Just Us Thinking!

The other day I was on the phone talking to Teri about what I was going to write about this week. I never realized it was so hard to do a blog -- God Bless everyone who does one daily because it is hard work! Kudos! Now for my thoughts. Drum roll please! Why in books don't the hero and heroines in contemporaries ever used the bathroom except for showering and brushing their teeth? Have you ever noticed that the heroine usually wears barely there underwear and the hero usually doesn't wear underwear? The heroine usually has her hair in a ponytail or braid. When I was working (with the public) I very seldom saw any female 20 somethings with their hair in a ponytail or braid. The hero is never really middle class and always has an endless supply of money. But my biggest HUH!!! No matter how many girlfriends the hero has had, the heroine's kisses always knocks him off his feet and she always fits so perfectly under is chin! That's it for now but I'm sure I can think of more! *******Debra says..... Well, after I stopped laughing I to got to thinking about what Danielle said and realized she was right!! The women always have on the sexy underwear, he doesn't have any on or he has on boxer briefs, or black silk boxers. I have never meet a man that wears black silk boxers! Then I got to thinking about women and ponytails, and I see very few women with ponytails, let alone all the women have this long hair, and the men love the long hair. What is with men and long hair?? I don't get it. The other thing that bugs me is the first time that a hero and heroine do it and she is a virgin, it is always perfect and she can go all night long. It is just so wonderful and he is so perfect!! I have only ever read one book when after they did it for the first time she said "this is it?" and he answers "it gets better"; her response is "I hope so." And lets not get into the man always having the raincoat, so he can have safe sex. I even read one book where they are in the middle of the desert, running from the bad people, about to have sex and he says he has a condom, because he taught to always be prepared so he always packed them in his survival kit. He made me think of a boy scout. But then these are books are a work of fiction and if I wanted the real thing I could read non fiction, but then what fun would that be!!! *****Teri says **Snort** Debra, that couple hightailing it through the desert, were they on a camel ? That scenario really was a stretch of my imagination, as was another book where they were doing it on the Harley, while the hero was driving the damn thing! Anyone ever heard the saying "donor bike"? Some scenarios of where they do the deed crack me up, along with all of the afore mentioned things too. Just how many times can you do it against the wet tile while the water sloshes down on you without falling and breaking your neck? Sooner or later, the law of averages is sure to catch up with you. So you see Dani, we're right back to that bathroom stuff again. I think in the world of perfect romancelandia, people don't go to the bathroom, or have other bodily functions that make you go eeeewwww. However, if it's a well written suspense/crime story, most authors don't have issues letting the gore come out to play. 

Just us thinking....

I just read the post that Lauren Dane did about Good Reads. Now I will be honest. I have never been a part of Good Reads and now I will never go over there. How does this work, that they can give a bad rating in a book that isn't even published yet? Doesn't make much sense to me. Now I know people will write bad reviews and bad mouth authors. I will tell you this right now, I will never bad mouth a author. I do not write books, I do simple reviews on whether I like a book or not. I will never write a negative review, when I do a review I will tell you what I think of the book, I am not going to tell you if it is a wall banger or not. After all just because I don't like a book doesn't mean you aren't going to like.

I do not feel it is right for anyone to bad mouth an author. That author works very hard to write a book and give us some enjoyment. Not all authors are going to be perfect every time, and if the book isn't perfect you should not be bad mouthing the author. We all have bad days and not every body is going to be happy.

So I will say it again. I will never write a bad review, but I will write honest review of what I think of the book. I will never bad mouth a author or put down their work. If you want to read a negative nasty review or somebody putting down a author you will not find it done by me. -- Debra

Dani's Thoughts -- Debra and I have had many discussions about reviews -- in fact I've also had them with my good friends Sue K and Tisa. What storyline works with one person may not work for another. There are times when I will read a fantastic review on a book - run out and buy the book - read the book and then think, how did this book get an A or 4 1/2 star rating? I read a review were the reviewer gave the book a lower grade because of the heroine's name, another the hero is the same age as her daughter or the hero has the name as her son? Red hair? The list can go on and on. But to give a book a bad review that's not even out!?!?!?!? Or that you just read one chaper!?! WHY!!! Sometimes it can take 3 or 4 chapters to actually get into the story.

When I talked Teri and Debra into doing a blog I knew that they might not always agree with my review -- but like Debra said -- we will write a HONEST review. I do have to admit that writing a review is HARD and it's not as easy as it seems. Teri Chiming in.....Can someone please explain to me " it is not a requirement that a user read the book before rating it." Ok.....How does this work??? You just can't go out there and rate a book you know nothing about! Well,I guess some people do, but again I ask, how does that work, in wanting your website to be creditable and all that? It is creepy and scary that people can rate a book that has not even been released as an ARC. Don't these folks have something better to do than this? By the way, I was looking at a book over on B & N that doesn't come out for several months yet, but it had double digits of voters who gave it 5 stars. No review, but 5 stars!!! Whatever happened to that old saying, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all?? You know people, what goes around comes around, and some day you will get yours. It's the law of the jungle. A lot of time and energy goes in to writing an honest review, telling you what works for me and what doesn't. If you must criticize something, this can be constructive feedback if done well by the reviewer. When I review a book, I say what worked for me, and what didn't. We aren't all alike, and what works well for me may not work well for you at all. We don't all like the same thing when it comes to books. Heck, my mood can switch when the wind changes directions, so on any given day I may like the book better or not, depending on the darned wind direction! What I will promise to always do when writing a review is to be honest, tell you what I did (or didn't) like. Never will I be hurtful in any way to an author. What I really want to say, is this whole issue at Good Reads rating books that are not out yet, boils down to respect. They don't know the meaning of the word, therefore it's not a place that will ever appeal enough for me to visit again.

Happy St Patrick Day

Just wanted to wish every body a HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you have a nice day.

And this is why I read romance!

As some of you know from different blogs, Fatin Soulfin's husband was killed leaving her with 4 daughters. The man was murdered at his store . Fatin has been a very important member of the romance community as a romance reviewer and just over all supporter of the genre . Well, I was just on Maya Bank's Facebook page and the romance authors are putting together an Online Auction to help Fatin and her girls. Maya is asking what you would like to bid on and she would try to do it. Here is the link to her page: https://www.facebook.com/notes/maya-banks/need-your-help/10150174400256281, also this is the link that will show you some of the items up for bid http://operationauction.wordpr

ess.com/

I know there are probably other groups that would do something. But romance always get such a bad rap, yet those authors are always the first to help someone in need. Romance authors and readers are just so much more then what people say we are. Yes people may roll their eyes when we say we read romance, but I know that the romance people really care for others. And I for one proud to say I read romance and I have never been afraid to show my covers!!

Hi, this is Dani. Fatin is in the same yahoo groups that I'm in. She is a wonderful person and I enjoy reading her comments. Teri add: I will be sure to go to Maya's FB page to check out the auction process too. Such a very sad incident. I am a proud romance reader too, and have never been afraid to show my covers! Although it has gotten me in hot water once or twice. ;<}

Phantom Evil by Heather Graham, plus a rant

Phantom Evil is the first book in Graham's new four book series. You can she is setting you up for a series, with introducing you to all of the members of a secret government agency formed by Adam Harrison, a famed paranormal investigator. Each person on this team has a special talent. The hero and heroine in the book are Jackson Crow and Angela Hawkins. Jackson, who is part English, part Cheyenne heads up the group and can see and sense things, but really doesn't believe in it. Angela can see and talk with ghosts. Both have have things happen in the past that have shaped their lives today.

The book is set in New Orleans, in a house built in the 1800's that was occupied by a mass murderer. Since then things have happened in the house and because of the history everyone says the house is haunted . Jackson and his team are called in after a senator's wife falls to her death.

When Jackson meets Angela you can tell they kind of feel something, but they don't fall for each other right away. Jackson does feel very protective of Angela because it seems a very dark object in the house has drawn to her and she also can see the ghosts of two kids who were killed in the house.

Over all the story was very good, you don't figure out who the bad guy is. There is a lot going on and sometimes I got a little confused about the two groups that are against the senator. But in the end it all comes together nicely. If you like a good ghost story this is it, because it has both ghosts and bad guys!!

Now for my rant, the first book comes out in hardback with the rest of the series in paperback. I really hate that. If it is going to be part of a series I want them all to be either hardback or paperback - I want them all to match! I know I am not the only one who gets upset by this. I did write the publisher on this and here is their answer:

On the topics of hard covers the decision to have this title in this format is based on the authors history of sales. Also publishing in hard cover allows us to get a greater number of reviews. The reason for this is that some mediums only accept books printed in hard cover. Thankfully it will also be available as an e-book at the same time of release. So this is a more inexpensive option for this title.

I read this book as ARC and the book is due out in April , but can be sold on the last Thursday of March,with the other three coming out in June, July and August. Reviewed for you by Debra.

Me Thinking Out Loud

Dani says: Call this silly, call this petty, but I've been wondering why authors/publishers think that everyone has a Kindle?? So many times I've received emails or seen posts about getting a free book for your Kindle. What about readers who have a Sony, Kobo, Nook or another eDevice? Now, I understand that you can download the Kindle app on your computer. Reading an ebook on a computer is something that I tried once and swore I would never do again. Publishing companies -- if your going to make an ebook free for one device, make it free for all ebook devices. By the way I have both the Kindle 2 and a Sony 950 There I feel better now, I got this off my chest. ************************************************************************************Teri Says: You know Dani, you're right. Most of the offerings out there are for Kindles. Fine by me, since I have a Kindle, and also a iPad. My gripe is, charging 99 cents for a novella that was released about 6 weeks prior to the book release date. You know tempt you, give you just a tiny little taste so on new book Tuesday you're off to the store buying the book or downloading it on your reader. Then you get home, all comfy in your reading chair and realize......that novella you PAID for is the prologue of the book you are reading!!! Grrrrrr....how many times or how many ways can you cash in on one book? I guess quite a few.

******************************************************************

Debra say's:

I have to agree with Danielle on this one. I don't own a Kindle nor do I plan on buying one. I have my Kobo and I would love for the publishing companies to start offering free reads for my reader. There are a lot of different e readers out there and I bought a Kobo so I wouldn't have to read a book off my computer.

I bet if publishers would offer the free reads to all the e readers a lot of people would find some authors they would like to try out, then maybe look for their backlist, I know I do that!! Sounds to me that would be a very good marketing ploy.

Invitation To Ruin, by Brownen Evans

I haven't read a book in awhile that packed such an emotional punch as this book. The hero Anthony was raised by his father, while his twin brother Richard was raised by their mother. Their father was a cold-heart bastard who never showed one ounce of love to Anthony. What Anthony had to endure by his father hands and actions had me in tears. Anthony decided at an early age that he would never marry and provide an heir. He would leave that to his twin. Melissa was also raised with no love by her parents, who ignored her until they needed her. Her brother is a slime ball to end all slime balls. Because of his gambling debts, both Melissa and her brother are staying with their cousin, Cassandra. Anthony and his brother Richard make a bet on who would sleep with Cassandra first. Richard gives Anthony the wrong room. Anthony enters Melissa's room and proceeds to make love to her. Melissa who has been secretly in love with Anthony thinks she's have a "lusty dream." When Anthony realizes his mistake he does the honorable thing and offers marriage. When they are caught by both Melissa's brother and Richard, Anthony agrees to the marriage. Melissa refuses -- she wants to marry for love. After marrying,.Anthony tries to ignore her, but Melissa wants this marriage to work . Anthony leaves Melissa at one of his country estates thinking all of his problems are solved. Anthony finds out that his enemy is now dealing in the "White Slave" market and he is determined to stop him at all costs. His enemy, thanks to the help he receives from Melissa's cousin, kidnaps her and is holding her on one of this ships. When Anthony finds out he races to save her and realizes that he does love her and that he isn't anything like his father. Spoilers: Anthony's father was a slave trader and raised Anthony to have no heart or feelings. Anthony's father forces him to have sex with the 10 year-old slave girl and if he refused he would let his men have their way with her. Anthony does have sex with the girl and his father still gives the girl to his men. Because of this Anthony turns into a cold, hard person. Melissa and her friends attend slave auctions, with the purpose to buy slaves to set them free and help them find jobs. While Melissa is kidnapped she is forced to perform an oral sex act on the villain. This book may not be for everyone due to the slavery theme. I am looking forward to Richard's story. My rating - A-/hot Book was purchased at Borders.com

Christine Feehan's Savage Nature

I became a fan on Ms Feehan's books in the last year. I read all of her Drake sister books in one week and then I was told to try her shifter books. I love them as much as the Drake sisters. When you read one of Ms Feehan's books you really feel you are there. She makes the books come alive and she leaves you wanting more.

Savage Nature is her new Leopard shifter book. It is set in the swamps outside of New Orleans. Saria is a child of the swamps, she feels at peace there, she feels that it is her home. One night as she is taking photos of some owls, she sees something strange and as she goes in close to see what it is she see's a dead man. It looks like the man has been killed by a leopard. Now she knows that there is strange things going on in the swamps because as a child she saw her brothers shift, although her brothers don't know that she knows this. Saria is very scared that one of her brothers killed this man plus the others that show up later. She knows something bad is going on in her swamp and is not sure who she can trust, so she writes a letter to the owner Jake Bannaconni, Jake has been in past book.

Jake sends in Drake Donovan. Drake is a shifter but hasn't been able to shift for a long time because he had hurt his leg and had a metal pin. He has since had a new surgery to replace the pin with bone, which means he can now shift and he can't wait to try it. When he meets Saria he knows that she is his mate and that she has a leopard waiting to come out. He can not understand how her brothers have missed this in her. Saria feels something in Drake that she doesn't understand, she has a pull towards him that she has had with no other person.

I really liked Drake and Saria, he knew what she was and he was willing to go slow with her, to help her work out her leopard and not force the issue. I love how she refers to her leopard as a hussy when she is around Drake, I love how Drake gets mad at her brothers for not being there for her. He understands that she knows the swamps better then he does and doesn't leave her behind because he knows he can't get through the swamps without her.

The story is very good and really keeps you guessing as to what is happening. You have a leopard lair that is falling apart and needs new leadership and poor Drake becomes the new alpha. You have Saria who doesn't know that she is a shifter and trying to understand the changes that are happening to her, and a man who knows she is his mate and won't let her go, but knows she will always be happiest in the Swamp.

I really enjoyed this story and I want more!!! I want to know what happens with her brothers, or the members of Drake's team. I was lucky and got this book as a ARC, it will be released on April 26, 2011 by Jove books. If you enjoy Ms Feehan's shifter books you are going to enjoy this one.

My Rant

Okay, they say there's a sucker born every minute -- well, I guess I'm one! I was excited to see that Lora Leigh was writing a short story called Enigma, which was a prologue for Live Wire. Imagine my surprise that instead of the book being FREE it was being sold for $.99 cents. I said "HUH -- for a 41 page book??" Okay, what's .99 cents. I decided to wait until Live Wire came out before reading Enigma. On Tuesday I downloaded Enigma on my reader and read it in about half hour. As I'm reading it, I'm shaking my head at all the errors in the book --one minute Tehya was 22, on another page she was 20 when she joined the Elite Group -- jump forward six years and she's 28, or wait - now she's 30! And just how old is Tehya? Hard to figure that one out with all the inconsistent ages going back and forth. Why can't Lora Leigh keep the ages straight? If she's writing a series wouldn't she do a timeline of some kind? But that's not why I'm a sucker -- I'm a sucker because Wednesday when I came home from work, got all cozy on my couch, I started reading Live Wire and went -- "what the heck -- the prologue was the same prologue that I paid .99 cents for!!" I was so upset that if I had the actual book in my hand instead of the ebook, I would have thrown it across the room. How could St. Martin's Press and Lora Leigh do this to their loyal readers? How can they have the nerve to charge for a prologue, knowing it was going to be in the book? Well like they say there's a sucker born every minute but this sucker just learned her lesson. All I can say is shame on you St. Martin's Press and Lora Leigh -- trust me I will never buy a "Prologue" or "short story" again.

Treachery Inn Death, by J.D. Robb

Date Read:  3/2/2011

Rating:  A (5 stars)

Police procedural, futuristic

At times Robb keeps the whodunit close to her vest, and at other times the identity of the killer is known in the first chapter of the book, which is what we have in this story.  In Treachery it is Peabody who hears the murderers confession.  Peabody, wrapped in a towel in the shower at the old gym, two cops enter, arguing over a case they are working.  They are conversing about what amounts to be disclosure of corruption and murder.  Peabody hears them, but from her hiding spot doesn’t see one of the cops, but she got the names. This is big, real big.  Peabody runs to Eve, reports in with what she has heard.  The leader of the ring of crooked cops is Lt. Renee Oberman, daughter of the former retired commander. 

The usual crew is brought in, long with IAB Detective Webster, and Commander Whitney.  We all know when Eve and Webster are thrown together it can get interesting, and does.  Issues from the past come up, they argue and in the end are darn close to being friends again. Webester meets Darcia, who is a police commander off planet, which seems like the start of a new relationship forWebster, and I say it’d about time!  We also see Louise in the end of the book. 

EDD, Feeney and McNabb along with the civilian consultant, aka: Roarke are a huge part of this investigation.  Peabody is the one with a more pivotal role in this outing.  The love and caring Eve and Roarke have for Peabody (and Ian) is very evident in this book.   Eve;s character growth has come a long way.  Her relationships are comfortable, she can actually cry, even if it is only in front of Roarke.  They really have become an awesome couple. 

Here are some of my random thoughts…

After 32 books, I am still trying to figure out who the candy thief is!  They pulled off a good one in this book!

Webster and Darcia – what will come of them?  Something, I hope.

There will be a lot of job openings in Illegals division since those that weren’t killed off ended up doing hard time off planet somewhere.

There you have it.  Book 32.  JD Robb just keeps getting better.  The character growth between this beloved group of people is amazing.  Eve and Roarke are so comfortable with each other, but then Roarke is just an amazing man.    **sigh**      Happily reviewed  for you!      Teri

Well, Danielle and Teri talked me into joining them with this post and I said why not! I have been reading romance for years. I started as a child with all of the Margaret Henry and Nancy Drew books and then moved on to Phyllis A Whintey and Victoria Holt. The first historical I read was Laurie Mc Bain's Moonstruck Madness and I was hooked and have been reading them ever since.

I read alot of different books, love historicals , romantic suspence and some paranormals. So between the three of us we should be able to talk about different books. In my spare time when I am not reading I am playing with my two wonderful labs, Dozer and Tucker and giving time to Golden Gate Lab rescue.

Look forward to talking books!!!

I saw this picture on one of the many Yahoo groups that I'm a member of and I love it. It's so true.

A big hello from Dani!

Yes, I was the person who twisted Teri's arm in starting this blog. Thank you Teri for figuring this blog out. A little about me -- I've been reading books all my life -- from Nancy Drew to when I was a child to John Jakes, Margaret Truman and Ed McBain. But I have to admit it was when The Flame and The Flower by Kathleen E Woodiwiss that started me on a love affair with romance. Until a few years ago I lived in Chicago now I'm out in one of the burbs. I'm married and have two very spoiled cats. I love shopping, reading and talking on the phone. I love historicals, contemporaries and romantic suspense.

The beginning of something new.....

Dani had this wonderful idea - let's start a blog!  Yes Dani, sounds like great fun.  Sooo....6 hours later, we finally have a blog!  I'm not sure right now I have the mental fortitude to make much sense, so I am saving my first reviews for another day.  Someone told me this site was the most user friendly for creating a blog, and it is, but it just takes time.  No now we feel we are ready to go, and can tweak as necessary.  


What Dani and I do is read - a lot!  So we thought we would share our thoughts and our love of books.  I have been reading for 35 years, with a few years off when my kids were younger.  My favorite genres are contemporary romance and romantic suspense, but I will read some paranormals too.  Historicals, a few a year.  I also love to cross stitch, garden, spend time with my kids when they come home from college, and my 3 dogs.  My husband is an avid golfer, so in the summertime I have a lot of time to myself to read!  


This blog doesn't have to be all about books.  As I said, I love to cross stitch and share with fellow stitchers.   Most of our dogs are rescues, and we do some work with Retrieve a Golden of MN.  Annie and Milo both came to us through RAGOM, and I enjoy getting together with our local bunch when we have meet and greets.  


Welcome to anyone that would like to join us out here in the blogospere!
Teri

The Guy Next Door

I usually enjoy reading anthology but this book left me wondering why 2 out of the 3 stories were written. The Lori Foster book was the best story out of the three, my least favorite was the Victoria Dahl book. Ready, Set, Jett by Lori Foster The h/h were very two complex characters. The heroine never knowing the love and getting hurt once before --- I wanted to see a little more development with her. Jett -- more about his past? His relationship with his sisters was fun to read. This story was more or less Jett trying to get Natalie to want more in their relationship instead "bed partners." Gail's Gone Wild by Susan Donovan Once again the h/h have both been burnt in the past. The hero more recently than the heroine. What bothered me about this book was Gail brought along her teenage daughter and friend with to Key West and once they got there -- it was OK, honey have a good time. Jesse is a famous writer and Gail has no clue who he is --- Hello -- everywhere they went he was well known and well liked -- wouldn't a bell go off in Gail's head. On top of all of this Gail is a Literature Professor. The storyline wrapped up to fast. Just One Taste by Victoria Dahl This book just made me mad!!! I read romance for a HEA and this book did not have it -- whether or not I would buy the next book in this series remains to be seen. The fact that the h/h did not have a HEA almost wanted me to throw the book across the room. I think I'm really upset that I have to wait until November when Eric and Beth finally find their HEA with their own long story -- why bother writing this tease? All in all this book was a quick read and I would give this book a C/hot+++ Received eBook from Netgalley.com