Sandy M’s review of Razor Girl by Marianne Mancusi
Futuristic Romance published by SHOMI 26 Aug 08

I’m really surprised at my reaction to this SHOMI. The few I’ve read so far I’ve absolutely loved. I so enjoy the offbeat, quirky futuristic aspects of these books while still giving me a wonderful hero and heroine involved in a lovely romance, despite all that goes on around them. While those offbeat aspects are present in this book, I was quite disappointed in the romance and even the hero and heroine to a certain extent. This one just didn’t live up to the same level as some of its SHOMI predecessors.

The futuristic elements are definitely present and very imaginative, a common denominator that I like in all the SHOMI books. The year is 2036 and Molly Anderson has just emerged from the fallout shelter her father built for her and her mother back in 2030 when the world went crazy and the apocolypse was imminent. A plague had run rampant through the world, killing some and mutating others into monsters, zombies who feed on humans and turn those they don’t kill. She also emerges as Razor Girl, a near replica of her father’s ideal fighting machine of old, complete with razors that flip open from under her fingernails and ocular implants, ready and fit to fight off those monsters as she makes her way to Disney World where her father and other scientists will begin to make a new world for mankind. But before she can get on the road, she finds survivors in her hometown, one of which is the grown-up Chris Griffin, now called Chase, the young boy she fell in love with six years ago, the boy she had to give up to help save world.

Chase may be grown up now, but he still has no confidence and doesn’t feel up to the task of caring for the rag-tag team of children left in his care when his older brother is killed by the Others, but he does his best and also promises Molly he will get her to Disney World and her father. He’s still as vulnerable when it comes to Molly as he was when they were teenagers and discovering one other. It’s good to be with her again, but he doesn’t feel he’s even in the same league with the new Molly. He tries to pull himself up by the bootstraps and do his best for all concerned, but he keeps screwing up and when Molly confronts him on certain issues, things don’t go well. But just when they make up and realize their love for each other is real, Chase is bitten by an attacking Other, and he’ll do anything to keep Molly safe. They’re both playing against the clock now. Molly’s internal equipment is eroding and Chase has only two weeks before the signs of his turning into a nightmare appear. When they find more unexpected survivors along the way, knowing Molly and the children will be looked after, Chase decides to take his fate into his own hands so there’s no chance at all he’ll ever hurt the woman he loves.

And this is only part of the story. Every other chapter in the book takes you back six years before when Chase and Molly first come together and discover that things just aren’t normal around the neighborhood; Molly’s father is considered a lunatic with all his ramblings of the end of the world; and the disheartening night for Chase when Molly leaves him waiting for her to join him and their friends on their trek into the mountains to hopefully stay out of the plague’s reach. It took me a few chapters to get into the back-and-forth method of telling the story; it’s a little confusing at the beginning of Chapter 2. But it is an interesting way to do it and once I got used to it, it actually goes along with the quirkiness that makes SHOMIs stand out.

The idea of the end of world in such a way plays well and we’re given a couple of surprises along the way, especially at the end, but there’s a point in Chase and Molly’s relationship that I didn’t care for. It’s that jump to conclusions mentality without waiting for an explanation that is used so often in stories, and with it happening several times between them it just felt like forced, unimaginative conflict. I did forgive Chase for his commonplace pushing Molly away instead of telling her the truth when he gets bitten because by that time I did believe in his love for her, especially after all of the extraneous problems he went through. But by this time it’s so late in the book, we really haven’t had much of a romance. The book is action packed with all those zombies, but I could very easily give a few of them up for a little more loving between the main characters.

Grade: C

Summary:

Molly Anderson is not your average twenty-one-year-old. It’s been six years since she and her family escaped into a bunker, led by her conspiracy theorist father and his foreknowledge of a plot to bring about the apocalypse. But her father’s precautions didn’t stop there. Molly is now built to survive.

Yes, Ian Anderson’s favorite book gave him ideas on how to “improve” his daughter. Molly is faster, stronger, and her ocular implants and razor-tipped nails set her apart. Apart, when—venturing alone out of the bunker and into a plague ravaged, monster-ridden wilderness—what Molly needs most is togetherness. Chase Griffin, a friend from her past, is her best bet. But while he and others have miraculously survived, the kind boy has become a tormented man. Together, these remnants of humanity must struggle toward trusting each other and journey to the one place Molly’s father believed all civilization would be reborn: a magic kingdom, where everyone knows it’s a small world after all.

Read an excerpt.

Live the Romance Photography Contest

Now it is your chance to be a cover model! Dorchester Publishing is offering readers the opportunity to create their own costumes based on characters in their favorite Dorchester romances for a chance to win cash prizes and free books.

Romance novels have the power to transport us to worlds of fantasy, lands far away, the distant past and the distant future. They capture our imagination and allow us to see, smell, breathe and touch as if we were the character in our favorite book. Dorchester challenges its readers to bring the books to life by “getting into character” and taking some pictures.

Participating is easy. Simply choose your favorite character or scene from a Dorchester book, dress up accordingly, snap a photo and send it in to be judged by our Romance experts.

You could be Egan MacDonald from HIGHLANDER EVER AFTER fighting in his plaid and paint or Rain Tairen Soul from KING OF SWORD AND SKY, shape-shifting and brandishing your deadly blade. Perhaps you’d like to go shoe shopping and mystery solving like the indomitable Maddie Springer from ALIBI IN HIGH HEELS. If the future is your bag, dash across the Northern Waste as Raina Bowen in DRIVEN. The sky is the limit!

A winner will be chosen in each of the following categories: Best Historical, Best Paranormal, Most Romantic and Most Creative. The winners will receive cash prizes and copies of their favorite author’s books.

HOW TO ENTER: Choose your favorite character, get a costume and snap a photo. Email the photo <a href=”mailto:cnelson@dorchesterpub.com” target=”_blank”>here</a> by September 1, 2008.

Shannon C.’s review of These Boots Were Made for Stomping by Julie Kenner, Jade Lee, and Marianne Mancusi
Paranormal romance anthology released Love Spell 22 Apr 08

Normally, I would never have picked up an anthology like this. My footwear consists of… uh… tennis shoes and maybe, for special occasions, the flats that are hidden somewhere in the back of my closet. I am the ultimate casual dresser, and the only real concession to cosmetics I make involves perfume. So the premise that three women can find exactly what they want from life thanks to the right footwear strikes me as really silly and shallow. On the other hand, I do love Julie Kenner, and Marianne Mancusi is an author I’ve always thought I would like. And, surprise surprise, I really liked this anthology, all feminist quibbles aside.

A Step in the Right Direction by Julie Kenner

Julie Kenner tells the story of Lydia Carmichael, a shy woman with a serious lack of confidence and a fixation on superheroes. Her best friend talks her into buying shoes from a website that promises that, with the shoes, Lydia will gain her heart’s desire. Soon, the new Lydia is kicking ass and taking names, and running into Nikko, a real honest-to-God superhero who looks like her beloved comic book character, Silver Streak.

I like Julie Kenner. The humor in her stories always works for me, and I always feel that her heroines are real people that I might run into somewhere. Her stories are light and fluffy, and this one is no exception. The characters aren’t very substantial when examined closely, but as archetypes they work well, and I loved watching Lydia’s self-confidence bloom. I think I could have done with a little less of the hokey comic book aspects of the story, but that’s a personal preference and the story was still good.

Grade: B

Kung Fu Shoes by Jade Lee

Jade Lee is an author I’ve heard of but whose books haven’t yet tempted me. In this story, inner-city schoolteacher Michaela “Micki” Becker is beginning to feel burned out by her teaching job. Then she discovers that the Mary Janes she bought from the same website where Lydia of the previous story got her magic shoes imbue her with kung fu powers. As she struggles to get through to Lucy, one of the kids she wants to reach, she attracts the attention of the school cop, Joe DeLuce.

I liked the romance in this story. Joe is a great hero–manly and very much a real guy. I loved watching his progress into love with Micki. Unfortunately, Micki herself is less well-drawn. She is basically a big liberal bleeding-heart stereotype (she even eats tofu for heaven’s sake), and I thought she slipped past the border of TSTL country just a little too often. Also, the paranormal aspect of the story was so underdeveloped that it added a level of cheese that really didn’t need to be there at all.

Grade: C+

Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con by Marianne Mancusi

Marianne Mancusi’s Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con ends the anthology on a high note. Comic book writer Hailey Hills is given the opportunity to attend Comic Con, the largest comics convention in the country, where she will get to meet fans of Karma Kitty, the popular superheroine she’s created. As per the rest of the stories in this anthology, she’s bought a special pair of Karma Kitty boots for the occasion. Unfortunately, Colin Robinson, her former boyfriend, who broke up with her on account of the fact that too many weird things happen to Hailey, is also at the convention. Can these two rekindle an old flame amidst real live ninjas, burgeoning superpowers, and a publisher that’s determined to make the comics industry respectable?

I’m not normally a fan of screwball comedies. They have to be done really really well, or they come off as stupid. Ms. Mancusi does screwball very well, and I laughed aloud a number of times while I was reading. I particularly loved the way Ms. Mancusi worked in a not so subtle reference to a certain RWA-related kerfuffle from last year. Doubtless, people who disagreed with her on that particular issue will find the alusion to it in poor taste, but I appreciated it.

I liked the characters. Hailey was a lot of fun, even if she was a little stereotypical. I liked that she seemed more confident in herself than the other heroines, and it seemed that she was deliberately supposed to be something of a ditz. Colin was a bit of a jerk, and I didn’t really see what Hailey saw in him, but the story was so laugh out loud funny that I didn’t particularly mind.

Grade: A-

Overall, this was a really good anthology. The Lee story might have been the weakest, but it’s still worth reading.
Overall Grade: B

Summary:
SOMETIMES IT’S ALL ABOUT THE SHOES

Whether facing the forces of evil or simply battling a bad hair day, fantastic footwear is key.

Yes, there are the right shoes for the right situation, and not every moment calls for Manolos. Sometimes a woman’s gotta be fierce as well as feminine, fiery as well as fragile. And when the legwork required is a roundhouse, when a girl’s mantra has to become “I am woman, hear me roar,” those are the times it’s good to know there’s magic in the world–because in super-powered pumps, the shrinking-est Violet or the nervous-est Nellie can do anything. Every step in magic shoes is sure to be a big one.

Show me more Shomi, you say? [Hee, I iz funneh]

Razor Girl By Marianne Mancusi

Molly Anderson is not your average twenty-one-year-old. It’s been six years since she and her family escaped into a bunker, led by her conspiracy theorist father and his foreknowledge of a plot to bring about the apocalypse. But her father’s precautions didn’t stop there. Molly is now built to survive.

Yes, Ian Anderson’s favorite book gave him ideas on how to “improve” his daughter. Molly is faster, stronger, and her ocular implants and razor-tipped nails set her apart. Apart, when—venturing alone out of the bunker and into a plague ravaged, monster-ridden wilderness—what Molly needs most is togetherness. Chase Griffin, a friend from her past, is her best bet. But while he and others have miraculously survived, the kind boy has become a tormented man. Together, these remnants of humanity must struggle toward trusting each other and journey to the one place Molly’s father believed all civilization would be reborn: the Magic Kingdom, where everyone knows it’s a small world after all.

The Excerpt:

The zombie turned suddenly, bloodshot eyes zeroing in on where Chase stood in the shadows. Forcing himself to keep his breaths slow and regular, he lifted his rifle, trying not to make any sudden moves that would set her off. His hands shook, making it difficult to line up the female creature’s head. The money shot. The shot he’d need to take her down for good and protect his family with the least risk to himself. How had she gotten so close without him realizing?

The woman let out a muffled moan, hairless, bony arms outstretched like something from an old George Romero movie. But this was no film set. The world in 2036 had become a true horror flick, and Chase was one of its stars. He was the one who’d done the drugs, had sex with the girl and uttered the words, “I’ll be right back.” In other words, he was the one who was about to wind up dead.

It was more than a bit tempting to run. To get as far away as possible from this pus dripping creature formerly known as a human. But she was too close to the campsite where Molly and the children were sleeping. And while Chase had failed before things were different now. For the first time since the plague erupted, there was hope. And no dumb, oozing, post-apocalyptic monster was going to take that away. Not on his watch.

He blew out a breath and steadied his gun, eyes narrowing to slits. Steady as she goes, he told himself. This was a matter of protecting his family: both what was left of it and what he’d rebuilt. It was a matter of doing good, and not the simple rehash of senseless violence that once had been so popular on the silver screen. Shoot-’em-up slasher films… It was so different in reality—tougher to summon the courage to fire, to engage, to set in play the sequence of events that he knew had to follow.

In an instant it happened. The creature lurched forward and Chase fell back a step, squeezing the trigger of his rifle. Its recoil bruised his shoulder. Blood gouted from the woman’s chest—he’d missed. Only a flesh wound. And she was still coming. And two other shadows had appeared behind her. Three…no, four? How much ammunition was left in his gun?

He fired again at the Other, twice more, and her head exploded in a mass of red and grey pulp. At the same time he reached around his neck and pulled free a whistle. Sometimes this worked, as the creatures were sensitive to high-pitched noises. He blew as hard as he could. Sure enough, the shadows that had risen behind the first Other stopped moving. There came a cacophony of inhuman screeches and then the shadows dissipated. The creatures had turned and fled, hands over their ears.

Chase watched them go, breathing heavily. The whistle fell from his bloodless lips. “Yeah, I thought so,” he said, shaking out his arms and trying to regain some composure. “I thought so! Run, cowards!” He nodded to himself and stepped out from the shadows.

Only to find himself thrown backwards.

He crashed hard onto the asphalt of the street, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs. His vision blurred and, for a moment, nothing made any sense. Then he looked up and saw what had struck him. An Other towered above, clearly not scared away by his whistle. It was growling and spitting.

It was a huge male, and it lunged forward, hands finding Chase’s neck, encircling and squeezing tight, cutting off his breath. Desperate, Chase kicked out, slammed his foot into the creature’s groin. The monster bellowed but didn’t let go. Chase struggled harder, panic slamming through him as he used one arm to brace himself, fighting to keep away from the monster’s mouth. He reached for his boot with his free hand, feeling for the knife he always kept there. It took what seemed forever to wrap his fingers around the hilt. The creature’s grip tightened, and Chase saw blackness swimming toward him. Pain seared through his shoulder. Then, in his final moment of consciousness, he managed to yank the knife free and drive it into the creature’s heart.

The zombie recoiled then fell on top of him, crushing Chase with his weight. But the fingers loosened and Chase was able to breathe. He sucked in a huge breath and pushed the creature off. It rolled back onto the pavement, staring up at the sky and whimpering. The heart was always a weak spot.

Chase surged to his feet, stared down at the monster. It looked a lot more human lying there now, vulnerable and bleeding. This was something he always hated. He wondered who it had been before the change. A doctor? A lawyer? Maybe a humanitarian who built houses for poor people.

It didn’t matter. It was none of those things now, he reminded himself. Just a monster. A monster that needed to be put out of its misery.

He grabbed his rifle and pressed the barrel to the zombie’s head. Closing his eyes, he pulled the trigger. The shot shook his arm and echoed in his ears. He let the sound fade away before looking. The body was twitching, the head disintegrated.

He forced himself to look away but as he did a piercing pain found his right shoulder. Startled, he glanced down, his mouth falling open as he saw where his leather jacket had come open, where the shirt below was ripped and bloody. Teeth marks. He’d been bitten. He’d been bitten.

“Chase! Chase, are you okay?”

He looked up. Molly. She was running toward him, her face white.

“Chase?”

“I’m okay,” he said, turning at an angle so she couldn’t see his wound. “I got him.”

She stopped a few feet away, looking down at the remains of the two dead zombies. “God, what happened?” she asked.

“One got the jump on me. No big deal. It’s all fine,” he lied. The pain gripped his shoulder like a vise and it was all he could do not to fall to his knees. But if he fell, she’d know. He couldn’t let her know.

She took a step forward but he held out a hand. “I’m all slimy,” he said. “Zombie gook. You know. I’m going to go find a fountain or something to wash off.”

“Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked, peering at him, confusion and worry warring on her face.

He felt sick to his stomach but nodded. The last thing he wanted was to lie to her. But what choice did he have? He had to think of her and the kids. She was too weak to get where she needed to go on her own now. Wonderful Molly. Tough Molly. His beloved. She needed his help to find her father. To complete her pilgrimage. To save the world. And who knew how her priorities would change once she learned the truth?

Well, he had two weeks. Two weeks before the virus could work its way fully through his system, mutating his cells, destroying his brain and turning him into one of them: a diseased, merciless monster with an appetite for human flesh. An Other. He had two weeks to get Molly where she had to go. Then he’d use his rifle one last time—to put a bullet in his own head.

© Marianne Mancusi. All rights reserved.

There’s video of Day 1 and 2 behind the cut.

‘Cuz you know you need to know.

Rebels of Romance’s video of Day 1.

Sandy M’s review of News Blues by Marianne Mancusi
Contemporary Chick Lit released by Love Spell on 26 Feb 08

While Chick Lit is not my favorite to read, I have to admit that I had fun with this book. I didn’t have quite the connection I do with characters in historicals or paranormals that I love to read, but I still enjoyed Maddy and her on again/off again screwed-up life.

All Maddy really wants is a job as a producer with Newsline, sitting right next to her idol who inspired her to study journalism in school. And she wants a man in her life. Her goal for the job of her dreams is still well in sight, but it’s the man of her dreams that’s still eluding her. She gets through her quirky days at News 9 trying to do a good job on crazy and lame assignments from people who no longer care about truth in journalism.

With the appearance of a sexy photographer, Jamie Hayes, who’s all hers to work and play with, her luck seems to have changed. At the same time she gets a lead on a story that will definitely make her career, if it doesn’t kill her first, she’s falling head over heals for Jamie. Her happiness is short lived, however, when her parents announce they’re divorcing: her father is marrying a younger, pregnant woman; her mother is gallivanting around the globe.  And her out-of-control younger sister has landed on her doorstep. Then she finds out even her man is too good to be true.

Maddy has attitude. She’s tough. She’s also realistic, sensitive, and she bucks up when she has to and tries to do the right thing. She’s clever too, as she shows when she one-ups her boss to do what she knows has to be done, the consequences be damned. The romance in this story is much more than I’ve found in other chick lit books I’ve read. I liked Jamie, a man in a huge pickle when it comes to women, but he knows what he wants and goes for it, good or bad. And he’s sensitive. As much as I like a macho guy, he has to have some sensitivity and Jamie pulls it off with his masculinity intact.

There’s also plenty of crises in this book and they’re each handled with all the parties holding their heads high and continuing to plow through life. Sort of like we all do every day.

Grade: C+

From the back cover:

     TUNE IN      All 27-year-old Maddy Madison wants is a cute guy, a designer handbag and to work at Newsline. What she has is a dead-end job at News 9 San Diego, a psycho boss and a counterfeit Kate Spade. One with a badly glued-on label. Oh, and no guy.

     TURN ON     Just when Maddy’s sure her days of producing sensationalistic puff pieces will never end (“Perilous Pets!” “Deadly Dishwashers!” “Clay that Kills!”) she’s offered a promotion. She’s now an investigative producer—and that’s not all; she’s also partnered with the station’s newest photographer: sexy, motorcycle-riding bad boy and former moviemaker Jamie Hayes. But every silver cloud has a stormy lining. Her new job is with News 9’s narcissistic anchor, Terrance Toller; Jamie’s getting married (not to her); and reporting the truth is about as easy as watching your divorced parents get remarried (not to each other).

     TAKE OFF     So, how does Maddy get to produce real news, bag her boss and win her man? Stay tuned. It’s the story of a lifetime.

     Read an excerpt.