Jane Litte's Blog, page 1042

REVIEW: Demon Marked by Meljean Brook

Dear Ms. Brook:

This is the second to last book in the Guardian series. The hero is a human named Nicholas St. Croix who first appeared in Demon Blood as a demon hunter. Nicholas searches for the demon who impersonated his mother and drove his father to suicide. He believes that Ash, a halfling demon, can lead him to this villain. Ash has taken on the appearance of someone that Nicholas once knew and who he believed had been killed by his demon target. Ash, however, can't remember anything of ...

REVIEW: Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh

Dear Ms. Singh,

Archangel's Blade opens with a flashback in the vampire Dmitri's POV, one that takes us back to Dmitri's human life. In the flashback, dark, ruthless Dmitri is revealed to have once, a thousand years ago, been a loving and tender hearted man devoted to his two children and to his wife.

Smiling at his son's joy, he looked up and saw her in the doorway. His wife. With their new daughter in her arms. His heart twisted into a knot that was almost painful.

[image error]Sometimes, he thought he...

Wednesday Midday Links: The Amazon Tablet Is Real

Sometimes I forget what news pieces I've posted here so if I have posted this, please forgive my lapse in memory.  Tech Crunch has actual details of the new Amazon Tablet. It's 7″ and supports two finger multi touch gestures (instead of the 10 finger supported by the iThings).

Runs on a modified Android platformHas limited memory (maybe only 6 GB). Amazon wants you to use the cloud.May come with a free Prime membership. (This makes a lot of sense as Prime members get access to a ton of free...

Dear Author Recommends for September

Paranormal:

Archangel's Blade by Nalini Singh, recommended by Jane, Shuzluva, and Janine
Demon Marked by Meljean Brook, recommended by Jane (review tomorrow)
Dark Taste of Rapture by Gena Showalter, recommended by Shuzluva (review soon)
Isle of Night by Veronica Wolff, recommended by Jaclyn and John. This is a YA title.  (review soon)

Historical:

The King's Courtesan by Judith James, recommended by Janet aka Robin
Kissing Comfort by Jo Goodman, recommended by Jane. (review shortly)

Contempora...

REVIEW: A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

Dear Mr. Martin,

Has there ever been a more anticipated fantasy novel than this? Maybe, but I'd be hard-pressed to think of it. A Game of Thrones, the first novel of your A Song of Ice and Fire series, changed the face of epic fantasy. Made it darker. Grittier. And of course, that thing that happened at the end. It reminded us that the so-called ironclad rules of epic fantasy weren't that ironclad after all. When HBO decided to adapt your series for television, I admit I was relieved. Maybe...

REVIEW: Swept Off Her Feet by Hester Browne

Dear Ms. Browne,

I've heard of the "Little Lady" books but no, shame on me, I've never read them. But when a friend of mine told me about "Swept Off Her Feet" and that she'd really liked it, the blurb got me interested in it. After she assured me that there's no faux brogue dialog I was in. I'll go ahead and say that if I'd read this back in March when it was first released, it would have been a recommend read from me. As it is, it's probably going to be on my best reads of 2011 list.

[image error]Evie...

Introducing the "mistorical," and The Uses and Limits of History in Romance

 

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First I want to formally introduce our newest tag at Dear Author: mistorical. Now tags don't generally get such an officious welcome, but this one, in particular, might be a wee bit controversial, as it means, quite literally, "mistaken historical." In other words, it's the tag we're now going to be using to describe all manner of historically inauthentic and inaccurate books on the blog – a catchall term that can be used for books of any time period or any type of mistaken, misused...

Dear Bitches, Smart Author Podcast, Episode No. 9

We have a special podcast this week: both of us had the opportunity to interview Stephanie Laurens as part of her media tour for Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue, and to raise awareness for Avon's KISS and Teal program. Avon has made a $25,000.00 donation to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, and will donate .25 for each book, digital or print, purchased as part of the KISS and Teal promotion. Books marked with the teal ribbon are part of the promotion.

You can subscribe to our feed at...

DUAL REVIEW: Spoil of War by Phoenix Sullivan

Dear Readers,

January's review kicked off quite a discussion here and around the web about this book.  I found the review persuasive, but as the arguments dragged on and became increasingly vituperative, I decided I would have to read it for myself in order to render an informed verdict. So I did. But I am not an expert on medieval history or Arthurian legends, so I recruited Dhympna to join me in reviewing the book. We're calling this a Dual Review because we converge to the same grades even ...

What Janine is Reading 8/21/11-9/4/11

In the reading world I'm more of a turtle than a greyhound. During the past two weeks, I read two books. Here's a recap:

Archangel's Consort by Nalini Singh

I picked up this third novel in Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series in preparation for book four, Archangel's Blade, which I had committed myself to reviewing. Since Jane has reviewed Archangel's Consort I won't regurgitate the plot. Suffice to say that though I liked the book less than Jane did, it wasn't a bad way to pass the time.

As...