Month: April 2012

Review:Mad Maria’s Daughter by Patricia Rice

On By MikaelaIn reviews

The Particulars: Historical Romance, Regency Reads, e-book.
The Source: Fictionwise
The Grade: B+
The Blurb:
Daphne Templeton knows society has stigmatized her because of her mad mother, so she decides to leave London and live with her Aunt Agatha in the country. On the way she’s abducted by a highwayman, whom she insists see her to safety. Meeting neighbor Lord Griffin, Daphne finds him vaguely familiar and wonders at the connection between him and the highwayman. But Lord Griffin’s twin is dead-isn’t he?
The review
This is another book from the unread pile, or in this case folder, that I purchased months ago. It languished unread until a couple of days ago when I suddenly craved a Patricia Rice book. I had two unread historical romances and I decided to read this one.
And I am glad I did.
This book was a hoot, from the open scene to the end.
A big reason was Daphne. She knew that she was one the shelf, and she accepted it. More than that, it allowed her to be blunt, and outspoken. She argued with Evan, and Gordon. I kept wondering who she would pick: the proper Gordon, or Evan that was a rogue.
Mixed in with the romance was a good dose of mystery. The mystery propelled a lot of the plot. From Daphne’s arrival to the end. I giggled when Daphne poked her nose into places a proper lady would have stayed away from. Evan and Gordon got a bit exparated at her, but she had a heart of gold. She coax the truth out of Evan and Gordon. And promptly comes up with a plan to lure out the villain.
And of course everything goes wrong. I loved how all of them got twisted into lies and part truths. There were moments of hilarity, like when Gordon’s grandfather showed up. Not to mention the
arrival of Daphne’s protective father and brother.
The end.. was surprising, and fitting. I felt compassion with Daphne since that must have been her worst nightmare.
So what I didn’t like. Even though I admired Daphne for her courage, it sometimes felt like she stepped over the the thin line between being brave, and being reckless.
Still, I am definitely buying more of Patricia Rice regencies in the future, since this book was a blast.

Monday News

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Last week both TOR US and UK announced that from July, their e-books will be DRM-free.
I am glad they took that step, since DRM is easy to remove. What I hope in the future is that more Publishers will take that step. What I would love to see is a fantasy equivalent of Sourcebooks discover a new love. *dreamy sigh*
The second piece of news that broke were that a wellknown YA blogger had plagiarized several blogposts.
This gives me nightmares. I know that I don’t plagiarize, since I can show the drafts on my pc… but yeah.
Hot on the heels of BN’s new nook, came the news that Eink took a heavy loss. ( the company that manufacture the screens) ( Which made me sad.)

Charity Sunday: Brenda Novak for the Cure of Diabetes

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So, it is April 29th which means that Brenda Novak’s Cure for Diabetes Auction starts soon.   I The Auction is a tresure trove for readers. There is a lot of ARCs and author meetings offered.  The unique items are one reason thart the auction is the world’s largest online event for diabetes research.

You can see what is available this year, and join, here.

Some frequently asked questions ( from the press release):
Q: What makes you so passionate about Diabetes?
A: My youngest son was diagnosed with diabetes at 5 years old, that’s when I learned how serious this disease is. After his diagnosis, I spent months racking my brain on how I could combat it.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for your charity?
A: Once my son was diagnosed, and I realized what this could mean for his future, I wanted to get involved, to do anything I could to give him a better chance at a healthy life. But I have four other kids and a busy writing career and wasn’t sure how I’d manage to make time for fund raising, didn’t even know where to start. Then I went to a silent auction at my son’s elementary school. There were some fantastic items that had been donated, but the turn-out was poor and the school didn’t make much money. I started thinking about the difficulty of trying to get a large number of people inside one building all at the same time, and the advantages of doing something on the web became very apparent. I figured I could use the support and traffic I already receive from my fan base to help my son and others like him, and the idea to do an on-line auction was born.
Q: How did it go the first year?
A: My first year was more of a test market to see if it would work. When we raised $34,982, I realized it definitely had potential. The second year, we nearly doubled that amount (at $63,000), and it has continued to grow bigger and bigger every year and, thanks to the generosity of my donors.

Q: How much time does it take to put it on every year?
A: It’s an incredibly time-intensive endeavor, but it’s also very fulfilling. We work on it year round. I started out running it on my own–just one person–and did that for three years.
Then I hired a part-time assistant who has become a bigger and bigger part of the behind-the-scenes work as the auction has grown.

Q: What makes your auction model work so well?
A: I think it’s the unique items that are offered, as well as the community. At the auction, readers can bid to win unique experiences–like having lunch or dinner with their favorite author, or staying in their favorite author’s guest house, or reading their favorite author’s book before it’s ever even published. We also offer opportunities to aspiring writers of all genres–and millions of people want to write a book. Some of the most powerful agents and editors in publishing have donated their time to read submissions and give feedback, some with a turn-around time of twenty-four hours! In addition to these unique items, we have everything from trips & stays, to antique jewelry to celebrity items.
Also, the friendships we form, the prizes we give away, and the spirit of fighting back together brings us closer as a community each year. I’m not the only one driving this. We’re all in it together.

Q: Do you believe there is a cure for diabetes in sight?
A: I’m absolutely optimistic. When I went to Florida to tour the Diabetes Research Institute and actually talked with their scientists and learned what they were doing, I felt we were SO close. I got very excited because I could really see a cure coming in my lifetime, which is my goal. This is not a mystery disease. I believe it’s curable, and I believe we’re close.

Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge: Motor City Fae by Cindy Spencer Pape

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations, reviews

The Particulars: Urban Fantasy, Carina Press, available as e-book
The Source: Purchased at Kobo ( I think.)
The Grade: C
The blurb:
Detroit artist Meagan Kelly has had a strong sixth sense all her life, but that doesn’t mean the gorgeous stranger’s crazy story—that she’s a half-elf, half human heiress—is true. But Meagan can’t deny the evidence of her own eyes—he’s Fae. A tall, blond, handsome, pointy-eared elf—and a man she just can’t get enough of.
Ric Thornhill’s assignment just got a lot more complicated. The more time he spends with Meagan, the harder it is to see her as a political tool to prevent an all-out war between humans and Fae.
Now Meagan’s in a race to master her newly released powers in time to prevent the conflict, convince a jealous Queen not to strip Ric of his powers, and find out if she can build a life that straddles two worlds.


The Review:
I think I have started reading this book twice before, but put it down. But people kept praising this series, which made me wonder if I had missed something. So I decided to read it again. So what did I think?
Despite the fact that the world was populated by the standard races ( werewolves, fae and magic users), it felt unique. One important reasons were that the elves wasn’t perfect breathing mannequins. No, they are delightfully flawed. Some are ruthless, some xenophobic, some honorable. Just like humans.
This is reflected in the plot. The stakes in the plot gradually increased, thanks to the pressure of the Queen. The plot twists took me by surprise, yet they had been cleverly foreshadowed in the plot. A lot of them stemmed from actions by characters, and the characters feelings ( both good and bad).
I loved the sense of loyalty that exuded through the plot. Ric was loyal to the queen, Meagan loyal to her friends, Ric’s friends supported him. But what I didn’t feel through the book was a spark between Meagan and Ric. Which was a disappointment, since the romance subplot was an important part in the book ( The hints about Aidan and Eileen did make me want to read their story.)

Book recommendation: Tangle of Need by Nalini Singh

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Adria, wolf changeling and resilient soldier, has made a break with the past. Now comes a new territory, and a devastating new complication: Riaz, a SnowDancer lieutenant already sworn to someone else. For Riaz, the primal attraction he feels for Adria is a staggering betrayal. For Adria, his dangerous lone-wolf appeal is beyond sexual. It consumes her. It terrifies her. It threatens to undermine everything she has built of her new life. But fighting their wild compulsion toward one another proves a losing battle. Their coming together is an inferno …and a melding of two wounded souls who promise each other no commitment, no ties, no bonds. Only pleasure. Too late, they realise that they have more to lose than they ever imagined. Drawn into a cataclysmic Psy war that may alter the fate of the world itself, they must make a decision that might just break them both.

Note: The cover is for the UK edition, since I think the cover for the US edition is… ugly.  ( To put it mildly.) The book is out in the US in late May, and in the UK in June.

You can pre-order it from Amazon, BN and Book depository. ( UK edition)

Desperately Wanting Wednesday: Novels without covers

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Desperatly Wanting Wednesday, hosted by Parajunkee's View 

 Collared by LA Kornetsky 
Expected release date: November 2012.
A male bartender and a female entrepeneur work together, with the help of their pets, to find a missing person in this debut mystery.

Dragon Justice by Laura Anne Gilman
Release date: July 2012

 In my time with PUPI, formally known as Private, Unaffiliated Paranormal Investigations, I’ve seen a lot. Learned a lot. And not all of it’s been good. But what we do-make people accountable for crimes committed with magic-is important work. Still. Even I need to take a break every now and again. Or so I’ve just been told (ordered). So hey, vacation. Maybe I’ll finally figure out what’s going on with the “special bond” between me and the bossman, Benjamin Venec. Venec seems to like that idea-he’s invited me down to join him on a jaunt to Philly. But no sooner do I arrive in the City of Brotherly Love than we’re called in to look at a dead body. And that’s when life gets really complicated….

Miles to go by Laura Anne Gilman
 Expected release date: 2013 ( if the Kickstarter goes through)
 Miles to Go: It’s an ordinary day, another ordinary – for Danny –  job, when he’s approached by a young woman who has information he needs to solve a case.  All she wants to do is help.  When a life – or more – are on the line, it’s hard to turn that down.  But the cost of that information will change Danny’s life…forever.

Monday news round up: All about the DOJ Settlement

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The biggest piece of news the last 10 days are the fact that the US department of Justice is suing Apple, Macmillan and Penguin for collusion on e-book prices, and that Hachette, Simon and Schuster and HarperCollins are settling. I skimmed through the settlement and the complaint, but to me it is all legalese. Luckily, there is plenty of articles explaining it in terms that laymen can understand.
From Law.com:
DOJ Antitrust Suit Alleges Apple and E-Book Publishers Fixed Prices
Experts Consider How Apple E-Book Suit Will Impact Business, Regulation

If you need a nice summary, Dear Author have several helpful posts that sums it up. They also have an nice primer on anti trust law.

And, it isn’t only in the US that the publishers are getting sued for collusion.  They are also getting sued in Canada, and EU are investigating them for price fixing.

So how does Apple and the publishers react?  Apple claims that they “broke Amazon’s grip.”  John Sargent wrote an public letter explaining that everything was a coincidence.
Penguin issued a press release.

Personally, I think the evidence in the complaint is quite damning.

Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge: Heart of Stone by C.E Murphy

On By MikaelaIn Book Recommendations

The Particulars:  Urban Fantasy, Luna, available in print and as e-book
The Source: The Bookshelf
The Grade: B-

The Blurb: 

Okay, so jogging through Central Park after midnight wasn’t a bright idea. But Margrit Knight never thought she’d encounter a dark new world filled with magical beings–not to mention a dying woman and a mysterious stranger with blood on his hands. Her logical, lawyer instincts told her it couldn’t all be real– but she could hardly deny what she’d seen and touched. 

The mystery man, Alban, was a gargoyle. One of the fabled Old Races who had hidden their existence for centuries. Now he was a murder suspect, and he needed Margrit’s help to take the heat off him and find the real killer. And as the dead pile up, it’s a race against the sunrise to clear Alban’s name and keep them both alive.

The Review:

It has been years since I read this one the first time, and before this I would have said it was on my Keeper shelf, but now I am not so sure.

First, I love the world of Old Races. The races feels fresh and unusual, even the standard fantasy races like Dragons and Vampires.  I loved that each of the races represented an element.  But everything isn’t perfect among the longlived Old Races.  They live their lives in the shadows, avoiding discovery by humans. 


It is a delicate balance, and Alban’s decision to approach Margit disturbs it.
Soon, Margrit juggles her normal workload, her quest for Alban’s innocence and  an suspicious cop boyfriend.  I loved how everything slowly dragged Margrit into the world of the Old Races.   
How it all felt connected, but I admired Margrit for her courage and her sense of justice.  She butted heads with  Dragons and Vampires, refusing to show any fear.  
She ignored the grumbles of her boyfriend, that they yet again is on differing sides of a case. Add in the fact that her lover is a cop, and that she is spending a lot of time with a suspected murderer. .   I am amazed that she managed it.  (No, honestly. I would have collapsed, but maybe it is something they teach you in law school. ) 


Despite the fast paced plot, what made the book for me were the characters.  Margit has core of honor that pulls at her through the book. She is sharp, and bargains with powerful men. And, as the plot races on she really wants to tell her roommates, not to mention boyfriend, what is going on.
Alban… His soul is battered, but  being around Margrit is pulling him back into the Old Races from his exile.  I loved how Alban’s past were a red thread in the book, and how smoothly it was woven into the plot.


The romantic subplot was bittersweet, since both of them knew that they couldn’t happen.  


So, what I didn’t like with this book. Despite the intriguing world and plot, there were an invisible barrier that stopped me from sinking into the book.  It might have been the fact that I decided to read it with the intent of reviewing it.