Reviews: Janet Gurtler's (142.) If I Tell and (143.) I'm Not Her

I have two reviews for you today--and both are contemporary YA fiction from Janet Gurtler. I also have a guest post from Janet! Now, how to fit it all into one post...

I'm Not Her was released in May, and tells the story of a girl whose sudden rise in popularity unfortunately coincides with her sister's cancer diagnosis.

"For the first time in my life, I didn't feel envy..."

Tess is the exact opposite of her beautiful, athletic sister. And that's okay. Kristina is the sporty one, Tess is the smart one, and they each have their place. Until Kristina is diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly Tess is the center of the popular crowd, everyone eager for updates. There are senior boys flirting with her. But, the smiles of her picture perfect family are cracking and her sister could be dying. Now Tess has to fill a new role: the strong one. Because if she doesn't hold it together, who will?

Janet Gurtler tests the bonds of sisterhood in this moving debut that readers of Jodi Picoult and Sarah Dessen will savor.

Title: I'm Not Her
Author: Janet Gurtler
ISBN-13: 9781402256363
Paperback: 285 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Janet Gurtler's I'm Not Her is a moving story about a fifteen-year-old dealing with her older sister's cancer. And if dealing with a life-changing (and potentially life-threatening) illness isn't enough, Tess also has to deal with her parents acting like completely delusional dorks about it. (I totally understand that they were having a hard time with the diagnosis; however in my eyes it doesn't excuse their leaving everything in the hands of a fifteen-year-old because they "couldn't handle it"--they're the adults.)

And then there's school. School, where every one of Kristina's friends keep asking Tess where Kristina is and why she isn't in school (delusional parents didn't want anyone to know). School, where Tess has to skip class to accompany her mother to the hospital for Kristina's treatments (again, without being able to tell why). School, where Tess is now noticed (see above); and the other kids are making up stories about her and Kristina because they aren't getting any information. Not easy for a freshman to deal with, that's for sure.

I liked Janet's portrayal of Tess. She's resentful of all the negatives affecting her, and feels guilty for that resentment. She wants her life to stay the way it was, but she knows it's most likely temporary, whereas her sister's life is irrevocably changed. There's nowhere for her to go with this, without feeling like she's selfish. This is YA drama and angst as it should be.

drey's rating: Excellent!

If I Tell explores the ramifications of keeping secrets--your best friend's, your mother's, her boyfriend's--and the mess it can make of your own life...

Jasmine Evans knows one thing for sure... people make mistakes. After all, she is one. Jaz is the result of a onenight stand between a black football player and a blonde princess. Having a young mother who didn't raise her, a father who wants nothing to do with her and living in a small-minded town where she's never fit in hasn't been easy. But she's been surviving. Until she sees her mom's new boyfriend making out with her own best friend. When do you forgive people for being human or give up on them forever?

Title: If I Tell
Author: Janet Gurtler
ISBN-13: 9781402261039
Paperback: 244 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Jaz is seventeen, and the only biracial kid in her small town. At least, as far as she knows. She doesn't have any friends in school, and is thrown into a whirlpool of emotions when she sees her best friend Lacey making out with her mom's boyfriend. And that whirlpool gets deeper and wider when she finds out her mom's pregnant. What a mess!

Jaz can't confide in anyone--the only two people she's ever felt comfortable talking to have betrayed her. So she keeps things bottled up, only to find out that she has too many emotions fizzing inside her all at the same time. And her anger leaks out in spurts and splashes as she lashes out at her (former) best friend, at Simon, and even at her mom.

The emotional roller-coaster Jaz is on pulls you along as it goes up (new boy) and down (facing Simon or Lacey) and up (new friend at school) and down (her mom's emotional state), so much so that you wonder when she's going to let it all out. Which will happen, of course. The only question is when. And where. And who's going to get hurt in the process... (ok, that's more than one question)

This is an addictive read--you can't put it down until you find out how Jaz fares. Excellent teen read covering topics far and wide, including racism, bullying, depression, self-identity, and trust.

drey's rating: Excellent!

Have you read either books? What did you think?

Blog Tour: Katrina Kittle's (134.) Reasons to be Happy...

Today's tour is for Katrina Kittle's Reasons to be Happy, a book about the heart-breaking and impossible standards of body image.

About the author:
Katrina Kittle taught middle and high school English for 11 years. She is the author of four other novels and earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University in Louisville.

Find Katrina online at her website katrinakittle.com, the Reasons to be Happy blog, on facebook, and on twitter.

I asked Katrina for a guest post on what prompted her to write this particular book. Here's what she says...

Do you remember middle school? Was your experience pretty horrible? Mine was. Such a crazy, miserable time of insecurity. My life had been great leading up to sixth grade…and suddenly it was a trainwreck. Most memories of that time seem all fuzzy with self-doubt, humiliation, unbearable shyness. Ugh. I would no more want to re-live that time that I would want to chop off one of my own hands!

When I became a middle school teacher myself, I kept a photo of my seventh grade self in my desk drawer. This awful photo—of me with a hideous perm (I'd had a friend give it to me so that I could have curls like the popular girls), goofy glasses (how I longed for the contact lenses I would finally get in high school), and wearing outrageous, ridiculous high heels (were they comfortable? no! did I look natural in them? no! did I do much that made sense then? no!)—was my reminder on the days the students were making me to want to go drink vodka in the teacher's bathroom! That photo gave me compassion and patience for my students. That photo reminded me: they can't help it. I mean, I could walk into my classroom and feel the hormones and anxiety in the air.

But then I started thinking: why can't they help it? Remembering my own experience, I grew so disheartened by a particular phenomenon I saw unfold over and over again: bright, bold, curious girls—strong and confident in their abilities—would hit the wall of self-doubt around seventh grade. They'd lose all sense of their own unique identity, stop taking any risks, and retreat into approval-seeking behaviors that made them all seem like watered-down clones of each other. Every single one of my novels has begun with a social issue I'm passionate about, and one day I realized this concern and obsession I had with “keeping girls brave and confident” was my new story. I began to seek the cast of characters who could inhabit this story, and Hannah Anne Carlisle came into existence.

As a writer, I'm fascinated with how story ideas will simmer a long, long time before they take shape. I'll often have several different story “threads” and suddenly one day it will finally become clear which threads I might be able to braid together to make a book. That certainly happened with Reasons to Be Happy. Hannah's “list” was something I did in my own classroom—putting a reason to be happy on the whiteboard every day. I already had the drama of the middle school pecking order playing out in front of me on a daily basis. I knew that body image was still a huge part of the middle school girl identity crisis. I could pull specific knowledge of the particular workings of bulimia and anorexia from my years as a serious ballet student, and, sadly, from some experiences with my own students. (Instead of improving the situation with our awareness and understanding of body image and eating disorders, these issues seem more pervasive than ever before—40 percent of nine-year-olds have already dieted!) Add to this my own secret obsession with celebrity gossip (friends are sometimes horrified to discover this about me. I guess they all think I'm much more lofty-minded than I really am!), which led me to make Hannah's parents into A-list actors. I also have local friends who are twice-Academy-Award-nominated documentary film makers (hence, the creation of Hannah's Aunt Izzy). And I had the amazing privilege of traveling to Ghana once with a group of students, and had long been looking for the right place to use some of my experiences from that life-altering trip. (I actually had a goat under my bed one night in Tafi Atome, just like Hannah does).

What I hope readers take away from the book is that our authentic selves are so much more interesting and beautiful (and less maintenance!) than anything we “manufacture” to please others. It took Hannah being plunked down in a culture where she had no idea what was even considered beautiful, for her to be kind to herself and accept her own body. We all spend so much time comparing ourselves, judging ourselves against that teensy percentage of women who are supermodels (airbrushed supermodels, thank you very much) instead of accepting our imperfections and embracing our own unique beauty. Hannah discovers that what she perceived as an imperfection is actually one of her strengths.

That's the real beauty of the writing life to me: we use everything. Anything I see or experience, no matter how random or trivial, might just become a piece of “the story behind the story.”

About the book:
Title: Reasons to be Happy
Author: Katrina Kittle
ISBN-13: 9781402260209
ARC: 277 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

What Happens When You’re Not So Perfect?
How could so much change so fast?
Let’s see, you could be a plain Jane daughter of two gorgeous famous people; move to a new school; have no real friends; your mom could get sick; and, oh yeah, you could have the most embarrassing secret in the world. Yep, that about does it.

Hannah is an eighth grader trying her hardest to cling to what she knows and loves while her world shatters around her. Her parents are glamorous Hollywood royalty, and sometimes she feels like the ugly duckling in a family of swans. Faced with her mother’s death and her father’s withdrawal into grief, Hannah turns to the one thing she can control: her weight.

Hannah’s self-destructive secret takes over her life, but the new Beverly Hills clique she’s befriended at school only reinforces her desire to be beautiful, and not even the quirky misfit Jasper—the only one who seems to notice or care—can help. It will take a journey unlike any other to remind Hannah of who she really is, and to begin to get that girl back. Reasons to Be Happy is about standing up for all the things you love—including yourself.

drey's thoughts:
Hannah Carlisle should be on top of the world. Her parents are movie stars. She herself is an artist and an athlete. Her life is good…

Then she starts at a new school, and all at once everything changes. Why? Because she can’t seem to get herself—her real self—unstuck from the person she becomes with the group she hangs out with at school… Seems like an easy solution: stop hanging out with that group! But Hannah’s bravery has deserted her, and she can’t. So she finds another way to deal with that stress.

I couldn’t believe that such a lovely and talented girl would fall prey to the clutches of the mean girls at school, right from the get-go. Then again, I was never in that situation, so I’m not in any position to say what could be real or not… I wanted to read this book to see how an author addresses one of the many problems that our young girls and women face as they battle their own body image. And see how a young girl's own self-image could become so skewed.

What happened to Hannah can happen to any other eighth-grader, or any other young girl or woman you know. We are too often bombarded with negativity--we're too fat, too tall, to short, too flat, etc. Even when we do well at school or other pursuits, even to those who love us best, it seems our looks are still our most-used measuring stick--and we never seem to measure up. Why is that?

Who defines beautiful? Is it the media? The entertainment industry? Our families? Friends? Acquaintances we barely know? Whose opinion carries the most weight? Why? And most importantly (to me at least): Why do we give control of our own selves over to those who certainly (usually?) don’t give a rat’s behind what happens to us? And what can we do about it? Ok, so maybe I'm being a little harsh--after all, we expect that our parents and loved ones do give a rat's patootie. And we're all just a bit (hah!) too sensitive...

Hannah's being "outed" by her aunt is one step towards recognition, and possible recovery. And when she has to go to Ghana for four weeks, that's four weeks dedicated to something other--other than thinking and stressing about her self, her weight, her insecurities... Can she keep up the progress once she's back in the USA though? You'll have to read Reasons to be Happy to find out.

drey's rating: Pick it up! We need more books like this to reinforce a healthier self-image for our young girls and women! And not just books and messages; we also need to follow through with action. What we say and do is definitely worth more than what we say to do!

Have you read Reasons to be Happy? What did you think? And if you haven't, here's your chance to win a copy!

Giveaway!
Thanks to the publisher, I have one copy of Reasons to be Happy for you, if you live in the US (no PO Boxes, please). To enter, fill out the form below. Good luck!
 

Blog Tour: Heather Lynn Rigaud & (126.) Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star...

Today's tour is for Heather Lynn Rigaud's Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star... How can any Austen fan turn down a title like that? 

About the author:
Debut author Heather Lynn Rigaud is fascinated by the comparisons between life in earlier times and modern times. She spends much of her time thinking about how Regency-era characters would exist now. She is a professional writer with degrees in Music Therapy and Teaching who lives with her husband and two sons in Kingston, NY.

Find Heather online at her blog Austen Nights, on facebook, and twitter.

Heather wrote a guest post for us... How lucky are we? *grin* Actually she wrote two. I had a couple suggestions for topics, and she's sooooooooooo cool she did both. So enjoy!

The first is on re-imagining the classics: the good, the bad, and the ugly. How do you decide what to do with which characters? How much do you stay true to the original character and story?

Well, I'm a plotter and I view the plot as the landmarks on where my story should go. My thought process goes something like: I know Elizabeth and Darcy fight here--how will that work? Here's where they meet at Pemberley--what can I do with that? In working those points out early, I can stay close to Austen's work, and I get a feel for what would be 'right' for each character. Would Elizabeth say this, would Charles do that?

Sir Laurence Olivier 1940

Once I have that framework plotted, I'm able to focus on the characters and really develop them. I spend an insane amount of time thinking about how each one will feel, and then act in each situation--what is Elizabeth like when she gets mad? What is Darcy like when he's uneasy? And then, when everything is in place and I know my characters, I just write. (And sometimes they hijack my story anyway--Richard and Charlotte were terrorists when it came to that.)

David Rintoul 1980

I was committed to keeping Darcy and Elizabeth as true to Austen as possible. The other characters I tried to keep their roles in place--Charles is Darcy's friend and he feels protective of him, Jane is Elizabeth's closest sister and confidant. The roles remained the same, but I was somewhat free in playing with their personalities. For example, Charles got a bit of a spine (but not too much). And then there are clear places where I just went my own way, like Caroline Bingley and Richard Fitzwilliam. In those cases, I developed the characters to fit what I needed in the story--Caroline shows how Darcy acts with most women, and so by contrast the reader can see how differently he treats Elizabeth. Richard is everything Darcy won't allow himself to be--he drinks, he sleeps around, he's somewhat lazy. In contrast, we can see how driven Darcy is.

The second guest post thrills the geek in me. I asked her to compare video game heroes (*cough* Alistair) to paperback heroes. Which format works better (& when)? If you play video games, you'd know exactly who Alistair is. *grin*

This is a cool question. It all comes down to what makes a fictional man attractive. Darcy is very sexy in Austen--even at Hunsford where he's insulting Elizabeth to her face (worst marriage proposal ever!) he is still able to make it swoon-worthy. How does that work? Taking this sexy character, and then amp'ing that up by making him a Rock Star? Well, there you go. It's no surprise that this is a very sexual book.

Colin Firth 1995

I'm a big fan of a video game, Dragon Age, in that your character works very closely with this Knight-type character who is amazingly good at pulling at your heart while also turning you on. And while I was enjoying that, my writer side was wondering how does this work?

So, what makes a guy loveable and hot? And what make him not hot? Universally, Charles Bingley is seen as not hot. (Except to me-because I'm a freak.) Another example is Dr. John Watson from the Sherlock Holmes series. Now, Charles is nice, he's friendly, he's somewhat funny (well, you can laugh at him). He's wealthy and generous--so what doesn't work for him? Watson is brave (war veteran who's the one always carrying the gun, handsome, tough, smart (but not as smart as Holmes, of course) and yet, he's never the hot one.

Matthew Macfadyen 2005

So what is it? The only thing Darcy and Alistair share is a reluctance to admit their feelings at first, and a great intensity when they finally do. So, is that it? Is it the 'still waters run deep' thing? Or is it the way we as a reader/player travel on an emotional journey with them? We start with them in a bad place, and watch them/help them move to a stronger, better place. Darcy goes through, well, a lot--first he falls for Elizabeth and gets flat out rejected (and you know that hurt) then he mends his ways and reconnects with her at Pemberley, only to have that bastard Wickham pull the rug out from under him. Again. (I hate Wickham with the heat of a thousand suns.) So Darcy's a hurtin' boy.

Alistair

Alistair is in a terrible war against the demon-types who are mounting an attack, and in the middle of that, he loses his mentor/father figure through a terrible betrayal, that incites a civil war among the people. On top of that, he's the bastard child of the former King and next in line for the throne, so he's got some issues there that he's in denial about. He's emotionally a wreck, and the player takes charge of the war effort, and slowly draws Alistair out of his grief. (Plus, he was raised by monks, so he's a virgin.)

Both these men are very passionate, but they've had to keep a tight reign on that passion, because it's dangerous when it breaks out. Now, if I can pull on an anthropologist hat for a moment--the idea of 'passion that is dangerous if let run free' is exactly the way many, many cultures view women's sexuality--that it has to be kept bound by strict social mores, otherwise, its as destructive as a wildfire. Now, I'm not saying that either of these characters are women, but it's possible that as women we recognize something familiar about them. They remind us of our sexual side, and we can relate to them in a very deep way. And that's important, because how many times have you looked at a man who's just done something typically male and just "Wha????"

Elliott Cowan 2008

So, we have characters who've suffered, (and boy, we loves us some suffering) and who trust us with something very private and important to them. (Letting Elizabeth stand in for us, of course...) They are familiar in that they don't have those annoying man-traits that we don't understand, but at the same time, they're hyper-manly physically and in their actions. And they're leaders of men.

Clearly, I don't have a good answer here and I'm not sure I could explain it if I did. But, it's really interesting. I'd love to hear what makes a man really 'Work' for them. What makes him hot, sexy and loveable? Thanks for having me here today and for those interesting questions.

About the book:

Darcy's as hot as he is talented...

Fast music, powerful beats, and wild reputations-on and off stage-have made virtuoso guitarist Fitzwilliam Darcy's band into rock's newest bad boys. But they've lost their latest opening act, and their red-hot summer tour is on the fast track to disaster. Now Darcy and bandmates Charles Bingley and Richard Fitzwilliam are about to meet their match...

But she's about to rock his world...

Enter Elizabeth Bennet, fiercely independent star of girl-band Long Borne Suffering. Elizabeth, her sister Jane, and friend Charlotte Lucas have talent to spare and jump at the opening band slot. Elizabeth is sure she's seen the worst the music industry has to offer. But as the days and nights heat up, it becomes clear that everyone is in for a summer to remember.

ISBN-13: 9781402257810
ARC: 566 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite classics, and I jumped at the chance to read a re-imagining of it that doesn't have zombies, vampires, or other other-worldly creatures.

Anyway. Darcy as a rock star. Yum. (Yes, even if I can't really imagine Colin Firth as a rock star... Can you?) He's still arrogant and aloof. He still doesn't know how to talk to Elizabeth without pushing all the wrong buttons. Some things shouldn't ever change...

I enjoyed Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star. It's a bit long at almost 600 pages, and I got a bit annoyed at Richard and Charlotte--way too much angst. Darcy and Elizabeth had the sparks going like crazy, and Jane and Charles were totally mushy. The boy-band meets girl-band plot is almost too convenient, and the creepy Mr. Collins was almost creepier than George Wickham. Ugh.

All in all, this is a pretty fun read for Darcy fans, not least because it's fun imagining the Darcy-rock-star strut... *wink*

drey's rating: Pick it up! 

Have you read Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star? What did you think? And if you haven't, here's your opportunity to win a copy...

Giveaway!
Thanks to the publisher, I have one copy of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star for you! This one's open to US/Canada residents only. To enter, fill out the form before September 30th. Good luck!

Review: 123. No Proper Lady by Isabel Cooper...

Isabel Cooper is a new-to-me author, and I was intrigued by the combination of time-traveling assassin and regency romance...

Title: No Proper Lady
Author: Isabel Cooper
ISBN-13: 9781402259524
ARC: 331 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Every time I look at this cover, I wonder why the girl has a tattoo--it's so not in keeping with historical romances... Then I realize "duh!" she's not from the times, she's just in the times. Or there wouldn't be a story!

Joan comes from "our" world, but a version of our world that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies... Or yours. Demonic hordes are systematically wiping out humanity, and the last survivors are flagging and running out of options. Their last-ditch effort? Sending Joan back in time. Her mission: eliminate the magician who set loose the hordes, before he gets strong enough to do so.

And so this warrior from a bleak world drops onto a pretty pastoral England, and winds up saving the life of Simon Grenville. Coincidence or dumb luck? Who knows. And Joan doesn't care, as Simon is a fortuitous ally--he's got a score to settle with Alex Reynell as well.

The two bring to mind scenes from Pygmalion as Simon and his sister attempt to tutor Joan in the manners and behavior expected of a proper Victorian lady--which she'll need if she's to catch Reynell's eye while out in society. Never mind that she's not a lady, never mind that she cusses like a sailor, and never mind that she's there to kill. What she is is focused on her objective, and she deals with the bewildering array of differences between their worlds with humor and sometimes awestruck joy.

The plot is plausible, the characters endearing, and there's a happy ending (it is a romance novel after all). A nice twist on historical romance with a touch of magic.

drey's rating: Pick it up!

Have you read No Proper Lady? What did you think?

Review: 121. To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell...

Jill Mansell must be the Queen of British chick-lit! Her books are always just the right balance of funny and romantic, and I'd watch any (all!) of 'em if converted to the big screen...

Title: To the Moon and Back
Author: Jill Mansell
ISBN-13: 9781402243851
ARC: 433 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
While reading To the Moon and Back, I kept thinking in the back of my mind how I was going to classify it--was it a contemporary romance? Or chick-lit? I finally settled on both, because while this is quite the romantic read, it's not just about the boy and the girl.

In addition to being about a boy and a girl, To the Moon and Back also deals with loss and grief, allowing yourself to move on, and the wonderful bonds of friendship. All wrapped up in Mansell's trademark humor. How could I not have liked it?

As I read, I could also see the story playing out in my head. You know how there are books you absorb, and books you imagine? Well, I vividly imagined the story playing out. I could see Ellie, Jamie, Roo, Tony, Todd, and Zack in my head--just as if I had a movie reel flickering away... And maybe I'm in a sappy mood, but I loved all the characters--even as I wanted to thunk Zack upside the head for being just a tad too good. You don't get the girl by wishing on a star, buddy!

Make this a movie, and I'll be there with my box of Kleenex... And my girlfriends, of course!

drey's rating: Outstanding! I loved it so much I read it twice, back-to-back, because I just couldn't get enough of Ellie and Zack.

Have you read To the Moon and Back? What did you think?

Review: 114. Tout Sweet by Karen Wheeler...

Today's review is for the rare memoir that I say "yes" to, and I did because I'm a closet Francophile... ;)

Title: Tout Sweet: Hanging Up My High Heels for a New Life in France
Author: Karen Wheeler
ISBN-13: 9781402261183
ARC: 311 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Tout Sweet appealed to me because Karen did something I've always dreamed about--picking up and moving to France. Or Italy--I'd move to Italy, too. I can't imagine buying a house on a whim, or having no kitchen floor, but love the idea of everything within walking distance, friends across the way, and learning French. Of course, it's a bit more complicated than that in real life! *grin*

The people Karen meets are a hoot to read about, but I don't know that I'd have had the patience for the drama. What I liked most about Tout Sweet was the day-to-day stuff--chatting with the neighbors, having everybody wonder who the guy she's having dinner with is, taking a walk...

Tout Sweet is c'est si bon! Add it to your summer reading if you like memoirs with a touch of foreign soil and a dash of self-discovery.

drey's rating: Pick it up!


Have you read Tout Sweet? What did you think?

Happy Birthday: Georgette Heyer's eBooks on sale 8/15 thru 8/21!

Tuesday, August 16 would have been Georgette Heyer’s 109th birthday. In honor of this occasion, Sourcebooks is discounting EVERY SINGLE one of her currently available eBooks to $1.99 for one week!

That’s 46 books by Georgette Heyer, plus the fabulous reader companion, Georgette Heyer’s Regency World by Jennifer Kloester, available for $1.99 from August 15 to August 21.

Below is the full list of titles, separated by category: regency romance, mystery, historical fiction and non-fiction. For covers and retailers, visit Sourcebooks' Heyer birthday page.

Enjoy!!

REGENCY ROMANCE

1.                  Arabella

2.                  Bath Tangle

3.                  Beauvallet

4.                  The Black Moth

5.                  Black Sheep

6.                  Charity Girl

7.                  The Convenient Marriage

8.                  The Corinthian

9.                  Cotillion

10.              Cousin Kate

11.              Devil’s Cub

12.              False Colours

13.              Faro’s Daughter

14.              The Foundling

15.              Frederica

16.              Friday’s Child

17.              The Grand Sophy

18.              Lady of Quality

19.              The Masqueraders

20.              The Nonesuch

21.              Powder and Patch

22.              The Quiet Gentleman

23.              Regency Buck

24.              The Reluctant Widow

25.              Sylvester

26.              The Talisman Ring

27.              These Old Shades

28.              Venetia

MYSTERY

29.              Behold, Here’s Poison

30.              A Blunt Instrument

31.              Death in the Stocks

32.              Detection Unlimited

33.              Duplicate Death

34.              Envious Casca

35.              Footsteps in the Dark

36.              No Wind of Blame

37.              Penhallow

38.              They Found Him Dead

39.              Unfinished Clue

40.              Why Shoot a Butler?

HISTORICAL FICTION

41.              The Conqueror

42.              An Infamous Army

43.              My Lord John

44.              Royal Escape

45.              Simon the Coldheart

46.              Spanish Bride

NON-FICTION

47.              Georgette Heyer's Regency World

Review: 102. Red's Hot Cowboy by Carolyn Brown...

I heart Carolyn Brown. And I heart her sexy cowboys and sassy cowgirls. Do I really need to say more?

Title: Red's Hot Cowboy (Spikes & Spurs #2)
Author: Carolyn Brown
ISBN-13: 9781402253614
ARC: 357 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Carolyn Brown totally owns the cowboy-romance segment of the market. Seriously. Her heroes are hunky and sexy, and completely droolworthy. Her heroines are beautiful and strong, and total smart-alecks. And her stories will make even the most cynical misty-eyed and wistful. What's not to love?

Red and Wil continue to fit the mold of Carolyn's hero and heroine. There are sparks, fights, and fireworks. There are best friends and gossip and good-natured ribbing. There's always the uncertainty, the "what-if", before the happily-ever-after. And there are families who stick together through thick and thin, and all that good food to go with it.  If I weren't already happily married, I'd sign up for one of Carolyn's cowboys, lickety-split!

drey's rating: Excellent!  Make room in your summer reading pile for this sassy love story that'll put a smile on your face when you're done.

Have you read Carolyn Brown's Spikes and Spurs series? Start with Love Drunk Cowboy!

Review: 101. The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter by Mary Ellen Dennis...

The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter was first published in 2007, and is being re-released. The eBook version is out this month, and the paper copy will be out in August.

Title: The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter
Author: Mary Ellen Dennis
ISBN-13: 9781402246319
ARC: 474 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Elizabeth Wyndham is an author with writer's block, and worries that her publisher will soon drop her. And then how will she support her family? John Randolph Remington is a former soldier who's a real-life Robin Hood, robbing the rich to help the poor. The two meet and sparks start flying...

The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter has a plot with plenty of action and suspense, and a romance to balance it out... You'll love Elizabeth and Rand, and you'll want to smack 'em upside the head a few times. But you'll root for them as they run from danger and blackmail, and you'll close your eyes when they come close to losing their lives.

drey's rating: Pick it up! Fans of historical fiction will love this re-issue.

Have you read The Landlord's Black-Eyed Daughter? What did you think?

Review: 82. Demons Prefer Blondes by Sidney Ayers...

Today's review is for the first in a new series from Sidney Ayers...

Title: Demons Prefer Blondes (Demons Unleashed #1)
Author: Sidney Ayers
ISBN-13: 9781402251740
ARC: 392 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Demons Prefer Blondes is a paranormal romance that is quirky and funny. The heroine is a newly-aware succubus who happens to be succubi royalty. The hero is a tortured demon who cannot believe he’s being sent to Earth to retrieve an antique chest. And once Lucy and Rafe meet, all Hell breaks loose. Literally. So what else is there to do but fight?

On the bad side: A big bad demon who’s intent on getting his hands on an antique chest that Lucy’s bff bought from an antique store. He wouldn’t mind getting his hands on Lucy, too, especially once he finds out who her father is. Oh, and he has Rafe’s sister in his thrall.

On the good side: Rafe. His posse: BFF Nic, clean-up maestro Kalli, talking ape-imp Squeaky, Lucy’s guardian angel, and her salon employee-slash-friend Frankie.
Who do you think wins? Why, love of course. After all, this is a romance novel. And in the helter-skelter from the first page to the last is a ton of humor.

With all that said, I do wish I liked this book more than I do. It was an ok read for me--there was so much chaos from so many characters, so nobody really stood out--not even Rafe and Lucy. And their story seemed a bit rushed into, and yet they’re pledging undying love and all that jazz. But still, it’s a fun romp, so give it a whirl if paranormal romance is your thing.

drey's rating: Ok.

Review: 76. Ex-Girlfriends United by Matt Dunn...

I thought the premise of a cad who had to go back and apologize to the girls he'd dated and dumped, would make for a humorous read, especially from a British author...

Title: Ex-Girlsfriends United
Author: Matt Dunn
ISBN-13: 9781402245046
ARC: 317 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Matt Dunn's Ex-Girlfriends United is a funny tongue-in-cheek look at a guy who's trying to get his best buddy to change his caddish ways. It's not too difficult to start the process--by apologizing to his exes--especially when they've rated him badly on a website, but how much does the process stick with the guy?

I expected this to be more about Dan (the cad). After all, it's Dan's ex-girlfriends who've torpedoed his chances at adding to that loooooooooong list... Instead, it's more about Eddie, who starred in Dunn's previous novel Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook, and his confusion about his current relationship when his ex-girlfriend shows up out of the blue. Wanting him back, of course.

There's angst, which I'm not used to from guys. There's denial, which I am. And there's humor, which makes everything better.

drey's rating: Ok. I wasn't enamored with Dan, and Eddie was a bit too wishy-washy for my liking. But I did appreciate this addition to the chick-lit/contemporary romance genre, as you hardly get much that's written from the guy's point of view.

Review: 72. Wish You Were Here by Phillipa Ashley...

I'd enjoyed Phillipa Ashley's Dating Mr. December, so I thought I'd check out her latest, Wish You Were Here... (and no, I haven't gotten to 12 Men of Christmas yet; but it's on my Netflix queue!)

Title: Wish You Were Here
Author: Phillipa Ashley
ISBN-13: 9781402241444
ARC: 286 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks, Inc.

drey's thoughts:
Phillipa Ashley's latest offering is a tale of second chances--and whether you should take them. Beth met Jack when she was just nineteen and vacationing in Corsica. A whirlwind romance later, he asks her to marry him and she says "yes!" Then he disappears, and she's heartbroken. Fast forward eight years and Beth is walking into an interview for a job that she really needs. And guess who's on the other side of the desk? Jack, of course.

Taking this job might be the dumbest thing she ever did, but she needs it. But having to work with Jack--even if it's only temporary--brings up past memories and past hurts. Can they start over? Do they want to?

I liked Beth--she's charming, and you can feel the hurt she's still carrying around. I liked Jack, too. He had his reasons for being a complete cad back then. I even liked the two of them together--there's snappy dialog and chemistry between them. All in all, a good book to add to your beach bag for light summer reading.

drey's rating: Pick it up!

Review: 64. Wickedly Charming by Kristine Grayson...

Wickedly Charming is a contemporary romance with fairy-tale characters--and not exactly the ones you'd think of...

Title: Wickedly Charming
Author: Kristine Grayson
ISBN-13: 9781402248481
Paperback: 379 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Ah, fairy tales. Ever read them and wondered what happened after the Prince marries the girl? Did they really live happily ever after? Well, here's one version where it didn't. Divorced with two children, Prince Charming now runs a bookstore. A man after my own heart--he reads! *wink*

One thing about the cover. The dude on it is delicious--the parts we can see, anyway! *grin* But the book describes him as slightly paunchy, and "paunchy" doesn't equal yummy abs to me.

Ok, back to the book! Prince--or Dave as he prefers to be called--runs into Mellie at a Book Fair, where she's protesting archetypes. Specifically, the evil ones, as in the evil stepmother, the big bad wolf, etc. This being a romance novel, you won't be surprised to find sparks flying between Dave and Mellie. And this being a romance novel, you won't be surprised that there are obstacles to surmount before they get their happily-ever-after.

Wickedly Charming is a darling story about second chances when your happily-ever-after doesn't quite work out. Mellie gets stuck in an insecurity rut too many times for my liking, but overall this sweet story will bring out the warm fuzzies.

drey's rating: Pick it up!

Have you read Wickedly Charming? What did you think?

Michael Malone's Four Corners of the Sky is FREE until Sunday!

Sourcebooks is offering the eBook edition Michael Malone’s Four Corners of the Sky for FREE May 13 through May 15.

In small towns between the North Carolina Piedmont and the coast the best scenery is often in the sky. On flat sweeps of red clay and scrub pine the days move monotonously, safely, but above, in the blink of an eye, dangerous clouds can boil out of all four corners of the sky…The flat slow land starts to shiver and anything can happen.

In such a storm, on Annie Peregrine’s seventh birthday, her father gave her the airplane and minutes later drove out of her life. Thus begins an enchanting novel that bursts with energy from the first pages, and sweeps you off on a journey of unforgettable characters, hilarious encounters, and haunting secrets.

The Four Corners of the Sky is master storyteller Michael Malone’s new novel of love, secrets, and the mysterious bonds of families. Malone brings characters to life as only he can, exploring the questions that defy easy answers: Is love a choice or a calling? Why do the ties of family bind so tightly? And is forgiveness a gift to others…or a gift we give ourselves?

“Fans of Malone’s 1986 picaresque bestseller Handling Sin have something to celebrate with Four Corners of the Sky… A former soap opera writer, Malone understands the art of great storytelling: There's humor and action aplenty, but Four Corners is also a warmhearted Iook at how we love and forgive. Five hundred and forty-four pages never seemed so short.” —People (4 STARS, People Pick)

“Devoted Michael Malone fans have been waiting more than 20 years for another Handling Sin, perhaps the greatest road novel since Tom Jones. The wait is over.” —Booklist (Starred Review)

ALSO, anyone who writes in to publicity@sourcebooks.com on FRIDAY MAY 13 will be entered to win a selection of Michael Malone backlist, including his bestselling novel, Handling Sin. Include “Malone Giveaway” in subject line please.

Purchase at Amazon

Review: 58. Love Drunk Cowboy by Carolyn Brown...

I love me some good ol' Carolyn Brown cowboy romances! And was very happy to get my hands on a copy of her latest--Love Drunk Cowboy. How could you not want to read a book with that title?

Title: Love Drunk Cowboy (Spikes & Spurs #1)
Author: Carolyn Brown
ISBN-13: 9781402253584
Paperback: 391 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
I love cowboys. Or rather, I love the idea of cowboys. The hats are just sexy (anyone watch The Amazing Race? I ❤ Jet!), they can two-step and (boot-scootin') boogie, and they're muscled from hard work, not a workout bench... Alright, alright, I'm wiping off the drool now...

Carolyn Brown's characters are always a hoot, full of sass and vinegar, stubborn as a mule, and sexy as hell. And Love Drunk Cowboy is no different. Here we have a big city gal who's in town to take care of her departed grandmother's affairs. Right across the street is the sexy cowboy who's been on the phone every Thursday night for so long she's sure she knows him inside and out. Then girl meets boy and girl is completely flummoxed. Who knew he was young? Or sexy? Well, other than you & I that is... Oh, and Carolyn too! *wink*

Of course, he's always around, pointing out things that need to be taken care of like planting this year's crop (she rides a tractor!), paying the hired help, buying supplies, and making her grandmother's wine... Slowly but surely this little town nudges its way into the big city gal's heart. And she's torn--does she go back to her big city job with the promotion she's worked so hard for? Or does she stay with the little town, the farm, and the sexy cowboy?

I'm not giving away any answers. And you know the journey to the answer is going to be fun to read, so pick this up and prepare to be entertained!

drey's rating: Pick it up! Carolyn Brown's cowboy romances are must-reads for those who love their contemporary romances amidst ranches, rodeos, sassiness, sexiness, and spunk!

Review: 52. Rock Hard by Olivia Cunning...

Who doesn't want to read sexy hot romances with rock stars at the heart of it?

Title: Rock Hard (Sinners on Tour #2)
Author: Olivia Cunning
ISBN-13: 9781402245770
ARC: 431 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Rock Hard starts off with a bang, and doesn't let up throughout the entire book. This time the focus is on the bad-boy lead singer Sed Lionheart, and his ex-fiancée Jessica. Sed's not one to hold back on his opinions, and that in itself wouldn't be so bad except for his penchant to say exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time. You ever hear "it's not what you say, it's how you say it"? Well, when it's Sed we're talking about, it is what he says, too...

Like when he tells Jessica that she can't go to law school because he forbids it. And then he wonders why she left... Then she's back on the bus as Myrna's new assistant and everything is tense, tense, tense. Not only between Sed and Jessica, but the other band members are still mad at her for walking out. Although, it really isn't any of their business... 

Of course, being in such close quarters means that Sed and Jessica really can't avoid each other, and things get hot and heavy before you can say "hot and heavy"... And Olivia Cunning rocks at writing love scenes so sexy you'll wish for a fan. Not only that, she's also created characters that you want to like, and want to succeed in their quest for love. I cannot wait for Trey's and Jace's turns...

Is the cranky rake ready to reform his ways? Is the stubborn beauty going to give him another chance? You'll have to read this to find out (but I'll give you a hint, it is a romance)!

drey's rating: 3/5 Good: Olivia Cunning's second Sinners on Tour book is just as steamy as her first! Phew!

April eBook Promotions from Sourcebooks!

Boy, does Sourcebooks have some deals for you! Let's hope I got all of these down right...

In Honor of Ciji Ware’s Brand New Release in over a Decade:

A Race to Splendor is only $4.99 during the week of 04/05/2011 – 04/11/2011
Purchase at Amazon, BN, Sony, Kobo, BooksOnBoard, BooksAMillion, Sourcebooks

AND A Cottage by the Sea by Ciji Ware is FREE during the week of 04/05/2011 – 04/11/2011
Purchase at Amazon, BN, Sony, Kobo, Apple, BooksOnBoard, BooksAMillion, Sourcebooks


Olivia Cunning’s Rock Hard, book 2 in her Erotic Romance Series, Sinners On Tour, hits stores this month. Start at the beginning with the first sizzling hot book that introduced us to the hottest rock band EVER:

Get Backstage Pass for FREE during the week of 04/05/2011 – 04/11/2011
Purchase at Amazon, BN, Sony, Kobo, BooksOnBoard, BooksAMillion, Sourcebooks

Are you a good witch or a Hexy witch? Linda Wisdom’s latest witchy tale, Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend is also in stores this month. Read the book that introduced us to her hexy witches for FREE!

50 Ways to Hex Your Lover FREE during the week of 04/05/2011 – 04/11/2011
Purchase at Amazon, BN, Sony, Kobo, AppleUS, AppleCA, AppleAU, AppleUK, AppleFR, AppleDE, BooksOnBoard, BooksAMillion, Sourcebooks

Phew! Those are a LOT of links! Hopefully I got 'em all right--if not, please let me know & I'll fix. In the meantime, go pick up the free reads!

Review: 45. Demons are a Girl's Best Friend by Linda Wisdom...

I've read and enjoyed Linda Wisdom's Hex in High Heels, and thought I'd try her new series...

Title: Demons are a Girl's Best Friend
Author: Linda Wisdom
ISBN-13: 9781402254390
ARC: 354 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Maggie is a rebel with a cause. Kicked out of the Witch Academy ages ago, she's a member of the Hellion Guard, whose job is to keep the paranormals in line (and dispatch those who cross it). She is feisty, and can be somewhat cranky. But if you've lived for 700-odd years, you'd be feisty and cranky too. Right?

Maggie meets Declan when a bust at his club goes ka-blooey (literally). Demon--check. Gorgeous--of course. Attitude--did you even have to ask? But, being the smart kind of tall & gorgeous demon with attitude, Declan sees something in Maggie. Not that he'd follow up on it, oh no. Except, oh wait. He does.

Two smart-asses never ever get along at first, until circumstance pits 'em together against something bigger--and that doesn't change in this paranormal romance offering. The circumstance? Finding and protecting a sullen and rebellious teenager. The something bigger? Evil Mayan priests looking to bring back their biggest of the baddest by sacrificing said sullen rebellious teenager. Nothing like a good ol' end-of-all-days catastrophe to bring 'em together!

Do the evil Mayans succeed? Does the rebellious teenager turn Maggie's head bald? Do our demon and witch decide that love is worth everything? You'll have to read and find out, 'cuz I don't ever spill the beans... *wink*

drey's rating: 3/5 Good: A quick read that's fun & entertaining, with lots of interesting characters and a major plotline that flows throughout.

Review: 40. Taste Me by Tamara Hogan...

Tamara Hogan is a new-to-me author, and her new paranormal romance offering Taste Me is a combustible mix of rock stars, sirens, and sex demons.

Title: Taste Me (Underbelly Chronicles #1)
Author: Tamara Hogan
ISBN-13: 9781402246012
ARC: 370 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Sourcebooks

drey's thoughts:
Scarlett Fontaine was hooked on Lukas Sebastiani. Too bad he didn't feel the same way. But she's spent the past year touring with her band (she's not running away, nuh uh) so maybe she's weaned herself off of all that now... Or maybe she'll just stay far away from him. She'll find out soon enough--returning home for the last gig of the tour will provide a respite from the grueling schedule that's taken a toll on her health.

But murder has followed Scarlett home, and takes a loved one from her. And she has no choice but to accept that Lukas is going to be sticking by her for a while. Not because of love, oh no--he's her bodyguard. What's a girl to do in this situation? Well, let's start by making him squirm at that very last show on the tour schedule. She is a siren after all...

Taste Me was a good read throughout, but I didn't love it because I didn't love Scarlett. She seemed a little bit too immature to me--and I know that sounds off, but hey, she's a rock star, she's gorgeous, and she's spent all this time moping about a boy. And that boy. What a tortured soul. What a martyr. He loves the girl but he's afraid that his brand of making whoopee is too rough for her. Um, dude. Get over it already! (For the record, there was nothing kinky going on...)

The story played out nicely, the cast of characters had enough (characters) to make my head spin at times (thank goodness there's a lil' cheat sheet to keep me straight on who's who and who's what), the premise behind how the others got to our world is refreshing, and the murder subplot left me with questions--but as this is a romance novel and not a mystery novel, I'll not grumble about that.

drey's rating: 3/5 Good

Have you read Taste Me? What did you think?