Avon Feature

What Makes an Addict?
Guess this is what it takes to nudge me out of a blogging slump.  I subscribe to the "From The Heart" newsletter from Avon Romance, and when they sent me this notice, I couldn't help but get a little excited at the idea of being and advance reader for them.  So I applied and thought I'd nudge things a bit by highlighting the Avon authors that I've written about.

Most recently, I read and enjoyed Lecia Cornwell's Secrets of a Proper Lady (NTS: the second one is out, what are you waiting for??).  I also had the pleasure of meeting the author at the Emerald City RWA conference bookfair.  I don't go to the conference, because I'm not a writer, but the bookfair is like a little slice of heaven for a romance reader.

Eloisa James and Julia Quinn are also on my radar, not only because they are a couple of the best historical romance writers working today, but in a more immediate way because of a couple of Book Perk events.  I went to a really neat "tea" with the two of them about a year ago in Seattle, and then recently to an Author Event in Bellevue -- Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, Christina Dodd, Lisa Kleypas, and Connie Brockway were all there, doing a fairly informal Q & A with a signing after.  It was a lot of fun.

I've written a number of posts either reviewing Quinn's books or just talking about her style in general.  She's local to me so I have met her at several events and she's just such a sweetheart in person.  My most recent review was  two years ago although I continue to read her new releases.  (I sometimes avoid reviewing the same author many times because I think I end up repeating myself.).  I covered Ms. James' dukes around the same time.  Oddly, I've never reviewed Lisa Kleypas but she has always been one of my auto-buy authors.  I love her work.

Other long-time bloggers might relate to this confession: I have a lot more posts in my head than I do actually written out  and published here on the site. I read Debra Mullins To Ruin The Duke  a couple years ago and was really impressed by the fresh and clever plotting.  But I never wrote that post. She's also local to me;  I originally found her at the Emerald City bookfair in '09, and ran into her again last fall.  Her latest, The Brides of Nevarton Chase, has been a great trilogy: I recommend.

Also in the category of great ideas that are still in the "incubation" stage, is my "Rewind" feature. I have to admit, I really, really love the "classic" romances from the 70s and 80s.  I reviewed a couple of "rewinds" last year and I actually got as far as finding a copy and re-reading Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss, and completely loved it... but I never wrote that post either.  But that story was every bit as good in 2011 as it was when I first read it back in the day.

My "relationship" with Anna Campbell is a direct result of the blogging world -- during the BBAW event a few years back, I ended up on a blog I'd never seen before and entering a contest for an ARC giveaway. I didn't get the ARC but I had checked out Campbell's site and the excerpt reeled me in. I've been a fan ever since.

Tracy Anne Warren is on the list, and she appeared a while back here on Alpha Heroes.  I ought to get caught up with her, because I really did enjoy the one title that I read.

AND! I am so pleased to tell you that I've been selected as an "Avon Addict!" That means some fun swag and advance reading copies for me, and some fresh blood in my reviews for you. This makes me feel like this:

Thursday Thirteen, Edition 25: Best of 2011

Oh, did you think this would be *my* best-of list?  That would be great, wouldn't it?  But that sounds like a lot of work.  Instead, here are 13 lists from my list of romance bloggers and a few new ones.  Brace yourself, your TBR list is about to get a lot bigger...

1. Mandy at Smexy Books
2. Katiebabs
3. Jen at Fiction Vixen
4. Samantha at Fiction Vixen
5. Hilcia at Impressions of a Reader
6.  Kmont at Lurve a La Mode
7.  Sharon at Best Romance Stories
8.  Brie at At Romance Around the Corner 
9. Janga at Just Janga
10. Marg at Intrepid Reader (not actually romance, but I'm a Marg fan, so I'm including it anyway) 
11. Laura and Carol at Book Chick City
12. Melanie at Barnes and Noble
13. Amazon's picks

Happy holidays to you and yours!

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Brick and Mortar and Random Musing

Black Friday at Barnes and Noble
Sigh.  I miss my local Borders. I will try to transfer my affection to the B&N, but... I just don't like it as much.  I don't actually know what Borders did wrong; what buying or inventory or pricing practices drove them out of business, or if it was as simple as being too late to the e-selling game.  I hope that doesn't happen to Barnes and Noble.

But still... it's not the same. At Borders, you could find a terminal and look up a book yourself to see if it was in the store, or which section you could find it in, or search on a title to find the author, or search on the author to find the latest title.  At B&N, you have to ask a store worker to do that.  If you can find one (I grudgingly give them a pass for being busy on Black Friday).

At Borders, my pal Andrea made sure that my favorite authors' new releases were available on release day.  She called me to tell me when they arrived.  I realize that this isn't a Borders standard, and other Borders stores were not as good at the release day thing.  But B&N didn't have the new Ilona Andrews, or if they did, I couldn't find it, and I couldn't find someone to help me find it.  Boo.

On the Bright Side
I'm That Auntie, the one that gets you classics instead of the next Disney Fairy throw-away book.  I really love the B&N classics lines, for kids and adults (although I sort of wish the kids' ones were more standardized).  B&N kids' classics are nicely bound and illustrated and priced less than a mass market paperback-- I bought A Little Princess & The Time Machine for the independent younger readers, and Alice in Wonderland and Frankenstein from the adult series for the older readers.  (But I have a curmudgeonly wish that B&N would standardize their bindings and expand the line.)

In any event, I really want that brick and mortar buying experience.  I like browsing.  I like walking around in stacks of books, picking them up, flipping pages.  I actually want the excuse of leaving my house and going someplace else (preferably some place with coffee and chocolate).  I know I could solve the release-day thing by pre-ordering at Amazon, but sometimes my decisions change on the day-of. If it's a big release day, I might put off one author in favor of another.  I have to be a little budget-conscious, so I can't pre-order every release from every author I like. I waffle, and I kind of enjoy the waffling process-- I don't want it to be too automated.

I will probably get an e-reader sometime in the next year or so.  Maybe this year at Christmas.  There are enough of my favorite authors with early e-pub dates, and some intriguing titles that are e-pub only, that I guess it's unavoidable.  But I think I will have to keep making pilgrimages to whatever brick and mortar stores I can find, for the occasional tactile fix.  Whatever happens in the publishing and e-publishing industries in the next ten or twenty years, I expect I'll swing both ways.

Secrets of a Proper Countess, by Lecia Cornwall - Review

Masquerade
So right off, the opening of this book reminded me of this:

The zipless fuck is absolutely pure. It is free of ulterior motives. There is no power game . The man is not "taking" and the woman is not "giving." No one is attempting to cuckold a husband or humiliate a wife. No one is trying to prove anything or get anything out of anyone. The zipless fuck is the purest thing there is. And it is rarer than the unicorn. And I have never had one.

— Erica Jong, Fear of Flying (1973)

"Call me whatever you wish, my lady-- Lancelot, or Tristan, or Romeo. anything will do." His eyes burned into hers from behind his mask. "I am at your service, and I will be whatever and whomever you wish me to be tonight."

Isobel stared at him, spellbound. The room wavered and spun, and all she could see was him, all she could feel was the heat from his eyes, his body. She was melting with desire. Surely she was dreaming. She would wake up in her widow's weeds at Maitland House and realize she'd imagined the whole encounter.

(I'm also tempted to run a quote from a Billy Joel lyric here -- you know the one-- but I decided that would be over the top).

One of the recurring threads in the romance genre is the anonymous encounter, and in historicals, the masquerade is quite popular.  I think I have at least three books within reach right now that employ it.  The adrenaline, the headlong topple into hormonal bliss without all the messy emotional and pragmatic entanglements that inevitably surround an affair--very tempting indeed. The stuff of fantasies, and in some ways, it's a metaphor for why we read romance at all:

The feeling of falling in love is something we want to experience again, and I think readers can do that safely in a book... without giving up the love we have.  -- Julia London, as interviewed by Sarah Wendell

However, messy entanglements make for interesting reading, and like Erica Jong's character, Isobel Maitland doesn't get her zipless fuck either.  She knows that rake under the mask, and her infatuation turns into full-on passion; and while "Lancelot" doesn't know her name, he can't forget her.

Plot and Context
The suspense/mystery plot that draws them together in an ancillary way is deftly woven into each encounter.  I can't say it's the most original mystery ever to bring a widowed countess and a playboy marquess together, and when I first read the blurb and some of the introductory background I was a bit skeptical:

Lady Isobel Maitland cannot afford to be caught doing anything even remotely scandalous, or she risks losing everything she holds dear...

There were strict rules governing her behavior, carefully noted in her husband's will, and enforced by her mother-in-law.

But as I read on, Cornwall constructed a believable and slightly horrifying context. I think it's easy to forget, as a modern reader, how restrictive life could be for women in those times. There are plenty of stories that play fast and loose with these strictures, that set up their protagonists as triumphing over a value set that is not the same as the readers'. This is a story that doesn't let you forget how simple a matter it was in those days to place a woman completely at the mercy of others, who control her financially and through the fate of her son. In her mother-in-law's household, Isobel is surrounded by enemies and spies, and the least wrong step will see her married undesireably or exiled to a remote estate without her son, or possibly worse yet. She is not even permitted to manage her son's education or free time-- this all falls under the jurisdiction of her brother-in-law.

Chemistry and Characters
Isobel is no Mary Sue though, and I loved the way she went after what she wanted. The heat between the protagonists is very hot:

Yasmina. That's all he had, a made-up name. He shook his head, still dumbfounded and searched the dark pavilion for his coat and his cloak. He wasn't usually so easily distracted when he had work to do, but she had been exceptionally diverting.

He found his garments easily, but the telltale buttons took longer. A gardener or guest who found one button would hardly remark upon it.  A scattering of six buttons in such a secluded place screamed scandal.  Phineas Archer was an expert at avoiding scandal.

Unless, of course, he wished to be caught.

He found the buttons and pushed them into his pocket. He pulled his cloak over his gaping breeches and turned to go, and almost tripped over something. It skittered away to hit the wall with a soft chime. He picked it up and carried it into the light. It was the lady's shoe, delicate and encrusted with pearls and embroidery, with a curled-up toe that was hung with a little bell.

Now, see, that's not even the love scene, that's the aftermath. Isn't it wonderful? Some might find the Cinderella touch a little bit of an eyeroll, but I have to say that I loved it.

So the villains in Secrets are a bit over the top, the usual corpulent, scruple-less, crass, grasping, opposite-of-hero types, but overall Cornwall puts together a nice fabric of secondary characters with just the right amount of complexity to keep the plot interesting on a number of levels.

Bottom Line
I really enjoyed this debut; it has all the right ingredients for a satisfying regency: likeable, lively characters with emotional chemistry, heat, and just the right touch of humor; adept ebb and flow of plot and sexual tension; and an effortless command of voice and language and period that's easy to overlook when it's done right. If you've missed this title, I recommend you check it out, and I'm looking forward to The Price of Pleasure, due out in January.

Around the Blogosphere
At Dear Author - not actually a review, but a nice behind-the-scenes tidbit.
The Romance Dish Also not a review, but an entertaining day-in-the-life essay
Romance Addict
Kay's Blog
Love Romances and More
Tracy at Book Binge
Romance Reviews by Alice

(I must say, either Ms. Cornwall's publicist is exceptional or the word of mouth on this title is really a snowball -- there are pages of reviews for this on Google! so here are just a handful)

WINNER!

I used the random number feature in Excel to choose a winner who is....

(drumroll please)

!!! DONNA S !!!

Donna, please email your mailing address to: nicola327 (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Thanks for playing, everyone.

Emerald City RWA Giveaway

You know, for a romance fan, there aren't many places that are better to live in than Seattle.

For one, it's gorgeous.  You may have heard that it rains all the time--and yes, it can be dreary in the winter, BUT it's also lush and green all year.  I have camellias in my yard that bloom every January.  January!  And on a clear day, the view of the Cascades or the Olympics or Mt. Rainier or the Sound or one of the many lakes is a great mood lifter.

Honestly, I don't mind the overcast weather.  Because what goes better with a great book than a cozy sofa, a hot beverage, and the sound of rain on your windows?  I'm not alone, because Seattle still ranks as the #1 American city for booksellers per capita.

But for the true book geek, the fact that the Pacific Northwest is home to an amazing number of great authors has to be the best thing about being a reader in Seattle.  And for a romance reader in particular, the Emerald City RWA bookfair is the candy store to my inner kid.

It's really an embarrassment of riches.  Earlier this year, I went to a Bookperk "tea" and met Julia Quinn and Eloisa James.  I've been to signings by Candy Tan, Jacquelyn Carey, Kim Harrison, and Patricia Briggs.  I bumped into Jayne Ann Krentz and Stella Cameron in the Barnes and Noble, for crying out loud!

So what does a person do when they have it really, really good?  Share the wealth!

I thought about a couple of different ways to do this, but in the end, I'm a fan of the KISS Principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid. 

So Here's The Deal:

Check the author roster in the post below, then leave me a comment telling me which of these talented authors you would like to have a signed book from. If you win, I'll get it for you, and send it to you.  Simple!

I'm feeling generous, so it's open world-wide.  You get one extra entry/chance if you share this post on FaceBook, Tweet, or "like" Alpha Heroes' FaceBook page.  Contest closes at midnight Pacific time Thursday, Oct. 27, and I'll run the pick sometime Friday morning.

Oh! and breaking news:  Julia Quinn is not on the official list for the bookfair, but she confirmed in her Facebook feed that she'll be there.  So she's an option too!

October...

"If I could forgive the temporary weight gain due to excess water retention

I could forgive the rest too... 

it's just a fact of life that no one cares to mention 

She wasn't good, but she had good intentions..."

Yeah.

OK, I'm a little late, but I think I can still pull this off. I have this FANTASTIC idea for an October feature.

Here it is.  Question: what do these authors have in common?

Karen L. Abrahamson
Cherry Adair
Susan Andersen
Vivian Arend
DaniJo Avia
Calinda B.
Kinley Baker
Diana Ballew
Anne Marie Becker
Jenna Bayley-Burke
Elizabeth Boyle
Meljean Brook
Susan Colleen Browne
Vanetta Chapman
Ann Charles
Rebecca J. Clark
Jennifer Conner
Karina Cooper
Lecia Cotton Cornwall
Kate Davies
Heather Davis
Sherri Dub
Karen Erickson
Eilis Flynn
Amanda Forester
P. G. Forte
Susan Fox
Yasmine Galenorn
Sarah Gilman
Gwen Hayes
Delle Jacobs
Paty Jager
Chris Karlsen
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Sherry King
Cindy Kirk
Rose Lerner
Laurie London
Susan Lyons
Jess Macallan
Margaret Mallory
Josie Malone
Bob Mayer
Christa McHugh
Kristina McMorris
Theresa Meyers
Danielle Monsch
Alexis Morgan
Brooke Moss
Debra Mullins
Elisabeth Naughton
Laura Navarre
Dawn Nelson
Erin Nicholas
Terry Odell
Bernadette Pajer
Darlene Panzera
Sheila Roberts
Val Roberts
Gina Robinson
Jacquie Rogers
Gerri Russell
Jeanne Savery
Inara Scott
Alice Sharpe
Stefanie Sloane
Shelli Stevens
Natasha Tate
Candis Terry
Olivia Waite
Christine Warren
Sarah Wendell
Linda Wisdom
Rebecca Zanetti

?


Answer: They are all attending the Emerald City RWA Conference Bookfair. And I am GOING. (Just to the bookfair; while I'd love to go to the conference itself just to hang around with these talented ladies, it kinda doesn't make sense for a non-author to go to all the workshops.)

Sooooooooo, wouldn't it be great to feature as many of these authors as I can in the month of October?  Watch for some profiles, link round-ups, and so forth over the next few weeks.

Off the cuff, a few comments on the ones I'm already familiar with:

Meljean Brook and Christine Warren - auto-buy. Any questions?

Lecia Cotton Cornwall - I picked up her debut earlier this year as part of my cover experiment, and really quite liked it. Looks like she has a new release, too.

Margaret Mallory - Ooo, yay! I really like her books, and I think I'm behind. Which means hopefully some new yummy medieval goodness to acquire at the fair.

Gerri Russell - I had a chance to get to know Gerri outside of the book world a year or two ago, and she is just the most lovely person. Her first series (3 or 4 books) is about Scottish Templars -- two great tastes that taste great together. Her books don't usually show up on endcaps, so you might need to go looking for them, but I recommend you give them a try.

Shelli Stevens - Man, she is just so cute. I picked up "Take Me" at this same bookfair a couple of years ago from her. She gives me this sideways look..."It's... smexy," she says, as she hands over the book. Hoo, is it ever! And... I'm going to stop right there on account of the PTA president might be reading this.

Elisabeth Naughton - Hmm, well, I did review Marked awhile back, and I also read "Stolen Fury" but didn't review it. They're entirely competent books, but something about them just didn't grab me. I have the second book in the Eternal Guardians series in my TBR, maybe I'll give the series another go.

Cherry Adair - I gather Ms. Adair is something of a celebrity among the local authors. She hosts an annual writers' challenge and is a popular speaker. Unfortunately, the one book of hers that I read, I really didn't like at all. Just not for me. It's been several years so I can't even tell you what I didn't like but it was a pretty strong reaction. Oh well.

Elizabeth Boyle - So the title, "Confessions of a Little Black Gown," really grabbed me and I really, REALLY wanted to like this one but I thought it was only so-so. I did a mini-review here. Don't know if I'll try again.

Debra Mullins - I really liked To Ruin The Duke! Why didn't I review it? I don't know, dammit. Maybe the next one. And wow, she has quite a backlist. Definitely will be diving into that one a bit more.

It's going to be a good blogging month, I can feel it.