Book Thingo

A Stormy Greek Marriage by Lynne Graham

Kat — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0000

A Stormy Greek Marriage by Lynne Graham (The Drakos Baby, Book 2)

Books like this are the reason I stopped reading category romance in my mid-20s. I hope I don’t come across too many more of them in the near future. DNF.

I have five more titles in my Lynne Graham glom pile, but I’m not sure I can bear to go on. On one hand, I knew getting into this book that Graham writes domineering heroes of the 80s alpha kind. I thought I could cope with it, but this book is such a trainwreck I gave up halfway through.

Surprisingly for a category romance, this is part two of a series. (Perhaps Graham should have just written a full length book, did anyone think of that?) The back story is explained well enough to get the gist—I’m fairly sure I wouldn’t be prepared to slog through an entire book to basically learn that Alexei finally slept with his personal assistant, Billie, taking her virginity. She’s pined for him in secret but felt she was no match for the dazzling beauties that naturally flock to her rich, handsome boss.

Unfortunately, Alexei tripped and hit his head and managed to conveniently forget the two nights they were together. More unfortunately for Billie, the oblivious Alexei tried to rekindle a childhood romance as Billie coped with the consequences of their nights together—yes, the old secret baby.

Anyway, back to this book. Billie and Alexei ended up together at the end of book one, but on their wedding night at the start of book two, Alexei magically divines that Billie is no virgin. He’s enraged and walks out on her. Or so she thinks. He doesn’t think it was walking out. More like having a tantrum because she lied. Except she tells him the truth about their child, Nicky, and he thinks it’s a lie. DNA is taken, Alexei realises she was telling the truth, but even then Graham refuses to bestow any sort of power on the heroine.

When Billie threatens to divorce Alexei, he whisks Nicky off to a different country, deliberately making Billie think he’d been kidnapped. Way to go to convince a woman to spend the rest of her life with you and her son. There’s nothing redeeming about a man who lets his wife think he’s kidnapping their son to convince her not to get a divorce.

At that point I put the book down. In many ways, I can see the appeal of Graham’s story to an older generation of women and in women today who are products of different cultures, who may have had to endure marriages rife with infidelity, lies and an enormous imbalance of power. I feel sorry for them, and a book like A Stormy Greek Marriage may be a way to express their frustrations while providing a glimmer of hope that love and dedication and faith might result in a happy ending.

But I’m not from that generation, and Alexei’s actions are abhorrent to me. A man who refuses to listen to someone he purports to love, who puts the principle of honesty before compassion by refusing to listen to her explanations, is not a hero in my mind. He’s an immature bully undeserving of the wealth and power and good looks with which fate—or the author—has gifted him.

Yay or nay?

Books like this are the reason I stopped reading category romance in my mid-20s. I hope I don’t come across too many more of them in the near future. DNF.

Who might enjoy it: Martyrs

Who might not enjoy it: Potential paperweight targets

This book is no longer in print.

Title: A Stormy Greek Marriage
Series: Drakos Baby (Book 2)
Author: Lynne Graham
Publisher: Harlequin Mills & Boon
Australia (Sexy): 9781742787879 (10/2010)
UK (Modern) 9780263878332 (20/4/2010)
US (Presents): 9780373129577 (16/11/2010)

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Ruthless Magnate, Convenient Wife by Lynne Graham

Ruthless Magnate, Convenient Wife by Lynne Graham

Kat — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:00:00 +0000

Ruthless Magnate, Convenient Wife by Lynne Graham (Pregnant Brides, Book 2)

There’s nothing earth-shattering about this story. I didn’t hate the hero or the heroine, but that might be damning with faint praise.

Back in my 20s, I would have loved this book. This may be spoilery to some readers—although if you regularly read in this Mills & Boon line it would amaze me if any of this surprises you—but Ruthless Magnate, Convenient Wife features a tycoon hero who borders on misogyny, a contract marriage, a virgin heroine, an accidental pregnancy and a Small Misunderstanding.

But as far as these things go, Lynne Graham does a decent enough job with the plot. Sergei Antonovich was saved from a troubled childhood by his grandmother, and as she gets older he wants to give her what he knows would make her happy—a grandchild.

As you do when you’re insanely rich but scarred by a money-grubbing first wife and young hotties forever flashing their cleavage in exchange for your wad (of cash, people!), Sergei sets up a business arrangement to acquire a wife and child.

Alissa Bartlett discovers that her identical twin, Alexa, entered an agreement to marry a rich Russian guy—in Alissa’s name. Their mother desperately needs the money, and when Alexa can’t go through with the bargain, Alissa reluctantly agrees to fulfil the obligations of the contract.

Graham tries to give Alissa a little more backbone that your typical mistress-but-for-the-marriage-contract heroine. Despite her attraction to Sergei, she’s indignant when he assumes she’ll just make out—and eventually have sex—with him as he pleases. Unfortunately, Alissa tips into TSTL (too stupid to live) territory when she fails to read the contract that her sister signed. Wouldn’t that be the first thing you do before agreeing to go through with a contract marriage? Heaven help her if she ever decides to take out a mortgage.

Anyway, she’s in for a very rude shock when she learns that pregnancy is part of the deal. Sergei is equally shocked and angry at being duped, and his only capitulation is to hold off on the baby-making while emphasising the mistress part of the bargain.

It all comes to a head in a big dramatic scene where Alexa goes completely loopy—seriously, I couldn’t believe she and Alissa were related, let alone twins—the Small Misunderstanding is resolved and the epilogue gives everyone what they so clearly deserve, with the possible exception of Alissa’s dad.

All this while I was sitting in a bus, stuck in peak-hour traffic. That’s what category romance is for.

Yay or nay?

There’s nothing earth-shattering about this story. I didn’t hate the hero or the heroine, but that might be damning with faint praise.

Who might enjoy it: Readers who also enjoy daytime soapies

Who might not enjoy it: Family Court solicitors

This book is no longer in print.

Title: Ruthless Magnate, Convenient Wife (excerpt)
Series: Pregnant Brides (Book 2)
Author: Lynne Graham
Publisher: Harlequin Mills & Boon
Australia (Sexy): 9780733598654 (2/2010)
UK (Modern) 9780263877533 (12/2009)
US (Presents): 9780373128921 (2/2010)

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With This Fling… by Kelly Hunter

Kat — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

With This Fling... by Kelly Hunter

This book proves that finely tuned character development and emotional honesty can turn even the most maligned clichés in romance fiction not just into an enjoyable read, but a story worth savouring.

The more I read Kelly Hunter’s work, the more I admire how well she’s able to make each couple and each story fresh, interesting and fun.

With This Fling… features what seems to be Hunter’s favourite type of heroine—a rich one. Charlotte Greenstone invents a fiancé to reassure her dying godmother that she won’t be alone. When said fiancé fails to turn up at the funeral, Charlotte concocts a story in which he’s killed in the wilds of Papua New Guinea.

But in series of spectacular coincidences, she finds herself in possession of Grey Tyler’s, well, office. Her fictional fiancé is not only not dead, he’s back from PNG, he’s hot and it seems he may just have need of a fictional girlfriend of his own.

If you’re looking for an elaborate external plot, you’re in for disappointment. With This Fling… is romance distilled. The conflicts in this story are all from within. Even secondary characters only serve to get Charlotte and Grey questioning what it is they truly want and hold dear.

Grey is a biologist whose life is all about pursuing research opportunities all over the world. Charlotte is an archaeologist who grew up travelling all over the world, and she’s determined to put down roots. Knowing their plans for the future are diametrically opposed, Charlotte and Grey agree to a short-term affair. Of course, it gets very complicated very quickly.

Hunter excels in this kind of setup—intense, passionate and with an increasing sense of desperation as the hero and heroine begin to realise what it’ll cost them to let the other go. But even as they go through heartache, their interactions include a certain playfulness that underscores their growing affection for each other.

‘There are benefits to having a man around the house that you haven’t even dreamed of yet,’ he said.

‘Oh, really?’

‘Oh, yes.’

‘We’ll see.’ She leaned against the door, more relaxed than he’d seen her all evening. ‘Do you cook?’

‘Not often, but I hunt and I can gather.’

‘Do you clean?’

‘No, but I do appreciate a tidy house.’

‘Do you iron?’

‘That’s what laundry services are for.’

‘Do you mow?’ she asked silkily.

‘What? And do a groundsman out of his job?’

‘Greyson, you’ve spent the last dozen or so years living out of a suitcase, eating hotel food and answering to no one. You’re not even housebroken. I’d go easy on the promises of domestic bliss if I were you.’

‘If you say so, dear,’ he murmured. ‘Little phrase I picked up picked up from my father. Like it?’

‘Yes, but it’s a little early in the relationship for weary resignation, don’t you think? You need to keep that in reserve.’

There are certain plot points that are, admittedly, a tad contrived, but there’s so much delicious angst in this story that even the most eyeroll-inducing Mills & Boon cliché—hello, accidental pregnancy!—surprised me. (This can’t possibly be a spoiler because it’s right there on the cover.) To Hunter’s credit, she refrains from dragging out the oh-look-she’s-feeling-nauseated-maybe-she-has-a-tummy-bug moment and just forces her characters to face the issue.

I do wonder what the UK Riva cover is about. This book has nothing to do with diamonds and there’s no way a field scientist would ever need to wear as much make-up as that cover model does.

Yay or nay?

This book proves that finely tuned character development and emotional honesty can turn even the most maligned clichés in romance fiction not just into an enjoyable read, but a story worth savouring.

Who might enjoy it: Scientists and heiresses

Who might not enjoy it: Readers who like heroes in suits

Title: With This Fling… (excerpt)
Author: Kelly Hunter
Publisher: Harlequin Mills & Boon
Australia (Sexy): 9781742907154 (2/2011)
UK (Riva): 9780263883619 (1/2011)
USA (Presents): 9780373528196 (6/2011)

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Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

Kat — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison (Elder Races, Book 1)

The Elder Races series has become my BDB replacement. It’s totally cracktastic.

After reading Wandergurl’s review and at the urging of Decadence and Kate, I finally picked up the first book in Thea Harrison’s Elder Races series.

I’m hooked.

Pia Giovanni is blackmailed into stealing from Dragos, Wyr (shapeshifter) leader and one of the most powerful creatures in the world. She’s on the run, but he’s determined to find out who stole his…penny.

Dragon Bound gets off to a snappy start, with Dragos’s pursuit of Pia and her attempts to elude him. Dragos’s enemies are determined to bring him down, and Pia is inadvertently swept up in their conflict. Her life has been based on the need to protect herself, but with Dragos refusing to let her go, it seems her secrets may put her in even greater danger than either of them could have anticipated.

Dragos is your typical alpha male, leader of a savage community, whose ruthlessness is suddenly tempered by his fascination with—and later love for—the heroine. Pia is not exactly weak—she has her own skills and resources—but her greatest strength in the relationship is her ability to understand Dragos’s nature and help him be a better person. Species. Wyr. Whatever.

“I am jealous, selfish, acquisitive, territorial and possessive. I have a terrible temper, and I know I can be a cruel son of a bitch.” He cocked his head. “I used to eat people, you know.”

If he meant to shock her out of crying, he succeeded. A snort burst out of her. “That’s awful,” she said. Her nose was clogged. “I mean it, that’s awful. It’s not funny. I’m not laughing.”

He sighed. “It was a long time ago. Thousands of years. Once I really was the beast the Elves call me.”

She closed her eyes, took a deep, shuddering breath and rubbed her fingers along the seam of his T-shirt. “What made you stop?”

“I had a conversation with somebody. It was an epiphany.” His voice was rueful. He rocked her. “From that point on, I swore I would never eat something that could talk.”

If you like sassy heroines, there’s plenty of it in Dragon Bound. One of my favourite scenes is when Pia gets drunk with the PR representative for Dragos’s corporation and they indulge in a bit of girl bonding.

Yes, the writing is sometimes mired in purple prose (‘broad mushroom head’—yes, it’s exactly what you think it is) and the kind of awkward language (‘I’ll pursue that comment later.’ Really? Do people talk like this?) that fans of paranormal romance readers regularly endure—perhaps even enjoy, because who am I to judge?— but Dragon Bound also embodies all that we love about the genre.

Yay or nay?

The Elder Races series has become my BDB replacement. It’s totally cracktastic.

Who might enjoy it: Paranormal romance series fanatics

Who might not enjoy it: People who expect paranormal romance characters to act like normal people

Title: Dragon Bound (excerpts: one, two, three)
Series: Elder Races (Book 1)
Author: Thea Harrison
Publisher: Berkley/Penguin
A format: 9780425241509 (9/6/2011)

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Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts

Kat — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts

A satisfying romantic suspense with a capable heroine. The romance lacks intensity, but a decent mystery plot keeps the pages turning.

The thing about Nora Roberts is that I almost always enjoy her books—just never enough to want to buy her next one and let’s not even contemplate her backlist. Chasing Fire is no exception.

Rowan Tripp is an experienced firefighter with the US equivalent of the rural fire service, but it’s a little different this time. She lost a jump partner in a freak accident the previous season, and it seems someone has put the blame squarely at her feet.

There are a pool potential suspects, even though Rowan isn’t comfortable thinking that any of them could be capable of sabotage and murder. Aside from staff at the base station, there’s her fellow fire fighters, who rely on each other’s trust for survival. There’s also the newest batch of smoke-jumping recruits—firefighters who get flown into a middle of a bush fire.

One of these recruits is Gull Curry—perhaps one of the least romantic names I’ve seen in the genre—who is immediately attracted to Tripp’s ‘package’ and ‘attitude’. Curry’s a nice guy…and remains so throughout the entire book. The romance develops gradually, but it’s not quite central to the story. It’s nice to have, but not essential.

More interesting are the secondary characters, even though there are so many of them it’s sometimes tricky to get them straight. Roberts likes to play around with stereotypes, and this is refreshing to read—the hot blonde who loves shoes but can complete an obstacle course, the sexist redneck who concedes he’s wrong about women smoke-jumpers. There’s a lot of camaraderie in the team, which Roberts captures very well.

After several attempts at reading Roberts’s contemporary novels—including her Chesapeake Bay saga, which seems to be universally recommended by everyone who recommends her work—I think we’ll have to chalk it down to a matter of style and personal taste. She writes gutsy, empowered heroines and heroes who support rather than dominate. I love this; I do. But for some reason, Roberts still fails to move me.

In Chasing Fire I can understand why. Much of the book focuses on Rowan’s development and in solving the murder mystery. These are interesting parts of the plot and Roberts doesn’t make it easy to guess the culprit—she throws enough seeds of doubt that you’re kind of almost sure you know who it is, but you kind of maybe think you’re wrong.

So perhaps it’s the romantic suspense subgenre I struggle with. The more I consider this idea, the more it makes sense. But that would require a post of its own.

Yay or nay?

Chasing Fire is a satisfying romantic suspense with a capable heroine. The romance lacks intensity, but a decent mystery plot keeps the pages turning.

Who might enjoy it: Romantic suspense fans who enjoy a strong heroine and a non-domineering hero

Who might not enjoy it: Romance readers who are all about the angst

A review copy of this book was generously provided by Hachette Australia.

Title: Chasing Fire (excerpt — PDF)
Author: Nora Roberts
Publisher: Hachette Australia
C format: 9780749952181 (4/2011)
Hardback: 9780749952976 (4/2011)

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Red-Hot Renegade by Kelly Hunter

Kat — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:00:30 +0000

Red-Hot Renegade by Kelly Hunter (The Bennetts, Book 5)

This RITA-nominated book is sexy, angsty and deeply moving—everything we love about modern category romance. Oh, and the heroine? She’s the tycoon. This one’s a keeper.

You may have noticed that I’m in the middle of a Kelly Hunter glom. How I missed this awesome Aussie author boggles my mind, but Red-Hot Renegade (published in the US as Her Singapore Fling) is the book that made me first try Hunter’s work. Nominated for this year’s RITA awards, the book also features an Asian heroine with an Australian hero.

The back story for this novel is set up in the previous books of the series, which features the romances of Jacob Bennett’s siblings. Jacob’s estranged wife Jianne is being stalked and, having run out of options, she reluctantly comes to him for help.

Jacob is a martial arts champion who runs his dojo in Singapore. For reasons neither he nor Jianne want to acknowledge, they’re still officially married even though Jianne walked out on the marriage twelve years ago. What makes this reunion story different is that neither of them blame the other—instead, they remind each other of the guilt they feel about not having fought hard enough to save their relationship.

Jianne practically begs Jacob to let her stay at the dojo—where he also lives—until Zhi Fu, her unwanted suitor, gives up. Jacob practically begs her not to even suggest it, but they both know that it’s the best solution. They’ll pretend to rekindle the relationship, and if Zhi Fu becomes desperate Jacob is more than capable of physically protecting Jianne.

This is the perfect setup for some delicious angst, as Jianne takes over Jacob’s bedroom and both torture themselves with thoughts of what’s keeping the other awake at night. Jianne starts off as an almost helpless heroine, but in Jacob’s presence she’s transformed into a sensual, wicked and deeply emotional partner.

She turned and smiled at him politely, every inch the poised and perfect house guest. No trouble, no trouble at all. Until something flickered in her eyes, something stolen and sensual and altogether familiar. If Jacob wasn’t mistaken, here stood a woman who’d sought sexual satisfaction in the dark of the night. And found it.

What the hell had she been doing in his bed?

Hunter does beautiful things with this couple. Their bedroom scenes are hot and rough and tinged with desperation, and I found them utterly moving. The way Jacob and Jianne work through their guilt and find the courage to claim what they need from the relationship is so subtle it’s bordering on not enough information. I love this.

I haven’t read all the preceding books in the series, but as a standalone read, Red-Hot Renegade focuses almost entirely on Jacob and Jianne’s reunion rather than their first encounter. Even the reason for their estrangement is only hinted at for most of the book. Those who need to understand Jacob and Jianne’s entire back story will be disappointed.

In my review of the book prior to this one, I made much of Hunter’s references to warriors, tigers and Kung Fu Panda. Red-Hot Renegade uses similar references, but for the most part they’re toned down, with the exception of the antagonist’s name. Zhi Fu is close enough to Shifu that I had to suppress a giggle every time his name was mentioned.

Singapore also comes alive a lot more in this book. The non-Western characters feel less clichéd. However, the dialogue has a distinctly non-Asian feel to it. It’s not that I want it to sound Asian, it’s that there are some turns of phrases that just don’t feel suited to the characters. Jianne was born into wealth, so it’s possible she was the product of a Western education or received top-notch language instruction, but the same probably can’t be said for the homeware salesman.

But by far the biggest weakness in the story is the anticlimactic resolution to the stalker plot. Hunter tries to be too clever and it’s more puzzling than satisfying when all the loose ends are tied up in the epilogue.

But…who cares? Any imperfections in the writing or the plot are easily ignored because the emotional layer of the story is just so, so good.

To top it off, this book is really funny. Hunter knows what tickles a romance reader’s sense of humour—the hero trying to distract himself from the sexual tension, the alpha hero’s manly prejudices, the hero’s brothers needling him while he’s suffering from, well, trying to repress the sexual tension. Oh, and the heroine torturing him with yet more sexual tension.

We love a tortured hero.

Yay or nay?

Sexy, angsty and deeply moving, this story is everything we love about category romance. Oh, and the heroine? She’s the tycoon. This one’s a keeper.

Who might enjoy it: Readers who like to read between the lines

Who might not enjoy it: Readers who need a fully fledged backstory

This book was published in the US as Her Singapore Fling.

Title: Red-Hot Renegade (excerpt)
Series: The Bennetts (Book 5)
Author: Kelly Hunter
Publisher: Harlequin Mills & Boon
Australia (Sexy): 9781742787947 (10/2010)
UK (Modern Heat): 9780263877434 (8/2010)
USA (Presents): 9780373528073 (3/2011)

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Signing: The Black Hand Ball, Sydney (featuring Becca Fitzpatrick) — 7/12/2011

Decadence — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:00:56 +0000

A recap of the Sydney leg of Becca Fitzpatrick’s book tour, The Black Hand Ball, at The Establishment.

When I arrived at the ballroom of The Establishment, I was greeted by a waiter wearing black pants, shoes, black angel wings and nothing else, serving fruity red mocktails. Pity me, for I live a hard life.

We were offered little pumpkiny canapes wrapped in puff pastry, yummy meatballs and cute little blow-torched lemon meringue tarts.

The editor of Dolly magazine introduced Hush Hush Saga author Becca Fitzpatrick, who talked a little bit about how she got published and answered Dolly readers’ questions.

The rest of this section paraphrases some of what Fitzpatrick said.

When I was in college, I didn’t see myself as a writer; I wanted to be a spy. You laugh, but I applied with the CIA twice and they never got back to me. It’s their loss because I would have totally rocked that job.

I was 24 when my husband surprised me with a writing course for my birthday. I told my teacher, ‘I’m going to show up every week, but I’m not going to write anything and I’m not going to read anything.’ So he was real excited to have me there.

My teacher gave us an assignment on writing a humiliation scene. It reminded me of when in high school at 16 and we were learning about human reproduction. I wasn’t paying attention at the time and suddenly the teacher called on me and asked what I wanted in a mate. I was sitting next to a super-cute boy who was digging his fingers into me and saying, ‘Yeah, Becca. What do you want in a man?’ So that scene came from that inappropriate question. So many people emailed me saying it would never happen. It did.

Over five years I would receive almost a hundred rejections for Hush, Hush before my agent, who is from Sydney, decided she could sell it to New York. And that’s how awesome Aussies are because no one in America wanted it. Moral: persistence. We all have hopes and dreams and aspirations and the only way to get there is not give up.

I’m often asked, ‘Where do you get inspiration?’ I often steal stories from my own life. My friend wanted to ask a girl to a dance, but you couldn’t just phone someone up and ask them. He filled her tub with water and put goldfish in it. He made a sign saying: ‘Of all the fish in the sea, you’re the one for me.’

My friends wanted me to ask this guy who was super-hot called Beau. He was hot and popular and I was not so I knew he’d say no. Their idea was to get a hot dog with ketchup and mustard and relish and a sign saying: ‘Don’t be a wiener, go to the dance with me.’ At the last minute I chickened out because I knew he’d say no, so I put my friend’s name on the sign. But he knew my friend had asked his friend, so his mom Barbie (yes, that’s her name) rang around all the mothers and learned the truth, so Barbie made him ask me to the dance and he didn’t want to be there. He glared at me the whole night.

So if you’ve read that scene (in Crescendo where Nora sneaks into Scott’s room to look around and he walks in on her) you know exactly where that came from. Moral: Never ask a guy out with a hot dog. Second moral: Keep a journal so you can get ideas from things that happened to you.

Q&A

If you could vote out a character and why?
It would have to be Detective Basso because when I was originally writing the story, he would have a super-cool role, but my editor disagreed.

What are we going to see in fourth book?
Has everyone read Silence? Okay, I’ll try to keep this one spoiler-free: the nephilim and fallen angels go to war, big battle… I can’t say this, I can’t say this because then it will spoil things. Patch is in danger, Nora usually the one who is in danger, but now he is. An old enemy hunts him down.

I’ve finished the rough draft and need to edit it before sending it to my editor. I know how it will end and that it will be the last book in the series.

Who is your inspiration for Patch and how did you come up with his name?
He’s based on this boy in school who was the ultimate bad boy, so I thought I could look him up on Facebook but he wasn’t on Facebook so I don’t know if he’s alive.

I used the name Patch and decided I didn’t like it, so I stuck with it until I could think of something better, but it never happened. My editor liked Rixon (the name of Patch’s fallen angel friend) and I changed went find and replace but it didn’t work for me.

Where did you get the mythology?
My mother would hate this but I got it from years of Sunday school. The Old Testament has awesome stories of angels doing supernatural things like communicating with animals and things like that. I came up with idea of the angel scars showing their memories.

What advice do you give to writers?
I’ve already mentioned the journal. Join a writers group to read and share their work. And not just write, but read. Read everything you can get your hands on, not just your own genre because they all have things to teach you.

Why not write a book from Patch’s POV?
I did at the end of Silence because my editor asked me to, but I was nervous because he’s still a mystery to me. I don’t have any plans to write a book from his point of view because I’d like to keep him a mystery in my own head.

How old were you when you wrote your first story?
Elementary school, so 6, 7, 8. I wrote plays and held auditions during lunch. I told my mother I wanted to be a romance writer because of Romancing the Stone. I thought it was normal for the writer to travel to South America to rescue her sister from these dangerous men.

Reading and signing

We were shown a special message from Patch read out by an actor:

If you haven’t read Silence, you’re in for a treat, because the best bit in my opinion is that it has a story from my point of view. I didn’t meet Nora for the first time in biology, I met her with my friend Rixon. I knew she was going to be there. I had been watching her for awhile and had admired her for awhile. I wanted to kill her but I got to know her and I looked into her eyes and fell in love. I couldn’t help it… You’ll have to wait until October 2012, to see what happens next but you won’t be disappointed.

Then Becca spent the rest of the night signing books. When my turn came, I told her I owed her an apology because I would have said that the question about what a school student looks for in a mate would never have been asked.

Before tonight I’d already read Crescendo and Silence (reviews to come), both of which I felt more freedom to enjoy without the stalky element I felt in Hush, Hush. With Patch being less ambivalent in his treatment of Nora in later books, it was easier to see that he was just having a bit of harmless fun at Nora’s expense by making her squirm. Also hearing about the origins of that scene showed that it was based on something that, despite my disbelief, could actually happen (because it did happen) and was taken a few steps further, but that was where it lost me. Without the context of the later books in particular, but also the story tonight, I think Patch’s role in the scene had a different complexion for me than the one Becca intended.

We were handed goodie bags when we left containing two books, the November issue of Dolly, a Darrell Lea discount card and a heart-shaped chocolate as well as a few other things.

Two complimentary tickets to this event were generously provided to Book Thingo by Simon & Schuster Australia. Visit the Book Thingo Flickr album for more photos of the event.

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What do you do when you lose your ebook reader?

Kat — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 23:00:24 +0000

Last weekend, I lost my Sony Pocket Reader. I keep my ebook library synced with Calibre, so I didn’t lose any books, but I did lose my annotations and review notes.

Yesterday I went shopping for…something not an ebook reader.

And I came home with this:

What can I say? I fell in lust. (And yes, it levitates. So awesome.)

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A quickie with…Nicola Marsh

Kat — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:45:00 +0000

Source: Nicola Marsh

A big congratulations to Melbourne-based author Nicola Marsh, who is celebrating the release of her latest novel, Busted in Bollywood, today! You might know her best as a USA Today bestselling author, writing category romances for Harlequin Mills and Boon. Her new book is published by Entangled Publishing and is available in print and in digital format.

BOOK GIVEAWAY: For a chance to win one of Nicola’s books, tell us which actor you’d like to be mistaken for and why.

Some rules: Post your answer as a comment to this post. Multiple entries are fine. By entering, you give us permission to quote your entry in future blog posts and articles. You also give us permission to send your email address to the author, who will be organising delivery of the book. Open to anyone as long as Book Depository offers free shipping to your address. The giveaway ends midnight on Sunday, December 11 AEST. Wandergurl, Decadence, Envyious and I will pick our favourite answer. The winner must provide a delivery address and pick a book in stock at Book Depository within one week after we announce the result on the blog.

Website: www.nicolamarsh.com
Social networks: Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Genre: Contemporary romance
Latest release: Busted in Bollywood

Where you do your best writing

On my Alphasmart wherever I can find a quiet spot. Alphie is my little speed machine. For some reason, whenever I type on those clunky keys, the words pour out. (That reason could be it has no Internet connection to distract!)

Favourite thing in your writing space

A square wooden block covered in inspirational quotes. I picked it up at Kuala Lumpur airport years ago when trying to spend the last of my local currency. Who knew I’d regularly glance at it when my energy is flagging while writing late at night?

Best food and/or beverage to accompany a good read

Anything chocolate!

One thing you would never do in the name of research

Skydive. My current release for Harlequin, Interview with the Daredevil, has my heroine doing just that. While I often research my books firsthand, for that particular scene? No way!

How friends and family would describe you two days before a deadline

Frazzled! I write at night when my kids are in bed so luckily they’re not privy to me grinding my teeth as I labour over the computer. But I’m sure I’m a little snappy in the days leading up to deadline.

One book you’d save in an emergency and three words to describe it

No Place Like Home by Barbara Samuel — poignant, evocative, lush

Your life in a book—what would the title be? In which genre or category would it be shelved?

See Nic Run, because that’s what I always seem to be doing, running around: running around doing school stuff with my eldest, running around after preschooler all day, running around doing washing and cleaning and a whole host of life stuff. And running after my characters who are usually trying to sprint away from me on the page.

One book you loved as a child

The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. Adored her books.

Describe yourself as the heroine of a romance novel

Career-girl Nicola Marsh is driven, focused and sensible—and her decision to hook up with a tall, dark and handsome hero results in a wedding, babies and a mortgage.
But behind Nicola’s dark locks and lip-gloss and twinkly eyes…

Hey, I’m a writer, I like to be dramatic and invent stuff and end on a hook!

Best advice for surviving the zombie apocalypse

Get to the bunker first!

Favourite method of procrastination

Twitter, Goodreads, Facebook, probably in that order. I love social networking, so much fun but boy, it can be a time suck.

Do you kill fairies?

Never! I love surprises so while spoil the entire book by discovering how it ends before you’ve begun? Nope, don’t understand the appeal of that at all. Nothing better than flipping pages at a rapid rate to see how a story turns out at the end.

BUSTED IN BOLLYWOOD

Entangled Publishing | 9781937044633 (P) | 9781937044626 (E) | Excerpt

Shari Jones needs to get a life. Preferably someone else’s.

Single, homeless and jobless, Indo-American Shari agrees to her best friend’s whacky scheme: travel to Mumbai, pose as Amrita, and ditch the fiancé her traditional Indian parents have chosen. Simple. Until she’s mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress, stalked by a Lone Ranger wannabe, courted by an English lord, and busted by the blackmailing fiancé.

Life is less complicated in New York.

Or so she thinks, until the entourage of crazies follows her to the Big Apple and that’s when the fun really begins. Shari deals with a blossoming romance, an addiction to Indian food and her first movie role, while secretly craving another trip to the mystical land responsible for sparking her new lease on life. Returning to her Indian birthplace, she has an epiphany. Maybe the happily-ever-after of her dreams isn’t so far away?

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This post is part of a series of Q&A-type posts featuring authors who write romance fiction or fiction with romantic elements. Each post will feature the same set of questions or prompts. We tried to make them fun and easy for the authors—and we hope you enjoy them, too!

More at Book Thingo:

A quickie with…Jess Dee

The Man She Loves To Hate by Kelly Hunter

Kat — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:00:00 +0000

The Man She Loves To Hate by Kelly Hunter

Mills & Boon conventions aside—yes, he’s a tycoon, she’s totally hot and they don’t use a condom—the heroine and hero of this book are rarely predictable. I only wish it could have been longer.

I don’t know why I didn’t discover Australian author Kelly Hunter sooner because she writes bloody good books.

Jolie Tanner has just removed all of her mother’s possessions from her mother’s recently deceased lover’s hideaway, when she’s caught in an avalanche with the dead lover’s son, Cole. Cole and Jolie used to be friends, but when news of his father’s dalliance with her mother became public ten years ago, Jolie was shunned and she’s borne the stigma of being a mistress’s daughter ever since.

As you do in a blizzard, Jolie and Cole share quite a bit of body heat, and what’s supposed to be a we’re-half-asleep-and-aroused-so-let’s-just-take-the-edge-off kiss ends up in unprotected sex that’s only partially mitigated by the fact that Cole isn’t a shirker and Jolie isn’t stupid enough to have sex without any form of birth control.

Before I go on, let me say that it puzzles—nay, pains—me to read that ‘hot seed spilled deep inside’ the heroine at the climax of a sex scene, and then two pages later, when she’s having second thoughts, to learn that ‘her panties [were] wet with [the hero's] semen’. I’m uncertain of the rules for when one ought to expect euphemisms in a Mills & Boon novel. Is ‘semen’ considered more sordid than ‘seed’?

Anyway. Moving on.

Cole and Jolie aren’t complete idiots, and despite the hash their parents made of their relationships, they continue to see and enjoy each other in secret. Eventually, though, they have to see if they can be together in the real world. Cole’s family is incensed and his mother takes drastic measures to manipulate Cole into ending the affair.

What makes Hunter a fabulous Mills & Boon author is that she refuses to let Jolie play the martyr. Jolie’s shyness is the reason she can’t cope with her mother’s—and by extension her—notoriety, but she does well enough to stand up for herself in front of one or two people.

Hunter also avoids the Big Misunderstanding cliché. Cole and Jolie know in their hearts that their relationship is special, and even when they’re derailed by a judgemental housekeeper or a needy sister, they fight for their right to that relationship. It’s really quite wonderful.

I wish this had been a full-length novel, because many of the secondary characters’ conflicts and relationships are interesting, too; instead, Hunter compromises by making the secondary characters less nuanced than they could have been.

And is it just me, or does Hunter loves the warrior hero? Cole’s not a martial arts expert and the story is set in New Zealand’s South Island, but somehow Hunter manages to evoke the fierce warrior without it sounding too uncool or out of place. Much.

Hunter’s prose isn’t always smooth, but at times I was moved so deeply by this book. There’s a particular moment when, for a few seconds, I was reminded of my favourite author. I was a little stunned.

‘Ask me what I dream of, Jolie. Ask me where I go when I close my eyes at night.’

‘I’m not sure I want to know.’

Wary, and so she should be, given the chaos she caused in him. Cole stepped in close and bent his head so that his lips brushed the hair at her temple. ‘…just for the record, when I close my eyes at night I think of greedy lips and silken skin and blinding passion the likes of which I’ve never felt before. Ask me where I go each night, Red.’

Grey eyes, wide and startled. A mouth made for kisses; not one kiss but more.

‘Where?’ she whispered and it was a supplicant’s murmur and it magnified the heat deep inside him a hundredfold.

‘I come to you.’

Delish.

One last thing. I love the look and feel of the Riva line (check out the cover below). The actual book feels lovely, too.

Yay or nay?

Who might enjoy it: Readers who expect their heroes and heroines to act like adults

Who might not enjoy it: Sticklers for safe sex

Title: The Man She Loves To Hate (excerpt)
Author: Kelly Hunter
Publisher: Mills & Boon
Australia (Sexy): 9781742907444 (5/2011)
UK (Riva): 9780263883732 (4/2011)
US (Presents): 9780373881918 (8/2011)

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