Moving....
Mood:  don't ask
Now Playing: To Tumblr
Topic: Beauty Thoughts & Reviews
I'll be posting blog posts with pictures on my tumblr site, brooklynshoebabe.tumblr.com, but still look for my more wordy posts here.

Oh Holy Hell
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
Topic: Book Reviews
Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although I love science fiction and fantasy movies, I have never been a fan of the books. Besides the plot and the characters, I also have to make myself familiar with a whole new world, society, creatures, mores, etc. so it was with great surprise when I had the strong desire to read Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers. It had been on my to-read list since September, but it moved to the top of my list when I met the author at Book Expo America 2011. She autographed a free copy of the novel to me, and explained that she wrote the book for her daughter, who was really into the Twilight series. To be fair to Lisa, Personal Demons is a much better book.

Frannie has a special power that could be a benefit to Heaven and Hell, so each dominion has sent their best to tag her soul. From Hell, is Luc a.k.a. Lucifer. He is seven millennia old demon whose mere presence makes Frannie want to give in to her baser instincts. Gabriel is one of the best angels from Heaven, who makes Frannie feel safe and secure. She is in constant battle with herself on who she is going to choose.

Frannie is one of the most realistic teenage girls I’ve read in a long time in a Young Adult novel. She’s smart, reckless, impulsive, and angst-ridden. She’s also very good at judo. She’s like a more realistic Buffy the Vampire Slayer! She is definitely one of my favorite girl characters. Empowered!

Personal Demons is a sexy, witty, taut, and highly readable YA novel that constantly leaves me breathless. In the words of Luc, Unholy Satan because plot twists come fast at a fast rate. Plus there’s an intense love triangle. There's also a certain amount of camp involved. The book runs about 30 pages too long. Once all the major plot points are revealed, the story sort of sputters to an end. However, it is still a great book and I can’t wait to dive into the sequel out in August.


View all my reviews

I've Been Romanced
Mood:  crushed out
Now Playing: RWA 2011
Topic: Book Reviews

Around the age of 10 years-old, my aunt got a subscription to the Harlequin’s romance book club. When she moved out two years later, she left a few copies that I devoured under the covers with a flashlight. (I moved into her bedroom.) I mostly flipped through them to find the “good parts” but slowly got into the stories. I also read excerpts of stories by Barbara Taylor Bradford and Danielle Steele  in my grandma’s Ladies’ Home Journal magazines. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was reading romance novels and Tennessee Williams plays at a pretty steady clip since there were only a handful of young adult novels to speak of. (True story, my high school librarian didn’t mind me checking out romance but when I wanted a book on puberty/sexuality, she said I needed a permission slip from my parents.)

By the time I went off to college and started working in the magazine biz, I shook off my juvenile reading habits for feminist lit, African-American memoirs, and literary fiction. But there’s only so much proper literature one can read before they get burnt out on it and now I find myself back in the loving embrace romance (and its naughtier sister erotica). The last 8-months of rediscovering it has been a wonderful journey, where I have found fun new blogs, my preference for cowboys, and lots of free books & e-books. This past Tuesday, I reached the pinnacle of my journey by attending the Romance Writers’ Association Librarians Day--a day of networking, professional development, and getting free stuff!  My favorite items? The romance trading cards and bookmarks. I know have a photo album bursting with these collectibles (http://romancetradingcards.com/).

 

 

 

 

 

Some of my favorite Romance Twitter Feeds & Blogs:
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php
http://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/
http://www.sheloveshotreads.com/
http://www.rwa.org/

My favorite moment of RWA2011? Romance author Julia Quinn declaring that librarians are saints. Like you didn’t know that already.

 

---

Last month, I also got to let my librarain-geek flag fly at BookExpo 2011 at New York City's Jacob Javitis' Convention Center.  Not only did I attend several professional development seminair like the pulishers preview of middle-grade fall 2011 fiction, but I also got to walk up and down the aisles of the expo and examine several publishing houses' booths. One of my favorites was the erotica publishers Ellora's Cave (which is celebrating its tenth anniversary and from whom I got an autographed beefcake calendar and a deck of playing cards featuring their male cover models).

 

At the Harlequin booth, I got to meet African-American romance novelist Gwyneth Bolton. Her book, Sizzling Seduction, was the first Kimani romance I ever read and dispeled any misgiving I may have had about Black-themed romance novels. (Number 1 being that it would be more about race than about romance.) While I was getting my autographed, I babbled on about how great I thought Sizzling Seduction was by uttering over and over "Fireman, sexy, great, intense, fireman!" The only sad part about that moment were how non-exsistent the autograph lines were for the Kimani novelists. The lines were so short that I thought I had shown up while they were still setting up. 

Kiss My Nail Art
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: Kiss Goldfinger Great Strip Nail Color Stickers
Topic: Beauty Thoughts & Reviews

What You Reading For?

Currently Reading:

To Love A Wilde by Kimberly Kaye Terry

The Welcome Home Garden Club by Lori Wilde

Personal Demons by Lisa Desroscher

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (audiobook) 

 

To Read:

Carrying the Ranchcer's Heir by Charlene Sands

Cinderella: Ninja Warrior by Maureen McGowen

 

Just Read:

The Wit and the Wisdom of Mark Twain ( a book of quotations)

Head, Body, Legs: A Story from Liberia (A magical retlling of a Liberia creation story)  Won-Ldy Paye

 

 

 

Tasty Teaser Tuesday
Mood:  accident prone
Now Playing: Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott
Topic: Book Reviews

Even Jack saying my name never made me feel so--

Stop it.

I promised myself all that was gone, forgotten, and it's going to stay that way. I made myself strong, I taught myself to know who--and what--I am. 

 

pg. 35, Between Here and Forever by Elizabeth Scott 

Watcha Reading Now?
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: What I'm Reading, What I Will Read
Topic: Book Reviews

What I'm Reading Now

 

YA paranormal novel, Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers. An angel and a demon fight over the soul of a teenage girl in a literal battle of heaven over hell. I'm on page 21 and I'm enjoying it so far. I met Lisa Desrochers last week at BookExpo 2011. She told me that she decided to write Personal Demons for her daughter who was a huge Twilight fan.

 

I'm also starting to get ankle deep in the romance/family drama, The Welcome Home Garden Club. I just got to the part where our heroes have reunited in nearly ten years. It was an intense scene. I'm on page 87.

 

While watching my daughters in the bathtub, I started reading the Kimani Romance To Love A Wilde. It is the second Harlequin romance I've purchased this year, and the first I bought just based on the cover--an interracial couple on a ranch. Black chicks and cowboys. Yeehah! I'm at the set up portion.

 

What I Will Be Reading In the Future

Elizabeth Scott's teen romance novel Between Here and Forever. I also met her at BEA. She promised me that this will be a far lighter read than her intense, intensely creepy, and well written Living Dead Girl.

 

 

 

Planet Middle School--a YA novel told in verse by Nikki Grimes.

 

 

Personal Demons Not Belonging To Me
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
Topic: Book Reviews

 

Chapter 13

A Cold Day In Hell

Frannie

My hear is pounding s I wait at my locker 'cause, after last night with Luc, I'm not sure what to expect. I stare blindly at my books and shift my weight from foot to foot, failing spectacularly at trying to appear casual.

 

page 177, Personal Demons by Lisa Deroschers

(from my autographed copy!) 

 

 

 

Watcha Reading?
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Books I'm Reading Now?
Topic: Book Reviews

What I Am Reading Now

 Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger; Jazz's traditional Indian family want her to chose a spouse from a list of predetermined candidates, but Jazz has her eyes set on a school cutie. What will Jazz do when her desires clash with her family's wishes?

Mr. Fix-It by Crystal Hubbard: Khela Halliday, an award-winning romance writer who doesn't believe in love, meets her match in a gorgeous handyman who is determined to find the perfect tool to shatter her defenses and win her heart.

Witch Baby and Me by Debi Gilori: It's a rainy spring-time, coming up to Witch Baby Daisy's second birthday. Her nursery class are putting on a musical performance, helped by the older children, including big sister Lily. Meanwhile Mum is trying to potty train Daisy, unaware that as soon as she succeeds, Daisy will be reclaimed by the witches who live on the hill.

How I Changed My Life by Todd Strasser: Overweight high school senior Bo decides to change her image while working on the school play with a former star football player who is also struggling to find a new identity for himself.

The Welcome Home Garden Club by Lori Wilde: Returning home from the Iraq war with battle scars, soldier Gideon Garza discovers that the timid girl he left behind is now an independent single mother whom he still has feelings for, and the father who refused to acknowledge him has left him a vast cattle ranch.

 

What did you recently finish reading?

I recently finished reading Jane by April Lindner and Vegas Two Step by Liz Talley.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I plan on reading To Love A Wilde by Kimberly Kaye Terry; Cinderella: Ninja Warrior by Maureen McGowen; and Exposure by T. Fowler

Mama Need A New Pair of Shoes
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Zappos Gift Card Giveaway @ I'm Too Fancy
Topic: Contests

Teaser Tuesday-- Mr. Fix It
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Book Reviews

"Romance novels are just soft porn for women," Carter stated flatly.

"--romance is the ultimate escape," Khela continued as if he hadn't interrupted. "Men are perfectly happy with sex. Women want romance."

"And sex," Carter put in.

"And tenderness."

"And sex."

"They want honesty and bare emotion!"

"And...sex?"

p. 146, Mr. Fix It by Crystal Hubbard

 

 

What I'm Reading Wednesdays
Mood:  hungry
Topic: Book Reviews

What Am I Currently Reading?

Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse #4) by Charlaine Harris

Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger

Vegas Two-Step by Liz Talley

 

What Am I About to Start/Continue Reading?

Jane by April Lindner

Friction by E.R. Frank

Mr. Fix-It by Crystal Hubbard

Tempting Faith by Crystal Hubbard

The Welcome Home Garden Club by Lori Wilde

                                                                                   

What Did I Just Finish Reading?

Rogue Stallion by Diana Palmer

Barnyard Banter by Denise Flemming

Sizzling Seduction by Gwyneth Bolton

The Chicken Thief by Beatrice Rodriguez

Oh So Blue Said the Gnu
Mood:  blue
Now Playing: Children's Books
Topic: Book Reviews
What's the Matter, Bunny Blue? by Nicola Smee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A cute rhyming story about a little blue bunny rabbit who has been separated from his grandmother. He and his animal friends look high and low for her. This is a delightful "preschool" mystery with wonderful simple yet colorful illustrations. Perfect for read alouds and snuggle readings.

What's New Said the Gnu? by Wendy Ecklson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Although the description on Good Reads calls the book "What's New Said the Gun?", the actual title of the book is "'What's New?' Asked the Gnu."

This is a pop-up book of "rhyming wordplay," in which a curious gnu inquires about 16 of his friends' doings. Each of their answers will surprise you and make you chuckle for they are not the typical answers. The pull tabs and pop-designs add to the chuckles. Great for reading to small groups or for what I like to call "snuggle reading" with a child. It's very entertaining. Plus, I have a soft spot for stories that feature rhyming Gnus.

Book Teaser Tuesday
Mood:  hug me
Now Playing: Jane by April Lindner
Topic: Book Reviews

 

 

 

"At night, though, I would drift into dreams so vivid I felt I was actually reliving moments Nico and I had shared--his hands on my back, his smell, his taste on my tongue, his voice calling my name, his weight beside me in the bed--and I would startle awake. For minutes afterward, I refused to believe it had only been a dream."-- Jane, by April Lindner 

(I'm so silly, I closed the book before I wrote down the page. lol.)

For All The Pretty Horses & Their Riders
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Cowboy, Take Me Away by Kathleen Eagle
Topic: Book Reviews

Cowboy, Take Me Away by Kathleen Eagle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kathleen Eagle transforms the title of a Dixie Chicks’ song into a wonderful albeit somewhat lightweight romantic novel featuring the likeable characters of Skyler and Trace. Skyler is an older woman with a past, a late husband, debts, and a love of horses. Trace is the younger rodeo cowboy with miles of cocky swagger who catches her eye from behind the camera lens. (Skyler is freelance photographer hoping to make some extra money.) Trace and Skyler hit it off immediately. Their chemistry literally jumps off the page as much as their coy dialogue--some phrases are so ripe with double meaning you’ll giggle. Ms. Eagle certainly has a way words, and developing likeble characters. This story is all about two adults taking a chance, and going in a direction they usually avoid. It’s a fun read without as much of the middle-act heartbreak that some romance novels include. If you love a good romance novel, handsome cowboys, and ladies who take a chance on love, “Cowboy, Take Me Away” is the book for you!

 

 

 

Mighty Quinns: Brody by Kate Hoffmann
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Payton is a socialite on the run from her fiance and seemingly empty life in the outbreaks of Australia. Brody is an ex-footballer (Aussie rules) nursing an career ending injury at his family's herding station. Unfortunate nights for both Payton and Brody lead them to a night in the pokey, and that is where the sparks begin to fly.

Brody, desperate to get over his ex and out of his pity bag, bails Payton out of jail and brings her home with him to work the ranch. Throwing caution to wind, Payton agrees and finds joy and satisfaction doing a good day's work and falling into the muscular arms of Brody. The two lovers keep their secrets, and live only for the moment until their hearts become involved.

You'll enjoy Payton and Brody's steamy encounters, and enjoy Ms. Hoffmann's ability to transport us to Australia. Although the book gets a long-winded near the end (about 15-20 pages could have been trimmed), I stay hooked as I wondered what the future held for the heroes. I was disappointed by the inclusion of a two subplots and secondary characters, because it felt like they were shoehorned in to set the reader up for the spin-offs.

View all my reviews