The Misadventures of Super_Librarian

Stopping To Smell The Roses

2009-07-10T22:15:00.000-07:00

Passionate by Anthea Lawson is a debut novel by a husband and wife writing team, and it just so happens it's up for the Best First Book RITA award at the RWA conference next week. How timely then that I wrapped it up this evening!

Lily Strathmore comes from a very fine Victorian family. Her father is a Marquis and a very influential man in Parliament. You know what that means right? Yep, her mama is determined to make her a fabulous match and drag her down the altar by her hair. Sigh. All poor Lily wants is to paint and travel, preferably with her uncle Edward's family. A lovely and adventurous family. Sadly though, mama has other ideas, and Lily finds herself agreeing to consider the very proper Lord Buckley's hand. In exchange, she gets to travel one last time with her uncle's family and continue to paint. Then James Huntington shows up.

James and his sister, Caroline, were poor relations taken in by their uncle after their parents died. Their uncle is a kindly sort though, and is hoping to see them both settled before he departs the earthly plain....mostly because his son, their cousin Reggie, the heir, is a vile, jealous creature. Lord Denby tells James that one of the country estate is up for grabs. The catch? He has to find his grandfather's long lost journals, which were hidden somewhere in Tunisia, North Africa. Grandfather was a enthusiastic botanist, and the journals were hidden/lost during his last expedition. Lord Denby suggests James hook up with Uncle Edward, since he was a friend of his grandfather's, and can aid him in an expedition.

What follows is James, Lily, and Uncle Edward's family trooping through the wilds of Africa looking for a fabled blossom and the lost journals. Naturally James doesn't know everything about Lily (oh, like her mama's plans for her) and Lily doesn't know everything about James (the real reason behind his desire to go to Tunisia). There's also the small matter of cousin Reggie, who serves the roll of villain and crops up to throw a wrench in the works.

I'll be honest, this was a second-half book for me. Part of me suspects that it's because I've been reading a butt-load of Harlequins lately, and any book longer than 250 pages is going to seem "slow" to me. The other part of me thinks that it was a simple matter of pacing. The author has a number of secondary characters to address, along with the stage to set, so the first part of this story, while quite charming, did drag a bit for me. That said, once we get to Africa (about the halfway point), that's when it starts to cook. The adventure begins, the sexual tension kicks into hyper-drive, and the conflict begins to boil.

Lily is one of my favorite types of characters. An independent-minded young woman who bristles at what society expects of her. The fact that her mother is desperate for her to toe the line only adds to her frustration. James is charming, with a hint of roguishness, and finds himself out of sorts when he realizes just how "important" Lily's family is. He's a man with few prospects, and Lily is way above his station.

This was a nice, charming read, with a light tone and style. I know a number of readers who enjoy these types of historicals that feature adventure-seeking characters, and Passionate certainly fits that moldy nicely. It didn't knock my socks off, but it was a pleasant diversion, and as far as first books go? Pretty darn good.

Final Grade = B-

Blowing Out The Candles

2009-07-09T08:15:00.000-07:00

Wendy's Top 13 Birthday Wishes

1) Whatever the Hell My Man got me. The Master Gift Giver Of The Universe tells me I'll get my present this evening. At this point all I know is that it's small-ish and he's known for months what he was going to give me. Jewelery would be the obvious guess, but I don't think that's it....

2) A State Budget. This is probably too much to hope for from the politicians of California.

3) World Peace.

4) A Beatles Reunion. Is it too much to ask that George Harrison and John Lennon rise from the dead?

5) My own private library. Hell, I've got the books - just not the space.

6) Maggie Osborne to come out of retirement and start writing again.

7) Lunch with Phyl. Oh wait, did that yesterday! She's in town for a family wedding and is staying very, very close to where my office is.

8) Western romances to make a comeback and flood the market.

9)

10) To have Nora adopt me. I could be the daughter she never had, or probably even wanted. Ok, so that's not terribly realistic.....

11) To have Ewan McGregor adopt me. Yeah, much more realistic.

12) A Greek Tycoon. I'm sure the editorial department for Harlequin Presents has a couple of extras stuffed in a broom closet somewhere.

13) A job that requires me to sit at home, read all day and watch Law & Order reruns. With an employer willing to pay me, at least, my current salary. Surprisingly, this is a harder job to find than one would think.

Mind Screw

2009-07-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

My Man and I once had a conversation about Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter character. My Man says Lecter is scarier when he's a "free" man. I disagree. Lecter is at his scariest when he's locked up. Why? Because he can't physically hurt others. He has to get to them by mind-screwing them. He chips away at them, worms his way into their psyche, and toys with them. Yeah, way scarier.

I picked up Shatter by Michael Robotham when Stephen King put it on his list for recommended summer reading. Uncle Stevie was right. The villain in this story is top-notch and top-drawer. This is a guy who doesn't physically touch his victims. He doesn't even make himself seen. No, our guy talks his victims to death. They're mothers, so he uses the one thing he knows he can (their children) to psychological mind-screw with the victims to the point where they actually kill themselves. Seriously. Effed. Up.

The story follows clinical psychologist, Joe O'Loughlin, who has appeared in other books by Robotham. He's now a professor at the University of Bath and is picked up by the cops to try to talk a suicidal woman down from a bridge. He fails, she jumps. Then her teenage daughter shows up telling Joe that her mother would never commit suicide. However the police aren't willing to listen to a distraught teenage girl, until another woman ends up dead.

While part of a series, with plenty of baggage, I felt this story stood alone quite well. Joe suffers from Parkinson's Disease, has two daughters, and his marriage is a little rocky. He passionately loves his wife, but he thinks she's having an affair with her boss. She begs him not to get involved in the murder investigation, but the first victim's daughter and his own professional curiosity can't keep him away.

This was a wonderful story....until the ending. The ending pissed me off. I'll be blunt. The big reason I like genre fiction (romance, mystery/suspense) is that I get black and white endings. If I wanted ambiguous endings I'd stick to literary fiction where the authors routinely flog their characters to death or I'd read the daily newspaper. Real life is ambiguous. The ending of Shatter left me with unanswered questions. Questions like, "Hey, what happened to...." and "But wait, what's going to happen with...."

Those types of questions.

I hate those types of questions.

So what easily started out as B+/A- read for me ended up somewhere in the neighborhood of a C+. It was certainly a well-written suspense novel, with oodles of character baggage, and a villain that made my skin crawl. But I like black and white endings folks. I like having all the answers. I like having it all tied up in a neat little bow. I just do. And I felt like I didn't get that here. Bother.

A note on the audio production: I listened to the Recorded Books production on CD. This is also the production that's available through Audible. It's excellent. Sean Barrett, who has credits ranging from the BBC to the London stage, narrates - and given that the story takes place in Bath, it was nice to hear a British accent reading the story. He also does a very good job using different voices and inflections for the characters, and his reading of the villains' parts are particularly creepy. If you're interested in listening to this on audio, you really can't do much better than this production. Of course, Recorded Books routinely turns out a quality product.

Hey, I'm Working Here!

2009-07-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

In one week I'll be on a plane, on my way to Washington D.C. for the annual RWA conference. This will be my fifth time attending, but that doesn't mean I'm immune to nerves and excitement-induced jitters. I will say though that this year is proving to be much more sedate than last year. Why? Because this time last year I was sweating over the fact that I only had one confirmed romance author for my library's literary event. Which meant that I spent a lot of time at RWA in San Francisco passing out my business card, giving my "sales pitch" and trying not to look too desperate. It all worked out in the end, and thankfully the trip helped me net two more authors.

D.C. should be much more "relaxing," at least in terms of Wendy Doing Her Librarian Thang. Why? I broke a land-speed record in securing three authors for the romance panel for my library's fourth annual literary event in April 2010.

Once again, I've outdone myself. See how modest I am? My only goal in securing the romance fiction panel is that I get authors who all write "different." Which means every year I shoot for historical, contemporary and paranormal representatives. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep this up indefinitely, but so far this is the third time I've managed to pull it off.

As for the mystery panels I'm supposed to be working on? Well, they're almost done. I really only need to secure one more author, which I'm thinking will have to wait until after I get back from vacation. Still, it's all shaping up quite nicely.

Linkie Goodness

2009-07-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

Oh sure, Twitter is one of the worst time sucks ever invented, but it's also handy when it comes to staying on top of the happenings around Blog Land. Angela T, one of my fellow Romancing The Blog columnists, tweeted that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and has started her own wiki for upcoming African-American romances. Oh and look! Beverly Jenkins has a new historical coming out in October. And it looks pirate-y!

In other news, Rosie (who is not dead in a ditch) has posted another excellent column over at the Readers Gab blog on the Three E's For RWA. If you're a reader who is attending the RWA conference for the first time this year, or you're thinking about attending in the future? Yeah, read this column. It gives oodles of helpful insight. Also, be sure to check out a post about the RWA conference that Rosie did last year as well. I think "just readers" can get a lot out of the RWA conference, but you need to go into it with realistic expectations.

And in case you didn't see this already, Holly over at Book Binge is spearheading a drive to help a fellow blogger replace her book collection she recently lost in a fire. When I think about how I could have lost everything, including my own insanely over-the-top book collection, in last year's So. Cal. wild fires, it really gives me pause. If you have the means to contribute either gift cards or books, I encourage you to do so.

The Month That Was June 2009

2009-07-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

It's July 1, which means two things. 1) The stupid politicians in this god-forsaken state still haven't been able to slap a budget together and 2) it's time for me to look back at the reading I accomplished in June. I actually did quite well last month. I read 13 books. OK, so there are a mess of Harlequins here. Throw me a bone will ya?

Here's how it breaks down:

Let It Ride by Jillian Burns, Harlequin Blaze, 2009, Grade = B - Keno girl with no time for romance catches the eye of a wounded Air Force pilot partying with his buddies in Vegas. Unexpected charm and emotional depth made this a very enjoyable read. This was a debut Blaze - really hoping the author writes more for the line. TGTBTU Review.

Tonight My Love by Tracie Sommers, Spice Briefs, eBook, Short Story, 2009, Grade = D- - OK, so I know the Spice line doesn't have to be "romantic" but this story took me places I really didn't want to go. It literally turned my stomach. The sex is hot enough to peel wallpaper, but the ending left me wishing I hadn't read this on my lunch break. TGTBTU Review.

Disrobed And Dishonored by Louise Allen, Harlequin Historical Undone, 2009, Regency England, Short Story, Grade = C+ - A heroine who begs the hero to "ruin her" so she won't be forced to marry the odious lout Daddy has picked out for her. This plot can sometimes work for me, but it didn't here. Allen has a charming writing style though, and this is pretty harmless fun. TGTBTU Review.

Killer Cruise by Laura Levine, Cozy Mystery, Part Of Series, 2009, Grade = B - The latest entry in the author's Jaine Austen (no relation) series. Brain candy, fluffy fun. I found myself suspending some disbelief when the murderer was unmasked, but it was clever, so I was able to roll with it. Ideal reading for the beach or lounging by the pool. Full Review.

A Holiday Romance by Carrie Alexander, Harlequin SuperRomance, 2009, Part Of Series, Grade = B+ - Carrie Alexander is one of my favorite HSR authors, and this book is a prime example of why. Heroine looking for some fun and adventure after her ill mother passes away. Hits Arizona on vacation and meets the hero, a career driven hotel manager who doesn't have time to be distracted by his hormones. No babies (secret or otherwise), no tycoons (Greek or otherwise), and not a virgin in sight. Just a straight-up, well-written, sweet (PG-rated) romance. TGTBTU Review.

The Heiress's Two-Week Affair by Marie Ferrarella, Silhouette Romantic Suspense, Part Of Series, 2009, Grade = C+ - Great soap-opera style plot, and a homicide detective heroine that I really liked. However I actually used the words "sanctimonious prick" in my review to describe the hero. That can't be good. TGTBTU Review.

Pleasured by the Secret Millionaire by Natalie Anderson, Harlequin Presents, 2009, Grade = C+ - A refreshing, young, adventurous heroine wasn't enough for me to overlook the "Oh crap we didn't use a condom" sex scene and a hero who is HP standard-issue. If you're a fan of the line this one will probably work better for you. TGTBTU Review.

Pulling The Trigger by Julie Miller, Harlequin Intrigue, Part of Series, 2009, Grade = C+ - An impulse buy that I didn't realize was part of a series. The beginning suffers from series info-dump, but by the second chapter it cooks up to a pretty decent cat-and-mouse-style suspense plot. Unfortunately I thought there were some holes in the story - most notably why the hero didn't immediately gut the villain upon his arrival back in town. TGTBTU Review.

The Border Lord by Sophia James, Harlequin Historical, Scottish, 2009, Grade = C - Plain Jane heroine forced into marriage by decree of a king. The romance is pretty decent, although these characters obviously took a side trip to Regency England because they're incapable of talking to each other. I also found the villain a bit schizophrenic, and the second half is bogged down by too much external conflict. TGTBTU Review Forthcoming.

From Friend to Father by Tracy Wolff, Harlequin SuperRomance, 2009, Grade = B- - Heroine agrees to be surrogate mother for her BFF, when tragedy strikes and BFF is killed in car accident. Hero is shell-shocked and pulls a vanishing act, leaving heroine alone to take care of a baby girl she had no intention of raising and her rambunctious twin boys. I had issues with the hero (who runs at the first sign of any sort of conflict) but loved the heroine to bits. Also, Wolff can flat-out write her ass off. TGTBTU Review.

Evil At Heart by Chelsea Cain, Suspense, Part of Series, 2009, Grade = B+ - Not as good as the previous two books in the series, but that's just me being greedy. I do think this book marks a turning point in that I don't think this series can "stand alone" anymore. There's essentially no character development here, the assumption being that the reader has read books one and two already. Also, I thought the gore factor was much higher in this book. There's a moment in the final 100 pages where I literally had to set this book down and walk away from it. Seriously. Messed. Up. TGTBTU Review Forthcoming.

Sultry Storm by Celeste O. Norfleet, Kimani Romance, Part of Series, 2009, Grade = D+ - A plot that sets the heroine up to look Too Stupid To Live, a borderline creepy hero who is in love with the heroine, even though they've never met. It also doesn't help that the heroine is so stubborn that she's incapable of listening when the hero wants to spill his guts to her about The Big Secret. Lots of sex scenes (and I mean a lot) weren't enough to make it work for me. TGTBTU Review Forthcoming.

Second Time Around by Portia Da Costa, Spice Briefs, eBook, Short Story, 2009, Grade = B- - I tend to love Da Costa's heroines, and this one is no exception. That said, there were aspects of the erotic love scenes that pressed some of my feminist hot buttons. Just as I was contemplating how annoyed I should be by it all, the author pulls it out with a really fab ending. Fun, frothy, just don't go over-analyzing it like I did. TGTBTU Review Forthcoming.

Massive Fangirl Squee!

2009-06-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

I know, two posts in one day. I normally don't do this - but damn, I'm making an exception.

Detroit Tigers outfielder, and my fantasy boyfriend, Curtis Granderson knows I exist! ::dead faint::

This season Curtis is guest blogging on Yahoo's Big League Stew and last week they asked readers to e-mail in questions for Curtis to answer in a "mailbag" segment.

They chose my question! Squeeee!

I'm a librarian and a long-time Tigers fan. I'm wondering if anyone on the team likes to kill time by reading while traveling on road trips. Books, magazines, newspapers — I'm not picky, just about anything counts. Please tell me not everyone is plugged into their iPod.
— Wendy, formerly from Kalamazoo, MI, now in CA.
I can't lie, the iPod is always on most players. A lot also read too — mostly newspapers (usually USA Today, or the local paper depending on the city), magazines (ESPN The Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Maxim, etc...). For me, when I try to read a book, they always usually put me to sleep. It's not because of a lack of interest, but because the reading relaxes me to the point where my body falls asleep within the first few pages.

Oh Curtis. All you need is the help (and dare I say it, love?) of a good librarian to steer you towards books that don't put you to sleep. I actually know the ideal person. She's smart, funny, incredibly humble, with an incredible sense of fashion (what, doesn't every librarian wear a tiara and a cape?).

You can read the whole mailbag blog post here. But honestly? I already posted the best part.

Squeeeee! ::dead faint::

Winner: Harlequin Famous Firsts!

2009-06-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone for stopping by last week for the last stop of the Harlequin Famous Firsts blogging tour. As promised, today I'll be announcing the lucky winner of the most awesome Harlequin tote bag, filled with eight of the Famous First reprints. Thanks to the handy random number generator, the lucky winner is commenter #19....

Gail!

Gail, please e-mail me with your shipping address and I'll get your most awesome prize out to you ASAP.

Hangin' With The Girls

2009-06-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

This is a busy time of year for just about everyone, but the So. Cal. Bloggers decided that one last get-together before RWA was in order. Unfortunately between family "stuff" and illness (get better soon Tracy!), only four of us ended up hanging out this afternoon for our usual gorge at Borders and The Cheesecake Factory. Myself, Rosie (who is not dead in a ditch), Lori (blog template fixin' goddess!) and Renee (Queen Urban Fantasy). Much talking, much laughing, and all around general merriment ensued. I properly sucked up to Lori for fixing my blog (thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you!) and between Borders and Rosie I came home with way too many books.

Because, you know....I don't have enough books. D'oh!

One thing I wanted to be sure to pick up at Borders was the July issue of Romantic Times. I'm still on a couple of romance-novel-related e-mail loops, and one of my long-time buds from one of those lists (waving to Fatin!) told me that I was "blurbed" in an ad for Megan Hart's latest book. Sure enough, there I am on page 119. Now during my tenure with The Romance Reader I was blurbed quite a bit. Still am on occasion. The thrill here? See.....there's my name! Usually the quote is just attributed to "The Romance Reader." But see! There's my name! I'm famous. Famous I tells ya! Ha!

Also, a much shorter version of this quote is on the actual back cover of Deeper. But yeah - just attributed to The Romance Reader. Not me. But still.....

Oh, and look....

There's Anne! Anne is famous too!

So there's my cheap thrill of the moment. Honestly, this is all it takes most days. But hey, my Mom will think it's cool and my boss will probably get a charge out of it. The rest of you? Yeah, probably not so much.

In case you're curious, Dirty was actually one of the last books I reviewed for TRR and dang, my review was pretty good. I used to write really good reviews. I'm not sure what happened. And Anne's quoted review can be found here.

Nothing To See Here

2009-06-26T08:01:00.001-07:00

Sigh.

The image hosting I was using for my blogger template went kaboom.

Yes, I know it's all kinds of eff-ed up right about now. But hey, at least you can read my blog again.

Bear with me, I'm working on it.

Holy Crap, What A Day!

2009-06-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

Lordy, what a day huh? First, Farrah Fawcett has succumbed to her battle with cancer, sending almost every male over the age of 35 into deep, deep mourning. I was too young to truly experience the Charlie's Angels phenomenon, but Farrah's style certainly hung on through the 1980s. My older sister had a most fabulous Farrah hair-style, and no I will not post photographic evidence because she has pictures of me sporting some pretty horrific perms. I'm no fool.

Then I was coming back from my lunch break today to learn that TMZ was reporting that Michael Jackson had died. Micheal Frackin' Jackson! Since then, the L.A. Times and other sources have confirmed.

Given the child molestation charges, and his increasingly bizarre behavior in recent years, it's easy to forget what a massive, huge, colossal superstar Michael Jackson was. I'm a child of the 1980s, and Michael Jackson's sheer famous-ness during that decade is something almost unfathomable today. He. Was. A. Star. Everything he did was new, exciting and a trend. He saved Top 40 radio from the quagmire that was the 1970s (awful beyond words). Before MJ music videos were cheap-looking novelties. Enter stage left, Michael Jackson and John Landis and we get Thriller. Suddenly, music videos can be "short films." He changed the way we dressed, he changed the way we danced, he completely changed everything.

But what was truly amazing about Jackson was his ability to cut across all demographics. Black, white, Asian, little green men, we all loved him. Children loved his music, teenagers loved his music, Baby Boomers loved his music. Hell, my Dad owns both Off The Wall and Thriller on vinyl. Which makes him a most awesome Dad because every single one of his daughters raided his vinyl collection at one time or another.

Michael Jackson died today, but I think I've been mourning him for the last several years. The Jackson 5 Michael. The Motown 25 Michael. The Thriller Michael. Not the Sleeping In The Same Bed With Young Boys and Dancing On Roof Of Car Outside Courthouse Michael. Seriously. Messed. Up.

So in honor of the Michael that I'm going to miss, I give you the "ABC" dance montage from the movie Clerks II. Oh, and it's a Kevin Smith movie - so of course we have some "naughty" words in the beginning.

Expanding The TBR

2009-06-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

I want to mention my mad lover for the publisher, Sourcebooks, who have really been gaining momentum (I think) in the romance market place. As a librarian, I'm a huge ho for reprints - and Sourcebooks endeared themselves to me with their massive run of Georgette Heyer reprints. People, you haven't seen pathetic until you've seen a Heyer book on a library shelf from 1937. Gross would be a good word to describe some of my library's Heyers. But besides the Heyers, Sourcebooks has also been publishing new romance fiction and later this year they're publishing a new book from Kathryne Kennedy, who garnered herself a nice readership thanks to her romance-fantasy Relics Of Merlin series.

My Unfair Lady by Kathryne Kennedy, ISBN 9781402229909, $6.99, Sourcebooks, Publication Date = December 1, 2009.

Description:

A wild west heiress, Summer Wine Lee knows that she's not an acceptable bride for her fiance's knickerbocker family. She grew up in an Arizona mining town, cares more for critters than people, carries a knife under her skirts, and, worst of all, she has a highly improper secret from her past. But she also has high hopes that a real English Duke can teach her how to be a lady…
Were it not for his father's gambling debts, the Duke of Monchester would never have stooped to civilize Summer. But the more time he spends with her, and the more social scrapes he has to rescue her from, the more he finds it impossible to change her into a proper lady. How could he, when he's falling in love with her just the way she is?

I'm sorta, kinda waffling on getting a copy of this for myself. I'm a sucker for the My Fair Lady plot, although this kind of sets off my "wacky hijinks" alarm. Also, between Sourcebooks calling this a "unusual historical romance" in their Fall 2009 catalog, "highly improper secret" mentioned in the back cover blurb, and Kennedy's previous releases, I'm wondering if there's a fantasy/paranormal element at play here. Which I'll admit, the prospect of that doesn't thrill me - but what the hell? I can't seem to get enough of this type of plot, and the western connection flips my switch. What's one more book in the ol' TBR anyway?

Oh, and that book cover just slays me. Is it wrong to fall in love with a street lamp I wonder?

Be sure to check out my Upcoming Historical Romance Wiki. If nothing else you'll get your book cover fix over there.

What I'm Reading

2009-06-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

Dearest Sybil,

I am your ho.

That is all.

With undying devotion (is that too creepy?),

Wendy the Super Ho Librarian

Highlight Reel From Harlequin Famous Firsts!

2009-06-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today the Bat Cave is most pleased to welcome Harlequin editor, Marsha Zinberg, who has been on a blog tour promoting Harlequin's Famous Firsts collection. We have the most excellent honor of being her last stop on what has been a very busy month for the Harlequin Digital Team! So sit back, relax, and gorge on the Harlequin goodness. Oh, and be sure you don't skip over the contest information. So without further ado.....here's Marsha!

++++++

I’ve been on tour, a blog tour, which is something completely new to me since June 1st. In discussing the Harlequin Famous Firsts novels, I think I’ve learned just as much from reader’s comments as I’ve been able to share about the Famous First authors.

From reviewing all the posts, a few interesting facts keep popping up:

• The majority of our readers start young (this is supported by our research)

• Presents is often the first series read and while many authors were mentioned, Anne Mather is mentioned most often as the first author.

• Many readers shared how many books they owned (lots!) and their storage challenges.

• Several readers said they had started reading Harlequin romances more recently and that their first exposure was as an eBook! (We are keeping up with the times, and all of our titles are published as eBooks.)

• Many had fond memories of lines that aren’t part of our current offerings: Harlequin Temptation, Silhouette Shadows (we were ahead of the times!), Love & Laughter

• Others mentioned their experiences with critiques from and meetings with Harlequin and Silhouette editors

I pulled a few comments that I thought were representative:

“The very first romance I read was a Harlequin Presents when I was sixteen–so about 23 years ago. It was a book by Anne Mather and after that I was hooked on Harlequin. I’ve collected over a hundred books since then, mainly Presents. I treasure them…although some have been neatly stored in boxes because I don’t have any room left on my bookshelves. I’m a fan of the ethnic series like the Greek Tycoons because I adore dark, alpha men and lovely Mediterranean locales. I’ve also been enjoying the new eBook lines, mainly Spice Briefs–hot stuff!”

-- Celia Jade

“Fun facts, huh? Two of my favorite authors, Kathie DeNosky and Patricia Davids both received THE CALL on my birthday, although different years. My call came on my wedding anniversary.”

-- Roxann Delaney

“I’ve been reading Harlequin since 1970. My first one was The Arrogant Duke by Anne Mather. Most of my books are on my keeper shelf, and soon my grandchildren will read them! Great list, many of my favorite authors still write wonderful books!”

-- Eva S

“I have been reading Harlequin books since the early 90s. I thought they were strictly sweet romances until I spotted a Harlequin Intrigue in a Kmart store by my house. Ever since that first Intrigue novel (called Dominoes), I’ve been hooked. I still love the Intrigues, but over the years I’ve also enjoyed Silhouette Shadows, Silhouette Romantic Suspense (Intimate Moments), Steeple Hill Suspense and more. Some of my favorite Intrigue authors past and present are/were: Anne Stuart, Kelsey Roberts, BJ Daniels, Dani Sinclair, Amanda Stevens, and Carla Cassidy.

I will always be a Harlequin fan!”

--Sandra M

“I remember being about twelve and sneak-reading a Harlequin from my older cousin’s bookshelf during a summer visit… and being caught at it by my dad and having the first of many (many!) “discussions” about age-appropriate reading material…

Alas, poor Dad, he never had a chance! I’d solemnly listen to his lectures and go right on reading romance. Though to this day, when my parents enter the room, my first reaction is to hide the book/cover.”

-- Ms BookJunkie

“I’ve always been such a voracious reader that it’s quite possible I read Harlequins very early on, but I don’t recall many of the publishers of the books I read as a young girl. My first official foray into Harlequin was actually as a part of this anniversary celebration. I’m glad for the introduction, too. I’ll be reading more. Unquestionably.”

-- Carolyn Jewel

“Actually, I just recently started reading Harlequin. Until I received my Sony Reader, I mostly went for longer novels, historicals usually. However, then I found a bundle on the bookstore website and decided to try! Now I am addicted to them, particularly the Presents line. I am curious about Lowell’s book, since I have mostly read her recent releases.”

--Mari
Thanks so much to everyone for sharing their memories about Harlequin. The Harlequin Digital Group tells me that they are going to gather all the posts and comments and either pull together an eBook or place it in the eHarlequin.com community – or both! – so we can enjoy the Famous
Firsts overview and your memories.

If you have any feedback or memories you want to share, please do so that we can include you as well!

Contest, Contest, Contest! I have a supremely awesome Harlequin tote bag filled with eight books from Harlequin's Famous Firsts collection. To enter, leave a comment on this post and share a fond memory you have of a Harlequin author and/or book. Maybe it's that Harlequin Presents you found at the library one summer when you were 14, or maybe it's the Harlequin author that sent you on your first, mad glom. Whatever it is, share that memory for a chance to win the awesomeness. Contest Ends Monday, June 29.

Previous stops on the Blog Tour can be found at Bookbinge, Plot Monkeys, Blaze authors blog, Romance Junkies, Romancing the Blog, Dear Author, Cataromance, Teach Me Tonight, and The Pink Heart Society.

I'm Not Above Begging

2009-06-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. Time for my library to start planning our next literary event. This will be year four, and even though the budget news has been hovering around dire, they've given us the go-ahead. So we hit the ground running yesterday, tossing around author names, panel ideas and all that jazz. The good news is that we have a Huge Honkin' New York Times Bestselling Author mostly confirmed for one of our keynote speakers. And no, I can't say who. Administration wants us to hold off on shouting it from the rooftops until we have a hard and fast official confirmation. Preferably signed in blood.

I was given the go-ahead to to dig up some romance authors. One thing I really adore about RWA is that they have chapters and those chapters tend to be very pro-active. California is chock-full of romance authors (I'm convinced we're second only to Texas), and I have a fantastic RWA chapter right in my back yard. So I guess this is a warning to any local romance authors who read my blog. Gird your loins. I might coming knocking on your front door, in the form of an e-mail, and start begging mercilessly.

This year I feel like we're sort of "established" - which is nice. I know the first year I had one romance author kind of worry about the "literary" label because she didn't want to be treated like a second-class citizen at the event. Then she found out I was moderating the panel (we "know" each other) and that seemed to put her mind at ease. That's the thing about romance authors. Just like romance readers, they tend to get irked when they have to constantly justify their right to exist.

Right now I'm working with a short list of 6 possible authors, although only three will end up on the panel. I also try get authors from different sub genres (historical, paranormal and contemporary). I like variety on the panel, mostly because it's more interesting for me as the moderator, but also because I really strive to showcase the diversity of the romance genre. Whenever I've given my reader's advisory talks about romance, that's the part that tends to shock the non-romance readers the most. Wow, they just had no idea that romance was so "big" in scope. Who knew there were so many ways to tell a love story?

I've also been charged with scaring up some mystery/suspense authors. That's going to take some work actually, but I do have a game plan. My mystery contacts there aren't anywhere near the level of my romance contacts - although last year I was able to work the romance community to get one of the mystery panels together. Seriously. One of the mystery panels completely sprang up from a local RWA chapter, my Harlequin Historical addiction, and bestselling author Stella Cameron. Bless her heart. I can't wait to meet her at RWA in D.C.

Now, back to work.

Top Five: Mystery And Suspense

2009-06-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

Things have been fairly quiet around the office of late because we're in our annual "slow down." This basically means I don't order books for a couple of weeks while the new budget is hammered out. Which this year involves a lot of blood, sweat, tears, praying and general hysterics. But just because the budget is hovering around catastrophic doesn't mean our library patrons have suddenly stopped "wanting" stuff. On that front, here are the Top Five hot and in demand mystery/suspense titles of the moment:

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly - OK Connelly is pretty much popular everywhere, but here in Southern California he's a rock star. Every time he has a new book out, our demand for it is unreal. As in Harry Potter and Twilight-mania unreal. I suspect part of this is because So. Cal. readers feel like they "discovered" Connelly first. While he's a Florida boy, he covered the crime beat for the L.A. Times for several years. This latest features characters first introduced in The Poet.

Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child - Child writes good, old-fashioned thrillers. Fast-paced adventures featuring Jack Reacher, a morally ambiguous character. I think a big reason for Child's success (besides the page-turning "thing") is that he's been able to cultivate a female readership. Women read and buy more books then men. They just do. And I know more than a few women who are hopelessly hooked on Reacher.

The Associate by John Grisham - This book came out in late January, my library has a ton of copies of it, and it's still our third most requested mystery/suspense title of the moment. Whether or not you think his recent stuff is up to par with his earlier work is besides the point. Grisham has still got legs.

Wicked Prey by John Sandford - Ahh, the latest Lucas Davenport novel. This one actually sounds kind of intriguing. The Republican National Convention is rolling into town, and it's Davenport's job to make sure the grand ol' party runs smoothly. Which, of course, it doesn't.

Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson & The Latest Co-Writer He Picked Up Off The Street - A new month must mean a new "James Patterson" novel. This is the latest in the Alex Cross saga, and is due out in late August. I don't read this series, although going by what Lil' Sis tells me, the last several have been um....not so good. Although she still says that Kiss The Girls is one of the creepiest damn books she's ever read. I'm thinking other readers must feel the same way - hence why his books still seem to do well even though he's gone down the co-writers rabbit hole.

A Vast, Empty Place

2009-06-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

I can't seem to put together cohesive blog post on just one topic this morning, so instead here's a happy round-up of all the "stuff" currently rattling around in Wendy's brain.

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We currently are experiencing our normal slow-down around the office waiting for our new budget to be put in place. We're also trying not to break out into hysterics and begin weeping uncontrollably. As some of you are probably aware, the state of California is screwed. So firefighters, police, socials services, libraries, schools, and countless others are currently holding our collective breath to see how catastrophic it's going be. In the meantime, I'm rubbing my lucky rabbit's foot until all the fur falls off. If you're a romance author and see me crying in my cosmopolitan in the hotel bar at RWA the week of July 13 - you'll know why.

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The Detroit Red Wings lost the Stanley Cup to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Despite my irrational hatred for Mario Lemieux - I probably would have been cheering on Pittsburgh if not for the fact that they were playing the Wings. There was no joy in the Bat Cave on Friday night.

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I'm thinking it's time for the Detroit Tigers to take Dontrelle Willis out behind the barn and shoot him. Hey, I understand taking a chance on the kid. He's a left-handed pitcher and has had some success in the big leagues. But signing him to a $20+ million contract right after we acquired him in a trade, and when he was already floundering down in Florida, was just all kinds of idiocy. Yesterday's game was just painful. My Man had to lock up all the knives for fear that I'd hurt myself.

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My Man and I are getting ready for week three of regular exercise. We've been doing 1.5 mile walks 5-7 times a week. Today marks the day when the real torture begins. We start walking "The Hill" - a steep incline just down the street from us. I'll probably be begging someone to put me out of my misery by Wednesday. As for weight loss? Um, next to nothing. We are eating better, but not that much better. Frankly, I contend that if God wanted us to be skinny vegetables would taste better and he wouldn't have given us the cocoa tree.

Just sayin'.

In the meantime, we are both feeling better - so I guess that's something. The trick will be keeping the momentum going once summer hits So. Cal. and it's 150 degrees in the shade.

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I've been on a reading tear for the past week, trying to clear out some of my Harlequin backlog, and am hoping I can keep up the pace. On that note, be sure to stop by The Good, The Bad, The Unread today, where we have a visit from Harlequin editor Marsha Zinberg. Oh, and there's a contest. A really cool contest. So be sure to leave a comment for your chance to win.

Getting Offensive With My Man

2009-06-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

My Man knows two things about my blogging: 1) That I have one and 2) that he is occasionally "blog fodder." He doesn't read my blog. Case in point, when my parents were out visiting last month my Dad mentioned Little Miss Crabby Pants and My Man looked at me sideways.

But sometimes I like to run "stuff" past him. He's not a book junkie, and if he was he most definitely would not be a romance junkie - so when I want a non-romance, non-bookie perspective on something, he's my go-to guy.

Last night at the Bat Cave.....

Me: I want to show you my blog post for today. ::showing him the book cover for The Madness Of Lord Ian McKenzie:: Do you think this book cover is "offensive?"

My Man: Wendy, I'm the wrong person to be asking this.

Me: You don't read romance....

My Man: Yeah, but I find next to nothing "offensive."

Me: OK, just pretend for half a second that you're not a deviant.

My Man: Offensive is the wrong word. The cover isn't "offensive," it's provocative. But it's a romance novel. The provocative cover is how you know it's a romance.

Me: But not offensive?

My Man: The problem is that a lot of people think provocative is offensive. They're stupid people, but still....

Me: Ahhh, good point.

My Man: And yes, feel free to make this blog fodder.

Oh he's sweet. Like I needed his permission. Ha!

Little Miss Crabby Pants Is Rendered Speechless

2009-06-11T08:30:00.000-07:00

I've read a lot of WTF-ery on the Internet in my time, but today's happy jaunt through my Google Reader just about had me falling out of my chair. Over at the All About Romance blog, Lynn posted about her latest encounter with The Book Police. What was Lynn doing that was so offensive? Was she burning copies of Catcher In The Rye in the library parking lot? Was she demanding that the public library remove a book off their shelves because "please, won't someone think of the children?!?!?!" Or how about checking out a stack of library books and returning them grossly overdue?

Nope. None of those things.

Lynn's crime?

Reading a romance novel in public.

I'm not shitting you. Lynn was asked (and this was the third time in five years!) to stop reading a romance novel in public because others found it "offensive."

Seriously.

Now, I have some non-romance readers who actually read this blog (amazing, I know). So I'm going to post the book cover in question. Admittedly? Yeah, anyone with two brain cells to rub together is going to know that this is a romance novel. But do you think it's offensive?

Please take a few moments to pick yourself up off the floor, control your laughter, take some deep calming breathes, or do a shot of tequila because you are now weeping at the thought of the number of idiots currently walking around on our planet.

Seriously, words fail. I'm not sure what Lynn did. Myself? I probably would have told the "offended" party to go fuck themselves sideways - but I've discovered that the older I get the less tolerant I am of morons that evolution hasn't gotten around to weeding out yet.

My advice to Lynn? Well, she has some options. She could move, which isn't very reasonable but I'm thinking I'd want to get the hell out of Stepford if I were her. She could also start throwing rocks (I'm rather fond of this one). Or she could be a total bitch on wheels and start reading books like this in public.

Pack Rat

2009-06-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

Given that I won the first inaugural Blogger Book Slut award (I'm thinking of adding that to my business cards) it's not really a shock to anyone anymore that I own an obscene number of books. Really. It's not healthy. It's so bad that when My Man and I evacuated from the wild fires last November the first words out of the mouths of my mother and two sisters (after they learned we were safe) were:

"Oh my God! Wendy! Your books! All of your books!"

Which sort of begs the question on how I store all those books. Prior to My Man buying me a book case for my birthday last year, all of my books (yes, all of them!) were stored in Rubber Maid totes. I had separate totes for certain "types" of books. My historical romances had their own tote. Hard covers and trade paperbacks were in another. Contemporary romance and romantic suspense in another. And most importantly? All of my Harlequins had their very own tote.

Even with the arrival of actual shelving, I still have two Rubber Maid totes. One for my "keepers" and one for my Harlequins. Damn, I own a ton of Harlequins. Who knew those little books could take up so much space? Which is why I've essentially gone 98% digital in getting my Harlequin fix these days. It's just easier for me as far as storage is concerned.

I've had this post filed away in the back of my brain for several months, because someone was asking about book storage ideas. I'm thinking it was either Blanche or Barbara. Well, this was mine for a long time. Rubber Maid totes stuffed in the closet in our spare bedroom/home office. I also know a lot of readers who buy the smaller, flat totes that slide under the bed. Depends on what kind of storage space you're working with.

What are your sure-fire storage methods for your books? Have you largely gone digital? Do you use book cases or totes? Have you had to resort to a storage unit? Or do you not have this problem because you 1) don't horde books and/or 2) use the library for 100% of your reading?

If They Could See Me Now

2009-06-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

Picture it. Another wild Friday night at the Bat Cave. I'm lying in bed, with a copy of Killer Cruise by Laura Levine on my night stand. Entering, stage left, My Man.

My Man: Why is Garfield on your book?

Me: That's not Garfield, that's Prozac.

My Man: ::gives girlfriend funny look, starts laughing:: Not a romance novel, eh?

I've been trying to kick-start my flagging reading mojo, and I figured spending the weekend with the latest Jaine Austen (no relation) mystery from Levine was the perfect way to do it. The best way to describe this series, of which this is book eight? They're like a sitcom in book format. A really good, very funny sitcom. Poor Jaine is unlucky in love, always flat broke, has two borderline insane parents and a pet cat, Prozac, who runs her life.

Killer Cruise finds Jaine taking a job on a cruise ship, as one of their lecturers. She teaches a writing class, and in exchange she gets to spend a week cruising around Mexico. Soaking up the sun. Relaxing. Working on crossword puzzles. Diving into the 24-hour all-you-can-eat buffet. However the whole thing gets off to a bad start when she discovers a stowaway. Yep, her kitty Prozac was not willing to be left at home. So Jaine has no choice but to smuggle him on-board, and hope that no one spots the little guy. Or else it's a week in quarantine. Kitty prison.

As often happens to Jaine, it all heads south. One of the ship's stewards spots Prozac and blackmails Jaine into editing his 900-page, grammatically incorrect, and massively misspelled opus about a ship steward turned secret agent. Her writing class isn't much of a hit, with few students, one of whom keeps comparing Jaine (and not favorably) to Mary Higgins Clark. Then there is the fact that her nightly dinner companions have all the charm of the Manson family.

The Pritchard clan includes Aunt Emily, a spinster with oodles of money and a penchant for cruises; her "companion," the sour-faced Ms. Nesbitt; her money-grubbing nephew, Kyle, along with his dowdy wife, Maggie; and lastly, another nephew, Robbie, a drop-dead gorgeous hunk who seems interested in Jaine....romantically! Will wonders never cease?

Unfortunately it all goes to hell when Graham Palmer III sets his sights on Emily. He's a cruise employee whose job it is to dance with the single ladies. He starts dancing with Emily, and the next thing you know, the two are engaged! A bit of a shock to everyone, including Graham's girlfriend, Cookie, who is suspect numero uno when Graham is found dead with an ice pick rammed in his chest. Cookie may have been mighty pissed off, but Jaine has a hard time believing the woman capable of murder. And so the snooping begins!

Several things I like about this series is that Levine keeps the action light and fun, while still providing a good mystery. Eliminating Cookie, the author gives us six viable suspects in the murder. Some of them have more motive than others, but they all have some motive. It gives the author a lot of wiggle room, and keeps the reader guessing. I can also usually count on one genuinely funny moment, and it comes here when Jaine goes snooping and finds herself temporarily hiding out in a closet. I literally laughed out loud, making unlady-like snorting noises - which prompted My Man to say, "Something funny?" Um, yeah, actually. Now that you mention it...

The author wraps up everything, from the murder to Jaine's editing the manuscript from Hell, to the fact that her parents are staying in her apartment for the week (Oy!). As I've come to expect, this latest entry in one of my favorite series was a lot of fun, and I particularly liked the resolution of the mystery (OK, so it strains a bit - but still, I found it inspired). And now I'm back at the same spot I find myself in every June. Waiting for next year, and the next Jaine Austen mystery, in order to get my fix. Bugger.

Final Grade = B

The Month That Was May 2009

2009-06-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

Ahem, don't mind me. Just time to do some general housekeeping and finally post my monthly reading recap for May 2009. Hey, better late than never I always say. Here it goes:

The Conqueror by Kris Kennedy - Medieval Romance, Debut. I like the occasional medieval to "cleanse the pallet" and this one has all the charm of an Old School romance without any of the "stuff" that makes Old School so annoying (purple prose, forced seduction, a heroine who rolls over and dies for manly hero etc.). Great setting, great sense of history, good story, gritty medieval feel while still having some traces of humor. My Grade = B. Full Review.

The Unlacing Of Miss Leigh by Diane Gaston - Regency historical, short story, ebook, Harlequin Historical Undone. A beauty and the beast story about a heroine who needs to earn some cash to send her younger brother to school, and a hero willing to pay her to be his companion. Pretty standard fare, enjoyable read. Could have done without the plot device at the end that the author uses to get the characters to admit their true feelings though. My Grade = B. TGTBTU Review.

Wet by Lauren Hawkeye - Erotic romance, short story, ebook, Spice Briefs. Sometimes erotica and romance don't belong together. This story would have worked a lot better if the author hadn't of tried to shoe-horn in a happily-ever-after, complete with "OMG, we totally got caught up in the moment and didn't use a condom!" scenario. I hate that shit in my romances, and I hate it even more in my erotica. Ugh. My Grade = D-. TGTBTU Review.

Temperatures Rising by Brenda Jackson - Contemporary romance, Kimani Romance. A perfect example of why I avoid all romance novels featuring professional athlete heroes. I haven't found an author yet who gets the sports "stuff" right. Memo to authors: women like and know sports. Really liked the heroine, loved the Key West setting, annoyed by poor football research (or lack thereof). My Grade = C+. TGTBTU Review.

The Diamonds Of Welbourne Manor by Diane Gaston, Deb Marlowe and Amanda McCabe - Regency historical anthology, Harlequin Historical. An extremely well-done connected anthology about 3 siblings with notorious parents. Wonderful setting, great sense of place, good characters. The Marlowe story was my favorite, but they all worked. My Grade = B. TGTBTU Review.

The Man Most Likely To by Cindi Myers - Contemporary romance, Harlequin American. Size 16 heroine catches the eye of a reformed ski bum in Colorado resort town. Both fighting how others perceive them, and trying to figure out if a relationship between the two of them can work. Great hero. Great heroine. Emotional read. My Grade = B+. TGTBTU Review.

Lightning That Lingers by Laura London - Contemporary Romance, Bantam Loveswept. Old school category romance published in 1983. Held up surprisingly well, although parts of this story were rather silly. Also, not a fan of purple prose, and given how much of it is crammed in this little story, I'm in no rush to try a single title by London. My Grade = C. Full Review.

Twice The Pleasure by Portia Da Costa - Erotica short story, Spice Briefs. The ol' high school reunion plot device featuring a heroine who wants to hook up with a former crush, only to have his best buddy interrupt the interlude. Two hunks for the price of one, and a vintage Da Costa heroine. A gal not afraid to have little fun. My Grade = B. TGTBTU Review.

We Have A Winnah!

2009-06-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Winner, winner chicken dinner - thanks to the joys of Random.org a winner for the Old School Romance Lurve contest has been selected.

The winner of my beat-up copy of Lightning That Lingers by Laura London is....

Everybody's favorite quilter, including mine.....

Phyl!

Phyl drop me an e-mail with your address and your book will go out next week!

Sayin' What Y'all Are Thinking

2009-06-04T05:50:00.000-07:00

I'm over at Romancing The Blog today shooting my mouth off on why I don't think ebooks are going to be taking over the world anytime soon. In other words: don't start singing any funeral dirges for Dead Tree Books just yet.

Yeah, yeah trolls....I'm an ignorant slut. But c'mon - some of y'all are thinking the exact same things!

Also, a reminder that you have one more day to enter the Old School Romance Lurve contest for a chance to win my beat-up copy of Lightning That Lingers by Laura London. Winner will be announced tomorrow! Good luck!

Say Hello To My 15 Minutes

2009-06-02T16:20:00.000-07:00

The June 2 episode of The Price Is Right is now onlin e for your viewing pleasure. My sister gave me the heads-up via Facebook and sure enough she wasn't lying. We're on TV a lot! For those of you interested in catching a glimpse of my 15 minutes of fame? The best shots of me and the family are when Dandy (yep, his name is Dandy!) from the post office gets up on stage. Here are some admittedly not-great screen shots that I took to capture our moment of glory! Ha!

From left to right:

My erotica-lovin' Lil' Sis who comments on the blog from time to time (she kicks ass!)

It's a bird, it's a plane.....it's Super Librarian!

My extremely excited mother who proceeded to tell us for the next week how much she loved going to see The Price Is Right.

My mild-mannered father. He may look large and imposing, but inside he's all marshmallow center.

How awesome are we? Well, apparently not awesome enough to make it down to contestant's row....but minor detail.