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Charming Dave

Check out my cover for Charming Dave! I love it!

Book Series

Several authors I love, who write long term series, have had releases recently. The books are released in hard cover and I'm first in line to buy the books and drop everything to read them. Sometimes they disappoint, sometimes they're awesome. Sometimes they are mind numblingly predictable, but sometimes the author blows you out of the water and breathes new life into the series. So here are some reviews of series I follow.

Suzanne Brockmann's Breaking the Rules: I never really liked Izzy Zanella and couldn't understand the appeal of Eden Gillman so I didn't expect to like the book, but I liked the romance, both Eden and Izzy's and Danny and Jennilyn's. She lost me with taking on one too many social issues. I'm in line with her politics, so her progressive views match mine and I don't get upset. But in this one she dealt with juvenile diabetes, bullying, gay bashing and hyper-judgmental parents, and sex slave trafficking. The Gillman family is well and truly fucked up and I thought the resolution of all their issues came way too easy.

JR Ward's Lover Unleashed: This was not a romance about the supposed main couple, Payne and Manny. It was a second book about Vishous and his hang ups and the two people who've enabled his disfunctions, his mate Jane and his best friend Butch. Given that I really don't like Vishous, I was the book was so much about him. And, after the last book bringing more of Tohr's past with an eye to his future, I was looking for more Tohr. There was none, so I kinda flew through it and really didn't like it that much. I am excited about the next book, because Tohr is the hero (and my favorite of the brotherhood). She's been so close-lipped about his heroine, I'm on the edge of my seat for the book.

Charlaine Harris' Dead Reckoning: Trouble for Sookie's love life? Been there, done that. This time the end leaves more questions than it answers and I'm definitely tuning in for the next book.

SEP's Call Me Irresistible: A gem with a strong heroine and lots of favorite characters from past Wynette, Texas books. I'd love it if the Denton family could visit Wynette. I'd love me some more Bobby Tom and Gracie.

I have yet to read Rachel Gibson's newest in her Chinook hockey series and the latest JD Robb. And even though the last few Stephanie Plum books have been eh?, I'm still all set to get the next one the day it comes out. I just can't quit her.

Charming Dave blurb

Ainslie Logan is the worst waitress in the world. A displaced, former trophy wife from the south, she's barely supporting herself and her three children working as a waitress in a popular sports bar north of Boston. Dave Mason is a high school principal who spends a lot of time in that local watering hole.

Due to Ainslie's lack of skill, Dave’s more than once ended up wearing his meal instead of eating it. She’s not his favorite person; she thinks he's a stuck-up jerk with an attitude. When her kids come to his attention during some bullying problems, he changes his opinion pretty quickly when he sees what a great mom she is.

Dave has been waiting for the one woman he can fall in love with and that woman is Ainslie. Ainslie is cautious, due to her rat fink, stinker ,jailbird of an ex-husband. She also has her children to consider, who are having problems adjusting. So while she’s very attracted to Dave, she fights falling in love with him.

When Dave pulls out all the stops to woo and win over Ainslie (and her kids) in a way that would make Cinderella swoon, she learns that yes, she can love again.

Concert Tonight!

The Finger Lakes Women's Chorale will present an eclectic program entitled "Journeys."
Come on down to the Community School of Arts and check us out. 8 PM in the third floor performance space!

Authors I Love

Let's talk about favorite authors. I'll start this off with Tami Hoag.

I fell in love with the romantic comedies she wrote for Bantam's Loveswept line. I glommed every single one of them I could find. Quirky, yet real characters, fun settings and I loved the way they all shared the same universe.

When she started moving into romantic suspense and single titles, she still drew from the Loveswept universe. I followed her as she moved away from romance into straight suspense and I've never looked back. I don't normally read suspense but I make an exception for Tami Hoag. Her latest book is one of the best I've ever read and I hope she writes more stories in this 80's setting.

Call Me Irresistable

The latest book from the amazing Susan Elizabeth Phillips hits the shelves tomorrow! I can't wait! I loved Teddy Beaudine in Lady Be Good and love how she's tying in characters from Glitter Baby and First Lady into the Fancy Pants universe.

My favorite of SEP's books is Heaven, Texas. Bobby Tom and Gracie are such good characters and the book is a textbook on "show, don't tell." Must read for any author! I also love her geek heroes, like Dex from Lady Be Good and Yank from Hot Shot.

What's your favorite SEP?

Quote of the Day

"In real estate, it's location, location, location. In writing, it's diction, diction, diction." Paul Raymond Martin

Quote of the Day

"In writing (as in most endeavors) sweat rules over inspiration." Paul Raymond Martin

Quote of the Day

"There are worse crimes than burning books. Oneof them is not reading them." Joseph Brodsky

Quote of the Day

‎"The word 'fail,' of course, ceases to apply if we know that whether we try something new or practice something old, we are merely gaining information. It's pretty hard to look for information when we dress up ahead of time in our black j...udge's robes and horn-rimmed spectacles. 'Caught you, you miserable failure,' is about all we can say in such garb. But when you pencil and pad in hand and dress for a reporter's job, we can go for 'Just the facts, ma'am . . .' 'Just clean simple facts, if you don't mind, sir.' No slanting or sitting in judgement or you're fired - on the spot. No editorials - leave that to the editor. We don't want your opinions, just straight reporting." Eloise Ristad

Quote of the Day

"Many cultures believed the letters of their alphabets were far more than just symbols for communication, recording transactions, or recalling history. They believed letters were powerful magical symbols that could could be used to cast spells and predict the future." Christopher Vogler

Quote of the Day

"The ordinary world is the place to state the theme of your story. What is the story really about? If you had to boil down its essence to a single word or phrase, what would it be? What single idea or quality is it about? Love? Trust? Betrayal? Vanity? Prejudice? Greed? Madness? Ambition? Friendship? What are you trying to say?" Christopher Vogler

Quote of the Day

"I would hate for somebody to think of humor or writing humor as a technical matter. Grammar is technique, a sense of rhythm is a technique and looking words up in the dictionary to learn what they mean is a technique. You can't be funny unless you know exactly what you are trying to say." Roy Blount Jr.

Books

What book coming out soon are you looking forward to? I can't wait for SEP's Call Me Irresistible, Suz Brockmann's Breaking the Rules, Tami Hoag's Secrets to the Grave, JR Ward's Lover Unleashed and Susan Andersen's upcoming release. Does Michele Albert have a book coming out this year?

Quote of the Day

"You can lead a horticulture but you can't make her think." Dorothy Parker

Quote of the Day

"Begin with an individual, and before you know it you have created a type; begin with a type and you find that you have created - nothing." F. Scott Fitzgerald

Writing quote of the day

"Revision is never finished, but at some point you have to let it be, and send it out to market." Paul Raymond Martin

Quote of the Day

I found this cute book by Paul Raymond Martin called The Writer's Little Instruction Book. It has all these little aphorisms about writing. I'll be posting one a day, starting today. Happy New Year!


"Writing well is tedious.
Having written well is joyful." Paul Raymond Martin.