Month: June 2012

On My Wishlist-Waiting on Wednesday-Desperately Wanting Wednesday-On the Weekend (2)

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | On My Wishlist

It’s still not Wednesday. But it might be when you read this. Or it might be Sunday, which is when I happened to get around to it this weekend.

Or a “round tuit”. I actually used to keep one of those in my desk.

This Sunday I have one each. One book not yet out that I want, and one already out that I just heard about. A little story before, first.

I haven’t read the latest Stephanie Plum book, Explosive Eighteen. I probably will. Or I might listen to it on audio. I’ve discovered that audiobooks make working on Ebook Review Central go faster. And I discovered Stephanie on audio, so that might work better all the way around.

But the Lizzy and Diesel books, the slightly paranormal spin-off series, is only on book 2. It hasn’t yet descended into the endess “Ranger or Morelli” triangle thing Stephanie has been doing for ages. I’m still interested in Lizzy and Diesel’s story. If you’re trying to figure out where Diesel fits in, Diesel appears in the seasonal “Between the Plums” novellas of the regular series, so he’s been around. Wicked Appetite was the first of the Lizzy and Diesel series, if you want to start at the beginning. Here’s the blurb for the second:

Whether it’s monkey business, funny business, or getting down to business, Janet Evanovich’s Lizzy and Diesel series proves that there’s no business like Wicked Business.
 
Lizzy Tucker’s once normal life as a pastry chef in Salem, Massachusetts, turns upside down as she battles both sinister forces and an inconvenient attraction to her unnaturally talented but off-limits partner, Diesel.

When Harvard University English professor and dyed-in-the-wool romantic Gilbert Reedy is mysteriously murdered and thrown off his fourth-floor balcony, Lizzy and Diesel take up his twenty-year quest for the Luxuria Stone, an ancient relic believed by some to be infused with the power of lust. Following clues contained in a cryptic nineteenth-century book of sonnets, Lizzy and Diesel tear through Boston catacombs, government buildings, and multimillion-dollar residences. On their way they’ll leave behind a trail of robbed graves, public disturbances, and general mayhem.

Diesel’s black sheep cousin, Gerwulf Grimoire, also wants the Stone. His motives are far from pure, and what he plans on doing with the treasure, no one knows . . . but Lizzy Tucker fears she’s in his crosshairs. Never far and always watching, Grimoire has a growing, vested interest in the cupcake-baker-turned-finder-of-lost-things. As does another dangerous and dark opponent in the hunt—a devotee of lawlessness and chaos, known only as Anarchy.

Treasures will be sought, and the power of lust will be unmistakable as Lizzy and Diesel attempt to stay ahead of Anarchy, Grimoire, and his medieval minion, Hatchet, in this ancient game of twisted riddles and high-stakes hide-and-seek.

There’s a book already out that I also want. I’m a fan of Sherlock Holmes. (This comes under the heading of “well, duh” for any long-time reader of this blog). Recently, Sir Arthur  Conan Doyle’s home, Undershaw, was under threat of being torn down. Among other efforts, a book of short stories in honor of Sherlock Holmes was written to help fund the campaign to underwrite the Undershaw Preservation Trust.

The book is Sherlock’s Home: The Empty House.

This is one I would want just for the cover, but of course I’m interested in the stories and the cause it supports. Housing developments don’t last. Holmes is forever.

Stacking the Shelves (6)

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Stacking the Shelves

The size of this week’s Stacking the Shelves (see Tynga’s Reviews for the details about Stacking the Shelves) post isn’t all my fault. Honest. Okay, it’s mostly my fault.

But Sourcebooks sent out a “care package” of three print ARCs to all the librarians on their review list. That’s where the first three books came from.

And I want to say a huge heartfelt “THANK YOU” to the person who assigns review books at Library Journal. All they have is a list of which genres I’ll review for the print magazine. And then it’s hit or miss. The last book I got was The Mongoliad (see review) so sometimes, it’s a serious miss.

But this time, oh this time, I got a book from the top of my wishlist. I opened the mailer, and there it was. The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny. And so far, it is a beautiful mystery. One detective’s life is also a beautiful mess.

As always, anything not noted as print is an ebook.

From the Author/Publisher/Publicist:
All Roads Lead to Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith (print ARC)
That Book About Harvard by Eric Kester (print ARC)
Dear Zari: the Secret Lives of the Women of Afghanistan by Zarghuna Kargar (print ARC)
The Delphi Bloodline by Donna Del Oro
Nightshifted by Carrie Alexander
Goodbye for Now by Laurie Frankel (print ARC)

From Library Journal for Review:
The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny (print ARC)

From Goddess Fish Promotions:
Timeless Sojourn by Jamie Salisbury

From NetGalley:
Dearly, Beloved by Lia Habel
The Theory of Attraction by Delphine Dryden
Rogue’s Pawn by Jeffe Kennedy
Dangerously Close by Dee J. Adams
A Scandalous Affair by Karen Erickson
The Ravenous Dead by Natasha Hoar
Blades of Winter by G. T. Almasi
Artemis Fowl: the Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer

From Penguin First Flights Program:
City of Women by David R. Gillham

Bought from Amazon:
Just One Night by Chloe Cole

Are your shelves overflowing this week? Did anyone bring back a ton of books from BEA? Do tell!

Guest Post: Author Ruthie Knox is Hearing Voices + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | ebook giveaway> Giveaways> Guest Posts

Reading Reality has a very special guest today. It’s Ruthie Knox, the author of February’s marvelous contemporary romance Ride With Me and her utterly delicious new, just-in-time-to-celebrate-the-Jubilee, set-in-London About Last Night.

Because so much of the fun of About Last Night (and it is scrumptious fun, see the review here) is in the heroine’s talks with herself (Good Cath’s attempts to suppress Bad Cath, read the book!) I asked Ruthie to give us some insight into successfully writing characters who have a LOT of internal dialogue.

Take it away, Ruthie!

Hearing Voices: On Internal Dialogue

A good friend recently mentioned to me how much she despises it when people use the term “internal dialogue.” We have only the one brain, after all. It’s not as though we carry conversations in our own heads, complete with quotation marks and speech tags, right? So anything internal has to be “monologue,” not “dialogue.”

Except . . . hmm.

Sometimes I do talk to myself inside my head as if there are two miniature versions of me in there, yammering at each other. In fact, sometimes when I’m hiking, I actually speak one side of the conversation out loud, while the other one talks back to me silently.

Crazy, or just human? Let’s hope the latter, because the heroine of my new release, About Last Night, definitely has a fair bit of internal dialogue going on. Her name is Cath, and she has a checkered past, but she’s reformed.

Sort of.

Mostly.

At times of stress — which I give her in spades — poor Cath tends to find herself torn between her old identity (“Bad Cath”) and her reformed one (“Good Cath,” a.k.a “New Cath”), and the two of them duke it out in her head.

Take this scene, for example, where Cath has just eaten a bacon sandwich in the kitchen of the stranger whose bed she slept in the night before…

Maybe it was the hangover, but it was the best sandwich she’d ever had. Or maybe it was City. He moved around his tiny kitchen like he knew what he was doing, and he’d fussed over the sandwich for a long time.

Beyond asking her how she liked her tea, though, he didn’t say a word, and that was fine with Cath. She wasn’t sure what social script applied when you’d passed out on someone, woken up in their bed, and then immediately thereafter come very close to mating with them on a table. The best strategy would no doubt have been flight, but she’d needed the sandwich.

The food gave her necessary fuel, and it also provided time to regroup. Bad Cath and Good Cath were duking it out in her head, and she was having trouble keeping her wires from crossing.

Good Cath was screechy, slightly hysterical: What do you think you’re doing? Sex on a table with a stranger? You don’t do that anymore! Hell, you didn’t even do that before. Knock it off. Put your clothes on. Go home. It’s still possible to turn this into a blip! It’s not too late, but you’re cutting it close, missy.

Bad Cath, by contrast, practically purred with lust: That man can kiss, Mary Catherine. What could it hurt to do it again? You’re already here. You made your mistake. What’s the big deal if you make it a little bigger? And speaking of big, did you notice the way City felt pressing between your legs? Yeah. That. You’re going to walk out on that? Don’t kid a kidder, babe.

What could she do but feed her stomach and try to drown out the voices?

Plus, it wasn’t like she could simply flee the scene. She was only half dressed. At least she knew where her clothes were now. She’d spotted them drying on a rack in the corner as soon as she walked into the kitchen. City must have put them through the wash for her, but he, like so many of his backward countrymen, didn’t have a dryer.

He could deny being nice all day long, but the guy was definitely a Boy Scout. A Boy Scout who kissed like a Hell’s Angel. Not that she’d ever kissed a Hell’s Angel. And not that anyone had ever kissed her quite like City just had. Zero to sixty in three-point-four seconds. The man knew how to ring her bell.

But she was done with the bell ringing, right? Right. New Cath didn’t sleep with strange men on studio tables. New Cath said, “Thanks a bunch,” got dressed, and clomped on home.

Do that, New Cath instructed. Do that right now.

Of course, she doesn’t do it. Where would be the fun in that? She stays, and she sleeps with him (which turns out to have been a very good bad idea), and then she flees — only to find herself face-to-face with him on the train and embroiled in yet another internal dilemma.

She and City were over and done with, but he seemed to have missed the memo. Or he’d read it, then shredded it.

So send him another copy.

She didn’t want to. She knew she should, but she so didn’t want to. “You’re just trying to get me back into bed with you.”

Nev’s mouth curled up at the corners, and he lowered his voice, leaning closer. “Of course I’m trying to get you back into bed with me. I loved having you in my bed. I’d like to chain you to my bed.” He trailed a finger down her bare arm, leaving a trail of sighing nerve endings. “But I’d also like to have lunch with you.”

Desperate to maintain her resolve, Cath gestured toward a woman at the other end of the car. “Isn’t Portia there more your type?” Tall, blond, and refined, the woman was dressed for the office in a pencil skirt and an expensive-looking white silk blouse. Cath, by contrast, wore a cheap black sleeveless top and pants from Zara. Her fingernails were bitten to the quick, her hair hopelessly wispy. He didn’t want her. She was a mess.

Nev glanced over at the woman and then looked back at Cath, his smile widening as his eyes traveled the length of her body. “I know what I want, Mary Catherine.”

Her nipples drew tight, and she felt a rush of moisture soak her panties. Stupid, traitorous body.

“I can’t,” she insisted.

“Dinner then.”

“I mean, I can’t go out with you.”

“Ah.” Concern furrowed his forehead, and Cath tried not to find it adorable. She failed. “Is there someone else?”

“No.”

“Good.” He smiled again, and she smiled back before she could catch herself. She needed to remember to watch out for sneak attacks. Nev tilted his head, considering her. “What then, you don’t fancy me?”

Tell him you don’t. Tell him you don’t fancy him one bit.

She gave him the same slow once-over he’d just given her. “What’s not to fancy?”

New Cath threw up her hands, disgusted with the whole situation.

Isn’t she cute? And slightly psychotic?

It was tremendous fun to write a heroine who’s such a mess, but it also required some torturous, angsty writing days. Because I don’t think anyone gets as divided and messed up in the head as Our Lovely Cath without some serious trauma in her background, and Cath is no exception.

Ultimately, what About Last Night is all about is watching Cath find love, and unfolding all the ways in which learning to trust — opening herself to feel — forces her to come to terms with her past and find the forgiveness that lets her be neither Old Cath nor New Cath, but simply Cath.

What about you — do you ever have internal dialogue, or are you strictly a monologue sort of person? Confession time!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:
About Last Night, coming from Loveswept (Random House), June 11, 2012! 

Sure, opposites attract, but in this sexy, smart, eBook original romance from Ruthie Knox, they positively combust! When a buttoned-up banker falls for a bad girl, “about last night” is just the beginning.
 
Cath Talarico knows a mistake when she makes it, and God knows she’s made her share. So many, in fact, that this Chicago girl knows London is her last, best shot at starting over. But bad habits are hard to break, and soon Cath finds herself back where she has vowed never to go . . . in the bed of a man who is all kinds of wrong: too rich, too classy, too uptight for a free-spirited troublemaker like her.

Nev Chamberlain feels trapped and miserable in his family’s banking empire. But beneath his pinstripes is an artist and bohemian struggling to break free and lose control. Mary Catherine—even her name turns him on—with her tattoos, her secrets, and her gamine, sex-starved body, unleashes all kinds of fantasies.

When blue blood mixes with bad blood, can a couple that is definitely wrong for each other ever be perfectly right? And with a little luck and a lot of love, can they make last night last a lifetime?

If you’re teased enough about the debate between Good Cath and Bad Cath, About Last Night will be available on June 11 from Amazon, B&N, and everywhere. Goodreads is already starting to rack up reviews.

If you want to follow Ruthie, you can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and of course, her website.

**~~**About That Giveaway**~~**

One lucky commenter will be randomly chosen to win a digital preview copy of About Last Night. Winners will pick up their copy through NetGalley. Good luck to all!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Last Night

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> book reviews

About Last Night by Ruthie Knox is an absolute gem of a love story.

Mary Catherine Talarico has been “Good Cath” for two years. She left her last mistake behind, burned her last bridge (pretty much literally) and kept herself focused on her work.

And what a job it is. She’s the assistant to a curator at the famous Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It’s a job Cath sort of created for herself, making herself indispensable during the creation of an exhibition and catalog devoted to the history of knitting as folk art, Cath’s favorite subject.

But in order to keep “Bad Cath” safely locked away, Cath hasn’t had a social life in those two years. Her personal life has become so boring and predictable that one morning she bets her boss that she can accurately predict the next several commuters to get off the bus at the V&A stop.

The stakes of that bet? Her boss will bring in a hand-knitted straight-jacket. Great item for the exhibit. The good news, Cath wins the bet. The bad news, Cath wins the bet. Her life is officially that boring.

Except that one of those commuters is a man Cath has nicknamed “City” for his gorgeous bespoke City-banker type suits. Not that the man wearing the suits is half-bad either. Cath also sees him most mornings when they take the same running trails, and he’s pretty good to look at in just running shorts and a sweaty t-shirt, too.

But he’s just a fantasy man. “Good Cath” doesn’t have the time or energy to chase inappropriate men. That’s “Bad Cath’s” territory.

Until one night, when a friend fixes Cath up on a blind date. That should have been nixed from the start. It was a disaster of epic proportions. Unfortunately for Cath, the bad date was the kind who insisted that she must have a drink with him, unless she was too good to drink with him, and it was too early for her to bail. One drink let “Bad Cath” out.

The end of the evening found Cath drunk in a bus stop, too broke for cab fare (the V&A doesn’t pay much) when “City” stopped and recognized her. “Bad Cath” doesn’t have any inhibitions about inappropriate men, but does have commitment issues. And “City” turned out to want to rescue the pretty woman he remembers from the bus. So he takes her home with him, since she refuses to say where she lives.

After one glorious night, Cath wakes up and realizes that she has just made a horrible mistake. Admittedly a mistake involving some really, really terrific sex with a gorgeous man she’s always fancied.

At first, Cath doesn’t even want to know “City’s” real name. (It’s Nev). She’s not sure she wants to see him again. She thinks the last night was a mistake, and she just wants to put it behind her.

Nev definitely wants to see Cath again. And again. And not just for the great sex. He’s pretty sure she’s the best thing that ever happened to him.

But the fact that she’s exactly the opposite of anyone his family might want him to be involved with really does confuse the issue. His family is positive he’s making a mistake.

Just whose mistake is this, anyway?

Escape Rating A: This is a tremendously fun contemporary romance. If you like contemporary at all, even once in a while, go get this book!

The story uses the “sex into love” plot, and does it very, very well. That’s a story that doesn’t always work so well in real life, but the author makes it work in the story because there is still definitely a courtship, even though it happens after they fall into bed.

Nev has to court Cath because he wants more from the relationship, and he needs to get Cath to trust him in order to get that more. It’s not a traditional courtship by any means, but it does definitely explore the characters, and the readers get to know how they got to the place the story began, where they make that first so-called mistake.

Author Interview with Blair McDowell

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours

Today is a very special day for author Blair McDowell. June 7 is the Release Day Blitz for her delightful (sorry, couldn’t resist) time-travel ghost romance, Delighting in Your Company (review here). Blair is popping up all over the blogosphere today, but I managed to sit her down (virtually, at least) to answer a few questions about her writing and this haunting story.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Who is Blair McDowell when she isn’t writing about ghosts?

I run a B&B in the small fishing village of Gibsons Landing on Canada’s spectacular west coast. After the tourist season ends I go traveling—usually to Italy or Greece for a month. Then down to the Caribbean to a small island where I’ve had a house for 40 years. Then back to Gibsons to start the whole cycle again. Through all of this I try to write at least 4 hours a day. I’m retired from my day job so all of this is now possible.

Delighting In Your Company takes place on the island of St. Clement’s in the Carribean. Is there a real St. Clement’s? Or was there a particular place that served as the inspiration for the setting?

There is indeed a real island on which St. Clement’s is based. It’s St. Eustatius, and I built a house there some forty years ago. The legends and stories I heard there over the years were the inspiration for Delighting In Your Company.

It feels like a lot of research went into Delighting, about the legends of the West Indies, and about the “Triangle Trade” of rum, molasses and slaves. Would you like to share some of the interesting things that you found while you were researching the book?

I think some of the facts I discovered about the slave trade were the most interesting—and the most appalling. I made my hero, Jonathan, anti-slavery. I think one of the facts that struck me deeply was that although the slave trade was outlawed by Parliament in 1807, the actual ownership of slaves—the abolition of slavery in the British Isles — didn’t happen until some thirty years later. All the outlawing of transport did was result in a flourishing business for ships that could outrun the law.

Delighting is both a ghost-romance, and a time-travel romance. How did you decide to mix the two?

I couldn’t have done one without the other in this case. The story seemed to come from out of nowhere except my knowledge of the islands and their folk tales. It just arrived in my head, quite complete.

Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

Odd. I can’t even remember learning to read. I’ve always loved reading and read in every spare moment. When other children were playing ball, I was off in a corner reading.

Who or what most influenced your decision to become a writer?

Again, no one. It was as natural a choice as breathing. I’ve written since I was a child. Long letters to friends, short stories just for myself, then professional books in my field when I was a university professor, and now (my favorite) novels. I love writing.

And are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you plot everything out in advance, or do you just let the story flow?

I plot carefully. First I choose the setting I want to work in, then I start thinking about possible characters in that setting, then I start developing plot. The plot may change as I work on the book, but I start with a very complete story idea.

Do your characters ever want to take over the story?

Indeed. In Sonata, my book that will be coming out in the fall, one character completely turned the tables on me. I don’t know how it happened.

What book do you recommend everyone should read, and why?

There just isn’t ONE book. No two of us are alike in what we bring to the books we read. What one person enjoys another may cordially detest. My advice is to read widely and in many genres. Only in that way can we be broad enough as readers or as authors.

Can you tell us a little bit about your next project?

Sonata is the story of a world class concert artist who falls in love with a Vancouver cop. There is a jewel heist, attempted murder and general mayhem before our hero and heroine finally get together.

What about your off-writing time? Any special hobbies or interests you’d like to share?

Travel. I love to travel. I enjoy being surrounded by cultures and languages other than my own.

Coffee or Tea?

Coffee—the kind the Italians call “cappuccino oscuro” Dark Cappuccino. A Cappuccino made with a double espresso and topped with the foam of milk—not actual milk, just the foam.

Blair, thanks so much for letting us have a glimpse into your writing world!

(Photo credits: Photo of St. Eustacius: Walter Hellebrand from Wikimedia Commons, Diagram of the slave ship is from the Archives of the Library of Congress and is in the Public Domain.)

Delighting In Your Company

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

If the phrase “delighting in your company” sounds familiar, it should. It’s from one of the most persistent ballads in the English language. Still stumped?

It’s Greensleeves.

And the story, Delighting in Your Company, uses the tune and the words, as it is one song that is familiar to people in both the 19th and 21st centuries.

That’s important, because Blair McDowell has created a ghost story and a time-travel story that links people and events between those two centuries.

Ms McDowell interweaves the history and beliefs of the Caribbean, a stinging rebuke against the “Triangle Trade” of the 17th and 18th centuries, and a bittersweet love story that changes history. Because history needed a “cosmic kick in the pants”.

But first, the heroine needs a more localized one. Amalie Ansett’s life needs a do-over. Or at least a fresh start. Her marriage has ended in bitter divorce, and her beloved mother is dead. While packing her her childhood home, she discovers a family secret–the good kind for a change. She has family she never knew about. A cousin in the Caribbean, on the laid-back island of St. Clement’s.

One delighted phone call, and Amalie is taking a much-needed rest on a sleepy tropical island where the pace is life is slow, and time has a chance to heal her.

The one thing she doesn’t expect to find is a man. The other thing she doesn’t expect to find is a mystery.

Long ago, there was another Amalie Ansett. Her portrait hangs in the museum. And she’s a dead-ringer for 21st century Amalie. There’s something else dead about historic Amalie. Her eyes. They’re empty. Not just in the sense that the portrait was bad, but as though the artist painted her corpse.

He did. History-Amalie was catatonic while she was painted, while she was the governor’s wife. There’s a big mystery about her death. And Amalie’s cousin Julia knows it. Something went very wrong back there in the past.

Because that man Amalie has met in the here-and-now? He’s a ghost. Everyone on the island knows something haunts the old Ansett and Evans Plantations, and it’s him. Jonathan Evans. The man the original Amalie was supposed to marry.

Instead there was a slave rebellion, and history went way, way, way off track. Jonathan’s ghost thinks his Amalie has come back to him. Amalie thinks that her handsome ghost-man is using her as a substitute for the woman he really loves.

But he’s real enough to her that they manage pretty well. Until Amalie investigates that rebellion-and figures out that she might be able to go back and fix things. But if she makes things right, she’ll lose the man she loves.

Love is about making the one you love happy, not yourself, isn’t it? No matter how much it hurts?

Escape Rating A-: Usually it’s either the ghost story or the time-travel story. This time it’s both, and it SO works. Amalie has to meet the ghost of Jonathan in order to know she’s supposed to go back and fix things. And yes, it might be a little arrogant to think she’s the one who has to fix the past, but who else?

The story works on a lot of levels, the love story because Amalie knows it can’t last, but does it anyway. She’s always trying to make things right for Jonathan, aware that it’s a sacrifice for the greater good. But it only works when she builds trust with people in both the present and the past, especially her past self. That was fascinating.

The time travel angle works because Amalie goes back to herself. She’s not trying to create a new role, she’s already there. She works with what is.

The historic mystery has its roots in the Triangle Trade, and the money to be made there. Not just the slave trade itself, but also the sales of the cash crop from the Caribbean that the slaves produced. If you’re curious about the Triangle Trade, the best, and most colorful description is still the song “Molasses to Rum to Slaves” from the musical 1776. It indicts everyone involved.

Review: The Magician of Wall Street by Minta Hall + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | 3 Stars> book reviews> Giveaways> Originally published at Book Lovers, Inc.> The Rocket Lover

Format Read: ebook from publisher
Number of Pages: 138 p.
Release Date: April 23, 2012
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Formats Available: ebook
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website

Book Blurb:

Oliver Pendragon’s days as the Magician of Wall Street are legendary. When he finds a way to get everything he’s ever wanted—including Abby Daltry—of course he can’t refuse, even though there will be hell to pay if ever Abby found out. But when he discovers his old business partner is out for Abby’s blood, Oliver will do anything to protect her…and win her heart.

New Age bookstore owner Abby is perfectly happy with her life the way it is—the independence, the quirky clientele, and even the occasional tarot card reading—are all part of the charm. But when the cards reveal Oliver is back and bringing danger along with him, she refuses to heed the warning for another chance with the only man she’d ever loved.

As shots fly, the Magician will have to perform his best trick ever if he hopes to keep Abby safe and by his side forever.


My Thoughts:

This was originally posted at Book Lovers Inc.

The Magician of Wall Street isn’t really a magician, or at least, not a stage magician. He’s a financial wizard. Or he was.

But there’s something singularly appropriate that a story about a man called “The Magician” begins with a tarot card reading, a reading where, when you look back at it after the story ends, every single thing in it has come true. But not in the way that the heroine thinks.

I found this chilling, how Abby is totally warned about what’s going to happen, and completely ignores the warnings because of her preconceived notions about Oliver (the Magician) who admittedly hurt her terribly, and Gil, her old friend and Oliver’s former business associate.

In spite of all the evidence that Gil was running a Ponzi scheme (a la Bernie Madoff) Abby refuses to believe that Gil might want to hurt her as part of his plans. Because she doesn’t trust Oliver not to control her the way her father did. And the way she knows her daddy still wants to.

Abby has some serious “Daddy issues”. And Oliver is definitely a LOT like her father. Which does make one wonder a whole lot about why she got so deeply involved with a man just like dear old dad.

But I digress.

The Magician of Wall Street had two different stories going on. The surface story was the suspense. The financial genius, Oliver, loses his investment firm because his associate, Gil was running a Ponzi scheme under his nose. Oliver missed the whole thing because he was too busy with Abby.

And Abby thought Oliver was too busy working to pay enough attention to her, so she left him, moved to the West Coast and went into partnership with her best friend in a New Age bookstore. From Abby’s perspective, Oliver may have lived with her and slept with her, but he didn’t love her. Oliver never let himself lose that much control. Oliver was all about taking control–of her. So Abby ran away.

And Gil, he manipulated the whole thing. Well, not the love. But he pointed them at each other and watched them dance. Then messed everything up by trying to kill them. Except these two people are already very, very messed up. Gil just added bullets and explosives.

Abby’s daddy threw in money and a company. I’m not sure who was more destructive. This story has an absolutely fantastic beginning. The scene with the Tarot card reading really works.

But Abby keeps wimping out after that. Gil was right, she is easily manipulated. This was an okay story, but after that fantastic beginning, I’d hoped for better.

I give The Magician of Wall Street 3 Stars.


***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~*~*Giveaway*~*~

 Entangled Publishing has generously offered a digital copy of The Magician of Wall Street to one lucky commenter! 

All you have to do is leave a meaningful comment about the review to enter!
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please leave us a way to contact you.
(Email in blogger profile or twitter name – no way to contact you – no entry).

This giveaway is open to International entries!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, June 16, 2012; and we will announce the winner on Sunday.

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Interview with Tiffany Allee & Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours> ebook giveaway> Giveaways

I’m so glad to finally be able to welcome Tiffany Allee, the author/extractor of the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, to Reading Reality. Let’s jump right into the interview, shall we?

I’m sure that readers would like to know a little more about the person behind the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, so Tiffany, please tell us a little bit about what you do when you’re not thinking up monsters for the OWEA to fight. Or monsters for the OWEA to run away from…

First of all, thank you so much for having me! What I do when I’m not writing or thinking about writing hrm…good question. Honestly, rarely does my brain go for too long without tossing (or shoving) ideas at me. But other than writing, I enjoy hiking, reading, and watching silly television shows with my husband. I also love to spend time with my family and bother my cats. I also love video games, although I don’t get a chance to play them very often.

Not long ago, I spent the majority of my days in a finance job in Corporate America. But for now I’m taking a break from my cubical to focus on writing.

For readers who are not yet familiar with the series, would you like to give a quick intro to the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency?

The From the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency series follows investigators from the OWEA (similar to the FBI, but for paranormal-related investigations) and the officers of the Chicago Police Department’s paranormal unit—or as they’re sometimes called: the freak squad.

The main investigators change with each book, and in each the main characters have something to lose—or have already lost something. And they are all otherworlders. Mac, the main female character in Banshee Charmer is a banshee—albeit an underpowered one. The main character of the second book, Marisol, is a succubus. But beneath both of their otherworlder powers, they are just people who are trying to do the right thing.

Banshees are not usually on the side of the righteous. What inspired you to make your heroine a banshee, even a half-banshee, for the first book in the Files series?

A banshee wasn’t something I’d seen done a lot before, and it sounded like such fun—especially since banshees aren’t usually seen as heroic. And I wanted Mac to be misunderstood, and a little out of place—even among her fellow cops and otherworlders. Making her a banshee seemed to fit the bill.

What inspired you to pick paranormal romance for your writing over another type? Or over another genre altogether?

While I love other genres, I’ve always been drawn to fantasy settings and characters. I also love a happy ending. Paranormal romance allows me to pull in the fantastical elements I enjoy and mix them in with real-world(ish) settings. And the dual stories of mystery and romance give paranormal romance an edge that you can really sink your teeth into. Plus, it gives me a lot of fun elements to juggle.

Do you plan everything or just let the story flow?

Letting the story just flow? Without a plan? *gulps* The idea of pantsing a story gives me a tiny panic attack. I plan everything down to the scene. However, I do change my outline as I go and discover new things about the characters and the plot. I don’t stick to my outlines hard and fast, but if I change them, I do my best to make sure it’s for the better. I have yet to finish a story without a few changes to my original outline.

What book do you recommend everyone should read, and why?

Tough question! Everyone has different tastes, so it’s a difficult thing for me to answer. But the most universal and important book I can think of is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Not always a comfortable book to read, but an important one.

More specifically, besides Banshee Charmer and Succubus Lost, of course, what other paranormal romance/urban fantasy books or series would you recommend to readers who enjoyed Files and needed something to tide them over until the next File opens?

For readers who enjoy darker urban fantasy, I highly recommend Stacia Kane’s Downside series. They’re harsh and real and wonderfully written. And they’ve drawn me in emotionally better than any other books I’ve read. There is also a strong romantic element that grows throughout the series.

If you’re looking for something lighter, I love Nicole Peeler’s Jane True series. Funny and romantic.

Speaking of which, can you tell us a little bit about your plans for the series, or just about your future projects?

The next book in the series is slated for September, and it will follow the sensitive, Astrid, as she struggles to clear her name. Her love interest may be familiar to people who read Banshee Charmer. In that story Mason Sanderson was an Internal Affairs officer in the Chicago Police Department. Between that book and the third in the series, he has moved on to the OWEA.

I also have a novelette coming out in June called Once Prey, Twice Forsaken that is a short, hot read about a newly-made vampire named Blair and the witch, David, who hunts her. And I hope to have news soon about a secret novel-length project too. 😉

Coffee or Tea?

Both, please! Coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon. I am powered by caffeine, in case you couldn’t tell, haha.

Tiffany, thank you so much for answering all my questions, and for this peek into the Files. I’ll be looking forward to Astrid’s story. (I was hoping she was next!)

And there’s a more days left to enter the tour-wide giveaway for a copy of Succubus Lost and the beautiful salamander pin. Rafflecopter coming right up!
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Succubus Lost

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

The first succubus that Detective Marisol Whitman of the Chicago P.D. “freak squad”  knows is lost in Succubus Lost by Tiffany Allee is unfortunately one who is very near and dear to her. Marisol goes to her sister Elaine’s room to wake her up for a shoe-shopping expedition and discovers that Elaine’s bed hasn’t been slept in.

Elaine and Marisol are both succubi. And Elaine is missing. But when Marisol slams into her Lieutenant’s office to start a missing person’s investigation, she discovers that Elaine isn’t the only young succubus who has disappeared; twenty young succubi have been kidnapped over the last two years.

The Otherworlder Enforcement Agency has been tracking the case, right to her house. But the Agent the OWEA has sent, Valerio Costa, doesn’t like or trust succubi, not since one destroyed his brother’s life.

And Marisol still has other cases to deal with. There’s a murderer on the loose on the Otherworlder side of Chicago, one who burns his (or her) victims to an ash so fine the cremains can barely be recognized as human. The murderer can only be a powerful coven, or an even more powerful salamander. Which is just what Agent Costa is, a salamander.

Could the disappearances and the murders be part of the same case? The OWEA’s psychometrist says that all the victims are alive, right up until those cremains are identified as a missing siren, one previously unconnected to the case.

Then one of the victims turns up, with her powers subverted into something out of a nightmare, and her memory wiped clean. Marisol discovers that Costa has been keeping even more secrets from her about the case than even she expected from an OWEA agent–and she expected plenty.

But her sister’s life and sanity are on the line, and Marisol needs to trust someone. Agent Valerio Costa is the only one who might be able to help her get her sister back in one piece.

He’s also the hottest thing she’s ever seen–and not just because he’s a salamander. But if she trusts him and she’s wrong, he won’t need his powers to burn her heart out.

Escape Rating A-: I absolutely adore the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency series by Tiffany Allee (see my review of Banshee Charmer here). One of the things that she has done that is particularly neat is pull in species that are not the same-old, same-old. Every urban fantasy series has vamps and werewolves. And they are here, but that’s not all.

Marisol is temporarily partnering with Astrid at the beginning of the story because Astrid’s vamp partner Claude is on vacation. I love this! A vampire taking a vacation. (I hope Astrid gets a story later, BTW)

But the heroine of Banshee Charmer was a half-banshee. Not many banshee heroines. The hero of Succubus Lost is a salamander. Again, not all that common. Also, succubi, while they aren’t rare, aren’t the flavor of the month, either.

I missed some of the “cop shop” banter from Banshee Charmer. Marisol isn’t “one of the boys” the way that Mac was, so the flavor was different. But I did like the way that the events of book one affected book 2. Costa’s ID got thoroughly checked out, after the Chicago P.D. got fooled the last time.

Succubus Lost is urban fantasy that includes a strong romance between two people who have no particular reason to like or trust each other at the beginning, but need each other to solve a case. Watching them work through all their issues to earn their happy ending, is very, very satisfying.

Drowning Mermaids

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | blog tours> book reviews> C Reviews> Giveaways

If you’ve ever watched The Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel, then you have an inkling of just how dangerous crab fishing in Alaska can be. The crab fishing season out of the small town of Soldotna is just part of the setting of Drowning Mermaids by Nadia Scrieva.

The dangers of the sea are more than the usual in this first book of Ms. Scrieva’s new Sacred Breath series. Those dangers also include predatory and dangerous mer-people. In Ms. Scrieva’s paranormal version of events, the Bermuda Triangle disappearance are merely collateral damage of some age-old clan warfare under the sea.

The first person to drown in Drowning Mermaids isn’t a mermaid. The man was a crewmember on Captain Trevain Murphy’s Fishin’ Magician. But Leo was the first man that Trevain has lost in all his years as captain, and he doesn’t understand what went wrong. There was no storm, and Leo was a greenhorn, but not that green. The boy wasn’t drunk or over-tired. He just seems to have fallen overboard for no good reason.

The crew are drowning their sorrows, at the local strip joint when Trevain’s world takes a turn from the morose into the fantastic. A dancer steps onto the rickety stage, not to do the usual bump-and-grind, but to perform 14 minutes of mind-altering, heart stopping ballet. She does still strip at the end. It’s required. And she is unquestionably beautiful. And seems unbearably young to the fifty-plus Trevain. But her dancing is what speaks to his sorrow and confusion.

His brother, the ne’er-do-well Callder, notices that Trevain and the dancer, Aazuria, steal glances throughout the evening once her dance is over. He clumsily arranges for them to talk. Aazuria seems an old soul in a very young face. Trevain is the only person she wants to talk to.

Because Aazuria is not the girl she appears to be. Far from it. She is the Princess of Adlivun, one of the undersea kingdoms, and has lived most of her life in the waters under the Arctic. She is also over 600 years old. Trevain is the only person who talks to her as an intelligent person and not as just a beautiful body.

Not that he’s not interested in that too, but he’s gentleman enough to believe that since she can’t possibly be interested in him, he doesn’t want to look like an old fool chasing after a young girl. He’s happy with the intelligent conversation.

Trevain is generous and kind to Aazuria, expecting nothing in return except friendship. He has no idea who she is, or what she is.

What he doesn’t know is that her people are at war, and that she is on land for her safety. And that her war is about to crash into his coast, sweeping his life into the rocks. If he can manage to give up every single one of his preconceived notions about himself and the world, he can have his heart’s desire.

Or he can be alone and bitter for the rest of his life.

Escape Rating C+: I’m a sucker for stories set in Alaska, after living there for three years. Some parts of the setting were familiar. The whole thing about people coming to Alaska for the very high wages, and then getting stuck because the prices are equally high, that rings so true. And the place gets in your blood. If you can make the adjustment to the dark in the winter.

About the story. On the one hand, I kept turning pages, because I really wanted to see how the author made it all work out. There are not a lot of mermaid paranormal romance stories in general, and usually they use the siren theme. This one didn’t, and I was glad of that. It’s always good to see someone take a different road. Or sea lane, in this case.

I liked that Trevain and Aazuria did a twist on the older woman/younger man theme, since they are but aren’t.  But they also unfortunately hit the insta-love, or at least the insta-connection thing a bit too hard. Trevain invites someone he sees as a girl working in a strip joint to move in with him, along with all her sisters, during their first meeting. Even in small-town Alaska, that’s just not likely.

On that third invisible hand there’s a family sub-plot involving Trevain’s mother that is heart-breaking. And it’s a twist you don’t quite see coming.

Nadia will be awarding a “Drowning Mermaids” beer mug to one randomly drawn commenter on the tour as well as bookmarks to randomly drawn commenters at every stop. So please comment for you chance to win Mermaid bookmarks and maybe even a chance to drown your sorrows with a Mermaid beer mug!