Jane Litte's Blog, page 1019

REVIEW: Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai

Dear Ms. Rai,

You are a new author to me. I am familiar with your name, as I have seen many good reviews of your work. So when I saw that your next book was the Persephone myth retold as an erotic romance storyline, and because the price was right, I purchased. I'm happy to say I was pleased with my purchase.

[image error]Hot As Hades opens up with Persephone dropping onto Hades's lap in the Underworld. She's naked and has no clue why she is there, and he's quite happy that she's naked and in his lap until ...

Agony/Ecstasy Anthology: Introducing Anne Calhoun and her novella Transformed

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To readers of Dear Author, they will know that I made a huge mistake regarding Anne Calhoun.  The mistake was that she had sent me a PDF Arc of her book, Liberating Lacey, near its original release date in summer of 2009, and I never read it. In fact, even after it was reviewed at Smart Bitches, I never read it.  I didn't read it until a year later when Anne Calhoun emailed me again asking if I was interested. For some reason I did read it and really loved it.

When I got the invitation to...

REVIEW: Cafe du Jour by Lillian Darcy

Dear Ms. Darcy,

Despite your extensive list of Harlequin books, I'd never read anything by you before taking you up on your offer of "Cafe du Jour." And when making the decision to try the book, it's the writing that grabbed me. I felt like Susie was an old friend with whom I'd sat down for a long talk, deep into the evening as we caught up on each other's lives since I'd last seen her.

[image error]Susie is ostensibly writing a journal for her sister, Karen, who's been in a horrific hit and run accident...

REVIEW: The Famous Heroine by Mary Balogh

Dear Ms. Balogh,

Who knew you could be this funny?

Cora Downes is the titular heroine of this 1996 book, now being rereleased in a 2-in-1 volume with The Plumed Bonnet, as well as (to borrow a phrase from the back cover copy on my old Signet edition) a fish out of water in London society.

Cora is the daughter of a very wealthy merchant, and when she saves a duke's young heir from drowning, the child's grateful grandmother, the Duchess of Bridgewater, asks Cora to allow her to convey her thanks b...

Wednesday Midday Links: Kobo Acquired by Japanese eCommerce Client

From the Press Release:

TOKYO and TORONTO, November 8/9, 2011 — Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755) and Kobo Inc. today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Rakuten intends to acquire 100% of total issued and outstanding shares of Kobo for US$315 million in cash.

Kobo was founded by and spun out of Indigo, the largest book, gift and specialty toy retailer in Canada, in December, 2009. Since that time, Kobo has become a fierce competitor in the eBook marketplace...

Deals Under $2.99

We search prices by the following imprints: Avon, EOS, Forever, HarperCollins, HQN, Kensington, MIRA, Pocket, Pocket Star, Orbit, Samhain, Sourcebooks, and Macmillan. Note that Kensington Zebra Debuts are often under $3.00.  These searches are performed at Amazon and the prices are not always reflected at other stores.  These prices reflect US deals and may not be present at non US retailers.

The "new" tag means deals different than were included in the previous post.  I'm trying to add in...

REVIEW: All They Need by Sarah Mayberry

Dear Ms. Mayberry:

I almost feel bad recommending another book of yours.  I feel like to continually recommend the same author time and again may read inauthentic to readers but your voice and the stories that you tell really resonate with me. I think you really know how to capture and express a modern women that feels very authentic and relatable to me despite the fact that these books almost always take place in Australia, many thousands of miles away.

[image error]All They Ever Need is the romance of a l...

REVIEW: Cast in Ruin by Michelle Sagara

Dear Ms. Sagara,

Ah, the peril of the long-running series. I knew in the back of my mind that your ongoing Elantra series consisted of many books but checking Amazon, I see that Cast in Ruin is book 7. This both surprises me and makes me wince. Surprise because I can't believe it's been that many books already (I remember when Cast in Shadow first came out!), but wince because at some point, the barrier of entry for new readers becomes too high.

[image error]Cast in Ruin continues the fallout from the...

REVIEW: Wishes and Stitches by Rachel Herron

Dear Ms. Herron,

A few years ago it seems quilting in romance books was all the rage. Now it appears that knitting has taken over. I've resisted reading any of these books since I'm not a knitter but in my quest to expand my single title contemporary repertoire, I decided to take the plunge with your book "Wishes and Stitches" since it features an outsider heroine who's also a doctor. I figured that way, she's got some other interests besides yarn.

[image error]Naomi Fontaine had a great time at a recent...

Tuesday Midday News: AJ Llewellyn Admits Adopting Male Persona Despite Being Female

It's election day in many places. I hope if you live in one of those places, you are voting today.

*****

Self published superstar C.J. Lyons has been picked up by Minotaur.  I thought that Lyon's books were romantic suspense but if they are published by Minotaur, it sounds like they are more thriller?  I believe Minotaur was the publisher of Barry Eisler before he accepted a similar offer from Amazon.  Minotaur also bought three books from Allison Brennan for over $500K soon after Eisler...