Jane Litte's Blog, page 1029

REVIEW: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Dear Ms. Taylor,

Your novels have been on my peripheral awareness for a couple years now. I keep meaning to give them a try, but you know how it is. So many books, so little time. Then I heard the buzz surrounding Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I thought it was a great title so ever curious, I looked it up on Amazon. I read the book description but it seemed kind of vague to me. I can't say that without the interesting title to spur me on I would have picked up this book. The cover copy was so...

REVIEW: Silent Blade and Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews

Dear Ms. Andrews:

Thank you for sending me a complimentary copy of this short story. Because it is short, I admit I don't have much to say about it. When I was told that this book was connected to another short, "Silent Blade", it made sense to read it and review it together. I had no problems reading "Silver Shark" as a stand alone should the readers wonder where to start. However, the couple in "Silent Blade" play a role in "Silver Shark" and thus scenes from "Silver Shark" serve as a kind o...

What January is Reading as of 10/09/2011

It's been an odd month for me, reading-wise. I've started many things and struggled to finish almost all of them. Here's a quick grocery-list of what is currently on my Kindle.

Lord of the Vampires – Gena Showalter

I thought the premise of this miniseries was intriguing, if a bit muddled. I truly wanted to read the Jill Monroe book (since it seems based off of the Goldilocks fairy tale) but this one was out first, so I gave it a try. You are one of those authors I really love in concept but...

DA Weekly Deals: 29+ Books Under $2.99

Based on the response last week, we sorted the books by Publishe again. 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.

We also included a few books t...

REVIEW: Make Me Believe by Crystal Jordan

"She has two words for love. "Make me." Then love changes the rules…

As far as hairstylist Celia Occam is concerned, she's struck out at marriage twice, and there will be no "third time's a charm". So what if one salon employee and the town gossip seem dead set on fixing her up with Prince Charming. She's nobody's princess.

She's all for scratching the occasional itch with the right man, but flirtatious firefighter Mason Delacroix is all wrong. Besides, with three broken engagements on his...

REVIEW: Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter

Dear Ms. Showalter,

You're one of those authors I feel I should love. Your story ideas are creative and inventive. You're prolific – one of my favorite traits in an author. Your online personality is sweet and easygoing.  And yet for some reason, your books and I never seem to quite connect. Every time you start a new series, I buy the first book, hoping that this will be the one that converts me into a raving fan. It's why I picked up Lord of the Vampires. Sadly, this book was not quite the o...

ARC Giveaway of Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook

[image error]Did you love "Iron Duke" like the DA Reviewers? (reviews here and here with a bookchat here) Were you anxious for the sequel, "Heart of Steel", featuring Yasmeen and Archimedes? Were you thinking of driving to New York and banging on the door of Penguin in hopes that they might give you an early copy? If so, this giveaway is for you. And now, from the desk of Ms. Brook's editor, Cindy Hwang:

Meljean Brook's THE IRON DUKE was one of my very favorite books of 2011, and not just because I edited...

REVIEW: Something Different by S.A. Reid

Dear Ms. Reid (actually I'm just assuming your gender here — sorry if I got it wrong).

This is a self-pubbed book that you sent to Dear Author for possible review. I enjoyed the excerpt and it hit one of my buttons pretty hard (*love* stories about prostitutes or strippers — no idea why), so I figured I'd go for it. And I'm so glad I did. I loved this story. I never know why people choose to self-pub, but some aspects of the story might raise some eyebrows (they certainly raised mine), but...

What Sarah was Reading in September

Like Jane, I've been reading a lot of ARCs for November and December, and wow, you're all in for some real treats.

Riptide Publishing opens its door on October 30. It's already open for pre-orders and sending out review copies. Almost all of the initial offerings so far listed are under 30K words. And honestly, $2.99 for 10K words seems utterly ridiculous to me. $4.99 for under 30K words? $10 for 100K words? I mean, 100K words is a great story, but $10? Really?! While the stories are great...

Customer Service: New Scope of Authorial Duties

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I've been futzing with this article for a couple of months and it's not working out. I told myself to finish it and publish it and it accidentally went up last week. I guess that is a sign. I think the problem that I have with the subject is that I don't have any real concrete opinion here but rather than let it languish, I figured I would post it and then read all the comments. Maybe something will crystalize after reading the opinions of the  commenters of Dear Author.

Sarah Wendell and I...