Jane Litte's Blog, page 1026

REVIEW: The Mistress Deception by Susan Napier

Dear Ms. Napier:

When someone on Twitter mentioned that your older book, The Mistress Deception, features a virgin widower, I bolted right over to Amazon to purchase a digital copy, excited at the idea of a Harlequin Presents playing against type in this way. That was not the only pleasant surprise of the book, and despite some cringeworthy behavior on the part of the hero, I enjoyed The Mistress Deception quite a bit.

[image error]Matthew Riordan always gets extremely drunk on the anniversary of his...

Friday Film Review: The Proposal

The Proposal (2009)

Genre: romantic comedy

Grade: B+

[image error]Movies which are specifically made to be romantic comedies are often a mixed bag for me and often don't work well enough for me to even finish the film. I had been eyeing this one for a while and watching the star rating at Netflix before finally deciding to take the plunge and put it in my queue. After I finished watching it, I immediately turned on the commentary track and watched it again. It worked that well for me.

Margaret Tate (Sandra ...

Thursday Midday Links: Three Pubs to Provide Up to Date Sales Data for Authors

NPR explores the psychological fraud of the 70s – that Sybil was a fake – with the author of "Sybil Exposed."

Reading through Schreiber's papers, Nathan says it becomes obvious that the writer knew that Mason's story was not entirely true. Memories of a traumatic tonsillectomy, for instance, morphed into a lurid story of abuse. And Schreiber seemed eager to pump up or even create drama where none existed. But if Schreiber had doubts, she suppressed them.

"She already had a contract and she...

REVIEW: Season for Temptation by Theresa Romain

Dear Ms. Romain:

You received a glowing endorsement from Courtney Milan and I had to try this book out. While I am not sorry I read it, perhaps heightened expectations left me with a disappointed feeling during the book. I think, too, the book was a bit too lighthearted for me. I seem to be enjoying the darker, agnsty historicals more these days.

[image error]James, Viscount Matheson, comes to visit his new fiancée's family and while there feels an incredible pull toward his fiancée's sister, Julia...

What Jia's Been Reading, Early October

I think I might be getting my reading groove back. But I also think that has something to do with my choosing appropriate books for the reason. There's a definitely a pattern here — give me the creepy, the bloody, the supernatural.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor. A very different sort of YA paranormal. It has all the familiar elements: a female protagonist with a mysterious heritage, a hot supernatural guy after her, and lots of mystery. But the execution makes a world of...

REVIEW: The Long Way Home by Cheryl Reavis

Dear Ms. Reavis,

I'm so glad that by the time I'd heard of these books, the second one was already out and the third one wasn't too much of a wait. In Little Darlin' you make me actually like a secret baby book and toss in a marriage of convenience just for fun. In this follow up book, you take a woman who pretty much showed her ass by her actions in that book – and who showed her ta-tas for a living in the strip clubs on Bragg Boulevard – and make her into a character I wanted to stand up a...

Sunita's 2011 TBR Challenge Review: Among the Living (PsyCop #1) by Jordan Castillo Price

Dear Ms. Price,

I've heard your name mentioned whenever readers talk about their favorite m/m mysteries and paranormals. You've even been the subject of an If You Like column here at Dear Author. But although I've read your first two sets of Petit Morts stories, I never read any of your own series or standalone novels and novellas. This past summer I was looking for more m/m mysteries with romance, and I went to your website, where you generously offer half of Among the Living as a free read. ...

Wednesday Midday Links: Amazon's Silk Privacy Policy Satisfies EFF

EFF, a watchdog for internet privacy rights, questioned Amazon about SILK and the use of data to create predictive web browsing patterns. According to the answers given by Amazon to EFF, Amazon does not intercept encrypted traffic and it logs only the URL requested, the timestamp, and token identifying the session. EFF deems this to be good but does have two remaining concerns. First, Amazon keeps a list of the URLs you visit, a history of searches, and may download identifying information...

Kobo Vox, Completely Open Android Tablet Designed for Reading

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I've ordered this and it looks like I will be able to receive and review it before I get the Kindle Fire. The feature set of the $199 Kobo Vox is really good:

It has full open access to Android 2.3 and the Android Marketplace rather than the Amazon forked access. This means you could, if you wanted, download and use the Kindle Amazon app along with the nook App and Aldiko and any number of reading apps available on the Android platform.

It has WiFi and Micro USB, a 7″ AFFS+* multimedia display ...

REVIEW: Altered Destiny by Shawna Thomas

Dear Ms. Thomas:

I'm always on the lookout for a good fantasy story. They are rare in romance, perhaps because those writers that are devoted to this sub genre are more interested in exploring heroic tropes that are common in fantasy rather than romantic tropes.

[image error]The setting is in some fantasy old world country and there are two basic types of beings: humans and Svistra.  The Svistra are fed by blood and are known to be great fighters.  There numbers are small.  The Svistra were hired by human k...