Friday Book Trailer

Once again not an actual book trailer, but the trailer for the new show Vikings on the History channel.  I'm hoping that the series is really popular and creates a demand for more Viking romances Like Johanna Lindsey's Viking trilogy.

Here is the hauntingly beautiful opening credits of the show as well.

I have tried searching for some recent romance books on the Viking era but have not come across anything of interest yet.  So I think I am off to reread about the Haardrad family again.
  

Johanna Lindsey - One Heart To Win

Finally!  We move away from the Regency era to Montana in the 1880s.  Once again hoping the old Lindsey magic is evident in this novel because I couldn't even finish the last book.

Some young ladies marry for money and social standing, a few lucky ones marry for love—but Tiffany Warren is marrying to end a feud. Honoring her mother’s promise, Tiffany reluctantly travels west to meet her estranged father and his enemy’s eldest son, rancher Hunter Callahan. Once the Warrens and the Callahans are united by marriage, both clans will stop squabbling over a disputed strip of land. In the chaos of a train robbery Tiffany seizes a golden opportunity: By assuming the identity of her father’s new housekeeper she can live with the father she never knew and assess his true character, as well as that of the neighboring cowboy to whom she is betrothed. But, too late, Tiffany discovers that the rivalry between the Warrens and the Callahans has escalated when the Callahans steal the Warrens’ housekeeper as soon as she steps off the train! Now, Tiffany, who is pretending to be Jennifer Fleming, finds herself living in the enemy camp, under the same roof as her fiancé. All too soon she learns her intended is a handsome, sweet talking charmer whom she has to fight off because he can’t keep his eyes—or his hands—off Jennifer. After Tiffany’s charade is exposed she refuses to marry Hunter to end the feud. As Hunter goes about claiming his rightful bride-to-be, he knows that although he loves two women—proper, elegant Tiffany as well as spunky, passionate Jennifer—he has only one heart to win (Amazon).

Outlander TV Series

Oh my God!  Oh my God! Oh my God!  Oh my God! Oh my God!  Oh my God!  I need this to happen and I need it to happen now!  Apparently the Outlander series is one step closer to being made into a cable TV series.  You can read more about it here:  http://www.deadline.com/2012/07/ron-moore-to-adapt-outlander-novels-into-cable-tv-series/#more-302257

If they do this, it would work out perfectly if they did one season per book like they do with the Game of Thrones.  Only problem may be the casting, who could possible fill Jamie's shoes?  For now, I will have to make do with reading the books and waiting for the newest one to come out.

Used Bookstore

I went to my favourite used bookstore yesterday and found out that after 25 years they are closing.  What am I going to do??  This is the absolute best store in the city.  There are only a handful of other used bookstores around and they either do not have a good selection, of books, lack a romance section, or are poorly organized.  This place was perfect, they had almost a whole room devoted to romance novels, every book was on a shelf and in alphabetical order.  I could spend hours looking through the shelves for the perfect summer read.  It was here that I discovered Nora Roberts, Lisa Kleypas, and Sandra Brown.

The first time I went to this store I was about 13.  I can even remember one of the books I bought (and still have), it was Heather Graham's "A Pirate's Pleasure".  Over the years I would go sporadically, but in my early twenties I often went about once a week, especially during the summer break.  After a while I found that I gravitated to certain authors and would only go to the bookstore when a new book might have made it's way to the shelves.  I am hoping that another book lover will open a similar store with the attention to neatness.  For now, perhaps my summer will include trips to other local used bookstores to see if anything can come close in comparison.  On a positive note, I received over $50 in credit for the books I took to the store yesterday and the books they have left were 50% off the sticker price (which is already 50% of the selling price).

Review - The Witness by Nora Roberts

Elizabeth Fitch is tired of living her life by her mother’s strict rules. So the minute her mother leaves for a medical conference, Elizabeth is out the door and headed to the mall. One new wardrobe, one new BFF, and two new fake IDs later, Liz finds herself at Chicago’s hottest nightclub. But before the night is over, Liz will be a witness to murder, when Alex Gurevich, the nightclub owner, is eliminated by two of his business associates. Twelve years later, Liz, now living as Abigail Lowery, has built a new life for herself as a freelance computer-security programmer in Bickford, Arkansas. Abigail’s first and only priority is staying one step ahead of the Russian Mob, who has never stopped trying to get rid of the one living witness to Gurevich’s murder. The only problem is that Bickford’s new chief of police, Brooks Gleason, simply refuses to let her live in peace, and nothing Abigail says or does seems to convince him that she doesn’t need his help (Amazon).

This is Nora at the top of her game.  In fact I think it is the first novel since Three Fates  that I really enjoyed and want to read again.  My attention was riveted from the first sentence to the last page.  The whole book could have focused on Elizabeth/Abigail in the first year or two after the murder and I still would have read it.  I found Abigail's character to be believable in light of how she was raised, what happened to her and how she had to live.  Although at times her mannerisms and social skills made me think she was a little Autistic.  Not sure if she was, or if Roberts portrayed her that way to show how stunted her upbringing was and the lack of social connections she had before meeting Brooks.  Brooks seems to be the typical Beta male lead, a take charge type of guy that does so while considering the feelings of others.  I did find him to be pushy and overbearing at the beginning with Abigail.  But I let that go, because she was so reclusive, if brooks wasn't pushy, there would have been no love story.

There were no unexpected twits or turns in this novel, but I enjoyed it all.

Friday Book Trailer

Today I am posting a book trailer for a book I have not read yet.  But the video is absolutely hilarious.  It's Ellen "auditioning" for the Fifty Shades of Grey audiobook.  Everywhere I go, I am hearing about this book.  Everyone is talking about it, some reviews are great, others not so much.  I haven't decided if I am going to read it.  But that seems to be my MO with really popular books for some reason.  I waited until about 2000 before finally reading the Harry Potter series - and loved it.  Same with Diana Gabaldon, kept seeing her books at the store and would read the back cover.  But I would always put the book back and think I would get it next time.  Once I finally picked one of her books up, I was hooked.  Although the opposite happened with the Twilight series.  Everyone was telling me to read it, when I finally did I was disappointed.  So I am still on the fence about this book, but still find this video highly entertaining.



You might also want to check out the first 3 chapters of a parody, apparently this guy also has a book deal now http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13548945-fifty-one-shades.

Review - Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas

Lucy Marinn is a glass artist living in mystical, beautiful, Friday Harbor, Washington.  She is stunned and blindsided by the most bitter kind of betrayal:  her fiancé Kevin has left her.  His new lover is Lucy’s own sister.   Lucy's bitterness over being dumped is multiplied by the fact that she has constantly made the wrong choices in her romantic life.   Facing the severe disapproval of Lucy's parents, Kevin asks his friend Sam Nolan, a local vineyard owner on San Juan Island, to "romance" Lucy and hopefully loosen her up and get her over her anger. Complications ensue when Sam and Lucy begin to fall in love, Kevin has second thoughts, and Lucy discovers that the new relationship in her life began under false pretenses. Questions about love, loyalty, old patterns, mistakes, and new beginnings are explored as Lucy learns that some things in life—even after being broken—can be made into something new and beautiful (Amazon).

For the most part I would say that I liked this book, but I didn't love it, and at points I was cringing.  What I liked about the book:  Lucy and Sam were enjoyable characters that had chemistry together.  Although the Amazon blurb leads one to believe that there is a "big misunderstanding" with how they start dating, in actuality Sam tells Lucy right away about Kevin setting them up.  I found this a refreshing way to deal with the plot rather than Kleypas relying on a hidden secret only to bring it out later for drama.

What I didn't like: the book seemed to waffle between being a contemporary romance and chick lit.  When it read as romance I found the story flowed more and had more chemistry.  When it read as chick lit, I lost interest and skimmed the pages.  Although Lucy and Sam had chemistry, I would characterize the romance in this book as subtle.  I much prefer Kleypas' books that have steamier love scenes.  There is also a paranormal element to the story involving Lucy's ability to change glass into butterflies and Sam's ability to grow plants.  I didn't really see a need for the magic.  It felt like it was placed in the book as an after thought.  Overall, not one of Lisa Kleypas' best efforts.  If you are looking for a meatier romance try one of her historicals or the contemporary Texas trilogy.

Johanna Lindsey's Let Love Find You Cover

It's finally here.  Well the cover, not the actual book.  I had my first look at the cover for Johanna Lindsey's new book Let Love Find You.



What do you think?  It doesn't really grab my attention.  Well, maybe the floating scarf spewing out of her chest does.  Overall, I find the cover lackluster and the storyline unappealing.  I will definitely be borrowing this from the library.

Synopsis for Let Love Find You by Johanna Lindsey

I haven't come across a synopsis for Johanna Lindsey's new book in my search, but an anonymous poster left this in my comments:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Johanna Lindsey sweeps readers into the ballrooms and country houses of England’s elite society in the sparkling, passion-filled tale of a desperate debutante who learns in a most delightful way that she can’t fight her scandalous attraction to her virile matchmaker.Lady Amanda Locke has struck out miserably in her two Seasons on the marriage mart. Beautiful, titled, and charming – even if she does talk a bit too much, Amanda doesn’t understand why love eludes her. Even her father, the Duke of Norford, is so perplexed he is prepared to take drastic measures to ensure his daughter’s happiness. Now, as Amanda begins her third Season, she gets a little help from Cupid, a darkly handsome horse breeder whose knowledge of basic animal attraction has guided him in arranging more than a few successful matches between the young ladies and gentlemen of the ton. Hired by Amanda’s family, Devin Baldwin produces results for Amanda and soon she is happy to be courted by one of his clients, the dashing Viscount Altone. In order to secure Amanda’s match to a nobleman obsessed with horse racing, Devin must teach Amanda how to overcome her fear of horses. But as Devin shows her the joys of riding, hunting, and racing, will their own hearts run astray as Amanda finds herself falling in love with Cupid himself?

Friday Book Trailer

I happened across a book trailer for Kathleen Givens' book, On a Highland Shore, which I absolutely loved.  If you haven't read it yet, check it out.

Review - On a Highland Shore by Kathleen Givens

In an age when Norse invaders threaten Scottish civilization, one woman will defend her clan's honor and claim her own exceptional destiny.

1263: As the Highland village of Somerstrath prepares for the joyous wedding of Margaret MacDonald, the laird's daughter, a dark storm of bloodshed and betrayal closes in.... Now, determined to hold her shattered clan together and locate her abducted younger brother in the wake of a brutal Viking attack, Margaret must choose between obeying the dictates of King Alexander's court, or placing her trust in Gannon MacMagnus, an imposing half-Irish, half-Norse warrior. Who is this stranger who vows not to harm her? Will he vanquish the barbarous killers who would continue to destroy the rugged, magnificent land she calls home? (Amazon).

I loved this book and spent most of the weekend reading it because I couldn't put it down.  I didn't want to put it down.  This book had a perfect balance of historical detail and romance.  I was drawn into the story and wanted to learn about the hero and heroine as well as other characters. This was the first book by Givens that I have read and I plan on glomming her backlist.  Unfortunately while looking up how many books she has written and what may be coming next, I discovered that the author has passed away.  I truly believe that the romance community has lost a great voice in Kathleen Givens.

Let Love Find You by Johanna Lindsey

It's that time of year again.  I have found the title for Johanna Lindsey's 2012 release.  The book is called "Let Love Find You".  Once again I find myself  hoping that this will be it.  That this book will be the one with the magical something that the old Lindseys contained.  So although I have given up on a lot of authors over the years, I think Lindsey is one that I will continue to read in hopes of catching a glimmer of the chemistry and rich stories her books had prior to 1995.

I have not found a cover or synopsis for "Let Love Find You" yet.  But I do know that this book will be released on June 12, 2012.  My prediction is that this book returns to the Malory family, maybe one of Tony or James's daughters?

Friday Book Trailer

I came across the trailer for McCarty's The Viper  this morning, can't wait to get this book.  It came out this past Tuesday, but I probably won't have time to get it until next week.

The Saint - By Monica Mccarty

It's here!  Well, not the book.  But the cover!!  And it is red hot!  Take a look:



Magnus MacKay is the ultimate Highlander: tough, proud, able to master any terrain and to best his enemies. Called “the Saint” for his refusal to discuss women, as well as for his cool and steady leadership, Magnus hides a painful truth. It isn’t virtue or piety that keeps him silent, but a wound of love and loss that cuts so deep he cannot bear to speak of it. But when the woman who refused him is betrothed to his friend and fellow Guardsman, Magnus is tested by love’s battle cry.

A wild and innocent beauty, Helen chose family duty over her desire for Magnus. Now the anger in his eyes mirrors the tormented regret in her heart. But as deadly subterfuge stalks the King and his Guard, Helen vows to right her youthful mistakes with a woman’s determined spirit. Still, Magnus harbors secrets and an iron will not to weaken to temptation—or heartache—again. But as danger looms, it’s the kiss not of a saint, but of a sinner, that can save them (Amazon).

Review - From New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb

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The number-one New York Times-bestselling author J. D. Robb presents an intense and terrifying new case for New York homicide cop Eve Dallas, one that will take her all the way to the city that gave her her name-and plunge her into the nightmares of her childhood.
When a monster named Isaac McQueen-taken down by Eve back in her uniform days-escapes from Rikers, he has two things in mind. One is to pick up where he left off, abducting young victims and leaving them scarred in both mind and body. The other is to get revenge on the woman who stopped him all those years ago. (Amazon)

Yes!  The thirty-third full length novel in the In Death series is a stellar one!  I actually enjoyed reading about the process that Eve went through in solving this crime, lately I have found that I tend to skim these sections of the books, but I was fully absorbed in this book and stayed up longer that I should have to read just one more chapter each night.  It seemed a little weird at first without Eve's cast of characters surrounding her and helping.  But after a while everything was fine.  I also appreciated a story without any major bumps in the relationship between Eve and Roarke.  I know that J.D. Robb wants to make their relationship seem realistic, but it is nice to see them together without some internal and/or external friction causing tension.

I do have one little nitpick.  At times Eve uses short form when talking (Robb probably does this to make her sound more authentic I'm sure), but one short form always, always made me stop and giggle.  Using the context of what Eve was saying or asking, I'm pretty sure the word was analysis, but the short form used in the book was anal, and yes my (apparently 12 year old boy's) mind went there each and every time it was used.  I honestly can't remember if this as been used in previous books, but one would think that I would remember seeing how often I would stop, giggle, read the sentence over again and giggle again.  Even so, this book is a perfect example as to why I enjoy reading a J.D. Robb book.  Even though we knew who the killer was, you are kept at the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next.

Review - My One and Only by Kristan Higgins

Divorce attorney Harper James can't catch a break. Bad enough that she runs into her ex-hubby, Nick, at her sister's destination wedding, but now, by a cruel twist of fate, she's being forced to make a cross-country road trip with him. And her almost-fiancé back at home is not likely to be sympathetic.
Harper can't help that Nick has come blazing back into her life in all of his frustratingly appealing, gorgeous architect glory. But in Nick's eyes, Harper's always been the one. If they can only get it right this time, forever might be waiting—just around the bend. (Amazon)

My One and Only is Higgin's 7th book.  It is also the seventh book of hers that features (prominently) a zany, yet needy family and a dog.  It is also her first book that I did not buy, but borrowed from the library.  I don't think I will purchase any of her books in the future unless she moves away from the crazy secondary characters and dog shtick.  Don't get me wrong, I will continue to read her new novels, I just won't buy them until there is a change.  The book for me did not get interesting and readable until the tenth chapter.  That was when Harper and Nick left the other characters behind for their road trip. 

It took me a while to like Harper.  In the beginning, I found her to be overbearing and yet needy.  She was willing to marry her boyfriend Dennis just because it was time for her to get married.  So she bought her own ring, had a list of things she wanted him to change, and ignored the signs that he wasn't willing to marry in hopes that she would eventually wear him down.  Also, rather than swearing she used the word "crotch", I have to say that being the same age as her I have never used that word in the contexts she did and it felt unnatural and immature.  But again, once I got to chapter ten and we delve into why Harper is the way she is, she becomes more likable.

To be perfectly honest, if I were just reviewing chapters 10 to 24, this book would an A.  I was invested in the story, Nick and Harper were entertaining and I was rooting for them.  Higgins really has the knack for writing riveting stories.  I even cried once, although to be perfectly honest it may have more to do with my hormones.  I also cried yesterday while watching an episode of the Dog Whisperer - he was helping a rescued dog become less fearful of the world and actually get out of a chair! 

I seem to have a problem of letting things go, authors I enjoy reading are included.  So it is more than likely that I will read the next book out by Kristan Higgins, but please. for. the. love. of. God! get rid of the wacky family members, the dogs, and this need to pair the heroine with a family member's ex, or a family member with the heroine's ex!  It gets tiresome after the seventh book.

Darkfever and DreamWorks

Whoo Hoo!!!  Apparently DreamWorks has acquired the rights to Karen Marie Moning's Fever series.  Love this!  Only question is, does DreamWorks only do movies, or do they do tv shows like True Blood?  I don't think a movie or series of movies could do this story justice.  Each book needs it's own season to flesh out the story and the characters.  And HBO would be the perfect place for MacKayla and Jericho.

   

If, like me, you are impatiently waiting for another book by Moning, head on over to her facebook page for a scene from Jericho's point of view.



Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning

Oh yeah!  Check out what I found over at Goodreads:

"I'm currently working on a trilogy that features Dani, Christian MacKeltar, Ryodan, and the mysterious 'Dancer,' set primarily in Fever-Dublin. Each installment in the trilogy is a stand-alone mystery, however there are larger plot arcs unfolding in the background...

..For those of you who have been worrying—the trilogy is not YA. If I had to categorize it, I would say it straddles the line between YA and adult uneasily. ...Many of the questions I left unanswered in the FEVER series are addressed in this new series.

Exciting news: I’ve agreed to write two more books after that. Once the new trilogy is complete, I’m returning to the core story begun in the FEVER series, and will resume writing about Mac, Barrons, V’lane, Cruce, the Unseelie king, the concubine, the Song of Making.

All in all, there are five more books coming about the Fever World!"

I cannot wait for this!  Although I am a little worried about the books "straddling" YA and adult.  According to Goodreads, the first book will be out sometime in 2012.

The Witness by Nora Roberts

Every so often I like to look up upcoming books by my favourite authors.  Today I decided to see if there was any information on Nora Roberts' hardcover for 2012.  I discovered that her next book is titled The Witness and will be released on April 17, 2012.  I have not come across a cover or the synopsis but I did find a description from Nora herself at her messageboard about the book:

Right now I’m working on the 2012 hardcover. As a teenager our heroine has her first rebellion and as a consequence witnesses brutal murder. This brilliant, socially awkward girl goes under the protection of the US Marshalls, but things go horribly wrong. Some 12 years later, with only herself to depend on, she’s still on the run. Until she meets the charming and tenacious local chief of police in the quiet area of the Ozarks where she’s trying to settle down.

I am looking forward to this book, it sounds like a classic Roberts suspense.

Friday Book Trailer

Here's another Friday book trailer that is actually a trailer for a movie based on a book.  This time it's Janet Evanovich's One for the Money.



I haven't read any of the books since #6 because I was getting tired of the triangle between Stephanie, Joe and Ranger (I was a Joe girl, but also found Ranger hot - he just needed his own girl).  I also found that the books were becoming too formulaic with the jokes and characters.  I tried reading numbers 7 and 8 but couldn't finish either one.  I think the series is up to 17 now.  I absolutely loved the first 6 books and read each one a couple of times.  So I think I might actually check this movie out when it comes out in January.  Meanwhile, I think it might be time for a re-read of One for the Money.