Jane Litte's Blog, page 1022

What Janine is Reading, October 2011

October was a month for reading material with fantastical elements. All three of the works I read were promising, but only one ended up satisfying me.

White Cat by Holly Black

My husband and I started reading this contemporary YA paranormal, which Jia reviewed favorably awhile back, after it was recommended by a friend. We started reading it, but it went back to the library unfinished. I can see why other people enjoyed it – it's got a twisty plot, solid prose, complex yet consistent...

Agony & Ecstasy, the Anthology. An Introduction and a Giveaway

[image error]Many of the long time readers know that Berkley invited me to put together a collection of short stories conceptualizing the idea that passion is often comprised of both pain and pleasure.  The collection is printed in a flip format.  The first 10 stories are printed one way and the second set of stories (11) are printed upside down.  The idea is that you flip it to read it. Yes, it's gimmicky, but apparently a very popular concept as it has worked well before for Berkley with its original...

Review: The Darkest Surrender by Gena Showalter

Dear Ms. Showalter,

After reading Lord of the Vampires, I was encouraged to try another one of your books. Your voice can be light and funny and the sexual tension is fun, but that book fell flat for me. I noticed The Darkest Surrender in your Lords of the Underworld series had a lot of praising reviews, and the harpies sounded intriguing, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm happy to say that this was a fun read, and made me interested in other books in the series.

[image error]The Darkest Surrender is the ...

Tuesday Midday Links: Freebies from Samhain, Writing Contest from Harlequin

Freebies from Samhain:

Freebie for month of November: Touching Lace by Anne Rainey |  Amazon |  nook
Freebie from November 1 to Nov 14: Carinian's Seeker by T.J. Michaels | Amazon | nook

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Galley Cat reports that a self published author offered a free sample at BN, Amazon discovered this and lowered the price to his book to free.  Part of Amazon's contract is that if it finds a lower price somewhere else, it will lower its own price, even down to free. The author in this case argues...

REVIEW: The Next Always by Nora Roberts

Meet the Montgomery brothers – Beckett, Ryder, and Owen – as they bring an intimate bed-and-breakfast to life in their hometown.

The historic hotel in Boonsboro, Maryland, has endured war and peace, the changing of hands, and even rumored hauntings. Now it's getting a major face lift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. As the architect of the family, Beckett's social life consists mostly of talking shop over pizza and beer. But there's another project he's got his eye on...

Inclusion and Mistakes v. Homogeny and Accuracy

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Sarah Wendell and I had a lively debate via email on the topic of inclusion or getting it right.  The Mahajara's Mistress by Susan Stephens recently reviewed at Smart Bitches features a heroine who has an eye patch due to the loss of an eye and is scarred in her face.  She dresses like a pirate and works at a trendy hair salon in Monaco.  The disfigurement is largely an accessory and not well integrated into the heroine's character arc.  I felt that the inclusion of disfigured heroines, even ...

Inclusion and Mistakes v. Homogency and Accuracy

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Sarah Wendell and I had a lively debate via email on the topic of inclusion or getting it right.  The Mahajara's Mistress by Susan Stephens recently reviewed at Smart Bitches features a heroine who has an eye patch due to the loss of an eye and is scarred in her face.  She dresses like a pirate and works at a trendy hair salon in Monaco.  The disfigurement is largely an accessory and not well integrated into the heroine's character arc.  I felt that the inclusion of disfigured heroines, even ...

Jane's Reading List Ending October 31, 2011

Dear Readers,

It's been three weeks since my last confession.  In that time, I've read two historicals, six paranormals (5 being about werewolves, the entire backlist of Meg Benjamin, and a couple of erotic romances.

Not Wicked Enough by Carolyn Jewel (ARC, release date Feb 7, 2012).  Enjoyed this different historical story of a wealthy woman who fell in love with a soldier.  She gave up her virginity to him and then he died before they could marry. She's single out of choice because she never ...

HALLOWEEN 2-in-1 REVIEW : I Fell In Love With A Zombie by Sean Kennedy and Mummy Dearest by Josh Lanyon

I am not a big fan of Halloween, except for the seeing the small fry in costume, of course, but I do enjoy a zombie, ghost, or other creature-centric story around this time of year. When I saw that Josh Lanyon had just released a novella called Mummy Dearest, I couldn't resist, and I thought it might pair well with a zombie novella by Sean Kennedy that was calling to me in my TBR (because really, what doesn't go well with zombies?).

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Dear Mr. Kennedy,

[image error]I've been known to describe your first...

Monday Midday Links: Waterstone's Vampire Timeline

Waterstone's developed a very cool graphic timeline (scroll to the left/right) of vampire books.  I've been told an updated version will appear with Anne Rice on it.   It includes classics and modern favorites.

We had a discussion here at Dear Author about the mother of modern paranormal romances.  Christine Feehan received the most votes.

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Samhain is celebrating with a 30% off coupon.  I highly recommend the Meg Benjamin Konisburg series.

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Wall Street Journal writes that a