Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

The Jewel of Medina is on sale in bookstores today, as Beaufort Books moved up the on sale date following attacks on the UK publisher. Media Bistro sat with author Sherry Jones to get her perspective on the eve of (finally) publication. Ron Hogan, Captain of the Great Ship KickAss, writes:

The problem (as we see it) stems from the flagrant mischaracterization of the novel by Islamic studies professor Denise Spellberg, whom Ballantine Books had approached hoping for a blurb, as “soft core pornography” and anti-Muslim propaganda; Spellberg’s zealous efforts to alert Muslims to the book’s impending publication were particularly effective in giving the public a distorted impression of its contents. And we do mean distorted: Now that we’ve read the novel for ourselves, and seen precisely two paragraphs that might be construed as sexually explicit (and that’s being extremely generous to one of them), Jones deserves a public apology from Spellberg for her public misrepresentations.

So far no word from professor Spellberg. But, according to the image posted by Ron, the book is already a bestseller in Serbia after it was re-released.

(Thanks to Rebecca for the link). 

We’ve teased you before, and… well, we’ll do it again.

Another sneak peek of the Smart Bitch Book cover art is right here for your viewing pleasure. What’s going on in this image?

A lot, lemme tell you. Boy howdy a lot. 

Last one of the day, from AMH:

I’m trying to track down a historical I had read years ago. I’m pitifully forgetful about just about everything about this book except that it was either an Avon or Zebra in the 90s around the same time Pamela Morsi released ‘Simple Jess’ and it was written by a big name at the time in romance.

It involved the discovery of a man raised by wolves. Here’s where I worry I’m mixing it up with Disney’s Tarzan. If memory serves me the heroine’s father took the feral man under his wing, as did the
daughter, while she fell in love with him. I remember some scene on the beach, the hero turning out to be a nobleman, and a jerk rival who thought pseudo-Mowgli should keep his hands off of the young miss. I’m pretty sure the cover was yellowish with a sunset scene.

This will be keeping me up at nights soon, so if any of your readers has any idea what this novel is will make me very, very happy.

Candy, who maintains a crush on Mowgli, would probably love this book. Especially if it’s horridtastic. 

Raina writes:

The story is about a young woman (I think she was a kindergarten teacher?). She’s claustrophobic, and while trying to visit her rich friends, she get’s stuck in an elevator in their building with a man.Freaking out, the man helps her get through the situation, and he takes her back to his apartment to calm her down. One thing leads to another and they end up sleeping together.

She leaves while he’s still asleep, and they both never find out each other’s names. He finally tracks her down somehow and learns she’s pregnant.

He’s a really successful lawyer. I think she’d moved to a new town, and told all her neighbours and coworkers that she had been married, and her husband had died...but then he shows up surprising everyone.

Please help! this has been bugging me forever!

Ok, Secret baby conceived in an elevator? That would make an AWESOME Aerosmith song, right? Right...!?

Chris writes:

I read it over twenty years ago. It’s a fantasy and I don’t remember much of the romance elements though I know there was one (that wasn’t my thing then). The heroine doesn’t have fingernails, but she does have retractable claws that come out of her fingertips. Her mother was called a soul dancer, someone who had the ability to pull the soul out of a person by dancing in front of him/her. The heroine has the same gift and the villain wants to use her. I don’t remember anything about the hero, other than she pushes him away, afraid she’ll take his soul. One of the secondary characters is carrying around the bones of a lost child in his backpack. Some ritual needs to be performed before a person can depart from earth so the shadow of this ghost child is accompanying him everywhere. This man’s best friend, a woman, dies during battle and I remember the scene where she looks at him during a lull in the battle and tells him she’s been dead three days but she didn’t want to leave his back unguarded.

I think the cover had a picture of the woman with claws and she was standing next to a panther-like creature.

I really want to re-read this book. I hope someone knows the name of it.