Jane Litte's Blog, page 1017

What Jia's Been Reading, Late October/Early November

Both my reading speed and time have taken a serious hit the past few weeks. Hopefully, my upcoming vacation over Thanksgiving will remedy that but who knows?

Cast in Ruin by Michelle Sagara

I'm a big fan of Michelle Sagara/Michelle West's books but this one didn't live up to my expectations. It seems like every couple Elantra books, there's one I find completely uninteresting. This, apparently, was the one. (Full review.)

The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin
The conclusion to the Inheritance...

Agony/Ecstasy Anthology: Overtaken by Sara Thorn

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Can we agree that there are not enough boxing stories in romance? Yes, then you'll love the short by Sara Thorn.  Hot boxer breaks it off with his girlfriend because she's too good for him. Maybe she is, but she's happy to engage in the activities he thinks are too dark and she's going to make sure he knows it.  Oh, Sara Thorn, write a full length about these two!

There were a lot of things she'd never seen of John Watts.

It was dark back here, the only light coming from the low windows at...

Wednesday Midday Links: Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch, Nook Tablet All Ship Early Plus Deals from Avon

First up are deals from Avon. These books are all priced at $4.99. Some retailers aren't reflecting all the reduced prices but within the next week or so, this should be corrected. The deals are good for US and Canada and at Amazon, BN, and Kobo.

Any Man of Mine by Rachel Gibson * $4.99 * Amazon | nook | Kobo Waking Up With the Duke by Lorraine Heath * $4.99 * Amazon | nook | Kobo The Seduction of Scandal by Cathy Maxwell * $4.99 * Amazon | nook | Kobo A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare...

REVIEW: Baby It's Cold Outside by Addison Fox

"After a frantic call, Sloan McKinley travels to the heart of the Alaskan wilderness to be there for her best friend, who's just inherited property in the small town of Indigo. The last thing she expects is to be lured by the town's matriarchs into their annual contest to get their grandsons married off.

But Sloan can't deny the appeal of the rugged local men-Walker Montgomery in particular. Soon she finds herself falling in love with the wild outdoors…and with one of Indigo's most beloved...

REVIEW: The Body Thief by C.J. Barry

Dear Ms. Barry:

In my hunt for more shifter books, I came across your November title. I had heard good things about you in the past. Your book, Body Master, won the 2011 Winner of RomCon's 2011 Reader's Crown for Best Sci-Fi, Futuristic or Time Travel. Reader's Crown was a reader judged contest and I thought I would give this second book in the Shifter series a try.

[image error]Camille Solomon is a Shapeshifter, a being from another planet who has come here with other Shifters to begin anew after being...

REVIEW: The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Dear Ms. Keplinger,

Your book has been getting some of the biggest press I've seen for a YA title.  It's very rare that I have people that read heavily in the romance community telling me to pick a YA title up.  The Duff, however, seems to be a title that captured many people's attention.  In finally reading it,  the hype was brought back down to earth for me.  This is a smart title for the YA set that gets a lot of things right, but I didn't leave it with the astounded feeling that I wanted t...

The Hero's Agency

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During a past discussion about the lack of representation of non nobles in historical romance, there was one comment that by Darlynne that stuck with me.

Maybe it says readers want people of power in their romance novels. You don't have to worry about the hero being ground under someone's heel or treated badly, not when he's the most powerful SOB in the area. If someone else has the power to destroy the hero, if the world is skewed so far in favor of a ruling class, how can he keep the...

REVIEW: Fool's Paradise by Tori Phillips

Dear Ms. Phillips,

I wanted to read this book because of the Tudor time period and the fact that the hero is not only a commoner but a bastard as well. Also, I had heard good things about your Harlequin Historicals of the 90s. It's slightly bawdy for the time with Dicken doing his share of bodice diving amongst the wenches of the inns and manor houses of England and the heroine takes to public performances like a duck to water but methinks this is a book I would have enjoyed more "back in the ...

Monday Midday News: Kindle Touch and Fire Reviews; Black Friday eReader Deals

The Kindle devices have been released to the media and there are a few reviews.  Of the Fire, reviewers say the it is easy to access Amazon content and if all you want to do is consume media rather than create, the Fire is probably the right kind of device for you, particularly at the price point of $199. It does appear to be buggy, however, with some lapses in page turns or the need to be precise when interfacing with the touch screen.

Engadget - Not a good comparison device on the market.a

Agony/Ecstasy Anthology: The Sybil by Jean Johnson

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Jean Johnson is a long time author of Cindy Hwang, the executive editor of Berkley.  Cindy "discovered" Jean by reading fan fiction Jean had been writing and asked Jean if she was interested in writing full length books.  This led to the publication of the Sons of Destiny series. (More at Jean's site)  When I asked Jean if she would contribute a story to this collection, I told her she could write anything.  I think Jean was fairly excited about that and told me she had a femdom story in...