You know what I miss? Part II

So I thought I was going to only have two posts. The plan being two books in each post. Well, it seems I like to blather on once I get going. It turns out I'm going to have three. What's weird is that I usually only review when the book moves me in some significant way. None of these really qualify on that score, but I felt like some book talk so here's the next review.














HEART DANCE (excerpt) by Robin D. Owens is the sixth installment of Owens' Celtan Heart Mate series. I think it was about a year ago I was hanging out at Sarah McCarty's Yahoo group and Sarah mentioned something about liking Ms. Owens' Heart Mate books. That sent me looking and I'm glad I did.

Obviously when you see the words Heart Mate you know that the books are going to have elements of the whole soul mate thing. To be sure the books do have a sort of pre-destiny to the relationships. However, the H/H in the books are seeking their Heart Mates as something to be treasured. It's not a foregone conclusion that everyone will have a Heart Mate or be able to find their Heart Mate. There are plenty of matches and marriages that are carefully made for monetary or dynastic connections.

These books are set in a future where everyone has some sort of 'flair' or innate gift like a sixth sense. What sort of flair and the degree of its power vary widely. For the most part flair is passed on genetically. So the power and degree of gifts can skip generations or be enhanced by whomever you marry and make babies with.

This isn't a bad book. Unfortunately it too was a very predictable. I found myself not caring enough about Dufleur Thyme (guess what her flair is) and the matchmaker Saille D'Willow. In fact I was impatient with Dufleur. Ms. Owens usually writes very strong women (very!) and Dufleur needed more spine in my opinion. This is also the first time I felt that one of the books relied a bit too much on the reader knowledge from previous books. I think any of the other five books could be read on their own. If you haven't read any of the other books, don't let this one be your first. Go find HEART MATE (excerpt) the first one in the series and a RITA winner.

It does help to read the books in order as the world does expand as the series goes on. However, the individual books, except for this one, are all very strong by themselves. There wasn't as strong a conflict in this book as the others. No major obstacle for the H/H to overcome in order to be together. No class, money, or illegal background that causes them to be apart. I found myself wondering what the big hold up was. Yes, DuFleur thinks she has to keep her experiments with time secret, but I never got a sense of what she had to lose if she was discovered. She didn't have much to begin with. Saille is a nice guy who is ready to marry, settle down and start a family. What's not to like? Get together already.

I do have one BIG bone to pick which Ms. Owens likely has no control or say over.
Why did this book have to be released trade sized? All the others are MM paperbacks. Now this one doesn't fit with all the other books in the series AND it was double the cost of the others.

Here's my open letter to Berkley Sensation:

Dear Berkley Sensation,
I can only think of one reason a publisher would release the sixth book in a series in trade size and that's to rob the readers who are following the series. That's right Berkley. You are no more than a low life bandit holding us up for TWICE the price for this installment than the other books were. This book was $14 at Borders. The most expensive of the other MM paperbacks in the series was $6.99. Was this more story? A better book? Or, are you just trying to make an extra buck from the loyal readers who will suffer the price in order to buy the book? Shame on you.
Robbed Reader

One might argue that I participate in the robbery by buying the book, but c'mon that's what the publisher is 'banking' on isn't it, that the reader won't want to wait and will purchase the trade sized book at the higher price? *exhale* I get it. I do. But, I sure don't like it.

Will I be buying the next Heart Mate book? You betcha. The problems here and the slow pacing weren't enough to put me off this otherwise very good series. The books in order are: HEART MATE, HEART THIEF, HEART DUEL, HEART CHOICE, HEART QUEST and HEART DANCE.

Cold as Ice by Anne Stuart

COLD AS ICE by Anne Stuart






Thanks to Cindy noting on her blog that this book was out earlier than it's October 24th street date. I sweet talked TGILW into stopping by the bookstore on his way home on Sunday to see if it was in for me. He found it and brought it home.

I was reading the last in the the Heart series by Robin D. Owens HEART QUEST on Sunday and really, really, really wanted to put it aside to pick up the Anne Stuart, but I was interested enough in the Heart book that I finished it on Sunday night knowing that I'd be home all day Monday doing laundry and cooking for the natives preparing for our Monday TV night of Heros and Studio 60.

Quick aside here, does anybody else think they have more commercials in Heroes than any other TV show recently? It seems like there is a commercial every other minute! I was a little disappointed the story didn't progress much this week, but there was lots of good content anyway.

Back to the subject of the book. So my niece came over Monday morning and interrupted the reading before it really got started, but I was undaunted. By mid-day I was into the book. With normal interruptions for regular life and Monday night TV I was able to finish it around midnight.

Whew! I don't know where to start. I was sort of breathless during parts of this book. Peter Madsen is a very dark hero. Mailynn had a post yesterday where she discussed the flap about Anne Stuart's characters in her last two books. Mailynn noted that spies do what they have to do to get the job done. That is their job. I would agree. Nothing in COLD AS ICE makes Peter a less attractive hero to me as a reader and certainly not to Genevieve. I think most of the uproar, if there really is one, is that telling the reader exactly what some of the bad things Peter has done are outside the realm of the traditional hero. The admission of killing women, or sex with both men and women would tend to turn the average romance reader from having any sort of sympathy or interest in a hero. Those sorts of unpalatable acts are only alluded to in a vague way in other spy type romances by using a single phrase like "I do what it takes to get the job done." Ms. Stuart is much more direct and explicit. We are clear that this is not a nice guy and he has done some very bad and ugly things.

None of which deterred me. I simply didn't want to put the book down. I kept wanting more, more, more. While I can recommend the book heartily especially to Anne Stuart fans, I don't feel like I got enough reason why Genevieve fell for Peter. Which is why I was turning pages frantically and re-reading their dialogue and almost humming more, more, more under my breath. To me, Ms. Stuart gave us plenty to work with for Peter's feelings toward Genevieve, but under the dire circumstances Genevieve finds herself in, less so her motivation for caring about Peter.

I get the sex part...I do. Being terrified can heighten sexual awareness. Peter certainly has experience using it and manipulates it to his advantage. So while I get not resisting the sexual temptation and attraction, I wasn't sure why she would fall in love with Peter? Is it her background? Those early days of idealism and being a do-gooder? Really good sex?

For me the plot and the bad guys were a necessity for our H/H to meet but superfluous to my need to know more about Peter and Genevieve. I was captivated by them as a couple and their individual stories. Of course they needed the plot to give them a reason to come together, but the dynamics between them were much more interesting than the background story of the Rule of Seven terror campaign planned by bad guy Harry Van Dorn.

I'm anxious to see other reader reaction to see if anyone else can be more articulate about these two characters and this story. According to Ms. Stuart's interview at AAR (thanks for the link Renee) there are two more books planned in this series, one due in April 2007 and one in November 2007. Both characters for these future books appear in COLD AS ICE. I'm sufficiently engaged in her characters from this world and intrigued enough that I'll be racing to the bookstore to buy them when they are released.

Book Check!

Book check...what's on your bedside stand? What book do you have your nose buried in today?

I'm reading Heart Choice by Robin D. Owens. It's part of her Heart series and a futuristic. I read the first one, Heart Mate, as a rec by Sarah McCarty (posted on her board) and haven't been able to find the second one. This particular book is third or fourth in the series, but seems to be fine as a stand alone and I'm enjoying it.

Does the change of the season make you want to read a different sort of book? During the summer bookstores are always full of tables of "Beach Reads". Do you read different sorts of books depending on the season? I do find that I've been looking for a book I can really sink my teeth into, something thought provoking and with depth. I realized that I tend to look for those books in winter during our rainy season. It just occured to me now because we are having unseasonably cool weather for October and I'm usually trolling for heavier reading material after Christmas in January and February.

So...what about you?

What to do....What to do?

So I spent almost $150 at Borders last Friday. Yes, I blew my whole month's budget in one fell swoop. Sometimes when I think of what I'd have in savings if I didn't buy books...but that's a blog for another day. Now between the new purchases and the TBR I have probably 50 books to choose from. I just finished HEART MATE by Robin D. Owens but don't know whether to read another in that series (which would involve a purchase) or just choose something else. Zan Duncan from HOT NIGHT still has me aglow as well. I'm thinking I should go for something completely different to get me out of THAT head space.

For now I'm going to leave you with some JOHN MAYER. We are going to see he and SHERYL CROW in concert this week. Can't wait. Take a listen while I ponder my next book choice.