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The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry

March 16, 2011 by

Brunonia Barry‘s (check out her writing space) The Map of True Places (out on March 22 in paperback) is set in New England — Boston and Salem with a touch of Irish charm — much like her first book The Lace Reader (my review).  Zee Finch is a psycotherapist working for the prestigious practice of Dr. Liz Mattei and with patients who have bi-polar disorder.  Her patients’ symptoms remind her of her deceased mother in many ways, but Lilly Braedon, her problems, and her suicide take center stage for Zee.

“She carefully placed the bottle into the trash compactor, then flipped the switch, waiting for the pop and the smash.  The bag was almost full, so she removed it and took it out to the deck, walking all the way back down the stairs in her bare feet, placing the compacted bottle into the bottom of the garbage bin, not with the recyclables, as she would have preferred, but with the regular trash, so that there would be no evidence of the bottle.”  (page 21-2, hardcover)

Like the puzzle of the underground tunnels in The Lace Reader and the patterns in the lace, The Map of True Places presents a series of puzzles, mazes, and other patterns to follow as Zee struggles to put the pieces of her past back together so that she can deal with them one-on-one rather than burying them deep inside.  Unlike her professional persona that helps her patients discuss their internal turmoil and family problems, Zee continues to struggle with the death of her mother and the emotional absence of her father throughout her adolescence.  The broken wine bottle is just one significant image in Barry’s book in that it signifies how Zee deals with her problems and hides from confrontation as much as possible.

Barry’s prose is complex, full of imagery, and engaging.  She easily weaves her puzzles, leading readers through the narrative without revealing too much before it needs to be.  Zee is a broken character who tries to put a good face on her life even when she is not as sure about her choices as she should be.  Zee not only needs to deal with her past, but also determine if her present and future will include her fiance Michael, one of the state’s most eligible bachelors.  Overall, The Map of True Places is an engaging novel that navigates the past, present, and future simultaneously as Zee examines herself and her choices searching for her true path.

This is my 6th book for the 2011 Wish I’d Read That Challenge.

Filed Under: challenges, fiction, Harper Collins, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2011, review copy, reviews, Wish I'd Read That Challenge 2011 Tagged With: ,

The Other Life by Ellen Meister

March 3, 2011 by

We’re taking a break today from the Celebrate! Indie & Small Press Month for a pre-scheduled TLC Book Tour into another world.

The Other Life by Ellen Meister chronicles the life of Quinn Braverman, a young married woman with one son and a caring husband, Lewis.  The suicide of her artist mother haunts her on a daily basis, but to cope, she enters into another life through a portal in her basement.  Her life with Eugene is without children and marriage, but is less mundane and best of all her mother is still alive.  Meister mixes a modern story line about family, suicide, and relationships with science fiction elements as Quinn travels through portals into parallel lives.

“But the important part of the secret — the part that terrified and thrilled her — was that she knew it was possible to cross from one life to the other.  There were portals.”  (page 5 of ARC)

Quinn’s life with Lewis is turned upside down when they learn that their unborn daughter’s life will not be as perfect as they imagined.  Although she’s always known that she could jump between her parallel lives, she has promised herself that she would not do it.  A promise that she cannot keep, and a promise that is quickly broken time and time again as she struggles to deal with her high-risk pregnancy, her inability to seek comfort from her mother, and the overwhelming desire to simply escape.

“She closed her hand into a fist and continued pushing.  The fissure became a hole, and the harder she pressed, the deeper it became, until her hand had disappeared up to her elbow.  She stuck her other hand inside and pressed her palms together.  Quinn closed her eyes and sensed Eugene’s energy, feeling as if the scent of his aftershave were lingering around her nostrils.”  (page 47 of ARC)

Readers who have read Linda Gray Sexton’s memoir about the legacy of suicide Half in Love (click for my review), will notice Quinn has a similar love-hate relationship with her mother and the legacy of suicide.  Her mother, Nan, has a similar artistic and impassioned charisma that Linda’s mother, Anne Sexton, had.  It is this combination that draws in the reader and the main character into Nan’s world of painting and deconstruction of her family in visual form.  Passages pepper the book with insight into Nan’s approach to her family and her work as an artist, but this pull doesn’t stop there.

“Her mother’s pull was just too strong for Quinn to float away and feel as if she were experiencing the shopping trip as an outsider looking in.”  (page 95 of ARC)

Drawn to her mother and a life where her presence is reassuring, Quinn struggles even more with her present life, and her brother’s inherited bipolar disorder only exacerbate her need for stability, which she believes can only be found in another life.  Meister does an excellent job of creating a sympathetic, mess of a character in Quinn and successfully weaves in the use of portals to demonstrate her anxiety.

Quinn is a mother wrought with anxiety, loneliness, and a forceful need to care for everyone in her life.  She’s constantly running from one crisis to another with her sword blazing, and while readers can feel for her and want her world to be right again, she can be frustrating as she jumps through portals to escape the hard decisions in her other life.  Overall, Meister’s writing is engaging, suspenseful, and easy to follow even as readers travel with Quinn between her two lives.  Readers hope that she will find the peace she is looking for and the love that she deserves, while at the same time confronting her past demons and moving into the future as a more confident woman and mother.  The Other Life by Ellen Meister would make an excellent book club selection.

About the Author:

Ellen Meister lives on Long Island with her husband and three children.

You can find out more about Ellen at her website, and you can also follow her blog and on Twitter.

 

 

Please check out the rest of the stops on the tour.

 

 

 

This is my 8th book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: ARC, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2011, reviews, tlc book tours Tagged With: ,

The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton

January 21, 2011 by

Rosy Thornton‘s The Tapestry of Love follows 48-year-old Catherine Parkstone as she makes her way through the French countryside after leaving her home in England following her divorce.  She has bought Les Fenils in the Cevennes Mountains where she gets to know her quirky neighbors and learns how to navigate an unfamiliar culture with her amateur French-speaking skills.  Her initial plans are to establish a business as a needlewoman, but also to return to a place she remembers enjoying from her childhood.

Catherine loves working with her hands whether it is on cushions or tapestry or in the garden.  The lush scenery and sweet smells of food (check out Thornton’s recipes) serve as the backdrop of this woman’s journey as she learns to cook French cuisine, stand on her own, and carve out a life she can enjoy.  Although she is away from her grown children and her sister, Bryony, Catherine begins to make the transition into the community, providing them with well-crafted cushions and other items and companionship.

“It was the view from her kitchen window, the view from the place at the table where she generally sat to work.  She knew it so well now by all its lights and moods that she had no need to look up from her tapestry frame; on these quiet midnights she sat and worked from memory in front of the rectangle of black.  In her emerging picture, it was morning:  not first light but the soft luminosity of a breakfast time in spring, the sun breaking over the head of the valley to the left and outlining every leaf in gold.”  (page 232)

From the Bouschets and the Meriels to Madame Volpiliere and Patrick Castagnol, Thornton creates a rounded set of characters to interact with Catherine and bring out some of her best traits, including generosity and compassion.  Although Catherine was adventurous enough to leave England and move to the mountains of France, she still has to find her spontaneity and carefree nature, while navigating the bureaucracy of the French government.

Overall, The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton is a novel about living one’s dreams, making new friends, and enjoying life.  While there is romance, a love triangle, divorce, and other typical “women’s fiction” topics, Rosy Thornton takes these topics and makes them new by setting them in rural France among quirky farmers and business men and women.  Her prose is engaging and detailed, weaving a tapestry of community that readers will want to immerse themselves in for hours.

About the Author:

Rosy Thornton is an author of contemporary fiction, published by Headline Review. Her novels could perhaps be described as romantic comedy with a touch of satire – or possibly social satire with a hint of romance. In real life she lectures in Law at the University of Cambridge, where she is a Fellow of Emmanuel College. She shares her home with her partner, two daughters and two lunatic spaniels.  Visit her Website.

This is my 3rd book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: fiction, Hachette Books, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2011, review copy, reviews Tagged With: ,

Stiltsville by Susanna Daniel

January 12, 2011 by

Stiltsville by Susanna Daniel was the December book club selection from Everyday I Write the Book, but I ran out of time in 2010 to read it.  Click here if you want to read the discussion.

Frances Ellerby is a young 20-something with her whole life ahead of her in 1969 when she heads to Miami for a wedding, meets a spontaneous young woman named Marse, and finds the love of her life, Dennis.  She makes a major decision and moves from Georgia to Miami to be with Dennis, and while she is uncertain about her life choices sometimes, for the most part she realizes she has chosen the right path.

“The pink undulated and shimmered in the sunlight, fading and brightening.  It was like nothing I’d ever imagined.  Like so much of Miami, the islands were vain, gaudy, and glorious — and in this way they belonged there, undeniably, and I hoped unrealistically that their pink skirts would stay fastened forever.”  (Page 147)

Frances is a young woman who is moored to Miami by her love of one man, but her friendships with Marse and others seem to come in and out of the storyline.  There are moments of utter joy, heartache, and humor, but there also are moments when the story line takes predictable turns as many plots about marriages over time turn to possible affairs and other heart breaks.

“‘Oh, God, I know — they botched her face-lift.’  One of Elanor’s cheeks drooped considerably, and the eyelid on the same side drooped as well, as if she’d been stuck with something and deflated.  ‘She’s going to that guy in Naples to fix it, but they can’t get her in for six months.  You’d think this would qualify as an emergency.'”  (page 194)

Although Daniel sets up the landscape of Miami as over-the-top and gaudy in many ways, readers may be unprepared for the dramatic bombshells dropped on top of one another in the last 100 pages.   Readers may find these sections unbelievable or too much to lump together near the end of a novel, especially one that up until this point had been very predictable.

Frances was too hard to connect with on many levels because she’s so unpredictable in her relationships and she second guesses her decisions at every turn.  Her deep love of Dennis is often questionable.  Overall, Stiltsville‘s setting in Miami grows with each passing decade, but the relationships between Frances and her family often seem stagnant or underdeveloped, though the introduction of Margo, her daughter, is a compelling element that should have been explored more fully.

This is my 1st book for the 2011 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: ARC, fiction, Harper Collins, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2011, reviews Tagged With: ,

The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy by Mary Lydon Simonsen

January 11, 2011 by

Mary Lydon Simonsen‘s The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy re-imagines Pride & Prejudice in such a way that Darcy and Elizabeth cannot get past their misunderstandings and disagreements without a little help from two matchmakers — Georgiana Darcy and Anne de Bourgh.  Anne takes the reins for much of the book after she learns her cousin Darcy has proposed marriage to Elizabeth at Rosings and failed miserably at gaining her hand and love.

The main plot points of Lizzy’s visit to Pemberley, Lydia’s downfall with Wickham, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s visit to Hertfordshire are all present, but Anne helps convince Lizzy to visit Pemberley and prompts her mother to visit Hertfordshire.  Georgiana is a secondary matchmaker in this novel, but she’s witty and grows into her role as mistress of Pemberley by ensuring her guests are comfortable and do not annoy one another, especially since Caroline Bingley and Elizabeth are in the same room vying for the same man’s affections.

“And, yet, Anne was saying that Mr. Darcy went with his sister to the milliner’s shop.  Lizzy could just picture him, crossing and uncrossing his legs, and drumming his fingers on top of his hat, when he was not pacing the floor.”  (page 56)

Simonsen has sketched a strong Anne and Georgiana, women who are more modern than convention dictates, but who are well aware of society’s expectations for their behavior.  Georgiana is about to come out into society when things go awry in the Bennet family, but she unselfishly tells her brother to right the wrongs and go to his love to ease her pain.  Unlike Austen’s minimal sketch of Georgiana as a beloved sister, Simonsen creates a strong young woman with romantic notions and a penchant for writing.

Not to worry because Jane and Mr. Bingley’s romance is not forgotten, but there is more than one obstacle thrown in their way after Bingley is convinced by Darcy and the Bingley sisters to cease his courtship of Jane.  Enter Mr. Nesbitt, a solicitor with a odd sense of courtship and love.  This subplot is delightful, serves to increase the suspense in the Darcy-Lizzy romance, and is full of twists and turns.

“While Mary was croaking out a lullaby, the youngster had put his hands over his cousin’s mouth and had asked her not to sing.  Everyone in the family now owed a debt of gratitude to a four-year-old boy.”  (page 161)

“‘I am not angry with either of you.  I am, however, a little disconcerted that you embarked on such an elaborate scheme after I told you I already had a plan in place.’

‘Your plan was terrible.  I have saved you weeks of anxiety about Elizabeth.  You must own to it, Will.  My plan was better than yours.”  (page 204)

The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy by Mary Lydon Simonsen is engaging and funny.  The interactions between Anne and Darcy are often filled with playful jabs between cousin, and the dialogue between Jane and Lizzy are not only sisterly but full of sweet teasing.  Another fun re-imagining of Pride & Prejudice that delves deeper into the secondary characters of Austen’s novel.

If you missed Mary Lydon Simonsen’s guest post and the chance to win one of two copies of The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy, there’s still time to check them out.

About the Author:

Mary Lydon Simonsen’s first book, Searching for Pemberley, was acclaimed by Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and RT Book Reviews. She is well loved and widely followed on all the Jane Austen fanfic sites, with tens of thousands of hits and hundreds of reviews whenever she posts. She lives in Peoria, Arizona where she is working on her next Jane Austen novel. For more information, please visit http://marysimonsenfanfiction.blogspot.com/ and http://www.austenauthors.com/, where she regularly contributes.

Filed Under: ARC, fiction, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2011, reviews, sourcebooks Tagged With: ,

9th Judgment by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (audio)

December 6, 2010 by

9th Judgment by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro, and read on audio by Carolyn McCormick, begins with the murders of a mother and her young infant.  It’s clear that Lindsay and the other members of the Women’s Murder Club are in for a rough ride this time around.  McCormick does an excellent job providing different personalities and voices for each character, though at some points in the audio her interpretation of coroner Claire Washburn’s voice is a bit too deep and masculine.

Lindsay is not only tasked with finding the lipstick killer who kills women and children firms, but she also must take on a high profile case involving a movie star, Marcus Dowling, whose wife was murdered following a robbery.  Is the husband acting or is he devastated by the death of his wife, and was the robbery committed by the famed Hello Kitty cat burglar coincidental?

9th Judgment delves into how being a solider in war can twist your psyche, and how when these men return from combat, things are just not the same for them or their families.  Additionally, this novel connects characters in ways that are unusual and surprising, deals with physical abuse, and more.  In terms of depth, this novel has more of it than some of the others given that the motivations behind the criminals are examined.

Patterson and Paetro make a good team in the Women’s Murder Club series, although readers may find that some of the story lines are not as well crafted as some others.  However, in 9th Judgment, readers will find that even though they are introduced to the criminals in the first few chapters, how their capture unravels is titillating and edgy. Overall, this installment in the Women’s Murder Club series is a great addition and will have readers looking forward to the next one.

My husband and I listened to this one on our commute northward for Thanksgiving and finished it up on the way back.  He enjoyed the chase scenes for their vivid description and the comedic elements as Lindsay plays go-between for the FBI and the lipstick killer.  There were fewer instances of sound effects in this one, with just a few gunshots in the beginning, which was fine with us.  We’ve grown attached to these characters, even the latest member of the club, Yuki Castellano.  At one point near the end, my husband and I almost thought we’d have to write Patterson a scathing letter, but alas we just had to listen onward to learn that our fears were misplaced.

This is my 15th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2010 Thriller and Suspense Reading Challenge, audiobooks, borrowed copy, fiction, Hachette Books, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2010, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye

November 12, 2010 by

Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye is steeped in rough seas, relationships, and a break in the weather.  From water imagery to isolated wilderness, Geye takes readers on a descriptive and detailed journey of Noah and Olaf Torr’s strained father-son relationship and the past that comes between them.  Set in the northern regions of Minnesota near Lake Superior, Noah must confront his father when time is running out.  While there is doubt about whether his father is truly ill and dying, Noah drops everything in Boston, including his wife Natalie and their fertility issues, to come to his father’s aid.

“He took off his jeans and shirt, his socks and drawers, and stood naked at the end of the dock.  Instantly the sweat that only a few minutes earlier had been dripping from him dried — seemed almost to encase him — as the wind curled around him.  . . .  From the instant he went under he could feel the water seizing him.  Although he’d been anticipating something like it, he could never have expected the grip of the water.  If he hadn’t kicked and pulled for the surface the instant he was submerged he might have ended up sunk.”  (page 134)

Coming back to town brings back all the feelings of abandonment he felt as a child when his father worked on the Great Lakes with the shipping companies.  Readers will be absorbed in the descriptive detail, leaving their living rooms and subway cars and entering the wooded forest near Olaf’s cabin.  The wintry wind will whip through their collars, forcing them to wrap scarves around their necks and feeling the ice freeze on their skin as Noah takes a bath in the lake.

For a first novel, Safe From the Sea has very few flaws with only the relationship between Noah and Natalie feeling a bit confused, changing from a semi-adversarial relationship to a loving one once she too arrives in Minnesota.  Complex relationships abound in this novel and mirror the churning lake waters when storms approach, but calmer waters prevail as the family comes to terms with reality and the love they share.

As deep as the 800 feet of Lake Superior that nearly took Olaf’s life when Noah was a boy, Safe From the Sea will pull readers under and churn them in the undercurrent of Noah’s feelings for his father as he learns to forgive the man scarred by the sinking of the ship Ragnarok, the loss of his colleagues, and the inescapable truth that he was powerless against the elements.  Geye creates strong settings, tense relationships between Olaf, his son, and his daughter, and a story that is utterly absorbing from the first page.

***Thanks to Unbridled Books for sending me a copy for review.  Though I should have finished this book ages ago, it was easy to pick the book back up and become absorbed in the story after dealing with the death of my grandfather.***

About the Author:

Peter Geye received his MFA from the University of New Orleans and his PHD from Western Michigan University, where he was editor of Third Coast. He was born and raised in Minneapolis and continues to live there with his wife and three children.

If you’d like to win an ARC of Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye, please enter the international giveaway.

1.  Leave a comment about why you would like to read this novel.

2.  Name an Unbridled Book title you’ve read and enjoyed.

3.  Blog, Tweet, Facebook, or spread the word about the giveaway.

Deadline is Nov. 30, 2010, at 11:59 PM EST.

This is my 55th book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: fiction, giveaway, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2010, reviews, unbridled books Tagged With: ,

Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge by J. Marie Croft

November 2, 2010 by

J. Marie Croft’s Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge is filled with alliteration, puns, and word play, which can take away from the unique story she’s attempting to tell.  While plays on words and puns can be amusing, there are entire paragraphs and sections of alliteration that take away from the pace of the novel, such as one scene between Darcy and Lizzy viewing an art exhibit.

“Elizabeth was preoccupied with attempting to espy a certain gentleman and said, ‘Yes, but fashion is something that goes in one era and out the other.'” (page 141 of ARC)

Rather than have Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy meet at a ball in Hertfordshire, they meet at the Pemberley estate when her aunt brings her to visit an old friend Mrs. Reynolds, the Darcy’s housekeeper.  Jane meets Bingley and Colonel Fitzwilliam, and there is a new man on the scene for Georgiana — Ellis Fleming.  How they meet is unconventional to say the least and a bit embarrassing for each of the men, though it does raise the sexual tension beyond the norm of other Pride & Prejudice spinoffs or retelllings.

“‘Jane, why does it feel like the most beautiful woman in the world is in my arms?’  Good God Almighty, please, please tell me I did not just repeat that inanity aloud.

‘You are not allowed to address me in such a familiar manner, sir.  You are far too forward.  Are you, perchance, a trifle disguised, Colonel?’

‘I am not drunk, dear lady, just intoxicated by you.’  He winced slightly.  Oh God, I am a Colonel of corn!”  (page 165 of ARC)

Croft’s inspiration is clearly the 1995 BBC movie version with its infamous lake scene, but it’s twisted to display a sillier side of Austen’s characters.  However, what is most captivating about this version of the story is that the Bennet household is not as lowly or poor as it was in the original, and there is an heir to their estate.  The obstacles to Darcy and Elizabeth are not wealth and position, but misunderstandings, other suitors, and the hurdles most relationships have.

Readers that dislike puns, extensive alliteration, and wordplay on a nearly constant basis should avoid reading Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge.  Rather than confine the puns to Mr. Bennet where they could be considered a part of his personality and occasionally allowing Lizzy to use them since she is most like him, Croft drags the trait into even the upper echelons of society with the Darcys.  Taken all at once, the wordplay also can take away from the story Croft is telling, and the introductions to each part of the novel still incite head scratching.  Unfortunately, the puns and world play seem overdone and detract from the more creative aspects of the novel.  However, if unique takes on Jane Austen’s characters and alternative story lines are welcome, even when liberties are taken with the characters, Croft’s novel is for you.

About the Author: (from Rhemalda Publishing)

J. Marie Croft, a Nova Scotia resident and avid reader all her life, discovered Jane Austen’s works later than others but made up for lost time by devouring the six novels and as many adaptations and sequels as she could find. In the midst of reading prodigious amounts of Austen-based fan-fiction, she realized, “Hey, I can do that.” In her spare time, when not working at a music school or on a wooded trail enjoying her geocaching hobby, she listens to the voices in her head and captures their thoughts and words in writing. Her stories are light-hearted; and her motto is Miss Austen’s own quote, “Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery.”

J. Marie Croft is a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America (Canada) and admits to being “excessively attentive” to the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice.

This is my 10th book for the Jane Austen Challenge 2010.

This is my 6th book for the Everything Austen II Challenge.

This is my 52nd book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: ARC, challenges, everything austen challenge, fiction, Jane Austen Challenge 2010, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2010, reviews Tagged With: ,

ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes, Year 2

October 28, 2010 by

Susan Helene Gottfried‘s ShapeShifter:  The Demo Tapes, Year 2 is another volume of outtakes, short stories, and character sketches related to her newly published novel, Trevor’s Song.  The band ShapeShifter is like a wheel with its center, Trevor and Mitchell, and the spokes around that wheel.  Once these guys are on the road, look out because it’s a wild ride.

What readers will enjoy most about this second slim volume is the camaraderie between the characters, the outbursts they have, and the seemingly mundane yet fun conversations they have.  For example, there’s a conversation between Mitchell and Trevor before they make it big as rock stars about why Mitchell should get an earring — sounds like a typical teenage disagreement/peer pressure situation.

“‘No one’s gonna think I’m gay,’ Precious Boy said.  ‘That’s not the problem.’

‘Yeah, and I’m already a fucking rock star.’  Trevor eyed Mitchell, convinced he knew what the guy was about to whine:  It’ll hurt, Trev.

‘Dad,’ Mitchell said instead.  Without whining; in fact, he was pretty damned convinced.  ‘He meant it when he said he’d kick me out of the house if I do it.’

Trevor smirked.  ‘You’re not going to do it.  I am.’

‘Same thing, as far as Dad cares.’

Trevor sighed as loudly as he could.  Was Mitchell really this stupid? ‘That’s why you grew your hair out, asshole.’

‘I thought it was to get girls.’

‘Well, since you’re too lame to make that work, maybe this is the reason.'” (page 24 of ARC)

What writers will enjoy about this inside look at the band and its antics are the introductions Gottfried has included about what inspired her to write particular snippets.  When discussing the short outtake “Hands,” she notes, “Sometimes, fiction is like this.  Something springs out of an unidentified source.  It dares you to set it down on a page or screen, to save it in ink or memory cards.”  (page 71)

Readers will thoroughly enjoy getting to know these characters as they prepare to read Trevor’s Song, and most will want to buy the Demo Tapes 1 and 2 before the novel, especially since they get to learn about the characters’ histories with one another and even before they met.  Well done, Susan Helene Gottfried.

***Thanks to the author for sending me a copy of this book for review.***

About the Author: (from Amazon.com)

Susan Helene Gottfried is the author of The Demo Tapes: Year 1, The Demo Tapes: Year 2, and Trevor’s Song, three books (and counting) about the fictional band ShapeShifter.

A tone-deaf rocker at heart, Susan worked in retail record stores, in radio stations, as stage crew, and as a promoter while earning two college degrees in creative writing.

Drop in at Susan’s online world: http://westofmars.com and stop by the official author’s blog, The Meet and Greet. Check out the book reviews at Rocks ‘n Reads, and see what other writers are up to around the Internet at Win a Book.

Filed Under: ARC, fiction, Read in 2010, reviews Tagged With: ,

Jane and the Damned by Janet Mullany

October 27, 2010 by

Janet Mullany‘s Jane and the Damned follows Jane Austen’s transformation into Nosferatu shortly after the rejection of her first novel in 1797.  Jane is as brash and outspoken as Elizabeth Bennet, and her sister Cassandra is as beautiful and demure as Jane Bennet in Mullany’s novel.  Attending country assemblies bores Jane, but she takes out her frustration by writing, but disappointments lead her to take chances she might not have otherwise.

While her sister and their friend are off playing cards and dancing, Jane is charmed by Mrs. Smith who comes to her aid and later her brother, Mr. Smith.  Jane knows about their affliction and confidently challenges them with her wit, but her openness about her negative experiences leads to her transformation.

“The vampire who called himself Mr. Smith lowered the unconscious woman onto a chair.  The room was still empty, and the dance, with its imperfect harmonies and clumsy thudding of feet, continued.  They would not find her for a good fifteen minutes, a tiny grain of dust in time.

He licked the last of the blood from her arm and breathed the wound closed.”  (page 21)

Once transformed will Jane take to her new nature or seek out the curing waters of Bath?  And will she learn that her new strengths could come in handy to fight the French as they invade England?

Mullany mixes the supernatural with Regency England deftly to create a clash of cultural norms that don’t necessarily apply to the new Jane.  She uses modern language to depict the struggles of Jane in her new role and to illustrate that even class differences influence the society of vampires.  However, certain aspects of the period are lost in that the Austens are not often referred to in more formal manners, instead addressed by their first names, and Jane seems to shun propriety a lot more than some readers may expect.  Additionally, in some ways the novel takes itself too seriously, and readers may be expecting a more tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.  Overall, Jane and the Damned provides a dash of adventure with the society readers have come to know through Jane Austen’s very own novels, and it provides an absorbing tale in which readers could lose themselves.

About the Author:

Janet Mullany was reared in England on a diet of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, and now lives near Washington, D.C. She has worked as an archaeologist, waitress, draftsperson, radio announcer, performing arts administrator, proofreader, and bookseller.

Connect with Janet via Twitter, on Facebook, and through her Website.

Check out the other stops on the TLC Book Tour.


This is my 51st book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.

This is my 9th book for the Jane Austen Challenge 2010.

This is my 5th book for the Everything Austen II Challenge.

Filed Under: ARC, challenges, everything austen challenge, fiction, Harper Collins, Jane Austen Challenge 2010, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2010, reviews, tlc book tours Tagged With: ,

Mr. Darcy’s Obsession by Abigail Reynolds

October 26, 2010 by

Abigail Reynolds is a go-to author of Jane Austen variations.  Mr. Darcy’s Obsession tells the story after Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy meet at Rosings, but Mr. Darcy never has a chance to propose because Lizzy must return home when her father falls gravely ill.  The death of her father, unfortunately, sends the Bennet family further down the social ladder when Mr. Collins becomes the new owner of Longbourn, forcing the family to rely upon the Gardiners and other family members’ kindness.

“She needed to acknowledge that Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn was no more, and in her place was an impoverished young lady with a patchwork education and no prospects.”  (page 103 of ARC)

Reynolds clearly knows Pride & Prejudice very well, and while she does create alternative story lines for these characters, she never loses sight of their essence.  Darcy fights his desire to be with Lizzy, but finds himself drawn to her against his “better judgment,” and Lizzy falls for Darcy in spite of her misconceptions about him and their misunderstandings.  Meanwhile, new characters — like Lady Seaton — come on the scene to spice up the narrative and make it fresh.

Mr. Darcy’s Obsession by Abigail Reynolds is a novel for Austen enthusiasts, and there are fewer stolen moments — those ones that defy common behaviors of the Regency period — between the lead characters than in previous variations.  Readers should be warned that not all is pleasant with the Bennets, particularly where Jane and Bingley are concerned and of course, there is the ever-impetuous Lydia.  Overall, another well written, cast, and lively variation from Reynolds.

***Thanks to Sourcebooks and Abigail Reynolds for sending me a copy of this book for review.***

This is my 8th book for the Jane Austen Challenge 2010.


This is my 4th book for the Everything Austen II Challenge.

Filed Under: ARC, challenges, everything austen challenge, fiction, Jane Austen Challenge 2010, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2010, reviews, sourcebooks

Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

October 15, 2010 by

Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning is the second book in the MacKayla Lane fantasy/paranormal series. Like book one, Darkfever (click for my review), Mac is still learning about her skills as a sidhe-seer and attempting to navigate the world she’s familiar with and the world of the Faery.

“If I’ve been guilty of anything, it’s having the blithely sunny disposition of someone who enjoyed a happy childhood, loving parents, and long summers of lazy-paddling ceiling fans and small-town drama in the Deep South which–while it’s great–it doesn’t do a thing to prepare you for life beyond that.”  (page 17)

She’s since discovered who murdered her sister, learned about her unknown heritage, and allied herself with an enigma Jericho Barrons, who oozes male sexuality and danger.  On the flip side, Mac remains cautiously intrigued by the Fae prince, V’Lane, who can bend reality to suit his needs and that of humans giving them what they desire most, but at a price.  Mac often wonders where the normalcy in her life has gone, but she attempts to make her life as normal by day as she could from cleaning the bookshelves to servicing customers.

“The Fae prince raised his brow but said nothing.

I raised a brow back.  He was Pan, Bacchus, and Lucifer, painted a thousand shades of to-die-for.  Literally.”  (page 38)

Mac and Jericho continue to search for the tools that will improve their chances against the Fae, while still searching for the darkest book, the Sinsar Dubh — a book that makes her feel dreadfully ill when it is near and pass out unconscious if it is near for too long.  Assassins and sinister Fae are at every turn, but Mac has discovered she is not as alone as she believed.

Bloodfever is a natural progression from the first book in the series, and readers will enjoy the fast-paced plot provided.  Moning is developing Mac in a slow and natural progression, allowing readers to uncover her hidden strengths as she discovers them and cheering her on when she asserts herself, even against the darkest Fae and criminals in Ireland and Wales.

About the Author:

Karen Marie Moning was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of four children. She graduated from Purdue University with a BA in Society and Law. After a decade of working with insurance litigation and arbitration, she quit her job to pursue her dream of a writing career. Four manuscripts and countless part-time jobs later, Beyond the Highland Mist was published by Bantam Dell and nominated for two prestigious RITA awards. Author of the beloved HIGHLANDER series and the thrilling new FEVER series, featuring MacKayla Lane, a sidhe seer. Her novels have appeared on The New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestsellers lists, and have received many industry awards, including the RITA.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours, Karen Marie Moning, and Random House for sending me a review copy of this book.

Please check out the rest of the Karen Marie Moning blog tour.

This is my 15th book for the 2010 Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: fiction, Publishers/Publicists, random house, Read in 2010, review copy, reviews, tlc book tours Tagged With: ,