QB's February 2010 Quickies

"So, read any good books lately?"
"What did you think of...?"

Here's my Quickie Reviews to answer to those questions. Click on the Links for more info.

The Madness of Lord Ian MacKenzie by Jennifer Ashley

Highland Pleasures, book 1

Category: Lava Cake - reads like warm Chocolate Lava Cake... à la Mode... sprinkled with nuts (A,A-)

Flame Height: 5.5" out of 9"

In our times, Ian would probably have been diagnosed as autistic as a child. But in the Victorian era, his father had him locked away in a brutal asylum. After inheriting the ducal seat upon their father's death, Ian's oldest brother demanded and received his release from the asylum. With his brothers' help, Ian then had to learn how to mimic "normal" human interaction without understanding or feeling it himself.

Look, I'll make my thoughts short and sweet on the story that unfolds-- loved Ian, loved Beth, loved Ian's family. Marvelously, beautifully unique story and characters.
Piquant Opines: KristieJ, Tracy, Karen Scott, Jill D, Dear Author-Janet, RT

Beyond the Night by Joss Ware

Awakening Heroes, book 1

Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. (A-,B+,B)

Flame Height: 5" out of 9"

I normally wouldn't give a second glance to a post-apocalypti​c SF romance- they are usually too bleak, depressing and hopeless- but I read somewhere that Joss Ware is another pen name for Colleen Gleason. Talk about extremes! From the Gardella Vampire Chronicles (aka Buffy Does Regency), to post-apocalypti​c SF? I was intrigued. And you know what? I couldn't put it down! I've already bought the next book in the series.

A group of men go caving near Sedona Arizona in 2011. Something happens, and when they dig their way out, it's fifty years later, the world as they knew it has been destroyed, and they seem to have some special powers.

Besides the romance between one of these men, Dr. Elliott Drake, and one of the descendents of survivors, Jade, this book introduces us to a mysterious race of immortal beings and their zombie-like slaves. Did the Strangers have something to do with the destruction of civilization? Who or what are they? We DO find out in this first book, and I've got to say that I never saw THAT one coming! Can't wait to find out what's up with the blondes.

The hairs on the back of Joss Ware's neck should be permanently raised considering the cataclysmic events happening in spots around the world right now that eerily echo the events that happened in her 2011 reality.
Piquant Opines: Book Binge-Casee, Book Binge-Judith, Katiebabs-Kati, Stacy, RT

Queene of Light by Jennifer Armintrout

Lightworld/Dar​kworld, book 1

Category: Dark Chocolate - loved by some, just "meh" to me (C-,D+)

Flame Height: 2" out of 9"

This dark fantasy story SHOULD have worked, but it just felt too disjointed. I never figured out the difference between those in the Lightworld and those in the Darkworld- they ALL lived underground in dark, nasty subway tunnels. And why did they all hate each other? I never understood what kind of being Malachi (the male lead) was before he transformed into a... something (dunno what)... after touching Ayla. I didn't get how they went from mortal enemies to being, after a couple of brief encounters, twooly in luv and willing to give up everything for each other. I found it odd that poor, down-trodden, depressing Ayla suddenly decided she wanted to be Queen.

I REALLY couldn't understand, and REALLY found it odd that I slogged my way through this entire book hoping it would eventually make sense and get better.
Piquant Opines: RBTB-Amy, Feathered Quill, Night Owl, RT

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Th-th-that's all folks! Three, count 'em, THREE, whole books for the month of February. No, really, you may rise... It's truly not necessary to bow down in the face of my awesome book reading prowess.



Have you read any of these books? Feel free to review or link to a review in the comments. Even if you don't agree!

What's Poppin'- Part I

I've been spending way to much time following all the different Engadget blogs as they cover CES. I shouldn't admit this, but I'm such a gadget nerd that I've got Engadget, Engadget HD, Engadget CES Headlines, CEA Digital Dialogue, and International CES Headlines in my Google Reader (I'm link lazy- just hit that main Engadget link and you'll stumble upon the others). I don't understand how 90% of it works, but new electronic shinies fill me with technolust.

However, this little gem falls into the "What Were They Thinking?!" category:

Engadget found a kinetic charger at CES. It looks pretty innocuous until you watch the video of this device in action. I dare you to watch it without snickering, if not out-right cackling. Feel free to write your own captions. WARNING: do not attempt to drink beverages while watching.

Really, if they would just create a hollowed out version of that thing, we'd have a natural and permanent end to worldwide power shortages.

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Speaking of gadgets, I LOVE looking at HP mini's Vivienne Tam edition. I really have no use for one, but it hasn't stopped me from salivating over it for months now. Last week Geardiary posted some hands-on pictures that are the equivalent of technoporn. Too bad that matching Vivienne Tam mouse costs extra.

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All of Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire (Sookie Stackhouse) books are now available in downloadable audio book form from Audible. I now have all but the first one, and only because that first one, Dead Until Dark, is always so expensive. What's up with the outrageous price on that one, Audible? It's totally out of line with the others!

Oddly enough I only had a couple of them in print so over the holidays, when Amazon ran a Gold-Box special on the boxed set of the first 7 books, I jumped on it. At only $30.29 that worked out to only $4.32 per book! I've already got the first one in the original cover, but the boxed set came with the True Blood cover.

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ATTENTION, Please: Author Jules Jones is offering her entire Syndicate series as FREE downloads on her site. This series was one of my earliest M/M fascinations and cemented Jules in my mind as one of the best creators of memorable characters around. Go get it and read it NOW!

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You know I don't read too many ebooks anymore because my poor old eyes just can no longer handle reading from any of my computers or my PDA screen. So, I have to be pretty damn sure a book is worth the eye strain before I consider reading it in ebook format.

Well, thanks to azteclady and Ann Aguirre, I have an early review copy of Blue Diablo, Corine Solomon book 1 (April 7, 2009 Roc print release). I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to this book. Feel free to express your extreme jealousy. Stay tuned to Ann's blog because she's got some creative plans in the works for the days leading up to Blue Diablo's release. In the meantime, here's an excerpt.

Grimspace by Ann Aguirre

Grimspace, Sirantha Jax book 1 by Ann Aguirre

Read a summary and excerpt here.

Category:Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 5.5" out of 9"


I’m not a big fan of futuristic sci-fi, but I love Ann Aguirre’s characters so I was curious about Grimspace. After a preponderance of uber-positive buzz, it was the following statement by Jane of Dear Author, a fellow Urban Fantasy fan, that finally made up my mind to add this book to my Constant Cravings list:

The writing is evocative and as someone who really isn’t a fan of a) space travel books and b) first person present tense, this book worked for me on nearly every level.

It must have been fated, because soon after that, I won a copy of Grimspace from Ann.

This book made me analyze WHY I’m not much of a fan of futuristic sci-fi in general, yet DID enjoy a few isolated stories, including Grimspace. After all, I get completely involved with endless airings of every episode of every Star Trek (except Enterprise, even though it did star the always enjoyable Scott Bakula), and I devoured Star Wars (the original three). So I started to wonder WHY I shy away from READING futuristic sci-fi.

I think, first and foremost, it’s because most FSF portrays a world that is bleak, oppressive, depressing, and hopeless. And for the most part, Grimspace is no exception. The heroine, Sirantha Jax, is a real downer, who's often not even very likeable, even to the other characters-- although I did think her toes got pretty close to the line of winning over one too many characters by the end (Velith). In fact, EVERY character is decidedly unlikeable at some point(s) in the story!

BTW, Kudos to Ann for NOT succumbing to an affectation that so many other writers seem to think is a requirement for all FSF--- the dreaded Ph’Ucked up (mis)use of Ap’Ostrophies for names! GAK! I HATE that naming practice! Thank you, Ann, for resisting it! Although, to be perfectly honest, I could have done without the preponderance of “frags” (as in “What the frag”).

I also have to mention that Ann uses the unusual First Person Present Tense POV in Grimspace, which I have to admit, took me a while to get used to. There’s nothing wrong with it, but I don’t recall ever before reading a book that employed it, and I am also VERY used to First Person Past Tense, so it took me a while before I no longer found it jarring. For example, I would normally expect “I didn’t look at him. Instead I stared out into straight space…” but Ann chose to write “I don’t look at him. Instead I stare out into straight space…” See the difference? As I said, nothing inherently wrong with it, but it’s worth noting.

So how did Grimspace end up in my Peanut M&Ms category? For the same reason I’ve enjoyed ANY futuristic sci-fi in movies, TV, or other books—the CHARACTERS! Somewhere along the way of reading this book, I realized that I was “seeing” this story and these characters in three dimensions in my head. And, for me, THAT is the secret to writing ANY type of story.

As one would expect in a story that can best be described as FUTURISTIC URBAN FANTASY, Ann crafts considerable world building. However she doesn’t let the “special effects” play a larger role than her characters. She’s painted a richly detailed backdrop, but it only serves to enhance the story the characters are living.

I know that many Grimspace reviews have focused on a detailed character analysis of Sirantha (deservedly so and, for me, leaving her companions to live as a “regular” person for the first time in her adult life is a particularly poignant part of the story), but it is the ENTIRE cast of characters and Sirantha’s interactions with them that make this story so interesting.

I mentioned above that these characters aren’t always likeable and don’t even like each other all the time. They also screw up and say and do stupid things. They don’t always choose to do what we may think of as right, and they don’t always know just the right thing to say. In fact, through much of the story Sirantha’s motivations are particularly self-serving. Ann could have written them as self-sacrificing, idealistic, swashbuckling heroes and heroines, but it is the flaws that brought them to life for me. In addition, the cover gods definitely smiled on Ann because holding that cover picture of Sirantha in my head made her all the more “real” to me.

There’s a satisfying resolution at the end of Grimspace. But I suspect that when Wanderlust releases on August 26th, we’ll learn that the happiness of that ending is short lived and Sirantha and company will discover that their new reality is far from a happily-ever-after.
Piquant Opines: DA (Jane), Keishon (AvidBookReader), DA (Guest Review, Phyl), Azteclady (Karen Scott), Shannon C, Tumperkin, DR, Kmont, Let's Gab (Anne)

Have you read this book? Feel free to review or link to a review in the comments. Even if you don't agree!

WOOT! I've Been Published! (sorta)

At Love's Command, Brothers in Arms book 4 by Samantha Kane

NOW IN PRINT.

Go Buy... er... Go ORDER, cuz it's already temporarily sold out at Amazon.


And while you're at it, go ahead and get books 1 through 3 (book 3 is available only as an Ellora's Cave ebook)

A quick glimpse at my index will show how much I ADORE this Crème Brûlée series. So why am I bringing it up again? Well, I have been honored and thrilled every time an author links to and/or quotes one of my reviews on their site. But Samantha Kane recently informed me...

"Btw, did you know my publisher used a quote from your review in the front of the print version of AT LOVE'S COMMAND? I've been meaning to tell you that. . ."

MY FIRST TIME IN PRINT!! What an HONOR this is!

Sam didn't say, so I'm assuming it's the same one she's now quoting on her site:

Samantha Kane is a shining example of the gems offered by ePubs at their very best...At Love’s Command deserves to be front and center on the mass market new releases display at every major bookstore...I can summarize this book, indeed this entire series, in one word… exquisite. The Good, the Bad, the Unread and Cubie's Confections

UPDATE: In the comments for this post, Sam left the actual quote used:

When I first read the previous books in this series, they immediately landed on my all time favorites list. [...]But as much as I loved those previous books, they almost pale in comparison to At Love's Command. [...]Samantha Kane is a shining example of the gems offered by ePubs at their very best. [...]I assert that At Love's Command deserves to be front and center on the mass market new releases display at every major bookstore. I can summarize this book, indeed this entire series, in one word...exquisite.

See my index for the full review and reviews of all the Brothers in Arms series.

What makes this even more of a thrill is that I know a lot of reviewers try to write in a way that makes it easier for authors and publishers to grab short quotes. I'd make myself crazy trying to do that--- I have enough trouble just trying to express my thoughts in a semi-coherent way, not to mention trying to keep my review shorter than the book itself! So the fact that both Sam and Ellora's Cave found something worthy in something I wrote makes me all kinds of happy.

BTW, check out the latest Ellora's Cave release by Samantha Kane-- Oh Yum!- A Lady in Waiting. Regency Cougar! RAWR! You go girl!
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥


And a huge THANK YOU to Lisabea-- I won a copy of My Fair Captain by J.L. Langley (available at Samhain, Fictionwise, or in print at Amazon)

SCORE!!

Yep, yep, I KNOW! The Dark Highlander is not due to be released in unabridged audio until March 20th, but Barnes & Noble online is selling it now with expedited shipping for the same price as standard. WOOT! Okay, so I paid a wee bit more than I would have if I'd bought it at Borders with a 30% off coupon, but I.Don't.Care. I've been desperately clinging to the last bits of Kiss of the Highlander and now I can float away with the HEA cuz I've got more Phil G. right here waitin' for me. Life is good.




I also scored even more thanks to Ann Aguirre/ Annie Dean. Annie has a Yahoo group (soon to be replaced by her message board) and every month the members name their favorite book they've read for that month. Ann randomly picks one name and that person can pick any book mentioned from any author during the month and she will have it shipped straight from Amazon to the winner. Well, I was the lucky duck whose name was picked for February! WOOT!

My book pick was a no brainer since it's already on my Constant Cravings list-- Grimspace by Ann Aguirre!! You know, I usually don't care much for sci-fi, but I love Ann's characters and have been sooo curious to read Grimspace to see if she can turn me into a sci-fi fan. The reviews for Grimspace have been awesome-- even from other non-sci-fi fans! It sounds like it could be described as urban fantasy romance in space. Thanks Annie!



Ah well, back to work. End of month/ beginning of month, plus our CPA called to light a fire under me to get our personal tax mess down to him. BLECH!

Anthology: Beyond the Dark by Knight, Holly, Leigh, Whiteside

Beyond the Dark anthology with novellas by Angela Knight, Emma Holly, Lora Leigh, Dianne Whiteside
Paranormal romance published by Berkley Sensations 04 Dec 2007





Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books I read fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 8" out of 9"

Head over to The Good, the Bad and the Unread to read my review.

QB's Quickies

"So, read any good books lately?"
"What did you think of...?"

Here's the Quickie answers to those questions. Click on the Links for more info.



Catherine Coulter - Double Take, FBI series, book 11

Book Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books I read fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 1" out of 9"

This book should be considered a continuation of book 10, Point Blank (see previous commentary), since it wraps up Dix and Ruth's storyline. Damn good multiple plotline mystery/thriller. I just wish she'd write some of the sexual tension back into her stories.
Piquant Opines: RT, ABC Wide Bay

Emma Holly - Fairyville
And Then There Were Four: The Epilogue to Fairyville (Amazon 49¢ download)

Category: Lava Cake - reads like warm Chocolate Lava Cake... à la Mode... sprinkled with nuts (A,A)
Flame Height: 7.5" out of 9"

This Fantasy is Emma Holly's most memorable work since Menage! It's light, quirky, fun, and hot. Multiple relationships, including straight, gay (m/m), and, in the downloadable epilogue, m/m/f/m.
Piquant Opines: RT, TGTBTU,

A. Leigh Jones - Forever Crossed

ALJ's LiveJournal; Forever Crossed is also available at Fictionwise

Category: Lava Cake - reads like warm Chocolate Lava Cake... à la Mode... sprinkled with nuts (A,A)
Flame Height: 2" out of 9"

This book was released in print by Imajinn books back in June of 2004 and, after recently discovering it, I was filled with glee. Why? Because I HAD to read the rest of the series and figured there were probably 2 or 3 more already released and waiting for me to devour them! Uh... nope... couldn't find anymore AND I couldn't find the author A. Leigh Jones. So I sent out a call for help to Bam (who loves a good mystery) and totally squeed when ALJ responded! Read what happened here. Course that was followed by a groan of disappointment that I wasn't going to get to visit her world again. This was a damn good Urban Fantasy and I wasn't ready to leave!
Piquant Opines: RT, TBR,

Lora Leigh - Tanner's Scheme

For the complete chronological listing of the Breeds books, including the earlier ebooks from Ellora's Cave that are all now available in print, click here.

Book Category: Peanut M&Ms - mmmm...devour... sigh... then reach for the next one. My daily dose of Insanity-B-Gone. Most books I read fall in this category. (A-,B+,B)
Flame Height: 7.5" out of 9"

Series Category: Crème Brûlée - My All-Time Moan-Out-Loud Favorites (A+)
Flame Height: 9" out of 9"

Scheme is a strong, noble, intelligent heroine and is a worthy match for ANY of the Breeds. She also happens to be the daughter of one of the Breeds most powerful enemies. The fact that she ends up mated to Tanner, the Breeds public "poster boy" is an extra sweet victory over those full humans who oppose the Breeds' acceptance by humanity. And I think I've got an unhealthy fixation on Jonas. I SO want someone to bring him to his knees, but then again, since it can't be me, I also DON'T want it to happen. Go figure.

BTW, I mentioned before that Lora likes to name characters after people she knows and I met the real life Scheme at RAW in September. But I forgot to mention that Lora introduced a new character in Tanner's Scheme, Shiloh. And yep, she's named after Lora's partner-in-crime, Shiloh Walker. And just like the real life Shiloh, the Breed Shiloh is described as shy and demure! *snickers then guffaws then ROFLMAO*
Piquant Opines: RT, TGTBTU,

QB's Aural Quickies

"So, HEARD any good books lately?"
"What did you think of...?"

Here's the Quickie answers to those questions. Click on the Links for more info.

Judith Ivory - The Indiscretion (unabridged)
Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat

~

Audio Book Category: Lava Cake - reads like warm Chocolate Lava Cake... à la Mode... sprinkled with nuts. (A,A-)
Flame Height: 4” out of 9”

Judith Ivory‘s Victorian era "lady and the cowboy" story would have been a light, enjoyable read on it’s own, but the narrator, Barbara Rosenblatt, breathed life into Liddy and Sam. She narrated the book in a non descript American accent, then gave Liddy an upper class British accent that was somehow filled with humor, vulnerability, and playfulness. And the fact that a woman was doing Sam’s voice was lost to me in seconds because his mumbly Texas drawl WAS Sam. I think I smiled through most of this audio book. What a JOY this was to listen to!

J.D. Robb - Naked in Death (unabridged)

Narrated by Susan Erickson

~

Audio Book Category: M&Ms - a bit lighter and/or not quite as satisfying as Peanut M&Ms, but still Oh-So-Enjoyable! (B,B-,C+,C)
Flame Height: 5” out of 9”

Since there just didn't seem to be any new downloadable audio releases that interested me, I was desperate and thought I might as well see what the prolific Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb had to offer. I figured if I liked this first book in her Eve Dallas series, I’d be guaranteed a steady supply of audio books.

Since I’m not much of a futuristic sci-fi fan, I appreciated the fact that this book was set in the near future yet still based on our current reality. The technology used seemed like a logical progression from what we use today, and humanity still had the same flaws and motivations.

While this audio book was enjoyable, and I WILL be buying more, I had a hard time following some of it. Not that it was too complicated, it’s just that I didn’t realize how much I expect books with gritty, kick-butt heroines to be written in first person POV. So I found myself listening to a character’s internal dialogue and then getting confused because I just assumed it was Eve’s voice I was hearing, only to be jarred when it turned out to be someone else like Roarke.

~

That’s not a problem with the writing, it’s more a problem with my perceptions combined with Susan Erickson‘s narration style.

Speaking of Roarke… *swoon*

Author Jules Jones

Over on Lora's board today, Jade asked if anyone had read any of Jules Jones books. Well, by the time I finished typing my response, I realized that I had a pretty good start on a Cubie's Commentary! It's odd that I never thought to post here about her before since I know I've previously posted recommendations about her on Mrs. Giggles and Smart Bitches.

I've read a few of Jules Jones books from Loose-Id and thoroughly enjoyed them. On their own, I'd probably categorize the stories as M&Ms or Peanut M&Ms, but because her muse magically breathes warmth and humor and quirks and LIFE into her memorable characters, I've placed the Jules Jones books I've read so far into my Lava Cake category. (see sidebar for what these Flavours of Love categories mean)

I adored her Syndicate series (with Alex Woolgrave). I seldom care for futuristic sci-fi, but this spaceship is loaded with colorful, eccentric characters and the sex scenes are playful yet smokin'. You won't soon forget these quirky people!

Her Spindrift series is beautifully written. Again, you'll enjoy getting to know her characters. It's about a writer living in a fishing village who is allowed in on the villagers' closely guarded secret- silkies- and falls in love with one of them.

Her story in the anthology A Kiss at Midnight, First Footer, is about First Contact with an alien race. But, again, it serves to showcase Jules' ability to create memorable, UNIQUE characters.

Jules Jones is one helluva writer. I think her preference for writing M/M is the only reason she's not more well known. But she does it so well, I'm glad she hasn't allowed her wallet to direct her muse. So the next time you're over on Loose-Id, be sure to check her out. Her first two books in The Syndicate have also been combined into print.