LynneC’s review of Stud (Cat Star Chronicles, Book Eight) by Cheryl Brooks
Futuristic Romance published by Sourcebooks 7 Feb 12

I haven’t read any of the Cat Star Chronicles before, and I plunged right in with this book, Book Eight of the series. I had few problems picking up the world and the characters, and I enjoyed the read. However, it isn’t everything I hoped it would be. I was in the mood for something different and this book certainly delivered that for me, but even though I don’t read much SF or fantasy, some of the customs were familiar to me.

The hero, Tarq, is a cat-person, and he is good at sex. Very, very good, and it helps that he has—extras. Long blond hair and pointy ears don’t usually turn me on—even when it’s Legolas—but he did have some interesting quirks, like his inability to read the menu. Not to mention his Magic Peen. He’s a very wealthy whore, who no longer charges for his services. After his world was destroyed, he is doing his bit to increase the numbers of his kind. He thinks the only thing he is good at is sex, because he’s dyslexic. The word is never used, but from the first page it’s obvious what his problem is, when he admits he can’t read the menu. I like the way Tarq copes with his problem, and it does seem realistic – learning ways around confessing his problem and thinking of himself as stupid because of it, but I don’t like the way it’s left hanging, with Lucy realizing what it is but little else.

The heroine, Lucy, is a waitress when we first encounter her, and she works in her father’s diner alongside a down-to-earth alien cook and a hermaphrodite, who is too lightly drawn for my liking. The hermaphrodites were by far the most interesting aliens for me. The beginning reads like a waitress in a category romance, with the father who shouts a lot, a notebook, albeit an electronic one, and the diner atmosphere that would be worthy of anything in the USA. She doesn’t recognize Tarq at first, but realizes her mistake when she sees an ad on the TV for his services. He works in a brothel and has produced hundreds of children. With his race under threat, it’s his duty as well as his pleasure. I think Tarq’s character is a little thin. Apart from his magical, athletic peen, which seemed to produce gallons of lubrication and ejaculate, here called snard, which tastes of chocolate and cream – which is described in huge detail and often – I find Tarq a bit of a cipher. His motivations are a little too straightforward, for a person who has lost his homeworld.

Lucy is a tiny bit irritating. At first she is a Cinderella, straight out of the story, and she only decides to run away when she gets pregnant. Her pregnancy doesn’t impinge much on the story, apart from a bit of morning sickness, and most of the story is, in fact, a road novel. She and Tarq decide they can’t stay together, even when circumstances change, and I feel that conflict becomes progressively weaker as the story goes on, and less believable. It turns into a big misunderstanding before it’s finally resolved.

There isn’t a romance and courtship in this book. Tarq recognizes Lucy as his mate from page one, and Lucy is dazzled by this glamorous, famous creature, famed for his prowess with sex. I don’t know why she falls in love with him and I’m not entirely convinced that she does.

This is a light read, an amusing one rather than anything involving or angsty. One or two things niggled me from the start. Lucy? Really? This book is set thousands of years in the future and they’re still using American-style diners? Furthermore, some of the cultural references are closer to our time than they are to anything futuristic. Kentucky Fried Chicken and the diner culture, together with some inconsistencies in the world-building. No communicators clipped to belts? With the ubiquity of cellphones, I would have put them in, but then, the second half of the book wouldn’t have been possible.

However, this is a fun read and light read, one you don’t have to concentrate on to find out what a tflwt is, or how F’rty is related to the clan Yu’oki. One for the long flight or the train journey. Or, as I read it, a late-night read before going to sleep.

Grade: C

Summary:

Even for a Zetithian, Tarq Zulveidinoe’s sexual prowess is legendary. Believing it’s all he’s good for, Tarq sets out to perpetuate his threatened species by offering his services to women across the galaxy…

BUT ONE FORCE CAN BRING THEM TOGETHER…

Lucinda Force is the sensitive dark horse in a self-absorbed family, repeatedly told that no man will ever want such a plain woman. Lucy longs for romance, but is resigned to her loveless lot in life-until Tarq walks through the door of her father’s restaurant on Talus Five…

No excerpt available.

This just in…

Sourcebooks has some great deals for you this month!

~ Cover Me by Catherine Mann will be $0.99: October 4 through October 17

~ Mr. Darcy’s Obsession by Abigail Reynolds will be $2.99: October 3 through October 9

~ Wickedly Charming by Kristine Grayson will be FREE: October 3 through October 9

~ They are also available at Barnes & Noble and Sourcebooks.

~ Watch those dates, it’s not all month long! So hurry!

Consider yourself flashed.

This just in…

There’s a variety of men in kilts from Sourcebooks authors just waiting for you!

~ Through July 18, 2011, these Highlanders are on sale for $.99 at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

~ Awaken the Highland Warrior by Anita Clenney (Nook format)

~ Highland Hellcat by Mary Wine (Nook format)

~ The Highlander’s Sword by Amanda Forester (Nook format)

~ Wild Highland Magic by Kendra Leigh Castle (Nook format)

~ Highland Rebel by Judith James (Nook format)

~ Don’t tarry, there’s only four more days left!

Consider yourself flashed.

This just in…

Get ready for some great ebook deals from Sourcebooks!

~ All of the following deals will be available wherever ebooks are sold.

~ New York Times Bestselling Author, Grace Burrowes has the next book in her delightful regency romance series in stores this month: The Soldier. During this exciting time: The Soldier will be  $2.99 for 2 weeks (06/07/2011 – 06/20/2011) and The Heir at $0.99 for 5 weeks (05/02/2011 – 06/06/2011)—so get them both while you can!

~ In honor of Terry Spear’s latest, Heart of the Highland Wolf, hitting stores, Seduced by the Wolf will be FREE during the first week of publication of Heart of the Highland Wolf. Terry’s werewolves act like real wolves—including mating for life!

~ Have you ever met a hero that can purrrrrr? Find one in The Cat Star Chronicles, the out of this world sexy series by Cheryl Brooks! Book 7, Virgin, is in stores now! To celebrate, you can download Outcast for FREE during the first week of publication of Virgin! 06/07/2011 – 06/13/2011 only.

~ It’s Hannah Montana meets Project Runway! Get the first book in this great middle grade series, The Allegra Biscotti Collection, for FREE this week only, and meet Allegra Biscotti, a fabulous and famous fashion designer—only no one knows because she’s actually Emma Rose, and still in junior high! If you love this book, don’t get your threads in knot—book 2, Who What Wear! is now available.

~ Have you ever wondered what would happen if you could find out HIS side of the story? Matt Dunn, a women’s fiction author who just so happens to be a guy, tells all in The Ex-Boyfriend’s Handbook, which is free this week, in honor of Ex-Girlfriends United hitting stores! Did I mention he’s British?!

~ Christmas in June? Dating Mr. December by Phillipa Ashley is free for one week! Love her awesome wit, hilarious scenarios and super sweet love stories? Her brand new US release, Wish You Were Here is now available!

~ Did you know Georgette Heyer wrote two Gothic Regency Romances? The Quiet Gentleman is dark, moody, and not what anyone expects! Still craving the frothy, effervescent tone of Heyer? Get one of her most beloved, Cotillion, for free this week!

~ All books are available as of today’s date, June 7, but if you find they’re not, please be patient and give the retailers time to get everything ready!

Consider yourself flashed!

This just in…

Read an Ebook Week is here, and Sourcebooks is offering a few freebies to help you along!

~ Four very diverse ebooks are available for immediate download in PDF and ePub formats.

~ Best Little Stories from the Civil War by C. Brian Kelly

~ Immigrants by Howard Fast

~ Highest Stakes by Emery Lee

~ Wild Sight by Loucinda McGary

~ All books are available through Saturday, March 12.

~ Check out this page for all information.

Consider yourself flashed!

This just in…

Update!

There have been some pricing issues with the various parties participating in the Jane Austen celebration Sourcebooks is hosting today.

~ Due to those glitches with the handling of the free versions of the Austen books, Sourcebooks is extending the offer through tomorrow, Friday, December 17.

~ iBooks and Google books currently have all correct pricing information for those readers obtaining the ebooks through them.

~ Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Sony are currently working to get their prices adjusted. They should be correct shortly.

~ Sourcebooks.com will also have all books and the illustrated versions available if you prefer to go straight to the source.

~ Dominique Raccah, Sourcebooks Publisher and CEO, gives an explanation of what can happen when good ideas just don’t pan out the way they’re planned. Check it out at the Sourcebooks Next blog.

Consider yourself updated and flashed!

This just in…

Sourcebooks is celebrating Jane Austen’s 235th birthday with a very special offer for readers. This is a celebration you don’t want to miss!

~ The world’s leading publisher of Jane Austen fiction is offering a unique deal to readers who want to celebrate Jane by reading special editions of all six of Austen’s beloved novels in a 21^st century format.

~ For one day only, Thursday, December 16, Jane’s birthday, special e-book editions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Mansfield Park will be available for free.

~ These celebratory editions include the full novels, plus the legendary color illustrations of the Brock brothers, originally created to accompany the books in 1898.

~ In addition to the Jane Austen classics, readers can also enjoy the bestselling Austen-inspired novels listed below. These  e-books will be free on December 16th in honor of her birthday:

Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken
The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown
The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins
The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview
Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan
Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds

~ All available wherever e-books are sold.

Consider yourself flashed.

Sandy M’s review of Beneath the Thirteen Moons by Kathryne Kennedy
Paranormal Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 1 Dec 10

I always look forward to reading a Kathryne Kennedy book. She’s one of those authors who has a stunning imagination and is able to bring all her ideas and concepts to the printed page perfectly. This book is no exception. Ms. Kennedy has once again given readers characters and a story they’ve not read before. She definitely has the magic touch.

In this book her world is a planet of water with trees growing in forests up through the water. This is where her characters make their homes, carving out what they need in the gigantic trees  that also have other characteristics to help out Marhi and her people. Marhi is a water-rat. She’s lived in the swamps and waterways all of her life, can navigate her way through the channels like nobody’s business, is a smuggler of the zabbaroot – a root, when eaten, that gives certain humans powers to do incredible things. What Mahri is unable to do is heal, so she must find a healer to save her village.

With kidnapping on her mind, since that’s the only way to appropriate a healer, she heads to the city under cover of night. As luck would have it – actually, her bad luck – she stalks off with none other than the heir apparent of Sea Forest. What’s done is done, and their return journey is one of the most fantastic to read about. At nearly every turn they run into either trouble or sights unbelievable and beautiful. Ms. Kennedy does a wonderful job of describing such scenes, you can see it all clear as day as you read.

At first Korl is, of course, not happy to have been woken from his sleep only to be thrown into chaos by the prettiest water-rat he’s ever seen. He’s a Royal and has always had the best of everything, but he’s about to have an attitude change not only in getting to know Mahri but also when he sees her village, to know her people and how they live. It’s his attraction to Mahri that’s the biggest change of all. He knows instantly this woman is for him, despite her denials and refusals of assurance that he’s wrong. Successfully healing those in need, Korl and Mahri then spend time together in her world before she realizes the only way to keep the man out of her system is to take him home and fervently hope he will not betray them to his world.

Mahri does believe Korl has betrayed her, she’ll be tortured and executed by the Royals, as many of her kind have been in the past. But what she ends up walking into the middle of is a Bonding ceremony, something she doesn’t want either, even despite Korl’s asking for her trust. She doesn’t want to lose her independence, herself, body and soul, as happened with her now deceased lifemate. The ceremony is carried out and Mahri feels trapped in so many ways. It’s when Korl can no longer keep her in his care because of her unhappiness that he lets her go, hoping she will one day return to him.

As much as I like this entire book, it’s this last quarter of it that really shined for me. From the moment Korl tells Mahri he realizes she’s miserable and tells her about a caged bird from their history, the emotion of the story really comes out. Korl is certain Mahri will return to him, but Mahri, after watching the light in his window that he said he’d burn every night until her return, finally knows the only way to get the man out of her life is to get as far away as possible. She heads to the Beyond, an ocean of unknown never truly explored before. Even against dire warnings she’s determined to face that unknown head on and she may never return.

I love the connection Korl and Mahri have since their Bonding, which is tested in this last part of the book. Korl’s arrogance and certainty of his love for Mahri warmed my heart. Mahri’s vulnerability where men and commitment are concerned, mixed with her independence and stubbornness, make her a real woman who deserves such love. At first I thought the fact that the hero is not the tortured hero like Ms. Kennedy created in Dominic in The Fire Lord’s Lover would keep me from liking this book as much as that one, but she gave me so many other facets from her imagination I should have known better than to doubt.

If you’re a fan of Ms. Kennedy’s previous books, you will put this one on your keeper shelf along with all of her others. If you’ve yet to read her work, you should. You get it all when you read Kathryne Kennedy. It’s magic at its best.

Grade: A-

Summary:

He’s a ruler in a divided world…

In a magical watery world of the Sea Forest, the divide between the rulers and the people is an uncrossable chasm. Handsome, arrogant prince Korl Com’nder has lived a life of luxury that is nothing more than a fantasy to the people he rules. Until the day he is accidentally kidnapped by a beautiful outlaw smuggler and is forced to open his eyes to the world outside his palace walls.

She’s an outcast, but at least she has her independence…

Mahri Zin would stop at nothing to save her village, and when they needed a healer she didn’t think twice about kidnapping one. But when she realizes that the healer she so impulsively stole is none other than the crown prince of Sea Forest, Mahri knows that she has a chance to change the fate of her people…

Read an excerpt. (click the Excerpt tab)

Welcome once again back to Duck Chat!

Today Carolyn Brown is joining us to talk about her Lucky series that’s now on the shelves and also to give us an update on her upcoming series, and, boy, do they sound like a lot of fun.

Texas-born Carolyn now lives in Oklahoma with her husband and their huge family, you know, one of those families where there’s always laughter and love running amuck – three kids, fifteen grandchildren, two great grandchildren. How’s that for a houseful?

Her first book, a Precious Gem by Kensington, was published in 1997 and then later Avalon and Sourcebooks joined her bandwagon to push her book count up to forty as of today. It’s the emotion that Carolyn loves about writing romance — love, hate, anger, laughter and so much more. And the relationships, men and women still falling in and out love since the first one in the Garden of Eden.

Be sure to leave Carolyn a comment or question today because one lucky commenter will win the entire Lucky trilogy. Sorry, U..S. and Canada only.

Now le’ts chat!

DUCK CHAT: Welcome to TGTBTU, Carolyn. Let’s jump in and talk about your Lucky series. You’ve said you have a big family (15 grandchildren, my goodness!) and they give you ideas right and left when it comes to your writing. Is this series plucked from the goings-on around your home? Or did it come from someplace totally different this time?

CAROLYN BROWN: Thank you for letting me stop by TGTBTU today. It’s a delight to be here to discuss the Lucky series. Getting Lucky just hit the market on January 1 and it’s already getting good reviews. My fan base has been eager to get their hands on it so I’m glad to see it on the market. I do have a big family and there really are 15 grandchildren. Six of those I got with a marriage license instead of a birth certificate but both are just pieces of paper so it doesn’t matter how I got them. And yes, they are responsible for ideas. Maybe even more so for attitudes and character development. Twelve of those fifteen are girls ranging from almost two to twenty-two. If I need to know how a girl acts in between those two ages all I have to do is sit back at a family gathering and watch that grandchild. Actually, this series didn’t get jerked up from the roots from around my home but it grew in my overactive imagination!

DC: If you could retire any question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

CB: That would be “How many books have you written?” The reason I don’t like the question is because I can’t answer it off the top of my head. I keep a running total of how many books I’ve sold but not how many I’ve written.

DC: I’ve heard writers often say their stories take them in surprising directions, or dialogue flows from some unknown place. Is it the same with you? Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

CB: I’m not a control freak with my characters. They always have input and yes, ma’am, their dialogue flows from the deep character well very frequently. I’ve learned to treasure those moments when it does because it always adds dimension to the storyline. My characters always surprise me. We’ll be getting along just fine with me telling their story and them standing behind me when suddenly I get a tap on my shoulder and a whisper in my ear that tells me to use the backspace key and retell that portion of the story.

DC: Lucky in Love is the first book in your trilogy where we meet Beau and Milli. Would you tell us a little about them and their relationship?

CB: Beau and Milli met at a wedding. He was drunk and in emotional pain. She wasn’t drunk but in just as much emotional pain. More than two years later they found each other again but they had to overcome many obstacles before they realized they’d been meant for each other from the very beginning. Beau is lucky in everything but love until he meets Milli, the sassy half Hispanic lady from the ranch next door to his. Milli can mend a fence, ride a horse or shoot the eyes out of a rattlesnake but she has trust issues.

DC: Do you ever argue with your characters while you’re writing? Who usually wins?

CB: Oh, yes. We have long conversations where they tell me how it happened and I tell them I won’t write it that way. And I never win. Oh, I might for a little while just to keep my ego intact but when I think about it, I go back and write it the way it really happened! Shhhh … don’t tell my characters. I’ve got my bluff in on them.

DC: What is sure to distract you from sitting down and working/writing?

CB: Distractions are pesky little devils who would like me to spend more time in the kitchen making fudge or whipping up a dinner for thirty. But I can usually outrun them by shutting the office door and getting down to business. Dust bunnies  and vacuuming can wait and fast food is a way of life when I’m writing a book.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

CB: Oh my! Oh my! How could I ever choose among more than forty books? I love the Lucky series covers and my readers have really liked them. Some of them have said that they’d buy the books just for the covers!

DC: How about your least favorite cover?  Why?

CB: That would be Emma’s Folly, my first historical. The artist had a wonderful idea but the cover turned out to be so dark that the name of the book was totally lost.

DC: How do you feel your male or female characters have evolved over your career? Do you think you write them differently now than you did when you started?

CB: Characters take on their own personality and face their conflicts within the realm of that personality. Writing historical characters is definitely different than writing contemporary ones but human nature is the same no matter what century or time frame an author is writing about. So while I hope my writing has evolved and gets better with each book, I hope my characters always remain loveable, likeable and realistic.

DC: Slade and Jane are featured in One Lucky Cowboy, and they have one volatile relationship! Would you give our readers some insight into their story, please?

CB: Jane is on the run from a very bad relationship in which her groom turns out to be an assassin and she’s the target. She ends up on a ranch in Ringgold, Texas that Slade and his grandmother own and operate. Slade thinks she’s a con artist out to fleece his grandmother, who is a sassy old girl and couldn’t be conned even if Jane did have that in mind. They lock horns from day one. She wants a place to hide for six weeks. He wants her gone. When push comes to shove, it’s Slade who she turns to with her heart as well as her protection.

DC: Is there a genre you haven’t tackled but would like to try?

CB: A humorous time travel trilogy is hiding in the back of my mind.

DC: What advice would you give to your younger self?

CB: To keep writing and not put it all away for more than twenty years.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

CB: Carolyn Gray, a rebel from Texas boards a Greyhound bus to Pennsylvania to marry a man she’s never met. Will it last? Can it be possible she can find love in the arms of a Yankee?

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

CB: Sassy, brassy and full of spit and vinegar.

DC: There’s a lot of misconception going on in Getting Lucky, which was released this month. Would you tell us about Griffin and Julie?

CB: Julie had filed for divorce from her cheating SOB husband and had a one night fling. Cheating SOB Husband talked his way back into her life but nine months later when the baby was born it was plain that the little girl didn’t belong to SOB but rather to One-Night-Stand with that white forelock. That time SOB divorced her. Six years later Julie moved to St. Jo, Texas for a new start in a place where no one knew about the scandal around her daughter’s birth. She’s a kindergarten teacher and the very first day of school who should arrive but another little girl who is the image of her Annie and a man who should remember her from a hotel room in Texas but doesn’t. The rest is figuring out the misconceptions as Julie digs her heels in and Griffin tries to make her life miserable enough that she’ll get the hell out of St. Jo. Neither make any headway with the job and both of them, along with three little children, wind up getting very lucky.

DC: Your Honky Tonk series is due to be released this year. Is it possible to get a sneak peek into what it’s all about?

CB: The four book Honky Tonk Series is set in Mingus, Texas, population less than four hundred, in the Honky Tonk, an old beer joint built in the sixties. It’s the stories of four barmaids who are determined to never leave the Honky Tonk and the four cowboys who change their minds. Look for I Love This Bar in June, followed by Hell, Yeah, My Give-A-Damn’s Busted and Honky Tonk Christmas.

DC: If you had never become an author, what do you think you would be doing right now?

CB: Probably still working at the local newspaper and writing a humorous weekly column.

DC: It must be the Texas and Oklahoma in you, writing westerns and sexy cowboys. Did you ever consider writing in some other genre way back when? Or are westerns just too ingrained in your soul to think about anything else?

CB: Westerns are ingrained into my soul. I really enjoy writing them but I have written a few that weren’t westerns. However, I have to admit most of them were set in Texas and Oklahoma! Trouble in Paradise is one that comes to mind and one of my first written under the pen name Abby Gray, For the Love of Mercy.

DC: You have another new trilogy out later this year titled Outlaws and Angels. May we also have a bit of a sneak peek of what readers can expect?

CB: Outlaws and Angels is a trilogy set in Texas during and right after the Alamo. Captain Lavalle has three grown daughters and wants to get them out of the area before the fighting begins. He hires three outlaws to take them home to Louisiana. The outlaws, Tyrell Fannin and his two younger cousins, Micah and Isaac Burnet, just want to get home to Mississippi. They have no idea that the three sisters they have agreed to escort home are really not Sisters in the religious sense until they’ve been on the road a week. From Wine to Water is slated for a December release with Walkin’ on Clouds and Trick of the Light to follow.

DC: What else is on the horizon for Carolyn Brown?

CB: There’s a humorous mainstream women’s fiction my agent is getting ready to throw out to the publishers. And there’s always that time travel thing in the back of my mind plus a seven book series I’ve got on the back burner set in the late 1800’s. And then there’s a few single titles in my idea book which keeps growing every few weeks.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?    – Milk

- smooth or chunky peanut butter?     – Smooth

- heels or flats?     – flats

- coffee or tea?      – coffee

- summer or winter?     – winter

- mountains or beach?    – beach

- mustard or mayonnaise?     -   mayonnaise

- flowers or candy?  – candy

- pockets or purse?    – pockets

- Pepsi or Coke?     – Pepsi

- ebook or print?    – Print

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?     – Darlin’

2. What is your least favorite word?    – Whatever

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?   – Country music

4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – The telephone

5. What sound or noise do you love?   – Ocean waves

6. What sound or noise do you hate?    – That little bleep when the computer crashes

7. What is your favorite curse word?    – Dammit!

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?    – I’m right happy where I am. Don’t think I’d like to learn a new trick at this point in my life.

9. What profession would you not like to do?    – Anything that involves blood or needles … doctors, nurses, etc.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?     – I believe it exists and I’d like to hear the gates open and a big voice saying, “Come right in. We’ve been waiting for you!”

DC: Carolyn, thanks for all the fun today!

Sandy M’s review of One Lucky Cowboy by Carolyn Brown
Contemporary Western Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 1 Nov 09

I’m not sure which title is correct for this book, One Lucky Cowboy or Lucky Break as is depicted on the icon here. My book is titled One Lucky Cowboy, so I’ll go with that. And that’s not the only problem with this book. It took only one chapter for this story to go from pretty good to now I’m not so sure how good it is. Then things really fell apart.

I liked the beginning of this book, meeting the characters, learning about why the heroine is hiding from her fiance. I didn’t even mind the sniping and snipping between the hero and heroine. In the beginning anyway. That’s another story that will come later. The main problem with this book for me that started early is the dialogue. Most of the time I couldn’t picture people speaking the way these characters do. A lot of the conversations never read right, sounded stilted and awkward. Now, that’s not to say there aren’t good moments with the dialogue. There are. A couple even made me chuckle. They’re few and far between, but they can be found.

A part of that problem with dialogue is the aforementioned snipping and sniping. Slade Luckadeau (I also don’t like this last name, but I’ll let that go for now) doesn’t like it one bit that his grandmother picked up a stray, lost woman off the bus and brought her home to work as a cook for the Double L Ranch. He thinks she’s a con artist. Therefore, they don’t hit it off very well from the outset and they’re constantly at each other, bickering, fighting, snapping, snipping, and sniping. At first that’s all fine, but this attitude between them lasts througout the book. Even after they’ve made love (another story that I’ll get to soon) and they’ve admitted their attraction to one another. It just got old fast. Near the end I know the author tried to placate me by having this couple love the bickering between them, that’s part of what attracted them to each other. Okay, fine, I can live with that. But just not practically every line of the book.

Now for that lovemaking. That didn’t happen until the last two-thirds of the book. And when it did, after waiting all that time for it, for that one pivotal moment when the hero and heroine finally come together in my romance novel, I got hardly anything at all. Definitely not the fiery, passionate scene that should have happened between these two after all this time. And all that fighting. And that’s the only love scene in the book. Zero sexual tension before or after the deed. No romance hardly at all. There are maybe a few times that things do get tender between Slade and Jane, but they don’t last long because the fighting starts again, just as it did after they made love.

There are some good things about this book, despite other problems like constant POV changes. I like the storyline of Jane overhearing her fiance’s plans, forcing her to run and hide for the next six weeks until her birthday, which is when she takes over the family company and can clean house of the vipers who are trying to get rid of her. Even the idea of how she met Nellie, Slade’s grandmother, is nicely done. Nellie herself and her sister, Ellen, are a hoot most of the time. They do a little matchmaking for the couple, but it stops short of being the fun it could have been. Despite their bickering, I do like Slade and Jane. They’re independent, know what they want (except when it comes to wanting each other) and they know how to have fun. I also like the secondary characters in the book, even the villains. They’re written very well.

It’s these few good things that kept the review grade from hitting rock bottom. There are two other books in the series, and, believe it or not, I’d actually like to read one or both of them. Why, you ask? I’d like to read this author without the snapping and biting taking front and center throughout the story. The writing is good, along with some good ideas. This particular book just wasn’t for me, but who’s to say her next one isn’t.

Grade: D

Summary:

Jane Day is on the run from the paid assassin who had been her fiancé. In Wichita Falls, Texas, she meets Nellie Luckadeau, a spitfire of an old lady who desperately needs someone to work on her ranch. But Nellie’s drop-dead gorgeous grandson “Lucky Slade” is sure he can spot a con artist a mile away. He’s determined not to let some upstart like Jane fleece his granny.

When his signature intimidation methods don’t convince Jane to leave, he pours on the charm to make her spill what she’s up to. She’s happy to play along, but she’s not going to let this hot, hostile cowboy run her off his land when all she needs is a lucky break.

Read an excerpt here.

Other books in this series:

Welcome to Duck Chat at the Pond!

Today we have a special treat for you. Amelia Grey is writing again and she’s here with us!

Amelia has been writing historical romance since 1991 under different pseudonyms, which she will talk to us about today, but most readers know her by Amelia Grey, a name under which she’s won numerous awards for her writing.  She has a new trilogy, two books already on the shelves, and each one sounds wonderful. Amelia has been married to her high school sweetheart for more than twenty-five years and they currently live in Florida.

Two lucky commenters will win a copy of A Duke to Die For, the first book in Amelia’s trilogy.  (Sorry, U.S. and Canada only, please.) So be sure to leave a meaningful comment or question for her. Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Amelia, you have a brand new trilogy that’s being published this year and next! Congratulations! These are the first books you’ve had out in about five years or so. What prompted your downtime in writing? And then what was is that prompted the new series?

AMELIA GREY: Hello and thank you for having me at The Good, the Bad and the Unread. I’m happy to be here with you today. And, yes, it was three years and eight months between my last book for Berkley and A Duke to Die For which came out April of this year. I was busy during all that time. I took a year and a half off to help my son, who was thirty at the time, run for our state legislature. I’m sorry to say he lost, but happy it was by less than 2,000 votes. I loved the experience and told him that whenever he is ready, I’ll be the first one to step up and help him again. After that I had an idea for a nonfiction book so I worked on that, but all the while I knew I wanted to get back to Regency historicals, so I plotted The Rogues’ Dynasty Series which I sold to Sourcebooks in February 2008. It takes time to bring a new author into the system and get them on a schedule. I’m happy to say the second book of the trilogy, A Marquis to Marry, is now the shelves.

DC: If you could retire any question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

AG: I’ve actually had two interviewers, both were on my local television stations early morning shows, different women, years apart, asked me “what do you say to people who ask you why you write trashy romance novels?” Of course I was horrified the first time, but I immediately said, “I don’t think anyone could read one of my books and call them trashy. My books are well-written, as historically accurate as I can make them, and there is nothing trashy about romance.”

DC: I’ve heard writers often say their stories take them in surprising directions, or dialogue flows from some unknown place. Is it the same with you? Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

AG: Oh, absolutely, my characters surprise me often. For instance, in A Marquis to Marry, I had no idea that Race was going to write short informal notes to Susannah. Regency was a time of great formality and she was a dowager duchess, so it was very fresh of him to do such a thing. And, of course, Susannah loved them.

DC: The Rogues’ Dynasty is the name of the new trilogy. Can you tell our readers about the series as a whole, where the idea for it came from, and did it evolve as you originally envisioned it?

AG: My first thought was that I wanted a series of all titled men. That couldn’t happen with brothers so I had to in some way connect three titled men, so this is the premise I started with: Everyone in the ton knew that Lady Elder had tried many times by fair and foul means to force her grandsons to marry. After all, she had been happily married . . . four times. Decades earlier she had successfully married off each of her three daughters to titled gentlemen. And, in turn, each daughter had given her a grandson all in the same year.

The Grandsons turned out to be Rogues of the highest order, notorious for many reasons, including their titles, handsome faces, and rumored debauchery. But nothing made them more popular than the fact that all three still remained bachelors in their thirtieth year. Not even vast fortunes had tempted any of them to propose to any of the young ladies who fancied them.
Their grandmother is now deceased and each grandson deals with the grandmother’s legacy in his own way until a life-altering moment occurs when a very proper young lady arrives very improperly at each grandson’s door.

So I have all three books start with the heroine actually arriving for the first time at the hero’s door. Of course, all the heroines have very different reasons for their arrival. I could not be happier with the way The Rogues’ Dynasty Series turned out. I’m actually thrilled by these books and so excited about how well they are being received by reviewers and readers. Each book stands alone and there are no plotlines carried over to other books. But each book has continuing main and supporting characters.

DC: Do you ever argue with your characters while you’re writing? Who usually wins?

AG: You know, I don’t think I ever have argued with a character, but there have been many times that they have taken complete control of the story and take me places I never thought I’d go. And, of course, if we ever argued, I’d always let them win! They are the stars after all!

DC: The first book in the series, A Duke to Die For, has been on the shelves since April. Would you tell us a little bit about it, please?

AG: A Duke to Die For is still available at your favorite local or online bookstore! In A Duke to Die For, the hero’s life is chaotic and undisciplined, so I gave him a young and innocent heroine who was timely and organized to get under his skin and stay there. For fun I had her believe she was cursed, and for intrigue I had him be in danger because of it.

DC: What is sure to distract you from sitting down and working/writing?

AG: E-mail is my biggest distraction. I finally turned off the feature that alerted me when a new e-mail came in, but that hasn’t helped! I find myself checking it all during the day rather than just in the mornings, at lunch, and the end of the day which is what a normal person would do, I’m sure.

DC: What has been your favorite book cover from all of your releases and why?

AG: Oh, man! This is a hard question. I absolutely adore so many of them. Truly. For the most part I have been blessed with over twenty beautiful covers. And I must say A Marquis to Marry is among the top three. The hero and heroine on the front cover are such good-looking people. In fact, I think the heroine looks like a younger Kate Winslet. And I am such a pink kind of girl. I love that shade of pink on the cover and you guessed it—I love pearls, too!

DC: How about your least favorite cover? Why?

AG: This question is a bit easier. A Dash of Scandal is a brown cover and brown is one of my least favorite colors. The flowers on the cover are dull, dried flowers. I love bright beautiful flowers of every color, shade, and hue, and I was disappointed the flowers looked so artificial.

DC: How do you feel your male or female characters have evolved over your career? Do you think you write them differently now than you did when you started?

AG: I’m certain my writing has changed over the years, so my characters must have changed, too. I don’t write as long as I used to and I now have more dialogue in my stories. I think my heroines are more self-confident now than when I first started writing. My heroes have never changed. I love them all. They are sexy but not snobbish, they are powerful but not brutes, and they are gentle but not weak.

DC: A Marquis to Marry, the second book, was released October 1. This is Lord Raceworth and Susannah’s story. Would you give us some insight into these characters and how their story came about?

AG: My current book is the second in the series. In A Marquis to Marry, the hero is a fun-loving rogue and very happily a bachelor, so I decided to give to give him a beautiful, fascinating woman who had the power, charm, and wit to make him want to settle down to just one lady. For enjoyment and fun, I had him in possession of a priceless necklace of pearls that belonged to her family, and she wants them back. Then for intrigue I had the pearls stolen so they could pool their resources to find the thief.

DC: Is there a genre you haven’t tackled but would like to try?

AG: Not at this moment. I’m very happy writing Regency historicals.

DC: What advice would you give to your younger self?

AG: Oh, I love this question. I’ve never been asked this, and I’ve had to think on it. I think it would be that I should have enjoyed being published more that I did when I was younger. By that I mean, when I was first published I worried way too much about getting the next contract so I could continue to publish books. I didn’t do enough enjoying and celebrating each book as it came out. Now I’m not as–frantic to get the next book finished or the next contract signed. I’m enjoying each book that comes out more and worrying less about future books.

DC: April 2010 is when we’ll see An Earl to Enchant, third in the series, in bookstores. Can you give us a tiny sneak peek at what to expect in this book?

AG: An Earl to Enchant is the third book of the series and will be published in April 2010. In An Earl To Enchant, the hero is a planner and doesn’t like anyone upsetting what he’s planned. He is a man who plays by the rules and has no idea what to do with an enchanting heroine who ignores convention and steals his heart with her impulsive ways. For merriment, I have the heroine pursuing the hero, and for intrigue I have a killer pursuing her.

And I’m happy to say that I have just contracted with Sourcebooks to write three more books in The Rogues’ Dynasty. I can’t tell you where the new rogues are coming from because it would spoil one of the plots in An Earl to Enchant. But I’m now very happy to be busy on the fourth book of the series.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

AG: You know, I’m not certain so don’t quote me on this, but I think it was Marilyn Monroe who said, “I don’t mind living in a man’s world as long as I can be a woman in it.” So I’ll take that as my blurb.

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

AG: With my soft Southern drawl how could it be anything other than, “she whispered.”

DC: You have a nice backlist of historicals. For a reader who has yet to experience one of your books, which one would you suggest they try for the first time?

AG: As with most writers who’ve written a few books, it’s difficult to find the backlist except in used bookstores. So, I’d like to tell them to wait until Fall of 2010 when Sourecbooks is re-releasing Never A Bride. And then, I think they will release two a year until all my Amelia Grey books have been re-published.

DC; If you had never become an author, what do you think you would be doing right now?

AG: Reading! I was a stay-at-home mom when my children were smaller and I always looked forward to getting the kids off to school, the housework finished so I could have time to read. And that hasn’t changed as I’ve matured. I can’t imagine not having a book to curl up with.

DC: You also write as Gloria Dale Skinner and Charla Cameron. Is there a specific reason you use three pseudonyms? Do you still write under these two names at all?

AG: I was under contract to one publishing house as Gloria Dale Skinner and sold to another publisher, so I had to take another name which was Charla Cameron. My last eight books have been under Amelia Grey and I have no plans as this time to write as any other person. Sourcebooks is happily keeping Amelia Grey too busy to write for anyone else.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Amelia Gray?

AG: As I mentioned in an earlier question, I have just contracted with Sourcebooks to write three more books in the Rogues’ Dynasty Series. I had a small germ of an idea as how to add three more rogues that would work in with the plot for An Earl to Enchant the third book of the series. I talked it over with my editor, and she was immediately hooked on the idea. I will be able to talk more about it when An Earl to Enchant comes out because the setup for the new rogues is in that book. I don’t want to give away too much right now.

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?    – creamy milk
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?    – smooth as silk
- heels or flats?    – high heels
- coffee or tea?    – Starbucks coffee
- summer or winter?     – summer all the way
- mountains or beach?     – white, sandy beaches
- mustard or mayonnaise?     – both—on both pieces of bread
- flowers or candy?     – both—candy with nuts and flowers with bright colors!
- pockets or purse?     – Never without one of my cute little purses
- Pepsi or Coke?    – Coke is the real thing
- ebook or print?    – Print, print, print!

And because we still enjoy the answers we get:

1. What is your favorite word?    – Well…
2. What is your least favorite word?   – No.
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    – Being happy.
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?   – Anyone with a sour attitude
5. What sound or noise do you love?    – The pop of a champagne cork
6. What sound or noise do you hate?   – A baby’s cry of pain
7. What is your favorite curse word?   – Must be damnation because I seem to write it a lot.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?    – If I could sing I’d like to be a rock star
9. What profession would you not like to do?     -  Janitorial
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?    – Oh, I believe it does, and I want to hear “Welcome home, thou good and faithful servant.”

Thank you for having me here today at The Good, the Bad and the Unread! You asked great questions. I hope you’ll have me back next April when An Earl to Enchant is published, and I promise to tell you more about the new rogues.

DC: Thank you, Amelia, for being with us today!

Welcome back to Duck Chat!

Today we have another look into Jane Austen’s world of Darcy — with a twist. Monica Fairview talks about her different take on that world in The Other Mr. Darcy.

Monica has been a fan of Ms. Austen’s for quite some time, cutting her Regency teeth reading that legend’s work, then later deciding to try writing inspired by the Pride and Prejudice author.

Now living in London, Monica moved around the U.S. a bit, living in Illinois, Los Angeles, Seattle, Texas, Oregon, and Boston while she was a student and then a professor. Be sure to leave a meaningful comment or question for Monica. Sourcebooks is donating copies of The Other Mr. Darcy for two lucky commenters in the U.S. and Canada only, please.

Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Monica, let’s get right to it and talk about your latest book, The Other Mr. Darcy, which hits the shelves today. Congratulations! Would you tell us first how the idea germinated to give Fitzwilliam Darcy an American cousin? And did the book evolve as you had originally envisioned?

MONICA FAIRVIEW: It started with two things: a title, The Other Mr Darcy, and a desire to rescue Miss Caroline Bingley from oblivion. I wanted another Mr Darcy for her, because Fitzwilliam Darcy was snatched from under her very nose, and it was a painful experience. At the same time, she couldn’t stay the way she was. The only way I could think of to help her change was to have her meet someone who was an outsider, yet who knew the culture well enough that the two parties weren’t on different wavelengths. It was very conceivable that someone more adventurous in the Darcy family could have gone to America. After all, America was the land of new beginnings.

Once I worked that out, the story took off.

DC:If you could retire any writing related question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

MF: So far I don’t have any questions I don’t like. Ask me in ten years time.

DC: I’ve heard writers often say their stories take them in surprising directions, or dialogue flows from some unknown place. Is it the same with you? Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

MF: Dialogue does flow from some unknown place. It seems that the moment you invent the characters they start to talk to each other, and they don’t care if you’re there or not. I’m sure they gossip about me when I can’t hear them. It’s like the Gingerbread Man who gets up and runs once he gets out of the oven. That’s what my people do.

I had the idea initially of having Robert Darcy be a very cheerful, roguish type of hero, one who takes everything in his stride. But before long he began to show a shadowy side to him, with a hint of angst that I didn’t expect. I’m tempted to tell you that I didn’t write that part, but of course I did, though I don’t know how it happened. And then I discovered several things about him that I didn’t know, especially things to do with his family, and how he felt about the war. It’s so strange, because you’re the one inventing the characters, but then they turn round and invent themselves.

DC: Would you tell our readers a little about The Other Mr. Darcy, what they can expect from the story?

MF: Since it’s called The Other Mr Darcy, it is about Robert Darcy to a large extent, but the story is from Caroline Bingley’s perspective, so we see him through her eyes, first as a threat and an unwelcome presence, then as one of those people that won’t let well enough alone. He keeps pushing her to her limits. At one point, I was convinced he would go too far and … snap! But it turns out Caroline is up to the challenge. The story after that point is how they both slowly evolve towards first accepting each other, then liking each other, then one step beyond.

The novel is also very much rooted in Pride and Prejudice, so that, once Caroline and Robert reach Pemberley, they interact quite a few characters from the original novel, including Eliza and Darcy, the Bennets and others. At one point in the novel, Caroline wonders if there is something about Pemberley that makes her lose her perspective on things, so Pemberley itself, too, is part of the story.

Excerpt from The Other Mr. Darcy:

Prologue

Caroline Bingley sank to the floor, her silk crepe dress crumpling up beneath her. Tears spurted from her eyes and poured down her face and, to her absolute dismay, a snorting, choking kind of sound issued from her mouth.

“This is most improper,” she tried to mutter, but the sobs — since that was what they were — the sobs refused to stay down her throat where they were supposed to be.

She had never sobbed in her life, so she could not possibly be sobbing now. But the horrible sounds kept coming from her throat. And water — tears — persisted in squeezing past her eyes and down her face.

Then with a wrench, something tore in her bosom — her chest — and she finally understood the expression that everyone used but that she had always considered distinctly vulgar. Her heart was breaking. And it was true because what else could account for that feeling, inside her, just in the centre there, of sharp, stabbing pain?

And what could account for the fact that her arms and her lower limbs were so incredibly heavy that she could not stand up?

She was heartbroken. Her Mr Darcy had married that very morning. In church, in front of everyone, and she had been unable to prevent it.

He had preferred Elizabeth Bennet. He had actually married her, in spite of her inferior connections, and even though he had alienated his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, whose brother was an earl. Caroline simply could not comprehend it.

She had that tearing feeling again and she looked down, just to make sure that it was not her bodice that was being ripped apart. But the bodice, revealing exactly enough of her bosom as was appropriate for a lady, remained steadfastly solid. So the tearing must have come from somewhere inside her. It squeezed at her with pain hard enough to stop her breathing, and to force those appalling sobs out even when she tried her best to swallow them down.

She rested her face in her hands and surrendered to them. She had no choice in the matter. They were like child’s sobs, loud and noisy. More like bawling, in fact. Her mouth was stretched and wide open. And the noise kept coming out, on and on.

On the floor, in the midst of merriment and laughter, on the day of William Fitzwilliam Darcy’s wedding, with strains of music accompanying her, Miss Caroline Bingley sobbed for her lost love.

***
A long time later, someone tried to open the door. She came to awareness suddenly, realizing where she was. The person on the other side tried again, but she resisted, terrified that someone would come in and catch sight of her tear-stained face. No one, no one, she resolved, would ever know that she had cried because of Mr Darcy.

Whoever was on the other side gave the doorknob a last puzzled rattle, then walked slowly back down the corridor.

She rose, straightening out her dress, smoothing down her hair with hands that were steady only because she forced them to be.

She needed to repair the ravages her pathetic bawling had caused. At any moment, someone else could come in and discover her. She moved to look into a mirror that hung above the mantelpiece.

And recoiled in shock…

DC: Do you ever argue with your characters while you’re writing? Who usually wins?

MF: There’s no sense in arguing with my characters because they always win.

DC: What is sure to distract you from sitting down and working/writing?

MF: The internet is deadly. I spend far too much time catching up on Facebook, Twitter, e-mails, blogging, and reading other people’s blogs. It really cuts into my writing time. But I wouldn’t give it up for anything.

DC: Any other ideas you’re tossing around about some other relatively unknown Darcy relatives or is The Other Mr. Darcy all Fitzwilliam can expect?

MF: Oh, Fitzwilliam isn’t about to be left in peace. The onslaught has only just begun.

DC: How do you feel your male or female characters have evolved over your career? Do you think you write them differently now than you did when you started?

MF: Well, my first novel, An Improper Suitor, was more genre fiction, and so in some ways the characters are more clearly defined because Regency has certain types and you work within the framework of those types (which I’m very fond of, BTW). When I moved to Jane Austen-inspired fiction, I was working with incredibly delicately and intricately written characters. People talk about Fitzwilliam Darcy as a “brooding hero,” but that hardly accounts for his popularity. Compare him with Mr. Rochester and you’ll see that they’re nothing alike, for example. There’s a freshness to Jane Austen’s writing that goes beyond these cast types. I learned a lot from Austen about characterization (and I’m still learning). I think it has made my characters less easy to define.

DC: You’re a former literature professor. When teaching students a love for reading, other than Jane Austen, who we know you love, what other authors/books did you rely on to open students’ eyes to embrace books?

MF: Funnily enough, when I was teaching, my area was 20th century literature. For students who had no experience of literature, I felt that short stories worked very well. Short stories from a variety of world authors from Isabel Allende and Jorge Luis Borges to Ama Ata Aidoo and Derek Walcott, Grace Paley, James Joyce, and Hemingway. For twentieth century novels I taught novelists such as Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, John Fowles (The French Lieutenant’s Woman is a fascinating study of the Victorian period, by the way), Fay Weldon, Margaret Atwood, John Irving, E M Forster, George Orwell, Ursula Le Guin, Maya Angelou, Sandra Cisneros, William Golding, and Jamaica Kincaid. It ultimately doesn’t matter what you teach, because these are all great writers. The important thing is to show students how to project themselves into the text.

DC: Is there a genre you haven’t tackled but would like to try?

MF: I’m full of so many ideas, I want to write ten different things at the same time. Of course I can’t. I would like to write fantasy. I’d also like to write children’s books. And contemporary romantic comedy. There aren’t enough hours in a year for what I’d like to do!

DC: You’re now living in London. What was it that took you across the pond? What’s the one thing you’ve found in England and couldn’t live without if you headed back to the U.S.? And just the opposite: what’s the one thing from America you miss the most and can’t find in Britain?

MF: It was a family decision – a job opportunity came up and it made sense to take it. I was born in England, so in some ways it’s always been home. When I lived in the US, I had a British accent, so people were always asking “where are you from?” In England, people think I’m American, or perhaps Canadian.

I love the sense of history here – you just have to drive around a bit and suddenly you’re in a Tudor village, or on the set of Pride and Prejudice. I’d miss that if I moved back to the US. I also have many good friends in the Romantic Novelists’ Association, which is a lovely organization that’s very supportive.

As for the US. I miss quite a few things, some silly things for example, places like Trader Joe’s and natural health stores which are very small here and just carry basics. And then the bigger things (literally) – there is a lot more space in the USA (here quarters are a bit cramped). I love the variety in the US landscape. I love the atmosphere of college towns, which I’m used to. I like the sense of energy there.

DC: What advice would you give to your younger self?

MF: Go for what you really want, not what you feel you should do.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

MF: A rolling stone, she never thought she would settle. She did her own thing, and she was perfectly happy doing it. But then a new profession appeared in her life, and she fell in love…

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

MF: “Tongue-in-cheek, with smooth edges”

DC: Let’s talk about your first publication, An Improper Suitor. Would you tell us where the idea for the book came from and then give us some insight into the relation between Julia and Lord Thorwynn?

MF: I plucked the idea out of thin air, the way these things happen. I knew who the characters would be, and I knew they’d meet on horseback, not in a ballroom or a house. I wasn’t very clear how and when. I wanted a story with momentum. Then I wrote the first chapter, and it all became clearer. My ideas for a novel generally begin with a first chapter.

A large part of the novel is about social expectations and social perceptions. As a bluestocking, Julia is fiercely independent, and she remains proactive all the way through. She is certainly not a passive heroine. Thorwynn wants to be the stereotypical gallant gentleman, but somehow he never quite manages it with her. He thinks he’s rescuing her from a runaway horse at the beginning of the novel, for example, when she’s trying to rescue someone else, so he actually hinders her instead of helping. Ironically, it’s because he never pulls off the charmer act with her that he becomes acceptable!

DC: If you had never become an author, what do you think you would be doing right now?

MF: I’d be an acupuncturist, which is also a profession I love, or I’d return to teaching. But writing has taken over.

DC: What’s on the horizon for Monica Fairview?

MF: Immediately, two more Austen sequels, and possibly more Regencies. And other things…

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?    – Milk chocolate for the taste, bitter dark to break the habit
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?    – Neither
- heels or flats?     – Flats
- coffee or tea?       – Tea, of course. I’m British.
- summer or winter?      – Give me sun any time
- mountains or beach?     – Mountains, because I burn too easily on the beach.
- mustard or mayonnaise?      – Mustard and mayonnaise
- flowers or candy?     – Chocolate.
- pockets or purse?     – Pockets because I can find things
- Pepsi or Coke?      – Can’t tell the difference. I don’t drink them often.
- ebook or print?     – Print because I like carrying a book, ebook because it’s more practical

Even after all this time, they’re still a lot fun:

1. What is your favorite word?      – Really
2. What is your least favorite word?      – “Like”: “He like talked to me and I like answered.”
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?      – Poetry
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?      – Practicality
5. What sound or noise do you love?     – People sounds in a noisy neighborhood
6. What sound or noise do you hate?   – Drilling
7. What is your favorite curse word?     – Bloody hell (it’s the only one my daughter has learned from me)
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?    – None. I love my profession.
9. What profession would you not like to do?    – Dentist
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?   – “You did your best.”

DC: Monica, thank you so much for spending the day with us!

So glad you made it back to Duck Chat.

Today please welcome Sara Angelini to the pond!

Sara newest release is The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy, a spin on Austen’s beloved characters in the modern world and in a legal setting. This is intriguing to me because of my chosen profession as a court reporter. With Sara’s experience as an attorney, scenes and situations would read true to form and make the reading of the book quite interesting.

Having opted out of veterinary school, Sara then chose to go to law in San Francisco, where she currently lives with her husband and their two children. Be sure to leave that meaningful comment or question for Sara today. Sourcebooks has graciously offered two copies of her book for today’s giveaway.  Now let’s chat!

DUCK CHAT: Sara, let’s talk first about your new book, The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy. First, what was it that sparked for you to write about Austen’s Darcy and Elizabeth in a contemporary legal setting?

SARA ANGELINI: Like many Pride and Prejudice fans, I couldn’t get enough of Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship and wanted to write a different angle on their story. Because I’m far too lazy to do the research needed to write a Regency story, I decided to update it to a modern setting. That of course made many of Jane Austen’s plot points irrelevant. For instance, in today’s world family connections are not nearly as important as they were in Austen’s time. If you don’t like your in-laws, you move across the country and stay in touch via the internet and phone. Therefore, Darcy’s main objection to Elizabeth’s family — and the crucial conflict of the story — became moot. That left me searching for a real, present-day conflict that would explain why Darcy would be reserved and hesitant about their relationship. As an attorney, the conflict of interest of a romance between an attorney and a judge immediately came to mind. It’s a real problem that can have serious enough consequences to give Darcy pause about getting mixed up with Elizabeth, and his surrender to the temptation despite his misgivings underscores the strength of his feelings. Like Austen’s Darcy, Judge Darcy is risking it all to have Elizabeth.

DC: If you could retire any question and never, ever have it asked again, what would it be? Feel free to answer it.

SA: “Do I have any clean underwear?”

“No, you don’t.”

DC: I’ve heard writers often say their stories take them in surprising directions, or dialogue flows from some unknown place. Is it the same with you? Do your characters surprise you sometimes?

SA: The character that surprised me the most was Lou Hurst. Lou came to me in a moment of inspiration when I wanted Elizabeth to have a confidant other than Jane. I tried a lot of different angles and toyed with the idea of having her be friends with Louisa Hurst (Mr. Bingley’s married sister). But Mrs. Hurst was not a likable character, and I didn’t want to change her into something she wasn’t. Instead I gave her a sex change and a FAB-U-LOUS personality, and Lou Hurst was born. I admit he’s one of my favorite characters, and would never have come about if I hadn’t decided to think outside the box.

DC: Do you ever argue with your characters while you’re writing? Who usually wins?

SA: It doesn’t happen too often because once the character has been defined enough to have his own voice, he often tells me what to write. I give my characters the basic framework and let them do the talking. I guess that means they usually win!

DC: Would you tell our readers about The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy? Did it evolve as you originally envisioned it?

SA: To be perfectly honest, The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy began as an exercise in voyeurism. I wanted to see the steamier side of Darcy and Elizabeth. It was never intended to be a full-length novel. But as I got to know my characters a little more, the underlying story, rather than the sex, became the driving force. Their initial dislike followed by explosive attraction, fueled by doing what they know is taboo, generated a tension in the story that straight sex could never convey. The story made the sex important, and therefore much more satisfying to read and write than a series of exploits. I’m actually very grateful that my characters refused to be the sex puppets I originally envisioned and instead became living, breathing characters with flaws and humor. I love my characters very, very much; much more than I would have if they had been written as I originally envisioned them.

DC: What is sure to distract you from sitting down and working/writing?

SA: Being a mom. Trials was written before I had my first child, when I could sit in front of the computer until the wee hours of the morning. Now I have two children under two years old and I’m lucky if I finish a thought, let alone have the luxury of sitting in a quiet room for hours creating art.

DC: How do you feel your male or female characters have evolved over your career? Do you think you write them differently now than you did when you started?

SA: Definitely. Lou Hurst started out as a stereotypical flaming gay guy, but I feel he has evolved into a real character who just happens to be gay. Elizabeth started off as a know-it-all and Darcy started out as a smart-ass. Neither of them was very likable. I was trying too hard to make them fit perfectly into some mold, and I wasn’t even sure what that mold was. Since then, I’ve learned that in order for my characters to be likable, I have to like them myself. That means they have flaws, humor, and can recognize when they are being idiots and change their behavior, regardless of their gender.

DC: Will there be any succeeding books with the Honorable F. Darcy and his Lizzy?

SA: No. I’m happy with where they wound up, and I want to move on to other characters.

DC: Is there a genre you haven’t tackled but would like to try?

SA: Fantasy. I love Tolkien and George R.R. Martin. Both created detailed, realistic worlds upon which character-driven stories rested. I’d also like to try a full-length paranormal romance centered on ghosts instead of vampires or werewolves.

DC: What advice would you give to your younger self?

SA: Get over yourself; you ain’t all that.

DC: If you were a book, what would your blurb be?

SA: Sara Angelini thought her secret was safe. She had earned her hard-as-nails reputation for no-holds-barred negotiations in the courtroom. But when word leaked out that Sara had a “little hobby,” tongues began to wag. Who was the inspiration for the sexy Judge? Was there more to the story than met the eye? And more importantly, who would show up in her next book?

DC: What would be your “voice’s” tagline?

SA: Mostly funny, with a chance of pain.

DC: If you had never become an author, what do you think you would be doing right now?

SA: Either sleeping or preparing for tomorrow’s deposition…which I’ll be doing right after I finish this interview!

DC: What’s on the horizon for Sara Angelini?

SA: I’ve got another contemporary romance called No Strings Attached about a romance between cellist and a technology mogul. I hope to have the final version to my agent by the end of this year. Other than that, there are always a few half-baked ideas simmering on the back burner. Can’t wait until preschool starts!

Lightning Round:

- dark or milk chocolate?     -  Peanut butter.
- smooth or chunky peanut butter?      – Smooth
- heels or flats?      – Heels
- coffee or tea?      – Coffee
- summer or winter?     – Winter
- mountains or beach?     – Forest
- mustard or mayonnaise?     – Mayo
- flowers or candy?     – Flowers – but not roses
- pockets or purse?     -  Purse
- Pepsi or Coke?     – Coke
- ebook or print?     – Print

And just because:

1. What is your favorite word?     – Uranus. It never fails to make me giggle. Or to make my husband grind his teeth.
2. What is your least favorite word?     – No!, usually said by my 20 month old
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Music
4. What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?     – Incompetence
5. What sound or noise do you love?     – My daughter’s laugh
6. What sound or noise do you hate?    – Alarm clocks
7. What is your favorite curse word?     – Bloody hell and/or Jesus Fucking Christ
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?     – Runway model
9. What profession would you not like to do?     – President of the United States
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?     – “Ha ha ha, ‘Middle initial “U”’…I loved that line!”

DC: Thank you, Sara, for being with us today!

Sandy M’s review of Loving Mr. Darcy (The Darcy Saga, Book 2) by Sharon Lathan
Historical Romance released by Sourcebooks 1 Sep 09

This second book in Ms. Lathan’s series takes us through the second half of Darcy and Lizzy’s honeymoon, and it’s a joy reading how in love they are, how romantic Darcy is, and their carnality for one another is only strengthening with every whisper, touch, and kiss. It’s actually quite nice to read this type of romance, hero and heroine together, having fun, taking care of hearth and home and anything else required of them – together. Yes, there’s little tiffs but they last no longer than a page or two at the most, then love prevails once again. There’s also humor and a frightening, scary moment or two, but, overall, this series is a man and a woman who live, work, and love together.

The ante is upped a few chips in this part of the story when Elizabeth realizes she’s pregnant and Darcy, of course, is beside himself with happiness at the prospect. And Darcy, being the unusually unusual English gentleman he is, determines to be involved as much as possible in his child’s life, even while in the womb. He even goes so far as to plan to be in the room with Lizzy when the time comes. First he sleeps every night with his wife, kisses her and holds her hand in public, makes love to his pregnant wife often, and now he wants to be in the delivery room, so to speak? Unheard of! No well-bred Englishman would do such things! That’s what makes reading Darcy so much fun.

Some of my favorite scenes are when he’s talking to their child, sometimes to the point of such emotion he can’t hold the tears back. You get to see those moments from both his and Lizzy’s points of view, which make them all the sweeter. I also love watching Darcy, just as Lizzy does, going from the ecstatic boy no one but Elizabeth knows to the upright, controlled Master of Pemberley, brooking no argument when he issues orders or demands or is protecting his wife and child when called for.

Darcy is the one who has changed the most in this series, starting out as a man reticent to socialize, letting only those close to him see inside, known for never joking and smiling, let alone laughing, to a man his friends and family knew he could be all along, if only he’d try. It takes the love of his life for him to expend the effort to now love, smile, and laugh wholeheartedly, which, he finds, is really no effort at all. It’s wonderful seeing the change happen page by page.

Elizabeth is his rock. As young as she is, she’s the one who keeps him grounded, who calls him back when his control slips, who arouses him to the point of no return (though he does that for her also). Lizzy has come into her own in this book. She has to face several challenges when Darcy isn’t around to throw the Master of Pemberley persona at whoever deigns to confront his wife, and she handles everything beautifully, just as the Mistress of the house should. She’s always been an elegant young woman who knows her own mind, but she takes that a step further as she grows into Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy when dealing with family, servants, and society alike.

A lot of this book is spent with Darcy and Lizzy taking care of family and duty in London, constantly surrounded by people and problems, but when they return home they take a slow, leisurely journey through Derbyshire where Darcy shows Elizabeth the rich history of his home, their love of bygone times and people bringing them closer together. Ms. Lathan does a very nice job of getting their mutual interest across while not bogging down the storyline nor boring the reader with historical facts. This part of the book is as lush as the English countryside the traipse through.

Secondary characters are still aplenty, all interesting and full of depth. I enjoyed the blooming romance between Mary, Lizzy’s sister, and a local barrister, all the while thinking it would be even more interesting if Georgiana, Darcy’s sister, is enmeshed in romance later in the series; his reactions alone would be filled with emotion across and off the charts, giving readers a devil of a fun time.

This is a wonderful continuation of the Darcys’ story, and I am eagerly awaiting the next installment in January, The Darcys at Year’s End.

Grade: A-

Summary:
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Darcy and Lizzy venture away from Pemberley to journey through England, finding friends, relatives, fun, love, and an even deeper and more sacred bond along the way.
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Having embarked on the greatest adventure of all, marriage and the start of a new life together, now the Darcys take the reader on a journey through a time of prosperity, enjoyment, and security. They experience all the adventures of travel, with friends
and relatives providing both companionship and complications, and with fun as their focus.
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The sights and sounds, tastes and flavors of Regency England come alive. Through it all, Darcy and Lizzy continue to build a marriage filled with romance, sensuality, and the beauty of a deep, abiding love.
.
Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

This just in…

Judi Fennell has just announced she’s signed her second contract for a new series with Sourcebooks!

~ “Think I Dream of Jeannie meets Indiana Jones,” Judi said.

~ The working title for each book is I Dream of Genies, Genie Knows Best, and Leave It to Genie.

~ Short synopses of each book can be found at Judi’s blog.

~ This new series is not connected to Judi’s ever-popular Mer series. But from her comment on her blog, there hopefully will be more books forthcoming in the world of her Mer!

Consider yourself flashed.

Sandy M’s review of Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan
Historical Romance published by Sourcebooks 1 Mar 09

I have to admit upfront that I have never read Jane Austen. Well, I cheated once and listened to an audio of Emma, but that’s it as far as my Austen experience goes. Ms. Lathan is a huge Austen fan, enamored of Pride and Prejudice, and began wondering what life would have been like for these two lovers after PaP. She started writing her version of that idea as fanfic, and the next thing she knows she has a trilogy about one of those most beloved historical couples being published for all the world to see. I think Ms. Austen would be proud.

Now, I’m not sure the fact I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice is a good thing or a bad thing at this point.I didn’t get the full impact of the misunderstanding between Darcy and Elizabeth, how it was resolved and the resulting re-proposal and upcoming nuptials. I think I did get the flavor of it all, though, in this book that eventually gives rise to the love and romance between these two characters. At first I thought their spoken endearments of love were a little effusive, but then it goes hand in hand with their initial innocence at loving and then their steadily growing passion for one another. It actually worked beautifully.

This first book in the series takes place over an approximate six-month span, starting with the wedding day that both Darcy and Elizabeth thought they’d never see. I like the fact that both are completely innocent when it comes to the wedding night, and that particular scene is one of my favorites in the book. I also like that Darcy is a romantic at heart. He not only tells Lizzy he loves her every chance he gets, he also shows her in deed, including in the bedroom and anywhere else the mood strikes him. They also have a very teasing and fun relationship due to Lizzy’s wit and sense of humor, something that works its way into her new husband over time.

You can see the change Elizabeth and her love has wrought in Darcy through his family’s and friends’ eyes, noticing he now smiles more, laughs more, jokes more, and is at peace, something they know he’s never possessed.  He’s a man who can do without society and has done so for years, only being seen out and about when necessary. But now with his beautiful wife on his arm, he finds he enjoys the trappings of society once in a while. Elizabeth has the usual worries about Darcy’s family and staff liking her, getting used to his money and estate and what it can do for them, and the unwanted attention of a rogue.

This part of the book came not a moment too soon for me.  More than halfway through the book the honeymoon is still in full swing, good things abound for this couple, and I kept thinking when will something happen to slow down the bliss and the ardor. I mean, it has to eventually. Life may be charmed for some folks, but it can’t always be hearts and flowers. Ms. Lathan delivers right on time, the rogue she throws into the mix gives life and love a new dimension for both Darcy and Elizabeth.

And I know it’s because of what we’re now used to in our romance novels in this day and age, but I really enjoyed that those two can’t keep their hands off one another, loving their way through this book at every opportunity, going crazy when separated from each other even for a minuscule amount of time. Also, their pact to be honest with one another, keep no secrets from the other, say what they mean and mean what they say is an added plus. They went through the big misunderstanding once, the reader doesn’t need another one. They have spats now instead, which is more true to life, especially during the newly wed stage.

The author has a very nice, lovely voice for this genre. Since I’ve not read Austen before, I can’t say how close she is to that legend’s voice, but for this reader it works quite well. I look forward to the next two books in the trilogy, which will, when complete, cover the first year of the Darcys’ marriage. I believe I got a good feel for them and their life even without Ms. Austen’s story.

Grade: A-

Summary:

Beginning on their wedding day, Darcy and Elizabeth are two people who are deeply in love with one another and are excited to begin their marriage.

Their courtship was tempestuous; misunderstandings and misgivings nearly tore them apart. But now that they’ve seen each other without prejudice, their trust, attraction, and delight in each other grows with every passing day. Both are inexperienced and innocent, sharing moments of shyness and boldness as they discover the kinds of intimacies that a newlywed couple shares.

As their love story unfolds, they reveal their innermost secrets and feelings, embracing each other in a marriage filled with romance, passion, humor, and drama that will keep you spellbound.

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Sandy M’s review of Heart of the Wolf by Terry Spear
Contemporary Paranormal Romance released by Sourcebooks 1 Apr 08

I just happened upon this book, and because I’m a shapeshifter fan, I found I couldn’t resist.  So I picked it up and jumped right in.  I’ve not read Ms. Spear before. I enjoyed most aspects of this book, enough that I will give her another try. She has another shifter book that just released 1 Mar 09, Destiny of the Wolf, so I’ll more than likely be picking that one up too.

I did like the main characters, Devlyn Greystoke and Bella Wilder, though Bella did tend to irritate me just a tad later in the book with her continually doubting Devlyn’s ability to take down the enemy. Other than that, she’s a strong character, worthy of being an alpha wolf’s mate. Devyln and Bella grew up together, even though she’s a red wolf and he’s a gray. She was taken in by his pack when her family was killed in a fire. Reaching her teens, the alpha of the pack, Volan, takes notice of her and is determined to have her. She, however, wants Devlyn but knows that Volan will kill her choice of mates, so she chooses to run instead of seeing Devlyn die.

She’s been on her own for 150 years, living among humans and getting along quite well. There’s been a string of murders of young, red-headed women in the Portland area. When Bella is at her cabin to relax and enjoy the next few days to run free in her wolf form, she comes upon the scent of other red wolves. As she investigates, she’s caught unaware and is tranquilized by a hunter. She ends up in the local zoo as mate for their long-time resident red wolf. As word spreads of the new addition to the zoo, more reds come out of the woodwork to see the female in their midst, but Devlyn also shows up. She’s glad to see him again, but she knows he’s there for her only to take her to Volan.

I enjoyed the scene in the zoo when Bella is listening to a couple of men talk about her and those they’re observing around the wolf enclosure. They keep saying it seems as though she understands them because of her reactions to their words, which, of course, is true though they don’t know it. From this point on there is a lot of action, but it does get weighted down here and there throughout. There’s a lot going on, so you need to be on your toes. The story is two-fold: finding the killer of the area women and also defeating Volan so Devlyn and Bella can be together. The idea behind the murders is interesting and they solve the mystery with savvy investigation and logic.

Fighting the wolf way near the end of the book was actually the best part of the book, along with the love scenes. Devlyn is a large wolf, therefore a large man and a great lover. I wish Bella would have had faith in him much earlier in the book. It’s not until she’s really forced into it that she see what she truly has in him and decides to show him that, finally. The only thing that really kept the grade from going higher is the dialogue in places seemed very stiff and awkward. It’s those places where information needs to be given to the reader and it just doesn’t work very well in a lot of spots.

Other than that, an enjoyable read for shifter fans.

Grade: B-

Summary:
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While searching for clues of a lupus garou who is killing women in the rainy Portland suburbs, Bella Wilder becomes the hunted. She had run away from the gray pack who had taken her in when she was she young. And she will do so again before the brutish pack leader can have her.
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Devlyn Greystoke has a mission—return Bella to the gray pack for safekeeping before she exposes their kind and gets herself killed. But little red wolves are in short supply and high demand and Bella’s determined to be the bait to flush out the killer. Keeping her out of danger is only half the trouble Devlyn encounters as his compulsion to make her his mate grows and she fights being his, fearful the pack leader will kill him.
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Volan Smith, the gray alpha leader, claimed Bella when she was young. Now that he has located her, he wants Bella back. And he will stop at nothing to have her.
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Read an excerpt. (scroll way down)

Recently, I honestly forgot why, we were chatting about the greatness of Laura Kinsale. Or lack of greatness? Or it might have been Shannon C’s lack of knowledge of Laura Kinsale’s greatness.

I don’t recall much more than going on and on and on about my lurve of Seize the Fire, Shadowheart, and The Hidden Heart. Along with how happy I was that I was introduced to romance with the book Shadowheart.

I am difficult. I know – you find this shocking – but if I had been reading romance for a while and discovered that the ‘smart romance‘ was Laura Kinsale and only her or her, Judith Ivory (I still think this is a big reason I can’t read her) and err oh someone else. And all the praise that is can be tossed on her at times in ways that makes it seem that if you hate her writing well… that is ok… romance needs stoopid readers too. ::pats head:: Hey it turns people off, I know shocking.

Of course, I also hate a trend as well. No seriously, if I walked in now, it would take a shit load of work to get me to pick up J.R. Ward. And uh, I loveses me some Ward. I admit d-i-f-f-i-c-u-l-t.

The point of this long winded post is Laura Kinsale is reprinting some of her out of print books with SOURCEBOOKS (not that I can find the info on the site).

And my personal fave is going to be back in print as of October 1, 2008 and without the horrid cover! [Ed.: a cover you can see if you float your cursor over the cover above.] WOOT! I must email mishy. Oh and it looks like it is on Fictionwise and has been there for a while (if you go by the release date which uh 2001?), Seize the Fire:

     Olympia St. Leger is a princess in desperate need of a knight in shining armor. Sheridan Drake, amused by Olympia’s innocence and magnificent beauty, but also intrigued by her considerable wealth, accepts the position of white knight. Unaware that Sheridan is a notorious scoundrel, Olympia willing allows herself to submit to his protection and potent embrace. Theirs is a love born in deception. But as they weather storms on the high seas and flee from nefarious villains, the love sparked by lies begins to burn uncontrollably. Taking shelter on a desert island paradise, the princess and dark knight battle overwhelming odds to keep their adoration burning bright.
     Read an excerpt.

via the Smartest Bitches.