I managed to break away from endless days of edits, workshops and contest judging to finally do a bit of reading. Of course the book in question was one I couldn’t wait, yet dreaded reading. It was with great trepidation that I picked up JR Ward’s latest Lover Mine, from The Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

Those who know me are well aware that I have a love/hate relationship with the Brothers. I love their world. I love their banter. I love the supporting characters.  However something seems to go awry when one of them takes center stage. By the end of the book I’m left with a “uh, you weren’t as cool as I thought,” feeling. Yeah, even don’t get me started on Phury.

Which was why I was almost afraid to read John Matthew’s story. He has been the one character that has always drawn me back to the series, sometimes against my will. What would I do if he fell into the pit of “I’m not worthy,” like the others did and couldn’t crawl out? Well, he does, but not to the point of the other brothers.

Lover Mine follows Lover Avenged where the evil and vile Lash has kidnapped Xhex in retaliation for her killing his symphath lover. His need for revenge turns into a twisted obsession when he recognizes Xhex as an adversary worthy of all his attentions.  John Matthew has given up hope that Xhex will ever be found again and takes his rage out on every lesser his comes across. After Xhex manages to free herself, she and John wade through a quagmire of uncertainty, despair, fear, love, revenge and self- loathing as they race to put an end to the harbinger of their torment.

You can breathe a sigh of relief that John stays true to his honorable and devoted nature. He is truly a male of worth and even when his self confidence goes into the crapper, he still manages to find a reason to keep going.  

Now Xhex on the other hand was interesting. She was still a badass warrior as always, but Ward kind of girlie’d her up a bit, which struck me as odd. If this was the first I had read about her, I wouldn’t have noticed it, but to me, Xhex always seemed like the anti-girl, a guy with female parts.  It wasn’t a bad thing to soften her, but it wasn’t necessarily good either, just another “huh” moment. Yes, she went through a traumatic experience which could change her character, but Xhex’s whole life was traumatic, why girl up now? Also her symphath nature seemed to be on the fritz, and she didn’t notice many of John’s emotions. He’s mute, he communicates mostly by facial expressions, I could have picked up on his thoughts no problem.  But given what has happened to my favorite characters in the past, I am grateful that these are the only anomalies.

At the end of the book I was left with two big questions. All throughout the series it has been hinted that John is some sort of reincarnation of Darius, and while there were flashback scenes, that storyline was never resolved. Was there a reason for this? Also, there is a secondary storyline at a bed and breakfast in South Caroline that has nothing, and I mean nothing, zip, zero, nothing to do with the rest of the book. Feel free to skip those chapters, you will not miss anything. I believe this is a set up for a future story, but trust me, skip ‘em.

Okay BDB fans, who’s next? Blay, Quinn, Payne? Would all three form a ménage? (I think that would be an interesting trio) Will Layla finally get her true love?

 I actually find myself eagerly looking forward to the next installment.

I stayed up until 2 a.m. last night finishing Kresley Cole’s latest, Pleasure of a Dark Prince, part of the Immortals After Dark Series.

I love this series. The heroines are strong, independent, with just the right amount of snark, and the heroes are completely drool worthy. On this, I was not disappointed.

The story follows Lykae prince, Garreth MacRieve as he chases after the mate that fate has chosen for him, the Valkyrie Lucia.  Unfortunately for Garreth, Lucia’s powers as the most powerful archer-ever, are tied to her remaining chaste, and every five hundred years she is charged with returning Satan back to his prison, otherwise the world with fall under an evil that will destroy everything.

POADP begins at about the same time as A Hunger Like No Other, and covers the time period of all the other books. Do you need to read all of them to follow the story line? No, but I recommend it anyway just for enjoyment reasons. The two that tie directly into this one are AHLNO and Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night.

The only complaint I would have is the middle section. I understand that this is where Garreth and Lucia finally spend some real quality, get-to-know-each-other time together, but it goes on for a long time. The beginning clips along, the end motors as well, but the middle meanders as slowly as the Amazon River they’re sailing down. Page-wise it’s not really a huge chunk of the manuscript, it just feels like it.

The sexy parts are smokin’ hot, the violence only slightly gratuitous, and there’s danger around every bend. Lucia may be limited in her options, but she is never weak. I love it when it’s outside sources that keep the couple apart and not petty misunderstandings. They want to be together, and we want that for them too.

Lachlain from AHLNO and Conrad Wroth from Dark Needs at Night’s Edge were tied from my favorite Immortal hero, but that title now belongs to Garreth. He is a fantastic mix of honor, savagry, passion and confused male that had me reading almost the entire novel in one straight shot. Good thing it was a Friday night and was totally worth the late hours.

I finaled in the Greater Detroit’s RWA chapters Between the Sheets writing contest. It’s my first final, and it almost didn’t happen.

When I received my scores I was told that I was not a finalist. However when I reviewed my score sheets I had a total score of 117 out of 120. So close, yet so far. All day I stressed inside. How close had I gotten? I finally gathered my courage and sent a little message asking how out of the race was I. Much to my joy, I actually had finaled.

I have been in a daze all day. This is a big moment for me. Hopefully not the last. And also a valubale lesson in trusting my gut and question when need be.

Join myself and author Christa Mchugh on the podcast Romantically Speaking, hosted by fellow writer Danielle Monsch. Topics of discussion include Taylor Lautner turning eighteen (happy birthday!), the roles of the cougar and the male virgin characters in romance novels (although not necessarily in the same book), and whether e-books are viable publishers. (yes they are!)

It was lots of fun and I look forward to participating again.

www.daniellemonsch.com

As I read one of Lora Leigh’s latest novels, Guilty Pleasure, I have a reoccurring thought. What is up with the mid-twenty year old female virgin?

Let me elaborate. I have read dozens of contemporary novels (many of them by Ms. Leigh) where the heroine is still a virgin at twenty-seven and is involved with a hero who has copulated more times than a frog catches flies in the Louisiana bayou. And for some reason, this is supposed to be okay. I’m not saying that a woman shouldn’t wait to have sex, but it’s 2010. The pill has been around for forty-five, fifty years. The people who preached ‘free love’ are grandparents now, it seems that the virgin heroine is a bit outdated.

Not only that, but why are 99.9% of their heroes experienced and sometimes borderline-gigolo lovers? I know that if I was in a heroine’s spiky stilettos and was confronted with a man with a list of previous lovers longer than my hair, I would have to question his ability to connect with me beyond the bedroom, and for a mintue pause and say, eww, I don’t find that attractive.  Of course that is reality, and in fantasy I would brush aside those concerns and formulate a plan to “save him.” Prove to him that by allowing him to be the first, the bond will be stronger. Because that obviously worked with his first.

In the historical novels it is a given that the hero would be more experienced, that was the way things were. But just once I would love to see a widowed heroine who knew what she wanted in the bedroom and was not afraid to show the hero a few tricks. I know that there must have been a couple somewhere in the 1400’s that had  fantastic sex and it did not involve the heroine’s eyes bulging in shock as she had to look away with a blush after her first glance of a naked man.

But as I rant about the innocent/gigolo storylines I come to my real query. Where are the male virgins? Where is the twenty year old male who waited until the ‘right woman’ came along before indulging his carnal needs? Where is the hero who knew the first time he saw our fair heroine that she was the one for him, and did not attempt to move beyond from what could never be by loosing himself between the thighs of another? The modern heroine is supposed to be a strong, intelligent, independant woman who doesn’t need a man to be complete, where is that hero?

Some would say that there isn’t a market for it, I say it would be as refreshing as a glass of chilled reisling. Some would also say “Well where is your virtuous hero?” And I would respond, oh, but I have one.

Yes, Dex is my sweet, hunky, twenty-something year old male virgin. He sits and pines for Astrid as he gathers the courage to ask the lovely shopkeeper out. Unfortunately for Dex I have nine other heroes who are demanding their stories be written first, and as they are part of two series, he will have to be patient. Yes, these heroes are experience, but so are their women.

But fear not my pure, untouched friend, your day will come, and until then I will muddle through the sea of lily white, highly educated(in all areas but male/female physical relations) maidens who beg for the grungy touch of a well muscled, charming hero who couldn’t wait to lose his cherry.

I hear you, why do I keep reading them? The answer to that is I do not know. It wasn’t mentioned on the back cover blurb, because if it was, I would not have picked it up.

So, was I correct in being afraid to crack open this one? Kind of.

Isn’t life great? It’s never yes or no, or black or white. It’s all varying shades of ughhhh.

It began on page six, which was actually the second page of the story, when the head hopping first appeared. As a new writer I am hyper aware of the whole point of view controversy. Especially when I never really noticed it in her other works. On some pages it’s not just between the hero and heroine either. At times it seemed like every person in the scene had a sentence or two from their POV. In the acknowledgements, Sherrilyn thanks her editor for allowing her some liberties. I am guessing that head hopping is one of them.

If this is the first of the Dark/Were- hunter books you have picked up, put it back and go get something else.

This book also assumes a lot. It is assumed that you have read Night Embrace, Night Play, Seize the Night, Unleash the Night, Dream Chaser, One Silent Night and Acheron, not once but several times. (Luckily I had)

Bad Moon Rising is the story of Fang Kattalakis, a katagaria wolf, and what he went through while all of the other books were taking place. Characters, names and places pop up all the time that reference these other stories. I can only imagine what a newbie to this world would be thinking if this was their first introduction. Add to that a whole slew of new characters, species and dimensions are brought in to add to the confusion.

While it was interesting to see what Fang and Aimee (the bearswan he is in love with) had endured all that time, it was tedious. This story spans several years and the most current events begin on page 280 of a 340 page book. So the previous pages were mostly a more detailed back story.

Bad Moon Rising, I feel, is a novel for DH fans. It was satisfying to see Aimee and Fang finally together after all of these years, but as far as furthering the DH storyline, it didn’t do a whole lot. It was like more of an introduction of what could possibly happen in future books, as oppose to actually taking it down that road.

So, if you are a DH fan, read it. If not or if this is your first foray into the Dark-hunter world, put it down and go get Night Pleasures. Start there.

Bad Moon Rising is out and I have it in my hot little hands. But oddly enough, I am terrified to open it. The Dark-Hunter books are a “must buy” for me and I’ve loved the series ever since I read Winterborne and Dante Pontis slapped me with his sexy snarl from off the page.

I think my fear might have something to do with the -best-selling-author-bazillionth-in-the-series- cannot-maintain trend I have been seeing lately. There is a saying, “If you want to see examples of what not to write, read a best selling authors current release.” This is the eighteenth book in the series. It can’t possibly be as good as the other’s can it?

I will get over this silly fear and thoroughly enjoy Fang’s book. His story has been along time in coming.

For the record, I love the were’s and Vane is my favorite. Night Play might be considered the “fluffiest” in the series, but that man makes me howl at the moon.

Emma Holly returns to the upyr world in Kissing Midnight. Edmund Fitz Clare, older brother to Aimery (Catching Midnight), has adopted three children in 1930’s England in an effort to atone for his sins in the past. His daughter’s friend, Estelle, has been the object of his affection since he saved her at the age of fifteen. Now she has grown and their mutual desire can no longer be leashed.

Having enjoyed the other upyr novels, I was looking forward to this story, especially since it was set in a time period usually ignored in romantic literature. Emma Holly does an excellent job of bringing us into pre-WWII London. From the clothes, to the detail in Estelle’s apartment, it was very easy to picture the Fitz Clare’s environment. This is what Emma Holly does best; world building and sex scenes, which there are plenty of. If you have read any of her previous works, this should not come as a surprise. Each scene is very detailed, from start to finish, and not for the prim and proper. This is not a novel you would have casually out on your coffee table. I enjoyed Kissing Midnight, to a point. I feel as if I can’t express a true opinion of it, and I will explain why.

 Spoiler Alert- Spoiler Alert- Spoiler Alert- Spoiler Alert- Spoiler Alert- Spoiler Alert!

The story doesn’t end. Not one bit of it. And there is still a third in the series, (Saving Midnight.)  There are essentially three storylines in Kissing Midnight: The relationship between Edmund and Estelle. Adopted brother and sister, Ben and Sally are struggling with a mutual attraction. And the eldest Graham was sent on a mission to expose Edmund’s secrets. None of these storylines come to a conclusion, which leads me to one of my biggest literary pet peeves. I do not like to “have to” read a novel. If I choose to read a novel I want it to be because I chose to, not because I have to in order to find out what happens next.

There are two types of series. The ones where every novel is a stand alone story but share common characters or a story arc, and the ones where there is one central character and their story never finishes. In the second one, you have to continue reading book after book to find out what happens next. There are places for both, I just prefer the former. I probably will never read Charlene Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse novels because I know already that the story doesn’t end, yet. I have heard that it is a wonderful series, and I might enjoy it, but I have a lot going on in my life and trying to keep track of someone else’s trials and tribulations is not what I need to spend my time on. That is why I read in the first place, to get away from some of that.

Which is why I get really annoyed when a continuation happens in a series when I am not expecting it. All of the previous upyr stories had a beginning, middle and end, which was why I was thoroughly disappointed when two-thirds of the book in I realized I was going to “have to” read the next one to find out what happens. The same thing happened with Katie MacAlister ‘Dark Ones”. All of the previous ones ended, but not Zen and the Art of the Vampire. I had to read Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang to find out what happened to Kristoff and Pia. Even then, ZAV had some closure. Not so with Kissing Midnight. And I know the subtitle is The Fitz Clare Chronicles, which suggests a series. But couldn’t some part of the story have been finished? Not one storyline was wrapped up. It wasn’t as if it was extraordinarily long either. I don’t see why it could not have been one big book. I wouldn’t have minded.

So that is why I will reserve judgment until I read Breaking Midnight and Saving Midnight.  The funny thing is I try to read all of Emma Holly’s work and I would have probably read Breaking Midnight anyway. It’s the whole “have to” thing.                  

Kissing Midnight

Nobody likes to be told they have to, especially when it comes to a book.

I currently have two works in progress going. One is a ghost story set in Scotland. While that is out being critiqued, I am writing my amnesia-tic cowboy story. They could not be further apart in the world building spectrum. I don’t have trouble keeping them separate because I write like how I watch a movie. It’s just like watching a comedy followed by an action film, no problem. And that is how I write, like I’m watching a movie. As I view the scene in my mind, I adjust the lighting, the camera angles, any possible music in the background. Then I take what I see and write that down. How could that be difficult?

Oh, but it is. I can see the picture so clearly, but when it comes to putting it on the page, sometime I just can’t do it. I can see Trey, so vividly. He has just come home from the hospital and he is standing outside on his ranch. His worn boot is resting on the bottom rail of the fence. He is staring out into the horizon. The rolling landscape is framed by the setting sun, the dry dust of summer has kicked up and makes the glowing ball look hazy, as he contemplates whether or not he can build a future without remembering his past.

Well, you might say that I just did it. I put what I saw visually into written word. But did I do it correctly? Can you see the orange and yellow light reflected in the atmosphere? Can you see the apprehension in his dark blue eyes even as he shoulders are set in determination, because it is not in his nature to back away from adversity? Does it make you want to keep reading? Those are the questions that run through my head when I write. Did I convey what I see, did I take too long, is it not enough? This is when I wish I could just put the keyboard to my head and let it suck the image from my mind. I seem to have a fixation on the whole mind-technology-link possiblity.

This is the same issue I had when I wrote about Aiden, my haunted Scotsman. There was a lot of research in his book and it was a story I had first thought of over seven years ago. You would think it would have been easy to compose a scene I had visualized over a thousand times, but no. I struggled then too. And the whole time Trey was at my shoulder begging me to write his story instead.

“Come on darlin’. You know my story. Write me instead.”

“No. I owe it to Aiden to tell his. He’s been waiting for years.”

I fought with Trey a few times because I felt I owed it to Aiden to finish his story. (yes, I talk to my characters. If they are not real to me, how can I make them real to you?)

Now I am facing a similar situation with Trey. His best friend Mark is at my side asking about his story. He wants a woman of his own.

“Why are you asking me?” Can’t he see I’m stressed enough as it is? “You are a secondary character. I have no intention of writing your story.”

“Why not? Don’t I deserve a happy ending too?”

“Well, I guess so. But what would it be about? Who is she?”

He blew in my ear and there it was. His whole story laid out for me. The heroine, the conflict, the villian. All wrapped in a pretty bow just waiting for me to tell it.

Well crap. Now I have Mark ready, but I have to finish Trey and go back and work on Aiden. Meanwhile, waiting in the wings are Max, and Hank, and Clancy, and the twins Ethan and Evan, and Dex…

Maybe I should write cookbooks. I’ve never heard of a cupcake jumping up and begging  to find their perfect match.

Actually, what this should be called is what I have read. It wouldn’t make much sense to give my opinion on something I haven’t experienced in the fullest. I also wouldn’t necessarily consider this a review, just one point of view out of many.

Witch Fury is the fourth and final installment in the Elemental Witches series. In this one, earth witch Theo has liberated several kidnapped witches and a suspected warlock, Serafina. Serafina had only recently learned about her power as fire witch upon her kidnapping and must now rely on the coven, and the dark, mysterious and brooding Theo, to  teach her about her new life. She also needs their protection from a demon who is harboring not even remotely pure thoughts about her. I don’t want to give away much more of the plot because ultimately I want you to read it yourself.  That is the goal right? Going to the store,  holding the book in your hands and imagine sitting down and giving up some of your time to read about the exploits of others. I wouldn’t want to ruin the experience by blabbing too much about it here.

I have read all of the series and what I like about what Anya has done is make each book separate. And not just in a ’stand on its own’ way either. Sometimes in a series the author repetes a story line in each book, but just changes the character’s name. The situation they find themselves in maybe different, but the relationship between the main couple is the same as the previous book and the one before that. In this series, each hero and herione have their own issues, so I am actually compelled to read the entire story and not skip every fourth word. There are some bits of predicabilty, but it’s managable because you know that in a romance, even if the hero is being a bit mentally slow on the uptake, he will catch a clue at some point because there must be a happily ever after.

What I also enjoyed about the book was that the world they lived in was painted in vivid and precise detail that enabled me to create a mental picture that I was easily able to carry from not only scene to scene, but book to book as well. If you are looking for some carnage, there are some action scenes that aren’t too difficult to follow. But is does kind of sag in the middle as most books tend to do. Thankfully the action picked up when it needed to and I felt like I wanted to finish the book because I liked it and not because I was just trying to get through it.

There are some rather descriptive sex scenes sprinkled throughout, and I call them sex scenes because love doesn’t enter the picture until later on. This one does run along a darker edge then the others, but having read other works by Anya Bast, I know it was not as explicit as it could have been. There is a lot of description during foreplay and even during the act itself, however when it comes to the all out climactic climax, it kind of peters out, literally. If a writer spends a page on foreplay where they describe exaclty how her nipples tasted, and then when the all consuming, earth shattering, orgasm approaches, and I’m given something along the lines of, he pushed inside her with a groan and collapsed, throughly spent, I feel slightly cheated. My sister calls sex scenes “the plot killing parts of the story” and to a point she is right. I like them because it can bring the couple closer together or drive them apart. If you are dragging me into their bedroom, give me something to make it worth the time spent away from the rest of the story. And if the story is only about sex, then it really better be worth my time.

Will I ever read Witch Fury again? I don’t think so, but I did enjoy it. If you are looking for a good magic story where elements of real and fantasy are woven together, I would definately recommend the entire series. You do not have to start with Witch Fire (the first one) but it does enrich the rest of the series. There is a short story about Micah that takes place after this one that I did not know about until I went on her sight. It was a pleasent surprise that I wish could have been a longer novel. But something is better than nothing.

If you have read this book, let me know what you thought.