Jane Litte's Blog, page 944

REVIEW: By His Desire by Kate Grey

Dear Ms. Grey,

I don’t have a clue who you are. Your book By His Desire is currently the third best-selling erotica and the twenty-eighth best selling contemporary on Amazon’s eBook list; it appears to be the first book you’ve published. By His Desire, currently going for 99¢, is actually a novella, and is worth every penny. In fact, I’d say it’s a steal. It’s my favorite erotica I’ve read this year. Your book is a winning combination of sex, sweetness, and bite. By His Desire is a lovely, dec...

Open Thread for Readers for July 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.

#BloggerTip: Working with publicists

One of the panels that BEA Bloggercon has had for a couple of years is managing relationships between publishers and bloggers. Bloggers bemoan the seemingly relentless focus on statistics, something a new blogger often stresses over. From speaking with other reviewers at BEA, there was a desire for greater discussion about relationships and not numbers. Here’s what I’ve learned in my past six years of blogging.

1) Relationships don’t happen over night.

The first review copy I received from a pu...

Using Automator with Calibre to Automate Tasks

This is a MAC only post but next week Brian will author a post for PC users

I saw a post the other day about using Hazel + Calibre to automatically import your Kindle files into Calibre. While the user did this to automatically strip the DRM from the books, the tutorial is smart for any one who wants to create an ongoing catalog of their purchases. It was the first time I had heard about Hazel, a low priced software that serves as a macro utility. A macro utility essentially records a number...

Saturday Midday Links & Deals: Pew Study on library lending shows ignorance of options, lack of options, and buying power of library patrons

News

Pew did a study of digital library lending. The highlights include:

Libraries, patrons, and e-books | Pew Internet Libraries –

PEW

“12% of readers of e-books borrowed an e-book from the library in the past year. But a majority of Americans do not know that this service is provided by their local library.”
“E-book borrowers appreciate the selection of e-books at their local library, but they often encounter wait lists, unavailable titles, or incompatible file formats.”
“58% of Americans have a...

Recommended Reads Saturday: Lord of the Fading Lands by CL Wilson

Lord of the Fading Lands by CL Wilson is recommended by Amy Kathryn.

Like most who drop by Dear Author, I must get my fix everyday. A chapter after the alarm goes off and before I can throw the covers off, a few pages on the ereader as I grab lunch, or even a whole book on a Saturday when I may have led everyone to believe I was heavily committed all day long- we’ve all been there. I cut my romance teeth on historicals that I found on my mom’s shelf and that remains one of my favorite subgenre...

REVIEW: The Church Mouse by Graham Oakley

Dear Mr. Oakley,

“The Church Mouse” was recommended to me by Cate, one our readers here at Dear Author, a few years ago. I took note of the title, wrote down your name and had always meant to seek out the book. With the best intentions it took me a while to finally match “I need to” with “I bought it” but finally I did. And boy am I glad. What a delightful story.

Arthur is the resident mouse in a lovely English church “in a busy little town, not very far away…” He loves loud (organ) music, sail...

First Page: The Reluctant Baron, 1733

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.

How much rum did soldiers receive in their rations the night before a battle? Enough to stiffen their resolve; not so much they couldn’t see straight. A man’s aim mattered naught with a volley of musket fire at stake....

REVIEW: An Heir of Deception by Beverley Kendall

Dear Ms. Kendall,

It was a foregone conclusion I’d readAn Heir of Deception,your latest entry intoThe Elusive Lordsseries. I’ve read the first two and novella and while neither the second book nor the novella rocked my socks like your debut novelA Taste of Desire, I’ve had fun reading them all. The heroes are gorgeous, dominant males with more self-confidence than Tony Stark, and are golden gods in bed. The women who love them are beautiful, smart mouthed, and able to orgasm on a single thrust...

REVIEW: Indian Maidens Bust Loose by Vidya Samson

Sunita had already found this book and started reading it before it popped up on my radar after it was posted to our Author Open Thread for June. We had also just had an “If You Like” post hosted by one of our readers, Kim T, about South Asian romances. So the pump was primed, so to speak.

All the comments for the Open Threads show up in my mailbox and after I read the description of the plot:

“Nisha Desai is a young Indian woman who pines for romance in a country where love is in the same clas...