Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Authors, T-Z
January 19, 2012 | Thursday at 8:21 am | 61 Comments
I got this as a recommendation from…. Aw, hell, there isn’t a name attached to the rec, but Sarah sent in on because “it’s fun when your head explodes!”
So there’s a couple things you should know: first, like many people, I went through a dinosaur phase in my misspent youth, so there’s that. Not a big enough of phase to want to become a paleontologist, but still, very interesting and whatnot. There are pictures of dinosaur poo on my twitter feed from my Christmas visit to the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Second, Beauty and the Beast is my favorite Disney movie. Ever. I know there are people who think it’s an example of Stockholm Syndrome and that it encourages the idea that women can change men, which I think is a simplistic reading of the text and we could get into it, but the core lesson, I think, is that if you want to be treated like a person, you have to act like a person. And sometimes it’s someone…
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December 13, 2011 | Tuesday at 12:34 am | 43 Comments
There are only three kinds of people. There are those who think Connie Willis is a genius (that would be me). There are those who can't figure out what all the fuss is about and think she's over-rated (bah!). Finally, there are those people who haven't read her yet. If you are in the third group, go read her right away! Christmas is a great time to start, because she is widely beloved for her Christmas stories, one of which perfectly fits my geek profile as it involves aliens and romance. If you feel something has been missing from your holiday experience, allow me to suggest that probably in the deep places of your soul you've been sensing a certain lack of aliens at the mall. That is why I suggest you try Willis's novella, All Seated on the Ground.
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July 06, 2011 | Wednesday at 7:40 pm | 42 Comments
RedHeadedGirl is back, because there were… oh, I'll let her tell you. 
This is another request- Mari requested it AGES ago, and, well, it’s a classic Southern Rebel Boy meets Independent-Minded Northern Miss, sparks fly. And a whole bunch of other crap happens, too. SO MUCH CRAP. Including unexpected zombies. UNEXPECTED ZOMBIES IN MY CIVIL WAR HISTORICAL. It is not like peanut butter and chocolate. It is really not. Now, to be fair, these are voodoo!zombies, not braaaaaaaaaaains!zombies, but still. Unexpected zombies. Our heroine is Barbara, who lives in Sandusky, Ohio, and is the daughter of a doctor who’s with the Union Army. She’s been living with the local minster and his wife. When she gets word that her father has been captured and is being held in Libby Prison in Virginia, the kindly minster takes advantage of her grief and tries to seduce her, and when that does work, he goes to flat out attempted rape. His wife witnesses this, and blames Barbara for being a little slut that lured her husband into impure thoughts or whatever, and tosses Barbara out of the house. So Barbara…
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June 30, 2011 | Thursday at 5:20 am | 5 Comments
Ev’s RITA® Reader Challenge is for this novel, which finaled in the Best First Book category.
Plot Summary: On a stagecoach traveling through New Mexico Territory, Jessica Thornton is a long way from the cool mists and lush gardens of her native England. An authoress and milliner, she carries the weight of a scandalous secret-a horrible shame that has brought her to the West on a desperate search for the only family she can trust: her brother.
No one prepared Jessica for the heat and the hardships. And no one prepared her for a man like Brady Wilkins. For, despite the rancher’s rough-hewn appearance and her own misgivings, Jessica must put her life in his hands after their stagecoach crashes. And she begins to see the man behind the callused hands and caustic wit. A man strong enough to carve out a home in the wilderness, brave enough to fight for his own,…
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June 29, 2011 | Wednesday at 2:04 am | 3 Comments
This RITA® Reader Challenge review was written by Lisa. This book finaled in the Contemporary Series romance category.
Plot Summary: He’d never really had a place to call his own…
But the broken-down ranch in front of him was the closest he’d ever come. Now, pregnant widow Emma Manning was struggling to keep it, her children and herself going. She could use a hand. Well, that was all burned-out musician Cash Cochran could spare.
He’d never had a woman to call his own, either…
That was painfully obvious to Emma as soon as Cash knocked on her door. And though, with her ever-growing brood and her money pit of a ranch, she was the last woman on earth he could ever fall for, he was falling nevertheless. They both were.
But what would happen when they landed?
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June 28, 2011 | Tuesday at 5:34 pm | 10 Comments
I have two RITA® Reader Challenge reviews for His at Night, one from Donna, and one from ReadinginAK. Donna gave this book an A, saying, “So far, I’ve found that everything that spills out of Sherry Thomas’ brain is an A read. I bet her even shopping list would be interesting.” Meanwhile ReadinginAK gave it a solid B, so I’ve averaged the two to B+.
Plot Summary: Elissande Edgerton is a desperate woman, a virtual prisoner in the home of her tyrannical uncle. Only through marriage can she claim the freedom she craves. But how to catch the perfect man?
Lord Vere is used to baiting irresistible traps. As a secret agent for the government, he’s tracked down some of the most devious criminals in London, all the while maintaining his cover as one of Society’s most harmless—and idiotic—bachelors. But nothing can prepare him for the scandal of being ensnared by Elissande.
Forced…
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June 28, 2011 | Tuesday at 10:37 am | 5 Comments
Everybody, this is Lindlee. She reviews a mo-ton of books for the RITA® Reader Challenge. This book finaled in the Best First Book category.
Plot Summary: Jericho “J.T.” Tucker wants nothing to do with Coventry, Texas’s new dressmaker. He’s all too familiar with her kind—shallow women more devoted to fashion than true beauty. Yet, except for her well-tailored clothing, this seamstress is not at all what he expected. Hannah Richards is confounded by the man who runs the livery. The unsmiling fellow riles her with his arrogant assumptions and gruff manner while at the same time stirring her heart with unexpected acts of kindness. Which side of Jericho Tucker reflects the real man? When Hannah decides to help Jericho’s sister catch a beau—leading to uproarious consequences for the whole town—will Jericho and Hannah find a way to bridge the gap between them?
And now, Lindlee’s review:
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June 27, 2011 | Monday at 11:06 am | 5 Comments
ReadinginAK read this for the RITA® Reader Challenge reviews. There was an earlier review for this book, but ReadinginAK’s review echoed it in such a way that I wanted to include it as well.
Plot Summary: Molly McFarlane is as desperate as a woman can get. Forced to flee with her late sister’s children, she must provide for her wards while outrunning the relentless tracker the children’s vicious stepfather has set on their trail. Out of money and with no other options, she marries a man badly injured in a train derailment, assuming when he dies, the railroad settlement will provide the money they need to keep moving West.
But there is one small problem. The man doesn’t die.
Hank Wilkins doesn’t recall the accident he barely survived-and he certainly doesn’t remember marrying Molly. But as he slowly recovers at the Wilkins ranch in New Mexico Territory, the idea…
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June 26, 2011 | Sunday at 9:17 pm | 7 Comments
Abby reviewed this book for the RITA® Reader Challenge, and she had nearly the same reaction as Emily.
Plot Summary: Arabella Dempsey’s dear friend Jane Austen warned her against teaching. But Miss Climpson’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies seems the perfect place for Arabella to claim her independence while keeping an eye on her younger sisters nearby. Just before Christmas, she accepts a position at the quiet girls’ school in Bath, expecting to face nothing more exciting than conducting the annual Christmas recital. She hardly imagines coming face to face with French aristocrats and international spies…
Reginald “Turnip” Fitzhugh-often mistaken for the elusive spy known as the Pink Carnation- has blundered into danger before. But when he blunders into Miss Arabella Dempsey, it never occurs to him that she might be trouble. When Turnip and Arabella stumble upon a beautifully wrapped Christmas pudding with a cryptic message written…
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June 22, 2011 | Wednesday at 10:27 am | 5 Comments
Lindlee is back, kicking ass and writing reviews for the RITA® Reader Challenge for one book in each category. This book was nominated in the Strong Romantic Elements category.
Plot summary: Folly Beach, South Carolina, has survived despite hurricanes and war. But it’s the personal battles of Folly Beach’s residents that have left the most scars, and why a young widow has been beckoned there to heal her own… To most people, Folly Beach is simply the last barrier island before reaching the great Atlantic. To some, it’s a sanctuary for lost souls, which is why Emmy Hamilton’s mother encourages her to buy the local book store, Folly’s Finds, hoping it will distract Emmy from the loss of her husband. Emmy is at first resistant. So much has already changed. But after finding love letters and an image of a beautiful bottle tree in a box of used books from Folly’s Finds, she…
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June 08, 2011 | Wednesday at 10:29 pm | 20 Comments
Emily also reviewed this book for the RITA® Reader Challenge, and like a reviewer who I’ll publish soon, wished for a little more steam.
Plot Summary: Arabella Dempsey’s dear friend Jane Austen warned her against teaching. But Miss Climpson’s Select Seminary for Young Ladies seems the perfect place for Arabella to claim her independence while keeping an eye on her younger sisters nearby. Just before Christmas, she accepts a position at the quiet girls’ school in Bath, expecting to face nothing more exciting than conducting the annual Christmas recital. She hardly imagines coming face to face with French aristocrats and international spies…
Reginald “Turnip” Fitzhugh-often mistaken for the elusive spy known as the Pink Carnation- has blundered into danger before. But when he blunders into Miss Arabella Dempsey, it never occurs to him that she might be trouble. When Turnip and Arabella stumble upon a…
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June 03, 2011 | Friday at 1:39 pm | 1 Comments
F. chose to read this novel for the RITA® Reader Challenge, but after picking it at random she found it had a lot of plot elements she doesn’t like, but that the writing was strong enough that she kept going.
The plot summary: Sixteen-year-old runaway Reagan has always wanted a place to belong. She’s never had a real home of her own, but perhaps she could borrow someone else’s. Under an assumed name and identity, she moves to Harmony, Texas, but keeps her distance from the welcoming townsfolk. Until prairie fires threaten Harmony-and Reagan learns the true meaning of family, friends, and home.
And now, F’s review:
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May 18, 2011 | Wednesday at 10:20 am | 43 Comments
Yes, yes, there was a word-count limit to the RITA® Reader Challenge reviews, but sometimes they’re so funny I have to include the whole thing. Behold, K. Smith’s review of Kaki Warner’s Open Country.
I’m not a very discriminating reader. I average 6 romances a week, and my reaction to pretty much all of them is ‘Lovely. Next?’ But I adore the reviews on this site, which have led me to a great many fantastic authors, so I shall try to be a bit more helpful.
Kaki Warner’s Open Country starts off in 1871 in Georgia. Our Heroine Molly has come to see her sister. The sister’s weak, abusive husband has kept her from sending for Molly, and now the sister is dying. Before she does, she begs Molly to take her children (fruit of a previous union with a more satisfactory sperm donor). This features such charmingly underwritten prose as:
“Keep babies…safe. …
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February 02, 2011 | Wednesday at 11:44 am | 68 Comments
It could have been worse.
When people ask me if I’m “Into Star Wars”, I say, “Yes, absolutely”. But when I say “Star Wars”, I mean, “Star Wars: A New Hope”, “The Empire Strikes Back”, and “Return of the Jedi”. I saw the first two prequels but am convinced they were a hallucination brought on by bad popcorn. I’ve never seen the Clone Wars. And I’ve never read a Star Wars novel. But for you, dear bitches, I braved the novelization world to review The Courtship of Princess Leia. I figured a novel about Han and Leia’s romance would either be the best thing since hyperdrive or the worst thing since Jabba the Hut’s personal appearance. Turns out I was wrong on both counts. This novel wasn’t irredeemable. It had good action sequences, a fast pace, and a few hilarious moments. But, as a romance novel, it was a big fail, because the most critical component – believable, well-developed, exciting romance - was absent.
To be honest, I’m grading this novel pretty harshly, mostly because it dangled so much potential in front of me and then whisked it away. At…
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November 22, 2010 | Monday at 11:46 am | 9 Comments
I bought this book after Jill Myles tweeted about it, and it reminded me that novellas, when you are supremely busy and would love to finish a story in one evening but don’t have the time, can be awesome part of the romance reading habit. They’re sort of like the dark chocolate in the dietary pyramid of romance: not a constant but excellent to add, and kinda good for you, too.
Jill runs a travel agency, and she’s noticed a sharp decline in luxury travel packages, the kind she specialized in. When research and analysis reveals the new trend in adventure vacations, which aren’t her cup of tea in the least, she puts on her big girl panties, gears up with a very specific list from her survival expert guide, and heads off to a three-day hike around some mountain lakes to experience the tour for herself, and take pictures so she can build a travel package around the trip and sell it to her potential customers.
Ryan is her guide, and from the moment they meet (ha ha ha I just typo’d “meat” SNRK) they’re supremely attracted to one…
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