Dark Prince by Eve Silver **Aug 2007**

Dark Prince by Eve Silver

FALLEN ANGEL.

Along the barren, rocky coast of Pentreath in Cornwall, a woman’s battered body washes ashore, and the whispers begin: Nowhere is safe. For evil has come to Pentreath. and to the uneasy shadows of Trevisham House.

TEMPTING DEVIL.

Fate has brought Jane Heatherington to work at Trevisham House. She knows what they say about the estate’s brooding new master, Aidan Warrick: a man of mystery, a pirate, a smuggler, and worse. He may look like a fallen angel, but everything about him suggests he is in league with the devil himself. and Jane has seen nothing to suggest otherwise.

OR TWISTED MADMAN?

Cut off from family and friends, Jane’s only companion is a man she dare not trust, who disappears into the night, whose secrets are many, and who looks at her with a hunger she both fears and desires. Now, as danger haunts the coast and a terrible retribution is unleashed, Jane wonders if she is falling for the dark prince of her dreams. or a heartless madman who preys on the innocent.

This is the third story in a line of ‘dark’ gothic toned novels from Eve Silver all published by Zebra but they are not a series or a trilogy. So can be read in any order. I of course have them all but haven’t read them… yet. Dark Prince hits the shelves in Aug but you can read an excerpt now here.

Review: Pleasures of the Night (Dream Guardians, Book 1) by Sylvia Day

Gwen’s Review of Pleasures of the Night (Dream Guardians, Book 1) by Sylvia Day
Paranormal romance published 24 Apr 07 by Avon Red

This trade-size novel by Day is the first of what will presumably be a series about the Dream Guardians - a paranormal race who guard humans from Nightmares. The hero, Aidan Cross, the Captain of the Elite Warriors, is a Guardian charged with breaching the formidable mental defenses of a particular Dreamer, our heroine Dr. Lyssa Bates, veterinarian, all around nice girl, and, supposedly, the bringer of Armageddon to Aidan’s world. Side note - isn’t this cover hot?!

This is the second of Day’s novels for me. I’ve found the following things common with both, unrelated books: raw sexuality, beautifully described emotions, heroes that are heroic, and some top-notch writing. While I didn’t like this book quite as much as I did Passion For the Game, I still liked it plenty.

The beginning of this novel finds Lyssa a sickly, lonely vet who doesn’t let herself get overly involved in anyone’s life, including her own. She begins dreaming about a lover who teaches her how to control her dreams. This is all apparently new ground for Aidan - he’s the consummate lover, a ladies man par excellence, a warrior to surpass all other warriors. Then he meets slight but strong Lyssa and falls in love.

The story introduces us to an alternate stream of reality called Twilight and an alien species, the Guardians. It touches on alternate mythology related to ones we all know. It will be interesting to see how Day continues to differentiate this alternate world from all the other “alternates” out there. This was different enough to keep me from being bored. And Day’s writing is just excellent. Her emotional development is among the best I’ve read. The next book should be even more fun since Day should get more into the backstory of the Guardians.

If you’re a series fan, get this book. The next in the Dream Guardian series comes out in Jan 2008, Heat of the Night.

Grade: B

In the Twilight between sleep and consciousness, a battle rages between Dream Guardians and Nightmares. Captain Aidan Cross is a legend, as skilled in fulfilling erotic dreams as he is with the glaive that kills his enemies. Women see Aidan as part of their fantasies, except Lyssa Bates. Exquisite, desirable, enigmatic Lyssa perplexes this immortal seducer because she sees him as he really is. And as he attempts to unravel her secrets the unthinkable occurs: Aidan Cross falls in love.

Lyssa has been having the most incredible dreams about a man whose blue eyes hold the promise of decadent pleasures and tempting intimacies. And then he appears on her doorstep! This intoxicating stranger is just as irresistible as the man of her dreams but with her surrender there is also grave danger.

Because Aidan is on a mission, and the passion that consumes them body and soul could have dire consequences. Loving the mortal woman prophesied to destroy Aidan’s world is not only impossible,it is forbidden.

Read an excerpt, and another excerpt.

Tags: Dream Guardians series, Grade B, Gwen, Pleasures of the Night, Review, Sylvia Day

Now that is the funnah

Jaid sez the stupidity behind the blog silent screams behind bars was not hers. Oh no no no some mean ol blogger… set it up.

Yes kids, someone was oh so mean to take that sad excuse of an interview the old jaynier did (she is now a kinder gentler blogger) and showcased it on a blog to….

Why would someone do that? I mean really, does Jaid need more help to showcase her… err talents? If you said YES! Allow me to direct you to bloglands newest trainwreck hmm well that one has already been deleted so try this link.

Or hit the highlights at anne’s place.

So where was I? Oh yes! After the newest hat trick didn’t work the EC PR machine has shaken the 8 ball and come up with someone created and then deleted a blog to mock Jaid Black. (which is like shooting fish in a barrel… ::pause for sick joke I am not even tasteless enough to make::)

Now the question seems to be WHY would someone create it to delete it if they were trying to hurt someone who goes out of her way to fuck her own rep? My vote would be they wouldn’t and I call bullshit. But I have been wrong before… maybe I am again… (interesting PS on der’s blog)

Of course I am still giggling over the comment that they broke the rule to tell her about it… LOL cuz you know black has NO CLUE what is going on in romanceland. Why would the owner of an epublishing company keep up with the internet? That there is crazy talk!

Oh what will they think of next?

Reviews: Six books somewhere between Love and Hate

Gwen Reviews some truly bad, or truly so-so, books
Various types of romances from three different publishers

As most of you bloggers know, writing a review post is a labor of love.  It’s time-consuming and requires no small effort.  It’s a true pleasure to write a review post for a book you love, or a book you think others may love (but perhaps you only liked).  Sometimes it’s also a pleasure to write a review post for a book you hate - you want to warn others and, hey, if we’re honest with ourselves, being snarky can be fun in small doses.

So this post has short reviews for six books that fit somewhere in between “love” and “snark.”  Six books that don’t deserve a whole post of their own, but also don’t deserve to be completely ignored - for good or, heh heh, bad.

Here goes nuthin’… Read more

The Appeal of Medieval Romance, post by Mary Reed McCall

Mary Reed McCall, author of Templar’s Seduction and Sinful Pleasures, has written this post for The Good, The Bad, & The Unread. Mary is one of the preeminent medieval romance writers in the US.

Reading her bio, I’m struck by how much her background sounds like Jo, from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women: avid reader, involved in drama productions and played instrumentS as a kid, writes, loads of sisters and no brothers.

But then she diverges a tad from Jo: she’s even more highly educated, studied in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), has degrees out the wazoo (one of them in Russian), and who knows what else. Oh and she’s a TEACHER!

So, without further ado, please join me in welcoming Mary Reed McCall to our happy little blog family!

The Appeal of Medieval Romance
by Mary Reed McCall

I’m often asked by readers why I’ve spent the last ten years writing medieval romance – or, conversely, why don’t I try writing a Regency-set historical, since they seem to be so popular in today’s marketplace.

The answer to the second question is an easy one for me: while I enjoy reading the occasional Regency-set (as opposed to the shorter length “Regencies” of many now defunct publishing lines) romances, I’ve never had an affinity for the time period. In other words, thinking about people and situations and coming up with stories in that setting just doesn’t get my juices flowing. I could probably be a more profitable writer if I was able to write lovely, light-hearted Regency romance…but the fact is, there are others who truly love the Regency era and already do that far better than I could ever hope to, and I’m wise enough about my own limitations not to try to force a square peg into a round hole.

Would I/could I write a Victorian? Maybe. I haven’t shut the door on that possibility yet. I cut my romance-reading teeth on JANE EYRE, after all. But my heart is really in the medieval era – and the span of time within that thousand years is probably from about 1100 – 1350. All of my medievals thus far have landed somewhere in that time frame, and though I can’t do it justice in a single blog, I’ll try to give you a little insight into what it is about writing medieval romance that really floats my boat.

It’s my humble opinion that few other time periods lend themselves to stories filled with passion, intrigues, supreme emotional stakes, great physical danger, betrayal, redemption as well as the medieval era. And those are all the kinds of things I love in a romance.

In the medieval era, men and women experienced a kind of equality that had vanished by later historical eras (medieval peasant and/or merchant women worked beside their men and could own businesses in their own right, while ladies of noble birth could own land and were expected to possess the skill to defend their castles and manage their estates during their lord’s absences). Yet culturally women were considered the “gentler” gender, and men were expected to defend and protect their lady’s honor at all costs. They wore costly, beautiful gowns and headpieces, adorned themselves with jewels and ribbons – and contrary to popular belief they were actually quite fond of bathing. I could do a whole blog on the elaborate bathing rituals many medieval people of the noble classes enjoyed, but for the sake of space I’ll just mention that they even had canopies built for their round tubs, to hold in the scented steam and keep out drafts as they bathed. Because of the Crusades, the West benefited from an influx of exotic spice and herbs, and medieval people put it all to good use in the creation of elaborate foods and personal fragrances.

Add to that the fact that men were trained from the cradle, almost, to wield a variety of weapons (so they had nicely developed arms, backs, chests, and shoulders!), that death could come in an instant, whether through the volatile political climate of kingdoms, power struggles, sieges, and religious wars, disease, or the hot-tempered noble down the way that you’d managed to aggravate past the point of good sense – and you’ve got a heady, life-and-death mixture of conflict, ambition, high-stakes, and the potential for passionate yet chivalrous love.

Powerful, sometimes deadly, passionate men and strong, intelligent, and beautifully-dressed ladies…what’s not to like?

So that’s the brief version of what draws me to writing medieval stories. How about you? What’s your favorite historical romance era, and why?

Mary Reed McCall has very kindly agreed to give away a signed copy of her newest (and very enjoyable!) medieval romance novel - The Templar’s Seduction. We will pick a winner out of the comments here. Enter until Friday June 29, 2007 @ 2am CST. You may enter as many times as you wish, please make sure to give a valid email address if you are entering the contest. Good Luck!

Fairyville by Emma Holly **September, 2007**

Fairyville by Emma Holly

Zoe Clare is a medium who has no trouble communicating with the dead—or with real live fairies, for that matter! But she can’t seem to get her feelings across to her landlord-slash-manager— Magnus Monroe, Fairyville, Arizona’s most eligible bachelor. She’s tired of his erotic antics with every woman in town but her. So when her high school flame returns to town, Zoe is more than a little vulnerable to his charms. How Alex broke her heart is a scandal no one in Fairyville has forgotten.

But even if Zoe isn’t ready to forget, she’s willing to forgive. The rules they’re about to break
will bring out the jealousy in Magnus—and the astounding truth.

Her site says this is “Arizona-set, contemporary erotica“. It sounds more paranormal than contemporary but what do I know. Well other than I like Emma Holly.

And if you don’t want to wait until September you can order the not in the book epilogue from amazon now… And Then There Were Four
.49 for 29 pages from the end of a book that isn’t released yet… would that count at a spoiler?

Emma Holly explains it:

This epilogue came about because, when my fabulous editor finished telling me how fun and sexy she thought FAIRYVILLE was, she added: “I was seriously tempted to ask you for that foursome you hinted was coming at the end, but the characters do need some rest ?.” Needless to say, most authors respond well to praise, and I decided my fictional peeps could rally their strength after all. I hope you enjoy watching Zoe, Magnus, Bryan, and Alex find their personal slice of heaven in a snowy cabin in the Rocky Mountains …

All Hail the Queen

There is a reason there is only ONE Queen of Soul and all the rest of us are her vassals: she quite simply rules.

Recap or tag… tis the question

I am trying to decide what to do with the Guest Author Day Recaps.

I use to do it like this and this.

Now you will notice that on both of those, as well as pretty much all of the recaps, the links no worky. le sigh… but I really like my new blog so that is all well and good.

For a very short period of time I had this nifty plug in that did ’series’ posts. And I was gonna do it that way… but I ditched that idea.

Of course we have yet again upgraded (thanks to the ever amazing Jane!) so now the tags work. Soooo I could just tag it all (needs to be done anyway). What does that mean you ask?

Well you can pull up all that have to do with Cheryl St. John’s here. Or all of the Harlequin Historical Week: here. All of HelenKay’s second guest day can be found here.

So do I just wanna recap guests on one page and link to their own special tag? Or do you like the ‘recaps’? Anyone?!?

Review: The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

Gwen’s review of The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
Historical romance published 1 Apr 2007 by Warner Forever

This historical romance is set in the 1760’s, primarily in Yorkshire, England and a wee bit in London. The hero is an everyman named Harry Pye. I know, I know… I died laughing, too, when I first read that name - and EVERY TIME I READ IT I snicker (sorry, Elizabeth - it is my inner Beavis & Butthead and not the “real” me). Read more

Tags: 2007, April 2007, Elizabeth Hoyt, Forever, Grade B, Gwen, Historical, Review, romance, The Leopard Prince

Review: The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever by Julia Quinn

There have been many people through time and of all ages that have kept some sort of diary from one day to the next. Miss Miranda Cheever begins her diary at the age of ten when she falls in love with her best friend and neighbor’s older brother. Miranada at the age of ten has also realized that girls are mean and other people judge you unfairly.

After ten years (and many journals) have passed, Miranda is going to London with her friend Olivia, her best friend and neighbor, for her debut. Unfortunatly, Olivia’s sister in law has died, forcing them to enter society late. Miranda knows that she won’t make a brilliant match, she’s never been a great beauty, and she’s happy that Olivia’s older brother, whom she still loves, is escorting them around London.

Nigel Bevelstoke, Viscount Turner, is disappointed in love since his wife used him for her own benefit. Now that she’s dead, he is out to forget her as soon as possible. He’s also determined not to get married again, at least any time soon, but he has to escort his sister and her friend to various events, thanks to his mother, so he makes the best of things.

Turner, as he prefers to be called, has always though of Miranda as someone he can talk to and appreciates her maturity, but he doesn’t see her as anything more than his sister’s friend until a fateful country party.

Though Miranda is young, she’s smart, witty and observant. She doesn’t actively seek to trap Turner into anything, his actions toward Miranda are his own. She keeps her diaries because he suggests it to her, and it helps her get through life without her mother and with a disinterested father. The dialogue throughout the whole story is classic Quinn and readers will eat it up.

Turner, however, is not a typical Quinn leading man. He’s honorable, sure, but he’s afraid of love because of his first wife. Even through his actions and words everyone knows he loves Miranda, it takes him a bit too long to admit it to himself.

In Syb’s words though, ’tis grand and it’s a worthwhile read. Add it to your to be read pile soon, read away and enjoy some time by the pool with Quinn.

Grade: B+

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