Jane Litte's Blog, page 916

Open Thread for Readers for September 2012

Got a book you want to talk about? Frustrated with a book or series? In love with a new one? Found a buried treasure? An issue that keeps popping up in the books you are reading? Just want to chat about stuff in general? Post away. Don’t forget to bookmark our New Releases site. Books are added on a weekly basis. You can see the whole month of September here.

Daily Deals: Historicals and two prickly paranormal heroines

[image error] A Belated Bride by Karen Hawkins. $1.99.

From Jacket Copy:

She’d Never Marry Him!

The last man Arabella Hadley ever wishes to see again is Lucien Deveraux, the handsome, dissolute Duke of Wexford — who broke her innocent heart years ago and disappeared to London. So when she finds an unconscious man on her deserted country road and sees that it’s Lucien, she’s tempted to leave him there. But even more appalling than his presence is the brazen kiss he plants on her shocked lips and her response!...

My love affair with the iPod Nano Watch

A little history behind the Nano Watch

[image error]

When the Nano was first introduced in 2005, I thought it was cute but totally a waste of money. There was no way to add new apps to it. It played music, had a tiny screen for some kind of video playback and that was about it.

In 2010, Apple introduced the 6th Generation iPod Nano and it was a square screen with a clip. Someone (not at Apple) started talking online about the Nano as a watch. Homemade watch bands were introduced and a cottage industry of mak...

Daily Deals: Recommended reads in YA, Fantasy, and Romance for under $3.99

[image error] The Time of the Dark: The Darwath Series by Barbara Hambly. $ 2.99

From the Jacket Copy:

A murderous force threatens a far-off magical world, and an ordinary Californian is drawn into the battle to save mankind

As a student of medieval history, Gil Patterson is a woman familiar with dark stories. She knows well the Crusades, the Black Death, and the other horrors of the Middle Ages, but it is another kind of atrocity that has begun to haunt her dreams. She sees forces of evil assaulting a beleag...

MANGA REVIEW: Jiu Jiu volume 1 by Touya Tobina

Story & Art: Touya Tobina

Publisher: Hakusensha/Viz

Rated: T+ for older teen

Volumes: 1/5

Dear readers,

It’s been a while since I picked up a new shoujo title so after looking around a bit, I decided to give this a try. I admit I don’t often read shoujo manga much these days but it’s good to revisit the genre every now and again.

Takamichi Hachiouji comes from a family of demon hunters. As a child, she was considered unnecessary. Her older twin brother was to inherit everything so the rest of the f...

First Page: We Can Do It!

Welcome to First Page Saturday. Individual authors anonymously send a first page read and critiqued by the Dear Author community of authors, readers and industry others. Anyone is welcome to comment. You may comment anonymously. You can submit your own First Page using this form.

August heat blanketed our town. By dawn it reached 90 degrees, by noon it went much higher. Out in back of the high school, farmers’ wives and some of the women who lived in town ran the community cannery while their...

Daily Deals: Historical, Paranormal, Women’s Fiction

[image error] Hidden by Kelley Armstrong. $ 2.99

From the Jacket Copy:

Reader Advisory: Hidden is a novella, or short novel, about 40,000 words. It is not a full-length novel.

*******

Hiking through the snow, holiday baking and playing board games by the fire–what’s not to love about an old-fashioned family Christmas?

Werewolves Elena Michaels and Clayton Danvers want to give their four-year-old twins, Kate and Logan, something their parents never had: a nice, normal holiday. No Pack responsibilities, no homici...

REVIEW: Temptation’s Edge by Eden Bradley / Eve Berlin

Dear Ms. Bradley/Berlin

The art of tattooing is intriguing to me and I would love to read more romances where the artistry of tattooing plays an important role. Past books of yours have not interested me because many of them have a roman a clef tone to them which is not something I look for in romances but Temptation’s Edge had a tattoo artist and I felt like it was a great time for me to re-acquaint myself with your writing. I did have a laugh that the intrepid heroine, Mischa, is not only a...

REVIEW: Ella’s Big Chance – A Jazz Age Cinderella by Shirley Hughes

Dear Ms. Hughes,

A few months ago, I was looking to buy another retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale and your book, “Ella’s Big Chance – A Jazz Age Cinderella” was recommended to me at the same time. Intrigued by the setting and cover illustration, I bought it as well. Though I love the Cinderella story, I acknowledge it has its drawbacks – namely that though the heroine gets a man who loves her, he seems to have trouble recognizing her without her footwear. Your version takes that into cons...

Friday Film Review: The Lady Vanishes

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Grade: B

“Traveling aboard a transcontinental train, young Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood) becomes alarmed when an acquaintance, elderly governess Miss Froy (Dame Mae Whitty), suddenly vanishes. Inexplicably, all the other passengers deny having seen the woman. So Iris turns to her lone ally — handsome music scholar Gilbert Redman (Michael Redgrave) — for help. As the two search for clues to Froy’s disappearance, they uncloak a sinister plot.”...