two exceptions-pomegranates, which seemed to be all form and no function, and lemons, which caused his mouth to purse up like a duck's anus...

There's more. There are some absolutely hilarious moments, but they were mostly in the beginning. As the book continued, I discovered I was no longer laughing. The jokes stopped. Bob just became stupid and petulant. The plot.. wasn't going anywhere, really. By the end, had it not been for the laughs, I realized there was no point to reading this book. And Bob's mom.. a prime example of weirdness that was too much.. she runs around wearing nothing but a few postage stamps? Are these little people?

I appreciate the good idea, however, and also like the entire joke of God being a teenage boy and yet the entire world is brainwashed into think he's something wonderful simply because he created man in his own image and instilled in them the desire to worship him. Ha ha ha.

Three stars and this is an ARC I got through Shelf Awareness. Thus, the quotes may not be exact.

Alias Dragonfly by Jane Singer

2011-11-29T11:21:00.000-08:00

Female Spy, Civil War.. and for once, on the Union side... I saw this and declared I must read it.

The synopsis: Maddie is fifteen, her mother is dead, her father is off to fight in the Civil War, and she's been dumped at her Confederate loving aunt's boarding house. She finds herself in the middle of intrigue and ends up recruited by Pinkerton agents as a spy. Turns out Maddie has a really good eye..

I should've loved it, but I didn't. Nothing wrong with the writing style, let's get that out there. What did work for me is:

1. She doesn't become a spy until halfway through. The going is slow till then. The seventy percent point, she's still practicing maneuvers.

2. Some things were just too preposterous. We're supposed to believe that Aunt Salome, the old stick in the mud, the same lady who gripes at Maddie for not dressing properly, is going to allow one of her boarders to just drag Maddie off to his sister's house for two days without a chaperone? I don't think so.

3. It took so long for Maddie and her reporter friend to follow her dad and his troops to the battle that they had to camp and all, but when the battle's over, Maddie simply hops on a wagon and voila! She's back at the boarding house.. ?

4. The reports, newspaper editorials.. What was the point?

5. Master of Disguise? Not till the very end almost.

By the time the action occurred, I wasn't motivated to go any further. I give this a two. Again, like the style, but way too drawn out. Needs more action in the beginning.

This was a netgalley book.

The Last Nude by Ellis Avery

2011-11-24T21:17:00.000-08:00

A fascinating book. I was so intrigued by all of its characters and going ons, that I had to google the Lempicka's complete works and see the paintings mentioned in the novel for myself.

Tamara Lempicka was a famous artist who began her life as a Pole in Russia...later kicked out in the revolution. She honed her skills as a a painter in Paris and explored freely with her sexuality. Apparently, (in this book, anyway) any artistic woman in France in 1927 worth her salt was a Lesbian. The heroine and Lempicka tend to socialize and stay in that inner circle.

Rafaela narrates the tale. Rafaela escaped an unwanted marriage to find herself posing naked on Lempicka's couch. Lempicka takes Rafaela to her bed as well through her narrative and eyes, we learn about how Lempicka painted La Belle Rafaela, The Dream, Nude With Dove, Chemise Rose, and Full Summer. The pink chemise...a gift sewn by Rafaela...the Nude With Dove...due to an issue of jealousy and an old lover of Lempicka's, it's actually Rafaela's body, but another woman's face.
These paintings, mostly of Rafaela, set off a bidding war between two very rich men. Enter greed, lies, deceit, train tickets, unlocked doors, money exchanging hands, private eyes smoking cigarettes, and above all, Rafaela's broken heart. See, she loves Lempicka, but Lempicka only loves...herself.

The last part, the last quarter of the book, suddenly switches over to an old Lempicka with shaky hands and a fading memory and I actually fell asleep here. I found her narrative very boring, and I was a tad disappointed that we don't really find out what happened to Rafaela. At the same time, however, I also appreciated the unique ending. It's different. The entire novel is different.

I also learned a lot about a fascinating woman. Violette Morris: a race car driver who cut off her breasts just to better fit in a car, a professional boxer who even knocked out men, and a gifted athlete. Sadly, she also ended up on the Gestapo's side during the war...but nevertheless, she had a few guest appearances in this books and I was really intrigued. Had to google her as well.

Favorite scene: When Rafaela posed at the party under the flashing light...quickly.. just three flashes. Wow!

Overall: A very good read till the last part. Four stars. I won this on LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

**Note to Publisher/Editor of this book... I read an ARC and I noticed an error that I think you still have time to fix. On page 65, it says, "Moments later, the doorbell rang. Before, I had had only heard it from the outside, dull and distant..." However, on page 46, she had already heard that doorbell from the inside. "Tamara and I woke to the sound of a doorbell and a child's voice calling.."

I may not be the only one that notices that. :p

Sultana's Legacy by Lisa Yarde

2011-11-23T00:59:00.000-08:00

Sultana's Legacy is a sad and violent story about the downfall of a family. If you read the first book, you would remember Fatima and Faraj and their incredible love for each other and you probably thought, "This is going to be a HEA.." Eh, not really.

There is too much drama to summarize it in a nice and neat little review package. It spans the entire last half of Fatima's and Faraj's lives. We get to know their children and meet their grandchildren and see how the Sultanate has cursed their lives, how greed ruins a family. In book one, Fatima watched her father ascend the throne. In this book, Fatima watches her father battle an addiction and a slight form of madness. He loses the throne to his son, Fatima's brother: the cruel one who tried to kill her in book one. When Muhammad ascends the throne, heads go flying. This leads to marital discord between Fatima and Faraj as she tries to usurp one brother in order to place another brother on the throne...

By this point, I began to see some madness in Fatima and started to wonder if she was just as nutty as her brother. Or is she just a woman determined to do the right thing at any cost? With all that happens, however, it's a wonder she doesn't lose all of her marbles. One brother replaces another, her husband imprisons her, her son betrays her and Faraj, nephews kill uncles.. all in the name of the Sultanship.. or for the lust of a woman.

Obviously, the drama, the violence, the betrayals were non stop. This is not a boring book. I really enjoyed it, the story, the surprising twists, and the author's perfect balance of descriptive details: not too much, not too little.

I was often confused by the characters' sudden personality changes though. I found it odd... that a man who was willing to defy a Sultan for collaborating with a man who killed a child would later support a Sultan who was lopping off random heads...and Fatima supported one man stealing the throne, so when her son did the same thing, why was she so outraged? In the beginning, Faraj was defying the Sultan and she was telling him how wrong he was, that he must be loyal to the Sultan no matter what. And later, there was a total role reversal as Fatima defied the Sultan and Faraj was all for brown nosing. Throughout the novel, I kept pondering this. But I guess their unpredictability is what made them human. And well, I confess I also thought Fatima may be going through menopause a few times. :p

An exciting read. I should mention there is a lot of violence. It's not for the faint of heart or the squeamish as the author brings to life a violent time. The things men do for power...

Favorite quote: "No, for you could not know the measure of my feelings for her in such a simple answer. The love I bear her is as unfathomable as the depths of the White Sea, even to me."

Four stars and I received this from the author.

And if you missed the first one and want to know more, see my review here: Sultana

Hear Through My Ears Cover Art

2011-11-19T20:35:00.000-08:00

I have been chattering about this book for ages.. a year now? But there was one setback after another.. and eleven months into the year, I finally have something to show for it. Here is the cover to Hear Through My Ears, my memoir coming out any day now on kindle. As soon as I have a publication date, I will shout it from the rooftops.

Special thanks to Staci Perkins at Author Creations for putting this together for me. You can find her at: Author Creations FB Page.

The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar

2011-11-19T01:15:00.000-08:00

What I really liked about this novel is the way one thing led to another.. One woman, imprisoned by her health, by her declining body leads to the release of a woman imprisoned by her marriage..

This novel follows six people, four women, two men. The four women were once the best of friends, but time and distance has split them up. However, they still think of each other and more so when it's discovered that one of them, Armaiti, the one in America, is dying of a brain tumor.

This story was another great part of the novel. Food for thought: You have a tumor/cancer and only 6 months or so to live.. Do you die on your terms? Or do you go through countless surgeries/chemo and die on other's terms? Really loved this aspect.

Laleh blames herself for Armaiti's tumor, thinking it is the result of a blow to the head long ago in their girls' rioting days.. Her husband tries to make her see reason. Kavita is a lesbian who even in middle age, feels she must hide the fact from her family because it's not just done openly in India. And then there's Nishta...

Nishta married a Muslim man.. and when the riots occurred, he was changed forever. He says at one point in the book that she's the only beautiful thing left in his life.. and he keeps her close in check, using religion to do so. He imprisons her. The other women only become aware of this when Armaiti calls from America asking them all to come visit her and see her one last time before she dies.. and this how one woman's misfortune becomes one woman's blessing.

Quibbles: Seemed over wordy and too long for what it actually contained. The girls' past rebellion was brought up a lot, but except for that one riot that was mentioned, I wasn't sure what all they had fighting for or how.. That wasn't too clear to me. The ending.. left me wanting. It felt incomplete. I needed that happy reunion.. not the promise of it.

I got this on Amazon Vine and I give it a three. good, but could be better.

Ride for Rights: Amelia Makes a Guest Appearance

2011-11-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm talking about the famous aviatrix, Amelia Earhart. Did you honestly think for a moment that I could pen a historical novel without inserting my favorite woman in history?

--There was a droning sound, much like a very loud bee above them, and Angeline looked up at the sky in curiosity. She squinted into the noonday sun and placed her hand on her forehead over her eyes in an attempt to see more clearly. The source of the noise was a yellow plane with two sets of wings, a propeller the only thing appearing to keep it in the air. As Angeline watched, the plane swooped down and caused the children to squeal and scatter in mock fright. The plane ascended once again and made a loop before waggling its wings, first the right, then the left, and turning back toward the direction it had come from.

Angeline was awed and said as much to Susan.

“That’s Amelia,” Susan sighed. “She gives her mother heart failure every time she goes up in that newly acquired contraption. She’s about your age, and she lives in Atchison. She does a flyby every now and then to please the children. I still speak to her mother. Can you imagine flying that?” Susan shook her head at the young pilot’s antics.

“Yes, I can,” Angeline said thoughtfully as she watched the little yellow plane disappear into the Kansas sky. “Yes, I can.”--

How did I come up with this? Angeline and Adelaide end up in Kansas City and Atchison is not far away. For those that may not know, Atchison was Amelia's home town. I had the pleasure of visiting the home of her birth on a recent trip. I will post pictures here in a second.. but let me explain, how I even came up with this connection...

The real life Angeline, Augusta Van Buren, went on to become an aviatrix herself and she was a part of Amelia's famous Ninety-Nines. Amelia started this group of woman pilots in November of 1929, shortly after competing in the Woman's Air Derby that same year. Matter of fact, that's where the idea was born. So, the real life Augusta Van Vuren, no doubt, did at some point, hob not with the famous aviatrix. However, in 1916, Amelia WAS NOT flying around in her yellow plane over Atchison yet. She was actually in Illinois finishing school. This information will be found in my Author's Notes.

And here is Amelia's birthplace, now the Amelia Earhart Birthplace museum:

The outside

A parlor?

She was just as short as me!

The dining room

Outfit worn by Hilary Swank in the movie, Amelia

Worn by Hilary Swank

Another Swanky costume

The bedroom where she was born

Wish I had this painting.

Ride for Rights will be available February 10th from MuseItUp Publishing.

The Hollow House by Janis Patterson

2011-11-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

This is a historical mystery. Funny thing... except for when the heroine goes to the bookstore, the story never leaves the house, but somehow, the lack of settings do not hurt this book one bit. It's like a historical clue... There one house, there'a murder, and a household full of people and you, along with the heroine, must figure out whodunit. Cause if the head of the household (Well, second in command, actually) were to have her way, the heroine of the story, Rosalind, would be blamed for the murder. Cause she has killed before. Apparently, starting a new life in a new state with a new name isn't going to escape her past...

Rosalind has just begun working as an old lady's companion when a maid is murdered. Was it the butler, the daughter, the husband, the cook, the old lady, or the new hired hand? Rosalind best find out soon or she will be blamed.. cause nothing makes such a good scapegoat as a person who has just escaped a murder rap for killing her husband.

This being a mystery, I'm hesitant to say much more. It was well written, engaging, and I love the heroine and her sarcasm and descriptions. "If Eusacia Congreave was unattractive, her mother was ugly. Unquestionably, magnificently ugly, with a face that resembled nothing more than an ancient, bad-tempered bulldog of uncertain antecedents."

I also liked the fact that the heroine is not cowed.. even when threatened with kidnapping, poisoning, and a mental institution, she defends herself.

My only quibble: At times, characters were repeating themselves.. If the detective was in the room when so and so revealed this and that, why are you repeating it all to him a few pages later?

Coming soon from Carina. I received this on netgalley. Four stars. I recommend it. I also wonder if there may be a sequel. I'd love to read it.

Lit Asylum, Sinful Urges

2011-11-10T01:26:00.000-08:00

I have two things to bring to everyone's attention. 1. The November Lit Asylum is up. Be sure to check it out. There's my "Strong Woman of the Month feature, an Indie read (Asenath, ancient Egypt), and I address a controversial topic in my column: homosexuality in books. Should it have a label? And don't forget Trash or Treasure by Carol Jean and there's another great article about Christian fiction.

Last, but not least, an update of my works.

A Facebook Affair edits are complete and it is scheduled for release December 16th. Ride for Rights edits are complete and it is scheduled for release February 10th. Sinful Urges has gone through round one of content edits and has a cover... drumroll, please...

Its release date is February 3rd.

My memoir is going through edits and cover art. I'm currently seeking a charity to donate the profits to and its new title is Hear Through My Ears. No release date as of yet.

The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott

2011-11-06T21:42:00.000-08:00

This novel left me reeling. I loved it. Why? I'm a bit of a Titanic buff. For some reason, the sinking of the magnificent ship has always fascinated me, from the cheap rivets, to the greed behind White Star to the finger pointing and cowardly, selfish people.. This novel has it all plus four very strong women.

Strong woman # 1: Tess boards the Titanic as a helper to the famous fashion designer Lady Duff Gordon. Tess is a strong woman despite her moments of irritating servitude and passiveness in her haste to pacify her employer and maintain her position. In the beginning, Tess up and quits her job, demanding pay for her services, and just waltzes out the door and down to the dock... That takes balls. Throughout the novel, Tess is faced with one dilemma after another. How can she keep Lucile (Lady Duff Gordon) happy without compromising herself or her independent thinking? Has she just exchanged one life of servitude for another? Is Lucile her friend? Get in the boat or sink? When the Titanic trials begin, Tess must choose between a man she holds dear and her employer who can pave her way to the fashion world in America. And when faced with two beaus, Tess must decide if she's going to choose a man who will help her along the way (must like Lucile did) or a man who has nothing to his name, but a lot of gumption and courage.

Strong woman # 2 is Lucile, Lady Duff Gordon. She's strong, but not very likable. She only cares for herself.. She survives on Life Boat 1... Did she and her husband bribe the sailors to abandon survivors in the ocean? Did someone in her boat beat off people in the water? Why was her boat so empty? As the trial unfolds, we find out some shocking answers. She also plays a hand in a suicide of a fellow survivor... Meanwhile, she embroils Tess further into her web and into her upcoming fashion show..

Strong woman # 3: Molly Brown. You've heard of her.. famous for her money, her house in Colorado, her involvement in women's rights. She has a few guest appearances and almost steals the show. When she jumps into a life boat and discovers that not a single sailor in it knows how to row, she rows the boat herself. "Oh, for God's sake." Scrambling forward, Mrs. Brown grabbed an oar and pointed Tess to the one on the other side. "Let's show these cowards what it means to do your job!"

Strong woman # 4: Pinky Wade, girl reporter for the Times. She's got an ailing father at home, is sick and tired of not making equal pay to the male reporters, befriends Tess and gets to the bottom of a lot of BS going on in the Titanic case on the sides.. Namely, she's out to get Lucile. Did I mention she's also involved in the Suffragist movement? Favorite quote from Pinky: "Women gathering, marching, doing anything together makes a lot of men go crazy. They yell and scream and taunt and shake their fists. You know why? They're scared. They're scared we'll actually gain power and force them to change."

A great novel. I have not a single quibble. It was well told, entertaining, had just the right amount of history mixed in with made up drama and above all, it was full of tough women. And it made me think.. what would I do in this situation? Sink or swim? Save myself only or save others too? Do any of us really know how we will act until we face a situation like this? How many men would throw a tablecloth over their heads to pass as a woman in order to get into a life boat?

A thought to munch on: "My mother's advice was always to hold my head up. First time you let it hang, somebody hammers it down further."

Five stars. This one really made an impact on me. I received this in egalley format from netgalley.

Reviewer Spotlight

2011-11-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

My friend, Jenny, has started a new blog that focuses on readers/reviewers/and authors and the publishing industry. Today, I'm pleased to say, she's posted an interview with me. It's not more yakking about my writing or my books, but about my reading habits and my life as a book reviewer.

Check it out! My Interview

Glass Boxes

2011-10-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, here on Book Babe, I've posted pictures of crafts I have made. Well, I have been so busy as of late with writing, work, and editing, that I haven't had time for my other hobbies. But I want to talk about a friend's. She has a talent for painting and has begun painting adorable pictures onto glass boxes that she puts Christmas lights inside. They make great decorations or gifts for this upcoming Holiday season.

I have personally purchased three of them myself, two of them custom requests and two of them shipped for me. She has it all set up with pay pal so it's easy convenient. I want to invite you to check out her FB page for these handcrafted boxes and like and leave comments and maybe even order one yourself. :)

Here are the ones I got:

For my mother in law:

For myself:

For my mom:

And these are just plain cute!

There's a ton more.. Again, she has a FB page. Check it out! Handpainted glass boxes by Melanie

Dark Vow by Shona Husk

2011-10-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! I don't normally read anything that falls into scifi or fantasy genres, but the premise of this grabbed my attention.. A woman in a somewhat western/fantasy world works as a gunsmithy and when a bullet made by her is used to kill her husband, she vows revenge.

The world is somewhat hard to explain in a review.. It's a rugged world full of horseless buggies and guns and farming. Thus, the western feel. But there's also ten different gods over different trades (for men only.. hrmph.) such as mining, farming, and there's a bad god, the god of everything unexplained and magic, the Arcane.

The Arcane sends a bounty hunter to kill her husband. Why? She only did some engraving and made some bullets... Regardless, she's got a dead husband and as a woman, she can't get licensed to be a gunsmith herself so she's got two choices: become a whore/kept woman or move on and do her thing. She chooses the latter and along the way, meets Obsidian, an Arcane with a stone hand. See, he disobeyed the rules and healed people for free.. and now every time he heals someone, a little more of him turns to stone. But he's got skills that Jaines needs to find the bounty hunter. Can she get past her dislike for everything Arcane enough to get along with Obsidian, accept and use his help, and track down the hunter?

There's one dilemma after another as she falls in love with Obsidian and he with her, another group wants the hunter's gun to do kill more lives, and Obsidian may be faced with saving the woman he loves AND turning to stone in the process. This story was action packed, suspenseful, well told, and had a ball busting heroine. I LOVED every minute of it.

LOL quote: "If an Arcane farted near Tallow (a deputy), he'd have bottled the stench and worn it as perfume."

Favorite quotes:

This one is about Jaines's grief and it just really struck me: "Working gave me a reason to get up. Working made me hungry, so I ate. Working made me dirty, so I bathed. Without work, I would've crumpled into the empty bed, closed my eyes and never woken up."

I was surprised at the "closed door" sex, but sex wasn't necessary in this story to make things sexy as seen in this quote here: "Even with my back to him, our eyes would meet in the mirror. The heat in his gaze was brighter and hotter than any flame. I wanted him to always look at me like that, to make me feel like I could melt from just one touch."

I suspect and I hope there is a sequel to this.. I devoured every word. Five stars.

I got this from netgalley.

Icebound by Julie Rowe

2011-10-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

This is like a psychiatry lesson and contemporary romance in one. It addresses handling grief in the face of losing a loved one, feelings of guilt, sharing the 'blame,' and surviving a traumatic childhood. In the background is the trials and tribulations of surviving a winter in Antarctica.

Emilie is the one dealing with grief. She has lost her husband and is struggling to get past his death a year later. She's a doctor with "everything needed to treat every malady except her own. Loneliness wasn't listed in the medical textbooks." She goes to Antarctica to finish her late husband's research and falls for Tom. Tom is the one trying to overcome a traumatic childhood. He knew nothing but abuse growing up and feels that he will be an abuser too. He must learn that you are not always what you are raised to be, that one can overcome a childhood full of hate. There's immediate chemistry between these two.. (too immediate, actually.. ) and their relationship goes back and forth. Tom claims he is a one night stand man (he's climbed Everestt, crossed the Gobi Desert, and looked down the barrel of a gun, but the thought of a wife and kids scares the crap out of him) and they can only be friends, yet he gives the impression they have a relationship. This was odd and disconcerting at times. Emilie is all about marriage and kids. (I would so not mention that to a man one month after meeting him! LOL)

So how is this going to work out between Tom and Emilie? One of them is going to have to change their long term plans in order to accept the other's...

I mentioned guilt and sharing of blame being another issue. Remember this takes place in Antarctica, a very rough terrain. An accident results in death and a man must deal with the fact that he possibly killed his best friend, but there may be more to the accident than they initially realize.

The medical stuff: FABULOUS. I had no idea what all hypothermia was really about or how to treat it till now. And even though this is just a contemporary romance.. not a murder mystery or anything like that, I really got a good idea of what life on Antarctica is like. There was plenty of excitement as well... downed power lines, fires, accidents... The author did a fabulous job.

Still felt the romance between Emilie and Tom sort of came up too fast and out of nowhere. I would have appreciated a bit more build up there.. so four stars.

Favorite quote: "There are all kinds of ways to die...It's living that takes guts."

I received an egalley of this through netgalley.

Sail My Oceans by D.F. Krieger

2011-10-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

I won this on a blog today and as it's a novelette, decided to read it right away. I just needed entertainment and this book promised to have a strong heroine, a futuristic pirate. And I was not disappointed.. This is an awesome heroine!

Lucy is a space pirate who unloads other space ships of their cargo and crew and sells them for profit. She picks up some prisoners, Julius and Devon only to discover that they aren't really prisoners.. but the victims of some really underhanded dealings. The men convince her to help them and later, aid their crew.. but what is Lucy getting out of all this? Not just money.. No. Some hot sex.. :)

First of all, this is a sci fi but it doesn't have ugly alien beings or anything too strange to comprehend. There's ships and planets and normal technology. It seems to be a combination of the past and the future as there are horses and hovercraft.

Second of all, this is an erotic romance but the sex doesn't take up the entire book. It's tastefully done and at intervals. There really is a story. I really enjoyed it. Loved Lucy! Want more of her.

Third, hooray for condom usage!!!

I have no complaints about this story. I loved it. Here are some "hot damn" moments:

"She imagined his body stretched out on her bed as she rode that stoic stare right off his face."

"He imaged striding across the room, kneeling her across that desk, and giving that firm ass a hard smack."

No worries, potential readers, the characters don't stop at just imagining things... he he he. And here, I laughed:

(Julius) "Thanks for not calling me a pussy."
Devon shrugged. "I figure some things are so obvious, they don't need to be said."

And later, Julius gets Devon back after he leave Devon in Lucy's care:
"Perhaps tomorrow you'll need my assistance in forgetting this brute."

Five stars. Entertaining, sexy, and funny.

A Hearing Heart by Bonnie Dee

2011-10-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

I was torn two different ways by this novel. On one hand, I loved the message it conveys, that deaf isn't dumb and we are just like everyone else with desires, wants, and the need for love. On the other hand, it took me a long time to like the heroine. She does a good thing teaching a deaf man to sign and read, but for a while there, it feels as though she is using him. She loves him, but is embarrassed by him and too afraid of what society will think. It takes her a long time to grow some balls and publicly show her feelings for Jim. And the way she treats him at a dance....

That's not all there is to this though. There's an underlying story of a man buying up a town and getting involved in illegal practices. This endangers Jim because since meeting Catherine, he's gotten "ideas above his station" as the townfolk like to say and wants to make more money in hopes Catherine will be less ashamed of him. Him ends up with a choice to make: turn his boss in or keep taking the money to do a job and be quiet..

I rate this a 3.5. I didn't like the heroine though she does see the light in the end.. and I grew sick and tired.. (I get this a romance, but...) of reading about his straining cock/erection. He's a horny bugger. Most men are. I get it. Let's move on...

Favorite quote: "..there are some things we convince ourselves we have no control over when the truth is the power was in our hands all along."

My mother gave this to me as a birthday present. I read it on my kindle.

Rippler and Chameleon by Cidney Swanson

2011-10-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

I won the Rippler in LibraryThing Member Giveaway... and after I reviewed it, the author approached me asking if I would like to read the sequel.. I said yes. Here's why:

What a great story!! I'm on the edge of my seat as it ends, wondering what happens in book two. The author has done a superb job catching my interest, holding my interest, and making me seek out the second one.

What is a rippler? It's when a person suddenly goes invisible, appearing to ripple as they disappear and reappear. Same and her new guy friend can both ripple and it's gotta be a secret as people all over the world that can ripple (or have the disease that brings it on) have been killed.

You think this would draw them closer, right? Hm.. Maybe. Part of the story is teen love. Does he love her? Did his kiss mean anything? What's all this "friends" talk.. (sigh) We have all been there.

Also, Sam has to make a difficult choice between her new potential beau and her best friend. She can't have them both cause telling her friend the truth about their rippling is a no no and could cause her man to leave town out of fright... so Sam deals with the loss of her friend.

As if she isn't bummed enough, some strange man comes to town asking lots of questions and she finds out some serious stuff regarding her mother's death previously... that maybe it wasn't an accident. By the end of the book, it appears someone wants Sam dead.

The rippling descriptions... AWESOME stuff. Especially loved the "rippling through" glass thing. I could almost imagine it. The diary excerpts from Germany's experiments with children.. spine tingling and alarming and I'm sad to say, believable.

Really enjoyed this. My only quibble is I didn't care for Mickie and never did came to like her. I found her annoying.

Rippler got four stars from me so naturally, I jumped at the chance to read the second one.. Chameleon.

First of all, in Chameleon, Mickie isn't quit so annoying.. perhaps because she has met her match in Sir Walter. Sir Walter is 600 years old so even though he's quite wordy and old fashioned, finally someone knows how to handle Mickie!

Sir Walter enters the picture when Sam and Will and Mickie travel to France. He's the keeper of many secrets and hold most all the knowledge that Sam and Will need to know about their amazing rippling ability. While Sam and Will prance around France and see the sights, Sir Walter is in tow appearing and disappearing at will telling them and US, the readers, about the history of his evil cousin and the rippling story.

The downside: While the book is supposed to clarify many things, it actually confused me more. There needs to be a handbook/manual about the rippling rules. I was left scratching my head more often than not. In book one, I learned that one cannot ripple while holding more than their body weight. Sam weights less than Will obviously so Will is able to save her when they are in a tight situation. He grabs her and ripples her away. Later in the novel, in an underground cave, they are once again faced with danger. Both him or Sir Walter OR him AND Sir Walter could have grabbed Sam and rippled her away.. so why couldn't they? What happened here? I don't understand. A few pages later, it's like the idea finally dawns on Sir Walter and Will when Walter tells Will to ripple her away.. At that point I was still screaming, "why did you do that when the bad guys first showed up????"

Also, there's a moment when Sir Walter wishes to help Will with a wound. He ripples Will away to fix him. If you are rippled, you cannot physically touch anything. The Ripplers must maintain solid form to grasp/touch things or people so how did this work? How was Sir Walter able to touch Will in invisible form and fix his wound?

More questions that answers for me... BUT again, amazing descriptions!!!

"Will's mouth tasted like the whisper of willows through my mind, and sunshine, and coming home. I thought he was kissing me back, and then I was sure of it. His lips on mine felt like the slow embrace of rippling through glass. My hands on his face trembled."

Nice! Also enjoyed the teen love thing.. Does Will love her? Did the kiss mean anything or they 'just friends?'

Once again, four stars. Good, but confusing.

Ride for Rights: The Real Glen Eyrie

2011-10-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

In Ride for Rights, my historical young adult novel, coming February 10th from MuseItUp Publishing, Angeline and Adelaide comes across a castle during their trek across the United States...

-The nearer the sisters grew to the beautiful peaks, the more exhausted they became and upon arriving in the small town of Colorado Springs, they were no longer staring at the mountains, but searching for a respectable hotel. Upon riding through a small maze of rock formations, the women thought they had found one, a very large one. Whereas the sight of the majestic peaks from seventy miles away had caused them to stare in awe, the sight before them now caused them to stop and stare in complete shock and wonderment.

Ahead of them was a castle. It was a very large mansion made of brown stone with tall beige framed windows and a matching tower. It appeared so out of place in what Angeline had always thought of as the “wild west” that she found herself wondering if she was hallucinating or if perhaps they were lost? Was it possible they had crossed an unknown bridge to England?

Adelaide broke the stunned silence. “Surely, that is a hotel,” she declared, “and I don’t know about you, but I would sure like to spend a night or two there!”

The sisters did not waste a moment more. All thoughts of scenery were forgotten as the women shared an excited smile, and aimed their motorbikes towards the looming castle ahead. Surely it was a hotel and in a small town like this, it was bound to have available rooms and due to its elegant appearance, indoor plumbing. Thoughts of warm baths and clean bed linens propelled the sisters towards the brown castle.-

I had the pleasure of visiting this castle myself in January, but let me tell you a bit about the place... It's a 67-room English Tudor style castle built by General William Jackson Palmer, the founder of Colorado Springs. His wife was from England and so he built this for her, to mimic an English castle. It contains 24 fireplaces, all them brought over from England.

General and Mrs. Palmer had three daughters, Elsie, Dorothy, and Marjory.

In Ride for Rights, Angeline and Adelaide make a friend in Elsie, the last family member left residing at Glen Eyrie in the novel. Though the name is the same, Elsie is a figment of my imagination. She loves horses, is a suffragist, and encourages Angeline and Adelaide to summit Pike's Peak.

When I visited the castle, I took care to pay attention to the real Elsie's bedroom. She was a very private woman and even required visitor's to her room to go through two doors.

Glen Eyrie is now owned and operated by a group called the Navigators.

Interview at Flashlight Commentary

2011-10-06T10:52:00.000-07:00

I'm over on Flashlight Commentary talking about Dog Tails and my weird writing habits. Come by and leave a comment and more important, take the time to check out the lovely blog and if you like what you see, become a follower. The blogger has put an amazing amount of time and effort into it and it looks great! Let's let her know that she is appreciated.

See that funny comic to the left? That's from her blog! How many of you have that same problem? :)

Highland Storms by Christina Courtenay

2011-10-06T00:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know how this woman does it.. one fabulous historical romance after another and as usual, Courtenay does the male POV wonderfully. And as usual I fell in love with the hero myself. (I'm super picky so this is not a easy feat!)

Highland Storms is a sequel to Trade Winds, but if you haven't read Trade Winds, this could stand alone without major confusion. The hero, Brice, is the son of the couple previously in Trade. He leaves Sweden and heads to Scotland where he has a family home and land and a suspicious landlord, Seton. Seems Seton has been "skimming off the top" and not doing his duties. Brice means to get to the bottom of it.

Seton is an evil cretin. His crimes may not stop at just thievery when Brice shows up threatening all his plans. He was Marsaili, the lovely housekeeper. Will he stoop to rape or abduction to get her? Marsaili fends him off as well all other suitors, but can she fend off Brice? He does something to her.. (giggling)

What seems like a slow plot in the beginning becomes super exciting in the last half. There's false accusations and arrests, beatings, hidden tunnels, lies revealed, abductions, escapes, and a ship briefly with a docking in Amsterdam. And the best part??? The dog. There's this dog named Liath and his role isn't minimal. The lovable hound even saves the day at point. I absolutely loved this scene! I stayed up till 4am reading this scene. I couldn't put the book down.

And the hero and the heroine must not only survive all that, but come to terms with the fact that they just may love each other.. (They are both hesitant for their own reasons to fall in love...)

Favorite quote: "Love is when you realise a part of you will die if you can't be with a certain someone. That life isn't worth living if you can't share it with that special person. That you want to kill, with your bare hands, anyone who comes between you."

I wholeheartedly give this five stars, five well deserved stars. I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

October's Lit Asylum

2011-10-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Hi all!!! As some of you already know, I have been honored to be invited to participate in an online literary magazine. October is the second edition and I have three pieces in it! I am pleased to provide the link: Lit Asylum. I have a fun column about rubbers (or lack of them) in contemporary romance novels and a tribute to my favorite woman in history, Amelia Earhart. I also got the honor of reviewing the Indie book of the month: Color My Horse.

But don't stop there!! Please check out the articles by my talented friends, Carol Jean, India, and Michele. Are you retreating from the disappointments in life by sticking your nose in a YA book? Meet a grand dame of historical fiction who is now going digital. Do you like your HF accurate or is it all about pretty woman in pretty dresses? Discuss it on Carol Jean's column.

Happy reading and Happy October!

It's a Wonderful Life by Jesse Goossens

2011-09-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

I saw this on netgalley and the blurb got my attention because I love classic movies. First: the movie quotes in the books are not just from classic movies.. but from more recent stuff too. The movie quotes come from Wizard of Oz, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Home Alone, The Heiress (I recognized this one!!), Frankenstein, and more. Actually, most of the quotes were from 80s and up. I was a bit bummed about that. And the movie quotes.. well, they don't really tie in to the story. BUT...

It's a good read. It's about this Holland chick who travels to small town Pennsylvania for her summer vacation rather than go with her parents to a nudie colony. She gets a job in a vintage store (where she proceeds to make up cool stories and insinuations about the products being from movie stars), starts a tea corner, meets a young undertaker, and in one month in America learns about a lot of different cultures and DEATH. There's Jewish eating rules, a tribe in Uganda that has a grotesque death custom in which they basically drink the dead body's fluids, Irish handfasting, and Irish funeral fighting. It's really very fascinating. I learned a lot of customs from different cultures and how they deal with death... though it's kinda weird how a story about death ties in with a girl "robot" who "when she hears a word, the weirdest quotes come bubbling right out of her." I can't explain it, but it worked somehow.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I was disappointed with something though.... When Anna gets to go to NYC and visit different movie sites, we don't get the details of that. I was hoping for some fun movie tidbits here. Though I got a great laugh at the story Anna made up about Alfred Hitchcock, blondes, and his cane. (Could be true. Who knows?)

Now, something fun I got from the book (and I'm quoting even though it's an egalley. Pardon me.)

Look up the word ACROSTIC if you don't know what it means and read this gravestone epitaph....

Free your body and soul
Unfold your powerful winds
Climb up the highest mountain
Kick your feet up in the air
You may live forever
Or return to this earth
Unless you feel good where you are

If you got it, you're either laughing or terribly offended. LOL. I laughed. :)

Four stars and I got this from netgalley.

My Latest Manuscript and More...

2011-09-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

An update on my own writing... First, the big news. I just had another manuscript accepted by Breathless Press. It's called Sinful Urges. Here is a tiny, tantalizing blurb:

Everyone has sinful urges, but not everyone acts on them. Juan and Maria do and despite their intense guilt, their sinful urges escalate into so much more. Soon, even confessing will not absolve them as their sins keep piling up.

And that's all I'm saying right now. It is erotic noir. (Yes, I sorta made the genre up, I think..?) Now, I am not making it a huge secret that it's my work. I'm going to promote it talk about it as Tara, BUT because of its genre and sexual content and due to the fact that I have a YA novel coming out in February, it will be published under a pen name, Sonia Hightower. Sonia is part of my middle name and Hightower is supposed to be my married name.. (I kept my own.. It's the 2000s for crying out loud and I'm not his property..)

I'm HOPING that lots of teenagers (and adults!) enjoy Ride for Rights enough to seek out my other work, but Sinful Urges doesn't belong in the hands of a 15 year old.. and that's why I'm doing it this way.

Regarding my other works...

Are You Talking To Me? A Memoir now has a title and last I heard, it was scheduled for release the end of October.

A Facebook Affair has been through content edits, is in line edits, and now has a cover. (To the upper left. Obviously. LOL) Release date is December 16th.

Ride for Rights has been through content edits, is in line edits and is scheduled for release Feb 10th of 2012.

Dog Tails: Three Humorous Short Stories for Dog Lovers is still waiting for you to buy it. :)

Never Too Late by Christina Courtenay

2011-09-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Another excellent large print novella from my favorite author... yes, I'm a friend of hers, but I was a fan before I became a friend.

This was originally sent to me to pass on to my grandmother who loves to read but has trouble finding large print books. (She likes the inspirational ones, but occasionally wants to read a book that isn't trying to send her a hidden message. LOL) Nevertheless, before passing it on to my G-ma, I had to read it myself.. I couldn't resist.

Once again, Courtenay does a superb job putting together a likable hero and a damsel in distress. The damsel in distress (this is NOT a bodice ripper) is Maude. She loved Luke long ago but circumstances.. er, well, people, I should say kept them apart. She ended up marrying his cousin instead. So.. there are some hard feelings here between Maude and Luke.

But Maude ends up widowed and Luke is the new head of her estate. He keeps her on as his housekeeper but he secretly still desires her and this is a difficult situation. She desires him too, but is afraid to say so.. But these two may have to stop tip toeing around each other and confess their real feelings cause... someone wants them dead. There's arsenic poisoning, smashing pots, run away carriages, and kidnapping. These two better figure it out soon or it WILL be too late for them to salvage their earlier feelings for each other.

Superbly done, descriptive where it needs to be descriptive, action where there should be action, and a lovely one day read. It's a clean read (no smut) but no hidden religious messages either. LOL. Conclusion: I did and my grandmother will love it.

Eleanor Roosevelt's Life of Soul Searching and Self Discovery by Ann Atkins

2011-09-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

This is a very short biography, not a long and drawn out 500 page thing. It tells the need to know information about Eleanor. By need to know, I mean:

Where she came from: A very dysfunctional family. Her father was a womanizer and a suicidal alcoholic. Her mother felt that she was ugly and did not make a secret of it. Imagine growing up in that environment.

How she rose above it: Went to boarding school, dealt with the death of her parents, slowly began to find herself when she met Franklin and it all came crashing down. She married a man much like her father.
She was a doormat for a long time: to Franklin's mother and Franklin himself. It took a betrayal by Franklin and her best friend to make her wake up and begin being just Eleanor again. Unfortunately, in a way, she lost her children to her mother in law.

She stood up for the little people: She stood up for women:

"Eleanor not only conducts her own press conferences, she flaunts the 'men only' rule at press conferences with Franklin, making hers only for women journalists.Since newspapers want to carry stories about Eleanor, this policy give job assurance for many female reporters. What critics deem conniving, Eleanor sees as leveling the playing field."

She stood up for African Americans in her speeches, her policies, and her actions:

"As she is leaving her hairdresser, an African American youth backs his car into her and knocks her down. This being 1959 Eleanor doesn't want to chance a racial incident and tell the young man to hurry on before people can gather."

She supported the troops during the war:

"She walks to each truck load and wishes the boys good luck. On that day, Eleanor's unpretentious ways make her every soldier's mother. Upholding the written rule, "Don't cry in front of the boys," she bids them each farewell. Although those with Eleanor report, "her voice quavered."
Conclusion: An enlightening biography of a woman who rose from a twisted home to make something of herself and change the world. (Great photos in here too.) Four stars due to one minor annoyance that I found a tad odd for a biography: the use of the present tense.

I received this book from the author.

All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

2011-09-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

I don't read futuristic stuff usually, but this really got my attention. 1. A world in which coffee is illegal. (My first thought was, 'OMG! The Mormons took over!) 2. Chocolate is illegal. (Gasp. My curiosity was piqued. How the hell can we possibly survive?) 3. The heroine is part of a mafia (spelled mafiya in the book) family. Those three things were enough to make me step out of my comfort zone and read this YA novel.

I wasn't disappointed. It's a really good, entertaining read with a very likable heroine. The story is told from her POV but she's involved in so much excitement that the first person narrative works well.. At no point does the reader feel as though she's on the outside looking in. I liked the girl's sense of humor, the sarcastic way she tells things, the inner turmoil she deals with.

The turmoils: She's an orphan and pretty much the guardian of her immediate family. Her grandmother is about to die. Her brother has brain damage. She's accused of attempting to kill her ex boyfriend (death by chocolate!!!). Her new boyfriend's dad doesn't want her dating his son. Her family's illegal chocolate business may need her at the helm. Her bff starts dating her ex.... and it just keeps piling up. No end to the drama. Oh.. and she's Catholic and trying to save her virginity till marriage but the new guy is making that hard.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. There were some minor irritations that got on my nerves though. 1. The constant references to things her daddy used to say. One or twice is fine, but 15 times? 2. The whole 'no sex before marriage' moral being bashed over my head. 3. I didn't like how the heroine treats her brother. Yes, he's 'damaged' but the longer you treat him like a child, the longer he will act like one.

Four stars, but if I was 12 to 16, the age group this was intended for, I most likely would have gave it a five.

I received an ARC from the publisher.

Vigil by Cecilia Samartin

2011-09-15T01:21:00.000-07:00

Imagine loving a man for twenty years, but not being able to tell him so. Imagine sleeping in a room down the hall from this man you love for twenty years. Imagine having to watch this man interact day after day with his wife and children. Ana watches.. for twenty years before she finally has the opportunity to act on her love.

The story starts in El Salvador during the time of civil war and brutality. Ana loses her entire village and is the only one to walk away. Why was she saved? She was saved not once, but twice. She takes this as sign that she is to have a higher purpose. She believes she is to be a nun. However, many years after escaping to the U.S, a mere 6 months from the time she is supposed to take her vows, she is summoned to the Trellis household. They need a nanny.

Enter an intriguing household full of characters that all need Ana's help. The man rarely leaves his study. The woman is spoiled, indulgent, and a sex addict. Teddy, their child, is spoiled rotten and undisciplined. The cook is an alcoholic widow. Can Ana help this family or will her growing emotions for the man of house make things worse?

The book goes back and forth between past and present, the present being Ana at her beloved's death bed trying to gather his children to his side and the past being the twenty years she has devoted to that family. What sounds like a very simple story became so much more with Samartin's words and prose. It's a very enjoyable book and thought evoking. I was slightly bugged that Ana literally puts her life on hold for twenty years though and doesn't appear to have any kind of life outside of this family. However, the book also explains that.. due to what she went through in El Salvador, Ana likes safety, likes being cocooned. That is what drew her to the rigid, predictable life of the nunnery. I was hoping that Ana would change, I guess, because I was disappointed with the ending.. After being in a box twenty years, I would think that she would want to finally leave the box, to see some of the world, to live outside that selfish family.

Something else I wondered about... Did Adam really love her or did he just want someone to take care of him in his illness? The timing... It made me stop and ponder. I'm not sure if I was supposed to do this, but I did. And I like books that make me stop and analyze characters and their intentions.

Four stars and I would like to share two laugh out moments:

"Mama: "what are you going to do if you fall in love with a man who wants to have children? What are going to tell him?" Ana: "I'll tell him that if he really loves me, then I should be enough for him."

'How different from the men in my village who left their women to give birth while they got drunk with the other men in the square. Sometimes it took the new father more time to recover from his hangover than it took the mother to recover from childbirth.'

I received this from the author.

A Facebook Affair Has A Cover!!!

2011-09-14T01:07:00.000-07:00

My romance novella, A Facebook Affair, has a cover!!!! What it's about: Kelly Littleton is a young, successful, independent woman, but she has a problem. She's lonely. Her mother has passed away and Kelly finds that without her mother to care for, her life is suddenly void.

Kelly's friend convinces her to "get with it" and Kelly joins the many millions of people that have joined Facebook. A few taps on her laptop and a couple of clicks of her mouse lead her to find a boy she knew in elementary school. Twenty years ago, she had a huge crush on Brandon Hopkins.

Brandon is going through a rough time himself. He's going through a divorce and needs to learn to love and trust again. It's going to take an amazing woman to help him accomplish this. Could Kelly be that woman?

When he responds to Kelly's message, their childhood crush on each other becomes an adult romance. Every romance has its hurdles, however, as Kelly is soon to find out. First, there are the miles. She lives in Utah. He lives in Oklahoma. Second, there's his evil twin sister. Third, Kelly has a handicap. She is hearing impaired.

As their new relationship progresses to the next level, Kelly must face all those obstacles and the demons from her past. Is she really as confident as she claims to be? Can she face the very girls who made fun of her so long ago and come out the better person? Does Brandon really love her or this going to be just a Facebook affair?

A Facebook Affair will be available December 16th, 2011 from Breathless Press.

The Launch of a New Literary Magazine

2011-09-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

Today, I would like to encourage all of my followers, friends, fellow reviewers and book lovers to take the time to check out a new online literary magazine. It's called Lit Asylum (that's a link) and it's all about books. Myself and some awesome talented, opinionated, and witty writers/book reviewers have some posts worth checking out. There's Trash or Treasure, History Meets Noir, and more...

Ride for Rights: The Real Life Women Behind the Novel

2011-09-11T13:43:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to say that my historical YA novel, Ride for Rights has been through content edits. I now feel it's a good time to talk about it a bit more on here. I want to tell you the story behind the story...

In the fall of 2010, my husband and I took a vacation to South Dakota and of course, we had to hit the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum. (My husband is a biker through and through.)

Gussie

While browsing this ultra cool museum (that I originally didn't want to go to as I wanted to walk thru a Victorian house instead!), I came across some information about two fascinating "biker chics" in American history, Augusta and Adeline Van Buren. Here is their website: Van Buren Sisters Website

In 1916, these remarkable sisters decided to ride their motorbikes from New York to Los Angeles. Keep in mind, the highway system had not yet been built... They donned trousers, jumped on their Indians, and they rode.. to prove that women could be motorcycle dispatch riders.

The real life women went from Buffalo to Chicago to Omaha to Denver, up Pike's Peak, to Salt Lake, Reno, Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

I was excited by this information and I rushed to find my husband and I said to him, "I am gonna find a book on them as soon as I get back to my laptop!" And I did search for a book on them and much to my dismay, I didn't find one. And so I said, "I'm gonna write one!" This is how Ride was born.

Adeline Van Buren

In Ride for Rights, a fiction novel loosely based on the amazing Van Buren sisters, Angeline and Adelaide Hanson undergo a similar journey (with different twists and turns) as they travel from Buffalo to Detroit... to Chicago where they are dance hall girls for a night... to Peoria, Illinois... to St. Louis where they join a touring Suffrage movement to Kansas City where they have a run in with some unfriendly fellows. From Kansas City, the Hanson's head to Dodge and they have problems with the local sheriff.. See, women didn't wear trousers much back then....

Like the real Van Burens, Angeline and Adelaide summit Pike's Peak. The real sisters did this ride only weeks after the road was opened.

The Ride for Rights sisters spend some down time in a castle called Glen Eyrie (be watching for a later post about this fascinating castle) and then head on to the Salt Lake desert where they get lost... and oh somebody finds them... but is it really a rescuer??

I don't wish to reveal too much of the story so I'm stopping here, but I cannot stress to everyone enough.. check out the real Van Buren sisters website. It's truly amazing what the real women accomplished. They are now in the AMA Hall of Fame and the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame.

Bob Van Buren, a descendant of the Van Buren sisters, says, "Although Ms. Chevrestt’s creative tale of these two women is purely fictional, she has accurately captured the spirit and challenges that the Van Buren sisters experienced in their journey in 1916."

I can't possibly express my joy and gratitude to have a descendant of those amazing women say something like that about my work.

In the next few months, I will be making posts about different things in Ride, notable women mentioned in it and some great stuff about Glen Eyrie as well as an excerpt.

Please note once again that Ride is a work of fiction and though I used the real life sisters' ride as a basis, everything that happens to the Hansons is a figment of my imagination. An author's note in the back of the novel separates all facts from fiction.

Ride for Rights is coming February of 2012 from MuseItUp Publishing.

Persuade Me by Juliet Archer

2011-09-09T21:32:00.000-07:00

We've all heard the saying, "when you assume, you make an ass of you and me." In this book, there's a LOT of assuming and thus, a lot of people making asses of themselves... and that's part of what makes this book so funny and entertaining.

Quick summary: Rick and Anna loved each other long ago, but her snotty family convinced her to give him up. She lives in England. He lives in Australia. Ten years after their tragic romance, he is right in her backyard doing a book tour. Do they have a second chance?

The characters... my gawd.. the family of Anna. It is like a comedy sitcom. Walter is so full of himself, it is unbelievable. "He felt a huge sense of achievement (looking in a new fancy mirror) now that he could view his appearance from 360 degrees." Walter's daughters are Lisa, Anna, Mona. Anna is the only sane one among them. Mona is a psycho mom who bosses Anna around. Lisa is a feminine version of her dad. And there's Cleo, a slutty masseuse, William the gold digger, James the mad poet, Lou the slut who throws herself (literally!) at men, and a lot of family.

And all these people try to keep Anna and her true love, Rick apart. Because nobody really knows what is going and that is that Anna loves Rick, NOT William and Rick loves Anna, NOT Leo, but everybody makes assumptions and they're all wrong and Rick and Anna both misunderstand and every single time one plans to tell the other those three simple words (I love you) and fix the relationship that was so damaged years before, someone steps up and gets in the way. Well Rick is only in England for.. 6 weeks? Time is running out....

I, the reader, found myself chuckling on numerous occasions and laughed out loud at least twice. (Walter's Little Problem in That Department!!!! LOL) I was also cheering for the hero and heroine and found myself getting angry at times with certain characters. That's a sign that the book has really sucked me in.

However, I found the heroine, Anna, to be ridiculously spineless at times. Even in the end of the book, I still felt she was a bit too submissive and wall flowerish. As I prefer reading about strong, independent women, this grated on my nerves. She constantly lets people boss her around and rarely speaks up for herself. Thus, despite all the laughter on my part, I give this a four instead of a five.

Favorite quote: "We can all go on as we are, doing nothing different. Whereas 'hop' is an action word - or should be. Something aspirational, like - how did he put it? - living our dream. But, to achieve it, we usually have to come out of our comfort zone and change in some way."

I received this from the publisher for pre review.

Book & Movie Comparison: Catherine the Great

2011-09-09T00:37:00.000-07:00

Coincidentally, I happened to have two historical fiction books about Catherine the Great on hand when TCM aired a classic movie about her. Thus, I decided to compare all three for what I hope is a fun blog post.

First book: The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak, January 2012 release (ARC from Vine)

What it's about: The last half of Empress Elizabeth's reign and then the first bit of Catherine the Great's. Told in first person POV from the viewpoint of a lady spy who originally spies for Elizabeth and later becomes a friend to Catherine. Chronicles Catherine's mistreatment at Elizabeth's hands, the loss of her children either to miscarriage or to the Empress, her affairs with a Sergei and a Polish man and the Orlov brother, her discord with Peter, and her conspiracy to overthrow him.

Catherine on wedding day

Liked: The narrative being from a lady spy. Terrific idea!! I learned so much about Catherine and this novel, unlike some others, portrays her as a woman that readers can relate to, understand, and sympathize with. I also liked reading about Barbara grappling with feelings of guilt. In one part, she has a dream about Madame Kluge, a woman she got exiled from court. She dreams she is in a carriage and offers Madame a ride. Madame says, "I don't want to go where you are going." This particular scene gave me goosebumps, had me wondering, "where is she going?" It gave the book an ominous feel that worked wonderfully considering all that occurs.

Elizabeth

Didn't Like: Starts to drone on and on at times. Bit too overly descriptive. Had me hooked from the get go but then began to lose my interest once Barbara marries. During the period she was away from court, the book grew dull as Barbara's life was simply not interesting without the court intrigue or Catherine. Also feel I missed something.. when did Barbara go from loathing her husband to loving him a little? By the time the man left for war, I felt there was something there and I never saw the change. By page 335, I was utterly bored. I feel the book is unnecessarily long for what it contains. It ends with Catherine obtaining power. After this woman became empress, she proceeded to take over the world. Does that not bear mentioning? Throughout this entire novel, unfortunately, she was just a brood mare, a conniving brood mare, but a brood mare.

My star rating: Three. I liked it, but it had some quibbles.

Second, the movie, The Scarlet Empress, 1934

What it's about: A young and innocent Sophie travels to Russia, is treated like crap by Empress Elizabeth, loses her name and religion, falls in love with Alexei asap, beds a random guard in the dark of night, and gradually steals her husband's throne.

Liked: 1. The scene in which she stares down Peter's mistress. Ice, ice baby!! 2. And the scene in which she dons a soldier's attire and rushes off on a horse. 3. The bedroom scene in which she gets Alexei all hot and bothered and then... sends him on his way. Serves him right.

The horrid smile

Didn't Like: 1. Alexei.. that actor is butt ugly. I mean, seriously, if my dog looked like him I would shave its butt and make it walk backwards. That ugly. And just who the heck is he? I didn't find him when researching to find out truth from fiction. 2. Peter the III's character was way over exaggerated. That horrid smile was ridiculous. 3. This movie claimed in the beginning that it was based on Catherine's diary. I seriously doubt it. I find the events of this movie to be so preposterous at times, I question its historical accuracy. I know Peter was a nut, but I doubt he just randomly shot at soldiers out his windows. And Catherine did take lovers, but a random guard on night duty? 4. Some scenes were horribly long, the wedding, the dinner, the horses riding through towards the end...

Marlene Dietrich.. a blonde?

I would like to note a major difference here between this movie and the book above: In Winter Palace, Empress Elizabeth is very fond of Catherine in the beginning. In this movie, it's hatred from the get go. Elizabeth treats her like a brood mare. However, once again, everything ends with her obtaining power. :(

My star rating: Two. I didn't like it.

Third, is the book The Rebel Princess by Evelyn Anthony, 1953

It's also titled Imperial Highness.

What it's about: Basically the same stuff that I mentioned above in Winter Palace, minus 200 some pages and minus the lady spy narrative. Also, though the major story line is the same, there are minor differences in plot, such as Catherine seeking permission for her second love affair. This one is told in the third person and doesn't go on and on and on. It also skips the six years that Catherine is held in captivity with her husband while Elizabeth awaits an heir. Really, a good idea as that stuff was so boring in the WP. This book also evoked in me some deeper thoughts: You would think that Peter and Catherine would have hit it off as both came from very similar childhoods. Peter was greatly oppressed by Elizabeth and Catherine was beat down emotionally by her mother. I also noticed that one thing all three of these books/movie combo have in common is: Princess Johanna, Catherine's mother is a mega beeyotch.

What I liked: We get the whole story without the drawn out details. This book does not take an entire paragraph of colorful words to tell me the Empress loves theater or whatever. Catherine is a sympathetic figure in this. The WP had too many characters at times and they were often called by numerous names. I grew very confused. This book is much simpler and easier to follow along.

The passionate scene between Catherine and Orlov consisted of few words, but impacted me greatly: "With shaking hands Catherine tried to loose the ruby necklace which had been pressed into her skin in that wild encounter in the corridor; for a moment she could find no words for the tumult of emotions which possessed her. Accept his protection, live however briefly in the arms of a man who had stormed and taken her with the ruthless abandon of a marauding Cossack..."

Also loved the part where Catherine leads her troops, commands their respect, and dons male attire. It was a powerful scene. I got goosebumps.

What I didn't like: Again, the story ends just after Catherine takes the throne. However, this is the first of a trilogy and thus, I won't hold this minor quibble against the book. The story does continue, I just have to find the now out of print book that is next.

My star rating: Five. Really liked it. And thus, it wins this comparison. Hands down. And I found this one in a little book store in Montana.

Ten Questions from Tara: Interview with Cynthia Ellingsen

2011-09-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

Today, I have the author of The Whole Package answering some questions. The Whole Package is a fiction novel that revolves around three friends who because of, or in spite of, the drama in their personal lives, start a "Hooters" for women, the Whole Package. I previously reviewed this book in mid August and I will provide the link at the bottom of the page for those who may have missed it and wish to know more.

1. How and when did this idea really strike you?

I was walking on Hollywood Blvd. - I lived in LA for eight years - and watched as a family waltzed into Hooters. There was a mom, a dad and like, three little boys and I thought, “Geez. What are we teaching these kids?” I started wondering what the father would say if there was a restaurant like The Whole Package and the wife wanted to go there with her three little girls in tow. The idea was born.

2. Cheryl is very tomboyish and career oriented. Jackie is in love with finer things and money. Doris is a stay at home mom. Which character do you relate to the most and why?

I’m a little bit of all of them, really. I’ve always admired the Jackie’s of the world and certainly empathize with Doris. Ultimately, though, I’d have to say I’m a Cheryl. Like her, I’m something of a tomboy. I grew up in the country, so I was always running around with the neighbor boy, climbing trees and catching frogs. Plus, I’m an Aries. That should say it all.

3. Cheryl freaks out when her boss gets a hold of her Blackberry because there are files in it she doesn't want him to see. Do you have things in your cell phone you don't want anyone to see? Care to dish as to what it is? :)

Ha! Great question. YES. I have some just horrific pics of me taking self photos, trying to look hot. Come on, you know we’ve all done it. I try to erase after every modeling session but I’m sure there’s one or two super embarrassing ones on there.

4. Hooters is mentioned often throughout the novel. Cheryl tolerates it when her male coworkers want to go there on business trips. How do YOU feel about Hooters?

I think Hooters is comical, in some respects. But when you stop to think about it, it’s a little weird that it’s a socially acceptable restaurant. I mean, come on. It’s called Hooters.

5. Have you been to a male strip club? Tell us a little about the experience.

Hmmm... I can’t remember. Let me reread the scene at the strip club and see if it sparks something. ;)

6. Speedy Dicks, Early Risers, Welcome to Eat Outs are just some of the restaurant names suggested in the book. Tell me of others that you didn't mention.

Ballers, Balls Out, Long John’s and of course, my personal favorite, Schlong’s. Although Schlong’s did get a cameo.

7. Who would you rather be served by, Anthony or Gabe? Wearing what?

Ooh, Gabe! No, Anthony... No, Gabe... Geez. That’s the best question yet. I mean, Gabe is goooooorgeous and he would be delighted to give me a makeover. As for attire, is it weird that I’d bring back that light blue scarf he’s flipping around in the fight with Anthony? It really brings out his eyes.

8. What male love interest in the novel is, in your opinion, the “whole package” – Andy, George, or Doug?

Andy. He’s H.O.T. I mean, when he says, “You got a little crush?” I just get all weak-kneed. I am madly in love with Andy.

9. Mandy, Doris’s teenage daughter plays a big role in the book. What do you see her being or doing when she grows up?

Mandy idolizes Jackie, so I imagine her doing something that involves international travel. Or perhaps she could carry on The Whole Package legacy across the globe?

10. I always ask this. As a dog mom, it’s a must question for me. Do you have any pets? Tell me about them.

I do! I love cats and dogs but have wicked allergies, so I’ve been forced to go furless. In lieu of owning that creepy hairless cat, I’ve carefully selected a life partner in an African Sulcatta tortoise named Hank. He has a face like a little old man. Such a cutie.

Thanks for joining us, Cynthia. :)

And here is my review of The Whole Package: http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2011/08/whole-package-by-cynthia-ellingsen.html

Culloden Spirit by Anita Davison

2011-09-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

This is another author I consider myself a fan of... Davison is very talented, draws me right into the story, and has the perfect balance of telling/showing/fiction/history/ and descriptive details. I read her Trencarrow Secret earlier this year and really enjoyed it. I liked the story of Trencarrow more, but I love the heroine in this one even more than in that one. Again, perfect balance. Carrie Gordon is both feminine and proper, but also brave and strong. She loves her gowns and she behaves with manners and propriety, but when push comes to shove, she's not above eavesdropping, fighting off assailants, or running towards burning fires to save her friends.

In the beginning, she comes across as a bit snotty. She doesn't seem to think of much but herself and her immediate comforts. Gradually, with the help of her sister and just plain ole Scottish hospitality, Carrie begins to change. She sees the servants as people with feelings, people who miss their families, have interests. She friends some gypsies that are permitted to stay on her Scottish uncle's land. She also learns about what love really is. It's not being on the arm of the most eligible or richest bachelor... but something else entirely.

But who is she in love with? Is she in love in with the castle ghost who died in the battle of Culloden? Does her heart belong to Duncan, the Culloden heir? OR is the neighboring laird the object of her affection? Is she even seeing a ghost or is it a prank?

All these thoughts are running through Carrie's mind as she unwittingly becomes involved in intrigue. The laird's employees don't like the gypsies residing on the land for some reason.. Accusations of thievery and poaching begin to fly. Hostile words are exchanged between landowners.. and some major action occurs as a result that could very well determine where Carrie's heart lies.

I've neglected, however, to tell what this story is really about. It's about an American girl accompanying her family to Scotland in 1900 in order to rebuild a very old estate. It's on this estate that Carrie may lose her heart or her life. Cause there's some evil at work....

Favorite quotes:

"Ye could store a month's supplies in those sleeves and how do ye move with yer skirt so straight and tight? Ye must waddle like a duck."

"Some men believe a wild woman lurks in every female subconscious."

Five stars and I received a pdf file from the author in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

The Hench Woman's Handbook by Tara O'Donnell

2011-09-01T23:12:00.000-07:00

I don't read comics... so this was something very new for me. It's not a comic, but it's about a Super Villain's sidekick/woman.. a hench woman. By super villain, I mean like Lex Luthor or the Joker or the Penguin...

There are 5 rules to being a proper hench woman and Marge tells a young girl in black all about each rule. Each rule is accompanied by a story, an experience in the hench woman's life with Master Class, a villain. There's alien bugs, kidnappings, and an irritating woman named Bonnie aka Bon Bon... and in the end, a story of revenge.

Marge is a strong woman, no doubt of that!! My favorite part was the tale about Master Class wooing her back to his side not with a diamond, but with a bomb!

I have one major quibble, however: I thought the bar scene and Marge telling the girl in black her story was a great idea.. but the stories Marge told, I would have preferred to experience like a novel rather than a bar narrative. Maybe Marge could've got a faraway look in her eye and suddenly the reader could be TRANSPORTED back so they could experience the tale for themselves. Something like that.. less telling, more experiencing.

The good stuff outweighs the bad and here are my favorite quotes:

-I rose up and looked him right in the eye. "If you ever want me, just take me. Throw me over your shoulder or have your driver do it, then lock me in the trunk and hold me prisoner until I give in to your demands."

"I've got a big mouth and I'm not afraid to use it. Plus, I have no problem with getting into someone's face if the situation calls for it in in my opinion."

"My Grandma Mavis may have been a bitch on wheels but thanks to her, I know how to make my own clothes and clean blood stains out of anything."

Wow! Three stars and this was a free ebook on smashwords. And I gotta add, is this not a cooler than all get out cover?

The Whip by Karen Kondazian

2011-08-30T01:27:00.000-07:00

Charley Parkhurst was a stagecoach driver for 30 years. Charley Parkhust was really Charlotte. She started out as an abandoned baby in on an orphanage step and became a drinking, shooting, tobacco spitting, revenge getting stagecoach driver. This is her story.

The orphanage: A cruel headmistress goes too far with her punishments. On one hand, she accidentally introduces Charley to her lifelong love: horses. On the other hand, she turns a kind and caring boy into the makings of a monster. This boy was Charley's protector and will soon become her enemy.

Rhode Island: Charley falls in love, but the rest of society, and namely, her "brother" don't agree with her choice of love interest. The loss of her man and her baby lead to the loss of her femininity as she dons male attire and becomes a stagecoach driver in order to travel to California to hunt down and kill her husband's killer. But will she get her revenge before the man can do her, her life, and her loved ones more damage? Will she be able to do what needs to be done? Life hasn't been good to her as a woman that's for sure. Will it treat her better as a man?

California: Charley becomes one of the best damn stagecoach drivers around, starts a family of sorts, has weekend trysts in San Francisco where for just a few days every now and then she can wear a dress again and lie with a man and just feel like a woman. But all good things must come to an end.

Conclusion: Awesome read, excellent narrative, perfect blend of fact and fiction, and though Charley faces an incredibly sad amount of misery and misfortune, the book managed to make me laugh at times as well as shake my head in sympathy. Her flirtations with Edmund, Anna's Cleopatra scene, the Wells Fargo Stagecoach rules, numerous things throughout the novel made me chuckle and overall, the book has made a huge impact on me. It's also about a very strong woman, probably one of the strongest women I have ever read about. Life kept beating her down and she kept getting back up, minus one eye or minus a man and a baby, but never without her determination.

Five stars. I received this from the publisher. The book is due out November 1st, 2011. Be sure to mark it as to read.

Tarnished Beauty by Cecilia Samartin

2011-08-27T22:03:00.000-07:00

Once again, I am left amazed and reeling by the writing of Cecilia Samartin. When I read her work (and this is my 2nd one) I find myself pulling on my hair and muttering to myself, "Now this is a real writer, the kind of writer I only dream of being. My work sucks compared to this."

In Tarnished Beauty, there are two stories, the first one being about Jamilet. The time is... 1950s? (I assumed this because of the reference to Elvis music.) The setting is Mexico. Jamilet has a huge birthmark that covers her back, butt, and the backs of her thighs and upper arms. As a result, the suspicious and unkind people in her Mexican village shun her, throw rocks at her, and set her to dreaming of a better life north, in America where she can get her mark removed. Thus, when her mother dies, she dons male attire and crosses the border illegally.

Here now enters Senor Peregrino, a mental patient? (I'm not saying.) Jamilet tends him in the hospital in which she gets a job. Whereas most people cannot stand the Senor, Jamilet must tolerate him when he holds something over her head. And she listens to his story and she comes to like him. His story involves a love triangle, a jealousy, a pilgrimage in Spain.. He had originally thought he was to lead a religious life, but instead discovered himself drawn to a woman.

Meanwhile, Jamilet is having a love triangle of her own. She has a thing for Eddie, but Eddie is with Pearly... and besides, Jamilet is so determined to hide her mark from him and the world that she may be hiding a huge piece of herself and her heart.

Extremely well written, just a bit too descriptive and drawn out in Senor Peregrino's parts. (That's how he chose to tell it, however, and it suited his personality.) Aunt Carmen is hilarious!!! I related to Jamilet very well as in a way, her birthmark is a handicap to her (as long as she chooses to let it be.) The ending...I had to force myself to slow down and read it word for word as I was so anxious to find out how it unfolded..

There was a laugh out loud moment:

"I feel like a piece of sh*t," she said, tears running into her mouth. "No, sh*t is too good for me, too real...you can still see it and touch it. I'm more like a fart, a big silent killer of a fart, a smelly ghost." (This was the aunt.)

Favorite quote: "People who don't drink coffee are weak and feeble-minded; they usually don't have opinions about anything, but if they do, they're afraid to formulate them into words and speak out."

Four stars and I received this from the author.

A Black Girl's Poetry for the World by Kimberly LaRocca

2011-08-24T01:07:00.000-07:00

I don't normally read poetry and I am probably not the best judge of it, but when I saw this gorgeous cover, I was willing to give it a go and I enjoyed it very much. This book of poems is a variety of emotions. There's the poem What I Need. It's a woman telling a man she doesn't want to be his girl, just wants what she needs, but then there's the poem My Last Day, a woman telling her lover that being with him is how she wants to spend her last day and Love's Surprise...

Sometimes love throws you a curve,
It flows outside the lines.
Sometimes love takes broader shape,
Refuses to be confined.
It takes you up, then drops you down,
It smiles at you and then frowns...

Each poem is another emotion that women have. Sometimes we embrace love, sometimes we are befuddled by love, and sometimes we go to Hell and back for love. Some of the poems talk about heartbreak and some I can't even explain..

I wear you on my sleeve
Take you when I leave
Whether night or day
You're with me
On my way

I inhale you on my shirt
You line the pleats of my skirt
Whether at work or at play
You follow me
Through the day

It's not cologne or soap, you know
That fragrance I know so well,
Not Ivory or Irish Spring
That essence that I smell.

An aroma only you possess,
Separating you from the rest
So distinct, your scent,
And you wear it well.

Really enjoyable book of poetry for not only black girls, but all girls. And a huge point in its favor: they rhyme. I'm one of those people who thinks it's got to rhyme!

Five stars. I received a pdf of this from the author.

The Whole Package by Cynthia Ellingsen

2011-08-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

What a great idea... and one that many of us women would whole heartily endorse: a "Hooters" for women, a restaurant where women can go and be served delectable dishes by scantily dressed men and see a strip show every 15 minutes.

And that is what Jackie, Cheryl, and Doris set out to do. The BFFs start a restaurant together, The Whole Package. Whether their business survives or fails is up to them. And while interviewing sexy models, shopping with gay men, and dealing with picketers, each woman is dealing with turmoil and betrayal in her personal life. Cheryl is dealing with job loss, a potential new love affair that betrays her all in the name of advancing his own career, and possibly a more personal surprise. Jackie has lived like a pampered princess for so long that she doesn't know how to really work for anything and besides coming to terms with that, she must also deal with her guilt over her growing friendship with her dead husband's best bud. Doris is dealing with a teenage daughter, her weight and self esteem, and well, her husband has decided he wants to be like the guy's in the movie, Wild Hogs.

I love this. I was thoroughly entertained and laughed out loud A LOT. The women aren't perfect and they are easy to relate to. They face everyday problems that we all face (except Jackie.. Not many of us can say we were married to a very wealthy man and spent all his money in Paris..) My only quibble: I didn't like the ending for Doris. I don't wish to reveal too much of the story so I'm just going to say, "I would so not have taken him back."

Nevertheless, five stars. Really enjoyed this one, breezed through it despite the fact that I was traveling, visiting family, and it is 400 pages.

I received this as part of a blog tour and I will be interviewing the author on my blog September 7th so be sure to come back that day for Ten Questions From Tara!