The Abduction of Julia by Karen Hawkins

Maybe I'm just feeling impatient today. I tossed aside several books before I settled on this one and I really can't focus on it so I keep putting it down to do something else. I've read about a third of it and I reckon that's enough. I just feel like I've read it before. Not literally, but more figuratively. There's nothing special about the story. The characters are all suitably likeable, although the heroine is of the sickly sweet do-gooder variety that makes you want to throw up with her overwhelming concern for others. The villians are also suitablly villanous with their evil machinations. It seems an okay story, but there are so much better ones out there.

The Husband Trap: A Novel by Tracy Anne Warren

The book begins with the heroine pretending to be her sister and marrying the man she loves. The story shows how they grow to love each other and keeps the angst and drama going with him calling her by her sister's name in moments of passion and her worrying over him discovering the ruse. The plot's been done before, but this is a really great version of it. The heroine is smart, has a sense of humor, has empathy for those around her, and put's others first. She also grows in the story to know herself better and grow out of the shell she surrounded herself with because of the psychological abuse of her family(they're all really critical of her).

I love stories about mousy or quiet heroine who get the guy and this story delivers. It seems like its been awhile since I'[ve read a story and wondered if the hero was worthy of the heroine. Lately it seems to be the other way around with these wonderful hero and self-centered, conceited, stubbon, and annoying heroines. He actually has to prove himself worthy of her since he's the one who didn't even know what twin he married.

If you liked Lisa Kleypas' Devil in Winter, you will like this too.

His Wicked Kiss: A Novel by Gaelen Foley

This is the frst book I've read by Gaelen Foley, but it won't be the last. I really liked the idea of the heroine living in ths exotic locale, very isolated and dreaming of going to England. It seems like a lot of stories with heroines from exotic locales end up with really strident and arrogant who are certain their way is the best and only way and that they need to change the society they enter to make a place for themselves. I hate those books and sort of don't read any romances with heroines from India because of it. They just annoy me. I liked that this heroine adapted well to her new circumstances. I do get what other complain about with the witholding sex thing and the contrived circumstances to set everything up and the story does lose steam once they get to Ireland, but I still really enjoyed it and would totally recommend it to others.

The Naked Baron by Sally MacKenzie

Basic Plot: Grace and the Baron see each other across a crowded dance floor and he decides he wants to marry her, but her father was once jilted by the Baron's mother and he hates the family and even influenced her aunt Kate to marry a much older man to keep her from marrying the Baron's Uncle Alex. Alex has always loved Kate and they sleep together and she gets pregnant and they have their love story. It's pretty straight-forward. Grace's father tries to force her to marry the man he chooses for her and drags her away from the Baron and she has to decide if she loves the Baron enough to disappoint her father.

I'm not sure I get why some of the other's were less than fond of this. Yes, the love stories are a bit superficial. For example, both the older and younger sets of lovers had only met a few times before deciding to love each other. In fact, for the Baron and Grace, he experienced love/lust at first sight. I didn't really ind it since none of the characters were particularly strident, amoral, or annoying. No, there isn't much drama involved in this story and that's one of my favorite things about the story. I also liked that the heroine is tall and statuesque instead of being either tall and slim, short and slim, or short and curvy. I can't think of any other similarly built romance heroines. I think Coulter had one years ago. I kinda liked that the Baron (his name is escaping me) liked her large breast since so many romances are about making women with smaller breasts feel better. 2 of my sisters have pretty huge chests and I bet they would definitely identify more with Grace than the typical skinny or hourglass heroines.

So in the end, this book is sort of middle of the road since it does nothing badly and also nothing well. It's proficient, but since it isn't offensive and didn't make me want to throw it across the room, I gave it 4 stars.

Sexy As Hell (Berkley Sensation) by Susan Johnson

Just FYI/Spoiler. Ther heroine is typical Susan Johnson, a bit strident and anooying, but mostly good. The realy problem with the story is the hero. He is really young at 22 and maybe that's the excuse for his behavoir. He leave his wife and goes back to his mistress and then gets rid of the mistress and spends a night with his wife then goes back to cheating on her with other women. Yes he sometimes calls the other women by his wife's name, but since the reason for him leaving is never really explains more than being commitment-phobic. He's also an alcoholic who never stops drinking something for every meal. I mean, alcoholism is a serious problem that causes lots of health problems. Also, he never feels guilt that he cheats on his wife or remorse even though she admits it bothers her that he did it. Also he says he loves her at the end of the story, but actions speak louder than words and his actions do not show love and even his wife doesn't think he means it when he says he loves her, but she feels he will mean it "with time". Yeah, it's a bit of a frustrating story so I'd stay away from it if I were you. Oh, and the end is really quick. It goes from him having dinner with a woman he's also sleeping with who runs a house of prostitution and within a few pages he has a complete turnaround because his wife is pregnant and suddenly he wants to be involved. There's no explanation given or closure. He just decided he wants her back after ignoring her and drinking all his meals and sleeping with innumerable women and he comes back and says he loves her and that's the end of it and the story is other. Literally the wrap up is like 5 pages.

At the Duke's Pleasure by Tracy Anne Warren

I'll admit that I liked the drama and angst of Claire. Yes, she did come across as a bit immature and crazy, but I give her a pass since she's a fictional character in a romance novel and they're kinda funny when they're crazy. Ned was a great hero, strong and determined and puts up with a lot from the heroine so you could see them together and happy for a long time. he can take a lot and since her excuse for the craziness is unrequited love, then I guess the craziness ends when she's finally certain her loves her. I was really expecting the heroine to have some deep dark secret of some reason other than unrequited love for not wanting to marry, but nope, that's what it was. The ending of the book is a bit absurd, but that whole spy subplot is a minor part of the story.

Blaze of Memory (Psy-Changelings, Book 7) by Nalini Singh

So everyone else has explained the plot really well. We have Dev and Katya with Katya brainwashed to kill Dev at some point. We never do find out what her trigger was for her attempt to assisinate him since that scene is from his perspective. While some people have complained about the discrepancy between Dev's strength and Katya's wilingness to follow him, I liked that about the book. There wasn't a lot of angsty drama with her doing her own thing no matter what. I get so tired of that in books where the author seems to just add the drama that the story lacks. I liked both Katya and Dev as characters, they were really sympathetic and(SPOILER) yes I cried at the end when they were happy anf during the scenes where she says goodbye before she thinks she will die. I don't usually go for melodrama, but in this book it worked for me.

In Bed With A Stranger by Mary Wine

As a couple of other reviews said, this book is really formulaic and the villains are tooo cartoony. I mean on the lever of Cinderella's evil step mother and co. I say that, but I also think that the author starting the story from the step-mother's point of view was a mistake because it makes you sympathize with her. I mean, she is the wife and her husband is giving her mistress her jewelry and has her in his bed. This made me seriously dislike the father(kept waiting for him to die at the beginning darn it) and by extension his mistress and her children. It just seemed so wrong that he get's away with cheating on his wife for years and in the end his wife's bitterness kills her and drives her to attempt murder and after she and her daughter dies, he marries his mistress. Ugh. I read just the beginning and the end of the story so I'm sure a lot happened in the middle that I didn't get through because I felt sympathy for the wife and her daughter and could see the way the author was painting her and it just seemed so wrong. Oh, and the daughter of the mistress who is the female protagonist is a Mary Sue. Seriously, she is all that is good and helps other and is beloved and so put upon by the wife. If I wanted to read Cinderella, I would do so.

Scars Upon Her Heart: A Novel of the Napoleonic Wars by Sorcha MacMurrough

I do like the story with the falsely-accused of treason Vivena and the stalwart and honorable Stewart. The characters are interesting, but this is definitely a plot-driven novel rather than an emotion driven one. I really like this since in so many romances it seems like it takes forever for something to happen. I've just discoverer the author and really like her stories, although I find the dialogue and inner monologues of the characters to be awkward, the story-line is not. Viveina is a different sort of heroine. She's ridiculously good with all weapons and military tactics. I'm not exagerating when comparing her to Xena Warrior Princess. She kills dozens of soldiers and saves her lover without a scratch on her. The author is also definitely not afraid to let lots of secondary characters die while leaving the main characters alive. At first it was a little mary-sue-ish since Viveina was good at everything, but as the story went on, I kinds liked having an absurd super-heroine as the main character. If you put it together, this 18/19 year old is an expert at everything from healing to weapons to sewing and cooking and convincing others to go along with her plans. It sort of makes me want to go back and read a romance with a clutzy heroine who's bad at everything to balance out the uber-everything Vivena. One thing I like about this author is that the misunderstandings that are such an annoying part of romance loves for me are in the story, but didn't seem to truly keep the main characters apart.

One thing I thought was weird was that Stewart goes into battle and Viveina waits for him with no idea where he is and eventually finds him with another woman and his only explanation is that she did the same thing to him earlier in the book (disappearing for 3 months for a greater cause) but that seems an odd explanation. Maybe the author couldn't think of a good reason for him not to get word to his wife who just gave birth to 2 children when he was called away to the battle. That was irritating for me. Why have this be a part of the story if she wasn't going to explain it. Also, while I do like Viveina, she is definitely an unusual heroine for a romance novel, for one thing, she doesn't really seem to care about her kids. Don't get me wrong, they are taken care of, but she goes into battle to save her husband while pregnant and her thoughts are that they can always have more children. She also keeps the children with her instead of sending them to safety in England even knowing how dangerous it is. The author even has a scene where all the women and children camp followers are killed thus showing how dangerous it is. This bothered me. Yes, she had a greater mission, but she should have sent the children to safety as soon as they were big enough to travel while she stayed in Portugal and looked for her husband. I have read the second book in the series too and her characterization is consistent except that in this case she sacrifices her unborn child for a family friend and the child dies rather than her simply putting it in danger like before.

I'm not complaining about this. It is great of the author to let her romance heroine not be particularly maternal. Not all women love their children to the point of self-sacrifice like most romance heroines do and its refreshing to read about a heroine who doesn't seem to pay any attention to the children at all. You know, the more I think about it, the more it does bother me that she killed her child to save another, yeah this is so NOT getting re-read.

The books makes for an exhausting read. So much happens in it. Viveina and the setting are the most unique things about this story. Not many romance take place on the continent during the Napoleonic War or feature a excessively competent warrior heroine.

Perfect Partners by Jayne Anne Krentz

I've you've read any other books by JAK from the nineties, you've read this one. There is nothing particulary different about this one except that the MCs are a bit less likeable. The hero is bland and 'damaged' and I suppose it's hard to like a heroine who comes in and inherits a business promised by the previous owner to the hero and she had never asked for it or made any sort of conrtibution before inheriting it while the hero had worked for the company for 10 years and basically built it into the business it became. As stated in the book, it was just business, but that doesn't make it fair(I know life isn't fair, but this is a romance novel after all). In the end, I only finished the book to read to the point where she would do the right thing and let the hero have the business he'd worked so hard for and I hope it doesn't spoil anything that she does offer it to him and the henpecked nitwit only accepts half in the spirit of cooperation and love... barf.

Dancing at Midnight by Julia Quinn

Perhaps I can see how some people might dislike this book. Yes, the 'secret' the hero has borders on the non-sensical, "are you serious?" side, but this is one of the few romance novels that really convinced me that the hero and heroine cared for each other. Both are considerate of the other(as much as possible in this sort of romance) and neither becomes strident or whiny. It's more of a feel-good romance then a dramatic, will-they-wont-they sort of romance, oh the angst sort of romance. I hate that other type, so this feel-good romance is a great sort of romance if you are in the mood for one. I don't think anyone would regret the time spent reading it, and I would definitely recommend it to others.

Prince of Shadows by Susan Krinard

As stated in the title the prologue kept me riveted. I wanted to know what would happen next. Then the book happened and I've only gotten a quarter through, but I'm probably going to toss it. I bought it for 25 cents at the thrift store and would re-donate it, but with the price of gas and it not being on my way to work, it's not worth it.

Frankly, my new philosophy is not to spend time reading happy-ending type books if I don't wish the characters a happy ending.

For me, the heroine's philosophy on wolves is what makes me want her to die miserable and alone. She advocates the release of wolves into less habited areas and I've heard of that before and even lived near one of those areas for awhile while visiting a relative near Yellowstone, but for the most part have always lived in a city so those wolf-advocated are unlikely to want to release wolves around me, but I would hate to live somewhere and have people from the government let loose wolves in the neighborhood. I totally agree with the farmers who want to just shoot and poison the tresspassing wolves. "Wolves, government sponsored terrorists" was an apt bumper sticker I saw when visiting Wyoming and pretty much sums up my feelings. That and if these scientists really beleived wolves should be returned to their natural habitat, why don't they release them in Central Park? Hopefully these programs will lose funding with the government having it's budget issues.

See, so any time the heroine thought about studying wolves, it took me out of the story and caused me to wish ill things to happen to her. After about a quarter of the way through, I realized I'd wasted over 2 hours of my life on this novel and gave up on it.

If you have no particular feelings about the repopulation of wolves in America, then you might be able to apprecate this novel, but my own feelings about it kept me from enjoying it and made me want the heroine to drive herself off a cliff or something.

The Frog Prince's Daughters by Wendy Palmer

This is another self aware fairy tale universe similar to Mercedes Lackey's Harlequin Luna series. I tend to like that series and my appreciation is echoed by mine for this series. The characters are interesting and I honestly wanted to know more about them afterward, although I don't think the author has returned to this universe. I loved the romance between Rana and the wizard and getting to see the step-mother become more than she wanted to be. Her character in particular is a tragic figure that deserves a happy ending. I like that the author allows other characters to bring up the bad-side of fairy tales. Such as having 3 sons means the first 2 must die or the stepsisters cutting off their toes to fit into the slippers. Or even the magic that helps all of this along deciding to kill one of the main characters. I should also note that I didn't buy the ebook here since I don't have a kindle. I bought from FW with a 60% off coupon(totally worth full price though). It's a multi-format book over there so you can download the format to fit your needs. I do epub for my sony reader and phone. You know, I've been reading a lot of romances lately, maybe they are like candy and reading this ebook in which the romance is important but not the most important part of the story is remarkably inspiring. Now I want to ready more straight-up science fiction and fantasy titles.

I'm not very good with synopses, but since no one has come before me to do it better, I suppose you must bear with me. Needless to say it is spoilerific.

Rana is the main character and the entire story is told from her perspective. She is the sarcastic, susupicious cousin of the somewhat dense(total dumb blonde) princess Anura. It's very hard to ever gain any sympathy for Anura, but I don't suppose that's what the author wants. Rana takes care of her cousin and sacrifices for her. Rana saves Anura from death in the garden at the hands of a wizard and after other attempts are made(with Rana always saving Anura. The duo along with a childhood friend and the princess's stepmother journey to find 'the three'. During the journey they get clues for the next steps and are attacked a few more times by the wizard with whom Rana is forming an attachment. Their relationship is ... complex. They have the final show-down with the boss(crazy witch lady) and someone is killed, but unfortunately, Anura does get to have her happy ending.

There are still unanswered questions at the end of the novel. For example, why does the king dislike Rana? What happened to her father? They say her mom was killed by a flu, but I'd like to know more about that too and the history fo the world. I wish there was a little more explanation about the origins of the kingdoms. The kingdom Rana lives in is descended from the Frog of the Frog Prince fame and it's stated that this began 200 years earlier, but I want to know more about how it started and what keeps it going. They define a little of what keeps it going and what the world is like outside the magical areas.

My Sony Reader

There are many ways to get started with blogging since the main purpose of this review is reviewing ebooks, I thought I would start with my dedicated ebook reader.

*Image from http://sonyprs350.com/ since I do not have access to a camara at this time.

I own a Sony PRS-350 bought from Best Buy last January for $139 plus tax.  It's a purchase for which I still have no regrets.  I first started reading ebooks on my computer back in 2004, but it took 2006 or so before I started amassing more ebooks then physical, or dead tree, books.  By the time 2008 rolled around, my dtb budget was almost 0. I still stop by Half Price Books if anyone else suggests it, but I've probably bought 10-12 physical books in the last year, maybe....  You can contrast this with the 18 ebooks I bought online yesterday or thing about the 8 or 9 boxes full of books in the cupboard under the stairs. Yes I like books.

So why did it take so long for me to buy a dedicated ebook reader? 

Probably the technology. I bought my Cowon D2 back in 2007 which was a touch-screen mp3 player with a text reader on it's 2.5 inch screen. I was quite content to use that as my ebook reader/music player(really crappy video player) until the radio stopped working and I dropped it in water causing the touchscreen to become discolored and almost completely unusable. :-( this was in 2010 so it lasted a good 2.5-3 years.  After it's demise, I tried reading on my phone, a ancient and ridiculously slow Tmobile Wing. It was okay, but mostly I read on my netbook, a MSI Wind, until getting the Android bug in April and buying a Archos 5 IT.  The A5IT was okay, but I never did find a ebook reader application that I loved with it and it ran out of battery quickly and it was simply another device to carry around. le sigh.  Then I got my Behold 2 in August and thought, now I can use this as a phone and ereader. Alas, that never happened. Maybe I'm just not meant to reader from a small screen?(Other than the 2.5 Cowon one lol)  So as you can tell, I've spent years resisting buying a dedicated ereader. Every device I own is a jack of all trades, but master of none type device. :-(

So then it occured to me that I have a major birthday coming up in October and I really wanted to go on a cruise. This provided the impetus to finally commit and buy the ereader. I spent weeks in exhaustive research before concluding that I can't go backward and get a non-touchscreen device. That made the decision much simpler, especially since the Sony PRS-350 was on sale and came with a free case.  Frankly, it's been years since I bought a non-touchscreen electronics device so when I was looking at all these e-readers which required the use of buttons, I was not impressed.


Review
This 5 inch e-reader fits into my hand. I can just swipe my finger across the page to go to the next one or to go back. I still use the physical buttons a lot though since they are right where my fingers are when I'm holding the device. The screen has little glare, but it does seem to attract dust. That bothered my at first, but I don't notice it anymore. I don't notice the flash when I turn the page anymore either. For the $140 I paid for this, I've received many hours of amusement and have still only paid for about $30 worth of books.

One of the pros of this device is that you can check out books from the Library with it. I also get a lot of books from Project Gutenburg and buy cheap books from Smashwords.

A negative for some people will certainly be the lack of wifi or 3g. I don't miss it because I use Calibre to organize my books on the computer and I'm never far from a computer. I'm not even close to filling the memory on the device and have over a hundred books on it.

I usually look for books by either author or time loaded onto the device, with the occasional search via title if I can't remember the author. You can also add tags to the books in Calibre which will make groups on the device and you can navigate by those tags instead.

One weak point in the design on the e-reader is the stylus. I rarely used mine and it still broke last month. I figure I'll live without it and glued it onto the e-reader since the ereader doesn't look right without the stylus.

It also doesn't come with an ac adapter and doesn't work with all the other ac adapters you may have in your home with the same connection. I had 3, a non-name from ebay, a samsung one from my phone, and one from my Archos 5 IT. Only the Samsung works properly. The no name will not allow me to use the reader while charging, but will charge it and the Archos one doesn't work at all.

All in all, a great device. It feels solid and has given me few problems in the last few months. I'm now a believer in dedicated ebook readers.

That said, as of a couple of weeks ago, I started reading ebooks on my phone(a rooted and androidified HD2) in the interests of carrying fewer devices around and ensuring that my Sony PRS-350 lasts a long time, the stylus has already broken and the silver is starting to rub off the forward button. Neither of these things effects my enjoyment of the device and it probably not typical.  I've probably read well over a hundred books on the device in the 4 months  (I average at least 1 book per day) so someone who reads 100 in a year would see the damage much slower than I do.

So what's next for this blog?

I'm going to be reviewing the 18 books I bought from Fictionwise and any others that are particularly inspiring in my collection. I will also begin reviewing Android ebook reader applications.  Since this blog is also about life, some of that my infiltrate as well. ;-) Tomorrow I'll be reviewing The Frog Prince's Daughters.