February 22nd, 2012
At long, long last after a draught of one solid year without a book from Lisa Kleypas, her loyal readers catch a break at last when Rainshadow Road is finally released on Tuesday, February 28th. To celebrate, we’ve got Lisa herself to answer a few questions and she doesn’t come empty handed. Lisa has 10 books donated by her publisher to give away to 10 lucky winners. To enter, all you need to do is comment to this blog by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, February 24th. Winners will be notified by email on Saturday morning and will have 24 hours to respond. If we don’t hear from a winner within that time, a new winner will be selected. This contest is designed for readers, so please don’t enter if you review for another Web site or blog. Due to the high cost of international postage, entries are open only to those from the U.S. and Canada.
Now, let’s hear from Lisa!
Lisa, thanks so much for joining us today. Could you please tell our readers a bit about Rainshadow Road?
Sandy, thank you so much for inviting me! Rainshadow Road is the first in a series of contemporary romances set in Friday Harbor, Washington. It’s about a young glass artist, Lucy Marinn, who is dumped by her boyfriend at the beginning of the story–and if that’s not bad enough, she discovers that he’s dumped her for her younger sister! So about fifteen minutes after this happens, she sees this handsome stranger on the beach, who happens to be Sam Nolan, a local vineyard owner.
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Tags: Lisa Kleypas, Rainshadow Road
Posted in Authors, Book news, Books, Books with Buzz, Contests, Interviews, Sandy AAR, giveaways | 134 Comments »
February 21st, 2012
Dearest, darling readers: I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day with your loved ones. My day began quite unexceptionally, at school with those sweet children in my class, and all I planned to do when I got home was start Gaelen Foley’s One Night of Sin. But guess what, cupcakes? Before long I was sighing and shaking my head. There was one thing, O Best Beloveds, that was driving me to near insanity – much as I am probably doing to you currently, my poor angels. And that was the proliferation of endearments.
I have a hard time dealing with them, especially the flowery ones, and especially when they’re used often. One Night of Sin has them in abundance and I find them nauseating. But are they nauseating because it’s actually overkill, or is it just because I’m not used to them?
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Tags: endearments, romance novels
Posted in Books, Characters, Heroes, Heroines, Jean AAR, Life | 26 Comments »
February 20th, 2012
Searching for March’s new releases, I was surprised not only by the impressive list of over 50 upcoming romance audiobooks (many more will be released digitally with no pre-release notice) but also the books that I see just around the corner. I was thrilled to see that Tantor is releasing Jennifer Ashley’s The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie in late March, a vastly popular book in print that was voted Best Romance of 2009 in AAR’s Annual Reader Poll and ranked #10 in AAR’s 2010 Top 100 Romance Poll. Let’s hope Tantor continues with the Highland Pleasures series.
Looking ahead to May, I noticed a book on Harper Audio’s site that I’ve had on my eBook wish list for years, never imagining that it would even be considered for release in audio. The book? Adele Ashworth’s Winter Garden – another favorite with romance fans that won Favorite Romance of 2000 in AAR’s Annual Reader Poll and made the cut for both 2004 and 2007 Top 100 Romance Poll at AAR. It’s being released in both eBook and audio format on May 29th. Thank you, Harper Audio – hope we see more from this beloved author.
And another sure-to-be-delight is Harper Audio’s May release of Rachel Gibson’s Rescue Me. It’s the first time I have seen a Gibson audiobook released simultaneously with the print version. In the past, Recorded Books kept an occasional Gibson title for their own exclusive use and listeners couldn’t be certain of wider availability. As romance fans, we say, “Well done, Harper!”
In addition to March releases we also have six audiobooks up for review today Meljean Brooks’ Heart of Steel, Iris Johansen’s Always, Jayne Ann Krentz’s Copper Beach, Susan Mallery’s The Unexpected Millionaire, Lisa Marie Rice’s Dangerous Passion, and Linda Howard’s A Game of Chance.
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Tags: Audiobooks, speaking of audiobooks
Posted in Lea Hensley, audio books | 30 Comments »
February 17th, 2012
I hadn’t realized until this week what a liar I was about romance books. If anyone asked what kind of romances I like best, I would have said those that transport me away to somewhere I haven’t been in either time or place.
Then I read three books in a row that convinced me I was lying to myself.
- Because of You by Jessica Scott looks at love in the setting of today’s military between a wounded sergeant and a nurse. In many ways it reminds me of Cheryl Reavis’ The Older Woman, another in my personal AAR Top 100 list, except with buddies for the nurse and soldier instead of a grandmotherly landlady as charming peripheral characters. Like The Older Woman, Because of You explores war wounds and breast cancer, two of today’s hot spots, and like the other book isn’t an easy read. It reminded me all too vividly of visits I made to my cousin Jerry in a VA hospital after he returned from the Vietnam War as a paraplegic. Instead of taking me away from reality, it brought all the memories and feelings back to me.
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Tags: Reading, Romance reading
Posted in Authors, Books, Pat Henshaw, Reading, Romance reading | 8 Comments »
February 16th, 2012
In her blog titled Stuart’s Coat, Sara’s Spectacles, and Jessica’s Glove , Sandy talked about “those hit-you-in-the-heart scenes. The kind you remember. The kind you share with other readers who very often respond “Yes!” The kind that make you feel what the characters are feeling.” In other words, the magic moments, the ones that define a love story.
Recently I’ve run across the opposite of the magic moment. This is a scene in which an author, with just a few lines, turns you against her hero or heroine. It’s an act or statement that makes you wish the other party would get with someone else, anyone else. It’s the I-can’t-get-over-what-just-happened blues. It can ruin a good book or at the very least, ruin the HEA.
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Tags: All About Romance, Charlaine Harris, Janet Evanovich, Rachel Gibson, Tawny Weber
Posted in Characters, Maggie AAR, Romance reading | 25 Comments »
February 15th, 2012
After one of my columns bemoaning discussing the rise of the light Regency, I got several emails from those who worried about me. And no, dearest emailer, I don’t torment small animals in my free time. I actually rescue cats and volunteer at the SPCA and – yikes! I’m a cute little urchin or reformed pickpocket servant away from being a Regency heroine! All of that aside, one kind soul wrote to suggest that I read Cotillion by Georgette Heyer. She described it as “the best of Regency romps, funny and clever at once.” Since I already had this book in my TBR pile(s), I decided to take it on for this month’s portion of the TBR Challenge.
I’ve loved a number of Georgette Heyer’s novels, so I had high hopes for this one. However, after Chapter One, I started to fear that this would be rough going. The book certainly seemed light and capery. However, it also brims over with inscrutable Regency-esque slang and the only characters who seemed to have much personality were the unpleasant ones. The basic set-up is this: Matthew Penicuik is a very wealthy old miser. He has called his great-nephews to his drafty old country house so that they can learn the terms of his will. Penicuik has decided to leave all of his wealth to his ward, Kitty Charing, on the condition that she choose and marry one of the nephews. This news prompts proposals from an uptight rector and an impoverished Irish earl who proposes more out of terror of his mother’s wrath than any real desire for Kitty.
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Tags: All About Romance, Georgette Heyer, TBR Challenge
Posted in Lynn AAR, Romance reading | 10 Comments »
February 13th, 2012
The world’s a changing as we all know and one of the most noticeable areas is publishing and the challenge of digital versus paper. Or in the audiobook industry – digital versus hard copy CDs.
Personally, my love of audiobooks and reliance on them as a form of entertainment drastically changed seven years ago when my daughter presented me with an iPod and told me there was a much easier way to listen to audiobooks. It’s all digital for me now, even if it means I must convert a CD to a digital file for final listening. And purchasing digitally also means I listen to more audiobooks. Having something only a click away can be good for the soul (but possibly bad for the budget).
However, I know through communicating personally with listeners, as well as reading comments both here at Speaking of Audiobooks and at our Goodreads group, that many rely on (and often prefer) hard copies for their listening.
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Tags: Audiobooks, surveys
Posted in Lea Hensley, audio books | 24 Comments »
February 10th, 2012
Because, truth be told, I don’t think I am. When LynnAAR sent around her request for Buried Treasures from all of the AAR staff, I racked my brain (I don’t keep a book list) and realized that I hadn’t read anything that would qualify.
Why not? Well, I’m jealous of my reading time. With work and my responsibilities to AAR, leisure time is sparse and there’s a lot competing for my leisure attention. Would I rather read a book by an author I’m not sure about or play it safer with an author I already know and love? The safe bet wins almost every time.
And, gee, what about TV? Would I rather take a chance on a book or catch up on episodes of Angry Boys?
Digital downloads have changed far more than the world of books. Now with my Roku player, I have access to almost every movie or TV show ever made — and that’s a whole lot different from the VCR days when I had only what I’d taped and the limited availability of my local video store. Want to watch the British version of The Office again? I can. That and a whole lot more.
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Tags: leisure reading, Reading
Posted in Authors, Books, Reading, Romance reading, Sandy AAR, Television | 20 Comments »
February 8th, 2012
Did 2011 yield some great buried treasure reads? Of course it did! It seems like every year there are some wonderful books that fly under the radar, deserving of accolades but never quite getting the buzz they deserve. All of us here at AAR put our heads together and we came up with quite a list of books that you really should go back and read if you missed them the first time around.
Flirting With Italian by veteran author Liz Fielding not only got a DIK review here, but was also one of Senior Reviewer LinnieGayl Kimmel’s Buried Treasure picks, which she described as “a little gem of a category romance.” She really enjoyed its “fully developed characters and a wonderful sense of its Italian setting.” As both a series title and a holiday season release, it seemed that this book got a little lost in the holiday shuffle and really deserved more buzz than it got. The same is true of LinnieGayl’s other Buried Treasure pick, It Happened One Christmas, a Blaze book by Leslie Kelly.
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Tags: All About Romance, Buried Treasures
Posted in Lynn AAR, Romance reading | 10 Comments »
February 7th, 2012
Today it’s all reviews here at Speaking of Audiobooks. Nine audiobooks are up for review including The Next Always by Nora Roberts, Lord of Ice by Gaelen Foley, Future Perfect by Suzanne Brockmann, When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James, Lie with Me by Stephanie Tyler, Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis, Captured by the Highlander by Julianne MacLean, Scandal of the Year by Laura Lee Guhrke, and Cross My Heart by Carly Phillips.
The Next Always – Nora Roberts
Review written by Kaetrin
Narrated by McLeod Andrews
I usually enjoy Nora Roberts’ books, but I must confess I started The Next Always with just a little trepidation since I had read reviews stating that there was too much detail about the Inn renovations and not enough about the romance between the main characters, Beckett Montgomery and Claire Brewster. Other commenters didn’t care for the Inn Boonsboro’s resident ghost and the part she played in the story.
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Tags: Audiobooks, speaking of audiobooks
Posted in Lea Hensley, audio books | 14 Comments »
